tfl: The Flatiron Life

And brings back school reform. The City runs the schools here and Mayor Daley sets the policies. He says Chicago Public Schools students get too much time off. Mayor Daley is pushing for a six-day school week, a shorter summer break, or a longer school day. He also wants to teach foreign language earlier.

As someone working my way through classes learning a language I think I should have learned as a child (at home not at school), I agree children should be exposed to language earlier. However, I can only imagine what my teacher friends would say about working 6 days a week or more weeks a year.

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This is a rather long story about the changing behavior of the Sun. I find all of the changing science on the Solar System, the atmosphere, and climate fascinating. We have not been accurately observing these areas for very long considering the life of Earth and how long changes can have a direct affect on the system. Every day we gather more evidence that gives us a better idea of what is happening, but we are still unable to predict what will happen the way we can in other sciences. Now, scientists are seeing the sun behave in ways that are new to us, it is more active that is has been in 400 years. There is also growing evidence that the entire solar system is heating up. As our polar icecap is changing so is the icecap on Mars. It is also possible that Pluto is thawing out.
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When I visited Joscelynn in Germany two years ago the holiday market season was in full swing. The weihnachtsmarkt in Freiburg was full of booths selling a variety of items. It seemed like half of them were selling Advent wreaths. There was a wide variety of them with decorations and candles in different colors It really struck me because I was not sure if I had ever seen Advent wreaths for sell in the US.

Now, Jos and I want an Advent wreath and we cannot find one. A couple greenery lots have popped up around us and Jos went looking for a wreath, but she was put off by the sales person when he said they were “pretty expensive.” Also, I think they were the typical writhes for hanging, we could make it work but as a last resort. Everyone seems to think the only place we can find on is in a Christian bookstore. I am sure we can find them there, but why only there? First, we live in the godless big city and we don’t have a local Christian bookstore. Second, there are Menorahs and Kwanza sets everywhere.

All we want is a tree hole!

A couple years ago I became interested in homebrewing. I bought The Joy of Homebrewing and my mom gave me a Mr. Beer homebrew kit. The kit is nice and the mixes work pretty well. I think I have mastered the Mr. Beer and am ready to move up to the next level. I am talking 6 gallons of wort fermenting in a glass carboy in a dark corner of the apartment! Watch out Budweiser.
If you are still searching for the perfect gift for this blogger, I have added homebrew accessories to the Christmas list.

Jos and I decorated for Christmas tonight. I know we are about a week ahead of schedule. We are leaving Wednesday night for the holiday, going to the families in Indiana for Thanksgiving. Friday, Jos’ family is coming to Chicago for the day. We don’t anticipate entertaining many people over the Holidays so we want to maximize the viewing time for our decorations. So when the family comes over everything will be ready for their viewing pleasure.

I had a tree and lights from last year. Clearly this is not enough. So we went over to the local World Market and browser around for some decorations. We had some trouble with customer service and the spirit of Vicky was channeled through us. However we did find a couple stockings, a star (I say snow flake) tree topper, tree skirt, bulbs, star ornaments and a special Santa sitting on a box ornament for our first Christmas together. You can see the bulbs sitting on ground because World Market does not sell ornament hangers! You can also see that someone has a gift sitting under the tree, although this is not a Christmas Gift, it is a rather late wedding gift.

You will also notice that this is not a very good picture. Couple reasons for that. First, I don’t think anyone recommends taking photos right at a window. Second, I could really use a tripod and would not refuse a new digital camera, a Digital Rebel XT would be nice. Thirdly, I never seem to take the best pictures inside, if anyone has some tips I will take them.

Harriet the tortoise celebrated her 175th birthday today. Harriet lives at Australia Zoo which is owned by Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter.

When reached for comment, Harriet thought a moment about saing something negative about the Harvey the hare who she beat in a race in 1850. She then thought the better of it and gave her trademark, “Slow and steady wins the race.” Finally, retreating into her shell as Steve approached saying something about wrestling.

I am taking German classes (more stories on that to come). And I am a Christian who would like to read the Bible more often. I have combined these two passions in to one (actually two) exciting gift opportunity for someone out there! Maybe people to the north in lake country?

I am torn on which I want more. I want a nice Luther Translation Die Bibel. However Die Bibel is like the King James Version of the Bible. Probably not how you would recommend someone learn English so not the best way to learn German. Amazon recommended Die Gute Nachricht. This is a side-by-side dual language book. This is a modern translation of the Bible in both English and German.

It is that time of year again. I have created a new Christmas List. There is a link on the right that you can look at whenever you want to buy me something. I will try to include a link to the items so you have a better understanding of what I am looking for.

This list is managed with Ta-da Lists. This is a great little application that allows you to create, edit, and share lists. Lists of anything.

I forgot to include Luke’s Super Blog in my initial post. Luke’s blog will keep you up to date on another NVHS alum and more importantly another alumni of Palucci’s Pizza.

A few of my friends have blogs of note and with the new site come new links to these blogs.

First, Lewis Alexander runs The Land of Alexander. I have known Lewis for over about 15 years. He is a dedicated blogger. He always has a lot to say about what is going on in his life and posts opinions about the world from time to time. Most importantly he is a dedicated reader of tfl. He was the first to be worried I was dead after not posting and other people would tell me that Lewis was probably disappointed that I was not blogging.

Second, Robert Reinhold (The Beer) and Ann Mei (A Shot) are Two Shots and a Beer. I have worked with Robert for over 3 years and are pretty good pals. Ann has been a contractor working at my office for 6 months (and is possibly insane). Ann ran the Chicago Marathon the year and has tricked Robert and another guy into entering the Accenture Chicago Triathlon. This is a three-man event next August. Robert is swimming, Ann is running, and their teammate, Gin, is biking. They needed a name for the group and employed me to help in the naming. I thought of a few tames. Many of them were based around the groups prolific drinking. They settled on Two Shots and a Beer (2S&B). Check out their blog as they train for this test of will and strength.

Third, Zach Wendling puts in some time In the Agora. I met Zach at IU and have known him for 5 years. In the Agora is “one of the Net’s best sources for commentary on current events, culture, faith, science and much more.” If you like the old Hoosier Review, you will love In the Agora. Zach has not posted recently, a symptom of him finding gainful employment, but the blog is still a good read.

Finally, Ryan McHale runs a little blog where you can keep abreast of the happenings in his life. If you head over there you will see nothing has happened to him since July. Maybe a little public humiliation will coax him into writing.

If any of you have a blog let me know and it will be added to the blogroll. If you do not have a blog, head over to Blogger and set one up. It is easy, free, and fun. After you have your blog setup I will link to you too. I think you will be amazed how many people are interested in what you are doing and what you have to say. I know I am surprised how many people read me.