April 2009 Archives

You didn't even need to ask. I could just tell by the way you looked at my site that you wanted more material from me. Sure, my kids are awesome, my wife is amazing, and you love reading my entries about other topics, but what you really want are links to other sites, so you don't have to read my original material. I read a number of things on the interweb, both through feeds as well as random surfing. I like to keep track of some of that stuff – stuff that is either of interest to me, or which I think others might enjoy (or both).

Previously, I used a service called ma.gnolia to keep track this stuff. Unfortunately, ma.gnolia went down in a flaming fire (they suffered massive data loss and nobody was keeping backups (me included)). Instead of using another third party, I decided to let Movable Type's awesomenessocity track my awesome links, right here on this site.

You may like the material, you may not. Subscribe to the feed and see what you think of it. The title leads you to the material, and you can see my own comments and sources where applicable. Additionally, I've incorporated the links into the site, and you may notice some changes as I work to further accomplish that. (P.S. Thanks to Andy Baio for answering some question about how his links work)

…and they raised the roof – at least that's what you might believe if you observed Cecilia.

For those of you unfamiliar with the reference, there is a children's bible song about two men of variable wisdom levels, and the stability of their homes during inclement weather. At a point in the song the lyrics say, “The rains came down and the floods came up.” These words are accompanied by hand motions of sparkly-like fingers going downward (rain coming down), then your hands in front of you, with your palms upward, and raising (the floods coming up).

Instead of the usual gestures that accompany the floods coming up, Cecilia prefers to raise the roof. Not only does she still communicate the rising floods, but somehow the music gets louder, everybody in her vicinity starts to cheer, dance more with the beat, and make comments such as “w00t! w00t!” and “awwww ye-uh!”

(Unrelated, but related. While typing this up, I was reminded of one of my favorite intros to a fake commercial I've ever seen (albeit from Family Guy, a show of questionable content). Be sure to watch the first half of the ad for wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man and try to remember the opening line for all future sightings. You can/should skip the second half. If that link no longer works, I've saved the clip for posterity here. You'll need Quicktime to play it, which you probably already have.)

No need to adjust your set. You're on the right site/feed. I can understand why you might be perplexed. It could be due to the fact I'm posting for the third time in as many days (when I went almost 2 months without posting previously). It could also be caused by Cecilia completing two pages of subtraction and another of addition in a kids workbook today. She's 4. That's weird.

 

Maria was giving her a quiet activity to do during Becky's nap, and showed her how she can do math with jelly beans. First, Cecilia did two pages of subtraction by herself (sorry, that's the best photo I could get of it). After Cecilia announced she was done, Maria decided to give addition a whirl. Admittedly Cecilia could use some work on actually writing her numbers… but I think it's time to sit her in front of the TV for a few weeks, and turn on the most mind-numbing garbage I can think of… Yo Gabba Gabba, or Teletubbies. If we keep going she's not going to have anything to do in pre-school or kindergarten… or first grade. <sigh>

Currently the headline here reads “Polar bear attacks woman at Berlin Zoo” but let's take a look at the very first paragraph…

A polar bear attacked a woman at Berlin Zoo Friday afternoon after she climbed a fence and jumped into its habitat during feeding time…

The woman did what? The bears are actively feeding, and the woman climbs a fence then jumps into their habitat, and we're blaming the polar bears for attacking her? Pay no attention to the pure stupidity of the woman, and her brave attempts to remove her genes from the gene pool… let's focus on the bears and the crazy ways they follow their animal instincts.

I think it's an obligation to put an egg in every dye available, and make sure it turns into some sort of putrid color. I was pleased to see that today's version leaned more in the direction of purplish-slate, as opposed to poo-brown, like it usually does. The girls had a good time. Becky ate ”jaibeens“ while the rest of us went nuts with the dye. She likes jellybeans. A lot.

I wish we had twice as many eggs to dye, since I have trouble sharing with others. I'm looking forward to deviled eggs, or egg salad, or both. Happy Easter.

Update: My apologies for not posting a photo of the eggs. I didn't realize that it would be desired. Here you can see them. Unfortunately, the purplish-slate egg has gone the way of all the earth. Although I originally did the egg in the upper-right as a slightly patriotic egg, I was reminded of the review and mockery of Pepsi's new logo, and remembered how much I enjoyed this interpretation of their new logo. Off topic, but important. ;)