Post Christmas Post

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and got lots of pretty. we had a great, relaxed Christmas day, and I've been eating turkey for two meals a day since then. It's fantastic. I got a new watch, which I will try very hard to NOT break, as I have broken each of the last... actually, all of them. Every single watch I've ever owned I've managed to break. This one is supposed to be quite sturdy, so let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we? Hey, on the bright side, I never lose them!

Other highlight gifts were a gift certificate to a great sushi restaurant, a phenomenal bottle of Scotch (Oban 14yr old), and, of course, the new bike which I hope to finally pick up soon.

Retard Update: We had a blackout last night -- I was home alone, watching The Dark Knight (another fabulous Christmas gift), and all of a sudden -- poof! No lights. I was in the basement, no flashlight, no nothin'. So I stumble around a little, kick over a small table, step on a cat, finally find the stairs and... fell. I landed three steps up.

Yeah. I fell up the stairs. It's sort of hard to explain. So I won't. Use your imagination.

Anyway, last but very not least -- I subscribe to Sports Illustrated, though sometimes I wonder why -- the writing is a little stuffy some times, and in general I find that I enjoy more off-color sports writing. But every now and then, they really nail it, and this week -- they fucking blew me away.



I admit it: I'm a huge fan of pit bulls. Almost every one I've met has been an absolutely phenomenal dog. And since we already know what a sucker for dogs I am, the Vick story really infuriated me (and I was thrilled to bits when he ended up in the clink). So it's no surprise that I can't recommend this article enough. Read it and weep. In a (mostly) good way.

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Now playing: Nellie McKay - The Dog Song
via FoxyTunes

Merry Merry, Happy Happy

Hello everyone!

Well, Christmas eve at work is not what I'd call... productive. But just a couple of random notes:

• Christmas plans: Me and Mrs. TK will be at home, alone, for the first time... ever. We've always either been out of town, or had company, or been traveling, or working, or something. This will mark the very first time in the 8 years we've been living together that we'll just wake up together, open presents, eat breakfast, all by our lonesome. I can't express how happy this makes me.
  

• There is absolutely nothing funnier than watching a 3-legged beagle try to poop in 10 inches of snow. It's the highest of high comedy. Poor thing.
  

• There is absolutely nothing less fun than trying to clear ten inches of frozen snow off a driveway after being out of town for the snowstorm.
  

• That said, our trip to Philadelphia was a rousing success. Few travel delays, couple of outstanding holiday parties, got to stay with our favorite people, and got to hang out with Litelysalted herself. It was quite lovely.
  

Anyway, that's the news that's fit to print. Hope you all have fantastic holidays! Take care, be safe and be sure to eat yourself stupid.

-TK


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Listening to: The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping
via FoxyTunes

Misc.

Jesus.

This kind of thing? Seriously messed up. Locking kids in a "seclusion room" when they misbehave? Particularly disabled kids? What the fuck, people. How is that productive? How can educational professionals reach a collective agreement that the best way to handle a problem - any problem - is to lock a kid in a room with little light or space?

From the article:

Michigan requires that a child held in seclusion have constant supervision from an instructor trained specifically in special education, and that confinement not exceed 15 minutes.

Connecticut education spokesman Tom Murphy said "time-out rooms" were used sparingly and were "usually small rooms with padding on the walls."

Only Vermont tracks how many children are kept in seclusion from year to year, though two other states, Minnesota and New Mexico, say they have been using the rooms less frequently in recent years.

Doesn't that seem like the kind of thing we should be monitoring, like, constantly? How often we're locking our children in boxes? Even if I'm willing to allow that there's some sort of educational/psychological reasoning for it. But to do it an not monitor them?

Let me tell you - when I was a kid in South Africa, I went to a school where we were beaten with canes for misbehaving. Part of me thinks that's actually more humane than this bullshit.

Mr. Duncan, sir, you have got your work cut out for you.


Well, that was just incredibly depressing.

In more upbeat news, 5:00 today is new release Wednesday at Pajiba Music. Please read, listen, have fun. We're also running a series on our favorite music releases of the year and our favorite discoveries of the year. Find all of it here.

And in even more upbeat news, we are leaving on Friday for Philadelphia to see friends and Mrs. TK's family. As an added bonus, we will be seeing none other than Ms. Litelysalted herself, Ms. Stacey Nosek.

No good can come of that.

Dear Tuesday Morning: Please feel free to go to hell

It seemed like a reasonable morning today. I woke up, a little sleepy, but OK. No shower-related mishaps. Mrs. TK was kind enough to get up before me and take care of the animals, even though she has the day off.

Of course, as soon as I left the house, everything fell apart.

Got to Dunkin Donuts for my morning coffee. Parked the car. Grabbed the empty cup from yesterday's coffee and got out. On my way to the trashcan, I also got my wallet out, just to make sure I had money. I made my way into the Dunkies, got up to the counter, ordered my coffee and then I realized (along with Sonia, the very sweet woman who makes my coffee every morning) that I was standing there, expecting to pay with an empty coffee cup.

Because on my way inside, I had this weird, crossed-wire brain hiccup. And thus, I had apparently thrown my wallet into the trash.

Sigh.

The worst part is, this type of shit happens all the time. My brain can't handle two activities if it's too early. I mean, I've done things like pour juice right onto the counter because I forgot to take a glass out of the cupboard. I've put the milk in the cupboard and the cereal box in the fridge. For Christ's sake, I once walked out of the house on a winter day with no shoes on.

I should really never leave the house.

Anyway. I got to work and only spilled my coffee on myself once, which is a step up from yesterday. Walk into my office and... it's freezing. Awesome. Now, my office is always cold - I like to think it's God getting back at me for setting fires as a child.

But today, it was extra special super cold. So I grabbed the space heater that I swiped from the office of a guy we fired a few months ago, plugged it in, and turned it up just a wee, baby little bit. And promptly my office lost power.

As did the three offices next to mine.

Oh, and one of those? Belongs to my boss.

It's been a banner fuckin' morning, folks.

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Listening to: The Black Keys - 10 A.M. Automatic
via FoxyTunes

Good things, bad things

Hey kids,

Sorry I've been somewhat absent lately. Don't take it personally. It's been an interesting week or so - between frantically scurrying around getting this Pajiba Music thing up and running, throwing out my back AGAIN this past weekend, having a friend come and visit, Thanksgiving, going to the Celtics game last Friday, seeing my sister's new play last night, and... oh! The new pretty. Please, feel free to ooh and aah:


Anyway, other than that, there are also a pair of music reviews coming up today by both me and two other great writers, Boo and Kelsi. The first is up now, and... I'm not proud of it. Frankly, listening to that album was more painful than hurting my back. That's an hour of my life that is stained permanently. I feel sick. Unclean. Read it here. The second batch of reviews will go up in about an hour.