It’s NGP @ PDF 2007 in NYC. We had to catch an early train to get here (guess who missed the 5:02 and had to catch the 5:25?), but it’s been worth the effort. Now I’m ready for the cocktail party, and a snooze on the train ride home tonight.
For the last two years I’ve blogged about how well my own name, Christopher, is performing on the Social Security Administrations annual list of most popular names. In 2005 the news was grim, Chris was dropping and had sunk to #10 on the top ten list. Last year I was glad to report that the trend was reversing, and Christopher had climbed back into the #9 spot.
And now I’m glad to tell you that the climb continues. In the year 2006, Christopher was the #7 most popular name for baby boys. Lookout Jacob, we’re climbing the charts with a bullet baby, and not stopping until we hit #1!
Thanks to Eric for the reminder
My dad recently shared this photo from a slide he digitized. From the age of my sister and our clothes I’d guess it’s from the spring of 1973. From Left to right are my brothers Sean, Kevin, myself, Jennifer, and our wonderful and loving mother. Happy Mother’s Day Mom! You’re the best, and we love you.
This morning’s news is that VP ‘Big’ Dick Cheney has made a surprise visit to Baghdad. You’ll know things are going better in Iraq when a visit by the President, VP or cabinet secretary there is no longer described as a ‘surprise’. I imagine the Iraqi Prime Minister, walking into a darkened conference room and the lights come on and he’s confronted by Dick shouting ‘Surprise! I’m here!’. It must be hard, as I’d guess they’re tired of guests from America. Or maybe Cheney is part of the surge. He can tell the Iraqis to “Go F Themselves“, which would be good, because I think we’ve F’d them enough.
Top five what you ask? According to this article in the Potomac News, my county of Prince William in Virginia has the fifth worst commute in the whole United States! Woo-Hoo! According to a study conducted by U.S. News & World Report, the average commute for a resident of my county is 40.5 minutes, and each of the top four worst commutes are all New York counties.
I guess I’m a little surprised… worse that any in LA? Worse than anywhere but NYC? Wow. But I know I’m spoiled for two reasons. First, I’m very fortunate to work for a company that allows me to telecommute for a few days of each week. And second, last summer I discovered the local commuter bus, OmniRide, which literally picks me up and drops me off within sight of my own front door. And for these reasons it’s now a very rare day where I drive myself into DC and I can tell you that’s fine with me.
I hope we don’t climb any higher on this list, as I don’t need my bus getting stuck in traffic any worse than it has to. But if it does, it’s just a little more reading time on the way in, and a little more nap time on the way out 🙂
County has fifth-worst commute in nation
The Potomac News, 5/8/07
Last week the Washington Post began a series of articles about Political Consultants, including a front page story last Friday about Internet Strategists. The Post dubbed them Online Political Operatives, or OPOs. It’s the first I’ve heard that title, it’s too soon to say if it will stick. But I did enjoy seeing some well-deserved attention being paid to a field of work I have been involved in for fifteen years.
This weekend I spoke at a training for political fundraisers in a session about online fundraising. The organizer introduced me with a brief bio, including the fact that the first online campaign campaign that I worked on was for Senator Kennedy’s 1994 Senate race.
Looking out at the room of young faces, my curiosity got the best of me. “Give me a show of hands”, I asked, “how many of you were in college in 1994?”.
A couple of hands in the back of the room went up.
“How many of you were in high school in 1994?”
Again, just a few hands are raised.
“How many of you were in grade school in 1994?”
A sea of hands reaches skyward.
My initial reaction was just to feel a bit old. But on reflection, it was really very nice. I’m glad to be an old man OPO and I hope I to continue finding opportunities to share what I’ve learned and learn something in return from the growing numbers of young fledgling OPOs out there.
Meet the OPOs
The Washington Post, 5/4/07
We’re in some club level sweet seats here tonight, guests of our friends at Trellon. Many thanks to them, and go Sox! More photos here.
Washington, DC is a city of memorials and sculptures, most of which commemorate individuals and events in our American history. Combined with DC’s many wonderful museums and other attractions, they provide many a fine place to pause, reflect and appreciate. But far from the National Mall and well off of the beaten track, is one (or several) sculptures that serve an entirely different purpose. It is called The Awakening, and it is actually a few different pieces that together give the appearance of a buried giant that is angrily (or painfully) emerging from under the ground. I’ve always tried to make The Awakening a stop on our standard DC tour when we have guests from out of town. It’s best when they have young children, and you can set it up on the drive out to Hains Point with a tall tale about the buried giant.
Well, apparently The Awakening is about to get up and move completely. The sculpture’s owner has plans on moving it to the shopping complex he’s developing. That would be a shame. Leave the giant be.
The Hains Point Hand: Stealing Away A Public Treasure
Mark Fisher, The Washington Post, 4/25/07
For the last few months I’ve been cramming on Ireland books in preparation for my recent visit there. And now that my trip has come and gone, I expect that although I’m sure to continue reading about Ireland, I will likely change subjects for a while. The Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd was a good place to end my run of Ireland-themed reading. I had read much of Irish history to this point, but this piece of historical fiction tied centuries worth if Irish history together through the intertwined lives of several fictional families.
This is actually the second of a two-book series called The Dublin Saga and was preceded by The Princes of Ireland which I have yet to read. The Rebels of Ireland begins in 1597 and spans through the 1916 Easter Uprising and does a great job providing a glimpse at how the major events of Irish history during that timespan might have been experienced by families and individuals. For a hefty 850+ pages in this book, I found they turned very easily. I’ll look forward to backtracking and reading The Princes of Ireland, but maybe after just a brief break to mix up the reading list with some other subject matter for a bit.
R.I.P. Mr. Vonnegut. Thanks for the great reads.
(Via Think Progress.)
Kurt Vonnegut passes away at 84.: ”
‘Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark comic talent and urgent moral vision in novels like ‘Slaughterhouse-Five,’ ‘Cat’s Cradle’ and ‘God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater’ caught the temper of his times and the imagination of a generation, died Wednesday night in Manhattan. He was 84.’
From a 2003 interview with In These Times:
I myself feel that our country, for whose Constitution I fought in a just war, might as well have been invaded by Martians and body snatchers. Sometimes I wish it had been. What has happened, though, is that it has been taken over by means of the sleaziest, low-comedy, Keystone Cops-style coup d’etat imaginable. And those now in charge of the federal government are upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka ‘Christians,’ and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities, or ‘PPs.’
Video of Vonnegut interviewed on the Daily Show is HERE.
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(Via Think Progress.)
