Culture
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What’s He Building In There?
 Without gossiping too much about our neighbors, let me just say that I was reminded recently that the identity that we show to the world is not always the identity that we show inside our homes. We recently found out that one of our neighbors has been leading a life that we merely had hints of, and the depths of which we had not imagined. Thinking of this reminded me of a day last year…I was walking back to work, after walking Maya to school. I passed by a house with its alarm going off. I used to work for an alarm company, so I know that there are…
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Idaho? No thanks.
Not to lump a whole state into one nutty town, but I’m thinking no. Has anyone read about this news story? Here’s the gist. The tiny town of Greenleaf Idaho has passed a law that residents “who do not object on religious or other grounds…keep a gun in the home.” What? OK, don’t worry, all you have to do is object on any grounds you want to be exempt from this law, so it’s pretty much gutless. But what is the reason behind this law? “…citizens should be armed in case Greenleaf, which sits on high ground, is overrun by refugees in a Katrina-like flood.” Get that? Because when your…
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An Open Letter to the Democrats
Dear Democrats, Congratulations! I am delighted that you have come in to serve as a balance to the freaks that have been running this country for the last 6 years. We desperately need some moderation out there, someone to keep things under control so that we don’t end up in a theocracy or a monarchy anytime soon. I find it distressing, however, that it appears that you could not have won this race without the Republicans shooting themselves in the face. As I see it, you won because some Republicans couldn’t keep themselves from harassing young boys, or at least being complicit in allowing it to continue. You won because…
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Stupid Grammar Rules
English grammar is a tricky field to negotiate, with many little rules that can easily bug the hell out of you…I have my pet peeves, which would be rules that make sense to me, and people misuse them and abuse them and drive me crazy, but also, there are many rules that just make no logical sense whatsoever. I was thinking this would be a Thursday Thirteen, but I couldn’t think of enough stupid rules to make my list. So I turn the question over to my loyal readers…besides the five below, any really stupid grammar rules that you think need to be retired? Split Infinitives. I never even understood…
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Time to Vote
Tomorrow is election day, and while I’m cautiously hopeful that the Democrats will be able to wrest control of Congress from the Republicans, and hopefully grow a collective spine while they’re at it, and stop the rapid decline of our country and loss of freedoms, I’m having trouble getting revved up about the local elections here in California. The most exciting part to me will be that the constant barrage of political phone calls will stop. I’m not a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger. His ‘special elections’ showed a complete disregard for the will of the voters, and they cost California a LOT of money that should have been much better…
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Learn Where You Can
I had an interesting vocab lesson the other night…I learned the following words: parvenu – one that has recently or suddenly risen to an unaccustomed position of wealth or power and has not yet gained the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with it. I think I’ve always used the other French term, “nouveau riche“, though in looking at the definition, it is slightly different in meaning. dyspeptic – showing a sour disposition. I think I’ve always used “sour puss”.  I think I need to try to use these words in conversation…that’s how you keep them, right? Anyway, the funny thing is where I got these new words…from the Netflix jacket…
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Screw You, I’m NOT “Uncovered Meat”.
I’m assuming you’ve all heard of the uproar in Australia, regarding comments made about women by Sheik Taj ElDin Hamid Hilaly. I’ve been trying to figure out what to say about this, but I’m having trouble because it makes me want to vomit every time I think about it. So, I decided to copy and paste someone else’s words for you instead. Here then, straight from Salon’s Broadsheet: When are women like “uncovered meat”? What a nasty, nasty development in the now-global controversy over Muslim women’s dress. On Thursday, reports surfaced that Australia’s lead Muslim cleric suggested that women who do not wear hijabs are responsible for rape. The chronically…
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Eastern State
Yesterday, I had a sudden craving for Orange Chicken from Panda Express. So good, and so bad for you. So I hopped in my trusty car and drove over to the local PE. On the way, I was listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR. The few minutes that I heard were discussing Eastern State Penitentiary. I remember when we lived in Philadelphia, once in awhile we would drive past this prison, and I knew a little bit of its history, but not a lot. They have tours of the prison, which are supposed to be pretty amazing, but I was unaware of that at the time. And I’m…
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Madonner (That’s Madonna with a cockney accent, if you’re confused…)
I don’t have much today. I went and gave my presentation last night, which went OK, but I was nervous all day, so it sucked my energy dry. I received a phone call that my poor Grandma had fallen and hurt herself (she’s going to be OK, no broken bones, but still, she fell pretty darned hard), which was very upsetting because I love her to pieces, and that kind of took what energy I might have had left. And it’s only Friday, not Saturday, so I have a bunch of work to do today, blah blah blah. SO, I’m going to post today, because you know, the world would…
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Crap
Does this mean I have to give up my diet coke addiction? I have a lot of the risk factors for osteoporosis…but on the other hand, I don’t want to turn into one of those people that overreact every time a medical report comes out warning of the dangers of this or that. So if a report says don’t eat butter, I look at the evidence, and try to decide whether or not I’ll eat butter. Generally, my motto is moderation in all things, and you’re fine. But I don’t drink diet coke in moderation. I drink 4 or 5 diet cokes a day. It clears my head and gets…
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Time for Bloggy Love
Last month, I was on the ball, and gave a ‘perfect post’ award. I kind of thought of doing that again, but for me to do that would mean keeping the idea in the back of my head all dang month, and remembering which blog would be worthy, and comparing it to others that would be worthy, etc. etc. etc. I know, I can copy and paste the URL into a draft, or I could go all 20th century and write them down on a piece of PAPER or something, but instead, I just think, “Wow, that was good stuff”, leave my comment, and move on. I read great stuff…
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Fashion DON’TS
You all know of my obsession with What Not To Wear. I love to see them take a person with a misguided sense of fashion, and turn them into a lemming fashion plate in one short week. Really, for all that the folks DO tend to come out looking a bit cookie-cutterish, they ALWAYS look 150X better than they did going in. Well, after a particulary entertaining episode yesterday, when the victim participant (Eddie, over there on the left) reminded me of no-one so much as Bobcat Goldthwait in Scrooged, I had to go look at the website. While there, I saw that one of the host/stylists, Clinton Kelly, had…
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Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Did anyone watch Ellen yesterday? I don’t usually watch that format of TV, no Oprah, no Ellen, etc., but for some reason yesterday, after I knocked off from work, I turned it on. Her guest was Sheryl Crow, talking about her fight with Breast Cancer. When she went for her mammogram, they told her they had concerns, and she should come back in 6 months for a follow up. Thankfully, her OB/GYN didn’t think waiting was such a good idea, and she got her treatment started right away. Coincidentally (or maybe not, since October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month), the other day I was flipping channels, and came across…
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Killer Popcorn?
Have any of you heard of the dangers of microwave popcorn? I first read of it at Pureland Mountain, though I can’t link to the post anymore. On Saturday, I heard a story on NPR about the dangers of working at popcorn plants. The danger comes from the butter flavoring that is added to some microwave popcorn, and the danger is to the employees who work there. Some people have died, and many others are suffering from serious health effects to their lungs. Some popcorn manufacturers have voluntarily imposed safer methods of making their popcorn, while others are ignoring the danger, and I suspect won’t make any changes until federal…
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Romantic? Or Realist?
Every once in awhile, I’ll be talking to someone, and they’ll mention that someone is (or isn’t) their ‘soulmate’. The idea, the way I understand it, is that there is one person out there, who is perfect for you, and assuming you want to be in a relationship, you have to find them. I find this difficult to believe. Also, somewhat depressing. What if they’re perfect for you, but they get hit by a car, and you never get to meet them? What if they’re already married? What if they’re perfect for you, but they’re in Sudan, and you’re in Stockton, and you never have a chance to meet? What…