Michael the Narball

It is supposed to be Michael the Marble, but Kaelan can't pronounce marble yet and always calls it 'narball'. Which I think is just adorable, because it's his last baby word that he still uses. All else has been corrected and he is on his way to speaking the King's English. Sad, isn't it?

Anyway, Michael the Narball is Kaelan's imaginary friend. He is a giant marble with arms and legs. As near as I can figure, he does all sorts of things--he tags along with us whenever he gets a whim to, and I've tucked him in bed, fastened his seatbelt, and given him hugs. I was warned, however, not to squeeze too hard because little marbles will come out if I do. Also, Kaelan told me that Michael the Narball drives a really huge monster truck that goes super-fast.

I will point out that Kaelan came up with Michael the Narball all on his own, which I find delightful because it's about time there was another one in the family with a good imagination!

To date, Michael the Narball has been helping Kameron walk and making funny faces at him to make him laugh. What a nice imaginary friend, getting along with the baby brother so well!

If I could only draw well, I know exactly how Michael the Narball would look...

Handsome Rob in an Audi Commercial

In my on-going quest to spread the awesomeness that is Handsome Rob, I must point out that he was in an Audi commercial during the SuperBowl yesterday.

Ah, Handsome Rob. I wish you were my driver. And of course we'd have to have car chases on a daily basis, because that is what Handsome Rob does best--I am of course lumping all his characters together into one category. Transporter, Italian Job, it doesn't matter. He's still Handsome Rob.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

I've been having an F. Scott Fitzgerald month. I finished Tender Is the Night a couple days ago and have started The Beautiful and Damned. I currently have no plans to stop reading his books until I'm finished--I have already read The Great Gatsby and The Other Side of Paradise.

My impression of Tender Is the Night was pretty positive, but I am really digging The Beautiful and Damned. He explains more and doesn't make me guess as much, which I am completely into. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Tender Is the Night, but that 'lyrical prose' gets old after a while.

I love how everyone in his books jaunts off to Europe and stays there for an indefinite period. He makes it sound like for Americans the world is a big sandbox--which is both a completely horrible idea and a great one, depending on how egotistical you're feeling. I almost envy that thought process, but of course I'd do it a little differently once I was there.

Listen to Grant Lee Phillip's Mona Lisa sometime. I have linked it to F. Scott Fitzgerald's work in my mind somehow, and has been my song of the month.

On a completely unrelated topic, I have begun playing Fallout 3 on my Xbox 360, which is basically what it sounds like. I am a girl wandering around the post-apocolyptic world of D.C. I always come home with the best games after I've visited Brandt.