I want to have really long hair - all the way to the sky, the sun and the moon!

While it does not quite match J's proclamation he made today at the breakfast table, the picture was the best i could find as far as recent and relevant. C had mentioned that maybe on friday his friend O and he could get his hair cut by a friend who would stop by at O's house.

The picture above was taken on pier 39 in San Fran, while visiting cousin L in San Jose . we had a good time, enjoyed a delicious turkey, and got to stay at S&T's new house. we even got to enjoy the hot tub and played with all their cool toys!

Motorcycle Gang

12 years after i had sold my last motorcycle my friend Michi gave me the opportunity during our visit to Kaernten to test-drive his 'Cagiva Enduro'. it was a lot of fun even though i just took it for a spin down the road and back. J looked on as Papa revved the engine and left some rubber on the asphalt (just kidding).

Five Bagger

Five Strikes in a row? Unlikely, but i thought this picture of J is special. Taken in July this year at J's great cousin's house in P near the Saualpe in Austria, it definitely is one of the more unusual photographic captures. In most pictures, J is not looking towards the camera, rather we end up with a view of a blond hairy ball instead of Julian's face (see next picture). I think it's about time for a SLR!



A tribute to the boyz, at the farm.

In Eigener Sache

today i received my complementary copy of the book 'Emerging Technologies in Wireless LANs'. While taking an (involuntary) break from work last winter I spent some time researching and writing about the technology of WiFi mesh networks as an alternate means of affordable broadband Internet access. I had met the editor at an IEEE meeting last fall and was subsequently invited to write about the technology we were working on at my company at that time. it was a fun project, and represents a nice addition to my resume (I'd like to think).

One year ago ...

... it was that we got J's bed ready for him to sleep in. already at the age of 2 he was such a good helper, with the wrench and screws, etc. he's been sleeping in his bed since, albeit not without calling for his Mama pretty much every night, which leaves me alone in our bed :( i miss her, but at the same time it must be important for J to have his Mama sleep beside him for at least part of the night.


we had a good weekend, filled with trains, shopping at the Bonita shopping center, dinner for two at the gulf coast grill (without the extra expense of a babysitter as J, exhausted from the day, was resting in his stroller). Sunday was a day for the zoo, and swimming at the Y. and, it actually rained some in the afternoon.

Eugenie Goldstern

This fell out of a copy of the book that C is currently translating from German into English. She says that it is still here favorite bookmark.

I am in the process of proofreading her translation of the biography of Eugenie Goldstern, a Jewish Folklore researcher who was born in Odessa, Ukraine and fled to Vienna in the late 1800's to begin her studies at the University of Vienna. her research took her to many places in the heart of Europe, including the town of Bessans in the French Alps where she lived and studied with the local people high up in a mountain town. Some of her work, including many pictures Eugenie took during this time, were on display at the Vienna Folklore museum several years ago while C and i were living there. I distinctly remember the pictures she took of the family who shared their space with cows and goats, who helped to keep them warm during the cold winter months. C thinks the smell must have been awful, but i guess one gets used to that rather quickly. Plus, there is the benefit of having the company of 'pets', which at the same time provided some of the daily food items such as milk and cheese, and possibly some meat as well.

Solid Rock

today was J's first time at a climbing gym. i left work a couple hours early today to pick J up from school and we went to 'solid rock gym' down by the airport to meet his friend active boy and his dad B. at first J and active boy were mostly interested in the pebbles on the floor, but once they saw B climb and JK struggle on the walls J wanted to give it a try, too. we made it more interesting for the boys by pointing out that the holds were shaped like little animals and fruits. J particularly started liking the 'mixed berry' route and the 'blackberry' route, both of which got him up about 6 feet above ground. i suggested he put on his safety harness so he could go even farther, but he had no interest. after we got home and had dinner, J and i went to the park down the street and had the whole playground for ourselves (no wonder, it was already dark and pretty chilly).

It's Boo Time

the fires last week delayed our entire life by one week - we did not even start carving pumpkins until the night before halloween. J is very fond of the book 'too many pumpkins', which tells the story of Rebecca Estelle who hated these vegetables most of her life because she was forced to eat them when she was a child when there was not much money too buy any other food. when a pumpkin truck drove by her house and dropped a pumpkin, causing the seeds to sprout the next spring, she frantically tried to get of them, to no avail. that fall dozens of pumpkins grew in her front yard, and she needed a way to get rid of them. they were too heavy to cart away, so she decided to make all sorts of pumpkin dishes, and carved several more, some of which had the word 'boo' written on them. the candles in them made the glow at night and attracted the towns people, who were invited into the house to try all of the pumkin goodies she made, and even take some home, along with a jack o'lantern and roasted pumpkin seeds. all Rebecca kept was a handful of seeds, ready for next year's pumpkin harvest.