AliThinks

It Figures

It figures that the one time this summer that I open my skylight, it would rain.  There is a thunderstorm happening out there, and I'll be damned, but I am leaving everything on. 

My duvet is drying in my dryer. 

I am so lucky.  I've been uneasy these past couple of days.  It has a lot to do with my kids being here, and my son's apparent dislike of this apartment.  Their presence has hindered my habits as well as my job search.  And when they use the computer (meaning I don't have music or access to my e-mail -- no, I'm NOT addicted, and what do you mean, my eye is twitching?) I feel lost.  I've made progress on the book I am reading and have thought about how I want to rearrange the living room. 

But anyway...all this is NOTHING.  Nothing compared to what people in Louisiana are going through.  My duvet is wet.  My mattress is a bit wet.  So what?  I'll be able to sleep in my own bed tonight.  I haven't lost anything tangible.  (My sanity is fodder for another blog entry). 

I am feeling down because of things that are happening in my life, but I feel guilty for feeling down.  I am safe, warm, dry, clothed, fed, and hydrated.   So many people have lost so much because of Hurricane Katrina, so who am I to complain? 

Thinking

I don't have a TV; I haven't seen any footage of the damage that Katrina has wrought.  What I've read is enough for me. 

Chris at Rude Cactus has compiled a list of relief agencies -- it is in his extended post.  The first part of the post is a rant about the media's coverage of the hurricane.  Reading it made me glad I don't have a TV.  But this is about that list of relief agencies.  If you haven't donated anything to the relief efforts yet, please do so. 

Mental Dentifrice

My daughter and I shared a laugh tonight.  She was in bed, and asked me if her teeth seemed straighter now that she's stopped sucking her thumb.  (She is 10, and I am so glad she has finally stopped, but that's another story).  I inspected her teeth and told her I thought they looked better.  T. piped up with a complaint. 

"My teeth aren't as nice as C's!" 

"Yes they are," I replied. 

"No.  Hers are white and mine are yellow!"

I told him that he needed to brush his teeth thoroughly. 

C. piped up with "He needs to use the mental toothpaste.  I use the mental toothpaste."

My brain kicked into bilingual gear. 

I asked C. if she didn't mean MINT toothpaste.  She said "Maybe." 

I told her "Because 'mental' in English means mental." (I said the French word, mental).

C. burst out laughing.  So did I.   

And then T. told me he liked my mental toothpaste because it didn't sting as much.  At least he called it toothpaste.  Usually he calls it "dentifrice," which is, as you know, the French word for TOOTHPASTE.  And every time he says it, I have to laugh, because there's my seven-and-a-half year old kid saying "dentifrice" with a perfect American accent.

 

J'adore ma maman

J'adore ma maman, originally uploaded by AliThinks.

L. is five years old. He needed a little comfort from his mother at the beach this afternoon. After a moment with his head on her shoulder, he started lightly caressing his mother's back.
I know this sign of love; my own son does it to me.

Click on the photo to see the entire thing.  I have yet to configure Flickr to post things the way I want them to appear. 

My Brother Said I Could Blog His Photo As Long As I Mentioned His Friend Mark Rockwell

Because that's who Aaron stole this t-shirt from, when they were in college. 

Flummeled!

And that's better than flummoxed, of course.  I found a cool meme over at Flummel's blog. 

Go to Music Outfitters and enter your high school graduation year in the search box near the top left.  You should find a list of the top 100 music hits from that year.

And here's what you do when you get the list:

Bold = those I liked
Underline = my favorite
Strikethrough = the songs I loathed
Italics = the songs I can’t remember
Untagged = no opinion

I Think I'll Have to Buy Some Curtains

The building across the street from me has been abandoned ever since I moved in.  I asked my landlord what kind of curtains she'd had in the windows, and she said "Oh, nothing!  Nobody lives over there."

I was pumped because a) I don't really like curtains and b) it meant I could walk around naked in my kitchen if I wanted to. 

All that is about to change.  For the past couple of weeks, work has been done over there; now I think I have a new neighbor. 

Cat Blog Friday

Slick explores the dishwasher, originally uploaded by AliThinks.

Now only if he'd learn to empty the litterbox and run the vacuum...

Circle Quirk

Oh, quit groaning at my title.  Venomous Kate wrote an entry about quirks, and finished up with a list of things she hates.  Mine won't be as long as hers, mostly because I hate a lot of the same things she does. 

As for quirks, I don't have any.  'Cept for that grammar thing, maybe. 

• I hate people who walk RIGHT IN FRONT of my car (and in my way!) when I am looking for a parking space.  Move your butt over!
• I hate hearing people talk about the price of things in francs.  The franc is dead.  Get over it. 
• I hate cheesy circuses.  I especially hate cheesy circuses that let one of their employees drive around town, broadcasting showtimes from a loudspeaker on a truck.
• I hate colored, scented toilet paper.
• I hate flossing my teeth. (Oh, the horror, Alison!  Your manfriend is a DENTIST! How can you hate flossing?) Let me tell you why: I have really tight proximal contacts, which basically means that it's very hard unpleasant a bitch to get the floss between my teeth. 
• I hate that the American exercise/yoga DVDs that I wanted to buy here don't even have the option of watching them in English.  I am NOT watching an American exercise video dubbed into French!
• I hate that the cover model on the latest issue of Natural Health looks like a toothpick. 
• I hate when Americans complain about the high price of gas.  Last time I filled my tank I paid 1.20€ per LITER, or 60€ for a full tank.  That's about 74 bucks.  Granted, Americans are paying more for gas these days.  But at one point, we were paying the same price for a liter as Americans were for a gallon.
• I hate having to sift through lots of internet dreck in my job search.
• ...
• I hate trying to come up with things to gripe about.  I must be mellowing.
• Oh yeah: I hate teaching English to 26 (or more) hormonal middle-schoolers. 

Stuff That's Meandering Through My Brain

• That photo?  The one I posted last night?  It's the just-about-to-boil broth for my vegetable couscous. Stock, olive oil, curry powder, ground cumin, saffron, cinnamon sticks, bruised garlic cloves.  The only thing missing was the cilantro.  What caught my eye was the splotch of saffron.  I didn't see the face until I uploaded the picture. 
• Should I apply for the job writing 15,000 questions for a trivia game?
• Is it possible for one person to write 15,000 multiple-choice questions without going insane?
• I'm kind of excited.  I have a reason to go to the store.  I'm out of toilet paper.
• Kitties like canned salmon. 
• Note to self: next time, try the brand name canned salmon. 

Tell Me What You See

Grammar Gripe, Part 2

Earlier today I read a blog post.  "Yeah, so what?," you're saying.  Well, it contained the error I complained about the other day: it's as a possessive.  The blogger in question is quite high up in the blogging world, but unlike his wife he allows comments to his posts.  A commenter pointed out his grammatical error and got slammed as a result. 

This bothers me. 

Not only did other commenters criticize the critic, the blogger himself threatened to ban the commenter's IP if s/he responded to the blogger's explanation that it was late after a stressful day and who had time for editing? 

I don't agree. 

There are standards which must be adhered to with our written language.  I'll cringe if you tell me there's three blogs you read regularly.  If you write it, I'll call you on it, and tell you you're wrong. 

A living language must evolve, but that doesn't mean we should be sloppy about it. 

Things I Should Hate But Don't

• Poodles in beauty salons
• Kittens that knead my thighs when I am wearing shorts
• My landlord and her Dental Barbie From Hell look
• France in August
• France in general
• ...

Pee and Poodles

I had to go to the laundromat today.  My washing machine isn't big enough to handle my duvet.  I woke up this morning because of a wet spot.  On my duvet.

Get your mind out of the gutter!

One of those damn kittens had peed on my duvet.  Damn kittens.  Can't have anything nice. 

I thought I would carry my duvet down to the dry cleaners after lunch.  When I got down there, I saw a sign: CLOSED from August 15th to September 5th. 

Kitchen Blogging

With bonus economic commentary!

And I need to turn that microphone down a little more, don't you think?

Quote of the Day

Today my friend Anne told me "My dad goes to 8:30 mass every day and on his way home he picks up two Krispy Kreme donuts for my mom." 

I burst out laughing, and said "I'm going to blog that." 

So Excited!

One of my cyberfriends cooked up an HTML resume for me yesterday.  It looks GREAT.  And today she guided me in adding text to it.  What she showed me was simple, but I needed a nudge in the right direction. 

I love this stuff.  I'm such a geek. 

Plus, in the past three days, I've found two job postings that really match my skill set.  (Did I just say "skill set"?  Yikes). 

Very cool.  Fingers crossed. 

I Love Mayonnaise

I'm not kidding.  Love. It.  My favorite use for mayo is fry-dippin'!  (I know half of you are out there saying "Fries dipped in mayonnaise?  Ewwwwww!")

Why the post about mayonnaise?  Well, I thought about my X as I was making lunch for myself.  I was scooping avocado into my salad, and I remembered how the X always ate his avocados. 

He would fill the hollows in each half of his avocado with mayonnaise.  Dollop, dollop. And I would shudder when I saw him eat it.  (Here's where I say "Ewwww!")

I love mayo, I love avocados, but the two together?  Nope.  Not gonna do it.

It's a mouthfeel thing. 

Bat Clog Friday

Or something like that.

For the Friday Ark at Modulator.

Grammar Gripe

Okay people, spot the error(s): 

Your cover letter tells an employer a lot about you, good or bad. Think of it as a sales pitch. It’s primary purpose is to show why your skills and background are a perfect match for the position for which you're applying. It is not the place to present all of your experience, that should already be showcased in your resume.