dhwe news you can use

Presidential Debate

2008-09-26T22:43:00.003-04:00

...was so great that I ended up looking for domain names I should have secured. Too late, just like some of the debate.

doctorhangout.com
doctorhangover.com
doctorhappiness.com
doctorhappysmile.com
doctorhaveyouwashedyourhands.com
doctorhawaii.com
doctorhdtv.com
doctorheadache.com
doctorheadhunter.com
doctorheadlamp.com
doctorheadlight.com
doctorhealthychocolate.com
doctorheatingandair.com
doctorhell.com
doctorhentai.com
doctorherring.com
doctorhippo.com
doctorhockey.com
doctorhookup.com
doctorhorrible.com
doctorhorsepower.com
doctorhosptial.com
doctorhotornot.com
doctorhottie.com
doctorhottub.com
doctorhotpants.com
doctorhugs.com
doctorhummus.com
doctorhunk.com
doctorhurricane.com

Seriously, though, Obama seemed a bit jumpy or nervous, but I think he was appropriately irate and ready to dispute the inaccuracies of the talking points that McCain spat out.

In case you were wondering, OBAMA '08!

Just one more mantis

2008-09-23T22:46:00.001-04:00

Return of the Mantii

2008-09-22T22:47:00.002-04:00

On Saturday we drove by O'Rourke's and noticed their new outdoor seating.

A thought crossed my mind which was "Maybe we should go to O'Rourke's for breakfast tomorrow..." and so a plan was hatched for Sunday morning. It was still Saturday, however, and we were driving by O'Rourke's on our way to Wethersfield, to visit Sit'n'Knit because someone needed needles. It wasn't me, but I did buy some yarn. A nice fall-ish scottish tweed, to go with my scotch.

I am knitting a hat (shocker!) with it, but we'll see how that turns out.

Fall is headed our way, but Sunday turned out to be a beautiful end to summer. We did end up at O'Rourke's with Bethany, with a not too long wait, and the always entertaining Middletown Main Street.

Val and Bethany both ordered specials from the verbal menu, and I had a classic with a twist.

Val's bread pudding (!) french toast

Bethany's fritatta with veggie hash

Alex's Casino omelet (crab & bacon) with gravlax (!) on top

After an extravagant and leisurely breakfast, our penance was a hike through Hubbard Park to Castle Craig.

Hubbard Park is really a nice park, but Castle Craig isn't really a castle. After a very rocky, largely vertical trail, we finally reached the summit, where a parking lot (DOH!) greeted us as we emerged from the trees. And the story of "Castle" Craig.

Which basically was the plan of Ol' Crazy Hubbard, but the view is quite nice.

You can actually go up to the top of the tower, which is cool, and should be really nice for the soon-to-be fall foliage season. I think we'll try the parking lot next time.

Upon our return home, there was yet another Praying Mantis on our front door. I don't know if the locals are used to seeing them so frequently, but I certainly am not, and find myself running for my camera every time I see one.

This one was crawling up the door and grabbed a little white spider for a snack.

BKY in NYC

2008-09-18T22:35:00.002-04:00

(BKY=Bucky=Buckminster Fuller)

Last Sunday Bethany, Val and I headed to the New Haven to catch the Metro North train to the NYC. Our one true objective was to visit the Whitney Museum and take in the R. Buckminster Fuller exhibit therein. Added bonus #1, there was also a Robert Mapplethorpe Polaroid exhibit there. Added bonus #2, also lots of great arts. Added bonus #3, NYC.

Almost right outside of Grand Central Terminal was a street fair stretching for several blocks, with food and random product vendors. The street was closed to vehicle traffic, and full of hot ladies, tempting me with their wares.

Don't get me wrong, I love me some gyros, but being a married man now, I resisted the sirens and had the falafel pita, which for some reason contained one stuffed grape leaf and one tiny veggie egg roll, but was nevertheless delicious. Shoulda snapped a picture, but I was hungry, so I ate it.

Our walk up to the Whitney showed off some of the usual sights in New York. Men with fabulous shoes, for one.

Still, it never fails to amaze me how I always seem to see some kind of construction equipment in the city that I have never seen anywhere else. Like this pavement eating saw, for example.

YIKES! This has to be one of my favorite warning labels.

Don't touch it, don't get anywhere near it, just STAY AWAY! We kept moving, through Central Park, and emerged to find the Whitney, right where they said it would be, in all it's big, blocky glory.

Unfortunately, there was no photo taking allowed in the galleries, and you couldn't drive the Dymaxion car, and so on and so on, so I'll leave you to discover the wonders of Bucky on your own. The Whitney has a cool ceiling in the lobby, though.

Leaving the museum, we were a bit indecisive as to what our next objective should be.

We walked around, hung out in Central Park, and went into the Apple cube but it was a crazy zoo so we went right back out again. Then we got milkshakes at someplace called popburger. It was like a trendy White Castle, but the shakes were good. Some of the walls were good too, in their own creepy way.

We debated the idea of "firm fries" and agreed that it was not really the best description of desirable fry quality. Soggy fries are gross, but firm fries aren't necessarily the ideal. Milkshakes are good, though.

After a little more aimless wandering, we finally saw the light.

Sorry, I just kind of liked that picture. We then decided to take the train back to New Haven with enough time to spare for some New Haven pizza. New York is great and all, but c'mon, New Haven pizza is the best!

A fine time was had by all, and I did manage to pick up the Bucky exhibit book, Starting With The Universe, and a Bucky DVD that primarily features footage of Bucky himself, to add to my Bucky library.

Renault 4

2008-09-11T22:44:00.003-04:00

I saw a few of these in Paris, all clearly well loved by their owners, but none probably quite as well loved as this one.

It's no Subaru wagon, but in my mind it is the perfect size for most folk's transportation needs.

Return to summer

2008-08-31T09:34:00.000-04:00

In the weeks since returning from Paris, and slowly remembering things like "go to work today" and "buy groceries soon or else!", we have settled back in to a somewhat normal schedule. But now with BOCCE!

We enjoy bocce quite a bit, but since we knew bocce owners in NC and in Middletown, we didn't acquire our own set until our Target registry offered us the opportunity. Bethany came through on that one, which is great because she gets to reap the rewards and play bocce with us from time to time. Bethany also keeps us up to date with things to do in CT, like the Mystic Arts Festival, where there are great things like this,

and refreshments,

and the crazy-ass drawbridge,

and finish it all off with a Japanese Sushi Cocktail!

AND, as if that weren't enough, Bethany lets us know about things like local wine festivals, with things like baby llamas,

pulled pork beignets,

gelato,

and of course, wine tasting, which makes us all happy,

and occasionally makes us want to kiss a llama.

Oh, then we went and ate lobster rolls.

Other than that, it has just been mantis,

food,

mantis,

food (Cato Corner cheese!),

dragonfly,

with some grilling and more bocce and the end of summer thrown in there also.

Haha

2008-08-30T15:52:00.000-04:00

Oh, I've got your fromage...

2008-08-12T23:10:00.002-04:00

...right here!

(DISCLAIMER: "here" link above takes you to a flickr collection of approximately 999 photos having to do with Paris. Only some of them are of cheese. I mean with cheese. I mean avec fromage.)

Au Jus!

blog avec fromage

2008-08-02T14:32:00.001-04:00

Never look better than the bride

2008-07-29T00:14:00.002-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, VALEX 2.0

We had a BLAST in the MSP last week, from the parties to the prepping to the Big Show.

Pictures from my camera are here:

VALEX2008

I did resist the urge to bring my camera down the aisle with me. I figured of all the moments to let some one else worry about it, that was the one. About 136 other people, including our hired gun professional should have sufficiently captured that moment.

What can I say? I was busy.

MMMMMM, delicious food & non-food items

2008-07-20T18:00:00.001-04:00

MMMMMM, delicious non-food items

2008-07-20T09:28:00.001-04:00

seen via swissmiss

July, July!

2008-07-19T17:46:00.003-04:00

Third of July,

a steamy Fourth of July,

a Brooklyn Twelfth of July,

a hungry Fourteenth of July,

a tomato-y Seventeenth of July,

which pretty much brings us up to this, the sweltering, "oneweekuntilthewedding", Nineteenth of July. Our papers are in order, and in 168 hours or so Valex will become Valex for real. Or maybe Valex 2.0, if you prefer.

We're taking suggestions/requests for reception playlists. iBook will be DJ-ing, so let us know what you want to hear.

It's good things are in order and pretty much taken care of, as I think the heatwave is giving me brain-melt.

Wake up, time to blog.

2008-07-03T19:41:00.002-04:00

Pictures from the past few weeks.

1) Val's birthday was celebrated.

@ the Blue Oar with Bethany

@ home with the pudding cake

2) Mussels were grilled

and they were delicious

3) Here there been pirates

Cap'n Dylan and his Wench Sarah held their annual-ish Pyrate Party, which also celebrated Dylan's 30th b-day

4) Strawberries were picked

and eaten

and there were some fantastic old tractors there

hahaha

2008-06-21T16:38:00.003-04:00

Booking Bands

http://www.coudal.com/bookingbands.php

Some of my favorites:

Charlie Daniels and the Chocolate Factory

The Who Moved My Cheese

The Necronomiconway Twitty

Abba Karenina

The Sun Also RZA

The Reverend Horton Heat Hears a Who

The Maltese Falco

Chicken Soup for the De La Soul

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Artist Formerly Known as Prince

Megadeth of a Salesman

I'm Ok, You're Ok Go

Charlie and the C&C Music Factory

10,000 Maniacs Under the Sea

Summertime

2008-06-14T11:19:00.002-04:00

is finally here, with thunderstorms, weddings, and bugs, Bugs, BUGS! I mean, weddings, Weddings, WEDDINGS!

Sonja & Jonathan chose 6-7-8 as their date, and had a perfect Saturday in the midst of a stormy week of weather. Which was important, as there was a planned procession from the church to the reception.

Upon our arrival at the reception there were toasts...

and then, like a sudden summer storm, things got ugly.

Or at least weird. But only for a little while. A more normal agenda of drinks, dinner, dancing, and sleepy babies quickly resumed.

Yes, both Calvin and I are sleepy babies. It was a great visit, a great wedding, and Val and I took notes. CONGRATULATIONS to Sonja & Jonathan!

We returned to CT via heatwave. Things have normalized to acceptable summer levels, but there were a few days this week that were sizzling. Things are looking good for this weekend, which is good because it's somebody's birthday.

Per her request, we returned to Firebox restaurant last night, to dine on delicious Connecticut cuisine. We started off with two tatamagouche oysters (sorry, no picture, I was too excited), and then...

There was Fiddlehead Fern Gratin.

Spring Asparagus with Smoked Shad

Flounder with peapods, lima beans, string beans, and olive tapanade

Salmon with peas, carrots, and more fiddleheads

With some white wine for the lady, some gin martinis for me, and this for dessert, with espresso, of course.

This is Chocolate Cr�me, according to the dessert menu. That means a sugar-wafer bowl, coated inside with chocolate, filled with a hazelnut butter, chocolate mousse-like substance, whipped cream, and some other variety of chocolate coated crispy/nutty wafer in the middle, with a sprig of mint, and orange caramel sauce. Yes, it was that good.

On a side note, here are the decanters from the silent auction. One for me, specifically...

...and another just because no one else bid on it.

I always thought decanters were a kind of cheesy, bygone-era sort of thing, but I had never experienced solid, heavy, "real" decanters before. I love 'em!

Also, I've decided to start knitting calamari.

This is my first prototype, but i have to adjust the body shape a little, and find the right kind of "eyes" for them. They are quick and easy, and besides looking funny, have great potential as cat toys.

See you soon!

CAUTION: EPIC-VIKING-SAGA LENGTH POST AHEAD

2008-05-25T20:19:00.006-04:00

I want you to think back in your mind, 30 days or so. Where were you? What were you doing? What was I doing?

Glad you asked. Let me tell you.

My dad was in town for a quick visit. He took a train in and a plane out, and inbetween we showed him around the area, ate good food, drank good (cheap) wine, and had a very pleasant visit.

We took him down Niantic way, and there we saw round turkeys,

pygmy goats,

and more used books in one location than any of us had ever seen. It's the Book Barn!

I really should have taken a few indoor shots, as it is pretty much floor to ceiling walls of books, in every building on the property. We browsed for quite a while, purchased a cardboard-box-worth of books, and then had dinner with our Niantic friend, Bethany.

The next morning, Dad and I had breakfast at O'Rourke's before I took him to the airport. It was a short visit, but I think we gave him a pretty good taste of the Connecticut River Valley.

Later that weekend, Val was out of town and I slipped on the basement stairs and fell on my back. For about 30 seconds I thought I was going to die in the basement, as I rolled off the stairs and formed a hunched ball of pain on the floor. I had left my cell phone upstairs, and while occasionally sympathetic, our cats are not known for being helpful. After several deep breaths, the pain subsided enough that I could uncurl from my hunch, and eventually stand up. I crawled back upstairs, filled a plastic bag with ice and spent the rest of the evening reading and wincing and checking to make sure the bag wasn't leaking. I felt old. I wasn't, I'm not, really, but I felt it to be sure. The rest of that weekend was spent eating Chinese take-out and playing even more X-Box that I usually do when Val is out of town.

The following weekend was the Wesleyan Book Sale, where volunteering gives you the pick of the litter, as it were. I tried to keep my litter small, but there were some great finds, with most paperbacks at 50� and hardcovers at $1. Some of the finds deserve their own posts, but it was another cardboard-box-worth, including:

great paperbacks with fantastic cover paintings,

a book of U.S. city and state nicknames,

and my personal favorite,

which includes a pull out section in the back with full color transparency brain layers!

I'll have to document a few more of the books, maybe even make some scans, just to show you that the $16.50 (total, for all the books) was worth it.

The NEXT weekend Val had volunteered as a "bid spotter" at an auction for the art center on campus, so I went along to see the show. There was a silent auction where we ended up bidding on and winning some items, some of which deserve their own posts, but the whole evening was very interesting from an I-only-ever-done-been-to-one-other-auction perspective. We spent more than we expected without even bidding in the real auction, but it was fun and for a good cause.

THIS weekend was shaping up to be a perfect three days for outdoorness, but I woke up on Saturday with some lower abdominal pain. Thinking back to my fall on the stairs and all the fun I've had with doctors over the last 12 months or so, I decided to go to the ER and get checked out. Guess what? After everything short of a CAT scan, they discharged me with abdominal pain, unknown cause saying "come on back if'n you need to". Thankfully, the pain was/is mild, and hasn't gotten any worse, so we'll just let it ride it's course or move back to my eye, or whatever it needs to do.

I wasn't the only one in the hospital last week, and since Ted Kennedy wasn't able to make it to the Wesleyan commencement, he sent Barak Obama in his place. A perfect sunny morning, a twenty minute walk and a box of munchkins later, we were sitting on a grassy knoll, watching the event unfold.

Or should I say, watching the secret service snipers unfold?

They were watching us, that was for sure, and we weren't alone. You needed a ticket to sit in the chairs for graduation, but we were just outside the crowd control fence, sitting on our blanket, eating muchkins in the sun, slowly, with no sudden moves. With a few thousand other people.

Things got rolling right on time, and the secret service made sure you knew they were there. And there. And there. And there. And there. And there. And there. And there. Also, there.

After a few speeches and honorary degrees, it was Obama's turn, and he was presented an honorary degree and given a shot at the mike.

We were pretty far back, but the amplification was great, so everyone could hear his speech, which was relatively directed at the class of '08, and short enough to keep him and graduation right on schedule.

Afterwards, we were walking home and were fortunate enough to get him to pose for this shot.

He kept tipping over if nobody held him up, but I'd like to see how you hold up on the presidential campaign trail.

HAPPY (maybe sad, or better yet, memorial) MEMORIAL DAY!

SCIENCE!

2008-05-07T13:07:00.001-04:00

sorta.

http://www.scienceandsons.com/

Like watching films?

2008-05-04T10:29:00.001-04:00

You might enjoy this:

http://www.pangeaday.org/

BEWARE

2008-05-03T15:20:00.003-04:00

CORKNINJA!

What's better than a new camera?

2008-04-17T22:27:00.006-04:00

OLD CAMERA!

All from the local flea market. That Minolta is not fully functional, but I'm pretty sure I can sell the lens on eBay for twice what I paid for the whole thing, or better yet, keep the lens for my other Minolta(s), and sell the parts body to someone who might need it. For twice what I paid for it. Heavy to ship though, for a camera...

Tipping the scale at 2 lbs 3.3 oz. Still lighter than 1,000 record albums...

Awwwwwger!

2008-04-17T22:27:00.001-04:00

Isn't it cute?

Appliance Delicatessen

2008-04-02T23:35:00.001-04:00

Appliance Delicatessen, originally uploaded by doctorhectic.

new to the neighborhood. new sign, anyway

double it

2008-04-01T22:07:00.001-04:00

From this...

...to this.

In several easy steps!

snow showers

2008-03-30T15:05:00.004-04:00

snow

shower (shower shower)

Last weekend we were in the MSP for EXTREME COUPLE EASTER WEEKEND�, including much wedding planning, bridal and baby showers, and general family-related events. And it snowed, everyday...

...which was fine, and made social events that much cozier, wherever they were, and they were everywhere, from Minneapolis to Lake Elmo. Why, I do believe we covered at least 3 of the 7 counties in the metro area, Hennepin, Ramsey, and Washington.

As they say, come for the showers, stay for the food & drink. From the makeshift Triscuit pizza snack that I made right after touchdown on the tarmac...

...to the bacon-wrapped pineapple at the swanky bridal shower...

...also cocktails...

...to brunch @ cupcake...

...also double espresso in stainless steel...

...to the babies (x2) shower...

...and multiple family brunches. Of which I have no pictures. For some reason.