In my iPod right now: “Everyday is Like Sunday” by Morrissey
Is it just me, or does it suddenly seem like cupcakes are everywhere? Granted, cupcakes are no strangers to mainstream society. They were the perfect little treat for kids to bring in to elementary school on their birthdays. They were a staple of bake sales and cake walks. In my elementary school in Michigan, there were even random cupcake weeks, where we could purchase a homemade cupcake for a quarter to raise money for some cause (this was also a convenient way for my mom to dispense with some of that annoying Canadian change you must inevitably deal with as a Michigander). But cupcakes are now out of control! I saw no less than five bookstore displays this Christmas of cupcake-themed recipe books. I keep seeing cupcake designs on birthday cards and baby clothes.
Sure, it’s nice to know that cupcakes aren’t going anywhere, but I am a little bittersweet. I had this naive notion that cupcakes were kind of my special thing. Turns out they’re everyone’s.
I guess it’s kind of like music. In the early 90’s, I was a big fan of so-called “alternative” music. From Concrete Blonde, to Echo and the Bunnymen, to James. Whatever they were selling, I was buying. But then something happened: alternative became mainstream. Suddenly people were complaining about bands like Pearl Jam and R.E.M. “selling out.” How dare they expand their fan base? Shame on them for making money doing something they love!
Ridiculous, if you think about it. Why shouldn’t bands and cupcakes be successful? If I’m truly a fan, shouldn’t I want what’s best for them? And, of course, without mainstream success, we’d never get to have those bragging rights – those “I knew them way back when” stories.
Side note: The only person interested in these stories is the person telling them. The rest of us couldn’t care less about that person who saw Live at some general admission concert at Wabash College in the Spring of 1993, right before Throwing Copper hit it big. (Oh wait – that person was me.)
But I still can’t get used to hearing “Everyday is Like Sunday” in NFL commercials . . .
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Judgement Day
I got to spend my Monday morning in court. Not for anything I did...I was actually there to help out a friend...testify on his behalf towards a misdemeanor charge of NOISE. Yes, folks...it was a noise violation. And this was his third continuance of the charge.
After my friend's second time at court, he had called me to gather my recollection of the events that night and being that I was the only STONE COLD sober person amongst his guests, I was pretty much like his 'ace in the hole.' Plus the fact that I showed up to court looking way pregnant and pretty respectable...if I do say so myself. He called me to testify on his behalf back in November. So I had TWO months to think about how this thing would go down.
What did I see? Law & Order - Arlington style. I pictured being questioned about all these different things, which I will proceed to answer since I DID NOT get to use all this material stored up in my head:
Relationship to Defendant: Friend for over five years
What was I doing prior to the BBQ: I was at the Bottom Line watching Purdue beat Central Michigan
Why wasn't I drinking: I was under a Dr's care and medication
What were you doing when the police arrived: I actually didn't know the police arrived. I was in my friend's house receiving my medication, which is always done at 10PM. When I returned to the backyard, the music was turned off and I was informed the Police were out front.
And so on and so forth.
When I got there, I thought perhaps the theme from People's Court would be playing as I entered the court room. I thought I would have to put my hand on the Bible and swear that I would tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth...I even practiced my 'I wills' and 'I dos.' I settled on 'I will.'
Instead - what I got was NOTHING like what I imagined. Which means, I probably have an overactive imagination. But boy was this court UNORGANIZED. There were about 10-20 cases to be heard on the docket and as the barely audible judge started reading down the list of cases, I felt like I was sitting in one of my IT staff meetings. The attorney gave statuses on each case..."He's in traffic court right now, Your Honor" or "I believe we're still working on a plea for that, Your Honor." The first four cases went pretty much like this. If I were the Judge, I'd be miffed. I'd be like 'Get your shiot together people and don't waste my time.'
Finally my friend got called up and events leading up to the actual hearing, which took place outside of the court room when we arrived (a lot of wheeling and dealing) did not require my presence in the court room. It did not require my testimony and it did not require my swearing in. Very anti-climatic.
I knew I should have got him to subpoena me when he asked!
After my friend's second time at court, he had called me to gather my recollection of the events that night and being that I was the only STONE COLD sober person amongst his guests, I was pretty much like his 'ace in the hole.' Plus the fact that I showed up to court looking way pregnant and pretty respectable...if I do say so myself. He called me to testify on his behalf back in November. So I had TWO months to think about how this thing would go down.
What did I see? Law & Order - Arlington style. I pictured being questioned about all these different things, which I will proceed to answer since I DID NOT get to use all this material stored up in my head:
Relationship to Defendant: Friend for over five years
What was I doing prior to the BBQ: I was at the Bottom Line watching Purdue beat Central Michigan
Why wasn't I drinking: I was under a Dr's care and medication
What were you doing when the police arrived: I actually didn't know the police arrived. I was in my friend's house receiving my medication, which is always done at 10PM. When I returned to the backyard, the music was turned off and I was informed the Police were out front.
And so on and so forth.
When I got there, I thought perhaps the theme from People's Court would be playing as I entered the court room. I thought I would have to put my hand on the Bible and swear that I would tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth...I even practiced my 'I wills' and 'I dos.' I settled on 'I will.'
Instead - what I got was NOTHING like what I imagined. Which means, I probably have an overactive imagination. But boy was this court UNORGANIZED. There were about 10-20 cases to be heard on the docket and as the barely audible judge started reading down the list of cases, I felt like I was sitting in one of my IT staff meetings. The attorney gave statuses on each case..."He's in traffic court right now, Your Honor" or "I believe we're still working on a plea for that, Your Honor." The first four cases went pretty much like this. If I were the Judge, I'd be miffed. I'd be like 'Get your shiot together people and don't waste my time.'
Finally my friend got called up and events leading up to the actual hearing, which took place outside of the court room when we arrived (a lot of wheeling and dealing) did not require my presence in the court room. It did not require my testimony and it did not require my swearing in. Very anti-climatic.
I knew I should have got him to subpoena me when he asked!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Back in Blog
In my Ipod right now: "These Photographs" by Joshua Radin
Competing in my head: "Back in Black" by AC/DC (of course!)
It's New Year's Resolution time, right? Well, I'm not making any. Except that I will try to blog more. I think I said this last year too. Look how that turned out .... In any case, I've seen other blogs that list what the writer is listening to - and I love that idea. I love music. This way, I always get to share without a separate "I Recommend" post. And perhaps the music will give me blogging ideas. Perhaps??
My husband and I just got back from our holiday trip to Denver to visit his mom. And, as luck would have it, three of my sorority sisters (all from my class) live there - and they were ALL around to meet and catch up for awhile. It's always fun to rehash the college stories. My friend Betsy, in particular, reminded me of a poem I wrote in her honor - describing a beer goggled incident in which she stole some poor caterer's sandwich while he was innocently roasting a hog on a spit in the backyard of some fraternity house. Poor guy. But it was damn funny.
Well, I got home and managed to find my journal from the years 1992 - 1996 (yes, I recognize that this ages me - and no, I don't like it one bit). One hundred and twenty-six poems and "thoughts," folks! Most of them Smiths/Morrissey/Cure - inspired garbage (not that The Smiths or The Cure churn out garbage at all, but the sad outlook they seemed to bring out in me was not becoming). However, a few of them weren't bad, if I do say so myself. One entry, in particular, made me laugh. And since I have nothing else to blog about it, I am repeating it here, 16 years later (oh God, I'm old):
Untitled:
I think I know why my parents didn't spoil me when I was a child. I wanted all of these toys, and sometimes when I got them, they weren't as neat as the commercials said, and then I never played with them and wouldn't let my friends either. But I liked my Barbie a lot because I only had one - the other ones I had that kind of looked like Barbie were the hollow drugstore kind. But if I had been given as many Barbies as I'd wanted, I probably would have been careless with them, like how my one friend Christine was, because she had so many Barbies and threw them all in a big white bucket with no clothes on. I feel good, too, because deep down I know that my Barbie had it better. It's a good thing I wasn't spoiled like Christine, because if I had been, I'd probably treat people like she treated her Barbies.
Competing in my head: "Back in Black" by AC/DC (of course!)
It's New Year's Resolution time, right? Well, I'm not making any. Except that I will try to blog more. I think I said this last year too. Look how that turned out .... In any case, I've seen other blogs that list what the writer is listening to - and I love that idea. I love music. This way, I always get to share without a separate "I Recommend" post. And perhaps the music will give me blogging ideas. Perhaps??
My husband and I just got back from our holiday trip to Denver to visit his mom. And, as luck would have it, three of my sorority sisters (all from my class) live there - and they were ALL around to meet and catch up for awhile. It's always fun to rehash the college stories. My friend Betsy, in particular, reminded me of a poem I wrote in her honor - describing a beer goggled incident in which she stole some poor caterer's sandwich while he was innocently roasting a hog on a spit in the backyard of some fraternity house. Poor guy. But it was damn funny.
Well, I got home and managed to find my journal from the years 1992 - 1996 (yes, I recognize that this ages me - and no, I don't like it one bit). One hundred and twenty-six poems and "thoughts," folks! Most of them Smiths/Morrissey/Cure - inspired garbage (not that The Smiths or The Cure churn out garbage at all, but the sad outlook they seemed to bring out in me was not becoming). However, a few of them weren't bad, if I do say so myself. One entry, in particular, made me laugh. And since I have nothing else to blog about it, I am repeating it here, 16 years later (oh God, I'm old):
Untitled:
I think I know why my parents didn't spoil me when I was a child. I wanted all of these toys, and sometimes when I got them, they weren't as neat as the commercials said, and then I never played with them and wouldn't let my friends either. But I liked my Barbie a lot because I only had one - the other ones I had that kind of looked like Barbie were the hollow drugstore kind. But if I had been given as many Barbies as I'd wanted, I probably would have been careless with them, like how my one friend Christine was, because she had so many Barbies and threw them all in a big white bucket with no clothes on. I feel good, too, because deep down I know that my Barbie had it better. It's a good thing I wasn't spoiled like Christine, because if I had been, I'd probably treat people like she treated her Barbies.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
When You're Not a Parent at a Kids' Show
Over the weekend, my sister and I took my nephews (ages 7 and 4) to a kids' show at the Kennedy Center. It was a puppet group that presented the books 'Runaway Bunny' and 'Goodnight Moon' in life-size puppet format. You could see the puppet handlers and the props and characters were all sizable. It was definitely interesting although I'm not sure how kids or parents had a chance to enjoy any of it because it was a "non-shushing" show.
So first question here is how old/young do you have to be to attend one of these shows? I'm not as familiar with 'Runaway Bunny' but for 'Goodnight Moon,' I remember reading that to my nephews when they were around two. Two years old, in my opinion, is way to young to be in a large theatre to watch this show....they can't sit still, their attention span is minimal to non-existent, etc. That didn't stop some parents from being their two year olds to the show. But a couple of things to keep in mind when bringing a child that young to a stage show....is your child afraid of the dark? The second the lights went down, one girl had to be taken out for excessive screaming. Fortunately, her father knew immediately that she couldn't stay. Unfortunately, she was seated near the front so the whole audience had to hear her screaming and try to focus on the puppeteers for a good two minutes.
How do they make a short story into a drawn out puppet show? Lots of dead air. I guess it's supposed to be more visually stimulating but for me, it was complete torture. I think part of it was the fact that I'm not a parent yet so my patience hasn't grown to an infinite level to handle constant kid noises. Secondly, I know it only takes me less than five minutes to read 'Goodnight Moon' at a steady pace (maybe even less than that). The fact that I sat there for 30 minutes waiting for the story to get over with amazes me. 'Runaway Bunny' is a longer story but it still wouldn't take more than 10 minutes to read the story from cover to cover. By the end of both shows (no intermission, sadly), I thought I had been there for four hours. In reality, it had only been 60 minutes. Sigh.
So be careful if you're not a parent going to a kids' show. On the bright side, I did get to spend quality time with my nephews and they both enjoyed the show - they both got introduced to a new book 'Runaway Bunny,' and that's always good.
If you are a parent, I would recommend the show - but only if you know that your kids will be well-behaved (which for the most part, 75% of the kids were) and they're not afraid of the dark.
So first question here is how old/young do you have to be to attend one of these shows? I'm not as familiar with 'Runaway Bunny' but for 'Goodnight Moon,' I remember reading that to my nephews when they were around two. Two years old, in my opinion, is way to young to be in a large theatre to watch this show....they can't sit still, their attention span is minimal to non-existent, etc. That didn't stop some parents from being their two year olds to the show. But a couple of things to keep in mind when bringing a child that young to a stage show....is your child afraid of the dark? The second the lights went down, one girl had to be taken out for excessive screaming. Fortunately, her father knew immediately that she couldn't stay. Unfortunately, she was seated near the front so the whole audience had to hear her screaming and try to focus on the puppeteers for a good two minutes.
How do they make a short story into a drawn out puppet show? Lots of dead air. I guess it's supposed to be more visually stimulating but for me, it was complete torture. I think part of it was the fact that I'm not a parent yet so my patience hasn't grown to an infinite level to handle constant kid noises. Secondly, I know it only takes me less than five minutes to read 'Goodnight Moon' at a steady pace (maybe even less than that). The fact that I sat there for 30 minutes waiting for the story to get over with amazes me. 'Runaway Bunny' is a longer story but it still wouldn't take more than 10 minutes to read the story from cover to cover. By the end of both shows (no intermission, sadly), I thought I had been there for four hours. In reality, it had only been 60 minutes. Sigh.
So be careful if you're not a parent going to a kids' show. On the bright side, I did get to spend quality time with my nephews and they both enjoyed the show - they both got introduced to a new book 'Runaway Bunny,' and that's always good.
If you are a parent, I would recommend the show - but only if you know that your kids will be well-behaved (which for the most part, 75% of the kids were) and they're not afraid of the dark.
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Year's Resolutions: Broken Promises and Unfulfilled Goals
Happy New Year, Everyone!
I have learned long ago that there's really no point in having New Year's Resolutions. If I do have to talk about resolutions, it's usually in a joking manner and it's usually some short term goal - try and help out more around the house or tell my husband 'I love him' more often. Well I do the latter all the time already so not really a resolution.
Back in the day, I had the same lofty resolutions that many people in the world have - hit the gym more, lose weight, eat healthier, shop less, etc. I don't think I could eat any healthier now if I tried and although I know I do have to hit the gym again, it's not in an attempt to lose weight but keep myself in shape to deliver these little Niblets in about 4-5 months. When I did set those 'lose weight' goals for myself, back in the day, I did lose weight, only to gain some of it back later in the year or later the next year. I think after the fourth time of doing this, I figured, 'What's the point?!'
Therefore, for 2009, I do not have any resolutions to speak of. I do have personal goals I'd like to meet which is to deliver two healthy, happy babies and to get back to my pre-pregnancy body, and maybe even a BETTER body (like that of a Victoria's Secret model - lofty goals, remember?!).
I'm looking forward to the year ahead - we're doubling our family and it's something we've been waiting for for quite a long time - so I'm looking forward to the big change that is about to take place. I'm looking forward to finally meeting these kids that are 'baking' in my belly and being able to hold, touch and love them in person.
Hope you all have a wonderful 2009!
I have learned long ago that there's really no point in having New Year's Resolutions. If I do have to talk about resolutions, it's usually in a joking manner and it's usually some short term goal - try and help out more around the house or tell my husband 'I love him' more often. Well I do the latter all the time already so not really a resolution.
Back in the day, I had the same lofty resolutions that many people in the world have - hit the gym more, lose weight, eat healthier, shop less, etc. I don't think I could eat any healthier now if I tried and although I know I do have to hit the gym again, it's not in an attempt to lose weight but keep myself in shape to deliver these little Niblets in about 4-5 months. When I did set those 'lose weight' goals for myself, back in the day, I did lose weight, only to gain some of it back later in the year or later the next year. I think after the fourth time of doing this, I figured, 'What's the point?!'
Therefore, for 2009, I do not have any resolutions to speak of. I do have personal goals I'd like to meet which is to deliver two healthy, happy babies and to get back to my pre-pregnancy body, and maybe even a BETTER body (like that of a Victoria's Secret model - lofty goals, remember?!).
I'm looking forward to the year ahead - we're doubling our family and it's something we've been waiting for for quite a long time - so I'm looking forward to the big change that is about to take place. I'm looking forward to finally meeting these kids that are 'baking' in my belly and being able to hold, touch and love them in person.
Hope you all have a wonderful 2009!
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