The Nufer Family

Little Baby Girl: the summer months

2009-12-28T02:17:00.012-06:00

August and September brought some pretty fun milestones. We actually saw the first smiles early on, such as the first smiles, lifting the head up during tummy time, crying throughout the entire night, sleeping all day long, recognizing contrasts and crude shapes, and so on. Those were the cute days, fo sho! She could do no wrong (and still can't really).

Lily began life at 7 lbs 2 ounces, but quickly lost about half a lb in weight (which is typical). Before she left the nicu she had regained all her original weight and has steadily put on lbs. She is now in the 75th percentile. The following pictures are posted in the order in which they were taken.

first bath

Two-and-a-half weeks

defying gravity (oops)

This is around the one month mark

The boxing gloves help her to not scratch her face

Practicing the tummy time

One of the first baths in the tub

These next pics were taken on the day of her baby blessing.

Here she is with grandma and grandpa

And her aunt Amanda

This one is perhaps our favorite thus far. Taken on a beautiful day at the Botanical Gardens. We were covering her head with a thin blanket to protect her from the sun. She ended up peeking out over my shoulder and Livia captured the moment.

At this point (almost 6 weeks), holding her head up became very natural, to the point that if she was on her tummy she wouldn't allow her head to rest, but would rather be looking all around at her surroundings. Perhaps planning, plotting.

And that wraps up the first couple of months with little baby girl. We were fortunate to spend all our time with her during that first little while, but eventually life started catching up to us and work, school, etc., began occupying more of our time. She really is a great baby. She has a wonderful personality and is extremely affectionate. She loves getting kisses all the time and rarely ceases to smile.

One of the things that we noticed during the first few days is how alert she is. Even within the first few hours of life she would turn her head toward our voices. When her vision started coming in, she would follow us as we would walk around. And now she searches for us if she can hear us even at the other end of the house. We definitely dream about life without baby Lily.

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Little Baby Girl: the first few days

2009-12-28T00:45:00.006-06:00

Okay, so it's December now. We have been so bad about blogging, and extend our apologies to the couple of people who are regular followers. My intention is to get a few posts out with a pictorial documentation of our infantile journey of the last few months.

Unfortunately, Lily spent the first 10 days in the neonatal intensive care unit. That is definitely a rough way to start out life, as nurses are constantly poling feet, arms, and even scalps with needles, while machines continually beep as they monitor and report vital signs. Luckily I was just between semesters and Livia was of course on maternity leave, so our days consisted of waking up and eating a quick breakfast, packing a lunch and heading to the hospital, and then spending the day with little baby girl until 10-11pm. It was somewhat of a difficulty for us all, but we really enjoyed those first few days. Here is our highlight reel of our time in the nicu.

I don't know why she seems so concerned in this last picture. John Lennon says all we need is love, and by "love" I assume he means food. She's got plenty right there, so I don't know what the problem is!

First baby blog

2009-07-27T08:21:00.000-05:00

It has been quite a while since our last posting. We have been so busy lately. Livia is always crazy busy at work, and I have had summer classes, an internship, my marketing job, a masters thesis to work on, etc.

Last month we moved, which was incredibly onerous and time-consuming in itself. We are enjoying our new pad, but it has taken us quite a while to settle in.

Then last Wednesday everything came to a standstill. I had picked up my mom the night before from the airport after my night classes. Wed morning I made us some pancakes. I worked lethargically around the house a little bit and then headed off to the store. I got home right around 1pm. And my mom was in the doorway of my room and she said "ok, now you'll need to get a paper and pen and begin recording when the contractions begin and when they end and...". Wait a second mom, there's an app for that. Thank goodness for the iPhone once again.

So that was the beginning. Her contractions were mild in intensity, but very frequent with little latency between contractions. I had her up a nice warm bath and we continued in there for some time. Eventually I moved her out to the bed.

The contractions were so often that I couldn't get anything done. I needed to print out some maps for mom and get a couple of little items ready. But I just never had enough time. Eventually my mom said that she just wanted to wait at the hospital in the waiting room, though the original plan was maybe to just drop us off. Actually we didn't really have an original plan as livia wasn't supposed to be due until Saturday.

The contractions were gettng a little bit more intense and I requested that mo take our Lamaze bags out to the car. It was time to go to the hospital. By this time we're at about 2:30pm. I check the analysis of the contractions on the iPhone app and it looks like livia is in phase 2. We call the hospital. Actually livia called because she wanted them to hear how frantic her voice was so that they would take her seriously.

Triaje (sp?) ended up being an extended stay. All of the labor and delivery roomswere being occupied, so we had to wait for the next available room. Livia's water broke in triaje and she began do develop a fever, so we held ice packs to her. Eventually a room opened up and we wheeled her to the room. Labor intensified and the contractions were in the final stages.

After about 10 minutes the midwife instructed Livia to begin pushing. I couldn't believe that labor was almost over and that she was going tobegin delivery. Nothing was really going according to plan. I had a playlist of Lamaze music ready on my computer and on my phone. She wanted silence. I printed off about a dozen high quality focal points of flowers, and she just closed her eyes. All that Lamaze breathing? It just translated into groans and screams. I found that the breathing that would work the best is that I would tell her that my hand it about 6" from her mouth and that I wanted her to blow bursts of air so that I could feel it on my hand.

Pushing is something that had practiced. Inthe prior months, I would periodically email her or call her to remind her to do the kegel exercises. The pushing was going well and the squating really helped. After about 30 minutes or so of pushing, a multitude of people entered the room. We had pediatritions, nurses, I think some residents, there may have been an electrician and a city bus driver... It was quite a crowd. This actually motivated Livia as she saw the urgency and realized that this was it! A few pushes and little baby was out!

She did not cry for quite a while, and the pediatricians cleaned her up and took her vitals. I letthem do their thing and calmed Livia down a bit. She had just delivered naturally and without any epidural or pain meds! That's a greater accomoshment than anything I've ever done. After the remaining solids and liquids of childbirth were introduced into the world, I made my way over to little baby girl. She was not fussy at all, but she sure didn't look very content either.

That's the little one. We didn't yet have a name for her. It took us two days to finally settle on a name. Lily Sophia Nufer was introduced to the world at 5:39pm on Tuesday, July 22. She weighed in at 7lbs 1ounce.

Livia is like a she hulk. Maybe a shulk. Her labor was around 5 hours long and she did it without the drugs. At the final stage she started asking what could be done about the pain. It was then that the word epidural came up, but we requested that she be checked first. So the midwife checked the progress, and livia was already 8.5 cm. Shortly after the anesthesiologist strutted in with a smile, introduced herself and stated "I'd like to just ask you a few questions...". Nobody in the room even acknowledged her presence aswe began the preparing for the pushing. She departed and for me that was one of the highlights of the labor.

See, the midwife helps with the delivery, the nurse helps the midwife. I am the coach, the pediatrician attends to the baby once she's born. The residents observe and learn, and the anesthesiologist is there in case all the doctors agree that the delivery is not going to cost enough. We are against the epidural in most instances. It was satisfying to see the look of disappointment on her face. That's like a lost boat payment for her.

-----------

Livia tested positive for group b strep, and she needed an IV during labor. Her fever of 100.4 was not a good sign, and the external fetal monitoring indicated that at one point the baby's heart rate was very high. This meant that the baby would be born with some complications. They wisked her down to nicu and began drawing blood for lab work. She contracted an infection during the delivery and would need 7-10 days on antibiotics. She also had some air pockets in her lungs that could cause lung problems. They did a spinal tap to test for meningitis and were worried about her blood sugar level and her sodium.

Long story short, she was negative for meningitis, the air bubbles were absolved by her body, sodium and sugar is good, but the infection got worse. The result is 10 days in the nicu. I gave her a priesthood blessing and we have spent the majority of the last 5-6 days down with baby girl.

Anyway, that's the story of Lily Sophia Nufer. She is so happy and rarely cries. When she does cry it's very cute. We will keep everyone posted in the coming days about her progress and life as a new parent, so stay tuned. Also, check out little videos of her on YouTube. My account name is sxn3731.

-- Post From My iPhone

Stolen iPhone

2009-06-01T15:34:00.004-05:00

Well, this post won't be so much fun for all of you. But I need a way to put up some information in a way that google might pick it up on it.

My iPhone 3g was stolen at O'Hare Airport on May 21, 2009 at 3:05pm at security checkpoint 9. I was flying Delta, and the perp was behind me in the xray line. I believe that he was also flying Delta, but on an earlier flight. The security people were giving Delta passengers preference through the security check-out, and I got in the quicker line, even though I was more than an hour early for my flight.

Once I realized that someone took the iPhone (which was a matter of about 2 minutes), I notified TSA and filed a report with them. It took 50 minutes for CPD to arrive, and by then TSA had located the act on film and printed out pictures of the perp taking my phone from the tray. At this point, the case is in the hands of a detective.

The following information can be used to identify my iPhone:

IMEI: 011614009947727
S/N: 86831s5cy7k

3D Ultrasound

2009-05-14T16:14:00.004-05:00

This last month has been pretty crazy for the two of us. To be fair, as I forecast the future, it looks like honestly the next 40 years are going to be pretty busy for us. And we don't even have kids yet!!

Which brings us to this post. Last month we went in to an ultrasound clinic to add another dimension to our perception of the young one. It was a small investment for us, but the payout was very substantial.

I did some post-production work (editing out the corny lullaby soundtrack, removing the glitches, etc.) and put it online for the entire world to see:

Baby Nufer
Due: 25 July

What my Daddy means to me…essays

2009-04-01T18:51:00.001-05:00

Last year I helped read essays that were written by kids within the school districts of Illinois (k-12). I volunteered again this year and read a folder full of kindergartener essays. The topic if fatherhood and what my father means to me. The most common theme was something along the lines of:

I love my father because he plays videogames with me.

I don’t know how many times I read that, but it was definitely pervasive throughout the many essays. True to my form, I kept a notepad next to me as I read the essays and just like last year, I will now post the honorable mentions here:

I like baba [chinese for father] because I love him.

What my daddy means to me is he is the best at video games.

My daddy sings pretty well and I think it’s funny.

He let me drink his coffee when we eat at Denny’s.

When I become an adult, I want to be a wrestling coach just like him.

There are a lot of words that I could use but nothing can explain what my father means to me because he means everything to me.

I love my father the way he is. He is smart.

He buys me cool clothes.

When we go outside he say funny thing and make funny noise that make me cracking up.

My daddy just brought me some clothes to go on back and the shoes I got on my feet right now he bought them.

I love my daddy because he makes me brownies.

Out of towners

2009-03-30T14:01:00.001-05:00

Chitown is a pretty amazing place. You can find reasonable accommodations anywhere. Down the street about 3 blocks from our place is a world-renown Thai restaurant. Up the street is a whole-in-the-wall thai restaurant with an amazing green curry plate. Perhaps you want bistro? Or bar and grill? with or without karaoke? Organic foods and holistic ointments? Imported European furniture? Scandinavian cheeses? Two of the top 10 business schools in the universe? Polish communities? Exotic sports car dealers? You’ll find it all in Chicago.

This place is huge. Home to the three highest skyscrapers in the country (with the 4th tallest in construction—Trump Tower). You can find a studio to live in throughout the shady neighborhoods for under $400, or perhaps one of the $9.7m penthouses is more alluring to you.

The point is that Chicago has so much to it that you can find anything in the world that you want right here and never have to leave. That’s why Livia and I had to leave. Sometimes you’d rather go off an look for, specifically, nothing. We finally hit the tipping point and ran away from husting-busting cacophony of the big city and ended up in the halcyon town of Galena, IL. This blog documents our trip.

The first thing we have to appreciate is the expansive lack of modern infrastructure. This shot was actually snapped at the end of the trip (it snowed Sunday morning) as we were heading back into town. You may notice the reflection of a small tear in the windshield of the car. That tear was in effect the peripatetic realization that our destiny resides within the big city for now. Scroll down and you’ll see exactly what we were leaving behind.

First up we will showcase the town Main Street, which is a tourist magnet for very obvious reasons. The shops are distinctly antiquated. Many of them sell antiques.

The shops are all very small, but nicely kept. We enjoyed the variegation of Main Street and the expressivity of the architecture throughout the town. I told Livia that many towns are trying to capture the small town/times-period Main Street feel (i.e. Gary IN of The Music Man or Disneyland). This was indubitably the best Main Street that I’ve been to.

Another common theme in the town was “churches”. There are so many that they are practically built on top of each other. I wouldn’t be surprised to see stacked churches appearing as the next new Galena trend.

You definitely have to worry about those shady back alleys. They’re not safe and innocuous like what I’m used to in the big city.

Here are the town post office and the town [important building of some sort]

We took some nice drives through the more suburban parts of Galena. I really enjoyed the houses. The one of the right there was actually the house of Ulysses S. Grant. It’s sort of a big deal (in Galena).

And then when you get out of the town for the more scenic drives, then you’ll come across a totally different breed of residential properties…

Small town life is often an incubator for quilters and sewing fanatics. Livia felt right at home.

The souvenir the everyone needs…

This little establishment was some sort of Irish village.

Back at the condo…

It’s pretty hard to go wrong topping off a busy Saturday with filet mignon, linguine with vodka sauce and romano-basil pesto, and sparkling pomegranate grape juice. Maybe next time we’ll even throw in a vegetable of some shape or form.

We would have loved to stay for a few more days, but had to check out and head back to reality. Anyway, that thesis is not going to write itself, no matter how hard I wish it to. And if Livia isn’t able to prevent the director of The Joffrey Ballet from overbooking himself, then who will? I’ll finish off this blog with a few of my favorite post-production pictures from our trip.

Thanks to Laura and Ryan for helping us book the condo. We’ll see you guys at the reunion!

Gettin' weird

2009-03-23T16:28:00.001-05:00

Okay, here it goes:

1. I am spending too much time on photoshop entertaining myself
2. A have an obsession with taking pictures of my wife and then playing with them in photoshop
3. My creative flair is definitely gettin’ a little weirder

And now I introduce to you:

Retro Livia

2009-03-14T21:57:00.002-05:00

Hey all, just a quick post. The life of a grad student involved intense studying and a whole lot of writing. Sometimes it is tempting to spend unhealthy amounts of time arduously engaged in one task (studying). But it is healthy to take a mental hiatus every couple of hours or so in order to give our brain muscles some rest. Long story short and as many of you already know, my hiatal moments consist of messing around in photoshop. So here is my project for this week:

I threw this picture together so that people will be able to remember Livia as the wild party girl that she used to be. As we are entering that stage of our lives that represents responsibility, dedication and commitment to our progeny, changing diapers and pulling the car around if you kids don't stop touching each other when we told to quit bugging your sister you KNOW that upsets her why do you keep doing it that's it maybe we will just skip going to the park today and you can clean your rooms like we've been asking you all week to do DON'T give me that look mister...

Yup. Gone are the days of clubbing and afros. And come is my moment to get back to studying.

It's a baby...and we know the gender!

2009-03-04T13:19:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was our third check-up. We spent a long time in the ultrasound room. The doctor nurse (or whoever she was) prodded and measures and typed up notes for probably half an hour or more. She showed us the little heart beating and the brain and the little feet with tiny little toes. The baby is 50th percentile in weight, and everything is developing as it should, including the momma.

With so much room to swim around, the little baby is quite active in there. In fact, maybe she will turn out to be an athlete someday.

So the first of the Nufer grandchildren will indeed be wearing ballerina tutus and will play with my little ponies. Livia will teach her how to dance, sew, quilt, scrapbook, and grow her hair out long. I'm still going to teach her how to be a boy scout, but she she'll be a brownie, not an eagle scout. There will be princess wallpaper, flowing dresses from second-hand thrift stores with accompanying jewelry, hats, and shoes that are too big, cell phone and SMS charges, diaries with little locks on them, daddy-daughter dates, girls nights out, etc.

When she becomes a teenager, I will plan on purchasing a hunting rifle. Though I am not a hunter, I WILL stay at home while she goes on her dates, cleaning my gun while I slowly rock on the front porch swing. I will be dressed in camo and have a hunting knife unsheathed as I wait for the good news that my little girl is home safe from her date. It may just be better if I be the one to choose which person she dates.

One taste that we are helping the young one develop is a penchant for fine music. I have a nice pair of Grado Labs SR 60's (professional headphones) that I put to Livia's belly, and we play a selection of jazz. Right now I am choosing music with strong baselines, as the lower frequencies register more strongly inside the womb. I have mostly been playing Diana Krall, Oscar Peterson, a select amount of John Pizzarelli...the easy stuff. I would like to slowly introduce her to Nat King Cole, Bill Evans, and Jon Clayton. Once she's born, we'll bring out the Miles Davis and Charlie Parker. Of course we are also playing the classical music. I think there really is something divine about the music of Mozart and Bach et al. We dedicate between 5-15 minutes a day to "Jazz Appreciation Time".

If any of you has a suggestion for baby girl names, post a comment to this blog and we'll see what comes of that.

Primary kids do say the darnest things...

2009-02-16T15:21:00.008-06:00

Okay, so after almost a year of playing the piano in the primary, I've been able to compile a growing list of "entertaining" moments that we've had. Kids always seem to have an answer to the question, regardless if they actually know the correct answer or not. Below are some of my more humorous notes that I have been keeping. The bold lines are questions or explanations from teachers. enjoy.

Catherine (music director): We want to sing so beautifully that it will make our moms cry

-we shouldn’t make our moms cry on Mother’s Day!

-my mom doesn’t cry like that

[referring to the song, “Daddy’s homecoming”, when it reads “pat his cheeks and give him what? A great, big kiss!”]

-Why would we do that to our dad when he’s tired?

Because aren’t you happy when he comes home?

-He’s always home and he never leaves his chair.

[older sister]-That’s ‘cuz he’s old!

Catherine: “Fill in the blank. Home is where there’s ______”

[from the junior primary] Stickers!!!!

“I have 10 dollars!”

“Well my brother has 50 dollars!”

“Well my brother has 100 dollars!!”

Brother Schultz: What’s the difference between a church and a temple?

-They’re different!

Brother Schultz: If the bishop were to marry you, how long would it last?

-5 years?

Well we’d hope it’s longer than that…

How many temples are there?

[insert a cacophony of voices all at once shouting random numbers]

Christina: Where do you like to go to find peace?

-the bathroom!

-a haunted house!

-a closet!

Does anyone remember ______ ?

-No, because I was busy in my head

How can we be with our families forever?

-by staying with them!

Sometimes the class that sings the best gets to dress up their teachers from the fun bag

-If we get married in the temple, then will our life be the same as our parents?

If you get married in the temple, then you can have whatever life you want.

…you’ll be able to go to the temple when you’re 12..

[interruption] Or, or…20?

How do you think temples are built?

-by Jesus?

If you pay your tithing, then you’ll get lots of blessings.

-but you don’t want too many blessings!

-sometimes blessings are bad, like if they come from the devil or something.

-Can we sing I Stand All Amazed because I memorized it?

[later]

-I can even sing The Spirit of God with my eyes closed!

Who’s someone who hasn’t said the prayer in a while?

[sadly] I’ve never said it! Well, I appear to have never said it…

Does anyone know what song that is?

Okay, I’m getting confused here…I Like to See the Temple??

“For the temple is: _____”

An AWESOME place to be!

Can you guys see the house?

-yea, and it looks like a haunted house!

For some reason, jr. primary always wants to do pushups for the

Do As I'm Doing action

I think you guys can handle it because you’re mature enough.

Mature enough?!

Now, can we sing this professionally?

[resonatingly from the jr. primary] NO!!!!

…Let’s do boys vs. girls!

-fine, I’m a boy now!

-What is senimary?

-How long are we going to stay here…no, no, in here…is it 3:56?

What things shouldn’t we do? (talking about keeping the Sabbath day holy)

-ran in church?

[talking about Called to Serve]:

-the thing about “onward” is that if you’re doin’ something bad, then you’ll keep doin’ bad…

Missionary: I’m from Salt Lake City

-I just knew it! I was able to tell!

How long do missionaries serve?

[raises hand] uh…. I dunno

-is there such thing as going on a mission to another planet and preaching to Martians?

Hitchhiking is when you’re stuck on the side of the road and you stick out your thumb and someone will pick you up. But it’s illegal. In fact, forget that I told you.

Who wants to pick the next rhythm?

-I was just raising my hand to let you know that my legs hurt.

[a boy says:] You’ve only been calling on girls, and I even tried my hardest!!

What do missionaries do?

-I was just going to tell you…what does this say?

[whisper from teacher] we’ll talk about that in class.

[lesson on being prepared]

What happens if you’re not prepared when you want to make a recipe, and you don’t have enough eggs?

You can ask you DOG…I mean, neighbor for some.

Why is it important to read the scriptures?

-‘cuz we could learn stuff from da book.

If someone asks you what did you learn in the scripture, and you don’t answer nothin’, then that’s not good ‘cuz you didn’t read da scriptures…

Are there any other times when we can pray?

-only when you eat!

-maybe if there is a quiz and you didn’t study…

[speaking of Called to Serve]

Can you guys guess where this song is sung with a lot of energy?

-Germany???

Does anyone know what missionary work is?

-I could tell you the answer, but that would be like me giving a 20 minute sentence.

What's something you can use your mind for?

-like if you lose your toy then you can use your mind to find it.

-If we pray and we have our eyes open, will heavenly father still answer our prayers?

-Even though Jesus died, does he still have ears?

Jesus came to earth for us. Who else chose to come to earth?
-Barack Obama?

-Mitt Romney?

-McCain?

God told Adam and eve not to eat of the fruit or they would die. Would you eat of the fruit, knowing that you would die?
-It's not scary if you die and go to a better place!

Bro. Atwood later said "At least no one had a camera". Well Bro. Atwood, cameras come in many shapes and sizes. There will always be a camera somewhere...

What are you going to be having?
-it's going to be a girl
Oh man, I wish it was going to be a boy!

Who knows who Heavenly Father is?
-is he the Holy Ghost?
-is he Jesus?
-is he us?

Who knows what happened to Noah?
-he got old!

What do you do during conference?
-get bored out of your mind!
Well that's your problem.

“I had a cat, but I shoot it and it dies. That’s my questions.”

The first ♥beat of the new Nufer

2009-02-06T15:36:00.006-06:00

So a few things have come to pass since the last blog post a few weeks ago.

We have a new American presidency (a new beginning, a new hope...the world will never be the same again...ever)

The Illinois governor was impeached not only by the house, but unanimously by the senate

Nautical messiah Michael Phelps was caught on camera with a bong

A lady IVF-ly gave birth to octuplets

Christian Bale went bazurk

The Superbowl was played, and presumably one of the teams won it

The iPhone still doesn't have flash

But the happiest news for us is that Livia and I had an appointment with the midwife. We got a lot of questions answers, and we were able to hear the heartbeat of the young 'un. At this point in the game, the baby is now long and slender, about the size of a large orange. It doesn't have such a big alien head in relation to the body. The baby should be now somewhat set with:

Eyebrows/lashes
Hair
Ears
Vocal Chords
Backbone

So now you can listen to the baby's little heart!
Just click Here

Auto Mechanics 101

2009-01-20T08:28:00.004-06:00

1.20.2009

So this is a story about a normal, everyday citizen. This citizen owned a car, which he drove to work every day. Over time, he began to notice that the car seemed to pull to the left quite hard. The problem was bad enough that one day it got the attention of a prominent (though somewhat remote) mechanic. The mechanic diagnosed the problem as a bad alignment and told the owner that he would have to keep the car for a few days until the problem was fixed.

This was terribly inconvenient for the owner of the car, but nonetheless, the mechanic insisted and left the man with no choice.

A couple of days passed and the mechanic could be heard hammering, drilling, and pounding away at the car. Given that the shop had large glass windows, spectators would watch the mechanic, sometimes questioning his techniques and approaches to fixing the car.

After some time, the owner came in to inquire about the status of the repairs. The mechanic claimed that although the car ran on a 4-cylinder engine, it really would perform better with a 6-cylinder engine.

The owner claimed "I realize that you think a different engine would better power my car, but I'm not sure I want a bigger engine!"

"Nonsense!" cried the mechanic, who continued to explain: "I power my own car with a 6-cylinder engine! It works wonders for me, so it should also work for you. Also, due to the increase in horsepower, we will also install a new and more sturdy suspension system and a more reinforced framework, as needed."

"Well," cried the man again, "I am not sure that I agree to this drastic alteration of the car's infrastructure!"

"Regardless, you will just have to step aside and let me finish my job." retorted the mechanic.

The mechanic kept the car in his shop for another week, as he tinkered here and there on this and that. When that owner entered the shop much later, the mechanic rolled his eyes as he prepared to take the defensive once again.

"I think that I would like my car back now. Is it fixed?", the owner inquired.

"Well, the good news is that the alignment is better than it was before." responded the mechanic.

"You mean that you fixed it?" asked the man.

"No, you'll still find a very noticeable pull to the left, but it is much better than when we started." replied the mechanic. "Now for some bad news ... it turns out that I feel as though the car is very vulnerable right now, and there are too many dangers that could potentially ruin the car if you were to drive it in your neighborhood without my supervision. It is best that the car remain in my shop and under my control indefinitely. Also, the cost of my repairs have far exceeded even the most liberal of estimates. But the good news is that my shop will absorb these costs for you."

"Boy, I feel bad for those people who would pick up such a tab..."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Anyway, they really have no choice in the matter."

"So," analyzed the owner, "if I have this correctly, the problem with the alignment was real, but in order to fix it, we made enormous repairs to the entire infrastructure of the car. Since there was an apparent lack of a cost-benefit analysis, as well as an nonexistent timeline, this fix seems to be not very pragmatic at all, don't you think? Also, why did you begin work on the car in the first place, when you did not have any idea how to properly and efficiently finish the repairs?"

"I refuse to think about that. Sure there may have been some 'disappointments' along the way, and I currently have the lowest automechanic ratings in all of the Yelp community, but I consciously remain obstinate when I say that 'this was the right thing to do!'"

This story continues even today. The car is no longer in the shop, but every time the owner drives the car, his mechanic insists on being in the passenger seat, instructing the owner constantly how to best drive this "rebuilt" automobile. Because the shop has such large glass windows, a mass of spectators recently witnessed the owner of the car remove his shoes and throw them at the mechanic.

Today we, as a community, will participate in a most historic change in upper management. I hope that the new shop mechanics will keep the repairs efficient, the costs low, and the reviews favorable.

Dollar menus

2009-01-14T21:16:00.001-06:00

So this is just a quick thought that I had, and I want to put of out for the world to consider. Growing up in the 90's, I frequented fast food joints and ordered regularly from their dollar menus. Burger King, McD's, Carl Jr, taco bell... They all had the special priced items for cheapskates like me.

Tim McGraw sang in his hit song: "another meal, from the sack/a $0.99 heart attack."

Since those days, we have gone through unrealistic booms in the stock market and later a bubble as e-commerce burgeoned and caved during the turn of the century. We've been through war, inflation, the housing bubble, oil spikes based on speculation (and hedgefund-like trading). On and on and on.

What I'm coming to is the point that prices for goods have been somewhat volatile during this time. The average price of eggs have more than doubled, for example. And where is that dollar menu? Well, actually, it's still there. Hey, that's a good deal! But we are living in an economic day and age where retail establishments can either sell items or try to make a profit. When it comes to the dollar menu, I see two potential business possibilities:

1) They are selling their products at an enormous loss and should reconsider their business models or come to grips with the reality that is bankruptcy.

or

2) The quality of their products has deteriorated proportionally to the inverse of the rate of economic inflation--meaning that the goods that we are now consuming have become adulterated, watered-down, and compromised in order for these establishments to present themselves as profitable.

Anyway, that's just something to consider.

Fast food = fast death (now made with recycled materials in order to reduce costs)

The Wintry Day...

2009-01-10T22:21:00.003-06:00

So Chicago got a very light dusting today. We spent nearly the whole day indoors today. We watched a movie, looked at many YouTube videos, paid some bills online, considered doing actual chores, etc. It was a very serene and restful day. We had all the curtains open and could see blistering winds and masses of horizontal snowfalls the entire day long. I kept mentioning to Livia about how glad I was to be indoors. I love being all cozy and under a down comforter on a stormy day. Unfortunately, being the husband of a pregnant woman, the lot eventually fell upon me to make a grocery run to the store. I gritted my teeth and headed out.

One perk to renting is that the sidewalks are taken care of for us. This is a picture of our front yard.

Our backyard was also piled high with snow...

...but not as high as our neighbors snowbank. We have a lot more yard that is available to put the snow, since none of us keep our cars in the backyard.

When I got to the actual driveway area, I realized that my running shoes were not going to cut it. I promptly went upstairs to put on my winter boots (and grab the camera).

Our downstairs neighbors have one of those boxy mini SUV's. Despite its unattractive aesthetics, the snow is unable to accumulate on the windows, as they are almost completely vertical. Our car, on the other hand, seems to beg the falling snow to accumulate on it.

The good thing is since the snow was so powdery and fresh, a good slam of the door was enough to clear the snow on the sides of the car. The trunk and hood proved to be plenty more onerous.

Livia's ultrasound

2009-01-09T08:32:00.007-06:00

Hey all!

So this week marks our 12th week of pregnancy. This week is also important because we had our first doctor's visit. It was pretty exciting to be able to consult with the physician and ask all kinds of questions. Anyway, without saying anything more, here is the ultrasound:

(click to enlarge)

What is amazing is that the little baby was moving around so much! It was so active in there, that it looked like it was trying to do pushups and crunches at the same time! There were actually better images on the screen than these ones, but the doctor couldn't take them before the baby would move out of the screenshot. All the movement made it very hard for the doctor to get a heartbeat. I think eventually she gave up and said that she'll get it next time. I do hope that the kid doesn't have ADHD when he comes out. (note: psychologists no longer call it ADHD; it's just ADD now)

So as you can see from the above picture, our baby is currently in the ET stage of gestation. That's the Extra-terrestrial stage, because he looks like a little alien in there. Right now the length of the curled-up body just over 50mm, or about 2". The baby spends most of the day cowering in a fetal position. We will have to work with him on that when he gets out, as that can be perceived as weak and vulnerable in the real world. He needs to be strong if he is going to be a hockey player. And you need excellent posture to be a musician--which be will be, of course.

Sledding videos

2009-01-08T08:21:00.010-06:00

Just a fair warning to everyone. For some reason, these videos are very big files. I would attempt to watch these with a decently-fast internet connection. Also, as you scroll down the page, the music may turn on (the music player is on the right side of the page). Just pause it and you'll be good to go.

Andy and Brandon racing down the slopes! Andy just about slams into a large pile of rocks and chunks of asphalt, whilst Brandon coasts to victory.

Next up is Sean and Andy. Unseen is a moment when Andy tries to cheat by grabbing Sean's board and holding him back. This forces Andy to veer off-path into a large tree. Sean finishes while slamming into some large sage bush.

So here is the grand finale of all races. Unfortunately, though the boogie boards are very fast on the slopes, the rider can usually feel every bump. It's a rattling experience. Also unfortunately for Andy, the tube just isn't race material. And of course Sean finds his favorite bush...

Eventually we started pulling each other with the ATV. The next day we went out and began construction of a jump, so as to clear like 3' of sweet air.

Perhaps the best video of all...

Sledding in the back yard

2009-01-07T21:50:00.005-06:00

Okay, so we didn't do sledding in the backyard; it was actually in the front yard on the big hill. And the term "sledding" is being used very loosely, as we had one inner tube and a few boogie boards. Ingenuity is often a result of a lack of resources. It turns out that the boards actually slide rather well.

The day started out with Sarah, Brandon, and me.

Sarah stuck to the bunny hill on the inner tube. She may be the smarter member of our group, as she experienced no bodily injuries. But if you don't get hurt, then it's no fun, right?

...right?

Andy eventually joined us.

We brought one of the ATV's out. My bright idea was that we could sled down the hill, and then a designated driver would tow us up the hill so that we wouldn't get so tired walking up the slope.

Andy had the mission of creating a trail for the ATV. Unfortunately, the snow was thick and powdery, and he got the thing stuck. Unbeknownst to him, I mocked him tacitly.

Only moments later I veered off-trail and got it stuck myself.

Sticking to the beaten path!

I will work on getting some videos posted shortly

Post-Christmas festivities

2009-01-06T08:58:00.007-06:00

Not to be forgotten during the holiday season are those people whose birthdays lie between the Christmas and New Year's day. Here is Rachael on her birthday.

To celebrate Rachael's birthday, the Tom and Brynn Nufer family migrated down to Cedar City, with the Nufer grandparents right on their heels.

One of the biggest surprises for Livia and me was that little Baby Grace was full of life and expression. At one point I found her talking to nobody at all, while holding a toy to the side of her head. I asked her about it and she explained that she was preparing herself for the teenybopper years when she will have her own cell phone and unlimited minutes. (This also explained why she was frantically pushing buttons on the TV remote, even when the TV was not turned on--preparation for the massive texting that she is anticipating)

Grandpa Nufer has gone digital and actively snapped pictures throughout the evening. And here am I snapping behind his back...

One of the games played was musical chairs. Tommy, the good big brother, remembered whose birthday it was. Though Rachael would have indubitably dominated even if it wasn't her special day.

Baby Grace loved the air hockey table, even when it wasn't turned on. Also admire the bling on her right hand. With that 30 carat rock, she's already turning out to be somewhat high-maintenance.

The main difference between Tom's and my approaches to candid photography is that he makes it look good

Up close and personal with the birthday girl!

The good thing about being the birthday girls is that your older siblings act as secret service. Katherine vigilantly watches over the the present-opening ceremony, while Tommy (in the background) represents the hood. He's got her back.

Meanwhile Sean strikes a mean pose for the camera. That pose really should not have been caught on camera since it's not nearly ready enough for public viewing. He will definitely need to work on it. Perhaps it will be called "magnolia steel".

By the end of the week, that was just a lot of partying. Even the pets got worn out with all the fun and excitement.

Christmas in Cedar City

2009-01-05T21:26:00.011-06:00

Another year and another Christmas. We were lucky enough to be able to travel to Ceday City this year and spend the holidays with family. This was by far the very best Christmas of the year. And now for the walkthrough...

A common theme of the trip was sewing. Sarah made a quilt, Mom and Livia sewed pajama bottoms for everyone, as well as sewed a costume for Rachel, etc.

Instead of having a fresh Christmas tree, the parents donated the tree money to a charity. As a substitute, we had four fake trees of various sizes. We called it the Christmas forest. That's one tradition that is very costly. We pay for a tree, we pay to decorate it, and then we pay to recycle it.

The stockings were too laden to be hung this year, so they "conglomerated" 'round the chimney with care.

I'm thinking that Andy could fit both of his feet into one of those stockings...

Andy and Amanda discuss stuff and things in the corner

The biggest present was Sarah's new airhockey table. This was definitely a hit throughout the week. As soon as the table would turn on, people would convene (with sparks of determination aglow in their eyes). This same phenomenon occurs as people open cans of cat food and cats seem to materialize from nothing.

The booty

Sarah and Brandon sit ripe with anticipation...

...as do Amanda and Andy

Amanda devilishly sprouted horns from her forehead...

Livia, 小さい女生徒は興奮する
:) hahaha :)

Brandon got a sweet Wusthof knife and cutting board. I asked if I could borrow it sometime, and the following picture ensued.

Mom made all the girls pretty aprons. She used a basic pattern, but the designs are all original. Very cute, etc.

And they are reversible, appropriate for those bi-polar days when you're not content with the status quo.

I guess the joke is something along the lines of when the Lion King first begins, the verses include African chants that repeat: "pink pajamas, penguins on the bottom"

The aftermath

The air hockey table is such that there are between 2-6 goals to defend. We played both in teams and 1 vs 1 vs 1 vs 1 vs 1 vs 1. It was madness at all times. Pucks constantly flew off the table at breaktooth speeds. We eventually began wearing helmets and other protective gear. It was brutal. Sarah and Brandon made us sign notarized waivers of responsibility in order to repudiate any litigation claiming damages.

Another theme of the season was boardgames. We played them all!

This was a shot that I snapped one morning before anyone else was up. The view is looking out the window over the back yard during sunrise. As I gazed over the crisp landscape of a yule-like scene, I couldn't help but marvel at the grandiose presence of wintertide at its full. Also, I was glad to be indoors.

Chicago town

2008-12-23T20:59:00.001-06:00

What am I doing in Chicago—this place so far from home? I have called many places home: from the mountains of the Pacific Northwest to the beaches of Hawaii. I lived in Mexico for two years as a missionary and spent a summer in Brazil. From the first time I visited Chicago, I knew that it had something special to it. I would call it a certain “je ne sais pas”, but I am not going to. It is a city of cultural depth. How to describe this town? Musical. Touristy. Ethnic. Artsy. Political (windy). Magnificent.

Merry Christmas 2008

2008-12-16T09:22:00.003-06:00

So Nufer blog dedicatees probably do not even need a Christmas letter from us. But I figure that I would make the official letter available to all. I had to convert it from pdf to png, and some formatting was lost, but here you go:

Posting from the train...

2008-12-11T22:04:00.001-06:00

So I downloaded an app the other week that allows me to update my blog from my phone. I don't really want to be one of "those" people who complain about sore thumbs because they are constantly texting and sending emails from their little phones. But I figures that I'll give this a try. This is the free app, and for a few bucks I would be able to post photos as well. But I typically like to run my pics through photoshop before I present them to the world.

So my thought is that this whole blogging/mobile Internet/look at all the things my phone can do.. All this is novel and cutting edge for us now. What will our kids think? They will me ashamed that I am so impressed that I can blog whilst on the train coming home from school. I will shame them with this blog.

I was just going over my material for the final in my selection and job analysis class. I needed to look up an assessment (the CCAI), so I went online and dug around. I vaguely remember when there wasn't am online. What then?! How would I have done my research on this assessment tool? Where would I look? Would I need to to to the library or look in the phonebook? Would I call the information hotline for guidance? I recognize how unreliable wikipedia can be and it's important to be skeptical and information published online. But thank goodness for technology! Our kids are going to grow up assuming that things like the Internet and smartphones have always been around.

But then again, when was the last time you contemplated how life would have been different without indoor plumming?

Brand new Nufer, on the way!

2008-11-18T10:25:00.006-06:00

Just so that you are in the know:

One line - Status quo
Two lines - the ultimate quid pro quo

So the baby is on his (we're assuming) way, and will be bursting into this world come July or so. This is number one for us, and will be child that converts the parents into Grandparents.

We are very excited parents, indeed. The baby will be coming right around our four-year anniversary, and about the time I will be finishing up my master's degree. Here is a list of things that the baby will be able to look forward to:

Kisses
Hugs
Being spoiled by grandparents
Skiing
Learning
Playing outdoors
Harry Potter
A father who will play xbox with him
Spicy Thai food

Of course, there are also elements of this world from which we plan to shield our children:

McDonald's (and other forms of fast death)
Rick Astley or MC Hammer music videos
Early Adam Sandler movies
Mullets
Comic books and/or male scrunchies
Reality TV

So what we need from you guys, our friends and family, are suggestions for baby names. Given that 2009 will be the year of something or other on the Chinese calendar, and that our first-born will very likely has some kind of Zodiac sign, let's see what you can all come up with. Give us your suggestions as a replied comment to this post.

Organizational Leadership assignment

2008-11-04T23:53:00.004-06:00

So the following post is an assignment that I completed for my Organizational Leadership class. I am studying here in Chicago during an unprecedented campaign between two incredibly competent and viable candidates for one of the highest-profiled leadership positions in the known universe. The scope of the assignment is to assess both the psychological, as well as the leadership components of the candidates.

From a psychological perspective, I am able to focus on dominant traits and personality characteristics (cognitive ability, emotional intelligence, big 5 personality traits, etc.). As a leader, I look at his power base and influencing tactics, and his ideology as a leader. External environmental factors are also at play when we look at follower development and commitment, and the current national and global conditions that have impacted the dynamics of the candidate platforms during their campaigning.

Anyway, on the night of the presidential election, I join the millions of Americans in celebration of our new president elect. And I present to everyone my profile of B-Rock.

Candidate assessment of Barack Obama

2008-11-04T23:50:00.002-06:00

During the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama was invited to address the audience as John Kerry prepared to receive the Democratic presidential nomination. The crowd was described as generally restless, yet during the course of his speech, Obama was able to command the attention of the multitude and even move them to tears (Frontline, 2008). Many audience members were heard remarking how they considered themselves observing history. Richard Norton Smith, speechwriter and historian, commented: “…forget uniters and dividers, tonight we heard from a transcender…” (Frontline). The coverage of Obama’s speech helped to introduce the Illinois senator to national media and the public at large. Four years later, Obama returned to the stage of the Democratic National Convention—this time to receive the nomination himself of the party’s vote for presidential candidacy.

An obvious personal strength of Obama is his ability to captivate and emotionally move his audience through rhetoric and especially through his delivery of speeches. This potency has also been a source for attacks to his campaign (ABC News, 2008). Nevertheless, the charisma and power of his public speaking abilities aid in the conveyance of his strategic political vision and help him to communicate his goals and agenda as a leader. The capstone message of his platform involves his policies on internal reform and the need to bring change to the dormant status quo Washingtonian mentality and modus operandi. Obama frequently references his family and upbringing, and incorporates a personal element into his messages of change and reform. The result is an example of using inspirational appeal (and arguably, personal appeals) as a proactive influencing tactic. Inspirational appeals are a frequent and often successful influencing for transformational leaders (Yukl, 2007), and Obama’s leadership approach supersedes charismatic leadership to the point where he can be considered a transformational leader.

An aspect of individual character that has been played out by both parties during this election is the nonconformist approach to policy implementation. Both presidential candidates have emphasized that fact that they are not afraid to cast votes against the majority voice within their respective political parties, with Obama specifically voting against the Democratic Party 46 times during the current congress (The Washington Post, 2008). The Obama campaign strategy adopted such slogans as “Plan for Change” and “Obama for Change”, while the McCain campaign in response has branded their two white house candidates as “mavericks”.

The message that these campaign tactics send out is that the future incumbent of the oval office possesses a great degree of expert power that gives him insight as to how to most effectively manage the affairs that encumber the office of the president. Obama has been successful in conveying expert power as he demonstrates at a grass-roots level his social base for making decisions, and his awareness of both how political decisions impact people, and which policies would be most beneficial to the general public. By gaining the trust of followers, Obama’s exertion of expert power has resulted high follower commitment, and his escalation up the political ladder has also led to an incrementally greater amount of legitimate power as well.

By tracking the political career and vocational history and aspirations of Obama, it is possible to evaluate his ideology and core political values as a presidential candidate. After a short career as a community organizer in Chicago, Obama decided to pursue higher education from Harvard (Frontline). During his student life in grad school, Obama ran for and was elected to the presidency of the Harvard Law Review as the first black president. Obama did not use his political stature to nurture clique relationships or promote agenda-driven coalitions, but instead sought after the most competent individuals to fill vacancies within the organization (Frontline). His biggest priority was maintaining the highest quality publication with the resources and talent available. This was done by recognizing true talent as it manifested itself, and as it would contribute to the enhancement of his goals and vision for the Harvard Law Review.

After successfully completing a doctorate degree in law from Harvard, Obama remained focused on returning to the realm of community organizing, despite plentiful opportunities for prestigious, promising, and lucrative clerkships. Indeed, Obama was known among prominent federal judge circuits as “the one who got away” (Mauro, 2007), as he ultimately eschewed the common route for Harvard law graduates in the realm of jurisdiction, and instead began his political career. So dedicated was Obama to the calling as a community organizer, that his first date with his future wife, Michele Obama, was at a community training event in the basement of a Chicago church (Obama, 2008a).

Barack Obama has demonstrated ethical leadership by abolishing elements of the toxic triangle in order to create a wholesome political environment for himself. The voting public has exhibited high levels of voter maturity, as rallies and pre-voting turnouts have been unprecedentedly high. Obama has had a fundamental push to get his ideology and views known through creative an innovative marketing strategies, including authoring a website, buying primetime television slots for advertising, publishing applications for web-enabled phones and mobile devices, and regularly posting on social networking websites. The result is a well-educated followership and a high maturity level of voters.

Also pertaining to the abolishment of susceptible followership is the eradication of questionable coalitions composed of colluders and ties to the notorious Washingtonian “good old boys” club. Obama claims to not be influenced or bought out by either lobbyists or PACs (Obama, 2008b). Instead he chooses to surround himself with competence and audits his own staff to ensure efficiency and idealistic synchronization of his political vision and goals.

Obama has also been influential in preventing an ambience that allows for unwarranted perceived threat on a national level. Specifically, Obama voiced his disapproval to the war in Iraq long before the war became unpopular and required creative justification. Obama maintained: "I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars…" (A&E, 2008). He continued by claiming that "the world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without [Saddam Hussein]. But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.”

Perceived threat is a fundamental component of conducive environments that promote destructive leadership. Obama has, therefore, contributed to the establishment of a more constructive form of leadership by eschewing those environmental conditions that promote the proliferation of destructive leaders.

A final evaluation of Barack Obama’s character reveals that he has a relatively high amount of emotional intelligence, and would most likely demonstrate high levels of conscientiousness on a Big 5 personality inventory. He has repeatedly been described by followers peers as “sympathetic to all causes” (Frontline), but ultimately maintaining his vision on accomplishing the goals and objectives that will drive the cause of the institution with which he is involved and dedicated. Obama, as a conscientious leader, deftly utilizes power bases and influencing tactics as tools for establishing follower motivation and altruistic utility, as opposed to satisfying narcissistic tendencies and promoting personal agendas. These dominant personality traits, in addition to our current political and social environments, and coupled by his distinct leadership styles and behaviors, have allowed Obama to establish himself during the presidential campaign season as a transformational leader and an extraordinarily influential politician.

References

2008-11-04T23:47:00.002-06:00

A&E Television Network. (2008). Barack Obama featured biography. Bio. True Story. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://www.biography.com/featured-biography/barack-obama/bio2.jsp

ABC News. (2008, February 15). Obama: ‘I give a good speech. What can I do?’. Message posted to http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/02/obama-i-give-a.html

Frontline. (2008, October 14). The Choice: 2008 [Video File]. Video posted to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/choice2008/view/#vod

Mauro, T. (2007, December 13). Obama’s road not taken. Law.com. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1197453881020

Obama, B. (2008a) A mother's Promise: Barack's Biography [Video File]. Video posted to http://www.myspace.com/barackobama

Obama, B. (2008b) It’s your choice: How the candidates stand on the issues that are most important to you. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

The Washington Post. (2009). The U.S. Congress votes database. The Washington Post, 8. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/o000167/

Yukl, G. (2007). Best practices in the use of proactive influence tactics by leaders. In J. A. Conger and R. E. Riggio (Eds.) The Practice of Leadership (pp. 109-128). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Livia's magazine cover

2008-11-02T19:51:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago we had a photo shoot in our kitchen. This pic is a product of that event. I did some photoshop and put her on the cover of "Bella" Magazine! If you buy the magazine, all your wildest dreams will come to full fruition.

Calculating the value of a chicken

2008-10-20T11:48:00.005-05:00

How much, quantifyingly, is the worth of a chicken's life?

I asked myself this question just moments ago as I put together my elephant-sized grilled stuffed burrito this afternoon for lunch. Two days ago, Livia and I were picking up our produce odds-and-ends at the store, and we noticed that they had whole rotisserie chickens for just $5. This was not a promotional price or one of those "buy one get one" deals. The chicken was valued at just $5, for our consuming pleasure.

We had some chicken with our pasta dinner last night, and this afternoon I came across the chicken again as I had the makings for a ginormous bean and cheese, chipotle and spinach burrito. I thought about how nicely the chicken would go with my burrito content, and so I heated up the frying pan, and lightly sauteed small strips of white meat in olive oil.

Then I got to thinking about how little $5 is in the scheme of things. We start with $5, but then we subtract the price of the farm's overhead--including cost of facilities, feed, maintaining stable conditions for the livestock, farmer's salary... Then add the cost for shipping the chicken--you have trucks, fuel, drivers' salaries. Not the grocery store also needs to figure out a profit in that equation. They pay for packaging, rotisserie machine, minimum wage worker for roast the chicken, cashier to ring me up, plastic bag so that I can carry the packaged-goods home... All in all, $5 is not a lot o pay for the chicken. When it comes down to it, the life of the chicken is probably valued at something like $0.47. That is an interesting price tag to put on one of God's creations, and a microcosmic organism in itself.

But it does make a pretty good Grilled-stuffed burrito!

Chicago-up close and personal

2008-10-16T14:52:00.007-05:00

So it's been a little while since my last post. I guess that's what grad school is capable of doing to me. I've been so busy lately that I just want to light myself on fire sometimes. ;) But every once in a while I like to leave for school a little bit earlier than usual and carry along my camera to capture Chicago's still life. I am especially interested in the rust, chains, and metal framework of the metropolitan setting. Without any more introduction, I bring you this gallery of snapshots--taken primarily on my way to school.

This last piece is actually my inspiration for my Chicago-up close and personal gallery. This was taken at Montrose Beach. I thought that the texture and concept of this plain chain-linked fence was fascinating. This is an object that is so hackneyed and readily overlooked. When we really take time stop and inspect the workmanship of the above, it really gives us a different perspective of what urban life is all about.

What does Sean Nufer stand for?

2008-09-22T20:55:00.003-05:00

Okay, Livia wants me to put this picture up for the world to see. I created this in response to those Barack Obama ads (see my blog from a few days ago...).

Here I am:

Yep, that's something that is very important to me.

Our little apartment

2008-09-21T21:17:00.009-05:00

So I have been blogging for many months now, and I figure that we might as well invite you into our home. We are living in north Chicago, about a mile-and-a-half northwest from Wrigley Field (congrats go out to the Cubs for yesterdays victory!). We live in an urban residential area, close to a handful of parks, the river, and a regional library. We rent the top floor of a house (technically, the attic portion). Laundry is in the basement and we have off-street parking out in the alley in the back.

So here is a tour of our place...

So the first thing that you will see in our entryway is a display of our portraits. This exhibit is called "organized chaos".

This exhibit originates from the fact that Livia works as a custom framer. With our house full of dozens of nice frames, Livia no longer has a need for all these cheap frames. But instead of throwing them out, I decided to employ them creatively. Our entryway is ghetto anyway, so now it's a beautiful wall of tackiness. It's great.

And the disco ball...

Notice on the fridge Livia's bumper sticker, which reads "Jesus loves you but I'm his favorite"

Our uninteresting and crowded kitchen. See if you can find a little guy hanging from a noose. His name is Fred and he's a voodoo toothpick holder. He doesn't have any toothpicks in this picture, because at the moment we have no vendettas. We're looking for some though, so stay tuned.

These are our kitchen helpers

And a conglomeration of our trip to Joao Pessoa last year. This is the only cheap frame that escaped the grasp of organized chaos.

Enter the Living room.

Livia actually made the futon pillows. They are reversible (different patterns on each side of the pillows), and they have hidden zippers. That makes it possible for us to remove the covers and wash them periodically. I mention it because I guess hidden zippers are very hard and frustrating to deal with, so props to Livia.

We picked up those two tables and an enormous dresser and mirror over at a salvation army. We stole them all for a mere $85.

Artistic close-up #1

Artistic close-up #2

We don't actually have that lamp plugged in. It's more of an aesthetic contribution to the room.

To the left: That's the Warhol I created from the same picture that Livia is holding.
To the right (background): Livia created the curtains to the living room. There is no door to the room, so when visitors stay with us it's nice for them to have privacy. The curtains are patterned after typical Moroccan ornamentation.

Livia's gabbing with her sister; also showcasing a purse that she made.

A final shot of Livia's popart.

So maybe I will call this the primary tour of our apartment. At the moment the other rooms are a bit cluttered, so I won't venture to post our mess online. The bathroom is getting regrouted, so there is plastic everywhere. Livia's sewing room needs a facelift, and our bedroom has seen more pleasant days.

Anyway, thanks for coming. Come again.

Barack Obama is Progress

2008-09-16T16:31:00.004-05:00

So it's coming to election season. Only a few short weeks left. This one really snuck up on us, didn't it? I mean I haven't hardly seen any of the candidates campaigning in the last 18 months. All of a sudden we have to make a choice?

So anyway, I just have to take a very brief moment to express my grief over the Grand Old Party's choice for its presidential candidate, as well as for that candidate's capricious choice of a running mate. I don't need to mention the many inequitable claims and mudslinging ads that McCain has made in the recent months, but I am really beginning to question his character and decision-making prowess.

How can we possibly ratify a vice-presidential candidate that we know nothing about? Palin's office was enshrouded in secrecy and driven by an agenda similar to what we currently see in Washington. Now McCain is hopping onto the "Change" bandwagon, but I don't think that much would change with them in office. Sadly enough, I think that if the election were between McCain and Bush (and this is Sean speaking), I would definitely consider voting in Bush for a third term. And that's saying something very loudly, considering that I supported Mayor Rocky Anderson in his endeavors to impeach the chief-of-staff and his partner in crime. I also eagerly await Vincent Bugliosi's to make the Bush administration culpable for war crimes associated with the Iraq war.

Luckily for us, we don't need to choose between Bush and McCain:

More bars my foot!

2008-09-12T06:53:00.004-05:00

Something has got to be done about AT&T. They're too big and their ads are as accurate as McCain propaganda. I suppose that I am not all that upset about the cell phone company, but it does seem odd that our cell phone bills have continued to rise over the last ten years, even as new technologies improve cellular efficiencies and lower operating costs for the big companies. For example, just three years ago text messaging cost $0.10 a message. And as technology improves, the rates rise across the industry as companies now charge $0.20-0.30 a message, including incoming texts (why should we have to pay for those?!).

I read yesterday that you can send 600 text messages, and it will have less data involved than even a one minute phone call. The only difference is that the phone company will be banking $120-200 on those texts. That's what you call a cash cow. Many European countries charge much less for their cell phone and wifi coverage, and they run on faster networks. But as long as we are willing to shell out top dollar for things like wifi, cellular networks, and gasoline, then there isn't much point in companies lowering prices. (As far as my grief on gas is concerned, the national average has been below the $3.70/gal mark for a month now, and here in Chicago we've been paying $4.30/gal. Why do they charge so much? Because we are willing to pay for it!)

So with that precursor I present to you:

So how many bars does AT&T claim? I actually find it quite rare to have more than a bar or two. As I look at my phone right now, I only see one bar. I assume that one bar really means none (it is the smallest bar after all...). One would suspect that coverage in Chicago would fare somewhat better.

Well at least the 3G seemed to be working. But to be honest, I have been quite disappointed by the 3G performance. It often performs at dial-up speeds. There have even been times when the phone reverts back to the Edge, and the Internet actually performs faster on the Edge network than on 3G!! That's not supposed to happen. For a while it was blamed on immature chipsets or weak iPhone antennae, but I guess tests are showing that those components are up sufficient, and that the responsibility for weak 3G lies in the carrier, and AT&T are not providing the speeds that were advertised to consumers.

I'll be lenient on AT&T on two points: First, the tremendous success of this new iPhone has placed an onerous burden on the AT&T network and perhaps they are working round-the-clock to come up with a solution to provide the service that they sold us (*yea right...*). Second, Apple has owned up to the dropped call issue, and we'll see if today's software update will remedy this problem (Steve Job's claims that it will).

Anyway, I didn't mean for this blog to be heated or charged... I did think that the billboard and juxtaposed "no-bar" phone pic was pretty funny though.

Banana boats

2008-08-30T22:17:00.004-05:00

We just got back from a BBQ deal with some friends. Somebody had this idea of bringing ingredients for banana boats. I didn't know what they were, but the looked interesting. I don't know exactly why everything here is being underlined, but oh well, here's how to make a banana boat:

Step 1.

Cut some slits in the banana so that you can peel away a part of it. Don't cut the slit completely off, you'll close it like a lid when the filling is complete.

Step 2.

Insert pieces of chocolate

Step 3.

Put miniature marshmallows (starting to look familiar, eh?...)

Step 4.

Close off the banana peel and wrap the banana in tin foil

Step 6.

The result will be rolled up bananas that are ready to go on the grill for about 10-15 minutes.
(Step 7 is to ignore the beer can...)

And away we go. The end product tastes much like how you would imagine that it tastes. It turns out very sweet, so it is good after eating lots of salty foods, like hamburgers and hotdogs with catchup and relish. I suppose that you could sprinkle cinnamon or vanilla as well.

Sarah and Brandon -- A Day on the Town

2008-08-30T14:58:00.010-05:00

Sarah and Brandon came to visit us in Gotham City last week. Livia and I took turns showing them the town and the sites. Unfortunately there were only a couple of days when both of us we off of work at the same time, but between the two of us we were able to wear the siblings down. Documented below is one of the days when I took Sarah and Brandon down to Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park Zoo, downtown Chicago, etc. We eventually met up with Livia when she finished with work, and then we went shopping and finally dropped Sarah and Brandon off at the Briar Street Theater so that they could see the Blue Man Group (a support group for clinically depressed men).

First off is a trip to Wrigley Field on game day. This stop was rather impromptu. As we were on the bus heading towards the zoo, I asked if they would like to walk around Wrigley Field. I didn't know that it was game day until we got there and saw the carnival-like ambience. There were guys selling peanuts, booths for jerseys and hats, "come play our game and win!", "get your balloons!", "fresh fish! we got fresh fish! and pistachios! don't forget your pistachios!"

The Cubs dixie band was entertaining. They are very good, but under-appreciated. We talked to the guy who plays the box trumpet, and his goal is to save up enough money that he will be able to afford the other shoe.

So the Lincoln Park Zoo is a free establishment. Our friends were riding their bikes one day and all of a sudden there were like zebras and caged animals around them. It's an open zoo that's right in Lincoln Park. This shot is at one of the entrances. In the background is a misty shot of the Hancock Building. The day was overcast with on and off sprinkling.

Here we are up close and personal with nothing seperating us from an OCD bear but a pane of glass. The bear had a routine of pacing back and forth all day long. In the Ender's Game series he would be labeled as a "godspoken" bear, and would be venerated as above average. My only hopes are that he's not pacing back and forth as he plots his escape (and/or vengence).

Another godspoken bear--this one swam in circles. Though a little distrubing, it does allow for plenty of opportunities to take some good snapshots.

Those meercats just seem a little bit too content and well-fed. There is a smugness that just seems peculiar about the one... I think I will call him Frankie and give him a Boston accent.

Sarah just got off of a strict no-refined-sugar diet. She allowed herself to eat natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables, but avoided processed and refined sugars. We tried to tempt her with a 5 lb. Hershey bar, but her will is strong!

I'll bet that the batmobile could drive right through that building...

The lego store has an interesting conglomeration of imagination, inegnuity, too much free time, and a lego guy sitting on a bench with a bird in his hair who laid an egg on his blue suit.

This larger-than-life lego vader makes me think of just one question: What does Brandon have behind his back that is so important that he feels that he has to hide it from the camera?

The spreading of rumors...
That's how wars are started!!!

So anyway, we were very happy that Sarah and Brandon were able to take time off from their jobs and visit us. It really was a great time, and we had non-stop fun. I was sad when I dropped them off at the airport--especially when I realized that I lost my xbox buddy.
*insert single tear*

One final thought:

So our good Chicago friends, David and Kimi, extended the ever-present promise "oh, and if you ever want to visit Chicago, then give us a call. We'd love to have you!" They were taken up on that offer and are currently extending their couch to a friend. The problem is that this friend bought a one-way ticket, and has no intention on leaving for another month! I guess that must be a pretty comfortable couch.

Wendy jokingly suggested "well since she's staying for a month, that's enough time for her to get a job!" She is now hosting tables at a pizza joint. Eventually I think she'll move on to Boston, but who knows when?!

So we now have a rule for house guests. We'd love to have anyone over who would like to visit. However, this will now be contingent upon showing us proof of a valid return ticket home. We will be confirming the itinerary with the airline company.

Babychan's visit to Chicago!

2008-08-26T12:35:00.004-05:00

So one would assume, based on my diligence in blogging, that we have had an uneventful summer. On the contrary, we have both been quite busy with school, jobs, the internship, and various other commitments. But we have also had a lot of fun. This last winter, we could not believe how miserable and cold we were. Indeed, we were suffering. I asked myself two questions diurnally:

1) How is it that Chicago is so populous (aka, why would anybody in his or her right mind actually want to LIVE here!)

and

2) Why am I no longer living in Hawaii?!

I have no answer to that second question, but I think that people endure the winters in order to experience the summers here! There is a lot that the city has to offer, including free concerts and movies in the parks, great beach activities, music venues, lots of sports (go Cubs!) and restaurants, parades and cultural festivities...

So it is especially fun that we've had family out to visit us this summer. Right now we'll look into the fun and adventure that we had when Livia's sister, Babychan, came from Hawaii for three weeks.

One of the first activities was to take her to Navy Pier. This snapshot was taken in the arboretum at the pier.

Also at Navy Pier is a series of twisty and distorted mirrors.

On another day--at the Field Museum

Somebody is going to hate me for putting this one up. It was really fun to have days when we could all go to sleep without setting the alarm. Notice how bright the sun is coming through the windows! That's almost as bright as...a noonday sun!

One of the great accomplishments of Babychan's trip was learning how to tie a noose.

We bought a couple of karaoke games for the xbox. Babychan didn't want her picture taken, so this had to be captured through espionage. It interesting to have your vocal abilities being judged and rated based on computer algorithms. If you score well, then you can think "great, the computer thinks that I didn't do too bad." If you get boo-ed off the stage (which CAN happen), then you think "man, not even a machine can tolerate my singing..."

This was our group at the ward bbq and picnic. It was a fun day of softball, horseshoes, soccer, frisbee, eating, saying the pledge of allegence, etc.

And the 4th of July party conitnues into the night over at our house.

Livia was busy talking on the phone, so we enterntained ourselves by having me push Babychan through the store in a shopping cart. We also did swing dancing in the lobby here.

There is a fun play structure that caught our attention. We spent a lot of time climbing on the ropes throughout multiple days.

Here we are balancing on top of the structure

While Livia was out at work one day, Babychan and I went to play at some of the many parks throughout the city. This one is very long (about 2.5 miles), but also very narrow. I snapped this shot right as she was taking off her glasses. She doesn't like people to know that she wears glasses, but she couldn't escape this time!

Here is Babychan stopping to smell the roses

Having grown up in urban Sao Paulo, she had never known the simple joys that coud be had from a blue tire chained to the beam of a playground structure. I showed her the joys of nausea that come from twisting, twirrling, spinning uncontrollably, nearly hitting the sides of the structure... She thought it was great.

We are never to big for certain things...

Actually, yes we are.

Here we are taking pictures of each other.

This is Buckingham fountain in Grant Park. We visited here for the Taste of Chicago, which was fun, but I think that it is blown a little bit out of porportion. Nonetheless, there is plenty of entertainment throughout.

This is a nice cop who let Baby ride his ATV up and down the street in downtown Chicago. He even let her take it off sweet jumps.

And that's a little bit of what we did while Livia's sister was in town.

Swarthmore

2008-06-11T00:26:00.006-05:00

This blog is a continuation of our experience last month as we traveled to Swarthmore and Philly. Swarthmore (home of the university by the same name) is a very small town where people ride their bikes to the local grocer, and take their food home in either backpacks or cloth bags that sit in a basket attached to the front end of the bicycle. People say hello as they pass, and the neighborhoods are concerned with keeping up the property.

It seems like a town full of green thumbs, and this impressed me so much that I decided to take a few pictures and create a sort of montage of the place. So in rapid succession, be impressed:

And of course it's always nice to cruise by all the nicely landscaped properties in a brand new porche convertible.

Memorial day craziness

2008-06-09T01:12:00.006-05:00

Here's a slideshow of our memorial day. We had an agenda that was twofold:

1. Visit the Adler Planetarium

2. Go to get our hair dome at a Zohan promotional trailer

enjoy:

(click the little box in the lower left-hand corner of the slideshow to view the captions)

Sean and Livia meet Philly

2008-05-27T14:04:00.011-05:00

This month we had the chance to head over to our neighbors in Pennsylvania. Since we were lodging in Swarthmore, we had the opportunity to take the train over to Philadelphia, and spend the day in old Ben Franklin's stompin' grounds. Our day was documented photographically below:

Here is one of the many murals that dot the buildings. I believe the mural project is part of an initiative to help clean up the streets and give purpose to adolescent pastime, as well as beautify the buildings of the city.

Livia at Chinatown

We happened to observe congress in session. I hope the flash wasn't too distracting...

Here are some of Ben's inventions. The first one is...I don't know what. The second buy there is an organ that is made of glass bowls, and is played with wet fingers. The bowls spin slowly like a rotisserie, and the sound is much like rubbing the rim of a crystal goblet with a moist fingertip.

Here is Livia conversing with the "cotton lady". Although she was not spinning cotton, but some sort of poly-blend. I guess spinning cotton is quite onerous.

We had the chance to have our picture taken with a struggling mother of a new born baby. There were lots of people around, so we only got one chance. Unfortunately, we caught the liberty bell in the background, but there is nothing that we could have done about that.

And then there's Independence Hall

We went out of our way on foot to make it to Elfreth's Alley, which is the oldest street in America. It's very small and well-kept. Livia says that it's such an adorable street.

It is easy to feel big when the houses are so small.

So Philly is known for being the home of Ben and Rocky, and for its historical presence in the establishment of the union. It's also known for its Philly cheese steak sandwiches. That's just a must! So it's a good thing that I did that during my last trip. For lunch, we went to a nice Cuban restaurant. The picture above are of the inside of the restaurant. We were not disappointed!

I can't exactly remember what I had, but I know that it was fantastic. Those chips are actually something like fried yucca and plantain.

And the tres leches! The three milk used were all banana-flavored milks. Again, not too disappointing.

Here I am walking out of the Franklin house, as I read the colloquial tribune.

To the left is a palatial-esque Macy's, and to the right is where the hard rockers establish their presences.

And to reference Rocky a second time, there are the steps that gave the boxer his second wind.

Here we are in LOVE park (actually called JFK Plaza).

Across the street is the old City Hall

The town has an interesting feel. It seems like the ultimate conglomeration of the historically old, balanced with the contemporary dawn of a newer age.

And after another train ride, we find ourselves back in beautiful Swarthmore. This photo, taken at the train station, includes the landscape of Swarthmore College. Good times.

Rock Climbing

2008-05-09T12:55:00.006-05:00

On Monday Donald took Sue and us to his rock climbing gym, where he frequents every Monday and Thursday. We had a great time, and we met up with one of Don's colleagues, Merrill Liechty, from Drexel University. Merrill brought his entire family and made a Family Home Evening out of the event.

Here we find Livia in belaying position (belaying Merrill's daughter, Annabelle), as well as striking a pose on the wall. She was following the blue path on this particular climb. Even though she is a beginner, she made it to the top on almost all of her climbs (as did Annabelle).

Don and Merrill are not only men of poise and super-human strength, but also possess a complete absence of acrophobia

Annabelle and Livia watch in amazement as Merrill overcomes gravity and reaches the summit. Annabelle suggested that they "say a prayer for Daddy". So Livia prayed with her and he made it to the top.

Though this picture didn't turn out all that clear, up high on the walls are Miles, Annabelle, and Merrill. They decided to have a family gathering at the top. A slightly better picture can be seen here.

And here I am practicing some bouldering. I have a harness on, but no supporting ropes. In reality I'm only a few feet off the ground, and there are some thick pads underneath to support my fall. The purpose of bouldering is not to climb up the wall, but rather to traverse it. Since I'm so close to the wall, this is not nearly as dangerous as free soloing, which is exciting but can also be fatal.

Larson family gathering

2008-05-09T12:21:00.003-05:00

This last week Livia and I took a break from everything and flew in to Philadelphia to visit Don and Sue Larson. Livia lived with the Larson's for a year while she attended a private catholic school as an exchange student.

On the day we flew in, Don and Sue's kids and grandchildren came to visit. During this visit memories were relived, recent accomplishments were shared, laughter was heard, jubilance was felt, tender embraces were given, and tears of joy were shed. I would also add that crazy habanero sauce burned through stomach linings, while skateboarding crazies performed ollies over trusting siblings' heads and did backflips from the deck stairs. All during the peaceful halcyon calm of a Sunday afternoon during the springtime in Swarthmore, PA.

Here is a photo documentation of the day:

The Museum of Contemporary Art

2008-05-02T20:11:00.007-05:00

So I'm back from my repose. I've been a little bit too lazy to write in my blog lately, what with work, school, one billion presentations to make, and finals week. I've been so busy that one time I forgot to take my contacts out. I woke up with perfect vision and thought that a miracle had taken place--not on account of my righteousness, but rather one account that I've been so busy and stressed that maybe I was incurring divine pathos or something.

So anyway, we decided to a break one day and head over to the Museum of Contemporary Art. If you're a big fan or art, then there's a chance that you may or may not like some of the things that are on display at the MCA.

So let's begin with the narrative of our day:

Here's Livia getting herself pretty for the day. That's what she calls it anyway. I call it trying to make herself even more pretty than she already is. She doesn't need all that face paint!

And we're waiting for the train

We get bored waiting, so sometimes we look at our feet

The moment we get on the train is the moment that we're no longer waiting for the train

Here's an old-looking firestation!

A first glimpse of some interesting "contemporary" statues

And we made it to the museum of interesting stuff! As there is no photography allowed inside, this is where we experience a hiatus in the sequential progression of the day...

On the way back from the MCA, we notice that there is a Hershey's store on the corner. You'll never guess what the view is like from the entrance of the Hershey's store...

Yep, that's a Ghiradelli. It's like 1820 in Palmyra, NY. Only, instead of protestant churches on every corner, we are now experiencing an unfolding of chocolate retail entities that are bidding for the business of pedestrians.

Inside the Hershey's store is dreadfulness that far surpasses anything that the avant-guard art students would dream of throwing at you...

For example, a candy bar that weighs in at 5lbs. This thing measures like from my waist to my shoulders.

If that's not enough, try some chocolate syrup that's weighed by the kilo. These bottles are actually bigger than most newborn babies.

And then there's a castle in downtown Chicago. Go figure. So that was more or less our day. It was a bit cold that day (especially considering that it was a month into spring already), but at least I wasn't studying. As Gerrison Keiller says, "we just figure that it could be worse, and it probably will get worse, so we're all just bracing ourselves for that moment..."

Dr Makeup

2008-04-12T14:45:00.004-05:00

Okay, so right now it's Saturday, I'm in my pajamas, haven't showered, I don't even have my contacts in yet. That's fine and good, right? How about if I mention that it's almost 3pm and the only things that I've accomplished are eating and schoolwork? That's a pretty sad way for someone to spend a Saturday, but I guess that's the life of a grad student.

As part of a project for my Consulting Skills class, I designed/modified a student engagement survey for first year master's/doctorate students in my program. I administered my surveys throughout this last week, and it all came down to the onerous task of entering in the data. Each survey had just less than 100 individual questions, and I collected dozens of surveys... The neurons and synapses in my brain hurt a lot right now.

Right now I'm going to take a break and introduce my blog to the nefarious...

"Dr. Makeup!"

So Livia and I were shooting the breeze one day in the Martins' front room, when in enters Tina (Dr. Makeup) Martins.

Dr. Makeup came in and whipped out her metallic cosmetics and beautification portmanteau. Much to the distress of Sean, she approaches and begins the decoration process...

Dr. Makeup fiendishly revels in tormenting her patient

No
Sean does not enjoy this predicament, but rather accepts the things in life that he cannot control. It is important to realize the existence of external locusts of control and not let them get you down.

Fatherhood essays

2008-04-06T21:58:00.002-05:00

So this last week I volunteered to read some essays from an essay contest that was going around the public schools. I'll not state the name of the essay contest, or the organization that sponsored the deal. I'll just say that the contest involved reflections of kids' feelings towards their dads. Kids of all ages participated, and I read through two stacks of essays from 2nd and 3rd graders. I enjoyed them much more than I thought that I would.

Some of the things written were so good that I had to start writing stuff down. So I'm going to share some great things that the kids put in their essays. The theme was something to the effect of what my dad wants for me:

Accomplishments

My dad wants me to have a big and smart brain
My dad wants me to have awesome vacations
My father dreams has dreams for me to be the best bowler that I can be...when I grow up I will be a better bowler than him
My dad told me to own a hotel
He tells me that I should do my best in school. I asked him why. He uses big words that i don't know

Vocational Aspirations

He wants me to grow up and save people
He told me to be a builder and make cool buildings everywhere
My father thinks I can be the greatest president of the world
He said I could be anything I want to be, like a truck driver or mechanic...
My father's dream for me are to be smart. Then I could be a president.
If I be a model, he stills wants me to eat good like fruits, and vegetables

Desires

My father dreams that I will not make mistakes like he has made
My dad dreams I will not fight
My father said never to forget what he said to me
He told me it is important not to talk while other people are talking because they might be talking of something important
My dad wants me not to do drugs. This is important to me because if I do drugs I can die
My dad said not to go to jail
He wants me to meet a nice man that I can marry him and trust for my whole life
My dad wants me not to touch fire
He teaches me yoga and makes me stand on my head everyday
My dad dreams that I brush my teeth so they won't be disgusting
My father wants me to have fun because he doesn't want me to be bored
He pays for my stuff
He dreams that he can have fun with me and my kids someday

So I think that what I learned from reading all the essays is that kids really do pay attention. They're listening, and they are smart. The average 2nd grader is learning at a much quicker pace than the smartest MBA student at the University of Chicago. These kids are paying attention, and what their fathers say is very important to them.

One little girl talked about how good her dad is, even though he doesn't always keep his promises. Yea, those pinky promises are more binding than any legal document. During the press conference between the saturday sessions of general conference, the new apostle, Elder Christofferson, quoted someone as saying that to be trusted is better than to be loved. Kids deserve not only our love, but also our trustworthiness. They're also very funny at the same time!

Field Museum adventure!

2008-04-03T11:37:00.011-05:00

This week we got passes from the library that allowed us free admission to the Field Museum of Natural History. And of course we brought along our camera--so join us on a pictorial tour of the day...

We start out on the train...

The exhibit that we'll walk you through is called "Evolving Planet"

The first section was mildly uneventful, as it walked us through amoebas, single and multi-celled organisms, yawn, etc. When we get to the lizards, then the camera comes out...

Last week we blogged a Komodo dragon that we saw at the aquarium. He would have been cooler if he were one of these guys.

Then we get into the triassic and jurassic eras. I'm glad some of these guys are no longer around.

Like some people I knew in High School, this guy had a very small brain : body ratio

Livia loves large animals. She believes that she had a part in the creation of whales and dinosaurs during the "fifth" day

Another prehistoric bully

For a herbivore, the triceratops was quite a formidable presence...

As we venture toward the world of mammals...
I don't even know what these guys are, but they're definitely taller than Livia

The guy to the right of me is one of the largest deers that has been found

And the elephants...

This Tyrannosaurus is called Sue, and she is the largest and most complete T-Rex ever found.

Aztecan Sun Stone

This was not only used as a calendar, but also has a history of the universe(s), as depicted by Aztecan beliefs.

The weird New Zealand-looking tongue guy in the middle is our sun. The four boxes around him represent past suns, or universes. According to tradition, we are currently in the fifth universe, and four other universes have come and gone.

The animals around the circle are snakes, monkeys, lizards, and such. They represent the months in the year.

So we saw other cool things, like histories of civilizations in the Americas (where we saw the sun stone). It was definitely a much bigger museum than I had expected. We'll look forward to taking Livia's sister, Babychan, over there when she visits in a couple of months.

LiviaPods

2008-03-29T13:43:00.018-05:00

Have any of you guys seen the new ipods? They're loaded with Livia features, such as movies, songs, and pictures of and about Livia. They're even encoded with the latest in rlt - rich livia text.

To see the full line of available JinhaPods, click here

For for information on how to get one of them, including pricing and availability, models numbers, or accessories, click here

Easter Birthday Sunday

2008-03-24T22:17:00.011-05:00

So it turns out that our friend, Sarah, allowed Easter to fall on her birthday this year. As a token of our gratitude for her generosity, a bunch of us headed over to her place to hang out.

So now we'll present some random photos of some good-looking people who have nothing better to do than hang out and be good looking with each other

Livia with the birthday girl
Our present to Sarah was a homemade custom designer purse. Other buzzwords that should be associated with the purse include: fashionable, trendy, vogue, modish, chic...monomaniacal?...

Livia and I made a multi-layered chocolate cream cheese cake before church.
Livia is starting to teach herself about cake decorating. This was her first project.

We're all excited about the imminence of cake consumption

I'll tell you who wasn't too pleased about all the people...

Pika would come out from under the bed, hiss at us, and return to her under-bed post (she's a little shy and didn't want to share Sarah's attention with a bunch of above-average-looking people )

Attendees included David, me, Wendy, Livia, Sarah, Francis, Kimi (taking the picture), and Pika with the occasional disgruntled appearance.

Shedd Aquarium

2008-03-22T14:34:00.015-05:00

This week, we went to the Shedd aquarium. It's located just outside of the busy downtown area, on a peninsula that juts out to lake Michigan. It shares this peninsula with the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum, making this a pretty fun place to visit.

Livia was so excited to be going that she skipped over to the entrance

I was so excited that I mimicked a statue of a guy

The entrance has a pretty nice view of downtown

From the entrance, you can see Navy Pier, Grant Park, and
Downtown, including the Sears and Hancock towers
(this was a poor photoshop job to combine three different pictures, but oh well)

Livia got a little bit flirtatious with some of the more attractive animals
(notice that his eyeball is actually below his mouth)

This guy was trying to tell us something. I thought I heard
something about Budweiser

This guy just hung around and inspected us

The ad at the train stations reads:
"If you think she's angry now, just mention her beard!"

One of the star attractions, the giant Komodo Dragon.
He did absolutely nothing...
not even the tongue thing.

One of my favorites as a kid was the penguin exhibit.

And of course the dolphins are the big deal of the aquarium.
The trainers explained facts about dolphins, while debunking the myths
(wild animals don't tend to save human beings from drowning)

Honorable mentions of the aquarium include:
Beluga whales (quite friendly)
Sea Otters
not the catfish (weird looking critters)
rays*
some sharks
a piranha

*even though they're know to jump out of the water and hit people in boats, causing death and other mortal wounds. For recent coverage, read this or watch this

foo man Nufer

2008-03-20T23:36:00.007-05:00

I've been slowly whittling down my beard over the last few months. My look has gone through a number of evolutionary phases. In this order I morphed:

1) Clean cut and short hair

2) Trimmed beard

3) Trimmed beard with shaggy hair

4) Goatee with shaggy hair

and now we present...

Foo Man Nufer!!!
(that's right, the neighborhood's no longer safe anymore)

If any of you out there see this shady character, I won't blame you for turning on your home security systems and calling the authorities. But don't worry, the worst I'm capable of is giving you a lecture on either psychology or religion.

next step:

6) clean cut and shaven (thank goodness)

TSC Photo Contest

2008-03-16T19:28:00.017-05:00

Most people, it seems, are unaware that March is Women's History Month. Each year, International Women's Day takes place on March 8. This is a day in which we celebrate women and recognize muliebral contributions throughout the world in terms contributions made politically, economically, socially, etc.

As part of this celebration, my school is currently hosting an art gallery which showcases the work of Phil Borges, who has traveled globally in an attempt to document the accomplishments of innovative women--especially those who make an impression in spite of fierce oppression.

He has quite a collection of inspiring art on his website:
www.philborges.com

So as we celebrate women during this month, my school is also hosting a photography contest. Students who wish to participate are asked to submit up to 3 photos, with a brief description of each photo. I'm posting some of my stuff that has made the short list. I didn't have much time to get too creative. but here is some of what I came up with (in no particular order).

This was taken a few months ago at my parents' house in Cedar City, UT. Livia isn't exactly the epitome of the underdog beating all odds and making a lasting contribution to society that will never be lost or adulterated... But she has had her battles, especially in her decisions to be baptized, go on a mission, and get married in the temple. I think the mark that Livia has made is captured in this picture, namely an infectious smile and the ability to charm anyone in the world. She's like a variegated sunbeam amid a studio full of Ansel Adams. (That said, I should mention that I removed most of the saturation from this picture, and hence the absence of vivid color...)

This is Livia's cousin, Gisele. I'm not going to include the full write up that I gave this picture, but she gave up her opportunities for formal education when her family lost their small business. In order to help make ends meet, she began working full time, and eventually moved to Japan and took a position in a factory. She regularly works 16 hours a day alongside her husband in Japan in order to help support not only her own immediate family, but also her aging parents in Brazil. The above photo was taken moments after giving birth to her second child.

Read the caption for the first picture, and replace Livia's name with "Leticia". Leticia is just like her sister in all the best ways. Leticia makes everyone that surrounds her a little bit happier. Scratch that--she makes everyone exponentially happier.

This is the picture of Livia that I actually submitted for the photography contest. Artistically, I tried to use the expressive changes in contrast to add drama and tension to the moment. My goal was to catch an individual in turmoil. That person is alone in a cold world of partiality and injustice. There is no photographer in the room with her; the only company she has is the reluctant beating of her own heart.

blah blah.. in reality I had my camera when I noticed that the sun was coming through the curtains rather dramatically. I told Livia "why don't you grab that blanket and look out the window because the sun is coming through the curtains rather dramatically and I will then take a picture of you as you stare out the window. Try to look sad."

Thanks to all my lovely models for making the photo shoots so easy!

Cherry

2008-03-12T12:07:00.013-05:00

We recently had a photo session with our in-house model, Cherry. We came to know Cherry through a friend of Livia's, Elaine Miyazaki.

Elaine introduced Livia to Cherry several years ago, and though we've entertained the thought of a collaborative effort, such notions have only just recently been brought to full fruition.

Once we got all the bugs and kinks worked out, I think the whole proceeding went surprisingly without much complication, and with copious results.

Entering:

The Gallery of Ancient Contemporary
Geisha Artistic Endeavors

Cherry
$630

Cherry-contemplating?
$600

Far Away...
$585

The Beast Within
$622

Humble art...her...
$590

The Details of Life
$600

Memoirs of a Cherry Geisha
$700

penny < Cherry
$705

For more good stuff where this came from, visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/Sean.Nufer/PhotographicArtistry

photographer: Sean Nufer
model: Cherry
Special thanks:
Sean Nufer
Livia Nufer
Cherry
Sean's camera
Elaine Miyazaki

An Evening with Taylor

2008-03-10T01:08:00.015-05:00

Today Brynn and Zach carpooled with us over to Taylor's apartment for dinner. Taylor, in addition to being in Brynn and my cohort in the doctoral program, is an amazing chef and connoisseur of finer culinary arts.

getting ready the ingredients

Taylor prepared a wonderful Italian menu for us, and explained the traditions, customs, and general history associated with Italian cuisine. She also shared some pretty handy tips and tricks of the kitchen along the way.

Brynn and Taylor blanched the tomatoes

Tonight's menu consisted of:

Pasta Amatriciana

Fresh pasta with a somewhat spicy marinara-style sauce with Pancetta bacon.

Insalata

Mesclun with anise, tomato, and arrugola

Pasta Fagiole

A bean soup pasta and white beans.

A great fresh loaf of Ciabatta

The Italian Salami is coated in mold to help preserve the flavor

Sean was the Entremetier, in charge of making the pasta from scratch

As the Entremetier's assistant, Zach made the marinara (also from scratch)

*no caption could properly describe this picture*

Livia helped to purée the beans for the soup

Brynn was very excited about the good food (as were we all)!

Ladies of the kitchen

The final product was nothing short of elegant and amazing. The place settings were immaculate and the food was fresh and authentic--enough to make an Italian proud of his heritage.

All in all, from food preparation, cooking, and dining, to clean-up and socialization, we spent about 6 hours enjoying the evening. Italian food is very good, but it's not quick, and it leaves quite a wake in the kitchen when all is said and done.

Livia and I brought our guitar and some random percussion instruments, and we were all able to introduce Taylor to the style of Jack Johnson. We all enjoyed the evening, as it was a chance to enjoy good food and fine company. As Taylor put it, it's nice to have some sophistication every once in a while. More than that, it was a good chance for us all to forget about work/school/overwhelming obligations for a moment.

Thanks Taylor!

Livia Warhol

2008-03-08T14:21:00.010-06:00

A few months ago I was experimenting with photoshop, and began creating a popart piece using a picture of Livia that I took a few years ago after our steel band practice. I'm not the biggest fan of Andy Warhol, but I can appreciate the contribution that the popart genre has provided to contemporary art. Here's a copy of the piece that I made.

I also made a picture of my late great-grandmother. Here is a picture that is floating around the family:

...and the transformation...

I used two different techniques on these pieces, and I think the differences are noticeable. The Grandma May piece is more true to the original Warhol techniques. Photos these days are manipulated digitally instead of with the traditional paints and sponges, etc. I happen to like the technique used for Livia's piece better

A couple of other pieces I made include some work I did as Christmas presents for my siblings Amanda and Andy.

Andy Nufer

BYU logo

Livia and I have been saving our money to be able to print and frame her popart. By saving money, I mean whenever we noticed that we happened to have some money to spare to print it out, we did. That happened a couple of days ago.

So this was actually framed by Livia. The print is actually just a cheap kinkos job, so one day we'll take this apart and get a nice quality print in that frame. For now it will do.

Since Livia works at a custom framing department, she was able to get a frame for a very cheap price. The customer didn't like the frame, or something, so instead of throwing away the frame (valued at several hundred dollars), the framing department sold it to Livia for $5. So last night was our big debut.

It really doesn't fit in our living room, which is furnished in mostly bucolic reds, browns, and green--with a Japanesque flare. But we'll be moving sometime soon, and we'll find a wall to hang this at our next place and build around it.

Livia has also been flexing her creating muscle. The purse that she is sporting as she poses by the picture up there (she was chatting with her sister and didn't want to put the phone down for the photo) was conceptualized, designed, and construct by none other.

She has turned the house into a sewer's paradise. She's currently working on about a dozen quilts, making dance costumes, sewing purses, creating pillows and pillowcases, and teaching regular sewing and craft classes. I'm not even going into the scrapbook endeavors... I think she plans to post some of her work here, so stay tuned.

Jazz and art at the Chicago Cultural Center

2008-02-26T18:22:00.021-06:00

So today we decided to take a trip to downtown. Livia has kind of fallen into a rut, as her routine takes her primarily to and from work, church, and the occasional game night with friends. I take the train everyday to the downtown area, since that's where I have classes and work. I also get free train and bus rides with my student u-pass, but Livia has to pay every time, which can add up. But today we decided to take the train ride.

Every Tuesday there is a jazz venue that gives free afternoon concerts. The venue is actually part of the Chicago Cultural Center, so each day it hosts concerts of some sorts. Mondays, for example is chamber orchestra music, and Tuesdays are jazz days. We enjoyed some pretty tight latin jazz by a dynamic trio.

After listening to the music, we toured some art exhibits. Some of the stuff was a bit too "contemporary" for my tastes, but the exposure was nonetheless appreciated. I wanted to take some pictures of us, but a burly uniformed female quite effectively discouraged us from interior photography--even though I wasn't going to use a flash. I guess that just shows how little class we have when it comes to artistic protocol.

We did notice that there were no security guards in the third exhibit, so we snuck in a few snapshots....

Livia striking a "blue steel" pose

Across the street, in Millennium Park, is what is called the "Museum of modern ice" or something. A talented Canadian is displaying some of his handiwork there. These are not ice sculptures, but actually ice paintings.

He broke up huge chunks of ice and dyed the pieces different colors. Then he placed the different pieces in a very large tray and filled it with water, so that when the water froze, then the pieces froze in a sort of ice-mosaic. Quite interesting. It's kept refrigerated by a bunch of metal rods that have coolant flowing through them. A cool thing is that each day as the sun melts the ice and the nighttime colds and winds refreeze it, the paintings morph diurnally. So what I saw last week is a little bit different than what we saw today.

And The Bean was covered with snow, since last night we had another dusting.