Spring Update

Best Little Chicken House in Arlington: Earlier in the year Amy was the star of a musical at the Dominion Players in Arlington Virginia: http://www.dominionstage.org/. She reprized the role of Ms. Mona, last performed by Dolly Parton. It was a fantastic show. Hope to see you at the theater soon!

One month three whitepapers: March was a very busy month for me at work. I participated in a variety of whitepaper development and research. One of which I am happy to share, check out the paper developed by the Smart Card Alliance- Smart Cards and Biometrics - https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1WbvgQfrYzaNGM5Yzg4YmQtYjI3Yy00YmRlLWI1ZGQtNGIzYzQwZmYxOGQz&hl=en

SCUBA-scuba-do: I've started to take SCUBA lessons! This is my first time with diving so I am going for my open water certification. Hoping to travel somewhere warm and start diving soon. Any recommendations?

Getting things done: Management guru David Allen presented to Google his "Getting Things Done" principal to a standing-room only crowd. In 2005, Wired called GTD "A new cult for the info age", describing the enthusiasm for this methodology among information technology and knowledge workers as a kind of cult following. I found the talk quite inspiring. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo7vUdKTlhk


Wishing you a Happy Passover and Easter!

Roman Holiday

Rome Around the World: To celebrate our one year anniversary and to make up for a much to busy summer Amy and I took a vacation in Italy. It was a fantastic time and what a treasure to be with each other for 12 solid days. It was a great start to the vacation when Air France provided complimentary champagne to make the flight go easier (and quicker). Our first stop was Rome, the eternal city- where we saw many of the classical sights. Our very first night began with a night tour of Vatican City, which was wonderful because it cut down on the number of Tourists. While there, and really all over Italy, we saw personally the art we could only enjoy from books. There is nothing quite like seeing the School of Athens firsthand, marveling at the Sistine Chapel, or loosing yourself in the majesty of St. Peter's square (at one time a Roman racetrack). If there is, then it would have to be the world class gelato. I think we tried to have every flavor at least once. My favorite was a combination of pistachio and hazelnut. We also took a day to see ancient Rome- the Colosseum, Forum, and Pantheon. From Rome we headed south to see the ruins of Pompeii. It was amazing to see a town emptied but still walkable from the volcano destruction. I highly recommend it to anybody to spend a day, and it will take a full day, to walk the city. We then continued further south to Amalfi to catch some coastal waters and spend a few days at the beach. Once fully relaxed, we packed up again and headed north to Florence. Florence is a wonderful blend of Renaissance art mixed with the medieval and modern city.  This jewel of Tuscany was a marvelous blend of food, wine, art, and La Dolche Vita. We spend a few days seeing the wondrous art the Medici funded, and a full day to see the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore from up top, and across the city. When we returned to Rome we spent a day following the steps of Robert Langdon in "Angels and Demons" to see the sights mentioned in the book. The pictures attached simply do not do justice to the experience we had.

See some of our favorite pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Abel.Sussman/ItalyVacation2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ68j_XCpoHguwE&feat=directlink

Too much overtime is bad for the heart: Scientifically proven, so go outside and enjoy the day already! http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64A2SR20100511

Spring 2010 update

We're in the movies: Amy and I now have entries in the Internet Movie Database. It is good to be a Browncoat! No idea what I'm talking about? Then you should be watching more Serenity. Check it out at www.imdb.com/title/tt1593655

Overwhelmed by mutitasking? You are not alone, most people think they can do many things at once but really spread themselves too thin. To quote a favorite book it is not fun to feel "like butter over too much bread". http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35689822/ns/business-small_business/

This months picture: Was taken by yours truly at this year's DC Cherry Blossom festival. If you have never been to the Cherry Blossom festival, it is when - for a few days- DC is one of the most beautiful places in the country. You need to be there at dawn to avoid all the tourists but it is well worth it.

Favorite American designer  of 2010: I hope you will take a moment to cast your vote for my uncle, Isaac Manevitz, for the CFDA’s favorite American designer  of 2010 popular vote award sponsored by L’OREAL Paris. Isaac is very much involved in his designs from start to finish and all of his collections are hand crafted and one of kind – made in the factory adjacent to the main offices in NYC.  Isaac has continued to bring his love of sculpture to his collections by working with fine, unusual materials to create unique and inspirational designs that are always ahead of the trend. Please cast your vote at: http://www.wwd.com/popular-vote

Snowpocalypse edition

DC is experiencing a record amount of snow! The local airport has reported 54.0 inches over the past week. The Fed has been closed for the past 4 days. Without going into the office, its kind of amazing how much work I've gotten done! Hope all of you are warm, safe, and watching the Shining.

What I do for a living – Many of you have asked what I do for a living. In general I deliver information assurance and identity management solutions to federal clients, especially through biometric development strategies, privacy protection and associated policy development. I’ve set up a blog with articles and my commentary on Identity Management and Biometric topics of interest. If you are curious please check it out at http://minutiaepoints.blogspot.com/

Never say I didn't get you anything – How about a free (!) copy of MS-Office 2010 beta edition. Available for legal downloading at: http://us20.office2010beta.microsoft.com/default.aspx?culture=en-US#

The taxman cometh – Filing for taxes are only a few weeks away. If you need help filing I would like to recommend friend of mine who has been preparing my return for years: Julius Klausner. He's based in NY, but remember the Federal law applies everywhere and he can compute your state (or territory) easily enough; and what I like best about working with him is that it can all be done virtually (mostly email). You can reach him at 914-723-8560 or jklauscpa@aol.com.
 

 

Book Review: The Black Swan – is a book about randomness and uncertainty, by the epistemologist Nassim Nicholas Taleb. In its most distilled form the book tries to classify and describe the origin of High Impact, Very Low Probability events. For those of you with some military or consulting training this is the area of the “Unknown Unknowns”; or more aptly to quote Rumsfeld “These are things we do not know we don’t know”. Taleb states that the majority of human history is dictated by these events such as the JFK assassination, market crash of 1987, and the tragic events of 9/11 (even though the book was written in 2007 he seems to predict the 2009 global recession, but if you had read the book you would know that Taleb shuns the word ‘prediction’). There are of course some positive ones as well such as the rise of Internet with its various effects was scarcely anticipated. He states that many of the modern black swans originate because most of us use history as too much of a crutch to predict the future. This is provided in a narrative about a turkey.  Imagine you are a turkey born on January 1- the world is great for you, and every day you feel that Farmer Brown is looking after your best interests by providing fresh corn for you. This is true on February first, March first, April first, etcetera and so you come believe that the feeding will always be so, just as the sun rises every morning. Imagine your surprise on Thanksgiving (when Americans traditionally eat turkeys) . It is a very interesting philosophical read and I hope it can reduce some of the perceived uncertainty and randomness in your life.

Happy New Year

Happy new year everybody. I think we can keep wishing each other a joyful start to the year all January. Which brings me to the picture attached, snowfall around the National Christmas tree taken this year at the Ellipse, in front of the White House.

The play's the thing: I've been quite the househusband supporting Amy as she prepared for her musical debut in Washington. It was totally worth it, she is giving a fantastic performance! No need to take my word for it, read what the Washington Post says: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012001462.html?wprss=rss_print/community/alexandriaarlington
Tickets are on sale through Jan 30 at: http://www.dominionstage.org/

Looking for things to do: Here are 100 (mostly) free things to do. http://washington.org/visiting/browse-dc/attractions/100-free-things-to-do. One of my favorites is the upcoming Cherry Blossom Festival on March 27th http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/cms/index.php?id=390 . It is too early to predict peak blossom yet, but it should be around that time.

Newest Project: Amy and I hope to honeymoon this year in Rome. Has anybody been? Recommendations on when and where to go? How about on finding cheap flights?
You can catch the latest at: http://abelsussman.blogspot.com/

Wishing you a happy and healthy new year,
Abel

The wedding in review

The Wedding – On Sept 13, 2009 Baska (Aka Amy Baska, aka Amy Sussman) and I were married in Sandbridge Virginia. We were fortunate enough to have cooperative weather (and in-laws!) for a marvelous event. For lunch we were very lucky that our favorite Virginia Beach bistro, Zoes, let us rent out the whole restaurant! If you're ever in the area, check them out! https://zoesvb.com/ After lunch the festivities continued at the D'manfish Beachouse located just south of Virginia beach in the sleepy little town of Sandbridge, Virginia. There the family gathered by the surf and we were led in a modern service incorporating many traditional Jewish elements. Amy wrote the majority of it herself based on the kinyan, a symbolic pooling of elements of both of our lives. What made the ceremony extraordinary to me was that people were laughing throughout the readings, it was truly a day of joy. Our rings are very special to us. They were originally my paternal grandparent's and they were reforged to fit us by Amy and her friends at Future Relics Design.

After the ceremony we held our reception at the Beachhouse. Entertainment was done with a surfer-jimmy-buffet cover band. I was told that it was the first time many of my family danced the hora to steel drums. We had a light bar-b-que going for the night and then finished with pies for dessert. The photos show people enjoying the pool or ocean amid the reception. We both feel so blessed to have started our married life surrounded by the laughter of family and friends.


Geneology - I've been using GENI.com to help develop my family tree. If you are receiving this and are related to me but haven’t been sent a Geni invite, please let me know, I’ll need to weave you into the family tree. Using the website has been great fun, and had me establish connections to many relatives that I did not know about before. At the website users enter names and email addresses of their parents, siblings, and other relatives, as well as profiles with various fields of biographical information about themselves and their relatives. From there users may graphically manipulate sections of their connections network to create a complete personal family tree. I’ve always had a passing interest in mapping the family tree, to connect the dots of many of my far-flung relatives, and this site looks like a great way to do it. For those of you interested in Geneology what do you use to share documents, stories, and the like?



Real Estate News – On November 6, 2009, President Obama signed a bill to extend the tax credit for first-time homebuyers (FTHBs) through June 30, 2010. The bill also opens up opportunities for others who are not buying a home for the first time. First-Time Homebuyers (FTHBs): First-time homebuyers (that is, people who have not owned a home within the last three years) may be eligible for the tax credit. The credit for FTHBs is 10% of the purchase price of the home, with a maximum available credit of $8,000. Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount. Current Owners: The tax credit program now gives those who already own a residence some additional reasons to move to a new home. This incentive comes in the form of a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified purchasers who have owned and occupied a primary residence for a period of five consecutive years during the last eight years. Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount. In order to qualify for the credit, all contracts need to be in effect no later than April 30, 2010 and close no later than June 30, 2010.
Walk left, stand right – I’ve started to work on a new project in Downtown DC. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I will be near McPherson’s Square. If you are around, let’s have lunch or coffee after work. I can cut through P street to get to Dupont Circle if that is better for you.

Happy Thanksgiving – Great family and friends is among my many blessings; wishing all of you a very happy Thanksgiving!

Waning days of bachelorhood

CISSP – Last week I found out that I became a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)! This certification marks a high level familiarity with various security aspects covering such topics as Physical Security, Access Control, Cryptography, Encryption, and Operational Security. It is becoming more frequent that IT security projects at the DoD, DHS, and the Intelligence community require that project leaders have this The exam itself was rather grueling; it was scheduled to last for six hours and I finished at the 5:55 mark. I was studying while many of my friends were on their annual summer vacations; on one hand that is a good thing since I had few distractions. On the other I want my summer vacation! I guess that is what the wedding is for. Only two weeks to go!

The wedding – Our wedding is coming up faster than a bullet train. On September 13th in Virginia Beach, Amy and I will do our own march to the sea and become husband and wife. I’m still giddy about it, even as we have been living together for a while. I’m not sure how it will change us, if at all; but I suspect there will be something more ethereal present. Back when we became engaged my sister asked if anything changed. I said to her that it “made the highs, higher and the lows, lower”. Everything just meant ‘more’ to us since we were a couple committed to a destiny together.

The house hunt - One of our pet projects has been to find a house to move into. The search has been long and has absorbed countless Sundays. In my opinion, the housing crash never visited Northern Virginia. We have seen a good share of wrecks which might have made a flipper content, but they were not places we wanted to live. Other places we bid on, only to find the offers were not as good as somebody else’s.

Walk left, stand right – I’ve started to work on a new project in Downtown DC. Every Tuesday and Thursday I will be near McPherson’s Square. If you are around, let’s have lunch or coffee after work.