June 12 of 12 v.2

Off to work. That right headlight seems a little weak. How come I never noticed that?

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See that stack of papers in my arms? Those are final exams that I still need to grade.

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Check it out! I used up all the ink. All of it. I usually lose the pen before that happens. It was a long and tedious session, believe me.

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I think McDonald's might have been healthier than this Philly Cheese Grease in a bun ready to soak up any grease that might have escaped my arteries. It was good.

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Wanted to include The Boy in my pictures. We had a nice chat about fishing and letting his little cousin beat on him. I had a conversation simultaneously with a few other people, including Jennifer--the caricature on my computer is actually her. In the shameless plug department, you should go check out That Catholic Show.

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Running errands. Is that Kathryn?

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Look Ma, no hands. I promise I was at a stop light.

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The obligatory commute. Isn't my neighborhood green?

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These lovely ladies put up with my abuse and never threw me out. That is the championship VBS team of all time. Wah-Hoo!

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Because I did not sufficiently clog my arteries at lunch, I decided to whip up a batch of empanadas. Yummy.

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Job applications or something. I dunno. She seemed happy enough to pose.

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This isn't a secret at all, but I am always intrigued by the turtles that perch on this log in the middle of our lake. Doesn't it look like a gator?

Edited on June 13: Thanks everyone for the comments about the turtles. I feel it necessary to make a full disclosure here, since the picture is getting so much attention (cool!). Christy (in the orange T-shirt above) took it while we were crossing the causeway home. Go Christy--I want credit to go where it should!

_______________________

For Danny: Gators!

Check this out!

Check this out. We're broadcasting live from the Eucharistic Congress! I'm sure you'll get a glimpse of my big old butt. Mom, call me and I'll go over and wave.

If you're not familiar with what I'm doing today, go check out Rosary Army. Click on the litle video picture and you'll see us working!

"We'll always have Paris"

So I'm thinking how incredibly clever I am to utter that famous quote from Casablanca, and somehow apply it to the obnoxious Barbie in the news ALL THE FREAKIN' TIME, but it turns out every blasted journalist in the universe has used that phrase in relation to Paris Hilton. Especially when she dated that guy named Paris. How weird is that?

Anyway, poor little rich girl went to jail, got out of jail, and seems to be headed back to jail.

Whatever ever happened to celebrities who had talent?

Even George Hamilton, lately known for his freaky orange skin and apparently nothing else, has a pretty decent filmography. What does Paris have? Nothing more than the media's attention.

I'll throw in the towel if she ever gets her own square on Hollywood Squares.

update: She was sent back to jail screaming and crying. Read the circus here.

it's that time again

I'm getting all jittery and there's a sense of expectation and dread as the term ends. I love the closure of it, the sheer joy of knowing I'm not going to have to do any more grading for several weeks until the process starts all over again. Which of course will bring me back to this place.

Anyway, here I am in "that" now, and getting just a bit agitated by the looming deadline and the unfinished stack of papers. Oh, plus I collected term papers today. That was my fault, lousy timing and all that, but I still have to do it.

Naturally, there is a multitude of other stuff that requires my attention, so here I am...blogging instead of doing it. Ah, the joy of passive-aggressive procrastination.

You can't make me do it. You can't make me do anything.

I'm going to play Spider Solitaire.

Just another not-so-manic Tuesday

Really, I have nothing to contribute to the world of blogging in this post (or any subesequent one, I suppose). Initially, I wrote for myself, but when I get complaints from people that I am not updating enough, I have to wonder just what it is that I'm doing here.

As my brother Danny would say, "I got nuthin."

And so, it is nuthin that I share with you today. Perhaps we can revel in that?

That Catholic Show #4

You should go to iTunes and vote for it. It's not Princess Leia, but it's not Merry Medal, either[wink].

Why I love Rachel D.

This is what she has on the back of her car. I want one.

Happy Birthday, my "not so petit" chou

I was looking for a picture that would appropriately represent his Quinces, but then remembered that I had this one from his stint as a waiter at the Night in Paris Coffee House. He is le der des der (my baby--the last one). Those of you with a little high school French will know that it translates to les dernier des derniers, or, the very last one.

Feel free to make a literal translation of it.

"Is art the mirror of life, or what?" -- Woody Allen

Every once in a while I run across some terrific links from other bloggers. I got this one from Wil Wheaton's links, that eventually took me to the following video.

Let me just say: BRILLIANT. Somebody placed a videocamera on the conveyor belt of a Sushi bar in Tokyo. If it doesn't capture the human condition, I don't know what would. Did I say brilliant?

The initial pass shows a lot of people reacting to the camera when they discover it, but catching the background people is also pretty revealing.

I hope you enjoy it for the artistic appeal as well as the sociological ones. I sure do.

It's Wednesday, so this is for Linda

I ran across this Jesuit silliness, so really, it also applies to Achi:

The Jedi's are like the Jesuits of the world. You can read the article, called The Gospel According to Luke Skywalker and tell me what you think.

It has a scary picture of Jar Jar, so proceed at your own risk.

TODAY'S PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:If you don't read the Curt Jester, you should give him a shot. Meanwhile, there's a new episode of That Catholic Show coming up next Monday.

I am decidedly unfunny

That doesn't bode well for me at the moment.

Maybe verbalizing it will make things better. Does one verbalize in writing or is it a spoken thing only?

Meanwhile, in other writing projects, I have an editor from Prentiss Hall calling me and leaving me messages. Blast it. I'll never make money going to an editor. On the other hand, I don't have time for marketing.

I don't think anybody ever got rich off of prepositional phrases. Of course, dangling participles are a whole other issue.

Episode 3 of That Catholic Show

Here ya go! Another fun episode. Watch out, you might learn something.

Father Krunk needs your help!

He's up against Clark Howard in a karaoke contest at Q-100 and needs your vote!

Go to the link, http://allthehitsq100.com/bertshow/, look for karaoke, and vote for Father Bailey!

Yeah!

Yet another meme

The game is to check off the movies you've seen. Besides being an interminable list, and a pain to post, I find myself embarrassed by some of the stuff I've watched in the name of entertainment. Read that as you will. I'd love to see your numbers in the comments. (The comments in parenthesis are mine)

(x) Grease
(x ) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x ) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x ) Neverending Story (sheer torture)
(x ) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane

Total: 7 of 9 (heh, heh-heh)

(x) The Princess Bride (brilliant! the book is even better, if you can believe it)
( ) Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
(x ) Napoleon Dynamite (I'm not sure it counts if I screamed at its absurdity the whole time and fell asleep in the same spot three times)
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) 50 First Dates
(x ) The Princess Diaries
(x ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Total all together: 11 of 20

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie (that would be why I never saw the others)
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
( ) American Pie Naked Mile

Total all together:12 of 32

(x ) Harry Potter 1
( x) Harry Potter 2
(x ) Harry Potter 3
(x ) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
( ) Lilo & Stitch

Total all together: 17 of 42

(x ) Finding Nemo
(x ) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
(x ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
(x ) I, Robot
( ) Robots

Total all together: 21 of 53

( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snickets: A Series of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(x ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(x ) Never Been Kissed
(x ) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(x ) King Kong

Total all together: 26 of 65

(x ) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving Christmas
(x ) Flubber

Total all together: 30 of 77

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x ) Practical Magic
(x ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(x ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards

Total all together: 33 of 87

( x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
(x ) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(x ) The Longest Yard
( ) Gridiron Gang
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x ) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask

Total all together: 39 of 104

( ) Bad Boys
(x ) Bad Boys 2 (only to catch 1.2 seconds of Danny Trujillo)
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(x ) Ocean's Eleven
( ) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremacy
( ) Lone Star
(x ) Bedazzled
(x ) Predator
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( x) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George

Total all together: 46 of 120

(x) Independence Day (I love Will Smith, I can't stand that other schmuck)
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Boss' Daughter
(x ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(x ) Rush Hour

Total all together: 50 of 131

( ) Swimfan
(x ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
(x ) K-Pax
(x ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
(x) Ice Castles (cheese, anyone?)
( ) Boogeyman
(x ) The 40-Year-Old Virgin (I'll deny it)

Total all together: 55 of 141

(x ) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x ) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x ) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x ) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Total all together: 61 of 147

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x ) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History
( ) Thr3e

Total all together: 62 of 157

( ) The Jackal
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
(x ) Full Metal Jacket (for a film class, I would never subject myself to this on purpose)
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x ) Monsters, Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
(x ) Willard (I still have nightmares)

Total all together: 67 of 167

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x ) Hulk
( ) Dawn of the Dead
(x) Hook
( ) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days Later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x ) Waterworld

Total all together: 70 of 177

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness

Total all together: 70 of 187

(x ) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace (awful)
(x ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones (awfuller)
(x ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith (awfullest)
(x) Star Wars A New Hope (it's called STAR WARS, just STAR WARS)
(x) Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back
(x ) Star Wars Return of the Jedi (terrible hallmark moment at the end)
( ) Ewoks: The Caravan of Courage
( ) Ewoks: The Battle for Endor

Total all together:76 of 195

( ) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
( ) Red Dragon
(x ) Anger Management

Total: 77 of 206

I've seen a total of 77 films on this list. I don't know if that makes me a loser or what.

Felicidades

Happy Birthday to the beautiful Aliza!

I love this picture--we both totally blew off her mother's attack about dog hair on her pretty white dress.

Happy Mother's Day

To all the Special Moms:


Mami, Hilda, Critter, Mary Alice, Mary, Isa, Tia Tony, Aleida, Ana, Nat, Martiviri, Jennifer, Julie, Leonie, Miss Annie, Tammy, Tracy, and Hormiga!

May 12 of 12 version 2.0

Here we go with another 12 of 12---this one late because the pictures didn't post right. Anyway, it wouldn't be Mother's Day Weekend if John didn't design some way to make me have to work instead of hiding in my room relaxing. Oh well, in the end, the forest is cleaned up and the yard is neater than when we started (not that I don't still have to weed what I so optimistically call the rose bushes).

Anyway, here we go:

A Bobcat gets delivered to the house at 7:50 AM. Somehow, that's not a good sign.

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Then, I walk outside to discover they are cutting down another Bradford Pear. Good riddance, I say, those stinky trees! There was much discussion of pulling ropes and leverage and physics...

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I just noticed that the truck was precariously close to a potentially falling problem (more on the truck another time--we jack-knifed the trailer and dented the rear panel--oops).

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Anyway, the Big Kahuna (the one who in previous posts was seen climbing a tree) has now attacked the tree with a chainsaw.

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But go figure, they felled the tree where they wanted it. No children or eaves were harmed in this process.

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Meanwhile the wenches tackled the forest that had grown in the pool. I failed to take a picture of it, but we did find some squirrel bones. Hmmm. Remember that clean-up, Linda?

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After a long day of weeding, The Missing One camped out in the living room with a Harry Potter marathon (and dinner at Red Lobster with Daddy).

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While I went with the goobers to Sonic, in the rain, where we made the waitress or whatever she's called bring us our order...

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And we sang silly songs and then we went to the theater to watch Superman.

And even though I'm an old broad, I still think Toby Maguire is hot.

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PS--I know I said Superman. You know you understood me to mean Spiderman. Get over it. It's just a bunch of guys in tights. After all, Brandon Routh is pretty hot, too.

That Catholic Show, episode 2

Here we go again folks. Episode 2. Makes me wanna snack on some antelope.

The Deb and Flo Show...On the Road Again

and talking about Tubas.

I made it to the 21st Century

Here are my first ever YouTube uploads. I feel so...modern.

I'm soooo behind

I posted a Monday Musings over at Rosary Army. It's a lame post--I'm a slacker, get over it. The article is weak, not the point--lest you want to interpret my disgust with the lapse in brilliance with a lapse in faith.

The Missing One is home. Happy to have her back--wish some of her stuff went missing. Ordinarily, she has no problem accumulating crap. I am astounded by 9 months accumulation packed into her bedroom and office, this is a new record. There is a kind of cosmic retaliation going on--or is it karma. it seems that her missing roommate made it easy for her to expand all over the room. Evidently, Little Sister has, too, and thus the terrestrial space race has begun.

It doesn't matter who is going to win, I choose to close the door and be done with it. The best comment of the weekend? "I am donning a HAZMAT Suit and cleaning the bathroom."

In other news...um, there is no other news. My life is consumed by the homefront. I'll make another promise to post pictures, with the full intention of never getting around to it.

a person's a person, no matter how small

But, when is a person, not a person at all?

Today's bit of weird and confusing news has a group in Austria (note Europe, and not that other cool place in the middle of the pacific) that is lobbying to grant "personhood" to chimps.

Yeah. Cue the theme of Planet of the Apes, the good one, with Roddy McDowall.

wishful thinking...

Maybe not the greatest thing to post above the premiere of the brilliantest podshow ever, but one cannot escape heritage, a sense of humor, and Roberto's particular brand of egging on. Needless to say, we made spectacles of ourselves in the middle of Little Havana on a late Wednesday night.

I am forgoing posting the most beautiful Confirmandi in the whole world to please the Missing One, who by all counts should be in the picture, too. As Prufrock says, "In a minute there is time" because the old geezer has been dead for at least 10 months, so the announcement will be coming forthright and we'll find ourselves embroiled in the Road Trip of the Century.

Until then....

Here it is, what everyone's been waiting for!

Press Release:
Rosary Army and SQPN Launch "That Catholic Show" Video Series
4/30/2007 – 12:00 EST
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY


CONYERS, GA - The Internet's most popular portal for Catholic podcasts has teamed up with another apostolate known for their dedication to spreading the Catholic faith to produce "That Catholic Show," a fun and different way of looking at Catholicism.

"That Catholic Show," a different and often surprising view of Catholicism, is a 5 minute video series available for free download via the Internet.

The new series is co-produced by the Star Quest Production Network (SQPN.com) and Rosary Army (www.RosaryArmy.com), an apostolate dedicated to spreading the Catholic faith.

The premiere episode debuts on the SQPN and Rosary Army websites on April 30, 2007 and asks the burning question, "Do you ever wonder why Catholics sit, stand, and kneel so much?"

Not Your Typical Boring Religious Program
"Our goal is to take away some of the mystique and misconceptions people often have with Catholicism," says Greg Willits, co-creator and director of the series. "There are so many fun and interesting things about our faith, and we wanted to present these topics in a way that even non-Christian audiences would appreciate."

Taking a cue from popular cable channels such as Food Network and HGTV, the Willits' have created a show that handles unique topics with a light touch, making them immediately accessible.

"What we hope we've accomplished is to make a show that can be used to kick off discussions for RCIA classes, for LifeTeen groups, and for general conversations about Catholicism," says Rosary Army co-founder and show host Jennifer Willits.

Catholicism Like You've Never Seen Before
"Dynamic and different Catholic content is hard to come by," says Greg Willits. "But we believe there is a need for this kind of exciting media. We heard Pope John Paul II's call for a New Evangelization, and this is how we’re trying to answer."

"That Catholic Show" is also available for free download from YouTube.com and Apple's iTunes Podcast Directory.

For more information and links please visit www.SQPN.com, www.RosaryArmy.com, and www.ThatCatholicShow.com.

View the first episode here: http://cache.libsyn.com/rosaryarmy/TCS001.mp4

Important baseball game today! ! !

Go Daniel !

Go Daniel !

Hit a homerun !

Go Daniel !

Good luck and have a great game, and a good time at the Marlins game.

And remember, no beer for you !

I can't help that I'm a giant nerd. . .

. . . and that THIS ARTICLE about Stephen Hawking flying weightless captured my attention.

I don't think there's such a thing as too much Star Trek, and even though I majored in the humanities and bolted away from math and physics, I did pretty well with the other sciences, especially behavioral sciences. If Star Trek isn't an exploration of the human condition, I don't know what is, so that's my rationale for loving it in spite of not ever being able to grasp the pseudo science behind it.

That's why I think Hawking is so fascinating. I actually understood A Brief History of Time. If only I could apply the same principles to learning key signatures, I might be able to play the piano. In any event, I found this cool enough to post here.

I would soooo go into space if I had a couple of million lying around. It's awesome that he wants it to be affordable (although I noted that they waived his fee---I guess I better be famous first).

Get Well Soon! ! !

Miss Anna-Banana! ! !

Just say no to:

Broken bones and streppy throat .

Time to get you well.

No more boo-boos.

No more falls.

No more grossy germies

in your throat!

Shopping at the Piggly Wiggly

I haven't indulged my mean streak here in quite a while--a crazy thought considering that I originally started blogging to chronicle the adventures of a Cubanita in The South. Well, I won't disappoint, if only to document what I have seen this afternoon at the local grocery store.

Understand that I have shopped most of my adult life at Publix, Where Shopping is a Pleasure. Oh, I know I pay premium prices, mostly for a clean store, a variety of items, and the peace of mind that the bag boy won't assault me on the way to my car. Every once in a while, though, I feel compelled to patronize other establishments.

Walmart is always an interesting choice, especially on a weekend evening. Usually, that's when we happen to be out anyway, and John gets the wild hair to get a $400 grocery. Those trips are really classified as something other than shopping. It's more like a people watching extravaganza because over the years I have finely tuned my aversion to grocery shopping, so if the family wants to eat, they better figure out how to get the food in the pantry.

They leave me alone to wander the aisles in search of random items, and odd people. It's better than spending the afternoon in the Louvre (ok, maybe not, but in the absence of a ticket to Paris, it works for me).

Today I went to get a refill for my blood pressure medicine because I'm still eating crappy food, and the only exercise I get is wandering those Walmart aisles, and there was crowd at the pharmacy. I love my pharmacy. The pharmacist knows my name, asks about the family, jabbers on about Georgia Tech in a University of Georgia-infested region. I like to give them my business.

The locale is only marginally better than it was before. In fact, maybe not. Nevertheless, they are a breath of cleanliness in a strip mall that sports a Dollar General, a really seedy diner with pool tables, and the Piggly Wiggly.

I put in my refill and took a stroll down to the Piggly Wiggly, ostensibly in search of garbage bags. I was unsure of the availability of my brand, but hey, it's not like I'm brand loyal to garbage bags. For those of you interested, I did get my cinch bags, and for less than I pay at Publix.

Overall, it was a dingy store, with limited items, and a meat section that scared me. Really. For starters, I didn't recognize any of the meat--except the chicken. Even that wasn't very encouraging, because it was all gray. Now, I've heard that stores will use food coloring and such. Let me just say on the record that I'd like my meat to look fresh when I buy it. You don't have to kill the cow in front of me, but let me see some blood, even if it is pretend.

The real entertainment was in the check out line. I was standing in my heels, sweating in my pantyhose and trying to keep my blouse from revealing too much, when I spied the bag boy. Um. Bag man. Um. Man who might have been better off wearing a bag.

Imagine, if you will, Freddy Mercury at his cleanest cut--trimmed hair, trimmed mustache, usual overbite--and sock him into 2007. Wearing ridiculous amounts of bling. And tatoos on his neck.

This guy looked like the juxtaposition of Green Acres with Sanford and Sons. He took every negative stereotype about rural white folks and urban black folks and turned it into "his look."

I don't think he was making a social statement. No. I believe he thought he looked good.

I think I'll go back to my Publix, where I can get a free cup of coffee that I pay for at the register. Oh, and I know the bag boys. They are high school kids that call me Ms. J, not creepy middle aged men who evidently can't hold another kind of job.

Sanjaya: King of Understatement?

I don't even watch the show, but he seemed to annoy a lot of people. I found the article amusing. After all, I never want to miss an opportunity to point out how the entertainment media--news as entertainment folks create sensations out of vapid self-absorbed inarticulate teenagers.

"It was really weird."

Back in the saddle

So I finally got around to to writing another Monday Musings post. My mom thought I was fired or something.

Not quite. It was more like I took a break. We'll see what happens later. BAHAHA.

Anyway, here ya go, Mom.

To Write Right

It's been a while since I go into some personal thoughts or observations here--mostly because I've been so busy writing. Ha! How's that for irony? I don't feel like writing because I'm writing. I've mentioned before that sometimes I feel like I have this tank of words I can use, and when I use them up, the tank is empty and it needs to recharge. I'm not sure how big or small that tank is, but I do know that it definitely exists. I can't call this a regular writer's rationalization. Instead, I need to call it this writer's realization.

I'm working on a really neat project that will be released very soon--like, at the end of the month! It's been taxing and challenging and frustrating and exhilarating and all the cool adjectives that I can use. It's also a time suck like no other. My mother has pointed out that I seem to have taken a sabbatical from a column that I was writing, and that's my own fault, which I will rectify soon, but then it will be a word-suck and I'll be back in this place of empty tanks.

To be honest, that's a good thing. The shift from technical writing to this creative/other stuff has been long overdue, and part of the risk and part of the joy lies in the actual act. I've given myself permission to suck, and with it the opportunity to learn and grow. It's all in the process, after all.

This blog, for example, has served the need to produce words, but as I find other places to put those words, the tank here goes empty for a while. And yet, it is through here and other bloggers that I have found a connection and some inspiration.

"Solitude, competitiveness and grief are the unavoidable lot of a writer only
when there is no organization or network to which he can turn." --Toni Morrison

How true! I've been lucky to have found some interesting places for support, whether it has been purely entertaining and inspirational,--check out Wil Wheaton's commentaries on writing, or spot on right about the process--check out Bonnie Gillespie's brilliant treatise on writing correctly, or just plain fun and challenges to be creative in any way that inspires at Ink 'n Doodles Creative Workshop. It's not a commercial folks; it's more like a Public Service Announcement.

Happy trails. I hope you check back in on the 30th for the world premiere of a neat little project.

Oh dear, Mr. McCain

I'm at a loss. What a great country to allow the creation and distribution of this stuff. And yet...

Happy Birt

I wasn't quite sure if I should finish the statement, after all, this guy is in the business of beginnings, and then never getting around to the business at hand.

[This is me, ducking. I know there's a little unfinished business from me, too].

Happy Birthday, Achi! ! !

You know we love you!

there's a new drum major in town

Seen her anywhere?

Review: GaTech Concert Band

I must admit that it has been a while since I thoroughly enjoyed a band concert. Oh, I try and get away and catch a symphony here and there, but one certainly expects professionalism from...well...professionals. Unfortunately, in the realm of bands, the last couple of years of high school band were painful, not because of the musicianship--one expects a certain amount of amateurism in a HS band, but rather, the thing I just can't abide: a rude audience.

When Vicky told me the college band was performing a John Williams and Aaron Copland piece (one of each--not together--it's easier to keep writing and explaining than backspacing and rewriting that sentence) I moved around my schedule to be able to attend. The evening did not disappoint.

I have to begin with the director, who charmed me right away for two reasons. First, he reminded me of Joe Kaplan, whom I miss terribly at the oddest moments, and second, he obviously has a rapport with the audience and spoke with a real affection and admiration for the music he was introducing. I am especially grateful for his explanation of The Star Spangled Banner as a fantasia which otherwise would have resulted in the confused rising for the national anthem. Kudos to him.

The Copland piece was beautiful, and appropriate given the events of this week. How can it be Tuesday and I feel like I've lived a decade in two days?

Things got a little edgy with the next piece, something I was not familiar with, and to be honest, I'm not likely to seek out. Something with transcendental in the title and thus for me, reminiscent of having to read Jean-Paul Sartre, or worse, Albert Camus. Bah! Am I an English teacher? Perhaps I meant Emerson and Thoreua (possibly worse). It did have some redeeming qualities: the two Stargazing movements were extraordinary. I love the raw emotion of the drums and the intensity of the woodwinds. Still, not my cup of tea, but it was entertaining as hell to watch Vicky and Nigel moving among all the percussion intruments. My Baby can wield those mallets like a jousting knight.

The evening ended with the most unlikely thing: Liturgical music for band. How weird is that? What do I know of music, so maybe it's normal, but not something I can recall. I love the Masses sung by Christy and Jonathan's chorus groups--in fact, I look forward to festival because they tend to sing glorias and alleluias, but I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around brass and woodwinds producing this "liturgical music." As it happens, it was a brilliant ending for the evening.

Well, it was actually brilliant for a different reason. It may be heresy, but I thought the final piece, the alleluia part, sounded an awful lot like the style from How the West Was Won.

So sue me.

Cell Phones 37; Pop 0

So, in the world of annoyance calls my father wins the prize. Unfortunately, he wins the prize by losing the battle in figuring out to make cell phones work when they are supposed to, and remain in the off position when they are not.

I am no stranger to this phenomena. That's why I switched to flip phones a few years ago. For me, the final straw was calling my grieving friend who was on the way to bury her father. Talk about tacky timing.

Pop has called us at odd hours, startling us out of bed because he's dropped his phone on his dresser as he was turning in for the night, and accidentally called. Then of course we call back, startling him. There's no pleasure in that, it's not a crank call, and we both end up cranked for the night.

Today, he phoned again, and I cancelled the call because I happened to be in the library at the time. I stepped outside to return the call, we chattted, exchanged pleasantries and I went back into the library, and he returned to chopping down some tree in his yard. I didn't realize that I had a voice mail message until much later in the day.

Distracted, I checked the voice mail, and only heard heavy breathing. For a long time. Disgusted that I was getting porn calls, I hung up and deleted the message. It dawned on me moments later that I was not listening to some pervert's heavy breathing, it was the sound of the saw muffled through Pop's pocket.

I can call him a colorful list of things, but crank pornstar is luckily not one of them. It just better not happen again, Old Man.

the passing of a different baton

Sometime in mid-May there should be a ceremonial passing of the baton, I mean, passing of the car keys. In a tradition started many years ago with the original I Will Fly, my mom gave her used Toyota to Vic as a transportation for her senior year. As she had no wheels, the gift was greatly appreciated, and Neep has served her needs well since then.

Sadly, Neep has had an extended rest between visits, because keeping a car on campus has been prohibitive, and Vic, independent Vicky Sola that she is, hates the idea of always depending on her friends to give her a ride. She's picked up some odd jobs for the summer, including tutoring conducting to a drum major, so she needs something a little more reliable than Neep.

Neep is fantabulous for the 7 miles roundtrip from the high school. Sixty miles in and out of Atlanta, not so good.

Thus, her father decided to help her out by looking through the used cars in the area. It turns out, that buying new was only a couple $k more than the used car we were looking at, so here she is with the as yet un-named transporatation, complete with REAL new car smell. *

*here she is

Trying to look cool. The next installment needs to be Christy salivating over the keys of Neep.

miracles DO happen

While we still don't have TV, perhaps that day will come. There are all kinds of signs happening. Witness this:



Yes, it's a coffee pot. The Coffee Pot War of 2006-2007 has ended. There was no fanfare, no confetti, no wild passionate kiss by an attractive and painfully young sailor.

No, the Coffee Pot War ended unremarkably with the statement: Hey boy, there's a coffee pot in the front seat of the truck. Go make half a pot.

That's it. I can't even comment on a truce. Life continued uninterupted. Albeit all the more delightful thanks to the caffeine.

April 12 of 12 (2.0)

I'm sure there's a geeky place somewhere that I could use to figure out how to make the date a Star Trek stardate. Why, because looking at the title with version 2.0 somehow messes with my feng shui.

Anyway, if you're new to this whole 12 of 12 thing, you must have just emerged from a cave or something. but for the record, here's everything you need to know about it. Now go do it, or at least check out what everybody else around the world is doing today, April 12th.


Running too late to stop for a cup of java on the way to work, I opt for zapping some milk and making cafe con leche.

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It's still a cup to go, but it does make the morning commute more bearable. At least this time, you see my cup holder and not the obligatory tail lights.

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Somehow the desk looks the same. That's my fault, as I was far more interested in a script than in lesson plans.

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An early dinner at Cracker Barrel, courtesy of a visit by the Missing One.

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Here I thought she was being serious, and this is what I get. Silliness supreme.

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What is that? Disapproval? Condescension? Just plain incredulity?

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Next fall's housing arrangements were posted, and she ended up precisely where she didn't want to be. Time to activate the Star and fix it. Fast.

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This is the bonus picture: TAG

I thought she was done with tagging her hands with reminders, but there it is.

Nigel. Smiling? Hmmm

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Oh look, I DO have three chirren.

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I loaded up my favorite podcasts from sqpn.com and...

checked in at my favorite websites before checking out for the night, pooped!

12 of 12 today

Go for it! ! !

The bonus picture for me today is TAG.

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