I looked away for a minute, and Foursquare messed everything up

Dear Foursquare,
I loved your old program and its various goodies, especially earning badges and mayorships. The delight I derived from earning a new digital badge was unexpected and perhaps a bit juvenile, but very real. Getting new badges was like getting tiny surprise presents. It's those tiny surprise presents that kept me using Foursquare and sharing it with other. "You, too, can get tiny presents!" I explained to my friends. "And yes, I am the Mayor of Gino's."

You updated the program earlier this year to a check-in app called Swarm, and when doing so, stealthily stripped away my beloved badges and mayorships. I didn't notice this for a while, but now I am onto you and I cry foul! Why would you take away the fun stuff and leave only the checking in part? Who wants to check in when you get absolutely nothing for it? You are ruining everything - waaaah!

I realize that a 40-something adult shouldn't be crying over phasing out digital badges, and I will cease my caterwauling. However, now that I've gotten your attention, I will use this opportunity to share with you my beloved badges (in part to document them here before you decide you need more server space and remove them from users' Foursquare vaults).

Thank you, Pee Wee Herman, for giving me the exclusive badge for checking into your SXSW movie premier. Thank you, airports hither and yon, for allowing me to check in so many times that I leveled up on the Jet Setter badge 8 times. Thank you, Foursquare, for badging me when I voted in November '12, when I visited the Motor City in '13, when I hit my "ten hundredth" check-in a year ago.

Sincerely yours,
Erin 


P.S. Now what do I do to get tiny surprise presents? The hunt is on...

Camp Mommy to Daddy Greg and Papa Ross: Missing You

Greg is now in Ohio (medical emergency trip 3 this quarter, for those who are keeping track). His dad's in the hospital, likely to head to hospice tomorrow. Cancer still sucks. And missing Greg sucks.

Crap.

Well, we shall stay calm and carry on.

Greg's dad Ross is pretty darn awesome, for those of you who haven't met him. He was in the Army, stationed for a while in Anchorage, AK. He is both an optometrist and a pharmacist (so it's a pretty good bet he's an ace at math and science). He is a heck of a good jokester - our kids love hanging out with him. He is a collector of amazing things: old science and ocular equipment, traditional woodcraft tools, native american arrowheads, cute kiddo pictures of Greg and his brother Mark.

Let's continue to hope for good things to happen in the days and weeks to come.

Good thoughts, people.

Camp Mommy to Daddy Greg: We Miss You

G's in Florida helping out his dad, who was just diagnosed with cancer.

Think good thoughts, people.

Oh, and fuck cancer.

My Storm Large Valentine

Went to see Storm Large last night with her band and the Oregon Symphony at the Schnitz. The show was unexpectedly awesome (which is not to say that we expected crap, but she really brought it).

She belted out some old standards (opened with "My Funny Valentine" and played others I can't recall). She sang some of her own songs, including "8 Miles Wide" (oh yes, she did) and "I Want You to Die" (somehow this is a Valentine's song). She covered Elvis Costello ("I Want You"), Tom Waits (not sure about the song, but it mentioned a philanderer and a hooker), and Lou Reed ("Satellite of Love").  She sang songs about love, hate, yearning, fear, God, redemption. She was, as always, spectacular. And barefoot.

Standout show moments:

• She sang a truly amazing reinterpretation of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" in which her Sandy alter-ego was tweaked into an off-kilter jilted stalker. 
• She got the guys in the audience to sing "8 Miles Wide." Let me remind you that the audience includes Oregon Symphony patrons. There were octogenarians. In fancy dress. Singing about vaginas. Just think about that for a while. 
• She performed "I Want You" as a duet with a creepy guy clown. Full clown drag. Very off-putting and perhaps the most brilliant moment of the night in terms of performance art.
• She had some Von Trapps (yes, real ones) join her for some German song, and back her up later on "Juke Box Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

Best moment of the night for me was an unexpected one. She and guest Holcombe Waller slayed me with their cover of "Unchained Melody." Stunning. Here's a clip of them from a '12 show doing a similar version.

To sum it up: awesome, awesome show. If you are in PDX tonight and don't have plans, she's playing again. Curtain at 7:30. Be there if you can.

A Storm Large Valentine
2/14/14

Camp Daddy Rocks

Second post of the day to give props to Greg. He is really amazing, and it becomes abundantly clear when I leave for 2 weeks and he takes charge. He is able to cheer me up from afar, and manage things seamlessly (or nearly so). 

Camp Daddy activities thus far have included: 

- 2 ballet classes 

- 2 swimming lessons

- 1 birthday party 

- 1 movie (at the movie theater!)

- 1 remodel of our pantry (in progress)

- 5 wake-up routines

- 4 bedtime routines

- 1 school holiday

- 1 field trip

Compared to that, all I've done is flown across the world and had a couple of business meetings. 

Daddy officially rocks. I love you, G.

Man, do I suck as a blogger

No post since March 2013. Jeez. That's really terrible. I am sorry I have neglected y'all. 

I am currently in Turkey for market research, headed to Russia next week. Both are new countries for me, so that's exciting. Both are being threatened by terrorist activity, which is unsettling. Turkey is a target for folks that are pissed about Syria. Russia is a target for folks that are pissed about Russian's activities in various countries/areas near Sochi. And I am an innocent market researcher stuck in the middle. 

My plan is to lay low, get my work done, and get out. 

And to stop watching CNN. In the last year or so, CNN has really shifted focus so it's now covering terrorist crap nearly non-stop. Can't I get an uplifting episode of "Inside Africa" or something? Even a Grey's Anatomy with English subtitles would do. I need some fluff. 

I will say that Turkey—and Istanbul, to be precise—has been beautiful thus far. Food has been great. People have been gracious. 

I'm a bit nervous about Russia. It's supposed to be COLD (read: zero degrees daytime high). And I'm not sure about the food. Or the mafia. Maybe they'll be so busy readying for Sochi that they'll leave business people in Moscow and St. Petersburg alone. We shall see...

XOXOX
e.