Ultranormal

  • Canadian Music Day

    I’ve decided that today is my personal Canadian Music Day. I started this morning with the CBC Radio 3 Podcast, and have now moved on to The Arcade Fire. I’ll probably finish up the day with The Constantines and James’ mix cd from SxSW ’05 (not all Canadian music, but since it was compiled by a Canadian, I’m declaring it OK).\
    Update: Thanks to James’ aforementioned mix cd, I’ve found some more music to fill Canadian Music Day. This afternoon will be composed of (none of which I’ve listened to yet):

    • Rheostatics – Night of the Shooting Stars
    • The Magnetic Fields – i (oops, they’re not Canadian, but James put them on the CD!)
    • Martin Tielli – We Didn’t Even Suspect He Was the Poppy Salesman
    • The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema\
      Yes, record companies, this is what happens when you let people play music on the internet – we buy more music. I never would have purchased any of this music if not for the internet, if not for mix cd’s. Give away a little, and people will return the favor by buying a lot.

  • Ughh

    Brian has turned into a terrorist. He gets up at all hours of the night, flipping on the lights, disturbing everyone’s sleep, jumping on anyone with a pulse. Max keeps yelling at him to turn off the light and leave him alone. Kevin ran away and said, “Don’t bother me until the sun is up,” (I’ve been trying to teach Brian that) and I stuck my head under the blanket and tried to sleep with him playing leapfrog over me.\
    I’m not sure what to do to fix it and it is really hard to be rational or reasonable on very little sleep. Any suggestions?

  • BarCampDC: The Kid Comes Along

    Youngest BarCamper
    \
    by Kelly Gifford

    (that’s Dr. Joe talking to Max)\
    Max and I went to BarCampDC this Saturday. BarCamp is an “un-conference” (no set schedule, everyone participates), and they’re held all over the world. This one was organized by Jason Garber, Jackson Wilkinson and Justin Thorp. They did a great job, and were cool with Max coming and participating.\
    I spoke on Rails, did the live coding demo I’ve done at other unconferences, and helped out in the portable social networking session.\
    Here are some links related to those sessions:

    • Ficlets, Rails and OpenID – I used this presentation during the intro to show off some of what Rails can do (also has some good OpenID info).
    • Tapping the Portable Social Network – Explains some of the concepts behind the prototype I put together, and
    • Portable Social Networks – The blog post that explains the prototype and presents the flow (and has a link to download the app).
    • The International Day of Awesomeness – Because I “sponsored” (on accident, I swear), I got to speak before one of the sessions. Of course, I spoke about The International Day of Awesomeness.\
      Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about Max! When I originally asked Max if he wanted to go to BarCamp with me, I wasn’t sure he’d want to go. We talked about it a couple times on the way to summer camp and the more he found out about it, the more excited he got. I was excited for him to see me give a presentation and see what it is that I do when I travel. He had a great time. Everyone was really great with him. He was so excited to talk about Scratch and Hackety Hack and to learn from everyone. He was by far the youngest attendee there (I mean, Jason only looks 15). He was insanely well-behaved, and other than him clicking markers together a couple times or tearing paper, he was as well-behaved as any of the adults. He zoned out a little bit in the afternoon, but I think most people did.\
      On the way home, we talked a lot about what he thought of the day. Even after almost twelve hours of non-stop geekdom (we left the house at 7:30AM and this was at about 7PM), he was asking when the next BarCamp was going to be (in the last twenty-four hours, he’s asked me when the next one is about ten times), and asking me if I’d help him do a presentation on animation and using Hackety Hack.\
      Thank you to everyone who sponsored BarCamp, helped organize things, presented, and talked to Max during the day. I can’t tell you how cool it was to watch him talking to people and share his passion. It was great to share that with him, and to see him get out there. He said afterwards that he was a little shy in the morning, but that everyone was really nice. Max is an interesting kid, and I love seeing him learn and discover new things – and I love being able to share the things I’m passionate about with him.

  • Picture post!

    Kevin twittered it, but this picture deserves a real post of its own: Max at BarCampDC\
    He looks so professional!\
    Plaid shirt? Check.\
    Short-sleeve plaid shirt? Check.\
    Back pack? Check.\
    ID tag? Check.\
    Animated expression while talking about computery stuff? Check.

  • My boys

    Kevin and Max spent Saturday at a computer conference-thingie. Max loved it. Much more than I was expecting. He did utilize the markers and paper I sent along though. He wants to present sometime on animation and scratch. I am not sure what computer professional would want to listen, but hey- go for it, kid. He came home all psyched to hop on the computer and get started with some new project but Kevin was too tired. This morning he woke up at 5:30 (maybe because Brian and I were already awake and making noise) and immediately went to the computer.\
    Brian and I spent all day Saturday gorging on preseason football games! Wheee. Brian wasn’t so happy with this, actually. Too bad, kid, you’ve got another six months of football to endure! I tried to teach him how to catch a football, but my boobs kept getting in the way of the appropriate position. Booo.\
    The other day I went clothes shopping for the boys and put the bags on the couch. Brian saw them and asked, “What’s this?” I told him it was some shirts for Max. Brian wanted a shirt too. Being awesome, I said, “I got you some too. Here they are,” and pulled out his totally cute new shirts. Brian flipped out! He started screaming and crying, “Too big, too big,” (which is what he says when he doesn’t like something). Jeeze, what a drama queen. He could give the people on Project Runway a lesson or two.\
    Last week Max asked for his first pair of name-brand shoes. Sniff. They grow up so fast. Since the shoes, Skecher Airators, were on super sale and available during the tax-free weekend, I decided to get them. He was interested in them because the supposedly keep your feet color by letting air in, or air goes out. Something. After wearing them for a few minutes, he was disappointed by the lack of air wooshing. I was thinking about taking the shoes back, since he wasn’t so keen on them. “They don’t do a thing,” he said, but I decided that it would be a good lesson that commercials aren’t so accurate. Ten minutes later Max said he wants Skech-Airs. Headdesk.\
    Brian’s started saying, “Yank you,” instead of “Go” for thank you. He also says, “Peek-a-you,” instead of peek-a-boo. Totally cute.\
    Last week the boys came home from Babba’s with a toy pet. It was an egg that when put in water, a little rubber lizard hatches. Since then, it has more than doubled in size. I am not sure if it is still growing or not. It’s kind of awesome. Max named it Buddy 2, after my dad’s dog. I want another one of these things so Buddy can have a friend. Currently Buddy is living in my large glass mixing bowl. I am not sure we have room for two. Hmm. Max really wants a fish tank, so Kevin and I are going to get one for him for his birthday (no one steal our idea!). I need to make sure the tank is big enough to house Buddy too.\
    Speaking of birthdays, Brian got screwed out of his big birthday gift. Kevin and I had decided to get him a little kitchen, but the store didn’t have the one I wanted. We then spent a few days checking out online stores and shipping rates. By this time, Brian’s birthday party was over and we just sort of forgot about it. Oops. The kids have way too many toys though. So many in fact that it is hard for me to go present shopping for them because they pretty much have everything- blocks, trucks, little people, etc. How many trucks do they really need? Plus, Brian only really plays with two marbles, two cars, and a handful of blocks all day long. This makes me feel not so bad about planning to box up half of their toys for storage and/or Goodwill.\
    Let’s end on a random note. I rarely agree with Heather Havrilesky’s Salon column, but this week she pimps the season premiere of Weeds (I stopped watching) with my all-time favorite quote:

    My all-time favorite is when Doug and Andy are getting high in the living room and Andy asks the housekeeper, “Lupita, settle an argument for us. What do you call the thing between the dick and the asshole?” She answers, “The coffee table.”

    Man, look at all of the tags on this post!

  • One of these days I might have something highbrow to say.

    Here is my decorating horoscope: Loves antiques, florals, greens and blues, comfort and luxury, romantic touches. \
    Could this be any more wrong? Comfort doesn’t count because who wants to be uncomfortable? I have a lot of blue in my house because my husband likes it, but will admit to liking green.\
    You can check out your horoscope decorating style here: clicky.

  • Bad Mommy # 4 and # 183

    Last week over dinner, we were talking about the time and Kevin said, “Six o’clock.” Hmm, scintillating story so far, huh? Have you on the edge of your seats, right? Anyway, Brian says, “Fuck.” Kevin and I snicker but mostly ignore Brian. He says it again and again. Turns out he was trying to say, “Four o’clock,” and just forgot some of the sounds. Heh. You never forget your child’s first cuss word. When Max was a toddler, he would try to say fish, but it would come out, “bitch.” We would laugh and laugh, cuz we are totally immature like that.\
    Earlier today I was watching Entourage and Ari yells, “Fuck you!” a bunch of times and Brian started imitating him, “Fuck you. Fuck you.”\
    Yea, I am the best mommy ever.\
    I have been so busy trying to organize, move, and sort through basement stuff that the other household chores are being neglected. My poor family. Lately my house looks like one of those horrible places that CPS goes into: dirty dishes stacked in the sink, cracker crumbs in the family room, used sippy cups lying about. Ewwwww.\
    Ok, ok. The house usually looks like that except for the 20 minutes before my mom comes to visit. Usually I am too embarrassed to admit it!

  • The National Day of Awesomeness

    These things always start as a joke. Fortunately, I am someone who always takes the joke too far. So, here we are, with The National Day of Awesomeness. You’ll have to go to the site to read up on the holiday, what it is, when, and why you should join the probably three or four other people who will celebrate this special day (for which I’m sure someone will produce greeting cards in the very near future) early next year.\
    This is no longer a joke. This is serious. Well, as serious as a day dedicated to being awesome can be, that happens to occur on Chuck Norris’ birthday, and organized by a complete idiot… Yeah, it’s that serious.

  • Random emo story time.

    Babies, babies everywhere!\
    A friend of mine is pregnant, my cousin is pregnant, my neighbor is pregnant, and my other neighbor had a baby two weeks ago. Lots of babies everywhere, which is awesome because talking about babies is so much fun and exciting. Wheeeee! I love it! But having a baby, taking care of a baby? Ehh, I’d rather be stabbed in the eye. (Send all babysitting requests to Jennifer Lawver C/O Babies Everywhere.)\
    I can’t get excited about someone having a baby. It would be like getting excited for someone going off to Iraq. Ugh. I almost cried when my best friend got pregnant. I wonder if I’ll get over this feeling as Brian grows up and becomes less needy. Will I be excited for my sons to have their own kids or cry at the hell they are embarking on? Fifteen years is a long time to have to get over something, so hopefully I will.\
    The End.\
    ETA- I just read Sharon’s blog about morning sickness. OMG, I so want to cry for her. Pregnancy doesn’t really get worse than this, but then the hard part comes.

  • Stuff on my mind.

    Brian-speak update:

    • Brian tries to call Max, “Maxy Max,” like Kevin does, but it comes out, “Beh-Dant.” Seriously. It’s hard to describe. I keep telling Kevin that we NEED to get it on video. It’s cute and we know what he is saying (the inflection matches) but it’s kind of odd, yes?
    • Brian calls that silly Spongebob cartoon, “Aww bot curls pants.” Kevin couldn’t tell at all what Brian was saying until I told him.
    • Today we were playing a word game and Brian kept saying, “bird,” but I didn’t understand until the tenth time. He was getting kind of frustrated with me when I kept asking if he wanted a book. Poor Brian. Maybe it is time to have him reevaluated for speech therapy.
    • When Brian wants to initiate expressions of love, he’ll say, “Happy birthday, Mommy (or Daddy)!” It’s adorable and makes me want to eat his face off. I respond in kind. He can say, “I love you, too,” but only does it when someone else tells him first (such a boy that way).
    • Brian sang me a song today, “Rock a bye, Mommy, on the tree top. When the wind… faaaall.”\
      Sharon’s-having-a-baby Tips #356 and #872:
    • Some hospitals don’t provide wet wipes, so pack your own. It is really difficult to clean meconuim dry. Ask Kevin, he’ll tell you.
    • The hospital will probably give you a free diaper bag, so you can save some money by not getting your own. Use it towards something else totally necessary like… the million other things you need to buy.
    • Don’t stress about buying everything right now. Before you have the baby, all you need to buy is a baby book and some wet wipes for the hospital stay. You’ll probably have a day or two in the hospital (unless you’re a freak and check out four hours later like a friend of mine did). During this time, Mr. Sharon can buy a car seat, some diapers, and some onesies. That is all you really NEED in the beginning. True story. I mean, get the stuff you need, but don’t FREAK the FRAK out, ok?\
      Hey, if any of you readers out there have a tip to share, comment here and I will eventually send it to Sharon. Yes, the baby may be five by the time I send it, but maybe Sharon will be on her second or third then or maybe her younger sister Lauren (my super baby cousin) will be getting in on the mommy-action. See, the tips will still be relevant. (Hmm, imagine how much will change between three years ago when I had Brian and five years from now. A friend currently pregnant was shocked that I nor my friends had ultrasounds at 12 weeks even when nothing was wrong since everyone she knows has one.)\
      The house:
    • Kevin said I could repaint/redecorate the rec room. YAY! But that means more decisions to make, so boooo.
    • There are three ways I am leaning at the moment: painting the main area medium yellow and the office pale yellow (the playroom is bright yellow right now); painting the office blue and keeping the main area red and playroom yellow (primary colors rock my world!); or moving the comfy sectional down here and switching everything to nature-y green so that it flows into the new patio.
    • We’ve gotten rid of so much stuff lately, yay! Super yay! Toys and books and videos and kitchen crap. Head on down to the Sterling Goodwill to see it all. There is still more to get rid of. I am thinking about donating my wedding dress, but keeping my veil, to a breast cancer charity shop. It seems kind of sad, but what am I to do with it? I don’t have any daughters to dream of passing it to. I still fantasize of getting rid of half of everything I see. Ahh, sweet empty closets call out to me.\
      Politics:
    • The lack of action against the Bush Administration almost makes me believe in a Skull and Bones conspiracy. And I swear that I am mostly a rational person.
    • Hilary Clinton’s answer about whether she would talk to other governments (she basically said she wouldn’t, she doesn’t want to be used to propaganda) really bothers me. I understand what she means, but her first inclination is to worry about appearance rather than doing the job that needs getting done.