The Manlius Formation

Well, it’s almost 10pm. It was a fun and exhausting (in a good way) day. Most of it was spent baking cookies and listening to Christmas music. We also got in some prime sledding time until it got too warm (yes, too warm).

The kids have been put to bed,^[1] Santa has carefully (and quietly) placed their presents under the tree, and we patiently await the morning festivities.

Merry Christmas.

1. The kids are still at the age where once they fall asleep nothing short of dropping a lion and a wildebeest in bed with them will wake them up before they are good and ready. I sense we’re on the brink of a change, and I think next year’s magical appearance of gifts will be tricky to pull off. [back]

Yesterday was Kath’s birthday. Our original plan was to drive down to Painted Post to visit with MB, Chris, and the boys, but the weather was pretty nasty until early afternoon. So instead, the Johnson-Kopf clan accelerated their plan to head to Mayfield by a few days and drove up here last night in time for a birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

We all had a great time last night, and we enjoyed some sledding and a snowball fight this morning before they moved on to Mayfield.

I also added a few photos from the weekend to the gallery.

Don’t leave without wishing Kath a happy birthday.

The boys and I engaged in our annual gingerbread house construction today. I continue to marvel at the different ways their brains work.

Daniel’s side of the roof was a study in order - the colors, the placement, the types of candy - all arranged in a discernable and regular pattern.

Thomas’ side of the roof was… well, lets just say that if Jackson Pollock worked in gingerbread Thomas might be accused of plagiarism (or the visual equivalent).

… to bring to an end the life of an innocent tree.

As we do every year, we loaded the family in the minivan last weekend and headed over to Critz Farms in Cazenovia to cut down our tree. The provision of a sharp saw and a round-trip tractor ride makes it feel a little like a canned hunt^[1] but we always have a great time and the kids love picking out the tree. Head on over to the gallery to see photos from our excursion.

In other weekend news, Daniel took a shift ringing the Salvation Army bell at the local grocery store on Saturday. I was pleasantly surprised at how many people actually pitched in a few coins or bills. Big shout out to all the donors between noon and 1PM Saturday! You know who you are.

1. Luckily, I wasn’t accidentally sawed off at the feet by another tree-hunter. [back]

Apparently, the AMC network is not just for old John Wayne movies any more. AMC is developing a series based on Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. I couldn’t confirm at the AMC website, but found it mentioned at a few other websites.^[1]

I’m excited about the possibility, but nervous about whether Jonathan Hensleigh will be able to do it justice. The novel centers on how people would react to an effort to colonize and terraform Mars – Heinsleigh is more apt to focus on the special effects.

In other news, while looking for something concrete to reference on the AMC website, I found something interesting: a poll where you can vote for your favorite monster hunter. The semi-finals saw Buffy^[2] beat Ripley by 2 votes (4382 to 4380) and Ash^[3] trounce on Hellboy. Vote for your favorite by December 10.

1. I didn’t reference them here because they didn’t have many details. [back]
2. … referred to as “the woman that falls in love with just about anything that moves” by the poll author. That’s good stuff. [back]
3. … who possesses “a cybernetic prosthesis of doom.” [back]

We had the gang in town this Thanksgiving, and a great time was had by all. We deep-fried the turkey again, which I highly recommend.

To keep ourselves occupied we timed how long it took the oil to reach cooking temperature - 350 degrees F (about 45 minutes in case you’re curious).

Because I’m a geek, we also took intermediate measurements so we could develop a predictive model^[1] for next year. Of course, we didn’t record ambient conditions (temperature, windspeed) or monitor the flowrate of propane, but suffice it to say that it was “cold” and “windy” and the gas was on “high.”

To top off the weekend of food gluttony, Kath and I tried our hand at making gnocci, which turned out wonderfully.

Check out the rest of the photo album with pics of the family, the menu, and the dessert spread.

1. -0.00000023T³ + 0.00024T² + 0.09T - 8.06, where T is temperature in degrees F and the result is time in minutes [back]