Last Friday, Uncle Brett Savage met us at Loantaka Park in Morris Township.
It was good to see him, and good to get out of the house.
Don’t let the sweet photos fool you—Charlotte is not always a happy baby.
We need to make a flip-book. Keep reading for more…
The whole back-to-work thing really cut into my personal blog time. But we’ve got a Fotomat of pictures to post later tonight. Promise!
Wednesday was my 29th birthday. Highlights included shish-kabobing and the acquisition of a Wii Fit. Twenty-eight will be tough to top, especially on so much less sleep. Here are some of the things that happened since the last anniversary of my birth.
After years of charring hamburgers and serving potentially lethal chicken, I’m coming into my own behind the grill. My culinary point of view is “using random ingredients you didn’t realize you had (as long as they’re not spoiled).” Expect my first cookbook in ‘09.
Super Sweet Potatoes.
1. Cut three sweet potatoes into quarter-inch wedges and set aside in a bowl.
2. Pour 1 cup of orange-pineapple-banana juice and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon onto sweet potatoes. Let those ingredients work their magic for 15 minutes.
3. Grill using indirect heat for 20 minutes.
4. Remove from grill. Pour a splash of orange-pineapple-banana juice over cooked sweet potatoes. Serve warm.
You might not believe this, but I have no culinary training.
An unexpected treat. I need to pick up the highlight DVD to show Charlotte what she missed.
As much as the Lombardi Trophy meant to Eli, the check from fellow Duke ATO alum Eric Weinberger meant more to me. I can’t decide whether fatherhood will hurt or help my chances in ‘09. I am watching a lot of Sportscenter these days (well, more like these nights).
A few days after my 28th birthday, I signed on to mental_floss full-time. A series of arbitrary title changes later, I’m now the Managing Editor of mentalfloss.com. I could not have designed a better position. The work is great, the people are fabulous, and we’ve also had a lot of success—in May, the site welcomed 2.7 million visitors, accounting for 10.5 million pageviews. Let’s aim for 15 million pageviews by my 30th b-day. Your gift to me can be taking every quiz every day. Twice if you don’t score well.
Charlotte is a relatively new addition to our lives, but she’ll probably have a bigger impact than even the Giants’ historic Super Bowl run. (Or at least equal.)
Also receiving consideration: 1. My sister getting engaged (and getting a dog)—I left this off because the wedding will end up near the top of next year’s list. 2. Bailey not destroying anything of value. 3. Charlotte not crying the entire time I was writing this post. Even though that was technically after my birthday, it was still pretty remarkable.
We’ll get back to posting baby photos later today.
I need to do a better job keeping up with the ad press. Noah Brier (pictured, on right, at the 2006 Renegade Holiday Party) was written up in Adweek after being named the new Director of Strategy and Planning of The Barbarian Group. They’re the ones who built The Subservient Chicken for Burger King. And, most likely, lots of other stuff.
While he probably didn’t mention it in his interview, Noah helped set up this site, and he’s helped me out of many self-inflicted technical jams. I expect big things. Congratulations!
Ellen’s brother Mark has a new roommate. Keep reading for a few pictures…
Ellen and I would like to go see Swing Vote, but it opens August 1. Anyone up for some early babysitting?
Better yet, anyone know anyone with the cachet to get an advance DVD copy? That would make a great welcome-to-the-world present. (The baby will also take a copy of Wall-E.)
Ellen’s doctor gave us the go-ahead to come down the shore. We spent the afternoon with my parents and sister in Belmar, then arrived at Ellen’s family’s house in Ocean Beach (outside Lavallette) for dinner.
For dessert, we went to Dairy Queen and I cashed in my secret stash of Weight Watchers points. July’s ‘Blizzard of the Month’ is the Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie Treat. This tasty, somewhat patriotic holiday treat was 16 points—more than half my regular daily allowance—but I’m going to say it was worth it.
Now if you’ll excuse me, Bailey and I need to walk to Cape May and back to work off those calories.
I’m now two months into my Weight Watchers membership. I’ve learned something shocking—sweating more and eating less actually works. To celebrate today’s positive weigh-in, I grilled up a hamburger for lunch.
If I don’t post a status update next Monday, now you know why.
I’m stunned. The only other celebrity death that really shook me was Phil Hartman. Tim Russert will be missed on Sunday mornings, throughout this campaign and beyond. Election nights won’t be the same.
One of the quirkier parts about my job is all the unsolicited email. This message I felt compelled to share:
Hello Mr. Jason english:
The following press release announcing the recycling efforts of 49er Communications, may be of interest to your audience. Any editorial comment or mention that you may give this press release would be greatly appreciated.
49ER COMMUNICATIONS ANSWERS THE CALL TO RECYCLE: JOINS NATIONAL RECHARGEABLE BATTERY RECYCLING PROGRAM
GRASS VALLEY, CA - June 5, 2008 - With its eye on the environment, 49er Communications is supporting a national program called Call2Recycle(TM) that helps consumers conveniently recycle their used rechargeable batteries and old cell phones. 49er Communications, a national two way radio dealer, has joined forces with other members of the rechargeable battery industry to fund the program which educates the public on the benefit of recycling rechargeable batteries, batteries commonly found in products such as cellular and cordless telephones, cordless power tools, laptop computers, two-way radios, camcorders, and a variety of other portable electronic products as well as cell phones.
It goes on for many more paragraphs. Richard Karn is somehow involved.
The program itself is probably a good one. Had the press release been titled “National Rechargeable Battery Recycling Program Aims To Save The World” or “Guess What Richard Karn Is Up To!” I wouldn’t have an issue. But I have never heard of 49er Communication. Why would their recycling efforts be of interest?
I’m torn about unsubscribing. I really want to see what nonsense Majon International—the PR machine behind the email—can dish up next. Also, I actually did unsubscribe after their May 22nd announcement (”INDUSTRY USES SIMULATION FOR GAINED EFFICIENCY, INCREASED PRODUCTION TO MEET REGULATION, OVERSIGHT, ECONOMIC CONDITIONS”) and it didn’t take.
Hope they greatly appreciate the editorial comment.
This Weight Watchers stuff really works. I need an endorsement deal to help defray baby costs. I’ve got some terrifying ‘Before’ pictures that would work great in banner ads.
So much for my Hornets-will-win-it-all prediction.
From the Wikipedia entry for Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs:
“Many of the signature moves were inserted without players consent. Moves such as Charles Barkley’s gorilla dunk drew controversy and would affect the future of signatures moves and the marketing of the moves for future basketball games.”
Anyone know where to find an online simulation of this game? My usual source for these things is EveryVideoGame.com.
As for this series, I think the Lakers win in six. Phil Jackson trumps Doc Rivers.
There’s a lot of stuff I’ve been meaning to write about, but the inability to upload photos has gotten in the way. (That issue still isn’t resolved. We found a workaround solution that will work for now.) Let’s get right to it, and mix in some Crazy Predictions.
• My sister Karen is engaged! Congrats! Her and Keith are just now beginning to learn the joys of wedding planning. Good luck deciding who’s not worthy of an invitation. Is a wedding website in the works?
• A press release from the Office of Bryan T. Pojanowski: “I am pleased and honored to announce that in the state-wide election of April 22, 2008, I was elected as a member of Allentown’s 17th Ward, 1st district to the Republican County Committee. It was a landside victory where I garnered 100% of the vote. I’d like to thank my wife, Emily, for providing the one vote that propelled me to victory! I look forward to your future support.” Reliable sources say he’s got his eye on Arlen Specter’s Senate seat. I’ll be sure to get a better photo for the next update. I want to see him on Hardball as a surrogate for John McCain.
• The Cleveland Indians will win the 2008 World Series.
• Outside of the news on Senator Pojanowski, I know no one is reading this blog for political commentary. (No one is reading at all, really.) But I think the low moment of the Presidential campaign was this question Obama was asked by George Stephanopoulos: “Do you think Reverend Wright loves America as much as you do?” So awful. One political prediction—Hillary will not be his VP.
• You may have noticed that things look a little different around here. I like this font and I like the color blue. Plus I was never sure what that picture at the top of the old design was all about. One negative—the Blogroll has disappeared. One of these days, I’ll look into that.
• After one month on Weight Watchers, I’ve lost 9.4 pounds (down to 189.6). Still a long way from my target of 175, but it’s good to be back in the 180s.
• The New Orleans Hornets will win the 2008 NBA Championship. (Guess I’m a little late posting this one.
This blog has been neglected of late. And although I’ve been the one doing the neglecting, it’s not all my fault. WordPress is all buggy and will not let me upload photos. Believe me, I have photos to upload. Our new concrete walkway, some ‘Before’ pics (I’ve completed two weeks on Weight Watchers and the pounds are melting away—one of these days, I’ll post a ‘During’ photo), various shots of the dog, and so on.
My good friend and favorite consultant Noah Brier upgraded me to WordPress 2.5.1. I am very fortunate to have access to Noah and his powers. The image-uploading problems persist, but for now, I can borrow a little mental_floss bandwith to post important photos. Like this:
Down from 199.0 to 193.0. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams, indeed.
This election cycle, when it comes to cable news, I’m an MSNBC man. If parent company General Electric held a contest that raffled off the chance to dine with Tim Russert, Chris Matthews, Pat Buchanan, Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, Eugene Robinson and Rachel Maddow, I’d find a way to cheat. For baby names, we’re considering Joseph Scarborough English.
So when Ellen read this week’s 8,000-word Chris Matthews profile in The New York Times Magazine, she knew I’d eat it up. It’s a tremendously insightful piece that looks at the tensions inside NBC News—namely Russert vs. Matthews and Matthews vs. Olbermann—and doesn’t give much hope for Matthews’ future with the network (his contract is up in June 2009; possible next steps include taking over Face the Nation on CBS or running for Senate).
Many of those 8,000 words are devoted to mocking Matthews’ name-dropping, making him seem like a more successful incarnation of David Brent (or Michael Scott, depending on how much BBC you watch). Here’s one of the many memorable passages:
“As I began researching this article, Jeremy Gaines, an MSNBC spokesman, gave me the names of about a dozen people that Matthews recommended I speak to, all famous — everyone from Nancy Pelosi to Marvin Hamlisch. But gatekeepers for more than one of these people expressed confusion as to why Matthews would refer me to them. “Please keep us out of this,” pleaded a spokesperson for one prominent politician whom Matthews had recommended via Gaines.”
Can’t wait for the Pennsylvania Primary, and seven awkward hours of MSNBC’s exhaustive coverage. I’d better work from home.
Read the entire piece: The Aria of Chris Matthews