Ultranormal

Author: Kevin Lawver

  • The Terrible Twos

    They’re a myth, I swear. Whenever people ask me how old Max is, I always tell them the truth and with pride say, “He’s TWO.” Every single time, they say, “Oh yeah, the terrible twos.” I have to correct them every time. Max isn’t terrible at two. He’s great. He had two rough weeks right after his birthday, but Jen worked some magic and he’s back to adorable.

    He’s well behaved. He’s talking now and telling us what he wants in almost discernable words. He’s funny and loves to play. He’s not terrible, not even at bed time. He has his little routine for bedtime. One of us stands up (usually Jen) and says, “Ok, bed time!” We change a diaper, find a pacifier, Max grabs his lamb, and we head upstairs. He goes down without a fuss, and we get to listen to him talk to himself for a little while before he goes to sleep.

    I know every kid is different. If we have another one, I’m sure they’ll be different in many ways, and maybe not so easy. Maybe they will, just because Jen’s such a great parent (she won’t admit it, but she’s a natural).

    Last night, we made a gingerbread house. It turned out spiffy.

    Things are really good…

  • Party Party Party

    I went out with some folks from work last night. We went to this little neighborhood bar full of corporate lesbians, yuppy freaks, a Fraggle, a Tae Kwon Do guy, two 5 year-olds, some guy who yelled at the top of his lungs at the silent sports program on one of the bar tv’s, one horrific toupee and us. We refrained from talking about work for the most part, which is a first for us.\
    It was fun. I don’t go out with them as often as I’d like, but they’re a fun group. There were dirty jokes, good-natured mocking, stupid puns, and much laughter.\
    I’ve been thinking recently about my glaring lack of friends that I hang out with. My works friends are cool, but I don’t hang out with them much outside of work. There’s the occasional party, but I’m the married guy with the kid. I’m younger than most of them, but I’m not the party-bar-hopping type. So, I don’t join them on their crazy escapades.\
    I’m not really sad about all of it. I’m OK with it. Jen and I have a lot of fun together. Max is a ball. We hang out with my family a lot, which isn’t bad. Oh, it used to be. I wouldn’t be caught dead “hanging out” with the fam. Now, it’s just part of life, and we have fun.\
    I have no idea why I’m writing this. But there you go.

  • I was supposed to be

    I was supposed to be paying attention in the meeting. I just couldn’t. I’d just found all those yummy pulp science fiction covers, and had just come up with the new title of the site: “Fighting Spacemen With Pointed Sticks”. So, I drew this, and got strange looks:
    \

  • From the C|Net interview with

    What about the American character rubbed off on the mainstream Web that you wish hadn’t?


    [Only when the medium remains impartial and universal can it remain a force for individual, regional and global understanding.] There isn’t a “mainstream” Web. It isn’t like that. There is no “party line.” It is a decentralized system, where the existence of a bunch of commercial sites in one place doesn’t affect or detract from the quite independent existence of some great free academic material in another. The fact that there is porn somewhere else does not affect those reading the poetry.

    From the C|Net interview with Tim Berners-Lee

  • The Geekery is alive!! Check

    The Geekery is alive!! Check it out and let me know what you think.

  • Well, that free webcam software

    Well, that free webcam software I was using just died. How cool is that.

    On the topic, I tried so hard not to pick Zeldman’s Orange (can’t we just call it that now) when doing the redesign. Did I go check his site? Nope, I thought I knew it by heart. So, what did I do? I picked Zeldman Orange. Don’t worry, I’m no Orange stealer. It’s a whole different shade of orange now, baby.

  • And one more thing… I

    And one more thing… I don’t know why, but I always look like I’m asleep in the webcam. I swear I’m not. Really.

  • Because I’m in a funk

    Because I’m in a funk and feeling sleepy, I present my
    Favorite Sad/Mellow Songs (song:artist):

    1. Teardrop: Massive Attack
    2. Weather Storm: Massive Attack
    3. Wish: Mephisto Odyssey
    4. In Spite of Me: Morphine
    5. The Night: Morphine
    6. Take Me With You: Morphine (sensing a Morphine theme here?)
    7. Gone for Good: Morphine
    8. Is Jesus Your Pal?: GusGus
    9. Anthem: GusGus
    10. Jayme Lynn: Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
    11. Nothingness: Living Colour (only good song off their last album)
    12. She’s Already Made Up Her Mind: Lyle Lovett
    13. North Dakota: Lyle Lovett
    14. Family Reserve: Lyle Lovett (all off of Joshua Judges Ruth – what an excellent album)

    There are more. I forgot a lot of people, like Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman and Jeff Buckley. Leonard Cohen for writing Hallelujah and Jeff Buckley for singing it, and The Last Goodbye. Randy Newman for several songs, but mostly for one he played on Session at West 54th that he said hadn’t been recorded yet called, I Miss You. That song tore me up. And actually, it’s the last song on his new Best Of CD. I know what’s going in my stocking this year…

    There’s something about real sad songs, and movies, that I can’t shake. They can’t be stupid or fake. They can’t be Hallmark sappy. There has to be genuine, or at least the appearance of genuine pain behind it in order for it to work. Sad songs, like the Blues, make me happy. Sadness is life-affirming. Sadness means that you’re still kicking and will most likely be happy again. I don’t like constantly morose songs, or Goth depression. Real sadness in a song though is refreshing. You should try it.

  • If I don’t get more

    If I don’t get more interesting, I may have to join the Dull Men’s Club.

  • Problems

    Is it a bad thing if I’m a software engineer (that’s my title anyway) and I can’t stand C? I’m working through the Tome of the language (K&R), and jeez, it’s just ugly. In order to achieve Geek First Class, do you have to know C?