If my pet were an elephant

It might sum up the size of this pet peeve.

I hate SUVs. Hate them. I live in a city. I would not have a car were it not for our child.

If your car is named after something that belongs OUTSIDE, in the country, do not drive it in the city. You are clogging the roads, polluting the air, taking up parking spaces, making dangerous merges and generally annoying me.

If your car's name contains words like Rover, Avalanche, Tundra, Pathfinder, I am talking to you. *

If you drive a Suburban, keep it in the suburbs! It's in the name.

Don't even get me started on the Escalade. From the spanish: escalade |ˌeskəˈlād; ˈeskəˌlād|

noun historical; the scaling of fortified walls using ladders, as a form of military attack.ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from French, or from Spanish escalada, escalado, frommedieval Latin scalare ‘to scale, climb,’ fromLatin scala ‘ladder.’ It makes NO SENSE unless you're driving up the side of a mountain and the on-ramp to the DVP does not count!
OK. got that off my chest. Thanks.
* This means you: Cherokee, Equinox, Traverse, Escape, Explorer, Tahoe, Journey, Expedition, Everest, Outlander and Forester. And the Sequoia, Armada, Safari ....

too much to remember

In no particular order here are the things I expect my 3 1/2 year old to remember:

1. say please and thank-you

2. don't pick your nose

3. eat all your food

4. use the potty

5. put your toys away when done

6. when you want something ask nicely

7. poop every day

8. hold your crayon/marker properly

9. wear your hat when outside

10. don't jump on the furniture

11. don't kick the passenger seat in the car

12. take off your shoes when you come inside

13. use your good manners all the time

14. don't throw food on the floor

15. chew and swallow food

16. wear clothes

and I'm sure there are more. Is it too much?

An open letter

Dear Hollywood,

WHY??? How can you even think of making a US version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?"

I'm sure the thinking goes that Americans are too lazy/dumb/anglo-centric to watch a movie with sub-titles. However your core audience is the people who read the book. It is not a short book. I would think that if someone is willing to put the time and energy into reading the book, they would have more interest in seeing the movie in the original language and in the actual settings.

To "americanize" this movie would be to lose the core that made the novel great.

my two cents.

when channel surfing = life evaluation

Channel 11 is showing Empire Records, a snapshot of what I thought was cool in 1995 (and what I was actually watching in 1995). Miniskirts and combat boots; the soundtrack (which I still love); boys with overstyled/I just got up in the morning hair, tattoos and plaid shirts. 1995 was not my best year. I focussed on things like Miniskirts and combat boots; boys with overstyled/I just got up in the morning hair, tattoos and plaid shirts and two dollar drinks.

And then channel 82 is showing Gladiator, the movie I should have been watching in 1995. I might have been inspired to do my Latin homework; not start researching papers the day before they were due; write more than one draft of a paper; find a focus beyond the social. Maybe I would have gotten into a better grad school, decided to do a PhD and had a completely different life.

But then I might not have this:

or my Vancouver friends, my Ottawa/PHI friends and my Toronto friends and I think, well, perhaps things worked out exactly as they were meant to.

Lessons of the day

It was a harsh and rainy day outside. So I stayed inside and learned a few things.

1. Roasted fennel is delicious. I abhor anise as a flavour. I cannot stomach black licorice, Anisette, or Sambuca. However, take a bulb of fennel, cut it into quarters and stick it in a hot oven for an hour and it is delicious. Isn't chemistry amazing?

2. If you don't mash chick peas before putting them in the oven you get crunchy hummus balls.

3. One can accomplish more in 45 minutes alone in the house than one can in 4 hours on a normal day. I have known this for a while but it always amazes me.

4. There are few things in life better than starting a new book by a favourite author.

5. I care a lot less about curling than other people seem to.

6. Even if you are not the person who attended "Max and Ruby" live on stage, you will still be singing the theme song for the rest of the day.

7. There is no end to laundry.

happy belated birthday to me

children's fairy tale pet peeves ...

So I am watching Beauty and the Beast for the gazillionth time and Charlotte just pointed out something very insightful. "Look Mummy, There's Gaston and his boyfriend LaFou."

Love it.

This also reminds me of some things that have been bothering me lately:

1. Had the good fairies waited until AFTER Aurora's 16th birthday to take her back to the castle, the whole pricking her finger, prince kissing thing could have been avoided.

2. Where is Snow White's father? There's a step-mother but no mention of the father. Trust me.

3. What kind of king doesn't realize that he doesn't have a "Marquis of Carrabas" in his kingdom. Especially one that lives less than a day's carriage ride away. (thank you repeated readings of Puss in Boots)

4. Where are Max and Ruby's parents? (OK, not a fairy tale but we see a lot of them)

5. You'd think that after their dance and walk in the garden, Cinderella might have bothered to tell the Prince her NAME.

too cynical?

eta: 6. When Chip turns into a human at the end why isn't there a huge scar on his head where the chip in his cup was?