Urban Dictionary Shows the Fall of Society

I remember sitting in class in the fourth grade (circa 1984), listening as the teacher described the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. She discussed how the Romans ate grapes while the Christians were killed in the coliseums (you could still mention God in those days, btw) and how their lifestyle was idyllic, then began a downward spiral. As a young pigtailed lass, I saw the wisdom in not having everything you desire, of not indulging every wish.

Jump with me now in time to last night. I was perusing urbandictionary.com, using their excellent "random" button to read the definitions of various modern terms. This may prove useful as my sons edge towards their tween years, and, basically, I just like to read stuff. During my perusal, the random button took me to the definition of, believe it or not, the word "pedophile." It was there that I discovered that a frightening number of people look at pedophilia as a sexual orientation akin to homosexuality. Yes, folks, the sexual desire for children has become acceptable in too many circles for comfort. Go there. See for yourself. Honestly, it's disgusting, and I don't care if I step on anyone's toes. It is NOT natural to have a desire for children, but apparently it is quickly becoming non-PC to say so.

I don't care. I'll say it again. It is not natural to have a desire for children. In fact, it is a felony and should ever remain so. Nasty bastards.

And here we are again

Told you that Little League would be especially trying this year, didn't I? I have been running my tail off and enjoying every minute of it. See you again soon.

Holiday Withdrawal

*sigh* Easter vacation is over. Mac is back to work, the twins are back in school, and the baby and I were very lonely today. Mac actually had 4 days off, a rarity, believe me. As you might have guessed, we had an extraordinary time. And now, tonight, I sleep alone. The only bright ray of sunshine is that he doesn't have to work this Friday. Yay for me!

BTW, Resident Evil for the Nintendo DS flat-out rocks.

The Situation is Serious

"I went into the gas station today and asked for five dollars
worth of gas. The clerk farted and gave me a receipt." -- some anonymous guy on the 'net

I'm back!

Hello again, everyone. I'm proud to say that I have successfully survived another spring break and that Little League season is well under way. This year the boys are actually in the big-boy leagues, so my blogging time, well, just about all of my time will be spent running them back and forth to practices and games, then playing catch-up with the rest of my life. Thank God we had a restful break, Mac included. Did some fishing, some lazing, some shopping. Then, on Saturday night, the ILs kept all three kids and Mac and I had some alone time. All I can say is this: :)

I promise, I have smiled so much this week that my cheeks are sore. The ones on my face. I refuse to comment on the status of the rest of me. ;) Seriously, though, I needed this. Things have a tendency to get too hectic.

Music, Memories, History

Way back in the dim, dead 90's, there existed a revival of swing. It was at this time that I was back in college, in the best physical shape of my life, and basically having the time of my life. My boys were loveable, gorgeous babies. I had a brand-new car. For some reason(and I'm not bragging, I promise), men adored me. I had it all.

I fell in love with the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and played "Zoot Suit Riot" until the cassette broke. One could still purchase cassettes at this time. To be honest, this song still, well, swings, so, as a lyrical walk down memory lane, today I pulled out a CD purchased from a Wal-Mart bargain bin and blasted it on the stereo.

The boys, of course, could not remember this song, having been toddlers when it was popular, but they were quite taken with it and begged for me to play it again. I did, and, much to their delight, I guided first one and then the other into a scaled-down version of the popular swing dancing. Good times.

Now, because my kids are smart, one of them asked, "Mom, what's this song about?" Now it was my turn to be delighted. I told them about the actual Zoot Suit Riots and how the song actually has meaning if you know about them. I'm not going to discuss the tale of the Riots here; I'm a big fan of "look it up for yourself" when it comes to adults.

The boys and I then looked at pics of modern-day zoots on the internet. I also found a few pics of Cab Calloway, probably the king of the zoot. Now my sons want zoots for themselves, one favoring the silvery sharkskin style, the other wanting one that is UK blue. Of course, they both want the hats with the sweeping feathers and the pocket watches with absurdly long chains. You know what? I'd say, before the year's over, they will have their zoots. I have never been one to squash creativity and imagination.

As for me, though, listening to the Cherry Poppin' Daddies brought back a memory so clear and clean I could taste it: Cruising along in my new car, dancing as I drove, the world wide open ahead with every possibility and no limitations. Good times, indeed.

Sea Monkeys. Yes, Sea Monkeys.

I'm sure you remember these playful denizens of the deep from the ancient comic book ads of yesteryear. Like many, my uncles and I gathered change and sent for a set long ago, looking forward to the promised playful pets. These are the same uncles with which I once threw a cat from a second-story window to see if they really do always land on their feet. Let me tell you, cats really do always land on their feet, but nasty things happen to them when they land on their feet from a second-story window. Perhaps it's good that our seamonkeys didn't do much of anything after we put them in the empty fruit jar.

Just for a hoot, I ordered the Executive Sea Monkey set from Ebay a couple weeks ago as a gift for my sons. In the Executive Sea Monkey set, one finds a snazzy black and gold Sea Monkey habitat, a Million Bubble thingy, a squeegie that lights up, a feeding spoon, and an Aqua Leash. Also included are three envelopes which contain water purifier, the Sea Monkeys themselves, and their food.

Per instructions, the boys and I filled the snazzy aquarium and dumped in the water purifier. Twenty-four anxious hours later, it was time to birth our new pets. The Sea Monkeys, when poured into the water, begin to hatch almost immediately. Perhaps the water purifier is what we lacked as a child. Regardless, this set actually works and actually ROCKS.

In the week since we created life, the little guys have grown from floating dots into, well, bizarre creatures. They dart to and fro in an almost haphazard manner that is absolutely enthralling for some reason. Once a day, we insert the Million Bubble thingy and blow lifegiving oxygen into their water with a few squeezes. Maybe that was another thing we were missing as a kid -- we didn't realize the damn things need to breathe.

SO, now I'm a Sea Monkey nut. I can't wait for the walls to grow some of that lovely algae that the Sea Monkeys are reputed to love to eat. Then I get to use the funky light-up squeegee!