Kinda blah about livejournal these days. I pop on periodically to read blog posts, but most people seem to have taken it to facebook, as have I. I'll probably still read, but rarely post.

Tonight I was listening to the podcast of NPR's All Songs Considered, a guest DJ set from a few weeks back with producer Tucker Martine. It's really odd- he played "Some Velvet Morning", which is a song by Lee Hazlewood sung with Nancy Sinatra, but I never knew that was the original. I am very familiar with a cover version that I don't own, but used to hear a lot. I can't remember where and I can't remember when and I don't know who by....it's one of those things where you're hearing a song you've never heard before, then suddenly realize that you know the words that are coming next. That unsettling moment when you realize that, odds are, the song you really liked and knew is a cover song.

Very interesting to hear that song and then think about the fact that the guy who picked it to play is the producer of The Decemberists' "Hazards of Love," album. Makes some of the mixing choices on duet tracks very clear, all of a sudden.

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled radio silence.

For those of you who aren't on Facebook or Twitter....Maddie was put to sleep today. We are now a one cat family. I don't really feel like getting into the whole situation, but there were diabetes complications. We miss her already.

A woman I knew in college, a friend of a friend, is on America's Got Talent, and made it to the semi-finals. So very weird. She and her partner/husband do a very acrobatic, athletic, and graceful dance number. It's seriously good. You should watch. It's not even two minutes long.



And this totally ramps up my Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon/Any Random Celebrity. Me to Zoe to David Hasselhoff....

Happy birthday, ladygwyn! We here at Casa De Hippygoth wish you much love.

At Matt's birthday-ice-cream-sundae gathering, I was trying to explain the tv show Yo Gabba Gabba! to some people - basically, it's a show that features people in foam monster suits. But it is sooooo much cooler than it sounds. Past musical guests have included Mates of State, Ting Tings, and The Shins. Oh, and Biz Markie is a regular contributor, with Biz's Beats.

and sometimes, Jack Black is a guest star.

The one episode I have DVR'd is the Jack Black episode - the season ended right after I got my DVR. So we watch the Jack Black episode over and over and over. It's AWESOME!

I can't find any high quality videos of the Jack Black songs, but Jezebel has a couple videos. Go watch. It's worth it, I promise.

Had a nice visit today with Auntie ladygwyn. Got to show off Charlotte and my garden. Didn't get to show off my husband whipping cream (heh, sounds dirtier than it is), but that's cool, too. Still haven't really taken pictures of the garden, but here's what we planted in our community garden plot and in our window boxes:

radish
carrot
cucumber
cauliflower
tomatoes (3 kinds)
squash/zuchini
marigolds
sunflowers
strawberry
cilantro
thyme
basil
green peppers
tabasco peppers
watermelon
pumpkin
lettuce
arugula
mint
lemon balm
dill

Here's what's actually growing: everything but sunflowers, watermelon & strawberry. Or rather, that's what is green (or red, in the case of the lettuce). Nothing has any flowers yet (one marigold), but we've been eating radish and arugula salads like it's our job.

Charlotte is amazingly hilarious, spouting ridiculous words just for fun, like "delicious." As in, "Delicious yogurt, Mama." And "be careful." Which is hilarious because she NEVER is.

( ...and because posting Sesame Street videos is fun... )

I've apparently lost the knack of posting anything that isn't a tweet or a facebook status. Oh well.

Today's Sesame Street featured Neil Patrick Harris as the Fairy ShoePerson. The best clip I could find was for his song-and-dance number, which is below. If you want the full NPH bit, but in crappier quality, it's below the cut.



( NPH Fairy-Suits up! )

There is so much awesome to be found on Sesame Street. These two bits are my favorites from episodes I've seen recently.

Mike Rowe - Dirty Jobs, Sesame Street:



Oscar's Grouch theater group performs "Scramalot":

Top 10 Things I like in Small Doses, But Am Disappointed to Find Out That I Just Don't Like All That Much:

10. *Bon Iver (though this is #10 because I think if I read the song lyrics, I might like the album For Emma, Forever more than I currently do.)
9. +South Park
8. +this season of LOST
7. +The character of Echo in Dollhouse
6. Reading plays
5. *Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend is to me as Mates of State is to ladygwyn
4. jogging/running
3. fennel
2. +Ghost Hunters / Most Haunted / any "reality" ghost hunting show that uses night vision cameras
1. seaweed








super secret key: things marked with an asterisk refer to bands, things marked with a plus refer to TV shows.

Okay, library science people, parents, and general crafters....what do you think the best tape for repairing Charlotte's board books would be? I use whatever packing tape is on sale, which probably isn't, you know, acid free, archival quality, but I use a lot of it, and it needs to be clear, wide, and very sticky. Suggestions?

My mom met her best friend at my brother's pre-school class. She has two sons, one who is a year younger than me, and one who is the same age as my brother. They have now been best friends for about, oh, 20 years, so, really, that makes those boys the people that I've known the longest in my life that I'm not related to. (Yeah, I've moved a lot.)

Justin, the older brother, has a graphic novel coming out this fall. I'm super-excited, because he's one of the people who introduced me to comics in the first place, and that whole world, so I'm just proud and excited. It's called Hero House, and, naturally, Justin has a blog about it. Also, the first few pages are here. So if you are interested in comics at all, help a brutha out and go take a peek.

Last night Matt and I were watching Iron Chef America on the Food Network, when we noticed that the challenger had a sous chef named Ariane. Could it be? we wondered. But she's butchering the protein, we marvelled. But look at that hat, look at that tan...it must be...

It was Ariane, a contestant from this season's Top Chef. What a weird progression.

( I would like to mention that while Charlotte frequently looks a little cross-eyed in pictures, she isn't, really. I just tend to hold the camera really close to her face, and she tries to watch it.)



( And this is where Charlotte said, "Mama, get the camera out of my face. I'm watching Aretha." )

God, sometimes I am a dork. I am listening to old Penny Arcade Downloadable Content podcasts and stifling giggles while working. In the other room, some geeks are gamering it up, paper and pencil style.

Seriously, I almost snarfed milk.

And during lunch today? Two of my co-workers were playing Magic. I somehow feel like it's five years ago.

Except for the Cheerios everywhere and the lingering smell of cat pee.

I think Obabma nailed that debate. Here are some thoughts.

* John McCain is a sanctimonius jerk. I'm so tired of his whining and moaning that Barack Obama's supporters hurt his feelings, and harping on it for 10 minutes...complaining that someone at an Obama rally wore a rude T-shirt about Sarah Palin, while insinuating that all his supporters are patriotic veterans. OMG. He's making me CRAZY right now.

* Seriously, I never HATED John McCain. He's not my cup of tea, whatever. But right now he just sounds stubborn and desperate. Obama sounds reasonable. Really reasonable.

* I love how John McCain's debate strategy is now whenever Barack Obama starts making a good point, say, "He's raising taxes! He's gonna raise taxes!"

* John McCain actually has NO IDEA how much health insurance costs or how it works. I'm kind of horrified, actually. It's scary, because most people don't know how it works.

* Hooray to Barack Obama for making the point that no one is for abortion...so, to prevent it, why don't we improve sex ed?

*...and McCain's reply to that? Protecting the country from the "pro-abortion activists." I've got the chills from the statement "the rights of the unborn." In a terrified way.

* Education, chilling. John McCain's Skeletor face is giving me the willies. Also, John, Sarah Palin's kid has DOWN SYNDROME. Not autism. And he's too young to be in the school system, so she is not well aware. Duh.

PS - John, you've been a STEWARD of our tax dollars. Not a "stewart." Douche.

Okay, you know what? Breaking Dawn is one of the worst books I've ever read. No lie. And I've read hundreds of books. I don't think I've ever seen a series start so promisingly and end so horrible. And I've read a ton of Xanth novels. And 11/12 of the Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time" books. Breaking Dawn is still worse.

( details here, including spoilers for the Twilight books and Doctor Who season 4... )