My Top Ten TV Shows

So, we were eating a lovely lunch out today for Mark's birthday (happy birthday to the love of my life!) and our family started talking about TV shows we like. I started listing my favorites and easily came up with 6 or 7, so I decided I wanted to think of more and come up with an even ten. I did it; hence, this post.

Criteria? Basically, if just about any episode of this show were on, I'd easily be sucked in and have to watch it. So, in no particular order:

1. Friends - This show is our most-oft quoted show. Our TiVo routinely tapes episodes in syndication and when we see favorites, we hit play and mouth along to it. We pretty much know every one verbatim. Great characters. Great lines. We quote this show at least once daily without even trying. This show is also responsible for helping us make some fantastic, real friends of our own. "Fajitas!"

2. Frasier - Fantastic show. Excellent writing. Interestingly, Frasier himself is, by far, my least favorite character on the show (reference my diatribe on shallowness below), but the supporting cast of this show is phenomenal - Niles, Daphne, Martin, Roz, and every, single other side character . . . all great. The writing on this show is so intelligent, so witty, so . . . Freudian! Personally, I love all the psychological references in this series. I think Frasier may well be one of THE most cleverly-written shows on television. And you can't help but root for Niles and Daphne, even if it does take him ten years to get the nerve to tell her of his love for her.

3. Gilmore Girls - Oh, how I love Gilmore Girls. Yes, so much that I did an entire post about it. There is a feel about this show. I want to live in Stars Hollow. I want to be friends with these people. I want to go to Luke's for breakfast. The writing is quick and snappy, full of great, sarcastic zingers and fast-paced wit. They even throw in deliciously obscure book, film, and music references. The characters are so likeable, both in their strengths and their faults. Mark and I watched all seven seasons in one summer and we loved every minute of it. I missed it completely when it was in its first run, but loved watching it all on DVD this past year. I have to really love a show to own it on DVD and I'm happy to say that this is one we added to our collection, because we like it that much.

4. The Big Bang Theory - Oh oh oh, how I love this show. SUCH. GREAT. CHARACTERS. Excellent writing, tons of geeky references, and more witty, erudite humor (a la Frasier). Sure, this one has a physics, rather than a psychology bend, but I still love it. This was a show that I thought I wouldn't enjoy given that I didn't used to consider myself someone interested in physics. I could not have been more wrong. I love the characters, main and side, and this is a show that gets better every season. I started to list my favorite characters and then realized that I was listing all of them. There's not a bad one in the bunch. I really think this is one of the best shows on TV in quite some time and I'm so glad we've discovered it. Mark got us started as part of our 15th anniversary celebration and it continues to be a big hit. Winning! "Bazinga!"

5. Modern Family - Oh wait! THIS is also one of the best shows on television in quite some time. This is a family favorite for us. We even have one of those daily quote calendars based on Modern Family that Santa was so wise as to put into my stocking. I love all three families and their respective dynamics. I love the Latina flair that Gloria's character brings us. I love that Cam and Mitchell are helping to bring gay families into the mainstream. And I love how all three families intertwine through the Pritchetts. Hilarious show with genius writing and great plot lines. We are so excited for this show to start up again next month. My favorite characters? Gloria and Cam.

6. I Love Lucy - This one is a classic and my all-time favorite show. It's a good thing that we watch TV deliberately (meaning we sit to watch something specific; we're not channel surfers at all) or I'd get sucked in to every old rerun that comes on. Fun fact - this show is always on, somewhere in the world, at any given time. It is arguably the most popular TV sitcom in the world. I do love Lucy and remember feeling so sad when Lucille Ball died back in 1989. I put a picture of her in my journal and wrote an entry about it. I always felt like I could relate to her crazy antics. When she wanted something, she'd just go after it, even if it took some kind of crazy scheme. That is so how my mind works. Lucy, Ricky, Fred, Ethel . . . I love them all. Every episode is a ton of fun, but my favorite one ever is the classic "Vitameatavegamin" episode. Great, great show. There is a reason it has such classic, lasting power.

7. Peanuts - Most people know about the holiday specials, but the entire animated series is even better. I didn't know about it growing up, but I discovered it in the late 90s in our first married apartment (we had free cable) and was quickly hooked. Years ago, Mark found the entire collection on DVD on eBay (in English as well as several Asian languages) and got it for me. They are great, great episodes. Charles Schulz was a master artist and had such great messages in his comic strips as well as the animated series. Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes are two of my favorite comic strips. I love the sparse backgrounds in all of his work. And his characters? Loveable. My favorites are Linus and Marcie. Excellent animated series. If you ever get a chance to see them, do it. You will fall in love with them.

8. Malcolm in the Middle - Oh. My. We have recently discovered this gem of a show (thank you, Netflix!) and we are hooked! I love Lois, Malcolm, and Dewey. Stevie and his family are also great characters. We have friends here who remind us of this family -- lots of loud yelling and craziness, but so obviously full of love. This is another show I completely missed during its first run. I'd heard of it, but hadn't ever seen it. I had no idea how great it was. A friend of ours recently mentioned it and then I saw it listed on Netflix, so we thought we'd give it a go. And . . . we have a winner! The plots lines are great (admittedly, I didn't care for the Francis-in-military-school story lines, but his plot lines have gotten better with progressive seasons) and the characters, again - main and side, are so hilariously likeable. We are currently on season 4 of 7 and are love, love, loving it. Plus, their opening song is by They Might Be Giants, making it even easier to be a big fan. We have many laugh out loud moments watching this show. Genius! Highly recommend.

9. Amazing Race - My favorite reality television show, no question. I've said it before - I don't like the reality shows that are essentially cameras in someone's home and private life (even though I'm totally a closet TMZ follower). I recognize that I'm a walking dichotomy in that I think paparazzi should stay out of famous people's lives, yet I love reading about them. Hey, at least I'm honest about it. :P Anyway! I don't like, and haven't ever really gotten into, shows like The Bachelor or Big Brother or even Survivor. As much as they can be interesting in their own way, any time I have watched a bit, I generally feel "empty" afterward, like "there's 20 minutes I can't get back." Sort of like the feeling one gets after too much time on Facebook, I suppose. I prefer shows like this one (and American Idol and X-Factor) that are more contest/talent/racing/skill/smarts based. And while I like the singing competition shows (we're also going to try The Voice this season) and enjoy blogging about them, I love The Amazing Race and look forward to it every season. Phil is a hottie and seeing all the different countries and cultures and tasks totally fascinates me. I love rooting for favorite teams and this show has taught us tons about world cultures and places. Love it.

10. Freaks and Geeks - Best. Show. Ever. This show is high school for the rest of us. This is another show that has a feel about it. Jason Segel, James Franco, and Busy Phillips (as well as the parents, the high school faculty, and all the geeks) are fantastic in this show. I'm going to go ahead and post something I wrote on our blog back in 2009:  "How in the world shows like Full House, Saved by the Bell, and Family Matters ever even air, let alone continue past one season while pure genius like Freaks and Geeks gets inexplicably dropped before it even completed one season is one of the greatest mysteries of the pop culture world. This show had brilliant writers and producers. Unfortunately, this show also had a lousy time slot and poor marketing. This show should've never been canceled. Never. Its cult following is huge (have you seen the show's ranking on IMDB.com?) and it is totally worth owning and watching again and again, especially if you're a child of the 70s and 80s. And that's coming from people who don't generally own a lot of movies or TV shows. This one is a gem. It's like "high school for the rest of us!" The selection of music on this show is nothing short of truly awesome. And every time we watch it (all 18 episodes, *sniff*), I swear I tear up a little at the thought that anyone could be so supremely stupid as to cancel this show. Seriously, that level of moronic ineptitude just makes me sad." See? Get it. Watch it. It's genius.

----------------------

Popular shows that I like okay, but that do not make it in the top 10:  Scrubs, Arrested Development, Seinfeld, Simpsons

Reason: I can recognize every one of these shows as brilliant. I love the satire of Simpsons -- it's genius! Probably some of the best social commentary of our times exists in the episodes of this long-running show. Arrested Development is a great, inventive show that ended way too soon. People who don't get the humor of that show are probably people who don't, in general, share my taste in pop culture. I can sit and watch all three seasons in a row and I'm fairly excited about the upcoming movie. Seinfeld is another clever, quotable show. A show about nothing! And yet a show about everything. Seinfeld is also genius, but it doesn't make the cut. Scrubs. Probably the best, most realistic medical show on television ever. It beautifully captures the emotions of those involved in the health care industry, complete with great Dr. Cox rants, a hilarious and masterful musical episode, and great story lines, including one of the best finales ever, ever, ever, and and despite the random daydreams.

So, all that being said, none of these shows are ones that I crave or want to see every chance I get. I'm hardly ever in a Seinfeld, Scrubs, Simpsons, or Arrested Development "mood." I think the biggest reason is that all of these shows are FULL of shallow characters with very few redeeming qualities (Scrubs fits that description least of all -- there are some great, deep, emotional aspects of that show). And yes, I see that Lisa Simpson and Jason Bateman's character in Arrested Development both have redeeming human qualities that almost make up for everyone else in the show. And Seinfeld . . . well, none of them are redeeming; they are all incredibly horrible people who are shallow, shallow, shallow. For whatever reason, shows like that just don't resonate at all with me. Recently tried "How I Met Your Mother" and didn't like that one either for similar reasons coupled with really bad acting (which is a shame, because we love Jason Segel).

But the above ten shows? Love them.

What shows do you love and what shows don't you love? Based on this post, are there any more shows you'd recommend to me (to watch or to not watch)?

Big News!

So, there is big, exciting news around here. I've been meaning to share it for some time, but today is a good day to do it, because today is the big day!

We've been meaning to and wanting to blog for quite some time, but it's been very busy around here -- we had 8 house guests for 4 days followed by 3 days of straight birthday parties, followed by 4 house guests for 3 days followed by a few of us getting sick. And to top that all off, yesterday I'm pretty sure I broke my toe (another story for another time).

On to the big news. Thing 1, who you know is always reading and writing, just got an internship/gig/job with a major writing blog and her first column goes live today!!

It's an incredible story. In January of this year, I came across a fun article online about the heroes in Harry Potter. It was a cool article with a writing activity at the bottom of it. I found this and several other writing blog resources and emailed them to my lovely writer daughter. I mentioned to her that there was a list of the "Top Ten Blogs for Writers" and The Write Practice (where the Harry Potter article was located) was one of those top ten blog resources.

Well, Thing 1 subscribed to a bunch of the writing blogs plus some others she found herself. A few weeks into her keeping up with those blogs, she let us know one night at dinner that she had, of her own accord, unsubscribed to one of them. She went on to explain that while the occasional swear word or comment doesn't bother her, this particular blog was too laden with profanity and didn't have enough good information on writing to make it worth it. We're so proud of her for knowing herself so well and thereby setting her own boundaries. She is a fantastic kid.

Anyway, as she has kept up with all of these blogs, one has emerged as her absolute favorite and that is definitely The Write Practice. She reads every new post, comments frequently, and participates actively on the forum with other writers and bloggers. Very soon, she was sharing writing samples and receiving good, concrete feedback from other authors. Thing 1 gives people pointers on their writing and is remarkably open to receiving feedback on her own work.


In July, I went out on a double date with Thing 2. He and I joined a local grandma (a good friend of ours) and her grandson (a friend of Thing 2's) for movie and a pizza lunch. When I got home, Thing 1 excitedly announced that The Write Practice was growing and looking to add two permanent members to their writing team. She smiled back and told me that she was applying. I so admire her spunk and drive and I think it's great how she puts herself out there! I was a bit nervous about the possible rejection, but we've talked a lot about how rejection is part of the process when it comes to writing, and I figured there was nothing to lose in applying for the job. After all, applying, in and of itself, is a good, learning experience. I was so proud of her for just going after it totally on her own. She simply saw the job opening and wrote up her application, which included doing a sample post patterned after the ones done on The Write Practice. I'm in total awe.

Here's the thing. This site is NOT geared toward kids at all. It is geared for adult writers. The guy who runs the site, Joe Bunting, told her straight up that he was looking for adult writers but that she did such a great job applying and commenting on his site that he wanted to give her a shot and that he had an idea that he wanted to run past us, her parents.

He wrote to me and Mark and was very honest that he was kind of nervous to see a 12 year old on his site, participating so much and being active. But he also said that he is blown away by her maturity and talent and that everyone on the site loves her. So, he came up with a monthly column for her! He told us that he wants to protect her identity online and keep her safe and mentor her in her writing and such, so he hired her and copies us on his emails to her - totally on the up and up! We are so grateful to him!

Joe Bunting is a published author, ghost writer, and editor, so this is amazing! He is a great guy, based out of Georgia, who knows the ropes -- social networking, blogging, formatting, etc. -- and is teaching her all kinds of neat stuff. We are so grateful for him and for his being so open to coming up with the idea and giving her this amazing opportunity!

Okay, okay. Enough about the background story. GO READ HER FIRST POST!! Be sure to scroll down, too, to see her picture and mini-bio!

Just Write.

I love and am so proud of you, Thing 1!! This is one VERY proud Momma sitting here. It's like my fingers just can't type fast enough to spread the great news!!

Creativity

My kids are just two of the coolest people I know. I love spending time with them and seeing them develop as people. They amaze me.

I also genuinely enjoy them. Yesterday, we were all up really late watching the Olympics and when they went to bed, I missed them. Don't get me wrong -- usually, they go to bed and that's precious me-and-mark time; we enjoy that very much. I'm just saying that I often look at them, think about them, hang out with them, and think to myself, "Aaahh! They are SUCH great people!!"

Check out just a couple of their recent contributions to enriching our lives:

Thing 1 surprised us this morning with this.

Thing 2 decided to try his hand at doing a bunch of these.

Aren't they awesome?!? How freaking lucky am I!! I *love* these kids!!

A Story About Uninvited Guests and My Thoughts on the Opening Ceremonies

So, Friday, we're at the park with about 30 or 40 friends, enjoying a beautiful summer day as we sit around and talk and enjoy watching the kids talk, laugh, and play capture the flag, tag, red rover, spy clubs, and sharks and minnows. I'm excited, because I'm enjoying the afternoon with our homeschool group and know that our family is going to enjoy watching the opening ceremonies together for a nice, quiet evening at home.

I'm sitting next to my good friend Amy and I say to her, "So, we usually go all out and make all kinds of themed food to celebrate things like the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, but it's too hot in our kitchen and we feel like keeping it simple, so we're going to go out for some cheap, delicious Mexican (Go Team USA!) and then we're going home to watch the opening ceremonies. Anyway, we're going to that Mexican place across from the community college. If you guys would like to join us for a yummy dinner out, you're very welcome."

She tells me she'll call her husband Tim (who was on his way home from work) and then she'll text me to let me know. Well, we leave the park at the same time and pull up to the same spotlight, so we just exchange info the old-fashioned way, by rolling down our windows and laughing hysterically. They're a go for the restaurant! Hurrah!

After annoying the drivers behind us, we all get to the restaurant downtown and park on a side street. As we're feeding the meters, I ask her, "So, is Tim going to join us for dinner?" And she responds, "No, he's just going straight to your house."

Hmmmmm. Curious. See, my friend Amy is ALWAYS laughing and joking around. Only this time, she didn't laugh after she said this. But still, I assumed she was joking.

Also, the restaurant is between where we both live -- we're about 15 minutes west of the restaurant and they're about 30 minutes east of it. Going to our house would be back tracking, not that that would stop us, but, well, I was just confused.

Thing 1 comes up to me and whispers, "Tim's coming over?" And I said, "I think she's just joking."

I walk up to Mark and say, "She said Tim's going to our house, but I'm sure she's joking." He looks confused and I shrug.

I dismiss the confusion from my mind, remind myself that she's a kidder, and we go in and grab tables. The 6 kids (she has 4 and we have 2) get a table together and Mark, Amy, and I grab one for ourselves. We look at the menu. We order. We talk. We laugh (A LOT). We get our delicious food.

Ten minutes into the meal, Amy looks up, eyes wide, a realization dawning on her, and says, "Oh my god! Did I totally just invite ourselves to your house?!?"

I say, "Well, yeah, but we don't care."

She was horrified and said, "I don't invite myself to people's houses!! It just occurred to me that you invited us to dinner and I just went ahead and invited ourselves over to your house afterward!" and picked up her phone to call Tim, who at this point had driven over 45 minutes past his own house to go to ours, to tell him about her gaffe and to tell him to go home.

We were in hysterics and told her to hang up and that it was fine - we'd love to have them!

We razzed her about it, on and off, for the rest of the meal. When we finished eating and paid our bills, she told the kids to move it outside and get in the van to go to our house.

Thing 2, who had been hinting and asking me all day to have them over (to my explanations of, "not tonight, honey, we're having a quiet evening just us,") excitedly exclaims, "They're coming over?!?"

To which I said, "Yeah. Amy invited herself over."

He looks at her and says, with a huge grin, "Invite yourself over more often!"

So, we get home. Tim is in his car waiting for us. We all get in the house, get mauled by Scout, who is THRILLED to see us all, and settle in to watch the Olympics . . . but not without much, much, much more razzing about their audacious self-invitation to our home.

We had a fantastic time, laughed like crazy, and loved watching the opening ceremonies together. It wasn't what we had planned (well, it wasn't what we -- our family -- had planned; clearly, it was what Amy had planned), but it worked out awesomely. We laughed all night and now have a great, running joke to perpetuate - them, being thrilled to be at our house and us going, "Whaaaaaa?". Oh, and we took pictures to commemorate.

 Amy thinking, "SCORE! I got to hang out at the Foley's!"

We took some group shots as well.

The first two show Amy's family thinking, "Wheeeee! PARTY!" 

 . . . and us thinking, 

"Uhhh, what are they doing here and when are they leaving?"

And then, to humor them when they see this post 

to show that we truly didn't one bit mind them coming over uninvited,

we took these friendly pictures where we're smiling and glad they came:

See? All smiles!

See? I'm smiling. Wait. Wrong picture.

See? Mark's smiling. And even Scout is thinking, "WTH?" looks happy.

Happy hugs!

(And a sneak peek at Thing 1's braces - post on that to come)

And these next two pictures crack me up - 

both the foreground and the background.

They are pictures of Thing 2 and his very good friend Julia deep in conversation.

I'm not sure what they're saying, but I'll caption it the best I can.

 "And next time, you BETTER invite us straight up."

 "Dude, I tried. But my mom said it was a family night 

and then your family crashed our party. 

What was I supposed to do?"

Now, onto my thoughts on the opening ceremonies . . .

Our family, especially Thing 2, loves London, so we're pretty excited about the Olympics being held there this summer. We always enjoy the opening ceremonies and we were excited to see what London would do to introduce themselves to the world as this year's host of the thirtieth Summer Olympics.

Overall, I liked the opening ceremonies. And it should be noted that in general, I'm the kind of person who likes things and who likes to like things. I'm not really a complainer. I don't tend to be a negative Nelly or a Debbie Downer (wah wahhhh). That being said, the more I think about it, there were some things about the opening ceremonies that I did not like. I wanted to like it all. And I liked most of it. But there were parts I didn't love.

Let's start with what I did like -- and there was much more that I liked than didn't like; that's for sure:

I loved how it started with a real-grass set of the fields of England, a beautiful visual representation of the early agricultural times in London. I love that they got Kenneth Branagh to narrate the times as well as the transition to and through the industrial revolution.

Starting with the words of William Shakespeare? Totally fitting and appropriate. William Shakespeare has to be one of the greatest gifts to the world London has ever bestowed.

They had the factory towers rise, the workers emerge, the pollution begin. The industrial revolution. One of the most significant times in history. I loved how they had the molten ore run down the track into the ring-shaped area that allowed the steelworkers to fashion a 5th ring (yes, I, er, some of us might have said, "My precious!" in a creepy voice) that then rose up to meet the other 4 rings in a glorious display of Olympic lights and pyrotechnics.

I love that the Olympic rings are proudly displayed on Tower Bridge.

It's so ingenious that the area that had held the molten ore transformed into a representation of the River Thames as part of a greater map of London when the areas of sod were removed. That is just so cool.

I liked the popping balloons as part of the countdown to the ceremonies.

I appreciate that he wanted to illustrate the evolution from pastoral to industrial to digital. I'll save my comments on that, though, for the section on what I didn't like.

I liked the shout out to their delivery of universal health care, decidedly a hot topic in our nation right now. I love that London proudly displayed (with their very own doctors and nurses taking the stage!) their emphasis on health care for all. I know that many people in other countries look at how our nation approaches health care coverage as very bizarre, so this was a nice, "Here, see what we do? We're proud of this."

The kids jumping on their beds in their jammies? Super cute. My thoughts on their dreams and nightmares? That goes in the next section.

The pixels in the stands, working together with the pixels on the stage to make a magnificent visual display? Awesome.

The Rowan Atkinson bit? Hilarious.

The seven youth lighting the torch? A little anti-climactic, but sweet nonetheless.

The torch itself? Very cool. I like to see how different countries design the different, representative torches.

David Beckham? Yummy.

The 007 sketch with Daniel Craig, the royal corgis, and the queen herself? HILARIOUS. James Bond and the Queen jumping out of a helicopter into the stadium with Union Jack parachutes? Awesome. The look on Craig's face? Priceless. Getting to see a glimpse of her dry, wicked sense of humor? So great.

The shots of Will and Kate? Great. I wish there had been more of them.

JK ROWLING? Um, yeah!! She absolutely, hands down deserved a prominent place on that Olympic opening ceremony's stage. If there is any one living person from the British Isles that has given a greater cultural contribution to the world, I'd like to hear who that is. JK Rowling is one of the British Isles' brightest and best gems.

The Beatles. Next section.

Having over 500 men and women who worked on the stadium lining the way to the entrance and cheering as the torch made its way into the stadium? Very cool.

Sir Paul McCartney capping the ceremony with a phenomenal performance? Perfect! Seeing him get overcome with emotion? Moving.

---------------

Section 2 - what I didn't like:

Danny Boyle seems like a fun, odd fellow. And he did a smashing job. Just really smashing. Bloody hell, mate! Okay, now I'm just getting carried away with the cool British talk. Git, shag, loo, flat, mum, bollocks, cheeky, ring, snog, wonky . . . I love their words!

Anyway.

Here's my beef. Where were the Bronte sisters? Where was Jane Austen? Where was Elton John? Where was more of England's scenery -- I mean, we get it -- we saw the tube, but where were the double decker buses, the red phone booths, the moors, the white cliffs of Dover, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey? And where, WHERE, were the Beatles? I know Paul McCartney rounded out the show in a big way, but in the depiction of the history and evolution of England, where, WHERE were the Beatles? There should've been a whole lot more Beatles. A whole lot.

The Beatles have contributed more to the world of music, and specifically rock-and-roll, than any other band. EVER. That's huge! How, how did they not have a much, MUCH more prominent role? Really? I don't get it.

Danny Boyle wanted a thumping event. He definitely created one. For me, "thumping" is a little too similar to Beijing's opening, so I'd think you'd want it to differ more, but it was still pretty exciting and really got everyone pumped, so mission accomplished, right?

Okay, so the segment with the kids in their beds . . . why did they have to have nightmares? Of every, fantastic, well-known Harry Potter character in the series, why, of all of them, did they choose to make a 100-foot tall Voldemort? And then those creepy, what, werewolves? Creepers? What were they? And who, at the brainstorming meeting, said, "I know! Let's have creepy villains come out in either large numbers or as a single, 100-foot tall creepy "tube guy" (a la Phil on Modern Family) and scare the kids in their hospital beds!" And then who, at that meeting, said, "Bloody brilliant! That'll show the world what London is all about!" Where was Harry Potter? Where was Peter Rabbit? Where was the Hobbit? And, I'm not sure if all the Mary Poppins characters were meant to help them feel better or creep them the hell out more. I just didn't get the whole nightmare sequence.

The doves on bicycles . . . reminded me of E.T. even before Bob Costas or Matt Lauer said it.


Even with all this, I can watch and say, "Okay, it's cool. It's British. It's peace and all that." I love the coming together as nations in a friendly, worldwide party of peace and sport and fanfare. This is how the world should be anyway!

But the part I got the LEAST was the whole "Frankie and June" thing. Who are they? I mean, if it's some local London show, then fine; a friendly shout out to your peeps with something they like is nice and all. But to dedicate a very LONG segment of the opening ceremonies to what I can only call an odd, random mismatch of film and music while we watch Frankie search for June, find her phone, and inexplicably call her (how??) to tell her, "I found your phone." Exactly what phone was he calling?? Were they hoping we just wouldn't notice? Did they think all the pixels and thumping would distract us enough for them not to close up that story loop?

I'm not sure how that whole segment represents London, so I'm not convinced the message got across. Of all the possible things they could show the world, why, why were we watching these two people who no one knows, look for each other through throngs of dancers dancing to multiple strings of 10-second music bytes - just long enough to get us to recognize the song, want to sing along, open our mouths to do so, only to have them switch to another 10-second byte (lather, rinse, repeat) - and presumably care whether or not they got together? I was more concerned about her getting her phone, or her other phone rather, since clearly she must've been carrying a spare.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just grumpy. I know they were paying tribute to the guy who invented the world wide web (though I thought Al Gore did that?). Kudos, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. But again, how does his invention of the world-wide web have anything to do with Frankie and June and her phone?

I'll wrap it up by saying I love the Olympics and I enjoy the opening ceremonies. I thought they were really great, except for the whole Frankie and June part. I love London, I love the Olympics, particularly the stories, and am excited to watch a bunch of events.

In conclusion, I leave you with this picture of the Queen, from the opening ceremonies and the parade of nations:

Happy XXX Summer Olympics! (Yeah, an unfortunate Roman Numeration - when we saw it listed on our Tivo, Amy and I both did a little double take. Some of the kids said, "What does X-X-X mean?" "THIRTY," we quickly responded). Happy THIRTIETH Summer Games in London. And remember, June found her phone.

And if you should have uninvited guests arrive at your doorstep, may they be as fun and wonderful as ours!

15 Random Thoughts

The other day? 

We hung 4 loads of laundry 

in 94 degree heat. 

I rock. 

Also? My kids are troopers.
 

************

I don't like having smartphones shoved in my face.

************

 We got a small rebate in the mail 

from our health insurance company,

thanks to Obamacare.

They're only allowed to use a certain percentage 

of what they charge us for administration costs 

(rather than direct health care) - 

since they went over that percentage, 

they had to pay us back. 

Win!

************

Dishes don't stop.

3x/day.

Every day.

************ 

And our kitchen is about 90 degrees most of the time.

 ************

When Maurice Sendak died,

we read "Pierre" together 

as a way to honor him.

It is my favorite Sendak book.

************

A few months before he died,

I came across this interview of him on NPR.

The interview is said to have generated more emails 

than any other in 2011.

I can see why.

I listened to it and cried.

It is so very raw that it's hard not to get emotional.

Kudos to both him and the host.

I loved this interview.

************

I love the look of backwards baseball caps on boys/men,

especially on my husband and my son.

************

I hate flies.

************

I read a magazine article the other day on 

30 ways to save money on cable, phone, and Internet.

We already do all 30 things.

Great, because it's validating.

Bummer, because it didn't have any more ways for us to save.

************

A two-page post on Blogher called,

 "8 Simple Rules for Moms Visiting Their Adult Daughters" 

caught my eye the other day.

It had a lot of great tips 

that I hope I take to heart when I'm older.

This line stuck out to me most:

"Whereas you may have more free time 

than you know what to do with now, 

your daughter is probably in the busiest, 

 most hectic phase of her life."

I *do* feel like I'm in the 

"busiest, most hectic phase of life,"

even more than back in college or grad school.

Reading that line helped me realize 

that other moms out there feel similarly.

And that I'm not crazy.

************ 

Our kids threw a birthday party  

on Minecraft for a friend

the other day.

So very cool and creative.

 ************

My BIL and SIL just moved into a trailer.

She blogged about it 

and it brought back memories of our own trailer.

My brother used to call us "trailer trash" 

when we lived in it.

He's never lived in a trailer, 

so he can mock all he wants,

but we loved our double wide.

************ 

Just a reminder . . . 

When we do those "Encyclopedia of Me" posts,

our kids do them, too.

They've got some new posts on their blogs.

I'm sure they'd love for you to read them!

************  

We eventually heard from the county 

about our property taxes and the reassessment.

They didn't triple,

but they more than doubled.

In fact,

they went up about 120%.

Ugh.

The World Is Too Much With Us

I know it's totally nerdy, but this poem by William Wordsworth has been going through my mind this past week as I feel, at times, accosted on all sides by noise and technology and beeping and buzzing. Perhaps a simple readjustment in perspective could help, but for now, this poem sums it up well.

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not. --Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

Encyclopedia of Me - W (Mark)

Weird Al Yankovic: This is totally geeky, but I've always loved Weird Al. I think he is brilliant with his knack for parody, and who else could make the accordion come (somewhat) mainstream? OK, I may be exaggerating his mainstream appeal a bit. The first song I remember hearing and learning is "Dare to be Stupid." The title says it all. From there add a little "Like a Surgeon," "Yoda," and "Fat." In the recent past I've rediscovered him and love the songs "Amish Paradise," "TMZ," and "The Saga Begins." And I always loved to hear which songs would make it into his traditional polka. His most recent, "Polka Face," is brilliant as always. I'll toss out one more gem from his recent album: "Skipper Dan." Let's just say my father may get an extra special kick out of it. (P.S. I love that our kids are enjoying Al's comedy as well.)

Washington, D.C.: My first trip anywhere east of the Rockies was to our nation's capital. We went as an 8th grade class after studying U.S. government all year in history. I woke up early for the whole year to deliver newspapers to save money for the trip. We spent a whole week there and got to see a LOT of things. I have a few special memories: laying a wreath at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, completing a scavenger hunt at the Smithsonian that ensured that we would see a little in every one of the museums along the mall, walking along all the monuments, and stopping for a day at Colonial Williamsburg before flying home. Living near D.C. has been awesome because we've gotten to spend time at the National Book Festival and at many of the monuments and other sights. It's one of those cities that has a very cool feel, like everyone there is looking to make something big happen, whatever his or her politics may be. And to top it off, the city is one where I feel very comfortable driving. I'm looking forward to a return visit sometime soon.

West Coast: I spent all of my childhood along the left coast, from Los Angeles to Vancouver, B.C. The vast majority of my time was in one town, about midway between Sacramento and San Francisco. Benicia, incidentally was the state capital for a very brief period from 1853 to 1854; I hear Jack London also liked to get drunk there. I love where I grew up--there were opportunities to see great sporting events, visit awesome museums, go to the beach, eat wonderful seafood, attend concerts, and a whole lot more. The weather is about the most perfect I've ever experienced when you consider the entire year. Even though I am thrilled to be living in the East, and can't really picture myself anywhere else right now, I still have a special place in my heart for California.

Wil Wheaton: I was not a Star Trek guy growing up. I had seen all the movies and the original series, but I did not really get into any of the newer iterations. I absolutely love how they've used Wil Wheaton in "The Big Bang Theory" as Sheldon's archenemy, though. We were recently at a new bookstore in our local mall and they have a decent game section as well. Have I mentioned how much we love games? Anyway, the owner told me of a site about gaming and other geeky stuff called, wait for it, Geek and Sundry. On this site there is an ongoing series called "Tabletop" in which Wil hosts celebrities from the sci-fi/gaming world and they play a game of some sort. It's a way to introduce people to various interesting table top games. I've seen a bit of some of the episodes and really enjoy his personality and how he interacts with his guests.

Will Clark: So, another baseball reference. Will Clark is my absolute favorite baseball player of all time. The Thrill's number 22 was my number whenever possible, and even though he batted left-handed I tried to adapt his style into my right-handed stroke. From his first at bat, a home run off of Nolan Ryan, I couldn't stop watching him play. He played hard and was never got caught up in any of that prima donna kind of nonsense. Some of my fondest memories include coming home from school in 1989 and watching the Giants play the Cubs in the National League Championship. He batted .650, hit two home runs, and nearly single-handedly sent the Giants to the World Series. They were swept by the A's in that infamous World Series that was disrupted by the San Francisco earthquake. It nearly broke my heart when the Giants let him go to the Texas Rangers. Fortunately, I was in Japan for those first seasons so I didn't have to watch the Giants without him. His autographed baseball card is still one of my favorite possessions and I have a great photo of his picture-perfect swing hanging in our baseball-themed bathroom in the office. I was reading an article that said since he's not in the Hall of Fame, if any player is NOT better than Will Clark, he can't get in. Well, if he ever gets enough votes to make it in, we will be there for that ceremony.

Willie Mays: You get two baseball references this time. That's life. If Will Clark is my favorite all-time player, the "Say Hey Kid" is a close second. I wish I could have seen him play. Most people are familiar with his famous catch at The Polo grounds during the 1954 World Series (this picture is also on the wall). He was one of those all-around players (today they call them "five-tool players") who could do everything. He hit 660 home runs, which was the second most at the time, and he did it despite spending a few years in the Negro Leagues and missing 266 games in his prime because he was drafted to serve in the Korean War. Given his yearly average he missed out on hitting somewhere around 60 home runs, which means he was a good candidate to break Babe Ruth's home run record of 714 before Hank Aaron did it. Every time I see Mays on TV at a baseball event he's smiling, and it's infectious. Plus, like Marcie from Peanuts says, "Willie Mays had a hat."

 (P.S. The third picture on the wall is an autographed picture of Buster Posey, current catcher for the Giants and rookie of the year two years ago. No W reference, but I'm mentioning him anyway.)

Encyclopedia of Me - W (Stacy)

Clockwise from upper L:  tripadvisor.com, washingtondc-usa.blogspot.com, preparedforthat.com, fletcherarmstrongblog.com, kurzweilai.net, diarywriter.com 

Writing - Truth be told, I didn't realize how much I love writing until recently. At least not enough to proclaim, "I love to write." Looking back, I've always preferred writing to other mediums in both school and hobbies. Whenever I had tests in high school, I could do well on multiple choice, true/false, and matching, but oh, give me an essay anytime! I loved essay tests. I knew I could express myself well with that kind of freedom, as opposed to the stricter nature of a Scantron bubble. As a child, I also loved to write stories and that's something I hadn't thought about much until watching my own daughter write stories every chance she gets. It all came back to me -- the pages of stories, the typewriter in the basement . . . I wish I had those now (my mom's a purger). I also loved to make games, something I had forgotten until watching my son invent and create games of all kinds. I remember making a board game all about high school -- it had several references to high school culture and even had cards for "jocks" and "drama club" and "band geeks." I wish I still had that game (again, a victim of maternal purging). I'm sure it had satirical references to actual individuals in our school and that would be great fun to revisit. I digress. Writing. I love it. And blogging these past several years has helped me realize how much I enjoy it. And even that I might be pretty good at it. At least I hope I am. I like writing stories, blog posts, editorials, opinion pieces (yes, I sometimes wonder if I should write for a newspaper), letters, emails, etc. I even prefer texting and instant messaging to talking on the phone. I'd love to write more than I do. I am not good at either finding the time or making the time, I'm not sure which. But I'm trying to remedy that, because I do love to write. 

Water - This one is sweet and simple and to the point. There is no drink I like more, no liquid that better quenches my thirst, and no beverage I prefer more than water. When we go out to eat, we order water. Yes, it saves money, but also? We like water. We all have our own stainless steel water bottles in the fridge from which we drink water all day long. Even when we occasionally order root beer or birch beer with pizza, I have water along with it. I love water! And I feel fortunate to be able to get clean drinking water for myself and my family - I do not take that for granted. I know many in our world are not so lucky. Also? Aside from drinking water, I love being by the water, particularly at the beach. I'm so grateful to not be landlocked anymore (UT, AZ, etc.) so that we can get to the ocean more. I don't get into astrology, but if I did, I'd wonder if it's because I'm a Pisces. Whatever the reason, I love water.

Walden Pond -  Walden Pond represents a time in history about which I love to learn. I am fascinated by the transcendentalists and love the writings of Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, and others. What a remarkable time period and group of people! One of my favorite places to visit in MA has to be Concord and Lexington -- they are both filled with rich literary and US history. Mark and I visited there before having children and we ate a picnic lunch on Walden Pond. I was appalled to see that it is a public swimming area -- everything about that just seems wrong, a desecration of Thoreau's very words and ideas. But otherwise, it's a tranquil and beautiful place, and the inspiration for so much profound, erudite thought.

Women's Rights - I am a feminist, through and through. It's only been in the past decade or so that I've realized that "feminist" is not a dirty word, but rather one of justice and fairness and what is simply right. I have a son and a daughter, and, like any good parent, want them both to have all the rights and opportunities afforded to all. I would never favor one of my children over the other due to gender, nor does it make much sense to my mind for that to be the case in any other areas of life. A sentence having to do with human rights and opportunities should never have the phrase "but you can't because you're a woman" attached to it. I think positive changes are being made in society and I don't think that the pendulum should swing so far to the side of women's rights that we begin to alienate men or squelch their rights, as that would perpetuate the same problem for a different gender, but there is so much further to go, especially in many other countries in the world. In our own country, double standards need to be addressed (if a man gets angry, it's assertive; but, if a woman gets angry, she's bitchy). Thing 1 told me that she read a stat the other day stating that, in literature, only 20% of protagonists are female. I don't know whether or not that's true, but if it is, that's abysmal. Things need to change and I'm glad to live in a time when so much already has. I'm also grateful to be married to a man who is also a feminist. Like the quote above, "Men of quality . . . ".


Words - Words can be fun and powerful and amazing. While I recognize that they can be cheap and hurtful and inadequate, words can also be so incredibly meaningful. I like using and learning about words. I took a class entitled "Rhetoric in Shakespeare" in college and, though I didn't think I would enjoy it at first, I fell in love with things like rhetorical devices, rhythm, and cadence. I had no idea how much meaning and power the sound and order and placement of words could have. I love grammar and am a self-proclaimed Grammar Nerd. I think Word Girl is one of the greatest superheroes to come along in quite a while. I like when people put thoughts into what they write - I think that is at least part of why I like blogs so much and appreciate thoughtful comments. I like to play word games and I'm always impressed by a good play on words. Words, words, words. In the words of Barack Obama: "Don’t tell me words don’t matter. I have a dream – just words? We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal – just words? We have nothing to fear but fear itself – just words? . . . Don't tell me words don't matter!"


Washington, D.C. - I have always enjoyed visiting Washington, D.C. and am fortunate enough to have visited there many, many times over the years. I've been to every memorial, some several times. I've been to the White House, the Capitol, the Smithsonian, the National Zoo, the Supreme Court, Arlington Cemetery, the National Mall, and many more inspiring places. We've traveled there for different purposes, whether to pay our respects to Rosa Parks or to meet authors at the National Book Festival on the mall. We are close enough to have the opportunities to attend rallies and inaugurations, events and speeches. I'm sure every nation's capital is cool to visit. There is something exciting about Washington, D.C. It is one of those great cities that has a vibe all its own. It is vibrant, pulsating, and palpable. On a recent visit there, I exclaimed to Mark, "What's great about this city is that everyone who's here, whether Republican or Democrat, is here to DO something, be part of something, and work to make things better!" The movers and shakers of our nation, whatever the collective opinion is about them or however jaded we get about them, walk the streets and halls of that city, and they're there to make things happen. It is SUCH a cool place to visit. I've always loved New York City, but recently, DC has been edging out the Big Apple. A neighbor recently made this very true point -- NYC is hard to get in and out of and everything is expensive, whereas DC is easy to get in and out of and everything is free! DC is a great, great city and I am glad to be near it.

Traveling Northward

So, we went on a business trip to Atlanta, added a wonderful family vacation in Orlando, and made a great road trip out of the whole thing. We did fun things getting to Atlanta and Orlando and getting back. Here we go . . .

 We decided to splurge and actually BUY breakfast (something we hardly did the whole trip). We had a lovely morning, ate breakfast at Sal's outside on the piazza, packed up, relaxed on the patio on the terrace, and loaded the car.

 Ahhh, this is the life.

Yes indeed. Chai latte and the morning paper on the terrace. Heheheh.

We drove from Orlando to St. Augustine, walked the beach, and got our feet in the ocean.

 Scout is a fan of the sand, but not the surf.

 Oh, how we love the being by the ocean.

St. Augustine - the nation's oldest city. Beautiful Spanish-style buildings!

We stopped in Jacksonville to visit a friend. This is me and Mike. Mike is the younger brother of my best friend growing up (Cathy). We hadn't seen each other in about 15 years. This is the guy who, when I was about 16 or 17 (and he was 15), kicked my teddy bear at the same time that he brought my mother flowers. Apparently that is how 15-year-old boys show a girl they like her. His older brother Charlie had told him to charm my mom. He forgot to tell him not to kick my stuffed animals. In all seriousness, Mike is a good guy. It was nice to meet his wife and kids while there, too!

Our next stop was Savannah, GA. It's a lovely town on the coast and just past the border to South Carolina. We drove up and down the picturesque riverside and got a feel for the place since it's our good friend Kellie's dream place to live. We can see why she likes it. Very charming!

 Hey Kellie! I'm in Savannah!

We don't like driving at night and it was already getting late, so we drove a ways into South Carolina and spent the night at a hotel. The next morning, we were on the road again . . .

In the South, huge confederate flags still wave. WTH?? Our kids are appalled at them. I asked them if they found something they REALLY wanted (and couldn't find anywhere else ) in a store that sold confederate flags, would they buy it? Both said no, horrified. Have I mentioned how great these kids are?

Since Krispy Kremes originated in South Carolina, we stopped to get a snack there. I'm still underwhelmed by them -- too greasy and too sweet, but any excuse to stop for food ranks in our book.

 Case in point. We made a point of getting Carolina BBQ in North Carolina. We are in the stone ages, I know -- no Internet on our phones -- but we'd find some free WiFi and look up good places to eat on Yelp. Fantastic resource! We didn't have a lousy meal the ENTIRE trip. This hole-in-the-wall place in Fayetteville, NC did not disappoint. We went to the Fort Bragg location and the workers there were super nice. 

We ate phenomenal BBQ pork, hush puppies, "vegetables," fried chicken, and even tried the South's famous sweet tea (YUCK! It was waayyyyy too sweet - I don't know how anyone in the South has any teeth at all.). We also tried a soda only available in the South called Cheerwine - it was gross, too. It tasted like cherry-flavored cough medicine. Thing 2 liked it, though. Anyway, the food was a great deal and while we definitely felt like Yankees there, they were great about sharing their Southern hospitality with us just the same.

Oh, the "vegetables."

Cole Slaw. Potato Salad. Baked Beans. French Fries.
No comment.

Scout is such a great traveler. She snuggles between the kids and just chills.

We stayed in Fredericksburg, Virginia the next night and, with the help of Yelp, we found a GREAT sushi place. Lousy service, but terrific sushi! They were both beautiful and delicious.

Scout at the hotel

We got an early start and drove into DC. We love Washington, DC! I said it while on this trip -- there is a palpable energy in that city. Doesn't matter if the people you see on the street are Republicans or Democrats - they are ALL there because they all want to be a part of making things better and you can sense it there. Movers and shakers. And such an EASY city to visit. So much is free. And it's all so wonderful to visit and see!

First stop - Arlington National Cemetery. What an amazing place full of rich, interesting history. When we got back from our trip, we watched a documentary about Arlington and it added to our sense of awe.

We took the kids to JFK's and Jackie's graves and the eternal flame there

See the Washington Monument in the background?

Robert Kennedy's (RFK's) grave

Senator Ted Kennedy's grave

pbs.org - Three brothers: JFK, RFK, and Ted

I'm fascinated by the Kennedys. Every time I sit to read anything about them, it always turns into hours of reading and research, because there is so much that is so interesting! Mark and I are currently more than halfway through watching the miniseries "The Kennedys" on Netflix. Which means, I've been spending A LOT of time reading up on all kinds of things.

We visited several more memorials, including one for the victims of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
I was in 6th grade when that happened. It was so sad.

Next, we took the kids to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

We witnessed the changing of the guards -- very reverent, symbolic, and moving.

It is a solemn place.

We then went to the Iwo Jima monument.
Here is our family in front of the monument.

And we took this picture so you can see the whole thing -- flag and all.
The place was crawling with so many WWII vets - I got a little teary-eyed watching them.

We found a Chipotle and all split salad in the car just to tie us over for dinner.

And then, the main reason we visited DC . . . we were so excited to see the new Martin Luther King Memorial that they recently dedicated. It is better than I had imagined. I had seen pictures and at first thought, "Oh no, it's small and hidden away." Nope. It's prominent and large and right on the tidal basin. As it should be. It was another moving place to visit. There were A LOT of people visiting the memorial.

We get Christmas ornaments/keychains of the places we visit and every Christmas, when we decorate the kids' tree, we get to talk about our memories as we hang the ornaments. The MLK memorial is so new that the gift shop didn't have any ornaments or key chains yet. That's okay. We go to DC fairly often, so we'll be back. Wonderful place!

"Out of the mountain of despair . . . a stone of hope."
A fitting quote and a symbolic rendering.
All along the sides of this were walls of great quotes by MLK. We all chose our favorites.

It started raining, but we stopped to visit FDR, as it is one of our favorite memorials there.

We walked around the tidal basin

This really short video shows you the MLK memorial in relation to a couple of others. I am really happy that it is more prominent than I had anticipated.

Next, we made a special stop at yet another national park. This time, the Clara Barton house, home of the first Red Cross site. Thing 1 was pretty excited about this - Clara Barton is one of her historical heroes and she recently won honorable mention in a prestigious, competitive, local writing contest by writing a fictionalized historical diary by Clara's sister Sally.

Our guide was excellent and it was really fascinating to learn about Clara's life journey.

Thing 1 by a picture of one of her historical heroes.

See the red crosses in the windows?

Clara Barton's house and the site of the first Red Cross offices.
Notice the flag on top of the house.

Look how huge that house is! It was like a giant house/supply closet/hospital for many, many people. Clara Barton was pretty amazing.

We left DC and found a yummy Mexican place for dinner in Maryland. It was Cinco de Mayo, so it had to be done. We then drove home and were all happy to get back to our own home and our own beds. Scout loves getting home and Thing 2 especially loves getting back after any trips away. He gets such a spring in his step and a smile on his face. Within a couple of days of getting back, he looked at me and announced, "I love life!" Yeah, he's pretty happy to be back. We all are. It was a great, memorable trip -- so glad we went!