avablog

Perineal massage: Si o no?

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Leah hipped me to this just now, and I thought it worth sharing. It’s a wonderful little bit of writing. That I almost cried last week upon reading that the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the state law banning same-sex marriage will therefore come as no surprise. I’m still struck by one thought: over the years, […]

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I was taking pictures of Leah’s Easter egg tree the other day when Ava decided to horn in on the action. So, you get what we have here, which, is the way she wants it….

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I guess I might be more down with this whole Christianity thing if God had some firm boundaries in mind. I mean, the fact that there’s no sin or lapse I can’t confess or repent my way out of seems…well, not a great way to run a theology. Like there’s no bridge too far. Nothing […]

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“But Mark,” I hear you saying, “If that’s not the way to sell hamburgers, just how does one go about it?” Praise Jeebus, I’m glad you asked. Really. FYI: This is what Hardee’s does to vegetarians:

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I mean, really. WTF? Leah and I saw this last night and couldn’t believe our eyes. Is there a target audience here? Why is an ad for a kid’s meal running at 10 p.m.? Kid’s meal? Sir Mix-a-lot? Baby Got Back? What the hell’s going on around here? EDIT: My indignation and anger increase each […]

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I know a number of my more enlightened readers are also WordPress users. I thought I’d put up a quick recommendation for a nice plugin that lets mobile users view your blog in a stripped-down, clean, and fast front end: WordPress Mobile Edition MobilePress. Very slick.

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I got this one from Kevin and have enjoyed it so much I thought I’d pass it on. If you’ve never seen Peep Show, well, hang in there; it’s only a matter of time before someone at NBC gets a hold of it and produces a less funny, crappy U.S. English version (I’m so looking […]

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I was making bolognese yesterday afternoon when Ava pranced into the kitchen and asked if there was any cooking she could help with (I immediately recognized her mother’s hand). I’d just finished preparing the sauce for its long simmer, so there wasn’t much else going on. Momentarily flummoxed, I asked how Ava would like to […]

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That’s how long it takes us to get from our driveway to Ava’s school in the morning; we get exactly one time through Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” which is Ava’s new favorite song (I don’t miss “Hungry Like the Wolf”). After I’ve backed out of the garage, I start the song, and Ava sings along as we […]

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Before the weather went to s*#t yesterday, Ava and I ran (no, really, we ran) down the street to the neighbor’s place to see all the crocuses growing in his yard. He doesn’t have any beds or anything, the flowers just come right up through the grass.

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In case ya didn’t know, I’m a fan of Hardee’s. I actually only eat there three or four times a year, tops, but it’s really the only fast food burger joint I frequent (if you can call that schedule “frequenting”).

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They’re doing a project at Ava’s school for which each kid brings in a picture from each year of his or her life and writes a description of what’s important about the photo. Four or five pictures. They’re calling it a “personal timeline.” Easy, right? HA! HA, I say! Why, we have just under 3K […]

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To circumcise or not? A thought I’d not had on the matter before today, from this article: But once you and your penis are fully baked, the advantage of a foreskin is not clear. Some scientists speculate that it protected the prehistoric penis as it swung, naked, through thick forests and over tall grasses; and […]

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Ava’s pretty adept at most things. She enjoys talking, especially. I love it when she goes off on a tangent and gets all excited about explaining or describing some thing or another. The other day, I was listening to her talk when she came across the word “regular.” But it sounded, from her mouth, like […]

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