At the spur of the moment last month, Peter and I decided to get tickets to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the monster industry show where you can see and try out all the new gadgets and electronics goodies scheduled to come out in the next year and beyond. Peter had told me it was…
Author: cjbickford
Star Trek at the Tech
I’ve always been a Star Trek fan, which is a complement to Peter, who’s a Star Wars fan, and we both take part in properly educating our children to our respective geek pop cultures. Peter sat the children down to watch the original set of Star Wars movies (technically IV, V, and VI, though they…
Our 2009 Christmas Treasure Hunt: GNOME Strikes Again
This year, it was Peter’s turn to hide our presents and put together the Christmas treasure hunt. I’m beginning to suspect he has ties to the nefarious G.N.O.M.E., which stole my presents in 2007, and surfaced this year, having taking presents from everyone except Peter, and leaving notes like this behind: Our first clue was…
My Alice in Wonderland Year
Personally, 2009 has been a year full of the unexpected. I got a job; Neil discovered a math community; Kelly went to private school; and Peter may be on the cusp of a new direction. I’m not quite sure what to make of it all, much less what to expect for 2010, but it has…
How to Kill a Magazine
Peter and I have discovered there is one sure way to kill a magazine: get Peter a gift subscription to it. This first happened many years ago, when we were new parents. I found out about a new parenting magazine, called Dad, directed to fathers. In my experience (back when I was still a new…
Farewell Dave
Last week, Liz (the daughter of our former neighbors) called me to tell me her father, Dave, had suddenly collapsed and subsequently died. It was a big shock. Dave and his wife BJ had both taken early retirement to go live on their rural ranch just a few years ago. And in May, I’d visited…
Another Test–Do not be alarmed
Forecast Radar Cameras Photos Your weather just got better.
Kelly and Shiaw-Ling’s Fancy Schmancy Mad Science Party
Kelly and Shiaw-Ling have the same birthday, 21 years apart, so more often than not, they’ve had their birthday parties on the same weekend. This year, Shiaw-Ling found out that the Hayes Mansion would give us a space in which to have a party, as long as we paid for catering. Shiaw-Ling also wanted to…
Tim Gunn and the Westfield Style Tour
A few weeks ago, Peter and I went to see Tim Gunn at our favorite mall, Westfield Valley Fair. If you don’t know us, Tim Gunn is the designers’ mentor on our favorite show, Project Runway. Tim Gunn is himself an icon of elegant, classic style. I follow his advice in A Guide to Quality,…
Emo Classical
Yes, it has been 6 weeks since I last updated my blog–odd for someone who used to post multiple blog entries a day. Despite my best intentions, my job became became less optional–we depend on it now. That said, the job and I have grown to suit one another, I find the field I’m working…