The sinus infection really did me in – it took until now to get here.
But I did it.
What passes for sport in our house
January 26, 2008 by
Smith shoots, it’s high….
OH! And it’s blocked by El Milo!
What a save – DC United’s defense is lucky to have such a promising young keeper…
Strange Conversation
January 21, 2008 by
My friend Chris and I have an ongoing conversation about music – we introduce one another to new music and discuss the merits of various artists and albums. We trade off buying concert tickets for mutually beloved artists as well as introductions to new ones. John and I brought him to see Jonatha Brooke, he roped us in to see Chris Smither (as someone who owns several versions of “Love me Like a Man,” I was ashamed to admit I knew little of the artist who wrote it). I have pretty eclectic tastes and a fairly wide music collection by most people’s standards, but Chris blows me out of the water, owning thousands of CDs. It’s always a coup for me when I can introduce him to someone new.
So it was a bit trippy this morning to come in to work and find Kris Delmhorst’s “Strange Conversation” sitting on my desk. I sent Chris an e-mail:
Are you lending or returning this to me? I can’t remember talking about this to you or lending it to you, but I also can’t remember if I own this on CD or just have a downloaded copy from iTunes…
He was crushed to find out I already knew about her. On the other hand, I thought it was pretty cool to finally have a somewhat obscure artist both of us had heard of.
Cute – multiplied
January 15, 2008 by
Still not 100% in the old “healthy” column, but getting back a bit. I do, however, have some cute photos of my friends Miklos’ and Michelle’s first-born (second-born is due next month). Martin was terrifically intrigued by all our critters, though he was leery of Tosh at first. He spread toddler cheer all around the place for a very pleasant evening (yes, he’s only almost three, though he looks about five).
He angled quite successfully for the orange creamsicle cat-fish:
Got a consultation from Dr. Melanie on the best way to snag the critter:
But this one has to be my favorite – you could photoshop them onto the end of a pier and it would look like they’re fishing together:
Milo wasn’t the only beneficiary of having a kid around the place. Tosh did his nice, patient puppy routine while Martin learned how to give a dog a cookie:
And was rewarded by a big game of tug (Martin had clearly gotten over his worries that the dog would eat him by this point):
Lest you think the humans didn’t get to have some good kid-fun too, let me dispel that notion. One of the many examples of Martin playing with the grownups, here with Yvonne:
That’s all for now. As much as I’d like to crawl back into bed, I must head off to work. ::sigh::
Irreverent before she even knows what that means
January 7, 2008 by
My friend Marie’s six-and-a-half-year-old, facing a window display containing a set of china figurines which depicted the Last Supper:
“Is that the God family?”
For my next unnatural act…
January 1, 2008 by
…I shall hit a rather arbitrary yet significant milestone. The mile-ometer on my iPod says that I have run/walked 99.27 miles since getting the thing in late August (1st run on August 26, 2007). Dang, but I do love that little gadget. Data is good.
So early in 2008, possibly the day after tomorrow, I shall have exceeded 100 miles.
Oh, and Lance Armstrong told me I burned a “significant” amount of calories with today’s run. Considering his fitness level, I suspect sarcasm, but I’m trying to take it well.
Happy New Year, all.
I don’t do resolutions
December 31, 2007 by
But recent discussion with friends has shown me how much I’ve fallen away from some things I used to enjoy. Namely, creative stuff. Yes, I do this, and I twiddle with sticks and string and come up with (mostly)wearable stuff. But once upon a time I used to fiddle with watercolors and other fine art stuff.
So, today I bought this
And looked at this
And made this
If I hear “Well, if it keeps us safe…” in a so-called security line One. More. Time.
December 30, 2007 by
Amen.
(Yes, I’ve been more or less off the grid. Back in a more organized way soon.)
“FIVE GOLD RINGS!”
December 28, 2007 by
Yeah, it’s late for posting video of Christmas songs, but this is still very funny in that collegiate-clever a capella group kind of way.
Conversations with a German-Speaking bot.
December 19, 2007 by
Naturally, when I saw this, I had to try it. The results:
me: merry christmas
en2de: Frohe Weihnachten
me: are you going to the christmas market?
en2de: Werden Sie den Weihnachtsmarkt?
me: did you bring the camel?
en2de: Haben Sie bringen das Kamel?
Which reminded me of something else I’ll yank out of the rerun file (originally entitled “Use Your Words” and published on September 22, 2004):
——————————————
Why is it that the words we remember best in foreign languages are invariably the most useless? Occasionally, I have dreams of polishing the rust off of my French, of expanding my understanding of German beyond it’s current 30-word limit. Sometimes, I even think it would be nice to finally learn Norwegian. Then I contemplate the actual meaning and quantity of the foreign-language words I currently possess. In French, it is conceivable that I could still embarrass myself creditably. After all, I studied the language for about six years (though those six years were many, many eons ago now). I used to brush up my French by reading advanced children’s books like the Le Petit Nicolas series. Then I found the first two Harry Potter books in French translation and thought it would be a good idea to use those to help me refresh my French.
Turns out that wasn’t such a hot idea. It took me ages to get through the first two chapters of the first book, and as a result I now have the perfectly useless word “perceuse” stuck fast in my brain. It means drill. Harry’s nasty uncle is a drill salesman – reading the book in English, I was never aware of the repetition of the word. But in French, oh – I frustrated myself with how often I looked it up. The first time or two I read it and looked it up, my helpfully discriminating brain said, “You won’t need that,” and promptly forgot it. That was a mistake. Having had to look it up a few more times, now I will never forget it. So – if you go to Paris with me, be sure to take me to a hardware store.
I visited Germany in Christmas in 1996. So, if you say, “Fro Weihnachten” to me while offering me gluhwein, we’re good. I can say “please” and “thank you.” I can even say “excuse me.” I can count to ten. I’m like Sesame Street auf Deutsch! While in a train station, I can tell the Eingang (entrance) from the Ausfahrt (exit). (Upon arrival at one of many train stations during that trip, one of my companions said, “I forget – do we gang or fahrt?”) So obviously, I’m a terror in German. Hold me back.
My Norwegian is the most laughable. Thanks to my late Norwegian grandmother, I can tell you I love you. Of far less utility, I can say “bread” and “butter.” I have no verbs with which to ask for the bread and butter, nor can I tell you where to shove the bread and butter. But then again, I can say “thank you very much” after being offered bread and butter. It’s not that useless after all – I can write a little Viking monologue: “Brot! Smur!! Tusen takk.” Applause…
Thank you, thank you – you’re beautiful – I’m here all week. Try the bread and butter.