You've been Court'd

There's something to be said for having the State Constitution on your side. There's another thing to be said for having the backbone to stand up to: a) the General Assembly; b) the other 8 Northern Virginia jurisdictions; and c) all those who say this is the only way to fund transportation. Kudos to Del. Marshall and the Loudoun Board of Supervisors for believing that the Constitution is still relevant.

Okay, intro is done. The gist? The VA Supreme Court struck down a 2007 state law that gave a non-elected regional body taxing authority over Northern Virginia. In other words, we'd be taxed without having direct representation on the body. The link to the opinion is here (it's short, pretty easy to understand, and worth a read).

The dilemma is what to do now. Some say the General Assembly will work it out this year; others say it will be next year. "We'll do our best," someone said.

But the quote of the day comes from Congressman Jim Moran (D-Va), who really doesn't have a dog in the fight, except that more money for transportation helps his constituents (but this is primarily a local and state issue). Regardless, here's the quote:

"Under the separation of powers, the legislative branch makes the law, and the judiciary decides whether the executive branch is acting consistent with that law. The judiciary doesn't make its own law. Once the legislature acts -- that is the law -- and there was no question when they acted if this was truly constitutional. The Attorney General had reviewed it and recognized it as consistent with the constitution." (Link)

Does he even realize what he's saying??? I wonder what Mr. Moran would say if you asked him about Roe v. Wade.

Imagine*

Here's the video from last night's American Idol.



*According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, even John Lennon stated that "Imagine" was basically the Communist Manifesto in song. So, enjoy the music, don't subscribe to the lyrical philosophy.

Ewwww

Check it out: Link.

(HT: The Heart)

The Oscars

I actually watched the Oscars this year. I missed about half the opening monologue, but I thought Jon Stewart was really funny. The interim, random montages were hysterical.

I hadn't planned on watching the whole thing, but by the time they got to supporting actress/actor, I thought I'd stick around till the end. Daniel-Day Lewis' performance in "There Will Be Blood" was just amazing. In case you haven't seen it, check these clips out. They aren't spoilers, per se, but they do give a bit of info away, in case you plan to see it and don't want to know anything about the movie.

Wow

Did you see the "kid" on Idol tonight? David Archuletta? Man. Singing John Lennon. That was quite the stuff. I'm sure it will be on YouTube within the hour.

It's amazing...

...that women can laugh and cry (I mean BAWL) at the same time. While I'm up in the family room watching the Memphis Tigers lose to Tennessee, I hear Angela downstairs bust out laughing, sniff, and blow her nose at exactly the same time. And laugh again. Seriously. I guess that's what she gets for watching Steel Magnolias. (Not a bad flick, actually, but definitely an emotional roller-coaster.)

The best part was...

Besides the skiing and time with Ang and time away from the child and the beautiful scenery and the wonderful friends....Okay, so maybe not the best part....but one of the more fun parts of the trip was the "friendly" competition between all of the guys on the... Wii!!

One of the guys brought his Wii with three remotes, and although there were five of us, we worked out a pretty good system of competition. Home run hitting, golf target practice, power bowling, and tennis returns were just a few of the numerous games we played. It's amazing how responsible, career-oriented dads can instantly turn into 16-year-olds when a game console is brought into play.

I think I'll credit all that extra "exercise" for helping me not get sore from all the skiing. Yeah, that was it.

The South will rise again!

Okay, so maybe not in that way. But thankfully we were spared 1/2 an inch of ice yesterday when a slight southerly wind: 1) warmed our air just past freezing, and 2) pushed the majority of the precip north. What was forecasted to be a nasty day turned out to be cold and damp. Whew!

And Baby Makes Four

Many of you probably already know, but for those not in our immediate family or living close by, we have another little one on the way, due August 10th. =) That makes me (Ang) 15 weeks along and our little baby about 4 inches long and 2 1/2 ounces. (See apple for comparative size. :-D)



We're really excited, and Amelia is too, though she still isn't completely aware of what's going on. I often remind her that she will soon be a big sister (or already is, in a manner of speaking) and that the baby is growing in mommy's tummy. In response, she usually points to her tummy and says "Mia's tum?" and I say, "No, sweetheart, the baby is in MOMMY's tummy!" I'm afraid there's no explaining "womb" to a 21-month old!

Back home

It was great to all be back home. With a long-weekend looming ahead of us, we planned on a short "adventure" for Saturday morning. Since I had enjoyed climbing up Sugarloaf "Mountain," we all went for a trek.

At first, Amelia balked at walking and had us carry her. Then she wanted to walk over EVERYTHING: leaves, sticks, rocks. We tried to teach her to say "climb rocks."

The view from the top is really amazing - it looks over the Potomac Valley back into Virginia. Although it was a bit chilly, it was a great trip!

The point of the trip

Here are photos from our trip. Regrettably, we left our digital camera, so these are from a disposable via Walgreens. I skied with friends for three days, while Angela just enjoyed a relaxing time without deadlines, a child to watch, or the responsibility of cooking.

How we made it to NM (and back!)

View Larger Map

Zoom in for details. =)

So who has to go uphill??

"The schools are literally not on a level playing field," he said.

Is he trying to say that they need to regrade the fields? Is he trying to say that one team uses gravity to their advantage?

It's funny how we as a society have decided to use "literally" as an emphasis instead of as a description of a literal event. Sigh....

Link (in case you care)

Yeah, it was THAT nice!

Speaking of Skiing

I think I'm getting excited.

I love my genes!

I can't sing. I can't play piano by ear or sight. And I don't have a blessed creative gene in my body. But boy do I have a sense of direction. And memory. And general feel for which way I should be going. As Tim Allen in "Home Improvement" put it, we (as men) have "iron fillings" in our noses that turn us the right way.

Well maybe all men don't, but I sure have my Dad's genes. He, being a pilot (formerly, for the most part), always knew which way to go. Where to turn. And where we were. At all times (at least it seemed).

So yesterday, when I decided to go hike a mountain (see previous post), I just left. No directions, no preparation. I did cheat and glanced briefly at a map, although I was simply confirming what I already knew. Didn't know what road to turn on, but that's where the memory took action.

Probably 4-5 years ago, we went hiking on Sugarloaf Mountain. [It's a large "mountain" formation in the middle of the Potomac River plains (or something like that). We can see it from our neighborhood, almost due north of where we live. It's a neat place for a visit.] I think we may have gone twice, but I remembered the road like I had driven it yesterday. Pretty crazy.

So as I was driving along and marveling at how I made it there without getting lost, I just had to be grateful for my genes that (almost always) keep me going in the right direction. Thanks Dad!!

Danny on a Diet

"If you turned sideways, we couldn't see you."
"If you jump in the air, the wind will blow you away."

These were (are) some of the typical comments I used to get about my....stature. Thin. Don't worry, that part hasn't changed. I'm a balmy 6'1", 160lbs.

But for some reason, my blood pressure is high. Like upper 140s/upper 80s. Sometimes in the 150/90 range. Yeah, not good. And not normal for a young, thin, relatively healthy guy.

So I have to start watching what I eat. Mainly salt/sodium (is that redundant?). No more big ham/turkey/bacon sandwiches and fries. Fewer Cheez-Its. (Big Bummer!) More oatmeal, dried fruit, and blandish chicken. Thankfully, it's going pretty well. I did eat at Bob Evans the other night, which probably consisted of my entire day's worth of salt in three bites of Country Fried Steak (mmmmmm), but I downed tons of water.

What this means is that I check the nutritional value before going places - like Chick-Fil-A or even Dunkin' Donuts.

Oh, and I need to exercise more. So yesterday (again, the fam out of town), I did the following:
-- Went for a run (totally out of shape, sucking wind after 2 minutes, and barely made it 10)
-- Hit a bucket of balls at the driving range (I LOVE my new hybrid)
-- Went to the mall (walking)
-- Hiked up a mountain (sucking wind again)
-- Hiked down
-- Walked along the C&O Canal/Potomac River (tired legs, didn't suck too much wind)
-- Went shopping at the L'Burg Outlets (tired legs)
-- Watched a movie while eating health food and pomegranate juice (not tiring at all!)

This week we go skiing. I have lift tickets for three days. My legs might fall off just thinking about it.

There Will Be Blood

Ang and Mia are out of town, so I took the opportunity to go see a movie I figured Ang wouldn't care to see. I ventured out to the epic "There Will Be Blood."

It was gripping, excruciating, heart-wrenching, insightful. I think I've been trained to appreciate a movie that is so normal: define the good guys and bad guys, have them duke it out, and someone wins (see "Transformers" or even the "Bourne" movies). Those are great in their own right, but that type of "plot" is almost too simplistic.

"There Will Be Blood" has the same rivalries; it has heart-break and humor. There are relationships that get torn apart and brought together. But there's no real end. I've noticed that in more movies these days, the end often leaves you...hanging. Or maybe, we (as shallow, pleasure-seeking Americans) have been led to believe that a "good" movie must have lots of action; things must happen. "There Will Be Blood" definitely brings closure to many storylines, so there is certainly a feeling that the movie has ended. But with the final scene torn from my eyes, I sat there thinking, "Hmmmm...that was it??"

The movie is probably the most popular among critics, FWIW. See: NYTimes and WashPost.

It's relatively clean, just a minor amount of violence, so it's worthy of a watch. It's long (almost 2hrs 40mins), and sometimes I kept wondering when something would actually happen. But there is no question that the cinematography and acting were quite incredible. Watch it each scene at a time; enjoy the amazing work. Just don't expect that climactic fight scene or battle for control of the world - that's what "Lord of the Rings" is for.

Things you learn from Dilbert

Troglodyte (n): A cave dweller.

http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20080131.html

From the girls

I love voicemails during the workday.


[Edit: D'OH! Blogger doesn't take WAV files. I'll post it tonight.]