Square Zero

“At Least We're Closer Than Square Negative Fifty”

Sarah Paraskeva Scheidler . . .

Posted by Eric (June 1, 2007 at 7:17 pm)

Sarah Paraskeva Ultrasound. . . was born today at 12:15 p.m. after a long, slow labor that began late Tuesday evening. We’ve scarcely slept these last three days, and unfortunately all my photos of this beautiful little girl are trapped on my camera, for I write this from the library at Rush University across the street from the hospital. But here’s an ultrasound from last week as a teaser, and I’ll say more in a couple days when we’re back home and a bit more rested.

Posted in Family, Fatherhood | 9 Comments »

The “Rewatchables”

Posted by Eric (April 27, 2007 at 2:56 pm)

Watching moviesLast Friday I got together with a group of guys to watch Reservoir Dogs, one of my favorite movies. Most of us had seen it before, several of us many times, and it was a blast—all those great lines from Mr. Blonde (“regular job, job-type job”; “you gonna bark all day little doggie—or are you gonna bite?” etc.). It’s arguably the perfect movie—not a scene, a line, a camera angle out of place.

Reservoir Dogs is one of those movies that I can watch over and over and over again—one of the “rewatchables.”

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Posted in Movies & TV | 33 Comments »

Scrap Metal

Posted by Eric (April 23, 2007 at 12:43 pm)

Click for larger imageI like to ride off-road early in the morning. Nothing sets you up for the day like an hour on the trail at the crack of dawn. Unless you happen to crack your bike frame.

Last Tuesday morning, I was coasting along about 15 minutes into my ride when I noticed something funny about my pedaling. Wobbly on the right side. I clicked out of the pedal and saw nothing amiss with pedal or shoe. But looking a little closer I saw cracked paint just above the bottom bracket. Uh-oh.

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Posted in Bicycling | 7 Comments »

Old Enough To Read a Good Poem

Posted by Eric (April 18, 2007 at 11:50 pm)

mindIsn’t is strange how you come upon things? I was reading entries on the blog of a Virginia Tech student posted throughout the day of the massacre at Blacksburg (where my brother attended grad school), and scrolling back past that date I learned that Kurt Vonnegut had died.

This student declared how much impact the works of Vonnegut had had upon him. I wonder in the end if Vonnegut’s books or having been there in Blackburg on April 16, 2007 will have had a greater impact on this young man’s life. And, yes, I’m really asking that question. Let’s not pit books against “real life”; if books aren’t part of Real Life, then life just isn’t real enough.
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Posted in Books | 2 Comments »

Books I’m Supposedly Reading

Posted by Eric (April 13, 2007 at 12:13 pm)

Pile of booksMy pal James at the facetiously named blog “The Daily Brouhaha” (“Bi-Monthly Brouhaha” would be more like it) has tagged me with this “Book(s) I’m Reading” thing, so here goes. Right now I am currently more-or-less reading the following books: [Continue reading this entry »]

Posted in Books, Culture & Society, What Not | 6 Comments »