Touched

Inspired by an incident today, as well as an event long ago. It's here.

Attention: males over the age of 6!

When I see you wearing your baseball cap sideways, I know you think you look like this:

image:lefashionmonster.com

Hate to break it to you, but, in reality you look way more like this:

image:cedricstudio.com

 Now you know. You're welcome.

Occupying a place in my heart

I'm a bad Capitalist. I have no urge to accumulate possessions or wealth, I only aspire to pay my way fairly through life. I am always able to see that someone needs something more than I do - that $3 that rounds the tip up to a nice even number which doesn't require change, those extra few bucks in my checking account that the Regional Food Bank could use since my pantry is more than sufficiently stocked. It isn't as if I believe people shouldn't have to work or that it is unreasonable to expect adults to make a contribution to society, particularly when they are able-bodied and healthy, it's just that I can see that I have more (fortune, opportunity, smarts, survival skills - you pick) than many others and I'm good with sharing. And I will never understand why anyone feels the need to have a net worth of X billions of dollars.

Do you think that being a multimillionaire somehow provides a person with a more meaningful existence? Are their thoughts really worth more than mine (Warren Buffet aside)? Are they happier and more fulfilled? I don't think so.

Should the president of my union being making $345,987?? I don't think so. Does the fact that he is, make me sick to my stomach? Absolutely. Is his position comparable to that of President of the United States, who receives a salary of $400,000.  Yes, yes, I know there are numerous factors beyond mere salary when it comes to compensation, but, really?  I don't think the job descriptions or responsibilities are all that similar between those two positions. 

This morning I made my second visit down to the tent city known as Occupy Albany.  I arrived with 2 loaves of freshly baked bread and a sense of guilt that I was not doing more to support a movement that proves that residents of my country are not afraid of making people, including themselves, uncomfortable when it comes to examining the deterioration of our country's values and sense of priorities.  I left with regret that I can't do more to support their activities other than bake bread, take some photos and publicly acknowledge their efforts.  What can you do?  And - what should we all do?

Sign of the Times - Who's your mayor?

Are all politicians essentially narcisists?  Is there some cachet which I simply don't understand in having one's name emblazoned upon recycling bins, trash cans, a fleet of city vehicles and various signs around our city?  I don't believe the position of mayor is permanent despite the number of years Jerry has been on the job and I have to wonder what the eventual   related expense of having his name removed from all of those publicly owned city assets will be.  And why in God's name is Gerald diminutized to become Jerry?

Years ago, I remember there being a sign welcoming folks to the New York State side of my hometown Greenwood Lake, a nine-mile body of water which straddles N.Y. and N.J.  I can't recall if it was Governor Carey or Governor Cuomo the first who decided that his name being on that particular sign was extraneous and more than a little self-indulgent.  Since that time, decades ago the sign has simply stated  "Welcome to New York, the Empire State."  Doesn't that say all you need to know?

image from upstatenyroads.com

Wouldn't it make cents sense to stop wasting taxpayer money feeding the egos of elected officials?  I know who my mayor is - I even pulled the lever for him a couple of times in the past. I might even miss him when he's gone, something which will eventually happen.  I hope he takes his signs with him. 

Oscars

I don't get to many movies, unless they're rated G, of course. And those G rated movies I think more of as $8 naps anyway. I have been trying to see some of the Oscar nominated films, a task I take on every year about this time with mixed results. I've only caught three of the nominated films and they each left an impression on me.  Note: an impression is not necessarily a positive thing. 



image from: http://cdn.buzznet.com

The film I saw first while on my mission, was the critically acclaimed Black Swan,  which I absolutely detested.  The acting was very good and I loved the costumes and special effects, but the plot alternated between boring me to tears and annoying me.  I can't tell you how pissed I was to find myself in a theater, alone by choice, suffering through B.S.  I don't know what I regret more: selecting this movie or not walking out  when it turned  the corner to ridiculous.  Next! 

image from: http://www.amoeba.com



My oldest son, Liam, is a bit of a history buff, particularly when the topic is England. On his request we went to see The King's Speech recently and I really enjoyed the movie - the story, the acting, seeing Helena Bonham-Carter wearing normal clothes...  Colin Firth is incredible and it would be a crime (especially after the snub for A Single Man) if he didn't take an Oscar home for his work.  The only bad thing about this movie, as far as I can tell, is the absurdity of the R rating.  As Liam said, there were way more F-bombs in Get Him to the Greek which had no historical significance.  Out of the mouths of babes...

image from: http://www.awardsdaily.com

This past weekend I checked out one of the  nominated documentaries, Gasland, based on the recommendation of a friend.  I have to admit that I may have caught a wee nap during the middle of the film, but, believe me, I saw enough to completely enrage me.  I mean, even angrier than the time I wasted invested watching the Black Swan.  Are you familiar with this movie?  Essentially, the filmmaker, Josh Fox, is offered the "opportunity" to lease his land to a company interested in drilling for natural gas.  Josh decides to do a little research prior to committing to having his land raped and what he learns is intensely disturbing.  I don't want to completely give the plot away, but suffice it to say that Dick Cheney's Halliburton is involved.  Enough said.

I'm hoping to see Blue Valentine one night this week - or even at a matinee if the Snow God(dess) is smiling.  What have you seen?  Any predictions for Oscar winners?

Things I think about when I'm cleaning...

image from www.household-management-101.com

When I was single, I kept a pretty darn tidy home.  Perhaps my neatness was the result of the importance my mother always placed upon cleaning and chores.  My brother and I were given numerous responsibilities as small children and, as long as I can remember, my chores included putting my laundry away, polishing my shoes and helping with the family's laundry.  As I added men/boys to my life, I've had to relax my cleanliness expectations to maintain my sanity, but some days I go into a hyper-cleaning mode.   Today was one of those days when everywhere I looked, I saw something which displeased me... the little grates on the microwave... the vegetable bin in the refrigerator......the blades of the ceiling fans... As I again wished that our former cleaning woman could get legal immigration status, I dove in and began neatening up the external in the hopes that the end result would be a cleaner house, as well as a more tranquil mind.  For the record, I don't dislike cleaning, I just have a tendency to approach cleaning in a manner that is a bit ADD which prevents me from accomplishing as much as I would like.  Particularly when thoughts like those below are streaming through my head at about 100 miles per hour.

• Why can't we simply throw away (recycle, donate) things we do not need or use?  Is it really necessary to hold on to stuff in a quasi-Purgatory?
• I love my Dyson vacuum cleaner but even without the commercials, I would know a man designed it.  It works great, but it isn't always intuitive, to me, how to dismantle it to use the "wand."  And, please don't call it a "wand" if it doesn't involve magic.  I hate to be disappointed.
• When is this great "paper-less" society going to begin?  I'm so sick of paper and mail and catalogs and don't get me started on the campaign literature... I must admit, however, that I struggle with discarding personal notes and cards I've received and I would like to think that if I sent you something you would want to keep it, too.
• If we could discover a means to use dust as a source of power it would be the ultimate form of renewable energy.
• I know that one day I will miss cleaning up the boys' splashes in the bathroom, but, right now I'd be happier if they just had better aim.

Our Great (Big, Fat) Escape

Not the only large round thing at the park.

So we went to the Great Escape yesterday for family day.  The weather was perfect and the boys are the ideal age for many of the attractions and the water park activities.  I think we were last there 2 years ago and there were a couple of new things my husband wanted to try - some water ride that looks like a huge striped toilet and a knock-off of Universal's Tower of Terror

elevator ride called the Sasquatch. 

Sweet ride, huh?

What?  But it looks so easy!

We arrived at 11 a.m., paid our $10 to park and then bought our way in to the tune of $137.  That was the price for three of us,  we had free admission tickets, carefully cut from cereal boxes, for our two younger boys.  Okay - let's have some fun!  First up was the antique car ride thing.  Insider tip:  If you're looking for this ride it is really close to the smoking section that was so thoughtfully placed in close proximity to the children's rides.  The line was about 30 minutes long and would certainly have been shortened had the Great Escape folks repaired the 3 or 4 cars which were parked to the side seemingly out of commission.  No worries, the wait gave our middle son the opportunity to attempt climbing the rope ladder at an additional cost of $5.  

During all of this activity, the husband did laps between our location and the nearby Boomerang roller coaster, trying to get information about when that attraction would be running since it was not currently open.  The estimate was an hour, meaning 2+ hours after the park opened.  We moved on and headed over to the Ghost Town to give the log flume thing a whirl.

On our walk we couldn't help but notice how many of the park's visitors were overweight. I'm not talking about an extra 5 or 10 lbs, I'm talking about grossly, morbidly, tremendously obese - children as well as adults.  Unfortunately this condition only became more noticeable (unavoidable?) when we arrived at the Splashwater Kingdom area of the park.  I'm sorry.  I try to not be overly critical (although it is a part of my astrological make-up as a Virgo) but these people were hugely overweight and seeing children with stretchmarks just freaks me out.  Keep in mind that it was a hot day and it seemed as if the larger people were suffering in the heat even more than the folks of more moderate size. And, in all honesty, I was feeling a little angry at the clothing manufacturers who produce clothing items that reveal more than I want to see in a stranger.  I decided to relax and take a float in the Lazy River, however, there weren't nearly enough tubes for the number of people present, which annoyed me all over again.  If I were an emotional eater, I might have indulged myself in ice cream at this point, but I honestly don't know if I will ever be able to drop $4.99 for a small Ben & Jerry's.  Ever. 

It was really nice to cool off in the Lumberjack water area.  Too bad 2 of the 4 slides were unavailable.  I understand that staffing becomes an issue in late summer when many of the college student employees depart for campus, but, if you're giving me reduced attractions how about giving me a comparable reduction somewhere else?  We could start with the $36 for three orders of chicken tenders with (half-cooked) fries. We never made it into the Tidal Wave pool because each time we walked past it, they life guards didn't appear to be allowing anyone in.  It must have just been poor timing on our part, huh?

As the day wore on, we hit a couple of more rides before heading back to Albany for our date night at Cafe Capriccio, including the River Rapids, which was the perfect ride for our entire family, and the Ferris wheel.  It seemed like there were more rides that we didn't try than those we did manage to attempt and I completely lay the blame on the people who "run" this theme park.  The lines were ridiculous and I left with the pervasive feeling that there were not enough employees to supervise and maintain the attractions.  Period.  The next time Tom suggests we take the longer drive to Six Flags New England, I may actually acquiesce. 

I wished that I had thought to bring our trusty red wagon because I got tired of carrying all of our crap and lockers were not an option at these incredibly ridiculous prices.  Really? $16 to use a locker for the day?  Is that $480 a month?

You folks know that I will happily drop $300 on dinner for two, but paying $3.50 for a small water is offensive, in my opinion.  I also don't appreciate being solicited for vacation giveaways when I am arguably already "enjoying" leisure time.  That sense of being offended, unfortunately,  is what remains a day later.  That, and a deep regret that I agreed to return to the Great Escape in October for their Halloween Fright Fest.  Hopefully, the attractions and entertainment will manage to be more frightening than the park guests and prices.

Concert Etiquette - or Why Puking in Public is Bad Form.

image from topnews.in

After 2 weeks at the beach, and 4.5 hours in the car driving back from the beach, I was not totally psyched to head to Saratoga for a show last night.  But, I've never seen John Mayer perform and I was looking forward to getting away from the boys for a few hours, so, off I went.  I was a little surprised that a lawn ticket was going to set me back $42, however, I guess that's what things cost these days and there were two first rate bands playing - it averaged out to about the same amount per hour that I pay our babysitter, and Tom was home with the guys at no additional expense.  Bonus.

Now, the ticket price I was expecting, the crowd, however, was a different story in many ways.  My favorite secret parking lot was full, so I had to park inside of the park, which I hate.  It seems that every time I've been forced to park (for an additional $10) within the park's boundaries I get stuck in traffic after the show.  Or I get lost within the park somehow.  Or, they close the exit that I'm heading towards and I have to turn around and go completely through the park at a snail-like pace.  After backing into a spot (to facilitate getting out, of course), we walked to the gate to get tickets.  This fairly short walk was a mere preview of the overwhelmingly female composition of the crowd.  As a woman who considers herself more of a "guy's girl," I have always had limited patience with under-clad, over-served girls - they simply annoy me, and the brief walk to the ticket office made me question my decision to attend the show.  I couldn't believe how many young, drunk girls there were flopping all over the place.  I understand that I'm probably not the typical demographic for a John Mayer show, but is it really necessary to get totally loaded to "enjoy" a concert?  And why do I seem to see this consistently at SPAC?  I've gone to other outdoor venues in the area (Tanglewood, Bethel Woods) and I have never witnessed the same degree of public drunkenness that I have come to recognize as the norm for SPAC.  What is the deal?  

image from whyisdaddycrying.com

Train opened and they sounded great.  I must admit that I did not see any of their performance because I was working up the nerve to go near the lawn - I basically spent much of the evening sitting on the back lawn beyond the concession area, because I was repulsed by the vomiting, face plants and staggering around that I witnessed.  I twittered the early part of the show and was completely appalled by the uncountable number of people, who I personally saw, throwing up. This is not what I want in a show experience.  Nor did I enjoy witnessing the numerous trips between the crowd and the medical facility in that little emergency vehicle.  Their beyond-buzz really put a dampener on my show and by 10:30 or so, I knew I wanted to be out of there and off the road before these kids got to their cars.

For the record - I was really impressed by John Mayer.  Yes, he talked a lot but that guy can seriously play guitar.  His cover of Voodoo Chile smoked and I thought he played with humor, skill and enthusiasm.  I only wish I had gotten tuned in to him earlier - before his personal (ha!) life became larger than his musical talent, because I would have loved to have seen him at a small venue where the drinking age was enforced and the audience enjoyed music more than alcohol. 

Pedestrian Crosswalks

I work in a community that values their children.  It is apparent in the quality of education, and parental involvement, which I witness on a daily basis during the academic year, that children, and their lives, are considered important.  Perhaps this is why I am still pissed off about an experience which I  had last week while driving to work.  I went to work a bit late since I had an early morning doctor appointment.  Apparently, it was the time of the morning when elementary students are heading to school and, as I drove down Cherry Avenue, I noticed a child on the left side of the road waiting to cross the street on her bicycle. Waiting patiently at the painted crosswalk to cross the road.  Of course, I brought my car to a stop and waved her across the street.  Now, here's the part that infuriates me in  perhaps an irrational way - the 2 cars who were behind me beeped their horns!  And the woman immediately behind me did one of those waving-her-arms-around-in-the-air sort of things to indicate her displeasure for my observance of the law.  Incidentally, her vehicle was much taller than mine, there's no way she couldn't see why I was stopped in the road at the crosswalk.  I seriously have lost count of the number of times I have observed vehicles completely ignoring the pedestrian crosswalks in the Delmar area, including the crosswalk directly in front of the High School.  Actually, just this afternoon a parent drove  right past me as I, in the crosswalk, attempted to get to my car in the faculty parking lot.  I'm sorry, but when that kind of thing happens, I have an impulse to yell.  Which, of course, I did.

As part of the improvements being made to Delaware Avenue in the DelSo, I have noticed numerous new crosswalks.  We are fortunate to have a number of schools in our neighborhood which, of course, means there are children crossing streets frequently.  Couple this with the simple fact that the DelSo is an incredibly walkable residential area since we residents have dining, entertainment and leisure options easily accessed on foot. If you read the paper, people seem to die with frightening frequency while walking. How about, as you are driving slowly through the DelSo, due to the ongoing construction, you each try to familiarize yourselves with the locations of the new crosswalks? 

So often our community and schools are compared to suburban areas with our urban resources being perceived as inferior to those of our suburban counterparts.  It really wouldn't take much for the DelSo, and the rest of our fair city, to exceed the respect bestowed upon pedestrians in the 'burbs.    Do you want to live with the knowledge that you hit someone with your car?  Geez, I ran over a chipmunk once and had nightmares for days! How about if we all try to be a bit more conscious of the people with whom we share the roads?  When it comes to white lines, remember - the ones in the road are supposed to indicate safety.  Thank you.