Friday 5 - Taboo

This week’s Friday 5 is inspired by the party game called Taboo, in which players must make their teammates utter key words by giving them clues. The twist is that each key word is assigned five Taboo words, and players are forbidden from using the Taboo words in their clues. For example, one key word might be milk, and its Taboo words might be dairy, cow, drink, white, and carton. Your clue might be something like, “It’s a beverage from Bessie,” or “You add it to coffee,” or “The land of BLANK and honey,” or “It comes out of breasts.”

Your task is simply to answer these five questions without using any of the Taboo words or phrases. Challenge yourself not just to avoid using the words, but to think of fresh, new answers to these sort of cliched meme questions!

1. Who’s making a positive difference in your life? Taboo words: friends, family, husband/wife/spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend. I am making a positive difference in my own life with my continued, if sporadic, efforts to make connections outside of my own head.

2. Where would you like to be right now? Taboo words: home, bed, anywhere but here. Right now I would very much like to be visiting a distant friend.

3. What’s the first thing you’d do with a $5,000 (or your local equivalent) gift? Taboo words: save, debt, vacation, payments, invest. Well...I could go and visit that distant friend! :-)

4. What super-power would you really like to have? Taboo words: invisibility, x-ray vision, flying, strength, transform. How bout the power to kill a yak. From 200 yards away. With mind bullets! That's telekenesis Kyle! How bout the power...to move you? (with thanks to Tenacious D)

5. What’s your favorite sound?
Taboo words: laughter, music, ocean, wind, ____’s voice. The sounds that come out of people's mouths when they are saying nice things to me.

This was fun! You should play too. Because everything is more fun if it is a little taboo...

Moon Books For Kids or Kids at Heart

I didn't have anything special to write about today. My mind is caught up in finishing up the Summer Reading Program at work and the MOVE at home. No one needs to hear anymore about either of those things :-) Instead, I thought I'd share with a couple of really beautiful books that came through recently, published and purchased to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. There has been many things published recently. Of course, I have more immediate access to children's materials and when these came through I was very struck by them.

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 - Brian Floca. I'll be honest, the text in this book had me a little choked up. Really beautifully written and the illustrations are gorgeous.


Look to the Stars - Buzz Aldrin. Another stunningly illustrated book (by Wendell Minor) filled with Buzz Aldrin's memories...well, basically of the history of the space program. Awesome.

Hope this didn't bore you guys. I just thought they were really wonderful example of what is new and exciting in the world of Children's Non-Fiction. Just in case anyone was wondering...

Don't Stand So Close to Me

Time once again for our Choose and Defend Wednesday. Today, I have a personality sort of question for you. Often, when choosing between two things, we can see both as being true of ourselves to some degree. If you stop and think a moment, though, you will realize that one has the edge, no matter how slight. Some of you may not even hesitate. I know I didn't with this one. So, all you have to do is make a choice and then defend that choice with conviction!

Are you...

A Student
OR

A Teacher

So? Who are you? Choose and Defend!

Strip for Me

Like our friend, Alien Coffeeground, I couldn't let today's Taraday pass me by. So, here I am appreciating comic strips!


Remember The Far Side? I wish Gary Larsen didn't get all sick of deadlines and retire. I loved all of his grotesque people and animals doing people things :-)




Bizarro by Dan Piraro is pretty awesome too. That link is to his blog, which is also funny. He seems like one of these people it is better to read about from a distance for some reason. Alien showed me Stephan Pastis' Pearls Before Swine blog...now he is someone I could enjoy up close. Call me, Stephen! haha!



Of course there is the ever popular Dilbert. Oh, those wacky office politics. Unfortunately, I totally get it. Scott Adams, keep on keepin' on.

It was fun appreciating comic strips! Sorry to get this up so late in the day. It was, you know...one of THOSE days. *sigh*

A Room with a View

Well, it isn't easy, but I am doing it. Moving on up to the de-luxe apartment in the sky. Two bedrooms, no waiting. haha! I talked with the owners on Saturday evening, they came by Sunday morning and the deal was made. My rent is only $65 more for that extra room (and the livingroom is bigger)...it is worth it. After next weekend, we should be completely relocated. We are going to clean our vacancy as deeply as possible, in hopes of not depleting my deposit fund. Whatever they have to spend out of what I put down when I originally moved in, I will have to replenish. I am hoping they will go easy on me.

I worked on Saturday and it was really busy. I babysat on Saturday evening, but it was kind of cheaty as I went over late and all the babies were asleep. I just watched tv, while their parents went cosmic bowling. My kind of gig.

Yesterday, Sunday, was mostly devoted to beginning the move. We actually got quite a bit done. We have only been there a little over a year, so haven't accumulated a great deal of stuff that isn't absolutely necessary. Just trying to get my utilities switched over and all that. Guh. So far, I have the electricity scheduled to be switched and I have the DirecTV people coming out. But I am having less luck trying to schedule the gas to be turned on and the switching of the internet service. These folks are hard to pin down...mostly because I don't know account numbers and things...they just take my money automatically each month and I don't have bills sitting around handily with numbers on them. I need to get organized :-)

Recognize this picture from Saturday? Okay, well, you can see our new apartment there...see the arrow? I am there. I will show you the inside when we get settled a bit.

So, those of you who were rooting for me to get my own room...yay team! Girlie Girl's arguments were sound and I was able to move forward. But I will be so glad when the move is OVER. What do you remember most about a move that you made? Good or bad, I'd love the story. And please...send me energetic thoughts!!!

This Musical Message is For Effect...and Cause

Tourist Info Said I'd Have a Good Time

It is another hot, hot Saturday. There is the heated activity as we get our Saturday Scavenger Shots together and there is the heat that SUMMER brings. I got to choose this week's word and as this is my season I had to show some love for SUMMER.

I guess I am a true thin-blooded Californian. I love hot weather, especially an arid, desert heat. SUMMER rules and I have the pictures to prove it.

Um, okay, I didn't take this picture. Handsome Lad took it and sent it to me when he was on vacation with his pops last week. But I'm sharing it, because the beach is the quintessential SUMMER setting here in So Cal. Aaaaahhhhh....I love it.


All SUMMER long the top of my car stays down. I drive around enjoying the warm air on my skin. Feels amazing. My car has it's issues, but it is a really good SUMMER car.


When there is no chance to get to the beach, there is always the pool! SUMMER meant the above ground pool in my backyard when I was a kid. This is the pool at my apartment, with Love Bug on the move. SUMMER should be spent in or near water if at all possible.


Yum...the fruits of SUMMER. Here is Miss Personality with a cute little tomato that her parents grew before they killed their plant with too much water. We don't have the greenest of thumbs, but we still like to try growing things during the SUMMER :-)

I hope you all enjoyed celebrating SUMMER with me here in Fresh Hell :-) We do like it hot here....

For next week, I think I will tag....Dmarks @ Throwawayblog. Are you in Dmarks? Feed us the rock!

Seinfeldisms & Me

I was talking to a friend today about my extraordinary ability to recognize just about any quote from Seinfeld. I mean, that is extraordinary, right? haha! Okay, maybe not, but beggers can't be choosers...or something like that. It is fun to trade Seinfeldisms with other fans, but if you aren't sure who you are dealing with it can totally backfire. For example, if I were to say, "You are sooo good lookin'!" after you sneezed it would either make you laugh, because you'd recognize where it came from OR you'd look at me like I was a head case because it would be a very odd response to a sneeze. My friend got right on board when I asked him if he was having a BIG salad for dinner. If he wasn't a fan of Seinfeld that might not have been a particularly odd question...but it wouldn't have been a question to have a little laugh over either.

I guess a familiarity with Seinfeldisms is a shared experience like any other. If you get it, you get it! If you don't...well, you don't. And it is always so fun when you run into someone who gets it...no matter what it is. Sometimes it is growing up in the same town, even if it is at different times. Sometimes it is just being the same age, going through similar times. Sometimes it is music or other particular interests or hobbies or preferences that draw us together. When someone else gets it though...ah, it just feels good! So I will probably continue to throw out random Seinfeldisms. And if you watch The Office? Yeah, we should talk. :-)

I love to have people share in comments. So, toss me a line! I just might get it. And if I don't, you can explain it to me and we can laugh about how clueless I am!

Condiments! How Embarrassing. I Thought You Said....

Welcome to Wednesday and another chance to Choose and Defend! My brain is rather fried today. Yes, I said today. Erm, so here is a simple little choice for you to make and support through compelling argument.... Which of these condiments do you prefer?

Mustard
OR

Ketchup

See how little I ask of you here? The least you can do is make a choice and then defend it with your very life, don't you think? You know you want to tell me your views on this issue, so please...proceed. Choose and Defend. Thank you!

Men Who Are Older Than Me

After my big whine-fest yesterday I wanted to do something more fun today. Lucky you, right? haha! Anyway, when I want something fun I always go see what The Eclectic Calendar says about the day. I got lucky too, because it turns out that today is Double Up with Laughter Day! Comedians Jon Lovitz and Robin Williams each celebrate a birthday today!

Jon Lovitz is 52 years old today. I am younger than Jon Lovitz. Yeah! That's the ticket!

Robin Williams is 57 years old today. I am younger than Robin Williams. Reality! What a concept!

I decided that as long as we were celebrating, we might as well throw in tomorrow's birthday as well....

Danny Glover is 62 years old tomorrow. I am younger than Danny Glover. I'm too old for this shit...

I am happy to be able to celebrate the births of these guys...all of them born before me. And I have always thought Danny Glover was tres cute, so he has a special greeting waiting here if he ever wants to come get it. haha! And his little Lethal Weapon line, "I'm too old for this shit" felt just right for me today. I dared to say it felt hot in here and The Drifter opined that it was probably perimenopause making me feel that way. Bitch! Okay, she may have a point, but still...bitch! That made me feel unsexy, but I was happy to find that all three of these fellows are considerably older than me. Not sure why, but it helps somehow.

Alright, well anyway. Happy Birthday, Jon, Robin, and Danny! (Danny, call me!) I might not be too old for this shit after all :-D

Not Quite Howling at the Moon

Not very original, but I swear this is exactly how I've been feeling for the past couple of days. I really don't have anything specific I can complain about. Everything is fine, in general. Just a dark mood. And small things building up:

-There is a lot of tension at work right now. I try to stay out of it, but due to the nature of office politics it can become difficult. The Summer Reading Program is going fine, as far as I can tell. Anyone who doesn't work in the Children's Section of a public library would laugh at how tied up people's egos seem to be in this program. It is beyond ridiculous. I don't let that get to me, but it is the insane infighting that does get to me sometimes.

-My daughter is pressuring me to find out if we can get into the two bedroom that is available in our building. I think I could afford it, but the thought of moving again, even across the courtyard, makes me want to cry. I feel, literally, like I cannot manage it. I am fine in the one bedroom, sleeping on the couch. I don't care, but apparently she's decided it bothers her. Ugh.

-The Kickback Dude and Princess Diva have also expressed and interest in the apartment. I don't know how to tell them that living so close would probably kill us all. I feel like that is an awful thing to say to my son and his family. And possibly unfair. I don't know.

-I have had a complete and apparently final break with a longtime friend...who turned out to be not such a friend. I'm just as glad to leave it like this. There is nothing to salvage now. But it still saddens me. I not only lost this friend now, but it is kind of like I lost the idea of this friend too, if you know what I mean.

I know this is the place to vent, and my fellow bloggers are always quite patient and kind. Sympathetic comments welcome! Still, enough. There are so many good things.

I have been enjoying the different takes on the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. Mine was yesterday, in song :-) It sounds silly to say it, but I have always been a fan of the moon. I wouldn't really want to go there, because the desolation would probably undo me completely...but I love the moon from a distance. It is so beautiful and constant and constantly changing.
Happy Anniversary, Moon, from one of your biggest fans. xoxo

This Musical Message is For the Moon

Tag! I'm It!

The word is...SUMMER. Couldn't believe we hadn't had this word yet, but now we do! Thanks for the tag, Ananda Girl. Hope you all enjoy it!

I Want You to Notice What You've Been Missing

Saturday! Scavenger! Hunt! And boy, was this one a doooozy. Choosen by the most imaginatively whimsical blogger around, Ananda Girl over at Oodles of Funch, the word is...OBSESSION. Ooooohhhhh!

My OBSESSIONs are legion. It was hard to narrow them down to a few representative things that are an OBSESSION with me, but here we go...

As you know, I am have an OBSESSION with clever kid lit. This is from The Three Little Gators by Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Will Terry. It is an East Texas version of the Three Little Pigs. This page reads:
"Then I'll wiggle my rump with a bump, bump, bump and smash your house!" Big-bottomed Boar wiggled his bottom and bumped it against the third gator's house. Sand flew everywhere.
Awesome.


I'd say I have a little Netflix OBSESSION going on, especially as I make my way through the five seasons of Six Feet Under. I can turn those pups around pretty quickly.


Here are two OBSESSIONs in one. My beloved 7-Eleven iced coffee (thanks for the beautiful marriage ceremony the other day, Tara) and Nurse Jackie. I have other snack food and television OBSESSIONs as well. But I can't in good conscience expose you to all of that.


I have a pretty serious bear OBSESSION. Here are some that live with me. People give them to me for some reason.


Another example of my bear OBSESSION. One of my favorite shirts..Be(ar) Aware!


As a mom, of course I have an OBSESSION with my children. Most of them are beyond the age when it is really safe to OBSESS. But look at little Handsome Lad...still OBSESSION worthy :-)


I have now moved the OBSESSION largely to my grandbabies. Here is the beautiful and lively Miss Personality getting ready to leap into the deep, deep blue....


Here are more grandbabies to OBSESS over...Love Bug and Little Prince looking somewhat stunned with heat and the loving care of their Auntie Girlie Girl, who took care of them all one night and all the next day all on her own.

Of course, you could say that this blog...and reading all of yours is another big OBSESSION of mine. Thanks so much for joining me in this harmless little OBSESSION...can't wait to see yours! Don't forget to check with Ananda Girl to see who she tags for next week. May the OBSESSION continue!

Friday 5 - Scattergories

This week’s Friday 5 is inspired by the party game Scattergories, in which players have to come up with items, all beginning with the same letter, in several categories. For example, if the die is rolled and shows the letter R, players might have to come up with a soft drink, a farm animal, a river, and a U.S. President, all beginning with R. Valid answers might be root beer, rooster, Rhine, and Roosevelt.

On the actual Friday 5 site there is a link to a random letter generator and suggestions on how to use it. Since I am lazy and don't want to find the link and don't think we need a random generator for choosing a single letter my option for you is that you should use the first letter of your first name (real or blogger handle, your choice). So...you will use that letter...or heck, some other letter if'n you want....and answer the following questions. Well, I will at least. And maybe you will too!

0. What letter are you using? (this doesn't count for one of the 5!) - L


1. With what famous person, whose name begins with the letter you are using, would you most like to be stuck on a desert island? - Lear, Edward...since I've been thinking of those somewhat odd fellows of literature. I guess he did have some heath issues, which could be problematic on a desert island, but wouldn't he be interesting!

2. What food item, whose name begins with the letter you are using, can always be found in your pantry? - Lemon juice in the little plastic lemon :-)

3. What song, whose title begins with the letter you are using, always makes you feel good? - Love Shack. All B-52s songs would work here...well, they all make me feel good...they don't all start with the letter L...

4. What is your least-favorite film whose title begins with the letter you are using? - Least favorite is always harder than favorite, and there are actually a lot of really good L movies! After a struggle to think of something I saw, but didn't love I am going with The Love Guru. So, so not funny. Guh.

5. What unusual animal, whose name begins with the letter you are using, would be a fun pet? Would a leopard be a fun pet? It would be unusual, but I'm not sure it would be much fun...all that worrying about getting mauled. Maybe I better just have a lhaso apso.

Thanks for playing! And have a xntflqsipv weekend!

Children's Literature is Fun

Okay, not all of it is fun. Some of it is insipid. Some of it is saccharine. Some of it is just stupid. But some of it is so, so fun :-) I like it with a little twist and I think many kids do too. Not enough authors take advantage of children's odd sensibilities, although there are notable exceptions, both new and old. A couple of older dark and twisty authors are Lewis Carroll and Roald Dahl. Three of the more recent ones that come to mind are Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman, and Philip Ardagh.

Today I want to share with you something that just really tickled me. Here:Gyo Fukikawa's A to Z Picture Book.
Looks like a fairly typical picture book for very young children, yes? Mostly it is. The pages are full of many examples of words that start with the different letters of the alphabet. There were a couple that just made me laugh.
For example:K - Kenny is kowtowing. Of course he is! hee hee!
And:Z - zombie. I saw that and just went, "Yessss!" Now there is that zombie mayhem I was seeking.

Put me in mind of Sebastien's current alphabetical adventures. This book was published in 1974, but if parents are smart they are still reading it to their children today...at least until Sebastien's work is published.

Hope you enjoyed this twisted side of children's lit! What is your favorite children's book? Do you like different children's books as an adult or do you have old tried and true favorites? Tell me about it! I'm a professional.

When It's Time for Leavin', I Hope You Understand...

Here we are, well in to summer on this fine Choose and Defend Wednesday. We all deserve a vacation, don't you think? Let's do some traveling! Alright, that's settled. But of course there is a decision to be made... First, let's remove the distracting restrictions of time and money. Both will not bother us here. Awesome, right? All you have to do is make a choice about how you prefer to travel. Choose. Then explain your preference to the rest of us. Defend. So? What will it be?

Fly
OR

Drive

Of course you should feel free to throw in any details you wish to about your trip. Details are always welcome. But at least, I beseech you, Choose and Defend. Thanks!!!

Bored With Blogthings (forgive me!), I Tried This...

What Historical figure are you?

You are Cleopatra!

Beautiful and Charming. You are able to persuade anyone to do anything you would like, because of your hotness and charisma. You are an expert in gaining power over anyone you choose.

That's right! My hotness and charisma get me everything! Everything! Bwahahahaha! Um, yeah.


And Here is a link to a little video of the concert I was at Saturday night. It isn't my video and I'm not in the video, but you can see what I saw and where I was...you know, if you want to.

LOUDquiet Weekend

This is the lawn at the Arboretum. You can't see the stage here, but it was down there somewhere....

Last week was one of THOSE weeks. You know the ones. Just soul killing. I had Friday off though and had such a relaxing day that it really rejuvinated me for Saturday, which I knew was going to be super busy. And it was. I don't think I sat down once the whole time I was at work. I had a couple of busy hours on the desk and in the afternoon I had my Very Arty Tween Party. I know...tween is a doofusy word. We use it for the "big" kids in the reading program, ages 8-14. I had put a lot of work into the event, so it went great and was well attended. I am hoping to have a picture or two to show you. Even though it was a lot of fun, I was relieved when it was over. It is one of my biggest events each year and I am just so happy when I pull it off.

After work I had a concert to go to. I had won four tickets in an office raffle. I didn't even really know what it was going to be like. I knew it was the California Philharmonic and that the show was called Basically Beatles. I met my friends, Milly, Mel, and The Activist, we got some Subway sammiches and off we went. The Arboretum is really close to where I work so it was no trouble getting there, but parking was difficult and we had to walk quite a way. I don't mind a walk, but it was still quite hot. I hadn't been there for a concert before and I was surprised at how huge the crowd was, although it didn't feel bad as the venue was huge. We had lawn seats, so it was just like a picnic. It cooled down nicely as the sun set. I had imagined that the show would be orchestral arrangements of Beatle's songs. It did have that element, but I was surprised to see that The Fab Four, a popular tribute band was there as well. They did some songs on their own, their were some straight orchestral versions, and there were some of their later songs, many of which included orchestral arrangements. It was a lot more fun than I'd anticipated and the crowd got very into the Beatles experience, so to speak.

Saturday didn't end until about 2 am, so I felt okay about sleeping in until 10 am on Sunday. I did almost nothing all day long. Watched lots of tv, read, computered. Handsome Lad and his father went off yesterday for a little beach vacation, which is nice for Handsome Lad and also meant I wasn't running him around. It was a genuine day off. The only time I went out was to get my dinner, because I couldn't be bothered to cook. It was deeply relaxing and made me feel ready to face the new week, which I am going to believe will be better than last week. I hope you had a good weekend too...either full of fun stuff or full of the zen of nothing. You can tell me about it if you like! I'm listening.

This Musical Message is For Putting the Fun Back in Sin

Lying There Digging Through the Garbage in My Head

You will no doubt recognize this as my Saturday Scavenger Hunt post. See? It is Saturday! And here I am with my photos. This week's word, SCRAP, comes to us from the fun and fascinating Crazy4Coens over at Raising Sunny.

I'm afraid I have gone with the obvious sort of SCRAP up in here. It had to be done...I spend nine hours a day here in the library and as you will know there is always plenty of SCRAP paper lying around for your note taking and such. Here, take a look:

Here is SCRAP paper in a bin next to one of the printers. No sense in throwing it away because of a typo or worse. We recycle!

We like to turn big SCRAP paper into little bits of SCRAP paper. Goes better with the teeny golf pencils we like to strew about the building.

Big SCRAP is converted to little SCRAP with the help out our handy dandy papercutter! Scary, isn't it? Yes, of course I have cut myself on it a time or two. I'm special like that.

Thanks for being SCRAPpy enough to stop by and look at library SCRAP with me :-) Make sure you check in with Crazy4Coens to see who she is tagging for next week. Ah, ssssS-CRAP! Another week! haha!

Sometimes the Dream Becomes Reality

Yeah, I've been meaning to get out more, so yesterday evening my little bear friend Milly and I decided to go to the free concert in the park that the city sponsors. We went and picked up some Thai food and headed out.

It was crowded but we found parking. And guess what? We both got laid! Um, I mean lei'd...oh well. We hadn't brought lawn chairs or a blanket, but we did find a bench. Unfortunately, it was under a very sheddy tree. We had to keep closing the lids on our food because little tree bits were falling constantly. The music was playing when we got there. Meet...The Hodads:
Awesome, yes? They play "beach music". Lots of Beach Boys, Jan & Dean...there was Mungo Jerry and even some Elvis. And they were pretty good on their instruments, actually...although the vocals left a bit to be desired. Can't have everything at a free concert though, right?

Just in case things got out of hand with the crowd, there was security provided in the form of volunteer auxiliary officers.
Do NOT mess with these two, hear me? They were adorable. The crowd was made up of: a)People over the age 60. Mostly white...old skool Arcadians b)Families with young children. Mostly Asian, more specifically mostly Chinese...the new Arcadia
In any case, not too many obvious rabble rousers in the mix :-) It was good for people watching. I believe Milly may be creating a Facebook photo album entitled 'Gents in Hats and Dogs Wearing Clothes'

Here is Milly doing a little dance. Isn't she cute?
So. Now you know how the Librarians party on a balmy Thursday evening in July.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I have my big Tween party tomorrow at work, then another concert. This one will be the California Philharmonic playing 'Basically Beatles' at the Botanical Gardens. Nothing like orchestral versions of Beatles songs, eh? Well, I got the tickets for free from an office raffle so what the heck. Let the music play, I say :-)

Stick Something In Your Mouth

According to the Eclectic Calendar today is Popsicle Appreciation Day. Seemed worth celebrating to me! In order to educate myself I visited the official Popsicle site to get on the stick. hee hee! Hey, someone has to laugh... Anyway, I thought the origin of popsicles was actually quite cute. Read all about it HERE.

Did you like it? Do you want a popsicle now? There is really no bad time for one...unless you are going somewhere that colorfully stained hands and mouths are for some reason inappropriate...but why would you go somewhere like that? Well, just in case though, consider my personal favorite -
I think it actually come in different flavors, but I like the one that tastes the way it looks. No, not fish flavored! Lemon-lime. Sooooo refreshing. And you get sticky (if you are me) but not so colorful (not that theres anything wrong with that!)

What is your favorite flavor?

Living in a Fisheye Lens

Questions and Answers. They are everywhere and we all have them. Since today is Choose and Defend Wednesday I will ask a question of you...and hopefully, you will give me an answer. That is, after all, how this here thing works! Today, my question is about asking questions and giving answers. Isn't this deep? Like a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Um-hm. So, which do you prefer?

Asking Questions
OR

Giving Answers

Are you the interviewer or the subject? And if you can figure out which of those you tend to be, then tell us why. Choose and Defend. In this case, I have the question, you have the answer...or maybe it is the other way around. You tell me :-)