Random aside: I like this kooky band called “The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players.” I first saw them on “Jack's Big Music Show.” The band is made up of a mom, dad, and their kid. They are wacky and charming. In any case, I am on their mailing list and everything. Then, imagine my surprise when Brian and I are watching “Flight of the Conchords” on HBO last night (season 2, episode 4, “Murray Takes it to the Next Level”) and one of the characters is wearing a yellow T-shirt that says “Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players”!

Best of all, I just got an email from the TFSP email list and so I wrote back to the reply-to address, asking if they knew their shirt was on the show, and they did NOT know, so I got to be the bearer of great news!

And, I'm kind of basking, because the person who wrote me back is the mom of the group.

Super cool or supremely dorky, you make the call. I'll just be over here, basking.

So when I teach Writing for the Media I always tell my students that they're to be objective, to not let their feelings about a subject color the story they're writing. And then I read a story about how A-Rod admits that he has indeed used performance-enhancing drugs during his career, and I read the following quote in Ronald Blum's AP story about the baseball player:

“I've never felt overmatched on the baseball field,” [A-Rod] said then. “I felt that if I did my, my work as I've done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn't have a problem competing at any level.”

And man, never before have I read such a quote. By letting it stand as-is, in its entirety, Blum very deftly tells us how he feels about A-Rod: A-Rod is a prize idiot. Blum is my media hero of the day.

Because (and I actually wrote a blog post about this the first time he invited me), if people *really* want to get in touch with me, they can Google my firstname maiden-name, firstname maiden-name married-name, or firstname maiden-inital married-name, all of which offer two links from the very first page of Google results. I've had the same email address for 13 years, and am pretty ubiquitously known as Motormouth.

So, on the internet, I'm already plenty easy to get ahold of, and if people are willing to take that extra step, great. If they comment on my blog or send me an email, I'm happy to get back in touch.

Facebook, while fun (so I've heard), ultimately commoditizes people: how many “friends” you have = how worthy you are. Ultimately, it's a human-collection agency. That leaves me cold. And with two kids, five jobs, and a husband, I just don't have the time to spend on those who merely wish to add me as a notch on their friend list. (Plus, I already post pictures to my blog, so people know where to find them.)

That said, if Jim, Geoff, Rod, Nina, Darren, or Stefania (who is Stefania???) want to get back in touch, I'd be delighted to hear from them. I think of them often and the good times we had, and fervently hope that they've all ended up somewhere happy and well and creatively fulfilled!

In other news, this week I faxed my application to Guinness World Records for “Longest Running Blog.”

Are you coming to the East Coast for any Phish shows?

xoxoxoxox,

Motormouth (underslept and the tiniest bit hung over from Monstro''s bowling birthday party last night)

Happy thirty-something birthday to my adorable husband Monstro, father of my beautiful kids, and the DM of all of us.

So one of my students asked me the other day whether I know if I might be the world's longest-running blogger. And, you know, what? I'm not sure…

…But I bet the Guinness World Records judges could help me find out! So, I have obtained a login for the “Guinness World Records” Web site, and entered my info, and now I'm waiting three days to find out if the “longest-running blog” title could actually be mine.

Here's my submission:

***

Claim Title: Longest-running blog

Country: United States

City/Town/Village: ,MA

Date of attempt:

Record Details: I have had a “blog” since early 1995 — four years before the word “blog” was even coined — which I believe that this makes me the longest-running blogger. My blog archive is mostly available at http://www.motormouth.com/blogs/blogs.html , and I've kept my blog for the past five years at http://www.worldsoldestblog.com. I believe you could back this up through the Alexa service. I'm doing this because I've never found a blog that was more enduring than mine, and it would be really cool to be recognized as an online trailblazer, especially as I'm just a normal person and not a “techie” by any means.

***

So, we'll see. Believe me when I say I'll keep you posted.

Card Hub appeared on the Wall Street Journal's Wallet blog yesterday. Why? Because it's cool, and because I'm amazing.

Yes, I am. At least, I've never found anyone else who started “blogging” four years before the term was coined, who is still keeping it up. It's a bit confusing to people, as the blogharbor site has only been here for what, five years now? Rest assured, you can catch up on the rest at www.motormouth.com.

I've been writing/journaling online since spring of 1995, when I was the Customer Support Engineer for Aimnet. (Oh Aimnet, oh Tia, I miss you so). All my customers were asking how to put up a Web site, so I figured I'd best figure it out so I could write some documentation. My first domain name was stripped from me (but at least I got two grand for it), and motormouth was born shortly thereafter.

In any case, if you've been blogging for longer than I have, then I'm not the biggest dork in the world. That would be you. You win. Hooray! 🙂

Today, February 3, is National Carrot Day.

That is all.

Well, I started this post and it vanished into the ether. I hate that. It's 9:45 and I really need to get my day started, but after yet another night of serving milk on draft to babykins, I'm not feelin' it. Maybe some coffee and a shower will help.

Teaching went pretty well yesterday, especially in the photo class. I say that because it was our first day of Photoshop and nobody cried. That's good. They've all become members of the class blog and have posted their feature pictures. I also made an assignment where they had to photograph something beautiful. Lots of gorgeous pictures of trees laminated by last week's ice storm. Nine of the students had already used Photoshop but only one has a blog (and has already found my blog, and commented. Welcome!). Last year, I think those statistics were reversed.

Initial reviews of CardHub.com are sterling. My friends like it, WalletPop likes it, and we got another mention in the New York Times this weekend. Freakin' awesome.

Oh, and my like-minded blogosphere mates agree with me on the whole mother-of-six-and-now-octuplets debacle. Jen over at HeisseScheisse is more able to put together a brilliant sentence whilst pregnant than I was. Joe Bob (not Jim Bob) sez, “Check it out.”

I want to start an all-female punk-rock band with my friends who are also in their 30s/40s, for the secondary reasons that I want to learn to play bass AND develop a convincing sneer. But the primary reason I want to start a women-only punk band is so I can call it “Pumping Milk.”

(Wonder if Motherwear would whip me up some punk-rock regalia, heavy on the Spandex, with cut-outs for nursing.)

I thought of this as I was packing my breast pump for my day away today. The sad thing is, not only have I stored it in a gallon-sized Ziploc, but I think I'll also put it in a brown paper bag, so that when I return to class they don't have to see what I've been doing.

Oh, yeah, the HR lady found me a place to pump milk — it's up a hill and halfway across campus. By the time I get there during our 10-minute class break, I'll have to turn around and come back. Oh, and that building is only open until 5:00. What time does my first class let out? 5:00.

So, instead of pumping in the attic garret a-t-t-i-c, funny! Geez, what am I? Eight? of the HR building, I'll be locked away in the differently-abled bathroom stall next to my classroom.

Gross, gross, and more gross. Hence, punk-rock band. I can see it now: “We're Pumping Milk! Helllooooo, Cleveland!”