B-Movie Star

I have spent a great deal of time making sure that Gabby grows up to be musically well-rounded. All her life I have tried to expose her to various types of music and to make sure that she appreciated the "good stuff" when she hears it.

There was a brief time in middle school when she fell into the whole BackStreet Boys, NSYNC trend and I had to bite my tongue many times. I know from experience that if you forbid some kind of music or tell a person that their tastes suck, it's just going to make them like it more. I also understand something about the psyche of young girls and teen heartthrobs - I had my own crush on David Cassidy and I turned out just fine. Or so I tell myself.

I also think we've all got some musical skeletons in our closet don't we? We all have a group or two that we loved at some point and then outgrew and are now loathe to admit we once plastered our walls with magazine pages with their photos on it *coughdavidleeroth* Didn't everyone do that? Was it just me? Wow, now I am embarrassed.

Gabby has outgrown her pop infatuations (thankfully) and she likes to listen to a mix of new stuff (she's currently into Panic at the Disco) and she likes the old stuff too - a whole mix of stuff from Bob Marley, to Billie Holliday, to Radiohead, to The Clash, to Patsy Cline, to Mozart and all points in between

A teacher at her school sometimes plays music during their study time and he usually plays 80s-90s stuff. One of the first weeks there he was playing something that a couple of the kids didn't know, but Gabby identified as Foo Fighters. That put her on his good list. Then the other day he was talking to some of the kids in class and mentioned that he needed to put some Oingo Boingo on his playlist and he asked Gabby if she liked Oingo Boingo and she said yes. Then I think to challenge her, he asked her what songs she liked and she started off with "Dead Man's Party" - and he was impressed that she actually knew what she was talking about and told her, "I like you more all the time."

Finally! Someone is recognizing all the hard work I've put into crafting a super cool daughter!

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Why in the hell does Billy Mays have to yell so freaking loud about EVERYTHING! Maybe you don't know who Billy Mays is - if that's so, you don't own a television. If you do own a television, you cannot escape this man! I mean, I didn't mind with the first OxyClean commercials. He's excited about his product - he's getting your attention - hey I love OxyClean as much as the next person.

Next came KABOOM - never was a more appropriate title paired with a salesperson. So, okay, we endured the yelling of Billy Mays for that because hey, the title is KABOOM - it's explosive cleaning power and it needs an explosive pitchman.

But now . . . now. OMG! You're calmly watching a program - suddenly Billy Mays is there screaming at you to buy MIGHTY MEND-IT (because I'm always ripping that flag that hangs in gale force winds). He's screaming at me to buy MAGIC PUTTY (what the hell?). He's screaming at me to buy absorbent towels, some sort of contraption to cook hamburgers, some tool that will solve all my tool problems, a steamer, and God knows what else, and now . . . now I see he's screaming at me to buy LIFE INSURANCE! Is there anything that Billy Mays can't sell? If I see Billy Mays screaming at me to buy "feminine hygiene" products I'm done.

Seriously, every time I hear the first syllable out of his mouth I'm running for the remote and frantically hitting MUTE, MUTE, MUTE!  It makes me think of when Austin Powers is revived from being cryogenically frozen and he, "CAN'T CONTROL THE VOLUME OF HIS VOICE!"

Does Billy May go home at night and scream, "HI HONEY, I'M HOME! WHAT'S FOR DINNER? I LOVE YOU!" at his wife? Does she hit him upside his head with a skillet, because that's what I feel like doing.

So, Billy, if you're out there and you happen to read this, I know you're the professional and all, but please could you please, just take it down a notch? I'd like to see some emotional range from you - not just the full force screaming, you've mastered that, let's try something new okay? Get with the times - it's time for change!

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Okay - yeah, I've been MIA for awhile. I shall blame it on January. This stretch of winter is hard isn't it? I think it's because you have no holidays to look forward to, you're over the novelty of snow and ice and cold, the landscape around here is just barren and pretty ugly, frankly.  I'm tired of being cooped up in the house and I'm just longing for spring!

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Wow - I've never heard of Skittles Vodka, but this photo makes it look pretty good!

Here's a tutorial from Mix That Drink if you want to make some for yourself . . . I think it would be a fun summer drink - but watch out because I'm pretty certain that drinking too much of it might make your vomit technicolor. Was that too much information? It was wasn't it.

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Last night, when David was playing with Wrigley he noticed that the inside of one of her ears was covered with something that looked liked dried blood - well that's a sight to freak anyone out - and we all were. We couldn't tell if she had just scratched herself and caused some bleeding or if there was another problem. [More]

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Gabby is close to all my sister's kids.  They have pretty much been raised together so they treat each other more like brothers and sisters rather than cousins.  Here are a few shots taken of Gabby helping Nathaniel with his homework - I make Gabby and David help with all the math, I mean I DO want him to get a good grade. Plus I don't want to admit to a fifth grader that the math he's doing is waaaaay over my head. I like to keep that illustion that I'm an all-knowing adult.

In the first shot you can see that he's not the most serious student - he knows he cracks me up so he's clowning around for my amusement.

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Wow. January has been a bit crazee for me, there's been a lot going on. Here's some random tidbits of everything.

• I love having my nephew living here. When he was born I took care of him while my sister worked, so in a lot of ways he's partly my kid - well they all are, at least that's how I feel about them. He cracks me up - he always has. This weekend on the way to the grocery store he started to tell us why his sister is the way she is (from a younger brother's perspective) so I asked him why he is the way he is and he told me it was "Joker Pudding."  That would be my fault. See, my nephew is a notoriously picky eater and one time when he was about 3 or 4 I made pistachio pudding and he wouldn't try it so I told him it was "Joker Pudding."  Then of course he had to try it and every bite made him laugh hysterically - yes, he's quite a card. Now I find out the Joker Pudding has totally altered his psyche!

• Reports from my sister say she is doing better with physical therapy. She's quit smoking and David said she sounded clearer on the phone this weekend when he talked to her. I am feeling more hopeful about things than I have for a long time. It's a fragile, tiny hope but it's better than nothing.

• One of my New Year's Resolutions is to live healthier. Today Gabby and I are going to "work out" after she gets out of school. I am pretty scared - because I haven't "worked out" in a couple of years . . . but as the song says, I vow to do one thing a day that scares me. Gabby bought me a membership to our local "Wellness Center" for Christmas. Really, she is the best daughter in the world. I'm not just saying that. I have strangers who have told me also.

• Lately I have dreamed these things: one dream I was flying. I remembered how to fly and I was feeling so happy about it. I was in an old house and my sister was there. She couldn't fly and I was trying to wait for her so she could remember how to do it. I flew around outside and it was amazing. I came back and I felt guilty because my sister was still in the house. I woke up and the dream made me cry. It still does.
• I also dreamed I had six babies. I was waiting for David to help me get them home. Gabby was in the dream with an old friend and her sister. We were going to have to bring the babies home in the back of a pickup truck. I'm not sure what the heck that was all about.
• I dreamed that I went to a friend's house and she lived in another small town that I'd never been to. Inside the house it was full of older Native Americans. They were all being so kind to me. I went up to a group of old men to introduce myself each one of them took my hand and shook it. One of them held my hand and made a sign from his heart to me and gave me a blessing. When I woke up I felt so peaceful.

• My nephew has made me watch "Star Wars Clone Wars" so to get him back, I made him eat cashew chicken.

• I'm trying to read more this year - another new year's resolution. I have four books in the line up so far. I bought myself one for Christmas, Isabel Allende's Ines of My Soul. I LOVE Isabel Allende's books and I love her too. We also share the same birthday and she looks like my mom's side of the family so I think that all means something. I just started reading it, so I have no review of it yet.  I also got a book from my MIL for Christmas called, "All for the Love of Mothers" which is a memoir of a midwife and looks very interesting. Then I have a couple of spiritual books that my brother in law gave me to read - I need to get on it!

• This is off the subject but the Golden Globes . . . didn't watch, don't care too much, but I did happen to see a picture of Mickey Rourke who won for his part in The Wrestler and . . . wow. That's all I have to say - see Johnny Handsome. (This is great start for my new year's resolution to be less judgemental)

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Lyrics to "Everybody is free to wear sunscreen"
by Baz Luhrman

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '99,

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis or reliable then my own meandering experience.  I will dispense this advice....now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, nevermind, you will not understand the power and
beauty of your youth until they've faded, but trust me in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of
yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous
you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra
equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind: the kind that blindsides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts; don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy.  Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.  The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. (if you succeed in doing this, tell me how).

Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.  The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of Calcium.  Be kind to your knees -- you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.  Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.  Maybe you'll
divorce at 40; maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either.  Your choices are half
chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body: use it every way you can.  Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it; it's the
greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance . . . even if you have no where to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions (even if you don't follow them).

Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents; you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings: they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in
the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.  Work hard to bridge the gaps and geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old; and when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you.  Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse,
but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you are 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.  Advice is a form of nostalgia;
dispensing it is a way of wishing the past from the disposal--wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and
recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

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Okay, so I have to share some Christmas highlights with you - since I haven't really written too much about them. First, was this Christmas goose! He was hanging out at our local Pizza Hut. He was just laying in the snow all by himself and when I tried to take his photo, he got all indignant and honked and me. The  nerve! When we asked about him inside they didn't really know too much about him, but they were feeding him - so I guess he was doing okay - just hanging out for Christmas! [More]

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