Norman Dexter Graf


My father was born in Waco Texas on October 3rd 1941.  He later moved to Fort Worth with my grandparents and that is where he eventually met my mother.  They were married on August 29th of 1958.  My parents had their first child, my older brother, Ray, who was born on January 2nd of 1959.  My parents then had my sister Sherry on October 22nd of 1961.  I didn't enter the picture until August 17th 1971.  I came to the family last and as I have been told often, a little unexpected.  My father was 30 years old when I was born, my mom 29, and my sister was almost 10, my oldest brother 13.

I'm not pointing this bit of family history out to compete with the Old Testament's long list of begats.  I just want to point out that my parents had some practice raising children before I came along.  I owe my sister and brother a lot of thanks for softening them up for me.  As my sister would say I was the spoiled brat.  I heard a lot of stories from my sister about my father from when she was young.  According to her he was much stricter before I came along.  Not to say he was a push over when I was young.  I knew to never make my father angry and to do as he told me or he would let me know when I was misbehaving.  I couldn't imagine him being much more strict than he was with me.

I remember my father as someone who worked hard and had a very strong work ethic.  I remember him going to work when he didn't feel well, and when many others would have called in sick.  My sister told me a story about how he broke his arm at work, went to the hospital to have it set and then went back to work once it was done.  I remember him driving into work on days when snow and ice had caused most roads to be close and he would call home to tell my mom not to even try to drive into work.  I also remember my father's love for cars and motorcycles.  As a young kid I spent a lot of my Friday nights at stock car races and drag races.  There were many other Saturdays going to classic car shows and walking around with my dad looking at cars.  I wouldn't exactly say I appreciated my dad's passion for cars as a kid.  I mean they all looked similar to me.

I remember that my father always seemed to have one very cool Christmas gift for me.  I think he wanted to make sure I had an opportunity to try different things and develop different talents.  My dad was a pretty damn good artist and I think I learned some of that from him.  But he also bought me a few telescopes, which I still have a fondness for, a few musical instruments that never quite took hold for me, and a lot of things like Lego and other gifts that looking back on, seemed to spur my engineering interests.

I also remember my father's lectures.  As a kid these were on topics from maintaining my bicycle, oiling the chain and tightening the chain, to topics of how to behave in public and to make sure I always wore clean clothes.  I remember him saying once that he and my mother didn't make a lot of money and couldn't buy us the nicest clothes but they sure wouldn't let us run around in dirty clothes.  As I got older the lectures seemed to get longer and I was less than attentive or appreciative.  It wasn't until I was an adult and would ask for my father's advice that I realized their were no more lectures but just good conversations and some really good advice.

My father passed away on January 2nd 2012 after suffering a heart attack on December 23rd 2011.  He was at a grocery store when he collapsed.  He was buying groceries for Christmas dinner.  My sister and I flew back home as soon as we heard.  Looking back, most of the time when I was home before and just after my father passed, I think I was a lot like one of those people that are found wandering around after a horrific accident, unaware of exactly what just happened, and left in a daze.  I think even now, only at certain times the reality hits me.

I did want to thank my best friend Brad Hill and my wife and also best friend Jo for helping me get through this.  Without them I would not have kept my sanity.  Also my sister was the strongest one of the family.  She has been amazing in getting things done and dealing with the legal, financial, and bureaucratic process of this whole thing.  Without her this process would have been more than I could have done on my own.

Beyond the feeling of loss that I have is this feeling of being ungrounded.  I sort of felt that in life we need our foundation, family support, good health, good career, and a good home. Now, one piece of my foundation is gone.  I am sure with time I will begin to feel grounded again but for now life seems a little unsettled.

My sister and I had a chance to go through some photos of our father.  I had to write an obituary which was not entirely pleasant.  The person at the funeral home did some editing but it's mostly how I wrote it.  Here is a link.  Norman Dexter Graf Obituary  So as a tribute I thought I would share some of those photos that my sister and I found of our father.

I've been experimenting with minimalist running shoes for about 7 or 8 weeks now. I'm probably a bit late to the whole minimalist running shoe trend as well as a being late to getting around to reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  I am enjoy the book quite a bit, although I get the feeling the author tends to overly exaggerate at times, but whatever.  It makes for an entertaining read.

So my first experiment with minimalist running shoes was with the Vibram Five Finger Bakila LS.  I was transitioning from the Nike Lunarglide which I had logged quite a few miles in.  

I quite liked the Vibram Bakila LS.  I tended to land mid to fore foot even in my Nikes so my transition to the Bakila LS wasn't that difficult.  My first impressions with the Bakila LS was that they were very comfortable.  I wore them without socks eve though I did by some Injinji socks just in case.  I also liked the lace system the Bakila LS used over the original Bakila.  I bought my Bakilas from the Vibram web site.  I would say if you do buy them from their web site as well, you may want to go one size up from the sizing method recommended on their web site.  Mine fit quite snug and I think I could have easily gone up one size from a 40 to a 41.  Even so the size 40 was not uncomfortable so I trekked ahead with them.

One thing that I noticed right away with the Vibrams is that they are very light and the sole is very, very minimal.  For instance if you do step on a small pebble or  stick you will feel it in these shoes.  They provide enough protection so that it doesn't hurt but I did instinctively avoid small debris on my runs at first until I was used to feeling everything I stepped on.  The sensation is very close to being barefoot but I did appreciate the light feeling of these shoes.  I was also surprised at just how much support a conventional shoe provides.  In the Vibrams I felt muscles in my feet and ankles getting a workout that I've never felt before.  Also as most people who transition to Vibrams will warn, my calves were getting a serious workout.

The Vibrams will more or less teach you to run on the fore part, or the balls of your feet.  Landing on your heels provides immediate feedback in that you will feel the impact on your heels quite strongly.  As a result of landing on the balls of your feet your arches and calves absorb the impact forces in a smoother transition and they are worked out quite a bit.  So I took the warnings to heed and the first week I only ran 1.5 miles at a time, and only 3 or 4 runs a week.  As I transitioned up over the next 5 weeks everything was going well with my Vibrams.  I did feel as though my feet did need to toughen up during this time since I did feel every bit of the impact of my feet landing during my runs.  I also felt that when my stride was just right, landing softly on my fore foot and just lightly resting my heel before picking up my foot again, keeping my posture straight, I felt like I was running very lightly and expending very little energy.  I felt like I could run for ever.  I hadn't quite felt that while running before.

The trouble I had with my Vibrams came as a started to run longer than say 4 miles or more in a given run.  I think the impact forces started to take their toll on the balls of my feet.  I started to feel some pain in my right foot in the ball of my foot.  The pain would immediately subside as soon as I ended my run and I started to walk.  I read online that compression of the foot, ie. shoes being too small could cause this pain so at first I thought maybe I needed to move up a size in the Vibrams.  However, I read more running blogs and reviews and it seemed like other runners had similar experiences as mine on longer runs in the Vibrams.

So my wife and I went to REI where my intent was to try a larger size in the Vibrams.  Unfortunately REI did not have the Bakila LS.  They did however cary the Merrell Barefoot True Glove.  They were advertised as Vibram Five Fingers without the fingers.  They also seemed to have a slightly more substantial Vibram sole.  Actually they seemed to be a more substantial shoe all around yet still a very light weight shoe, maintaining a minimalist feel.  I tried on a pair and I was immediately impressed so I bought a pair, and a pair for my wife.

My first impressions are that the shoe is comfortable, maybe a little less so than the Bakila LS but still quite comfortable.  I do wear socks with the Merrells as well.  The lacing system is very nice.  It's supportive and snug.  It does take a little longer to adjust the laces to get them on then tighten them up again.  I took them out for a first run, only 2.85 miles and they seem very nice.  They have much less of a barefoot feel than Vibrams but still much, much more minimal of a shoe than my Nike Lunarglides.  I don't feel the running surface as much as I did in my Vibrams.  I have mixed feeling about this.  I feel safer running in the Merrells because let's face it, you never know when you'll run across something that's not so nice to your feet on a run.  As far as the separated toe pouches on the Vibrams, I don't really miss them much.  I think they are more of a unique style feature for Vibrams rather than providing any real benefits while running.

At this point I would have given the Merrells a glowing recommendation for anyone seeking a minimalist running shoe without the hard core, near barefoot, experience of the Vibrams, however, after my first run in the Merrells I did experience a significant issue.  After my run I usually walk to cool down for about a half mile or so.  After the run, and when I started to walk, I felt the Merrells rubbing just above my heel on my Achilles tendon.  The strange thing is I did not feel any rubbing or discomfort during my run, nor did I feel the rubbing while walking in the shoes prior to my run.  I found another running forum where someone mentioned the rubbing as well in their Merrells and they actually cut some material from the back of their shoes.  Now I was not fond of cutting on my brand new shoes but I do like them very much and I want to use them since other than this one issue they were great.  So I made some modifications, cutting some material from the upper heel of the shoe, shown below.

I cut the material of the shoe using an exacto knife.  I also added some epoxy to the edges to seal the material so that it would not separate or fray.   I've walked in them since and they seem to be working great now.  I'll take them for another run soon just to be certain but they do feel pretty good now.  So if you don't mind making some minor modifications to a brand new pair of shoes, I would recommend the Merrell True Gloves.

So all of this minimal running shoe experimenting has at least reignited my enjoyment of running and I've been running more than I have in a while.  I've been running at least 4 times a week and I'm really starting to get addicted.  Since Jo and I missed the Rock & Roll half marathon in Vegas this year I'll need to find a new event to have a goal to look forward to.  My running slacked off around the end of August and the beginning of September so my RunKeeper progress is looking better now.

  

For folks that know us, they don't need to be reminded of this but I think Jo and I are a little crazy. So my Land Rover Freelander had been in and out of the shop, about 4 times in the past 6 months. It was paid off and I was hoping to go for several more years without car payments but the Freelander had other things in mind, like falling apart apparently.

Since Jo's Jetta was an excellent car and she had really good experiences with the VW dealership and service center near us I decided to trade my Freelander in on a Jetta. The crazy part of this story is that while I was signing papers for my Jetta, Jo had disappeared. When I had finished she was in the process of trading in her perfectly good Jetta on an Eos. Now, I don't blame her. The Eos is a super swanky automobile. I think we made the salesman's day though. I wasn't sure I was going to buy a car that day and the salesman nor I had any idea Jo was going to trade in her Jetta. She now informs me she saw it online that morning and had made up her mind well before we drove to the dealership.

In any event Jo and I have new Volkswagens. I thought I'd share a few photos.

So I am trying to add to my repertoire, a little architectural design. I owe a lot of my interest in architecture to my sister in law Marybeth.

The first design was a concept house I created some time ago. I guess you could say I was inspired after receiving a book of Tadao Ando's work from my sister in law. Originally it was created in a very old version of AutoCAD. I have since exported it to Google SketchUp. This is definitely incomplete work. Like Tadao Ando's work this house would be constructed of exposed cast-in-place concrete. I still need to add the windows, doors, and sliding glass doors on the patio on the top floor. It's a three story house. The main living room is on the second floor with a very large, panoramic, curved window. The enclosed portion of the third floor would also have a very large, panoramic, curved window. A central, circular, fireplace would be on the second and third floors. The bedrooms would be on the first floor. The first floor may need more windows. I would have a door on the first floor just to the right of the circular stairway. The stairway leads to the patio on the top floor.

My newest design was inspired when I was on a recent visit to Texas, on my friend Brad's boat and we were cruising across Benbrook lake. I was looking up on the hills next to the lake and started to day dream about the kind of house I would like to build over looking the lake. The house would be built along side the hill so the entrance is on the upper level of this house. The wrap around deck on the upper level would face the lake to take in the view. The living room, and kitchen would be on the upper level while the bedrooms would be on the lower level.

So our new place has a great balcony where I can set up my telescope. I wasn't really able to use it much at our old condo. We have a great eastward vantage point so I can catch objects as they rise over the horizon. I took these photos as I was trying a few different lenses and filters.

If you're interested these were taken using a Celestron NexStar SLT Series 130 SLT with a Philips ToUcam Pro II webcam.

I've been intrigued by flocking, schooling, and herding algorithms since running across the Boids web site. The emergent "behavior" of flocking actually comes from three basic rules.

• Grouping - tell the Boids to group together.
• Alignment - tell the Boids to move in the same general direction.
• Avoidance - tell the Boids to avoid one another to avoid over crowding.

So when I was working in JavaScript for work I thought a fun exercise would be to implement the Boids in JavaScript. Unfortunately, it turns out that has already been done here.

So my next thought was to refactor the JavaScript Boids code to my own liking and then add an additional behavior, evading a predator. My inspiration for this came while watching a nature program where a school of fish would avoid a shark as the shark swam through the school of fish.

So the predator and prey share the same basic move behavior which also includes a bit of code that "compels" them to stay in the bounds of their "world". In Object Oriented Programming they both extend from the same base object. I then added the chase "behavior" to the predator and now I have a JavaScript based model for a predator perpetually chasing its prey. You can see the page here.

It's a little mesmerizing to watch for an extended period of time. On occasion, the prey will seem to not avoid the predator as much as they do other times. I'm not entirely sure why that is. But the interesting thing is that all of this behavior is provided by only a few basic rules. You can read more about Boids here.

Well, Jo and I finished moving. We moved most of our stuff in the first day and finished up the next. It went pretty smooth but man, I feel like an old man now. Two things really helped this move go smoothly, we rented a cargo van rather than a moving truck. Since both our old place and new place have parking garages we could drive the van into the garage rather than load a truck on the street. Since we were moving less than a mile away the more trips didn't matter. We also bought the forearm forklift moving straps to help with moving our mattress. A California king sized Tempur-Pedic is a nightmare to move without those and they worked brilliantly. Even though the move went smoothly, I think for our next move we'll be hiring someone to move us.