Monthly Archives: May 2010

May 18, 2010 · 9:36 pm

Sarcasm Meter?

Credit: dictionary.com

It seems from now on I can have a full and meaningful relationship with a computer. Everyone knows that my personality is lost on anyone without a true appreciation for sarcasm. It is amazing that my computer and I have had a relationship that has lasted this long.

According to this article on POPSCI.com SASI, a Semi-supervised Algorithm for Sarcasm Identification, can recognize sarcastic sentences in product reviews online with pretty astounding 77 percent precision.

Ok, so what they are saying now is that first there was voice recognition and now there is wise-ass recognition. I am trying to think of the real world need for this. Apparently this will help shopping sites make better recommendations based on the knowledge that when you say that a product sucks eggs you did not actually mean it was a vacuum cleaner for cleaning up a dropped carton of said eggs. It will actually get the yolk. (oh, jeez, sorry for that one) Or as those crazy kids at Popsci said “This isn’t all just so your Roomba gets the joke when you tell it it sucks.”  (apparently everyone is a comedian today).

Is everything about algorithms now? What happened to eye contact and intuitive behavior? Oh right, now there’s an app for that.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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May 17, 2010 · 7:28 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Beep Beep

Standing in the kitchen I heard that sound.

Beep. Beep.

I opened the garage door and there was a red Jeep Rangler in the driveway with 3 of my favorite High School seniors rearranging themselves to accommodate the skinny little butt of my son in the back seat.

Hugs, waves, love yous and off they went down the street with the flaps off and the breeze blowing.

HS senior’s dream if you ask me.

HS senior’s mom’s big fat lump in the throat.

Sorry, but this was the only vision of that driveway I could conjure up in my mind as they drove away.

(hold onto your hats kids, this is the beginning of the graduation countdown, it’s going to be rough going from here on in every Tuesday)

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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May 16, 2010 · 10:52 pm

Stuff I Like (vol. 1 iGo Green Charger)

Ok, I don’t usually do this but since I called this post vol. 1 there is a good chance I may do it again. Or it might end at volume 1 and that will be it. I have never done product reviews and something tells me you guys don’t come here to talk about stuff you probably don’t need or want to buy.

But I am pretty sure everyone I know might want one of these. The iGo green charger rocks my geeky world.

Full disclosure, I got this in a swag bag at a great blogger brand event today, so no I did not buy it. But I will buy them for Gary and the kids so I will never have to hear those dreaded words when traveling again:

Damn, I forgot to charge my phone! (and then the temper tantrum that follows)

The cool thing about this charger is that when you plug it in to charge your phone it also charges an internal battery. You unplug it, take it with you and you can charge your phone later on without an outlet. Yes, that’s right, no running around searching for ‘juice’, kiddies. And that’s not all, it has 2 ports to charge more than one device at a time, has all sorts of changeable heads for different devices AND doesn’t just charge phones. You can charge your camera, GPS and bluetooth with this sucker.

Seriously, I love this. And the green factor is a nice touch. iGo has a whole line of chargers that are worth looking at.

A big thanks to Silicon Valley Moms Group (I write at 50-something moms blog in case you are blind and don’t see the bold following line at the end of all my posts), Bitdefender and their new Bitmoms community, and all the other brands who attended for a fabulous brand/blogger event. I learned so much from both the brands and the bloggers. And of course thank you to iGo for the charger.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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May 14, 2010 · 11:18 pm

Misspelled Sidekick

The Lone Ranger would have been disappointed in this misspelled license plate.

For those younguns out there who are not familiar with The Lone Ranger, his trusty sidekick Tonto used to greet him with the expression ‘Kimosabe’ meaning faithful friend.

Being that this is a made up word, I suppose the made up spelling error is probably not such a great offense.

And yes, it was a long day and I really had nothing else to right about.

Happy weekend everyone.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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May 13, 2010 · 6:08 pm

How did we ever live without the rice bra?

(credit: Triumph)

It seems those days of pining away to grow a little something other than what naturally sprouts in our bras have come and gone. Yes folks, those crazy kids at the Japanese lingerie company, Triumph, have come up with the solution to world hunger – the rice paddy bra.

My Tanbo Bra has cups that form a rice planter, because, well because who wouldn’t want to grow a little crop close to their bosom? Oh right, EVERYONE.

Don’t be silly, you don’t grow the rice on your body, you take it off, put the two cups together and they form a little planter. And I believe with each purchase you receive gardening gloves and belt that is a hose. A love little accessorizing!

These guys are a riot. Who knew the Japanese had such a sense of humor about foundation garments? They come up with a novelty bra every year like the golf bra (I know a few women I could by this one for – Riki, Cindy and Linda come to mind), and the solar panel bra which looks like it comes with panties too (very green!).

Ok, here is a little treat for you because who does not love a Japanese demo video. That’s right no one.

And of course in case you were wondering, this is surely MFTA approved.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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May 13, 2010 · 8:41 am

I Could Cry Turns 2!

Yes folks, today is my second blogaversary. A lot of celebrations in this house this week.

It all started with this description and this post about Spanx, Dunkin Donuts and the Fear of YouTube. Not gonna lie, that still makes me laugh and I worry that I won’t ever be that funny again.

Uh oh, you are thinking. This blog is now entering the Terrible Twos, what will this crazy old hag come up with next? Don’t worry. It will probably more of the same. Where else can you read about everything from the sublime to the absurd with a few tears every Tuesday thrown in for good measure?

The thing is, this blog – and all of you – have become so much a part of my daily life that I can’t quite imagine what I would do with all this stuff if I did not put it here. And when I go to Florida for the second time in one month and receive countless emails asking if everything is OK with our parents I realize that ‘my crazy satanic blog friends’, as Gary would call them, have added richness to my life and many have become good friends in real life.

So, no shot I am closing this baby down just yet.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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May 11, 2010 · 10:17 pm

I just think monsters are so interesting

This is one of my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons of all times.

And if you ever sleep over my house (no this is not an open invite) you might hear me quote the title of this post when I emerge from brushing my teeth first thing in the morning. I have extremely thick hair, and for some reason after a night’s sleep it has a tendency to take on the shape of the monster’s head.

Ok, not really sure why I shared that one, but hey, I know Jeanne is going to love this post because it was her favorite Bugs Bunny too (AND she has seen my hair like that but was too polite to mention it).

UPDATE: Could not resist kiddies. Since there are so many of you that seem to love this one (even quoting lines, Celia, very impressive). Enjoy Everyone!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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May 10, 2010 · 10:48 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – 25 years

May 11th, 1985.

Hottest day of the year and a NYC loft with no AC; rough combo.

If you were a guest at our wedding you are still trying to cool down from that one. I will never lose the vision of our best man sweating as if he were running a marathon. I will spare the rest of the details of that day and hope the rest of you will be kind enough to do so as well.

But as in most situations that spin out of our control, we made lemonade, had an amazing time and started our life together with the full knowledge that things were never going to get boring around here. And they surely have not.

We have done the better.

And sadly some of the worse.

We have unfortunately known some very scary sickness.

Yet happily we have known more extended periods of good health.

(I would like to personally thank Gary here for not crapping out on me 10 years ago to fulfill the death do us part piece)

Marriage is hard work. But it is also the person you come home to at the end of the day who you share some kids and a dog with. Who holds your hand when you are about to cry and makes you laugh, especially at the most inappropriate times. Who holds up the hose when you have a leak in the basement and shouts ‘where is this water coming from?’ and makes you care more about how funny that is than where the water is actually coming from. Who will go anywhere, anytime without a thought about if it will be hassle or not.

Life is hard. When you can share it with someone who can do a toddler dance, still wake up every day and push the damn boulder up the hill with you, knows every type of music on the planet and helps to teach your kids to appreciate it all(ish)  AND is a damn good tennis player…

then it all seems a little easier.

Happy 25th G. (and PLEASE, stop telling everyone this has been the happiest 40 years of your life).

More than life itself, baby.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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May 9, 2010 · 10:14 pm

It’s Privacy, Not Brain Surgery

Credit: Moronail.net

Over the past few weeks I have had conversations ad nauseum – online as well as IRL (in real life) – surrounding online privacy. I touched on it with a post about targeted advertising last week.

There have been articles written about the big bad online world that is out to steal everything that we hold dear to us and create our likeness as pod-people in some Invasion of the Body Snatchers fashion.

Ok, kiddies, as the picture above that a friend of mine (thanks Kevin) put up the other day on facebook says:

Everyone Calm the Fuck Down.

(Sorry for the profanity, I mean I am listed as a mom blogger in many places. But hey, my kids have heard my foul mouth before and they are old anyway. But I will apologize to my own mom here because she is way too classy to every talk this way)

Perhaps it is time to stop. And think. And be smart about what parts of ourselves we are putting up on the internet, whether we think they are ‘private’ or not.

This article from Techcrunch is not only hysterical, but right on the money and what I preach daily to my kids. (who sometimes listen and sometimes don’t). If you don’t want to click over (and I highly recommend that you do, especially if you find the whole social web confusing) the basic premise is this:

DON’T POST ANYTHING ONLINE THAT YOU DON’T WANT EVERYONE TO SEE OR KNOW.

Period.

Don’t shop online or search the web if you don’t want your interests and buying habits captured.

Period.

The first piece, well this post is probably not the wisest morsel of myself to put out there but hey, I use more than one name so I should be ok, I will switch to the other one for my ‘serious’ life. And the second piece is sort of unrealistic if you want to take advantage of the convenience and wealth of knowledge that the web provides.

I am sure there will be many a lawyer making many a dollar over the next few years after legislation catches up with the paranoia machine. So hooray for that new opportunity.

Bottom line: with all new technologies we lose something to gain something.

Now can we chill on the privacy thing for awhile?

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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May 8, 2010 · 11:15 pm

All I Want for Mother’s Day is a New Spatula

The scene: Friday morning, making Danny’s lunch (yes I still make him lunch and my days are numbered with this so get off my case)

The Dog: decides to puke up her entire breakfast in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Me: Gary, can you clean up the dog puke please.

Gary: Sure (as he grabs the above spatula, scoops it into a paper towel and tosses it very efficiently).

Now, let me confess that I did not really process this at all until a bit later in the day when I was texting with Jana and told her and she was appalled.

Then she informed me her friends were all equally appalled.

Then I told her Gary wanted to make her an omelette when she gets home from Europe. (I can be a pot stirrer at times)

Then I mentioned it on the lacrosse field and EVERYONE was appalled. In fact one friend said she would never come over for breakfast while another said she was not sure she would ever come over at all.

But the best of all is when Danny came over and we told him.

And he almost gagged because he had just used that spatula to make himself breakfast.

Hey, don’t be so disgusted, it had gone through the dishwasher!

Hey, Happy Mother’s Day everyone.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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