I really did have a serious post started for today, blah-diddy-dah, but remember how I actually have a full time job and family and all that stuff? And how I am leaving for a week to go to Austin for SXSW Interactive?

Quick, look. It's my set of "Faves" on Flickr. See you next week.


P.S. If you are friends with me on Facebook, I am going radio silent since the chatter from SXSW can be annoying.

P.P.S. However, if you like the SXSW chatter, be sure check out my Twitterstream and/or my SXSWi list.

P.P.P.S. Don't forget that Monday is Greeblepix time. The post is already queued up, thank God.

P.P.P.P.S. Can you believe Corey Haim died today?

A very close friend of mine lost her mother-in-law today. A mother-in-law who lived close and was involved in her small children's lives.

She lamented today that her youngest would never even remember her.

And with the passing of her father-in-law a few years ago, there were no grandparents on that side of the family.

When I was growing up, my GREAT-grandparents were alive. Granted, they lived in Germany, and we only saw them in person every 5 years or so, but we KNEW them.

Maybe it was the stories my mom told. Maybe it was the photos I used to pour over. Maybe it was the recorded cassette tapes sent back in forth - which of course were in German - but no biggie, the connection what was mattered.

Declan still has both his grandmothers, and has lost his grandfathers. My father passed long before Declan ever graced this earth, and given my past with him, maybe it's for the best. Bryan's dad left us suddenly a few years ago - but Declan still remembers him, talks about him, even *to* him sometimes.

I think the point is, the ones that attach to our hearts stay with us forever.

Warning: Gross Stuff Ahead.

And parental whining.

It appears Declan may have his first case of Athlete's Foot. At least his foot was itching last night, he wears socks too much, showers too little, so either way - his tootsies got the rub down with medicine, because who cares - yuck.

And of course he was being a little punk about the whole thing.

He turned 7 last September and his maturity mixed with pre-teen snark has been ramming at us like a freight train ever since. I honestly feel like I have to sit down sometimes.

I mean, did you see this?


Some of it is awesome. We are doing more and more cool stuff together all the time.

But seriously? ATHLETE'S FOOT? With ATTITUDE?

Lord help me.

Yawn. You may have noticed I skipped last week entirely. Bored. Blah. Using economies in the words of my post I am so uninspired. So I am just going to do another round of thumbs up or down, and compared to my gut reaction, some have actually changed.

But. OK. Well. I *do* have a *few* things to say.

1. I hate that little twerp Aaron. OK, maybe not hate because that would be rude, but if he turns into the "Middle-Aged Mom Fave," making him hang around for another month, and torture me till my ears and eyes bleed, I may just have to shoot myself in the face. No pressure, kid.
2. Vera Wang was high when she designed Michelle's dress. Or she was kidding. Or both.
3. Who gives a rat's ass about that one note of Siobhan's when she is painful to watch every other moment she is either singing or speaking?
4. Casey needs to put his hair back up in a pony tail. Oh hai, Andy Gibb!
5. The judges forgot to take their bi-polar medications.












My predictions for going home: Tim Urban, Aaron Kelly (please please please), Michelle Delamore, and either Lacey Brown or Haeley Vaughn.

And those are my thoughts, how about you?

P.S. Photos from Rickey.org

I was stoked to hear about what you are all up to this March. And you sound about as stoked as I am for Spring. We are definitely feeling Spring-like in Denver, with 50+ weather all week. I tell ya, I really need it. And next week, I head back to Austin for SXSW Interactive, which is *always* a great experience.

In the meantime, enjoy some music.

As the friends who got the CDs last month know (meaning they JUST got them), February was a blur for me. But March 1 is one step closer to Spring, and that makes me one step closer to happy.

Know what else makes me happy?

My kid. And bubbles.


And something that makes me slightly less happy than my kid but is still awesome?

Music.

Time for Greeblemix!
___________________________________________
GREEBLEMIX RULES
1. Comment as often as you like, up until midnight TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010.
2. No anonymous comments. Please make sure your email address is easily accessible through your entry!
3. Winners from last month, please take a month off.
4. Wednesday morning, I will use Random.org to randomly select three winners. Three free mix CDs for three winners!
5. Winners must be willing to give me their snail mail to send the CD.
6. No need to have to have a blog to enter. We are equal opportunity around here.
___________________________________________

So, what are you up to in March? Any fun plans? What is making you happy this week?

I have been pretty upfront about my forays into plastic surgery. Oh, I guess they are borderline plastic surgery at best, but, let's call a spade a spade. When you alter your appearance by surgery, it's plastic. First, veneers added to fix my gap. Because while it was fun to be able to park a Mac truck between my front teeth, it didn't do much for my smile. And more drastic - I had a breast reduction that cut 6 pounds off my chest. SIX. That was technically for my back, but yeah. It was for my self-esteem too.

Recently a friend decided to have her breasts augmented. She and I often joke that if we put our top halves together, we'd have a perfect woman. Bryan then responded he just wanted what was left over to mount on his shoulder for a pillow.

But that is the question here - what *is* a perfect woman? How far should we go to achieve it?

I can tell you, after a taste of that instant "fix" for your body - you want more. I am so totally not opposed to considering other things down the road, if they look natural and make me feel good. The scary thing is I am sure that crazy cat lady started out feeling that way too. How do you find the balance?

In my friend's case, she thought about it, talked with her husband, and when she was ready, talked to her friends. She had breastfed, was unhappy with her breasts, still young, vivacious - so why not? I have seen the results up close and personal, and I can tell you it was about shape, not size. Here's the weirdest sentence I have ever wrote on my blog: My friend's boobs rock. Not a Pamela Anderson in sight.

She is happy.

Except for the point in time, while she was recovering no less, that her sister called, yelling obscenities in the phone about the choice she made. That had she known about the surgery, she would have come into town and blocked the doorway to the hospital.

I waffle back and forth about this. Part of me appreciates the protection factor. If I start going down the Cat Lady slippery slope, I hope someone will block the hospital door for me.

But more importantly, I wish the sister had heard my friend out. Her reasons. Her plan. Her lack of porn boobs.

And in the end, really, truly, what we do with our body is our own choice.

Yes, Monday evening, I dragged my husband to see Billy Joel and Elton John in concert. They were supposed to play last Fall, and I was supposed to go with my gay friend Christian - the only gay man in America who does not like Elton John, I might add - but, here's a secret for you. Gay friends are the ones who will go with you *wherever* you need them to.

Alas, that evening the old dudes were "fatigued" and postponed. Till now. The very week my gay friend Christian was moving across the country, a fact that chagrined my punk-music-loving husband to no end.

This is how Bugfrog ended up at Billy Joel and Elton John.

He put on a good face. He really did. He barely made fun of them. The crowd, on the other hand? All had targets on their backs.



However, possibly my favorite tweet of all time came during Scenes From An Italian Restaurant.



See? He's great to bring with you to concerts.

And a lot of people thought it was weird that I wanted to go see these old guys play so badly. I think it was part nostalgia. I turn 40 this year, putting my formative years right in their collective hey days. Part of it is I really like watching people play piano. I really do.

Here is video my friend Janet shot from the other side of the Pepsi Center the same evening:


Which, OK, doesn't show off their piano playing as much as some of their other songs. But the truth is, I have nothing else to show you! I must have had an electronic pulse demagnetizer on me that night. First I blew out my iPhone. Then I blew out Bryan's iPhone. Then after I managed to get a few clips on Bryan's Flip, I blew that out too.

Here is my best effort before my voltron currents took over:


Lame.

Ah well.

At least the night wasn't.

You may have heard the recent hullabaloo (love that word) about Please Rob Me. If not, get this: the site gathers check-ins from Foursquare and Twitter that blatantly show you are not home and your house is open and ready for robbing.

Scary, right?

Not so much. IF YOU PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!!

I loved this post from Waxy showing hysteria in 1977 and again in 1983. Location-based information is (again) coming of age, and we are freaking out (again) because we don't know what to do with it. Just like newspapers and phones before the internet.

I have been percolating a post of this nature for a long time now. Because, as soon as I hit send, the information will change, seeing as the landscape is shifting daily. And, as my friend Dave Taylor mentioned last week at the Metzger Social Media Breakfast, it's usually not a good idea to tell anyone to do, or not to do anything. (Heh, like that's ever stopped me). His point was that we should just understand the ramifications of our actions.

And he's right.

But WHY would anyone check in on Foursquare at their house?

Granted, we are still figuring out the POINT of location-based services right now, just like we worked through the kinks on Twitter for the past few years, but in general, at least for me - the point is to find my friends. (OK, and to win points.)

Example: Until my friend Terry checked in at the Chipotle near my office, we had no idea that we worked within a mile of each other. Just had lunch together today. Something that would not have ever happened had we not been using Foursquare and Brightkite. Awesome.

Here's the thing. I *know* Terry. I know his wife. We talk to each other on Twitter, Facebook and via email. THAT is why he is my friend on Foursquare. I am persnickety about who I let into Foursquare and Brightkite. No offense. But sorry. If I don't know you in other social media avenues or (*GASP!*) in real life, you will be ignored.

But I didn't come to this conclusion right away. I had to think about it, talk to people (Bryan, James, Jeremy, Brian, Tara, Andrew to name a few), and come to *MY* conclusion about how *I* wanted to do things. If I want to be an early adopter, I need to jump in and try things out, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't think about what I am doing.

Which means this: Do not check in at your house. Your kids' school. When you are alone. When you don't want to talk to anyone. When you look like poop.

Think about what you are doing. And then do it.

OK, I loved every single finalist - which is why they were there. But did you SEE this photo in large size? Apparently you did, which is why you voted it the winner.

Congrats to Edward McGowan! Check out the rest of his awesome Flickrstream, it's really great stuff.


And THANK YOU to the other finalists, your photos made it super tough for Edward, the lead changed about 5 times this month. Again. YOU *ALL* ROCK.

Also, thanks again to the guys who make this contest possible, Pro Photo Rental.



Edward, email me [aimee at greeblemonkey dot com] and we'll get that $250 camera rental to you.

See you all in March, remember this contest starts the 3rd Monday of the month!

P.S. Happy weekend! What are you all up to?