Not too crazy

OMG you guys, seriously.

2008-07-02T11:28:00.002-05:00

I laughed so hard just now I really thought I was going to puke.

Guh

2008-06-18T14:47:00.003-05:00

Now, I've never seen Glitter, so take this with a grain of salt, if you like: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which we wisely rented, is indeed one of the most awful movies ever. And I've seen AVP4, so I know from awful movies.

I'm just sayin'.

Happy Birthday!

2008-06-13T16:01:00.004-05:00

Oh hai, today is Tim's 31st birthday! Happy birthday to my favorite husband ever. :)

The Big Deal Fifth Grade Field Trip(tm)

2008-04-24T15:05:00.004-05:00

CJ attended the Big Deal Fifth Grade Field Trip(tm) yesterday, to Charleston, 121 miles from home(!). I spent the entire day oscillating between "Oh! Em! Gee! My! Baby! Is! Hours! Away!" and figuring he was having a really great time (and, as Tim said, I'd get a phone call if CJ angered a manatee or something) and I should chill out a bit.

As part of the whole "you're growing up, cool!" to-do about this trip, I offered CJ the opportunity to take my digital camera along for the ride.

He did, and this photo set is the result (link).

Unofficial Krispy Kreme Hotlight of the Net

2008-04-03T10:09:00.002-05:00

Is the Hot Light on? Find out...

read more | digg story

Top Ten Artists Suffering The Lindsey Buckingham Paradox

2008-03-13T11:54:00.010-05:00

Fifteen minutes ago, I was explaining the Lindsey Buckingham Paradox to Malav.

Malav, like most people, furrowed his brow and asked what, exactly, this paradox might be.

The Lindsey Buckingham Paradox is what happens when otherwise brilliant musicians decide they're better than their bandmates (creative differences, natch), strike out on their own with solo "careers", and somewhat curiously never again manage to grasp his or her own genius in the way we all know is possible.

Lindsey is a goddamned genius. He strives for constant musical evolution, always pushing the creative envelope, and is unto himself an origination point on the great conceptual flowchart of musical evolution in the last 40 years. But, solo? Mania. I mean, oh dear god, concept albums. He's a one-man Plastic Ono Band, all by himself.

It is when Lindsey Buckingham's lunatic genius is tempered by Stevie Nicks (and even Christine McVie) that the magic happens, because the whole of Fleetwood Mac is so much greater than the sum of its parts.

Once this is explained, people grok the Paradox immediately and offer up their own suggestions for musicians who suffer from the same.

After numerous discussions with numerous people over the years, I thought to start making lists of artists with a terminal case of the LBP. Lindsey, of course, goes without mentioning, as he is the namesake. There are many many more, these are just today's starting point.

Today's Top Ten Artists Suffering The Lindsey Buckingham Paradox:

#10 Steve Perry (Journey)
Oh Sherry notwithstanding, just... what? Diva, untamed.

#9 Glenn Frey (The Eagles)
Where, oh where, has our Desperado gone?

#8 Tim Finn (Crowded House, or even Split Enz)
Crowded House undoubtedly achieved its great(er) success after Tim left the band, and while they were never the same, Tim... didn't. And wasn't. While Tim's brother Neil is a creative genius in his own right, somewhere in the collaboration? That's where the miracles live.

#7 Art Garfunkel (Simon & Garfunkel)
The haunting magic that Art brought to Paul Simon's artful mastery was like the unexplained awesometasticness that bursts out of, say, dipping french fries in chocolate milkshakes. There's no reason that these two things should be any good together, but they ARE. Unlike this example, however, both of those ingredients are better on their own. Not so with Mr. Garfunkel.

#6 Peter Cetera (Chicago)
Sorry, Matt. I know you're going to drive to South Carolina expressly to poke me with a very sharp stick over this one, but, man. I know even you will agree with me when I say: If You Leave Me Now? The apex. There was nowhere Cetera could go but down, down, Karate Kid down.

#5 Dennis DeYoung (Styx)
Remember when Styx was groundbreaking? Then remember how Dennis DeYoung put on the +20 Perm of Suck and went all concept album on our collective asses? Yeah. Me too.

#4 Paul McCartney (The Beatles)
Say you want a revolution? Well, you know.

#3 Jon Anderson (Yes)
The mere existence of that Jon Anderson lyrics generator is enough said.

#2 Sting (The Police)
Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers brought their own special flavors to the Police party, and without them, Sting is just a big bowl of goddamned puffy cheetos. Like Bono, maybe, without the passion or, you know, cred.

#1 Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins)
"My band is a bunch of mean-spirited drug addicts! H8erade! Solo Career! Wait, oh noes, where'd my career GO? Come back! I'll stop being an insufferable diva with a superiority complex, oh my god, I swear, just take me baaaaaack (wah)".

There are many (many) more, of course. Who do you think suffers from the Lindsey Buckingham Paradox? Let me know in the comments.

Desktop again, for rbw

2008-03-07T10:11:00.003-05:00

When CJ got his hair cut

2008-02-21T10:27:00.001-05:00

When CJ got his hair cut
Originally uploaded by Mynxzilla

He always looks so ridiculously old right after a haircut.

Happy birthday to me

2008-02-12T12:58:00.001-05:00

This morning, CJ gasps and goes "MOM! You're almost 35!"

At which point I'd been 34 for, oh, 7 hours.

Meredith's homemade card started "HEY, big 34 year old, you're 34 today!".

Indeed.

Get off my lawn!

Cozy

2008-01-08T10:25:00.000-05:00

Less than a month ago, I brought a pair of knitting needles and white yarn with me to Luau, since Ginny had agreed to teach me the basics. As luck would have it, Mandy's charming new girlfriend was with her, knittery in tow. We all gathered round as I learned the basic cast-on and knit stitch.

Then I bought a book, and whipped up a few scarves while the children were away. When they returned for Christmas, they had Tamagotchi toys from their father, and difficulty keeping track of 'em.

Enter: The Tamagotchi Cozy!

It began as a sort of protective case for Meredith's Tamagotchi, Bob, after a minor injury; a red jobby with a white heart on the front, and a long strap with which to wear it around one's neck. Then, of course, one had to be made for CJ. That one was more involved, with a skull and crossbones motif, and was knit during the worst most boringest stupidest movie ever.

They wore their Tamagotchi Cozies to school. They came home that day with requests from two of their friends. Then another day, another request. To date, I think I've knitted a total of six Tamagotchi cozies in two weeks. As I dropped the children off at school this morning, I saw a little boy leap out of a truck to join CJ on the walk into school.

Around his neck swung one of my cozies.

I'm such a cool mom. Or, you know, a gigantic pushover.

Passing it along

2007-12-19T14:03:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed this interview with Michael J. Fox. I don't usually enjoy interviews, like, ever, so... whatever. There you have it.

And now, for the sake of contrast

2007-12-07T09:44:00.001-05:00

Click to embiggen "The kind of notes that girls write" (flickr)

This is what letters between elementary schoolgirls look like.

Seriously what's going on dude

2007-12-06T10:31:00.001-05:00

At our elementary school, there is a charming inner-school mail system that really does encourage kids to communicate via the written word. It's hugely successful, and often it's highly amusing, too.

Both of the children send and receive mail multiple times a week; CJ received this one yesterday and it's just too good not to share here, in its entirety:

Click to embiggen "Seriously what's going on dude" (flickr)

C is for Cookie

2007-11-27T13:31:00.001-05:00

When C brings me lunch during the workday, he almost always brings me a cookie, too.

This? This is a good friend.

Work Wallpaper

2007-11-12T15:38:00.000-05:00

My desktop wallpaper here at work just changed from this to this.

The Zombeatles - A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead

2007-11-09T13:01:00.001-05:00

Awesome.

Be aware

2007-10-29T10:09:00.001-05:00

I really hate the word "webinar".

Flowers!

2007-10-04T15:18:00.000-05:00

A cardless bouquet of flowers appeared in front of my keyboard this afternoon while I was away from my desk.

Nobody in my office will own up to being responsible for this random act of kindness, but I know it was one (or some) of them. As Tim said, "that means they're all in on it".

Thank you, Mr. Flower Leprechaun & Co.; you gave me a serious warm fuzzy today.

A little pre-bedtime thrashing

2007-09-25T14:45:00.001-05:00

A little pre-bedtime thrashing
Originally uploaded by Mynxzilla

Brother, can you spare a dime?

2007-09-14T15:59:00.000-05:00

A charming gentleman I know is participating in the Start to Finish MS Bike Ride this weekend.

Go make a donation, if you can.

This one goes out to MRF

2007-08-29T12:18:00.001-05:00

Fo' reals!

Jerry Wolski

2007-08-07T10:41:00.000-05:00

RIP, old friend :(

Colloquial C

2007-08-01T12:05:00.000-05:00

I've often said that I'm going to record the words that my dear friend C makes up, but I never get around to it. By the time I remember, I've forgotten the word. Oy.

Anyway, C has a penchant for making up new words. He doesn't do it on purpose, and isn't all that fond of doing so, but I totally love it. His word creation isn't a function of poor vocabulary by any means, and it isn't a matter of inattention. It's just a completely spontaneous tongue-tie that results in nothing short of awesomeness.

Yesterday he managed to create a word that was a combination of two words and yet at the same time, a perfect descriptor of both those words AND the word he created.

C was commenting on something I'd just said to him and what came out was this:
"Well, he said the same thing you did, although he wasn't as consinct."

Consinct! Both concise and succinct, and I very nearly died on the spot.

Yeah baybee YEAH

2007-07-06T12:45:00.000-05:00

The Blue Marlin's Cobb Salad is outrageously tasty.

It's birthday day!

2007-06-13T08:57:00.000-05:00

Happy 30th birthday to my favorite husband. :)