Our Memorial Day Parade 2009
Every year, our neighborhood has its own parade for Memorial Day, and I looke forward to it. It’s a small event, but it’s a chance to remember the holiday in the right way and see our neighbors. For the first…
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Monthly Archive: May 2009
A Visit from Bill Gosper
A few weeks ago, Neil happened to meet famous mathematician Bill Gosper at the Julia Robinson Math Festival. Gosper and Neil kept in touch via email afterwards (both keeping me in the loop). Finally, Peter and I dared to invite…
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Lawrence Hall of Science
For Neil’s break between sixth and seventh grade, we took a two-week vacation. I asked Neil what he wanted to do, and besides play on the computer, he wanted to revisit the Lawrence Hall of Science, one of his favorite…
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Zombie Invasion: Baptists or Mormons?
I’ve been thinking, if there was a zombie invasion, who would I rather hole up with: the Baptists or the Mormons? Both these Christian sects are in good shape to hold off zombies. They keep provisions and have killer homemaking…
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Escape to Sunshine Gulch
Several years ago, our neighbors Dave and B.J. sold their house and traded it for 40 undeveloped acres separated from the Bay Area proper by a mountain range or two. I rarely see them, but this week Charybdis and Scylla…
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Kelly Escapes Public School, Again
On Saturday, Peter and I received the news that Kelly did not make it into Hacienda (the science magnet), and her spot on the waiting list to get in was #278. Peter, in particular, was crushed. Last year, when the…
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Neil and the Julia Robinson Math Festival
A few months ago, Neil participated in the Math Counts competition, which was enlightening and humbling. The program was great: all through the year, he had to work out tough mathematical challenges. In February, the Silicon Valley chapter put the…
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Armageddon Crime Spree
My last few posts have been rather down, but I was beginning to cheer up. Then, last night, I kept waking up from dreams based on Natural Born Killers. Then today, I loaded my children in the car to take…
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The Armageddon Stock Strategy Wins
Last month, to teach Neil a bit about the stock market and to watch its current trends ourselves, Peter set up a stock market game for the family. To say I was pessimistic at the time may have been a…
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Swine Flu Panic
On Tuesday morning, Kelly started moaning and crying and then ran to throw up. Normally, in these circumstances, I simply declare her sick and she has to stay home for the day. But by then, the news services in full-on…
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