...please take a moment to read the letter Abraham Lincoln penned to a grieving mother:Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of … [Read more...]
Early Music with Kevin and Lara Lay
May 20, 2007 by Leave a Comment
It's been a long time since I've seen my best friend from high school, Kevin Lay, and his family. I was really happy to get an email from them recently that they were in Nashville doing an early music show over in Belle Meade on a Sunday in which I was actually in town and not traveling!The performance was at St George's Episcopal on a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon and included music by Telemon and Purcell. I think there might've been some Bach in there too, but can't recall. One thing that was really interesting about the performance was that it used all period instruments. It was much … [Read more...]
Dylan at the Prom
May 12, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Dylan went to the prom again this year. I have to admit that I don't really "get it". When I went to prom, it was a supremely couples-oriented event, although a bunch of couples would usually hang out together and party. Dylan and a lot of his friends this year seem to be going in small groups without necessarily having a date. I'm not saying that's bad, not by any means. It's just one of those generation gap things as far as I can tell. Still, doesn't he look sharp? Cheers, -Kev … [Read more...]
Anglo-Irish Slang
May 6, 2007 by 4 Comments
The Irish have lots of unique words that have no meaning in our American dialect. They also have a lot of words that mean something very different than what I, as an American, initially thought. Here are a list of words that I ran into that gave me some trouble:Bespoke - "custom" or "boutique", as in Harold's Bespoke Tailor ShopBanger - a breakfast sausage. Beware - they look like but do not taste anything like our sausage.Bogger - a redneck, an uncouth, backwoods personBraces - suspendersBusker - a street performer. Dublin, especially, has oodles of buskers on their busy pedestrian shopping … [Read more...]
How to Open Microsoft Office
May 5, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Ok, these are just too good not to share! I had several laughs while enjoying these websites. First, have any of you actually encountered any problems trying to open Microsoft Vista or the new version of Office? This Flickr site (I like it best in slide show mode) makes it clear how much of a hassle it can really be!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucsfpharmacy/sets/72157600095134188/Second, have you ever attended a technology event and the speaker just couldn't quite pull it together? Check out some of these "worst case scenarios" (aka "worst practices") humorously put together by MEDC team at … [Read more...]
A Quick Stroll Through Belfast
May 4, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Ireland is a country on the move. As I departed by train from Connelly Station in Dublin, I could see out of my window at least 27 big cranes doing construction around the city. I can't recall ever seen that many big cranes in action at one time. And that was only 1/2 of the city! I couldn't see the other half, since the train cut my view in half.Everywhere you go in Ireland, you can see evidence of the Gaelic or Irish language. It's not a hard language to sound out, but it's impossible IMO to sound it out properly using standard English pronunciations.Other cities in Ireland were also showing … [Read more...]
More about Connemare County
May 3, 2007 by Leave a Comment
One of the things that constantly brought a smile to my face as I toured Connemare County was the livestock. The sheep were allowed to roam free and only the colored marks on their wool enabled the farmers to differentiate theirs from the next mans' flock. The ewes often rested in the verge while the little lambs frollicked around. It was really cute.Another element of humor for me were the cows. Now, these cows seemed just like the cows of TN except that they were always, without fail, laying in the grass! I seldom see that back home. So it made me laugh and watch expectantly every time I saw … [Read more...]
Galway, Connemare County, and the Kylemore Abbey
May 1, 2007 by Leave a Comment
I had the greater part of Monday to explore Galway and its surrounding county, Connemare. I was very lucky to have good weather and relatively clear skies. I decided to keep things as simple as possible by signing up for a tour rather than try to do things myself.The main things that I wanted to see in County Connemare and County Clare were the Kylemore Abbey and Cliffs of Moher (pronounced "more"), respectively. Each site, in turn, was spectacular in its own way. The Abbey is actively run today by nuns and serves as both a boarding school for girls and the headquarters of the Benedictine nuns … [Read more...]
Beautiful Galway Ireland
April 30, 2007 by Leave a Comment
I landed in Dublin to a beautiful sunny morning. I have to say, the Irish are splendid hosts. The leader of the Dublin SQL Server/.NET user group and fellow MVP, Niall Flanagan, met me at the airport. We enjoyed breakfast together and took a tour of the city center. We even got out for a walk in one of Dublin's two beautiful public parks.After breakfast, it was off to the train station for a 2-3 our ride out to Galway. Niall was very knowledgeable and helpful with the travel plans. He had all of the train schedules on hand and put me on the best one. On top of that, he knew all of the tricks … [Read more...]
Frogtastic
April 19, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Now that spring is upon us, all of the bugs and critters are starting to come out. I actually saw a firefly the other day, though it wasn't lighting up. That's still about a month early to see them at all. Emily and the girls have been enjoying the cool weather and all of the animals that are easy to catch now. Here's a pic of Emily with a very pretty frog that Katie and Anna caught. They had to clamp onto it pretty tight because it was a real jumper. It got away several times but we managed to keep ahold of it until it was time to let it go in the creek out back. … [Read more...]
