kidsmoke

I know exactly what you mean, Kate.

Yeah, I love these! Michael Cera is so great!

Best birthday wishes, Mike!!! I say we all celebrate with some analogcake! Have a great day and a great year!

Such excellent news!!!! Yay for all of you. Now go sleep. So, so glad to hear the good news, Kevin.

Happiest of birthdays to one of VC's best loved! Come back to us, Robert, whenever time allows! You are very much missed. And herewith I give you.....what comes up when you put "basil cake" in the search engine! That's Basil Rathbone, you see. Have a beautiful day, Robert, and may the coming year bring you blessings and beauties you can't even imagine. Have a terrific new year of your life!

Hi Wendy! I miss you!!!

I'm glad he's a bit better, Kevin. I've had your little guys on my brain all day today. I hope Yvette & Logan get some sleep tonight. It's so hard sleeping in a noisy, unfamiliar hospital setting, but they are probably both exhausted so maybe they'll sleep anyway. You & Owen get some sleep too. Tomorrow will be an easier day, I'm sure. to you all.

Aw, Kevin, that's horrible, but your baby boys will be better soon. You have all of Via Chicago pulling for you! Try to get some sleep & take care of yourselves. I'm sending every bit of get well vibes I can drum up. Keep us posted, Pop. It'll be ok.

Damn, Maudie!!! That is one heckuva cake! You just made Alissa and me do math in our heads (lots of squinting and eyerolling involved) trying to figure out how that cake could possibly be just 15 1/2 ft. tall....I mean, look at the size of the people in the picture! Maybe it means 15 1/2 stories or something? Thank you all again for the great birthday wishes. I spent yesterday going out to a movie (Juno, loved it!) and then on to an Irish restaurant/pub called Kilarney's for some fabulous food....I had the "Pub Chicken" which was grilled chicken breast topped with mushrooms and bacon, and a

I think we're still gonna need a cake. A very tall one please, and chocolate! You made me laugh out loud! Well actually we are born on the 27th. Robin, you are one of the relative newcomers that I enjoy most around here....you're such a good fit for VC, and so much fun to have around. MY EYES!!! MY EYES!!!!! Bleeding here!!!!! Are those lobsters?

My sweet sister in song, I love that we share our celebratory day! As for that snowglobe, it makes me want to take up juggling. Snowglobe juggling. What a thing to see emerging out of a blizzard!!!!! YIKES! Did I tell you that Loretta got me a very cool Arkansas snowglobe? It has, like, Arkansas symbols and a map.....all the glories of Arkansas! M.Chris will never catch up, though you've gotta give her credit for trying. I'm just a bit quicker. It's like the tortoise and the hare, and I'm like whichever one won. Melissa, ixnay on talking about the azinhay itualsray!!! Now we'

Ah, where to even begin? You guys make me feel so incredibly loved, and I can't tell you enough how much you all mean to me. I love you fiercely. Sweetie, I look forward to getting to meet you. You're one of those VC'ers of whom I've always thought, "I hope we get a chance to be at some show together." And we love you, Rosie! So good to see you around here. Thank you, Mike, and much appreciation for the picture you posted of the guy with the big gun! Yowza!

The Year of Fog has a cool little surprise within it that you will get a kick out of. Read "Catching Genius" too. Ignore the cover blurbs....to me it was barely about the "math prodigy" aspect. It's far more about the complexity of our relationships with the people closest to us. It's beautifully written & realized.

I've been happily immersed in reading ever since I got some books for Christmas. I've finished these three and heartily recommend all of them. Catching Genius tells the story of a family in transition, and is expertly, believably written. Very moving, and as a debut novel, very impressive. It's a beauty. (Don't let the cheesy cover put you off.) "Nineteen Minutes" refers to the length of time it takes an unhappy student to devastate his school & the surrounding community, when he goes on a Columbine-style rampage. Not for the faint of heart, obviously, but the stories wrapped around h

I remember feeling exactly this way when I first met him. It does go away, once your brain absorbs the realization that he's just a human. A very talented one, but human all the same. A nice human. Good luck with the nerves. Don't let them stop you.

That's a great memory! Lucky you. Hazel, you'll find that the band is very approachable after the show, and are some of the nicest guys in the world. No rock star egos to contend with. They are used to people wanting photos and are very nice about it....more than once I've seen Jeff or another band member notice someone's camera and ask, "Did you want a picture?" I always thought that was so incredibly thoughtful of them, to understand that a fan might feel intimidated or shy about asking. Have fun, and no need to cut out of the show early to meet them.

I'd just pity the fools.

It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

I know.

Damn, Christy, you are one busy chickie!

We seem to be getting a bit free and easy with the posting of crude images and language lately. Let's clean it up, folks, and keep VC a place where younger members, or those with milder sensibilities, are also comfortable. We've asked before, and repeat the request, that you refrain from posting any NSFW (not safe for work) images. This is both to keep those of you browsing at work from coming to the boss' attention when you're noticed viewing inappropriate images....wouldn't wish that on any of you! ....and also for the simple reason that we want Via Chicago to continue to be, as it has alwa

I was standing beside my album shelf tonight, beside Natalie's tinfoil gods and goddesses, and was struck all over again at how much I miss her. I could picture her hands shaping the tinfoil folds of my beautiful little sculptures. It left me reflecting again on how surprising it is, what lives on beyond us to capture our personal energy. Natalie, you left so much behind. I love you and miss you, and will always remember you through these silly but gorgeous little sculptures. I'll remember you in so many other ways as well. I hope I live half as intense and intentional a life. You made a lot

These are veritable works of art, Mart. Notice the judicious inclusion of the word, "veritable". These politicos could learn a thing or two from ol' kidsmoke. From you & Craig, too.....how their ratings would soar if we could see, say, Barack's face on the rider of a bucking bronc, or maybe Hillary's face on a body scaling the sheer face of Yosemite....Guiliani with a flamenco guitar and a rose in his teeth....yep, what the candidates need are cards to hand out at rallies. You should design some for them, Mart.