Daniel getting ready to blow out his candles. On his right is his best friend Noah, then Julia, then Marlowe. Sister Edyn supervises, of course.  

The Vader cake. Mmm!! 

Daniel and his sister Edyn on the bouncy castle at his birthday party.  

Nancy, me, and Robin. I was going to put some cheesey sorority-related caption but decided that we're cheesey enough without one. For those of you who don't know, Nancy and Robin are two of my very best friends going all the way back to college days, and this is us at Pooker's birthday party. 

Oh yeah, Robin and I know how cool we are. You don't have to tell us. We kick ass in masks of all kinds. 

Dustin and Valerie, July 23, 2005. Congratulations, Boss Man!  

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

(Note: I've attempted to be free of major spoilers here, but I'm not guaranteeing anything. So read at your own risk.)

In lieu of writing a whole review of the new Harry Potter book, I wanted to share some of the ahem finer (??) posts I’ve run across on the Harry Potter Forums (http://www.hpforums.com/) regarding various subjects. Here goes:

With respect to the potion in the cave:

DD is injured, not as strong as before, so maybe that potion made him wrose, if he is better in his body, maybe the effect will not be wrose.

I can’t make any sense of that either. Maybe if they had run spell check??

i think in book 7 it will be explainedi think hte potion makes the body weak

Obviously the potion makes the body weak. Dumbledore couldn’t even stand after drinking it. Also, I hate people that post in theory threads and say things like "Maybe we'll see in the next book" or "We'll just have to wait and see." Thanks for sharing!

With respect to Draco and Snape:

I think i'm really weird because after this book, I like Draco and Snape even MORE! (Please don't kill me) Not at first mind you, i mean seeing/reading (spoiler deleted) really 'hurt' me, but after about two or three hours i was like, 'eh whatever.' What was done was done.

There are lots of freaks out there who think evil is something to be cheered:

Snape and Draco were so wonderfully evil in this book! It totally rocked!

But then there are people like this who give me hope for the future:

Malfoy can kiss my ass. The little bastard. Sorry for language. I found it necessary.

Amen to that.

With respect to the death of our Beloved Character Who Dies:

*sobs violently and uncontrollably*

Indeed. That was actually pretty well-stated.

With respect to the new relationships in the book:

I really didn't want H/G to happen, I'm more of a H/Hr/R shipper. But yeah, I suppose it's okay.

Doesn’t it sort of have to be okay if that’s the way the author wanted it to be??

Draco/Pansy - They deserve each other.

That they do, my friend, that they do.

Tonks/Lupin - Where did this one come from? With this it looks like JKR took a walk on the fanfiction side. I just don't see these two together, he's almost old enough to be her father!

This was posted by someone who hasn’t read any of the other books, I think, or isn’t clear on the ages of the characters or something. Who knows. I can’t make any sense of these people.

Ron/Hermione disturbed me, even though they never hooked up. Ron/Lavender made me want to vomit. I thought I was going to cry when Harry/Ginny began to appear-- and did cry, but not over relationships. Dean/Ginny was unexpected and sort of random... I always knew that Bill and Fleur would get married. As for Tonks and Lupin, I would have laughed out loud if I wasn't sobbing hysterically. And still am, for that matter.

This one was posted by someone I can’t stand and I’ve just put it here to snark on it. She just sounds like a nitwit to me.

On who the Half-Blood Prince is:

i kind of suspected that it was snape when harry used the sectumsempra on malfoy.. it was as if snape almost recognized the curse (i got ta vibe)... i was hoping that i was wrong, i mean, a harry potter book named after SNAPE? urgh... worse than ron and "lav-lav" snogging in public...

This one is nearly intelligent. Too bad they they use the word “ta” in place of “the.”

On favorite chapters:

However my favourite chapter had to be The White Tomb I thought JK did justice to the incredible wizard (spoiler deleted) was. Watching Harry getting lost in his feeling as the funeral preceeded was moving. It brought closure yet left us wanting, questioning and mourning. Hearing Harry tell Ron and Hermione that he would not be coming back to Hogwarts and thier pledge of support for him made me cry yet again. (I laughed and cried way to much for a 37 year old man reading a supposedly childerns book)

Didn’t we all. I mean, me as a 35-year-old woman, but otherwise, it’s similar.

On Felix Felicis:

when everyone thinks it's a wizard or something...dern, a potion!!!

And this:

A LIQUID LUCK, OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDD.

Actually, I thought it was some sort of spell. But it was sort of a letdown.

On Horcruxes:

regardless of what the proheciy says if harry dont get them last few horcuxes the whole world is in danger. dont think that voldemort will stop if he gets harry and the ministry out of the way 'cuase i don't think anyone will stop him then. so the pressure is on harry to get in gear track down the horcuxes and destroy them and voldemort everyone is in danger the weight of the world falls on one 16 year old boy.......talk about pressure.

As you can see, some total nitwit posted that one, and apparently they missed the parts in the first five books where Harry has already had the weight of the world on his very thin shoulders. Spelling is clearly not something this person is concerned with, or grammar. You would sort of hope that all this reading of books people are doing would make some of these things rub off on them, but apparently that only worked on me when I was young.

But yeah, great book. Can't wait for the next one!

Nice turn signal, Jackass!

Yeah, I'm talking to you. The same twit who can't move a finger half an inch to their left and flick the turn signal mechanism either up or down to indicate which way you might be going next while I'm forced to sit behind you and guess. I know, I know -- it's really hard to drive AND operate the finer points of the vehicle at the same time. Remind me not to get near you on the road when it rains, since you won't be able to see where you're going owing to your lack of ability to turn on the windshield wipers. What's odd though, is that you seem to have little or no trouble changing your radio station, or handing your kids stuff from your bag in the front seat to where they sit in the backseat, or yammering away on your cell phone while steering with just the one hand.

And I also love it when you're on the highway, doing 70 miles per hour, and I'm supposed to know you want to get into my lane based solely upon the fact that you're swivelling your head in my general direction. Sorry, man, I don't do head signals with complete strangers. I need your turn signal, and then, if, and only if, I'm in a position to do so, will I slow my own car down and let you in. Please re-read your drivers ed manual (they are free at the DMV) and attempt to comphrehend the part that says I am under NO obligation to let you in, especially if doing so will cause me to operate my motor vehicle in an unsafe manner.

And it goes without saying that there comes a point where you just shouldn't even bother with your turn signal -- like AFTER you've already swerved into my land and cut me off, or when you're halfway around the turn. At that point, it's just too damn late.

But if you weren't such a fucking jackass, you'd know that already.

Daniel on the butterfly ride at the Renaissance Festival.  

Daniel commandeered my bed after staying up way too late on a Saturday night. Note the dismantled books in the foreground -- these are my Star Wars: Heir to the Empire books, which Daniel likes to remove from my bookcase and stare at for hours on end. He looks quite comfy, really. I just wonder where the hell I'm supposed to sleep now, since he's got both pillows beneath him... 

It's Daniel and me at the Colorado Renaissance Festival! He was wielding his formidable new sword and a spiffy dragon-themed shield.  

Prayer

I found this on my church's website. It's appropriate any day, but particularly on a day like today when so many of us are in pain and uncertain of what our pain calls upon us to do.

Prayer by Reverend Bob Edgar,
General Secretary of National Council of Churches of Christ

May God bless you with discomfort…
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger…
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of the people
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears…
To shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
And to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness…
To believe that you can make a difference in this world
So that you can do what others claim can not be done.
Amen.

Intelligence

It's an interesting concept, the notion of intelligence, and even more interesting is what the powers that be do with the intelligence they supposedly collect. I myself just find it incredibly convenient that only AFTER four explosions rock the foundations of London do CIA officials find it necessary to say that they had intelligence suggesting that attacks of that type might take place. Surely it's a bit late now, isn't it, to be telling us you had intelligence pointing to the attacks??

I swore when I started blogging that I wasn't going to turn it into a political commentary, or at least nothing beyond the occasional snarky comment about W. and his Administration of Zero Accountability. My friends and family know where I stand, and I don't have any need to convince the rest of the world by blog that they should stand with me; for one thing, there are minds out there which are so closed, they can never be convinced. So politics have been put aside for the most part. But today, when people are hurt and dying (actually, how IS this day different than any other??), people who didn't sign up to possibly get hurt or possibly die, I just get so angry at all the morons who continue to support politicians who promise to protect them, saying that they would have felt unsafe any other way.

So let me ask you: Is this what safety feels like?? Do you feel safer because this didn't happen someplace in middle America, but in London, overseas, off American soil? Do you really believe that maybe those primitive Britons were somehow lax enough to ALLOW this to happen, and that it can't happen -- again -- here because W. and his guys are on it? Come now. Let's be real. We should all be panicking, and we should all be asking W. and his guys, "How could you let this happen? You promised us we'd be safe." Because if London isn't safe from psychotic zealots, you can bet your ass that Denver and L.A. and New York City and Washington D.C. and your own backyard aren't safe from them either.

Here's the deal -- and this has been the deal since September 11 and I think we all know it but just refuse to admit it because then we would be too uncomfortable to live our daily lives: There have been no further attacks on American soil simply because the terrorists haven't felt like attacking. That's it -- that's all there is to it. None of these powerful guys know how to stop it or do a damn thing to prevent it; no one really knows how to interpret the intelligence that may or may not suggest it's about to happen. Do any of us really think our airports and planes are any safer than they were 4 years ago? It's the same uneducated dolt holding the metal-detecting wand, but they've provided him with a gun now.

And no, you're all absolutely right, I don't have any answers or suggestions or anything, just lots of ire and head shaking. This is why I wanted someone smarter than me elected President. This is what we get when the common denominator is elected to represent us -- someone who's no more capable than the rest of us of doing anything about anything.

Maybe that's a bit harsh. I'm sure if I thought long enough and hard enough I'd come up with one or two good things he's done. But I have other crap to worry about today. Don't we all.

The iPod Quiz

I'm a little lacking for anything exciting to say, so I'm going to post this iPod survey that I gacked from Melissa's LiveJournal. Of course the responses are mine; I didn't need to gack the answers. Hehe...

1). How many songs do you have? A mere 2,157.

2). Which artist/group do you have the most of? U2.

3). How many songs by them? 166. Van Morrison is close behind at 141.

4). Top 5 Most Played Songs: (this owing mostly to the fact that these are all on my most-played playlist)
#5: Drop the Pilot, Joan Armatrading
#4: Somebody Told Me, The Killers
#3: Chocolate, Snow Patrol
#2: Sleeps With Butterflies, Tori Amos
#1: Have A Nice Day, Stereophonics.

5). Any songs with a foreign language in them? Loads!

6). Name one: Melodramma, Andrea Bocelli

7). Words translated into English:

This song of mine
Hymn of love
I sing to you now
with my pain
so strong, so great
it stabs my heart.

But the morning is clear
among the fields the scent of wine
I dreamt of you and now
I see you there
Ah, what memories
fresco of hills
I cry -- what madness
it was to leave and go

Blah blah blah. It sounds better in Italian.

8). What Genres do you have? Alternative; Alternative & Punk; Blues; Classical; Country; Disney (since when is THIS an actual genre of music??); Electronica/Dance; Folk; Gospel & Religious; Hip Hop/Rap; Jazz; Metal; New Age; Pop; R&B; R&B/Soul; Reggae; Rock; Soundtrack; Unknown.

9). Artists Under "S": Sarah Brightman; Scissor Sisters; Shakira (yikes!); Shannon Curfman; Sheryl Crow (eww, how'd that get there??); The Shins; Shonen Knife; Simon & Garfunkel; Simple Plan; Smash Mouth; Smile Empty Soul; Snow Patrol; Social Distortion; South; Split Enz; Spoon; Squeeze; Stardust; Stars on 54 (hehe); Stereophonics; Stimulator; Sugababes; Super Furry Animals; Susan Ashton (hehe); Switchfoot (yuck. Clearly I'm not very discerning).

10). Songs under "F": Way too many to list, but a random sample includes Factory (Bruce Springsteen); Fairytale of New York (The Pogues); Fakin' It (Simon & Garfunkel); Fall Like Rain (Eric Clapton); Falling (Ben Kweller); Fame (Van Morrison); Family Tree (Loretta Lynn); Father and Son (Cat Stevens); Feel Flows (The Beach Boys); Fill It Up Again (Indigo Girls); Filthy/Gorgeous (Scissor Sisters); Fire (U2); Firecracker (Ryan Adams); First Date (Blink 182); Float On (Modest Mouse); Flower (Moby); For Lovin' Me (Gordon Lightfoot); Forever Dancing (Rawlins Cross); actually loads of variations on the "Forever" theme; Full Force Gale (Van Morrison); Further On Up the Road (Bruce Springsteen).

11). Albums under "L": Language. Sex. Violence. -- Stereophonics; Last Chance for A Thousand Years -- Dwight Yoakam; Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs -- Derek and the Dominoes; Let's Face It -- The Mighty Mighty Bosstones; Life For Rent -- Dido; Lilo & Stitch Soundtrack; Live at the Isle of Wight -- The Who; Living River -- Rawlins Cross; London Calling -- The Clash; Los Lonely Boys; Love Actually Soundtrack; Love It For What It Is -- Acoustic Junction.

12). What I'm Listening to Right Now: Guns of Brixton, The Clash.

13). Next Song: 20th Century Boy, Placebo.

14). 5-10 Songs in Recently Played List: The whole of U2's How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

Elevator Music

Five For Fighting: 100 Years. And could this song BE anymore overplayed?

Avril Lavigne: I'm With You.

Mariah Carey: Anything by Mariah Carey, I'm not choosy.

Luther Vandross: Sorry, but it's elevator music. All of it.

Richard Marx: Remember this guy from the 1980s? His most recent claim to fame was writing a song for Luther Vandross.

Kenny Chesney: All his new stuff sounds like the Muzak version of Jimmy Buffet.

Michael McDonald: Makes me want to vomit every time I hear his voice, even on a commercial. Ick ick ick.

Kenny Loggins: Ditto Michael McDonald, but I do confess that his song about Winnie the Pooh is a pretty good one. Although for the best rock and roll lullaby ever, you'll want to check out the Dixie Chicks' "Godspeed."

Actually, anything they play on the Adult Contemporary radio stations.

And anything they play on the "smooth" or "lite" jazz stations.

This is the sort of music that gives me a raging migraine.

Feel free to add your own selections!

Part II: What is up with....

1. Mowing one's lawn at 8am on a Sunday. Or Saturday -- I'm not choosy. Is there some reason why the lawnmowing populace is unable to wait until 9 or 10am to start polluting the air with the noxious sound of grass being murdered? Okay, no, I'm not suggesting that anyone stop mowing their lawn altogether, although what would a little natural look to the front yard hurt other than the neighborhood covenants; what I am suggesting is that not everyone wants to wake up at the usual time on the weekend, when one is not required to be at work at some ungodly hour, and that perhaps in a politer society, we would hold off on lawnmowing until later in the day.

2. MTV's True Life. In particular, the episode run just recently titled "I'm Dead Broke," tracking three poverty-stricken young people for several weeks' time. I'm not sure, but I think I was supposed to feel sorry for these people, who have all made some truly bad decisions about their lives and ended up where they are pretty honestly. Only one of them seemed to be truly making any effort to turn her life around by holding down a steady job and making sure she paid her rent on time. Oddly enough (yes, I know I'm the ONLY person over the age of 21 who actually watches this crap), the people featured on this episode didn't seem terribly different to me than the people in an episode a couple of years ago who were doing everything they could to AVOID having to get a regular job. And I know I wasn't supposed to feel sorry for them. So I'm a little confused. Which I suppose is my punishment for watching MTV at my age. It's like their ads say: "Not for adults."

3. Plus Size clothing models. They are all clearly not plus size themselves, and yet these pictures are supposed to somehow give me an accurate picture of how these clothes might actually look on me? I don't think so. So it's either head over to Frump Central to look at truly foul plus size clothes on actual plus size women, or run the risk of buying something that isn't actually going to look good on a true-to-life plus size chick like me. Oh, and the peasant blouses that fall in an empire cut from the boobs? Not a good look for anyone who wants to avoid looking pregnant; definitely not a good look for those of us who actually have breasts beyond a C-cup. Just a hint.

4. Jane Magazine. It used to be cool, now it's like I lose more brain cells with each turn of a page. It's worse than reality TV. Thank god my subscription was free and I don't have to explain to anyone why I paid good money for it. It was free, got it? I suppose I could just not read it, but it's not like it takes more than 20 minutes to get through all 182 pages. However, I will give mad props to the staffer who reviewed the new 30 Seconds to Mars and signed her name with a hyphenated-Catalano at the end. All you fans of My So Called Life out there will know why this is funny.

5. People who actually wear more than one cause-related wristband. I know the point is to wear the wristbands, so that other people will go, "Oh, what's that one for?" and you can then prattle on at length about the Lance Armstong Foundation or the ONE Foundation or Count Me Blue or whatever, thus educating the masses about things they may never have thought about otherwise. But frankly, you look like an idiot when you wear your bright yellow wristband with dressy clothing. And you look even more idiotic when you wear all eight of your wristbands at once... the only exception to this being that you just wanted a friend to get a picture of you in them for the sake of posterity, and immediately removed all but one once the shutter closed. Seriously, you need to think about what sort of mood you're in on a given day, and go with that particular wristband. "Hmm, I think I'll tout the benefits of PSA screening today and go with light blue." Or "Hmm, today I'm feeling breast cancer, and I'm also wearing a cute pink top," so you go with the light pink.

Also, if I EVER, EVER catch anyone I know purchasing or sporting the new wristbands being sold that aren't related to a cause (ROCK CHICK! ANGEL! DEVIL IN DISGUISE! SASSY!!), I will never speak to you again.

6. Midol. Okay, ladies, let me just educate you... from one cramp-sufferer to another... Midol contains all the very things any doctor would tell you to avoid during your menstrual cycle: caffeine AND an added diuretic (because caffeine wasn't enough of a diuretic to begin with!). It is Tylenol with caffeine and a diuretic. That's all it is. It costs you some ridiculous amount of money, and you could get the same benefits from two or three Tylenol (frankly, I'm astounded by the number of people who claim that acetaminophen actually works on their "severe" pain and thus question their claims of "severe" to begin with, but whatever), a can of diet Coke, and a diet pill. The stuff won't ease bloating (usually caused by retention of water) because it will actually CAUSE bloating. Here's my suggestion: take large quantities throughout the month of the B-complex vitamins that are proven to alleviate PMS suffering, use Aleve for the pain because the shit actually works, and go to bed with a good book and some M&Ms. Also, try to avoid men during this time; they're never more clueless than when it's that time of the month. Even the most sensitive new age guys are morons when it comes to hormone-induced suffering. Send them away; unlike Clan of the Cave Bear, in which the cavewomen were sent away during their cycles, 21st century society needs to enact a procedure during which men (and let's send the kids with them) are banished from their homes while their womenfolk are completing their menstrual cycles each month. After all, this is important work our bodies are doing, necessary for the very survival of the species; we don't need some idiot boy standing around going, "It can't hurt that bad! Are you sure you can't make me a sandwich?" Indeed, this would be a good time for the menfolk to golf. They could build dormitories at the golf courses, and the men could just check in for a few days, and come home when we sound the all-clear.

I'll work on a plan for where to send the kids. Get back to me on that.

The Big Day. Daniel had been dying for weeks to see Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. We went the weekend it opened, but early in the day so as not to bother any die hards, as Daniel has a tendency to get over-excited in movies and narrate the action (ex. "Look Mommy! Anakin Skywalker!!"). He was literally quaking with excitement the entire morning, and this picture was taken in line for the movie; he met this 7-year-old boy name Evan who was very nice, and Daniel was all pumped about the fact that they were wearing the same t-shirt. Daniel did very well in the movie; he sat on the edge of his seat from the second the 20th Century Fox logo appeared onscreen; shouted out, "Look Mommy, George Lucas!!" when the Lucasfilm logo appeared; and otherwise just loved the movie. He was angry when Anakin Skywalker turned to the Dark Side and yelled out, "But Anakin Skywalker HATES the Dark Side!!!!" Which was kind of cute, and seemed to amuse the majority of people seated near us...  

I love this picture. This is Daniel, my Dad, and Stacey running races in my parents' backyard last weekend. Daniel was so excited to race his Auntie Stacey; she even taught him the proper racing stance for the start of the race. Dad joined in after a few laps back and forth across the yard; for some reason that sent Daniel into hysterics and he had difficulties finishing. I guess he thinks his Poppa isn't supposed to race or something. As for the rest of us, we're just thankful that Daniel's Poppa CAN race.  

The newest polar bear cubs at the Denver Zoo. Oddly enough I've forgotten their names as well.  

This weekend Daniel chose to ride a zebra on the Conservation Carousel. He was torn between the zebra and the hyena. I think the zebra was a good choice. 

Baby hyena at the Denver Zoo. I forget this one's name, and can't find my ZooNews to locate it.  

What is the deal with....

Disney characters who go asking some supernatural creature for help, or put themselves voluntarily in the midst of danger, and then when the inevitable happens and the creature responds or the danger gets to crisis level, they always (and when I say always, I mean ALWAYS!!) get this look of utter surprise on their face, as if to say, "How did this happen??" Well, duh...

Toys R Us. What a frickin' scary place this is. Bad lighting; crap everywhere; the smell of cheap plastic permeating the air; something being pumped through the vents that permeates your veins and causes the oxygen in your blood to shrink so that you become tired, slow down, and lose all track of time. You buy things just so you can escape, not because you're in some lovely atmosphere that made you happy and calm and put you in a buying mood. No -- you go in for a birthday present for some kid, and just grab the first thing you can find, just so you can get the hell out. Nevermind that whatever it is costs 50 bucks and the kid is your kid's casual acquaintance. This place is like the 6th level of hell right here on Earth.

Spiders. My dad used to always say, "They're more afraid of you than you are of them." Somehow, this would have been more effective coming from man who didn't freeze up and call his wife into the room whenever a spider crossed his path. But whatever. They're so damn creepy-looking! If they didn't look the way they look, or have that creepy abililty to jump 6 feet, or to disappear seemingly into thin air only to reappear later, no one would fear them. But they do all those things and more, and they are creepy, and I hate them.

The Idiot Fangirl's Guide to Life

Some of you may have no inkling what I'm on about, and that's all right. This is just solely for the entertainment of me, Mel, and select others.

How to Be An Idiot Fangirl:

1). Ideal Age: 10-13. 14 is okay as long as you've just turned.
2). You must also be smart for your age.
3). Smart for your age, but too stupid to act smart.
4). Stalk boys on web forums. Best ages: 15-20.
5). Post threats on said forums about older girls who are friends with the boy you are stalking. Get all your idiot fangirl friends to post. Threaten to kill people. Act all psycho.
6). Get invited into chats with important members of forums.
7). Try to divert all attention away from older, smarter girls and onto you. Use any means necessary.
8). Start calling people bitches when they won't stop talking about geeks like Colin Firth and Martin Freeman. Who the hell are those dudes anyway??
9). Act all pissy when everyone ignores you in chat.
10). Storm out in a huff. Or as much of a huff as you can muster, being as how this IS the internet.
11). Pick fight with your biggest Idiot Fangirl competition.
12). Get her kicked off forums. Then pretend you were on her side all along by posting about how unfair it was that she got banned.
13). Go into serious discussion threads. Post something stupid. Only spell two words out of every 9 correctly.
14). Keep hammering away at your point, even though it is pointless. Get mad when older, smarter people tell you to stop. Keep bringing it up again.
15). Private Message boys all day. Check your controls every two minutes for a reply.
16). Send note to moderator when no replies. Something must be wrong with your controls; you must not be receiving messages.
17). Sneak around reading posts of older girls you hate.
18). Disuss ways to get even with them in chat with other idiot fangirls.
19). Get in fight with other fangirls in chat.
20). Post in threads where your fave boy posts his poetry. Assume you understand it. Tell him that no one "gets you" like he does.
21). Start over at step 1.

Daniel on the big plastic ox at the zoo. Is there a kid who grew up in Denver who never had their photo taken on this thing?? 

Daniel measures up. 

Me and Daniel at the zoo. This is a fake termite mound constructed out of...who knows what. Daniel likes to climb on it.  

Cute cute little baby... 

Daniel at the zoo.  

Sweet Melissa

Okay, at least ONE of my pals is groovy enough to return a questionnaire of her own to me. So this is from my friend Melissa, who is originally from Maryland but now resides outside Detroit in Ypsilanti. I met Melissa on the Harry Potter Forums. Some of you may remember my days of having a hundred pen pals in high school. Well now, I have similar friends who I've met online. Melissa is very, very cool, and we share many things in common, a love of geeks not the least of those.

1). What is your most marked characteristic? My generousity

2). What is the quality you most like in a man? Sense of humor,
intelligence, and boyish charm

3). What is the quality you most like in a woman? Friendship

4). What do you most value in your friends? Honesty, compatibility,
sense of humor, people who can laugh at themselves and have a good
time, general goofiness.

5). What is your principle defect? I'm too trusting and open

6). What is your favorite occupation? Writing while taking a nice, hot bath

7). What is your idea of perfect happiness? Helping people and
beautiful, sunny days

8 ). What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Being numb to everything

9). Where would you like to live? Aside from back in DC? London. :)

10). Who are your favorite writers? F.Scott Fitzgerald, JK Rowling,
Nick Hornby, Zora Neale Hurston, William Shakespeare.

12). Who is your favorite hero or heroine of fiction? Ron Weasley. Or
Janie (I think was her name) from "Their Eyes Were Watching God".

13). Who are your heroes in real life? Martin Luther King, Jr, Robert
F. Kennedy, Jr., and my grandma.

14). What are your favorite names? Josh---don't know why, but I've
always liked it. I know there are others that make me laugh, but I'm
drawing a blank. Chloe for a girl, I suppose.

15). What is your greatest fear? Not accomplishing anything or living
my life in limbo, as I have been for several years now. :(

16). Which historical figure do you most identify with? Don't know.
Probably some kind of feminist.

17). If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do
you think it would be? Something cool, like maybe an amazonian frog of
some kind.

18). If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be? A
panda bear. They're badass.

19). When and where were you happiest? I can't really think of a
single time in my life...

20). Which words or phrases do you most overuse? like, totally,
whatever, awesome (i'm...a valley girl...just discovered that...)

21). On what occasion do you lie? When the truth would really hurt
someone's feelings and it's not an important enough matter to tell the
truth.

22). What do you consider the most overrated virtue? being ladylike

23). What or who is the greatest love of your life? my iPod :p

24). What is your favorite journey? Going home :)

25). Which talent would you most like to have? Being able to fly. Or invisible.

26). What is your greatest extravagance? Multimedia/Electronics,
without question. I'm a techie geek.

27). What is your most treasured possession? My memories and my iPod

28). What is it that you most dislike? Rudeness

29). If you could change one thing about your family, what would it
be? My sister---I'd make her NOT be a republican; my dad---his temper
(which, thankfully has mellowed); my mom---I'd make her care about
being educated.

30). How would you like to die? In my sleep

31). What is your present state of mind? Relaxed, for the most part

32). Which living person do you most admire? Bono. The fact that he's
rich beyond his wildest dreams and still makes such an effort to help
people who are starving is just beyond words to me. It's that kind of
attitude that helps restore my faith in humanity.

33). What is the trait you most deplore in others? Selfishness---I
think you know why.

34). What do you dislike most about your own appearance? I could stand
to lose about 20 lbs.

35). What is your greatest regret? Not spending enough time with my
grandma before she died.

36). What do you consider your greatest achievement? Being on my own
since age 19. Almost everything I have I earned myself and that's a
damn good feeling. :)

37). What is your motto? "Everything happens for a reason."

Rock on, Melissa!! I love ya!!!

The Proust Questionnaire

So, at the end of Vanity Fair magazine every month, they have a thing called the Proust Questionnaire, where a person of some import (a celebrity or a writer or whatever) will answer 20 questions based upon a longer series of questions Marcel Proust used to periodically ask of himself, in order to "check in," so to speak. The idea is to get a sense of yourself; to answer thoughtfully and honestly. Apparently this is floating around the internet right now and the versions I've seen don't really seem all that true to what I think Proust (and even Vanity Fair) was attempting to accomplish, e.g. a little bit of self-discovery. The intent isn't a flip, smart ass answer, nor is it ten paragraphs on each question. It's a few words in response to each. So, here's the plan: I'm going to answer, and I want the rest of you to do the same, but first copy it into an email and then send it to me along with your responses. I want to post them here one by one. Most of you are seriously lacking in the "Let's comment on Shannon's blog" gene, so just do this one thing for me. For fun. To humor me. Seriously.

Without further ado... (also I just noticed these are misnumbered, but I am too tired to correct them now, so please just live with it)...

1). What is your most marked characteristic? My sense of humor.
2). What is the quality you most like in a man? A sense of humor and handiness with tools.
3). What is the quality you most like in a woman? Friendship.
4). What do you most value in your friends? Loyalty; honesty; good grammar; the ability to laugh uproariously at the simplest of things. A healthy appreciation for Harry Potter and similar political viewpoint to my own doesn't hurt.
5). What is your principle defect? My impatience with those who are not as well-educated as me. My tendency to curse at others on the road.
6). What is your favorite occupation? Sitting alone on a Saturday afternoon reading a brand new book (preferably of the Harry Potter variety), sipping one diet Pepsi after another.
7). What is your idea of perfect happiness? Time spent with my son.
8 ). What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Never having loved anyone or anything.
9). Where would you like to live? Venice, Italy.
10). Who are your favorite writers? Douglas Coupland; Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni; JK Rowling; Tim Sandlin; Nick Hornby; Alexander McCall Smith.
12). Who is your favorite hero or heroine of fiction? It's a toss up between Harry Potter and Obi Wan Kenobi.
13). Who are your heroes in real life? Oprah Winfrey; Bono; Nelson Mandela; my parents.
14). What are your favorite names? Daniel; Mace Windu.
15). What is your greatest fear? Dying before my son is grown, or somehow not being able to take care of him myself.
16). Which historical figure do you most identify with? Erm... I'm not sure there really is one I actually identify with, per se.
17). If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be? Someone's mother.
18). If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be? An iPod.
19). When and where were you happiest? The day my son was born.
20). Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Like; whatever; "I'm all/she's all.."; "Daniel, I said NO!"
21). On what occasion do you lie? When customers want to speak to my boss but he's not taking calls.
22). What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Christianity.
23). What or who is the greatest love of your life? Daniel. U2 runs a close second.
24). What is your favorite journey? To the Denver Zoo with Daniel.
25). Which talent would you most like to have? The ability to channel ambition into action.
26). What is your greatest extravagance? Cut and color by Ric.
27). What is your most treasured possession? My iPod; my photo albums.
28). What is it that you most dislike? Bad, scary drivers.
29). If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be? I plead the Fifth.
30). How would you like to die? I don't think I should like it very much at all.
31). What is your present state of mind? Content. Looking forward to summer.
32). Which living person do you most admire? Oprah Winfrey, at the risk of sounding redundant. I realize that she feels she has better ways to connect with people, but I really wish she'd run for President.
33). What is the trait you most deplore in others? Selfishness; narcissism.
34). What do you dislike most about your own appearance? My clothes.
35). What is your greatest regret? That I never learned how to play the guitar.
36). What do you consider your greatest achievement? Just the fact that I've made it this far.
37). What is your motto? "Everything will be all right."

The Seven Dwarfs as Metaphor for Allergy Symptoms

It occurred to me a few moments ago, whilst describing my allergy symptoms to someone, that each of them matched in name one of the Seven Dwarfs, of Snow White/Disney fame.

Sneezy: because, well, duhhh... allergies make you sneeze.
Grumpy: because allergies make you grumpy, sometimes just due to the sinus pressure, sometimes just because you don't sleep well.
Sleepy: this happens after you take your allergy medicine.
Doc: this is who you see to be told that you can't take more than two Allegra daily and basically you're screwed.
Happy: this is how you feel after sneaking a third Allegra.
Dopey: this is how you feel after you're forced to take a Benadryl because nothing else is working.
Bashful: this is how you feel at work after blowing your nose in your cubicle six thousand times before noon. Because face it, no one probably wants to listen to your blow your nose all day, but you have to do it so often, it's either blow it in Cube, or spend the entire day in the loo.

Not sure where and if Snow White figures in.

2005: The Year of the Geek

I was talking to Melissa earlier and realized that 2005 is shaping up to be a brilliant year for geeks and nerds everywhere. I mean, I suspected it a while back, but let's take a look at this dude who was just selected as the new Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church -- he's like the Geek in Charge now! He just reeks of geek! So God is clearly on the side of all we nerds, geeks and dweebies.

And what better way for Him to show His divine love for us than by bringing us the following geeky Exciting Things to Look Forward To:

1). Release of the long-anticipated Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Finally!! Anakin Skywalker's downward spiral into the Dark Side of the Force. 28 years in the making!! Really, some of us have been waiting almost our entire lives for this. Now would be a good time to mention that my son wants to invite George Lucas to his birthday party. At least the child comes by the geekiness honestly. May 19th at theatres everywhere (just warming up in case Moviefone ever offers me a gig...).

2). Later this month there's also the release of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Apparently people have been waiting a long time to see this made into a movie. I confess to not being a good enough geek to have ever read the books. Might remedy that someday, but for now, I'll just throw it out there as evidence of more geeky fun. April 29th at a theatre near you.

3). July 16th is the release date of JK Rowling's newest Harry Potter tome, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This overshadows any other geek event for me personally. There is nothing more exciting to me than a new Harry Potter book. Have no clue what I will do for fun when, a few years from now, the last book is finished and there aren't even any more Star Wars films to look forward to. I will be adrift, and forced to spend more time geeking out over music than ever before. Anyway, at my house, we will celebrate this book's release thusly: Take geek group to Borders in Littleton to line up for midnight release; grab our books; come back here and sit around and read all night and into the day; no one gets to leave till everyone's done. Pizza will be provided, and much caffeine. Discussion will follow. No slow readers allowed. RSVP to me!

4). And then November brings a second Harry Potter treat our geeky way: the next movie based on the books, The Goblet of Fire. This one sees Harry and company get older and better-looking.

5). Also, Batman Begins looks to be shaping up to be good geeky fun. I think it's a late summer release.

I'm sure there are fabulous geek events going down this year that I'm not even aware of, but I wanted to point out these major, on-the-radar moments. I think we should have t-shirts made up, in some sort of retro-1970s foul green color with "2005: The Year of the Geek" on the front, and a list of important geek events of 2005 on the back. It'll be just like college... only without the drunk professors.

God, I am so PSYCHED!!!!

Further to my post on March 31, 2005, here is the photographic proof of what I was talking about.  

"Wingardium Leviosa!" One of my all-time favorite photos of Daniel.  

Me and Daniel. 

Daniel in his new T-Rex shirt from Nana. 

Daniel and Tom 

Daniel bouncing about the place 

Embarrassing Confessions

Stuff I do when I think no one's watching (oh, god, I HOPE no one's watching!!) or paying any attention:

1). Sing at the top of my lungs along with the cd of my favorite Christian recording artist, who shall remain nameless to avoid total embarrassment. I mean, that phrase right there, Christian recording artist, should be embarrassing enough.

2). I have two Britney Spears songs in my iPod: "Sometimes," and "Not a Girl, Not Yet A Woman." Sadly, the latter speaks to me, despite the fact that I am 35 years old. Dangerous and disturbing, as Yoda once said.

3). Try out the ballet moves I learned in 7th grade while pretending the back of my sofa is a barre.

4). In that same vein, try out figure skating poses. You know -- like at the beginning and end of the program, when they do something all dramatic and flashy.

5). Get out the Forrest Gump dvd and put it on the scene where he's at the peace march in Washington, DC and Jenny's out in the audience and she shouts out his name and they run into the water and embrace. It makes me weep. I love it. And then I wipe my eyes and say out loud, "God I love this movie." OUT LOUD, I say this.

6). Make up television ads for Tilex as I'm cleaning the bathroom.

7). Read every book ever written by Meg Cabot, who wrote The Princess Diaries.

8). I watch "Degrassi" on The N. I'm not sure if that really qualifies as an embarrassing confession, though, because Degrassi is a really good show.

9). Wear my iPod around the house while listening to punk rock and intentionally try to dance like the people in the iPod commercials.

10). Laugh out loud at episodes of Will & Grace in syndication that I've already seen 900 times and could probably recite.

(Has anyone noticed a recurring theme here where most of these have to do with my television viewing habits??)

11). As I read and re-read the Harry Potter books time and again, every now and then, I'll read aloud lines I like in a voice I've created for the character.

12). I encourage my son to say big words that I like because it amuses me to no end to hear them spoken by a 3-year-old. Tintinnabulation, anyone?

13). Mad crush on Ryan Seacrest. This alone should confirm to the world that he's gay, since lately, it seems as though every man who turns my head turns out to be gay... but that's a whole different post.

14). When I swear at people who piss me off on the road, and then I can tell that they saw me and could tell I was swearing at them, I'll start totally singing to whatever's on the radio and try to make it appear as though I was just rocking out. As I myself wouldn't be fooled by such a pathetic ruse, I doubt it's actually working, but I do it anyway.

15). Recently, I bought a pair of sunglasses because they looked like the ones Bono wears all the time. I really thought I had outgrown this sort of thing, but clearly not. And they're not even good sunglasses -- they don't even block out the sun! They sure look cool on me, though.

16). Call in multiple votes for my favorite American Idol contestants. I mean, nothing in the double digits or anything, but yes, 5 or 6.

And people wonder where I find the time to write this journal. As you can plainly see, I've got nothing but time on my hands.

Jersey Girl

and other songs that make me cry just from hearing the opening notes. Not to be confused with songs that make me cry because they're crap.

1) Jersey Girl: As rendered by Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band. They actually played this in concert last time I saw them. You should've seen my friend Jane and me, blubbering away like twits. It's almost as if we actually wanted to be... oh horrors... Jersey girls.

2) One Tree Hill, U2: It was written for someone's funeral, for chrissakes. If it doesn't make you cry, you have serious issues.

3) Sing: the Carpenters/Sesame Street classic. Come on, you know you like it. And you know it makes you just the slightest bit weepy. Even the version featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

4) Don't Take the Girl, Tim McGraw: Here's my advice to you -- if you've never heard this song, don't go out and find it. It's shameless in its tearjerking. Shameless. The girl dies in the end. This song is everything you mock about country music. If you have heard it, you know of what I speak and weep over it yourself. Even if you're a guy.

5) You Raise Me Up, Joshua Groban: Seriously, if you don't get weepy when the gospel choir comes in at the key change, I don't want to be your friend anymore.

6) Let There Be Peace on Earth: Cheesy hippie 70s schmalz for church benedictions and campfire singalongs. And yet... touching all the same. Picture it: you're in church, pre-renovation, holding your mom's hand at the end of the service, and she's not much of a singer, but she hits those high notes near the end like no one else, and it brings tears to your eyes. In a good way.

7) For Baby/For Bobby, John Denver: I'll walk in the rain by your side/I'll cling to the warmth of your tiny hand/I'll do anything to keep you satisfied/I'll love you more than anybody can... Jesus, I got teary-eyed just typing that.

8) The Rising, Bruce S. again: The only 9/11 memorial tune that gets to me. I can't take things like Toby Keith wanting to put a boot in the ass of every country that doesn't see things his way, or Alan Jackson singing about I-rack and I-ran. For the record, Iraq does not rhyme with Jack or black or back or sack. The correct use of Iraq was in Bruce Springsteen's recent R&R Hall of Fame induction speech, in which he turned it into a play on the phrase "rock and roll." Anyway, The Rising is the only song out there which states remotely how the rest of us felt after 9/11.

9) Calliope House/The Cowboy Jig: as rendered by Alasdair Fraser and Paul Machlis on their Road North cd. Traditional Scottish fiddle tune combined with an American classic. It's sad and sweet. It makes me want to force my son into Suzuki violin lessons so he can learn to play it for me.

10) Cleaning Out My Closet, Eminem: This is the one that made me realize that Eminem was once just an impressionable little kid trying to make his way in the world like all the rest of us, and also that I'm glad he's got music as an outlet. Best to keep him off the streets.

11) Across the Universe, The Beatles: It's been suggest that this is just another Beatles songs about acid trips. Whatever. It's still very touching, and gets me all verkelmpt.

12) Champagne Supernova, Oasis: This song is a beauty. It's everything that's good about Oasis. And it's so pretty it makes me all sniffly.

13) Tiny Dancer, Elton John: Another one that's just so pretty it makes me all sniffly.

14) Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan: This is one of those powerhouses of a song that just dives right into the fray from the first note, and the music itself and the lyrics combined are so heady that you can't help but be overwhelmed. In a good way. Also it didn't help that this was the song they used in a pivotal point of a tv movie about the 60s a few years ago that I'm a sucker for; so now when I hear it, I think about that scene and just get... you know.

15) When My Ship Comes In, Rawlins Cross: I'm under the impression that this is a Nova Scotian band but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. They play rock music imbued with traditional Celtic sounds such as bagpipes and fiddles and eoliann (sp?) pipes. This is one of those songs that sort of take you on a ramble, in this case a ride up the river, thinking about all the good things you're going to do with your life.

16) River of Jordan, Peter Paul and Mary: Speaking of rivers, best not leave out this powerhouse folk tune about how someday, we're all going to be one people, and not care about skin color, religious differences, countries... whatever. PP and M did a lot of songs along this thematic line, but this one is the tearjerker. It's the fact that it starts out sort of calm and then you get to the chorus and it's like "WHOA!! Here's the chorus! Better sing along because everyone else is!!" My love for this song has nothing to do with the fact that Paul Stookey once stared at me when I saw them in concert for the entire first half of this song -- stared at me so that other people were turning around to look and see who he was singing to. It was both embarrassing and cool at the same time.

17) Rocky Mountain High, John Denver: If you grew up in Colorado, you know of what I speak. Good luck trying not to get choked up at this one. Especially the bit about they say that he got crazy once and tried to touch the sun; he lost a friend but kept the memory. You're a cold, sad individual if you grew up here and that line doesn't do something to you.

18) Amarillo By Morning, George Strait: Ah, another country song makes my list. This one makes me teary for a number of reasons it's probably best not to go into right here. But the fiddle in this song is that high, lonesome sound you hear cowboys talk about, and that's it right there.

19) Go Rest High on That Mountain, Vince Gill: Another song written for someone's funeral. Seek it out and just try not to cry. Vince Gill wrote it when Keith Whitley died, and performed it at a memorial service. Keith Whitley was one of the best songwriters country music ever had, but alas, he lived a troubled, rock and roll life. This is another one of those songs in which a gospel choir is employed to shameless tearjerking effect.

20) God Only Knows, The Beach Boys: Should I ever have a big wedding, this'll be the song my dad and I dance to. Technically, it's a love song, but it'd still make for a lovely father/daughter dance. No one ever listens to the lyrics anyway (case in point: my high school graduation song was "Forever Young" by Alphaville, a song about the effects of a nuclear holocaust -- e.g. the way people's shadows are burned onto nearby buildings and whatever when the bomb hits. This was our song of hope when going out into the world. Because it was called "Forever Young." "Mr. Roboto" would have been a better choice than that!).

21) Stay (Faraway, So Close), U2: So many things are going on in this song on so many levels, one can't help but get a bit emotional.

22) Theme from Star Wars, John Williams: I almost hate to admit it, but I, like every geek alive, get a little verklempt every time I hear those opening notes. I will cry puddles in May when Episode III comes out and I know it's the last time I'll ever hear those notes open a new movie.

23) Heroes, David Bowie: This is one that I have to hear unexpectedly, one that has to sneak into my day. It reminds me of being young, and punk/new wave/whatever, and wanting to save the world and fall in love.

24) Silent Night, and last but not least...

25) Be Thou My Vision: A gorgeous old Irish hymn, the lyrics to which I will now post here, in honor of Pope John Paul II...

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

That's it.