A beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Jon and I met Dammit on February 17th, 1990. We said goodbye to her on June 22, 2007.




Rowan took this picture Thursday night. She ran for the camera saying that she could see our love.

Hard to believe it could fit in a picture, but there it is.

Apparently the Chapman brothers turned down Cartoon Network and Comedy Central so they can continue to follow their 'whims'. Sounds good to me.


http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/news/2007/06/homestarrunner

People are so eager to buy all their playsets and toys, the Chapmans can make a living doing something they think is fun.

Here's a bonus article with a picture of the real life Marzipan:

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2003/06/59261?currentPage=1

Sturbridge

For Kelly Lovejoy, who loves commas, and Rowan, who loves ninjas, let's ask a ninja about commas.

Rowan likes to take pictures of trees.

Dagny likes to take pictures of flowers.

I like to take pictures of them.

Have I mentioned that Andrew's a nut?

I was tagged by zenmomma:

~~~Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.~~~


1. I like to keep my face up when I walk in the rain. It feels good and it reminds me to be open to whatever the world throws at me. (There's a connection between that and my blog - bonus points to anyone who knows what it is.)

2. When I was a kid I had terrible bloody noses. I remember details of every one, but there are three I remember in particular: One, when my mom wasn't home and my older sister was watching me. She had me lay down on my bed. The blood collected in my stomach and I threw it up all over my white bedspread (remember those bumpy white bedspreads in the 70s?) Two, the day of my brother's wedding. My finger somehow got closed in the car door and my nose started to bleed. I thought that was really cool. Three, I was on the playground at school. Someone went in and told the nurse, who called my mom. My mom came and found me sitting by myself near a tree. As we walked across the playground and then the parking lot I hemorrhaged. Out my nose. Yuck.


3. I don't know if I can sing. I used to do solos in school chorus and won a local singing competition. Then, when I was about 14, I heard a girl my age sing and was overwhelmed by this feeling that I'd never be able to sing as well as her. Other than singing little love songs to my kids I haven't really sung in front of anyone since. I have this voice I use to sing happy birthday and that kind of stuff, but it isn't my real singing voice.

4. I have two running mental lists. One is old men I wish would just disappear (this one was topped by Bob Hope as long as I can remember, with Ed McMahon a close second). One is old men I wish would've stuck around - what Rowan calls my 'old dead guys I have crushes on' list. Long topped by Mr. Rogers and John Holt.

5. I was origanally named Ruth Marion Sullivan. Ruth was my Nana, Marion was my great-grandmother. I hated both names and never felt like they were me. My dad used to try to get me to think Marion was a cool name by telling me it was John Wayne's real name. Not so cool. My cousin jokingly called me RuRu which morphed into Rue and always felt like me. By the time I was a teenager I didn't hear anyone who tried to get my attention by saying Ruth - my brain just didn't register it as me. Jon and his dad gave me a legal name change for a birthday present one year, and I think it's the best present I ever got. My parents and my friend Karen can get away with calling me RuthieMay, my parents can call me Ruthie or Ruth Marion McGillicudy, but if anyone else calls me any version of Ruth it pisses me off.

6. My real personality always seems to surprise people. I seem to come across as very normal. My friends' parents always thought of me as the good girl, which was very handy as a teenager. I'd actually like to know what it is about me that comes off that way, because while I do get a kick out of it sometimes I wouldn't mind being able to come across as the weirdo I actually am.


7. Sometimes I confuse my freckles with Jon's. He does it too, though, which makes me feel slightly less weird. Very slightly.

8. I have word recall problems when I'm talking. Sometimes it's embarrassing. Sometimes it's hysterical - like the time I was trying to tell someone I was having word recall problems and I couldn't think of the phrase 'word recall problems'.

I'm thinking at this point everyone I know has been tagged, but I'll try to come up with someone.

Some fun for Rowan on a rainy day.

http://www.myfreeonlinegames.info/games/664/draw-your-character.html

Video Killed the Radio Star by The Wrong Trousers

Rowan and I picked up Ida B at the Scholastic book fair because we liked the cover. We had no idea what it was about, we just thought it looked like it had a sense of humor.

It does. A very big sense of humor.

It's also a bit sad and full of deep thoughts.

I started to go through the book to stick some more quotes here, but I think part of what's so wonderful about it are the little surprises it throws at you, so I'll just leave it at this:

We both think lots of people who read my blog would love it.

Ida B on school:

"There was a rabbit cage in the room, but we couldn't pet it until it was time. There were books on the shelves, but we couldn't read them until it was time. There was a playground with slides and swings and balls, but we couldn't play on it till it was time. There were lots of kids, but we couldn't talk to them till you-know-when."

Ida B on homeschooling:

"And I got to stay right where I liked it best: hanging around with Mama and Daddy, Rufus and Lulu, the trees and the mountain and the snakes and the birds. All day, every day.

It seemed like the best plan in the world to me."

From Ida B...and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster and (Possibly) Save the World, by Katherine Hannigan