Enumerated Update

What is a dictatorship??!!!

Dear Friends... it is a glorious Friday. William George is running about in his pajamas, playing music on his iPad and dancing. He is embracing fun Friday, and one of the older children, on her way to school, may have stated through gritted teeth, "I cannot wait until he goes to kindergarten."

Speaking of the girls, we sent Grace and Lauren to school after drilling them - Presidential debate-prep-style - social study facts about the American Revolution. They have been having test anxiety, and although they are often 100% prepared at home, they stumble over an answer or two during the test. I had threatened to take a Jason Bourne-type approach... shining a flashlight in their faces at 3am while shouting questions at them, but opted for a kinder, gentler approach.

Oh, I kid.

Other than the above, here's what we are contemplating on this glorious day:

1) The Smashing Pumpkins:

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was a daily staple during the 90's. The songs from the album were everywhere: on constant rotation by local stations, the videos were shown round the clock, and live performances on nightly talk shows were frequent. Billy Corgin was hailed as a genius, and the album was a once-in-a-decade gem.

All of that said, I had no idea how much thought/planning went into the album artwork.

2) Palmistry: I cannot say that I am a believer in palm reading, but for kicks, this is what it means if you have the letter "M" on your palm.

All of that is very interesting, but doesn't everyone has the letter "M" on his/her palm?

Do you?

3) Modern Love: The NYT has a new podcast based on its wildly popular Modern Love column found in Sunday's edition. The podcast features essays read by actors, but is followed by a conversation with the essayist about what has happened since his/her story ran.

Podcast-wise, I have a bit of a lull going, but I think this might pull me out of my rut.

4) Social Media Code of Conduct:

We are not big users of the social media because it's a total time vampire. I try to peek at Facebook daily to keep a check on school and community happenings, but Skip has given it up altogether. However, Man Repeller's social media code of conduct is hilarious.

"Gut check your creep level."

While that statement tickled my funny bone, anything that has a creep level on its continuum has no real place in my life, meaning I have a low risk threshold.


5) Pronoun Dementia:

One of the aging milestones I have encountered lately (other than farsightedness) is a lapse in the ability to recall/produce pronouns. Names, titles, events... I just cannot seem to produce them when needed. Recently I was discussing some Beatles trivia with Skip and could not produce John Lennon's name. John Lennon! My favorite Beatle! I have been a huge fan since I was eight years old! I thought surely that would have been firmly locked in place.

On a related note and a little piece of trivia, after my mom's aneurysm surgery she was not oriented for quite some time. Her own name was the first piece that she picked back up several days post-op, but she could name the president hours following surgery. The cardiac nurses said that all patients, as long as they are conscious/alert, can state the president's name - even before his/her own name! The brain is an odd business.

That's it for us. Have a wonderful weekend, and I'll see you back here Monday!