Ha!

This fills my heart with joy. First watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nokTjEdaUGg then compare it to this and if you don't laugh i don't want to talk to you ever again http://www.celebitchy.com/14446/tina_fey_plays_sarah_palin_again_on_saturday_night_live/.
I know what I'm being for Halloween...

Sleepy

Would anyone like to front an island getaway for me?

Why I'm Excited

Today I am a blogging machine! Apparently I have a lot to say. Also I've been such a gloomy cranky girl that I decided it'd be a good idea to play Pollyanna. So here are the top reasons I'm excited about life.

1. RAD days http://www.radworkshere.org/interior.php?pageID=42 i like when awesome things are free.

2. Heroes premiere tonight! Though it's been so long since I saw an episode of Heroes that there better be a damn good synopses at the start of the show.

3. I'm reading the last book in the Twilight series and very excited to finish them. I'm also waiting for my friend Sara to finish so we can discuss.

4. We had baked potato bar at work today. Delicious food makes me joyful.

5. On the same food note I made 2 pans of dumplings last night and I get to eat them. Probably not all of them but if I decided to it would be no body's business but my own.

6. The daily wonder that is Eli, last night when I asked him if he wanted to go to bed he did a little dance.

Anyone else want to play I'm Glad?

Dinosaurs and Tricycles

I'm in a slightly better mood today, though still disgusted about several things that I'll quietly stew over without writing them out. It's probably better that way. We had a good weekend and my post is picture heavy, good news for anyone who enjoys looking at Eli as much as I do.
Eli is going to be 20 months old. Truly truly truly a toddler. He does something new every day that keeps me happy to see the next step in his growth.
Saturday morning I was eating an apple and he was very curious as to what I was doing so I thought I'd give him a shot at eating apples like a big boy. He didn't disappoint me.
Eli's very into playing peek a boo. Here he is hiding in his ball pit.
And then triumphantly emerging!

On Saturday I had an overwhelming desire to get out of the house for something besides shopping, after propositioning Suzanne we decided to head to the Carnegie Art and Natural History Museums, http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/, which are housed together.
Eli was very excited when we got there.

There's a very cool graffiti themed exhibit when you first enter, Suz is posing next to the wall which I wish I'd gotten a long shot of.
Here's Camo-Me, my shirt helped.
Tagging Ficus.
This looked very real, when I turned the corner I did a double take.
One wall was covered in these "wish bracelets".

And this installation would appear to be made entirely out of duct tape, it would have impressed my older brother who carried a duct tape wallet when he was younger and thought it the end-all be-all of duct tape.

Eli slept through most of the art galleries but luckily woke up before we headed over to the science half to see the dinosaurs. Pittsburgh has a lot of complete dinosaur skeletons including what was the first complete T-Rex ever assembled. We're awesome like that.
Eli in front of the bird-o-saurus sculpture which was part of dinosaur days, http://www.pbase.com/ralf/dinodays, Jen and I are plotting a photo shoot with Eli and all the dinos some day. Maybe we should wait til Eli can muster up some enthusiasm.
T-Rex! There's actually two set up to look like they're fighting each other but other museum patrons kept me from getting a clean shot.
Triceratops AKA Sara from the Land Before Time.
Prehistoric sea turtle! The plaque informed us that he was a gentle vegetarian. obviously we love him.

Eli in the elevator looking disgruntled, he was good as gold and even a little excited during the dinosaur exhibit but I have to admit he may be a bit young to appreciate the museum.
Ah fresh air, that's what Eli likes. Note his curls, reason number 1 why it'll be a long time til he gets a hair cut.
Yesterday I found this awesome Radio Flyer tricycle in perfect condition for $7 at the Goodwill. Deal of the century.
Eli was into it's old fashioned bell.
His feet don't reach the petals yet but he'll grow into it no doubt. And he looks mighty handsome posing on it.

I actually got to spend some quality time with my husband last night (it's still weird to say husband by the way) which was lovely. He was talking back to John McCain on Sixty Minutes and I was reminded that I never love him more than when he's being liberal. Jason spends so much time watching CNN that he often dreams about the political candidates, for him the end of the election season may be a good thing.

An Open Letter

Dear World,

If I have to read one more account like this: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/18/actor.cat.cruelty.ap/index.html or like this (which is making me seriously reconsider eating meat and watch that video at your own risk, I couldn't bring myself to) http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/16/abused.pigs.ap/index.html I am leaving the planet. I am building a spaceship and taking Eli and Jason and going to Saturn where we will live and start a new race of sensitive people who do not abuse helpless animals. On top of this I watched an episode of Bones about dog fighting last night which had me sobbing. I've seen first hand what abuse does to animals. Adelaide couldn't have always been crazy; she must have started out as a sweet, funny, trusting puppy, like all dogs do. And in her case someone fucked that up and turned her into the cringing, anxious pile of neurosis she is today. This pisses me off. So seriously--spaceship, Saturn, colony.

With Annoyance & Outrage,

Emily

And When I Woke Up I Was At Target Again!

When Eli's babbling away in his baby talk that does not yet resemble words I imagine that a lot of the stories go like this "I got in the car with mom and Aunt Suz and I was in my seat. And it was comfy. I fell asleep. I was dreaming about balls and I made a touchdown and everyone clapped for me and i was so proud because I'm an excellent athlete. And when I woke up I was in Target again!"

The poor kid he's always waking up from car naps to find that he's been deposited in a red cart and mommy's drooling over something she doesn't really need. I wonder if the need to shop is a genetic trait. Time will tell I guess.

I'm feeling a good bit calmer today, I managed to get some rest this weekend--not enough, but when do I ever get enough--and my nerves aren't sitting on the edge of my skin anymore. Eli got some very cute new clothes after a Target spree on Saturday including a robot pullover that is awesome and makes me long for crisp air. Yesterday I got an ethernet cord for a dollar to replace the one my cat chewed through (though according to Jason the cat would NEVER do that! and it must have been Eli) and was delighted to have the use of my internet again.

Here's a few pics of the little monster, he's constantly moving which makes getting good pictures hard which is why I haven't had as many lately.

Eli at the zoo last weekend running running running. My man on the go.

He didn't drink that pepsi but it gives him such joy to carry the bottle around. This is another addition to the collection of strange objects that Eli becomes attached to; why can't he just have a teddy bear like other kids?

Napping like a champ. He woke up super cranky. I gave him teething tablets and tried to bribe him into silence with a dollar. It worked Friday night but had no effect yesterday, someone must have told him our dollar isn't worth much on the world market.

We purchased a twenty dollar ball pit for the young sir. As you can tell from that look on his face he's over the moon about it.

He was in there right up until bedtime last night and got back in first thing this morning. Jason and I are pretty sure it's better than a babysitter.

And this very catchy song is stuck in my head http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWmVTbWHgFc&feature=related, I've been humming about Vest Virginia all morning.

Jagged

I'm going to preface this blog post by explaining that I'm really really tired. First Eli was teething Wed night and then last night I was stricken by the insomnia that I haven't had to deal with for at least two years. I'm working on four hours of sleep and wearing someone elses pants because mine got soaked on the way to work this morning. After my umbrella broke. Also my muffin got ruined by the rain. So the point is that I'm not as coherent as I might be but my opinions stand regardless.

First I'd like everyone to read this so they can get an idea of the bug that has crawled up my ass http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check and digest it please. It comes from the Associated Press so it's pretty fucking legit. Then you can peruse this and click on any of the links that you might be interested in to see the evidence backing up the claims http://suzieqq.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/top-10-things-you-should-know-about-sarah-palin/

Next I'd like everyone to think about the fact that Sarah Palin supports abstinence only sex education and has a pregnant 17 year old daughter. The conclusion that we can draw from this is that she doesn't learn from her mistakes. That worries me a bit.

On a more personal note I hate that she named her baby Trig. It makes me think of math class and it makes a coworker of mine think of some STD that I can't spell properly. People who inflict names like that on their children shouldn't be helping run the country. Even if they are self proclaimed "pitbulls". Don't worry America baby Palin will be OK, Suz and I are going to kidnap him, rename him Elliot and raise him to be a bleeding heart liberal of the highest order. Possibly part of my problem is that I can't like a woman who wants to leave her four month old for extended periods of time. Obviously I support working mothers but VP of the USA isn't exactly your normal nine to five job. I mean can she possibly be breastfeeding on the campaign trail?

Now that I've griped a bit I'd like everyone to watch this which makes me so in love with Matt Damon that I may need to change into my third pair of pants for the day before noon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6urw_PWHYk. And if you still have any interest in my rant you can read this http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/Story?id=5782924&page=1 which contains the following passage :

GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." Are we fighting a holy war?
PALIN: You know, I don't know if that was my exact quote.
GIBSON: Exact words.

Oh Charles Gibson now I have to make out with you too!

This certainly the only thing that has my nerves all raw around the edges it's just the thing that keeps popping up on the news. I'm also annoyed at my body 1. for the sleeplessness 2. for the non-period period I just had 3. for not making babies in a swift fashion. And I'm annoyed at myself for being a chronic shopaholic, a situation that escalates as I get less sleep and become a little manic. Just a little, but I can feel myself veering off a bit dangerously. I'm annoyed at my rambling here and the actual verbal rambling that's been happening in real life. Right now this is what's been soothing me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RflSXMh97m4 & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsZRPTLMk9s&feature=related I have bunch of his music on my itunes and I want to crawl up inside his voice and nap. That is if I could fall asleep. Maybe he could just come sit on the edge of my bed and sing to me.

Subliminal Messages from PBS

Most of you probably know that I religiously sleep with the TV on. Over the years this has lead to some interesting dreams and some pretty messed up nightmares. As a teenager I always slept to Nick-At-Nite since old sitcoms and laugh tracks are conducive to restful sleep and happy dreams. Then when I moved out of my parents house and had no cable and no antenna I'd use movies; more often than naught it'd be Dirty Dancing which is my most favorite lullaby. Now I usually fall asleep to PBS since they don't run the kind of programming that gives a girl with an over active imagination night terrors. Last night they had on some sort of very long show about the history of Stax Records, subconsciously I now know a whole lot about Stax Records. And I've got Otis Redding on perma-play in my head, which is certainly not a bad thing.
If it's ever on when I'm awake I'm going to watch it on purpose and fill in the gaps in my head. I hope tonight they have a show on Spanish for dummies and I wake up fluent so that I can understand my in-laws.

Emily The Grump

I am cranky. Look at cute babies.