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Friday, June 19th, 2009
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7:49 pm
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Tomorrow night I'm taking Ivy to see the Wallflowers. It should be fun; I haven't been to a concert in more than ten years.
I think we're both most excited about getting to go to the newly renovated Fox Theater though. :)
Fox is disappointed that he doesn't get to go. I could have easily explained it away as not being able afford it. It's true, but with most things I would choose not to do them at all if we can't afford for us all to do it. With this I specifically thought Ivy would enjoy it and I thought she would enjoy having me all to herself.
Fox was getting himself all worked up and I asked him to name one thing that Ivy had ever gotten to do without him and/or that he hadn't gotten to do first.
After a couple moments of silence he says, "I guess I can kind of see your point." and then cheerfully starts in on how much we're going to love it and how beautiful the theater is (his class went to see the symphony last year) and how once you've been there, it is something you'll remember for the rest of your life.
I do believe my ten year old just managed to set aside his own disappointment and be happy for someone else. :D
current mood:  peaceful
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| Friday, April 24th, 2009
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9:23 pm - What to do, what to do...
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So do I do something that I ought to do, but will upset and depress me
or
do I do something that is largely a waste of time, but will make me happy or failing that at least distract me
or behind door #3
go to bed.
EDIT: Yeah, seeing as I have to be at work at 3AM tomorrow morning, bed it is.
current mood:  listless
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| Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
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10:05 pm
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| Monday, April 20th, 2009
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11:11 pm - I really don't want to deal with this crap again...
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the sneaking around...
going "out" in the middle of the night...
But leaving the stove on when you do it - while your wife and kids are in bed upstairs?
I just don't know how to process that...
current mood:  exhausted
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| Friday, April 10th, 2009
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1:50 pm
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"As the days go by, we face the increasing inevitability that we are alone in a godless, uninhabited, hostile and meaningless universe. Still, you've got to laugh, haven't you?"
-Holly
Red Dwarf Meme
Ganked from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lunadeath02
When you see this, post a quote from Red Dwarf in your journal.
current mood:  discontent
current music: Ivy practicing piano
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| Sunday, April 5th, 2009
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2:56 pm - Watched Supernatural 0418 last night.
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It was surreal.
I keep thinking I had to have imagined it...
Much like the day I was at work and found Harry Potter fanfiction (Harry/Snape- no less) on the shared work computer. I just sat there, not comprehending.
It kind of broke my brain a little.
current mood:  stunned
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Monday, March 9th, 2009
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9:32 am - Severe Weather Alert-
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WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM PDT TUESDAY...
SNOW SHOWERS WILL PERSIST THROUGH TONIGHT WITH TOTAL SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES. SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE HEAVY AT
TIMES LEADING TO LOW VISIBILITIES OF LESS THAN A HALF MILE. SOME
ROADWAYS MAY SEE MELTING THIS AFTERNOON WITH THE MID MARCH SUN
ANGLE...BUT ANY MELTING WILL REFREEZE TONIGHT LEADING TO ICY ROADWAYS.
Can we say TOTALLY UNNECESSARY. *head-desk*
Why is it that people (the National Weather Service) think that putting everything in caps is a good idea? I see this at work as well. Everything on the daily passdown is in caps. It does not make it easier to read and contrary to what they may believe, it does not send the message that "this is important" because everything can't be oh-so-uber-important so the effect is actually the opposite, deemphasizing the entire message. In my opinion, anyway.
current mood:  annoyed
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| Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
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8:22 pm - Feel free to skip, I just need an easy way to keep track, since it only recently occured to me that
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| Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
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9:12 pm
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| Friday, December 26th, 2008
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9:04 pm - I hate people.
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Presents arrived this morning from garlicfiend‘s sister. It’s unbelievable how sexist and misogynistic our society is and I swear to fucking god, it’s the women that are the worst offenders. For Christmas from his aunt, Fox received 2 sets of Magnetic Hematite Rocks. Both Fox and Ivy think they are The. Coolest. Thing. Ever.
Ivy received 2 sheets of stickers (hearts, flowers and butterflies) and this crafty ornament. She spent over an hour with her face buried in my chest, weeping. She wanted to know why boys get good stuff and girls get cheap crap. She is convinced that her aunt likes her brother better. That he is better than she is because he’s a boy. It is breaking my heart. I want to go out and get her a set of the stupid rocks, but I can’t. I can’t hover over her making things “fair”. And the rocks are so not the point. Me getting her the rocks would not make things better. The damage has been done. In the past it’s always been a matter of simply liking Fox’s presents better than her own. This year for the first time, it meant something. She thinks she is worth less than her brother.
I hate my sister in law for making my daughter feel this way. I am so angry and I don’t know what to do. As much as I try, it feels like a losing battle. How do I teach her she doesn’t have to hate being a girl just because she wants more out of life than hearts and sparkles?
current mood: devastated
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
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12:32 pm
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I've always used music as an emotional outlet. So what I want to know is, when the music that I listen to when I'm so angry and hurt that I can't cope and life isn't worth living, when it changed....
On a similar note, the world and everyone in it can just go fuck themselves.
current mood: discontent
current music: Linkin Park, Faint
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| Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
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6:57 pm
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At dinner, my daughter asked me why I never smile anymore.
There are a million reasons I would never burden her with. I finally settled on- I just don't have the energy.
current mood: drained
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
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5:49 pm - wtf?
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| Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
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7:06 pm
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Momma, in a huffing contest, I think you'd win.
Ivy, age 7
Pfft. >:p
current mood: weird
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8:42 am
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As evidenced by Katie Couric, Sarah Palin is unable to name any Supreme Court Case other than Roe v. Wade. (To be more specific she was unable to name any Supreme Court decision she disagrees with other than Roe v. Wade. She also said she does believe the U.S. Constitution guarantees a right to privacy but did not seem to understand how that concept relates to Roe v. Wade.)
The Rules: Post info about ONE Supreme Court decision, modern or historic to your LJ. (Any decision, as long as it's not Roe v. Wade.) For those who see this on your f-list, take the meme to your own LJ to spread the fun.
Worcester v. Georgia
It must be admitted, that the Indians sustain a peculiar relation to the United States. They do not constitute ... a foreign state, so as to claim the right to sue in the supreme court of the United States: and yet, having the right of self government, they, in some sense, form a state. In the management of their internal concerns, they are dependent on no power. They punish offences under their own laws, and, in doing so, they are responsible to no earthly tribunal. They make war, and form treaties of peace. The exercise of these and other powers, gives to them a distinct character as a people, and constitutes them, in some respects, a state, although they may not be admitted to possess the right of soil.
Sarah Palin isn't the only one who needs to brush up on her Supreme Court decisions. I recently received some very nasty and indignant literature from Dino Rossi's campaign. It bashed Christine Gregoire for striking down a "compact" that would have taxed tribal industry in Washington State to the tune of $140 million per year. It was called a giveaway and even pulled the "for the children" card, claiming that this "lost" revenue could have been used for education and to cut taxes.
There's a reason she "shot down" this so-called "compact". It's called Tribal Sovereignty, look it up.
Here I'll even help. If the aforementioned Worcester v. Georgia is too archaic, let's try something more recent. Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Indian Reservation which holds that taxes that are intrusive or lay undue burden in their collection are not permissible.
current mood: tired
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| Monday, September 29th, 2008
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9:28 pm - and I am high as a kite and it's all my mother's fault
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1. I am a fucking idiot.
2. I need to remember that my mother is was a hippie.
3. This shit better wear off before I need to be at work in six hours.
current mood: ...
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, September 22nd, 2008
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6:36 pm
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1:07 pm - Sex Ed for 9 year olds.
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Fox recently came home from school with a letter from the school district proclaiming their intent to educate my 9 year old about HIV/AIDS and by default- sex.
I have so many problems with this I don't even know where to start.
Lets start with the fact that it is mandatory. Unlike when I was a child, when you needed parent permission to be in sex ed, in this case you must jump through hoops to get your child excluded. So by default they're going to get most kids, because most parents even if they have doubts, are going to assume that the school district knows what it's doing and not pursue it.
Every child in grades 4-12 in the Spokane school must view a 15 minute HIV/AIDS video that will be followed by “grade appropriate instructional materials.”
The first thing you need to do if you want to exclude your child is view the video. There are two ways to go about this (although only one is sufficient as far as getting an exclusion approved. The video was shown daily on Comcast cable channel 17 between August 18 and September 18. This letter wasn't even sent home until September 12th. So it was almost too late anyway, if you don't have cable (we don't) then you couldn't view it anyway and more importantly, viewing it this way doesn't count if you're trying to get an exclusion.
But, no worries- a copy of the video is also available at every school in the district. Plus if you want to get an exclusion, the first thing you have to do is view the video at the school.
So this morning I go in to watch the video. They have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about when I go to the office. Plus they give me serious attitude about having to find out. (I've not heard back from them yet, so I don't know where that'll go)
So then I call TEC where my daughter is a student. They give me the run around tell me they are not a "regular" school and don't have to do things like that. Hang on. I did not expect the "mandatory" crap to apply to them, TEC is a homeschooling coop, but it is part of district 81. Ivy is actually on the books as being enrolled in the public school system. They get tax dollars for her. Take into account that this video is supposed to be a good thing, a necessary thing, why would it not be available to public school students at the coop?
The letter that was sent home was signed by the superintendent. So I called the Superintendent's Office.... where they have no idea what I was talking about. She did however take my name and number and then call me back almost immediately to let me know that the person I needed to talk to was in a meeting until noon and she'd have him call me this afternoon.
Meanwhile time is running low and Fox could be subjected to their HIV/AIDS crap at any time.
Want to know why I don't want him exposed to this crap?
I think that important information like this should come from me (or Devon) in an environment where he feels comfortable asking questions. WHEN he's ready. He has very very little interest in "sex". It's So Amazing has been sitting on the kids bookshelf in the living room for the last 2 years or so. I have read some of it to the kids, they have looked at it on their own some and mostly they've ignored it. Things like this should not be forced on kids on the districts schedule.
He recently asked me what actors do when they have to do more. I asked him what he meant by "more."
He says, "Momma, you know- more."
Me, not wanting to give him information he's not asking for, "Fox, I really don't, what do you mean "more."
Fox gives me a long suffering sigh, looks around shiftily and says, "You know, K-I-S-S-I-N-G."
"Oh!, are you asking what actors do when the script calls for kissing someone that they don't like or maybe don't even know?"
"Yes!" he says, sounding relieved that I finally got it.
"Well" I say, "They do it anyway and act like they like it, they're actors that's what they do, same as if a script calls for killing someone, it's not like they actually kill them, they just pretend."
"Why would anyone want to do that!" Fox responds looking disgusted and disturbed.
Me, *shrugs*
I also do not trust them to provide accurate, unbiased information in a way that does not unnecessarily alarm and upset children who aren't really old enough to understand what a complex issue it is. There is also still a lot of misinformation out there.
Then there is this: Our curriculum declares that sexual abstinence is the only way of preventing the spread of HIV.
Oh, HELL NO.
Never mind my stance on that little tidbit, how exactly do you explain sexual abstinence to a child that doesn't know, nor is he interested in knowing what sex is?
I had a bit of a hissy fit when I got the letter and was forced to explain to Fox (and Ivy) why I was reacting so badly to a letter from the school. After feeling out what they knew, we settled on using the term “being intimate”, defined as caring about someone (who you're not related to) enough to want to sleep in the same bed with them and kiss them.
Then we had HIV/AIDS education. The jist of which was:
It is not something you need to worry about, because there are very specific and avoidable ways in which you can be exposed: drug use (and even then it’s using needles to inject drugs and even then, using someone else's already used needle to inject drugs (that can kill you as well).
And being intimate with someone who has the virus, which they may not even themselves know, but that there are ways of finding out and ways of protecting yourself that we'll talk about later when you're old enough to want to be intimate with someone. "When we're adults?" they asked. “Well, probably a bit before that, since teenagers tend to think they’re adults, even though they’re not.” *blows raspberries*
current mood:  determined
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| Saturday, August 23rd, 2008
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1:25 pm - Washington state begins ban on dishwashing detergents
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I am at a loss.
I buy organic and local, for many reasons, not the least of which is the environmental impact of trucking food in from outside our area . I decide what to buy based largely on the packaging. Is it reusable? (and will I reuse it?) Is it recyclable? Is it made of post consumer material and how much. I use my own bags, both at the grocery store and at other stores. I buy in bulk. And probably most significant of all we simply consume less. I was curious so I did the math and our household household produces about 1/3 the national average when it comes to garbage.
I'm not bragging. I'll be the first to tell you that we could do more, that we should do more. My point is that we care. We care a lot. I'd say we are teaching our kids to care, but that would be misleading. Our children don't know how not to care. The way they've been raised hasn't allowed for anything else. We recently did Fox's school supply shopping. The first thing he did upon getting his list was figure out what we had that could be used again. Folders/Pee Chees, an eraser, ruler, pencil case, clip board, scissors. He is also using a repaired 3-ring binder of mine, as well as the dividers. We stopped at the thrift store for a metal box for his 3x5 note cards. I bought him a sturdy commercial grade stapler that would survive a nine year old boy and still probably last forever. His backpack and lunch bag are several years old, but may never need to be replaced. That's a big part of conservation. If I do need to buy something, I make sure that it is high quality and made to last. Anything less is it's just more crap that will eventually end up in the garbage- and then what have you accomplished?
Now that I've rambled about how I'm not an evil person despite what I'm about to say...
I am absolutely livid about our state's ban on phosphorus in dishwasher detergent.
On the surface it seems reasonable. Phosphates are bad. They're killing our waterways.
Why then does the ban apply only to household use? Why doesn't it apply to commercial and industrial use?
I am pissed that at the moment it applies only to Spokane and Whatcom county.
What the bloody f*ck are we supposed to do? I looked on-line to see if I could find recommendations for something that works. Everyone is talking about how the phosphate free stuff works just as well if not better! than the old evil stuff. One of the brands I saw praised most was "High Performance Wave". Which is the crap garlicfiend brought home from Costco. To say that it doesn't work, does not properly describe how much this stuff sucks. The dishes are not only dirtier than they were when they went in, I'll need a sander or a blow torch to get that stuff off, it is so cemented on, I swear it's now part of the structural makeup of the dishes. You know how you sometimes get standing water in some dishes at the end of the wash cycle? Our food processor "bowl" always does because of the way the bottom is shaped to attach to the food processor base. The water was not clean, the way it usually is. It was murky and slimy and gritty.
I could kick myself for not buying a whole bunch of the Cascade all in one tabs at Costco in June when they were on sale. I find myself considering driving into Idaho, or asking frogmajick to bring me back some from Wenatchee. I wonder if I can order some on-line. I wonder if that would be illegal too? Surely they can't attempt to enforce anything when it's only banned in two counties? Meanwhile I feel like the most awful person in the world for simply wanting something that works.
current mood: frustrated
current music: Ivy practising the piano
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| Thursday, August 14th, 2008
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3:59 pm - unwanted info
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Every once in awhile I get a graphic reminder of why my children do not and will not ever any time soon have access to the internet that is not completely controlled. When something confuses them or sparks an interest, they will not stop until they have gathered enough information to satisfy their curiosity or to make sense of it. Even if they know that they don’t really want to know. They can't just let it go. And the internet is jam packed with lots of things you just don't want to know about and that are just way too easy to stumble upon, much less if you actually go looking for it. *head desk*
They come by that quirk honestly.
Today I happened upon Cannibal Holocaust.
It takes a lot to get to me. My tolerance level is higher than that of most people I know. Most things just don't bother me.
I happened upon a reference to Cannibal Holocaust on my flist today. (Thank you FandomSecrets!) What caught my attention wasn't the subject matter, but the resulting discussion; it is apparently so notorious that even though most people haven't actually seen it, everyone knows of it and can identify images from the movie. So how is it that I haven't got a clue?
I had googled it before I even had the chance to think twice. Images from the movie came up, top of the search. Still I persevered. *sigh*
I chose my link carefully and managed to find an article/review without pictures.
I'm honestly not sure what bothered me so much. I like horror movies. (granted I make a very specific distinction between horror and gore; they are not one in the same.) True crime fascinates me. Graphic torture, rape and murder? I don't go looking for it, but there is a fair bit of it in fanfiction and it doesn't particularly bother me.
A lot of people site the cruelty to animals as the big issue. To be honest, that didn't even phase me. Cutting a snake's head off? People kill snakes (by beheading or otherwise) all the time, and I don't see how "for a movie" is really any worse than because you are scared of them, just don't like them or consider them to be pests. And the turtle? They killed it and ate it. Would they have gotten the same reaction if it had been a deer or say... fish? It is so incredibly hypocritical it makes my head spin. I do find it odd that the snake and the turtle were the easiest for me, considering we have both a pet snake and a pet turtle. Throw the whole being vegetarian into the equation and it's one big wtf. The muskrat and the monkey, not so much.
So yeah, I'm not sure what it is about this movie in particular but I just feel icky.
Never let if be said that I cannot be taught, though. I did not google Cannibal Apocalypse.
current mood: ick
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