NEW BOOKS NEW BOOK NEW BOOKS....Harry, I still loves ya

Okay, here's the newest babies to the brood....oh heck, I'm so hoppin' happy...

Daniel Goleman: SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE: BEyond IQ, Beyond Emotional Intelligence
NF...yea, I know, this guy has gotten a lot of mileage out of his theory but it is intriguing and gives hope to us littlest intellectual angels.

Steven Pinker: THE BLANK SLATE: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. NF Widely recognized Psych Prof at Harvard..I have several of his books...very entertaining and enlightening. He makes it all understandable and I feel reel smart when I reed 'im Ma.

Annie Dillard: AN AMERICAN CHILDHOOD. NF Autobiography of her growing up in Pittsburgh in the 50s....that's only four hours from C-bus and 10 years away from the 60s...I'm curious....

Eleanor Herman: SEX WITH KINGS: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge. NF It's classified as history. Apparently she really dug through the source pile; diaries, personal letters and "diplomatic dispatches" to get the scoop on royal mistresses. I have a fascination with monarchies...I know too much and care too much and apparently, have too much time...perhaps it's time to do my homework...nah

Kathleen McGowan: THE EXPECTED ONE: FICTION....It's a Mary Magdalene story...don't judge me.

Pete Hamill: FOREVER. fiction. "...the magical, epic tale of an extroadinary man who arrives in New York in 1740 and remains...forever." From the back of the book...yay

Temple Grandin: ANIMALS IN TRANSLATION: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. NF. I love Dr. Grandin. She's autistic, thinks in picture, and it's just awesome to get into her head. And....since I think in pictures as well and autism runs in our freakly little flambly, she is one of my sheroes.

OKAY....GOTTA RUN AND READ....WOOT

Fun With Captions!!!!

Okay, let's come up with some captions for this photo, which is great, by the way.

The best caption wins...which means nothing, zip, nada, bumpkis. But, ain't it fun to consider? So please post some captions...oh come on...I know who reads my blog and you know how creative you are...don't make me come after you...really...don't make me put my shoes on....

1. BEAR: I've come for my daughter.

2. BEAR: I'm your new neighbor...howdy.

3. BEAR: Here's my business card...I sell windows...

4. Monday's suck...and you're not even outta bed yet.

TRIPPY NEW WEBSITE-CONTROVERSIAL & CREEPY

Reverse Speech is a controversial technology that alledges that our "true" other-than-conscious feelings can be discovered if we "reverse" our speech. Audio clips of examples can be found at the website:
http://www.reversespeech.com/words_of_creation.htm

Go to the menu on the left and click on "examples of RS" (which means reverse speech). Then, when you get to that page, scroll down to the bottom of the page for examples from Ronald Reagon, Bob Dole, a "Christian" authority, Bush, Sandra Berhard in a Madonna video, Hillary Clinton, Schwarzeneggar, etc.

I've heard some clips and I will warn you, there is a definite creep factor, especially if you give this any amount of credence. On the other hand, it is intriguing, inviting, and for the adventurer in us (those of us who break into graveyards, and you know who you are, and/or assume false personalities and interview cops in haunted offices...ask me sometime) this is the stuff of dreams.

So, check it out and let me know your thoughts. The homepage is:

http://www.reversespeech.com/words_of_creation.htm

Have fun and don't be gone too long...we'll have to send a virtual posse and you know how difficult virtual horses are yada yada yada..... me out.

The Cobert Report...

Steven Cobert is so great. I was watching his show, which was a rerun from last night's show, opened with him sitting at his desk and instead of ranting, he was sitting reading the newest Potter book. Then the camera panned to his audience and each person in the audience was reading the book as well. The camera goes back to Cobert and as he's reading he says, obviously to a prompt off stage, "what? huh? Oh yea, it's the Cobert Report", and he goes back to reading! It was great. I really love that show.

In other news, Peter and I cleaned up on old telephone pole insulators, even the old green ones, at an insulator grave yard we found in Amboy on old Route 66. We love it!!!! We have a couple or three dozen now. We are wonky.

Random news: Most barrier reefs are loaded with the Herpes virus. Who's dating the coral reefs? Use protection please.

me out

Is anyone else creeped out by the little Yahoo guy?

You know, the little round, yellow happy-type face icon that "wakes up" all bright eyed and opened mouthed happy when one signs on to IM and the internet? He has a creep factor of about "8"...can I get a witness here?

POTTER: Ain't it grand the world comes together for something and it's not about war?

I wake to a couple of voicemails on my cell this morning which were left after midnight EST last night. They are from each of my sons. They both have their Harry Potter books and the messages are so "Eric" and "Eli"...

I will parapharse:

ERIC: *very serious, deep, business-like voice* "I am NOT leaving the house or posting to my LiveJournal account OR instant messaging with ANYONE until this book is read, completely and thoroughly. Get over to Barnes and Noble NOW mother and get in line to get yours and so help me, DO NOT give anything away while we're talking. Don't ask me questions like, 'did you get to the part yet where so and so...' or give away any pertinent information, no, not any information, or I swear on all things holy I will be forced to fly to California and leave a molotov cocktail on your front porch and once those things start to burn, there is no putting them out my friend. I love you, but I will do it...oh yes...I will do it Okay, love you, bye."

ELI: *typical conversational tone that becomes 'puffed up'* "Hello momma, just letting you know that I'm driving in my car with my new Potter book in the car seat next to me as we speak. In fact, I'm putting my hand on the book and now I'm holding it in my hand, that's right, actually holding it in my hand and actually feeling it's power coursing through me as I drive. It's in my possesion. I have the book....get it. Love you HHHHWWWWWOOOOWWWWWW *trademark Eli shout* bye"

Yes, sons....gotta love 'em, can't hide their bodies.

Peter is the calvary....AGAIN

So I make an appt to get my regular oil change ($30) and the guy says, "Well, your car's at 30K miles, to keep the integrity of the warranty you'll need to have the motor and transmission serviced and that's $250.00. My heart stopped. I am so strapped. I call Peter, he says, "Put the guy on the phone"...I did it, but I didn't WANT to do it. Peter, for those who don't know, has a HUGE voice, and he never uses it, nor did he use it today, but it has a quality...shall we say....that has the convincing power of say, waking up to a horses head in your bed...so, the guy's face goes pale and then he says, "Thanks sir" and hands me back the phone. He begins writing out something furiously on the paperwork. He says, "Your husband has requested a 14 point..." yada yada such and such that Peter has requested, a bullet point list with extras and the kid's writing it all out and I just go, "Oh, *pause* um, ok, I'll just have a seat in the lounge and read". And then POOF, there's Peter in the office talking to guys *nervous laughter* (Peter is fluent in Spanish, did I mention we're 2 hrs from the border...and I ain't talkin' Taco Bell) and he hands me the money, kisses me and then he's off in a "cloud of turtle poop"...his words. Anyway, when I got in my car, all the radio stations were mixed up and the clock had been turned ahead one hour, which totally messed with my head...passive aggresive mechanics....

Then I had to go to the DMV to pay for expired tags and a missing registration and a missing driver's license. I had, what I thought was 2 hours to get across town and wait in line and then get to a very important appt with the missionaries of our church. I thought I had two hours (read the last sentence in the above paragraph). Anyway, I'm praying and praying that I can get in get out in time...walk in, there's virtually no one there...NO ONE....I was out in 15-20 minutes, paid no fees, only I couldn't get my license for a failure to appear at traffice court, but oh well, I found the license when I got home. COOL!!!! I'm driving legal (with my tags anyway) which is cool cause I'm driving the boy to Las Vegas on Monday for EFY, made it to the appt with the missionaries with was way uplifting, got my car serviced which is running like a dream (always), and my hubby is THE MAN. oh yea.....

Well, Ohio may be in the future

I may be taking some time off from work in the near future. I have a week in August that I'll spend in Ohio but after that, I may be taking some indefinite time off...just need some time off. I'll concentrate on the Master's, heal the mind and body, maybe drive my car home to OH and stay with my sister (if there's room) and hang with my parents and kids for a bit. Recupe. We'll see. Love to all.

It's these grandsons...what's the deal...

So, I was working in the nursery today, helping out. This one little boy, 3 years old. His name was Tommy. He was nonverbal. His grandfather dropped him off. Tommy was beside himself, weeping uncontrollably. How, I don't know, but finally I was somehow able to get Tommy to allow me to hold him. He sat on my lap and relaxed enough to lay against me. I looked down at his little head and guess who I saw. Alex. I just started rocking. Here is a little nonverbal Hispanic boy, laying against me, relaxing totally, he and I, melding into one...I'm rocking as I type this...and my heart aches for my firstborn grandson. My Alex, my little quiet shadow, my heart. August is coming soon enough for me.

PETER MAY HAVE LOST ME TO ANOTHER GUY

This other guy, he's younger than me. He has blue eyes and reddish blond hair. He's chubby but he wears it well. He doesn't have to work, his parents take care of everything. When we're together, his face lights up. He is all about me me me. He smiles and talkes and it's just him and me. If I have to leave for even a moment, he virtually weeps. But he pulls himself back together as soon as we're face to face agains. And BONUS, he's a cuddler...HE LOVES IT. How rare is that? I told Peter about him. He and Peter have met. Peter stood in the circle when he was getting blessed for his name and blessing in the church. It's Clark...our grandson. It's pretty clear Clark owns his Grandmother. This is a pretty tough bond forming. This may take a 12 step program...we'll see. I just know I'm in deep.. really deep. help.

POTTER....

All right, yes it's true...I enjoy the Potter series. I love the Rowling's story as much as the characters she's created but that's another blog entry altogether.

So, last night Peter and Little Eli (he's 15) and I met his friend and his wife and boyfriend at the IMAX theater..yes..the IMAX to watch the newest installment. There are three way cool things regarding this: 1. It was Hogwarts on the biggest screen on the globe 2. The last incredible 20 minutes are in 3D and 3. Peter had NEVER EVER been to a 3D movie before in his entire life. My friends, the best things in life are free....the next best things in life have a $12.00 ticket price.

FUNNY NEW SITE: check it out...

http://bentobjects.blogspot.com/

This guy is really funny and talented. His name is Terry and he lives in Indianapolis. Well, you can check out his profile. He does crazy talented things with wires and inanimate objects, creating crazy art with attitude. I'd like to do it myself but I'd be covered with bandages and cussing out things about my house.

My husband and I went to the Grand Canyon a couple of weeks ago and he got me a beautiful piece of oak for a walking stick. I have a drimmel set (a drill with over 200 bits and accessories, again courtesy of Peter) so I'm going to make a groovy walking stick with totems carved in it and a place to tie a leather strap with beads and stones for decoration. (That idea is courtesy of my artisan sister.) I think it will be fun. I'll take pics of the finished product...yea right, like I'm getting pics of my lips and the trip to the Grand Canyon, yada yada yada....I do NOT have a digital camera yet so I have to schlep the camera into the store, wait for the development, go pick it up....the whole fill-in-your-favorte-Yiddish-word-for-pain-in-the-neck. Okay, must run to work....doing a night shift.

IF I COULD WAKE UP WITH A NEW GIFT OR QUALITY....

I would like to wake up with the ability to think like Christ. That would be wonderful. I would like to immediately forgive, understand, love unconditionally, heal, fly and time travel...okay, I threw those last two in but I think He could do those....I heard that...

DINNER WITH THE SECRET SERVICE

Okay, we weren't being protected...they're our friends but it's so fun because of the great stories. He's been in the Service for several years now and is being transferred back east so we had dinner last night at Macaroni's Grill because Big Mama's is closed on Mondays and Tuesday for the summer...can't blame them...it's hot hot hot. Annyyywwaayyy, our beautiful friends are moving but it got us going on how to get property in Maine so we could experience the four seasons again and be close to them and our other family members and be away from California craziness (except for Emmy and her family who is an oasis of sanity in a desert of crazy). Anyway, gotta run...more later....LOVE

QUESTION O' THE DAY...(But don't count on this every day)

"IF YOU COULD WAKE UP TOMORROW HAVING GAINED ANY ONE ABILITY OR QUALITY, WHAT WOULD IT BE?"

That's it. No qualifiers, no questions about the question, no whats, if, buts or anything else...just the question....

I'm just interested in what the responses would be. I'm going to ponder it a bit.

In other news, the Buddha got a hair cut. He looks less ghetto now.

We're eating at "Big Mama's" tonight, a new soul food restaurant in town. I'm getting the BBQ pork with a side of mac & cheese, candied yams and black-eyed peas. And that's why Mama's so big. Can I get a witness?.....

me out............................

NEW LINKS POSTED: ALL WAY COOL, HIP, ENTERTAINING AND RELEVANT:

Yes, the links at the bottom of the page...they are fun, informative and important. All immensely intelligent, insightful and oh-so-funny people. I think we should almost worship smart AND funny people. Read what they write, find out what they're reading, and for crying out loud, put me next to them at your next dinner party. me out.

It's Saturday, I'm lost, putting off homework and washing my car.

Married To The Sea Store (T-Shirts, Bags, Books)

Some of these products are just dead on funny. The women's voting tee is priceless and as soon as my budget allows (yes, it's tragic, I'm budgeting for tees) I'm getting it. In fact, I hope to get one for my daughter in Ohio who is a big enough upstart to wear one. My daughter in California, who acutally would back it up and "walk it" and understand it at it's deeper implications and from its historical perspective, wouldn't be caught dead in it because it's a tee shirt...therein lies the rub. I love our liberties.

I'm going to put shiny stuff on my lips that no one has asked me about yet. ciao

NEW AND IMPROVED PROFILE....AS IF

Friends, friends friends...you may or may not notice that my profile recently underwent massive grammar and spelling improvements. My BLOG profile, not my personal body profile (though ask me about my lips). No one told me that my mistakes made me look like a before page in "blogging for idiots". Well, one email was kind enough to tell me I had misspelled a word...and that email came from my exhusband. I was extra-careful to spell my one word response very very correctly. o0/ <-- is that a face? It looks like a drunk little face? Is it a face? I'm stoopid about keyboard faces also. They're difficult for me to discern. I just see the different components, not the whole. OH, and apparently I have ADHD, but back to the situation at hand....is that a lizard?

Anyway, I gave Little Eli extremely strict instructions to NEVER NEVER NEVER allow me to go near the keyboard after I take a sleeping pill, or 4 or 5; just kidding. I never take 8. So, I have fixed the profile messages regarding myself and various and sundry information. I really was mortified. What concerns me is that if anyone from my LJ friends list visited me and saw it, they would think..."hmmmmmm, yea right....like she has ANYTHING we can't hear from the guy taking a pee in the ally behind our favorite campus bar". Alas and alack. You who have known and loved me for years, through the thick and thin years...and we know what THAT means, will love me still...you're my peeps....my "peoples" as Mae Mae says. Well, my LJ friends are way cool also...they'll forgive and forget...I hope.

After consideration, it's kind of like you, my friends, to not say anything about the errors...you're like that...if I walked into a room trailing toilet paper from my panty hose or smiling with spinach on my teeth, you'd smile extra big, huddle together with a game plan and start fishing out your cell phone cameras...don't lie to me, I know you would. You'd be laughing at those pics till Kingdom comes. In fact, when the Kingdom came, the Big Man Himself might have His own pics...*BIG BOOMING VOICE* "This is the one when she gave a talk from the pulpit on not judging people and laughed that nervous laugh and that thing flew out of her nose, priceless. Moses laughed so hard he passed manna through his."

Thanks a lot peeps...a lot.

July 4th, 2007-Independence Day

Happy fourth of July!!! Today, I give pause to consider where I live and how I live. I'm grateful to live in this country. Grateful for those who sacrificed so much, the men and women. Grateful for Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Two close friends who died before seeing the 19th Amendment that gave women the vote in 1920. My mother was born in 1920. I'm just the 2nd generation since that time...2nd! That's all!!! We have GOT to make the most of that opportunity. Can I get a witness...