Give Me a Pony

Would you make a good spouse...

2008-06-23T14:41:00.000-04:00

in the 1930s?

I came out "average." I don't know if that's good or bad.

The Truth About Autism

2008-02-27T13:49:00.000-05:00

Some scientists are reconsidering the "common sense" about autism. Very interesting article that tackles the science, and the civil rights, of autism.

Photo gives face to Anne Frank's "one true love" - Yahoo! News

2008-02-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

They found a picture of Anne Frank's school crush. I've always been interested in Frank, both because of her tragic story and because we have the same birthday. The more we keep her memory alive, the better we act as people -- I hope.

Easy Baby Instructions

2008-02-26T13:20:00.002-05:00

A friend sent me this hilarious collection of baby instructions.

Email Apnea?

2008-02-20T21:55:00.000-05:00

Email Apnea is a new term that describes the way people hold their breaths when they're answering emails. Do you do this?

Why DVDs are Awesome

2008-02-20T21:53:00.000-05:00

DVD blocks stray bullet

What a night... and day

2008-02-13T20:37:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a night. I love my family. Loooove them, wouldn't trade them for a million billion bucks, but sometimes... whooo...

Last night Steve (the dog) and Syd (the baby) had a conspiracy going to see how long they could keep me awake. Here's a brief schedule:

9:00 -- Syd falls asleep. All is well.
10:29 -- I drift off.
10:30 -- Syd wakes up from a nightmare, is inconsolable for awhile.
10:35 -- Decide to go ahead and changer her diaper, on the guest bed in her room as usual. Syd calms down a bit.
10:36 -- Realize that Steve has pooped and peed on said bed, luckily in a spot different from where I had Syd.
10:37 -- Put Syd down, strip bed, spray bed with "Anti-pet-peeing-here" spray, wash hands, lay back down
10:59 -- Drift off
11:00 -- Steve barfs on our bed, right next to me. Nice.
11:01 -- Yell at the dog, then feel bad because he can't help it if he has to barf.
11:02 -- Go into the hall and pet Steve for awhile, and make sure he's ok.
11:05 -- Clean dog barf off bed, Febreeze bed, wash hands use bathroom
11:10 -- Decide to go ahead and watch that HBO movie Doris and Bernard (which I found... slightly odd and off-putting, but this could be because I watched it on mute with closed captioning)
1:29 -- Drift off
1:30 -- Syd wakes up with teething pain
1:31 -- Give Syd a bottle, offer her Tylenol and the homeopathic teething tablets, both of which are violently (and messily) refused. At volume.
2:00 -- Get Syd down again
3:29 -- Drift off (after a lot of Food Network)
3:30 -- Syd wakes up again, teething, and finally accepts some Tylenol. The Boy, who has to get up very early to go to work in the morning, finally gives up, gives me a kiss, and goes downstairs to sleep on the couch.
4:00 - 7:00 -- Blissful sleep!
7:00 -- Syd wakes up, bright eyed and bushy tailed!

Then today I had to go get a new tire and an oil change, which became a 4 hour Wal-Mart adventure that involved keeping Syd entertained and ordering 2 tires but only getting one.

Needless to say, I made chocolate chip cookies (out of a tube) when I got home. Ahhhhh, cookie dough.

Give me a stick of butter!

2008-02-11T10:41:00.000-05:00

I just got through reading the book Julie & Julia, about a woman who decided to cook every recipe in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Vol. 1)" in a year, and then blog about it on The Julie/Julia Project. I didn't read the blog back when she was doing the project, but she's a fun writer, and now I'm craving yummy rich food.

The woman (who's named Julie Powell, btw) made out pretty well from the Project. She's now freelancing from home, and has been able to quit her previous job as a temp at a government agency. Her new blog is here.

Now feed me.

I gots a farty window

2008-02-10T22:37:00.000-05:00

Oooh, it's windy here today! The temperature went from the 50s yesterday to 6 degrees right now, with a vengeance, and every time we get a particularly nasty gust of wind our kitchen window makes... a farty sound. Which would be funny, except that it's really loud, and it's keeping Syd from going down for naps sometimes.

Any ideas on silencing farty windows? It's one of those that slides sideways instead of opening up, and I've noticed that these windows tend to be noisy. (I had a similar window in BG that would make a high pitched whine, and I was always afraid the sucker would reach the right frequency and burst, like in a hurricane.)

Steve Martin talks about how he figured out comedy

2008-01-30T11:24:00.000-05:00

... in Smithsonian Magazine

Air Freight You Don't Want

2008-01-28T11:59:00.000-05:00

Transplant eyeball goes astray

Want a Scary Wax Head?

2008-01-28T11:53:00.000-05:00

Then look no further! They're even of celebrities! (Sort of!)

Racists are Weird

2008-01-28T11:34:00.000-05:00

In the U.S. south, is "Canadian" a new racial slur? Also When is a Canadian not a Canadian?" from the Houston Chronicle.

This is our favorite new place to eat

2008-01-27T20:19:00.000-05:00

West Mifflin diner mixes traditional fare with warm, fuzzy atmosphere. And they're not kidding about the size of the pancakes, either. I thought they were expensive at about 2 bucks a piece, but the suckers are bigger than your head. My favorite dish so far is the breakfast burrito, which is basically like the mixed grill described above in a giant tortilla with salsa.

Huh

2008-01-25T11:55:00.000-05:00

Star Jones has posted a blog about the media coverage of Heath Ledger's (and, by extension, all celebrities') death, and darned if I don't agree with her. I'd always been annoyed by her in the past, but this makes sense.

I'd pick "sleep instructor" (yawn) or "travel writer"

2008-01-25T11:49:00.000-05:00

The Ten Jobs You Didn't Know You Wanted

I want a secret castle! Or a not secret one.

2008-01-25T11:46:00.000-05:00

Farmer hides castle from building inspectors

Give Me That Old-Time Singing

2008-01-20T12:19:00.000-05:00

An article in Time explains Sacred Harp singing, which sounds like fun. This website has sound and a history of the music (the website is for a PBS documentary). The site has sound, and the music sounds absolutely amazing. I'd love to get into a choir that sang this stuff.

Sad yet beautiful

2008-01-19T13:25:00.000-05:00

Detroit Public Schools Book Depository is a set of photos on flickr. The photos are so beautiful and sad, a perfect allegory on Detroit itself.

I like mysteries like this

2008-01-19T13:02:00.000-05:00

Mystery man's annual visit to Poe grave

Ungh

2007-10-23T03:05:00.000-04:00

Very stressed (Veeeery stressed. Like, "I want to have a panic attack, but simply don't have enough time to freak out" stressed).

Very sad.

Very much in need of funny/happy/reassuring.

Cutest. Videos. Evar.

2007-10-13T21:25:00.000-04:00

Watch these three Ready-Set-Bumbo Videos, the Official Cutest Things Evar, in order. They get cuter and more sophisticated as they go. Includes sound, video, cuteness.

Oh, the Business! (Busy-ness?)

2007-09-20T15:37:00.000-04:00

Dude. I have never been so busy in my life! I'm teaching three classes, doing academic advising for 1/2 of our 300 majors, trying to apply for jobs in TX, trying to revise a paper due in a month, and chasing after an increasingly mobile and crazy baby. If it weren't for The Boy, who makes sure I'm fed and otherwise taken care of, my head would have exploded long ago.

When I get a moment to breathe, I'll tell you all about the baby teething (and the brand-new horrible noise she's learned to make), crawling, flirting with everyone, and learning to climb up on everything in order to give us heart attacks.

Lemme know what's up with you!

Awww sniff

2007-09-03T10:10:00.000-04:00

News: An 88-year-old woman finally finds the courage to come out. And she does it in Newsweek.

Caffiene, she is my friend.

2007-08-19T10:34:00.000-04:00

Fall classes are getting ready to start, and I'm looking at a future where I can't take any naps to supplement the (lack of) sleep I get at night. So, a brief survey:

What's your favorite form of caffeine?

What's your favorite way to get energy without caffeine?