...your kid pees on your lap and you merely dab at your jeans with a few wipes to minimize any odor and go about your day. I know, gross, but I don't imagine I'm the only parent out there who arrives to work with snot stains on their shoulder on a near daily basis. Plus, they're my Rock & Republic jeans and now that they're stretched sufficiently to the point I can breath properly, these babies aren't going back to the wash after one wear.
Happy Mother's Day to all!
Friday, May 11, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Holy Mackerel!!
Ok Lost fans...What the f#*&?? I don't have time to read any of the message boards or recaps this morning, so this is not informed by any other opinions/theories - just my attempt to process that very troubling, yet entertaining, hour of TV we saw last night...
So, we know Ben lied when he claimed to be born on the island. He was actually born two months prematurely on a hiking trip somewhere around Portland (Portland! Recall Juliet's first flashback ep. "Not in Portland." Is Portland the gateway to Hell, er...the Island?) resulting in his mother's hemorrhaging to death (or not? Though not the first case of dead parents appearing on the island, young Ben saw her repeatedly.) And Ben's father? Roger, as in "Work Man." Judgement apparently clouded by grief, he rejoins the hippy dippy Dharma dude who gave them a lift after Ben's early/tragic birth and heads for the Island. And he (of course, because all father's on this show do) treats Ben like crap and blames him for his mother's death and lays around in a Dharma beer stupor most of the time...
Young Ben cleverly turns off the security fence one night to go into "hostile"/native islander territory (an air raid type drill in Ben's school one day gave hint that the hostile/natives and the Dharma bums don't play nice) in search of dead mommy - she tells him he's not ready, whatever that means, and then he bumps into...Richard Alpert! With longer hair, but still nicely made up eyes. I always find it amusing how the show uses a longer 'do to portray the actor at a younger phase (recall Jack's pseudo mullet in flashback.) Dude hasn't aged a bit while Ben evolved from pre-teen to adult, only clipped his hair. So, anyway, Richard Alpert is a native? And then, fast forward to an older Ben - now a "Work Man" himself (this Dharma caste system is the pits) reminding his father it's his birthday and Roger suggests they have a father-son moment over a few brews after he makes his run to Pearl or Swan or one of the stations and Ben calmly grills him about whether he's really blamed him for his mother's death for all these years, then takes out and puts on a gas mask and gasses dear daddy to death! But that's not all. When he returns to camp, we see that Richard and his hostile band have gassed all the Dharmas to death in a genocidal fashion (looked like Jonestown!!) Yikes.
And the creepiest part of all, as if genocide is not creepy enough, Locke has returned to the Others/hostiles/whoevers with dead daddy in a bag and his balls apparently intact and insists that Ben take him to see Jacob. Ben pulls all this you don't go to Jacob, Jacob summons you wishy washy stuff, but Locke stands firm. Alex appears out of nowhere to give Locke a gun and tells him he'll need it if he's going to see Jacob. Ben and Locke get to Jacob's cabin in the dark of night and Ben instructs Locke to turn off his flashlight because Jacob, like you and I (??) doesn't like technology. They enter the cabin with a lantern and Ben starts speaking to Jacob - ummm...an empty chair - in apologetic terms. Locke is all hate to break it to you Ben, but you are KUH-RAZY. But then there's a very odd sequence of events where Locke shines his flashlight on empty chair/Jacob and there's this flash of flame zipping across the floor and Locke turns in the direction the flame's going and hears a deep voice clearly say "Help Me." But Locke thinks the voice is Ben playing tricks on him because Ben is clearly delusional! Now when they first entered Jacob's lair, I was thinking that maybe Jacob is actually "smokey", but the whole scene played out to me very reminiscent of Harry Potter - you know, when Voldemort is in hiding when he's first gaining his powers back...Does Ben speak Parseltongue? Does Locke speak Parseltongue? I'm sorry, DID Locke speak Parseltongue? Past tense because we end with Ben showing Locke the shallow, OPEN (now we know where Vincent disappears to on his prolongued absences - lots o' crunchy munchy bones there) mass Dharma grave, and shooting Locke at close range and leaving him to perish in said grave after getting Locke to admit that the words he heard Jacob say were "Help Me." And that, dear reader, is what I say. Help me make some sense of this!!
And there was some other stuff going on at the beach camp with Juliet's tape and Ben's response with the timing of their raid and Jack suggesting that they had some catching up to do, but I'll have to leave that for next week.
So, we know Ben lied when he claimed to be born on the island. He was actually born two months prematurely on a hiking trip somewhere around Portland (Portland! Recall Juliet's first flashback ep. "Not in Portland." Is Portland the gateway to Hell, er...the Island?) resulting in his mother's hemorrhaging to death (or not? Though not the first case of dead parents appearing on the island, young Ben saw her repeatedly.) And Ben's father? Roger, as in "Work Man." Judgement apparently clouded by grief, he rejoins the hippy dippy Dharma dude who gave them a lift after Ben's early/tragic birth and heads for the Island. And he (of course, because all father's on this show do) treats Ben like crap and blames him for his mother's death and lays around in a Dharma beer stupor most of the time...
Young Ben cleverly turns off the security fence one night to go into "hostile"/native islander territory (an air raid type drill in Ben's school one day gave hint that the hostile/natives and the Dharma bums don't play nice) in search of dead mommy - she tells him he's not ready, whatever that means, and then he bumps into...Richard Alpert! With longer hair, but still nicely made up eyes. I always find it amusing how the show uses a longer 'do to portray the actor at a younger phase (recall Jack's pseudo mullet in flashback.) Dude hasn't aged a bit while Ben evolved from pre-teen to adult, only clipped his hair. So, anyway, Richard Alpert is a native? And then, fast forward to an older Ben - now a "Work Man" himself (this Dharma caste system is the pits) reminding his father it's his birthday and Roger suggests they have a father-son moment over a few brews after he makes his run to Pearl or Swan or one of the stations and Ben calmly grills him about whether he's really blamed him for his mother's death for all these years, then takes out and puts on a gas mask and gasses dear daddy to death! But that's not all. When he returns to camp, we see that Richard and his hostile band have gassed all the Dharmas to death in a genocidal fashion (looked like Jonestown!!) Yikes.
And the creepiest part of all, as if genocide is not creepy enough, Locke has returned to the Others/hostiles/whoevers with dead daddy in a bag and his balls apparently intact and insists that Ben take him to see Jacob. Ben pulls all this you don't go to Jacob, Jacob summons you wishy washy stuff, but Locke stands firm. Alex appears out of nowhere to give Locke a gun and tells him he'll need it if he's going to see Jacob. Ben and Locke get to Jacob's cabin in the dark of night and Ben instructs Locke to turn off his flashlight because Jacob, like you and I (??) doesn't like technology. They enter the cabin with a lantern and Ben starts speaking to Jacob - ummm...an empty chair - in apologetic terms. Locke is all hate to break it to you Ben, but you are KUH-RAZY. But then there's a very odd sequence of events where Locke shines his flashlight on empty chair/Jacob and there's this flash of flame zipping across the floor and Locke turns in the direction the flame's going and hears a deep voice clearly say "Help Me." But Locke thinks the voice is Ben playing tricks on him because Ben is clearly delusional! Now when they first entered Jacob's lair, I was thinking that maybe Jacob is actually "smokey", but the whole scene played out to me very reminiscent of Harry Potter - you know, when Voldemort is in hiding when he's first gaining his powers back...Does Ben speak Parseltongue? Does Locke speak Parseltongue? I'm sorry, DID Locke speak Parseltongue? Past tense because we end with Ben showing Locke the shallow, OPEN (now we know where Vincent disappears to on his prolongued absences - lots o' crunchy munchy bones there) mass Dharma grave, and shooting Locke at close range and leaving him to perish in said grave after getting Locke to admit that the words he heard Jacob say were "Help Me." And that, dear reader, is what I say. Help me make some sense of this!!
And there was some other stuff going on at the beach camp with Juliet's tape and Ben's response with the timing of their raid and Jack suggesting that they had some catching up to do, but I'll have to leave that for next week.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
DC'd out...
We now have two out of our three summer interns on board. 3! We are a 6 person firm. Huh? The good news about that is I can give what little work I regularly have to them, so I can dedicate more time to my perpetual job search. The bad piece about that is I have no idea what I want to do with myself professionally and am in no frame of mind to be chipper about this place and my work here in front of young, fresh-faced interns. I continue to apply for legislative assistant/government affairs type positions, but sadly my experience here has led me question whether I even want to continue in this line of work. If I can get myself paid twice as much and in a position that allows me to represent only positive, consumer friendly issues maybe... I have an interview Wednesday at the National Marine Manufacturers Association. Right. I know nothing about the recreational boating industry, but it's got to be better than spinning high-interest tax refund anticipation loans as a good deal, no? I'd like to be called for the government affairs position I applied for at Bono's DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa) organization, but I think that one's a little out of my league. Oh well. Time to keep plugging away.
And in weekend news, will get some pictures up soon, but I foresee a summer full of visits to every playground in Alexandria. That is all the child wants to do (and I don't blame her in light of our close living quarters.) We went to playgrounds three times in two days. The newest discovery is the sandbox and I was still finding grains in her diaper this morning. Other highlights included the parrot rescue people by the Torpedo factory, the balloon man, and a visit to a mammoth candy store (yep, she has my sweet tooth - anything gummi is the current obsession.)
In TV/Movie news, watched Notes on a Scandal. Excellent acting and score. Tracked well with the book and Judi Dench managed to play Barbara even more brilliantly creepy than she read. I can't get too jazzed about Housewives even though a lot went down. Brothers and Sisters was great. Loved the McAllister clan and Jason + Kevin = HAWT!!
And in weekend news, will get some pictures up soon, but I foresee a summer full of visits to every playground in Alexandria. That is all the child wants to do (and I don't blame her in light of our close living quarters.) We went to playgrounds three times in two days. The newest discovery is the sandbox and I was still finding grains in her diaper this morning. Other highlights included the parrot rescue people by the Torpedo factory, the balloon man, and a visit to a mammoth candy store (yep, she has my sweet tooth - anything gummi is the current obsession.)
In TV/Movie news, watched Notes on a Scandal. Excellent acting and score. Tracked well with the book and Judi Dench managed to play Barbara even more brilliantly creepy than she read. I can't get too jazzed about Housewives even though a lot went down. Brothers and Sisters was great. Loved the McAllister clan and Jason + Kevin = HAWT!!
Monday, May 7, 2007
Yummy!
Fish 'n Chips is not something I find myself often craving, but that may have just changed. Leila and I met up with my old college friend Layton and her adorable 8 month old son, Eamon in Old Town on Saturday. The plan was to stroll up to Eamonn's (yeah, in honor of the namesake in the stroller with us) for a bite and as luck would have it, the afternoon had turned into a cool, gray, drizzly one to rival the UK. This hole in the wall "Dublin Chipper" is the younger brother (literally - Eamonn is the Chef and Manager's son and Eve their daughter) to Old Town's acclaimed Restaurant Eve. I've never made it to Eve and it is completely out of my budget these days, but I'll take battered cod and house cut chips on a grease soaked brown paper bag as a tasty compromise any day! And next time I go, I'll walk so I can enjoy a Guinness - or two... I may just have found an alternative to Five Guys. And for those of you without toddlers in tow, who may still go out at night, there's a swank looking 1920's style "speak easy" on the upper level. Enjoy! http://www.eamonnsdublinchipper.com/Friday, May 4, 2007
There was a time when I didn't think McCain was such a bad guy...No need to add my own commentary. Y'all know where I stand here:
"In a letter released yesterday by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) expressed his support for the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that bans lesbians, gays, and bisexuals from serving openly in the military. McCain said he staunchly opposes openly gay servicemembers, asserting that “open sexuality within military presents an intolerable risk to morale, cohesion and discipline” and national security."
And in other DC related news, should be interesting to see if our very own Madame reveals anything juicy on 20/20 tonight!
"In a letter released yesterday by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) expressed his support for the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that bans lesbians, gays, and bisexuals from serving openly in the military. McCain said he staunchly opposes openly gay servicemembers, asserting that “open sexuality within military presents an intolerable risk to morale, cohesion and discipline” and national security."
And in other DC related news, should be interesting to see if our very own Madame reveals anything juicy on 20/20 tonight!
TV TV TV...
Wow. I didn't have the energy or brainpower to put any thoughts about Lost down yesterday, and I still don't, but Wow. Such interesting and puzzling stuff going on. Huge props for Josh Holloway's fine acting at a point when I thought it wasn't possible to love Sawyer any more than I already did. Locke's dad (Biggest. Bastard. Ever.) turning out to be the original con-Sawyer whose actions had the consequences of robbing our dear Sawyer of his parents and childhood innocence and making him the man he is today was not a huge surprise, but very well played out. The whole need to kill your father to free yourself and be the "special" person the Island means you to be thing fit well within the shows greater mythologies. I kind of loved the Rousseau/Locke exchange on the Black Rock where she casually strolls in for dynamite and doesn't bat at eye at the fact that there's clearly some torture going on behind locked doors while Locke whittles away. Ben is so freakin' diabolical. I have to believe that he's turning all these screws - he wants the beach bound castaways to know they're coming for the pregnant women, to know that Juliet's a plant...but WHY, WHY WHY? And what did Juliet want to tell Kate that Jack wasn't ready to expose? And does Naomi's story hold water? Neither Sayid, nor Jack seemed to buy the mechanics. And Richard Alpert wears eye makeup better than I do. And, and, and...I just drive myself batty thinking about it.
Grey's w/ the embedded Addison pilot spinoff... Eh. It was OK. I adore Addison and if her show is picked up I may just switch to that from Grey's if Grey's continues to be the angsty whine fest it has become. Will somebody kick George to Mercy West never to be seen or heard from again already? And Izzy too for that matter. I had more emotions over learning that Addison's barren (she'd be the coolest mom) than watching Mere's stepmother's rapid demise and I think I felt Thayer's slap. Ouch. I'd do tequila shots w/ Alex any day. Goes w/o saying that Bailey is awesome. And Tim Daly + Taye Diggs = McDreamy/Steamy to the nth degree!
Grey's w/ the embedded Addison pilot spinoff... Eh. It was OK. I adore Addison and if her show is picked up I may just switch to that from Grey's if Grey's continues to be the angsty whine fest it has become. Will somebody kick George to Mercy West never to be seen or heard from again already? And Izzy too for that matter. I had more emotions over learning that Addison's barren (she'd be the coolest mom) than watching Mere's stepmother's rapid demise and I think I felt Thayer's slap. Ouch. I'd do tequila shots w/ Alex any day. Goes w/o saying that Bailey is awesome. And Tim Daly + Taye Diggs = McDreamy/Steamy to the nth degree!
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
The last of the birthday celebrations (until Cesar's next week...)
The party girl:
The cupcakes:
The cupcakes:
The Gift:
I don't feel so bad for cheating the child out of a proper birthday party as the result of our travel. She did wind up with cupcakes at school, cupcakes with my family this past weekend and the German engineered Mercedes of Tricycles as her gift from her parents! And while the two year olds at St. Anthony's got cupcakes of the Duncan Hines variety, I did put the effort into making Magnolia Bakery cupcakes for my family - while my husband may not agree (What is wrong with him??) everyone else knows these are the best cupcakes ever and hands down, the best thing I am capable of creating in the kitchen (entrees? who needs them?) If anyone wants to tempt themselves with two dozen of these babies lying around the house, you can find the recipe online, and with a little muscle power into the mixing they are pretty darn simple to make. What could be complicated when the ingredients are: BUTTER, flour, BUTTER, milk, BUTTER, eggs, BUTTER, sugar, BUTTER, vanilla extract, BUTTER, confectioners sugar, and BUTTER. Mmmmm....thank goodness I only have two more left at home, so after Leila and I kill those tonight I can begin my Quixotic quest to lose 5-10 pounds!
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