Thursday, February 23, 2012

I get my news from Facebook. And what I've given up for Lent.

These days, I barely have time to watch Modern Family. I have very little time for the news. (Priorities, people.) But that's okay, because now I get my news from Facebook. I know this should be embarrassing, and I suppose it is. But since I have friends who worship nearly every god in the political pantheon, I'll throw out the hypothesis that my news might be more fair and balanced than most, if not as comprehensive (I'm a little tired of Whitney Houston videos).  Plus, it is peppered with the drama of the car-wreck lives of a few childhood acquaintances. So that's fun. (Although most of you are stable, not mentally ill,  and thus, fairly boring.)

Today, for instance,  I read this article, noting how some Americans' fears of a Mormon theocracy show a resemblance to the old story about Jews trying to take over the world. Well written, and includes interviews with author Orson Scott Card and  my favorite historian, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.

I recently located a friend I studied with in England, and I'm so thrilled about it. Her status updates on Downton Abbey, including this one about how Highclere Castle is falling into ruin, plus a link to these fantastic paper dolls (including evil accoutrements for Mrs. O'Brian and Thomas, and female empowerment accessories for Sybil), are my absolute favorite. We don't email or anything, but she knows I care because I 'like' her almost daily.

What? You don't think paper cutouts about period dramas count as news? Au contraire, mon frere!

Lastly, I have decided to celebrate Lent this year. Back in college, cousin Melanie would throw a big Mardi Gras party, to which we would invite every attractive boy we knew, stuff them with gumbo and king cake (don't break your tooth on the baby!), and then I wouldn't buy those big pink frosted cookies at the gas station on my way home from class again until Easter. This year, though, I am taking it further: NO COOKIES AT ALL. That's real, people. And it isn't going to be easy. I'm also incorporating a serious scripture study plan, and a goal of at least stepping onto the treadmill every day except Sunday. (I did some research, and in Roman Catholic tradition, they get Sundays off from their Lenten fasts and what not. But I'm going more Eastern Orthodox with my cookie rules: zero tolerance.) It may not be kosher, but I hope my self-imposed period of asceticism isn't seen as sacrilege. I think my heart is in the right place.

Where do you get your news?
Are you giving up anything for Lent?

Friday, February 10, 2012

Gearing up for Statehood Day, my singleton baby's twin language, some potential falafel, and the Gin Blossoms, if Jake can be cajoled

So I didn't watch the super bowl because I was too busy eating and also football is boring. I know I should like it but I don't, and since I'm 38 years old, I don't pretend to like stuff anymore. Usually.

But I did sort of see Madonna's halftime show. And ever since, I've been listening to the Evita movie soundtrack in my van. Yesterday, Ross asked: That guy singing? Is that Puss in Boots?

Kids are super entertaining. If you have some, you know. I mean, they are loud and pull each other's hair and don't flush the toilet and sometimes you catch them biting their own toenails, but they are not boring. Two days ago Jane told me she wants to be a tattoo artist when she grows up, but she won't get any tattoos, cuz that's gross. And Joey, at almost two, isn't saying much, and what he does say is in a language of his own making. It's like a twin language, but he hasn't got a twin. He calls any sort of beverage a mimimama (except pop, which is pop) and motorcycles are samomos. We still have hope though, because he can speak Treat fluently: he'll let you know if he wants a sucker, cake, or cookies in the Queen's English.

So tonight I'm going to Pita Jungle with sister Jen and old friend Shireen to eat falafel, if I can find a babysitter. Tomorrow I am going to try to talk Jake into going to the Arizona Centennial celebration over at the Capitol, because I am an Arizona history nerd, even though I'm from California, but also because celebrating Arizona Statehood Day (February 14) was always a nice option for those of us who found ourselves lover-less (and by lover-less I mean heart-shaped-card-less and bereft of chocolate) on Valentine's Day (which I did. But only continuously from 1973-1995), but also because the Gin Blossoms will be there. And it feels very appropriate that the same band to which I would listen, lying on my single-girl dorm room bed with my giant 90s shampoo commercial hair, wallowing in my lover-lessness (most of the Gin Blossoms songs played with the theme of girlfriends leaving them because they were drunk losers, and somehow this resonated deeply with me) would be playing at Arizona's 100th birthday party.

Anyone else in for the Gin Blossoms?
Do you think Puss in Boots had the pipes for Andrew Lloyd Webber?
Do your kids bite their toenails, too?
What do you get at Pita Jungle?


Happy early Arizona Statehood Day!

Love,
Kelly