Bit by the Blogging Bug

Nasty Rude People

2009-11-11T23:04:00.001-06:00

Today I was driving and a pedestrian actually SPIT on my car! How rude!

I was driving through a green light across a pretty major roadway. On the other side of the intersection, two "gentlmen" were jay walking. I kept my speed steady thinking they might try to hurry themselves across the street. They didn't, so I ended up needing to come almost to a full stop. As I did, the two of them looked at me, so I smiled and waved. I was just being friendly and maybe a little flirtatious, but apparently my intentions weren't clear because that is when one of the men looked me in the eye and SPIT on my car as I was driving past. I sort of slowed down and looked back with a shrug of my shoulder as if to say, "Seriously?" I almost wanted to turn around and ask him WTF he was thinking, but I thought that probably wasn't a very smart thing to do so instead I just kept driving. I was really quite shocked by that reaction. I mean is that normal? Have you ever had a pedestrian spit on your vehicle while driving??

Dry Skin Woes!

2009-11-08T22:13:00.003-06:00

In the midst of this seasonal change, my skin is not doing well at all! My skin is just experiencing an intense, rapid loss of moisture. Between the cold dry winter air outside and the dry forced air heat inside, my environment is stealing all the water from my cells. I sometimes feel like I am literally turning to dust! I have been using some new Jergens natural soy body lotion that feels good going on, but doesn't truly nourish the skin and ends up making me feel dry again a short time later. It's been driving me bonkers!

So tonight I took a nice long shower (which I know is bad for my skin) and used some nice Mary Kay sugar scrub with matching body wash. The sugar scrub is really great for adding moisture and I love the way the sugar crystals feel. After that, I used some leftover Bath and Body works body lotion because I was out of the Mary Kay lotion that matched the sugar scrub/body wash. For my face, I used some moisturizer that is a little heavier than my usual, plus added some MK Oil Free Hydrating Gel.

All of this has really helped me feel much, much better! Hopefully will still feel hydrated by morning. I also ran across some Burt's Bees Hand Salve in my bathroom that I am going to transfer to my purse so that I have it on hand....ha ha....pun intended.

Simple Pleasures

2009-11-04T20:26:00.003-06:00

It really is about appreciating the simple things in life. Over the summer, a major intersection near our home was transformed into a roundabout. I feel really lucky that nearly every time I leave the house I get to drive through a roundabout. It's so much more interesting (and fun) than a four-way stop sign. Roundabouts aren't all that common in the Twin Cities metro area, so it feels pretty special to live right up the street from one and have the opportunity to use it a couple times a day at least.

I'm not sure if this makes me crazy, stupid, or if it's a good thing that I can find pleasure in something so simple and somehow mundane.

Cleaning out the Closets

2009-10-30T00:54:00.002-05:00

Our family has entirely too many clothes. We cleaned out our laundry room this week due to getting a new water softener installed. We realized that part of the reason we don't often put our clean laundry away is due to the fact that there isn't enough room in our closets and dressers for all the clothes. A good purging is long overdue indeed. To help motivate us, I scheduled a pickup from the VVA on Friday. I already have a large bag of clothing in our living room which I filled up prior to the great laundry room organization project. The bag mostly consists of clothes that our kids are getting rid of. I think it's time for me and hubby to go through our stuff and make some room for the clothes we actually wear and enjoy.

Performances are Overrated

2009-10-26T11:30:00.003-05:00

So after a very short night's sleep, I have decided to continue with this blog as my sort of day-to-day life blog and perhaps start another one more focused on other ventures in the future if I find the need or desire. For now I will just blog here about random whatever-ness.

I taught two preschool classes this morning and they went very well. I think part of the reason is that the to-do list I made for myself last night didn't just say "teach 2 classes", but instead i wrote "have two GREAT classes!" I was able to do that by interjecting some new activities with the kids that we haven't done before. In the past 6 weeks of teaching these classes, I am finding that the pressure to create a "performance" with the kids is leeching my creativity and excitement for the classes. We could be doing such a wider variety of activities and keeping thing much more dynamic and participatory for the kids if there wasn't this sort of strong need to have them "perform." That is the biggest thing I've learned from this pilot program. I would way prefer to have activities and stories that we could work on/play with for a couple weeks and then move on to new activities and keep the kids growing. At the end of my second class, I was giving the kids a little talk about how we have one more class and then the parents will be coming for the "show." The little girl looked into my eyes and said with a confused look on her face, "Why?" And I thought to myself, that is a very good question!

Bit by the Blogging Bug.......Again

2009-10-26T01:43:00.004-05:00

I am feeling the urge to blog again and I'm unsure if I should pick this blog up where I left off or if I should begin a brand new blog. It feels jarring to just begin again over a year after my last entry. Especially when I barely blogged at all during my last two years of school. On the other hand, it also feels strange to just delete an entire blog and begin a new one.

As a child, I always wanted to be one of those people that kept a diary. But alas, my perfectionism caused me problems when I would miss a day. I wanted the ideal daily diary that had a little lock and everything. Just like Marcia Brady. I do journal, but it's so much more free-form than a daily diary entry. I have random journals and I tend to want to compartmentalize them so that I end up having many different journals for different activities, interests, personal projects, etc. My ideal blog would encompass all parts of myself into a cohesive whole. The problem is that I am a private person and not really interested in having people read about every detail of my meandering inner psyche.

Well, considering it's almost 2am, I should probably go to bed and sleep on this question of blogging. Perhaps overnight the answer will come to me regarding what I should do.

The Semester and Year is Over

2008-05-14T14:24:00.003-05:00

Today I took my last exam for this academic year. Last fall I transferred from a community college after earning my A.A. to a private four year college on a full academic scholarship. In my heart is the tiny seed of desire to earn a PhD. The seed needs LOTS of TLC and consistent weeding, but it's still alive. Becoming a full time student this year has been both exhilarating and stressful. I feel a combination of relief and sadness this afternoon, but I found something on the internet that I wanted to save here. It's an article by a woman named Teresa A. Taylor on a website called AdultStudentCenter.com.

Here is the link to Ms. Taylor's article, but I've also pasted it below in case the page disappears from the internet someday.

Dream First

Hello to All!

I already have one featured story on this site, but it is a few years out of date, and I thought an update would be nice. My first thought for you today - Dream first, then follow that dream.

1997 – I could barely carry myself to the UA campus. Scared to death, unsure, insecure.
2001 – Graduated with my bachelor's degree. What pride. I walked across that stage and there at the end stood my reason for it all. My two boys were so proud to see their mom, even though they did not quite understand the magnitude of what I had accomplished.
2003 – Graduated AGAIN – this time with my master's degree. Now, mind you, I am thinking the whole time as I crossed that stage – How many years until I reach this point again?

Let me just tell you. It's March 2004, and I am about to finish the first year of my doctoral program. I can hardly believe I have gotten this far, especially from where I began. A nontraditional student, single mom, two small babies to support, and job, and full-time college courses? Oh my goodness. If someone would have said to me in 1997 that they didn't think I could do it, I probably never would have even tried. But I did it, and I had a bounty of supporters behind me. Although now, a few admit that they were skeptical...(smile), I still love them.

I firmly believe at this stage in my life that I can do anything I put my mind to. I know now that what it takes to succeed, truly succeed, in this life is education FIRST. You have to see a dream – really see it – hold it in your hand – feel it. Then move on that dream. Do whatever it takes to make that dream come true. Find a network of new friends, reach out to professors and teachers. Utilize ALL your campus and community resources. Do NOT ever be afraid to ask for help. Reach out for what you need.

My overall dream is coming true – I want to continue my pursuit of lifelong education, learning, and growing, and I WILL give back to students in the end.

Always believe that you can do it, and you will make it! NEVER be afraid to struggle for something that you truly desire. Pray often and remember that your family is in this with you.

©2004 Teresa A. Taylor.

I Bet You Thought I Was Done Blogging!

2008-05-07T01:50:00.002-05:00

So I haven't blogged in ages, but I'm feeling the urge again. It's late and I just finished up formatting a bibliography for a paper which I still need to write. I have a lot of great sources, and now it's just a matter of getting all my ideas down on paper and flowing cohesively.

I also have a major design project due on Thursday, so tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

Time for me to go to bed, but I just wanted to make my official blogging comeback.

Daily Nature Walk

2007-06-08T13:05:00.000-05:00

I've recommitted to my daily nature walk this week. It takes me about an hour total from my front door and back. It's great to watch the changes that happen both in the plants and animals. Yesterday was a particularly exceptional day for wildlife. We saw: a male and female cardinal, another male cardinal, a bunch of birds which I don't know the names of, some kind of worm/caterpillar type thing, a beetle, a turtle, a bunch of ducklings that we saw for the first time the day before, and a SNAKE! The snake was hanging wrapped around a tree branch low to the ground, and he appeared very shortly after I expressed my desire to see a snake since I've only ever seen one snake on that walk last summer.

Today we saw a baby bunny (twice), and a larger one. We saw a few mallards (we see them pretty much every day), only three of the ducklings were on the log where they've been the last two days. Also, because we had our binoculars along, we were able to see about 5 turtles in various stages of sunning themselves on and around the pond. And, as always, all different kinds of birds.

Last week we found a turtle whose shell was the size of a quarter. He was very tiny. We picked him up and looked him over, then gently set him free.

A Productive Day Indeed

2007-06-02T19:29:00.000-05:00

I did something really cool today. I replaced the faucet in my kitchen all by myself! The handle on the old one broke off again. The first time it happened we just ordered a replacement part, but this time we couldn't really find one. Plus I'm thinking if it's broken off twice in 5 years, it might not be such a great faucet after all. In any case, I also removed our water filter from under the sink which caused quite a little stir. Even the plumbing guy at The Home Depot was perplexed as to how to fix my problem. However, he came up with something and took the time to explain exactly how to cut away a portion of my copper tubing and replace my shut-off with one that has an extra outlet for the ice maker. He also gave me a little pep talk, assuring me that I could handle the job. I had a bit of trouble with the tubing cutter, but once I got the hang of it, it was a cinch!

If only I could just take the time to figure out how to move pix from my phone and/or digital cam to the computer, I could post a picture of my new faucet. In lieu of that, here's a link to the style I put in: Delta Faucets. Isn't it pretty? And I LOVE the soap dispenser. There is nothing I hate worse than an ugly, sticky bottle of dish soap on the counter. I also didn't pay anywhere near the $205 price tag. HOORAY for me!

Another thing I did today that I've never done before is watched a Shrek movie. I watched Shrek 2 with my son, and LOVED it. How fun. I especially liked Joan Rivers. Too funny.

All right, now I'm off to take a shower. I already did some nice fizzy foot stuff during the movie, but the rest of my body is sweaty and gross from doing the plumbing.

Lounging on a Thursday

2007-06-01T15:28:00.001-05:00

I didn't even make it through the first ten minutes of the new Mark Burnett reality series Pirate Master last night. Instead I switched over to the movie Crazy/Beautiful on the CW. A really great movie made in 2001 and starring Kirsten Dunst, but I probably shouldn't be watching movies with mentally unstable characters. Although the blood on my brand new white pajamas this morning helped explain the moodiness I've been experiencing the last few days. Let's hope Clorox is as good as it claims to be.

Movies I Want to See

2007-05-25T14:42:00.001-05:00

This post exists because I can never think of what movie I might want to rent at the video store, and end up wasting A LOT of time browsing the aisles. So here is a list of movies I'd like to see, so that I can peruse it when I'm planning to rent a movie. I will BOLD the movie once I've seen it.

Because I Said So
Dead Poet's Society
Georgia Rule
Maxed Out
Music and Lyrics
Rain
The Reaping
Stomp the Yard

The Fern and The Bamboo

2007-05-25T12:30:00.000-05:00

I get my fair share of what I consider email "junk". You know what I'm talking about. Animated gifs wishing me a Happy Easter, lists like "Ten ways you know you're a mother", things that need to be snoped for factuality, and chain mails threatening harm to myself or my loved ones if I don't forward them on to at least N people. Actually I don't really get that many, thankfully. However when they do cross my path, I typically delete them sight unseen. (The FWD in the subject line is a dead giveaway.) Very occasionally I'll open one. Today my friend Charla sent me one that I happened to open. I met Charla through the theatre department at my college. She's my age, and like me, has three children. Her email hit home. Sometimes as a 34 year old just finishing my second year of college, I feel really far behind my peers. I occasionally think I'm being silly or frivolous to pursue my degree now. Every so often it's nice to have a friend like Charla who often tells me to not give up on my dreams. Here is the email she forwarded, edited a bit by yours truly.

One day I decided to quit...
I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.
I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I asked, "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"
His answer surprised me...
"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied.
"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them.

I gave them light.

I gave them water.

The fern quickly grew from the earth.

Its brilliant green covered the floor.

Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.
In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.
And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said.
"In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.
In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit."
He said.
"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.
It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.
I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle."
He asked me. "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots".

"I would not quit on the bamboo.

I will never quit on you."
"Don't compare yourself to others."

He said.

"The bamboo had a different Purpose than the fern.

Yet they both make the forest beautiful."
"Your time will come", God said to me.

"You will rise high"
"How high should I rise?"

I asked.
"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.
"As high as it can?" I questioned.
"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

Summer is Off to a Slow Start...

2007-05-23T10:06:00.000-05:00

I'm immensely tired lately. I need to get myself on a summer schedule that keeps me busy and energized. This should ideally include some cleaning, some exercise, and some reading. Unfortunately my stupid car died in the driveway last night. Basically just a completely dead battery. Isn't that just convenient? My very nice father-in-law is going to come over today and get it checked out and hopefully recharged for us.

Opening (and closing) Night

2007-05-21T08:50:00.001-05:00

Last night was the performance for our student-directed one-act plays. We ended up with an audience of well over 50, so I was thrilled. We had taped off a row in the center section encouraging people to sit ahead of that row just to keep the (anticipated small) audience kind of clumped together. We actually ended up taking the tape down because the area we had sectioned off was pretty full. Very exciting. We had also printed off only 40 programs, and they were all gone. What a wonderful success. I actually figured out that I personally had 19 people in attendance. My mom, dad, and their three kids. My brother and his girlfriend. My sister-in-law and her sister. My husband and our three kids. Plus five people from my church came which was soooooooooo very nice.

I thought the flow was nice between shows. Two of the scene changes took a little long, but still under 45 seconds. Thank goodness we had scene change music or it would have been really long and annoying.

I learned a lot, of course......both about the actual art of directing AND the whole other side of things: scheduling, budgeting, publicity, blah, blah, blah. I still have a TON to learn about that stuff. It was a lot to take care of in addition to the acting, costumes, and props, not to mention work and school finals. However I'm so happy that I didn't let being too busy affect my decision to do the directing. It's really, really what I love to do........and this was a great opportunity to add something to my resume --- and more importantly work my craft.

Very Beautiful Saturday

2007-05-19T13:51:00.000-05:00

My son is playing LaCrosse on and off today for a sectional tournament. His team won at 11:00am, and now they play again at 4:00pm. We came home between games to cook some tacos for lunch, and now I'm going to do some gardening. I have flowers that I bought about 2 weeks ago (I think) that I haven't put in boxes yet and they are starting to look pretty decrepit. I'm hoping to revitalize them.

I have been obsessively checking my online grades for the semester. They haven't yet posted, and I'm getting quite antsy. The graduation ceremony went great last night. My mom came, and also my brother who is planning to attend my community college after his high school graduation in 2008. Also my husband, his parents, and my youngest son. The two oldest had their end-of-the-year school dance.

My parents took me out after the ceremony for some super tasty appetizers at Doolittles. We had Thai Chicken Lollipops (coconut chicken), Beef Tenderloin Skewers, Chicken Artichoke Quesadillas, and Parmesan Artichoke Dip. Very Yummy! They also gave me a card which included the gift of a new laptop all my own! FUN!

2007-05-18T09:17:00.000-05:00

I was commenting over on Matt's Survivor Thoughts blog when I realized my comment was long enough to be its own post. So, here you go.

I'm waning a bit in my survivor love as well. Although I'm still anti-spoiler, and this has been a decent season all around. In any case here's how I know I'm losing my devotion:

1) I fall asleep while watching the Survivor episode I taped while at school.
2) People are allowed to talk to me during the show.
3) If I miss something someone says, I don't rewind to hear it.
4) I don't watch Survivor Live with Dalton and Jenna.
5) I don't care if someone tells me what happened before I see the episode.
6) I don't have a favorite player.
7) During the finale I actually washed dishes, cleaned the kitchen, put my kids to bed, and taped the last 30 minutes plus the finale to watch later.
8) At the end of every season, I say it's my last.

However, I have to say this new casual viewing experience is quite freeing, and so I might be able to convince myself to watch China in the fall

Graduation Day!!

2007-05-18T07:53:00.000-05:00

Today is my graduation from community college. I had originally planned to only take the courses I needed to transfer rather than complete the two year associates degree. However, in the end I decided that life throws curve balls and one can never know what might happen, and a completed degree is an important accomplishment to have under my belt. So there you go. Barring a failing grade in any of my spring classes, I am the proud owner of a college degree.

In a way, the associate's degree seems puny and insignificant. Especially since I'm thinking about grad school eventually. It's just this teeny, tiny first step. However, it's been work and sacrifice on the parts of myself, my husband, my children, and even my parents, and in-laws. Everyone has had to help me out with driving, cooking, cleaning, and life in general so that I could work toward this goal. I've devoted three years of my life to being a college student, and I'm damn proud of it. Not to mention the fact that it is this work that has gotten me my scholarship to a great private college!

In any case, I'm obsessively checking my grades online, wondering if I'll maintain the 4.0 or not. I'm assuming grades should be posted before graduation, but maybe I'm wrong.

Why I've Been Gone So Long

2007-05-17T13:26:00.000-05:00

I've been having some major trouble with my computer lately. Internet Explorer stopped working, so I installed Netscape. Then Netscape started crashing anytime I'd visit a page with Shockwave and/or Flash (I think.) I uninstalled whichever one of those seemed to be the problem, and I installed a newer version of Netscape. So far, so good. And I can finally log into Blogger again. The blogger homepage was one of the ones giving me trouble.

So hooray! Here I am. Back in the Blogging Saddle, ready to RIDE!

Cat vs. Dog

2007-02-28T09:42:00.000-06:00

Although I'm really not much of a pet person either way, I'd always considered myself a dog person. Reading the following, however, makes me wonder. I think I'd much more enjoy the cat's outlook on life. In any case, this tickled my funny bone.

Excerpts from a Dog's Diary:

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat's Daily Diary:

Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However,I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...

Everything Has A Silver Lining

2007-02-13T09:49:00.002-06:00

Well it's Thursday and I've hopped right onto the Mommy Guilt Train. I have class tonight and my husband has to work late. I've got to figure out how to get the kids to their hockey practices. I have a couple emotions going on around this:

#1) Selfish: I feel like I'm imposing on other people to do what should be my work. When I called to talk about it with my mom, she mentioned that her calendar is perfectly free tonight, which works great for me, but kinda sucks for her if she ends up helping me out. My guilt tells me that I am selfish and should just skip my class to get the kids to hockey. My brain tells me that if I skip class I risk lowering my grade, and that I can't skip everytime things are slightly inconvenient.

#2) Guilty: My kids should come first no matter what. They should never have to sacrifice for their mother. That's my job.

#3) Grateful: Rarely does my husband have to work late. I'm very thankful for a lifestyle in which I can count on my husband being home at a set time everyday. For many women, their husbands are working until six or seven at night, traveling for days at a time, and working late often. I could not be going back to school if my husband were not able/willing to work a job that gets him home by 3pm most days. I will focus on this silver lining while organizing the rides.

I think I have it loosely worked out. Hopefully my youngest can get a ride with his coach. My mom will pick him up and drop off the older two on the same trip. I will then pick up the older two after class, and the younger one from my mom's house. This limits my mom to one trip, and doesn't involve asking for favors from multiple coaches/other parents. My older ones won't be picked up the minute they finish practicing, but they can skate at the rink until I arrive. Plus it probably takes them about 10-15 minutes to undress anyway.

Cruise Journal Post

2007-02-13T09:49:00.001-06:00

Exactly one month ago today, my husband and I left on our dream vacation. We have been dreaming of taking a cruise together basically since we first got married in October of 1991. It was always in the realm of "someday", but never quite felt real. We planned the trip to correlate somewhat with my husband's 40th birthday, and our 15th anniversary. I also liked to think of it as our second honeymoon, althoough our first honeymoon was just two nights at the Mariott in Bloomington, MN across from the future site of the Mall of America.

Since I really don't want the memory to fade anymore than it already has, I am going to begin this entry, and add to it over the next week or so to try to re-create the trip.

Saturday, January 13: We actually got to bed well before midnight, which was good since we needed to be at the airport in the five o'clock hour. We got up at about 4:30 am, changed our sheets so my in-laws would have clean sheets to sleep in (they were staying with the kids), and finished getting ready. My parents picked us up and took us to the airport. My mom casually mentioned that she didn't think I could carry on my huge roll-up bag of shampoos, contact solution, body lotion, toothpaste, and the like. The thought had crossed our minds the night before, but it was late, and we just let it slide. Once at the aiorport, I got the lowdown on the restrictions regarding liquid and gels. We spent our time in line shuffling our luggage around so that shoes and other things were in our carry on, and the toiletries were checked.

Normally I like to arrive at the airport exactly two hours before my flight leaves, but I always notice people checking in with me who are leaving on much earlier flights. I don't travel that often, and I decided I didn't need to be a full two hours early. I think we arrived about 60-90 minutes before our flight, but with the tighter security checks, it felt kind of rushed to get checked in, through security, and to the gate. We weren't really rushing, but we weren't sitting around waiting like I usually am when I arrive two hours before departure. It was an interesting feeling.

The flight was fine, and we landed in Orlando before 10 in the morning. After the fiasco at the MSP airport, we decided to pay the 3 bucks for one of those shopping cart deals to wheel our luggage around. Good thing too because the bus transfer ticket counter was a long way from the baggage claim. We rode the bus about 45 minutes to the pier. While sitting in the bus waiting for the okay to get off, I looked out the window and saw one of the most disgusting things I've ever been (un)lucky enough to witness. One of the bag handler's on the pier used his index finger to hold one notril closed while shooting a booger out the other one with a quick exhale. I actually saw the thing fly. GROSS!!!!!!!

Anyway, we got off the bus and onto the ship. Everyone had told us that we would be shocked at the size of the ship. It's true. We were. I remarked that it looked like an office building. Because of our free upgrade to a suite, we were eligible for VIP check-in, whick basically means we got to sit in a posh office while getting our paperwork in order.

Once on the ship, we found our stateroom, which was really quite nice. As I said, we got a free upgrade through our travel agent to a suite. It wasn't the TOP tier room, but the next one down. We had a mini-bar and desk area, a sitting area with a couch and small table, and almost one whole wall of windows which lead to our private balcony. Our bed had a wall of mirrors behind it; we joked that we were going to be on one of the cruise ship television channels later in the week. Our bathroom had double sinks and a whirlpool tub. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a hot-tub, but just a regular bathtub with the jacuzzi jets.

Once we were somewhat settled in, we went down to the buffet lunch in the Red Sail Restaurant. Then we began our self-guided tour of the Carnival Glory. The ship's rooms are decorated and named based on a color scheme. So we found our dining room for dinner: the Platinum Dining Room, and we had to walk through the Golden Dining Room to get there. We walked through the Kaleidescope Bar into the nightclub area of the ship which included Bar Blue, Cinn-A-Bar, Burgundy Bar, White Heat Dance Club, On The Green (sportsbar) and the Ebony Cabaret. Remember Stevie Wonder? Well there was also an Ivory Lounge decorated with huge fake elephant tusks, and Indian wall murals. On the opposite end of the ship was the Amber Palace where the shows were performed. As you hear the names of these rooms, you have to remember that the name of the room matches the color scheme. It reminded me of being a kid, and planning out my future mansion. I always planned for "colored" rooms.

Our tour also took us through the Camel Club casino, which I preferred to call the Camel Toe casino, just because it tickled my funny bone. We went outside and found the pools on the Turquoise and Cobalt Lido decks. We walked up to the topless deck, however we never found anyone topless up there. The Old Glory Lobby was quite posh. It started on Deck 3 and was open up to about Deck 9, I think. The grand staircase sat opposite the wall of glass elevators. Level 4 above the lobby had all of the shops.

During our ship exploration, we had to take a break to do our life boat drill. Of course, we got there right on time, unlike 80% of the ship's passengers, so we ended up against the wall as more and more people came to our muster station. It was quite clausterphobic, especially with that lifejacket around my neck!

We ate dinner in the dining room, although I can't remember what we had. Suffice it to say that EVERYTHING was delicious. I wish I had blogged or journaled on the ship so that I could remember what we had each night. After dinner we went to the "Welcome Aboard" show in the Amber Palace which was basically like a dance recital with singing. After the Glory Dancers did their thing, we listened to comedian Tim Harkleroad. He was somewhat funny, although he relied on the easy self-deprecating fat jokes that overweight comedians like to keep in their back pockets. He was going to do an adults only show the following night, but we missed it.

Sunday, January 14: Sunday was our fun day at sea. Luckily I still have the Carnival Caper daily newsletters from our trip, so I can kind of recreate how we spent our days. Each Carnival Caper included a tear out Today-At-A-Glance section which I highlighted with the things I thought would be fun. I never did them all, but I kept that thing in my pocket at all times so I would always know what was going on.

We ate our breakfast each day in the dining room where I had my favorite breakfast of oatmeal and banana. After breakfast, I went to play some trivia in the Creams Coffee Bar while John checked out the casino, I believe. The trivia was set up by teams. All week long, the ship had a team color competition. Your team was assigned based on your dining room seating. We were the white team. So I joined other white teamers, and we played cartoon trivia. We ended up almost winning, but lost by a couple points.

After that, John and I met in the casino for a Craps Gaming Lesson. We also did this in Vegas, so it was kind of a refresher. Craps is a really cool casino game, but I think people get intimidated by it because there is a lot going on, and it can be confusing. We got to play a few rounds with fake chips. In Vegas, they give you real money ($20) to play, but you have to use it to play craps right after your lesson.

After lunch, we went to an art auction with champagne in the Ebony Cabaret. It was a little boring actually because a lot of pieces went up, we had to listen to the whole spiel, and then nobody bid on them. My favorite piece ended up having a starting bid of $25,000. It was by that female painter who was called the "Petite Picasso" or something like that. There were more auctions throughout the week, which I think might have been a bit more exciting since people could request which pieces they wanted to see put up, so maybe later in the week there was more bidding. We didn't make time to go and find out, though.

The rest of the afternoon, we spent out on deck by the pools. I laid out in the sun reading Frankenstein and sipping a Yellow Bird.

Monday, January 15:

Tuesday, January 16:

Wednesday, January 17:

Thursday, January 18:

Friday, January 19:

Saturday, January 20:

Did I Miss The Boat??

2007-02-13T09:49:00.000-06:00

I feel like I want to blog about my cruise even though it was close to a month ago now. I really like the idea of having a real record of a life lived in this blog, but that means I need to actually blog about what's going on each day whether it seems interesting or not. And while I didn't have internet access on the ship, I could have blogged to a word file and then uploaded them all when we got home. Well, technically I did have internet access on the ship, but it was VERY spendy. A birthday email to our son ended up costing us over $17.00!! So maybe I'll backdate some entries? Or perhaps just blog for about a week, roughly covering one day of the cruise on each real-life day now. Of course if I do that, then I'm missing out on this week's actual entries.

I just really don't want to forget what happened on that trip. It was such a dream...and SO fun!! I think what I will do is make a new entry with headings for each date of the cruise. Then I'll add to and edit that entry over the next week or so. That seems like the most simple solution.

Cruise journal post forthcoming.....

Grey's Anatomy Episode: Walk on Water

2007-02-09T13:09:00.000-06:00

Grey's Anatomy has been hyping it's big three part shocker. The first part aired last night. There was a huge ferry accident and a good portion of the doctors needed to go to the scene to work. I had read a spoiler somewhere that someone we thought was dead, turns out to be alive. I'm seriously hoping the spoiler wasn't referring to the pregnant lady Dr. Karev found and declared dead before seeing her hand move. That would be a really stupid spoiler. On the other hand, who else could come back from the dead that we would even care about, other than Denny Duquette. And the producers have reiterated MANY times that Denny is, in fact, dead and not coming back.

I don't really care all that much for spoilers because I don't enjoy knowing what's going to happen in advance. It has a highly negative effect on my viewing experience. I enjoy living (or rather, watching) in the moment. So the following isn't based on any sort of spoiler information, and I don't want any comments containing spoilers, please. This is just what I'm thinking since watching last night.

That little girl with the braids is weird. For a few minutes I wondered if she was a ghost or something, but since Meredith, the cop, and Derek have all seen her, I don't think that's the case. However, I did entertain the notion that she's going to end up orphaned from this accident and Meredith and Derek will end up adopting her. Izzy would make a good adoptive mom, but I don't see the show going that way at all.

Meredith fell off the edge of the pier and hasn't come up. Next week showed Derek asking creepy braid girl where she last saw Meredith. However, I don't consider this a real cliff hanger of any kind. The show is named after her, I doubt anything long-lasting is going to happen to her. I actually kind of even laughed at that moment. It just didn't play as realistic as I think the show usually does.

All in all it was a pretty good episode, nothing so knock-your-socks-off as the hype built it up to be. However, there are still two more episodes in the "mini-series", so we shall see.

I loved the chief's haircolor dilemma, and how Addison handled it. Are they setting the two of them up for an affair??? Interesting! Also loving the Yang-Burke chemistry. That storyline is really well written. Christina Yang is a highly complex character, and Sandra Oh does a great job portraying the part. My favorite scene last night was when Christina was almost smiling as she peeked around the locker to tell Meredith about the engagement. It's so unlike Christina to smile, and she wasn't quite doing it, but almost. It was perfect!

Survivor 14: FIGI

2007-02-08T13:09:00.000-06:00

The new season of Survivor starts tonight. For the last several seasons I've felt a little ambivalent about watching another season. Each time however, something sparks me to tune into those first few episodes, and before long, I'm hooked in. Last season, it was the racially segregated tribes. The season before that, it was the first Exile Island and the gender/age segregated tribes. I was intrigued in Guatemala by Gary, the ex-NFL star who was lying about his background. Palau had the women vs. men thing going on.

I have to hand it to Survivor, they really know how to keep it fresh, while keeping the basic premise almost exactly the same.

So what's got me interested this time around? Contestant Gary Stritesky from Ramsey, Minnesota. Sally Schumann from Season 12 was originally from Minnesota, but actually lived in Chicago when she was on the show. Other than that, there has never been a contestant from Minnesota. I'm slightly concerned about Gary's chances since he is the oldest survivor at age 55, but I'm holding out hope that he goes far.

And I can't wait to find out what "shocking decision" is made by one survivor. It better be damn good. I HATE cheesy teasers!

Spring Semester Update

2007-02-07T13:09:00.000-06:00

Spring semester is underway. This will be my final semester at the Community College. In May, I will graduate with an AA degree. That is really exciting, but at the same time a bit anti-climactic. Over the past couple of years, I've entertained the idea of going on to grad school after getting my bachelor's. These first two years feel like a little blip when I consider how long it could take to get an MFA or PhD. When I start thinking this way, I just need to step back, take a deep breath, and remember to live in the today.

This semester I am taking classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Tuesdays is a History of World Religions course with a highly intelligent professor who is bringing us round and round in circles, hoping we'll eventually jump on the carousel. It's great! He actually has TWO PhDs, which I find rather impressive and fascinating. If there's one thing that most bothers me about being a part-time student, it's that I haven't felt as connected to my professors as I would like to. I haven't stopped by office hours either because I'm working during office hours, or I cannot get to campus early enough to make office hours worthwhile prior to class. Also, I'm not really sure what I'd do in office hours. I haven't generally had too much problem with the class material, so I'd probably be tempted to just visit. And I don't know if professors are okay with that type of thing. I don't want to feel like a time drain.

Thursday nights, I head over to the "other" local community college for an advanced Spanish course that isn't offered at my usual school. This is a fun change of pace, and I really enjoy the instructor. Visiting the campus once a week makes me so happy that I did not choose this school as my main one when I originally enrolled. Technically it's closer to my house, but the drive is just full of rush-hour traffic, and their parking lot is full of cars, making it difficult to find a spot. In addition, the school itself is also just pretty darn big. I prefer the smaller atmosphere of my own school. So it's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

My final credit is the one-credit theatre practicum course. This show I'm actually assistant directing, which is fun, but also bizarre. I love the director's ideas and concept. We're working on an original script by a playwright who is a professor at our school, so that is a super new experience for me. I'm just not quite sure when/where/how much to step up and give my input. I don't like the idea of contradicting the director in front of the cast, as I think it isn't respectful of his authority. On the other hand, it's not as though his authority is in any way questionable. No matter what I say, do, suggest, he can shoot it down, decide to use it, or even take credit for it, if he so desired. (Which he wouldn't, by the way!). Also, I'm pretty sure that's my job as assistant director, but maybe I'm supposed to wait until I'm asked for an opinion. But that doesn't make sense, because maybe I don't have an opinion on whatever is being asked, but I have a great idea about what we did five minutes ago. For the most part, I'm just bumbling along, but generally enjoying the process. Last night, I did speak up on two ideas, both of which were well received by the director. So maybe that answers my question.

82%...Not Bad

2007-01-24T08:55:00.000-06:00

It's been a while. So here's a little something to get myself back in the blogging groove.

You know the Bible 82%!

Wow! You are truly a student of the Bible! Some of the questions were difficult, but they didn't slow you down! You know the books, the characters, the events . . . Very impressive!

Ultimate Bible Quiz
Create MySpace Quizzes

Text Messaging Gone Wrong, Yet Somehow Right

2007-01-11T11:37:00.000-06:00

You know how when you text message, your phone will automatically spell possible words for you? Sometimes the wrong word comes up as an alternative to the one you're trying to spell. Well today's entry is the first of a new series entitled: Text Messaging Gone Wrong, Yet Somehow Right.
I have two examples for your reading pleasure today.

Kiss = Lips
Cock = Anal

Movie: the Holiday

2007-01-06T10:43:00.000-06:00

I went to see the movie the Holiday last night with my mom and sister. It was a little sappy, but still sweet and pure chick flick. The movie is about Iris and Amanda. Two women, one in L.A. and one in England who are depressed at Christmastime thanks to the unbecoming behavior of thier respective (ex)lovers. They meet online at www.homeexchange.com, which incidentally is a real website, and decide to exchange homes for the holidays. In compliance with standard chick flick-ness, each falls in love on her holiday, and finds something inside herself that's been missing.

Since I'm already in love, the movie resonated something different with me. What I came away with was the desire to make my home cozy and lovely like the homes in the movie. Iris, played by Kate Winslet, lives in a tiny stone cottage in Surrey, England. Instead of seeming tiny however, it was cozy. Two soft chairs with pillows next to the fireplace, which Cameron Diaz's character was able to simply light without any kind of kindling. That part actually took me out of the movie there for a second. You cannot just put a lighter under wood and have a nice fire going in two seconds. Anyway, another of Iris' rooms was floor to ceiling bookshelves, even around the doorway, so that when you walked in, you actually walked under the books and needed to turn around to look at them.

At Amanda's house in L.A. however, the shelves were FILLED with DVDs; she is a movie trailer maker. She had every variety of entertainment electronic device. There was a workout room, and she had a swimming pool in the backyard. Her bedroom was spacious, luxurious, and had automatic room darkening shades. The house was very nice and very large.

What neither house had was clutter. No piles of bills and paperwork. No dirty dishes. No grimy microwave ovens and stovetops that needed cleaning. No piles of shoes next to the doorway. No unsharpened pencils lying around.

I know it's a movie, and not real life. But I would like to live in a house like that just for a day......okay a week.........well maybe a month. Oh heck, can't I have a house like that all the time? How?

Tropical Getaway Pending!

2007-01-05T10:49:00.000-06:00

I am leaving in 8 days for a week long cruise to Carribean with my husband! It is our 15 year anniversary gift to ourselves as well as his 40th birthday celebration! It will be just the two of us and I am so very excited!

Television for Old and Young Alike

2007-01-04T12:06:00.000-06:00

Last night I delivered library books to a woman (my friend?) who lives in a senior housing facility. This is one of my volunteer activities. The coordinator called me before Christmas and told me the books were ready, but that it was fine to wait until after the holidays. I promptly forgot all about picking up the books and scheduling a delivery. It was one of those things that kept sneaking into my mind, and then immediately falling out of my mind again. When the coordinator called me yesterday, I felt awful! I had even gone to the library once in that time to pick up some things I had on reserve for myself! Gah!

So last night, I made time while the kids were at church for confirmation and music rehearsal to run over the library in my town to pick up the books, drive down to the next town to deliver them, and drop off the books she already had at the library in her town. While dropping off the books, the two of us had a nice little chat. She talked about how she was looking forward to her television shows starting up again after the holiday hiatus. She's actually really hip on the newer shows and watches Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal, House, and the many versions of CSI. We chatted a bit about what's going on on some of the shows. She suggested I check out House, and I told her she might like Medium. It was a pleasant surprise that we shared many of the same favorite shows.

Didn't old people used to watch shows like Matlock, Murder, She Wrote, and The Golden Girls?

Wrapping Things Up

2006-12-19T11:35:00.000-06:00

I have only one more class meeting tonight at 5pm, then I am officially done with the semester. I will have 52 credits, and be one semester away from a two-year degree. Typing that makes me want to cry a little bit. I'm kinda proud of myself.

Two of my grades have come in from this semester; I'm waiting grades in the other two classes. It seems as though my GPA might have survived another semester! The one class I was concerned about after getting only 80% on a major project turned out okay once everything else was taken into consideration.

I'll then have five weeks off before starting my final semester. In those five weeks I plan to complete my apply to three colleges, complete my tax return, file my fafsa, read a few more one-acts, and start reading for my History of World Religions class. If I have time, I'll also do some quick review of some Spanish language concepts (subjunctive, dependent clauses, etc.) in preparation for the Conversation&Composition course I'm taking next semester.

:)

I just titled this post and realized I really need to get going on wrapping my Christmas gifts. I have a few small things to buy, but I haven't really wrapped anything yet.

I want to make money the way this guy does

2006-12-13T12:13:00.000-06:00

Interesting story on Comcast today. An art teacher in Virginia has been put on paid leave and is in danger of losing his job. Why?

He moonlights as an artist whose paintings sell for hundreds of dollars.

His medium??
His ass and genitals as a stamp in print-paintings.

Read the story here:

His website isn't looking too well at the moment. All of the images are broken links (aka red xs). I'm guessing the comcast story provided more traffic than his server is used to. Just in case it fixes itself later:

http://www.buttprintart.com/

Keeping My Plates Spinning

2006-11-16T11:12:00.000-06:00

Here are my projects for the rest of the year:

1) Gender Identity Paper for Human Sexuality class (finished and will be turned in tonight)

2) Exercise!!!! (Due NOW!!!!!)

3) 10-12 minute oral presentation on the Tuskegee Syphilis study imposed on African Americans in the 1930's through 1970's. (Due Nov. 30)

4) Conduct informational interview(s) and write report for Reasearch Writing class (Due November 30)

5) Submit applications to three colleges for fall (Deadline goal: end of November)

6) Choose one-act play to student direct this spring (Deadline Goal: December 31)

7) Tax return (Deadline Goal: January 10)

8) File FAFSA (Deadline Goal: End of January)

There are probably some I forgot, even though I kept needing to renumber the list in order to keep it chronological as I added tasks. This doesn't include at least one more major project that I'm anticipating in my research writing class. It has not yet been assigned, but some listings on the online grade sheet make me fear its impending arrival.

Whoa, I Actually Accomplished A Lot Today!

2006-11-11T23:44:00.000-06:00

I've spent the day working, working, working on various project that need attention this week.

It's 11:44pm and I just finished up casting the Sunday school Christmas program for my church. It was quite a job making sure that everyone who wanted a part got one that fits their skills and personality. Plus I need to consider things like costumes, everyone kind of wants one, but some people won't have them. Hopefully the fact that they have more lines will make up for it. I also had to make sure no one was narrating the scene that they need to appear in. I think I've got it all organized now. I'll go to church early tomorrow to make copies and highlight them so I can hand them out to the Sunday school kids.

I also organized my volunteer list, costume list, and prop list. Now I just need to organize those volunteers and get the lists to them.

I finished up and printed out a bunch of stuff for a scholarship I'm applying for. I still have to complete a 500 word essay, but everything else is finished. Working on stuff like this (I'm also building a resume for a college class assignment), makes me realize just how much I do. I didn't think I would have anything of value to put on my campus involvement sheet, but really, I filled it up and needed to play with font size, spacing, and margins to fit it all on the page. For every category, I was able to use all the space allowed, and not just with filler. I actually have awards and honors; I actually have community activites. One of my college instructors wrote a letter of recommendation that made me sound like a great student and person. I have to pick up two more letters this week so I can turn in the application on Tuesday or Wednesday.

I sent a few more emails out regarding hockey. I signed on to be the team manager this year, and it's been crazy busy so far. Hopefully things will slow down soon.

I (almost) finished the chapter on female anatomy and physiology for my Human Sexuality class. I've gotten behind on my reading a little bit, so I'm slowly catching up. It shouldn't be a problem because there is no more required reading for the course, so I have about a month to catch up.

I put the finishing touches on my resume that I'm building for a class assignment. I also posted to the message board for my online class, so I'm all caught up there as well.

I drove to the library to pick up books I have on hold and books to deliver to a homebound patron (one of the community activities that looks good on my scholarship application). However, the library was closed in observance of Veteran's Day. Okay?!?!

I watched Thursday night's episode of Survivor with my youngest son. It was a good one! The mutiny idea was very fresh and unexpected. The fact that Brad still got voted out made it even more interesting. And Brad making the jury just put the rest of the game into a bit of a tailspin. Can't wait to see what else Mark Burnett has up his sleeve.

I'm going to read the new postsecret update, then I'm either going to bed or cleaning the kitchen and then going to bed. I'll probably clean the kitchen.

Nighty night.

I Have a Myspace

2006-11-10T13:25:00.000-06:00

Thanks to hanging out with the college kids, and having teenagers of my own. I have, for the last couple of months, been the proud owner of my very own myspace. I don't do all that much with it. However, today I uploaded some images of Garbage Pail Kids who share their names with my family members.

Remember Garbage Pail Kids? They came out in response to the Cabbage Patch Kid craze of the early '80s. They were a parody of these dolls in the form of trading card stickers. They utilized grotesque humor including the timeless hilarity of bodily functions. I remember they caused a bit of controversy in their time......but even today I find them hilarious.

If you want to check them out, visit my myspace at http://www.myspace.com/95922338. I don't have one of those fancy, customized myspace URLs. I'm not sure if you have to join myspace to view the photos or not. Sorry about that if you do.

Just for kicks, here's my Garbage Pail Kid, Meltin' Melissa

Advice For Hemming Pants

2006-11-09T11:01:00.000-06:00

My oldest son recently got confirmed at the same church I was confirmed at many years ago. He looked so handsome in black dress pants and shoes, pink shirt and tie, and his white confirmation robe.

A couple months before the confirmation, we went out and bought him the full outfit: pants shirt, tie, socks, shoes, and a belt. I had originally intended on having his pants hemmed professionally for $10 or $15 or whatever. I didn't want to do it too soon though because boys who are 14, almost 15 years old grow seemingly overnight. I kept envisioning his pants being too short because of a sudden growth spurt.

Suddenly I found myself in tech week without having gotten his pants hemmed, so I decided to do them myself. The last time I sewed anything other than a button was when the child was baptized and I sewed him a little outfit. At that time my husband told me that if I had a nickel for every profanity I spoke while making the outfit, we'd be millionaires. It turned out fine in the end, but it was quite a journey. Hemming the pants was no different.

Luckily I was in tech week, which means the costume designer was there each night to give me advice and guidance. I didn't actually come out and ask her to do them for me, but at a couple points I wished I had. No doubt she did as well.

Here is the basic breakdown of the process for your enjoyment:

Attempt #1: Pinned the pants and sewed the hem. When I was finished, it wasn't entirely clear whether both legs were the same length. The fabric also buckled somewhat, likely from slight tapering of the leg. He wore them this way to the rehearsal on Saturday morning. I realized they were way too short. As long as he stood still, they were fine. But as soon as he started walking, his socks showed and the pants swung badly.

Saturday night I consulted the costume designer for advice.

Attempt #2: Backstage during Saturday night's performance. I had the second half of Act I and all of Act II to work on this. I took the hems back down, and re-pinned them a bit longer. No, I didn't measure the child, but I had an idea of how much longer they needed to be. I also employed the costume designer's suggestion of splitting the side seam of the pants inside the hem to get them to lie flatter when hemmed. I finished one leg before I had to go on for Act III. I finished the show, and returned home with the pants at about 11:00 or so. My son wasn't yet sleeping, but he was in bed. I asked him to please get out and try the pants on again. The one leg I had done at rehearsal?? Still too short!!!! I remembered the costume designer telling me to watch for the pants to hit the top of the heel. As I was pinning the un-hemmed leg, I realized I was pulling the fabric taut. This was my problem. If you pull it down taut to pin it, it pops back up when you let go, and the pants become too short. I let the pants fall naturally and pinned them just at the heel of the shoe.

Attempt #3: It's now almost midnight. The confirmation is in the morning. I redo the hems on both pant legs, including the side-seam splitting trick. I utilize my iron often to make sure everything is lying flat. When I finish, it's too late to wake up my son to try them on. Even if he did, I'm not going to re-sew them no matter what.

Sunday morning: He puts on the pants and they are absolutely PERFECT!!!!! The length is just right, the sewing is almost invisible, and the hems lie perfectly flat. Return to sentence #2 of this post. :)

I learned alot about hemming pants in this process, which is good because since watching Project Runway last season, I want to be a fashion designer. Yeah, right.

My Rollercoaster Ride as an Actor

2006-10-20T07:29:00.000-05:00

Enjoying a few quiet moments with a nice warm cup of English Breakfast tea. It's the perfect time of year for warm cups of tea, and cuddly blankets, and fuzzy robes, and cozy slippers. Unfortunately I am currently without slippers. It's time to get a replacement pair.

My play opens in a week. I realized we only have five more rehearsals, not counting the preview performance. I better get on my game and focus! We've had a couple rehearsals where we run through an act twice. Each time, the first run-through is generally kind of sucky and I feel sort of "out of it" and "off" somehow. The second run-through is always better. I need to learn how to be really present and focused on the FIRST run-through.

It's a funny thing about acting. I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm flying by the seat of my pants. This is my typical journey when I'm acting in a show:

AUDITION: I have a lassez-faire attitude about it, thinking that I'll either make it or not. I don't get too worked up about it. After the audition, I start really wanting the part and I practice how I "should" have auditioned.

CASTING: Once I get the role, I start looking forward to the first read through. I generally enjoy the rehearsal process.

REHEARSALS: Early on I feel fine because I have a general understanding of effective blocking and it's relatively easy for me to memorize lines. Later in the process however, a feeling of incompetency sets in. I feel like I'm an idiot who has no idea what the hell she's doing. During this time, I typically decide that this is my last acting gig; I'll stage manage, direct, or work tech from now on.

PERFORMANCE: Performance nights arrive. I have a dressing room ritual which involves arriving about half an hour before call and just really taking my time with make-up. I enjoy the solitude of a peaceful dressing room before the rest of the cast arrives. Ironically even though I've felt incompetent during rehearsals, I usually feel quite ready to perform. I have that slight feeling of nerves just before stepping on stage, but once I'm there it all falls into place. If I'm really on my game, I am completely present in each scene. When this happens, I sort of feel as if I leave my body and only return to it when I leave the stage. Where I go when I leave my body, I have no idea. It's not out-of-body in the sense that I'm watching myself or go to a "happy" place. It's like I just disappear for a while. I probably sound crazy! :)

CURTAIN CALL: Applause and bows. Okay, I guess I'll do this again after all.

Let's Get a Little Depressed, Shall We?

2006-10-11T11:03:00.000-05:00

I just read this quote on another blog,

I once heard 'growing up' defined as 'the process of taking various prospective futures out behind the shed, pointing a shotgun between their cute little eyes, and blowing their #%*@# heads off.'

That has me seriously depressed. What a bleak way to put it.

Weird Al "White and Nerdy"

2006-09-29T08:25:00.000-05:00

This is my gift for having to listen to my son's "Ridin Dirty" ringtone for the last several months. Weird Al is a genius.

My Newest Reality Escape

2006-09-28T23:48:00.000-05:00

I've totally gotten into Project Runway on Bravo. This is the third season of the show, but my first season as a viewer. I absolutely love it. I taped last night's new episode and planned to watch it tonight. I noticed today that one of the contestants, Laura was being interviewed on outzonetv.com. I assumed this meant she was "out" on last night's show. Imagine my surprise when watching the show tonight and Laura was told she was "in". I suddenly got bummed out realizing that one of my two favorites (Jeffrey and Michael) were going to be "out". But, surprise! The producers decided to let all four of the remaining contestants move on to the finals (a full collection preview at some fashion week).

Now I have another problem. The fashion week show has already happened in real time sometime in mid-September. Bravo tells me that the reunion show will be aired next week. But I have no idea when the fashion week final competition is aired. Is anyone familiar with Project Runway's timeline? When and where do I get to watch fashion week??

Thanks!

Homecoming!

2006-09-19T12:40:00.000-05:00

On Friday night, I took the kids to the high school homecoming game. None of my kids are in high school yet, but the junior high does homecoming week events and even have a pep rally on Friday, so those kids are pumped up about it too. My thirteen year old and his friend painted their faces half black and half gold, and sprayed their hair the same two colors. Well, actually *I* sprayed their hair......and now the index finger on my right hand has a big blister from the way I was pressing the top of the aerosol can. It is incredibly bizarre.

The game was really fun and we beat the pants off the opposing team 43-0. Ironically the opposing team was my high school, and the school my brother plays for right now. It's fun going to a high school football game, but it's a little surreal to go as the *mom*. I mean, am I actually old enough for that? I even found myself tsk tsk -ing at the suggestive dancing being done during the half-time show. OMG....get me off the world for ten years.....I'm aging too quickly. There were swing dancers during the marching band's swing-themed show, and the danceline danced to "Shook Me All Night Long."

The funny thing about that song is that I was recently trying to convince my children that "Shook Me All Night Long" is a song about dancing. "Yes, dancing", I told them, "why, what did you think?" I got the look. LOL Of course I got the same look when I tried to tell my son that "YMCA" is about being gay in the '70's. It's best to keep those teenagers on their toes. At the football game the danceline did edit the AC/DC song a bit to cut out a couple of the references, although it doesn't make much sense to cut out some stuff when you leave in "She told me to come, but I was already there."

They had the homecoming royalty walk on during the half time show too. I kind of forgot about homecoming royalty. What is that all about? Let's have a vote for who is the most popular kid??? Geez, no wonder teenagers are so full of angst. Imagine your office holding an office-wide vote for favorite worker. Then imagine actually caring if you win. When I was in high school my class jokingly voted for one of the mentally challenged kids for homecoming court. She didn't win, or place in the top three, but she was one of the choices on the ballot (of 10, I think). Some joke - huh? I wonder if the girl got the joke or not? Unfortunately I have no idea how it might have affected her since I didn't really talk to her at all. I wasn't cruel (I wasn't responsible for getting her voted in as a finalist), but I wasn't inclusive either. She basically didn't exist for me. Kind of depressing, isn't it?

It makes me wonder though. Am I that much different now. Do I treat people with disabilities as though they are invisible? Do I treat them like children? What specifically do I do in my everyday life to acknowledge that all people make a contribution to this world, that all people have something to teach me? Do I love, include, and respect everyone? Probably not, but it's good to be aware because we can't make changes without knowing what we already have.

How's that for deep??

Keeping Life Carefully Scheduled

2006-09-18T11:13:00.000-05:00

Life is busy, still.....and will continue to be until at least Christmas. I'm trying to remain calm and accomplish little things towards bigger ends. I need to remember to work on multiple projects at a time. Twenty minutes on this, an hour on that, thirty-five minutes on something else. On my way home from class tonight I'm going to buy the invitations for my son's confirmation so they can be sent out this week. I want to make my menu and start getting little stuff done to clean the house (washing my kitchen curtains, for example). I will have basically no time during the week prior since it is going to be tech week for my show and I'll be performing the Friday and Saturday nights before his confirmation.

Also by the end of October, I need to have my scholarship application done for Spring semester. I'm not even sure when my applications for the four-year schools are due for next fall. I better figure that out.

I don't feel too overwhelmed yet. :) This is good. I've made some good beginnings on memorizing my lines for The Importance of Being Earnest. I'm playing Lady Bracknell. I brought my script along on the light rail last night on my way to the Guthrie to see Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing. So, even though I got a bit car sick, I was able to start the memorization process. :)

Busiest EVER!

2006-08-25T09:42:00.000-05:00

I am taking 11 credits this semester. That's only one credit shy of full-time status. I can already see that it's going to be an exercise in juggling. In addition to classwork, I'll have to fit in the following:

Work
Fall play
Relicensing for my job (Oct./Nov.)
College applications for next year (three of them)
Scholarship application for Spring semester (and maybe some for next year)
Taxes (must get these done EARLY this year for financial aid purposes)
Family - Hockey - Household Stuff

I think my best defense is avoiding procrastination and getting things done as they are assigned rather than when they are due.

On that note, I have two short assignments due by midnight for my online writing course.

Navigating Group Work

2006-08-25T08:19:00.000-05:00

So, one of my classes has the dreaded GROUP WORK! There are about 5 or so group assignments throughout the semester and total about 20% of our grade. I really, really, really do not like doing group work AT ALL. I'm anal retentive about my schoolwork and expect perfection from myself, but feel like an ogre if I expect perfection from others. Consequently when I work in groups, I feel like I'm trying to be in charge of everything because I really, really, really want it to be right. It's exhausting and it's all my own fault because I have trouble just letting go.

Of course, I've gone and done it again. Taken charge of the first group assignment. I really don't mind, in fact I prefer it, but I sometimes think it would be a good exercise for me to give up a little bit. THANKFULLY, my group seems really great so far. Everyone has already logged into the site and at least said hello (it's an online class). Our group already has some discussion on the project and has some deadlines in mind. And at least one other person seems to have the same kind of take charge, get things done, and get them done well type of attitude. I am so THANKFUL for that. So, even though I dread group work, if I must do group work, I feel really happy to have the group that I have......so far that is.

I will say that in my Spanish class last spring, I was able to completely give up control of our group presentation. I just turned my information into the guy doing our power point and let him take care of it. I was so proud of myself! :) Ha!

Here's an example of a group project "issue" that I had in a biology class I took last summer. There were four of us in the group. We each were supposed to do our part and forward it all to this one certain girl, let's call her Tracy. Tracy was going to put everyone's part together and then print the assignment and bring it in to class. The night before it was due, she emailed us saying that she couldn't figure out how to get the graph to print out with borders separating the cells. I offered to do it for her, so she emailed me the paper. As I was looking over it, I realized that she didn't change the fonts to match from one person's part of the assignment to the next. Each person's section had a (slightly) different font. So, I fixed that. Then I read over the assignment and noticed that in another person's part of the assignment (let's call her Jenny), all of the apostrophes were messed up. It was one of those bizarre situations where you needed to put the apostrophes after the s in almost every case, but Jenny's section had them all written with the apostrophe before the s. I really debated changing them. I KNEW they were wrong, but I thought it was kind of rude to change them without telling anyone in the group that I was changing them. I also didn't want to bring it to the attention of the group because I thought it would make Jenny feel bad, as though I was calling her stupid. I was in a quandary. I certainly wouldn't want someone changing my spelling/grammar without telling me, but that's because I worry that someone would change it incorrectly. And even though I knew Jenny had her apostrophes wrong, I didn't feel right changing it without telling the group. Finally I decided to just change it and not mention anything to the group about it. So I did this, and turned in our assignment. Tracy, who was originally going to be printing out the assignment, printed out a copy of the assignment so that each of us could have a copy. Well Jenny starts reading Tracy's version and asking about the apostrophes and wondering why her whole section has the apostrophes wrong, and I start explaining to her that the apostrophes aren't wrong. Jenny insists that they are. "In a plural situation, the apostrophes need to come after the s," she says. I look at her paper and she is reading a copy with wrong apostrophe placement, NOT a copy of what I turned in for our group with proper apostrophe placement. Turns out that it wasn't Jenny who misplaced the apostrophes, by Tracy whose spell-checker suggested she moved all the apostrophes to come before the s. Tracy simply clicked to allow the changes, essentially causing Jenny's portion of the paper to have dozens of misplaced apostrophes. Jenny was relieved when I told her the assignment we turned in as a group had all the apostrophes in the right place!

Interesting!

2006-08-23T14:37:00.000-05:00

New 'Survivor' Divides Groups by Race

Well it all starts again on September 14th. Unfortunately I have class on Thursday nights, so I'll be watching the taped version every week.

Grey's Anatomy, which was our Sunday night show last year, is now on Thursdays as well, but at 8pm instead of 9. YUCK! I'm guessing we'll tape that and watch it together either when I get home from class on Thursday night, or maybe we'll save the tape and watch it on Sundays like we used to. The only thing about that is trying to avoid the "water cooler talk" for three days.

I'm thinking of limiting myself to these two shows this fall. That's mostly a good thing, except it means I can't check out some other good stuff like Lost, the new show Brothers and Sisters, What About Brian?, Boston Legal, the new Six Degrees. I'm happy to give up Medium which we watched last year, and while it was good, just wasn't quite good enough, and always seemed a little too much like the episode before it.

2006-08-22T13:52:00.000-05:00

My illness re-upped itself over the weekend and I was feeling like complete crap! I napped on Saturday, but then stayed up too late on Saturday night. Sunday I was feeling badly again, so I napped for about four hours (12:15 - 4:15), then forced myself to go to sleep at about 8:30pm. I had some trouble staying asleep after that long nap, but I took some Tylenol PM a little after 10, and I slept like a baby. Thankfully, I was feeling much better yesterday!

School Supply Heaven

2006-08-18T14:38:00.000-05:00

I'm having fun with school supplies! School starts in just over two weeks for the kids, and next week already for me. I did a quick pass through Target getting the things we always need like glue sticks, pencils, crayons, erasers, notebooks, and folders. Usually there are school supply lists from the local schools right there in the school supply department, but our schools were missing so I had to just get the basics and then plan another trip for the more specific stuff. I found the lists at home today and organized what we already have, and what we'll still need to get.

I remember every year throughout junior high and high school, my good friend Kelly and I would make exhaustive lists of everything we needed for the new school year. It would include every single thing known to man in regards to "back-to-school": locker mirror, paper clips, color coordinated folders and notebooks, pencils, pens in every color under the sun, markers, highlighters, paper clips, stapler, locker shelf, and on and on. I'm pretty sure I never got everything on my list, but I enjoyed making it just the same. I still really enjoy stocking up on fresh, clean piles of school supplies.

I'm also trying to make a list of stuff I need to have at home. It never seems to fail that a child needs to complete some project and we don't have graph paper, or working markers, or loose leaf paper, or a map of the world, or a protractor, or something like that. Sometimes it's hard to even find a sharpened pencil with an eraser. Last year or the year before I bought one of those little desktop plastic stacking drawer organizer things and labeled the drawers for pencils, pens, and colored pencils. I also labeled a shoe box for extra school supplies and filled it with fresh pencils, glue, extra boxes of crayons, and such to replenish the kids' supply throughout the year. I also filled a large three ring binder with loose leaf paper and graph paper. That little bit helped immensely, but I wish I could have a huge office supply closet like I imagine they have in the corporate world.

This year, I'm finding that we need to stock up on paper clips, rubber bands (even though I feel like I just bought a package of hundreds within the last few years), and highlighters. All three of my kids' school lists calls for at least one highlighter, including the second grader! I bought a package of 5 in different colors for the family to share last year, but two are lost and the other three are kind of dried out and don't flow very well or for very long. I'm going to buy a big package of nice, big, fat, (relatively) expensive highlighters. I've learned the hard way that you sometimes get what you pay for with school supplies. I had a full box of pencils that never quite would sharpen properly......then when I got the more expensive kind, they worked so nicely. I also have an expensive stapler and tape dispenser and it's so nice to have things that operate properly. So I'm going to invest a bit in the highlighters.

I'm mostly concentrating on what my kids need for school, but I also need to make sure I have a good, fresh stock of supplies for myself as well since my classes start in five days!

Hair Woes

2006-08-17T08:34:00.000-05:00

My hair continues to fall out daily. After every shampoo I have a ball of hair nearly the size of a ping-pong ball in my drain. No matter how much hair comes out while I'm showering, more pulls out throughout the day when I run my fingers through my hair. It's constantly, constantly, CONSTANTLY coming out. A couple people have suggested that perhaps it's because I don't use a hairbrush. (I have naturally curly hair, and a hairbrush doesn't really work that well with it.) So, lately I've been brushing it each night quite completely. The brush fills with hair, and still more comes out the next day.

I think it's falling out to make room for the gray hairs to come in because it seems every time I look in the mirror, there are more and more of those suckers sprouting. And only occasionally are they the ones that fall out. I'm going in for a professional cut and color tonight to try and combat some of the gray. Although I'm worried because the last time I went in, I paid $50 for about 8 foils that you couldn't even see, AND when I got home, my single gray hair was still shining bright on the top of my head. Unfortunately now I have more than just one......

I'm really nervous about this appointment tonight. I've only gone to this hairdresser once before for a haircut and I wasn't real thrilled with the results. She cut a "bang section" and cut it WAY WAY too short. The shortest piece was just at my eyebrow when wet, which means it shrunk up to nothing when it dried. Also she used the thinning shears all over the place after I mentioned that the hair felt too thick through the crown. Thinning shears and naturally curly hair do not mix! (I actually wonder if that might be why the hair is falling out, but I can't think of a reasonable explanation for causation.) Although I will say things are less thick through the crown, little pieces of hair come sticking out from all places when it's humid, and my hair doesn't sit down nice in a ponytail because the little hairs come popping out.

I am going to give her one more try tonight and I'm going to be more proactive with her regarding how much/little to cut off and avoiding the thinning shears. Hopefully she'll do a nice job with the color. The reason I'm going to her again and giving her another chance is that she is INCREDIBLY affordable. And even though I mostly agree that you get what you pay for with haircuts (I've been priced out of some of my favorite stylists.), I'm willing to try and make it work with this lady. For my long hair, her price is $58 for cut and all over foils. I've paid close to that just for a cut from other stylists.

Anyway, I'm a little nervous.....but we shall see.

Under The Weather

2006-08-16T09:40:00.000-05:00

Oh man, I am coming down with something! I started feeling badly on Monday night and was running a low grade fever by Tuesday afternoon, although I "felt" like I was running a fever all day long. It's kind of a tired, scratchy throat, phlegmy head, achy type of illness. On Monday, I was thinking maybe it was allergies, but with the fever I'm not so sure. I feel slightly better this morning, but still not even close to 100%, more like 49% or less. I need lots of hot tea and water.

I desperately wanted to go see my baby nephew last night, but worried that I might give him something, so I stayed home instead.....and slept off and on through the Hugh Hefner E! True Hollywood Story.

Sign My Buddy Map

2006-08-14T11:44:00.000-05:00

More fun from the makers of Google!!

Fringe Festival Post

2006-08-11T08:30:00.000-05:00

The Minnesota Fringe Festival has been going on since last Thursday. The Fringe Festival is in its 13th year, and according to the website, Fringe Fest is "an annual eleven-day festival of live stage performance and visual arts, including theater, dance, performance art, puppetry, spoken word, storytelling, Kids Fringe, Teen Fringe and more." 164 shows will play for a total of 876 performances at 23 different venues.

I've been to the Fringe a couple times before, but have only seen one show each year. I've never really been seriously into it, although it's always seemed like fun. This year, I decided to answer the call for volunteers. I thought it would be fun and interesting, and I would receive a free rush ticket for every shift worked. With tickets costing $12, that's a nice perk. So I've spent the last week or so working various Fringe box offices and attending some shows.

Here are the shows I've seen so far with tiny reviews:

Two Queers and a Chubby:

This is a three person spoken word presentation. Laura Bidgood, Curt Lund, and a rotating guest artist present monologues on life from their personal perspectives as a self proclaimed chubby fag-hag or as a gay man, respectively. Most of the stuff was funny, but the guest performer's monologue takes a look at the more serious side of life. Unfortunately on the night I attended, the actor didn't seem well prepared, or perhaps he just wasn't a good actor. I felt like his performance was being read without much rehearsal. That's unfortunate, because the material was good. The performance/reading just failed to keep my attention. Tonight (Friday 8/11) is your last chance to see this show at 10:00pm at the U of M Rarig Center Arena Stage.

Wrapped In Plastic:

This show is produced by Rambler Theatre and is intended as a touring production for schools to bring in. Don't let that sway you from checking the show out. It is an insightful, entertaining look at "fitting in" that is appropriate for adults as well as youth. The story follows Drea, as she is stalked by an image consultant who is willing/eager to make her over into the ideal woman. Aren't we all stalked by the inner image consultant who points out our flaws and helpfully replays events in our life that reinforce our feelings of inadequacy? Written and acted in by Lauren Spears, this show is top notch! Funny, poignant, and touching. You can still catch it at the Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis this afternoon (Friday 8/11) at 4:00pm, Saturday 8/12 at 8:3opm and Sunday 8/13 at 4:00pm.

The Dr.* Matt Show (*not a doctor):

In this show, Matt Peiken plays the ultimate television self-help guru. Does he just play a self-help guru on TV? I'm not sure, since Matt Peiken is actually selling a real book, Positive MEinforcement: Shout 'Me First!' and Make Every Day All About YOU! both during his performance as Dr.* Matt, and outside the theatre after the show. The cast also includes Kathryn Kupiecki and Christopher Volk playing various roles throughout to help Dr* Matt illustrate his principles and theories. They are excellent at morphing into their various roles and having fun with the parts. Dr* Matt does fine with his role, but he seems nervous most of the time, which is understandable since this is his show and he has a lot on the line with it. Not only did he write and produce it, he's trying to sell books as well. So even though I understand that this is probably a big deal for him, I just don't think the audience should be able to tell. Overall I think the show is well written, and even mildly to wildly amusing at times, there just seems to be something missing in the live translation. Tonight (Friday 8/11) is your last chance to see this show at 4:00pm at the U of M Rarig Center Arena Stage.

Watching Porn:

Kelvin Hatle plays Dave, a man who, never having gotten "the talk" from his parents, turns to porn to help him navigate the confusing world of women and sex. Things don't go so well when he tries to put his education into practice. Wonderfully written, acted, and directed, this show is what theatre is all about! Unlike other Fringe shows which rely on real nudity to shock and please, Watching Porn uses creative theatrics to suggest many an X-rated "event." I loved the scene which had us totally in the dark, literally, while Dave suffered from a pre-mature ejaculation with his first sex partner in college. A kabuki theatre version of a porn scene featuring the pizza delivery man was ingenious. This is a great one for those of us who appreciate smart humor! You can still catch this one Saturday 8/12 at 7:00pm, and Sunday 8/13 at 1:00pm at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage.

Wonderland:

Huge cast, big musical numbers, glitter, and a disco ball! Sexy, naughty twist on Alice in Wonderland, complete with a male protagonist named Alex, gay male dancers as the playing cards (one of whom looked exactly like my brother), a coke-snorting drag Queen of Hearts, dyke couple, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, a Mr. Caterpillar-cum-Hugh Hefner character (who, incidently, does have his butterfly wings by the end of the show), and a martini drinking, Chester Gato (aka Cheshire Cat) in a shiny purple suit. The whole thing is just decadent and crazy, and FUN! Especially clever if you know the Lewis Carrol Story well enough to get some of the jokes. Last showing for this show is Saturday 8/12 at 8:30pm, although I suspect this one will be the encore performance on Sunday 8/13 at 8:30pm for its venue, the U of M Rarig Center Procenium Stage.

I was originally planning to see some friends in shows last night, but I needed a chance to stay home and relax. I went to Body Flow and then just enjoyed the rest of the evening visiting with my mom, brother, his girlfriend, sister, her boyfriend, and my 13 year old brother who just had surgery to remove a bone tumor from his leg. Likely non-cancerous, but they are still doing a biopsy. I enjoyed the evening, but it means I missed my friend Trudy in Best of the 24 Hour Plays and my friend Adia in her fringe shows Jordan and 'At Arms Length' and Other Spaces. But you could catch all three tomorrow, Saturday 8/12 at 4:00pm, 8:30pm and 10:00pm respectively. Unfortunately, I'll be at a wedding. Instead, I'm planning a marathon Fringe night tonight. My current plan is to see:

H.P. Lovevcraft's "The Rats in the Walls"

Baggage

Tape

Sin Cities 7

I work the box office most of the day on Sunday, but might have time to see one show before I start working. I'm considering Mysterious Bruises.

College Registration Woes

2006-08-10T13:48:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I just did what I just did. The professor for an online class that I was intending to take this fall just sent out his syllabus. The term doesn't start for about two weeks, but he sent it just as a heads up and to be helpful to us, his students.

After reading the syllabus I dropped the class and picked up a different one instead. There are several reasons, none of which make me feel like less of a heel/slacker/wimp/etc....but here they are anyway, in no particular order:

1) I don't particularly love taking online courses, and my personal experience is that discussion based ones can be really difficult because all of the discussion is on message boards which can get tedious to read.

2) For each lesson (week) we would need to post to two discussion questions using no less than 100 words including citations AND post a response to one classmate's post. This is worth about a third of our grade. Plus I would feel obligated to read everyone else's postings.

3) There are five written assignments that are based on what were called "web destinations." These assignments along with the next one I'll talk about are also worth about a third of the grade.

4) The final written project is a book report on a book written by the professor. That strikes me as too much ego....but that's just me.

5) We ALSO would have to do the end of chapter exercises (T/F, multiple choice, case essay, and case quizzes) for each of the 15 chapters. A total of 70 exercises constitutes the final third of the grade.

6) This is a course I ONLY chose because it fulfills a certain goal area for my A.A. degree. There are other courses I could have chosen that I thought I would enjoy more, but decided on this one because it also fulfills a liberal arts requirement for a school that I am considering transferring to, but is really my third choice out of three schools I'm considering. I have no real interest in the subject matter.

7) After reading the syllabus, I realized I do NOT want to do that much work for a class that really, truly doesn't interest me. I'm not against working hard, it's just that with so many interests, I don't need/want to waste time/money/effort on something that fails to spark any excitement or anticipation in me. I was even able to get excited about Sociology which I took this summer and wasn't highly interested in prior to registering.

So instead, I signed up for a different course to fulfill the goal area for my A.A. degree. The class I chose makes me feel even more like a slacker college student for dropping the class in the first place. It's probably one of those classes that is always kind of a joke class, in that it would be the topic of a sitcom about college where all the guys wanted to sign up for it, etc. The class? Human Sexuality. A class that would appear to be much more stimulating than reading about Immanuel Kant's theories on Ethics. Even if it is the same amount of work, (which I doubt since it's not an online course, so the discussion will be in class instead of written) that's okay because I actually am interested in learning about the topic.

So, anyway.....

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Signage by the Highway

2006-08-07T09:42:00.000-05:00

The family drove up to Brainerd, MN for my cousin's wedding on Saturday. On the way there, we saw a sign on the side of the road. It was a white rectangular sign painted with red block lettering. If you ever drive along the highway in farming communities, you've seen the type: Corn on the Cob $1/Ear or Pick Your Own Fresh Blueberries or Ripe Tomatoes and Peppers. Well this sign said in big red letters: XXX Hot Horseradish. No, I am not kidding. That sounds like the title of a porn film involoving beastiality. I couldn't help laughing at it, and commenting. When I told my kids what horseradish is, a spicy mayonaise type thing you put on roast beef, they didn't believe me. I did NOT tell them that the sign made me think of beastiality porn.

As I consider the sign again today, I realize that while I was reading it as "Triple X Hot Horseradish", it was probably intended as "Extra, Extra, Extra Hot Horseradish."

Whenever I think about horseradish, no it's not often, but still, I think of the the book, A Death in White Bear Lake by Barry Siegel which tells the true story of Lois Jurgens, an adoptive mother who abused her 3 and 1/2 year old son, Dennis, to death. Lois was not convicted of the murder until more than 20 years after the boy's death. In the book, Dennis' older brother recalls his mother feeding Dennis horseradish as a punishment for misbehavior. There is more to the horseradish story than that, but it's too yucky. You'll just have to read the book. This book was also made into a TV movie a while back with Beverly D'Angelo playing Dennis' birth mother, Jerry Sherwood.

Very Strange!

2006-08-04T14:11:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe some of the comments made in this Yahoo! News article:
Breast Isn't Best: Readers Tell US Parenting Magazine.

Wouldn't it be interesting to write a letter to a magazine with a bottle drinking baby on the cover saying how disgusting it was for them to promote "unnatural" feeding. If people want to bottle feed, that's their decision to make. But it pisses me off when people are "SHOCKED" and "offended" to see a breastfeeding mother. I'll tell you what "SHOCKS" me, this quote from the article:

....a national survey by the American Dietetic Association found that 57 percent of those polled are opposed to women breastfeeding in public and 72 percent think it is inappropriate to show a woman breastfeeding on television programs.

What?? I don't get it at all! They are OPPOSED to it??? If a woman decides that personally she doesn't want to breastfeed in public, fine. But how can someone justify being OPPOSED to another person breastfeeding in public!?

It's just incredibly strange to me. Perhaps these are the same people who think certain people (of a certain size/age) shouldn't wear certain types of clothing in public. People that make those types of edicts piss me off.

Agitated? Who, me?

2006-08-03T09:02:00.000-05:00

Oh dear, I've been staying up way too late recently. Not really doing anything; just hanging out watching TV, maybe reading, or maybe even just falling asleep on the couch. It's just a matter of feeling sort of "agitated" lately, and then I stay up late to "relax". Although it doesn't really work because I'm just more tired the next day and it perpetuates the "agitated" feeling. I know it's kind of annoying to put those words in quotations, but it just fits how I feel when I say them, if that makes any sense. I think I've been eating too much sugar and processed carbs lately and that's what's causing the problem. That, and drinking caffeine in the form of black tea and diet Pepsi. It just all contributes to a feeling of unrest.

The other local community college is kind of pissing me off. They have a Spanish course in advanced conversation and composition that I'd like to take there. But they make everything so damn difficult. I had to apply and pay the $20 application fee or whatever. That's fine. Then I had to prove that I've taken certain math/English courses so that I could waive their assessments. I don't even want to take math or English there, just Spanish. Then I had to do an online orientation that asked all sorts of stupid questions that any idiot could figure out. It was a waste of my time! Now tonight I need to go to this on campus orientation that is supposed to take 2-3 hours!!!!! I suppose I'll have to take a fucking tour of the place and find out where I can hang out and eat pizza/play foosball with my college friends. Give me a BREAK! Also, after I signed up for the MANDATORY orientation there was a little note saying that they were going to charge me $25 for materials that I would recieve there. WTF? I just want to take ONE course in the Spring. And that's IF it's even offered in the evening. If it's not, then I did all this crap for nothing. "I did it for NOTHING" (-Baby from Dirty Dancing). Okay if that quote made you laugh, you're my hero! I only started this whole process because I wanted to take the class in the Fall, then I found out it was only offered days in the Fall.

DEEP BREATH!!!!

Anyway, it's kind of annoying to me. But I'm so pathetic and in love with college that I'm kind of excited just to get my butt to campus tonight.

Couch to 5K

2006-08-01T14:30:00.000-05:00

I started this Couch to 5K program last week. This is a VERY beginner running program designed to get you off the couch and running a 5K with nine weeks of three-times-a-week training. I did the week one workouts on Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday. After a five minute warm-up, I would alternate running for 60 seconds and walking for 90 until I had run/walked for 20 minutes. Sunday I was dying afterwards, Tuesday it still sucked, and by Friday it wasn't necessarily fun, but I didn't have to sit or lie down for a half hour afterwards.

This week, I embarked on week two. I ran yesterday afternoon on my husband's treadmill, alternating 90 seconds of running with 60 seconds of walking. After the first set of alternating I felt like I was not going to make it. I really didn't think 60 seconds of walking was long enough to help me recover from running the whole 90 seconds......but I soldiered on and completed the whole workout. Although I did step off the treadmill two or three times for 5-10 seconds just to give myself a chance to breathe. I was so tired when I was done and VERY hot. My son even remarked on my extremely red face.

Well today I logged onto the site again, just to double check and it turns out that instead of walking 60 seconds between running spurts, I was supposed to be walking for 2 minutes! I was so happy because now it means I only have to run 9 out of 20 minutes instead of 12, and my next workout should be easier than my last one. HOORAY! And I'm really happy I didn't just give up halfway through yesterday like I really, really wanted to.

My plan is to do Couch to 5K on Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday.....but as you can see, that hasn't exactly worked out so far, and I'm only on week two, so we'll see what happens.

My favorite part about the little schedule is the third workout on the ninth week which starts with the words "The Final Workout!" implying that I'll never have to run again if I don't want to.....it's the FINAL workout.

A Door Closes......Oops Maybe It Was Never Open

2006-07-28T13:20:00.000-05:00

I got the call last night. I did not get the role I auditioned for. Darn! The director was very complimentary of my audition, however, which was nice. I don't think he had to say that....but he did. In any case, that was fun while it lasted. :)

So what's on the horizon? I'm getting my hair cut and colored in mid-August by a lady who lives in my neighborhood and works out of her basement. I'm hoping for the best. I want funky, chunky highlights/lowlights in two colors.

I'm pretty sure my class schedule is set for the fall. I finally decided that I am going to go for my A.A. degree before transferring on for my bachelor's degree. Here's the list for fall and tentative list for spring:

FALL SCHEDULE

Lifetime Fitness - 2 credits - online course (an online phy-ed course, interesting!)

Ethics - 3 credits - online course (not incredibly thrilled about this course, but it fulfills the ethical responsibility part of the A.A. degree)

Physical Geology w/Lab - 4 credits - accelerated course meets Monday nights
September 11 - October 30

Research Writing in the Disciplines - 2 credits - accelerated course meets Tuesday nights August 29 - October 17 (I could switch this class to the second half of the semester, if necessary)

SPRING TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

History of World Religions - 4 credits - Tuesday nights

Spanish Conversation and Composition - 3 credits

Theatre Activities - 1 credit

The Spanish class is actually at another school, and I'm not yet sure when it's going to be offered. If it's also on Tuesday nights, then I'll need to choose a different history course. If it's not offered at night at all, then I'll choose a different elective course, maybe an Intro to Theatre, Art History, or something similar.

Once those classes are complete, I'll have my A.A. stuff finished. Coolio!

Busy Weekend Plans Start Tonight

2006-07-27T09:04:00.000-05:00

We're getting ready to go out of town for the weekend to a lake in Wisconsin. I'm excited about it. I think it will be fun and relaxing to get away. It's our family, my brother's family, and our dad and his wife. I really need to start getting ourselves packed though. I haven't even started to really think about it. Oh well, it shouldn't take too long to get a family of five ready for a two night trip. The kids can pretty much pack themselves and I just need to get the food situated.

I'm going to see The Great Gatsby tonight at the Guthrie Theatre. I really wanted to read the book again before going, but I never got around to it. In fact, I'm not entirely sure I even read the whole book the first time (junior year lit. class). This will be the first show I'll see in the new Guthrie Theatre. I don't know if it's just me or what, but I'm not super excited about the new Guthrie space. I guess I think the old one was just fine. But then again, I'm not really into new just for the sake of new. That's why I don't understand why everyone thinks the Metrodome needs to be replaced. It seems like it's working just fine, and it's only like what, maybe 20 years old??

Callbacks went fine. I'll be finding out over the weekend.

Sunday afternoon I am taking my three kids to a Saint Paul Saints baseball game. I've never been to one, so I'm excited about that too. I won the tickets on FM 107.

I Don't Actually Suck!

2006-07-26T08:18:00.000-05:00

I auditioned for a local community theatre show on Monday night. I felt like a big dork who doesn't know what she's doing. Well last night the director called inviting me to callbacks! I'm just ecstatic. I was dancing around the house singing, "I don't suck!" That isn't to say that not getting a callback means you suck, because it could mean a million other things. But getting a callback definitely means that at least one other person doesn't think you suck. It's just so nice to audition for a new director whom you never met and get some good feedback like that. I'm always doubting my abilities, talents, etc.... I would really like to play this role. It's a serious part in a dramatic play, which I somehow feel more comfortable playing than comic roles. I just don't think I'm all that funny. My favorite role in high school was playing Beth, the mother, in Ordinary People my junior year.

So callbacks are tonight, and I should know by the weekend. I really relate to this part and want to play it, but I don't think I'll be too bummed if I don't make it because #1)I got a callback and therefore, I don't suck and #2)I'll have more time with my family. But having said that, I really, really want this part.

:-)

Orbit and Snoop Dogg

2006-07-25T07:08:00.000-05:00

I laugh out loud every time Snoop Dogg's tooth sparkles at the end of the Orbit Gum commercial. That commercial has softened my feelings toward Snoop Dogg after his Girls Gone Wild DVD made me lose all respect for the man.

Here's a link dedicated to the commercial. You can watch a clip (you need to visit "downstairs") and even have Snoop Dogg call you. I just sent him my husband's phone number. Hope he picks up the phone.

I really need to get a life.

Pet Peeve Meme

2006-07-20T11:04:00.000-05:00

This thing is going around on some of the blogs I read.

1. Grammatical pet peeve: The incorrect usage of effect/affect in writing.

2. Household pet peeve: Gosh, I am having a hard time coming up with one, which probably confirms the fact that I am a slob. I suppose a cold pan left soaking overnight is one, even though I do it myself. It's just really gross in the morning.

3. Arts & Entertainment pet peeve: Risque comments/visuals on cable during the day. I Love the 70's on VH-1 is notorious for this.

4. Liturgical pet peeve: Fancy, new age liturgy. I prefer more traditional stuff like page 77 in the LBW. Although this is changing a bit for me as I get older.

5. Wild card: Time!! Being late completely stresses me out!

Bonus: Things that I do that become other people's pet peeves?: Me???? Nada! Just kidding. Right now it's probably talking about college too much. I notice many people change the subject when I bring it up.

Reading for the Summer

2006-07-14T09:39:00.000-05:00

I saw the movie The Lake House which inspired me to pick up the book The Time Traveler's Wife. It's a 500-something page book and I finished it in about three days. The book alternates between two viewpoints: Henry, the time traveler and Clare, his wife. I was facinated by how the author, Audrey Niffenegger, was not only able to keep everything straight in her own mind while traveling across decades and having characters interact both before and after "meeting" each other for the first time, but also able to do so in a way so that I, as a reader, was rarely confused. Everything just fit together so neatly. One interesting thing about this book that differs from most other time travel stories is that Henry cannot change the present by traveling to the past....even when he, or someone else, tries to, the result is always the same, even when it seems impossible (Clare signing her drawing, for example). If you haven't read the book, don't worry. The preceding is nothing in the way of a spoiler.

It's so nice to be reading fiction again. I've really been into memoirs lately, The Glass Castle, Running with Scissors, and The Weight of It. Although I didn't make it through A Million Little Pieces, and I don't think it had anything to do with the fact that I read it after the hoopla surrounding the book's questionable truth.

During the first few weeks of summer, I was reading a bunch of stuff for my sociology class like Marx's Communist Manifesto, Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, an article by Berger and Luckmann called The Social Construction of Reality, and C. Wright Mills' The Power Elite. Nothing like light summer reading.

On the play reading front, I just finished Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story and I'm in the middle of Third by Wendy Wasserstein.

Today I'm running up to the library to pick up two items they have on hold for me. A play called The Shadow Box and the book which inspired the musical Wicked

Blogging aka Procrastinating

2006-06-29T00:32:00.000-05:00

Well, it's 12:30 in the morning and I've been procrastinating a bit on this paper I'm writing for my Sociology class. It's due by 9:00am. I thought it was due by 9:00am on Friday! :( I didn't even get started on it until close to 10pm.

The paper is not really hard, but it's kind of boring and I don't really feel like writing it. I'm about 3/4 of the way done, so I'm just taking a little break and I started reading a bunch of my older blog entries. (Talk about boredom!) It made me want to get Bit By The Blogging Bug again. I've been kind of a slacker lately on this thing. I really like the idea of journaling and being able to look back on a week, month, year, life and relive the minutae of daily life.

This is my final assignment for my Sociology class. It's an online course and we crammed a whole four credits into five weeks! What a pain in the rump. Once I drop the paper in the online dropbox, all I'll have left to do is take the final exam sometime between 9:00AM Thursday and 9:00AM Friday. It's also timed, so we only have two hours to write. I haven't really enjoyed this online course very much. It was A TON of work, and I think lectures and in class discussion would have been much more interesting. But I can't say the instructor didn't warn us. I the very first email she sent out, the first line read like this:

"Please note: I do not advise you take this course online. It is my opinion that online courses are inferior to on campus ones. Please, please, please reconsider. We have a section of this course running MTWH from 9-12 starting in July. We also have many excellent courses, including a Social Inequalities course I teach at night 1st Summer session, and a Family and Society course taught 2nd Summer Session. You will enjoy these courses much better. If you still want to stay in the course, read on."

It was in a bold, red font. So I guess I can't really complain about my boredom and annoyance with this course.

On the other hand, considering I'll have 41 college credits under my belt when it's all said and done, and this is the only class I've hated, I'm probably doing better than a lot of college students. For those of you interested in my college career, I will be taking Geology and Philosophy of Religion in the fall. Exciting Stuff!

All right, procrastination time is over. Wish me luck!

No Words......

2006-05-11T14:25:00.000-05:00

If you want to see something hilarious, check out the comments I've gotten on this test blog that I had for testing template stuff on before screwing up my real blog. That is really funny!

A Peek Into My Refrigerator

2006-05-11T14:19:00.000-05:00

Hubby is fishing for the weekend. So it's just me and the boys. We've got two nights of Survivor...FUN FUN FUN!

My refrigerator is stocked with yummy food either ready to cook or already cooked. A marinated turkey breast tenderloin (Jennie-O)...some teriyaki flavor I think...that I'll cook for dinner tonight. I'm also marinating a tray of chicken breasts in some Jack Daniels mesquite flavored EZ Marinade. I made up a batch of guacamole yesterday and have some black beans to go with that. There is cooked brown rice and cooked wild rice that is ready to use. In addition to that, I have a little bit of this brown rice/wild rice mixture that I sauteed with chicken broth and red, orange, green, yellow peppers. Let's see, I have a nice big batch of washed lettuce (Romaine and Raddichio) ready to make into salads. I also made a Chickpea salad this morning with some cucumber that needed to be used up. It has Chickpeas, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, tomato, salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. I have about 1/8 of a cantaloupe left and 1/3 of a mango that I'll eat for breakfast in the next couple days. Half a tub of Lloyds BBQ chicken meat (I won't eat that, but the kids might.), a piece of leftover Green Mill pizza that I'm not planning to eat and I know the kids won't either, and a tiny bit of meatless chili that I might just freeze since I'm not in the mood to eat it again for a while.

Cinco de Mayo Recipe

2006-05-05T14:09:00.000-05:00

I made this recipe a couple days ago for lunch, but I thought I'd share it today in case you want to try it for Cinco de Mayo. It's very very delicious!! Where did I get the recipe, you ask?? I made it up!! That's right. And, even though he is wary of meatless meals, my husband called it restaurant quality. :) YUMMY!!!

Ingredients:
1 15.5 oz. can pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can enchilada sauce
1 TBSP olive oil
1 small chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 large tomato chopped
chopped fresh cilantro to taste

Heat olive oil and saute onion and garlic with a little salt and pepper until done.
Add about 1 cup of enchilada sauce and the pinto beans. Simmer until hot.
Serve over 2 cups hot brown rice.
Just before serving, add chopped tomato and cilantro.

Serves 2.....or 4 if you don't eat a lot like I do.

VERY VERY VERY tasty!! I saved some leftovers, so I saved the tomato/cilantro separately so I can add them after heating up the rice and beans. I also ate a green salad with it to round out the meal.

Let me know if you try it.

End of Semester is Fast Approaching

2006-04-27T14:31:00.000-05:00

Hello all of you out there in Blogger-World. I'd really like to regain my blogging enthusiasm, but I'm not sure how. I just feel really busy lately and blogging doesn't seem to fit the schedule so well.

Yesterday was the final performance of my Wizard of Oz play. The tips of my fingers are still green from the marker I used to color my fingers which stuck out from the black fingerless gloves I wore. Playing the wicked witch really was a LOT of fun and I learned quite a bit about spirit gum application and removal. (Spirit gum is the sticky glue-like stuff used to put on prosthetics. I wore a nose and a chin).

I have two Spanish classes left. Monday we'll have a quiz and review for the final and then on Wednesday we'll have the final. Unless I completely blow the final, I should be able to get an A in the course. Last night before class, my instructor asked me if I would like to be a tutor for the lower level classes over the summer and/or next fall. Unfortunately I think I'm going to have to pass on that even though I think I would enjoy it and it would be beneficial to me. There just aren't enough hours in the day, nor days in the week.

Over the summer I will be taking an Intro to Sociology class. It is an online course so I won't need to drive to campus at all. And I won't have to drive to campus from our vacation like I did last year. I also have my schedule planned out for the next academic year, which should be my final year at the community college. So far I've had a great time.

Fun with Wikipedia.....Play Along

2006-04-07T12:07:00.000-05:00

Go to Wikipedia and look up your birth day (excluding the year). List three neat facts, two births and one death in your blog (or in comments), including the year.

EVENTS:

1494 - Columbus lands in Jamaica

1865 - Abraham Lincoln buried in Springfield, Illinois, three weeks after his assassination

1953 - Ernest Hemingway is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea

BIRTHS:

1929 - Audrey Hepburn

1942 - Tammy Wynette

DEATHS:

1984 - Bob Clampett

Update

2006-03-24T09:33:00.000-06:00

My blog has been seriously neglected over the last few months.
But I have some fun news to share. Yours truly is playing the Wicked Witch of the West in a children's theater adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. I'm already having so much fun with the role and we just had the first rehearsal last night.

Parody

2006-02-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

Brokeback to the Future

Hilarious if you've seen Brokeback Mountain.
Probably still pretty funny even if you haven't.

Enjoy!

On Philately

2006-01-03T12:18:00.000-06:00

I was about to rescue some mail from my mailbox today thinking that I needed to add some postage to it. Turns out that the postage rate increase from $0.37 to $0.39 doesn't take effect until January 8th. Saved myself some pennies there.

According to this page on www.stamps.org, the United States postage stamp started out with varying prices based on distance traveled. Eighteen years later, in 1863, the price was $0.03 regardless of distance traveled. It took 100 years for that rate to increase to $0.05, and it even went down to $0.02 for 47 of those years.

What's happened since? Well, in the 42 years since 1963, the postage rate for a letter has increased from $0.05 to $0.39!! Almost 700%!!! Talk about inflation.

Anyway, all this stamp stuff has gotten me thinking about starting a stamp collection. Once when I was in elementary school, I sent away for a stamp collecting kit from one of those book club flyers. I was only about ten at the time, so I didn't do too much with my new "collection." But maybe the time has come for my second foray into the philatelic world.

Soliciting Your Stories

2005-12-02T11:31:00.000-06:00

Hello all of you out there in blogger land. I'd like to hear some stories from anyone who has done the college thing.

How did you decide on your major? What thought processes did you go through and how did your choice evolve. Is there anything you know now that you wish you knew then? What is your major? Are/were you happy with it? Anything else you want to tell me?

Thanks!!

Once I get a few responses, I'll post some more.

Oh, and P.S. If you have people who you think would have an interesting answer to this question, please send them my way.

Kermit Theee Frog Here With Another Fast Breaking News Story!

2005-11-17T08:41:00.000-06:00

Your SESAME STREET Persona Test

Kermit the Frog

This test measured 3 variables.

First, this test measured how organized you are. Some muppets like Cookie Monster make big messes, while others like Bert are quite anal about things being clean.

Second, this test measured if you prefer a concrete or an abstract viewpoint. For the purposes of this test, concrete people are considered to gravitate more to mathematical and logical approaches, whereas abstract people are more the dreamers and artistic type.

Third, this test measured if you are more of an introvert or an extrovert. By definition, an introvert concentrates more on herself and an extrovert focuses more on others. In this test an introvert was somebody that either tends to spend more time alone or thinks more about herself.

You scored 62% Organization, 56% abstract, and 67% extroverted! You are mostly organized, both concrete and abstract, and more extroverted.

Here is why are you Kermit the Frog.

You are both somewhat organized. You have a good idea where you put things and you probably keep your place reasonably clean. You aren't totally obsessed with neatness though. Kermit is also reasonably tidy. He'll even dress up for interviews.

You both are sometimes concrete and sometimes abstract thinkers. Kermit spends a lot of his time as a reporter collecting facts, but he is also the author of the dreamy song "The Rainbow Connection." You have a good balance in your life. You know when to be logical at times, but you also aren't afraid to explore your dreams and desires... within limits of course.

You are both extroverts. Kermit gets along with everyone. Sure a few folks annoy him, but that's just because they are annoying. Kermit likes to meet new people when he does his job as a street reporter. You definitely enjoy the company of others, and you don't have problems meeting new people... in fact you probably look forward to it. You are willing to take charge when necessary or work as part of a team.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Kermit starred on Sesame Street years before The Muppet Show.

The other possible characters are
Oscar the Grouch
Big Bird
Snuffleupagus
Ernie
Elmo
Cookie Monster
Grover
The Count
Guy Smiley
Bert

Life

2005-11-15T10:16:00.000-06:00

Hello again fine readers of this blog. The Imaginary Invalid opened last weekend. We performed Friday and Saturday nights to crowds of about 65 people each. Hopefully we'll double that this weekend.

I feel much calmer now that I can concentrate on school for the rest of the semester. I'm enjoying Spanish more and more as I am able to speak with increasingly more difficult sentence structure. I'm learning a lot about English as well since I need to understand noun clauses, adverbial clauses, direct and indirect objects and the like. I even find myself wanting to read Spanish literature, which surprises me since that was precisely the reason I did not want to major in Spanish. At the end of every chapter, we read short literary selections. The current chapter has a playlet by Lucía Quintero. That's pretty fun.

I just found out that three of the students in my class are definitely NOT moving on to the next semester (Intermediate Spanish II), which means we'll have an even smaller class. Right now I think we have about 12 students in our class, although there is also a morning class.

My Broadway Musical class is also really enjoyable. So far this semester I have watched the following shows: Oklahoma!, The King and I, Pirates of Penzance, West Side Story, Brigadoon, and Fiddler on the Roof. Next up is Into the Woods with Bernadette Peters. I absolutely love that cast recording, so I'm quite excited to see the show (on video, that is). It should also be fun to see MN Guthrie player, Barbara Bryne in her Broadaway performance. Before the semester ends, I'll be watching two Andrew Lloyd Webber shows and I assume something by Schonberg and Boublil (Miss Saigon, Les Miz, Martin Guerre). Also I think the final project is to compare two versions of the same show. For example, Jesus Christ Superstar from the 1970's and the 1990's version or Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella with Whitney Houston and Brandy with an earlier version.

It's really a great class, and I'm convinced that because it is online, there is a lot more discussion happening than would happen in a live classroom where people tend to zone out or worry about censoring their comments. Every person is expected to comment on each topic (bulletin boards) whereas in a classroom, it's easy to hang back and let a few loudmouths (like myself) hog the conversation.

The semester ends in mid-December at which point I will have 31 credits, and can be officially (in my own mind) be considered a college sophomore. HOORAY!!

I'm currently planning my Spring semester. I am for sure taking Spanish and a Theatre Practicum credit, but I'm not sure if I should take my online Psychology class in the spring, or save it for summer semester. It would definitely be less stressful to take it in the summer when I don't have any other class, production, hockey obligations. But it would also be nice to relax all summer without any classes. On the other hand, I was bored and couldn't WAIT to get back to school this fall when I had a six week summer vacation after taking Biology in June and July. So it might be better to have that class to keep me satiated.

Halloween Pics

2005-11-08T16:30:00.000-06:00

Here are the photos of my son's Halloween costume.
You can click to see them full size.

We were inspired by this picture we found online:

He ended up getting some nice comments AND scoring extra candy when he went out trick or treating.

Guest Blogger

2005-11-02T13:57:00.000-06:00

Hilarious although/because slightly inappropriate

2005-10-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

A great cartoon spoof on The Devil Went Down To Georgia by The Charlie Daniel's Band. Enjoy!

The Devil Went Down To Georgia on Flashplayer

Staying Up Late Just Like A Real College Student

2005-10-12T23:56:00.000-05:00

It's about four minutes 'till midnight. I just uploaded a paper on the common elements in Rodger's and Hammerstein's The King and I and Oklahoma!. A pretty darn good paper if you ask me! It's not due until Friday, so I'm like a whole two days ahead of schedule. That feels so nice to know that I won't need to work on it tomorrow or Friday at all. Now I can concentrate on learning my lines for The Imaginary Invalid.

I also need to make sure I type up a letter about the church Christmas program and let the parent's know that they'll be making their own kid's costume.

I have a bit of Spanish to work on over the weekend as well. I didn't find out how I did on my exam, because although la profesora says she graded them all, she forgot to bring them in with her. Hmmmmmmmm she did that with the last exams too.

Here's the next assignment in my Broadway Musicals Class.

Watch "West Side Story" and post on some discussion questions, one to two postings for each question.

Watch two additional musicals and write a one page reaction paper for each show. I have trouble writing such short papers. This last one was supposed to be 1-2 pages and it turned out to be a little over 3. I hope she doesn't take off points for that. For the next assignment I'm planning to watch Fiddler on the Roof which I've never seen and either Brigadoon or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Here are all the musicals I can choose from. Feel free to suggest the one(s) you think I should watch. I'm specifically not choosing the Andrew Lloyd Weber ones because we'll be doing a unit devoted to him later, and I've seen both shows multiple times and listen to the CD's often. I'd like to expand my experience.

*Camelot
My Fair Lady
Brigadoon
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Phantom of the Opera
*Li'l Abner
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
*Damn Yankees
*Pajama Game
Cinderella
Bye, Bye Birdie
*Fiddler on the Roof
*Guys & Dolls
*Hello Dolly
*Jekyll & Hyde
*Meet Me in St. Louis
The Music Man
*Newsies
*Oliver

I've starred the ones I've never seen (*). We are supposed to choose one show that is familiar and one that we've never watched.

Melissa Needs....

2005-10-10T09:38:00.000-05:00

Here's something fun. Google your first name with the word needs. Post your results as a comment or on your own blog:

Here's mine:

Melissa Needs Maintenance Manuals!

Melissa needs blood will you help me?

Melissa needs to board the blob ship that is hovering overhead.

Melissa needs to plug the holes

Melissa needs to increase her votes from 25% to 50%+1.

Melissa needs a shoulder to cry on.

Melissa needs some more shoes!

Melissa needs to toughen up

Melissa needs your help to understand tar.

Melissa Needs-the-Dough!

When I change the google search by adding quotations ("Melissa needs"), I get these interesting additions:

Melissa needs her meds, and I'm sure Mikey won't get them for her.

Melissa needs attention and will do “things” for attention.

Melissa needs computer assistance!!

Melissa needs to educate Ciara's eye, so when she's out shopping she can spot cool casual gear and learn how to accessorise it.

Melissa needs to stick to the subject of music and leave the pseudopsychoanalysis to those more qualified than she.

Melissa needs to order two 6 foot subs from Hy-Vee along with pop.

Melissa Needs at least 10 hours of sleep a day

Your turn!

Allow Me To Introduce Blog #2

2005-10-07T11:08:00.000-05:00

You know you've really been bitten by the blogging bug when you start a second blog to focus on specific interest. So if you are at all interested in watching my Spanish skills improve over the next year, you can check out the Spanish Blog I started a couple days ago. It's not a translation, but instead a separate blog where I'll talk about different things and attempt to practice the skills and vocabulary I'm using in class. Now I can have two blogs to neglect for weeks at a time. :) Enjoy!

If you have studied Spanish, this could be a good opportunity to practice your skills by reading and making comments. If not, you could use altavista's language translator. Although the results are sketchy, you'll get a general idea of the content.

A Love Letter To My Husband

2005-10-06T09:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my 14th anniversary. Many people were surprised when I told them. I think a big part of that is that I have been married since I was only 18 years old. Most people aren't getting married that young these days. I'm really in love with my husband. Of course we each do things that drive the other crazy, but in the pit of our stomachs and in the depths of our hearts, there is a deep love that burns eternally. We have been through a lot in 14 years, and we have both grown up a lot in that time. I absolutely plan to be with this man for many more years. I often find myself daydreaming of all the things I'd like to do with him. I want to take an exotic trip together. I want to take our children on a big fun trip within the next five years. I want us to take road trips and ride a motorcycle together. I want to hold his hand while our children receive their diplomas. I want to love and spoil our grandchildren. I want to prepare special holiday events for our adult children to come home to. I want to renew our vows. I want to watch each other blossom and try new things. I want us to indulge in our separate passions, and then come together to relax and be excited for each other. I want to find new passions that excite us both and make an effort to engage in them.

I truly believe there is something special between us that isn't easily explained. It's more than "love", it's different than "devotion". It's as though each of our souls has been permanently etched with a bit of the other's soul. The people who existed before our marriage no longer exist, and in their place are two improved people who will always hold a tiny part of the other within them.

This is to my husband, although I'm not sure if he even reads this:

To my Johnny Angel,

When we met, I was just child with so much that I didn't understand
About myself, and about so many other things
Life brought us together just as I was about to find myself on the brink of a new chapter in my life.
Together we embarked on that chapter
That child didn't understand all that was required of her.
Even though she was a mother,
It took her many years to become a woman.
Thank you for still being here when that finally began to happen.
I love you fully and completely
Today and for all days past and all days yet to come.

Kill the SPAM

2005-10-04T07:45:00.000-05:00

Due to the comments on the following posts:
Updating the Branches of the Tree of Life,
A Dose of Dr. Feelgood,
and this one that I already deleted:
My Newest Play,
I have changed my commenting to require word verification.

According to Blogger, it should help with some of the automated SPAM comments.

I can't quite explain the feeling of anticipation when I realize I have a blog comment. I click on the link to read what someone has chosen to expound upon after reading my thoughts. My palms begin to sweat, my heart rate increases slightly. Will it be a comment in agreement of my ideas, or something challenging my thoughts? (Ha-ha. Just kidding. Kind of.) It's a little depressing when it turns out to be some kind of spider-bot doing an auto advertisement post.

Dreams Cause Confusion/Chaos in the AM

2005-10-04T07:01:00.000-05:00

Well it's been an exciting morning so far and it's not even 7:00am. We all overslept which means the kids had about 15 minutes to get themselves out the door for school. My alarm was ringing, but in my lucid stupor I was hitting snooze without realizing the time. Last night I dreamed and dreamed and dreamed. All sorts of strange mixed up dreams that don't really go together or make sense. For example in one of the dreams my Spanish class was getting back our Reportes Culturales and I got one back that had a score of 55, I was completely taken aback by the bad grade, and even worse comments and instructions by the profesora. But then I realized it wasn't actually my paper. When I finally got my actual paper back, I found out the score was even worse than I had thought: 30/50. Now I don't understand why the score on the first paper was "bad" at 55, but the second paper was only worth 50 points total. That's what makes dreams so strange.

Promo Codes to Rent DVDs from Redbox

2005-09-30T12:27:00.000-05:00

Have you heard of Redbox DVD rentals? They have one of these machines in our local McDonald's, which seems like a really weird place to rent DVDs, but I find myself going there all the time. For one, their movies are only $1 a night, so if you usually watch your movies the night you rent them, like we do, you're saving a bundle. Also, they basically get new movies every Tuesday, so if you like to watch new releases, like my hubby does, the most popular ones are there. Finally, they started out offering a promo code for a free night's rental, and once I used that to try it out, I was hooked!

Today in my email box I got some promo codes for the month of October, and was invited to share them. So here you go:

Mondays in October (3, 10, 17, 24, and 31) you can rent for free (one night only, additional nights will be $1 each) by using the code MONDAY.

All other days in October (after October 3rd) you can rent 2 for 1 movies by doing this:

1) Choose your first movie
2) Then add your second movie
3) Then punch “REDEEM A PROMO CODE” and enter the appropriate code:

ORANGE October 4-9
LEAF October 11-16
BASEBALL October 18-23
GHOST October 25-30

I guess Redbox is only in the following cities, so congrats to those of you who live in Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Houston, Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Baltimore, Hartford and Las Vegas!

Updating the Branches of the Tree of Life

2005-09-27T09:07:00.000-05:00

Well let's see. I don't have much of anything interesting to say today.

College update: I got 94% on my last Spanish exam. That class is really keeping me on my toes. It moves right along. We spend about 10-20 minutes on a concept at most. Each chapter is covered in about two weeks, and there are enough vocabulary words to cover a whole page. We have a quiz on Monday and then the chapter test on Wednesday.

Kids update: Our oldest is in football right now, which is pretty fun to watch. There is a game tonight at 8:00pm. He should be a pleasant child in the morning. The middle one is playing basketball this winter instead of hockey saving us mucho dinero! Plus basketball doesn't even start until January. Our first grader is doing great in school. No trouble at all adjusting to the full academic day.

Church update: I'm am so very busy with this drama ministry group I started. I'm currently working on a five minute skit for this Sunday, a collection of five short skits for a dinner in November, we're doing monthly improv game fellowship nights, and I'm in charge of the children's Christmas program! Once that all settles, we're doing a worship drama in February! WOWZA! It's exciting.

Life update: In 8 days, my husband and I will celebrate our 14th anniversary. That makes me very happy. I'm hoping we can go out for dinner the night before since I have class followed by rehearsal on the actual date.

That's all for now.

Play Reading List

2005-09-26T09:15:00.000-05:00

Well, what the heck?? Remember that 3x5 card file I was keeping of the plays I had read? Well I still have the card file, but it seems someone has pilfered the cards?!?! Too strange! So my card file that had like three whole cards in it is now defunct! GEEZ!

Maybe I should try a diary/notebook type thing. I have an empty Mead Composition book that I could use.

Anyway, in preparing for my Imaginary Invalid audition, I read the following plays:

The Imaginary Invalid - Moliere
(the version I read was actually titled The Hypochondriak)
A Woman of No Importance - Wilde

Maybe I'll just make a page on my blog like I did for the musicals.

A Dose of Dr. Feelgood

2005-09-22T09:25:00.000-05:00

Last night I brought some books to an old lady at a retirement community. It's one of the volunteer things I do because the time commitment is limited, but the service is so appreciated. The service is called homebound delivery. What happens is homebound patrons contact the coordinator of the service and request some titles or genres of books they'd like to read. Then a volunteer (me) picks the books up at the library and brings them to the person who requested them. The books are in a rubbermaid bin. A sheet is taped to the top of the bin with the person's name, address, phone number, and a map to their home. I get called only once every couple months or so. It's not a huge time commitment at all! In all, I think it added about 30 minutes to my ride home last night. That includes a little time to chat when I drop off the books.

It's super slick because the coordinator can send the books to any branch for me to pick up. So yesterday I was able to pick the books up at the branch right next to my college campus. I had arranged to stop by the patron's apartment building on my way home from class. She was playing cards in the community room with three of her friends. They were playing penny ante poker, but she told me they also play Texas Hold 'Em. One of them was really interested in also getting library materials delivered to her, and another wanted audio books because she can't read. Not sure if it's due to poor eyesight or illiteracy. Not that it matters.

It was this woman's first time getting books, so she was surprised to see a bin filled with books she had requested. She was only expecting 2-3 books, but gave several more titles in case some weren't in stock. Generally, I deliver one bin of books (maybe about 8 books), but once I delivered two full bins to a woman who reads ferociously. Typically, I then pick up their old books and return them to any branch. Since this was her first time, however, I didn't have to bring any back.

If you are a library patron, and enjoy finding ways to brighten the days of others, I suggest you find out if your library system has a homebound delivery service. If they do, consider volunteering. If not, why not suggest they try it, and offer to be the first volunteer driver. Don't forget you can deduct mileage driven for volunteer work on your taxes.

WOMEN'S A** SIZE STUDY:

2005-09-20T09:54:00.000-05:00

There's a new study out about women & how they feel about their asses. I thought the results were pretty interesting:

85% of women think their ass is too fat...

10% of women think their ass is too skinny...

The other 5% say that they don't care, they love him, he's a good man, & they'd have married him anyway!!

Which group are you in?

My Newest Play

2005-09-20T09:12:00.000-05:00

Well, last night began the rehearsal period for my new play. I'm acting this time in The Imaginary Invalid at my community college. I'm excited to be on stage again. As of late, I've been working more behind the scenes either on sets, as a stage manager, or as a director. This will be the first show I've acted in since going back to school last fall.

~For those of you who may not know, I'm a 32 year old mother of 3 boys who never went to college after high school. Last fall, I finally was able to begin work on my bachelors degree. I'll spend three years going part time to community college, and then finish my degree at a private university in the Twin Cities. The current plan is to major in Theater and Education.~

The Imaginary Invalid is a farce by Moliere in which the lead character, Argan, is obsessed with his "illnesses" and is constantly under the care of his doctors. So strong is Argan's belief that he is in great need of medical care, that he has arranged for his daughter to marry a physician. In this way, he reasons, he will have constant access to medical care. His daughter (of course) wishes to marry another. As Argan's sister, Beralde, I come in during the second act to try and convice him to allow his daughter to marry for love, and give up his obsession with his doctors.

It will be hilariously funny!

Man Breaks 'Couch Potato' Record

2005-09-19T07:41:00.000-05:00

Man Breaks 'Couch Potato' Record

No offense toward Suresh Joachim who broke the record, but I really don't think it sounds that hard at all. At 69 hours and 48 minutes, Suresh hasn't even watched tv for three days straight. Granted the lack of sleep might prove difficult since there are times I've fallen asleep during the opening credits of a DVD, but that's nothing a few pots of coffee couldn't help. Not only is the under three day record unimpressive, listen to these 'rules': a 5-minute break every hour and a 15-minute break every 8 hours.

Here is where the story takes a strange turn in my mind. Joachim also holds the record for the longest duration balancing on one foot (76 hours, 40 minutes). So the man can stand on one foot longer than he can watch television? How can that be?

To find out why Suresh is bent on breaking records, racking up something like 16 world records, visit his website at http://www.sureshjoachim.org/, not www.sureshjoachim.com like the comcast article states.

First Week of Fall Semester

2005-09-01T10:32:00.000-05:00

The start of a new school year has arrived.

I am starting my second full year of part-time college at Inver Hills Community College. I have already accumulated 22 credits. And by the end of this fall semester, I think I can officially be considered a sophomore with 31 credits. It's amazing how quickly the credits can add up even when only attending part-time.

This semester I am taking my first online class. I've resisted taking one until now for two reasons. First, I really enjoy the classroom setting and didn't want to miss out on that experience. Second, I was worried about my tendency to procrastinate and how that might affect a course online. Since I am taking Spanish, and it meets two nights a week, I really wanted to pick up a second class without having to add another evening away from my family. When I saw that a Broadway music class was being offered ONLY as on online option, it seemed like the perfect solution. The topic interests me, it relates to my major (theatre) and it seemed like a nice way to ease into an online course.

On the procrastination issue, online courses at my school are NOT self-paced. They have a real syllabus with actual due dates and requirements for frequency of logging in and participating in bulletin board class discussions. You cannot do all the work in two weeks and then slack off for the rest of the semester, and likewise you cannot slack off all semester and then cram everything into the last few weeks. It's structured more like an actual class, except that you do not meet/discuss concurrently with the other students.

If this semester goes well, I'll most likely take an online Psychology course in the spring along with Spanish, and take the summer off like a real student.

Spanish is my main focus this year. I'm taking the Intermediate classes both semesters, and I think they'll be a real stretch for me. I took five years of H.S. Spanish, although I feel as though I can really only count four of them. In any case, I've been out of H.S. for fourteen years, and haven't practiced my Spanish much since then. I'm ready to work hard and hopefully I'll gain a lot of skill over the course of the year. I just need to build my vocabulary back up. I feel like I'm constantly searching for the words I need to get my ideas across. I have the syntax down, so once I remember my nouns and clear up my verb tenses, I'll be good to go.

Who knows, maybe the idea of a major in Spanish will come into consideration again. I've mostly written it off because I do not want to analyze Spanish literature in Spanish. That sounds INCREDIBLY hard. Who knows what will happen, I'm just enjoying the journey right now.

A Sensory Delight

2005-08-29T13:53:00.000-05:00

The family and I visited the "great Minnesota get-together" aka the Minnesota State Fair yesterday. We were at the fair from about 1:30pm-8:30pm. I couldn't tell you everything the kids ate because we just gave them each $25 to budget themselves on food and souvenirs (they weren't allowed games or rides). They budgeted really well and they were so much more choosy than they would have been if it had been dad and mom opening their wallets at every corner of culinary delight.

Here's what I ate:
Strawberries and Cream (real whipped cream)
Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and Fresh Lemonade (shared these with my hubby)
Cheese Curds (my ultimate fair favorite)

The only thing I really missed out on was some sweet potato fries, but I'll make those myself at home.

Hubby bought the Kitchen Plus 2000. I told him he needed to use it thirty times for me to think it was a good deal. It's a slicer/dicer/chopper/grater thing. Basically a hand-powered food processor. He'll make us fresh salsa and guacamole with it. Yummy!!!! :)

My favorite activity or "attraction" was the Miracle of Life Center. It was a swine-poultry-cattle-sheep barn where all the animals were either ready to deliver or had just delivered. We saw a big sow lying on her side while tons of tiny piglets pushed past each other searching for their mama's teats. We got to pet baby lambs and chicks. We could watch chicks hatching from their eggs. There was a pregnant cow who had been induced the day before, but hadn't yet started hard labor. The volunteer said hard labor (once it started) could last up to several hours, and then once her water broke, it would be another two hours for the calf to be born. Since we didn't want to wait around that long, and since I was the only one who actually thought watching a live calf birth would be cool, we didn't stay. I'm not sure if she gave birth by the end of the day or not.

This is the first time hubby and I have taken our kids to the State Fair. Typically we just go by ourselves. But it was a good time, and we might take them again sometime.

Family Cleaning Day

2005-08-27T19:37:00.000-05:00

We spent about six hours today cleaning out our garage. We've got a huge pile of garbage for the garbage men on Wednesday. We swept up tons of dust, leaves, and cobwebs. Also there is a small pile of stuff to give away/sell. I'll most likely just try to give it away since it's easier and a tax deduction.

We found a great little vacuum cleaner sales/repair shop a couple miles from home. We brought in our two vacuum cleaners today. Vacuum #1 needs a new cord because the last time I unplugged it, one of the plug prongs stayed in the outlet. Oops! Vacuum #2 also needs a new cord because the extension cord plug my hubby rigged it with a year or so ago started shorting out any outlet we tried plugging it into. The last time I tried plugging it in, not only did the outlet short out and the circuit trip, but the prong on the plug was burned black.

Vacuum #1 is a very old Eureka (brown and almond coloring....1970's??) which was a free hand me down from my brother and his wife. They bought a pretty, fancy one with their wedding money. Since I've gotten the free Eureka, it has become my favorite vacuum and I use it much more often than vacuum #2. Vacuum #2 is a Kenmore that hubby and I bought about ten years ago. It was one of my very first appliance purchases and not actually cheap. We spent at least $300, maybe even around $400. Vacuum #2 (the Kenmore) not only has the cord issue, but also several other issues, including a cracked bottom panel that is cracked so badly that you can see the vacuum cleaner bag inside the canister. Mr. Vacuum Cleaner Repair Guy told me that with a crack like that, we basically have no suction. No wonder the Eureka has become my favorite vacuum cleaner! In any case, with everything the Kenmore needs to be in proper working order, Mr. Vacuum Cleaner Repair Guy told us to throw it away. The repairs would be over $200.

So we looked around at his new vacuum cleaners and are considering a purchase. Meanwhile, he is fixing our Eureka, and we are giving the Kenmore to my parents for "parts". Also, my neighbor very kindly borrowed us an extra vacuum cleaner she had sitting in her basement. It's an upright, and I've typically used canister vacs. I'm curious......

Do you use a canister vacuum or an upright? Why do you like it better than the other option? Thanks for your help and input.

Season of Transition

2005-08-25T13:22:00.000-05:00

Well, the radio gig is over. The semi finalists were announced this week, and my mom and I weren't among them. Oh well, on to other endeavors. It was pretty fun broadcasting that Sunday afternoon, though.

Hubby and I went to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness aka the BWCAW, or just Boundary Waters for short. When I went as an eighth grader it was just the BWCA, now they've added the W for Wildnerness. I kept wondering what might happen over my lifetime. By the time I'm 70, I might be visiting the BWCAWBDHYTUWEJSLMVUBAWW.

School starts for me on Monday and the kids a week later on Tuesday.

Lots to Hooray! about

2005-08-03T09:11:00.000-05:00

Blogging time is severely lacking lately. My ideal plan is to wake up and blog for about a half hour each morning before work. Alas, getting out of bed in the AM before punching the snooze button six times has never been my strong suit.

Let's see if I can update on recent happenings in my life.

1)Finished Biology with an A. Hooray!
2)Bought a book of plays by Anton Chekov with my Barnes and Noble gift card. Free, Hooray!
3)Joined Curves in an attempt to get a little exercise.
4) Have been to curves eight times since. Twice as a result of getting up early and skipping the snooze. Hooray!
5) Am in the planning stages of an extended weekend away with my hubby to occur August 18-21. Hooray!

That's about all for now. Hope to return in less than a week.

Radio Diva Day #1 Over

2005-07-27T08:36:00.000-05:00

Well our radio audition went really well. Although it was really hard to tell how we were doing. My mom and I left the station feeling like we had totally bombed. We were given a CD by the station of the show, and we started listening to it as soon as we got in the car. After a few minutes, we looked at each other with genuine surprise. We were actually good!

It's really nice to leave an audition feeling like you honestly did your very best. If we don't go on in the contest, it will really be because there were people just plain better than us. And that's okay with me. The bummer would be if we didn't do our best, and then didn't make the callbacks. Then we'd be kicking ourselves thinking, "We could have done so much better."

There are four weeks left in the contest (one duo hosting each week). The winner will be chosen at the MN State Fair in late August/early September. Listener feedback is an important aspect in choosing the winner, so if you listened please take time to send an email to the station (you can vote too, but an email makes a real impression) on their website FM 107. And also consider listening to the other contestants each Sunday night from 4-6pm and letting the station know what you think of them too.

I hope I can contain my excitement for a whole month.

I'm a Radio Diva!

2005-07-24T12:15:00.000-05:00

Listen to me on talk radio tonight with my mom!!!! The show starts at 4pm Central Time. You can listen from anywhere in the world online at http://www.fm107.fm, but you have to join their Pssstt.... fan club (it's free). Or if you're in the Twin Cities, 107.1 FM on your radio dial.

Voyeurism!

2005-07-21T12:12:00.000-05:00

Reading blogs has the same kind of voyeur quality as watching public access cable television.

Right now, a group of senior citizens are dancing to an ensemble that contains a tubaplayer , an accordian player, a singer/guitar player, and a drummer. Inexplicably, the drummer is about 30-40 years younger than the rest of the group. What's his story?

Oh dear, now they're talking to the winners of a polka-dance championship in Wisconsin Dells. These people are only in their 40's or 50's. No wonder they won; they are no less than 30 years younger than any of their competition! Maybe the polka dance championship should have age categories like a marathon would.

It's just infinitely interesting to me. They have an emcee who is announcing the songs and giving a call out to people who have sent in song requests.

Now Elsworth and Eileen are talking about the Polka Lovers Club of America. Eileen is the president!

Its just too cute and too fun! It's like American Bandstand for fogeys.

Public access television is just so interesting. Among other shows that have caught my fancy: A cooking show hosted by a pair of drag-queens and another show with two people taking turns at Christmas Carols on the organ.

No Unsupervised Children Allowed!!

2005-07-21T07:51:00.000-05:00

The saga of age discrimination continues.

So we went out the the Mall of America last week for my son's birthday dinner and were greeted by signs on the door stating that kids under 16 are not allowed at the mall after 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays without supervision. While we were waiting for our table at Ruby Tuesday's, the kids went up the escalator to buy some jawbreakers. As my husband was coming up, a "police officer" (~~security guard~~ man in uniform) was talking to my kids telling them they needed to be with parents.

They were seriously up there alone for less than a couple of minutes. I guess they're really serious about the unescorted thing.

The strange thing is that for some reason it seems perfectly reasonable at the Mall of America, but it bothers me at the little local store. Perhaps it is because, even if they think it, the Mall of America isn't admitting that they suspect my kids (or even kids in general) are going to shoplift.