Top Ten: 2006

I don't buy CDs as often as I used to - We only bought 20 albums this year. We downloaded a few songs, but this just isn't the same rabidity with which we voraciously devoured new releases before having kids. I also find that I end up listening to more of the "Coffee" music, as I call it, because that is what goes well against a backdrop of Sesame Street. It is strange how having kids changes your tastes and how you listen to music.

Without further ado, my 2006 Top Ten:

1. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time. No surprise here. This was just a fixture for me this year - Lots of starting dinner to this album in the afternoons.
   Favorite tracks: "The Funeral," "Part One," "The Great Salt Lake."
   
2. Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways. This one just about took number one, but I went on how much I listened to them, and Band of Horses was my most listened-to album in 2006. I think that if I had bought American V earlier than I did, this would be on top. I also think this is the one on my list that I will still be listening to in five years. There was a part of me that wanted to give him the top spot for purely sentimental "last album" reasons. The album track choices seem calculated to elicit that kind of response; All of the songs seem like something uttered in a dying breath. Johnny Cash is so timeless, and I can never quite get enough of him. There is an authenticity to his voice that cannot be replicated.
   Favorite tracks: "God's Gonna Cut You Down," "If You Could Read My Mind." My mom listened to this Gordon Lightfoot song when i was a kid and I always liked it in a 70's Peaceful Easy Feeling way, but Cash's version is transcendental. "Rose of My Heart" - a love ballad unmatched by any I've heard recently.
3. Silversun Pickups - Carnavas. This album is just sugary pop-rock goodness. They manage to make every track seem shiny, like a cool old car, chrome shining in the sunlight.
   Favorite tracks: "Lazy Eye," "Common Reactor."
4. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. I really like New Pornographers, and more than I like Neko Case's solo stuff. That being said, I really love this album. I think that I have a tendency to not want to jump on the bandwagon with some things that are really popular - A good example is my refusal for the longest time to really give the White Stripes a chance. When I finally did, I begrudgingly admitted they were brilliant. Neko Case isn't brilliant, but she is really talented, and I didn't want to admit that. I guess I just got so sick of hearing about the hot rock chick that I didn't want to give her a chance. Todd bought this one, too, and I ended up really digging it. She is a truly original songwriter, and she has a strong , distinctive, and beautiful voice.
   Favorite tracks: "Margaret vs. Pauline," "John Saw That Number."
5. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife. I really don't know how The Decemberists pull off this pretentious lit-rock shit, but they do. Each song is like a short story unto itself, or a time-worn folk tale, and they almost fall into the whole concept album genre, but it is so fresh and well-performed that I forget how ridiculous it is. Romantic, theatrical, and beautiful. It is no Castaways and Cutouts, and the slight disappointment over that probably prevents it from being any higher on my list, but the melody of "The Crane Wife 3" makes me want to cry it is so pretty; the second track, the modestly-named "The Island-Come And See-The Landlord's Daughter - You'll Not Feel the Drowning," is so long that it makes me want to cry. Good, but I never pay attention the whole way through. I imagine an origami crane throughout the whole album. Too much Prison Break, I guess.
   Favorite tracks: "The Crane Wife 3," "The Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)."
   
6. Manchester Orchestra - I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child. I wish i could say that I was at the top of the curve on this one, but I really caught the tail of this wave. This one came out of nowhere, a December purchase on Todd's part. Suddenly it is everywhere. I had heard a couple of songs and liked them, but the whole album is really good. It sounds a little like Death Cab meets Bright Eyes. I will be listening to this one into 2007, without a doubt. I was unsure about giving it the number six spot, but then thought to myself, "you know what? When was the last time you heard an album by a band you hadn't heard before and you liked it this much immediately?" This album instantly made me a little excited about music again. Not easy to do when I am old and jaded and not as impressionable as I once was.
   Added plus: Local band.
   Favorite tracks: "Now That You're Home," "Where Have You Been," "Golden Ticket."
   
7. Alexi Murdoch - Time Without Consequence. Great coffee-in-the-morning music. At once weary, melancholy and hopeful. Kind of like me.
   Favorite tracks: "All My Days," "Love You More," "Orange Sky."
8. M. Ward - Post-War. More coffee music. Todd bought this one and it grew on me.
   Favorite tracks: "Magic Trick." "Roller Coaster" - Makes me think of young infatuation. I love the line "You're like a roller coaster, you give me heavy metal dreams." Gets stuck in my head for hours, and is fun to improvise the words and make them songs for the kids.
   
9. Yo La Tengo - i am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass. Always new-sounding, always original. They never fail to surprise me on a few tracks with something that sounds different.
   Favorite tracks: "Sometimes I don't Get You," "The Weakest Part," "The Story of Yo La Tengo."
   
10. T.V. on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain. This one is in the top ten purely on speculation; I bought it so late in the year that I didn't have time to run it into the ground, but if I had it earlier, it easily could have made the top five, if not number one or two. I'm sad I didn't buy it earlier.
    Favorite track: "Wolf Like Me" - It's catchy as all get-out.
    

Honorable Mentions:

• Johnny Cash - The Johnny Cash Children's Album. Rollie has as addiction to the Dinosaur Song that is like a contagious disease.
  
• The Long Winters - Putting the Days to Bed
• Ambulance Ltd. - New English EP
• Sparklehorse - Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain
• Calexico - Garden Ruin.

Favorite Songs of 2006:
TV on the Radio - "Wolf Like Me." Good God Almighty. This one makes me wish I played an instrument and that I had written this song. Hope this is inspiring some sixteen-year-old girl somewhere.
Gnarls Barkley - "Crazy." I read that they did this track in one take. Awesome. Pure magic.
Band of Horses - The Great Salt Lake. This is my kitchen song, 2006.
Regina Spektor - "Fidelity." Beautiful like fine porelain. Translucent and unadorned, but not plain. Cool video, too.
Flaming Lips - "The W.A. N. D." This one is catchy, but doesn't make up for a crap album.
Snowden - "anti-anti." Atlanta band. Fun driving song.

I Just Don't Get It, or Todd Bought It, but I Never Would Have:
Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit. They bore me.
The Essex Green - Cannibal Sea
Starlight Mints - Drowaton
The Streets - The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living
Wolfmother - Wolfmother. I have already listened to everything by Led Zeppelin.

Complete Disappointments:
The Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics. The most universally disappointing album of the year. Did anyone like it?
Granddaddy - Just Like the Fambly Cat. You already made this album. Twice.

Dance Recital, 1978

Tomboy in red dotted tulle, lipstick, Dorothy Hammill hair. Alpharetta, Georgia.

Pure

Pure Christmas magic.

My Boys

You know that show, "My Boys?" No, I didn't either, until my outing with the Creekers, wherein almost every person there told me I would love the show. These days I actually have girlfriends (see Girls Gone Mild, for example), but growing up, with the exception of a few solid girlfriends like Karen and Camille and little Lisa, I hung out pretty much exclusively with the boys.
I'm happy to say that we still hang out, even if it is just a couple times of year. Most of us have families and responsibilities now, but put us in a basement together and give us a few cases of beer and we will quickly regress to our sixteen-year-old selves. With maybe a little more clothing kept on and a little less smoking and puking. Exact same amount of laughter. I love my boys. (From left: Owen, Dan, Me, Jason, Ev, John, and C.J.)

More pics from the Creeker get-together here on Flickr.

*Apologies for it taking so long to get this post up. I have had nothing but trouble with my internet connection this month. Oh, the troubles I've seen. Woe is me. Hope to start blogging regularly again come the new year.

Free Santa!

On Saturday, we took Rollie and Tiller to see Santa at St. Paul's Methodist in Grant Park. Although I am unsure about my thoughts on God, I am sure about one thing; I love old, beautiful churches. St. Paul's is really gorgeous, but in a lived-in, non-museum-like way. You actually feel welcome and warm when you are there.


Santa was upstairs in a back room and you had to wait in a not-too-long line to see him. The line wrapped out the door and down the stairs. Rollie and tiller were excellently-behaved, much to my surprise; I guess they were mesmerized by all of the other kids. Living in East Atlanta, I often feel cut off from other people with children, until we attend something like this Santa event. Then I realize just how many young children are living and being born here and I realize that in ten years, this will probably be a really family-friendly neighborhood, and a great place to raise kids. I sometimes wish that I had the confidence to make my children urban pioneer children, working to make the schools in this area better, but I just don't think that is going to happen, nor do I think I am the Mom to attempt it. I just don't want my precious little ones to be guinea pigs in an experiment that might fail. Selfish, I know, but also my decision and we are the ones responsible for their educational raisin', as they call it here in the South.

I digress. We finally entered the Santa room, and then rounded the corner, where we could actually see Santa. He was a great-looking Santa in a traditional Santa suit with the belt and all. He had his own Santa chair and a Christmas tree and we were allowed to take pictures with the digital camera for free, which is really more in the Christmas spirit than those mall Santas. Plus, less waiting in line.

When it was our turn, Rollie hopped up in his lap without hesitation (unlike last year - tears and more tears, making for hysterically funny Santa pics) and told him what he wanted for Christmas (choochoos and cars). We snapped some pictures of them together, then threw Tiller up with them. She was surprisingly good, too, and in fact just seemed enthralled with his beard and stared at him. We had a hard time getting both of them to look at the camera, and of course, our camera acted up throughout, so the shots aren't great. But hey! They are free!

Cheap Santas are great. Free Santas are the best.

I Prefer the More Politically-Correct "Snowperson"

You Are a Snowman

Friendly and fun, you enjoy bringing holiday cheer to everyone you know!

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

Still No Basement Post: My Day

12 a.m. - Wake up to Todd shaking me, Rollie crying. Go into Rollie's room, give him some water and vaseline for his chapped lips. Go back to bed.
3 a.m. - Rollie cries again. Complaining of his cheek hurting. Realize he probably still has the ear infection for which he has already been through two rounds of antibiotics; Give him Ibuprofen, go back to bed.
7:30 a.m. - Wake up, pee, brush teeth, put on deodorant, put hair in ponytail, pull on jeans and tee-shirt, go into Tiller's room, pick her up, grab one diaper, one pair of jeans, one tee, one pair socks, one pair shoes. Carry all downstairs. Todd already has Rollie eating breakfast at table in pjs.
7:45 a.m. Change Tiller's diaper, realize pants are too small, put on her teeshirt, put her in highchair, throw down Cheerios for her, open fruit cup and dump it on tray. Run upstairs to get Rollie's school clothes and another pair of pants for Tiller.
7:55 a.m. - Kiss Todd goodbye, start coffee, bolt down breakfast bar, change Rollie's diaper and put on his clothes, including shoes.
8 am - Pour cup of coffee, read email from Honey.
8:05 a.m. Pack Rollie's backpack for school, pack my diaper bag for Tiller, gather starlight mints for Rollie's teacher to use for gingerbread houses.
8:10 a.m. - Realize Quint hasn't been let out. Let him out.
8:13 a.m. - Sit down to finish cup of coffee.
8:15 a.m. - Turn on Thomas the Tank Engine dvd so Rollie will shut the hell up about it.
8:20 a.m. - Realize Rollie has dirty diaper, then pick him up and realize he feels slightly warm. Remember ear infection suspicions. Run upstairs to get thermometer and vaseline, along with Ibuprofen, just in case.
8:22 a.m. - Take rectal temperature (always wait till after first cup of coffee), 100.9, dose with Ibuprofen and decide to send to school anyway.
8:25 a.m. Put dog in crate, turn off lights, pour coffee into travel mug, turn off coffeemaker, look at house that looks like tornado hit it and pray that buyers do not come to look at house while I am gone.
8:30 a.m. - Pick up Tiller off floor, along with shoes she has taken off, put diaper bag over shoulder, finger through keychain, put rollie's jacket on, then his backpack, which he insists on wearing, even though we are only walking out the door and to the car, where we will have to take it off again before getting in carseat. Hit alarm, get Rollie to open door, because my hands are full with diaper bag, keys, coffee, Tiller, and Starlight mints.
8:32 a.m. - Lock door, tell Rollie to stop trying to open automatic door on van while I am trying to unlock it, put Tiller into her carseat, then walk around to strap Rollie into his.
8:33 a.m. - Put diaper back and starlight mints into passenger seat. Get in car. Start car. Get back out of car to walk around to tiller's side of car where I left coffee sitting on roof of car. Get back in car.
8:34 a.m. - Leave neighborhood. Drive to Rollie's school in Decatur.
9:01 a.m. - Arrive at school. Get out, get Rollie out, walk around to Tiller's side, get her out.
9:02 a.m. - Talk to parent of child in Rollie's class about whether I am pissed about decision to split 3 and 5 day kids into two classes.
9:03 a.m. - Drop Rollie into class. Remove backpack and jacket and help him wash hands, all while holding Tiller at the same time. Kiss Rollie goodbye.
9:10 a.m. - Drive to new primary care physician's on N. Decatur road. Park, get Tiller and stroller out of car, put her in stroller, find doctor's suite.
9:20 a.m. - Check in with receptionist for 9:30 a.m. appointment. Sit down and try to keep tiller occupied.
9:30 a.m. - Receptionist asks for insurance card, driver's license, and for me to fill out new patient paperwork. Pay $40 co-pay. Attempt to fill out paperwork, while keeping 13 month old occupied in boring waiting room. Get stared down by humorless, crotchety old people. Cough a lot.
10 a.m. - Wonder if Tiller and I will grow old in waiting room of unseen doctor's office. Watch every fucking old person in Decatur get called in before us.
10:30 a.m. - Get called back. Nurse takes temperature, pulse, bp. Tiller seems okay. Nurse leaves and shuts door.
10:45 a.m. Tiller starts crying.
10:46 a.m. Crying becomes total freakout. I take her out of stroller and walk her for 15 very long minutes, back and forth, three little steps to a length of the room. Sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Starkle Starkle Little Twink (a post unto itself), Jingle Bell Rock, and Winter Wonderland. Big yellow snot comes out of her nose and runs all over my shirt, which was dirty when I put it on this morning anyway.
11 a.m. - Realize I have to pee, that Tiller will not be falling asleep, and that I am tired of holding her. Open door in frustration to see pitying look on nurse's face. I say i have to pee. Nurse takes Tiller while I go to bathroom, then when I come out, they are gone, so i start looking down hall. Find Tiller with nurse in a doctor's office and they give her a bear. Nice gesture, big points for nurses, big fucking lot of good it does me, though, as I still had to wait another 25 minutes for doctor to show and by that time she had lost interest in bear and was crying again.
11:25 a.m. - Doctor comes in. Immediately likable, as he looks like real-life Santa Claus, but it becomes quickly evident that reason he made me wait one hour and 55 minutes is that he likes to talk. A lot. Doctor talks to me about symptoms, his grandchildren, get up on the table, look at ears, nose, throat, What is the little princess getting for Christmas this year?, you obviously have bronchitis, a lot of malflora (sp?), and a grungy tonsil, and back in my day, we made our own Christmas gifts. We made boomerangs, and we would cut them out of plywood, and boy, if you throw one of those up and it comes back, you don't want to be in the way, and here is your prescription.
11:45 a.m. - Finally get out of black hole doctor's office, get back to car, go through drive through pharmacy at kroger to drop off prescription, then drive to Rollie's school.
12:00 a.m. - Get Tiller out of carseat. Pick up Rollie at school. Bring both back outside, strap Tiller in, then Rollie. Drive back to Kroger on N. Decatur to pick up Pharmacy. (Only bright side to day - Kroger on n. Decatur has parking spaces especially for Walkup Pharmacy, so you can walk to the window and not have to take kids out of car.) Go up. Pay for prescription. Walk back to car. Open bag and realize only one prescription was filled. Go back up to window (Praise Jesus for walkup pharmacy window and walkup pharmacy window parking!!!!). Explain to Pharmacist about two prescriptions rather than one, then wait while he searches for script. Wait while he fills script. Pay for another prescription. Go back to car.
12:15 Drive back to East Atlanta.
12:45 p.m. - Get back to house. Rollie has fallen asleep. Carry Rollie into house and put on couch. Rollie wakes up and requests pillow, blanket, Thomas dvd. Obviously doesn't feel good. Go get screaming Tiller out of car. Bring her in and plop her on floor.
12:50 p.m. - Make pbj for Rollie, cheese toast for tiller, soup for both. Serve all of this, plus two waters (because I didn't get to go to grocery because fucking Dr. Santa wanted to discuss handmade toys for an hour), which Rollie then proceeded to lecture me about: "Water is for snacks. Milk is for lunch and dinner." Heat up pasta from last night for me. Bolt down. Start getting requests for blanket fixing and more dvd.
1:30 p.m. - Go to fluff Rollie's pillow, realize he is burning up. Change both kids' diapers, and take Rollie's temperature - 103.9: Fucking awesome.
2:00 p.m. - Call Pediatrician for sick visit appointment. Make appointment for 3 p.m. Put poor dog in crate. Go through same rigamarole about packing shit up, minus backpack and starlight mints and coffee. Put kids in car. Drive to Sandy Springs.
2:45 pm. - Arrive for appointment. Get both kids out of car and put Tiller in stroller, then Rollie says he needs to be carried, so I carry 36 lb son while pushing 26 lb daughter in stroller. Fucking awesome.
2:50 p.m. - Check in. Go through more insurance shit, even though i have already been there twice this week for flu shots, and the week before that for ear infections, the week before that for the first of the ear infection, and the week before that for the first goddamn flu shot. Take kids to sit down. Rollie's tylenol kicks in and he starts jumping around like his not sick at all. Tiller starts screaming because she has either been in a carseat, a highchair, or the fucking stroller all day and who the fuck can blame her?
3:30 - Finally get taken back, 30 minutes after appointment time. See nurse practitioner; ear infection still remains, and she prescribes another (3rd) antibiotic. We check out at front desk (40$ co-pay!) and head for the car.
3:45 pm. - Sit in traffic all the way back to East Atlanta, where we go to Edgewood Kroger.
4:45 p.m. - Hit Kroger right at the same time as everyone else. Drop off prescription at Pharmacy. Go do grocery shopping. Amazingly have few fights between kids sitting in the car shopping cart together. Usually, someone would have an eye gouged out or something. Go back to pick up prescription. Deer in headlights look on pharmacists' faces. "This medicine, after insurance, is going to cost you $90 dollars." I am speechless, and then let loose with a "holy shit." Say excuse me to old black lady wearing "Southern Belle Chattanooga" hat. She says, "Honey, I woulda said a whole lot more than Holy shit." I feel ya, sister. DAMN.
5:00 pm. - Pay for prescription, which of course I have to pay for at pharmacy, then still sit through checkout line to pay for groceries.
5:10 pm. - Rollie has meltdown over cheap dumptruck toys set up right by checkout counters (those fuckers!). Check out and take groceries to car. Put groceries in car, then kids.
5:15 pm. - Sit in traffic on Moreland.
5:45 pm. - get Home. Unload kids. Set Rollie up on couch with Thomas dvd and blankets. Tiller follows me around, trying to hold on to my legs while I put away groceries I unloaded from car, and while I try to put dinner on (fish sticks and frozen french fries). Cut up pear for health purposes, and nuke broccoli. Balanced meal.
6:00 p.m. Attempt to right disaster that is house, especially kitchen. Unload dishwasher, and do dishes from both lunch and breakfast. Lunch dirty dishes are still at the kitchen table where I left them when I realized Rollie had high fever. Everything looks disgusting. Cannot believe people are not trying to look at house right now, because that is just the way it usually is.
6:20 Throw kids up at table with culinary masterpiece. Sit down with glass of water and then plug in Christmas tree, so as not to want to blow brains out.
6:40 - Kids finish meal. Get them down from table, then tell Rollie to clean up. Proceed to clean up kitchen from dinner, then help Rollie clean up his toys. Take kids upstairs.
7:00 pm. Contemplate not bathing kids tonight, but then realize that really need a HazMat crew to come in and hose us down after all the doctor's offices we have been in today. Throw kids in bathtub. Scrub them too hard and make them cry. Get Tiller out, then put her diaper and pjs on. Go back in. Get Rollie out, help him brush his teeth. Fold towels, clean up tub. Help Rollie rinse. Brush his hair. Give him Tylenol. Realize I forgot to give him golden antibiotics. Go back downstairs, measure 1 teaspoon of meds, come back upstairs to have him insist on doing it himself. He spills the whole fucking thing on the bathroom floor. Go back down to get another dose. Take dose back upstairs. Force him to take it from me, amidst vocal protest.
7:20 pm. - Get his diaper, temperature stuff, and pjs and take into Tiller's room, where the two of them have pulled all of the socks out of her lowest drawer and are now pulling her toys out of her closet. Take his temp (101) while fending her off as she tries to get into vaseline jar, then put on his diaper and pjs.
7:30 pm. - Read duck book and Goodnight Moon to Tiller while Rollie complains that HE wants to read the duck book. Ignore him. Put her down. Thank god.
7:35 pm. Go to his room. Read four fucking longass Thomas the Tank Engine stories, while he interrupts me the whole time. Try to shortchange him out of his usual three stories. He insists on the duck book too, which he has taken from Tiller's room and brought into his room. I start to read it, and he argues with me about the fucking number of ducks that swam over the pond and far away. he also adds fifth quack to Mother Duck's refrain, which everyone knows is only four quacks. I humor him, because sometimes it will be over faster that way.
7:50 pm - Kiss him goodnight, turn off light, tell him to sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite.
8:15 pm. - Finally sit down to eat dinner. Eat quickly. Take decongestant. P0ur glass of wine. Watch two old episodes of Supernatural.
10:30 Pour another glass of wine. Post about this stupid day, because somehow complaining about it makes me feel better.

Or maybe it's the third glass of wine.

Youth Recapture Interrupted: First Steps

I kind of figured that after recovering from my hellacious basement party hangover, that the first thing that I would do is download the pictures and blog all about it. Funny thing about kids: they have a way of trumping anything of importance in your own life, in favor of their own crises, milestones, and illnesses. Take Tiller for instance. . . .

I crawled back home on Sunday at about one in the afternoon, took a bath, changed clothes, and then fell into bed for a few hours sleep while the kids napped, it being impossible to nap while children are awake within a mile radius.

When they awakened, Todd took pity on me, and let me sleep a while longer. I planned on waking, eating grilled cheese, and blogging about the previous evening. I finished the grilled cheese while Todd played with Rollie and Matilda on the den floor. Todd was sitting on the floor about three feet from the ottoman, and my feet were on the ottoman. Tiller came over to stand next to me, holding her arms out to be held. I picked her up, hugged her, then set her down on her feet in Todd's direction. Todd held out his arms, Tiller's eyes lit up like the sun, and she put her arms out towards him. She took two wobbly steps, maybe three, and fell into his arms. First steps! He and I both welled up a little in the eye area. It is easy to forget about the little things with a second child, but some things are just monumental: A child's first steps, always towards one of us, and setting off so suddenly a chain of milestones in the future, reminding us that they will continue to walk on and on, farther and farther away every day.

We practiced her new trick the rest of the afternoon and into bedtime, my attempts at recapturing my own youth completely forgotten for the time being.

Way to go, Tiller baby! We are so proud of you, sweetheart.

I can't remember the last time I was so excited

Tonight, I am attending a going-away party for an old friend of mine. He and his family are moving Chicago. One of our group of childhood friends had the amazing idea of having a party in this friend's parents' basement. Brilliant. Who wouldn't want to go back to the scene of the crime for one last blast?

We all grew up together, lived in the same neighborhood, attended the same schools, and played tennis and were on swim team together. These people know things about me that no one else knows. I have spent hours upon hours hanging out with them. We all have adult jobs and some of us have families, and we are ditching all of those this evening. These days, when we get together one or two times a year, we bring the spouses and the kids, and sometimes our parents are there. Not tonight! No spouses. No kids. Just the group of us, a fuckload of beer, and an old-school location. Todd has graciously agreed to take care of the kids tonight and get up with them tomorrow. I am spending the night out. Did I mention how great my husband is, that he will watch the kids while I go have a slumber party with seven grown men? He is awesome beyond belief, trusting and non-jealous. I adore him.

Hopefully, no one will get arrested, steal a mustang convertible and take it for a drunken joyride, go skinny-dipping, drive a grey caddy backwards across a busy highway, pass out in the bushes, have to run back to the house with only half their clothing, swallow a quarter, get to the chopper in the junipers, or put on a vomiting performance from the screen porch balcony with a cheering audience. No way anyone will be in the blue room. Hopefully, we will limit our alcohol intake to beer and liquor, while forgoing Boone's Farm and Mad Dog 20/20.

Yes, there will be cameras, and I am just glad that there weren't cameras back in the day. This will undoubtedly be much tamer. We are mature now. Really. I mean it.

Lighting the Tree

Americans Really Are Dumb

The New York Times is reporting this morning that, "The New York City Board of Health voted yesterday to adopt the nation’s first major municipal ban on the use of all but tiny amounts of artificial trans fats in restaurant cooking, a move that would radically transform the way food is prepared in thousands of restaurants, from McDonald’s to fashionable bistros to Chinese take-outs. Some experts said the measure, which is widely opposed by the restaurant industry, would be a model for other cities."

Boy, I sure am glad that city governments are stepping up to the plate to protect their citizens from trans fats. We should probably just go ahead and make it a federal mandate that all American cities adopt. That is surely what our founding fathers had in mind when they were creating our government. Saving us from the fried turkeys of the world.

Americans really are dumb.

Dear Annie

Dear Annie,

Baby, I'm sorry, but i couldn't live this white bread existence another day. I am going on tour with Blink 182.

Love,
Todd

Rollie's First Snow

Only in Atlanta would a child's first snow be faux. Todd, Tiller, Rollie and I headed over to the Atlantic Station California Pizza Kitchen last night for dinner, then headed out to see their huge Christmas tree and the 7 P.M. snow machine display. I really thought it would hokey, and it was, but also a little contagious. At first, Rollie didn't like it very much and was maybe even a little scared, but I picked him up and we practiced catching snow on our tongues and shook it out of our hair, chanting "Snow head! Snow head!" at one another.

It was pretty fun to run around, chasing him around the tree in the snow. Tiller just looked sleepy. I had a coughing fit afterwards that gave me a headache.

Here's to my cough going away soon, and to having a real snow this year.

Baby, I'm a Star

My friend Jasonaut posted a link to this site where you can find out which Tarot card you are. . . . His was interestingly like him. Mine? Well, it is maybe more hopeful than I really am. I guess when I was answering the questions I answered them as I wish I were rather than how I am. Whatever. I am guessing this is not exactly scientific or guaranteed in accuracy, so without further ado: I am The Star.

You are The Star. Hope, expectation, Bright promises. The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised. The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.