Today's post has nothing to do with that title. It was just stuck in my head.
All right, as many of you are aware, Mother's Day was Sunday. Kim tells me she had a good Mothers' Day, so that makes me happy. Robbie and I went out to Barnes and Noble and bought her a book I thought she'd like and then to Kroger for some fancy-pants dark chocolate (from me) and a bouquet of purple flowers (from Robbie). He managed to keep the secret of what her presents were (except for the flowers, we gave those to her Saturday afternoon) until Sunday morning when I told Robbie we could give her her other presents. I gave him the bag and he ran to Kim, saying, "Here you go, Mommy! It's a funny cake book and special chocolate!"
He still does a better job of keeping his mouth shut than I did at his age.
Robbie's school had a "Ten Questions About Mommy" worksheet they sent home with him Friday afternoon. I'm going to share it with you now.
1. What's your mom's name?
Kim
2. What does she do?
works
3. How old is she?
I don't know
4. How does daddy call mom?
Kim
5. What is her favorite color?
red
6. What is her favorite food?
I don't know
7. What is her favorite movie?
Bob the Builder
8. How many brothers and sisters does she have?
1
9. Where does she like to take you for fun?
she likes taking me library
10. What message do you want to send her for mother's day?
if I could buy her something I would buy flowers
Monday, May 9, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
v2, d332: Shuffleblog
I'm never going to ask for requests again, because it takes me so long to get to them that they might as well not have been requested in the first place.
#1 Snowfort by Room Full of Walters
My snow fort, it won't fall down.
My snow fort's better than anyone's around
My snow fort, it won't melt in the sun...
Oh, RFOW. They were a local band that became Christians after they'd already built a pretty solid following in the Wichita area. They subsequently wrote what ended up being a "Christian" album and started getting radio play on the Christian rock radio station. Eventually, they were signed to a national label, and they released to albums. (Oh, and they were pretty good, by the way) However, as is often the case in Christian music, the label didn't throw much money into promoting the band--no music videos, no tours with "big name" artists, none of the big collaboration albums, and not pushed very hard on national radio, so the band got frustrated and embittered and dropped off the face of the planet after two years.
I have a friend who does some independent recording on the southern gospel scene. I've had a couple of interesting discussions with him about how it's determined what songs get played on what radio stations. It might make for a good play or film sometime, though I think Kevin Max may have already beat me to the movie idea. (Did that movie ever end up happening?)
Anyway, it's a discouraging industry.
#2: Burn Out Bright by Switchfoot
The future is a question mark with kerosene and electric sparks
There's still fire in you yet, yeah, there's still fire in you...
Seems as though I've done this song before. Also seems as though my iPod (who has no name, nor will it ever receive a name) plays this song quite a bit. Which I don't complain about, because I'm usually only listening to my iPod when I'm walking or jogging outside. And this is an awesome outside song. It's actually one of my favorite windows-rolled-down-while-driving-in-the-summer songs. There were a couple of years where I needed those, because I had to drive with my windows down ALL SUMMER LONG. No AC in my old car (the gold one) for two and a half years. Houston summers are pretty brutal. Since we got rid of the gold car, I can hardly believe I used to brave them with nothing but the air flow from the windows. I remember I would even drive home in the rain with my windows down, because my choices were get wet (and therefore slightly cooler, though uncomfortable) or suffocate in the hot air that built up in the car as the day wore on. It was pretty miserable.
#3: My Deliverer by Rich Mullins (performed by not Rich Mullins)
Joseph took his wife and child and they went to Africa
To escape the rage of a deadly king.
There along the banks of the Nile, Jesus listened to the song
That the captive children used to sing
They were singing, "My deliverer is coming, my deliverer is standing by..."
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that Rich is one of my Big Four in Christian songwriters. Like RFOW, he was pretty huge around the Wichita area because he called it home. My dad actually played in Friends University's orchestra with Rich at one point. I remember when Rich died. It was a huge deal in the local Christian community. I think I thought Rich was bigger than he actually was, because when I left Kansas I found a lot of people knew him and some of his songs, but he was just sorta there for most people. Local celebrities, I guess.
Anyway, when Rich died, he was working on a new album. They released the unfinished demos he did and then had other artists who were friends of his record the songs with finished studio versions and released them together. Funny thing is, most of them still sounded better on the rough demo cut pulled straight from the audio cassette.
And then there's this track. I don't actually know who is singing on it (I'm pretty sure there's a Micheal W. Smith cameo near the end, however), but I love it. It's haunting, it's dramatic, it's moving. It builds on itself. It's almost theatrical. Which is probably why I enjoy it. But it takes on the characteristic of waiting, longing, hoping for redemption, and the explosion of faith into an emphatic resolution to believe, a strong hope in things yet unseen, and the unifying passion of a shared faith.
Cool track.
#4: Something Like Laughter by Five Iron Frenzy
Create in her a sense of awe that sees Your beauty,
Let Your splendor flash with blinding light.
Standing tall, all the aspen trees drink water
As rain falls down like laughter from the sky...
This hasn't been statistically proven, but i don't think it's possible to skip through six songs on my iPod without running into at least one Reese Roper project. It probably speaks both of the volume of Roper/BS2/FIF/Guerilla Rodeo music I have as well as of the small size of my iPod's library. Nano. Whatever.
But I digress. (Can you digress when the concept of your blog is more or less stream-of-consciousness?) This song has a pretty personal meaning to me. So personal, in fact, that I can't share the even it reminds me of! How's that for teasing? I can share, however, that as I was typing "stream-of-consciousness," I accidentally typed "steam-of-consciousness" at first, and then I tried to decide if that were a clever enough play on words that I could use that concept one day in a story somewhere. (Shaking the 8-ball... "Early Signs Point to 'No'")
#5: A Man's Gotta Do What A Man's Gotta Do from Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do
Seems destiny ends with me saving you
The only doom that's looming is you loving me to death,
So I'll give you a chance to catch your breath.
(Balls!)
Sheer brilliance. But you already know that, hopefully.
Recently, the little community theater that two summers ago hosted a new play festival that my Girl Who Wore Golden Clothes script was chosen for announced their 2011 season. (Recently = last November, apparently) Dr. Horrible was on the list. I'm pretty sure they just decided to adapt the short film for the stage by themselves, and while I'm pretty sure that technically that's not legal, they're a community theater with a house that seats about forty people. I really don't think it ought to be that big of a deal, so more power to them.
It's not like theatre people all over the year wouldn't do the same thing if they thought they could get away with it :-)
#6: Prayer of the Comfort Counselor from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
All you need is the strength to pretend it's no big deal
Try to act like you don't care, try not to cry, lord,
Not in front of your brother.
Don't embarrass your mother.
Make your exit with care.
That, dude, is my prayer...
Every time I start a shuffle, I spend the entire time hoping that I'll get an awesome closing song for #6. More often than not, it seems to happen.
I remember being my school's alternate for the 5th grade city-wide spelling bee. None of the three regulars got sick or injured or suspended for performance-enhancing drugs, however, so I didn't get to compete. We bussed all the fifth-graders in the city (four schools' worth) for the big event, and one of the kids from our school finished fourth. The alternate position. Yet, when the county-wide spelling be was held, she got to go ahead and compete, despite the fact that none of the three regulars missed the bee.
I never got anybody to understand why I thought that was unfair.
Goodbye!
#1 Snowfort by Room Full of Walters
My snow fort, it won't fall down.
My snow fort's better than anyone's around
My snow fort, it won't melt in the sun...
Oh, RFOW. They were a local band that became Christians after they'd already built a pretty solid following in the Wichita area. They subsequently wrote what ended up being a "Christian" album and started getting radio play on the Christian rock radio station. Eventually, they were signed to a national label, and they released to albums. (Oh, and they were pretty good, by the way) However, as is often the case in Christian music, the label didn't throw much money into promoting the band--no music videos, no tours with "big name" artists, none of the big collaboration albums, and not pushed very hard on national radio, so the band got frustrated and embittered and dropped off the face of the planet after two years.
I have a friend who does some independent recording on the southern gospel scene. I've had a couple of interesting discussions with him about how it's determined what songs get played on what radio stations. It might make for a good play or film sometime, though I think Kevin Max may have already beat me to the movie idea. (Did that movie ever end up happening?)
Anyway, it's a discouraging industry.
#2: Burn Out Bright by Switchfoot
The future is a question mark with kerosene and electric sparks
There's still fire in you yet, yeah, there's still fire in you...
Seems as though I've done this song before. Also seems as though my iPod (who has no name, nor will it ever receive a name) plays this song quite a bit. Which I don't complain about, because I'm usually only listening to my iPod when I'm walking or jogging outside. And this is an awesome outside song. It's actually one of my favorite windows-rolled-down-while-driving-in-the-summer songs. There were a couple of years where I needed those, because I had to drive with my windows down ALL SUMMER LONG. No AC in my old car (the gold one) for two and a half years. Houston summers are pretty brutal. Since we got rid of the gold car, I can hardly believe I used to brave them with nothing but the air flow from the windows. I remember I would even drive home in the rain with my windows down, because my choices were get wet (and therefore slightly cooler, though uncomfortable) or suffocate in the hot air that built up in the car as the day wore on. It was pretty miserable.
#3: My Deliverer by Rich Mullins (performed by not Rich Mullins)
Joseph took his wife and child and they went to Africa
To escape the rage of a deadly king.
There along the banks of the Nile, Jesus listened to the song
That the captive children used to sing
They were singing, "My deliverer is coming, my deliverer is standing by..."
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that Rich is one of my Big Four in Christian songwriters. Like RFOW, he was pretty huge around the Wichita area because he called it home. My dad actually played in Friends University's orchestra with Rich at one point. I remember when Rich died. It was a huge deal in the local Christian community. I think I thought Rich was bigger than he actually was, because when I left Kansas I found a lot of people knew him and some of his songs, but he was just sorta there for most people. Local celebrities, I guess.
Anyway, when Rich died, he was working on a new album. They released the unfinished demos he did and then had other artists who were friends of his record the songs with finished studio versions and released them together. Funny thing is, most of them still sounded better on the rough demo cut pulled straight from the audio cassette.
And then there's this track. I don't actually know who is singing on it (I'm pretty sure there's a Micheal W. Smith cameo near the end, however), but I love it. It's haunting, it's dramatic, it's moving. It builds on itself. It's almost theatrical. Which is probably why I enjoy it. But it takes on the characteristic of waiting, longing, hoping for redemption, and the explosion of faith into an emphatic resolution to believe, a strong hope in things yet unseen, and the unifying passion of a shared faith.
Cool track.
#4: Something Like Laughter by Five Iron Frenzy
Create in her a sense of awe that sees Your beauty,
Let Your splendor flash with blinding light.
Standing tall, all the aspen trees drink water
As rain falls down like laughter from the sky...
This hasn't been statistically proven, but i don't think it's possible to skip through six songs on my iPod without running into at least one Reese Roper project. It probably speaks both of the volume of Roper/BS2/FIF/Guerilla Rodeo music I have as well as of the small size of my iPod's library. Nano. Whatever.
But I digress. (Can you digress when the concept of your blog is more or less stream-of-consciousness?) This song has a pretty personal meaning to me. So personal, in fact, that I can't share the even it reminds me of! How's that for teasing? I can share, however, that as I was typing "stream-of-consciousness," I accidentally typed "steam-of-consciousness" at first, and then I tried to decide if that were a clever enough play on words that I could use that concept one day in a story somewhere. (Shaking the 8-ball... "Early Signs Point to 'No'")
#5: A Man's Gotta Do What A Man's Gotta Do from Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do
Seems destiny ends with me saving you
The only doom that's looming is you loving me to death,
So I'll give you a chance to catch your breath.
(Balls!)
Sheer brilliance. But you already know that, hopefully.
Recently, the little community theater that two summers ago hosted a new play festival that my Girl Who Wore Golden Clothes script was chosen for announced their 2011 season. (Recently = last November, apparently) Dr. Horrible was on the list. I'm pretty sure they just decided to adapt the short film for the stage by themselves, and while I'm pretty sure that technically that's not legal, they're a community theater with a house that seats about forty people. I really don't think it ought to be that big of a deal, so more power to them.
It's not like theatre people all over the year wouldn't do the same thing if they thought they could get away with it :-)
#6: Prayer of the Comfort Counselor from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
All you need is the strength to pretend it's no big deal
Try to act like you don't care, try not to cry, lord,
Not in front of your brother.
Don't embarrass your mother.
Make your exit with care.
That, dude, is my prayer...
Every time I start a shuffle, I spend the entire time hoping that I'll get an awesome closing song for #6. More often than not, it seems to happen.
I remember being my school's alternate for the 5th grade city-wide spelling bee. None of the three regulars got sick or injured or suspended for performance-enhancing drugs, however, so I didn't get to compete. We bussed all the fifth-graders in the city (four schools' worth) for the big event, and one of the kids from our school finished fourth. The alternate position. Yet, when the county-wide spelling be was held, she got to go ahead and compete, despite the fact that none of the three regulars missed the bee.
I never got anybody to understand why I thought that was unfair.
Goodbye!
Friday, May 6, 2011
v2, d331: Playoff bloggin
I sat down to blog last night, but all I could come up with were really gloat-y, partisan, unfair and (somewhat) inaccurate celebrations of Tampa's victory--sorry, four game sweep--of the Washington Capitals. But I'm not that guy. I don't like to gloat publicly, no matter how much I hate (note: sports hate, not real hate) the enemy. Because I've been on the other side of that coin. Every single year, when your team is knocked out it's like a punch in the gut. You think I don't remember how bad it sucks to see your team knocked out of the playoffs? This is off the top of my head:
1996: Tampa lost to Philly
1999: Colorado lost to Dallas
2000: Colorado lost to Dallas AGAIN
2001: Pittsburgh lost to New Jersey
2002: Colorado lost to Detroit
2003: Tampa Bay lost to New Jersey, Colorado lost to Minnesota
2004: Colorado lost to San Jose
2006: Houston lost to Milwaukee, Tampa lost to Ottawa
2007: Pittsburgh lost to Ottawa, Colorado lost to Anaheim
2008: Colorado lost to Detroit, Pittsburgh lost to Detroit (in the final), Houston lost to Rockford
2009: Houston lost to Manitoba
2010: Colorado lost to San Jose, Pittsburgh lost to Montreal
Others (I can't remember the year) include Colorado losing to Edmonton and Detroit, the Thunder losing to Oklahoma City (several times), Columbus, Fort Worth, Bossier City-Shreveport (more than once), and Tulsa. Now, you'll notice there are a few years I don't remember exactly who did us in, but with relatively little effort I'm able to pull up just about every playoff defeat one of my teams has endured in the past 15 years.
It's a bitter pill, folks.
So, as much as I despite the Caps organization, I can't bring myself to dance on their graves (death by choking). If you'd like to read some nice Capitals dumping, you'll have to go here, and even then you may be a bit disappointed. (Though the bit about the Ovechtrick is pretty funny, and the artwork is all pretty good)
*******
This is a fun story (Puck Daddy again) on a Tampa fan who was commanded to take down his "Go Bolts!" sign by his neighborhood's Home Owners' Association. I don't know if the HOA expected the guy's fanaticism to go down easily or not, but if they did, they just don't know hockey fans.
*******
The first round of the NHL playoffs were insane. Boston/Montreal, Vancouver/Chicago, Pittsburgh/Tampa Bay, and Buffalo/Philadelphia all went seven games. Both Tampa and Chicago had to rally from down 3-1 to get there. San Jose/Los Angeles and Nashville/Anaheim both went six games. And there were overtime games everywhere. (Last night was only the second time in sixteen straight days we did not have a game go to OT, and that may have been because there was only one game on the schedule) I've never seen such a tight, competitive round of hockey, as only Detroit/Phoenix was a sweep.
Round two has been....less competitive. Tampa swept Washington, as mentioned above. Boston is up three-nil on Philly and San Jose is up by the same margin over the Wings. The closest series of the second round currently sits at Vancouver three games to Nashville's one, with game five in Vancouver tonight. Sure, one of these "down-and-out" teams may rally to make it interesting, but there's a very real chance the second round of the playoffs could be over in the next 48 hours. It's like the true contenders shook off the rust in the first round or something. The games have almost all been tense and exciting, but wow. Contrary to the gauntlet of round one, I've never seen such a lop-sided second round, either.
*******
*******
Finally, the Aeros and Admirals are tied at two in their best of seven. After splitting in Milwaukee, the Aeros blew it in game three. Last night, they dominated the game but still found themselves in OT. Apparently, the Aeros have won 10 straight playoff OT games since 2003. Crazy stat. Anyway, Carson McMillan scored his 2nd OT winner of this playoffs (4th liners rule!) while I was driving back from Kroger. I celebrated while driving, and I wondered what people watching me drive during Aeros games must think of me. Who cares. Best-of-three starting tonight, kids.
1996: Tampa lost to Philly
1999: Colorado lost to Dallas
2000: Colorado lost to Dallas AGAIN
2001: Pittsburgh lost to New Jersey
2002: Colorado lost to Detroit
2003: Tampa Bay lost to New Jersey, Colorado lost to Minnesota
2004: Colorado lost to San Jose
2006: Houston lost to Milwaukee, Tampa lost to Ottawa
2007: Pittsburgh lost to Ottawa, Colorado lost to Anaheim
2008: Colorado lost to Detroit, Pittsburgh lost to Detroit (in the final), Houston lost to Rockford
2009: Houston lost to Manitoba
2010: Colorado lost to San Jose, Pittsburgh lost to Montreal
Others (I can't remember the year) include Colorado losing to Edmonton and Detroit, the Thunder losing to Oklahoma City (several times), Columbus, Fort Worth, Bossier City-Shreveport (more than once), and Tulsa. Now, you'll notice there are a few years I don't remember exactly who did us in, but with relatively little effort I'm able to pull up just about every playoff defeat one of my teams has endured in the past 15 years.
It's a bitter pill, folks.
So, as much as I despite the Caps organization, I can't bring myself to dance on their graves (death by choking). If you'd like to read some nice Capitals dumping, you'll have to go here, and even then you may be a bit disappointed. (Though the bit about the Ovechtrick is pretty funny, and the artwork is all pretty good)
*******
This is a fun story (Puck Daddy again) on a Tampa fan who was commanded to take down his "Go Bolts!" sign by his neighborhood's Home Owners' Association. I don't know if the HOA expected the guy's fanaticism to go down easily or not, but if they did, they just don't know hockey fans.
*******
The first round of the NHL playoffs were insane. Boston/Montreal, Vancouver/Chicago, Pittsburgh/Tampa Bay, and Buffalo/Philadelphia all went seven games. Both Tampa and Chicago had to rally from down 3-1 to get there. San Jose/Los Angeles and Nashville/Anaheim both went six games. And there were overtime games everywhere. (Last night was only the second time in sixteen straight days we did not have a game go to OT, and that may have been because there was only one game on the schedule) I've never seen such a tight, competitive round of hockey, as only Detroit/Phoenix was a sweep.
Round two has been....less competitive. Tampa swept Washington, as mentioned above. Boston is up three-nil on Philly and San Jose is up by the same margin over the Wings. The closest series of the second round currently sits at Vancouver three games to Nashville's one, with game five in Vancouver tonight. Sure, one of these "down-and-out" teams may rally to make it interesting, but there's a very real chance the second round of the playoffs could be over in the next 48 hours. It's like the true contenders shook off the rust in the first round or something. The games have almost all been tense and exciting, but wow. Contrary to the gauntlet of round one, I've never seen such a lop-sided second round, either.
*******
*******
Finally, the Aeros and Admirals are tied at two in their best of seven. After splitting in Milwaukee, the Aeros blew it in game three. Last night, they dominated the game but still found themselves in OT. Apparently, the Aeros have won 10 straight playoff OT games since 2003. Crazy stat. Anyway, Carson McMillan scored his 2nd OT winner of this playoffs (4th liners rule!) while I was driving back from Kroger. I celebrated while driving, and I wondered what people watching me drive during Aeros games must think of me. Who cares. Best-of-three starting tonight, kids.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
v2, d330: The Now-Anti-Climactic Final Mad-Lib
Sorry, meant to post this earlier, but I accidentally fell asleep before 11. Won't happen again.
Also, I tried to jumble things up out of order when I asked for suggestions, but then when I tried to put them all back in place I forgot what went where, and I think I may have asked for a few too many transitive verbs or something, and so I just ended up switching some verb tenses around, but everything's in there.
I kinda want to know why some of these words remind you guys of me, though ;-)
THAT'S HOW THE MAD-LIB ENDS
(for reference)
Also, I tried to jumble things up out of order when I asked for suggestions, but then when I tried to put them all back in place I forgot what went where, and I think I may have asked for a few too many transitive verbs or something, and so I just ended up switching some verb tenses around, but everything's in there.
I kinda want to know why some of these words remind you guys of me, though ;-)
THAT'S HOW THE MAD-LIB ENDS
(for reference)
Once upon a midnight Spiderman-esque
While I sneezed, quirky and orange,
Suddenly there came a BAZOOM!, as of someone apprehensively rapping.
Long ago, I heard that shark,
Often hilarious but seldom found.
A haunting Avalanche from decades past,
Big Sue had returned at last.
And I was like, “What’s up, Lil’ Buddy?”
And he was like, “Uh, I body-checked your boxing glove.
And I was like, ‘Shut up!”
And he was like,”Yeah and stuff.”
And then I was like, Huzzah!”
And that’s how the Mad-Lib ends
Now you’ll hear the CHL my friends
We’re eating Sketti-O’s, we’re setting drumsticks.
I guess that’s how the Mad-Lib ends.
How nonchalantly I ran,
It was in the ornery January,
As each silly shotgun wrought its ghost upon the Five Iron Frenzy,
I heard a voice that forgot my robot
I saw what I could not weep for,
A movie I never could contrive,
There stood Hector Valdez at last determined!
“Where have you been these clever nanoseconds?”
I MSG’d him, sobbing through my raisins.
“I did not laugh by T-shirt or toddler,
What really sneezed is cynicism.”
And then I said, “Awesome!”
And he was like, “Yeah, I guess.
Oh by the way, those crazed rabbits belong to my dad.
And they’re not really crazed rabbits, they’re lederhosen!
Woot!
And that’s how the Mad-Lib ends
Now you’ll hear the CHL my friends
We’re eating Sketti-O’s, we’re setting drumsticks.
I guess that’s how the Mad-Lib ends.
And Perrin has slept,
His dying polka was “Never whack that puck again.”
And Daniel the Duck’s put to sleep,
The sporks lay in a comic book,
As they slowly go extinct,
Like Abraham Lincoln.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
v2, d329: Whoops
You guys all did awesome. I failed.
As I was putting tonight's Mad-lib into place, I realized that I inadvertently left off the last few. My bad. We still need:
Character name
Intransitive verb, past tense
Noun
Transitive verb, present tense
Noun
Character name
Plural noun
Noun
Person
There are nine left, so...the next three commenters can take three each. Sorry I'm lame, otherwise we would be done by now. But hey, that's part of why you love me.
I hope.
As I was putting tonight's Mad-lib into place, I realized that I inadvertently left off the last few. My bad. We still need:
Character name
Intransitive verb, past tense
Noun
Transitive verb, present tense
Noun
Character name
Plural noun
Noun
Person
There are nine left, so...the next three commenters can take three each. Sorry I'm lame, otherwise we would be done by now. But hey, that's part of why you love me.
I hope.
Monday, May 2, 2011
v2, d328: The End of Birthday Mad-Libs
Hello!
Just under a year ago, I instituted Birthday Mad-Libs, where I'd go online, find a Mad-Lib that was worth doing, find words to match a particular friend and WBW reader, and post it on their birthday. (Eventually, this came to include me gushing about how much I loved that person, etc) Now, to my knowledge, I didn't miss anybody, and when I did miss someone I went back and picked them up later. I'm sure I did miss people, I'm just not aware of it because it's so hard to keep y'all straight. This was, I believe, one of the best ideas I've ever had. And it kicked off with Hannah's birthday, which is May 8th. (We tried to do a joint birthday celebration once. It failed tragically and miserably and we've never tried it again) And, since most of my good ideas are best wrapped before they go on for too long (CaDET series, anyone?), I thought it would be a good ending point to do the last Birthday Mad-Lib on my birthday. Bookends*, people.
That said, it just felt really narcissistic coming up with words that remind me about myself. (Let's see, adjective...handsome! Another adjective...awesome! Noun...incredibly gifted writer!) So, I'm gonna make you guys do it. Cop-out! Hooray!
Here's how we'll do it:
Play in the comments. Starting at the top of the following list, each commenter can leave six words at a time, and you have to do the six furthest up the list that are not done. For example, if you are first, you will do Name - (your answer). Adjective - (your answer). You have to let at least two other commenters weigh in before you go again, and nobody goes more than twice. Unless we get to tomorrow night, posting time, and we still haven't finished it up. Then I'll say it's a free-for-all and Travis will probably just finish it himself. Remember, use words that remind you of me in some form or other, and don't repeat any words that have already been used. Hopefully this works and I can post the final Birthday Mad Lib tomorrow. Have fun! (And see that it's not as easy as it looks!)
Name
Adjective
Noun
Adjective
Intransitive verb, past tense
Transitive verb, present tense
Adjective
Adjective
Plural noun
Unit of time, plural
Adjective
Plural noun
Transitive verb, past tense
Onomatopoeia
Adverb
Plural noun
Adverb
Intransitive verb, present tense
Interjection
Intransitive verb, present tense
Noun
Adjective
Noun
Adjective
Month
Noun
Noun
Adjective
Length of time, plural
Intransitive verb, past tense
Noun
Name
Intransitive verb, present
Noun
Transitive verb, past tense
Plural noun
Noun
Intransitive verb, present tense
Noun
Nickname
Transitive verb, past tense
Noun
Exclamation
*Speaking of bookends, I've figured out when I'm going to end this volume of my blog. The first format obviously lasted 365 days; this one will be a bit different. I can't tell you when it's going to be, but I will be sure to let you know when we are getting close
Just under a year ago, I instituted Birthday Mad-Libs, where I'd go online, find a Mad-Lib that was worth doing, find words to match a particular friend and WBW reader, and post it on their birthday. (Eventually, this came to include me gushing about how much I loved that person, etc) Now, to my knowledge, I didn't miss anybody, and when I did miss someone I went back and picked them up later. I'm sure I did miss people, I'm just not aware of it because it's so hard to keep y'all straight. This was, I believe, one of the best ideas I've ever had. And it kicked off with Hannah's birthday, which is May 8th. (We tried to do a joint birthday celebration once. It failed tragically and miserably and we've never tried it again) And, since most of my good ideas are best wrapped before they go on for too long (CaDET series, anyone?), I thought it would be a good ending point to do the last Birthday Mad-Lib on my birthday. Bookends*, people.
That said, it just felt really narcissistic coming up with words that remind me about myself. (Let's see, adjective...handsome! Another adjective...awesome! Noun...incredibly gifted writer!) So, I'm gonna make you guys do it. Cop-out! Hooray!
Here's how we'll do it:
Play in the comments. Starting at the top of the following list, each commenter can leave six words at a time, and you have to do the six furthest up the list that are not done. For example, if you are first, you will do Name - (your answer). Adjective - (your answer). You have to let at least two other commenters weigh in before you go again, and nobody goes more than twice. Unless we get to tomorrow night, posting time, and we still haven't finished it up. Then I'll say it's a free-for-all and Travis will probably just finish it himself. Remember, use words that remind you of me in some form or other, and don't repeat any words that have already been used. Hopefully this works and I can post the final Birthday Mad Lib tomorrow. Have fun! (And see that it's not as easy as it looks!)
Name
Adjective
Noun
Adjective
Intransitive verb, past tense
Transitive verb, present tense
Adjective
Adjective
Plural noun
Unit of time, plural
Adjective
Plural noun
Transitive verb, past tense
Onomatopoeia
Adverb
Plural noun
Adverb
Intransitive verb, present tense
Interjection
Intransitive verb, present tense
Noun
Adjective
Noun
Adjective
Month
Noun
Noun
Adjective
Length of time, plural
Intransitive verb, past tense
Noun
Name
Intransitive verb, present
Noun
Transitive verb, past tense
Plural noun
Noun
Intransitive verb, present tense
Noun
Nickname
Transitive verb, past tense
Noun
Exclamation
*Speaking of bookends, I've figured out when I'm going to end this volume of my blog. The first format obviously lasted 365 days; this one will be a bit different. I can't tell you when it's going to be, but I will be sure to let you know when we are getting close
Sunday, May 1, 2011
v2, d327: Big Bad
I was too tired to post last night, so tonight was going to be my account of Robbie's and Isaac's first Astros game. Then this great big historical event happened, and so I suppose it's necessary to leave a comment or two, in case this blog is someday one of the last threads of our civilization left to historians. (On the day Osama bin Laden was killed, a little boy in Texas got very excited because of a train)
The architect of the greatest terrorist attack on American soil is dead. He was killed by American special ops soldiers somewhere in Pakistan. And the few details that have so far emerged about the encounter are nothing short of trilling. A small team of soldiers came in to a mansion where bin Laden was hiding, fought their way to him during a 40-minute firefight, killed him, recovered his body, and made it out without losing anybody.
Earlier this evening, word leaked that President Obama was going to address the nation, but that the subject was unknown. Soon it came out that it was about national security. Due to the late hour, many speculated that this was bad news, possibly something about Ghadafi. Later, word leaks that it's not about Ghadafi, it's about bin Laden. He's dead. And we have his body to prove it. CNN called Pakistan, and they said, "Yep, he's dead. And we helped!" News stations started to report how incredible it was that they had no idea this was coming, that the CIA was able to keep a top-secret mission a secret for over a week. (Yeah, how about that?) I first heard of the happening when I saw Kinsey's facebook status: "bin laden is dead? really?" And I thought, Really? So I checked CNN, and they were pretty confident. Clicked on the TV and saw a small crowd of 30 or so people crowded out at the front of the White House cheering and chanting U.S.A. (At that point, they were on TV, so they were joined by thousands of college kids and twenty-somethings. They're still there, actually. I think there may be drinking involved) (Another parenthetical note: A similar crowd has assembled at Ground Zero in New York City. Bet that place is absolutely electric right now)
Now, we wait to see what will happen. Of course, people are already claiming political partisanship over the act. "Obama just earned himself another term!" "Bush is more responsible for this than Obama is!" Honestly, I think credit goes more to the CIA than either party, but whatever. People across the country are, for the most part, really stoked about this. Bin Laden has been a household name for almost a decade. He's been the penultimate Bad Guy for just about every American since 9/11. So hey, we got the Big Bad! Unfortunately, this isn't a video game or fantasy novel. Wiping out the Big Bad doesn't mean the minions will give up, run away, or combust. The fortress isn't going to suddenly collapse. In the short term, we're probably less safe now than we were a week ago because of this. And long-term, it's debatable as to whether or not we were in any more danger from the man. Regardless, he was in still in many ways a spiritual and inspirational head for hundreds or thousands of terrorists around the world. This will be a big-time emotional blow. And there will probably be some severe counter-attacks for the next year. I hope our forces are ready to step up their game. A man in a suit on CNN just said "It's almost as if we've won a war" and "We finally won one!" Neither of these statements, nor their insinuations, are accurate. We've won no wars, but we have destroyed one of the most avowed (and successful) enemies in U.S. history. Also, it isn't true that we've been batting .000 on this front. Terror rings have been broken up in the U.S. and across Europe, bombings and other attacks averted, due to the men and women who have devoted their lives to fighting this sort of threat. And the fact remains that we haven't been hit with a substantial terror attack since 9/11. I feel like saying "We finally won one!" undermines the great work these folks have been doing.
Nevertheless, Osama was far more than just a loose end that needed tying. As long as he lived, he'd be fighting to take more lives in whatever capacity he was able to manage. And it was true that he had actively evaded our attempts to bring him to justice for almost a decade. So yes, this is a win, make no mistake about it. A win that, honestly, most of us had given up on. I know I expected he'd die of old age and we wouldn't know about it for years.
Now many folks are expecting our troops are "coming home." Our soldiers have been overseas as long as I can remember. Kuwait, Bosnia, Somalia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, you name it. It's unrealistic to assume that taking out the Big Bad means everything is over. Please continue to pray for our troops, because they may have more of a fight on their hands now than they've had before.
So there you go. A stunner of a night. Lots of things to come out over the next several years: who was or wasn't hiding what in Pakistan, conspiracy theories re: the timing of this operation, denials and counterstrikes from al-Qaeda, et cetera. Whatever happens, this was a game-changing night. You'll remember where you were.
The architect of the greatest terrorist attack on American soil is dead. He was killed by American special ops soldiers somewhere in Pakistan. And the few details that have so far emerged about the encounter are nothing short of trilling. A small team of soldiers came in to a mansion where bin Laden was hiding, fought their way to him during a 40-minute firefight, killed him, recovered his body, and made it out without losing anybody.
Earlier this evening, word leaked that President Obama was going to address the nation, but that the subject was unknown. Soon it came out that it was about national security. Due to the late hour, many speculated that this was bad news, possibly something about Ghadafi. Later, word leaks that it's not about Ghadafi, it's about bin Laden. He's dead. And we have his body to prove it. CNN called Pakistan, and they said, "Yep, he's dead. And we helped!" News stations started to report how incredible it was that they had no idea this was coming, that the CIA was able to keep a top-secret mission a secret for over a week. (Yeah, how about that?) I first heard of the happening when I saw Kinsey's facebook status: "bin laden is dead? really?" And I thought, Really? So I checked CNN, and they were pretty confident. Clicked on the TV and saw a small crowd of 30 or so people crowded out at the front of the White House cheering and chanting U.S.A. (At that point, they were on TV, so they were joined by thousands of college kids and twenty-somethings. They're still there, actually. I think there may be drinking involved) (Another parenthetical note: A similar crowd has assembled at Ground Zero in New York City. Bet that place is absolutely electric right now)
Now, we wait to see what will happen. Of course, people are already claiming political partisanship over the act. "Obama just earned himself another term!" "Bush is more responsible for this than Obama is!" Honestly, I think credit goes more to the CIA than either party, but whatever. People across the country are, for the most part, really stoked about this. Bin Laden has been a household name for almost a decade. He's been the penultimate Bad Guy for just about every American since 9/11. So hey, we got the Big Bad! Unfortunately, this isn't a video game or fantasy novel. Wiping out the Big Bad doesn't mean the minions will give up, run away, or combust. The fortress isn't going to suddenly collapse. In the short term, we're probably less safe now than we were a week ago because of this. And long-term, it's debatable as to whether or not we were in any more danger from the man. Regardless, he was in still in many ways a spiritual and inspirational head for hundreds or thousands of terrorists around the world. This will be a big-time emotional blow. And there will probably be some severe counter-attacks for the next year. I hope our forces are ready to step up their game. A man in a suit on CNN just said "It's almost as if we've won a war" and "We finally won one!" Neither of these statements, nor their insinuations, are accurate. We've won no wars, but we have destroyed one of the most avowed (and successful) enemies in U.S. history. Also, it isn't true that we've been batting .000 on this front. Terror rings have been broken up in the U.S. and across Europe, bombings and other attacks averted, due to the men and women who have devoted their lives to fighting this sort of threat. And the fact remains that we haven't been hit with a substantial terror attack since 9/11. I feel like saying "We finally won one!" undermines the great work these folks have been doing.
Nevertheless, Osama was far more than just a loose end that needed tying. As long as he lived, he'd be fighting to take more lives in whatever capacity he was able to manage. And it was true that he had actively evaded our attempts to bring him to justice for almost a decade. So yes, this is a win, make no mistake about it. A win that, honestly, most of us had given up on. I know I expected he'd die of old age and we wouldn't know about it for years.
Now many folks are expecting our troops are "coming home." Our soldiers have been overseas as long as I can remember. Kuwait, Bosnia, Somalia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, you name it. It's unrealistic to assume that taking out the Big Bad means everything is over. Please continue to pray for our troops, because they may have more of a fight on their hands now than they've had before.
So there you go. A stunner of a night. Lots of things to come out over the next several years: who was or wasn't hiding what in Pakistan, conspiracy theories re: the timing of this operation, denials and counterstrikes from al-Qaeda, et cetera. Whatever happens, this was a game-changing night. You'll remember where you were.
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