Monthly Archives: November 2008

Time to Cry Tuesday – the reason why I had kids

I first saw this questionaire on Yellow Jeep Blonde. Her sons did such a great job with it that I had to force ask my kids to do it too. It is a little long but a fast read. Actually my 19-year-old, Jana, did it in less than 24 hours. Danny, the 16-year-old, needed a little more constant incessant nagging coaxing to do it. Nonetheless, the result was the same. I urge anyone with kids to try this out. As the title of this post states, it reminded me why I had these kids in the first place; to grow up to be two of my most favorite people on earth!

This week I will post the answers they gave for me, next week I will do the ones they had for Gary. Of course I had to add my commentary on some of them. (come on, you know I can’t shut up!)

Enjoy

What is something I always say to you?
Jana: Keep your eye on your own prize. Don’t compare yourself to other people.
Danny: Be all that you can be.
 
 
 
 
 
What makes me happy?
Jana: Reading on the couch in the living room with blanket and family dinners with the 4 of us. (yes and YES)
Danny: puppies (corny, but yes. c’mon, who doesn’t feel happy from puppies)
 
What makes me sad?
Jana: Sad books? Or maybe when the school budget doesn’t pass. (she must be traumatized from my years of volunteerism)
Danny: George W. Bush (that’s my boy!)
How do I make you laugh?
Jana: When you curse more than I do. (um, yeh, well perhaps I should take a look at this)
Danny: By being ridiculous (are you getting an odd picture of my parenting?)
What was I like as a child?
Jana: Probably less crazy than you are now. (true)
Danny: Artsy (true again)
How old am I?
Jana: 28 (I thought Danny was the suck-up)
Danny: According to you… 30 (oh, right, he is)
What’s my favorite thing to do?
Jana: Go to the beach. (you bet baby!)
Danny: Think of ways to torture me (typical!)
What do I do when you’re not around?
Jana: Sing out loud in the car… oh wait, you do that anyway.
Danny: Sing “everybody was Kung Fu Fighting” (not only do I sing this often, they gave me a birthday card with the sound chip – they encourage this behavior)
If I became famous, what would it be for?
Jana: BLOGGING
Danny: blogging (one can dream, thanks guys)
What am I really good at doing?
Jana: Listening to me complain. (I have had lots of practice)
Danny: making fun of dad (in a loving way)
What am I not very good at doing?
Jana: You’re good at everything Mommy 🙂 (again, sucking up)
Danny: math (for sure, but honestly no one is going to mention sports?)
What is my job?
Jana: To make me happy. KIDDING… graphic designer/ soon to be professional blogger. Is there such thing? (there sure is)
Danny: graphic designer (yes STILL)
What’s my favorite food?
Jana: Eggplant (I can’t believe you know that)
Danny: I have no idea (I guess that is fair)
What makes you proud of me?
Jana: How dedicated you are. (wow)
Danny: People respect you. (wow again)
If I were a cartoon character, who would I be?
Jana: Kermit the frog (yes, we know kermit is a muppet, not a cartoon)
Danny: Lois from Family Guy (we LOVE Family Guy)
What do you and I do together?
Jana: A lot.
Danny: Lots of crap.
How are we the same?
Jana: We HATE shopping (yes we do)
Danny: Diligent (yes we are)
How do you know I love you?
Jana: Because you tell me everyday. (yes i do)
Danny: You tell me constantly that when I leave you will be found rocking back and forth in the corner. (yes i will!)

And there you have it. Just when you thought they weren’t paying attention!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog where Jana joins in the election bloglove.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under danny, family, Jana, parenting

Naked Cowboy Wins the Big Buck(aroos)

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I posted about the Naked Cowboy vs. Mars, Inc. lawsuit back in June. Robert Burck sued the candy company for copyright infringement when they created a blue M&M in his likeness and plastered it over Times Square. (On his turf no less).

Over the past couple of days I have noticed there was a lot of traffic on this blog with the search term Naked Cowboy. I did a quick scan and guess what?

Apparently he has settled. And get this, the NY Post is reporting the settlement was for $4 million!!

What a great country. Where a raving lunatic half-naked singing cowboy can hang in Times Square and create an intellectual property that warrants a multi-million dollar settlement.

Check out his website. Seems all those years of freezing his scantily clad butt off on the streets of NY has enabled him to create a brand that has yielded an EP called Year of the Cowboy, a podcast available on iIunes (yes there is a typo on his website), an MTV video, and Naked Cowboy.TV.

He is even available for Business/Appearance Opportunities through Naked Cowboy Enterprise. Under what circumstances would a business want to hire this guy? Who knows. Think creatively. And surely he would be the hit of any over-the-top Bar Mitzvah or Sweet 16.

Think about this. If you create a brand, no matter how ridiculous, and you are persistent and stick with the essence of that brand, the possibilities are endless.

Oh right, and if a major corporation does not do their homework on copyright infringement of an intellectual property, that helps too. To the tune of $4 million smackaroos…

Buckaroo.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog where Jana joins in the election bloglove.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under absurdities, humor, lawsuits, marketing, New York City, news, search engine terms, searches

So You Want to be in the Secret Service?

secret-service

Driving in my car today I heard a radio spot for…

The Secret Service. All I could think was, do they mean THE Secret Service? Like the White House guys? How could this be? Do they really recruit on the radio? This does not seem all that selective to me.

The spot went something like this:

“Do you want an exciting career that pays well? Have you ever considered a career in the Secret Service?”

Correct me if I am out of line here, but I seem to recall that the line after ‘Do you want an exciting career that pays well?’ is usually ‘Have you ever considered a career in air conditioning and refrigeration?’ Not that I am dissing the AC and fridge crowd here, it is an honorable living, but I think it is more likely that the everyman/woman would probably be more fit to perform that job than say…

guard the friggin’ president!

Of course I had to check out their website. The first position available:

Special Agent (what young boy does not dream of this one. I keep humming Secret Agent Man in my head now).

Damn, I wish I wrote the phone number from the commercial down!

Note to self: drop Obama a note about this.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog where Jana joins in the election bloglove.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under absurdities, carreers, humor, politics

Do You Speak Woman?

A guy friend sent this to me and I am not gonna lie, I thought it was hysterical. Enjoy.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog where Jana joins in the election bloglove.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under humor, women

Pigpen and the chihuahua, separated at birth?

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For those who missed yesterday’s post, the picture on the left was featured there. In the comments, Dr Jimmy mentioned the Grateful Dead resemblance in this line-up, with Pigpen being the chihuahua.

Since many of you are not Dead fans, I thought I would post the inside flap of the Skull and Roses album with the picture he referenced (and so graciously sent me a link to). Thanks Dr. J – what slow day drilling today?

El Nel informed me that she cracked up when she saw the pet picture as it is featured everyday in Newsday. Being in suburban denial I refuse to read this Long Island newspaper even though it is quite good. (BTW, I moved out of the city 20 years ago.) The ad is for the North Shore Animal League if you were wondering.

Back to the photo. Take a look at the guy in the middle (Pigpen) and tell me this is not a separated at birth scenario.

Just plain scary!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog where Jana joins in the election bloglove.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under absurdities, humor, music, photography

Is it me, or is this creepy?

cats-and-dogs1

For those who are complaining that this blog has gotten way too serious, here is something completely stupid for you. (give me a break, a couple of election and dream posts and you forget all about the week of halloween?)

I was flipping through the paper the other day and this picture was in the middle of… come to think of it I am not quite sure what section it was.

Pet classifieds? Is there such a thing?

Anyway, this picture jumped out at me for its overall bizarre quality.

First, I believe the scale is off. Either that or this is one enormous chihuahua in the middle. Second, where the hell are their bodies? That is what is so freakish about this ad. Why would this Photoshop happy artist choose to  silhouette their heads this way? Ew, I am not kidding. I am really having a hard time looking at this, yet I can’t pull myself away. It is like staring at the accident.

I am pretty sure I am going to have nightmares from this. (Note to self: don’t show this to Gary)

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog where Jana joins in the election bloglove.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under absurdities, humor, pets

Oh Oh Obama!

Hard to believe but I am kind of speechless.(I said ‘kind of’).

Sitting here listening to the last speech I will have to hear from John McCain for a long, long time I am in awe of the perseverance of the man I am very proud to call my president. Let me add that McCain was quite gracious while his audience was not. As my friend Gibs just said, he was way more sincere in defeat than he was in debate.

In celebration of this historic event I am posting a part of Jana’s photo essay of the election on campus.

Yes baby girl, anything can happen. The man they said could never beat Hillary… did. The man they said could never survive the Republican attack machine… did. I am so very happy for you that your introduction to the voting process of this great nation has been so historical. (even if the mechanics in Wisconsin were kind of lame)

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dreams_small

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Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog where Jana joins in the election bloglove.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under family, Jana, parenting, politics, polls, vote 08

Election Day is Not for the Faint of Heart (vol 2)

Chickens! All of you. I know there are plenty of you lurking out there who wanted to comment on the guest rant but were scared away. Ha! So much for ‘the conversation’.

I Could Cry election update:

1. I voted and not gonna lie, cried a little as I left (because after all it is Tuesday)

myvote_small

2. First report in from Jana; Univ. of Wisc. is going wild with Obama frenzy. Sidewalks are ‘chalked’ pro Obama, there are campaign trucks around and the atmosphere sounds so college campus electric that I am very jealous indeed.

3. My college thread is taking a poll on the final electoral vote count, anyone want to throw in some numbers?

4. I must have been the only one on earth who did not realize that Starbucks was giving free coffee to voters and I actually paid. (and was thrilled that the latte was more than I paid for a gallon of gas)

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms where they are celebrating their 1 year blogaversary. And at 50-Something Moms Blog… Poor is the New Rich and There is no Hair in Team .

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under Jana, politics, polls, vote 08

Election Day is Not for the Faint of Heart (guest post)

Badge - 2008 election

Time to Cry Tuesday is suspended this week for Election Day. I refuse to believe that I will feel the need to cry. I will stay optimistic and hope this country will choose to evolve rather than send us careening into the abyss. That said, the following guest post is a bit harsh, so either fasten your seatbelts or check back later. Today just might prove to be a multiple post day.

This is written by a friend who is both rabid outspoken and endearing. He has spent a good portion of his career in and around political campaigns and his opinions are always fresh and sans BS, albeit crass at times. Nonetheless, when he hits a rant like the one below I sit back and enjoy the ride. (BTW, this usually is accompanied by multiple shots of Patrón – helps it go down smoother) This does not reflect my views, per se, but I sure do love to hear him spew. Damn, should have done a video of this. Inflection and facial expressions are half the fun.

Here goes: 

My advice to BO and the new gang:

Fuck the cumbaya.

Politics is a contact sport. After 8 years of getting your head beaten with a club you feel compelled to bring everyone together?  NO. NO. NO.

You must expel the philistines from the promise land… cut the head of the snake. Clear the Justice Dept. out down to the janitors. Cut the bipartisan shit. They don’t share. They don’t like you. And if you let them stay in the castle they will only endlessly plot against you until they get you… they are not us. They are not sharers. They didn’t read the Kindergarten sharing book. And they must be sent from the promised land.

If we win both houses, 60 for the filibuster. And the presidency, fuck them. And as fast as you can print new bills fix the shit storm we now find ourselves in. Give me back my civil liberties and rewrite the Patriot Act. Restore our international credibility. Let everyone know loud and clear that in 21st Century America healthcare IS A RIGHT. Start to balance the budget, and try to explain to working people and our middle class that republicans are not like them just because they believe in G-d.

But most importantly, here’s the point:

When you’ve been bullied, you have a choice. Kiss and make up or punch ’em in the nose; I say punch ’em in the nose and send them home. You stand a better chance of it not happening again… or you can be a Democrat and leave the wolves in the hen house.

And then it will be Palin in 2012.

No justice, no peace.

Wow, I feel better!

I told you he was something else, didn’t I? I am pretty sure I just lost a reader or two on that one. Or perhaps I picked up a few!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms where they are celebrating their 1 year blogaversary. And at 50-Something Moms Blog… Poor is the New Rich and There is no Hair in Team .

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under fashion, humor, politics, polls

Top 10 Search Terms (vol.4)

It is that time again. The monthly list of ridiculous search terms that land readers on this blog. For those who missed the last two you can read Vol. 1 here , Vol 2. here and Vol. 3 here. As always, I link the term to the post I think it yielded. And of course there is running commentary. Did you honestly expect me to shut up?

You can click on the terms and they will lead you to the posts that I think were found. For you email subscribers you will have to go to the page of the blog to use this function.

10. ghandi action figure An all time favorite, the Albert Einstien Action figure post. I must go look for this guy and start posing him in odd places.

9. vilma flinstone This must be the german version. 

8. how to post a vegas video on facebook Perhaps you want to think this through a little more.

7. what time can we eat on yom kippur, 2008 Jews! All we ever think about is food!

6. you tube mary black sonny don’t go away There is another post that this might have landed on, but the one linked here is my very first post EVER and I am kind of sentimental about it. Also, for those who have not read me all along, it is quite entertaining and gives you a clear picture of how insane I really am. (note to self: is this wise?)

5. don’t cry past tuesday I try to stick with this idea. Tuesday, cry all you want but come Wednesday suck it up and move on kids. I had a hard time picking my fave here but decided that this one works the best with all the uneasiness we are feeling pre-election and post-wall street apocalypse.

4. cool hand dryers Is this the Paul Newman version?

3. jeans big ass Hoping this was not anyone walking behind me.

2. black gay men with beautiful naked asses Not a clue here but I will take this opportunity to urge all my California friends to VOTE NO ON PROP 8! Give me a break CA, WTF? Reverse evolution?

1. i am a woman with a hairy back I am quite grateful that I am not.

And there you have it. Another month of absurdities brought to you by i could cry but i don’t have time. We hope you enjoyed the show. Please tune in tomorrow for election anxiety updates and a special guest post surprise!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms where they are celebrating their 1 year blogaversary. And at 50-Something Moms Blog… Poor is the New Rich and There is no Hair in Team .

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under blogging, humor, search engine terms, searches