Friday, September 23, 2005

Okay, so I'm slow to pick up on things...

I'm not sure exactly why, but some things seem to sail right past me and I never pick up on them. You know, like my wife dropping hints about what I could get her for her birthday.

Then there's some trendy stuff that seems to slip by me. For example, I've seen a dozen people in the last three weeks wearing these yellow, rubberized wristbands. I couldn't quite figure it out... what, exactly, are those supposed to represent? I mean, a gold watch symbolizes wealth. But a rubber wrist band? It costs 5 cents to make, and some outfit is probably out there hocking them for $35 a piece, ripping off the fad-frenzied American consumer.

So tonight I googled "yellow wrist band". The first hit explained it all. Somehow this "cultural phenomenon," as the author states, warped right over my sheltered drive-between-home-and-work life.

Now my curiosity has been satisfied.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

The 31-year old Sunbeam

Two posts in one day. Now I can rest for two months... Just kidding.

Last Sunday I went back to Primary. I've now been to Primary twice in my entire life. You may have read about my first experience in Primary.

The second visit was much less traumatic. I had no need to pry children off my leg, and the stake president didn't catch me locking my kids in the member cleaning closet. So, things were actually going quite well. One of our kids was having a rough day, just needed some "Dad time", and he was either coming to Elders Quorum with me, or I was going to Primary with him. Since I had the decision making power, we went to Primary.

One thing I learned from my second visit: it's probably better that I don't know what our kids say when they are in school/Primary/etc. Lizzy warned me some time ago that kids will share anything and everything, and I believed her then. I consider those words prophetic now. I'll share.

It was... sharing time? Hmmm, I don't know. I've heard about sharing time, but I have no idea what that means. Anyway, Sister Increvil was giving a little lesson/talk. She held up a picture of a waterfall, and the kids and Sister Increvil talked about how waterfalls are very pretty to look at, but can also be dangerous if we get too close.

She then asked for other examples of things that might be fun, but can be dangerous. Kids were saying things like, bicycles, cars, airplanes, etc. My son had his hand up, so I asked him what he wanted to say.

Son: "Bad movies. They can give you bad dreams."

You know, I thought, that's really insightful for a 4-year old. When Sister Increvil got back to our side of the room, she called on my son.

Sr. Increvil: "What are you thinking of that can be fun, but dangerous?"

Son: "If we watch bad movies, we can have bad dreams."

Sr. Increvil: "That's right. It might be fun or exciting to watch some movies, but there are some movies that we shouldn't watch." (prepares to call on someone else)

Son: "I watched a dinosaur movie..."

Me: Okay, kid, you've answered your question. It's someone else's turn!

Son: "and a Tyrannasaurus Rex ...ate... another dinosaur!" (dramatic pause before "ate")

Me: Is there a hole in this floor I can slide into?

Son: "and I had a bad, bad, bad, really bad dream."

Sister Increvil, fortunately, moved on. A chuckling, but sympathetic parent behind me patted me on the shoulder. I sat wondering what on earth the kids had watched.

Had they seen "Jurassic Park"?! That must have been while a babysitter was over! You know, we tell the babysitters they're not allowed to watch TV when we're not around for a reason!

Well, later I found out. My son was referring to "The Land Before Time". We'd watched this with the kids, and they loved it, and they (apparently) had been requesting to watch it again and again last week. Yes, there are a couple of T-Rex's, which the kids found scary (but also consider their favorite part). But to my knowledge they don't eat anything/anyone. At least not on screen. I'm guessing my son's over-active imagination filled in the blanks.

So, there you have it. Sister Increvil thinks our kids watch blood and gore on TV, and I realized that I really don't want to know what our kids share during sharing time.

I've decided I don't care for GMail

So you know it's been a long time since you posted on your blog when you can't remember your login name.

Anyway, I've decided that I don't much care for GMail. All the hype, all the buzz when it first came out. Getting that elusive "invite" to get your own account, etc., etc.

But I just don't care for the interface. I'm sure if I gave it time I'd come to know and love it, and I'd shun the "easy interface for the masses" fodder like Yahoo!. But, I really don't have much time to learn something new, and while I can find my way around, it just doesn't feel intuitive.

Okay, citizens, back to your lives.