"Judge sentences man convicted in LA-area commuter train deaths to 11 consecutive life terms...
A man convicted of causing a deadly commuter rail crash that he blamed on an attempt to commit suicide was sentenced Wednesday to 11 consecutive life terms by a judge who denounced him as a remorseless killer."
I saw this headline and couldn't believe it. I swear this was a Law and Order episode, except that it took place in New York. I'm sure Law and Order took some liberties with the details of the how, but so much was similar that you can't deny this is what the episode was based on. Right down to the SUV, last minute change of heart, desperate attempt to gain the attention of his ex-wife, it was all the same. So much for their disclaimer that any similarities are merely a coincidence. (I did see them say it was based on a real life situation once. Maybe I missed it on this one.)
I just can't wait until I'm on a jury someday and can say, "I know this case, I saw it on Law and Order." Then I can be the jury fore(wo)man and tell everyone how to vote because I know what Jack McCoy says is right. HaHa.
Objection!
Withdrawn.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
FHE: 1 down, 51 to go
Yep. As a family, we absolutely, positively, hit rock bottom at holding a "regular" family home evening. To say we do it when we can, if we can, sparadically, or even on occassion would be stretching the truth. On the flip side, to say that we have never done it would also be a stretch. I was pleased to know that Tasha at least had an idea as to what it was, and Kyra definately has memories (mostly of times she would share a lesson). Tasha and I planned to teach it together this afternoon and when I was talking to her later about holding family home evening tonight she said, "oh yeah, I like to do that." Well, whatever happened to that excited spirit must have stayed in the car, 'cuz when it was go time that girl had up and gone. It all came flooding back to me... all the reasons, all about 4 1/2 years old, on why it is a really miserable time trying to hold a FHE in our home. With treats, without treats, during dinner, at the table, in the living room, with the TV on, (and of course with it off!)... we've tried it all through the years and yet again tonight, misery! Threats, rewards, participation, lecturing, game playing, recitation...blah, blah, blah. NOTHING works!
So even as I am reminded of all the things we've tried and not tried. Even as I rehash all the whining, complaining, crying (on my part, I actually shed a few before we even started), tantrums, and running out of the room. This is my final stance and the exact words that I forcably said as Bill suggested that maybe it just isn't worth it:
"We're gonna do it, and we're gonna keep doing it, because it's a stupid commandment!"
So even as I am reminded of all the things we've tried and not tried. Even as I rehash all the whining, complaining, crying (on my part, I actually shed a few before we even started), tantrums, and running out of the room. This is my final stance and the exact words that I forcably said as Bill suggested that maybe it just isn't worth it:
"We're gonna do it, and we're gonna keep doing it, because it's a stupid commandment!"
Who Sucked the Life out of my Summer?
I realize that summer in the Valley of the Sun is just that...sunny...and plenty hot, to say the least. I hate it. I hate the heat. I hate the stickiness. I hate running (OK, walking briskly) from shady car place to air conditioned store, back to shady car place to air conditioned home, etc. I don't like that I have to keep my living room curtains closed for fear that the slightest bit of sunshine will bring the temperature up 5 degrees within a 30 minute period of time. I hate that my pathetic truffula tree in the backyard is leaning so far to the ground that certain leaves of certain branches are touching the ground but I refuse to cut off any branches because that is valuable shade! I hate that I have to put the dog's water dish in the shade with a drizzling of hose water running continually or else their poor little tongues will scorch in the boiling water. Blah, blah. I hate a lot of things about the summer in Tempe, but my real concern right now is where in the heck did my summer go to?!
Does anyone remember when school used to start the week after labor day? You know, in September?! I visualize calendars with watermelons and picnics pictured in August and the school bus, pencils and smiling children in September. You can't just move that picture from September to August because there are no smiling children when they have to start school on August 4th! Or August 13th! Sheesh. Who sucked the life out of our summers? Whose bright idea was it to move the start date up a week, then 2 weeks, then 3 weeks, and now finally a whole month?! Who on earth thought this would be a good idea?!
I know, let's bring all the students back to school right when things are getting really hot. Let's turn the air conditioning on in these great big schools right when it will cost the most money. Let's bring a bunch of kids together with their tempers flaring and not even let them run around outside because it is too stinking hot to go outside! This is a grand plan. But the best idea of all, the thing that makes the most sense, the best reason to start school early is this: it forces all the parents to stay in town, endure the heat, beat themselves up for not planning a earlier vacation, and finally...feel really guilty for sitting in the pick-up lane with the air conditioning running for any length of time because their younger child doesn't want to park and get out and walk because it is too stinking hot, we are all cranky, and we should all still be at home, lazing around, eating watermelon in our air conditioned homes, occasionally venturing outside maybe for a dip in the pool or a run through the sprinklers.
Let's face it, whoever had the bright idea of starting school early and having a fall break, then start even earlier so we could have an extending fall break was, quite frankly, a moron.
Does anyone remember when school used to start the week after labor day? You know, in September?! I visualize calendars with watermelons and picnics pictured in August and the school bus, pencils and smiling children in September. You can't just move that picture from September to August because there are no smiling children when they have to start school on August 4th! Or August 13th! Sheesh. Who sucked the life out of our summers? Whose bright idea was it to move the start date up a week, then 2 weeks, then 3 weeks, and now finally a whole month?! Who on earth thought this would be a good idea?!
I know, let's bring all the students back to school right when things are getting really hot. Let's turn the air conditioning on in these great big schools right when it will cost the most money. Let's bring a bunch of kids together with their tempers flaring and not even let them run around outside because it is too stinking hot to go outside! This is a grand plan. But the best idea of all, the thing that makes the most sense, the best reason to start school early is this: it forces all the parents to stay in town, endure the heat, beat themselves up for not planning a earlier vacation, and finally...feel really guilty for sitting in the pick-up lane with the air conditioning running for any length of time because their younger child doesn't want to park and get out and walk because it is too stinking hot, we are all cranky, and we should all still be at home, lazing around, eating watermelon in our air conditioned homes, occasionally venturing outside maybe for a dip in the pool or a run through the sprinklers.
Let's face it, whoever had the bright idea of starting school early and having a fall break, then start even earlier so we could have an extending fall break was, quite frankly, a moron.
Friday, August 15, 2008
An Email from Taiwan
I have a nephew serving a mission in Taipei. There are too many typographical errors to correct so you are just going to have to read through the mistakes. He's a kid, on a mission, with an hour to frantically send messages to his loved ones, and he's been speaking a foreign language for half of a year. Give him a break, and listen to the message:
"What a great blessing it is to experience the feelings from the Holy Ghost. We are able to receive answers to all types of questions. We are fortunate members as we have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost so as we live worthily the Lord has promised the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. It may not be that burning sensation all the time, but you will know that you have it, especially once it goes away. Which brings me to a story..
So this past Monday we had Zone Conference and it was amazing, we learned alot and the spirit was strong. After which we were on the way home and got on a bus. We sat down in the back of the bus as there were two open seats for us to sit in, so we sat down and then I started to study Chinese as i usually do. We were in Taipei city making our way back to our home and in Taipei it was pretty crowded with cars, so traffic was really slow. As we stopped i looked out the window and saw two guys fighting on the sidewalk. I had no idea why they were fighting (that werent very good fighters, thats for sure). But i saw them figh, which lasted for like 40 seconds then after i just felt terrible. I felt like i had just like found out a relative was dead or something. It was just an awful feeling. I realized at the moment that the spirit had left me. That it was with me before and because of me watching that fight the spirit was gone. Now there was nothing that i could possible do abou the fight as we are not supposed to become involved in that kind of stuff. But still, i felt that because i love the Taiwan people soo much that my soul literally ached for those two. That kind of violence i havent seen for a while, probably since UFC. I realized that they obviously hated eachother and that really broke my heart. The entire bus ride home i felt almost sick to my stomach becasue i realized how lost some people really are.
I guess the biggest lesson that i learned from that experience is to be careful with what you do say watch or listen to. The spirit will dwell with you and then in a matter of seconds it will be gone. And that feeling of not having the spirit is the worst. It made me realized that i need to do all i can to constantly have the spirit with me, that is most important as i am on 'duty' at all times! ...that experience really made me realize how sensitive the spirit is. So we must be careful to not force it away."
"What a great blessing it is to experience the feelings from the Holy Ghost. We are able to receive answers to all types of questions. We are fortunate members as we have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost so as we live worthily the Lord has promised the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. It may not be that burning sensation all the time, but you will know that you have it, especially once it goes away. Which brings me to a story..
So this past Monday we had Zone Conference and it was amazing, we learned alot and the spirit was strong. After which we were on the way home and got on a bus. We sat down in the back of the bus as there were two open seats for us to sit in, so we sat down and then I started to study Chinese as i usually do. We were in Taipei city making our way back to our home and in Taipei it was pretty crowded with cars, so traffic was really slow. As we stopped i looked out the window and saw two guys fighting on the sidewalk. I had no idea why they were fighting (that werent very good fighters, thats for sure). But i saw them figh, which lasted for like 40 seconds then after i just felt terrible. I felt like i had just like found out a relative was dead or something. It was just an awful feeling. I realized at the moment that the spirit had left me. That it was with me before and because of me watching that fight the spirit was gone. Now there was nothing that i could possible do abou the fight as we are not supposed to become involved in that kind of stuff. But still, i felt that because i love the Taiwan people soo much that my soul literally ached for those two. That kind of violence i havent seen for a while, probably since UFC. I realized that they obviously hated eachother and that really broke my heart. The entire bus ride home i felt almost sick to my stomach becasue i realized how lost some people really are.
I guess the biggest lesson that i learned from that experience is to be careful with what you do say watch or listen to. The spirit will dwell with you and then in a matter of seconds it will be gone. And that feeling of not having the spirit is the worst. It made me realized that i need to do all i can to constantly have the spirit with me, that is most important as i am on 'duty' at all times! ...that experience really made me realize how sensitive the spirit is. So we must be careful to not force it away."
Monday, August 11, 2008
School of Rock
A friend gave me School of Rock to watch a few weeks ago. I sat down with my girls one Monday night while Bill was in school to watch it. It's been a while since I've watched much more than cartoons with my kids, so parts of this show were eye-opening (or jaw-dropping) to say the least. Kyra gives me the eye. The one where she's saying, "is this OK?" while at the same time smiling and resisting a chuckle. Tasha's not sure what's going on but we have to enforce the fact that, "we don't talk like that"..."or that"... It was lighthearted, we were laughing, and I haven't heard any of those words repeated yet. I do have two concerns:
1. We watched it once. Then we watched it with Bill. As the scene began that included the first swear word (the one that I didn't even acknowledge) Tasha bolts over to Bill's ear and whispers, "Dad, Dad. He's going to say a bad word but we say butt." Are you kidding me, she remembered that from a week ago? Hmm. Trouble I tell you, trouble.
2. The final scene includes some serious rocking out. Tasha was wired for like an hour after watching it, and dancing to it, and singing with it, and jumping all around the living room. She did it both times. It was on last night again so we turned it off well before any rockin' began. This is a kid that is really affected by music. I've seen it before in other kids, just never my own.
I guess my concerns really should be more observations and I should harness the awareness that I have. Maybe, just maybe, seeing and hearing the right things will stick just as well as the bad. And maybe I can find the kinds of music that harness her energy, focuses her feelings and calms her intensity. That would be really nice. Cool Jazz seems to not make her mad, but that's all I know for sure.
On a completely unrelated note... Men's gymnastics is just amazing. I haven't seen the Olympic team in like 4 years or something (haha), but they are just awesome! Of course I'm smitten with the USA team and even know a couple of their names. (Horton hears a Who, and Justin somebody) On a critical note I will say this about the American team: 1. they pretty much clunk it out on the floor exercise (the Chinese are much more graceful!); 2. Listening to Horton's pep talk was a little like listening to President Bush (he's from Houston); 3. None of them are as impressive as Mitch Gaylord was back in the day.
1. We watched it once. Then we watched it with Bill. As the scene began that included the first swear word (the one that I didn't even acknowledge) Tasha bolts over to Bill's ear and whispers, "Dad, Dad. He's going to say a bad word but we say butt." Are you kidding me, she remembered that from a week ago? Hmm. Trouble I tell you, trouble.
2. The final scene includes some serious rocking out. Tasha was wired for like an hour after watching it, and dancing to it, and singing with it, and jumping all around the living room. She did it both times. It was on last night again so we turned it off well before any rockin' began. This is a kid that is really affected by music. I've seen it before in other kids, just never my own.
I guess my concerns really should be more observations and I should harness the awareness that I have. Maybe, just maybe, seeing and hearing the right things will stick just as well as the bad. And maybe I can find the kinds of music that harness her energy, focuses her feelings and calms her intensity. That would be really nice. Cool Jazz seems to not make her mad, but that's all I know for sure.
On a completely unrelated note... Men's gymnastics is just amazing. I haven't seen the Olympic team in like 4 years or something (haha), but they are just awesome! Of course I'm smitten with the USA team and even know a couple of their names. (Horton hears a Who, and Justin somebody) On a critical note I will say this about the American team: 1. they pretty much clunk it out on the floor exercise (the Chinese are much more graceful!); 2. Listening to Horton's pep talk was a little like listening to President Bush (he's from Houston); 3. None of them are as impressive as Mitch Gaylord was back in the day.
Compulsive Hoarding
I thought I had a clutter problem. I thought it and I know it to be true. I've watched those shows where the organizing people come in and gut a room, sell stuff, dump stuff, and end up with a beautiful space. I even had my friend come over and help me organize a space. She was thrilled because that is what she does. We made quite a bit of progress, I still know where all that stuff is, but sadly part of the space has become cluttered again because I have new stuff to put there. I envy the person without all the stuff, the one that can resist the sale, and the one that doesn't have to save something because, "what if"...I need it someday. Anyway, I have a lot of issues, I've made a lot of progress lately, but at least I'm not a compulsive hoarder!
I took a nap with Tasha this afternoon so I'm not really ready for bed and am trying to kill some time while waiting for the new Army Wives episode to come on. Every time I switch to the Olympics there is a commercial and I'm sick of watching Olympic athletes sell their souls by doing McDonald's commercials. I read a lengthy article on morality and laughed at the idea of throwing a fat man in front of a train to stop the train from hitting 5 men. But now I've channel surfed and found a show titled, "Help! I'm a Hoarder."
Oooh, part of me wants to hold this poor woman and let her know that everything is going to be OK, the other part of me wants to strangle her and scream, "just let it go!!!" To listen to her talk in her baby-like-fake-sing-song-analytical voice is going to drive me up a wall. And to say, "here is a pile of laundry but I don't have the money to wash it" while talking toan organizing specialist that she meets with weekly seems a little off to me. Her counselor points out that she was abused as a child and she notes that when she sees things on the street she has to rescue them. Seven years earlier the state brought a dumpster to the apartment and completely emptied her place. Her comment was that she was "completely disoriented in space." (while circling her hands around her head and looking to the sky) As the show continues to unfold I get the feeling that the state is paying for all the therapy and specialists but I'm not sure because she just got an eviction notice.
Why, oh why, am I investing time in this show? Maybe because I feel a little less crazy for the piles of clothes on top of my dresser that don't fit Tasha any more. Maybe because I feel a little better that my clutter is fairly contained to one room and a few dump zones in various rooms. I do notice that my anxiety level has gone up over the last hour and I feel overwhelmed by the piles I need to get through. Tomorrow is another day and I imagine that I have a trip to Good Will in store for myself after a hefty heave-ho of a bunch of junk. Maybe I have hoarding behaviors, maybe I don't...but I'm pretty sure I'm not quite compulsive.
I took a nap with Tasha this afternoon so I'm not really ready for bed and am trying to kill some time while waiting for the new Army Wives episode to come on. Every time I switch to the Olympics there is a commercial and I'm sick of watching Olympic athletes sell their souls by doing McDonald's commercials. I read a lengthy article on morality and laughed at the idea of throwing a fat man in front of a train to stop the train from hitting 5 men. But now I've channel surfed and found a show titled, "Help! I'm a Hoarder."
Oooh, part of me wants to hold this poor woman and let her know that everything is going to be OK, the other part of me wants to strangle her and scream, "just let it go!!!" To listen to her talk in her baby-like-fake-sing-song-analytical voice is going to drive me up a wall. And to say, "here is a pile of laundry but I don't have the money to wash it" while talking toan organizing specialist that she meets with weekly seems a little off to me. Her counselor points out that she was abused as a child and she notes that when she sees things on the street she has to rescue them. Seven years earlier the state brought a dumpster to the apartment and completely emptied her place. Her comment was that she was "completely disoriented in space." (while circling her hands around her head and looking to the sky) As the show continues to unfold I get the feeling that the state is paying for all the therapy and specialists but I'm not sure because she just got an eviction notice.
Why, oh why, am I investing time in this show? Maybe because I feel a little less crazy for the piles of clothes on top of my dresser that don't fit Tasha any more. Maybe because I feel a little better that my clutter is fairly contained to one room and a few dump zones in various rooms. I do notice that my anxiety level has gone up over the last hour and I feel overwhelmed by the piles I need to get through. Tomorrow is another day and I imagine that I have a trip to Good Will in store for myself after a hefty heave-ho of a bunch of junk. Maybe I have hoarding behaviors, maybe I don't...but I'm pretty sure I'm not quite compulsive.
Friday, August 8, 2008
I saw Ryan eating Cookies!
They weren't even good cookies either. They were stupid store bought Chips Ahoy cookies. What the heck? It was the strangest thing I think I've ever seen. Ryan eating cookies? And what was his response to this shocking observation..."well, someone took the watermelon away!" Yes, ladies and gentleman, he was happily snacking on the fruit, the fruit left with it's rightful owner, and then he was stuck with the cookies. This is the same man that I saw giving his son cherry tomatoes while saying, "here's some candy". La, la, la.
It's all quite now. All the children have left my house. All the adults have left. My 2 children have been banished to their rooms for fighting at the computer. The living room is tidy but I need to mop the floor. (good thing I didn't do that before 40 kids came tromping through) I want a little snack. Alas! There are stupid cookies on the table and a bowl of chocolate that someone conveniently left behind. But wait! I have a small bowl of strawberries and blueberries in my fridge that didn't fit on the dessert. For one fleeting moment I feel bad that I didn't offer them to Ryan. It was a brief, very brief moment. Then I thought, "his skinny butt can eat the cookies, I want the fruit!" La, la, la.
It's all quite now. All the children have left my house. All the adults have left. My 2 children have been banished to their rooms for fighting at the computer. The living room is tidy but I need to mop the floor. (good thing I didn't do that before 40 kids came tromping through) I want a little snack. Alas! There are stupid cookies on the table and a bowl of chocolate that someone conveniently left behind. But wait! I have a small bowl of strawberries and blueberries in my fridge that didn't fit on the dessert. For one fleeting moment I feel bad that I didn't offer them to Ryan. It was a brief, very brief moment. Then I thought, "his skinny butt can eat the cookies, I want the fruit!" La, la, la.
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