I’m pretty sure Captain America never taught youto dress like that though Rick. At least he’s not wearing the nega-bands, then he’d look really stupid. I suppose I can’t be too harsh he did bang Marlo. From Marvel Comics Presents #52.

(WoahoooWoah)

Please enjoy these 3 new Marlo videos on this cold Monday morning, and remember you only have to work 3 days this week. Spread them out, a video per day, if you must.

I guess I’m a little bit late with this review since the album came out on October 19 of this year. The original album was released at the beginning of this year, and a few remixes were made between then and now, but this album contains all new remixes which were never released. I thought the original album was not bad, ranking it somewhere between Above & Beyond’s Sirens of the Sea and Armin’s Imagine (though all 3 of these albums are better than Tiesto’s new work by far). In terms of remix work, this CD is pretty damn good. With established artists such as Lange, Markus Schulz, and Rafael Frost presenting their best remix capabilities, this album is packed with lots of goodies. Relative newcomers such as Sied van Riel, Ashley Wallbridge, and Ummet Ozcan also beef up the lineup of producers who are in the album. The overall feel is techy, and most of the songs sound darker with a little bit more edge to them. This remix album definitely rivals A&B’s Sirens Remixed album as one of the better remix albums. Here are some of my favorites from the album…

Ferry Corsten – Life (Patrick Plaice Remix)
This is the first time I have heard of this guy, but I guess he’s a new kid on the block who has just broken out this year. Great work on this remix.

You can purchase the album at most music retail locations, as well as Ferry’s website.

Looking a little pale Ashley was spotted taking a walk with her dog Marlo. Her hair was short again But the second picture with “crazy-jumping-Marlo” is really funny

Ashley and Marlo were spotted in Los Angeles while taking a walk yesterday (28th October)

Não pretendo seguir uma ordem cronológica aqui. Este espaço servirá mesmo para que possamos relembrar do movimento que se seguiu por um tempo na região do Vale do Sinos. Digo região porque, além de Dois Irmãos, Ivoti e São Leopoldo estiveram em nosso trajeto de produções.

Após o primeiro The Best of Metal, seguiu-se mais duas edições deste festival que reuniu centenas de pessoas e dezenas de bandas. A segunda, em Ivoti, na Sede Campestre da Sociedade Harmonia. Também ao ar livre, com muita energia  metaleira. Nos cast: Empire of Darkness, Trator, Movarbru, Mental Horror, A Sorrowful Dream e Lethal Sense. Depois, a terceira edição voltou para Dois Irmãos, onde a atração principal foi a banda Rebaellium, muito famosa no contexto metal da época, além de Sabbra Cadabra, Posthumous, Carniça e Empire of Darkness. Na maioria de nossos shows, as bandas dos amigos estavam lá: Empire of Darkness, Carniça, Trator, Meskalito, Ordinários, Juticeiros… tantas outras que aos poucos vou lembrando e postando aqui…

Trator

Falando em banda Trator, após alguns shows realizados, acabei virando produtora da banda de Ivoti. A formação era: Maurício – bateria, Leandro – guitarra, Sandro – baixo, Márcio – guitarra e Thomas – vocal. Pra mim, era uma das promessas do metal. Em todos os sentidos musicais e geográficos porque poderia, perfeitamente expandir pro mundo todo.

Após a entrada do Marlo (banda Carniça) na bateria, a banda deu um salto de qualidade incrível. A banda gravou dois discos: Trator e A Letter from Hell, ambos, muito bons.

É, a Trator foi a primeira banda da qual pude dizer que fui produtora. Consegui levá-los pro litoral, onde fomos num ônibus da prefeitura de Mariluz, caindo aos pedaços, sem cachê, mas com um show bacana no currículo e alguns CDs vendidos pros então fãs conquistados.

Banda Trator: Márcio, Sandro, Thomas, Marlo e Leandro

A banda tocou também no festival promovido pela Vandi, lendária roqueira de São Leopoldo. Não lembro agora do nome do festival, mas foi um sucesso. O show foi no Teatro do Armindão, onde eu mesma acabei fazendo um show lá. Após o show da Vandi, conheci o pessoal da banda Sabbra Cadabra, banda cover de Black Sabbath: Mocô, Alex, Luciano e Diogo, formavam o quarteto que melhor representava a banda ícone do heavy metal no mundo. Acabei virando produtora deles também. Após idas e vindas, hoje a banda se desintegrou de sua formação orginal. Até algumas tretas discretas se desenrolaram. Mas hoje, Diogo Schneider, o melhor vocalista cover de Ozzy Osborne que eu já vi está com outra formação, com a Black Sabbath cover. Luciano Reis, guitarrista da Vianna Moog e Skyfox está dando continuidade coma  Sabbra Cadabra, com Sandro Seixas (banda Kúria) no vocal.

Sabbra Cadabra, na Gema Brasil, em São Leopoldo, em 2007

Real conversation:

Marlo: Dad. Hi. Please don’t go to work today.

Marlo: Can we do something that involves leaving the house? Look I’m all dressed, and it’s sunny outside.

Marlo: Will you look up an apple orchard? Some of my friends went to one, and said it was the best time they ever had in their life. Okay?

Dad: Okay

Anderson’s Apple Orchard – a real American experience.

Drive in, grab a bag, pull the apples off the tree, put ‘em in the bag, pay an incredibly fair price, go on your merry way.

What’s nice is that you can actually try the apples before you commit. This results in a lot of half eaten apples on the ground. Jeff and I wondered how they kept the animals out at night. I imagined the place being like a Golden Corral, all you can eat buffet for all the nocturnal scavengers.

Jeff recommends the Cortland variety.

Marlo tried really hard to pull the apples off the tree, but ended up just getting frustrated and smacking them around like piñatas.

Even though she’s no Johnny Appleseed, Marlo really enjoyed herself. In fact, she may have had the best time of her life.

We had a pretty good time, too.

Another real conversation:

Mom & Dad: Hey Marlo, what was your favorite part?

Marlo: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Barbara’s winning performance

Marlo

Alethea Austin

Sarah Cretul

Mina

Becca Butcher

Learn Pole Dancing with a great online community!

Barbara Dial during her performance:

Hi.

You’ve reached Marlo’s answering machine. I can’t come to the phone right now. I’m busy.

Busy meeting baby puppies..

and busy reorganizing Grandpa’s CD cabinet…

and Grandma’s pantry…

and Grammie’s tupperware.

I’ve been busy getting ready for winter…

and especially busy being an elephant.

Particularly busy being an elephant that eats fiddlesticks…

and teases the cat with fiddlesticks…

Please leave a message after the beep. I’ll get back with you as soon as I’m done watching the neighbor’s dog.

Ante todo, aclaro que se vienen unas cuantas preguntas existenciales.

¿Nunca les ocurrió que estaban tan hasta las manos con una mina, que no podían de dejar de verla por todos lados? Cerraban lo ojos y ahí aparecía; los abrían en la mitad de la calle y la sospechaban detrás de cualquier trasera o delantera medianamente aceptable. Claro que existen casos un tanto más extremos. Ejemplo ¿nunca les ocurrió, en alguna de esas inacabables tardes adolescentes, que estaban tan enamorados de una mina que la terminaban viendo hasta en una película porno? …les parecerá demasiado, pero a Rick Jones le pasó.

¿Quién carajo es Rick Jones?

Para saber algo del muchacho con apellido aventurero, hay que remontarse a 1962, cuando Marvel parió violentamente a esa verdosa criatura llamada Hulk gracias a una travesura adolescente de Rick Jones, que de ahí en adelante acompañó al monstruo con mal carácter en varias aventuras. Aunque se ve que con eso no le alcanzaba, ya que año y medio después, se perfiló como el sidekick del renacido Capitán América (en el cuarto número de Los Vengadores). Y una década más tarde, cuando la gloriosa Guerra entre Krees y Skrulls se desató… Rick Jones también estaba ahí.

No es muy difícil afirmar que al hombre le apetecen las emociones fuertes.

Ahora bien, ¿¡que podrá saber Rick Jones de mujeres con tanto superhéroe fortachón y sudoroso alrededor!?

Si quieren enterarse, péguenle una hojeada al The Incredible Hulk # 417 (Mayo de 1994) escrito por Peter David y dibujado con detalle, sencillez y deleitación por Gary Frank.

En este número en cuestión, Rick Jones está a punto de dar el paso más dramático de su vida ¿Discutir con Hulk? ¿Traicionar al Capitán América? ¿Pelear contra el Doctor Doom? No… casarse con Marlo.

¿Quién será Marlo? preguntarán algunos, a los que debo advertirles que se han estado perdiendo algunas de las páginas comiqueras con más curvas peligrosas de los últimos años.

Marlo apareció por primera vez en 1989 cuando Hulk (también al mando de Peter David) era gris como en el comienzo de su destructiva carrera. En ese entonces Hulk permanecía en su estado bestial la mayor parte del tiempo y Banner asomaba de vez en cuando; pero ahora el gigante cuidaba mucho más su aspecto personal, y se divertía jugándola de gangster en Las Vegas, tan bien le iba que logró impresionar a una bellísima dama de dudoso pasar económico que no era otra sino la mencionada Marlo.
En un momento donde Jim Lee, Rob Ledfield y Mark Silvestri (entre varios otros jovenzuelos con hormonas rebosantes) delineaban, con sus tensos lápices, a heroínas despampanantes con escasos metros de tela sobre sus exuberantes cuerpos, Marlo era una mujer sin superpoderes, pero poseedora de un carácter encantador y de un supercuerpo electrizante. Aunque, previsiblemente, su romance con el Hulk gangsteril duró muy poco.

Volviendo al Hulk modelo ’94, Rick está a punto de tomar la decisión mas radical de su vida. Pero antes, como en todo buen drama, debe afrontar un rito de pasaje; una prueba ineludible que se desarrollara en dos etapas. La primera consiste en conocer a su futura suegra… que no tiene ni la cara, ni el cuerpo, ni la altura de su hija, aunque por lo menos es razonablemente simpática y delgada.

La segunda etapa, es la experiencia definitiva a la que todo hombre deberemos enfrentarnos, tarde o temprano… la tan ansiada, como temida, despedida de soltero.

El festejo en cuestión ocurre en un club de veteranos de guerra, cortesía de un abochornadísimo Capitán América (recuerden, el hombre fue joven durante los ’40, y no se termina de acostumbrar al reventón noventero), y cuenta con la lógica presencia de Hulk, del Hombre de Hierro, de la Visión, de Hércules y unos cuantos personajes coloridos más.

Todo va por lo carriles más o menos previsibles, con Rick abrazando emocionado a todo el mundo –gracias a la generosa cantidad de alcohol que corre por sus venas–, hasta que aparece la Ecdisíasta, que armada con un secador de pelo, y no mucho más (quizás cierto aire a Vampirella), le regala a Jones el baile sexy de su vida.

Hasta donde tengo entendido, la Ecdisíasta no volvió a aparecer en ningún tipo de cómics, lo que realmente es una lástima, porque siempre viene bien una stripper profesional para aligerar el duro drama de una multisaga erótic… eh, perdón, heróica.

Pero lo más picante, ocurre cuando los supermuchachones –incluido un Capitán América mas abochornado aún– se disponen a ver una cinta prohibida, de calidad y argumento asegura el proyectorista, ¿¡pero quién se va a quejar si no es así!?

La cinta comienza a correr, se ve una playa, se ve a un hombre sudoroso y se ve la espalda sugerente de una mujer bien alimentada, pero Rick esta taaaaaaaaan enamorado, que sólo ve en la pantalla a alguien muy parecida a su amada Marlo (que también esta muy bien alimentada, eso ya quedó claro más arriba)… hasta que alguien le hace notar que la protagonista de la película porno ¡¡¡ES REALMENTE MARLO!!!

¿Como reaccionar frente a esto?, sigan el lógico y amable ejemplo de la Visión, que felicita a Rick por la admirable labor de su futura mujer.

¿Y donde estaba Marlo, mientras se desencadenaba este desgarrador drama?, festejando su despedida de soltera en un exclusivo club para damas, lleno de strippers, y de mujeres realmente superpoderosas: Betty, la mujer de Hulk, la madre de Marlo, She-Hulk, Sue Richards (en ese entonces una viuda recién estrenada), Wanda, alias Red Witch –sin androide ni Hombre Maravilla a la vista– y Lyja, la skrull que se casó con Johnny Storm, ¿!aunque él asegura que no se dio cuenta de que ella no era humana!?

Nota mental: nunca apaguen la luz cuando estén a punto de hacerlo con una desconocida.

Al número siguiente, después de todo el embrollo pornográfico, Rick amenaza con cancelar la boda, mientras Marlo asegura que todo fue un típico error de juventud ya que necesitaba el dinero, y la discusión dura menos de tres páginas. Seguramente, Rick intentó mirarla a los ojos, pero se quedó prendado de ese peligroso triangulo de bermudas que va desde el bajo vientre hasta debajo del cuello y se dio cuenta que nunca podría darse el lujo de perderse todo eso.

Más tranquilos y relajados (es un decir) las páginas restantes de The Incredible Hulk # 418 (Junio del ’94) nos muestran como se celebra la accidentada boda, con más invitados ilustres que la despedida de soltero, y con mucha más diversión y relajo que otras bodas comiqueras.

¿Y todos vivieron felices? hasta el número siguiente, por lo menos, donde Hulk pelea contra un Skrull caído en desgracia (y van), mientras Betty, Rick y Marlo discuten sobre el gran tema del que siempre tratan los buenos cómics de superhéroes: las complejas y, a veces, peligrosas relaciones entre hombres y mujeres.

© 2004, Gabriel Álvarez.

Publicado originalmente en Calabozo del Androide #9, marzo 2004.

I’ve received a few complaints from my most loyal readers. Apparently I’ve not only been posting too infrequently, but I’ve also been writing too few postings featuring Marlo.

Let’s just pretend that my most loyal readers don’t all have the same last name and weren’t in the labor room when she was born.

It’s not that she hasn’t done anything absolutely adorable or brilliant lately. There’s actually been much of that. But these moments are a little less controlled than before, because she’s a little less controlled then before.

Where’s Marlo? I feel like I asked that question 3 times a minute now because she’s here, then she’s gone.

She’s a genius. Have I told you that before? Well, she is. A genius and an animal lover. She thoroughly adores her new roommates, now that we live with Grammie and Gramps and their three pets – the dachshunds Rosy, Sammy, and the cat – I should know that cat’s name, but I don’t.

She beats the cat with drumsticks. The cat’s declawed, so no need to worry about retaliation folks.

Dachshunds can be mean dogs, but not these dachshunds. Somehow my in-laws managed to find the nicest dachshunds on the planet and buy them. There aren’t any left folks so don’t go looking to have some yourself. They all live with Marlo.

Thank goodness because she’s constantly all up in their business. While it took them a few days to adjust to this, I think Sammy and Rosy have pretty much accepted this annoying munchkin following them around waving her hands in their faces.

This may have something to do with it:

Yeah. She’s become the treat girl. All dogs love the treat girl. So, Grammie thought it would probably be in everyone’s best interest if Marlo filled that role. Marlo takes it very seriously. Sometimes, she doesn’t think she does it as perfectly as she’s capable of, and she asks to do it again. The dogs love this. Not sure how the vet will feel about it though…

How Lulu & Marlo came to the idea that they are going to circumnavigate the globe.

I really like watching Marlo sleep in, yes, a really creepy way. I can’t help it. She’s a very sweet sleeper. Sometimes she’s a really funny sleeper. I just gotta get a fix every single day. A lot of the problem may be that, perhaps, the very last word you would use to describer her awake is “serene”. She hasn’t  fallen asleep in our arms since she was around 3 months old. We can never have just plain cuddle time unless it’s feeding time. So sometimes I just want to gaze at those relaxed chubby cheeks with a little drool puddling in the corner of her mouth. It can be very satisfying.

Her laughter can be just as satisfying. We’re sure lucky that she has a fantastic sense of humor. She finds puppies, peek-a-boo, and mommy falling hilarious. She loves getting tickled. In fact, her newest thing is “accidentally” walking her belly into my toes when they hang over the ottoman and then throwing her head back in a desperate laugh like all this tickling is just too much! She is also a fan of kissy attacks, thank goodness because sometimes they’re impossible to resist.

A year and a day ago, this was me calling the doctor to see if she thought I was pregnant.

Turns out I was. About 8 hours later, after miles of walking around trying to speed up my contractions, I showed up at the hospital at 6 in the evening in labor and already 5 cm along. Just five hours after that I was pushing. Yeah I did that for three hours. But this is the perfection the popped out at 2:04 a.m. August 10, 2008.

You’re our baby girl, Marlo Westley Anderson.

You were born picture perfect at 7 lb.and 7 oz.

From day one you were curious with your eyes wide open checking everything out.

When we got you home, you were so easy.

So precious and rosy.

And then you kept falling asleep while nursing and lost a bunch of weight. You kind of looked like a skeleton and you weren’t very cute. Sorry, but it was true just for a few weeks.

I started giving you breast milk in a bottle, and then all of a sudden this happened.

You got seriously chubby.

And seriously cute again.

I mean really tragically cute.

Every day you learned how to do new stuff. Like eat real food.

And drink from a sippy cup.

And stick your tongue out.

And crawl.

And stand up.

And blow bubble beards.

And read.

And tie your shoe laces.

You learned the simple joys of life.

Like swimming.

And lounging on the couch watching cartoons on Sunday mornings.

And gravity.

And good friends that tell great stories.

And swinging.

And, of course, muffins.

You have a wonderful personality, Marlo.

Even though sometimes you throw a dandy of a tantrum…

Most of the time you’re a ton of fun.

I mean, you really crack us up.

We love you more than you love Yo Gabba Gabba. Happy Birthday Marlo Monkey.

It’s a crummy day here. Here being Indianapolis. Crummy. Dark and cold and rainy and crummy.

Here’s some sunshine.

Marlo hasn’t used a pacifier since she was 4-5 months old – this could be guessed seeing that she has it in upside down. Now she just teethes on them, but it’s still the strangest thing to see one in her mouth. I love this picture because in the words of Miss Tyra Banks, she’s “smiling with her eyes”.

You know that wheezy, throaty kind of laugh old – I mean decrepit – men have? Picture the pedophile old man neighbor in Family Guy.

Yeah that kind of laugh. Well my 11 month old daughter is a little ahead of herself here. She’s had the old man laugh for a few months now. Here’s a sample.

Yesterday, she figured out that putting stuff on her head made mommy laugh. All day long she had a rag or a t-shirt or pj pants on her head as she crawled around. Stopping every so often to check and make sure I was watching and admiring her.

And for the finale…when her knees get a little sore after crawling all day – she’ll walk around on all fours. She’s fast and hilarious. The only problem is she can’t see where she’s going and bonks her head on everything. I apologize the video is a little Blair Witch, try not to throw up.

There, that makes the day little better, no?

Where she’s standing in this video is where we used to have a changing pad to take care of diapers. So, she used to see herself in the mirror everyday, several times a day. For a few months now, we’ve moved her to the living room floor for diaper changes since she’s so tall and doesn’t fit as well on the changing pad. Jeff takes her back to the mirror every now and then. This is generally how it goes:

Notice how many times she says “giggle giggle”. Normally, she walks around the house saying “giggle gaggle, giggle gaggle.” Quite charming.

When the real world catches up with fiction. Apparently a teen was killed during a gun battle at Jamie Hector’s, who plays gangster Marlo Stanfield, baby shower in New York. A massive 50 bullets were fired outside the  party.

“What a gun battle,” a police source told the Daily News. “They have been watching too much TV.”

Read the full Story at smh.com.au

Thanks for the heads up from my friends at Entourage F*cking Fan Club.

I found it weird to come across this article right as I was searching Ebay for the The Wire box set.  Also, who the hell follows the ambulance to the hospital to finish the job?

Wtf is going on Brooklyn?

By JAMIE SCHRAM

July 13, 2009

A gun-toting gate-crasher killed a man after spraying a Brooklyn party with bullets, then followed a second victim to the hospital and took another shot at him, cops said yesterday.

Neighbors said the affair was a baby shower for the mother of actor Jamie Hector’s child. Hector played drug lord Marlo Stanfield on HBO’s “The Wire.”

After the carnage at the East Flatbush home on East 93rd Street just after 1 a.m., the shooter got in a car, followed one of the victims six blocks to Brookdale Hospital, then fired another round at him outside the emergency room, police said. The unidentified shooter sped away.

The 32-year-old victim was listed in critical condition at the hospital with wounds to his legs and groin.

Linton Williams, 26, who lives nearby, was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead after being shot in the head and torso.

A third victim, a 22-year-old man, flagged down an EMS vehicle after being shot in the leg. He was taken to Brookdale Hospital.

Cops said a .40-caliber Glock and a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson were found at the East 93rd Street shooting scene, where neighbors said people were enjoying a baby shower. No arrests have been made.

link

I just caught wind of a really crazy story involving The Wire star Jamie Hector’s wife’s baby shower in Brooklyn over the weekend. Nearly 50 shots were fired at the East Flatbush apartment killing 17 year old Linton Williams and wounding two adults.

Seriously, this is taking TV a bit too far. I hope justice can be served cause this is just all types of wrong. Don’t they know Marlo is my boo? Sheesh.

Source

I spent Saturday afternoon at a kid-friendly baby shower, trying not to grill the expectant mom about baby names.  (They’re not finding out the gender, and they’re not sharing names in advance.  Torture!)  But among the small guests?  A pint-sized Zora, named after the author.

In other name news:

• I don’t think the Mostly Cajun blogger and I have anything in common, but I enjoy his lists of some of the least appealing baby names he spots in local birth announcements – as in Bailee, Jazm’yne, Taylior.  If you need a reason to groan and roll your eyes, direct your browser towards Louisiana;
• With the next installment in the Harry Potter series set to hit the big screen soon, get ready for more articles about JK Rowling-inspired baby names.  This article from the Baltimore Sun pegs the most obvious impact of the series to date – the rise of Luna;
• How much am I loving Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It”s posts on Newbies?  Culled from online birth announcements, I surrender twenty minutes of my non-existent free time whenever one surfaces in my Google Reader.  There’s a Wren Elise on her most recent list.  And I continue to puzzle over Timberlyn.  Were her eco-chic parents worried she’d be lost among all the Willows?  Or is it a logical name for a logger’s daughter?  Could the parents be superfans of Justin Timberlake?  Timbaland?  Timberland footwear?  The mind reels;
• Legit Baby Names blogged about Olga recently.  Why aren’t there more Olgas?  Or am I the only one so charmed?;
• Bewilditrix turned the spotlight on Basil.  Basil Fawlty’s not so well known in the US, and I’ve noticed one or two in the birth announcements.  In fact, here my first Basil thought is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short stories.  Guess we’ll have to wait and see;
• The Toronto Star again covers an unusual baby name – but this one is actually rather appealing: Nash Anthony;
• I’ve neglected to mention Dooce, the mother-of-all-mommy blogger’s second darling daughter, Marlo Iris.  (Big sis is Leta.)  I especially love Iris in the middle spot – wonder if she’ll replace Rose anytime soon;
• Which reminds me, Babble’s Oz Spies has welcomed a second son, Jonas Eamon, little brother to Axel;
• Jason Priestly is a dad for the second time, but they’ve yet to announce the name chosen for Ava Veronica’s little brother;
• Indy driver Scott Dixon welcomed a daughter named Poppy Davies Dixon – the middle name is mom Emma’s maiden name;
• Nancy’s post on wild Saints’ Names is fabulous.  I think we can safely say that Waltrude is not primed for a comeback;
• From the time machine – one year ago today, the Name of the Day was Saskia.

Lastly, a special (and overdue) congratulations to Bek on the birth of Eben Forrest.  (I know she’s already mentioned it in comments from another post, but it is such a fabulous name, it really deserves some more applause!)

Check back next week for Leland, Phaedra, Ferdinand, Marsann and Leora.  Thanks for reading!

A lot of exciting things happened today – or rather, two – but it was too hot for me to properly take note of them.

Firstly, and certainly most unexpectedly, a literary agency got in touch and requested my full manuscript. About a month ago, on finishing the book with J-, I’d diligently sent out my reams of synopsis’ – what is the correct plural of that anyway? – and had happily forgotten about the whole thing. Until an invitation to send the full book arrived in my in-box. Following which, I had a mad moment of panic.

In the past, I’ve worked for what most people would probably call a vanity publisher – which, I stress, will remain nameless. The setup was somewhat more complex than the usual system, though, and we did represent a quite a few writers who were actually incredibly talented… In any case, my experience there seems to have left me somewhat jaded and despite the initial flush of excitement, I found myself questioning the whole legitimacy of the agency.

I’d had a manuscript request before, and worried about the same things then, but disregarded all worries when the agency rejected me on receipt of the first five pages. Real companies, you see, never accept new work. Well, I mean, of course they do – they have to – but I suppose my subconscious reasons that one of said real companies will never accept my new work, specifically. The whole idea of someone loving it as much as J- and I do is beyond what my mind can handle.

And then full paranoia took hold – what if they love the idea, but hate our style? What if they take the synopsis, hand it to a ghost writer, and Marlo turns into some prissy little romantic princess who is completely in love with Pax Hadrian?

Of course, a cup of tea swiftly followed, as did a yoga session and now that I’m writing down all of these ridiculous fears, I feel a sense of calm. Whoever reads it will either like it, or they won’t and will act accordingly. If they ask for money, I will politely decline and go on ignoring the fact that at least twenty agencies have a synopsis of my book.

The second exciting thing to happen, which I may well yet get excited over, is the purchase of a Digital SLR camera. It’s a Nikon D90 and has made all my photography dreams come true. Don’t get me wrong, my Olympus was pretty awesome, but its time has been and gone.

With Jeff’s family living about an hour away, and my family living a good 3 hours away, it was quite an occasion that both of us got to spend Father’s Day weekend with our fathers.

Saturday evening, my family, Jeff’s family and a few friends gathered at the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, Kentucky for dinner and beers before the big Civil Rights baseball game between our White Sox and the Reds. If you live near Cincinnati and you’ve never been to the Hofbrauhaus, what’s wrong with you? It’s really a special place. There are just 3 in the country. The one in Newport, and also Las Vegas and Pittsburgh. The atmosphere is great – loud, but great with a big dining hall and an enormous beer garden. The food is traditional and delicious and the beer, brewed on site, is even more so. With hundreds of people to look at, Marlo had a ball.

After dinner, my parents took the babe back to the hotel and the rest of us went to the ballpark. At this point I was exhausted and cranky and probably didn’t make good company, but everyone seemed forgiving. It was a really exciting game. Before the first pitch they honored Bill Cosby, Mohommad Ali and Hank Aaron with Civil Rights leadership awards. And the game itself was a nailbiter. But the Sox came up from behind and won 10-8 just a little before midnight.

The next morning. Jeff and I were dead tired. Marlo was not. We with my parents decided to take her to the Cincinnati Zoo. It’s a beautiful zoo just north of the University of Cincinnati campus. I had gone as a child probably almost 20 years ago and the memories stuck with me, and Marlo loves little creatures so we were excited to take her. Here are some highlights:

Marlo and Daddy looking at Marlo’s favorite animal of the day:

Gazelles.

Mom and Marlo looking at Mom’s favorite animals:

Monkeys!

Badass Grandpa staring down a Lynx who just got fed some handsome hunk of roadkill.

It was 90 degrees so these misting tunnels not only looked like a little piece of heaven, they were a little piece of heaven.

Grandma and I’m-too-sexy-for-my-shirt Marlo.

Thanks for treating us to a wonderful day at the zoo Grandma & Grandpa!