heehee. BC is running around the house singing, “Hey, Ho, Let's Go!” i bet the other moms at preschool don't teach their kids awful things like that 😉

ok, let me preface this. i mean absolutely no disrespect toward anyone on this whatsoever. but i don't think i understand this very well. can anyone explain it?

yep, that's me. after driving through DC to return BC to her school (after a traumatic trip to the ear, nose and throat specialist, who says that if she doesn't lose the tube in her ear by the end of august, he will have to remove it surgically — not a huge deal, but she was really, really pissed after the first surgery…), i had had it. there was traffic out the wazoo, people driving like morons, tourists walking around like it was their first trip to planet earth. and just my luck: Constitution Ave was being shut down for the DC Emancipation Day parade. they hadn't held this parade in 100 years, so go figure that i'd pick the day they decided to do it again after a century to drive into town.

i cruised on down to the south side of town. i opened my windows and my sun roof – it is going to hit 90 degrees today in the swamptown – and then, it happened. i turned on “Blitzkrieg Bop” really, really loud. and there i was: mommy in a volvo, blasting the ramones, scaring the pants off of john and jane doe tourist dressed in their kmart sensibilities. two guys next to me in a pickup looked freaked out when i shrieked, “hey, ho, let's go!” at the top of my lungs. i guess i can't blame them.

there are days when i can scarcely believe i am on the close side of 40.

ok,ok, so its bad enough that BC looks like one of those abominable Precious Moments figurines (she, of course, is adorable, but those figurines make me wanna empty the contents of my stomach and then some). but today, she looked up at me and said, “momma, wanna grow a heart?” i said, “honey, you can't grow a heart.” and she said, “yes momma. take a little sugar, some salt, some smiles, etc…” it sounded like a Hallmark card. but the fact that it came from a 3-year-olds mouth and mind makes it a little more wonderful. (and makes whatever adult who comes up with that crap from Hallmark just a little bit pathetic.)

*Take The Gap Toothed Celebrity Test!*

i thought this timeline was kind of interesting and useful. maybe you will, too. then again, maybe not. but in light of current events, i am doing my best to understand it all. no mean feat, believe me.

one thing i find kind of interesting is that in 1947, the UN came up with a Partition Plan for both Jews and Arabs. this plan would divvy up the land so that everyone could get a homeland. the Jews accepted it. the Arabs did not. next thing you know it, israel becomes a state, and the arabs attack it until they lose. over the next 30+ years, they sporadically attack, only to lose again and again and sometimes even lose land in the process. incidentally, the countries voting against the Partition Plan is somewhat haunting: Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen.

while i don't find it comforting to cheer on a warmonger like ariel sharon, i also find it difficult to gather sympathy for the palestinians. throughout this history, they are given opportunities to have their own land and their own governance. but because they have a problem with israel merely existing, they have refused land and self-governance.

i am also having trouble empathizing about how palestinian civilians are being killed by the israelis. who, then, pray tell, are being killed by the suicide bombers? of course. israeli civilians. it's all so absurd. and now college kids, full of that mass desire to be a part of something, are now clamoring to the side of the palestinians without thinking things completely through. it disturbs me.

do i think the palestinian people should have their own nation? yes, i do. do i understand why it has to be carved out of the tiniest nation in the middle east? not exactly, especially, since jordan already exists as a palestinian nation. but i imagine that people would be willing to give up some land for peace. the problem is that the folks out there have always been willing to talk a good game and then withdraw ambassadorial relations as it suits them. not to mention how the official palestinian authority is paying the families of the current set of “martyrs.” (so is saddam hussein. i read he now gives each family $20k.) i wonder what the female suicide bombers are promised as their reward in heaven. 75 virginal Chippendale dancers?

i just wish people would think about this a bit. i am trying. really, i am. i know it isn't easy; but people are so willing to jump one way or another without any thought.

i found my keyless remote. i found my keyless remote. ::skipping happily:: i went into my car to just make sure i truly, truly couldn't find the @#$%$@#% thing. and sure as shit, it was wedged really, really hard in between the driver's seat and the middle thingy. how the hell it managed that i could not tell you. but i am sooooo grateful.

(i still am a dumbass, though. never keep keys to an expensive car on such a crowded keychain!)

Etch-A-Sketch Technical Support

i am a dumbass. i am a dumbass. i am a dumbass.

i took my car to the carwash today, and somewhere, my volvo's keyless remote slipped off my keyring. and i have looked high and low, and i have asked every car wash employee for its whereabouts. and no one knows. i can't believe the damn thing is gone. and it is going to cost me a shitload of money, i am sure, to get a new one.

i am a dumbass.

while i'm thinking of it, check this out. i used to work with gramm's ex-wife. she is far nicer than he is.