my adventures

There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very good indeed, but when she was bad, she was horrid.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Monday, October 22, 2012

Rub-a-dub-dub, Singing in the Tub



I don’t think anybody’s ever written a song called, “There’s urine on the couch, and the remote control is in the shower. I would write it myself, but I’ve never been very good at writing love ballads.” ~ Jarod Kintz


I composed a song today.  All by myself. 

It should be noted that this was not my first venture into musical composition.  Many years ago I co-wrote a song with my friend RubyAnn.  And while some might say it was the delirious stylings of two women who had spent too much time in a church van, it did receive critical acclaim (from our friend Tammy who I think had somewhat low standards and Rubyann's sister Kim) and was performed during the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton (by me in my living room when the dignitaries from Tonga appeared on the TV). 

On a side note, when Alex was a baby I used to sing him to sleep with Goodnight My Someone from The Music Man.  I do it almost as well as Shirley Jones.  He still likes this song and will occasionally ask me to sing it.  It's never worked for Mark.  He's a bit of a metalhead and prefers We're Not Going to Take It by Twisted Sister.  I'm not sure what this says about my children.  Or about me either. 

The song I wrote today isn't quite as impressive as the ones my friend Kelly wrote while potty training her son but it accomplished what I needed it to.  And now, for your enjoyment, I offer these words to live by lyrics.  Sing to whatever tune you choose:
 
 
Sit down on your bottom when you're in the bathtub,
Sit down on your bottom when you're in the bathtub,
Sit down on your bottom when you're in the bathtub.
 
Don't lick your brother when you're in the bathtub,
Don't lick your brother when you're in the bathtub,
Don't lick your brother when you're in the bathtub.
 
No splashing Mommy when you're in the bathtub,
No splashing Mommy when you're in the bathtub,
No splashing Mommy when you're in the bathtub.
 
Don't eat the bubbles when you're in the bathtub,
Don't eat the bubbles when you're in the bathtub,
Don't eat the bubbles when you're in the bathtub.
 
It probably won't win a Grammy but I'm proud.
 
 

(Not my children.)

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Self-Editing


“I don't have to tell you it goes without saying there are some things better left unsaid. I think that speaks for itself. The less said about it the better.” ~George Carlin, Brain Droppings


A recent conversation with Alex - including the parts that only took place in my mind:

Alex: The cat at Robin’s is Kidder and the cat at Gram’s is Frank.

Me: (Silently) Actually Frank died not that long ago but I’d rather not go in that.
        (Aloud) That’s right.

Alex: Robin’s going to give me a cat.

Me: (Silently) She better not.
       (Aloud) Really?

Alex: Yes, I will call him Fire.

Me: (Silently) Where do you come up with this stuff?
       (Aloud) Fire?

Alex: Yes, he’s a really hot cat.
          Me: (Silently) BWAHAHAHAHAHA
                  (Aloud) Ohh.
Alex: He will be orange.

Me: (Silently) That actually makes sense.
        (Aloud) Is orange your favorite color?

Alex: Yes.

Me: I thought your favorite color was red.

Alex: No, orange.

Me: (Silently) Seriously? You told me it was red not even 10 minutes ago.
        (Aloud) Okay.

 
Several minutes later:
Jeff: (Reading this post aloud) Actually Frank died not that long ago...

Alex: Frank died?

Jeff: Yes, he's in kitty heaven.


Friday, June 29, 2012

Cloudy, with a chance of snout dogs...


I’m interested in meteorology, but I’m more interested in gross misappropriations of the authoritative language of science. It feels rife with clarity, and yet you don’t understand what it means. And I think that’s beautiful.   ~Rivka Galchen

Earlier this week, in an attempt to remember the word "prognosticator", I entered the word "meteorologist" on the Thesaurus.com website.  My search netted an interesting list, including, not only, prognosticator but also prophesier, forecaster, tea-leaf reader, soothsayer and haruspex.

Which led me to ask, as I'm sure you are, "What is a 'haruspex'?"  A quick search on Dictionary.com brought me this interesting insight:

haruspex: (in ancient Rome) one of a class of minor priests who practiced divination, especially from the entrails of animals killed in sacrifice
 
 
Which led to the inevitable question, "Wouldn't the weather report be so much more interesting if they replaced Doppler Radar with Examination of the Entrails?"

Which led to this conversation:

  Me: Do you want to go to the Farmers Market with me and the kids tomorrow?
  Nancy: I wish I had a better idea of what the weather was going to be like.
  Me: I could go home and consult the entrails.
  Nancy: Do you have entrails?
  Me: I think there's a package of hot dogs in the freezer.

Which led to this:


Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The GCT has friends!

“The rule is: don’t use commas like a stupid person. I mean it.”   ~Lynne Truss, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

These made me laugh:



I stole the 1st one from a friend on Facebook.  The second came from this website.

I gotta go feed these kids.  Have a great day!