on the couch

A Charlie Brown Valentine show was on last night. Meego had it on. I used to like these Charlie Brown shows when I was a kid, and as I sat there with Meego, I couldn't for the life of me remember WHY!

I'm sorry, it may sound unAmerican, but I just found EVERY character terribly annoying. They all had such issues. Charlie Brown was daydreaming of "The Little Red Haired Girl" to the point of obsession. Peppermint Patty was engaging in stalking behavior. PigPen - HellOH!! Linus needed to lose that blanket years ago. And Lucy is just a total BI-OTCH.

I had my sketchbook and just began scribbling. A couple of Meego's Lego toys were hanging around, and I was thankful for that. I found comfort in their weaponry.

tastes like high school

See him now?






Okay, so one day last week, I needed to take Wolfgang for his sports physical. The appointment was conveniently timed so that I would sign him out of school just as one class was ending. Easy enough.

I made my way to the high school entrance and opened the doors. I was instantly met with the roar of rushing.... hormones? Whatever.

I've been in the high school on just a few occassions - teacher/parent conferences, check-ins, dropping off forgotten whatevers - but have never been in there during the change of classes. I found myself instantly swept up in the flow of mass of teenaged humanity.

I managed to skirt my way around the borders of this current and make my way to the podium which large, angry signs were telling me I needed to stop at before advancing any further. Behind the podium was a largish Wrestlemania-looking man that I guessed worked nights as an effective nightclub bouncer.

In a surprisingly grandmotherly tone, he handed me a visitor's badge and asked that I please return it to him before I left. I then dove into the current of teenaged humanity.

The flow carried me up the stairs to the office. Except... wait... it's the library that's upstairs. The office is downstairs. CRAP! I managed to untangle myself from the mass of teenaged humanity and hug the wall.

Now I had to somehow find a way to get down two levels. I detected a flow of mass of teenaged humanity moving in that direction and went for it once again.

Continuing, this downward current of teenaged humanity carried me back down to the main level and past the Wrestlemania-but-grandmotherly man. I managed to keep going.

At last, I was at the ground level and had the office in my sights. I frantically paddled - or at least it felt as if I frantically paddled - my way to the office door. Eventually, I made it and was met by the serene silence away from the mass of teenaged humanity and found the school secretary affectionately known as "the Crackhead".

"You need the attendance office", the Crackhead explained in a raspy voice. "Around the corner", she directed with a skeletal finger.

Thankfully "around the corner" wasn't very far. I made my way into that serene space. A moment later, Wolfgang came peeking around the corner.

"Oh, there you are", I said.

"I've been here. Where were you?", he asked.

Stranger in a strange land.
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design of experiments

Okay, so I left out that box of tea last week? Remember? It's gone!

I'm not sure who moved it or precisely when. Heck, I'm not even sure if it went to its proper destination! I suppose I should've checked to see how many boxes were already in the proper destination, huh? I'll just assume that the top-of-the-stairs box of tea is now one of the tea stash boxes.

Anyway, I went to teach my class last Wednesday night. Sometime between my leaving and the time that I walked by the experiment site the next day, it had moved. I have my suspicions that a resident or two of this household may have actually read the blog entry where I laid out my experiment, thus cancelling out the accurateness of the results, but hey, whatever works.

In other slob news, Chaco and Wolfgang need new beds. They've been sharing the same bunkbed for years. I think Chaco's feet actually hang off the end. Anyways, we told them that they need to get the room "bed ready" and then we'll get each of them new bed sets.

Some headway has been made, but they could do OH! so much more. A new experiment?

Purpose:
To attain a state of habitability for the boys' bedroom

Method:
Entice with the promise of new beds and wait patiently for metamorphosis.

Results:
Slight changes detected. Very slight. Too slight.

Not holding my breath.

As seen from the entrance since
I'm kinda afraid to go in there.

Note: There's an actual cat in the photo. I challenge you to find him.
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Silver Liningness Sunday

Greetings on this cloudy sunday! Well, it's cloudy here anyways. The clouds look like they want to snow. They are probably waiting for me to go outside to run, so I'd better get out there so as to not disappoint.

But first, let's count the ways, shall we!?

That LSAT class finished up. They were a fun bunch. Lots of good chemistry between the whole group - not just Rich Girl and Bartender. It's always a nice feeling to finish a class and have the students feeling confident, but when we all make new friends, that's even nicer. And now I have a place to get a free beer whenever! Well, as long as Bartender is working at the time...

On a related note, I also got a new tutor student. Here I thought I was going to taper off the tutoring and just do classes, but these tutor students come up that I just don't want to say, "no" to. This boy is a high schooler with mild cerebral palsy and just needs a little bit of one-on-one time. He's an absolute delight, and it's for kids like him that I would (almost) work for free.

Magnum and I watched a good movie yesterday. "Fracture" was one I'd had in the Netflix queue for one of those when-nothing-else-looks-good times. But as it turned out, we thought it was really good! First of all, I could probably be content to watch Ryan Gosling just walk around for a couple of hours, I mean really. But this was a clever crime/courtroom drama thing, and one usually can't go wrong with Anthony Hopkins playing the psycho genius type. And then there's that Ryan Gosling factor again...

And Magnum, Mr. Practicality, is investing in precious metals in response to the current economic situation. I've agreed that this is a good idea, and convinced him that we should purchase in the form of jewelry. Strike while the iron's hot, Ladies!!

Silver Liningness Honorable Mentions go to: comfy shoes, warm blankets, fast bicycles, great friends, paychecks, and cute kids (not necessarily my own).



Still playing with my art toys.

<-- cartoon me?

Muddy

I went for a short bike ride yesterday. It had snowed overnight on Wednesday, so their was a thin layer of fresh fluffy snow on the ground in the morning. By noon, however, the snow had mostly melted and left the familiar mud everywhere.

Mud can make such interesting designs on a bicycling person.

Little splats, bigger splats, clusters of splats - one never knows what one will look like once one reachest one's destination. My destination happened to be a nearby grocery store. I was on a fishing expedition - to frozen foods.

I didn't actually get too muddied, and for that, I would like to thank my trusty backpack. This backpack goes with me most everytime I am running errands via bicycle. I keep my bicycle paraphernalia in there: lock, gloves, little keyring with everyone's library cards on it, bandana for tying up the pant leg...

It loyally shields my backside from onslaughts of mud. I can wipe my front off, clean off the glasses, and not worry much about having missed a spot from my back and butt because the backpack takes the hit for me in those locations.

I know it's just a backpack, but it's almost like a companion. We've ridden many miles together and when it's not with me on a ride, I feel like something's missing. It serves as my support crew, carrying various items like snacks, wallet, maps, cell phone, etc.

And it takes the mud hits for me.

"Muddy" is the topic at Illustration Friday this week. So... an ode to my backpack.
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tea time

Not far from where I'm sitting is a 12-can pack of Brisk iced tea. It's stationed at the top of the stairs leading into the Mancave.

This box of tea has been there since mid-morning yesterday when I plopped it there after my return from a grocery run. It originally had two companion tea boxes that I have since obediently stashed in their proper waiting stations. My original intent was to return for the third box and obediently stash it also, but then I thought I'd try a little experiment instead.

Purpose:
To determine the number of times and subsequent length of time that my family members will walk past the box of tea, in the direction of the stash location, before someone, ANYONE, stashes it away in its proper waiting station.

Method:
Leave the tea at the top of the stairs.

Results (so far):
I know there have been several encounters with the tea box from various other residents as they headed toward the stash. If I start recording my data from this morning, however, I have at least 5 encounters, so I'll start with that.


Okay, Magnum works full-time and clearly makes the lion's share of our financial bottom line. He also helps clean up after meals and does fine with that as long as I don't watch.

Kids are in school for about 7 hours a day. I consider it my job, and have for quite some time, to take care of the meat of the household well-oiled-machineness. I mainly just ask that people take care of their own "stuff" and clean up after their own selves. These basics sound good in theory, but rarely are handled smoothly.

Maybe I'm making life too easy.

I recall reading about a family that called a meeting because the mom was overwhelmed with doing "everything" around the house. A divying up of various responsibilities ensued. Certain jobs were categorized as "specialties" that could only be handled by specific members, for example: "breast feed the baby".

So today, I will go about my daily housewifery and also grade some essays and prepare some lessons.


But I'm not touching the tea. I don't even drink it.
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scammed!

Sears, you done me wrong
Now I'm rappin' out this song
To pass the word along
About how Sears, you done me wrong!

We went into your store
And we bought a TV
Did we look like Suckers?
My family and me?

You gladly took our cash
And you sent us on our way
You thinking you had gotten us
With your "have a nice day!"

We got the TV home
And imagine our surprise
When our "brand new" TV
Was just a USED one in DISGUISE!

Sears, you done me wrong
Now I'm rappin' out this song
To pass the word along
About how Sears, you done me wrong!

We brought the TV back

Better straighten out your act

But we sure won't be back

For even vacuum cleaner sacks

Sears, you done me wrong
Now I'm rappin' out this song
To pass the word along
About how Sears, you done me wrong!!

Now we've got a new TV
All shiny brand new
And it's from another store
Never buying again from you!

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