Dingbats & Politics. Ugh.

Owen & Oz at Disney in January
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I was up until 1am doing who-knows-what last night. Nothing, really. I did some late-evening errands... (fun stuff like buying humidifier filters and spline for my screen door. Spline. Spline. hmm... I'm going to put the new screen in the door. I'll put my spline in with my spliner. Yep. That's a really weird word.) Mmm-kay, movin' on!...

Before that I was at PTA until 9:20p- well, okay, so the meeting actually ended at 8:30p and the rest of the time was me chatting in the parking lot with Diana. We were discussing our dismay at the fact that the new panel of moms being formed by Disney for a forum on planning Disney trips with family/kids, etc, filled up before the deadline of Oct. 5. I just heard about it yesterday, when D sent me an email saying it sounded right up my alley. It definitely would have been. So I immediately went to the website to submit my 300-word essay (only 300 words!?-- a feat for someone like me) only to find they had closed the application period early.

Owen in Epcot's Mexico
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Ooooooooo, Disney!! If I didn't love you so much I'd be really mad at you right now! I do love Disney. I just can't relate to those crazy wackos (and I know of a bunch of them- I see all kinds in my mom e-loop) who are hell-bent on bringing down "the Disney Beast." How can you not like Disney? Boggles my mind.

Dad & Mom at Disney-MGM
last year

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I consider myself a hip & aware kinda chickie but does that mean I have to be jaded and despise all things Disney? I think not. When I was a young 'un I was not above wishing I were Aurora from Sleeping Beauty... and I think that's a good thing. I really thought I could be a princess if maybe I just lived closer to a castle... (I used to pretend that the shopping mall nearby was a castle. What? It was called Cinderella City, after all... Wow. Now that I type that out I see how uber-70's that is! Who names a mall that? Oops, I've digressed.)

So, if you live in a beautiful, glistening bubble somewhere and don't know what on earth people could have against Disney, I can fill you in later. They have a lot of issues. They're all ridiculous, of course. But I suppose if you're bored and want to find things to get riled about, then it's as good a reason as any.Oscar Yoda at Downtown Disney
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Okay, now speaking of all the anti-Disney-dingbats brings me to Disney... brings me to ABC (owned by Disney)... brings me to "The View," which airs on ABC. Did anyone else see The View this morning? Back when I used to watch Survivor (before we were in "Survivor: Double-Digits") I actually liked Elisabeth. She had those funky little piggie-tails coming out of her head. She seemed cool. Well, over the last month or two, I've started watching The View regularly and I can tell you that Elisabeth does not seem cool anymore. I think she's a dingbat. (Spline and Dingbat. Words of the day.)

I always tivo'd The View if they were having someone interesting on, but now I tivo it everyday and watch the beginning 15 minutes that they call Hot Topics. Then I stay tuned only if someone good will be interviewed. Okay. So, today one of these "hot topics" was regarding Hillary Rodham Clinton's proposed support of a $5,000 "baby bond" for all babies born in the U.S. Which I am neither for or against at this point. She just said she liked the idea- she didn't say she was making an actual proposal. So I'm not getting on any bandwagon about it just yet. (And I'm not for or against Hillary, either. I highly doubt I'd ever vote for her, but weirder things have happened, I guess.) My point here- and I will eventually get to it- is not about this actual baby bond thing at all; it's with crazy Elisabeth spewing her beliefs all over the place in such a closed-minded, judgmental fashion.

Elisabeth has issues with the idea of this baby bond thing. Which is fine. She mentioned that everyone would be paying- via taxes- for this bond for everyone else's babies. She stated that she doesn't think it's fair that people with less money are buying a baby bond for Bill Gates' baby. (Her example. I don't know if Bill Gates has a baby, but whatever.) I get the point. BUT isn't that how government is supposed to work? You pay taxes. Everybody pays the taxes. Some of them go towards things you personally support- like school funding, let's say- but maybe you're against the highway-widening project... (Heck, maybe I don't even drive on the highway that's being widened, therefore don't really profit at all from something for which I've helped pay.) Well, isn't that the way the cookie crumbles? You win some, you lose some, right? Trust me, I want to win them all, too, but it just doesn't happen. So you roll with it.

Okay, so anyway... Elisabeth. She really lost me when she said that pretty much the only perk of that (potential) program was that she thought there might be "less abortions" if people thought they were going to get $5k from the government when they have the baby. (??) Hello?? Who would go to the bother of having a child they didn't want for $5000? They'd still be ending up in the red- when you look at how much is costs to raise a child- so to add that on top of having a major lifestyle alteration?... I mean, okay, maybe there's a handful of people out there who might do that... ? Maybe? That's crazy. Maybe I'm just super-naive. I don't know. Besides, it doesn't matter.

The BIG point is this: does Elisabeth have to get all right-wing-crazy while I'm just tryin' to enjoy some coffee and a little gossip?? Sheesh.

I found it amusing that, later in this same episode, they interviewed Sarah Silverman. Now that's funny.

So, my longtime readers, you know that I am not an especially political chick. I really don't like talking about that stuff. Hey- I don't even get politics. But sometimes something like that just gets me all riled up like this and I have to vent about it. Skip will be glad I vented here, rather than making him listen! But if my views (or lack of views) on The View's topics today offend you, please don't resent me. Or do. Your choice, I guess. I'm not tryin' to tell you what to think. But I won't blog about politics again anytime soon. Promise.

Random, Cute Picture of Owen as a Baby

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So here I am at the blog while R finishes a nap. I'm communicating via walkie-talkie with Owen, who's upstairs doing his reading homework up in his room. I'm using the walkie-talkie to tell him how much time left on his reading. Oscar is still at school for another hour. And can you believe that's all I'm saying about my kids in this whole post?? I'm so self-centered.

If I sound drunk in this post, let me assure you I am not. Just sleep-deprived. However, check back around 8pm... Hopefully I'll have had some wine by then. I plan to camp in front of the TV tonight. What's on, you ask? Pushing Daisies (looks worth checking out once or twice), Private Practice (Grey's spinoff- you know I have to watch it) and Top Chef (the season finale. I don't think Dale belongs there, to be honest. But whatever. I didn't think Ilan should have won last season, either. He creeped me out. And he was a baby. And a poor sport. And he wasn't very talented unless he was making Spanish food. But other than that, I guess he was a good choice.)

**Extra credit tonight (for brownie points avec moi): what song do you think I should present to my singing class for all of us to sing this week? I am stumped. Mainly because I've seen the people I sing with- and we are all so different. All ages, all different voices and personalities. Country? Broadway? Rap? (haha) I can bring in Justin Timberlake or Pavarotti. It's up to me- or you- but I need to decide this evening...