so, there’s nothing wrong with this blog, except for the fact that i’m not updating it as much as i want to.  kelly’s gotten on board, which is good, but i thought, for all of our intrepid readers (ok, our intrepid reader), it might be worthwhile to point you over to city reverb.  this is our small group, and i’ve gotten in the habit of posting over there with some routine.  not giving up on the blog here, though.  just so you know.

ok, i’m glad we had this talk.

So, as you may know, Nickel Creek announced on August 27th, that the band is going their separate ways. This was quite saddening to Beege and me. In one desperate attempt to get to see Nickel Creek one more time, I began scouting for tickets. Needless to say, the tickets I could find were outrageously expensive.

Nickel Creek’s last show is in Kentucky, about three hours from here. Subsequently, I discovered that the tickets for that show were not even on sale yet. So, for the last 2 weeks I have been counting the days to the time in which we could POSSIBLY get tickets to this concert.

This morning, after a quiet beginning of the day, I got serious and came to the office with the phones. I sat down at the computer and pulled up the Henderson Fine Arts Center’s webpage to get their phone number and accesss to the seating chart. At approximately 9:45 I began trying to acquire tickets. At 10:02 I got on the line with a sales lady (that was either much easier than I expected or my diligence paid off). She had what I guess is a Kentuckian accent and had a very kind delivery to her words. “Would you like tickets in the rear orchestra or balcony,” she asked. “Are there any in the front orchestra,” I inquired. And what do you know!? There are a few available for the front row. I calmly, against my instinct to scream, responded that I would take those, as if I responded slower that someone else may jump in the call and get those very tickets.

So here we are, ready for Oct 30th to see Nickel Creek in Kentucky, on their very last scheduled tour show. And did I mention that both tickets were still quite a bit less expensive than one of the other tickets I found? It is a good start to this day. It will be seen after the concert if the tickets were worth all the time and effort. I suspect it will be.

there is one photogenic little thing wriggling around our house nowadays. right now, shes trying to stave off taking a nap as she relaxes on the floor to my left. she’s laying on a black blanket, with brightly colored squares around her. like this, sort of, except with her eyes closed.

anyway, there’s lots more pictures from today. so, enjoy those.

for those of you who are not local, i’ll give you a quick update as to what the baby is up to these days.

she rolls from her back to her belly. this behavior started 3 or so weeks ago. until this week, it would result in a crying fit, as she did not like to be laying on her belly, and lacked the ability to turn back over. this sensitivity has eased somewhat.

she yarfs. not an uncommon amount of yarfing, nor is it a particularly outstanding frequency. but when it happens, boy howdy. on jeans, shirts, mom, whatever. this baby throwing up thing . . . believe it.

and most importantly, she is still the most popular person i have ever been around. it’s amazing. everywhere we go, everyone we see . . . constant attention. strangers, relatives, lifelong friends . . . they all see us as baby-transport-devices, as opposed to distinct individuals. “oh good, you brought the baby,” they say. even if they’ve never met us before. and, duh, of course we brought the baby! what else would we have done with her? “oh, yes, we decided it was time for her to learn how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. we left everything she needs in the crib. irresponsible of us? i think not - we left her a plastic knife.”

grace has also acquired a lengthy list of nicknames, which ebb and flow in terms of usage. here are a few of the names i’ve called her this week:

• the taker
• danger girl
• the ruiner of evenings
• the little pooper
• the cutie
• pukeface

and, i’m sure you are all anxious to know, in the time it took me to write this, she’s waked up, turned over and farted quite loudly.

she did not excuse herself.

(slow afternoon at work) + (friend who needs something to laugh about) = (humor linkage)! hooray.

some old stuff, some new stuff. just funny stuff, in no particular order. (note: if you are offended by the content of any of these sites, chances are {1} i can see where you’re coming from and {2} you’re probably better off getting over it.)

• the farting preacher | one, two, three, four and five. and for background on this scumbag, here (not funny, exactly, but interesting in a “i hate those guys” sort of way).
• cats that look like hitler | that’s it. cats that look like hitler.
• james lileks institute of official cheer | each of these two projects has turned into a book that we like very much. even more stuff here. honestly, this is some of the funniest stuff i have ever come across.
• mcsweeneys | always chock-full of funny, here’s the winners of their 13 writing prompts contest, sure to be appreciated by anyone who had a high-school english teacher who was trying, and here’s their lists. ah, mcsweeney’s lists . . .
• retrojunk | feel like you were raised (in part) by the TV? me, neither. but i sure do remember a bunch of these shows. personally, i got to relive my elementary school crush on christine taylor (hey dude), remember how seeing old episodes of get smart made me wonder what that voice reminded me of (inspector gadget), and listen to the theme song of a show my parents told me i was too young for (cheers). sometimes i’d sneak out and watch it from behind the couch, but when i was young enough to be sneaking around like that, i wasn’t old enough to get the jokes that made it too old for me.
• the onion | nothing’s consistently funnier than the onion, some would argue. but, you may have forgotten about it’s brilliance, for some reason or another. want horoscopes? here. office politics? here. middle east conflict coverage? here. as always, there’s much more to find. i remember the first time i read the onion . . . i remember thinking “it has to be wrong that something is this funny.” not wrong. just funny.
• jesus of the week | well, the Savior has popularity, you’ve got to give Him that. some of His fame is no doubt mislead. like most of this fame, here.
• custom motivational posters | you know those motivational posters? the stupid ones, with the pithy quotes and such. there’s a site where you can create your own. and their own top 60 gallery is here. create your own, too!
• demotivational posters | the original spoof, here. still the gold standard.
• will ferrell giving the commencement speech at harvard, no, really | mr. harvard would be so proud, here.
• make your own movie | you’ll have to come up with the humor yourself on this one, but it’s pretty entertaining nonetheless. each movie creates a permanent url so you can link to it and send it around, here.
• fly around the world | using google maps’ images of the topography of a lot of the world’s great cities, you can fly over places. (and shoot guns, too.) not funny, but sort of fun, for a few minutes at least.
• funny christian shirt | the gospel, sort of.
• because someone was bound to create urinal art | …
• and in closing | which brings us full circle. just be careful, ok?

and there you have it. hope you got a chuckle or two. if you have some funny you’d like to add, then drop it in the comments.

with a really cliche ‘i’m blogging again’ catch phrase // i should’ve lost my wordpress password // i should’ve not been so busy // if i had known for just one second // you’d be back to validate my feed

that was horrendous. many apologies.

ok, so, things are always busy, so that’s not an excuse. just decided to take a couple month unplanned hiatus. that’s the whole story.

there may be more later. i’m thinking about recommitting to the frequent update thing. more and more of my friends and family have web presences, so i don’t want to be left out. and blogging is good for the soul, as they say.

so, apparently all i’ve got is some altered disco lyrics. i’ll do better, later. promise.

my big brother, pictured here, has a list of words that he hates. it’s an ever-growing list. i’m sure he would appreciate your additions.

here it is, as currently comprised:

Soups
Mayonnaise
Moist
Pianist
Growth
Doily
Humps
Clothiers
Tampa
De-plane
Reconnoiter
Crevasse
Gleek
Routine
Blouse
Capillary refill
Poignant
Pithy
Angst
Feasible
Enid
Lithuania
Rosecrans
Billabong
Oxnard
Sepulveda
Goiter
Encumber
Lucerne
Easement
Stymie

we have an old house. leaky basement, hardwood floors that probably need to be redone, supertall ceilings, you know, all the good stuff. it’s a beaut, though. we fell in love with it, like, instantaneously. put an offer on it the first day it was on the market. it’s really, like, cool and stuff. here’s some pictures, for those of you who haven’t seen it yet.
so, over the course of a few days, i’ve been attempting to collect information regarding the history of our house, and more broadly, our neighborhood. it’s been a little harder than i might have originally thought, but i thought i’d write up what i have found. (more…)

“things kelly should see” is a series of things which b.j. thinks kelly ought to see. usually they are things he comes across while working. or “working.” sweet.

making fun of christians | a field guide to modern christianity. ostensibly written for nonchristians, but funny to me. and you, probably, too.

• the interpretive dance theocrats (more…)

there was a children’s song that started like that.  don’t remember the tune very well.  regardless, ’cause it’s a tuesday and things are pretty good, i thought i’d count my blessings - each one of which has touched my life in a specific way in the last couple of days.  without further ado:

1. celebrity jeopardy
2. athleticism, witnessed
3. birthday presents
4. central america
5. us citizenship
6. modern medicine
7. music
8. mr. pibb
9. deadspin chuckles
10. comfy kicks

yes, it’s a good day.  thank you, God, for life.

laughed a lot the last couple days.

here’s something funny. right here.