Today I received a call from Mariam. She was rather excited to report that Nuriya had somehow managed to grab the top railing of the crib and yanked herself up. Ms. Olympia proceeded to fall down when momz caught her in the act. This kid has potential yo. Another missed "Wish I was there with a camcorder" moment. This one's for the blogs.

The inmates will be running the asylum shortly.

If I were to open a barber shop, I'd call it Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow. Why have I never come across a barber shop named this?

Is Saddam the Ace of Spades or the Joker in the Hole?

Ryan Seacrest must die. What's up Carson Galy^2?

I love it when the host of The Bachelor comes out during that tense moment before Bob must eliminate one last woman. So the host walks in, announces the obvious: "Ladies...Bob...there is one rose remaining." And walks out. This is why I watch the show. I swear.

I hate Lord of the Rings. It reminds me of Dungeons & Dragons which reminds me of drama club dweebs. I played D&D a few times. What's up with those kids that got so into it that they killed other characters in real life? Pathetic losers! A little while ago before it got cold, I saw this drama club freak walking around Tysons in a Neo overcoat. You are so cool guy! Perhaps this is why I chose The Last Samurai over Matrix3.

So when LOTR2 was at the theaters, I went with my friends to check out what all the fuss was about. I fell asleep during the "epic" battle scene. WTH was going on? It was all dark and shadowy and the Dolby Digital was blasting thunderous bass for about 15 minutes before I finally passed out despite the noise. This little trick to battle scenes where they show quick snippets of flying debris and flinging battleaxes before cutting to another angle is getting annoying. Calling John Woo, time to slow these puppies down.

The only redeeming about LOTR is Smeagol. Now that's my boy. A Smeagol spinoff sitcom not based on medieval fantasy would rule. Imagine this cat in an Alf-like TV show. Calling FOX!

Atkins Day 1...scrambled eggs and water for breakfast. Let the induction begin.

Dude, I got me a Dell.

I'm more excited about the 19" flat panel monitor than the computer itself. Sweet deal. Wrote a haiku about it:


Dude, I got a Dell.
Gigahertz, oh how I hurt
Waiting is such hell.

I just wanted to say:

Why-o why-o why-o...
Whyyyyy-o why-o why-o...
...are we so in de-ny-oh?

Saw The Last Samurai tonight. First time at the theaters since Nuriya arrived. She and her mom were at a wedding. Great GREAT flick. Glad we chose it over Matrix Revolutions.

Quote of note:
Katsumoto: Do you believe a man can change his destiny?
Algren: I believe a man does what he can until his destiny is revealed.

Rock freaking on.

The landscape looks like my shoulder right about now. Snow is in full effect. Remember two-hour delays and days off from school? As a student I didn't appreciate the fact that Fairfax County Public Schools didn't close at the first sight of snow. Now I've moved to Loudoun County a few years too late. LoCo, Fairfax's neighbor to the west, is notorious for school closings. Nuriya is one lucky child.

So my company gives us an inclement weather hotline to call when it snows. The message never changes: "There is no alert broadcast for today." Bahstidz. I just wish one of these days my boss would swing by and announce we're closing two hours early.

Tom Brokaw: Next up, the fleecing of America. How long has TB been the only dude ever to use this phrase? I can't bring myself to say it unless I use a Brokaw accent.

The Terminator is back. I have been waiting for this moment for a while now. Ever since retro has been in, these classic kicks were just bound to return as T2. My first Nike's. I was rockin' these puppies all 5th grade long. Unfortunately I had not yet reached size 7 so I had the kids version. Representin' the grey and royal blue of Georgetown, these were the joint to have in DC. Unfortunately, there is no way I'm rocking these ugly classics today. Does anyone really buy these old school Nikes and Reeboks?

These days, my boot of choice are the Puma Temo's. Now that's the hotness.

Back.

Pulled an all-nighter the previous evening to beat the holiday traffic. Left NJ at 3:50am and got home at 7:15. Exit 1 on the turnpike now has 10 toll booths instead of 2. Good stuff. Took a nap till noon only to wake up with the cold I knew was coming. All my in-laws had colds. Nuriya woke up all crusty too. But she rolled over with help for the first time yesterday at 2pm. At 10:23pm she ate her first "solids" if you could call it that. We hit up Walmart last night and got her some Gerber rice. Mix one tablespoon of that stuff with 5 tablespoons of water and that tasteless slush is apparently considered a solid.

Oh yeah belated Eid Mubarak! We got Nuriya all gussied up for the day and then ended up returning her first Eid dress. The funny thing is we are sentimental and keep everything! But even Mariam recognized the mistake she made when buying the ugly pink "frock." My daughter was rocking a pleated dress against my wishes.

Nuriya also got her ears pierced on Eid eve. Ruby earrings that don't match any of her outfits all thanks to me. But that's her birth stone and I had to maintain the integrity of that. We got it done at the Piercing Pagoda in the middle of the mall which I wasn't too thrilled about until I found they are affiliated with Zales. But the fact that one of the girls who did her ears was a former co-worker of Mariam's at Hannaford's grocery store didn't help. Nuriya cried for a good minute but was all good after that.

Her grandparents here in VA don't know about the earrings yet though. Gotta collect that eidi tonite!