Selling Seats and Stealing Cash

Did anybody else see this headline - Blagojevich appoints Obama Senate Successor?

This news story is better than a made for TV drama. At least it looks like the appointment will be meaningless because the Illinois Secretary of State has stated he will not certify the appointment.

I still can't wrap my mind around the idea that a United States governor tried to sell a Senate seat. Seriously, that is pretty ballsy move.

Think of all the baby steps of deviant behavior that must have lead up to this kind of behavior. How did he get to this point?

I feel like I need to redefine all my previous notions of corruption. I always assumed there was some shady stuff going on in this country, but attempting to sell a senate seat really raised the bar on what I consider possible.

I'm also fascinated by the Madoff scandal. The first world wide Ponzi scheme. It's amazing (or maybe alarming would be a better word choice) the amount of financial damage this one man and his company was able to do.

I thought Kevin Bacon's involvement (Actors Bacon, Sedqwick Among Madoff victims) making headlines was pretty funny. I think every newspaper in the country made a six degrees of separation joke.

I guess you gotta find the humor where you can in a situation like this.

Just imagine if these guys had used their talents for good. Who knows what they could have accomplished.

Elmo Must Die

My mom got my son an Elmo Live for Christmas.

This was by far his biggest, fanciest present.

(Quick background in case you don't own a small child, Elmo Live is a talking, singing, dancing, sitting, standing, generally hyperactive Elmo doll. Click this link and you can watch a video of Elmo in action.)

Being the cheap mom of a son with a high potential for destruction, I'm generally against talking dolls that cost $60 dollars, but Grandmas have their sneaky ways.

My mom has been saving coupon codes off of coffee products forever. She figured out how to redeem them and get an Elmo for free so I couldn't object very effectively.

Even if I'm a bit of a scrooge, I really thought he was going to love the new Elmo. (I'm just also convinced he will break it and forgot about it in a few months.)

And he did love it.

He loved Elmo right up to the moment it started to talk and move.

He took one look at Elmo in his full gesturing, articulating glory and freaked out. Total and complete toddler meltdown.

Their first introduction ended with Elmo being beaten over the head with a toy dust pan.

Apparently, he decided Elmo needed to die.

Not exactly the reaction I was anticipating.

Later Christmas day, my mom called to ask if the little guy loved Elmo. Sometimes I really wish I was better at lying.

In Hiding - Part 2

The family is still here, but it's nap time again so I'm hiding out (again) for a little bit. It really is amazing the difference a few minutes of quiet can make.

This morning we went into the city (meaning DC) and hit the Natural History Museum. I love that place. I think of all the museums in this city, Natural History is my very favorite.

My son is finally big enough to get excited by all the dinosaurs, fish and animals. He has a great time and pushed every button he could get his chubby little fingers on. I think the in laws enjoyed it as well since it was there first venture into that particular museum.

The timing of the trip worked out pretty well. We went in early and got a good parking place. We stayed a few hours and left just as it was getting really busy.

All and all, it's been a good day so far.

Anyway, back to the Christmas present stories. Thanks for sharing all the gifts. Sounds like people got some good loot.

I did really well in the gift arena myself.

My husband is actually pretty good at giving gifts, which I hear is rare from my friends. He bought me a couple of DVDs, The Tales of Beetle Bard, and a tray for the bath tub that can hold a book and a glass of wine. I assume this also means I get a chance to take a nice long bath at some point, which is a wonderful gift in my book.

My mother in laws buys me really nice, super feminine presents. She only has boys so I think she is excited to finally buy girl presents. She always buys a ton of gifts. She's a big shopper and a champion bargain hunter (by far the best I have ever seen).

I really do appreciate her efforts. I'm just not all that girlie and sometimes I don't really know what to do with the presents. My most baffling gift this year was a Christmas tree platter from Hallmark with a spreader with a light on the handle that really lights up.

Really... You twist the bulb and the light shaped handle glows.

I honestly don't even know what I'm supposed to serve on it. Cheese balls? Butter? If anybody else knows, please share because I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to this stuff.

I guess I can use it with the round peppermint candy striped bowl and matching spreader I got last year (still not sure what to do with that one either). So far, I have washed and put in the cupboard. The next step is still alluding me.

She also gave me some fancy lotions, lip gloss and a lot of Hallmark ornaments (at least I know what to do with those).

I actually really like all the Hallmark ornaments. I just get a little alarmed at the sheer volume of ornaments we have acquire each year. I also like the fancy bath stuff.

And last, but not least, I got a new red fiestaware platter. Which is very cool. I'm not a china kind of girl, but I love my brightly colored fiestaware.

So basically, I made out like a bandit this year.

Well, I should probably quit hiding and return to the family. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

In Hiding

I'm hiding from my family.

And I am thoroughly enjoying a few minutes of peace and quiet.

The toddler is napping and everybody else is in the other room.

I think they (meaning the husband and the in laws) are reading, but I don't really care. As long as it doesn't involve me they can do whatever they want. If they want to go through my underwear drawer and run around naked, I could care less right now (as long as they do it quietly and don't wake the wild one).

The best part is that there is nothing that needs to be done right now. All the presents were opened and all the food is already cooked.

We're eating nothing but leftovers today and it is glorious.

I know that there is a ton of clean up that will need to be done eventually, but I'm not about to think about it right now.

As a matter of fact, I'm even going to change the subject-Did anybody get any interesting gifts?

I got some pretty good stuff and a few things that are pretty funny, but I think I'm going to have to tell you more about it later because I think the toddler is waking up....

Crap.

Well, the peace was nice while it lasted.

Let the wild rumpus begin.

Pay It Forward People

Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Happy Kwanzaa! Wonderful Festivus!

Happy Holidays (whatever holiday you prefer to celebrate).

My in laws arrive this afternoon so I will probably be a sporadic visitor to blogland over the next week so I just wanted to give a little holiday shout out. I hope to blog some, but probably don't be writing daily.

I'm looking forward to hearing all the stories once the festivities die down. Between the tree climbing cat, the wild toddler and the in laws coming in for the week, I'm pretty sure something interesting will happen in my house.

I hope your holidays are wonderful and that this is the start of a wonderful and exciting New Year for all of us.

I just wanted to leave you all with one last thought. This is a great time of year to pay it forward a bit. I just learned about a great way to help (and it's easy and doesn't cost you a dime).

Visit Christa over at Giggle On and leave her a comment. For every comment (limited to one per day per person between now and Dec. 28th) she'll donate $1 to The Food Bank of Delaware.

It's that easy.

Take care and don't fight too much with your family.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

First off, I want to say I'm sorry I stopped believing in you.

I realize now that you must exist.

I don't think the parents of the world could been pulling off all these great Christmas mornings without your help because, frankly, it is hard work to do it on my own.

This is my first year hosting Christmas. I'm really not sure I'm doing a great job on my own so I would really appreciate a little help here.

This year for Christmas, I don't really want more stuff. We already have way, way too much stuff. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but we have plenty of presents to open. (We have the only grandchild on one side of the family...)

What I would really like this year is peace on earth and goodwill toward man.

The world could really use it.

But it that is too much for one person to ask for, could I please have peace in my one little house and goodwill towards my family?

My in laws are visiting for almost a week and company never brings out the best in me. Please send a little extra Christmas spirit my way so that I can make this an extra special Christmas for everyone (including me).

Give the elves and Mrs. Claus my best.

Thank you,
Me

P.S. Please take the Christmas cookies when you stop by. All of them. I'm afraid my belly is going to start shaking like a bowl of jelly soon.

Not a Good Sign

I think the Internet is trying to tell me something.

You know how some blogs require a word verification that confirms you're human by making you type in a random almost word in weird font before you can leave a comment?

Well, I was trying to leave a comment on the very first blog I visited today and the word I was asked to verify was "sucka".

Seriously...

I'm couldn't make this stuff up.

Serving It - Facebook Style

I have a facebook account.

I think a lot of us who like to read or write blogs do.

I just thought of it as an easy way to keep track of people. People more around and get new phone numbers, but their facebook account pretty much stays consistent.

I don't really like the idea of putting a lot of information about myself out on the Internet (part of why there aren't any names or photos on this blog). I set the privacy controls so that only my "friends" can see my facebook profile.

I am also pretty careful what I post. I don't want to ruin my reputation with an employer or somebody like that because I posted something stupid online.

(I am very thankful that My Space and facebook weren't big when I was in college..Those of you who aren't old and lame yet should be very,very careful)

I never envisioned facebook as an "official" means for anybody to contact me, especially the government.

This isn't a reality in the US yet, but it may be on heading this way.

On December 12, an Australian court ruled that a mortgage lender could use facebook as a means to serve legal documents after weeks of failed attempts to contact delinquent home owners.

Think about it, they ruled you can legally be served papers on facebook.

I really don't think I'm comfortable with that precedence.

If you have a facebook account (or are just as paranoid as I am), you should check out this article - Aussie Court Oks Using Facebook for Serving Lien

No, No, NO!!!

My 20 month old son has been steadily adding a new word or two every day to his vocabulary, but yesterday he really outdid himself.

Yesterday's new words were Elmo, bounce, stairs, elevator (his first three syllable word), Rudolph, apricots and no.

I'm all for language development, but he has really grabbed onto that last one with both hands.

There was a point yesterday where he was running circles in the living room chanting no (for no apparent reason).

Pretty much everything I asked him yesterday was answered with an enthusiastic "NO" and violent head shaking. Even statements not really requiring an answer, were answered with "NO, NO, NO".

He's been saying "Yes" for months so I figured we were living on borrowed time, but I was kind of hoping to just jump over the "everything is no" phase.

The wild screaming "NO" should go over well when the in laws come into town next week.

TGIF, people, TGIF

Potential Mind Readers

I know I'm a big dork, but I love learning about the new scientific breakthroughs. There is some wild research going on in this world.

This new study by Japanese scientists is amazing. Basically, they have reconstructed images that people were looking at by measuring their brain activity.

That, my friends, is just crazy.

Here is the quick version on how this works. When you look at something, the eye receives optical images and that are converted into electrical signals in the retina. These electrical signals are then processed in the visual cortex in the brain.

Using a functional MRI (which measures the dynamic regulation of blood flow in the brain), Japanese scientists have successfully reconstructed images that people were looking at by measuring brain activity in the visual cortex.

So in a nutshell, they can "see" what somebody else is looking at by taking an MRI of their brain.
Crazy, right?

Don't worry, you don't need to get paranoid that somebody will read your thoughts just yet.

The current technology is still pretty limited. They were only able to "see" very simple images. Before they can reconstruct anything, the process has to be calibrated by showing the person participating hundreds of still pictures while measuring their brain activity.

But the potential future use of this type of technology is still pretty mind blowing.

Once they really figure out what they are doing, they could possibility "see" what people are thinking or dreaming by measuring their brain activity.

I'm not sure what the practical applications of seeing other peoples dreams would be (other than freaking yourself out), but a world of possibilities open up if you could reconstruct images that people are thinking.

It might completely transform how interrogations are performed.

Imagine if you had a suspected terrorist to interview. You could just ask them questions and "see" whatever pops into their mind.

That would be one heck of a lie detector.

It's a brave new world out there folks.

If you want to get smart on this subject, check out these articles: "Images read from the human brain" and "Dreams may no longer be secret with Japanese Computer Screen." If you are super interested in the details, this study is the cover article of this month's Neuron.

Incompetent Predator

I thought the toddler was the biggest threat to the Christmas tree this year.

As usual, I was wrong...

Meet Bruce Wayne.

This was not his first trip up the tree this year.

He also enjoys eating the (artificial) tree and then throwing up, repeatedly.

I think this is his favorite time of year.

My poor house cat has just enough instinct left to totally screw with him.

(Sorry -A picture of my ridiculous cat is the best I've got today. I'm behind on work hours and my son has decided that sleeping is unnecessary. I should be back to wasting way too much online tomorrow.)

Airport Karaoke

Houston's Bush International Airport has added a little something special to spread the holiday cheer this season...

Karaoke booths.

Travelers can now choose from hundreds of songs and win small prizes for their performances.

I can't decide whether this is brilliant or an absolutely horrible idea.

I have neither the talent or inclination to sing in public (I am strictly a shower rock star) so I have no experience with karaoke.

To those of you who are karaoke superstars, would you actually want to sing in an airport?

While running between planes, would you ever stop and think "Hey, I should totally take a break from this madness and sing a song for complete strangers right now."

I have to admit that karaoke booths would open up some interesting possibilities, even for the crappy singers of the world.

You now would have fantastic, legal means to torture particularly rude fellow travelers.

Watching the show could be great fun if you are lucky enough to have several hours (or an entire night) to kill at the airport. You could buy a drink (or two) and pretend you're watching the first part of the American Idol season. I tend to yell at my TV so it might be fun to actually get some feedback.

On a slightly serious note, it would probably be an ideal place to try karaoke for the first time. You aren't likely to run into any audience members ever again.

As an added bonus for parents, airport karaoke should make screaming children look better by comparison.

Tom Cruise, Hitler and Christmas?

I just watched a trailer for the new Tom Cruise film, Valkyrie.

Did anybody else think it was odd that it was opening in theatres on Christmas day?

I don't know a whole lot about the plot, but the trailer makes it pretty clear that the movie is about members of the Nazi party plotting to assassinate Hitler.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and wager a guess that the ending won't leave you feeling warm and fuzzy since...you know.. Hitler wasn't actually assassinated by his own party.

I think the happiest ending you can hope for is something along lines of Brave Heart.

So somewhere in Lalaland, people sat around and came up with the idea to release a potentially depressing Hitler movie on Christmas.

Wait... Make that a movie about Hitler starring a well known scientologist.

I'm pretty curious to see their numbers for opening weekend.

I did a quick Internet search and there is a lot of dirty laundry associated with Valkyrie. The release date for this movie has jumped around from June 27,2008 to February 14, 2009 (because obviously it would make a romantic date movie for Valentines).

I think the behind the scenes drama is probably more interesting than what's happening on the screen.

In a Word: Sucks

My son is 20 months old. So he is basically a small human sponge at this point.

He's hit the point where he is starting to learn words last fast enough that I've lost track. He doesn't use sentences yet, but it is amazing how much he can express already.

This weekend, he caught me off guard once again with his ever expanding vocabulary.

It all started when I went in to get him after his nap this weekend. He was happily playing with the curtain that apparently he now had the ability to reach.

Visions of falling curtain rods quickly flashed through my mind.

(And yeah, I am aware that this incident takes me out of the running for mother of the year. He must sprouted inches over night because I swear he couldn't reach the freaking curtain last week.)

So with the husband helping, we pulled the little guy out of the crib and moved it farther away from the window.

Then we put the little man back into the crib to toddler test the new arrangement.

He quickly stuck one chubby little hand out as far as it could go trying to reach the curtain unsuccessfully. Then he tried out a few more locations with the same results.

Then he looked at me with a wide eyed, sad face and said "Sucks".

Sucks?

Did my baby really just say sucks?

Oops!

Unfortunately, I am pretty sure I know who he learned that from.

At least he used it in proper context.

The Christmas Crunch

Christmas is less than two weeks away.

Less than two freakin' weeks.

There is still so much that still needs done.

Is it just me or was Christmas extra sneaky this year? Thanksgiving was so late it tricked me into a false sense of security.

Well, at least I'm done shopping. This is good because time is short and my wallet can't take much more abuse.

But..

I haven't mailed a card.

I don't have any stamps.

The cookies won't bake themselves.

Not a single present has been wrapped.

My tree isn't even up.

(At least the whole tree thing was on purpose. I wanted to limit the number of times I say "please don't touch the tree" to something that will keep my head from exploding. My little wild one and the tree will be an adventure.)

This is looking like a pretty busy weekend in my house.

I will probably not be posting until Monday and please forgive me if I don't visit and comment as often as usual.

I need to get my behind in gear and whip up some Christmas cheer.

Happy holiday panicking to all of you.

Squashed Philosophers

I don't know about the rest of you, but there are huge gaping holes in my education.

What can I say, I went to a university with polytechnic in the name.

General education requirements were almost nonexistent. I could get through a semester only writing one or two papers if I choose my classes carefully.

(And yes, I do see the irony in the fact I now write a blog.)

In my field, I pretty much know what I'm doing. When it comes to everything else, I'm pretty much out of my league.

One of the things I'm trying to do during this interstitial phase of my life is round my education out a bit. I'd kind of like to know the stuff that an average, educated adult should know.

So when I was playing with StumbleUpon earlier this week, this website caught my eye - Squashed Philosophers.

Philosophy is one of those courses I didn't take in college.

The site is great for a people with limited time (like the mom of a toddler for example).

They have taken the works of well-known philosophers and squashed them down to about a 30 minute read. What's left is still their original words, just distilled down to the most important stuff.

I thought it was a pretty niffy way to learn a little bit about a lot philosophers.

I figure I should be able to learn at least as much as much people remember.

The Secret Life of Engineers

I was working yesterday and I started to giggle when the phrases "size of tip" and "premature extraction" were used in the same sentence.

(Maybe it's good I work from home so there are no coworkers to witness such ridiculousness).

But this made me realize something (other than the fact I need to grow up).

Engineers really get a bad rep.

Everybody makes us out to be pretty darn lame, but I don't think there is a single profession out there with more dirty jokes worked into the lingo.

Well, I guess you could argue that the world's oldest profession would give us a run for our money (then probably beat us up and take it), but I'm not talking really dirty jokes.

I'm talking about the stuff that is perfectly acceptable to say in front of grandma, but somehow still sounds a little dirty and slightly wrong.

For example, take the term "partial penetration butt weld". Can anybody read that without having a flashback to junior high?

For the record, there are also open butt welds and full penetration butt welds.

There is a ton of this kind of stuff in the world of engineering, welding is just one tiny example.

How could we not be fun to invite to a holiday party?

Seriously, invite a few engineers, add a little alcohol and see what matters...

Poor, Little Rich, Super Successful Girl

This story was on the main page of MSN News yesterday - At 200 pounds, Oprah is 'mad, embarrassed'

It must suck to have your weight make national headlines.

I actually feel bad for Oprah (which is pretty weird since she is an amazingly successful woman).

I understand why the media jumps so quickly on a good Oprah weight story. There is a wonderful irony in Oprah struggling with her weight when she covers so many diets and fitness experts on her show (and in her books, on her radio station, etc).

I just wish the Media would cover more of Oprah's accomplishments and not care quite so much what she weighs. It's not like there isn't anything else to focus on. Oprah is a pretty busy gal after all. She has basically built an empire, donates massive amounts of cash, and has an almost alarming amount of influence.

Even if you don't like her products (which I don't really), I think you have to respect her sheer marketing genius.

I just wish she was a little more happy in her own skin. Both for her benefit and the benefit of all of us. Then maybe the Media would focus on more "weighty" subjects than what Oprah's scale reads.

If someone with Oprah's fame, fortune and talent still struggles with self esteem and weight issues, it probably doesn't set the best example for those of us that are mere mortals.

New Links

For your enjoyment I've added a few new links to my friends and links list.

Luvem or Leavem - This one is especially for you single gals.

Current blog topics include long distance relationships and what makes a man sexy.

My love life is pretty stable and uneventful lately (which is a good thing when you're married), but I am thoroughly enjoying living vicariously through this blog.

On this website you can also vote on dilemmas. It really simple, you read the dilemma and then select "Luvem" or "Leavem". It is more fun than it should be.

Bernthis - This is one you need to just read for yourself. It's one of the funniest blogs I've found (and I've been looking a lot).

She even includes a video series to go along with the blog with the tag line, "A neurotic woman's journey through her weekly visits to her therapist."

Happy reading.

Let me know if you liked the blogs and , as always, feel free to leave any blogs or websites you love in the comments.

(You can even promote your own blog in the comments, I don't mind).

Stealing the Empire State Building

Did you hear that the empire state building was stolen last week?

Not physically stolen, of course. In addition to being an amazing engineering feat, that would have been all over the news.

But reporters at Daily News "stole" the Empire State Building by getting bureaucrats to rubber stamp approval to transfer the deed to "Nelots Properties" (nelots is stolen spelled backwards).

If you're curious, the news story was called "It took 90 minutes for the Daily News to 'steal' the Empire State Building."

The reporters claim it was actually pretty easy to pull off. All it took was creating some fake documents, creating a bogus notary stamp and filing the paperwork.

The newspaper withheld some key information so would-be criminals couldn't use the story to improve their skills, but the process to steal a deed sounds reasonable straight forward.

The whole point of committing this "crime" was to illustrate how easy mortgage fraud is in this country.

The under laying message really is pretty scary, even if they method used to illustrate it is amusing.

Enough with the Insults, You Stupid Computer

Dear Computer,

I know we’ve had our disagreements over the years, but this time you’ve gone too far.

You really need to stop calling me fat.

I know you didn’t say those exact words, but don’t think I missed the message with all those ads on my Facebook page.

Acai Berry Blend, The Supermodel Diet, Smart Fruits Weight Lost, Oprah’s Diet Challenge, The Rachel Ray Diet, The Hills Diet…

Seriously, did you think I wouldn’t be insulted?

Frankly, you’re not looking so sleek and trim yourself these days, especially compared to those new tiny laptops. You are a 6 year old desk top after all.

Maybe you should just keep your diet suggestions to yourself.

Don’t think for one minute I didn’t notice those other ads.

What is it about my personal information that makes you think I would want to buy Brittney Spears tickets, need to start using proactive, or should enter a contest to win free laser hair removal?

And if Facebook,wasn’t bad enough, you had to get Amazon involved. When I searched for “Transformers” did you really think I was looking for the book “Inductors and Transformers for Power Electronics” or a 80-watt Electronic Transformer?

Why don’t you just call me a dork to my face?

I know I ordered some engineering review guides when I took my PE, but that was over three years ago. I really think it’s time you let that one go.

Please consider this your official warning.

Stop the insults immediately or face the consequences.

Sincerely,
Me

Go Granny, Go Granny, Go Granny, Go

My 83 year old grandmother just got a new car.

Naturally, I assumed it would be practical, safe land boat like car.

I'm not sure I've never been so completely wrong in my life.

She bought herself a brand new Dodge Charger RT (the kind the police drive).

This car is a rocket with s a 5.7 liter V8 HEMI under the hood.

I may never get the Beach Boys out of my head again.

Sing it with me - "It's the the little old lady from Pasadena.."

Mom-In-Chief

Michelle Obama has been in the news a lot lately for her “Mom-In-Chief” comment and her decision to take a break from full-time paid work.

To me, the most interesting thing about Michelle’s situation isn’t her actual decision. The part that fascinates me is that she was a no-win situation. It didn’t matter what she choose, she was going to piss people off.

I think that pretty much sums it up for all mothers these days.

If you work full-time, you’re selfish and neglecting your children. If you stay home, you’re selling out feminism and wasting your education.

I vote we start giving Michelle (and ourselves) the benefit of the doubt. She strikes me as a loving, intelligent woman who is capable of making the decision that is best for her family. Let’s stop passing judgment and assume she is doing the best she can (like we all are).

The strangest thing about the mommy wars to me is how the issues are not nearly as black and white as they are portrayed. When it comes to staying home or working, I think it is possible to say yes to both options (although maybe not at the same time). Many moms are a hybrid of the two extremes, but the working debate is generally presented as an all or nothing choice.

Take Michelle as an example. Does taking a year off make her a Stay At Home Mom? Say she starts working part time from home, what does that make her? What if she never works full-time again, would that be a waste of her talents and education? How does unpaid volunteer work fit in? What if she starts volunteering full-time? Is a paid check necessary for work to “count”?

I don’t know the answers. I just know that for most of us, it isn’t as simple as a one time choice to either to work or stay home.

I also want to knowledge that even having the work debate is a luxury that many moms don’t have. If you need to work, do it (and don’t ever feel guilty about it).

To me, the bottom line is that being a good mom means doing what is best for your family (which includes you), whatever action that translates into.

Weird Coincidence

This is my 50th blog post.

This morning I checked out Analytics and I just had my 50th visitor.

(This isn't quite as pathetic as it sounds since my blog has it's first visitor on November 3.)

I love all the little coincidences in life.

Hopefully, I don't have to write 100 posts to get a 100 visitors.

Blog Diving

I've been exploring the whole blogging scene lately.

I'm pretty new to blogging and it's pretty interesting to see what other people are doing online.

I've been doing something I call "Blog Diving" (and yes I am totally procrastinating doing real work).

You can start the game from any blog with a list of favorite blogs. Click on a link in their list of favorite blogs that sounds interesting and see where it takes you. Continue until you get tired or reach a dead end.

It's a little practical test of the theory of six degrees of separation. It amazes me how you can end up somewhere completely random.

This is my favorite blog dive so far:

I started with Jules of Denial. It is a blog by a Single Mom with lots of pictures of her three year old daughter and she talks about life, parenting and that sort of thing.

From her blog list, I selected What's Its Like to be Mie, which turns out to be another "mom blog". The current post includes pictures of Christmas tree ornaments, but I suspect she is a fellow dork (meant in the kindest way) because her blog list has a wide variety of interesting links to choose from.

From the list on Mie's page I clicked on The Droid Whisperer (I had to with that title). His current post discusses a recent New York Times article on autonomous lethal combat robots...that's right, killer robots. He even quotes Issac Asimov who is near and dear to my own nerdy heart.

The Droid Whisperer doesn't link to any personal blogs (only comics strips and fan sites) so that's the end of the game.

So in three clicks, I went from a relatively tame mom blog talking about a cute thing her daughter said to a blog talking about the potential dangers of killer robots complete with Star Wars references and a link to D&D site.

I love the Internet.

Take a blog dive today, it's more fun than you might think.

Let me know how it turns out.

A Bad Deal

Oh, crap.

I was just starting to enjoy all the huge sales. Stores were practically giving stuff away on Black Friday.

I thought the bargains might be a silver lining in the looming cloud of economic despair.

Then I saw this headline - Deflation: Bargains abound, which could be a problem.

Here is a little uplifting teaser from the article:

"[Sales are] increasing the risk that the economy could become mired in a
dangerous deflationary spiral — a widespread, sustained reduction in prices.
That's something that hasn't happened here since the Great Depression."

Man, now I'm so depressed I need to go shopping...

Sexy in Sweat Pants?

I think I got hit on at the gym yesterday.

I'm a little rusty in this area, but the guy was pretty blatant so I don't think I misread the situation.

I was on the treadmill and he stopped walking right in front of me. He looked me up and down (seriously, who really does that?), gave me a little smile and went about his business.

I don't even remember the last time something like that happened to me. What is the proper way to respond?

The really weird part was the guy was young, really young. I would guess somewhere around 20. Catching the eye of a retiree won't be nearly as shocking or unexpected.

I am probably about 10 years older than the guy in question. Additionally, I am not one of those ladies who dress cute to workout (more power to you girls).

I had no makeup on, my hair was completely crazy and I was wearing ratty old sweat pants and a horrible wrinkled t-shirt. I'm not a fashionista on my best days, but I was looking rough even by my standards.

I know the situation probably had more to do with youthful raging hormones than how hot I am sporting my sweats, but I'll take the ego boasts where I can get then.

So thank you random guy at the gym for making me remember I am a woman (and not just a mom).

Lame Blogs

My blog may not be brilliant, but at least I didn't make this list: The 11 Lamest Blogs on the Internet.

I thought it was pretty entertaining. I'm not a fan of Rosie, Kim or Paris.

Family, Food, Football

I'm back.

I'm definitely not back in the groove yet, but I am physically back home.

The trip went really well (as well as any trip involving a five hour car ride with a toddler can go I think).

I didn't blog (obviously).

I didn't watch the news (unless Sports Center counts, but that wasn't exactly my idea).

The only thing I read was a slightly sappy novel called "Belong to Me" (which was wonderful) and the Sunday comics.

I didn't even check my email (there were 63 waiting for me last night).

It was just family, food, and football (again, not my idea, but when in Rome...). Thankfully, the Steelers won Sunday so that everyone remained in high spirits.

For the last four days, I was in a little cocoon of family bonding and shopping (lots and lots of shopping). We took my son to see Santa for the first time (which was cute), we hit the mall, we went to a huge Outlet shopping center and we ate.

All in all, it was a very satisfactory Thanksgiving experience, even if it lacked the kind of family drama that makes for good blogging.

It was a nice break, but I'm ready to return to my normal life.

It is also so much easier to wrangler the toddler on home turf. Spending three days in a non-child proof house wears me out.

I promise to have something more interesting tomorrow...