Ultranormal

  • Construction Day One

    Today wasn’t all that bad. The guys showed up about 9:30 and stayed until after 5. They framed the half of the office and bathroom that needed it. Sadly, this will take about 9 inches away from the office since one wall was only a concrete slab. Pout. I love me some square footage. We can hear banging and sawing but it isn’t ridiculously loud or annoying. The kids and I are staying on the main floor but when we need something from down there, I don’t hesitate to get it. I might even do some laundry tomorrow, woot. Brian wasn’t happy not getting to watch tv down there, but he survived. Around 11:30 this morning, I crashed on the living room couch after reading to the kids for awhile. I remember thinking then that I wish this were over already. But once I was fully awake again it wasn’t so bad.\
    Only 14 more days to go, (she says optimistically).

  • A new beginning

    Divorce parties are becoming popular.\
    I wanted to have a party when my best friend divorced. Not because it was joyous occasion, but because it was so long in coming that finally having it official meant that she could get on with her life. And that was reason to celebrate.\
    What says you all?

  • The Home ‘Stache Stretch

    It’s almost over. This bristly curly mass on my face is doomed. Come Thursday morning, it will be gone. I’m currently tied for fourth place in the rankings, and that’s just not good enough, people!\
    I’ve hopefully provided some entertainment, and maybe saved a testicle (maybe two, I don’t know what the dollar to nut ratio is). But, we can do better. We must do better. For as little as ten dollars, you too can save a ball from certain doom.

    Plus, I really want that trophy.

  • Huh?

    This makes no sense to me: NY to allow illegal immigrants to get drivers license. I’m not anti-illegal immigrant, but this change is asinine; it reads like an 8th grade social studies project. I can’t believe educated, professional, adults came up with this plan and other educated, professional, adults agreed to it. Just… GAH! The government is stupid.\
    If anyone needs me I will be returning to my “head-in-the-sand” state of existence. I was much happier and less frustrated there. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2, here I come!

  • House stuff

    I signed the contract to get our basement finished. They start on Monday. YAY!! I’m glad to finally be moving forward on this. After the office is finished, we are going to have a camp out in there since this is why we didn’t have a summer vacation. I think the kids will like an indoor camp out, in a room that smells like paint, just as much as a trip to the beach, don’t you?

  • Covers

    Jason asked about favorite covers on twitter today and there are just too many to list 140 characters at a time. So, here are my favorite cover songs at the moment:

    • José Gonzalez’ cover of Massive Attacks’ Teardrop: Already one of my all-time favorite songs, the cover is haunting in a completely different way. It’s gorgeous.
    • The Rheostatics’ cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: The original is old, dour and has gravity. Unfortunately, it also shows its age. The cover is really good. The song rocks, but still packs an emotional punch, even more so than the original.
    • Luna’s cover of Guns n’ Roses Sweet Child o’ Mine: It takes the radio anthem from middle school and turns it into a lovely ballad.
    • Living Colour’s cover of AC/DC’s Back in Black: I know the original is a classic, but between Vernon Reid’s guitar and Corey Glover’s vocals, the cover is better. Yeah, I said it. The cover is better.
    • This Radiant Boy’s cover of They Might Be Giant’s Don’t Lets Start: Actually, everything on Hello Radio is good (The Wrens and Steve Burns’ songs especially), but this takes a classic we’ve all heard a million times, as great as it is, and turns it into a great little punk anthem.\
      There are a ton more, but those are the ones that stick out at the moment. There are of course the classic covers like Jeff Buckley’s cover of Hallelujah that’s pretty much turned into the canonical version of the song, any cover of Leonard Cohen’s stuff (I’m Your Fan is a GREAT tribute album), Cake’s cover of I Will Survive, etc that I didn’t mention (well, I just did, but whatever).\
      What’s your favorite cover?

  • That’s the Spirit

    This week has been difficult, to put it mildly. As you may have seen in the tech news (and hell, maybe the regular news too), AOL laid off a bunch of my friends this week. I’m still employed, but it’s never easy to see the company I’ve been a part of for twelve years shrink. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but for now, I’m not giving up. I twittered last night that fighting is much more fun than surrender, and it’s true. Between the web standards stuff Kimberly and I started four years ago, to working on the stuff that’s come after it (the Cluetrain, Rails, etc), I’ve been fighting to “save” AOL for years. I’m not ready to give up on that investment yet.\
    This week has been all about mourning and trying to make sense of what’s left. I wasn’t going to write anything at all about the layoffs here, but I saw something today that was so unbelievably awesome, and says so much about the people who make up the company, that I have to share it. Upper management may change every year or so, but the people who work here are what’s always made AOL work and made it a fun place to work. Check out this video (the password is aollover and I found it over on Silicon Alley Insider):

    L’amour a la francaise from pyc on Vimeo.\
    I’ve been to that office. It was many years ago, but they’re great people, just like the great people in Dulles, Dublin, Mountain View, Columbus, Tucson, Bangalore and everywhere else we have offices (those are the ones I’ve been to anyway). I’m hoping that when it’s my time to leave, I can show as much class and heart as the folks in the Paris office.

  • Yay for Philly!

    Boy Scouts to pay more in rent. I’m not anti-Boy Scouts, maybe. But they can’t have it both ways: ban certain people from their organization and receive special privileges from the government.\
    Kevin and I blogged about this before. I am going to see if I can find those old posts.\
    ETA-\
    My old post.\
    Now I’m off to find Kevin’s old post; his was more articulate.

  • Holy Toledo!

    Wow, even as crazy-liberal as I am, this is too crazy for even me: Middle school offers birth control pill. If parents sign a vague, “my child can be treated at the health center” form, the child can receive the prescription. This is shocking to me. It can’t be good for 11-13 year olds to be on the pill, right? All of the hormones and their bodies are still developing- yikes. What’s going on in Maine that the school board felt they needed to do this?

  • Max Is a Poet

    Max and I talk about all kinds of things, and you already know that he reads everything. It’s sometimes hard to figure out how to explain things to him. He’s worried about stuff like the environment, and recently, the war in Iraq. I’ve been trying to tell him not to worry about it (because he’s eight), but once he latches on to something, it’s hard for him to let go.\
    He’s also been in his school’s writing group since last year (for 3rd graders, but they made an exception for Max), and likes poetry. He was home sick today, and wrote this. Again, it’s not like we spend a lot of time indoctrinating him…\
    The Iraq War\
    bq. The USA is bad to me.\
    Being very bad to my glee.\
    After the 2008 election,\
    The USA will reach perfection.\
    The Iraq War is over,\
    So unfair! No government left.\
    With great stubbornness,\
    W. Bush refused to stop it,\
    it’s true,\
    so blue.\
    He’s a great kid, but he’s got to learn to lighten up.