Catching up

First, an idea for a Mother’s Day column. As I was out running errands, hearing moms dispense “advice,” I occurred to me that would be a fun column. Don’t ask moms for advice, just eavesdrop. Among the gems today: “No, you shouldn’t wear red to a wedding. You don’t want to look like a whore.” (So if she was a whore, it would be OK, right?)

Second, after getting home from a great week in Florida, there was a lot of mail. Some was fun (new Print!); some was not fun (ew — bills); and some was disturbing. Most disturbing was an AARP membership registration card. Somehow, I came back from vacation 20 years older. “Your admission to AARP membership is guaranteed as long as you are 50 or over, whether you are working or not.” I have until June 5 to send in $12.50 for a one-year membership. (Does this mean I can retire soon?)

How to write a news story, Mad-Libs style. It works! There’s also a “disease of the week” template. And there’s this (accurate) gem:

If you can’t think of a headline for a story, use one of these three magic verbs: “weighs,” “mulls,” or “considers.” They’ll work for pretty much anything from court stories (“Hamilton mulls plea deal”) to government stories (“Governor weighs Paseo extension”) to entertainment (“Colvin considers new album”) to features (“Benson mulls those who consider weighing Kasey’s artwork”).

ODDS & ENDS
• Great idea from Boston: By September, the cost of the war in Iraq is expected to hit $456 billion. So what does $456 billion buy? (Absolutely looking forward to stealing this idea … )
• “Hate” has been running through my head all day.
• Presidential hopeful Bill Richardson is running kinda funny “job interview” ads … but only online.
• Find a mailbox (or 20) near you — no matter where you are.
• Or find a place to eat!
• Comma sutra
• Sex sells … pie charts.
• Love connection on the CTA. How sweet …
• Blood-puddle pillows
• Flock is built on Firefox, but bills itself as a “social browser.” Your Facebook, Blogger, Gmail and PhotoBucket accounts are built right in. And there are more extensions than you’ll know what to do with.
• Color theory!
• Arrrgyle
• I want a daisy tree, but haven’t come across one yet this year.
• Cat attacks reporter — film at 11.
• Cool clock
• More newspapers are using open-source software, including Drupal.