The due date

In about a month, a new member is scheduled to join our family. Over the Christmas holiday, I got a chance to try on the cast of an belly pregnant for eight months.

Fantasy Sports Haiku

Wily players fuel
statistical projections--
brain vacillation.

Some advice

Last week, I ran into a skeleton who told me a little story about what things will be like once I no longer walk the earth. I was reminded of the value of each hour of our lives.

Adios to the Veggie Car

After three years of ownership, my veggie car has been sold. Although I will miss it, it has gone to a better owner who will give it the care that it needs.

I ran the car on biodiesel over the last few years. In the beginning, I tried to use straight vegetable oil, but the challenge was to consistently obtain fresh cooking oil. I got oil a few times, but it proved to be fairly hard to get clean and not always reliable.

Now the car has been sold to another veggie oil enthusiast who will be giving the car to his son. I think it's in better hands!

Post-Fieldwork

Eighteen months of living in Latin America has come to a close for me. Coming back to the United States has not been easy. Reverse culture shock has certainly been a real phenomenon for me. It's hard to describe how something like that actually works since much of it is quite subtle.

When you have (reverse) culture shock, you feel slightly on edge and don't know why. Your interpersonal communication feels like a series of mismatching signals. You forget how to do simple things like ordering food, exchanging pleasantries, and simply being courteous. You realize you've forgotten internet passwords, ATM passwords, system.

I think now that one cost of adapting to a new culture is the residual effect of unlearning parts of your native culture. To embrace a new set of conventions when you live abroad, you have to open your mind by de-emphasizing your own cultural practices. But when you return, that means that you have a mix of material to work with, and this can be confusing.

Lance gets third

More than any other prior Tour de France, this year I had the opportunity to watch much of the race over the internet. Since I've been writing my dissertation, it was easy to listen along and focus on the last part of the race each day.

A month later, I think that Lance Amstrong's performance was pretty amazing, and I think that his attitude serves as an excellent model for young athletes who are trying to understand the meaning that inheres in sport. Although there was quite a bit of debate over how well he was able to shoulder the role of domestique, or as a helper to team leader and eventual champion Alberto Contador, I think he did well. It could not have been easy, despite being nearly 38 years old, for the seven-time champion to ride in a support role when it was clear he had more left in the tank. In the end, he seemed to be genuinely content -- without denying that he wanted to win -- with his third place finish. Since the "winning is everything" attitude is so prevalent in sports, I think his will to reach the podium was a timely reminder that it's the journey as much as the destination that we need to keep in mind.

Family Trees

The roots of Modica family, which I cut and pasted from Ancestry.com, stretch back to Sicily and then to my father's maternal side. It turns out my great-great-grandmother was Delfina Rodriguez, born in Colombia.

1880 United States Federal Census
about Francis B. Modica

Name: Francis B. Modica Home in 1880: Henniker, Merrimack, New Hampshire Age: 37 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1843 Birthplace: Massachusetts Relation to Head of Household: Self (Head) Spouse's Name: Delfina F. Father's birthplace: Italy Mother's birthplace: New Hampshire Neighbors: View others on page Occupation: Pres. R. R. Co. Marital Status: Married Race: White Gender: Male Cannot read/write: Blind: Deaf and dumb: Otherwise disabled: Idiotic or insane: Subscribe now to see this information. Household Members: Name Age Francis B. Modica 37 Delfina F. Modica 31 Francis Modica 7 Isabel Modica 4 Patrona Nates 30

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