:: Ever wonder? ::

:: Thursday, July 31, 2003 ::

Hee hee. The weather didn't permit ... God help us if we have a fire.
:: PokemonGuy101 2:38 PM [+] ::
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Life in Corporate America.

The company I work for is having an "Emergency Facility Evacuation and Weather Alert Drill" this coming Thursday.

(Weather permitting)

If we ever have a fire during a tornado, we're in deep shit.
:: PokemonGuy101 11:35 AM [+] ::
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My 12 year-old son recently had a friend visit overnight. While sitting in the living room, their benign pre-teen discussion quickly caught my attention; they were discussing a song they had heard called Camel Toe. Before I could raise an objection as to "just what the hell kind of music are you listening to," my son's friend piped up with "My mom has the biggest camel toe you've ever seen!"

By the time my wife and I finally caught our collective breath, self-administered heimlich maneuvers, and quit rolling on the floor like gasping carp, we found the two boys were looking at us with stunned bemusement. The lad went on to explain - "You should see it, it sticks out way past her big toe! (More gasping, CPR, etc.) Finally we learned that he was talking about her actual toe, the second one to be exact...

To protect the innocent, this specific event never actually occurred in my presence, I paraphrased it from a radio show caller I heard the other morning. In truth, I damn near wrecked I was laughing so hard.
:: PokemonGuy101 11:47 AM [+] ::
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We had a great 4th of July weekend! We spent most of our evenings at the Taste of Minnesota; stuffing our faces, listening to free concerts, and best of all, spectacular fireworks, which Andrew was extremely taken with. For the first few minutes, he sat in Betsy's lap. Absolutly motionless he was. Eyes as big as saucers. After a bit, he got more daring, and moved to my lap, and began to point to them, making commentary. By the end of the show, he was in his own chair, still captivated, waving his arms in a big circle. BOOM! Crackle, crackle. On the second night, he was ooing and ahhing along with the rest of us.

Some of the concerts we saw: The Knack, (Far and away the best.) Maynard Ferguson, (Still has his lips.) The Temptations (Lousy stage...) and The Romantics. (They had a hit, right?)

Next week, the operetta "H.M.S. Pinnafore." Best of all, it's free.
:: PokemonGuy101 3:48 PM [+] ::
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I ran across a marvelous article on the Star Tribune web site. It's titled "Defending the right not to have a nice day." Ever get tired of people telling you to "Have a nice dayyyyy." George Carlin, once one of America's greatest curmudgeons had a great bit about "Having a nice day." Too bad he's become such a parody of himself, now he's just an old asshat. Anyway, here's a quote from the article:

Indeed, these are tough times for America's cranks, complainers and curmudgeons. Maybe Americans aren't in the mood for pessimism because so much is genuinely wrong. And in a culture dominated by the relentlessly cheery ethos of the self-help movement, grumps and contrarians are frequently dismissed as mildly delusional, or worse, viewed as malignancies that must be isolated and cut out.

Great, now I feel like a tumor. I like this part of the article in particular. We cranks have been driven underground, complaining is for wussies, and to be a curmudgeon is just plain NUTS. HA! Read on.

"It's telling people there's one way to be -- smile, be positive," she said. "First you feel bad, then you're told you're defective for not being cheerful about it." Held added that the pervasive feeling that iconoclastic ideas are unhealthy may be depriving younger Americans of what she called "the right nutrients to grow a curmudgeonly attitude."

The first question that came to *my* sick mind when I read this passage was: OK, just what ARE the right nutrients for growing a curmudgeonly attitude? Hmm. Time to get youngsters drinking strong black coffee, chain smoking, and chewing on rusty nails I think. If that doesn't make you gnarly, nothing will. But I like her angle. These positive touchy-feely types tell us "Feel good because you feel bad!" SMILE! Phooey. When I feel bad, I want to feel bad, get your smiley face away from me! Grrr. Another excerpt.

In laboratory studies, she said, she has found that defensive pessimists can do better at everything from puzzles to throwing darts if they are allowed to engage in anxious worrying beforehand. Show the pessimists a nice relaxing nature video before the tasks, and they do worse. The lesson, Norem said, is not that everyone should be negative, but rather, that pessimists and curmudgeons should get in touch with their inner negativity and embrace it.

YES! To hell with "finding your inner child," Cranky Pants' unite! Grab your inner curmudgeon and turn that smile upside down.

Have what ever kind of day you want.
:: PokemonGuy101 11:16 AM [+] ::
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YAY! We have another member of the blogging community - Betsy's friend Cindy has taken the bold leap into electronic journaling ... Long may she blog!
:: PokemonGuy101 11:24 AM [+] ::
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