Merry Christmas

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday.  We are looking forward to Madeleline's first Christmas, Part II (Part I took place this past weekend in Cincinnati).  She tore into her presents with the enthusiasm of Dan playing the Vendetta in Family Business.  It was great.

Be safe those of you who are traveling.  Can't wait to see all of you for BLD Summer New Year 2010.

JH

Happy Thanksgiving!

BLD Friends: Wishing you and your families a happy and healthy holiday. Thinking of you and thankful for you!

Fear the Rooney

Check out this link:

Betsucco Cards: #2 A capella

I suppose...

You never know when random facts about Delaware might come up in conversation.

I learned this morning that the husband of one of the ladies in my Bible study is a vet who specializes in poultry. She explained that though she is from Massachusetts, they couldn't live there because of the lack of poultry farms. I recalled some information that I heard long ago, and shared with her that a friend from college once told us that there was some crazy number of chickens per person in the state of Delaware. "Oh yes," she nodded knowingly, "my husband goes there a lot."

It made me smile to think that perhaps it wasn't completely useless information after all.

Black Dynamite

I don't know how you BLD boys could *not* go see this:

Black Dynamite Trailer

It's real. And it's a 2009 release. Next week, in fact. I expect a review posted here by Oct. 17th.

You look scared, Kristin

And I can't blame you.

Dartmouth v. penn

Did anyone else catch the Dartmouth football game on the Vs. channel today? I was randomly scanning the channels for good games this morning and was able to catch the last half of the home game against penn.

Unfortunately, we lost and extended the losing streak to 15 games. But it was still pretty neat to see the stadium, Leverone, etc. on tv. I found myself wanting to yell, "Rush the field! Rush the field!" to nobody in particular.

At least the rugby team shutout harvard 31-0.

Speaking of Roosters...

I can hear Lincoln now - "... and we'll have egg nog, just like they used to, ever since that rooster came into our yard."

Country Living and the Circle of Life

Well Dan, if you still have any interest in participating in the demise of small animals, you could always move out to the country and raise some chickens. This week saw the end of our surplus rooster population, i.e., 9 out of 10 roosters. It was an interesting experience. While certainly not pleasant, it's not as bad as you might think either. If done properly it's quick and relatively peaceful.

It's surprising how illuminating this experience (along with the joys and frustrations of a big garden) has been in terms of understanding the Bible. I constantly tell my students that we need to understand the context of the original audience in order to better understand the Bible. It's a little less of a stretch now to contemplate the sacrificing of animals or the despair of a locust invasion.

All in all, I recommend the chicken experience to those with the room and the zoning ability. Also, if anyone has some old family recipes calling for chicken with a few feathers still stuck in them, let me know. (Plucking a chicken is harder than you might think.)

A Few Notes

1) Is this blog dead? Am I the only one who follows it? Is there a twitter page now instead?

2) My parents are moving. So they made me clean out my bedroom.

2a) I got out a whole bunch of letters from college friends. Having read some of them, I'd just like to issue a yet another blanket apology to all of you for what a complete jerk I was. How did any of you put up with me?

2b) Special apologies to you know who and you know who else. I can't believe how self-centered I was.

2c) Try, if you get the chance, to read my editorial about the O.J. Simpson verdict (in the D, Oct 4, 1995)... it's a classic.

2d) This is a poem I wrote in high school, and turned in as an assignment:

The Life of a Sphere

Inspired by "Until Now" by Ralph Hertle

I want to break glass.

I want to tear things.

I want to kick holes in the wall.

But I can't.

I want to make people cry.

I want to kill little cute animals.

I want to destroy animals.

But I can't.

I want to scream.

I want to move apart from the pack.

I want to be different.

But I can't, because spheres aren't like that.

I can't, because well rounded objects don't do that kind of thing.

So here I sit, forever still.

---

I have some other ones that are even worse.

Good thing they didn't have social networking when I was in high school. They would have profiled me and locked me up.

Ha-Doug!

Billionaire recluse Doug Doucet turns 34 years old today. According to sources, Mr. Doucet will be spending the day with his wife and two or more daughters in his Boston-area mansion. A prepared statement made by a family spokesperson this morning confirmed that Mr. Doucet is in good health, and that he expected to eat cake later today. The family did not report whether the cake would be ice cream cake or one of those store-bought mixes with chocolate icing that you mix up and add.

A source close to the family, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported that an emotional Mr. Doucet was hoping for some "cool Xbox games" as gifts, but feared that he might receive "more pink horsey dolls with purple hair and little combs." Representatives of the family refused to comment on these allegations.

In late 2008, Mr. Doucet's bid for state senate was derailed when photographs of Mr. Doucet's daughters combing his hair with little pink combs and brushes were published on the internet. In the photos, Mr. Doucet's hair had little barrettes with hearts and flowers on them. He dropped out of the race in disgrace soon afterward, and has been in seclusion since.

Happy birthday, Doug! I hope you get all you are wishing for.

ROUS's!

Do you think he said, "I don't think they exist," right before it attacked?

Anybody seen a six-fingered man?

Shades of NYE 2004-5

The Mazzucco family is oozing out yuckiness from all quarters today.

 It harkens me back to when the Walshes were quarantined at New Years because they had the Norwalk virus (Wesley was 1 week old), and still Jason managed to get sick. I believe that was the year Amanda missed her flight because she was writing thank you notes at the gate.

Ahhh, memories.

When in Alabama...

Joe's house is the place to be.


We drove through Alabama this week and were fortunate enough to get a couple hours with Joe. (And Kristin and Jay, of course.)


Eliza has admired Joe's dancing, cleaning, and guitar-playing skills via blog, so she was delighted to meet him in person.

Jon's Purpose in Life

Jon,

I was going through some old documents and found a document titled "Goals for the Term." I'm pretty sure it's Jon's from circa 1997. One of the goals is to be "more personable to others."

In the history of baseball, only four teams have traded away the reigning Cy Young award winner. Two of them are the 2007 and 2008 Cleveland Indians.

How is that goal coming along, Jon?

Dan

Hey, Joe!

Happy 2nd birthday. I hope I get to meet you soon!

If you like being tackled, you might like playing with my son, Ben, who just turned two in March.

I need a lawyer!

Anyone know a good patent lawyer?

And is it just me or does Josh's pic look a lot like a cd cover for a Baptist Acapella group?

Diocesan Celebrity

Study with Josh online!

Roman Masterpiece(s)?

Jill and I were going through old photo albums today and stumbled across this stunning specimen.

I hesitated to make this public domain, since it might have a nice market value following the announcement of a certain jurist's appointment to the high court. But, what can I say, I'm a giver.

Father's Day

You know...last weekend I saw a lot of great fathers in action at BLD NYE Summer.01

And I missed seeing the other great BLD fathers that couldn't make it.

Cheers to the great fathers! We at raw fish in Hawaii...how 'bout you?

Palm Tree Towel

Did anyone leave a palm tree towel at our house?

And do you want it back?

For those that weren't here, you missed a good time.

More BLD NYE

1. Bring bathing suits. If the weather is good, we can swim at my parents' pool.

2. You can show up anytime starting Friday morning if you want. I'll be taking Friday off to clean up the house and mowing the lawn and stuff.

3. My parents offered their house for the weekend for folks to crash at. They will be there, but they have plenty of rooms, and they live ~15 mins away. It may make sense for folks with portable kids (i.e., newborns) or no kids. Let me know if that's something you want to consider.

Dan

BLD NYE 6/13

Hey, all!

Just a quick note about New Years in June.

I have the following people coming and their residences...

Hurst (3) - motel

Slack (4 or 5 and maybe) - backyard

Adin - house

Amanda (2) - house

Willis (2) - ?

Walsh (5) - their house

Porter (2, maybe) - ?

Doucet (4, maybe) - ?

Ellsworth (maybe) - ?

We can definitely put another small family in our house, if necessary.

I wanted to check out the Hursts' motel, but life is pretty hectic with a 7 week old. I also have wanted to plan some activities, but instead I site the same lame excuse. Any suggestions will be greeted warmly (zoo, minor league baseball game, ladies trip to do something interesting while guys try not to kill children, etc.).

Cavs eliminated

Jon, I'm sorry to hear that the Cavs were eliminated last night.

I don't know if you also heard this, but it's true: the Indians have also forfeited their next 75 games due to injuries, thus mathematically eliminating them from playoff consideration.

And I'm sure you heard that Eric Mangini has already declared 2009 a rebuilding year for the Browns, and they are already aiming for a good position in the 2010 draft.

I guess it's a bad day for Cleveland sports fans.

At least you'll be going to New Jersey in a few weeks.

Dan

Now if this isn't cool...

I don't know what is.

Indian Comeback.

I just happened to be watching sportscenter and noticed a huge comeback by a certain Cleveland Indians ballclub. I assume knee-high socks had something to do with it.

It was probably only over-shadowed by a rousing sing-a-long for the Cubs during the 7th inning stretch led by the only and only Mr. T. There's no way anyone or anyteam can overshadow B.A. Barrackus.

pillows?

We have recently come into possession of approximately 3 dozen pillows. If you are in need, let us know. Ideally, you could come pick them up in Connecticut in the next week or so. But alternate arrangements will be considered.

Fasani Family history

Anyone remember this email from back in the day?

New Homestead

So in addition to the one of the busiest times of the year at the winery and having a 9month old first child, Devon and I decided to complicate matters further by buying a house.  It's been a crazy month, including negotiating offers at 1am while in Detroit for the Final Four.  The good news is that we should close on time this Wed, May 13th.  We're obviously super excited, but I'll wait until I have the keys in hand and we're done moving before I exhale.  Everyone is welcome to visit of course!  The next time you swing by Ripon, California, please drop in. 

Interesting fact: the closest cross street is "Devon Lane".  

June 13-14 - Greater Philadelphia

BLD New Years 2009 will officially be in the greater Philly area the weekend of June 13-14.  The Mazzuccos and the Walshes will conspire to keep us busy.  If we're lucky, some of us might even get invited to Mary Grace's birthday party, so be on your best behavior between now and then.

So fly, drive, swim, whatever.  Dan, Shannon/Kevin, let us know what you think the best sleeping accomodations might be.  

The only remaining question is what could Lincoln possibly have to do for two full days that is more important than seeing all of us?  Laura is the better half anyway, so we'll gladly enjoy her company without him.

Can't wait to see everyone and meet all of our new little BLDers.   

New Years in June

As was agreed last December, this year's New Year's gathering is due to take place this summer not only because it gives me a chance to be on the right continent, but more importantly because we have so many next-generation BLDers to now introduce to the group. (Welcome to the family Honorah, Clare, Jaya, Sophie, Sarah, Madeleine and Eleanor!!)  Other than the wildcard option (see below), Jason won't be able to join us, but I'll bring Sarah who looks just like him.

There are only two relevant questions.  Please vote accordingly.

When?

Weekend of June 13 (preferred)

-or-

 Weekend of June 20

Where? (All options are in North America; others have been discarded)

Ely, Minnesota

-or-

Somewhere along the Eastern seaboard (volunteer to host?)

-or-

Large hunting grounds in Kansas

Wildcard Option

Memorial Day weekend in Chicago.

We'll be there from Thursday, May 21 through Monday, May 25 for a must-attend family wedding.  We can put the Muffinator (my mom) to work right away to find a place for all of us to stay if this is an option that works for lots of folks.

However this works out, I'll bring a ham.    

Amanda

3 weeks

I have three weeks left of school. Well, really 14 days. I'm not sure if I'm excited or not. But, it feels pretty seismic in my world. I worked for two years after Dartmouth, but I was taking courses for a masters then. So, in short, except for my leave when I had Joe, I've been in school since we were at Dartmouth. Granted, that means I've been spared the disappearing 401K that Jay seems to have...but, in case you were wondering, that basically means that I've never been gainfully employed (well, I guess Pfizer counts as being gainfully employed, but I definitely spent that money eons ago). Luckily, a resident's salary will likely not shock my system, since it works out to less than minimum wage, or so I've been told...but holy cow! I'm about to finally grow up (at least a little).

New blog

After our Christmas card met with some critical acclaim this year (critical acclaim = less than 10% "returned to sender"), Betsy asked that we record all the interesting things we hear for the rest of our lives. Conveniently, the internet allows us to do this in a way that is both self-aggrandizing and shameless, without the annoyingness of vacation slide shows. 

So if you're bored, and curious what my kids are saying and whatever other stuff interests me, you can go to

http://betsuccocards.blogspot.com/

and read up on stuff. I can promise you it will not be as detailed or interesting as "home on the range."

I want to have babies

Hey, we finally had Eleanor, and labor was so easy for Betsy this time that she's considering being a surrogate in the future.

Born April 13, 2009

3PM

8 lbs, 2 oz

21.25 in.

Everyone is healthy (or at least all the Mazzuccos are)

I Hate Waiting

Dialogue between Betsy and Eleanor (who is still hanging out in Betsy's belly).

B: "Hello there."
E: Glances up, kind of grunts.
B: "Slow going?"
E: "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but this is not as easy as it looks. So I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't distract me."
B: "Sorry."
E: "Thank you."
B: Steps away, folds some baby clothes, practices a diaper change. Then looks eagerly at her belly again.
B: "I do not suppose you could speed things up?"
E: "If you're in such a hurry, you could lower a rope, or a tree branch, or find something useful to do."
B: "I could do that. In fact, I've got some castor oil up here. But I do not think that you will accept my help, since I am only waiting around to oogle you and change your diapers."
E: "That does put a damper on our relationship."
B: "But I promise I will not oogle you until you reach the top."
E: "That's very comforting. But I'm afraid you'll just have to wait."
B: "I hate waiting. I could give you my word as a Mazzucco."
E: "No good. I've known too many Mazzuccos."
B: "You don't know any way you'll trust me?"
E: "Nothing comes to mind."

And so, we wait. No labor yet.

Madeleine Rhynehart Hurst

Just in case anyone didn't get an email or text message from me or Hillary, here are the stats on the newest member of the BLD:

Madeleine Rhynehart Hurst

Born 3/25/09

8 lbs, 8 oz

21 inches

Long swimmer legs, hands, and fingers.

Good eater.

Good crier.

Sporadic sleeper.

Excellent pooper.

Enjoys Dr. Seuss & Disney books.

Madeleine has been a real trooper.  She had a rough entry into the world, deciding to come out sideways after about 24 hours of labor and 3.5 hours of pushing (poor Mom).  She had to be vacuumed out at the end, which led to some bruising on her little head, which led to elevated bilirubin levels.  Because of that, she had to spend the first day and a half of her life under a baby tanning bed, naked except for her diaper, with her head wrapped tightly to protect her eyes from the rays.  She was OK with this scenario for a couple of hours, but then decided, understandably, that it wasn't her cup of tea.  It was hard on Mom & Dad to not be able to hold her, but everything worked out in the end, and we were able to come home as a family a little earlier than expected.

Airport Ratings

Hilarious. Seems to be loosely based on a Dan Mazzucco short story:


Prague's Franz Kafka International Named World's Most Alienating Airport

Match Day

I matched!
Baptist in Birmingham for TY
Hopkins for Radiology!

(I was super excited (still am), but the holy crap I have to move/sell my house/etc part is starting to kill my buzz a little)

Published

Check this out. Someone actually paid me (in credit, but so what?) to post on her blog!

I Love You Too!

And in honor of my birthday and the fact that I know you all love Hawaii I present:


http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/hawaiian-hotel/1056148/


I'm not sure if it's kid friendly enough...it is SNL.

Love you all!!

Happy Birthday Adin!

We love you!

Prncs Bryd 4Eva

http://xkcd.com/549/

sorry, no mounties pictures yet, Adin, but i'll work on that.

p.s. the comic link is not meant for younger eyes.

New Geography

Since when is London part of Canada?

Or did Maurissa move without obtaining my consent?

It's really hard to get good restraining order enforcement these days.

Mazzucco

Creative Dartmouth grad

I was flipping through the March issue of Reader's Digest and discovered an article about a Dartmouth grad. Apparently, at his reunion in 2007, Jeff Deck realized he wasn't doing anything beneficial with his life. He started the Typo Eradication Advancement League and now travels around the country fixing typos on signs. He was recently sued and fined by the National Park Service for changing a sign at the Grand Canyon, but he has been dubbed the Indiana Jones of typos. That's pretty cool.
I thought it was a creative way to make use of a major in creative writing.
(I tried to find a link to it on the Reader's Digest site, but my computer didn't like it.) The article is called "Righting Wrong Writing" and it's on page 22, if you want to look it up.

Clueless in Alabama or pretty much anywhere

Has the Hurst baby landed? I feel as if that must have happened and yet I have no official confirmation recollection in my mushy brain.

Liberal Arts Education

So by the close of business (COB) today, my team and I are supposed to submit a report document on the results of laser data collected in August by my company. One member of the team volunteered to write up a "boiler plate" which consists of all the non-results related information such as "how we did it", "what we used," etc. Seemingly straight forward correct? Especially when the guy writing it has a title of "Principal Electro-Optical Laser Scientist" right? So...here's some of my favorite highlights of the draft before I spent 5 hrs revising my life away.

1) The use of the word "nominally" as much as 5 times in a page in sentences such as, "Mechanically, the camera was nominally set back from the target screen about 25 feet when positioned at Nohilli Point."

2) The ability to repeat the same concept more than once in the structure of a sentence, i.e. "Sunlight being the main culprit was relatively constant but intensity on the screen did change over time throughout the day operations due to changing position of the sun as well as occasional clouds that would impede sunlight briefly thereby changing the background of the target screen. "

3) And my personal favorite...the use of dramatic effect: "To add more challenges to the air operations, the passenger door on the helicopter was removed leaving roughly 10 ft2 of open area for not only the laser to propagate into the helicopter but the ambient environment as well. On the ground, the temperatures experienced by the crew were relatively mild however, as the helicopter achieved 3800 foot elevations, the air temperatures coupled with the strong prop wash from the main rotor blades created near freezing conditions for the operator next to the open doorway (**adin's note: Guess who the operator next to the open doorway was**). In addition to the cold temperatures, noise from the rotors was substantial and communications suffered from the excess background in addition to some still unknown electrical problems associated with the internal headsets used by the members of the flight crews. The open door created additional concerns with regard to safety. All equipment had to be secured so as to prevent the possibility of something falling out the open pathway and striking the main or tail rotor props the consequences of which are left as an exercise for the reader to consider."

Thank you for exercising as a reader. Have a good day.

Y'all this is terrible.

Seriously.
I have four glorious weeks of really no commitments. Quite amazing after flying all over the country for interviews and the way that med school usually operates. I'm on a light (that's an overstatement) rotation right now. But what is the bad in this, you ask? I am willing the time away, even when I don't want to. March 19 is Match Day. And, I'm just waiting, wondering...contemplating how it's going to go down. I wish I could forget it and just enjoy some truly fabulous time with my kid.
I never knew downtime could be quite so agonizing.

Test

Does this work?

Good News

Some of you are aware that my sister Keriann applied to vet school at Ohio State last year and didn't get in.  Thankfully, she got a call from OSU yesterday to let her know she was accepted this time around.  Needless to say, she and my family are thrilled.  Just thought I would share the good news.  JH

The Original TPB

So, my editor gave me The Princess Bride in novel form back in September and I just finished reading it. (I know, it's horrifying that I didn't jump on it right away but I was in the middle of two other books) Have you guys all read it? I mean it claims to be the William Goldman "abridged version" of Morgenstern's original tale but it's actually the original novel. I LOVE the Zoo of Death and I'm disappointed it wasn't in the movie, but almost all the dialog stays exactly the same, which - considering we seem to change lines in our movie on hourly basis - totally amazes me. And the little fictional asides Goldman includes as his own experiences hearing the book read for the first time as a child are pretty fantastic too. I don't want to say any more because I don't want to ruin anything but if any of you haven't read it, please do. And then start reading it to your kiddies. You won't be disappointed. I'd swear my life on it.

Happy new year, BLD!