Maybe it’s actually a truck, but for sure it’s my nearly new shiny black Ford Edge Sport.  If the black exterior and interior aren’t distinctive enough, the polished aluminum 22″ rims sure are (I actually had a guy at an intersection roll down his window and say “nice rims”).  All that aside, the thing that sold me on the Edge was the top of the line Microsoft based Sync Navigation system.  I’ve been using it now for several months and it is extremely intuitive and tightly integrated into the audio system and the rest of the car.  For instance, when I run low on gas, not only does the low fuel light come on, but the navigation system starts showing the nearest gas stations, including recent prices.  It’s a fantastic car; I’m satisfied.

It’s always great to hear a Princeton reference on TV, and the Law and Order franchise has always been good for them.

Tonight, they came up with a rather timely one, as Grey Vanderhoven, apparently a Princeton alum, and his socially conscience wife, talk about his upcoming reunion in a month (timing is close enough).  He wants to miss it, but she says you only miss a reunion if your fat, single, or unemployed.  None of the above are good reasons to miss reunions.

He also complains that it’s hard to find a room because there is only one hotel in Princeton - well done L&O: CI! Indeed the Nassau Inn is the only hotel in the town of Princeton.  There are, however, many hotels nearby and, for major reunions, you can get housing on campus or at nearby schools. Grey didn’t arrange ahead of time, so he should be glad his wife got a suite (that’s got to be around $1000 per night at reunions time!).

I’m guessing for some reason, though, Grey won’t make it.  Back to watching to find out why.

It’s a bit hard to believe I graduated ten years ago!  But then, in retrospect, a lot has happened in those ten years.  I got a Ph.D., lived in four different places, bought three houses, the list goes on.  In all of that, I still haven’t missed a reunion, so this year won’t be any different.

There is still a lot left to do.  I’m co-chairing two Reunions committees this year, Technology and P-Rade, and I need to get the final preparations done so things run smoothly.  I’ve been blessed with a great co-chair for each committee who have done more than their fair share of heavy lifting as we’re prepared - thanks Michael and Kenna!  It’s also time to get my own cowbell. I’ve been borrowing one from the band, but its been getting harder to get my hands on it.

Never the less, I’m ready! My beer jacket is clean and my ‘99 socks are good to go.  This may be the year for the tigershirt to come out again. We’ll see.

I just turned 32, and my wonderful friends wished me Happy Birthday (much thanks to Facebook and Verizon Wireless).  I did not, however get that age old question (no pun intended): “Do you feel different?”  Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t mind not hearing the question. For some 32 years, I haven’t felt any different on March 12 than I did on any other day.

This birthday, though, I felt different.  (It’s not because kens_age = 2^5.)  We had a safety meeting at work, and I saw a chart that had our environmental statistics since 1990.  The story was good - we’re going down year after year - but there were so many bars!  I notice things like how many bars are on a chart: too many makes the chart look crowded, and this one did.  All those bars, and I remember the year 1990, well, vaguely.

Could it be that I’ve now made the transition from young adult to middle age?

Reprising a fun stint at the Georgetown Gilbert and Sullivan Society (the only theater company with it’s own law school), Ken helped this fall’s production of the musical “Urinetown”, directed by friend Matt Berman. The show has an awful name, but it is an excellent and clever dark comedy about power, poor-folks, and pee. Ken one of the two spotlight operators and helped with the set crew and lights crew.

While in DC, I stayed with my buddy Jim Gallagher, and I had a chance to catch up with a bunch of good friends who I haven’t seen in quite a while. I also got to meet some great new folks in the cast and crew of the show.