weapons of massdistraction

Things that made me smile this morning:
01: This photo of a lost and found flyer in NYC.
02: Pollen Design’s Walkie-talkie watches, with switchable faceplates.
03: Radio K has put a song into rotation…by a band whose name I can’t help but like, and their music is catchy too. Say Hi To Your Mom has many mp3s up for your listening enjoyment.
04: My dear friend is having difficulties, but her post about them made me laugh. And reminded me of something. In the late 90s Electrolux set up the Essén family, of Sweden, with a fridge cam. I fondly recall making frequent visits to the site for updates…to see a shot of one bleary-eyed family member scoring a late night snack, or the lot of them assembled for a group photo in front of the fridge. One of the funnier photos was of the teenage daughter sticking her tonque out, to show off her piercing. Sadly Electrolux doesn’t seem to have archived any of this precious stuff. The sole souvenir I found is halfway down this page.
05: My own geekiness as I wait with bated breath for tonight’s 100th episode of Angel.

We are clearly insane. Despite yesterday’s snowstorm, we decided the time had come for our pilgrimage to the Ice Palace. So we got all bundled up (I am glad I wore my snowpants, even if I looked dorky) and hopped in the car. I gunned it, hoping for the best. And thus our adventure commenced, with the car completely stuck in the driveway. We live less than two miles from downtown, so I had considering taking the bus, but the fare costs more (for the three of us) than parking in a ramp. The husband got out and tried pushing, then shovelling the car out. We weren’t making any progress until a kindly neighbor joined in the effort, with her shovel in hand. After a half hour or so we were finally on our way, with the poor husband panting and sweating. Things went a bit more smoothly after that. I got us downtown, and parked in the closest ramp available. The little man was excited, though unsure what was happening. He fared better than expected with the long trek down uncleared sidewalks. Upon arrival we were able to walk right in. The palace was a beautiful sight to see, but the experince was marred by: 1) the giant Pepsi banners 2) the loudest, most god-awful music blaring from giant speakers. The noise was so pervasive it drowned out any attempts at coversation (a lot of money must have changed hands to have allowed this atrocity to be inflicted upon the populace). I tried to dance to the music in my head instead while we wandered around. We’d gotten there just before sunset so it was interesting to watch darkness fall, with the palace glowing more brightly. Apparently we walked out just as the evening light show was going to kick in, but we’d seen enough, and headed to Rice Park, where the ice sculpture contests take place. I even saw a pile of fresh, uncut ice blocks at the corner of the park. The little man would likely enjoy watching the artists go at them with their chainsaws, but it might give the kid ideas. The finished results are always amazing, though. It was too cold to linger so we briefly warmed up inside the library. Luckily we didn’t suffer any wardrobe malfunctions, though the snowpants were a little tricky when we stopped by the restrooms. As we made the long trek back to the car we were all growing cold and tired, but the husband was still able to carry the little man on his shoulders for a while. The boy was obviously worn out and kept asking for dinner, which only made my tummy growl even more. We are definitely an anti-Atkins household. When we got home we were all clamoring for carbs. The little man demanded rice, the husband downed a bagel and I, naturally, had ramen noodles. After warming up, and filling our bellies, we relaxed by watching Gigantic. It made for an interesting end to an excellent, if exhausting, afternoon.
addendum: I was too tired to post the photos last night, but the gallery is now ready for your perusal. Enjoy.

The coming of February has lifted us from our funk…somewhat. The temperature, at fourteen degrees above zero, almost seems balmy. The little man and I went outside to play for the first time in weeks. So much snow had fallen since our last outdoor adventure that it took a while to locate the wayward sled. It was buried under at least a foot of snow. Unfortunately the stuff was too cold to properly sled on. It was all powdery and dry, disallowing the buildup of any momentum. Instead we kept getting mired in it, with the little man whining with impatience. Didn’t take long before we gave up on that entirely. I then made an attempt to teach the boy the fine art of snow angel making. While he found it amusing, seeing mommy lying flat on her back in the snow, he didn’t deign to join me. We settled on swinging together, on the creaky frozen swingset, bundled up with snowpants and all. But we had a good time.
addendum: Snow angels are nigh impossible to capture on film, digital or otherwise.

The husband was mocking me, as he does. This time about my photography hobby/habit. Guess I can’t blame him. We’ll be out and about when I feel compelled to stop and whip out my camera…every few feet or so. It’s worse if we’re in the car. If I’m driving I’ll pull over to capture something that’s caught my eye. If he’s driving, he won’t. But he’ll get to hear me complain endlessly about the missed opportunity. Even around the house every time he turns around I’m contorting my body to take a photo from an odd angle, down on the floor to shoot in macro mode, or trying to capture the little man, who is perpetually in motion. So the other night the husband started out mimicking me, by setting up random pieces of crap to photograph on the computer room floor. But then I could see his interest was actually piqued. He enjoys playing with and figuring out techie toys. So naturally he dug out the manual. The one that was still in the box…that I never bothered to open. The one informing me how underutilized my poor camera really is. The remote control was still shrink-wrapped. And the camera had never taken a panoramic shot. But the husband is changing all that, and putting me to shame. Sort of. While he’s got the technical aptitude, I don’t think he’s quite got the eye for it. Yet. That can be developed, with practice (I don’t want to discourage the man from enjoying one of my favorite pastimes). He even took the first panoramic shot, but it turned out sort of Escher-sque. See for yourself (click on the image below to launch a larger version). Expect further experimentation from one or both us in the near future.

Ah, this old house…of HORROR! Obviously I know it’s cold, but the thought hadn’t crossed my mind that it’s cold enough to…freeze the kitchen pipes. Our kitchen is the only room in the house without a radiator. Its only heat source is the oven, when it’s on. But we’ve been too busy hiding out in the cozy computer room to cook…only entering the kitchen long enough to reheat quick meals in the microwave (my ramen addiction shows no signs of waning, and the sodium levels in my favored cup of curried mock chicken noodles will one day kill me). It was the husband who discovered the frozen pipe problem last night. And to my relief he dove right in, with our little space heater in tow. After some serious recon he located one small segment of piping that seemed to be causing the problem. It is in too awkward an area, in the floorboards, to be wrapped in insulation. He focused his efforts there and got the water going again in under an hour. What a handy man. But for now we have to leave the tap on. It’s -22 today (the coldest in seven years), and that’s without the windchill. This means it is also far too frigid for sledding, or anything else outdoors (including a visit to the Ice Palace). Yet the backyard calls to me, with its virgin snow. The only tracks visible are those made by non-human animals. Hopefully we’ll be altering that soon. Allegedly it will warm up a bit on Saturday. And, hey, that’s tomorrow already. I swear, time passed differently when I was working forty plus hours/week. The weeks seemed so much longer when I was forced to leave the house on a regular basis, and to drag my poor child out into the elements with me. For now I have the choice, which I relish, to stay inside. But I can’t keep my thoughts from springing ahead…to a time of playground visits with light jackets, or even short sleeves. Soon it will be February, the longest shortest month in Minnesota…followed by the long march of March. There have been many a blizzard in Aprils past, but I am hoping for some sweet relief this year in the form of an early Spring.
Update: It would seem our house is turning into an Ice Palace of sorts. Not only did the pipes freeze, but the water that Jasmine has splashed out of the cat dish has frozen to the floor. Sigh.