my three songs

a new feature here on finkipedia, based on a contest run on many radio stations and named after the one that was a regular feature on the WHFS afternoon show years ago.

very simple- i give you 3 songs, you give me the common link between them. a little difficult to do because of the lack of sound, but i think i can come up with some that are common enough that you'd know them and can figure out the link.

sometimes the link may be related to the lyrics, or sometimes it may be related to more of a generality about the songs themselves.

here then is your first installment- a relatively easy one, i think:

1. bangles, "manic monday"
2. prince, "little red corvette"
3. sheena easton, "sugar walls"

good luck.

even leonardo was 6 years old once

brendan's taking to sketching things lately- he got a sketch book for christmas, and likes to sit in bed before going to sleep sometimes drawing things he sees in his room. the other day, he must have been thinking about something he saw in a puzzle book or a worksheet at school, because he came up with this:


hard to see unless you've got a 21" monitor, but my favorite part is the answer key, written upside down on the lower left.

also of note: the pepsi can, because i don't believe we've ever had a can of pepsi in this coke-loyal house. he must be sneaking it on the side.

a stitch in time

walked into work this AM a few minutes before 9, and our receptionist said to me "rough one already". not too unusual a comment for a thursday, because it's my half day and therefore usually busy. the story unfolded further when our office manager took me aside in the hall, coat still on and coffee still in hand, and said "a patient of yours walked in a few minutes ago- he's on coumadin and fell yesterday morning, and his arm hasn't stopped bleeding since. and that's not the bad news."

uh oh.

put down the coffee, hung up the coat, rolled up the sleeves and fixed mr. jones up quick with a single well-placed stitch and a pressure dressing. the other stuff, more business than medical, will take quite a bit more to resolve.

i always knew fixing people would wind up being the easiest part of this job.

great work, if you can get it

kids went back to school today after a 4 day weekend (off friday and monday). erin was talking to them yesterday about how nice it is to have 4 day weeks- goes by so fast, weekend here before you know it, etc.

despite the holiday, my office was open yesterday. this led to another discussion about how great it is to be a kid, because when you grow up, long weekends are few and far between, and every week seems like a full 5 day week.

brendan's comment: "that's ok. i only plan on working 2 days a week."

not sure if that means he's got his career path set on 1) corporate tycoon or 2) priest.

doubt the latter.

lose the extra "o"

rant time again...

straight from a communication to parents from the principal's office at our school (slightly paraphrased): "...it seems that they loose their mittens and hats very easily".

while not as prevalent as some of the other grammatical missteps i've soapboxed on before, this one has annoyed me for years: the misspelling of "lose" as "loose".

this isn't one i've seen (thank god) in any print media, but i've seen it quite often in personal communication. i didn't realize the word "lose" was that confusing, but unless i really am sending my kids to school with gloves that are too tight, it must be.

open season

flu season here in DE- swamped in the office, and feeling the effects at home too. brendan started it the other day, erin started with some symptoms last night, and molly woke today with a temp of 104. owen and i have dodged it so far- we'll see how the week goes.

patients always ask me how i'm able to stay relatively healthy. i use the same line on all of them: "you never see a farmer with a sunburn, do you? constant exposure builds my tolerance". whether it's true or not, so far, i've been lucky.

our lenten journey

i usually eschew the traditional catholic behavior of giving up something for lent- for several years now, i've spent the time focusing more on prayer than on not doing something i probably shouldn't be anyway.

this year, the kids have for the first time chosen to give something up. owen, on his own, decided to give up the wii. he's been enthralled with it the past few weeks, so this is a big deal. so far he's doing very well.

owen's explanation for giving up the wii was that he knew he should be giving up "something i really like to do". on those grounds, when brendan was asked what he would be giving up, he offered "i'm giving up waking up grumpy."

and you thought jesus had it hard for 40 days in the desert. 3 days down so far, and i must say, they've all been great. if this kid gets to easter waking up happy every morning, i'm lobbying the vatican to make lent a year-round season.

CCCLXII days until finkbowl XIII

the guests are gone, the house is mostly clean, and there's still one gladware container of gumbo left over. another successful finkbowl has come and gone. thanks to all who made the trip, from near and far. we always have a great time, but this year's game made the day that much better. couldn't have scripted it better.

things i learned this weekend:

1. i am most definitely allergic to mangoes
2. don't continue to bet a seemingly unbeatable hand when your opponent asks "what's the ranking of hands again?"
3. cheering for "eli" and "plaxico" and "osi" is way more fun than cheering for "tom" and "randy" and "teddy"
4. super bowl commercials just ain't what they used to be. bring back the budweiser lizards!

kitchen confidential

cooking marathon starts in about 1/2 hour. over 4 gallons worth of soup to pump out today- gumbo and chowder. because i only make the gumbo once a year, i learned years ago to make enough to enjoy afterwards too. (only took one year without leftovers to convince me to make plenty extra.)

got news earlier in the week that superdad lead guitarist mikey will be unavailable for this weekend, which means that "middletown's favorite three-car garage band" may need to change their name to "plan B". we'll see if the show goes on...