Little E: I’m going to turn into… a peach!
Me: Why turn into a peach? Someone going to eat you.
Little E: I’m going to turn into… a FOOT!
Me: Just a foot?
[a pause while he considers]
Little E: I’m going to turn into a peach with a big foot!… Read more
If the blawg suddenly looks vastly different:
1. I’ve reconfigured things so that the “dominant”/default theme is Smells Like Facebook. I figure most people who read this thing anymore are probably following a link from Facebook to read it, might as well make ’em feel at home. If you liked the Mahigawa theme (the one with the “metal diamondplate” background, it’s still selectable as an option; look in the sidebar menu under “season to taste.”
2. I’ve deleted the Inanis Glass theme that was previously an option. Without going into too much detail, I thwarted a hack attempt on the site the other night that seemed to start from this section, and in so doing saw that there was a new version of Inanis that I was being asked to auto-update to. On the wild hunch that maybe there was a vulnerability in the old version, I simply took it off the site. The passwords have been changed across the whole site and stuff’s been locked down. Whoever it was: nice try, nicely played. What you didn’t count on was that I don’t actually sleep a whole lot and caught the hack in progress. Thanks for playing. Why you’d want to have a go at a no-longer-very-money-making site with a small audience is anybody’s guess. If it’s something personal, you know how to reach me. State your beef (min) and begone.
3. There is no #3.… Read more
The past 18 months have been really tough on the bevy of computers in this house. The Avid bit it (but is feeling better these days), Zen bit it, a tablet cracked up and then came back good as new, even my wife’s netbook bit it and was returned, zombie-like, from the dead by the manufacturer. It’s not like we’re getting massive, knock-out-Manhattan-Island power surges every twelve minutes or anything… but it does seem like Murphy’s Law is being enforced pretty vigorously upon us of late. Money’s insanely tight right now, and my job prospects are looking… well… clouded. There’s no money to be thrown at the problem.
As it just happens, the benevolent hackers of the world have got my back. … Read more
The other night, while we were playing with Little E’s train track construction set…
Little E: Dad! Stop your train!
Me: Why? What?
Little E: Lightning McQueen is on the train tracks!
Me: Oh. Who put Lightning McQueen on the train tracks?
Little E: [pause] …BATMAN!
Only one will rule the night, and apparently he’s pretty brutal on parking violations. Ka-CHOW!… Read more
An actual conversation from right around bedtime tonight:
Me: Okay buddy, it’s almost bedtime. You need to take your last sip of water.
Little E: Okay. {slurp}
Me: Okay, ready for bed?
Little E: Not yet, dad. {slurrrrrp}
Me: Okay, one last sip.
Little E: I’m gonna take a lot of sips! {slurrrrrp}
Me: Um…
Little E: Dad, I’m gonna drink the whole thing! {slurrrrrp}
And indeed he did. Inch given, mile taken. Good night! {slurp}… Read more
With the whole credit downgrade debt doom business in the news lately, I’ve repeatedly seen the following phrase in print, on TV (in on-screen graphics and closed captioning) and on the web:
“unchartered territory”
…which makes no sense. It’s uncharted territory. It hasn’t been charted. It hasn’t been mapped. We don’t know where we’re going, and we don’t know what’s next. Uncharted.
In this context, “unchartered” makes no sense.
Really, so much about this whole situation makes no sense. But at least I can get my head around using the right word in an attempt to land somewhere in the same county and/or parish with the right meaning.… Read more
A bizarre conversation tonight when I got home…
Little E: I’m Super Mario!
Me: You are?
Little E: Obi is Luigi! Mom is the princess! Maria is Bowser*!
Mom: Who is dad?
Little E: …
Mom: Dad is Donkey Kong!
Little E: Donkey Kong? Who is Donkey Kong?
Me: Hey, that makes you Donkey Kong Junior!
Little E: DONKEY KONG JUNIOR???!?
(* Little E has a long and distinguished history with Bowser. P.S. The tiniest kitten in the house is the big boss? Buddy, we gotta talk…)… Read more
Toward the end of tonight’s bath, Little E went through this elaborate ritual of trying very intently to hang his wet washcloth on the bathtub’s hand rail. I asked him if this meant he was ready to get out of the tub.
“No, dad,” he replied. “I’m still playing.”
“What are you doing with that washcloth then?”
“Dad, I am hanging curtains for my dolphin*!”
Okay, no more Nate Berkus Show for you. Where in the world did he ever hear anything about hanging curtains??!?
(* he has a dolphin bathtub squeeze toy. we’ve named him Douglas the Dolphin.)… Read more