
<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-29-huevazo-enormous-egg/6195023141_04e6967305_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Big Egg">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-29-huevazo-enormous-egg/6195023141_0febd9ddaf_t.jpg" alt="Big Egg"/>
</a>

Earlier this week, my wife told me that, to celebrate a successful business meeting she was going to have with a client, she wanted to have pork chops and fried eggs for lunch. Then she said, "And save the big egg for me. Don't use it for any other recipes." I raised an eyebrow, "The big egg?" She smiled and said, "You'll know it when you see it."  My father-in-law keeps chickens, you see, so we get all of our eggs from him. They are very "free range" and can roam around a penned area of a junkyard. Sometimes when I go with him to collect the eggs, he has to crawl under scrap metal to search for them, making it crystal clear how the Easter Egg Hunt tradition originated. The eggs from his chickens tend to be tastier, but also considerably more filthy (on the outside of the shell, only, of course), than store bought eggs. Getting food from outside the regulated market means that sometimes you find [freak occurrences](/2010/12/16/giant-lemon/ "Giant Lemon").

### How Spaniards Fry Eggs

There are quite a few expat blog posts and YouTube videos about the unique way eggs are fried in Spain. A frying pan is filled with a considerable amount of oil. The egg is cracked into the oil, and then a spatula or spoon is used to splash hot oil over the top of the egg until a white film forms over the egg yolk. Then the egg is removed and served on the plate, maintaining an oozing liquid yolk – great for bread mopping! – when the yolk sack is broken. The egg is never turned.

Like most odd quirks you find living in a foreign land, it's not necessarily better or worse...just different.

### Other Spain Egg Trivia

In Spanish, the term _huevo_, for egg, is also used as slang for testicles. Clearly the term was not coined by anyone with any knowledge of reproductive biology. Here are a few interesting phrases using the slang:

Phrase

Literal

Meaning

_tener huevos_

to have balls

to have balls

_estoy hasta los huevos_

I'm up to my balls

I'm fed up

_no me toques los huevos_

don't touch my balls

don't fuck with me

_tocarse los huevos_

to touch one's balls

to sit around doing nothing

_costarse un huevo_

to cost a ball

to cost a lot

_me gusta un huevo_

I like it a ball

I like it a lot

One time I was at the supermarket checkout and the cashier asked me how much of the stuff on the conveyor belt was mine, and I replied, not thinking about the double meaning, "_Hasta los huevos_". We both laughed.

I hope you enjoy the video.

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Siu8mHelgEM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Huevazo - Enormous Egg


<img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-26-synchronized-kites/6185124601_045ba0106b_t.jpg" alt="Synchronized Kite Flying Thumbnail" class="post-thumb"/>When I was sitting [on the beach yesterday](/2011/09/25/september-beach/), I noticed something off in the distance out of the corner of my eye. In a split second, my unconscious pattern recognition neurons decided I'd seen a flock of birds. After several seconds of gazing at the phenomenon a kilometer down the beach, I'd determined that they were too big to be birds, and the flying was too orderly. They must be kites, my brain suggested, but...but...how?? They were flying in perfect formation, up, down, swooping, soaring, diving... What they really reminded me of was [Boids](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boids), the artificial intelligence algorithm – one of my favorites! – that demonstrates how lifelike natural flocking behavior can be mimicked with very, very few lines of code.  I asked, and was granted, permission to abandon my family unit to walk down the beach to capture this phenomenon on video. When I was about halfway there, there was a midair collision and the kites spent about ten minutes on the ground getting sorted out, allowing me to choose the best viewing angle. Soon, they were off again! Each kite had a driver (kiter?), and then there was another person shouting orders and generally directing them where to go. As they launched, he shouted, "_Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete!_" as each one took off. You can hear this in the video.

Watching them was mesmerizing. They were flying the entire two hours we were at the beach.

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GAxnhZau4tI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I love discovering new ways that humans can be creative and passionate about something. Of course I knew as soon as I stopped recording that there would be tons of videos on YouTube of synchronized kites, and sure enough, there are.

Cool, huh?


Synchronized Kites in Laredo


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-25-september-beach/6182993300_e3397feb27_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="At the beach in September">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-25-september-beach/6182993300_c09674f426_t.jpg" alt="At the beach in September"/>
</a>

Today the weather was better than it's been pretty much all year long. The key was the noticeable lack of wind, which normally makes our beach a little chillier than one would like. That the weather is so out of season made it all the more special, since we know there won't be days like this until 2012. We decided to go to Laredo to walk around, but Nora caught wind that we'd be near the beach and insisted on taking her backpack full of buckets and shovels and things. We ended up sitting on the beach for about two hours playing in the sand, with Marga and myself in street clothes, not beach clothes. We had a grand old time.  Nora, after sleeping the whole night through for the first time in – oh, I've lost count – couldn't remain conscious on the five minute ride back from Laredo, so I carried her upstairs and deposited her sand-encrusted limp body on the couch, where she slept for two solid hours. She ended up having her lunch, which she normally eats at 12:30, at four in the afternoon.

This morning, when Nora and I were on our daily outing to buy fresh bread, she asked me where we were going, and I said we were going to Lupa, the local supermarket that has a bakery open on Sunday. She then [asked, "Why?"](/2011/08/24/la-mas-why/) I returned the question to her to see if she knew why, and she said, "To buy bread." Quickly, I asked her the same thing in Spanish, "_¿Por qué vamos a Lupa?_" Without missing a beat, she responded, in Spanish, "_Para comprar el pan_." Amazed, I got out my iPhone to try to recreate the moment on tape, which didn't turn out quite as perfect as the original moment (does it ever?), but I thought it worth including.

Does it show that I'm proud of her bilingualism? Probably not...

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/w6yNRwvLDhw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Close-captioned in Spanglish, in case it's hard to understand.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-25-september-beach/6182993300_e3397feb27_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="At the beach in September">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-25-september-beach/6182993300_c09674f426_z.jpg" alt="At the beach in September"/>
</a>

I was the only one that got sunburned.


September Beach


[![2.5 Years Old Video (thumbnail)](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-24-2%c2%bd-years-old/6177957387_46949d3bfd_t.jpg "2.5 Years Old Video (thumbnail)")](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/6177957387 "View '2.5 Years Old Video (thumbnail)' on Flickr.com")Two and a half years ago, just after the 2009 vernal equinox, my daughter, Nora, was born. It was [quite exciting](/2009/03/26/birth-of-a-daughter-twitter-feed/). She's come [quite a ways](/category/offspring/) since then. Just last week, I heard her mother ask her how old she was in Spanish, and Nora responded "dos años y medio". So immediately I set upon teaching her to say "two and a half" in English. It wasn't easy, as she simply refused to even attempt the phrase for several days. But eventually I prevailed, just in time for her half-birthday. Marga had to work today (Nora also learned to say, "Today is Saturday!" today), so we didn't have our [traditional](/2009/04/24/one-month-old/) [birthday](/2009/06/24/three-months-old/) [hamburger](/2009/09/24/six-months-old/) [feast](/2009/10/25/seven-months-old/).  She only knows her birthdate in Spanish. There are subtitles in Spanglish, English, and Spanish.

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JRmbsfz5R50" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


2Â½ Years Old


![](http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL110_&ASIN=B005N0KL5G&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=eriksblog07-20&ServiceVersion=20070822)

Yesterday I bought, downloaded, and read Sam Harris' new e-book, [Lying](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005N0KL5G/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=B005N0KL5G). (No, really, I did!) It was a quick read. Amazon lists its "print length" at 26 pages. While not as thought-provoking or groundbreaking as Harris' full length books, it did make me consider how honesty and dishonesty affect my life. It was definitely worth my two dollars.

That's right; it only costs $1.99, and it's only available in e-book format. This is the first "book" of its kind that I've seen on Amazon. It straddles the gap between essay/article/blog entry and full length book. I like the idea that someone can write thirty pages and then charge a small fee for people to download it. Obviously this won't work for all genres or authors. If what you want is for your ideas to reach the largest number of people, then you'd better be giving your words away for free. But if you've spent a few weeks polishing your too-short-for-a-book thoughts on a topic, and are already a respected author or person that people will want to hear from, then it seems like a great way to make a little money for your troubles.

Apple has already shown the value of pricing music and software down at the $1 level; consumers are much less picky about deciding what to buy when the prices are so low. It will be interesting to see if other authors begin [publishing](/2010/06/07/publishing/) shorter works, perhaps single short stories, as electronic books.


Miniature Books


<img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-19-summers-gone/6153058592_f416405047_t.jpg" alt="Lazy Bench" class="post-thumb"/>A notable change in the weather has taken place this past week. The days of sleeping with the windows open and wearing sandals about town is coming to a close. It's time to break out the sweaters and long trousers. There's something about the beginning of autumn that makes me want to go outside and throw an American football around. It surprises me every year, since it's not one of my top five favorite sports, I've never worn a football helmet, and I don't have a favorite team, but there's some deep bit of Americanism in me that I can neither control nor explain. Curious, that.  Even though summer is my favorite season, I welcome the change. Everything I know about the field of psychology tells me that too much of a good thing is a recipe for unhappiness, that we need the bad to be able to appreciate the good. Seasonal changes help us thrive, both emotionally and economically. How many equatorial superpowers do you know of?

That's enough armchair babble for now. I think I'll sit for a bit on this bench and soak up the last of the summertime rays.

![Lazy Bench](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-19-summers-gone/6153058592_3914f1e1a6_o.gif "Lazy Bench")


Summer's Gone


<img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-15-no-me-duermo/6150108303_04b16f224a_t.jpg" alt="No me duermo (thumbnail)" class="post-thumb"/>Today is a local holiday honoring the Virgin of the Good Apparition, a bit of [pareidolia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia) that occurred back in 1605 where some light reflecting off a nearby hermitage window reminded someone of the Virgin Mary. Three hundred years later, this particular virgin became the patron saint of the Santander Diocese, and it became a regional holiday. Quite a few people walk the 13 kilometers, mostly uphill, from Colindres to the _Bien Aparecida_ church in [Ampuero](/2011/09/13/ampuero-bullrun/), and then there are picnics and music and a general festive atmosphere up there...or so I'm told. We'll have to do the walk one year.  To change topics completely, there's no daycare today, and Nora got up very early, so we really wanted her to take a nap, but we've had no luck. Right after lunch, Nora and her mother were arguing about taking a nap, and it was too cute, so I grabbed the video camera, and this is what I captured.

It's mostly in Spanish, so I've subtitled it (click the "CC" button).

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4VB4SXxGegM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As you can see, she's in the stage of parroting everything back to practice her pronunciation. Personally, I'm completely fascinated by her ability to correctly conjugate complex forms of Spanish verbs. Earlier, we were out at a cafe, and I gave her a five euro note and told her to give it to the waitress. She replied, "_Cuando viene, yo se lo doy_." (When she comes, I'll give it to her.) That's some complex direct object and indirect object pronoun grammar that I didn't finally grasp until well into my Spanish studies.

The other day, when she was talking to her Spanish grandfather on the phone, she sat down in a chair, put her hand on her forehead and said, accompanied by perfectly exasperated body language, "_Joder, Abuelo..._" (Fuck, Grandpa...). Part of me was impressed and delighted that she'd nailed the performance and intonation so well. Of course she gets absolutely no reinforcement from us when she uses inappropriate words. A more common bowdlerized version is "_¡Jolí­n!_", which she uses in the video, and I've translated to "Jeez!" in the subtitles. That's a perfectly acceptable exclamation in Spanish culture between children and adults.


No Me Duermo - I'm Not Falling Asleep


![Roomba](http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL110_&ASIN=B000UU7TZE&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=eriksblog07-20&ServiceVersion=20070822)

Just over a year ago, in [May of 2010](http://twitter.com/erikras/statuses/13790448195), we bought [Roomba](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UU7TZE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=B000UU7TZE). We had two recommendations from friends, so we splurged the 300€ and bought a robot to vacuum our floors. Initially it seemed pricy, but it's some of the best 300€ we've ever spent. As [my wife said to me](http://twitter.com/erikras/statuses/14030802568) soon after we bought it...

> I think I like the Roomba. It doesn't clean as well as I do, but it cleans about as well as you do.

I very quickly learned an important lesson of Roomba ownership: **Do not watch it work!** It will drive you mad. It will appear to drive right by every little speck that you want it to clean and if you want it to go to a certain part of the room, it will go to the other side. You just have to trust in its algorithms: if you let it run until it thinks it's done, it will probably have gotten to every last corner of your house. The proper way to use the Roomba, of course, is to turn it on before you leave home. That way you aren't tempted to watch it work, and it's also as noisy as any vacuum cleaner. The hardest part about vacuum cleaning now is picking up all the toys that the Roomba can choke on.

For a while now I've been meaning to duct tape my video camera to the Roomba to see what kind of "Roomba eye view" video would result. I finally got around to doing it this week, and I must say that I was hoping the result would be more interesting. There's a lot of stops and spins and very few long stretches as it bounces off all the furniture. The low angle view of our house is pretty neat, though.

It recorded fifty minutes of bouncing under chairs, the view from behind the toilet, and lots and lots of footage of our floor molding. I couldn't watch more than about four minutes of it, so I cut it off at the five minute mark and uploaded it.

It was an experiment that I wanted to try, and I'm glad I did, but I don't think I'll do it again.

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_tsAPY6R5x0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Roomba Eye View


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140179667_7e8a12c220_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Ampuero Partiers">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140179667_6851e47a94_t.jpg" alt="Ampuero Partiers"/>
</a>

Last weekend we went to the annual festival in Ampuero, a neighboring town of 4,000 residents. Every year, they hold a miniature version of the [San Fermin festival in Pamplona](/2006/07/09/san-fermin-2006/), complete with all night partying in white clothes and red scarfs, a running of the bulls, and bullfighting. Of the six years we've lived here, we've gone several times. We knew from past experience that it's [nearly impossible to park](/2007/09/10/small-town-festival-parking/) in a small town that's hosting three times its inhabitants in a festival, so we parked on the outskirts of town to save the time and stress of finding a closer spot.  I was certain we would miss the bull run at high noon, since we left home at 11:25, but it only took us eight minutes to get there, five minutes to find parking, and twelve minutes to walk into the center of town, leaving us with ten minutes to stand around and wait for the bull run to start. Of course, if you want a good seat or even a standing view to watch the bull run, you need to stake out your spot and hour before the run begins, so we found ourselves at a big swinging metal gate, lined with people that had their shoulder-width of the gate staked out. They were going to stand on the bottom bar of the opaque gate and peer over the top. This left me with no angle for photography whatsoever...unless... Since all the gate standers would be a foot off the ground, I could lie on the ground behind them and shoot up under the gate. Low angles are famously fantastic for bull runs – you have probably all seen [this viral gem](http://www.flickr.com/photos/22202148@N00/126619043/). I politely informed the guy I'd be lying under of my plans, telling him to please watch when he steps down, but that if a situation occurred where he needed to get down immediately without looking, I'd understand.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6141470783_db7cf43277_o_d.gif" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ampuero Bullrun 2011">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6141470783_db7cf43277_o.gif" alt="Ampuero Bullrun 2011"/>
</a>

At twelve noon, a firecracker sounded, just like in Pamplona, to notify everyone that the gate to the bullpen was open, then another to signify that all the bulls were out. Unlike in Pamplona, the Ampuero bull run is a circuit rather than a straight run, so they run out of the bullring, run through town, and then back into the bullring. I wasn't prepared for the rush of people, including one quintagenarian, trying to scoot under the foot-high gate clearance. This is a problem in San Fermin as well, where people will "safely" enter the bull run area just to get into the bullring without paying the entrance fee. Just before the bulls returned, a noticeable tension rose in the crowd, I ducked low on my now aching knees, my camera in rapid fire mode, and held down the shutter. Click-click-click-click! And then it was over...faster than [a bicycle race](/2011/09/09/vuelta-a-espana-2011/).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140119027_27c5729b7d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ampuero Fiestas">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140119027_f0855266fc.jpg" alt="Ampuero Fiestas"/>
</a>

Marga and Nora stayed back, able to see over the gate to the bulls running on the slightly elevated street behind it.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140678144_f73e70d566_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ampuero Bullrun">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140678144_18bf2b905b.jpg" alt="Ampuero Bullrun"/>
</a>

Yikes!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140125447_154be76e03_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ampuero Bullrun">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140125447_3340065312.jpg" alt="Ampuero Bullrun"/>
</a>

It turns out that these aren't even "real bulls". Well, they are called _novillos_, not _toros_, because they are less than three years old. Bull calves. Either way, I was happy to be on my side of the steal barrier.

They _used_ to use full grown bulls, but then five years ago, the year before we first went, one of them escaped the barriers and killed three people. It's one thing if a runner gets hurt, but spectators have a higher expectation of safety. Truly tragic.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140691598_705ce44764_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ambulence and mob at Ampuero Bullrun">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140691598_c9b94ebe89.jpg" alt="Ambulence and mob at Ampuero Bullrun"/>
</a>

After the firecracker sounds letting everyone know that all the bulls are safely back in their pen, the people flood the streets. There was one goring; a 44-year-old veteran runner got a horn to the bum ([photo here](http://www.eldiariomontanes.es/v/20110911/region/region-oriental/herido-asta-toro-tercer-20110911.html)). It was on the outgoing run, and he got pulled under a barrier before the bulls came back. He was treated at the scene and then taken to the ICU. In the four bull runs during the festival this year, six people got ambulance rides.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140171347_253a9a4757_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ampuero Partiers">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140171347_a22aa8345e_z.jpg" alt="Ampuero Partiers"/>
</a>

Nora had a great time seeing all the people and dancing to the music.

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/D3F0tP7HiqE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

She particularly loved these dancing giants, which she improperly calls _cabezudos_ ([_this_](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/533316201/) is a real _cabezudo_). They are really well done, made of very lightweight materials, and controlled by an operator between their legs. If you stop thinking "This is really a puppet!" for a second or two, you really do start to perceive them as enormous dancing giants, making eye contact with them, etc. Nora enjoys them at a distance of between five and twenty meters. If they're too far, she begs to "Go see the _cabezudos_!" and if they get too close, she cries and buries her head in a parent's chest.

At one point, I went into a bar to order some drinks, and this group of gentlemen came in and one of them asked the bartender for a Bordón, an excellent _crianza_ red wine from Rioja. The bartender said he didn't have any, so the customer begrudgingly settled for an Añares. The barkeep pulled out a glass, and the customer said, "No, we want the whole bottle." I smiled. They did have six or seven men in their group, and a bottle of wine falls fast with six glasses. We went outside to the street to drink our drinks. A few minutes later, the singing began.

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q3IFFGZU3k0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

What a glorious way to spend your time, entertaining yourself and others in bars drinking wine. From what I can tell, these are traditional Cantabrian songs. The lyrics to the last bit are:

> No sueño ricos tesoros, ni sueño barcos guerreros, sueño con las velas blancas, sueño con ser marinero. Tener en noche de calma, la luna por compañera, una guitarra en los brazos y en mi boca una habanera.

> I dream not of rich treasures, nor of war ships, I dream of white sails, I dream of being a sailor. To have a calm night, the moon as my companion, a guitar in my arms and, in my mouth, a [habanera](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habanera_(music)).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140711566_17d6459c69_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ampuero Fiestas - Paella">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140711566_a88de818ee_z.jpg" alt="Ampuero Fiestas - Paella"/>
</a>

This lovely lady was cooking a paella to serve in small rations to partygoers.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140173233_a4c344b771_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Barnacles and Beer">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140173233_ed1196bd4a.jpg" alt="Barnacles and Beer"/>
</a>

I opted to try eating [goose barnacles](/2010/08/23/spanish-goose-barnacle-recipe/) for the second time. They were very good, but impossible to eat standing up while holding a beer, and the shells were too bulky to feel comfortable dumping on the street like sunflower seed husks, so I found a bar to eat them at.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140175877_c0cc3e980c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Fresh Barnacles">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140175877_69a6f8b751.jpg" alt="Fresh Barnacles"/>
</a>

They were so fresh, they still had seaweed and tiny baby mussels on them.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140722878_b6cd925e40_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora at Ampuero Fiestas">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140722878_61a885c2ee.jpg" alt="Nora at Ampuero Fiestas"/>
</a>

Nora demonstrates the proper way to wear your red scarf. We bought three. They are pricy, but good for many years.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140723856_18e14b8600_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ampuero Partiers">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-12-ampuero-bullrun/6140723856_ae9b68619c.jpg" alt="Ampuero Partiers"/>
</a>

 We had a great time.

_¡Viva Ampuero!_


Ampuero Bullrun


<img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-10-a-messy-joke/6077588804_24ea86855f_t.jpg" alt="Lionel Messi" class="post-thumb"/>Like most of my best wordplay, it had escaped my mouth before I realized the cleverness of it. I was talking with my daughter this morning, and I said, "You're so messy! You're like \[Argentine soccer player, [Barcelona phenom](/2011/08/24/f-c-barcelona-vs-real-madrid/), and possibly the best living soccer player\] Leo Messi!" I stopped for a minute, realized the significance of what I'd said, and went into the next room with a "Look how clever I am!" look on my face to tell my wife, but she stopped me and said that she'd heard what I'd said and already – probably before I did – noticed the humor/coincidence of it. Did any of my bilingual readers pick up on it?  I had pronounced his shortened first name with the English pronunciation of "LEE-oh". There is a Spanish word with the same pronunciation: _lí­o_. What does that word mean? It translates to... "mess".

How many people are there whose first name and last name mean the same thing in different languages?

Although his full first name is Lionel, Spanish speakers call him by his nickname, Leo, with Spanish pronunciation, "LAY-oh", so perhaps no one has picked up on this phenomenon yet. Thus, I felt it important to place this gem on the internet for all to say, "Huh...that's very slightly interesting..."

You're welcome.

![Messy Facepalm Hair](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-10-a-messy-joke/6134398034_f15df113a9.jpg)


A Messy Joke


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129921921_5f3528a8e6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Vuelta a España in Colindres">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129921921_78d5befd7e_t.jpg" alt="Vuelta a España in Colindres"/>
</a>

This morning when I was walking Nora back from the town's Friday market, a man was wandering around asking people if they knew when the race was coming through. What race? [The human race?](/2007/04/29/a-good-day-for-the-race/) As I went about my daily errands, I gradually learned, through eavesdropping on people, that the _Vuelta a España_ would be passing through town. This is _huge_!! It's one of the biggest international cycling races, sort of Spain's version of the _Tour de France_ (_vuelta_ = tour or lap). Then I remembered that I had heard that they were finishing one stage in the nearby town of Noja. Apparently the parties thrown at the end of each stage are absolutely amazing, and worth going to even if you don't care about the sport at all, so if you're a heavy partier looking for [cheap holidays abroad](http://www.holidayhypermarket.co.uk/cheap-holidays)... I learned that they were leaving Noja at 1:45 PM and that they were expected to go through Laredo at 2:10 PM, which would put them smack in Colindres at around 2:05 PM.  After her lunch, Nora, out of the blue, started crying. When asked what was wrong, she said, "I want to lie down in the stroller and _go to daycare_." Given [yesterday's antics](/2011/09/08/i-want-to-stay-at-home/), I was incredulous, but further questioning confirmed her desires. So I took her to daycare; she fell asleep on the way. Then back home to clean up her lunch dishes and get my cameras.

Upon considering several places from which to view the race, I decided that seeing them cross the iconic [Colindres-Treto bridge](/2009/02/23/once-colindres-lottery-ticket/) would be a good place, so I walked down to the harbor and picked a spot. It was still only 1:40 PM, but all the benches were occupied and people were generally milling about around the road. On my way to the bridge, I saw people setting up signs cheering on some guy named _Cobo_, whoever that is...not that I could name any pro cyclists beyond Armstrong and Contador.

I got to the bridge and found the usual group of men that are there on all sunny days, standing around doing a superb impression of [the intro to _King of the Hill_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0-IpoyEHkE), with their fishing lines hanging off the bridge. Finding a place to attach my GorillaPod to film the race was tricky, but eventually I settled on a metallic structure near the bridge. Then it was just a matter of waiting. Soon, normal civilian traffic ceased and all the cars were police vehicles. I passed my time practicing a panning motion blur photography technique I've been wanting to try. If you track a moving object with your camera as you press the shutter with a slower than normal shutter speed, you should get a shot where the subject is in focus and the background is blurred. That's the theory anyway. It's quite challenging in practice without a tripod.

Then...the race arrived! It lasted for all of about 15 seconds. Well, more, actually; according to my video, the time from when the first cyclist passed until the last cyclist passed was a full 16.1 seconds.

About a zillion cars with bicycles on top passed, with license plates from all over Europe, and then the road was open to civilian traffic again.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129914559_a4512c726b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Filming the Vuelta a España in Colindres">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129914559_bf1b96deb2.jpg" alt="Filming the Vuelta a España in Colindres"/>
</a>

My HD video camera attached to a metal scaffold to film the race.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130467540_291abc683e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Colindres Harbor">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130467540_0969d62fd3.jpg" alt="Colindres Harbor"/>
</a>

The view of the harbor 90Â° to the right of the previous shot was too pretty not to capture.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130471374_c47f886f37_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Vuelta a España in Colindres">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130471374_345f7551d7.jpg" alt="Vuelta a España in Colindres"/>
</a>

The leader, it turns out, is this guy named Juan José Cobo, a local Cantabrian man from _Cabezón de la Sal_, who, after today's Stage 19 of the _Vuelta a España_, is leading the race overall. Go Cobo!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129921921_5f3528a8e6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Vuelta a España in Colindres">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129921921_78d5befd7e.jpg" alt="Vuelta a España in Colindres"/>
</a>

Something about this picture gives me the impression that the cyclist is hovering just above the ground.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129925299_af674f5154_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Vuelta a España in Colindres">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129925299_66e7abdfd1.jpg" alt="Vuelta a España in Colindres"/>
</a>

The pack.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129927749_dbbdff0bdb_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Vuelta a España in Colindres">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129927749_a97b830564.jpg" alt="Vuelta a España in Colindres"/>
</a>

This is that motion blurring effect I mentioned.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130479216_465b45fdd1_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Vuelta a España in Colindres">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130479216_67f48e9b72.jpg" alt="Vuelta a España in Colindres"/>
</a>

Cool, huh? I definitely need more practice.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130479622_33fb016ae9_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Belgian Plate">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130479622_f4487ab786_t.jpg" alt="Belgian Plate"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130479922_4ac894bd33_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="French Plate">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130479922_8d14878663_t.jpg" alt="French Plate"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129930187_eb92565f51_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Italian Plate">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129930187_f1f1d20162_t.jpg" alt="Italian Plate"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129930487_6bb913f129_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Dutch Plate">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129930487_71c683b9cb_t.jpg" alt="Dutch Plate"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129930811_9545a1a57e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Spanish Plate">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129930811_2625b3ac38_t.jpg" alt="Spanish Plate"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130481544_ff0704effd_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="German Plate">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6130481544_0377b00c04_t.jpg" alt="German Plate"/>
</a>

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129929859_c048efda8c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Moldova?">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129929859_286cdb59fd_t.jpg" alt="Moldova?"/>
</a>

Some of the license plates the drove by. Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and...Moldova???

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129933911_4fa2be37ba_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Auresa con Cobo">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-09-vuelta-a-espana-2011/6129933911_5b6abbc9f9.jpg" alt="Auresa con Cobo"/>
</a>

The local Peugeot dealership is rooting for Cobo.

The whole experience was pretty interesting, in that it was somehow a superposition of excitement and boredom. I think that, even more so than most sports, watching cycling live is much more about having a good time outside with friends than actually seeing incredible athletes.

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xpaXVU4eiFw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Vuelta a España 2011 - Stage 19 - Colindres


[![I want to stay at home! (thumbnail)](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-08-i-want-to-stay-at-home/6127973775_f1073b5e72_t.jpg "I want to stay at home! (thumbnail)")](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/6127973775 "View 'I want to stay at home! (thumbnail)' on Flickr.com")Before her three week vacation of non-stop 24-hour grandparent attention, Nora was pretty good about going to daycare. After her lunch, she'd say, "And now we have to go to daycare!" and hop in her stroller for me to take her. After vacation, it's been more of a struggle. The first two days, she cried for 90 minutes straight until her favorite daycare provider, Nela, arrived for her afternoon shift. The daycare boss, Adela, wisely commented that, "Well sure, it's a struggle for all of us to go back to daily routines after a vacation, and the longer the vacation, the harder it is." It was one thing back before she could talk, when she would cry when I dropped her off at daycare, but now that she can say, "Daddy, are you going to leave? Why are you leaving? Stay here with Nora! Take me with you!", it's somewhat more heartbreaking.Most parents tend not to post photos or videos of their kids crying, giving the impression, both to others and to their future selves, that their kid is an angel. I appreciate it when parents buck this trend, so I thought I'd do the same and post this interesting interview I had with Nora today.

Some things to notice:

- When her brain gets around to simulating the experience of being left at daycare, her emotions erupt.
- Her moods change so quickly. A simple sip of water or a request for a smile is enough to fix things.
- She has complete domination over opening and closing screw-top bottles.
- She drinks like her old man.
- This is not a product placement gimmick for some random German bottled water. We must have bought that bottle when passing through a German airport.
- When she gets particularly confused or surprised (like when her father suggests something as stupid as "giving the internet a kiss"), she switches to Spanish.

When I finally did take her to daycare, she snuggled down in her stroller, trying to make herself disappear for the walk there. Upon arrival, she sniffled, "I want to get down and give you a hug!" After my heart re-solidified, I let her down and hugged her. She then pointed to the classroom she wanted to go to, and asked a daycare provider, in Spanish, for her favorite toy.

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RO7qRg86P08" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, or the original Spanglish.


I want to stay at home!


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-07-extremadura-stroll/6124392009_3cd79996a5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Extremadura Sunset">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-07-extremadura-stroll/6124392009_b5f0430384_t.jpg" alt="Extremadura Sunset"/>
</a>

When we go on summer vacations in Extremadura, as we do most Augusts, the weather is usually too hot to do much besides drink and sleep during the day, but at dusk, it's just the right temperature for a nice stroll through the countryside. Just after sunset, the stars come out with a light-pollution-free brilliance that I almost never get to enjoy. In the past, I have been a bit [more serious](/2009/09/07/extremadura-sunsets-hdr/) about photographing the [serene beauty](/2009/09/07/more-extremadura-sunsets/) of an Extremadura sunset, but this year, in a marriage of convenience and laziness, I decided to only take my iPhone with me.  <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-07-extremadura-stroll/6124392009_3cd79996a5_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Extremadura Sunset">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-07-extremadura-stroll/6124392009_b5f0430384.jpg" alt="Extremadura Sunset"/>
</a>

Gently blowing grass.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-07-extremadura-stroll/6124385119_77a02a1d87_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Extremadura Wall">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-07-extremadura-stroll/6124385119_0697164d0a.jpg" alt="Extremadura Wall"/>
</a>

A broken wall.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-07-extremadura-stroll/6124936696_f80ee05d88_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Extremadura Wall">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-07-extremadura-stroll/6124936696_72bdd5297a_z.jpg" alt="Extremadura Wall"/>
</a>

I think this wall ends in China.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-07-extremadura-stroll/6124387767_05dcb0f464_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Extremadura Sunset">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-07-extremadura-stroll/6124387767_711dca3d6b.jpg" alt="Extremadura Sunset"/>
</a>

I made a video, which includes a clip of Nora walking with her mother and grandparents down a country road. In the video she's saying, "_Y por eso no se puede andar!_" (And that's why you can't walk!), repeating a reason given for why she wasn't allowed down from the stroller during the previous stretch of dirt path.

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LfMgAKKieP8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Extremadura Stroll


<img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-06-bionic-transition-initiated/6120407109_e2ed6b5317_t.jpg" alt="Fitbit" class="post-thumb"/>This summer, I purchased a tiny computer, called a [Fitbit](http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=286239&u=545270&m=31379&urllink=&afftrack=), that I wear on my person that tracks my movements when I am both awake and asleep. Then, when I spend a few minutes in my office, with the device still clipped to my clothing, the information about my previous days' movements are uploaded wirelessly to the internet and a report prepared for me, detailing how much I tossed and turned in my sleep each night and how much exercise I got. The Fitbit is a very advanced pedometer, counting steps and general movements and accelerations, but the integration with [The Cloud](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing) is what makes the device special.  Some technologists would argue that the merging of humans and machines began when everyone began carrying a mobile phone, enabling us to communicate instantly with each other over long distances. And we advanced even further with smart phones able to look up extra-cerebral information in seconds. I can see their point, but the Fitbit is different: it's actually _monitoring my body_.

[![Fitbit Banner - Affiliate Program](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-06-bionic-transition-initiated/A-Banner-234-by-60-2.jpg)](http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=301433&u=545270&m=31379&urllink=&afftrack=)What I love most about the Fitbit is all the data. I love having data to examine, especially data about myself. While I haven't learned anything shocking about my daily movements, it is interesting to see how many more steps I take on days when I take my daughter to the park to play, versus when I don't, or how few steps I take on rainy days when walks are scarce. It makes me more aware of how much exercise I'm getting, which almost always results in me getting more of it.

The hardest part about using a Fitbit is to remember to put it on and move it from article of clothing to article of clothing when changing. It weighs so little that it's very easy to forget. While the Fitbit does measure general restlessness while I sleep, it can't actually tell when I sleep or how well I've slept.

![Fitbit 30-Day Graph](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-06-bionic-transition-initiated/6120776802_763945829b.jpg "Fitbit 30-Day Graph")

It seems pretty inevitable to me that most of us will have data-gathering sensors implanted in our bodies in the future. I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to see graphs of all sorts of measurements taken over the course of my day, measurements that are easy to take in a laboratory or with handheld devices now, but taken by sensors from inside my body:

- Heart rate
- Breathing rate
- Blood pressure
- Blood sugar
- Blood oxygen
- Blood alcohol level
- Blood cholesterol
- Brain waves (electroencephalography)
- GPS and altitude coordinates

Imagine the diagnosing power all this data could give your physician, if she could pull up your vital trends for the previous six months or ten years. Obviously there are privacy concerns involved here. The Fitbit company has already had [a security problem](http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2011/07/05/fitbit-moves-quickly-after-users-sex-stats-exposed/) where information about their clients' sexual activities were publicly searchable via Google. Where, when, and how often your heart rate and breathing rise is your own business and no one else's, except for maybe your doctor's if you are feeling ill.

There is a huge opportunity for medical preventive technologies given this sensor data, as well. Diabetes, seizures, heart attacks, and maybe even cancer, probably have early warning signs that could be watched out for and preventive steps taken before the first symptom is felt. One of the most memorable TED Talks I've seen was [one by Robert Fischell back in 2005](http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_fischell_on_medical_inventing.html) about how his team has sensors that can predict heart attacks, and how much the chance of survival drops with each minute after a heart attack begins.

I, for one, welcome the future of implantable data collecting machines...and all the glorious data they will spit out!


Bionic Transition Initiated


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-05-three-noras/6115972275_dbb096e248_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Before and After: The Last Twelve Months">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-05-three-noras/6115972275_dcb70ee08e_t.jpg" alt="Before and After: The Last Twelve Months"/>
</a>

I realized that it was about time to revisit my [temporal compositing Photoshop project](/2010/09/17/two-noras/), placing Nora on the couch with younger versions of herself. It's no surprise that she has changed much less in her second year than in her first. What follows are three Noras, one at 6 months, one at 18 months, and another at 30 months. To take the 6-month-old's picture, I had to prop her up and run to press the shutter before she fell over. The 18-month-old could sit there just fine, but the 30-month-old could actually be told to keep her legs straight and put her hands on her knees to conserve horizontal space.  <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-05-three-noras/6115966003_de8d710a5c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Three Noras">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-05-three-noras/6115966003_9735522001.jpg" alt="Three Noras"/>
</a>

It's worth [viewing larger](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/6115966003/lightbox/). The first two pictures were slightly blurry, so I actually had to digitally blur the third one to match the others.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-05-three-noras/6115972275_dbb096e248_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Before and After: The Last Twelve Months">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-05-three-noras/6115972275_dcb70ee08e.jpg" alt="Before and After: The Last Twelve Months"/>
</a>

A close-up of just the changes in the last twelve months. Although she is a bit taller and her hair is longer, the biggest changes have happened between her ears.

Looks like there's one more spot on the couch for a 3.5-year-old...


Three Noras


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-04-sevillana/6109284532_10460ae19e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Sevillana">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-04-sevillana/6109284532_c1d385a07c_t.jpg" alt="Sevillana"/>
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The word _Sevillana_, pronounced "seh-vee-YA-na", can refer to several things. It can be an adjective to describe a woman or any feminine noun from Seville, Spain. It can refer to a particular kind of folk music from Andalusia, or a particular four-part dance that originated in Seville. Like for other Spanish dances like the [_pasodoble_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasodoble), it doesn't require much imagination to see that the movements in a _sevillana_ dance are meant to mimic bullfighting, with the dancers gracefully passing buy each other without touching. The whole closeness without touching aspect of it makes it quite sexy.  The fourth meaning attributed to the word _Sevillana_ in my mind is to refer to the style of flamenco dresses worn in Seville during the _Feria de Abril_ (April Fair). They are very colorful and frilly. Cheap knockoffs are sold in local town markets across Spain as costumes for children. Last month, for fun, Nora's _abuela_ bought her one, complete with plastic castanets, bracelets, hair combs and clip-on earrings. She also got some high heeled flamenco dancing shoes to go with it. Nora loves to wear the outfit and asks to most days.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-04-sevillana/6109284532_10460ae19e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Sevillana">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-04-sevillana/6109284532_c1d385a07c_z.jpg" alt="Sevillana"/>
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I guess you could call these her "Sevillian clothes", eh?

If I lived in Seville, I'd make that joke at least once a day.

What follows is a video of my wife dancing _Sevillanas_ in a dark dance club in Madrid [five years ago](/2006/09/03/an-afternoon-in-madrid/). She doesn't really know how, but she's an excellent faker, and her partner is a talented _Sevillana_ dancer. We'd both like to take some classes sometime.

<iframe width="505" height="408" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8QXaXjYDWIY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Sevillana


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  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-02-alcatraz-parenting/6105510423_147877b12a_t.jpg" alt="Alcatraz Magnet - Regulation #5"/>
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When we visited Alcatraz [last year](/2010/12/08/san-francisco-2010-day-2-of-4/) (which I highly recommend), I couldn't resist buying two souvenir magnets in the gift shop on the way out. During the tour, we learned that, when a prisoner first arrived to the maximum security prison and was shown to his cell, he found, on the fold-out table in his cell, a list of the prison's rules and regulations. The two regulations on the refrigerator magnets I bought are fantastic for parenting a child. I plan to have them posted in the kitchen for the duration of my daughter's stay under my care.  <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-02-alcatraz-parenting/6105510423_824cb5d2df_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Alcatraz Magnet - Regulation #5">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-02-alcatraz-parenting/6105510423_147877b12a.jpg" alt="Alcatraz Magnet - Regulation #5"/>
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> ### Regulation #5
> 
> You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter and medical attention.
> 
> **ANYTHING ELSE YOU GET IS A PRIVILEGE**

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-02-alcatraz-parenting/6105510199_faeb97699d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Alcatraz Magnet - Regulation #23">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-02-alcatraz-parenting/6105510199_08cd33ec2b.jpg" alt="Alcatraz Magnet - Regulation #23"/>
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> ### Regulation #23
> 
> If you make **GROUNDLESS COMPLAINTS** for the purpose of creating dissatisfaction and/or stirring up trouble ...you will be subject to **DISCIPLINARY ACTION**


Alcatraz Parenting


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  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-01-wall-walking/6103588553_68ab8e1e43_t.jpg" alt="Wall Walking Composite"/>
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Every kid has done it and loved it. What could be better than walking on top of a wall, holding your parent's hand, up at grownup eye level, carefully placing each step, enjoying the illusion of danger. Last Sunday, we took a stroll up to [Colindres de Arriba](/2009/07/30/another-walk-to-colindres-de-arriba/), the picturesque village within a town just up a hill past the town hall. We spent about thirty minutes picking blackberries and then continued on to the medieval church. If I had been planning on it before we left, I'd have taken a better camera, but it occurred to me while we were up there that I could take a series of photographs and photoshop them together into a [motion composite](/2011/07/22/motion-composite-dives/). I'm fairly pleased with the result.  <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-01-wall-walking/6103588553_578f9b361b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Wall Walking Composite">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-01-wall-walking/6103588553_68ab8e1e43.jpg" alt="Wall Walking Composite"/>
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Walking along the wall by the church.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-01-wall-walking/6104137060_2f170747d6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Wall Walking Composite">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-09-01-wall-walking/6104137060_08c02e8647.jpg" alt="Wall Walking Composite"/>
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Heading back home.

<iframe width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uaO33-QfMJE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A quick clip of Nora walking on the wall, followed by some panning across the above photos.


18 posts from September, 2011