Another Middle Child saying

I can't believe I forgot Middle Child's favorite saying:

"Snow White run away" - a reference to Snow White fleeing the Evil Queen in the Disney movie. Spoken (inevitably) whenever it's on the vcr (which is always). When spoken, an adult must oblige her by following her into her room to view the pivotal scene. Also verbalized whenever she wears her Snow White dress, sees a picture of the princess, or hears something that possibly/conceivably/maybe/could be a reference to the movie or any attempt to flee authority.

Will this book ever end?

I'm in a bit of an unusual pickle with my current reading material.

The Wheel of Time is an excellent fantasy series by Robert Jordan. In fact it's the only fantasy series I've ever liked enough to endorse. Keep in mind it's hard to recommend the series to someone new because each book is ~1000 pages, give or take a few hundred, and there are eleven entries so far.

Knife of Dreams, the latest installment, is a vast improvement from the tenth book. That one drrrragggged on, and was just a great waste of time. There was no plot or character development; you really could skip that mammoth killer of trees and not miss a thing in the series.

Now  the tempo is greatly increased, the end of the tale is in sight, the fate of the characters is soon to be revealed . . and I can't make any headway.

Seriously, I've read what, ten books in the last few weeks? Yet its taken more than a week to chug through 300 pages of Knife of Dreams.

Aside from the fact that the main character has yet to appear in the book 300 pages in I have no qualms with the story or the writing. Scratch that: after a two year hiatus it's too hard to remember which of the dozens of characters belongs where, much less who is secretly a two-faced agent for whoever.

A nice little 'previously in Wheel of Time' would have been a nice preface . .

I'm enjoying it, but I just can't make headway. With no intention of being a wiseass, I imagine this must be what it's like for a learning disabled reader. You love the material, you want to finish . . . but something holds you back.

Ugh.

Here's hoping I snap out of it.

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Now, that was ugly

Well, congrats to the Steelers. Even if they hadn't been able to rack up a score or so courtesy of the NFL, they'd have taken the day. I'd still like to see those refs canned, as they were the true difference makers in the game.

A disapointing end to the season for me. Although I rooted for the Steelers through the end of conference play, I was pure and simple a fan of Holmgren and the 'Hawks.

Shame the season had to end like that. At least it wasn't a sport I care about, like baseball. Hard to imagine that I don't really care about football, given my postings, but I'm no more than a casual fan, albeit (I think) a pretty knowlegable one when I give a da**.

Oh well. At least I had a good time with my nephew Jonah, who came over to watch the game. A rare treat nowadays, to see the kid in something more than passing, even if he was a Steelers fan. Check out his blog, located on the sidebar. He's never met a spellcheck program he liked, but other than that its a pretty decent read for an eleven year old.

Oh, btw, I annoyed the heck out of my wife tonight. Not only was I very distracted, my volumne at times kept the kids up and ruined her evening. Time to kiss and make up.

My apologies hon.

Now, two months of rest. And then . .

 

BASEBALL!

 

Another Phantom Penalty/Thank You Ben

8:26 PM Nice to see the ref's call holding where there was none, negating that huge seahawks gain and setting the stage for the interception.

And, while I risk sounding like a whiny sore loser, that penalty against Hasslebeck on the pickoff was bogus - and as I write this, Al Michaels and John Madden just agreed with me.

Thank you Ben (7:57 PM) Sure, I get melodramatic - a man who doesn't live and die during in the heat of competition has no business taking part (even as a fan).

I thought the game was over, and what does Benny do? He tosses it loosy-goosy, 'Hawks intercept and run it back, eventually converting it to a TD.

Thank you Ben.

Signed,

All Seahawks Fans

Halftime Report

Overall, a  lame first half. The penalty negating Seattle's touchdown was a joke, and if Big Ben really crossed the plane with his 'touchdown' Amelia Earheart will land any minute now. . .

In the NFL, the refs seem to favor whoever is the darling of the fans.

And as for the Rolling Stones - lordy, who's going to play SuperBowl forty-one, Scott Joplin? Didya notice that while the folks up by the stage were into the band (and no doubt plants), no one  in the stands seemed to give a rip.

The second half just started and the Steelers scored a big TD . . shame. The game's not over, but it serves as a  reminder that the good guy doesn't always win the day . .

I still say/hope/pray Seattle will pull it off. Stay tuned.

The Siamese/Conjoined Gummy Bear

My wife recently found these sad Gummy Bears on Ebay.

"This gummy bear was pulled from a bag in cleveland Ohio on 1-29-06.It is siamese the red one on the top Is Phil and the yellow one is grover.Grover was born with a birth defect and is missing his bottom left leg.The Highest bidder will save there lives.I will eat both of them in 10 days if they are not sold on Ebay.You and only you can save them.I will assume the highest bidder will give them the best life possible.

 

I wanted to bid, but the Mrs.said $5 was too much money to save this Bears' life . .callous Republican.

 

Another Lost Theory

 

A reader recently left a well-thought out Lost theory on my non-AOL comments page. It's too long to re-post in full, but it can be found here.   Here's the gist of her argument:  

I was originally in line with your theory....but have since revised my position on the whole LOST experience...it's all about the power of the mind and suggestion. . .  Those known as "the others" to the survivors are simply those who are aware of the physic suggestion and the origin of the experiment those who do not yet have this knowledge are "the survivors".

Legitimate studies have proven that children have a heightened physic ability which deminishes over time.  This may be the reason children are garnered by "the others".  they strengthen the illusion that is shared by the collective illusion being produced by those participating in the experiment.

My guess is the reason for the connectivity and background similarity has to do with where the study subjects orginally came from....All could be part of a program that participated in such an experiment or study.

I'm impressed, but not convinced. I think the best explanation is my purgatory argument. I do concede that their is a smattering of clues lately that point to a psychological explanation: namely, that this is all a figment of Hurley's insanity.

* The numbers, which pop up everywhere, are directly connected to the event that started Hurley's fall (the lottery)

*Hurley 'recognized' Libby, the psychologist among the Tailies

*Hurley hasn't lost any weight, despite spending two months on a deserted isle. This has been commented on by both fans and a character in the show. I realize it's probably nothing more than the actor's inability to lose weight, but if it's intentional - maybe his shattered psyche can't imagine a less overweight, 'more worthy' self

*Alone among all the castaways, Hurley seems to be a neutral and universally liked character on the island. Evidence? of him being the unintentional puppet master who's unwilling to ostracize himself?

I'm sure there's more, but Ican't think of it right now. I hope it isn't true. I'd hate to have the show end the way St. Elsewhere did, with the whole thing being written off as the product of an autistic kids imagination.

Might as well have Bobby Ewing pop out of the shower and call it all a dream.

I know there's message threads that debate these things endlessly, so maybe all three of these theories have been disproved - but ya know what? No one short of the writers know the truth, and depending on how long the series runs, the 'truth' might alter as the cast and audience changes.

In the meantime, while I might pop on a message board for a minute or two, I prefer to dwell on my theories here - and I'm more than happy to hear your opinions.

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Tags: Lost

Quote of the Day

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience --- well, that comes from poor judgment.
— Cousin Woodman

Remembering Buddy

                                                                                                   

Lest you think I forgot, today is the day, 47 years ago, when 'the music died'

Buddy Holly remains one of the greatest of all rock legends, and one of (if not the) personal favorite of mine.

Rest in peace.

Another Family Update

You know, maybe it's normal behavior, but this strikes me as crazy.

As I wrote a post last week, my youngest daughter started yelling for help in that 'Daddy, you're gonna be mad at me' kind of a way.

I went to her room and found her hanging from the top bunk with her arms extended to both sides, suspended only by the muscles in her tiny shoulders. I guess she had been trying to do some stunt, chickened out, and got stuck.

YaYa, of course, was laughing hysterically.

I comforted the little one, scolded YaYa for enjoying her sister's dilemma, and put them both back to bed.

Five minutes later, YaYa calls me: She's hanging the same way, only she did it intentionally.

Her explanation for trying to drag me in there: "You love her better. I like you, but you don't like me. You only like her"

This, if I may be so bold, is her mantra. Doesn't matter how many times you praise her, how often you point out how smart/pretty/articulate she is, it's YaYa vs. the world.

You can't even praise her sister without hearing "But I'm a good girl too. . "

Now, mind you, the gal doesn't have confidence issues. If there's one thing she seems to have inherited wholesale from my adult personality it's a brazen arrogance about her own worth.

It just happens to be mingled in with a stunning lack of faith in other people seeing that worth.

Odd.

In a bit less pedestrian piece of news, there's a chance (a very slim one, mind you) that YaYa will be playing the part of 'little girl' in a radio ad for my company. She's been practicing her lines but I think the part will go to someone older and more experienced.

[Note: out of the darkness of her room, I just overhead the following line from the ad: "Mom, will I ever be a real princess?"]

One thing hurting her at this point are her tonsils. The things are huge, and I'm thinking she may have yet another bout of strep throat. The doc's already said they'll have to go when she's six or so, but that means two more years of sore throats and the occasionally congested voice.

On the personal front today,  I completed the final step towards my teaching license. Well, substitute teacher, er, reserve teacher, they call 'em now, thank you -  but that's good enough.

Eight years ago I graduated college with the intent of going back and getting a full-fledged teaching license, but for a variety of reasons I never finished all the classes.

I don't have much use for the dang thing now, but I did feel the need to wrap up loose ends and validate an otherwise wasted chunk of my scholastic life.

Yay me.

Back on the family front, Parker continues to stand/crawl/smile, but has recently decided he doesn't want to eat anything - with the exception of some pizza we cut up for him tonight.

I also came up with one more saying of Middle Child:

"Sorree bay bee" the  apology issued to her brother whenever she accidentally steps on him, steals his pacifier, drops his toy, or just generally makes him upset.

 

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