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I peek over and see that Gaia is watching me type this, and I notice that she's smiling at me and she's cuddling one of her mother's cha-cha shoes.
Since she's not sleeping, "What are you doing with those," I ask her.
"They're Mama's shoes," she says. "They're cuddly, I like to cuddle them."
"Ok. Go to sleep."
"Do you want to cuddle Mama's shoes in the big bed?"
"No thanks."
"They're nice," she giggles.

I'm Tubing! Look at me Go!
I'm not saying that the new 'tooner is super awesome or anything, but it's been a long time since I've been pulled by anything, let alone on water.
So, here's the thing. I rule. It took a few runs to get used to the way it handled and to start to get an idea of how I could control the tube while being pulled, but by the end of the day, I even got up on my knees, but I fell trying to ride the tube like a surfboard.

It's a good kind of exhausted.

Untitled from Gabe Wollenburg on Vimeo.

Oh, Beersmores, the video.

Jeni and I are watching "The Secret Lives of Women," and one of those ladies -- literally -- thinks she's a vampire. I'm gonna say something I might regret later. But I have to say it; let me put it this way...

In the same sense that I do not believe in the Green Lantern, I do not believe in Vampires.

And that's not to say that I do not believe in Vampiric behavior, or that a man named Vlad the Impaler did, in fact, walk the earth. Nor is it to say that I do not believe that there is absolutely no secret corps of do-gooders sworn to protect the universe at the behest of a council of little blue midgets. I mean, there are more things in heaven and earth than can be described by today's science.

However, my point is more along these lines: There comes a time in a young man's life when he obtains a plastic replica power ring, slides it on his index finger, and finds a strange lump of disappointment welling in his soul as he realizes that even with just the right ring, he will never be a Green Lantern.

I'm just saying, when the 45-year-old dominatrix puts the fake teeth in at the start of the work day, somewhere deep in her belly, she's got to know that she's not fucking immortal.

I point this out to Jeni and she makes a face. So, I ask her, whats the deal with that face and she says:

"That sounds like the kind of story that might be a funny observation, but is probably also true."

Probably, my darling, probably.

Epilogue
And then This horrific commercial for the Trojan Vibrating Finger (Minimally NSFW) comes on. Oh. My. God. WeTV, have you no shame?

She's wearing an Orange Shirt, Pink Shoes, Blue Pants and a Purple Headband. She asks me if I would help her put on her Lailac sweatshirt.
"Are you sure you don't want your green one?"
"Why?"
"Well, if you wore you're green one, you'd pretty much have all the colors on."
"I guess I need a Green Shirt then," she says.
"Why?"
"Because then I'll have all the colors, and I'll be as pretty as I can be."
"Aww. THat's cute, But I think you're already as pretty as you can be."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"But with the green shirt, I'd be even more pretty!"

Call me Crazy, but I miss Linux. I didn't really realize it till today.
Some months ago, My employer bought me a MacBook, and, I _love_ it. Don't get me wrong. About the same time, my at home Desktop (an emachines that had-- seriously-- outlived its life expectancy by about 2 years) died of a broken flux capacitor, or something. I have been without Linux since.

Today, I spent a few more hours in the basement with the latest copy of Geubuntu, swapping out RAM and Drives between the three junker machines I have down there, and between the three of them, there is not a single usable/functional computer.

A. I've fired up my ancient xBuntu/FluxBox hybrid laptop-- a Dell Inspiron 3500, just to get me some linux on. and, I realize, I miss it.

Apple's got lots of nice choices for the Open Software enthusiast-- I prefer NeoOffice to Word, for example, but there's just something about the full-on customization that you can make happen on a linux machihe.

So, the question is this, Ubuntu Planet: Where do _you_ suggest turning to purchase hardware in the sub-$300 range. I want to buy, not build, and I just need a box. I have monitors and input devices. Suggestions?

Congratulations to the Gang at Bucketworks for cobbling together a fantastic space for the Bucket's first event since it was closed by Mother Nature and the subsequent cleanup.

Born 2 Skill was a good artshow focused on the empowerment of women and urban expression, and the event did well in the converted playspace. There was street and sketch sytle arts, fine arts, a DJ, and even some jewelry and sculpture. Gaia really liked the giraffe sculpture.

I stopped by tonight to check it out and was happy to see art and community melding again at Bucketworks. Back on our feet, taking baby steps. I didn't walk through the flow space or the greenhouse, but what I could see through the windows of Quazi Cafe, it'll be a little while before the bucket is back at 100%. Great work, Patrick, Jen, and everybody who, I know, did whatever they could to get the space ready for Born 2 Skill tonight.

I brought Gaia with me; it was her first Art Show and she was very excited to be there. You could tell because she had her intense face on, studying what was going on. She liked the DJ, by the way. Jeni asked how she could know what a DJ even was, and I was all like, but she loves DJ Lance. Yo-Gabba! Gabba!

So on the way home, as we pull out of the Bucket's driveway and up Sixth Street, Gaia says, "Wow. That was cool. This was fun. Thanks, Dad."

She's such a cool kid. Totally spoiled, I am.

Dotster may have cheap DNS registrations, but FYI: You can't change the A-Record on a Dotster registered domain without buying an extra service. Meaning that Dotster and Tumblr do not get along.
According to Friendly Doster Service Rep Jared H:

Unfortunately the only means we have for assigning an IP for a domain is to make A records in DNS Management, make records in a hosting package, or register new name servers.

I suppose a refund is out of the question.

The AP really doesn't get it. I point you to Making Light:

The Associated Press ... has now published a web form through which intimidated parties can give the AP money in return for “permission” to publish as few as five words.

In this spirit, I will shortly be putting up my own Web form through which people can PayPal me money in exchange for my promise to not blow up the moon.

At least the RIAA dirtbags pretend that they're protecting copyright on behalf of the artists. (They're not, but that's a discussion for another day.) How much of those "permission" payments will end up in the hands of the AP member who wrote the article in the first place?

This is just another greedy money grab by the established fat-cats who see that their industry is dying and think that they can sue there way back to the 1950's when we had lots of trees to cut down so paper was cheap and people actually cared what the traditional press had to say.

But let's talk about the hypocrisy at work here. The press is happy to cry "fair use" when they're stealing beer can logos and clippings from private speeches in order to cover the news-- (in the sense that you _honestly_ consider everything that's not in the two main news sections of any given paper news).

This gets at the thing fundamentally wrong with the traditional press, and one of the main reasons I left it. The press seems to have forgotten that they aren't special. The tools of a good reporter are the same tools available to any member of the public. Reporters don't have any special rights or magic (beyond certain shield laws, which, believe me, have never been exercised on my behalf).