amazon sells child abuse manual

Amazon, the renowned internet purveyor of books and more sells Debi and Michael Pearls' books. These books are basically manuals on ways to train a child through continued beatings in order to create a child that obeys on command. The Pearls misuse the Biblical scriptures to justify their horrible and abusive techniques. I have been looking forward to making some purchases from Amazon, but I find that I just can't help them. Buy selling the Pearls' books, Amazon is part of the problem, they are implicitly condoning the brutalization of children in the name of training.

Please join the boycott of all who sell the books of the Pearls or otherwise support them and their abuse.

soccer stadiums of the world

I've fallen in love. And it's all about soccer again. This time however it's Google Earth related, so no dirty thoughts there people.

I found this new toy at Google Earth blog. A lot of the stuff they discuss is beyond me or my concern. Some of it looks neat, but it's just not for me. So imagine my surprise tonight. I can now check out a little over 1,600 soccer stadiums around the world using Google Earth.

I haven't messed with it a whole lot just yet. I checked out the local college stadium where our Lady Vols have been hurtin' some people lately (okay, last fall.) I next looked at RFK where I really want to go see DC United put a hurtin' on someone. Did I tell you that Red Bull bought the Metro Stars? Yeah, that Red Bull.

So before coming back to blog about my new adoration, I was in Germany. I need to start buying lottery tickets again so I can win a trip to the World Cup. I figure the whole trip can be done right for a million, so if I win the Powerball, that's where I'll be this summer.

I'm sure the few people reading this give a shit, so here's the link. Have a blast flying around the world checking out soccer stadiums. Vive la futbol!!! And if you don't have Google Earth, HOLY CRAP! What are you waiting for? And you call yourself a homeschooler? Seriously, if you don't have it, it is soooooo cool! So cool! Go get it.

damn revenuers

I got The Boy in bed earlier tonight, and Big Brother was on the computer, so I turned the tv on. I don't often do that for myself lately. If Momma is actually not at work she gets first crack at the computer, so I sometimes get the tv then, but it's usually during the day when nothing is on. Generally the boys get the tv giving me ample time to figure out when the good cartoons are on.

The good cartoons, in my opinion almost begin and end with The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. That's my newest favorite show right now. Big Brother loves Ben 10, and I find that I can certainly enjoy it along with him. No show in recent memory can top Fullmetal Alchemist, easily one of the greatest things I have ever seen. I'm not even close to caught up on the story line. The dumbasses at Cartoon Network decided to mess with the schedule, and now they only show new episodes. That means basically that I need to start investing in the DVD's just to figure out the damn story.

None of that is the point. That was all a rabbit trail diverting us from the real point here. When I finally did get the tv I did in fact watch The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. I loved it. I laughed still more of my ass off. Then I went channel surfing. I'd missed the first half of the new Doctor Who, so I have no opinion about that, although I really need to remember to watch it. I did watch the last half hour of a History Channel show, Rumrunners, Moonshiners and Bootleggers.

I've always harbored a sort of respect for the bootleggers. That's not a surprise really if you really know me. I can see myself about 60 years ago in a modified Ford, gallons of moonshine my sole companion. The only thing I see in my headlights is that long strip of blacktop and a fence and some trees. I've got the pedal down, while my eyes keep darting to the rearview mirror. I'm praying I don't see a thing in that mirror.

I'm not sure exactly what the law says about making liquor. According to someone on the show, while making wine and beer are legal, making any liquor requires paying taxes. I know that I can make beer and it's legal, but I can't sell it. Making beer is easy. Distilling liquor of any kind just seems to me like too much work. It's not something that I could see doing as a hobby, but as a nonchemist/distiller, I don't know that it isn't feasible to make liquor on an extremely small scale.

I want to think of the bootlegger as the basic stereotype of the poor mountain man trying to feed his family. I don't doubt that a good number of bootleggers at one time really were doing what they could, what they knew how to do. That view was somewhat tarnished tonight though when one man who used to distill alcohol discussed the fact that he basically making sugar liquor.

All alcohol is based on finding something that has sugar in it and making that sugar turn into alcohol. Next to the oldest profession, it's probably the second oldest profession. Wine uses the sugar from grapes. Beer uses the sugar from grains, usually barley. Liquors use a variety of things from potatoes to grains to plain old sugar.

I'd never heard of sugar liquor before tonight. Corn liquor I'm well aware of and well acquainted with. I've also been known to enjoy a particular cactus based liquor. But I'll be damned if I need to get drunk so bad I'll drink sugar liquor. That's not even trying. And yes, that was the point. I took you all around with those silly cartoon distraction, and in the end I just proved that nothing I say is worth the paper it's written on.

can you boycott evil?

This post is NO LONGER sticky and will remain on top for the present. Please scroll down for further posts.

This post has been further edited below.

My last post was about spanking and was inspired by the story of a mother, following advice from a pair of child beating/abuse experts. The advice resulted in the death of the child. Apparently, when a child won't stay in bed, it is okay to wrap them so tightly in the covers that they can't move. If you end up killing the child then you must have been abusing them incorrectly.

Well, it happened. See the story HERE. I first heard about all of this at Darryl Cobranchi's site. I've become a fan of Mr. Cobranchi's writing about news stories that affect us homeschoolers.

Blogging, as it has throughout the world, has become popular among homeschoolers. The Old Schoolhouse is a magazine by and about homeschooling and this magazine sponsors a blogging site named Homeschool Blogger. The evil couple that educate child abusers and provide lessons in abuse are well represented at both these sites. These sites help the baby beaters spread their word and profit off of beating lessons disguised as books.

A boycott has been called for both these sites as well as anyone who supports the baby beaters. If you want to know more about the baby beaters follow the link to stoptherod.net which I included in my last post. I will continue to give this link when I feel it might help.

Here's a link to the page at Stop the Rod that deals directly with the baby beaters. http://stoptherod.net/ttuac.html

The following links are part of the boycott of groups willing to help the baby beaters.
http://cobranchi.com/
http://kitchentablelearners.blogspot.com/
http://dantesvirgil.blogspot.com/
http://evilmissy.blogspot.com/
http://beingbridget.blogspot.com/
http://intothesunrise.blogspot.com/
http://www.odonnellweb.com/
http://asmallcornerofnowhere.blogspot.com/

Joyce Fetteroll has a site about both unschooling as well as parenting. This PAGE has helped me immensley in the past. I keep it bookmarked because the questions answered here come up very often with me personally. I'm including this link because it can help. This page has nothing to do with the boycott or with anything else mentioned. It is a page of help for parents who need answers. I would ask that everyone read through this page because as parents, we can always use another answer from another point of view.

I am posting this for the children. For me to boycott the fundies and their crazy websites and blogs is kind of like a vegan boycotting meat. I gave up superstition a long time ago, and I usually steer clear of the oppressive majority. I've always felt in the minority as far as homeschooling goes, and I've always been okay with that. But this is bigger than me and my feelings. This is about the uncountable children who are hurt every day in this country. This is about people finally standing up for the children who can't stand up, the kids who are beaten with straps and sticks and plumbing supplies.

Pain does not teach or train. Pain drives children to develop an animalitic attitude where life is all about avoiding being hit. I know what it's like to lie and hide to avoid being hit.

This post has been edited to add:

I've taken the sticky off and relegated this post back to when it was written. I won't say that I disagree with anything that I've said, but in discussing this and pondering it with people not involved, I wonder how reasonable a boycott is. I'm not against the idea, but I can't help feel that it's sort of a token thing that is impossible to use as a true weapon. I have to ask myself how willing am I to truly follow up on all of this. If I boycott one place for one thing, how far up the chain do I go to be sure that I'm in no way supportive of something I disagree with?

I'm not questioning a boycott of anything. If nothing else, it seems as though it should work to affect a change, but I doubt it will unless you can sway a great number of people. And even then it's only use is to bring some light to a situation.

Sadly, christians are possibly the best at this sort of thing. They have great numbers and they can rouse support. Many of them also have the kind of money to make a dent when it's removed.

In the end, I know that the effort is not about the boycott or who does business with which bunch of moralistic butthole child beaters. The focus should be the children. Perhaps our efforts could better utilized in other arenas.

it isn't okay

Some people try to draw a line between spanking and beating. As far as I'm concerned, spanking is just an orderly beating. Spanking is about control and is not something that will help our kids.

I grew up being spanked. I don't know if it was of a Pearl mandated variety, but I don't doubt it was too far off the mark. In addition, I attended a small school that allowed corporal punishment most of the years that I attended. I received my share of spankings.

I have spanked my own kids in the past. It's not something I'm proud of. I really hate that I allowed that to become something I would do as a parent. But it is indicative of the power of spanking. Spanking breeds from one generation to the next.

When people spank and otherwise abuse their children, they are not loving them. What lesson is so important that someone feels the need to beat their children with a length of plumbing pipe in order to teach those children? What lesson is more important than assuring your children that you will love and support them?

Certain spanking advocates advise their sheep to maintain a supply of abuse tools and to distribute them about the house and in the car. Leave the instrument of abuse where the child is constantly reminded of the pain and degradation the parent will throw at them should they step out of line. Be sure that your preferred instrument of abuse is always within arms reach in order to train your child whenever he or she deserves a beating. Apparently you can best train children through fear, intimidation and pain.

Healthy parent child relationships cannot be forced. They can certainly be beaten out of children. Or the children can learn that the love and the relationship are completely dependant on following an extremely strict set of rules and code of conduct. Failure to comply will result in pain, true physical pain and debasement.

I've seen how many people turn out from a childhood of abuse. I know how I turned out. I'm one of the ones that eventually came to expect a certain number of spankings. I hated them, but I learned how to shrug them off. I learned to not give a shit. Some of us grow up to need that abuse because some of learn that all relationships of love also involve the meting out of physical pain. Some of us learn that we manifest our love through our offering of abusive coercion. Some of us build up walls and retreat into a place free of both pain and reality. Some of us one day crawl away from all that and resolve to do better.

I'm trying to do better. I know two little boys who deserve a hell of a lot better. And if I can't train them to be good men without resorting to violence, then I don't deserve those two boys. Anyone who thinks spanking is okay should not have children.

Here's a link to an organization that wants to do some good in this matter. stoptherod.net It isn't a pretty sight, but the truth is often very ugly. If there is a word for amazed and disgusted, that's how I feel when reading this. That's how I feel whenever someone tries to discern between beating and spanking.

damfotd

Yeah, this is the Dumb Ass MotherFucker Of The Day. You can go HERE if you want to cringe and like feeling that urge to snap. Scroll down to him being a dumbfuck about unschooling to learn why the bile is rising.

If you don't like or understand unschooling, then shut the fuck up. If you read one post from your sister's friend's coop buddy in Tulsa and they say that god hates unschooling, then shut the fuck up. If your kids attend public or private school, or if you school at home, then shut the fuck up. If you want to argue what I say using scripture then shut the fuck up.

I am not against educating your children in the best way that you are able. I am not against any form of homeschooling that centers on the child and the well being of the child. I may not personally approve of certain techniques or styles, but if your children are the center of every reason you homeschool, then I can at least agree with your motivations.

I will not describe unschooling to anyone. If you want to know about it, go to Google. Don't just read one thing, read them all. Read and read and read. Email some unschooling families. Read John Holt's books. But don't give us this bullshit about how horrible I am and how dumb my kids are going to be. If their future livelihood depends solely on their having achieved a diploma from a public school, they will know to walk out the door and keep looking.

Seriously, if you can only tear down, then shut the fuck up. I wouldn't have bothered with this if this guy hadn't shown up at Doc's blog with his smarmy attitude. If you bring the shit to our Doc then you are asking for the raining down of my hell fire.

I don't give two shits for intelligent discourse sometimes, and I don't give two shits for Careful Thought's opinion. Hell, anyone with a Bible verse at the top of their blog loses points right away in my opinion. And for the record, I can do intelligent if I want. I can rant or argue or debate in any form I want. I choose not to do so now. I choose to call a motherfucker a motherfucker.

it isn't really bush

The following started out as a post on a Yahoo group I'm a member of. But I couldn't let it stay there. It's great fun, so I brought it here. And with no effort whatsoever, I've got a blog for the day. I rule! So, whithout further ado, my answer to a not so innocent question from someone silly enough to still argue any proBush stance. What a silly ass!

Someone wondered why we tend to hate Bush so much when it isn't really him that is the problem on the right. It really is just an absolute breakdown in the ability to be human and empathize. But that's Republicans for you.

So why should we heap so much scorn and hatred on Bush? He asks for it. Just to look into his simpering beady eyes irks me. The ratty little half smile that says "yeah I'm lying again" as he trys like hell to pretend that it's all cool, that's he's in control.

I fully believe that Cheney is much more to blame for all of this, as Bush isn't smart enough to carry it all off. Cheney is the real evil along with a few other people that we probably don't even see, and I am certain that they wear dark cowls with deep hoods pulled over their faces. And we don't ever really see Cheney enough to realize the extent of his own personal culpability. He's never in the limelight.

Cheney is too busy anyway. He has to drown a certain number of kittens each week in order to catch an erection. He's snorted so much coke off of dead hookers that he finally just started snorting dead hookers. Bush is almost as bad, but he's always had Cheney around to mastermind whatever scheme their ridiculuos addictions call for.

Cheney regularly shoots old men in the face. He also shoots mailboxes. The mailboxes are because he's drunk, but the old men are special. And this is the shit that Bush doesn't know. He is the monkey to Cheney's organ grinding.

Cheney shoots old men for the blood. It takes a lot of magic to rule the world. Cheney knows that with each pint of innocent blood shed, his power grows ever stronger and Cthulu is that much closer to being released. And no one hates old people like Americans, so who's going to notice?

new week, new pain?

So we are off on another soccer adventure. The news of my lovely adult recreational team is much brighter this week, speaking solely in terms of the team. We won, though I must admit that we were able to substitute up to five players at a time, while the opposing team had no subs.

We played the team from Sweetwater today, and I'll never know why they don't bring enough players. The one time I remember playing in Sweetwater, they had subs. But out of three years that I've played, we've been there once.

They can be a physical team. They can also be the kind of team that bitches about the physical game played against them, even when you are repaying their jabs in kind.

I'll know tomorrow about the usual round of aches, but I have new stuff to bitch about today.

There is the bruise on my thigh from a kick, a little high if you ask me, but I'm not the ref. I pulled some muscle in the opposite thigh as well. I also landed hard on that leg doing a slide tackle. Generally, a slide tackle involves jumping with both feet at the ball to force your opponent to at least stop and chase after the ball. It's a desperation move that one uses as a last resort. Instead of both feet this particular time, one foot stuck in the ground so that as I hit the ground, I landed on that foot. Snapping your foot up to your ass with such force will end up putting stress on your knee. I'm pretty sure that I didn't do any real damage, but it still feels a little unpleasant.

That's my story for now. We got home from the game with just enough time for Momma to touch up her makeup, change into work pants and take off. I can't take a shower unless the boys are inside, and one more beautiful day here means I want them out in it as long as they can. All that to say that, almost three hours after the game, I'm still filthy. I want a shower, and I don't really feel I can relax until them. I'm still in soccer shorts, dirty socks, dried sweat, dead grass that crept under the shinguards and dirt. My face feels gritty if I rub it, so I try not to.

But the pizza is out of the oven. It's finally just dark enough and the boys are just hungry enough that it's time for everyone to be inside. My shower can't be more than about 20 minutes away, so I am off. I told my crappy story, and now . . .ass washin'!

the skeleton

The boys are both outside playing, and I am even wearing shorts for now. I'm not blogging twice in one day to run salt in the wound that our beautiful weather may wear on my faithless readers. No, this is about the skeleton.

Something died less than a yard from our front door long enough ago that it is now no more than a nice clean skeleton. We don't use the front door usually except for a few friends who haven't quite realized to come to the back. Other than that the front door is the place where I dismiss the random peddlers of both god and the newspaper.

I have been opening the front door lately as a quick exit while the boys are outside. As those days come more often, I will be less likely and able to be outside with them, so the front door affords me one more place from which to spy on the boys while they play.

I had stepped out the front door to remind them of something and happened to find the skeleton. I would have found it soon enough, but honestly, the front porch pretty much sucks, and the majority of time I spend in the front is usually yard work related. It's not quite that late in the season yet.

It is a mammal skeleton. It is completely clean. It was a small animal, possibly a kitten. I haven't moved it enough to really examine it, and I don't know what I would do as far as examining it. Before the night ends, I plan to google some info about safety and possible storage. For all the macabre aspects, as a homeschooler, I feel like I've been given a free lesson, lying right there under the hydrangea.

Oh, yeah, I need to learn about hydrangeas also. They always need trimming, but I never know if I'm doing it right and have been too lazy to check a book out of the library.

So post number two for the day is just as boring as number one. And that's sad, because a post that starts out with bones and ends up with trimming bush should really be more exciting than that.

awesome soccer weather

We seriously could not have asked for better weather for our first game. The clouds when I first went outside today hinted at a chance for rain, but they quickly admitted the lie and left us with sunshine. It's still warm and just absolutely beautiful out there.

The game was great. Both teams played really well, and I honestly don't think I could have asked for more from my Cobras. They all played hard, they passed (some) and my defense blocked several shots. We scored several goals, though I believe the other team won by one goal.

My mantra while coaching is as simple as asking for the very best. I don't insist on the kids being the best, but I want them to do the best, to play their hardest. If I get that from them, then I consider us all to have won. I really think that I got that from them. I also know where we will work next practice, more passing for one.

That's all for now. The weather is really too nice to be doing this on the computer. I wish you all the same beautiful day that I've had.

hey Margaret, it's me god! PISS OFF!

While perusing an atheist board that I frequent, I was (the opposite of delighted) to read Raymond Kraft's "Death of Liberalism." Someone there had recieved it from a "friend" or should we say a sheeple acquaintence. It really is a steaming pile of what comes out when a turd poops, and I honestly hate to link to it. So I won't. However, the rebuttal, which has the link I'm not bothering with, is linked HERE and is well worth reading.

I have always considered the average fundamentalist to be a fairly benign creature alone, possibly harmful if cornered, marginally offensive and dangerous when in groups and volatile and dangerous as a voting bloc.

Reading the rebuttal, the main point is that neither Islam, nor Islamist, nor Jihaddis are our true enemy. The true enemy is all religious fundamentalist. If you want an especially scarey glimpse into hatred, there is a frightening map of US hate groups over at tolerance.org.

South Carolina wins the bigot prize apparently, though sadly my own southern state comes too close. I tend, being pretty average white male, to think that racism and bigotry are not issues that we really face as a country. I mean, it's 2006 for fuck sake! Where are all these racists that we are sure are still out there? Of course, being the aforementioned average white male that I am, why should I expect that I'm going to know it when I do see it? I can try to see it and recognize it when I do. I can raise my kids to be openminded. But no matter how well I think I'm doing, I can still only understand it so much. On the one hand, it's hard to grasp what it means to not be a white guy. On the other hand, I strive to be open minded and maybe end up a little optimistic due to what I just never had to personally deal with. The maps kind of messing with me to be honest.

And thanks to Contemplator who brought it up in her blog. Considering South Carolina's win in the hate group population density, I'm not surprised that they are the target for a fundamentalist drive to populate South Carolina for god and to make it a christian theocracy. Great idea you bunch of raving mad fucktard religiofreaks! Go here to christianexodus.org and invent a god to beg these people don't make it. Damn I wish this was all a joke.

still recognize guilt oddly enough

Seriously, I pretty much quit guilt cold turkey ages ago. I let responsibility go then to, but that's the one that was kind of easy to get back. While having kids doesn't force you to become responsible, for most people it should be an adequate kick in the ass.

Guilt on the other hand is a feeling that people could really do without. It doesn't really help anywhere as it is generally improperly focused not to mention unnatural. Religion invented guilt as a way to trick people into the mindless constricts of religion. But that's another story for another day.

My guilt has to do with reading too many "what do you use" posts/comments/blogs. I see mothers tossing around names that I recognize, Abeka, Calvert, etc. And I think about curricula and know that I don't really ever plan to use one, so what do we use?

I don't mean any disrespect to any curriculum users. I'm not anti-curriculum for other people. I'm not interested, but they are useful. If I've said it once a million other homeschoolers have said it a thousand times, but there are just as many ways to homeschool/learn as there are homeschooling families.

So what do we use? Does Most Extreme on Animal Planet count? We are studying current events in England . . .as they relate to the wizarding community. Tonight we did some late American history studying the '50's as well as studied some music. Can I count Harry Potter and Grease? Seriously, I will totally count that as school.

I've been pretty happy with this layout in the past, the doing what we want thing. But the cabin fever has been setting in and we've done nothing but watch tv for months it seems like. Getting outside for a few days recently when it was unseasonably warm was great. I'm really ready for spring. And with all of the ass sitting, tv watching and computer surfing, I'm starting to think we might need some sort of. . .

egad!

I'm about tired. Friday is Momma's latest night of the week, as it is now Saturday and I'm still waiting for her. This is the last one for about two months though. Somehow, I have to start going to bed at a reasonable time. I can't be up all night Friday and coach those kids on Saturday.

I'm sure it could be sappy that I wait up for my wife, but honestly, it's probably an excuse to just sit here and waste a few more hours running in circles on the computer. Either way, I'm into my cups and jumping at every possible car noise from the street.

I don't know why I keep jumping. As often as I've heard that car pull up out front and into the driveway, it's not something I'll miss. But I still notice a car at the intersection half a block away. I can also hear trucks on the interstate when I'm outside smoking. I only notice them really late at night, but it's still trucks.

I'd guess the train is about a mile away too, and we hear that pretty often. I never think at the time, but I could figure out when to expect it. I could probably even find train info and schedules online. I wonder sometimes though about the times we miss the train. They run fairly often, so we kind of get used to it. But if you've ever had a wooden train track in your floor, you know you may not be the only one hearing that train.

I love the look I saw just a few days ago in The Boy's eyes. He was playing, oddly enough, when we both heard that far off sound of the train. It was so low and quiet but distinct. After a moment I heard another long low train sound, only this one was much closer. The Boy smiled and explained about the train sound and ran off to play.

One of my little regrets is that I never got a chance to hop a train and end up down the line somewhere. I suppose in a sense I did that, but there wasn't really a train. It was actually a Volkswagen, but that's really not tonight's story.

I love animals

But my favorite is probably pork.

hang up and drive

Once again, from our local alternative paper, a delightful story. This one is from News of the Weird.

A woman, driving her SUV, lost control, ran several cars off the road, and ended by flipping her SUV. The jaws of life were used to extricate most of her which was still in the car. In what I see as poetic justice, her arm was still on the road having been ripped off. In her hand was her cell phone.

I'm tired of near misses due to cell phone use. I'm tired of watching idiots whose cell phone use inhibits their ability to drive sanely and safely.

So please, idiots of the world, hang up your phone. Driving a car carries with it a number of responsibilities. When you are engaged on your phone, you can not give driving the attention it deserves. No one else deserves the aggravation, not to mention the possibility of actually hurting other people. You phone call is not more important that the safety of me and my family. So hang up and drive!

little bit worried

Statcounters can be fun. They certainly provide a wealth of information, if by "wealth" it can be assumed that I mean "a lot of useless." It is interesting to know all those fun things you learn with the stat counter. One of my favorites is learning what people searched that caused your site or blog to come up.

If you've read my page, I'm sure you've learned that I'm not especially enamored with wiping butts that aren't mine. It's a fact of parenthood, and I certainly won't begrudge my boys clean butts if I have the power to fix the problem. But I do see a time, growing ever closer, when I will retire from being a wiper of butts other than mine.

Here's my concern. While checking my stats, I noticed that this blog has once more shown up as a hit in a search. The search terms were "little boys wiping their butts." There are plenty of benign reasons a person may search this. Perhaps someone would like help getting their little boy to learn to wipe. I have a self wiper that once needed help. And even after the diaper years, when he was fully qualified to self wipe, he would often ask for help.

Regardless of those benign reasons, I do have a healthy wariness in regards to the internet. Their are some true assholes in this world. So "little boys wiping their butts" could just as easily be some malignant fuck. Just in case that's the issue, I'm inventing a god to pray to so that this person, if they do mean harm, will wake up dead the next time they lay down.

If however the search is just a concerned parent, please remember front to back, and eventually we do all figure it out.

not joining google groups for this

There has to be a way to check my comments here without having to actually visit the blog. Does anyone out there know of a way? I don't want to moderate the comments, nor do I want them as emails. I've looked around at Blogger, and the answer seems to lie in joining google groups and asking for help there. I don't need to join any other groups, and I'll tell you why. Within days I'd be at the homeschooling group, wasting valuable hive mind time. I know how I am.

So seriously, someone knows the answer to my question. Fess up ya bunch of clodhoppers!

frickin' awesome

Not to brag, but our weather has been outrageous for a few days now. Monday was a little cool for the amount of sun we had. Yesterday, we ran errands and had to lose our jackets pretty quickly. After a short run home for food between errands we were off to soccer practice.

It was so nice to get out and play yesterday, and today, though it's cooled down a bit over the past hour is still beautiful. The boys have both been outside most of the day. They even ate lunch outside. I have windows open all over the house, partly to keep track of the boys playing outside, partly because I can't not invite some of this beauty inside. The breezes will blow through the house and blast out those winter doldrums.

I should be outside, but I keep telling myself that I'm almost done on the computer. The lie continues that I will then do the housework I've let slide for days. I have a case worth of empty beer bottles plus a least two other six packs. I have the other random recyclables sitting in the kitchen waiting to go out. The trash from the bathroom is sitting there as well, waiting to go out. I've actually been out plenty today, blowing my nicotine breath toward the heavens, but I have so far succeeded in doing little actual housework. I've actually done no housework if you don't count feeding people. And I think the feeding kids part is a whole other level of thing we do, above and beyond mere housework.

I did have a minor meltdown, feeling put upon and not respected, so I piled all of the toys littering the living room into one big pile. I haven't really done anything to get the mess cleaned up even before my temper tantrum from earlier. And now the pile sits behind me, and it almost seems to smirk as I walk past and see how big an ass I was earlier when I created the huge pile.

Off again to the outside. I need to check my BNL (blood nicotine level) before I ignore the dishes and recycling in favor of running around the blogs to see if I've missed anything.

not the good kind of geek

I can be a geek sometimes and about certain things. I'm kind of a beer geek which is probably my biggest claim to geekhood. I'm not a computer geek in the sense that I can really do anything with them that isn't already ready already. Blogger and Myspace are perfect examples. I love playing with them, but I'm almost afraid to mess with any of the parts where you can actually see the code. I'm afraid I'll fuck it all up if I'm not careful.

No, in computer geek terms I'm not the good kind to have around. I'm the kind that randomly discovers something neat and is amazed, regardless of the size of the discovery.

Here I am, full of glee at my newest discovery. Maybe I am the last person to discover this, and it really is not that big a deal. I'm tempted now to just highlight and backspace this whole damn thing and write something less inane. Yeah, not really my style.

Are you in suspense, anxiously awaiting this amazing discovery? Don't say I didn't warn you when you find yourself feeling somewhat underwhelmed or even deflated.

This is where I say that I am not the last person to discover Firefox. I'm on this one already, and I mention it because the discovery pertains to Firefox. When you have multiple tabs open, you can click and drag a tab and change the order of your tabs.

Pretty fucking righteous right? I thought so to. I'm going to right click on all kinds of things in the next blog I visit, and then I'm going to move the tabs around. I wish someone else was here right now because I would totally show them! That's cooler than you can fit in a 40 oz. Diva Cup.

my lent story

I'm giving up lent for lent.

Who am I kidding, I don't even know what the hell lent is. I think it's one of those crazy catholic holidays, but from what I've come to understand, when listing holidays, we should list lent under the "sucks" category.

I once had a friend give up liquor for lent. This didn't help her maintain any sobriety as wine and beer are not liquor. The year before she mentioned giving up caffeine. I'd just as soon beat up grandma with a baby than give up caffeine.

My religion, if I were to actually follow the Discordian teachings, would allow me, if I wanted, to take on an extra habit for lent. It's not in the Principia, but I'm sure it would be allowed.

To any good catholics out there, first, what the hell are you doing reading my craptastic blog? It's almost lent for christ's sake. Second, I don't intend to offend. I do accept that it is a natural tendency of mine to offend, and I don't actually care, but I don't intend to offend.

Okay, the sun is out, the day is lovely and my ass needs to be out going to stores and making purchases. The economy ain't gonna drive itself.

Rant for the day: I'm out of half and half. I have only had one cup of coffee today and am already out of half and half. I hate using milk in my coffee. I make good coffee, not some burnt water flavored shit that comes hermetically sealed in a foil vacuum pack, and I deserve real half and half! Dangit!