Decimal Time

What time is it?

Some units of time are strictly imposed on us by nature, like the day and the year and, to a lesser extent, the month or lunar cycle. Anything smaller than a day, though, is arbitrary and by convention. Why chop up a day in 24 parts, and then in 60, and 60 again? Why not use the metric approach and divide a day in ten, in ten again, and so on? That's the premise of decimal time, and I find it quite simple and appealing.

As I type this, it is .814. No AM/PM, just .814. I can't tell you what time zone though. That gets weird.

Ode to Smart Start

It is time to sing the praises of the supreme cereal of all breakfast cereals. I am referring, of course, to the original Smart Start. What's not to love?

• Nutritious, with 100% RDA of several vitamins and minerals, and very low fat
• Tastes great--sweet, but not too sweet
• Satisfyingly crunchy, but not so crunchy that it rips up my gums like Cap'n Crunch does
• A variety of textures, very pleasing to the tongue

I was a fan from the moment I saw the first box. Well, the only thing I don't like is that it's now called "Smart Start Antioxidants". Ugh, how unappetizing! What's next, "Smart Start Colonoscopy"? I suppose you have to do something to distinguish it from the newer, lesser Smart Starts. Why not "Smart Start Classic" or "Smart Start Original"?

Busse Woods

Just got back from a quintessential experience, the first family bike ride with Ella, 6, on her own bike. We drove to Busse Woods near Schaumburg. We started by Golf Road, near the 1 Mile marker on the black trail, rode down to the main (red) loop, went all the way around clockwise, then back to Golf Road.

For Ella, who learned to ride just a few weeks ago, we wanted a non-trivial ride on an uncrowded path and few street crossings. She rode the ten miles in about two hours. Maria and I were very impressed. We stopped about halfway for lunch. I pulled Martin in the trailer, and he slept most of the way.

I had never been to Busse Woods before. I was very happy with the trail. It was just what we needed for Ella. No real hills, and only one busy street crossing. There's a nice mix of landscape, with meadows, marshes, forest, and the lakes. Most of the trail was cleared of branches and other debris from the big storms last week, but we did have to get off the bikes a few times in one stretch to go around fallen branches. Ella really liked riding on the "big" bridge over Higgins Road.

Jazz Salon

Maria and I are looking forward to the Jazz Salon season at Pianoforte in the Fine Arts building. It's a unique, intimate place to hear fine musicians.

We always enjoy seeing Patricia Barber. She played at the Green Mill the night that Maria and I first met there. So her performance at Pianoforte on 15 Dec will be a special treat.

Updated 8/28: Just found out that the Patricia Barber performance at Pianoforte is rescheduled for 23 Feb 2008.

1927

About a block from our house, on the northwest side of Chicago, there is a section of sidewalk that I pass most days. On it, one can clearly see the company imprint and the year it was laid, 1927. This was the year of Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic. Standing on this sidewalk now, on any given day, one can often see dozens of aircraft on their final approach to O'Hare; enormous vessels among them, arriving from Europe and elsewhere.

I often wonder if we, now, are near a historical peak in global mobility. In two or three generations, will people still jet around the planet? How?

IndeBleu

Last month Maria and I went to DC on a Saturday to attend a friend's wedding. It was also our ninth anniversary. I looked around a little for DC restaurants. As we both like Indian food I happened on IndeBleu.

It. Was. Awesome.

The samosas were my favorite. Sensational contrasts of flavor. Everything about the meal was just right--the cadence, the presentation, the service. And after I told our waitress it was our anniversary, everything went up yet another notch. I can't say enough about what a great time we had.

Last Ten CDs

Here are the last ten CDs purchased:

They Might Be Giants, Then: The Earlier Years
Kurt Elling, Flirting With Twilight
Ryuichi Sakamoto/David Byrne, The Last Emperor - Original Soundtrack
Joshua Redman, Back East
Stefano Bollani, Piano Solo
The Sea And Cake, Everybody
Enrico Rava, The Words And The Days
Herbie Hancock, Head Hunters
Bill Frisell, The Intercontinentals
Max Richter, Songs From Before

My wife thinks CDs are an anachronism and I should just get over it already.

Last Ten Books

The last ten books I read:

Friedman, The World Is Flat
Hardy, Jude the Obscure
Hofstadter, I Am A Strange Loop
Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Obama, The Audacity of Hope
Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Greene, The Elegant Universe
Allen, Getting Things Done
West, Democracy Matters

I just started reading This Is Your Brain On Music by Levitin. Always have a half dozen books in the queue, and a list of a few dozen others that I may get to someday. Meanwhile I'm trying to make use of my PDA and catch up on some classics I should have read in high school and never did.

Triprolidine

How to begin? Something has to prompt the first post.

Last week I was delighted to discover that Walgreens still sells an antihistamine, Wal-Act, with the old Actifed formula. My favorite antihistamine, triprolidine hydrochloride, I had given up for lost when Actifed changed their formula about a year ago, and all the "generic Actifeds" followed suit (or so I thought). A couple times a year, when the mold count is especially high and my daily Claritin isn't cutting it, the triprolidine works wonders for me.

I have since found plenty on the Internet about Wal-Act holding its ground. Wish I had done that sooner--and I hope enough people bother to go to the pharmacy counter and sign for Wal-Act that they continue the old formula.