I Thought It Was Funny

I found this on CollegeHumor.com which, honestly, just tries too hard, but I thought this was prett funny.

Click on the picture and it will open larger so you can read it.

Another Round

I feel like all of my most recent posts have been impersonal. I haven't said anything compelling which let's you, friendly reader, know about my life. Who am I? Where am I going? Why?

Well, sorry. I know it's hurt your heart a little each time I just post a new link to a website or link to a story about Hilary Clinton. I feel your pain.

Angie, Nila and I head to California on Sunday for another round of training. We're not being trained again, mind you. We are training others. I'll be teaching them how to speak Kurdish and Angie will be teaching them how to breast feed. 

This will be my fourth trip to training! Can you believe it. It's crazy really. After the first time i wondered if I'd ever see the people involved again. The answer to those wonderings was yes. And yes. And yes again.

Remember the other times?

November/December 2005

August 2006

April/May 2007

This time we'll be in California through October 25. We'll be just in time for Halloween, so we can dress Nila up like a potato or something even more clever.

And, while I know this post is all about me, I have another link for you. I know the elections are still a year away, but the Council on Foreign Relations has a nice feature which lists the candidates' positions on various foreign policy topics. It's pretty good. In fact, I have my preferred candidate narrowed to three choices, two Republicans and a Democrat, none of whom will win their party's nomination, but, hey, at least I am learning, right?

You can click here to check it out. 

Just kidding. You have to click here.

Ok. Really. Click here.

Hungry?

Tool

So, I read a post on a local blog, the 270, about a new service offered (meaning newly purchased) by Google. 

It's called Grand Central and, while this is the part where I should describe the service, I'm not sure I can. See, I sent Sis and invitation to check it out and she asked me a simple question:

"What is this?"

My response was mostly giggling with smatterings of laughter. Once you actually check out Grand Central, you probably won't understand why, but when asked directly I couldn't put it in words. It's one of those things that's either so awesome that I am lucky to be part of the beta, or it's something so useless that I shouldn't waste my time and in a year I'll pretend i had no part. 

I told Sis "You get a new phone number that you can route all of your phones to." 

"You mean my one phone?" 

"Umm, yeah." Giggle. "But you can record all of your voice messages and share them with your friends."

She gave me a look that suggested I had perhaps lost my mind -and, let's be honest, maybe I have- and she asked "Why?"

I don't know. In case you need to take your stalker to court. Or in case OJ robs you, I guess.

Take a look at Grand Central and let me know what you think. If you want an invite, I can give you one and we can be weirdos together.

Oh, also, there's a feature that lets me post a "Call Me" button on my website. Then people can call me. Here's how it works (I think): you press the button (mine is there on the right) then you enter your phone number. The Grand Central gnomes then call your phone and mine and hook us up. The beauty is that the people that choose to call me with this feature never learn my phone number. 

I can imagine that has some uses.

Quiz Answers +

Here's a link to the quiz answers. You can listen to the songs, too. Go here and select the playlist titled Blog Game Answers.

In other news, Iraq now has a casino. It seems a Russian businessman smelled money. Read more about it here or listen to an interview with the Russian here.

I have One Eyebrow Raised

So, the solution to the problems with US health care is to legally require all of us to buy health insurance?

According to a leading presidential candidate: "a mandate requiring every American to purchase health insurance was the only way to achieve universal health care but [he or she] rejected the notion of punitive measures to force individuals into the health care system." (quoting the article, not the person)

Guess which one!

Come on guess. Really, make a mental guess and then read this article to see how you did.

Blog Redesign Spreading

Cinderella Jenkins has updated her blog, too. You should check it out. 

Not only did she add two new posts, but she's also got a whole new look. I've been on kick lately. The LGHG blog, the Restaurant List and Everybody Loves Nila have all been tweaked. 

Ok, let's play a game. I'm going to listen to 5 songs on Anywhere.fm. I'll list random lyrics below. If you can name all five songs and artists, I'll give you a prize. 

1. Bring my happy back again. So happy to show us. Oh, I ate the lotus.
2. Notice me. Take my hand. Why are we strangers when our love is strong. Why carry on without me?
3. Now, don't just walk away pretending everything's OK and you don't care about me. 
4. Off to college, yes you went away. Straight from high school you up and left me...
5. You can take all the tea in China, put in a big brown bag for me, sail right round all the seven oceans, drop in straight into the deep blue sea

There. I skipped a few songs to make it easier. I think all five of these are doable. The first one is probably the hardest. I know that none of you will actually do this... Suckers.

Why not do this on your own blog and challenge your readers to do the same? Come on. It's a fun game!

Remembering 2005

I was reading a friend's blog the other day and in his newest post he introduces us all to his new girlfriend.

I have to admit it was a little too much for me and I may have thrown up in my mouth a little bit.

I kid, of course. It was a beautiful outpouring of heart-felt emotion and true feeling...so you know, I actually threw up in my mouth a lot.

Ah. I amuse myself. 

Here's a link to the first time Angie made an appearance on my blog two years ago. And here's the link to her first photo.

International House of Petitions

Sign the petition to bring IHOP to Columbus, so Mom will stop whining.

Sign it here and be sure to check out signatures 326 through 330. You won't be disappointed.

Lunch is Good

Hey, Carrie, I finally got to go to Chipotle.

My Chipotle Burrito:

Chipotle Fan.com

I did not get the burrito depicted above, though. That's my usual, but today I got one of the bols (or bowl for those that don't do Chipotle).

I went to the Chipotle website to check out the nutrition info, but they no longer post it. Do you know why? Apparently NYC has passed an ordinance which requires all restaurants which post nutrition information on their websites to also post it in the restaurant. On the menu board. The same size as the writing on the menu. And they have to list everything. 

Do you know how many combinations are possible at Chipotle? Over 40,000!

Thanks NYC, you've ruined it for everyone else once again. You suck.

Chipotle stopped posting the nutrition info on their website to avoid the new law, but there's another website which does. It's Chipotlefan.com. They also allow one to make a burrito and post it on one's website (see above).

Dancer in the Dark

Have you ever seen that movie with Bjork, Dancer in the Dark?

I saw it a few years ago, but I had forgotten about it completely. It's really pretty good. It's on right now and, though I should be sleeping, I can't stop watching it.

Sorry, Vanessa

Vanessa doesn't like the picture of the animal parts, so I am posing to move it down the page.

You're welcome.

I have been using a new web radio type thing for a few weeks now. It's called Anywhere.fm. It allows me to upload all of the songs from iTunes on my computer. Then I can listen to them like a radio on any computer. Anywhere.

Get it? 

This is great since the bulk of my music lives on the iMac. At home. In Columbus. No matter where I am, there it is. Until now. Now if I have internet, I have all of my music.

This will be especially sweet when someone buys me one of the new ipods with wifi! I'm not hinting or anything, but I do have an anniversary on the 22nd of this month. The traditional gift is paper. The contemporary gift is a clock.

The new ipod comes with a manual (paper) and has a built in clock. Check and check, my friends!

Back to Anywhere.fm. 

You can also listen to the collections of others. I am rdmeeker there, too if you want to listen. Let me know when you add and I'll listen to yours. 

Be warned, though, it does take some time to upload. 

...and a Picture, Too

I really wanted to post something tonight. So here it is. 

It's a lovely picture and a list of things I need to do over the next few days. Lucky you.

This picture was taken from the car on the way back from Halabja. Notice the eye and then notice the horrible beak-like structure to the right of the eye. Disgusting, no?

I need to do the following things this week:

• Finish our newsletter - Angie's already done most of the work
  
• Begin contacting supporters and prospective supporters - Angie and I have been working on our financial goals now that Nila's here, so now we need to get on the proverbial ball.
  
• Find a kind-hearted soul willing to donate $460.61 for airline tickets to a certain California town for a certain training program. [That's three round-trip tickets for that price, though. Can you believe it? Thank you, Skybus.]
  
• Begin seriously studying language texts for above mentioned training program.
  
• Take and post more pictures of Nila.
  
• Watch Todd's video. He sent me home with a copy of a couple of his tv programs, but I haven't watched them yet because I don't have a VCR. 
  
• Send those books to Mamosta A and e-mail him to let him know I did it.
• Continue to work on my business plan

Speaking of, did I tell you have a business plan. I am not ready to discuss it, yet. I know it seems like, since I mentioned it here on a very public blog, I must really want to discuss it and I am being coy, but it's not true.

Ok, it's a little true. I will probably discuss it here more as I become more comfortable with the idea to open it up to criticism. I like to mold my ideas in my head for a long time before I share them [especially if I think they're good] and I am totally averse to criticism. But that last bit's a secret. so don't tell anyone.

Change is Inevitable

Surprised?

I decided to make some changes around here, but I'm not sure about the outcome, so things may be in flux for a while.

I loved my old theme here based on my favorite game, Fly the Copter, but it was based on the old Blogger, so the template wasn't as flexible. In fact, Angie had to do a lot of work to create the old one - the one I've so unceremoniously erased. Sorry, Angie.

I can edit this one fairly easily, so I gain flexibility and control, so I figure it's better in  the long run even though I've lost the copter.

Useless and Unnecessary

I saw this posted on Plime as "Pointless Lyrics Page."

As a Daft Punk fan, I found it pretty funny, but if you aren't familiar with the song, you'll probably wonder why I wasted your time. 

CLICK HERE!

Whoa!

Did you know this? 

Also, your newborn can recognize whether sounds are part of his or her native language.

Your newborn continues to learn language by listening to the basic and distinct sounds (phonemes), such as the "tr" and "cl" sounds in the English language. Your baby remembers sounds and continually learns more nuances of language, which are later expressed when he or she begins to talk.

From WebMD.

There isn't too much happening here in the land of the Meekers. Nila has a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. She went on Wednesday and she goes tomorrow just to be weighed again. She's just below average (the bottom limit of which is 5.5 pounds) and she's lost about 6 ounces since she was born (normal weight loss) which she should regain in the first 10 to 14 days. 

See? WebMD is very handy. I've also read the booklet we received from OSU about what to expect with our newborn (Angie's mom laughed and called it an instruction manual. As is "babies never used to come with instruction manuals") cover to cover which means I know a lot of things I never expected to. 

Like: did you know that a new mother doesn't start producing milk until the 3rd or 4th day? That means Angie's only been producing milk since Tuesday or Wednesday night. This explains the baby's weight loss. I also know about the colostrum - or pre-milk. [If you google colostrum to make sure you've spelled it correctly, the first link is for bovine colostrum. Surprising.]

 I am taking recommendations for good newborn development books, so let me know if you've read one.

Before Nila's birth I vowed not to become one of "those parents." You know, the ones who read baby books and always post crap about their baby on their blogs. But what's a dad to do when he has the most beautiful baby ever? 

Thursday's Post is Full of Grace

So here's the information on Nila Nickles:

  

Birthstone: Sapphire

Flower: Aster or Morning glory

Sign: Virgo

Chinese Sign: The Pig

September 1, This Day in History:

• 1752 - The Liberty Bell arrives in Philadelphia.
  
• 1897 - The Boston subway opens, becoming the first underground metro in North America.
  
• 1905 - Alberta and Saskatchewan join the Canadian confederation..
  
• 1939 - World War II: Nazi Germany attacks Poland, beginning the war. 
  
• 1969 - A revolution in Libya brings Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi to power
  
• 1972 - In Reykjavík, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beats Russian Boris Spassky and becomes the world chess champion.
  
• 2004 - The Beslan school hostage crisis begins when armed terrorists take hundreds of school children and adults hostage in the Russian town of Beslan in North Ossetia.
  
• 2007 - Appalachian State becomes the first ever team in the college football division formerly known as 1-AA to defeat an AP top 25 team, upsetting Michigan 34 to 32. (For the Buckeye fans)
  

Saturday's child works hard for a living.

Nila will start kindergarten in 2012, be old enough to drive a car in 2023, finish high school in 2025, and will graduate from college with the class of 2029, give or take a year.

Yipes

Pictures from Day One, Hour One

These are the first few pictures of Nila. We're all back home home now, so we'll post more pictures in the next couple of days.

After we take naps.

Introducing Nila!

Yesterday, September 1 at exactly 6:00 PM, we welcomed Nila into the world!

She weighs 5 pounds on the dot and is 19 inches long. She is very healthy and both she and Angie are doing really well. We'll all be home tomorrow, Labor Day, and we will upload pictures here, on Angie's blog and, of course, Nila's blog.

Oh, and the middle name is Nicole.