What goes around, comes around…

I credit the headline to the wife, for the record…and for the following reason…

While I was at work on Sunday afternoon, Brooke called to tell me about a little adventure the dog had… The front door hasn’t been sealing all the way and, apparently, when I left, it didn’t seal very well… Brooke was in the kitchen for about 10 minutes and, after entering the living room again, noticed the door was open…and the cat was laying at the bottom of the stairs! So, after grabbing the cat (relatively easy compared with what he usually does when he escapes), she noticed that the dog was nowhere to be seen. She walked around the block(s) where we usually walk her and, again, no Edie.

Well, thankfully, when she returned, there was a message on the answering machine from a few nice ladies that had capture the puppy. Apparently, they were driving down to Soulard for a few drinks before the Super Bowl and saw a random dog crossing Russell Ave. right by the Bastille (across from Joanie’s Pizza). They opened the door and she hopped right in! After looking at her tag, they called the phone number and left the message, so Brooke met them and picked up the dog (offering to buy them a beer, of course, but they said that they hoped someone would do the same for them if their dog had gotten loose!).

Needless to say, we’re being much more careful about checking the front door when we aren’t downstairs to keep an eye on the animals.

Anyway, I got home today around 4:30 pm to see Brooke out on the street with Edie for her afternoon walk…with another dog (a Red Coonhound, apparently). This one was loose, but very friendly and was being very nice to Edie, despite her typical whining. So, Brooke looked on the tag and saw the address and phone number (over off Lemp Ave, across I-55!). I called the number and a young woman answered, saying “Charlie’s never gone that far, before!” Anyway, she came over promptly (I had gone inside to get Charlie a rawhide to entertain him until his Momma arrived) and said “thank you” multiple times.

As the great Alanis Morissette once said: “Isn’t it ironic…dontcha think?”?

They was sleepin’…

Sleeping family...
Sleeping family...

The family was sleeping during “Criminal Minds” Wednesday night…thought I should share the photo op with everyone else… 😛

On a side-note, according to my WordPress Dashboard, this is my 400th post on this blog. Crazy times, yo.

A weekend of movies…

It’s nice not having much to do for a change! So, I caught up on all kinds of movies this weekend…

  • Superman Returns – Been a few years since I’d seen this one, but it was on FX, so I recorded it in HD. Personally, I still think this is a great movie, if only as a continuation from the earlier Christopher Reeve flicks. The story isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s a very nice re-introduction to the popular movies from the 80s. I already wrote my general thoughts about this movie down when I saw it in theaters, but here they are again if anyone cares…
  • Iron Man – Josh gave me the Bluray version of this. And it’s still a glorious movie. Robert Downey, Jr. is sooooooooooo perfect for the role of Tony Stark, it’s crazy. Again, I already wrote plenty about this movie when I saw it this summer, but here they are if you want to read them again.
  • The Devil Wears Prada – This was on FX last week, too, and I’d never seen it. Not a bad movie, but probably not one I need to see every again. Mostly a chick-flick, and pretty predictable, but not a bad movie, overall. And Meryl Streep deserved an Oscar for that role, yo…
  • Hellboy 2: The Golden Army – I really wasn’t a fan of the first movie, and probably should watch it again, but when we were at Redbox grabbing Hancock, we grabbed this one, too, so I could watch it. I guess, in short, I’d find it to be a “serviceable” movie in that I was entertained, but it wasn’t particularly good and I’m glad I didn’t see it in theaters. Selma Blair can’t act to save her life, and the effects were _good_, but certainly not mind-blowing. I guess I’m glad I saw it, but I don’t think I’ll need to see it again…ever…
  • Hancock – Didn’t get a chance to see this one over summer when it was out in theaters, and as reviews weren’t very impressive, we waited for the DVD. Honestly, it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I’m still impressed with Will Smith in general, but Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron do an excellent job, as well. The visual effects were kinda mediocre, to be honest, and the music wasn’t quite…I dunno…”superhero enough”… But, the story was surprisingly engaging and there were a few twists and turns that surprised even me! So yeah, worth the rental, I think. Mom, you probably won’t like it. 😛
  • I guess I need to get some more movies lined up for next weekend… Recommendations?

    A tele-what?

    So, I was listening to an interesting “On Point With Tom Ashbrook” from NPR during my various runnings around tonight whilst they discussed young people in the digital age. They were largely talking about how youth today, whether in middle school or college are constantly “connected” via text messaging, e-mail, Facebook and IM. The discussion was sparked by a recent study saying that having your kids on the internet all the time may not be a bad thing, necessarily (a link to the study is on the On Point website).

    It didn’t really get me thinking about anything specific, but a little about my history with similar forms of “connectedness.” My oldest IM name is alinsenb17…which means I started it when I was 17…which means that I will have been using AIM for a decade next year (eeesh!). Before that, I was already e-mailing “pen pals” of sorts and using another chat program, ICQ, that I don’t really use anymore (if I remember right, I was using ICQ for a good amount of time before AIM, meaning that I’ve actually been IMming for longer than 10 years already).

    It’s also rather crazy just how many people are online at a given time, and generally available to “chat.” At the time of this writing (9:00 PM CST), there are 14 people on my Facebook Chat, 12 on Google Chat, 2 on MSN Messenger, and 7 on AIM. Nice way to stay connected, and still kinda crazy that all these people still use IM services when text messaging has largely taken over for instant messaging via computer. There was a time, back in my first year at Truman, where I’d have 9 AIM windows open at one time, with 9 separate conversations going at once…which was (obviously) difficult to manage.

    I guess the part that really intrigues me about this is that I’ve been doing IM for 10 years, and e-mail for a little longer, and there are still people that don’t have computers, let alone an e-mail account, let alone an IM account of some form. I realize it’s a “different generation,” but I wonder how it’ll all, eventually, equal out. We’re already starting to see some integration of all these protocols, where one can couple their Facebook status with text messaging, or both of those with their Twitter account (which is a separate beast entirely).

    Will it come to a point where all of these separate forms of communication (social networking, text messaging, e-mail, IM, voice/video chat) are all integrated into a single protocol? Where someone can communicate with someone else with the touch of a button?

    Oh wait…that’s called a “telephone“…

    Neuroscience 2008

    From Neuroscience 2008

    Well, I got back from DC today…was there for a few days for the Society for Neuroscience 2008 convention (last year’s was in San Diego), where I presented a poster of some data I’ve been working on (and hope to get published soon!). Overall, the poster presentation (which was Sunday morning) went beautifully well. Last year, I presented later in the conference, so there were less people around to listen to me make stuff up… This year, however, was earlier so there was much more interest and, in general, many more people.

    Other than that, I looked at lots of other posters and talked with some folks from different labs, checking into some Postdoc opportunities. I got some good information, and some good ideas as to where to go next (with my research and my career).

    We did get some sight-seeing in, though, specifically getting to see the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (w00t!) and the National Mall (and all their monuments…). They’re all pretty self-explanatory, and you can check out pictures here!

    Oh, and I also got to see Jeff Lin. Good times.

    A step too far?

    So, I heard this mentioned a few weeks ago on a video game blog I listen to: if you don’t like the message of the songs presented in the popular Guitar Hero or Rock Band franchises, you’re in luck, ’cause now there’s Guitar Praise!! You can how have “inspirational fun” with 52 songs from Christian bands like Skillet, Petra and Casting Crowns!

    But that’s not all! Remember the seemingly unstoppable”High School Musical” franchise? Well, maybe some of the themes in those movies are questionable…but you’re in luck there too, ’cause now there’s “Sunday School Musical!” An “inspirational story” about a group of kids that enter a music competition to save their church from closing! Watch the trailer – it’s gripping…

    So yeah, perhaps I’m wrong (and I usually am…), but isn’t this a step too far? I understand that the “High School Musical” franchise is primarily watched by middle school-aged kids (as opposed to actual high school kids), perhaps exposing them to some themes that aren’t exactly age appropriate…but shouldn’t it be the parent’s responsibility to limit that exposure? Or the fact that music from Guitar Hero or Rock Band are on the radio/TV all the time….wouldn’t it make more sense to talk to your kids about the themes in popular music rather than simply ignoring them and avoiding them? Isn’t it better to teach kids how to handle a variety of media that they may be exposed to on a daily basis…rather than trying to keep it from them only to have them see it on their own at a friend’s house, not knowing how to treat it?

    It seems to me that, while I don’t have any kids (besides a very lazy beagle), I’d want to help my children integrate into the world around them efficiently and effectively, rather than shelter them to the point where they may not know how to deal with what’s really out there until they leave home and go to college.

    And you thought golf was boring…

    So, Brooke and I inherited two free tix to the Rams game today. It was the first time either of us had ever been to an NFL game, so we were all about “the experience,” especially as we’ve both lived close to NFL teams for years and had never actually gone to one. Kickoff was at noon, and as we were getting out of church just before then, we were a bit late to the game. Either way, we hung out through the end of the third quarter. At the time, it was 7 – 30…so…not so good…

    It ended 13-34.

    Now, I’ve been to high school and college football games…but neither are as boring as an NFL game, apparently. Seriously, I think I missed the commercials during all the timeouts! The thing that really has me confused is how people can think baseball is boring when there’s so much downtime in an NFL game. I’m pretty sure, at least for the nearly 3 quarters we were there, the ball was not moving longer than it was moving. At least in baseball, there are short pauses throughout, but there is a game to watch for the vast majority of the time!

    Anyway, we’re glad we went to the game…and didn’t pay anything for it… Which brings up another point: we were up at the top of the Dome and those seats would have cost $44. $44?!? That’s two tickets for a Cardinal’s game that is a). more entertaining, and b). better seats!

    We’ll probably still try and hit up a Blues hockey game, as neither of us have ever been to an NHL game, either…but we may put that off until we get to a few more baseball games to wash away the sour taste in our mouths…

    And because it’s amusing…

    Katie visited Ted Drewes while she was in town recently…and it’s on YouTube… She doesn’t know what Crab Rangoon is… And we also get to find out why they “call it a concrete”…

    …and I ran…I ran so far away…

    So, Brooke and I are pretending to jog a few times a week, now. Jogging is one of those things that I’ve tried in the past, but it never really sticks. Back at Truman, when living one block away from the Rec Center, it was relatively easy to motivate myself to walk over and use the treadmill a few times a week. While most people I know don’t like running in place, finding it boring, I’ve never really had a problem with it. Unfortunately, we don’t have room for one in our apartment, so it isn’t really an option, and I refuse to spend money going to some sort of health club!

    Anyway, Brooke had a membership to the Y for a few months, but hasn’t been going…so, she canceled that and now we’re going to try jogging on Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings. The truly crazy part about this is that I’m getting up at 7:00 am (!!!!) to participate in this insanity, which isn’t exactly typical Andy style. I’ve been waking up earlier and earlier in my old age, so I guess it’s to be expected.

    Regardless, we’re lucky if we can jog for 5-6 minutes at this point…sad, I know…but you have to start somewhere! We’re hoping to keep this up until it gets truly cold, and maybe by that point, we’ll be good enough at it that we don’t mind jogging when it’s 30 F outside.

    Personally, if we keep this up for even four weeks, I’ll be impressed!