Becky Home-Ecky Scores a Touchdown!

Not for nothing, but I just did something so creative I had to take a picture and write a post about it. See, I'm going to a Super Bowl gathering on Sunday (and, btw, I just learned that "Super Bowl" is, in fact, two words, not one), and I wanted to bring something for dessert.

What do I think of when I think of dessert? Oatmeal creme pies! So I made a little football out of an oatmeal creme pie by cutting off the sides and adding icing. See how freaking cute??? And if you put them all on a clear glass plate with a grass place mat, it's just so perfect for a Super Bowl gathering!! The one pictured is my first one, so they're bound to get a little neater by the time I make all twelve.

I might have to make Tom Brady cards or something. GO PATRIOTS!!!

Fleece Crocs are a Croc

I got the "winter" Crocs with the fleece lining 'cause they looked cute, and Crocs are really good to wear as slippers. The advertisement made a big deal about the fact that the liners were removable and washable. After wearing them for a month, I decided to wash them; they were getting a little matted and not so fluffy white.

Thank goodness I had saved the little card that tells you how to remove and replace the liners! Getting them out was easy. Putting them back in was not. But first, how they looked after I washed them. They looked gross! It looks like the niff-naff that was on the fleece just stuck to it, and didn't wash away. Whatever, they're soft. I prepared to put the liners back in.

And almost lost four fingers! If I had longer nails, I would've lost those too! There's this grommet that a hole in the fleece has to fit through. It's not like they made a strip for it to slide over. Imagine a quarter on a post. Now imagine a piece of rubber with a hole in it, the size of a dime. Now stretch the dime-sized hole over the quarter. That's was it was like (see photo; the little hole has to fit over the smirking crocodile). I did one slipper, and I'm waiting for my fingers to stop throbbing before I do the other one.

My advice to those who bought fleece-lined Crocs: Don't wash the liners, it ain't worth it!

Just One More

Oh, and I didn't even mention the song OPP! For sure, I am not down with OPP and I certainly don't advocate bein' down with Other People's "kittens" and "leanest and meanest", but I'll be down with it on my 40th, YEAH, YOU KNOW ME!

As I told my new friend David the other day, I'm more down with N-A-P, as in sleeping in the middle of the day, yo! You know it!

Playlist Continued

So I've been really listening to the lyrics of the songs that are on my playlist, and I realized today that a lot (most?) of the songs are pretty degrading to women. It's kind of awful, if one thinks about it and ignores the beat for a minute.

There's this song by Justin Timberlake (with rap by Timbaland) where he's in love with this woman, he wants to get married, he can see their future together, etc. It's all love, and he's waiting to hear her answer.

And then, in the middle of the song, Timbaland come in with this rap which is the complete opposite of what JT is singing about. He raps this horrible line:

I'll fill your space and forget your face, I swear I will...

Ewww!!!

And a line from BellBivDevoe's "Poison":

...but I know she's a loser
(how do you know?)
Me and the crew used to do her

It's hard for me not to think about this stuff, and yet, I love these songs and the beat, and I love to dance to them! It's a conundrum. It goes with the whole "N" word argument (and yes, in Kanye West's "Gold Digger", you do hear that word! Oh god, will my 40th be ruined in favor of political correctness???

Thoughts?

Post #300!

I won't waste words with my 300th post, just show an adorable picture. I give you, Valentino. He's a dog I see at the pet store. He looks like a cross between a dog and a cat, and he's about the size of a 5 lb. bag of sugar. And just as sweet! Enjoy!

Party Playlist

I'm having a huge bash for my 40th in a few months, and I'm making major plans. This will be a fantasy party, of sorts. I've always wanted to have a party where the playlist was all the songs I liked. I started making the playlist about a month ago, just going through my iTunes and writing down every song I liked. When I was done, I had enough music for 9.2 hours. Since my party is only 3 hours long, this was a problem. I like a lot of songs.

I went over to my friends Guy and Carrie' house so Guy could help me cut the playlist. We got it down to 7.2 hours. Next up, Chris and Liz's house. Down to 5.2 hours. I've had the playlist on my iPod, and have whittled it down to 4.5 by myself. Next, I'll go to Sidhu and Jenn's house. This is not easy!

Listening to music on an iPod enables one to listen to lyrics carefully, if one cares about such things. I'm big into lyrics. Some lyrics are so ridiculous or offensive, but I sing 'em and bop to the beat anyway. Here's one of my favorite examples from Shaggy's and Rayvon's "Angel", which is a rap/reggae version of Juice Newton's "Angel of the Morning", same tune. He's dedicating a song to his girl, who has stood by him through thick and thin:

Girl you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Closer than my peeps you are to me, baby
Shorty you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Girl, you're my friend when I'm in need, lady

My favorite is this part:

She was there through my incarceration
I wanna show the nation
My appreciation

And then he says,

Girl, in spite of my behavior,
You're my savior

Ahh, true love!

Music Videos in My Head

I've worked with children for 22 years. It's my calling. My other callings are photography, writing, and, I've finally realized, music video directing.

When I hear certain songs, I see images, as if I were watching a video. Sometimes they're brief, sometimes they last the whole song. I wish I could make the video the way I saw it in my head. I think about putting an ad on Craig's List to students who are learning video or movie making. They could get experience in making videos, and I could tell them my visions.

For example, I've been listening to Enya lately, her CD entitled, "A Day Without Rain." The last song is called "Lazy Days", and every time I hear that song, I see a woman and a man's faces, close up, and they're in slow motion. She's laughing, and they're in some kind of embrace. They're in love, and it's a very happy song. They're at the beach. They're celebrating something. I see it every time I hear that song. I don't have any other videos for any other Enya songs.

I have a couple of videos for Prince songs. One is for the song, "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore." In the song, Prince is wondering why a woman stopped calling him. He remembers their time together, and longs for her. It's a bluesy ballad.

I put a different twist on it. I made it so that the reason why she didn't call him anymore was that she lost his number (I wrote this video back in the days before cell phones). He had written it on a napkin, and she wiped her mouth on it and threw it away. Maybe today she plugs it into her cell phone, and her phone drops in the toilet or something.

The whole video is about her trying to contact Prince to let him know she's still out there, but none of his bodyguards give her access to him, because she's an ordinary person, and of course, he's Prince. While he's lamenting, she's putting on disguises, trying to sneak in, calling his agent, and not getting anywhere. Prince thinks she doesn't care. They get together at the end, of course, and for a second he pretends that he doesn't know who she is, but finally she gets into his car and explains the whole thing. I went so far with this video I wrote it all down, line by line.

I have another Prince one for "Black Sweat" about a working woman who comes home, tired at the end of the day, and goes through her mail with her trenchcoat on, and suddenly her foyer turns into a striptease joint and she does a striptease, complete with pole dancing. Hey, I can't help what I see. I just do.

If anyone knows someone who wants to be the cameraperson for my videos, let me know.

From Bad to Beautiful!

I woke up kind of cranky today. I got 11 1/2 hours of sleep, and I felt like I was getting the cold that has been going around. Did not feel like working out for an hour, that's for sure. As I was waking up with a stuffy nose and mild sore throat, I thought, "I have to call Steve and cancel...I have to call Steve and cancel..."

I got up and made myself a cup of tea, which was not as good as usual because I ran out of my good tea. Watched a little telly, popped some Zicam, and thought that perhaps a workout would do me some good. I feel like crap when I don't work out, like all last week.

I was cranky also because the stuff with my dad isn't finished; I'm still dealing with the lawyer, and things arent as finished as I thought they would be by this time. I can't spend any money because I have to save it to pay the lawyer, it's the end of the month, blah, blah, blah.

Well, I got off my sorry ass and worked out, and let me tell you, it was great! I learned some new things with the kettle bells, and I did this thing called a Turkish Getup. Eventually I'll do it with a kettle bell, but to learn the move I did it with a 5 lb. weight ball. You hold the weight up with your elbow locked, starting on the floor. Looking at the weight the whole time, you move your body so you get to a standing position, then back down again. Steve told me that I learned the moves in half an hour, and it can take most people two hours. Yessssssss!

On the way home I stopped at the Indian store to see if they had my favorite tea, and they did! And then I went to the pet store, and the woman who I almost knocked off a ladder last year doesn't recognize me anymore, so she's nice to me again.

It's a great day, yay for life!

Marco's Musings

Marco, quotable boy wonder, is at it again; this kid's thought process is worth writing down.

The instruments had been out, and it was time to put them away. Marco had two maracas in his hand. I walked toward him, telling him it was clean up time. He flung the maracas across the room, which was uncharacteristic of him, and, of course, quite dangerous.

I strode over to him, took him by the hand, and led him to a chair, where I could talk to him face to face about what he had just done. I asked him why he had thrown the maracas, and he said, "I didn't feel like walking." "What are you talking about? That doesn't make any sense!" I replied. And then I realized what he meant. I said, "You mean you didn't feel like walking over to where the instruments were, to put them away?!" and he said, "Yes", with puppy dog eyes.

I said, "Well, you know what? Next time, just say, 'Alex, can you put these away for me?'" He looked crestfallen and said, "I didn't feel like talking." I laughed so hard I couldn't say anything else. God, I love my job.

HEAVEN

I Won't Quit My Day Job

I inherited a trait from my mother that used to drive me crazy as a kid, but one which I appear to be afflicted with as an adult. It is the ability/desire to belt out a tune when I hear a word that reminds me of that tune. It happened today.

I was watching four kids playing in the block room. They each had a little person, and were playing with a toy castle. They were getting on great, needing no assistance or imagination from me. It was almost boring.

One of the kids took a person in her hand and "flew" her across the room. She said, "Today, we are learning how to fly!" I immediately sprang to action. I sang, R. Kelly style, "I believe I can flyyyyy...I believe I can touch the skyyyy...I think about it every night and daaaaaayyyy, spread my wings and fly awwwwaaaayyyy...I believe I can soarrrrr...see me running through that open doh-ooh-woooore...I believe I can fly...I believe I can flyyyyyyy...!" I sounded like an American Idol reject, but that didn't stop me.

A couple of the kids stopped and listened, and then ignored me and went on with their game. I must have seemed like some annoying fly. They're used to me doing it. I can't not do it.

Sad

Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment in New York City yesterday. How sad, he was only 28! My cousin's wife and I just watched Brokeback Mountain for the 3rd or 4th time at Thanksgiving. May he rest in peace.

Horse and Cart

My name is Alex. I am old fashioned. I prefer to drive my horse and cart, while everyone else is driving them new fangled automobiles.

So I have this piece of paper that I want to blow up and make a copy of. It has a photo at the top, and text on the bottom. It's a standard 8 1/2 X 11, and I wanted to make it 16 X 20. I thought I'd go into the copy store and tell them I wanted a big copy of it, and they'd put it on the machine and make it bigger. Simple, right? Wrong.

Oh my god. I go in there and explain my sitch, and the woman behind the counter tells me it would be easier to do it online. I mean, a person, face to face, was telling me she didn't want to interact with me, and to go home and interact with some plastic and wires. I seriously felt like I was in some time warp, and had fallen asleep and woken up in the future. After admitting to this woman that I had only sent a fax one time in my life, I bragged that I had an iPod. I'm sure I sounded like a blubbering nincompoop.

So I go home and go to the website she told me about, try to download what they say, and it doesn't work. It's supposed to say on my computer that FedEx Kinko's is my printer now, and it doesn't. I click on this, I click on that, and...nothing.

Screw them. I'll find a way. In the meantime, I'm going to take a nap. And hopefully wake up where I left off.

I'll Take French Composers for $200

The other night when I was at a dinner party (the one where I stayed up till 2 am), we were all sitting around eating dinner and having entertaining conversation. The hosts, Geoff and Diana, have an eclectic collection of music*, so I was quite surprised to hear classical coming from the speakers.

Somebody said, "Oh, I like this piece", and someone else agreed. I had a blank look on my face, I guess, and I piped up that I didn't know the piece. "Come on, you know this!" I was told. Three people tried to name a movie that this music was in. I strained my ears, to no avail. I did not know this music.

"It's Satie", someone said. The only thing I pictured was a small, upholstered couch with curved wooden feet, in dusty rose. That, of course, is a settee, but that's what came to my mind.

Believe it or not, I got ragged on for not knowing this French composer and pianist from the 1880's (thank you, Wikipedia.org)! So of course I had to bust out all the classical pieces and composers I did know, and quipped that the next time I came out with some rump-shaking, booty-talking song, I'd ask them how well they knew it!

The next day, my friend Amy called me. She needed help with a crossword clue. "French composer, Satie" was the clue, I'm not making this up. I looked it up on Wikipedia, and gave her the answer, his first name: Erik.

So now I know Satie, are you happy??? I'm going to listen to "Freak-a-Leak". Know that one??
* say eclectic collection ten times fast.

Whale Movie

I just stumbled upon the movie icon, and I want to see if it works. I'm going to download a movie I made of whale watching. Enjoy!

Cats Don't Know From Weekends

Last night I was at a friends' house till 2 am. I never stay up till 2 am anymore, it was quite fun. We had a wonderful dinner and just gabbed all night and listened to music.

I knew that Shelby would wake me up in the morning, but I was hoping she would have pity on me and at least let me sleep till 8:00. No such luck.

She cried and cried bloody murder, and didn't even come up to the bed, she just stood at the door and wailed her fluffy little head off. I kept yelling at her, "Shelby, NO!" in my meanest "mommy has to sleep" voice, to no avail. Finally, I looked at the clock, and it said 6:30! I was not having that, no way. Next time she cried, I screamed, "NO, Shelby, absolutely NOT!" as if that would make a difference. I lasted till 6:45 and went down and fed her. As expected, she ate and fell asleep herself in about 5 minutes.

I was able to go back to sleep for a couple of hours, thank goodness. Let's just say we'll have naptime Sunday before the big football game. And yay for a 3 day weekend, no school tomorrow! Happy MLK Jr. Day.

Color Her Organized!

My friend Diana organized her bookshelf according to color. She had a lot of time on her hands. Actually, I think it looks pretty cool. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to re-arrange my sock drawer by length; footies in the front, thigh highs in the back.

wordplay

I love the word

bed,

because it looks like a bed.

Never Thought I'd See the Day...

I suppose people have always gone through periods where certain things become obsolete, but it's so weird to have it happen.

Today I have a snow day, no school. I'm spending the day organizing my bookcase, which has gotten way out of hand. I came across a bunch of photo insert pages that go into a photo album. After a few minutes of thinking, I threw them away. For me, photo albums have become obsolete. I've made a few books using Shutterfly and my iMac, and they're a really good way to show off pictures and have memories in a slick, bound book that you can write captions to.

Other things that have become obsolete, at least to me:

public phones
answering machines
cameras that use film

On their way out, but not quite yet:

videos and VCRs

One step at a time, people.

Improv Everywhere

There's this guy in New York named Charlie Todd, and he has a website called Improv Everywhere. He plans the most amazing stunts! The stunts are done to bring a smile to someone's face, have a good story to tell, and basically shake things up a bit.

Yesterday was the No Pants 2K8 event. It was the 7th annual in NYC, and the 1st annual in Boston. I heard about it and went to observe and take pictures. Well, when I arrived at the appointed subway station and saw so many people who were going to participate, I couldn't help but join in! It was a little hard for me because I was by myself, but I quickly made friends with an older woman who turned out to be the organizer's mother. I said I'd do it if she'd do it.

The stunt was to get on the subway, and at an appointed time, remove our pants, stick them in our bags, and ride the subway as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. We rode the red line from Alewife to Park St, and the plan was to ride the green line from Park St. to Kenmore, all the time wearing nothing but our undies and whatever we had on top, and we all acted like we didn't know each other and weren't in on anything.

The best part of the whole event was seeing people's reactions when they got on the T, seeing random people in their coats, shoes, and just underwear, acting like nothing was out of the ordinary. It was great; made it on the evening news and everything! Next year I'm going to invite friends and really get prepared!

Go to the website and read about the different events, particularly the Best Buy and Cell Phone Symphony. Amazing!

When a Helping Hand Just Isn't Enough

Today Marco, 4, and Mila, 5, were in the block room; Marco was building a structure, and needed assistance.

Marco: Mila, will you help me build my building?

Mila: I don't want to.

Marco: Mila, if you help me, I'll give you twenty-two dollars.

Mila pauses.

Marco: I'll give it to you when I'm a big kid, when I'm big enough to have money.

Mila: No, I don't think so. (She starts to walk out of the room)

Marco, getting extremely frustrated and desperate, screaming after Mila:

Pleeeease, my mom will give you the money!!!

He notices the next best thing to no help, which is me.

Marco: Alex, will you help me?

Me: You gonna give me twenty-two dollars?

Marco, thinking about his answer: I'll give you one dollar.

The votes are almost in

John McCain is on TV, talking about his supposed victory in New Hampshire for the Republicans. His supporters are chanting, "John Mc-CAIN!" "John Mc-CAIN!"

It sounds like they're saying, "Chocolate CAKE!" "Chocolate CAKE!"

I'd rather have chocolate cake than John McCain for president.

Story Time

Kids often bring in books from home for me to read at story time. Yesterday, I picked up the book that one girl had brought in. It looked cute; it had a picture of a fairy on it. Then I read the title: Wild Cherry's Secret. Oh god, it sounded like the title of a porn movie!

Turns out Wild Cherry's secret was only that she couldn't climb trees as high as the other fairies, but she rose to the occasion when a baby fairy got stuck in an upper branch and had to be rescued. The kids wondered why they didn't just fly, since they were fairies. Hey, kids, I don't write these books; I just read 'em.

How 'Bout a Shave?

To all the people who declined my invite to see Sweeney Todd: You missed out, my friends. I saw it today...alone. Sure, it would have been nice to have someone next to me to grab onto during the bloody bits (and ooh, were there a lot of bloody bits!), but I hid my face with my hands just as well.

I loved it. I want to have a Sweeney Todd party. Everyone will wear black and grey, and there will be fake bloody body parts all over. I'll have the party at a house where there's a fireplace, and we'll have a big roaring fire going. The room will be dark, and we'll eat dinner by candlelight. The cuisine? Meat pies, of course! Shaving cream and razors as parting gifts.

Bwah ha ha haaaaaa! J'you like to come ova for a cuppa tea, Love?

Ch-ch-ch Changes...

Happy January 3rd. It's 6:30 am. It's 5 degrees. With the wind chill factor, it feels like 11 below. The weather forecast predicts 60 degrees on Tuesday. It's amazing.

I'm due at the gym at 7:15. I will wear my snow pants. I don't care if I look like a blueberry, or like a three year old. I am not looking for a date on the way to the gym, I just want to survive.

Wish me luck.

The Future is Now

Ah, 2008. How times have changed.

Just now I was on the phone with my best friend from junior high. She was in the car on her cell phone, and I was in the kitchen in mine. Suddenly, we got cut off; the line just went dead.

Back in the day, I would have freaked out. When the line goes dead, that must mean something terrible has happened! Today, you know what I did? I said, "Hello?" a couple of times, then hung up and continued cooking my dinner. I figured she had hit dead spot in the road (and boy, do those words have a different meaning than they used to!) and would call me back, or I would call her back. I didn't worry. It's so normal to have your conversation cut off in the middle and think nothing of it, and many times not even continue it until many days later!

That's one thing that sucks about technology; it really has changed the way we talk to one another. On the flip side, we now have blogs. All is right with the world.

Happy New Year 2008!

I can't believe in two years it will be the year 2010. That will be amazing. That said, I feel like this year is going to be my year. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel in settling my dad's estate (i.e. when your dad owes money to the IRS, hire a lawyer). I've found the perfect pair of underthings for these cold New England winters (Sahalie.com, search for footless tights, $12), and almost every pair of shoes on my shoe rack is six months old or newer. The last of my seven student loans will be paid off in a couple of months.

I turn 40 this year. I can't wait. I'm having a huge bash, complete with all my favorite dance tunes, a fancy dress, and a tiara. And about 150 friends. Woo hoo!

As a friend of mine recently said, "2008--it's gonna be great!"

Random Snow Pictures

Snow bike--this guy's bummin'.



There are no words for this picture. Use your imagination.