The Honorable George V.

When I was making one of my first check-up visits with Dr. B at Harborview back in December 2002, I stopped by the rehab ward to see the nurses. As I was wheeling myself around I met this man in a wheelchair also wearing a TLSO. I had mine off at that point, but we TLSO wearers have an immediate bond. This man, George V. (a retired DC-10 pilot for Northwest Airlines), had a fall and had a compression of the T12. He had the T11, T12 and L1 vertebrae fused, in the same manner as my L1-L2-L3. George, however, had none of the issues with feet as I did.

When I left the hospital, I think I was rated ASIA C. George left the hospital at ASIA D (where A is best and E is worst). So he was a bit behind me in that regard. Also, George suffered (and still suffers) from spasticity, something I never experienced. We both were wheelchair bound upon leaving Harborview.

I try and visit George when I am in Seattle and he has made significant improvements. Look at this!

George standing on his own two legs! Go George!

Look at these two guys both with fused vertebrae! Medical miracles!

It turns out George is battling many of the same hurdles that I did and it was helpful for him to hear that I managed to conquer them. Perhaps he will too. I am also going to try to hook him up with my beloved physical therapist, Nancy H., and perhaps she can give him some tips and suggestions to help him along in his recovery. I’m predicting George will be walking with a cane within a year and a half. Perhaps, he should hire my father, my hard driving, “take no excuses” exercise coach during my recovery, to push him to do more in this work to gain strength and range of motion in his legs.

Ok, I had to sneak in this cute picture of me and my grandfather taken at our family dinner The Old Spaghetti Factory




Ernie and his grandfather mugging for the camera. My grandfather has always been the most photogenic one in the family. Who would have guessed?

Football and Golf

Went to the Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals game. Seahawks won 24-21 and secured a spot in the playoffs with at best a 9-7 record and perhaps getting in for sure with an 8-8. Comments anyone on the NFC? Mom and I had a nice afternoon together although, I admit I was a bit mute.

I admit I am totally a fairweather Seattle Seahawks fan. Current bandwagon status, "HANGING ON".

Dad and I played golf at Bellevue Municipal, which was a decent course. The first six holes lulled me into thinking it was going to be a short, really easy course, with all four of the par 4's under 300 yards. Then BOOM, the long holes came and didn't end until around the 16th hole. I shot 92. The most important part of the day was that it was the first time I walked an entire 18 holes. Boy was I still the next day.

Looking good Dad!

Dork

Father and son golf. Note the beautiful weather! December in Seattle, can't beat it.

Book recommendations

These are books that I have read during this holiday. This is in between all the family obligations and letters of recommendation I've written.

First off, Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen who here writes a comedy/mystery revolving around the natural wonders of his beloved state of Florida. And yes, a puppy plays a significant role in this book even though it's about revenge and sending a message to those who need it.

Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen

Second is a humorous, touching and educational look into the process and pains of alcoholism, rehab and the work after rehab. The fact that Burroughs is gay is a minor issue, but does add some spice. He writes well about what are possilbly painful and sad situations.

Dry by Augusten Burroughs

Last comes a fun novel about a magician in the 1920's who somehow offs President Warren G. Harding during a magic trick. The book also is set in 1920's San Francisco which is a bonus for us who live there.

Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold

For those of you lived in Seattle during your Middle School years…

Dad and I ate at a place where this establishment stood (and still stands) across the parking lot.

Snowball anyone?

My, my, my………the dramas that unfolded in this building oh those many years ago!

Christmas and its Booty!!

Christmas morning came and here’s a picture of me opening the many presents that were under the tree FOR ME!!!

Here I am eagerly opening a package just like when I was five years old! That's Mom to my left.

So what did I get? I got some nice clothing from Eddie Bauer. During my Thanksgiving visit, I picked up a catalog and picked out some things that I liked and here they were under the tree.

Two waffle crew shirts and a houndstooth sweater vest.

There actually was another nice sweater top but when I put it on, the cut of the shoulders was strange and it literally looked that I had shoulders that pointed up. Very strange looking, so it was promptly returned the next day.

In addition, I got a bunch of small items, a Barnes & Noble Gift certificate, a razor and replacement blades, boxers, a surprise gift from my friend Heidi and the annual stocking stuffer…replacement heads for my sonicare toothbrush.

Booty, booty, booty……..

Lastly, I asked for new bed linens this year so Mom went out and got them for me. She knows that I don’t ever use the top sheets, so clever Mom that she is, she sewed the two top sheets together to make a comforter cover. Look!!!

My new comforter cover that I match my two new sets of sheets. Isn’t Mom resourceful and creative? Yeah she is…..

It was a good Christmas in the material sense. But more important is that the family was present. As is tradition (and torture) every year, a family photo must be shot. Dad, the photo fanatic, still had not mastered the self-timer on his new digital camera. But this is the family shot of 2004.

Chen Family 2004

Here are some photos from the morning present opening gala.

Dad showing off a new "Bill Cosby Sweater."{

Marlene and her new IPOD.

Mom showing trying on her new watch (care of Dad).

My grandmother showing off her new pajamas.

Nothing more need be said!

Does this have Freudian meaning?

I have begun to notice in the past three months that I have been walking around with my zipper unzipped. I will go to do my business in the bathroom and well, half my work has already been done for me as I probably didn't finish the task of making myself fully presentable from before. Why can't I just remember to do the simple task of zipping myself up? Or is this god's way of telling me to move on to the next phase of my life and wear athletic pants for the rest of my life?

Vega$

Every year, my friend Jim J. (a Biology teacher at Lawrenceville) and I make a trip to Las Vegas to feed our gambling needs. Over the course of about 6 or 7 years, he and I have gone for a two day jaunt every year except the year where I was injured. We have had other friends come along, but this is my thing with Jim.

Primarily, Jim and I play blackjack. The way I have come to approach blackjack is that when I cash in for chips, the chips reflect the "time I have on the clock". The moment I have no more chips, the buzzer has sounded and I am done for that round. I don't think of it as winning and losing, I think of it as the cost of playing and the entertainment it brings. What is fun is when a bunch of people you know all are playing at the same table with a dealer that feeds that vibe. Those moments are fleeting and magical, regardless if we are winning or losing money.

Jim and I have also started playing poker and yes I will fully admit I am riding the wave of Texas Hold Em on television. I have played at the card rooms in Emeryville but this time Jim and I played a good three and a half hours straight of Hold Em. Jim also played the night/morning before when I was sleeping. Jim taught me some good things to think about but mostly to look for four kinds of players. There are smart and dumb players. Each kind of player is either a loose (bets a lot and often) player or a tight player. Everybody likes dumb loose players at the table. Alas, the table Jim and I played at was packed with smart tight players. I probably was the least skilled player at the table. The more and more I play, the more I realize how little I actually know about the game of poker. There were a couple times where I played to the end of the hand sensing that I was going to get beat but unable to put my finger on it. Sure enough, I lost. The one that hurt the most, I had full house 8's and Aces. I was beat with a full house of Ace's and 8's. Ouch. That hand cost me about $20.

Jim and I stayed at the New York New York Hotel. Many of you have seen pictures, but here's another one.

The fabulous New York New York Hotel

The room was very large for a standard hotel room and the decor was so fabulous that even I, Ernie Chen, the aesthetic idiot, took note. The accomodations were part of a Southwest Airlines vacation package. Can you believe that I got a roundtrip flight from Oakland and two nights at the New York New York for a mere $220?

In Vegas, Jim and I met up with Erin O. (remember her from the South Bend days of this year) and her family. The O'Dea family does Vegas right. They go to wine tastings and eat at the fancy restaurants. It was nice to see Erin's family again. Alas, Raymonde was not in Vegas with us this year. The big surprise was that a former Lawrenceville colleague was in Las Vegas visiting her sister. Kathy K., the teacher who inherited my classroom at Lville, her husband Rick, Jim and I all had dinner one night. What a treat it was to see Kathy again.

Kathy K., me and Jim J.

Alas, I will say that I was definitely ready to return home. I got the gambling out of my system for another year.

A Taste of My Own Medicine

The following blog entry should be music to the ears of Head-Royce students Samantha W., Courtney P. and Nikki K. to name just a few. The common thread between these three young women? They have been the focus of my unrelenting teasing. Many of you know that when I get on a roll, I can be incredibly brutal in the sheer amount of abuse (all in good fun and done with the utmost love and knowledge that the victim can handle it) is pretty massive. I was particularly harsh with Samantha W., and those students who were in that section of Honors Geometry last year, can attest that I was borderline unprofessional!

So, it was Monday afternoon and Jim and I had wandered down the the Bellagio. We were working our way down the Strip to eventually meet up with Erin and her brother Kevin. Jim and I sat down at a $5 blackjack table and our primary dealer was named Sheila. Sheila was a woman in her 50's who has found that the way she enjoys her job is to talk with her players. She also, like me, has a good sense of people and knows when she can go for the juggular. I was her target. For nearly an hour and a half, I was subject to teasing, ridicule and abject embarassment. It didn't help that Jim was sitting next to me feeding her information about me. Jim, come on now, did Sheila really need to know that I snore loudly? Things that I thought were innocently said came back to nail me an hour later. NOTHING got past Sheila. The fact that I lost my $100 budget at that table and then reached into my wallet for an additional $40 to stay with Sheila must mean something. I guess I like being the center of attention. Sheila, thank you for giving me a lesson I probably needed.

On a random note, it turns out that for the entire one and a half hours I sat at the table, each and every person who was played at the table during that time was a mathematician, scientist, engineer or a teacher of those subjects. It was a total meeting of MATH CLUB. This engineer from Dayton, OH and I were fascinated by the little machine which the dealer uses to determine if the down card is an Ace or face card depending on what she/he needed to know. We wondered why the designers of the machine didn't simplify the machine to have just one button. It's a long story.....

"Why don't you ask Rich?"

The second act of of "friends in town for the weekend" had protagonists Leah and Rich (of 4th of July in Washington, DC blogfame) in town this weekend. Richard has business here on Monday and Tuesday and since Leah is done with teaching her classes this semester tagged along for the shopping, eating and visiting of me.

In recapping our lives, every once in a while, Rich would ask, "did that person ever make the blog?", and in each instance, the person I was talking about was not a blog subject. RICHARD A. is a regular blog reader!!! As our conversation over dim sum continued, every time Leah asked me a question, I sometimes deferred to her husband to answer. RICHARD A., you get major cool points.

We spent the majority of our three hours dining on dim sum. Leah loves my regular dim sum place here in San Francisco. It's down on San Bruno Avenue in the Portola District. The area is off the beaten tourist path, but the kind of place were you see true locals doing their thing. We counted that today's meal was the third time they had eaten dim sum at this restaurant.

Leah and Richard taking a break from their favorite San Francisco meal.

We spent the early afternoon driving through different neighboorhoods of San Francisco to get a feel of the city and the kinds of housing available. Hmmmm????!!!! I'll leave you with a picture that simply sums of life in San Francisco.

Leah and Richard looking over the city from the top of Vallejo Street on Russian Hill.

ALL POINTS BULLETIN FOR CARLOS A P.

Friday December 19th, 2004 was a historic day for Justin D., the boyfriend of my longtime childhood friend Lynn K. It was his last day of medical school. Today? DONE. And I had the honor of having dinner with Lynn and Justin at my local restaurant called, yes, this is its name, Emmy's Spaghetti Shack. Afterwards, I took the two of them to the Bernal Heights and the two of them went down in tandem. So cute.

So here are pictures of Justin and Lynn. Somehow, pictures taken without much care and thought in my kitchen often turn out the best.

Justin D. looking pretty suave on his last ever day of medical school.

Justin and Lynn

Pedraza, this one's for you!

Only if you are in the know...

Please, all, stop me before I buy this:

Study Day Success

The Head-Royce Upper School gives semester finals twice a year. The day before the three days of finals is a day called "Study Day". All teachers are required to be available to answer students' questions and alleviate their worries. In the past, I have left school on these days wanting to: a) slit my wrists b) seriously consider changing professions due to the fact that the students knew nothing or c) want to check myself into an insane asylum due to the chaos and frenzy of anxiety. Historically, students begin to act like freaks of nature, grow a mob mentality and all I am doing is trying to put out fires left and right.

So this year, I posted the following list of rules on my door that students had to read before entering the room.

Mr. Chen’s Study Day Rules and Regulations to make your Experience More Enjoyable
(AKA: How to ensure Mr. Chen will not lose his temper today!)

1) The question “Will that be on the test?” will be returned with a glare of sheer disdain. (If you do not know the meaning of disdain, see your English teacher, as they should have their employment terminated.)

2) If there is more than one student in the room, Mr. Chen will take a question from a student and answer for the entire room. If you have a question that applies specifically to you, please wait for a time when you will be alone OR see Mr. Chen later in the day (say after 2PM) OR email Mr. Chen (echen@headroyce.org) and he will answer your question by return email this evening.

3) If you interrupt or cutoff either Mr. Chen or another student, you will be less likely to be called on if you subsequently raise your hand. Mr. Chen will be keeping mental score.

4) The final will be worth 150 points for Geometry and somewhere between 130 and 140 points for Honors Geometry.

5) Geometry students will be allowed to write corrections for their fall final in the same manner as chapter tests. Honors Geometry students will not be allowed to write corrections.

6) Smile and breathe; you’re going to do fine as you have learned and actually know a great deal of Geometry.

7) As you enter, please bow to Mr. Chen (just like all students do for their teachers in Asia) to signify that you have read and understood these rules.

You may now enter Room 208, a happy place!

The day was great. There was NO chaos or meltdown on the part of any student. And let me tell you how CUTE students are when they try to bow. This is a keeper.

I am becoming obsolete.....

This is a small excerpt from a December 12th, 2004 article in the New York Times titled "The Last Time You Used Algebra Was...."

"In all but the most arcane specialties (like teaching math), the need for math has atrophied. Electronic scales can price 4.15 pounds of chicken at $3.79 a pound faster than any butcher. Artillerymen in Iraq don't use slide rules as their counterparts on Iwo Jima did. Cars announce how many....."

Here is a link to the actual story.

You would never have these happen at a suit & tie job

On Wednesday, during homeroom (my advisees are now seniors) , one of my advisees, Ryan P., was rocking out on his portable CD player. Not an Ipod mind you. We could hear the music blasting out of his earphones. Someone asked what it was and Ryan answers without any hint of irony or humor or whatever says "The new Russian National Anthem". We were all like WHHHAAAAATTTT. It turns out, the ENTIRE CD that Ryan was listening to was anthems of the world. Of course we all wanted to listen to the new Russian Anthem which the majority of my advisees, and I included, was a letdown after the grandeur of the old Soviet Anthem.

Yesterday, Thursday, we all file into the the regularly scheduled 10:10AM all school meeting. After the crowd settles down, the curtains open and we see one boy on drums, one boy playing an electric guitar and two boys performing their self-written Hanukah rap. This rap was up their in quality with Adam Sandler's Haunakah Song that is now a staple around the holidays.

And today, oh Friday December 10th, 2004, will forever be a dark day in music history. It stems from the policy that I have with my students that if they are tardy to class, they can choose to sing a song of the classes choosing to have me not report the tardy. It is always a source of high comedy until it happened to me. Last week, I walked into my infamous/beloved A-Block Geometry class after the bell had rung. Nailed!!! So the students chose my song to be Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman". Well, the CD they brought for me to use as my backup music didn't have that song, I instead I ended up singing "UP!". The mental images you have? Worse.

Weekend in Monterey

This past Saturday, I spent the entire day attending seminars on the Asilomar grounds while attending the Northern California Mathematics Teachers' Conference. I tend to find that if I get nuggets of information and knowledge, I am pleased. This year, however, look what I made...

A 20-sided polyhedron (called an icosohedron) made from 4 paper plates

You can't beat that. After the conference, I stayed down in Monterey and hung out with my Lakeside friend, Colin B. Colin moved to Monterey last year to take a job that is a "perfect fit" for what he wants to do and to improve his resume. He lives in a complex that is right on the beach and you can hear the waves crashing right from his living room. How cool. He and I took a drive up the coast to Santa Cruz to hang and have dinner with Carlos. Carlos and Colin, from two very different parts of my life, hit it off. It's great when friends hit it off. We had dinner, and then drinks at The Dakota.

This morning, Colin and I hung out, I took a walk on the beach, we had brunch in downtown Monterey and then walked along Fisherman's Wharf. It was a beautifully clear, crisp day. It's too bad I had to get in the car and haul myself back to SF and all the work that is in front of me.

Final Thanksgiving Memories

Alas, I know that this posting and these pictures are a week late, but that's what happens when one's computer dies and needs to be fixed. I have lived this past week without my laptop and at first I felt naked, but I grew accustomed to not having it pretty quickly. It's back in my possession, but hmmm, it's still acting up. I hope it gets me through the next week.

Anyway, on my last day, family Chen was scheduled to the hilt, with everything planned and car trips coordinated. Until right off the bat, my Dad's Mercedes decides not to start. Apparently, the fuel injection system crapped out. Luckily, I had my AAA card with me and so got Dad towed to the dealership. He was so impressed the the AAA service, I got him a membership for Christmas. Gotta love the easy and useful present for Dad.

Mom, Marl and Dad pushing the Benz

The Benz on its way to the Mercedes dealership

After the Benz was delivered to the dealership, we all took a jaunt down to "Gingerbread Lane" to view the winning design in the gingerbread architecture.....Zimmer Gunsal Frasca's (Marlene's firm) prize winning representation of Rockefeller Center.

Rockefeller Center in Gingerbread and candies

My last day in Seattle had Marlene and I eating Pho at the #25, splitting the cable at my grandparents house, me getting a haircut (a good one too) and then hanging with Vickie as she and I drove out to Monroe to see and have dinner with Dean. A fun visit, to say the least.

Thanksgiving Observations 2004

1) There is poker overkill on television these days. As I am flipping through the channels, there are at LEAST three channels showing some version of Texas Hold 'em. I am a fan, but this is truly out of control.

2) The Washington State Governor's race is currently separated by a mere 42 votes. Republican Dino Rossi leads Democrat Christine Gregoire by 42 votes out of nearly 2.5 million votes cast. Unbelievable. Then a revelation happens in the Chen household. My mother voted absentee but didn't sign her ballot. She signed the outside envelope, but didn't sign the ballot itself, thereby negating her entire vote. Only in Chen-land.

3) My father (a foreign policy blue stater, economics purple stater and social red stater) has decided that the Hallmark channel speaks for him and his fellow red staters. He says movies on the Hallmark channel are what middle America wants to see and appreciates, certainly more than the show Desperate Housewives. Ok, Dad, whatever gets you through the night.

You all should be ashamed of yourselves...

Look at what showed up in my email this afternoon!!

Congrats to Ernie C (10 wins and Monday points pick for $13) and Chris D. (5 wins) on their picks.  The Thanksgiving games start THURSDAY, so get your picks in early this week!  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Me of all people, should NOT be winning the football pool.

Remember the Dewey Decimal System?

Remember back in elementary school, making that special (to you at the time) midday field trip down the hall to the library? If you were to walk into it today, some things might be different. You probably wouldn't see the space consuming card catalog. Microfiche machines? Again, they are few and far between. We can thank technological advances for eliminating the presence of those things which were cumbersome and repetitive tasks. However, one contant remains from your first days in that first library experience, it's organizational structure, the Dewey Decimal System.

I distinctly remember asking my 1st grade teacher (Mrs. Scholl) why didn't the library put the books on the shelves from smallest to the largest? The other reigning question of that time was why didn't the library just organize the books by the book cover's primary color? In both cases, it is because the characteristics one sorted by could change from one edition of a book to another. For example, I wanted a book that I believe to be orange and 4 inches thick. But the copy in the library was blue and quite thin. This is a major flaw. The subject matter and title of a book are integral to the book and can never be changed. This is the characteristic by which we sort books and use the fleixble system Dewey created.

Adobe Bookshop (3166 16th Streeet between Valencia and Guerrero) and here is how they have allowed themselves to organize their books since the beginning of November 2004.

The Red and Yellow books area

The Green and Blue books area

Pretty neat, huh? Alas, this ordering of books will be replaced by the traditional method as of Monday November 22nd, 2004.

Right across the street from Adobe is my favorite place in San Francisco to get a bagel, Katz's. Here's the sign out side their front door:

Look at the cool vehicle passenger

You never know what you are going to find on 16th Street.

Election Postmortem (part 4)

Read this article about The Urban Archipelago, It's the Cities, Stupid, from Seattle's The Stranger. It's really a good analysis about the recent election and how the Democratic party can build its base. It gives some hope.