Go Emaryn! Three goals out of six would earn her Emmett's highest commendation: "Emaryn is beast mode!"

Sample conversation:

Emmett: "Kitara is beast mode. Who do you think is most beast mode on Avatar? I think it's Iroh."
Me: "Iroh is definitely beast mode. You almost overlook him because he's the title character but Aang is pretty beast mode."
Emmett: I think Roku's second after Iroh. What do you think?"
Me: "Hmmm. Probably Toph. After all she did invent metal bending."
Emmett: "Yeah. Toph is totally beast mode."

What's the song most likely to make you burst in tears.

When I first separated from EM I made several mix tapes of saddest songs designed entirely to pull tears out of the well. Lots of incredibly sad songs there, including Mary Black's heartbreaking version of the anti-war "My Youngest Son Came Home Today" and Alison Krause's "Jesus Help Me To Stand."

But I think the cryingest song for me had nothing to do with romantic heartbreak, but "Scarborough Settler's Lament" by the late great Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers (one of the prettiest male voices I've ever hard. A burnished baritone.) The song's about a Scotsman in Canada missing the home country, knowing he'll never see it again. And it's so detailed and novelistic in its conjuring of memory, and the melody is so yearning and Rogers' voice and performance are so gorgeous and sad that it always cracks me open.

This isn't Stan Rogers, but this guy does a great version.

Alison Krause's "Jesus Help Me To Stand."

Oh, man, Alison Krauss has such a heartbreaking voice, period. "Ghost in This House" breaks me every single time and her duet with Vince Gill (one of the prettiest male voices ever, IMO), "The Reason Why" is a regular on my heartbreaker soundtracks for writing.

Google's logo is fun today--it's Samuel Morse's birthday.

It's just waiting in the permafrost to KICK OUR ASSES.

Wasn't that an X-Files?

Oh, man, Alison Krauss has such a heartbreaking voice, period.

A lot of her stuff on the O, Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack is just gorgeous. Not teary-making, maybe, but heart in throat.

Go Emaryn! Three goals out of six would earn her Emmett's highest commendation: "Emaryn is beast mode!"

She had a heck of a game.

I haven't heard of "beast mode" before. It's cute.

A lot of her stuff on the O, Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack is just gorgeous. Not teary-making, maybe, but heart in throat.

Yep, yep, yep. I love Raising Sand too. Just uploaded "The Reason Why" to brawk.

Small Man with Cat

This photo from 1956 shows Henry Behrens, the smallest man in the world at the time, dancing with his pet cat. Henry Behrens was only 30 inches tall.

It's a weird picture - the small guy makes the cat look huge.

It's a weird picture - the small guy makes the cat look huge.

That's awesome. It would like a standard-sized person getting to have a pet jaguar, sort of.

I'm looking for a new swimsuit--what about this one? Should I get the black with white trim or the purple with black trim?