The Parish Family Blog

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Please take this Survey - Web 2.0 in Government Websites

Yes I know this isn't exactly a topic on the for front of your mind. But it's for a good cause and taking the 10 question survey takes less then 3 minutes. Really!

I'm going to take the survey down by Jan 2 2009 so click through now and do this for me please.

Take this quick 10 question survey on how government can assist you more effectively over the Internet?

Thank you
Tom

Donna Lynne Brown, Lily and Tom - Out Shopping

In mid-August, the three of us went out to the 'Domain' in Austin to do some shopping for school. Donna got into the spirit of things and ended up with a few nice things of her own. I was the tag-along but frankly I had a wonderful time -- we all did, really -- just talking, shopping, eating and do all the things you do in preparation for the fall for school and fall in general. 

It was a fun and easy weekend.

Tom

Getting Ready for the Fall

I'm tired of the heat and ready for the change of seasons here in Austin - such as it is. Traditionally I've used the Labor Day weekend to get myself ready for the push that comes in the fall, the welcome change in the weather, and preparation for the holidays in December where I take some time off.

I just returned from a trip to Goodwill this morning where I unloaded a truckload of items from home. There were a few things in there from Sharon. The rest went over to Gerry's where they will go to a home for battered women (I think Sharon would have really wanted that - it was Lily and Gerry's idea). I had all sorts of items in that truck. Some from Justin, some from Sharon, Lily, some old stuff of mine and a few things I had from my dad. I always feel a little sad when I take things to Goodwill, but in the end I'm happy with the feeling of 'release' that comes with it too.

With a little luck I'll get my studio reorganized, do some minor rewiring and the bookshelves in the sunroom moved into the office area (finally). We'll see ... pretty aggressive but it does feel so good to see these things completed.

Tom

Lauren and Ryan Foresman's Home in Portland, Maine

OK, so back in July Lauren sent these pictures of their new home in Portland, Maine (where they'll be for the next four years). They seem so far away. I think I'm still adjusting to the idea that my kids are out of state.  I wonder what Lily will do ... well, let's not go there now.

Here are some of the snaps.

From Lauren --
Hi All,

So here are some pics for you. Feel free to disregard the cute white dog with brown spots (Addi) that insisted on being in every picture that I took of the house. Our house is directly across the street from a gorgeous little park that is just trees. Great to sit on the porch and enjoy. The picture of Ryan and me is on Peaks Island. A 15-min. ferry ride from Portland that we biked all the way around (only 4 miles).  Things are going well, weather is gorgeous.Ryan is adjusting to life as a doctor. I got a job that will pay the bills until I go to PA school next summer. Addi, Bird, and Jack all love their new home. Hope everyone is doing well.  Miss every one of you!!

Love,
Lauren

New Blog - Markets of Conversation - Social Media from the Edge

I am publishing a new blog to focus my efforts in providing social media and social networking strategies to businesses. My plan is to publish this more broadly next week but for now I want to make mention of it on the family blog. 

MarketsofConversation.com

Stanley Kubrick Promo for TV Channel in the UK

If only we could see this in the States. Maybe it will become available on the web. I just admire and respect Kubrick's creativity and guts in film-making.

Ann McMaster - Blogging

It is with great pleasure and excitement and a sense of honor to let everyone know that Ann McMaster is blogging. I've given her a helping hand up to get going. Please make a point of reading and listening to her voice at http://www.AnnMcMaster.com

You can sign up for email notifications of new posts or join her RSS feed.

Tom

Update from German teacher (Ann), June 26

Guten Tag, ihr alle!

We're roasting in Dresden!  Actually today is only in the high 80s but the last couple of days have been roaring hot in the 90s (and no AC), so it's been challenging.  We got here on Tuesday after an uneventful bus and tram ride to a stop only 200 meters from the youth hostel -- right next to the very modern shopping and banking building called the Dresden World Trade Center.  A VERY different atmosphere -- this is the largest youth hostel in Germany and is about 6 stories tall with long corridors of rooms.  We each have our own bathrooms in our rooms, which is good ,and the girls have two rooms and a bathroom.  We were checked in by a young man with a beaky nose and long blond rasta-locken (dreadlocks) who looked like one of the twins from Matrix.  Had to sign loads of pieces of paper and go over all the rules with the kids -- lots of do-nots -- which got us giggling.

We walked the 5 long blocks into town through a residential area -- Communist-era apartment buildings, mostly renovated, and past one of the two largest tram stations with lots of little shops.  We walked past the Zwinger, a Baroque palace built as a museum by Augustus the Strong in the early 1700s.  Fabulous imposing architecture, lots of cobblestoned roads cut by tram rails, and no shade.  Whew.  We spent quite a long time in the Hofkirche, also Baroque, destroyed in the bombing of Dresden in February 1945, very recently been dedicated the cathedral of Dresden.  It was moving and powerful to see the displays of what Dresden (the Florence on the Elbe) had looked like before the war, immediately after the destruction, and now.

Then we had a delicious, all-you-can-eat dinner of turkey, veges, salads, pastas and fruit for dessert at the youth hostel, and the kids went out for a walk and icecreams until the 10:00 curfew.  It is light until after 11pm and they came bouncing back punctually after having done a bit of exploring of the pedestrian areas.

Wednesday we had a big breakfast, then took a great double-decker bus tour of the city which helped get things into perspective: Kids most amused by the lovely "willas in the walleys" along the Elbe, which is a UNESCO national heritage site.  We stopped off at the most beautiful dairy shop in the world (Guinness book of records) and drove past the new Synagogue serving a community of just over 700 people.  A huge storm blew up with thunder, lightning and Stephen Spielburg-like flying clouds rushing  and swirling past. We took sanctuary in the Frauenkirch, which was reopened two years ago.  After Reunification (1990) private initiatives raised the money to rebuild it from the piles of rubble that had been stablized and left as an eternal reminder.  It was very powerful to be there.  We spent some time in the crypt looking at the exhibits.  By the time we came out the storm had cleared and it was a bit cooler.  All the restaurants had closed their outdoor seating areas, so we had lunch at a vintage restaurant next to the Frauenkirch in the center of the Altstadt, decorated with tram and trolley signs, caps, etc.

Then we walked back to the youth hostel to get changed for the opera. I cheated and caught the trolley back to the Semper Opera House to get the tickets, and Bill and the kids arrived looking clean and shining just in time to have their photos taken with a huge statue of Goethe outside the entrance.  We were sitting up in the gods -- the 4th high balcony, first row, with great seats if you leaned forward onto the velvet-padded banister.  The opera was stunning with very modern costuming and set design.  The orchestra and singers were superb and they had a huge chorus -- an amazing experience.
The kids disappeared very quickly afterwards and it turned out they were changing into their Germany T-shirts. jeans and flipflops, to the great amusement of some of the elegant opera guests.  The European cup game, Germany against Turkey, was still playing, the last few minutes, and the kids rushed off to find a cafe with a big TV so they would watch the end of the game and join in the hooting, shouting, flag-waving revels afterwards.  (Germany won 3 - 2, the first time they have ever won against Turkey.)

Bill and I trailed them as they went galloping down the roads looking for people to shout and hoot with, and we finally tamed them at an ice-cafe.  Very elegant, with discrete elderly diners, so our kids stopped hooting and shouting at the doorway, and were met by an elderly man in a bowtie, speaking excellent British English who asked them why they thought they could shout and yell outside and not inside?  So they obligingly shouted and yelled inside, and we were ushered to our big table for huge ice-creams!

We walked them back to the hostel, which was surprisingly quiet, although the honking and yelling went on for a while outside and we heard people sweeping up broken glass this morning.

After breakfast on Thursday (today) we walked back to the Zwinger to go to the museum of old masters and were awed by Titian, Ruebens, van Meer, Raffael and and and... most collected by Augustus the Strong. (He was "the Strong" not only because he broke a horseshoe into two with his bare hands, but also because he had one legitimate son, 14 illegitimate children with his official concubines, and about 400 other childen with his unofficial mistresses -- his son, however was the opposite: Augustus III had 14 legitimate children with his one and only wife.)  Then we visited the armor museum to see ceremonial and war armor and weapons from the 15th-18th centuries.  Then we had a Vietnamese lunch and have broken into groups to go exploring, shopping and sightseeing before meeting at the youth hostel for dinner at 7:00.

The kids are great: so intent and interested, asking lots of questions about things we see and hear.  Some sniffles, but we'll pick up homeopathic drops on the way home today, and otherwise they all seem fit and happy.  THANK YOU for sending them with us!  It's wonderful to be able to see the world through fresh eyes as well.

We're off to Nuernberg by train tomorrow and I will be in touch with you again once we get established.  The schedule will be:
Friday afternoon: explore Nuernbrg
Saturday: half day explore my old areas, Neustadt Aisch and Dachsbach
Sunday: full day Wolframs-Eschenbach
Monday: full day Muenchen
Tuesday: half day Nuernberg, train to Frankfurt, supper and review of the trip
Wednesday: fly back home

Hope all is well in Austin.
Ann