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Gone blogging... again

2009-11-29T10:08:00.003-01:00

After a long hiatus going to start blogging again... twitter doesn't suit my rambling needs... been reading a lot of a certain author and he has a style that makes me want to start writing again. So, here goes, whether anyone (besides my very supportive and attentive wife) actually reads it... to be seen.

photos for past six months

2008-02-20T19:36:00.008-01:00

Sonia's first day at preschool!

Trip to Spain

2007-09-05T19:45:00.000-01:00

Took a week in Marbella, Spain. Really nice to get away and just hang with the kids. Spent about 60% of our time in the pool and the rest drinking sangria and eating oranges.

In other news, Ethan had his tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears. School also started this week. He's doing OK, still recovering from the surgery. Zaza (as she calls herself) has started at a new creche and will be there until January when she'll start going to Ethan's school. Ethan turns 4 in a couple of weeks - nuts!

Summer (or what tried to pass itself off as summer) is officially over. Leaves are changing colors, heat is on every night... we're a LONG way from LA. The heat was on a couple of different nights in July and August... craziness. Let's talk about the weather. Exciting stuff. No energy to do anything else.

Hope all our friends and loved ones are well.

Photos from Spain.

6 month break

2007-08-04T07:02:00.000-01:00

I'm getting worse with this blogging stuff. Like to say it's just because we're really busy (we are), but it's also because I'm lazy. And because we lost our camera charger for several months and so are missing out on months of photos.

All good here, same theme as normal - kids growing up, all enjoying Bxl despite the shite summer weather we've had, work going well, really feeling settled now. Made some new friends, social lives getting better, casually shopping for a house, either as a primary residence, or taking advantage of how low the prices are in the South of Belgium and buying a vacation place - can't figure that one out at the moment for certain reasons.

Dad coming to visit in a week, then we're going to Spain for a week - my and the kids first time - looking forward to it and then England for Halloween. That's about it. We miss all of you. Hope you're all well. Photos of the kids and a link to a couple of random videos. There's probably a very easy way to post videos on here, but I'm clueless, so here's a link to my You Tube page.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=astubing

2 months

2007-02-11T19:04:00.000-01:00

2 months since I last posted - how lazy and undisciplined.

The honeymoon with Bxl is over and now it is becoming home. We miss all of our friends and always will probably, but the comfort level is much higher than it was 6 mos ago, and the careers are going well, the kids are settled. We've had a really mild winter and are now looking forward to a few months of spring and summer, with trips to Malta and Paris already booked and trying to plan another, thinking maybe Greece or Spain, somewhere hot, resort-y, with a steady supply sunshine, popsicles, ice cream and swimming/lounging with the kids.

Kids are good, overall we're much healthier than last winter, though Ethan was home all week last week with the flu. His vocabulary continues to grow, and he has us cracking up almost daily with his innocent, blunt observations.. An example: One evening a couple of weeks ago, she goes with Ethan to pick up Sonia from the creche, and while Sara is putting on Sonia's jacket, etc. Ethan has gone exploring as 3 year old's do, and he comes back and tells Sara, "Mommy, I saw a BIG BOTTOM!" Sara says, "what?!" "That lady, I saw her big bottom. She's got a big bottom!" Turns out one of the large-posterior'd women that works at Sonia's creche had unfortunately bent over right in front of Ethan, and he gave Sara (and another couple of women who were there a full report). While they all bit their lip and tried to get out of there as quickly as possible without cracking up, Ethan kept talking about the big bottom, and I'm sure the poor owner tried to pretend she didn't understand, but who doesn't understand a 3 year old kid yelling "big bottom!" over and over.

Assorted recent photos:

The nice big brother:

The not-so-nice big brother:

Ethan with his first go on the drums. At his friend, Leon's place. Gorgeous Art Nouveau house in the backrgound.

Video of the same: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP4UOTQCZkw

Random musings and one year anniversary

2006-12-12T21:07:00.000-01:00

It's been a while since I've worked in a big company, and I'm finding that it doesn't matter if it's in the US or Europe or probably anywhere else, people just behave strangely when you put them in a group in one place. The politics, the need for people to put on airs or be someone they're not seems an inevitable by-product of putting more than a couple of people together. It's weird. People are weird. That being said, I'm enjoying myself, but it is an adjustment.

A couple of things I've noticed. A lot of people at my office say good day (bonne journee) or good afternoon (bonne apres-midi) as they exit elevators. I got over my initial cynicism about it, and now I find it kind of nice, especially in the morning. What's weird is though it's an English-speaking company, and many people are Flemish, yet nobody says the equivalent phrase in English or Flemish - what's that about? Are the French Belgies just more polite than the rest of us?

One thing that's kind of sad is when someone says 'bonne journee', and no one on a full elevator says it back, so I try and always say it. I'm sure that they probably scoff at my accent but you know what, F them and their impolite non-bonne-journee-saying asses. Oui, oui!

On another note, it's our one year anniversary in Brussels. In some ways it feels longer, but in others it feels like we just arrived. I wonder if Ethan has any clue about all of this. Doubt it. I hope this will be good for them in the long run. I think it will, but I guess we won't know until they've grown up, at least a bit. Sonia is starting to communicate a lot more, mixing in French and English, and Ethan is talking up a storm. Some of the things he comes out with crack me up. The other night I was running the bath for him and Sonia, and before he got in, he said he needed to go pee, so I said OK, go to the potty downstairs, and a few minutes later when the bath was ready, he still hadn't gone downstairs to the potty, so I said what's up, thought you wanted to go pee, and he said, 'no, that's ok, pee pee and poo poo are sleeping'. I said what? (trying not to crack up) and he said 'pee pee and poo poo are sleeping in his bottom', and that 'they make his bottom big'. I lost it. If you think about it though, using his vocabulary, it's a pretty accurate way of saying he doesn't have to go anymore and probably is what he thinks is actually going on. Reminded me of that show Kids Say the Darndest Things or whatever it's called.

Anyway, it's inspired me to post a couple of throwback photos of my boy from 2 years ago this month to remind me and Sara how much he's grown up in just the past couple of years.

Our nephew and cousin!

2006-12-02T20:37:00.000-01:00

http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/babypage_view.asp?URLID=5I2H0L4N4U

Natalia and Edson had a baby boy October 27th, Anthony Casto Soriano, pictured in the link above. The delivery only took a couple of hours from the time she went into labor until the time he was born, and everyone is doing great. It doesn't seem real yet, that my little sister has a child. Can't wait to meet him at Christmas, when we're going to DC.

Speaking of DC, our friend, Jo, is going to be there to join us for NYE. Don't know what we're doing yet. Jo also came to visit us here for a few days, and she and Sara managed to squeeze in a day trip to Paris.

We introduced Thanksgiving to some of Sara's Belgian co-workers, had a lot of fun. Wasn't the same without Madden on TV, but it was a good time. Sara took the day off of work and cooked up a feast.

Some recent photos:

Gezundheit!

2006-11-18T13:18:00.000-01:00

Winter has come to Brussels, sort of. It's definitely colder, but it's still really mild relative to this time of year, and it really hasn't been raining that much at all. Don't know if this is global warming in action, but if so, I'm all for it! Gore, shmore!

Finished the first full week of work, and what a week it was. Worked 8-7 or 8-8 every day, forgot what that was like, haven't had to do that since I first started in the mortgage biz, but then it was of my own accord because I had to work that long to try and sell as much as possible. Nice not to have to sell anymore, but I'm also going to miss being able to just pick up and go to the driving range or go for a run when I wanted.

My company is an open environment, meaning there are just desks everywhere, and you have these little trollies that you can conceivably roll up to any desk for that day. The reality in my department though is that you have your desk, and you just leave the trolley by your desk most nights ready for the next day. Of course the CEO, CFO, any managing directors, have their own office, so it's just us cogs that get to enjoy the open floorplan.

I've made a few observations in my first week of work: 1. People in general, and especially high-powered execs, really LOVE to get their writing corrected. I'm a shoe-in for the Most Popular Newbie award. The CFO came down for this little champagne "meet-the-new-people" thing they had for me and this woman who started the same day as me, and when I introduced myself, he said, "Ah, so you're the one who's wasting all our time!" I just said thank you. Profound I know, but I didn't really want to get into it with the CFO my first week. Then he proceeded to tell a story to me and a bunch of other people about the former chief of Sony who said he never spoke English in the US even though he knew how to because people in the US don't speak English. It was a really stupid story, don't really care that he was trying to insult me or my compatriots for a laugh, but if you're going to rip on someone, make sure it's funny. Of course everyone gave a polite chuckle because he's the CFO (and is rumored to be our next CEO). That is, everyone chuckled except him, he was practically on the floor laughing. Those finance types, what a riot. Anyway, good to know I've already made an impression on our future CEO.

2. Office politics are the same in the US, EU, anywhere you have more than a few people working in one place. People just can't help playing games, being passive aggressive, etc. It's really funny and really annoying at the same time. What did Sartre say, "L'enfer, c'est les autres" - Hell is others. He may have been onto something that old Frenchie.

3. Last observation - people in offices sneeze a lot. I don't think it's the healthiest environment, especially this time of year when the climate is changing and everyone's immune systems are weakened. Anyway, the first day I started, there was someone sneezing quite a bit, and I sneezed a couple of times, and I didn't say bless you for some reason, and vice versa, so I thought OK, this is a good precedent to set because normally I'm a relgious bless you'er to everyone who sneezes in my presence, and it gets a bit annoying sometimes, especially if it's not reciprocated. So I've made a conscious decision to NOT say bless you, at least not in the office, and I'm pretty happy with the decision so far (though I'm sure my fascistly-polite (or is it politely fascist) mother would not be impressed). It is weird though when one grows up as a bless-you'er to suddenly stop. My Pavlovian reaction is to say bless you, so I have to consciously stop myself when I hear someone sneeze, and in fact did falter once, and the woman was very surprised of course because I had spent a week of not saying bless you and suddenly did. I hope she doesn't think I like her or something. I think it's the right choice though. Anyway, we'll see how long it lasts and if I give in and go back to my god-blessing ways. Maybe I'll just limit my blessing to America, a la W.

That's all from Brussels. Ahh-choo!

Halloween, job and Movie Hero

2006-11-12T13:51:00.000-01:00

Couple of photos from Halloween when Claire, Dom and Ellie came to visit. Good times, as it always is when we're with those guys. Jo's visiting now, went out in Antwerp last night until 3am, feeling a little rough today. Photos to follow, haven't downloaded yet.

Halloween. Ethan and Ellie were pumpkins, Sonia a cat.

Got that job, started last Thursday, working in the legal department, writing/editing the documents for the board and committee meetings. It's pretty dry material, but it's the first job where I'm writing and editing for a living, so I think I'm really going to like it. It's definitely going to keep me busy as there are a total of about 80 committees between the hq in Bxl and the offices in Amsterdam, Paris, London with more expansion expected.

Some other good news, this time re the Movie Hero , that movie I was involved with a few years back. It came out on DVD November 7th and is available at Netflix, Amazon, etc. I won't see a penny of any profits unless we sell about a million copies, but it's still a cool feeling. All the credit goes to Brad, I haven't lifted a finger on the film for probably 3 years. A lifetime ago.

Junk Jol

2006-10-20T07:55:00.000-01:00

So I got that job offer last Friday, but can you believe HR still hasn't called me to officially offer it to me, begin salary negotiations, etc.?? Going on a second interview with Bank of New York today, and just sent off my CV for a job with Fortis because I really don't know what's going on with Euroclear... very strange.

Though not as strange as this... While wasting time online, predictably reading about football, I came across this in a profile of Martin Jol, the Dutch coach of Tottenham Hotspurs, one of the teams in the English Premier League.

"Martin Jol has 2 brothers, Cock (Cornelius) and Dick, who are both active in the world of football. Cock Jol is currently an overseas scout for Tottenham, whilst Dick Jol is a FIFA-accredited international referee, taking charge of the 2001 UEFA Champions League final."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Jol

What the f?? Cock and Dick?? They all speak English, they must know how that sounds. My only explanation is that those two are hung like horses, and unlucky Martin is more anatomically human, otherwise why wouldn't he be known as Package Jol or Junk Jol or something. Bizarre, but blogworthy.

Toodles,

Cock and Balls Sulaimani

Sara in the news

2006-10-06T20:47:00.000-01:00

Sara was interviewed by an Ad magazine, and though she's trying to downplay it, it's cool that they wanted to speak with her. I've scanned the article to show it off because I'm really proud of her. She's been working her ass off, and it's been a difficult transition for in part because she's gone from having such a good network of colleagues and fellow art buyers in LA to being all by herself here, but it seems like she's coming into her own and starting to enjoy her work.

The article is in French, and I don't know if it's online somewhere, but I couldn't find it. I did find that the Eurostar campaign Sara worked on was named Campaign of the Month by the same magazine... pretty cool. Of course, she never mentioned it.

http://www.mm.be/fr/cotm.php?id=792&page=3

Here's the interview JPEG:

Also a couple of random photos from when my Mom was visiting.

I love this photo of Sara and the kids when we went to feed the ducks and swans at the park by our house. I think the kids were eating the old bread intended for the birds. You'd think we didn't feed them... the kids I mean. I think the birds did get fed in the end, after the kids had their fill. ;) The doctor today said Ethan has grown 4 cm in 4 months which is a lot I guess. Part of the reason he keeps getting sick is (besides snacking on old bread) because his body is using so much energy to enable the growth. He's been off of school since Tuesday afternoon with a chest, nose, ear and throat infection! Doc said he'll have to have his tonsils out this Spring/Summer, and then his sleeping and health will get better... a big relief. Sara and I have had to alternate sleeping with him while he's been sick and the kid doesn't sleep well at all... it's like has sleep apnea or something, and so he's constantly moving around, flopping around like a fish and kicking us in the back or ribs. Makes for an interesting night. Could be worse I guess - he could kick me in the... Then it really would be night night. Or, as he uses it daily, "But I don't wanna go nigh, nigh!"

I went in for the 4th interview with that bank today, ostensibly to take a writing test, and they told me they'll let me know Wednesday. I'm trying to remain positie, but I just think if they wanted me, they would have told me already. Perhaps this is just normal process, and the other guy (it's between me and some English bloke) is thinking the same thing as me. Had an interview with Whirlpool on Thursday that went really well I think, so that's an interesting possibility as well. I've read a lot about them, and they seem like a well-run company that is poised for significant growth as markets in E. Europe and Asia mature. Anyway, we shall see.

Nothing new

2006-10-03T20:33:00.000-01:00

to report really. Will find out Friday about that bank job, and I have an interview on Thursday with an American multi-national, think it's Whirlpool, but the headhunter woman wouldn't tell me for sure, just the location and the industry. Certainly not my dream job, but with a big company like that, it could lead to a lot of opportunities to get into the Communications side where I think I'll probably end up, regardless of the company or my starting point.

Sick season has arrived already and with a vengeance. Sonia has a mild case of bronchitis, and Ethan came home sick today from school with a high fever. Part of the deal with having kids in creches, daycare, etc. Other than that, same old. Played 9 holes of golf today with a fellow unemployed husband, Petter, Swedish, good guy, helpful with my game, interesting to talk to. We both felt a little ridiculous out there being the only people under 60, like dandies really, but we're both actively job-hunting, and until we get the call from the Man, might as well enjoy ourselves and work on our games, which in my case could take the next couple of decades. We went to this course called Chateau de la Tournette in Nivelles, about 30 mins south of Brussels, not far from Waterloo. Really nice. Have 2 full 18's, one English, one American, and a 9 hole beginners course. We played the front 9 of the American. Really pretty and very challenging, especially with the putting. And I thought that was the one part of my game that was OK... yikes. Think I two-put maybe 1 or 2 holes, and the rest were 3 puts. Didn't play terribly overall, but had a couple of disastrous holes that really killed my round.

Photos of the last couple of weeks:

Went to visit the Waterloo Lion and Beersel Castle with our friends Eric and Jen and their daughter Cameron on the Saturday a couple of weekends ago and then the Boitsfort market on the Sunday for a picnic in the park. Sonia is finally walking, albeit trepidly. It's amazing the differences between Ethan and her. Ethan was walking at 11 months and running at about 12 months, and he can't sit still to save his life. Sonia is barely now walking at 16 months, and would love nothing more than to be in your arms and be cuddled for hours on end.

Was starting to wonder about my Skins after the rough beginning to the season, but after the last couple of weeks, thinking maybe all is not lost. This week's game vs the Gints is huge. GO SKINS!

Ethan's 3rd Birthday and Job Searching cont...

2006-09-26T08:56:00.002-01:00

Hi. Trying to keep the string of posting every couple of weeks going. Just a matter of discipline, as with most tasks, except this involves writing, so I shouldn't view it as a task really, and I don't. Sometimes I just don't have much to say. Sometimes.

My Mom came to visit for Ethan's birthday. Little guy had a party at his school last Friday with a "Speederman" cake. (that's how he pronounces Spiderman... with a little French accent, very cute, but yes, I will teach him the "correct" way soon Chuck). Then Friday night he had a party at our house with Sara's Mom and her friends, and then Saturday morning he had a party with all his little friends at a local indoor playground. I think it was a little much for him as he got a little testy, and neither he nor his equally-moody father were in the best of moods come Saturday post-party. It was a great weekend though, really nice to have my Mom here. Great that we're so close that she can pop over for a weekend and vice versa. Can't believe our little boy is 3! Photos:

Had that second interview with the bank/securities company, went really well, heard back today that the third and fourth interview will probably be Thursday or Friday of this week with the head of the legal department and then the CEO. The job isn't really an executive job, but I'll be basically the right hand on all internal communications for the board meetings, etc. and so interacting with all the execs, so I guess that's why they want to meet with me. The job is actually very interesting, and I really hope I get it. It involves writing and editing, and I'm interested in the content, so that helps.

The personality tests I've taken the last couple of months during my job searching basically told me I should be doing one thing in my life with my motivations and my skill set, and that is creating/writing. Out of hundreds of occupations, job tasks, the two things it recommended I pursue - international activities and writing, so maybe I should finally be honest with myself and listen. I am also really interested in economics and finance, even though i don't have the skills at present, I have the motivation, and this company/position would fit all the criteria I'm looking for, so I'm really hopeful this one works out.

I had applied for two other positions, one as a Counselor at a local high school here, but I didn't get a call back for an interview because of my lack of experience. I also interviewed for at an Asset Mgmt company focusing on Real Estate research, but I didn't get past the first round of interviews because of my age and my major. They're very personal here in interviews in that they will ask you for your age, how many kids you have, etc., and this guy was looking for someone in their mid-20's ideally with a Masters in Econ. Not me, but I thought I could make up for it with my passion for Real Estate, which I will always have, but I think it will just be a hobby, as an investment vehicle, if we get to the point hopefully where we can invest. Prices are going up here quickly, so we'll try to get in even on a small level before it gets too nuts and rates go up too much.

The Giants of Dendermonde 9.14.06

2006-09-14T20:18:00.000-01:00

No, it's not my attempt at a Roald Dahl-ish title. A couple of weeks ago, we went out to this Flemish town about 40 mins outside Brussels, invited by a colleague, Chiara, from Sara's work. Chiara and her husband Peter and their daughter live in a Flemish town called Dendermonde, about 40 mins outside Brussels, and the town has this "procession of giants" on the last Thursday of August. It dates back to the 13th Century I think they said. See photos.

This is one of hundreds of festivals across Belgium. The Belgians LOVE their festivals. I think almost every little town/city has at least one a year. All these towns are autonomous places with their own history, completely separate from Brussels... really cool, really gives you a sense of place I think. This is the type of stuff that really separates Europe for me. You can recreate the food, the language, the art, the architecture even, but this kind of thing, a procession that dates back 800 years with generations and generations of a town having participated, that can't be recreated. It's cool for us and especially for the kids to be around, but then again, will we/they ever really feel like they're at home, like they belong in a place with such a long history that isn't like their history at all. That's one thing I worry about, in part because I always have to have something to be neurotic about. I know what you're thinking, and no, I donÂt know how Sara lives with me. Good thing I got her when she was young and my neuroses were charmingÂ or something. Actually it was probably all the booze. Saw me through wine-cooler-colored glasses.

This guy was like a goose shephard, the Pied Piper of Geese or something. He and one Border Collie had these geese completely in line. I think it blew Ethan's mind, this whole thing, with the giants and the geese, and everything really. His eyes were so wide open and his mouth agape the entire time. There was one part where all these older people were doing this impromptu stage type thing, drinking and singing and arguing, and Chiara told us that they were actually really drinking, and you could tell that a lot of them were trashed. We're talking about 60 and 70 year olds and maybe older stumbling through town, in front of everybody, shitfaced. Fantastic.

Also some photos from a couple of weekends ago in the Woluwe park on a beautiful sunny Sunday after having our neighbor, Sandra, and her kids, Alix and Maxim, over for lunch. Sandra is Dutch, but she lived in LA for 10+ years, so it's cool to have someone here who knows LA, though she doesn't have a particularly high opinion of it. When I first met her and found out she used to live in LA, I said, "Cool, nice place, huh?", and she responds "Oh god, no, AWFUL. Couldn't stand it." What do you say to that? One of many introductions to the notorious European bluntness. You get used to it, but at first coming from the US where people are generally positive and wait until you leave the room to say something negative, it takes a little getting used to. I actually like the direct route most of the time, but sometimes it really throws you off if you're not expecting it.

Also in photos are Soren and his kids. Soren is the Danish guy from down the street who let us use his and his wife's house in the South of France back in May. He's an attorney for the European Commission, and he was telling me about being at the WTO summit in St. Petersburg back in July, handling the entry negotiations with Russia. Must be fascinating work.

Speaking of work, I had a preliminary interview with a bank/securities clearinghouse today, waiting to hear back about a second interview. They told me to be prepared for 3-4 more interviews plus a test as well. I'd heard of the grueling bank hiring process, but this will be my first experience with it. Wish me luck!

The Month in Review 9.9.06

2006-08-23T22:31:00.000-01:00

Grad School, Career Changes and Poo pretty much sums it up. But not necessarily in that order.

Ethan has twice in the last couple of months explored his artistic side, and Sara and I are very proud of his creativity. We have however decided to encourage he use materials like water-based paints, clay, etc., i.e. anything but his own fecal matter. Twice we've put him down for a nap and gone upstairs a few minutes later to check on him to find that he had painted the hallway, his bed, his door, the mirrors downstairs, literally everything in his path, in poo. FANTASTIC! I could post some really disgusting photos, but I won't... those we will keep until his first date, upon which we will unleash a photographic catalogue of his exploits in excrement.

Moving on... I'm officially set up to sell credit over here... this includes primarily mortgages, but also car loans, personal loans, etc., so that's exciting for me. I do enjoy that, and especially with rates still very low, though they can be expected to head up over the next couple of years. The real estate market is less exciting to me as an advisor or investor because I think it's becoming saturated and the gains may not justify the extremely high taxes on the front end. I think we will still invest, but in a much smaller scale (an apartment here, a duplex there) than we were initially planning. I'm also starting a part-time job at a company called DeVere and Parterns which is a financial advisory focusin on offshore investing for expats. The job itself isn't that exciting, but I'm planning to soak up a lot of information that I can use later on once I have my own financial advisory or something along those lines.

Lastly, I'm starting French classes twice a week through January, and a Post-Grad Certificate program in Treasury and Financial Risk Mgmt organized by the Belgian Finance Federation, Bankers Academy, etc. and depending on how it goes, maybe getting a Masters or something. We'll see where all of this leads me... I'm thinking now either my own full-service Financial Advisory, either as my primary business or on the side, OR working in a Risk Mgmt position with an Asset Mgr like a bank, hopefully eventually leading to getting involved in Microfinance both here and abroad and if (a big IF) things go well, starting my own bank one day. That is the ultimate goal, that and writing the Great American Screenplay, both probably years in the works, but one day maybe.

Gotta have goals, at least I do, otherwise I'd be very satisfied to drink Belgian beer, eat frites, watch football and play with the kids while I weather away in some dead-end job, writing once a month, kind of like I've been doing with this blog of late. I'm going to try and do at least a weekly posting, more for myself than anything, just to put down in writing what I've done this week, what I'm hoping to do next week, etc. I've got a gay little sign in my 'office' at home that says Be Proud of Everyday. I already said it was gay, but for me, it's important because when you don't have a traditional job to go to with goals and markers laid out for me, it's hard to track one's career, and I want to make sure I keep moving forward, never being satisfied with the status quo. Status Quo is boring, life-sapping, miserable.

Kids are good, Sonia's taking more and more steps, but still lacking confidence, we already covered Ethan's 'growth', and Sara is still enjoying work more, but apparently it's going to get crazy again. Claire, Dom and Ellie coming to visit in late October, my Mom's coming in a couple of weeks for Ethan's 3rd birthday, Eric, Jen and Cameron coming next weekend, looking forward to having a full house. We just booked our trip to DC for Christmas, it'll have been over a year since we have been in the US by then... Looking forward to seeing the family and meeting my sister's newest family member, due in November, reconnecting with our Americanness, which includes in no specific order, watching my Skins, eating Chipotle, drinking American milk, and not having to worry about people not understanding me and vice versa.

The World's Gone Crazy. Again. 08/10/06

2006-08-10T21:37:00.000-01:00

Actually it's been crazy for a while now, but this shit at Heathrow today and in the Middle East the past few weeks just reminds us all what a truly fucked up world we live in... and we for the most part are spectators, what's it like to be a participant.

I don't know if maybe I was oblivious before or maybe I had too many choices when it came to media, but I feel like I'm much more in the middle of things over here. I think that's for a couple of reasons. 1. The BBC is superior to CNN when it comes to really delving into topics, really asking hard questions, being able to stay on an issue and not lose momentum because they don't have to cut every 3 and a half minutes to a commercial. Nothing against commercials, I happen to be very fond of someone in the industry, but when it comes to news, it just doesn't fit... issues are complicated, the world is complicated, and limiting us to soundbites and 2 minute reports from the "front lines" doesn't allow time for the in-depth reporting necessary with the state of our world today. 2. There's something about being on a land mass that is connected to the Middle East, India, Russia, China, Afghanistan, and if it weren't for a sliver of water south of Spain, the whole continent of Africa. 3. I'm sure I'm being naiive and idealistic here, but Brussels is a place, like DC, which draws people to the possibility of change... the countless NGO's, all the government programs (Brussels has 4 governments active here- it is the capital of the EU, the city of Brussels has it's own gov't, and the Flemish and Walloon governments have offices here, along with the 19 communes of the city... can you say bureaucracy?), all the international and multi-lingual people, really can't help rub off on you and makes me feel like I should be a part of it, but honestly what I see here that mosts interests me are the business and real estate opportunities. It's such a difficult place to do business, most people give up because they don't think it's worth it, and after my limited experience here so far, they might have a point, but I'm going to keep plugging away until I (officially) lose my marbles.

I know though that if I do make it, I will give back. Number one priority though is supporting my family, and that's the quest I'm on now, to find the next opportunity, especially as the mortgage biz in the US has landed in the shitter.

Sara and kids are doing well, despite the crap weather. Put it this way, August 11th, and I almost wanted to put the heat on this morning. It's been raining for days straight, with no end in sight. Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens must have never spent a summer in Brussels. I think our friends Chuck & Deb who are coming from LA to visit us are going to be in for a rude surprise. Enough bitching. It was 90 degrees and sunny for about 2 weeks straight, and I was complaining then too.

Kids are growing up fast, Sonia's almost walking, Ethan turns 3 in a couple of months, talk about crazy. Photos:

"Is there something on my face?"

The helpful big brother.

Umm, no comment.

On a play/dad date at the Airplane/Military museum at Cinquantinaire.

Ethan at the Planckendaal Zoo

I've found a honest politician...

2006-07-04T21:22:00.000-01:00

This guy is running for some kind of communal officer in Auderghem, the commune where we live. I was about to throw it away until I noticed his name. Obviously it doesn't mean the same thing here, and the pronounciation is different (the H would be silent in both names), but still... are you kidding me? With a name like that, he should be going into porn, not politics...

How about France beating Brazil the other day and then Italy just beating Germany in one of the best matches I've ever seen, especially at this level/stage in the tournament. Both teams just went for it... so entertaining when teams play to win instead of playing not to lose. It was a different Italy team than the one that barely tied the US a man up on us. If they play like that, and if France beats Portugal as expected in the same fashion in which they beat Brazil, it's going to be a finale for the ages. What am I going to do when the World Cup is over... start counting down until the EPL starts I guess... only a couple of months away now. One thing, I wonder if Chelsea are going to be happy with Ballack... he's going to have to play a lot better than he did this tournament to be worth half of what they're paying him. Same with Savchenko.

Anyway, to be determined... tomorrow should be another good semifinal and hopefully the final on Sunday is worthy of the 1 billion + audience it's sure to draw.

World Cup continued...

2006-06-26T21:27:00.000-01:00

Football, futbol, voetbal, it's all soccer, all the time at the Sulaimani household. I love that Sara is so into it now too. She got home from work and saw that Italy v Australia was still on and was genuinely excited. I love it. It's hard not to get into it over here... it's literally everywhere you look, on at least one major channel for each country, so that you can watch any given match with English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, etc. commentary. And it's the same story all around the world. Crazy.

So, the US went out in the first round and all in all had a pretty horrendous World Cup experience, much like France in '98, though the opponents this time around were a lot tougher than in France. The Italy match was a hard-fought match, but Italy had a couple of big calls go their way, two red cards that were utter shite if you ask me. I'm of course biased though. However, watching the Italy v Australia match tonight and seeing that bullshit penalty kick call they got in the 94th MINUTE!!! to win the game, I'm starting to wonder if all the dirty deeds behind the scenes in Italian club football may have carried over to the World Cup. Not really, but everyone, and especially a scorned football fan, loves a conspiracy theory to justify why their team lost. Alas, even with that match going our way, we would have lost because we got outplayed by Ghana in the final group match. We were better than we were against the Czechs, but not a lot better. I have to question the formations and the player selection of Bruce Arena. I thought Eddie Johnson was our lone bright spot against the Czechs and yet, he doesn't get the nod for the next two matches. ??

The managing by England's manager, Sven Goran Ericksson, has been even worse. Wow, does this guy have an ego AND does he ever get lucky, with Rooney getting healthy saving him from having only brought 4 strikers, and 2 of the 4 being Peter Crouch and a 17 year old who hasn't played a single minute, despite the injury to Owen, Rooney not being 100% match fit, and Peter Crouch being Peter Crouch. I won't go into it further, but anyone who's been following England knows what I mean. And now they get to play a depleted Portugal side to get to the semis, and they'll probably win somehow in a really ugly fashion, though they shouldn't. England's performance thus far would fall in the latter two thirds of the teams in the World Cup I would say. Somewhere a little bit better than Switzerland and Ukraine (jesus, that match that just ended was ffing miserable) but certainly nowhere near Germany, Argentina, Portugal, Spain, etc. I would say Holland, Ivory Coast, Australia, and a couple of other teams that have gone home have played better football overall than England. Of course, you need some luck and the stars to align to win a World Cup, and it's certainly shaping up to be that way so far. I hope they do it too, despite their manager and their less-than-inspired play, just because the fans are so inspiring. England's fans are amazing... best in football if you ask me, but again, I'm biased.

Overall I'm still sticking with my original pick of Spain, but man Germany looks like a well-oiled machine at this point, especially on the attack. The back looks a little suspect and I don't think they'll win the whole thing, but they're going to give Argentina a run for it in the next game. What a match that will be... I can't wait. Football can be so incredibly exciting, and then it can also be such a circus of flops and bad officiating and poor play, and you can see how some non-football fans can watch a match and say, what's all the fuss? But Germany v Argentina, that one should be special I think. Spain v France also has the makings of a proper match.

A couple of photos for those who don't give a rat's ass about 22 guys chasing around a ball for 90 minutes. Of course most of the photos have to do with the World Cup. What can I say, I'm a man obsessed.

Fan Fest, Kaiserslautern.

Frat brother Brian Sandler draped in Old Glory.

Post-match band, Bongiovio, with probably the best performance of the evening, with the exception of Ryan Buchanan and his never to be repeated or emulated dance moves.

And of course, one of my girl, Sonia, who just turned one last Saturday.

Travels, Visitors and THE CUP

2006-06-15T09:07:00.000-01:00

Hello. How are you? I'm fine, thanks. Actually better than fine since the World Cup has started, in case you've been in a cave in Tora Bora. Even there, Bin Laden probably has a satellite dish set up so he can cheer on any team facing The Great Satan, who by the way, played one of their most lackluster, unimpressive matches in recent memory, losing to the Czech Republic, 0-3. Ouch. Regardless of the US results, it's been an amazing tournament so far, and I'm looking forward to going to Kaiserlautern to soak up some of the craziness with a couple of college buddies to hang out at the Fan Fest there while the US hopefully redeems itself against Italy. It will be extremely tough, because Italy is playing some beautiful football themselves, and even if we beat or tie them, Ghana is a tough team as well. The 'Group of Death' moniker turned out to be very fitting.

We have our friends, Carly, Leon, and their two girls visiting us at present. Very impressed that friends from LA could make the journey, and with a 3 year old and a newborn no less. Hint, hint. You know who you are. ;) It's been gorgeous weather here for about a week, but now it's back to the usual rain business. Hopefully it'll get nice again so they can enjoy visits into the city.

We recently returned from our trip to southern Sweden and Copenhagen and the Ardeche region of France. Both were a lot of fun. It was a beautiful wedding and a fantastic party, although I think Sara and I may not live down some of the Funky Chicken-esque moves on the dance floor. Take one part friends you haven't seen for a while, a couple parts godawful 100 proof schnapps, a 10 piece funk/soul band from Stockholm playing 70's music, and the kids back in Brussels with the grandparents, and embarassing times are sure to result. Anyway, here are a couple of the choice photos. We will leave out all the shots of dips in the North Sea, balls, shiny or otherwise, people passed out, etc. for now. This is not out of respect to the 'victims', bride and groom, etc. but really for no other reason except I believe the extortion value of said images could rise.

In no particular order, photos from Swensens bar on the Thursday night. The Teater Chokehold and Kiss on Cheek (If you're in a bar with my wife, you too will likely be the victim of this move). The Bride-to-be getting molested. I'm not 100% sure because I was unsober, but I think my buddy, Shag, was offering to service me orally here. Thanks anyway Chaunce. I'm sure your buddies in Southern Virginia and Tennessee will be happy to comply, so best of luck with that, wherever you end up.

In France, we stayed in this house owned by some neighbor friends of ours. It was in an amazing spot in the Rhone-Alps region, about 90 minutes southwest of Lyon. The weather wasn't great, really windy, but it was just so nice to be out in the country, spending time with my parents and my family, no phone or Internet barking for attention, etc. I hope to go back very soon, and honestly this was the first vacation to the country where I could see us living outside a big city. Brussels is great, it's like an overgrown village feel to me, I love it, and I think we'll be here for a long time, but 'the country' or at least the idea of it has much more draw for me now, with kids, etc. I like the idea of having a couple of dogs and land to walk around on and somewhere where we can really get to know. Maybe it's just a reaction to the uncertainty of getting our heads wrapped around a new city or living in the LA megalopolis for 8 years after growing up in the DC suburbs, but I don't feel like I've ever really known a place like the back of my hand like one can in a small town... Maybe after a little while it would get boring, but the idea of a refuge in the country sounds really good to me these days. Anyway, here are some photos.

The Princess on her chariot.

The Vintner-to-be checking out this year's crop.

The main intersection. The house where we stayed was the light blue door on the right.

When in France...

Mickeys, Luke Skywalker and Run DMC

2006-05-03T22:44:00.000-01:00

Been awhile. Things here are good, was 75 degrees here today. Everyone was outside in full force, eating, drinking, lounging, enjoying the best weather so far this year. The birds are singing, trees are blooming, dogs humping legs, spring has come. The trees on our street had really pretty pink flowers for a couple of weeks (see above), and yes, I know, I've lost all semblance of masculinity, but it's really nice having seasons again. Of course I won't be saying the seasons are great once the mosquitoes are out, when it's winter, etc., but for now, you can't beat it. It also stays light until 9:30/10 o'clock, so it means you can spend as much time as possible outside, at least in theory, but Sara and I have been absurdly busy... hoping that will calm down soon. If not, at least we're getting a break at the end of this month to go away just the two of us (my parents are coming in to look after the kids) to Copenhagen and southern Sweden for my friend, Todd's wedding.

I've known Todd since 1st grade, the 1st day of 1st grade actually. We both thought we were really cool that day because we had these brand new Luke Skywalker shoes, but little did we know that there would be someone else in Mrs. Engleson's class with the same idea. To add insult to injury, we had to sit next to each other, which of course led to an argument about who's Luke Skywalker shoes were better, even though they were literally exactly the same, right down to new shoe smell, not a scratch or smidge on them... actually Todd's had a smidge on them I think, which is why mine were better.

Jesus, that seems like 10 lifetimes ago. Actually, it doesn't seem like my lifetime at all really. And to think Ethan has 3 more years to even be that age. It will fly by though... I will have to make sure and scout it out so that he is not put in the same predicament. Maybe we'll craft him homemade shoes for his first day of real school... that way he's sure to start things off on the right... foot.

Ah, memory lane. Speaking of which, I've been going through Apple's iPod music store and downloading old hip hop songs because that's what lame people like me do in my spare time. It's not the same as having the whole records, but I've lost or thrown or given away all my old tapes. I'm talking Eric B & Rakim, Funkmaster Flex, Run DMC, etc. olllld school YO! I was just thinking as I'm rocking out like the honky that I am to these songs, are these types of songs really going to be our generations oldies? I mean the music of most of my generation and even more so for more recent generations has been dominated by Rap/Hip Hop. Nothing But a G Thang is a classic hip hop song, but is it really classic, meaning timeless, won't get old, etc. I listen to it and I love it now, but will I love it when I'm 60 the way that my Mom loves Beatles songs??

That's actually a bad example as that song will always be classic in my memory because of the time my friend Andrew Bozzo called up the JMU radio station and being even honkier than I requested Nothing but a G String. Ha! Good times. I think that was also the weekend when, completely sober of course, Boz and I decided to burn cigarettes against each other's arms to see who would pull away first, and we were both so drunk, neither of us could really feel it, so neither one of us pulled away. Ah, college. Money well spent Mom & Dad.

Anyway, my point or my question is, I should say, what are our generations classic songs? Everything is so trendy and so quick to top and drop from the charts, getting replayed 50 times a day in between to the point where you can't listen to it again for 6 months without cringing. I I guess radio has probably always been that way. At least now we have a lot more choices. I think maybe there won't really be true, universally classic songs anymore because there are so many choices now and songs have such a short shelf-life. Maybe U2, Coldplay, 50, could be exceptions. What do I know. I'm rambling. It's late. I'm white. Or at least an off-white, hopefully back to brown by mid-summer.

I'm going to go put on Nothing but a G String for old times... dedicated to Boz and Nate, Adam Cunningham, Danny, Crackhead Scott and Karen Hwang and Nancy, Penwell, and of course, Richie Pierce. I always had a blast visiting JMU... was great to get away from the frat/Rugby Road scene, bust some spades and beer pong, drink too many 40's (Mickey's for me, I couldn't hang with the OE or the Crooked I) and crack out for a night, even if the campus smelled like dog food and I came back with scars and 20% less brain cells. Ethan, Sonia, Daddy's just joking.

Adventures in Brussels... also, I'm gay

2006-03-28T20:43:00.001-01:00

Apparently the day in French class when they went over the words for my wife "ma femme" and my husband "mon mari", I had already checked out because I thought the word for wife was "ma mariee" which basically sounds like a feminized way to say husband. It's an understandable mistake really, but it is nevertheless wrong, which Sara has conveniently pointed out to me after I've been using the term for over 3 months. So basically when I've been speaking in French to someone about 'my wife' I've actually been saying 'my husband'. At least I feminized it, so if they do think I'm gay, at least it's clear I'm the masculine one. I'd much rather be a top than a bottom, call me crazy.

Also to Sara's amusement (and I'm sure also to at least a couple people who have heard me claim that I was going to run a marathon before), I've started running again (us tops have to keep in shape, we do all the hard work) in preparation for the ING Amsterdam Marathon in October. http://www.ingamsterdammarathon.nl/home/index.php If anyone cares to join me, come on over. I'm doing it, I don't care if I have to walk the last 20 miles. It's going to be all flat because it's Holland, the weather will be cool, and I've got the mornings to myself every weekday to train for the next 6 months, so I've got no excuse this time.

Other than that, life as normal here in Brussels, where the 10 day forecast looks like this. RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, LIGHT RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, CLOUDY, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN. Don't believe me? http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/BEXX0005?from=search_10day We really should have our heads checked.

OK, enough of my warbling. Hope everyone's well, especially you Carly, Leon and Lucy. We're thinking about you guys!

Here are some photos of our lives here. Kids growing up fast, Spring finally begun, jobs are jobs, looking forward to vacations to Sweden and France in the next couple of months and friends and family coming to visit.

Jekyll

Hyde

Look who's standing and very impressed with herself.

Pics above from the Rouge Cloitre/Foret de Soignes park near our house a couple of weekends ago. On the way home, we found a sidewalk square below that we had drawn in when we lived in Brussels briefly after college in 1996. Weird to think all that has happened in the 10 years since we did this, and it's just been sitting there while we've lived our lives, and now we're here, living in a house a tenth of a mile away. Life has a weird way of coming full circle.

And that's this week's episode of Deep Thoughts with a Brussels Homosexual.

Further Proof 03/13/06

2006-03-13T21:46:00.000-01:00

that parenting turns your brain to mush:

Anyone who's been around kids knows sometimes you have spell out words so they don't go nuts or because you don't want to have to try and explain something that's unexplainable to a 2 1/2 year old... e.g. playground (let's take them to the p-l-a-y-g-r-o-u-n-d later) and condoms (did you remember to buy c-o-n-d-o-m-s so we don't have to take our 3 kids and move in with our parents in 9 months?) Yes, it's taking advantage of the weaker members of our tribe because they lack the ability to spell, but as head lion (no, of course I'm not really the head lion, but let me dream) of my tribe, I'm OK with that. At the rate I'm losing my sanity, Simba could be hot on my tail anyway...

So anyway, my point - the latest hint of the dementia to come is that all weekend I was spelling words out unnecessarily, such as TV, as in (Hey, let's watch T-V when the kids go to sleep) and there were a couple of other morsels of pure genius that I can't remember (losing my memory too). Sara was wondering about me more than usual I think. It made me realize that maybe that Dear Liza song is pretty right on... I haven't reached Henry's level of idiocy yet, but I'm well on my way.

Things here otherwise are good. It's ffing cold, seriously cold, but it was bright blue skies and sunshine today. Man, Brussels has some gorgeous little neighborhoods... picturesque streets that lead onto thes old squares or big, lush parks, but none of what I've seen of Brussels is fairytale looking or forced... it's not a city that's been built piece-meal to attract people to certain areas, those areas have evolved naturally or seem to have been put there by a grand design that serves itself first and foremost... it's just a very natural city with a great blend of buildings and green everywhere. I wouldn't say Brussels as a whole is a beautiful city, the EU buildings for example are very unimaginative I think, but it's got these sections that could rival the prettiest cities I think, especially on a sunny day... Alas, those don't come around a lot this time of year.

Work is going well again after a bumpy beginning. Ethan's starting preschool at the end of this month and is getting potty-trained slowly but surely. Never thought 5 years ago I'd ever utter the words "You went POO-POO!!! What a clever boy!!!" with such energy and sincerity. Ah, parenthood. Sonia is a joy after a rough first few months, a different baby. It's like we're in a movie, and there have been two babies to play the role of 'Sonia'. We fired the first baby diva after 6 months, and this new baby has made the role her own. Sara is also doing well, working a lot of hours, but happy to be home.

My Dad's coming back for a visit at the end of the month, this time with an investor friend of his. We may be getting into investing in some real estate here together, we'll see. Some really favorable conditions in Belgium for buying property; low prices relative to other big cities in Europe and the US, no capital gains after 5 years, 30 year fixed interest only rates at 4 -5%, no income tax on rental revenue, etc. though there is a big up-front tax 12.5% to 21% depending on the age of the property. That's one of the big factors which kept the prices reasonable while London, Paris, etc. have been booming for the past several years.

There's also no capital gains on stocks, which doesn't affect me at the moment but is incredible as well. I'm finding out that Belgium is really set up almost like a Luxembourg or Switzerland in terms of tax shelters for the rich. Yes, that sounds like a very Republican statement... I'm a Democrat, but I'm not an idiot. Tax shelters are a very good thing when VAT is 21% and the top tax bracket starts at 36000 Euros/year and is roughly 53%. Yikes.

I'm writing again which is nice... very cathartic for me, especially as I don't have any coworkers to talk to and spend much of my time alone sitting in this very spot. Might as well make some use of the time in between working and while the house is quiet. I'm not writing a lot, but I'm not pushing myself either, and it's a good feeling, writing to write instead of trying to reach some goal.

I think that pressure to finish something (as well as laziness, procrastination, lack of discipline, fear of failure, the usual excuses) really paralyzed me in Los Angeles. I became used to the writers block and accepted it eventually, but I was beating myself up for a while over that lack of production, which of course is FANTASTIC for the psyche. Anyway, that's over now, the ideas up there may get put on paper before my brain melts into a pool of Teletubbies songs and mortgage terminology, but they may not. Either way, life goes on, there is a family to raise, a wife to love, and of course, in between, there's soccer on TV like 3 times a week and beer that tastes like wine. It's the simple things. : )

Here they are... bathtub photos 03/01/06

2006-03-01T02:03:00.000-01:00

It's our right and duty as parents to embarass our children. I didn't realize that until I had kids of my own, but now I get it. Our friends, Monica and Brian, have a new baby girl who has her own blog, and I thought it was a good idea, so I'm stealing it for today. Narration by Miss Sonia May.

"But I'm naked!! DADDDD!"
"Oh, what the hell... we are in Europe after all"

"I've caught a whale! With my bare, tiny hands!"
Yum.

"Ethan, that's gross, I peed in here like 2 minutes ago. Yo, check out my whale... Hey, don't think I can't feel those bubbles!"...

"Oh wait, that's me... muahahaha!

"Revenge will be mine Dad. I might look cute now, but just wait..."

Bunch of photos 02/19/06

2006-02-19T21:40:00.000-01:00

My Dads been here visiting for a couple of weeks. Some photos from an evening out.

Musee in the Grand Place

Looking guilty after rubbing the golden woman.

I could have sworn I was taller than him...

Musee again.

Some blonde checking me out...

What can I say, I work quickly.

Town Hall

How guilty do these two look? This is Ethan's new friend, Elisa, daughter of Emmanuelle & Yves. The other photo is of Ethan and Elisa's brother, Sacha, also looking guilty. Gee, who's the common denominator in both photos?

Baba looking happy with his two grandkids.

P.I.M.P. 02/09/06

2006-02-08T22:47:00.000-01:00

Tonight is one of those times when I wish I was in the US, and not only because it's like -3 degrees celsius here, but because the Grammy's are on. Though a lot of those shows are crap, the array of talent assembled at shows like that (the Grammy's, Oscars, Emmy's, etc.) demonstrates how much the creative world starts and ends in the States.

When I turn on the radio in the morning and am subjected to the newest French rap star followed by a love ballad and then some techno song, I truly understand the value of NPR, Power 106, Howard, etc. Did you know, for example, that Ace of Base has come out with new remakes of some of their biggest hits? Well they HAVE, at least here in Brussels.

Apparently the best place to hear good hip hop is in stores, particularly grocery stores, where I've twice been caught in an embarassing situation, once when 50 Cent's "P.I.M.P." came on, and another time it was Ice Cube's "You Can Do It". It wouldn't really be a big deal, but they play the real lyrics here, i.e. they don't edit them. The first time I was standing next to some old lady, reaching for yogurt or cheese or something, humming along under my breath, until it gets to the part "...I ain't that nigga trying to holla cause I want some head I'm that nigga tryin' to holla cause I want some bread I could care less how she perform when she in the bed Bitch hit the track, catch a date, and come pay the kid. Look baby, this is simple you can't seeYou fuckin' with me you fuckin' with a P-I-M-P"... and I'm kind of frozen, trying to see if anyone's reacting, hoping these people don't understand English, but everyone just kind of ignores the awkwardness of it, and I can't get out of that aisle fast enough.

The next time it was even worse, in case you don't know or have forgotten how "You Can Do It" goes, here are the words that seemed to be blasting while I'm waiting to use the bread slicer machine, which normally seems really loud, but wasn't loud enough. "...Everybody will know it Cause I ain’t going for it So pray to the Lord that I don’t pull out Cuss out and bust out Go to nigga raveling Make the clip traveling, uh You can try to smoke an ounce to this While I pronounce this shit Baby bounce them tits Mama move them hips Baby shake them cheeks I got dick for days You got ass for weeks..." Again, couldn't get out of there fast enough. I realized though later that the only one feeling awkward was me, because it's normal for them... and so now I sing along out loud, and when appropriate, throw in a dance move or two.

Speaking of music, I've been listening to a lot of nursery rhymes and children's songs recently, and two have struck me as a bit harsh for different reasons.

1. There's a Hole in My Bucket, you know this song, probably been a while, goes Dear Liza, there's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, etc. etc.... ( http://www.theteachersguide.com/Songs/theresahole.htm) Well, have you ever really listened to that song? Again, luckily for you, I have, and I've come to two conclusions. 1. Clearly this song was written by a man-hating woman, probably a pissed off wife or divorcee, because 2. Henry is a friggin dumbass. Guy doesn't know how to fill up a hole in a bucket, doesn't know how to cut a straw, sharpen an axe, then the stone is too dry, and he doesn't know how to wet it??? I mean c'mon. Does Henry really have to be made to be so damn stupid?

Though I have to say, sometimes when it comes to the kids, I've been guilty of my own "Henry" moments. Once Ethan had a diaper rash, and Sara told me to put corn starch on the rash, and I wasn't exactly listening I guess and so I used baking soda... they were both in round metal cans, I don't know... Ethan, I'm sorry, please don't use that against me as your "Rage" and write a "memoir" about your life.

2. The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly ( http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/oldlady.htm ) "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.I dunno why she swallowed that fly,Perhaps she'll die.There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. But I dunno why she swallowed that fly -Perhaps she'll die." She goes on to swallow a bird, dog, goat, cow, and ends "There was an old lady who swallowed a horse - She's dead, of course." Jesus. This is a kid's song? I think I'd rather the kids listen to P.I.M.P.

I would like to end with those Prophet Mohammed cartoons, but I don't want to incite any more riots. Ha. What a ridiculous world we live in right now. Speaking of which, heard John Lennon's "Imagine" this morning in a brief respite from Ace of Base. What an amazing song, even if none of it will ever come true, at least not on a global scale. Maybe the goal is to make it come true on an individual basis or family basis. OK, I'm getting philosophical... that's one of the big hints to stop typing immediately. G'night. I luvvv you maaannn.

Photos Eric took 2/6/06

2006-02-07T15:41:00.000-01:00

Here are some of the photos that our friend, Eric, took while he was here. Some good shots. We've misplaced our camera battery but will hopefully be adding some more of our own photos soon. My Dad is here visiting, but we haven't been able to get out as, guess what, Sonia's sick again, for a change. Poor thing. I'm also a little under the weather AGAIN. WTF. The doctor we took Sonia to yesterday said it could be because of the pollution from Eastern Europe and the UK that was trapped over Belgium because of certain weather conditions... fantastic. I'm moving to the mountains.

Museum de la Ville
Maison de Ville Sonia
E & S & monkey E, S, & S. Family shot at the Rouge Cloitre, this old nun's cloister from the 1300's that has been turned into an artist community.

Eric and me in Grand Place
Brrrrr.
Maison de Ville/Grand Place from distance

Petit Sablon
S&S
Ethan trying on Eric's shoes (Eric is a rather tall man)
L'Arbre D'Or according to Eric, my tour guide for the weekend. I just knew this was one of the old guild houses that make up the Grand Place. Think it's a bank now or office space or something.

Furniture Shopping 01/31/2006

2006-01-18T23:30:00.000-01:00

Settling into a normal life here with Sara at work, the kids in daycare, and me finally being able to get past the technical difficulties to get started on selling some loans. Diapers ain't cheap!

So the kids have finally gotten better. Ethan's still bummed to go to his daycare, but we're looking into preschools now that he should be able to start the beginning of April if he's potty-trained.

We're starting to get the house furnished, but it will be a work in progress for a longgg time. Been able to get a few things from moving sales, and had one kind of interesting experience with that, not because of what we bought, but because of the location and the people. Called up this lady, told me come to this village outside the city, said "come to the left of the chateau of the village, only one in town", I'm like, yeah, OK, whatever lady, see you at the chateau, sure. So we all go there... and it's a frigging chateau. Not a big house, but a chateau... 6 other houses on the property (converted servant quarters I'm sure), a stone bridge that goes over this creek that runs through the grounds, a yard that went as far as the eye could see... I wish I had my camera.

So this woman and her family had the left side of the chateau, a company was renting out the right side, and the owner, a Count apparently who's family had owned the house for generations was in the middle. If that isn't enough, the people that were holding the moving sale are Romanian diplomats, last name was Dragomir, and she answered the door in this long flowing cloak and had this great big head of hair, and it was just all so different from what we're used to... it was just one of those experiences that reminded me I'm in unfamiliar territory here... not bad, not good, just very different. We didn't buy anything from them, their shit was whack yo... but still worth the drive.

On to the more conventional furniture sources, we've had several of the requisite, unavoidable trips to Ikea. I can't figure out Ikea to be honest. Everyone, including us, talks about the stuff we buy there in this disparaging, semi-embarassed tone ("Yeah, had to go to Ikea..."), like it's a trip to the dentist to get some fillings or something, but we all shop there, or at least most of the people we know probably have a couple of pieces of furniture from there. I was thinking about this the other day after putting together several pieces of their furniture and was looking down at that little metal tool that apparently could,

if Ikea had their way, put together just about any man-made structure ever conceived. I realized this callous-creating tool of the middle class had become the bain of my existence, at least for that week, so in need of an Ikea antidote, I went shopping for a dining room table in my favorite part of Brussels, the Sablon, which has a ton of antique stores with furniture with a bit more character.

The Sablon also has all these great museums and galleries, the Royal Palace is a short walk, charming restaurants with outdoor crepe stands in the summer and moules (mussels) stands in the winter, little cobblestone streets with views of an amazing 12th century church if you look down one, and up another little lane the super-imposing Palais de Justice (the equivalent of their Supreme Court building) looms over you. Very cool part of the city. Definitely a must for any Brussels visit.

The antique shops themselves are nuts. You go in some of them, and they go on and on, 4+ floors, and there's so much in each one it makes you wonder how there are any antiques anywhere else besides here... it seems like the entire antique market must be on two or three streets in Brussels. Some of the stuff is garbage of course, but some is so great, with so much character, and it is really intriguing to me to try and imagine the history behind the individual pieces, think about who sat at that table, the meals they had, good and bad times, etc. And yes, I'll finish your thought, I'm a huge dork.

This table above was 1200 Euros (about $1400), and that's just for the table, no chairs. I loved this one, so solidly built, and you know with something that's lasted this long already, if you take care of it, it'll last our lifetimes and can get past down to the kids, etc. But still 1200 Euros is tough to swallow with a whole house to furnish. Pass.

This one below was 575 Euros, had some fantastic iron detail at the base of the table, but because I'm so ignorant on the antiques market, I really couldn't tell if this one is worth it either, so passing for now until I can shop around some more. Would love to get a table and chairs for 500 Euros, but for that price, we may be heading back to the Swedish Maison de Mediocrité... You see that, that's French people... I'm basically fluent.

Quickly some other random thoughts, then I'll end this run-on entry... I've been having a recurring dream of this woman named Elizabeth, who's a mixture between Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman, not that she's like them, but she's actually them. The thing is both are not my type at all, so I'm wondering if this is my mind's weird way of telling me I'm having some kind of separation anxiety from LA. Bizarre.

My Skins lost of course to the eventual NFC representative in the Superbowl. It's a dagger because we had a legitimate shot to beat the Seahawks and then I'm confident we could have beaten the Panthers to reach the Superbowl ourselves, but nevertheless, a much better season than I ever thought we would have, so no complaints. Sean Taylor, our star defensive player, is facing yet another criminal trial and could be sentenced to 46 years in jail for waiving a gun at some people last year, aggravated assault and something else... think he's already on probation for another crime. What a waste if he gets sentenced... so stupid if he's guilty of the crimes. But whether they get him now or later, they'll get him... seems like there's police officers waiting at the games to charge him for a new crime every other week. He's like the Von Trapp family of the NFL.

That's all from here. A good friend from college, Eric Gabrielson, who lives in Amsterdam now with his wife and daughter, visited this past weekend, we had a really good time... I'm going to Bogart some of his photos and add them in with the next entry because he got some good shots. My Dad's coming on Sunday for a couple of weeks... should be fun. Toodles. That's 'French' for bye. Or maybe it's 'Gay' for bye. I always get the two confused. And the offensive final word begins again.

New US # (703) 879-6411

2006-01-12T14:54:00.000-01:00

didn't work out for me, so I've switched our service to and now our US # will be (703) 879-6411. I may keep the Vonage # open for a couple of months still, but please use this new # from here on out. And of course you can use our home # which would be 011 32 2 674 4179 for callers from the States. One of these days we'll get mobile phones and make it even more confusing.

Photos from Christmas, etc. 1/11/06

2006-01-11T10:20:00.000-01:00

Hi everyone, hope everyone's Christmas and New Year's were good. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning just the four of us relaxing at home and then on Christmas day we actually had a sun sighting, so we thought we'd take advantage and so we went to this old abbey about 30 mins from Hoeilaart, from the 12th/13th century, called Villers-la-Ville. (info and better photos http://www.eupedia.com/belgium/villers-la-ville.shtml ) It was closed of course, but still it was nice to get out and go for a walk.

Some of us partied a little hard for the holidays.

A full photo of the front of the house.

That's about it. We still love the house, though we discovered soon after moving in that the walls are a lot more thin than our old place - not great with young kids.

Sonia started crawling last week,

and they both started daycare, and Sara started her new job. Ethan is having a bit of a hard time because there are a lot more kids than at his daycare in LA, and of course, there's the language issue. Poor little guy cries every time we drop him off, but it's getting better than it was last week and will continue to get better. After we moved in, we found out there's a daycare down the street for Sonia (there's a waiting list now, but hopefully we'll get her in there at some point) and then there's a school for 2 1/2 year old's to 5 year old's right behind the house, so Ethan will probably start there in March or April. Only condition is that he has to be potty-trained, which is definitely going to be a project.

Fascinating reading, I know. I'll end there... no offending anyone this time, though the potty training will no doubt produce some offensive stories. Stay tuned.

Photos and more photos 12/23/05

2005-12-23T05:16:00.000-01:00

Cause we don't want you to forget what we look like.

It snowed a little bit, so Ethan and I made a little snowman (or "Baby No-man" as he calls it), but we couldn't find anything that would suffice for a top hat (speaking of which, who has a top hat lying around by the way, let alone a baby top hat... stupid song), so we gave the snowman a yarmulka. We believe in equal-opportunity snowmen.

These blow up Santa's below that are hung from windows and patios, etc. are really really big in Belgium. At first I thought it was cute, but a couple of them like the Santa here on the bottom right make the big guy look like he's trying to sneak back inside after a long night of boozing and whoring or something...not the image I want the kids to grow up with. Hopefully it'll be many years before either of them know what whoring or boozing is, though it is Europe, and they start them on the bottle young.

Is it just me, or do I look absolutely massive here. Seriously, like Yao Ming-huge.

Feeding the hissing swans of Hoeilaart... I didn't know they hissed either, until there was a battle royale for old baguette between the swans, geese and some kind of weird duck (according to my mother-in-law) that I unfortunately didn't get a shot of... they look like a combination of a turkey and a goose... not a pretty sight. We tried to give them most of our bread because they were just so goddamn hideous, but the swans and normal looking geese would usually box them out and get to it first.

Couple of shots from the Grand Place in downtown Brussels and surrounding area. From the top: St. Michel Cathedral, manger scene in the Grand Place, Sara and Ethan, having just rubbed the gold statue behind them for good luck - a Brussels tradition, a seemingly impromptu carolling session in this covered gallery area off of the Grand Place.

This last one is of the angels that were hanging all over the gallery mentioned earlier. They were all kind of modernistic and freaky, and this one gave new definition to the term burning bush, so have to end with this of course in what is becoming a trend of finishing with something offensive.

Found our house! 12/21/05

2005-12-21T09:18:00.000-01:00

So we've had a crazy week of house-hunting, bread, cheese and chocolate-eating (don't drool on your computer Dougherty) and not much sleeping, but we made it through.

We found a house that we love, moving in on January 1st. It's a 4 bedroom + loft (photos on right) in a leafy commune called Auderghem about 15 minutes from downtown Brussels, and we're actually on the border of the commune (Watermael-Boitsfort) where Sara grew up. Coincidentally enough one of the places we went to go see was in a building where Sara spent most of her childhood and where her name and that of her friends were still inscribed on a cellar wall. Part of me wonders if that was the sole reason we went to check the place out...

I actually fell in love with the first place we saw... this townhouse in an area called Ixelles, very close to downtown and with tons of stuff to walk to, but the landlord was this old Belgian Biddy (sp?) as Sara refers to her and she seemed a little kookoo. Plus her garden backed onto ours and so if she did turn out to be a pain, there would have been no avoiding her. Anyway, we decided it was worth a chance, but when we went to put our deposit down and were going over the terms, she didn't like that we had asked that I not be on the lease. In the end, we acquiesced, but it was too late. She felt it would be too complicated.

As it turned out, it was for the best as we found this place that will be better for all of us, it's more village-y, it's close to Sara's Mom, our friends, Meme (Sara's friend since age 2) & Yves, a lot of sports facilities, parks for the kids, 2 mins walk to the metro, tram and bus that all take you right downtown very easily.

Anyway, that's been our last week or so... couple of other quick observances of our new hometown: It's cold and rainy. Petrol and orange juice might as well be gold for what it costs. The former is about $6 a gallon, the latter makes me feel like Mortimer or Randolph Duke from "Trading Places" for how much I'm investing in OJ.

Speaking of which, I always get Mortimer and Randolph mixed up. I just checked IMDB, and Don Ameche was Mortimer, and Randolph was Ralph Bellamy (left to right in photo) This is important information - you guys are lucky I'm around. While at IMDB checking that out, I took a look at the memorable quotes (my favorite IMDB feature) and I had to to add this one, just for the sole reason of how they credited the two speakers.

Even Bigger Black Guy: It ain't cool being no jive turkey so close to Thanksgiving.

Big Black Guy: Yeah!

I wonder sometimes about the people who's job it is to give credits to the smaller roles, and how they decide on what to call people. But then that's me, and obviously I don't have a lot going on upstairs... I did once I think, back in high school maybe? Don't know what happened. College, LA, marriage, kids, maybe a combination of all of the above. You know, looking back on UVA now with the 10 year mark coming up, I have to say, I've got some great friends from Beta, but man, pledging a second fraternity, that was really frigging dumb. Ethan, if you're reading this one day, you pull that shit, you'll be transferring faster than you can say Phi Gam, goddamn.

I digress... other differences between our old home and new home: Did I mention that it's cold and rains a lot? Also, in the town square where Sara's Mom lives (a little Flemish commune about 20 mins from Brussels called Hoeilaart, pro 'Hewwlaart') there are two vending machines that I doubt we'd find in the States. The first isn't so weird really - it sells fresh bread (loafs, rolls, etc.), but I've never seen it in the US. The second is a condom machine. Not that notable except for it's location - right in the town square, a couple of blocks from a school, next to a bank, a few steps away from a bread machine, available to anyone with a couple of Euros. Imagine that flying in the States. The religious right would get that monumental issue taken to the Supreme Court I'm sure. Anyway, I will take photos to prove it, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Speaking of which, my wife just looked over my shoulder to tell me I'm rambling again. What was that term again, Belgian Biddy? ;) What, I love you baby, cmon.

Last thought of the day... Redskins are going to the Superbowl!!! OK, maybe not, but we SWEPT the Cowboys. HOW 'BOUT THEM REDSKINS!

Last, last thought. I'm already in hot water for the "biddy" comment, so might as well make it count. Jamie Lee Curtis in "Trading Places" has to be up there with Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" and Patricia Arquette in "True Romance" for sexiest prostitute in a movie. I'd say Patricia Arquette wins the award, except for the snaggletooth action she's got going on. Though I have to say, I admire her for not getting that cosmetically fixed, cause you know the subject must have come up tons of times. On those offensive last notes, till next week, or maybe sooner if I get that photo of the condom machine.

Louis: Looking good, Billy Ray!

Billy Ray: Feeling good, Louis!

Balmy Brussels 12/14/2005

2005-12-14T16:24:00.000-01:00

After the last couple of whirlwind weeks of selling almost everything we own, saying goodbye, cleaning up until about half an hour to departure for LAX, the flight part was actually the first time we were able to sit in one place and reflect on what the hell we were thinking! Although the light reading material that a friend provided for me for the flight (the National Security Council's "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq") perhaps had the reverse effect desired and in fact confirmed that we were doing the right thing. ;) Thank you CP.

I think we really second-guessed ourselves as soon as we stepped out into the cold of Heathrow to catch a shuttle from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4 for our connection to balmy Brussels, remembering fondly how we had been in shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops only hours earlier... (if you LA friends want to have a good laugh at our expense - http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/BEXX0005?from=36hr_topnav_business)

Now that we're here, we're getting settled in, trying to get over the jet lag and get the kids on schedule. We've got so much to do still - find a place, buy furniture, go Christmas shopping! Doh! Better run. But first, we wanted to say thanks to all of our friends who came out the other night to the Cozy Inn to say goodbye and to everyone who helped us over the last crazy few weeks.

We are going to miss all of you, and I know we sound like a broken record by now, but we really and truly hope you can make it over for a visit to Brussels sometime... if you don't recognize us at first at the airport, I will be the guy with the goatee and beret in a Speedo with the Victor Hugo bumpersticker on my Vespa, and Sara will be the chain-smoking, spiked-hair blonde (and that's just her armpits) in the mini-skirt who only speaks English when she curses. Sheeet, sheeet! God only knows what the kids will be like.

Love to all.

Gone blogging 12/13/05

2005-12-13T02:15:00.000-01:00

Before we left the US, someone had suggested we start a blog to keep in touch, and we thought it was a good idea. I'll be the one primarily doing the entries, but I'm sure Sara will make a guest appearance from time to time. I'm new to this blogging stuff, so it'll be a work in progress. Also, a warning - I ramble. In the blood. Can't help it. I'll try and post photos of the kids more than I ramble on about the minutiae of living in Brussels or the Redskins or how Ethan's left foot or Sonia's potty-training is coming along. Anyway, here goes.