A little skin
Posted: February 4, 2011 Filed under: Celebrities, Media | Tags: Huffington Post Leave a commentThe Huffington Post Entertainment page never fails to crack me up. There are always headlines like “Megan Fox poses for Playboy” or “Kim Kardashian Poses Nude”. I’m surprised the page is so misogynistic given that the Post’s publisher is a woman, but these pseudo-celebrities with their efforts to gain attention through titillation rather than talent often remind me of a line Rosie O’Donnell says to Madonna in A League of Their Own: You think there are men who haven’t seen your bosoms?
Wish I had time to do nothing but something like this:
Posted: February 3, 2011 Filed under: blogging | Tags: tom Hanks Leave a commentTom Hanks as a bunch of animals.
Little Fur Family
Posted: January 25, 2011 Filed under: Books, family | Tags: children's books, Little Fur Family, Margaret Wise Brown 1 Comment
With all of the decluttering, there are a few things, I am glad not to have parted with over the years. One of them was a favorite book when I was a child, Little Fur Family by Margaet Wise Brown. My brother had given a special edition copy to Edison a few years ago. Edison and Clooney read it a few times, but it never really tickled their fancies, despite being entirely covered by brown fur. The Princess, however, recently discovered it, and has had to have it read at bedtime for a week. It makes us all feel warm as toast.
New Foundation
Posted: January 24, 2011 Filed under: blogging, Celebrities, people, products, reviews | Tags: ColorStay Aqua Mineral Makeup, Halle Berry, Revlon Leave a commentI don’t usually talk about products on my blog, but I recently found a new foundation that I LOVE.
In the commercial, Halle Barry looks like she’s getting a glow from something more than makeup while she’s rolling around on that chaise, but that doesn’t mean the product won’t do something for you.
I’m 40-something years old, and I’ve been fighting the idea of daily make-up application for years. I don’t really like the feel of it; anything that covers well is always heavy, or it disappears within hours of being put on. This make-up feels so great as you brush it into your skin. It’s cool and refreshing, even though it’s a powder foundation, feeling almost wet on your skin at first. Totally weightless, it stays flawless all day long. I haven’t worn it in summer yet, but I don’t feel like I get that shine that I always have in the past after a few hours. I highly recommend it if you like powder foundation. The only drawback to it, in my opinion, is the size of the application brush. I just use my own.
It doesn’t make me look like Halle Berry, but it gets me as close as I’ll ever be.
Speaking of Halle Berry, I have this theory about her. I’ve come to the conclusion that she must be from another planet, and on that planet, beings age at a much slower rate than they do here on earth. Look at her! She looks better than she did ten years ago. She is SO gorgeous! And how about that kid she has? It seems like she had her daughter like five years ago (am I wrong?), but the press claims that Nahla is only two…or maybe she’s actually half alien being? Hmmm….
Hurling
Posted: January 24, 2011 Filed under: family | Tags: sick kids, stomach bug Leave a commentThe coughing began just after midnight as a far-away noise in the back of my sleeping mind. As I rose to consciousness, I half-thought it was The Princess. Was it The Princess? She hadn’t seemed sick during the day, in fact, all of them seemed to be getting over brief bouts of runny noses, and I had just been thinking that they were all on the mend. If I just lie here, I thought, it will stop and I can drift back to where I was.
The coughing persisted, and then came footsteps down the hall. I groggily thought The Princess was coming to climb into our bed as she has been wont to do (too often) in the past. I prepared to feel her pulling on the footboard and crawling her way up the mattress to settle in between Manfrengensen’s body and mine, her cold feet taking time to warm against my calf under the quilt. The footsteps stopped on my side of the bed, and opening the eye that was farthest from my pillow, I saw that the visitor was Clooney, not The Princess at all. He was hunched over in his striped pj’s, looking quite miserable as he mumbled something that seemed incoherent to me. Still in a groggy state, I assumed he’d had a nightmare, and made a motion for him to climb into bed (the sliver that The Princess would have carved for herself), but then he repeated his words.
“I just threw up,” he said.
Now, he’s not much of a hurler; hasn’t proven himself susceptible to stomach viruses in the past. In fact, I wouldn’t even consider him a placer in this sport that Edison has so often gone for the gold medal in. So when Clooney said, that he’d thrown up, I assumed something trivial, something he’d thought was vomit that was really nothing.
“Okay,” I said, calmly, beginning to swing my legs over to get out of bed.
And then he erupted…like Krakatoa.
I started freaking out, jumping up, and gingerly stepping tipped-toed between what had landed like spin-art on the floor, “Clooney, get to the toilet!” I said, trying not to shout, but the urgency evident in my voice. And then, I had to run after him, repeating “the toilet! Clooney!” as he ran down the hall to the one closer to his bedroom rather than just shortcutting to the master bath on other side of my bed.
By this time, Manfrengensen was chasing after me, chasing after him, and the horror, my god, the horror.
Everywhere.
Master bedroom, upstairs hallway, all over his room, hall bath. We got our son situated back in bed, after stripping everything and taking it down to the laundry. As we cleaned and cleaned and the clock struck one, I shrugged to Manfrengensen, “I guess, he’s just not experienced when it comes to throwing up?”
Manfrengensen looked up from the scrub brush he was using on the rug, and just said, “Clearly.”
Parenting: every day another surprise.
Clutter Up, my little dove
Posted: January 22, 2011 Filed under: blogging, family | Tags: decluttering, working Leave a commentI got a note from Edison’s teacher the other day. Edison has been struggling academically a bit this year, and when she took him aside to ask him this week if anything was bothering him, he broke down and admitted that he was worried about me. Me? I said. Seems so. He’s concerned that because I am not working, that I am home alone and lonely.
So I assured him that nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, I am so busy, that before I know it, it’s time for them to come home from school. In fact, I am happier overall than I have been in a long, long time.
Just kind of amusing, the way a 10-year-old can view the world.
Overall, I had a tough time as a mom this week, though. I think when you first become a mother, you get into this habit of kind of telling them what to do, because they don’t know how to do anything. I’m finding that habit a little hard to break. I keep having to remind myself to let the leash out further. Don’t worry, I’m not any kind of tiger mom, but I am a bit of a control freak. And then , when I see control freak tendencies in my kids, I wonder where that’s coming from….duh.
Anyway, I did get rid of a few things in my 2,011 Things decluttering project.
First of all, I did get to Macy’s to return those pants. I ended up buying a pair of jeans and a blouse though…so does that still count? You may disagree, but for now, I am going to choose to allow it.
Next:
Things Recycled:
5) two boxes from the boots I bought earlier in the month that have been sitting in the living room.
6) two cellphones
7) one box full of spent printer ink cartridges
Things given away to charity:
8)two dozen melamine character plates and bowls from when the kids were little that have been taking up space in my cabinets.
9) set of curtains from the windows of the master bedroom in our old house that don’t fit the windows in the new one.
Off to a good start
Posted: January 17, 2011 Filed under: blogging, Celebrities, Entertainment, family | Tags: decluttering, Golden Globes, Ricky Gervais 3 CommentsHappy New Year!
Okay, I realize I am more than two weeks late with that, but I have been busy cleaning up from the holidays and preparing for Clooney’s 8th birthday, which, in addition to the hours I have wasted on Facebook, have taken up a great deal of my time. Oh, 
and I finally finished Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists, which was good, but took like a month, for some reason.
So to catch up, I will be embarking on an endeavor that has been inspired by my friend, Betty and Boo’s Mom to help declutter my house and hopefully finish the process of moving in that I began five months ago. The idea is to get rid of 2,011 things. Today, I cleaned the room I share with Manfrengensen and disposed of (don’t ask me why these items were in my room):
1) a pink Disney castle playset that my mother-in-law gave to Edison when he was younger than The Princess, that no one has played with in years because many of the pieces were broken.
2) one of three felt-antler-and-light-up-nose sets the kids got before Christmas.
3 and 4) collected two pairs of pants that didn’t fit, put them together with the receipts and put them in my car to take back to Macy’s.
Getting them to Macy’s will be another story. But hey, the whole process is invigorating. I’m just looking around the house with wide crazy eyes for something to add to the list. 2,007 things to go.
I also collected a whole lot of loose change that was on Manfrengensen’s bureau and paid the boys their back allowance/wages. That got rid of quite a few quarters and dimes. Next time, I will use the nickels and pennies.
One thing to say about the Golden Globes at the moment (and I could go on, believe me…) I know he’s gotten some negative flack today, but I thought Ricky Gervais was hilarious. (I also thought David Letterman was a hilarious Oscar host, so take that however you want.) If you can’t laugh at yourself for a few hours, despite the fact that you spend 364+ days a year getting your hiney kissed, then you’re no fun at all. I hope to post some best and worst dressed (according to both myself and The Princess) later in the week.
2010 in review
Posted: January 2, 2011 Filed under: blogging Leave a commentThe stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
Crunchy numbers
About 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal every year. This blog was viewed about 33,000 times in 2010. If it were the Taj Mahal, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it.
In 2010, there were 24 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 274 posts. There were 73 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 21mb. That’s about 1 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was January 9th with 412 views. The most popular post that day was Highway Robbery.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, search.aol.com, 74.125.67.100, grammarworks.blogspot.com, and google.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for green day, plumber, greenday, john cusack, and sand.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Highway Robbery June 2009
3 comments
I’m Joe the Plumber October 2008
1 comment
A Crisis of Faith October 2009
1 comment
What’s Wrong With John Cusack? October 2008
9 comments
Randomness May 2009
Thanks for visiting. I am working on some new ideas for 2011. Hope it’s a good one for all of us!
-Egghead23
It’s a long story
Posted: December 17, 2010 Filed under: Day-to-Day, writing | Tags: humor Leave a comment
What a day I have had! What a life! The things I have witnessed…you would not believe. It would make you sick, frankly, but I have seen enough of that brand of carnage to recount it for you. So, how did I end up here? How did I come to find myself lonely and abandoned in the parking lot of a Pigly Wigly on a gray December afternoon? Well, it’s kind of a long story…
Yo, Santa
Posted: December 16, 2010 Filed under: family, kids, parenting | Tags: Letters to Santa, Santa Leave a commentSee if you can tell the differences between my two sons based on their letters to Santa. Incidentally, both were typed as Word documents.
Clooney’s:
Dear Santa,
I will like
Hot Wheels mega garage. Hot Wheels super jump race way. Hot wheels shark bite bay. Toy Story pop up open play World. Hot Wheels twenty pack of Cars. Hot Wheels ten pack of cars.
And it has over 2,000 pieces!
Lego Grand Emporium Lego Green Grocer Lego Medieval Market Ville Lego white house red inflatable guitar Lego winter village bakery Lego fire brigade Lego public transport Lego city house Lego city airport Hot wheels crash course Hot wheels super service center Lego manta warrior Lego squidman Escape Nintendo blue dsi Lego winter toy shop Lego beach house Hot wheels custom motors auto shop Lego the bikini bottom express Lego rocket ride Lego Krusty Krab Aventures Lego good neighbors at bikini bottom Love , Clooney
I really wish that I could buy some LEGO stock. I think most of the LEGO things he wants are about $150 each.
And Edison’s:
Dear Santa Claus,
I know that you’re busy and all, but I haven’t got a chance to give you my Christmas list! I’m sorry, but fifth graders are busy with all of the projects that we do. And also, if you can’t read my brother’s list, it’s OK, I can’t really read it either. He needs some work on grammar.
OK, so now that that’s over, I want to tell you what I want. No problem, right? Good. Now, ever since I’ve seen Super Mario All-Stars, I’ve wanted it. It comes with a Mario CD, with soundtracks from the Super Mario games, a Super Mario history book, and four Super Mario Games: all in one pack! Amazing, right?
Um, well, my brother, my sister and I all want to play Wii Party at the same time, so I saw a Nintendo Week episode and saw the new Wii Remote Plus, which has the Wii Motion Plus function built right in! Now, if I get it, we can all play at the same time without loosing the Wii Motion Plus!
Now, this might be a big task but, could I PLEASE have the Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts castle? It looks amazing, and when I read the book, I had no idea that it looks like it does! It has staircases, ten minifigures, knights, and it’s the best school of wizardry and witchcraft, thank you very much. The book’s the BEST!
The Lego Mindstorms NXT Robot is pretty cool, too. I have ALWAYS wanted to engineer, so I want to get that. I really like robotics, bridge making, and the way to use your brain. It will also help me wit my next science unit project.
The Lego Quidditch Harry Potter set is pretty cool, too. It contains minifigures, the Snitch, the Bludgers, and all of that other good stuff. I would LOVE to compete against my brother looking for the Snitch!
Sonic Colors for the Nintendo DS or for the Wii would be fun to play, too! It has amazing power-ups, and enemies that are fun to defeat with them. Sonic returns again! I played a demo of the DS version on mine, myself.
Harry Potter, years 1-4 for the DS and Wii is also fun. As I have mentioned, I read the book. I can probably be on the Quidditch team! The magic begins when you stay at the Dursleys’ home, going through the reptile house to Hogwarts school. It looks like I’ll become a wizard! Both my brother and I want games, Wii and DS.
Maybe Harry Potter, Year 4 would be a good book for the holidays, don’t you think? Books are VERY fun to read, and this one is so long, it might take me all winter! Harry Potter is very nice, exciting, and adventurous. I hope you’ll give it to me for Christmas!
Harry Potter on DVD would be fun to watch, even seventeen times if I want to. But, that would give me a headache. Still, it’s a good movie. I like the first two, but have only watched a little of the third. Could you get me the first three, please? I haven’t read the full third book yet, but I’ll watch it when I’m finished.
The Lego game Magma Monster would be fun, and so would Creationary. I could play them with my family on Christmas morning. Anyhow, I would really like them, so could you please get them please?
Love,
Edison
P.S. My friends say you’re not real. If you are real, send me a letter with my gifts to prove them wrong!
egghead23's world 