The Bauer Confidential

I have somehow managed to contract a cold.  I’m wondering if I should blame the woman at the supermarket who I heard talking to people about her pneumonia but then came and stood thisclose to me while I was looking at something (I tried to discretely back away).  I was even wearing Jocelyn in her carrier at the time.  I know you need to do your grocery shopping even if you’re sick, but maybe you could try not to breathe on people, especially not people with babies.  I’m not a germophobe.  Getting sick is actually good for your immune system, if you’re an adult.  So far Jocelyn seems more or less fine, maybe a little runny nose.  I’m glad I’m still breastfeeding because she should be getting antibodies from me for whatever it is I have.  But I feel pretty much like crap right now.  I tried to nap with Jocelyn earlier but didn’t rest well.  Of course Jocelyn seems extra-cranky today (though it’s probably just my perception).  I’m not sure what cold medicines are safe to take (though I could pretty easily find out).  I’m sticking to motrin, which I know is safe, and lots of hot tea.  The inability to get a full night’s sleep is probably not real great for my immune system.  Time for some more tea and vitamin C.

I’ve made these twice now, this is my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I made these since my Mom is visiting, she agrees that they’re the best chocolate chip cookies ever.  Matthew keeps trying to steal my cookies, even though he has his own, so he must think they’re good.

Happy New Year Everyone.

2008 was quite a year for me. Here are the quick highlights.

1) Had surgery on my septum.
2) Co-authored a review in the Journal “Cell.”
3) Visited NYC, and did most of the touristy stuff.
4) Visited Alcatraz Island.
5) Further explored the bay area
6) Gave my first talk at an international conference.
The best for last:
7) My daughter Jocelyn entered my life.

Now it is time for resolutions. I wasn’t going to list any this year, but I’ve changed my mind after hearing about a study. This study was examining if new year resolutions work, and what you can do to succeed. It turns out, they do work as long as they are reasonably attainable and you have some sort of emotional support. Roughly 40% of the people that make resolutions succeed. When examining people who have the same goals but did not make a resolution, only 4% of the people fulfilled those aspirations.

So, I’ll give it a shot and here are my resolutions for 2009

1) Go to they gym more…roughly 2 or more times a week would be nice.  Mainly, I’ve been getting a “bench belly” and it would be nice to loose 10-15 lbs.  Even if I don’t loose much weight, I could use the cardio work out.

2) Watch much less t.v. and spend more time reading.

3) Get caught up with my reading at work and be overall more organized.

I think I will leave it at three, and I hope those are reasonably attainable. I was going to add “find a hobby,” but with a newborn I think my hobby will be raising a daughter.

To everyone that reads this, I hope you had a good overall 2008 and I wish you all a 2009 that greatly exceeds all expectations.

My family

(taking a much needed nap)

Jocelyn Patricia Bauer

Born November 26th (4:57am)

She’s a bigg’n at 9lbs 4ozs and a hair over 22 inches long

I haven’t got that many good pic’s of her yet, but I’m sure there will be many soon.

I would also like to add to what April wrote yesterday, but that will wait a bit.  First I wanted to write some thoughts (final thoughts for awhile) I had about President-Elect Obama.

The question on NPR on the day after the election was: does the election of Barack Obama signify a major step in race relations in America?  I think the obvious answer is YES because there is no way he could get elected without the “white” vote, which signifies a change to a more positive attitude toward race equality in America.  Does this end racism or racial discrimination?  Well of course not, but I heard some opinions today that made this election appear more significant than I originally thought.  Not immediately significant, but will be for later generations. Here are the points that I found interesting.

1) Who is the first president that you can remember; the one from your childhood?  For me, I remember Ronald Reagan, and I remember thinking at the time that he was MY president and for some reason I just loved and trusted him.  Even to this day, with facts about his presidency on hand, I still have a fondness for the man.  I remember that in college I would debate with friends about what would occur first, an African-American president or a woman president (the answer is “A”).  Now we’ll have many children that, when they grow up, will remember their first president being an African-American and will never debate “will there ever be a black president?”*  They will never have that sort of doubt in their mind about the possibility of an African-American president.  This can only help heal the wounds of racial discrimination.

2) Who was your role model growing up?  For me, it was probably my father, but I had others that I looked up to, both real and fictional.  I loved Reagan (as mentioned), Robin Hood, G.I. Joe (don’t ask why), I’m sure there are others but I don’t want to spend to much time thinking about it.  Here is my point, in the past few years or more I’ve heard African-Americans like Bill Cosby speak critically of the African-American culture, especially in the inner city areas.  One of their complaints is the idolization of gangsters and rappers and mimicking their selfish, violent and misogynist attitudes.  Now we have President Obama and the possibility of a generation of children and teenagers (of all color) idolizing someone who espouses hope, unity, and public service.  This has got to make Cosby feel better, and can only help society as a whole.

The more I thought about it, the more that I came to agree with a lot of the Obamamanics that this is an exciting time.  I grew up hearing the stories of Martin Luther King Jr, Jackie Robinson, George Washington Carver, and we will experience the man that our children and children’s children will hear and read about: President Barack Obama.  Of course, what we hear and the reverence towards him will be determined by his presidency, but as I mentioned in a past post, I have some caution, but right now I’m filled with mostly hope.

* We’ll have to save the discussion of gender equality for a different post

I’ve been happy to let Matthew do the political postings around here.  I care about politics, but I don’t really care to discuss them.  I also believe that we vote anonymously for a reason, and that how I vote is my business and no one else’s.  Additionally, I know that most of the people who read this site either agree with my political leanings already, or could not possibly be convinced into seeing things my way even if I harassed them for years; I fear building animosity especially among my family and friends.  You can see why I was never on the debate team in college and why I don’t volunteer for campaigns.

All of that being said, after watching the returns last night I have a lot of hope that things in our country will be changing for the better.  I’m not an emotional person, and I didn’t tear up at the eloquent speeches, but a piece of me understood why a lot of people were so moved, and I shared with them a pride in our country that I haven’t felt for a while.  In my opinion, the most important thing Obama said during his speech last night was this: “And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.“  It was painfully obvious that the current administration did not feel this way, and many of us have suffered for that.  Our country needs, and I think craves, unity and solidarity.  As Obama, and others have said, “There is more that unites us than divides us.”

Yet for me, yesterday only feels like a partial victory, and there are two very divergent reasons for that.  I’ll only focus now on my biggest disappointment with this election cycle, and that is California’s Proposition 8.  If you don’t support gay marriage, you probably shouldn’t read past here.  Read more »

I have never had to wait to vote until today.  Welcom to a densly populated CA city.  It really wasn’t that bad.  I waited for an hour and half.  I voted, and my guy won.  I’m happy because I think he is the better guy, but let’s not get lazy.  This system only works if we question our leadership and hold them accountable (and give them praise when they earn it).  We can not just blindly follow.   Right now though, I’m feeling pretty good and I am filled with hope for a better tomorrow and a better country.

I’m ready to have this election over with. It has gone on way too long (almost 2 years!), and you know that as soon as the next president is sworn in, we’ll have at least one person starting their 2012 campaign.  It’s crazy, but at least the signs will come down and I’ll stop getting 4-5 robocalls a day about every measure and every person.  By the way, I’m not going to vote a certain way because of a Martin Sheen voiced robocall.

I am going to vote tomorrow, and I encourage all of you to go vote.  I haven’t hidden the fact I’m voting for Obama, but even if you are not, go and vote anyway.  It’ll make you feel better.  Oh, and don’t be like this lady!

I wanted to write a post on why I’m voting for Barack Obama.  Mainly because I’ve haven’t written much on this site as of late, and this is the big event of the day.  So unless you want to read an overly biased post, you may stop now, if not please continue.
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