Snapshot of "the Many" (You)

About 3 weeks ago, I started a service to chart how and from where "the Many" come from.

Here are some results...
Total visits logged to date: 254
Average per day: 11
Our Farthest visitors:
To the East: Singapore at 6,129 miles away
To the West: Oakland, CA at 5,811 miles away

The Continents:


The Countries:


Distances between us and the Many:

You can figure the "2000 mile ring-void" means that we have zero visitors from Kazakhstan or the Atlantic. Most close visits are our own computer used for writing & checking.

Technical facts:
1. Only 1% of of visitors are Mac users (99% use some flavor of Microsoft Windows)
2. Of Windows users, 4 out of 5 use XP, while the other is split between 98 and 2000.
3. Javascript a security hazard? Poo-poo say 99% of you. Only 1% show it disabled.
4. Four out of 5 Windows users prefer Internet Explorer. Then Firefox and Netscape users. And then there's Pounder with some super-advanced version of Firefox.


Feel like you're being watched? So do we...
1. Remember our post "Like Watching a Train Wreck", about the ultra-close Senate race? Less than 24 hours afterwards, we had a one-time visit logged from the US Senate (specifically Sergeant-at-arms office) in Washington, D.C. That visitor read for 3 minutes, left, and hasn't been back.
2. One week ago, we noticed several visitors from places we had no friends/family. All 'stranger' visits originated from one post: our names and blog were posted on some baby blog, citing our '24' show addiction and how we "hide it from the children".


THE MANY SINGS TO US ... and we sing back.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (all ye Americans)

A number of people have been asking us if and how we celebrate the holidays. We were lucky enough to celebrate Thanksgiving today. We're just getting home, actually. Ella just went to bed. (Late!) Our friends, Lucie and Jeremy and Alice, had us over for an AMAZING turkey dinner, complete with dressing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. YUM YUM! We also got to meet Petr, Sue, Mia, and Zoe. The girls were great! We were all kind of waiting for the major meltdown, but it never really happened. So, no one got the day off (Jeremy took the day off to cook!) but we did celebrate as we would back home....eating turkey, drinking wine and beer, talking, and playing with the kids...and taking some time to be thankful for all that we have. There is just so much to be thankful for...including a football-free Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone back home is stuffed full of stuffing!

Maylia

PS I'm off to London to meet up with Michelle, "Ma Belle", tomorrow. One word: "WOOHOO!!!!!!!!" (Jeff will be with Ella for the weekend.)

We have a confession...

This kind of thing is never easy to do. But we know that those out there reading this care about us and we ask you not to judge us too harshly. Over the past few weeks, Jeff and I have been battling an addiction. This addiction has not only impacted us, but it has impacted others around us. We have chosen this activity over almost all others, including updating the blog, returning phone calls, mailing Christmas and birthday gifts, responding to email, sleeping, and studying Czech. We think we have kept it away from our daughter, with the exception of our mild paranoia, sleep deprivation, and nightmares/daydreams where we believe we are someone else.

This addiction has a name. Television. For six years now, we've denied ourselves access, knowing the potential hazards involved. Yes, there were times we fell off the wagon ..."The Office"..."Sports Night"... But we thought by starting a new life in a new country we would finally be completely free. We now know that you can run from friends with DVDs, but you cannot hide from good, entertaining television. What broke us? A little something called "24". We found ourselves with a full season of the stuff, that's 24 episodes, 24 hours. And let me tell you, that wasn't spread out at the standard one hour per week. We've watched as much as three episodes in one night (after putting Ella to bed, of course!).

But tonight, we've confronted our addiction head-on and we are ready to end the madness. We believe we have the strength to return to a normal, productive, responsible life. It won't be easy, but we think, with your support, we can do it. (Of course, it helps that we finished the last two episodes of Season One tonight.)

Pray for us.

Maylia (& Jack...I mean, Jeff)

Kutna Horá

This weekend was a long one. Friday (November 17) was a holiday, "Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day". It commemorates the beginning of the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Student demonstrations marked the beginning of the end for the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Incidentally, this is also "International Students' Day".

We decided to use the extra day together to explore more of the Czech Republic. This time we were joined by Ali, Paul, and Dylan. Our destination - Kutná Hora, about 70km east of Prague. The old town centre is designated by UNESCO, and as you can imagine is very beautiful. This town gained wealth and fame in the early 13th century with the discovery of silver within its bounds. We did a lot of walking and left feeling we'd like to go back and spend some more time there. Lucky for us, Paul had been there on a tour before and was able to guide us around and offer some insight into different buildings that we saw. By far, the highlights were the Ossuary and the Cathedral of Saint Barbara. We weren't able to explore the Czech Silver Museum and Medieval Mine - a good reason to return!

The six of us and a view of the town...


The Sedlec Ossuary (Kostnice) is located very close to the train station (about 3 km from the old town centre). The Ossuary is also aptly known as the Bone Chapel as it is decorated with the skeletons of 40,000 people! It is a bizarre and incredible sight that must be seen to be believed. You really have to keep reminding yourself that these are real bones from real people. The obvious question is: Why? Why would Cistercian monks decorate a chapel with the skeletal remains of all of these people? Well, it seems that the cemetary on which this chapel was built became really popular in the early 1300s because some holy ground from Jerusalem was sprinkled on it. Everyone who could, wanted to be buried there. And then, many people died during the 14th century plague. And then even more people died during 15th century Hussite Wars. Eventually the place was overcrowded and parts of the cemetary had to be dug up. Bones were piled up next to the chapel. Finally, in 1511, the monks began to decorate the chapel with the bones. Eery, to say the least.

The Ossuary...


The Cathedral of St. Barbara (Kostel sv. Barbory) was designed by Peter Parler, the same fellow who did St. Vitus' Cathedral within the Prague Castle. It was built in 1388 and it's exterior may very well outshine St. Vitus'. Unfortunately, the exterior was wrapped in scaffolding while we were there as they are refurbishing it...yet another reason to return. Even so, it was very impressive.

The Cathedral at sunset...


Prague and the Czech Republic continue to delight us...

Maylia

Yup, nothing to say, so up goes another picture of the kid.

Mom thought it would be funny to feed her some berries.

...gee, do you think Ella's happy?

It's already been a week?

Not sure what to write, but should put something. Why not a couple pictures?

Ella's popular so long as she has snacks...

Ella this morning, looking good...

Ella in late afternoon, not looking so good...but still cute (mom says)

Like Watching the SuperBowl (or a Train Wreck)


Either way, it's damned exciting.
Of course, I'm talking neither about the SuperBowl nor a train wreck; I'm talking about the mid-term elections, if you'll pardon the metaphor.
("It's not a metaphor. It's a simile, to be precise." -extremely obscure movie quote)

Right Now (14:30 UTC 8/11/06) the vote count isn't final. And who controls the Senate is unknown.
Of the 2 chambers, the House is now decidedly Blue. The Senate is still undecided. The Reds had it, the Blues wanted it. The Blues needed to take 6 seats from the Reds.
So far, the Blues got 4 out of 6. That leaves 2 seats to go.

Even more gripping is the fact it's all about gaining the majority. But how many makes a majority? Depends on the color. For Blues, it's simple: they need those 2 seats. For Reds, however, it only takes 1 more seat. If the Reds keep so much as 1 of the 2 remaining seats up for grabs, all winnings thus far are for naught: Reds win.
If both available seats go Blue, Blues win.

For the Blues to win all 6 seats needed to take Senate control is...well, as Blue Senator Chuck Schumer ranks it: "It is like pulling a straight flush." Time will tell, but so far, it's looking like only a fraction of 1% of votes, in both undecided states (Virginia & Montana), is all that lies between a Red or Blue Senate. Yup, like I said, damned exciting.

Oh, and another 'contest': to whomever first correctly identifies the movie mentioned above, we'll send some Czech version of a doorprize. Good luck.

First Snow!

According to Czech folklore, St. Martin arrives on a white horse in early November, bringing the first snow with him. November 11 is the actual St. Martin's day, but our first snow arrived November 3. Here's a view of our courtyard from Ella's bedroom window.



And so reality settles in...winter is here. And so we must resign ourselves to hats, gloves, scarves, boots, snow pants and jackets. Here's Ella in her cozy fleece suit, ready to brave the cold with a trip to the playground.



And here she is wearing her new (to her) Winnie the Pooh boots!



It's funny! I find myself getting caught up in the fear of the cold Czech winter. Hanging around with South Africans (who never feel it below 18C) and Brits (who never feel it below freezing) does this to me. Then I have to stop and think. The Czechs say it can get as cold as -10C. Last winter was very bad and they had a few days where it was -20C. And sometimes, it even snows in Prague! "I hail from Canada, the Great White North!" I have to remind myself. Even my last few years in New Hampshire saw temperatures colder than this...certainly for longer stretches...and we certainly got our share of snow. I must remain calm.

Even with all this talk of winter, Ella and I still joined our friends Ali and Dylan today on a long walk to the river and back. Feeding the ducks and swans was the highlight. Actually, Ella and Dylan ate the bread while Ali and I fed the birds!





The baby wakes.
Maylia

Karlštejn Hrad...we finally started exploring the Czech Republic outside of Prague.

Even though they were calling for bad weather, we decided it must be done! We had to leave the city! Sunday we took a train to Karlštejn. Only about 30 km from Prague, we felt a world away. It turned out to be a lovely autumn day and coming late in the season meant fewer crowds at this tourist hot-spot. We opted not to do the interior tour and to instead enjoy the beautiful castle grounds.

Here are some photos of Charles IV's 14th Century summer home and treasury...






Here's a view of typical Czech countryside as seen from the train (at least it's typical of what we've seen so far!)...


And here is our very modern train and the less modern (but very quaint) station...




Stay tuned for more adventures!
Maylia