One Less Thing

I've had this feeling of impending doom slowly growing in the back of my head because the summer is coming to a close and that means that soon I'll be back into the swing of things. A huge portion of that impending doom is because for the past four years the start of the school year for teaching has also meant the start of the school year as a student. Despite the fact that I graduated a few months ago, there's still that feeling that in a very short time I will be completely buried with no sight of rest until December. The thing is, that isn't going to be the case. Yes, there will be more work and I'll have to grade, lesson plan, and of course spend my days teaching, but I won't be spending hours every night reading, and spending every single weekend working on readings, online postings, and papers.

This will be the first time as a teacher that I have not had to worry about a class while trying to teach.  The end of the school year is always been my least stressful period of teaching, and that's because the only thing that I have to worry about is teaching. The end of April, May, and June are the only times when all I have to do is teach, and it's really exciting to realize that for this entire school year I get to teach and can devote my mental energy to one less thing. I won't have the stress of knowing that if I'm spending my time reading I'm not doing the planning or work that I want to do, or if I'm planning and creating new resources for the classroom that I'm not getting the work done that I needed in order to be prepared for classes.

What I'm most excited about is that it also means that I'll actually get to spend time with my family during the year. I'll get to go out and do fun things on weekends, like go to the apple orchard, or get pumpkins, or just get together and not have the stress of all the things that I should be doing that I'm not.  I can actually enjoy the seasons, I can actually do things with my family, I can actually socialize. Every time I think about that it helps to push away that impending doom, though it's still down there because it's just out of habit. I'm looking forward to this fall.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 108

We took an impromptu trip to the Monroe County Fair. It was a bit busy because of the fact that all rides only cost $1. Our last ride of the night was the ferris wheel, and this was our view. Lovely night.

Getting Edumacated

As the school year is about to kick in it's gotten me thinking about how one year from now Sal will be about to start kindergarten. The problem with that is that means we also have to start thinking about where she's going to be going to school. Where we live she's not in the worst schools in the world or anything, but that being said it's also not that good either. Standardized test scores are not good in the local school, and they pull a rating of a 4 out of 10 when it comes to proficiency. Thinking about that, there's the fact that just because the test scores aren't great doesn't mean that Sal won't do well. You get good students even in subpar schools. However, at the same time, that means she's going to be in class with those students who are not where they need to be. That means those teachers are going to have to deal with those students, focus on those students, and then water down what they're doing because so many students are not where they need to be. Schools are notorious for focusing on those "bubble kids" who are right on the edge to try and get that proficiency level up. That leaves the kids that are advanced and the kids that are hopeless with less attention.

Thea leaves us with a few options on what to do. There are of course the charter schools in the area, however, their scores are not really much better, at most a 5 or 6 out of 10.  That's still not great, and there are also some drawbacks to that route because it's a very small school, and because of that they can't offer the same things that larger schools can, for example foreign languages, and extracurriculars like theater or things like that. So again, that doesn't seem like a good trade off for something that wouldn't be a huge increase in achievement.

The best schools in the area are in Ann Arbor and Saline. Ann Arbor is pretty expensive in terms of property tax, so that doesn't seem like it's the best option, but then again Saline is a lot more conservative than I'm really comfortable with. At the same time, it's only a year until Sal is in school, so I don't think it's probably very plausible that we'd be able to move somewhere within the next year so that she can be in one of those schools. It's a bit stressful because I want Sal to go to good schools where she's going to be successful and challenged. I worry that the schools around here won't be what's best for her.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 107

Another update photo. It doesn't look all that much different from the last photo, but I've got more done on the bottom half. It's quite the project.

The Good Old Days

Remember the 90s? Well I guess it was mostly in the 2000s because only the first half of season one of the West Wing was in 1999.  Well, we didn't really have anything else to watch today while we were doing stuff, so we decided that we would just put The West Wing on and have that going on in the background.  I love the show, and loved it when it was on too, though we came in a few seasons late. However, watching it now is a bit crazy because it seems like that sort of government where people act in responsible ways and operate in a way that conforms to the ways we expect people to act and work in government is something out of the past that we'll never see again.

We don't have responsible government anymore, we don't have politicians that operate on good faith, nor do they conform to the rules and expectations that we have built up over time. It seems unfathomable that a president could nominate a candidate for the Supreme Court and not have that candidate come up for a vote. To completely block the legitimate power and job of a politician just because you are of the other party seems unfathomable. A single politician blocking that undermines the constitution and the will of the people.  A president was elected for a four year term, just because it's the last year of that presidency it doesn't mean that his power is no longer usable. It's an usurpation of democracy.

I've often felt that a show like The West Wing would never work if the main character were Republicans. One of the main threads of the show was fighting the good fight, for things like equality, justice, and for the good of society. While there may have been a time when Republicans may have been for these things, it's been a long time since that happened. The current republican party is blatantly anti-democratic in their use of gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the things they've done to reverse the will of the people, such as when voters pass ballot initiatives and the legislatures pass laws before they leave office to keep those things from going into effect even though that's what the people have voted for. They don't fight for equality, but instead divide by vilifying immigrants and minorities. They pass tax cuts for the rich and ignore the majority of the people. They push economic policies that help corporations and dilute the power of workers to get a fair deal.

I hope that eventually we can course correct and get back to a point where we have responsible government with politicians who work in good faith for the people. I fear that people in the future watching The West Wing will think that it's pure fantasy that such a world could exist. I fear this is our new normal.  At the very least it can show us some things that we can strive for.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 107

Having some fun at the bookstore. She insisted we had to go today, so why not?

The End TImes

Since we are heading out to Disney world in not too long, less than two weeks, it's really starting to feel like I'm running out of time to get anything done.  There's only about 12 days left before we leave for our trip to Florida, and when we get back I'll only have three days left before I'm back to school for professional development.  I've still got some projects that I need to finish. I've got to get the mulch project done, but that won't take much. I've also been looking at the fireplace so that I can get the project started and finished, and I also wanted to get the ceiling painted in the living room because it's not great and the kitchen looks so much better since I repainted it last year. I also want to get the garage finished so that we can park in it this winter.

I know that I won't have classes this year, but it still feels like time is running out. There's a lot that I want to get done and it's easiest to do it during the summer because there is a lot more time available. It also isn't so draining during the summer because I haven't been spending the entire day dealing with tons of students.  I feel like I need to make a schedule or something like daily goals so that I can be sure that I'm focused on using the time I have left as efficiently as possible.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 106

I started the paint stripping project, and it's not necessarily going as I would have liked. Here is where I'm at today. I'll discuss more in a future blog.

Library Time

Today Sal decided that she wanted to go to the Library, and since we really didn't have any better ideas it seemed like a fun little outing.  The thing is while I love the library, I also hate the library. The library is great because it's open to everyone, there are computers to use, there are tons of books, and they hold cool events. I think libraries as an idea are great and important, and I was happy to pay a little more property tax when they asked so that they could build a new branch on the other side of town so that more people would have access to the library and all their services that they provide.

However, at the same time, I hate going to the library.  Sal has some very specific things that she likes to do at the library, and it's so boring.  They have a play area with toys that she likes to play in first.  She has many toys like this at home. She has a kitchen, she has toy animals, so going all the way up to the library so that she can play with toys she has at home is not the most fun.  She also likes to play with the tablets she has up there, which at least they have different games than the ones she has at home so that's great. However, in both situations all you can do is sit there. It's not the most entertaining thing to do.

The other thing that I hate about the library is all the other kids and their parents there.  I've found that I tend to just dislike other parents, especially in situations like the library. They are far too involved and ready to jump in rather than letting their kids interact on their own and figure things out. Howe do they expect that their kids will ever figure out how to deal with other people if parents just jump in and solve the issues for them? You can't learn to deal with conflict if you never have to experience conflict and have to figure out how to resolve it. They used to be helicopter parents because they always hovered right over their kids. Now we have bulldozer parents because they just push every obstacle out of the way of their kids. That's not helpful at all. I like it way better when there are no other parents around and Sal can just play.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 105

One thing that I also like is that they have a pretty cool foreign language section. This is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but in Japanese. It's so big that it's actually two books. They chapter art was pretty cool.

Evangelion ReDub

When I was a teenager one of the things our friend group enjoyed was anime.  Back then it was a lot harder to get things, where as now it is easy to find online, it streams on Netflix, and there are even subscription services that are just for anime.  back then you had to buy it, and the options were limited unless you happened to have a location nearby that dealt in it.  Here in Ann Arbor we had Wizzy Wigs that had all sorts of stuff.  For us, our friend's dad got all sorts of stuff and we got to watch it that way. He was almost like our Anime dealer because when new stuff came out he got it and then we got to see it.  One of the shows that we watched was Neon Genesis: Evangelion, and back then it was still being produced so we had to wait months for the next video.

Well, Netflix got the rights to Evangelion, so now it streams. I have all the DVDs for the series, so I could watch it anytime, but since it's on Netflix it's so much more convenient to watch.  Over the past few days I've been watching it as I run in the morning on the treadmill. Now, it has been a long time since I've watched the series. I know I haven't done it since we moved into our house so we're talking well over 10 years. Marie Kondo would probably say I shouldn't have the DVDs anymore, but F that S in the A.  Since it's been a while I remember the general story but not all the details of things.  As I have been watching I felt like something has been a bit off, but I wasn't sure if perhaps it's just I don't recall because it's been so long. The thing that really made me start looking into it was that the way they pronounced NERV didn't seem right. I started wondering if perhaps I've just been saying it wrong for the last 20 years, or if something was indeed different.

Well I started looking into it and it turns out that they didn't just get the rights, but in fact decided to do a complete redub of the series with new actors. I guess this was a big deal when they announced it but I had missed all the press on it. The original voice actors were invited to audition as an after thought and it was clear that they wanted new actors. I think the new dub translates it in a way that kind of simplifies the story. It was always a bit confusing because it was very heavy in the topics, and while this may make it a little easier to understand the characters, I think they also lost a lot of things in the new translation.  Maybe it's just because I had the old version for all these years that I'm more partial toward them.  They also seemed to tone down the relationship that Shinji had Kaworu, which seems like a weird choice today since a gay relationship or exploration would be far less controversial than it was in the 1990s.  There were also some minor changes that seemed like they worked better in the original, such as when Shinji says "I'm so fucked up" and they changed it to "I'm the lowest of the low." That's probably a minor change but I think they mean completely different things.

I enjoyed watching the series again, but I think that I prefer my old DVD version to what Neflix has done to the show. Plus, they got rid of Rei's Fly Me To The Moon at the end of every episode, which is stilly, but I liked.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 104
Sal sometimes takes my phone so she can take photos. This is her new thing. I think I'm going to need to get her a camera of her own so that she can take her own photos.

Mulchy Mulch

I haven't really done many projects this summer, and really I don't have a huge list or anything this summer.  One thing that I have been wanting to work on is that the landscaping is not looking so great. We are starting to look like the hobo house, things are growing over, the edging is coming apart and sticking out, there are weeds in the bed despite the weed screen, and the mulch has faded and is no longer nice and black, and in some places there is no mulch left because it's all been blown away because of the lawn crew. Though, I think it's been two years since we've put new mulch down, so it's not a surprise that it's in bad shape.

Well, I've been working on getting that fixed up. I started with the circle in the front yard. The grass has really taken over, and it is more grass than mulch. I had wanted to plant some flowers in the circle so that it was a little nicer, but the soil here is such shit that nothing seems to do well so I decided that I'd just put more mulch in.  Since it's been a constant battle with grass and weeds I bought some weed screen to put down first.  It's not the easiest to do it in a circle, but I got it all in and then got some mulch. Turns out I underestimated how much mulch was needed in it and I had to make another trip out to Lowes to get a couple of extra bags.

After that I had to fix the edging that goes along the sidewalk. There were two places where the edging had come apart and was actually no longer secured in the ground and was instead sticking up.  I had some extra spikes from when we took the edging out from around the trees, so I was able to get them somewhat reattached and firmly secured in the ground again. That alone was so much better, and made it look far less hobo than before. Then I had to get to pulling all the weeds out that had grown. Luckily this wasn't too hard because there was weed screen here so the roots weren't any deeper than the weed screen and could be pulled out with ease.  I did get a bit of surprise because behind one of the boxwoods there was a patch of poison ivy growing and starting to go up the side of the house. I was glad to get that pulled out.  Once that was done I got some mulch, but again under estimated how much mulch we'd need and had to make another trip to Lowes.

It looks so much better than it did, and I've almost completed the entire project. There's still the area right in front of the library that needs so mulch, and theres a few weeds to pull but nothing like the other areas.  I'll have to get to that area later, but since it's in relatively good shape I'm not as worried about getting it done quickly. As long as I have it done by the end of the summer I'm fine with it.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 103

A odd angle of the after photo of the end near my Peony.  It looks pretty good!

Impeach The Motherfucker

Today was the day that a lot of people have been waiting for because Robert Mueller testified in front of House Judiciary and House Intelligence committees. I wasn't like waiting weeks and years for this, but I definitely wanted to hear what he had to say. I didn't really think that there would be much new information because he has said that the report speaks for itself, but I was hoping that some things would be clarified and maybe put into more focus.  My expectations were low and I didn't really think much of what was said would really do much to change my thoughts on what has already been reported about the investigation. However, I was able to listen to a lot of it on the radio as we were doing our errands, and then when I got home I turned it on to watch the rest of it while doing laundry.  Ultimately I saw nearly the entire testimony minus a few minutes when I had to run into the store or from the car to the house.

I think what surprised me most was that I felt that there is a much stronger case for obstruction of justice given what is in the report. It seems pretty clear that under the Department of Justice guidelines they don't feel that they can indict a sitting president and therefore they didn't bring any charges. There was a lot of back and forth with Democrats trying to pin him down to say that if Trump wasn't president then they would have, but by doing so it would be kind of like indicting him so Mueller refused to say that. Republicans then tried to make the case that since they didn't indict him that meant he didn't do anything wrong.  It seemed clear to me that the message was that it was the job of Congress to make the choice based on the findings, but that just allows each side to spin it how they want and gives Republicans the space to ignore everything and say the Trump is innocent. I think that the interactions were really absurd and the entire testimony didn't play well. That seemed strange given that the evidence is so much stronger it seems because it's rather hard to prove conspiracy or "collusion" as Trump likes to say.

The big surprise was that I felt that even though they flat out said that they couldn't really make the case for conspiracy, the evidence seemed far more damning than I thought it would.  It seemed to me that the evidence points to conspiracy but they couldn't prove that they were working together. They didn't have the evidence to show that they worked together, and there may not be evidence.  Trump made it very clear what he wanted (Russia, if you're listening), but because he was so public there wasn't a need to have a meeting to coordinate because he was so transparent with what he wanted.  However, it seems impossible from the evidence that they were both working toward the same goal. It's seems somewhat how it was clear Al Capone was doing all sorts of stuff, but they didn't have the evidence to convict.  It was astonishing what was said and how all the signs are pointing to the fact that Trump wanted and welcomed support and that Russia was working to help him. That is unbelievable.

Given the testimony today, I'm strongly in support of impeachment now. It's clear that there is evidence that laws were broken, justice obstructed, and there is enough that everyone should be seriously concerned about foreign influences and sway over the highest levels of government. I understand politics, but it seems to me that there was once a time when there were some things so far beyond politics that people would do the right thing. Apparently now we find it acceptable to accept foreign influence in our government. It seems to me that regardless of what the Senate does such things can not pass unopposed otherwise it sets the precedent that such crimes are acceptable.

He must be impeached.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 102

Sal decided she couldn't take it and had to just lay there instead of doing what she was supposed to. She's so dramatic.

A Concert Named Goo

Tonight Becky and I ditched the kid and went to see the Goo Goo Dolls. I got Becky these tickets as part of her Christmas present, or maybe it was her birthday.  We decided that we were going to get some food before we went, and went to La Fuente because they are always pretty quick and we'd still have enough time to get to the concert. Turns out Google Maps estimates increased the entire trip so that it ended up taking far longer than we expected to get to the concert. I wasn't too concerned because there was an opening act that was going to be on first. Though, as we were driving we started to discuss that we didn't know when the Goo Goo Dolls would actually be going on.  It was a co-headlining tour with Train. We started to discuss if we thought that Train would be first of if it would be Goo Goo Dolls. If Train went second that means we could leave early if we wanted because while we like some songs by Train we aren't fans or anything. We could really avoid the rush and get home at a decent time.

As it turns out it was more a Train concert featuring the Goo Goo Dolls.  We got to the concert about thirty minutes late. We couldn't hear any music as we were going through security so we clearly hadn't missed anything. As we were walking in to try and find our seats we heard Goo Goo Dolls starting to play their first song. I took us a bit to find how to get to our seats, I've only been to DTE once back in 2002, where we also saw Goo Goo Dolls. We had pavilion seats because I'm not really into trying to get there early to stake out some lawn to sit on, plus it really hurts my back to sit like that for long periods of time.  We weren't as close as we were the last time we saw them, but the seats were really good. They played a good variety of music, some of the newer stuff, a bunch of the older stuff, and a song from their album that's coming out soon.

I was a little bit confused because when they started playing Black Balloon a bunch of black balloons started making their way down the hill. It seems like people brought them with them and started bouncing them across the audience like a beach ball or something. It seemed to me like a really weird thing to during a song about heroin, and I'm somewhat curious what the band thinks about it. It seemed like it could have been a distraction too because some of the balloons made it all the way on stage and almost hit some of the performers. I was a bit disappointed because they were only on stage for about an hour, and it wasn't nearly as interactive as the last time we got to see them. We decided that we didn't really care about seeing Train so we headed out to avoid the rush.  They ended up having the Goo Goo Dolls come out on stage at the end of the concert with Train, though I'm not sure I'm overly disappointed that we missed that because it was way nicer not getting home at like 1am.

I'm not one that's really enjoyed concerts all that much, but I actually had a good time and may consider going to another one.  I like DTE because it's out side and you get a nice breeze and aren't trapped indoors. Maybe next time they come through we'll go see them again.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 101

A nice picture of the two of us enjoying the show.  Yay, Goo Goo Dolls!

You Just Won Nothing, Where Are You Going To Go?

I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!

Ok, this isn't really news to anyone because I mentioned it previously, however it is news today to Sal because she finally found out that we were going. It's kind of cute because she thought that she would have to save up money to pay for the entire thing and was convinced it would take her until next year to collect $3000 so we could all go. I mean, if she can make that much in a year, then go you, 4 year old!  Really we were telling her that she should save her money so that she could buy souvenirs and things when we go, knowing that we were going next month.

How things work now is that instead of having tickets Disney sends you Magic Bands that you wear and are used as your ticket, room key, and way to charge anything to your account. If you plan your trip early enough then you will have your magic bands sent to you in the mail. Our magic bands arrived today and so we let Sal open the box.  She's seen these on YouTube so she knows what they are, or at least that was the thought going in since she had mentioned them before. When she opened the box she seemed less sure what it was all about and we had to kind of explain it to her. She didn't really seem all that excited by it all, but I don't think that I was expecting as much because she isn't really one to freak out about things too often.

I'm a little cautious about Disney because I"m not sure if she's going to really be all that interested or willing to ride on the rides. She can be kind of stubborn about things. I'm also not sure how she'll do with meeting the characters. Will she be interested in it or find it scary like she does with the Easter bunny or Santa (though Santa went far better last year than previous years). So, will this be a super expensive trip that she doesn't enjoy? Will we end up just staying at the pool and not doing much? I guess time will tell.

We will be continuing our mission to stay at every resort because we'll be staying this time at the Art of Animation resort. We booked rooms in the Little Mermaid section, which isn't as nice as the rest of the resort because it's older buildings that were built back when they thought it would be the phase two of the Pop Century resort but then scrapped it. It's basically the same as all the value resorts where it's motel style rooms. The rest of the resort are indoor hotel rooms that are all family suites.  I'd rather stay in those rooms but it was over a $1,000 more expensive to stay in those rooms and I don't think it's worth it. Becky has also been setting up reservations so that we can hit some good dining. We'll actually be doing something new this year because we're going to be doing some character meals.

Disney is always a good time, so I'm sure my nervousness is unfounded. It's only a few more weeks until the trip!

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 100

We got Sal a pair of her own headphones for her to wear on the plane so she can listen to the tablet and not be a monster child on the flight. I hope this goes well. The headphones are a bit too large, but she loves them and doesn't want to send them back.

Respectability

Today we did our drive back home, and it was generally unremarkable. I'm starting to feel like maybe it would be better to fly. It'd save so much time, we'd be able to not worry about parking and tolls, but then again there is a lot of downside with price and then transportation in and out of the airport. There aren't always good options. But we made it home safe and sound.

The show last night has really stuck in my mind thinking about how they presented the characters and the story, particularly Atticus.  The big thing with Atticus is that he was kind and he was kind to them regardless of how rude or disrespectful they were to him. He felt it was important to be respectful to everyone.  This was how they portrayed him on stage as well, however the other characters gave some pushback on his philosophy towards others, especially Jem and Calpurnia.  Jem had the feeling that his dad shouldn't just take whatever they said to him, he's willing to stand up to people who want to be rude or threatening to the family. This leads to some on stage tension between Jem and Atticus.

However, I think that Calpurnia does an even better job at challenging Atticus and his world view of respect towards everyone, even those who are advocating for violent vigilantism.  In one exchange Atticus is expressing how respect is important, even when he may not agree or like what someone else is saying or how they are acting toward him.  However, Calpurnia tells him that he is willing to be respectful towards everyone, no matter how much it may disrespect someone else. This line really stuck out because it illustrates that there are causes and effects to what we do. That Calpurnia is saying is that those who are the targets of the racists attacks and actions by members of the KKK are being disrespected when hateful people are treated as rational and respected individuals. In a way it is legitimizing their opinions as if they are acceptable. When it comes to the structural racism that has endured, it helps maintain it. Characters like Mrs. Dubose expect that they will be respected, regardless of what they say or do. It gives them a certain immunity to their words and actions. By respecting them their words go unchallenged.

Ultimately, Atticus holds firm the entire play feeling that respect is owed to all and that people can be trusted to do the right thing eventually.  However, he ends up looking kind of like a naive fool. He sees the world in an almost Polllyanna kind of way, and doesn't seem to understand that the people he is dealing with are not operating in good faith. He seems unable to understand the effects of racism and white supremacy in his community. He believes that things are much further along than they really are and that mosts people are good and not racists, when in fact the reach of that systematic racism stretches far wider than may be openly visible.  While not everyone may be hooded at a klan meeting, that doesn't mean that the people he interacts with daily are interested in equality or even sympathetic towards the African-Americans in the town or county. He is blinded by his experiences, the privilege that he has as a white male in that time to be given the benefit of the doubt. He is blinded by his naïveté that respect is owed to all and that because he often receives respect that the same respect is extended to everyone. He also seems stuck in an ineffectual strategy to change the world. He believes that respect and kindness will save the world, that it's the problem is the root to the problem and by modeling that respect and kindness and extending it towards people it will somehow cause those people to change how they act.

I think this really speaks to the world that we are living in today. It is quite common on social media to every once in a while see someone repost the thing talking about how what is wrong with the world today is that people aren't kind enough. That by being polite, by holding the door for the next person, or letting that person in at the traffic merge is what will solve the situation.  As if those things are going to change the systematic nature of the actual challenges that face us. That by somehow being nice to a random stranger will result in more fair sentencing, or make the bigot change their mind about those that he hates. It's a world view that says that they have not really seen actual adversity or been on the receiving end of the hate or structural discrimination that exists. It is the solution of respect that Atticus believes will make things better, but comes from someone who is rarely disrespected.  Would it be nice if people were kind to each other? Sure. However, it's not going to change the world, and is akin to having someone tell you to "walk it off" when your bone is protruding from your body. Such suggestions seem foolish and naive.  This is especially true when it comes from those in power and have the mechanisms to make real change. By telling us that it is merely kindness that will change the world, it denies the actual challenges that exist. It says that those things are minor and that a minor solution will cure it. It also allows those who benefit from the system to never have to face or reconcile their benefits and privileges under it.

Ultimately, Atticus is right to feel that we should try to understand others, be kind and respectful when possible. However, the world is more complex than that and not everyone in it is operating in good faith. Kindness is a noble idea but much like Atticus is blind to the deep nature of the issues in the story, people today are also blinded by the same issues. We are not as far along as we would like to think, and recent events illustrate the deep nature of the challenges we actual face. Kindness and respectability are noble intentions, but in the face of bigotry and hate they are as ineffectual as broom in a gun fight.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 99

I was really bummed yesterday because I couldn't get this photo to fit on the blog. Lucky for me I had so many thoughts on the show that I got to use it for today's picture of the day, even though it's from yesterday.

Double Header Theatre

Today was our final day in New York, and tomorrow we head back home. It's a quick trip, and once we made it here I was much more relaxed than I was before our trip, which kind of was stressing me out.  Though, I always worry that our car will be gone or broken into or something so that last bit of time we are here is a little more stressful again. You know, travel was a lot less stressful when you're younger because you don't have to worry about those things. It's not your responsibility nor is it your problem if something happens, someone else has to solve it. Maybe that's why I've always liked going to Disney so much, because there is nothing that I have to worry about, it's all taken care of.

We started the morning going to brunch with Becky and Garrett who Becky worked at in her Waldenbooks years. We went to a place called Parker & Quinn on 39th (a block south of Bryant Park and the NYC Public Library.  It wasn't that bad of a walk, though my shoes are still being worked in. The look of the place was kind of cool, and we were sat at these U shaped booths that were like two steps up above the main floor so you kind of got a view, or from the other people in the place you were kind of on display.  It was standard kind of breakfast foods, I ended up getting an egg and potato sort of meal that you could get anywhere like a Leos or Golden Egg sort of place. It was good enough but it wasn't really anything special.  However, because it was New York it meant that it was $20 (seriously, you'd pay maybe $7 for a similar meal anywhere around home).  We sat and chatted and it was a nice time.

After breakfast we all were headed in roughly the same direction and so we walked together until we had to part ways to get off to our other events.  For us that meant getting dressed to go see Tootsie. I didn't mention yesterday, but it is unbearably hot right now. The temperatures are hovering around 100, and then of course being in the sun and humidity makes it feel even hotter.  Today is our longes walk to see a show. Moulin Rouge was literally a block away from out hotel, but Tootsie is about two blocks up and a block over. It's not far, but it feels like a hike in the heat.  The theater seemed to be somewhat newer, or at least it felt that way. It was in the same building as the Marriott Marquis, just a few floors down from the lobby (their lobby is not at ground level). I have to say that the show was rather unremarkable.  The music was not anything that I'm going to go out and buy the soundtrack for or anything. Though, when I saw a clip on the Tony Awards I didn't think the music was much to see. Garrett had seen it and told us not to expect much from the music, but that the show itself was hilarious.  He was right in that, it was a very funny show. I'm not really surprised, Santino Fontana is the actor playing the title role, and he won the Tony for it too. He is one of my favorite Broadway actors. We saw him in The Importance of Being Ernest (hilarious), he also played the prince in Cinderella with Laura Osnes. He also was the voice of Prince Hans in Frozen. He's a funny guy so it wasn't surprising how funny this show was. I think my favorite scenes were with his roommate, it was just so well timed. They did have one funny song where his roommate recaps the first act where the chorus is "you fucked it up!" I'm glad I saw the show, but I'm also glad that the tickets were super cheap.

Our evening show was To Kill A Mockingbird, which I wanted to see mainly because the script was by Aaron Sorkin. Jeff Daniels had the role of Atticus, though right before we came I read that Ed Harris will be taking over for him in November, so I'm not sure who I'd rather see, but I lean Ed Harris.  The show had some interesting choices, the most obvious being that all the kids who are the main characters of the book are played by adults. I'm pretty sure the actress playing Scout is in her 40s.  However, they do a really good job of making it believable.  There is a scene where she and Daniels are sitting on the porch talking and the way she sits makes here look like the size of a child next to him. I mean, she isn't tall or anything but she places her body in a way that makes it work. Though, then again maybe it doesn't really work because I was thinking about how convincing it looked when I should have been paying attention to the characters.  The show itself is pretty true to the book, there were no big changes that I noticed, though then again I haven't read the book since my senior year in my modern novels class.  However, it seemed to follow what I remember from the book pretty well.  There did seem to be a lot more tension between Jem and Atticus than I remember, but that could just be the delivery of it.  I think they also did a good job at trying to keep things true to the book, but also making sure it was relevant and spoke to the conflicts we are having today with race. Or at the very least being able to see the conflict of the time the book is set, but seeing it through the eyes of us today. It was a good show, and I'm glad we saw it, but I left feeling rather annoyed with how things are today.

Thus ends our annual weekend trip to NYC. I mean, I don't know if I can call it annual since it's only the second time we've done it in the summer, and the third time we've done it. But I suppose two or three can start to be a tradition. I plan to come back in 2020 because I really need to see the Music Man revival that's coming out. It's going to star Sutton Foster as Marion and Hugh Jackman as Harold. Plus it was the first show I ever did so I have a bit of an attachment to it. Tomorrow we drive home, so it's been fun New York! See ya next time.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 98

A view toward Time Square from our hotel room. The H&M building there is on the south side of Time Square and the rest stretches toward the left of the picture. I hate going there, but it's quite nice looking when it's lit up.

NBC And OMG

Mistakes were made, mostly in getting a new pair of shoes so close to our trip. They haven't been broken in very well, so they were really hurting and we didn't even walk that far.  That being said, we got to do some pretty cool things today.  The first up was the NBC studio tour. We ended up getting into the city a lot earlier than expected, but it wasn't enough time to do too much because of when I scheduled the tour. I thought we'd be in later, and so we would have enough time to get some lunch and then head right in to the tour.  Well, we ended up with too much time to go anywhere interesting for lunch (which is sad because a caprese sandwich was calling my names from Chelsea), but too much time to just eat at Rockefeller and head in.  So we ended up going to a few shops in Time Square, and Rockefeller Center. They actually moved the FAO Schwartz right into the area where the old NBC store was, which is actually where the tours used to start. 20 years ago we visited the store and I bought an SNL hat and was bummed that we couldn't do a tour.

They've moved the studio store up onto the main floor in Rockefeller, and we looked around and bought some stuff for people. They had a door in the back of the store that you go through and it takes you to a security screening. Then they gave us these magnetic pins that look like applause signs for us to wear so security knew we were on the tour.  At the end of the tour we got to keep them as a souvenir. Once we made it through security they had us watch a quick introduction video before the tour started, and they made sure we knew that we could not take pictures while on the tour, which was a bummer and kind of dumb since none of the places were in production at the time. The lobby that we ended up in is where all the audience members enter and wait when they see shows that are being taped. It was renovated, so it wasn't original, but they did a good job at preserving the art deco style of the place.  We ended up seeing three studios, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and the SNL studio.  The talk show studios were a lot more narrow and long than I expected them to be.  When we went in both they had all the seats covered because apparently they use fancy leather and when a seat is damaged they have to take the entire seat out and send it to Italy to get the leather repaired/replaced.  They also said it had something to do with the HD cameras that they film with being able to pick up everything that is on them. They obviously like to keep them nice.  The Tonight Show studio was apparently the original one that they used before it moved to Los Angeles. They also showed us this cool area behind the studio where the muppet puppeteers were bored waiting for like a whole day so they decorated the pipes with original Grover fur and other stuff.  They couldn't move the pipes so they created a viewing area so that people could see them.  It was pretty neat.

The most exciting thing was visiting the set for SNL.  I've watch the show weekly for years, so finally being able to go into that space was really cool.  The studio was originally where they had an orchestra perform back in the days of radio.  You can get an idea of that because the space is very wide but not very deep.  It's actually right next to the studio for Seth Meyers, which was interesting.  Like the other two studios it looks much bigger on tv, but it was neat how they use the space. The station set that they use when the guest host enters is right in the center, and there is a stage that comes out for them to do the monologue on.  The people who get to sit right up close are actually the friends and family of the cast/crew, they don't want to let just anyone down there given it's a live show.  Everyone else is sitting up higher almost like a stadium or something like that. The area to the stage right of the station set is the space that they use for musical guests. Apparently they allow the musical guests do decorate the area however they want, but they have to pay for whatever they decide to do, which is interesting to know when you watch the show.  The area to the stage left of the station set is a large area that they use for big set pieces that can't move easily.  Most skits are done in front of this stage or in front of the musical guest stage and all the sets are basically just fold outs like a science fair board.  The thing that I really noticed most was that from where the audience is they are basically up where all the lights are hanging that they use for the show.  They're not quite at the same level, but they are right up there.  This was probably my favorite part of the tour. The end was kind of goofy because they have the group "produce" their own "show" that they record and send to you via e-mail. I didn't really enjoy it and would have much preferred seeing another studio, but what can ya do.

After our tour we headed back to our hotel to check in. They ended up giving us an upgrade to a corner view room. I'd just booked a regular room, but sometimes that happens when they have availability. I think that it's one of the perks of the level I'm at on their rewards program. I'm not going to complain, it was a view straight down 8th Avenue.  We then got changed and headed over to our first show of the trip, Moulin Rouge.  As we were walking there was this middle aged jackass sort of guy in front of us with a much younger woman. He looked like he was like in the finance industry and so I asked Becky if she wanted to play trophy wife or call girl.  As it turned out the two of them were also on their way to see Moulin Rouge.  We had seats in the balcony that were surprisingly affordable. When we arrived we realized that part of that was because there were some minor view issues on account of the giant elephant in the area the were box seating.  We also realized that this is the same theater that we saw Daniel Radcliffe in when he did How To Succeed In Business back in 2011. As we were sitting in our seats I was looking at the stage and set, and they have it set up so that there is a catwalk that comes out in front of the stage and makes a T shape. Between the T and the stage they have seating at cafe style tables, much like you would expect if you were at a place like the Moulin Rouge.  I knew they did this, and I knew that those seats were $500 each.  I also then saw the jackass and +1 were sitting in those seats.  Side note, he caught my eye a few times during the show where he was singing and dramatically flailing his arms out and about. It was really unfortunate, and he was clearly drunk.

The show itself was extraordinary. I think back to the first Broadway show I saw back in 1999. It was Jekyll and Hyde, and it was really amazing when I saw it. Jekyll/Hyde had an excellent confrontation at the end where the actor had to shift between the characters back and forth as they argue. I remember the sound of the cast as we bought the tickets and how they sounded amazing and better than any show I'd ever seen before. It was exciting and seeing the production quality as compared to a touring show was night and day.  I think back to that, and think about the show we saw tonight and it makes those other Broadway shows I've seen look like community theater.  The best way I could describe it is that they so perfectly created a world and characters that at no time did I think that I wasn't watching real people playing themselves. It was flawlessly done in terms of their characters, their acting, and their authenticity.  I'm also dumbstruck by the sheer level of energy that they are able to put out on that stage, particularly the actor portraying Harold Zidler. I don't know how he is able to maintain that level for the two hours of the show, much less doing it eight times a week.  I also thought that the things they added were pretty good. Satine had a new song, Katy Perry's Firework, but she did it in such an emotional way that it really surprised me.  There were a few things that they dropped from the movie for the stage version that I was a little sad about, but I imagine that they had to negotiate the rights for some of the songs and that may not have gone well. Overall, I thought the show was probably one of the best shows that I've seen on Broadway. It was fully immersive in the experience, the second you walk in you are in the Moulin Rouge to see their show. They fully commit to what they're doing and the choices those characters would make. It was so much fun, and I'm a little sad that it was the first thing we saw because I can't imagine anything else we see could compare.

Tomorrow we're meeting some friends from Becky's bookstore years, and then we're off to see Tootsie and To Kill A Mocking Bird.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 97

This was Becky's reaction after the end of the first act. Clearly, she's impressed.

On The Road Again

Today was a driving day because we are in New York for a quick weekend trip.  Every year when my credit card renews I get a free hotel stay for the rewards program the credit card is tied to. Of course that means I look for the most expensive possible room to use for that free night so that I get the most bang for my buck. For the past few years that means we used it in a nice hotel a block or so away from Time Square because New York is a very expensive place, and it's also not that far away, so that makes it a great choice for a visit. It also helps that every year there's usually a few new shows, or shows that we haven't seen yet, that we'd like to see. Last year we got to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and also got to see My Fair Lady.  Two years ago we got to see Sunset Boulevard, Amelie, and Anastasia. This year we're going to see Moulin Rouge, Tootsie, and To Kill A Mockingbird, so that's exciting.

For tonight we're not staying in the city yet, instead we are staying right outside in Secaucus, New Jersey. As we were driving out here it occurred to me that this year is the 20th anniversary of the first visit I got to take to New York. It was 1999, and the internet was new, yet it allowed me to find this hotel right outside of New York that had bus service in and was only like 15 minutes from downtown. Amazingly, that hotel is still operating under the same company. There are a number of hotels that I've stayed at that have changed hands, but this one has stayed the same, and every most the time when we go to New York we stay here because it's convenient, and has free parking.

Back then it was a completely different kind of situation. I remember that to get tickets for the bus you had to buy them in the hotel gift shop. Now they have a nice machine at the stop that you can buy your tickets from. Now it's easy to get around by using your phone to Google Map to where you need to get to, but back in '99 I had an Eyewitness brand book that was a guide to the city. We used the map in that book to get around the city. It was very exciting to go to New York for the first time. I remember driving in from the south and in the distance from a hill on the high way seeing the buildings of southern Manhattan in the distance, with the World Trade Center standing out the most.  On the first day we went into the city I remember looking across the river at the skyline, with the Empire State Building. I've lost count how many times I've visited, but it's getting somewhere close to 10-12 trips. It's crazy to see how the the city has changed in the years since our first visit. Despite all these visits, the past three trips there are still things that we have had a chance to do and see that we've never done before, and this year is no different. We plan to take an NBC studio tour, something that I wanted to do 20 years ago when we first visited but didn't have the chance to.

It's a very exciting trip, with some great shows and great new things to do!

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 96

Behold, the view of New Jersey from hour hotel room. It looks pretty tree filled, but really that's a courtyard that is outlined by a bunch of shops. Sadly, they aren't showing any good movies at the theater so we'll just have to sit around tonight.

Shut Up, Brain

We're planning on taking a little weekend trip to New York, but my brain likes to get a bit overboard about worrying occasionally. The worries are absurd things to be worried about, and it's not like the chances of the scenarios that I'm worried about will actually happen. However, my brain will just once in a while pop up with something that could happen. Like, hey, you're going to be going on vacation and Sal is going to stay with her grandma, you know they have a pool and something bad could happen in the pool.  Or, you know, that's a long way to drive, car accidents are very common.  I suppose that one is common, but then more uncommon would be that to get into NYC we have to go through the Lincoln Tunnel, what if something happened and it filled with water!

It's a total waste of time to think about that, but they just intrude into my brain for me to worry about for a bit before I forget about it and move on. I suppose there is some evolutionary advantage to being able to think ahead for things that could be dangerous so that you can be aware and alert, but I feel like that's better for worrying about the possibility of being trampled by a wooly mammoth or falling off a cliff or something like that. Yet, we have a modern world so we get to think about other things that are unlikely and stupid. The upside is that if I want to get them out of my head faster, sometimes I'll think about them in a narration voice of Morgan Freeman.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 95

Sometimes Sal tells me that I have to take pictures of things. Today she told me that I had to take a picture of her necklace and specifically the heart on it. So why not make that the picture of the day?

On The Moon, With Steve

Today is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11.  I love space, and I've always been a fan of NASA and all of that stuff.  The moon landing always felt like it was so long before me, but really it was barely 11 years before I was born! I really would love to see NASA go back to the moon, we've made a lot of advances since 1969, not only in the technology we would need to get there, but also in film, and I'd love to see some HD livestream of the landing. I mean, we have great pictures of what the surface of Mars looks like, I'd love to see similar things from the moon.

As we were sitting around tonight thinking about what we wanted to watch, we decided that we'd watch First Man, which basically follows Neil Armstrong from a test pilot through his return from Apollo 11. It was a pretty good movie, and was very interesting and stressful at times. The entire first sequence has him in a test plane and accidentally bouncing off the atmosphere and having to figure out how to get his plane to go back down, which was really kind of scary, but obviously he figured it out.  It also seemed pretty scary going up in the Gemini program in those cramped little capsule with tiny little windows. The whole thing would freak me out, I don't like enclosed spaces, and talk about enclosed!

Really, watching them practice and try to get the tech up and running so that they could actually make it to the moon makes me wonder how we were actually able to do it. It seems impossible and we figured it out, which is part of what makes the entire program so amazing.  It's become far too popular to push the moon hoax, but I watched an interesting video by a photographer and film guy discussing how the video couldn't have been faked because the technology in film wasn't present to be able to fake something like the moon landing. He went through and discussed film and photography and pointed out all the points where the only way the hoax criticisms work is if you don't know much about film or photography, which most people don't. That's especially true of younger people because they are used to the age of digital and high quality special effects.

After the movie I also did some research and added a new item to my to do list, and that is when we someday make it to California I want to visit the Hornet museum, which is the aircraft carrier that picked up the Apollo 11 capsule when it landed in the pacific upon return from the moon. It would really be a cool thing to see and visit, plus it also served in World War II, so there is tons of history that this ship experienced, it'd be neat to go there. I think my travel bug is starting to pop up again because there are about five trips that I want to go on right now.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 94

I got the laundry out to take care of and Sal decided that she was going to help me do the laundry.  She sorted all of her clothes out, and then put all of her shirts on hangers, all by herself.  I like that it was her idea to help, and that she insisted that she do it herself. 

Waiting Game

Today we had a fun game of waiting in the waiting room.  My car has been telling me for ages now that I need to have it serviced, and I'm quite overdue.  Given that we are heading to New York in a few days, and we want to take my car to save on gas, I needed to get it done before we went.  The problem is that it's not very fun to sit and wait, especially if you are only four years old.  But, since there wasn't really any other choice, we got up and headed to the dealership to get the car looked at and taken care of.

The upside is that right next door is a strip mall that has a Coney Island, so I planned it for early int he morning, and we just got up and left.  Once we were checked in we walked next door and got some breakfast.  I have to say, the Uptown Coney is way better than most the Coney Islands that I go to.  The food was actually really good, and was quite delicious.  Sal got a kick out of it because one of their wall decorations was a traffic signal, so we played a little stop and go for a minute or two based on what the light told us we could do. 

Once we finished breakfast we headed back to the waiting room to hang out while they finished the car.  Sal was pretty good for the most part, however after about half an hour she got bored with the games on her tablet, and it was almost dead so I couldn't plug her into the wifi to watch something.  She then got a little antsy and annoyed. The good news is that they also had a tiny little playroom with a few toys that she got to go in and play with.  She played for a little bit, but then got a bit bored with them too because they were most for younger kids.  She was headed back to me when a dad and son walked in and decided to go play with the toys and she turned around and went in to play with them.

It was pretty cute because the first thing that she said to them was, "Did you know I'm not afraid of anything? That's because I'm strong and brave and fierce and fast." But, she stayed in there playing with the little boy, who was probably 3, until they were done with the car.  When she was done she cleaned up everything.  A lady sitting nearby said to me how impressed she was at how well behaved she was, and how great she was at sharing and playing with the other little boy who she didn't know. "What a great little girl she is," said the lady. Hopefully she's as good on Wednesday when we go to get my windshield replaced. I'm worried that will not go quite as well because it's going to be longer, and I don't think they have any toys, and probably not a room with toys for her to play in.  I'll have to make sure all the tablets are charged up and that my phone is available for Netflix. Hopefully that goes as well.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 93

Owl had to accompany us to breakfast, and of course we had to send a picture to mommy while we were waiting for our food.

Trump Is A Racists, And So Are You!

Today the President decided that he wanted to ensure the focus on things were on the more liberal wing of the Democratic party. I think he wants to have people, especially his supporters, to believe that the entire Democratic party is on the more extreme progressive wing of the party.  The biggest voices of that are candidates like Bernie Sanders and members of Congress like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, however the leadership is more moderate with Joe Biden ahead in the race, and Nancy Pelosi running the House as Speaker.  I think he also wanted to change the subject away from the focus that has been on the camps on the border, which doesn't seem to be playing as well as he would like. Therefore he decided to lash out at Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachuetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, saying that if they didn't like it, they could "go back" to their country. The problem here is that comments like that are decidedly racist. These four women of color are representing their districts in the congress of the United States.  All of them are American citizens, and three of the four were born here. 

There are a few issues here with these comments. The first being that these are textbook examples of things that are considered racist.  Government organizations that police racial discrimination actually publish information, and telling people to "go back to their country if they don't like it" is one of the examples of racist comments that could be considered harassment.  The second issue is that Trump himself spent a good portion of the Obama years criticizing the president and the country. His twitter is filled with posts that he would piss and moan about if people were tweeting the exact thing about him.  Yet, no one told him to go back to where he came from. He seemed to think it was his right to complain about things and use his first amendment rights, but suddenly some non-white women do it and they should shut up or go back to where they came from. 

The other issue is that this is not the first time that he has done something like this.  He had his comments about "shithole countries" and has been strongly against immigrant. He started his campaign calling Mexicans rapists and murderers, he talks about the country being "infested" and calls immigrants, "animals."  He has called white supremacists, "good people" and used racists dogwhistle language.  He had his administration's Muslim ban, and spent the entire eight years of the Obama presidency pushing the idea of birtherism, a racist attack against the first black president.  He was sued for discrimination in housing, and even after it was clear of their innocence was quite nasty about the Central Park 5. 

He has a long history of racism, and it's impossible anymore to call him anything other than what he is, a racist.  He is a racist that used racism to help bring him to the White House.  Immigration policy is not inherently racist, but when you demonize immigrants, calling them murdering animals, and then start putting them in horrid camps, then it's hard to deny the racism.  Telling people to go back to their country when they are Americans but aren't white, that is racist. For all of those people who agree with these despicable comments, these detestable policies, and this racist man, then unfortunately, you are probably a racist too.  It's pretty clear, either you rebuke this, or you are a racist. If you don't like that, then you need to start thinking about your choices.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 92

Yes, it is July but Sal wanted to watch the Thanksgiving Charlie Brown special.  We recorded it two years ago to watch with her and she loved it so we just can't delete it.  Today we watched it again.

Toe No!

I've had a bit of an accident today, and may or may not have broken my toe. It's pretty purple, and it hurts, but the thing is that I've broken a toe before and that really hurt. This doesn't hurt nearly as bad as all that, so I feel like perhaps I just jammed it really bad.  I can still bend it and move it without causing terrible pain.  Everyone seems to think it's broken, but there's really nothing that you can do for that except tape it together and wait.  So I guess it's just waiting until it feels better.

I think I was jinxed into it. I had like five minutes of exercise time needed to close my rings on my watch, so I decided just to walk some laps around the living room while watching a movie to get my last few minutes of exercise in for the day.  While doing that Sara and Becky arrived and Sara said she was worried I was going to hit into something.  Clearly this is her fault for cursing me with her comments.  It's the Secret. Hahah.  What really happened is I stripped on something and kind of stumbled right into the edge of the couch.  There was an audible crunching noise, though I'm not sure if that was my toe or the couch.

This doesn't exactly come at a convenient time at all because I have a trip coming up to New York, and that usually involves considerable walking.  Though, it's also supposed to be nearly 100 in the city while we are there, so I don't know that we're going to want to do too much walking because we may die.  At the same time I don't know that I want to be underground waiting for a subway when it's 100 degrees.  It did occur to me that the first time I went to New York was 20 years ago this year, right after I graduated High School.  I think I've been back 8-10 times, though I can't recall exactly.  I think this year we may finally do the NBC Studio Tour, something I've been wanting to do for 20 years and never thinking ahead enough to do it.  Hopefully my toe will cooperate.

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 91

Just seconds before, Sal was laying here.  She went to get a snack and came back and there was Luna.  To be fair she didn't call seat back.  Also, Luna's face is due to Sal realizing that she lost her seat.

Game Night?

I had a strange dream last night and when I woke up I was in that state when I'm still half asleep but still remember what I was dreaming. Because of that, when I woke up I was convinced that The Truman Show was the most underrated movie ever made, and that it was a genius masterpiece that was unfortunately simply ahead its time.  The reason for this is because the movie came out before the advent of social media and somehow that was an important factor into the success of the movie.  Probably has to do with the idea that people are constantly on display with Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.  Though really, that probably would just make it less compelling because people don't really watch television in the same way that they used to.  I imagine this has something to do with some news stories that were talking about tech giants and the need to be broken up.

However, I did really enjoy The Truman Show when it came out.  We went to see it with my family, because Jim Carrey was very popular at the time and it looked pretty funny.  My entire family hated the ending of the movie because it didn't really show where he went or what happened. Did he reunite with the girl? What happened next.  I thought that was kind of the point of it.  He's been on television his entire life, and he's finally stepping out of it and going into a place where people don't get to know his every move.  I thought that was the best way that they could end the movie, so I thought it was fine. 

Dreams are weird, though I often don't recall them all that well. Most of the ones I do remember are pretty average like dreaming that I'm grocery shopping where nothing strange happens.  Last night I also had a dream that somehow I was living in my house in Virginia and the peach tree had peaches on it, which it didn't while we were down there, and the peaches were pretty good.  Crazy dream, right?

Picture(s) of the Day: 
Picture 90

We spent some time at the library, at her request.  They didn't have the kitchen set up, which she was disappointed about.  However, they did have a new farm area where she got to "pick" some of the produce and she was obviously pleased.