Life has been so exciting this summer. How muchfun can I have watching video games or listening to the guns in video games. Othwrwise I have spent some of my time chatting with friends, finishing up seminars and the project. I’m still not done with the project. I get closer every day though. Today was an excursion to Walmart (ick) and the mall. There sure are a lot of moms with strollers at the mall. I remember when my son was that small. I hardly went. It was nearly impossible to get myself ready and keep him out of trouble. As he got a little older, I was in graduate school. There were very few trips to the mall unless I needed something from some store. Today was like that. Needed to go to one store to buy something for him. With all the large SUVs and the drivers who can’t park these monsters and strollers, I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Last night I watched “The Notorious Bettie Page.” It is a movie that I wanted to see because I knew next to nothing about her. I found the moive quite interesting because it added the political climate of the time to Bettie’s story. I also found that I empathized with her. I don’t know if she really felt like people only cared about her looks, but the writer and director certainly emphasized this aspect. The message is that she’s too pretty. Too pretty to be taken seriously. Too pretty to be anything more than a sex object. Now that I get. That’s how I get treated. All of this reminds me of one of my favorite old Hollywood stars–Heddy Lamar. Not because of her movie work or beauty. Because of her brains, which few people know about because obviously a pretty girl can’t possibly be smart.

Here’s to the best use of “varmint” in a news article. Funny how it’s on the front page, but not in the article itself. I was sure I would never here “varmint” again once I left Nebraska and Missouri. Last time I heard the word, I must have been 14 years old and it was in reference to either skunks or badgers creeping up close to the house. It is unfortunate that two dogs were attacked by coyotes in Golden State Park…apparently attached by leashes to their walker. Poor dog walker! I don’t think I would go to the park again.

Are the blahs contagious? If so, we have an epidemic at my house. I’m wondering if all the reading I have been doing on the internet is the cause. I don’t watch the mainstream news on television, so I get my news from multiple sources on the Net. Frankly, it’s depressing. There are lots of “problems” and few working on the solutions. One person can’t possibly do everything or work on every “problem” even though one person can make a difference.

Yesterday in a call to get some information quickly, I found myself nearly undoing an offer for help. It’s amazing what can be done when you ask…and even when you don’t ask. I received the new materials I need for the pojrect I’m working on this morning. It was overnighted from New York. Now, I need to read through a few sections to get what I need out of it to create plans for teen programs. I want to get some plans complete before the educator is gone for a week or so. I made a phone call last night to one of the Hebrew school teachers about getting into contact with a therapist about one topic.

I really need to stop myself from undoing completely unreasonable offers.

Anyone else looking forward to Harry Potter? It’s a bonus summer. First a new movie and just over a week later–the book. I know we will be seeing the movie the first day it comes out. I already have the books on order set to arrive the day they come out.

I’m not a crazy HP fan, but I do enjoy the books and movies. My son does as well. Actually it was Harry Potter that got him interested in reading. Before that he just couldn’t find anything that he wanted to read. Then came Harry Potter. He was too young at first, so he had to catch up on the story. Before long he got caught up and couldn’t wait for the next book. I will be sorry to see the series end. They have been fun.

And let’s admit it…we would all like to be able to do the things in the book. Who wouldn’t like to turn someone into a toad, rat or other appropriate object perfectly suited to their personality? Who wouldn’t like to be invisible?

I have been stifled, stymied and downright constipated when it comes to writing for this blog. There has been something on my mind that I didn’t think I should right about on this blog, but it seems if I don’t, I won’t be writing. So this incident occrred just over a week ago at the second garage sale. My son was with me for the day to help. The incident occurred at the end of the garage sale. It was bad enough that my son was begging to leave even though we still had a little cleaning up to do. I also had to get some items back that had been loaned. For these, I had to wait until they were finished. I will let you guess what kind of trouble two people can cause that would make others angry and want to leave. I once considered this person a friend, but no longer. We didn’t even get an apology, which I think most people would do. I have little else to say about it that doesn’t include ranting and swearing. I feel better now. Here’s to the end of writer’s block!

We had a quiet Fourth of July. The morning was spent discovering my son’s athlete’s foot and infected toe. Gross, I know. Worst case of athlete’s foot I’ve ever seen. He had it before he got here for the summer and had been hiding it from me and his dad.

But what this post is really about is a film you must see. We saw “Sicko.” Finally a real picture of what I’ve read about health care in other nations and an expose on how insurance really works in this country. The film will make you sick to see how we treat our ill and low income. He doesn’t really talk about those without insurance. I’m one of those. And yes, I pray everyday that I don’t get ill. Although I did that when I had insurance because they found ways not to pay for anything.

What are you plans? Both the San Jose and San Francisco papers have some hints for enjoying fireworks with the crowds and without dealing with crowds. My son hates fireworks. And I mean absolutely HATES them. He doesn’t much like concerts either. Both are too loud according to him. He hasn’t quite lost his hearing the way adults have. I know that a lot of people grill food and use any holiday as an excuse to pig out, but that doesn’t work for either of us. Hmm. May just have to drag him along to wherever. That should be fun.

Mr. Fab made a comment on my PG rating, calling me a goody-goody. This, of course, reminded me of the Adam Ant song that my fellow students in junior high used to sing at me. Oh, the torture of junior high! If that is the case, then so be it.
I’m not sure that most people I know in real life would call me that now. However, I do try to keep this blog fairly clean (nothing graphic, hardly any swearing)–although the rating is a bit misleading. I prefer to be more creative in my word choice rather than use the common swear word.

Thanks go out to Jackson over at SFGate for linking to me. I noticed an increase in traffic. Hopefully some who read here will return. As the Bay Area livens up expect some commentary.

I missed the craziness over the iPhone. I had seen one (Apple employee) long before they were available. It can’t be anywhere near the craziness that still surrounds obtaining a Nintendo Wii. I scored one several months ago, but stores are still out. If you hang out at any electronics store or department, you will overhear at least two people asking about them within about five minutes.