Chautauqua Institution

Last month, our extended family had a wonderful vacation at the Chautauqua Institution, in Chautauqua, NY (upstate, western NY state). Highlights of the week were lectures by Professor Donald Johanson (pictured below signing my copy of Lucy’s Legacy), as well as:

Lucy's Legacy

Dr. Johanson
Dr. Johanson signing my copy of Lucy's Legacy


We rented a house on the grounds, and spent a week enjoying lectures, concerts, beautiful weather, and wonderful grounds. It’s like a really nice small town, gated. It’s a very family-friendly environment, and there is nice beach on the lake.

The Catholic House sponsored a couple of excellent lectures as well, and Mass was offered daily. Did I mention the weather was wonderful? We’ll be going back next year; I can see why people go back to Chautauqua religiously (no pun intended :) ).


Chautauqua 2009
Chautauqua 2009

Chautauqua 2009
Chautauqua 2009

Chautauqua 2009
Chautauqua 2009

More pictures are on the Picture page (Chautauqua)

Backing up a Million files. Really

Time Machine backup
Time Machine backup
Yep, that’s how many files a fresh backup of my main machine contains. And I’ve excluded a bunch that I don’t need to backup. Apple’s Time Machine does seem to work well for me so far, even allowing me to swap out backup disks so I can keep one offsite (just in case). Now to let ‘er rip overnight.

Alhambra – great board game

Alhambra
Alhambra



Dylan and I had fun playing the board game, Alhambra tonight. It’s basically a tile-laying game where you either lay a tile to build your Alhambra (Spanish/Moorish palace and court), get some money, or buy a building. Allows for 2-6 players; unlike a lot of other board games, it is very playable with just 2 people. We’ll be playing again!

Preston shades

Preston shades

Couldn’t resist putting up this picture from this afternoon. Kirsten came home with some shades for Preston. He loves them! Picture taken just prior to my mowing the lawn :)