Smiley's gifts for Juni

Smiley's gifts for Junie, including home made candy.

Junie - the birthday cake

The Birthday Cake

Junie - Birthday Prep (cont.)

More prep-work. Even the kids giggled over the sign reading "Troll Balls"

P

Birthday Prep

The preparation for LK's 8th birthday sleepover yesterday. Lisa made the bookmarks with a design off the net, contact paper, string, and a hole-puncher.

A Game

90 years ago today President  Warren G. Harding died in office, the second of four U.S. Presidents to do so in the 20th century. Name the other three Grace,  *without* consulting the web, and we'll talk about that library fine.

The Soup

Watching The Soup with Smiley

Yes, Please

We could use this where I work.

Go Set a Watchman

I started and finished this "sequel" to To Kill a Mockingbird " in the last few hours. It was much better than the reviews indicated, largely because the reviewers seemed appalled that Atticus Finch was rendered into a flawed mortal. 

But that's the point of the book; an adult Scout moving past the narrow window in which she viewed her world as a child. I thought the writing was strong as well, barring all the ethical debates near the end. 

I put sequel in quotes, not in protest to its publication, but because the case at the center of Mockingbird is different in this telling, making it almost a different fictional universe.

Recommended.

Smiley - Track

Smiley is running a leg of the relay race here on the last day of track class (that's what the baton passing race is called, right?) Great weather for it.

update: Smiley is now doing the long jump on the other end of the track. Neat to watch. edit: he at first refused, saying he didn't want to get sand in his shoes lol

@Riverside High School

yEEsss!

Guess what soon-to-be 8 year old just passed her Level One swimming test *with two weeks left to go in the class*! Whoo-hoo! Way to go LK!

:)

Wow.

Rowdy Piper

RIP the great Rowdy Roddy Piper, wrestling legend and one of my faves as a kid. :(

The Milwaukee Lion (update)

I heard a conspiracy theory that said the lion was a creation of the Mayor's office, one designed to keep North siders inside at night and slow the homicide rate. A juicy story, but a stretch.

In non-tin foil hat news, Fox6 is reporting that tracks have been photographed, and are confirmed to be from a large feline with retractable claws.

Ouch

To top off the last hour, I was at Walmart and slipped on some hangers that were left on the floor. I fell, driving my knees into the concrete floor, scraping and bruising them both. The manager had me fill out a form, making sure to blame it on a careless customer. Which may be true, but as Justice Holmes would respond, the banana peel was black and rotten: they should have picked up the area.

He Could Have Been Our Doggo

Although I do not favor dogs, and consider them far inferior to cats, I am smitten with one that is available and have failed to convince Lisa it is worth at least a looksie. As she is smarter than me, she continues to say no. As I am more obnoxious and persistent than her, I continue to ask. It's quite the merry go-round, minus the "merry" bit.

FYI, the dog in discussion.

Update The dog is gone, adopted into another family. Lisa wins. NEVER let her convince you she doesn't wield a fair share of influence here, or that I "always" get my way. #unhappy #pissy

My Swim Class

LK came to watch me at swim class tonight.

4 Pounds

Down another four + pounds. Sadly, my first thought was "We should go to Olive Garden to celebrate".

Palamino

We tried a new (to us) restaurant in Bay View tonight, courtesy of the certificate Lisa won in the talent show. The food was great, the prices reasonable by BV standards, and the bar itself inviting. The waitress wasn't very good (gave us the wrong appetizer, took it back, and brought out the correct one AFTER dinner!) but we'll be back.

Here We Go Again

The cops are back, presumably for the neighbors. Or they took that "dragging a body through the woods" meme too seriously. Either/or.

My Thoughts - the trophy hunter

All well and good to criticize the dentist who shot that beloved lion in Africa, but uh, folks? That country allows and encourages trophy hunting, presumably because the income the tourism brings in is of immense value to its impoverished people. 

Once again, the First World screams in protest over an animal but ignores the millions of humans in poverty, especially since they're African. 

You want to save your precious lion? Build their economy and eliminate the incentive to allow the sport. #hypocrites

A Funny and a Truth

:)

Two years ago LuLu went around constantly asking "Who invented . . . ?". Now Smiley, at that same age, starts out every fifth sentence by saying "Did you know . . . " followed by some obscure trivia :)

My Thoughts

The intellectual world's obsession AGAINST professional athletes annoys me, as if it's impossible to appreciate and follow sports and still be intelligent. It's petty jealousy by snobs. I can quote batting averages from 1941 off the top of my head, and dissect a boxing match in progress. It doesn't stop me from knowing who was Eisenhower's attorney general. As for their pay, if only 600 people in the world had the skill set to operate a McDonald's, those 600 would be making a few million a year too.