
<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-25-spanair-a320-legroom-is-a-disgrace/5973803967_f055a366ff_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Spanair A320">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-25-spanair-a320-legroom-is-a-disgrace/5973803967_370fdb44b5_t.jpg" alt="Spanair A320"/>
</a>

On my recent return from the United States, I had the displeasure of taking Spanair flight _JK 6116_ from Madrid to Bilbao on an [Airbus A320](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A320_family). I'm not a big air traveler, but I take about ten flights a year. This A320 had the least amount of legroom on any plane I've ever been on. Spanair should be ashamed of themselves for cramming so many seats onto this aircraft.  <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-25-spanair-a320-legroom-is-a-disgrace/5973795923_fda76a2831_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="A320 Spanair Legroom">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-25-spanair-a320-legroom-is-a-disgrace/5973795923_33747d8318.jpg" alt="A320 Spanair Legroom"/>
</a>

I'm not a particularly tall man at 6'Â½" (184 cm), but I am on the taller end of the bell curve. There was absolutely no way, with my posterior as far back in the seat as possible, that I could keep my knees in the area that my seat's passenger is supposed to occupy. If I had been next to someone of the same height, we would not have fit at all. I had to be constantly aware of when the flight attendants were moving carts around to protect my right knee.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-25-spanair-a320-legroom-is-a-disgrace/5974363230_71dbce03de_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Legroom Show-Off">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-25-spanair-a320-legroom-is-a-disgrace/5974363230_dbd6305aa9.jpg" alt="Legroom Show-Off"/>
</a>

Show off! Apparently they designed this plane for toddlers.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-25-spanair-a320-legroom-is-a-disgrace/5974358972_cecd83546d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="A320 Spanair Belly Room">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-25-spanair-a320-legroom-is-a-disgrace/5974358972_c741a91607.jpg" alt="A320 Spanair Belly Room"/>
</a>

Although I am overweight – and never more so than when I'm flying back from the US – at 185 lb (84 kg), I am nowhere near obesity and am probably on the thin side of the bell curve for Americans. I could _just barely_ get the tray table down to horizontal by sucking in my belly. And the tray table had those rails, so it could have theoretically extended even closer to me.

On the flight from the US to Madrid there was a woman that needed one of those seat belt extenders because she was too obese for the regular seatbelt to latch. I can't imagine what she would've done in this A320...just not fly, I guess.

It was the tray table that really proved to me that Spanair was guilty of putting too many seats in the aircraft, seats designed to have much more space between them. Even if I were trying to skimp on some [cheap holidays all inclusive](http://www.onthebeach.co.uk/) package, I'd expect a higher level of comfort that Spanair afforded me. I don't have the kind of money that allows me to be picky about which airlines I use, but I will do my best to avoid Spanair in the future.


Spanair A320 Legroom is a Disgrace


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-21-motion-composite-dives/5962530930_4b57b6cdc7_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Paul Dives">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-21-motion-composite-dives/5962530930_06d9c00db5_t.jpg" alt="Paul Dives"/>
</a>

Recently, when I was with my family [at a swimming pool](/2011/07/19/mermaid-girl/), I had the opportunity to use the fast shutter rate of my DSLR camera to take some quick photographs of them. I took the photographs specifically with the intention of practicing a Photoshop technique called motion composition or motion multiplication. The idea is that you make a composite photograph of a subject that is in motion by combining [various copies](/2009/01/21/my-peeps/) of the subject in different positions.  Enjoy!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-21-motion-composite-dives/5961975837_947125c07b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Marga Flips">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-21-motion-composite-dives/5961975837_94db777809.jpg" alt="Marga Flips"/>
</a>

Marga does a back flop.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-21-motion-composite-dives/5962530930_4b57b6cdc7_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Paul Dives">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-21-motion-composite-dives/5962530930_06d9c00db5.jpg" alt="Paul Dives"/>
</a>

Paul belly flops swan dives. This one is actually worth [viewing a little bigger](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/5962530930/lightbox/).

Overall, I'm quite pleased with the results of my first attempt at this technique. I will have to keep my eyes out for other subjects apt for this process.


Motion Composite Dives


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955436063_d944fdf44c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Steam Engine">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955436063_128dafb93a_t.jpg" alt="Steam Engine"/>
</a>

On July 4, 2011, my country's 235th birthday, my family and I visited Tweetsie Railroad, in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. I would be the first to agree that the name sounds like some sort of social networking app (and they might do well to unload [tweetsie.com](http://tweetsie.com/) before the bubble bursts), but Tweetsie Railroad is actually a "Wild West theme park", from back in ye olde days when _theme parks_ actually had _themes_. The primary attraction since its opening in 1957 has been an old coal-burnin', steam-tootin' train engine that takes visitors around a three mile track.  When we told people around my home town that we had gone to Tweetsie Railroad, the first question everyone asked was, "Do the Indians still board the train?" To spice up the original train ride, actors perform a staged train robbery, where the cowboys have to victoriously fight off the savage gold-robbin' Indians. The answer is, "No, the Indians don't board the train anymore, but the overweight actors pretending to be cowboys do fight off some other white actors in face paint and wigs pretending to be Native Americans." It's not remotely politically correct, and I assume that it will continue to change, especially since the kids born in the Obama administration don't watch nearly as many Wild West shows on television as the kids born in the Eisenhower administration.

My favorite parts of Tweetsie Railroad when visiting it this time were the same as when I visited it as a child: the petting zoo, the chair lift, and the train ride...in that order. Despite being a little below the target age of the theme park, Nora had an absolutely spectacular time. If we hadn't pulled her away, she would've loved to just ride the carousel all day. The look of awe and wonder as we did each new activity was so refreshing to see. One of the best joys of parenting is to vicariously rediscover the world through your child's eyes.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955363541_d7c0311871_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Tweetsie Railroad">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955363541_64efdcae11.jpg" alt="Tweetsie Railroad"/>
</a>

Approaching Tweetsie.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955933228_1b6691a56d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Riding plastic horses">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955933228_8ee7207f8c.jpg" alt="Riding plastic horses"/>
</a>

She loved riding these plastic horses. And Nora did, too.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955391437_9974645087_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Train passengers">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955391437_8e5e8bf6fc.jpg" alt="Train passengers"/>
</a>

On the train. My father had visited TripAdvisor and learned that the best place to be was on the right side of car #3. We quickly took our seats, and then watched as everyone else also knew where to go, piling into the right side of the cars, and particularly in car #3. Just before we left, some stragglers came in and saw no one on the left side of the aisle and figured they should've come earlier. Sure enough, all the action to see was on the right side of the train, centered around the middle car, #3.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955403039_02c124c937_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Fun on the train">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955403039_48cc875f23.jpg" alt="Fun on the train"/>
</a>

Nora enjoyed the train ride a lot. Since it's a real coal burning train, the conductor warned us before leaving the station that we had to be careful that falling embers and ash might enter the train, and to wear sunglasses if we had 'em. Sure enough, ash did blow a bit into the train, but it was nothing a little brush of the shoulder couldn't remedy.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955398035_d5287b115b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Cowboy actors">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955398035_e75cd686f8.jpg" alt="Cowboy actors"/>
</a>

Very, very amateur cowboy actors did a bit of a [George and Lennie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mice_and_men) routine. The general plot was that the moron outlaws, with intentions of robbing the train, got caught by the moderately competent law enforcement, but they had to be released temporarily to band together in their whiteness to fight the attacking Indians.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955961812_5b738be159_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Guns are LOUD!!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955961812_41eb070c71.jpg" alt="Guns are LOUD!!"/>
</a>

Nora _hated_ the guns. They were really, really authentically loud. It seems to me like they could make the show just as entertaining without being such an aural assault.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955974542_f0d834ed15_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="A scary indian villain">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955974542_c16b403d04.jpg" alt="A scary indian villain"/>
</a>

Oh no! A white guy with his face painted red, white and blue on July 4th! A brutal savage or a member of the Tea Party?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955416637_69d6575604_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Cowboys vs. Indians">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955416637_f67a88a22b.jpg" alt="Cowboys vs. Indians"/>
</a>

Look out, cowboy!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955980230_caf4f25214_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Cowboys vs. Indians">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955980230_b5f3a4dd34_m.jpg" alt="Cowboys vs. Indians"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955424441_d5dcfab750_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Cowboys vs. Indians">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955424441_7ec612d0a1_m.jpg" alt="Cowboys vs. Indians"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955987654_ac312bed6e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Cowboys vs. Indians">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955987654_cc2f64e87c_m.jpg" alt="Cowboys vs. Indians"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955427739_89b500de14_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Cowboys vs. Indians">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955427739_0708b43eb2_m.jpg" alt="Cowboys vs. Indians"/>
</a>

\[Insert comic book action onomatopoeias here\]

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955436063_d944fdf44c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Steam Engine">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955436063_128dafb93a.jpg" alt="Steam Engine"/>
</a>

The engine is a beautiful machine, I must admit.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955438913_cb7d442217_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Carousel">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955438913_6e8fac45ae.jpg" alt="Carousel"/>
</a>

Nora _loved_ the carousel.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956003564_d3e394a2d8_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Stroller Parking">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956003564_cc9edabe4a.jpg" alt="Stroller Parking"/>
</a>

This made me chuckle. To take the chair lift up to the upper part of the park, we had to leave our stroller down below.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956028032_087d4a493c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Feeding deer">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956028032_6fa4cc95a4.jpg" alt="Feeding deer"/>
</a>

Feeding the deer.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956046004_2e0637138e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Baby goats">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956046004_3290e184b1.jpg" alt="Baby goats"/>
</a>

And even better: Baby goats!!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956049350_850cb483f9_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Baby goats">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956049350_11266e2239_m.jpg" alt="Baby goats"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955491335_a185227ae2_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Baby goats">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955491335_004a191ecb_m.jpg" alt="Baby goats"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956063412_1b64052dc4_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Baby goats">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956063412_b2cf772ebb_m.jpg" alt="Baby goats"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955504229_f6dec2c826_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Baby goats">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955504229_8e07ce275c_m.jpg" alt="Baby goats"/>
</a>

Nora couldn't quite get up the courage to let one eat from her hand, but she enjoyed petting them for 0.5 seconds at a time. I _kid_ you not.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956075652_a1f357d76f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Emu">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956075652_4e0890c99b.jpg" alt="Emu"/>
</a>

Not quite a [Galapagos cruise](http://www.theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk/luxury-holidays-by-destination/south-america/ecuador-and-galapagos-islands/the-galapagos-islands), but there were some pretty bizarre animals you don't see every day.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956083082_c6771b687c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Chair Lift">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5956083082_b097b552b9.jpg" alt="Chair Lift"/>
</a>

When we were eating some hotdogs and pulled pork sandwiches, a thunderstorm arrived very quickly, so we got to ride down the chair lift in the somewhat-sideways rain, accompanied by not-so-distant thunder. I really enjoyed the chair lift. I would've enjoyed just riding it up and down a few more times.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955527191_eaf6c2f80e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Chair Lift">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955527191_a687c1c248.jpg" alt="Chair Lift"/>
</a>

My parents liked it, too.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955405953_dfa04f8b49_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Fun on the train">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-20-tweetsie-railroad/5955405953_dafede5317.jpg" alt="Fun on the train"/>
</a>

All in all, I think we had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back in the coming years when Nora is a little bit older. She fell asleep just as soon as we got the car in gear and slept all the way back down the mountain to my parents' house.


Tweetsie Railroad


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5953690027_0796af2f87_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Picnic Lunch">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5953690027_7a61631a89_t.jpg" alt="Picnic Lunch"/>
</a>

In North Carolina in the summer, it gets _very_ hot. Like in southern Spain, there are several hours every day when you simply can't be outside unless you're actively cooling yourself with water. Marga and Nora spent a lot of time in swimming pools. First, they went to the municipal pool at the Morganton Recreational Center, which has a nice kids pool where Nora can touch the bottom. It's in a nice location because they can walk there from my parents new house they bought a year ago. Later in the week, they decided to go to the swimming pool at my parents old, yet unsold, house, a pool my mother has spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours cleaning in the twenty years they lived there. That was a lot of fun too. At first, Nora was a little skeptical of the water, but eventually she made it to the point where she was throwing herself into the pool from the steps.  <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5954178170_bbb0529764_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Morganton Municipal Swimming Pool">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5954178170_4511cac383.jpg" alt="Morganton Municipal Swimming Pool"/>
</a>

In the public pool.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5954181458_3666fe7e93_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Morganton Municipal Swimming Pool">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5954181458_2c5233f43b.jpg" alt="Morganton Municipal Swimming Pool"/>
</a>

Fun! Nothing like spending a dollar to get into the municipal pool to keep the budget low on your [cheap family holidays abroad](http://www.onthebeach.co.uk/cheap-holidays-abroad), eh?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5953680773_d16eba4619_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Swimming with Grandma and Grandpa">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5953680773_d0e37d1a15.jpg" alt="Swimming with Grandma and Grandpa"/>
</a>

With Grandma in the private pool.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5954237646_db0b698601_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Swimming with Grandma and Grandpa">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5954237646_dfac828b03.jpg" alt="Swimming with Grandma and Grandpa"/>
</a>

Is that Grandpa or an albino porpoise?

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5954244512_1b4bbf84aa_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Swimming with Grandma">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5954244512_f4836c46bf.jpg" alt="Swimming with Grandma"/>
</a>

The first day, she refused to do anything but sit on the steps and claim to be "swimming". But by the end, she'd kick around, though always in contact with someone.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5953688027_aaccd57f90_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Picnic Lunch">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5953688027_6deedab7a6.jpg" alt="Picnic Lunch"/>
</a>

One day we took a picnic lunch.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5953690027_0796af2f87_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Picnic Lunch">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5953690027_7a61631a89_z.jpg" alt="Picnic Lunch"/>
</a>

She loved her water wings. As with most things, it took some convincing to get them on her the first time, and then some arguing to get them off her when it was time to go home.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5954249894_c095db1f93_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Watermelon Smile">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-19-mermaid-girl/5954249894_b57142f8e9.jpg" alt="Watermelon Smile"/>
</a>

Nothing says summer like a cold watermelon.

<iframe width="500" height="310" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/J-FPx1RZ9Fs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Mermaid Girl


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-14-toddler-conversations/5931769812_b5b8f5ffed_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Airplane Leg Room Show-Off">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-14-toddler-conversations/5931769812_4c0039d5ed_t.jpg" alt="Airplane Leg Room Show-Off"/>
</a>

Nora continues to excel lingually in both English and Spanish. Oh, wait, she [didn't used to](/2011/01/13/lopsided-language-development/). Her English got a much needed boost on our fortnight (a flight attendant asked why we were going for only four nights) visit to the United States. When we arrived, she was speaking about 20% English, and when we left, she was using English about 90% of the time, even with her mother.

As parents often do, I had high expectations for her to not confuse the two languages upon returning to Spain. However, she did, in fact, speak a few sentences to her _abuelos_ in English. I had to teach my mother-in-law that "me too" means "_yo también_" and what a "potty" is. She said, "Oh, I'll remember that for sure, since my pharmacist is named _Poti_." A few Nora-centered anecdotes for you...

One day when I went in to wake up Nora, I opened the window blinds and she sat up in her crib, rubbed her eyes, and said, "I want to get out." I said, "Okay, you want to get down?" She replied, "Not [down](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=get%20down), out!"

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-14-toddler-conversations/5931216175_ff7e27573c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Playdoh Airline">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-14-toddler-conversations/5931216175_5a2a74db9a_m.jpg" alt="Playdoh Airline"/>
</a>

That night, I was awakened by Nora shouting, "Noooooo! Daddy nooooo!!!!" Startled, I sat up and headed quickly to her room, but she soon continued, "No, Daddy, the cookie is for Mommy!!" I smiled and headed back to bed. Even toddlers dream of conflicts.

The following day when I went in, the first thing she said was, "Is Mommy working?" I replied in the affirmative, and she said, "To make money?" I've since taught her another step in the capitalism chain, that money is "to buy things for Nora".

We've been a few weeks now without using diapers during the day. It's been going surprisingly well so far, but we still have some accidents. When she's at home, she's often bottomless if not completely naked. She's going through a "clothing is cramping my style, man!" phase. This morning, she got really still and serious. Just as I was about to suggest she head for the potty, she let out a loud fart. She was clearly relieved, but in a split second, some doubt spread across her face and she turned around and looked at the ground behind her to make sure it had been only gas. Cute, but later in the day we weren't so lucky.

What follows is a pretty adorable video of me interviewing her about the rain outside, [again](/2011/05/31/se-acabo-el-turno-the-turn-is-over/). I ask her specifically about going "to see Tona", the fruit lady at the local grocer who is best buds with Nora. In retrospect, I can't believe I didn't understand her pronunciation of "a kiss". She's still sporting a lovely braid in her hair that her favorite daycare provider, Nella, did for her the day before. Nella is the only one that can braid her hair.

<iframe width="500" height="284" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ITciD8C9Zto" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Toddler Conversations


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-13-the-beauty-of-google-circles/5933371747_c714bd8043_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Social Networking Logo Fun">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-13-the-beauty-of-google-circles/5933371747_0a0f93fb12_t.jpg" alt="Social Networking Logo Fun"/>
</a>

I think I've finally gotten my head around Google's intention with using "circles" for control of social networking content. It could be a really elegant solution to the awkwardness of the rules outlined by Twitter and Facebook. Some people like the openness of Twitter, and other people like the exclusivity of Facebook, but I think that Google may have managed to combine the best of both worlds and allow its users to control where their use of Google+ falls on the spectrum from Twitter to Facebook. 

![Google+ Sharing Options](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-13-the-beauty-of-google-circles/5933233673_a98a603399.jpg "Google+ Sharing Options")

### Twitter

Twitter is a bit like microblogging; you spit out [your stream of interesting observations](https://twitter.com/erikras), and people can either choose to listen to you or not. This form of sharing is most useful for celebrities or corporations or brands, who can market new products or offers on [best last minute holidays](http://www.holidayhypermarket.co.uk/last-minute-holidays) or whatever. But it can also be a fun to meet new likeminded people. I like the laissez-faire, Darwinian nature of it, where, if you tweet things that are interesting enough to a lot of people, eventually you will get a lot of people listening to you.

This is the equivalent of "Public" sharing on Google+. I suspect that most of my posts on Google+ will be marked as public since I will be duplicating most of the content on Twitter, and I have [a general aversion to restricted sharing](/2011/07/01/google-restricted-sharing-is-a-bad-idea/).

For Google+ to completely obsolete Twitter – which I don't think will happen soon – it would need some form of tagging, because sometimes Twitter hashtags can be quite fun and useful.

### Facebook

When I first started using Google+, I was confused why I wasn't having to accept anyone's "friend request". I just got notified that people were "adding me to their circles", _and without my permission_! The problem was that I was still thinking with a Facebook mindset. Facebook demands a bidirectional relationship. If I don't explicitly agree that you can listen to my posts, then you can't.

The closest equivalent to this on Google+ is to share content to "Your circles" (e.g. everyone that you have agreed to be friends with, _**though not necessarily that have agreed to be friends with you!**_). This is a good default setting for anyone moving from Facebook to Google+. Of course you can further restrict your sharing to any arbitrary subset of your Google+ connections.

### Conclusion

Any time someone comes along with a new way of doing things, it's a bit jarring. The more I understand Google+'s circle system, the more I like it, with the exception of [being excluded from posts I would be interested in that the poster thinks I wouldn't](/2011/07/01/google-restricted-sharing-is-a-bad-idea/). I think that Google's circles are simple enough for anyone to understand, but complex and customizable enough to allow for a very fine level of control for its users. Google+ is still in its infancy and is lacking many, many features that will be needed to permanently pull users away from its competitors, but I see a lot of potential and nothing spurs innovation like some good healthy competition.

In the interest of brevity, I have simplified the privacy settings on Twitter and Facebook for this post to the way that I personally have my accounts set up.


The Beauty of Google+ Circles


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931937410_d56488648f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Mast General Store">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931937410_db8380499e_t.jpg" alt="Mast General Store"/>
</a>

One of the interesting must-see places in the Boone and Blowing Rock area of North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains is the [Mast General Store](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mast_General_Store). Built in the late nineteenth century (that's like America's equivalent of a medieval castle!), it is a store that has retained an old style of nineteenth century consumerism: the general store. When rural people would "go into town to the store", they meant they were going into the general store. It was a store that sold absolutely everything, not unlike [the Chinese stores in modern day Spain](/2010/10/21/chinese-capitalism-in-spain/), be it bolts, rice, pillow cases, cheese, jigsaws, milk, rope, candy, razors, motor oil or olive oil...everything but [deals on cheap package holidays](http://www.holidayhypermarket.co.uk/package-holidays).  My family and I visited the Mast General Store on July 3, before we attended a [wedding in Boone](/2011/07/07/charley-and-christannes-wedding/). The worst thing about the store was the popularity of the place. If there had been about 700 fewer customers, the experience would've been a lot nicer. It's a bit like a living museum, but with stuff you might actually want or need, too.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931317743_bf0e08b65b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Valle Crucis Road">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931317743_6038c31fa5.jpg" alt="Valle Crucis Road"/>
</a>

The drive through the woods to Valle Crucis was beautiful, if a bit curvy.

I have sort of reconnected with the Valle Crucis area over the past few years by following a beautiful photo blog by a woman who lives there. She posts some [really spectacular photos](http://blueridgeblog.blogs.com/blue_ridge_blog/2010/10/valle-crucis-this-morning.html) of mountain nature scenes.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931876026_8febeed99a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Only two digits for cents/gallon, eh?">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931876026_56df2d4a58.jpg" alt="Only two digits for cents/gallon, eh?"/>
</a>

Only two digits for the "cents per gallon" counter? Ha! That's funny.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931323049_472e6a8c93_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mast General Store Motorcycle">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931323049_aa1922d67b.jpg" alt="Mast General Store Motorcycle"/>
</a>

This American-flag-clad motorcycle parked out front seemed a little too perfect.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931884336_c7fa05258a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Straight Razors">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931884336_06183a1289.jpg" alt="Straight Razors"/>
</a>

Smith & Wesson straight razors.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931340917_524e21a847_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Cold Sodas">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931340917_46efaf9621.jpg" alt="Cold Sodas"/>
</a>

Of course I had to get a cold beverage from the cooler. I am just barely old enough to remember going down to a somewhat-general store where they had a Coke machine that sold glass bottles and popping the top off with the little opener on the machine such that the cap fell down a chute into the machine.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931334565_636c80be6d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Underlit Honey Bears">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931334565_d4348c2d2b.jpg" alt="Underlit Honey Bears"/>
</a>

The lighting on these honey bears was too good not to photograph.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931331757_cf32c595f5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Like a kid in a candy shop!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931331757_f57143881e.jpg" alt="Like a kid in a candy shop!"/>
</a>

Nora was like a kid in a candy shop.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931905744_f9c5b3b39e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="J.R. Watkins Products">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931905744_edbba2cd44.jpg" alt="J.R. Watkins Products"/>
</a>

The ye olde apothecary section was interesting.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931908350_5b39f62bf9_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="American Girl">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931908350_2d1621312b.jpg" alt="American Girl"/>
</a>

"Molly McIntire is a lively girl growing up in 1944. As her father cares for wounded soldiers and her mother works for the Red Cross, Molly makes sacrifices of her own to help her country during World War Two. Bring the stories of Molly and the other amazing American Girl characters to life by collecting their inspiring books and keepsake-quality 18-inch dolls and accessories."

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931357839_25841cdca9_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Backporch Music">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931357839_4af9c868f3.jpg" alt="Backporch Music"/>
</a>

Of _course_ there was live music out on the back porch!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931919352_1d2b995e08_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora in Mast General Store">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931919352_4a445da31c.jpg" alt="Nora in Mast General Store"/>
</a>

It's pretty amazing that I was able to get a shot of Nora without any tourists around. With a little Photoshoppery, I might be able to pass it off as a ghost picture! It already looks like she's hovering.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931937410_d56488648f_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mast General Store">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931937410_db8380499e.jpg" alt="Mast General Store"/>
</a>

The view from outside the Mast General Store.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931941106_0821bb9935_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mast General Store Annex Candy Shop">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931941106_1d58344249.jpg" alt="Mast General Store Annex Candy Shop"/>
</a>

After we finished at the Mast General Store, we headed down to the Mast General Store Annex, just down the road, to check out their supply of old fashioned candy, the kind you remember from your childhood but is no longer sold at the grocery store.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931944342_7300668648_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Mast General Store Annex Candy Shop">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-12-mast-general-store/5931944342_044b7d7300.jpg" alt="Mast General Store Annex Candy Shop"/>
</a>

We had a great time. I highly recommend visiting if you are ever in the area.


Mast General Store - Valle Crucis


![Perpetual Barganing](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-10-parenting-perpetual-bargaining/Refresh-icon.png)My two year old now had the mental capacity to reason through simple causal statements like "Mommy is sleeping, because it's night time, so we need to be quiet," but the logical side of her brain isn't yet powerful enough to override the emotional side enough to accept, "It's night time, so you need to lie down in your crib, be quiet, and have the light off and no one else in the room with you." She does, however, accept small bargains where good behavior results in her getting something that she wants. Lately I've been using this to my advantage.  In my daughter's mind, the ideal bedtime scenario consists of her mother bending over the side of the crib to hold her hand _all night long_. When she doesn't get this, she complains. Many nights my daughter and I have followed more or less this exact pattern of negotiations:

> Nora: \[cry\] Daddy! Daddy! Give me your hand, Daddy! \[cry\]
> 
> Daddy: Nora, do you want me to sit down \[in this comfortable chair near the crib\]?
> 
> Nora: \[cry\] No! Give me your hand, Daddy! \[cry\]
> 
> Daddy: Okay, if you don't want me to sit down, then I'm going to leave.
> 
> Nora: \[wail\] Your hand! Daddy!! \[cry\]
> 
> Daddy: Okay, I'm leaving. Let me know when you want me to sit down. \[leaves the room\]
> 
> Nora: \[screams\]
> 
> \[30 seconds of suffered punishment\]
> 
> Daddy: \[opens door\] Nora, would you like me to sit down?
> 
> Nora: \[sob\] Daddy, sit down! \[sniffle\]
> 
> Daddy: Okay, I'll sit down, but only if you sit down \[in your crib\] too.
> 
> Nora: Daddy, sit down.
> 
> Daddy: If you won't sit down, then I'm going to leave.
> 
> Nora: \[sits down fast\] Daddy, sit down.
> 
> Daddy: Okay. \[sits down\]
> 
> \[30 seconds of enjoyed reward\]
> 
> Daddy: Nora, you need to lie down.
> 
> Nora: No.
> 
> Daddy: \[starts to get up\] If you won't lie down, I'm leaving.
> 
> Nora: Sit down! \[lies down\]
> 
> Daddy: \[sits back in chair\] Good girl.
> 
> Nora: Daddy?
> 
> Daddy: What?
> 
> Nora: Daddy?
> 
> Daddy: What?
> 
> Nora: Daddy?
> 
> Daddy: What do you want?
> 
> Nora: Daddy?
> 
> Daddy: \[silence\]
> 
> Nora: Daddy?
> 
> Daddy: Nora, you need to be quiet, okay?
> 
> Nora: Daddy?
> 
> Daddy: If you won't be quiet, I'm going to leave.
> 
> Nora: Sit down. \[shuts up\]

Once I can get her to lie down, be still and quiet, getting her to fall asleep is usually just a matter of 3-4 minutes of sitting in a comfortable chair in the dark. I could keep going, successively moving myself further out the door, but I don't mind a nice contemplative sit at the end of the day.

Of course this isn't a new and innovative parenting technique. Behavioral psychologists call it [successive approximations](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaping_(psychology)#Successive_approximations), in rhetoric it's called [moving the goalposts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_the_goalposts), and when the mafia does it, it's called [extortion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion). It's a common method used by the powerful to get the weak to do what they want them to do.

> I'm sorry, but due to budget concerns, we're going to have to cancel your pension program...although...the accountants say we _could_ afford it if you could work on Saturdays.

Like all manipulation, it _can_ be unethical, but it doesn't have to be. Whether your raising rent, freeing hostages or haggling on [cheap flights to Larnaca](http://www.flightline.co.uk/fly-to/larnaca/), it's a good negotiation technique to have in your toolkit.

![Politics in America](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-10-parenting-perpetual-bargaining/141058.jpg)


Parenting: Perpetual Bargaining


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912798093_aa9b03b426_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Newlyweds (Cropped)">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912798093_e6c9e8f1f4_t.jpg" alt="Newlyweds (Cropped)"/>
</a>

 by erikrasmussen, on Flickr")On July 3, 2011, we attended the wedding of my childhood friend, Charley Coffey, to his beautiful bride, Christanne. Due to the separate courses our lives have taken, I had never actually met Christanne until the wedding. Both of them are incredibly photogenic and every photograph of them looks like it should be on an orthodontist's wall. They are both medical doctors at the end of their schooling, primed to stop living like students and start living like kings in San Diego, the city said to have one of the best climates on the planet. I couldn't be happier for them. Everyone at the wedding was very nice, the North Carolinians from the groom's side as well as the South Carolinians from the bride's side.  Charley was one of two other students that went with me from our hometown high school to a two-year boarding school in Durham called the North Carolina School of Science and Math. Living like sardines in a boarding school at age fifteen is a recipe for bonding like no other. Just as I am still good friends with (and work with) several of the people that were randomly selected to live on my dorm hall there, Charley had three of his hallmates as the groomsmen for his wedding, some fifteen years after we graduated and all went our separate ways. I enjoyed talking with my fellow alumni, Will, Jason, and Gabe, like any high school reunion, discussing the paths our lives took since they diverged.

The wedding was held at [Crestwood Inn](http://www.crestwoodnc.com/) in Boone, North Carolina. It was a lovely location, with a great lawn overlooking the rolling blue ridge mountains, an ideal spot for a wedding. My parents, wife, daughter and I stayed there two nights. We had a nice little cottage with two double bedrooms and they provided us with a crib for my daughter. They weren't exactly [Tuscany villas](http://www.yourwaytotuscany.com/Tuscany-Villas.htm), but they were perfect for our needs. Marga got a massage at the local spa that was so relaxing, she had to lie down for four hours. I'm not sure massages are supposed to incapacitate you like that, but she enjoyed it.

A couple weeks before the wedding we got a call from Crestwood Inn telling us that the bride had requested that someone else be placed in our cabin and that we should find lodging elsewhere. It was a little annoying, but we respected the bride's power in organizing her wedding. When we told our friend Tom, the father of the groom, he investigated and discovered that it had not been "_**the**_ bride", but "_**a**_ bride", a bride from another wedding!! Tom called Crestwood and gave them an earful and got our room back. It was a good lesson in the important distinction between definite and indefinite articles.

All of my photos can be found [on Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/sets/72157627009049855/), but I'll share a select few with you below.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5910248124_b4dc818a11_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="My women">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5910248124_d57fc0c471.jpg" alt="My women"/>
</a>

The three most important women in my life, my mother, wife and daughter, all spiffed up in formal wedding attire.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912242162_9be63cd7b1_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Three lifelong friends">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912242162_63a77904a9.jpg" alt="Three lifelong friends"/>
</a>

My lifelong friends Jacob and Charley were born the same week in the same maternity ward. I was born in an adjacent state a month and a half later, but started preschool with them at age three. We've been best friends ever since. Even though I don't get to see them very often, it's nice to know they're out there.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5911892843_2b0b456626_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Gift Bag from Geneva">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5911892843_cbe93ae803.jpg" alt="Gift Bag from Geneva"/>
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Nora – and all the youngsters - got a gift bag from Geneva, Charley's mother.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5911958743_3bd2fd7ca8_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Gift Bag from Geneva">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5911958743_b51eafba91.jpg" alt="Gift Bag from Geneva"/>
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We told her to "hold up the crayons to show Daddy", and she took us a little too literally.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912626662_2bc35a6e48_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Drawing for Charley and Christanne">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912626662_60f41b8c3a.jpg" alt="Drawing for Charley and Christanne"/>
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Nora drew a picture for Charley and Christanne. It mainly consisted of squiggly vertical lines of various colors.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912707260_402087bd9e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Wedding Lawn - Crestwood Inn">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912707260_80e9e2cda1.jpg" alt="Wedding Lawn - Crestwood Inn"/>
</a>

The venue was gorgeous. The wedding was scheduled for 6:00 PM. At about 5:30 PM, it started pouring down rain. Luckily, the bar was open and began serving free beer and wine at 6:00 PM, so the guests were mollified until the storm could blow over. In the photo above you can see the Crestwood staff drying the seats with towels. When we did eventually file into our seats, each guest was given a spa towel to put on our chair. The ceremony actually took place closer to 7:00 PM, and the weather at that point was absolutely gorgeous. The rest of the night was a lovely temperature and we were treated to flashes from distant thunderheads.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912864161_56e4d17db1_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Father and Daughter">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912864161_1a2e5e4649.jpg" alt="Father and Daughter"/>
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Waiting for the wedding to begin. Nora ate at least a dozen martini olives.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912198465_7162aeee4a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Geneva and Tom Coffey">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912198465_a90054f138.jpg" alt="Geneva and Tom Coffey"/>
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Geneva and Tom, the parents of the groom. They feel like family to me.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912387023_bc3d203060_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Father and Bride">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912387023_87e71e2389.jpg" alt="Father and Bride"/>
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The bride makes her appearance.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912965012_4c1ba8f6b3_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Groom gets emotional">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912965012_5436dd64f7.jpg" alt="Groom gets emotional"/>
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The groom can't hold back his emotions.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912471679_00b9be970a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Wedding Ceremony">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912471679_6ac069e407.jpg" alt="Wedding Ceremony"/>
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Mid-ceremony.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912494639_a2c8549409_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Marga and Nora escape!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912494639_a1e48e5861.jpg" alt="Marga and Nora escape!"/>
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Nora got a little noisy and had to be removed.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5913073660_e98d4388e5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Marga and Nora observe from above">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5913073660_c21b1df0f1.jpg" alt="Marga and Nora observe from above"/>
</a>

Nora's dress was beautiful, but somehow this is the best photograph I got of it. Luckily we had a professional photo session with the same dress the following week.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5913090412_be382968eb_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="You may kiss the bride!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5913090412_08aea0dd3f.jpg" alt="You may kiss the bride!"/>
</a>

"You may kiss the bride!"

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5913191580_9837814e86_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Newlyweds">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5913191580_803147df78.jpg" alt="Newlyweds"/>
</a>

Charley and Christanne begin walking down the path of married life.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912798093_aa9b03b426_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Newlyweds (Cropped)">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-07-charley-and-christannes-wedding/5912798093_e6c9e8f1f4.jpg" alt="Newlyweds (Cropped)"/>
</a>

 by erikrasmussen, on Flickr")

Congratulations, you two! Thank you for inviting us to your wedding. We had a wonderful time.


Charley and Christanne's Wedding


![Google+](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-07-01-google-restricted-sharing-is-a-bad-idea/google-plus-icon.jpg)Although I have not yet actually used Google+ (I'm waiting on my invite), I have been reading a lot about it, watching demo videos, and thinking about it. One feature that Google+ is offering to set itself apart from its ubiquitous rival, Facebook, is the concept of "circles". The idea is that you define circles, subsets of your friends, that are defined by how you know or interact with them. You've got your coworkers, your ex-coworkers, your bowling buddies, your book club, and your ever ubiquitous "people I took a class or worked with once that no longer have anything in common with me, but that I was mildly curious to see what they are up to these days and so accepted their friend request". I don't know about you, but this latter group makes up the majority of my friend set.

One thing Google+ is using circles for is to allow you to optionally restrict who can see your status updates to only certain circles. While on the surface, this seems like a good idea, after giving it a little thought, I'm convinced that it is an inherently bad idea.

### Other Interests

One of my favorite things about Facebook is that it gives me insights into other corners of people's lives that they normally might not share with me. I love seeing photos from a marathon that someone has run or hearing about their time participating in a civil war reenactment. With Google+, those are exactly the kinds of posts that they might restrict to their subset of friends that they think are interested in those activities. The unrestricted "fire hose" format of sharing is one of the advantages of online social networking over how offline relationships work, where people only talk to you about things you have in common. Sometimes you end up finding a common interest with someone that you would never have found if you weren't sharing your entire self with everyone.

### Opposing Views

I have this one Facebook friend that loves to read books about and post quotations supporting the myth that the United States' Founding Fathers were all Christians and wanted the US to be an inherently Christian nation. This is one of my pet peeves because the profound intelligent foresight of the Founding Fathers to divorce government from religion is one of the things I most respect about them. So I butt rhetorical horns with this friend whenever I can. Most of his quotations can be found to be frauds simply by searching on Snopes, but others are genuine and need counterexamples. My point with this anecdote is that, using Google+, this friend would most likely only post his "Jefferson was a Baptist" nonsense to his likeminded churchgoers and never get any other viewpoints, resulting in a [filter bubble](/2011/06/01/filter-bubbles-scare-me/), a polarizing ideology-strengthening echo chamber that's not good for anyone.

### Filter When Reading, Not Sharing

I love the idea of being able to filter my feed by circles. Back when I was using the Nambu Twitter client, one of the things I loved about it was the ability to categorize my followees into groups. I'd never miss a tweet from someone in my "Friends" group, but would often just "mark all as read" for the entire "Celebs" group. It was great. I had progressive cascading layers of contacts that, depending on how much time I had for social media consumption, I'd read in order from "most important to me" all the way down to Ashton Kutcher.

The way I think social media works best is to share everything to everybody and then let each consumer filter their incoming feeds by what is important to them. Google+, should it win its battle with Facebook, may ruin what is most beautiful about online social networking.

### Why Google Won't Change This

After thinking about this issue a bit more, it occurred to me _why_ Google has done this...and it's not to make a better user experience. You see, Facebook collects information about you based on which links you click on in your feed. If it notices that you tend to click on political stories hosted by entities owned by News Corp, it's a pretty good bet that you're politically conservative, and thus, they can show you ads targeted at political conservatives.

This is where Google's genius insight comes in. On Facebook, in order for them to gather subtle ad-targeting information about you, _you must actually use Facebook_. On Google+, on the other hand... Say you sign up for Google+ just to check it out, but aren't that big into online social networking and you never go back. You'd think they couldn't collect information about your interests, right? Wrong. With this new circle-restricted sharing, they can! Let's say that three of your Google+ friends share links about pottery and restrict them to circles that you are in. Voila! Google can deduce that you are interested in pottery and can, if you are logged into Google, show you pottery related ads _on any website using Google Adsense_ across the internet. Your friends, not just you, are giving Google information about you by using circle-restricted sharing.

The advertising genius behind this subtle social networking "feature" is astonishing. After all, advertising is where Google's revenue comes from. Let's just hope that Facebook doesn't borrow this idea and ruin their free spigot of social sharing.


10 posts from July, 2011