Mama Blogging.

She has a few words of wisdom for this young whippersnapper. He’d better not stay up past his bedtime.

Not to be confused with “mommy blogging” – by this I mean, my mama is blogging! I set up a tumblr account for her and she has entered the blogosphere! Introducing – MamaPeke! I’d invite you to say hello to her personally, but I don’t think you can comment via tumblr – in any case, you can read her musings (and a great recipe for cinnamon rolls) and then comment here if you so choose. Or you can read her musings and then make some kickass cinnamon rolls. That’s another possibility.

PS: I also have a tumblr account for non-nanny related shenanigans.

Local Baby Style!

Three (well, four kids, three nurseries) Providence babies are represented on OhDeeDoh‘s nursery tours! Providence has some rockin’ style and I’m happy to pass on these rockin’ baby rooms.

Oliver’s Well-Traveled Room

Ozzy’s Bright Safari

Hank & Dexter’s Vintage Hideaway

Flavour of the Moment.

[photo by Flickr user *Micky ]

My dear friend Susan has started a new blog project – Flavour of the Moment – for those momentary obsessions that consume you. I’ve joined as a contributor and made a post about my own favorite obsession du jour… you’ll have to go to the site to see, but I’ll give you a teaser: Britney Spears + ASL.

More to come! Check back often!

The Pink Dress.

[image, as watermark would suggest, courtesy GettyImages ]

Oh, I do love me a good story of children breaking down gender barriers. Here’s a wonderful story about a boy named Sam and his pink dress.

Cephalopod Roundup.

Anytime, anywhere an octopus is mentioned, I find out about it. Thanks to Kat and Heidi for these!

Don’t trust anyone you meet online, kids. You never know… it might just be…

CTHULU! Can you believe I’ve never actually read any H.P. Lovecraft? I live in Providence and I have this whole octopus thing going on, and yet, I only know of Cthulu in this kind of sideways sort of hearsay kind of a way. I should probably get on that, seeing as Nuno owns the Necronomicon. (Which, thanks to LOLCats, I can only think of as the “NecroNOMNOMNOMicon.” See also Neal Stephenson’s CryptoNOMNOMOMicon.)

Humboldt Squid wash up on the Oregon coast. Ok, so that might not be an actual picture of the squid. And I might actually be ripping off another blog post here, but it’s EFFIN AWESOME.

The Octopus Project. I’ve never actually heard this band, and maybe they suck, but they have just about the most awesome name. Fun Fact: If I ever form a band, it’s going to be called Rabbit Liberation Army after my attempts to free our preschool pet, an obese geriatric rabbit named “Mr. Bun.” I somehow squeezed that lard out of his cage… only to have him hop right back in again. Ingrate. I now understand why my teachers didn’t attempt to stop me, they were probably watching me and falling over laughing knowing just how much Mr. Bun did NOT want his freedom.

The Creative Capital.

My dearest Kat is in town!!! And I got my new laptop in the mail today!!! Zomg!!! This is the most exciting Day-Before-My-Birthday ever!!! We went around “Downcity” Providence to a few cute places including the oh-so-amazing Craftland and Oop! There’s a preponderance of awesome merch relating to Little Rhody. If you need a pair of underpants that say “Providence” with the little RI state anchor on them, I know where you can get them. We’re really big on state pride up here, and I’m really big on my little city.

Awesome sightings at Craftland:

Frida & Diego finger puppets!

Elephant bag!

Octopus card! Kat bought this for me because it is so awesome.

Elephant bib! I’d buy this, but then my hypothetical baby could never wear it because I’d be upset if s/he got it dirty.

From Oop! – this plate is the epitome of greatness. Peace sign. Elephant. Octopus. Too bad it’s for “children.”

Octopus Wishes.

Socktopus by blackbirdfashion.

Letter O (Octopus) print by JennSki

Octopus print by erinaellis

Silver Bracelet by VersatilElements

Anatomical Wishes.

Phrenology head lightbox by morbiddecor.

Bird cage print by digit 13.

Beating Heart print by Nostalgique Art.

I’m In Love With Something Real print by munstre.

WTFBBQ MANIA.

I’m not above playing silly games. Oh no. I’ve spent more of my life than is in any way healthy playing “Sally’s Spa” on my iPhone. Far be it from me to cast a stone.

But… Nanny Mania?! NANNY? MANIA? They made a game of MY JOB? I mean, I guess playing the spa game is someone else’s job, and it would seem equally redonk to them that you’re playing a game in your free time that requires giving someone else a pedicure (and yeah, honestly, the “clipping toenails” graphic was a bit much, thnx)… but…

This job not only can’t be as fun as the real thing: there are no real flowers from real little boys or endless cards being shoved in your bag from five year old girls, but it also is missing out on a lot of crucial elements. It can’t be a real simulation of nannying unless it involves a computer recreation of the “I’m going to hold your legs with one hand, and take off your poopy diaper, wipe your butt, and then put on your clean diaper with the other hand in twenty seconds while you scream your tiny little head off and alternately try to kick me or put your feet in your own poo” move, or has a voice that asks you “Why?” after each time you hit a button. Any button. For any reason.

Why?

I do like the “House Chaos” meter. Nice touch there.

Y’know, I’m sitting here thinking about this and thinking that I could seriously enjoy a barista game where I could “make” coffees and problem solve about doing things quickly and efficiently, but I would never, ever want my old job back. Thinking about a nanny game? While, ok, yeah, the poop… but really, the best parts of the job aren’t things that would ever be captur-able in computer form. The game is not going to come up to you all smiling and start drooling its popsicle right into your lap. When computer technology can simulate the smell of sleepy toddler, then maybe we’ll talk.

Until then, I’ve got to go and do laundry mania that I may return to nanny mania tomorrow with clean pants.

And I am going to start imagining this banner appearing on my car every day at 5PM.

Decorating with Frida.

Yes, I’m thinking a lot about my little home space today. I want a new desk chair that will accommodate my odd way of sitting with my legs sort of tucked under me. My Ikea chair is super cute, but it’s hurting my knees if I sit in it too long, which is both a pain for working and for playing Civ (ha!). I also want some kind of a box for my purse collection and maybe something to put my shoes in by the door. And, as mentioned, new art for the walls. It seems like it’s becoming my Sunday pastime to sit in my house and think about it and browse Apartment Therapy. Here’s a Frida spotting from a really excellent San Francisco house tour: