theparkerfamily.org

Month: July 2011

  • video: king of anything

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wtLK_6dhVQ

  • dolls

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    dolls are starting to follow us everywhere.

    sparklet puts diapers on them. walks them in their strollers. puts them down for naps. pretends to feed them. makes them watch plaza sesamo when she’s tired and just can’t deal anymore — you know, the works.

  • found: watercolors

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  • photos: headshots

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    i’m on my third proposal at work, and i had forgotten that you need headshots and bios for this sort of thing.

    so i had to break out the camera this morning, perch it on a file cabinet or two, and take pretentious, thoroughly awkward headshots of myself posing like an idiot.

    not exactly my favorite part of the first week, needless to say.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    photos: headshots

  • books

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    her favorite book right now is a russian-english dictionary.

    seriously, at least twice a day she takes it off the shelf and flips through it, along with “My Life as a Furry Red Monster” the autobiography of the puppeteer behind Elmo. the latter has a big picture of Elmo on the cover, and you can almost see sparklet thinking each time:

    “i know the book will have pictures THIS time — they’ve got to be in here somewhere.”

  • “no, i trust her — why do you ask?”

    [bff]

  • blackberry

    I’ve changed phones, again — temporarily.

    With my new gig, I’ve been issued a Blackberry Bold — a newish model Bb with most the bells and whistles, but a step below the fancy-pants, big/touch screen models you see being pushed on TV.

    so, I’ve packed away my Android and I’m going cold turkey for a month to see what having a Bb is really like. (trying to keep my personal phone going while i learn a new platform is just a recipe for frustration.)

    I’ve actually never had a Bb before, which in itself is amazing. I had an iPhone for two years, and then the HTC Incredible. Bb’s were just becoming a thing when I left the Hill, but at that point only the Members and Chief of Staffs had them — unlike now, where they give them out like candy.

    No reason to panic if you’re trying to reach me — I’ve already forwarded my old phone number, all the texts that may come in, and I’ve setup the Bb to check my person email address to boot. It’s all good.

    I’m strangely excited — we’ll see how it’s going in a month.

  • video: ipad

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9TfkNHnvzo

    as a pre-emptive thank you gift, i bought the lady sparkler an ipad — mainly for the near-term pain she’s going to face with me switching from a 35 hour/wk job to one that’s more like 50 hours/wk.

    (she wants it to satisfy her horrible taste in tv/streaming video. the ipad is admittedly much more fun to watch on the couch than watching hulu plus on the computer at a desk.)

    turns out, we had the thing for a sum-total of 72 hours before sparklet learned how to turn it on, navigate to the main menu, load up the photo application, select a photo from the index, and start flipping through the pictures.

    i’m starting to wonder if we’ll ever see it again.

  • fonz, state farm saves the kids farm!

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    The kids farm lives!

    In a move that doesn’t surprise anybody who has ever been associated with non-profit fundraising, a corporation (state farm) has come up with a couple of million dollars to keep the kids farm at the national zoo open.

    My theory all along is that this was all orchestrated — that the budget cut announcement was just the opening salvo of a major donor fundraising effort for the petting zoo.

    At the “we did it!” celebration at the zoo this morning, I actually ran into the Executive Director of FONZ, who was very clear that they started absolutely from scratch when the cut was announced. So if this was orchestrated, they seem to have left out the people involved.

    Regardless, congrats to The Friends of the National Zoo for pulling this off, and to State Farm for recognizing and incredible opportunity and stepping up to the plate to take advantage of it.

    As a result, it looks like we have many more years of our baby girl and her animal friends in store.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    kids farm celebration, national zoo, washington, dc

  • found: chipmunks in the backyard

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