Critter Vocabulary

/
Ella's vocabulary at 19 months:

"cheese" her favorite food - she also knows exactly where it is in the refrigerator
"Mom"
"Dad"
"Dis" 'this'
"Dat" 'that' - often confused with 'Dad'
"Hi"
"book" used in combination with the above, she can tell with surprising accuracy which books are Dad's and which Mom's
"juice"
"ball"
"dog" used a lot less now that Muta and Cleo are gone
"pooh" when pointing at the tv, short for Winnie the Pooh
"pooh" when pointing at her diaper, short for "I have a special something for you now"
"bum" also used when pointing at her diaper - short for "Can you please change my bum now?"
"coke" references any canned beverage. In Ella's mind, all of them belong to Daddy - no doubt due to the amount of Diet Coke I drink. (I've also managed to train her that all the remote controls are Daddy's, too. )
"car"
"go"
"uh-oh"
"phenylketonurics"


She doesn't say "yes" and "no" yet - but she has been shaking or nodding her head for months to indicate her agreement or (more often) lack thereof.

The next phrase we're working on is "Vote Bush."
Read More

Holy Smallpox Batman!

/
The other night over dinner, the bride starts to tell me a story about some article she read that day. Bride: 'So this librarian found an envelope of hundred year old scabs in a book - ' Me: 'Ew! Stop! Eating a pork chop here!' Bride: 'Yeah, but listen, they were these smallpox scabs -' Me: 'Stop saying that word while I'm eating, woman!' Bride: 'What? Scab?' Me: 'I must go vomit now.' I don't know what it is about the story, I'm not particularly bothered by my own scabbed wounds, or even my daughter's skinned knees for example. But there's something about other people's scabs that really just makes a pork chop inedible.
Read More

eMail that makes sense

/
It's a little close to Christmas to be geeking out too much, but with the sheer amount of email I receive daily, I found this article interesting.
Basically, it outlines a new way to look at threaded conversations, transforming what is often a confusing, linear stream of messages (1 dimensionally) into something that traces the conversation both chronologically and by sub-threads - or who replies to what (2 dimensionally - get the pretty picture?)
As vital as email has become to most people's work habits - with the noted exception of my mother (who still believes the internet is some form of 'voodoo') - there's really been very little in the way of true innovation in the way we read and keep track of email since the late 80's. Outlook is prettier than PINE, but not necessarily more functional As a random poll, is anyone using something other than Outlook (or Express), Lotus Notes, or Eudora anymore? (Note: webmail - hotmail, yahoo, or anything accessed via the browser - doesn't count)
Read More