My son lost his first tooth last night (lower right central incisor) as he was sitting on the couch playing his Nintendo DS. He was so excited about it because one of his friends already lost a tooth and did the whole Tooth Fairy thing, and my boy was anxious to “catch up” in that respect.

So he put his tooth under his pillow and awoke to find $5 there this morning. Later today I’m going to take him to the store so he can buy a coloring book or whatever else he might want.

I can’t believe he’s already losing his baby teeth… it seems like just yesterday that they came in!!!

Although I use Google for 99% of my Internet searches, I’m not attached to the company in any way. I’m certainly not one of those fanboys/girls who buy Google branded merchandise and think working at the Googleplex would be a dream come true. So when I heard that a brand-new search engine called “Cuil” was debuting today, I thought I’d give it a try.

I’d never heard of Cuil (pronounced “cool”) before, so I didn’t know what to expect from it. According to the article I read, it was developed by several former Google engineers, and is backed by $33 million in venture capital. It’s mission, apparently, is to knock Google out of the top spot for searches.

I tried Cuil just a few minutes ago, searching for — what else — my own name. Even using quotes around my name, Cuil yielded between 6,148 and 9,964 results. The quantity varied depending on which page of the search results I happened to be browsing on. Page 1 said there were 6,148 results, while page 4 claimed 9,964 results. Yet when I got to Page 5, I received an error message saying no search results could be found. Still a bit buggy, I guess.

The Cuil search results are displayed in either two or three wide columns, with some photos appearing right there within the results. This display takes a bit of getting used to after having stared at Google screens for years and years.

Also, it appeared that some of the search results that came back were sponsored links that weren’t clearly identified as such. I can’t be 100% certain that was the case, but a few of the pages I clicked through to didn’t have the search terms anywhere on them.

Overall, Cuil obviously has a long way to go before becoming the next Google, but I’m rooting for them. It’s about time for a change, isn’t it?

The MLB trading deadline is July 31, so you can expect to see lots of movement between now and then, as contenders try to shore up their rosters, while pretenders start building for the future by unloading expensive talent for prospects and draft picks.

Two big names that have already been sent packing to new teams are Casey Blake, the former third baseman for the Cleveland Indians, and Xavier Nady, former outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Blake will head to the West Coast to become the Dodgers starter in exchange for prospects Carlos Santana and Jon Meloan, as well as some cash.

Nady will head to the other coast and don pinstripes for the New York Yankees as they push to catch the surprising Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. The Yanks are currently 2.5 games out of first place, but have been surging recently.

Nady was acquired along with Damaso Marte for outfielder Jose Tabata and pitchers Dan McCutchen, Jeff Karstens and Ross Ohlendorf.

Seeing other teams make these moves, I really hope the Cubs and/or White Sox do something to improve their lineups. The Cubs could use some good middle relief. This is evident after seeing the bullpen blow several games in the past couple of series. The Cubs are just 3-7 in their last 10, which has allowed the Brewers — who went 8-2 in that same span — to gain five games on them and close the NL Central lead to just .5 games.

Let’s hope the Cubs turn things around soon. We definitely don’t need an August collapse here!

Summers are usually brutal on my skin, with the heat and humidity combining to make me sweat more and produce more oil on my face — which usually results in pretty bad breakouts and clogged pores.

But for the first time in at least 20 years (that’s NOT an exaggeration!), I’m enjoying clear skin during the summer months! I wish I knew what to attribute this transformation to, whether the new acne treatments I’ve been trying are working or whether the enormous volume of water and green tea that I’m drinking every day has something to do with it. Maybe it’s all of the above.

Whatever the reason, you can bet I’m taking advantage of the situation. I’m a lot more outgoing these days, I’m taking more photographs, and I’m much more confident when meeting new people. Clear skin is definitely something I could get used to!

I just wanted to let you know that I’m currently hosting another exciting giveaway over at ReviewsAndMore.net! The item up for grabs is a Burn Notice Prize Pack that contains lots of cool branded merchandise from the hit USA Network summer series starring Jeffrey Donovan. One lucky winner will get a Burn Notice beach bag filled with the Season 1 DVDs, a book, towel, t-shirt, and frisbee.

All you have to do to enter is send an email to contest[at]reviewsandmore[dot]net with the phrase Burn Notice Giveaway in the subject line. A winner will be chosen at random at 5pm central on Thursday July 31, which means you have one week left to get your entries in.

Read more about the Burn Notice Giveaway by clicking the link.

Good luck!!

One thing I hate about summer vacation is that it seems as though every place I go is far more crowded than usual. For example, I tried going to Burger King for lunch today, but it was overflowing with other parents taking their kids there, so I had to settle for the drive-thru. I also had to go pick up some groceries, and had the pleasure of being around kids who thought it was great fun to ram my shopping cart with theirs at every opportunity. Needless to say, I’m pretty annoyed right now!

So… how many days is it until school starts up again? I can’t wait!!

Why would anyone even want to bring up the name Steve Bartman when the Chicago Cubs have a great chance at winning the NL Central pennant this year? For those of you who might not know, Steve Bartman was the fan who interfered with Cubs left fielder Moises Alou on an infamous foul ball in the 2003 NLCS.

Bartman grabbed the ball, which Alou might have been able to catch, and the Florida Marlins went on to defeat the Cubs and eventually win the World Series. Of course, fans have blamed Bartman for the loss ever since, and the poor guy is pretty much forced to live like a recluse now.

Anyway, I just read today that Sportsbuy.com and the National Sports Collectors Convention have offered Bartman $25,000 to come out of hiding and sign a single autograph on a picture of that fateful play. The companies then plan to auction the autograph online, with the proceeds going to a Chicago-based charity.

Obviously, this is little more than a publicity stunt on the part of the two organizations involved, as Bartman has turned down tons of more lucrative offers over the years.

I have to tell you, I feel bad for the guy. He wasn’t the reason the Cubs lost, and his life certainly shouldn’t have been ruined over a friggin’ baseball game.

I hope the Cubs win it all this year. Then maybe the Bartman bashing can end once and for all.

Earlier this afternoon, I was feeling a bit sorry for myself for the dumbest reason. No, I didn’t find out that a close relative has mesothelioma or anything serious like that. I’m just a bit miffed that I’ve been asked to work at my office job for twice as long (two months instead of one) than expected. I don’t really like the actual work involved, and thinking of having to go at it for two long months was just more than I could handle.

But then I started to put things in perspective. I get $28 per hour for my time, only have to work about six hours per day, and my family could always use the money. Heck, I think there are a LOT of people out there who would gladly snap up this gig if I let it go. After all, I get to sit in an air conditioned office the whole time I’m there, AND I’m the manager!

So, boo hoo for me, right? I guess I was just feeling guilty that I’m not able to spend a lot of time with my son during his summer vacation. We had plans to go to museums, to the aquarium, and even just to McDonald’s for lunch together. I guess we can still do those things on the weekends, provided I’m not too tired from working all week.

I know I should count my blessings here and be thankful that this work is available to me, and will improve my family’s finances in the long run.

Hmm, I wonder what this story is all about? I’ve been reading bits and pieces about Christian Bale turning himself into police custody in the the UK for questioning after allegedly assaulting his mom and one of his sisters. The AP report I read was short on details, and didn’t say what the argument was about or what the actual “assault” consisted of.

Apparently, Bale spent four hours at a police station after turning himself in. The AP article says that he was arrested in connection with the alleged assault, and was subsequently released after posting bail. Furthermore, police admitted that they didn’t seek to arrest Bale immediately after the alleged assault took place, instead waiting until after the London premiere of The Dark Knight to call the man in.

Though this ordeal must certainly be embarrassing for Bale (guilty or not), I doubt that it will have any impact at all on the success of The Dark Knight. That film is going to continue breaking box office records, and Bale will certainly continue to make promotional appearances, etc. In other words, it will be business as usual.

I’m sure the tabloids and TMZ will beat this story into the ground, though!

I had occasion to go to the public library yesterday, and was surprised to see that they’re right in the middle of remodeling it. I’m not exactly sure what the extent of the remodel will be, but I could see that they’re adding shelves by the DVD/video section and putting in extra computer desks and terminals in the lab.

I’m glad to see these upgrades, as I’ve been using the library more and more in recent months. The DVDs are either free or $.99, which is much cheaper than Blockbuster, and I’ve been getting tons of audiobooks from there as well. It’s definitely more cost-effective than buying the stuff — exactly what I need for my budget right now!