Random Access

Wednesday – 09 November 2011
Middle of the week. And the day started with the twins needing to be fed. (Oddly enough, most of my days seem to start like that now…) And let’s be honest: Starting the day holding a cute little girl is far from a bad thing.

Last night was a fairly low-key evening. The girls got their baths – without much/any fuss – ate and went to bed. Once we were certain that they were down for the count, SaraRules! and I went downstairs and finished watching the episode of TopGear that we started a few days ago. When it was over, we (finally) watched the new episode of Burn Notice. I also rounded out the evening with an episode of Young Justice.

Tonight, SaraRules! has a Justice Junior League meeting, which means that the girls are stuck with me for a few hours.  Fortunately – for them and/or me, I’m not sure which yet… possibly both – lj user=”suzie_lightning” ‘s mother is coming over to meet the little ladies and hang out for a bit.

Stray Toasters

• Mississippi Voters Reject Anti-Abortion Measure
• How Birth Control and Abortion Became Politicized
• introduced me to The Karen & Ellen Letters. Wow.
• “Family Circus” Creator Bil Keane Dies at 89
• As I mentioned a couple of days ago, SaraRules! is reading a book called Conquistadora:

  

  I apparently dropped a pair of nail clippers on it yesterday. This morning, I glanced at the book and, from the angle I was looking, the face/clipper combination reminded me of Trap Jaw (from the old Masters of the Universe cartoon). It made me laugh.

• Adversaries, allies stealing U.S. trade secrets
• Are Cookbooks Obselete?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Police find mummified corpses in historian’s apartment
• Presidential Candidates Explained Through Dungeons and Dragons Character Sheets, by way of
• Health Law Survives Test in Court of Appeals

Namaste.

Tuesday – 08 November 2011
Vanessa turns two-months-old today.

The girls were a little irritable last night, following their immunization shots, which was totally understandable. I would be, too, in their places. But, they still wound up going to bed a little early. And, they’re sleeping pretty well at night. (SaraRules! and I are quite grateful for this.) They slept well enough for us to be able to watch the second half of last night’s football game AND for me to spend a little time playing Gears of War 3.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve had too many meetings today for this to just be Tuesday.
• Judge OKs $410M for Bank of America customers
• 
• What Does the US Arts Community Look Like?
• U.S. Clears Art Project by Christo in Colorado
• Former heavyweight boxing champ Joe Frazier dies of cancer at 67
  

  

• Joe Frazier, Ex-Heavyweight Champ, Dies at 67
• A Champion Who Won Inside the Ring and Out
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band: old time jazz from New Orleans
• U.S. and EU partner for security response exercise
• It Started Digital Wheels Turning

Namaste.

Monday – 07 November 2011
Another week begins. Fortunately, it’s my 9/80 short week.

And, today, Ms. Diana turns two-months-old:

The weekend was a good one.  Highlights included, but were not limited to:

• SaraRules!’ birthday (yesterday)
• Spending time with the girls
• The Ravens beating the Steelers in the closing seconds of their game last night (!)
• A trip to The Garden of Sweden
• Picking up Gears of War 3

And then some.

Instant Replay: Football

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

23 – 20

The Ravens traveled to the Steel City to take on Big Ben, Troy Polamalu and the rest of the Steelers at Heinz Field.It was a slow, mostly defensive game – which fans pretty much expect from these two teams – with all of the scores in the first half coming from field goals. The Ravens went into halftime with a 9-6 lead. After the half, Baltimore scored a TD in the third quarter to open up a 16-6 lead. And then,Pittsburgh went to work. They scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter… …until, with 0:08 left in the game, QB Joe Flacco hit rookie WR Torrey Smith in the back of the end zone for the game-winning 26-yard touchdown — just five plays after dropping what would have been an even longer game-winning reception for touchdown. Or, to put this in movie terms, I’ll take a line from Nick Fury in Iron Man 2: Nick Fury: Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You’re Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit? Is that possible? Yeah, it was just. Like. That. And this may be the best post-game quote that I’ve seen so far: “Heinz Field emptied faster than a runny ketchup bottle.” – John Eisenberg With this win, Baltimore has swept the Steelers for the season.

Stray Toasters

• Just got back from the girls’ two-month check-up: According to their doctor, they’re doing just great.
  (We thought so, but it’s always good to get a professional opinion.)
• LEGO army invades Chalkfestival to “Free” Ego Leonard
• I Wish More Streets Had LEGO Minifigs Painted on Them
• NASA prepares for moon tourism
• SaraRules! is reading a book called Conquistadora, by Esmerelda Santiago
  Every time I see it, I reparse it in my head as “Conquista Dora the Explorer.”
• Paul Krugman: Our Oligarchy
• What They’re Saying About Flacco… Now
• Disney and YouTube Make a Video Deal
• Even Adobe May Believe Flash Is on Its Deathbed

Namaste.

Saturday – 05 November 2011
It’s Guy Fawkes Day. You remember… the day (well, night) that V blew up Parliament in that movie by the Wachowski brothers.

Last night, SaraRules! gave me a hall pass to go to coffee for a bit. There wasn’t a huge turnout, but it was nice to be there – I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed it in the past couple of months. Of course, it made sense: It’s been a part of my weekly routine for over ten (10) years now. Naturally, I’d miss it.  So, thanks to the World’s Greatest Comic Magazine Wife for the opportunity to hang out with friends!

After coffee, I came back home and we watched Fringe before calling it a night.

All-in-all, it was a good day.

Stray Toasters

• It snowed this morning.
• greeted me online earlier. I responded “Hola” in response (I ain’t no hollaback girl…) and then this wound up stuck in my head:

• The artwork of Malika Favre
• Your Commute Is Slowly Killing You
• 
• The 8 Worst Fonts in the World
• A Janitor Accidentally Scrubbed Away a Million Dollar Art Piece
• 
• LEGO Universe is shutting down at on 31 January 2012. That’s unfortunate, because I think that the game had a lot of potential as an MMO for kids (and kids-at-heart) without getting bogged down in the character development/grind that many MMOs are known for.  And it’s digital LEGO!  Really, can it get much better than that?!

And now, off to the Garden of Sweden!

Namaste.

Friday – 04 November 2011
It’s my “on” Friday… and I have The Leash this weekend. But, it’s still Friday. And that’s almost never a bad thing.

Last night was fairly low-key. I think that the highlight was a trip to the store for grocery. Well, that… and hanging out with the girls.

Stray Toasters

• By way of The Brothers Vox: 23 incredible new technologies you’ll see by 2021
• By way of Esquire – Remember: Sexy isn’t the same as slutty. Whatever you choose, keep it sensual and sophisticated.
  Amen.
• 
• Anonymous ready to continue with Operation Cartel
• 9 Equations True Geeks Should (at Least Pretend to) Know
• Bleak Portrait of Poverty Is Off the Mark, Experts Say
• I’ve been rather amused by some of George Takei’s Facebook posts over the past few weeks. This one was no exception:

  

• Cuba to Allow Buying and Selling of Property, With Few Restrictions
• Keeping Your Heart Healthy
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” and “Monkeys!” files: Couple adopts Dachsund, days later doses it with LSD, tripping dog wanders into traffic and dies
  What the Hell is wrong with people!?  First, that couple with the horse and now this..?
• 10 great sculpture gardens across the USA

Quote of the Day
Today’s gem comes from my friend Melissa S.:

I love that everyone thinks the Buffy would have slayed Edward. Did we watch the same show? She would have dated Edward, and Spike would have killed him.

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Thursday – 03 November 2011
Another NBN Thursday in the valley.

That’s right: Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News.

Last night, I came home to find SaraRules! taking pictures of the girls. Thus, you get a fresh dose of cuetness:

Vanessa (left) and Diana

It was a fairly quiet night around the house. The girls were in good moods. Diana went to bed without much ado; Vanessa fought it a little longer. But, they were out in time for SaraRules! to get some quilting done and for me to not only read yesterday’s four-color haul, but also to watch the second half of the Real Salt Lake vs. Seattle Sounders game. (RSL won.) This morning, the girls were up slightly before my alarm clock went off, so I was home for a pre-work feeding, complete with Vanessa cuddles. Great way to kick off the day.

Stray Toasters

• How Technology Is Eliminating Higher-Skilled Jobs
• ApocaLEGO: Building end-times with plastic bricks
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Couple’s nude photo shoot inside their dead horse
  This was also “Boner of the Day” candidate on X96’s Radio from Hell show this morning.
• 5 Tech Gadgets That Improved My Sleep
• Fed Lowers Its Forecast for Growth, but Takes No Steps
• New Fringe tomorrow night!
• William Gibson, The Art of Fiction No. 211
• Thousands of WordPress sites sucked into BlackHole
• Google “Do a barrel roll”

Namaste.

Wednesday – 02 November 2011
Midweek. New comics. Fire drill. (Not necessarily in that order.)

Last night, the girls were… agitated… for some reason. They were fussy and restless through bedtime, including during bath time, which they had – until last night – been getting better about dealing with. They were so cranky that we skipped post-bath story time and went straight to “Here’s your bottle. Go to town!” Wait. That’s not entirely true. Nose drops came before feeding… and they’re not fans of nose drops under the best of conditions, so last night’s dose was far from welcome. But, the bottles seemed to make everything better.

After the girls were abed, SaraRules! and I sat down to watch a little TopGear (UK). It was a good way to wind down the evening.

Stray Toasters

• A Last Bastion of Civility, the South, Sees Manners Decline
• Birdman of Columbia (…and for those who are interested: lyrics)
• U.S. House endorses ‘In God We Trust’ – but what’s its history?
• Is ESPN the main force behind realignment in college sports?
• NASA developing tractor beam
• Chocolate Zombie Head Bon Bons with Cherry Brains
• Is Licorice Dangerous?
• Hating Incumbency and Incumbents Too
• Asteroid 2005 YU55 will zip by Earth next week
• Design for drugs in NYC – Exhibition will explore the graphic world of pharmaceutical products

Namaste.

Tuesday – 01 November 2011
November is upon us. Mother Nature, who presented us with rather decent weather for All Hallow’s Eve, has decided to grace us with snow fluffy rain on this All Saints’ Day, not to be confused with All Saints:

Last night, SaraRules!, the girls  and I waited at home, with a bowl full of candy for trick-or-treaters who never came.

So, we have a giant bowl full of candy that we’re going to have to eat. All by ourselves. (Good thing we bought candy that we like!)

Stray Toasters

• Halloween costume sparks controversy
• In a semi-related note, we had coworkers’ kids come through the office for trick-or-treating yesterday. Among the costumes seen were one family who came as a tribe of Indians Native Americans and one coworker’s daughter who came as Off The Wall-era Michael Jackson.  What ties this in to the link above – and amuses me to some degree – was that all of the people were as… “pigmentationally challenged” as the fluffy rain falling outside. There was, however, no blackface or red face paint involved.
• Recreating reality in LEGO
• Time Warner Trims Its Excesses
• Now You Can See Why a Google Ad Targeted You
• 
• 8 Completely Embarrassing Music Videos
  This almost makes me want to watch the literal version video for Separate Ways. Almost.
• Two more banks drop monthly debit card fees
• And another one bites the dust: BofA Calls Off Debit-Fee Plan
• Reinventing Post Offices in a Digital World

Namaste.