Thursday, March 23, 2006
I'll admit it. Computers have become an integral part of my life. In the morning I check my three email accounts (personal, business, and junk). Then at work I am on the computer all day (emails, letters, research, databases, citations, and website maintenance). Once home I again check my computer for emails and sometimes again before I go to bed.
Computer Withdrawal. It'll be back to books in Belize. No computers. No cell phones (not that I have one). Just hubby and I bumming on the beach. I think he is more worried about the computer shakes than I am. Every day for a week now he has come home with a new book. How different we are. He picks: 'Dealing with Darwin -- How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution', 'Talking Back - to Presidents, Dictators, and Assorted Scoundrels, 'Bait and Switch - The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream', and finally (so far), 'Freakonomics - A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything." Classic hubby. And he will not entirely finish any of the books. He'll read just enough to reinforce his already entrenched ideas that the world is going to hell.
My books. Just what you might expect I'd pick: 'Thank You for Smoking, ' TheDevil in the White City - Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America' (bought it for hubby because it's based on a true story but he just turned up his nose), McCarthy's Bar - A journey of Discovery in Ireland', and 'In Cold Blood' -- these picks an eclectic array of hopefully well-written books designed to take me to new realities (real or imagined). I'll be impressed with myself if I plow through all four books in two weeks. Usually tropical vacations make me quite sleepy....
Back on April 10...
Computer Withdrawal. It'll be back to books in Belize. No computers. No cell phones (not that I have one). Just hubby and I bumming on the beach. I think he is more worried about the computer shakes than I am. Every day for a week now he has come home with a new book. How different we are. He picks: 'Dealing with Darwin -- How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution', 'Talking Back - to Presidents, Dictators, and Assorted Scoundrels, 'Bait and Switch - The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream', and finally (so far), 'Freakonomics - A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything." Classic hubby. And he will not entirely finish any of the books. He'll read just enough to reinforce his already entrenched ideas that the world is going to hell.
My books. Just what you might expect I'd pick: 'Thank You for Smoking, ' TheDevil in the White City - Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America' (bought it for hubby because it's based on a true story but he just turned up his nose), McCarthy's Bar - A journey of Discovery in Ireland', and 'In Cold Blood' -- these picks an eclectic array of hopefully well-written books designed to take me to new realities (real or imagined). I'll be impressed with myself if I plow through all four books in two weeks. Usually tropical vacations make me quite sleepy....
Back on April 10...
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Surprise a.m. Bloom (wasn't there when I went to bed last night)...
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Her Friend Down in New Orleans. The daughter's friend signed up for an "alternative spring break get-away" which entailed a bus ride to New Orleans to help re-build homes in the aftermath of the Katrina devastation.
Well FEMA and other like-organizations could not have done a better job demonstrating their incompetence if they tried. Thousands of college students were brought down to Ground-Katrina. Said college students arrived only to discover that there would be nothing to 're-build' because zip-point-zero had been done since the hurricane hit i.e. the storm might as well have ripped through yesterday... The students were housed in tents on the outskirts of the city with not nearly enough tents to go around. Food consisted of Snickers bars, chips, soda, white bread, and occasional pieces of fatty pink substances proclaiming to be ham. On most days students were bused to areas, dropped off, but then given no instructions as to what they were supposed to do. On one occasion, the students were dropped off at a location and left stranded: No return transportation had been organized. You get the picture...
Well FEMA and other like-organizations could not have done a better job demonstrating their incompetence if they tried. Thousands of college students were brought down to Ground-Katrina. Said college students arrived only to discover that there would be nothing to 're-build' because zip-point-zero had been done since the hurricane hit i.e. the storm might as well have ripped through yesterday... The students were housed in tents on the outskirts of the city with not nearly enough tents to go around. Food consisted of Snickers bars, chips, soda, white bread, and occasional pieces of fatty pink substances proclaiming to be ham. On most days students were bused to areas, dropped off, but then given no instructions as to what they were supposed to do. On one occasion, the students were dropped off at a location and left stranded: No return transportation had been organized. You get the picture...
Monday, March 20, 2006
There is a God [Close your ears guys]. That is to say when you get your period a week earlier than expected -- which means that your period will not overlap a week of your two-week vacation in Belize, well then you have to think to yourself...perhaps all of those furious jumping jacks to fit into a bikini did some good. Plus now I can go snorkeling without worrying so much about those pesty sharks...
Friday, March 17, 2006
The twenty-something-year-old harp. An historian friend of mine argues that the concept of kids moving out by eighteen (or thereabouts) is a relatively new one. Far more prevalent throughout history has been offspring (and their offspring) living together over the span of multi decades. Great. But that doesn't solve my particular dilemma that I don't want my kids living with me. They seem ill-equipped to tend my garden nor do I see them spoon-feeding me mashed peas in some future state of dementia that I hope never to reach. That's why we've paid the big bucks: for soul enriching summer camps, body-building soccer clubs, mind-expanding tutoring, trips abroad, SAT prepping, etc... all in the name of making sure they become self-sustaining individuals who don't live in our basements at age twenty-five.
Connections help. Getting your kids out of your basements is infinitely easier if the parent(s) have connections. The daughter, for instance, just landed a great paid summer internship at a well-known Boston-based PR firm. She is extremely qualified for the job and they loved her. However.... she probably wouldn't have gotten in the door without a connection. Can we connect the son? As long as he doesn't have to email anyone (write) and can instead call them on the phone He might be ok then Even better would be if potential employers (preferably female) could meet him in person and see his big, beautiful blue eyes.
Meanwhile, the son just spent his spring break baking his ass in Jamaica for a week while the daughter (during her spring break), spent her time assuring a summer internship. Which isn't to say that the son won't pull it all out at the end (his usual way of doing business), but at this point it is nerve-wracking at best.
And then fluke things happen. The star child of our town, a young, poised, smart, beautiful college student interning in London just took a weekend jaunt to Venice, Italy. And what did she do in her drunken stupor? She jumped into the Venice Canal. Unsafe sex with six different partners would probably have been more hygenic .... Which is to say, you never know how life will turn out for anyone.
Connections help. Getting your kids out of your basements is infinitely easier if the parent(s) have connections. The daughter, for instance, just landed a great paid summer internship at a well-known Boston-based PR firm. She is extremely qualified for the job and they loved her. However.... she probably wouldn't have gotten in the door without a connection. Can we connect the son? As long as he doesn't have to email anyone (write) and can instead call them on the phone He might be ok then Even better would be if potential employers (preferably female) could meet him in person and see his big, beautiful blue eyes.
Meanwhile, the son just spent his spring break baking his ass in Jamaica for a week while the daughter (during her spring break), spent her time assuring a summer internship. Which isn't to say that the son won't pull it all out at the end (his usual way of doing business), but at this point it is nerve-wracking at best.
And then fluke things happen. The star child of our town, a young, poised, smart, beautiful college student interning in London just took a weekend jaunt to Venice, Italy. And what did she do in her drunken stupor? She jumped into the Venice Canal. Unsafe sex with six different partners would probably have been more hygenic .... Which is to say, you never know how life will turn out for anyone.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Two colds in two weeks. Possible culprits: the dreary litter-strewn gray of March; The Council on Aging events I've had to attend over the last few weeks (why would they build an elderly facility right next to a cemetery as if the facility itself weren't depressing enough?); Or, the most likely culprit,: the immune-system-depleting fear that the son won't have a job nor a place to live upon graduation in May. And by the way, he certainly isn't doing anything about the afore-mentioned this week. He is sunning his ass on the beaches of Jamaica during spring break.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
For the Record: "Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates was again the world's richest man for the 12th year running. Gates grew wealthier, with his net worth rising to $50 billion from $46.5 billion. Investor Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., again ranked second; his fortune fell by $2 billion to $42 billion."
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
In the glaring limelight of neon called a Marshall's dressing room, Anna Bloviations, at age forty-six, in the unflinchingly unforgiving depth of winter paleness, tried on ten bikinis. Eight of them made me laugh out loud but two I decided weren't so bad. Usually I'm a one-piece girl but I've decided what-the-hell. We're going to Belize end of March. This will no doubt be the last time I can get away with a bikini and not look like an utter idiot. And actually, whether totally delusional or not, I rather fancy I don't look so bad in one. Or... more likely, perhaps we don't care anymore. Or... even more likely, we need new glasses.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
The Wall Street Journal today reported that a couple without an employer-sponsored health plan during retirement needs to set aside $200,000 to pay for health-care costs after the age of 65, according to calculations by Fidelity Investments. I say spend the $200K on good food, good wine, an occasionally massage, and die younger.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Convenient Science. Anna Bloviations attended a 'drug awareness/prevention forum' held at the high school of my Rep's (my) affluent district. Entertainment (at a cost of $1,000 for the evening) proved engaging, funny, and informative: Michael N. could honestly audition for a slot on Comedy Central. The gist of his one-hour presentation is that hitherto unknown science now shows that the human brain does some pretty remarkable development between the ages of twelve and seventeen (hence the apprehension about under-age binge drinking). In fact, new studies show that in females and males, the human brain is not fully developed until ages twenty and twenty-four respectively (damn those males). Most interesting (from a college tuition paying perspective) was the fact that undergraduate binge drinking reduces brain capacity by 10%. So.... we spend all that money for tuition only to have them come out of the system stupider than when they went in....
I had two nagging thoughts as I listened to this illuminating presentation: 1) funny that this science would come out just as it has become customary that kids live with their parents until nearly thirty years of age. What about the brains of those fourteen-year-olds who got off at Ellis Island with nothing but the clothes on their backs? Thought #2 was: gee too late. My and my kids' brains are already functioning at well below capcity. And yet, it could be worse. We could be Republicans...
I had two nagging thoughts as I listened to this illuminating presentation: 1) funny that this science would come out just as it has become customary that kids live with their parents until nearly thirty years of age. What about the brains of those fourteen-year-olds who got off at Ellis Island with nothing but the clothes on their backs? Thought #2 was: gee too late. My and my kids' brains are already functioning at well below capcity. And yet, it could be worse. We could be Republicans...
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Loved I Two Children Equally Well, Though They Were Different As Heaven and Hell.... The one child (from the perspective of a parent anyway) is perhaps easier to swallow right now than the other . Because it would seem, at least, that she (the daughter) is on the path to self-fulfillment, career success, and independence. God, what more could a parent want... What she lacks in self-esteem and finesse, she makes up for in hard work and good values. She is a worker... She will slog through anything that needs getting done and will give 150% to get it done.
He (the son) is equally smart but does just enough to get by whilst finessing the world in his game of life. He is a player. He has self-esteem coming out of his ears and no shortage of finesse. But he does not work hard and will lie unabashedly if it suits his agenda. But it is he, not she, that often 'scores' in the game just by virtue of his connections, player skill, whatever...
She (the daughter) is already lining up a summer internship. I have no clue what his (the son's) post-college-graduation plans are other than they shan't be spent at the house of Anna Bloviations.
The better path? I have no clue. The world is much too fluid at the moment. Darwinian milestones seem to come and go at rates much too fast to determine survival of the fittest.
He (the son) is equally smart but does just enough to get by whilst finessing the world in his game of life. He is a player. He has self-esteem coming out of his ears and no shortage of finesse. But he does not work hard and will lie unabashedly if it suits his agenda. But it is he, not she, that often 'scores' in the game just by virtue of his connections, player skill, whatever...
She (the daughter) is already lining up a summer internship. I have no clue what his (the son's) post-college-graduation plans are other than they shan't be spent at the house of Anna Bloviations.
The better path? I have no clue. The world is much too fluid at the moment. Darwinian milestones seem to come and go at rates much too fast to determine survival of the fittest.
