My mom used to manage an arcade called Family Gameland after her and my dad split when I was little. On the weekends we spent with her, we would go with her to open the place up on Saturday mornings and when she turned on all the machines, there was one credit on each one. My brother and I would fight over who got to use the Paperboy free credit, as well as Pole Position, Centipede and Astroids.
Later, she managed/worked at a bar (Rocky Hill Tavern, why do I still remember that?) and they had the Astroids and Centipede games there too - so those were definitely my favorites. As well as dropping quarters in the Juke Box to play some really cheesy music I don't even want to admit to.
Now? I really don't play games anymore. It's just not my thing. But my son loves Pokemon on his hand-held thing (I dont even know the names of them all - I'm so lame) and my husband LOVES NCAA Football on the systems we have at home.
I'm speaking at a Day One Beginning Blogger workshop at Blogher in about four weeks. It's called "Blog In A Box" and is described as follows:
All the basics for the beginning blogger, or the blogger who wants to take the next steps toward geekdom. New bloggers will create a blog with RSS feeds, a blog roll, and know how to add links/photos to their blog. Basic to intermediate html will be covered. We’ll also cover how to switch from one blog tool to another. Miss Zoot and Heathervescent are on hand to walk you through. Plus, Melinda Casino will cover the nuances of good blog manners: disclosure, attribution, non-spammy commenting and trackbacks.
We are having a conference call today to discuss how to present the information, what platforms to discuss, etc etc. I had, at one point during the days of "COMET" hoped to be able to discuss VOX as a current option of choices, but since it doesnt look like it's going to be accessible without invitation, I guess I'll just be able to discuss it "theoretically." I'm sure I'll give out plenty of my starter invites, and maybe I'll have a few standards to share as well...we'll see.
Oh my god - so many books - so little time. But, I'm going to go with one that "enhances" my life because I've been thinking about it a lot lately -
All of the Harry Potter books.
When I first started the series, it was right after Book 3 came out. I was single mom struggling to work full-time and finish my second college degree. I had almost no money and someone had given me a Books-A-Million gift certificate to thank me for helping them with a project. I remember wishing they had given me cash so I could, you know, pay bills - but whatever.
I bought all three of the books and I'm not sure why. I had never heard of them before, but I'd always been a fan of reading kids books, since I wanted to have stuff to talk to my son (who was four at the time) about. I read all three books in one weekend and it was such a wonderful escape from my lonely life that I immediately latched onto them and read them again. A professor of mine had read them too and he's the one who told me how popular they were.
Since then? I've celebrated ever Midnight release. We see every movie the day it comes out. My son and I enjoy the series together, sharing news tidbits we've heard, having parties celebrating book releases, and just enjoying the world of Harry Potter.
As a mother to a pre-teen, one of my biggest priorities is always having things that my son and I can continue to share, to keep the lines of communication open. Like with any relationship, if you have nothing in common - bonds weaken, and I need us to be a strong team through the upcoming teen years. As we approach the final book in the series, the excitement grows, but so does the sorrow because I will feel like a chapter in my life ends with the release of book 7.
I've been wanting to buy the Panic! At the Disco album for awhile now, and just haven't gotten off my butt to go do it. But, for some strange reason this morning, I've had this line "Haven't you people ever heard of...closing the GOD DAMN door..." stuck in my head all day and have almost starting singing it several times at random in the office, which would not go over well, I'm sure. Since that is the only part of the song I know, I've just been saying that one line in my head OVER and OVER and OVER again. And it might be making me a wee bit crazy.
"Listen To What The Man Said" - Wings
Dude. I have NO idea what song that is. And this makes me feel very out of touch. I may download it tonight so I can at least have heard it.
21st birthday
"How Do U Want It /
California Love" -
2Pac feat KC & Jojo,
Dr Dre & Roger
Troutmans
Eh. Blah. Oh well...I'll find someone else's songs to use.
Some pokemon my son gave me
Well, the test failed because it still added this crap (To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade your existing QuickTime� Player. Note: During the download) with the entry from my cell phone. Can I fix this on my end somehow? Is there a setting I can change with my cell phone (damn you Verizon!) or is this one of the mobloggin' problems other Verizon users are having?
Jodie Foster. Seriously. I started getting this around the time CONTACT came out and I've been getting it off and on ever since. It's always random and complete strangers that say it, never anyone who knows me, so I have decided there must be some subtle manerism I have that people close to me don't see that makes others see Jodie Foster.
I took that picture all by myself. How cool is that? EEK. I'm so proud of it. We went to the new butterfly house at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens this weekend and it rocked my socks. We used the trip to test out a new carrier we got for NikkiZ.
It was a great trip and I was completely amazed by all of the new stuff. Granted, it's been a year since we went, but they did a crap-load in that year and the place looks great. We didn't get a chance to cruise around the entire garden because the rain came, but we got to see the new stuff and that was good enough for now.
Botanical gardens, downtown walk, join the Y, buy a backpack, and a bunch of other stuff because I like to stay busy on the weekends.
Michelle wrote about a prank idea she found at Kristy's and I became very excited to try it on my son. Unfortunately, I didn't have the patience to actually set it up in a way that might be funny so this is the first attempt I made. I just told him to "smile" which really isn't that akward of a pose and makes a rather boring video. (This was taken on our Date Night at the local Japanese place we love.)
Another of my brilliant sideways videos. One of these days I'll download something to actually rotate the video. Until then? Turn your monitor sideways. This was my second attempt at the prank when I was trying to get him to model the picture of the guy on the warning sign. GREAT akward pose if I had thought of it first, but the attempt was totally ruined because it was the SECOND try. Still kinda funny though.
