Month: February 2009

Shuffling Off to…the Swim Meet

Today I took some time off to serve as a timer at the swim meet for Andrew’s school.  I do this every now and then to make sure I connect with that part of Andrew’s life during the school year, and because every parent needs to volunteer to make these meets work.  It was great fun and Andrew dropped time in all his races.  I even got to time him in the 500, when he beat his personal best.  What fun. But this post isn’t about swim meets and getting your pants wet (which I did .  Those high school boys come in hard for the touch at the end.)  Nope, this post is about why I love the Shuffle feature on the iPod. I have about 3,500 songs or so on my iPod.  About 2,400 of them are in one playlist that I call “Americana.”  That’s where I dump in all my albums and iTunes purchases that have anything to do with bluegrass, acoustic music, country rock, Americana, blues, you name it.  I can go …

Beyond Crestfallen

Norman Chad, an Arizona Cardinals fan writing in his regular Couch Slouch column in today’s Washington Post, has a funny time line on the interminable Super Bowl pre-game show.   But the humor turns LOL funny as he talks about his Team of Destiny and gets to the winning catch: 9:27:  Warner to Larry Fitzgerald makes it 20-14.  Destiny’s knocking at the door! 9:48:  Warner to Fitzgerald again gives Arizona its first lead, 23-20.  Guess who’s coming to dinner?  Destiny!  I can’t control my breathing. 10:00:  Did Santonio Holmes really catch that?  Yes.  I am beyond crestfallen, I am crestcomatose. Crestcomatose.  Now that’s a great description for a die-hard fan’s reaction to losing. More to come… DJB

Food Groups of the Apocalypse

Sometimes you read a line that makes you laugh out loud AND hits you in the gut at the same time.  Writing in today’s New York Times, columnist Frank Rich had one for me.  After recounting the recent job losses and drop in new-home sales, he writes: What are Americans still buying?  Big Macs, Campbell’s soup, Hershey’s chocolate, and Spam – the four food groups of the apocalypse. Great line, unfortunately. More to come… DJB