My daughter is now twenty-two months old. Here is a completelist of words in her vocabulary. She can also sing the ABC’s, count to ten, and she’s potty trained. It pretty much shows that either a) I’m smart or b) kids can learn a lot in a short amount of time if you talk to them and pay attention to them.

I have heard a number of women in the last year comment on how hot Patrick Dempsey is in Grey’s Anatomy. For those of you who do think he’s hot, let me remind you that he was the lead character this God-awful movie.

I recently discovered this book:

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery.

I have decided to listen to 1 album off of this list each day at work, in attempts to “complete” the book. Thankfully, I have many of the albums from the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s. The ones from the 50’s-70’s may pose some financial / library card challenges.

Keep your eyes out for my postings about what albums I have listened to, short reviews and my favorite songs on each album.

Wish me luck, 1 Albums / Day (a 5 day work week) = 3.8 years.

Thanks to Amazon.com for the image and link.

Another reason I really like Jim Sensenbrenner.

The Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act

SWEET. iTunes just added season one of Chappelle’s show to their iTunes video downloads. That is definitely on my list of things to buy.

This is what I decided to do regarding my carpet vs. tile vs. linolium dilemma. I decided that my bathroom (which is adorned with a really bad linoleum job at the moment) will be done in tile. My carpeted kitchen is not going to get any of the above choices. I decided that hardwood would be the best route. Two of my five rooms are already hardwood, so this will be the perfect fit (I hope.)

Let me be one of the first many to say, the Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) awards are a complete and total farce.

Each year at the station, I get a ton of spam-faxes from the “organization,” telling me all about the going-ons at their elite fraternity, including their annual “WAMI Awards.”

Here’s a little insight for you: a number of the “awards” are won by WAMI directors, executive members, and sponsors.

Out of all of the superb country bands in Wisconsin, Great Guns has won “WAMI Country Group of the Year” six out of the last seven years.

Would it be no surprise that Great Guns band leader, Tracy Stefanski, is a WAMI director? Would be a bigger surpise to find out that Stefanski is also the chairman of nominations & ballots?

(from WAMIMusic.com)

Nominations & Ballots - Chair: Tracy Stefanski (email address removed)

It is the responsibility of this committee to oversee the nomination and balloting process for the WAMI Award Show.

Wait… it gets better. There was a tie for the Best Industry Website. The tie was between BananasEntertainment.com and MidwestEntertainers.net. This part may be shocking… so hold on to your hats: Lance Shellman of Bananas Entertainment, and Deb Mikesch of Midwest Entertainers, are BOTH on the WAMI board. In fact, Mikesch is the president!

It’s hard for me to believe that any website that requires three clicks before you get to any content (after waiting for long Flash programming to load) or one that has the word “Home” as the title of the main page on their website, which is also complete with the prerequisite, long-loading, completely unnecessary Flash file, could win ANY award. They, however, tied.

Would it also be a surprise that the Milwaukee Ale House, a sponsor of the WAMIMusic.com website, would also be a WAMI award winner? Of course not.

I feel bad for the bands that pay $40 to $180 or more for membership in this group. I feel bad for those who pay $40 a ticket to attend the awards ceremony. I also feel bad for the unsuspecting journalists, including Dave Tianen, who think that there is actual an ounce of credibility in the organization.

Mark Morris was putting together a story on this to air on WBWI - after informing him of the above information, he quickly agreed not to air the story.

So, go ahead, WAMI, give yourselves another pat on the back. For those of you who aren’t in the inner circle, however, you might want to reconsider how you spend your dues.

I was checking out YouTube.com and decided to check out the fat kid doing the Star Wars routine with a mop handle (it’s a classic.) Then I came across this little masterpiece from two kids with a) talent, and b) too much time on their hands. (link)

Yeah, I gotta get me one of these.  With adaptable use on any BlueTooth device, you can now have a portable keyboard without having the mess of lugging one around (or having one of those collapsable keyboards that are still somewhat bulky and have wires).

Thanks to James Seng for the photo.

View the demo, click here.

I love my job.  Great people, great work and a great work environment.

My office faces a delivery area in the middle of our building complex, which is U in shape.  This morning I heard a ruckus outside and assumed the new UPS guy could not make the turn in and had to back up several times…announced to the world by the nice safety-code-required BEEP BEEP BEEP. 

To my surprise, the whole lot is being torn up and re-built/re-surfaced.  Alright!  Looking out the window now, I see huge chucks of concrete and blacktop laying all over surrounded by orange cones and 2 Bobcats. 

I am giving myself 2 days before I pull my hair out from the constant blistering noise. 

Happy Monday everyone!

Kids & Carpet - not a good mix

Carpet in Kitchen - not a good mix

Kids and Carpet in the Kitchen - really not a good mix.

So… should I go with tile or linolium in the kitchen? My mind is telling me tile… but my wallet is saying “linolium.”

From cnn.com’s article from a synopsis of Time Magazine’s article about the Dixie Chix:

Natalie Maines is one of those people born middle finger first.

As a high school senior in Lubbock, Texas, she’d skip a class a day in an attempt to prove that because she never got caught and some Mexican students did, the system was racist.

What a pioneer for civil liberties and predjudice. I am really sick of all of this DC crap…on both sides of the fence. Personally, I enjoy 2 or 3 of their songs. Other than that, I could care less about them and if you do what I have been doing for the last 3 years with the Dixie Chix, their careers would flag…ignore them, don’t buy their albums, don’t request their songs and don’t write any more articles anywhere about them.

14:59

You won’t catch me muttering about this anymore. (unless someone else pulls a bone-head move somewhere that Maines’ their career…and I can make fun of them for it )

For the first time in about as long as I can remember, I spent more than 24 hours at home… without starting the car… without going anywhere but outside to play with my little one and mow the lawn (while the little one was sleeping). It felt really nice to just decompress.

So… I am going to get off of the computer now and get back to playing. I will, however, be at the Mineshaft tonight from 9 - ? for the last qualifying round of 92.5’s Country Karaoke Competition. See you there!

If you laughed at that headline, you are probably an internet junkie.

From cnn.com’s article on Internet Addiction

Signs and symptoms of Internet addiction include a general disregard for health and appearance; sleep deprivation due to spending so much time online; and decreased physical activity and social interaction with others. Dry eyes, carpal tunnel syndrome, and repetitive motion injuries of the hands and fingers are common.

Internet addicts may also get the “cyber shakes” when off line, exhibiting agitation and typing motions of the fingers when not at the computer.

Many Internet addicts have a history of depression, alcohol or drug abuse, and anxiety disorder, according to Wieland, who is an associate professor at the La Salle University School of Nursing.

“Denial is strong in Internet addicts who claim they cannot be addicted to a machine,” Wieland notes. The “one more minute” response to being asked to go offline is common and is similar to an alcoholic who says they will quit drinking after “one more drink.”

Yep, we’re all pretty much screwed.  You know this is just another attempt by the liberal media to put me (a web developer) out on the street and out of a job!

 

Just a little inter-web humor for ya, kids.  Seriously, lay off the http’s before someone passes a law or something and we all have to get our URLs in check. 

The Dixie Chicks second, Everybody Knows, has tanked. It has been on the charts for four weeks, and now it has dropped from it’s peak at #48, down to #50. Their other single, Not Ready to Make Nice, came and went, too. NRTMK is at #54 after 10 weeks on the charts.

To put that in perspective, Sugarland’s “Down in Mississippi,” is at #24 after only 10 weeks on the charts.

Note to self: don’t burn bridges you may have to cross again.

Special-interest groups, such as the United Council, should quit being shills for anti-TPA activists, and start complaining about the absolutely horrible scam known as the “book buyback.”

Yesterday, I returned two of my books, which I payed $235 for in January, and received only $65 for in return. Another book, which was brand new when I purchased it for $90, was “outdated,” and therefore they would not give me a single dime for it.

The impact that the TPA would have on students’ wallets would not nearly be as devastating as the “book buyback” scam.

In total, I spent $600 on books, CDs, and workbooks in January, and I have only received $60 back for said materials. It’s a friggin’ scam, for sure!
I need to just start selling my books on Amazon.com.

Apple finally introduced the all new MacBook. The iBook’s replacement now comes in black!

I would totally buy one… but this guy has bills to pay. Plus, the student discount on the all-new Intel-based MacBook is only $50. What a sham!

I think a new computer is in store for me next spring… and then I will be buying the 17-inch MacBook Pro.

I was just thinking about this… I officially have nicknamed the black MacBook, the “BlackBook.” You can attribute any and all mentions of “BlackBook” to me now. Thank you.

Carry on.

For those of you who are fans of HomestarRunner.com, more specifically, Strong Bad and his email reviews, you can now see his rantings (daily?) as a subscribable Podcast. Click the fancy iTunes button below to be taken to iTunes and subscribe.

 

Look out America!  The National Security Agency owns the world’s largest database which has a list of phone numbers, dates and times that you call.  This sensitive information is being held in one of the structures in the picture below.  Can you tell the difference between these 2 black monoliths which are both shrouded in mystery?

Coincidence?  You decide.

My first three semesters of my third trip to college are done, now. I finally got through finals! (phew!) I now have three more full semesters left (not including summer classes). If all goes well, I will have my B.B.A. from UWM in December of 2007.

Now I get a two week break before my first of three summer classes start. I am really looking forward to these classes:

350 Principles of Finance.
Fundamentals of financial management, asset/liability valuations, risk and return, investment analysis, sources and uses of funds, cost of capital, and cash management.

370 Production and Operations Management.
An introduction to the production activity problems related to planning, scheduling, inventory control, plant layout, plant location, work methods, and productivity. Introduction to linear programming.

391 Business Law I.
The court system, tort law, agency and employment law; contract law and sales transactions; professional liability; and legal ramifications of selecting appropriate business organization.

I am really looking forward to the Business Law class. (principles of finance… not so much). It should be an interesting summer, at any rate.