Musings
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People are like pigeons
I got a good chuckle out of this story, from Reuters: TEHRAN: Iran failed Friday to register what it said would be the world’s largest sandwich in the Guinness book of World Records after people rushed forward and began eating it — before it was measured. Event organizers had planned to stuff the 1,500-meter-long sandwich with 700 kg of ostrich meat and 700 kg of chicken, and display it in a park in the capital Tehran. But as the sandwich was being measured, chaos ensued. The giant snack was gone in minutes, a Reuters witness said, leaving the three Guinness representatives present with a dilemma. One of the event’s organizers…
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Happy Friday
Hey all, it’s Friday, and I’ll admit that I’m glad. I’m looking forward to sleeping in Saturday and Sunday, maybe wasting a bit of time watching 90210 on Soap TV. (Do I need to clarify that I’m talking about Beverly Hills, 90210, vs. the current teen drama, known just as 90210?) I know, loser. 😉 This morning I have meeting after meeting, and this afternoon Maya has her first school dance, and Ted has an interview in the City.  I hope they both go well. Especially the job interview. Keep your fingers crossed. Tomorrow evening, Maya and some of her classmates are volunteering at a dinner/fundraiser in San Francisco, raising…
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Visit with Grandma
(Grandma, 1941, 18 years old) I went to Stockton on Sunday to see my Grandma and her sister, my Great-Aunt Flo.  I haven’t seen them since the service we had for my mom, in June. They both seem a bit thinner, a bit sadder, but overall stronger and better than they did when my mom first died. Still sad, still somewhat angry, but better. Kate and I went up, hoping to take them to Grandma’s favorite place, Red Lobster. (I’m not a huge fan of the RL, but there isn’t a lot else in Stockton.) But Grandma said, um, no, Kate’s work is precarious, Ted isn’t working, you cannot take…
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Happy Thanksgiving!
To my Canadian friends! (graphic found here)
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Question*
If the answer to life, the universe, and everything is indeed 42, and my age currently is also 42, why the hell has this year indeed sucked so fucking much? Just wondering. A message? Cruel joke? Or merely coincidence? (image found here) *1st, I know I’m a huge dork. 2nd, I have indeed had a glass of wine before writing this. 3rd, Maya is obviously watching The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which is funny as hell, and also, distracting as hell when I’m trying to read my book. So I’ve given up on the reading.
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A Sad Day
I was saddened to read in this morning’s paper that Mother’s Cookies has shut down operations and is filing bankruptcy. I’ll admit to fond memories of growing up with Mother’s Cookies, those yummy super sweet pink and white circus animal cookies, or the taffy sandwich cookies, or Ted’s favorites, the peanut butter gauchos. Sigh. Mother’s has been around a long time (since 1914), though the company has been bought and sold several times in the last 15 – 20 years. Before that, they were a Bay Area institution. They were located in Oakland until just a few years ago, when they moved to Ohio and Canada. I went to buy…
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Die How You Live
The discovery of Steve Fossett’s airplane and remains this week got me thinking about death. My first thought when I read about his plane crashing last year was, “Although I’m sure that he didn’t wish to die yet, this is probably how he would want to go.” Doing what he loved. Living his life, not shirking from it, unafraid. I had the same thought when Steve Irwin died doing what he loved, diving and spending time with animals. Roy Horn didn’t die from his injuries after being mauled by a tiger, but if he had, he also would be dying according to his passion. I have to admire that. Don’t…
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Happy New Year!
(image found here) It’s Rosh Hashanah, (unless you’re Ted, and then it’s Rush Hashanah), which is the New Year according to the Jewish Calendar. I’ve made the impulsive decision to make my New Year’s resolution now rather than in January, because there are a couple of things I need to work on, and there’s no time like the present, right? I don’t generally go in for New Year’s Resolutions, actually, but this year, I feel the need. So. Here goes. 1. Floss. I know, I should have been doing this all along, but I haven’t been. I don’t enjoy flossing, and I don’t get much tartar on my teeth, so…
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Back to Work
Autumn’s Mom did a guest appearance over at The Mommy Diaries last week, and this morning I thought I’d see what else was going on over there. Well, another guest blogger had stopped by, DC Urban Dad, and he wrote a post about being thankful for his wonderful wife. In that post, he mentioned that his wife has been home with their baby for these last several months, but that time is coming to an end, and she’ll be back at work soon. It was a nice post, but really, what it triggered for me was memories, memories of my first day back at work after having Maya. Maya was…
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R.I.P., WaMu
When we first moved back to California from Philly, we went in search of a bank, and ended up at Great Western, a bank that we knew, and that had the advantage of being smaller, not a huge B of A or Wells Fargo. We liked Great Western, liked the friendly employees, liked the neighborhood feel of it, liked that they didn’t charge us to use other people’s ATMs, that kind of thing. Then, a few years later, WaMu came to town. They bought two banks in our area, Great Western and American Savings. We thought of moving to another bank, but at the smaller bank I looked at, they…
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Potpourri
(image found here) This is going to be one of those random blog posts, just kind of blah blah blah about what’s going on in my life. Some more serious than the rest. It’s Saturday afternoon, and we just got back from breakfast/lunch at Denny’s. Denny’s has changed a bit…they put a weird booth in where the counter used to be, and they took out the bar and the big screen TV. I never went to the bar, but I thought it was interesting that our Denny’s had one. The big screen TV, I’m thrilled to see that go. After Denny’s, we went to the Farmers’ Market and got some…
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Back to School
The other night was ‘back to school night’ at Maya’s middle school. The evening started with speeches with the Principal, the Superintendent of the district, and the head of the PTA. They talked about how lucky we are to have such wonderful kids, how our district is in the top 95% of the state in test scores, and how parent involvement and dedicated parents help to make this the case. They talked about how raising healthy, happy children was about much more than these test scores, but still, yay test scores! Then we went and sat in each of the classrooms that our child attends for 10 minutes each, and…
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Poetry Tuesday
The Waking I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I feel my fate in what I cannot fear. I learn by going where I have to go. We think by feeling. What is there to know? I hear my being dance from ear to ear. I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. Of those so close beside me, which are you? God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there, And learn by going where I have to go. Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how? The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair; I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.…
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Talking Politics with a 12 Year Old
Last night, watching Palin speaking at the convention, Maya started asking us, “Is she lying?” She’s 12. She does not understand nuances yet, sees the world in black and white, us and them, good and bad. She likes Obama, and therefore if there’s a woman up on stage trash-talking him, she wants to know if that woman is lying. She doesn’t yet see that, sadly, ALL politicians skew the facts in their own favor, ALL politicians pump up their own resumes in order to make themselves more electable. What she wants to know is, “Is she lying?” So, I printed this article up for her today when I saw it…
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Zombie Meme
I found this meme over at Butterfly Cauldron, and I couldn’t resist. Then again, I didn’t try. You are in a mall when zombies attack. You have: 1. One weapon 2. One song blasting on the speakers 3. One famous person to fight along side you 1. One weapon – I liked Zan’s clever solution, which was a wand that turns the zombies around and sends them to eat Republicans. Of course, some of my best friends are Republicans, and I don’t want to steal her answer when there are only three options, so I have to come up with something of my own. I dashed over here to see…