L'aventure américaine

What am I up to you ask? This is what I'm up to.  And Randal too.  Get involved.  Get passionate. Check out: www.refuelourfuture.org Randal said that he would not donate to MIT until they divested from fossil fuels.  Will you make the same commitment? Refuel Our Future.

            We are addicted to oil and it’s time that we did more than just acknowledge the problem.  It’s time we beat this addiction.  As we strive to capture every last drop of oil, we are like the alcoholic that turns to antifreeze to feed his addiction because there is no liquor left.  Both forms of addiction can and will have catastrophic consequences.             Why is our addiction to oil so bad?  First, it’s bad for the economy.  We are increasingly vulnerable to its price fluctuations, which can have tremendous effects as we have seen in recent years.  Second, it’s bad for foreign policy: instead of focusing on peacekeeping and humanitarian needs, we let our foreign policy be driven by foreign oil.  Third, it’s becoming more expensive to extract.  Oil is no longer readily available; tar sands and shale oil are unlikely to meet our demand and have a very low amount energy returned after taking the energy invested into account.  Lastly, it’s dangerous to our health and our pl

  I thought that I would repost the speech I gave at his 90th birthday.  What a celebration it was.  Grandpa loved a party...  and tonight, I raise my glass to him.    Grandpa and I celebrate Obama's election in November, 2008. May 29, 2011 A celebration of 90 years.   Wow.   I've been telling people about this party and going home for my grandpa's 90th birthday blowout for weeks now and I know what people imagine when I tell them this: a small party with food that doesn’t require too much chewing, but does allow for an early bedtime.   And I try to tell them that this party is different, that this is a party .     Not many people have a grandpa that is willing to plan such a big party, although it seems that we Shanks have always been big on birthdays. But not many people have the enthusiasm and the family and the friends and the life, 90 years worth, full of passion and excitement that my grandfather does. And he has been able to maintain that for 90

Well, disaster might be a big exaggeration, but it has been an eventful week post-Malea's fabulous wedding.  We did have a wonderful time last weekend with family and old friends and delicious food and sunny weather.  Malea looked so beautiful and so happy. And then we returned to Baltimore...  We have had a bit of a mold problem that was supposed to have been fixed upon our return from the weekend.  One week later and we're still waiting for the fix.  So, it's like apartment camping!  We sleep in the living room.  We cook food among all of our personal belongings (since our dressers are in the kitchen) and the bathroom is a tight fit.  We were hoping that it was going to resolved yesterday, but the unreliable mold man never showed up.  The saga continues...  But, this story had better be closed by Friday, because my dear friend, Nicole, is coming and I need my bedroom back! Down and out Bogey The real victim this week has been...  Bogey the cat.  He went outside