Okay. I read it...and yes, of course I love Edward Cullen. Who wouldn't be smitten with a beautiful, golden eyed, sweet smelling, smooth talking vampire? I wonder if it's okay that I'm not a teenager and I still inhaled the book in two sittings. I wonder if it's okay that I'm pretty sure I'll have read the next two books in the series before the week is out. I think it's no different than reading that last 700 page Harry Potter book in one fell swoop.  Some people just have the gift of storytelling. I have the gift of sitting at their feet and absorbing all they have to say. 

The last book I read was "The Giver". Again, a book intended for a much younger audience. Ate that one up pretty quickly.  I read "The Other Boleyn Girl" and loved it with all my heart, so I picked up "The Constant Princess" by the same author.  I was so ill when I realized I was NOT enjoying it because as most of you know I have that disease that causes me to HAVE to finish a book that I start, whether I like it or not. Therefore, "The Constant Princess" took me weeks on end to finish.

I also have that disease where I'm addicted to adding the books I've read to My Library Thing. That really, really makes me happy. It's like a party...but not one of those lame birthday parties where they make you play pin the tail on the donkey. Oh! Unless the prize is a giant brand new 200 count box of Crayola Crayons with the sharpener built right into the danged box!  In that case you can no longer call the party lame and you might even be tempted to say you can't see through your blindfold when in fact you actually can, and then you pin the tail exactly in the right spot on the donkey and the lady asks you if you're SURE you can't see, and you say "no I can't see", and you win the crayons. Not that this has ever happened to me personally. I'll bet a person would have to live with a lot of guilt for a very long time if they did something like that. Not that I would know. I'm just speculating.

Dang, I gotta go now.

Beej

Coco called me tonight to see if I was watching the Democratic National Convention. I told her I wasn't but she agreed that if there was anything I needed to glean from that business I could always read the blog of TwoDogs to find out what I missed.  I mention his name here because today I found out that he is here merely for the beejites to be drawn to him. See how pleasant and accomodating I can be?  Now, armed with that information (that I am pleasant and accomodating), I just have something I need to say. I'd like for those of you who have read this blog for any length of time to agree with me when I say I come off here as fairly apolitical.  I spend an awful lot of time not taking sides and trying not to be offensive to my minions. And when I say this thing I'm about to say, I mean no ill will to any of you. I could name those of you who won't like this. Just be aware that I'm aware.  Okay, here goes....Obama gives me the willies.

There, I said it.

Beej

Poor Larry David.  He's just trying to be affable.  Talk about passive aggressive. But more than poor Larry David, let me just say poor Cheryl David. Could any person possibly want to roll her eyes up into her head more than this poor, poor woman who is forever attached to him in holy matrimony?  Dang.

Beej

If you don't have a Netflix account yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. I love it so much I'd like to take it out behind the middle school and .... never mind. What I'm saying is that I really enjoy Netflix.

I watched "Remains of the Day" the other night and by the time I finished, I was crying and my nose was runny and I was MAD. That movie made me so angry.  I wanted to grab Anthony Hopkins by the shoulders and shake the life out of him. I stayed mad all through the night and woke up mad again the next morning.  I suppose that getting that foul over a movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson would stop a person from getting yet another movie starring the same duo, but that's what I've done. This time it's "Howard's End". I'm just holding my breath hoping this one won't be so emotionally draining.

I love Emma Thompson. I love her teeth and the way she talks. Her accent is MAH-vah-lus.  Her teeth are...I dunno...there's just something about them. I think people with teeth that aren't exactly perfect are aesthetically more interesting than those with the perfectly straight, startling white smiles. However, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a perfect smile. In fact, I sometimes wish my teeth weren't quite so aesthetically interesting as they are. Now if I could just acquire a good British accent.  Maybe I can get one on eBay. I'm pretty sure you can get ANYTHING on eBay.

Beej

I had coffee with my friend Leslie tonight.  We were talking about Gustav's predicted path and in an ominous voice, she said "We are in the CONE OF UNCERTAINTY...and that's not a good place to be".  I have to agree.  I not only agree in regards to this approaching storm, but also to the storm that is otherwise known as "the life of beej". I just live in the danged cone of uncertainty. Would somebody please open the door a little so I can get out?

My computer came dangerously close to giving up the ghost this morning. It was one of the scariest moments I've had in a long time. Needless to say, the remainder of the day was spent backing up my files and pictures. I have finally done what I've been meaning to do since January. Too bad it took a near miss to make me do it. I truly hate to see what's gonna have to happen to get me to mop the kitchen.

Beej

School progress reports came out yesterday and I was fully prepared to lay down the law and force my children into some type of work for your meals, never have any fun, sit in your room and cry regimen to help them keep their grades up. Sadly, they have thwarted my fun by bringing home pretty acceptable grades. I say if they don't bring home all A's there is definitely room for improvement, but I suppose a high B shouldn't be cause for me to chop their little heads off either.  Besides, Dirty Larry is offering these people MONEY for A's.  I should probably be happy that a high B is gonna save me a dime in the long run, but this goes completely against my NEED for A's. I'm trying to give Pateriko a little break since he did, in fact, pretty much jump a grade ahead, but the truth is...he's capable. He just has the lazy gene inherited directly from his mother. My gene affected the cleanliness of my room and my ability to correctly serve a volleyball, while his gene seems to be interfering with those things PLUS keeping his brain from remembering what books to bring home in the afternoon. Not acceptable.  Not to worry.  I will HELP him (read: torture him).

Litkia on the other hand has her little best friend in her class this year. She lives in the neighborhood behind us and has college aged siblings who have spent lots of quality time with her. She's very serious about her school work and has decided to take Litkia on as a project of sorts. They are study buddies and I've proclaimed a laissez fair approach to their afternoon homework time as it seems to be working swimmingly. I have yet to yell at them about staying on task. This little 10 year old girl seems to be a better mother than me. At any rate, she has loads more patience than I do. So, I win!

All I know is that nobody better evAH bring a C to this house.  C means average and there is nobody at this address who is average. No not one! No not one! (sing that)

Beej

I was informed by Litkia, who apparently watched "the news" this morning, that there are scientists in Philadelphia (?) who have "made" an atom by putting protons and electrons together, and they are planning to "break it open".  I told her that sounded suspiciously like a bomb. She agreed and then told me that according to the reporter breaking the story, if things didn't go right that a black hole would be created in space and that the sun and the earth would be engulfed in it by five years time. She didn't seem horribly worried about it, but I said, "THAT sounds AWFUL...maybe they should rethink doing that at all". Her reply? 

I knooooooow!!

Beej

p.s. She came back a few minutes later and told me that there was a big champagne bottle in the lab that had a note on it that said, "in case it goes wrong, drink this".  What in the WORLD was she watching?

Today, I get to bring back an old favorite to the brilliant blog because Dirty Larry brought me something today! It's CHANEL NO. 5! YAY! And not just one bottle mind you. There's the one big bottle that says "you are a great gal" and then there's the other tiny little bottle that screams "GREATER THAN MOST"!

But we all knew this beforehand, yes?

Beej

I was surprised to see that 29% of all people asked "Who invented the cotton gin?" on our daily trivia didn't know the answer. Doesn't that get beaten into the brains of all elementary school children from 1st through 5th grade?  Maybe it's a Southern knowledge thing? Raise your hand if you don't know and then tell me what direction you live in.

Beej

Litkia had to write a couple of paragraphs on hurricanes yesterday for homework.  The teacher told her that each paragraph had to contain at least 3 sentences.  She was struggling with coming up with a third sentence and asked her brother to help her think of something. He read what she had written and found a compound sentence.  He said, "All you have to do is chop THIS sentence in half. Then you'll have three". I yelled at him from the other room..."PATERIKO!!! Don't teach your sister to take the easy way out!!!"  He yelled back..."I'm NOT! I'm teaching her life skills! Valuable life skills!"

*sigh*

Beej