Leave it to Google to distract me from fiscal responsibility. As I settle in to pay my phone bill online at the last minute, I get mesmerized by the bright shiny thing on the Google home page.
Today, the Google logo is Miro-inspired, which would be a lovely thing, except for the fact that a nosy-nellie like myself is now hopelessly off-track for the day. I feel compelled to understand WHY.
I'm not a complete philistine (hey, I went to art school...) so I do know that it is the 113th anniversary of Joan Miro's birth, but geez, what an obscure milestone to celebrate with a commemorative Google logo. What logo is slated for tomorrow? The 2,759th anniversary of the day Rome was founded?
I'm sure the blogosphere will give me the answer before the end of the day. I'll be sure to update this post for anyone who, like myself, actually gives a shit about this kind of stuff.
UPDATE: Turns out the estate of Miro were less-than-thrilled about the tribute. They asked Google to remove it. I guess they didn't get permission to re-use certain elements in the logo. Google honored the request but issued a statement that they did not believe the logo was a copyright violation.
I've given birth to yet another blog. So that now makes 3. Oh, plus my Flickr blog. I haven't found my online voice yet, so I've been a bit like a teenager trying on identities.
My latest blog, The Hippest Kid, reflects quite a bit of soul searching. I took a look at my bookmarks and instantly realized my true calling: Shopping for quirky kid's stuff.
I live in a college town where the Baby Gap lasted about a year before its transformation into a Gap underwear store for co-eds. The only place to find cool children's clothing is Target and that is stretching the meaning of "cool" for me.
As such, I rely heavily on the Internet when shopping for the Dude. I've accumulated one hell of a link collection too, so I decided that my true calling in life must be to perpetuate the gross consumerism of simply FABULOUS kid's stuff.
I'm fortunate enough to have quite a few UXP (user experience planning) years under my belt. I forget that sometimes. Over those years, I get emailed a lot of cool stuff by friends and through newsletters I've signed up for about my profession.
So, I'm experimenting with a new blog called UXP m e m e s, where I'll aggregate some of the new ideas I think are cool, sexy AND most importantly, useful.
I'm still working on my blogroll, so posts may be sporatic at first. I may ask some friends to come over and play from time to time as well.
Please check it out and let me know what you think.
Mike and I have come up with our fantasy list of celebrities we'd bag if not married. We've included our "if we were gay" selections for your enjoyment.
Mine: Jude Law and Angelina Jolie Mike: Helen Hunt (don't ask...) and George Clooney
Today, I'm thinking of adding ol' Georgie to my list after this ballsy public admission on the Huffington Post: He's a Liberal!
I get all hot and bothered just thinking about it!
Spent the day working and trying to tune out the Kipper the Dog theme song. Jude was home all day and a limited collection of DVDs became our nanny. I swear, I'm really not a crappy mother MOST of the time... I DID allow a brief Maisy interlude. (If you are unfamiliar with the joys of Maisy Mouse, let me direct you to this primer about Maisy from Mimi Smartypants.)
For those of you following our travails, Jude is NOT sick again, which is the typical reason he is home on a Monday.
In case you hadn't heard, Lawrence was hit by a tornado that damaged 60% of the buildings on the University of Kansas campus. So, when KU closes, apparently, so does our daycare.
This probably pisses me off disproportionately because Hilltop is also the official disease vector for the the city of Lawrence, KS. And also because I only learned about said closure after driving across town to an empty daycare parking lot at 7:30 in the morning.
Tomorrow should go better... Mike just heard news that the daycare will be open. The only spoiler would be a sick child but we all know that NEVER happens in our family.
Well, add another oddity to the list: a chocolate skull cast from a mold made from a real human skull. For a mere $143.00, you can do your own unique rendition of Macbeth dinner theatre.
This is a really cool idea, a great, real-world use of wireless devices that addresses a real need. Washing machine and dryer makers supplying laundromats could really take this and run with it. I love the idea that the machine could call you, say 10 minutes before your load is done or when a machine opens up. Or in this poor guy's case, call 911 when you do something really stupid.
I lived on the 12th floor of my dorm when I was in college. It really sucked to go all the way to the basement, just to see if a machine was available. Heaven forbid I burn off a single calorie of my precious freshman 15.
Think of all the time I could have freed up to drink more cheap beer and get laid...
Heard on NPR this morning that Life photographer Gordon Parks died. What an odd bit of synchronicity, given that there is a current exhibit at the Spencer Museum featuring his work.
"Gordon Parks At Home and Abroad: A Small Selection, February 7–March 19, 2006 Study Gallery"
Found this lovely image courtesy of the BoingBoing post about his death.
Heard about this web site run by the not-for-profit group Environmental Working Group today. I was horrified to learn that fully one third of personal care products contain at least 1 ingredient linked to cancer. I also didn't know that the government cannot mandate safety studies of cosmetics, and only 11 percent of the 10,500 ingredients FDA has documented in products have been assessed for safety by the cosmetic industry's review panel.
So what is a mother to do? Well, I promptly searched for all the products we use on Jude. I am obsessive about using organic and natural cleansers on him and was stunned that even our "Green" bodywash contained some shady ingredients such as methylparaben, which is considered a "potential endocrine disruptor, raising concern for impaired fertility or development, and increased risks for certain cancers".
How did we fare? Our California Baby Super Sensitive Bodywash got a score of 0.6 (5 being high), our Eucerine Plus Intensive Repair Lotion got a score of 1.7 and the Cetaphil cleanser got a 1.8.
I'm afraid to look up my own products since the only thing I use to determine quality for myself is "Does this smell good AND get rid of lizard skin?"
I guess it never occurred to me that my body lotion might cause breast cancer and kill me.
Guess what? The whole household is sick AGAIN! I know that comes as a no real surprise to everyone given that we've only been sick 8 of the last 12 weeks this year.
I'm trying really hard not to make this a blog about my health because this is so freakishly unlike how we usually are. I guess this is the new "normal" that comes with daycare. I'm not going to concede to this easily. I'm looking for an alternative as soon as possible. Not sure what that means yet, but I just don't know how much more of that disease-riddled environment I can take.
I guess when I chose Hilltop, I thought that because it was affiliated with the university, it was the best choice. The program is excellent and Jude has really blossomed there. However, the reality of 10 snotty-nosed kids playing in close proximity has really hit me.
A friend may be gettting a job at KU, so if that works out, we've discussed doing a nanny share. It would be great since I work at home and can make sure no mischief occurs during the day. Fingers crossed on that one.
July can only come too soon. That is when Mike will have worked off his indentured servitude. Did I actually type that outloud? Silly me, I meant finish his doctoral internship. He'll be able to start watching the boy while wrapping up the ol' dissertation.
Or at least that's how the movie in my head goes...
