tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:27:26 +0000http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/index.htmnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)Blogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-6457793232897816038Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:11:00 +00002008-08-27T15:27:26.768-07:00I'd apologize for my long absence and the sudden interruption of the Tourney, but I imagine just about everyone reading is aware of the reason behind all that. I'll admit to being plenty spooked by Krysta's hospital stay. I know its cliche, but I guess we're at that point where any ideas of invincibility start to fall away and mortality becomes slightly less abstract. The sudden shift in http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/08/attention-diverted.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-3823918456881825699Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:24:00 +00002008-08-12T13:52:15.320-07:00presidentsolympicsDespite not being that excited about them beforehand, I got sucked into watching rather a lot of the Olympics this past weekend. The opening ceremonies were, of course, spectacular and there have been plenty of superlatives bandied about to describe them. Thanks to ESPN I got turned onto handball, which is an interesting hybrid of basketball and soccer. Its a lot of fun to watch and I can't http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/08/let-games-begin.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-7724877045506174193Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:52:00 +00002008-08-08T11:18:49.305-07:00I'm not talking about Al Gore, but rather referring to my previous desire to create a single-elimination style tournament bracket to determine the Greatest Fictional President of TV and Film. Efforts to get it going are well underway, but for now you can check out the full bracket, and feel free to make predictions or complain about seedings. That's half the fun of having a tournament. More than http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/08/greatest-fictional-president-ever.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-2533481878590707506Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:01:00 +00002008-08-04T10:09:21.270-07:00I had the pleasure of helping my little sister move into her first LA apartment this weekend. We're excited about having family so close to us! Today must be what's known in the biz as a "slow news day." The following are currently headlines on CNN.com: "Kids' fast food high in calories, study says" Really? "Bill Clinton: 'I'm not a racist'" Whew. "First pics of 'Brangelina' twins published" http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/08/news.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-6143778875071292964Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:36:00 +00002008-07-30T14:32:49.749-07:00obamamoviesbaseballpolitics-Back in the day, a friend of mine and I made a fever-dream of a movie entitled "The Vaults Were Empty." The basic "premise" was that the narrator of a Masterpiece Theater-type show had simply run out of stories to tell. Sometimes I wonder if that was somehow prophetic on a global scale. Specifically when I read things like this. Seriously, a Marvin the Martian movie? About Christmas!?!? Wow. -http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/07/no-story-no-problem.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-8282706128339413517Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:50:00 +00002008-07-29T14:13:51.606-07:00I live in Los Angeles. We have earthquakes. Specifically, we had one this morning. Its the first one I've felt in a long time and certainly the biggest one I've felt since one that happened in the wee hours during my Freshman year in college. The title of this post refers not only to the Carole King song, but to an excellent Northern Exposure episode. I've got an itch to redesign the site. Now http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/07/i-feel-earth-move.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-1714062126473648176Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:03:00 +00002008-07-23T16:05:47.291-07:00This is the only baseball related link in this post, I promise. An interesting idea, but I'm not sure it will really work. I, along with everybody else in the world, saw The Dark Knight this past weekend and absolutely loved it. There has been so much praise written for this movie already that I won't bother trying to add my own, but I had to mention it. Have you seen the ads for True Blood yethttp://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/07/quick-links.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-9177834830641540437Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:31:00 +00002008-07-16T16:06:38.761-07:00The NCAA Basketball Tournament has to be one of the most perfect sporting events ever devised. 64 teams have to win or go home. The format is about as close to flawless as any post season format is ever going to be. That has lead to the format being appropriated for a plethora of other purposes. In recent weeks, I've stumbled across several. One was LA Magazine's "64 Greatest Things About Los http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/07/tourney-time.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-8679961049726410338Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:59:00 +00002008-07-14T16:40:42.928-07:00baseballOur fantasy baseball league is now about 2/3 of the way through the regular season, and I must say I feel good about my team. I currently have a 10.5 game lead, and my team is winning the HR, SLG, IP, and WHIP categories with consistency. I wanted to take a look at the "steals" of our fantasy draft. There were 23 rounds, so I decided to try and find the best pick of rounds 13 and later. Round http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/07/fantasy-finds.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-2514564826084961156Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:04:00 +00002008-07-10T14:25:38.354-07:00 Our goddaughter Cady is at home now and us K's travelled over to the House of J's to visit her last night. I know, all babies are cute, but this one is especially cute. I'll attribute part of that to the fact that she's a very quiet baby. She cries, but only briefly and for an express purpose. She's truly the child of a journalism major: just telling the facts of the situation. She also has somehttp://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/07/cute.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-5623295961524125645Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:06:00 +00002008-07-06T14:10:37.169-07:00cadyThat's me! Yesterday, in the wee hours of the morning, our good friends James and Jess gave birth to their first child, a beautiful baby girl. Cady Dial Richter was very nearly a 4th of July baby, but missed it by about half an hour. Krysta was there for the whole labor process, which took almost 48 hours. We're very excited to be godparents, and excited for James and Jess, who are just exactly http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/07/godfather.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-8472557990590737410Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:16:00 +00002008-07-03T14:39:48.194-07:00baseballWell that was a hard-fought win, and it seems to me a psychologically important one too. After taking a 4-0 lead and a 5-4 lead, watching both slip away, resulting in, at best, a split with the Mets headed into a huge series with the Cubs, even this resilient team might have begin to show cracks in their psyche. Thanks to Mr. Glaus' heroics, however, we can try to take 3 out of 4 tonight, headinghttp://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/07/winner.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-3058946478131532795Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:39:00 +00002008-07-02T10:55:24.385-07:00newsbaseballWell the Cardinals lost a tough one last night. Its sad when you take a 2-0 lead in the first inning and your pitcher fails to throw strikes that aren't right down the middle of the plate. Sigh. Since they only lost 7-4, however, CNN might just call that a tie. That article from yesterday really baffles the mind. Obama has a lead outside the margin of error, and you call it a dead heat? Other http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/07/ridiculous.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-3996676517496054773Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:03:00 +00002008-06-26T16:47:44.986-07:00There has just been almost nothing worth blogging about these days. I was planning on writing a rather gleeful post about the Cardinals this afternoon, but after two straight disappointing losses at Detroit I just can't get into it. Maybe they'll repay KC with a sweep this weekend and break even for this stretch of interleague play. I could be happy with that. I just watched another character http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/06/slow-going.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-9182046790603518261Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:14:00 +00002008-06-17T17:03:39.894-07:00There has been quite a lot to celebrate recently! Susan got a job on Thursday, and it sounds like a really great opportunity. My little sister is going to be the high school drama teacher putting on school plays and stuff! I think its neat, and she is really pumped. We went out for a drink at Hotel Figueroa (so-so drinks, but a really cool spot) and late night happy hour at Ciudad to celebrate. http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/06/celebrations-all-around.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-7646230741645088434Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:25:00 +00002008-06-13T13:36:21.824-07:00Today's a rather special day for Krysta and I, since we first met on a Friday the 13th. So for us its a chance to celebrate our good fortune, and that will make two nights in a row we've had reason to celebrate. My little sister, who I'm told is all grown up now but I still have doubts, secured a teaching job at the LAUSD early-hire job fair yesterday. She landed what sounds like a really great http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/06/friday-13th.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-5431871276049437594Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:25:00 +00002008-06-08T18:29:47.216-07:00photosAs much as I love my new video/still camera, its creating this whole new data stream that I have to deal with now. Its a good thing, because it means I'm using the camera, but it sometimes means that I get backed up in importing, organizing and editing things. Krysta threw a baby shower today for our good friend Jessica, and there are some lovely photos from that. However, this post is not for http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/06/picture-time.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-5522887394222471090Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:34:00 +00002008-06-06T10:57:57.472-07:00I'm back on the job, the family is back in Illinois, and this whole primary madness is finally behind us. So its starting to feel like "normal" again around here, if there is such a thing. It was really great to have my parents around for a nice visit. This was the first time they got to see the house where Krysta and I have lived together for four years now, and we got to introduce them to our http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/06/return-to-normalcy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-4575717358051196394Thu, 29 May 2008 04:58:00 +00002008-05-28T22:05:15.643-07:00I can't say its for want of free time that I've been so delinquent in posting. Its just that I've had any number of things to be doing with that free time and blogging has not been atop the priorities. Finding a job was, however, and I'm pleased that as of today that has been accomplished. I'll get to work again with a friend from Rome Season 1, and it looks to be a good opportunity. Our last http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/05/getting-back-to-real-life.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-6488992017623034425Fri, 23 May 2008 05:07:00 +00002008-05-22T22:09:13.619-07:00travelWe made it home today, with 2/3 of our checked bags arriving with us. Thanks to a strike of air traffic controllers in France, we got bumped to a British Airways flight instead of American Airlines, a marked improvement in service and food. Its very good to be home again. Sleep beckons.http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/05/home-sweet-home.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-6047437684237898919Wed, 21 May 2008 20:11:00 +00002008-05-21T13:20:11.368-07:00travelWow. We got back in Vienna today after 5 really great days in Krakow, Poland. That was a lot of fun, and I'll have stories and pictures to tell once we're back in the States. I "blogged" the old fashioned way (aka "wrote in a journal") so I could keep track of what we had done (and eaten!). We just finished repacking the suitcases for the long journey home tomorrow. Somehow we seem to have less http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/05/vienna-krakow-and-coming-home.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-4026083813303046611Thu, 15 May 2008 20:49:00 +00002008-05-15T14:19:44.061-07:00travelvienna Today was probably our last full day in Vienna, depending on when we decide to come back from Krakow. Its a little sad because we're really just getting the hang of everything and settling into the city. That's how these things go, I suppose. This morning we started off (after a quick kaffe and croissant, of course) with a visit to the Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury). I can tell you that the http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/05/vienna-day-4.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-3455701405162656832Wed, 14 May 2008 21:44:00 +00002008-05-14T15:27:10.323-07:00travelvienna Krysta shared an observation about this city earlier: everything seems to work on the honor system. This came up after our outing this morning to the Spanish Riding School, where these guys ride horses for show using really old techniques. This is the extent of my understanding of horseback riding. We attended their "morning exercises" this morning, which was a bit of a disappointment, in part http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/05/vienna-day-3.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-691475423705755973Tue, 13 May 2008 22:05:00 +00002008-05-13T15:38:24.167-07:00travelvienna Greetings again from Osterreich! Today was our day to honor Herr Mozart's legacy in this city. We spent the morning touring the Mozarthaus, which is a museum dedicated to "Wolfie" on the spot of the largest and most expensive apartment he rented in Vienna. The museum was interesting, if not a little dry at times. It was awesome (in the non-California sense of that word) to be in the space where http://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/05/vienna-day-2-mozart-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38569410.post-3346549537327265411Mon, 12 May 2008 20:08:00 +00002008-05-12T13:37:46.136-07:00travelvienna It has been a loooong day. Just yesterday (well, Saturday really), Krysta and I were in Champaign-Urbana watching my little sister graduate from college. Then Sunday evening we hopped on a plane in Chi-Town and flew over to Vienna for our first trip abroad together. Although we're both very tired now, I wanted to get some thoughts down because I'm likely to forget a lot of what happened today inhttp://www.kennethandkrysta.net/2008/05/vienna-day-1.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kenneth)