Optional soundtrack: The Smiths - Unhappy Birthday

- Wow. Tom and I went to go see the Coen Brother’s film No Country for Old Men, based on the book by Cormac McCarthy. We totally loved it. Even though we went to a tiny movie theater that we had vowed earlier never to see a movie in again. We sat 3 rows from the front and were so close we had no idea how the people in font of us could see anything at all. Our knees were pressed to the seats in front of us. Granted we are both tall but this was ridiculous. We were happy to finally see a movie worth the money however. The character of Anton Chigurh played by Javier Bardem was the scariest bad guy I have seen in a movie in a long time. He plays a psychopath that kills people without flinching with a high pressure air gun used to kill cattle. But what is really creepy about him is that he finds his order in a coin flip and only shows any impatience when someone won’t call it. I loved walking out of the theater knowing that most people did not feel satisfied with the ending. Id like to read the book. I recently finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and was able to accept his tendency for open endedness and long silences. We are big Lebowski fans here, so anything that Ethan and Joel Coen are involved in gets on our favorites list.

- I have been tagged by another blog called a broader mark. I have to admit that I have never read the tagger’s blog before. Tagging is like a pyramid scheme but there is no money involved, just a way to spread or share readership of one’s own blog. I have to admit that I am not a very good player. As a rule I delete all forwards. This was a habit I got into when working in a place where I would get between 300 to 400 e-mails a day. I didn’t have time for anything non-essential. I also hate them from friends and relatives because it bugs me that they take time to read this crap and send it on to me, but do not ever take the time to sit down and write a simple e-mail. And also because I am often offended by them. I have been forwarded some narrow minded stuff and I have been kicked out of the like-minded club for my responses. I am usually disappointed by the people who send them as well. I feel they should know better. Boycotting Starbucks because they won’t give free coffee to US soldiers in Iraq (which was not true), Mars is coming closer to the earth than the moon (better kiss yer arse goodbye if that happens), everyone should learn how to speak English (that one really pissed me off), men are stupid themed, “In God we Trust” is no longer on the dollar coin, or Photoshopped photos of people burning with American flags they have burned. It all makes me scratch my head and wonder if our education and opinions are formed by floating hoax-y e-mails that promote hate and ignorance and remind us that our only power is to forward on an un-researched e-mail or act as a consumer! Why do we choose to endlessly circulate this crap when there are so many causes and issues that actually need our attention out there that get none! Have you ever received a forward asking for fundraising help for the homeless? Or have you ever forwarded an article that brings attention to something we should really be outraged about like inhumane living conditions of the elderly?
OK, down from the soap-box…i digress…anyway, the tag…yes. So in case you don’t know, if you are tagged, someone posts a link to your blog on their web-site along with 6 others. In turn you have to link back to them and post 7 blog sites and also list 7 little known or interesting facts about yourself. Seems harmless I guess, but I wouldn’t ever ask anyone to link to me on their site. But I am not sure how thats any different from people being able to link to me through comments I have made on other sites. I guess it is because comments are open to all, and this is something I would be specifically requesting be put on their site in the body of their post. I have links to blogs I read and have never asked them to link back to me. I would find it rude.
What I found interesting was that when I went to the site that linked to me (tagged me) I took a look at some of the other blogs that she had selected to tag. Three of them were pro-life Christian minded blogs written by women/mothers. It seemed a little strange as I am neither Christian nor pro-life and the readers of those blogs would not feel comfortable with many of my viewpoints. But maybe she felt that we are all women and mothers and we all have opposing views about many many things most likely and that we will have to agree to respect the others viewpoint and support their effort to write and self-publish. Maybe. Or maybe she just likes the writing. I know that I read blogs of people who I don’t solely agree with, but enjoy their writing and that is enough for me. Maybe I was just chosen at random, chances are good here.
But, even though I may have gotten a “doesn’t play well with others” mark on my report card more than several times, I am still able to play a game and try and lighten up and have fun with it. And what is wrong with sharing readers and hopefully turning a reader on to another blog? I am sure there are many out there I have yet to discover. So, here are 7 facts about me, and 7 blogs I like…but to be a wet blanket, I am NOT asking for anyone to link back to me!

Kickyboots
Ariel Gore (editor and creator of the magazine Hip Mama)
Wheels On The Bus
Finslipppy
Rockstar Mommy
Just Another Ink-stained Wretch
Her Bad Mother

Nor does anyone tagged have to do eff-all about it. But if anyone wants to continue the chain, here are the rules:

Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Post 7 random or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
Tag 7 people and link to them.
Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

1. I grew up in a small town in Germany as an Army brat and rode a ten speed bike around town alone when I was 7.
2. I have a strange ability to make electronic things break if I touch them. Maybe its all of my organic energy.
3. I ski without poles.
4. When I was little I wanted to meet the Elephant Man when I died so that I could tell him how sorry I was. Then the list expanded to Ghandi, Elvis, Peter O’ Toole and Frank Oz. I pictured us all at a table like in the last supper with Jesus at the center.
5. I can not remember 3 or more numbers in my head. I have to write them down always.
6. I drive with my left knee bent up and my foot on the seat because it hurts my back to sit otherwise. This was kind of interesting when I rented a stick-shift car in New Zealand and Australia where the steering wheel is on the right side of the car.
7. I have a thing for Jody Foster. Maybe because we both had stalkers.

More interesting stuff about me in list form on my about page.

- Blog stats never cease to amaze me. My favorite google searches that led me to my site lately are “old Jewish women with large breasts”, I am neither Jewish nor do I have large breasts, and “sexy grandma” ..how is this possible? since I took off my post about tattoos, “sexy stretch marks” seems to top the list. So glad I can give the people what they want.

- So we are all sorted with a summer rental at Fire Island this year. Jack and Marlowe are getting a wagon from Grandma Dewey and Pop Pop so there will be lots of fun with that. We are going with some friends of ours. I am really looking forward to it. Last year was a little nutty as we got married the day before and the babies were still not able to sit up. Now they will be walking. Ruby will hopefully not be grounded when we go this time so that she may get a bit more freedom. There are no cars on the island other than emergency and maintenance but they are few and far between. Because we live in the city we can not just let our kids play outside. It is such a luxury to be able to do that without the same worry. As a kid I rode my bike all over the place when most kids had to ask their parents to cross the street. I would test the boundaries and rode probably much further away than I should have. Ruby doesn’t get any freedom without parameters set. Strange that I would have such different rules. People say that its a different world now…but was it?

- Tom and I are going to see a Broadway play this week called The Homecoming with Michael McKean (Lenny from Laverne & Shirley, Spinal Tap, etc…) and Ian McShane (from Deadwood). We are so psyched. We were big Deadwood fans (the HBO series) so its a treat for us. We hear that Ian drinks in a bar around the corner after the show, but the babysitter might not be too happy about it if we stayed and bought a round.

- Tom is dressing the babies after a bath right now. I needed a break, he had been gone hanging out with his friend Tony who was visiting for the day and left me with the babies for a few hours. Because we are raising vegetarian babies it is making this transition into more solid solids a challenge. They had lentils with applesauce and some mac n’ cheese with flounder for dinner. But they want to feed themselves everything. Jack will either put on the breaks and refuse to eat hoping for bananas, noodles or toast, or be mad that its not coming fast enough. Marlowe will eat almost anything, but thinks its funny to feed the dog. I have some great recipe books, I make most of their food from scratch, but it is tough to get them the nutrients they need right now without being creative (sneaky) about the protein and iron. Jack is a big boy for as much as he eats he is skinny and tall. I can just imagine that we will need 2 fridges when he is a teenager. Maybe he will rebel with a bucket of KFC. We had friends from New Hampshire visit us this morning with their 8 year old. Darinda the Mom said that she loves meat so much that she looses the ability to speak when she passes the meat counter, and she often pulls over after stopping at the McDonalds drive through just in case she may need a second sandwich. Tom e-mailed a bunch of friends a link to am article on meat production in the NY Times last week, He got some funny responses “f*ckin’ hippie”, and “now I want a Big Mac”. It is so hard to change what we are used to, especially something that gives instant gratification. Perhaps one day there will be a Meat Eaters Anonymous. Here is the link to the article if you are interested, it is about the meat industry’s effects on the environment and is called “Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler“. I can just imagine the votes lost if “Hitlery” or “Huckleberry” as a friend calls them vowed to do something about this issue.

- Marlowe Rose, the girl is almost 1 and can already accessorize!

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