Destined for Stardom

Made it through a whirlwind weekend and now need a rest but, alas, I'm back in the saddle again.

Friday night, I worked until after eight and then took the kiddos, while I was in a state of utter exhaustion, to see local teen band 441. These talented kids write and play mostly originals (except for some notable songs like Jet's Are You Gonna Be My Girl?) and the crowd is chock full of youngsters dancing and holding giant poster board signs. I felt like I was at the filming of teevee's fictitious Big Time Rush except that people actually like 441. Band aside, I loved watching a) the break dancing elementary school boys and b) the pseudo-hipster parents rockin' out (i.e., a pathetic mirror to my own aging soul).

After taking the boys to swimming on Saturday, I finally made it with my girlfriend Gretchen to the George Eastman House to see the Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock 'n' Roll Photographs Selected By Graham Nash exhibit just before its run in Rochester ended. I'm so glad I made it! As Gretchen said, every museum should have The Clash playing in the background. I couldn't agree more. The photos were fascinating. I even liked the quotes on the walls . . .

I want to get a real camera and spend a year recreating all of the photos with my kids and girlfriends. I think I'll start with my favorite Neko Case picture (taken by Alice Wheeler); but, it'll star me and my boyfriends -- when they're old enough to drive.

It was nice having a girlie day. Shopping at the Parkleigh Pharmacy (buying nothing), lounging at Starbucks on Monroe, looking for fun stuff at Archimage and finally buying a delicious chocolate ganache cake for Grannie Annie's birthday at Goodness Cakes.

On our way home, we stopped to take more pics of the snow monsters. Note the one from last week is now fully colored and in the process of eating someone!

Word Up

I was just creating a Wordle image for a presentation to depict graphically just how fragmented our client's industry is. Afterward, I decided to throw my whole resume into the Wordle application to see what would happen.

Watching the Detectives

Last night Son #1 needed snuggles to fall asleep. He was all jacked up about playing his saxamaphone three times today in a series of school concerts. "Mama, it's as exciting as Christmas Eve."

Well, thank God he has that going for him now that the cover was blown on Santa earlier this month. The kids figured it out after discovering Santa's wrapping paper in my closet. Neither was too upset although Son #1 was like the penultimate sleuth. "That verifies Tommy's suspicions, as well."

Son #2 was very offhanded in his approach. "Yeah, I figured as much." A clear lack of concern there. However, a day or two ago, he offered up the following incongruous statement, "I'm beginning to think that the Easter bunny may not exist either."

Go figure.

Trading Places

Every once in a while (i.e., a dozen or so times per day), my coworker Jennifer and I get a bit jealous of someone we know or read about. A client with the proverbial money tree in his yard. The woman who found out she's Oprah's half sister (ka ching). Or today's 20+ year old entrepreneur who just graduated from RIT but also started her own business and made millions . . .

Envy is never, ever a good thing to allow to fester -- especially when we each have so much to be grateful for.

The other day, as I was driving along the snow swept highway to visit a client and feeling a little down about absolutely nothing, an old Nik Kershaw song came on the air and the lyrics made me laugh. "I got it bad, you don't know how bad I got it. You got it easy, you don't know when you've got it good."

Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoes even if it was for just one day?



In a semi-related note, why are Nik Kershaw and Marshall Crenshaw inexplicably intertwined in my synapses?

Venus Envy

Shrieked in our family room last night, "Dude, I just Saturn Uranus."

Fashion Crime

For ages now, I have been thinking of starting a blog in which I would shop once/week at a store with a crappy brand image for fashion (e.g., Sears) and I would limit myself to items on the sale rack. I wondered if I could find crazy bargains and still look good (relatively speaking!) or if it would be so confining that I would begin to look like a character in Mudflap Bubbas' old life.

On Thursday, I was running an errand and briefly stopped into the Dress Barn on an ancillary scouting expedition.

The findings are shocking: The Dress Barn fashion is a) actually worse than I ever imagined (and I'm pretty imaginative) and b) much more expensive than my middle American budget can afford.

Example: Marled Hooded Sweater Coat -- originally $49.99 | now $25.00

Their own site says, "Operates a chain of off-price women's apparel stores." But twenty five dollars for that? Is that "off-price" or just "off-fashion"? Is that affordable when half of all U.S. households generate income less than $46K per year?

So I have to rethink my middle Americana chic shopping blog. I'm not sure I want to drop $1300 this year on a load of crap just for the challenge.

Gone Daddy Gone

I was on a WebEx this morning when the host's cell phone rang. Wait, I recognize that xylophone!