Welcome to flamingobear. We're the Martin family. Jenn cooks a lot. Tim eats it. And the trees are awesome.
If you’ve read even a couple of posts on this blog, you know we’re a little bit into food, especially the local kind. And there’s no more local food than that we grow right here in our yard. Our girls are great eaters, and part of the reason for that is that they are emminently connected to their food. They know where it came from, how it was made, and they know what they like.
Well, 2009 was our second year of big fun gardening in our little “4 raised bed” garden. It looked like this…
Just sharing a little snippet of life at the Martin house here. Like all the videos on the site, there’s not some “glorious” moment. They’re basically moments captured for me to return to when everyone is totally different in a few years.
Mothers Day was awesome last weekend… just a good day of hanging out together, etc. I was so enjoying watching my four ladies open the presents that I decided to get the video camera. Fortunately, it didn’t really ruin the moment, so I got a reasonable picture of what was going on…
Wednesday nights are the night where Jenn and I end up walking past each other. I get home right before she takes Aspen to church. She makes dinner, it’s on the table, it’s all very nice, except…
Tonight when I got home, I discovered she had brought this home from the library.
Somebody, please tell me what I did…
Update: Already, Oakley has asked me if she can play track 4 again.
Another Update: The second song on which a repeat was requested? Macarena.
And a final update… just what the girls did to track 4…
And so ends a tradition unlike any other, the Nashville Masters. Each year, my great friends from high school (more or less) come down for my annual golf trip… here at home. They all trek down from Wisconsin and we play a ridiculous amount of golf.
Various years have included visits from Chris Benes, Chad Bolliger, Jack Stuck, Marne Stuck, and Dan Stuck. This year (and the last three) included Andy Benes, better known as Reggie or “The Reg”. And each and every year has included Viet Dong (I think).
While the quantity of pictures varies year to year, you can see here that Viet has always been great with the kids.
Keep reading…
I live in Brentwood, TN. Yes, without a doubt, it’s a fine place to live, even a good place. There are lots of things I like about it… parks, convenience, safety. This article, from the Tennessean, got me thinking the other day.
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HOLD ON, background… I work at Rustici Software, a small company that creates software related to online training. We are a relatively typical small software company in that we’re creating software and finding a market for it. A part of that is understanding what the state of the software market is today and considering how it will/should evolve. We’re doing that all the time, as are countless small software companies. In fact, so many companies are innovating in this regard all the time that one of the leading business books relates precisely to this topic, The Innovator’s Dilemma, by Clayton Christensen.
Full disclosure, I don’t actually read very much. When I get a book, I read pieces, and then I go largely based on the insights of folks that I respect. More specifically, my business partner Mike reads books, we discuss them, and I use his own words from other books he’s read in discussing the more recent book with him. (This might be a slight exaggeration, or it might not…) As I understand it, one of the key tenets of this tome relates to established companies. They have created a product that has achieved significant adoption, but they are completely unable to see the fundamental innovation that will render their product insignificant. This innovation is a huge opportunity for the up-and-comer, and a huge threat for the established company. (Think about how the iPod has rendered the Walkman moot.)So, back to the original thought, the Brentwood Commission Candidate article… I was bothered. Why? Keep reading…
I love the way my girls speak… it impresses me constantly, and makes me laugh regularly.
Today, I was walking Aspen and Oakley to the bus stop, and Aspen accidentally stepped on a snail. Trust me, it was an accident; this girl loves animals.
As we walked on, she was concerned because she saw several more. This is what she said:
I’m exercising great caution not to tread upon another snail.
So funny… who actually talks like that?
OK, admittedly, when I get a new toy I like to play with it. When we were in Italy last summer, I thought to take a panorama of pictures only one time. We were at Lake Garda, and took an awesome hike to La Rocca. The hike was simple and the view was fantastic.
Well, when we got home, I never bothered to figure out how to put the panorama together. Now, with my new toy, I’ve figured it out…
These panoramas always translate better in their monster size.
OK, one more quick shot of our Easter party today. As I stood on the playset, I tried to capture 360 degrees of what was going on. With more than 100 people out there, it’s a more than one person or one lens can capture.
Well, for the first time, I experimented with some software called Hugin that allows for the stitching together of several images (7, in this case).
So, without further adieu, check it out.
So if you click on the image above, you’ll get a slightly larger version of it. If you want to try to find yourself in the picture, you might want to opt for the monster version.
Lastly, at least a couple of you actually end up in the picture twice due to the magic of stitching and your high rate of speed… Can you figure out who?
Thanks to everyone who was able to join us for the Easter party. It’s certainly a tradition we love, and it wouldn’t be nearly as fun without all of you.
Thanks go out to…
Isn’t there something magical about popovers,? No yeast, baking soda, or baking powder is needed to transform a handful of simple ingredients (just eggs, milk, flour, salt, and butter) into edible hot air balloons. The steam that’s created in the hot oven is what makes them pop – and makes us smile! Piping hot and dripping with butter and honey (from our neighbor’s bee hives, no less!), Tim rates a bite of this culinary marvel as one of his top 10. Stay tuned for the other 9…
One bit of advice: Resist the urge to open the oven door! Opening it allows heat to escape and causes the oven to cool down. This, in turn, causes the steam inside the popovers to condense and the popovers to collapse. Instead, take a peek through the oven window to see the magic at work!
Keep reading…