So I’m just emptying the dishwasher this morning and number one son runs out the the kitchen and says: “Mom! I just saw this guy on TV! He says he can finish your basement!” “Oh yeah?” My mind is spinning. I start to do the math. Local news is on. Commercial jingles ring. TiVo has…
Category: Object-ification
In which I moan and whinge about “things”– purchased, consumed, drunken, and otherwise.
The Recurring Potato
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We accidentally have perennial potatoes in our garden. These potatoes are unstoppable. We “planted” these them two seasons ago, on a whim. “Whim” = they had actually started growing from a few rotten potatoes we’d thrown out into the compost pile. Colin said “Hey, look. Potatoes are growing!” and dug ’em out and put them…
Fighting Back Against Planned Obsolescence
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Or, Why you MUST Attend my Electronics Recycling Event this Weekend Or Or, Why You MUST, at least, Start Recycling Electronics SOMEWHERE In the world of electronics, planned obsolescence rules. What makes the iPod (sorry, no iPhone! Ooops what’s that? The IPAD, I mean!) so appealing? Eternal updates, that make it better faster, more capable…
I’m Not Mowing The Lawn…
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… and the reason I’m not is not at all simple. Despite the fact that I drive the heck out of our zippy five-speed manual transmission Mazda, and the fact that I drive our minivan like I need to get the kids to the raceway poddy–NOW! — despite both of THOSE facts, I feel complete…
Life is Too Short to Just Wear Black
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Or, An Ode To Candied Fabrics, Who Is Very Busy Quilting, Yet Commented on my Blog Anyway Everyday, the grass pushes up through the dirt And Everyday We swing the doors of our houses In and out– (My front door is red, chipping red paint With chipping brass fixtures)– And Everyday, we knit our wardrobe…
Boobquake, Milkshakes and Our Diabolical Plan
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As a professor (all right! just an adjunct…) of rhetoric, I can spot and identify logical fallacy when I see one. So did the awesome BlagHag blogger Jen McCreight when a Muslim cleric managed to twist the logic so profoundly of protecting women from their own immodesty that he accidentally predicted that free-moving, free-ranging cellulite…
Earth Day, Imagined
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I found that my iPhone’s App Store “What’s Hot” as Green Apps featured today, as part of Earth Day celebration and I am thrilled. Earth Day is 40 years old today, and now it is almost ubiquitous. Everywhere there are thousands of events, so many that it is impossible to even get to all of…
The Parenting Apocolypse
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Wow there is SO much “content” out there in the World (Wide Web) to inform, amuse, and berate today’s parent. I mean, don’t get me wrong. Some of it is actually useful. Such as the answers to basic questions like “Which end is up, again?” “Will it ever stop pooping?” and the classic follow up,…
Stephen Fry and the Perfect Rant
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Thanks to my husband, I got the chance to listen to the ultimate rant on America… from my favorite Brit, Stephen Fry. He has a fantastic podcast called Stephen Fry’s Podgrams. Some are scripted, others are extemporaneous. That is major. Fry came to America for his BBC series Stephen Fry’s America, now available on DVD.…
Kentucky Fried Christmas
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After a visit to Colin’s work, we were all famished for lunch today. Nothing says special holiday like a big bucket of KFC. We got the family 12 piece meal and just about devoured all of it together. Dining on fast food on Christmas eve always reminds me of my own childhood. Ever so often…
Dreams, canned and stuffed
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“So tell me your dream Lay your head on my pillow Tell me the things that you hide away Your pain Your pleasure Your sorrow Tell me the things that you hide away Your pain your pleasure your sorrow.” –Blue Rodeo If you are looking for the less fortunate, you can find them waiting in…
A Send off From Momcentral.com
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Note: Version three of this blog post I am a huge admirer of Stacy DeBroff. This woman, the CEO of Momcentral.com, is a marketing genius and a fantastic business model built around one of her own passions– being a mom. And yeah, I’m a little jealous. She’s wildly successful, spending many early mornings with Matt…
Making Snickerdoodles
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We volunteered to make snacks for our friend’s free concert and I enlisted the very enthusiastic help of three eager assistants. I love to bake– pretty much in inverse proportion to how much I do not like cooking. I think it has something to do with the outcome. I see food on the table as…
Dinner’s Ready!
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I had a revelation whilst reading a recipe suggestion from my friend Jeannie today. Midwestern recipes seem to always involve spraying a pan with Pam and sprinkling Durkee Fried Onions. We’ve been revamping our eating as you might guess to make things a bit more family friendly. Suggestions for dinners have been very “bake and…
Bye-Bye Fit!
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Or, The Saddest Day Thus Far Colin just drove away with our Honda Fit. Honestly, I had NO idea how attached I’d gotten to that car. I truly felt like crying. It was cute, and peppy, with five on the floor, and the most no-frills, no-nonsense style of any car I’d ever met. Yes, it…
