Photos from San Francisco

Holy moly!  We had a great time in San Francisco this week.  We spent five days there... two nights at the Hyatt Regency, and two at the Hilton.  Both were wonderful hotels and we did so many fun things.  Here are some photos...

The plan was to stay in NorCal and head up to Redwood National Park.  But the weatherman called for severe rain the rest of the week and maybe hail in Redwood. So, we headed back to Cozy Malibu to sleep, refresh, and start over.  We may be heading to Joshua Tree National Park instead for some camping and outdoor recreation.  Or maybe to Long Beach for a few days... Stay tuned...

A whole lot of celebration going on!

Lots of news here lately...
First, last weekend I received this,

and this.

From Mobile Uploads

In case you can't read the small type they are letters from the Provost and President of Pepperdine congratulating me on receiving tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. :-) This is a significant milestone in a journey that began over 10-years ago when I looked frankly at my life as a consultant and decided "I do not want to be writing code ten years from now."


For the past year+ I've been thinking that if I received tenure, I would celebrate by purchasing a new, sportier motorcycle.  However, over the past year our family car has begun having some significant issues... some of them cosmetic (paint, electric windows, general signs of aging), and some more structural (hey, it's a Toyota!). So, I simply couldn't feel good about buying an NTT (New Tenure Toy) while the family was in an aging wagon.  With all of this on my mind, we went for a hike on Saturday afternoon on the Backbone Trail (which is literally minutes from our house).  Here's an picture from the trail...

After the hike we went shopping for geraniums at a local nursury.  However, we were too late and the nursury was closed.  Keyes Nissan, however, was still open.  One thing led to another, and before you know it, we were saying goodbye to our beloved 2001 Sienna (you can see Marcus wasn't quite ready to part with it).

From Mobile Uploads

And we were driving home in a beautiful 2006 Nissan Armada.  Michelle, being a Texan, has always had a thing for big trucks.  So, this is just up her alley.

From Mobile Uploads

To keep the celebration going, on Monday, Michelle drove up to her orthodontist and had her braces removed! Here's her new smile...

Having secured the new family wagon, and paid off the orthodontist I felt much better about heading out to the local Thousand Oaks Powersports on Tuesday and signing up for a 2009 Kawi Versys.  I rode the Green Lantern home on Tuesday night.

Now I just need a matching green jacket and helmet and I'll be set!  The bike is a great combination of sporty handling, but comfortable riding position.  It's got a much higher "fun factor" than my cruiser and with a few adjustments (lower foot pegs and a softer seat) I think it will be ready for long distance cruising.

One more thing to wind up a wonderful week.  Yesterday I was officially offered, and accepted, the position as Associate Dean of Full-Time Programs at the Graziadio School of Business here at Pepperdine! Beginning on Aug. 1, 2010, I'll leave the quality control & production line of higher ed, and move into the category of "overhead".  I'm excited about the opportunity to make a difference in an institution that I care deeply about.

After a week like that, we're ready to for some relaxing.  So, we leave today at noon for a week-long driving tour of the CA Coast.  We'll be in San Francisco Fri-Sun, then in Redwoods National Park, Crater Lake Oregon, Sacramento, CA and finally back in LA.  Of course, we'll be in the new Armada burning an amazing 12 MPG.  Oh well... March 2010 will go down as one of the best months so far.

Fragile Empire

A provocative Op/Ed from the LA Times this weekend..
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-ferguson28-2010feb28,0,2697391.story

Friday Thoughts...

Again, I've waited until Friday to say anything at all on my blog, but I've been active on Twitter all week (drwilliamsisin and workthecloud).  Here are some news and notes from the week...

• Madison made some delicious cupcakes this week.  Yum!
• The big news is Matt's big show is this week.  Opening night was last night and it was a blast!  We enjoyed the show a lot and Matt was terrific.  Mimi is coming to town tomorrow to see it.  We're all looking forward to seeing her...it's been nearly a year.
• Tonight we're hosting the youth group for Matt's show and then a party at our house after.  Should be a kick.
• I wrapped up the first half of the semester this week.  I had my students over for lunch on Wednesday and we had a wonderful time enjoying some burritos and getting to know one another a bit better.
• I'm on "spring break" next week with no classes again for ten days. :-)
• I finally was able to catch up with JA this week.  We got together one night after everyone was in bed and watch thy Olympics and caught up on about a year's worth of news. 
  
• ACU announced their new President...and he's my age!  Holy moly!
  
• Big news this week is that Google released "Buzz" and promptly received a class-action lawsuit from a Harvard Law student for privacy invasion.

• We are LOVING the Olympics!  Vonn, White, Mancuso, Teeter...what a fun group of athletes.  The highlight so far has been that almost every sport we've seen Madison has said "I could do that!"  She really believes it too. :-).  So yesterday on our way up from the gym we tried some "speed skating training" that we had seen on the Olympics.  It wore her out in about 5 minutes!  She responded..."Well, I said I could be a speed skater, not that I could do those silly exercises!". :-)
  

I love the olympics!

It's hard to say how much I love the Olympics...especially the Winter Olympics.  I have such fond memories of the Miracle on Ice, Eric Heiden, Bonnie Blair, Picabo Street, and so many others.  There is something magical about watching these incredible athletes doing things we could never do (short-track, speed skating) or WOULD never do (luge/skeleton). 
I've so enjoyed watching each nights' events with the kids.  Our highlights so far were...

• sadness and sympathy for the two Korean skaters who fell in the final turn of the final lap of the 1500 Meter finals allowing two US Skaters to medal. 
  
• Amazement at the speed and courage of those freakin' downhill skiiers.  Holy moly...why would a person do that?
• I'd never seen the Snowboard Cross event before...how fun!  What a wonderful addition to the games.
• The moguls freestyle is simply amazing.  That anyone can do that without killing themselves defies imagination.
• Do you know any human who could complete (not compete, but merely complete!) the Nordic combined?  Holy moly...to XC ski that far at full speed?  Wow.

If you've not watched any of this so far...tune in!  Take an hour or two and just see what's going on.  But please...use TiVO.  The commercials are awfully frequent and long.

Random Friday (on Tuesday!)

Sorry for the delay.  Last week was quite busy so my regular Friday column kept getting postponed until it became a Monday column. :-)

Why?  Why you ask? 

Well, of course, the big thing was Valentine's Day.  We've got a wonderful tradition going back about 12 years.  The tradition is to invite a couple of others to join us for a Valentine's Celebration.  We get a sitter, send the ladies out for a trip to the salon and the guys prepare a wonderful meal and evening at home.  We usually choose a couple of couples to celebrate with and over the years we've shared these evenings with some of our dearest friends. 

Highlights this year include...

• a gourmet italian feast with asparagus wrapped in crisp prosciutto, home made foccaccia, shrimp scampi, chopped salad, butternut squash soup, chicken parmiagiana, fresh marinara sauce, and chocolate mouse.
• A-Wall practically burned the house down while reaching for some Shrimp caused his napkin to go a bit too close to the flame...SHAZAM!!!  There was smoke, there was fire, there was stamping and screaming!  Finally the fire was put out and we all had a good laugh.
• The kids all slept over at a friend's house.  Next year, we may try to do Valentines with the friends who hosted the kids this year...
  

In other news...

• The Pepperdine community is saddened by the loss of Judge Kenneth Starr.  Kenn today announced that he is taking the presidency of Baylor University.  He will do very well there, and we will miss him here.  It's funny...when I tell people that I'm at Pepperdine they usually know only two things about it...1) it's got an amazingly beautiful campus, and 2) Ken Starr is here.  While his politics have been controversial over the past twenty years, his leadership as a dean has been truly impressive.  Our rankings, reputation, and funding at the law school have all improved considerably under his leadership. 
  

While my family is totally snowed in MD, we're enjoying a heat wave here in SoCal.  This weekend it was in the mid-70's and a perfect weekend for a long ride.  I rode up to Port Heuneme and enjoyed a few hours in the saddle.  Ahhh..  This photo is from a parking lot right out on the beach.  What a great day. 

• I've been shopping for a year or so for a new bike.  I'm planning on getting a new bike as a reward if I receive tenure this year.  If I don't receive tenure, I promise NOT to go postal like the lady at University of Alabama did this weekend.  I think I'm going to get a Kawi Versys if things go well.
  
• Gong Hay Fat Choy! (that's happy Chinese new year)!  
• Sunday we took breakfast in bed to Matt & Madison (Marcus woke up too early).  Such a fun day...

• I'm teaching the Jr. High at church and loving it.  I'm doing a series on the gospel.  Its a lot of fun.
• OK..that's all for this week.  I'll update again on Friday.
  

Be observant of children and pets...

I just received the following email from my employer (who also happens to be my neighborhood association).

Dear Residents,

Public Safety has asked that we pass on the following information to you.

A local biologist that tracks collared mountain lions, has tracked one to the general area of the Baxter water tank. Mountain lions in the area are not an unusual occurrence, as they frequent the entire Santa Monica mountains.

Please be observant of children and pets.

Thank you.

Assistant Real Estate Manager

Pepperdine University Real Estate Operations

I love the last line... I don't know about you, but I read it as "You can observe this 300lb mountain lion consume the children and pets!  The show starts at dusk!  Don't miss it!"  :-)