Hold On To Your Knickers Or This Song Will Blow Them Clean Off

I wondered briefly if I should save this video for next Tuesday, but I just couldn't wait to share it. The idea of you having to spend your hot and sunny holiday weekend without this icy coolness just made me feel sad for you. So here it is, The Black Keys playing "Tighten Up" (from their brand new album Brothers) on Letterman:



You may recognize the guy singing from this post... it's Dan Auerbach, whose recent solo album Keep It Hid has already been raved about here. I love him, skanky beard and all, and that was before I even knew what a champion whistler he is. What can that guy NOT do?!?

Want to hear a nice little story? My favorite birthday present ever was a trip to Cleveland. A few years ago, Mike took me to Cleveland for my birthday... in February. On Lake Erie. Why in the world would he think that would be an awesome gift? Because we went there to see The Black Keys play a concert (they're from Akron, so it was kind of a hometown show - they're always the best), and then we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We also stayed in a really fancy hotel, which is completely affordable if you are in Cleveland. The show was in this totally rundown old theater, and it was just Patrick (the drummer) and Dan (the singer/guitar player - that's the usual lineup of the band, just two people) and a huge stack of amps. If you look up "wicked awesome" on Wikipedia, there's probably a video of that show there. So whatever happens to our marriage in the future, Mike and I will always have Cleveland. :)

Here's a bonus video if you can stand the excitement.



PS - Note how many of the kids in the background are doing the Fish Stick.

Thurs(tunes)day

No one who knows me would describe me as a dancer. Balance, coordination, and a lack of awkwardness are not my strong suits. But I recently discovered a dance that really speaks to me. Forget Dancing With The Stars, the "Fish stick" is where it's at people. Check it out (be sure to turn up the volume because the song is awesome):

Fish Schtick from luomat on Vimeo.

Here's the hilarious blog from whence my enlightenment came, and here's the original posting that explains the whole phenomenon.

Katie Sez...

... Purple!

We think she means "popsicle" because purple is the color of popsicle Maggie usually asks for and Kate says purple while banging on the freezer door. She says it very clearly. I think she's going to pick up the talking thing a lot faster than Maggie did. She does hear more conversation with an older sibling. She also says:

See ya!
pots (my teapots in the china hutch)
I don't know (we think that's what she's saying)
What's that?
two or too (I can't figure out what she means by this, but she says it a lot)

She still does not say Maggie or anything like it!

Tu(n)esday

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, one of my all time favorite bands, has a new album out called Beat the Devil's Tattoo with a new drummer who was originally with the Danish band The Raveonettes. She's a she and she's a great drummer, so this band just got even better in my opinion - yay for women rockers! It's a good album and we both really like it; BRMC always manage to stretch into somewhat different styles of music while still sounding exactly like themselves. I think that's puzzling, amazing, and quite an accomplishment. Nevertheless, as good as Devil's Tattoo is, it hasn't knocked my favorite BRMC album, Howl, off its pedestal because Howl is truly transcendent. Check 'em out!

We're All About Smiles and Buddha Bellies

Want to see something cute?



That's a giggly little girl right there. She was just squirming with happiness when Uncle Mike took that shot. I've never seen a baby smile so much at just 6 weeks, so I think she's going to be quite the social butterfly. OK, so she did have more than her fair share of toots, but I honestly think these were real smiles. Look at the chubby tum on that kid! Sweet.

Meanwhile, we were all smiles, too. Mike and I dropped off the girls on Friday, had a lovely dinner for two at a Swiss restaurant in NH to celebrate Mike's birthday, and then drove down to Stamford, CT, where we stayed overnight in a fancy Hilton with a cushy king sized bed. The next morning we were in Manhattan, cruising around Chinatown and Little Italy with Amy and Betty Boop, enjoying the sunshine. We missed Roger, who was in Colorado for Guard duty, but we managed not to eat all the chocolate chip cookies I made and we left him some homemade mac and cheese and 3 different flavors of ice cream. We also went to Ferrara's, which is a block from Amy's, for coffee and pastries on Sunday morning and then back again after lunch for gelato. I seriously gained 3 pounds in 36 hours. Curses!

Want to see something else cute?



Check out that chubby tum!

And how about this?



Can you stand the cuteness? Well, prepare yourself, because here comes some more!



No get out there and have a lovely Monday, people!

Katie Sez...

ball
baby
kitty
car
cheese
bumble bee (!)
Bearby
outside
trot, trot (from "Trot trot to Boston..." a nursery rhyme)
go

Milestone

What's going on in these pictures?? It's Kate eating with a spoon from a bowl! Way to use tools, Kate. She's growing up so fast.







PS - She's eating rice pudding, which she loves. Maggie prefers rainbow sherbet.

Piece of Cake

This is the cake Maggie and I made for Mike's birthday.

She decorated it with Swedish Fish, which as you know, are his favorite. (You didn't know?! Why weren't you paying attention?!) Maggie calls them Sweetest Fish because they're sweet of course! This reminds me of when my brother was a kid and he thought that Ferris Beuller was saying "fastest energists" instead of "fascist anarchists."

Here's a pic of Mags after she finished decorating Mike's birthday and some Mother's Day cards while the cake was baking. She was getting a little sticker happy and had to take a break after this.

Besides Swedish Fish, we had sushi for dinner to celebrate... because Mike's birthday is Cinco de Mayo... so that makes perfect sense. Ole!

23 Cats on a Moonlit Night

Maggie "read a book" to me this morning and this is how it went:

23 cats on a moonlit night
Following their tracks on a moonlit night
Eating lots of cat food all over the city
23 crumbs on a moonlit night.

I think she might be quite a talented poet some day! :)

PS - My mom always thought I would be a concert pianist/novelist/neurosurgeon. I'm none of those things, much less all of them.

PPS - I will admit that her work is derivative. Her "book" is fairly similar to both Doggies by Sandra Boynton and Slinky Malinky Catflaps by Lynley Dodd. :)

Maggie Sez...

... Let's play a little game called What's the Difference Between Maggie and Amy [Mike's sister]? Let's think!

Here is the outcome of the game according to Maggie:

Same:
Blue eyes
Love of ice cream

Different:
"The hairs" (Maggie has curly, Amy has straight)
Maggie has a cat named Joyce, Amy has a baby named Elizabeth
Maggie has pretzels and marshmallows and "Amy has not"
Maggie lives in Boston and Amy lives in New York City
Maggie has a meadow of purple flowers (a.k.a. our lawn), and I don't know what Amy has

A Little Appreciation

Dear Government,

The recent water crisis here in Eastern Massachusetts has made me realize how much I've been taking you for granted. All day long every day I turn on my taps and clean, fresh water flows out of them, and I never even consider how hard you work to make that happen for me. Yes, I have to pay for that water, but it's a small, fair sum for not having to load up barrels in a wagon and go down to the town spigot and fill them up once a day. Or for not having to feed my children river water that yaks pooped in. Or for not having to wait in line at Costco for an hour and half to shell out mega bucks for bottled water only to be told that they're sold out. Try again tomorrow for some life-giving water!

And now that a terrible accident has happened and my supply of clean drinking water has unfortunately been shut off for a few days, you have a backup system already in place to provide me and my family with water that is at least clean enough to bathe in and boil, if not for drinking straight out of the faucet. Water that flushes the toilets and washes the clothes. Hey, that's better than nothing. Better than having Mike put his Boy Scout survivalist skills to use digging a latrine in the backyard. And your people are spending their precious sunny Sunday afternoon working hard to fix the problem while I do a crossword puzzle and watch Tinkerbell with my kids. Your guys are scrambling out there in the hot sun to make sure I don't have to give Whole Foods a small fortune for just enough bottled water to brush my teeth. And you're keeping me constantly updated on your progress! Way to go, Gov!

And that's what I love about you Government, ya big lug, toiling away behind the scenes to make my life so comfy and safe that I forget what it is you do exactly. You with your potable drinking water and your stop lights and your state universities and your recycling centers and your public libraries and your fire fighters. Government, you're the best!

Love,
A Taxpayer