"This is the Sound . . . of Dinner"

Other creative notions by Ariel

It has been a sort of clean up weekend.

Tegan has been working hard, weeding in the back yard flower beds. I got the grass cut today once the weather cooperated. Also, I cleaned up around our computer desk and recycled a lot of old papers and stuff cluttering up our filing cabinet. Tegan also got a lot of clothes shifted from the basement up to the bedroom closets and moved tubs of clothes out of bedrooms and down into the basement.

Ariel kept herself occupied this afternoon by creating another interesting bit of artwork. You can see it below.

It is hard to see here, but it consists of several small pieces of paper, each individually featuring an animal and taped to a larger piece of paper. Why she chose to write Sarah on each piece of paper remains a mystery.
Those in the art world would say that Ariel has now shifted into what is known as "mixed media." It won't be long before she is crafting small models of the Bilbao Guggenheim and other amazing things that will make her famous but earn her little money.

But, maybe she'll be famous as an actress or as a "wire-actress." Don't believe me? Then check out THIS photo (sure to embarrass her when she gets older).

This beauty was taken when she was playing at a friends house a few weeks ago. Where she learned to mimic the beauty and grace of martial arts experts, I don't know. But let this be a lesson to you all. If you try and cross me, I'll send Ariel to go Matrix on you.

Fishing for advice

I assume that you have heard of "fishing"?

It's a technique in which spammers and identify theft crooks use. These ner-do-wells create emails that mimic national bank chains, or Amazon, or other commonly used on-line places; the unsuspecting victim receives said email, which instructs the victim to click on this link, and go to site so-and-so to update their account information or something like that. Then, faster than you can say "a bustier that lifts and separates" the crooks have your vital info and can book their next trip to Aruba on your dime.

Why do I bring this up? Have I become an ID theft victim?

No, but the possibility is making me worried, man (and a bit paranoid).

I received a flyer in the mail. It looks EXACTLY like something my credit card company would send me. The flyer is telling me to take advantage of their new list of select merchants that allow me to earn more cash-back points if I purchase in their establishments, using my card.

But I have to register the card to begin the accumulation and associated tracking of points. To do that I have to go to the credit card site and register my card.

That's no problem, however, since I have already registered my card with the credit card company's online site--since that is how I pay my bill each month. So, I go to the same site that I use to pay my bill, put in my user name and password, then I have to click on the particular link to register my card for this new level of reward points.

As I was preparing to do this, the specter of ID crooks and "fishers" [No offense intended towards you, Shirtless!] arose in my head. Was I falling for their scheme? Was this new site (off of the regular credit card company site) simply a ruse?

But it can't be, right? Do these ID theft guys have the money to do print mailings? Isn't fishing usually done with much cheaper emails? And didn't I have to go though and identify myself on the credit card site that I always use to pay my bills?

This is on the up-and-up, right? I'm just not sure . . . any advice?

Big doin's

First of all, I can announce that our roof was totally redone all in one day--today! The workers showed up this morning about 7:15 and promptly started tearing off the old shingles. By the time we got home from work this evening, it was all over. A new roof, in one day, courtesy of the fine folks at Scott Roofing. Call 231-ROOF the next time YOU need roofing repairs. Our roof is so neat and clean, you can eat off of it. Come on over everyone and eat off of my roof! (So, that means goodbye item #1 on my list of 101 in 1001. Woo Hoo!!)

Second, can I admit something? Newsweek has recently instituted something in its magazines--a weekly page called The Technologist, where Steven Levy talks about new digital advances, new consumer technologies on the market, etc., etc. Well, there is also a recurring item on this page called "Blog Watch." While I feel absolutely ludicrous saying this, each week I open the magazine and wonder if WWYG?! will be mentioned. Isn't that the stupidest thing that I have ever committed to disk space on this blog? (At least until I type a little further in this post.) It wouldn't be so bad if every week there wasn't mention of someone's blog that is hosted by Blogger on blogspot. Never mind that Blogger (owned by Google) is probably the most widely used hosting area by the blogging public. It's one-stop shopping, the Ford of the blog-o-verse. I mean, if I started here, then that tells you something. But I digress . . .

Third, I must confess that today was an interesting day at work. I found out that I am in charge of a great deal of stuff for the next several months (and when I mean a lot, I mean EVERYTHING). While most of my departmental colleagues are planning ahead for another year down the road, I have been given management of all the products to be completed by the start of January. While the total number of items seems large (and the myriad of details and items to track and complete IS large) the volume of completely brand new stuff is not so daunting--or so I chant softly to myself starting . . . NOW.

I am gratified by the trust placed in me, which I will now show should be revoked by making a mockery of the entire affair . . . by ushering in the

"Burb"-a-palooza
(or, if you like, the year of the Burb)

If I am in charge then let's do it up Burb style, what do you say? A great deal of awesomely bad ideas floated through my head today--Burb-a-palooza tee shirts was a instant notion. There is a great picture of Hayden Christiansen (that's Darth Vader to the rest of you) in last week's Newsweek that I could use to make great tee shirts. Imagine this:

On the front, this image of Vader's head and the phrase "Sith Happens"

On the back it could say "Join the Dark Side: Burb-a-palooza 2K7"

But, if tee shirts aren't your bag, then how about slogans? Here are some that I thought of (and if you don't get some of these jokes, my apologies. Email me and I'll:try to explain the reference.):
1. All Surly Burb, all the time.
2. Please Burb, don't hurt 'em.
3. Sweater vests and crack for everyone!
4. R.O.C.K. in the PRPL 33 (think John Cougar Mellencamp)
5. Burb-a-palooza . . . if not now, when?
6. You say tomato; I say booyah! You say potato; I say booyah!
7. 2007: My year (and therefore your year) in HELL!
8. FINALLY!!
9. Burb-a-palooza: It makes the Third Reich look cuddly!

So, yeah . . . I didn't say they were any good, just that I had thought about it. But I've got other ideas. I found a cardboard Burger King crown that my kids recently picked up and was trying to think of a funny way to work the idea of a crown into the whole humiliating effort when I noticed a web-site printed on the side of the crown above the weirdly shaped cartoon characters.

Since I am unable to pass up the chance to visit an unknown website, I checked it out. It's rather odd, but honest in its efforts to brainwash.

So, anyway, that's it for now. Keep checking back here . . . your official site on the information superhighway for the ongoing excitement that is

Burb-a-palooza 2K7!!!

(Honestly, if I don't stop writing crap like this, I'll never get noticed by Newsweek.)

The Company 12 Some other group 11

Tegan participated in her first corporate softball game tonight after work.

I took the kids to get some food and then we drove on over the the park to watch them play. I don't think Ariel and Ruth got into too much, but I hope they appreciated seeing Mommy in a slightly different setting, doing something for herself. (I know that I enjoyed it, and Tegan said she had a good time as well.)

And it helps that she had a good game. She was on base several times, scored at least twice, and drove in a run on a fielder's choice. She had a bit more trouble playing right field, but only messed up one time.

Plus the company softball jerseys were easily the nicest of any team that I saw playing on the several fields.

So, all in all a nice, different sort of evening.