If You Can't Say Something Nice...

If You Can't Say Something Nice...
Say Something Vague


Tuesday, August 31, 2004


APPEAL: DMV Question

Anyone who reads this have to renew their driver's license in CA? I have to renew this Friday. I received a paper from them that says that I have to take the vision test, pay $24, give my thumbprint and have a new picture taken (yea!). But when I went to the website to make my appt it says that you may have to take the written test. Anybody know whether you always have to do the written part, or if sometimes you do/sometimes you don't? I'm hoping that since it wasn't specified on my paper in the mail that I don't. But I'm not sure.
I REALLY don't want to. I'm pretty rusty on the signs and speed limit stuff. I took three sample tests on the website and I didn't pass any of them (I think that the questions they ask are dumb because they rarely relate to real-life driving). I need to know whether I need to start studying!
|| Stephanie 6:11 PM

Two Things

Briefly (since I have so !#$%&^ to do at work), this article (thanks, Mike) explains a lot. It's difficult sometimes to get into the Starbuck's in Buena Park by Movieland. There will be about 20 simply enormous motorcycles taking up the walkway, and lots of burly bikers and their equally burly girlfriends lined up to order or draped across their bikes, or taking up all the tables on the patio. Now I know why!
I don't know if it does it everytime or not, but when I went to this link from Mike's weekly Mc&Schmick e-vite, I was rather discombobulated to see an article on Playgirl TV juxtaposed with an ad for The Passion of the Christ. Er...not what one might call a natural pairing!

|| Stephanie 4:14 PM

Friday, August 27, 2004


Drugs! Police! Expensive Cars! Politics!
A Day In My World
Yeah, really, I don't have anything terribly exciting to talk about, just a few things I thought were sort of interesting or entertaining, but I hoped to catch you with that headline there. Did it work?
Yesterday I was leaving work for lunch and just as I was unlocking my car door, I was hailed by the next car over. It was our super-duper nice IT guy E. (Think Bryan Younger's personality, Derek Fisher's looks.) E and I started talking generic office talk, and then somehow he segued into politics. I got instantly scared and sketchy with my answers. I'm sorry but here in OC (I refuse flat out to call it the OC--it stands for Orange County. The Orange county makes no sense!), you've gotta watch out for it. I don't want to find my tires slashed, or get in a debate with other people in my office. I have the courage of my convictions only so long as they won't lead to my being let go from my job like this guy.
Suddenly, though, the conversation turned excellent; E started talking about how much he love, Love, LOVED Bill Clinton and how W has messed up everything, etc. I was so very pleasantly surprised! I told him that I never talk about this stuff at work since I'm in such a minority (liberal Democrat), so it was nice. We ended up talking for about an hour (there went my lunch break!). The only issue we disagreed on was gay marriage, and his reasons were exclusively biblical. He said that he felt that if he could read some scriptural passages that supported it he would be all for it.
The Boy thinks E's a conservative spy and he's going to turn me in. :)

***
Then he told me a story that was so disheartening, so horribly sad and shocking. But then, it is probably only those things to me because I'm a privileged, middle-class, white woman who has bought into the apparent falsehood that we have fairly successfully achieved a color blind society--typical liberal mistake, I think. Anyway, he told me that he and his wife were in North Carolina last year visiting family (they're from there), and they were driving down a back road to return the rental car. He said that a policeman on a motorcycle was driving on the other side of this two-lane road. Just as they passed, the cop made eye contact with him, turned his bike around and pulled E over. E looked at his wife and said, "Here we go." E tells me his wife's been fortunate enough never to experience the kind of blatant racism that E was then subjected to (maybe because she's a woman?).
As the cop approached, E was starting to unbuckle his seat belt. He told the officer, "I'm just going to take off my seat belt, then I'll put my hands on the wheel." E explained to me that he's learned that as a black man he has to do this so that he's not accused of reaching for a weapon. (!!!) Then the cop said to him, "Sure, you're going to try to put it on now. That's why I pulled you over, for not wearing your belt." E said, "I had my seat belt on. I've just taken it off." His wife leaned over and assured the cop that E was wearing his belt. The cop then said, "Well, you were speeding." E said, "No, sir, I was not speeding." His wife again backed him up. The cop then sighed and demanded that he hand over his license.

When E handed it over, the cop looked at it and said, "Oh, a California license! You know what this means, don't you?" E said that at this point, he knew what was coming. The officer told him that for his 'violations' (no explanation), he would normally be facing a $150 fine and would have to go to jail right then and there. But because he was from out of state, the cop said, he would give E a break. If E gave him $50 cash, he'd let the whole thing go on a warning. At this point in E's story, my jaw dropped. I mean, you hear these stories in movies or TV or whatever, but I guess I never really thought people still did this kind of crap! At least not to people I know! E said that without even hesitating he handed the guy $50 and drove off. His wife was in shock. He told me that this is a philosophy in the black community known as "live to tell about it"--go with it, do what you have to do, and live to tell about it.
This story made me so sad. That human beings can treat each other like this. Especially when we are supposedly so enlightened (yeah, right--cough, Abu Ghraib, cough). And E told me that he's been through this kind of thing before. He was so matter-of-fact, that I could've cried. According to E, this type of stuff is par for the course as a black man and you just get used to it. Can you imagine?!
***
Well, after I left our conversation to run and get a sandwich, I drove down Harbor Blvd. As I drove, I sort of glanced at the passing shops. And I was tickled to realize that only in OC would you be able to leave the comfortable middle class area of my company, and drive about a mile before stopping at a light in front of a Bentley dealership. As I sat there, I watched a middle-aged woman--simply dressed in beautiful casual clothes (the kind of simplicity that costs more than I'll ever make)--as she and her husband were clearly purchasing their Bentley. Weird.
***
Last night Puff Kitty was being so needy, that I pulled out the kitty weed. I opened up this little container of catnip. He started sniffing around it, sticking his nose right into it. The Boy poured it out onto the carpet in the living room and PK started rolling around in it. He was going crazy, clawing at the carpet, purring, mewling. Then the side effects started hitting him: suddenly he was paranoid--he kept looking at The Boy and I where we were watching him, clearly thinking we were going to try to confiscate his drugs. Then he would abruptly look over his shoulder, like he was looking out the window or listening intently (hearing police sirens, perhaps?). He moved around until he covered the whole stash up with his big furry body. Then suddenly he jumped up and ran into the kitchen--clearly the munchies had kicked in. It's sad to see a good cat go bad. Sad and really, really funny.
***
Well, I'm off to work some more. Since that is why I'm here--well, technically anyway . Heh.


|| Stephanie 11:27 AM

Thursday, August 26, 2004


Knitting For Hos

I'm sorry, but the patterns on this page are clearly for prostitutes and Paris Hilton (scroll down). Geesh!


|| Stephanie 11:36 AM

Wednesday, August 25, 2004


Does this constitute child abuse?
***
This is a way cool yarn. Very different. And way too expensive for me to justify just now. 54 yds, sadly, will not go terribly far--I just did a hat with a similarly chunky charn and it took 1-1/2 skeins, or 44 yds. So I could do a hat or a scarf--it would make an awesome cold weather scarf! But I live in Orange County, CA where 'cold' is pretty subjective. Other than that...I guess I will just admire from afar. [sigh]
***
I've decided to make a baby hat for a woman at work--H--who is pregnant and due at the beginning of October. So she's going out pretty soon for maternity leave. I don't know H really well, but she's always been super nice to me. So I'm going to make her this baby hat. I've seen this pattern on the Internet a bunch of times, and it just looks so cute. It's adjustable for a growing baby. Then I thought I'd try my hand at these little booties, to make a cute little set. They look pretty easy since you knit 'em up flat. My knitting instructor would probably have a heart attack if she saw me cheating like that. And since H knows she's having a girl, and I already had this cute yarn in my stash, she's getting this pretty self-striping yarn in pink, yellow, white, baby blue and mint green. I'm only about 1" in and it's already cute! (I really, seriously doubt you want to go to the trouble of looking it up, but if for some reason you do, it's on the Bernat.com site, under Berella.)
The only downside to this yarn is that it's 100% acrylic. Yes, I'm turning into a yarn snob. It looks so pretty, but it's just not as chi-chi as the other expensive yarns I've gotten used to (this giant skein I'm using probably cost me $4 at Michael's 5 years ago when I thought I could teach myself to crochet). I could get her a nicer yarn, but this one is so pretty. And the really selfish side of me keeps reminding the rest of me: I barely know this woman. Does this ruin the entire gesture? Ah, I hope not. I think this is going to be really adorable when it's all done.
***
Anyway, I'm just rambling and I should be working, so I'm going to cut out here. Ciao.




|| Stephanie 4:12 PM

Tuesday, August 24, 2004


Is It November Yet?

Just a few things that have contributed to my general feeling of having reached critical mass on the whole presidential candidacy thing.
***
First: Swifboat Veterans For Smearing Kerry
So...it took you this long to realize he lied? So...none of you have any ties to the Republicans, right? This is all about sharing the real truth, yes? NO!
Please, please, please stop pretending that this is some kind of non-political truth campaign. BECAUSE THAT'S A LIE!!! Quit it. Right now. I mean it. I don't want to have to pull this blog over and separate you!
***

Second: Flip-Flopping Parties
When Clinton was running for president, the Republicans made a big deal out of the fact that he had been a draft-dodger. That he did not defend his country in that glorious quagmire known affectionately as Vietnam--because of conscientious principles, mind you--made him somehow less effective as a leader. Now the fact that Bush did not go to Vietnam, that he used family connections to avoid going to a war that he claims he fully supported (as long as he didn't actually have to go there) is okay with Republicans. Now they say that it's not important, so long as he remains a strong and resolute leader.
I understand that people just love to say that 9-11 changed everything, but why would a strong military leader NOT be more appealing now than since the days of Eisenhower? Now we have Kerry, a decorated war veteran, running for president and he's being torn apart because his service was just not up to snuff (whaaa?). He's being excoriated by a bunch of draft-dodging Republicans because his wounds were superficial. But wait. Max Cleland was a war hero in Vietnam too. And he lost 3 of his 4 limbs there. That's not superficial. That's pretty much as far as you can get from superficial. But somehow he wasn't quite good enough for the Senate, either. Oh yeah, and he is a Democrat. Hmmm.
So it's BADBADBAD if your opponent did not go to Vietnam, and much worse if he went and had the audacity to be very, very courageous and heroic. But it's GOODGOODGOOD if your candidate avoided the war, joined the national guard and went AWOL.
Um, I don't get it.
***
Third: 527s are bad. No, good. No, bad. Uh...
Bushie? Shut up. Journalists? Shut up.
Bush DID NOT say that the 527s such as the Swiftboat guys are liars and should stop. He did not even say that he thought they should lay off Kerry. Despite what the mass media (liberal my big toe!) would have you believe, he simply dodged the question.
Headlines such as MSNBC: "Bush: Vets should halt anti-Kerry ads", Yahoo News: "Bush Criticizes Anti-Kerry Television Ad" and Reuters: "Bush says Kerry ad should stop" are just not true. All he did was avoid a direct question. Pretty true to form, people.
Please stop pretending that Bush is all noble and affronted by the smear campaign. He's as involved as he can be without actually doing the voiceover himself. His campaign people are just smart enough to create the illusion of distance. And when confronted by a reporter who actually didn't just toe the typical "Bush=honest, Kerry=dishonest" line (gee, how'd he even get in?!), Bush avoided the question--just like he always does when he doesn't have Cheney or Rove at his side to parse the language and split hairs.
Josh Marshall has the transcript of the to and fro with the reporter here. Read it.
***
Fourth: Fool me once, shame on...shame on you. Fool me...you can't get fooled again..

I'm disgusted by the attacks on Kerry and his service. By just about any account you can find anywhere, Vietnam was a horrific experience that haunts those brave soldiers decades later. Some killed themselves to escape the memories. Many more were killed there. And now we're going to disparage a man who actually went there and faced the atrocities?? Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, have the decency to respect what he did. Period. That's all there is to it.
Those that want to say that he didn't really do anything big because it was pretty calm by the time he was heading down the Mekong Delta are insulting each and every soldier who was there. I don't doubt that they prayed for those moments of quiet. But the fact that he was injured multiple times belies claims that he was on some kind of pleasure cruise in Vietnam--particularly when those claims are made by supporters of a man who found it too arduous to show up for flight training in the national guard.
If Kerry had gone there and never received a single medal he'd still be a hero. Because he did what so many others would not--he put his life on the line for love of country. But he did get awarded some medals. And not, as that hateful Anne Coulter would have you believe, for a scratch on his forearm. I'm pretty sure the military is a bit more discerning than that. He received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts. They don't simply hand those things out with your rations in a war zone, you know.
***
And finally, I'm also annoyed with Kerry and his campaign. Bet you didn't think I was going there, did you? Why, oh why is he letting himself get played? The Bush campaign absolutly cannot win on domestic policy, and it's unlikely on foreign policy. They cannot get re-elected on the war in Iraq. If it's an actual honest-to-goodness political campaign issue, they've already blown it. All they can do is turn to personally attacking Kerry, and he's falling for it. He spends so much time debating the veracity of their claims, and not enough time talking about the failures of the administration at home and abroad. THAT is how he can win.
Also, not taking a firm stand on the war in Iraq (for it, against it, for it, against it, ad nauseaum) only serves to support the attacks on his record and confirms the idea that he's a 'flip-flopper'--something that Bush should know well as a War President/Peace President/War Brings Peace President. The Kerry campaign cannot keep trying to appeal to the 2-3% of undecideds (as Susan says, how is that even possible anymore?!?) by changing their position every other day because of polling. Sorry to break this to you guys, but polling is probably not the most accurate method of gauging the public. Just ask President Gore. D'Oh!!
Take a position--I don't know, say...maybe, George Bush is bad for America and here's how we can do better--and stick with it. The DNC was powerful and should have been a great launching pad into so much more, but the Kerry campaign has let the Bush campaign call all the shots. Take the power away from them. Let the American people determine what is really important to them. Stop bombarding us with he said/she said, and talk about what really matters: nearly 1,000 dead soldiers, underfunded or unfunded educational mandates, job loss with minimal growth, a sluggish economy, etc. That's what I care about, and I venture a guess that I'm not alone here.
Okay, I'm done. Over and out.
|| Stephanie 11:39 AM

Monday, August 23, 2004


Quick, Quick

Friday was Jenny's surprise going away party. She talks about it more on her blog. Suffice it to say, I was proud of me for not blowing the whole thing at lunch with her on Friday, and I was glad to see she was truly surprised. I also felt really bad that she looked supremely uncomfortable and trapped ('deer in headlights') when she first walked in. Terrence's Trivial Pursuit, Jenny Smith Edition rocked big time (although he spends entirely too much time on Jenny-related information for someone who's not related to or dating her).
My weekend was mostly organizing. I bought a really great shelf system thing with cool basket drawers at IKEA and used it mostly for my yarn stash (amazing how quickly it grows; I think it's reproducing when I'm not watching). I also got some little blue recycled cardboard boxes for my books, other crafty things and The Boy's nursing equipment and school supplies. That way we could reclaim some of our table and shelf space. Sometimes a 750 sq. ft. apartment is just not big enough for two people and all their stuff. Particularly if one of those people is me, and the stuff is mine.
I'm sooooo busy at work (so, naturally, I'm blogging), so I'm going to have to cut this short. I didn't even get to work on my knitting at lunch [gasp!!]. I would so love to go home and knit right now (obsessed? me? noooo), but I'm going to be here for awhile. I need to finish at least one brochure's worth of text today. I have to provide 3 by Friday. This is going to be ugly.
I leave you with these three things:
1) Go here and sign up because this is awesome!
2) Go here and watch these (you may have seen one or two, but have you seen them all??).
3) I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Edvard Munch!

|| Stephanie 3:14 PM

Thursday, August 19, 2004


Yeah, Yeah, More Knitting Stuff &
The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of
I promise, as soon as I have a knitting blog, I'll leave the rest of this space to the occasional political rant, daily inanities, or the retelling of some of my weird dreams (like the last two nights...).
*****
First up: Knitting
Well, Kat and Jenny are the only ones who've weighed in on the knit blog naming thing. I have always been rather proud of Boogie Knits, but found out today that one already exists. Boo! Kat suggested KnitPicky, which is so unbelievably perfect for me. I *love* it. I did, however, find reference to some girl who is using it. BUT, I may use it anyway. I tried googling it and it didn't come up. I don't know her, and we may never even run into each other online! Unless I get some really mind-blowingly good suggestion soon, I'm running with it.
A few things to let you know that I'm not entirely nutty about knitting. First there is this yarn. Ugh. I would never, ever make anything for someone out of this. Even someone I didn't like. It looks like the aftermath of clown vs. blender wrapped up in twine. Nooooooooo. (And this is in spite of my general antipathy for clowns!)
You should order one of these. Seriously. It's for a great cause, and it'll be beautiful. Heck, I'll make it for you if you buy it!
Also? I'm not nearly this obsessive or, you know, crazy. "What's your scarf made out of?" "Fido." [shiver]
*****
Next up: Dreams
So Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I dreamt that I was working for Donald Trump. Yep, the Donald and I were working together on real estate projects. (I think it had to do with building a mall) In my dream I was really surprised that he was working with me so directly. I had expected that I would never actually see him. For some reason he'd had me recruited to work for him, so I figured I'd meet him, but I didn't think we'd chat and he'd get so involved on my projects. So after several business meetings, we met for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen in Irvine, and I found out that he was my father. Suddenly I understood everything: he was grooming me to take over the business. Not bad, eh? I don't remember what else happened after that in my dream.
And last night/this morning I dreamt that I was going to Texas with my friend Shalom. Texas was adjacent to California; basically where Vegas is in relation to L.A. We were taking a shuttle over there. While I was waiting for the shuttle (it was really a small plane), I was sewing these teeny little satiny purses. They were really nice and I was very proud of them. They looked really professional, but I did them in minutes. So Shalom and I took our shuttle (a one-hour flight) and when I got there I realized that I'd left my best satiny purse (star-shaped) at the airport in Orange County, so I flew back to get it.
When I got to the airport, The Boy was there and told me we were going to a movie. We went to the movie and sat down by my mom, stepdad, and all my sisters. Then The Boy told me that I needed to go get my mom something to drink because she was giving birth. I looked over and she was indeed having a baby realllllly quietly, so as not to disturb the movie. I left to get her a bottled water, came back, and she was done, watching the movie again. The Boy handed me the baby to take home. This happened 4 or 5 more times during the movie. I would run to get her some water, come back, and she'd be done. Then I would have to take the baby and run home, only to come back in time for the next one to be born. Around the sixth time, I was in the lobby of the movie theatre and my mom came out to see if I was getting the water. I said, "I thought you were having another baby!" She said, "No, this time it was Lennifer." I asked her who 'Lennifer' was, and she looked at me like I was nuts and said, "Lennifer is your sister." We went back in and I looked at Lennifer, all cuddled up next to a man who I knew in my dream was her husband and she smiled at me. Suddenly I realized that she was the first of those babies that was born in the movie theatre when The Boy and I first went in. Then I woke up. WEIRD!
***
And P.S. The Comforter Queen has now brought home somewhere in the neighborhood of 20--yes, I said TWENTY, comforters. At least other neighbors are starting to wonder what's going on now, too. !!!!


|| Stephanie 2:51 PM

Wednesday, August 18, 2004


Other possible knit blog titles that I thought of include:

Stitchcraft
On pins & needles
Purls & Prejudice
Pride & Purliness
Sticks & string may make my day
The Yarn Whisperer
Boogie Knits
A good yarn
A stitch in time
Knitter take all
Knitful things
Strand-ed
See Steph Knit
Just one more row (*this one really makes sense if you are a knitter, this is our mantra)
Hooked on yarn
Knutty Knitter
Adventures in Baby-knitting
The problems with that last one are a) I don't knit using babies, I use yarn; b) it provokes a disturbing image of winding babies up into skeins c) I already have a strange association with baby oil coming from squeezing baby arms, so the idea of making a knit-worthy fabric from babies is....just plain wrong.
So, what do ya think?

|| Stephanie 9:28 AM

Tuesday, August 17, 2004


Why I'm A Geek (Reason #243)
Just felt like blogging briefly, mainly so that I have an actual post up. Just so you know, I'm turning into a complete and total knitting geek. I actually bought a knitting magazine--yes, I know. I never thought I would reach that point either. Worse yet, I really liked it. I mean really. There are at least two patterns in there that I would like to make, and lots of others that would be great if they could be slightly modified. There are also interesting articles for geeks like me about knitting as therapy, cool new yarns, great websites, where to find bargains, etc. As a result, I'm going to have to have a knitting blog. I've already appealed to some of my dear friends for help, but I'm still at a loss as for a title.
Suggestions from the peanut gallery:
Scarf It Up (Eeew. Gee, thanks, Mom)
Shawl We Dance (a groaner from The Boy)
Crazy For Ewe (my own slightly less groan-worthy idea)
All the really good names are taken. My favorites include KnitWit, Hairball, Knitterati (love this one!), Knit Happens, Much Ado About Knitting (another great one), At My Knit's End, Yarniverse, and ProcrastiKnitting.
Any other suggestions? What do you think would make a good knitting blog name for someone who loves yarn textures and colors, as well as the therapy involved with knitting? (Knit Therapy is taken, too!).
I am going to (attempt to) do the sweater I mentioned yesterday, in the honey gold color. Thank you, Jenny for the help picking the color! I think it's a beautiful color. I hope I don't muck the whole thing up. I'm also doing a new pair of socks (violet cashmereno, mmmm--pic's not great, but you get the idea) and another cool project. I'm not going to go into too much detail just yet, because if it goes well, it is destined to become a Christmas gift. Yep, I'm already planning for Christmas, and I have some really neat ideas in mind. I have to tell you, knitting is turning out to be my gateway drug into other crafts. I have some really crafty ideas for the holidays--so unlike me!
And finally, on a non-knitting note, you must check out Trailer Trash Doll. Way too funny. And while Trash Talking Turleen does hold a special place in my heart, I absolutely LOVE Drag Queen Doll--go check him/her out now! Also, Amanda, if you read this, you must check out their other goodies for sale. The pink flamingo key chains and path markers are just calling out to you. LOL. :)

|| Stephanie 4:43 PM

Monday, August 16, 2004


Knitting & Nursing

Today is The Boy's first day of nursing school. He has been very anxious. Of course I know of his superior intellect and fanatical obsession with being the best. Those of you who know him know that he has very high standards for himself. I think that it's this as much as anything else that is freaking him out. If you know The Boy (heck, even if you don't), why not send him some good vibes?
This will be an arduous two-year process. He has to go to school full-time and still work 20 hours in order to make close to the salary he made before (it's a deal with the hospital he works for since they are paying for school). Otherwise he will only get about 1/2 of his salary, which would make it hard for us to live the life to which we've become accustomed. So wish him luck!
A question for my friends. I want to knit this sweater (it will be my first sweater!). I've been dying to make it in that gorgeous brown on the model, with its lovely gold flecks. Then I read more closely today and discovered that they are out of that color yarn. And they are very limited in the other colors.
So, bearing all that in mind--as well as my coloring, etc.--which color do you think I should pick, of those that are shown on the site? [If you don't know what I look like, you can check The Daily Zeitgeist in the upper section of my sidebar. The only grown ups shown are me and The Boy] I really do drift to autumnal colors, but that option is extremely limited without the bee-u-ti-ful brown yarn. I'm thinking steel or midnight blue. But then, gold or almond...
Help!
|| Stephanie 3:53 PM

Thursday, August 12, 2004



Happy Birthday Lexi!

Today is my littlest sister's birthday. Today Alexis Kayla Rose Rivera is 5 years old.

I love you, Lexi!

|| Stephanie 11:09 AM

Tuesday, August 10, 2004


ARGH

Work busy. Must prepare a bazillion pages of web content for tomorrow. Nowhere near ready. I am being drowned in pages and pages of content........glurp.......................


|| Stephanie 1:29 PM

Thursday, August 05, 2004


When Playing Doctor Made You Rich!

When I was a kid, I loved to play The Game of Life. I will admit that I used to cheat--but only when I played with my sister, Heather--so that I could get to be a doctor. In the game, it seemed like the doctor made the most money--$50,000! As a result of playing the game, for a good long time I thought that that was the most money a grown-up could make in the real world, and if you had to be a doctor to do it, then so be it, I was going to be a doctor.

$50,000 was the biggest dollar figure I could even imagine. When I found out that my mom made less than 1/2 of that as a secretary, I knew that it was because she hadn't hung in there to get her M.D. I wasn't going to make the same mistake!

This is probably why it came as such a shock to me later that CEOs of companies could easily make millions of dollars--and they weren't saving anyone's lives, either! It was a very disappointing discovery. That was when I decided not to be a doctor. What was the point if you had to do all that studying in college and med school (one whole extra spin from the guy or girl who decided to go straight into the working world) and didn't wind up making the most money in the whole wide world? [Maybe some other similarly disappointed kids are responsible for the growth of HMOs?]

Of course, I also thought you had to be a grown-up, married with kids, to make that kind of money. What other kinds of warped worldviews did we get from board games when we were children?! Obviously Monopoly is where Donald Trump learned real estate, but how about the rest of us? I'm curious.
|| Stephanie 11:36 AM

Tuesday, August 03, 2004



I'm A Lover, Not a Fighter


I just don't think The Boy and I are cut out for fighting. On Friday night he came home from coffee with a friend and I was in bed. I'd been home for about 30 minutes and was just reading a little. He started griping at me about not doing some stuff around the house (to be fair, he was in the right and I knew it). I didn't like the way he was talking to me and I didn't feel like getting out of bed to address any of the things I hadn't done, so I just turned out the light, turned my back to him and ignored him. He kept listing my many flaws--which tends to happen when you're upset and being ignored-- and then he turned his back to me to go to sleep.

I actually had a lot of trouble falling asleep, but if you've ever been in this situation you know that there's no way you'll be the first person to admit to being wrong. Eventually I fell asleep, but I woke up about 2 hours later covered in sweat and feeling horrible. Around that same time The Boy woke up coughing and choking on some mysterious (and possibly non-existent) substance. We both immediately apologized and then slept soundly for the rest of the night. Hmmm. I guess I'll be forced to live a life of taking responsibility, sharing the burden and sleeping peacefully. How unfair.

***

Tyrannosaurus Max

Yesterday morning I was trying to clean a virus off my laptop so that I could check my work email prior to a dentist appointment. When I leaned over to plug in the laptop, I looked down into Puff Kitty's (a.k.a. Max, my cat) water fountain and inside it was the biggest bug I have ever seen. Granted, there are probably bigger bugs out there in the rainforests, or Florida, but I live in SoCal. We don't have that many big bugs here, people!

At first I was convinced it was a water bug, which is like a gigantic cockroach that lives in the sewers and pipes. When I was little one of them made its way up into the bathroom sink. But when I looked up water bugs online, it didn't look like any of the pictures. I spent a good long time watching that thing in Max's water dish, waiting for it to attack me, making sure it didn't move, dragging it's 2.5" body with it's equally long antennae after me. I left messages on The Boy's cell phone, imploring him to remove it when he got home from work (since I eventually determined that it was likely dead--after it didn't move for two hours, I was willing to go out on that limb).

Later it occurred to me that a water bug would probably not have drowned in a couple of inches of water. It had to be some other kind of bug. Maybe just a GIGANTONORMOUS cockroach that mysteriously made its way under our front door and across the 3-4' feet to the water dish before meeting its extremely (IMHO) timely demise. What really grossed me out during all this (besides, you know, GIANT BUG!) was when Maximus, my oh-so-fearless cat (he's afraid of his own reflection, the vaccuum, and people) went to the water fountain and drank from the waterfall area, a mere inch from the ginormous bug. EEEEEEWWWWW. (Incidentally, I spent yesterday all grossed out everytime I thought about it. Tummy ache. Goose bumps. Chills. One might say that I am not a bug fan.) Well, my genius of a cat never seemed to register the bug that was a good twice the size of his paw. Ack!

Later when I told this to The Boy, he commented that maybe Max was like a Tyrannosaurus Rex and couldn't see things unless they moved. This would make sense. He won't usually play with his toys unless we play with him--then they are moving. He only seems to notice bugs when they are crawling or buzzing by him (like flies or ants). So he could be right up next to the grosstastic creature and not see it because it wasn't moving. Yuck.

I came up with another theory, though. Maybe Max is like Jason Bourne. He only responds when his life or the lives of those he loves are threatened. Maybe the giant crawly thing was headed toward the bedroom where I sleep, and my hero Max flung it into the water dish, holding it down with his sizable white paw until it stopped struggling. His apparent lack of interest or concern with the huge and disgusting bug was just a cover so that I wouldn't suspect his mad super-hero like assassin skills. After all, Puss 'n Boots was a hired killer. Why not Max?

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Hot Killer

Woo-wee, we saw The Bourne Supremacy on Sunday and it was driving me crazy that I recognized the hot Russian Secret Service guy but couldn't place him. Finally I realized where I knew him from. While Karl Urban looks like this in The Bourne Supremacy, I had last seen him looking like this.

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Books Are Good For You

Lastly, you didn't think I'd get through a whole post after 4 days without some kind of political mention, did you? Well this one's a quickie. Just a cool new bookclub that I heard about yesterday, called Progressive Book Club. Check it out if you're interested in books by progressive thinkers, activists, and authors re: "politics, cultural diversity, social and economic policy, global issues, and current events." I'm looking forward to it!

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Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. But first, I have to go make sure that the spawn of humongomendous bugs are not crawling all over me. Ick! Ick! Ick!

|| Stephanie 10:30 AM