Happy Halloween

Before I strut out of the house in my orange shirt and black shorts I wanted to drop in to say Happy Halloween. This is my second favorite holiday behind Thanksgiving and I've already played my loud recording of ghoul sounds to get me in the spirit.

I saw on NPR that the average American has spent $64.82 for this big day, meaning consumers have spent over $5 billion on Halloween. I guess people are going to sport some pretty amazing costumes while eating barrels of candy.

In the meantime I'm spending my Halloween with the normal conditioning, weight lifting, and everything else routine. It was a special day because I got a hot apple cider and a chocolate glazed donut in the company of the Democratic Chair of Massachusetts. She's hilarious. I always leave her with a huge smile smeared across my face. Right now I'm blogging for her at www.ruralvotes.com and writing an occasional article elsewhere when they ask for me (aka www.dailyyonder.com). Life is good.

Before signing off I just want to wish my Grandma Thayla a very happy birthday. Whether or not she's ever seen this blog is a mystery to me, but regardless, I wanted our blog observers to be there for her in spirit. She's truly one of the most amazing people I've ever met. So Happy Birthday Grandma!

Now for the music. My current musical tastes are pulling me toward the lounge friendly Nouvelle Vague.

You Know Your Mom is Kewler Than You When...

It's official, my parents are kewler than I am. Almost every time I call they're swamped, and it's usually not with work. Whether they're attending some sort of dinner party or preparing to go to a friend's house, they have a more vivacious social life than I do. As a college student, this seems weird.

At first I was in denial. "Ah, even though I'm staying in tonight and listening to Van Morrison while my parents are out on the town I still have a lot of friends," I'd think. It's true, I do have amazing friends. But let's rewind to the part where I'm staying in to listen to Van Morrison. Really, I should go out more.

I've officially accepted my lack of social suavity in comparison to my immediate ancestors. In fact I've begun to embrace it. I like that most people have never heard of the bands on my ipod.

Just the other day I took a break from research to check my email. My mom had sent me a link to www.SweetskinZ.com. The site, which features great web design and cutting edge artistic bike tires that reflects at night, is really amazing. Here's a screen shot of the site's intro.



See, that's pretty awesome. But what I really want to know is how my mom found such a cool site and company. Who knows, while I'm reading The New Yorker every week with a 49 year old mean demographic she's probably taken on BMXing. My parents really could do anything, but that doesn't erase my perplexed awe.


While I'm pondering exactly how my parents passed their college aged daughter on the coolness scale, I'm listening to John Doe and Kathleen Edwards' beautiful duo "Golden State."

Actually, even though this guy is awesome he's not all that cool, but that's all right with me. If you're looking for cool you know who to seek out. There's something to be said for not being as kewl as your mom. Plus, I can replace the famous, "Your mom goes to college!" with "But my mom is kewler than yours," and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Plea for a Free iPhone

Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein and Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen sat down for Rolling Stone to record a video and it's brilliant. First they start with a discussion about chocolate and then they delve into how they'd tell everyone about the iPhone, Prius, or iPod. It's funny, it's nerdy, and it's slightly awkward. But most of all, this clip is hilarious. Why didn't I think of this?


Watch the video by clicking here (clicking on the photo doesn't work, sorry).


Here's my favorite part:

Fred: "Oh man, I mean how am I going to get on the internet and text and make phone calls without my music on there."

Carrie: "I have so many pictures, and it's like, I want to share with my friends when I'm out, but my camera can only store like two."

Fred: "That's too bad. I don't like the Blackberry, or the Palm Pilot. Hmm, what about the iPhone, by Apple?"

Carrie chuckles, almost losing it.

Carrie: I think that's a great idea, but you know, I wish I could get my hands on one. I really need to feel it to understand whether it's good or not."

Fred: "I need to feel them both in both hands, to compare hands."

Carrie: "And an extra one in my back pocket. I want to see, you know, what's the weight of it? Does it make my jeans sag or do I still look good."

Fred: "I don't know, I have no idea."

Carrie: "Yeah, I don't know."

Fred: "Well, we sure would like to try one out. Because then I would tell everyone about the iPhone, by Apple."

Carrie: "Apple's iPhone!"


While Fred is dreaming about putting Feist on the new ipod he'd tell everyone about, I think I'd like to download a little Tegan and Sara. Yeah, this duo would sound good in those trademark white ear buds. I'd walk around listening to their songs and telling everyone about the new 160 GB ipod...