Well, as many of you know, Steph and I undertook a home improvement project to install a home theater system in our family room. Despite the fact that neither one of us are particularly mechanically inclined, a lot of research, planning, and advice from friends (who are mechanically inclined and well-informed in this area), it turned out better than I could have imagined. Anyway, here are the pics:
My "friend" (and I use that term loosely) has asked me to post the following bit of fiction about our relationship and my progress adjusting to my new surroundings:
As most of you know, I have recently changed jobs. I am now with Miller, Canfield in Kalamazoo. This move has worked out very well for me, in large part due to my mentor at Miller, Canfield, John Millhouse. Mr. Millhouse is a source of much inspiration and guidance for me. I feel very fortunate for having him in my professional life. In addition to being a stellar attorney, Mr. Millhouse has taken me under his wing and has shown amazing patience in bringing me along as a lawyer. I am a better lawyer and person as a result of his tutelage. So as we head into this year's Independence Day Holiday, may I suggest that each of us take a moment to thank our respective mentors and shoot off a firework in their honor. Hope to see you all at BD in the near future. Have a safe and happy Holiday. Still having fun in Kalamazoo, Hollywood.
Well, I've made my first foray into the wide world of eBay Sellers! If you or anyone you know is looking for a great, fully-loaded Wi-Fi PDA with Bluetooth navigation, just check out this awesome Ipaq h4155.
Well, admittedly, I've been a little derelict in my duties when it comes to keeping this blog up to date, but that's largely because there's absolutely nothing going on in my life right now. I mean, aside from trivial things like my son's first birthday, my father-in-law's base jumping experience, and my decision to quit my job, uproot my family, and move to Kalamazoo to take a new one, there's just nothing going on!
Really, though, my apologies. 'Tis true; we are moving to Kalamazoo. I've left Rhoades McKee -- one of the finest law firms in West Michigan run by some of the finest people I know -- for the Kalamazoo Office of Miller Canfield -- also a fine, fine law firm run by some excellent folks. There were a number of different factors (both personal and professional) involved, but in the end, the opportunity was simply too good to pass up; I think it will prove to be a very good thing on all levels.
Unfortunately, this means that we are in the process of trying to sell our house in the middle of what can most generously be described as a "soft" residential market. We've listed it with a very good broker (Ken Grashuis), though, and I think it will all work out just fine. The flip side of that coin is that it's a great time to be a buyer in Kalamazoo, and thusfar we've rather enjoyed the "house shopping" process. All told, we've done a lot to get ourselves ready for the move and there's still more to do (I had forgotten what a pain in the behind that whole process can be). We'll keep you updated on the progress. In the meantime, if you know anyone looking for a nice house in Bailey's Grove, let them know that this one is available!
Well, that's the update for now. I'll be updating pictures and what not over the next couple of days. Enjoy!
Well, as some of you know, we returned last week from a family vacation in Hilton Head, SC. It was an AWESOME time. There were a total of 19-1/2 of us (including 7-1/2 children 3 and under) , and it was great. The flu made the rounds, but it was courteous enough to do it by sub-family, so Steph and Jacob were pretty violently ill the last two days, with Jacob being sick on the plane ride home. I didn't get sick until we got home, but when I did, aaaagghhh, that was unpleasant. Anyway, despite the sicknesses, it was a very good time spent with some very good people.
My brother-in-law, Matt Reoch, is a professional photographer. I think I've posted about him before when he and his partner took the Super Bowl "bumps". But, anyway, he was the official photographer for the trip and set up a slideshow of some of the pictures here. Enjoy!
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not entirely sure what "they" mean by "Web 2.0", and to tell you the truth, the term is so loosely used that I'm not even sure that "they" know what it means anymore. But, I'm pretty sure that the fact that I can sit here on my couch and change the channel on my TiVo to enjoy slideshows of pictures posted by my friends and family (some 2500 miles away, some 200 miles away) in real time, instantly after they have posted them, is, at least, a manifestation of it.
Yes, the way it works technically is certainly "clunky" to say the least (friend's camera to friend's computer, friend's computer to friend's router, friend's router to Flickr, Flickr to FlickrCentral, FlickrCentral to TiVo Desktop Server, TiVo Desktop Server to Router, Router to TiVo, TiVo to TV), but the way it "works" from an user interface perspective is, basically, no more complicated than changing the channel on the TV.
No, I don't really know what "Web 2.0" is, but I do know that if this is part of it, I'm pretty excited for the rest of it.
P.S. Of course, if the navigation system on my cell phone which got me repeatedly lost this weekend (I was "leading" the caravan of people because, after all, who needs a paper map when your cell phone can tell you how to get there? -- 5 U-turns later, we turned it over to the paper map) is also "Web 2.0", it still needs some work.
Yes, this story is nearly 4 months old now. Yes, I am just now discovering this. Yes, I am pissed off at my alma matter. Here is the official account of how and why this year's edition of what has evidently come to be known as the "Calvin Spoof" -- i.e. the Bananer progeny -- was nixed by the Calvin administration (or, at least, the "Student Life Committee").
Although I strongly suspect that there were not wholesale expulsions as a result, the would-be spoofers have e-published their work (the Cliche) here. Over the top? Cross the line? In my estimation, probably. Should the Calvin administration have the right to just cancel the project because they don't like the content (the required editorial changes were such that cancelation was the net effect)? I'd say no. That said, I've never understood the funding mechanism for this. I always thought that these Calvin Spoofs were privately funded; or, at least, I always believed that they should be privately funded to avoid this very problem. If they aren't, and if Calvin has been footing the bill for the Calvin Spoofs (which is a funding situation just begging for this type of "incident"), Calvin should be able to weight the likely alumni reaction versus the likely student body reaction and do what it wants with its money. But, assuming a non-Calvin funding source, the administration's meddling is inexcusable. There are any number of ways Calvin could have distanced itself from the publication short of forbidding publication in the first instance, and as an institution constantly struggling to maintain a balance between academia, its religious tenets, and its relatively diverse alumni, Calvin is certainly no stranger to engaging in the politics of perception. This is just something I didn't think I'd ever see, and really, strangely, it's a little bit, well, embarassing.
