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Category: Everything Else

  • There’s a Party in My Philly

    Do you know Yo Gabba Gabba?

    Look, I’ve watched a lot of kids’ TV in my time. I hate most of it, as it is repetitive and mindless and condescending (yes, I’m looking at you, Dora).

    Yo Gabba Gabba is up there with Pee Wee’s Playhouse, in that it seems ridiculous while you’re watching it, but then years later you’re still referencing the jokes and singing the songs.

    Add that to the fact that awesome indie bands like the Ting Tings hang out to sing Happy Birthday, Biz Markie has a recurring bit where he teaches kids to beatbox, and Amy Sedaris plays the Tooth Fairy? C’mon, people. That’s brilliant television.

    (I just ran across an article where they describe it as “delightfully eccentric.” Funny, that’s how I’m always hoping that people are describing ME!)

    Anyway, Yo Gabba Gabba Live is going on tour and hitting 60 cities. YES. BIZ MARKIE WILL BE THERE. I heard about it when OWTK posted on Facebook that we needed to get out our DJ Lance costumes in preparation.

    I have a very literal streak.

    Have I ever mentioned how much I love costumes?
    Don’t you think I would look STUNNING in this one?

    Be honest, now– 
    how weird would it be if I rocked the DJ Lance costume for the concert?

    Please leave your vote below. I AM NOT FOOLING AROUND, PEOPLE. I’m really leaning toward embarrassing my boys within an inch of their lives, but I’ll only do it if I receive enough “ayes.” So then when they hide I can shrug and say, “What? The internet told me to do it.”

    Here’s a sample of what the show is like:

    Embedding is disabled on the Amy Sedaris video, but you should really check it out.

    The Philly leg of the tour is August 29th at the Mann. Ain’t nothing hotter than an Asian lady in an orange polyester jumpsuit and Q-tip hat in August, friends.

    Tickets go on sale to the general public in June, but if you sign up for the newsletter you’ll be alerted about a pre-sale.

    *** Disclosure: I have received no compensation for this post whatsoever. I am really this excited. Plus, I want you to be there to take pictures of me in my DJ Lance getup. ***

  • Hatchling

    It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.

    -C.S. Lewis
    Hatching is hard. 
    Giving birth is hard.
    Raising children, god help me, hard hard hard.
    All beginnings, are hard.
    Rilke said, “that something is difficult must be one more reason for us to do it.”

    (Funny how I had planned to post this picture “just because” and it took on a life of its own!)

    I’ve always said my motto is, “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”

    Do you tend to take the easy way out, or do you look for the challenge? 


    What’s your motto?
     

  • A Life Less Plastic: Reusable Produce Bags

    I was recently taken to task in a public forum for shopping at a normal grocery store– Acme– and not totally eliminating plastic from my life. Because, apparently, if I am not perfect in my quest for green living then it is unacceptable for me to give other people my opinion, even if they asked for it.

    Now,  I use very little plastic. I go for glass or paper first, and then if I have to, recyclable plastic. My initial rebuttal was that I don’t use any plastic habitually, but then I realized that’s not quite accurate: my bread comes in plastic, and I use those horrid plastic produce bags for little things like green beans. (Bigger items, like celery or onions, I just pile onto the conveyer belt loose and deal with the skunkeye I get from the cashier.)

    I don’t know what I can do about the bread yet; I am not up to the challenge of baking a fresh loaf every other day. But I did do some research and I purchased the Flip & Tumble™ Reusable Produce Bags from reusablebags.com. (Not an affiliate link, I purchased these on my own.)

    The bags are a fair size, not quite long enough for a stalk of celery (which I am OK with loose anyhow) but plenty big enough for a carton’s worth of farmer’s market strawberries, a pound of green beans, or half a dozen large apples. They are a sturdy mesh that have gone through the wash just fine (line dry) and all the strawberry stains came right out. They close securely with a drawstring, you can wash your produce right in the bag– eliminating the need to wash out a colander– AND, most importantly, the cashier can read the labels on your produce through the mesh. No skunkeye to report.

    Also, I like the multi-colored tabs on the side. I don’t know that they serve any purpose but they were a good design idea.

    I do wish they weren’t made in China. Just sayin’.

    So that’s one less thing for me to feel guilty about, one step closer to a life less plastic.

    How’s your path to green going these days?