verbatim

Monthly Statements

It's once again that time of year when I post the first sentence of the first post of each month, for no really good reason:

January: Last year at this time (the last day of school vacation), I was just as eager to pack up those backpacks and lunchboxes as ever.

February: I remember seeing this trick years ago and flipping out, but now I remember how it works.

March: Apropos of my very mature, literary-minded game of "In Your Pants," Tonya suggested an equally sophisticated, intellectual pastime: Append "in bed" to your next fortune cookie fortune.

April: Happy First Day of the April 2007 BAFAB Week!

May: Legend has it that every time the phone rang, Dorothy Parker sneered, "What fresh hell is this?"

June: 1. Wild Horses (live) - Elvis Costello and Lucinda Williams

July: Today we went up to Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester with some friends.

August: It must be Rolling Stones week around here.

September: We rented "Fever Pitch" mainly for Steph, who has already become our family's most obsessive Red Sox fan, but we all ended up enjoying it.

October: Anyone remember a while back when I took one of my blog posts, translated it into Japanese, then translated the Japanese back into English?

November: Gah, my kids got to school today and felt like the only ones without Varitek's autograph on something.

December: It's the first day of December, and Mr. Jones* has assumed his hibernal perch on the shelf over the now-active radiator in the kitchen:

In With the Old Again

Long-time Verbatim readers know that every year I post the same list of New Year's Resolutions, annotated to reflect how depressingly little progress I've made on any of them. Well, usually—there are a few exceptions. So here goes, with the original 2004 list in regular type, the 2005 update in red, the 2006 update in green, and this year's in bold.

1. Spend an hour a week putting photos in albums. It's time that Julie made it to the albums, don't you think? Once I catch up, I swear I will do every roll of pics the same day I get them, but I'm too anal to start with the new ones until I do all the old ones. I don't think I put away even one photo in all of 2005. Ditto for 2006. Sigh. Again I failed to do this. I actually bought a few albums, though, so does that count? No. I even promised myself that I'd set aside just 20 minutes a week for this task, figuring that that would be doable, mais non.

2. Frame Stephanie's best kindergarten artwork. Add Pete's to that. Nope. Never happened. Most likely never will. No, I have to admit that this won't ever happen. Now I've got Julie's to deal with too, and it just doesn't seem even remotely likely. Look for a new Resolution #2 next year.

3. Make duck confit. I still intend to do this! I have a ton of duck fat in the fridge. Still haven't. Still plan to!

4. Go through the boxes in my office that have been there since we moved in four years ago. One of these days. I think I glanced at one of them this year. Yes, I definitely did. Ha! I didn't want to, but I did. Time for a new Resolution #4 as well.

5. Get rid of my old PowerMac, which hasn't been switched on in over a year. Any ideas what to do with it? Oh, and my old scanner. Well, I moved them to the basement a month or two ago—that should count for something, right?! And they're still there—anyone know of a charitable organization that takes old Macs? All that stuff (an old printer, too) is still gathering dust in the basement. I hate to just put it out with the trash.

6. Plan to start considering thinking about whether to contemplate getting some exercise. (Why can't I seem to go back to yoga, which I loved?) Inquiring minds—and lazy bodies—wanna know. OK, this is a big one! 2006 was of course the year I joined a gym! I went two or three times a week for most of the year, except for that big chunk of time in the summer (when I couldn't see) and the whole end of the year (Disney, Thanksgiving, etc.). I plan to start again next week. Look for a new Resolution #6 for 2007! Hold on, not so fast! I did great for the first ¾ of 2oo7, but I haven't been to the gym even once since September, so let's hang on to this resolution for another year and see if I can do better next year.

7. Go through all my clothes and give away the stuff I will never wear again (some of which I haven't worn in almost 10 years as it is). I've done a little of this, but not enough. I did even more, in 2006 and I've started keeping a box in the corner of the bedroom for when I come across a single item that I no longer want—into the box it goes, awaiting my next charitable donation. A new Resolution #7 to come, too, then! I've noticed with dismay that I read fewer books this year than I can ever recall. So I will try to get back on that horse, because my TBR pile is getting taller every day.

8. Make Andy go through all his clothes and give away the stuff he will never wear again (some of which he hasn't worn in almost 10 years as it is). He never will, and I can't make him. Surprise! He did do some. Still not enough, but it's a start. This isn't really my resolution, so there'll be a new #8 next year too. Assign the kids more chores around the house. They really do want to be helpful, and they're pretty good about doing the things that are already expected of them, but they could—and should—be taking on more tasks, particularly those related to their own belongings and activities.

9. Try at least one new recipe a week. I'm usually pretty good about this, but I've slacked off lately. I do pretty well, but still not enough. It must be the time of year. I haven't posted many new recipes lately, have I? Look for more in 2007. Really. I think I did better this year, so I guess it's time to retire this resolution too. The big breakthrough in 2007 was finding quite a few dinner possibilities that we could eat with the kids—more on that in another post.

10. Go on a date with Andy at least twice a month. (Yay, Brooke!) We're lucky to get out once a month. I still don't know why. And again: Why? I don't think we went out twice a month this year either, and I still don't know why. Yes, it's very expensive, but I think we could surely set aside a "date fund," because we both think it's important.

1. Spend an hour a week putting photos in albums. It's time that Julie made it to the albums, don't you think? Once I catch up, I swear I will do every roll of pics the same day I get them, but I'm too anal to start with the new ones until I do all the old ones. I don't think I put away even one photo in all of 2005. Ditto for 2006. Sigh. Again I failed to do this. I actually bought a few albums, though, so does that count? No. I even promised myself that I'd set aside just 20 minutes a week for this task, figuring that that would be doable, mais non.

2. Frame Stephanie's best kindergarten artwork. Add Pete's to that. Nope. Never happened. Most likely never will. No, I have to admit that this won't ever happen. Now I've got Julie's to deal with too, and it just doesn't seem even remotely likely. Look for a new Resolution #2 next year.

3. Make duck confit. I still intend to do this! I have a ton of duck fat in the fridge. Still haven't. Still plan to!

4. Go through the boxes in my office that have been there since we moved in four years ago. One of these days. I think I glanced at one of them this year. Yes, I definitely did. Ha! I didn't want to, but I did. Time for a new Resolution #4 as well.

5. Get rid of my old PowerMac, which hasn't been switched on in over a year. Any ideas what to do with it? Oh, and my old scanner. Well, I moved them to the basement a month or two ago—that should count for something, right?! And they're still there—anyone know of a charitable organization that takes old Macs? All that stuff (an old printer, too) is still gathering dust in the basement. I hate to just put it out with the trash.

6. Plan to start considering thinking about whether to contemplate getting some exercise. (Why can't I seem to go back to yoga, which I loved?) Inquiring minds—and lazy bodies—wanna know. OK, this is a big one! 2006 was of course the year I joined a gym! I went two or three times a week for most of the year, except for that big chunk of time in the summer (when I couldn't see) and the whole end of the year (Disney, Thanksgiving, etc.). I plan to start again next week. Look for a new Resolution #6 for 2007! Hold on, not so fast! I did great for the first ¾ of 2oo7, but I haven't been to the gym even once since September, so let's hang on to this resolution for another year and see if I can do better next year.

7. Go through all my clothes and give away the stuff I will never wear again (some of which I haven't worn in almost 10 years as it is). I've done a little of this, but not enough. I did even more, in 2006 and I've started keeping a box in the corner of the bedroom for when I come across a single item that I no longer want—into the box it goes, awaiting my next charitable donation. A new Resolution #7 to come, too, then! I've noticed with dismay that I read fewer books this year than I can ever recall. So I will try to get back on that horse, because my TBR pile is getting taller every day.

8. Make Andy go through all his clothes and give away the stuff he will never wear again (some of which he hasn't worn in almost 10 years as it is). He never will, and I can't make him. Surprise! He did do some. Still not enough, but it's a start. This isn't really my resolution, so there'll be a new #8 next year too. Assign the kids more chores around the house. They really do want to be helpful, and they're pretty good about doing the things that are already expected of them, but they could—and should—be taking on more tasks, particularly those related to their own belongings and activities.

9. Try at least one new recipe a week. I'm usually pretty good about this, but I've slacked off lately. I do pretty well, but still not enough. It must be the time of year. I haven't posted many new recipes lately, have I? Look for more in 2007. Really. I think I did better this year, so I guess it's time to retire this resolution too. The big breakthrough in 2007 was finding quite a few dinner possibilities that we could eat with the kids—more on that in another post.

10. Go on a date with Andy at least twice a month. (Yay, Brooke!) We're lucky to get out once a month. I still don't know why. And again: Why? I don't think we went out twice a month this year either, and I still don't know why. Yes, it's very expensive, but I think we could surely set aside a "date fund," because we both think it's important.

Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread

Tonight, along with roast chicken, I served Crescent Dragonwagon's famous Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread from the Dairy Hollow Inn. It's way easy and just delicious.

1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 Tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
1¼ cup buttermilk (I didn't have any buttermilk on hand, so I used 5 Tbsp Saco buttermilk powder and 1¼ cups water.)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 large egg
¼ cup mild vegetable oil (I used canola.)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Heat oven to 375°. Spray a 10" cast-iron skillet with nonstick spray; set aside. (My pan is 12"; didn't matter.)

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt and buttermilk powder.

In a small bowl, stir the baking soda into the buttermilk, water. Whisk in the sugar, egg, and oil.  

Put the skillet over medium heat, add the butter, and heat until the butter melts and is sizzling seriously. Tilt the pan to coat the sides of the skillet. As the butter's melting, quickly pour the wet ingredients into the dry; stir together with as few strokes as possible—don't beat it and don't smooth it out. Scrape the batter into the hot, buttery skillet and pop it in the oven immediately.  

Bake until golden brown on top, about 20 minutes. Cut in wedges, slather with (lightly salted) butter, and enjoy! 

Efficiency Experts

4:45 - Uploaded our holiday photo to MotoPhoto to have 100 copies printed with our new year's greeting.
5:15 - Received an email from MotoPhoto saying that they were done.
5:35 - Picked up photo cards from MotoPhoto!

Amazing.

Photo Finish

Every year I put off taking the annual family holiday photo, thinking it's going to be so time-consuming and such a pain in the neck, and every year it takes about 3 minutes total and is, in fact, quite fun. Andy proposed the very radical idea that for the first time in recorded history, we not pose on the couch or on the stairs! In fact, he suggested we take the photo outside, in natural light! What will that guy think of next? Luckily it was a mild day, and I balanced the camera on a ladder. Here's this year's winner:

The ones I'm having printed up will say "Happy New Year," so I can pretend I fully intended to wait this long to do them.

I wish you all a 2008 filled with good health, happiness, and peace.

Music

1. I think I'm half in love with Joe Henry. His new CD Civilians is just wonderful. If you haven't heard it yet, you can give a listen here. You can even download a couple of tracks; I recommend you start with the title track and just try not to get hooked on his voice! He accompanies himself on guitar and gets additional help from guitarists Bill Frisell and Greg Leisz; other musicians show up too: for instance, Loudon Wainwright contributes backing vocals and Van Dyke Parks plays piano on a couple of tracks. Henry also seems like a nice, normal guy, from what I can tell from these NPR interviews. He's been known more as a producer than a singer/songwriter up till now, but I suspect that has changed forever since this release. He produced The River in Reverse, the Elvis Costello/Allen Toussaint CD I reviewed here, plus CDs by Mary Gauthier, Aimee Mann, and others.

2. I've been loving Emotionalism by the Avett Brothers for months now, but I just haven't gotten around to telling you about it. I don't know how to describe their music. If I tell you you'll hear guitar, banjo, and upright bass, you'll think it's just bluegrass, but that's not the whole story by any means. There's pure pop, old-time country, and all kinds of other stuff in between. Here's another NPR interview for you, where you'll learn that they started off playing heavy metal! This interview is also how I found out that "Avett" is pronounced with a long "A" sound; I'd thought it rhymed with Cavett. (And, on top of that, I discovered how NPR's John Ydstie spells his name—yikes!)

Friday iPod Random Ten, Annotated Yet Again!

1. Jesus: The Missing Years - John Prine

Yesterday Andy found some great YouTubes of John Prine, then and now. Here he is singing and playing "That's the Way That the World Goes 'Round" at someone's kitchen table—looks to be 25 years ago anyhow. And here's where he explains the genesis of "Angel from Montgomery." We watched dozens of others last night, including this recent tear-jerker version of "Souvenirs."

2. Feats Don't Fail Me Now - Taj Mahal

You know I never met a tribute album I could resist buying. This was from a tribute to Lowell George. It's a just-OK version.

3. I Don't Know Why (live) - Shawn Colvin

I love Shawn Colvin's voice. This is yet another winner on the World Cafe's 10th Anniversary double-CD set that I got as a gift for my donation to my local folkie radio station years ago. You've probably also heard Alison Krauss sing this one.

4. What Would You Say (live) - Dave Matthews

I like a lot of Dave Matthews' songs, but I'm not a card-carrying member of the cult. I do think he has a very cool voice, but I can do without the pseudo-scatting.

5. Blues Stay Away From Me - The Notting Hillbillies

Does anyone in the world besides us own this 1990 CD, "Missing....Presumed Having A Good Time"? It's Mark Knopfler and some other guys (Brendan Croker, Guy Fletcher, and Steve Phillips) doing all country stuff. Nice.

6. Sing One for Sister - Nanci Griffith

Which reminds me, here's a video of Nanci Griffith and John Prine doing "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness" together. Gorgeous.

7. Stack O Lee Blues - Mississippi John Hurt

Usually written "Stagger Lee" and done by many musicians over the years (I've got versions by everyone from the Clash to the Grateful Dead), it tells the story of a real man named Lee Shelton. Betcha didn't know that!

8. The Next Time I'm in Town - Chet Atkins & Mark Knopfler

"Neck and Neck" is another country collaboration for Mark Knopfler, this time with Chet Atkins. What could be bad?

9. Big Moon - John Doe

Thanks to regular Verbatim reader Wendy for turning me on to John Doe! This month's No Depression has a review of "I'm Not There," which concludes thus: "Virtually everybody captures some sense of what Dylan's version of the songs meant, and some singers come close to outdoing the originals. That's true especially on the two tracks featuring John Doe, who virtually opens the heavens with his version of "Pressing On" from Dylan's gospel album Saved, and sounds even better on the transcendent "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" from John Wesley Harding."

10. Pullin' Back the Reins - k.d. lang

I still get shivers from this song. What a voice.

Friday Fiver

I'll always be true

1. Tell us something you love:

Sleeping in. On vacation I don't have to get up to pack lunchboxes and schlep the kids to school. Even 8:00 is a treat—and 8:30 is, well, just this side of heaven.

2. Tell us something you know to be true:

I will never get to read all the books I want to read. Never.

3. Tell us about someone new in your life:

I only recently met the woman who started our Family to Family chapter. I had missed her both times I dropped off my boxes for shipment, so after much emailing, we decided to set up an official date. She's bright and warm and delightful, and I got to meet her hubby and sons too. And she makes a lovely blackberry cornmeal cake to boot!

4. Whom can you never please?

Hmm, I can't think of anyone off the top of my head, besides myself—and, really, I'm not a terribly harsh self-critic in most respects.

5. Friday fill-in: You know I ___.

You know I appreciate everyone who reads my blog, whether they comment or just lurk—although I hope even the lurkers will someday decide to leave a comment (or even just send me an email to introduce themselves).

Show Me the Money!

I was sitting down to pay bills today (mortgage, VISA, MasterCard, Target, Costco, and dentist all at once—ugh!), when it occurred to me that I hadn't seen any paychecks coming in for a while. I finished a smallish project last week and sent that invoice off, but I had invoiced the same company in mid-November for two biggish projects and still haven't been paid. They are usually good about paying, so I called their Accounts Payable department. They said they currently had no paperwork going for me at all! So I emailed my guy (the one for whom I did the work and to whom I submitted the invoices), who said he'd check on it. He emailed me later to say that Accounts Payable did indeed have my recent invoice, but there was no sign of the earlier big one. He promised to look into it further. Phooey. Chasing down money is probably the worst thing about freelance work (assuming you've got money to chase; chasing down work in the first place is the pits).

3 Kids + 3 Chipmunks = 1 Eye-Rolling Mama

Today I took the kids to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Oh, the horror, the horror! I can't imagine how anyone ever decided that this was a catchy idea—and apparently it is a catchy idea, because they've been around as long as I have. Granted, the effects are well done: It really does look like the humans are interacting with the computer-generated fellas. With all the pop culture references (and more product placement for food items than I've ever seen), the requisite chipmunk poop and fart jokes, and Dave yelling "Aaaaaallll-viiiiiinnnn!!!" a few times, suffice [it]* to say the kids loved it. Me? I was wishing I'd brought my iPod so I could catch up on my backlog of Fresh Air podcasts.

*Do you prefer "suffice to say" or "suffice it to say"? The word usage discussion boards are split. I have now overthought it to the point that I am no longer sure which I normally use.

Update (12/28/07): It just occurred to me that perhaps "suffice it to say" is a similar construction to the archaic subjunctive found in phrases such as "be it ever so humble."

Now That's What I Call Customer Service

Sometimes I fear that Verbatim is turning into Tales of Lousy Customer Service. I plugged "customer service" into that little search bar over there to the right and a bazillion different posts came up. My J. Jill diatribe still gets dozens of hits a week, I've been both delighted and disappointed at Sur La Table, one lone woman redeemed the entire 1-800-CONTACTS outfit, I don't even know where to begin to express my venomous rage about Maytag, and on and on and on. But here's one of the best stories yet.

We have four Holmes humidifiers, one for each bedroom. The house gets very dry from the heat in the winter and from the air conditioning in the summer, so we turn them on overnight. The kids like the "white noise" too. The problem is that cleaning those suckers is a nightmare. I surely don't do it as often as I should, but I try to keep on it. No matter what, though, they get coated inside with disgusting brown slime in all those little crevices that humidifier designers are so fond of. It's by far the worst cleaning job in the house.

The water tanks, however, can't be cleaned very well. I can stick my hand in the fill-hole, but I can't bend my wrist down far enough to clean the bottom surface. I try filling it with vinegar and water and shaking vigorously, but I can still see the brown crud all over the base. So I called Hunter Fan (Holmes' parent company) and ordered four new water tanks for $15 each, which seems like a fair price considering that a whole new humidifier would be something like $75–$100 each.

The tanks arrived in just a few days, but they didn't fit! I checked the part number, and they were indeed the correct units, but they didn't sit quite flush in the humidifier base, so the little thingerdoodle that is supposed to push in and release the water wasn't hitting its target. I called back, and the guy I got was very nice. He did some investigation and said I should hang on to the tanks I had and they'd send me four more, although they couldn't imagine why these didn't work. (I assured them that I even had Andy double-check for me in case I was just being a dolt about something; I also tried all four tanks on all four humidifiers, in case there was one fluke in the bunch. No luck.)

The second set of tanks arrived, and they didn't fit either! Same problem! Just a slightly different curve prevented them from sitting flush. I called again and a different guy (Josh) said they'd try a different part number.

The third set of tanks arrived (via FedEx overnight, no less), and—you guessed it!—they didn't fit either. I called again, and this time Nicole said there was one more tank model we could try. She also gave me her email address so that I wouldn't have to wait on hold if I needed to call back again! She said to just email her when I was ready to talk. Imagine that.

So the next day the fourth set of tanks arrived, and—all together now!—they didn't fit. I emailed Nicole, and she called me back within the hour. She said that they were going to send me four brand-new humidifiers! For free! I couldn't believe it. I said something to the effect of, "I hope this is one of those calls that's being 'recorded for training and quality assurance purposes,' because I am so pleased with the customer service I'm getting from you. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you stand behind your products to this extent."

The new humidifiers arrived on Monday, so they were waiting for us when we got home from New Hampshire yesterday. They also sent me FedEx labels so I can return the 16 (!!) other tanks to them on their dime. All I have to do now is cut the power cords off of the grungy old humidifiers and attach the serial number labels to each, and send them back to them.

And that, my friends, is how you earn lifelong customers.

Wiki Wednesday

Time to learn something!

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. Click on "Random article" in the left-hand sidebar box.
3. Post it!

At last, the information you have been awaiting:

This is a list of beverages containing guarana, a fruit containing approximately three times as much caffeine as coffee beans.

• 180
• AMP
• A.C.T. (Advanced Cell Therapy) Energy Drink
• Bawls
• Bazza High-Energy Green Tea^[1]
• Beaver Buzz
• Pulse - Alcoholic Drink made in NZ.
• Bom Dia - Antioxidant Rich Juice from Bolthouse Do Brasil ^[2]
• Bud Extra ^[3]
• Burn Intense Energy
• Celsius energy drink
• Redux Beverages' Cocaine
• Coke Mother
• Crunk!!! Energy Drink
• ED energy drink
• Full Throttle
• Golly Guaraná
• Goya Guaraná Soda
• Guaraná Antarctica
• Guaraná Backus
• Guaraná Ice^[4]
• Guaraná Knjaz Milos
• Guaraná Power
• Guarantea
• GURU 100% Natural Energy Drink
• HIRO Energy by Tahitian Noni International
• "Indigo" fruit juice energy drink
• Jamba Juice Energy Boost, available as an additive in any of their smoothies
• Josta (aka, Josta with Guarana) First US Energy Drink
• Lipton Ice tea - Red Tea
• Molson Kick
• Mountain Mania
• Mountain Dew MDX
• Monster
• Naked Energy
• Pepsi's Josta
• PEP-G
• PimpJuice
• Pit Bull Energy Drink
• Red Eye Energy Drinks
• Rehab Recovery Supplement
• Relentless
• Respect
• Right size smoothies
• Rip It
• Rockstar
• Le-Natures Samurai Tea
• Shot "and go energy drink" by Salzburg Austria ^[5]
• SoBe Adrenaline Rush, No Fear, Energy, and Power
• Socko
• Sparks
• Sprite 3G
• SuddenRush Guarana shots
• Su Fresh Power
• Tab Energy
• Trader Joe's Energy drink
• Upshot - energy shot
• V
• Vault Red Blitz
• Glaceau Vitamin Water: Energy
• Volvic Revive - citrus kick flavour + Ginseng & Guarana
• Von Dutch
• Vores Øl
• Jones Soda's Whoop Ass
• Xtazy

I have never had any of these beverages. You?

Boxing Day Video Link Dump

1. Guy who does complicated math in his head—in an entertaining way.

2. Guy who sings a song backward while manipulating props; then, halfway through the video, he stops and the video starts going backward—which means you'll be able to see what song it was. (Someone has a leeeetle too much time on his hands, no?)

3. You need two guys playing together on one guitar to reproduce this Jerry Reed number.

Home, Sweet Home

Merry Christmas to all my readers who celebrate it! I hope today finds you relaxing and enjoying the company of loved ones.

We are back home now after a lovely few days up in the White Mountains. As much as I love going away, I love coming home even more. We kind of forgot to plan ahead for dinner tonight though, and all the markets are closed, so we will likely have the traditional Christmas dinner of Jews everywhere: Chinese take-out.

Oh, and in case you are wondering why I haven't posted my annual family photo yet (come to think of it, "posted" here means both "uploaded to my blog" and, for some, "mailed to your house"), it's because we haven't even taken one yet. Oops! I will shoot for getting them out in time for the New Year. Or thereabouts.

Wasn't That a Mighty Storm?

Yesterday everyone (well, not me of course!) skied, but it was extremely windy and wet out there. It wasn't cold, but once the rain started, the kids were miserable, so we cut the day short. Later on, the winds really picked up—I'm not sure I've ever seen the trees blowing around quite so wildly, and in fact, one pine tree was completely uprooted and smashed into (but, thankfully, not through) the window next to my chair. The temperature got close to 50°, and the rain started coming down in buckets.

We eventually lost power; fortunately the kids were already in bed and it came back on about 6 hours later, before they woke up. They didn't need to know that there were no lights, no heat, no water (electric pump!), no nothin'. We woke up to a completely different landscape than we'd last seen. Remember the deck on Friday? Here it is today:

Where'd all that snow go?!

And Pete's tunnel was crushed by the wind, rain, and falling trees:

Triumph Over the Elements

Pete digs a tunnel:

...he enters:

...Daddy awaits:

...he emerges!

The Great White North

We're up in the White Mountains, and in case anyone was wondering about the "white" part, here's a photo of the back deck:

And here's a cross-section, shoveled to access the woodpile:

Looks like about two feet to me.

And, finally, Pete's favorite part of all:

I can remember when I was little, we used to open the windows and break off icicles to suck on. Seemed so much more fun and delicious than just an ice cube from the freezer! My kids also love to eat snow as much as I did when I was a kid. Now of course I'm on the other side of it, trying not to think of all the filth that they're probably ingesting.

Eleven!

Today is Steph's birthday, and we broke down and bought her an iPod. I was annoyed when I learned that there's no longer any middle ground between the Shuffle and the Nano (with video). There used to be a long, skinny Nano that didn't have a color screen or video capabilities, but they've discontinued it. I think the Shuffle would be quite frustrating because you can't choose what song you want to hear; it seems like a good choice for a second iPod, perhaps for a runner or stationery-bike-rider. But the next thing up from the Shuffle is the 4-gig fancy-shmancy Nano! We don't normally buy extravagant gifts, and we really went back and forth about it; I was also worried about the growing problem of kids listening too loud and losing partial hearing in their teens. But she really, really wanted it . . . so we caved. We also bought her a green "skin" for it and a $25 iTunes gift card. And that's it. She's over the moon. And I gave her a speech about volume control and intend to be strict about it.

Tonight she had her choice of dining establishments, and she chose Bill's Pizza. (Cheap date!) Then we'll come home for cake, and that will have been a very happy birthday indeed.

Caden??

BabyCenter® Top 10 Baby Names for Girls in 2007 (2006)

    1.   Sophia  (Emma)
    2.   Isabella (Madison)
    3.   Emma (Ava)
    4.   Madison (Emily)
    5.   Ava (Isabella)
    6.   Addison (Kaitlyn)
    7.   Hailey (Sophia)
    8.   Emily (Olivia)
    9.   Kaitlyn (Abigail)
    10.  Olivia (Hailey)

BabyCenter® Top 10 Baby Names for Boys in 2007 (2006)

    1.   Aiden (Aiden)
    2.   Ethan (Jacob)
    3.   Jacob (Ethan)
    4.   Jayden (Ryan)
    5.   Caden (Matthew)
    6.   Noah (Jack)
    7.   Jackson (Noah)
    8.   Jack (Nicholas)
    9.   Logan (Joshua)
    10.  Matthew (Logan)

Nary a Stephanie, Peter, or Julie in sight, thank heavens. 

Friday iPod Random Ten—Again with the Annotations!

1. Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones

Hey, did you ever wonder who that is shrieking “Rape! Murder!” in this song? I did, and Wikipedia came to my rescue: It’s Merry Clayton.

2. Early Morning Rain - Eva Cassidy

Perhaps one of the loveliest versions ever of this Gordon Lightfoot classic.

3. When You Wish Upon a Star - Leon Redbone

What can I say? You either do Leon or you don’t.

4. Crazy Dream - Los Lonely Boys

I always think this is going to be Stevie Ray Vaughan when it starts. Every. Single. Time.

5. Lima - The Codetalkers

I first heard the Codetalkers on Morning Edition last June. Sometimes I can’t decide whether I even like them or not; other times I’m totally hooked.

6. The Magnificent Seven - Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers

Sounds like the Clash, no?

7. Tears Dry on Their Own - Amy Winehouse

Still not sure what I think of her. Well, her voice, that is—I'm pretty sure I know what I think of her as a person.

8. The Weight of Lies - The Avett Brothers

Yikes, I still haven’t given you my review of this CD! Preview: It’s going to be a rave.

9. Welcome To The Working Week - Elvis Costello

“I feel like a juggler running out of hands.” Excellent.

10. Bacalao Con Pan – Irakere

Way funky Cuban music.

Men!

I cringed when I saw the title of this list, "11 'Don't-Tell-the-Wife' Secrets All Men Keep." Oh great, just what we need, right? Well, it's really not that bad; in fact, most of them are kind of nice—and not even remotely "secrets." Here goes:

• Secret #1: Yes, we fall in lust 10 times a day -- but it doesn't mean we want to leave you.
• Secret #2: We actually do play golf to get away from you.
• Secret #3: We're unnerved by the notion of commitment, even after we've made one to you.
• Secret #4: Earning money makes us feel important.
• Secret #5: Though we often protest, we actually enjoy fixing things around the house.
• Secret #6: We like it when you mother us, but we're terrified that you'll become your mother.
• Secret #7: Every year we love you more.
• Secret #8: We don't really understand what you're talking about.
• Secret #9: We are terrified when you drive.
• Secret #10: We'll always wish we were 25 again.
• Secret #11: Give us an inch and we'll give you a lifetime.

So guys, what do you think? Don't answer until you read the explanations, though—some of these are not as vapid as they seem. I think Andy would score a perfect 11 on this one.

Web Radio

I've just been turned on to SomaFM, streaming music in 13 different genres. I'm currently listening to Boot Liquor, otherwise known as "Americana Roots Music for Cowhands, Cowpokes, and Cowtippers." I started off with Emmylou Harris, a good omen indeed. I've since heard Dave Alvin, Mary Gauthier, Joe Ely, Merle Haggard, and Mulehead. This could become a habit.

I might give Indie Pop Rocks a try too (The National, My Morning Jacket, New Pornographers, etc.), but I will most definitely not bother with Doomed: "Dark and scary industrial-inspired music for tortured souls." See if they've got something you like.

Swingin' Kindergarteners

We wondered when we first got our play structure whether it was practical, since we have so many months of lousy weather. We'd forgotten that kids are just as happy swinging in a blizzard as on a warm spring day! That's Julie and a playmate, just minutes before coming in for some hot chocolate.

Wednesday Link Dump

1. Best-ever "404 Error: Page Not Found" message.

2. I love this clever little video, "How We Met."

3. Pitchfork's 100 best songs of the year: list here, free MP3 downloads here! (I won't embarrass myself by revealing how few of the songs and artists I've even heard of.)

Wiki Wednesday

Time to learn something!

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. Click on "Random article" in the left-hand sidebar box.
3. Post it!

Here's what I got:

Lewiston is a former village in Norwich, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. Settlers first arrived in that area in 1765; the village's namesake, Dr. Joseph Lewis, arrived two years afterwards. The village was centered on a rail station that was used by both Norwich and the town directly across the Connecticut River from it, Hanover, New Hampshire.

Because of the rail station, built in 1884, Lewiston became important to surrounding towns on both sides of the Connecticut River, and to Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The coal Dartmouth used to heat its buildings came through this station. By the 1920s, however, the economic importance of Lewiston to the neighboring regions decreased; Dartmouth began using oil instead of coal, and all the mills in Lewiston were gone by 1930. The railroad remains today.

In 1950 lower lying farm areas were flooded when the Wilder Dam was constructed downstream. In 1967, almost all of Lewiston was razed to make way for Interstate 91 and its access road from Hanover. The railroad, a Dartmouth College-owned pottery studio (in the house once owned by Dr. Joseph Lewis), and a small road off of McKenna Road, Lewiston Hill Road, make up some of the area where the center of the village of Lewiston was situated. Many of the buildings in that area are now owned by Dartmouth College.

Well, that's a cryin' shame. I've been to Hanover, so it's possible I've been to parts of Lewiston, too.

But Ociffer!

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (AP) — Happy holidays. Now pull over to the side of the road.

Motorists may be in for a surprise if they spot flashing red lights in their rearview mirrors in this Sacramento suburb during the holiday season.

Police are stopping law-abiding motorists and rewarding their good driving with $5 Starbucks gift cards.

A traffic officer came up with the idea to "promote the holiday spirit and enhance goodwill between the traffic unit and the motoring public," police Sgt. Tim Curran said.

Local businesses donated money to buy the gift cards.

"They raised a substantial amount of money," Curran said. "They'll be pulling over a lot of people."

I think it's a cute idea, but I also think I would be a little pissed off that I'd had to go through the stress of being pulled over in the first place. (Via Boing-Boing, which is ironic, because I've been meaning to mention in a whiny voice that I haven't found anything of the remotest interest there for what seems like months.)

Unwinding

Yesterday I finished up my last freelance project of the year—well, I assume it's my last, unless someone calls with some little last-minute thing. I'm looking forward to catching up on a lot of reading (have I mentioned that I haven't read The New Yorker since the last week of August??) and household details. (I've got a doozy of a customer service story for you; the thrilling conclusion should come next week.)

Today I decided to unwind with a sudoku, which I hadn't done in a good, long while. I think I had burnt out a bit—in addition, they were getting kind of too easy for me. Well, Jen turned me on to the amazing Big Book of Sudoku #3, which contains plenty of regular puzzles plus some really out-there variations. So I just completed my first 16x16 sudoku! That's right, each row, column, and box has to contain the digits 0–9 and the letters A–F just once each. It was wicked. And I'm feeling very pleased with myself for finishing it! I also really like the jigsaw sudokus. If you like sudoku but need some more challenging puzzles, check out this book. And get yourself some newly sharpened pencils and a good eraser while you're at it.

Double Depp

1. Click here to get to a QuickTime video of Johnny's recording session for "Sweeney Todd." Yes, he can sing, too!

2. Once again, Johnny tops the list of best autograph givers. "Though soft-spoken and laid-back, he likes to talk to fans and get to know them while signing." Will Ferrell came in dead last. Frankly, I don't "get" autograph seekers. I would love to have a conversation with some of my favorite actors, singers, authors, etc., but just to have them scribble their name on a piece of paper does nothing for me.

Cold Enough for Ya?

Well, let's just be grateful that it's sunny and there's no wind today. "Feels like" 4° is about as low as I care to go today. But it's supposed to get all the way up into the 20s later! (Forgive me for not getting all excited.)

Dirt Farmer

Here's that promised review of Levon Helm's new CD, "Dirt Farmer." For those who need a little background info, Helm was the drummer and one of the lead singers of The Band. If you don't think you know him, think of the voice you've heard in the songs "The Weight," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "Ophelia," and "Up on Cripple Creek." That's him. He's also had a bit of a side career as a bit-part movie actor. His most famous role was Loretta Lynn's father in "Coal Miner's Daughter," but he's also had smaller parts in many other movies, including the upcoming movie version of one of Andy's favorite James Lee Burke novels, In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead.

Anyhow, fast-forward to 1996, when Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer and had to go through radiation and all the rest. For a long time he couldn't even speak, let alone sing. He had to communicate by writing notes. His daughter Amy Helm, who sings with Ollabelle, took care of him, and when he did indeed get his voice back, she persuaded him to release a CD of the kind of music he grew up with in rural Arkansas, and that's how "Dirt Farmer" came to be.

His voice sounds great—if I hadn't known about the throat cancer, I would have just thought it sounded slightly different because he was getting old (shades of John Prine, no?). I was stunned when I listened to his interview with Terry Gross last week, because his speaking voice is so raspy and weak, but he can still really belt it out when he sings. (By the way, I really encourage you to listen to the whole interview—it's excellent.) I was interested to learn that he has always thought of himself primarily as a drummer—I don't know nothin' 'bout drums, but I've always loved his unmistakable voice.

If you like his voice too, and if you also happen to like traditional roots music, you'll love this CD. His daughter Amy provides gorgeous harmonies; I've always loved the way family members can make such a beautiful sound together (think Loudon and Martha Wainwright, the Roches, and so on). Listen to the previews at Amazon and see what you think.

Date Night

Andy and I went on a real date last night for the first time in, I think, months. We saw "No Country for Old Men," which was outstanding—albeit dark, depressing, violent, gory, and upsetting. I will surely never look at Javier Bardem again: In this, he plays a truly evil character, possibly the scariest believable villain I've ever seen. I had chills up and down my spine every time his face filled the screen, particularly when he smiled. The other two stars of the movie are Tommy Lee Jones, who is really the only one you could cast for the role of the Texas sheriff who just wants to retire already and stop having to deal with all the trouble and misery that seems to be coming at him faster and faster these days, and Josh Brolin, who plays a guy who just happens to wander into Bardem's path. I don't think I'd ever seen Brolin before, and he was terrific in this.

The Coen brothers are geniuses; I don't know how they so often manage to get everything just right. This movie started with a Cormac McCarthy novel (which I have not read but now want to, mainly because I'm curious about how closely the movie followed the book), but the Coens wrote the excellent screenplay. The casting, cinematography, pace—just everything works here.

I'll let Roger Ebert take it from here, since we agree completely in this case:

"No Country for Old Men" is as good a film as the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, have ever made, and they made "Fargo." It involves elements of the thriller and the chase but is essentially a character study, an examination of how its people meet and deal with a man so bad, cruel and unfeeling that there is simply no comprehending him.... This movie is a masterful evocation of time, place, character, moral choices, immoral certainties, human nature and fate.... Many of the scenes in "No Country for Old Men" are so flawlessly constructed that you want them to simply continue, and yet they create an emotional suction drawing you to the next scene. Another movie that made me feel that way was "Fargo." To make one such film is a miracle. Here is another.

Andy and I went to Legal's for dinner afterward (I had delicious lobster and crabmeat ravioli in tomato vodka sauce) and spent the whole time talking about the movie and piecing it together, trying to fill in holes and figure out sequences. Much of this reconstruction is left to the viewer, which didn't bother me one bit. There is nothing "formula" about this movie at all. If you can take movie brutality, this is a don't-miss.

You May Use Your Calculators

In case school is canceled tomorrow, I've prepared a little math activity for my kids:

If we already had a foot of snow on the ground from Thursday's blizzard, and Daddy was letting Mama sleep in today, but she was rudely awakened by the kids' whoops of joy at the news that Sunday school is canceled because we're in the midst of another blizzard today with expected accumulation of 5–8 inches, how many cocktails will Mama need by the end of this day trapped home with the kids while trying to finish up her big Spanish project, which is due this week?

 

Oh, Scared, Eh?

7

Well, that's reassuring in case things get ugly on Monday, when I'm helping the kindergarteners with a snowman art project. For the record, Pete could take 10 5-year-olds, and Andy could take a whopping 25. (Use this link rather than the above graphic, which for some reason leads to a dating service site. Via the Presurfer)

She's Officially in the Club Now

Surely this is a rite of passage for every American child: proudly and excitedly reading The Cat in the Hat aloud (with or without a plumed headband).

I remember every word and every illustration so vividly—and that's from my own childhood, not even from having the book around when Steph and Pete learned to read. This book always made me very anxious as a child. I was totally on the fish's side of the argument.

After she finished reading it, Julie said, "This is just like Ferris Bueller! By the time the mother comes home, everything is all back to normal and she never knows what happened!"

Winter Wonderland

Here's a shot of the blizzard as it was coming down last night:

And here's the result this morning:

We got a two-hour delayed school opening to let the plows finish up their work, so I'm about to bring the kids now. Temps are supposed to get up into the low 40s this afteroon, so we can expect some major slush.

Friday iPod Random Ten, Annotated Edition

1. The Waltzing Fool - Lyle Lovett

I remember Andy came home one day—more than 20 years ago! Could it be?—and said he'd heard a gorgeous song called "The Waltzing Fool" by some newcomer named Lyle Lovett. We've bought every CD he's put out since.

2. Drivin' Wheel - Ray Wylie Hubbard & Patty Griffin

I don't care for Hubbard at all, but Patty Griffin's ethereal harmonies on this beautiful Tom Rush song make it more than worthwhile.

3. Ellen's Tune - Bill Morrissey & Peter Keane

Maybe 10 or 15 years ago, I heard a song begin with some beautiful guitar work, in the style of Mississippi John Hurt. I waited and listened and then was shocked to hear Bill Morrissey's voice come on. I love a lot of his songs, but I knew there was no way he was playing guitar on this one. (I hope I'm not offending him, but he does have a line in this very song about his girlfriend that says, "Glad she goes for lyrics and not guitar licks."). Finally the DJ came on and identified the guitarist as one Peter Keane. We bought all his CDs as they came out, and he became one of our all-time favorites, but unfortunately he remains greatly underappreciated and has even stopped touring, instead preferring to just play around his local Austin. We did get to see him at Passim once, and it was a joy. All his music is available for free download at his site, except for his first CD, "Walkin' Around," which is in fact my favorite. If you like his other stuff, you might want to seek this one out too—or let me know, and I'll burn you a copy.

4. Sweet Baby James - James Taylor

This is really just a perfect song, don't you think?

5. Stage Fright - Steve Reynolds

Another one of the nice covers on the tribute collection to The Band.

6. The Rose Tattoo - David Byrne

I don't think "Rei Momo," Byrne's CD of Brazilian music, did very well commercially, but I love it. Interestingly enough, iTunes categories it as "Alternative/Punk." Ha!

7. Hallelujah (live) - Martin Sexton

This is not the over-covered Leonard Cohen song; it's an original Marty song—and a good one, too.

8. Storm Windows - John Prine

Surely one of my Top Ten JP songs. A real beauty, and one that moves me every time I hear it, even after all these years.

9. It's Not Happening - The Be Good Tanyas

Thanks to Scott for introducing me to The Be Good Tanyas—we rarely agree on music, but this is a happy exception. I can't get enough of their vocal harmonies.

10. Poor Old Dirt Farmer - Levon Helm

Just picked up this CD the other day and promise to review it soon. I had trouble finding it at Newbury Comics because it was filed under "Rock." This is about as far from a rock album as I can imagine.

Thing 2

In all the excitement of Julie's lost teeth and the snowstorm and Hanukkah, I forgot to mention that Julie can read! It was almost as instantaneous as a lightswitch; she went from sounding out a few letters here and there to reading The Cat in the Hat aloud almost perfectly. She is so very pleased with herself, as well she should be.

My Weary, Snowy Commuter

Andy just walked in the door; it took him 3 hours and 10 minutes to get home from work. It usually takes him 20–30 minutes. I'm glad he had the foresight to leave early and to fill up the gas tank before he left the office. Maker's Mark, here he comes.

There is nothing like having everyone home safe and sound during a big storm—as long as we don't lose power, that is.

Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful...

Today was an early release day for teacher meetings, and it turned out to be a lucky coincidence, because a fast-moving blizzard came out of nowhere just after noon. Some of the neighboring cities that weren't having an early release sent the kids home early anyhow. Here's the view out my back door a few minutes ago, which is exactly when I would have been trying to pick up the kids at school at the usual dismissal time:

We're supposed to end up with somewhere close to a foot of snow by midnight. Just so long as they get it all cleared up in time for school tomorrow....

Found in Translation

Someone with altogether too much time on his hands has digitally remastered the last scene of "Lost in Translation" so that we can hear what Bill Murray whispers in Scarlett Johansson's ear. Wanna know? Really? Are you sure? Once you know, you can never unknow, so decide carefully. If you're ready, go here. (For the record, if it is indeed genuine, it's nothing shocking or out of character or life-changing.)

w00t!

The other day when I posted about getting Such! A! Deal! on Pete's new parka, I initially ended my post with "w00t!" and then changed it to "woo-hoo!" at the last moment. I figured that my readership contains only a handful of geeks who would get "w00t!" (yes, those are zeros, not o's), so I went for the more universal Homer Simpsonism.

So imagine my surprise today when I learned that Merriam-Webster has crowned "w00t!" the Word of the Year for 2007! It appears that I missed my chance to seem cool right before it officially become totally uncool to say "w00t!"

Wiki Wednesday

Time to learn something!

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. Click on "Random article" in the left-hand sidebar box.
3. Post it!

I got a botany lesson:

The Leaf Angle Distribution (or LAD) of a plant canopy refers to the mathematical description of the angular orientation of the leaves in the vegetation. Specifically, if each leaf is conceptually represented by a small flat plate, its orientation can be described with the zenith and the azimuth angles of the surface normal to that plate. If the leaf has a complex structure and is not flat, it may be necessary to approximate the actual leaf by a set of small plates, in which case there may be a number of leaf normals and associated angles. The LAD describes the statistical distribution of these angles.

Different plant canopies exhibit different LADs: For instance, grasses and willows have their leaves largely hanging vertically (such plants are said to have an erectophile LAD), while oaks tend to maintain their leaves more or less horizontally (these species are known as having a planophile LAD). In some tree species, leaves near the top of the canopy follow an erectophile LAD while those at the bottom of the canopy are more planophile. This may be interpreted as a strategy by that plant species to maximize exposure to light, an important constraint to growth and development. Yet other species (notably sunflower) are capable of reorienting their leaves throughout the day to optimize exposure to the Sun: this is known as heliotropism.

The LAD of a plant canopy has a significant impact on the reflectance, transmittance and absorption of solar light in the vegetation layer, and thus also on its growth and development. LAD can also serve as a quantitative index to monitor the state of the plants, as wilting usually results in more erectophile LADs. Models of radiation transfer need to take this distribution into account to predict, for instance, the albedo or the productivity of the canopy.

Little Bites of Heaven

When she came here for Grandma's shiva, Aunt Roz brought me a pound and a half of the most amazing dark chocolate–covered almonds from Sahadi's in Brooklyn. I refused to share them and only just finished the last one tonight. Oh. My. God.

A Pair of Fun Movies

"Melinda and Melinda" is a good example of Woody Allen's cleverness and creativity, which seems to have gone missing lately. The lovely Radha Mitchell (she looks like a young Jessica Lange, don't you think?) stars in the title roles—yes, roles, plural, because the movie starts with one premise and takes it in two wholly different directions. In the romantic comedy version, she shows up uninvited at a dinner party and ends up coming between Will Ferrell and Amanda Peet; sweet, silly hilarity ensues. In the tragedy version, she is an old college friend of Chloe Sevigny; she has lost custody of her children and is spiraling out of control. Her arrival on the scene disrupts everyone's lives. Both story lines are really well done. My only gripe was that Mitchell can't smoke a cigarette to save her life (ha, ha). If you're an actor playing someone who spends a lot of time drinking and chain-smoking, you should know how to hold a cigarette convincingly. I'm just saying.

"Waitress" is pure fluff, but thoroughly enjoyable. The opening scene has waitresses Keri Russell, Cheryl Hines, and Adrienne Shelly (who also wrote and directed the movie, then was murdered shortly after it was released) awaiting Keri's pregnancy test results. The news is bad: She's pregnant and now fears she'll never escape her louse of a husband (played with creepy, dangerously clingy believability by Jeremy Sisto, whom I last saw as Brenda's creepy, dangerously clingy brother Billy in "Six Feet Under"). The only thing that brings her joy is making pies, and according to everyone (including the curmudgeonly old diner owner, wonderfully played by Andy Griffith), she clearly is a pie-making goddess. Then along comes a handsome new OB-GYN to shake things up, and, well, you can guess what happens. In fact, nothing at all in this movie comes as a surprise, but that doesn't diminish its charm.

Love Me Some Internet

Here's yet another thing that just wouldn't have been possible before we all got online. My kids draw and color all day long, and every time I buy a new pack of markers (we favor the Crayola washables), the first one to run out is the black. This is mainly because Pete uses black almost exclusively for his scenes of mass destruction (with the occasional red for blood and orange for fire or lava), but the girls also use black for outlining and such. We have dozens of greens, blues, and purples, but black? Not so much. I was surprised to learn at the Crayola site that you can't buy a big pack of just one color marker; I would have thought that would be something they'd offer, perhaps for teachers. I even broke down and bought the kids some black Sharpies, but I'm terrified they'll get all over the house.

So what's a Mom to do but Google "washable black marker"? Lo and behold, I found a site called Just Black Washable Markers for Kids, because, well, that's all they sell! I was somehow unable to use the online shopping cart, but I called and they're sending me two packs tomorrow, with free shipping even!

Wherefore Art Thou, O Book Group?

Have you noticed that my book group hasn't met in more than 4 months? The end of the summer and beginning of the school year were busy for all of us, so we were scheduled to meet at the beginning of November. Then Grandma had her stroke, so I asked if we could put off the meeting. Then came Thanksgiving, and here we are. However, as it turned out, no one was too disappointed when I suggested that we just skip The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. Only a couple of people had even managed to slog their way through it, and none of them were happy about it. The rest of were stuck about halfway through and dreading going on. As Sara said, "It's really slow, and nothing ends up happening." This was unprecedented but seemingly necessary.

Anyhow, we're going to jump straight into January with About Alice, the book-length expansion of Calvin Trillin's gorgeous New Yorker homage to his late wife.

Celebrity Sightings

Saturday night was our friends' annual holiday party, which in most years is also our annual party period—we don't seem to have the kinds of friends who throw lots of parties (or else they do throw them and just don't invite us because they don't really like us very much). It's always a really nice group, and over the years we've come to look forward to seeing some of their other friends who aren't from our neighborhood.

I was talking with a friend there about close encounters of the celebrity kind. He mentioned that he got to hang out with Jackson Browne after a concert a few years back, which I think ranks right up there. He also mentioned a mutual friend of ours who was checking out at an Avis counter recently. When he turned around, he found himself face to face with Robin Williams. "No shit!" was all he could think of to say. "No shit," Robin Williams replied.

My big claim to fame was that many (20+) years ago I was in a club in San Francisco, and on the dance floor with me were John Travolta, Marilu Henner, and Kenny Loggins! We didn't exactly have an interaction of any kind, although I did make a point to bump into John slightly just 'cause I could. Oh, and I also had a nice conversation with Jason Varitek in a local sandwich shop back in 2005, when he first moved to our neighborhood.

A few years ago, Andy pushed open the door of a Ramada Inn on Long Island and knocked down Davey Jones, who was on the other side. Oops! I don't know anyone else who ever injured a Monkee. And then there was the time he went to Mike's Pastry and saw John Updike there, reading fricking Rudyard Kipling while he had his cannoli or whatever. Rereading would probably be more accurate.

So, what famous celebs have you danced near, knocked down, said "No shit" to, or otherwise met?

Thuch a Thweet Thmile

I should have saved the title of this post for today, since front teeth do tend to travel in pairs.

Text Me No Spam

This morning I accidentally grabbed Andy's cell phone when I went out (we have the same model). Almost immediately it alerted me to a new text message, which turned out to be spam! Andy said he'd received exactly one text message up till then (from a coworker saying, "This is how you do a text message"), and certainly no spam.

Later in the day, after I swapped back to my own cell phone, the same thing happened: I got my first spam text message! I've received only a half-dozen legitimate text messages ever, so this was quite a coincidence.

It reminds me of when fax machines first became popular, and people started sending junk faxes, which used up the receiver's paper and toner. Then laws were passed, spam email was invented, and the rest was history. I don't know what our cell phone plan allows in terms of text messages, but if receiving them is an added expense, I intend to stop this spam in its tracks! The interesting thing is that our phone numbers aren't even remotely similar, and the spam messages weren't the same. It just so happened that we both received our first spam text messages on this particular Sunday morning.

(Incidentally, I remember the first time I ever saw a fax machine. It was in the late '80s, and my company was split between two buildings about ½ mile apart. Our division's head secretary called us all together to see a newfangled contraption. She explained that there was a similar device in the other building, and she proceeded to send a document from us to them, and then vice versa. We all thought it was way cool, but we also thought it was ridiculous to imagine that it would ever become useful. "Yeah, right! Like companies all over the place are going to get one of these machines and start sending documents to each other! Ha!")

Gifts for All

Every year for Hanukkah, I like to have one night when I get all three kids the same thing. Not surprisingly, it's been getting harder each year to think of something appropriate for a boy and two girls of different ages, but this year I had a brainstorm: a $15 Newbury Comics gift card! We took them yesterday to redeem them. Steph chose a Paul Frank T-shirt, Pete got some more Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, and Julie went for a Shining Star stuffed animal. Happiness abounded. (Oh, and somehow Mama ended up with a few used CDs by the time we got to the register....)

Then I also like to have one night when I give them a single gift to share, which is likewise becoming a tricky feat. This year I found the Eyeclops on sale at Costco, and it was a real winner. We've been busily inspecting coins, hair, food, clothing, and skin, all eliciting lots of "Wow"! and "Eww!" reactions.