I spent some time earlier this week in Arlington, VA visiting my folks. It was my first time back to DC in about two years, though I see my parents quite frequently in New York and elsewhere. On my way home, I had some time to kill at the train station, so I took these pictures at Union Station.

En route to Laguardia Airport in Queens from my aunt & uncle’s place in Manhattan, I saw a city bus pull a u-turn (granted it took quite a few backings and forthings) on 96th Street. I thought I’d seen almost every crazy traffic trick in the book, but this one takes the cake. No picture of that, though – sorry.

The duck-speriment was a great success. This recipe worked wonders, and our Super 88 duck was delish. Why a duck in the first place? Read on…

My grandmother – my mom’s mom – used to make us duck when we’d visit. She’d take me shopping with her to buy the birds, and always observed the same ritual when selecting her ducks. I never thought about it then, but given my trials just trying to find a single duck recently, it’s surprising that the local supermarket in Manhattan had enough ducks to require a selection process.

In any event, the game went like this: first, she’d feel up the birds a bit, remembering which ones she liked. Then, to make the final choice, she’d take her keys – apartment, mailbox, whatever – and cut open the package, right there in the duck aisle. She’d give me a little wink, as if to say, “Don’t tell anyone, David,” in her wonderful Hungarian accent, and wore a devilish grin as she dug in. There was something she was looking for, clearly, that couldn’t be found without opening up the plastic wrapping, but she never told me what it was. There were definitely occasions where the now opened duck was returned to the pool of rejects, just waiting for some unsuspecting duck-buying customer to take it home before realizing their error in selection. We’d put the two lucky birds that passed the rigorous examination process in the cart, and proceed along giggling to ourselves.

Anyways, it’s been about 10 years since she’s made us a duck, and I was nostalgic for the rich smell and unmistakable crackling sound of a duck in the oven, so I made one. Turns out my mom made one for her & my dad this week, too. Had I the authority, I’d declare it national duck week. But I don’t.

I’m going out tonight to the Milky Way Lounge to see The Either/Orchestra. Check ’em out if you’re in the city.

It’s project weekend chez moi, so I’ll be working out in the garage on some holiday gifts and my coffee table. Stop by if you wanna help or just visit.

I’m job searchin’ these days, so if you know anyone looking for a mechanical engineer or product designer, send ’em my way, or just send them my resume.

It’s still snowing. That wasn’t supposed to happen at all – I’m playing frisbee tomorrow! Outside!

I put up some pictures of a project Rif & I finished almost a year ago. Check out his plexiglass shelves.

My brother, Dad and I spent some time last night investigating the feasability of recreating a device my Dad had constructed in the sixties (yes, there were crazy lights, psychadelic colors, and probably some pot smoking involved in the original; no, he’s not gonna take up the habit again). Legos make a great prototyping kit. Pictures and explanation here.

Well, the interim solution to my Kinko’s woes is to put something on the web. So here’s my portfolio (note that it’s probably not what most people consider a portfolio – rather it’s a piece to spark discussion on work I’ve done to date). Just imagine it’s printed up on nice, glossy paper in a booklet. It’s a work in progress, so comments are welcome; just email me.

I added some new pictures to the Art page and the Machining page. The only piece that’s actually new is the trivet; the others I finished some time ago and just neglected to post. Check ’em out.

As anticipated, the move in the snow last week was unpleasant, but everything seemed to go as well as could be expected – it was wet, cold, and didn’t really help anyone’s spirits. Everyone (and everything) survived, though, so tomorrow will tell whether there’s any unseen permanent damage (to egos, electronics, etc.).

Thanksgiving in New York was a good time. I even saw a movie (if you know me, you know I don’t see many) – my relatives dragged me to see The Ring. Word on the street is there’s a Japanese version (the original) that’s even scarier. No thanks. Hard to believe this one was only PG-13.

On a side note, do you think it’s weird that the MPAA ratings search page links to the IMDB instead of the official site (or its own database). Conspiracy? Probably.