And ALL the people said "AMEN!"

Steve recommended the 365 project, which posts an amateur audio recording for each day of the year. It's a goldmine! My personal favorite is the work of Robin and Crystal Bernard.

From the Intro" You probably haven't heard this song before, but I'm sure after you've heard it this time, you'll probably want to hear it again. Through the miracle of recording, you can listen to a "happy song", a song sung by two precious little girls, televised nationwide, it's the Monkey Song!! It refutes the ridiculous theory of evolution...."
REALLY you NEEEED to listen to this song. I laughed so hard I almost choked myself. A sample:

I'm no kin to the monkey, no no no
The monkey's no kin to me, no no no
I don't know much about his ancestors, but mine didn't swing from a tree...

I love the theory of evolution and am fine with hominid evolution but this song is just soooo catchy. I've been singing it all day.
Even more amazing is the song that comes right after called The Ecumenical Movement. Some lyrics:

Catholic, Protestant, and Jew, Budhist, Muslim and Hindu,
I guess they want the devil too in the ecumenical movement,
They always talk about the golden rule and the sermon on the mount,
but whether you've be born again doesn't even seem to count!

Gasp! Oh man, great stuff. Absolutely terrifying when you stop and think about it so I advise you don't bother and simply sing along instead. You can listen here.

Tshirt

I like this t-shirt.

Glen Echo Park

To motivate myself to start the dreadful process of packing and moving, I’ll be listing a few reasons I’m looking forwarded to relocating. The number one reason is to live with Aaron again. Living separately is nooo fun. Here’s my next reason: the social dances at Glen Echo Park. I had a friend-roommate in college who raved about how fun they were and I’ve always wanted to go. These dances are done with old school charm. Some take place in an old Spanish ballroom, others are outside on an old bumper car ring. The dances happen every weekend and often feature a live band. An hour before the actual dance starts, they teach the steps so even uncultured beginners like me can join in the fun. You can see the calendar here. I already extracted a promise from Aaron to take me to a swing dance. I guess I’ll need to consult with Abby, the latest cotillion graduate, to brush up my manners.

+1

Aaron and I are expecting a baby in November. Here's what it looked like a couple weeks ago.

Crossing the Rubicon

Aaron has been up in DC and taken the time do some apartment hunting. (I did my best to contribute a few hundred miles away by obsessively monitoring Craigslist posting) We decided we wanted a place that was closer in with less of a commute so it looks like we're really going to be leaving Charlottesville to live on Madison St. in Alexandria. Our apartment has a library, a grocery store, a movie theater, a few parks (though they look a little pathetic on google maps) a bike shop and bunch of other cool stores all less than a mile away. Check it out here. And Aaron is only seven miles from his work and has a bus stop to the metro right outside our door. We're hoping we'll only have to use our car when we want to. Hurray! Aaron is signing the contract in the next day or so. I've moved a lot with Aaron but this feels like a big step.

Gustav Tenggren

I really like the illustrator Gustav Tenggren. He's a master of gouache. You may be familiar with his work. He illustrated The Pokey Little Puppy and The Scrawny Tawny Lion. He also did a lot of work for Disney and loved illustrating fairy tales. You can see some illustrations for his book Arabian Nights here.

Sharing is Caring

I loved the article When Mom and Dad Share It All in the New York Times. There's a lot to think about in there, like why so many people believe in an equal partnership in their relationships but how very few people actually create equality through a fair division of labor. I was really surprised at how little time Dads get to spend with their kids, the article saying the average being only around 3 hours a day. Mom's in comparison spend about 11 (when working) to 15 (not working) which is about the same average as in the 50s.