Going Native

Inspired by a Thirteener I read last week (sorry I don't remember your name or site) who did 13 things about being Cherokee, my TT is going to be Native-in-general themed. This is really long to make up for my really short post last week. Hope you don't get bored.

1. I am about 1/4 Lakota and am an enrolled member of a tribe in South Dakota. I have dark brown hair, medium color skin, and bluish-greenish eyes. I'm fairly light complected for my generation in my family. Many of my cousins have much darker hair, skin, and eyes. I also have a blond cousin. I've had enough pictures on my kids on here for you to see them. We're a diverse bunch. My name, Tasina, means "shawl woman" in Lakota. (Also means something else cool.) It's pronounced "ta-sheena" with the emphasis on the second syllable. There is a little accent mark kind of like a tilde ~ that is supposed to go over the S. I'm named after my great great grandmother who had four husbands. Two down...
2. Indian people do not, nor have they ever named their children by going outside and picking the first thing they see - Deer Drinks From Creek, or Eagle Soaring, or whatever. I actually had some ask me this in a serious way. If that were the case then my kids would be Machine That Beeps and Bright Light Overhead. I have an Indian name because my mom liked it. My kids have Welsh and Hebrew names because I liked them. My relatives have all kinds of different names. We're diverse like you are. I know of white people named Bob and I know of white people named Dweezil and Moon Unit - big deal. But what about "weird" last names like Kills Plenty or Takes the Knife - you may ask. Ok, sure. What about your "weird" last names like John's son or Anders' son or the guy who bangs metal together (Smith) or Pitt or Bush or Danneskjold or McGillicutty or whatever?
   
3. As of the last census, there are approximately 281 million people in this country. About 2.5 million of those people claim to be Native American. And about 62,000 live in South Dakota. So just because you once knew a Navajo guy from Arizona 20 years ago - I don't freakin' know him. I once met a white guy named Bob from Missouri - do you know him????? I don't even know all the Indians on my reservation.
   
4. About those numbers - the census allows people to self-describe. Next year I could put down that I'm African American and no one would do anything about it. In my experience about 2/3 of the white people I meet say that way back they have Indian blood. Everyone's grandma was a Cherokee princess (the Native people will giggle at this). Ok great, I'm glad. Well maybe somewhere way back I might have a drop or two of Spanish blood, but that doesn't make me all excited for Cinco de Mayo, nor do I put down Hispanic on any ethnic surveys I get. That makes me about as Hispanic as Ward Churchill is Indian. Same goes for that stupid public service commercial from the '70s where the "Indian" guy cries at the pollution. See this link about "Iron Eyes Cody."
   
5. There are over 500 federally recognized Indian tribes in this country plus some state recognized tribes, Alaskan natives, and Hawaiian natives. Each of these tribes and groups has their own unique cultures and traditions. Please do not assume we are all the same. That would be like assuming that the cultures and traditions of the Irish in New York City are the same as the French in Louisiana just because they're both Caucasian. No.
6. Please be realistic about Indian reservations. We're not all sitting around in costume waiting for white people to show up so that we can put on a powwow or maybe have a scalping or harass a wagon train heading for Oregon. We're not all busily crafting beaded things and pottery and jewelry for you all to take home. Have you ever been to a small town anywhere in this country? Someplace where regular people live and work and play and love and fight and drink and eat and go to school? That's what most reservations are like. The people might be a little browner, but they're just people living their lives the best they can.
7. Many people believe and are resentful of the fact that Indian people get some things for free. They do actually. I got a free college education. I can get free medical care on my reservation. My tribe gives free phone service to members who live there and are over 60. Sometimes people get free turkeys and blankets at Christmas. Other tribes might have other benefits - I don't know. There are scads of reasons for these things that I'm not all that interested in going into here. Treaties, laws, agreements, and all sorts of other things have gone into these practices. Is this "fair" to others? I don't know - is life supposed to be "fair" for everyone? Was it "fair" that y'all came here and destroyed our stuff? Maybe not. Write your congressperson if it upsets you that much. I would be willing to bet that the entire combined federal, state, and local budgets that go to support Indians and give us freebies is a teeny, tiny part of the overall budget. Personally, I'm not going to worry about it and I will pay back in taxes over my lifetime more than I took out. I feel not one bit of guilt.
8. People often ask why so many Indians are "drunks" or commit crimes. I don't know that this is a true statement about "many" Indians. I'm not a drunk or a criminal. I know lots of Indians that are not drunks or criminals. Certainly there are some Indians who are alcoholics or criminals or have teen pregnancies or whatever. Maybe some of these statistics are higher for Natives than for whites or other groups - I honestly don't know. I'm sure there are a variety of sociological and psychological reasons why people are the way they are. Why are there statistically more white male serial killers than any other group? Give me the definitive answer to that and then I'll answer the drunk question.
   
9. Despite what you have learned from really stupid horror movies, building your home on an old Indian burying ground will NOT cause poltergeists in your house. Although I don't follow any Native religions, I am QUITE certain that the afterlife of Native peoples does NOT involve sucking little blond wasicus (that means white people, for all you white people) into TV's. But don't mess with burying grounds - it's rude and you wouldn't want us to do it to you. Plus the NAGPRA folks will get you. Furthermore, despite what Mr. King would have us believe, burying your pet in an old Native burying ground will not cause the pet to come back to life and kill your family.
10. I am mixing the terms "Native American" and "Indian" because either one is fine with me. Others don't agree with this, but I think it's a tiny PC issue that I don't want to waste more time on. Ditto for the mascot thing. I mostly don't care about that at all. Think of a pejorative term for any ethnic group. Now imagine that as the name of a sports team. Appropriate? You decide.
    
11. I don't own a casino. I don't get any money from a casino (my own or when I visit those owned by others). Some Indians do. Good for them. Some Indians get money from leasing water rights or mineral rights or grazing lands or jobs or inheritances or lives of crime or inventions or whatever. Diverse. Like you. I'm all for the casinos. Anything that helps people be self-sufficient and forward thinking is ok by me.
    
12. Dances with Wolves was a crock. The story is set after the Civil War. Kevin Costner did not bring sugar and coffee to the backwards savages out on the prairie. Natives in South Dakota had PLENTY of contacts with whites before Kevin showed up. (Kevin - now THERE'S someone who actually owns a casino!!!) Pretty cinematography though. "Savages" could not be further from the truth. Native peoples in this hemisphere from Canada to South America had settled societies with agriculture, arts, architecture, language, writing, etc. throughout the centuries LONG before Columbus or Vikings or whoever got here. We were not huddled around in the grass waiting for Kevin to bring us shiny things.
13. I recently read that Christopher Columbus may have picked up a strain of something that was not all that harmful from the Native people he encountered and took it back with him to Europe. That bug morphed into syphilis and ravaged Europe. I know it's really awful of me...but....hehehehehehehehe. Oh come on - you got us back.

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Long live the King (let)

Wow. Last night I started reading "Heart-Shaped Box" by Joe Hill - his full name is Joe Hill King and he is Stephen King's son. The book is REALLY creepy. I don't normally get scared by scary books, but this one put a mental image in my head that really tripped me out. Hill does not have quite the facility with language that I so admire in King, but so far it's a good read.

Here's something I noticed about these new books by the King family. Hill's book has been out for a few months while King's is brand new. It dawned on me last night that in King's book one of the characters keeps referring to a "heart-shaped box." Shameless promotion and marketing of kid or just a really proud dad? King seems like a decent dude - I'm going with really proud dad. It's kind of cute even.

One day until Lost for those of you, like me, who are going bananas waiting for it.

Viva le trash!!!

Up for air

I finished Mr. King's GARGANTUAN book - Duma Key. It was good - if you like him to begin with. I would not recommend that you start your King journey with this book. Kinda spooky - but that's not really the point. I don't read any other horror novelists - I just like King. I love the way he puts words together. The McDonald's of literature? Maybe - so what? I eat at McD's from time to time - all things in moderation, no?

Anyway here are a few random photos - I need to get back to my books!

This is my favorite building in Chicago. I don't know what it is. The picture doesn't really do it justice at all. It's just this smooth, green, cool bunch of glass - it looks amazing if you're really there.

These are in Chicago as well. I believe they're apartment complexes. I just like them because they look kind of futuristic and retro groovy all at the same time.

This picture is from one of the cities of the dead in New Orleans. Creepy and beautiful and sad and spooky - all mixed together.

This is from the French Quarter. I love the colors and the iron work. Our tour guide told us that New Orleans architecture has so much iron work because ships that brought people to New Orleans rarely went back. The people on the ships simply broke the ship down for the wood and iron and other salvage.

And - just for fun. This is my husband right after getting a pie in the face at work. This has absolutely nothing to do with the other pictures - it just never fails to make me giggle.

A week of vapidity

Is "vapidity" a real word? I hope so.

I think everyone should spend a good part of their lives involved in worthwhile pursuits - nurturing kids, reading, learning, writing, creating, etc. I'm all for it. Sign me up.

But I ALSO think that sometimes you get to take a little brain vacation. Although I still have to nurture kids and go to work and stuff like that, I'm planning a whole week of trash. Precipitating this week long trashapalooza is the fact that my big old Amazon.com order came in. WOOHOO. I received a $50 gift card (yes to me this is a LOT of moola) to Amazon for Christmas and spent it down to the nub. (P.S. This is always an appropriate gift - in case you were really racking your brain trying to think of what to get me for....oh...say....Presidents Day.) But I digress. Anyway, what did I order with my free money? Great works of literature? An in-depth historical analysis? An art appreciation tome? SAT prep materials for my child?

Hell.

No.

I bought junk! It wasn't my money! Total junk. Dear Mr. Stephen King had the foresight to release his new book when I have free money and I also picked up the first (and supposedly really scary) novel by his son. Because the Kings need more of someone's money, right? I also filled in a missing book from my Kellerman series. Whoopee!! I plan to drown in these books all week while also (quasi-resentfully) fulfilling my other obligations AND taking breaks to blog, watch AI, and go completely berserk on Thursday when lovely, lovely Lost comes back to me.

So - please do not expect much in the way of deep thinking or erudite elocutions from me this week at all. (Because that's why you read me, yeah? hahaha)

Weekly Winners 01.27.08

Idea, organization, and all-around coolness the brainchild of Lotus.

Two weeks ago it was gloves on the feet to be Curious George. Now it's Daddy's big hat to be Darth Noah. Apparently with a big enough winter weather wardrobe, we can dress up as ANYTHING. The cowboy boots add a nice touch I think.

Little pink nose.

Please let spring come soon.

The next two pictures were taken seconds apart. You might have to click for the big image to get the detail.

Chameleon eyes blue:

Chameleon eyes green:

Foot warmer (that bites sometimes).

Protector of the home (that bites sometimes).

Bling me baby

My very first blog bling!! I'm so excited!!!

Julie has given me the following badge and I'm so proud!



I'm going to pass this bling along to Lotus. I keep stealing all her ideas so I could at LEAST give her some bling love. (I see she already has one - oh well....have two.)

I'm also going to send this little message back to Julie so that she never forgets to let the kids out.

And for Maggie who keeps me smoke-free, keeps me coffeed, keeps me laughing with phrases like "food porn" and "asshats", and listens to all my crappy - I present what, to her, is the ultimate in paradise (if it served coffee too) the Hello Kitty (trademark thingy here) ATM.

Holy Cumans Batman!

I haven't blogged on news much lately, but I felt this was.....freaky enough to warrant some kind of comment.

Apparently those wacky Brits want put human genes in cow genes or something. I don't really know whether to be interested, appalled, or to start making some REALLY tasteless and snarky references. I guess the big question is WHY?????

Please leave me your interested comments, appalled comments, or general snark and bad taste!

(I was going to have Hubby create me a really freaky How/Cuman picture, but decided to take the high road. hahahah Really he's just busy.)

(Also this article is 10 days old. Maybe if I actually stayed on top of the news....Oh well.)

(And WHY NOT at least make something cool like a Batman...sheesh. Cuman. Boring)

Not flu....and boys

Yet another cool idea stolen from Lotus

(Pssst...didn't have flu.
This is what I get eating
food that's not my own.)

Green eyes clear and bright.
My very first boy to love.
Starting to leave me.

Another to love
Who knew a heart could grow more?
Completing our home.

Ugh

13 Things I Hate About the Flu

1. The chills
2. The fever
3. The aches
4. The having to sprint to the....
5. .
6. .
7. .
8. .
9. .
10. .
11. .
12. .
13. .
    

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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More food

This is really turning into a food blog. Oh well. I like food.

A family member gave me this recipe and I am just about to go off and make it. I'll update later how it turned out.

1 pound beef boneless top loin or sirloin

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 TBS sugar

2 TBS sesame or vegetable oil

1/4 tsp pepper

3 green onions finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Trim fat from beef: cut beef diagonally across grain into 1/8-inch slices. Mix remaining ingredients; stir in beef until well coated. Cover and refrigerate 20 minutes

Drain beef: stir-fry in 10-inch skillet or wok over medium heat until light brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve beef with hot cooked rice, if desired. (Why one would serve it with cold uncooked rice is beyond me!)

Sounds yummy. We'll have it with rice and some kind of green vegetable.

UPDATE: This turned out to be really good. I did only 2 tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of powdered ginger. I think next time I might add a teeny bit of red pepper flakes - just for a little kick. It's a keeper for sure.

Grossness alert - read no further if you have a touchy tummy.

And because it's so appetizing to talk about poo at the same time as food - here's a question I pose to you all. Please leave suggestions.

My teen son is slip-shod about cleaning the cat boxes (one of his VERY FEW chores). I came home today to a large pile of cat poo in MY BEDROOM - not HIS bedroom...MINE. Is it reasonable to move the cat boxes in his room until he learns to keep them clean??? Is this over-reacting? I'm also contemplating other options - slap a knot on the kid's head with the poo scooper or shoot the cat.

Rambling

I'm not sure what to write about today. I've got a bunch of stuff swirling, but none of it seems all that blog-worthy.

Still not smoking - check.
Knee getting better - check.
News not all that interesting - check.
Still stuffed from weekend cooking - check.

I'll leave you with a funny picture.

"Mommy, WTH is he doing???"

Braden's Meme

Hi this is Noah. I've hijacked my mommy's blog to participate in Braden's meme. Braden says to show how I dominate my parents. This is an old picture of me. I find that it's useful to frighten your parents once in a while and show them the very bad road you MIGHT go down - this scares them into letting you do the only kinda bad things like watch too much TV, eat a lot of candy, and stay up late!

Weekly Winners 01.20.08

Idea, organization, and all-around coolness the brainchild of Lotus.

My goal this week was to get some outside shots. But since it's about minus 20 degrees with the windchill factor, those pictures will have to wait. I try to avoid outside when it's colder than the inside of my freezer.

Wall of words.

This is one kid who is damn serious about fire safety.

Dylan's guitar.

This is a part to one of Noah's toys. Try to imagine how disturbing this is to find on your rug when you've never seen it before. 10,000 bonus points to whoever knows what this goes to. It's nothing obscure or obscene - in fact it's very popular.

Comfort Food Weekend

I decided to spend today cooking and make big batches of food we could dip into all weekend long. I opted for "comfort food" because the high temperature here today is going to be ONE DEGREE. One. Only one. ONE. I NEED comfort! Yesterday I posted my favorite lasagna recipe. As soon as I get done with this post, I'm going to start that going. But this morning I played around with a recipe from Emeril and some tips from my mom and made an amazing pot of broccoli cheese soup. I may wind up having to cook again because the soup recipe didn't make very much - and we gobbled it like hogs. Here it is:

5 tbsp butter, separated
1 cup shallots, minced
1 cup celery, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch nutmeg
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, grated
3 tbsp flour
3-4 cups chicken broth
2 cups fresh broccoli, chopped and microwaved with a splash of water for 3 minutes
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar

In a medium pot, melt 3 tbsp butter over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, celery, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook, stirring, until soft - about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant, for 20 seconds. Add the flour and cook, stirring until the mixture is well blended and smells fragrant - about 2 minutes. Slowly add the chicken stock, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil. Add the grated carrot. Reduce the heat and simmer until thickened about 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook, stirring, until tender, for 10 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and puree with a hand-held immersion blender. Alternatively, in batches, puree in a blender or food processor and return to the pot.

Add the cream and bring to a bare simmer to heat through. Add the cheese and cook over low heat, stirring, until melted. Add the remaining 2 tbsp cold butter, stirring to blend.

We served this with Parmesan Biscuit Mix from Tastefully Simple. Heaven. After my food coma nap, it's time to get the lasagna going!

I'm contemplating throwing my grand diet plans out the window and mixing up a batch of fudge. I haven't decided on that yet. :)

Haiku-ed Food

Yet another cool idea stolen from Lotus

Lasagna my love
Why so many carbs and fat?
Who cares - you're too good!

The following is a recipe I found at AllRecipes.com. My changes are in italics. It's good the original way, but we just changed things up for our taste. This is a lot of work, but fun if you like to cook and well worth it no matter what.

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage (whatever - hot, mild, sweet)
  
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef (or a pound or all beef or all sausage - whatever)
  
• 1/2 cup minced onion (I prefer to use 2 or 3 shallots)
  
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed (maybe 3 - we LOVE garlic)
  
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water (we use red wine here)
  
• 2 tablespoons white sugar (this is to cut the acidity of the tomatoes - you can substitute shredded carrots, but at this point why bother!)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves (absolutely use fresh basil instead of dried....it makes all the difference in the world to this dish...I use about 3 tbsp fresh minced...it's night and day how much better fresh is here)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds (some people don't like these and they are usually included in italian sausage...I use them, but you could eliminate them I guess.)
  
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (to taste)
  
• 1 tablespoon salt (to taste)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (to taste)
  
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (unlike the basil, I think you can use dried here - or eliminate completely....you can't really taste it with everything else in the dish)
  
• 12 lasagna noodles (I try to get the oven-ready kind to avoid part of Step 2 below)
  
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced (we use WAY WAY WAY more)
  
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (we use WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY more)
• we also add: Romano cheese
• minced Portobella mushrooms - maybe 1/4 to 1/3 cup
• about half a package of baby spinach minced....this and the mushrooms are added in Step 1
  

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. (Simmering time is important - the longer it simmers, the more the flavors marry. Do AT LEAST an hour. Some of the reviewers at the original site make the sauce the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator over night to blend - not a bad idea.)
   
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. Either use the oven-read kind or just put the regular kind in a pan of cold water before you start anything else. By the time you're ready for the noodles they will be soft enough to work. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese. (Whatever - just make reasonable layers using the sauce and the cheeses - it doesn't have to follow this exactly. I usually add one last layer of mozzarella about 15 minutes before it's done, because you can always use one more layer of cheese!)
   
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

This really is a fantastic recipe. Experiment with adding other meats, vegetables, and cheeses to your tastes. But I really cannot stress enough to use fresh basil (if you can get it).

Pure evil

I was going to do thirteen things about my cats, but I decided to keep annoying Kat instead. I give you the thirteen worst songs/jingles to have stuck in your head (in no particular order):

1. "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family....." Barney Theme Song
2. The Macarena
3. Mmmm Bop
4. "Clap On (clap clap) Clap Off (clap clap) Clap On Clap Off. THE CLAPPER!!"
5. "Dibee dobee de dooo....Three's Company too!!"
6. Anything from a hair band, especially "Here I Go Again On My Own"
7. Any Christmas song either a month before or a month after the actual holiday (especially "Gramma Got Run Over by a Reindeer").
8. The Hustle - "do do do do do do do do do do do do....do the hustle!" Really any song that involves a long whistling section, see "Walk Like an Egyptian" and others.
   
9. Patrick Swayze singing that annoying song in a horrible British accent to Whoopi Goldberg in "Ghost" to get her to talk to him. "I'm Henry the VIII I am I am....." something. Really anything sung by Patrick Swayze under any circumstance.
   
10. That horrible Spice Girls song "Tell you what I want what I really really want...." Shudder.
11. "Whoooooooooooooooooooooooo lives in a pineapple under the sea? SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS! Absorbent and yellow and porous is he. SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS! If nautical nonsense be something you wish, then drop on the deck and flop like a fish. SPONGE BOG SQUARE PANTS. SPONGE BOG SQUARE PANTS. SPONGE BOG SQUARE PANTS. SPONGE BOG SQUARE PANTS."
12. Getting just PART of a song repeating endlessly in your head. I love Johnny Cash, but one day I had JUST the chorus of "Ring of Fire" going through my head over and over and I almost stuck a pen in my eye just for some variation. Jeff almost went home sick from work one day because he had just the "Oh Baby Baby" part of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears going through his head.
13. The time-is-running-out-so-write-down-your-answer thingy from Jeopardy. This is especially annoying to hear when someone thinks they are being really cute and hums this to you while you try to do something. This may be grounds for justifiable gross bodily injury.
    

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Stealing ideas again

Julie mentioned that she has a ton of nicknames for her kids. We do that too - in fact, so does most of my extended family....I'm not sure why. Anyway, here are the boys' nicknames (they also both get called "You With The Face" when I'm distracted, upset, or in a hurry):

Dylan -

• Fred (this comes from "Are you ready, Freddy?")
• Toon
• Tuner
• Bud
• Boon
• T
• Dynan (the way Noah used to say his name)
• Buther (the way Noah says brother)

Noah -

• Duck or Duck Butt
• The Bombie Kid
• Faces
• Fusses
• Loves & Small
• Ohwn-ces (this one is hard to spell)
• Bubby
• Smalls
• Shorts or Shorty

Now that I see this list I'm kind of surprised that they even acknowledge their real names. Here are the newborn/hospital shots for each of them - Him With The Face on the left, The Other Him With The Face on the right ;)

Random photos

I wrote like a nut yesterday, so today will be random old photos day. (Sorry Julie - I didn't have enough to keep the tree theme going!)

This is a picture that Dylan took of a double rainbow reflected in the river. This is also the view from my parents house. It's so beautiful up there.

This is a picture I took at the St. Louis Botanical Gardens. If you ever get to St. Louis, pay a visit to the Botanical Gardens - everything there is so beautiful. And like most tourist attractions in St. Louis, it's very cheap to visit.

Dylan was shooting hoops and....missed! But it made for a great picture.

The scariest slide in the world. Just kidding! Underneath the St. Louis Arch.

We've been suffering a drought in South Dakota for years. Here's proof. About 20 or so years ago, my dad built a dock right below our house. His dock, which sometimes used to be UNDER the water, is now hundreds of feet from the waterline. You can't even really see the dock in this picture, but the sad thing is still there. Dylan learned in school that central South Dakota has been under drought conditions for so long that this area can be properly classified as a desert.

Complete Geek

Ok. This will be the last "Lost" post....for a while. I stumbled upon this site - Lost is a Game - and have found the theory pretty interesting. The guy argues that really this is all a big, elaborate two player game of some sort. Interesting, but I don't buy it. Mostly I really just enjoy the show. The acting is great, the production values are as good as a movie, the storyline is compelling, etc. I haven't given too much thought to "what it all means" or "what's the big explanation." That'll work itself out. We'll get there.

But after reading through the Lost is a Game site, I decided to do some thinking about the what it IS all about. Here comes my theory and I'm sticking to it. When the show is all over and I am proved fantastically right, I will direct you all to this post. If I'm wrong, I'll go back into Blogger dashboard and delete it. So here we go:

There are MANY references to Stephen King and his works in Lost. And apparently he's a big fan of the show. That's neither here nor there. Anyway, I am also a big Stephen King fan as well as a Lost fan. One recurring theme in many of King's works is the idea of many different universes all existing simultaneously, but slightly differently. So maybe in a parallel world I'm carving this blog post into stone or using a pen made out of a quill instead of typing on a computer. The whole Dark Tower series deals with different worlds as do the books The Talisman, Black House, Insomnia, and Hearts In Atlantis (just to name a few). For some reason King thinks this idea is compelling. He also writes about "thin" places in the world - places where it's easier to slip from world to world.

So - my theory is that the plane slipped through some kind of time rip or thin spot and all these people are existing in a parallel universe. Why or do they get back or whatever - I don't know...the story will answer those questions. This theory certainly explains how the people on the island are told by a woman that parachutes in that their plane was found and everyone was dead. In that universe they ARE dead, in this one they're not. It also explains how no one can find the island - because it doesn't really exist in our world. The discussion with my husband that prompted all this was much longer - I don't want to go into the whole thing. My theory doesn't answer everything, but I think it's way better than it's all a game, it's all a dream, it's just purgatory, etc. Here's one last point. The two main male characters on Lost are "Jack" and "Sawyer." One of (if not THE) the earliest King books that deals with different worlds and traveling through them is The Talisman. The hero of The Talisman (and, later, of Black House) is a boy named Jack Sawyer.

*cue eerie coincidence music*

Weekly Winners 01.13.08

Idea, organization, and all-around coolness the brainchild of Lotus.

As some of you have read, I just got a new digital camera. I'm still playing with it and have not figured out all the settings. One thing that seems to be really hard to do is take a close-up picture of something. (The last picture in this set is kind of blurry for that reason). I guess it will just take more practice.

Noah was walking around with his gloves on his feet. When I asked him why he told me, "I want to be like Curious George." I thought this was pretty clever.




This is my face in one of those things. I look like Mick Jagger with sunglasses on. Oh well. Start me up.

Being an older brother is back-breaking work.

Does any toy for a child need to be able to bend this way???

Deep Thoughts

"The true unity of Mobius transformations is revealed by moving into the next dimension."



I'm sure this is all very important in a mathy way, but I like it because it's kinda trippy. Dude.

Zzzzzleepy

Yet another cool idea stolen from Lotus

The work week is done.
It's time for some fun - though I'd
rather snooze away.

Let's Get Physical

Are you going to have that song in your head all day now? Sorry. (She said, evilly.)

***Interruption...I'm watching Paula Dean....I don't know what she's making but I heard her say "mix together two sticks of butter and 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar"...LOL....Calories and Fat Be Damned!!!....I love her***

OK, back to the topic. My Thursday Thirteen is going to about what I've learned since pinwheeling down my stairs. I choose this topic in honor of my physical therapy appointment today. Here we go:

1. Slow down. None of this would have happened if I could have just chilled out a little bit.

2. I can really shriek.

3. ER doctors have no sense of humor. I'm all whacked out on Vicodin and the guy is looking at my leg. I say, "Wow I would have shaved my legs if I knew this was going to happen." I thought it was a really good sign that I could make a funny in the midst of my crisis, but he just got this indignant look on his face and said, "We don't really care about that." Duh you moron - it was an attempt at levity....join in. Although this may be what prompted him to ask if I had been drinking. ahahaha. I wasn't, by the way.

4. A grown man, teenage boy, and 4 year old boy are totally goofy in their attempts to care for the injured and run the household. Goofy, but really sweet.

5. I can really act like an idiot if given enough Vicodin. My kids have never seen me even slightly tipsy and Dylan thought it was beyond funny how goofy I was acting. I may never live this down.

6. I really, truly hate crutches.

7. Telling people over and over that tripped over your own clumsy self and fell down the steps really gets tiresome. Next time I'll tell a different story to everyone who asks.

8. All the people at my work are really nice and accommodating. This could have been a nightmare with a different group of co-workers, but everyone was really great.

9. I really have no idea how the human body works. Learning about the parts of the knee was really interesting....although I wish I had come by my knowledge in a totally different way.

10. No one believes me when I say that anesthesia makes me REALLY REALLY REALLY sick. Every surgery I've ever had has been made 10 times worse by the entire evening of sick that follows.

11. Even at my great age, my mom will still wade in with fists swinging to get her baby girl what she wants. (I was done getting sick and wanted some broth - they said no - my mom did her mom magic - I got my broth.)

12. Physical therapy is really hard. I want to hate the therapist, but I do believe all these things will help me get back to normal (ha) as soon as possible. But it is hard.

13. I have more respect than you can imagine for people who have to live with physical disabilities everyday. There is an end to this for me, but some people live this every day. Their courage and perseverance must be astonishing.

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Lost

Really. I've been totally sucked back into "Lost." I'm not a huge TV watcher, but I LOVE this show. I got the first season on DVD for Christmas. I already watched it and all the extra stuff and am now working my way through Season 2 (rented). I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to buy the next seasons, but can't seem to justify doing it. (Although I DID save all that money my quitting smoking....hmmmmm.....*sigh*...nah.)

Anyway, now that I've bored all the INSANE non-"Lost" fans to tears, let me put up a photo for you. I really like the idea of Weekly Winners, but those are new photos. I think one of the best things about photos are to re-visit old ones just for fun. I'll be putting up old photos with a short blurb or caption from time to time (mostly likely when I can't think of anything else to write about). Enjoy.

"It looks so bad, but it tastes so good."

Quick lunch bloggin'

WINTER TORNADOES. Oh my dear good grief. I thought I was SAFE from November to March. Apparently freakin' NOT. (P.S. I want no "but I like storms" comments....the hell with you...you're crazy...no one likes these....hush up...;)

Does one count? Four health changes to let you live long enough to lose all your teeth and wear a diaper. Yippee.

Boy Scout Thwarts Assassination Attempt.

**Note to self: sign Noah up for Boy Scouts and parade him around important people**

Yeah - the St. Louis area just had WAAAAY too much swearing. That's why I left. WTH??? Can't smoke in bars, can't swear in bars, pretty soon you won't be able to DRINK in bars. You'll just have to sit there with a leaf of lettuce, a non-fiction book on the evils of eating animal flesh, and a glass of water. Woohoo. That's LIVIN'!!!!!

Link to a link

Maggie posted a recipe for and picture of Dirty Shrimp in Butter-Beer Sauce. I made this tonight. I'm going to give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars, only because it was a little too hot for me, WAY too hot for Jeff, and Dylan thought it was perfect (Noah got Spaghetti-O's after I took one bite.) I like spicy hot food, but this was almost too much for me. 1 tsp of cayenne pepper is about 3/4 tsp too much for my wimpy taste buds. I did think the recipe was tasty and I will make it again - I think I will just tone down the heat. Dylan can always add more to his. Thanks for the recipe Maggie. We're making the chicken thing tomorrow. (I'm stalking her....shhhhhh.)

I posted a chicken recipe and promised to put up a picture with Weekly Winners. I didn't forget to do it, I just need more practice with the new camera. I think the flash setting was wrong because the picture looked as if we used some sort of nuclear cooking method. I didn't want to turn anyone off from it. Chernobyl Chicken with Three Mile Island Salad just doesn't seem all that good. But it really was. I swear.

Brilliant

My husband is creating his own blog on here and was asking me how to add a links list. In my own special genius way I managed to delete my own list in process of showing him how to do it.

BRILLIANT.

I put back up what I could remember, but if you want to be added leave me a comment and I will do it. (Or else I'll manage to delete my entire blog, put out an eye, blow up the microwave, and shave a cat.....something.)

Weekly Winners 01.06.08

Idea, organization, and all-around coolness the brainchild of Lotus.

Reason 416,348,874 why I'm glad I'm not a guy: hairy legs.

This thing was not all droopy like this when we bought it. The fronds stood up more and didn't bend over. It takes a special kind of evil to kill a fake plant.



Cat 'n' mouse.



Maybe he's too young for Merlot.

(Pssst....it's JUICE for all of you who were getting ready to call DCFS.)



I hate toddlers.



I hate teenagers.



And they're mouthy too.




See you next week.