I tried to be all creative, but for some reason, Blogger won't let me upload pictures to the title line, so I had to fudge it a bit. So Happy Halloween to all you ghouls and goblins out there. Hope you have a great day of scary fun. I'm doing the usual, taking the kid out for trick or treating tonight. Make sure you check your apples for razor blades, yo. There are plenty of sickos out there.

Trick or Treat, you bastards.

Return of the Karaoke

So I got my act together well enough this week to get a song up. I hoped if I never mentioned anything about my failure to post this past Monday for last week, you'd just forget about it. Although, I know it must have been difficult for all of you. Anyhoo, when I was a kid we used to listen to the Carpenters all the time and we had one album, I think it was a greatest hits album, that got played an awful lot. So, I guess you could say we liked the Carpenters. I only found out as a teenager that they were mormon because when you live in Utah, they take great pride in telling you who all the famous mormons are. I was surprised, but not really. At any rate, here I am with my rendition of For All We Know. Enjoy!

Skype is the hype.

OK, I am tres excited because I've downloaded Skype and had my brother do the same and now that we can talk to each other over the internet, I think I've discovered a way for us to record our conversations so we can start doing some podcasting eventually. Let me thank the people at Pottercast for mentioning Skype, which is what they use. Otherwise, I would have never found out about it. I mean, seriously, does it get any cooler than this? Unfortunately, since my brother just told me he works in a cubicle, this might complicate matters. Of course, what it really means is that I'm going to have to only do this in the evening or something.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

OK, I'm gonna play proud mama today. I just got my daughter's birthday pictures for this year and I just can't get over how old she looks in them. She practically looks like a teenager in them to me, so I am going to share her loveliness with you.



Bet you never thought you'd ever see a blonde Korean, now did ya?

Everything is just a fuzzy blur.

I was in the middle of a deep, deep dream when my husband woke me up this morning so I am feeling really out of it. I can't remember exact details, but I was in an apartment that wasn't mine, although, it once had been mine in the dream. What's really weird is was an apartment that I've dreamt before as being mine, but I'm talking maybe years ago. I think it's interesting to ponder the memory of dreams. Is there a part of our brains that holds onto past dreams like memories? When I woke up, I knew the apartment was an apartment I had dreamed before. It's not like I was having the same dream as before, but it was taking place in an apartment I had dreamt before. Anyway, there was a lot of weird stuff happening in this apartment complex. My daugther and I were in the dream together and we were going to different people's apartments. We ended up visiting some lady who was kind of like a gangster moll. You know, the kind-hearted type who didn't deserve to be running with such a dangerous crowd. My daughter and I went to her apartment for some reason I can't remember and she had all these pets. She had about four birds and a couple of cats and a dog. The cat was hooked up to some weird harness thing where it couldn't go more than a couple of feet away from its litter box and the lady, who looked a bit like Cathy Moriarity, was letting some of her birds out of their cages so they could fly around the apartment. While we're at her apartment, a couple of detectives show up to ask if we know anything about a boy who lives in the complex. Apparently, something bad had happened to the boy and it was a boy that my daugther and I had encountered earlier in the dream. The boy was always tormenting my daughter in some way, so when we saw him earlier in the dream, I basically told him to go back home and leave my daughter alone. So in the dream when the detectives show up, I asked what happened to the boy, but the didn't tell me, but I told them that he was not nice to my daughter and that he always gave her a hard time and then I encouraged my daugther to tell them the sorts of things he would do to scare her. But my daughter was too intimidated to talk to them about it, so I told them the stories she had told me but in the dream I felt like it wasn't good to be telling them the stuff myself because, maybe, they wouldn't take it so seriously. Anyway, it was weird.

I've got to meet with my daughter's teacher later today for a parent/teacher conference. Nothing bad, everyone's got to do it at the end of the first quarter. My daughter got her first report card yesterday and she was bummed out because she got a 2+ in one of her subjects. In the primary grades, her school grades on a system of 1-5, with one being the lowest and 5 being the highest. All the rest of her grades where pretty good. She got a couple of 3's, some 4's, a lot of 4+'s and a few 5's. But, of course, she's only concentrating on the 2+. This is one aspect of her personality that I struggle with a lot because I don't like people who use one little set-back as an excuse to not try at all. So she sees the one bad grade and proceeds to act like she's not smart and is stupid and is never going to be good at math. Does she say, "Well, I've got to work harder and get that grade up."? No, she just says stuff like, "I'll never be able to do it." It's really hard for me to keep my patience when she endulges in this sort of talk because I really have no tolerance for it. I try to tell her that it doesn't mean she'll never be able to do it, it only means she'll have to work hard to get better at it. She's only willing to keep up with something if it's easy, and that really, really frustrates me to no end.

I've let you down again.

So I didn't get around to doing my karaoke recording over the weekend. Sorry, so sorry. But damn, dudes, I've got a life and all. My daughter's birthday party was at Build-a-Bear and she had a great time, then everyone headed back to our house for pizza, cake and ice cream. It was all good until I couldn't take the kids anymore and I chased them all out to the playground so the grown-ups could enjoy some conversation. My parents got my daugther one of these Nintendo DS things, which are basically like the new Gameboy. I don't think my daughter truly appreciates how much my parents spoil her. I couldn't beleive they got her one because those things aren't cheap, which is why I refused to get her one. She got a Gameboy Advance from my sister for Christmas and that was all she needed as far as I'm concerned. But you know these kids. They "need" every new-fangled device that comes out. Anyway, we got her the Nintendog game she wanted for it which is basically like a virtual pet sort of game. She raises and trains a dog. She picked the Chihuahua version and named her dog Nacho. The whole virtual pet thing is OK as far as I'm concerned because you don't have to take them to the vet and there's no shit to pick up.

Karaoke Postponed

Sorry, sorry, sorry. But between the pumpkin patch and catsitting and making arragnements for my mother's 60th birtday bash and preparing for my daughter's birthday party tomorrw, I just couldn't get around to doing a karaoke recording. So, to make up for it, I'm putting up this video clip that my friend sent me which is pretty funny and apropos for Halloween. So here it is and come back Monday when I hope to have the karaoke post up for your listening pleasure.

Boo

Yesterday evening, my husband asked if he could have the pleasure of taking me out to dinner on the 22nd and I asked why, what's the special occassion and he said, "Uh, our anniversary." So now you see why the karaoke post isn't here. If I couldn't even remember my anniversary (which is our 11th anniversary, by the way) with everything I'm trying to keep straight right now, you can see how singing took backseat to everything else.

What the...

K, when I got to work this morning I found my office door wide open and my lights on? It's weird, but it had the same shock value of coming home and finding my front door open. I was like, "What the freak is going here?" I went in and looked around, but nothing seemed out of place. I'm hoping it was just the cleaning crew forgetting to turn out the lights and close the door. But I'm still somewhat peturbed by the entire thing. If it was the cleaning crew, I think this place needs to get a new contract because the people cleaning the offices right now don't seem overly competent. I noticed they didn't even vacuum the carpets for months on end. I finally called and complained when I came in one day to find a mess of paper shredding that had accidently been spilled the day before. The fact that it was still there the next day indicated to me they hadn't even bothered coming into the room. Because if they had and just left that mess there, that's crappy job performance. Anyway, when I called building maintenance to ask how often they're supposed to vacuum, the guy told me every night and I told him that wasn't happening by any stretch of the imagination. Anyway, I've noticed since then that the floors seem to get vacuumed a little more often, but it's still not often. I've vacuumed the floor myself in the past if I can snatch hold of a vacuum every now and again. If I don't mind cleaning, then the people being paid to do it shouldn't mind, as far as I'm concerned.

Last night we did the pumpkin patch with my daughter and her brownie troop. It is absolutely amazing how excited a gaggle of little girls can get over the prospect of a hayride and pumpkin picking. What's not amazing is listening to that same group of excited girls sing the girl scout friend circle song over and over and over again. The only thing worse than that is then listening to them sing a song about the continents 50 times over afterward. Do you know how piercing the singing voices of little girls are? Yeah, by the end of the evening, I had a line of blood dribbling from my right ear. I think they popped my eardrum. It was fun though because I got to roast my marshmallows. That was a good thing.

So it's like this...

I have so mastered the art of getting around the office by just pushing around on my chair that I believe I can be confidently dubbed the Dorothy Hamil of chair maneuvering. And I'm serious. It's really about the ability to push and turn at the same time that defines the expert, which is me. If chairnastics was an Olympic sport, I'd get the gold for sure. But enough of my chair mastery. We have to go to a pumpkin patch tonight with my daughter's brownie troop. Last year it was pretty cold, so I hope it's not so frigid this time around. The best part about going to the pumpkin patch is that they let you roast marshmallows at the end. Mmmmmm, roasted marshmallows. I might have to pick up my own bag so I don't have to share with those greedy, grabby brownie scouts. Bitches.

I was reading a little bit about the recovery efforts in New Orleans and I'm still just amazed by everything that's happened down there. Now they say this Hurricane Wilma is, like, the biggest hurricane ever. Big reason why I don't live along the southern coastal regions of this country. I can't imagine living in an area where I've got to constantly evacuate. What about living down there makes it worth it to people? It seems like the entire planet is being plagued by massive natural disasters over the last couple of months, which can only mean one thing: Armageddon! I believe this entire year was a Nostradamus prediction, if I'm not mistaken. I'm going to go rent that Orson Wells movie to double check.

Well, Madonna would know, right?

So Madonna thinks most priests are gay, huh? Why does that not surprise me in the least? Because I'm sure she's in the know when it comes to that sort of thing. Just like Sean Penn knows more about world politics than the president. I don't know how you could even be offended by a comment like, "Most priests are gay," because it makes just about as much sense as saying most men are gay, or most women are gay, or most celebrities are gay, or most bakers are gay. So what I'm basically saying is, it's stupid. And even if it is true by some strange, Twilight Zone twist of faith, who the freak gives a damn? I mean, her comment is good for the laugh just to get an even better understanding of how crazy Madonna is. I like her music and all, but she's just plain lost it. She and Tom Cruise should get together and discuss their respective religions and world views. I'm sure that would be a fascinating conversation. Of course, she'd probably come out of it saying, "Tom Cruise is gay." But we already knew that, didn't we?

So close and, yet, it still doesn't mean a hill of beans.

Now, was that a game or was that a game on Saturday? I'm no Notre Dame football fan by any stretch of the imagination, but even I got into the game toward the end. How could you not? That game was everything college football is supposed to be in terms of excitement and good, old-fashioned fun. Of course, all the ND fans in town were devastated, but it is just a game. However, I am so, so sad about the Penn State loss. I was really hoping we could have an unbeaten season since Joe Pa deserves at least one last killer year. Oh well.

It was interesting being in South Bend over the weekend, though, because so many people came in for the game. There were more limos and private jets coming in than for the Oscars or something of that nature. Everybody was getting all hyped up, spreading rumors about the celebrities in town. People were saying everyone from Jessica and Nick to Angelina and Brad were in town. I think maybe it was just Martin Short, in reality. Oh, I guess Joe Montana came in for the pep rally on Friday. Other than that, I'm not really sure who came in for the game. But it was definitely a high-energy weekend.

We're catsitting for one of my grad students and it's been an interesting night. We have a rabbit and chinchilla, and the cat apparently spent a lot of the evening scaring the shit out of the critters. My husband said he heard the chinchilla barking and generally spazzing out, and the rabbit stomping his foot in his cage. so he got up and tried to carry them down to the basement so he could get some peace and quiet, and since he was only half-conscious while doing this, dropped the rabbit cage, spilling all the contents of the cage onto the floor. I was awakened at 5 a.m. to very loud cat howling and the sound of the shop vac. Anyway, now the rodents are in the basement. The cat is not and everything should be OK. Hopefully.

Karaoke Lightbulb.

This has been a pretty busy week for me, so I wasn't able to do one of my normal karaoke recordings. Buuuuut, since I love you all so very much and I know how desperately you wait for these little posts every Friday, I have quickly recorded me singing a little ditty from a musical I did in sixth grade called The Electric Sunshine Man. It was a musical about Thomas A. Edison and his revolutionary contributions to modern life. What I have here is the beginning of the opening number. I would have sung the entire song for you, but I can remember more than what I've got here, so please enjoy The Electric Sunshine Man. I hope listening to this song inspires you to visit your local library and learn more about the life and times of Thomas Edison, a true American hero.

More than a mouthful is just too much.

This is not exactly a new story, but one that must be read to be believed.

Snake bursts after gobbling gator



An unusual clash between a 6-foot (1.8m) alligator and a 13-foot (3.9m) python has left two of the deadliest predators dead in Florida's swamps.

The Burmese python tried to swallow its fearsome rival whole but then exploded.

The remains of the two giant reptiles were found by astonished rangers in the Everglades National Park.

The rangers say the find suggests that non-native Burmese pythons might even challenge alligators' leading position in the food chain in the swamps.

Clearly, if they can kill an alligator they can kill other species
Prof Frank Mazzotti

The python's remains with the victim's tail protruding from its burst midsection were found last week. The head of the python was missing.

"Encounters like that are almost never seen in the wild... And here we are," Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

"They were probably evenly matched in size. If the python got a good grip on the alligator before the alligator got a good grip on him, he could win," Professor Mazzotti said.

He said the alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach, leading it to burst.

"Clearly, if they can kill an alligator they can kill other species," Prof Mazzotti said.

He said that there had been four known encounters between the two species in the past. In the other cases, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw.

Burmese pythons - many of whom have been dumped by their owners - have thrived in the wet and hot climate of Florida's swamps over the past 20 years.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4313978.stm

Published: 2005/10/05 21:42:54 GMT

© BBC MMV

Oh...my...God!!!

I killed a cockroach in my kitchen this morning. I can't quite believe I'm sharing this with you because you'll now question my ability to keep a clean house. This is the first time I've ever seen a cockroach in my house, and with ever fiber of my being, I swear this will be the LAST time I see a cockroach in my house because I am going to kill the little bastards with the wrath of me hunting cockroaches. Which is very big, very frightening, and very wrathy. Sadam Hussein? Forget Sadam Hussein. He's an amateur compared to the chemical warfare I'm going to unleash against those buggers. They will be sorry they defiled the sanctity of my home. Actually, they won't be sorry because they're going to DEAD. So they'll be incabable of experiencing regret. But that's OK by me. After I pick up my daughter from school today, it's straight to the store to buy every cockroach eliminating spray known to man. And then the day will be mine.

My shirt stinks and what's up with Adam Curry's hair?

My shirt stinks and I don't know why. It's been awhile since I've worn it, but I don't know why that would make it stink. I had my husband spray the back of me with Febreeze, but I can smell the stench off the front. I hope I'm the only one who can smell it. I'd be pretty embarrassed if anyone else could smell it. Notice, though, that while knowing my shirt stinks, I didn't actually change it. I mean, I ironed it and everything this morning, so I wasn't going to make the effort a vain one. So I'm wearing a stinky shirt.

As far as Adam Curry's hair goes, why is it straight and blonde now? Remember when Adam Curry was a VJ on MTV and he looked like Leo from Fame? Now he's sporting the polar opposite of his 80's hair. Is he ashamed? I think he looks stupid with his hair the way it is now. Mainly because you know he's spending a lot of time on it to get it that way and once you're married and have kids, I don't think you should be spending that much time on your hair because that means you're not spending time on something more important. I'm a girl and I spend too little time on my hair. I'm probably just jealous that he gets to spend so much time on his hair when I can't. Actually, I am jealous that he can spend more time on his hair. I hate Adam Curry and his fancy hair.

My family drove to Michigan this weekend to visit one of my husband's aunts. He hasn't seen her since his father died when he was six. We also visited his father's grave, which is also the first time my husband has been there since his father died. It was pretty emotional for him, I think. He said he felt very sad about being there but he was glad to have gone and now he wants to try and get up there at least a couple of times a year. We tried getting some information from my husband's aunt about his father, but she seemed somewhat reluctant to give us the really juicy stuff. My husband is hoping she'll loosen up a little bit more as we spend more time with her. Since the only way he can really get information about his father now is through someone else's experiences, it makes it difficult to put together a full picture. My husband says his mother didn't ever speak much about his father as he was growing up, which is a real shame as far as I'm concerned. But I'm glad our daughter finally gets to connect with family members on her father's side. She told me before went up that she was excited about meeting these new family members because sometimes all the Korean people are just too much.

Karaoke in a bottle

This week's song is one of my favorite Police songs. The Police being my favorite group of all time, and if you don't agree with me, just keep your piehole shut and there won't be any violence. But seriously, I love this song and I've used quotes from it to start off several high school theme papers in my time. My one real sorrow in life is that I never got to see the Police perform live. I was fourteen or fifteen when Synchronicity came out, and then they broke up shortly after that. Needless to say, I was a little too young to go see them previous to the break-up. Oh the tragedy. Oh the injustice. So here I am singing Message in a Bottle.

You just never know what's going to smack you in the face.

I can't believe Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are pregnant. Well, I can believe they're pregnant, I just can't believe they'd go around telling everyone. How pregnant can she be? I didn't really want to make big news of it until I was at least through my first trimester. But, what, she's probably only two weeks pregnant or something. One can only guess because I have no idea when she's expecting. What I find more interesting about all of this is Tom Cruise's de-evolution as a sex symbol. Most people are like, "What? Eeeww." I can remember a time when some women might have said, "Ooooh, she's having sex with Tom Cruise? She's so lucky." I don't think anyone is calling Katie Holmes lucky right now. Not that I care whether or not a person has premarital sex or not, but I do think it's somewhat tacky to go around telling the world you're going to stay a virgin until you get married and then get knocked up before you get a chance to walk down the aisle. That's just poor breeding, as far as I'm concerned.

As my husband was telling me the news of the impending birth, he said that the news was reporting that Scientologists don't believe in pain medication during birth and that the mother is not allowed to scream during delivery because it will upset the baby. I had drugs when I had my daughter and I still screamed. Not easy to turn off the screaming during labor. What the fuck is wrong with these people? Of course, it had to be a man who came up with that stupid-ass rule. Don't scream while you're experiencing the most excruciating pain you will probably ever experience in your life. You know, that's fine as long as the woman gets to squeeze the man's testicles while she's holding in he screams. If the guy doesn't scream, then it's a fair deal.

I'm a pepper, you're a pepper...

Remember the good old days when werewolves endorsed soda? Yeah, good times, good times. I don't know what to talk about today. My colleague Renee says I should talk about the vendor fair we went to today, where we got all kinds of free stuff. The biggest prize of the day was a huge yardstick. It's actually more than just a flat stick, it's like a yardclub because it's thick and square and looks more like a samuri sword than a measuring device. It should prove quite useful in doling out punishment in the house. We got free cookies, too. And they were warm to boot. I also got free cake. I'm on the Nutrisystem right now, so I'm hoping the cookie and cake don't do too much damage. But, you know, you only live once, so what the heck. How am I supposed to turn down Bailey's Irish Cream Torte, I ask you? It's like expecting someone to stop breathing or something. Crazy talk is what it is. Plus, it was just a small piece. A crumb really. The cookie was big though. Renee helped herself to the free hotdog and chips, but I passed on that. I got a free light up yo-yo. That was pretty cool. I wish I could do yo-yo tricks. I always wanted to do that walk the dog move. I don't know how one learns to do yo-yo tricks, but it would be pretty cool if I could.

I've decided my daughter will start taking guitar lessons. It's dawned on me that she's not really very disciplined and I think taking guitar lessons will give her some of that. She needs to understand that sometimes you do stuff for no other reason than you have to and you've got to see those things out to the end. I told her my plan yesterday. She'd rather learn the bongos, she told me. But I explained I didn't think I'd be able to find a bongo teacher. I gave her the choice of guitar or piano and she chose guitar. I would have made her do guitar anyway because I don't have room in my house for a piano. So I just put her on the waiting list at a guitar place down the street from where we live. Hopefully, it won't take too long before they can take her in. The lady asked me if I preferred a certain teacher and I told her I just need someone really, really patient because my daughter likes to spend a lot of time explaining why she can't do something as way to try and get out of doing something. The lady said all their teachers are patient. We'll see, we'll see.

Yo want some yo-yo tricks I got yo yo tricks for you all day long

So you want to learn how to do yo yo tricks huh. The thing that most people don't understand with yo yo tricks is that they are really easy as long as you truly know how to yo-yo. The secret is mastering the stall
once you can master the stall you can do any yo yo trick you want to do. the stall is throwing the yo yo down and making it stay down until you flick your wrist and the yo yo rides up the string. To master the stall you must first master the toss. to toss a yo yo you do not just let it go from your hand and sort of push down for momentum. To properly toss your yo yo you must hold it in your hand palm up with the yo yo facing the sky, center groove lined up with the finger the string is on. (I use my middle finger because it helps me keep the yo yo centered an important thing later). next you fling the yo yo down over that string finger (imagine the girl from my cousin vinny describing her biological clock but more fluid and down ward not sideward). You have thrown the yo yo down the palm is face up. as you have thrown down the yo yo smoothly not jerkily roll your hand over so your palm is facing down. At this point the yo yo should be spinning at the bottom of the string "stalling" you can stall for a second or for as long as you want, or the yo you stops spinning at which point its not stalling any more its dead.

In order to make the yo yo race back up the string all you have to do is swiftly but not majorly hard is snap your finger or wrist up. and the yo you will ride up the string. That is the basis for any yo yo trick. Now. . . for your fateful walk the dog. Stall the yo yo as discussed above. as its stalling at the bottom of the string simply mildly drop it on the ground in front of you and walk along as the yo you rides on the ground and sucks up line. when you want to fully rewind the yo yo pull up with your arm then as the yo yo comes up into the air. put your arm down towards the yo you to sort of make it "defy gravity" and suck up the line without tension so you can get it all reeled up then throw it again. Its as easy as that. Next week join us for the other fundamental base for all other tricks. the pendulum.

Till next time kids!, keep on yo'in!

Podcasting addict.

That's me. I'm listening to PotterCast with Melissa Anelli of the Leaky Cauldron. I also listen to MuggleCast with the boys from MuggleNet because they're funny. I'm finding these podcasts much more accessible than going to the websites because I can do other stuff while I'm listening, like writing this post. Isn't that just super cool? The MuggleCast boys make me laugh because they're teenage boys and they're silly. I like listening to them yell at each other because it reminds me of the kid from Trekkies who yells at the friend who calls him in the middle of his interview with Denise Crosby. That's what the MuggleCast boys are like when they talk to each other and one says something that one of the others doesn't agree with. I listen to the podcasts through iTunes. Also, there's one episodes of MuggleCast where one of the boys says, "Guys, guys, guys." And that makes me laugh because there was this one boy I knew in high school who used to always get dumped on by the other boys that I hung out with and they'd do things like wrap him up in a blanket and he'd frantically yell out, "Guys, guys, guys," because he couldn't breathe and stuff, but it was funny to me anyway. So, I would highly recommend listening to either one of those podcasts. Once I figure out how to get my own podcast up and running, I promise to be just as entertaining. I just have to figure out how to score the interviews with some famous people. I was thinking about how to try and interview Sean Astin because he's supposed to make an appearance at this Roasting Rudy event that's taking place here in South Bend next week, but it turns out it's just going to be a video feed appearance so I won't be able to corner him for an interview. I was devasted by the news, I assure you. We don't get many famous people here, you know.

Another Monday. Please God, let it end.

I'm talking about the work week, of course. I'm starting to think Mondays should be banned because I hate them most of the time. Did I tell you how they opened a Build-a-Bear in our mall over the summer? This is something I've been dreading because my daughter LOVES Build-a-Bear, almost as much Pokemon. Anyway, up until they opened the local store, she's only been able to go to Build-a-Bear during our infrequent trips to Chicago or DC. That was pretty good as far as I was concerned. Now, the constant and easy lure of Build-a-Bear has overly excited about mall trips. I hate the mall, so it's good that I don't go there very often; otherwise, I would come to hate the mall pretty quickly if I didn't already as I do, which I've just mentioned. What is this all leading up to? Well, she's having her birthday party there in a few weeks. I booked the party about a month ago and she's been checking off the days until her party. She did a happy little dance on Friday when she realized it was finally October.

"I am now in my birthday month," she explained to me.

She has never been more excited about a birthday party in her life. Really, I think she's been anticipating this party more than Christmas morning. I don't know what it is she thinks will happen other than she'll end up with a new bear, but she's pretty familiar with the routine at the store. In fact, we were just there yesterday and she used some money she'd saved up to buy a new animal. It won't even be as if it's been a long time since she's been to the store before her birthday, so I'm pretty amused by her enthusiasim.

Me, waiting in line.