It's blue, because that's the color your skin will turn if you go outside uncovered for any length of time. Seriously, it's brutal. I woke up this morning to -13F temps. Officially at O'Hare, today's high was +1F. That's it. That's the coldest New Year's Day on record; the previous was 5F in 1969, I believe. They've been talking about it for ( Read more... )

My dad managed to hurt himself this morning and has spent much of the day lying on the floor. He was all set to go run errands and then all of a sudden, boom. Apparently whatever this was happened when he went to grab his cigarettes. See, cigarettes are harmful. We're not sure what's going on at this point; could be a spasm, could be a slipped ( Read more... )

Backdated, this time due to internet issues.For the second time since Friday, I couldn't get here to do what I wanted to do. Unlike Friday, I couldn't get online at all. It was only when watching the news that I learned why--there was a multi-state Comcast outage. Well, okay, at least it's not me. But it's frustrating when you've tried ( Read more... )

I realized something the other day. After getting her meds, Kirby totally reminds me of Mr. Burns from that Simpsons/X-Files crossover from years ago. You know, the one where people think he's an alien. Kirby's eyes get kind of big, and she just looks at me with this odd cock to her head. And she's very jumpy, like I'm giving her birdie ecstasy ( Read more... )

Our internet access has sucked as of late. I was able to get on before work yesterday, but that was it; the next time I could get on was just a couple of hours ago. Not good. Particularly when I have an article I need to write and send off. I actually wasn't too upset about not having internet access, though. I about went into a sugar-induced ( Read more... )

I once owned a TV that had sound, but no picture.

The sad part was that I'd watched so many Simpsons episodes that I still knew what was going on even without being able to see the show.

"D'oh!" (though I typically spell it "Doh!") and countless others ( Read more... )

Over the weekend, the Chronicle's weekend magazine had a listing of the top ten road trips in the Midwest. The Fox River Valley (Chicago area) made #9. The blurb: "State-31 meandering along the water to wildlife areas and towns with cafes and antiques and specialty shops (800/217-5362)." This was one of just two for Illinois. I'm glad to know ( Read more... )

Much has been said this week about more people knowing the characters of The Simpsons versus their First Amendment rights. Sadly, I am covered by this heading. However, I bring you a handy-dandy chart to help you remember your rights by correlating them to the Simpsons themselves.

How the Simpsons compare to the First Amendment
First Amendment ( Read more... )