Our plans are to go to the movies and see Hellboy.

Keep your fingers crossed for us, that we actually make it there.

ADDENDUM the First:
20 minutes of commercials and previews. Grr. Though at $5.75 for a ticket, guess I can’t complain that much.

It was fun.

We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, especially since there were only a handful of other people in the theater, so we had the WHOLE ROW to ourselves AND no one sat in front of us! WHEEEE!!!!

I think it was comparable to the first, in that it didn’t take itself at all seriously and was silly in all the right places. I could have done without the singing, but hey, nothing’s perfect.

As usual, my favorite parts were the fight scenes. The guy who played the elf was very good, and I liked how his extra abilities made him seem even less human, even though they were things you see in all the fun kung fu movies.

So my opinion? Fun!

And very different from Iron Man, which we saw last weekend, which I also liked a lot, but in a very different way.

A friend had an excellent post come pouring out, but did not want the post to appear on their own site, for fear of upsetting loved ones. So I am posting it here. I will also post any comments or responses the author has to make, anonymously, if the author so desires.

And I may steal the idea for a post of my own later.

This week, I was running on empty and had nothing to write, so I turned to a writing site for writing prompts. The one that caught my attention was:

“I wish I could…”

Right now, I wish I could walk away from my tremendous load of stress and obligation. I’d trade being comfortably well off for being sane. If I could, I’d quit, now, and sell or give away as much of my possessions as possible. I’d simplify everything, and focus instead on living an interesting and rewarding life. I’d travel, make art, write, and trust the universe to provide.

But I have a family who requires the stability of a home, and I have an obligation to keep their daily routine and their stuff in place.

So I work fifty hours a week at a job that makes me crazy but pays a professional wage, I keep the home fires burning, and I store my dreams of freedom and travel and art in a box on a shelf, for someday.

I just wish there was a little more space in my life for me.

Yet it I am still continually surprised.

First and foremost, and the on-going game of Word Association is 1) Still on-going and 2) Becoming one of my top posts.

Second, by today’s search terms.

And it took me quite awhile to figure out where that search term came from.

Almost forgot. This weekend is MountainFest.

If they come over this way, I’ll take pictures, but so far I’ve only seen a handful of bikes at a time.

Quizzy Goodness!

Dunedain!

(more…)

For all his brutish tendencies, I still sometimes see Kat doing something and squeal, “He’s so cute!”

When he’s sleeping I try to squeal quietly.

Kit gets some attention this week.

But she has to share the spotlight with Michael on his birthday.

And with Grandmom, just because.

Kit pays very close attention to Grandmom throughout the day, for times like this, when Grandmom doles out the treats.

Here’s what my pedometer says:

Total steps: 17369
Aerobic steps: 11322
Aerobic activity: 98 minutes
Miles walked: 8.22

The miles walked is actually low, because my exercise steps are longer than my regular walking steps.

Which is good, because I’m not going to exercise at all tomorrow. :)

Keyboard commands for shutting down Vista.

Windows key, Right arrow, Right arrow, Right arrow, Enter key.

HA!

And since I modified the first button, on my computer I should be able to use Windows Key, Right arrow, Enter.

HA! HA!

Dinosaur

Well, we were. Just not here.

(more…)

The subject of gossip came up today, and I realized that gossip seems to be like pornography: I can’t tell you what it is, but I know it when I hear it.

Specifically, my friend and I were considering several cases.

If you pass along something that has happened to someone so others may know, such as a death in the family, a serious illness, or along happier lines an engagement, we don’t think that’s gossip. You’re sharing the news because you care about either the person to whom the incident happened, or you think the news will affect the person you are telling.

If your sharing information that may relate directly to you or your friends, I don’t think that’s gossip. I think this falls under the category of worrying about the future/bitching about the present.

The case that I wasn’t sure about was talking about your enemies and people you don’t like. If I gloat to my friend about something bad that happened to someone I don’t like, does this qualify as gossip? I’m not telling her so she’ll tell anyone else, I’m telling her because it makes my bitter little soul happy when bad things happen to bad people.

It seems to me that gossip primarily falls under the category of telling anyone who will listen news you know about other people. i.e. it isn’t personal in that you aren’t happy for the person, you aren’t worried about the person, the news does not affect you or the person you are telling directly, you’re just talking because you like talking about other people.

But I could be wrong. Maybe what I do falls into the category of gossip. If gossip is based upon intent, then I think I’m ok. But if it’s based solely upon talking about other people? Well, then I’m not so much of a good person.

Happy Birthday Michael!

And many happy returns to my favorite husband!

Guess what I’m doing when it gets dark and the temperature drops?

An e-mail conversation got me thinking again about a subject I’ve been considering off and on for several years now, and that’s the change in attitudes in the United States towards multiculturalism.

My grandmother talks about how she regrets her parents never taught her Polish and Lithuanian. I have friends my age who speak only English, despite having a parent for whom English is not their first language.

Yet when I look at friends my own age with children, there is a push for the child to be bilingual, to speak the native languages of both parents (or of a grandparent in one case.)

It seems to me that between there is something profoundly different about my generation and those who are having kids now, and that is those my age want their children to be aware of their ancestry, their history, and the language and stories from which they descend.

So what changed between my parent’s generation and my generation? Well, the big thing that comes to mind is Civil Rights. The country had a radical shift from separate but equal to equality for all in the eyes of the law. And I think that profoundly changed the way my generation and those after me think.

In my grandmother’s time, having an accent meant that you dealt primarily with other immigrants. And I have to admit that until the great-depression, this worked very well for my great-grandfather. But I imagine that he came across prejudice for the way he spoke, and wanted to make sure his children would not suffer the same prejudice.

That doesn’t mean accents are acceptable across the US now. Unfortunately, there is still plenty of prejudice for those who speak with an accent of any sort. But being bilingual and fluent in more than one language is seen as something else entirely.

But even more than that I think there is a difference in how multi racial children are treated. Remember, it has been only 40 years since the Loving Decision. Only two years before I was born it was illegal in many states for interracial couples to get married. In such an atmosphere, is it a surprise that parents of a multiracial child would want to protect their child from the racism they may well have experienced in their daily lives?

But now such prejudices, although they still exist, are hidden away for the most part. There is no more rock throwing or name calling.

And I think this is a very important thing.

Is everything perfect? Hell no. There are parts of the country where you can be arrested for driving while black, where someone with dark skin and an accent is assumed to be either an illegal immigrant or a terrorist.

But when I sit and think that just 40 years ago interracial marriages were illegal, it seems to me that even if we still have a ways to go, we have still come very far, and it is important to remember and celebrate that fact.

May it not take 40 more years for us to come the rest of the way.