Oh. Well. Thats Very Different. Never Mind.

Seems like I haven't celebrated a Taraday in awhile and when I saw that today was Gilda Radner Day I just had to celebrate. I know of Gilda Radner primarily as all of her characters on Saturday Night Live. You know, back in the day when SNL wasn't feeble. She was so sweet and funny!


Here is a little biography I found on allmovie.com.
At the height of her Saturday Night Live fame, Gilda Radner was characterized by one publication as "America's Sweetheart." Few performers, comic or otherwise, have so richly deserved this appellation. Born in Detroit to a well-to-do Jewish family, Radner forsook the usual social whirl attending girls of her background and opted for a career in comedy. After attending the University of Michigan, Radner joined the Toronto Second City improvisational troupe, where she worked for the first time with John Belushi, later one of her best friends and most frequent collaborators. Radner and Belushi moved to New York when they were selected to perform on The National Lampoon Radio Hour and in the popular stage production The National Lampoon Show. Along with several other "Lampooners," Radner was chosen by producer Lorne Michaels as a member of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players on the NBC comedy weekly Saturday Night Live, which debuted in 1975. Radner soon distinguished herself as one of the most versatile of the bunch, portraying such characters as hard-of-hearing media critic Emily Litella ("Never mind"), nerdish Lisa Lupner ("That was so funny I almost fergot to LAFFFFF!"), frizzy-haired TV journalist Roseanne Roseanna-Dana ("Just goes to show ya — it's always somethin'!), and of course, the inimitable Baba WaWa. Her efforts won her a 1978 Emmy, as well as the love and respect of her fans and fellow workers. After leaving SNL, Radner developed her own one-woman Broadway show, 1979's Radner Live; the following year, she made her Broadway acting bow in Lunch Hour. Among her many films was 1982's Hanky Panky, in which she co-starred with her future husband, Gene Wilder. Even when suffering from ovarian cancer in her final years, Gilda Radner never lost her sense of humor or her upbeat approach to life; her philosophy was eloquently put forth in her autobiography, It's Always Something, which was published shortly after her death in 1989.

I will miss you forever, Gilda.

Right Now, My Job is Sucking the Very Lifeblood From Me

Sorry to have been so long between posts. I hate not posting. Every year my mind kindly allows me to forget the horror that is the Summer Reading Program. The past two days have been so freaking busy! Like, ridiculously. Plus the teen volunteers started this week and they are very time consuming. Today as I walked in I felt hopeless for a moment, as though there were no possible way I was going to make it through the next five and a half weeks. I had to let it go. Obviously, I get through it every year and the fact is that the buck does not stop with me. So, I am able to go on, counting, counting, counting the days.

I think on top of the work stuff I am feeling the pressure of the home stuff. WTG is vegetating. He claims to be going back to work next Monday, but I'm finding that difficult to envision, given that he basically hasn't done anything since he's been out of the hospital besides sit in his chair or lie in his bed watching television. I'm not exaggerating. Well, time will tell there...he'll either go back to work or not.

Plus, I know this is lame and stupid, but yesterday I finally get this call from Team C, who has been basically MIA since the beginning of May. At first I was just glad to hear from him, but then overnight and this morning I started thinking, "What am I doing here? This is so ridiculous, even as far as the most casual relationships would go. I don't need this shit." See here how you can actually read my thoughts? But that is just what keeps running through my mind. So, today I need to call or email and tell him that I'm just not interested in getting his little calls anymore. Truly, I don't need this.

My Mood Music

Taking a page from Evil-E at Random Crap, AlienCG at Alien's World, and Tara at Eclectic Spaghetti, I am posting a little list of some CDs that I might turn to when a certain mood strikes.

Happy Mood Music:
B-52’s Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation


Sad Mood Music:
Beck’s Sea Change


Angry Mood Music:
System of a Down’s Toxicity


Romantic Mood Music:
Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me


Mysterious Mood Music:
Steely Dan’s Gaucho


A Little Bit of Everything Music:
Beatles’ The White Album


What's fits your mood?

What Color is My Aura?

Your Aura is Blue

Spiritual and calm, you tend to live a quiet but enriching life. You are very giving of yourself. And it's hard for you to let go of relationships. The purpose of your life: showing love to other people Famous blues include: Angelina Jolie, the Dali Lama, Oprah Careers for you to try: Psychic, Peace Corps Volunteer, Counselor

What Color Is Your Aura?

Me and Angelina have sooo much in common. And I am totally going to put out my Psychic shingle.

What Kind of Flower Am I?

You Are A Lily

You are a nurturer and all around natural therapist. People see you as their rock. And they are able to depend on you. You are a soothing influence. You can make people feel better with a few words. Your caring has more of an impact than even you realize.

What Flower Are You?

Awwwww!

Summertime and the Living is Easy

Today is the first day of Summer, my favorite season. Like most people, I enjoy complaining quite a bit. I gripe when it is cold and damp. I moan when it is hot and humid. Basically, unless you are the perfect day...you know the kind, where the air somehow feels like the exact temperature of your skin, there is a slight breeze, the sun caresses you gently....um, anyway, unless you are that day I will probably be Complainie Complainerson. Still, there is something about Summertime. Maybe part of it is the happy associations of childhood. Those endless days filled with nothing to do but create my own little world with my friends. Now when it starts to get hot, I still feel some residual sense of excitement, as though the world is opening up for me once again.
And isn't sweat sexier than shivering? Well, probably not to everyone, but heat just does something to me...
Ah, geez, have a glass of ice cold lemonade and join me in welcoming Summer!

Post a Meme Day!

I was tagged at Eclectic Spaghetti, by the fabulous Tara. Thankew.

Finish The Sentence Survey Meme

Maybe I should....: get a backbone and keep it!

I love...: driving in my car with the top down on a summer evening.

People would say that I'm...: quiet, but nice.

I don't understand...: man's inhumanity to man.

When I wake up in the morning...: it is a whole new chance to do it right.

I lost...: so many things it isn't even funny.

Life is full of...: surprises.

My past is...: what makes me who I am today.

I get annoyed when...: people won't even make an effort to do things for themselves.

Parties are...: a bit nervewracking.

I wish...: I were stronger and more self-confident.

Dogs...: are needy.

Cats...: are bossy.

Tomorrow...: is another day.

I have low tolerance...: for boredom.

If I had a million dollars...: like the Barenaked Ladies say, I'd be rich!

I'm totally terrified...: of heights.

3 People I Tag for this Meme:

1) Viki
2) MrManuel
3) Furtive Wangler

I (heart) Television, Again

Sadly, much of my evening pleasure involves tv. I don't think I watch more than your average person...maybe even a little less. I do have my shows though and right now a couple of favorites just came back into play and I found a new one too!
I duck my head a bit and admit that I love So You Think You Can Dance. I love it, okay? I just do. I am also really excited that Rescue Me just started up again. I am even more excited that Big Love started up again. It makes polygamy seem like a viable alternative lifestyle. haha! Okay, not really, but it is a really good show.
A new offering from HBO has me excited. Yes, I said excited. A television program has excited me. Happy? Anyway, anyone with the HBO should definitely check out John From Cincinnati. Do it.
*sigh* I'm sorry. A whole post about l.b.'s favorite shows of the moment. Apparently it had to be done.

Today is Ridiculously Busy and Happy 18th Birthday Social Animal

I have been running like a maniac all day today! The kids are out of school and hitting the library in force. They all want to be in the Summer Reading Program, they all want a list of books to read, and they all need their hands held to actually find the books on the shelf. Yay for reading! But damn, I am tired.

Today is Social Animal's 18th birthday, as I have mentioned. I left the celebrating part sort of up to him, so he took me up on the offer and called me up about an hour ago wanting to meet at Round Table Pizza for dinner. He said any sibs could come that were around and he would meet us there with a friend or two or three. I am hemorrhaging money, but it is almost over.... Well, okay, it is never over, but this intense season of celebration is almost over...

Social Animal's Graduation

Here is Social Animal looking proud and handsome in his cap and gown Thursday evening. He and his class of almost 700 graduated in an outdoor stadium on a very hot evening. Still they do have the process down to a science and the entire ceremony lasted only a little over an hour! Afterward, the family all came back to the house for dinner. I didn't have the time or inclination to cook, so we had El Pollo Loco and the many desserts we had left from Girlie Girl's graduation the night before. Social Animal made out like a bandit and now has a fine little stash of cash to add to his moving out fund. Please don't think me hard hearted for speaking of his moving out so casually. I feel lucky that he will only be going a few blocks away. Also, he has prepared me well, as he has always been an extremely self-sufficient and resourceful person.
Okay! So, both of the graduations are over! Everything went very well and I probably don't have to consider graduation ceremonies again for another few years.

I graduated from high school 27 years ago. Egads. Yet, still, I have recollections of that evening. I had broken up with a boyfriend not too long before and I remember how he came up to me afterward and asked me how I was feeling. I said, "Sort of lost." He gave me his wise, older man look (he had graduated the year before) and said, "Just wait until about a year from now and you will really know how it feels to be lost." Very deep. Chiding me about breaking up with him at my graduation! And out of anything my family might have done for me on that special occasion, that conversation is what I remember most about graduating. Just goes to show you, doesn't it.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

I guess this is assuming we all have some sort of intelligence ;-)

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence
You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well.
An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly.
You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view.
A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary.

You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Yeah, my way with words is legendary! haha! Love the blogthings...

Girlie Girl's Graduation

Here is Girlie Girl and her Middle School diploma. I think she looked really cute. Some of those little girls looked like tiny cocktail waitresses, to put it mildly. I mean, I don't think I am an old fogey or anything, but we are talking about 14 year old girls wearing TONS of makeup and this very hoochy looking hair...hard to explain I guess, but it was pretty funny. There were even some of the girls who were rocking a sort of modified Amy Winehouse look with that Cleopatra eye makeup and even very discreet versions of beehives. Ah, kids.
Anyway, the evening went really well. They managed to conduct the entire ceremony in about 50 minutes, which isn't bad for a class of around 300 students. We got really good seats and GG was really gracious through all of our yelling, waving, and picture taking.
Afterwards, we went back to the house for pizza and many, many dessert items.

Now we get to do it again tonight, on a larger scale, for Social Animal. After how well last night went I am feeling pretty strong :-)

Mystery Solved

How does the small arrow in the screen of the computer work when we move the mouse?

Haven't you ever wondered how it works?

Now, through the miracle of the high technology, we can see how it's done.

With the aid of a screen magnifying lens the mechanism becomes apparent.

Go to: http://www.1-click.jp/

After it loads, move your cursor to the center of the page. When the circle appears, move the cursor around. Try clicking, too. And watch what happens when you stop moving the cursor!

Mystery solved.

My So-Called Life ;-)

Lots going on this week…the last week of school. Bringing joy to the hearts of children and terror to the hearts of parents everywhere!
Yesterday morning (Monday) Handsome Lad’s class performed a play. It was the standard melodrama where the villain tricks the family into giving up the deed to their gold mine. In exchange he wants Little Nell’s hand in marriage, but her heart belongs to Handsome Harry, etc… Anyway Handsome Lad played the role of one of the good miners. I can’t remember what his character was called, but he did a great job. I think he may have found his calling. No, not mining….ACT-ing!

Tonight is Girlie Girl’s graduation from Middle School. This has been a rather expensive proposition as she needed a new dress and shoes not only for graduation, but also for the graduation dance held last Friday night. She is extremely particular about what she wears too. Not so unusual for a girl her age and she has always been very into looking cute. I believe the whole family will be attending. Afterwards, back to our house for a little dessert party.

Tomorrow night is Social Animal’s High School graduation. A dinner party will follow…probably at a pizza place, because with the whole extended family in attendance that would probably be all I could swing. I am really proud of what a great high school career he made for himself. He somehow realized the importance of the whole high school experience and really optimized it for himself. He maintained a 3.8 GPA over the course of his four years, played football all four years and, as his name implies, had many friends and social activities. He’s decided to attend community college in the fall with the thought of getting the first couple of years of basic education out of the way before moving on to a University. He is excited about moving out with a couple of his friends next month and will have some money in the form of graduation gifts, but there is the little matter of a job! He seems confident that he’ll be able to land something that will provide him with enough to get by on. I would be more skeptical if this were anyone but Social Animal.

Thursday is everyone’s official last day of school, so per tradition I took the day off. It also happens to be my regular Friday off. We will be able to ease right in to summer vacation. After all of this we have Social Animal’s 18th birthday on Monday. I’m not sure what he wants to do in the way of a party. For the past couple of years he has had a big swimming party. I suppose we could swing that again if he wants, but not until the following weekend at the soonest.

This is all very exciting and joyous, and I am fighting against the temptation to just wish it were all over. I really do want to be able to enjoy and appreciate these special moments. These are all once in a lifetime things that I do not want to later regret having let them slip by in a blur of anxiety. I see how much I bring up the financial end of things, because all of that is weighing on me rather heavily right now. Still, it is so much more than that and I truly want to live appreciatively.

Because There is Now A Quiz For Everything

I am the Yin Yang of Spice

Ah, grasshopper, how little my friends understand me sometimes. I perceive the inherent duality of the world -- good/bad, light/dark, up/down, salty/peppery -- but am not fooled into taking sides. I am justice and balance personified. I know how to live with contradictions and have a love of paradox. My friends like me for my ability to expound on the "is" of "is-ness." I know that life is about being here now.

Click on the bag o' chips and you can take a potato chip quiz too!

An Unexpected Lift

I have been feeling a bit down and overwhelmed lately. While I am proud to have two of my kids graduating next week and I am glad that school is almost over for the year, it all adds up to many extra expenses and many extra activities. I feel like I have been late for work or had to leave early so much lately for one event or another. Luckily my boss is really nice about it. Anyway, I have been somewhat stressed. Not to mention WTG sitting around, not doing anything to contribute to his recovery, and seeming to spend his copious amounts of free time thinking of ways to pick on the kids until they call me up in tears telling me they can't take it anymore.
I was relieved to find today that the little things can still make me smile. Today at lunch I decided to treat myself to a Subway sandwich. The experience started out on a positive note as I was right behind a firefighter in line. Unfortunately, he wasn't one of the ones I could fantasize about, because I know him, his wife, and his three kids...they live in the same city as me, and he just happens to work for the same city that I work for. Anyway, it was someone to talk to in line a bit. I noticed that there was someone right behind me in line as well. After Mr. Fireman had begun ordering his sandwich, I began ordering mine: a six inch chicken, bacon, ranch on Italian herbs and cheese bread, toasted. The girl got mine going and then went on to the guy behind me in line. He said in this amused voice that he wanted the exact same thing as "her" (pointing to me), except footlong. He was just a young guy, Chinese...he had that hair that makes kids look like Manga characters or something...and he was so tickled that we liked the same sandwich. He was so happy about this little coincidence and I looked at him and had to smile too. The girl behind the counter was watching our little encounter when the next guy walked in and ordered the same sandwich. So, then she's looking at us and smiling too, like we all have some goofy secret. It was just one of those weird little moments you have in public places sometimes. I mean, there is nothing so unusual about three people in a row ordering the same menu item, but for some reason we had this unusual reaction. I don't know... Anyway, I paid for my sandwich and left feeling lighter in spirit than I have lately.
To top it off, when I started my car they were playing Brimful of Asha by Cornershop on the radio. Now there is a catchy little song, and the line "Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow, everybody needs a bosom" is funny and sweet.
And that, friends, was my unexpected lift today...I really needed it.

Girls Will Rule the World

This morning I attended Social Animal's Senior Awards Breakfast. All the kids attending had achieved some sort of academic excellence for which they were being recognized with a huge variety of scholarships. It was actually amazing to watch what amounted to thousands of dollars being given out to about 50 kids. Social Animal received a Carol C. Gordon Scholarship for $400 and something called a Ralph's e-scrip Scholarship for $100. He was pleased to get a couple of checks...it made him feel that his hard work over the years was appreciated properly.

I found it interesting that the vast majority of scholarship winners were girls. Girls are the movers and shakers apparently. They actually had 17 valedictorians in the class and of those 17, 14 were girls. So, I am thinking that within the next generation, girls will rule the world.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Breakfast has quite a reputation to uphold! We are literally breaking our nightlong fast with a delicious, nutritious meal...in theory. I often skip breakfast, or have coffee in lieu of breakfast. At Eclectic Spaghetti breakfast is being honored. We are asked to consider our three favorite breakfasts and to name today's honoree. So, I give you....
l.b.'s Top Three Breakfasts
1. Eggs Benedict
2. Syrupy pancakes with a side of very crispy bacon
3. Biscuits and gravy

Today's Honoree
A fresh strawberry donut from The Donut Man. With strong black coffee.

This is not my typical fare. It is usually, as I said, just the coffee. Today a special treat was brought in for the trodden masses during the Staff Meeting. I didn't actually attend this particular meeting, as I was watching the dancing Condors. However, believe it or not, there were donuts left by the time I wandered in! Donuts without the meeting! Yessssss!!!!! You have to understand how good these donuts are. See, they cut open a fat glazed donut and sort of stuff these whole glaze covered strawberries in there. It is like the most perfect food ever. And that was my breakfast.

Boys Can Dance

This morning I went to the Dance Festival at Handsome Lad's school. I've been attending these things for the past...uh...geez, 16 years. If you have boys these dance festivals may be your only chance to see your sons dance. Not to stereotype or anything, but I have five kids and only one of them ever wanted dance lessons. Anyway, it was fun. Since he is in 4th grade, he performed a square dance. Next year, if everything stays as it has for forever, he will be doing a line dance. Then, no more dance festivals for me :-(
Bonus, I got to see the little twins from Cheaper by the Dozen and Desperate Housewives do a 50's dance with the other 3rd graders. Yes, even movie and television stars attend public schools - haha! And I found it sweet that they looked just as sheepish dancing as most of the other kids did...

My Mind is a Vast Wasteland

I wanted to post today, but my brain is feeling flabby or something. So, I go to my old standby, Taradays, and note that today is Dried Food Day. I had already commented there that I ate some of that bowl of noodle soups on Saturday and that dried food is pretty cool and scientists should spend some time perfecting movie effect dried foods. So, what else could I say about dried foods? I Googled "dried foods" and I found this interesting article about an unusual way of reconstituting dried foods for people in perilous conditions. So, that was quite a thinker... After pondering that for a bit, my mind went to freeze dried coffee, like Folger's crystals, right? Instant coffee. I have a small container on hand in case I ever have a coffee emergency, but mostly I use my standard drip coffee maker...or well, I used to. Now, truthfully, I mostly stop at Circle K or 7-11 on my way to work and lay down $1.49 for 24 ounces of pleasure. Seems like a bargain. Still, I don't think even coffee would help my brain right now. I can almost see the tumbleweeds and hear the whistle of the lonely wind.