Watching Garfield with Liam, who is four.
“Garfield is not funny,” I said.
“Yes, he is,” Liam said.
“Nope, he’s never been funny. Not even in 1984.”
“LAME!”
“Garfield’s lame, not me,” I said.
“Garfield is a cat who acts like a human,” he said, laughing at the TV. “That’s always funny.”
Sister Club
5
Feb 10
How to adequately judge what is funny
2
Feb 10
I really do have a Nikon camera & I used to love to take the photographs
I was on my way home from the grocery store waiting for a red light when I noticed the lady behind me doing something unusual. I watched her in the rearview mirror as she held up a page of negative sleeves up to the sun.
Wow, I thought. That’s a blast from the past.
When’s the [...]
24
Jan 10
The validity of eye witness accounts
Yesterday I rode to Rock & Roll Bookclub with Jaycie, Ben, and Max. I’m not sure how we got on the topic but Max was waxing eloquently on the awesomeness of MonsterQuest and how I should spend my time watching it.
“Eh,” I said from the front seat, “It’s not my thing.”
“But they talk about Sasquatch,” [...]
22
Jan 10
On the awesomeness of superheroes
“I think they take a bath with their suits on, right Aunt Jodi?” Liam is playing Lego Batman on the Wii. He keeps up a running dialog that I mostly ignore until I hear my name.
“Right,” I said. I was half listening at all.
“Does it take their suits a long time to dry? Huh, Aunt [...]
10
Jan 10
Winkletoe, Sparkletoe, Wushy, D.T. & Blackhole Sun Blanket
Max calls his Winkletoe and Jaycie’s is Sparkletoe. Cade called his Wushy. Liam calls his D.T., because that’s what Nolan called his. Mine’s called Blackhole Sun, a nickname given to it by my college roommate F.R. Chicken because of its resemblance to an afghan that can be seen in the Soundgarden video.
The blanket doesn’t [...]
8
Jan 10
The politics of Tom & Jerry
Liam is hopping across the living room, laughing his head off. “The mouse is chasing the dog.”
“I see that.”
“The dog always beats up the cat,” he says, hopping in the other direction. “The cat beats up the mouse. What’s the dog’s name?”
“Spike,” I say.
“How do you know? Are you sure?”
“Yes, I used to watch this [...]
23
Dec 09
Snow shoveling-masturbation corollary
The scrape and heft of someone shoveling snow always makes me think of masturbation. It’s a strange Pavlovian response, I know. But ever since I read this guy Nick’s story about a character who finds himself masturbating whenever his neighbor is out shoveling snow, I can’t get the image out of my head. I read [...]
19
Dec 09
Just what I wanted
Even though I babysit the Tibbles every Friday, I rarely get to see my nephew Cade. He’s at school by the time I get there and I leave before he gets home. Yesterday we passed briefly in the living room.
He stood in front of me wrapped in his snow gear, backpack still affixed to his [...]
17
Dec 09
Egalitarian Christmas
When I was a kid I was a present counter, strongly adhering to she who dies with the most toys win. Nowhere in the saying was there mention of the most-expensive toys or highest-quality toys. No, it was sheer quantity that mattered.
Even though I have long grown out of my present-grubbing stage, I still adhere [...]
15
Nov 09
A moral failing on my part
Some of the heartiest of Minnesotans might thing it was a moral failing on my part to take off virtually an entire week because of a cold. Those people can blow me. There is nothing fun about being sick and there’s nothing good or productive about doing a half-ass job while being sick.
No, taking a [...]
25
Oct 09
Eleven
Sometimes I could burst with all the things I need to say. And after trying to cram it all into one epic post, I’ve decided to sit back a bit, ruminate, and have a bowl of chicken noodle soup. While I ruminate, I will attempt to make some of you feel old (I’m thinking of [...]
23
Oct 09
More savvy than 89% of America
“I will always play spikeyball,” Nolan said to Liam. “Oh look, look, it’s loading.”
The Tibbles (at least Nolan and Liam) have figured out how to use Ziggy to get to the App Store, find the free Kids games, and download games. They are officially more tech savvy than 89% of all Americans.
11
Oct 09
My mom threatened to tell the Internet on me
My mom is still struggling with Facebook. She kind of grasps the concept but doesn’t quite realize that you can actively read your friends’ updates without responding or updating yourself.
Tonight, at Jaycie & Max’s birthday party, she was telling us how she noticed that a woman she went to high school with had just joined [...]
25
Sep 09
Questions Liam, age 4, asked on our 10-minute drive to SuperT
What does it mean to bow down before the one you serve?
Why did Michael Jackson love Stevie Wonder?
What is the name of this weird song? (Sir Duke)
Why is his name Stevie Wonder?
Where does he live?
Does Stevie Wonder go to Target?
Is he dirty or does he take a shower?
Will we see him at Target?
Do you [...]
