Devoted

My mother just hurt her back.

That sucks because now I am forced, forced I tell you, to wing down to the Sunshine State, missing a weekful of temperatures here which may rise all the way into the mid-30s.

While there, I will have to perform exhausting physical labor such as getting some meals together in between outings to the beach, shopping, and museums.

I will have to drag myself out of bed at the crack of 9:00 a.m. If I want a grapefruit for breakfast, I will actually have to step outside and pick one off a tree. The only way I'll get freshly squeezed orange juice is if I pour a glass from the pitcher in the fridge.

I won't have my light box for therapy, so I will have to make do with real sunshine.

I will have to watch helplessly as my body transforms from a prune to a plum and then listen to people go on about how healthy my hair looks and how my skin has a little glow. Sooo tedious.

Furthermore, I will also have to inequitably exchange seven layers of clothing for three or fewer.

I will have to tear myself away from 30 inches of snow here and instead endure lounging in the pool while sipping exotic, paper-umbrella-garnished potions tenderly prepared by someone else.

I will have to trade my snow shovel for a sand shovel.



 Life isn't fair, right?


Nevertheless, my Mom and Dad have both made extraordinary sacrifices for me throughout my life, and I'm willing to step up, give back, and fly down. So even though it hasn't been fun for my Mom recently, at least this gives me the opportunity to reap lots of props for being such a great daughter, which I totally deserve considering all of the above hardships that await me once I arrive.

Meanwhile, I bet my writing this post that's entirely devoted to my Mom will help raise her spirits. My Mama ain't raised no fool, yo.


Gotta go pack, yo ....
 

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Nemo vs. The Blizzard of '78

Saturday morning

We're still in lockdown here in Massachusetts after The Blizzard of 2013, a.k.a. Nemo, blew in yesterday morning.

At this point reports give Boston over 21 inches of snow and Worcester 28, a new record. Here in Shrewsbury it's hard to say due to all of the drifting. The latest from Boston's WBZ reports 27 inches.

That's enough.

We were fortunate not to sustain any damage or casualties, nor did we lose power. Thank you, Selco!

So far, Governor Deval Patrick has escaped widespread criticism regarding his ban on driving, which has yet to be lifted. In support, I offer this scenario: One young friend, 30 weeks into carrying twins, had an obstetric-related emergency Friday night. Another young friend, who had just returned to town from out of state, was hosting a reunion. The way I see it, the first case was able to get emergency medical treatment because the second event (and others like it) was canceled. In my book, that's the way things should go down.

The latest reports say the driving ban will be lifted at 4 p.m., 24 hours after it was enacted.

Gov. Patrick, like us, was a student in Cambridge when the Blizzard of '78 hit. He remembers classmates cross-country skiing down Mass. Ave. He also remembers the hundreds of vehicles trapped on Route 128, which took a week to dig out, and the scores of people who lost their lives during that epic storm.


I remember digging into the sofa cushions during the BO78 searching for change to go buy milk. We lived in a Somerville triple-decker across the street from a mom-and-pop grocery store and were down to our last quarter and pint of milk before the streets and T were finally reopened.

Mom-and-Pop grocery store on Highland Ave., Somerville, Mass., ground-level brown triple-decker. From Feb. 1978.

I remember hanging out with our ground-floor neighbor, who pointed outside to a six-foot snow pile and said, 'My rent check is under there.' (The mailbox.)

We lived on the top floor of the brown house on the left. That's me having just dug out the mailbox.

It didn't take long for the local dogs to mark their territory -- but I am top dog!

There's a '68 Chevy Nova in there somewhere.

Back to the present. The sun is finally winning its battle against the clouds. Everyone in the hood who has a snow thrower is revving it up, or else thinking about it. I will close with some pics, which I need to go snap.


Thirty seconds later, back from a photo foray:

Suffice to say I'm glad I was shovel ready before opening the back door. I felt like a human groundhog, bundled to the teeth and venturing out into the garage only to retreat in the face of blowing snow.  Also, the tears from my eyes and goop from my nose kept dripping on the camera lens.

Twenty-seven more inches of winter!

By the way, Mom: I mailed you a card Friday morning.











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Blogging the Superbowl XLVII Ads (Second Half)

... A superficial real time analysis of second-half Superbowl ads, continued from previous post below ....



UPDATE:  I think I just saw a commercial for ex-Senator Scott Brown's pick-up truck. Wait, was that him modeling in the Calvin Klein ad? I heard he had some campaign debts but this is ridiculous.

Century 21 -- Remind me not to invite any real estate agents to any wedding

BlackBerry Guy on Fire -- yes for music, color, unpredictability, element of the unexpected

E-trade baby -- Waaaay past your bedtime. Nighty night.

(Stadium power outage?? Was Beyonce too electrifying? Ok, so now Kaepernick is thinking, at least I'm no longer the biggest screw-up here.)

Subway Februany -- I'm sorry but every time I see Blake Griffin I wanna laugh

Bud Light lucky chair -- Concept getting rickety

Axe shark rescue -- Cute plus it has an astronaut in it. The Rocket Scientist's favorite, naturally.

KIA Forte Robot Model at car show -- Ok

Gilden T-shirt commercial -- You can tiptoe out in the morning, or you can have your favorite T-shirt. Choose wisely.

Pistachio Gangnam Style -- Find the hidden dancing Psy

Lincoln Motor Company and Jimmy Fallon -- Why Jimmy Fallon?

Speed Stick at laundromat -- Some guy's fantasy while matching socks at the Wash 'n' Dry.

Beck's Sapphire -- Great graphics, good music, Rocket Scientist wants to sample it

Budweiser Clydesdale -- Finally! (That horse was a colt when the game started.)

Bermuda -- I don't care how nice your island looks. I've checked it out on Google Earth and I'm terrified of falling off.

Ram truck with Paul Harvey narration -- Beautiful photos, powerful, memorable, great script to work with

KIA Sorrento -- Another space-themed commercial, must be a new record! (Or conspiracy.) Can't go wrong with baby astronauts, right?

Tide Miracle Montana Stain -- Clever

Sodastream -- Cool shots of liter bottles of tonic exploding, glad it's not happening in my kitchen

Mercedes-Benz with Willem Dafoe as Satan and Stones' soundtrack -- Creepy, woooo woooo!

Samsung Galaxy Phone with Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd -- Started out strong, then connection faded.  Odenkirk always adds energy but couldn't quite bail out writer who phoned in last half of script.



Congrats to the Ravens! Wish there were a clear winner for the ads. I'm a bit disappointed; oh well there's always next year ....























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Blogging the Superbowl XLVII Commercials (First Half)

Superbowl Menu: Skewered Superbowl Ads

... A superficial real time analysis of first-half Superbowl XLVII ads, continued in next post ....



Doritos: Obvious Goat For Sale conclusion

Go Daddy: Too much volume on the slurping kissing sound effects, which might have worked better in the Doritos' goat commercial. Or switch the slurping and crunching sound effects to improve both commercials. Or possibly switch the goat and the geek in the two commercials. Tasteless.

Pepsi Next -- meh, nothing new or smart

Best Buy with Amy Poehler -- smart and funny. Amy, can I borrow that smirk?

Black Crown -- Love the model's dress!

Oreo -- Shhhhhhh! Funny, original, great to see a library in the spotlight

RAV4 -- Still waiting for something to RAV for .....

 Doritos princess -- Looks familiar

Calvin Klein underwear -- Now we're getting somewhere; I counted 50 shades of gray ....

Cars.com -- Mama Wolf had a mean and hungry look, I was hoping she would leap for the saleman's throat. Now THAT'S drama ....

Bud Light -- voodoo 'It's only weird if it works' -- Great idea, not well executed -- slow start did not have me on pins and needles .... Wait, did both Harbaugh brothers just collapse writhing on the sidelines??

GoDaddy -- Big idea -- Ok pretty effective

Milk and The Rock -- Love them both. Help! Come rescue me, Dwayne! Bring the model from the Calvin Klein ad.

Sonata turbo -- yes I can relate to getting stuck behind horses asses

Volkswagon -- Lost in translation (even though it was in English)



(Look, I'm not commenting on movie trailers, because I always want to see every movie after watching its trailer. I'm not reviewing the Tv promos either, because I don't bang crime shows.)



Coke chase  -- Music, scenery, action, showgirls! Grade: A

Subway with Kevin from 'The Office' -- Ok, I missed this; I was heading to the fridge for a Coke

Taco Bell with Seniors acting like teens -- Good job, fun

Sketchers GoRun Shoes -- Meh

Lincoln Car -- I don't Gettysburg it ...



HALFTIME SHOW -- Waiting for the Queen to parachute into the stadium Oh wait, it's got a roof .....

















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