Monthly Archives: January 2005

Anna

1 Reply

Sometimes when a movie, book, band or clothing store is very popular I have a hard time liking it. I hate the feeling that I might be liking something just because it is popular.

Reading aaa|Anna Karinena|067978330X|aaa brought up some of those feelings for me. Was I reading it because “anyone who considers themselves an avid reader should read it?” Was I enjoying it because other people I know have liked it? Was I reading it so that I could show off on the train…”can’t you see the book I’m holding? It’s Anna Karenina for goodness sake! aren’t you impressed?”

I hope not.

Regardless of the reason (mainly that I’ve just always wanted to read it!) I have finally finished this 800 page Russian masterpiece. Suffice it to say that it was right up my alley. I have a soft spot for long, multiple plotted, history infused novels. This was the kind of book that I was very sorry to see end. It was like I was transported to nineteenth century Russia every day during my train commute.

There is so much to the story itself that it would be impossible for me to even summerize here. The characters are vulnerable and determined and stoic and sensitive. They wrestle with the huge issues of love and religion and politics. They wrestle with how to deal with the events of marriage, birth and death. They wrestle with who they are, who they will be and how they fit into their society.

So, not to different from how we live our lives today. Have you read it? Let me know what you thought? Want to read it? Please do, and we can talk about it!

New Sounds

1 Reply

We really enjoyed the soundtracks from two movies we’ve recently seen: ***The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou|http://prwdot.org/archives/002319.html***, and ***In Good Company|http://prwdot.org/archives/002344.html***. So we purchased the complete soundtracks on the ***iTunes Music Store|http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/***, for $9.99 each.

ppp|
Goodcompany Lifeaquatic
|ppp

Both have some really great, listenable music. Life Aquatic has some nutty Casio-tone keyboard songs, as well as some contemporary hits rewritten into Portuguese as performed in the film by Seu Jorge, one of the ship’s crew members. Good Company has a good selection of very mellow music by artists such as Iron and Wine and David Byrne, and some nice original compositions from the score by Stephen Trask. Both are highly recommended for your listening enjoyment.

Even Smaller

Leave a reply

Becky and I were out doing some shopping today, and we stopped at the ***Apple Store|http://www.apple.com/retail/northshore/*** to buy ***Tax Cut|http://www.taxcut.com/***. While we were there, I got to check out the ***Mac Mini|http://www.apple.com/macmini/*** in person for the first time. It is even smaller than I had thought, from the photos I had seen so far. It literally fits in the palm of my hand (well, with my fingers stretched out at least). It’s ridiculously small. If we weren’t planning this darned trip to Russia, we might actually be able to afford one. 🙂 Here’s some photos I took on the olde camera-phone:

ppp|My hand can cover it upMy keys for comparisonThe Apple Mouse on top, for comparison|ppp

Not an Oscar winner…

Leave a reply

..but it won my heart. (awwww!)

Peter and I went to see ***In Good Company|http://www.ingoodcompanymovie.com*** last night. I was pleasantly surprised by the film. I had a feeling that I would enjoy it, but it turned out much differently than I had expected.

The movie parallels the lives of a 51 year old Ad Sales Exec and his 26 year old new boss. (Peter leaned over and said, “that would be like if I became your Dad’s new boss!!”) Though they are in different places in their lives, they are both struggling with carreer decisions, money, life choices, etc.

The pace of the movie was often excruciatingly slow, and that only made the picture better. The soundtrack was slow and soothing and sometimes non-existant. I found myself noticing the sound of the Movie Reel Machine in the projection room. Still, if it had been loud and fast, it would not have been the heart wrenching film that it was.

One of the things that I liked best in this movie was that the main characters are good, honest people. And they make the right choices in their lives. Not necessarily the choices that would make them happiest, or the richest, but the decisions that make sense. I left the theater feeling as if a huge population (the honest, hard working, moral sort) of people had finally been represented in a movie.

This film won’t win any awards. Dennis Quaid won’t be recognized for his portrayal of a deeply emotional character. This may just be a stepping stone for a very classic looking Topher Grace. In any case, it was a great film, uplifting and funny,

St. George’s Church

Leave a reply

Of all the TV shows I watch one of my favorites is ***The Amazing Race|http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race6/***. I especially like to see the interesting places that the teams get to visit all over the world.

Last week the teams were in Ethiopia and were instructed to go to ***St. George’s Church|http://taipei.tzuchi.org.tw/tzquart/2000fa/qf3.htm***. The church was hewn from solid rock and all that is visible from ‘ground level’ is the very tip of the roof. You must climb down through the cliff to enter the building. Very Cool.

ppp|St. George's Church|ppp

***The link|http://taipei.tzuchi.org.tw/tzquart/2000fa/qf3.htm*** above has some interesting information about Ethiopia, especially the country’s Christian heritage. You should ***check it out|http://taipei.tzuchi.org.tw/tzquart/2000fa/qf3.htm***.

Snow’d In

Leave a reply

I took this photo on Monday morning, upon arriving at work on the first day after the blizzard. You can see about half of our building peeking above the massive snowbanks made by the plows. That’s a lot o’ snow. 🙂

ppp||ppp

Letters of introduction

4 Replies

Have you ever been to a party where you know the host and maybe one or two other people, but not the majority of the other guests? It can be uncomfortable trying to strike up conversations with folks you don’t know anything about. Sometimes a little information can make it alot easier.

Maybe the “friends” links on the left side of this site are like party-goers that you don’t know. Maybe you might click on a name if you knew a little bit about them. I’m here to provide that information today.

***Amy|http://waltondammerunprwdot.org/g/*** is a high school friend of Peter’s from Mount Vernon, Ohio. Since attending Hillsdale College she has resided, with her husband Josh, in Rancho Cucomonga, CA.

Peter has known ***Arthur|http://kizoku.blogspot.com/*** since he had really long hair. They have been roomates, classmates and co-workers. He plays guitar and drums and lives a few blocks away here in Beverly.

***Bob|http://bobgolding.blogspot.com/*** falls into the catagory “Friend of a Friend”. He attended Hillsdale with ***Will|http://pulchersentio.prwdot.org*** and is now in Law School. He has given us some helpful car advice in the past.

Somewhere on the World Wide Web Peter ran into ***Chad|http://jayseae.cxliv.org/***. He shares Peter’s love of the computer. His site gives us a glimpse into Charlotte, NC life. Peter’s note: I first ran into Chad when I started using the ***Bloglines Toolkit|http://jayseae.cxliv.org/bloglines_toolkit/index.html*** Firefox extension.

I met ***Corey|http://corey.prwdot.org/*** about 24 years ago… in the Maternity Ward. He’s been my baby brother ever since. He’s into skiing, biking, and his new Mini. He doesn’t have a blog, but the site has pics and stuff on it. Check it out.

I haven’t yet had the opportunity to meet ***Hope|http://www.hopenatalie.com/***. I’ll have time, though, she isn’t even a month old yet. Her daddy, Chris, works with Peter and is a Gordon Grad. Find more of their story ***here|http://prwdot.org/?p=archives/002293***.

***Jackie|http://jway.blogspot.com/*** has blogged on both the left and right coasts of this great nation. She is a family friend from years past and is back in the area studying at Suffolk University in Boston.

I don’t know much about ***James|http://drjames.blogspot.com/*** and ***Jeff|http://gentry13.blogspot.com/***. They both work at CBD and live in Beverly. It is nice to read other reports from others in our fair city.

***Jennifer|http://junefourteenth.blogspot.com/*** is one of my closest friends from my college days. Before I met her I used to see her around campus wishing that she was my friend. I thought she was so cool. Then, our sophmore year, luck was with me and we ended up living on the same floor. We met, and have been bosom buddies ever since. She teaches Music in New Jersey.

***Jenny|http://www.ljcfyi.com/*** is a gal who’s site I came across on the web. I don’t know her and she doesn’t know me, but her blog fascinates me. She has a fantastic sense of style and keeps herself busy with crafts and taking care of her husband, house and pet pug, Oscar.

***Jenny R|http://www.livejournal.com/users/raingirl3179/*** is another pal from Gordon. Peter and I both knew here individually before we knew each other…but Peter was closer to her. She’s an English teacher in New Hampshire and is into LoTR and she writes fan fiction. Peter’s note: Jenny was one of my crazy friends from Ferrin Hall at Gordon. We spent many hours watching ***Neon Genesis Evangelion|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion*** and other Japanese anime, as well as playing cards and hanging out with other members of the close-knit Ferrin crew (***pictured here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/our_reception/DSCN1071***)

***Jeremy and Angela|http://www.thebiggspicture.org/*** are our close friends who live on Cape Cod. Jeremy and Peter were roomates at Gordon and in Woburn and they were in each other’s weddings. The happy couple are currently planning their escape from the Cape while being entertained by their two cats.

Jill and I have known each other for seven and a half years now!! She and I met during Freshman Orientation at Gordon and have been friends and roomates over the years. ***Jill and Ben|http://www.theholtsite.com/*** are currently revamping their website, but you can look forward to stories of their life in Bolton very soon.

Another Mount Vernon native, ***Jon|http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=thevalk*** is currently preparing for a new job in Columbus. He’s a Mount Vernon Nazarene University grad and likes to write poetry, song lyrics and dinosaur comics.

***Kathleen|http://www.rmfo-blogs.com/kathleen/*** is another friend of a friend. Our link is Gordon College. Her website offeres a peek into her married life and stories of her puppy Seamus.

***Laura and Johnny|http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=DimbyRVin*** are driving around the country in an RV. Laura and I were childhood friends who have recently reconnected. Their site fills us in on their journey and their search for the right place to settle down together.

Another friend of a friend, ***Megan|http://mego.blogspot.com/*** is a blogger from New Mexico. She likes riding horses, traveling to China and writing. She used to live in Massachusetts but traded up for a warmer climate!

***Michelle|http://mikao.blogspot.com/*** is a vetran blogger who’s site I found via Kathleen’s blog. If she didn’t live in Canada, and if I had ever met her in real life, I think we’d be good friends. I love having eyes and ears in another country and her posts are often entertaining and interesting. She’s always a good read.

I don’t know ***Mike|http://mike.refugeisland.net/*** but his website often has great links and interesting stories. Peter has chatted with him online, but we don’t know him in real life.

***Nikkiana|http://everytomorrow.org/*** is a prolific blogger who writes about technology, life, religion and everything else on her mind. I’ve met her once and Peter spent a day with her and her boyfriend in Boston. She’s a New Hampshire native who attends technical college there.

Last, but certainly not least, we have ***Will|http://pulchersentio.prwdot.org/***. Another Mount Vernon friend of Peter’s and brother to Amy (See above). Currently he is in Japan with the JET program. His site keeps us updated on his adventures there.

phew! That was harder than I expected it to be! I hope it gave you a little insight into the folks we link here at World Wide Wood. Questions? Comments? We’d love to hear them.

Comparison

Leave a reply

This has been a pretty big storm, but it hasn’t been quite as bad as the Nor’easter of December 2003. The temperatures during that storm were higher, with wetter, heavier snow, which is much harder to plow. The inches of accumulated snow were probably about the same, but this year it was very light and fluffy and easy to move.

Here’s a photo comparison… December 2003 on the left, January 2005 on the right. 🙂

ppp| |ppp

ppp| |ppp

Update
We’ve heard several mentions on the news of some big snowstorm in February of 2003, but we couldn’t quite recall the details. Well, thanks to a little searching of our own blog, I pulled up some blog entries for the storm of February 17, 2003 (which was nearly as big as this one and the one in December 2003): ***here|http://prwdot.org/archives/000692.html***, ***here|http://prwdot.org/archives/000693.html***, and ***here|http://prwdot.org/archives/000695.html***. For some odd reason, there are no photos from that storm. I might have to dig back in my iPhoto Library to see if I perhaps took some, but never uploaded them. However, I did find some photos from a snowstorm that happened about ***10 days|http://gallery.prwdot.org/snowy_friday_03*** before that one.