What will $1,030,000 buy around here?

After I ate lunch at my desk, I thought I would get outside and enjoy this beautiful springlike weather we've been having, so I went to the store and got some M&Ms (peanut, if you care), and walked around the block. I remember when this house was renovating their yard last summer...looks like they did the inside too. It's a very pretty house...but come on, it's just a house. In the suburbs. If you have a cool million + some change, it can be yours.

And what about this fancy 'staging' and website? Wow...real estate can be pretty intimidating, yeah?

Blame Canada?

Recently, Maya was working on a report about the California Missions for school, and we were reading about how the early explorers of 'Alta California' were looking for a passage between the Pacific and the Atlantic, which would be VERY valuable to them in getting wealth from the area back to Spain. They never found a route, though, and instead colonized California.

Cut to the modern day: We have found a passage, through the Artic Ocean, called the Northwest Passage. It is seldom used because it is frozen over for much of the year, and the route is exteremly hazardous. One consequence of global warming appears to be that in as little as 10 years, the Northwest Passage could be free enough from ice in the summer to become a viable route between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Ships can save about 4,000 km between Europe and Asia by using the Northwest Passage. So, does this mean we will be having disputes with Canada over these waters? The new Prime Minister of Canada is reasserting the Canadian claim to the area, while the U.S. claims that these are International Waters.

So, could war break out between the U.S. and Canada? Will they join the 'Axis of Evil'? Nah, I don't think so either. But it's kind of scary to think of global warming melting so much ice, and what that will mean to Earth's climate (not to mention the Polar Bears).

Looking for an Interesting Read? Or Listen?

I was walking the dog this morning, in the dark, waiting for her to poop, (carrying my bag, and yes, I cleaned it up after), and listening to my beautiful little iPod Nano. I love listening to music, but even more, I like listening to podcasts. So I was listening to an NPR show that I downloaded from Audible.com, To the Best Of Our Knowledge. This show was called Fact or Fiction, and the first guest was a woman named Christine Wicker, who has gone out and interviewed people about their beliefs in magic. People who actually think they are vampires, werewolves, whatever. It was pretty interesting. So, if you're into that kind of thing, either go to the link and listen, or go pick up the book at your local library. Personally, I don't think I'll buy the book. I prefer the little glimpse that I got from the show...don't need the whole shebang.

It's fun having a 9 year old...

Maya: I like looking at pictures.
Mama: Pictures of family?
Maya: All pictures.
Mama: Pictures of flowers?
Maya: ALL PICTURES.
Mama: Pictures of buttholes?
Maya: That's it! You're Going Down!
(commence the tickle fight...)

Then again...she has always been fun. When she was about 5, and I was tickling her, she came out with this:
"Get your hands off of me, you Damn Dirty Ape!"
(that stopped the tickling...I was laughing too hard.)

Surfing in the Bay Area?

I don't surf, and I don't really watch people surf, but if you're not from around here, you may not have heard about an annual surfing contest called Maverick's. The contest first started in 1999, and is held once a year. When conditions are right to create the huge (up to 50 feet) swells, the word goes out, and participants have about 24 hours to get here and get their game on. If you're a surfing geek and kind of interested in what is so unique about this area that creates such huge waves, read all about it on SFGate. By the way, if you're NOT from here, the waves often suck, so don't make a special trip or anything.

Another Useless Bit of Trivia....

Ted's friend/sometimes coworker, Ramzi, called Ted last night to ask him who wrote the lyrics to "New York, New York". Somehow, I thought that song was OLD. Like from the 1940s or 1950's or something. Nope. I never knew it was written for the 1977 (ok, still almost 30 years old, but really, not what I meant) film, New York, New York, and starring Robert De Niro and Liza Minelli, directed by Martin Scorcese. Actually, I never knew that such a movie existed. Live and learn.

Thanks Ramzi, for the question, and thanks to NPR for the info. :)

Proof of the Apocolypse?

Or maybe I just found everyone's Christmas gifts this year? Hmmm. I'll have to think about it. Maybe both. In the meantime, ponder this: Old Silly Putty Face (As I used to call him when I was 10) has a new album of old songs from the 50s, and it is #1 on Billboard's Pop Album chart. Wow.

I Love California

Sunny
High: 70°
Low: 43°

Ignore the Earthquakes, Traffic, Mudslides, Droughts, $600,000 Condos, Poverty in the Valley, etc. On a day like this, it's just a great place to be. I mean, come on....It's FEBRUARY.

I Miss Bill Clinton

I was in the car listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR, and there was a segment on the funeral services for Coretta Scott King. They played the speaches of President Bush and President Clinton one after the other, and the difference was amazing. Bush sounded so forced and uncomfortable...Clinton sounded so relaxed, like he was at home. I don't think it's because Bush doesn't respect King or her legacy. I just don't think he's a good speaker. And Clinton is a gifted speaker, able to sound like a regular person without 'dumbing himself down' or anything like that.

I don't know if Bush dumbs himself down, or if he is as stupid as he sounds, or maybe somewhere in the middle of that...but Clinton sounded so REAL, so ENGAGED,
so ALIVE, that it made Bush seem like a wax figure in comparison.

Bragging...

We recently found out that Maya did well on her GATE assessment exam...that's Gifted and Talented Education program, for those of you who aren't parents around here. For kids her age, that means she gets to miss three days of school in March and go to a Nature Center close by. For kids in middle school, there are several options, including a Literary Magazine, Model United Nations, Mock Legislature, Newscope, and Sixth Grade Science Seminars. In High School they learn about Writing the College Essay. I don't know if that means writing essays for college applications, or the much more useful skill of writing papers for college. Ted is a professor (sans students at the moment), and the writing skills of the students are a constant source of horror for him. I don't know whether her being in GATE now means that she stays in GATE through HS, or if she gets re-tested every year, or what. But in this world of horrid standardized testing testing testing, I am relieved that she has the skill to get through it, and that she can feel confident in those skills. Kind of a relief, since I know so many REALLY smart, bright, confident people who just do not test well, and I hate what our current educational system does to these kids. But that's another post. This one is to say that I'm proud of my daughter. :)

Sick?

Is this the winter of our discontent? Distempter? I don't know. Maya told me this morning that she doesn't want to go to school today, because she feels 'queasy'. I wasn't sure what to do, because the LAST time she felt queasy, she was definately sick. But she could also just be tired, because Saturday night she was at a sleepover with a bunch of girlscout friends, and yesterday she went on a field trip on a boat on the Delta, and we didn't get home until about 6:30, and she was tired. Would she fake it? She's not much of a faker, but I could see her getting herself worked up that she doesn't feel like going to school today, and making herself queasy. I've been known to do that to myself, especially when I didn't really feel like going to school. So I told her, since we were almost at school anyway, that we should go in and take her temperature in the office. She said she felt better then. I wasn't sure if she was really feeling better, or just embarrased about having her temp taken in the office. Or resigned that her evil mother was going to make her go to school no matter what. So she's at school. I hope she's really better, and that I didn't make my sick child go to school and infect the other kids and basically suffer all day. Ah, the guilt of parenthood.

Water Babies...

I like this picture. It's so different from swimming lessons that Maya has taken...

The Trouble with Boys? Or the Trouble with Schools?

Have you read about Newsweek's article on "The Trouble with Boys"? Well, BitchPhD had some interesting points to make, and I can't say it any better than she did, so I'll just say, "Go, Bitch, Go!"

Weekend Wrap Up

Saturday, I went to the movies with Autumn's Mom. We went to see "Walk the Line". I've never been a big Johnny Cash fan, mostly because I'm not really into country music. Nothing against him. So, not being a fan, I didn't know anything about him, except that he wore a lot of black, was married to June Carter (I only knew that because they died so close together a couple of years ago), and that he....well, that's all I knew.

The movie was really good...I definately enjoyed it. Very interesting, very well done. Did he come off looking perfect? No, far from it. It's the story of his romancing June Carter, and the beginning of his career, with some of the relationship with his father thrown in for good measure. Boy, his father was a jerk. But he told the truth sometimes, too. Sometimes. Without going into too much detail and ruining the movie for you, let me say, it's a good movie, and you might want to consider seeing it. It's Oscar worthy, I think.

If you're going to see a movie, by the way, why not increase your amusement by sitting a few seats down from a drunk and/or high chick, who likes to talk during the movie? Seriously, she was cracking us up. She didn't talk enough to REALLY piss us off...but just enough to make us think, hmmmm....she's drunk and/or high. Any time something 'touched' her, she would say, "Awwwww"....When Johnny got in a big fight with his wife, and the kids are standing there crying, she said, "BASTARD!", and when a woman confronted June Carter in a hardware store about the "Abomonation" of divorce, she said, "THE IGNORANCE!" I loved her. At one point, she pulled out her pocket knife so she could cut the top off of her straw. She wore bells on a chain on her pants, so when she got up to RUN to the bathroom (three times), she sounded like Santa's reindeer. I swear, I wish I knew her movie schedule. I'd go sit down the aisle from her every time.

It was a double feature, but we decided to take it easy and skip the second flik (Capote...I know, it's getting great reviews, and we probably should have stayed...) to maybe get some dinner. Autumn's mom decided she wasn't hungry, but I ate some Split Pea Soup that was mighty tasty. We chatted until after 11:00, which means she probably missed seeing Prince on SNL. Sorry Missy! It was a lovely evening. :)

Sunday was breakfast at Katy's Korner, which is always good. They have many interesting items on the menu...yummy banana pancakes, trout and eggs, a lot of different versions of eggs benedict, lots of things. You should try it. Very good. Then we went to the grocery store, and then to Ted's parents' house for the Super Bowl. I made a very yummy appitizer, Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches.

So that was my weekend. Hope yours was lovely as well. If you get lucky, maybe you can go to the movies and sit by the drunk/high girl.

The Man Owns Us....

Just finished the taxes. I feel kind of like this guy...not the bull, the other one.

Philosophy Lesson for Today

Why My Daughter is "Underprivileged"...thankfully

From the truly nausiating world of people-with-more-money-than-God-who-should-learn-about-charity-or-savings-or-maybe-just-give-me-some-of-it, comes this column from Salon, on the hyperconsumeristic spending habits of very wealthy parents of overindulged infants.

My favorite quote? "...and what's more anxiety-provoking than, My god, I have a baby?"

Or maybe: "I have never seen a clearer acknowledgement that children have been reduced to accessories."

I believe you have to have a subscription to Salon to read the whole article, so I'll copy and paste it into my 'comments' section, in case you're interested. :)

And I know what you'll say..."My goodness, who cares." And you're right, except for the editorial comment that I feel sorry for these poor kids, and the parents should get a life.

Rambling Thoughts on MySpace, et. al.

I was listening to my favorite radio station this morning, and they were talking about "MySpace.com", and whether it is dangerous for kids or not. One man called in and said that he doesn't think that legislating or policing the site is the ultimate answer, because kids are smarter than we are, and if they're going to do something, they're going to do it. So, the key is to TEACH your kids what is safe, what isn't, and why. Teach them why they shouldn't want to do something, like go meet people that they've only met online, because it might not be safe. Coincidentally, I just started a new book, called "The Woman Who Walked Into Doors". At this point in the story, she's not yet a woman, no longer a girl...meaning she's just started high school, and the pressure is enormous. The character in the book is feeling so much pressure from all directions, and the pressure is that everyone is trying to define her by her sexuality. And by define, I mean, is she a 'whore', or is she 'frigid'. Those are the only choices. There is no winning in this situation. And she's so young to be having this thrust upon her. The teachers, the other students, all trying to grope her and find out if she is game for that kind of thing. It makes her bitter and tough....much tougher than she has any real desire to be.

I don't know what it's like growing up in working class Ireland, which is where the story takes place, but I do know what it's like growing up in not-quite-working class Stockton, which is where I lived when I went to High School. And I couldn't walk to 7-11 to get a Pepsi without some guy snooping around, trying to pick me up. "Are you a model?" they'd ask (trying to appeal to my vanity, I suppose, but come on...pretty obvious line). Like a model would live in that neighborhood, where 1/2 of the people were on welfare, there were bars on the windows, and you might have your house 'tagged' at any time. Right. So if I talked to them, they thought I was 'interested', meaning, yeah, you know. If I ignored them, I was a 'bitch', and 'frigid'. So I know a little bit of what this character is talking about, and I'll bet my 3 or 4 female readers do as well. At least my teachers and fellow students never tried to grope me.

But the whole MySpace thing got me to thinking about the judgement of teenagers...like when I was 17, and my brother and I cut school to see "Return of the Jedi" on opening day...I had to go to work at Mr. Steak for a couple of hours, so he stayed at the theater and held our place in line. While I was walking to the old Steak house, a guy pulled over and told me that he just HAD to get my phone number because of how I looked in my blue and white striped shorts. I talked to him. I flirted a bit. Such a feeling of power, to have a guy who is obviously 25 or older, talking to you, interested in you. It's crazy. I gave him my phone number. I left and went to Mr. Steak, then back to see the dumb ass movie. Well, the guy called. He called and called. He told me he'd like me to go on a date. He told me that I should bring my nightgown. He FREAKED ME OUT. Very scary. BUT...he was honest about what he wanted. He didn't pretend to be someone he wasn't, and when I eventually got up the guts to blow him off, he went away. I was 17 already, not a 14 or 15 year old...I had SOME judgement. But might I have gone to meet someone that I met online, if they seemed safe and secure and friendly? If I thought he was my age, or thought he was just a girl wanting to hang out and get coffee? I don't know. Not if my mom had taught me about the dangers involved. If she had talked to me about it and told me that there are dangerous people out there, who only want sex, or who want more than that, who want to hurt you. Of course, we didn't have the internet back in '83, so she didn't have to tell me any of this. But those of us with kids today, both boys and girls, we have to be much more careful, and teach our children to be open and honest with us, and to keep themselves safe.

I Really Liked This Book

From Powell's Books website:
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For thirty-one-year old Cornelia Brown, life is a series of movie moments, and "Jimmy Stewart is always and indisputably the best man in the world, unless Cary Grant should happen to show up."

So imagine Cornelia's delight when her very own Cary Grant walks through the door of the hip Philadelphia café she manages. Handsome and debonair, Martin Grace sweeps Cornelia off her feet, becoming Cary Grant to Cornelia's Katharine Hepburn, Clark Gable to her Joan Crawford.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, eleven-year-old Clare Hobbes must learn to fend for herself after her increasingly unstable mother has a breakdown and disappears. With no one to turn to, Clare seeks out her estranged father, and when the two of them show up at Cornelia's café, the lives of Cornelia and Clare are changed in drastic and unexpected ways.

A cinematic and heartfelt debut that pays homage to the classic Cary Grant/Katharine Hepburn romantic comedy The Philadelphia Story, Love Walked In is sure to win over critics and readers of contemporary fiction.
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I really liked this book. It's chic lit, it's an easy read. But it does take some deep issues and explore them, like what it means to be a parent, that kind of thing. I was hooked from the first page, and I was sad last night when I finished it. So...if you're interested, pick up a copy. I can loan you mine, if you promise it won't end up under the coffee table. ;)

Apropos of yesterday's post....

Looks like HBO has a new show coming out about a polygemous family...I wonder if I can buy it on iTunes, like Ted does with Battlestar Galactica? I doubt it. Probably I'll have to wait for the DVD. I'll be interested to hear if it's any good, though. HBO Rocks.