More Tomorrow

Terrible, terrible, horrible, awful, horrific, no good, bad, scary, horrible, horrific, depressing fucking day.

Perfect Strangers

Imagine my delight when I stumbled across this tonight! EEEEeeeeeeee!



The DANCE OF JOY! How could I have forgotten that gem?! It, of course, was featured regularly on "Perfect Strangers"!



Brandon and I were talking about how we both loved "Perfect Strangers" when we were younger, but would probably hate it now. It's still deliciously fun to look back and laugh at something you used to enjoy so much! It's weird how I remember all of the intro without having seen it in years. So cheesy! Yes!

No Rest for the Weary

Do you know how hard it is to go to sleep at a reasonable time, with barely a moment to yourself, only a few hours after your toddler finally passed out when you spent all day dealing with crying, teething, and tantrums so harsh that they almost made said toddler vomit? It's virtually impossible.

This is why I stay up until 3 or 4 a.m., even though I won't get nearly enough sleep by the time my precocious son wakes up in the morning. I desperately need to be an adult for more than an hour a day.

What We Do

We at da club!

You know what I hate about television shows? Everything from stupid sitcoms to intelligent dramas make bar hopping/clubbing/drinking/partying the only viable option for for adults in search of entertainment, fun, time with friends, and even recovery from trauma.

On "The L Word," which I am currently watching, one of the female characters has just found out she has breast cancer, had a mastectomy, and is currently going through vomit-inducing chemo.... and her best friend suggest they go to a bar. How. Fun. Yeah, let's go party somewhere where your nausea will be exacerbated by loud music, sweat, the close press of badly dancing bodies, and - lets not forget - ALCOHOL! Hurrah!

Oh look, uncomfortable cancer patient fresh out of surgery in a club. Will she have a good time?

Images such as this are not uncommon. I can remember many-a-drinkin' scene in "Grey's Anatomy", at least one of which was supposedly cathartic to the poor bleeding hearts that clog that show. And the dancing. Get drunk and dance. Yep, that's the only way to recover from failed relationships, mistakes on the job, and cancer. Absolutely. I remember at least one or two similar scenes in "Alias". Even "30 Rock", one of the smartest shows I've ever seen, has exhibited this shallow pool of activity for supposedly intelligent adults. But "30 Rock" at least gets it right, admitting wholeheartedly that their characters are just too immature and scared to face their issues. The writers of "30 Rock" purposefully poke fun at the lamed emotional states of Liz Lemon, Tracy Jordan, Jack Donaghy, and cast.

Sure, a little drinky and a little dancy is fun. And it can be good. But when it is used as the only outlet for all emotions? By dramas that otherwise assert they are intelligent, peopled by intelligent and thoughtful adults? What? When will these intelligent adults quit drinking their problems away and actually deal with their shit?

It looks like she just might enjoy herself...

Why does the media think that drinking is the only fun things adults want to do? Why do they glamourize it?

Yes, I rant. It's probably all for some more shallow, money driven, corporate media interest reason. Like, alcohol is expensive and brands can be pushed, bar scenes are easy to shoot, clubs can feature up-and-coming artists who are affiliated with the network's sister companies, and browsing the internet is not an entertaining option for the freetime activities of television characters.

With the help of The B-52's, those geniuses who sang "Love Shack", who wouldn't be happy?!

But, can't we figure out something else interesting to make adults do in their free time???

But all is for naught, for the obnoxiousness of the club environment
cannot take her mind from reality. She leaves. More unhappy than before.

Maybe Alan Cumming can cheer her up!

P.S. "The L Word" is a fabulous, great, enthralling show worth checking out if you have the time. Yes, it is about lesbians, and, No, you shouldn't watch it unless you are open-minded.

Restoring My Faith in Television

I LOVE 30 Rock!!! Thanks again to Netflix in all it's magnificence, I started watching 30 Rock about a month ago. I ended up finishing the whole first season really fast because it is short, easy to watch, and above all one of the funniest shows I have ever seen! Above is a clip from a fake song one of the characters made on the show. I cannot get this out of my head!

"Werewolf Bar Mitzvah, Spooky scary,
Boys becoming men, Men becoming woooolves!"

The full version of the song (there is no full video) is below. It is another example of the hilarity on 30 Rock. I think perhaps it is funnier if you see the show, but I just love it. Come to think of it, they are really clever with songs on 30 Rock. There is another song, "Muffin Top" that spoofs so many whoreish celebrities and their crappy, crappy songs in the most perfect way. Check the show out if you ever get a chance. It is sooooo worth it.



Jane Krakowsky plays Jenna Maroney, a self-obsessed t.v. star who makes this hilariously horrific song and video. Enjoy!

Dammit, Think!

I am deeply, deeply disturbed by how careless people and especially parents are with the internet. I think perhaps it is largely an older generation that does not understand the implications of posting pictures of their half-dressed or almost naked children on blogs, on picture hosts like Picasa, or even on stupid social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. They do not realize that these websites do not have their best interest in mind. In order to keep your information private, you must regularly update your settings (especially on Facebook, since they are always changing, damn conniving jerks) and make sure that you don't have sensitive pictures out there for ALL TO SEE!

Ugh.

I say this, I rant, because I stumbled across some disturbingly accessible pictures of little children in their underwear today. Am I some sort of creepy pedophile, you ask? Hell no. I remembered this hot Calvin Klein model that I used to love when I was a teenager and thought I would try to figure out what his name was. Yeah, get over it. He was hot, I am an adult, and I can look him up if I wanna. (His name is Travis Fimmel, BTW. Check that out if you like. It's nice.) So, I google "calvin klein underwear model". Within the first ten image results was a picture of a little boy, couldn't be older than four years old, posing innocently in his underwear. Hosted online for all to see. I was so creeped out. And there are so many reasons why....

What disturbs me is that there ARE a lot of creepy pedophiles out there. I am not sure the technical workings of Google's search engine. I think mostly they search for the key words you choose on a website. I hope to God that they don't display the results based on popularity among searches, but they may. Regardless, the creepiness remains. I checked out the site that this picture of this poor little boy was hosted on. It was Picasa, of course. Dudes, you gotta know that Picasa is a bad program. I think you can change the settings to make it more private, but if you read the privacy agreement, it basically takes away a lot of your rights to your own pictures. They even make you agree to allow Google to use your own pictures in the future. (This was true when I checked it out less than a year ago. And many other programs are quite similar.) BUT, the whole freakin' sad thing about this is that the mother of this little boy had posted tons and tons and TONS of pictures of her family and children on her web albums, along with some underwear pics of her kids, her LOCATION, names, places, dates, etc. etc. etc. Sure, she may want to share pictures online with friends and family, but there are better and more private ways to do so! I want to say she alone was foolhardy enough to do this, but it's not true. The carelessness of so many parents today is DAMNABLE! And THEN....

I googled another phrase, really close to the first (can't remember, but it had "underwear model" in it) and what comes up this time, you ask?! A little girl, a toddler, in her underwear. Within the first ten freakin' image results. SO. This little girl's mommy has the notion to post their life story on a blog. That is searchable. With their lives, loads of pictures, their LOCATION, names, places, dates, etc. etc. etc. I want to vomit. Blogger is customizable! You can make it unsearchable by google! And you damn well better if you are going to post ANY pictures of your children online. Oh my God. I am so mad right now.

Breath.

Okay, so after I freaked out for a minute, I decided that I had to do something. I went so far as to make a fake account with Picasa, under a fake e-mail with yahoo, just so I could post a damn comment on this woman's picture telling her she needed to be more careful. I was tactful, I was helpful about explaining her options, and I even managed to maintain my cool. It was easier to post a comment on the little girl's picture on blogger, since the other mom had no privacy controls up even for commenting. I gave them both a similar message about upping their privacy and possibly renaming their accounts so previous stalkers (seriously, they probably had a million) could not find their new sites.

And afterwards I just.... I felt so.... helpless, fruitless, and overwhelmed. There are so many more out there just like that. People on blogger who are too ignorant and too careless to know that they can get in their own settings and make like a little safer for themselves and their families. I hate to think it, but this is how children get stolen and are never seen again. This is how members of NAMBLA find pictures, like free f-ing candy, for their personal and group use. This is how you hand your children to pedophiles without a fight. How the hell can we ever make sure that parents know the serious and real effect of their actions? There are just too many.

I was thinking maybe I would send out a modified version of this post in a forward. I get so many stupid, f-ing, useless, and often totally wrong forwards all the time. The least we could do is circulate something that may actually edify half the population. What do you guys think? If even a few people forward it....

There are just so many better ways to share pictures online. At the very least people can just e-mail them to friends and loved ones. If they want a site for hosting pics, use Kodak.com and send out invites only to those you want to view them. It even comes with a buying option so Grandma can do it easily! And for the sake of your children, if you must post them, make your privacy settings on EVERY sight including social networking sites very, very tight. Only let f&f know about your blog. And seriously, don't put compromising pictures of them online. AT ALL.

Shit.

Computers 'n Such

Hurrah!

Google reader has recently revolutionized my life. Okay, maybe it's just revolutionized my internet experience, but it still rocks! I can now check just one page to see whether or not a whole mess of blogs have been updated. Check it out at reader.google.com. 'Tis awesome. Wren, it's how I knew so quickly that you updated your writing blog! hehe

I think being human means we are confused. There are so many wars being fought within. I think the mind versus instinct, the will versus evolutionary compulsion is one of the worst fights. I waffle between being a complete animal and an intellectual.

Today I received one of the nicest and most thoughtful letters I have ever been given. My dear friend Michelle really lifted my spirits and made me miss her even more by taking the time to write to me. I'm so grateful for her and for so many of the friends who have been my family over the years. I certainly would have gone crazy long before now if not for my friends.

I love the weekend. Today was my day to sleep in, so I actually did NOT need to nap with Bowen. I could just waste my free time on something as useless and timedump-tastic as this here interwebs! Lately, Bowen has been teething up a storm. He has gotten four, count 'em, four dang molars in at one time. Yikes. He hasn't been sleeping well because of it; consequently, neither has Momma.

Brandon recently got an iMac after a long a drawn out fiasco with a crappy laptop we bought that came with Vista. Blech. We officially hate Windows, the bane of all sensible computer users, and decided to convert to the Mac religion. I cannot tell you how much I love that computer. It is so freakin' cool, I want to steal it from him! Get this: My computer takes at least ten minutes to turn on, boot totally, and be ready to go. It takes at least five to shut of completely, sometimes more when it is updating. Brandon's iMac... takes 25 seconds to turn on. Really. It is fully loaded and connected to the internet that fast. And, guess what. It takes 5, count 'em FIVE SECONDS to shut off. This is only a taste of the superiority of that darn machine. When we got the computer, there were no long hours spent on loading it, setting it up, customizing the setting. Oh no, sir. It was on, online, and fully loaded in five to ten minutes. I have never seen anything like it in my life.

Sooo, we decided we needed a new desk to accommodate Brandon's new computer. We decided to make one ourselves after finding a basic plan online. It is really simple but awesome. I think we will probably be done painting and finishing it this weekend. I'll post pictures and explain more later.

Much love,
New Mac Convert