P is at work, which means I have a bit more freedom to watch all the "crap" (as he would call it) I want on TV. Presently, I am watching a show called "17 Kids and Counting" on TLC. The family pictured above is REAL. And the mom either just had or is about to have her 18th child! As you can tell from their hair and clothes, they are uber religious -- "be fruitful and multiply" and all that. They live in what looks like a metal barn and have several sets of appliances. I just saw their laundry room and it has at least 4 sets of washers/driers. It seems to me that by the time she's done, her "parts" are going to fall right out. There doesn't appear to be an end to how many kids they will have.
They just got into a discussion about the "evils of porn on the Internet". In case you're wondering (and you're probably not), the oldest sisters and mom will sometimes go to the Library to "go on the Internet", but they don't have online access at home. I would ask how people used to live without the Internet, but that's pretty obvious just from the few minutes I've watched of this show.
We had one of these when I was growing up, and it was one of my favorite Christmas decorations:
I know... ugly, right? But it's one of my favorite Christmas decorating memories. That's why I've been asking Mom to send it to me since moving away from home. She hasn't been able to find it, which means she did not have the same emotional attachment to it that I did. This is when I'm glad for ebay* -- I was able to find the lovely plastic monster you see above for $12.99. The funny part: it shipped from West Seneca, NY which is very close to my parents' house. I wonder if the woman who sold it bought it from my Mom's yard sale?
*Yes, even though the CEO was a McCain campaign advisor.
Also, I thought I would take this opportunity to show everyone P's and my Christmas tree. I am including two photos below. The first is blurry, but I find it funny because Sheila is staring at the camera. She won't do that normally -- only when you are trying to get a picture of something you don't want her in.
From both photos, you can tell the cats like to play on the tree skirt. And you can see Cole in the back. He's the black lump.
This one is for P, especially. I caught this clip, then watched the full episode. I am guessing it mark Peter Murphy's comeback with a new hit "Burning Down Hot Topic"
I SOMEHOW found this website selling a children's book titled "Mama Voted for Obama". While I had high hopes, it looks really dumb. (it's a rhyming book, not a version of history for kids)
The seller also has a book called Why Mommy is a Democrat. In my humble opinion, it overreaches. Excerpt below. Notice the guy selling drugs in the background. "Democrats are tolerant of drug use." hahahaha
Like everyone, I was taken in by TheSixth Sense several years ago. Yes, I remember jumping out of my seat several times in the theater. And countless dumbasses played off variations of "I see dead people..." for way past its prime and we had a pop culture phenomenon on our hands. Then Signs was a decent movie with several good scares and it was before most people realized how much of a mega douche Mel Gibson is. But then it started to go downhill fast. I believe I saw Unbreakable (yes, I'm being smart...) and then it started to seem like maybe M. Night had just gotten lucky. The Village was just bad and I for one started to wonder if the director / "actor" / writer / producer really thought moviegoers would let him get away with over-wrought movies based on a twist.
Then came The Lady In the Water. That was just about THE WORST movie I have EVER seen and that is saying something...I was also just recently made to watch Xanadu. The dialogue was horrible. The story was cheesy as hell. And the acting was marginal at best. I feel obligated to mention at this point that D made me rent this. (Speaking of which...I am now blogging so as to not have to pay attention to D's current selection Alvin & The Chipmunks.) The last straw came just the other night with The Happening. Another completely stupid premise and the trademark heavy-handed attempt at social and/or environmental commentary. I found myself laughing at scenes that I'm sure were mean to be horrifying. For example, I was laughing out loud when the construction workers were throwing themselves off of buildings and crashing to the ground all around their mortified friends.
I probably wouldn't be so hard on M. Night were it not for the fact that he seems to be SO full of himself. He takes himself and his movies way too seriously. And appearing in your own movies? I'm sorry, but you are NO Alfred Hitchcock.
So please figure out how to give me back that lost 201 minutes. Hey, that's a bargain...I'm not charging you for The Village or Unbreakable.
This article was reprinted in the Red Eye today. I know there are a lot of assholes out there but they are teaching their children to hate and that is the epitome of disgusting. I am hopeful for the future of this country but we apparently have a long way to go. Considering these people can't get along with those that are different with them I think Obama's first executive order should be shipping them off to an island where they have to survive (without guns) while being reprogrammed to love and respect those that are different than them. Or here's an idea: ship them to Gitmo, which Obama has said he'd shut down with another executive order. Like killing two (racist) birds with one stone!
I think I have commented on this before, but I find it ASTOUNDING what people will comment on and the nature of their comments.
Today's Example: I checked the weather forecast on the local news channel: 9news.com
The forecast is told in narrative form, but pretty much says there will be a winter weather advisory for the mountains, Denver could see light snow and cold. Mmm kay. Got it.
Then I scrolled down and there are PAGES (7, apparently) of comments. To a short story about tomorrow's weather. The likes of which I have excerpted here:
kamcakes wrote: YAY for snow!!! It's about time!! I can't wait until Thanksgiving and Christmas!!
(um... no one cares)
User Image HIYA1 wrote: denver2008 wrote: Snow? I really do not think it is nearly cold enough to snow. Now, this makes the 6th time it was SUPPOSE to snow in the Denver Metro area. Please....can you guys predict the weather more accurately? ------------------------------------------------------------- It is called a PREDICTION for a reason... they can't control the weather; only guess as to what they have going on and what would be more likely to happen... no way of telling if the winds will change etc. Bet you couldn't do any better.
(Yikes...)
denver2008 wrote: HIYA1....your damn straight I could not do any better. However, I did not go to school for that, nor is that what I do for a living. If I did my job, like these guys do theirs....you better believe I would be fired. Predicting snow 6 times and not one time is right....well, I guess that is all I need to say.
(oh! denver2008 actually SAW the response to their comment and thought they should comment AGAIN. Interesting...)
HIYA1 wrote:
DENVER, I am assuming then that your job is not pending on nature...sht even a doc can predict that chemo would work or a med would work, but doesn't mean that it will... plus they predicted snow in the mountains, which they got. And have you calculated the percentage of correct over incorrect? I bet you have had errors in your job as well.
HIYA1 wrote:
and denver, read sirpukealot's comment- I believe that is directed at you- someone who does such a good job and can't get your/you're correct
P's post pretty much sums it up. The only thing I'll add is that one of my favorite parts was walking back to the bus. People in buildings were looking down at us and waving excitedly. I'm with P, I had no idea how many people would be so excited about this.
This was going to be my concession post should the election have gone the other way.
"Dear Loyal Readers,
As you are reading this blog, P and I are on our way to Montreal, Canada. We've packed up the cats and our most precious belongings, and are sending for the rest of our things. It has been a good run here in the States (like how I already know the lingo, eh?), and we were really hoping things would work out in this election. The good news is, we'll have free health care (have I mentioned I'm a hypochondriac? Yes? Oh... right), and you'll have a new place to visit! And to my dear family, I'll be much closer to home now! We can meet at Clarkson hockey games!
P and I aren't sure that Canucks have the internet, but assuming they do, we'll be back shortly! All our posts will be in french and english, and our vocab may get a bit strange, but P and I will write at you soon!
I feel like the weight of years of anxiety has been lifted off of my shoulders. November 4th, 2008 turned out to be one of the happiest days of my life. David and I were also there to witness history. Yes, we were in Grant Park for the election night rally. We missed getting tickets from the campaign by hours (if only I had been able to check my e-mail all day!) so we had to go to the overflow area north of the rally and watch coverage on a jumbotron. They played CNN all night. I was on edge all night but started to feel relief when they called Pennsylvania for Obama. Then for the next few hours, I was still on pins & needles. Actually, more accurately, I was on goose shit and other people's feet. Grant Park is COVERED in goose shit and it was unavoidable. So I can say that I sat in goose shit for Obama to witness history.
More relief came when they called Ohio. CNN's John King had the difficult job of still keeping his cool and trying to see a path for McCain and everyone in the park laughed when he made an off the cuff comment about how hard it was.
While we waited for more of the battlegrounds to be called (WHY was it taking so long for Virginia and Indiana to be called!?), I had a chance to soak it all in. It was a very young crowd for the most part but the one thing that amazed me most was how diverse the throngs of people were. Black, white, Asian, Hispanic...children, teens, young adults, middle aged and elderly...gay, straight. And TONS of Obama t-shirts, buttons, signs.
About 10pm central time, as the polls were about to close on the west coast, they called Virginia for Obama. It seemed to go very quickly from there and when they called the election shortly after, people were screaming and crying and hugging and dancing. I almost lost it and was choking back tears.
It was amazing how peaceful the rally was and how orderly and easy getting home was. The CTA actually did something right. And did it fairly smoothly. David and I were on a bus within minutes and home within 45 minutes.
The next day it was like the world changed. I know I live in a liberal, Democratic bubble here in Chicago. It also doesn't hurt that I work and associate with the "highly educated" (who broke overwhelmingly for Obama as 58% of those with a postgraduate education voted for him). Still, I couldn't believe it. Maybe it was my own good mood but I felt like everyone was smiling and more friendly. On the train, I saw people tearing up at the newspaper covers (which sold out in minutes and were impossible to find). When I got to work, I was amazed at how many people were not only talking about the historic victory but were at the rally AND how many had tickets. SO MANY! And despite the fact that we got home at almost 1 am, I wasn't tired at all. (Although it did help that I had a small, private Obama celebration of my own by treating myself to one of Starbuck's new holiday treats, the espresso truffle. OMG, good.)
Here is an attempt to show you how exciting the moment that night was (BTW, in the begging you see a building lit up with USA in the background. Yeah, ,that's only a little bit further back than we were):
I'm not even joking: two nights this week I've woken up from nightmares in which McCain won the election. Ridiculous I know but I can't handle the prospect of McCain and (especially) Palin in the White House...picking judges, making other appointments, proposing health care plans, vetoing Democratic legislation, keeping us in Iraq forever...the list goes on. (Yes, I know, a McCain presidency would be very tough at best given the fact that there will be even stronger Democratic majorities in both houses of congress but still...) I know things look good for Obama but I still think McCain and the Republicans will try to steal another election.
P is at work, which means I have a bit more freedom to watch all the "crap" (as he would call it) I want on TV. Presently, I am watching a show called "17 Kids and Counting" on TLC. The family pictured above is REAL. And the mom either just had or is about to have her 18th child! As you can tell from their hair and clothes, they are uber religious -- "be fruitful and multiply" and all that. They live in what looks like a metal barn and have several sets of appliances. I just saw their laundry room and it has at least 4 sets of washers/driers. It seems to me that by the time she's done, her "parts" are going to fall right out. There doesn't appear to be an end to how many kids they will have.
