Bittersweet

I'm happy that--for the time being--Jon and Kate are out of the news spotlight. I'm just saddened that Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, and a several other celebrities had to die to make it happen.

What About Spell Check?

The upcoming HLCCA conference in Pittsburgh will include a 60's-themed mixer. I want to get some hippie-style novelty buttons for my outfit. I turned to eBay, and my search yielded this:


If I read this right, the message portrayed here is that home and land ownership is an aid used to enable the weak, injured, and lazy? OooooKaaaaaay.........

I know this is not what the seller intended because the auction has "reality" spelled correctly. But didn't this mistake occur to anyone during the initial manufacturing process?

R.I.P Michael Jackson

Hearing about Michael Jackson's death yesterday came as more than a little shock. This is HUGE! Like the Kennedy assassination, John Lennon's death, President Reagan being shot, and the Challenger explosion, I predict that hearing the news of MJ's death will be one of those events that will be permanently burned into our collective memories. We will remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard about it.

For me, I read about Michael Jackson's death on Collectible Medium Green (dish collector's site). It was around 4:15 PDT, and I was reading a thread about Farrah Fawcett's death, where someone had mentioned that MJ had also died. I thought that couldn't be true--someone's idea of a joke, perhaps. So I turned off the DVD I had been watching (Dallas, Season 1...it was the episode where Bobby was working to help Cliff beat a murder rap) and turned on the local news. Sure enough...

Michael Jackson's music was a huge part of my childhood. An icon of my generation, if you will. I got the Thriller LP for my 11th birthday and played it until I damn near wore it out. His videos were in constant rotation on MTV. My friends and I tried to learn and copy the group dance from the "Thriller" video.

But perhaps my favorite Michael Jackson record is 1979's Off The Wall. It's one of the few complete albums that I have included on my iPod. Plus, the videos from "Rock With You" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" are pure, chintzy disco gold.

Thank you for the music, Michael!

Two More Weeks...

...and I'm off to Pittsburgh! It took 36 years, but I FINALLY get to venture east of the Mississippi River! I don't know if I've ever looked forward to a trip this much.

5 Things

I got this from ~M, who got it from Becky.

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Changing diapers
2. Getting ready to move into our new house
3. Being amused by everyone who was caught up in Y2K fever
4. Stepping over Thomas the Tank Engine toys that were oozing out of every doorway.
5. Eating off plastic dishes that I purchased from the seasonal clearance section of Target (Fiesta what?)

5 Things on my 'to do' list:
1. Finish folding laundry
2. Pick up some groceries (a neverending job)
3. Reattach some of the patches to my hippie jeans before conference
4. Deposit a check in the bank
5. Remove the bottom doors from the corner cabinet to make more display space for the dishes.

5 Things I've done today:
1. Fed Jango
2. Ate breakfast
3. Went to the gym
4. Stopped by Goodwill to drop off some outgrown boys' clothes.
5. Checked my e-mail

5 Snacks I enjoy:
1. Ice cream (bars...sandwiches...sundaes...shakes...you name it)
2. Lindor peanut butter and chocolate truffles
3. Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies
4. Peanut M&Ms
5. Oreos

5 Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Buy and restore an architecturally-significant house and furnish it with authentic modern furniture
2. Take Kyle to Japan
3. Encourage Q to quit his job and pursue his interest in cooking by going to culinary school
4. Buy a summer home in a more temperate climate
5. Set up college funds for the neices and nephews

5 Places I've lived:
1. The house on Surrey
2. The apartment on 7th Street
3. The house on Laurel Lane
4. The apartment on Mission Lane
5. The current house

Good!

I got the following article from azcentral. I LOVE it when rational wisdom and common sense prevails. Although, I do feel sorry for the child for being born into these circumstances.
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No benefits for LA girl born from dead man's sperm
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Jun. 18, 2009 09:52 AMAssociated Press
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PASADENA, Calif. - A U.S. appeals court says a California girl conceived from the frozen sperm of a dead man cannot receive his Social Security benefits.
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A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision Wednesday, ruling the girl wasn't dependent on her father at the time of his death.
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The case involves sperm that Bruce Vernoff's widow, Gaby, ordered extracted after he died unexpectedly in 1995 from an allergic reaction. It was kept frozen for 15 months before she became pregnant and in 1999 gave birth to Brandalynn.
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She applied for child survivor benefits from the Social Security Administration but was rejected, and a legal battle ensued.
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A call seeking comment from the widow's attorney was not immediately returned Thursday.

Lucas Rant #187

The following item does not necessarily reflect the views of the writers of this blog. They are the rantings of one 11-year old boy who watches to copius amounts of TV news and, as a result has become a little too jaded for his age.

CFL (B.S.) BULBS June 18, 2009

By Lucas

Everybody is talking about the new CFL bulb. You know, the twisty kind. There supposed to be "Energy Efficient". Its just BS.

First, They say they save energy. NO! THEY DON'T! Tests show they use the same amout of energy as normal bulbs, but they cost much more when you add the prices up. Also, this just occurred to me while typing, but when you buy normal bulbs if you think the same as me, when you're in the checkout counter with your normal bulbs, everybody else has CFLs and you look like a total DOUCHE!

Another thing is people say they're "greener" but, really, is the mercury in the CFLs really "green". Compared to a normal bulb that has no mercury, mu point speaks for itself now.

Next, is efficiency.Even though if you have a light that's constantly on, CFLs are good because they don't get hot, that's the only upside. They say "If every house in America changed just one bulb to CFL, it would save enough energy to power every home in Arizona for a day." Now i took that statement word for word from an APS commercial. I don't own these words in that sequence, but still...What they don't tell you is it would take years and YEARS to harness that power and for what??? JUST A DAY? JUST CRAP!!!

And one last point. it's called a light BULB for a reason. Why, you people who's brains are rotted by Al Gore's crap from the mouth, Edison intended the light bulb to be a BULB! He spent many many sleepless nights and thousands of techniques for a bulb! It's a damn BULB!!! Like a kerocene lamp!

American Trivia:

The longest used light bulb was built in?
A.) 1871
B.) 1999
C.) 1901
D.) 1897

Answer...C!

It is in a what in Livermore, CA?

A.) A house
B.) A firestation
C.) A hospital
D.) A police Station
E.) A Cafe

Answer...B!

It was a(n)...?

A.) Flood light
B.) CFL
C.) A Bulb
D.) A florecent tube

Answer...You guessed it...C!

Summertime Sloth

The worst part of summer vacation? I do more before 8 AM than my kids do all day. Today, I went to my algebra class and ran a few errands. I got home around lunchtime to find the only one awake was the cat. Disheartening, yes?

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Since school has ended, my kids have gotten night and day switched around. They stay up late and sleep in even later. I don't necessarily enforce bedtime during vacations. That's just not a battle I care to fight. And I won't fight it so long as they keep the TV volume down and the hallway lights turned off. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case last night.

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My displeasure came to a head around 11:30. After repeated requests to keep the noise level down, I blew my stack d had a meltdown of cosmic proportions made the boys shut off their TV and computer and go to bed.

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It's very difficult for us non-idle types to subsist on less than eight hours of sleep. I have to be up by 6 for a 7:00 class, and Q needs to be at work not long after. It doesn't help matters that the Siamese Alarm Clock goes off around 4:30. We don't need the inconsideration of being kept awake by the sound of giggling over the lastest installment of Robot Chicken.

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To say that the boys weren't happy at my breaking up laze fest is an understatement. But I felt that I had no choice if I didn't want to arrive at school looking like the walking dead.

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In the future, if the boys want their all night bum parties to continues, they need to show a modicum of regard for their dad--the guy whose job makes it possible for us to even HAVE cable TV and high-speed Internet. And their mom, who washes their clothes, buys their snacks, and plays hostess to all their friends. That means, after 10:00, the action gets moved downstairs to the living room.

Enjoyable Weekend

--a trip to the gym
--a refreshing dip in the pool
--a baseball game with Q and Lucas while Kyle went to a birthday party (translation: NO FIGHTING!)
--algebra homework that wasn't too terrible hard
--3 ebay auctions won
--a clean house
--all laundry DONE!
--I found 2 really cute tops at Nordstrom Rack!
--and to top it off, the weather was nice enough to drive with the top down. That's practically unheard of in Phoenix in June.

Gone Shopping?

Between leaving school and picking Lucas up from baseball camp, I stopped by the store to buy some laundry soap. Here's what greeted me at the front entrance:

These ducks were hanging out in the shade, trying to escape the heat. This particular store is located about a quarter mile from one a golf course housing development with manmade lakes dotted throughout. I think the ducks came from there.

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I was amazed that they weren't afraid of me or the other shoppers who were milling around. Perhaps they thought we had food? Like maybe a just-purchased box of quackers?

Yes, I know that was bad...

Random Thought #612

With the boys out of school, I thought I would be saving money by not having to write lunch checks to the school cafeteria. But no. All savings (real or implied) is going straight to people like Trader Joe, Mrs. Grass, the Pillsbury doughboy, and Chef Boyardee.

Simple Treats #318

Getting to hear a Jefferson Starship song on commercial radio. Even better if it's one of their mid to late '70s-era hits. Marty Balin's singing voice is a one-way ticket to my happy place.

Daydream #286

For the boys to get their dirty clothes, towels, and bedding within three feet of the laundry hamper. I'm tired of being told that "I don't have any clean ___(insert clothing item here)___".
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Well, if you would just fish said items out from under your bed once in awhile...
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Other wishes:
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--Please scoop out the litterbox without my having to remind you. Just walking into that bathoom should be reminder enough.

--Please bring your dirty dishes back to the kitchen before the uneaten food starts to mildew.

--Speaking of mildew, please don't leave wet pool towels on the carpet.

--Please don't throw a fit when I ask you to put your backpack in the closet.

--Please flush the toilet. Seriously...

--Please don't complain to me that your toilet looks gross (see above).

--Please don't let your hair go unwashed for weeks. If you run out of shampoo, let me know. I WILL buy more.

--Same goes for shoes. Don't suffer in silence while that hole in the sole grows to the size of a tea saucer. Let me know that you need a new pair, and we'll go shopping.

--If you have a nosebleed on your pillowcase, please tell me about it so I can treat the spot before it sets in and becomes a stain.

--Please don't throw empty soda cans, water bottles, and cereal boxes in the trash can when the recycling basket is only five feet away.

--Please don't use steak knives on the Sapphire Fiestaware. We have a stack of Periwinkle for that.

I really don't ask that much of you. Just the basics that make life in our home look and smell better.