Useless Blogging

Julie is sick today. So anyone online wondering where she is, the answer is “still in bed”. I hope she’ll be awake enough and well enough to eat lunch with me.

In related news: bleh.

Just wanted to publicly thanks my mom for being awesome and letting me
have (or at least hold) one of her bluetooth headsets and microSD cards
from her new phones. She has given me much in this world, and continues
to give. Many thanks, for everything.

I think I stole a set of Julz’s nail clips when we were at the river. I had brought one of my own, and I took one of theirs thinking it was in fact that one of my own. Looking through my laptop bag today, I see that MY clips were in there… leading me to believe I’m a damn dirty thief.

Mea culpa.

I have a new cell phone. The number is commandeered from my father’s old number. You should really contact me to find out the number, if you don’t already have it.

ESPN – Rangers’ 30 runs sets AL record in rout of Orioles – MLB

Anyone got the Ravens’ number?: The Baltimore Ravens, who play across the parking lot from the Orioles, haven’t allowed 30 points since Week 12 in 2005.

To make us feel better, ESPN.com offers 99 other notable blowouts.

Mom’s dad passed yesterday at the age of 81 (Mom’s thoughts). He’d outlived three wives, a world war, and having to raise three kids on his own.

While not my closest relative, I’ve always admired (even when I didn’t realize it) his simplicity. Fate didn’t bless him with abundance, but it did allow him to be remarkably content every time I had occasion to see him. This unadorned happiness is hard to come by, particularly in this day and age. That it’s in my blood makes me pretty proud.

Pop-Pop is survived by my mom and her younger twin brothers, and then eventually, me.

I’m the only person I can think of that had to do research for his wedding vows. I forget who I ended up quoting (Dante Aligheri made the cut, I think, and there was another), but I had to break out some serious academic chops for those words. Yes, a simple profession of love might have sufficed, but that’s just not my style — plus, there were college professors, elementary teachers, and high school teachers in the audience! If you’re going to throw a party, you need to play to your crowd.

So what does eight years get us? Our favorite meal at our favorite restaurant, our first local babysitter and hanging out with a cat with thumbs. But that was just tonight; the most recent cap on an ever-expanding life together.

Happy anniversary, Julie. I love you.

Below the cut since it’s long, but I wanted to make a copy somewhere, and this seemed like the right place. It’s worth a read, and certainly worth watching.

(more…)

In a word: passion.

Just Throw The Ball Already (from the Baltimore Sun’s blog “You Don’t Say”)

Write the way a literate, informed adult would talk.

Shun jargon and journalese.

Grammar, syntax and usage are the tools of your craft. Master them.

There are a few real rules in English and a host of bogus rules. Learn the difference.

And, most of all, get to the point. Take this sentence: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The creation of the universe has a 10-word lead. Why does this story need more?