Happy Chronica

This here's my stepkid with a gorgeous new 12-string.
The guitar count in the house is steadily rising as the teen years manifest.

Llamas and cheese

A few years back, my husband and I went through a funny Peruvian phase.  We wanted to decorate with pan flutes and miniature llamas and brightly colored woven yarn sculptures.  We bought a CD from those Peruvian dudes that always have their table set up next to the Space Needle.  We also bought some Peruvian doodads from a some other Peruvian guys' table at the Houston Science Museum.  I frequently imagined my whole house covered in decor from Cost Plus and went completely coo coo for cocoa puffs over any sort of llama art. Sometimes I wore a Peruvian crocheted hat.
I have never been to Peru.
Neither has my husband.
I'm not sure either of us will ever go there in our lifetimes.
I doubt it.
We got over the Peruvian thing, but we still have one pan flute hanging in the bedroom.  Just to remember.

All you need

I am fairly certain that everything that a person will ever need to know about being a decent human being can be learned by repeatedly watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory back to back with Groundhog Day.

What channel are you on?

I read that making art creates a channel for truth.
I believe that.

Another successful camping trip with a toddler

We are back from Twin Harbor State Park.  I invented a totally awesome and delicious, yet-to-be-named breakfast item: 
Scrambled egg sandwich with mayo on Franz' Milk and Honey bread, stuffed with with Fritos and sharp cheddar.
Crunchy, cheesy proteiney goodness.

Complete breakfast, yarp.

The Mysteries of the universe

Just out of curiosity, I wonder what the most complicated instructional video is on youtube.  I have plenty of friends who have taught themselves to crochet, cook, paint, draw, program, understand math, fold diapers, and so much more - all thanks to the magic of youtube and other peoples' willingness to share their skills through tutorials.

Yesterday, I was wondering to myself how far it goes.  I had to have 2 surgical procedures in the last couple of years.  I looked them both up on youtube before undergoing them.  Yep, they were both on there, being used as teaching tools.  It eased my anxiety to see actual videos of what was about to happen to me.  I also wondered if there's a limit.  Brain surgery?  Rocket science?  YES.  It is all there.  Carl Sagan will explain the cosmos to you from the grave on youtube.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Youtube, I would like to be your girlfriend.

"I'm not here to make friends."

All of those ridiculous elimination competition shows are all about showing what a ruthless douchecanoe you can be to get to a prize.  Since the beginning of reality game shows a couple of decades ago, the interviews/confessional time/talk-to-the-audience divulgence segment always seems to include the contestants acting all tough and saying, "I'm not here to make friends.  I'm here to WIN."  And then they beat on their chests like silverback gorillas and stomp away.

Do we really need more assholes?  In these times, do we really need to see who can be King of the Assholes in order to win an outrageous prize?  Look, I have lived in cities and neighborhoods with a lot of violent crime.  I already know that human beings can be completely horrible to each other and take advantage, lie, cheat, steal, etc.

YAWN.  CLICK.

Here's what Jay and I were discussing:  They should turn it around.

"I'm not here to make friends."
"Ummm, actually...yes, you are here to make friends."
"What?"
"This is a show about making friends.  The person that earns the most friendships, in a heartfelt and honest way, wins."

It's easy to cheat and be a dick.  Being a shitheel is not a strategy.
I want to see a show about who can win a prize (an actual pay-off, not just a warm fuzzy feeling) by actually doing good things, and not being a manipulative bottom dweller.  It would give me a little more hope for the human race.

My husband's grandpa always said that the right thing to do is usually the hardest thing to do.  So, let's see some of that for a change.