Great Wolf: The Rides

So this was the view outside our Great Wolf Lodge hotel room. The cone-looking thing is the Howlin' Tornado, which I was happy to go on once. It was a wild ride, not unlike what I imagine it must be like to get flushed. You must be 48 inches tall to ride, no exceptions, which makes sense. I felt like I was gonna get tossed off the raft. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I didn't once, just to say I did. But I prefer the slides that just go fast, like the big blue tube. That's the River Canyon Run. The whole family (42 inches and up) climbs in what is essentially a round rubber boat. It's speedy, splashy goodness. Another cool thing: The inflatables for both of these rides take their four-story trip to the top of the slide via a mechanical pulley system, rather than on your back (which is how they do it at Wild Waves in Federal Way). There are two other big slides, basically the blue run (faster) and the green run (twistier) of Alberta Falls. Kids over 42 inches can ride these with an adult, which is neat, but honestly, they're a lot more fun solo.

There are two other slides at Totem Towers. They're not huge, but plenty of fun for kids over 42 inches, and adults. They're part of a structure with a giant bucket on the top, which frequently spills a massive splash you need to watch out for. Kids also love the Chinook Cove rec pool, which has basketball hoops, big floating things you can climb on (snake, beaver, acorn), and a lily pad challenge (I couldn't get across but Eddie could). The wave pool is also fun. It has a funny name, but I don't remember it. Basically, we climbed into these clear plastic single and double inner tubes and rode the waves. An aside: Can I just say that these clear plastic tubes are not super flattering? As if my hips and thighs need to be compressed and magnified for all to see. But I digress. There is also a really nice kiddie area, for the under-48-inch crowd. Our boys enjoyed the slides, little though they were, splashed around with the water sprayers and water dumpers. They also put on their goggles and explored the foot-deep waters.

All in all, I think Great Wolf, with all its newness and Disney-eque cleaning philosophy, spoiled me on Wild Waves, which is older, grimier and not as aggressively kept up.

OMG! Tina Fey Just Described My Relationship Perfectly

OK, so my better half and I were just watching "30 Rock," and Tina Fey, speaking through her character, Liz Lemon, said the following:

"I wish I could start a relationship about 12 years in, when you really don't have to try anymore, when you can just sit around together and goof on TV shows and go to bed without anybody trying any funny business."

And Cheryl and I just looked at each other like we caught someone reading our mail. The truth is, we do try. But there is a lot of goofing on TV shows. And I can't say anything about funny business or she'll kick me, but come on -- we're busy parents. Not exactly the prime "getting some" demo. Or are we the only ones?

Great Wolf: Our Review

So we just got back from Great Wolf Lodge. Bottom line, we loved it and we're planning on going back, probably sometime in early/mid-February. Familiar with GWL? In a nutshell, it's an indoor water-park destination in Grand Mound, WA (insert joke here -- then look at a map and see at it's about 20 minutes south of Olympia). Great Wolf has an impressive array of wet rides, shops, food (buffets as well as quick-serve fare like Pizza Hut pizza) and a bunch of dry activities ranging from arts and crafts to video games. If you've been on a cruise, it feels similar. (We love cruises, just so you know our frame of reference.) Our family is two moms and two 5-year-old boys who are taller than 42 inches and shorter than 48 (more on why that matters below).

Here's some of what we learned, loved and might do differently next time:

How 'bout those wristband/roomkey/chargecards? I love technology. The wristbands in the picture were all we needed to play, eat, get souvenirs and come and go from our rooms. So nice not to worry about losing our room key, credit cards, whatever. I wonder how many cruise ships are doing this? They all should ...

There's a Starbucks. I don't drink coffee, so I don't care, but I know Cheryl found it a welcome sight. In other beverage news, it's a Pepsi place (I'm a Coke products person), but it doesn't really matter as you can bring your own pop and keep it in the fridge in your room.

Themed rooms weren't necessarily worth it for us, but may be for you. So, they've got rooms come with either "kid camp" or "wolf den" setups, which are basically bunk bed alcoves that have themed decor. These look cool. The kids did like them/fear them a little (hey, wolves can be scary). But they weren't worth the extra $50 or whatever a night, at least not for us.

Go at non-peak times!!!!! I can't emphasize this one enough. We were lucky enough to be able to take advantage of our kids' weird half-time/full-day kindergarden setup, which gives every other Friday off. We stayed on a Thursday night, and experienced lines essentially never. We heard tell of lines up to an hour long to ride the slides, and that would have dramatically diminished our experience.

If your kid's not 48 inches tall, it helps if he or she is at least 42 inches tall. There's only one slide the under-48-inch crowd can't go on. If you're under 42, you're pretty much limited to the wave pool and the kiddie area, which is great, but, you know, a kiddie area.

The MagiQuest is worth the money. You'll see lots of people waving wands around and activating talking raccoons and mouthy treasure chests and such. This is MagiQuest. It costs $14.99 to get the wand, which uses infrared beams to work its "magic." The wands are re-usable. Once you have a wand, you need to pay $9.99 to activate it. This lasts four days, but two days can feel like forever when you're a 40-something mom trudging around behind a 5-year-old who keeps saying "I don't want to see the dragon!!!" Even though our guys got a little scared of the whole questing business after a while (especially when we kept getting chided by the Pixie Crystal for failing to accumulate the right stuff), they did enjoy it enough for us to feel like we didn't waste our $. And I can see how they'll enjoy it more when they're not so unnerved by seemingly inanimate objects that light up and start babbling about how they need to do this or that. It's a must for Harry Potter fans, I would think.

Is it expensive? Well, that depends on your perspective. My family probably couldn't have afforded it when I was a kid. But now we're lucky enough to be able to spend $219 a night (special off-day rate), plus a bunch of extra stuff, without too much trouble. We stayed one night and two days, and that was plenty of time for us to feel like we really got away. Also, we ate on site but you don't have to. There are restaurants nearby and you can bring your own food. The buffet dinner was $55 for two adults and two kids and worth it, in my book, with peel 'n' eat shrimp, rock crab and dungeness crab, mussels, clams, clam chowder and a bunch of stuff that wasn't seafood (prime rib, kalua pork, Asian food, lots of kid-friendly fare like pizza and mac 'n' cheese and desserts including the ever-popular worms in dirt, etc.)

Get a Paws Pass, especially if you're a first-timer. So we debated whether or not to spend the $79 per kid for these. But we ended up feeling like it saved us a few bucks and enhanced our experience. We got a wand and game ($25), a pair of custom Crocs + a Jibbitz decoration ($35), a color-your-own T-shirt ($10, I think), a fun shaker drink -- milk or lemonade + syrup ($4), a souvenir soda cup, which the moms took for themselves ($7), a stuffed animal that they stuffed on the spot ($20) and admission to the teen-oriented gr8-space, which we shared with a couple of nice teens we met in the water park ($5). I think that's it. And don't think for a second that I don't think we're ridiculously blessed to be able to afford this kind of thing.

More on the rides coming soon ...

My boys' first Star Wars is Clone Wars

I'm not sure how I feel about Clone Wars yet, but I'm glad that my boys have a Star Wars they can watch without panicking (like they did when my resolve melted and I put Episode IV in the DVD player the other night). Seriously, we only got as far as the text crawl and Chas was off and running. Eddie made it to the opening space battle, but he nearly shaking at the thought of seeing Darth Vader. The original Star Wars is a lot to take, I guess.

Anyway, tonight we watched a little bit of the Clone Wars movie, which just became available at Amazon Video On Demand. It makes Eddie nervous ... he wants assurances that everyone will be OK. Chas likes it, and has taken to swinging his pretend lightsaber (he's got "real" toy ones, but they're in the other room). I just find myself trying to remember who the good guys and bad guys are and how they relate to the good and bad guys of the movies I know and love. There is the emperor, who I know is bad. And Obi-wan, who I know is good. But clone troopers? Whatever became of them? Did they become stormtroopers? What of the separatists? Oh, so complicated. And I wouldn't care except that my boys are VERY interested in who's good and who's bad. I tihnk they're really going to flip when they learn the secret of Darth Vader's true identity. Of course, right now they keep thinking the Anakin Skywalker of the Clone Wars is Luke Skywalker. Sigh.

Finally planning that Great Wolf Lodge trip ...

OK, so it looks like we're finally getting ready to take a trip to Great Wolf Lodge, that indoor waterpark the boys have been raving about since preschool (their little friends went, ya see). Anyway, now that the weather has taken a turn for the crappy, we're getting ready to "take the plunge." Ha. Ha.

Anyway, here's one take on a Great Wolf Lodge. It's not the exact same one as the one close to us (in Grand Mound, south of Olympa), but you get the idea: "Great Wolf Lodge (GWL) is a "first-class, full-service, year-round family destination resort" and touts a vacation there as a "land-cruise." You do not have to leave the facility if you do not want to. The resort offers lodging, a waterpark, restaurants, extra entertainment and other great perks. "

Our debate is one night or two (which translates to two days or three). Basically, a $300+ vacation, or a $500+ vacation. Leaning toward one, but we'll see.

Now THAT'S a cupcake

The boys are suspicious of me because I am not much of a dessert person. But as you can see from Chas' creation, they set the bar high.

The "Hip" Faces of Intolerance

I don't have the heart to watch the anti-gay marriage videos created to rock the vote in California. But I did enjoy Radar Online's descriptions:

"Adam" who is a law student at UCLA, allegedly: "The change of the legal
definition of marriage could narrow personal liberties—and some of them are even
lost!" Somehow he thinks photographers will be forced to photograph gay weddings
and that doctors will be forced to do artificial insemination of lesbians.
That's weird, because in America private business owners have the right to turn
down any work they want, Adam, which probably they taught you in your first year
at law school?
"Alissa": "It's really about gaining control, forcing all of
us to give up the very foundation of speech and religious freedoms on which this
country was founded." This is so fundamentally retarded that it's unclear what
she's saying. Gay marriage impedes freedom of speech? Neither does it impinge on
religious freedom. Your church is completely free not to marry gay people—just
as it's completely free to not ordain women priests!

I used to think it was OK to give on gay marriage, that it wasn't worth making people uncomfortable. I'm over that. My family has just as much right to exist as any other, with the same benefits -- and responsibilities. The funny/sad thing is that many people I know and love don't even realize how precarious our existence is -- that just a handful of states even allow people like me to adopt kids, and that a number of states still deny people like me the right to be with our family in hospitals, etc. We know people who

Come on Californians -- do the right thing!

My wife rocks the children's sermon

Yes, that's my Cheryl keeping the kids and our pastor rapt this morning with her wise words about paper, money, and what is truly priceless. You know, people. It was a Reid-Simons dominated service, with the boys serving as acolytes and me as lay leader, complete with musings on faces vs. Facebook and a prayer style best characterized as conversational. Hey, I'm how God made me.

Help! We're lost in a corn maze!

First, it was fun. Now our feet hurt.

Star Wars: My Resolve to Wait Is Weakening

OK, just to be clear, I'm not talking about myself here. I've resolved that my boys should wait until they are 7 to see "Star Wars." That's the plan. Then they'll see "Empire," "Jedi" and the crappy ones in order, once a year, after that. And though I sounded real certain when I talked it out with Ron Moore (yeah, namedropping, don't hate), I just don't think I can hold out that long.

Tonight, Eddie showed me a poster from their Lego magazine that they've hung on their door. It's of a scene from "The Clone Wars," the cartoon movie that came out over the summer. "It looks like a good movie," Eddie says with certainty. He went on to describe the battle scene, and asked why the Jedis were fighting a guy with two light sabers. They already know who Obi-wan Kenobi is, and they know he was a mighty fighter. What will they think when Luke Skywalker goes looking for "Old Ben?" Oh, God -- what will they think when they realize that Luke has the last name as the big hero du jour, that Anakin guy???? They already worry that Anakin isn't a good guy. I have dodged answering that.

As Cheryl says, "We cannot put them in a time machine and take them back to 1977." And we cannot keep them free of the pervasive Star Wars culture. If the knock on Clone Wars is that its a kiddie thing, maybe we should just watch it this fall.

Thanks, Wanda: That's So Gay Has Gotta Go!

I wince a little every time I hear someone say "that's so gay." And I've gently tried to educate people I know about how it makes me feel when they use a word that describes me to describe something they find distasteful. It seems like it works, at least when they're around me.

Anyway, I was heartened to hear that I'm not the only one on the case. Wanda Sykes and Hilary Duff are on the case with a new round of PSAs. Sykes' character recently married -- OK, fake-married -- a woman on The New Adventures of Old Christine, and it's not easy to pull off the fake gay marriage thing without seeming like a jerk. But she did it. Anyway, here's the preview. And if you say "that's so gay," listen to Wanda. Knock it off.

A new use for the 'burbs

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/04/vehicle-to-grid-will-turn-suburbs-into-power-plants-wont-help/

OK, so as some one who worries about the future of the world as well as my world in a petroleum-starved future, stories like this, about the energy-charging potential of the non-urban world. I agree about the hinky neighbors concern, thought most of mine are great, which gives me hope.

A small wind problem at the Fife Harvest Fest

So to call it a blustery day might be an understatement. But it was still a fun day. We played games, saw the Reptile Man and his scaly friends and got free crap.

Are You Kidding Me, Sound Transit?

Web-connected buses are great. They are a big part of why I ride Sound Transit instead of Metro. But today, as I stand with 40 other people on a bus packed to the gills (75-plus in a single-length conveyance, I think I may re-embrace Metro, web or no. There is still plenty of work I can do off-line.

We picked apples!

So we got up before 8(!) for soccer pix, then a game against their stiffest competition yet (we weren't keeping score, but we won!) then a break, then off to the kid-friendly orchards of Gwendon Farms in Puyallup. Where kids pick apples, carrots and more. Or, as Eddie fabulistically put it, kids pick from the garden, then have to pick apples for five hours.

Condi Out as VP 'Cause of the Gay Thing? Really?

OK, so in the course of looking at stories about Clay Aiken -- Gay? Really? (Claymates in denial) -- I came across this interesting thing on Condi Rice and how she got eliminated from John McCain's ticket because she is supposedly (apparently?) gay. I had no idea.

According to a prominent member of the Republican National Committee privy to the search process, many in McCain’s inner circle argued furiously for the selection of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice over the other top contenders, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Tim Pawlenty.“Once Obama selected Biden instead of Hillary,” said the source, ” they had this theory that Condi was the perfect candidate to put up against him. She’s tough, conservative and a hawk, not to mention a football fanatic, which would be more than enough for white men. ... So what went wrong? “It was the persistent rumors about her sexuality that ultimately killed her chances and removed her from the list,” says the mid-level RNC official. ... According to her biographer, Washington Post diplomatic correspondent Glenn Kessler, the never married Rice shares ownership of a house as well as a line of credit with a female documentary filmmaker, a liberal Democrat named Randy Bean. Digging through real estate records, Kessler discovered the pair’s co-ownership of a property in Palo Alto, California as well as a joint line of credit with a bank, an arrangement Bean has explained unconvincingly as relating to medical bills that left her financially drained. It’s possible that others previously investigating Rice’s background came across the joint ownership of the investment property and the bank account but assumed the name “Randy” belonged to a man. Rice once told a reporter that Bean is her closest female friend and that they bonded over their mutual love of football.

Family Oversharing (Not Mine, Thankfully)

OK, so I was looking for Maria McKee on Facebook (apparently you can declare yourself as a fan of people and things like -- plug alert -- Amazon Video On Demand), and found a couple groups, and a link to this story: "Bryan Maclean: Love before, after and beyond." It was on the well-known publication Canadian Christianity Today, and had a fair amount of stuff about Maria (Brian's half-sister). Maclean, who died a few years ago, was known for writing great songs and being a part of the acclaimed '60s band Love with Arthur Lee. McKee was lead singer of beloved "cowpunk" band Lone Justice and a solo artist. I'm a fan, as her music is the kind of poppy and grandiose stuff I love.

The article is long, a bit rambling, and very much one-source. And while I was interested to learn that Maria is bi-polar and spent three months in bed staring at the TV and then the wall before her wonderful husband got her help, I felt like a voyeur -- much more voyeuristic than when I peek at the supermarket tabs. This was too real to enjoy as "Hollywood crap." For example:

Elizabeth admits it’s only in the last decade that she has started to come to terms with some of her more questionable parenting decisions. As an example, she brings up Bryan’s childhood weight issues; “I think a lot of kids eat because they’re starved for that thing that they need; their parents. And I was so scared of [second husband] Jack, that I had to stand with him against Bryan. It was the worst thing. That was the sadness of my life, to have to gang up on him.”

It was the opposite scenario with Maria. “I was in such La La Land. I thought; ‘Oh, the Lord gave me my little girl! I always wanted a little girl; I’m going to be the perfect mother of a perfect child.’ And then I just loved her. I took her everywhere, because Jack was never home, and she had no daddy, so I tried to be everything to her, and do everything. And a lot of it was good, but a lot of it was bad, because I was in another world. She was my life – I made her my life.”

“I think it’s been in the last few years, since Bryan died, that I’ve been able to be honest with myself, and who knows, maybe that whole attitude that I had towards her, of making her my little Princess and all that, is what screwed her up.”

Wow. Wonder what my mom would have said about me if CanadianChristianity.com
called her.

Exploring Union Station

I walk through Union Station pretty much every workday morning. I love the '30s vibe, the huge, arched ceiling, the tilework, and I love to think of the people who have come through there over the years, the hopes they had in their travels. Today, for fun, I went beyond the main lobby/passthrough area in to the bathroom, which is huge and bright and really more of a lounge. So civilized!

At Last, Facebook (step by step)

OK, so I'm finally signing up for Facebook. I kind of have to, because there's now a Facebook page for my work, and I need to be a Facebook member to be able to fully access it as an admin/update it/whatever.

I had said that I was a "conscientious objector" to FB, which would actually require putting waaaaay more effort into it than I'm willing to. What I really have been is guilty of ignoring my blog, and more importantly, my friends. FB just seems like another way to do that, and I certainly don't need the help.


But Cheryl's on it, and she seems to dig it. So I'll give it a chance. OK, weird thing: I'm signing in now, for the first time, and I'm still on, like, step 1, and I already have an invite to be a friend with Jim Drinkwine, a dude I kind of remember from college. Wow. I have actual friends on FB, and this guy is the first I hear from? Hmmmmm. Oh God. It's with some trepidation that I allow FB to "find friends" in my Outlook. This ought to be interesting.

Next up: Selecting a Facebook photo.

Lonely Boy

The weirdest thing happened today. I picked up a couple of songs at the Amazon Mp3 store (highly recommended, of course), including "Lonely Boy," by Andrew Gold (powerchords, pianos, kinda Jason Mraz-ish, if you need a 21st-century reference). It's the kind of song that's vintage me: Not the hugest, best-known hit, but catchy and dramatic (actually melodramatic, upon futher listening). But that's not what's weird. What's weird was my reaction to actually listening to it.

I was on the bus, headed for the office, and I teared up. I do that sometimes when I listen to songs I like, and this is definitely that: I've been in a Swingtown-inspired appreciation of '70s songs lately. I think it's because music is so evocative, and I'm not always the most in-touch-with-my emotions person, so I need the help.

So there I was, riding along on the 196 bus to Seattle, tearing up and bobbing my head to a song that was much ... bigger then I remembered. (Probably because I heard it most on a cheap little AM radio.) "Walking On Broken Glass" came up next, then "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys, then "Get the Girl" by The Bangles. These did not have the same effect.So, why "Lonely Boy"? Well, the song is about a first-born kid who basically feels betrayed/abandoned/threatened by the arrival of a sibling. Sheesh, I didn't remember that. And my issue could certainly be something along those lines. Or just an identification with being lonely. (I've had my moments, though they're not enough to make me better about returning messages from friends.) But more likely, it had to do with my brother. I just found out that he moved. To Yelm. His wife said on her MySpace page that it was to be closer to family, helpfully specifying that she did NOT mean that to include me or my dad. Ouch. In fairness to her, and to them, we have fallen out of touch somewhat. But in fairness to me and Dad, the phone does work both ways. My brother just seems to have "moved on," either through benign neglect, subconsciously or (I hope not) concious decision that he we're too much work/too different from who he is/wants to be or whatever.

OK, I just listened to the song again. "Goodbye mama! Goodbye you! Goodbye papa! I'm pushin' on through!"

Just a twinge. I'm safe.

Bubble Breaker, aka Boredom Breaker

OK, so I get on the elevator this a.m. ... Yes, I know, I always used to be a stairs girl, but I work on the 7th floor and that's tough on my knees (getting older sucks sometimes). Anyway, I get on the elevator, hit 7, and watch a bunch of guys get in and hit 3, 4, 5, and 6. Are you freakin' kidding me??? Normally, this sort of thing makes me tense, but I'm enjoying a new game on my phone. It's called Bubble Breaker. And my many-stopped elevator journey gave me time to get a new high score (714!!! -- with a 500-odd bubble burst in one go!!!). God bless Bubble Breaker for keeping me from getting wrongfully het up over stupid stuff. Now if I can just keep myself from playing it too much when I'm in the company of, you know, loved ones (sorry honey).

Quick Catch-Up: Kindergarden and More

OK, so I'll start by saying that all is well. Cheryl joined our local health club. (I'm putting mine off until I get MY personal health scare. Kidding. Sort of.) Just launched a major new thing at work, which did its best to knock me down, but a constant influx of Diet Mountain Dew is keeping me bright-eyed. We took the kids to kindergarten this week, kind-of. It was meet the teacher day/orientation, and it went just fine. The only issue is that when I think about it, I get kind of emotional. Monday is the REAL day ... the day when we leave them in the hands of the educational system. OK, we're easing in (Cheryl's volunteering in class that day). But it's still momentous.

UPDATE: That's the boys walking in to school for their REAL first day. They were nervous, so I played it as cool as possible, snapping pic after pic with my phone. But it went great. Except that I didn't want to leave. Sigh.

I Hear There's a Convention On ...

So I watched a little of the Democrats' convention tonight (and listened to some NPR coverage). I wouldn't say I'm an avid political person, but I'm married to one. Cheryl is one of those PUMAs -- love that acronym: "Party Unity My Ass." She's still bummed out about Hillary. And I admit, I'm fairly disappointed as well. Which is why I'm the kind of person who needs to see the convention. I'm firmly on the side of the D's, as they're the only party looking out for families like mine.

So what the convention does is make me feel good about things. Seeing Teddy Kennedy rock that house and recall great moments past. Watching Michelle Obama give a speech that was compelling yet just imperfect enough to humanize her.

Oh, and yes, that's my girl on the ballot: She ran for precinct committee officer in last week's election. I almost kept the ballot as a souvenir, but Cheryl, being a good PCO, made me vote.

What I'm Not Writing About

So, Cheryl had a health scare the other week. Heart-attackish. As you can tell by the quiet, then the burst of posts about stuff that isn't related to, you know, hospitals, I'm not really interesting in going there, even though all is well. I've also been really busy with work (someday I'll post about going to Comic-Con), but even if I wasn't swamped, I'm not sure what I'd say. It was one of those experiences that I think will be more clear to me in time. In other words, I felt too much to allow myself to really know what I felt.

Simple Shoes (the Brand, not the Adjective) = Awesome

OK, so the obvious joke is to say that even my indulgences are simple, and you know I can't resist the obvious joke. But recently, I made a crazy decision: I decided to keep a $50 pair of shoes that weren't even on sale when I bought them (I went to REI to buy a bottlecap, seriously, and walked out with a bunch of shoes. Geez!). But man, are they comfy! And hey: They're even good for the earth and all. They're "Simple" brand shoes, and mine specifically are "Carousels." And I wouldn't have kept 'em, but for two things: 1. They are rediculously comfy, and 2., They are cool. To me, anyway, and that's good enough. They have the essence of Vans, in that they have a bold pattern (polka dots), but they are moderatey rounded and semi-girly, which is nice, you know, sometimes at least. Oh, and the soles are made of old tires, and the rest is all recycled and stuff.

I'm feeling a little gloomy about the future of the Earth, and this is one small step toward helping what is hopefully not an insoluble problem as it seems. (As I write this, I'm also carrying around a glass bottle in my bag until I get to a recycling place.) And maybe watching Devill Wears Prada had something to do with it. I decided to be, for me, stylish. Why not? I did not, however, decide to become a size 2, as I still have some semblance of ties to reality. Maybe a 12.

OK, a little more about these shoes, because I see that they go well beyond the whole "car tire" thing. Here's what "the shoe" says on the Simple Web site:

I contain no animal byproducts or even regular animal products. I am a vegan friendly and veggie friendly shoe.
I have hemp uppers
I am lined with woven certified organic cotton
I have ortholite/recycled car tire pedbeds
Yes, my outsole used to be a car tire
I have vulcanized rubber sidewall, toecap and heelcap
I have 100% post consumer paper pulp foot forms

My dad used to wear sandals with soles made of old tires (nowhere near as stylish as these). And those things lasted for pretty much my entire pre-adult life. Maybe longer. Heck, they're probably still in the house somewhere, hanging out with dust bears and National Geographics from the era.

Why I Won't Be Voting for John McCain

I like a maverick. But when that maverick doesn't "believe in" families like mine ...

“I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don’t believe in gay adoption."
- Republican presidential hopeful John McCain tells The New York Times

And for the record, I couldn't agree more with the first part. I just think it's OK if both parents are women. Or men.

OK, so how do I compete with American Freakin' Idol?

I haven't thought about Jeff Peabody for a while. But now that I've started, hoo boy. There's a lot there. He and I went to school together, from South Bay Elementary through North Thurston High. He got a ventriloquist dummy, and I got my parents to get me one (the slightly off-brand version). He wore a denim outfit/hat, and I wore an outfit/hat. And unlike him, I got to wear my hat in class, because my hat was viewed as part of my ensemble, and his wasn't (ha!). We were in band together. We both sang. We tried to stage "West Side Story" in sixth grade. (I don't remember why it didn't work out, but I do remember the words to Sgt. Krupke song.)

Anyway, his musical skills got him a lot farther than mine: I just saw that he won the freakin' American Idol songwriter's competition last year. Jordin Sparks sang not just any song when she won, but his song: "This is My Now." Holy crap! (That's Jeff on the right in the picture). I am now officially at peace with the idea that Jeff is the leading man I will never be (yeah, it took me a long time to realize some of the dynamics of our relationship). Good for him! I'd like to think that perhaps I in some way inspired him to achieve as he inspired me.

Funnily enough, we've ended up living near each other. He's a pastor at a church not far from our house. And it sounds like the kind of church I might like (click here to read his sermon that name checks Stretch Armstrong, C.S. Lewis and Kung Fu Panda). But unless something has changed (and a girl can dream), his Christianity isn't the kind that's OK with the gay thing. And I'm not interested in sullying the warm feelings I have about our past with judgements about who I am (and who I always was, really). So I'll just send good wishes to Jeff from afar.

Old school friends .... Jeff/Geoff edition

So last night I was spending a little time online, and decided to take a look at my high school's Web site (North Thurston High in Lacey, home of the Rams). I think it was because I've been getting a lot of those "see who's looking for you!" emails from Classmates.com or whatever. Anyway, after seeing that one of my high school pals is still(!) teaching at our old school (kudos to you Nani Duvall, formerly Nani Currie), I decided to google two of the boys who had been extremely important to me back in the day, starting at South Bay Elementary: Geoff Corbin and Jeff Peabody. Like their first names, they were alike but different. Both played trumpet. Both were supercute. Both were smart. They looked similar and dressed fashionably. Jeff, I think I met in second grade. Maybe it was first, when I got moved up after half a year of kindergarten (something Jeff didn't do, by golly!). Geoff, I didn't meet until 6th grade, I think, and I crushed on him immediately. Jeff and I had more of a "frenemies" relationship. I felt extremely competitive with him, yet I knew on some level that he'd win everything unless I got creative. He was better-looking, smoother, smarter in many ways, more disciplined. But I was scrappier, funnier and possibly better in sports. Not sure about that, but I'll claim it anyway (I don't remember him playing on three sports teams in high school!).

We were all in band together. Jeff and I were in the "gifted" program together. We graduated in the top-10 together. "Jeff and Steph" were frequently mentioned in the same breath, and I'd say that we had a cousin-ish relationship. Lots of shared history, a certain connection, yet some very different elements family-wise and otherwise. As we grew older, we spent less time together, though I was never truly close to anyone in high school except Lynda (Fryhover) Gould.

The passage of time for me means that I forget a lot of stuff, especially (mercifully), the stuff that might hurt. So I can look back at my time with the Jeff/Geoff duo and it's a fairly shiny thing that amuses me greatly. And when I find them online, as I did last night, I am flooded with warm nostalgia. Mostly. More on that soon.

Wall-E and EVE as drawn by ...

My boy Ed. Pretty cool, huh? The movie has done the unbelievable -- supplanted Cars as the boys' fave.

At the Storm game

It is our first Storm game in more than two years, and so far so great, except Eddie is still afraid of the team's fuzzy mascot, Doppler. We came up spur-of-the-moment style, picked up our tix from a guy outside the building for half-price, and made it in to our pleasantly nice seats just before tipoff. Yeah!

The Bus is Crowded. Really Freakin' Crowded!

OK, so I've seen the bus crowded before. But now, my favorite bus (the 8:44 a.m. 577 from Federal Way) has been full to the point of people in the aisles for the last few times. And it's summer! People are on vacation, or at least they were last year. Maybe they're having to work more to pay for utilities. The 177, or the slightly earlier bus, isn't quite as bad, last I checked, but they are fuller than they have been. So's the 196. I am so, so thankful that I don't have to drive to work anymore. That would be three gallons of gas every two days, at best, and it would be awful.

So Much For Going Back to Jamaica Anytime Soon ....

And it's too bad, because Cheryl and I went there about seven years ago and had an awesome time -- eating jerk chicken, climbing up a beautiful riverbed, etc. But this is just horrible (and scary):

This past January, Gareth Henry fled to Canada. He is only 30, but
13 of his friends in Jamaica had been murdered. He is awaiting a decision on his
application for refugee status. He is not an effeminate man and he does not
dress extravagantly. It may seem Jamaican thugs must have a more highly
developed gaydar than most gay men, but it's more likely that it isn't easy to
keep secrets in a small island society.

It makes Bermuda look almost welcoming ... they weren't planning to kill us if our Rosie cruise stopped there: Just yell at us about how we're ruining our children's lives, etc., etc.

The Quickest Camping Trip Ever

So Cheryl bought the boys a tent. It's adorable, just big enough for them. And they decided that they wanted to camp out in it -- in our backyard -- last night. Good time for it, too, as the weather has been HOT and their room doesn't have A/C. Well, after much excitement, the reality of the whole "camping out" thing set in. They demanded lights and quiet (awesome time to be running Bobcat for hours, Neighbor With Junkyard!). They got the former. We tucked them in, and ... 20 minutes later they were in their bed. Which means they just missed the thunder, lightning and rainstorm. Perfect timing! It was a weird rain, hard and quick, like hot angry tears, and gone in minutes. This morning, it was almost like it hadn't rained at all... but our cars, which we so carefully (NOT!) washed this weekend, were dusted up. And it's still hot.

I see cruise ships!

I love a blue-sky day, and cruise ships at the pier. Of course, I'd love it more if the family and I were getting on one ... Lookslike this will be a year without a cruise. But Disney, and another Rosie cruise out of Seattle, loom.

San Diego: What a Great Vacation!

So we're just back from a trip to San Diego, and wow, did it turn out great. Really, one of the best vacations ever, and I think it's spoiled me on non-"World Famous" zoos. (The San Diego Zoo is, as we learned, "World Famous.") You feel like you could almost reach out and touch the animals. You know, if you have 10-foot arms. But it feels really close. We were closer than 10 feet to a tiger when we stayed the night at the Wild Animal Park. And then there's Seaworld, which I thought might be kinda cheesy. And it was, but it was cheesy good. And I got to feed and pet dolphins and pet rays. I love rays. There's something cool and calming about them ....

If you go to San Diego, definitely hit the zoo, and make the drive to the Wild Animal Park. Costco has a good deal on five-day tickets that allow you to go to whichever of any of those parks that you want on whichever days you want. I also recommend, if you can, that you Dine With Shamu. You'll get to be with the killer whales right in front of you, in one of their auxiliary tanks. And the trainers are right there, answering questions, etc. Awesome.

Kissing at the ballgame

Seattle made national news lately when a couple of lesbians were booted from Safeco Field for kissing. Well, we're at the ballpark now (albeit Cheney Stadium, home of the M's AAA team) so I asked Cheryl to take a stand for civil liberties and smooch me. She's shy, so, you know, no tongue. But she is REALLY shy and won't kiss me at all. And she is resentful of my phone-blogging and net-surfing. So that is two strikes against me at the old ball game.

couldn't give blood ...

So I decided to be a good citizen and offer my veins to the bloodmobile. Arteries, too. I'm a giver. But they didn't want me or my lousy 35 hematocrit. (Gotta be at 38 to give.)

Cheryl says the problem is that if unchecked I will eat crackers and spray cheese for dinner every night. Which isn't too far from the truth, though in fairness to me, I often eat broccoli for an afternoon snack. Clearly, though, I need more iron.

The bus tunnel - claustrophobic

So here is the view from the bus, while in the downtown Seattle bus tunnel. I think I have been in it before (before it closed to tweak the tracks for light rail), but I don't remember it being so claustrophobic. Odd that it strikes me that way 'cause I love subways. Maybe it is that I am used to buses out in the great wide (albeit trafficky) open.

The trains are gonna be cool. I see them doing practice runs andlong for the day when they'll come to Federal Way.

Back to the Future for Newspapers?

I remain interested in my former business ... not by actually reading newspapers printed on newsprint (ick), but by looking at them online, and in the boxes next to my bus stop. And by following the stories of the industry's contraction -- but not, I believe, demise. And big-time newspaper smartie Norman Pearlstine agrees, according to the Silicon Valley Insider:

Speaking to an audience of media execs at the Argyle Executive Forum, Pearlstine said he he believes the news business is going back to the end of the 19th century,
when a city like Chicago had 28 local papers, all small and privately owned.
Pearlstine doesn't believe the newspaper business model will support the kind of long-form, investigative journalism that many of the top reporters and editors have spent their careers pursuing.Case in point: The Washington Post's recent 17,000-word, four-part series on IED's in Iraq. Great story, Norm said, but probably better positioned as a book, or a premium download for Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle. "There might be 50,000 people in the world who want to read that story, but not the ones advertisers want to reach," he said.

Ouch. It's hard to take comfort in a scaled-down, scrappy future when you're in the middle of it all. I feel for my friends trying to carry on, knowing that their future probably looks like this:

A newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin, just took the step that many newspapers will
be forced to take over the next decade, many sooner rather than later: It shut
down its print business, fired a third of its staff, and restructured its
business to focus exclusively online.

Said newspaper is The Capital Times: http://www.madison.com/tct/ Pretty cool site, actually.

Disneyland "Captain Jack" Tells All ...

So one of the highlights of our Disneyland trip in December was coming across a "Captain Jack" at the Pirate's Lair (formerly known as Tom Sawyer's Island). He was funny and cute, though no Johnny Depp. But who is? And though I was surprisingly giddy to see him, and we joked about how Auntie Cathy should/would jump him, we behaved ourselves. But not everyone does, it turns out. A former "Jack" let us in on his world via LA Magazine -- it's a great read -- and that world definitely included come-ons (and more):

Disney wanted us to tone Jack down, so they put us through an acting class to discover reasons why Jack walks and talks the way he does. Obviously he is based on Keith Richards, who’s always messed up, which is why they came up with the class. “Don’t be flirtatious,” they told us. “See women as
trouble.” And they said as far as alcohol goes, don’t even mention drinking.
But the Pirates of the Caribbean song is all about drinking, and they’re
drinking all along the ride. So I eventually broke that rule, because it
would have taken me out of character. When parents took pictures, I’d say,
“Everyone say ‘rum,’ ” and the parents loved it. The kids would just ask,
“What’s rum?”

I wondered if that Jack was our Jack. Uh, no. For one, our Jack said "Say treasure" not "Say rum" when we took photos. For two, our Jack didn't look like this:

The above Jack -- the one featured in the article -- is now working outside the restrictive embrace of Disney, albeit wistfully. And I'm thinking he's doing well.

F-bomb has people paying attention to TV news (for a sec)

I have to laugh at the breathless coverage around the fleeting use of the f-word during a news promo featuring two old vets who I'm guessing are kind of sick of each other. One of them, Sue Simmons, said something many people have said: "What the fuck are you doing?" to her colleague, who was seemingly not paying attention to the task at hand (promoting the night's newscast). Apparently she didn't realize they were live.

What's funny is that the journalist who wrote this story no doubt works in an environment rife with "fucks." (The word, not the people ... OK, maybe both.) At least the newspapers I worked at were like that. Now I work for a respected Web retailer surrounded by people who went to MBA school and have engineering degrees and it's very different.

What's not funny is that Sue may be fired. That would be wrong, wrong, wrong. It was one TV news (or as my kids call our local news, "Seattle problems") is not so pristine a territory that it has been somehow sullied by a swear. In fact, it's increasingly irrelevant. Sue may lose her job because no one's watching. She shouldn't lose her job over this fuckin' thing.

What the heck DO I believe??

OK, so I'm on the hook for some public speaking at church, not really on my own, but as a part of something called Pentecost Voices. What this means is that I need to come up with a minute and a half worth of statement about, you know, my beliefs. Which is harder than it seems. I considered hymns, as I've felt as though some of them are revealing my truths. But I couldn't think of which ones they were at the time. I also considered Bible verses, but none seemed right.

Then I had my brainstorm. Back in the day (meaning 1951), legendary journalist (and fellow Washington State University alum) Edward R. Murrow did a series of essays featuring some famous people and some not-so-famous people. At first, I went with Murrow's intro, though it was more of a state-of-the-world thing -- dead-on, sadly, still .. but not quite right.

We hardly need to be reminded that we are living in an age of confusion—a lot of us have traded in our beliefs for bitterness and cynicism or for a heavy package of despair, or even a quivering portion of hysteria. Opinions can be picked up cheap in the market place while such commodities as courage and fortitude and faith are in alarmingly short supply.

So I went with Helen Keller instead. I wanted it to be a woman. And I wanted it to be someone who said what I wanted say, but better. Thanks, Helen.

Faith reinvigorates the will, enriches the affections, and awakens a sense of creativeness. Active faith knows no fear, and it is a safeguard to me against cynicism and despair.

A childrens' theater question

OK, so I am seeing my first childrens' teater production. Specifically, the Seattle Childrens' Theater production of Richard Scarry's Busytown. I am psyched for it. I love live Theater, and look forward to sharing it with my boys.

But what I was wondering was whether or not there are actors who aspire to this, or if it is something they end up doing. OK, just saw that it is an Equity production, so that indicates something good.

What Wonder Woman Means to Me ... And About Me

So the other day, after getting my eyes checked (I'm increasingly gray-haired, but years away from bifocals, thanks!), I stopped by the local Rite Aid to see if they had any NASCAR cars. They didn't. But they did have a 10-inch Wonder Woman action figure. She's the new, old-school version ... animated, but in a retro/deco style. And I bought it, which was reminiscent of the old-school me. And when I told Cheryl about it a couple days later, her first thought was to ask me if I was unhappy with my life. At first, I was taken aback, but then I realized that when she last new me I surrounded myself with totems of female empowerment as ... what? Escape? A source of strength? A distraction? (Well, that was true when it came to the obsessive collecting component).

Now, however ... well, once again I am impressed with Cheryl's insight. I'm definitely feeling some stress right now on the work front (big changes a'coming) and on the home front (we're thinking about a remodel) and it would certainly be helpful to be superhuman. But for the record, I am not unhappy. I'm just ... daunted. Which is where my my girl Diana comes in (that's Wonder Woman's real name).

Yes, I started a NASCAR fantasy league

So, my obsessive nature has eased somewhat. Somewhat. But it will occasionally reveal itself when I do things like sign up for a NASCAR fantasy league (www.pepsiracing.com). It's only natural, I guess, that my obsession with finding new race cars has extended to picking weekly winners. The main thing I need to do, however, is make sure that I don't let things get out of hand, like back in the early '90s, when I tried to collect every single female action figure. I had Laura Linney (from her for-some-reason un-Oscared role in "Congo.")

I LOVE Sound Transit ... So Why Did It Diss Me???

OK, so lately I've been catching the 5:52 bus home (specifically, Sound Transit route 577, which I have chosen over Metro's similar 177 because Sound Transit has a Web connection). The 5:52 is a later ride than I'd like to be getting, but stuff happens. Tonight, though, I actually tear myself away from the desk in time to catch the 5:35 bus. And it goes RIGHT PAST ME. I started complaining loudly to anyone who would listen, and one of those people was a black guy who said "Yeah, I hate it when they do that." I was immediately chastened, 'cause it was only my first (and hopefully last) time. Does that still happen? Do people of color get passed by like that on a regular basis, or is there just the occasional, equal-opportunity diss? I think I know the answer, sad to say.

And as you can probably tell, I am still bitter, though the driver of the 5:52 bus (which did stop) gave me a genuine and satisfying apology on behalf of Sound Transit and I'm much calmer now. Though I'm still missing my boys' T-ball practice and all the comedy that goes along with that.

What every Passover observance needs . . .

A bag o' plagues. Saw this at Party City tonight and marveled at the willingness to sell anything.

That's freakin' snow on my car!

Yes, it is snowing. Almost a week after Easter. The kids are thrilled and I am incredulous.

Palm Sunday, of course

Sometimes Chas likes to grab my phone...

and take pix of himself. I can't blame him for choosing such a gorgeous subject.

My Obsession Du Jour: Enchanted ("That's How You Know")

Yeah, "That's How You Know" didn't get an Oscar. But it's still a ridiculously catchy song that's bringing me a lots of joy these days. Newsflash, I connect with the song as a romantic, subconsciously overwriting all the "how do you know he loves you" lyrics with something more ... Princess Charming. The amazing Kristen Chenoweth (a superstar to you if you're a Broadway fan) performed the song in the live telecast for billions, and you can see why they went with an experienced stage person for that performance. Man, she does a lot of getting from point A to point B in a big, frilly dress (while sounding like an angel). Her performance is richer than Amy Adams' movie version, but it's also designed to be more of a "show" than a character moment for a former cartoon princess and the bemused guy who's just starting to experience the full extent of this woman's magic as she moves from two dimensions to three. Amy Adams' sweet version is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRYU4cqUAUs&feature=related

Finally Feeling Normal Again

So this cold, or whatever the hell it is, is finally easing up. Don't get me wrong: I'm still producing occasionally bright red snot. But I'm feeling more normal. No more pain around the area of the eyes. No more pain with every step. And I can sleep again! Of course, the boys now have pink eye. We'll see if I end up with that. Right now, every time I think of their eyes, mine itch. But even with that, I'm still getting better. I can see 100% from here!

My son wants you to call him . . .

I have a cold.

And I am too tired to whine. What does that tell you? I am treating it with lots of carrots, Kool-aid, plain water, Airborne, the occasional cold pill and inertia. I feel better than I did earlier today, when my teeth were chattering. I forget: When you're all cold like that for no reason, does it mean you have a fever?

Now, in front of the fire, in a sweatshirt, with a very warm computer on my lap, I'm just shivering a little.

There's my candidate (Hillary in Seattle)

We were closer than this picture looks. And very tired after standing and waiting for two hours. But she is a rock star.

Enjoying Time With My super "Friends"

So, at Dear Wife's insistence, we've started watching the classic comedy "Friends" from the beginning. And I'm enjoying it waaaay more than I thought I would. I mean, I really enjoyed the show, and I knew it had moments of brilliance, but in retrospect, I believe it holds up really well, and is one of the bet sitcoms ever. And while the writing is terrific, I think credit goes to the cast. They really take things into three dimensions, whether it's physical comedy involving no lines at all, or distinctive line readings that make jokes greater than the sum of their punchlines.

Anyway, the reason I'm writing about this is because I came across this online, and it so fabulously combines two of my passions that I had to share it:

Our big day in the snow

This is what we did instead of watching the Super Bowl. Best decision I've made in a while.

Slide down, ride up!

Magic Jack: Too Good To Be True?

So, I got one of these Magic Jack things from a friend. And though it seems like hoodoo, I think we may try it. Here's an excerpt from the PC Magazine review:

Those commercials advertising cheap voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone rates look appealing, but there's always some fine print: You have to switch cable-TV providers, install a VoIP-smart Internet router, or something. And you end up ticked once a month when the bill from MCI, Verizon, or some other telecom robber baron dips into your wallet. If this sounds like your bio, the YMax magicJack is for you: 2 minutes of setup, voice quality that's almost indistinguishable from a straight analog POTS line, and a cost of just under $20 a year for unlimited nationwide service. ... MagicJack's call quality is amazing—almost too good to be true.

Having Trouble Telling Web Sites Apart?

OK, here's a pretty funny video, basically a house party where the attendees are the personificatoins of well-known (and slightly lesser-known) Web sites. Google knows everyone, of course. Wikipedia just wants info, but doesn't care if it's right, snipes Snopes. (And after the whole 1985 thing, I'm just glad I've heard of all the Web 2.0 sites mentioned.) I wish Amazon had more of a personality in the video, though. I'm not sure the suit is right.

Click here to see it.

1985: What? It's a Song Too?

OK, so I'm in the Red Robin bathroom (you know, where all the kids today go to hear the popular tunes), and a boppy little song that catches my ear ...

When did Motley Crue become classic rock?/And when did Ozzy become an actor? Please make this stop/Stop!And bring back Springsteen, Madonna/Way before Nirvana/There was U2 and Blondie/And music still on MTV/Her two kids in high school/They tell her that she’s uncool/Cause she's still preoccupied/With 1985.

1985. (!!!) Well, that's the year I graduated high school. And since this song sounds like "Summer of '69" (aka written about a time by someone who didn't live it), I quickly realize that ... Oh. My. God. Teens of today think of my teen years as something as distant and strange and maybe cool but mostly silly as I thought of the '60s. I felt a little ill, though that may have been the overwhelming air freshener.

So the song is called "1985," as you might expect. It's by a band called Bowling For Soup. (Thanks, Wikipedia.) It came out in 2004, so I'm late in learning about my place in other people's faux nostalgia. I was also late in this particular play of the song, so I didn't hear the first couple of verses, about how the 1985-oriented mom pretty much hates her life, 'cause things didn't turn out like she imagined back in her big-hair days. Sad. My song would be a lot different.

Tina Fey as Tinkerbell .... THAT's Disney Magic!

OK, so I have kind of an odd crush on Tina Fey. I don't think about kissing her or anything like that. I actually had a dream where we were coworkers and just made each other laugh. I mean, how cool is it to be the 21st-century Mary Tyler Moore -- except that you write AND star in your show?

Anyway, I love that she's Tinkerbell in these new Disney photos by Annie Leibovitz. Jessica Biel is getting most of the attention for her smokin' hot portrayal of Pocahontas, but Tina Fey shows an adorable exasperation as Tinkerbell. Big ups to TheDisneyBlog.com for posting the closeup, 'cause you can barely see her in the main photo.

The Presidents of the USA at our holiday party

I love working @ amazon.

New Star Trek teaser!

So my inner Trekkie is breathless with excitement over the new teaser site promoting the J.J. Abrams reboot of the beloved classic series. The movie is due at Christmas, and I can tell you now that I'm as excited as I was when "The Motion Picture" hit theaters back in '79. Let's hope that the new movie isn't as overwhelmed with grandiosity (honestly, I don't see how it could be). Anyway, the trailer basically shows the ship under construction, a time-honored Trek tradition (the curves of the Enterprise are as beloved as the curves of any Orion slave girl). I can't wait to see what's coming. Oh, and be sure to click the red dot to the right of "under construction" for more images of the ship being welded together, etc.

I'm so excited. It makes me want to buy a Star Trek uniform shirt. But Cheryl has pointed out to me that if I do that, I may be seen as irredeemably geeky. (Well, only if I wear it in public.) Hmmmm. We'll see.

Fatal shooting where I catch the bus....

So this morning I walked past some balloons and flowers attached to a pillar and for a moment, I thought they looked festive. Then I remembered that they were there to mark the shooting death of a 38-year-old woman. The P-I reports that it wasn't random -- she was targeted by a teenager and it had something to do with money. But that it still doesn't make any sense.

I missed the shooting by about 20-25 minutes, which compared to my near-crash on I-5, feels like an eternity. I don't know what a person can do to avoid these kinds of things. Unfortunately, people get shot in all kinds of places, and I'm not going to stop going to malls ... or McDonalds ... or post offices ... or bus stops. And I hope it never comes to that.

New playland at the Supermall!

The tired "bacon and eggs" play area at the Auburn Supermall has been refreshed with a regional theme, including trees and mountains. Two thumbs up!

My face & hand . . .

. . As done in pegs at the Olympia Children's Museum, which is AWESOME! (And I didn't love it anywhere as much as the boys did.)

Top Chef and spray cheese .... mmm, mmm good

I'm feasting on cooking shows, of all things! I mean, really? Who'da thunk I'd be fan of shows that involve emulsions, sauces and mascarpone?

I used to be a lifestyle editor, which meant that I ran the newspaper's food and restaurant coverage. But it will come as no surprise to anyone that I was not particularly food-aware -- unless you count obsessiveness as awareness. I was the girl who ate a turkey pita for lunch every day (and sometimes for dinner too) for an entire semester in college. One of my absolute favorite things to eat is Kraft mac 'n' cheese, and one of my new favorite treats is spray cheese from a can. (Believe it or not, I'd not ever had that until a week or so ago! As I told Cheryl, when I was growing up, it was waay too expensive.) In fairness to me, I also learned to appreciate morels, fresh oysters, seasonal produce, and Pam's salmon.

Maybe it's my time in the food world that has led me to my latest obsession: Top Chef. Just finished season one. I also just finished Hell's Kitchen, the Gordon Ramsay show. So I'm all about braising, plating, seasoning, etc., etc. And I enjoy my spray cheese and Diet Mountain Dew. I'm full of complications. But as much as the chef stuff, I think what I enjoy about these shows is the compeitition and the personalities. And it feels more accessible to me than, say, Project Runway. Though that might be next.

Phiten: Probably crap, but I still want one

Good Lord, I am susceptible to marketing. Well, certain kinds. Here's an example. I saw this story at seattlepi.com, and now I wants me a Phiten necklace:

The Japanese-based company said it melts small doses of titanium and mixes it in water to form a dye, which is then fused into the fabric of necklaces, T-shirts, socks, shorts, tape and discs, which resemble a small round Band-Aid. The company claims that by wearing its products "energy flow is stabilized" and fatigue sets in later and recovery time is shortened. ...

"I really like it," (pro QB and Hasselbeck pal Damon) Huard said. "If I'm not wearing my necklaces to bed I'm a little stiffer. I think there is something to it. I figure it can't hurt me. I wear it under my shoulder pads every game, and I wear a bracelet, too. ... Phiten power, baby!"

Amazon has them, of course. Feel free to buy one off this link. We'll see if I buy one. The fact that I wear a magnet bracelet probably indicates a propensity, though mostly I wear that because it was my mother's.

Cars Land, and a target return date for Disneyland

A post on the LA Times travel blog is packed with goodies for a Cars-centric family such as ours:

1. Disney's California Adventure won't just be getting a Cars ride, it's getting a Cars land!

2. Cars Land is targeted to open 2012, WHEN CARS 2 COMES OUT!!!! Hello, Cars 2??? That is HUGE.

Here's a little more about the signature ride itself (it's called Radiator Springs Racers):

"Based on the animated “Cars” movie, the indoor-outdoor attraction combines a leisurely dark ride prelude with a dueling side-by-side race car finale akin to Epcot’s Test Track in Orlando, Fla.

According to MiceAge, the $200-million E-ticket promises to bring to bear virtually all of the classic Disney ride components: theme, technology, animatronics, special effects, interactivity, story line and thrills. The ride starts with a race briefing from the movie’s star, Lightning McQueen, and concludes at the Wheel Well Motel scene from the movie."

Less "leisurely" is this promised ride: Mater's dizzy, noisy tow truck adventure.

DCA will make a great Pixar Land. Here's a look at the ride that's coming this year (2008), which we saw under construction (it's called Toy Story Mania).

So there's our target return to Disneyland. We can hit Disney World and a Disney cruise in the meantime. :)

Shopping for New Year's

Looks like party food, but the truth is that I would buy Mountain Dew, ice cream sandwiches (no sugar added) and spray cheeese any day. It's just that on New Year's no one looks at me funny.