Friday, October 31, 2008

Nothing Like A Pup Picture To Cheer You Up

From the Archives.  I was scanning my old Australia photos and found this puppy pic from the late 80’s.  Even if the exposure is so poor than you cannot see her eyes, it sill warms my heart.  Sierra was a wonderful pooch who has been gone for many years. I miss you girl.

I Love Socialism, So I Am Moving To Alaska

I have been saying it and I am surprised it took A) the media so long to print it, or B) me so long to find it in print. 

If I hear Palin accuse Obama of socialism without preceding it with a full disclosure of how Alaskans get a check for oil produced in the state of Alaska, I think I will puke.

"And Alaska we're set up, unlike other states in the union, where it's collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs."(1)

I guess that's not spreading the wealth, its sharing the resources…oh wait, its redistribution of income to those who have not earned it…oh wait crap, those are all “socialist” methods of financial distribution.  Never mind “we are mavericks”, and oh, look over there, look over there…  RETCH.

If you can’t see or smell the hypocrisy here, you are pinching your nose, closing your eyes, and holding your breath underwater pretending its not there.  The socialism claims are hatemongering fear tactics and I am so done.  Bring on the election.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Who Takes Hope Away from Grown Ups?

OK, I was trying to keep politics out of my last post, but then I felt I was self-censoring, and I didn’t like that. Not one bit. So, here is my addendum.

Braedyn has learned a tough lesson about having something stolen from him. I feel jaded about this because I’d love to tell him that it won’t happen again. That he won’t ever have to feel the violation of having something taken from him. But as the election nears, I can’t help but feel I might have something stolen from me. If McCain/Palin win next Tuesday, they will have stolen something very precious from me. They will have stolen my hope that women’s rights aren’t going to take a huge backward leap. They will have stolen my hope that our country won’t become a joke to those in the scientific community. (Um, fruit flies, anyone?) They will have stolen my hope that our country hasn’t forgotten about the principles of separation of church and state. (God will take care of the election?? WTF?) They will have stolen my hope that we can be unified as a country. I don’t like how that possibility makes me feel.

What can’t be taken from me is my hope for my children. I hope when they are my age these are no longer the issues on the battlefield.

Who Takes Candy from a Baby?

A couple of weeks ago, Braedyn learned a rough lesson from a bad experience. From what I can tell of discussions we’ve had since, this is one lesson that is going to stick. What is the lesson? That there are bad guys. Real bad guys, not just pretend bad guys that his beloved super heroes fight and win.

Braedyn’s Grandma and Auntie Mama took him out to celebrate his fifth birthday. During this joyous and much anticipated outing, he got to go to the toy store to pick out a toy and then go to a lunch house of his choice for dinner. Guess which one he picked? Yup. Red Robin. No surprise there.

But first, they went to Toys ‘R Us. Amazingly Braedyn’s head did not pop. In fact, I heard he was very deliberate and picky when it came to the toy he wanted for his birthday. When he saw it, he just knew it was the one! He very excitedly picked out the Tyco R/C Air Blade. So, with the Air Blade purchased, they were off to dinner.

After a scrumptious meal of mac and cheese and a devoured dessert over a melodious “Happy Birthday” song from the Red Robin staff, they headed back to the parking lot. And there was my van, side door open. And new toy gone. Braedyn decided NOW was the appropriate time for his head to pop. He was very upset, understandably so. He had been violated. He had his new toy, not even out of the box yet, stolen. (Side note…I’m SO, SO thankful they didn’t think to look in the glove box and take my iPod!)

Grandma and Auntie Mama calmed him down and assured him they would get him another. Braedyn was very lucky. Not all families could get him a replacement toy for the one that had been so wrongfully stolen.

This event continues to surface in our lives. Today we were getting a few groceries, and he spotted a Batman set of pajamas. That light up. The only thing that could have made them even MORE appealing to him would be if they had sewn candy corn around the neckline for him to munch on. Seriously, I thought his head would pop if he didn’t get them. Now, I don’t normally give in to whims at the grocery store, but he DID need some new pajamas, since last year’s look like capris on him now. So, I got them.

On the way home from the store as he lovingly embraced his new light up pajamas, he said, “I really like my new pajamas! I don’t want a bad guy to take them, Mommy.” Ugh. I assured him that no one was going to take his new pajamas. I promised we’d take them right into the house. Which we did. By the way, It is now 2:30 in the afternoon and he’s had them on for about 3 hours now. I’ll be amazed if we can get him OUT of his Batman pajamas and INTO his Batman costume for trick-or-treating. Tomorrow night.

So, this was a tough lesson for him to learn. It was ultimately a good one to learn, I guess. I mean bad things do happen to good people. But I can’t help but feel sad that he EVER had to learn this.

It’s not the item being stolen that is the real offense. It is an innocence that has been invaded. The thief didn’t get his hope though. The other day he told me, “Mommy, I think the police got the bad guy.” I sure as hell hope so.

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Keating Five For President ‘08

Let me preface this with the fact that until the spring of 2007 I was a registered Republican.  I registered Republican the day I could register and was proud to do so.

I continue to receive emails telling me how the current financial debacle is the fault of the Democratic party. Let’s look at some facts:

  • Republicans have had control of the White House for 20 of the last 28 years.
  • Republicans took control of Congress in 1992 for the first time in 50 years, and they held onto that control either in Majority or Plurality until 2006. (You can verify my facts from Wikipedia).

So, lets ASSuME that President Jimmy Carter and the "Liberal Democrats", and hell let’s even throw in the Acorn scandals, are to blame for the current financial crisis. With that assumption in mind, let’s analyze this.

For the last 28 years, any of the seated Republican presidents, the Republican controlled Congress were UNABLE, unwilling even, to see, stop and fix the “Carter/Liberal Democrat/Acorn” financial Tsunami that we now find ourselves in. Sounds like someone was asleep at the wheel.

On top of it let’s throw in a little fact that people seem to be ignoring this election.  Anybody remember the Keating Five?  I won't bother writing all the details here (feel free read all about it here – take your time, I will wait, I want you to be educated). Summary:

The U.S. Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s was the failure of 747 savings and loan associations (S&Ls) in the United States. The ultimate cost of the crisis is estimated to have totaled around $160.1 billion, about $124.6 billion of which was directly paid for by the U.S. taxpayer.[1]

That’s about 308 billion dollars today to you and me, paid for by the American taxpayer.  Sounding familiar? Who was behind this scandal, a one John McCain and four other U.S. Senators (full disclosure - the other four were Democrats). McCain was cleared of acting improperly, but was criticized for "poor judgment".

This is the same man who has a history of deregulation.  The same man running for President of the United States who wants to fix the financial debacle we are in.

Really.  The current financial crisis can be blamed on the Democrats? 

Tell you what.  If it is their fault, maybe they have a better understanding of the problem and we should put them in office to fix it. If it is not the Republicans fault they sure couldn’t see it coming over the last 28 years.  Talk about running the government blind.

It’s looking like the late 80's all over again but with a bigger bailout, a bigger financial crisis and a former Keating Five member wants you to put him into the White House to fix it.

Think about it.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Gotta Love My View

As I look out my window and type this, I can’t help but hum a ditty that was sung for years by our old pal, Mr. Rogers

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?...

I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?

Oh, I am SOOO ready to run over and introduce myself.

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I canvassed for Obama yesterday. It was only for a couple of hours, and I got to walk around in a beautiful neighborhood with gorgeous old trees donning every Fall color imaginable. I don’t know how much of a difference I made ultimately, but it was certainly a great experience for me. Most of the people I talked to were friendly, and those that did take the time to chat with us were overwhelming pro-Obama. It was a heartening experience during such disheartening times.

I haven’t felt moved enough to volunteer for a political purpose since I was at Texas A&M in the early 90’s and proudly held my Pro-Choice sign along with about 15 or 20 others in front of the football stadium before a big game. Anyone familiar with the combination of East Texans and football can speculate correctly that this experience was highly volatile, er…memorable. It was an important moment in the shaping of my voice.

I encourage everyone to go out and early vote. The process was so convenient and easy. I was giddy with excitement as I voted and was practically moved to tears by the process.

Go Obama ‘08!

OK, now I’m going to have to excuse myself to go introduce myself.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Soccer Season Finale

This last Saturday was the seasons final game for Braedyn.  I couldn’t help myself but to use my favorite video creation site Animoto to make a little music video of the entire season.  It’s so easy, and it makes such fun vids.  Check it out.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Koko vs. The Animal

I’ve decided the reason I have play dates at my house is so that I’ll kick up my housecleaning a few notches. Before kids, getting a clean house used to be the frosting on the cake to having a dinner party with friends at our house. Since that doesn’t happen as much anymore, I use our play dates as a marker to when I get certain chores done around the house. And I’ll be honest. I talk out of both sides of my mouth when it comes to this issue. I tell OTHERS not worry about how their house looks when we come over, but panic about getting all the doggy hair balls out of the line of sight before having others over. And I honestly mean it when I tell others not to worry! I think collectively we moms put too much pressure on ourselves to appear that we always have it together. Where I don’t care if someone has vacuumed or dusted or picked up toys before we come over, it PAINS me to have people come over if my house isn’t somewhat June Cleaverish. For our play date today, not only did I clean up all the soap overflow spills from the kids’ bathroom counter, I even had freshly made, hot-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies FROM SCRATCH. Pathetic, I know. Unrealistic, I know. Hey, I used to have deadlines when I worked in the corporate world. I suppose this is my stay-at-home-mom version of “Oh shit, this game needs to be to QA this afternoon!”

As I got ready to vacuum prior to our play date today, Koko and Charmin acted in their typical fashion. Charmin, upon seeing our Dyson Animal vacuum cleaner, fled, leaving a trail of pee, to hide somewhere in my bedroom. Koko, upon seeing The Animal, thought, “Yeah, bitch, bring it on! I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!” The girl won’t chase a ball, but she totally digs a good tussle with my vacuum cleaner. No joke. Problem is, she freaks out when I pull out the camera. Yeah, go figure. She’s shy, but loves a good fight. I thought, I’ve GOT to at least TRY and get a picture of this. So, as I attempted to photograph her biting, yes BITING, the vacuum cleaner today, I kept missing the perfect shot. Hey, you try to vacuum with one hand, take a picture with the other, AND try and entice your dog to play with your vacuum cleaner. She normally doesn’t need any enticing, but the presence of the camera somehow makes her think it is no longer a fair fight. I gave it a very concerted effort and had one of the cleanest spots on my carpet EVER as I vacuumed it over and over again trying to get the damn shot.

Here is what I was able to capture today:

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Braedyn and Emily thought it was hilarious to watch the whole three-ring circus act going on in front of them with Koko in one ring, me in another, and The Animal in the center ring. They wanted in on the action too, so here are their fingers being vacuumed into the The Animal’s hose. And those marking on the end of the hose? Koko’s teeth marks.

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

My Little Boohbah

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A couple of weekends ago, we had our first snow fall on the valley floor. Of course, the next week we were all wearing shorts again, but never mind that. The kids were out in full winter garb to play in the snow. If you look in the top right hand corner of the picture you can see a snowflake. Really, it’s there! I promise. Look closely!

There is something about snow that elicits such excitement in our family. Of course after several months of cold weather, we’re so. totally. over. it. I like this picture because Emily looks like a Boohbah. My little pink Boohbah.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Geez, I’m a Newbie!

OK, I was thrown into a virtual game today, the rules of which I didn’t know. OK, hell, I didn’t even KNOW about the game until today. I was TAGGED in a blog. At first, I thought, “Whoa, that’s cool! *sniff sniff* Someone likes me. They really like me.” Then I thought, “Shit. What does that mean?” Here’s what I’ve learned in case there are any other lame-o newbies out there like myself:

  • It is a virtual game started by some guy named Jeff Pulver a while ago.
  • You answer some questions in your blog and then tag some others, inciting them to do the same.
  • Being tagged by someone is a figurative approach to the literal one. Once tagged, you are “it”!
  • You must comply to the rules or you will be assimilated.

OK, so the rules for THIS game are to answer the following with one word. I’ll try not to dwell on what others may THINK my answers mean and just go with the first thing that comes to mind. Here goes:

Where is your cell phone? Playroom
Where is your significant other? Work
Your hair color? Brown
Your mother? Attached
Your father? Detached
Your favorite thing? Hugs
Your dream last night? Didn’t
Your dream/goal? Contentment
The room you’re in? Nook (Is that a "room"?)
Your hobby? Blogging
Your fear? Palin as President (sorry, I broke the one word rule there. Bad blogger, bad!)
Where were you last night? Home
What you’re not? Religious
One of your wish-list items? HouseCleaner
Where you grew up? El Paso
The last thing you did? Greg (oops, that says “thing” not “person”, huh?)
What are you wearing? Glasses
Your TV? Grossology
Your pet? Escape-artist (OK, the hyphen makes it one word, right?)
Your computer? Flickering
Your mood? Anxious
Missing someone? Nope
Your car? SoccerMomish
Something you’re not wearing? Lipstick
Favorite store? Ikea
Your summer? Crazy
Love someone? Greg
Your favorite color? Undecided
When is the last time you laughed? Lunch
Last time you cried? Wednesday

OK, I just broke a sweat. And just for the record I didn’t put down the first thing that came to mind on some of these. Thank you, thank you worry gene.

AND… The really stressful part for me. The picking of the seven to tag. Since I’m new to this game, if this is ANYTHING like getting those infuriating questionnaires in an email and then threatened with dismemberment to send it to 7 of your closest friends, then PLEASE forgive my virtual faux pas and love me anyway. Answer and have fun or ignore and move on. There is nothing to see here.

Mommy’s In a Timeout, Amy, Morgan, Sarah, um, Paul (simply to see how funny his one-worders are), CJ (to get her started!) um, um, um, GREG!

Friday, October 17, 2008

This Blog Is Rated R (err NC-17)

What???

I am SHOCKED. Apparently the AI used to determine my sites rating from this site only recognizes some of the four letter words we like to use on our site. Apparently Fuck (yes, Jacob my son I use that word sometimes, even in print) is not one of the words used to determine a website rating. Ooops. I may have just changed the rating ;)

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

  • hell (7x)
  • dead (4x)
  • rape (2x)
  • punch (1x)

UPDATE: Yup. After this post we have an NC-17. Fuck Yeah (oops). Apparently though, they cannot list that word because it would make their site have a nasty rating as well.

What's My Blog Rated?

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

  • hell (8x)
  • dead (5x)
  • rape (3x)
  • crap (2x)
  • puke (1x)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

My Little Snow Angels

Usually I dread the cold weather because it generally means we have three severe cases of cabin fever. Thankfully not the Jack Torrance type of cabin fever. No, our cabin fever heightens as energy levels rise and there is nowhere *free* to go burn it off. This year should prove to be different because Emily is old enough to bundle up and let her play in the backyard with Braedyn while Mommy watches them while sitting cozily in front of the fireplace, hot overly-creamered coffee in hand. Unless you’ve won the Mommy of the Decade award, you know what I mean. I enjoy a good snow ball fight as much as the next person, but a Mommy can only take SO much outdoor snow time. You know.

We do have a hiccup in this glorious plan, however. I learned of this hiccup the other day when we took the kids up to Mt. Rose Meadows to play in this season’s first snow. The snow depth varied from about three to eight inches of snow, and the kids had a GREAT time. So did Greg and I. Well, until the embarrassing meltdown by the kids at Starbucks afterward, but I’m working really hard to erase that memory so I won’t be talking about it here. At Mt. Rose Meadows, the kids were all snug and warm in their new snowsuits and snow boots. They were totally digging it. BUT! The hiccup in my “YOU burn off energy, I STAY WARM” plan this winter comes with the problem we discovered on our little outing. If we have even a couple of inches of snow and Emily falls, she can’t get up. She’s SO bundled, her little legs and arms can’t situate themselves to push herself back up. It happened over and over again at the meadows. I had to laugh at how much it reminded me of those crazy Life Call commercials. Was it from the ‘80s? Geez, maybe it was even the ‘70s.

So, I see a lot of this in my future:

  • Emily plummets.
  • Get up from warm, cozy seat by fireplace.
  • Open slider to backyard and feel the slap of cold air on my face and on my impossible-to-keep-warm feet.
  • Race to Emily.
  • Lift.
  • Race back to slider and close.
  • Sit by fireplace.
  • Watch.
  • Repeat.

Hey, that’s ok. At least there is some burning off of energy in the process. For me, that is. I have to burn off that overly creamered coffee somehow!

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“I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” says the little pink snow angel.

B_snow  
“I could stay out in this stuff until my eyelids freeze open!” says the all-boy boy.

3_snow 
“Quick, I can’t feel my bum!” says Mommy.

GB_snow 
“Gotcha!” says the all-boy boy. Just for the record, he’s referring to the snow and not journalism.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Picasa Magic

I attempted to scan in a strip of very old 110 film I just had developed(that’s an antiquated film format for you young whipper snappers) using a cheap ass scanner that I purchased.  Here are the very poor results.  I am to blame for the condition of the film as it came from my sons old toy camera and I never stored it properly.

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Now any skilled Photoshop user could spend time so you could see the details of these images.  This of course would require you to be a) skilled at Photoshop and b) own a copy of Photoshop. Now granted, these images are in BAD shape, and will never be quality printable images.  But I wanted to see them nevertheless.  I opened them up in Picasa (free if you were unaware) and used the cropping and the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. 

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Whala, Pics of my Aunt Elaine, cousin Alex and my oldest son Jacob. As you can see, the images while not of the greatest quality become at least fun to look at and reminisce.  I could spend more time on them and improve them even more, but I wanted to show what a couple clicks can do.  On top of it I was pretty careless when scanning them and didn’t even bother to blow off the dust.  Picasa’s new Retouch tool is really quite smart and useful. Thank you Picasa.

Pay No Attention to that Middle Finger

My children. They have the middle finger, flip-you-off gene, and most likely it came from yours truly. Maybe it was all the flipping off of crappy drivers during my pregnancies that caused this gene mutation. Oh, quit freaking out. I always flip people off JUST below the window so the offending driver and their arsenal can’t see my little gesture. Somehow that simple action makes me feel better after being so rudely cut off. At any rate my children have somehow picked up this propensity. Not in the same way as me, mind you. They aren’t old enough to be incensed by jerkholio drivers. Not yet. No, their birds just LOOK like they are flipping you off. But in reality either they are counting using their fingers as aids, one always being counted on the flip-you-off finger, or they are pointing to something they think is really cool.

All hail the queen.

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Can you count those again, Bud? “One…”

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So, if you ever see us out and about and it appears that my children are being incredibly rude by giving you the middle finger, please remember one of two things is actually happening. One, they could possibly be pointing to something that you might want to check out yourself. You never know what cool thing you might see. It might be a “hoptihopter” (helicopter) taking flight, or a rumbling “go-go” (motorcycle) speeding down the highway, or another awesome Obama 2008 bumper sticker on yet another car. Woot! Woot! Or, two, they have learned what an jerkholio driver does, and you actually deserved it.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Oh, To Be a Teen Again

Ah, NO. Let me repeat that. NO.

I just read an article about how Obama should discuss his cocaine use as a teenager more “candidly”. I can’t help but think, what the hell do we know about life when we are teenagers? What the hell do we know about the person we want to be as an adult when we are teenagers? OK, some itsy-bitsy percentage of teens may have these questions under control, but I sure as hell didn’t. I thought I was a Republican in High School. That’s what my parents were then (and ARE now *sigh*), so I figured that’s what I was too. Anyone who knows me, the grown up bill-paying, child-rearing, family-loving version of me now, knows that me being a Republican is about as ridiculous as Greg with long hair.

Back in teenagerhood, I had my “no” disrespected and didn’t do anything about it. Now, my guns are blazing. Proverbial guns, thank you very much. Sure, there are inklings of me today that are the same as that when, those many moons ago. Wait, give me a minute. I’ll think of some example… Really, hang on…

This is not to dismiss the powerful and important life changes that come with those difficult and trying teenage years. Who I am today is a result of who I was back then. I firmly believe that I am a stronger person today because of the mere fact that I got through those years. But I made choices back then that make my skin crawl today. Choices that make me feel incredibly lucky to even be here today to tell this tale. Scary choices that I learned valuable lessons from, and I hope to give my children the tools they will need during their own teenage years to make healthy, safe, and informed choices. But you know what? They will undoubtedly have to learn some life lessons on their own. THIS scares the hell out of me, but I know I can’t keep them in a bubble. Hell, I can’t even keep them in their beds through the night now! Let alone a safe little bubble.

So, trying to use Obama’s drug use as a teenager is a fruitless attempt to make some debasing point that is lost on me. It was a choice that he made, yes. It was something he chose to do to himself. He didn’t sit on someone else and force them to snort. Do the choices he made then make him less of a person today? Wow, I sure as hell hope not. Otherwise people might think really ill of me based on those crazy choices I made back then. I guess the guys trying to use this against him are so damn old they can’t remember their own teenage years and all the stupid crap they did.

Am I going to hold Obama’s drug use as a teen against him? No. Let me repeat that. No. For the same reason that I would hope no one would hold judgement against me for the choices I made as a teen. I shudder at the thought!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

EDNJESS

I had a bunch of old film developed and this was one of the pics on the roll. It’s from many years back and I was shocked to see the images came out at all. I love it. I hope Eddy C. and Jessica C. don’t mind me posting it here. EdNJess , it does sound like a foreign city name doesn’t it? :)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

ChiWhaaaaWhaaaa

I have tears rolling down my cheeks.  My daughter has a funny way of saying certain words, and tonight, she nearly caused “the big one.”  Sitting at dinner she started to tell me about the movie she saw yesterday. Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

There are certain words she says where the tongue extends out of the mouth, reaching the tip of the chin.  Try it.  Saying the A’s like in Alablaaaama and touching your tongue to your chin while saying your a’s.

ChiWhaaaaaaWhaaaaaa

It took everything we had not to bust out laughing.  Ok, we did.  Bad parents. Bad.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Well, That Thought Just Went Out the Window

I think I am going through some early, VERY EARLY, mid-life blahs. I have been thinking a bit more often of the days when Greg and I could just pick up and go somewhere without worrying about anyone else. Don’t get me wrong, I cherish and adore our children, more than I ever thought humanly possible. I’m a stay-at-home-mom, of course I’m salivating for some let-your-hair-down (me, not Greg), kick up your heels, let loose adult time. And I occasionally miss those days of old where something like going out to eat didn’t involve picking a restaurant that had an openly inviting and tolerant policy toward their younger patrons. Ones that don’t frown upon the occasional scream or food flinging. Ones that understand that just as much food makes it into a little one’s mouth as it does onto the floor. If you’re lucky. One that has macaroni and cheese on the menu. Like Red Robin. Or Red Robin. Then there’s always our family favorite, Red Robin. Our kids aren’t quite to the age of appreciating the artistry of something like say, oh fine sushi. Yeah, I could see it now… Me begging and pleading with the kids to take just ONE bite of that utterly mouth-watering and scrumptious long roll. Bribing them with dessert. No? How about a new four-wheeler? Greg asking and then telling them for the two hundredth time to GET OFF OF THE FLOOR! GET OUT FROM UNDER THE TABLE! Greg and I strategically avoiding the stares of everyone else in the restaurant as they look over toward our fresh fish train wreck. Yeah. Not so much.

Last night after the kids were asleep, Greg started to scan some of his old negatives and came up with some doozies of us in our crazy, younger days. As we laughed about who we were back then, I confessed my longing for a cigarette, errr, I mean more adult time with him. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: I miss those old days.
Greg: Uh-oh.
Me: No, I love our life together. Don’t get me wrong. It’s just I think we need to get out more. Do stuff before we’re too damn old to even want to go out.

The timing of what happened next could not have been planned better if we had tried. Just as that last word passionately rolled off my tongue, out of a deep slumber, Emily screams out, “No! No! No no no no no! No! No! No no no no! No!”

OK, Em. No sushi for you. Not yet.

It’s true. We may not have fine dining experiences with them right now, but I know we will be able to do all those fun outings again one day when they are older and can appreciate them. Not to mention, behave, sit still, not crawl under the table, and get more food into their mouths than onto the floor. Sure, we may only get sushi when we PLAN AHEAD and enlist the babysitting help of a family member, but we sure do have a house full of laughter. Thanks for the laugh AND the reality check, Emily.

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I was once young….

I was once young…and fat, and a smoker, and a long haired unemployed loser. Susanne fell in love with me anyway (boy, I sure did marry down in the intelligence area didn’t I, she married down in every other category).

My kids might look at this someday and say, “Dad, you weren’t too bright back then were you? Or maybe you were just drunk a lot?” In my defense, all I have to say for myself is…is…so anyway you should scroll down, my lovely wife wasn’t so perfect either (at least she LOOKS GREAT doing it). Who photoshopped the cigarettes into these anyway? ;)

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Cactus Sighting

OMFSM.  Here it is.  Evidence of the early years of the “Cactus”.  As you may have read I have been developing old film I have had lying around.  I know my friend and former instructor Peter Goin would would be appalled that I have dishonored my film so. But I digress.

Can you find it? Can you see the poorly treated cactus? No?  here, let me help you…its the bumpy stick next to the near empty bottle of…um…adult beverage, and yes, that’s a bunk bed.  My best guesstimate is that this photo was taken sometime in 1999. Eddy C. could probably pinpoint the date a littler closer.

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If you are lazy and don’t feel like visiting the original “Cactus” post,  here it is in a photo taken in late August of 2008.

Pyramid Camping (archive)

If this isn’t truly from the archives, I don’t know what is.  I keep finding film tucked away in drawers and boxes.  Susanne and I started collecting it in a single location and I recently had a few rolls developed.  I used to shoot a great deal of B&W.  I recently got a cheap scanner, so you will start seeing more of those. I have some great ones of Susanne and I coming soon. Here is Jake camping with Ed, Jess, Susanne and I at Pyramid lake back in what I believe is 1999. The most memorable part of this story is that we were camping10-5-2008_023 on open ranch land.  Jake was very excited to sleep in this old style army tent which had no floor.  We awoke in the morning to find Jake's entire lower portion of his sleeping bag poking out from the tent and the cattle practically strolling over him.

Four More Dead Terrorists

Seeing in this day and age it’s not very sensitive or appropriate to call empty beer and liquor bottles dead soldiers (and probably has always been this way) I have started referring to them as Dead Terrorists (thanks Tom C.).  Here are 4 more from my liquor cabinet.

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Saturday, October 4, 2008

Happy Soccer Days

Braedyn and I had an early soccer game today.  I caught this shot  on the quick, so the focus wasn’t great, but it still is my favorite pic of the day.

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Friday, October 3, 2008

George Bush Converted Me To A Democrat

I am mad and it's gonna show.

No matter how hard I try to explain it there is no convincing anyone that their political belief structure is out of whack. I won’t convince you, and I don’t really care. I just need to get this out there. So here is the short of it.

I have been a republican all my life. I used to be a huge conservative talk radio listener and Rush Limbaugh fan. It's true. So I have lived that side of the political spectrum. I don’t want to see any flaming comments that I don’t know what I am talking about. Because of my history I DO know what I am talking about. I think Ronald Reagan will go down in history as one of the greatest presidents of our time. I think George Bush Senior did a pretty damn fine job (and he made a great SNL character - “Thousand points of light…not gonna do it.”)

But dammit, what the hell have the republicans been doing the last eight years? I am getting forwarded emails and comments from republican family members blaming this financial debacle on the democrats. Really? Who has been in office for the last eight years? If you knew it was a problem, then for fucks sake, fix it. It's nobody's fault but your own. If you are so incapable of being in office and power for 8 years and you can’t control those “damn” democrats, then you have proven yourself to be a completely incompetent group of idiots and deserve to get your asses thrown out of Washington.

I didn’t like Clinton. I was an outspoken opponent of his. But looking back, he balanced the budget. The economy grew. Things were good. Even I, a diehard republican at the time, can now look back and see that (“but I did not have sex with that woman’s dress”).

George Bush Junior made me a democrat. There. I said it out loud. I am coming out of the closet. Last election I was so furious at the incompetence and pious position that our president took on just about every issue that I hold dear (oh wait, I do like my handgun) that I registered democrat. The next time I hear a candidate talk about god, the bible, and the pro-life movement, I think I will reach deep down into my bowels and pull them straight out to strangle someone. As an out of the closet atheist it makes me want to puke to see laws based on a ghost story. Yes, I am rambling and I don’t care. At least when I ramble I can admit it (Palin could take a lesson or two from me).

So the republicans have converted me. It’s their own damn fault. They fucked up the last eight years and so now I am a registered democrat who still wants the right to own his guns.

Can someone explain to me how McCain is any different than Bush? Can someone truly look into their heart and tell me that there isn’t a single (JUST ONE) other person in this entire country better suited for the VP position on the republican ticket than Sarah Palin? No, really. Just ONE, it cannot be that hard. If you try to defend her, you should be judged incompetent TO VOTE. His choice of her as VP should be enough to get him LAUGHED out of the republican party. Really McCain, you expect me to trust you with this country when you can’t even do THIS right?

Can anyone tell me why we would put someone in office who would even CONSIDER ASKING to have a book removed from a library, or to make rape VICTIMS pay for rape kits? Seriously. Don’t give me any comments about any other issues. Just answer this question. If you had to elect someone into office on THOSE TOPICS ALONE, would you? If you would, then this country is in a sorrier heap than I ever imagined and maybe we should revoke your right to vote.

George Bush, it’s your fault I am a registered democrat and I hope you are happy.

BTW, can someone tell me where in McCain’s tax strategy how he is helping middle America? Unless he considers millionaires middle America.

Don’t give me this bullshit about “redistribution of wealth” because Sarah Palin already proves she supports it by each and every check she takes from the oil companies and gives to her residents of Alaska. Each and every check George Bush sent out for “tax relief” was redistribution of wealth. Its a buzz phrase republicans like to throw out there to scare Americans and frankly, it's crap. Just take a look at the definition of republican:

republican (plural republicans)

  1. Someone who favours a republic; an anti-monarchist.
  2. (history, politics) Someone who favours social equality and opposes aristocracy and privilege.

Using the scare tactics of “socialism” and “redistribution of wealth” is just a lame way to keep those who fear those words following the party line even when the politicians don’t truly have the best interest of their constituents in mind. It’s THEIR pocketbook and THEIR religious freedom they care about.

I didn’t keep it short and now it's really late and I don’t care. This is my blog and I get to rant as I see fit. If you were offended in any way by my comments…well…get a pair…because to quote the Angry Drunk I am “Delivering Enlightenment to the Masses, One Blunt Force Trauma at a Time!”

You have been enlightened whether you liked it or not.

McCain and Palin – New Bumper Sticker

After watching McCain and then Palin the last few days, I came up with a new bumper sticker for their campaign. McBlinky credit goes to a comment I saw on a blog post.  If you caught the VP debate, you know why Palin is Winky.

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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Laugh, and the World Laughs with You

OK, I know things have gotten a little hairy with all the political talks lately. I think I may have even scared away some Facebook friends with all the political posts and comments lately. Oopsie, my bad!

With that, I’d like to thank Brad for twittering this video today. It made me laugh, and in today’s political climate, that’s a hard thing to do.