1. Guess what? I get to spend today with my son. And yeah, we'll be sitting in a courtroom waiting to face a judge - finally, after two postponements - on a months old stupid misdemeanor. Your point? Together time is quality time. Think of the bonding possibilities. No, not the BOND (please), the bondING.
2. I am seriously craving a subject change, both here and in real life. Therefore, the balance of this list is hereby deemed July's edition of "Awkward Segue", if only because it is so perfectly suited for this very ilk of nefarious purposes.
3. My husband occasionally fancies himself a bench warmer in the Warren Buffet Rookie League. In this capacity, he sees the need to subscribe to a series of grating little newsletters full of stock tips and tricks. A recent issue of one such publication screamed, in big bold letters splashed across its cover: The Coming Economic Train Wreck Will Be The Best Thing That Ever Happened To You.
4. If you are the sort of person who finds that headline remotely enticing in any way, please don't tell me. There are some things I'm happy to be ignorant of, and that factoid would rank high among them. (But, because I'm nice even to those I'll never understand, you may feel free to dig beneath the coffee grounds and chicken skins to rescue said publication from the bowels of my garbage, where it was rather ceremoniously plunged, unread, by yours truly.)
5. And also. "Fancies himself"? The hell? My apologies. No, I am not a Brit, I apparently just play one on my blog.
6. MySpace. Can we talk? I don't get it, really, and have avoided it, mostly. However, I now have my own identity and log in there. Send help. It's entirely my daughter's fault, and you can all heave a sigh of relief in knowing that no, emphatically no, I do not have a page. Or whateverthefuck they are. ALL OF THAT SAID, seeing dozens of little kids I used to know a hundred million years ago with their facial hair and their attitudes and their relationships and their own ART STUDIOS and whatnot is remarkably similar to what I imagine it might be like to be stuck in a bad flash back oriented Star Trek episode. Recorded on beta max.
7. Yes, I do realize the above sentiment labels me as tragically unhip. There are worse things.
8. I finally received my first assignment. Which is to read massive volumes of collegiate text and then write a four page essay addressing the following question: Had you been a Native American during this period of initial contact with European colonists, which group would you have most and least preferred to have encountered—the English, French, or Spanish? Why? There was a time such an assignment might have brought me to tears. Now, it fills me with unbridled ecstasy. There is something to be said for going to school for the love of it as opposed to for the obligation of it.
9. I can't believe I have failed to mention my daughter's latest exploit. Erm, achievement? She successfully completed jump number four from an airplane circling high above the hardened earth in the middle of nowhere. Not Middle Earth, which might be kind of cool, but the middle of NOFUCKINGWHERE. She is her father's daughter. The freak gene is a dead giveaway. Jump five has already been scheduled. She's been threatened with horrid horribleness if she has the poor manners to call me BEFORE landing one more damn time.
10. Plane tickets to Seattle are in hand, departing September 9th, bright and early in the morning. Planning, for serious like, has begun in earnest. You guys were so helpful with your ideas of things to do there, I thought I'd toss another question your way. Anyone up for a week long babysitting gig? Ha!
11. Believing as I do in quirks of fate, the news that the Marriott brand will officially ban smoking in every nook and cranny of every one of its facilities beginning in September feels like a sign. We're Marriott junkies, staying in the Seattle area post my conference largely on accumulated points. Are you seeing the link? Connecting the dots? Taking that leap? Feeling an overwhelming wave of deja vu? *cough cough* *hack*
12. Remember when chatting about the weather used to be last resort filler material? I miss those days. Really a lot.
13. I've received two handwritten thank you notes in the past four days, and I have to tell you, it did my heart good. It also made me think. Were it possible for me to sit down and write each one of you a personal handwritten note of thanks, complete with a stamp and a handy mailman to deliver it to your doors, I would do so. For laughing with me, for crying with me, for calling bullshit when need be, for making me smile, for putting up with my melodrama and my often droning circular introspection. For lurking and listening, even. Short of a hand inscribed card, I hope that this will do.
Thank you. Just for being you.
My husband asked me how to create a MySpace account for him. I know he's doing it just for chuckles. I'm not even sure if he knows anyone on it. (By the way, he's 42). He thinks it's a hoot to read some of the stuff on there. He's such a goofball.
Posted by: tbirdonawire | July 21, 2006 at 12:50 PM
Egan, your comments did make it through. I'm afraid you may have fallen prey to the trickiness that is my reverse order preference. Your comment will show up on top, rather than the bottom, if that makes sense.
And you're very welcome, btw.
Posted by: Jennifer | July 21, 2006 at 11:24 AM
Very bizarre Jennifer. I tried to comment on your blog three times yesterday. Let's see if this boring comment actually stays. Thanks anyways for stopping by my blog and saying such nice things.
Oh, I have a lovely MySpace profile and that's only so I can track my niece's every move.
Posted by: egan | July 21, 2006 at 11:16 AM
The thing about MySpace that shocked me the most was the abundance of grown ups who have taken the plunge. My daughter and friends are mid-to-late twenties, and they're all over that place.
Posted by: Jennifer | July 21, 2006 at 11:04 AM
My Space is weird. It's interface is crap and it's high school yearbook quality even crappier, but still I somehow find myself adding people like The Burger King as my friend.:)
Posted by: Janet | July 21, 2006 at 09:19 AM
It sure does seem like you have a lot on your plate/mind right now. MySpace is whacked. I have a profile just because I had to learn all about the craze that is MySpace. I'm not proud though.
Hey, thanks for your thoughtful comment on my blog. Have a good evening.
Posted by: egan | July 21, 2006 at 02:20 AM
Court sounds, um, fun? I think I know the mayor of NOFUCKINGWHERE. I don't think they have a court house there though... MySpace? We, knock on wood, seemed to have skipped that gene in our family (so far).
I'm glad the art of the "Thank You" note hasn't been lost yet. We still write them too.
Posted by: Babaloo | July 20, 2006 at 10:34 PM
well, if you look at my url, obviously i have a myspace so i feel like i should comment. my husband got one first and since he's in iraq, its just really convient way for us to communicate better. we email privately every day or so but somehow looking at the little changes we make on our spaces helps us both feel more connected to each other's lives. i think we are the only two who aren't 14 or of dubious reputation to use it on a regular basis...
i've posted 13 too at
http://blog.myspace.com/christengarland
Posted by: christen | July 20, 2006 at 10:04 PM
Ah, Jill, you haven't missed anything. Much. ;-) And I would've taken you for a skydiving into Middle Earth type, rather than NOFUCKINGWHERE. Ha!
Lissa, I don't know about a play, but the stories I could tell. Of course, they might not be factual, but one's imagination has a way of taking over when you see the slices of life I saw today.
Posted by: Jennifer | July 20, 2006 at 10:01 PM
HA! Love Paul of York's idea.
About #5 you're a GBB spy aren't you?! I read that after I did my 13 it would have made great blog fodder or blogder or something. How nice for you to have mom and son time in a court house. I smell a one act play.
Posted by: Lissa | July 20, 2006 at 09:51 PM
I would like to apologize for my recent absence from blog-reading. This month has been a bitch. But I'm back now. And I'd really like to jump out of a plane into the middle of NOFUCKINGWHERE. Sounds like fun.
Posted by: Jill | July 20, 2006 at 09:47 PM
Ohmygod. I really didn't want to laugh. Especially not after spending four hours in the halls of the county courthouse JUST THIS MORNING.
But, I couldn't help myself.
*snort*
Hey, would we get to keep the Marriott points earned on stolen card purchases??
:-)
Posted by: Jennifer | July 20, 2006 at 09:43 PM
For Number 10, I'm thinking you could set your son up by leaving your credit card lie around and reporting his theft of it.....then when he can't make bail, problem solved! Let the county babysit.
That's not funny, is it? I'm sorry.
Posted by: Paul of York | July 20, 2006 at 09:07 PM
1. I like the way you put a positive spin on it.
5. Loved it!! :)
6. Nooo... please don't sell your soul!
Posted by: ChickyBabe | July 20, 2006 at 08:25 PM
And if I knew where to send it, you'd get another note! This site, and your perspective, are incredible.
Posted by: wordnerd | July 20, 2006 at 07:57 PM
Great list.....I have to admit that I am just as un-hip as you about MySpace. I just don't get it at all!
Posted by: Tracie | July 20, 2006 at 04:33 PM
OK well I have to say I am with you about My Space, I dont get it either and have still avoided doing ANYTHING with it! Though now my 7 year old want's a peice of that pie...so far we have avoided that too!
Posted by: Jenn | July 20, 2006 at 04:30 PM
Please let me know any particulars that you can re Seattle. It's about a 4 hr drive for me. Worth it? You bet.
You could meet my lil' Munchie. . .
And both of ny elder sons are on Myspace. (The 15 Y.O. is blocked to all but real-life friends.) But I have to say that it's kind of cool to see their online impish personae develop. So far.
xoxo
Posted by: Margi | July 20, 2006 at 02:26 PM
Court is over, went as expected. No big trauma. So Yay.
The only person I ever knew who used 'fancy that' as part of his regular lexicon was my former boss, an ex pat Brit. I can say it's not something I use with frequency. Or, like, ever.
Re. #8, I suppose I can never know any of it with integrity. Is that the point?
Lori - I'm emailing you. :-)
Is it Friday yet?
Posted by: Jennifer | July 20, 2006 at 01:58 PM
8. The answer is, you don't know till you've encountered any of them.
5. Britspeak? Really? You don't say that?
Posted by: Vanessa | July 20, 2006 at 01:15 PM
Believe me, if I lived in Seattle, I'd babysit for you!! :)
Good luck today (maybe you're done by now).
Your daughter - WOW - I wish I had her courage. Bravery. Craziness. LOL
Quitting smoking - my husband has tried a gazillion times. I know, it's hard. I can't imagine trying to give up my morning coffee, or Diet Mountain Dew.
I have a MySpace ID, but only to spy on my little brother and sister (yeah, I have a brother that's 16 and a sister who is 20). I was shocked at the adults in my town on there, and that they admit they're from this small town. Crazy.
Posted by: Lisa | July 20, 2006 at 12:28 PM
Have a wonderful day!
*^_^
(=':'=) meow hugs
(")_ (")Š from da Raggedy one
Posted by: Raggedy | July 20, 2006 at 11:49 AM
How did I miss that you're coming to Seattle? Holy wow!
Any chance AT ALL that we can get together for at least coffee?
Posted by: RisibleGirl | July 20, 2006 at 11:33 AM
"1."
it's so nice that you two are spending time together nowadays
Posted by: Saltation | July 20, 2006 at 10:17 AM
Will be thinking of you today with your son. About MySpace, I don't get it either. My son and his friends delve into it so I monitor it all. I embrace my unhipness!
My dear friend celebrated her 50th birthday with a jump out of a plane high above the ground. She has more guts than me.
Posted by: Karen | July 20, 2006 at 10:09 AM