It was nearing the end of another year and so it was time to
take stock of the various things that hadn't been done in the year and
of other things that would be fun as the year wound down. There was also
the challenge of seeing how many pictures would be taken this year.
On Monday December 27, the kids and I drove Suzanne to the airport so
that she could spend a few days in Pittsburgh visiting Norma. Then we
went to lunch and devoured Ben's meal
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even though the potato salad gave me indigestion for a few days. Maybe that
is why Ben
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is laughing? Jane
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cleared away her food
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though the french (aka freedom) fries were a group effort. After Jane
took these pictures of me
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and Sarah
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who sat on the other side, I took this artistic photo of the Marathon
Restaurant
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and we headed to the Mutter Museum
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but there was no photography allowed there and maybe for good reason.
The next day, I turned to the new penny sculptures to see what could be
done. With inadequate reading of the documentation, I was only able
to fit 5 pennies in a cross section
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and it didn't improve with the flash turned off
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and up close the pennies blurred
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but I could show part of the problem
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from various angles and then work down to a single cross section
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where even with one post removed
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I only fit 5 pennies as Sarah worked on the Rubik's cube
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and I pondered further the penny situation
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as Sarah got guidance
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and eventually moved her hands fast enough
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so that Rubik was finally put together.
Meanwhile, on the left coast, Jacobo was demonstrating how to fit 7
pennies
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where I had only fit 5 and growing it out with pens for posts
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all of which made him particularly happy to pose with Bruce Arden
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and celebrate Bruce's forthcoming nuptials.
Back in the East, I picked Suzanne up at the airport and we met Lenny and
Judy
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for dinner but only took pictures after the food was consumed
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which may have been an end of the year thing or maybe it's a new
plan -- to capture used plates rather than fresh food. The waiter
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was amused and with a few more tries, I was able to capture them
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and then take this self portrait
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and picture of Suzanne
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as the desserts arrived
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which raised spirits
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even as I captured this sign
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and with flash
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for my collection which was amusing since there were no paper towels, just
grass
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in the bathroom. The chef came by to thank us and posed
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before we visited the leopard next door
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and began the drive back north.
After digesting further instructions, I understood how to fit
a cross section of 7 pennies in place and was able to reach
almost 5 inches in height
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before needing a shoe lace for stability against warped rods. Next, I added
a second shoe lace to bring it together further
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at the 12.5 inch level and thanked my lab assistant
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for her help in the enterprise. The experimenting continues and new photos
will appear in the new year as we tackle the issue of the later more
voluminous decades.
Then it was New Year's Eve Day and Jane and John
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were working on their MUN position paper as Andrew
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watched and we noted that they had gotten their licenses
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the day before as Suzanne spoke
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and Sarah watched
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until Ed arrived
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to make some progress on the puzzle and Ben
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ate his sandwich as I finished my salad
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and recorded the important new things -- grapple's (pronounce them
correctly)
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and the new Boynton calendar
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to replace the old
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as progress continued on the puzzle
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and we dug into chips and dip
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before taking holiday pictures of Sarah and Ed
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me (with hat in self portrait)
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Suzanne
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Ben
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and our slowly assembling family -- 3 strong
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then 4 strong
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then all of us
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as recorded by Ed
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just as the Havurah people arrived and posed
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in different ways
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before heading to the comedy club
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and on to dinner at Marsillio's
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where I knew the waiter (class of '07)
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even as the holiday costumes came to Suzanne
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Steven
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Peter
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Sara
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Seva
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and my self portrait
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and profile
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shots all of which made a nice
setting
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as the waitress
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noted Suzanne
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Peter
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Steven
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Sara
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and Seva
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and our drinks
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chilled as I captured the glassware
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and my last pictures of Suzanne
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and Steven
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in the new year. After posing the celebratory instruments
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all that was left to do was to toast 2004 and say hello to 2005.
Happy New Year to all.