I love it when others do my work for me

Here I was, berating myself for not posting more often, and then this drops into my lap.

Gizoogle - Sizearch For Shiznit

Have a great weekend, everyone!

A moment of silence

R.I.P., Hunter S. Thompson. You were a true original. The afterlife just got a whole lot more interesting.

What's in a name?

Thanks to the Daddy Types blog, I found yet another way to ignore the looming deadlines at work: The Baby Name Wizard. Developed by Laura Wattenberg, a self-described "writer, researcher, software designer, and mother," the blog grew out of her book of the same name, which she researched and wrote when frustrated in her own search for a name for her child. In her words:

The Baby Name Wizard is the result of my years of research into name trends across the country and around the world. I built a computer database of thousands of names, tracking popularity, ethnic origins, cultural references, and dozens of other subtle cues that help shape each name's unique image. From soap opera cast lists to Ivy League alumni rosters, I built a complete portrait of America's naming style. Then I used that data to create computer models to help guide parents' choices.

One incredibly interesting link on the site is to the Name Voyager (requires Java). Type in a name (or part of a name) at the top, and it will show you the usage trends from the 1900s to 2003. I typed in DOM's name, which (with our spelling) never has been hugely popular, but has had a substantial following over the years. Interestingly enough, the usage bottomed out to zero right around the time I was born, and then rebounded.

The end result is that I feel pretty good about the name we chose for DOM. We wanted her to have a name that was common enough so that people knew how to pronounce it at first glance, but rarely used enough so that she wouldn't have to go through life with her last initial tacked on to differentiate herself from her similarly-named classmates.

The non-answer answer

Just had to share the response I received from the Department of Education to my email missive. I guess they were so proud of their answer that they felt they had to send it three times (check out the time stamps).

Response (Matt Schneer) - 02/14/2005 12:33 PM
Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding Secretary Spellings’ concerns with the Department of Education’s cooperative agreement with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Postcards from Buster episode, “Sugartime!”

Secretary Spellings stands by the concerns she shared with PBS President Pat Mitchell. The cooperative agreement the Department of Education has with PBS is to support programs that are designed to prepare preschool and elementary-age children for school. A principal focus of the law that authorizes funding for the Ready-To-Learn program, is to facilitate student academic achievement.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact the Department. We appreciate your comments.

Sincerely,

U.S. Department of Education

Response (Matt Schneer) - 02/14/2005 12:31 PM
Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding Secretary Spellings’ concerns with the Department of Education’s cooperative agreement with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Postcards from Buster episode, “Sugartime!”

Secretary Spellings stands by the concerns she shared with PBS President Pat Mitchell. The cooperative agreement the Department of Education has with PBS is to support programs that are designed to prepare preschool and elementary-age children for school. A principal focus of the law that authorizes funding for the Ready-To-Learn program, is to facilitate student academic achievement.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact the Department. We appreciate your comments.

Sincerely,

U.S. Department of Education

Response (Matt Schneer) - 02/14/2005 12:30 PM
Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding Secretary Spellings’ concerns with the Department of Education’s cooperative agreement with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Postcards from Buster episode, “Sugartime!”

Secretary Spellings stands by the concerns she shared with PBS President Pat Mitchell. The cooperative agreement the Department of Education has with PBS is to support programs that are designed to prepare preschool and elementary-age children for school. A principal focus of the law that authorizes funding for the Ready-To-Learn program, is to facilitate student academic achievement.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact the Department. We appreciate your comments.

Sincerely,

U.S. Department of Education

Your government at work.

Productivity, my a**

It is a cold, rainy day here, the kind of day that makes you want to curl up at home with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book. However, it being a Monday, it is supposed to be a day of hard and industrious work. This morning, after a night featuring a stunning five wake up calls from my darling DOM (something that we - thankfully - rarely have to deal with any more), I decided to compromise and work from home today.

On the surface, it seemed like a good idea. I wouldn't have to go out into the rain and cold, I could edit a whole bunch of articles that have come in over the past couple of weeks without constant interruptions by a barrage of phone calls from over-caffienated PR reps, and I could work in clothes that make my old pajamas look stylish. (Happy Valentine's Day to you, too, honey.)

The good news is that I haven't had to go out into the cold ick except to check the mailbox. The bad news is that when you are sitting on the couch, editing a rather long and dry article after a much-interrupted night's sleep, chances are that you will take an unplanned nap. Now I am sitting at my dining room table, separated from my pile of half-edited articles and my 24-ounce bottle of diet coke by one floor and 14 pounds of immovable sleeping cat on my lap. Any attempt to shift into a position that actually resembles something comfortable (or get my papers or answer the telephone) results in a series of hostile stares, frenetic clawing, and an implied threat that my new pashmina scarf will become a chew toy.

I'm still getting more done here than in the office.

And...

For when DOM gets a little older.

McSweeney's Internet Tendency: Seldom-Seen Lunchbox Notes From Mothers.

They're making fun of me

The sad thing is...for a while this really could have been me. It still can, except for DOM's stubborn insistence on holding veto power over the outfits I choose. (It's a "pick your battles" kind of thing.)

Dress-Up Doll Born To Area Couple (The Onion)

...And censorship for all

Well, it seems that today's teens think that the First Amendment goes too far. That the government has the right to censor the press. I'd like to chalk it up to immaturity, but I'm worried that it is yet another sign (registration req'd) that the educational system is going down the drain.