Whoa! That Banjo! — Mumford and Sons

Ready for some fun music today?

Have you heard Mumford and Sons? My son told me about this band and gave me his CD to borrow, so I’ve been listening to it in my car. And I can’t get these songs out of my head. …

Apparently they came out of a recent English folk movement and have been popular in the UK since about 2007, but they just released their single in the U.S. in February. Since then, they’ve been on David Letterman and are getting some big-time radio play here. So different. So fun. Sort of a fusion of Irish folk/Bob Dillon/raging banjo. And check out the lead singer pounding that bass with his foot. …

 

If you want to hear one more, this is my favorite song:

Why I Love ‘Mad Men’

Yay to “Mad Men” for winning another Emmy! I really look forward to Sunday nights. No, I’m not in love with Don Draper, but I’m really in love with his story, and the story as a whole that Matthew Weiner is telling.

Let me count the ways:

  1. This presentation of the 1950s and 1960s seems real to me. We’ve long had romanticized versions of the 1950s. Many of us have parents or relatives who tell stories about the “good ol’ days,” or we’ve all at least read some e-mail quoting George Carlyle about how stand-up all the kids were from back then. We’ve seen “I Love Lucy,” or maybe “Leave it To Beaver” or “My Three Sons.” That era has been romanticized forever because of its postwar country-wide deep sigh of relief. (And, granted, the boom in stylized architecture/ clothing/ appliances/ etc. was truly spectacular.) But here’s the thing: The era was great if you were a white, middle-class man. If you fell into any other category (black, Jewish, poor, homosexual, woman, child, etc.), you were kind of screwed. I think Mad Men is the first time I’ve ever seen that fact portrayed on the screen. And the show takes a person from every “other” category and throws them into the world so we can see how they had to sink or swim. Continue reading

Punctuation Humor

My friend (and fellow word-nerd) Marla just sent me a link to this Cake Wrecks post called “Perfectly Punctual” and said it made her think of me. …

I try not to overanalyze why a post about bad punctuation on cakes made her think immediately of me, but … well … I guess I know. …

I love punctuation.

And I love cake.

And I love jokes.

(What’s confusing about all that?)

Have a peek if you love punctuation jokes as much as I do:

Perfectly Punctual – Cake Wrecks blog

Can’t-Skip-‘Em Summer Activities

Wow, can you believe it’s Aug. 23 already? Where has the summer gone?

I was moaning about this to Superman the other day — But summer’s almost over! We haven’t even had dinner at the pool yet! We haven’t gone to the art festivals! We haven’t made s’mores! We haven’t been to an outdoor concert! — but he calmed me down.

In a strange case of role reversal, HE actually thought positively before I did, but we both started to talk about all the great things we did do this summer: spending a great weekend in Palm Springs, taking an awesome road trip, having our nephew Justin over, having a few great hamburger-grill-outs on the patio, entertaining our parents with summer fare on the weekends, spending one afternoon at the beach club, spending fourth of July at our lake, taking an evening stroll around the lake. Fun stuff. And the kids — man, they’ve had fun. They got to spend time with grandparents, eat sunflower seeds all summer while watching baseball, play in the courtyard with friends until it was dark, sleep over at friends’ houses, visit with their cousin Justin, etc., etc. …

So much fun, really.

So I focused on all of the things we did do and tried to let go of the things we didn’t.

It’s a much happier way to be. 🙂

(And, really, I have a few weeks left, right? We can still get in the outdoor concert, possibly, and still get in the dinner at the pool. … And still swing another bbq with my parents. … And a few more evening walks at the lake. … and … hmmm. …)

What about you? What are the things you feel you MUST do each summer to make it really feel like summer? Roast a marshmallow over a fire? Jump into a pool? Dip your toes in the ocean? Go to the fair?

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