insert something clever here

breaking LJ silence...for a song.

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 05:02:12 GMT

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:23:08 GMT

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.

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:08:50 GMT

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.

hell yes, America's Got Talent! (but The Hoff doesn't)

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:30:00 GMT

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....

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:30:53 GMT

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

AAA!!! FIVE STAR!! MUST SEE TO BELIEVE!!!

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:33:56 GMT

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.

lotsa random.

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:37:58 GMT

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.

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

The Holyoke Children's Museum is worth the $6 a head.

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:34:42 GMT

more sesame street.

Sat, 30 May 2009 00:35:03 GMT

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.

Mostly for morgansong

Sat, 23 May 2009 00:38:40 GMT

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":

Fri, 01 May 2009 03:25:53 GMT

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.

cupcakes.

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:56:03 GMT

My kid devours books. No, really, DEVOURS books.

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:15:31 GMT

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?

a long, long, long, long time ago....

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:14:19 GMT

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.

Top Chef finale tonight!

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:10:33 GMT

I really want Carla to win, but I bet Hosea might just pull it out. I think that Stefan is burned out. Carla or Fabio for fan favorite - again, I want Carla to win.

When food TV collides...

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:51:47 GMT

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.

Charlotte and I watched the inauguration.

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:29:39 GMT

( 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." )

I am average.

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:29:27 GMT

The Life Experience Test

Overall, you have partaken in 88 out of 174 possible life experiences.
Your average life experience score is therefore 51%.

The average score is 51%, making your experiences more than 45% of the people who have taken this test.
The average for your age group (26-35) is 53%.

Broken down by category:
Art: 6/17 (35%)

Career & Work: 7/13 (54%)

Civics & Technology: 5/7 (71%)

Crime & Disarray: 1/11 (9%)

Education: 10/18 (56%)

Fashion: 12/15 (80%)

Fitness, Health and Sports: 3/7 (43%)

Life in General: 7/14 (50%)

Relationships: 11/14 (79%)

Religion & Politics: 2/4 (50%)

Social: 12/22 (55%)

Travel: 2/20 (10%)

Vices: 10/12 (83%)

Take the test and see how YOU compare

giggling.

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:54:19 GMT

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.

Dude, I'm totally partisan, but...

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:36:21 GMT

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.

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:29:19 GMT

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.

Let me just say that I am judging this as a novel, not as a YA novel - I've read some amazing YA work, and I hold YA and children's authors to the same standards I'd hold a Pulitzer winner, a Hugo winner, etc. I judge books as books, not as a genre. Just to be clear, I consider But Not the Hippopotamus (one of Charlotte's favorite board books) to be a better book than this. That story is unique and even though it's a little predictable, it's not boring or cliche. But Not the Hippopotamus has a better flow and rhythm, too.

Breaking Dawn reads like a piece of fan fiction, the way that the season finale of season 4 of the new Doctor Who did. Rose gets her fake Doctor, and it's supposed to make everyone happy and shut up. It's like the worst bits of Harry Potter fan fiction.

Imagine, if you will, that in book 7 of Harry Potter a quiet American girl shows up at Hogwarts and at first everyone thinks she's a Squib, even though Harry thinks she's amazing. Then this girl, let's call her Mary Sue for the sake of this illustration, discovers that she is actually super-talented, moreso than any other wizard she's ever met, or that anyone has met! The latent Ginny-Harry-Mary Sue triangle is resolved by, hmmm, let's say that Harry discovers that he is actually a long lost Weasley sibling, so Mary Sue and Harry are free to be together with no bad, guilty, jealous feelings whatsoever. Regardless of propriety and tradition in the Wizarding and Muggle worlds, Harry and Mary Sue realize that they are So In Love that normal rules don't apply and they get married young and go off to their tropical, virginal honeymoon. On their first night together, the two virgins have magical sex and conceive a mystical baby. At 18. With no mixed feelings at all, Mary Sue welcomes baby Ginmione (named after Ginny and Hermione) who nearly kills her during birth. Lucky for Mary Sue, she is the most special girl ever, and she survives stronger than ever. Ginny becomes Ginmione's godmother, still with no harsh feelings. Voldemort comes to kill them all, with tons of powerful enemies, and Mary Sue saves them all with her unique, super-special-amazingly-powerful talents. Harry, Mary Sue, and Ginmione get to live forever and ever, happily ever after, with Ginny as the nanny. They live forever because Dumbledore, returned from the dead, tells them that because they are So Special and because Their Love Is So Pure, they deserve to have the Sorcerer's Stone and live forever.

The End.

Satisfying, right?

Notice, especially, how the kick-ass character of Ginny is reduced to a 2-dimensional charicature of herself. Notice that Bella, I mean Mary Sue, never has to actually develop a personality or anything, because circumstances are constantly making everyone realize just how awesome she is. Notice, how, in the end, Bella gets everything she wants. EVERYTHING. Not one single thing reamins to provide any contrast or reminder of how life isn't perfect and fair. Because, in this case, it is.

This is the kind of drivel that I wrote in my journal at 14. An amazing perfect world with sensitive vampire virgin boys who never killed people, and had never been in love with anyone before me. Who lavished attention, praise, and expensive gifts on me. Who was in love with me for no good reason. Except that I smelled yummy.

Ugh.

hate the debater, not the debate

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:55:09 GMT

hmm. winner there is not as clear as i'd like. i don't really have any good soundbites because i spent the whole debate trying to calm my shrieking daughter while also trying to find something to really say one way or the other about how Obama did.

though i did think it was hilarious that McCain promised to get Osama Bin Laden - that he has a plan, and it will work. nice of him to hold out on us until he's president, eh? that's patriotic.

ALCS here we come!!

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:32:28 GMT

Hooray!!!!!

Sarah Palin scares me.

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:44:41 GMT

She is dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Could you please freakin' take a cue and learn how to pronounce "nuclear"? No one thinks it's cute anymore.

Does anyone think this person is smart enough to be president?

Could you answer just one question please? Preferably the one Gwen asked and Joe just answered - not the one you studied all week for?

*shudder*

I have a lot more to say, but I have to work some more.

Joe Biden was surprisingly on point. What a relief. I am of the opinion that he "won" the debate, but I don't know if the rest of the country agrees with me. I am tired of Sarah Palin alluding to her working-class life up there in Alaska. Governor is not a blue-collar job, mmmkay? (Though ATV repairman is, I guess.)

Ugh.

hey!

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:35:55 GMT

hey, ladygwyn! I have the Halloween Martha Stewart Living!

Also, I have a skeleton shower curtain, and Charlotte has Halloween hair bows, a t-shirt (orange with a spider and web from ON) and her Halloween costume (skeleton sweatsuit).

As soon as Charlotte's birthday (her first!) and my wedding anniversary (our fourth!) are past, it's Halloween time.