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1. Wednesday, January 10, 2024:
   Math Teacher Day  My high school calculus teacher, Lou Kokonis, recently  passed away at 91  after 64 years of teaching in the Alexandria City Public School system.     Mr. Kokonis was not the most personable teacher -- he would quietly slip into the school with his head down and make his way to the classroom where he'd immediately begin writing the day's formulas on the chalkboard. His hands and glasses were perpetually caked in chalk dust. He had trouble remembering people's names so when someone was acting up in class, we'd hear, "Uh, Nate, I mean, John, I mean Derek, please stop talking when I'm teaching".   I think his dedication to math was stronger than his dedication to being a teacher, as he didn...
2. Wednesday, July 01, 2020:
   COVID Thoughts Day  I originally made these posts on Facebook last month. Since I regularly wipe most of my Facebook history, I wanted to preserve them here as well.    June 11, 2020      COVID-19 is still here. The state reopening doesn't mean that it's magically vanished, and the fact that we're all tired of reacting to it has not given us superhero immunity.   There is no deadline attached to "flattening the curve". The longer we can delay the spread of the virus, the more we'll learn about it, and the better prepared we'll be when you or someone you care about finally needs one of those hospital beds.   Please step cautiously through the world, fully aware of the ongoing risks to you a...
3. Tuesday, June 30, 2015:
   End-of-the-Month Highlights Day  New photos have been added to the  Life, 2015  album, although they are mostly shed-related.       Events   Met Kathy for drinks at Red Robin on 6/4.    Had a between-rainstorms dinner at O'Faolain's on 6/11.    Went to Taste of Reston with Kathy, Carolyn, and Luke on 6/19.    Went to Crooked Run and then ate all of the salt at Cajun Experience on 6/20.    Saw  Book of Mormon  with Mike and Annie on 6/21.    Met Anna and Ben for dinner at Mellow Mushroom on 6/27.    Lost in Poker on 6/27.    Celebrated Kathy's birthday at World of Beer and M&S Grill on 6/29.  &n...
4. Thursday, June 25, 2015:
   Review Day   There are no major spoilers in these reviews.       Robocop  (2014) (PG-13): I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this remake of the 1987 classic. The remake manages to tell its own story while still hitting a few major story beats. Where the original was a satire of society cloaked in a violent action movie, this iteration focuses heavily on the moral questions raised by fusing humans with robots, and the mental conflict between being human and having an AI. It stands well on its own, and limits its callbacks to the original to a few quotable lines. Free on Amazon Prime.   Final Grade :  B+     Derek, Final Episode : The British lo...
5. Wednesday, December 10, 2014:
   2014 Favourites: Top 10 Posts and Reviews  Top 10 Posts from 2014        BU invents better ways to squeeze toothpaste        BU posts his Facebook video        BU on the Winter Olympics        BU invents the Pedt Saver        BU creates the best grilled pork recipe        BU plots to learn more French        BU on the Silver Line        BU learns things from computer games        BU stays married for 5 years        BU plays D&D      Top 10...
6. Thursday, July 31, 2014:
   End-of-the-Month Highlights Day    New photos have been added to the  Life, 2014  album.     Events   Celebrated the 4th in Taylorstown and Colonial Beach.    Made buffalo meatballs for a Crane barbeque on 7/6.    Went back to Mokomandy for high-cost, high-deliciousness tapas on 7/9.    Spent  12 of 12  with both ends of the family.    Mysteriously injured the muscles around my left lung, preventing me from coughing hard for two weeks.    Went to a housewarming for Joe and Katie, and a birthday party at Jack and Kristy's, then reconvened with FSU grads on 7/27.       Projects   Rewrote the custom...
7. Thursday, July 17, 2014:
   Review Day   There are no major spoilers in these reviews.      Captain Phillips  (PG-13): I ended up liking this movie more than expected -- it had plenty of back-and-forth cat-and-mouse action, where I was expecting some kind of talky hostage movie. The movie runs a little long, but is entertaining throughout. We were occasionally distracted from the intensity by the fact that the orange lifeboat in the second half resembles a dinosaur head, as if we were about to get on Jurassic Park: The Ride.   Final Grade :  B-     Derek, Season Two : I gave the  first season  a rare A, but unfortunately the second season is nowhere near as good. Hur...
8. Monday, July 14, 2014:
   Chad Darnell's 12 of 12      6:59 AM : Showered and ready for the day.          7:22 AM : Home from Safeway with necessary breakfast ingredients          8:03 AM : Breakfast with Rebecca and Amber.         10:52 AM : On the beach at Lake Barcroft. (Classy lakes have "Lake" as the prefix).          11:05 AM : Rebceca goes kayaking.          12:55 PM : Taking a nap at Rebecca's parents' house, with Ruthie.          2:41 PM : Visiting the nephews at my parents' house.        ...
9. Monday, June 30, 2014:
   End-of-the-Month Highlights Day   New photos have been added to the  Life, 2014  album.     Events   Saw Gonzo's Nose at Friday Night Live on 6/6.    Hiked at Harper's Ferry and ate locally grown foods on 6/7.    Went to "Church in the Park" on 6/8.    Went to A Taste of Reston with Kathy on 6/13.    Attended a pops concert by SONOVA on 6/14.    Had a small birthday dinner with Asian fusion pork chops for Rebecca's birthday, on 6/21.    Rebecca went to yoga camp for 4 days while I did bachelor stuff and managed to get a huge abrasion on my knee from an accident involving the treadmill at 9 MPH, loose shoelaces, and a failure to ...
10. Thursday, June 05, 2014:
    Review Day   There are no major spoilers in these reviews.       West Wing, Season Three : This season had the unenviable position of being released right after 9/11, and the writers obviously felt like they had to work terrorism into the storyline. Some episodes are overly preachy and self-righteous, while others feel like the weakest political scenes from  24 . Free on Netflix.   Final Grade :  C     West Wing, Season Four : Season four regains some composure, and features an overarching storyline that culminates nicely with the guest appearance of John Goodman. The pleasant camaraderie of the main group of characters is hurt by Rob L...
11. Monday, June 02, 2014:
    Weekend Wrap-up   Happy June!   On Friday, I took the day off and burned through eight hours of coding to release  DDMSence 2.3.0 , with cats snoozing at various elevations around the computer and nearly an entire season of  West Wing  streaming into inanity in the background. This release adds support for automatic conversion into JSON, which means that if you haven't had any reason to use DDMSence in your daily life so far, you probably will not have a changed opinion today.   On Saturday afternoon, we took advantage of the pleasant weather and minimal mosquito population to have a barbeque. Plenty of badminton was played as well as cornhole, also known as the most effective way to cover your lawn i...
12. Monday, September 25, 2006:
    Portraits of the Artist as a Young Man  Looking at old class pictures can be nostalgic, but it also shows how quickly you forget the people you spent 180 days out of the year with in a compulsory educational setting. At one point, I probably could have given you complete biographical sketches of everyone in these pictures down to what they usually wore to class and what their favourite legume was. Now I'm lucky if I can remember their first name at all!   This was the A.M. kindergarten class at William Ramsey, the only grade I ever attended there. In a system that only made sense in Alexandria, William Ramsey held grades K, 2, 4, and 5, while its sister school Jefferson Houston (conveniently located on the OTHER end of the city) had grades 1, 3, and 6. Yunus ...
13. Saturday, January 03, 2004:
    Untitled Post  I'm still sticking with the jazz piano thing -- practicing ii, V, I's and simple progressions out of a Fake book. I haven't had a chance to work on Auricle in a few weeks, because programming at work has been pretty heavy and I need some computer-away time while at home to relax my wrists.   Today I cleaned the apartment and consolidated a bunch of boxes to make more room in the kitchen. Now, I think I'll read a book in my window seat.   Do you all like seeing the search terms, or are they a boring waste of space to make entries look longer? I find them interesting myself, but I can stop if no one reads them.   Yesterday's search terms:    mozart's sonata composition style, Prokofiev's ...

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