polka dot suitcase » Archive for November 2009
When medical dramas and football collide
Okay, so I’m not the only brainiac who has been pointing out how much Dr. Foreman, from the show House, and Mike Tomlin, head coach from the Steelers, look alike. And I’m sure I’m not the only annoying brainiac who spends part of every televised Steelers game saying, “Dr. Foreman, you’re needed in emergency! Stat!” every time they cut to the sidelines and show Coach. And I’ll bet I’m not the only one who said, while watching … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
Ten years come and gone so fast
So this coming Monday will be a very big day at Chez Polka Dot. It’s… Mister Steel’s birthday!! I know you’re thinking I should be waiting until Monday to celebrate, but when you’re all polka dotty like we are here (not literally), we like to celebrate birthday weekends. Sometimes birthday weeks. And if it’s my birthday, it can go on for the whole darn month. I cannot believe my baby is ten. Holy smokes. Kinda makes you weepy … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
10K away from a first draft
So I’m doing NaNo, writing a first draft in the month of November. I’ve been very dedicated, and now I just crossed the 40K mark (the goal is 50K). Ah, if only I had a dollar for every word I’ve written. As far as first drafts go, it’s not totally hideous, but it’s pretty scary. And not scary-because-I’m-writing-a-horror-manuscript. If only. I’m looking forward to edits and revisions. I love revising. I hate the first draft process. Mostly the overcoming inertia thing, but then the keep it rolling thing and just gag your inner editor. That’s hard. Really hard. Turns out I’m very, very good at being critical of my writing. For an article, say, 1200 words long, it’s easy to hold back the criticism for the first draft, and then unleash it … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
Missed opportunity
So this morning, I had a fantastic snake made out of mustard on top of my Canadian bacon-on-English muffin (kind of an international breakfast, I guess). It was perfect. And I showed the kids, and they agreed: A perfect mustard snake. I even took little English muffin crumbs and made eyes. And then I happily slapped the top muffin over the snake…split seconds before I realized…I never took a photo to show you! Ack! I slowly lifted the muffin up. I could have taken a picture of the perfect mustard road kill snake, but it didn’t look nearly as good. Sorry. Next time I’ll do better. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
Partners in prose
I was going to be very clever and find something that rhymed with “crime” for the title of the post, but it’s o-dark-thirty in the morning and I couldn’t come up with anything. Alliteration will have to do. Anyhoo, I mentioned earlier I’m doing NaNo again this year. But this year, I’ve got a fabulous writing buddy to do it with me: Sir Buffalo Sushi! (Applause, applause.) We’ve got a very cool salt rock lamp that we turn on when we’re in writing mode. It starts the inner creativity juices flowing and alerts Mister and Big Fish to tiptoe past us very quietly because we’re working on our masterpieces. When this light’s a-burnin’, don’t come…uh…okay, still can’t rhyme this early. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
Life imitating art
In a hilarious example of life imitating art, I read this story from ABC news. Seems like a bunch of kids started using a made-up word, and the higher-ups got ticked off. Hello? Can you say FRINDLE? … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activities, Fooling Around
Veterans Day
Hello Blogglings! Sir Buffalo Sushi here. Even though it’s not Friday, I’m writing because it’s Veterans Day. Veterans day is when, in 1918 on 11:00 of the 11th on the 11th month, the Germans and We and our allies of World War 1 both signed a Armistice. (Shortly said, a Armistice is a document declaring peace.) So, not surprisingly, Woodrow Wilson, our president at the time, called Nov. 11th “Armistice Day”. But, in 1953, Al King, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
Life in the 18th century
Yesterday, the guys got to do some livin’ in the 18th century. What fun! (I can say that because when we were done, we hopped into our vehicle, picked up a pizza, and watched Monday night football on cable, all modern day perks. The 18th century is fun in hindsight.) The day started with a musket demo. The kids were itching to try it themselves, but no such luck. Bummer. First activity of the day: Writing with … Read entire article »
Filed under: Adventure