• Six Degrees of….nothing really

    I was watching Sex and the City the other night, and I was remembering the first time I saw Kristin Davis, aka Charlotte York…which would be on Melrose Place, where she played the ill-fated and psychotic Brooke, who married Billy, who was played by Andrew Shue, who was the brother of Elizabeth Shue, who was pretty darned good in Adventures in Babysitting and Leaving Las Vegas, which are two movies that are about as different as they could possibly be.  But I first saw her in one of the lamest movies EVER, Cocktail, in which she played Tom Cruise’s idiot girlfriend/wife.  Idiot because she loves Tom Cruise, really, who I…

  • Winging It…

    Last Monday, Cherry and Eric decided they’d rather have dinner at our house than be on their honeymoon in Hawaii.  OK, maybe that wasn’t EXACTLY how the decision was made, but nonetheless, we invited them over for dinner, and they said they might come…Cherry was feeling a bit puny, and wasn’t sure that she would be up to it.  So, what to cook?  We were out and about, and needed to get groceries before we would know the answer.  If they could come to dinner, we would want a lot of filling food, because Eric has a super fast metabolism.  Also if they could come, we should make something with red…

  • Birth Order & IQ

    A study came out a few weeks ago, claiming that firstborn children are smarter than their younger siblings, by an average of 2 to 3 IQ points. One factor, the study’s authors concluded, was that firstborn children (and only children) tend to receive more of their parents’ attention. When siblings come into the equation, the amount of time and attention that is available is divided, and therefore, the less attention each individual child receives. So an eldest child that is an only for awhile has more of an advantage than an eldest child whose younger sibling follows closely. And an only child has the benefit of never having to share…

  • Miscellany

    OK, first things first. Chrissy, Scarlett, and Curiosity Killer have all decided that I’m a Rockin’ Girl Blogger! Tres cool! I think that I am now supposed to pick 5 rockin’ girl bloggers, and nominate them myself. Or award them, to be more precise with my language skills. But here’s the rub…how do I decide, from my many female blogging friends, which ones are rockin’ girl bloggers? How do I say to some, ‘hey, you’re a rockin’ girl blogger’, and not others, who are equally rockin’ in my book? So I’m breaking the rules. No paying this one forward. I suck like that. But you know what? If you are…

  • The Giver

    I’ve just finished the first book in my Book Awards Reading Challenge, The Giver. The Giver is a children’s book, written for kids about Maya’s age (aka, probably found in the young adult section in the library), and it won the Newbery Medal in 1994. The Giver is sort of science fiction, set in the future, and at first appears to be a Utopian setting. The main character is Jonas, a 12-year old boy. At the age of 12, children learn what their careers are going to be. A group of elders watches them for a couple of years prior to them turning 12, while they volunteer throughout the community,…

  • It Only Takes an Instant…

    (Take a look at this cool blog, with info and pics of malls around America…this is the Sunvalley Mall, in Concord, where we were today.) Along the same theme as the near-drowning of a child in a friend’s pool last weekend, Maya and I were at the mall today, and we were near the top of a very tall escalator/stairs combo. We were getting ready to ride the escalator down, and waited for a crowd of people to pass by us. I noticed a toddler slightly behind them, who didn’t fit into the crowd (she was blond, they, all dark haired). This wouldn’t have raised any red flags for me,…

  • I Thought it Would Be Louder…

    (Image found at www.futureofthebook.org) Have you ever seen someone drown? How about on TV? Between TV and the movies, plus classes I have taken in swimming and CPR, I had the idea that drowning was this loud spashy thing, with arms flailing and chests pumping and loud music and so on. And, I suspect, sometimes it is. But last Saturday, I went to an end-of-the-year party for my PEP group, and it was a small party at one of the volunteer parents houses. She has a pool, and the kids were in the pool, swimming. Maya wasn’t in the pool, as we had arrived later, and she hadn’t decided yet…

  • Happy Freedom!

    Today is the day we celebrate our Independence from Tyranny, our Freedom to govern ourselves, and the birth of our Democracy.  Enjoy your bbq and fireworks, and put a few thoughts towards what we have gained, and what we have already lost…

  • I’m Gonna Love You…

    When I was a newlywed, my last year in graduate school, I remember talking to one of my classmates about the subject of marriage. I’m not sure how long he had been dating his girlfriend at the time, but he was pretty amazed at the idea of someone our age being married already. {I was 28 at the time, which wasn’t THAT young, but when I first moved to San Francisco at 21, I had a classmate who was married, and I remember thinking the same thing.} This classmate asked me, how do you know when it’s time to get married? My honest, true answer was that, for me, it…

  • Meme Monday

    I was tagged by Scarlett to do this little meme, 8 things you don’t know about me. Usually, I’m fairly game for a meme (that kind of rhymes), but between my ‘100’ things and the 51 other memes I’ve already done, I’m not sure there is any mystery left in this relationship. But kindly, since I was having trouble, Maya helped me come up with a few. Thanks, Monkey! First, the rules: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts. 2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. 3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight…

  • Happy Canada Day!

    Today is Canada Day, which comemerates the formation of the union of the British North America provinces in a federation under the name of Canada.  We’re celebrating with surf and turf for dinner…the surf being Crab imported from Canada.  YUM!   Ted was born in Canada, so we enjoy celebrating whenever/however we can. Happy Canada Day to our neighbors up North! 

  • Purnima

    Photo found here. When Ted and I were married, almost 14 years ago, we had a wonderful Hindu ceremony. When we were setting our date, our pundit, who also happens to be Ted’s 2nd cousin, I think, looked on a calendar to make sure that we were going to be married on an ‘auspicious day’. As our wedding fell on a full moon, it was deemed to be an auspicious day, and thus our marriage was blessed with good fortune. Today my bloggy friend Tracy marries her eSuitor, and as today is the full moon, I trust their marriage will be blessed. Hope your day is magical Tracy, and that…

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  • Discouraged

    art by mockery I’m discouraged that we haven’t had any good offers on our home yet. There was one offer a couple of weeks ago, but it was insulting. To those who would say that all you have to do is lower your price to sell, I would counter that there are quite a few places almost as nice as ours that have lowered their price a few times, and still not sold. It’s a slow market. Part of me says, don’t worry, if you have to accept less on this side of the deal, you’ll make it up on the purchase of your new place, which is in this…

  • Admiration

    Artwork by blueskysunburn I just started a summer read type book, The Sunday Wife, by Cassandra King. It’s the story of the wife of an up & coming preacher in small town Florida, who is strongly influenced by her friendship with one of the more powerful women in town, Augusta. Early on in the book, Augusta is reading from a book that the preacher husband has written. There’s a section of advice to women on how to keep their husbands happy. He longs for your praise and admiration more than anything. Brag on his accomplishments, tell him how much you admire him, and watch how he responds. Give him your…

  • CLEARLY I need to start swearing more around here.

    UPDATE Py checked, and he’s rated “G” too. Jefito, however, got more daring results: Which of course, is why all the cool kids want to hang out on his site. But if they’re under 17, they can’t get in, even if their parents are all lax and shit. (Do you think that helped, that I said ‘shit’?  Do you think it helped that I said it twice in a row?  PG maybe?)