2008 Prognostication: Post 2 of 12

And the Oscar goes to . . . No Country for Old Men. Katie and I saw this on Friday with Laura, and I was certainly impressed (though Katie and Laura absolutely hated it). I found myself pulling for it to win, even though I voted for Atonement like a naif. (I'm not going to believe Golden Globe results anymore.)

Seven people picked the best picture Oscar correctly: Ekrem, Matthew B., Jeff, Chris, Grant, Oraldo, and Megan. They join Liz and Missy with a score of 1 to everyone else's zero. No one has a score of two yet.

A few internecine rivalries are almost certainly forming amongst the leaders. The most rancorous will undoubtedly be Liz and Jeff, who live together and thus have ample opportunity to talk trash with each other now that Jeff has pulled even with Liz. But don't discount the heated battles likely arising amongst my wedding party (Missy and Ekrem), from Epsilon Theta, my MIT fraternity (Chris, Grant, and Ekrem), or from attendees of Eric's New Year Event, which inspired the quiz (Matthew B., Oraldo, and Megan).

Next up is the Pulizter Prize. Liz and Jeff have the same answer, so they will remain tied until the Stanley Cup, but the other grudge matches could get interesting. Check back in April!

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Can You Cross Your Toes?

Katie and I had a heated discussion the night before last. We were sitting on the couch watching Jon Stewart when she noticed a large, apparently cancerous growth sticking out of the bottom of my foot. She asked what the big lump in my sock was. "That's my toe," I responded, nonplussed. I had crossed my first and second toes, causing a lump to protrude from the bottom of my sock. Katie was quite alarmed. "You can cross your toes?" "Sure, can't you? Everyone can cross their toes!" "Of course I can't cross my toes. Who can cross their toes?" And I confirmed that Katie could not, in fact, cross her toes. Even manipulating her toes with my fingers, I could not get her toes to stay crossed. She just has very short toes. That led, of course, into a discussion of who was the freak. Were my long, crossable toes abnormal, or were her stubby, uncrossable phalanges the outliers? In case you're confused, here are some pictures. First, of my v...

Max the Model

Katie sometimes talks to Max about all the things he can grow up to be. "Will you grow up to be a scientist like Daddy, or a lawyer like Mommy?" she will query. In recent days, though, we think Max might aspire to be a model. He LOVES the camera. Point it in his direction, and he is mesmerized by the big lens, giving it a big smile. He will sit for long series of photographs, changing his expressions constantly so we'll be sure to get a good one. This is Katie's recent favorite series (mostly because she thinks he looks so cute in the outfit): This is my favorite series, based purely on the dynamic range of emotions that Max is capable of. I am especially fond of the last picture. So cute!

A Little Night Music

I've been in Boston this week at a scientific conference. I've spent nearly all of my time at the conference, but was able to get away a couple of times to see friends. One night off I went out for pizza with Ekrem and Leanne (and their adorable kids). We went to Stone Hearth Pizza , whose head chef is the brother of Bob, one of my labmates in Minneapolis. (He wasn't at the restaurant the night we went, sadly.) Ekrem and Leanne are moving to their new house in a week, and I helped them out by consuming the remainder of a bottle of scotch that they keep at their house for me. I felt very proud of myself for accomplishing this noble task. Last night I went to see Andrea perform in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music , one of my favorite musicals. Beforehand, I had dinner with fraternity friends Jan, Jeannie, David, Emily, and Ian. Dinner conversation was wonderful in that MIT-nerdy way that I greatly miss sometimes. At the end of the meal, for example, my fortune coo...

J. Michael Andresen

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