Random bits o’ this and that.

I watched a great show last night — MONSTER HOUSE on (I think) the Discovery Channel. Basically, it’s sort of like TRADING SPACES, only it’s just one house, and the redecoraters are all (theoretically) professional people. And they just gut the damn house and start over, with a unifying theme for the whole deal. It’s pretty funny, particularly because a) they don’t always finish in the allotted seven days, and b) they don’t always get along with each other. The one I watched last night had a very crabby, arthritic carpenter who repeatedly swore at the cameraman whenever he was around.

Val can feel the baby kicking, but it’s still too early for me, despite the fact that she says she actually saw it kicking last night. Apparently, my hand makes it stop moving. So I don’t know what to do with that, except be patient, I guess.

I think I’m becoming a little obsessed with Wilco — I can’t stop listening to YANKEE FOXTROT HOTEL.

Dad is doing a lot better. We went up there on Saturday evening for dinner and to hang out, and he’s moving around all over the house on the cane. I guess the walker didn’t last all that long. He looked really good for only a week and a half past surgery, although the strain before and after apparently messed up his knees pretty badly. He puts ice packs on them in the evening, top and bottom. They take up their own entire shelf in the freezer. I know Mom will be glad to get rid of them soon, so I can only hope that Dad’s knees mend pretty quickly…

Also, we have decided on names for the baby, but they’re ultra-secret and I’ve promised not to tell.

This is the bestest thing the inertnet has ever given me:

http://www.electronicgeisha.com/pureart/harrypotter/ootpreview.jpg

EDIT: snipped for loading ease. It was making me crazy…

Thanks to Charity for the link.

“inertnet” ganked from xtop

Also, I am apparently a huge girl.

Man wakes after 19 years in coma

Accident victim stuck in 1984; believes Reagan still president

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ark., July 9 — The words began tumbling out — at first just a few nouns and eventually a torrent of phrases. Terry Wallis, who had been in a coma since a 1984 car accident, regained consciousness last month to the surprise of doctors and the delight of his family, including his mother, who heard his first word in 19 years.

…Terry Wallis, now 39, was riding with a friend in July 1984 when their car left the road and plunged into a creek. Wallis and his friend were found the next day underneath a bridge. The friend was dead and Wallis was comatose.

Wallis’ daughter, Amber, was born shortly before the accident, and the coma dragged on for almost two decades. She is now 19 and her dad has said he wants to walk again, for her. He is a quadriplegic as a result of the crash.

…Terry’s father, Jerry Wallis, said his son talks almost nonstop now, but it seems as though time stopped for him after the wreck. Terry still believes Ronald Reagan is the president.

Terry has asked to speak to his grandmother, who died several years ago, and even recited her phone number — something everyone else in the family had forgotten.

“You see, he’s still back in 1984,” said Jerry Wallis…

Shuttle Foam Test Offers ‘Smoking Gun’ Proof Of Disaster

A chunk of foam insulation fired at shuttle wing parts Monday blew open a gaping 16-inch hole, yielding what one member of the Columbia investigation team said was the “smoking gun” that proves what brought down the spaceship.

The crowd of about 100 watching the test gasped and cried, “Wow!” when the foam hit — the impact so violent that it popped a lens off one of the cameras recording the event.

…Jesus.

Tonight @ Little Brothers. Tickets already in hand.

I swear to you that if the reason I was embarrassed in front of the same client twice in less than a month because of one single missing letter, I will lose my mind.