Comments policies and why I like 'em.

There's a local politics blog 'round these parts that I've stopped reading the comments on because the commenters have gotten so nasty and - while the blogger steps in once in a while to shut them down - on the whole, the nastiness continues unfettered.

It's like school yard bullying. And it's one reason why this blog is semi-anonymous. I don't want those commenters coming here. But IF they come here, I will delete any and all nastiness they might care to spew.

I'm taking this opportunity to call attention to my comments policy which I posted awhile back in the side bar over there --->

It reads:

Rules for commenters
Here at Mystery Mommy, I'd like to welcome all commenters. Here are a few rules:

Anonymity: I allow anonymous commenting because I have friends in the interwebs who'd rather not be tracked from site to site. If you want to comment anonymously, that is fine with the following limitations: be kind; be respectful; no spam; and, when possible, shoot me a private e-mail letting me know who you are. Thanks.

Spam: I don't allow it. Spam gets deleted. If I want to sell something, I will sell it. If you want to sell something, get your own blog.

Mean-spiritedness / bullying / disrespect: Deleted. That is all.

So, welcome! I hope that you will come often and comment freely within these simple rules. Thanks so much.

I hope you come back.

I will miss your blog so much. Take good care.

Singing! Dancing! Knitting!

Brilliant!

I am here. Truly I am

But...

Overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I need to do and the lack of time to do it in.

So quick bulleted update:

• MM's teacher sent home a long-term project before Spring Break and due this Friday. Make something useful out of recycled materials. MM and I discussed it early on, and picked out an Old Dominion root beer box to cut down and turn into a Bakugon Brawlers storage crate.
• Naturally we only actually started working on it tonight.
• He printed out pictures of his favorite Brawlers on the backs of already used paper.
• I cut down the box and the bottle separators, and glued a scrap strip of cardboard over the gap on the bottom.
• Tomorrow, when the glue is dry, MM will paste the pictures all over it, write up how we did it and what it's for, load it up with his Bakugons and bring the whole thing into school.
• Which means we won't have time to go skating in the evening.
• Missing free-skate practice time AGAIN = FAIL. Especially since we have a free pass for MM.
• Oh well, we did one on Saturday.
• And we didn't wait until TOMORROW night to start it. So not an example of extreme procrastination, but close.
• And, y'know, yadayada laundry, bills, work, grocery shopping, etc etc etc.

Life, and lots of it.

Hello!

Greetings to GotAHandClaspAndASignedBook and to KeepingTheMovementGoing!

I value the two of you more than I can say. I'm so glad to call you my friends.

The weekend in a nutshell

Solo-parenting Friday night read Harry Potter fed the boy washed the boy read Harry Potter went to bed woke up fed the boy took him to skating lessons went home paid the bills got keys made went back for free-skate session went home left MM with the sitter so that I could drive 45 minutes to attend a really long rally for a great guy talked with another great guy and his aide drove an hour home paid the sitter played Uno fed the boy read Harry Potter went to bed woke up MS BACK! fed the boy played Uno talked to friends fed the boy did campaign stuff played Uno talked to friends fed the boy read Harry Potter...

Deep breath

How was your weekend?

Yeah, I actually CAN believe they'd do that.

One of the largest employers in my neck of the woods has decided that it makes good sense to alienate a goodly portion of the flying population. I'm not a big fan of this company in the first place, but some commenters over at Shapely Prose may have figured out what's behind this move (after Kate talks about the sexism inherent in this system).

First, punkrockhockymom pointed out that this allows airlines to bump people without reimbursing them, in fact forcing the passenger to pay extra for being bumped.

Then bigliberty comments that the airline can then make the seats even smaller, forcing more passengers to fall into the bumpable category.

Because really? 700 complaints gets you a whole new policy? Where's the "you have to pay extra if your baby disturbs someone" policy? Where's the "You have to pay extra if you wear too much perfume" policy? Or as OTM put it:

"surely you receive significantly more complaints about any one of the following...terrible food, insulting beverage charges, broken equipment, terrible customer service, lost luggage, delayed flights, frightening turbulence, filthy bathrooms, unexpected gate changes, tedious in-flight magazines, horrible movie offerings, and that insufferable flight safety video narrator. "

And she notes that none of those things seem to have been fixed.

This also keeps folks from complaining about seats that are too small and getting smaller - who's going to complain when it might mean you'll get booted off the flight and charged for a second seat?

Anywhooo, read the post, then read the comments. I really do think that punkrockhockeymom has it right on this one - that this is how the airline is trying to get around the reimbursement for bumping rules.

I read an article on Daily Kos

Basically saying that the teabag protesters should give up the things their taxes buy. And here's the flaw in that argument: I'm guessing that many, if not most, of the teabag protesters come from rural and suburban locations. Which, if true, means that they don't get or pay extra for some of the services that urban folks take for granted.

They probably have a volunteer fire service, many dirt roads, and either haul their own trash to the dump or pay a trash service. They may have to go to the local post office to pick up their mail. Many probably home-school. And in any case, all of the services (except for the Post Office and Armed Services) listed in the article are provided for through state and local taxes, not federal.

Here's the thing: the only direct contact many folks have with the federal government is through the annual tooth-grinding extravaganza that is filling out their tax return, or waiting in line at the post office to buy stamps and send packages at Christmas. These are not contacts designed to get the people to be happy about the government.

Ideas for making people feel more connected to what their (federal) taxes purchase? Aside from uniforms for our nation's sons and daughters?

Got my hair cut

No, not like thisIt's now just a bit below my shoulders instead of near my bra band. Still long enough to put into a ponytail or up for a fancy thing.

I like it!

Yesterday's agenda read:

Meet the Governor.

The Governor changed the agenda and added a word.

One word.

This word:

with


What a difference a word makes.


Meet with the Governor.

I had a really really really great day yesterday.

Hooray for Vermont! My sister's home state!

WOOT!!! WOOT!!!

Not Fresh, Not Fresh At All.

Yesterday I turned on the radio. It was, at the time, set for 88.5 WAMU (the local NPR station) but I was in the mood for a bit of something more raucous. So I tuned in 94.7 The Globe, which plays Pink Floyd and other such phenoms of classic rock.

Imagine my surprise when, instead of hearing Floyd or other such phenom of classic rock, I hear Jason Mraz. And then...then...I hear the station call-sign. 94.7 The Globe is now 94.7 Fresh FM. With, as far as I can tell, no live on-air people. "Fresh" is serving up canned music from a satellite feed somewhere.

And the music seems to be exactly what's being played on Mix 107.3 FM and 92.5 WINC FM, both of whom actually have live local people on-air.

So, it's time to take 94.7 off my presets. Bye-bye pre-packaged music without a shred of personality!

BTW, anyone know where I can get an on-air dose of raucousness now?

Four Years Ago Today

I posted my first blog post. I have loved being here. I love this community and feel like you are all my friends, friends I feel lonely without.



Thank you so much for letting me join you, and making me feel so welcome.

Things that have changed in those 4 years:

• MM is 7! Not 3! He is a fully actualized human being who doesn't need me to wipe his tushy anymore!
• I started a different job, then left work to go back to school, then graduated school and went back to work.
• We moved houses.
• Mr. Spock went from being a community activist to being a candidate to being an elected official and now is an elected official AND a candidate.

Things that have NOT changed:

• I still chew on my fingers.
• Still short!
• MM is still an artistic genius.
• I'm still reading a lot.
• I still am working on that same pair of socks.
• Still loving to visit with you all.

What I Did This Weekend (as it would be written by Muffin Man, if he were to write it)

Yesterday, my mommy took me to my skating lesson, which was fun, but I really need more practice. So, after the lesson we went home and then we came back to the rink to skate some more (Mommy rented some skates for herself) and we went around the rink once and then I fell down HARD on my hand and it felt like my arm broke, so I cried and then we sat down for a while and my mommy checked my arm but it looked all right so she kept asking and asking if I wanted to keep skating because we only had gone around once, but I said "no" and so she took our skates off and asked me if I wanted to see the doctor and I said "yes" so she took me to the doctor's office but it was closed so she called the insurance company to ask them what to do and then she took me to the hospital.

At the hospital I watched a movie and screamed really loud when they tried to take pictures of my arm because it really really really hurt and then they told my mommy and daddy that they couldn't see any break on my arm, but maybe it was bruised or sprained and they gave me a sling and some medicine and told my mommy to bring me back if it still hurt Monday.

Wow! That medicine sure made my arm feel better.

When I woke up this morning my arm was feeling much better and so we went for pancakes at the firehouse and then we came home and then we went out knocking on all our neighbors doors asking them to sign a petition for Daddy to be on the ballot. And then Mommy and I went to my friend LovesHighSchoolMusical's house to play and dye Easter eggs and we ate ice cream and then we came home and I rode my scooter while Mommy and Daddy asked more people to sign their petitions and then we came home and I asked to put my sling back on because my arm felt sore and then we ate dinner and now I'm going to bed.

Mommy doesn't think I need to go back to the doctor's office. I'm glad because tomorrow is the start of Spring Break Camp and I don't want to miss the field trip.

Gary Asks, Part II. "What's the most memorable live performance you've ever seen? Music, theater, comedy, whatever. "

Oh. Dear. So difficult.

Music:

• Squeeze at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh (I've heard it's gone now). It was a shallow arena, so it felt very intimate and when they divided up the audience to sing Black Coffee in Bed it was a heart-stoppingly amazing feeling.
• I also very clearly remember going to see Rick Springfield at Carnegie Hall in NYC. Sat 2nd row from the back in the top balcony. The girls behind me had a banner that said, "We love you RICK!" There were maybe three people with a Y chromosome in the audience.
• The Weavers Reunion at Carnegie Hall.
• Gary Oxford at Jammin' Java.
  

Theatre:

• Peter Pan (yes, with Sandy Duncan. I was nine).
  
• Pump Boys and Dinettes
• Comedy of Errors with The Flying Karamazov Brothers ("I've got a mole on my shoulder!)
• Juggling and Cheap Theatrics (ditto) (can't find video, alas)
• My first-cousin-once-removed doing the Russian dance in The Nutcracker at Kennedy Center.
  

Comedy:

• The Lemming Project (you can see one member of this now-defunct group in Innocent Blood)
  
• Christine Lavin

What I wanted to be when I grew up: the first half of a two part question

Gary (AKA Dr. Corndog) asks what I wanted to be when I grew up. Well, for a while there, my dearest ambition was to be taller than my sister. That's the career I wanted, and I wanted it desperately.

I went through a Librarian phase. I still think the librarians at the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library were the epitome of class and distinction. They could quell you with a look, had an encyclopedic knowledge of all the books on their shelves, and (remembering your likes and dislikes) could unerringly point out the 5 books you should take out this time. Plus, they had those stamps! I remember being taught how to use the card catalog and the disappointment on my favorite librarian's face when I asked her for help finding something if I hadn't used the catalog first. And, of course, Aunt SoLittleAndCute was a librarian. I'd say I only let go of this for real when it was killed off by the disappearance of the card catalog and the stampable cards in the back of the books. So I worked at Murder Ink instead.

Architect was an ambition that lasted a few years until I found out that it was heavy on geometry, which I only passed because my Grandpa tutored me twice a week. My BIL is getting his Master's in Architecture this May. Hooray!

Veterinarian lasted until we had our cat, Meetz, put to sleep. He had a tumor the size of his head in the bone of his shoulder. "When the day comes that he doesn't get up out of bed for food when you run the can opener, it'll be time." said our vet. It was the right thing to do, but I didn't want to have to do it as part of my job. Plus...the whole blood thing. Not so much for me.

Tomorrow, comes part 2 in this 2 part series of "Gary Asks"

If you've got a blog post request, donate to Mr. Spock's campaign and leave a comment here!

Update

Doctor says that the ever-expanding and leaking rack of doom has no sign or increased risk of cancer. Problem probably hormonal in nature and will consult a GYN on progesterone-lowering drugs.

Disappointingly, a reduction will not solve the problem and is not indicated at this time since "they might just keep growing." We need to fix the underlying tissue issue and then, when resolved, can reduce.

I really really really wanted a reduction to be the solution. Two birds, one stone would have been wonderful. Sigh.

This is the new house (pictures coming soon, I hope)

Look! I park in the garage!



Garage door opener, a previously unknown luxury.



Back yard. Spartan, I know.



Here's the door.



Laundry "room". Ironing station.



That there is Campaign Headquarters (for the moment). Say "Hi!" Mr. Spock!



Bathroom. The shower door creaks, which Muffin Man finds endlessly amusing.



The Front Hall!



MM's playroom. I like the colour. The house came with these colours already added. I am not responsible for any of the wall paint.



C'mon upstairs!



Here's the living room, I love all the light. And the walls actually match all our furniture.



Back porch. Mind your step.



Mr. Spock and I made this table. From scratch



Kitchen.



This pantry is much bigger than the one at the old house, but there are fewer cabinets over all.



New refridgerator! Ice and water dispensers are also previously unknown luxuries.



More stairs.



MS's bath.



Hamper. Convenient, no?



MM's room. Grandma made the quilt.



Guest room.



Master bedroom.



Computer corner. The one on the left is mine, the one on the right is MM's.



MM and I share this bathroom.



Closet. Look at all the new clothes!!! Oooh!



And that concludes our tour. Thank you, donor who prefers to remain anonymous!



If you have an idea for a blog post, leave a donation and a comment (or email me)!

And now, aren't you curious about what it actually looks like? I took pictures with my phone, but they suck and I'm looking for the real camera which is in a box here somewhere.