I’m in Oklahoma City on a business trip and had the honor of being able to visit the Oklahoma City Memorial this evening. It is beautiful.

Every detail fits with the next and is worthy of its noble cause.

The things I cannot get over are how the symbolic empty chairs remind me of Arlington National Cemetary in Washington DC…

…and how some sick (F***s) humans could do such terrible things to other human, and even worse to children.

I don’t know what I want to say about this…I wish there was something I could do to help make sure this never happens again, but I know that just writing about it or donating some money won’t slow down monsters like this.

I wish I were at home to hug my daughter.

Yesterday, Tracy, Sadie, Luke (Sadie’s boyfriend), and I all went on the Sprecher Brewery tour, followed by a tour of the Cedar Creek Winery in Cedarburg. We had a lot of fun… and a lot of beer/wine.

Check out the gallery:

I have no idea what the hell the deal is, lately, but between home improvement stores and restaurants, I’ve been getting some crappy customer service. I’d write about all of them… but I don’t want to bore you, and it depresses me.

This is INSANE.  If I was a felon and then was caught purchasing unregistered machine guns, can bet your ass I would be up in the clink for a few years.

But, going par for the course, rapper T.I. (real name Clifford Harris) has avoided a “lengthy prison sentence” by agreeing to perform 1,000 hours of community service (while being able to live at his plush mansion) and must tell kids “not to make the same mistakes he did”.  He then has to spend 1 year in prison.

Of course, those mistakes will most certainly be well-documented (and profitted off of) in his forthcoming albums, where the music will fly in the face of his commuted sentence.  So, kids remember, if T.I. says “don’t use guns” to you on a tv commercial, that is what he REALLY FEELS, if he says “I hit’em up with my A-K” blasted in a car stereo, THAT is just entertainment.

The story from CNN.com

To cure jealousy is to see it for what it is, a dissatisfaction with self.

~Joan Didion

The story of the little girl who died at the hands of her “faith-healer” parents makes me sick. Here are my thoughts on those types of people:

Asking God to heal you is fine, I’ll agree with that. However, when you turn down His help, you’re being selfish in the highest regard. He gave doctors and nurses the knowledge to heal you. Rejecting His help in hopes that He’ll perform some other miracle is downright ungenerous. Yes, in cases where doctors can’t fix you, you’re going to have to pray for a higher miracle, but if He has already granted you the miracle you need to be fixed - don’t look a gift doctor in the mouth.

There is a pretty slick plugin for WordPress called, “PodPress.” When it’s working, it provides a really cool playback option for podcasts and other audio. Whenever you upgrade WordPress, however, it gets all bipolar, starts kicking babies, and pisses all over your couch.

Hopefully they’ll figure out a way to add it to “the loop” without h*cking up WordPress image functionality, like it so often does.

*Note: For those of you who are using WordPress 2.3 or higher, and your thumbnails are not working, disable your PodPress plugin and you will again enjoy Thumbnail bliss. I believe WordPress 2.5 has it’s own podcast system (non-plugin), but I haven’t tested it yet.

Anyway, to MightySeek - I love your plugin - when it works. When it doesn’t, it’s a little bitch.

This is just hilarious.

Over the last week or so, I’ve been tackling my kitchen upgrade project. I feel like I could be on “Flip This House.” So far, it’s been going quite swimmingly. I’ll post some pictures later this weekend.

Last week - Replaced cabinet hardware.

Monday - Installed countertop, range hood, new sink, new faucet, and removed tile backsplash.
Tuesday - (had school) Removed old adhesive from backsplash and prepped surface.
Wednesday - Installed travertine tile backsplash.
Thursday - Grouted backsplash.

My plans for the weekend -
Today - Remove trim, pocket doors, and (ick) the carpet from the kitchen. Install cement backerboard. Then I have an appearance at the Mineshaft from 10p - ?.
Tomorrow - After appearance at Keith’s Marina in the WB between 11a and 1p - Install tile.
Sunday - Rest.

Next week -
Grout. Seal and caulk backsplash. Install GFCI outlet, new regular outlets and switches, and my fancy new brushed-nickel outlet covers. Seal floor grout. Paint. Install new window treatments.

Special thanks to Phil and Tracy for their help! And thanks to Claude and OOS for their sage advice. I didn’t imagine that this project would be this easy and relatively inexpensive. It’s pretty fun watching my house transform from a 1960’s carpeted-kitchen nightmare into something that I’m actually proud to live in.

A note from the Fuzz Martin Media Nerdery: This is just a test post from WordPress 2.5.

There is nothing more to see here (or anywhere, really).

 

Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.
- Bill Gates

Windows Vista.
- God

I’ve been busy… too busy to write up the details on our engagement.

You wanna hear it… here it goes…

[UPDATED] - added photos and the story after the jump…
(more…)

From The Onion, NSFW

From my UWM email:

Campus Safety Alert: Suspect in custody after armed robberies

One suspect is in custody and another suspect has been identified
following three armed robberies south of campus between 8 and 9 p.m. on
Monday evening, March 24. The suspect in custody, arrested less than an
hour after the first armed robbery, has confessed to being involved in
the robberies, according to UWM Police Chief Pam Hodermann.

UWM Police assisted in the case by identifying a stolen car and chasing
suspects on foot.

Additional details are online at:

http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/police/crimealerts.htm

Anyone with additional information about these incidents should call the
Milwaukee Police Department Criminal Investigation Bureau, (414) 935-7302.

UWM Police and University Relations offer information on remaining safe
at the Campus Safety Web site:

http://www4.uwm.edu/safety/

Also at the site are directions of how to sign up for the university’s
S.A.F.E. Alerts text-messaging system.

Here’s an OLD SKOOL joint for ya’ll!

While in the shower this morning, I remember seeing Urban Dance Squad in Madison (with Little Blue Crunchy Things) back in the day.  Here is Deeper Shade of Soul, UDS’s “big” hit. 

ps.  Fred Durst, Incubus, 3-11 and everyone involved in rap-rock/rapcore music owes UDS everything for breaking out that style in 1987!

Microphone:

Pineapple:

I need to say “Thank you!” to my neighbor, Phil, whom I railroaded into coming over to my house last night to help me install a new kitchen sink, counter top, and range hood.  Everything looks great and I finally don’t have that ugly-ass counter top and white sink that had been in my house since, oh, 1964. I’m going to install the tile on Saturday (thus removing the carpet from my kitchen) and also a tiled backsplash. Then I’ll be done (and can move over to the bathroom!).

Phil will be rewarded with beer. Or whatever kind of reward Lisa’s cool with.

Thanks again, Phil!

She loves the taste of her Uncle Fuzz’s hand.

It had been 40 days since I had enjoyed a beer. So, yesterday I made it my tertiary mission (behind getting engaged and celebrating Easter) to try a delicious microbrew. While driving around taking photos, we stopped at Acorn Beverage in Whitewater, WI. They claimed to have over 100 micro brews on their sign out front. I only counted 77 (I keed, I keed), but they seemed to have a great variety of beers that I had never heard of.

I settled on Founders Brewing’s Dirty Bastard. It’s a Scotch Ale and it’s friggin’ dark and delicious. My mom’s husband, Forrest, said, “damn, that’s strong.” And he was correct. For not having a sip of alcohol in 40 days, this was definitely a kick in my low-tolerance-having ass. Delicious!

(Note to BD and TomInGR: Dirty Bastard is brewed in Grand Rapids)

I drank three and took a nap. Man, I’m a friggin’ lightweight.

/10 bottles of beer on the wall.