These are the Things I Ponder O'er the Weekend

Monday, January 29, 2007

A few things I want to talk about, none of which are long enough for an exclusive post:

1. Bean takes after us so much. Driving to dinner Friday night, I popped in a Suicide Machines CD, and the first thing she yells is, "Louder!" I'm gonna' be in such big trouble when she's 14.
2. Watching a movie this weekend on TV, I thought it odd that the FCC allows the phrase "tap that ass" to air on network television, but not the word "tits." Does anyone else think that's odd?
3. It's been 9 months since our wedding, and our photographer still has not gotten our pictures to us. Somehow I doubt there would have been this many delays had we not paid up front. It's getting sooo frustrating.
4. This is one of the weirdest things I've heard lately. How many off-the-cuff jokes can we come up with involving sausuge?
5. Along the same lines, Purity Balls are creepy little gatherings where girls pledge their virginity to their fathers. I get the meaning behind it, but surely there's a better way to accomplish the same means than host a lavish, wedding-like reception where everyone gets to witness your father vowing to "war for (your) purity."
6. Everything in my city has been Colts and Superbowl -centric for the past week. I can understand it for the most part; I mean, it is pretty exciting. I don't know if it's take-up-20-minutes-of-the-30-minute-nightly-newscast exciting, but it is exciting nonetheless. I saw Colts bandwagonry jump to the next level this morning, however. As I was stuck in a horrible traffic jam, I realized that the box truck in front of me had the Colts' horseshoe and the words "Go Blue" scratched out of the dirt on it! Now that's a fan.

I'm Spoiled, I Know

Friday, January 26, 2007

So I switched to the new version of blogger, if you couldn't tell by the nifty little tags at the bottom of each post now. So far, I'm very "meh" about it. My main complaint is that I can't make new posts in my web browser of choice, Opera. I have to open a seperate window of IE just so I can post. I wonder if I have to do that for comments, too. For some reason some of the people I usually comment to have not been getting their comments lately.

I guess I can't bitch too much, though. At least it's free.

Is anybody else having weird problems, or is there something in particular that you're loving about the new version? Let me know.

Hour of Darkness

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Brent Liles was killed last week while going across a crosswalk with his bicycle. The truck driver who hit him has not been cited for anything at this time, but the crash is still under investigation.

Who the hell is Brent Liles? He just happens to be a former bass player for Social Distortion and Agent Orange. He played bass for Social D on their "Mommy's Little Monster" album. He was only 43 years old. It's always a shame when young rockers die, but it seems even worse when it's a tragic accident like this, rather than an OD or something like that.

"Mommy's Little Monster" is a fantastic album. I'm sure you'll be missed.

If You Ain't First, You're Last.

Monday, January 22, 2007

I mentioned in my 2006 year in review that I loved the movie Talladega Nights. Unfortunately, so does Bean. One of the funnier things she picked up from the movie is that she will now at random times, run around in circles screaming that she's on fire. That'll be amusing until the neighbors call CPS on us. The not-so-funny thing that she has picked up is the phrase, "oh, fuck it!" This is still slightly amusing when you take into consideration the fact that the first time she said it was while she was at the pediatrician's office with Jay's mother. Unfortunately, I had a medical emergency and had to spend the day of Bean's well baby visit in the hospital, (don't worry, it's no big deal; I'm fine) so Nana got to take her to the doctor, where she broke out in cussword heaven. At least she didn't threaten to come at somebody like a spider monkey...

The Name Game

Friday, January 19, 2007

I'm officially 6 month pregnant. We know we're having a girl. We cannot decide on a name to save our lives. Bean has a nice, traditional Welsh name. I was hoping to continue that tradition with my other children. (Well, not necassarily Welsh, but Irish/Scottish/Celtish or thereabouts). I personally have a nice Irish name myself. (Or Scandinavian, depending on who you ask.) I have reservations about going too ethnic with the name, however.

For example, one of my favorite name choices is Siobhan. Pronounced Shuhvahn. How many elementary school teachers do you think are going to get that one right on the first try? Also, Ula, which has the very pretty meaning of "sea jewel" will not escape unnoticed by the neighborhood bully.

The slightly unusual name does have it's upside as well. Last week, Jay and I got tickets to go to the Pacers vs. Mavs game. Dirk Nowitzki is not only an extraordinary ball player (and a bit of a cutie), he's also fun to announce. I had Jay threatening to stab me in the eye with a nacho if I kept giving a Dirk Nowitzki-only play-by-play. I don't know why he was complaining; I could've done it for Pacer's guard, Sarunas Jasikevicius, instead.

My (very late) Year in Review: 2006 Edition

Thursday, January 18, 2007

In local news:

Indianapolis had a "crime wave" this year, with our second highest number of annual homicides ever. And then our race for prosecuter was decided over promises made to try an NBA player who fired shots in the air to the fullest extent of the law. And since elections have been over, I've not heard a damn word about that case. Meanwhile, (mostly young, black) people are still dropping like flies. It's so disgusting how obvious it is that the government doesn't care as long as it's poor minorities doing the dying. Blech.

Indiana joined the rest of the world in practicing Daylight Savings Time for the first time this year. It didn't really bother me, especially the one night where we got an extra hour in the bar. Apparently, some people are really worked up over this though.

In Hollywood:

Best Movie I saw in 2006: Talledega Nights; The Legend of Ricky Bobby. Making "Shake 'n Bake" more than just something I like on pork chops.

Best Movie I didn't see in 2006: a tie between The Departed and Last King of Scotland. Hopefully, I'll get to both on DVD in 2007.

Movie I'm Happiest I Didn't Waste My Time On: Borat. I don't get it. Maybe it's just cause I'm not young and hip anymore, but I really just. don't. get. it.

Movie I Wish I Hadn't Wasted $8 On: Eragon. Kinda' sad when the CGI character does the best acting job.

Movie Most Looking Forward to in 2008: The Simpsons. D'oh!

Most Over-Exposed (Pun totally intended) Celebrity of 2006: 3 way tie: Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Lindsey Lohan. Too bad Lohan actually has talent, as evidenced in Mean Girls, it actually seems kind of a shame that she behaves this way.

Most Improved Celebrity of 2006: Nicole Ritchie. I never thought I'd congratulate an anerexo-celeb for losing weight, but that 85 pounds of Rachel Zoe that Nicole dropped were a fabulous thing.

In Music:

CBGB's closed. Sometimes I feel like I'm so young I missed out on the best part of punk rock's reign. Then I remember that new history is being made every day. The vote is still out on how cheesy the Las Vegas CBGB's that opens later this year will be.

All big bands continued to skip past Indianapolis on their way to Chicago or the East Coast, with one exception. Nine Inch Nails played a show in Indy, though they were not the band to see that night. The reclusive Bauhaus opened for them. 'Twas magic in the air that night. Even if Bela Lugosi was dead.

Goodbyes

Goodbye this year to Don Knotts, comedic genius. (I still love The Incredible Mr. Limpett no matter what anybody says.)

Goodbye to Al Lewis, aka Grandpa Munster. I liked the Munsters so much better than the Addams Family.

Goodbye Coretta Scott King. Behind every good man is a great woman, and you proved that as you continued the fight for civil rights long after your husband was taken from you.

Goodbye Gerald Ford. I didn't know much about you before you died, but from what I've read since then, you sound like a Republican that I could have gotten along with. I salute you, sir.



Goodbye, 2006 and welcome, 2007. I can't wait to see what you have in store.

Peer Pressure

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Have you ever looked back at the peers who’ve influenced the person you’ve become? Some good, some not so good. But all of them have stuck with you through the years. I’m not talking about the big stuff like who you lost your virginity to, I’m talking about the absolutely trivial, but you wouldn’t be you without it.

My best friend in 8th grade took me camping for the first time. I haven’t spoken to her in years, but I still camp just as often as I can. A guy in my study hall in high school introduced me to punk music. I have no idea whatever happened to that guy, but I met my husband at a punk show. My neighbor in 7th grade told me I looked like a two dollar whore with eye liner on. To this day, I almost never wear make-up. My boyfriend when Star Wars: Episode I came out convinced me to go stand in line with him; I now have dogs named Jedi & Sith (yes, I know exactly how geeky that is).

Who influenced you in a silly but lasting way?