Author: wrekehavoc
pet peeve: wordless weekend part 3
this breaks my heart because a riff like this begs to be stolen.
aussie band jet kicks complete and total tush with are you gonna be my girl. it’s hard not to get caught up in it. but is it me, or is it ripped off from iggy pop, he who smeareth various liquids and solids across his chestal region?
(note that this video is the igster live. i’m afraid to look at his see-through pants, so i cannot tell you whether it is NSFW. proceed with caution.)
pet peeve: people who take their kids to nice restaurants late in the evening
nope. mcdonalds does not count.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVI11IpmQzoi have this somewhat controversial idea about childrearing. in short: i believe that when you have small children, you often have to make some small sacrifices, albeit temporary, in order to put others’ needs ahead of your own. one of those ideas involves taking babies or young children out to non-family-oriented restaurants after the hour of 8pm. (i’m talking about restaurants you might consider for a date — if it doesn’t offer kiddy menus, it’s fair game.)
my thinking about this is not terribly complex. for starters, this is a baby or young child, a little person who craves a regular schedule. that regular schedule includes a fairly regular bedtime. (yes, i am aware that some children wake all night long; i have two of them. but starting them out with a consistent bedtime starts you down the path toward nighttime sanity.) i know some parents work late hours, and the evening may be one of the few times they get to see their child all day. but for whose benefit is that — yours or the child’s? in my guilt-ridden, hormonal days as a young working mother, i needed reminding by my own mother that it was the quality, not the quantity of time that i spent with my child that mattered. maybe this means, for you later-to-return-home people, waking up a little earlier in the morning when the child wakes and reading to them or snuggling with them. maybe it means carving out sacred time in the week or weekend upon which no one else may intrude. or maybe, if it is really a problem, it’s time to rethink how you earn your money.
but i get really annoyed by the people who tell me that this is their only time to eat as a family — and so they go out to eat with a baby at 9pm at some adult-friendly restaurant. hello? should the baby really be out that late? if you don’t want to cook, perhaps you ought to pick up takeout earlier and enjoy it at home and let baby get well-deserved rest.
the other parties i am thinking of here are the diners without children (or who did not bring their children with them) at said aforementioned nice restaurant. guess what: if i am out on a date with my husband, the last thing i want to hear is your child shrieking while i am attempting to have a much-needed chat with my Beloved Spouse. nor, would i add, do i want to smell your progeny’s diaper contents or feel your toddler smacking me as he runs uncontrollably around the place. i have come here specifically for time alone with my husband; if i am here, then i have spent actual money on a babysitter — and the days of sitters charging $1/hour were gone 30 years ago. i have specifically come here because there is no child menu. so the last thing i want to experience is your overtired and stressed child, who probably would be much happier drooling her way through soft foods on her own turf.
when my kids were very small, we tried very hard to enforce an 8pm bedtime. when we went out to dinner, we went to places where children were welcomed and accommodated. it’s not hard to do. yes, we had to endure some meals that were not fabulous; but overall, it worked well for our little family. the kids were happy; we were happy; and somewhere, at various local watering holes, we’d like to think that others dining out were happy, too. it was a small sacrifice for only a few years.
of course, there are those who think their babies can travel anywhere at any time. their world won’t change just because they became parents. the baby just comes along, like a little accessory.
i feel so sorry for their kids.
pet peeve: people who stand on the left on metro
this time, it gets local.
i suspect very little contributed more to my high blood pressure than riding on the metro each day. yes, it’s a wonderful system, and i hope more is done to alleviate its overcrowding and underfunding. but when you commute each day on this system, you tend to see the worst in people. it’s like never-ending cases of walking competitors for the darwin awards…
people standing in the doors of the cars, not letting others in.
people eating on the train when it’s strictly prohibited.
people taking strollers down the escalators.
people stopping at the top or bottom of the escalator.
and my personal favorite: every protestor whacking you with signs from his or her day exercising her G-d-given rights as an american to share her perspective with members of congress. or staffers. or most likely, with other tourists who think this passes for excitement. i used to dread the anniversary of roe v. wade each year, not because i’m against the decision (i’m for it — pro-choice all the way, baby!) but because at 7am, pre-coffee, no one should have to be barraged by a bunch of middle america’s finest, grinning broadly and wielding signs containing pictures of aborted fetuses.
no one.
but the mother of all my metro pet peeves: people standing on the left-hand side.
this is the walking lane, people. it isn’t safe to stand here, especially not during rush hour. this is the lane that provided people like me with exercise for the first five years of my life as a commuter in DC: running down the escalator in rosslyn; running up the escalator in dupont circle (which is impressive if you’ve been there.) if you want to stand, stand to the right.
you really don’t want to get in the way of cranky, time-crunched commuters. once upon a time, just before christmas 1991, i was in the left lane, walking down the escalator at metro center. suddenly, a blue line train to maryland pulled in. someone pushed me from behind, and i fell all the way down to the bottom of the escalator. bump de bump de bump i went on my back. i laid crumpled in a heap at the bottom of the escalator. and you know what? no one stopped to help me or even ask me if i was ok.
they stepped over me. and they got on their train.
so think of this as your public service announcement should you ever come to DC. stand to the right. walk on the left.
and for G-d’s sake, try to stay off metro during rush hour.
pet peeve: people who can’t be bothered to park in a space
you’re special. so special.
ah, parking lots. as a person who lives near a major city, i cherish parking lots. see, in the city, you are stuck with fighting for on-street parking or for the ever-popular parking deck. either way, you may be charged an arm-and-a-leg for the privilege. you may be towed (especially in DC, and for no apparent reason other than it’s a day that ended in the letter Y.) if you’re really lucky, like i was, someone will hit your car and drive away, leaving the front of your vehicle beside farragut square (which yes,virginia, actually happened once.)
so i cherish parking lots. out in suburbia, there are often lots — and many of them are FREE! yes, it’s really great — you drive in, and if it isn’t the holiday season, you find a spot, and … wait for it… you stop your car between two lines. it’s awesome! sure, there are people who park a little over the lines from time to time; and sometimes, it’s a little difficult to find a place to park. but it works. it’s a great system. and as someone who hates parallel parking, i give it a tremendous thumbs-up.
but then, there’s always that one person who somehow thinks that parking lots are for suckers. yes, he will pull up to the front of the store, park his car in the fire lane, and get out to hit the stores. now unless his name is actually Fire Lane, i think that space is supposed to be kept clear in case, G-d forbid, lightning hits Syms and the place needs emergency attention. but no. this guy (or gal) is specially annointed; he don’t need no stinkin’ parking spot!
and yet somehow, he never gets ticketed or towed.
certainly, it’s not like he’s a serial killer; this is just my pet peeve, after all. but i do hope when he meets his end, and he tries to park himself in front of everyone else in line at the pearly gates, st. peter takes one look at him and tells him to park his car in the furthest lot in west heaven and then get to the back of the line.
divine justice.
pet peeve: people who drive gingerly in rugged vehicles
go buy a tin lizzie instead, ok?
i live in an urban area — or, to be precise, an exurb. we do not off-road here (nor are we into NASCAR, for that matter.) we do have occasional deer and foxes crossing the roads in my neck of the woods; but mostly, the wildlife consists of birds, rodents, and raccoons rifling through the trashcans. in this world of mine, we have roads, we have bridges, we have traffic jams. (we also have a citizenry terrified of precipitation — the mere report of rain in the future drives up bread, milk, and egg sales. but i digress into another pet peeve.) in short, the wildest (and arguably the most offensive) thing you will see around here unfortunately are those idiots from westboro baptist church protesting at arlington national cemetary.
and yet, we have the land rovers and hummers and other oversized urban assault vehicles, zooming through the people’s republic to destinations unknown. i especially love seeing the ones with the kangaroo catchers on the front bumper; lord knows you might run into one on washington boulevard. when i moved up to the mom-mobile a few years back, i thought it was super-large, and i was nervous about moving around the world in something so big. but the mom-mobile is dwarfed by so many of these honkin’-huge SUVs on the road; i may as well be riding in my old civic.
these rough-tough vehicles are surely built to withstand some serious punishment. their ads imply as much. so why are you, john and jane q. upwardly-mobile, afraid to ride over speed bumps? why are you gingerly driving over a tiny pothole? why are you terrified to splash through a puddle? i go mental every time i am behind someone in one of these supposedly-strong vehicles and he or she is treating it like it could break into a thousand tiny pieces if the road condition is not absolutely and positively perfect.
yeah. i guess if i paid that much money for a car, i would probably never let it leave the garage.
pet peeve: people who text while hanging out with other people
OH RLY?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RUjnqH3kMwone day, BC came in from our cul de sac. she had been hanging out with our two neighbors, two lovely girls who are only a year or so older than she. and, in short, she looked rather annoyed. i asked her what was bothering her.
well, mom, what is up with people who are standing right next to you and hanging out with you but they are busy texting other people?
what indeed?
just as netiquette was created for people who use the internet and email, some sort of celliquette needs to be created, for i fear civility is on its way out. i’m delighted that movie theaters now, as a matter of course, remind patrons to turn off their cell phones once the film has started, but more has to be done.
and i’m afraid it needs to be directed especially at the young, who text more than they talk.
it’s bad enough that people use cell phones while driving. how they can text and drive is beyond me — and it’s wildly unsafe, as this extremely disturbing and GRAPHIC public service announcement shows. that sort of thing looms much larger than just a pet peeve — that’s a matter of public safety. and there are many, many dangers in the land where sex and texting intersect, especially for our young people. not a pet peeve but a serious, scar-worthy scare.
so i will return to the lighter, fluffier world of interpersonal relations and texting. just as we parents work hard to teach our kids social skills when they are small, we need to continue to help our kids navigate this brave new world where technology and personality intersect. you taught little janey to share; now you need to teach her to pay attention to actual human beings when she’s with them. you need to teach her not to text and walk without looking where she’s going (to which i would add: dumbass girl. lucky you didn’t just walk into traffic, like i have seen so many, many pedestrians do. too bad the city can’t sue you for stupidity.)
you would think it would be common sense to not let something like texting take over, but it is. and i can’t tell you how many times i see people, usually young twenty-somethings and below, with other friends — and texting with other people who aren’t even there. here’s a thought, you social slackers: if you aren’t going to interact with the friends you’re with, STAY THE HELL HOME.
i’m grateful that at least BC has gotten the idea that ignoring people you’re with is a rather rude endeavor. maybe she can turn into some sort of evangelist on this issue?
until then, i will quietly seethe whenever i see this sort of activity. maybe i’ll actually call a friend to vent about it.
pet peeve: wordless weekend part 2
ray parker junior ought to be ashamed of himself for ripping off huey lewis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCHFVTQKqdQRPJ riffed off one of my worst personal earworms; i hear the horn section, ad infinitim, for hours after i hear huey lewis and the news. and yet i sheepishly love this song, so there you go…
pet peeve: wordless weekend part 1
madonna completely ripping off arthur lee and love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VggPq9bHRr4accept no substitute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVV830vsJes
pet peeve: those made-up names for cars
what the hell is an altima, anyway?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldyx3KHOFXwback in the olden days — you know, the days when we kids would be loaded in the back of a station wagon — what’s a station wagon you say? aw geez, just go with me, you thirty-somethings — cars often got majestic names. they’d be named for animals: impala, mustang, falcon. they’d be names for places you’d rather be: monte carlo, bel air, malibu, capri. or, they had names that made you know they were packing heat…maverick, cutlass, land cruiser. or packing a load of schoolkids: suburban.
but then again, there have always been the names that were completely made up.
toronado? touareg? yaris?
WTF?
galant? aztek? cruze? does anyone have spell-check out there?
i wonder sometimes about who is charged with making up new model names. what a gig that must be.
L: okay, jerry. imagine that the car buyer is dreaming that his car is his boat, sailing amongst other boats owned by the rich and famous. handcrafted and so exclusive.
J: okay, lou — how about reatta? sounds like regatta, but it’s different.
L: great! let’s do it!
some creative car model names make me laugh. whenever i see an aspire, i imagine that the person aspires toward having a more expensive, better-working car.
whenever i see a focus, i think that the probably under-30 year old driver would like you to focus more on his inner qualities rather than the fact that he cannot afford a different car.
alera? lumina? sounds latin to me, but they’re not, i assure you.
i suspect no one expects people to come up with negative associations with these names. for example, back in the day, rumor had it that ford fieros had engines prone to explosions. fiero…yeah, that’s apparently what it caught when hit from what an acquaintance told me about her own car back in the 1980s.
and altima? every time i have seen one of these, it has been driven by someone over 65. i read altima as old timer. can’t help it.
can’t wait to see names for next year’s models.