The Year 2011 in Review

Greetings from Ben & Carolyn

As we look back at 2011 it’s been a busy year…

In January, we got a late Christmas present by going to Jamaica. January 8th, Carolyn, Asha, Deva, Jai, and Ben flew to Montego Bay, and after long delays, due to snow storms, and were met with cold Red Stripes and driven to our lovely villa. We stayed for a week at a house called Tia Maria in the Silver Sands community on the north coast. Our cook made us ackee and saltfish, red beans and rice, Johnny cakes, callaloo, and twice we bought dinner from the lobster man, John Wesley, who came by daily. We all went zip-lining, snorkeling, kayaking, splashed around in the Luminous Lagoon, and the kids jumped off a cliff at Ricks Café in Negril. It was a wonderful trip! There are pictures online.

Later that month, Deva graduated from the Presidential Management Fellows program, and became a permanent employee of the Dept. of Interior Bureau of Land Management. When his office moved a couple blocks from Nationals Park and the Department of Transportation in Southeast – it was close enough for Ben and Deva to meet for lunch. Having Deva in DC also meant we had a chance to get together with him and his girlfriend Gloria regularly, and by the end of the year they managed to cut housing expenses in half by moving in together!

Thanks to Asha, we got to see and meet The Civil Wars in February at a small Virginia club just before they all went to Paris together and proceeded to get really big. By November, she was with them at the Grammy Awards Nominating Show where they were nominated for 2 awards. Also thanks to Asha, we got to see and meet Josh Ritter, Pink Martini, Madi Diaz, and Blind Pilot this year. In May we went to Nashville TN to visit, dine, and met lots of Asha friends; even enjoyed the Country Music Hall of Fame and recording studio.

In March Ben gave up alcohol for Lent and forgot to take it back up. We became regular members of Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church in College Park and ended up co-chairing the Stewardship Commission. Ben especially enjoys brunch after church at Plato’s Diner before going home just in time to see the Redskins lose another one. Having run out of book space, Ben also discovered the local library again, especially digital loans. At the new Arena Stage we saw Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? – powerful stuff.


We visited Jai and Tommy in Richmond in April, and saw a big Picasso exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Art, and returned several times to see Jai as Cecile in Dangerous Liaisons, Cordelia in King Lear at Agecroft Hall, and solo as herself in Elephant Epiphany. They both came to visit us several times this year too.

In July, we took our annual summer Road Trip – this time to upstate New York – stopping in York to see Ben’s cousin Eric Menzer, family, and the York Revolution baseball team on their way to becoming 2011 Atlantic League Champions (Eric is the general manager). We then visited Harrisburg to see Keith; and the Corning Glass Factory, Cooperstown, the Catskills, Hudson River towns, Woodstock festival site, and Dunn’s in New Jersey. Ben collected more maps.

Nieces Hannah and Holly visited in August and we all wore ourselves out in DC on a Metro ride, the Air and Space and Natural History museums, and carousel. Later in the year Ben watched the girls all by himself! He had lots of fun and is still tired. Jamie’s daughter Rachel visited too.

In September we began our annual Maryland Terrapins tailgating season with Brenda, Alan, Dave and other friends and family. Even though the team was less than stellar this season, it was still fun to see friends and enjoy some great Saturdays in Lot 1.

At the end of September, Carolyn was deployed by FEMA to assist with Hurricane Irene recovery. After a few days back in Albany, NY, she was sent to New York City to work with city and State elected officials. She was gone for almost 6 weeks and both Ben and Jai were able to visit during that time. One plus of being is New York was getting to see lots of Broadway shows and visiting with her brother and family.


For Thanksgiving we made our regular trek to Montclair, NJ. Tom and Susan Dunn hosted 18 guests. We contributed 7 – Ben, Carolyn, Deva, Gloria, Asha, Jai, and Tommy. We had a great feast, wonderful fellowship, and a fierce game of Demon to round things off. Ellen still wins every time. After Thanksgiving Jai, Tommy, and Asha came back DC and we began our annual cookie backing marathon. Over the course of the next few days, we produced more than a dozen kinds of cookies. Cookie baking has continued throughout the next few weeks.


In December, we had the great privilege of seeing Jai perform in a solo show that she wrote, produced, and performed as part of her senior project. We are looking forward to her graduation in the spring and what will come next. Christmas preparations are well underway at the Dunn/Gribbon household. We just swapped our dining room and living room – that we rarely used. Now we have a cozier living room and bigger dining room, with more room to have you over if you find yourself in Hyattsville anytime.


We hope that this Christmas and New Year’s finds you and those you love well and happy. We hope that we have a chance to see you soon. Until then, we are thinking of you and sending prayers and good wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Peace,

Ben & Carolyn

Amy Polk

Amy Polk, 42, of Takoma Park, Md. died yesterday (April 29, 2010) in a pedestrian accident in downtown Washington DC.

Her husband, John Robinette, said Amy was a vital part of her neighborhood and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring, MD.

Next to spending time with her two sons – Adam, 7, and Bryan, 4 –Amy was a tireless advocate for expanding women’s access to midwifery care across the state. She was leading the effort to open the Seasons of Life Women’s Health and Birth Center in Takoma Park, a center devoted to providing health care for women before, during and after childbirth.

“Amy was a beautiful wife and mother. She meant so many things to so many people, but the best way to remember and honor her life is to support her vision of a birth center,” said John.

Donations in memory of Amy can be sent to:
"Seasons of Life"
7224 Central Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912
Or made online at: http://www.seasonsoflifebirthcenter.org/Donate.html

Amy leaves behind her mother, Bonnie Becker of Arlington, Va.; her father James Polk of Marietta, Ga.; and her brother Jeffrey Polk of Burke, Va.

A private funeral for the family will be held on Tuesday, May 4. A celebration of her life is scheduled for Friday, June 18 at 2 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring, Md.

Superfreakonomics

A great read. Like Freakonomics, this book applies economic analysis and freakish curiosity to disprove some things you thought you knew or shed light on things you didn't know that you didn't know – especially among numbers you didn’t know were related. Whereas the first book introduced a whole new approach, this one merely picks up where then first left off - with a fascinating but somewhat random series of applications. They could keep up this series forever.

Here's a few interesting tidbits (without the complete explanation):

- On a per mile basis, drunk walking is 5x more fatal than drunk driving.

- As rural India got television, domestic abuse went down and female education and autonomy went up.
- Prostitutes are more likely to have sex with a cop than be arrested; demand goes up during family reunions; and the clients of expensive escorts are price insensitive so will pay more for less sex.

- In the US, teacher IQ and student test scores declined, as the number of women with degrees entered other business fields after 1964.

- Infants conceived shortly before summer Ramadan or other periods of fasting are more likely to be sickly. Babies born in January and February are more likely to be stars.

- The shoe bomber Reid sort of failed, but the time it takes to remove shoes at security takes the equivalent of 14 lifetimes per year in traveler time.

- The DC sniper attacks in October 2002 only accounted for 10 of the average 50 homicides a month in the area.

- The Kitty Genovese murder in March 1964 made famous the 'bystander effect' which has been in the news a lot lately when a crowd witnesses a crime and does nothing, but the original story was sensationalized.

- Washington Hospital Center in DC went from worst to first in Emergency room care by implementing electronic medical records in a patented system now owned by Microsoft and used throughout the US.

-Chapter 4 is devoted to simple solutions and unintended consequences, so its this chapter that's the most controversial. The authors argue that ADA and the Endangered Species Act resulted in fewer jobs for people with disabilities and less habitat for endangered species respectively; but also that whale extinction, polio, and heart disease were easily cured by the discover of oil, vaccines, and drugs. Likewise the biggest improve in car safety was seat belts, which Robert McNamara adapted from airplanes. However, child safety seats are only effective for a small age range, not the range covered by NHTSA rules. Finally, carbon emissions may not be the most important part of global warming and there are some pretty simple solutions available that haven’t been seriously considered. But here they leave their focus on microeconomics and wander into ecology and macroeconomics which they state up front isn't their specialty. The buzz from cutting edge think tanks is interesting though.

The Kitchen is finally finished! Travis finished the tiling around the window and the artwork finally arived. The house isn't perfect but the kitchen might be! Not just because it looks like a catalog, but because it will be great to have you all over. Thanks carolyn; thanks everyone!

Finished Kitchen 2

Rant #1 - Greeting Card Envelopes

Why the heck do they make greeting cards in every conceivable size so that only one unique envelope can go with that card? Once they are separated both useless, and they aren't even attached when you buy them. Even if they came in hundreds of sizes there is no number or standard code for greeting card envelopes like there is for business envelopes so they can't be purchased separately even if you wanted to. It would even make sense if the cards were cheap but you had to pay extra for the envelope that fit it. Why not just make the %^&* cards and envelopes in standard sizes? Meanwhile, here I sit with a stack of nice cards and a stack of useless envelopes.

The Way of the World

Ron Suskind's narrative follows individuals with roles both large and small on the world stage, so its part history and partly how people see the world. Although the review points out the revelation that the CIA manufactured a fake letter from Iraqi security chief Hubbush; the real point of the book is that our emphasis on secrecy has resulted in missed opportunities, and that more honest information sharing would be a very powerful tool in combating terrorism. That's the theme, but the story is full of very specific insights to the events and personailities that brought to Spring 2008 in Iraq. For a great summary of a good book, see Louis Baynard's review on Salon.com. Let me know if anyone wants to borrow it.

House for Sale

Carolyn and I can't wait to move into our new house; at least we won't be able to wait when the kitchen is done. Meanwhile, we still love our old house but are pretty anxious to sell or rent it and settle into just one. Know anyone who needs a house? Look at the rest of the pictures!

Having found a new house, I wanted to sell my house at 10600 Hockberry Way in Beltsville.

In Spring 2003 the Episcopal Church in Forestville needed the rectory back, so I started looking. Julie Tetrault helped me look at a lot of houses and we finally found this one. Carolyn and I both liked it and I bought it from Chris Ulmstott - a friend of friends - that summer.

I moved in here in November 2003, and Carolyn moved in sometime in 2006.

We posted an MLS listing with Long and Foster on July 25th and had a few open houses.

Terrapins vs. Blue Hens

College Park, MD - August 30, 2008.

The "Bourbon Street" tailgaters eased into the fall campaign at the University of Maryland (UMCP Terrapins football season opener against the University of Delaware Blue Hens. With champion organizer Brenda Sherer out for a Labor Day office move, the tailgate was successful despite the three-quarter strength output, mirroring the Terps rather weak 14-7 victory over the Blue Hens. Notable exceptions were Da'Rel Scott and Darrius Heyward-Bey.

The core strengths of the tailgating team were represented in blocking out our traditional location early; proudly flying the string of Maryland flags; establishing the core infrastructure of tents chairs and grills; and wide-ranging contributions. As a result, our tailgaters enjoyed a strong assortment of food, including pulled pork, chicken skewers, fajitas, sausage, and more, not even counting Carolyn's new Strawberry Patch cocktail, and all the chips, dips, and desserts. The hefty menu of entrees is a core value of these tailgaters.

We were later visted by surprise guests Greivis Vasquez and his Venezuala Basketball teammate to chat for a while. Bob Lovell, shown left with Vasquez, also attended his first Maryland football game and tailgate. While the team warmed up, Bob practiced throwing and catching, rested up, fueled up on hot dogs. Despite the heat and bright sun, Bob enjoyed both the game and the mascots. Ben and Dave, however, were left speachless when the Terps scored but the Flag crew ran clockwise spelling out T-E-R-P-S instead of S-P-R-E-T as they always had in the past.

A good time was had by all, but there was a bit missing. Brenda' s enthusiasm , direction, and full kitchen left even long time participants to think on their feet and practice long forgotten skills. Also missing was about a six-foot strip of land, usurped by the competing tailgate to our south. The formerly friendly competition became more aggressive as neighboring tailgaters sported matching "tailgate champion" t-shirts and prominently displayed their trophy. At least one Bourbon Street tailgater suspected it may have actually been junior high bowling trophy.

The Bourbon Street tailgaters - 2005 Champions - are preparing to step it up a notch, when they appear in full strength for the September 13th noon game against the University of California Golden Bears, and David Lovell brings in a few friendly bears to help celebrate his birthday.

More pictures from this tailgate on Picasa and Facebook.

Walking in New Orleans

Friday August 15th, 2008. As Carolyn and I set off Friday afternoon to fly Southwest to New Orleans, everything fell into place. Right on cue, Wife objected that we were starting out far too late and Husband, with an air of bewilderment, began to suggest that we could have left much later. As a team we quickly negotiated a strategy, and eased quickly through parking and security at BWI. (Hint: park on the 5th level of hourly parking, eat the $10 a day you can't get reimbursed for, and take a brisk walk directly across the ramp to Terminal A security, saving about half an hour). Turns out we were a little early and the flight was late, so we sampled a flight of local and white wines in the wine bar Vino Volo. Friday night we took a quick look around the French Quarter and retired.

Saturday 8/16. Had some work to do Saturday, but just as I finished it started raining, then a little harder and even harder. I took refuge in the Doubletree lobby and recognized the lounge where I once argued with Keith and Bob about whether I should be able to pour my own beer if the bartender was busy. After a cup of soup and some incredible spiced pickles, I put that argument to rest by sending a picture from my cell phone.


Dodging the rain drops I made it to the "Everything You Need" store for an umbrella and to Royal Blend Coffee & Tea House to meet Carolyn and a tour guide. Observing the old Spanish architecture in the French Quarter along the way, we made our way to the New Orleans Parish Saint Louis Cemetary No. 1. We learned all about why tombs are above ground, the use of tombs for multiple bodies, who owns and maintains tombs, and the history of specific sites. A scene from Easy Rider was filmed here so of course no else can now. Homer Plessy of Plessy vs. Ferguson is entombed here, as is Marie Laveau, Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, for whom people leave gifts and rum -- which never seams to sit out too long. Concluded the store at a Priestess Miriam's voodoo temple, where Ben concluded that voodoo is the superstition of the very poor about the power of stuff.



Returning to the hotel to dry off and get ready to go out, Ben observed aloud, and then to housekeeping, that our lovely view from the 34th floor was despoiled by dirty windows and is there anychance they could be cleaned? Saturday evening we had drinks at the Napoleon House, dined alfresco at Cafe Amelie, and made friends out on Bourbon Street. When we got home we found on our voice mail had an apology for the condition of the windows from the housekeeping manager, who hoped it hadn't ruined our stay.

Sunday, August 17. Before I had to go to work in the exhibit hall at the New Orleans Convention Center, Carolyn and I set of in search of brunch - one of my top four favorite meals. We found a gift for our friend Brenda Sherer on her birthday but no place open that we'd planned. Three years after Katrina, the guidebooks and local business are still trying to get in synch. We knew the Harrah's casino would have brunch, and sure enough they did, but we paid a lot for a pretty poor experience. But, I don't expect much from casino's and New Orleans is still trying to balance supply and demand, labor and customers. Please let me know when it all comes together again; then they can train business owners in PG County.



After a long day in the convention center, I had a snack with Virginia colleagues at Mulate's original cajun restaurant. Then the American Public Works Association (APWA) gathered for a get aquainted party at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, where I reunited with Carolyn and old colleagues, and made some new friends. It was a bit crowded but I really enjoyed the sea otters and mermaids (right). With no plan whatsover, we set off with our Pennsylvania friends, Pat and Sherri (above), and ended up having drinks in the lounge adjacent to Arnaud's. When we got home we found on our voice mail another apology for the condition of the windows from the housekeeping manager, who hoped it hadn't ruined our stay.

Monday August 18. Carolyn headed off for San Francisco, while I prepared for a meeting and a presentation. I had oysters as a snack at Swizzle Sticks. The transportation committee had dinner at Olivier's, where I ate creole rabbit and humble pie with Denise Saunders. Afterward Jon, Joe, Denise and I had beignets at Cafe du Monde, which Carolyn had visited earlier on her walkabouts. Later in the evening I met Tim Haynes and the Seskatchewan contingent at the Presidents reseption and the Canadian's reception, where we laughed at, and were amazed by, Olympic diving. When I got back to the hotel I found a letter of apology for the condition of the windows.

Tuesday August 17. More meetings blah blah, packed up the exhibit, and took in one more session. During lunch a got a new pair of sunglasses and lunch at Bon Tons. Had dinner with my own local chapter and more old colleagues at the Court of Two Sisters. Then off to see the wizard, stopping in for mere seconds at Bourbon Streets institutions both venerable an seedy: Jean Laffite's Old Absinthe Bar, Pat O'Brien's, Tropical Island for a Handgrenade, and anyplace else that struck me as entertaining. After listening to jazz at Fritzels, and live piano at Laffite's Blacksmith Shop, I closed the evening with a self-guided architectural tour of Bourbon, Esplanade, and Royal Streets.

Wednesday August 18. By the time I left for the airport on Wednesday, the hotel windows were still dirty but I had a $75 gift card, and that looked good to me!

For more pictures see Picasa or Facebook.

Supreme Court Opinion on Second Ammendment is Weak

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The conclusion reached by the Supreme Court majority yesterday was probably inevitable, given the phrase "shall not be infringed", but the majority opinion is one of the worst written I have seen, and is contradictory.

On the one hand, Scalia indicates that the prefatory clause - the first two phrases which provide context - has no bearing on the for the concluding operative clause, rendering 13 words in the constitution completely irrelevant. However, he then goes on to inject a new context to support the right to bear arms, for self-defense in the home, which although reasonable is not mentioned anywhere in the bill of rights.

Scalia correctly points out that in "all six other provisions of the Constitution that mention 'the people,' the term unambiguously refers to all members of teh political community, not an unspecified subset." However, he thin goes on identify specific subsets of teh community that have a right to bear arms (law-abiding citizens defending their homes) and those who whould not (criminals, mentally-ill). Although this too sounds reasonable, the contradictions render the opinion debatable.

The majority then relies on a 'strict interpretation' to emphasize that the right "shall not be infringed." He then goes on to list the infringements that he beleives are still appropriate, including who gets this right, where it applies, and commercial transactions neccesary to exercise this right.

These inconsistencies suggest that this is not the best thought out opinion the Court has compiled. The air of personal opinion instead of logic is reinforced by other illogical arguments more appropriate to arguing the case than deciding it, such, "what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this Court to pronounce the Second Ammendment extinct." Although the modern context of DC law was part of the argument, the court was not asked to rule the ammendment 'extinct'. This is an extreme and argumentative position that does little to clarify messy middle that lower courts will need to sort out.

In the Washington Post article "Justices Reject D.C. Ban on Handgun Ownership", Robert Barnes correctly points out that "Stevens and especially Scalia made their points in caustic and dismissive language. Throughout his opinion, Scalia used terms such as 'frivilous' and 'absurdity' to describe his opponents legal reasoning." The 'opinions' of the Supreme Court ought to provide us with clear, impassionate, and logical guidance.

Both opinions discussed the historical contect of the ammendment, which sheds light on its meaning, but can never be relied upon to reach an absolute conclusion. Professor Mark Tushnelt of harvard correctly observes that both Scalia and Stevens wrote that "there's only one way to view what happened in 1791."

The legal crux of the conclusion, however, is consistent with most Supreme Court opinions, that the absolute prohibition of hand guns went too far. In many other cases the Court has ruled that the state cannot category deny one right to all people in order to protect another right, or people in general.

Ultimately, the opinion addressed only one part of the ammendment, and left room for infinitely more debate about the regulation of arms.

Okay So We're Buying a House

Okay, so we sprung this on ourselves too. We wanted a bigger house and agreed to moving someday, and looking at houses in general, and agreed in principal to some houses over others, and secured financing just in case, and since we're agreed made an offer that was accepted and omg we're buying a *!%^&* house!

The house is in Hyattsville on 43rd Street, an older neighvorhood but new construction. Its kind of a blank slate but we decided to we'd rather put money into improvements than repairs. See some pictures or a map.

We're closing on Friday July 11th.

Flowering of the Church at Old Trinity

Mothers day this year - May 11, 2008 - coincided with a traditiona called the flowering of the church. A news story from WBOC about the flowering at Old Trinity Episcopal Church in Church Creek, MD where Carolyn and I were married last year on April 8th 2007 <link>.

Educational Achievements

Today Jonathan Deva (JD) Goodman receives his Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from the William & Mary School of Law. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will provide the commencement address.

Just yesterday we also learned that Jaishree Goodman was accepted to the New York University (NYU) Gallatin School of Individualized Study as well as St. Edwards in Austin. Its nice to have good options.

That should make a Happy Mother's Day for one mom!

Charles Dunn

Carolyn' s father Charles Dunn, 80, was killed Sunday in a car accident. We're comforted to know that he was happy, and raised a family he was proud of. We're heading up to Connecticut for the funeral and family. The picture below shows Del, Carolyn, Charles, and I south of Providence, RI after lunch and before C and I flew home last year. You can visit the Notice for Charles F. Dunn.
http://www.legacy.com/Link.asp?I=LS000109173619X

Nats Defeat Braves at Home in OT

At the end of April, Ben & Carolyn attended their first game at the Nationals new Ballpark, with family, friends, and Colleagues. Including Deva Goodman, Bob Hayes, half the FHWA Office of Safety, and colleagues from NHTSA. The Nats won 3-2 in overtime.

Nationals Defeat Braves in OT

Springtime in Beltsville

Well its the first warm sunny then rainy weekend in Beltsville, so ancient tradition requires an expensive trip to Benkhe's Nursary. Here's what Carolyn and I put in the ground this weekend...

We also saw the movie "Forgetting Sara Marshall" - pretty clever and funny, but I heard it was great. That Kristen Bell is very pretty though!

Hockberry Garden Sping 2008

Culture on the Road

Last night Carolyn and I drove up to Montclaire, NJ. We stopped for Pizza slices at Little Dino's -- Fresh motzerella and basil, and Grandma's style (well done, with big dollops of tomato sause that tastes like tomatos!). From next door we grabbed some wine and with the pizza had a Bogle 2006 Pinot Noir for $18. Delicious! If only I wasn't already full on chili dogs and Combos from the road trip.

After dinner we couldn't quite figure out how to get our host -- Tom and Susan Dunn - DVD player to work with the TV so we watched Born into Brothels: pretty disturbing but glad of the woman who started it all and the kids who made it.

Finished my book by Jared Diamond: Guns' Germs, and Steel. Incredible powerful explanations for how the world got to be the way it is today in terms of distribution of power, wealth, and technology. So I've just picked up his 2005 book Collapse - another dense 800 pages.

Just now we are going into town to for brunch at the Brooklyn Diner, and to meet family and dinner: Tom, Susan, Asha, Jai, Charles, and Sharon. We also went to the Morgan Library and Museum, Rue B, the girls aprtment on Rue C. Had a great day!

See pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rbgribbon/AlmostSpringInNYC or

Almost Spring in NYC

David Cook - Billie Jean

Carolyn got me watching American Idol last night and for once it was worth it. They should give David Cook a contract right now and let the others compte. David's cover of Billie Jean is even better than Chris Cornell's (Soundgarden/Audioslave).

DOT Creates New Lane For Reckless Drivers

DOT Creates New Lane For Reckless Drivers

WASHINGTON—Signs for the lane will feature the icon of a swerving 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis with a mattress tied to the top by a single length of twine.

Frustrated at the Baymont

The Baymont Inn & Suites in Lafayette, is NOT LOCATED on the north side of 26 near Timber Trail Drive as GIS/GPS shows. It is located just south of 26 in the southeast corner 26 and I-65 interchange. Staff have urged the manager to correct its electronic location (which Google lets you do now) but no action has been taken so far. The map IS correct on their official website however.

I suppose the hotel is nice enough in a budget business suite way like Hampton Inn -- clean, and mostly pleasant staff, free unprotected internet.

Also I requested a Non-Smoking room through orbitz, and Baymont put me in a SMOKING room without saying they had no n/s rooms left. If its already late, what are you going to do? But if all my luggage smells like smoke I will send them the dry-cleaning bill. Argh.