Star Crossed Fingers

Okay, remember last year when I was all sad about not getting anything for my birthday? Okay, well I've laid the groundwork and made sure my husband knows that I do not care at all what I get. A knick knack is cool but flowers or candy or even just a card will be great. This is not the year for me to not meet bare minimum. I've also enlisted my kids to help make this happen. Wish me luck!

Tape Over It

Thinking about Octomom's poor, poor kids. Didn't see the special: Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage. (Can't really find a link to the video.) But I did see a promotion for it. A few seconds showed the little boy, maybe he's 4 years old holding up his arms to be picked up, wanting to go on the trampoline. And the camera zooms in to the trampoline leg all bent and wonky and held together with a massive wad of duct tape. And her face flashes but she doesn't miss a beat and says "No honey, that's not safe." And the boy looks at her like "Oh, okay."

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Superpower of Marginal Utility: Denial.

Feelin' Graphy (again)

This is a repost from 2007:

You know how on TV crime shows they run things through a "machine" and get a little graph like this and say something like "Look, it's made of lead. It must be paint." (Okay, I know it would have been better to say something really, really specific. "We ran it through our Everything in the World Database and it's exactly This."--Trade secrets aside! But I need to move along.)

In a really simplistic way, it could be applied to people. It's really easy for me to use my "spikes". And I'm blessed and it's wonderful, but I get stuck in a rut almost. And then I wonder why I can't do something else...

"How could you not do X? You're excellent at Y!"

I think I need to put down the hammer and just learn how to use the screwdriver like everybody else. Do the work and do the practice. Doing it badly is better than not at all.

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Superpower of Marginal Utility: Untying knots.

Chef Nick

And last but not least, Chef Nick got married yesterday! Congratulations! : )

Sue's Mural

Also, my friend Sue's mural is done, I think, and it looks gorgeous!

zigzackly

My friend Zigzackly is in the middle of his Godawful Poetry Fortnight! Check it out! : )

zigzackly

You Should See it in the Carwash!

Here's an article about a tesla coil as car theft protection!

And There You Are

I'm going to take a cue from the Velvet Blog and repost some favorites. Repost from 2007...

Every once in a while I like to pose this question to my boys: "One third of accidents take place within a mile of home. Why?"

And my big one says "Because you're running late and you're in a hurry." And my little one says "Because you have to pee."

Good answers. But the one I was looking for is: "Every journey begins and ends at home."

And I meant to say that the fact is just an example of probabilities. That's just the statistics of being in a certain place a lot. And it turns out the insurance company article I got the fact from doesn't mention that conclusion (which I find strange for a company with actual actuaries on staff). They say it's because home is where you let down your guard.

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Mashup I am not going to make: "Morning Train" and "Ruby Tuesday"

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Touche Cliche: You can't go home again if you're too scared to tell them you wrecked the car.

Another Non-Problem

Here's another non-problem like I referred to in my comment on the last post: My community college has an Improv class coming up. It's 2 hours once a week for 6 weeks for $199. I think it sounds fun but do I need any more excuses to say stupid things? Will it help me think on my feet? Shouldn't I really get technically back to school and continue working towards being a CPA?

I feel so much guilt about the effort I put into bucket list things. (Actually no, I really loved the all-girl band thing.)

Have a Day

Did you ever have one of those days where you don't know where you're going or even where the hell you're coming from? For a month?

The Dawn of Astronomy

Friday night we went to the Ritter Planetarium and saw a program called "The Dawn of Astronomy":

"Discover why and how the pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge in England were built. See the splendor of the newly raised pyramids and watch as the Sun rises over the Heel Stone at Stonehenge. The Dawn of Astronomy, produced by the Hansen Planetarium, celebrates the incredible achievements of early man in measuring the length of the year, developing the Zodiac, and predicting precisely how the Sun and the Moon move in the sky."

It was really cool, but it did feature some of the worst music I have ever heard.

I am so glad I got to read a placard in the lobby about spectomerty and the doppler effect because I was able to use that info in conversation with my youngest twice today.

My older son is obsessing about the Monty Hall problem...

Don't miss the Perseid meteor shower August 11th!

Wooden Pints

Laptop

I'm shopping for a laptop for my birthday and I'm trying to decide between a netbook and a notebook. I think a netbook would be great because they are little and light. Plus my budget is $400. Plus they would not tempt my kids because they can't run games! : )