Thursday, Nov 24 - Turkey Trot

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're having a quiet Turkey Day at the Mansfields today. We'll have dinner late afternoon and dessert after that. We've been invited to a couple of places and we may yet still have some family drop by. But this will be our quiet, family year.

To work off the 3,000 calories, I again entered the Chesterfield Turkey Trot 5k race this morning. I even talked another family into joining me for the new annual adventure. Fortunately, it was dry and clear (unlike last year when it snowed and iced the night before leaving the ground treacherous). There was a slight breeze and it was chilly with temps in the low 30s. But who cares when you are running with 1,500 other people all at the same time?

My first two miles were really good time but I faltered in the last hal-mile with a side cramp. ;-( Came in with a 9:17 pace (placing 739 out of 1566 overall and 67th in the men's 40-45 age group). Oh well, there's always next year.

Full race results are here,

http://www.fleetfeetstl.com/race_results/TURKEY_TROT_5K_2005_OA.HTM

Saturday, Nov 19 - Starving Artist

Google has released a newtool called Google Base (http://base.google.com).

It's their new tool to allow users to upload information that is not currently online and searchable. It will be many things to different people.

For example, it will compete with classified ads. It will compete with Craig's List. And blogs. And perhaps most interesting, it will compete with Ebay.

So, I decided to test the site with this print for sale. I also posted Alex's Snickerdoodle recipe.

Friday, November 11 - Beary Good

Friday was a holiday for all of us. It was surprisingly still warm (high of 72 degrees) so we headed off to the St Louis Zoo.

We're there so often that we often overlook some sights from time to time. So we ventured to a couple areas off the beaten path. We found this black bear resting. A few more zoo adventure photos are on the flickr site

On our trek downtown, we ventured over to Union Station. The holiday decorations are not up yet and I'm surprised at how many shops have closed. Since we were last there in early summer, we've noticed several major stores gone: KC MasterPiece, The Disney Store and even the John Pills store. Perhaps the high priced parking, roving gangs of youths, and lack of entertainment has finally taken its toll.

We also made a mad-dash over the AB brewery. Tours were over for the day but Alex and I ran in to the museum and gift shop. Alex defintely did not like the smell of brewing rice, hops and barley. I doubt that he'll be buying me that "Brew Beer" at home kit I wanted. ;-(

Finally, we stopped in for Shabbat dinner with our friends Dan and Cheri.

Sunday, Nov 7 - My Friend Flicrk

You may have already read that I post pictures on my flickr photo site. I uploaded a few more recent photos. They can be seen at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjmans/

Saturday, Nov 5 - Snickerdoodle

Alex's fifth grade class is putting together a class cookbook. Each student was asked to submit a favorite family recipe and to write why it's his favorite. Here is Alex's:

I like Snickerdoodle cookies because they remind me of good times with my mom. I like them because they are fun to make. And they taste great and are still good after a few days.

Alex Mansfield’s

“My Mom’s Best Snickerdoodle” Recipe

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

With a handheld or standing mixer, beat together the shortening and butter. Add the 1 1/2 cups sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll the dough, by hand, into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar. Flatten the balls into 1/2-inch thick disks, spacing them evenly on unlined cookie sheets. Bake until light brown, but still moist in the center, about 12 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Thursday - Google Print Brings Up the Past

Google unveiled today their ambitious effort to digitize printed books at www.print.google.com. You may have read about their effort to scan and create an index of books available in major college libraries. Well, the Publishing and Writer associations weren't too happy about this copyright issue and will most likely tie up the copyright issue for a while.

But Google today made their index available for books which they have permission or which the copright has expired.

I found I was listed in a contact directory froma job I had 20+ years ago. I kinda enjoyed working in South El Monte back then...

Here's the link.