It was a great idea, performance is average.

Skateboarding in an abandoned water park.

Still a fun video though.

Delete?!?

from Shaun L.

We’ve been rocking the Witty Text for a few years now. What’s Witty Text you ask? It’s the little changing phrase under the MikeDiDonato.com logo up at the top right of the page. Every time you reload the page, it gives you a different phrase.

We have such gems as:

Soy un hombre del queso.
Recommended by 4 out of 5 adult film actresses.
Salt is the volume knob of flavor.
{IF _mikedidonato IS “on”} awesome=lots {ELSE} awesome=0 {/IF}
and
We waste water here. A lot of it.

Right now I have 40 rotating phrases (10 mikedidonato.com points if you can name them all!)

Typically this little witty text phrase is really appreciated by first time visitors and completely ignored by regular visitors. Well, I think it’s time to revamp the list with some surefire winners. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to post them in the comments. I’ll add the favorites to the list and take out some of the lamer ones that have been stagnating in mediocrity (like Curing boredom since 1981. that’s pretty much the pinnacle of ‘eh’)

The only rule is that the clever phrase should be less than 75 characters long. Otherwise we could get into formatting issues.

The Comments are Open!

Last night I had my first night of teaching as a Kung Fu assistant instructor. It was pretty fun. I hope I kept the students engaged and entertained. I definitely need more practice. One of my instructors, who recently received his black belt, saw me walk in with my new satin digs but without the obligatory gray belt. Non-black belt instructors at my academy wear gray belts in order to increase mysticism. That way you never really know how hardcore your teacher is. So, Sihing Matt noticed that I was wearing my red belt and promptly disappeared into the back room. He reappeared and handed me his old gray belt. It was quite an honor. As he handed me his belt…

Sihing Matt: “wear this one. it’s lucky.”
Mike D: “because you made it to black?”
Sihing Matt: “yup. just don’t get the debilitating knee injuries that I got.”

sweet.

June is pretty unique this month because there’s a tournament in CT. While I can’t make the actual events, Master Wong (the biggest of the big in our kung fu family) will be coming to town. He’ll be teaching a few classes and I have to try and plan my schedule so that I can make it to as many as possible.

Professor Sisson: “Have we figured out how to raise the melting point of Aluminum yet?”
Professor Apelian: “Yes we have. You just use a different Thermocouple. It works every time.”

HA!

When you explain something… there’s an ‘i’ in the word.

But if you get an explanation, then there’s no ‘i’.

I hate that.

I just searched for “mike d” on Google, and rather than being in position 6 or 7 (as has been the case for many months), this web site is instead on PAGE 6 or 7.

What’s that all about?

Back on that day that i was in charge here at work I made a bunch of t-shirts for everybody.

People still wear them. And that is awesome.

A video.

From boingboing.

Whoa! The shiny new Satin Uniform has arrived! Check it out!

Rock!

The Printer at Sander and my desk is named “MSPaint”

If you go here you can unsign yourself to yellowpages. That means that they will stop delivering the huge waste of paper to your doorstep. This week the group is trying to get 10,000 sign ups.

Rock!

This weekend my sister T was ceremoniously rewarded her PHD in social psychology. It was a really fun ceremony. There was a monster parade and bells and drums and hundreds of people wearing robes and various hats.

T walked across stage where the administration gave her the diploma and placed the hood over her head. It was triumphant. The raucous crowd cheered heavily. What perfect weather as well! It was a proud day in Rhode Island to be sure.

Yay Tree! Great job!

The rest of the weekend was reasonably relaxed. My memorial day was spent out at East Peak with Pete. I worked Rat Crack and Cat Crack with some practice ascending. Rat crack was kind of miserable. it wasn’t really a crack so much as an off width - and I hate off widths. Cat crack, on the other hand, was a totally intense crack. For crack climbing you have to jam your joints and fist in between the rock to help pull yourself up. It’s extremely intense. Every move hurts. Today my arms are all sorts of scratched and scarred from the climb.

Then last night we had some pizza and some rockband. This was a good weekend.

I WANT THESE.

Keytars.

The last 48 hours have been totally crazy. It started with too much sugary foods Wednesday night which, when accompanied by anticipation for a stressful meeting, resulted in only 2 hours of sleep Wednesday to Thursday.

Yesterday kept up the craziness with a marathon of work-filled adrenalin. I finally left the office around 7:30pm, went home, took care of a few house maintenance things, and collapsed.

This morning I’m a bit refreshed and back in business. Hopefully I can hold out through the first week of June when all accounts suggest that anything fun at work will be replaced with project mayhem. Needless to say, the problem light remains alight.

Last night I forgot about a pot of water on the stove.

while i’m thankful that I didn’t burn down the house, I am bummed because I think I destroyed the teflon pot.

Check THIS out.

Yes please.

I’ll be retrieving my satin Kung Fu instructor uniform this week.

On it will be embroidered the words “Sihing Mike D.” in gold. When I get it, I’ll take pictures.

In Cantonese, Si means ‘teacher’ and Hing means ‘brother’.

www.Awesome.com is really lame.

This is tragic.

This article talks a bit about the popularity of music and how current times have changed the length of time that a particular song remains popular.

Check it out.

Last night I made some delicious delicious roasted veggies. I called up Mom D. to get her roasted veggies recipe. Really, it’s pretty simple. I had cut up some squash, red peppers, and onions. Tossed them in some olive oil then added salt and pepper. Threw them under the broiler mixing regularly until they browned nicely. Removed from oven, let cool, and ate. They came out amazing.

In other news, for years I have enjoyed the music of Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog. Only recently have I dug into pearl jam. And as I was perusing the youtube archives… I suddenly learned that Temple of the Dog is a band that was formed with Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder. WHAT?!?

How did I not know this?!

Quite accurate no?

For the next installment in our interview series I decided to ask my mom a few questions. Enjoy!

MikeDiDonato.com: Hi Mom D. Thank you very much for being willing to be the next Interview. You’ve been my mom for nearly 27 years now, for four of those years I have been blogging here on MikeDiDonato.com. How would you describe being a mother of an active blogger?

Mom D: Well, Mike D., in the beginning, being the mother of an active blogger was a bit stressful. Though I felt that I had a pretty good handle on what the general feeling of the site would be, I was also aware that perhaps I was off the mark and that the blog would hold unknown horrors that I would cringe upon reading and that I would perhaps be praying that no one would stumble upon mikedidonato.com. I am thrilled to say that you and the people who participate in the blog have held a very high and entertaining standard - it no longer sends chills down my spine when someone says, “hey, I just read Mike’s website” and I no longer feel I have to hope that people I know don’t read it - in fact, I’ve actually proudly sent many people to the website!

MikeDiDonato.com: Few people here know much about you other than little Mom tidbits that may have popped up here or there. Can you tell us a little bit about your life, not as a mom, but as an art teacher and an assistant librarian?

Mom D: My art teacher days were a lot of fun and very interesting. Art teachers have a somewhat different relationship with students than a regular classroom teacher in that art tends to be fun, kids like it and enjoy coming to class - also, some of the academically challenged kids have lots of talent, which is a joy to see and it’s great to be a positive part of their day. In that way, working in a library is very similar. We are there to help and make life easier for the kids, so students choose to come to the library. The high school kids are excellent and can be a lot of fun (and they’re really funny at times, whether they know it or not!).

MikeDiDonato.com: How long have you been quilting? and can you tell us about your first quilting experience?

Mom D: When we moved to Stoneham in 1974, the town offered Adult Ed classes. One of the women I worked with at Wakefield High was teaching quilting, and there was heightened interest in traditional, “folk” arts and crafts because of the upcoming Bicentennial. Since I already had an interest in sewing, quilting seemed like something that would be fun and useful at the same time (got to keep the family warm!). Thus began the Quilting Experience - and it’s very easy to pick out the older quilts because the fabric is Oh-So-Seventies. I still enjoy quilting and have a couple of things going on at all times.

MikeDiDonato.com: I have a couple quilts of yours and I love ‘em. I know you’re always reading something, what’s on your bedstand these days?

Mom D: Right now I’m reading all of Vince Flynn’s books. He writes novels that deal with political intrigue, terrorist attacks that are thwarted at the last second by the fabulous Mitch Rapp (also known as Ironman), a former Marine, who is now working for the CIA, and other such gripping situations. Political novels normally are not of great interest to me, but one of the kids at the high school couldn’t read Flynn’s books fast enough, so I figured they were worth investigating - and they are real page-turners! There are commandos, rangers, SEALS, torture specialists, upstanding citizens/politicians, slimy citizens/politicians - all kinds of conspiracies. Very good reads. I do recommend The Time Traveler’s Wife for a very interesting and wonderful read. Also, Michael Chabon’s Kavalier and Clay and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. His short stories are excellent, too, and I’m not a big short story fan. I like Michael Connelly’s books, Harlan Coben’s, Kellerman (Jonathan and Fay), Patricia Cornwell - and The Other Boleyn Sister (or Girl, I forget which) was really good, too. Oh, and A Prayer for Owen Meany is a MUST read. I could go on and on….

MikeDiDonato.com I can provide a second vote for The Time Traveler’s wife. It’s a winner. Do you have any fun memories from your childhood growing up with three little brothers?

Mom D: Christmas was always interesting, as the brothers could not wait until morning to find out what Santa had brought. One year, there were little corncob pipes (like Popeye pipes) that were in the Christmas stockings. When a tiny button was pushed under the the little “tobacco” part, a soft red glow was emitted. One of the boys used that to light his way as he sneaked downstairs, inspected all the gifts, and reported back what everyone received. The only surprise that year was on our parents’ faces as we came flying down at the appointed hour saying, “where’s my____” and “Can’t wait to play with your_____”. No more light sources were given in years to come.
One of the boys sold all of his Indian head penny collection and buffalo nickel collection to buy candy. Bet the candy man was happy with that sale!
And I believe at times matches were lit (glad the house didn’t burn down) and there were various and sundry war games going on at all times. Guns were very popular back then, be they squirt guns, cap guns, air rifles, you name it. Civil War games were popular. Ah, the old days….

MikeDiDonato.com: Do you think it’s harder or easier for parents now versus when you were raising us and when your parents were raising you?

Mom D: This is just my personal opinion: In the 50’s - 60’s, when I was growing up, I think that parents had an easier time in that their word was law, no discussion. At the same time, any deviation from the norm was hard for many parents to adjust to, and in the 60’s and 70’s, this became an issue for a lot of people. Plus, I don’t think that many parents really knew their children very well because in many families there was not an open exchange of ideas.

Perhaps on the rebound, many in our group of parents went the other way, with a very relaxed child rearing technique, so much so that some children had no boundaries and many parents were very afraid of damaging the child’s self-esteem to the point that everything was okay and all children were winners at everything (wasn’t this about the time that every child always got a prize for everything? Even the little kids didn’t really value a trophy when everyone received one). You’d know better than I how that plays out in the real world with your age group. Right now, I would think that it would be very difficult to parent because of all of the technology (cell phones, IMing, facebook, myspace, texting, chat rooms, videos, cable TV, etc.) which separates people from those who are actually near them and which can have pre-teen and high school students always feeling like they are missing something if they aren’t connected. Kind of like there may be a party going on somewhere and you might not be invited - a lot of angst going on. Not to mention the danger of forming relationships with people the young person knows only from online conversations. It’s got to be hard to keep materialism under control, and very difficult to have to leave kids with sitters in order to afford a mortgage on a reasonably good home. Ah, for the good ol’ days! I really think it’s harder today.

MikeDiDonato.com: What do you think was the biggest challenge in raising us?

Mom D: Trying not to impose my fears onto you all. Obviously, I was successful in that regard, as there is no way I would attempt many of the things you all do regularly. You’ll notice that once you all broke free of my shackles (which apparently just barely kept you under control…) you all went wild and continue to horrify and impress me.

MikeDiDonato.com: haha! I’m sorry that we horrify you, but it’s for the best. To end, do you have a favorite MikeDiDonato.com post?

Mom D: They have all been a lot of fun, but there was one long involved one with people adding to a story and it went on and on….what was that one? Seems to me that one was especially fun.

MikeDiDonato.com: hmm. I don’t know! Do any of the readers remember which one she’s referring to?

Thanks so much for taking my interview questions mom! You’re the best.