Facebook: Sept 1st - 17th

Saturday Sept 17th

seriously considering calling into wrk for only the 3rd x since 1998. Dental problems, tired, and generally blah. I wish my hrs hadn't changed 2day - I'd b nearing the end of my day, not the start.

[I didn't call in]

I'm must be getting depressed. I've slept most of the day and am dreading the clopen [close, then open the next morning] ahead of me @ wrk . . .

Scientists have found (dinosaur?) feathers in 80 million year old amber

Why the Millenium Falcon? Why not? I wish I owned that bucket of bolts.





Sept 16th

A - You aren't following Alec Baldwin on Twitter? Why the heck not? B - There are few things worse than seeing your precious big screen TV subjected to "The View". Damn you Lisa. C - What's with all the moans & gasps & body noises in anime? Watching it is like listening to a deaf guy take a dump in the stall next to you. Must be some Japanese fetish. D - That host from Bravo has great chemistry w/ Kelly Ripa. He should be on the list to replace Regis.

"‎"In the Beginning, there was nothing, which exploded."
--Terry Pratchett on the current scientific understanding of Creation"

I really enjoyed the two episodes of the Japanese cartoon 'To' available via Netflix streaming. It's a blend of crisp computer animation, adult story lines, and inventive sci-fi. Check it out.

Sept 15th

"supper was homemade Applebee's fiesta lime chicken, smashed potatoes and brussell sprouts, all scorned by the kids, natch. Then it was on to Smiley's 1st Pack meeting, where we Tigers improvised a skit about a treasure hunting turtle who can't get a gold coin off the ocean floor cuz its glued on, so he uses some 'magic markers' to create a shovel to do the job. Lotta fun."

just finished watching the series finale of Hannah Montana. It was quite good if u scrap the last 30 seconds of the episode. [I took a lot of playful heat from my male friends about this one, but oh well - the show was important to my kids for years. I wanted to see how it turned out]

Sept 14th

"‎@ smiley and ginger's 1st dance class of the yr, and naturally both misplaced their ballet shoes so I look like a putz. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. On the + side i just looked @ last yrs dance pics & lk looks sooo much taller, leaner and more mature than she did a yr ago."

"smiley at home watching (and enjoying) the 1961 Dick Tracy cartoons. Thank you Netflix!"

the last time a friend of ours took her baby daddy 2 court, he put a dead bird in her car. Today Lis took her again and her support (for 3 kids) was raised to 600/month. Quote the friend: if I'm found dead tomorrow, u know who did it.

Here's something I never thought I'd say in a review of 'Thor': it was dull. Yawn-y, "hit fast forward on the remote" dull. Plus Natalie Portman looked oddly . . . used up. I was really looking forward to this flick too, and even hustled it up my Netflix queue. What a shame. C-."

Two Mexican bloggers who wrote about the local drug trade were mutilated and disemboweled, then hung from a bridge as a warning to others. Welcome to Mexico, the Somalia of North America. The hell with a fence, time for a new Hadrian's wall.

"Brrr, what a cold evening. Welcome to fall. We just finished watching "Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037", a documentary about the year long construction of a Steinway piano. It's a good doc, but had lots of room for improvement. I've yet to see a documentary w/out narration that doesn't sacrifice something of both its storytelling and educational value. C+/B-"

"When the music changes, so does the dance"


"Ten years until manned trials, 20 years until we actually go somewhere. FM. If 15th century Spain had been run like our space program, Columbus would have made his second voyage right about . . . now."

Sept 13th

I greatly enjoyed ABC's 2 hour Jackie Kennedy special, and I wish I could afford the $60 price tag that comes with the book it promoted. I wish they hadn't spent a single second rationalizing her opinions; they were her opinions at that moment in time and big wup if they come off as bitchy 48 yrs later. It's not like MLK is going to hold a press conference and object. I will say tho' that her "signature, breathy" voice is irritating. When you close your eyes, it sounds like a bad drag queen.

Solyndra = the administration's 1st 'real' scandal?

"Old news to anyone in Milwaukee, but all afternoon/evening the city has been covered in a haze and reeking of smoke, courtesy of a wildfire in Minnesota - 300 miles away."

"CNN is reporting the US Embassy in Afghanistan is "under siege" by the Taliban . . ."

"I kicked off the NFL season by continuing a grand tradition: the Sad Sack Slapjacks got their butts handed to them 134.08 to 75.42 in fantasy football. 134 points is a monster game (my opponent's D earned 33 points alone) so a loss was all but inevitable, but I didn't help by starting a WR benched for injury and going with Bradford over Cutler. Ugh."


Monday, Sept 12th

Just back from an interview in IL, about 60 min from here. Yes, it's a long ride everyday and yes, I would take the job if it was offered.

Sunday Sept 11th

"watching abc's coverage of the 911 services in NY w/ the kids. YaYa tearing up, as am I, Smiley starting to grasp the enormity of it. Never forget, never forgive."


Saturday Sept 10th

"Yesterday I finished Dick Cheney's autobiography "In My Time". It's no shock that I hold the man in high regard, and I'm grateful that a man of his character and strength was there to guide us through the last decade. Politics aside tho', it was a very well written political bio, solidly constructed and entertaining. Well done."

(as I put on Voltron via Netflix) "This was my favorite show from when I was a kid" Smiley: "So it [is going to be]in black & white, cuz it super old?"

"Lee Child's short story "Second Son" is the tale of a teenage Jack Reacher, circa 1974, as his family relocates to a Marine base on Okinawa. Unlike Stephen King's recent short, *this* one features both a plot and some fine writing. It certainly left me hungry for the upcoming Reacher novel, which meant it done did it's job and did it well."

Sept 9th

Carlos H says: Don't make fun of a fat guy with a lisp. He's probably thick and tired of it.

"Last night I watched "The Burrowers", a movie set in the 1870's. White homesteaders are attacked and their women kidnapped. A posse sets out to recover them from the Indians, only to discover some . . . *thing* else took them. Think "The Searchers" blended with "Alien". I liked it, but way too little time was given to the creepy crawly aspect. It was 85% western, 15% horror. I grade it a B/B-"

KISS FM played a moving 9/11 tribute this morning, mixing actual audio of the day from flight controllers, Bush, news reports, and calls from the Towers. I teared up in the car but of course the kids seemed oblivious to its impact and just argued among themselves. Afterwards I called KISS and spoke to Wes McCain, and thanked them for making the effort.

Sept 8th

"i couldnt find the remote for the big screen so I'm forced to watch the game on the kids tv in the hallway. Ugh."

Booyah baby! 42-34, w/ the Packer's D putting up a wall @ the one w/ 3 seconds on the clock. Whew! [this was the NFL season opener vs New Orleans, a matchup of the last two SuperBowl winners]


Sept 6th

Got a call back about a job I applied for and the voice mail directed me to the company website - which then asked for my credit card # to pay for the privilege of filling out a screening questionnaire/IQ test. But don't worry; if I get the job I'm promised the $ back! Yeah, uh, I'll pass, thanks.

"Yesterday I finished reading Stephen King's new ebook "Mile 81". My verdict? Turdalicous. If it had any other writer's name on the cover, it would never have made it past an agent's desk, much less into print. Aside from the lack of a story (!) King tries hard to make a character sound like a young kid, which to Stevie means mixing vulgarities, brand names he swiped off the nearest TV ad, and slang from three different decades. For your own sake, skip it."


Sept 5th

hanging w/ the kids in the backyard b4 heading to work

Some of the yield from our garden



"I've finished watching "Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars", the mini-series that concluded the series. I thought it was so-so; on par with an average Farscape episode, but also riddled with cheap plot devices and deus ex machina 'outs'. And in case no one paid attention, the end completely justifies every machination, torture, and death that Scorpious committed over the run of the series."


Sept 3rd

I just finished watching "Centurion", a British movie about the unknown fate of the 9th Roman Legion, which disappeared from all records in the mid-2nd century. The film uses the belief that the Legion was destroyed in warfare w/ the Picts to set up a chase involving a few Roman survivors eager to return to their own lines. The film had mixed to negative reviews, but I liked it.

Sept 2nd

"Before work today we watched "HH Holmes, America's 1st Serial Killer", a documentary about the subject of the book "Devil in the White City". It was nothing I hadn't heard b4, but it was interesting all the same."

"Ah, to spend 7-4 at work and go home to find not one but FIVE rejection letters from jobs. At least one was actual snail-mail, so I had a glimmer of hope for a second."


Sept 1st

"My children's fave songs as of the end of August a) the '80's-ish "Denim" jingle from the Target back to school ads 2) "Pumped up Kicks" by Foster the People. 3) Lovesick by Emily Osment (which is actually quite catchy) and 4) "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars (which Lauren calls "the monkey song" after seeing a Youtube cover of it)"

strawberry stuffed french toast for dinner

The kids hated the stuffed french toast, but tough - it was yummy and we're gonna have it again.