The Color of the Sky is Relative

I'm going to mommy blog real quick, because what else am I doing with this space?

Obviously, naturally...my son is a genius. He learns fast, loves doing it, and is especially into language skills, which thrills me like you wouldn't even believe. Unless you know me at all, then you wouldn't have any trouble calculating the amount of joy I get out of this. I love - LOVE - to teach my kid.

Last night, as we were putting on his pajamas in the kitchen (what, you don't get ready for bed in your kitchen? Pssh.) he saw the fruit bowl on the table and asked for a plum. But he had trouble saying the word, "plum." I helped him sound it out, and he quickly corrected himself and got it right. He just turned three last month, and he's started concentrating on pronouncing words correctly now that he's got their meanings down.

"Yeah, that's a hard one to say. Let's try it. There's a Ppp...Ppp sound, then a Lll LLll sound. What letter makes "Ppp"?"

"P!"

"Right! Very good. And what letter makes "Lll?"

"L."

"Great, okay. This next one is tricky. What sound is next? Ppp...Lll...Uh. Uhhh. What letter is that, do you think?"

Not even a hesitation. Big grin: "That's a U."

When we were done, I said "How about that! You can spell the word PLUM any time you want now!"

That's the kind of thing we do together. We talk constantly (and sing, we sing a LOT), and I explain things, spell things, count things, describe things. Show him how and why this goes here and that does that. And give him words for all of it. It's my favorite thing to do in the world with this particular little human being.

Pretty great mom, right? Sure, except you guys - I don't know shit, and I never do anything right.

"Mommy, you don't sing yet, okay?"

"No, mommy. You sit here. No, you have to stand. Not there."

"Let's sing Wheels On The Bus!"
"Okay!"
"Oh. No, not that song yet."

"This is an airplane!"
"Oh, cool, I love airplanes. Let's fly!"
"Uh...no. It's a BOAT."
"Okay, boats are good. Are we sailing on the ocean?"
"No, Mommy. It's an airplane."

Like, duhhh. How stupid ARE you, exactly, Mom. Jeez. Are you going to keep embarrassing me like this all through college?

You bet I am, kiddo.

Pajamas firmly on, we went back to his bedroom and played for a while, and I did everything exactly wrong, as usual. He gleefully corrected me the whole time, then Shayne walked in the room.

"I can't seem to get anything right tonight, Daddy" I told him. "I bet he'd argue with me if I told him the sky's blue."

Heh. Watch this.

"Hey, Curt? Is the sky blue?"

He tiled his head to one side, half exasperated. "I don't know," he said. "Let me go look out the window." So he did. I was not expecting that.

"Umm..." he said, studying the window pane. "It's raining. And dark." He looked at me with his best "you're functionally retarded" look. "No, mommy. The sky is black."

I could not possibly be any prouder.

Animal FarmmmmM

Many, many times in my life I have refrained from sharing things I think are cool with people I like, because I want them to continue associating with me.

This really should have been one of those times.



Old McDonald had a...OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK



And that is why I no longer live in the extremely rural parts of anywhere.

30 Day Music: 1-4

A facebook friend of mine is doing a 30 day music meme, and I'm enjoying her answers. I haven't done an internet meme in a while, and I know good and well I will not commit to 30 days of consistent anything, so instead of that I'M POSTING THEM ALL AT ONCE.

I'll break it up into entries so it's not one giant scroll-through, but I had fun putting this together for my own amusement. Feel free to skip or skim this foolishness - sometimes I have looong, sloooow days to fill.

_________________________________________________


Day 1 - A song you would make your personal anthem if you took over the world

There's only one possible outcome to any set of circumstances that would lead to me being in charge of the world:



Day 2 - A song you play to make people think you have taste



Okay, fine. Less snarky answer:



Day 3 - A song that makes you bob your head



Oh hey, BTW, most of my music is NSFW! (lol)

Day 4 - A good song to have sex to

Now what would I know about that?

30 Day Music: 5-8

Day 5 - A song with deep lyrics

I don't know, I guess this one has "deep" right there in the title.



I'm not much of a lyrics girl myself.

Day 6 - A song that makes you want to dance around like an idiot with people watching

I never get that drunk, but this one makes me tap my foot and not care who knows it.




Day 7 - A song that reminds you of a lost love

I've been fortunate/guarded enough to have never had a lost love, but this song channels every fruitless, painful or embarrassing crush i've ever had:



Of course it does.

Day 8 - A song from a show/concert you've been to (sorry, 'to which you've been')

I have not been to a concert in years and years. The last one I went to, a lifetime ago, contained this:



My mom is so proud of me right now.

30 Day Music: 9-12

Day 9 - A song you would play to torture enemy combatants

This is a package deal: these two songs, repeating and alternating randomly.





Taste the pain.

Day 10 - A song that can pick you up out of a bad mood



:D

Day 11 - A song that can kill a good mood



D:

Day 12 - A song that reminds you of a good friend



HOLLA ATCHA GIRL.

30 Day Music: 13-16

Day 13 - A song that you want to play at your funeral



I would also like a nice cheese tray and some classy flowers.


Day 14 - A "sit alone in the dark with candles and a bottle of wine" song (you know you have one)



I have so many of these.

Day 15 - A song you are embarrassed to admit you used to like



Oh, you know it's true.

Day 16 - A song you are embarrassed to admit you currently like



Awkward 90s Duran Duran Forever.

30 Day Music: 17-21

Day 17 - A song you play to seduce someone

I am the least seductive person in the world. But I'm also not very subtle, so let's assume it would be something like



Day 18 - A song that reminds you of your childhood



Day 19 - A song that lifts your soul



Day 20 - A song that makes you nostalgic



Good times.

Day 21 - A song that confirms people's suspicions that you are a weirdo



^_^

30 Day Music: 22-25

Day 22 - A song that makes you wish you could play an instrument



She made me want to learn every instrument.

Day 23 - A song that makes you wish you could sing



Fuck being able to sing.

Day 24 - You're favorite mushy love song



Day 25 - A song to play at your wedding

Nope, no. I got married ages ago, and I have no idea what actual songs were even played that day.

Instead...



Here is a song that my husband sang to our infant son as he rocked him to sleep one night. Which was more beautiful to me than any wedding.

30 Day Music: 26-30

Day 26 - A song that makes you want to punch someone in the face



Day 27 - A song that gets stuck in your head



Good luck with that.

Day 28 - A song that deserves to be on the radio but is not

Uh...well. I have no idea what gets played on the radio now. I haven't listened to the radio since roughly 2006?

So here's a random song I like.



Day 29 - A song that sums you up as a person

That's a hard thing to ask of one song.



Day 30 - Your favorite song ever (or right now)

How to narrow this down? Let's see. My favorite type of music is electronic, so let's go with that. My favorite electronic band is Underworld. Mmkay. So I guess my favorite Underworld song is...



And now I'm sad there's no copy of the actual video available.



THE END

Star Wars, not Star Trek

I figure most of you don't give a rat's ass about Star Wars - and I only care about the original three movies, which is a solid indicator of my age, I guess - but today is apparently STAR WARS DAY. Because May the 4th be with you. Heh. Get it? See, because...

Anyway, this video makes me laugh and laugh and laugh:



So, STAR WARS, then!

Just So You Know

This isn't one of those blogs where I'm all like "Sorry I haven't updated in a while!" Not blogging when I don't feel like it or don't have time is a silly thing to stress out about.

I have been VERY BUSY going to Disney World (!) and then catching back up at work and home. So that's my excuse, and it's a pretty good one. One of my best, really. I'm pretty proud of it!

Shhh

We don't have to talk today, let's just watch this video of a polar bear cub because it is the cutest damn thing.



If you have enjoyed this activity, check out Zooborns, a nice website with many more animal babies.

Community

I don't want to be that tv nerd who's always telling people "YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS SHOW" so I won't do that to you. You don't have to watch this show. I'm just going to talk about it a little, because I like it so much.

Community is on Thursday nights on NBC. It's about seven people who meet and form a study group at college. That's it. That's what the whole show is. Except their classmates, their teachers, the ridiculous dean, and even the college itself becomes this vivid, hilarious tapestry of awesome all around them. The characters are fun, the writing is tight and fast-paced, and it just leaves me feeling good every week.

There are five episodes up on Hulu right now, free to watch, if you're bored and interested in this. They're episodes from the middle of season 2, but I think this is a show where you can jump in at any point and find your way pretty quickly. You know, if you want to.

It's directed by the same guys who directed Arrested Development, and it shares a lot of stylistic traits with that show - it's slickly designed, well shot, and no second is wasted. It is crammed with funny and the stories never drag.

That would be enough for me right there, but what really sells me is that it's pretty goddamn nerdy, too. The show's creator, Dan Harmon, is a huge fucking nerd and has been involved in some projects dear to my dorky heart:

Dead Alewives - Dungeons & Dragons

Acceptable TV - Operation Kitten Calendar

When I say nerdy, I don't mean "plays D&D nerdy" (although there is one full episode entirely of that), I mean this show understands geeks like me who live on the internet and have the pop cultural attention span of small birds. It jumps from reference to reference and throws everything at you from Mad Men to Reading Rainbow. It's kind of like Mystery Science Theater in that most of it will land, but some of it will whoosh past before you catch it. Or maybe you won't catch it. But someone out there will.

I can see how that might turn people off to this show. What else might? The tone and theme can vary wildly from episode to episode. One week they're at a school dance, next week they're in a raging paintball war, and in a very special episode, they are claymation animated. There may be a heartfelt moment where everyone learns a lesson about friendship, or they could all be locked in a room screaming at each other. Or both. Usually both.

On top of the craziness factor and the pitch-perfect delivery, everyone involved in this is good at their job and having a blast. And you can tell. When is that not a joy to watch? No, you know what? Screw it. You should watch this show. I like you, and want you to have nice things.

Look, if any of this appeals to you:



Please watch Community. I will loan you my Season 1 boxset. The show will be on a 3 week hiatus after last night's episode, so there's plenty of time. My favorite character is Britta, who's yours?

Stare at a Wall

I've been in a mood. Maybe it's the change of seasons. Maybe it's the moon. Maybe it's this endless head cold I've had, the difficulty breathing in oxygen to my brain, and all the Nyquil I've ingested. I don't know, but I would be content to listen to this weird, dark crap for hours while doing absolutely nothing to enhance my life or provide for my future. This is music for a very particular headspace, which I happen to be in right now.

These two bands are part of what is being called "witch house" by "kids these days." There's a dumb controversy in music circles (where there is always a dumb controversy going on) over whether this is a legitimate genre or what. What do I think? I don't care. I found this shit by complete accident, and I inexplicably like it. That's all I need to know. Even though I think it's quite literally made by depressives on crack, I find it soothing. It's all the bass and the droning - I've always been into that, but I'm particularly into it right now.

This band has a silly name, but the music is actually kind of beautiful.








This band, on the other hand, is the opposite of beautiful. Their sound is neither neat nor fluid, and they get a lot of criticism for the ridiculous slow and slurry rap that happens on many of the tracks. The lyrics lean toward violent and menacing, but it hardly matters what the dude is saying because you can't understand him enough to be shocked. And the sheer weight of this mess leaves you too apathetic to care anyway.

You hear the contempt in my tone here? I don't understand why I'm into this. I'm almost annoyed about it. And yet I can't stop listening, so here...






Good old-fashioned nightmare fuel


Do I think this sound is original and never before seen? No. I think it's the natural evolution of the darker side of electronic music that established (and better) groups have been experimenting with:







Also I'm seriously thinking of getting back on my medication.

VHS or Beta

Do you miss the 80s? Sure! We all do.

Do you wish Robert Smith and Duran Duran were young and hip again? Do you long to hear new wave synthpop performed with more modern production (because honestly, we've come a long way since that one sound a synthesizer could make)? Do you feel kind of old right now? Me, too.

This is not going to help with that, but the music is pretty great. The sound is full-on nostalgic (I mean, it's right there in the name of the band) but it's not a gimmick. These guys are seriously, sincerely good at this kind of music, and that thrills me.

This is my favorite of their songs right now:



This one has a video!



And a fine example of that 80s sound they're so good at:



Honorable mentions to:

The first of their songs I heard, which drew my attention to them

One that's kind of pretty

Spoons

Shayne: All Curt's spoons are dirty. Don't ask why.
Ken: Wh...y?
Shayne: Well, he wanted to stand on the counter. Then he wanted to open the cabinet door and get out all his spoons.
Ken: Okay...
Shayne: Then he wanted to put all the spoons into a cup. So we did that. Then he wanted another cup, and he wanted me to put all the forks in that cup.
Ken: ...
Shayne: So I was putting all the forks in the cup...
Shayne: Then he peed on everything.

Formal Introduction

Soo...

Why?

I don't know.

I had a personal journal online for many years. Then I got a MySpace, a Facebook, a Twitter...all that crap that divided my attention every which way. Then I had a baby! Oh, man - now I don't even know what is going on anymore.

So here's where I'm not going to worry about any of that. It's not a place for bitching about my personal life. It's not a place for mommy-blogging about my precious angel baby (he is, though). It's not a place where I check in with family to let them know I'm still alive today (I am!). It's not a place I have to think "Man, I can't post this cool video, because then people will know I like weird things and I need everyone to think I am sweet and employable!"

The truth is I've been feeling filtered to death. I'm not sure what direction this blog will go, but it will contain things I like. Things I get excited about. What makes me happy to wake up and be an adult today, and smile when I put on my headphones in the car on the way to work. Tv shows, video games, bands I just found, something awesome someone said this morning - whatever makes me feel like me (and like that's okay).

Be warned. Just as an example, I sincerely enjoy listening to both of these songs:





So that's just a brief introduction to how terrible I am, but if you're here? You know that already. So we're cool.

test

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