Posted in November 2008 …

Nov 05 2008
4 Comments
Fav Post, Media, Parenthood

Dr. Seuss — did you really go there?

About a month ago I bought a used Dr. Seuss book from a yard sale for a quarter.  It’s Dr. Seuss’s Dictionary.  I quickly glanced through it at the yard sale and thought the pictures would please Monkey.  Well, he does really like the book.  We read it everyday.

However, as we’ve gone through all of the pages now, I’ve noticed some things that aren’t really kosher by today’s standards.  The book was originally published in 1964 and re-copyrighted in 1992 according to the inside of the book.  Here are some examples which I think if published today, might not make it to the printing press:

The first one — the mother bear spanking the baby bears — is a little disturbing. I understand that in the 60s, corporal punishment was acceptable by many, maybe most people. Today this is not usually recommended to parents as hitting teaches children that violence is a means of getting what you want.

Little disturbing ...

Little disturbing ...
The second one, is deprecated nomenclature, now considered very politically incorrect unless spoken by a comedian trying to make a joke (Todd Glass or Lisa Lampanelli have both made jokes about this distinction)

Hmm ... is this politically correct?

Hmm ... is this politically correct?
This one uses the stereotypical “Indian” depiction again but I included it because Monkey thinks he’s a bunny rabbit and each time we get to this page, he makes the sign for rabbit!

Monkey thought he was a rabbit

Monkey thought he was a rabbit
I included this one just because I think it’s funny. One, because for some reason the word “nut” cracks me up. I’m immature like that. Plus, the annoyed look on the monkey’s face is pretty hilarious.  I guess I’m a sucker for slapstick, even in print.

This one is just funny.

This one is just funny.
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Nov 05 2008
5 Comments
For better or for worse

The secret blog

During this past election, I tried to take the “high road” with this blog often times and not take sides.  Or if when I did take sides, try to do it in a factual, non-emotional manner.  However, there were times when either things I heard on t.v. or on the radio or even from friends IRL which spiked anger.  I felt like I needed to do something and couldn’t keep it bottled up.  So I started another blog and silently put it on the sidebar of this one. 

On this blog I vented about things I didn’t feel appropriate to vent here.  I did this also because while it was very cathartic to vent “openly” about these things on the Interweb, I wasn’t sure I wanted many people to read these rants.  Occasionally a rant may have made it’s way onto this site and in a lot of cases, a few minutes or an hour later, I would go back in and straighten out the post to be less emotionally charged. 

For instance, my last post, It’s the final countdown, looked quite a bit different when I originally posted it.  I had been fueled by reading a friend’s blog and felt it necessary to make a response here.  After having the post up for maybe 30 minutes, I started to feel childish and as though I brought this blog to a lower level.  I then opted to tone the post down a little, writing what I had originally intended for the post to be prior to reading my friend’s blog.

So there it is.  The dirty little secret.  Now I’m not sure what to do with the other blog.  I’ve “cleaned it up” as now that the election is over, there is no reason to keep the emotional rants.  I did keep some posts which I felt were more intelligently written with less emotion.  I want to keep the blog (mainly because I like the name and am in love with the header image I created for it) but I need to think of what I’m going to DO with it.  I may do more political stuff on it as time goes on but with the election over, I probably won’t follow politics quite as consistently as I have in the past few months.

Perhaps it will become my mass media blog where I will post about television programs I’ve watched or news reports or movies seen (and maybe a few books)?  Perhaps it will become my Beer Sommelier blog?  Something I thought about dabbling in but I’ve never been very good at becoming an expert in anything.  Perhaps it will be my recipe blog where I can keep the actual recipe typed out instead loading up my bookmarks with titles that are cryptic?  Perhaps it will be all of these things.

Oh and anyone was wondering about the new listings on the sidebar, my technical blog has been added there as well.

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Nov 03 2008
1 Comment
Politics

It’s the final countdown …

I will be glad when the election is over and hope that the final tally is definitive enough that it won’t drag on for another few days or weeks.  I’m done with hearing certain buzz words and going through the nightly spin cycle. 

Anyway, I hope tomorrow goes smoothly for very one, republican and democrat alike.  I hope you get the polls without hassle and are able to successfully vote for whomever you think will do the best job.  In case you haven’t decided yet or want to beef up on the candidate’s platforms, here are some links which break the platforms out into easy-to-read, simplistic format:

http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0805/candidate-comparison.html

http://www.agc.org/cs/advocacy/presidential_candidate_comparison

OR if you’re really feeling crazy, you can vote for one of the non-mainstream candidates, like Ron Paul:

http://votesmart.org/election_president_search.php?type=alpha

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Nov 02 2008
2 Comments
For better or for worse, Parenthood

Please hit the reset button

We traveled to my MILs house this weekend to visit her and my other in-laws.  Plus, Monkey did some trick or treating with his cousins.  Overall, it was a good visit.

If only ...

If only ...

We left Thursday night so Monkey could sleep while we drove.  We’ve found this method to be most effective in the past.  And on Thursday night, he stayed asleep most of the way and woke up for good when we were about 45 minutes away.  Unfortunately, he stayed awake for another 2 hours upon arrival then woke up four hours later.  So his sleeping schedule was messed up all weekend long.  Today no exception.

I used to love traveling.  Pre-hubby and pre-baby it was really easy.  Just quickly pack and off you go!  While single or dating, upon return you might have one, maybe two loads of laundry and unpacking was not a hassle.  Although, I must admit, pre-baby I was a meticulous planner for packing (especially if it was for a long trip).  But the reasons were completely different then — it was all about having the right outfits with the right shoes and the right accessories, etc.  Now, even though I SHOULD be meticulous due to the amount of stuff needed to travel with child, I am not.  Luckily, most of the time I get the major things packed (dividing it all into categories has helped me tremendously in this area — i.e. diapering, feeding, bathing, clothing, play).  AND I’m lucky if I pack enough underwear, socks, etc. or remember make-up for myself.

Traveling now is just not as fun.  Not only do I have pack all of the crap to go on the trip (minus DH’s clothes and toiletry) but usually end up unpacking it all and doing all of the laundry once getting back home.  Now the unpacking seems to take at least a week from getting the luggage and other bags unpacked, to putting things in their correct spot at home and then getting the laundry from the trip through the rotation.

Then there’s the getting the child back on track with eating and more importantly sleeping.  We opted to not travel last night per our original plan but decided instead to leave early this morning.  Monkey’s nap schedule was WAY off track today.  I shouldn’t complain too much because it’s 8:15 and he’s sleeping well.  But keeping him up after a messed up nap schedule during our travels home today meant he was miserable and made sure to help us feel the same way.  Not to mention the time change last night which meant in order to get him on track with that we needed to keep him up an hour later.   Again, I shouldn’t complain too much because he made it — barely, but he did.  Poor thing actually tried to crawl into his crib!

Anyway, all of this whining just leads me to my point (sorry it took so long to get there).  I wish there was a magic reset button where you’d press it and the unpacking, laundry, sleeping schedule manipulation, etc. were done in an instant.  Wouldn’t that be great?

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