(…but with apologies to the band Barenaked Ladies. No apologies for liking the band Barenaked Ladies, however. And just in case you didn’t know, Barenaked Ladies are men (and a band). But I digress…) Back to my topic of the week: Chimpanzees. Maybe they’re the ones behind the wheel, causing all this trouble on the road. I just like knowing I’m not the only one with traffic issues – sharing the suffering with Madame Meow […]
Month: September 2007
Booking Through Thursday 9-20: “Sunshine and Roses”
The reverse of last week’s question: Imagine that everything is going just swimmingly. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all’s right with the world. You’re practically bouncing from health and have money in your pocket. The kids are playing and laughing, the puppy is chewing in the cutest possible manner on an officially-sanctioned chew toy, and in between moments of laughter for pure joy, you pick up a book to read . […]
Postcard from the road – drive time
72 hours a year. Three entire days, or almost a full two-week vacation (based on 8-hour workdays). But this is nothing close to a vacation – according to a new study, this is the approximate amount of time that Los Angeles-area drivers spend stuck in rush-hour traffic. But according to the L.A. Times, a regional-planning group disputes this finding, based on the study’s methodology; they say it’s even worse (closer to 100 hours a year) […]
Now, back in MY day…
There have been many times in my life that I’ve felt out of step with my peers. I was already married and a mother when I finished college, and since I did that on the conventional post-high-school timetable, I was still in my early 20’s. When many of the people I knew were still unmarried in their mid-30’s, I had a son in high school and a marriage that was on its last legs. At […]
Wiki Wednesday 9-19-07
Time to learn something! 1. Go to Wikipedia.2. Click on “Random article” in the left-hand sidebar box.3. Post it! Well, at least it’s not about battleships this week. In fact. this is actually somewhat germane to the first of The 3 R’s, even though Indian genre fiction isn’t really my thing reading-wise: Kinjal Kishor is a novelist in India currently working on the novel series Aatmayan. This is a major work of the author combining […]
“Welcome to the working week…”
“…I know it don’t thrill ya, I hope it won’t kill ya”– Elvis Costello(This is the theme song for the 6-8 AM Monday show on the ultimate volunteer radio station in the Volunteer State, WEVL 89.9 FM, Memphis) I didn’t have time to get this together on Monday, but for some of us it seems like the workweek is a much more fluid concept nowadays, so a roundup of work-themed posts is appropriate any time. […]
Ten on Tuesday – 10 Things You Do when You Have Nothing Else to Do
Not to get all “busier-than-thou” about it, but I rarely have “nothing else to do,” so I guess I’d approach this topic as more as “10 Things I Do When I Have Nothing Else I WANT to (or HAVE to) Do.” Some are definitely procrastination practices, some are things I save for when the work gets done, and some I would actually consider to be things on the “to-do” list, just not high-priority ones. Read […]
Love letters and thank-you notes
I’ve learned that several of my favorite bloggers share my blogging identity. I guess that shouldn’t be surprising, since I recognize that they’ve influenced what I do here, and how I do it. Of course, I wouldn’t add a blog feed to my reader if I didn’t like the content, but they’re not all there for the same reason. Some are just generally useful, providing information and tools for living. Some cover issues I want […]
Weekend update
We had this weekend totally to ourselves. The kids were with their mom, and I was going through separation anxiety – not because of them, but because this was the first time I have ever boarded Gypsy at a kennel. Up until about three years ago, I hadn’t spent a night apart from her since we moved to California. Since then, she has stayed with family a couple of times when Tall Paul and I […]
Identify yourself!
Take the “What Kind of Blogger Are You?” quiz. Survey says I’m this kind: You Are a Pundit Blogger! Your blog is smart, insightful, and always a quality read.Truly appreciated by many, surpassed by only a few Thanks to verbatim for the link (Karen’s a pundit blogger too!). Subscribe to Blog via Email Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Join 2,358 other subscribers Email […]
Basic skills
Thanks to the aptly-named Busy Mom (she’s everywhere!) for pointing to this link to Popular Mechanics’ list of “25 Skills Every Man Should Know.” Some are traditional, some are more 21st-century high tech. Here’s a sampling: 1. Patch a radiator hose 2. Protect your computer5. Retouch digital photos 6. Back up a trailer 7. Build a campfire10. Use a torque wrench14. Maneuver a car out of a skid 15. Get a car unstuck 16. Back […]
How 28 met 26 (again!)
This is a phrase-completion test based on the following model: 24 H in a D = 24 hours in a day It doesn’t matter if you write the answers in uppercase or lowercase, but the answers must be exactly as expected (no additional intervals or dashes and the spelling must be correct). There is no time limit for this test. Answers will automatically be verified as you type them. Scoring: 1 to 5 is Average, […]
iPod Random Ten 9-14-07
I missed this post last week – took the day off to get ready to go out of town, and didn’t really have the iPod with me. And my car adapter broke last week (sob!), so I can’t listen on my commute right now. (But I’m trying to get smarter in the meantime – keeping the radio on KCRW until I can get a new setup.) “Missing You,” Alison Krauss and John Waite“O What a […]
Parenting and working – in the news
There have been a couple of “media watch” items recently that I’ve been thinking about. Single moms, married moms, “single married moms” – Round 2, and the Babytalk Survey Seems to me that we’ve heard a variation on this theme before…There are some interesting tidbits in a recent survey of moms by Babytalk magazine, as reported by MSNBC. Did you know that nearly 40% of moms today are “officially” single, according to US Census data? […]
In case of emergency – the sequel
More PSA’s, via BlogHer, which is presenting a special feature on emergency preparedness this week: Once your “Ready-to-Stay” and “Ready-to-Go” kits are assembled, you need to know the appropriate circumstances under which to use them. The Department of Homeland Security offers insight on the choice between staying put and evacuating in an emergency: Whether you are at home, work or elsewhere, there may be situations when it’s simply best to stay where you are and […]
