It is said that you only need two tools for home repair - WD-40, and duct tape. If it should move, and doesn't, use the WD-40. If it moves but shouldn't, use the duct tape.
But there are more uses for duct tape. Every year, one of the duct tape companies awards scholarships to students who make formalwear out of duct tape. Very creative youngsters - I especially like this year's kilt entry!
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Sweating the small stuff....
Sunday while pulling out of my garage to make a quick grocery run, I had a lesson in why breakaway mirrors are so named (I got the damage repaired yesterday afternoon). So between kicking myself for the unintended convergence between car and house, and a continuing annoyance with my self-image, I was not a happy camper yesterday. I was quite moody (there, I said it..), and I really hate being moody, especially for no apparent reason. And then I get upset with myself for being moody, and of course it all snowballs from there.
But it took a late-night blog entry to remind me of what really matters. And to confirm that I am indeed a very lucky woman.
But it took a late-night blog entry to remind me of what really matters. And to confirm that I am indeed a very lucky woman.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Monsters
Many young children are afraid of monsters - the monster under the bed, the monster in the closet, monsters cast by shadows in the darkened room. When I was younger than my DD is now, my childhood terror was the overhead light - we lived in a ground floor apartment and lights from the parking lot cast shadows that made the light appear to move toward me. I hid under my covers while my childish imagination put visions of fired laser blasts at me, like some alien spacecraft. And to this day I vividly remember a nightmare about being chased by a double-belled alarm clock that swung down a hall toward me like a pendulum-axe from some black-and-white horror movie. Of course, I laugh now at the dream, but these were what terrified me as a young child.
As a mother now, I find I am afraid of monsters again. But this time it is not the closet monsters, a la Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc., but the real monsters in our midst.
The monsters that prey on small children and do unspeakably evil things.
The monsters that blow up commuter trains during rush hour.
Unfortunately these monsters don't transform into discarded clothes when you turn on the light. And you don't know they're there until it's too late. These are the monsters that scare me now. It's not myself I fear for, but my family. And even taking the most extreme precautions can't guarantee that the monsters don't get them. I never felt so helpless as I did on 9/11, and some of that helplessness came back today when I heard about the bombings in London.
I hear about terrorist attacks, or about the seeming epidemic of child abduction/murders, and I wonder what kind of world I brought my DD into. I'm torn between the need to keep my family safe, and the need to let them grow, and it's a very tough call.
When I was my DD's age, I'd go out to play in the neighborhood and not put in an appearance til dinnertime. Yet I live in a more upscale neighborhood than I grew up in, and I don't let my DD play outside alone. When we're outside our home I rarely let her out of arms reach. On one hand I know I'm being a bit overprotective, but on the other I know there are a lot of sick bastards out there, and I don't want to be the one plastered all over CNN while I grieve and search for my precious child. I know it frustrates DD, who would love to just run about and play, and be a kid. Where do I strike the balance?
Terrorists I can do nothing about, so the best I can do is to live my life as normal. But like predators, they are the monsters that hide among us.
I know it's unChristian of me, but I find it very difficult sometimes not to wish death or worse on those that abuse children, and it infuriates me because so many seem to be repeat offenders. I can't even *begin* to fathom how these people think...
And for the terrorists...well, like the old joke goes, I hope there are 72 Virginians waiting there for them in eternity.
As a mother now, I find I am afraid of monsters again. But this time it is not the closet monsters, a la Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc., but the real monsters in our midst.
The monsters that prey on small children and do unspeakably evil things.
The monsters that blow up commuter trains during rush hour.
Unfortunately these monsters don't transform into discarded clothes when you turn on the light. And you don't know they're there until it's too late. These are the monsters that scare me now. It's not myself I fear for, but my family. And even taking the most extreme precautions can't guarantee that the monsters don't get them. I never felt so helpless as I did on 9/11, and some of that helplessness came back today when I heard about the bombings in London.
I hear about terrorist attacks, or about the seeming epidemic of child abduction/murders, and I wonder what kind of world I brought my DD into. I'm torn between the need to keep my family safe, and the need to let them grow, and it's a very tough call.
When I was my DD's age, I'd go out to play in the neighborhood and not put in an appearance til dinnertime. Yet I live in a more upscale neighborhood than I grew up in, and I don't let my DD play outside alone. When we're outside our home I rarely let her out of arms reach. On one hand I know I'm being a bit overprotective, but on the other I know there are a lot of sick bastards out there, and I don't want to be the one plastered all over CNN while I grieve and search for my precious child. I know it frustrates DD, who would love to just run about and play, and be a kid. Where do I strike the balance?
Terrorists I can do nothing about, so the best I can do is to live my life as normal. But like predators, they are the monsters that hide among us.
I know it's unChristian of me, but I find it very difficult sometimes not to wish death or worse on those that abuse children, and it infuriates me because so many seem to be repeat offenders. I can't even *begin* to fathom how these people think...
And for the terrorists...well, like the old joke goes, I hope there are 72 Virginians waiting there for them in eternity.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Pyrotechnicalities
Ah, the pleasures of a nice long weekend. I took Friday off to stay home with DD, and we had Monday off for Independence Day. DsS came over on Saturday, and with gaming buddy J we played LotRisk, which is always a lot of fun. We did Team Play, which we don't often do, with DsS and I as Evil vs J and DH as Good. As Evil, we got our collective orcish hindquarters kicked, but actually managed to pull out a win because we found the One Ring right before it went into Mount Doom. (I am your father, Frodo...give in to the Dark Side...)
Monday was, of course, Independence Day, and that means....fireworks!
Early in the afternoon, DD wanted to do some 'snakes' - little pellets that form snakes of ash when they burn. I personally find them a bit cheesy, but she loves them. I put foil on a cookie sheet, and lit the pellets on that so I didn't scorch my driveway (or pool deck).
In the evening I watched the Capitol Fourth presentation on PBS of the concert and fireworks in DC. The concert (and coverage) were quite excellent, with a variety of music including The Beach Boys, the O'Jays, and Gloria Estefan. It was nice to see the more classic performers instead of only the Pop Tart of the Month. Then there were fireworks around the Washington Monument, and the National Symphony did Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture", with cannon, which is a piece I definitely look forward to every year. Interesting, though, how a song about Napoleon's ill-fated invasion of Russia has become such a staple of American festivities.
Overall, the DC fireworks were pretty good, the concert was awesome, and the coverage by PBS was quite well done.
After watching the DC show, we went outside and did a few fireworks of our own. There are several fireworks wholesalers within two miles of my house, but I only bought the stuff that's actually legal in Florida. (Technically anything that flies and goes boom (ie bottle rockets, roman candles, mortars, etc..) is illegal, but exceptions can be made for 'agricultural purposes' (ie frightening birds), and it's this loophole that keeps the wholesalers in business. There was quite a bit of 'agricultural' work going on around our neighborhood!) Ah, but back to my humble stash.. I had a few sparking fountains, and some ground-blooms to do. We took the aforementioned cookie sheet and set fountains on that, which worked pretty well - my driveway cleaned up quite easily afterward. The cookie sheet itself, however, did not fare quite so well...one of the fountains was a rectangular block and it wasn't quite obvious which side went up. So it got set off upside-down by accident. It still looked pretty cool, but it succeeded in burning through the foil and tarnishing the heretofore indestructible cookie sheet. We only did a few fountains, and I did my requisite blue sparkler. DD watched from inside - the 'agricultural work' being done around the neighborhood bothered her.
Once inside, it was time for CBS's coverage of Pops Goes the Fourth. Some of you may remember my rant last year about CBS's abysmal coverage of the Boston show, and I was expecting another such fiasco, but I wanted to try anyway because I ♥ the Boston Pops. And I must confess that I was pleasantly surprised! It still wasn't anywhere near as wonderful as when A&E covered the Pops, but CBS obviously learned something from last year. No 1812, alas, but we did get the whole patriotic singalong and "Stars and Stripes Forever". And wonder of wonders, they covered the fireworks commercial-free! Granted, I could have done without the need to cut to crowd shots, but at least we got to see pretty much the whole show. Boston has some of the best pyrochoreography, and the newest fireworks, including shells that burst into smiley-faces, of all things! Wonderful stuff. One of these days I'd love to see the Boston show live.
I'd just have to get over that whole 'fear of crowds' thing...
Monday was, of course, Independence Day, and that means....fireworks!
Early in the afternoon, DD wanted to do some 'snakes' - little pellets that form snakes of ash when they burn. I personally find them a bit cheesy, but she loves them. I put foil on a cookie sheet, and lit the pellets on that so I didn't scorch my driveway (or pool deck).
In the evening I watched the Capitol Fourth presentation on PBS of the concert and fireworks in DC. The concert (and coverage) were quite excellent, with a variety of music including The Beach Boys, the O'Jays, and Gloria Estefan. It was nice to see the more classic performers instead of only the Pop Tart of the Month. Then there were fireworks around the Washington Monument, and the National Symphony did Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture", with cannon, which is a piece I definitely look forward to every year. Interesting, though, how a song about Napoleon's ill-fated invasion of Russia has become such a staple of American festivities.
Overall, the DC fireworks were pretty good, the concert was awesome, and the coverage by PBS was quite well done.
After watching the DC show, we went outside and did a few fireworks of our own. There are several fireworks wholesalers within two miles of my house, but I only bought the stuff that's actually legal in Florida. (Technically anything that flies and goes boom (ie bottle rockets, roman candles, mortars, etc..) is illegal, but exceptions can be made for 'agricultural purposes' (ie frightening birds), and it's this loophole that keeps the wholesalers in business. There was quite a bit of 'agricultural' work going on around our neighborhood!) Ah, but back to my humble stash.. I had a few sparking fountains, and some ground-blooms to do. We took the aforementioned cookie sheet and set fountains on that, which worked pretty well - my driveway cleaned up quite easily afterward. The cookie sheet itself, however, did not fare quite so well...one of the fountains was a rectangular block and it wasn't quite obvious which side went up. So it got set off upside-down by accident. It still looked pretty cool, but it succeeded in burning through the foil and tarnishing the heretofore indestructible cookie sheet. We only did a few fountains, and I did my requisite blue sparkler. DD watched from inside - the 'agricultural work' being done around the neighborhood bothered her.
Once inside, it was time for CBS's coverage of Pops Goes the Fourth. Some of you may remember my rant last year about CBS's abysmal coverage of the Boston show, and I was expecting another such fiasco, but I wanted to try anyway because I ♥ the Boston Pops. And I must confess that I was pleasantly surprised! It still wasn't anywhere near as wonderful as when A&E covered the Pops, but CBS obviously learned something from last year. No 1812, alas, but we did get the whole patriotic singalong and "Stars and Stripes Forever". And wonder of wonders, they covered the fireworks commercial-free! Granted, I could have done without the need to cut to crowd shots, but at least we got to see pretty much the whole show. Boston has some of the best pyrochoreography, and the newest fireworks, including shells that burst into smiley-faces, of all things! Wonderful stuff. One of these days I'd love to see the Boston show live.
I'd just have to get over that whole 'fear of crowds' thing...
Friday, July 01, 2005
2005 Goals - Status
Halfway through the year, and time for me to take a look at how my stated goals for 2005 are going...
Finish Last Supper (67% complete)
Stitching is going rather well! I'm 2/3 complete - 4 of 6 pages done, 187 hours out of a projected 275. This certainly looks quite achievable by the end of the year.
Get below 30% bodyfat (0%)
Um...the less said about this, the better. Logistics have made it difficult to get to Curves on a consistent basis, but I have started using a stationary bike at home several times a week. It is starting to make a difference, but at this point I'm still making up ground lost since the beginning of the year.
Average one book/month (58% complete)
Another one that's looking quite achievable, especially since I read on the exercise bike to keep my mind off my numbing hindquarters.
To date, I've read seven books:
David Weber, Service of the Sword - an anthology of short stories set in the universe of Weber's acclaimed Honor Harrington series. I love the Honor series - Weber's universe is well-developed and he seems to have put a lot more effort than many in his advanced technology.
Anita Diamant, The Red Tent - historical fiction set in early Biblical times, retelling the story of Jacob, Leah, Rachel, and their children as told from Leah's daughter Dinah's viewpoint. I read this book while on a business trip and quite liked it.
Sarah Zettel, The Usurper's Crown - the prequel to A Sorcerer's Treason, fantasy set in both the Great Lakes and a magical dimension. I've loved this series so far and am looking forward to Firebird's Vengeance.
C.S.Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet,Perelandra,That Hideous Strength - Christian science fiction trilogy dealing with aliens and supernatural beings. An enjoyable and thought-provoking (if a bit dense) read. I've since learned that Dr. Ransom, the protagonist in the first two books, was patterned on Tolkien...who returned the favor by patterning Treebeard on Lewis.
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens - a fun little fantasy about the apocalypse. Pratchett is always great for light reading with a healthy dose of British humor.
I'm currently reading Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman, the second in a planned trilogy about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. My first experience with Penman was Sunne in Splendour, and it got me hooked both on her and on historical fiction in general. I've loved everything I have read by her so far.
Upcoming reads:
Ken Follett, Pillars of the Earth
The Mabinogion
Dante, The Divine Comedy
Finish family website (15% complete)
Unfortunately, I haven't done anything on this so far this year. The bulk of the virtual castle is still in my head. Once I do get started on this project in earnest, it should go rather quickly.
Clean out house (45% complete)
I've been making steady progress on this. I've got the remaining work broken down into small tasks with percentages attached (DH would probably call this 'anal'). My ultimate goal is to get to the point where we can maintain the house in a decluttered state.
So that's where I stand. We're going on vacation for a week in August, and I tend to read a lot when travelling so expect to see some good progress there. And who knows, maybe I'll even make some progress on the weight goal by then!
Stitching is going rather well! I'm 2/3 complete - 4 of 6 pages done, 187 hours out of a projected 275. This certainly looks quite achievable by the end of the year.
Um...the less said about this, the better. Logistics have made it difficult to get to Curves on a consistent basis, but I have started using a stationary bike at home several times a week. It is starting to make a difference, but at this point I'm still making up ground lost since the beginning of the year.
Another one that's looking quite achievable, especially since I read on the exercise bike to keep my mind off my numbing hindquarters.
To date, I've read seven books:
David Weber, Service of the Sword - an anthology of short stories set in the universe of Weber's acclaimed Honor Harrington series. I love the Honor series - Weber's universe is well-developed and he seems to have put a lot more effort than many in his advanced technology.
Anita Diamant, The Red Tent - historical fiction set in early Biblical times, retelling the story of Jacob, Leah, Rachel, and their children as told from Leah's daughter Dinah's viewpoint. I read this book while on a business trip and quite liked it.
Sarah Zettel, The Usurper's Crown - the prequel to A Sorcerer's Treason, fantasy set in both the Great Lakes and a magical dimension. I've loved this series so far and am looking forward to Firebird's Vengeance.
C.S.Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet,Perelandra,That Hideous Strength - Christian science fiction trilogy dealing with aliens and supernatural beings. An enjoyable and thought-provoking (if a bit dense) read. I've since learned that Dr. Ransom, the protagonist in the first two books, was patterned on Tolkien...who returned the favor by patterning Treebeard on Lewis.
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens - a fun little fantasy about the apocalypse. Pratchett is always great for light reading with a healthy dose of British humor.
I'm currently reading Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman, the second in a planned trilogy about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. My first experience with Penman was Sunne in Splendour, and it got me hooked both on her and on historical fiction in general. I've loved everything I have read by her so far.
Upcoming reads:
Ken Follett, Pillars of the Earth
The Mabinogion
Dante, The Divine Comedy
Unfortunately, I haven't done anything on this so far this year. The bulk of the virtual castle is still in my head. Once I do get started on this project in earnest, it should go rather quickly.
I've been making steady progress on this. I've got the remaining work broken down into small tasks with percentages attached (DH would probably call this 'anal'). My ultimate goal is to get to the point where we can maintain the house in a decluttered state.
So that's where I stand. We're going on vacation for a week in August, and I tend to read a lot when travelling so expect to see some good progress there. And who knows, maybe I'll even make some progress on the weight goal by then!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
No lights no phone no motorcars....
With hurricane season here, and loss of service always a possibility during any storm, a Tuesday Twosome from a while ago asks how I'd react..
Doing without...
1. If the cable/dish is out of service, what is your reaction and why?
Losing television capability doesn't bother me much. I don't watch very much television, and shows will usually re-air. And we do have tapes and DVDs that we could watch (I still want to do a LotR extended edition marathon one of these days...)
Losing the cable modem, on the other hand, is a greater annoyance. We've gotten used to having high-speed Internet, and since I update my parish's website weekly, having 'net access is certainly important. I do have a copy on my computer at home, though, so I can always copy the updates to my thumbdrive and upload them from elsewhere if I lose access from home. If the whole area has lost service, there are certainly bigger problems than my church website being a week out of date.
2. If the electricity is out of service, what is your reaction and why?
It would depend on the time of both day and year. Losing power in Florida in the summer is absolutely miserable - no power means no air conditioning, and I am a colossal heat wuss. Lack of power also makes it difficult to pursue my hobbies of reading or stitching when there's not light outside to use. In what passes for winter here when there's less heat and bugs, it's less of an issue.
As everyone in Florida can probably attest after last year, extended power outages bring their own problems such as food spoilage and lack of clean clothing (and water, for people who have electric-driven wells), not to mention traffic and other logistics issues on the civic front.
3. If the phone service is out of service, what is your reaction and why?
Losing phone service at home is a minor annoyance. I'm not a big telephone talker.
4. If your cell phone is out of service, what is your reaction and why?
Losing cell is also just a minor annoyance. I have a cell that I keep with me most of the time, primarily so I can be reached by family or school/daycare if need be, or to reach someone in case of emergency.
5. How dependent on a scale from 1 to 5 (5 being extremely dependent) are you on the four items/services that were just mentioned and do you think it is a good or bad thing?
In general, I'd have to say:
Cable (TV): 1
Cable (Internet): 3
Electricity: 5
Phone: 1
Cell: 2
(Of course, particular situations may change the odds somewhat. If I'm stranded on a deserted highway, lack of cell phone would be a serious problem.)
Having lost all four services simultaneously during Hurricane Jeanne, I certainly missed electricity the most, by far. I didn't miss the others hardly at all, other than that losing all three meant that we were unable to contact out-of-state family to let them know we were okay. But we made do, and other than the heat it wasn't unbearable.
As for good or bad... I think that not being very dependent on TV and phone is certainly a good thing. I'm certainly very dependent on electricity (and perhaps a bit too much so on A/C), but with my profession, electricity is indispensible. I honestly don't know what field I'd be in if not computers.
Doing without...
1. If the cable/dish is out of service, what is your reaction and why?
Losing television capability doesn't bother me much. I don't watch very much television, and shows will usually re-air. And we do have tapes and DVDs that we could watch (I still want to do a LotR extended edition marathon one of these days...)
Losing the cable modem, on the other hand, is a greater annoyance. We've gotten used to having high-speed Internet, and since I update my parish's website weekly, having 'net access is certainly important. I do have a copy on my computer at home, though, so I can always copy the updates to my thumbdrive and upload them from elsewhere if I lose access from home. If the whole area has lost service, there are certainly bigger problems than my church website being a week out of date.
2. If the electricity is out of service, what is your reaction and why?
It would depend on the time of both day and year. Losing power in Florida in the summer is absolutely miserable - no power means no air conditioning, and I am a colossal heat wuss. Lack of power also makes it difficult to pursue my hobbies of reading or stitching when there's not light outside to use. In what passes for winter here when there's less heat and bugs, it's less of an issue.
As everyone in Florida can probably attest after last year, extended power outages bring their own problems such as food spoilage and lack of clean clothing (and water, for people who have electric-driven wells), not to mention traffic and other logistics issues on the civic front.
3. If the phone service is out of service, what is your reaction and why?
Losing phone service at home is a minor annoyance. I'm not a big telephone talker.
4. If your cell phone is out of service, what is your reaction and why?
Losing cell is also just a minor annoyance. I have a cell that I keep with me most of the time, primarily so I can be reached by family or school/daycare if need be, or to reach someone in case of emergency.
5. How dependent on a scale from 1 to 5 (5 being extremely dependent) are you on the four items/services that were just mentioned and do you think it is a good or bad thing?
In general, I'd have to say:
Cable (TV): 1
Cable (Internet): 3
Electricity: 5
Phone: 1
Cell: 2
(Of course, particular situations may change the odds somewhat. If I'm stranded on a deserted highway, lack of cell phone would be a serious problem.)
Having lost all four services simultaneously during Hurricane Jeanne, I certainly missed electricity the most, by far. I didn't miss the others hardly at all, other than that losing all three meant that we were unable to contact out-of-state family to let them know we were okay. But we made do, and other than the heat it wasn't unbearable.
As for good or bad... I think that not being very dependent on TV and phone is certainly a good thing. I'm certainly very dependent on electricity (and perhaps a bit too much so on A/C), but with my profession, electricity is indispensible. I honestly don't know what field I'd be in if not computers.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Cruise control?
Normally I don't pay much attention to celebrity goings-on, much less blog about them, but the more I hear about the whole Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes affair, the more disturbed I am.
Not that I have any beef with "love at first sight" (Been there, done that, got the wedding ring), or with him openly declaring his love in a big to-do on a talk show. Granted, I think Cruise is a little old to be doing that, but new love can make someone giddy. And it's certainly not that I've ever had any sort of crush on him myself. Yeah, he might be considered better-than-average looking, and I liked his acting in Last Samurai, but he's never made me weak in the knees, not even in his Top Gun days. (Ioan Gruffudd, on the other hand, I find rather easy on the eyes...but I digress.)
What gets me are some of the strange things I've been hearing, both about Cruise's blathering about psychiatry and drugs, and about some rather suspicious circumstances regarding Holmes' sudden change of lifestyle. A sensible young lady disappears for two weeks, then suddenly fires her manager and agent, cuts off a long-time friend, and renounces a religion she apparently devoutly practiced.
Something is rotten in Denmark, indeed. You don't just wholesale discard your formative belief system at the drop of a hat, even for love. Not if they have two brain cells to rub together, anyway. Yes, people do convert - I did. But my conversion to Catholicism took time - time for my mind to explore, to decide, to vet against what I believed deep down. It was not a decision made lightly, or quickly.
And certainly not one made without reservation within a fortnight.
So either Katie Holmes is supremely stupid and impressionable, or there's something darker going on.
Not that I have any beef with "love at first sight" (Been there, done that, got the wedding ring), or with him openly declaring his love in a big to-do on a talk show. Granted, I think Cruise is a little old to be doing that, but new love can make someone giddy. And it's certainly not that I've ever had any sort of crush on him myself. Yeah, he might be considered better-than-average looking, and I liked his acting in Last Samurai, but he's never made me weak in the knees, not even in his Top Gun days. (Ioan Gruffudd, on the other hand, I find rather easy on the eyes...but I digress.)
What gets me are some of the strange things I've been hearing, both about Cruise's blathering about psychiatry and drugs, and about some rather suspicious circumstances regarding Holmes' sudden change of lifestyle. A sensible young lady disappears for two weeks, then suddenly fires her manager and agent, cuts off a long-time friend, and renounces a religion she apparently devoutly practiced.
Something is rotten in Denmark, indeed. You don't just wholesale discard your formative belief system at the drop of a hat, even for love. Not if they have two brain cells to rub together, anyway. Yes, people do convert - I did. But my conversion to Catholicism took time - time for my mind to explore, to decide, to vet against what I believed deep down. It was not a decision made lightly, or quickly.
And certainly not one made without reservation within a fortnight.
So either Katie Holmes is supremely stupid and impressionable, or there's something darker going on.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Late-night torture...
DD came into my room around 2 a.m. this morning asking for a glass of water, and as I lay there trying to go back to sleep, my brain was tortured by the most insidious headsticker of all time...."Copacabana"
I wonder into which circle of Hell Dante would have placed marketing folks who gleefully insert such evil into popular variety party CDs. What is "Copacabana" doing on a Luau CD anyway??
I did manage to escape my torture this morning with "Margaritaville". God bless Jimmy Buffett.
I wonder into which circle of Hell Dante would have placed marketing folks who gleefully insert such evil into popular variety party CDs. What is "Copacabana" doing on a Luau CD anyway??
I did manage to escape my torture this morning with "Margaritaville". God bless Jimmy Buffett.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Hitting the deck...
This weekend, DD's bestest friend H is spending the night. Both girls are very much looking forward to it!
In the process of shopping for food and other items, I picked up a card game called Slamwich. It looked like a lot of fun for smaller children, a slapjack variant with the cards shaped like slices of bread with various sandwich reagents on them. We played a game last night, and it was pretty fun. It also reminds me a *lot* of a game I learned to play in high school called Egyptian Ratscrew. Great fun, if a little rough on the knuckles sometimes.
Thinking back, that simple stack of 52 has provided literally *years* of entertainment. I can't remember a time when I didn't know or enjoy any card games. I have a vague memory of being about 4 or 5, and playing Old Maid with some stepcousins. Old Maid was one of the first card games DD learned, followed by another old standby - Go Fish. Another fairly simple game was War, which one could play just about anywhere (including schoolbus seats). That and Crazy Eights got a lot of lunchtime play in my elementary school years, as well as other table games like pencil (or paper) football and penny soccer.
I learned how to play Solitaire fairly young as well, and I played quite a lot of it during my lonelier times, and knew several variants such as Clock and Pyramid. Everyone knows Klondike (your standard 'red 9 on black 10' Solitaire that anyone with MSWindows has played at least once), with Freecell and Spider being popular software variants, but there are so many more.
(A place called Pretty Good Solitaire claims to have over 600 variants.)
By the time I was in junior high, I had picked up games like Rummy, Hearts, and several types of Poker, though I've never played poker for anything more high-stakes than small-coin antes. Another bluffing game I remember playing a lot in junior high was B.S., though I don't think I've played it since 9th grade. That got trumped by the aforementioned Egyptian Ratscrew, as well as life in general.
Speaking of trumps, at a previous job, I learned how to play Kaiser, a bid/trick game similar to Spades. A group of us would play Kaiser over lunch a couple times a week for years. I actually got pretty good at bidding well and interpreting what a partner's bid tended to mean, before folks in the group (myself included) left the company. I learned how to play Spades while travelling in Italy last year. In a way, Kaiser served me well in figuring out Spades, but it also coloured the way I looked at a hand (how do I ditch the 3♠?). I do enjoy trick-based games, and I would love to learn how to play Euchre and Bridge someday.
Commercial card games are growing in popularity. Long before Slamwich, there was Uno, which owes a lot to Crazy Eights. After 30 years, Uno is still going strong, and there are even variants to play. My family and I played Uno while I was in hospital to have DD. Nowadays they have themed Uno cards, and even simplified versions for shortlings (DD has a Dora the Explorer "My First Uno"). A couple years ago, my parents introduced us to Phase 10, a variant of Contract Rummy. It's a lot of fun, but can be frustrating if you've been trying for multiple hands to make a particular 'phase'.
With all the games you can play with a single deck, cards are a must-have travel item with a group. I definitely need to get better at Spades before my next overseas trip, though!
In the process of shopping for food and other items, I picked up a card game called Slamwich. It looked like a lot of fun for smaller children, a slapjack variant with the cards shaped like slices of bread with various sandwich reagents on them. We played a game last night, and it was pretty fun. It also reminds me a *lot* of a game I learned to play in high school called Egyptian Ratscrew. Great fun, if a little rough on the knuckles sometimes.
Thinking back, that simple stack of 52 has provided literally *years* of entertainment. I can't remember a time when I didn't know or enjoy any card games. I have a vague memory of being about 4 or 5, and playing Old Maid with some stepcousins. Old Maid was one of the first card games DD learned, followed by another old standby - Go Fish. Another fairly simple game was War, which one could play just about anywhere (including schoolbus seats). That and Crazy Eights got a lot of lunchtime play in my elementary school years, as well as other table games like pencil (or paper) football and penny soccer.
I learned how to play Solitaire fairly young as well, and I played quite a lot of it during my lonelier times, and knew several variants such as Clock and Pyramid. Everyone knows Klondike (your standard 'red 9 on black 10' Solitaire that anyone with MSWindows has played at least once), with Freecell and Spider being popular software variants, but there are so many more.
(A place called Pretty Good Solitaire claims to have over 600 variants.)
By the time I was in junior high, I had picked up games like Rummy, Hearts, and several types of Poker, though I've never played poker for anything more high-stakes than small-coin antes. Another bluffing game I remember playing a lot in junior high was B.S., though I don't think I've played it since 9th grade. That got trumped by the aforementioned Egyptian Ratscrew, as well as life in general.
Speaking of trumps, at a previous job, I learned how to play Kaiser, a bid/trick game similar to Spades. A group of us would play Kaiser over lunch a couple times a week for years. I actually got pretty good at bidding well and interpreting what a partner's bid tended to mean, before folks in the group (myself included) left the company. I learned how to play Spades while travelling in Italy last year. In a way, Kaiser served me well in figuring out Spades, but it also coloured the way I looked at a hand (how do I ditch the 3♠?). I do enjoy trick-based games, and I would love to learn how to play Euchre and Bridge someday.
Commercial card games are growing in popularity. Long before Slamwich, there was Uno, which owes a lot to Crazy Eights. After 30 years, Uno is still going strong, and there are even variants to play. My family and I played Uno while I was in hospital to have DD. Nowadays they have themed Uno cards, and even simplified versions for shortlings (DD has a Dora the Explorer "My First Uno"). A couple years ago, my parents introduced us to Phase 10, a variant of Contract Rummy. It's a lot of fun, but can be frustrating if you've been trying for multiple hands to make a particular 'phase'.
With all the games you can play with a single deck, cards are a must-have travel item with a group. I definitely need to get better at Spades before my next overseas trip, though!
Monday, June 20, 2005
Reaper Mom
This evening I cleaned up DD's room. Before I got home from work, DsD and dBF took DD out to the mall so I could clean without interruption, and I think it was a successful venture on both sides. I'm proud of how clean I was able to make it within a very small time frame.
I managed to cull a copypaper box full of toys, mostly of the fast-food/convenience-store type. I also put 15 stuffed animals in a box for storage, and another 25 in a large bag for donation. I've got the animals and toys that will be donated hidden away in a back closet until I have a chance to donate them - hopefully she won't notice their absence until long after they're gone.
I do feel like an evil mommy, though, the Bane Of All Things Fun, for getting rid of so many of DD's toys and stuffies. I felt pangs of regret, and occasional nostalgia when an animal to be given away was one from my own childhood. But on the other hand, DD really does have quite a lot of toys, certainly far more than she needs. Especially when there isn't really room to put everything away. Besides, the toys will go to my local thrift store to serve a higher calling.
So I acknowledged the guilt I felt, and kept going. DD got home and saw her room clean, and asked me if I'd gotten rid of anything. Uh-oh. Evasive maneuver: I asked her if it looked like I got rid of anything, to which she answered "No", and I told her that I got rid of some papers laying on the floor (which I did, but that was by no means the entirety). She was okay with that and thanked me for cleaning her room.
I just hope she doesn't notice what's missing....
I managed to cull a copypaper box full of toys, mostly of the fast-food/convenience-store type. I also put 15 stuffed animals in a box for storage, and another 25 in a large bag for donation. I've got the animals and toys that will be donated hidden away in a back closet until I have a chance to donate them - hopefully she won't notice their absence until long after they're gone.
I do feel like an evil mommy, though, the Bane Of All Things Fun, for getting rid of so many of DD's toys and stuffies. I felt pangs of regret, and occasional nostalgia when an animal to be given away was one from my own childhood. But on the other hand, DD really does have quite a lot of toys, certainly far more than she needs. Especially when there isn't really room to put everything away. Besides, the toys will go to my local thrift store to serve a higher calling.
So I acknowledged the guilt I felt, and kept going. DD got home and saw her room clean, and asked me if I'd gotten rid of anything. Uh-oh. Evasive maneuver: I asked her if it looked like I got rid of anything, to which she answered "No", and I told her that I got rid of some papers laying on the floor (which I did, but that was by no means the entirety). She was okay with that and thanked me for cleaning her room.
I just hope she doesn't notice what's missing....
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