Heinz 57 (catch up)

Many complain there is nothing to learn from blogs. I'm here to refute that. 2 Useful things I've learned since my last post:

1. Seagulls will not let human fingers get in the way of a McDonald's French Fry.
2. Despite what your elders may have implanted in you, the gravitational pull on Giant icicles is not increased when in proximity of an eyeball. see case study.


I've been using the program SKYPE a bit to keep in touch with the immediate family. I don't know what it is about us, but we've somehow managed to place ourselves at insanely far distances from each other. (If someone moves to China, it will be confirmed in my mind as a plot.) Skype is a free service where you can speak and see each other through the computer. In the last few weeks I've been able to speak to Matt & company, Betty, whose new computer now has a webcam so we can see each other, and Gene, who I've been hooking up with to play cribbage with online. It makes a difference to actually see each other on the screen, and gives more of the sense of visiting. One of the problems however is that everyone has that "staring into computer screen" look so the visuals are sometimes on the boring side, although the stuffed pheasant always in view in Gene's webcam is a plus. Because the webcam is on my laptop, I've been able to walk around with it and show Gene the plates he gave to us for the mantle, or introduce Betty's cat to our cat, or compare snowfall with Matt in Russia. But most of the time is spent at a table or desk, chatting. I've tried to do a number of things to keep the visuals entertaining for the person on the other end and am hoping for an attempt on the other side. (it certainly doesn't hurt having a few nieces egging you on)
You can download skype for free here. My skype username is hobowilson for those of you that sign up.

Christmas Eve is a big feast day for the Italians. I think it has something to do with Lent. You weren't supposed to eat meat, so the italians pulled one over on the Lord, saying that fish wasn't meat and started a tradition that has carried down to today, a shellfish extravaganza. This may not be the number one reason to date an Italian, but it's unquestionably in the top 5 reasons.
Joy's family continues this tradition each year, and I always look forward to it. Joy has made a smaller batch of the pasta for Gene before, and he's been trying to replicate it for the past couple years. For the Christmas Eve meal you are supposed to have 7 types of fish. Joy's family typically has 1. Shrimp 2. Baccala' (salted cod) (nasty) 3. Scungili 4. Clams 5. Mussels 6. Scallops 7. King Crab Legs 8. Lobster Tails. There are two seafood pastas made which contain all but #2 and #3, a white sauce, which Joy usually makes, and a red sauce, which Joy's sister, Christine makes. They call it Zupa da Pesce (sauce of fish) pronounced "Zoopa". Most of the italians from this area came from southern italy and the dialect is such that they drop the last vowel of many words. there is also a hard G for a C sound. The word for pizza is APIZZA, which here is pronounced "Abeetz". Spaghetti is "spagett", Manicotti = "Manigott", and Cannoli, which typically rhymes with Holy, is pronounced "Gahnoal". If you want to impress a New Haven Italian, throw a couple of these words in. Christmas Eve dinner went well and because Joy's nephew and niece both have newborns, the gatherings have been full of people and enjoyment. Here are pics of the food and a pic of Joy, post cooking, with her niece Clare and grand niece Olivia.


We did have a white Christmas and have been enjoying the new house. I saw a pretty amazing sunset just after Christmas. Here is a pic from the upstairs hallway and a pic of the house in the snow (we got about a foot).

I've been happily doing projects for the house. Drapes, Lighting, my first plumbing job, and converting the servant stairs into a double closet. I feel like the superintendent in One Day at a time.

This is Schneider, signing off. Happy New Year everyone.

Fa la la la la la la la la!

I was sifting through photos of past Christmas gatherings and found this gem from Nate's Christmas caroling days. Enjoy!

Year-End Wrap Up...so far!

Hi all! 2009 has been an amazing year with incredible challenges but also amazing miracles. I have made 7 trips (by car) to LA.

 wish the best for all, Merry Christmas, and kudos to Nathan for putting together this family blog so we can all keep in touch. Love to all of you throughout the world! Geneva

I would vote for this guy.

Matt, if you ever run for office, this is the photo you should use for promotion. (thanks mom)

The Photography of John Lewis

Don't know if you all know this, but John Lewis, Dick's son, who I remember growing up was called John John, is an incredible photographer. I asked him permission to post a few of his photos, so you could see how good they are.


This was from a photojournalistic project titled gospel.


John Edwards on the campaign


A great pic of Obama


recognize this guy?

He also has photos of Larry King and Roger Clemens on his site. There are far too many great photos to post here, so you guys have to check out his website, HERE.

(John, tell us about the photo shoot with Obama. And who is the guy with Roger Clemens?)

Finally Moved in

We finally got moved in to the new house.



This is Joy and Chiara the first night.


Here is a photo of one of the former owners, Richard Keasts, taken in 1890.


Here is a photo of the current owner, realizing how short people were in the past. (I'm considering wearing a helmet.)

N

New Haven Magazine article.

New Haven Magazine did a story on my artwork. if you click on the pictures, it will enlarge them enough so you can read the print (hopefully)



(disclaimer: that photo was the photographer's idea, not mine.)

Trip to Madison

I had a good trip to Madison, WI, this past week. I was invited to give a talk at the 50th anniversary of the first meteorological satellite Explorer VII (in October 1959) and one of the key scientists involved in the launch and experiments on the satellite (the late Professor Vern Suomi (1915-1995), professor at UW-Madison). There were about 300 people in attendance at the Monona Conference Center (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright). Quite a festive event. The title of my talk was Suomi: Pragmatic visionary, and I tried to follow the path to his first successful effort to measure the earth's radiation budget from space. There were six speakers including myself. I've never received so many positive responses to any of my talks over the past 40 years (my first presentation was made in December 1969). Better with age I guess. I talked from the heart about Vern and his influence on many of us who worked around him, and also about the Center (Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) at UW-Madison) that he created. It is the only organization where I have worked where the sprit of camaraderie was so prevalent. I mentioned this with example as a preliminary to the talk and that was appreciated. Although I left the organization in 1986, I'm always welcomed as if I've been away about two weeks. It's a real lift to visit my colleagues at SSEC and to give tribute to Vern and the organization. The talk was "off the cuff" and I wasn't quite sure how to end it, but I knew the material very well since I've spent the last few years writing a historical paper (with three co-authors) on Vern (will be published in March 2010). Anyway, I ended with a recollection of Vern's about his graduation from Winona Teachers College in 1936. Vern had came from a hardscrabble life on the Iron Range during the Great Depression. He was destined to be a miner following his father and older brother Anard. His father either lost his job or was fired from the mines in 1929. Anard became the breadwinner at the age of 23 for a family of 9 (two parents and seven children). Anard miraculously scraped up the money for Vern to go to Junior College in Eveleth, MN, and then to the teachers college. Anard came to Vern's graduation at Winona (far SE MN where Eveleth was in the far NE) in 1936 and Vern felt great guilt at Anard's sacrifice. The wise Anard said, "When they honor you, they honor us". Little did he know that Vern would receive the National Medal of Science from Jimmy Carter in 1976. Anyway, I ended with this recollection. After the talks were completed, two older women came up to me --- one was Vern's sister and the other was Anard's daughter. Tears were running down their faces and I of course began to tear up also. I had no idea they were in the audience. We had a long wonderful talk with all kinds of details supplied by the women. It was a night to remember.

Uncle John

Home Owners

It's official. Joy and I closed Friday on the house we were hoping to buy. We are officially the owners of the house on Skokorat Road. I had to leave my painting class at the university to sign the papers and then return to finish the class. My fellow professors came in my class and congratulated me, and gave Joy and I a bottle of champagne. Pretty nice (and embarrassing). I took a few photos of the outside of the house.


We also own the section of land to the left of the stone wall pictured here.


This is a shot from the back of the property. There is a circular driveway. The potting shed is on the right. This is the area we are planning on putting my studio. Either extending the garage or tearing the potting shed down and building a separate structure there. Dad gave us a generous gift towards the building of the studio so I'm going to call it the Gene Joseph Wing when we finish it.

There is really nice light that shines towards the front of the house in the afternoon.


This is our cat, Chiara, (italian for light) with her "you're moving me where?" look.

We're really excited about the place and would love for any of you to visit if you're in this neck of the woods.

Here are a few new and old photos. River Day last week, Mom and Debra on the deck this summer, and a random shot of what they call a pawn shop in Beverly Hills!

Thanks, Nathan, for starting this blog so we can all easily share photos and stories. My algebra mid-term is this upcoming week, I was inspired to read about Anastasia's study habits so I will have to step it up! Geneva.

Happy Birthday Matt

I made a cake for you buddy. :)

Captain’s Log: October 18, 2009

After a 7-year hiatus, Elena is once more behind the wheel. It was a challenge learning to drive in San Francisco, the world’s hilliest city, and it didn’t help that her Chinese instructor had unintelligible English, but that pales by comparison to driving in Moscow, where HUMMERS, Ladas and motorcycles weave through traffic as if someone were shooting an action film, where a missed turn can cost you a 45-minute detour, and where certain areas of town are so congested that people resort to triple parking.

Aren't you glad you can avoid this when you head home from work?



Anastasia is adjusting to 9th grade in the new school she picked. It’s one of the best in Moscow and has a very challenging curriculum. Unfortunately, the school is not near our apartment and has exceptionally long hours, so her typical day sees her leaving home at 7:30, returning around 5:30 in the evening, taking a nap for an hour or so, and then working on homework right up until bedtime.

Even Saturdays are school days! Poor Anastasia! It reminds me of the Johnny Cash Song, “A Boy Named Sue”: So I give ya that name and I said goodbye, I knew you'd have to get tough or die.”







Olivia is doing well in school in spite of the fact that her best friend, Nika, transferred to another school earlier in the year. In September Olivia began studying Latin and ancient Greek, and so far so good, but the subject she’s passionate about is cooking (and Papa agrees she’s quite good at it).

April loves her school and is excited about the swimming classes that were introduced last week. We bought her two pairs of goggles, but she couldn’t wait to use them in class, so she tested them out in the bathtub. For Papa’s birthday April made playdough figurines of every family member using the animals in the Chinese zodiac.










Alex has begun walking, though he still spends most of his time on all fours. When he does walk, he looks like a gangly bowl-legged sailor in search of another drink. He also recently learned how to scale our bed and even knows to disembark feet first. Sometimes we find him on our bed perched on a hill of pillows with his belly out like some grand poobah. His favorite pastime is throwing toys into the bathtub, though a close second is pulling back the curtain when someone’s in the shower. We have to be careful about keeping the bathroom door closed when not in use, otherwise his pacifiers end up in the toilet.

Vat Yu Vant Eet?

What is it in the Russian psyche that compels Muscovites to insist on using their broken English with me? I may look American or English, maybe Scottish, but why does that imply I can’t speak Russian? Or that they can speak English? It’s almost as if they believe that anybody with a foreign face couldn’t possibly speak Russian.

After suffering through their silly routine year after year, I’ve begun to turn the tables on them. In restaurants and airports, I wait for them to take the bait, then I begin the gag:

ME: Здравстуйте, будьте добры яичницу и каппучино. (Translation: Hi, I’ll have fried eggs and a cappuccino, please.)
WAITRESS: Ah! Mebee yu vant Englisch menyu?
ME (loud): O-oh! I find peepl speek Englisch, tu, lik me! In rusha! Is fud heer? For me menyu no nessry. Vat yu say mee say yu vant I eet?
WAITRESS: (long pause)
ME (casually): Только яичницу и каппучино.
(Translation: Just eggs and cappuccino.)
WAITRESS: Конечно. (Translation: Of course.)

Two Score and Zero Years Ago

I suppose it was creaky knees that got me to thinking about aging. It was easy enough to take my mind off the subject though. I’d just turn up the music and keep running. Then about a year ago I began to notice all the younger people around me. At the office, in a restaurant, in the countryside with friends, it didn’t seem to matter where, more and more often I was the oldest person in the room. Then out of nowhere, like a speed bump in the middle of the highway, it happened: I turned 40.

I wish I could say it doesn’t feel any different, but that’s hard to do when you’re about to bid farewell to one of your organs. Tomorrow I’m scheduled to enter the hospital for 5 days, where I’ll have my gallbladder removed. It’s not a terribly important part of the human body, and this kind of operation is as standard as they come, but leaving an organ behind is a new experience for me.

Gee, I hope this doesn’t ruin my six pack abs!

Out and About

We've been on the road a lot lately along with our other responsibilities. A few days in L.A., then last weekend I drove to Alameda to visit Debra, Pancho, and Nicole. It looks like Nicole will be carrying on the art tradition. She has an easel in the kitchen and the photo shows her hard at work on a drawing. Pancho had basketball tryouts (he did great!), and murals all over the high school were striking.

Amazing Ballgame

Joy and I went to the Yankees Twins game 2 for the American League Division Series Playoff game. A great come from behind win with a homerun in the bottom of the 9th by A-Rod and a walk off homerun by Mark Texeira.


Arod's game tying homerun and the crowd going wild (you can see A-Rod about to cross home)


Mark Texeira coming home after hitting the game winning homerun.


Jon, I know you're a Mariano fan like the rest of us. He looks like a viper ready to strike.


One of the unsung heroes of the game. Dave Robertson got out of a bases loaded no out jam. Look at how rubbery his body looks from the torque of throwing the ball.


My sweetheart and the biggest Yankee fan there is.


A stylish Reggie Jackson threw out the first pitch.


A part of every ball game (no pun intended)


Tex's Turn.


Even plumbers like the yankees.