Thursday, July 24, 2008

This column is laugh out loud funny.

How To Make Fun of Obama

I wonder if Obama would laugh at it, though. I don’t see self-deprecation in him much.

[Oops, forgot to include the via - Thinklings]

It’s the top of the hour, which means news time on talk radio.

So the news reader just made sure we all know that the DOW is DOWN 108 points! Oh no!

Really, it’s 11am. There are 5 more hours of trading. The day could end up up.

I’m sick of the doom and gloom news. 

Just talked to the Chief - to remind him of my vacation next week. He immediately let me know of the plan to interview the candidates for the promotion and that the interview team will be he, the new Assistant Chief (who started Monday), and my boss. They were thinking of doing the interviews the first week of August, which would be right after I get back from my trip, but that maybe they would push it another week so that I have a chance to recover and get back into the groove. I told him knowing of the possibility ahead of time will make it easier to deal with if they decide to do it that first week.

Having two new people evaluate and interview will be interesting. It means real objectivity in the selection, so I’d have a hard time getting irked if they don’t pick me.

So still a few more weeks until we know the final decision. *sigh*

Today marks the 6th anniversary of my blogging life. On one level it’s weird to think that something like blogging would become such a regular part of daily life. And yet on another level, blogging has become such a part of my daily life that I can’t imagine that life without the blog and the blog world I inhabit.

The one thing I cherish from the past 6 years is the people I have met, either online alone or in person. You all are a blessing and I’m grateful for the way you have integrated into my life. You have seen a lot of changes over the years - from my single girl days, to when I met and married Beau, to the challenge of pregnancy and the birth of sweet Jesse. I’ve been a part of two wonderful churches in those years - involved in youth ministry at one and the worship/music teams of both.

I wonder what the next 6 years will look like in blogging and how any life changes that occur will impact how I blog. I guess we’ll just have to see, right?

Thank you, faithful friends and readers, for your loyalty and continued presence here. I appreciate you.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

I have a parenting question at WC for you experienced parents.

My new favorite humor blog - CakeWrecks.

[via granny]

Jesse has adopted a book from Beau’s office that when in the basement he carries around. It’s an old hardback that is missing the dust jacket. The linen cover is a lovely aqua color.

Yesterday he decided to gnaw on the spine. Quick thinking Beau snapped the picture below.

When I got home, I went up to get him from his nap to find this blue stuff around his mouth.

Silly boy.

[x-posted]

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

I think I forgot to post the recipe to my Mom’s delicious zuchini casserole a few weeks ago. I made it again last night. This batch was much better than the first. So here’s the recipe, slightly modified by me:

Zucchini Imperial
Serves 6-8

4 cups cooked zucchini (sliced)
1 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs
1/2 medium onion, small dice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Crumb Topping
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1-2 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Mix all but the crumb topping ingredients together well. Pour into greased casserole. Sprinkle top with buttered bread crumbs. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until custard is set.

I had bought four large zucchinis over the weekend and sliced them all up. This made two casseroles. I was planning to freeze the second one, but then our next door neighbors gave us some spare ribs that they grilled, so we gave them half of the second casserole.

Aside: We’ve come to really love our neighbors and the one thing that makes me sad about possibly moving out of this neighborhood is losing that.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Apparently, I’ve been living under a rock and missed this one. Beau saw it a while ago, where it was my first time to see it today.

Via my mother by email.

Beau has a poll here. Go vote, will you?

It is hard to believe we leave on Saturday for California. I’m so not ready. That said, a lot has been done to prepare:

1. Mail is on hold starting on Saturday.

2. We have a friend scheduled to come check on the cat.

3. I have a full mp3 player (thanks, Dad! - it’s actually only half full and I have 5 books and about 100 songs on there).

4. I mailed a package with Jesse things to Beau’s uncle on Friday. I was assured that it will arrive by Thursday.

5. Jesse is mostly packed. Because we’ll be in both hot and cooler weather areas, we’re packing two sets of clothes. Layers. Although for Jesse we’re including long and short pants as well as long sleeved shirts and a fleece in case the evenings get cold enough. I have yet to pack a thing for the adults.

6. Jesse’s diaper bag is pretty much ready to go with only enough diapers to get through day/night one, jarred food, two small milk cartons and two bottles of Pediasure, disposable utensils/sippy cup. Another carry-on tote bag contains two boxed meals for toddlers, the DVD player, DVDs and CDs (in a small case to save space), books for Jesse. To be added to that tote are his Moo-Moo and a blanket for the plane. The third carry-on tote will have to contain the stuff that both Beau and I want to take on the plane. This is where the tiny mp3 player is crucial for space saving. We’ll probably have additional Jesse things in there, too.

7. The car seat/stroller adapter thingy needs testing. We need to actually practice attaching the car seat to the thing so that when we get to the airport it isn’t a frustrating battle.

8. My Mom is adding pockets to the Mei Tai child wearing carrier that I bought. This means that I can wear Jesse without having to deal with my purse. We plan to buy an umbrella stroller once we’re there, so we’ll have that, too.

It’s going to be a busy week.

No doubt the book is better than the movie, but The Kite Runner (movie) is one of my favorite movies in the past few months, if not this year.

After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.

From his first words, Hassan broke my heart.

The movie is hard to watch at times. The cinematography is beautiful (it was filmed in China) and brutal. The story is compelling - two boys living in a harsh country whose lives are torn apart by one pivotal incident and then a war, and then the man who returns to his homeland as an adult to find that things are worse.

I highly recommend the movie, with 4 stars out of 5.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

I bought Shane and Shane‘s Pages CD a few weeks ago and finally gave it a listen the other day. They write beautiful songs and their musicality is a gift.

Today’s Song of the Day is Healed.

Healed
by Shane and Shane

When I think about the Lord
How He saved me, how he raised me
How He filled me with the Holy Ghost
How He healed me to the uttermost

When I think about the Lord
How He picked me up and turned me around
How He set my feet, on solid ground

It makes me wanna shout;
“Hallelujah, thank you Jesus,
Lord you’re worthy of all the glory
and all the honor, and all the praise!”

I’ve read two three reviews of The Dark Knight by bloggers whom I respect. Their opinions are sharply different.

First is Kevin D at Dean’s World. A snippet:

Unlike, say, Iron Man, I didn’t walk out of the theater completely excited.  I knew I liked what I saw but I wasn’t giddy like I was after even Batman Begins.  This made articulating my feelings about the film difficult.  Looking back I think I now know why.

Many people are calling The Dark Knight a great superhero film.  Maybe even the greatest.  But in my ears it sounds like they’re saying, “The Dark Knight is great - for a superhero movie.” As if the film was king of its own genre and should be happy with that.  And, maybe it should.  But then I realized why I didn’t feel giddy.  I didn’t feel that way because in my heart I didn’t feel I really saw a great superhero movie.  I just saw a plain great movie.

And I think that should be the legacy of The Dark Knight.  It transcended its genre like The Return of the King did for the fantasy movie genre.  They’re each great films, not just great superhero or fantasy films.

He then goes on to discuss Heath Ledger’s performance and the themes within the movie.

Next is Brant Hansen of Letters from Kamp Krusty. A snippet:

At one level, this movie is a bunch of violent, purposeless noise.

But there is a second deeper level.  At that level, “The Dark Knight” is a discourse on the nature of evil.

And then… there is a third, still deeper, final level.

At that final level, this movie is a bunch of violent, purposeless noise.

[...]

“The Dark Knight” is cultural rigormortis.  It’s what happens when we are done, and we are done.  Jacques Barzun had it right, when he wrote a history of western culture up through the 1990s, and said, certainly, that our age is defined by boredom.  We are excited by nothing, really, but maybe for a moment here, or a moment there, we can try to be turned on.  Sex can do it (or fake sex, much more likely) but brutal violence can work, too, if for a short time.

Our culture is lying on the table, and “The Dark Knight” is just another jolt before the flatline resumes.

Brant didn’t like the movie at all. Go read his entire review - it makes one think twice about seeing it.

So will I see it? Probably, but I’ll wait for the DVD. I doubt we’ll be able to get to a theater to see it, and while Kevin D liked it, his and Brant’s reviews have given me enough misgivings about it that I’m reluctant to spend the money on the tickets and a babysitter to see it in the theater.

[UPDATE 7/20]: The third is Philip of The Thinklings. He is a Batman fan to the nth degree. A snippet:

This is the Batman movie that mature (or should I say adult?) Batman fans have been waiting for. I thought it was “Batman Begins” which is awesome, but nope. The Dark Knight is it. “Finally”, we grown-up Batman fans are thinking, “the rest of the world will understand why we like Batman so much.”

This the Batman the world has been deprived of for so long by all the other attempts. Batman is not a superhero, so much as he’s the anti-anti-hero. Batman, as we fanboys know him, is a dark, conflicted character that escorts us into a journey into human nature that is so scary that we’re glad to have him as a guide, even though we know he’d never let any of us actually be friends with him.

I kept asking myself if I liked the movie throughout the movie. I realized when it was over that I should have been asking myself, “why so serious?”, which is the promotional tagline of the film, and is spoken by The Joker. I was so serious because this is a serious film. It is not a summer super-hero popcorn flick. It explores the dark side of human nature in such a way that forced me to ask “where is the hope?” when I left. There is an answer found in the self-sacrifice of some of the characters of the film. But wow, what a journey.

He likes it and gives a good review for why he likes it without giving too much away in spoilers. Thanks for the warning to parents, Philip. 

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Beau is starting a blog. We got him set up over here. Posting to start soon, I’m sure.