Who would have thought?

My soon to be former co-worker, Mr. Jeff Sterling, continues to astound me, at times by his ignorance, at times by his charisma, and always by his musical ability. Enjoy.

Final(s) Week(s) are Over!

And everything went as smoothly as I could hope for, that is until I missed my very last final by two days. How could this happen you ask? There is this document, several in fact, which publish the dates and times of final exams that when read and properly interpreted, alert one to each and every final exam that is held on campus during finals week. Did I read this document? No. But my professor did, and thus I showed up to an empty classroom, no professor and a final exam that had taken place two days earlier than I had expected. You might be thinking, "Josh, are you sure you're ready for college?" That's good, keep your smart-ass comments to yourself. Thinking is a perfectly normal activity, acceptable for most people in most forms at most times. Just don't let me in on it.

I was able to make up the final, at home, using a laptop, after eating entirely too much of a burrito Angela had graciously brought over for me. Even with the advantage of typing the final instead of writing it out by hand, it was by far the most difficult task of the semester, involving questions such as,

Explain what the consequences of the Protestant ethic were and how it
helped to create capitalist action orientations.  In your answer explain
the notions of the calling, predestination and the role of Luther and
Calvin.  Explain the two pieces of pastoral advice given when individuals
would ask, “am I one of the elect?” and why this advice was important.
Finally, explain two alternatives to the capitalist spirit, such as
fatalism or pietism, and finally what lead to the “iron cage?”

Which begs the question, "Why would you continue with sociological theory next semester after having your ass handed to you this fall?" And the reason is simple: I don't know. But I will be quite adept at answering multi-part essays on subjects that would normally make me curl up in a ball and cry. And nobody wants that.

I don't quite know how to explain this...

Perhaps it is best to simply show you. The McNamee clan has many rituals, ceremonies and traditions I am only now becoming intimately familiar with, and the latest is the family video project. For this Christmas, Lynn took it upon herself to plan a video present for Sandy and Mac (the folks), which involved a great deal of pageantry, but very little scripting. I was asked to document the following in exchange for dinner, the opportunity not to publicly embarrass myself and a very good excuse for not partaking in the festivities. Before we continue on with the shenanigans, we have some cuteness to get out of the way.

Andrew is the youngest in the family, and while not the most photogenic, he took a moment away from examining the quality of the Christmas tree decorations to give me this pose. As Lynn explained Andrew's starring role in the evening's production, she may have lost Andrew after requesting a chasse followed by an en dedans and finished with a leaping piroette.

Now this girl knows when a camera is about. Morgan never failed to posture for the camera, that is until the end of the evening when her stockings became too much to bear.

It was about at this point that I informed Morgan she was "cut off," but not before a photo with her brother, Cole.

Let the silliness begin! You can only imagine the extent of what one can do with a candy cane, and the innappropriate things that these small children can now do with them. I'm pretty sure everyone was pointing at the neighbor who left his shade drawn as he emulated the dance moves from Footloose in the nude, but it could have been Santa. We'll just never know.

Once everyone had calmed down, we were able to take a few family photos, some of which turned out surprisingly well considering the goofiness of the occasion, including this one of Steve, Charlette, Lynn and Kyle.

How fucking cute is that? (Notice I used a curse word, because it is a picture of two adults.)

How friggin' cute is that? (Notice... well, you get the fucking picture. Oops.)

Sometimes the Christmas spirit isn't really appropriate for young audiences.

And the siblings, or four of them at least.

When will the cuteness end?

They're called snowflakes, got it?

As much fun as the costumes, decorations and silliness was, I want to thank my mother and my father for never, ever subjecting me to this as a child. As much as your parenting scarred me, at least the evidence remains on the inside, where I can stuff it deep inside my heart.

Love to all, and happy holiday wishes...

Yes, I Babysit Too

But seeing as how babysitting is not a very visual activity, I only have a couple photos of Sadie, and my favorite quote of the night from Trysten, who is six, to share with you.

"Why do you need two lightsabers Trysten?" -Me
"Josh, I can't fight four lightsabers with one lightsaber, are you crazy?" -Trysten

And Sadie, a relative cutie and a very photogenic subject.

Final(s) Week(s)

I have completed my first final of the semester for Research Methods, which was much much easier than I would have expected (as always). Tonight is my Media Law final, which is open-book, closed-note and for the midterm, I set the curve with the next closest person five or six points behind me. I imagine I will do just fine thank you.

At the present moment I have a 10-minute presentation to prepare for Friday morning, 161 58" Plasma Televisions to process through my store by Wednesday, a promotional give-away at two local independent grocers to manage (which includes two-weeks of free newspaper and radio ads for my company), one small custom install project and one very large custom install project to manage, two finals next week, Christmas shopping for 20 persons, Christmas shopping for myself, a new place to find to move in to, a cat that can't stop licking himself until he bleeds, and a nasty habit of resorting to cigarettes in times of stress.

The point of all of this? Don't expect me to blog. Don't ask me to blog. Don't ask me to do anything unless it involves me and a massage. I love you all, except for you, and you know who you are.

So this was a little different...

I am constantly inspired by Mike's cooking, and each time I have a new recipe at his house, I attempt my own version of it at home. Instead of the Albacore tuna (which my grocery shop did not have) I tried a Corvina Sea Bass, which I had made once before at Mike's when he attacked his own finger. I pan cooked the fish in a little oil after salting and peppering the flesh for 3 minutes per side. I then added a half cup of white wine, and as it cooked off, I tossed in a small bit of butter and some sliced shallots, then covered the pan. The effect I had in mind was moistening and flavoring the fish, which it did little of either. A better method would have been to sear the fish, then either cover it in the pan with the wine or transfer it to a small dish in the oven, but I did not. I found the fish to be dry and somewhat flavorless, although the resulting sauce certainly helped.

For the pasta, I created my version of Mike's tapenade, only it wasn't as I forgot to pick up the olives. Instead I oven roasted bell peppers, tomatoes and garlic, then peeled each and combined them in a bowl with the juices from the hollowed out tomatoes. I added basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and a bold red wine to taste, then placed in the freezer to cool. And finally, the asparagus, which required a bit of olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Bake in the oven at 400º for five minutes or so, and you're done!

The pasta was actually quite good, as was the asparagus, but again, the sea bass, not so much. However, my neighbor found it quite delicious and assured me she "licked" every last morsel off the plate. So maybe my food is that good, and my taste buds are not. I still don't trust her. This could be a much better meal.

Our First Cal Game!

Despite Mike's many efforts to invite me to a Cal game, it took two seasons until I could finally attend, and even then, it was the last game of the season, against 0-11 Washington. We took Ruby with us to her very first Cal game, and thus we are inextricably linked, not only by blood, but more importantly, Cal football.

After a 4 and out to begin the first half, Washington punted to Cal, and on Cal's second play, Best ripped off a 60-yard run for a touchdown. For those of you unaware of the final score, the game continued at this pace until Washington broke out a firehouse and showed Cal that while they could not play football, they knew how to cross a river if nothing else.

I intended to bring out the full compliment of photography gear for the game, only to forget the battery packs I had charged the night before. Fortunately, there was a point-and-shoot I was able to make use of to at least have a few momentos of the event.

The day was beautiful after many days of foggy mornings and overcast afternoons, which did not leave us well prepared to keep Ruby out of the sun, much less ourselves. Although the canons that sounded when Cal scored a touchdown (which was quite often) did not seem to faze her, by the end of the first half, Ruby was over it.

So... we found a nice spot on the side of the road, and happiness returned. It's always the simple things in life, isn't it?

Ruby has learned what the shutter sounds like on a camera, and each time the button is pressed, she has a new pose to give you. How friggin' (notice I didn't swear because it's a picture of a baby) cute is that?

Awww...

Ruby with her Daddy!

Dinner that night was fabulous: grilled Albacore tuna (5 minutes per side) with a pepper, tomato and olive tapenade (apparently the definition of tapende is an olive base, but I thought I would mention the olives anyway, which you will understand from my next post) and a side of wheat pasta in a marinara sauce. Nicely done Mike. And to finish the evening, a concert just for Ruby, although I question the inclusion of, "The world is out to get me" in the playlist.