LMNOP

LMNOP Invitational Update: It's Down to Three

A lot of brackets were busted over the past few days, and as of today there are exactly three people left standing in the LMNOP Invitational; only Mason (Mason's Bracket), my brother (Mac Wins Always), and Gorg-o (They Call Me MISTER Gorg-o!) have a chance of winning.  Here is a breakdown of the possible scenarios.

Possible Scenario number 1: UConn wins it all--and so does Gorg-o.
If UConn makes it to the championship against either potential opponent (Villanova or UNC) and wins, then Gorg-o takes the pool. 

Possible scenario number 2: Mason's meal tickets.
Invitational newbie Mason should be hoping for either of two scenarios: a Villanova win over UConn, or a UNC win over UConn.  So basically, if UConn makes it to the final game and loses, Mason emerges victorious.

Possible scenario number 3: Michigan State makes it to the finals.  All hell breaks loose.This is my favorite scenario.  If Michigan St. makes it to the finals, Mason and Mac tie for first--no matter what.  Mich could play Villanova and lose, play Villanova and win, play UNC and lose, or play UNC and win, but in each of those cases we will have a tie between Mac and Mason.  That means the LMNOP Invitational crown will go to whoever came closer to predicting the final score of the championship game.  Could be the most thrilling finish in Invitational history!

Regardless, it looks like Emily is still safe in her status as the sole female winner of the Invitational.

Updates of All Kinds

The LMNOP Invitational leaderboard in the sidebar has been updated to reflect all the action thus far.  My little sister is currently winning, and my mom is tied for third with my other sister.  That makes me the only McMahon woman NOT in the top 10.  That's OK, though, because my brother is doing even worse than I am--27th out of 29.  (And the two behind him are Winnarz, who picked Binghamton to win, and Business Judgement Rule, who forgot to enter his picks.  Sooooo . . . good job, bro.)

I also added a new set to Flickr this weekend, so check it out if you have nothing else on Earth you could be doing at this moment.

I alssooo just updated the site banner.  Can you see it??

Because Nothing Looks Worse Than a Christmas Banner in Mid-January

Changed the site banner today.  Internet Explorer users, you know the drill: can you see it?  Did you start flossing yet?

The LMNOP IT Department Is on the Case

First of all, thank you to everyone who responded to the little poll the other day.  It seems that the banner-image problem is Internet Explorer-related, which totally disproves my theory that it was linked to flossing habits.  (By the way people, your dental hygiene is ALL OVER THE PLACE.)

Anyway, Internet Explorer peeps, can you see it now?  The banner image?  I did a little tweakeroo, but I don't know if it fixed anything.  Refresh the page a couple of times, floss for good measure, and then tell me if you can see it.

Pop Quiz from the LMNOP IT Department

Is anyone out there other than my mom and Ben not seeing the banner image at the top of this page when they load the site?  Please post in the comments and let me know if this happens all the time or only sometimes, and also what browser you use and whether or not you floss regularly.

LMNOP Corporate Newsletter No. 572

I just put up a new, holiday-themed banner last night, so refresh the page a few times if you are still seeing the old one. 

In other holiday-flavored site administration news, two of my LMNOProducts are included in the massive holiday giveaway at Oh How Lovely Shops, which is more or less my favorite shopping blog these days.  Jamie finds a crapload of cute stuff each week on Etsy and elsewhere, and has giveaways every week.  Check it out, yo.

Finally, my little Etsy shop passed the 50-sale mark yesterday, just in time for me to write Cathy Addison-Weemer's bonus check for 2K8.  She can finally get that third cat!

Incidentally, I Actually Did Have Pancakes for Breakfast Yesterday in Real Life

Pancake Breakfast will continue to be a slightly sporadic feature on this site throughout the winter as the cold weather makes dog park trips and other fun, photogenic activities a little bit harder to come by. However, to make up for the lack of new pics this weekend, here's a link to a guest post I did for Who's Your Dachshund, which features non-doxies on the weekends.

Setting Up Shop

I've been on a craft kick lately, so I decided to open up an Etsy shop and try to unload some of my wares.  If you want to take a look, go to www.laurenmc18.etsy.com.

Oh yeah--my older sister's got an Etsy shop, too: www.luvliek.etsy.com.

Post-a Rica

In five hours I will head to the airport for a delicious 9-day trip to Costa Rica.  While there, I will be relaxing a LOT.  Even more than I usually do.

Although I lacked the wherewithal to write nine posts in advance of my departure, I wanted to keep the site at least somewhat updated in my absence, so I've come up with a quarter-assed solution.  While I'm on my heavenly tour of Costa Rica, this blog will present you with a (decidedly less-fun) tour of the Internet.  For each day of my vacay, I've scheduled a brief post linking to one of my favorite websites, along with a description of what it is and why I like it.

See you when I get back!

Weekly Links: 100-Calorie Snack Pack Edition

Due to the current constraints of my schedule--constraints that had me running from room to room of a government building today collecting signatures and stamps from various officials like I was at some kind of bureaucracy-themed swap meet--my Internet-browsing time has waned of late.  This means that for at least the immediate, near-term future I will  be discontinuing my regular This Week In Internet recaps on Fridays and instead just posting links at random unscheduled intervals when I feel I've got enough to fill out a post.  Today will be the inaugural edition of this half-assed new format.

Los link-os:

• How to catch a Netflix thief
• Researchers now think they know what doomed the Titanic (other than the ginormo iceberg)
• The 10 typographic mistakes everyone makes
• 20 amazing weather phenomena
• The BBC reports: "A Russian man trying to sleep off a night of after-work drinking failed to notice a six-inch (15-cm) knife in his back - until his wife woke him up." (Thanks, Tito J. W.)
• Also from the BBC: "A man in New Zealand has been charged with using a hedgehog as a weapon, the New Zealand Herald has reported."
• How to make an anatomically-correct brain cake

Enjoy.  If anyone needs me I'll be sleeping off a stab wound.