September 1st, 2010
I’ve been a fifth grade teacher and a construction superintendant. I’ve worked in network news and in higher education. I’ve flipped burgers and butchered meat. And at every one of those jobs I’ve been tasked with difficult activities of uncertain outcomes involving numerous and often competing factions that is of dubious value. What? I’m a cat herder.
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August 31st, 2010
There’s a big subway project going on in NYC that will connect Harlem to the Lower East Side. 74 years in the making, the tunnel is set to complete in 2016. And how do you accomplish such a feat? Well, you hire a local union crew, haul in a big ace two-story, one-million-pound, 800-foot-long mole machine that can chomp through rock, drop ‘em all seven stories underground, throw in some death and destruction and you’ve got yourself an episode of Modern Marvels. Impressive, but not as impressive as what is going on in the foreground. Take a look…
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August 30th, 2010
Back at week five I thought I was going to die from exhaustion (my wife came much closer than I did.) Now, at week seven, it doesn’t seem so bad. Wait, are you going to be positive for once? Yes. Today, I’m putting my usual curmudgeon self aside so I can share the joy that comes with being a parent. Why? Because beyond the dozen daily diaper changes, the middle-of-the-night top-of-the-lungs screaming spells, and my son’s inability to communicate in words, there are some really great moments.
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August 27th, 2010
I was six-years-old when I received my first chess set. It was one of those with the cardboard chessboard and manila and black plastic pieces. I’m sure it came with a rulebook, but I doubt I read it. Perhaps I should have.
There are six pieces in chess. Each piece has its own movement restrictions. The smallest and seemingly the most worthless piece is the pawn. It can move to one unoccupied space on every move with the option to move forward two squares on its first move provided both squares are also unoccupied. It can only move forward unless it is attacking in which case it must move diagonally to capture an opponent’s piece. And, the pawn has a special shape-shifting move in which it can be promoted to any chess piece if it makes it to the eighth rank (the opponent’s back row). That’s it. Or, so I thought. Enter the en passant.
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The other night my wife took a much deserved night off while I hung back with my son. After feeding, burping, changing, and rocking him to sleep I hit the Web to check feeds, e-mail, status updates, and tweets. Ah, the tweet. A year ago I would’ve never thought of writing a post like this because I was vehemently opposed to Twitter. Now, I can see it’s value (zip it @Mantium_).
