as expected - #4...#8

No surprise here that I couldn't keep it together for more than three so it looks like I've got some catching up to do.

Favorite Movie: The Dark Knight

Since I only saw two this year (I don't even want to get started on the second) the pool of contenders is pretty thin.  Needless to say, The Dark Knight would have been my favorite even if the other didn't suck so bad, which it truly, truly did.

This was definitely my most anticipated movie of the year so seeing it opening weekend was the only option.  With a babysitter booked Pink and I saw the only movie he would see this year.

Upon first reflection I thought that Heath Ledger had the most amazing and creepy performance.  He stole the movie.  One of my most favorite actors ever, Christian Bale, seemed only like eye candy to me, at the time.  But after I really started to think about it I was more and more impressed with Bale's performance.  I think so many people were focused on Heath because of the tragedy that Bale was wrongly overlooked for his deeply complicated portrayal of a conflicted hero.

Of course, Christopher Nolan is a creative genius and deserves major props for creating such a brooding, thoughtful, and intellectual commentary on society, resurrected from a super-hero franchise that hasn't entertained us in the last two or three installments.

Favorite Indulgence: iPhone

I know that my sister will disagree, but every minute of the 360 that I waited in line for that coveted object was so worth it.

I happened to be in NJ the day the new iPhones were released this year and had to have it that day.  H and I went to the mall with Jack (not quite a year old) and got in the most massive line I have ever seen for anything I have ever wanted to purchase or even see.  It was beyond ridiculous.  But it was with such optimism that we were sure the line would move at a steady pace.  I mean, it's Apple, they had to have anticipated this demand and had to have the process so stream-lined that it would take mere minutes for each individual, right?  Alas, no one counted on a server going down, or all of them for that matter, for something like 4 hours.

So after 6 hours, H taking baby J home to feed and nap him, my line-buddy and I getting cut by some a-hole who tried to play it off until I called him on it and kicked his ass out of the queue, one bathroom break, one cookie, and one Wendy's cheeseburger (courtesy of H when she returned to the mall with my child, her two kids, and a friend's kid) I finally had my precious 16GB white iPhone in my hot little hands.  Oh, the joy.

Favorite Beer: Sweetwater IPA

For those who don't frequent the Atlanta area and surrounding states I don't know that you've had the pleasure of a Sweetwater IPA.  Simply stated, the best local-brewed IPA in the Southeast.  Too hoppy for some, but just right for me.  This, by far, is Sweetwater's best of all the beers they brew, even the old standby 420 doesn't put up a fight.

Favorite Athlete: Lance Armstrong

So he's been running in some marathons or something like that.  Who cares about that?  All I care about is that this year Lance announced his return to cycling.

This sport has suffered so much since his departure with scandal after scandal and no major talent with a personality, certainly not an American one, to even want to watch.  Ok, maybe that's not true.  Alberto Contador gave us some hope this year (by winning the two major races he was allowed to compete in) that there was a cyclist out there good enough to win a lot and root for.  But now that Lance and he are on the same team (a MONSTER of a team at that), who are the domestiques going to ride for: the best cyclist EVER (who hasn't competed in oh three or so years) or the best cyclist of 2008?

When Lance retired everyone thought it would be good for the sport because now the field would be more even, like golf without Tiger.  But honestly, it sucked.  There was no one who was even close to Lance in ability and then when we think we've got another American as the Tour victor, there's scandal.

It's time for everyone to acknowledge that Lance is a beast and cycling just isn't as entertaining without him, whether he's going to win this year or not.

Favorite Celebrity Baby Name: Levi Alves McConaughey

Given my penchant for celebrity gossip I've read and heard all those crazy names celebrities don their babies with a million times this year and you can't help but feel sad for some of them. Levi seemed like a fairly normal one followed by both his parents' surnames, perhaps because I'm a fan of Levi Leipheimer.  Maybe that's the only reason I like it, but it's way better than Ignatius, Zuma, and Bronx.

Uh-Thhhhreeeeeee

I've mentioned by obsession with the following in a previous post so I won't elaborate too much.

Favorite network tv show: Gossip Girl

This is all H's fault, because we always have to blame someone.  At first I was just casually catching up on the first season and then the next thing I know I was contemplating upping my netflix to the max - the three day lagtime between discs was killing me!  Needless to say, by the end of the first season I was a Chuck convert and he's quickly become my favorite.  Love the smarmy guys.

Fave #2

In keeping with the music theme...

Best Album I Don't Yet Own (but will soon): Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut

Satellite radio is my friend. I'm addicted to Alt Nation (ch. 21) and feel pretty lost when I have to drive in the car without it. It is Alt Nation that I have to thank for bringing this great record (are they even called records anymore?) into my periphery. Since I don't own it yet I've only heard three songs, all of which just make me smile and want to get on a surf board.

G's 2008 Faves - #1

As is custom with the passing of another year, there are lots of lists proclaiming the best of the best from throughout the year. Various mags and websites have theirs so why not have my own? But since Jackers has kept me so busy this year I think I'll have to rattle off just my fave for each category.

For the rest of the year I'll post a favorite each day, shuffling out the old and making room for the new. Let's hope I haven't over-estimated my ability to come up with 12 favorites things or the discipline to post something on my blog for 12 straight days (I don't think THAT'S ever been done before).

And...GO!

Favorite Album: Cold War Kids' Robbers & Cowards AND Coldplay's Viva la Vida

I know, I'm already breaking my own rules by listing two favorites for this category, but let me explain.

No doubt that these are my two most listened to albums of the year, with CWK just edging out Coldplay. No doubt that both of these albums are just genius, absolutely genius. Technically, this CWK album was released in 2006 but definitely did not come to my attention until this year, hence including it in this category. Viva la Vida is the legit choice for 08 but even if I had to pick only one, it would be Robbers & Cowards. Check it out when you can, it's amazing.

christmas is coming and i'm ready

I love this hat my Mimi bought me.  Aren't I just the cutest?  I'm ready for you this year, Santa.

is there something on my forehead?

A few weeks ago Jack-Attack got attacked by a toy, again.  Pink and I both thought he had tripped and fallen and then we realized he nailed his head on the pop-up toy.  Ouch.

everyone needs a jack-o-lantern on halloween

Happy Halloween!

Here's Jackers last night trying on his costume.  I'm sure we'll have some better pictures tomorrow without his pjs on underneath.

pot rack

The kitchen is finally starting to look like we actually live in it instead of...er, um, someone else?

As you can see, we hung the light over the weekend and tonight we threw the pot rack up.  We don't have enough hooks quite yet to hang all the steel, but soon...soon.

And what a relief it is to have my beloved Nepresso back where it belongs.

On another note, volleyball season is about to suck me into its vortex.  See ya'll in about 8 or 9 months.

kitchen pendant

Here's what we got to go over the kitchen table (the large metal one). I think it's about 15 inches wide instead of 6 like the other we liked. Good ol Pottery Barn.

Asparagus!

So the walls are finally done. I love it - Pink doesn't love it, but doesn't hate it.  I think the color looks really good against the cabinets which I think I've decided not to refinish - just some new hardware.  But I do think the color looks little more yellow in the pictures than it really is.The next step is to prime the sink window and the door and then I'll get to painting it.  We'll be able to put the table back in the center of the room but for the time being we won't have a light since we're not putting back up the chandelier that was there before.

This is what I'm thinking of for the light over the table but I'm worried it might be too small - it's only 6.5 inches wide.

time sink

In one week I've got two completely different time sinks: the kitchen project and Facebook.

I love that the kitchen will finally not look like yellow stained teeth.

I hate that my life this week has been swallowed by the black hole that is Facebook.  It's like crack, seriously.

Here's a shot of the kitchen ceiling while we were priming last night.  No, really, that's how yellow the ceiling was.

Here's what it looks like tonight after the first coat of ceiling paint and primer on the walls.

I'm ready to build a fort, Papa!

This doesn't completely capture how hard Jack had to work to get between the two chairs to climb under the end table, not to mention the effort to pull all his buddies and the cat bed in there with him as well.

I heart Juan

Progress!

After waiting 2 weeks for one guy to show up and give us an estimate Juan came to our rescue at a bargain price.  The kitchen is finally coated and begging for some color.  It looks incredible.

It is now so obvious how dingy the ceiling looks.  Tonight we're going to caulk, sand the trim, and wipe down the walls in prep to prime both tomorrow night.  I anticipate some asparagus by the weekend if not sooner.

Jack's morning shout out to Twitch

I got nothing

Milly was giving me a hard time about not posting anything. I really just don't have much to say but in the interest of keeping my sister-in-law entertained, I offer you the following.

The standing joke in my house:  If I didn't incubate Jackers in my own belly I wouldn't know (and you wouldn't either) that we shared even the smallest number of genes. 

Exhibit A:  Pink on his first birthday. 

Exhibit B: Pink and Little Bear together (yes, that's the same chair).

Uncanny, isn't it?  Complete with the blonde hair, blue eyes, wide feet, and a devastatingly (to me, at least) early preference for right-handedness.  There goes my major league baseball plan for the little guy...

On another note, I could just kick my sister for getting me into Gossip Girl.  The last thing I needed was another show to watch and I'm completely hooked.  And I'm still only catching up on last season!

I've got this season's first two episodes safely tucked away in my DVR like presents waiting to be unwrapped.  I keep seeing them there, teasing me, taunting me to cave and watch them now!  But I won't.  I won't, I won't, I won't.

This has also blossomed into my new obsession with NYC.  So much that I could almost want to live there, almost.  Of course, sans all that money and an amazing wardrobe (and the body to go with it) it wouldn't be nearly as satisfying.

Doc Glock, who knows, maybe you were right to embrace The City as you did when we were young.  Who would have thought I'd regret that now?

eyeball bender

My mom used to get a subscription to a magazine called Games when I was growing up. They used to have this feature called Eyeball Benders where you had to identify an item or product from just a small piece of an image or a logo or something. This guy likes them, too. Anyway, here's my own little eyeball bender for ya'll.
Can't guess? Don't know what it is yet? Ok, I'll tell you.
This would be the inside of my forearm after kissing the edge of a hot sheet pan tonight. Stupid cookies.
In addition to the searing flesh, Pink has been dying for me to blog about what happened yesterday.
We took Jackers to a park to let him check things out and cruise the slide. The little dude loved walking aimlessly all over the place, through the grass, on the path, wherever. He was a man on a mission, just about never stopping for anything.
So I'm walking with Jack when I realize I've stepped in dog shiz. Gross, brown, smushy, and smelly. Oh, did I mention I was wearing my Rainbows?
As I'm calling for Pink to grab Jack and as I'm assessing how much poo I've actually gotten on the side of my flop (because all I care about is making sure it doesn't get on my naked foot) I feel, rather surprisingly, like my other foot is being stabbed with tiny needles. It took me 1.2 seconds to recognize that I was feeling pain because I was so focused on wiping my shoe on the grass without spreading the poo any closer to my skin (yeah, I know, I could have just taken it off my foot to wipe it on the grass but that would have been too easy and then my hand would have been too close to the poo).
Right, so here I am with one flip-flopped foot in shit and the other one attacked by fire ants.
Brilliant.
On a bright note from the weekend, we got Jackers his first pair of Chucks. Also brilliant.

vomit rocket resurrection

Lots of you know my friend, Jimmy, aka the slacker yacker (a story for another time but ironically appropriate for this post).  When Chino moved to Atlanta he brought his car with him, The Vomit Rocket (no connection to the alias, really, completely separate tales - do I sense a pattern here?).

The story goes something like being in college and drunk and a friend puking but unable to get the window down so vomit sprayed the roof, among other things and people.  The worst part of the story is that he lived in Texas so the next day the stench was baked into the car for forever.  And I mean FOREVER.

This is the car we traversed Hotlanta in for a few years - the stench and splotched fabric are so vivid to me that I almost feel like the drunken night is my memory, too.  This is also the air-conditioned-less hunk of shit we took when we moved Jimmy to Baltimore and listened to Pulp Fiction (the movie, not the soundtrack) on a cassette tape in a boom box we had to buy at the outlet store on the way because the stereo was broken.

I think TVM has long since been retired, no longer cruising the Baltimore streets, but Jack paid homage this week when he lost his milk all over himself and the car seat Thursday morning on the way school.

Normally I don't take Jack to school but on this particular day, two days fresh from mocking Pink for getting the banana vomit, I was taken to task.  I heard a cough and then in the rear view mirror I saw the curdled cheese pour out of his mouth, down his chin, and soak into his tee.  The look on his face never changed, a dead expressionless stare through all four massive eruptions.  I watched slack-jawed in disbelief, mostly I guess at his ability not to cry or scream or even seem the least bit interrupted, like he didn't even know it was happening.

Eventually I turned around, got us back home, we bathed and changed him, and started the trip all over again.  We actually made it there this time.

But like Jimmy's story, the worst part may have been that I was late for work now, late for my safety inspection, and had to leave the vomit-soaked car seat in my black hot Jeep all day in Atlanta, hot humid Atlanta.  I left all the windows cracked but when I tell you that I could smell the car as I approached it from 10 feet away I am not lying or even casually exaggerating.

big day

Yesterday (after the acid banana episode) Jack got his first fat lip at school.  Not surprisingly, he was running around sucking on a toy and jammed his face with it when he crashed.  

The good news today, though, was that Jackers is moving up to the next classroom next week!  Yeah!  We know he's been looking forward to reuniting with his buddy, Liam.

acid banana

This morning Jackers threw up banana all over Pink's bare chest. It was awesome.

stupid wallpaper

Not quite as easy as we envisioned.  I was kind of hoping we wouldn't even need the steamer like when we did the foyer and living room.  But alas, a second layer of wallpaper makes it thoroughly impossible to remove the first one easily.  

Pink spent the better part of the day steaming off the wallpaper but it just wouldn't be satisfied until it took half the drywall with it.

But before starting this morning Pink got a baby gate to keep the Jackers out of the kitchen during the process.  As you can see, he was not happy about the new barricade.

Poor Jackers.

the return II

So, it's been a while.  So long that we've had a Jack in the meantime.

But Team Chianti is back with a mission.  While we struggle to find time for the bikes, we've decided to bring part of the kitchen into this decade (the cabinets, range, and countertops will have to hang back a while still).  4 1/2 years after the initial painting crusade we are finally ready to immerse ourselves back into it, but just barely.

Feast your eyes on the amazingly retro wallpaper we uncovered hiding beneath the pink and blue flowers.  It's kind of hard to see, I know, but that's because the previous owners primed over it so it has this lovely whitewash effect (ok, Pink wins, it's glue, not paint like I thought).

Pink is planning on removing the homage to Italian-chianti-basket wine and avocados tomorrow.  It reminds me of the wallpaper in my grandmother's kitchen at 10 Meadowbrook Road but Marsha says it's not the same.

I'll be sure to post pictures of our progress toward our asparagus-colored walls (oh, yeah!) and two-toned windows.  Sounds like a hot mess doesn't it?