Saturday, April 29, 2006

Note: Never try to 'fib' when your kids are around

Yesterday, after picking up The PB & The J from daycare, Honey Mustard decided to swing through Dairy Queen to get them a Star treat (a popular thing for the three of them to do on Fridays)

That night (out of curiosity) I asked HoMu if she had gotten anything there.

She said "no."

The PB immediately said... "Yes you did Mommy, you got a crunch cone."

BUS-TED!

Let that be today's lesson for all of us... never... ever... tell a fib when your kids are around. They will bust you and bust you good.

It's almost as good as having a conscience...

Friday, April 28, 2006

Shout Out!

I would be remiss if I were to miss giving a Shout-out today to the author of my favorite book; To Kill a Mockingbird.

Today is Harpee Lee’s 80th birthday, and in honor of that, I present to you a little bio of her life, and a brief analysis of her famed novel. To see a snippet of her novel, go on over to my Poetry and Literature blog.

Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28 1926 in Monroeville Alabama, the youngest of four children of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee. She attended Huntingdon College, studied law at University of Alabama (while attending there she wrote for several student publications and also spent a year as editor of the campus humor magazine, "Rammer-Jammer") She didn’t finish her law degree but did stud one year at Oxford University before moving to New York in 1950, where she got a job as a reservation clerk with an airline. She gave up her job, moved into a tiny NYC apartment and concentrated on her writing.

In 1957 Miss Lee submitted a manuscript to the J. B. Lippincott Company that contained a series of short stories about life in the South. Told that her novel consisted of a series of short stories strung together and thusly was hard to understand, she was told to re-write it, which she did for the next two and a half years with the help of her editor, Tay Hohoff.

In 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird was published.

It was Lee’s only book and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961 and, in 1999, was voted “Best Novel of the Century” in a poll conducted by the Library Journal (which is a trade publication for librarians that was founded by Melvil Dewey, who you may know as the father of the Dewey decimal system)

In 1959 Ms. Lee accompanied her good friend Truman Capote to Holcombe, KS to work as a research assistant for one of Capote's novels. That novel, published in 1966, was In Cold Blood, and it has dedications to Jack Dunphy and Harper Lee.

To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930’s with many of the settings and characters being drawn from Lee’s life; Finch was the maiden name of Lee's mother and the character of Dill was drawn from Capote, Lee's childhood friend. The novel can, at it’s core, be seen as a coming-of-age story that it told from the point of view of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, the young daughter of Atticus Finch, an educated lawyer in a small fictional town in the South. Throughout the novel Scout is accompanied by her brother Jem and their mutual friend Dill (who was modeled after Lee’s good friend Truman Capote)

The title of the book is taken from Atticus's advice to his children about firing their air rifles at birds, stating in the book: "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird". While the blue jay is a common bird, and is often perceived as a bully and a pest, mockingbirds do nothing but “sing their hearts out for us.”

Metaphorically, several of the book's characters can be seen as "mockingbirds" (Tom Robinson and Boo Radley), because they are constantly attacked despite having nothing but goodness in them, therefore the mockingbird represents innocence, and to kill one is to metaphorically kill innocence.

During the humorous and sad events of the novel, Scout and Jem learn a lesson in good and evil, and compassion and justice. As Scout's narrative goes on, the reader begins to realize that Scout will never kill a mockingbird and, more importantly, become racist. While Scout tells her story in her own language, she also analyzes people and their actions from the viewpoint of an already grown-up, mature person.

Part of the story’s emphasis is that children are born with an instinct for justice and absorb prejudices in the socialization process.

According to today's The Writer's Almanac, the novel sells about a million copies every year, and has sold over thirty million copies since its publication. In 1963, a scant three years after its publication, it was being taught in 8% of U.S. public middle schools and high schools. Today that figure is closer to 80%, with William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" & "Macbeth" and Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn"being the only novels that are read by more high school students.

If you haven't read the book (or seen the equally impressive movie starring Gregory Peck), pick up a copy and read/watch it. You WILL NOT be dissapointed.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Random Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon

  • Been busy the past few days and didn’t have time to blog. Can’t tell you why yet…
  • Yeah... this sounds like a good idea...
  • Does anyone really care that Ryan Seacrest and Paula Abdul (both of American Idol “fame”) aren’t speaking to each other??? I know I sure as hell don’t.
  • As Sarah mentioned in her blog, she and I are starting up a Sports Blog. Why? Cuz you can never A: have too many blogs to read and B: read too much opinions from ‘crazed’ sports fans. We have some excellent people joining us, and as soon as we can get all our ducks in a row, we’ll throw a HUGE launch party... and by HUGE I mean myself... and by launch party I mean lunch at my desk...
  • Anyone want to go in with me to buy this? Think about it... we name it after our blogs and our traffic would go through the roof.
  • Headlines that write themselves after you hear this story: “Cyclone Monica blowing Australia – Bill Clinton en route” Got an idea for your own headline? Leave it as a comment.
  • Never... ever... try to take donuts from a cop.
  • The last few weeks of The West Wing have been spectacular... and there are only three more episodes left.
  • HoneyMustard and I were planning on getting our oldest nephew a black 30GB iPod for his 8th grade graduation, his birthday and his confirmation, but his Dad (who hasn’t seen him or his other two kids since walking out on my sister-in-law three years ago) got him a Nano for his birthday (seems my sister in law may have inadvertently told her ex.’s sister that we were planning on getting him an iPod) My thought is that he couldn’t stand me being a father-figure to his kid (which I and another brother-in-law have been since before he even left) and wanted to strike first. Is it wrong that I’m pissed about this?
  • Is it wrong that upon hearing that news I immediately thought that a LOT of places are giving away Nanos for free when you sign-up for something?
  • Lumpyhead’s mom tagged me to reveal something about Sarah that other people may not know and is weird. Well, the only thing I can think of is one that everyone knows but that I find very weird; she’s a Bucs fan... Ewwwww.
  • MetroDad and Scott still haven’t responded to my ‘6 weird’ tag. Shame, shame, shame...
  • Interesting story about the demographics of “Democratic” bloggers. They also polled Republicans but I can’t comment on that one because my computer doesn’t go that far to the right [rimshot]... kidding, that... that was a joke.
  • Here are some of the recent search phrases that have brought people to my little corner of the blogosphere: “blog plug create folder by date”… that’s it… one lousy search phrase since last Wednesday?? Son of a...
  • Today’s gratuitous (and superfluous) attempt for the ‘craziest word or phrase used in a blatant attempt to trick people into visiting my site when they type it into Google’ (if that ever happens again…) is: ‘Pussy Galore’
  • Today’s gratuitous and spontaneous blog plug is: Savage Stories
  • Today’s mental iPod song of the day is: “Hung my Head” by Johnny Cash, from his album “American IV: The Man Comes Around”
Early one morning
With time to kill
I borrowed Jeb's rifle
And sat on a hill
I saw a lone rider
Crossing the plain
I drew a bead on him
To practice my aim

My brother's rifle
Went off in my hand
A shot rang out
Across the land
The horse, he kept running
The rider was dead
I hung my head
I hung my head

set off running
To wake from the dream
My brother's rifle
Went into the sheen
I kept on running
Into the south lands
That's where they found me
My head and my hands

The sheriff he asked me
Why had I run
And then it came to me
Just what I had done
And all for no reason
Just one piece of lead
I hung my head
I hung my head

Here in the court house
The whole town was there
I see the judge
High up in the chair
Explain to the court room
What went through you mind
And we'll ask the jury
What verdict they find

I felt the power
Of death over life
I orphaned his children
I widowed his wife
I begged their forgiveness
I wish I was dead
I hung my head
I hung my head
I hung my head
I hung my head

Early one morning
With time to kill
I see the gallows
Up on a hill
And out in the distance
A trick of the brain
I see a lone rider
Crossing the plain

And he'd come to fetch me
To see what they'd done
And we'd ride together
To kingdom come
I prayed for god's mercy
For soon I'd be dead
I hung my head
I hung my head
I hung my head
I hung my head

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Random Thoughts for a Thursday Morning

  • Whoo-hoo!! I made a Dadcentric post… I have arrived baby; “Things are going to start happening to me now.”
  • Personal message to Bill Bidwell, owner of the Chicago/St Louis/Arizona/ Phoenix /Arizona Cardinals, Even if you build a $450 million dollar stadium, fans still won’t come if the teams sucks… do you NOT remember your attempt at that philosophy in St. Louis?? Remember how that turned out??
  • One question Tom: Suri?
  • Good advice. MSNBC has a list of 59 things a man should NEVER do after 30… thank God “Start a blog” isn’t one of them…
  • Which is worse, a child’s vomit on your clothes, or a child’s vomit on your face?
  • One question Brooke: Grier?
  • Thank God the hockey season is over for us St Louis Blues fans. Maybe now that there’s a new owner on the horizon, maybe next year they could actually, I don’t know… compete.
  • My vote is for face. Just don’t ask me how I came to that opinion.
  • Too many family things in April: Mine and Honey Mustard’s anniversary, father-in-law’s birthday, my mom’s birthday, Honey Mustard’s grandma’s birthday, one of her uncle’s birthdays, one of her sister’s birthdays, her parent’s anniversary and a nephew’s birthday. Sheesh. And coming in May; the same nephew graduates from 8th grade AND makes confirmation, my brother’s girlfriend graduates from Law School and The PB & The J turn four. Double sheesh.
  • Happy Birthday to Spanish painter Joan Miró, born on this date in 1893 (he died December 25, 1983). One of my favorite Spanish artists, see examples of his work HERE and HERE.
  • Strange… but true? Go to http://www.google.com/, type in the word ‘failure’, hit the “I’m feeling lucky” button and see what pops up.
  • Moment of seriousness: Yesterday was the 11th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. (I was in college at the time, and at the moment it blew I was – as was customary for my roommate and I – drinking coffee and watching SportsCenter before my 10:00 class; Psychology of Speech. ESPN interrupted the show and I turned on CNN as my first thought was about my family in Norman; 2 of who worked in OK-City) 168 people died from this act of “domestic terrorism” and, like the thousands of victims of 9/11, they must never be forgotten.
  • I think Mr. Big Dubya is mad at me for tagging him...
  • MSN’s list of TV’s Greatest talk-show hosts. Nice list, but one question though… Arsenio Hall??
  • The return of ‘payola’… Allan Freed must be so proud.
  • Here are some of the recent search phrases that have brought people to my little corner of the blogosphere: “wreck of the edmund fitzgerald date”, “but i shot a man in reno just to watch hm die johnny cash”, “monoamniotic twins”, “Dr.Ismail, University of Chicago, IL”, “traveling in the first trimester”, “lach twins”, “Vince-Coleman tarp”, “claymation ultrasound”, “anheuser busch eagle sign” (wow, rather dull week wasn’t it?)
  • Today’s gratuitous (and superfluous) attempt for the ‘craziest word or phrase used in a blatant attempt to trick people into visiting my site when they type it into Google’ is: emasculation
  • Today’s gratuitous and spontaneous blog plug is: Childsplayx2.Today’s mental iPod song of the day is: ‘Seasons of Love’ from the Broadway Cast Recording of “Rent”
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Moments so dear
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure - Measure A Year?

In Daylights - In Sunsets
In Midnights - In Cups Of Coffee
In Inches - In Miles
In Laughter - In Strife

In - Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure
A Year In The Life?

How About Love?
How About Love?
How About Love?
Measure In Love

Seasons of Love.
Seasons of Love.

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Journeys To Plan
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure The Life
Of A Woman Or A Man?

In Truths That She Learned
Or In Times That He Cried
In Bridges He Burned
Or The Way That She Died

It's Time Now - To Sing Out
Though The Story Never Ends
Let's Celebrate Remember A Year In The
Life Of Friends

Remember the Love
Remember the Love
Remember the Love
Measure In Love

Oh you got to remember the love,
You know that love is a gift from up above
Share love, give love, spread love
Measure, measure your life in love.
RENT Seasons Of Love Lyrics

Monday, April 17, 2006

Revolution # 6

Number six... number six... number six... number six...

Sorry, listening to "The Beatles White Album"...

I was tagged by Sarah with another 'meme' (Thanks... appreciate it btw. All I can say is just wait... revenge, like calamari, is best served cold...)

I was hoping that this whole ‘meme’ thing was as dead as Dillinger. Unfortunately, no such luck.

What exactly is this meme Kemp? I’m glad you asked, this is the meme where you say six "weird" things that people don't know about you then tag six other people. Weird is in the eye of the beholder... what some may find strange may not be strange to someone else... so I'm just gonna toss some 6 things you may not know about me... you decide the level of weirdness...

  1. I hate, detest, abhor and loathe camping… and pretty much nature in general. “Nature, like a woman, will seduce you with its sights and its scents and its touch, and then it breaks your ankle, also like a woman.” And by nature I mean the woodsy/outdoorsy thing, not outside on my patio smoking a cigar and drinking a scotch or outside playing with The PB & The J.
  2. I like Broadway musicals and show tunes. My favorites are “Les Misérables”, “Rent”, “The Phantom of the Opera” and “South Pacific.” Eclectic… isn’t it?
  3. I once shot a man in Reno just to watch him die… wait, that’s Johnny Cash… wait… I’ve used that line on this blog before haven’t I? My bad. Uh… here’s the real one: I have the best lawn of anyone in my neighborhood… an obsession I learned from my father.
  4. I used to be a big fan of the Archie comic books. Not the full-sized comics, the ‘digests.’ I still have them (approx. 310 of them) packed away for the off chance they are worth something some day.
  5. I rear-ended another car 5 days after my 18th birthday (and a week after getting a speeding ticket for going 87 in a 55) because I was watching a woman jogging down the street wearing a sports bra, short-shorts and little else. In my defense, it was a family tradition as my Dad did the same thing when he was 17… but he rear-ended a cement truck, so I did a little better than he did.
  6. My favorite guilty pleasure movies are “Tommy Boy” & “Weekend at Bernie’s.” Don’t ask me why I like them, I honestly couldn’t tell you… it’s just something about them

Now… who’s next on this cavalcade of banal inanity???

Tag!!! You’re it!!!!

Oh well... four is better than none.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

It's the little things...

Saturday… first lawn mowing of the season.

Pull the chord and the mower starts on the first try... whoo-hoo!!!!!

Life is good.

Friday, April 14, 2006

A meandering post

Couple of things today:

Honey Mustard asked me a question this morning.

After The Jelly asked me if she could play with my Palm Pilot and then my iPod, my wife asked, “How many 3 ½ year olds know what an iPod and a Palm Pilot are?”

My first thought was… quite a few actually.

But the more I think about it, I’m not so sure. So I decided to ask my blog-friends (or Bloends as I call you… which sounds a little dirty doesn’t it? How about Blogends? Blends? I could combine blog and amigo and I can call all of you blomigos. That’s it, that’s the winning entry right there’ blogmigos)

So I decided to ask my blomigos this question:

How many toddlers do YOU think know about PDA’s, iPods (or other MP3 players) and cell phones?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Secondly; Becky isn’t the only one with a ‘ghetto’ park near her house. We have a few parks near our house and one that The PB and The J really like is located near the river. We went there the other day but were unable to play because there were “big kids” there. And by ‘big kids’ I mean kids who are in high school and should have no use for a playground/park. The little kids, about 20 of them including my two, couldn’t play on the slides because the big kids were on top of the slide (and it was creaking and shaking) and blocking the kids from getting to the slide.

Ditto for the swings. And the jungle gym. And everything else. The other parents were sitting there, their kids whining because they couldn’t slide, and weren’t saying a damn thing.

Now, as most of you could probably guess, I am not one to hold my tongue, even if it’s a group of high school students who obviously have too much time on their hands that they have to hang out at a park.

So I said something.

Something along the lines of, “My daughters and all these other kids want to slide so get your fat ass off of there and out of the way,” (I may be paraphrasing a bit) and followed that up with a classic line from the Cosby Show: “I am probably the only adult who will sue little children.”

Actually it was more like "please move, my kids want to go down the slide." Have to be an example for The PB and The J.

They didn’t move. So all the kids and parent’s left, we left and I’m left wondering: “Was I like that in high school? Was I that much of a jackass?”

I don’t think I was. How about all of you? Would you have been like that or would you have gotten down and allowed the kids to play?

I’m just curious.

No sooner did we start walking away, the kid on top of the slide (it was a big slide about 8 feet off the ground) who I surmise was the leader, promptly fell off the slide and started crying like one of the toddlers they just chased away.

Is it wrong that I enjoyed that immensely?

I am off work this afternoon and will be busy the next few days doing yard work (that lawn isn’t going to mow itself… yet), getting ready for Easter (those Easter Eggs won’t dye themselves… yet) and waiting for the plumber (that leak won’t… well, you know the rest).

So I want to wish all of you and yours a very joyous Passover and a very Happy Easter.

BTW, coming Monday, be on the lookout for Kemp’s patented Holiday-post for Easter and find out all you ever wanted to know about the Easter holiday but were afraid to ask.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Random Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon

  • Here's a movie cast we should all be afraid of: Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence & John Travolta starring together in a movie called Wild Hogs, about middle-aged men who form a motorcycle gang and then have to face off against the Hells Angels. Good God… just shoot me now. If this movie gets made, it will signal the apocalypse.
  • Damn glad I don’t wear contact lenses.
  • Today is the 25th Anniversary of the first shuttle launch. I remember getting up early to watch it take-off. I was seven... I was seven… Son of a bit** I’m getting old. Damn… I need to buy a sportscar…
  • Took this from Fark. Here’s a list of some of the weirdest USB gadgets out there. I don’t know about you, but personally, I don’t know how I’ve lived my life without a flash drive shaped like a piece of sushi.
  • I was watching TV last night with The Jelly sitting next to me (I think HoMu was subjecting me to American Idol) and I saw something on the screen that made me groan, and I said ‘Oh my…’ and before I could say the next word, The Jelly said, perfectly, ‘…goodness.’ Yep, she and The PB are my kids, next thing you know they’ll be saying things like ‘D’oh’ and ‘Nice.’ Wait, they already do that…
  • I agree with Sarah. “Higglytown Heroes” are a bunch of hooey and I am SO glad that The Peanut Butter & The Jelly are not into them.
  • I’ve learned how to add feeds to bloglines, and I’ve learned how to create folders in Bloglines so it’s now an organized mess. But, I still don’t know how to make myself ‘public’ on there so people can see what I’ve subscribed to (as if anyone would care)… can anyone out there help a blogger-brotha’ out?
  • My hatred of Brett Favre is growing with each pasing day. Personally, if I were the Packers, after he AND his agent said; ‘what are they going to do, cut me?’, I would have cut his pompous ass… and I think some Packers fans are starting to agree with me. Sarah, I KNOW you have to have an opinion on this…
  • After 1 week, my fantasy baseball team is in First place at 9-0. I should screen save it for posterity as I am sure this will be the last time for that.
  • Here are some of the recent search phrases that have brought people to my little corner of the blogosphere: "aston kutcher twin brother", “Pemberton hall eastern ill”, “eds squirrel pamplona video”, “NEW BUSCH STADIUM COMPUTER WALLPAPER” (I don’t know why they were yelling), “jimmy kemp” (no idea who this is… anyone?), “clydesdales cardinals”, “BUSCH STADIUM DEMOLITION” (again, don’t know why they were yelling), “ultra sound of identical twins”, “movie quote 'here till thursday try the veal'”, “fairmont city IL spanish radio” (this one worries me as this is the small town outside of East St Louis where I was born), “Mary Hawkins + EIU”, “nine presidents did not attend college”, “nervous about being a father of twins” (I’m sure reading this blog helped him overcome that…)
  • Today’s gratuitous (and superfluous) attempt for the ‘craziest word or phrase used in a blatant attempt to trick people into visiting my site when they type it into Google’ is: ‘Omnes una manet nox’ (that’s Latin baby!)
  • Today’s gratuitous and spontaneous blog plug is: I’d Like to Buy a Vowel
  • Today’s mental iPod song of the day is: ‘Any Road’ by George Harrison, from his final album: “Brainwashed
Oh I've been traveling on a boat and a plane
In a car on a bike with a bus and a train
Traveling there and traveling here
Everywhere in every gear

But oh Lord we pay the price with a
Spin of a wheel - with a roll of a dice
Ah yeah you pay your fare
And if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there

And I've been traveling through the dirt and the grime
From the past to the future through the space and the time
Traveling deep beneath the waves
In watery grottoes and mountainous caves

But oh Lord we've got to fight
With the thoughts in the head with the dark and the light
No use to stop and stare
And if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there

You may not known where you came from
May not know who you are
May not have even wondered
How you got this far

I've been traveling on a wing and a prayer
By the skin of my teeth by the breadth of a hair
Traveling where the four winds blow
With the sun on my face - in the ice and the snow

But oooeeee it's a game
Sometimes you're cool, sometimesyou're lame
Ah yeah it's somewhere
And if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there

But oh Lord we pay the price
With the spin of the wheel with the roll of the dice
Ah yeah, you pay your fare
And if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there

I keep traveling around the bend
There was no beginning, there is no end
It wasn't born and never dies
There are no edges, there is no size
Oh yeah, you just don't win
It's so far out - the way out is in
Bow to God and call him Sir
But if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there

Monday, April 10, 2006

First game at new Busch Stadium...


Wish I was there...

Shout-out

On this date in 1970, Paul McCartney announced that The Beatles, after a 10-year run that included 20 number-one Billboard songs (including occupying the first five slots of the Billboard Hot 100 on April 4, 1964 – a feat that has never been accomplished by anyone else) were breaking up.

The group had not performed in public since January 1969, when they gave their famous (and oft-imitated) impromptu concert on the roof of their Apple recording studios in London.

Their final album, Let it Be, was released shortly after the announcement.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Blogheadlines...

Like Sarah did with me the other day, I am blatantly stealing this from Becky at I’d Like to Buy a Vowel.

But when you get a nice line like this handed to you on a platter, you have to take it.

This is the best news headline I’ve seen in a while:


Ya know, that wouldn’t happen to people if they left Smurfette alone…

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Random Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon - Thursday Edition

A day late... but not a dollar short.

  • Really NBC… is this really who you want hosting your morning “News” show… someone who moonlights as a game show host?? Why not just bring J. Fred Muggs back??
  • Sarah asks if 11:40 in the morning is too early to drink. My response was; ‘not if you have twins.’
  • How random can thoughts be if one has to think about them first?
    Does anyone else besides me want to smack the hell out of the duo from those annoying VW commercials?
  • Are the two of them more or less annoying than the 80’s Energizer guy? That’s a tough call.
  • I love my kids.
  • I usually find her writing’s pushy and obnoxious, but the Chicago Tribune’s TV blogger nails it in her scathing comments about NBC today.
  • Sad… very, very sad… Note to The PB & The J… don’t even think about dressing like that when you are 10…
  • Random “The Simpsons” quote: “I wish we lived in a place more like the America of yesteryear that only exists in the brains of us Republicans.” – Ned Flanders
  • I hate to admit it, but I thought Gene Pitney was already dead. RIP GP.
  • The 2006 NFL schedule has been released… GO RAMS!!
  • Here are some of the recent search phrases that have brought people to my little corner of the blogosphere: “lyrics "I once shot a man in Reno just to watch him die"”, “leprechaun the fugitive”, “nickname for wednesday=hump day”, “Cash Bash”, “Irish saint twins”, “simpsons quotes politics”, “sahd”, “monoamniotic pregnancy and yolk sac”, “fatherhood spanish”, “who provide the voice for Stewie Griffin twin” (actor/playwrite Wallace Shawn btw)
  • Today’s gratuitous (and superfluous) attempt for the ‘craziest phrase used in a blatant attempt to trick people into visiting my site when they type it into Google’ is: ‘kwyjibo’
  • Today’s gratuitous and spontaneous blog plug is: Mr. Big Dubya
  • Today’s Mental iPod song of the day is ‘They Don’t Know’ by Tracey Ullman.

You've been around for such a long time now
Oh, maybe I could leave you but I don't know how
And why should I be lonely every night
When I could be with you, oh yes you make it right
And I don't listen to the guys who say
That you're bad for me and I should turn you away

Cause they don't know 'bout us
They've never heard of love

I get a feeling when I look at you
Wherever you go now I wanna be there too
They say we're crazy but I just don't care
And if they keep on talkin', still they get nowhere
So I don't mind if they don't understand
When I look at you and you hold my hand

Cause they don't know 'bout us
They've never heard of love

(do do-do-do)
Why should it matter to us if they don't approve
(do do-do-do)
We should just take our chances while we've got nothin' to lose

Baby

There's no need for living in the past
Now I've found a love, I'm gonna make it last
I tell the others don't bother me
Cause when they look at you they don't see what I see
No I don't listen to their wasted lines
Got my eyes wide open and I see the signs

Cause they don't know 'bout us
They've never heard of love

No I don't listen to their wasted lines
Got my eyes wide open and I see the signs

Cause they don't know 'bout us
They've never heard of love

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Pottery & Leather

No random thoughts today as I am only working half a day. Why you ask?

Today is mine and Honey Mustard’s 9-Year Wedding Anniversary. (The traditional gift is pottery and the modern is leather… wait, I found another web site that says linen and lace respectively… wait, another says tin for both… and this one says… edible what!!?? Never mind...)

We are going out to lunch and a movie (with The Peanut Butter & The Jelly). She has school tonight and can’t miss class… lest she get a ‘F’ on her paper. (It’s also a bit of a contest as she is trying to match, or beat, my grad-school GPA of 3.9/4.0)

Our private celebration will be this Saturday.

So… be strong, for I shall return tomorrow to regale the blogosphere with my humorous and enlightening stories of life.....

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Meanwhile...

I haven’t posted since last Wednesday. Why? I really have no idea… I just haven’t.

I could come up with some cleverly conceived lie and say I hadn’t posted lately because I was being held captive by a galloping and marauding group of... well... marauders...

Or I could say I was instantaneously and inexplicably transported to another time where I was elected King of the Universe and reigned supreme until I was overthrown by an army of Rachel Ray look-alikes...

Or that I was in a perpetual dream state where I kept having the same dream where I saw myself standing a sort of sun-god robe on a pyramid, with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at me...

But that would be a lie...

What I can say is that these last few days have been hectic.

Friday Honey Mustard had a “procedure” done where she had to lie still for 24 hours and not move her head (the procedure had to do with sinuses) that much.

What did that mean? That I had to drive her to and fro, take her home, put her to bed, pick up her pain medication, do laundry, pick up The PB & The J from daycare, tidy-up the house, tend to HoMu, check in with the office, make dinner, bathe the children, watch “Walk the Line” and put the children and HoMu to bed.

(Aside: if you haven’t seen “Walk the Line.” I highly recommend it. It was a very good flick with some phenomenal performances, and singing, by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. Even if you aren’t a Johnny Cash fan, I am a JC fan btw; I still think it would be a good movie for ya.)

I had no problem doing any of that as that are responsibilities of a husband and father and I am more than happy to do it… it was just so damn tiring...

Continue to Saturday. HoMu was still laid up and couldn’t do much. So I got The PB & The J up, got them some breakfast, took them to music class, grabbed them some lunch, got them home for nap because, like Amy @ Savage Stories, we had a four-year old birthday party to attend (I understand the grammar in that sentence is off – the party itself was not 4 years old, the birthday girl herself was turning 4… but I’m too tired to fix it… and I realize the irony in the fact that I had enough time to point out that fact even though I said I didn’t have enough time to fix the grammatical error…)

Let me set the scene of the party for you: 35 adults and 814 children.

814 children running around, going up and down the stairs, to the playroom, to the bedrooms… outside for a piñata, inside for party games, back outside to roast marshmallows, back inside to open gifts, cut the cake and hand out treat bags (where did this policy start btw??? I don’t remember EVER getting a treat bag when I went to birthday parties in my youth…)

We got home around 10:00, put the kids to bed, changed the clocks and I went to play a game of Call of Duty on the computer while the wife went to sleep…

(Aside: I have to do a little shout-out here to the Poli-blog Scott and I run. We got our 10,000th visitor on Saturday after 6 short months of existence. Whoo-hoo!!)

Sunday was somewhat routine…

Church, a quick lunch, a visit with HoMu’s grandmother, then grocery shopping, home to house cleaning, made dinner, watched The Simpsons, put The PB & The J to bed, HoMu did some homework while I worked on my crossword, then we watched The West Wing I TiVo’ed (btw, the last 5 minutes was incredibly sad and emotional with the “discovery” of an unresponsive Leo…) and went to sleep.

Whew

I promise to write better tomorrow...

How Metrosexual of you...

Check out my new Poetry & Literature Corner blog where, from time to time, I will post excerpts from some of my favorite books and poems with an occasional book review thrown in for good measure.

So sit back, grab a cup o’ java, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, and enjoy...