Away too long

I haven't blogged for quite a while. A work project took over my life for a while here. Although it is still in progress, I think I'm seeing enough of a light at the end of the tunnel that I can restore some balance to the force in my life.

I'm trying to clean up my desk a bit. My eternal task. We all had a really nice day--took the kids to the Mall of America. Although it is still one of my least favorite places, the kids had such fun that it didn't matter.

Well, back to the cleaning.

Obey the Inner White Squirrel

Standing out, no fault of his own « The Traveling Monkey

Thanks for Allegra for this posting.  In response to the question at the end of the post:  I seem to like surrounding myself with "albino squirrels."  I like to think that even the "typical" squirrel has their own "inner albinoness".  I like people who are comfortable with that.
 

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Busy Saturday

We woke up to about 3 inches of snow this morning. Tommy and I slept in even though we were the first that needed to leave for his piano lesson. Wendy and Tony were already up. We were a bit late for the lesson, but the lesson went well. Then my Tommy happened to suggest that stopping for breakfast at "The Egg and I" might be a good idea. How could I say no. I love taking him to the one on Lyndale Ave. I told him it reminds me of when I was a kid and my father would take me with him in the morning to run errands on a Saturday and we would end up at a good place for eggs along the way. Later Tommy and I went to see "The Gruffalo" at the Children's Theatre. It is really intended for younger kids, but both Tommy and I had a great time.

While we out for that Tony talked Wendy into taking him to Burger King and Target--so he was a happy camper. Tommy and I got back and I finally got the walks cleared and then stayed in for the night. Tonight is a snow emergency so the cars are parked in the right places so they won't get towed. All in all it was a nice day.

Minneapolis/st. Paul - City Pages - The Blotter - President Bush monument erected in Dinkytown front yard

Minneapolis/st. Paul - City Pages - The Blotter - President Bush monument erected in Dinkytown front yard

Doesn't this kinda of look like the pose that Saddam had for that statue that they pulled down in Iraq?  Just askin'.

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Lazy Sunday

I love Sundays--especially when we have nothing planned. So, what have I done today? I made biscuits. I also made coffee. I wrote an entry on my Note Head blog. We need to get the recycling out for the week.

This has been a weekend of Shakespeare for our youngest. He saw Two Gentlemen of Verona on Friday and yesterday he saw Romeo and Juliet. I saw 2GOV but Wendy went with him alone to see R+J. He liked R+J better--it has the better script. The oldest has been mastering his fine art of "Strong Bad--in our house we believe in mixing culture from many different sources.

Well, time to gather the recycling. Oh joy. Oh bliss.

RNC chairman condemns controversial Obama song - CNN.com

RNC chairman condemns controversial Obama song - CNN.com

I'm glad that the RNC chairman is condemning this.  Not only is the song about Obama offensive, the very title of the CD is also:  "We Hate the USA".  It is just a continuation of politics of vilification that unfortunately the GOP has mastered. 

"I think most people recognize political satire when they see it," Saltsman told CNN. "I think RNC members understand that."

There are jokes and then there is prejudice that masquerades as a joke.  Mr. Saltsman, this is an example of the second case.

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On the feast of Stephen...

Happy Day after Christmas! It has been great just to spend time with the family. Waking up when the body says to wake up. Going to sleep when I'm tired. Watching the temperature rise to 38 degrees today. These are of the gifts of Christmas that mean something. Don't get me wrong: I appreciate the 4th Season of Lost and the shirt and the books, but the main thing has been to just enjoy the 'now'.

I got a Christmas Card today from a friend I knew growing up. I'm such a deadbeat when it comes to snail-mail. I need to write back and see if I can find an email address--I'm much better at keeping in touch with people that way.

Well, it's getting time to start winding down for the night. I find I sleep better if I log off the computer an hour before bed. Otherwise my mind is still too active. Hope all are enjoying their holidays!

xkcd - A Webcomic - Lisp (For geeks only)

xkcd - A Webcomic - Lisp

I've been having LISP on the brain lately. Thanks to Mike L. for pointing out this one to me.

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Denny Hecker almost killed my shredding machine

Denny Hecker (the famous Twin Cities Denny Hecker who just recently closed a whole bunch of his auto dealerships and laid off 400 people just before the Holidays) almost killed my shredding machine. I'm paying my youngest $5 to shred junk mail. One of the junk mails had a small thin metal key in it. I probably would have stuffed it into the shredder without really looking at it too. (To be honest, it probably should have just been thrown away, but somehow it got put in the shredding pile.) And the ^#$&@#$ key got jammed. A pair of plyers did the trick to saving the shredder.

I never got a good feeling about the Denny Hecker dealerships--and this just adds to that feeling.

Book Review - 'The Wordy Shipmates,' by Sarah Vowell - Review - NYTimes.com

Book Review - 'The Wordy Shipmates,' by Sarah Vowell - Review - NYTimes.com

This reviewer has a problem with Vowell. Reading the review I want to get the book just to decide if it is truly annoying (and yet the reviewer kept on wanting to read), or is it just that the style is conversational. Not all history needs to be overtly scholarly (read 'academic').




from Amazon.com

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Mystery piano in woods perplexes police - CNN.com

Mystery piano in woods perplexes police - CNN.com

And here is the picture of the mystery piano in the woods.

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CapeCodTimes.com - Baldwin piano discovered in Harwich woods

Police said they have no idea how the piano came to rest in the middle of musical nowhere. A general notice has gone out to area police departments in an attempt to figure out whether the piano was stolen or lost.

CapeCodTimes.com - Baldwin piano discovered in Harwich woods

I'm just wondering how anyone could have "lost" their piano in the middle of the woods.  Personally I think it is a side effect of Ben moving the island on LOST.  (I was hoping for a picture of the piano in the woods, but there was none on the page.)

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Bachmann: Anti-American remarks an 'urban legend'

Bachmann: Anti-American remarks an 'urban legend'

Oh, Please!

I saw the interview.  This is straight out lying.

Bachmann suggested, as she has before, that she was baited and trapped by the media, which created an "urban legend" about what she says she really said.

"What I said was, 'Do your job,'" Bachmann said. "That's what I said."

The only thing that happened was Bachmann was given enough rope to hang herself.  Don't blame the rope.

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Op-Ed Columnist - Team of Frenemies - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Team of Frenemies - NYTimes.com

Interesting commentary on the possibility of Sen. Clinton as secretary of state.

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It's been a while...

Well, it has been an exciting week up here near Lake Woebegone. I'm still on a high from the election of Obama to be our next President. Even with our first snow of the season today, I'm still feeling happy!

Hopefully I'll get a chance to blog a bit more this weekend.

Sesquipedalian

I learned a new word this morning. Sesquipedalian: characterized by big words.

Tommy (my 10 year old) told his piano teacher this morning that he found the new piece "captivating". To which his teacher told him he was being sesquipedalian. I had to admit that I never heard that word before.

I had heard of "combinatoriality", but not "sesquipedalian". Does that make me sesquipedalian?

We ALL love our country!

[ link ] to video

Go Joe!!! (The Senator)

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Obama at the AL Smith Memorial Dinner

[ link ] to video

And who knew Barack can do funny too!

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John McCain at the Al Smith Memorial Dinner

[ link ] to video

OK, I got to admit, he's funny.

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Says it all...

man/myth/geek

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