So the sandbox is restored for the season, I wonder where the possum will go now? - Lisa

Richard Dawson on Match Game '74: "[Brett Summers] doesn't drink as much as she did. We slowed her down - we bent her funnel."

Just finished putting a new (well, 'new to us') storm door on the back door. Now if only I'd remembered to buy a closer for it . . .

Oopsie

We sent Lu to school today in her full Daisy Scout uniform. An hour later she called us from the office; there is no Daisy meeting today and she sticks out like a sore thumb. Oops. It's certainly not our worst error tho'. A couple of years back we sent both girls to school dressed to the 9's for Pajama Day and, well, I think you can see where this story is going 🙂

Quote of the Day

I was going to spend the morning digging a garden in my backyard, but it's raining, so let's blog!

* * *

Yesterday we had a very casual family dinner, just hot dogs and chips, and the experience was unusually enjoyable. All the kids were friendly and talkative, the polar opposite of the night before, and we all had some laughs.

At one point LuLu spilled ketchup on her white school uniform, and I sent her off to change her shirt. Smiley asked why she couldn't just sit through dinner without a top.

"Because she's a girl," I said, skirting the fact that I'd never allow anyone to come to my table shirtless.

Still, he couldn't understand why that was an issue.

"Because girls have boobies," I said. When in doubt, keep it simple and cut to the chase.

By this time LuLu had returned, and she rolled her eyes.

"Dad, ladies don't have 'boobies'. I'm not a little kid anymore, you should call them by their real name." she said. She took a bite of a chip, swallowed, and finished her thought.

"Smiley," she said,"they are called 'boobs'"

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I wasn't immune to the positive buzz surrounding The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson. Not only did the book receive wonderful reviews, it became a commercial success with a large and loyal audience. Fearing I had been missing one of the great mystery novels of our time, I bit the bullet and picked it up last week.

And now? Now I'm confused.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the story of disgraced financial magazine publisher Mikael Blomkvist. Set up and convicted of libel, Blomkvist is hired by the elderly head of the once-mighty Vanger family to investigate the 40 year old disappearance of his teenage grandniece. Soon he is joined by the titular character, 24 year old researcher Lisbeth Salander. Salander is an odd character, even for a fictional world. Heavily tattooed but physically the size of a teenager, she is brilliant yet declared mentally incompetent by the courts. She is
prone to calculated violence and haunted by her past. Together they dig to learn the fate of the missing girl, while all the while a killer closes in on them.

Here's my take on the novel.

I thought the book started horribly slow and was quite tedious. Judging by this book Larsson was quite prone to distraction, and the prose wanders off on a tangent as often as not.

So for 200 pages I was bored - I told someone it was like watching paste dry - but committed. Then slowly, slowly, slowly, I actually started to *care* about the mystery. I think it is largely due to the sheer weight of all the background you're given on the characters, and the time you spend with them; you're damn near forced to care by default. And I'll admit that Salander is a dynamic and captivating character.

100 pages from the end I could admit to being legitimately spooked at the idea of heading into my dark basement to retrieve a load of laundry.

The mystery resolved with a bang, and then the book plodded on for another 50 pages or more! Yes, it allowed for the resolution of the magazine subplot, but honestly - who cared?

Honestly, while I wound up liking the book, all the hoopla and praise seems surreal. I dislike Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, but I could see why others would buy into the frenzy. I'm not sure why this wasn't left on the shelves gathering dust. Even if I'm wrong and the book is an all-time classic, it is not something I'd expect to entertain an American audience. Color me surprised.

I don't know. All those points against it and I'm still going to read the next one (I'm 70 page in, actually). So who knows - maybe the author made a pact with the devil to win fans. It worked for Stephanie Myers :)

1st half C-
2nd half B+ (A to A+ if you stop after the main plot is complete)
Overall B-

My latest column will appear in tomorrow's Journal-Sentinel. I'll post this again later just to be obnoxious, but you've been warned - buy one!

An argument with YaYa

YaYa and I had an argument this afternoon that matched one I had with my parents almost thirty years ago. Subject matter, volume, regrettable angry statements, you name it - it was eerily word for word at points. Afterwards she lost the glasses she's had for ONE day (found them later). We're good now but man. That was depressing. On the plus side, the column I wrote this morning was accepted by the Journal.

A rare flaw of mine

The word I can never, ever seem to spell correctly without spellcheck: convenient

TV Night

Lisa watched today's Oprah on the DVR. In one segment a woman was happy to say she'd signed Oprah's ridiculous "contract" to ban cell phone use in a car (even w/ hands-free sets). How did the viewer break her 'habit'? Why, by cranking up the volume on her radio to eleven and singing along as she drove. Because THAT isn't more distracting than carrying on a conversation.

AI was surprisingly good, wasn't it? From what we saw (we missed Mike's song) the weakest performance was Bowersox, and she wasn't 'bad' at all. There may yet be hope this season. OTOH, DWTS minus Kate just wasn't worth it. We fast forward-ed (sp?) it this week. Sigh. Maybe if Edyta was still on the show . .

Productive day off so far. Wrote & submitted a piece to the Journal, spent some time w/ Lisa, took Junie w/ me to Home Depot, just got done patching some cracks in our sidewalk and . . .well, sh**, I don't know the construction vocab: redoing a 3x3 square of 100 year old concrete that had cracked and caved in. Now, pending a disaster in the drying process, it looks as good as new. [fingers crossed]

Sometimes they just wear you out

Ok....that's it, they are getting naps. I. am. so. done. - Lisa

Quite Right Doctor

"It's always a big day tomorrow. We've got a time machine. I skip the little ones." - Matt Smith's Doctor

Charles Nelson Reilly ate his own weight in coal and excreted diamonds everyday. True Fact.

My love of The Match Game is well documented; less so is my admiration for the man who entertained America from the top row/stage left for most of the show's run. I speak, of course, of Charles Nelson Reilly.


Well, it turns out that Weird Al Yankovic released a song paying tribute to The Match Game superstar. Here, in a parody of the White Stripes, is 'CNR'.




Charles Nelson Reilly was a mighty man
The kind of man you'd never disrespect
He stood eight feet tall, wore glasses, and had a third nipple on the back of his neck
He ate his own weight in coal, excreted diamonds everyday
He could throw you down a flight of stairs, but you still would love him anyway
Yeah, you know you'd love him anyway

Charles Nelson Reilly won the Tour de France with two flat tires and a missing chain
He trained a rattlesnake to do his laundry, I'm telling you the man was insane
He could rip out your beating heart, and show it to you before you died
Everyday he' make the host of Match Game give him a piggyback ride
Yeah, two hour piggyback ride, giddy up Gene

Ninja warrior, master of disguise
He could melt your brain with his laser-beam eyes, Oh yeah
Oh yeah
He had his own line at the DMV
He made sweet, sweet love to a manatee
Oh yeah
Oh yeah, that was something to see, I tell ya

Charles Nelson Reilly figured out cold fusion, but he never ever told a soul
I've seen the man unhinge his jaw, and swallow a Volkswagen whole
He'd bash your face in with a shovel if you didn't treat him like a star
You could spit at the wind, or tug at Superman's cape
But Lord knows you don't mess around with CNR
No, no, no
Talkin' about CNR

My Day

In retrospect, the day seem like a waste. After a morning spent on the NFL draft I dropped Lu off at a bday party, bought some soda, then returned home to watch a) Bucks-Hawks b)Lakers-Thunder c) bits of STL-SF (MLB) and d) an all-new Doctor Who. YaYa did watch Dr. Who w/ me, so I suppose that counts as 'bonding'. That salvages part of the day, right?

A Suggestion for the Nook

Since the Nook has a built in MP3 player and access to Barnes & Noble's inventory, here's a little idea. Wouldn't it make a whole heapin' helping of sense for a user to be able to purchase and download music or whole albums to their Nook?

Just a Bully by G & M Meyer

I read Smiley "Just a Bully" ( G & M Meyer). I expected the PC "Boy is bullied, he stands up to him, Bully is Exposed as Coward & Backs Down". Nuh-uh. He FIGHTS him, wins, becomes a cool kid, & the bully becomes a target himself. More realistic, but yowsas, is that always a good thing? While you're at it, for 'realism' why not have him knock up his girl & get a job under the table to avoid paying child support? Jeesh.

TMZ

I forget who said this, but I believe it re: the wonderful writers at TMZ or Popeater. I was enamored enough of the quote to save it in an email for the last two months: "They are notorious s**t-stirrers who create drama by sandwiching unexceptionable quotations between [their] own conjecture and 'interpretation'.

Fashion Week

This past Fashion Week was the last time the iconic event will be held at Bryant Park. In spite of the fact that Bryant Park has been responsible for branding New York as "the Fashion Capital of the World," the NYC Parks Commissioner wants them OUT. His office maintains that Bryant Park is a public space, yet Fashion Week is an "invitation only" (i.e., private) event. What crap. Buzzkills abound in the world.

A few words from Lisa about our Smiley

Thinking about change after this email exchange, I asked him this morning to get together all his coins...from all his secret hiding places. He came up with $2.14. Thinking about change after this email exchange, I asked him this morning to get together all his coins...from all his secret hiding places. He came up with $2.14. Impressive considering there were only 2 quarters in the mix!
I was just cleaning out my email-box when I came across a copy of an email exchange between Lisa and Smiley's teacher (Mrs. Heidi) on Jan 22nd of this year. I thought it was cute enough to warrant being recorded here. Lisa wrote:


I took him to the dollar store to buy 2 things with his OWN (we use this term lightly) money. He was so happy and cute getting his money out, and I'm sure the cashier and line behind me were thrilled as well, lol. He picked a grab bag (always a wise choice) and another grow animal cage thing. His obsession with those has pretty much come to a close so that pick was a surprise. The dollar store treasures that didn't make the cut? Dinosaur wallpaper cut outs for his room, a reed diffuser to make his "ooom mell niiiice", and glow sword.

Kicker cute moment was when a little girl in a cart on our way out said "caaaandy!" to her mom, and Smiely pulled a piece of his own newly acquired stash out and handed it over to the cutie. She smiled big, but I think Smiley smiled bigger. He's just such a good boy!!!! I can say that to you, cause you know, lol....others would think I was just bragging, lol...

Later, have a good extended weekend! Lisa

Later that week I recorded a few of Smiley's words in an email of my own. After seeing either Washington or Lincoln on the TV, he turned to me and said "He on money, weal money."

This past Friday was our last parent-teacher conference of the year for him, and the reports were glowing. He's made real progress on his speech, and while they pointed out a few areas he's behind academically because of the problem, Mrs. Heidi also said he was a very sharp, intelligent boy. What I noticed during that meeting was the carefree and ever-present smile on his face. His nickname truly is spot-on, and Mrs. Nancy, one of the assistant teachers, agreed with my assessment and added that his 'deep dimples' only added to his charm :)

A Mediocre but pleasant Day

I had big plans in the yard for this day off, but it's been rainy and dreary all day. Lisa took LuLu hiking with the Daisy scouts, Yaya is camping w/ the Brownies, Smiley is w/ Grandma, and Junie was content with having the 2nd floor to herself. So I've spent *hours* watching the NFL Draft and finishing 'God's Spy', a novel by Juan Gomez-Jurado. Not the morning I had planned, but I'll take it.

Quote of the Day

"We have to believe in free will. We have no choice." - Isaac Bashevis Singer

Smiley can communicate, speech or not

Park hooked his hands like a cat on the prowl & said "Claws it" over & over. He then started grabbing his, er, junk, still saying 'Claws' & pointing at the TV. 'Go pee," I said. "No!," he said, "Claws it 'en pee." "Pause the TV?" I said. "Yeesssss!" he said, & ran to the john. He gets his point across somehow/someway. He may not be able to speak well, but he apparently has the rhyming thing down pat.

Project Runway Season 7 Finale

 Congrats to Seth Aaron Henderson on winning season 7 of Project Runway! It was a well deserved win, as he presented a really unique, eye-catching collection. A fitting end to a good season - certainly better year than that LA monstrosity aka Season 6.

The NFL Draft

With the 23rd selection in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Packers have selected OT Bryan Bulaga, Iowa

My Thoughts

If you ask someone why their cause is important, why does it matter *to me, to us, to the world* and they begin by saying "Well, uh, it's a microcosm for. . ." I call bullsh*t. If you can't string together 20 words to justify your belief in X or Y or Z, shut up and go home.

Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk

Just finished the novel 'Snuff' by Chuck Palahniuk, the author of 'Fight Club'. I'll spare you most of the details and just say its about an attempt to film the world's largest gangbang, w/ a paternity issue thrown in for good measure. It was entertaining, although after awhile the subject matter begins to wear on you. I did guess the 'twist' of identity at the end, so points to me.

Fireworks at the dinner table. Grace sassing Lisa, Olivia taunting Grace, Parker refusing to try his food, Lauren wandering off and shedding her clothes for no reason. For the first time ever we sent the kids to bed without supper - each and every one of the ungrateful little mooches. By 6:15 they were in bed for the night.

Tuesday's frightfully dull AI went over-time and screwed up America's DVR's, so . . drumroll . . Fox has announced the epic Madonna episode of GLEE will be repeated this Friday at 9/8c for all those who may have missed the ending (me!). Hot dog!

Argh. Just got a jury summons

Emails from an A**hole

If you want a good laugh, pick up "Emails from an A**hole" by John Lindsay. I made the mistake of reading this at work and laughed until I damn near pis**d my pants. Ah, who are we kidding? I did tinkle. But just a little bit. You could barely even tell. I hope

Would like to borrow, w/ a guaranteed return w/in a week: 1. a copy of "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' 2. CD of "Middle Cyclone" by Neko Case. 3. Glee soundtracks (someone - cough Anne cough - was supposed to get me a copy, but there ya go) 4. One MILLION dollars. I'll need that last one for more than a week tho'.

If you ever find yourself trapped in my house starving to death, fear not. After emptying the fridge and the pantry, and sacrificing the cats/turtle/fish, just rummage through my couch. Last night I found whole slices of pizza and forgotten bags of Christmas cookies, along with scissors, knives, and several screwdrivers. No, on 2nd thought, try the couch *before* eating my pets.

Madonna + Glee = the best hour of American TV last night. Well done! Unfortunately, the Bowersox love caused AI to run over their time, which in turn cut off the last few minutes of Glee. #%#$ I'm seriously close to ditching AI this season. If I wanted to be bored by folks with bad teeth & dirty hair I'd watch Celebrity Rehab.

Lost - trumped by Glee last night, but still a great hour of TV. PseudoLocke is wrong. Jack is not 'with' him; his refusal to leave the island is clear evidence he's Locke's foe. And it looks like Sayhid may just be redeemed. Unless the rules of fiction writing have changed, he lied when he said he murdered Desmond. The plot thickens.

Easter 2010

On Easter morning I was surprised at how much of our training stuck with the kids. Not only did they not venture downstairs until Lisa and I were awake, they made sure they were reasonably attired - knowing full well I'd be snapping photos. :)



Much of their Easter baskets were filled courtesy of a great clearance sale at a craft store. We went there for ?? and instead bumped into a score of $.50 and $1.00 items that were perfect for the kids.

Here's Smiley's



Why scotch tape? Because the kid LOVES tape. Lisa often says he'd marry the stuff if it was legal.





Here's LuLu's:





Ginger's:





And YaYa's basket, and her PopRocks coated tongue:





We then got gussied up and headed out to church, where Ginger was less than perfect (but also less than awful) and then returned home to visit with Lisa's Dad, who dropped off extra baskets for the kids.









Later we all went to my Mom's for dinner, where my kids behaved horrifically. That's what I get for juicing the kids up with sugar and candy and then skipping naptime. Live and learn.

Even so, overall it was a very nice, very sedate Easter. I hope yours went just as well, if not better.

Irritant #435

You know what (irrationaly) irks me? Ads that say "Reason # 61 Widget is better." I understand you want to give the impression there's a gazillion reasons your product/idea is better, but I dare you, I double dog dare you, to list 60 other reasons - and if you can, why the heck aren't you telling me the #1 reason? Isn't that what I'd most like to hear?

A Dream

For no reason worth noting, here's a dream I had last night. Make of it what you will.

It began with me observing a classroom taught by Samuel L Jackson. He was a marvelous teacher, and praise was rightly heaped on his shoulders. But then, I heard him tell his students that "America Isn't #1. America is nothing." His students nodded in agreement, and I was furious. His students were all on one or more government programs, and while that didn't bother me, the idea of them taking bread with one hand and slapping the baker with the other infuriated me.

Then I was in YaYa and LuLu's room, only the Ginger's crib was back in place. I moved it and there was the usual mess and piles of junk on the floor. Then it began to storm outside, and I went into Smiley's room. His sky light was leaking and I tossed a towel on the floor, but the drip turned into a steady poor as I added more towels. I went to Ginger's room and rain was pouring from a vent in the ceiling.

Then I was downstairs, and it was my house but not my house. It was a huge open space - think a cathedral, minus pews - and running the length of one wall were the stairs to our bedrooms. They were made of stone and ran straight, without landings or turns.

As I walked up the stairs they were wood again, and one of the risers came off in my hands. Now there was a gap, and through that gap I could see far down to the floor below. The staircase shifted, and I noticed it was no longer flush with the wall to my right. There were inches or more of space between the wall and the stairs, and a yard or more between the missing riser and the next stair.

I got it into my head that I could shift the entire staircase to the right and slam it up against the wall, fixing the problem. I did so - it moved like a rolling staircase you see employees use at Home Depot - but the gap at the top grew larger.

Now I was worried. There was no way we could jump that gap, and our bedrooms and the second floor were useless to us.

And that's it - I woke up.

Facebooking the tail end of February

Crowded house. All the kids are home now, plus Lisa's watching Jess & Jason's newborn and a 3 yr old while they move. My my. Good thing (for me) that I'm leaving for work soon. ;)

* Apparently I can't count. There was an extra six year old, 3 year old, and newborn in the house - 7 kids total.

Good Riddance - Man gets 80 years for shooting 2 Milwaukee police officers

* AI was dull & unimpressive, and I'm really not liking the dynamic between the judges. Kara remains an awkward fit; too ADD, too much makeup, too unable to define her role on the panel. Although he was bad, they were waaaay too hard on Tim Urban, especially when they let equally sucky peformers off the hook. Kudos to E...llen for (gently) calling Kara and Randy out for how they acted during Casey James' perfromance. Who goes home? The Asian singer (sorry, I really don't remember his name) and just about any one of 6 or 7 of the others. Yikes - not a good start to the live shows.

* A great surprise on our DVR tonight: On Rupaul's Drag Race they (gasp! applause) did a full-out recreation of The Match Game, cleverly re-titled "The S*atch Game". Sure everyone was in drag and impersonating a celebrity, and they had too many people on each tier for a traditionalist like myself - but Gene Rayburn & Co.... would've had a blast. Plus Tatianna won, so it was a great hour of TV all around.

Lisa wrote: I just couldn't believe my eyes, it was an episode just for you!

Feb 26th:

* My niece's 2nd grd teacher (she's in 3rd now) was fired today. She'd begun to show signs of mental illness, writing things like "20+20+10" on the board and saying it equaled 30. Other teachers started to shun her. On the way to a staff outing she went back to her rm for her purse & returned to find everyone had left w/...out her. I guess there's so little pain in the world they felt they had to add to it. A*holes.

* I was a little suprised at the AI eliminations. Janell deserved her fate ( but she was hot, wasn't she?) but Ashley Rodriguez should have been safe (even if she is overanimated on stage). Guys; America obviously flipped the judges the bird for their bashing of Tim Urban. 4 all the talk about how good he was was I co...uldn't understand 1/2 of Joe Muñoz's song - so no qualms about him leaving. Tyler was a shock tho'.

* The secret ingredient . . . is phone.

* Sentry (at least the one in Bay View) no longer accepts Internet coupons, rendering many popular sites useless. I'm told they were burned on a Velvetta forgery (snort). So, for the sake of a lost 40 cents here and there, they have turned the clock back to 1963 and pushed more biz to the Evil Empire that is Pic 'n Save. Nice.

*"Democrats quietly vote to reauthorize legislation [Patriot Act] many decried under Bush.". No new privacy provisions were added and all the tenets of Dubya's policies were renewed. Kudos -it's the right thing to do. That said, its yet another example of how Dems preach one thing on the campagin trail and do another while in office

* Gwen Moore, our (hopefully) soon to be ex-Congresswoman, earns a 1 on the liberal scale based on roll-call votes on economic, social and foreign-policy. Her conservative score was 423. 'Liberal' Russ Feingold, OTOH, earned a relatively balanced 55 liberal and 44 conservative score.

* RE Carly Simon disclosing the origin of "You're So Vain": And the winner is . . . David Geffen.

* (on a Milwaukee Pot dealer getting 6 years in prison) To put this in perspective, we just saw that a killer got a cushy *12* year sentence for stangling a guy with a garrotte and ditching the body. Of course, if he'd killed him with a joint in his pocket he might have got life. What a world.

Feb 27th:

Got off work at 11 to find my friend Erv was in town. As a surprise he brought us a DVD player to replace the one that went on the fritz the last time he visited (thanks!). We hung out until half an hour ago. Pretty damn tired at this point, since I've been up since 7, so later folks. 'Night

* Payday + a new DVD player = the purchase of "Coming Home", NKOTB's new DVD of their 2008/2009 tour.

* I'm reading Shutter Island, in lieu of having the $ or babysitters to see the film. It's very good so far, although I'm worred that I've guessed the ending. Also read so far this year: Horns by Joe Hill, The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, The 1st Rule by Robert Crais, and Final Target by Steve Gore.

* [on the suicide of Marie Osmond's son] Oh man, that's awful news. My thoughts are with their family.

We just finished watching "Couples Retreat". C+ seems to be the consensus grade here.

Feb 28th:

? for everyone: strictly for $ reasons, we're looking to switch from cable to Dish (not Direct TV), but I don't want to sacrifice reliability or quality. For anyone in the know: how reliable is the signal? Is the system easy to use? Is the DVR up to snuff and easy to navigate? How good is the company itself? Your thoughts on the matter?

Massive head of pharaoh unearthed in Egypt

Till death did them part, only death did not A great story. Although he had a lot to work with here, Jim Stingl is consistently one of the best reads in the Journal.

* [Olympic figure skater]Johnny Weir can dress and act however he likes. It's his right and it doesn't bother me. But his quote "I think masculinity is what you believe it to be." is goofy. Acutally, it's uh, pretty much a definable characteristic there bub. And wearing a pink see-through ensemble is *not* masculine.

* The book this blog post references (God's Battalions by Rodney Stark) is a great read. I finished it in the fall of '09. It's a historically accurate retort to the common fallacies people toss around about the Crusades (aka everything the modern world ever utters about them). I recommend the book for anyone more interested in historical truth than anti-Western, anti-Chritian myth.

* [on the NFL's plans to rework OT rules] Good, I think the NFL's OT rules are beyond dumb. That said, they often work to reveal to Favre as a choker, so I'd miss that . . .

* [watching US-Canada vie for Gold in Olympic hockey] Whoo-hoo! A tying goal with 24.4 seconds left! Did you see the heartbreak on the faces of that Canadian crowd? The quiet in that arena was priceless! On to OT . . .

Well damn, the wrong anthem will be playing in Vancouver. Still, a helluva game and one for the ages.

Special congrats to Joe Pavelski, Phil Kessel, Danny Heatly, Ryan Suter, and Brian Rafalski... all members of the Men's US Hockey team that were either born in, or have ties to Wisconsin.

* The great coffee experiment is over. I came home to find my coffe pot shattered on the floor and coffee grounds all over the wall, courtesy of Ginger. I am soooo . . . not in a good place today.

Lisa wrote: You didn't "find" it, like I left it for you...it happened 10 seconds before you walked in the door while your mom phoned simultaneously. I'm sorry it happened. I do however think it's funny you describe how you are today as "not in a good place", I'd describe it as on a warpath, lol.

* I'm four "chapters" into 'Inglorious Basterds' and I'm bored to point of anger. Yak Yak and f*ing yak some more. That bar scene went on for HOURS. Indulgent crap from Tarantino, IMO. Let's see if the rest of the film rescues this turkey. Nope, it didn't.

My initial take on Matt Smith's Doctor

The verdict on Matt Smith's Doctor? He's no Tennant - let's make that clear - but he is well and truly The Doctor. I'm going to like this kid. Moffat's script was strong, there were some great lines, and new companion Amelia (Amy) Pond is surprisingly hot; think Leela but with red hair and wearing a policewoman uniform. It's going to be a great season.

A new Doctor!

 Less than one hour until the U.S. premiere of Matt Smith's debut as the Doctor - followed by an all new hour of Graham Norton! [dabbing tears of joys from my eyes]. 'Tis a wonderful world, innit?

Deadline

We rented and watched Britany Murphy in 'Deadline', in large part because I wanted one last hurrah with my late, great List of Five-er. It was a boring movie w/ a bad script, and while she looked super fine in her crack-a-licious way, at the same time she also seemed very sickly. It might have been the character, but IMO and Lisa's, there was a certain sheen of "Time's Running Out" on her face.

I'm a Hero lol

Wanna feel like a hero? Take a call from ur daughter saying she was using Walgreen's phone because Mom ran out of gas & lost her phone & I have to pee but McDonald's locked their bathrooms & we're stuck & it's dark & I have to pee real bad. Then ride to the rescue & have the kids clap & cheer & call out your name. Think they'd feel the same if they knew they were stuck cuz I'd been too lazy to stop for gas earlier?

Easter Egg Dyeing - 2010

On Good Friday, as has been our tradition since 1998 (a full three years before YaYa was born) we dyed Easter eggs with the children in our life. We try to do this between noon and 3, as during those hours we prohibit the use of TV, radio, computers, and the like.

This year it was (only!) my four kids and my niece, a low turnout but one that was perfect on what felt like a very busy, very hectic day.



No, it isn't red-eye. That's just Ginger in a bad mood.





Smiley made some elaborate and quite beautiful eggs, one's that really caught my eye.





Here's YaYa's example of choice:



LuLu's:



And their cousin's beautiful egg:



Back to Ginger for a moment.



Lisa was surprised by something quirky Ginger did. Time after time she recreated the same pattern on her eggs until we had a small collection of assembly line creations. Most were then snatched up and re-dyed by the other kids, but Lisa saved a few to show the camera:



Final tally: some six dozen eggs. Not a bad haul for twenty minutes of work, and the tradition was kept alive for another year. The Easter weekend had begun!

 At work I met a customer who claims to be a psychic. She came up to me and said my aura was 'brilliant' and 'stood out from across the store' and that I was a 'very old soul' who had lived 'many, many lives'. It's a shame I don't believe any of that schtuff. For once, it was nice to be complimented for something other than my looks and intelligence. LOL j/k

9 By Design

Watching "9 by Design" on Bravo, a reality show about two home designers in NYC who have six children and another on the way. It seems like a fun family and a loving marriage, and their design aesthetic is very sharp. It's well worth watching.

A Night of TV

Dear Lord it's like the perfect storm: DWTS, American Idol, Lost, Glee, V, 19 Kids and Counting- all new, all tonight. I can hear the Black Eyed Peas in my head: Tonight's gonna be a good good night . . .

DWTS - sad the yummalicious Edyta is gone, but what a great hour of dance. AI - boring. Tim was good, Andrew needs to go. What's up w/ Ryan? He's jacked up & rude lately. Glee - great reset episode, bringing the core character conflicts back into play. Love the Vogue clip. Lost - like the Hurley stuff, p.o'd at Desmond for f'ing up Locke in the flash-sideways. 19 Kids - love when the Duggars and Bates get together.

Dinner at Landmark

It looks like the crash that killed the Polish President was another casualty of history. He was on his way to commemorate Katyn, where 22,000 Poles were gunned down by Soviet secret police in WWII. The Russians have been assholish about it, and there is talk that demands to divert from the airfield were viewed as a political maneuver, not a safety issue.

Oops

Here's a comical Danny-esque moment, but courtesy of Lisa: She went out to the van, then sent the kids in saying the battery was dead. Oh, she was furious - all that $ we'd spent and now the alternator or battery was kaput! After a few minutes tho', I realized the keys she'd handed me, the keys for the van . . *weren't* for the van. Once I went out w/ the right ones, it purred like a kitten.

Quote of the Day - March 31st.

I took the family out to Taco Bell for dinner yesterday. I don't care for the place, but the kids do and after all, the whole point was to celebrate LuLu and YaYa's report cards. I was worried on the way there; they'd been getting on my nerves in the 24 hrs prior. But the kids were well behaved so afterwards, on the spur of the moment, we took them to the lakefront. Sheridan Park, to be precise, the spot where I proposed to Lisa many moons ago.

It's a long, steep walk down the paved trail and there was some mild grumbling, but once we were on the beach the kids loved it. Oh, I wish I'd had a camera with me. It was one of those rare - very rare - ten minute periods when the family is together, no one is acting up, and we're all happy to be together. We collected rocks on the beach, took a few steps in the (frigid) surf, and sat on the concrete pier overlooking the water. Grand. Even better: for whatever reason, the walk back up was easier than the trip down.

Once we were back in the park proper the kids played on a playset, until YaYa announced she had to use the restroom. I few minutes later, with her swearing she was about to wet her pants, I gathered up the troops. LuLu was sitting atop part of the playset.

"C'mon," I said. "Let's go"

"Why?" LuLu said.

"'Cuz your sister has to pee."

"So take her over there [to the pavilion]"

"I did," I said. "It's locked."

Lu sighed and rolled her eyes. "Then uhhhhh, why doesn't she just go behind the bush and pee? It's what I would do."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. I helped her down.

"You're a classy chick Lu," I said. "Pure class."

 We have two fully functioning vehicles!!!!! - Lisa