Random Thoughts

Why would a 27 year old woman who doesn’t like pop music watch American Idol? Good question. If your are talking about me, the answer is easy, Simon. I have been hearing nothing but radio babble all day about Simon and how he’s so mean and the producers shouldn’t have signed him to participate in the next installment. Please, if I had to hear Paula Abdul’s cheerleader ass say how great some of these horrible singers were with no honesty from Simon and Randy, I would have had to puke.

Admittedly, the show lost some of its fun towards the end because the really awful singers had been eliminated, and Simon didn’t have anything funny left to say, but the original episodes were hysterical. Granted, most of the finalists sing better than I could ever hope to, but the people in the beginning were absolutely dreadful. It was like watching a train wreck; it’s horrible, but you just can’t help yourself. Simon was probably the first honest critic these kids ever heard. At least he doesn’t pander to them; if they stink or are out performed, he tells them. That is the only way to learn. Last night, Justin even thanked Simon and Randy for their honesty.

As for yesterday’s show, how could the producers honestly think anyone could sing after winning a 2 million dollar contract, especially a girl. That’s like expecting Miss America to sing after she has just been crowned. As for Nikki, I appreciate her wanting to help a friend, but ouch, what a voice! How that girl made it into the top 10 is beyond me. I think she’s really cute, but she sings like a stuck pig. I actually found myself feeling kinda bad for “Puff the Magic Lounge Singer”, he tried so hard, but he just doesn’t have the range. He got into the finals because of his charisma, but he forgot how to use it. Tuesday night, he was straining his voice to sound more like Kelly when he didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of out singing her, but he could have out performed her. I swear, if they start dating, I’ll throw up. By the way, who wrote those two “original” songs? They sucked; they are so boring. I expected better from Desmond Child. Basically, the show is crap, but it is a great escape, and it sure beats reruns. It is a chance for me to make fun of others AND “bond” with someone who is even more blunt than me. The truth may hurt, but it makes for priceless tv.

With the anniversary of September 11th looming ahead, we are being inundated with images of the attack and its aftermath, everywhere you look, it’s there. I will never forget that terrible day, nor do I want to, but I am tired of reliving it over and over again. A recent poll claims 69% of adult Americans think of 9-11 every day. How could they not? The images are inescapable, every news network in the country plays the footage at least twice a day. On Tuesday, I received the current issue of Time Magazine and of course, the issue was dedicated almost entirely to 9-11, but what struck me as odd was the people they chose to profile. There was a survivor, a death benefit accessor, and the one that got me was a little girl who lost her father. Her profile was in the middle of the magazine amongst the chilling facts and statistics. In her article, she stated her favorite network was the Food Network and her favorite personality was Emeril because he was funny. This might seem a bit odd when you first read it, but not when you hear her reason. She can’t bear to watch other networks because she doesn’t want to see her father’s murder and death anymore. The Food Network never talks about 9-11 or shows any footage and she feels safe watching it. I couldn’t help but think Time betrayed her by burying her article in the middle of the issue forcing the reader, in this case her, to page through countless images of the very thing she is trying so hard not to see. Clearly they failed to recognize the message this scared, sad child was trying to send them.

The other day I decided to watch one of The History Channel’s specials on the gathering of artifacts from the World Trade Center for memorials and museums. I thought it would be a responsible and interesting program. To some degree it was, but I was disappointed to learn the History Channel had succumbed to propaganda as well. Before each commercial break in the special, they would go to a firehouse and ask a fireman what he remembered about 9-11. Most of them remembered friends who had died or scenes of horror and fear for their lives, there was crying and sadness, and suddenly, I found myself crying at a show that was supposed to be about museum curators’ search for artifacts. To me, it is still so fresh, so in the now. I need distance to stop grieving, to face the reality of the loss, without becoming cold to a murder scene by watching the events of that Tuesday morning in September countless times on television. We all know what happened, now it is time to give the survivors, the families of the victims, and ourselves a little peace, to mourn, to move on, and to never forget.

Hope everyone had a fantastic Labor Day, well Americans anyway. I know I did, even if Earthlink and Ameritech are battling it out for the all-time who’s more incompotent trophy. I am finally logged-on to my husband’s lap top, but I am a horrible typist on this thing, so today won’t be one of my long winded days.

Item number one: props to me, I am finally a licensed driver in the State of Ohio, so I can drive alone and go wherever I want! Yea, me! For those of you on the roads, look out, I am coming for you.

Item number two: I am appalled to learn no network affiliate here in C-town can find it in their pocketbooks to air the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon in its entirety. A portion of it was aired on our local WB station, but come on, what the hell else is the WB airing besides repeats of crappy ass programming anyway (The Pretender excluded), couldn’t they at least air the whole thing? No, I wasn’t going to sit at home and watch the entire telecast, but it is the principle of the matter. I shouldn’t have to go to WGN to see the telethon; it is an American tradition.

Item number three: I spent my afternoon watching The Flying Thunderbirds at the air show here in C-town. On my way to the gates, I was met by the oh so frequent nut job protestors. There is always someone protesting at every event in this town, go figure. Guess they have nothing better to do on a holiday. At any rate, this got me thinking about the cost the city has to pay to clean up after these guys, even the so called environmental protestors pass out fliers that ultimately end up on the ground and after every event, tax dollars are spent to clean up the litter created by these dicarded fliers. I think we should fine groups who dispense this rubbish at public events. I know the city will say this is too hard, but I have seen it work in other places, and since you have to register at city hall to stage one of these protests, perhaps you should have to put down a deposit if you plan to pass out fliers. If you clean up after yourselves, you get your money back, otherwise, the city uses it to pay for the clean up.

On a slightly different note, here are a couple of things I noticed at the air show. 1-there are a lot of ugly people in C-town. 2-Being a redneck has nothing whatsoever to do with your location in this country, it is a state of mind. 3-How did Amish people get to the air show? Did they set out on a three day buggy ride? Why did they want to come to an event that is in celebration of a technology they have not embraced? Furthermore, why would one of the Amish fathers be carrying a beeper? What is it like when your girlfriend is Amish, but you are not? Did you know Amish men have access to purple and turquoise fabrics, but they still can’t wear belts? There is so much I still have to learn about this strange and facsinating way of life. Until next time…

Ok, so I have been a very bad girl and I haven’t written for quite some time. I want to apologize for my laziness. I do have a good excuse though, well, sort of.

I was out shopping for and learning to drive my new car! Yea, me!!! I named her Betsy because that is sort of a tradition in my family. She’s a beautiful polor white 2002 Toyota ECHO who won’t be complete until I get her a personalized license plate. I applied for an SL 27 plate in homage to my favorite t.v. show ever, The Pretender. For now, I have posted a photo of her here (for those of you who have never seen a polor white 2002 Toyota ECHO and for the curious).

P.S. For those of you looking for slightly more intelligent fodder, I promise to start writing here more often and on more topical subjects. Until next time…

Most of you know I am not a big fan of lawsuits especially frivilous ones, but there comes a time when legal action must be taken. I am a big believer in adoption. I have friends who were raised in happy homes by adoptive parents, other friends who are adoptive parents themselves, and I have even stood by a friend giving up her child for adoption. It is my hope one day my husband and I will become adoptive parents as well. It sickens me to learn of the Florida Law requiring pregnant women to publish their names and the names of their sexual encounters for the past year in the newspaper (thankfully, Judge Peter Blanc ruled requiring rape victims to comply with the law unconstitutional).

I realize the fathers of these babies have a right to know they exist and informing them of the mother’s choice to give the baby up for adoption is important, but you must weigh these benefits against the fundamental right to privacy of the mother and her partner(s). I would agree with a law requiring the birth mother to inform the suspected father via official letter or through the adoption agency, but public humiliation for all parties involved is unacceptable. This law requires all women who can not identify the father of their child to publish a list of their recent sexual partners. Are they insane? What if you made a really bad decision and had a one night stand with someone who said his name was Fred Smith? What if you didn’t happen to catch his name? Are you supposed to publish an account of your events on the day of conception and see if anyone reading the paper remembers you? Apparently in the State of Florida you are. How sick is that?

Believe me, I can see the importance of knowing who the father is (when possible) for family medical history, and to protect the adoptive family from a lawsuit if the father becomes aware of the child and wants to exercise his parental rights. I do sympathize with adoptive parents who have to endure lawsuits from women who change their minds or men who just found out they are fathers. But, in today’s world adoption is an extremely complicated, scary, and yes, sometimes risky undertaking. Thankfully, the benefits are enormous, and most are successful, remaining out of litigation. I only wish more mothers would consider the gift of adoption instead of abortion; however, this new law will only make that choice harder. Choosing life and ultimately adoption is a serious undertaking and a very hard decision to make, we should reward these brave women for the courage they show, not brand them with the modern day “Scarlet A”. Maybe they didn’t make the right decisions by getting pregnant, but they are trying to do the best thing for themselves and their babies. We must fight to protect the rights and privacy of all our law abiding citizens. This is a democracy and our government speaks for us, when we turn our heads, look away, and don’t get involved, our elected officials forget who they represent. It is up to us to say, this law is unjust, we do not accept it, and we will not stand for it.

As I look back on my life, I can’t help but wonder how I’ve ended up here. Don’t get me wrong, I have accomplished many things in my 27 years on this planet and I am still learning, but there is so much left undone. Yet, I think of the idiot I was and the many, many past mistakes that are all too comical now, and I can’t believe the adult I turned out to be. I may not be perfect, but I survived a lot of crap; most of all, I survived my own worst enemy, myself. My mother always told me, “sometimes, you have to let go and let God”. That always seemed kind of hokey and not very much help, but maybe I should give it a try. I like to think I control my own destiny, but considering some of the messes I have gotten myself into, perhaps I should seek divine intervention! Well, enough of that. If you are still reading, you probably expect to hear some of my opinions on recent happenings. I can’t cover all the things I missed, but I will consolidate a few of them to catch you up.

I’ll start with the moron in New York suing the fast food restaurants because he’s fat. “Hey tubby, remember the old addage, ‘if it feels good, it’s bad for you'”? Since when did anyone think a whopper and fries was good for you? I can see how you’d be confused considering all health nuts that hang out at BK. Hasn’t this guy seen one of the 5 million Jared commercials Subway runs? This is why the courts are so out of control, our country is obsessed with suing each other. At least the woman who sued over her hot coffee got scalded. Maybe she couldn’t see that coming, getting fat is a progressive thing. If the guys got a mirror, he should have known. Besides, he admits his doctor told him it was bad for his health, but he didn’t believe it could be true. Here’s hoping the judge throws this guy out of court on his fat ass. Laughing at him publicly is optional.

Then there’s the dumb ass who drove his 9 month old baby to work with him and accidentally left it in the back seat for 3 1/2 hours. A co-worker noticed the child in the car and went inside to find the dad to try and rescue the boy. But, we’re not supposed to get mad at him because he “forgot” the kid was in the car. You see, it was a change in his daily routine and he feels terrible. I am sure he does, and I do feel sorry for him, but the fact remains, he is responsible for the death of a child, his own child, and just being sorry is not good enough. Stupidity is not a defense. We must stop this nationwide epidemic. It is never ok to leave your children alone in a car, not for one minute, or even one second, and certainly not for one hour.

Finally, Cleveland Municipal School District CEO, Barbara Byrd-Bennett signed a new 2 year contract last week that will increase her salary to $279,000 annually plus up to an additional 28% in possible merit bonuses, bringing her annual income to approximately $300,000 per year. I don’t dislike Ms. Bennett, in fact, I think she does a fairly good job considering the horrible state of our local schools; however, I can’t help but wonder how she can make such a large salary when our teachers who are on the front lines every day bring home less money than some of their students make flipping burgers at MacDonalds. Not to mention our school buildings are crumbling around them. I realize you have to pay a good salary to attract quality people, I just wonder why this same principal doesn’t apply to the teachers as well. We are at such a shortage in this area, they are recruiting as far away as India to fill the void. Perhaps if the jobs paid more and were more promising, you would be able to encourage students to spend $40,000+ on college tuition to become teachers and give back to their community. As it stands now, there is not just a lack of incentive, there is a lack of existing teachers to educate the children within our current system to graduate high school, much less continue on to college. Still think that raise is such a good idea?

One of our nation’s greatest treasures is being forced to close it doors, and no one seems to be able to do anything to stop it. That’s right, San Francisco’s Musee Mechanique will close its doors in September. If you are like I was, you have never heard of this rare “diamond in the rough”, then one day you are riding to work thinking how lame your husband is because he insists on listening to NPR every morning, and a story comes on that piques your interest.

This day’s story centered on a little known part of Golden Gate Park, a place where you could step back in time and experience the past, walk in the footsteps of those who have gone before you, see what entertainment was like 20, 30, 50, even 80 years ago. After hearing this story, I made up my mind to visit there before it closed, so while I was in San Francisco earlier this month, I planned to look for it.

I had a lot of things scheduled during my vacation and not a lot of extra time set aside (especially in the beginning). In typical fashion, I was running behind and not able to do all of the things I wanted to. I had every intention of finding Musee Mechanique, but I ran out of time. We left San Francisco and headed up the coast; I was sad to have missed it, but there was nothing to be done. After a week on the road, we returned to San Francisco to fly home. I needed to go to church, so we decided to go into the city and then watch the sunset from the beach. All of the sudden, a thick fog rolled in and it became evident no spectacular sunset would be visible this evening, and it was too cold to be on the beach anyway, so we decided to look for one last present and get some dinner. I was walking around near Seal Rock, and I noticed a stairway roped off for a wedding. I wanted to go down there so I could get a closer look at the seals, but I didn’t want to disturb anyone. A lady passed by me and headed down the staircase. At first I thought she was really rude, but then I realized the stairway went beyond the wedding area, so I followed her. And, there it was, at the bottom of the stairs, as if fate had led me there. I didn’t know I was anywhere near it; I found it completely by chance.

The place is Musee Mechanique. The reason it is so special is what is inside the building by the seashore, hundreds of arcade games, and not just the kind Atari made famous, the great grandfathers of those games-miniature worlds come to life-a strong arm, fortune tellers, even black and white silent films, all running on your dimes and quarters. These machines would have been long ago discarded if not for the dedicated individuals who keep Musee Mechanique going. They lovingly restore the games to their former glory for us to enjoy today. Each one works just as it did years ago, almost as if the owners will them to work and the people who visit this special place provide the energy that keeps them “alive”.

But the government is out to change all that. You see, these games aren’t big business and Golden Gate Park is just the place for that. San Francisco needs a new restaurant and it should be developed on publically owned lands by the seashore. The owners of Musee Mechanique have been told they must find a new home for their “run down” machines in order to make way for more family oriented entertainment. Since when is an arcade not family entertainment? Since when is simultaneous history and fun not for families? The real tragedy is not the lie the government is using to force them out, it is the sad fact the games don’t have a new home, and without a place to be played, they will cease to function. They only remain operational through the day to day use afforded them at their present location. I don’t know how to keep this remarkable place open, but I do hope anyone reading this will try and visit it before it closes its doors forever, and if possible, send a donation to help the owners relocate. My husband and I have some truly fond memories of this special place which I will treasure always; and I sincerely hope one day, I will be able to take my children there to play. It will be worth the time and effort and an experience they will never forget.

Since returning from vacation, I have set myself on course to get my Driver’s License. I write about it here because it is an extremely circular and frustrating system to be involved in, and I am sure you can all relate. The states may be different, but the arbitrary nature of the process is the same.

First of all, why can’t you take a class until you get a permit? What if you need the class to get the answers to the questions they are going to ask you in order to be issued the permit? Why is it when you call, they tell you you need a “permit packet” to apply for a permit and you can buy it at any license office, but they don’t tell you the packet isn’t forms to fill out or a sample test, it is a photo id and an uncertified piece of paper that you have to take to another office and get certified after you pass the written portion of the test? Is that really a packet? And how come you can get the “packet” anywhere, but you can only take the test at 3 locations and they have different hours of operation?

I finally solved part of the mystery on Saturday when I obtained my learner’s permit and scored 30 for 30 on the written portion. The funny part of the whole thing is, I filled out my paperwork and I was waiting in line for them to take my picture, and the woman calls out a name( I can’t understand her, but it later becomes evident she said Aimee). Although I didn’t understand her, this girl came running up and was talking about how excited she was to be there, and the woman took her picture. Then they called the guy in line ahead of me. By this time, they called me over to pay the cashier. I told her I hadn’t had my picture taken yet; I was still in line. She said, “yes you did, see”, and she proceeded to show me my id with the fat whore’s picture on it. I said, “that isn’t me! Look, she has blonde hair, I have brown hair.” Then the woman chastises me saying, “why didn’t you say something sooner?” I replied, “How was I supposed to know you were actually going to photograph the wrong person, she called out Amy into a room with 75 people in it, are you actually surprised there was more than one? Why not call first and last names?” Now they are miffed at me and I figure my picture is going to come out looking like the devil (it is not too bad, but they did stretch out my head, so I look distorted). As I was getting ready to leave, they called for Bill, just Bill no last name, wanna bet she took the wrong person’s photo again?

Fast forward to me trying to sign up for driving lessons. I am calling around to get an instructor, but the place I wanted to go is too busy with teenagers to help adults right now, but they will be glad to take my money if I wait 2 months. Yeah right. I found another school, and I think they will work out ok, but I find it amusing they will pick you up for your driving lessons, but not for the classroom sessions. You have to find your own ride there. Does that make sense? By law, I can’t drive alone and even if I could, I don’t have a car, but they expect me to drive across town to take part in their classroom sections. Why are they so willing to pick me up and let me drive around their car, but not take their instuction course? Strange but true. I’ll let you know how Phase Two works out; then comes the true test, Phase Three-the driving test.

Does anyone else find it odd Miss Piggy orders three of Dennys’ Grand Slam Breakfast Specials with bacon? I mean, would she really eat bacon? She is a pig after all, isn’t that sacreligious or something? I know both Dennys and the Muppets are celebrating their 25th Anniversaries, but choose your spokesperson…er spokespig wisely. To me, it is almost as twisted as Goldfish “the snack that smiles back until you bite their heads off”. Is that really a kids song? If you think I’m bad, you should meet my husband he can tell you if a commercial is good or bad, but he can’t tell you what it’s an ad for.

What is the deal with people in public restrooms? Having just returned from vacation, I feel I have to say something. In case you didn’t know this, if the restroom door is locked, that means it is occupied! I am in the airport taking care of business and someone tugs on the door, discovers it resists and then yanks it open. She seems very startled to see me there even though she had to forcefully open the door and utters a brief apology. No more than 2 minutes later, it happens again. The woman is different, but equally as surprised to see me there. The whole trip was filled with people who couldn’t figure out locked means occupied. Yesterday was the worst, I was in an enclosed restroom, not a stall AND it bolts shut; I’m safe right? Wrong. I hear a gentle twist of the handle, then seconds later a harder tug, followed by silence. All of the sudden someone rams their entire body into the door (it had to hurt, the door shook from the pressure). I yelled out, “Yes,…can I help you,” and responds, “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know anyone was in there”. What? He practically broke down the door. How could he not know someone was in there? If you try the door and you are still not sure, why not knock and ask BEFORE you rip open the door? Has common sense and courtesy gone out the window? What has happened to our culture when we can’t even go to the bathroom in peace? Do the world a favor, when in doubt, please remember to KNOCK!