Author Archives: JJD
Chicago – City of architecture
Every time I come to Chicago I think, Oh man, why don’t I live here? Then I remember the horrible winters and my hankering to move to the Midwest dies down — but doesn’t go away completely. Because just look at that skyline! Any city with architecture like Chicago’s merits special consideration. In my opinion, Chicago is the best city […]
Chicago!
I’m in Chicago! It’s just for fun — a mini-vacation to break up the holiday-less months of spring. Amanda and her family (parents, sister and nephew, two grandmothers) flew in from Colorado, Utah and California. Two friends of mine from college and law school days already live here. I flew out to join the party. Naturally (because there’s […]
Who in their right mind signs up for this on purpose?
Today’s workout: Yes, it was every bit as horrible as you might expect. Well, as horrible as you might expect if you had the non-existent fore-arm strength that I do. If you looked like someone — anyone — drawn by Arnold Friberg, then you wouldn’t have anything to worry about. And if you weren’t sure […]
Not myself
Okay, so here’s a weird thing that my family (or, at least, I) learned about my grandfather recently: He apparently gets migraines but doesn’t feel them. I mean, he can tell they’re happening and all because other symptoms (like the aura) occur, but he doesn’t feel any pain. Which is kind of cool, like a quasi super-power […]
The Ride: Spring and Sting
Those of you who read this blog and live in DC know just how cold and horrible this spring has been. Months of rain and gray and cold; the cherry blossoms delayed so long they basically missed the festival. Seriously, we might as well have moved to Minnesota. But the past week and a half, or so, […]
Leaps and turns (or, Why we go to the ballet)
There’s nothing like ballet for revealing the astonishing beauty of disciplined athleticism. Take, for example, the ABT’s performance of Le Corsaire tonight at the Kennedy Center. In Act II, our eponymous pirate hero hides out in his grotto with his slave and his captured Greek girl, both of whom (thanks to the inevitable logic of ballet) proceed to dance […]
Babies!
In the past month, two new people have come into the world with the distinct honor of getting to call me uncle. I can’t wait to meet them! Adri Jess, born March 12 Baby boy, born yesterday, April 10
Cherry Blossom Ten Miler
My alarm went off this morning at 5:00am. A few minutes later I was eating a bowl of oatmeal and checking the weather report. I warmed up and stretched and pulled on my running gear (and then pulled it off, and back on, going through every possible permutation of shorts/tights/shirt/jacket/gloves before finally coming back to the outfit I’d originally planned […]
You want me on your team
Today was blocked out for all-day negotiations on a European manufacturing/distribution deal that I’ve been working on for the past year for a major pharmaceutical company. Our client had flown in from the Midwest, our counterparties from the South, and we had conference rooms reserved for the long haul (not long haul like we did in […]
Lemons
When life (and by “life” I mean Lincoln Center) gives you lemons, eat a Belgian waffle and talk about the lemons later.
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 