Reality Me

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  • I was in the building with the Shrine Circus!

    Narration: [audio:http://realityme.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/shrinecircus.mp3]

    Cathy with Amy and Evan, her parents, her sister-in-law with her 3 children, and I went to the Shrine Circus in the newly renovated Thompson Bowling Arena. The renovation looks great! And included everything except signs for the section numbers! You have to guess where your seating is assigned. I am bothered by the gating of the stairs to the upper balcony. Honestly! What is the rationale? Is there anything wrong with wandering up the nosebleed section for a different perspective or camera angle? The renovation included cup holders! Genius! But the seats seem closer to the ones in front of them; I think maybe the actual cushion is larger.

    We started the evening off with the children playing in the seats and kicking, hitting, putting feet on, and other wise abusing the nice gentleman in the row in front of us. Amy, Abby, Gave, Evan, and Doug ride an elephant at the Shrine CircusTo give him a break, we took the children down to ride the elephants which also happened to be the first time I rode an elephant. After the ride we returned to our seats to further give the nice family in front of us a thorough pounding. Obnoxiously loud toy guns that speak "Don’t move. Drop your gun. Fire fire fire." were purchased. So at the Shrine Circus, whose mission is to help the children, we have a pretend weapon that encourages blowing away an unarmed person. Evan devours cotton candy Evan devours cotton candy Granddaddy felt the children could use some sugar for the show so cotton candy was purchased. Of course, the nice white shirt of the guy in front of us was begging to be finger painted by a very blue, stick Evan. Got him cleaned in without any damage to the white shirt. The show begins. Dad, Amy and Evan watch the circus And I hold the wild child finally giving in and returning pacifier to mouth. Just to show who is in control, at one point Evan takes his "bop" (pacifier) out and tosses it into the audience hitting the child in front of me smack dab on the head and then it settles on the floor beneath the seats of the people in front of the people in front of me. We replace it with one of Amy’s few remaining ones and he spits it to the floor where it rolls down under the seats in front of us.

    Evan wins! To the family in front of us, we had become the family behind us. He is too wacky to remain and I cannot stand to allow the poor family in front of us take anymore abuse. I sacrifice the first half of the show to let Evan walk around the stadium. Evan plays with a baby at the circus Of course, he finds a friend who’s dad happens to sell toys at the circus so they have much to do. Prior to that Evan was running me all over Thompson Bowling Arena including quickly moving up and down stairs. With no section numbers listed, it did not take long to get totally turned around. We were lost but the people in front of us weren’t getting kicked.

    Eventually Evan got through his zaniness and we were able to return to enjoy the 2nd half of the show. I highly recommend it…at least the 2nd half; seems I didn’t see the first half.

  • Parenting Choices Are Tough

    You know.. like today.. Do I A) crush a recorder into a thousand pieces replacing the non-harmonious shrill of a plastic wanna be woodwind with the bawling tears of what could have remained a happy child OR B) turn my music up so loud, exposing the children to the poetry so lacking in their "modern music," that the shingles on the roof vibrate.

    (truthfully, I enjoy hearing them play)

    Narration: [audio:http://realityme.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/parentingchoicesaretough.mp3]

  • Why do you blog?

    Narration: [audio:http://realityme.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/whydoyoublog.mp3]

    I have explained why I blog. Different people have different motivations. Some for money; some for pleasure; some to educate; some to vent; some to communicate a message; and some for friendship. Have you read about "The red-headed, left thumb blogger"? I hadn’t until Chris Brogan introduced me to her through his "Glenda Watson Hyatt Rocks" post. Glenda Watson Hyatt blogs and Twitters. Play the video to be inspired and see how this has changed her world. You can help her get paid to blog for a year by voting for her.

    Glenda Watson Hyatt shares her experiences living with cerebral palsy to motivate and inspire others to think about how they perceive their own situation and their own world around them. She does all this by typing with only her left thumb! [Source, Blog for a Year]

  • Say Uncle Made Me Laugh

    I have to plagiarize Say Uncle.

    Look, boobs.

    Clint pointed us to the video below giving us 99 words for boobs.

  • Joe Biden catches onto Twitter!

    Presidential hopefuls should be making us their friends by talking candidly with Twitter.

    joebiden Online now for a live chat via Washington Post until 5pm; submit your question: http://tinyurl.com/2ng8dj 2 minutes ago from web

    joebiden Tweet a question @joebiden and a volunteer will submit it to WaPo. Include your city/state if it’s not on your profile. half a minute ago from web

    Look at how close Twitter puts you to the action!

    Narration with supplemental commentary: [audio:http://realityme.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/joebidencatchesontotwitter.mp3]>

  • Doug’s Mantras

    If you force it, it will break.

  • Today’s USA Today Ad

    America is not made safer by making the Constitution weaker. I want to print several of these and put them all over town!

  • Gauntlet Thrown Down on Scouts

    Looks like Philadelphia is pressuring the Boy Scouts of America to accept gay scouts. This will be interesting to see how it pans out.

    PHILADELPHIA – The city has decided that the Boy Scouts chapter here must pay fair-market rent of $200,000 a year for its city-owned headquarters because it refuses to permit gay Scouts.

    The organization’s Cradle of Liberty Council, which currently pays $1 a year in rent, must pay the increased amount to remain in its downtown building past May 31

    …

    The Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that Scouts, as a private group, have a First Amendment right to bar gays from membership.

    [Source, MSNBC]

  • Who put me on this soap box? With a tinfoil hat?!

    Is Oak Ridge getting rougher? My reply to Atomic Tumor:

    I often wonder if its not that things are getting rougher but that things are getting smaller. Years ago living in a small down with 3 television stations, the focus was on local news with bits of highlights of nation and world the half hour before local. I am sure school shootings happened but if you were in Wilmington North Carolina and the shooting was in Denver Colorado, it didn’t really impact you.

    Now as the shooting is happening its beeping across cell phones around the globe like a stock ticker. We know everything about everyone as it happens. That’s good! But we must maintain a sense of perspective which is hard to do under the current fear mongering administration. The government, the media, and the preachers have people scared into giving up their rights! These people aren’t thinking; baaaa baaaa. Re-read 1984. Look at the what’s happening in the UK and how it could easily happen here. Watch Wag the Dog. I’m not saying go totally tinfoil hat on us, but if we don’t shock some common sense into some people, we are going to speed down a bad path. GW Bush 2008!

    As an example, the Rocky Elementary School Principal is adamant that the children’s safety at the school relies on enclosing the entire property in a horrifically ugly hurricane fence. Will it have barbed wire? This will destroy a community school. No one will be able to use the playground on the weekends. Home values will fall. Is there really a threat to the children? I haven’t seen it and I’m not stupid or blind. But the principal is so caught up in the security assessment by some for profit firm (that’s what the firm is supposed to do!) that he doesn’t even want people talking about the fence.

    In summary, we are now inundated with information that makes the world smaller but also stresses us with somebody else’s problem. Fear mongers react instead of respond thinking “this will happen to us” and in an oddly self-fulfilling prophecy, their lives get scarier because of the increased security due to "the threat."

    [Source, AtomicTumor]

    Update: Suzanne point out that the crime figures reflect that Oak Ridge is just getting rougher. From City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 323.2):

    • 2000 = 361.1
    • 2001 = 368.8
    • 2002 = 462.5
    • 2003 = 478.4
    • 2004 = 506.7
    • 2005 = 507.1
    • 2006 = 450.3

  • From the mouths of babes

    I put Evan down for a nap. We have a crib that has a zippered netting over it.

    Evan, happily hollering for me: "Daaa, zip zip ziiip. Daaa, let me out!"

    The vocabulary and sentence structure grows!

  • Star Trek cast updated

    The post USS Enterprise NCC-1701-420 has been updated to reflect the current cast and narration added.

  • President GW Bush 2004-indefinitely

    You know…if we were in World War III I wonder if we would have an election in 2008…

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 — President Bush warned today that Iran would be raising the risk of a “World War III” if it came to possess nuclear weapons. [Source, The New York Times]

    Does the United States have a prime minister?

    …Mr. Putin made clear that he might seek to become prime minister of Russia when he steps down as president — an approach that Mr. Bush wryly said he might want to emulate. [Source, The New York Times]

    Narration: [audio:http://realityme.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/presidentgwbushindefinitely.mp3]

    Update: Tim Grieve of Salon has the quote as:

    Reporter: Mr. President, following up on Vladimir Putin for a moment, he said recently that next year, when he has to step down according to the constitution, as the president, he may become prime minister; in effect keeping power and dashing any hopes for a genuine democratic transition there …

    Bush: I’ve been planning that myself.
    [Source, Salon, It was a joke (we think)]

    Threat Level isn’t concerned but put in a freedom of information request anyway.

    On Nov 3, 2004, I suggested GW would take the 2008 election.

    Update narration (with apologies for the poor read-done in tired haste, bad impersonations, and my sound effects didn’t work): [audio:http://realityme.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/gwtakes2008withedits.mp3]

  • Can ustream be in a post?

    What happens if I embed a ustream player in my post? Why yes you can!

  • Of Grasshoppers

    Student: What does my family need more from me? Time or money?
    Master: Balance.

  • I disciplined your children

    It takes a village right? Of course, now-a-days, people seem afraid to address other people’s children, particularly if you are a man. Wonder why that is!

    Sarah performs with wingsLast night we were watching Sarah perform at Bearden High School along with several other bands. It was a great show! But at one point I snapped. I watched 3 younger boys, 11 or 12ish, tossing an empty 20 ounce beverage container back and forth like a football. They pause and one of the boys rips the label off, tearing it into 3 pieces in the process, and threw them to the ground. I spoke instantly and instinctively. "Gentleman! I need you to pick up this trash and throw it away." The guilty boy responded, "Oh that just fell off." I had to continue firmly, "Now you are lying to me. I saw you tear it off. Pick up the trash and put it in that trash can over there." They did and I am sure they had some words for me or perhaps gestures when my back turned. I saw them playing later and made a point of kindly thanking them for doing the right thing, "Thanks for throwing the trash away. I really appreciate that." I received a polite response, "No problem."

    Should I have ignored it? I don’t think so. In bygone times, it would have been expected and appreciated. I am not sure what parents think or expect today. Maybe those boys will think the next time they or someone with them litters or thinks about vandalism; maybe it will make all the difference. I hope that when my children step out of line, someone steers them back onto the right path.

    Post narration: [audio:http://realityme.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/idisciplinedyourchildren.mp3]

    Update: Be sure to read Barry’s post on Disciplining Other Children! I like that Barry reminds us to let the child’s parent do the disciplining if the parent is nearby.