July 2010

  • Doing the right thing

    By dfunzy on 7/28/10 4:34am
    Add Comment

    Child in Car Called 911, Reported Drunk Mom

    In New York, a 49-year-old woman driving drunk, with two of her kids in the car, was arrested, after her 12-year-old daughter called 911 from the car and remained on the phone with a 911 dispatcher until police pulled woman over.

    A panicked girl made repeated calls to 911 Sunday night to report her mother for drunk driving on I-84. The girl called for help from the confines of Jamie Hicks's green Buick, telling the dispatcher that her mom was drunk and was swerving into other lanes. WCBS reports, 'The dispatcher heard lots of screaming and yelling and said the girl claimed her mom was hitting her, and there were multiple hang-ups.' But you've got to expect that when you narc out mommy for being boozy behind the wheel. "

    Read more >

  • Supplements

    By Silvia on 7/27/10 9:41am
    Add Comment

    Have TB that does not like supplements in his feed. Any thoughts on a supplement 'paste' he would like to eat.

  • Girls Gone Wild Can Strip You Without Your Consent

    By erika on 7/26/10 1:33pm
    5 Comments

    In 2005 a woman goes to a bar, planning to drink and party.  Turns out the "Girls Gone Wild" video team is there.  Signs are posted.  However, she refuses to sign the consent form.  If there is a more clear way to signal "I do not consent" than refusing to sign a consent form, I can't think of it.

    As she's dancing, the video camera is moving through the crowd.  As she turns away from the camera, a hand reaches out from behind it and pulls off her shirt. 


    She says "No no no no," pulls it back up, and turns away.  Again - that's a pretty clear sign of not giving consent.  Saying "no" and putting your top back on.  

    But somehow she ends up on the Girls Gone Wild tape anyway.  And when she sues?  The jury finds in favor of Girls Gone Wild.


    Read more >

  • National Merry-Go-Round Day

    By sarajean on 7/23/10 9:52am
    Add Comment

    July 25 is a perfect day to go out and enjoy the merry-go-round. A Sunday this year, it affords most families the chance to hit the park and, if there’s still one left (as my old favorite park no longer has one), show their children—as well as the parents themselves!—a good old-fashioned time on the merry-go-round. If there is a carousel or carnival near you, that’s a great opportunity as well.

    I have a wonderful story about a merry-go-round. In fact, I wrote about it in junior high, much to the delight and disgust of my classmates. Reading it aloud was some of the most fun I’d ever had in school to that point!

    Read more >

  • Tell an Old Joke Day

    By sarajean on 7/23/10 9:38am
    Add Comment

    Tomorrow, July 24, is the day everyone gets to sigh with collective relief because they don’t have to come up with new jokes to entertain people with. Okay, maybe those of us who aren’t comedians don’t really lose sleep over such things, but there is a joy in recycling old jokes, isn’t there?

    Read more >

  • A hug is better than chocolate! Part 3

    By CindyLu on 7/20/10 3:01am
    Add Comment

    We were now considering several options.  Jake was making phone calls to the people that he works with, letting them know the circumstances and that he might not be in to work.  One person suggested that his boss's mechanic may be able to diagnose it for free, if he brought the car to Bellevue.  The question was:  Is he a certified mechanic that the state would recognize for fixing emissions?  I was going through the list of certified Pierce co. auto repair shops, calling them and getting an idea of what was needed to be done to the car, and the cost.

    Read more >

  • A hug is better than chocolate! Part 2

    By CindyLu on 7/20/10 2:56am
    Add Comment

    We were actually thinking that the hard part was over, heading a block up the street to the vehicle licensing department.  We walked in and there was no line, just one person at each of the open counters!  What a surprise, and unusual for the D.O.L.!  Jake looked through his folder of documents for the car and couldn't find the title!

    Read more >

  • Ever Have One of Those Days?

    By sarajean on 7/15/10 2:20pm
    Add Comment

    Have you ever had one of those days where you could just grab someone off the street and beg, “Please! Please come to my house and watch my kid so I can go to the bathroom in peace!”

    The last week has been like this for me. It’s not even my poor kid’s fault, really; it’s just a combination of cosmic events leading to chaos. You see, we live with and care for a mentally handicapped relative, who can be very demanding. While we get free rent out of it, it does amount to about as much work as you’d have taking care of a ten-year-old child—without being able to discipline the child, and with having the child’s brothers and sisters go behind and undermine everything you say, say yes to things we simply cannot do, and generally make it even more hellacious.

    Read more >

  • James Frey: Bright Shiny Morning

    By becksta on 7/8/10 1:36pm
    Add Comment

    Bright Shiny MorningBright Shiny MorningJames Frey is kind of the Nixon of the literary world, but that didn’t stop me from reading his novel, “Bright Shiny Morning”  or from liking “A Million Little Pieces”- even after the Oprah Winfrey debacle. I like his writing style; in particular, I like his natural-sounding dialogue and his absolute refusal to adhere to the standards of punctuation that the rest of us reluctantly have to follow.


    Read more >

  • Is The Big One Coming in 2012?

    By dfunzy on 7/8/10 4:51am
    Add Comment

    Yesterday, Wednesday afternoon, 4:53 p.m, reports the United States Geological Survey, there was a little shake, rattlin' roll in California. A 5.4 earthquake, below the 6.0 threshold for strong quakes. But enough of a rumbler. The quake struck an area near Palm Springs and the shaking was felt more than 100 miles away throughout Southern California, and rattlin' rolled in LA for nearly thirty long seconds.

    Read more >

  • The Song of Songs (part four)

    By msarko on 7/6/10 1:37am
    Add Comment

    The third chapter of The Song of Songs is perhaps the strangest of the entire book. It has two distinct parts divided by the quasi-chorus ("do not stir up love until it pleases") that appears in some form or another throughout the entire poem. The first half details Rayati's search for Dodi, or perhaps a dream of her search for him, while the second half pulls away from the lovers entirely to describe a procession of King Solomon. These two segments at first seem entirely disconnected, but there is a tenuous narrative strand between the two.



    Read more >

  • Weekly Reading Pile: Week of 6/30/10 Pt2

    By wrathamon on 7/3/10 12:24pm
    Add Comment

    Wonder Woman #600-I would probably rate this just slightly under the Batman #700 but definitely above the Superman #700. The Simone/Perez story was fun and a nice set up for how WW is viewed by her female peers. The Amanda Conner story was cute with fantastic art, you just have to ignore any sense of continuity. The Louise Simonson story was sadly a throwaway and really didn’t fit in this volume at all. It wasn’t bad by any means, it was just kind of a generic team-up with Superman. The Johns/Kolins piece was cryptic and kind of a set up, but sort of jaunty and basically just let you know that the Straczynski run may or may not be an alternate reality. It was interesting to read because it echoed a lot of people’s thoughts on the last page, commenting that the world undervalues her and this needs to change (screw you Megan Fox).

    Read more >