Friday, March 18, 2011

Six Degrees From Tiffany

After the game "Six Degrees From Kevin Bacon" came out, I remember learning that everyone in the United States was, on average, only 3 degrees of separation from anyone else within the country. This has always fascinated me, and I like to test it out from time to time. It wasn't as fun in Jackson because I was related to, went to school with, or had a work connection with the majority of the town. It has been a little more fun here and has helped us get to know a few people we might not have otherwise.
The invention of Facebook has made it easier to find out how you are connected to people who might have been total strangers yesterday. Today I noticed a certain cleaver quote popping up in status of seemingly unrelated people and I got curious. After tracing it back to the start I found Tiffany Underwood. Although she didn't post it, it was posted within the comments of her status, which lead to the spreading to various circles of my life. I realized that all 5 of my major circles of friends, at some point, overlap with hers. I'm pretty sure that she is my only non-relative that has accomplished this. She is now my personal Kevin Bacon. I'm going to start introducing myself to people as, "Hi. I'm Lynn. How do you know Tiffany?"
One benefit I have found of this is that it eases my social awkwardness to know that there will be at least one person I can have a conversation with in a large gathering. It is like when you go to a pot luck dinner and you recognize the casserole dish of someone who knows how to cook so you feel safe eating from that dish and know you won't starve that night. You are no longer playing Russian Roulette with your digestive system. You are setting down to dinner with friends, which is much less stressful. That's not just me, right?
Do you have a Kevin Bacon? A friend that overlaps into multiple circles of friends?

Thursday, March 03, 2011

JD I Am

If you don't have children in the public school system then you may not know that this week is the annual celebration of that trippy writer, Dr. Suess. Children all across American gather together to read Dr. Suess books. In addition to a pajama day and a bring your favorite Suess book day, JD's class is having a dress like a Suess character day. I'm not sure if you are familiar with the fine illustrations of the Suess, but they aren't exactly what you would call normal. I can't get away with digging something out of the closet at the last minute like I did for Nix last year when she was Ann Frank, Nancy Drew, and Amelia Earhart. When Nix did the Suess thing I painted a red shirt to say "Thing 1" , but JD is never as easy. He has his own thoughts about what his costume should be and exactly what it should look like. I tried the Thing 2 idea out on him, but he was having none of it. The instructions said his favorite character, and by golly he was going to be his favorite.
He presented me with this
Then a couple of days and a trip to the fabric store later and I presented him with this.

One yellow t-shirt, some funky yellow fleece, and a little red flannel. The upside is that if he ever wants to be Fred Flintstone I have a head start! While I was buying the fabric I was chatting with the lady cutting for me. I mentioned what I was making and joked about how many costumes I have had to throw together for school. She replied that it was all worth it if the kids learned something. I thought for a moment and realized that what my children have learned is that their mom will drop everything to whip up a new outfit with only a couple of days warning.
Oh, and because I can't quit while I'm ahead, since Sam had 2 different signs with his name, our sign has 2 different sides. Here is the alternate view.

I will not be winning any seamstress awards with this one. In fact, I'm sure if someone who really sews looked at how I did this, they would cry. It only has to last through one day, so it should be okay. I was feeling pretty smug about my mom skills right up until I realized that I had not gotten anything ready for dinner tonight. Oops, looks like a good night for brinner.