Tumblr if Anything At All

Pretty much been off line for the last couple months. Not sure what that means, but just in case anyone stops here and wonders what is up, I direct you to CPSLAND over at Tumblr.

Who Needs Banks?

Conversation upon arriving home last night and finding five dollar bills and singles drying on paper towels in the kitchen.

Me: What’s up with the money?

Neats: It’s The Engineer’s.

Me: OK. Why is it on paper towels?

Neats: It was wet.

Me: How did it get wet?

Neats: You really want to know?

Me: (preparing to hear about how he dropped his wallet in the fish tank): Yes

Neats: I told them that if they want to pitch in some of their money, I would take the boys to Game Stop.

Me: Uh-huh.

Neats: The Engineer immediately said “just a minute,” put on his shoes and ran outside.

Me: Why?

Neats: (barely able to finish through the impending laughter) To dig up the money he buried in a plastic crayon box out in the backyard.

Neats: Obviously it wasn’t waterproof.

Obviously.

BLOG (aka: Banal Litany Of Goings-ons)

Well, it has been days, nay, weeks since I posted last and let me be the first to say that you are welcome. I mean really, there just has not been all that much to say, and most of which there is, would be whiny drivel for the most part.

I could have told you about how long the grungy illness I had lingered (in fact, I am quite sure it is just lying dormant but still very much ready to spring back into action at the littlest provocation--like, say, Spring).

I could recount that I have been so busy at work that I hardly seem family or make it to any events and when I do my mind is still swimming in what has not been done. Or I could have pointed out that while I am so busy I am not out in field fighting one of the many, many crazy right-wing politicians who are out to gut any semblance of a government that benefits the people as a whole, because I need to take care of the petty, bureaucratic details of our operation my tallents are too valuable. Okay, that isn't fair, I do get to at least try to figure out how to reason with the crazy right-wing politicians led by the Great Orange One in the federal government. So there is that.

I could note that as a result of said illness and said work, I haven't bought any new music or, as a result, listened to any. Nor have I made any interesting new dishes to tell you about.

I could take the high road and talk about anticipating baseball, gardening and light--but really, haven't you heard enough about that?

Or, I could get quit being lazy and actually try to write about what is happening in this country and why it seems overwhelmingly depressing, but that would take so much work and who really comes here for substance anyway?

No, you wouldn't really want any of that now would you? I didn't think so.

Hell in a Handbasket

Look peeps, I would post more, but right now the world sucks. Yeah, yeah I know--what about Egypt? Whatever, out with the old in with the oh-slightly-less-but-not-all-that-different new. And here at home we have a whole bunch of bat-s*#t crazies in the states trying to take advantage of the economy to do (more) real damage to the working class. And don't get me started on higher ed--get ready for severe drops in financial aid, more people fawning over for-profit colleges who are fleecing students, and people who have never even been in a classroom telling us how to educate students. I could go on, but let's just say I have been too busy (and pissed) to post.

Is it baseball season yet?

Confessions

Dear Blogger:

I have a confession. I have been playing around with another platform. I know. I know. I said that after the last time I flirted with another platform--and I came back with my blogger-tail between my legs--that I wouldn't ever leave. But this time it's different.

What? No, of course I am not talking about Facebook! Don't get me started on all the reasons I don't want to invest time and share information in that stinkin' space.

No, it is not Twitter. You know I actually love the Twitter, but I have never hid my affection for the bird and I have also told you I would never leave you for 140 characters. I mean c'mon, the Twitter feed is right there on our site!

Well, it is just that this platform is kind of a nice cross between all those status driven sites and you. And, well, it does all this arranging and organizing and resizing and stuff--oh and the templates, they are so many and interesting. Oh sorry, too much information, right?

Okay. Okay. It's Tumblr! That is what I have been goofing around with! I'm sorry. It just started out as a little exploration and the next thing I knew I was hooked. Yeah, I know that no one is following me, but it is fun.

There. I said it. Are you happy?

I am.

Willing Spring

Yes, we still have the rest of February to get through and even some of March probably, but then, then dear friends we will be planting and soon our salads and what not will come straight from the good earth. In fact, we will be planting sooner to get all those little seeds popping in the toastiness of our house.

Now, upon doing a seed inventory it became clear that we had a pretty good stock, which is good news. Unfortunately I had been rifling through my Seed Savers catalog of a couple weeks salivating over what new varieties to try. Ultimately, we just picked out a few items--greens, a couple new tomato varieties and some cold weather root veggies--just enough to satiate my ordering desire. How could I not?

You Go Back in There and You Get Me a Generator Hi!

They were heading into their third day of no power thanks to Commutagedon which had arrived in the DC area a couple days prior. Sleep had been cold and fitful that night and the three boys looked like even school would be preferable. There were a number of things that needed done that Saurday morning, but the first item on the agenda was to deal with the fact that the woodpile was getting very low--too low to make it another 24 hours. So the husband prepared to go find fuel.

"The Home Depot for a generator perhaps?" suggested the lovely but tired wife.

"Come now, we just need to make it a little longer--the power has to come on soon" responds the stubborn and not-so-straight-thinking husband.

The husband heads out and returns with a load of wood that should carry the family through another day. "Didn't you go to Home Depot?" asks the wife. "Yes, but generators are really expensive and I talked with a friend who made me realize it would be quite a bit of work to get it hooked up to run the furnace. And did I mention they are expensive?" replies the husband.

After a few minutes had passed. "Let me ask this" the wife asserts more than asks. "If we had the generator could we at least run a space heater or two and couple appliances to get by so we don't have to sit by this fireplace and breath smoke* for another day and then when it is warmer get it set up so the next time the power goes out we are ready? Could we do that? Could we?"

"Get your coat son" says the husband to his eldest boy. "Why? Where are we going Papa?" he asks.

"To buy a generator, son . . . to buy a generator."

"But I thought you said they were expensive and by the time we got it working . . . "

"Get your coat son."

And the family lived happily ever after as the generator was purchased, hooked up (with friend's help) and the heat began to flow.

The power was restored three hours later. The husband smiled.

So did the wife.

___________________________

* This is not to case aspersions on our fireplace, which is beautiful and efficient and kept us toasty through most of this ordeal.

Happy Sixth Birthday to The Captain!

Friday Haiku

Corners not yet seen
Work. Winter. Persists. Baseball . . .
Propels me forward

3 Dids / 3 Didn'ts

So while I did write about a bunch of music I loved (or at least recommended) as part of my year end extravaganza, I did not write about any albums that I listened to but was not necessarily impressed with or was ambivalent (since you know, I try to be positive here). However, there were a few.

For example, I was excited about the the new Jose Gonzalez trio, Junip, but their summer release ultimately didn't move me. I was hoping for a bit more richness from the accompanying musicians--particularly percussion. That happens on a track or two, but in the end, I would just as soon have heard a Gonzalez solo album since the added musicians really didn't change the feel of the songs and it took away from the solo acoustic guitar feeling.

Another album that didn't meet expectations (although I kind of saw this coming) was Jenny Lewis' new effort, Jenny and Johnny. Just too much self-indulgent psychoanalysis without music that could compensate. Anyone else besides me hoping for a Rilo Kiley reunion?

And then there was Josh Ritter's latest effort, So Runs the World Away. Now I had intended to write about Josh Ritter at more length since he as an artist I have been catching up with, but never got around to it. I had become quite taken with The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter thanks to Nelson and moved on to So Runs. Now this album is not necessarily a disappointment and I keep coming back to it so it has the best chance to be a turnaround album for me, but it is just not immediately an album I took to. There are some wonderful songs and I appreciate the darkness of the album, but we will have to see.

Now at the same time, a host of albums came out in 2010 that I did not get to, but still hope to. Some are just obvious that I will, but haven't. For instance, I didn't pick up the latest Spoon effort which I will-but that was in part because I was still diggin' all the older Spoon I had recently discovered. But stepping past the obvious--here are three artists I am planning to check out who are all relatively new.

First up is Mumford and Sons who were all over the year end lists and topped Paste's Best New Bands list of 2010.

Next up is young Sarah Jaffe from Texas who many are watching for both her voice and her songwriting.

And finally, The Head and the Heart who NPR picked as one of five bands you should have known in 2010.

Who else should I have listened to that I didn't and who can I not worry about?

On Being Sick

So there was a time in my life that getting sick, even getting the flu, had a kind of pleasure (I know, you want to talk about my real illness now). Seriously, I have semi-fond memories of being a kid, curled up on the couch, watching bad TV, mom taking care of me, funky fitful fever dreams as you doze in and out of sleep all day and night and, of course, missing school wasn't all that bad of a thing (although that changed as I got older). And even when I got older I didn't mind that feeling of your body telling you it is time to shut down for a little while as work and other responsibilities passed you by for a while. But this week, as I have fought some gunk, it just isn't the same anymore.*

First off, there are children which means that I am absolutely no help on that front (luckily Neats hasn't gone down yet). This of course is not helpful for someone who easily succumbs to guilt which of course makes me stressed which is no help at all.

Secondly, and speaking of stress, work has simply changed and there is just too

much of it. Add to that the fact that our office is small enough that everyone has a full plate of their individual stuff and when one person goes down, the others get slammed. Again, guilt, stress, and the cycle continues.

Third, technology is just no help here. I basically have my office at home and am not the kind of person who can just ignore what is sitting there in front of me. For instance, while I did take two 2-hour naps today I still managed to read the nearly 100 emails I received today and send nearly 70 of my own. Of course, the relationship of how sick I am to how much work I do requires some sort of pretty graph that I am too tired to create--suffice it to say it would most likely look like a roller coaster in which as soon as I start to feel better, productivity goes up resulting in starting to feel worse.

Finally, of course, being sick just makes me feel old and out of shape--guilt, stress, yada, yada. So off to another 12 hours of fitful, feverish sleep where I hope to dream of warmer weather, less work, baseball and gardens.

* Have to say that as I woke from a fitful nap on the couch and smelled dinner cooking including cornbread and homemade applesauce and heard the boys running about, I was actually back in that moment for just a second.

A Clever Boy

So The Artist had been reminding us fairly frequently before the holidays that we had the Lemony Snicket A Series of Unfortunate Events DVD from Netflix waiting to be watched--and he was ready to do so. The hold up was due to our totally unfair parental rules of not wanting The Captain to watch the movie with the two older boys as we thought it was a bit dark for The Captain's young and good mind. As a result, we had yet to find the time when the older boys could watch it. But alas that finally happened on New Years Day.

After they finished watching it, I asked The Artist what he thought and he gave me an unconvincing "okay." When I pushed a bit about whether there was something he didn't like, or did he like the books better, or what, he said:

"Well, the books are called A Series of Unfortunate Events and so nothing really good happens--and it is just that the movie changed it around so there were happy endings and that would have never happened in the books."

Clever boy. Apparently only young children who read books can handle this reality.

Red-line or Polar Express?

So we still have Christmas trees in our house given our lazy/rock-band day after Christmas before the scheduled-to-the-max Cleveland friends and family tour, but I am hoping that is to my benefit. See, tonight I got on the Metro at Union Station tonight as always, but alas when I got off at Silver Spring I couldn't find my Metro fare-card. More accurately, I reached in my coat pocket--a coat I have had for about 15 years--and found a hole.

Now I knew there was a hole, but what I didn't realize was that "said hole" had grown large enough that a Metro card would slip through it. So there I was reaching in my pocket like the boy in the Polar Express looking overwhelmingly sad at losing the first gift of Christmas (not to mention how would I get out of the Metro?)!

Of course, life is not as interesting as a classic children's tale. The Metro station dude barely let me begin to spill my tale of woe when he gruffly told me to go out the emergency gate (I actually believe you could ride Metro for free if you wanted, but that is another post). And I won't need Santa Claus to return my lost card because Metro actually has an effective phone-based help line and they solved the problem immediately (so that is where the money goes!).

Still, I am hoping for a note from Mr. C tomorrow morning under one of our trees. I promise to fix the hole in my pocket!