The Steussy Ranch

We just posted photos for Emma and thought some of you might be interested. Here are some snapshots of the Temecula Montessori Halloween party a couple of weeks ago. Click the photo above to see all of the pictures.

Woo Hoo! It looks like I win no matter which team wins tonight. Woo Hoo! I’ll post results Tuesday morning.

After four days of attempting various means to do this, I finally have a triple boot on my MacBook Pro laptop. I can independently boot into Mac, Windows XP or Linux now. The correct directions to do this on a Santa Rosa (June 2007 release) MBP are here. Do not believe any of the other HowTo’s you find on the Internet – they don’t work. I think the keys to this one are 1) early creation of the partitions using separate methods, 2) installing Windows through rEFIt rather than through Apple’s Bootcamp.

Late breaking news!

Baby Aaron is walking. He just walked three feet from my whiteboard to my desk.

That is all. You can go back to whatever you were doing before now.

President

When history is written, it will be clear that Hollywood helped pave the way for the first black president.

The very first one I remember in film was Morgan Freeman in Deep Impact. He made a resounding presence. Let me leave it to John Scalzi to describe his role here:

First, he (Morgan Freeman) manages to charm an investigative reporter into keeping a blockbuster secret through sheer force of being Morgan Freeman. Second, when he announces to the country that a massive comet is coming and might kill them all, he keeps everyone calm by exuding that Morgan Freeman charm. Third, when it’s clear that the comet will indeed kill them all, he gives a soothing valedictory speech that makes everyone feel okay about dying horribly, because he does it in those deep, reassuring Morgan Freeman tones. And then, when only about half of everybody dies, he tells everyone else, “Well, it’s time to get back to work,” and they get back to work — because he’s Morgan Freeman.

Even more popular is Dennis Haysbert as President Palmer in the series 24. His demeanor and persona resonate in a truly presidential way.

Memes

Several months ago, I posted a video of Susan Blackmore from Ted Talks under the heading of Crazy People. While I have not given up on the idea that she is crazy, the concept of memes as the overriding principle behind intelligence and human society has stuck with me. After all, what am I doing while raising my kids other than to instill in them the memes that I think are overridingly important?

The concept of cities was my first thought. Is there any individual smart enough to design city? Or even to organize one? No, a city is a network of memes that we have all agreed on and, because we’ve agreed on the concept and the concepts that surround it (sanitation, transportation, public safety, etc.), it works.

I’m playing with Linux again today, and it is nothing but a collection of memes, with a much greater reach than either Windows or Mac. It seems clear that, given time, it will be the victor in the OS race.

Madagascar 2

Great movie. I haven’t laughed that much in a long time. And the scenery in Africa was nothing short of spectacular.

Homework for 5 Year Olds

I’m not in favor of it, but as long as it is assigned, we’ll do the very best that we can.

Not only is Gabi the winner, but she streaks into the lead for the yearly total! Go Gabi! With less than 20 points separating the leading five players in the race for the yearly total, I expect we’ll see this change a few more times before the season ends.

Barack Obama.

CNN just walked through their “non-declaration” that Obama has won the presidency. With Ohio and Pennsylvania in the Democratic camp, McCain would have to win a state which has never voted Republican. It’s over.

Gabi and I voted this morning (Aaron only got a sticker).

Today, the vote was for President. Some 140 million Americans will cast their vote for the most powerful political office in the world. The new resident of the White House will hold sway over all 6 billion people on the planet, but only 2% of us have any say in the matter.

The vast majority of the readers of this blog are not American, and will not have the opportunity to vote this year. While this blog is usually a strictly family affair, I feel a responsibility to write on this.

I voted for Barack Hussein Obama.

I’ve been a Republican since 1992, a few days after I arrived in Eastern Europe after the fall of Communism (a story for another time). However, I feel now it is time to sweep the Republicans away from the power that they have so obviously abused. The party of small government and personal responsibility has disappeared, replaced by a corrupt regime.

I have the deepest respect for John McCain. He was my choice for president in 2000. But today, the party he comes with carries more baggage than is worth holding. His age, his choice of running mate and his inability to seriously confront our current economic issues all bode poorly for him. I have chosen, reluctantly, not to vote for him.

Obama is clearly intelligent, empathic and driven. His charisma is undeniable. And I relish that America can take its own best values and elect a truly accomplished, engaging black man to be President. With his personal background, he is deeply a part of many of the issues facing America now: our international status, health care, race and education.

Perhaps his is the face that will reignite the America of Reagan, the America I want for my children: “We shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us.” (The original quote is here.)

I dearly hope so.

Tonight, we will be watching television with laptops open to see the returns. I wanted to share the sites that we plan to use. The sites that we will be visiting for the latest information are:

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

I did it! With two choices, the Miami Dolphins over Denver and the Pittsburgh Steelers over Washington, I won the pool. Rich was the closest non-Temecula player in the pool, with 17 fewer points. Go me!

Next week is going to be tough, though …