Sweeney Todd

What was I thinking? Oh yeah, I was thinking I love me some Johnny Depp. And some Tim Burton. And it got good reviews. And, technically, it was good. But yikes! That movie had more arterial spray than three seasons of CSI. The ending could have been poignant, but by then, I was too busy wishing it was over to care.

My Big Fat Carbon Footprint

I have a standing shipment of protein bars that comes from Amazon once a month. It's just a small box, so I thought I would save the planet by combining that order with a few books I wanted. So I ordered the books and hit the "combine orders" button. Sorry, these orders cannot be combined. But wait, now I have 2 small orders being shipped separately. Let's order another book I was going to order eventually and combine it with the second order to justify the shipping. Sorry, these orders cannot be combined. Well, less than 30 seconds have passed. Let's just cancel that extra book. Sorry, we're already working on this order. You can't cancel it. Of course, they shipped some items separately, so received 4 shipments in three days. The UPS guy is going to think I have a crush on him.

Priorities

Says Charlotte Church, mother of a nine month old and pregnant with #2: ''We want to have our babies young and then I'm going to get married and look fabulous for that."

She wants up to 6 kids before 32. Does she think she's going to look more fabulous after 10 years and 5 more kids than she does right now? Well, I guess she has enough money to buy her body back, but still. No time to squeeze in a wedding between #1 and #2? I've heard lots of excuses for putting off a wedding, but waiting until after the birth of all the kids you're ever going to have is a new one.

I guess no one cares about illegitimacy anymore. I can't say I care a lot. I have a youngish female relative who is expecting, but not planning to marry the father. My mother (in her 60's) is horrified that they won't marry "just to give the baby a name." Can't say I even thought about that. But I wouldn't continue to have kids with a guy who wouldn't marry me, or who I didn't want to marry. Terribly old-fashioned of me.

Dog Party

Mia wanted a dog-themed birthday party. Check out these cute dog cakes I got from Target:


They're each made from two jumbo cupcakes. The day I picked these up, they had a lion in the display case that was so cute, it made me wish we'd done a jungle theme. $4.99 a piece.

Softening Michelle's Image

The NT Times has an article out today trying to rescue Michelle Obama's image. It's not working for me. She really has to stop saying what a trial it was to go to Princeton. That's a trial only a few have the privilege of suffering through.

The author notes she was one of 94 black students in a class of 1100. Hmmm. That's nearly 9%. Since blacks are around 10%, I'm not sure why she feels the situation was so unreasonable.
Maybe her perception was a little skewed. From the article:

“Diversity can’t be taken care of with 10 kids,” she says. “There is an isolation that comes with that.”

10 kids. Or 94 kids. Or (94 x 4 classes) 376 kids. Whatever. It's all bad. And I guess that's my issue with her. Everything America has to offer has been laid at her feet. And she's still not happy. 95% of the people her husband would presume to govern have less than she does. It's just unseemly to whine about it.

Going Green in Greensburg

Remember Greensburg, Kansas, wiped of the face of the map by a massive tornado last year? Well, the town elders decided to take the opportunity of a blank slate to rebuild the town in an entirely green fashion and, what the heck, do a reality show for the Green Channel. Who knew there was a green channel? I didn't, until this weekend. It's one of Discovery's many channels.

Anyway, I found the first episode interesting and, even though it is a Leo DeCaprio production, I intend to continue watching. He may be putting his money where his mouth is this time. And I'm curious to see what solutions they come up with. I live in an area undergoing rapid (sub)urban sprawl and it never ceases to amaze me that subdivision after subdivision goes up with no obvious concern for energy conservation. You'd think a house that was cheap to heat and cool would be a big seller, at least here on the plains.

Ladies First

A guest on a local public affairs radio show just related this story her grandmother told about arriving at Ellis Island from Slovenia. When an official came around with a basket of apples, all the men pushed forward. The official said "Now, now. Ladies first." When the women figured out what he meant, one of them said "God bless America, where ladies come first."

Mini Frittatas

My latest self-improvement project involves cooking better meals for the family. Alas, they have excluded so many foods that I might as well have decided to climb Everest. In pursuit of my impossible dream of eating from all four food groups, I've taken to checking out what's on Food Network and recording shows that look like they're featuring something my family might eat. I watch the shows when the mood strikes and, if a recipe looks good, I can get it from the Food Network website.

Here's one that actually worked: Mini Frittatas. You can substitute any kind of meat and cheese. I used bacon bits and shredded cheddar, because that's all I had. It was hard to pour out. Next time, I think I'll placed the cheese and meat in the muffin cups and pour the egg mixture on top.

Another First

The Jetta takes premium, so I had the privilege of paying over $4 per gallon for gas for the first time today; $4.12 to be exact. Luckily, the Jetta gets pretty good gas mileage. Couple that with me not driving terribly far and it should be 2 weeks before I have to do that again.

Coincidentally, while I was waiting to pick up Mia from camp, the local public affairs radio show was discussing a plan for light rail in the KC metro area. The mayor of KCMO mentioned how those people in [my part of town] make enough money to not be terrorized by the price of gas. I guess he's right. I'd rather drop $50 on something else, but it's just a bummer, not a budget buster (yet).

Ouch

Bill Bennett:

And thus the Democratic party is about to nominate a far left candidate in the tradition of George McGovern, albeit without McGovern’s military and political record. The Democratic party is about to nominate a far-left candidate in the tradition of Michael Dukakis, albeit without Dukakis’s executive experience as governor. The Democratic party is about to nominate a far left candidate in the tradition of John Kerry, albeit without Kerry’s record of years of service in the Senate. The Democratic party is about to nominate an unvetted candidate in the tradition of Jimmy Carter, albeit without Jimmy Carter’s religious integrity as he spoke about it in 1976.

Chinese Culture Camp

We're lucky to have a branch of the University of Kansas' Confucius Institute a few miles from our house. They offer various summer programs for kids and today was Mia's first day of Chinese Culture Camp. She liked it so much she wanted to go back for the afternoon session, in which, alas, I did not enroll her, never dreaming she would tolerate that much camp.

She did Chinese skip jumping, learned a few Chinese words and did some drawing. She also learned that China was near France and Egypt. Hmmm. I wonder what they were actually trying to say.

If she's still loving at the end of the week, I'll enroll her for Chinese language camp later in the summer. Alas, there is no prayer of me helping her with her Chinese. She's on her own for that one.