Sunday, November 30, 2003
New Book Review
The
Coyote Waits review is now online.
(Open link at right)
Busy Holiday
Well, in addition to not blogging, here's what I've been up to....
Spent the weekend with both sets of Philip's grandparents and his maiden aunt, Julia. We all went to see the Christmas light display at Shore Acres State Park on Saturday night; it was well worth the trip.
Dina, Julia and I saw the "Haunted Mansion" movie; it fell far short of "Pirates of the Caribbean," but if you go in with low expectations, you might be pleased (still a pretty iffy might). This was after getting up at 4am to get to town in time to pick up Post-Thanksgiving freebies at The Bon and Penney's, so the fact we all stayed awake during the movie means at least it wasn't a total snoozefest.
I finished Coyote Waits and began the latest Kinsey Millhone mystery (only 50 pages left in Theodore Rex).
I did a jigsaw puzzle, the Christmas-themed Clue Mystery Puzzle: A Merry Little Murder. I haven't read the mystery story and discovered whodunnit, but I'll probably get to that before too long (the jigsaw puzzle's always the best part anyway).
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Top 300,000
I am officially in the top 300,000 reviewers at Amazon.com (#297934).
For some reason my Sneakers DVD votes have reset to zero; if you voted before, please vote again--if you never voted, please vote again for the first time.
I'll try and write a few more reviews soon; you keep voting.
Let's get to the Top Quarter-Million Club by the end of the month!
Thank You, B.F. Skinner
Phil has spent another night in bed, thanks to Hot Wheels Behavior Modification. Next, we'll teach him how to play tic-tac-toe by pecking at pieces of corn (electroshock therapy optional).
Monday, November 24, 2003
Free Soup...but None for You
Campbell's soup wants to give away 5,000,000 cans of soup to hunger relief charities. Of course, they could just start backing the truck up to the Food Bank, but they want you to "vote for your favorite NFL team" and they'll donate one can per vote (hopefully it's not Cream of Borscht). Visit
their site and click away (one vote per day, unless you clear your web cookies).
Hopefully soup isn't being donated only to those communities with an NFL franchise or based on number of votes a team receives, otherwise Oregon is out of luck (no team) and Arizona isn't doing much better (only 6,702 votes, compared with leader--Green Bay--with almost a quarter million).
The All-Nighter
Phil finally slept in the big-boy bed all night last night.
Of course, he was bribed with a Hot Wheels and we left the living room light on overnight....
Still, we takes what we can gets.
Sunday, November 23, 2003
Drop Down Menus for Amazon Reviews Added
The title just about says it all.
They're at the right.
Check 'em out.
Don't forget to vote.
"Mind Prey" Review Now Online
A Day of Quiet Reading
After taking about a month to make it through James' "A Certain Justice," I flew through Sandford's "Mind Prey" today (I'll link to the Amazon review after it gets posted). It brought back memories of college, racing through three hundred-plus pages in a day, though Milton, Dickens, and Sociology textbooks were never so much fun. Anyhoo, that's what I've been up to today and why there's just this one post.
Saturday, November 22, 2003
Repeating Adjectives All the Live-Long, Live-Long Day
For some reason I have been frequently repeating my adjectives. It has something to do with putting emphasis on things for Phil, such as "stay out of the deep, deep water," or "that's good, good food--eat it," but I've caught myself doing it when Phil isn't even around. Hopefully it'll stop very, very soon.
Friday, November 21, 2003
Review #5
The review for my
Lexar Media 128 MB JumpDrive is now online. Check it out. Don't forget to vote.
He's quite wily, like his old man
I woke up this morning at 7am, quite happy that the boy didn't get up to sleep on the couch in the middle of the night. Then I looked over and saw him curled up in the recliner. <sigh>
Thursday, November 20, 2003
A Few of My Favorite Things
With my birthday exactly one month away, I'm sure you want to know what I'd like (you're so thoughful like that, yet tactful enough not to come right out and ask--that's what I like about you).
Here are some suggestions (Links to Amazon.com, but feel free to shop around; save enough money to buy me a second gift):
The Annotated Huckleberry Finn
The Annotated Hobbit
Wolves of the Calla
Baudolino
Eric Meyer on CSS
That should give a you some ideas. Of course, if none of those really express how much our friendship means to you, cash will also be gladly accepted: Simply write a brief message on a Post-It note and affix it beside Ben Franklin's head (it'll mean a lot coming from Ben).
More Reviews
I've reviewed my
Lexar Media 64 MB JumpDrive at Amazon.com. Will my review of the 128 MB model be any different? Stay tuned.
P.D. James'
A Certain Justice has also been reviewed.
New Web Project
I have taken on the responsibility of developing and managing our church's website.
Check it out at www.livinghopeineugene.com.
(It may take a day or so for your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to update their Domain Name System (DNS) files. If you get a generic Network Solutions placeholder, try back later. Not that there's much to see there at this point....)
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Maybe, Maybe Not
Maybe you really like Guinness, but have trouble remembering if you need more (probably because you drink too much Guinness).
Maybe you just like magnets.
Either way, check this out.
I've got to admit it's getting better
Phil lasted until about 5:00 this morning, and even then didn't get out of his bed. Will he make it to 7am tomorrow? Here's hoping (I'm back on couch patrol again).
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Another Day, Another Review
The
Chas. Addams book review is up.
As is another.
Check 'em out.
What I'm Reading
I've added a list of what I'm currently reading over in the right-hand column. It's not likely the list will change any time soon, as the books are as thick as my arm and Phil keeps waking me up in the middle of the night.
Saga of the Big Boy Bed -- Day 3
Phil lasted in his bed until 3:15 this morning. He got up again at 7:30. Dina says she'll take couch patrol tonight. Not gonna argue with that.
Monday, November 17, 2003
Bonus Picture for New Visitors
New review at amazon.com
I added my first product review at Amazon for
this item.
It may not be posted for a few days yet, but check it out anyway. Just be sure to come back and let Amazon know how much my review has helped you.
Thwarting the Boy
Last night Phil got up at about 12:30 to sleep on the couch. How do I know? I was there waiting for him. He went (got sent) back to bed and slept until 8. Hopefully I won't have to lie in wait for him too many more nights before he figures out he needs to stay in bed.
Bad News, Good News
Night One in the big-boy bed ended with Philip getting out of bed in the middle of the night and sleeping on the couch. Time to install the leg irons, I suppose.
But he totally knows his left from his right. He got a perfect score on the "where's your left/right hand/foot/eye/ear?" game this evening. Right and Wrong should be so easy.
Sunday, November 16, 2003
What's New?
I finally took an allen wrench to the side of Phil's crib and converted it to a child's bed. He's been climbing out of bed (over the side rail) for the past few mornings, so we took off the front to make his inevitable pre-dawn escapes less life-threatening. Putting him to bed takes longer, but we had a long talk about big-boy responsibility and he's stayed in bed since then. Maybe tomorrow we'll talk about mutual funds and/or flossing.
Saturday, November 15, 2003
And so it begins...
