I rarely post about The Kidd online. I may post about things we do as a family, but not usually about him personally. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is that I just don't want to put his information out there too much - he's almost at the age where he would be embarrassed if his friends found stuff about him online, and I figure he can choose what he wants to share for himself before too long. The other reason is more selfish, and I feel a little bit bad about it. Soon after The Kidd was born I became a stay at home mom. He even played soccer for a while, so then I became the dreaded "soccer mom". And even though I would never trade him for anything, I sometimes feel that, for moms much more than dads, once you have a child you no longer exist as an individual any more . . . you are always "The Mom" after that. And because we left the city where I had grown up and moved a couple of times before settling down here in Rocket City, very few people I interact with much now knew me "Before". Now most of our conversations revolve around our kids.
I love The Kidd and I don't say often enough how proud I am of him. Still, I have started to understand more what people mean when they say they have "Lost themselves". It is so easy as a parent to become swallowed up in that role and to forget to have a life of your own as well. Staying at home made it that much harder for me; everyone I met for several years was either a parent or teacher from The Kidd's school or someone we interacted with as a family.
I even lost track of most of my closest friends from high school and college, though I still care about them a great deal. There were a few reasons for that, as well. We had The Kidd before most of our friends started their families, which made socializing more difficult for a while. Also, add to that the fact that most of my friends have always been guys. Even though Caradorn doesn't seem to have a jealous bone in his body, I still feel strange about maintaining close, one-on-one friendships with other guys. And often their wives or girlfriends weren't too thrilled with the guys hanging out with me, either. Not that I really blame them; I say I want Caradorn to stay in touch with his female friends from school, but I think I'm somewhat relieved that he doesn't have much contact with them. Fortunately a few of the friendships have morphed into friendships between two couples instead of two individuals, but some of my friends I've lost track of completely over the years.
As I was growing up I was almost painfully shy. I overcame that somewhat in high school, and by college I was far more outgoing than I had ever been before. Staying home with The Kidd for the first few years of his life, though, I lapsed back into being much less outgoing. It's been difficult for me to force myself to become more interactive again. It's just easier to be in the background as "The mom" or "The wife" than to step to the forefront as an individual.
Online, though, most people I interact with just know me. It's the place where more people identify me as "Skurvy" than as "The Kidd's Mom" or as "Caradorn's Wife". And I have missed that more than I realized. Over the years my interests got lost in the shuffle, and I focused more on things we like as a family. Aside from insisting on keeping the car I got in high school and going to see David Copperfield, I let most other things that really were part of my identity as an individual slip away over the years. I even stopped playing flute and juggling for the most part, and those were the two things that were most important to me for a long time.
Caradorn and The Kidd are most important to me now, though I don't say it enough. Being The Kidd's mom and Caradorn's wife are the most important things about me these days, but that isn't all that I am. I am trying lately to make myself remember that. I don't want to be floundering for an identity in a few years when The Kidd heads off to college! I want to be an equal part of this family, with a life of my own, and not just the support staff. Caradorn has tried for years to get me to follow more of my own interests, and I am going to try to force myself to finally do just that. I feel like an individual online already; hopefully I can start feeling that way in "real life" again soon.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The Trip
I always feel a bit guilty when Caradorn and I go to Disney World without The Kidd. Really, though, if we weren't going there we'd be going somewhere else without him sometimes. And the things we do when we're there without him are things that he either doesn't want to do or isn't old enough for.
We went on 5 rides this trip. Yes, just 5, and it wasn't because of lines or crowds, it was just because we used our time doing other things. We did manage to do Pirates at the Magic Kingdom, the Safari at Animal Kingdom, and Rock and Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Midway Mania at Hollywood Studios (which will always be MGM to me!). No rides at Epcot, though we spent more time there than in the other parks. We mostly just wandered around enjoying the details.
We also spent time shopping at Downtown and snorkeling at Typhoon Lagoon, both of which the Kidd doesn't enjoy.
The sad part of the trip was that it was colored by the persistant rumors that two of our favorite places might close. DisneyQuest, one of the two, seems fairly safe for right now. The Cheesecake Factory-run restaurants inside are closing at the end of this month, though, and it was sad eating our last traditional meal of pizza and dessert in there.
The other rumor is that The Adventurers Club might close or change significantly. (You may remember that if you read my rant a while back about that "Night Kingdom" idiocy. It's somewhere in the archives if you missed it.) We love that place - as I may have mentioned once or twice - and I hate the thought that it might close. Still, it's not closed yet, and it has a big following, so maybe things will work out okay.
I got to see my favorite cast members this trip. Lancelot was there every night, Blondie was there two nights, and Snoopy was there two nights as well. Sunday night all three were there, and I always love the nights when that happens. Their interaction is great!
The first night there was a guy that was sleeping in the Main Salon. I didn't realize until I saw him wake up and wander away that he was holding an almost full bottle of beer the whole time, but somehow he didn't spill it. Blondie as Emil and Tiny as Otis had far too much fun with him, and I don't see how he slept through it - at one point the whole Club was yelling to wake him up, but he slept right through it. Shortly before the Hoopla he woke up and wandered into the library, where he promptly fell asleep again. Blondie was so funny when he saw sleeping guy (who had woken up again) during the Hoopla - suddenly he decided we were all just characters in the guys dream, and the lights started flashing and Blondie's voice was all distorted and he was talking about Hell. I was crying because I was laughing so hard! The same night, Hathaway pulled me into the closet/secret passage by the stage, but sadly he took me back to the table when he realized that Caradorn was my husband and not my brother.
The next night, Lancelot was Hathaway. The bit before the Hoopla was priceless, as Skunk/Otis was trying to get rid of him with a ridiculous story about missing wooden shoes and naked European women. Hathaway was obviously messing with Otis, who was having trouble making the story make any sense at all. If I hadn't loved Lancelot/Hathaway before that, I certainly would have afterward. At one point he could have helped Otis out a little bit, but instead he asked a question that made things even worse and then just sent Otis this hilarious look that said he knew full well that Otis was in trouble and just dared him to get himself out of it. It was wonderful! That night Snoopy was Emil and he sang a Jonathan Coulton song, so I was thrilled about that as well.
The third night we got to see Lancelot as Fletcher. I had seen him briefly before but Caradorn had not. During the Radiothon, Skunk/Hathaway just about fell apart after the Mayonaise bit. I don't have a clue why he found it so funny, but he just stood there for the longest time unable to talk because he was about to laugh. Annelle, my favorite current Pamelia, seemed to be having fun with it.
The last night was my favorite. Lancelot/Hathaway, Blondie/Otis, and Snoopy/Fletcher were all there. Caradorn got to be the sound effects guy for the Radio Broadcast. During the Hoopla, Hathaway did the Masochism Tango with a girl who had just turned 21. It was . . . interesting. She really got into it more than I've seen before. It was funny, but in a "things are about to go horribly wrong and this could get ugly" kind of way. The cast handled it really well, though. Plus, Fletcher was really funny when he was trying to "cool things off".
After the Hoopla, Caradorn and I stuck around for one last Kungaloosh and a few more pictures, and then went back to get ready for the trip home. It was a great trip, but far too short. I'm really looking forward to our annual Food and Wine festival trip! Of course, it's at this point after every trip that I try to convince Caradorn that, being a Rocket Scientist, he should get a job at the Cape so we could go the the World more often. It hasn't worked yet, but I'll keep trying! :)
We went on 5 rides this trip. Yes, just 5, and it wasn't because of lines or crowds, it was just because we used our time doing other things. We did manage to do Pirates at the Magic Kingdom, the Safari at Animal Kingdom, and Rock and Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Midway Mania at Hollywood Studios (which will always be MGM to me!). No rides at Epcot, though we spent more time there than in the other parks. We mostly just wandered around enjoying the details.
We also spent time shopping at Downtown and snorkeling at Typhoon Lagoon, both of which the Kidd doesn't enjoy.
The sad part of the trip was that it was colored by the persistant rumors that two of our favorite places might close. DisneyQuest, one of the two, seems fairly safe for right now. The Cheesecake Factory-run restaurants inside are closing at the end of this month, though, and it was sad eating our last traditional meal of pizza and dessert in there.
The other rumor is that The Adventurers Club might close or change significantly. (You may remember that if you read my rant a while back about that "Night Kingdom" idiocy. It's somewhere in the archives if you missed it.) We love that place - as I may have mentioned once or twice - and I hate the thought that it might close. Still, it's not closed yet, and it has a big following, so maybe things will work out okay.
I got to see my favorite cast members this trip. Lancelot was there every night, Blondie was there two nights, and Snoopy was there two nights as well. Sunday night all three were there, and I always love the nights when that happens. Their interaction is great!
The first night there was a guy that was sleeping in the Main Salon. I didn't realize until I saw him wake up and wander away that he was holding an almost full bottle of beer the whole time, but somehow he didn't spill it. Blondie as Emil and Tiny as Otis had far too much fun with him, and I don't see how he slept through it - at one point the whole Club was yelling to wake him up, but he slept right through it. Shortly before the Hoopla he woke up and wandered into the library, where he promptly fell asleep again. Blondie was so funny when he saw sleeping guy (who had woken up again) during the Hoopla - suddenly he decided we were all just characters in the guys dream, and the lights started flashing and Blondie's voice was all distorted and he was talking about Hell. I was crying because I was laughing so hard! The same night, Hathaway pulled me into the closet/secret passage by the stage, but sadly he took me back to the table when he realized that Caradorn was my husband and not my brother.
The next night, Lancelot was Hathaway. The bit before the Hoopla was priceless, as Skunk/Otis was trying to get rid of him with a ridiculous story about missing wooden shoes and naked European women. Hathaway was obviously messing with Otis, who was having trouble making the story make any sense at all. If I hadn't loved Lancelot/Hathaway before that, I certainly would have afterward. At one point he could have helped Otis out a little bit, but instead he asked a question that made things even worse and then just sent Otis this hilarious look that said he knew full well that Otis was in trouble and just dared him to get himself out of it. It was wonderful! That night Snoopy was Emil and he sang a Jonathan Coulton song, so I was thrilled about that as well.
The third night we got to see Lancelot as Fletcher. I had seen him briefly before but Caradorn had not. During the Radiothon, Skunk/Hathaway just about fell apart after the Mayonaise bit. I don't have a clue why he found it so funny, but he just stood there for the longest time unable to talk because he was about to laugh. Annelle, my favorite current Pamelia, seemed to be having fun with it.
The last night was my favorite. Lancelot/Hathaway, Blondie/Otis, and Snoopy/Fletcher were all there. Caradorn got to be the sound effects guy for the Radio Broadcast. During the Hoopla, Hathaway did the Masochism Tango with a girl who had just turned 21. It was . . . interesting. She really got into it more than I've seen before. It was funny, but in a "things are about to go horribly wrong and this could get ugly" kind of way. The cast handled it really well, though. Plus, Fletcher was really funny when he was trying to "cool things off".
After the Hoopla, Caradorn and I stuck around for one last Kungaloosh and a few more pictures, and then went back to get ready for the trip home. It was a great trip, but far too short. I'm really looking forward to our annual Food and Wine festival trip! Of course, it's at this point after every trip that I try to convince Caradorn that, being a Rocket Scientist, he should get a job at the Cape so we could go the the World more often. It hasn't worked yet, but I'll keep trying! :)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
A Few Quick Notes
There are so many things I've been meaning to post about that I thought I'd borrow a page from Miss Zoot and go with the whole bullet thing today rather than tiny little posts all day.
-Speaking of Miss Zoot, today is the big day! AndyZ will be born today. I am so happy for the Zoot family. Not that I'll be checking for updates obsessively today, or anything. I haven't checked in at least 5 minutes.
-I forgot to update about the symphony! We went to see the local Symphony do "A Night of Fantasy and Fairy Tales", which mostly consisted of famous movie songs and Ashman/Menkin pieces. It was great. I really enjoyed seeing Jodi Benson sing. The songs from The Little Mermaid were great, of course, but oddly my favorite part was the medley from "Little Shop of Horrors". I also enjoyed the tenor - can't remember his name, but he used to be Raul in Phantom of the Opera. The Kidd was thrilled with the Star Wars music they played, and the fact that there were several people in Star Wars costumes there.
-Not only did HB196 not pass, it didn't even get heard. Not too surprised, really, but only around 220 things out of 1500 did get heard, which surprised everyone. I wonder if the senators will be surprised when the next election rolls around? People are furious with them, and I think they need to start getting their resumes in order.
-Jake Gyllenhaal has been cast as the lead in the upcoming "Prince of Persia" film. ??? I was hoping for Orlando Bloom or someone like him. Jake seems like an odd choice.
-No we still have not finished all the yard work. We ended up buying even more plants, and thought we have planted most of them, we still lack some. Plus, the passionflower has finally come back. I have to transplant that from the front yard to the butterfly garden this weekend or I risk losing everything that we've planted in the front beds. That stuff is great for butterflies but it's almost as bad as kudzu when it comes to taking over everything. Last year in the space of one WDW trip it escaped the flower bed and started to engulf the house!
-Indiana Jones! Indiana Jones! Indiana Jones!!! Today is the day. Well, tomorrow, but we would have to be at the theater today for the midnight showing. The Kidd still hasn't seen "Last Crusade" yet, though, so we have to finish it before "Crystal Skull". We'll see the new one by tomorrow, at least.
-Wii Fit is supposed to be out today and I am really looking forward to it. I spent several years being as inactive as possible because of my headaches, and now that I'm finally feeling better I'm trying to become more active again. It's much more difficult than I expected; I can't believe how out of shape I've gotten, and anything that gets me moving is a good thing!
-Today is the last full day of school for the Kidd this year. He is so excited. I hope he is still happy when he realizes that summer does not mean all video games all the time. We 're going to try to have a more productive summer this year, including getting some more "smilies" for our geocaching. There are bunches of caches within walking distance of our house, and I want to find all of them before them end of the summer. Maybe we'll even hide some of our own this year!
-The trip. . . I think the trip deserves its own post. Stay tuned for that! :)
-Between both blogs and the message boards I'm on, I sometimes forget what I've posted where. If you see any weird duplications, blame my faulty memory!
-Speaking of Miss Zoot, today is the big day! AndyZ will be born today. I am so happy for the Zoot family. Not that I'll be checking for updates obsessively today, or anything. I haven't checked in at least 5 minutes.
-I forgot to update about the symphony! We went to see the local Symphony do "A Night of Fantasy and Fairy Tales", which mostly consisted of famous movie songs and Ashman/Menkin pieces. It was great. I really enjoyed seeing Jodi Benson sing. The songs from The Little Mermaid were great, of course, but oddly my favorite part was the medley from "Little Shop of Horrors". I also enjoyed the tenor - can't remember his name, but he used to be Raul in Phantom of the Opera. The Kidd was thrilled with the Star Wars music they played, and the fact that there were several people in Star Wars costumes there.
-Not only did HB196 not pass, it didn't even get heard. Not too surprised, really, but only around 220 things out of 1500 did get heard, which surprised everyone. I wonder if the senators will be surprised when the next election rolls around? People are furious with them, and I think they need to start getting their resumes in order.
-Jake Gyllenhaal has been cast as the lead in the upcoming "Prince of Persia" film. ??? I was hoping for Orlando Bloom or someone like him. Jake seems like an odd choice.
-No we still have not finished all the yard work. We ended up buying even more plants, and thought we have planted most of them, we still lack some. Plus, the passionflower has finally come back. I have to transplant that from the front yard to the butterfly garden this weekend or I risk losing everything that we've planted in the front beds. That stuff is great for butterflies but it's almost as bad as kudzu when it comes to taking over everything. Last year in the space of one WDW trip it escaped the flower bed and started to engulf the house!
-Indiana Jones! Indiana Jones! Indiana Jones!!! Today is the day. Well, tomorrow, but we would have to be at the theater today for the midnight showing. The Kidd still hasn't seen "Last Crusade" yet, though, so we have to finish it before "Crystal Skull". We'll see the new one by tomorrow, at least.
-Wii Fit is supposed to be out today and I am really looking forward to it. I spent several years being as inactive as possible because of my headaches, and now that I'm finally feeling better I'm trying to become more active again. It's much more difficult than I expected; I can't believe how out of shape I've gotten, and anything that gets me moving is a good thing!
-Today is the last full day of school for the Kidd this year. He is so excited. I hope he is still happy when he realizes that summer does not mean all video games all the time. We 're going to try to have a more productive summer this year, including getting some more "smilies" for our geocaching. There are bunches of caches within walking distance of our house, and I want to find all of them before them end of the summer. Maybe we'll even hide some of our own this year!
-The trip. . . I think the trip deserves its own post. Stay tuned for that! :)
-Between both blogs and the message boards I'm on, I sometimes forget what I've posted where. If you see any weird duplications, blame my faulty memory!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Thanks, Snoopy
The annual trip to Disney World was a family tradition as I was growing up, and when Pleasure Island opened I couldn't wait to be old enough to go there. Once I was an adult, I wasn't quite as interested in it.
After Caradorn and I were married we tried going to Pleasure Island a few times, but not often. Caradorn doesn't really dance, so the dance clubs are lost on us. The Jazz Club was nice, and the Comedy club was too, but still they weren't really our thing. We also tried the Adventurers Club, and I didn't like it at all the first time. We came in mid-evening, just in time for the Colonel on the wall to start talking to people. I was not at all comfortable with it, I felt conspicuous and I was afraid he'd try to talk to me. After a few minutes they opened the doors to the library and we went in to the show. I don't remember which show it was, but we were somewhat lost. We left right afterwards and didn't go back for several years.
A few years later we bought premium annual passes for the first time. When Caradorn and I went to the Food and Wine Festival that year, we decided to try the clubs again since they were included in our passes. Again, the other clubs weren't really our cup of tea, but this time we enjoyed the Adventurers Club more. We went a couple more times on other trips, and enjoyed it when the parks were closed but we weren't ready to head back to the room.
The next year we went back to the Club on our annual Food and Wine trip. This time, there was a Hathaway Browne that I had not seen before. He was perfect as Hathaway - exactly what I had imagined Hathaway should be. By far my favorite character that I had seen at the Club. The next night we went back to the Club, and I was horribly disapointed to see that Hathaway was not the same guy. I was afraid that my favorite Hathaway was gone forever, that we had seen him the night before on his very last night at the Club. We decided to stay that evening for a while anyway, and as we were sitting there, Caradorn said "There he is! I hear his voice." But when the guy attached to the voice rounded the corner, it was someone completely different.
Hathaway was dark haired with brown eyes. So was this other guy (who turned out to be Fletcher Hodges) but other than that he wasn't anything like Hathaway. His eyes were a different shape, he moved differently, his voice sounded entirely different (even aside from the Indian accent that Fletcher had) . . . there was no way that it was my Hathaway. Caradorn swore it was, I swore it wasn't, and the guy must have thought we were both completely crazy because for the rest of the evening we stared at him while having a hushed "Is not, is too" argument. Finally, just before the end of the evening, his accent slipped for a second and his eyes changed and I realized that yes, as a matter of fact it WAS my Hathaway!
What I had never realized before was that the actors at the Club change characters all the time. We had never been to the Club more than once in a trip, so we had missed the most amazing thing about it. After the Hathaway/Fletcher incident we started going to the Club more frequently, and we were amazed by the actors. The dashing, handsome Hathaway Browne one night might be the naive, fumbling junior Adventurer Emil Bleehall the next night. The ditzy, giggly French Maid might be the businesslike, loud President Perkins the next day.
Since the first time we saw him, we've seen the Hathaway/ Fletcher that started the whole thing ( who I've since learned is called Snoopy by the online community of fans) as Emil Bleehall and Graves the Butler as well, and each character is completely unique.
For our last few trips we've gone to the Club almost every night. Snoopy is my very favorite actor there - but now I have several other favorites as well. And even though all of my favorites are not there every night, there is almost always at least one of them there at any given time.
We actually were fortunate to be able to see Snoopy in a play elsewhere, and he was wonderful there as well. He is a very gifted actor - once the play started I forgot that he was Hathaway, Fletcher, Graves, Emil, or even Snoopy, and he was just George (his character in the play). I hope that we'll be seeing him at the Club for a long time to come, but even if he moves on to other things we'll still be going Adventuring as long as the Club lasts. Thanks to Snoopy we've grown to love the Club and have discovered the many other wonderful actors there. They are really an amazing bunch - they make the characters so believable and the shows fresh every night. We've gotten many hours of enjoyment from the Club and the talented cast there, and we hope to be able to spend much more time there. And it's all thanks to Snoopy
Monday, May 12, 2008
Class Act? No. Tacky, yes.
This morning I was reading one of the boards that I frequent when I noticed that someone had posted a short review of a concert they saw last night. I was really surprised to read it - and the responses - because they were so different than my opinion of the same artist when I saw him in concert.
I love going to concerts, though Caradorn and I don’t go as often as we used to. Usually when I see a group in concert I end up liking them even more than I did before. Peter Noone, Gaelic Storm, and Nickelback I liked before I saw them in concert but loved afterward. The same with The Guess Who, Kool and the Gang, Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar), Phil Collins, Sting, Squeeze, Phish, Edwin McCain, Steven Curtis Chapman, Kiss, The Waiting, Aerosmith, and many others.
There are some exceptions to that, though. I liked Collective Soul till their concert - but (and this was probably a bad night for them; I’ve heard plenty of good reviews of their concerts) they were awful when I saw them. I’m not a big fan now. The same goes for Fuel, The Turtles, KC and the Sunshine Band, and George Clinton.
Caradorn and I went to see Michael Buble in Birmingham a couple of years ago. We enjoy his music quite a bit. The concert was interesting. First I must explain that the audience was mostly women. I knew he had many admirers but I hadn’t realized the extent until the concert. It was just crazy - the women were screaming and crying and trying to touch him. It was like he was Elvis or the Beatles or something. I spent as much of the concert watching the crazed fans as I did watching him. I just really don’t get it.
Now I am married but I’m not blind. I can appreciate an attractive man when I see one. (Though of course none are as attractive as Caradorn! ) And on paper I guess I should like Michael Buble, since he sort of sounds like my type. Really though? No. Not my type at all.
He reminded me of one of those little Bantam Roosters, strutting around the stage talking about how wonderful he is. Seriously. He kept comisserating with the men in the audience, telling them how sorry he was that they got dragged along by their wives and girlfriends. Which irritated me, but wasn’t that big of a deal. But THEN . . . he started with the bicycle metaphor. Ugh.
He said, to the men, that they shouldn’t be upset that their women were getting so worked up over him, because "I put the air in the tires but you can go home and ride that bicycle all night."
Okay, well, ick. Just ick. Here’s this cocky little guy gloating to the men that their women are wanting him but that they get the consolation prize later. Eww.
I like him much less now than before all that. It was just obnoxious. And he complained about the type of music he sings for a big part of the time. Don’t like it? Fine - Don’t sing it. Don’t keep complaining about it and keep singing it, though.
It’s not that I mind confidence or the premise that someone is a total ladies man - I love Hathaway at the Adventurers Club. The difference? He’s a fictional character! And what is cute and funny from a character is decidedly less so from a real person.
I still like his music, and I will admit that musically the concert was very good. His band was great. Buble himself was so annoying, though, that I won’t be sorry if I don’t see him perform again. (And for me, that’s a big deal - normally I’m trying to get tickets to the next concert as soon as possible.) One of the reviews this morning called him a real "Class Act". Unless he’s changed in the last couple of years I would really disagree. Talented performer? Check. Great voice? Yep. Class Act? Nope.
I love going to concerts, though Caradorn and I don’t go as often as we used to. Usually when I see a group in concert I end up liking them even more than I did before. Peter Noone, Gaelic Storm, and Nickelback I liked before I saw them in concert but loved afterward. The same with The Guess Who, Kool and the Gang, Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar), Phil Collins, Sting, Squeeze, Phish, Edwin McCain, Steven Curtis Chapman, Kiss, The Waiting, Aerosmith, and many others.
There are some exceptions to that, though. I liked Collective Soul till their concert - but (and this was probably a bad night for them; I’ve heard plenty of good reviews of their concerts) they were awful when I saw them. I’m not a big fan now. The same goes for Fuel, The Turtles, KC and the Sunshine Band, and George Clinton.
Caradorn and I went to see Michael Buble in Birmingham a couple of years ago. We enjoy his music quite a bit. The concert was interesting. First I must explain that the audience was mostly women. I knew he had many admirers but I hadn’t realized the extent until the concert. It was just crazy - the women were screaming and crying and trying to touch him. It was like he was Elvis or the Beatles or something. I spent as much of the concert watching the crazed fans as I did watching him. I just really don’t get it.
Now I am married but I’m not blind. I can appreciate an attractive man when I see one. (Though of course none are as attractive as Caradorn! ) And on paper I guess I should like Michael Buble, since he sort of sounds like my type. Really though? No. Not my type at all.
He reminded me of one of those little Bantam Roosters, strutting around the stage talking about how wonderful he is. Seriously. He kept comisserating with the men in the audience, telling them how sorry he was that they got dragged along by their wives and girlfriends. Which irritated me, but wasn’t that big of a deal. But THEN . . . he started with the bicycle metaphor. Ugh.
He said, to the men, that they shouldn’t be upset that their women were getting so worked up over him, because "I put the air in the tires but you can go home and ride that bicycle all night."
Okay, well, ick. Just ick. Here’s this cocky little guy gloating to the men that their women are wanting him but that they get the consolation prize later. Eww.
I like him much less now than before all that. It was just obnoxious. And he complained about the type of music he sings for a big part of the time. Don’t like it? Fine - Don’t sing it. Don’t keep complaining about it and keep singing it, though.
It’s not that I mind confidence or the premise that someone is a total ladies man - I love Hathaway at the Adventurers Club. The difference? He’s a fictional character! And what is cute and funny from a character is decidedly less so from a real person.
I still like his music, and I will admit that musically the concert was very good. His band was great. Buble himself was so annoying, though, that I won’t be sorry if I don’t see him perform again. (And for me, that’s a big deal - normally I’m trying to get tickets to the next concert as soon as possible.) One of the reviews this morning called him a real "Class Act". Unless he’s changed in the last couple of years I would really disagree. Talented performer? Check. Great voice? Yep. Class Act? Nope.
Like junior high all over again
I'm active on a few message boards - and by actice of course I mean I mostly lurk, but occasionally post. A couple of years ago one of my favorite boards had a meltdown of sorts, and many of the members left and formed their own board. They objected to the fairly heavy moderation on the original board; their new board isn't really moderated at all, though they will delete posts or ban posters who don't agree with the majority of posters there.
Within the last couple of weeks my other favorite board seems to be going through the same thing. It's funny, in a way. Other than the names it's almost exactly like the breakdown of the other board, even though the two boards are really nothing alike.
I'm still not sure I completely understand what started all this, but I think I have the general idea now. The board on which I am active, Board A, is a very friendly place for the most part. The posters are generally supportive of one another and the mood is usually upbeat. By the nature of the subject matter, the board also tends to attract some "odd" people, who in some cases are socially awkward. The posters also tend to post about things that can sometimes seem trivial or silly to others.
A few posters started being a bit more harsh in their treatment of others on the board and apparently became frustrated with the moderation that kept them from saying some of the meaner things they wanted to, so they started Board Z. They stayed active on Board A but would then also post horrible things about Board A and the posters there on Board Z. In the threads there they provided links to the threads and posters on Board A that they were making fun of.
The Mods at Board A realized this and somehow redirected links from Board Z back to a thread on Board Z. Who then retaliated, and things escalated from there.
Now 100+ members have been banned from Board A and are trashing it on Board Z. Those Board Z members who have not yet been banned from Board A keep starting threads to complain about the bannings and have been hijacking other threads to complain since the ones they start keep getting deleted. They are egging each other on in threads on Board Z; encouraging each other to disrupt Board A as much as possible. They sneak insults and complaints into as many threads on Board A as possible. They start threads on Board A in an attempt to goad the posters on Board A into saying things that will get them in trouble. As of this morning they are even trying to attack the real-life business owned by the owner of Board A. Board Z member who are not yet banned from Board A are now TRYING to get banned - because for whatever reason they can't just leave on their own to post elsewhere; they need the "bragging rights" that being banned seems to give them.
It's ridiculous.
The thing that makes me absolutely furious about this is the fact that they keep insisting that Board A has no right to ban them or to delete their threads because "This is America! What about our freedom of speech?!"
No. It doesn't work that way. Board A is a private message board. There is no freedom of speech. You don't have the right to use the board at all, much less to use it to spout whatever opinion you feel like spouting.
Then they start griping that the deletions are wrong because "It's censorship!". So? Censorship isn't always wrong. Sometimes it's a good thing. Just because you may have the right to say or do something, it doesn't mean you have the right to say or do it anywhere you want to.
Want to stand in your living room and yell profanities about me? That's your right. Want to stand in MY living room and yell profanities about me? No, sorry, you'll have to leave. You have no right to say ANYTHING in my home. I could let you, but I certainly don't have to. Want to post on your message board to promote your own agenda? Go for it. Want to use someone else's board for your own agenda? Only if they choose to let you.
Board A doesn't allow "strong language", but Board Z allows pretty much anything. It's funny to me that the posters on Board Z sound like Jr. High kids with their first taste of freedom. The can't seem to say ANYTHING without sprinkling it with language that wouldn't make it through the filter on Board A. Even completely calm and reasonable posts have to have "Oh, and F--- You, so-and-so" to whoever they are replying to. I know that most of these people are adults, but if I didn't know that and had to guess from their posts I'd think they were all 15.
I'm not worried about Board A, it will be fine - the people currently being idiots were a very small part of the board (though you wouldn't know it to read their posts; they think the board will wither and die without them!). Still, it is irritating to keep seeing them try to stir up trouble, especially since Board A is currently dealing with a tragic real-life issue, the death of one of the webmasters.
Disagree with the way a board is run or dislike the majority of posters there? By all means start your own board where you can say anything you want. But stop acting like the world should revolve around you! The Board Z people, with a few exceptions, are coming across as bitter children who refuse to take their toys and go home, instead insisting on throwing their tantrums in their host's living room until they get their way. Grow up already!
Within the last couple of weeks my other favorite board seems to be going through the same thing. It's funny, in a way. Other than the names it's almost exactly like the breakdown of the other board, even though the two boards are really nothing alike.
I'm still not sure I completely understand what started all this, but I think I have the general idea now. The board on which I am active, Board A, is a very friendly place for the most part. The posters are generally supportive of one another and the mood is usually upbeat. By the nature of the subject matter, the board also tends to attract some "odd" people, who in some cases are socially awkward. The posters also tend to post about things that can sometimes seem trivial or silly to others.
A few posters started being a bit more harsh in their treatment of others on the board and apparently became frustrated with the moderation that kept them from saying some of the meaner things they wanted to, so they started Board Z. They stayed active on Board A but would then also post horrible things about Board A and the posters there on Board Z. In the threads there they provided links to the threads and posters on Board A that they were making fun of.
The Mods at Board A realized this and somehow redirected links from Board Z back to a thread on Board Z. Who then retaliated, and things escalated from there.
Now 100+ members have been banned from Board A and are trashing it on Board Z. Those Board Z members who have not yet been banned from Board A keep starting threads to complain about the bannings and have been hijacking other threads to complain since the ones they start keep getting deleted. They are egging each other on in threads on Board Z; encouraging each other to disrupt Board A as much as possible. They sneak insults and complaints into as many threads on Board A as possible. They start threads on Board A in an attempt to goad the posters on Board A into saying things that will get them in trouble. As of this morning they are even trying to attack the real-life business owned by the owner of Board A. Board Z member who are not yet banned from Board A are now TRYING to get banned - because for whatever reason they can't just leave on their own to post elsewhere; they need the "bragging rights" that being banned seems to give them.
It's ridiculous.
The thing that makes me absolutely furious about this is the fact that they keep insisting that Board A has no right to ban them or to delete their threads because "This is America! What about our freedom of speech?!"
No. It doesn't work that way. Board A is a private message board. There is no freedom of speech. You don't have the right to use the board at all, much less to use it to spout whatever opinion you feel like spouting.
Then they start griping that the deletions are wrong because "It's censorship!". So? Censorship isn't always wrong. Sometimes it's a good thing. Just because you may have the right to say or do something, it doesn't mean you have the right to say or do it anywhere you want to.
Want to stand in your living room and yell profanities about me? That's your right. Want to stand in MY living room and yell profanities about me? No, sorry, you'll have to leave. You have no right to say ANYTHING in my home. I could let you, but I certainly don't have to. Want to post on your message board to promote your own agenda? Go for it. Want to use someone else's board for your own agenda? Only if they choose to let you.
Board A doesn't allow "strong language", but Board Z allows pretty much anything. It's funny to me that the posters on Board Z sound like Jr. High kids with their first taste of freedom. The can't seem to say ANYTHING without sprinkling it with language that wouldn't make it through the filter on Board A. Even completely calm and reasonable posts have to have "Oh, and F--- You, so-and-so" to whoever they are replying to. I know that most of these people are adults, but if I didn't know that and had to guess from their posts I'd think they were all 15.
I'm not worried about Board A, it will be fine - the people currently being idiots were a very small part of the board (though you wouldn't know it to read their posts; they think the board will wither and die without them!). Still, it is irritating to keep seeing them try to stir up trouble, especially since Board A is currently dealing with a tragic real-life issue, the death of one of the webmasters.
Disagree with the way a board is run or dislike the majority of posters there? By all means start your own board where you can say anything you want. But stop acting like the world should revolve around you! The Board Z people, with a few exceptions, are coming across as bitter children who refuse to take their toys and go home, instead insisting on throwing their tantrums in their host's living room until they get their way. Grow up already!
Now I remember
(Originally posted on myspace last week)
I sometimes forget that Alabama doesn't always have the best reputation in the world. Living in Rocket City, where there is a huge focus on technology, I often forget that many outsiders view Alabama as somewhat. . . well, "hick-like", maybe? It's certainly not someplace that anyone would think of if asked to list the most progressive, modern states.
It's a shame, because Alabama really is much better than people think. For the most part, at least. Today is one of those days when I am almost embarrassed to live in Alabama. Listening to the Senate audio feed, I almost thought it was a bad joke. It's like bad stereotypes of Alabamians escaped from some comedy and took over the feed.
I don't normally like to listen to the Legislature, but today I decided to listen to the Alabama Senate so that I could hear whether HB196 makes any progress today. Many of us have been calling our Senators for the past few days in the hopes that it would come up for a vote. We had hoped that it would be heard on Tuesday, but when it wasn't we felt fairly confident that it would come up today.
Ha! I'll be amazed if they make any progress on anything today. A Senator has taken offense at something, apparently, and has basically decided that he'll spend the rest of the day reading anything and everything while preaching about what God expects us to do. I spent several minutes trying to figure out why I would "hep" someone "with a cup on the cone who needs change". I finally realized he was saying I should "help someone with a cup on the corner". All this because Alabama still has a tax on food. (Though dropping that tax would actually cost most of us more than keeping it does, since they would eliminate deducting federal taxes to "make up the difference.")
It's absolutely absurd. Thank goodness he's not representing me, because if he was I would move. It's not just him, though. Several of them are being completely immature. They are willing to waste the entire day and taxpayer money because they didn't get their way on something. It shouldn't be allowed, but apparently it is. They are breaking for lunch right now, and some people seem optimistic that things will be better when they get back, but I'm not too sure about that.
I know that HB196 isn't really that important, and certainly the world will keep turning if it doesn't pass today. I imagine that there are bills that ARE important that should have been heard today, though, that now may die because these people can't just get their acts together and move on. It's embarrassing. And I realize that this sort of thing happens in governments everywhere, but I've never just sat and listened to it before. I have a new appreciation for that commercial where the firefighters are acting as the goverment! I hadn't realized just how unrealistic it is. It would be nice if it seemed that our Senators were actually trying to accomplish ANYTHING today. I know that government doesn't typically move fast, but I thought it would at least move.
UPDATE - Well, the bill wasn't heard but the Senate did at least start passing other bills. Our next (and last, for this session) chance is Monday May 19.
I sometimes forget that Alabama doesn't always have the best reputation in the world. Living in Rocket City, where there is a huge focus on technology, I often forget that many outsiders view Alabama as somewhat. . . well, "hick-like", maybe? It's certainly not someplace that anyone would think of if asked to list the most progressive, modern states.
It's a shame, because Alabama really is much better than people think. For the most part, at least. Today is one of those days when I am almost embarrassed to live in Alabama. Listening to the Senate audio feed, I almost thought it was a bad joke. It's like bad stereotypes of Alabamians escaped from some comedy and took over the feed.
I don't normally like to listen to the Legislature, but today I decided to listen to the Alabama Senate so that I could hear whether HB196 makes any progress today. Many of us have been calling our Senators for the past few days in the hopes that it would come up for a vote. We had hoped that it would be heard on Tuesday, but when it wasn't we felt fairly confident that it would come up today.
Ha! I'll be amazed if they make any progress on anything today. A Senator has taken offense at something, apparently, and has basically decided that he'll spend the rest of the day reading anything and everything while preaching about what God expects us to do. I spent several minutes trying to figure out why I would "hep" someone "with a cup on the cone who needs change". I finally realized he was saying I should "help someone with a cup on the corner". All this because Alabama still has a tax on food. (Though dropping that tax would actually cost most of us more than keeping it does, since they would eliminate deducting federal taxes to "make up the difference.")
It's absolutely absurd. Thank goodness he's not representing me, because if he was I would move. It's not just him, though. Several of them are being completely immature. They are willing to waste the entire day and taxpayer money because they didn't get their way on something. It shouldn't be allowed, but apparently it is. They are breaking for lunch right now, and some people seem optimistic that things will be better when they get back, but I'm not too sure about that.
I know that HB196 isn't really that important, and certainly the world will keep turning if it doesn't pass today. I imagine that there are bills that ARE important that should have been heard today, though, that now may die because these people can't just get their acts together and move on. It's embarrassing. And I realize that this sort of thing happens in governments everywhere, but I've never just sat and listened to it before. I have a new appreciation for that commercial where the firefighters are acting as the goverment! I hadn't realized just how unrealistic it is. It would be nice if it seemed that our Senators were actually trying to accomplish ANYTHING today. I know that government doesn't typically move fast, but I thought it would at least move.
UPDATE - Well, the bill wasn't heard but the Senate did at least start passing other bills. Our next (and last, for this session) chance is Monday May 19.
Ironman - Joining the Ranks of Other Movies that Ruin My Life!
(Originally posted on my myspace blog a few days ago. I'm trying to copy everthing over here, too!)
Caradorn has really been looking forward to seeing Ironman since we first started seeing the previews for it. I was certainly willing to go see it, but wasn't quite as anxious as he was, since I have never really followed any of the Ironman comics or cartoons.
We had planned to wait until our trip to see it, since we weren't sure it would be appropriate for The Kidd to see , but after reading a few reviews I decided it would probably be okay so we piled into the car and went to the theater.
We all loved it! Cardorn was quite pleased with Robert Downey Jr. - he said that the Tony Stark performance was "spot on". The Kidd also really enjoyed the movie. I am already wanting to go back and see it again. It is on our must buy list for the day it comes out.
The only problem is that I think Ironman will be one of my "time suck" movies. There are a few movies that come on TV occasionally that I have to watch. As long as I don't start watching them I'm fine, but if I try to change past the channel that one of them is on I get stuck on that channel until it's over. No matter how many times I see these movies I always end up watching them again the next time I stumble across them on television.
The really sad thing is that I do have each of these movies on DVD but that doesn't matter. No matter what else I'm supposed to be doing, no matter what I HAVE to accomplish, I forget everything and watch the movie on TV even though I could just watch it on DVD as soon as I finish everything else I need to do.
I wouldn't feel quite as bad about all this if the movies were highly regarded things like Schindler's List or classics like Casablanca. But they're not. The movies are: Mr and Mrs Smith, The Matrix, all the LOTR movies, The Mummy, The Mummy 2, and (worst of all) Doom. (I really, really love Doom. I know it got horrible reviews and I'm not sure if anyone else actually likes it, but I do. It's so embarrassing!)
And now I think Ironman will be one of these movies. I loved the whole thing, except for one horrible scene that almost made me cry. (A scene involving a beautiful blue car. I gasped and actually covered my eyes for a second - the only time I did that during the whole movie. I think I'll close my eyes for that part next time!)
There have been so many evenings lately that I have not done one thing on my to-do list because I found one of these movies on TV and promptly dropped everthing to sit and watch it. Even if I can recite the lines along with the actors ("You must not read from the Book!") I still have to sit and watch. Normally I multitask and do several things at once - the more the better, usually - but with these movies I don't do anything else.
I'm going to have to stop using the TV for background noise in the evenings or I'll never finish anything around here. I think I'll try radio for a while.
ETA: As Caradorn has reminded me, I forgot to list "Simply Irresistible", the cheesy romantic comedy with Sarah Michelle Gellar. And somehow I also forgot "Accepted", with Justin Long. That one has been on TV often lately, unfortunately, and I almost have it memorized now. :)
Caradorn has really been looking forward to seeing Ironman since we first started seeing the previews for it. I was certainly willing to go see it, but wasn't quite as anxious as he was, since I have never really followed any of the Ironman comics or cartoons.
We had planned to wait until our trip to see it, since we weren't sure it would be appropriate for The Kidd to see , but after reading a few reviews I decided it would probably be okay so we piled into the car and went to the theater.
We all loved it! Cardorn was quite pleased with Robert Downey Jr. - he said that the Tony Stark performance was "spot on". The Kidd also really enjoyed the movie. I am already wanting to go back and see it again. It is on our must buy list for the day it comes out.
The only problem is that I think Ironman will be one of my "time suck" movies. There are a few movies that come on TV occasionally that I have to watch. As long as I don't start watching them I'm fine, but if I try to change past the channel that one of them is on I get stuck on that channel until it's over. No matter how many times I see these movies I always end up watching them again the next time I stumble across them on television.
The really sad thing is that I do have each of these movies on DVD but that doesn't matter. No matter what else I'm supposed to be doing, no matter what I HAVE to accomplish, I forget everything and watch the movie on TV even though I could just watch it on DVD as soon as I finish everything else I need to do.
I wouldn't feel quite as bad about all this if the movies were highly regarded things like Schindler's List or classics like Casablanca. But they're not. The movies are: Mr and Mrs Smith, The Matrix, all the LOTR movies, The Mummy, The Mummy 2, and (worst of all) Doom. (I really, really love Doom. I know it got horrible reviews and I'm not sure if anyone else actually likes it, but I do. It's so embarrassing!)
And now I think Ironman will be one of these movies. I loved the whole thing, except for one horrible scene that almost made me cry. (A scene involving a beautiful blue car. I gasped and actually covered my eyes for a second - the only time I did that during the whole movie. I think I'll close my eyes for that part next time!)
There have been so many evenings lately that I have not done one thing on my to-do list because I found one of these movies on TV and promptly dropped everthing to sit and watch it. Even if I can recite the lines along with the actors ("You must not read from the Book!") I still have to sit and watch. Normally I multitask and do several things at once - the more the better, usually - but with these movies I don't do anything else.
I'm going to have to stop using the TV for background noise in the evenings or I'll never finish anything around here. I think I'll try radio for a while.
ETA: As Caradorn has reminded me, I forgot to list "Simply Irresistible", the cheesy romantic comedy with Sarah Michelle Gellar. And somehow I also forgot "Accepted", with Justin Long. That one has been on TV often lately, unfortunately, and I almost have it memorized now. :)
Why I've been missing - and a name change
Since I started this blog I've tried to do better about posting, but for the longest time I just couldn't seem to actually follow through with it. I'd think of something that I wanted to post, but I wouldn't be near the computer and by the time I was able to post I would just decide not to fool with it.
Lately I've gotten much better and I've been posting much more often. Not that you'd know it from looking at this blog, because for the most part the posts have been over on Myspace.
There's a reason for that, actually. I prefer to maintain more anonymity on this blog. Mainly, I have family and friends who don't read (or even know about) this blog and I'd like to keep it that way. Most of my posts recently have been things that I don't mind any of them reading, though, so I've been posting more on Myspace where I know that they do read.
I'm going to try to remember to copy posts to both blogs from now on, unless it's something that I only want posted over here. Still, if I seem to have gone silent for too long I'm probably just over at www.myspace.com/skurvycur .
Also, my husband, who has been DreadPirate on this blog, will be Caradorn from now on. That's his name everywhere else online, and I decided it would just be easier to stick with that over here, as well.
Lately I've gotten much better and I've been posting much more often. Not that you'd know it from looking at this blog, because for the most part the posts have been over on Myspace.
There's a reason for that, actually. I prefer to maintain more anonymity on this blog. Mainly, I have family and friends who don't read (or even know about) this blog and I'd like to keep it that way. Most of my posts recently have been things that I don't mind any of them reading, though, so I've been posting more on Myspace where I know that they do read.
I'm going to try to remember to copy posts to both blogs from now on, unless it's something that I only want posted over here. Still, if I seem to have gone silent for too long I'm probably just over at www.myspace.com/skurvycur .
Also, my husband, who has been DreadPirate on this blog, will be Caradorn from now on. That's his name everywhere else online, and I decided it would just be easier to stick with that over here, as well.
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