Monday roundup

Got a whole slew of stuff to write about today, and little precious time. After all, we do leave for Yellowstone in a mere 38 hours, but who's counting?

For starters, I'm always getting hassled by my wife for the seemingly trivial nature of my blog posts. So I'd like to take a moment to explain a bit. I do this for a couple reasons: to dispatch fun/neat/interesting stuff I find online without turning it into an email forward, to keep a journal of sorts for myself, to leave a sort of "historical record" that maybe someday Lola (or legions of adoring fans) will want to read, and to keep in touch (at least unilaterally) with friends and family all over.

That said, I'll proceed to ramble.

Past: You might notice a fun little gizmo I added to the sidebar on the right - Blufr seems to be good for some fun and learnin'. This weekend, we: had a yard sale, did pretty well, got rid of a bunch of stuff, had a good time with neighbors who joined in, and made about $100; and painted some of the kitchen cabinets. Why does painting invariably take longer and take more coats of paint than you ever plan for???

Present: Enter this contest and take me on a trip if you win.

I'm trying to get around to reading "55 ways to have fun with Google" but just haven't gotten to it yet. Thought it worth point to anyway.

You might be wondering why we haven't posted any videos lately...our digital camera that we shoot them with seems to have died in terms of video. All we can do is still photos now. So if anyone's looking for that perfect gift...Canon powershots have a pretty good history with the Tiar family.

Weather update since we don't have that little doohickey on cheztiar anymore: COLD last week, but sunny and pleasant now.

Lola update: Geez she's getting big. Combining words into phrases like "Go see Mama", "Smell candle" (candle-smelling being one of her obsessions, along with lip balm), and "take shoes off". Toddler, schmoddler, she's a little girl now.

For those so inclined, a quick roundup of other blogs I enjoy: BoingBoing, Lifehacker, Parenthacks, Fresharrival, and Best Week Ever. There are others, but those are the most FVB (frequently visited blogs). Downtown makeover is good for Reno redevelopment updates too.

Future: Nick's show at Neverender gallery sounds really great in and of itself, but that it's the inaugural show for Neverender in their new building, which happens to be where I first lived alone back in 1993(?) makes it even more fun.

Librarians are gearing up for Banned Books week, September 23-30.

And finally, as mentioned above, we leave for Yellowstone on Wednesday and will be gone for a week. Probably no updates to this site, probably no replies to email, probably no phone calls answered. But when we get back, hopefully a bunch of great photos.

Thanks for reading, bye for now!