It's open house at the Baltimore Museum of Art today. At the moment, I'm admiring Henry Moore's sculpture The Three Rings in the contemporary wing. It's also nice to massage a sleeping baby's feet at the same time.

- mike lee -

...in a taxi after our car was towed to the dealer. The baby has been very well behaved. Looking forward to getting home to sleep.

Bah! After dinner, we discovered our PT Cruiser's automatic would go into gear. After a lot of futzing, we had it towed to a nearby dealership. We're waiting with baby inside the restaurant for a taxi to take us on a 30-minute ride back into downtown Baltimore.

- mike lee -

My sister-in-law and I Just got out of a showing of The Return of the King, which I finally decided to see without the company of my wife who still has to deal with a newborn baby constantly feeding at her chest. She was OK with waiting some more and will hopefully catch the movie with our baby at a Reel Moms day at a Loews theater in the coming weeks.

What can I say about this epic that hasn't been said already? This is some of the best light to hit a silver screen, and an epic whose scope and quality will not be exceeded for a long time to come. I disagree with those that thought the ending was too drawn out. It seemed right to end this 12-hour story with a series of sentimental exits for each group of characters, and ofcourse the king had to be crowned. I can't see how ROTK won't win best picture, even against the excellent Lost in Translation.

- mike lee -

- mike lee - corner of belvedere ave. and york rd., baltimore, md

In contrast to our New Year's Eve blowout of last year, we're home tonight cradling our new little girl. "Sleep sweet Cianna" is whispered as mommy and daddy bring the best of 2003 into the new year.

Everyone be safe tonight!

- amy, cianna, and mike lee - baltimore, md

Rick, your post on the book Fast Food Nation is timely in light of the Mad Cow scare here in the U.S.

I first read an edited version Chapter 2 of the book in the January 2001 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. The title of the article was "Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good," and delivered what was for me a riveting account of how the tastes and smells of almost all processed foods are chemically enhanced. Copies of the article are now mirrored around the web now that the article is gone from The Atlantic's web site. It's a great read.

There's also a good interview with the book's author, Eric Schlosser, on The Atlantic site.

I just might re-read the book to remind myself of the scary, fascinating facts in it.

- mike lee -

...over Thai salad lunch at the bar at Zola's. It's been too long since I've met up with Thom, so we've resolved to meet again real soon.

- mike lee - washington, dc

Cheers to Bernie, Becky and newborn Raelin! Welcome to the new life and parent's new world.

- mike lee -

My mom, brother and his wife came over today to celebrate Cianna's one-month birthday with a traditional Chinese Red Eggs and Ginger party. The passing of a baby's first month was significant in ancient Chinese culture because infant mortality rates were high and it was a good sign the child would survive if it was still healthy. We ate red eggs, hardboiled eggs dipped in red food coloring to symbolize good luck, and ginger, to ward off evil spirits. Red envelopes of money are given to the baby, as well as a name. My mom gave Cianna the name Ya Ling, which I think means "kind and delicate." So much for the new name because about ten minutes after our guests left, the "kind and delicate" child exploded bodily fluids from every oriface, drenching mommy, and sending daddy running for the heavy-duty baby wipes.

- mike lee - baltimore