Puzzle Apartment

Matt sent me this article last week. It's a long one, but really interesting and worth reading until the end.

In 2003, the Klinsky-Sherry family in NYC bought a fourteenth floor, 4,200 square foot apartment on Fifth Avenue. They decided to have the whole thing gutted and remodeled, but didn't want to go for a "cookie-cutterish" look. They hired architect Eric Clough to do the job and were pretty hands off during the remodel.

After Mr. Klinsky asked for a poem he'd written for his family to be hidden behind a wall somewhere, Clough began scheming and came up with an elaborate game/puzzle hidden throughout the apartment. Clues were hidden all over the apartment.

A radiator grate with what appeared to be random letters of the alphabet was really a code with a message. Seemingly pointless door knockers on opposite walls fitted together to make a crank, which when inserted into a panel in another part of the house, opened a secret compartment. Letters hidden in a secret drawer formed clues to a crossword puzzle. Over all, a system of nearly 20 clues lead to the panels in a bedroom that hid the poem Mr. Klinsky had written for his family.

"Behind the panels, large white letters laser-cut into teal blue acrylic spell out the words of a poem written years ago by Steven B. Klinsky."

The family first discovered that their apartment had more than they'd imagined when one of their children's friends cracked the code written on the radiator grate. A few months later, the architect mailed a riddled poem that lead them to a secret panel with a book written for them about the clues in their apartment. "The book led them on a scavenger hunt through their own apartment."

Framed photos of the original interior of the apartment had clues written on the back of them.

This is just the neatest remodel that I've ever heard of. Can you imagine having secret compartments and clues hidden all over your home, a book and musical score written all for you? My mother loves puzzles; she would have really loved this house!

Happy B'day Manda Panda

Happy Bird Day!

(yes, it's supposed to say "bird" instead of "birth"... it's from The Office)

The Hoax

Richard Gere as Clifford Irving in "The Hoax"

Matt and I had taken a break from our Netflix queue over the last couple of weeks and hadn't been able to sit still long enough to catch up on some of our movies. Last night, we found some time to watch The Hoax, a film loosely based on the false "autobiography" of Howard Hughes, written (made up) by Clifford Irving.

Matt is really interested in the life of Howard Hughes (probably due in large part to his huge influence on the design and manufacturing of several aircraft), and has read a lot about him. He thought I wouldn't like the movie, but it was actually very interesting.

There were several scenes in the movie that were completely fabricated, but the gist of the story was true. Clifford Irving fabricated a book and claimed it to be Hughes' autobiography. He relied on the fact that Hughes was widely thought to be a complete recluse and possible mental case who would either pay him off to stop the book from being published, or refuse to come into the public arena to discredit Irving.

Irving forged several letters that he claimed to have received from Hughes to secure a $765,000 book advance ($100,000 of it was to be written out to himself, the rest to H. R. Hughes), and had his wife deposit the Hughes money into a Swiss bank account under the false name of Helga R. Hughes (in the movie, this amount was inflated to $1 million). Irving invented elaborate tales of his meetings with Hughes, claiming to hold his interviews all over the world, when he was, instead, meeting with several of his mistresses.

This guy is a real jerk (in the movie and in real life), and a pretty worthless husband, friend, and employee. But, he still managed to pull off a huge hoax that fooled a lot of people until Hughes conferenced-called seven reporters who he'd had interactions with in the past, part of which was televised, to denounce the manuscript. Irving returned the book advance and ultimately served seventeen months in federal prison for fraud. He has since published several best sellers and now lives in Aspen, Colorado.

Fajitas and Margaritas

This past weekend, we celebrated at Amy and Ryan's first official engagement party with fajitas and margaritas in Guntersville.

Ole!

The best part of any party... presents. :)

The boys.
Seth looks like he feels a little left out. ;)

So, you may be asking, "What do you do after you have finished your fajitas and margaritas?" Well... you play frisbee!!

Amy's Auburn Crew teammate, friend, and bridesmaid, Corey, had a serious throw!

Most of the players didn't want to part with their drinks, so they had to catch and throw single handed!

I saw Isaac dive out in front and steal a few passes to his dad!

Amanda and Angie gave us a good version of the Mexican Hat Dance!

Auntie Amy with her future nephew, Chase.

Happy Late Father's Day

Happy Belated Father's Day!

I should have written this last week and scheduled it to post on time. Since I didn't, it will have to be a belated wish.

I feel really blessed to not only have such wonderful parents, but also several other parental figures that have loved and taught me over the years.

Barber Motorsports Park

Thanks for eating ice cream and drinking milk. If you’ve bought anything from Barber Dairies then you may have helped provide the venue for my weekend fun.

This past weekend Michael, Dad and I went to the NASA (National Auto Sport Association, not space ships and satellites) race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, AL. BMP is owned by George Barber, who made his fortune from cows. It’s an absolutely beautiful facility that is landscaped more like a golf course than a race track. There are large sculptures scattered around the grounds and it has the feel of a very nice park. The track itself is also incredible.


As at Road Atlanta in March, I was driving in group 2, of 4 levels, while slowly working my way (hopefully) to a competition license in a few years. This time Michael was also able to drive in his first weekend on track in group 1. My dad also flew out from California to help out and generally just be there. It also gave him a chance to see how different NASA regions do things as he usually drives in the Norcal region and this was a NASA Southeast event.

A general summary of the weekend: It was HOT! Temps were hanging somewhere around 95° in the shade with track temps above 120°. At one point while sitting on grid waiting to go out on track, my super snazzy on-board computer told me that it was reading 137°. I’ve now decided that no matter how much weight I could save, I’m not getting rid of my air conditioning until it’s 100% race car and I have another driver cooling system.


Michael and I both got 4 twenty minute track sessions each day. I actually sat out my last session on Saturday because I was way too hot and just worn out, but this still works out to almost 5 hours of track time on the car. The car again ran perfectly and actually rolled over 210,000 miles while out on track. I think that’s pretty impressive for an engine that still burns zero oil and can get over 30mpg.


For his first time on a real track, Michael did great. He had an instructor ride with him all of Saturday and for the first 2 sessions on Sunday. She said he was doing really well and signed him off to solo for the last two sessions. My dad then rode with him for one and he was all alone for the final session. He also accomplished his primary goal which was don’t break the car or hit anything.

Overall it was a very successful weekend. We had a great time, met some cool people, burned some gasoline, removed some of the rubber from my tires and I can’t wait to do it again. Hopefully I’ll get another chance in December back at Road Atlanta.

It has been said that the only way to make a small fortune in racing is to start with a large fortune. Would anyone care to sponsor a future race team?

Shirts or Skins?

One of the things that Matt is really good about is mowing the yard. I have only done it once or twice (and ended up destroying several items left in the lawn), and really appreciate that he doesn't seem to mind cutting the grass (aka I don't have to).

One thing I have asked him to do, though, is to at least wear a cotton tee shirt when he does the front yard. I would prefer he abstain from going shirtless wherever the neighbors can see him.

Part of the reason for my severe aversion to Matt showing some skin to the neighborhood comes from our experience at the old house we rented when we were still newlyweds. We had a neighbor across the street who insisted on sitting on his front porch, shirtless, with his big hairy belly on display for the whole world to see - even in the dead of winter! It was especially distracting because he was out there at what seemed like all hours of the day, never moving from his post. You only knew he was alive because he was constantly screaming at his kids, who often played in the front yard.

When it's hot outside and Matt wants to tone down his severe farmer's tan, that image of the shirtless neighbor burns my brain. I know Matt doesn't look like that man in any shape or form, but it's the idea that bothers me.

After MJ's past weekend at the track, though, his farmers tan has taken on a whole new level. I told him that I couldn't take him to the beach with me next week when we visit his uncle in Daytona Shores.

So - what do you think? Is it just too redneck to mow shirtless? Or, is it just contributing to a real red neck (and farmer's tan) to be forced to mow fully clothed?

Oldie But a Goodie

I found this while trying to clean out my computer at work a little. Someone emailed it to me a while back and I thought that the little kid in this Blue Cross Blue Shield commercial was so funny that I had to share it.

"He was injured. Injured bad."



Warning: Contains graphic language.

Operation Chaos?

I try to keep up with politics - not to a huge extent, but I do try to have a fairly general idea of what is going on with the people who represent me.

When I heard on the news last night that the opposing political party to the upcoming runoff between two congressional candidates is trying to throw the vote, I thought it was a little annoying.

One of the two candidates in the primary, Wayne Parker, scored just shy of the needed majority at 49% of the vote, and his runner up, Cheryl Baswell-Guthrie, (who got just 19%) is now set to face him in a runoff next month. The other party only had two candidates and the winner of their primary, Parker Griffith, easily won the nomination at 90% of the vote.

Now some in that party are trying to upset the runoff in July. As reported by several news outlets, a political email group sent out a message that read, in part: "Anybody up for a little med­dling in the runoff between Bas­well Guthrie and Parker? I be­lieve we can all agree on who would be the easiest to beat in November."

Voting in one primary and then in the opposing party's run off is apparently perfectly legal where we live, but I don't necessarily think it's necessarily 100% ethical.

When asked about the suggestion, Wayne Parker put it very well: "We've heard some of Dr. Griffith's supporters want to meddle in the primary and keep me off the ballot in November. People in North Alabama want honest and fair elections. This certainly undermines the spirit of that."

I may not necessarily have a horse in this race because I didn't vote for either of the candidates in the runoff, but I still think that they should have their fair chance. And, this party isn't without it's own blame too - the same situation came up in the presidential primaries (actually - on both sides: lots of Democrats voted for McCain and even more Republicans voted for Clinton!), but I do think that it undermines "the spirit of honest and fair elections" when you vote for the weaker candidate of the opposing party just to give a boost to your favorite candidate.

I guess that's just how politics work, but I don't have to agree with it.

Old House

When we first moved back to the area, we were in a hurry to find a place of our own (we were staying with my parents until we got our own place). We arrived in town on a Saturday evening, looked through the Sunday paper the next morning and found a rental that day... just in time to unload the moving truck before we had to drop it off the next morning.

It was an older bungalow with two bedrooms and one bath. It had been part of an old mill town and had an addition or two built onto it over time. In one of the rooms, you could place a ball and watch it roll across the sloped floor. A few of the door handles were missing and there were several little things around the house that were old or broken. We didn't mind it too much because it had character and was very affordable!

Well, we were in the neighborhood the other week and decided to drive past our old rental house. Someone has since bought the place and completely remodeled it.


The outside of the house still pretty much looks the same, but the inside is COMPLETELY different. It's also listed on valleymls at 3 times what the appraised value was (we got the appraisal in the mail while we were living there) just three and a half years ago.


It's a cute little house, but I'm not sure I'd pay that much for a 2 bedroom, 1 and 1/2 bath (they added a half bath in the remodel) on a teeny lot. I would, however, love to have that brand new open kitchen with the granite counter tops and bar!

Good Samaritans Still Exist

After watching a video of an elderly man struck last week in a hit and run while crossing the street in which several bystanders simply stared and walked away, I was feeling pretty down about the level of compassion among strangers.



Then I found this story about a group of vacationers in Europe who stopped and saved the life of a jogger having a heart attack in Rome. This group of German doctors stopped their travel bus, got off and "injected adrenaline directly into his heart, gave him CPR, applied a heart defibrillator, and inserted a breathing tube."

We all remember the parable of the good Samaritan and I just hope that if I found someone in the same situation, I would take the time to show some compassion and get help.

We Got on the River!

One of the first Harnation posts was about the secondary family that I grew up with at our old church, Community Pres. We finally got around to taking a group trip together last weekend- the first one in many many years.

I say "we" got on the river, but it it was really just the majority of the group. My mom, Aunt Angelia, and myself all made the huge sacrifice to go shopping with our recovering appendicitis victim, Amy, instead of hitting the river on Saturday. :)

The trip was a lot of fun, even without any paddling. We rented two condos for the whole group so that we could all stay together. It worked out really well and I think everyone had a very good time.

When we checked in, we had to sign their rental policy, which the manager informed us meant we weren't allowed to "jump on the beds or moon any of the other guests." Too bad. We didn't get to see the birthmark that is "Russia" come out this year. (Phew!)

Back at the house.

Jay, before the flip.

Ryan looks pretty good for a semi-newbie.

Mr. and Mrs. A

Scooter and Isaac.

Dad looks like he thinks the water is cold!

Amanda and Kary on the falls.

The Sunday re-run group.

Who's foot is that?

A friendly game of pool.

Thanks for a great trip, guys!

Yummy Yummy Yummy!

Last night, we went to Grille 29 for our anniversary. It was SO GOOD!

We had never been there, but had heard that it was really good, so we decided that an anniversary was a special enough occasion to give us a good excuse to try it.

The patio was full, so we had to sit inside. It was a little dark, but quite nice once your eyes adjusted. We were in view of the bar, which had a really neat ceiling. It had constellations that lit up and flickered, and even a comet and falling stars that would periodically streak across the black ceiling.

We started out with drinks and some calamari. For dinner, I got the crab cakes with some great fresh veggies and Matt ordered the grouper, topped with lump crab meat, with white corn grits and asparagus. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. As soon as we finished, we started trying to figure out when we could come back.

My only complaint of the whole evening was that I ate so much I couldn't get the creme brulee I'd been dreaming about all day (thanks to Aunt Angie's recommendation). Matt promised that we could come back for dessert one night in the near future. Yum!

What's Bloomin' Now?

Here are some photos of just a few of the plants in the yard. Hopefully it will just add some color to your computer screen and not bore you to death. :)


This is my new pink "ever-blooming" daylily, "Rosy Returns". It just started blooming while we were out of town.


I have several Asiatic lilies opening up. My mother in law also gave me some gorgeous pink and orange ones last night after dinner that are on my desk at work.


I love calla lilies. They're just so darn easy, simple, and elegant!


This is one of my new roses, "Mardi Gras." It turned out just like the photos I found of it and is gorgeous!

Trickery Is Often the Fastest Method

I love to vote. I don't always know who I'm going to vote for so I often leave several fields blank, but I still love to vote.

I think it's important to vote. I don't feel like I have a right to complain about what's going on in our government if I don't take the time to voice my own opinion. Plus, I consider it a privilege and testament to our great country. Not everyone gets the opportunity to participate in the selection of their government.

Matt is less convinced.

I think he's definitely become more "politically aware" over the last 7 1/2 years since we've been together, but he's still not up to the Shipman standard of rabid political opinions (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), and is much less concerned than I about who wins the "small stuff".

Almost every day, there is something that I ask Matt if he is going to do (like vacuum the den, call his mom, mow the yard, etc.). I almost always get the same response: a shrug and "Yeah". That should usually be translated as "no".

When I got the same response from him about whether or not he was going to vote, I knew he had no intention of casting his ballot. I, of course, gave him the lecture about how it was important, his civic duty, yada, yada, yada. He was still not convinced.

How could my own husband not care about voting? This could reflect very badly on me. I even put up a post reminding people to hit the polls (and this wasn't even for a major election).

Well, thankfully, a solution materialized later that afternoon. Manda left work early for our usual gym appointment. I either had to meet her at the gym and skip the ballot or work out alone. Then I realized... the polls don't close until 7pm!! I went to meet Amanda straight from work, went home, changed, and told Matt that I (we) were going to vote on our way to meet his mother for dinner.

Ah ha! He was instantly clued into my scheming and informed me that he hadn't even researched who was running for what, and who he liked. "No problem," I said. Just vote for the candidates you already know you agree with, or simply stick to the yes/no question (the tax hike... you can pretty much do this one without a whole lot of research effort).

I nervously checked the sheet as we showed our IDs and were marked off of the list. What if Matt wasn't even registered at our new location? (I knew he was at our last house - we voted for the last presidential election together). A feeling of relief came over me as I saw both of our names on the list. Matt was eligible to vote!

When we got our ballots, he asked if it was against the rules to discuss our answers before we turned them in. I don't mind sharing. Of course, I don't want to be accused of unfairly influencing the vote either.

In the end, he only filled out the tax hike addendum, but I was completely satisfied and left feeling giddy as I looked over at his "I Voted" sticker. He commented that he thought I was getting a special pleasure out of the fact that he was now on record as voting in a primary - and he was right.

This worked so much better than nagging! Now, I just have to figure out a way to get him to start on that "honey do" list...

Happy Anniversary, Honey

Four years!

Without getting too sappy, I do have to take a moment to say that I wake up every morning and thank my God for giving me such a wonderful man to share my life with.

Congratulations to you for putting up with and loving me for that long. Here's to many more anniversaries!

Journey from the Phillipines

Everyone loves a good human interest/sob story.

I felt that way after seeing this story about Journey's new lead singer. I didn't know much about the band's history beforehand, but am familiar enough with their music ("Don't Stop Believin' ","The Wheel in the Sky", "Open Arms", etc.) .



The band lost it's lead singer, Steve Perry, back in 1996. They have had two other lead singers since then, but not one who could capture "the Perry magic". Then one night, one of the band members spent the evening watching You Tube until he found this guy, performing a cover of Journey's hit, "(Forever Yours) Faithfully". He called up one of his band mates and told him to run to the computer to hear it for himself.

Arnel Pineda grew up in the Phillipines. His parents were tailors, and as a shy kid, he would always cringe when they came to measure him for new clothes. He knew this always meant that he was getting a new outfit for another singing competition. Arnel says that he was shy singing in front of people unless his mother was there - he loved his mother. After her death from a long illness that left the family bankrupt, Arnel became homeless at just 13. He says that he collected scrap metal to get enough money for food until he started singing in Hong Kong night clubs.

It was in these clubs that he performed covers of many American hits, and where the recording discovered by the original band members was recorded and posted to You Tube. Arnel said that his mother always encouraged him to sing and gave him what he needed to survive (and succeed).

What a way to be discovered! Through You Tube! I personally have a negative musical ability, so there would be no hope for me to hit it big this way. Do you think I could put up a video offering my technical services saying something like, "Will do radar analysis and MATLAB work for food" and be "discovered"?

Journey just put out a new CD and is touring with their new lead singer.

To Tithe or Not to Tithe

"God doesn't fund the church through bingo nights, pancake suppers, and chicken dinners."



I found this video very interesting. It talks about a few of the reasons to tithe or not to tithe, how some religious organizations appear to be taking advantage of the Biblical principle of tithing (and a tax-free status), while others are more transparent in their spending and mission work/aide.

I agree with several of the points in the piece, especially the part about how wrong (immoral ?) it is that some churches guilt their members into tithing by saying that they'll be cursed if they don't commit 10% to the church. This flows from the whole works-based idea that we will be blessed, happy, healthy, and financially prosperous if we simply "follow these steps."

I think Howard Dayton of Crown Financial Ministries hit the nail on the head when he said, "It's not a '[I] have to pay a tithe', it's a privilege." It'd be very hard for me to be a cheerful giver if I didn't want to support my church and world missions and consider doing so a pleasure.

I also love how Charlie often says, "Let's give HIS tithes and our offerings". The Lord has already blessed us. In my opinion, the tithe is His to begin with. Anything beyond that is our own offering of thanksgiving and just icing on the cake.

Boy, I sure (don't) wish we had those "Giving Kiosks" (aka "God's ATMs") at my church! I could get 2% cash back on my tithes! ;)

Wild Man Wade's Madd Skillz - Part II

Last time I showed you some of Wade's madd skillz, they were from the ski trip we took last December.

Here he is showing off his kayak skills. The river tried to flip him several times, but he just wasn't having it. He makes it look so easy too!



Here is a not-so-lucky member of the group who flipped 3 out of 4 times down the falls.


PS> I'm hoping to get more photos from our river trip soon, but this is looking like it's going to be a crazy week!

Don't Forget

Don't forget that tomorrow is an important election date in our area. Besides several of the local and congressional primaries, there will be other important measures on the ballot (like proposed tax hikes).

Don't forget to vote, June 3rd!