way too much fun with the facial recognition software!
Thanks Kevin and Danica for the idea.
I'm glad that Abby looks like a 14 year old girl (Dakota Fanning) and I look like a 61 year old man (Tommy Lee Jones)! Oh well. At least I didn't get any girls on mine!! Sorry Kevin! I always thought you were kind of pretty though!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
I've been Tagged
Weeks ago I was tagged by my beloved twin Kristie. I am just now getting to it. Here are 6 things that people don't know about me. However, I talk so much that I'm pretty sure that there are not that many things that people don't know about me, but I'll give it a shot. Hope you enjoy.
1. My pet peeves are when I get passed on the right in a non-existent lane when I am already going about 7-10 mph over the speed limit (this has only happened to me in Buffalo); when the dishes have piled up and Jeff doesn't have a cereal bowl to eat his breakfast in, so rather than washing one and being a part of the solution, he grabs a mixing bowl and a serving spoon to eat his cereal in...then leaves the bowl on the mountain of dishes for me to wash; and last, but most certainly not least, when I go outside after precipitation has occured (pick your poison: rain, sleet , snow, "wintry" mix, etc) and the bottom of my jeans get wet. I then go inside only to take my shoes off and get my socks wet from my jeans! I change into dry-bottomed pants and let the others dry only to find that they have dried with a delightful little salt ring where the water used to be. I now have to wash two pairs of pants. Arghh.
2. My favorite show is One Tree Hill. You can laugh and gawk all you want, because I am not ashamed. Jeff also enjoys it...he may be ashamed. If I were Lucas, I would choose B. Davis to P. Sawyer. No questions asked. Those of you who don't OTH-it, I apologize. Though, I know there are many of you closet CW T.V. show fans and you know what I am referring to. This is a common debate between Jeff and I. I would also love to see all you Ravens fans come out of the wood work and help me out here.
3. I love to decorate and am fascinated by old houses and architecture. It may not be evident in my humble abode given our current economic status, but I truly do love to decorate. I am just as likely, if not more, to pick a home and garden magazine to read over an "Us Weekly" or magazine of that nature. I find it incredibly enticing and while I don't know if I am any good, I really enjoy learning about it.
4. I am deathly afraid of praying in public. This is crazy, but I would rather speak in church than pray. At least when I speak I can prepare what I am going to say! I usually have to pray before my prayer about what i should pray about and that I won't say something stupid. I must give an example. When I was in YW, I was asked to give the closing prayer to a stake youth fireside. In that prayer I was told to make sure to bless the refreshments. At the close of the fireside, palms sweating, mouth dry, mouth dry, I stepped up to the pulpit. The prayer started out well, but upon saying,"Please bless the refreshments that they wi--" I can't bless that they will nourish our bodies, or give us nutrients that we need! They are refreshments. They don't have nutritional value! I finished the sentence with,"that they will taste good." Immediately the congregation fizzled with muffled chuckles. I started blushing and quickly ended the prayer. I was mortified, but able to laugh it off by explaining my train of thought to people when they commented on my prayer. I have since learned that when blessing refreshments during a prayer to say,"Please bless the refreshments," and then just STOP TALKING.
5. I'm pregnant.
6. Just kidding. I'm really really not. But I gotcha didn't I?
Hope you enjoyed!
P.S. I tag Jeff (actually Jeff tagged himself), Krista, Lauren, Stacey M, Laura, Alesha, and...Kashann who I know said would not do it if she was tagged, but I know all of my fellow Buffalonians would die to hear 6 things from your life that we didn't already know. Kashann, I won't be offended you really don't want to do it, but I thought you were worth a shot! Love ya!
1. My pet peeves are when I get passed on the right in a non-existent lane when I am already going about 7-10 mph over the speed limit (this has only happened to me in Buffalo); when the dishes have piled up and Jeff doesn't have a cereal bowl to eat his breakfast in, so rather than washing one and being a part of the solution, he grabs a mixing bowl and a serving spoon to eat his cereal in...then leaves the bowl on the mountain of dishes for me to wash; and last, but most certainly not least, when I go outside after precipitation has occured (pick your poison: rain, sleet , snow, "wintry" mix, etc) and the bottom of my jeans get wet. I then go inside only to take my shoes off and get my socks wet from my jeans! I change into dry-bottomed pants and let the others dry only to find that they have dried with a delightful little salt ring where the water used to be. I now have to wash two pairs of pants. Arghh.
2. My favorite show is One Tree Hill. You can laugh and gawk all you want, because I am not ashamed. Jeff also enjoys it...he may be ashamed. If I were Lucas, I would choose B. Davis to P. Sawyer. No questions asked. Those of you who don't OTH-it, I apologize. Though, I know there are many of you closet CW T.V. show fans and you know what I am referring to. This is a common debate between Jeff and I. I would also love to see all you Ravens fans come out of the wood work and help me out here.
3. I love to decorate and am fascinated by old houses and architecture. It may not be evident in my humble abode given our current economic status, but I truly do love to decorate. I am just as likely, if not more, to pick a home and garden magazine to read over an "Us Weekly" or magazine of that nature. I find it incredibly enticing and while I don't know if I am any good, I really enjoy learning about it.
4. I am deathly afraid of praying in public. This is crazy, but I would rather speak in church than pray. At least when I speak I can prepare what I am going to say! I usually have to pray before my prayer about what i should pray about and that I won't say something stupid. I must give an example. When I was in YW, I was asked to give the closing prayer to a stake youth fireside. In that prayer I was told to make sure to bless the refreshments. At the close of the fireside, palms sweating, mouth dry, mouth dry, I stepped up to the pulpit. The prayer started out well, but upon saying,"Please bless the refreshments that they wi--" I can't bless that they will nourish our bodies, or give us nutrients that we need! They are refreshments. They don't have nutritional value! I finished the sentence with,"that they will taste good." Immediately the congregation fizzled with muffled chuckles. I started blushing and quickly ended the prayer. I was mortified, but able to laugh it off by explaining my train of thought to people when they commented on my prayer. I have since learned that when blessing refreshments during a prayer to say,"Please bless the refreshments," and then just STOP TALKING.
5. I'm pregnant.
6. Just kidding. I'm really really not. But I gotcha didn't I?
Hope you enjoyed!
P.S. I tag Jeff (actually Jeff tagged himself), Krista, Lauren, Stacey M, Laura, Alesha, and...Kashann who I know said would not do it if she was tagged, but I know all of my fellow Buffalonians would die to hear 6 things from your life that we didn't already know. Kashann, I won't be offended you really don't want to do it, but I thought you were worth a shot! Love ya!
A great article...and some fun
I've told a few of you about this article, and now I'm finally posting it. It was published in the City Journal, and written by Edward Glaeser, a Harvard economist. (Wow. That ought to be enough links to keep you busy for a while!). His analysis definitely slants to the right, but it is, nonetheless, a very well written article describing the rise and fall of Buffalo. The problems he discusses are not only unique to Buffalo, but many of the old cities built around the "rust belt." Buffalo, I think, just happens to be an extreme case. If anyone reads it, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Is he right?
And for those of you not interested in the article, here are some pictures. One is Max and one is Perry. Do you think they look alike? I tried to put them in black and white and have you guess who was who, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. If they weren't in blue and pink, could you tell the difference?
And for those of you not interested in the article, here are some pictures. One is Max and one is Perry. Do you think they look alike? I tried to put them in black and white and have you guess who was who, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. If they weren't in blue and pink, could you tell the difference?
Forget Prozac...Become a Republican!!
I read this on Greg Mankiw's blog. It was originally from washingtonpost.com :
You know, now that I think about it, I have seemed a bit more depressed since I registered as an independent!
A 2006 Pew Research poll found that 45 percent of Republicans describe themselves as "very happy," compared with only 30 percent of Democrats (and 29 percent of independents). This is a sizable gap and a remarkably consistent one, too. Republicans have been happier than Democrats every year since the General Social Survey, conducted biannually by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, began asking about happiness in 1972.
You know, now that I think about it, I have seemed a bit more depressed since I registered as an independent!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Music!
Abby and I just had a great time making our music playlist!! Take a look and tell us which one is your favorite.
Abby's favorite: MMMBop by Hanson.
Jeff'f Favorite: Don't Stop Me Now by Queen.
--Buffalo Soldiers--It's our theme song, so we had to use it!
--The Chris Daughtry (Hemorrhage) and Taylor Hicks (Takin' it to the Streets) songs were two of our favorite performances on American Idol. I am, unashamedly, a big fan of American Idol (minus last year) and we both agree that season 5 was probably the best there will ever be.
We also found this cover of Georgia on my Mind (by Taylor Hicks) that we really liked. I really enjoyed listening to Taylor Hicks, but hated his first album. I don't know if the producers were just trying to make him sound a little more mainstream or what, but I thought it was a huge disappointment. I think he sounds a lot better singing soul music and the blues, and that is why I liked this cover.
--The Ray Charles song is obviously a cover of Johnny Cash's famous song. I found this on youtube a while ago and loved it. The video was really great because it had Johnny Cash introducing Ray Charles. As a former piano player, I have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone that can play that well. It's a great remake.
--Abby and I are both big Queen fans, so that is why we have the most Queen tracks. Whenever we go on a road trip, we're always rocking out to queen (and so is Max as he yells "LOUDER!" from the back seat). When I was younger I thought they were cool (probably because of the famous Wayne's World scene), but as I listen to them now I can't help but notice what great musicians they were!
--We couldn't find our favorite song from the Walk the Line soundtrack (It ain't me, Babe--another road trip best) so we added Jackson instead. We like trying to sing the simple harmonies together!
--The Led Zeppelin song is a classic. I have liked it for a long time, and Abby fell in love once she saw it on the One Tree Hill season 3 finale! I read somewhere that Led Zeppelin has only licensed the use of their songs for two TV shows: The Sopranos and One Tree Hill. Not too shabby, OTH!
--Abby loves Hairspray, and I have to admit that I liked it quite a bit. These are two songs that we especially liked from the movie.
--The final three songs are just songs that we were starting to remember from Jr. High/High School. We were going to add a lot more, but ran out of time. Maybe we'll add some 90's classics a little later.
Abby's favorite: MMMBop by Hanson.
Jeff'f Favorite: Don't Stop Me Now by Queen.
--Buffalo Soldiers--It's our theme song, so we had to use it!
--The Chris Daughtry (Hemorrhage) and Taylor Hicks (Takin' it to the Streets) songs were two of our favorite performances on American Idol. I am, unashamedly, a big fan of American Idol (minus last year) and we both agree that season 5 was probably the best there will ever be.
We also found this cover of Georgia on my Mind (by Taylor Hicks) that we really liked. I really enjoyed listening to Taylor Hicks, but hated his first album. I don't know if the producers were just trying to make him sound a little more mainstream or what, but I thought it was a huge disappointment. I think he sounds a lot better singing soul music and the blues, and that is why I liked this cover.
--The Ray Charles song is obviously a cover of Johnny Cash's famous song. I found this on youtube a while ago and loved it. The video was really great because it had Johnny Cash introducing Ray Charles. As a former piano player, I have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone that can play that well. It's a great remake.
--Abby and I are both big Queen fans, so that is why we have the most Queen tracks. Whenever we go on a road trip, we're always rocking out to queen (and so is Max as he yells "LOUDER!" from the back seat). When I was younger I thought they were cool (probably because of the famous Wayne's World scene), but as I listen to them now I can't help but notice what great musicians they were!
--We couldn't find our favorite song from the Walk the Line soundtrack (It ain't me, Babe--another road trip best) so we added Jackson instead. We like trying to sing the simple harmonies together!
--The Led Zeppelin song is a classic. I have liked it for a long time, and Abby fell in love once she saw it on the One Tree Hill season 3 finale! I read somewhere that Led Zeppelin has only licensed the use of their songs for two TV shows: The Sopranos and One Tree Hill. Not too shabby, OTH!
--Abby loves Hairspray, and I have to admit that I liked it quite a bit. These are two songs that we especially liked from the movie.
--The final three songs are just songs that we were starting to remember from Jr. High/High School. We were going to add a lot more, but ran out of time. Maybe we'll add some 90's classics a little later.
Friday, February 8, 2008
This one's for Steve
This is a little late, but what an exciting finish to the Super Bowl!! I was so glad to see the Pats lose! The Giants had an amazing defensive game plan, and it was nice to see their defensive coordinator get rewarded with a new contract. My favorite quote of the night was a text message I received from Dave Sunderland when I asked him who he was rooting for:
"The Giants, man! A world where Eli Manning can be the Super Bowl MVP is a world that I want to live in!" Note: he made the statement early in the 4th quarter!
I'm picking the Chargers (of course) to win it all next year. What an amazing playoff run they made, especially when you consider all of their injuries! They are easily the most talented team in football, and now they have had the time to work things out with the new coaches. Watch out.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Perry's Fashion Show
Okay, so I finally learned how to get the pictures from my camera to the computer, so after much adieu here are the pictures of Perry all dressed up as promised to the Grannies. Thank you again Gwamma Charlotte for the DARLING box of bows you made for her...many of which will be featured in this post. And thank you again too, Gwamma Meesha (Nicea), for the also DARLING clothes you've sent us. It is way too much fun to dress up a little girl! It's better than Barbie!! This will probably be a pretty boring post for anybody else, so feel free to bypass it...
I just love her cheeks! She weighs about twelve pounds already but is only about 21 inches long! She has the shortest little legs! It is so funny! Anyway, I think this is my favorite little outfit. Gramma Char made the bow and gave her the boots. Gramma Meesha provided the cute top and leggings.
MORE TO COME LATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just love her cheeks! She weighs about twelve pounds already but is only about 21 inches long! She has the shortest little legs! It is so funny! Anyway, I think this is my favorite little outfit. Gramma Char made the bow and gave her the boots. Gramma Meesha provided the cute top and leggings.
MORE TO COME LATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
This is GREAT!!!
A lot of you have probably seen this, but in case you haven't--it's a classic. This has to rival some of the Moutsos greats. Although the Romney kid probably didn't have to deal with the police after this one.
If you missed it, this is a video of one of Mitt Romney's sons prank calling him.
If you missed it, this is a video of one of Mitt Romney's sons prank calling him.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Disclaimer
OK, so I realized that those pictures of Max might be a little misleading. He really does like to wear pants, and we really do put them on him when we go out. However, we have noticed a greater tendency to have an "accident" when the pants are on...therefore the pants stay off!
Monday, January 14, 2008
For the Gwammas
The quotes from Max correspond to the pictures.
"I wanna go play in noe."
"Look at my new hat, Mom!" Max informed us that was his "lots a hair."
"Look Mom, I put my inderwears (yes that's what they are called) on all by self!"
"It's Guido and bay (baby) Beckham"
"No I'm not Max, I brother!!" He says to Perry as she gives us her first smiles! Yay! I think Max has officially changed his name in his head. Word to the wise: don't argue with a two year old--it gets you no where...FAST.
"I wanna go play in noe."
"Look at my new hat, Mom!" Max informed us that was his "lots a hair."
"Look Mom, I put my inderwears (yes that's what they are called) on all by self!"
"It's Guido and bay (baby) Beckham"
"No I'm not Max, I brother!!" He says to Perry as she gives us her first smiles! Yay! I think Max has officially changed his name in his head. Word to the wise: don't argue with a two year old--it gets you no where...FAST.
In Jeff's Defense
I tease Jeff all the time about using our blog as his personal editorial column, but I actually have to support him on this random rant. Let me begin by telling you a story: One bitterly cold Saturday morning (weeks before Jeff ever heard of the song in question), I reluctantly had to take the journey to the grocery store. Over a 15 minute drive later, I arrived at the closest decent grocery store to our house in Buffalo--decent meaning I don't feel like I have to sterilize everything I buy there. Upon pulling into the parking stall the Canadian radio DJ announces to me that Ms. Sparks's new single is up next. "Oh Goody," I thought, the gloomy cloud over my head lifting (I really hate grocery shopping), "A new song to break up the monotany (sp?) of the radio." Not wanting to exit my vehicle just yet, as the heater had finally warmed it up just in time for me to exit, I procrastinated the task at hand (did I mention I hate grocery shopping?) and let my ears try out the latest Idol's first "hit", a term I now believe is used a bit too liberally. Now, I have to admit that at first listen, the sound of "Tattoo" intrigued me. I enjoyed the beat, although typical, the heartfelt first verse, vocals were great, and I even liked the chorus--that is, until I heard, "You're on my heart just like a tattoo. Just like a tattoo, I'll always have you," then I cringed. Honestly! Who comes up with these lyrics??? Just like a tattoo? Was there nothing else that is semi permanent (that's right, tattoos can be removed now, making the line even sillier) to conclude that simile when writing this song?? I thought lyrical rock bottom had been hit when I heard Fergie's, "I miss you like a baby misses his blanket," which was even worse than her slew of spelling bee songs. Thank goodness she proved her point--she can spell, even if it is only made up words.
Of course, we mustn't blame Jordin. After all, she's only the voice and prop. She doesn't write, play, or probably have any say whatsoever over her career right now (A major reason why Idol winners almost never make it big.) She probably was given a handful of songs with equally lame lyrics to choose from for her first single and, giving her a huge benefit of the doubt, chose the lesser of all evils. Needless, to say my trip to the grocery store had no silver lining. Maybe I'll go get a tattoo, so I'll always have this experience with me.
Of course, we mustn't blame Jordin. After all, she's only the voice and prop. She doesn't write, play, or probably have any say whatsoever over her career right now (A major reason why Idol winners almost never make it big.) She probably was given a handful of songs with equally lame lyrics to choose from for her first single and, giving her a huge benefit of the doubt, chose the lesser of all evils. Needless, to say my trip to the grocery store had no silver lining. Maybe I'll go get a tattoo, so I'll always have this experience with me.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
I am mostly a talk radio guy, but the other day I was driving around and I thought that I'd put on a few tunes. The first station I turned to was a popular mix station from Toronto. As I listened to the song that was playing I remembered why I had left the FM dial in the first place:
"You're on my heart just like a tattoo--just like a tattoo, I'll always have you."
Is this what it's coming to? WOW! I don't really have much else to say.
"You're on my heart just like a tattoo--just like a tattoo, I'll always have you."
Is this what it's coming to? WOW! I don't really have much else to say.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Back into things
We have been having a much needed break. Thankfully, I don't have to back to school until the 14th, so it has been nice to be at home helping out with the kids! Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks:
This is Max opening his jammies on Christmas Eve. Thanks Grandma Charlotte!!
Perry also loved her new jammies. It's so hard to find things that fit babies as little as Perry, but these fit perfectly!
I left Max alone in the tub for a few minutes and when I came back this is what I found...He's always surprising us with his creativity!
This is Perry's "kissy face." I think she gets it from her Aunts!
Max opening more presents.
We had a great Christmas! Abby's sister, Annie, came up from Washington D.C. and stayed with us for a few days. It was sad to be away from all of our family, but at the same time it was nice to be able to have our first family Christmas.
I need to take a break. Max has just banished me to time-out for not listening and I need to go there "right now!"
OK I'm back. After Christmas we went to Erie, PA for New Year's Eve to spend some time with the Olsens and the Browns. It was a lot of fun to have a break and see our friends. We were planning to have a big family sleepover, but unfortunately Perry isn't quite up to it yet and we ended up leaving, but not before we rang in the new year the old school way--with pots, pans, and wooden spoons! Sorry about the broken spoon, Alesha.
Happy New Year to all, and we hope that all of you have a wonderfully prosperous year.
This is Max opening his jammies on Christmas Eve. Thanks Grandma Charlotte!!
Perry also loved her new jammies. It's so hard to find things that fit babies as little as Perry, but these fit perfectly!
I left Max alone in the tub for a few minutes and when I came back this is what I found...He's always surprising us with his creativity!
This is Perry's "kissy face." I think she gets it from her Aunts!
Max opening more presents.We had a great Christmas! Abby's sister, Annie, came up from Washington D.C. and stayed with us for a few days. It was sad to be away from all of our family, but at the same time it was nice to be able to have our first family Christmas.
I need to take a break. Max has just banished me to time-out for not listening and I need to go there "right now!"
OK I'm back. After Christmas we went to Erie, PA for New Year's Eve to spend some time with the Olsens and the Browns. It was a lot of fun to have a break and see our friends. We were planning to have a big family sleepover, but unfortunately Perry isn't quite up to it yet and we ended up leaving, but not before we rang in the new year the old school way--with pots, pans, and wooden spoons! Sorry about the broken spoon, Alesha.
Happy New Year to all, and we hope that all of you have a wonderfully prosperous year.
Friday, December 21, 2007
LOU HOLTZ??!?!?!?
I am currently watching the Utah vs. Navy bowl game and maybe I slipped into a dream, but I swear I just heard Lou Holtz say that Utah is (in his words) "The best non-BCS talented team in the country." WOW. Apparently you don't have to be ranked or even win your conference to be "the best non-BCS talented team in the country." Either that, or you don't need to have any idea what you are saying to be an ESPN analyst! Well, it appears that the latter is correct. He just followed up his first stupid comment by talking about what a great job Dr. Young is doing at the U, followed by some mumbling, puttering, and trailing off before Rece Davis rescued him by cutting off his mic and jumping in. Oh dear Lou...Oh dear...
Wow! The game just ended as I was typing this. That was an intense finish.
So I'd love some input on this...I was having a hard time knowing who to cheer for in this game. On one hand, I want the Mt. West to get some good publicity (fat chance with that ridiculous TV deal), which would certainly be the case with a good showing by the red team. But on the other hand, I just can't bring myself to cheer for the ewetes! That's how bad I hate them! I ended up pulling for the Midshipmen of Navy. Any thoughts?
Wow! The game just ended as I was typing this. That was an intense finish.
So I'd love some input on this...I was having a hard time knowing who to cheer for in this game. On one hand, I want the Mt. West to get some good publicity (fat chance with that ridiculous TV deal), which would certainly be the case with a good showing by the red team. But on the other hand, I just can't bring myself to cheer for the ewetes! That's how bad I hate them! I ended up pulling for the Midshipmen of Navy. Any thoughts?
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