Some Guilty Pleasures

Ok I thought of some more of my guilty pleasures:

• working with introverted, smart old men
• watching people in the rear view mirror when stopped at a stoplight; people watching in general
• poo jokes; laughing with Rebekah about poo
• hearing Aubrey respond, "So is/does your face" to just about any remark
• the smell of cigar smoke
• all-day "America's Next Top Model", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and "Veronica Mars" marathons
• anything by Joss Whedon and any other extremely well-done sci-fi/fantasy
• interrogating and making crazy comments to 3- and 4-year-olds to see how they respond. For instance, saying, "The sun is kissing me," or "See that over there? [point out blinking radio tower] That's a giant firefly." Or "Dirt is tasty." Or putting a toy being fought over into time out for causing problems. Then let the entertainment begin.
• comic book stores
• baby prunes (the little jars of baby food)
• children's books
• complete silence
• Barry Manilow
• anti-heroes
• fan fiction
• not answering the phone
• making loud straw slurping noises. Also makes whatever it is taste even better.
• rude eating as a family
• helping Rebekah dye her hair the color of the week: pink, blue, purple...
• sniffing Rebekah
• extended couch lounging/sleeping/eating

That's it for now. I'm off to watch "Firefly" episodes starting at the very beginning!

Morgans are Pirates

• Check it out. Source is here if you care (you don't).

6 Last Names Reveal Pirate Ancestry
Shiver me timbers! If your surname is
Morgan, Kidd, Teach, Rackham, Bonny or Read, there's a good chance there is a
pirate lurking in your family tree.
People who have these names could very
well be related to Britain's most famous pirates, reports London's Telegraph. Of
course, proving that will take some genealogical sleuthing, a difficult task
since pirates rarely kept permanent records of their nefarious backgrounds.
Still, the payoff is well worth it. "What could be more exhilarating than
finding you are related to one of Britain's most colorful characters?" Abigail
Baker of the genealogy research organization Achievements Ltd., asked the
Telegraph.

• I was planning to try to put a video clip in my blog today, but apparently you can't (very easily, anyway) "pirate", if you will, clips off of YouTube. So here is a link instead, to the video of the day, "Stephen Fry's Guilty Pleasures" (part 1 of 3) which had me trying desperately to smother my sniggers while watching at work. And it makes me want to start a list of my own guilty pleasures. I'll start with 1) watching "Stephen Fry's Guilty Pleasures" at work, 2) stealing the other SAIC division's miniature candy bars to eat while doing item #1. I will ponder on this some more and add to the list as they come to me. Feel free to list yours in a comment.
• Aubrey is at King's Dominion today. Darn her all to heck.
• Rebekah is cleaning the house. She darns Aubrey all to heck too.
  

Screeching

• The above pic is Mom and Aubrey in Phoenix. I hear Aubrey got a manicure/pedicure, played golf, watched the Mr. Bean movie. I'm curious how she managed to let someone touch her feet for so long, without screeching. Yay, no more boredom!
• Empty elevators reek of people. I have a bionic nose. I can smell their leftover cigarette smoke, their breath , B.O., perfume/aftershave, what they just ate, what they were carrying with them.
• Quotation of the day: "Go up his rear and get a smear. Which reminds me, kinda feel like a bagel." --Dr. Greg House

Pass the Marmalade

• Quotation of the day: "Read less, more TV." --Dr. Greg House

Dr. Who

• Word of the day: moniker
• So yesterday Aubrey and I were both bored nearly to tears. She was nearer than I was. She went for a bike ride. I watched Netflix stuff online. This is the best ever: hundreds of movies instantly available to watch on the PC. I watched two episodes of "Fawlty Towers" (BBC) and three episodes of the most recent "Dr. Who" series (also BBC). Maybe it was because I was so bored, but it seemed to me yesterday that British TV moves slower than American. Anyway, I still really liked both shows. I liked "Dr. Who" better than "Fawlty Towers".
• Just fixed the boredom issue: Aubrey is flying to Phoenix tomorrow to clean Grander's house for a few days.
• I checked in millions of dollars of equipment today. Learning a lot of IT-type stuff.

Wilde

• I saw "A Good Woman" the other day with Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson. I mean I didn't watch the movie with Helen and Scarlett; rather, Helen and Scarlett were actresses in the movie I watched. At the end I saw that it was based on Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde. No wonder I liked it so much. I dig Oscar. So much so that I think I will dig up some more of his stuff and read it online. Project Gutenberg has tons of literature free online. Good for the workplace.
• I also saw "Dreamgirls". It was good, but I liked "A Good Woman" better.
• I dislike pretty much anything having to do with sports, but Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio rocks.
• Amy Schumer is my favorite on "Last Comic Standing".
• Yea for Miss Madison, who is going to be a ballerina and tap dancer. You go, girl.

Someone gave me clothes~ I'm free!

• Do you know that "vendor" can also be spelled "vender"? It's true! Whom do you petition to expunge a word from the dictionaries? I don't like "vender".
• There's nothing to brighten the life like someone handing you a couple thousand dollars' worth of clothes that fit perfectly, that you like, for free! A friend of mine who is six feet tall did just that yesterday. Stuff she didn't want anymore, but it was like getting a lovely new wardrobe for me. Mostly Banana Republic, wahoo!!
• 'House costars Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer have called off their engagement, PEOPLE has learned exclusively. "After much consideration, we have decided not to get married," the couple said in a joint statement. "We are still very close, and we look forward to continuing to work together on House." Spencer, 28, who proposed to Morrison, also 28, over the holidays at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, recently said that it had taken him six months to ask Morrison to marry him. They had planned to wed later this year. ' (Source: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20051905,00.html) Then I read here that they are already married! Wedding pictures and everything!

• The new promo for the upcoming House and Bones season is here: http://www.sendspace.com/pro/4arhac . I can't wait! And putting my two fave shows back to back! Go Fox go.
• Jerry and the girls got me flowers and a card just cuz they like me. Sunflowers and some other types. Splendid.

Skin the Color Mayo

• This pic is Rebekah swinging in the rain on Friday. I went higher than she did.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• This pic is my friend Jennifer and me at the 3-D IMAX Harry Potter movie. A good time was had by all.
  
  
  
  
• Picture of the day: Stephen Fry. I adore the man. If I could have lunch with anyone in the world today, it would be him.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Saturday was a special day. It was Amanda's birthday. The darn girl was out of town, so I couldn't speak to her. But I will say right here that she is thirty now. Add in your own denigrating comment here: _________________. No, don't, really. I joke. She came and she gave without taking. She is queen of all frothy confections and deserving of all the lovely things.

I'm digging waistcoats.

In addition to Harry Potter, I saw two other movies this weekend: Copying Beethoven and Deja Vu. Both good. But Copying Beethoven is the one that is sticking in my head still this morning.

Attention all my homies with skin the color of mayo: a couple of months ago I found out I had a severe vitamin D deficiency. I've been taking mega doses of D since then, and recently had a follow up blood test. While my vit. D level has improved quite a bit, I am STILL deficient. So now I'm taking SUPER mega doses. I asked the endocrinologist why my level still is not normal when I am in the sun quite a bit now, and am taking all that D. He says people with skin a whiter shade of pale like mine (who don't/can't tan) just have a very hard time absorbing it. MORAL OF THIS STORY: all that calcuim yer taking may not be doing a darn bit of good if you aren't getting enough vitamin D to absorb it. Also the D deficiency causes other health problems too, of course. The doc says D deficiency is almost epidemic. Might as well get tested next time yer visiting the doctor.

Green van

This is 1) Rebekah with two of the many crabs she caught (big, eh?) 2) Rebekah with her ship/classmates 3) Rebekah catching crabs

• Word of the day: Capricious. Means 1 : governed or characterized by impulse or whim as a) lacking a rational basis b) likely to change suddenly 2) not supported by the weight of evidence or established rules of law. This word was brought to you by, and in honor of, the silly residents of Wisconsin. Because some lovely but unstable people can't stand capricious women.
  

I have now enabled anonymous comments.

Rock the House

Quotations of the day (source:http://blog.meevee.com/my_weblog/2007/07/house-in-da-hou.html):

• "At the risk of spreading even more wildfire rumors, I don't see what's so unattractive about House," [Robert Sean] Leonard said. "Maybe I've just been playing Wilson too long. (House) is extremely self-effacing, he's extremely funny, he's brilliant, he's scathingly honest, he's incredibly candid. What don't you like about him? ... I'm not sure what people mean. He's shocking and he's bold and he can be unnerving. But as a friend, I would seek out someone like that, I think."
• "One of my favorite moments in 'Star Trek' is when Captain Kirk looks out over the vast cosmos and says 'The three most beautiful words in any language are-', and of course your heart sinks because you think it's going to be 'I love you' or something, and he says, 'Please help me.' What a fantastic idea, that vulnerability and need is a beautiful thing. And actually House is a character in need - of human contact and some kind of redemption - and I think that 'Please help me' aspect is an important element of the show."--Hugh Laurie
  
  

We picked up Rebekah from her CTY site, then went to get Aubrey at hers. Here is a picture of the cute reunion. Aubrey, you can't complain about this picture cuz you won't sent me another one. ("I don't like your blog, Mom.") It's cute, though, girl (the picure AND the blog)!

• Pukey McPuke (Rebekah) had her second migraine yesterday. The lingering vomit smell in the car on the way to work this morning made me remember Rebekah fondly. Poor kid. Now we have Maxalt for future episodes; it's the same stuff Grander (my mom) and I are on. Thanks a lot, Grander, for your superior genes.
• The electricity went out for a few hours yesterday, because of the heat I think. Girls including Superfriend Miss Claire went out in the back yard and did slip-n-slide. They (the girls) are the same length as the slip-n-slide.
• We are determined to go see Mozart's Don Giovanni (or maybe La Boheme) at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

Mama don't allow no music 'round here

• Check this out. The article is called Walking to the shops ‘damages planet more than going by car’. Hilarious. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article2195538.ece
• April just won $100 with a little help from me. She bet a coworker that the family on 14 Children and Pregnant Again was NOT Mormon. April was right, of course; they are Southern Baptist. (She couldn't look it up at work, so I looked it up for her.) While I was looking for the information, I was shocked to read people's comments on this family. So many find it repulsive and somehow personally offensive that someone would choose to have that many children. I think it is a sad state that you are vilified by modern society for choosing not to use contraception and to have 18 children. Yes, I agree that having that many children is certainly astounding, but not EVIL or IDIOTIC as some would claim. Why are people so agitated by this?
• Girls are back from CTY. Pictures forthcoming. Rebekah is VERY dark. Hard to believe she came out of me. She's also covered in scabs and bug bites. Her hair is bleached white by the sun, and we dyed the front of it (just her very long bangs) orange and pink yesterday. Some heavy-duty sleeping and anecdote-telling is going on in our house.
• We only had Sacrament Meeting yesterday since they are re-doing the gym floor. Rare and wonderful. I read HP out loud to Jerry and Rebekah until I couldn't speak anymore.
• Gramper-in-the-hospital will be just fine, methinks.
• I'm going to get shot now (allergies, don't 'cha know).

Dullest

• On my very first blogging-day I got five comments, including one from myself. She's so POP-u-lar!
• Word of the day: Something I read today had the word excrescence in it. It means abnormal growth. You can't make up stuff this good. It's like surprise donuts.
• I would rather be at Jungle Jim's.
• So I've seen the Harry Potter movie twice now, one regular theater, one IMAX. Working on a third, this time at IMAX in 3-D. My fave HP movie so far. Get thee to a theater, all you slackers.

Gramper

I just talked to Gramper. I had to speak slowly and loudly, but he was quite coherent. He's going on a trip up to the Jemez to see "lakes and trees" and such. He said he has "seen it all before." I could tell he was kind of making fun of the trip, so I said, "Is that going to be fun?" He said, "Well, Madeline seems to think so." Ha! I told him it sounded boring and we got a good laugh out of that. He said that it had been so long since we talked, it was a good thing that I identified myself!

Another

This is fun after all. Here is Aubrey with her newly straight, un-braced teeth.

Here is Rebekah with her newly-spotted iguana balloon.

And here is a really bad picture of Jerry with the Simpsons. Sean, this one is for you. I daresay you liked the movie?

Rebekah's Blog

Here is a link to the blog for the Midred Belle, the boat Rebekah is currently sailing for her CTY (Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth, http://cty.jhu.edu/) class called The Blue Crab. She has been on the boat since 26 July, so the entries only apply from that date on.

http://mildredbelle.blogspot.com/

Dad-Blasted Formatting

So I discovered that you can't make paragraphs on Blogspot. It just shoves all the paragraphs together in one big mass, thus the bullet points in the below post. I guess you get what you pay for.

I'm going to call Gramper and Christine Borgelt, since I am done completely ignoring what everyone was saying on the conference call I was just on. I only perked up when I heard my name, then said "okay." I hope I didn't agree to do anything immoral. I just don't know.

Definitely New. Exciting? To Be Determined.

• Look, I have a blog.
  
  
• Here is my office, and here is me in my office.
  
  
• Check out this tell-all by JK. *major spoilers for HP and the Deathly Hallows inside the link* http://www.harrypotterspage.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=4254&view=findpost&p=133508
  
  
• I am looking forward to reading above book to Miss Rebekah, as I have done at least once with all the Harry Potter books.
  
  
  
• Can't wait to pick up those squishy, sunshiny kids from CTY on Friday. R says she has approximately 51 mosquito bites. I guess her blood was too sweet even after taking all those garlic pills. Who knows? Maybe mosquitoes have evolved and adapted, and now they really dig the flavor of garlic blood. Garlic and blood, garlic and blood, hmmm....
  
  
  
• Aubrey last night told us about the dig they did yesterday. Theirs was the first CTY archaeology group to have their very own dig site. They did it just like real archaeologists. They found tons of stuff, including some dynamite. Yikes. The teacher didn't seem concerned because it was so waterlogged and decomposed, but I couldn't help thinking that the teacher must not watch Lost.
  
  
  
• Saw Simpsons movie. Good stuff. Be sure to watch all the way through the credits.
  
  
  
• I have watched my entire DVD box set of A Bit of Fry and Laurie now. All four seasons. Fascinating stuff. Just prior to the fourth season, both Hugh and Stephen went through some serious bouts of mental illness. It's amazing how they manage to be so hilarious in and around and about their misery. For example:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x-jrq3uozY
  Also they were forced for the first time, in this fourth season, to have guests on the show, which they had never done before, and they hated having guests. It's so funny to watch them step all over, cut off, and generally humiliate their guests throughout the season. I love these guys.
  
  
  
• Quotation of the day: "I will add that the first three scripts that I read of this season are not only three of the best 'House' scripts I've ever read, they're three of the best scripts I've ever read. It may be that in the execution of it, we'll make a dreadful hash of it and you'll go, 'Well, I don't see what the fuss was about. That was a terrible piece of television.' But purely as scripts, I find them absolutely phenomenal. I've never read anything that so ambitiously tries to mix broad comedy and gut-wrenching tragedy and philosophical musings and bizarre literary references all in the space of five seconds. The speed with which it jumps from tone to tone is quite phenomenally ambitious."---Hugh Laurie
  
  
  
• Poor Brian. He has dysentery.
  
  
  
• Time for lunch.
  
  
  
• Comment if you like. I would like. Just keep in mind that many people will be able to view your comments.