When Should Toyota Shut the Hell Up?

When does a car become more like family?

I'll tell you lil friend o' mine, when people value their families about as much as a bunch o' steel. Gads. -And this most awful and anger-inducing commercial is on EVERY TWO GODDAMNNED SECONDS OF THE DAY.

I couldn't find the awful commerical on the web but if you know where people can view the full, henious, hideous thing, please post to the comments section.

Flecka mah-go spitoon.

A Window Into My World

I decided that it's high time to reveal to you, my avid reader, a view into the kaleidoscope that is my work space.

Behold, the "outside" of my cube. If you will, please note the myriad of certifications, the tangible representation of my superior and impressive (boardering on intimidating) skill set.

Fear not me folks, I'm a team player.



-Certifications from left to right (row 1) "Thinking Like a Cutomer - Level One," "I Did It! I helped Philadelphia Break the Guinness Book of World Records for the Largest Lego Flag," "Word Police Academy issued by The Atlantic Monthly" (row 2) "Learning Tree Project Management Institute - Project Management Training," "Citation of Merit" issued by Encarta, and finally "Highly Cited Researcher" (Pal o' mine found this certificate around the office and gave it to me for my collection, so it's not really official, but I made sure to write my name on it so that people would think it is for real; "Elizabeth (aka Smarty McSmarty-pants)."

My workspace upon entry:



Please note the LARGE cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee (for you west-coasters, Dunkin' Donuts is Philly's Starbucks. It doesn't compare quality-wise but it's only 3 smackers for two large coffees, which you can't beat with a stick). Also note the fabulous froggy card made by my pops with the guidence of my sis for my b-day. Other items of note, the headphones that I wear, most often without music, used to dissuade people from interrupting my work when I'm super busy, photos of my toddler and my ergo keyboard, because that's how I roll.

My workspace, panning to the left:



Note fabulous fake flowers and electric faker aquariam, Nigel the grumpy dog, baby art and boxes of peanuts (under desk) that I'm saving for some sinister plot againt my co-workers that has yet to be fleshed out.

Well, there you have it. If you're ever in the area, feel free to drop by for some coffee as I have a tiny coffee maker too, yum.

Ahhhhh Philly, My Lovely Chocolate City and Eeeeeshhhh, Kind of Prussia, Your Usual Rich Redneck Suburb

SK, Ubs and I ventured out to King of Prussia to meet our mortgage gal at the mall (a central meeting place as she’s located in Blue Bell). We needed to sign off on the home equity loan from one of our properties so that we could buy the place in the Pocono’s that most of you know about.

Since Ubs was such a rock star kid hanging loose while the paperwork was being shuffled, we decided to treat him to as many trips up and down the escalator as was his heart’s content. We also jockeyed in and out of stores, playing and enjoying each other. Tis our way.

Then I noticed, as I have many times in my amazing life with my husband, this white guy tailing us. As is SKs MO, he did not notice…which is odd, now that I think about it, because he’s the “eyes” of our team. We once lived in a place for 10 months, where upon I commented, “Wow, those are really great lights. When did the landlord install them?” to which SK responded, “Dunno, before we moved in. They were here when we viewed the place.” So, strange that he didn’t notice. I’ll have to ask him about that. He’s also the memory but I digress.

So I say to SK, “That guy is following us and, while it’d be one thing if he were ‘good at it’…(meaning shadowing us in the spirit of hoping to bust us when we stole something – his job, of course the question as to why he selected us may be worth discussion, but again, I digress), I believe he may have be being “good at it” in the other sense…the old timey sense of “You ain’t from ‘round these parts, and your kind ain’t welcome here.” And well, that really pissed me off. I guess it pisses me off either way. I guess I just don’t know what to think of the whole thing. Of course SK came back with his usual humor, “Cool, we should start following him.” But I didn’t feel playful and left muttering about how we shan’t move from our fabulous chocolate city ever. No suburbs for us. Never, ever, ever.

--Oh, and if you want to come back to me with “Not all suburbs are like that.” or “Good people live in the ‘burbs too.” keep it to yourself because right now, I’m not interested.

I Could

I could go on and on about how Al Gore broke my heart in 2000. How it should have never been that close to begin with. How he lost all of his humor during that race and struck out in his claim to membership in the human race. Automaton Gore. Even so, I'm older now and while I don't forgive him, I understand his failings and I appreciate his attempt to do good work now, after such a shattering life experience. It is with this in mind that I give you Al Gore, the man who did not break my heart, the man who won that election.

President Albert Gore

The Truth

The truth is that I haven’t been up to much lately. I have finished Saturday by Ian McEwan and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Both very good books. You’ll hear more about them in my year end book round-up.

On the table waiting is The Friend Who Got Away. I love the idea of this book. It’s a bunch of essays written by women (some of whom I’ve read before and liked very much) about the loss of friendship, not through death or anything nearly that absolute, but by growing apart, finding irreconcilable differences, and merely not being able tolerate some of the things that made these friends so likable to begin with. Sounds like the loss of a partner doesn’t it?

It can be as traumatic, if not more than, a divorce. The loss of Amy, my childhood friend, will always trump my divorce as the true failure of my life. I will never forgive myself for failing her. I told my sister recently that if there is one thing in life I could fix, it would be to have been a better person to her. On the upside, I learned from it (much more than any learning that sprung from lover relationships) and my current friends, I believe, benefit from it.

The Losers’ Club is also on the table. I’m not in love with the subject matter of this book but read some really amazing reviews of it a while back and purchased it in January, (along with 9 other books) as one of my 2006 reads. That’s one of the main problems with purchasing up-front, first thing of the year; you forget why you even wanted to read some of the books. I’d much rather, at this point, pick up The Myth of You and Me, suggested by SA. She finds a good book. I’d also like to read DeLillo’s White Noise. I’ve been trying to get to him for a very long time indeed. At least I picked up a copy on Sunday, a step in the right direction.

Other than that, I get to go to the Camden Riversharks game on Saturday with 37 of my most favorite people…weeeee! --Mostly folks I used to work with. Miss those trouble-makers!

I also have slated an evening at the theatre with an as-delightful group to see our most favorite JA sing and entertain. SO EXCITED! She’s such a star.

My pops is coming out for Father’s Day again this year. Sis and bro, IN YO FACE! Beat you to the punch! Wooooohooooooo! I win! --We’ll be going to a Sixers game among other events.

And then to Detroit for the 4th of July. –Not long off a’toll.

Sigh. Not bad, this life of mine. Of course, on a macro/political level I have a few complaints like 1. What up with the freakin’ National Guard patrolling the boarder?? and 2. Bob Casey stinkin’ to high heaven. But then again, I kinda have a crush on that Snow character…ahhhhh well….I’ll leave that to another entry.

6 Degrees of Booking

Booking Through Thursday

This was suggested by Mary.

Connect any six books in your library to each other by any way you want. One book will remind you of another because the author's name is similar, a fictional character shows up in someone else's book, another author is talked about by characters in a book, maybe the same friend recommended both books, or whatever. Books from a series count as one entry in your list. --The bold words indicate the cognitive connection.

1. Shakespear's MacBeth

Lady MacBeth’s claimed mental illness and Macbeth’s call for her fixin’:

Cure her of that.
Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd,
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain,
And with some sweet oblivious antidote
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?
(V.iii.39-45)

Leads to:

2. Feeling Good

Cognitive "Mood" therapy, the most successful therapy for the fixin of me. Based on strategies for conceptualizing existence in a realistic/non-pessimistic way.

Leads to:

3. The Good Earth

The most beautiful book ever written. The mood that it inspires is light blue-green and as quiet as a soft breeze.

Leads to:

4. Nicomachean Ethics

The best of all green books. Aristotle’s treatise on living the good life, balance and flourishing. It doesn't get better than this folks.

Leads to:

5. The Unnatural Lottery

Highlights the implications that luck has on the ability to be balanced and moral. A fascinating read. I highly recommend.

Leads to:

6. Morality Without Foundations: A Defense of Ethical Contextualism

This is my master's thesis written a million times better. Mine was entitled, Moral Objectivity Without Rules: An Exploration of Moral Cognitivism and Moral Particularism. Do these titles' similarities not scream plagiarism???

I think I should sue.