musings of Mother Hood

Thursday May 31, 2007

I saw this on a church marquee on my way to work just now.

Don't let yesterday use up today.

Tuesday May 29, 2007

We hosted the 2nd Annual Memorial Day Weekend Float Trip to the Elk River on Sunday. The weather threatened to ruin the day -- and it was pretty cloudy all day, but otherwise perfect and we had a blast. On the shuttle to the top of the river, we were greeted by a sign that was too funny to describe so I lifted it in order to share with you...

 

 

Here's one of the whole crew. Ryan and Allison, Aeja and Logan, Angela, Sarah and Jeff.

 

 

 

 

 

You'll notice there's an odd number. Angela, Jeff and I shared a canoe -- and none of us were adequately prepared for the weight distribution of 3 people..

 

 

This was taken just after the first (and worst) of several "tumps". Angela tells me "tump" is indeed a word -- it's a hybrid of 'tip' and 'dump'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have never had an appropriate opportunity to use the "shoot and select" mode on my camera -- until this weekend. It takes pictures in rapid succession -- like a flip book. Aeja, Logan and Jeff decided to jump off a bridge about halfway down the river so I tried it out.

 

 

The first try didn't work and I only got one photo. If you look closely -- you can make out Jeff in black shorts, Logan is diving, and Aeja is behind him.

 

 

 

 

This was the second attempt.

 

For those of you in the GK fan club -- rest assured he and Don will be on the next trip -- they were both working this weekend!

Any and all of you who plan on being in the area this summer are invited to come hang out at the river. We have become quite the river rats! Don't you worry though -- I spent Monday getting washed and pedicured so that I'd feel normal again.

Wednesday May 23, 2007

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnny Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King And I, and The Catcher In The Rye

Eisenhower, Vaccine, England's got a new queen
Maciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dancron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, Rock Around the Clock

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge On The River Kwai

Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkwether, Homicide, Children of Thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go

U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

Hemingway, Eichman, Stranger in a Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion

Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician sex
J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and Roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

Friday May 18, 2007

I had a Pan's Labyrinth nightmare last night. If you've seen it - you know what I mean. I was viciously attacked by an evil butterfly that could talk. I am assuming the butterfly influence is a result of Meredith Vieira doing a segment on Today about monarch butterfly migration habits -- she went down to Mexico and was literally wading through a sea of millions and millions of butterflies. They freak me out. Clearly.

Programming note: My phone is broken. Literally broken into several pieces. If you should need to get ahold of me today or this weekend - please call Jeff's phone or my work cell phone. I'm not sure when mine will be up and running again.

My team had a piece of work go live today on Walmart.com. Check it out! If you're feeling adventurous, you can also get to it by navigating Walmart.com. On the main page of WM.com click "In Stores Now" on the far right. Then "Free Samples". Then "Pampers".

Enjoy. and Happy Friday.

Wednesday May 16, 2007

No pictures today - regrettably. I flew on a private jet to Kansas City for the day -- and it was fabulous. A company we contract out for in-store demonstrator work is in Kansas City, and we did a video shoot today for an upcoming event. And, well... I needed to be there and it's too far away to go there and back in one day... so they sent a plane to get me! It was great - I got to XNA about 9:15 this morning and was in KC by 10. My client went with me - a car picked us up at the airport and took us to the shoot. I felt like some sort of celebrity.  We got tired around 3:30 and Mick had to get back to pick up his kids so we called the pilot and told him we were on our way back. Home by 4:30. Let me tell you -- THAT is the way to travel!

The video shoot itself was uneventful. They needed us there for quality control and some brand expertise -- but they had everything more or less under control. They catered in BBQ for lunch and I sat in a big comfy director's chair all day.

Tomorrow, unfortunately, it is back to reality.

 

This is a picture of the kind of plane I was on today.

 

Sunday May 13, 2007

Dr. and Mrs. Hood!

It was a good weekend -- lots going on. My parents and Jeff's parents were all here for graduation, Sunday was both Mother's Day and Becky's 21st birthday, and Friday was Don's birthday (though they wimped out on us and we didn't get to properly celebrate). We had fun with family -- here's a pic of Mom and Dad.

Thursday May 10, 2007

Xanga now allows anonymous comments! Meaning: you do NOT have to have a Xanga to comment. You don't have to sign-in or have an account -- just leave a comment and your name.  Yah!

There's a lady on the other side of the wall from me whose ringtone is the worst I've ever heard. It is a child singing. Which, I realize, sounds sweet - at first. It's a child singing "You are my sunshine". But picture it this way: a child in an almost-whisper singing 'you are my sunshine, my only sunshine' , really slow and creepy-like as if in a horror movie. Every time it rings I picture Gage from Pet Cemetery.  I wish you could hear it. It makes me shiver every time.

Thursday May 10, 2007

Urbandictionary.com

May 10, 2007: Bluetool

A person who wears a bluetooth wireless earpiece everywhere they go to seem trendy and important. Places to spot bluetools include movie theaters, malls, restaurants, gyms, grocery stores and cars.

 

Bluetool: Heyyy, how are you?

Megan: I'm great, and yourself?

Bluetool: Oh, sorry Megan. I wasn't talking to you, I'm on a call. Bluetooth.

Wednesday May 9, 2007

I passed my class!

The first piece of good news is that I am done with the class. And according to ISIS - I even get credit for it! I keep checking it to make sure it hasn't changed.

Yah! I am still pondering whether this should serve as inspiration to take the next class... or if I should quit while I'm ahead. This one about did me in. We'll see.

The second piece of good news is about Jazzercise. Every quarter or so, the powers-that-be hand down new songs/routines for class -- so we get to mix it up a little and have new stuff. I have never been so excited at Jazz until yesterday, when I discovered that they have developed a routine to a Dreamgirls song! To my knowledge, it's the only showtune we have in our repertoire. This is SUCH good news. I know a dance to "Move"! And I sang the whole time. Usually, I don't sing during Jazz because the songs are a lot of Boy Band - Kelly Clarkson - Ashlee Simpson - Michael Buble - nonsense.

Tuesday May 8, 2007

My parents called me Saturday to tell me they’d just seen a car decal that reminded them of my frequent posts about public ridiculousness. Signs with typos, for example.  The decal they saw was as follows:

 

Is nothing sacred? I have seen several of these “support” ribbons recently. Gems like:

 

 

 

It is truly ridiculous. The worst part is that some of the things they "advertise" are worthy causes – Autism Awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness, etc. Unfortunately, most of them are a joke.

 

I wonder if anyone could have foreseen the bastardization of the yellow ribbon. It’s sad, really. Something that once symbolized patriotism, loyalty and support – is now something people use as a punch line. Honestly, we should see these things coming. Our culture is getting better and better at exploiting creative thinking. We are a society of catch-phrases and clichés. Remember “Got Milk?”. This was award-winning brilliance – a highly successful, long-running ad campaign. But leave it to Americans --we just can’t appreciate originality – we MUST manipulate it. So now we have everything from “Got Beer?” to

 

It’s sick, I tell you. Same deal with the Livestrong bracelets. Now this was a genius idea. Team up with Nike – raise money for cancer research – do wonders for the popularity of cycling – become an integral part of pop culture…  Cue the knock-offs. Every color of the rainbow, reading anything from “Go Hogs” to “Class of 2007 Rulz”. The whole thing is eerily reminiscent of the WWJD? bracelet fad from the 90s.

 

We should do more to preserve creativity and innovation.  There are truly original thinkers out there being squeezed out by predictability and greed.

 

I’m sure someday in the not-too-distant future, the Society of People Who Decide Things will secretly declare an end to the ribbon car-magnet trend. They’ll put them in a drawer next to their Trapper Keepers and Doc Martens and replace them with… something else. I can’t wait.