back in the day

i am frequently amazed by the phenomenon whereby my hearing even just the first few bars of a certain song can mentally transport me back through time and space to the distant set of circumstances under which i first encountered it.  in fact i think this reflex speaks to the impossibly complex and divinely inspired framework of the human mind.

over my many hours in the hospital this weekend spent staring at ICU monitors and waiting for lab results to come back, i uploaded five diverse songs (into the Riz Tunes jukebox* in the sidebar) that, for different reasons, beam me straight back to my carefree high school glory days.  and i don’t just mean that i merely remember them from that time.  what i mean is that five seconds into any of these songs i am almost overwhelmed by a sense of being 17 again.  i feel a little bit of that rush of energy as if school has just let out for the summer; a little bit of that nervous excitement from the minute before i ask a girl to Homecoming; a little bit of that cocky swagger like i’m just pulling up to a big friday night party.  i don’t know how many times i listened to these songs over Little Caesar’s and ping pong in brett’s basement, or while cruising around like tough guys in brian’s little gray Nissan pickup.

how fresh and natural these feelings seem at first blush, yet how strangely remote after a few seconds of nostalgia.  can anyone else relate to this?  i think it’s crazy.

have a listen to this handful of theme songs from the social peak of my adolescence.  i’m curious to hear about the famous anthems of your past as well.

*Riz Tunes is brought to you by the geniuses at Grooveshark, where you can find pretty much any version of any song you’d ever want, immediately, for free.  you need to check this link.  it could change your life.

the right hand of God?

stole this from ashley over at CasaCarothers.  i am inclined to agree with her conclusion that this Doppler weather forecast from two days ago depicts God’s enormous right arm, draped like The Artist Formerly Known as Prince in a magnificent purple velvet, covering and protecting the central regions of north carolina, virginia, maryland, and pennsylvania from the latest round of winter weather.  this forecast also settles an age-old debate by clearly demonstrating that God is neither white nor black, but in fact green.

happy birthday tovia!!!

although we jumped the gun a little by celebrating last weekend, today is officially tovia’s first birthday.  i find this fact stupefying.  it literally feels like a week ago that i was swaddling her into a little pink burrito with that stretchy infant straight jacket thingy.

andrea, charo, and aunt carly set up an amazing spread and we entertained over 20 people for the big event, which was unified by a tasteful ballerina monkey theme.  check out over a hundred pics (here) and a half dozen videos (here) for a full record of the spectacle.

on this first anniversary of the most amazing miracle i’ve ever experienced, i am overcome by two thoughts.  one is that in only 12 months of life, and still with extremely limited verbal communications skills, this little person has dramatically affected so many lives in such an overwhelmingly positive way.  the other is that being a mom has allowed my incredible wife to demonstrate an even greater capacity for love than i previously recognized, which i didn’t think was possible.  every single day i thank God for blessing me with this family.  you girls are everything to me.

happy birthday pookie!!!!!!!

a clean break

the gadget shown above is the factory-installed lid switch for our Whirlpool washing machine.  its sole responsibility is to detect and communicate whether the washer’s lid is open or closed, so that the washer knows when it is safe to begin aggressive gyration.  for the better part of my 29+ years, i had no idea what a lid switch was, or that such a thing even existed; but the concept of a lid switch, and particularly the one in this photograph, vaulted straight to the very forefront of my consciousness two weeks ago when this seemingly harmless and inconsequential doohickey sent the carothers family spiraling into chaos.

it was around that time that Mr. Whirlpool started to develop an attitude.  the first signs of his dissatisfied condition were a few apparently innocuous creaks and groans as he entered and completed the conventional washer-cycle home stretch of rinse, drain, and spin.  eventually he started to balk at the mere suggestion of any draining at all.   and finally, after several days of protest, and in some combination of infirmity and stubborn defiance, he initiated a complete boycott of the entire post-wash sequence, leaving a tub-full of sudsy clothes and water as the result of every attempted load.

many of you will quickly recognize, at the crux of this matter, a concern about my natural do-it-yourself skill or “handiness,” in that it is roughly comparable to, say, andrea’s, which in turn is probably on par with paris hilton’s… which is to say, unfortunately, nil.  in other words, i don’t know a hammer from a ham sandwich.

therefore, much vexed by the situation and downright fearful of the already substantial accumulation of dirty laundry at that time, i headed straight to the source of every useful household tip or shortcut i’ve ever actually applied: google.  a few minutes of strategic searching yielded a short but eclectic differential diagnosis, at the top of which was a pretty clear likelihood, being a defect in the apparatus shown above.

having identified the origin of the problem, i invested thirty minutes into careful manipulation and testing of the damaged part, eventually devising a temporary (but effective) macgyver-like solution whereby i could stand over the washer, applying just the right amount of pressure via a brass tennis racket-shaped letter-opener in my right hand to the articulating surface of the switch, simultaneously reaching deep inside the framework of the machine with my left to press gently against its plastic wiring harness, and convince the finicky appliance to finish its arduous cycle.  this awkward pose was to be held for nine minutes without so much as a single slight muscular twitch, lest the entire process be interrupted and restarted.  it exposed both eyes and four fingers to grave danger of critical injury and was probably about as comfortable as playing Twister with Edward Scissorhands.  but it got the clothes clean and drained the bucket, and it was free.

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this train wreck of a local sportscast gets the ultra-rare GUARANTEED LOL if you watch the first four full minutes. pretty sure matt lorch drove straight home after this one and stuck his head in the oven.

pardon our dust

please forgive the temporary inconvenience while The Riz plays around with some minor layout enhancements.  don’t worry, the widgets you have come to know and love are just on vacation and will be back soon.