I found Pixelgirlshop from JoshReads, and it has some super-cute gifts.
This cupcake charm bracelet is just adorable.
So is this sushi bracelet.
While I wouldn't pay $80 for it, I got a kick out of this Tab cola bracelet.
I love almost anything mah jongg, including this choker made with a vintage mah jongg tile
LEGO charm bracelets
Sweet little robin's nest necklaces
Guitar pick earrings
Is it Easter yet? Chocolate bunny soap!
Not sure why this happy cinnamon bun is so funny to me
Saturday, January 13, 2007
For FUNNY
No, "FBOFW" isn't funny -- are ya high?
Instead, it's JoshReads.com, and its campaign to a) prove Constable Paul Wright has been wronged, and b) Find him a new life partner from one of the other comics Josh is fixated on.
I'm voting for the beaver from "Mark Trail," and no, that's not a euphemism. "Already speaks Canadian! Can be made into nice hat!"
(Who is the redheaded vampire in panel one? I think I recognize everyone else...)
Instead, it's JoshReads.com, and its campaign to a) prove Constable Paul Wright has been wronged, and b) Find him a new life partner from one of the other comics Josh is fixated on.
I'm voting for the beaver from "Mark Trail," and no, that's not a euphemism. "Already speaks Canadian! Can be made into nice hat!"
(Who is the redheaded vampire in panel one? I think I recognize everyone else...)
Seattle murder case
I have no idea if this guy is involved in the murders of his wife and adult daughter or not, but all I have to say is that when someone says something like this:
"Stodden said his concern with taking an additional polygraph examination is that in diverts detectives from focusing on the real suspects. "I'm sure they have absolutely nothing on me, other than the fact that I was closest to Mary," he said."
...I hear it being said in Scott Peterson's voice. He said that ALL THE TIME. "Hate me, I don't care. Focus on finding Laci." And we know that his focusing on finding Laci consisted solely of dating Amber Frey.
"Stodden said his concern with taking an additional polygraph examination is that in diverts detectives from focusing on the real suspects. "I'm sure they have absolutely nothing on me, other than the fact that I was closest to Mary," he said."
...I hear it being said in Scott Peterson's voice. He said that ALL THE TIME. "Hate me, I don't care. Focus on finding Laci." And we know that his focusing on finding Laci consisted solely of dating Amber Frey.
Rampart, this is Squad 51
You can apparently get your "Emergency!" DVD sets autographed by Randolph Mantooth, one of my first-ever TV crushes. I even memorized the birthday given for his character, Johnny Gage, on the show (August 28, listed once when someone wanted to read him his horoscope).
Remember the early episodes, when the paramedic program was just getting started and no one trusted the paramedics? I never really got that. "I'm sorry, I know I have my arm stuck in a mailbox, but I just don't trust you to get me out, I'm just going to live here on the street."
Remember the early episodes, when the paramedic program was just getting started and no one trusted the paramedics? I never really got that. "I'm sorry, I know I have my arm stuck in a mailbox, but I just don't trust you to get me out, I'm just going to live here on the street."
5ives
Heh, these are great.
I especially like "five Halloween safety tips" and "five things you did while MySpace was down" ("idly doodled 'Dr. and Mrs. Good Charlotte' in the margins of your Consumer Math book.")
Via Chiara.
I especially like "five Halloween safety tips" and "five things you did while MySpace was down" ("idly doodled 'Dr. and Mrs. Good Charlotte' in the margins of your Consumer Math book.")
Via Chiara.
Soon-to-be-even-more Famous
Famous Dave's is a Twin Cities-based barbecue chain that Rob and I watched grow from the one original (and still the best) Linden Hills location to branch out to other states.
Driving home from Portland tonight we were shocked to see one in Tacoma. None in Seattle yet, but apparently there's one in Puyallup and one coming even closer, to Tukwila. Sweet! This almost makes up for the lack of delicious but bad-for-you fast food in these parts.
Driving home from Portland tonight we were shocked to see one in Tacoma. None in Seattle yet, but apparently there's one in Puyallup and one coming even closer, to Tukwila. Sweet! This almost makes up for the lack of delicious but bad-for-you fast food in these parts.
Square dancers of the world, unite and take over
Apparently square dancing is the official state dance of numerous states, including my now-home state of Washington -- which may explain the license plates I rejected (the state park plates came, by the way, and are lovely).
My birth state of Minnesota smartly decided it didn't need a state dance...so far. I'm kinda shocked it didn't go for polka, like neighboring Wisconsin, but a little relieved, also. I guess they could also go for Minnesota Lindy, a version of the Lindy Hop.
Some interesting choices:
California--West Coast Swing
Hawaii--Hula (most natural choice on the list)
Kentucky and North Carolina--Clogging
New York--Lindy Hop
Pennsylvania--Polka, like the song
Texas--Two Step
South Carolina--The Shag (apparently also known as the Carolina Shag)
Virgina--The Virginia Reel
My birth state of Minnesota smartly decided it didn't need a state dance...so far. I'm kinda shocked it didn't go for polka, like neighboring Wisconsin, but a little relieved, also. I guess they could also go for Minnesota Lindy, a version of the Lindy Hop.
Some interesting choices:
California--West Coast Swing
Hawaii--Hula (most natural choice on the list)
Kentucky and North Carolina--Clogging
New York--Lindy Hop
Pennsylvania--Polka, like the song
Texas--Two Step
South Carolina--The Shag (apparently also known as the Carolina Shag)
Virgina--The Virginia Reel
Friday, January 12, 2007
At the movies
Do you know at which movie theater you saw your very first movie? I don't know what movie was my first (my mom thinks maybe it was a re-release of "So Dear To My Heart," but if so, I don't remember that film AT ALL), but I am pretty sure I saw it at the Har-Mar (named for HARold and MARie Slawik) theaters in Roseville, Minnesota, since I grew up in neighboring Shoreview.
Har-Mar Mall went through a lot of changes in my life. Built in 1961, by the mid-1980s the mall started to get somewhat seedy, especially compared to neighboring snazzy Rosedale, and the tornado that hit in 1981 (ripping the roof off the Color Tile across the street!) didn't help matters.
But unlike its sad sister mall, Apache Plaza (they had the same designer), Har Mar had nine lives. A Barnes & Noble was added recently, and it's kind of given the entire mall new life. But I was shocked in December when I flew home for Christmas and couldn't find the movie listings for Har Mar. I asked if the movie theaters had closed, but no one seemed to know.
Turns out it did close, in early December, with little fanfare -- the mall remains open, but the theaters gave way to Rosedale's brand new movie theaters, which stupidly have an outdoor box office. (I remember when I first went to California and saw outdoor box offices. I told Rob "We could never have this in Minnesota." But apparently this movie designer didn't care to do any research, or ask a random child on the street, who could easily have told him it gets cold in Minnesota in the winter.)
Outdoor box office aside, I'm sure the Rosedale theaters will be lovely. But I'm a little sad that if I ever have kids, I can't take them to the place where I saw my first movie. Rob and I stopped at the closed Har Mar theaters and pressed our noses up against the windows to take photos, and it reminded me how vintage cool it was inside--shiny gold walls, enormous mod chandeliers, and the most amazing ladies room I have ever seen, where each stall had floor-to-ceiling doors, was painted in a different primary color from the stall next to it, and where each stall had its own private sink inside the door. You try being a kid whose mom takes her to the bathroom during a movie and telling her you want to wait for the blue bathroom to open up.
The Cinema Treasures board features posts from people discussing Har Mar's mod chandeliers and obese mice. And this guy posted some photos *though sadly, none of the bathrooms).Here's another neat exterior shot.
And here's a neat entry about Har Mar Mall in a retail history Weblog that I definitely need to bookmark. Note that a lot of the photos show tables set up in the mall -- Har Mar was always hosting shows or fairs, and my first job, helping a neighbor lady sell bathroom plaques she made at craft fairs, involved more than one craft fair held at Har Mar.
For old Minnesota stalwarts only, here's a photo of the interior of the mall with the new bookstore in it. See that stairway? That goes down to the bathrooms (and a kung fu studio, as I recall), and those were the bathrooms I remember hiding in and crying in one day when I was a freshman in college and had had a horrible fight with my then-still-in-high school boyfriend. I cried in one of the stalls, and was mortified when some kindly momlike lady asked if I was all right. Ah, the heartbreak of first love.
Har-Mar Mall went through a lot of changes in my life. Built in 1961, by the mid-1980s the mall started to get somewhat seedy, especially compared to neighboring snazzy Rosedale, and the tornado that hit in 1981 (ripping the roof off the Color Tile across the street!) didn't help matters.
But unlike its sad sister mall, Apache Plaza (they had the same designer), Har Mar had nine lives. A Barnes & Noble was added recently, and it's kind of given the entire mall new life. But I was shocked in December when I flew home for Christmas and couldn't find the movie listings for Har Mar. I asked if the movie theaters had closed, but no one seemed to know.
Turns out it did close, in early December, with little fanfare -- the mall remains open, but the theaters gave way to Rosedale's brand new movie theaters, which stupidly have an outdoor box office. (I remember when I first went to California and saw outdoor box offices. I told Rob "We could never have this in Minnesota." But apparently this movie designer didn't care to do any research, or ask a random child on the street, who could easily have told him it gets cold in Minnesota in the winter.)
Outdoor box office aside, I'm sure the Rosedale theaters will be lovely. But I'm a little sad that if I ever have kids, I can't take them to the place where I saw my first movie. Rob and I stopped at the closed Har Mar theaters and pressed our noses up against the windows to take photos, and it reminded me how vintage cool it was inside--shiny gold walls, enormous mod chandeliers, and the most amazing ladies room I have ever seen, where each stall had floor-to-ceiling doors, was painted in a different primary color from the stall next to it, and where each stall had its own private sink inside the door. You try being a kid whose mom takes her to the bathroom during a movie and telling her you want to wait for the blue bathroom to open up.
The Cinema Treasures board features posts from people discussing Har Mar's mod chandeliers and obese mice. And this guy posted some photos *though sadly, none of the bathrooms).Here's another neat exterior shot.
And here's a neat entry about Har Mar Mall in a retail history Weblog that I definitely need to bookmark. Note that a lot of the photos show tables set up in the mall -- Har Mar was always hosting shows or fairs, and my first job, helping a neighbor lady sell bathroom plaques she made at craft fairs, involved more than one craft fair held at Har Mar.
For old Minnesota stalwarts only, here's a photo of the interior of the mall with the new bookstore in it. See that stairway? That goes down to the bathrooms (and a kung fu studio, as I recall), and those were the bathrooms I remember hiding in and crying in one day when I was a freshman in college and had had a horrible fight with my then-still-in-high school boyfriend. I cried in one of the stalls, and was mortified when some kindly momlike lady asked if I was all right. Ah, the heartbreak of first love.
Dah-dum, dah-dum...
In 1978, some 12 year olds with a Super 8 camera and a handy lake decided to film their own version of "Jaws."
I think the decapitation is my favorite part, really.
This totally could have been me, my cousins and friends in the 1970s on our Minnesota lake. We did stuff like this all the time, but we never had a camera or someone patient enough to play cameraman.
B3ta.com quotes the creator as saying "And wait till you get a hold of the shark we built, it sank after the first scene and you'll only see the fin after that."
I think the decapitation is my favorite part, really.
This totally could have been me, my cousins and friends in the 1970s on our Minnesota lake. We did stuff like this all the time, but we never had a camera or someone patient enough to play cameraman.
B3ta.com quotes the creator as saying "And wait till you get a hold of the shark we built, it sank after the first scene and you'll only see the fin after that."
Thursday, January 11, 2007
For BIG NEWS
OK, we've got to get the "FBOFW" news out of the way. Thanks to everyone for providing comments and links!
According to Editor & Publisher, Lynn Johnston will not be ending the strip come September (? had we ever heard that month named before?). Nor, I guess, will she be pulling a "Fox Trot"/"Opus" and going Sunday only.
Instead, she's planning a hybrid strip. (No, not like my car.) Some strips will feature new events, but in those strips, the characters will not continue to age. I'm assuming this means that unless Liz weds by then, she won't wed at all? And if she does get married, she won't have kids? And if Grandpa Jim makes it to next fall, maybe he won't pull a Farley and die saving Meredith (or something).
Blended in with the new strips, apparently, will be old ones--sometimes just reprinted, sometimes redrawn or recolorized. Readers may be introduced to those old comics via Michael (oh, why Michael? One of my least favorite characters...) looking at old photo albums. Johnston believes this will allow her to semi-retire, yet not give up the strip.
Longtime FBOFW readers will also get a kick out of Johnston saying that part of the reason she is giving it up is that she knows she can't stay up-to-date with technology--apparently she originally had Michael rushing back into the fire to save his paper manuscript, while someone had to tell her it would be more likely that he would want to save the laptop he had the book saved on.
Which, OK, not the worst idea ever, but it reminds me of the sitcoms where Claire Huxtable or whoever sits down on the couch and rubs her chin and says "When Theo got in trouble, it seems like it was just yesterday..." and someone puts in one of those wobbly fade-outs and whee! We're in a clip show!
The Toronto Star also has an article on the changes. They have some fun quotes (Johnston not a feminist, film at 11! Readers hate Granthony, sky still blue! Jim to stay old, not magically regress to babyhood!).
And they also have a poll, in which 745 poor deluded fools want Liz to end up with Creepthony. But most, it seems, want her with Officer Cheats A Lot, and Warren choppers into second place.
According to Editor & Publisher, Lynn Johnston will not be ending the strip come September (? had we ever heard that month named before?). Nor, I guess, will she be pulling a "Fox Trot"/"Opus" and going Sunday only.
Instead, she's planning a hybrid strip. (No, not like my car.) Some strips will feature new events, but in those strips, the characters will not continue to age. I'm assuming this means that unless Liz weds by then, she won't wed at all? And if she does get married, she won't have kids? And if Grandpa Jim makes it to next fall, maybe he won't pull a Farley and die saving Meredith (or something).
Blended in with the new strips, apparently, will be old ones--sometimes just reprinted, sometimes redrawn or recolorized. Readers may be introduced to those old comics via Michael (oh, why Michael? One of my least favorite characters...) looking at old photo albums. Johnston believes this will allow her to semi-retire, yet not give up the strip.
Longtime FBOFW readers will also get a kick out of Johnston saying that part of the reason she is giving it up is that she knows she can't stay up-to-date with technology--apparently she originally had Michael rushing back into the fire to save his paper manuscript, while someone had to tell her it would be more likely that he would want to save the laptop he had the book saved on.
Which, OK, not the worst idea ever, but it reminds me of the sitcoms where Claire Huxtable or whoever sits down on the couch and rubs her chin and says "When Theo got in trouble, it seems like it was just yesterday..." and someone puts in one of those wobbly fade-outs and whee! We're in a clip show!
The Toronto Star also has an article on the changes. They have some fun quotes (Johnston not a feminist, film at 11! Readers hate Granthony, sky still blue! Jim to stay old, not magically regress to babyhood!).
And they also have a poll, in which 745 poor deluded fools want Liz to end up with Creepthony. But most, it seems, want her with Officer Cheats A Lot, and Warren choppers into second place.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
For HERE IT COMES
"With Susan With Susan or WITH Susan With Susan?"
Oh, Liz. "With Susan" as in "how can this be happening to you, Miss Perfect Patterson and her Mister Wright, except that everyone and their blind ferret saw this coming like my cat sees when I'm opening the cat food can even when she's three floors away."
In other words: Oh, Liz.
The FOOBiverse has great comments, as usual. I especially like how everyone points out that there was no sign of trouble in paradise two months ago (well, except for Chipper and Suds having gaggy little nicknames for each other), and now suddenly Paul is Mr. Cheats A Lot and has managed to forge such a strong relationship with Susan that everyone in town knows about it (but no one tells Liz). Great town, there. Real supportive and loyal.
Update: Oh, don't miss Liz's letter to April in April's Real Blog. Hilarious
Oh, Liz. "With Susan" as in "how can this be happening to you, Miss Perfect Patterson and her Mister Wright, except that everyone and their blind ferret saw this coming like my cat sees when I'm opening the cat food can even when she's three floors away."
In other words: Oh, Liz.
The FOOBiverse has great comments, as usual. I especially like how everyone points out that there was no sign of trouble in paradise two months ago (well, except for Chipper and Suds having gaggy little nicknames for each other), and now suddenly Paul is Mr. Cheats A Lot and has managed to forge such a strong relationship with Susan that everyone in town knows about it (but no one tells Liz). Great town, there. Real supportive and loyal.
Update: Oh, don't miss Liz's letter to April in April's Real Blog. Hilarious
Allemand left, and a do-si-do! Swing your partner, round you go!
Washington finally joined the rest of the states in offering pretty license plates where you pay a little extra and the money goes to a certain charity. I picked the state parks plate, which I think is the prettiest, it has a waterfall on it and will look so nice on my new silver car. You can see it here.
So we went to buy the plate, and the woman gave us this form that said SD 01915, which was our plate number, she said. We puzzled over the SD for a while, then thought maybe it stood for State Park Department, or something.
But then the plates arrived and guess what? The DMV woman had made a mistake and instead of the pretty state park plate, she signed me up for SQUARE DANCING plates! They have a red outline of a couple square-dancing on them and say SQUARE DANCERS in big letters.
Rob and I were just dumbfounded when they arrived in the mail and we pulled them out of the envelope. No offense to any square dancers, but this is a seriously weird license plate to have, especially if you haven't square danced since fifth grade.
So we had to go back to Patty and Selma at the DMV and this time supposedly she ordered me state park plates.
We shall see. There are a few other freaky-weird plates she could have stuck me with. I love my pets, but not enough to get this seriously hideous plate with an enormous-nosed cartoon dog and what I think is a cat.
The "Keep Kids Safe" one is odd too. It has these colorful paint handprints all over it, and handprints apparently were ruined for me by "The Blair Witch Project" because that is all I visualize when I see those spooky little hands. I also hate how the KEEP KIDS SAFE wording is all written wobbly like a kid wrote it. And keep them safe from what? In general? Yes, I think we agree that is a good plan, but it's kind of agreed on, no? It's not like people were competing for a plate: PUT KIDS IN DANGER.
The new look
I'm loving my new version of my MSNBC.com Weblog, Test Pattern. Not only does it look cool, it's so much easier to update that I want to work on it more often.
Before I had to cut and paste everything twice to make an archive page, and if I wanted to share reader comments, I had to dig them out of email and paste them into a new update.
Check out the new look here.
Before I had to cut and paste everything twice to make an archive page, and if I wanted to share reader comments, I had to dig them out of email and paste them into a new update.
Check out the new look here.
Monday, January 08, 2007
For FORESHADOWING
Man, does EVERYONE in Canada know more about Liz's love life than she does? Even her old teaching pal, Gary?
I want to think this isn't leading to "Chipper and Suds II: Electric Boogaloo," but I just fear that it is.
I want to think this isn't leading to "Chipper and Suds II: Electric Boogaloo," but I just fear that it is.
Test Pattern, take two
My MSNBC.com Weblog, Test Pattern, has a new look and a new URL:
http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.com/
The dog on the couch belongs to our art director, Kim Carney.
I'm so relieved to have the new format. It will make it 10 times easier to update.
http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.com/
The dog on the couch belongs to our art director, Kim Carney.
I'm so relieved to have the new format. It will make it 10 times easier to update.
Putting himself to sleep
I've long been a fan of the "All Creatures Great and Small" books, and loved the BBC series when it was on TV, too.
Recently I Netflixed the first disc of the first season, and may have to buy the entire season. It's every bit as charming as I remember. It's so lovely and slow-paced compared to most shows today, and really, I can almost get past the fact that every other scene features someone with his arm up a cow's bum.
After watching it, I looked up what happened to the three main vets--James Herriot, Siegfried Farnon and his brother Tristan Farnon.
James Herriot, the author, was really named Alf Wight. He died of prostate cancer in 1995, 3 years after being diagnosed. You can still tour his surgery in Thirsk, rural England, as well as tour sites from the TV series.
The quotes on his Wikipedia page are perfect, exactly as you want Herriot to be. According to Wikipedia, he said ""Years ago, farmers were uneducated and eccentric and said funny things, and we ourselves were comparatively uneducated. We had no antibiotics, few drugs. A lot of time was spent pouring things down cows' throats. The whole thing added up to a lot of laughs. There's more science now, but not so many laughs."
Tristan, really Brian Sinclair, is best remembered by many viewers because he was portrayed onscreen by Peter Davison, who later played one of the Doctors on Dr. Who. I love how, according to Wikipedia, the real Brian didn't mind being portrayed as a bit of a rascal, unlike his older brother, who was not a huge fan of how he appeared on screen.
But the one that gave me a lump in my throat was Donald Sinclair, the inspiration for Siegfried, Herriot's boss. He lost his wife of 50 years, his brother, and his partner Herriot/Wight, in a short period of time, and according to Wikipedia, took his own life by overdosing on barbituates.
It's weird to say this, but I was so touched by how he killed himself...I think he just thought "well, I've helped guide so many animals out of their suffering with a simple bit of medicine, and now I'm alone and hurting and all my friends have gone. Perhaps that's the way to end my own suffering as well, I'll just follow my animals."
Recently I Netflixed the first disc of the first season, and may have to buy the entire season. It's every bit as charming as I remember. It's so lovely and slow-paced compared to most shows today, and really, I can almost get past the fact that every other scene features someone with his arm up a cow's bum.
After watching it, I looked up what happened to the three main vets--James Herriot, Siegfried Farnon and his brother Tristan Farnon.
James Herriot, the author, was really named Alf Wight. He died of prostate cancer in 1995, 3 years after being diagnosed. You can still tour his surgery in Thirsk, rural England, as well as tour sites from the TV series.
The quotes on his Wikipedia page are perfect, exactly as you want Herriot to be. According to Wikipedia, he said ""Years ago, farmers were uneducated and eccentric and said funny things, and we ourselves were comparatively uneducated. We had no antibiotics, few drugs. A lot of time was spent pouring things down cows' throats. The whole thing added up to a lot of laughs. There's more science now, but not so many laughs."
Tristan, really Brian Sinclair, is best remembered by many viewers because he was portrayed onscreen by Peter Davison, who later played one of the Doctors on Dr. Who. I love how, according to Wikipedia, the real Brian didn't mind being portrayed as a bit of a rascal, unlike his older brother, who was not a huge fan of how he appeared on screen.
But the one that gave me a lump in my throat was Donald Sinclair, the inspiration for Siegfried, Herriot's boss. He lost his wife of 50 years, his brother, and his partner Herriot/Wight, in a short period of time, and according to Wikipedia, took his own life by overdosing on barbituates.
It's weird to say this, but I was so touched by how he killed himself...I think he just thought "well, I've helped guide so many animals out of their suffering with a simple bit of medicine, and now I'm alone and hurting and all my friends have gone. Perhaps that's the way to end my own suffering as well, I'll just follow my animals."
The bluest skies you'll ever see
Seattleites, did you know there's a Seattle wiki? I haven't explored it much, but it could be really promising.
Don't give me any of your lip
I'm not a big lip gloss fan...it feels sticky and weird, doesn't look colorful enough, and my hair always blows across it and sticks to my lips.
But if I did love lip gloss, I would adore this site, which describes various glosses so completely it makes me want to go shopping. The way oenophiles can wax endlessly about wine, so these folks can do about gloss. (Via my awesome friend Stephanie.)
But if I did love lip gloss, I would adore this site, which describes various glosses so completely it makes me want to go shopping. The way oenophiles can wax endlessly about wine, so these folks can do about gloss. (Via my awesome friend Stephanie.)
Sunday, January 07, 2007
For HELICOPTERS
Woo-hoo, so Liz and Warren are on their way.
Liz reminds me of my awesome niece Molly the firefighter in some ways -- she really doesn't have a lot of fear.
"Wouldn't it be great to be an eagle," though, is really a strange statement...and why does Warren look more and more like Granthony?
Also, I'm with the many commenters who think her early trip back to Mtigwhatever will lead to her discovering "Suds" in the arms of "Chipper."
Liz reminds me of my awesome niece Molly the firefighter in some ways -- she really doesn't have a lot of fear.
"Wouldn't it be great to be an eagle," though, is really a strange statement...and why does Warren look more and more like Granthony?
Also, I'm with the many commenters who think her early trip back to Mtigwhatever will lead to her discovering "Suds" in the arms of "Chipper."
Black-and-whites are back
Fun story about the return of traditional black-and-white color schemes for cop cars.
Don't miss the last quote:
"Who has a black and white vehicle other than the Geek Squad?" Johnson said. "But when a police car is operating as an emergency vehicle, it has its lights and sirens on. No one is mistaking us for the Geek Squad."
Don't miss the last quote:
"Who has a black and white vehicle other than the Geek Squad?" Johnson said. "But when a police car is operating as an emergency vehicle, it has its lights and sirens on. No one is mistaking us for the Geek Squad."
Still missing
When I was home in White Bear Lake over Christmas, a kid from WBL went missing.
Nick Rossini was a West Point cadet home for the holidays, like me.
Unlike me, he got drunk, smashed up a parked car with his mom's car, got pulled over by the cops, bailed out by his family, and after a reported scolding at home, wandered off in the middle of the night and has not been seen since.
The case has just stuck in my head ever since. His parents are still holding out some hope that he was just worried that West Point would kick him out (they said they wouldn't), and that he's hiding somewhere. But he didn't take a car, wallet, cell phone, etc. I've had the lurching bad feeling since this happened that he blindly walked out onto the thin ice of White Bear or Bald Eagle Lake and it just gave way beneath his feet. Minnesota's lakes are unforgiving, especially in the dead of a December night.
The Strib, my old paper, has a story about how Nick's mom happens to work at a WBL grade school with another mom who eerily lost a son in a very similar way some years ago. I hope they are both able to find answers, and some peace.
Nick Rossini was a West Point cadet home for the holidays, like me.
Unlike me, he got drunk, smashed up a parked car with his mom's car, got pulled over by the cops, bailed out by his family, and after a reported scolding at home, wandered off in the middle of the night and has not been seen since.
The case has just stuck in my head ever since. His parents are still holding out some hope that he was just worried that West Point would kick him out (they said they wouldn't), and that he's hiding somewhere. But he didn't take a car, wallet, cell phone, etc. I've had the lurching bad feeling since this happened that he blindly walked out onto the thin ice of White Bear or Bald Eagle Lake and it just gave way beneath his feet. Minnesota's lakes are unforgiving, especially in the dead of a December night.
The Strib, my old paper, has a story about how Nick's mom happens to work at a WBL grade school with another mom who eerily lost a son in a very similar way some years ago. I hope they are both able to find answers, and some peace.
Outsourcing parenthood
This story about outsourcing parenthood is kind of creepy, but it seems to be a California-slanted version. I swear New York Magazine did this late last fall, maybe as a cover story, maybe as just a feature.
Did Newhouse recreate it for the West Coast? Why don't they credit New York Mag?
Did Newhouse recreate it for the West Coast? Why don't they credit New York Mag?
Come and play, everything's A-OK
I love this: Kottke found a Weblog that lists a ton of great old "Sesame Street" clips now on YouTube.
Some of them have been pulled already, for the obvious copyright violations. But plenty remain.
Mahna Mahna!
The Muppets take the subway!
The Ladybugs Picnic! They talked about the high price of furniture and rugs, and fire insurance for ladybugs...the ladybugs twelve, at the ladybugs' picnic.
Some of them have been pulled already, for the obvious copyright violations. But plenty remain.
Mahna Mahna!
The Muppets take the subway!
The Ladybugs Picnic! They talked about the high price of furniture and rugs, and fire insurance for ladybugs...the ladybugs twelve, at the ladybugs' picnic.
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