tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32906866252069414002024-03-12T22:44:29.963-07:00NormalarkeyPondering the blessings and absurdities of everyday lifeNancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.comBlogger247125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-10478675367230958092011-06-27T07:19:00.000-07:002011-06-27T07:19:43.255-07:00Normalarkey No More: Meet Midlife MixtapeIt’s kind of a mixed blessing when a friend says, “I love your blog. But I can’t pronounce it.” One of the basic rules of branding is “try not to piss off your audience” and having a nonsensical blog name flies in the face of that tenet; just because it worked for Google.com and Dooce.com doesn’t mean it’ll work for me. So I’ve been thinking about giving the name Normalarkey the boot for a Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-78686618955930451432011-06-21T07:20:00.000-07:002011-06-21T07:20:37.736-07:00Showers of HypocrisyThe older I’ve gotten, the more deliberately I make choices that are eco-friendly. Part of the reason is because it's easier than ever to know what the right thing to do is; for instance, when the garbage cans at the elementary school are labelled "Compost," "Recycle," and "LANDFILL" (the latter with skull and crossbones and death heads drawn on it) it's a fair bet that you want to reduce your Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-23327178019779430662011-06-17T07:27:00.000-07:002011-06-17T07:29:47.469-07:00The Art of FatherhoodAll good fathers have certain things in common: they listen, are consistent, show affection, and support their offspring in ways both financial and moral. But what makes a good father unique is his art, that skill which makes him different from other dads. It's the habit that is immediately called to mind in fond exasperation when his kids are alone and talking about him, like the scene the "Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-72318932966542161152011-06-14T07:13:00.000-07:002011-06-14T07:15:55.793-07:00Lady FoodIn a stunning example of the predictability of human nature, I scanned the early reports of the unusually virulent outbreak of E. coli in Germany to find out what type of person was most frequently afflicted. It’s the “can’t happen to me or my family, right?” thinking that characterizes my immediate reaction to almost any bad news - crotch photos, tropical diseases, cruise ship strandings.&Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-2402301084148144012011-06-10T07:06:00.000-07:002011-06-10T07:06:38.949-07:00Just One Perspective on Garage SalesI know there's a theory that holding a garage sale is a good, clean way to get rid of unwanted junk and make a little money in the process. That's just never been my experience. Today I've been invited to guest post on the subject over on "Four Perspectives," a sweet, soulful blog that combines the worldview of four different writers in a way that recognizes that "no one ever sees things quite Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-81977119506674766272011-06-06T16:36:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:46:36.532-07:00Five Telltale Signs It's the End of the School YearWho needs the calendar or steady barrage of Father's Day shopping circulars to tell you that it's June? These five phenomenon occur like clockwork when the waning days of the academic year are upon us.
1.) You're Broke. Between the gift for the classroom teacher, the teacher's aides, the piano teacher, the math tutor, the babysitter graduating high school who wasn't much for cleanup but at least Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-69711207402732867002011-06-03T07:11:00.000-07:002011-06-03T08:53:56.914-07:00Concert Crone Review: Lykke LiThe Concert Crone operates in a musical netherworld: too old for bouncers to ask her for ID, too young to give up the thrill of buying tickets using the secret presale code. In service to the mid-life music fans of the world, the Crone braves the Bay Area music scene and answers the question: Worth Hiring the Sitter?
The Band: Lykke Li, Monday May 31 2011. Indie darling Lykke (real name: Li LykkeNancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-7289777911721837732011-05-31T08:42:00.000-07:002011-06-09T15:36:23.535-07:00Child Employment and Character BuildingI recently unearthed a diary from when I was 12 and planned to open a beauty spa in my parent's house. What I later learned in B-school was called the "Unique Selling Proposition" (USP) was that, after the neighborhood ladies had paid me to apply wet oatmeal to their faces, do their makeup with the Lip Smackers line, and french braid their hair, I was going to invite them to lie on chaise loungesNancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-56847069054283901032011-05-27T06:55:00.000-07:002011-06-09T15:36:23.538-07:00Misty Eyed Memorial Day MemoriesYou can keep your barbeques, your parades, and your sparklers. What really says Memorial Day to me is a large piece of sawdust sending shooting pains through my eye.
The Memorial Day Picnic of my childhood was epic. Living on one side of a driveway shaped like a capital "T", our little stretch of asphalt was the locus for an all-day party for the neighbors up and down Branford Road. It started inNancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-50887179909553320552011-05-24T07:14:00.000-07:002011-05-24T16:17:25.406-07:00I Don't Need No LiberryI've just heard that the mayor of Oakland is considering closing a passel of local libraries, including the one that my family frequents, in order to close our $58 million deficit. To which I say, Huzzah! Who needs libraries anyways?
I mean, what American taxpayer even reads books anymore? They're outmoded. The Google search bar can find any information that anyone with a computer or a smartphoneNancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-22339469753681253232011-05-19T12:39:00.000-07:002011-06-09T15:36:23.541-07:00My Inner Rebel: TorturedIt was the tiny Roma granny pulling on my cowboy boots that finally broke me.
Of course, that's not an excuse. Nor is youth, nor loneliness. But when I reveal to you my mortifying disclosure, I'd at least like you to know that those things, plus the bent-over Gypsy matriarch putting on my boots and doing a gleeful jig as I watched from my apartment window in Munich, influenced the embarrassing Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-214918654706485482011-05-16T16:12:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:46:36.535-07:00As the Rapture Approaches: No RegretsI don't know if it's just in the Bay Area or nationwide that garish yellow and black billboards are telling us the Rapture is upon us: specifically, sometime Saturday, all the good folks are going to be sucked up out of their shoes to ascend to heaven in a burst of radiant glory, and the rest of us flawed sinners are going to be stuck down here wondering why it just got so easy to park.
Can't Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-25967812646020428732011-05-13T07:13:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:46:36.538-07:00Season of the SwanOur refrigerator is covered in invitations right now, their brightly-colored edges and fancy fonts like a dusting of leaves from a Disney-fied forest. Each one, held up by its own homemade bottle-top magnet, heralds another junior high school student about to make a major transition in the life of their faith: bat mitzvahs, bar mitzvahs, confirmations. These fluttering cards just rub in the Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-88129121172104474492011-05-09T17:04:00.000-07:002011-05-09T17:09:42.172-07:00Concert Crone Report: Chris Robinson BrotherhoodThe Concert Crone operates in a musical netherworld: too old for bouncers to ask her for ID, too young to give up the thrill of buying tickets for live performances using the secret presale code. In this first of an occasional series of concert reviews, the Crone braves the Bay Area music scene and answers the question: Worth Hiring the Sitter?
The Band: The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Thursday Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-47084899152380528672011-05-06T07:44:00.000-07:002011-06-07T16:03:54.674-07:00Mother's Day: Actions, Not WordsSo the big joke around these parts is that for Mother's Day, my family is going to take me to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk for the day so they can go on the rides. Yay. What mother doesn't dream of her special day being spent amongst the screaming masses watching her kids getting alternately jacked up on sugar and grease and then reaching the precipice of vomiting as they stagger off each loud and Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-61280235245880287302011-05-04T07:08:00.000-07:002011-05-04T07:08:00.697-07:00Garden Tips for the Hare-iedIt's the time of year when I gaze out onto my small vegetable garden and think, "What will I kill this year?" My little patch is pretty lame, compared to the verdant garden of my childhood. But it's not my fault; we had a secret weapon back then, one that I only fully appreciate now.
I speak, of course, of the Davis Family Rabbits.
When my older sister Sally got the first black and Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-61516129969824633442011-05-02T08:25:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:46:36.542-07:00I thought it said "Annoying Know It Alls"Today I've got a guest post on SMARTS Magazine, an online magazine for "Aspiring Know It Alls" who share nuggets of wisdom about their particular arena of expertise, be it fashion and beauty or cooking or health matters. So what's my particular piece of the pie?
Failure. How proud my parents must be.
Specifically, it's about how being a failure at a big project was actually a good lesson Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-63665086919095192732011-04-29T06:55:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:46:36.545-07:00All About HerYou know those people who hate when anyone makes a fuss over their birthday? They try to let it pass unnoticed, reject any suggestion that something should be done to commemorate their special day, act sheepish if they're found out.
I do not understand those people at all. I believe in the Birthday Month approach, wherein anything you do in the thirty days bracketing the anniversary of your birthNancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-81543095918653908952011-04-25T04:21:00.000-07:002011-04-25T08:39:50.166-07:00Perfect Dog TrainingA few weeks ago my husband and kids were at the local farmer's market enjoying their healthy lunch ("there were bananas on my Nutella crepe, Mom!") when they ran into a neighbor with his new puppy. They came home breathless with admiration. "Ron's dog is so well trained already!" the girls clamored. "He told her to sit down, and she DID! And when he told her to stop staring at Dad's food, she didNancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-85681565477273093342011-04-22T07:00:00.000-07:002011-04-22T07:00:17.137-07:00All Roads Lead Back to NeilI've been on a bit of a walkabout for the past week, what with the guest posting - first at ScaryMommy and then at WorkingMomsBreak. One of the most exciting rewards of a guest post stint is having new readers stop on by Normalarkey, and finding out from their comments what they're all about. Humor? Parenting? Dogs? Mexican beer stands?
Turns out, the topic category most remarked upon by my new Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-70815068775596570332011-04-21T09:33:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:46:36.547-07:00SpongeBob's Teachings on Corporate LiesI am a lousy church school teacher. Having regarded my formative years as an Episcopalian as more of a social event than anything else - some of my best school friends attended the same church, so most of the praying that went on in class was over tests and who would ask who out for Senior Ball. I never read the Bible or anything Jesus-y like that.
Still, it taught me the benefit of taking part Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-5730726856864437522011-04-19T07:34:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:46:36.551-07:00Give Working Moms a BreakA few months ago I attended a conference for women in publishing and during one panel discussion, the audience - 90% female - sat rapt listening to Kara Swisher talk about how she gave birth while holding a BlackBerry in one hand. For those not familiar with Kara, she used to write about the online technology business in the Wall Street Journal and now is a partner in AllThingsD.com, a Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-29931893981238612822011-04-15T07:18:00.000-07:002011-04-15T07:18:38.212-07:00Friday's Music Moment: Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda EditionThis week I was driving my younger daughter in the car when the radio DJ said the words I've been waiting to hear since watching the best YouTube music trailer ever: "Here's the first track off the new Beastie Boys album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two - 'Make Some Noise!'"
I cranked it to 11 and started dancing, as much as is possible when you are also maintaining a 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-25878234737086789632011-04-14T06:51:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:46:36.554-07:00I'm a bona fide Scary MommyOne of my most vivid childhood memories was being awoken in the early hours one morning by my dad, who was rummaging around under my pillow for the tooth I'd placed there the night before and leaving two shiny quarters in its place. When I arrived at the breakfast table, indignant, I said, "DAD! I know you are the Tooth Fairy! You woke me up!"
To which he answered, "Me? I was just making change."Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3290686625206941400.post-25452973396897450082011-04-11T16:31:00.000-07:002011-06-09T15:36:23.544-07:00School Lunches on AutopilotNext week is spring break for our kids. We're staying in town and haven't planned much, but I'm as excited as if we were going to Hawaii for the week. Because I have five whole days off from making lunches.
Every morning as I pull out the lunchboxes I am reminded of what Dorothy Parker reportedly said whenever her telephone rang: “What fresh hell is this?” Some weeks I’m on a health kick, making Nancy Davis Khohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12136583645715478665noreply@blogger.com8