Monday Mish-Mash

SXSW is a fabulous conference and we're lucky to have it right here in town. I like that they've added some satellite venues and such for locals to get in on the activities without having to take a whole week off to stand in lines, hoping to get into events, even with a badge.

The downside is that everything is overcrowded, especially our typically "Austin" restaurants and music/event venues. It's just a matter of keeping that in mind all week and avoiding those places unless you have an extra hour to dork around.

The best part of SXSW is people-watching. Tourists don't need a badge to give us a hint that they're from out-of-town. We can spot them right away in their blazer and scarf combos, with hats and ironic facial hair. Blending in here requires a very casual, almost careless sense of fashion. And flip flops. ;)

On a serious note, the nuclear situation in Japan is getting a lot of scary press. My good friend, a college classmate who is now a professor of physics and radiation safety engineering (health physics), has this to say this morning:

Getting quite frustrated at the national media and the misinformation regarding the nuclear events in Japan. It is a serious situation over there, to be sure, but for some reason the media refuse to interview people who actually KNOW about such things, preferring instead to interview "think tank" folks and other scientists who have never worked in or near a nuclear reactor.

For all my friends who have watched the news and have been alarmed by the discussion of radiation sickness, etc., as reported on the media, bear in mind that the highest radiation dose reported thus far to a WORKER on the site is less than 5% of what would be needed to cause any radiation sickness. The public dose is much much less.

Read more of his knowledgeable take on the situation, in simple terms, here.

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Windows and Mirrors

Heart-wrenching doesn't begin to describe the photos and video coming out of Japan over the past couple of days. Alan Taylor at The Atlantic has a fabulous photo blog called In Focus, that features amazing collections of the best and most impactful photos on just about any news item. His collection of pictures from the Japan earthquake is here. Bookmark the blog if you are a newsie or just have an appreciation of photography.

The whole thing is very surreal, as it is with natural disasters. You wonder how things will ever return to normal, but they always do, in time.

I remember how creepy it was driving down the switchbacks on the Big Island in Hawaii, with all the signs saying to watch for tsunamis and evacuate as quickly as possible if you felt an earthquake, knowing full well that if you were even halfway down to the beach, there would be no way you could escape. Thank God Hawaii had lots of warning for this one, and so little damage.

I was curious about damage to other countries in Asia, as we haven't heard much about them. China was barely affected, and despite strained relations, has offered assistance to Japan. There's a bright spot of hope for the world community.


Patrick's Saturday Six

1. Which do you have more of in your home: windows or mirrors?
windows (26, compared to 8 mirrors)

2. From where you are sitting right now, what’s closer to you: a mirror or a window?
window

3. Take the quiz: Are You a Mirror or a Window?
You Are a Window
You are a truly extroverted person. Your life feels empty without lots of people in it. Being around others makes you feel joyful. Friends and family bring meaning to your life. And even if you're all alone, you prefer to be people watching out in public. You are a cheerful and eager participant in the world. You are full of delight and wonder.

4. If you could change the view from your window to something else, what would you choose?
a beachfront view a la Giada De Laurentiis' kitchen

And I just read that this is not actually her kitchen in Malibu, but a neighbor's.

Here's the view from her house:

Yeah, I like that as well.

5. If you could change the view in your mirror to someone else, who would you wish you looked more like?
I'll stick with the theme and say Giada. So pretty!

6. If you had to choose between changing the view out of your window or your appearance reflected back in your mirror, which ONE would you choose?
Oh sure. What kind of Freudian question is this? I would choose the mirror. While I wouldn't want to change my looks to the point that I didn't look like me, there are a couple of minor things I would do if surgery wasn't involved.

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Winter Guard Day

Going to a color guard competition this afternoon! It's been quite a while since we've been to one. Can't wait to see the programs.

Saturday 9: St. Patrick's Day

1. St. Patrick's Day is March 17th (Thursday). Do you celebrate and wear green? Drink Green Beer? Ignore it?
If I'm going out, I do wear green, etc., but if not I sort of ignore it. Thursday night I'll be in San Antonio with Donna at the Bon Jovi concert! I am certain there will be some lively St. Patty's Day activities afterward at the Riverwalk.

2. If a leprechaun told you that you could have any amount of money from his pot of gold but it had to be a specified amount for a specified item, how much would you ask for and what would it be for?
$599 for an iPhone (that's the Immediate Gratification price, of course)

3. One of the symbols of St. Patrick's Day is the leprechaun. Name a celebrity that you think would look good as a leprechaun. Name a celebrity that would look ridiculous as a leprechaun. Is there any one celebrity that would make a really scary leprechaun?
Robin Williams would be a good leprechaun.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson would look ridiculous.

Howard Stern would be a scary leprechaun.

4. For a prize of $1,000,000,000 you are challenged to make yourself a costume for a St. Patricks Day party. The ONLY rules are that you aren't allow to use clothing and it has to be green. Using anything other than clothing, describe your costume to us using ANYTHING else in the house.
I would use green duct tape and green tissue paper to make a top and a skirt. I would wrap my old flip flops in the duct tape, too.

5. What day of the week is your busiest? Tell us about your schedule.
Monday is the busiest because I work in the morning from 7:30 to 11:30, and then do laundry the rest of the day. The laundry takes well into the night.

6. No matter what's going on in your life, what always makes you smile?
family and friends, most times when they're not even trying

7. Of all the clothes you own, what do you feel most comfortable wearing, and why?
I don't feel comfortable in the typical comfortable clothing, like sweats, because I feel very sloppy-looking in them. I'm most comfortable in jeans and a nice top.

8. On what television show—either past or present—would you like to make to make a guest appearance, and what role would you play?
I've already answered this with the obvious ER/"Dr. Ross's girlfriend" scenario. (Many similar questions last year. LOL. Looks like my taste has changed in toys. Makes the iPhone seem cheap, doesn't it?)

9. What else is on your mind? Go ahead and rant.
My daughter's letter jacket was paid for by the school, but this morning we went for the fitting and the three patches cost me $100. Just the patches. Sewing them on is going to be extra. Yeesh!

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TGISB

Just checking in. I am siiiiick. Blah.

I'm watching "Designer's Challenge," the only TV show I used to watch during the day when I wasn't working, other than the occasional episode of All My Children. In this DC episode, the game room that is being redesigned has WOOD PANELING WALLPAPER. Wow. It is really something. At least it distracts you from the black carpet.

I've also been reading through recipes in Food Network Magazine. Oddly they explain what a tostada is ("flat, hard taco shell" oh thanks), but don't even allude to what the heck a cornichon is. Google time!

Cornichon- a gherkin pickle. I can see why it would rather be called by a fancy French name.

Happy Friday! And Happy Spring Break to students and academic staff!

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Panic! At the Disco

On their sophomore CD, Panic! At the Disco veered away from the amazing sound of their first album. I'm so very pleased to hear "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" from their new CD coming out in a couple of weeks, which is a return to the original style. They are awesome.



Congrats to The Bloggess on the Wil Wheaton photo. Wil and Jenny both seriously crack me up.

...confusing laying pipe with laying cable...  LOL

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Nudity and Basketball

Last night before I got into the shower, I realized I didn't have a towel because they were all in the dryer. I burst out of the bathroom doors totally naked, to grab my robe, and at that same moment, Lauren was coming into our bedroom. We both shrieked. Hilarious. She and I see each other naked on occasion- no biggie- but never unexpectedly.

This made me wonder what sorts of family nudity policies are going on in everyone else's homes. Ours has varied based on Lauren's age at the time.

The entire family of a good friend of mine from high school, whose name I shall omit here for privacy purposes, stripped naked any time they were in their house. Some people take off their shoes when they come home; these people just took it all off. I don't know. Cooking in the nude just sounds scary to me. And what happens when someone comes to the door? I was over there a lot, and I never saw anyone naked. There must have been an elaborate notification system when guests were coming.

On a totally unrelated note, I saw a basketball camp advertised online, which reminded me of my basketball camp days in Houston in middle school. The summer before my first year playing on the school team, I went to a Houston Rockets camp and Moses Malone taught me how to do a layup. Awesome, eh?!

/random

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I Can See Why YOU Like It, Part II

Related bonus side story to yesterday's post! Gather around folks. Many of you know this one, but for those who don't...

When I was working at Gallagher's in high school, I went out with a waiter named Guy a few times. Nothing serious, but I had a huge crush on him. I kept telling Cathy she just HAD to come up one night while I was working and meet him. Finally she made it and I introduced them. I was so psyched about it.

When we talked later, I excitedly asked what she thought. She said with a deadpan expression, "Well... I can see why YOU like him." Bwahahaha! What does that even mean? She never actually said. Just left it at that.

It has been a constant running inside joke between Cathy and Kimberly and me since 1984, used in reference to just about anything, from music to guys to the positively delightful peach bridesmaids' dresses they wore at my wedding--- "Well... I can see why you like it."

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I Can See Why YOU Like It

Edwin McCain and Sister Hazel played Antone's on Saturday night. And I missed it!! I had no idea they were here. Sad day. :(

Facebook has finally done away with the Like button on updates that say "Joe likes such-and-such page." Back in the olden days of FB, several months ago,  you could comment on someone Liking something. That was great, because so many times people Like something interesting or obscure and you have some witty or enthusiastically agreeing remark to add. Or someone Likes an odd combination of pages at the same time, and the news feed says something like

Joe likes Linkin Park and Tarrant County Cloggers.

You have to say something about that.

Then they added the Like button onto the Like posts. So you could... Like... that someone... Liked something. Yeah! I may not Like it, but I think it's cool that YOU like it. We've all used it. Mostly for news feed items like

Joe likes Saying "Or Not" When People Do the Complete Opposite of What You Just Said.

I think it's cute, and I like that you Liked it, but I don't wanna *Like* it like it.

Then they changed the function of just that particular Like button overnight, as FB is frequently inclined to do, without so much as an announcement. When you Liked that someone Liked something, instead you were Liking that page yourself. Cue a new post for your mutual friends that says

Joe and Kathy like Saying "Or Not" When People Do the Complete Opposite of What You Just Said.

Argh. Unlike.

Website Design Rule #12: Consistency across every page of the site. "Like" has to mean "I like this," on a status, a comment, a photo, a video, a relationship status change, or on a post about someone liking something.

First they eliminated the comments on posts about someone Liking a page. Now the Like-a-Like button is gone. If you also Like a page, FB wants you to either go off and Like it yourself or just move on. And face it, your comments weren't that funny anyway.

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Easy Like Sunday Morning

I was going to do Sunday Stealing, but it's a repeat, and this week's Saturday Nine is pretty deep and requires too much brain power at the moment. So here is last week's easy Monday Mayhem:

Find a 'viral' video to post. You can give a brief explanation if you want to. Have fun!

This is a funny old viral video, but I only recently saw it for the first time at a library training...



Had lunch with Tara and Kimberly on Friday and got to meet Cal. It's been a while since I held a tiny baby. So fun! I still have the touch, btw. There was no crying on my watch.

I am all over a new favorite song (now featured in the blog sidebar >>), from JB's awesome Fest Select playlist for SXSW 2011-- Andrew Allen's "Loving You Tonight." Vaguely Jason Mraz-ish. I promise you will love it and have it blissfully stuck in your head after a single listen. And although I find Andrew and his leading lady to have absolutely no chemistry, the video is still very cute. :-)

I'll say, "Hey." You'll say, "Baby, how's your day?" I'll say, "Crazy."...

Song Lyrics of the Day

...Cause' every day is just the in-between
the hours separating you from me
I know you'll be waiting, I know you'll be waiting...

Andrew Allen "Loving You Tonight"

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Tuesday

Kimberly is coming down to see Tara's new baby, and I'll get to see all three of them in the next few days. Yay!

I want to give a blog shout out to Scott, whose speech at the School Board meeting last night was the only one to make the 10 o'clock news. As expected, the Board declared fiscal exigency and are cutting (and have cut some) 1150 jobs at this point.

Does fiscal exigency make Superintendent Carstarphen's contract also subject to nonrenewal? We could probably save a teacher or two just by eliminating her bonuses. Just wondering.

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