Spain is really good

This 1 minute video showing the 2nd goal in Spain’s 6-0 drubbing of Poland in their final World Cup tuneup is a good representation of why they’re my pick to win the World Cup. 

Personally, I love the 2nd to last pass the most (the lift, over the defenders heads to the streaking forward before the goal. Beautiful football.  

NY Moment

We used to have tons of “New York Moments”, and it seems a lot have to do with getting household items back to the apartment (which is always an adventure as a car-less family). 

Like the time I carried the microwave box in the rain, onto the subway, and back home. 

Or the time we bought a sitting chair on Craigslist and somehow fit it in a taxi to get it home. 

And, of course, buying a Christmas tree our first Christmas and walking it back to the apartment. 

Christmas Tree in NYC from Zack Mansfield on Vimeo.

Yesterday we had another moment.  We had bought a vintage hutch from a local thrift shop and spent a few days trying to figure out how we were going to get it home.  It was only a block away, but not the easiest to manuever.  So I borrowed a moving dolly from my office building and last night we went and picked up our piece.  We got a ton of interesting looks from folks on the sidewalk, and were even helped out by a Good Samaritan named Joe who helped us navigate the last street corners. 

We love the new addition and glad it’s home.  Another fun NYC memory! 

(by the way, we’ll pretend my eyes are open in the picture…had to take it quick!) 

3 days

until World Cup 2010 South Africa kicks off

4 days until US-England on ABC (2:30 EST), which promises to be one of the most viewed soccer games in US network TV history. 

For those of you interested in jumping on the World Cup/soccer bandwagon, USSoccer.com has been doing awesome video segments everyday from S. Africa called Studio 90.  Here’s one of the recent segments about the team’s off day. 

Brizcariz.com turns 1

A little over a year ago I started exchanging emails and late night HTML/CSS coding conversations with my good buddy Brent Carothers.  He was interesting in dipping his toe into the murky waters of blogging, but wasn’t quite sure about the whole thing, even as he was buying a URL and putting up his first post.  

About a week after his blog was born, I linked to BrizCariz.com and gave props to the nascent, but sure to be awesome new creation.  Yet, Brent was not so sure his new baby would live.  After all, he is a Fellow in the highly selective and excruciatingly time-consuming Duke University Pediatric Cardiology program.  And with the little free time he has, he does an amazing job as a father and husband, all while maniacally following all these fantasy football and Washington Redskins.  

Well, this weekend, Brizcariz.com turned 1, and Brent wrote a great retrospective on the year of blogging.  In his post he noted his initially uncertainty about sharing his life with the Interwebs:

i am not a blogger. 

i’ve never had a website, i don’t do facebook, and i’ll probably never “tweet.”  i am perfectly comfortable with the majority of my acquaintances having no idea what i’m doing at this exact moment.  the truth is that i’ve never really embraced the 21st century phenomenon wherein average people feel the need to broadcast their every average thought and action throughout the universe, just because.

 And then reflected on how much he’s changed in the year since:

looking back and vividly remembering my frame of mind while typing that very post, i simply can’t believe how much has changed.  i now have 365 facebook friends, two websites (if you haven’t visited BroodingBurgundy yet, check it outhere), and i use my phone more for tweeting than for making actual calls.  i’m not just on the grid; i built the grid.  and at least as much as anyone else i know in person, i most assuredly am a blogger.  some days i find myself evaluating my entire agenda under the rubric of “bloggability.”…..

and summed it up with a quite eloquent few lines about why blogging is so fun for so many of us: 

more importantly, though, and much to my surprise, i quickly came to enjoy the opportunities afforded by The Riz to articulate some otherwise private thoughts, to share with family some otherwise buried treasures, and to promote a dialogue with friends from near and far, past and present, that otherwise would not be possible within the context of my insanely busy work schedule and the great many responsibilities of a husband and father.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - Brent is one of the most talented, interesting, and intriguing people I’ve ever met (anyone who can appreciate both the inner workings of the human heart while also maintaining an unhealthy obsession with all things ballpark/carnival food is nothing if not intriguing).  If you’ve not “peeped the Riz”  in the last year, I think today’s the day you should.  

And I’m not just saying that because Briz calls me his “blogging Yoda” - though I do have that going for me, which is nice. 

Half Birthday!

We posted a quick picture earlier today at 8:34am - literally 6 months to the day when Miller was born. 

It seems we are living out the cliche because time has been flying.  Earlier this week we spent an hour and looked through a bunch of pictures from the last six months.  Though it seems like yesterday we were at NY Presbyterian Hospital, the pictures of Miller seem almost like they’re of someone altogether different.  He’s changing so quickly…I’ll take this half birthday as the small chance I need to look back and reflect at the months just passed. 

Then: 

Now: 

Just Over 1 month old: 

2 months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

Peek a Boo

Miller absolutely loves any and every variation of covering his eyes and then suddenly removing the barrier to allow him to see again.  We happened to catch him enjoying a little Peek a Boo time and it’s so much fun to see him laughing and moving his legs like crazy. 

Miller Peek a Boo from Zack Mansfield on Vimeo.

May Days

Oh the joys of the long weekend!

Tracy and I were talking the other day about how the 3 day weekend for Memorial Day has to be one of the most underrated holidays of all.  Memorial Day does, after all, serve as the ceremonial kickstart to summer.  And though we don’t look forward these days to summer vacation from school, summer does still mean things like the crisp coolness of a swimming pool and the delicious goodness of burgers on the grill.  The best part about Memorial Day?  These great things have only just begun, and we have months and months ahead to enjoy them.

We tried to make the most of our long weekend and were able to pack it full with a variety of delightful activities.  We started out Friday night, as Tracy and I had the luxury of a babysitter for the evening so we could go out for dinner to celebrate our friend Hannah’s birthday.  It was great fun to be out and about sans stroller, especially in the uber-trendy and always entertaining Lower East Side (let’s just say that our lack of tattoos made us a minority).  Our little boy was safe and sound at home with our wonderful neighbor who served as babysitter for the night. 

On Saturday (as well as every other morning of the weekend), Miller and I went out on a little stroll to grab a cup of coffee and get some fresh air.  It was on these early morning strolls that you can really appreciate how empty the city feels on a true long summer weekend.  With so many people travelling (to the Hamptons, vacations, etc), the true residential and non-tourist parts of the city seem half full - and twice as awesome as usual. 

But we didn’t spend our whole time in the city.  On Saturday afternoon, our friends Tony and Mindy picked us up and took us out to their neighborhood in Weehawken, NJ, just across the Hudson River.  In a true suburbia style, we partook in a delightful meal at the local Chili’s (complete with bottomless chips, free refills, and gross overeating).  Needless to say, it was fantastic. 

On Sunday and Monday, the highlights of the day were undoubtedly the hours we spent each afternoon sitting in Central Park with friends.  We spent tons of time people watching, throwing the frisbee, and drinking in the warmth of the summer kickstart sun.  

There was just one more big event of the weekend - the official first “meal” for Miller.  We fed him his first bites of rice cereal from a spoon, and the little guy was a natural.  He was a little apprehensive at first about sitting in the chair, but after his first bite, he realized that this food thing was pretty awesome and kept coming back for more.  It was another milestone for him and another reminder for us of just how fast he’s growing up.  

This week he’ll celebrate his 1/2 birthday.  And before you know it, summer will be over and we’ll be getting ready for winter.  Time, it sure does fly - we’re doing our best to soak it in.