WTF Wednesday - Time To Go To The Mattresses

Okay guys, it's time for your weekly/biweekly/when I get incensed and post something about it reminder to please please PLEASE contact your congresspeople/representatives and let them know you support them supporting reform.

Here's an easy way:


Click it!

How does this fall under WTF Wednesday, you ask? Today, it stands for Win This Fight. If the insurance companies win, the rest of us will lose - now if we could only get the opponents to understand that the "rest of us" includes THEM, we might get somewhere.

It comes down to the simple fact that if you, say, slice your finger open with an enormous knife because you were being dumb and not taking the avocado pit out with a spoon like a normal person, you should be able to go to the ER without fear that even though you *have* insurance, the deductible and copays are such that you'd rather wait and see if it stops soaking through the paper towels on its own.

Wouldn't it be a better world if, ya know, you got kidney stones (just for example) and could just take care of them even though you didn't have any health insurance, and do what needed doing without worry that the cost of the scans and medications might be so prohibitive as to be financially crippling?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if people could just go to the damn doctor when it was clear they had the flu, instead of just drinking Theraflu and hoping for the best because the insurance they do have is so inadequate that they know a trip to the doctor to get Tamiflu or whatever will set them back $300?

And hey, it's October. Breast Cancer Awareness month, ya know? And wouldn't it be fantastic if every woman knew that if God forbid they developed breast cancer, they could count on the fact that they would be able to have a fighting chance, no matter what their income level and insurance capabilities?

These are simple things here. Nobody's asking for free facelifts, or to not have to contribute. Just that we have a safe, adequate, fair system that assures *every citizen of this country* the right to the basics - a doctor when we need one, medications that do all sorts of wonderful things if we require them, and the ability to have those things without giving up the ability to, ya know, eat and pay the mortgage.

Please, even if you feel like nothing you do will help, believe me it will... they need to hear from us. The opponents, the ones who've either been taken in by the lies about this reform or are just afraid of losing their big paychecks, are calling and writing *every day*, I can guarantee it.

This is for YOU, for all of us.. Even if you have health insurance, don't believe for one minute that going on as usual won't affect you, because it will, even if it's just that your premiums will continue to go up and up and up disproportional to your income.

I know, this was a ranty post, and I assure you I will quit with the soap-boxin' (not nearly as cool as beat-boxin') as soon as it's over, but for now...

For now, it's time to go to the mattresses.

Totally Random Tuesday: Late Breaking Godtopus Edition

Yeah, so it's Wednesday morning... does that mean I can't do a Tuesday blog? No it does not.

So, nerd alert, but when I was in 2nd grade (I think - Mom, want to verify?) I won the MS Read-A-Thon, in tandem with a girl I remember distinctly only because of her massively awesome black pigtails. I was a total reading nerd even then (my 6th grade favorite was Jane Eyre) and am sorry to say I've slacked off mightily since then.

Enter Pajiba. Not only are they funny over there (if occasionally overly in-joke snarky) they are also doing something completely awesome.

I am officially throwing my hat in the ring for the second annual Cannonball Read... you should too, if at all possible, because a) you'll make your brain bigger and b) it's an easy way to donate bucks to a good cause without having to, you know, actually donate money.

Pajiba will do that part.

Here's the text of the Facebook group (go join it!):

A group of Pajibans (www.pajiba.com) competing to read 52 books in 1 year. Anyone can participate. All you need is a blog, a library card, and gumption. (Gumption can be replaced with gunpowder.)

If anyone is interested in joining the Cannonball Read, you can! It's so easy, it's easier than Sunday Morning. Or bad song lyric puns.

Basic Rules:
1. Your book needs to be "of substance": 150 pages or so. No Pokey Little Puppy. But the Phantom Tollbooth? That's fine. Unless you're in elementary school. And if you are a kid doing the Cannonball Read, you've already won. At life. Collect your trophy.
2. Post your thoughts on a blog or on a website, or somewhere where others can read it to prove you've read. The reviews need to be at least three solid paragraphs, as they may be possibly be published on Pajiba.

Again, those are parameters. But if you are interested in participating, go for it! You can set your own rules, like, every other book has to be non-fiction, or I want to read nothing but books written by old dead white men, or I must read every recommendation people give to me. It's all up to you!

This year, Pajiba (www.pajiba.com) was kind enough to promise that for everyone who completes the one book, one week, one review requirement, they will make a contribution in your name to the Lil A' College Fund. Please read The Legend of Cannonball Read to get more details.

Cool, right?!

I should read more anyway, so I'm totally getting on this.

Starting with next Tuesday, I will be posting a review of a book I've read that week, and if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them! A book a week may involve raiding The Child's collection of Magic Tree House books in a pinch, and if you could spare me I'd so appreciate it.


It may come to this

Weekend Catchup: Short But Sweet

Friday night was spent carving a pumpkin and roasting the seeds, finishing a scarf, contemplating my navel and watching Dollhouse. Delightful.

The pumpkin design was agonized over by The Kid, she wanted *just the thing* - nothing *too* spooky since the pumpkin won't last until Halloween, but something Fall-ish just the same.

An owl was just the ticket.

I swear, I SWEAR I'm going to take pictures soon. Or at least, I'll get them out of my camera.

I promise.

Saturday was a fairly relaxed event all together, especially once it was clear the 4 INCHES OF SNOW was not going to impede my plans to go down to Denver in the evening.

I just love Colorado weather...it's like a box-a-chawklits.

Saturday night, after seeing The Kid off to a sleepover, TR & I went to a really fantastic pizza place called Il Vicino to celebrate his birthday with a bunch of his friends (all of whom are fantastic people I was glad to meet and hope to see again).

The thing about which you really must know, however, is the dessert.

I give to you...

Profiterole.


OMIGAWD

These are puff pastry, filled with cold, creamy chocolate mousse, then topped with what can only truly be described as marshmallow goop.

How good, you ask?

Every single person at the table scarfed theirs down. No "oh, none for me" or "I don't like chocolate" or anything. Just the sound of forks and happiness.

And I feel I've earned a Parent of the Century sticker for sharing the leftovers with The Kid.

Also, I licked the inside of the box after the leftovers were gone. I'm not ashamed.

Sunday started *way* too early for me, but one of The Kid's grandparents was in town, in particular one she only sees every couple of years, so I sucked it up. Child was glad to see her and had a pretty nice visit, including our 3rd trip through the Celestial Seasonings factory tour (the Mint Room never gets old).


My sinuses are always so CLEAR when I walk out of there.

A good weekend is always too short, don't you think?

One more day probably would have done it for me, but I would have settled for 3 or 4 more hours on Sunday morning.

Alas, the space-time continuum continues to defy me at every turn, and I lost the keys to the teleporter.

AGAIN.

F-Word Friday: Fantasy

I used to roller skate.

Every single weekend at The Rainbo, the most god-awfully decorated (black shiny walls with pink flamingos, it was heaven itself) I'd skate circles around everyone at top speeds.

My friend Dawn & I were demons on 8 wheels apiece.

I can still remember the whoosh of stale air past my face, how the sound from the speakers would ring off the walls, the sound your skates would make as you transitioned from floor to carpet, and how I learned to skate backwards from some very old-school skate-dancers who would absolutely smoke the floor in their sparkly pantsuits.

They were awesome.



I really wish there were pictures of what it looked like in there - it was the darkest, dankest place. Old filled-in brick, neon lights, a big city-scape made out of what I seem to remember as tinfoil-covered corrugated cardboard.

It was bliss.

Our favorite song to skate to? Why Brass Monkey of course. Paul Revere was a close second, but it didn't have that skate-50-MPH beat to it.

I just dated myself, didn't I. *sigh*

Anyway, my point is that had Roller Derby been made available to us back then, we would have kicked ass.

Alas, now I'm old, and delicate of back and bone, and if I tried to do Roller Derby I'd be crippled in a month, but in my head, I hold on to the fantasy of how completely awesome it would be to get in on that action...

I would be a killer blocker now, and my 13-year-old self would have been the queen of the jammers.

I'm just saying.

Out here in Colorado we've got TWO groups (rivals, apparently).



Not sure what happened there, but you know I understand cross-town rivalries, but I'm not local enough to have a preference for one over the other.

I say they're both pretty badass, because they're out there doing what I'd love to be able to do myself.

Have an awesome weekend!

Thrilling Thursday: Rock Star

If you have kids or know kids 13 or younger, you may have heard of the books of Laura Joffe Numeroff.

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, If You Give A Pig A Pancake, If You Give A Moose A Muffin...there were more, but my kiddo stopped wanting them before they came out.

They're all very cute and clever and take the "what happens next" chaos-theory of The Cat In The Hat and make it a little less terrifying.

I don't know about you but I was always nervous reading that book as a child; I was so sure those kids were going to get in HUGE trouble that I just couldn't enjoy the mess Thing 1 and Thing 2 made. It was nerve-wracking, just like I Love Lucy reruns.

Just me? *ahem* Moving on.


Almost as scary as the Jim Carrey movie version

So my friend Christine is going to learn to play the guitar.

She decided that her one regret as she approaches 30 (you're welcome, dear) is that she never really tried to learn.

She bought this yesterday:


Bitchin

I've been imagining all morning how badass it would be if I finally learned to play drums like *I've* always wanted to... we could totally start a band. But you know what happens to bands, you've seen Behind The Music! Better to just leave it to the imagination...

If You Start A Band With Your Friend, by Mimi Rickets.

If you start a band with your friend, she'll probably want to pick the songs you play.

After she picks the songs, and you veto doing the entire Jack White catalog, she'll want to figure out what the name of your band should be.


What, no Coldplay?

Once you've ruled out the weird ones and the off-putting ones, you'll both settle on a good name you both like, Tom Waits For No Man.


Oh yes

Now that you have a name, she'll probably want to get some new outfits.


No.

Trying on outfits will remind her that she still has to learn the guitar and you still have to learn the drums, so you'll both get lessons.

While you're trying to set them up, she'll totally get distracted by your new lead singer and bassist, the hot guy who teaches guitar.


You knew it was coming

After she hires him without an audition, you'll immediately get signed to a label because he's so cute.

Once you've had your big meeting with the record label, they'll ask her and the cute guy to replace the drummer.

Oh wait, that's you.


Now you'll *never* meet him

Five years later, while sitting on your couch watching VH1 and lamenting the fact that you were almost the drummer for TWFNM, you'll get a knock on the door.

It'll be your friend.

She got dropped from the label due to "artistic differences".

You'll invite your friend in, and she'll tell you she's joined a commune & taken up the zither.



And chances are, if you let her demonstrate the zither (and teach you about composting)...

She'll want to start a band!

THE END

Chris, congrats on your new venture, you're going to do AWESOME and have so much fun!

WTF Wednesday - Whatever You Want, Kids

Okay you know I'm really really tolerant, of pretty much everyone, with the exception of dumb-asses with no common sense.

And this guy. And her.

Okay I lied, I'm not tolerant of *everyone*, but most people get a pass.

I'm even cool with the folks who believe the earth is 6,000 years old. Do I think they're on to something? No, but that's fine, they can believe whatever they like! It's fine!

I say all this because I want you to know I'm truly not making fun of the whole creationism thing, because you know, whatever you want.

But...

But...


I sort of love this

Because I love Eddie Izzard more than I can really express to you, I give you this rather appropriate video... and there are swears, FYI.



Ciao!

Totally Random Tuesday: Fired Up!

Here's some stuff to inform and amuse.

First, a soapbox moment. I implore you to please not believe the insurance industry-driven hype, because trust me - that's all the scary stuff you've heard is. They stand to lose billions and billions of dollars, and they love them some money.



TR posted that today and I blatantly copied... and also this, which his brother found:


Click to see it

That was in response, I'm guessing, to this completely ridiculous flow-chart, which makes no sense. Go ahead, try and read it... if you can make heads or tails of it, I'll give you a dollar.

Seriously people. I know I've said this before but here it is again...

Please call your local congress-person and senator and ask them to support Health Care Reform. Encourage your friends and neighbors to do it too. They really do listen.

Finally, to put the Random in Totally Random Tuesday, I give to you the happiest cat in the world.



I think my Dea could pull this off, but only for a second before she rolled over and made tomato paste. Which she would eat, because she's entirely weird like that.

Weekend Catchup: Blue

Well thanks to my new friend Pill (what, TMI? We're all girls here. Mostly.), who I love because she makes my skin clear and actually caused me to *lose* 5 pounds, I was EXTREMELY crabby Friday afternoon as it was the end of the "off week", which those of you who've also been friends with her will know = "Stay Away From Her, Bitch Crazy!".

Thankfully I got over it quickly, like in hours, but as a result I was exhausted and pissy and totally missed an opportunity to see the fabulous TR for awhile, which bummed me out additionally but was quickly remedied by my fabulous Child, who fed me chocolate and put on something dumb to watch that I didn't have to think about.

I'm sometimes afraid I'm too non-traditional of a mom (June Cleaver would never have told her daughters, had she had them, that she was PMSing) but then again normal is boring. And she seems to be just fine - just think of all the coping skills she's learning.

Also thankfully, TR is the most patient person on earth and also very very smart.

And cute.

(cough.)

Anyway.

I didn't do much else with my weekend other than organize my books, which were encroaching on every surface of the house. I even donated a bunch to the library which, while it makes me feel good to give things away, also made me feel uncluttered.

I also put up a *few* Halloween decorations, despite my prior protestations about it, since I came across my Halloween bins and remembered about this...



...which I made last year and love to bits.

And the tombstones are up.

And the pumpkin patch is calling. Damn.

So after all that organizing and putting-out (sounds dirty, isn't) I headed with The Child to her grandpa's to watch his dogs while he and his girl were down in Denver for the night. She did the 5K Breast Cancer Walk, and then they decided to make an evening of it.

Bonuses for The Kid and myself...

a) The new hot tub he just put in. We were so in it. Strangely I got pruny really quickly - this didn't happen in the hot springs. More research needed.

b) His gas range & oven. I wept once, I think.

I have an electric range. I hate it. It doesn't cook evenly, it *always* boils my pasta over due to the cycling on and off of the stovetop bits, and you can't broil anything properly.

I made a steak for us in their broiler, and it was so good there was nothing left when we were done. Nothing. It was perfect because I remembered the rule... 7 minutes on one side, 5 on the other. Works every time. (For a little more well-done, just add another minute per side, but truly this makes a perfect steak in a gas broiler.)

In the morning, I made eggs and OMG MIRACLE... no sticking, and they were absolute perfection. They were a great start to a Sunday that was really really relaxed and calm and didn't involve me acting like a loon for any amount of time, with the exception of the ungodly amount of fresh mozzarella I ate with dinner.

It was shameful, but as it's a rare treat I will just do a little longer on the bike tonight and call it good. Life is short.

I also decided, while being cold and looking out at my ugly lawn, that my next house currently has 6 things that will be deal-breaker musts:

1. An electric fireplace (effective without killing you with fumes and exploding logs).
2. A furnace that is somewhere I can get to it that doesn't involve spidery, dark crawlspaces filled with the potential for zombies and clowns. In fact no basement at all would be great.
3. Air conditioning because I'm a wuss - unless we're in the mountains, then ceiling fans.
4. No grass anywhere at all - I want that shit xeriscaped to within an inch of its little lichen-covered life. This is slightly negotiable if there is someone to mow the grass besides me, and if there is a sprinkler system. I could tell you I want xeriscaping because I'm very earth-conscious, and this would be true, but I can't lie - the top of the Top 3 Reasons is "I'm lazy".
6. No carpet. Anywhere. I don't care if it's frickin' TILE as long as it's not carpet, but I'd prefer wood.
5. A gas stove because hell yes.

There are other things too, of course. I don't want the roof caving in on me ever so a new one would be nice, if there are termites I will get Orkin because I don't care, and I really really really want a claw-footed tub, but those are things that can be dealt with and adjusted for.

It'll be awhile of course... at least until The Kid finishes high school.

How was YOUR weekend?

F-Word Friday: Frightfest Fallout

So it's October.

You know what that means... Christmas is in full swing everywhere you look!

*gag* I love Christmas and all, but it gets worse every year. Hobby Lobby had their aisles half-done by July 4. No kidding.

What I love about October is the onset of Fall in earnest.

Sweater weather. Chili weather. Pumpkin bread weather.

And of course Halloween.

I used to love Halloween a lot more when I was a kid, I started planning my costumes in May.

As a teen, it was all about Fright Fest at Six Flags. I still love the idea, but as I find I have less tolerance for being jumped at by people who look like zombies, that holds less appeal.

As an adult I'm much more into *real* ghost stuff. Fake zombie masks scare me, but evidence of a haunting not so much. I find it scientifically fascinating, the idea of energy lasting after we've left it behind, and why that happens.

The Child has followed suit in her costume-planning fervor, but at the ripe old age of 13 her interest is changing from looking forward to the costume parade at school (something I looked forward to as her parent when she was little, visions of Ramona Quimby-style stomp-fest full of witches and goblins and princesses and firemen dancing in my head) to how late she's allowed to trick or treat with her friends.


Oh Klickitat Street, how I miss you.

Thankfully I've taught her not to fall into the trap of thinking Halloween is National Dress Like A Tart Day.

Even the younger girls are going that way these days. Last year she wanted to be a fairy, but all we could find was stuff like this:


Really?

So I made her costume and it was *gasp* age-appropriate! Go figure!


Way cuter, and anyway since when do fairies wear pleather?

She really is getting older though...last year was the first year she didn't want me to take her around. It was bittersweet, but this year I'm actually counting on it. (I didn't miss the sore feet.)

I'm sure my love for Halloween will come roaring back when she's got kids of her own and the pumpkin patch awaits us, and there are costumes to be sewn and jack-o-lanterns to be carved, and who knows maybe in a couple of weeks I'll see my love for it return, but today?

Today I just want chili.

Speaking of chili being one of my favorite Fall foods, if you list a few of *your* favorites over at Dandy's site today, you might win an awesome cupcake decorating kit. That would put me in the mood, I think... a pumpkin carved up and glowing, a tray of cute cupcakes set out...



Maybe I could love it again.

Maybe it's just too early yet.

Thrilling Thursday: Bursting

So you know my Kid?

The one with the viola?

She got into honors orchestra today.

While I'm not surprised, since she rocks, I am extremely proud of her and decided to share.

Of course I may be crying once I take another look at that practice schedule they handed us awhile back, but it'll be worth it.

Here's a video of The Child and her friend doing their ensemble piece this last spring. I forgot how long her hair was!



I'm going to have to make her a new Fame duffel bag or something. This has to be commemorated.