Wednesday, May 31, 2006
"Don't wipe your nose on the curtains."
Just another one of the many things I really never thought I'd hear myself say, before I had kids.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
In which, once again, I attempt to psychoanalyze a cartoon
What is with my WeatherPixie? Maybe all that purple hair dye has killed too many brain cells? Is she a compulsive liar? Because she's at it again. T-shirt weather, my Aunt Fanny. It's too too yucky out - oop, there's the sun! Oh no, wait, now it's gone. Oh there it - no, it's gone again. So I'm blaming the weather for the Sniglet's cold, which is forcing us to postpone his surgery for a whole month. Apparently you cannot be anaesthetised with slime in your lungs, at least not for elective surgery, which this technically is, unless we wait for it to become an emergency, which no thank you. As you may remember if you were reading this blog when my mom was first diagnosed with lung cancer, incipient medical situations create a persistent "EEEEEeeeeeeeeee..." in my head, which I now get to hold onto for another month, yay.
I took a shortcut on the lesson plan for tomorrow night's ESL class, a hugely risky move considering that my last class bombed so badly. But the house is a mess, because I'd set aside Sunday for housework but instead I spent it alternately sleeping and bolting for the bathroom (me and my whims) (yes, I feel much better, thank you), I haven't even looked at my homework, DrBob needs me to proofread the introduction for his book, I have to start that chicken soup now-now, before the chicken turns green, and I'm feeling the teensiest bit overwhelmed.
So of course, I'm blogging. After all, why do today what you can postpone until it becomes a crisis?
Song du jour del día des tages: Santana's Black Magic Woman. Wishful thinking, much?
I took a shortcut on the lesson plan for tomorrow night's ESL class, a hugely risky move considering that my last class bombed so badly. But the house is a mess, because I'd set aside Sunday for housework but instead I spent it alternately sleeping and bolting for the bathroom (me and my whims) (yes, I feel much better, thank you), I haven't even looked at my homework, DrBob needs me to proofread the introduction for his book, I have to start that chicken soup now-now, before the chicken turns green, and I'm feeling the teensiest bit overwhelmed.
So of course, I'm blogging. After all, why do today what you can postpone until it becomes a crisis?
Song du jour del día des tages: Santana's Black Magic Woman. Wishful thinking, much?
Monday, May 29, 2006
bleaarrrgh
Ignatz's stomach bug decided to visit me. That was sunday.
Though not yet fully recovered, I dragged myself to Munich to make up the work day I missed last friday because Ignatz was sick. That was today.
So in case you were worried that all this Not Posting meant I was off somewhere fabulous having fun without you (like ~d and Kelly are)? Um, not so much.
Song du jour of the day: Süperstar by Sibel Tüzün. Yep, still on my Eurovision kick. It'll do until I can get some new music.
Though not yet fully recovered, I dragged myself to Munich to make up the work day I missed last friday because Ignatz was sick. That was today.
So in case you were worried that all this Not Posting meant I was off somewhere fabulous having fun without you (like ~d and Kelly are)? Um, not so much.
Song du jour of the day: Süperstar by Sibel Tüzün. Yep, still on my Eurovision kick. It'll do until I can get some new music.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
more quizzage
from the Goober Queen
We saw the second half of a soccer game in DrBob's hometown (about 15 minutes away from here) today. We only ever see the second half of games: we never feel like we can spare a whole 90 minutes plus halftime. It was pretty fun, our guys won 5:0, but neither of my sons were at all interested. I am baffled by this. I would be such a good sportsmom, and I have non-sporty kids. That is just so unfair.
Oh, and Ignatz is better. He was weak and tired all day friday but has now recovered fully and is visiting his grandparents.
Song (virus) du jour of the day: Chainsaw Buffet, by Lordi. Yes, I really did buy the CD.
| Your Quirk Factor: 72% |
 You're so quirky, it's hard for you to tell the difference between quirky and normal. No doubt about it, there's little about you that's "normal" or "average." |
We saw the second half of a soccer game in DrBob's hometown (about 15 minutes away from here) today. We only ever see the second half of games: we never feel like we can spare a whole 90 minutes plus halftime. It was pretty fun, our guys won 5:0, but neither of my sons were at all interested. I am baffled by this. I would be such a good sportsmom, and I have non-sporty kids. That is just so unfair.
Oh, and Ignatz is better. He was weak and tired all day friday but has now recovered fully and is visiting his grandparents.
Song (virus) du jour of the day: Chainsaw Buffet, by Lordi. Yes, I really did buy the CD.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Be careful what you wish for...
I suppose that complaining that I hadn't had enough time to get everything done might have been interpreted as a wish for more time - in any case, I seem to have gotten it, though not in a good way. Last night (or this morning) around 2 a.m., Ignatz hurtled into the bathroom and barfed in the sink. He threw up again at 3. And again at 6. By 7 we were both exhausted and underslept, so I staggered out of bed to get the Sniglet to kindergarten and then collapsed again. So, um, yay, I didn't have to go to work. Except now I have to go in on Monday. And I got exactly one thing crossed off my list.
All Ignatz did today was lie on the couch, but even so, it was an anxious day for me. He's never sick. Okay, slight exaggeration. How's this: this is the fourth time he's been sick in eight years. So I've never really gotten used to dealing with it. The Sniglet's a bit closer to normal, which was quite an adjustment for us in the first weeks after his birth. There were several phone calls to the hospital that went something like "He sneezed! Twice! Should we take him to the emergency room?"
Anyway. Let's see if I can get one more thing accomplished before my head falls off from yawning.
Song du jour of the day: Is Anybody There?, by John Hiatt. Apropos of nothing, just because I like it.
All Ignatz did today was lie on the couch, but even so, it was an anxious day for me. He's never sick. Okay, slight exaggeration. How's this: this is the fourth time he's been sick in eight years. So I've never really gotten used to dealing with it. The Sniglet's a bit closer to normal, which was quite an adjustment for us in the first weeks after his birth. There were several phone calls to the hospital that went something like "He sneezed! Twice! Should we take him to the emergency room?"
Anyway. Let's see if I can get one more thing accomplished before my head falls off from yawning.
Song du jour of the day: Is Anybody There?, by John Hiatt. Apropos of nothing, just because I like it.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Is it already Thursday night?
Gack! Where did this week go? My to-do list looks just like it did on Monday. There is one tiny victory to report: my house is marginally cleaner than it has been other weeks, but only marginally. There are still dust-bison in the corners, and nothing else got done. Wow, I didn't used to think housework was a full-time thing, but of course, all that means is that I've never done it full-time.
Was it Phyllis Diller? Erma Bombeck? Peg Bracken? Some really smart woman or other. Said: "Cleaning the house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." She was so right. Devoting your attention to housework is basically just a way to stay busy and have nothing to show for it.
Drat.
Song du jour of the day: INXS, Devil Inside. Another one from my fabulous mixmania CD.
Was it Phyllis Diller? Erma Bombeck? Peg Bracken? Some really smart woman or other. Said: "Cleaning the house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." She was so right. Devoting your attention to housework is basically just a way to stay busy and have nothing to show for it.
Drat.
Song du jour of the day: INXS, Devil Inside. Another one from my fabulous mixmania CD.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
crowded days
So yesterday we drove to the children's hospital in Landshut to schedule the Sniglet's hernia surgery and talk to the surgeon and the anaesthesiologist. Then we took him to McDonald's because he'd been so patient (he ordered a salad instead of fries with his Happy Meal - alien child), which left us with half an hour to shop for pants for him. I hate shopping so much that I just blitz it once per year per son - dash into the store, grab everything I can find in his size, make him try it all on, whip out the credit card and zoom out the door. Yes, I did get it done in half an hour. Even DrBob was impressed.
And today I spent the whole morning at the Sniglet's kindergarten, observing, and then met with his teacher and his ergotherapist. After that he had a playdate, and I stayed for the whole thing since he was cranky, while DrBob met with four of Ignatz's teachers for progress reports. Then I had ten minutes to decompress before I had to dash up to Ignatz's school (with the Sniglet in tow) to talk to a fifth teacher, because DrBob had to leave for Munich.
Oh. That must be why I'm so tired. I'd been wondering
In other news, I got my Mixmania CD today! Yay! I haven't had time to listen to the whole thing yet (see above), but so far I'm happy. There are a few things I don't know yet, but the things I do know? Total memory lane cruise. Very fun.
So the Evil Song du Jour of the Day is: Witchy Woman, by the Eagles. Hoo hoo!
And today I spent the whole morning at the Sniglet's kindergarten, observing, and then met with his teacher and his ergotherapist. After that he had a playdate, and I stayed for the whole thing since he was cranky, while DrBob met with four of Ignatz's teachers for progress reports. Then I had ten minutes to decompress before I had to dash up to Ignatz's school (with the Sniglet in tow) to talk to a fifth teacher, because DrBob had to leave for Munich.
Oh. That must be why I'm so tired. I'd been wondering
In other news, I got my Mixmania CD today! Yay! I haven't had time to listen to the whole thing yet (see above), but so far I'm happy. There are a few things I don't know yet, but the things I do know? Total memory lane cruise. Very fun.
So the Evil Song du Jour of the Day is: Witchy Woman, by the Eagles. Hoo hoo!
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Didn't we talk about this?
We DO communicate! Really! We talk about Family Stuff over dinner, we consult whenever one of the kids has a problem, we go see Ignatz's therapist together, ferpetesake! How did we both feel the same about the Sniglet's kindergarten situation and not realize it? The conversation was very brief and full of things like, "I've always gotten a bad vibe from Mrs, but I thought YOU liked her", and "didn't you notice that this whole problem started when he joined that class?" "Well sure, but I didn't think you'd agree..." and "I never thought a fourth year of kindergarten was a good idea, but I thought you..." etc.
So that was quite easily resolved, and he'll go to transitional first grade this September. I feel so relieved! I was conscientiously adjusting to the prospect of yet another year of this kindergarten, busily convincing myself that it was The Best Thing, Really, and now that that weight has been lifted I feel so much better! Whew! Yay! Happy dance!
Song du jour of the day: Hurra!, by die Ärzte, a German punk band with a juvenile sense of humor. Ignatz loves them.
So that was quite easily resolved, and he'll go to transitional first grade this September. I feel so relieved! I was conscientiously adjusting to the prospect of yet another year of this kindergarten, busily convincing myself that it was The Best Thing, Really, and now that that weight has been lifted I feel so much better! Whew! Yay! Happy dance!
Song du jour of the day: Hurra!, by die Ärzte, a German punk band with a juvenile sense of humor. Ignatz loves them.
now what do we do?
Augh. Yes, just like Charlie Brown used to say. You might remember a post about the Sniglet awhile back, wherein I described his travails in kindergarten - basically, that he's being a putz. Right, well, um. In addition to judo, his teacher and I discussed a few other options, viz, what to do with him next year.
First grade is right out - his birthday is past the cut-off date and his behavior seems to indicate that he is not ready.
The kindergarten has an "integration" group, which has an extra teacher and tries to mainstream kids with mild social or learning problems. Mrs said that moving him now would probably make things worse. It might have been a good idea to put him there in the first place, at the beginning of the year, she said, but of course you have to tell the kindergarten in January where you want your child to be next September, and he didn't have these problems then. In fact, they showed up when he joined this new group, at the beginning of his third year of kindergarten (arresting thought - maybe the Sniglet is not the problem here...).
Option 3 is called "School kindergarten", and is much like the Transitional First Grade ~d mentioned in the comments a few weeks ago, "basically 1st grade, but with more coloring". This was our favorite option, but it's essentially redshirting - for kids who are the right age for first grade but not socially ready yet - which meant he didn't strictly qualify. We applied anyway, but after my last meeting with Mrs, we decided the change might be bad for him, and it was probably just as well that he probably wouldn't get in.
So the last choice, and probably the most likely, would be that he would spend another year in this same group, same teachers, same room, most of the same kids. Because he's familiar with the protocol there, and part of a community, and yadda yadda. Which would be good if continuity is what he needs, but bad if something in this constellation is causing his behavior problems. A tricky dilemma, made just a little easier by the fact that this was probably the only option open to us.
Until today. Mrs told me that the school-kindergarten told her they probably had a place for Gus. Whoosh. I told her I would discuss it with DrBob, talk to her tomorrow (which is my day to visit the kindergarten), consult with his ergotherapist, and make a decision in a few days. About a half an hour later, the school-kindergarten called me, and they want a decision NOW. And DrBob is not awake. And when he gets up he'll need ten minutes to brush his teeth, and then he'll want coffee and then he'll have to check the basketball scores, and I neeeeeed to discuss this with someone but I can't yet. So I'll just have to sit here and twitch for like half an hour.
That's okay. I can twitch. Actually, I'm getting pretty good at it.
First grade is right out - his birthday is past the cut-off date and his behavior seems to indicate that he is not ready.
The kindergarten has an "integration" group, which has an extra teacher and tries to mainstream kids with mild social or learning problems. Mrs said that moving him now would probably make things worse. It might have been a good idea to put him there in the first place, at the beginning of the year, she said, but of course you have to tell the kindergarten in January where you want your child to be next September, and he didn't have these problems then. In fact, they showed up when he joined this new group, at the beginning of his third year of kindergarten (arresting thought - maybe the Sniglet is not the problem here...).
Option 3 is called "School kindergarten", and is much like the Transitional First Grade ~d mentioned in the comments a few weeks ago, "basically 1st grade, but with more coloring". This was our favorite option, but it's essentially redshirting - for kids who are the right age for first grade but not socially ready yet - which meant he didn't strictly qualify. We applied anyway, but after my last meeting with Mrs, we decided the change might be bad for him, and it was probably just as well that he probably wouldn't get in.
So the last choice, and probably the most likely, would be that he would spend another year in this same group, same teachers, same room, most of the same kids. Because he's familiar with the protocol there, and part of a community, and yadda yadda. Which would be good if continuity is what he needs, but bad if something in this constellation is causing his behavior problems. A tricky dilemma, made just a little easier by the fact that this was probably the only option open to us.
Until today. Mrs told me that the school-kindergarten told her they probably had a place for Gus. Whoosh. I told her I would discuss it with DrBob, talk to her tomorrow (which is my day to visit the kindergarten), consult with his ergotherapist, and make a decision in a few days. About a half an hour later, the school-kindergarten called me, and they want a decision NOW. And DrBob is not awake. And when he gets up he'll need ten minutes to brush his teeth, and then he'll want coffee and then he'll have to check the basketball scores, and I neeeeeed to discuss this with someone but I can't yet. So I'll just have to sit here and twitch for like half an hour.
That's okay. I can twitch. Actually, I'm getting pretty good at it.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Eurovision final, finally
Sorry for the lack of Eurovision commentary on the Big Night. I spent all of yesterday trying to figure out a knotty PHP problem, and I was brain-dead by the time the Contest rolled around. Struck snarkless. Anyway, yes, they won, and a lot of people are ticked off, and calling them Orcs or Klingons, as if that were a bad thing. And calling for the return of jury-voting - apparently there is such a thing as too much democracy. Also, haters? Such a thing as too much spare time. Go do something useful.For me, the bottom line is that Finland has been coming to the ESC for 44 years, and um, have tended not to do very, er, well. A lot of other countries flounced out, with less provocation, but Finland stuck it out, and I'm really glad they finally won. Also pleased that the sillyfun entries like Lithuania and Finland got so many votes, because maybe people are figuring out that you can love something and still laugh about it.
So here's the final ranking, with links to the performances, where the folks at YouTube were able to oblige. Well, that was the original plan, but I got bored after awhile. So here are the ones I thought you should see for one reason or another, and that I could find on YouTube. The ones in boldface qualified for the contest next year; the others will have to compete for the ten open places.
1. Finland (w00t!)
2. Russia (ew)
3. Bosnia & Herzegovina
4. Romania
5. Sweden
6. Lithuania
7. Ukraine
8. Armenia
9. Greece
10. Ireland
11. Turkey
12. FYR Macedonia
13. Croatia
14. Norway
15. Germany
16. Latvia
17. Switzerland
18. Denmark
19. United Kingdom
20. Moldova
21. Spain
22. France
23. Israel
24. Malta
And here's the freaky Polish thing with the epaulets.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Cowards
Health and nutrition experts say that women with PMS should stay away from caffeine, alcohol, sodium, refined sugar and flour, red meat and dairy. And chocolate.
But they only say it from a safe distance.
But they only say it from a safe distance.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Eurovision semifever
Since it's Friday, and I have to go slave over a hot database for eight hours and then teach a private English lesson with my confidence shattered after Wednesday's disastrous class and THEN take the train home because DrBob needs to stay in the city for a Saturday workshop on sodomy (I devoutly hope it will be all theory and no practice), I probably won't blog today. Oop, except I already have. Whoa.
So a couple items for filler: um, here's one...
It's a cute battle cry, but the two sentences are in completely different um, well, ways of speaking. I mean, I am fairly flexible, linguistically, but I don't usually switch codes mid-battle. I'm just sayin'.
Also, KimberlyDi said therapy's Not That Bad. Are you kidding? I get to talk about myself for a whole hour and the therapist HAS to listen. It's fantastic! In fact, most of my adult life has been a delicate negotiation: trying to act weird enough to convince people I need therapy, but not weird enough to have my kids taken away from me. This time I even managed to get a professional therapist to suggest it, and she thinks it was HER idea! Score! alala 1, therapist 0.
In other news, the Eurovision Semifinal was last night, and I wrote while I watched it, because sitting still is not, um, not one of my stronger skills. Judging from the paucity of comments on my previous Eurovision posts, I think I can safely say that no one besides me is interested in this. Hey, I understand. I'm used to it. Anyway, what follows is all Eurovision snark, so feel free to skip to the end if you're so inclined. Hah, like you even need my permission.
So the whole thing is hosted by Greece, since they won last year, and for the opening act, they have a medley of bad covers of previous winners, lip-synched by people dressed as various Greek gods. You have never seen anything so twee in your life, it totally looks like Amateur Drag Night in a very small town. Aaaand here come the, um contestants. The thing that always amazes me is that most of these people canNOT sing, and no one ever seems to notice.
Armenia. Unibrow Lenny Kravitz clone, and the sound is wretched. It's not just that he's a bad singer, though of course that is part of it. Creepy-weird bondage thing, his backup dancers tie him up and then turn into puppets.
Bulgaria. Oh look, she brought a portly Albino drag queen to yodel for her.
Slovenia. Obv inspired by George Michael. Meh. Boring.
Andorra. oh look, the backup dancers forgot to put their dresses on. Ooops, how embarrassing. The Romanian singer did that a few years ago. She got a lot of points from Spain, as I recall.
Belarus, right. Whoa. Looks like the 80s are coming back, but again with the forgetting to wear pants. I think last year's winner forgot her trousies too, as did um, what, the 2003 winner? The Ukrainian. People may have decided that's the key to victory.
Albania. Cool, kilts and bagpipes. Oh, righteous. Dude in the pom-pom socks is a-rockin'. The singer totally has that boy-heartthrob emoting-with-the-eyebrows vibe. Whatever, this is the least sucky so far, but hey, the night is young yet.
Ooo, Belgium. Oh right, Kate Ryan, big star here in Europe. I think she's boring as hell, but what do I know? Russia sent Tatu a few years ago, and they sucked swamp water, but they still came in second. Wow, that orange dress really makes her tan look fake.
Ireland. Apparently this guy is a big deal in Ireland, has played with Van Morrison and Ray Charles. Song's a sapfest, but okay. Also, I'm going to mug one of the backup singers and steal her dress.
Okay, Cyprus. Hmm, apparently worked as a backup singer for Britney Spears. Oh, no. Oh, no. Very unfortunate dress choice. Boobs are our friends, they don't deserve to have that done to them. Also? The song is horrid, horrid, horrid. Why Do the Angels Cry? I bet they'll stop if you quit singing.
Monaco - um, coco-dance. Or go-go dance? Whatever. Wholly unremarkable.
Macedonia. Oh dear. Are those...cutoffs? They really highlight her very um, sturdy legs. Such a pretty young woman, that's not the feature I'd have chosen to emphasize.
Poland. Sweet blithering Jesus, you have not seen epaulets like this on anything smaller than an elephant. Seriously. Giant epaulets. With tassels. They look like furniture.
Russia. Oh. Kay. Dude has a vibrato you could drive a truck through - holy fuck what the - ew! The pasty-white upper-half of a human just rose out of the piano! She's just sticking out, waving her arms around. That is so gross!
Turkey. Song called Superstar. Wow, that's some dandy tattoos, and I can't imagine the amount of bleach required to get her hair that color. Dressed like a trapeze artist, built like a biker chick, I think I'm in love. Oh yeah. Song is not great, but I don't care.
Ukraine. A student, um, aeronautics, I think the German announcer-guy said. Okay, cute and all, but what the hell is with the jump rope?
Oh, wow. Finland. The Monster Metal band. "They look extremely unappetizing," says the announcer, and suggests that small children should be sent out of the room. Awww, now that's cute. They do look like their usual charming selves, with the claws and leather and decaying flesh and all, but the singer's wearing a cute little Finnish-flag top hat. Right, I'd already decided to vote for these guys, because I'm hoping they'll get to the final and eat the German group.
Holland. Three shouting blondes with big bongos. No, really, they're sitting on drums, and whacking away while they shout. Um. How, uh, how very novel. DrBob says this seems much longer than the other songs. He's right.
Lithuania. Oh right, the super group. Lithuania gathered its 6 most popular singers and boodged them into a super group. The song appears to be titled "We Are the Winners of Eurovision," and is being sung to the tune of that old playground favorite, "Neener neener neeeener". One of the singers looks like an ex-boyfriend of mine (Hi Brice!). Another looks like Viggo Mortensen. Hmm. Oddly, I like these guys more than DrBob and Ignatz do.
Portugal had a televised Big Brother type elimination show thing to choose their entry. They can't sing, can't dance, and are horrid. DrBob likes the one with the foofy feathered back-half-of-a-skirt, that's alarming.
Sweden. Oh gee, another Abba ripoff, they don't do that, oh, every year.
Estonia. Nice, uh, superhero outfit.
Bosnia and Herzegovina. At it again with the soulful traditional thing. I actually usually like these, but I think I'm the only one. Seriously.
Iceland. The Cyndi Lauper knockoff. Well no, that's not fair to Cyndi Lauper, who can sing quite well. But here's an imitator of her Girls-Just-Wanna-Have-Fun persona. Quite dreadful, up until the two guys in fringed pajamas ripped off their trous to reveal silver-sequinned boxies. Hee. Didn't make up for the bad singing, though.
Okay so find all the phones in the house and vote on each one, even DrBob's, I'll just place a vote for him heh heh; weird performance-art time-killer thing to watch while they count the votes; mucho stalling from sorority-girl presenter who needs to be slapped; and here are the ten qualifiers, in no particular order so as not to geek the final vote on Saturday...
- Russia. With the zombie piano chick. Major ooky.
- Macedonia. Um, which was that? Oh right, with the cutoffs.
- BosHerz! Oh good, I wanted them to do well.
- Lithuania. The football song, the announcer says. Heee, that's funny, it does sound like something they'll be shouting in stadiums for the next ten years.
- HAGH! Finland! Wooot!
- Ukraine
- Ireland
- Sweden
- Turkey! Oh good, now DrBob can see who he voted for.
- Armenia. Armenia? WTF?
So there you have it.
So a couple items for filler: um, here's one...
It's a cute battle cry, but the two sentences are in completely different um, well, ways of speaking. I mean, I am fairly flexible, linguistically, but I don't usually switch codes mid-battle. I'm just sayin'.
Also, KimberlyDi said therapy's Not That Bad. Are you kidding? I get to talk about myself for a whole hour and the therapist HAS to listen. It's fantastic! In fact, most of my adult life has been a delicate negotiation: trying to act weird enough to convince people I need therapy, but not weird enough to have my kids taken away from me. This time I even managed to get a professional therapist to suggest it, and she thinks it was HER idea! Score! alala 1, therapist 0.
In other news, the Eurovision Semifinal was last night, and I wrote while I watched it, because sitting still is not, um, not one of my stronger skills. Judging from the paucity of comments on my previous Eurovision posts, I think I can safely say that no one besides me is interested in this. Hey, I understand. I'm used to it. Anyway, what follows is all Eurovision snark, so feel free to skip to the end if you're so inclined. Hah, like you even need my permission.
So the whole thing is hosted by Greece, since they won last year, and for the opening act, they have a medley of bad covers of previous winners, lip-synched by people dressed as various Greek gods. You have never seen anything so twee in your life, it totally looks like Amateur Drag Night in a very small town. Aaaand here come the, um contestants. The thing that always amazes me is that most of these people canNOT sing, and no one ever seems to notice.
Armenia. Unibrow Lenny Kravitz clone, and the sound is wretched. It's not just that he's a bad singer, though of course that is part of it. Creepy-weird bondage thing, his backup dancers tie him up and then turn into puppets.
Bulgaria. Oh look, she brought a portly Albino drag queen to yodel for her.
Slovenia. Obv inspired by George Michael. Meh. Boring.
Andorra. oh look, the backup dancers forgot to put their dresses on. Ooops, how embarrassing. The Romanian singer did that a few years ago. She got a lot of points from Spain, as I recall.
Belarus, right. Whoa. Looks like the 80s are coming back, but again with the forgetting to wear pants. I think last year's winner forgot her trousies too, as did um, what, the 2003 winner? The Ukrainian. People may have decided that's the key to victory.
Albania. Cool, kilts and bagpipes. Oh, righteous. Dude in the pom-pom socks is a-rockin'. The singer totally has that boy-heartthrob emoting-with-the-eyebrows vibe. Whatever, this is the least sucky so far, but hey, the night is young yet.
Ooo, Belgium. Oh right, Kate Ryan, big star here in Europe. I think she's boring as hell, but what do I know? Russia sent Tatu a few years ago, and they sucked swamp water, but they still came in second. Wow, that orange dress really makes her tan look fake.
Ireland. Apparently this guy is a big deal in Ireland, has played with Van Morrison and Ray Charles. Song's a sapfest, but okay. Also, I'm going to mug one of the backup singers and steal her dress.
Okay, Cyprus. Hmm, apparently worked as a backup singer for Britney Spears. Oh, no. Oh, no. Very unfortunate dress choice. Boobs are our friends, they don't deserve to have that done to them. Also? The song is horrid, horrid, horrid. Why Do the Angels Cry? I bet they'll stop if you quit singing.
Monaco - um, coco-dance. Or go-go dance? Whatever. Wholly unremarkable.
Macedonia. Oh dear. Are those...cutoffs? They really highlight her very um, sturdy legs. Such a pretty young woman, that's not the feature I'd have chosen to emphasize.
Poland. Sweet blithering Jesus, you have not seen epaulets like this on anything smaller than an elephant. Seriously. Giant epaulets. With tassels. They look like furniture.
Russia. Oh. Kay. Dude has a vibrato you could drive a truck through - holy fuck what the - ew! The pasty-white upper-half of a human just rose out of the piano! She's just sticking out, waving her arms around. That is so gross!
Turkey. Song called Superstar. Wow, that's some dandy tattoos, and I can't imagine the amount of bleach required to get her hair that color. Dressed like a trapeze artist, built like a biker chick, I think I'm in love. Oh yeah. Song is not great, but I don't care.
Ukraine. A student, um, aeronautics, I think the German announcer-guy said. Okay, cute and all, but what the hell is with the jump rope?
Oh, wow. Finland. The Monster Metal band. "They look extremely unappetizing," says the announcer, and suggests that small children should be sent out of the room. Awww, now that's cute. They do look like their usual charming selves, with the claws and leather and decaying flesh and all, but the singer's wearing a cute little Finnish-flag top hat. Right, I'd already decided to vote for these guys, because I'm hoping they'll get to the final and eat the German group.
Holland. Three shouting blondes with big bongos. No, really, they're sitting on drums, and whacking away while they shout. Um. How, uh, how very novel. DrBob says this seems much longer than the other songs. He's right.
Lithuania. Oh right, the super group. Lithuania gathered its 6 most popular singers and boodged them into a super group. The song appears to be titled "We Are the Winners of Eurovision," and is being sung to the tune of that old playground favorite, "Neener neener neeeener". One of the singers looks like an ex-boyfriend of mine (Hi Brice!). Another looks like Viggo Mortensen. Hmm. Oddly, I like these guys more than DrBob and Ignatz do.
Portugal had a televised Big Brother type elimination show thing to choose their entry. They can't sing, can't dance, and are horrid. DrBob likes the one with the foofy feathered back-half-of-a-skirt, that's alarming.
Sweden. Oh gee, another Abba ripoff, they don't do that, oh, every year.
Estonia. Nice, uh, superhero outfit.
Bosnia and Herzegovina. At it again with the soulful traditional thing. I actually usually like these, but I think I'm the only one. Seriously.
Iceland. The Cyndi Lauper knockoff. Well no, that's not fair to Cyndi Lauper, who can sing quite well. But here's an imitator of her Girls-Just-Wanna-Have-Fun persona. Quite dreadful, up until the two guys in fringed pajamas ripped off their trous to reveal silver-sequinned boxies. Hee. Didn't make up for the bad singing, though.
Okay so find all the phones in the house and vote on each one, even DrBob's, I'll just place a vote for him heh heh; weird performance-art time-killer thing to watch while they count the votes; mucho stalling from sorority-girl presenter who needs to be slapped; and here are the ten qualifiers, in no particular order so as not to geek the final vote on Saturday...
- Russia. With the zombie piano chick. Major ooky.
- Macedonia. Um, which was that? Oh right, with the cutoffs.
- BosHerz! Oh good, I wanted them to do well.
- Lithuania. The football song, the announcer says. Heee, that's funny, it does sound like something they'll be shouting in stadiums for the next ten years.
- HAGH! Finland! Wooot!
- Ukraine
- Ireland
- Sweden
- Turkey! Oh good, now DrBob can see who he voted for.
- Armenia. Armenia? WTF?
So there you have it.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
A Wednesday
English class tonight, and I tanked. Apparently one does not automatically get better with practice. I shall have to figure out how the better-getting process works, preferably before next week. Actually, before Friday, which is my lesson with Mr.Z
Bleah. Setback. Demoralizing. Depressing. Oh, speaking of depressing, I met with Ignatz's therapist today. She suggested that I might benefit from therapy myself. Heh.
Song du jour of the day = Code Monkey, by Jonathan Coulton. Because there aren't any songs about geeky ESL teachers.
Bleah. Setback. Demoralizing. Depressing. Oh, speaking of depressing, I met with Ignatz's therapist today. She suggested that I might benefit from therapy myself. Heh.
Song du jour of the day = Code Monkey, by Jonathan Coulton. Because there aren't any songs about geeky ESL teachers.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Socks Always Fit
Did you see that movie, um, In Her Shoes, I think it was? About two sisters, played by Toni Colette and Cameron Diaz (I am such a sucker, ever since Muriel's Wedding I will see anything with Toni Colette in it. I saw a horror movie - I hate horror movies - because she was in it) anyway. Where was I? Oh, she has this little speech about how she buys shoes when she's depressed(*) because clothes never look right, food just maker her fatter, and "shoes always fit."
Anyway. I wandered into the Outlet store here in OurTown, and found: Levis. For €20. On the size 36 rack, which is my size. 501s, wooo! Usually run €80-120 here, even more in the city, so you can imagine my little happy-dance. I also found the sheer embroidered tunic of my dreams. They're all over the place right now, but there was always one wrong thing about all the others. Not this time, though. This was the perfect shirt.
Well. Trying on the jeans made me realize just how blobulous I've become since I quit the gym. And the shirt was at an outlet store because it has two rips in the back. There was another one, with a slight stain where the buttons rusted and the rust got on the shirt, but if I wore it, it would just look like I'd spilled coffee down my front - an entirely plausible scenario.
But I did buy three pairs of cotton argyle socks.
(* Not that I'm depressed. Well, I wasn't until I walked into a store containing cheap Levis and the perfect shirt, and walked out with argyle socks.)
Totally off-topic: this is just fascinating, although I may be the only one in the room who thinks so. It's an article about the process of designing a database for the Old English Newsletter bibliography, written by a non-techie who had to learn it... well, pretty much the way I did.
Song du jour of the day: Every Song is a Cry for Love, by Brian Kennedy. Ireland's contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest (this WEEK! Hooo-rah!). Watch the video. See him hug his guitar. Think "Duuuude" in a Jon Stewart voice.
Anyway. I wandered into the Outlet store here in OurTown, and found: Levis. For €20. On the size 36 rack, which is my size. 501s, wooo! Usually run €80-120 here, even more in the city, so you can imagine my little happy-dance. I also found the sheer embroidered tunic of my dreams. They're all over the place right now, but there was always one wrong thing about all the others. Not this time, though. This was the perfect shirt.
Well. Trying on the jeans made me realize just how blobulous I've become since I quit the gym. And the shirt was at an outlet store because it has two rips in the back. There was another one, with a slight stain where the buttons rusted and the rust got on the shirt, but if I wore it, it would just look like I'd spilled coffee down my front - an entirely plausible scenario.
But I did buy three pairs of cotton argyle socks.
(* Not that I'm depressed. Well, I wasn't until I walked into a store containing cheap Levis and the perfect shirt, and walked out with argyle socks.)
Totally off-topic: this is just fascinating, although I may be the only one in the room who thinks so. It's an article about the process of designing a database for the Old English Newsletter bibliography, written by a non-techie who had to learn it... well, pretty much the way I did.
Song du jour of the day: Every Song is a Cry for Love, by Brian Kennedy. Ireland's contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest (this WEEK! Hooo-rah!). Watch the video. See him hug his guitar. Think "Duuuude" in a Jon Stewart voice.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Two Things
Musicwise, I sent off my Mixmania CD today. I am now paralyzed with self-doubt. It's not really evil enough, it's boring, it's stupid, it's horrible. The process was plagued with such technical troubles that 1) DrBob had to burn the CD for me, and 2) He's seriously talking about buying a new computer for me, a year and a month before I'm due (every 3 years = tax deductible). Wow. Anyway, I got it done, and sent it off. I hope the person who gets it doesn't despise me completely. Or if she does, I hope at least that she doesn't say so on her blog.
And bookwise, I may have found something. I wrote awhile ago about the difficulty of finding really good books to keep Ignatz engaged in reading. He has a phenomenal talent with language, I've never seen anything like it, but this talent has to be fed with cracking stories by brilliant people who love language. This is difficult, there are a lot of really great premises out there, brought to near-life by mediocre wordsmiths like Mary Pope Osborne and Holly Black and even Lemony Snicket. There are also a lot of brilliant wordsmiths who write books that are just too creepy for an eleven-year-old. Barbara Hambly is one. I've never been a big Stephen King fan, but he may be one as well. So anyway, I buy a lot of kids' books, trying to find the Right Stuff, the perfect combination of style and substance. Eoin Colfer and Philip Pullman are almost, but only Almost. (DrBob asks: are there any kids' books that aren't fantasy? alala replies: hellifiknow, it's all I read from age ten until... um, college, I think.)
So here's a good one: Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie. Yeah, him. Which creates one foreseeable problem, as this is Rushdie's only children's book, as far as I know. And Ignatz is really not ready for the Satanic Verses. Hm. I wonder if Umberto Eco wrote anything for kids.
And the song du jour of the day. Bound in a Nutshell, by the Lightning Seeds.
And bookwise, I may have found something. I wrote awhile ago about the difficulty of finding really good books to keep Ignatz engaged in reading. He has a phenomenal talent with language, I've never seen anything like it, but this talent has to be fed with cracking stories by brilliant people who love language. This is difficult, there are a lot of really great premises out there, brought to near-life by mediocre wordsmiths like Mary Pope Osborne and Holly Black and even Lemony Snicket. There are also a lot of brilliant wordsmiths who write books that are just too creepy for an eleven-year-old. Barbara Hambly is one. I've never been a big Stephen King fan, but he may be one as well. So anyway, I buy a lot of kids' books, trying to find the Right Stuff, the perfect combination of style and substance. Eoin Colfer and Philip Pullman are almost, but only Almost. (DrBob asks: are there any kids' books that aren't fantasy? alala replies: hellifiknow, it's all I read from age ten until... um, college, I think.)
So here's a good one: Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie. Yeah, him. Which creates one foreseeable problem, as this is Rushdie's only children's book, as far as I know. And Ignatz is really not ready for the Satanic Verses. Hm. I wonder if Umberto Eco wrote anything for kids.
And the song du jour of the day. Bound in a Nutshell, by the Lightning Seeds.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Network Neutrality
Ummm, yeah. I generally try not to tell people what to do or think (and it's even harder than you imagine, because I'm really bossy) but um, I'm about to. Because if you use the internet, and you want to decide which sites you visit, instead of letting AT&T or Verizon decide for you? You probably want to give your senators and representatives a call or an email or something. Mine don't seem to be supporting it, and I'll be writing to ask them why tomorrow. There's also a petition you can sign over here. If my explanation wasn't comprehensive enough, and you need more of a reason than Because I Said So, there's a Network Neutrality primer here, though that's a bit wordy. You might prefer to Ask a Ninja! He breaks it down fairly well.
But seriously, folks. If you're American, and you're here reading this, then this issue probably affects you, and there's a lot of money on the other side of it, so your voice counts.
But seriously, folks. If you're American, and you're here reading this, then this issue probably affects you, and there's a lot of money on the other side of it, so your voice counts.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Interviewed
Fridays you get nothin', usually, because I have to get up early and go work in the city and don't usually get back till late. But here are my (very cool!) interview questions from ~d and their answers.
1. Which character do you most identify with in the movie The Princess Bride and why?
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. I just love that he planned that speech for twenty years and then when he finally got his chance to say it, he said it like fifty times. That was so cool. I use it in place of "Hello World" in scripts. I love how down-to-earth he is: "There's not a lot of money in revenge." And even though I never got around to learning how to wave a sword around, I still want to, and he's why. Such a gentleman. Such grace. Such style. I wonder if I could get an outfit like that...
2. Where did you first hear Tom Waits and what memories are connected with that time of your life?
I was dating a real asshole, named Keith. Kelly probably remembers him. It was toward the end of our relationship when I wandered over to his house for some reason and Please Call Me, Baby was playing in another room. I didn't ask at the time, but I searched high and low for the song thereafter, and couldn't find it. This was before the internet, if you can believe it, around 1990. I finally swallowed my irritated pride and called Keith (from the phone hanging outside of Kelly's dorm, that you were only supposed to use to call a resident to get them to come down and let you in, but I used it for pretty much all my telephoning needs) to find out who and what that music was, and as soon as he told me I hung up on him. I think that was the last time I ever called him, actually.
3. You like R.E.M. Do you like Natalie Merchant? Were she and Michael Stipe ever involved? Name two R.E.M. songs that come to mind.
a. yes I do, she has a lovely voice.
b. St. Google says they were.
c. Fall On Me is my favorite. What's the Frequency, Kenneth is my second favorite. At the moment.
4. Have you seen the movie Pecker? Do you know what Full of Grace means? If no, then what was the first 'rated R' movie you remember seeing?
Nope, never saw it, sorry. Full of Grace makes me think of the Sarah MacLachlan song. First R-rated movie...um, was Gremlins R-rated?
5. There was a saying "your mama wears combat boots" How would this apply to you, your life both past and present?
I'm that mama. I've lightened up considerably and my latest pair of Doc Martens is red, but I've been a Sensible (meaning, "I can kick your ass in these") Shoes kinda gal all my life. Cowboy rain-boots notwithstanding.
...
And a follow-up on the Sniglet spitting blood after I brushed his teeth: yeah, it looked pretty horrible, but it turns out (following one panicked call to the dentist) that his six-year molars are coming in, that's all. A freakish event for me, because Ignatz got his with zero fanfare. At some point he mentioned that he already had them, and that was the first I knew of it.
1. Which character do you most identify with in the movie The Princess Bride and why?
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. I just love that he planned that speech for twenty years and then when he finally got his chance to say it, he said it like fifty times. That was so cool. I use it in place of "Hello World" in scripts. I love how down-to-earth he is: "There's not a lot of money in revenge." And even though I never got around to learning how to wave a sword around, I still want to, and he's why. Such a gentleman. Such grace. Such style. I wonder if I could get an outfit like that...
2. Where did you first hear Tom Waits and what memories are connected with that time of your life?
I was dating a real asshole, named Keith. Kelly probably remembers him. It was toward the end of our relationship when I wandered over to his house for some reason and Please Call Me, Baby was playing in another room. I didn't ask at the time, but I searched high and low for the song thereafter, and couldn't find it. This was before the internet, if you can believe it, around 1990. I finally swallowed my irritated pride and called Keith (from the phone hanging outside of Kelly's dorm, that you were only supposed to use to call a resident to get them to come down and let you in, but I used it for pretty much all my telephoning needs) to find out who and what that music was, and as soon as he told me I hung up on him. I think that was the last time I ever called him, actually.
3. You like R.E.M. Do you like Natalie Merchant? Were she and Michael Stipe ever involved? Name two R.E.M. songs that come to mind.
a. yes I do, she has a lovely voice.
b. St. Google says they were.
c. Fall On Me is my favorite. What's the Frequency, Kenneth is my second favorite. At the moment.
4. Have you seen the movie Pecker? Do you know what Full of Grace means? If no, then what was the first 'rated R' movie you remember seeing?
Nope, never saw it, sorry. Full of Grace makes me think of the Sarah MacLachlan song. First R-rated movie...um, was Gremlins R-rated?
5. There was a saying "your mama wears combat boots" How would this apply to you, your life both past and present?
I'm that mama. I've lightened up considerably and my latest pair of Doc Martens is red, but I've been a Sensible (meaning, "I can kick your ass in these") Shoes kinda gal all my life. Cowboy rain-boots notwithstanding.
...
And a follow-up on the Sniglet spitting blood after I brushed his teeth: yeah, it looked pretty horrible, but it turns out (following one panicked call to the dentist) that his six-year molars are coming in, that's all. A freakish event for me, because Ignatz got his with zero fanfare. At some point he mentioned that he already had them, and that was the first I knew of it.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
that's what I get for volunteering
This meme is from Kelly over at I Hate Cows. Post a comment, and I’ll give you a letter. You then write 10 things starting with that letter, explaining why. I signed up, and she gave me the letter Z, can you believe that? Are there even ten words that begin with Z? They have to be English words, right?
- Zounds! I used to like archaic, um, exclamations like this. Also Ye Gods and Gadzooks. I used them in high school, which might have contributed somewhat to my reputation as a pretentious bitch.
- Zoos. Make me sad. But I love to see the animals, so I go anyway. Even though the zoo people do their best (with, ahem, sadly limited funds) to make the environment as comfortable as possible for them, it's a wretched existence. I also know that even though they are unhappy, this is their best chance for survival, because their normal habitats are shrinking every day to feed human greed. This makes me even sadder.
- Zero. What a brilliant concept. Apparently the Indians had it first, but the Arabs brought it to Europe in the 11th century. Yet another priceless contribution from Arab culture. Bet they wish they could take it back and make us all do math with Xs and Ls again, after all the Clash of Civilizations bullshit of the last few years.
- Zodiac. Skeptical, me, but it's so handy for basic programming exercises. Somewhere out there in the internets I have a script that'll tell you how many of you it takes to change a light bulb, based on your sign.
- Zipper. Was invented by a Swede. Occasionally I try to use this as evidence that we (Swedes) are smarter than DrBob and his Germans, but it doesn't usually fly. I'm not really all that Swedish anyway, it's just a bigger percentage than any of my other components.
- Zonker. Totally my hero, and definitely the Doonesbury character I identify with the most.
- Zaragoza. A city in Spain. I've never been there, but I guess I have to go, now that I've gone and put it on my list.
- Zoot suit. Still waiting for these to come back into style, as I think they are teh sexy.
- Umm, Zebras. Are they white with black stripes, or black with white stripes? Oh hell, who cares?
- Zazzafooky. Check her out. She thought she was turning 35 too, and was just as wrong as you were! Hah, that's whatcha get for giving me such a difficult letter! Nyaah, nyaah.
just in case...
Maybe I should clarify something, after a brief but huffy discussion with DrBob: if he thought I was saying that all women have to be mothers, some of you all might have heard it that way too. But no, that's not what I meant.
I didn't mean to imply that all women want to or should have kids, not at all. Of course there are women, in Germany as well as everywhere else, who simply don't want to be moms, and there's nothing wrong with that. But it's nowhere near 30%. I'm arguing for the women who do want to have kids, but are not given the option, for whatever reason, and then get called lazy for it.
That's all.
I didn't mean to imply that all women want to or should have kids, not at all. Of course there are women, in Germany as well as everywhere else, who simply don't want to be moms, and there's nothing wrong with that. But it's nowhere near 30%. I'm arguing for the women who do want to have kids, but are not given the option, for whatever reason, and then get called lazy for it.
That's all.
yet another "authority" says German women are too selfish to procreate
Oooo-kay. Social Science is essentially the branch of the sciences that studies human behavior, individually and in groups. Because humans are such a diverse and unpredictable bunch, Social Science isn't as ... well, it's not quite as science-y as the hard sciences like chemistry and physics - you can't isolate humans the way you can isolate protons for study. You can't isolate facts about humans either.
But they sure do try, don't they? It's one of my pet peeves about economists, for instance, that they study human behavior without ever actually considering the properties of humans. So they make pronouncements on how 'workers' or 'markets' should behave, without regard to the fact that workers and consumers are also uh, dang, what's that word? Oh right - people. For instance, that it's often necessary for a business to fire workers, or freeze their wages, to remain competitive, and the workers should accept that, and be flexible. The fact that workers need to eat (for which they need money) is simply not a factor in their theories. But it is an inflexible property of humans, and so the theories are bunk.
So here's a psychologist for you, a professor at the University of Washington, expounding on German women without regard to what factors are influencing their decisions. He has an article in the L.A. Times that is subtitled: "Why are 30% of German women choosing to go childless? Free will, baby."
Wow. The term "free will" really trivializes the sacrifices you have to make in order to have children here. As I mentioned before, having children means choosing "housewife" as your career. In a country where taxes are high, and prices are high, raising a family on one income is becoming more and more difficult, since businesses need to stay competitive. Housewives here are battling for respect from both men and feminists, just as they are in the U.S. It is not a glamorous career choice. It's not a financially sound one, either. I'm trying to enter the workforce at 35, and I already know that even if I get a job this fall, I will never be able to retire. I started too late to save enough.
Of course we who have children know that they are totally worth it, and we'd do it again in a heartbeat, but you don't know that until you have kids, do you? So you can't really expect women to take that into account when they're trying to reach a decision.
He also mentions that "child-wariness...rises from 30% to more than 40% among German women who are college graduates" without noting that in Germany, a "college graduate" has a Master's degree at minimum - University here is more or less equivalent to grad school in the States. That is a critical distinction, because it changes the meaning of the sentence considerably. You don't get a Master's degree so you can spend the rest of your life scrubbing toilets.
Moreover, why is it always about the women? I realize that my immediate acquaintance does not represent a valid statistical sample, and I have no scientific data to back this up, but among the people I know, it's invariably the women who agitate to have a(nother) baby, and the men who say "not yet" and "we can't afford it" and "wait till I've advanced to the next step in my career."
So I'm frustrated. Because this guy is a psychologist, and therefore an "authority", and he's being irresponsible and people will read that and believe him. Argh.
But they sure do try, don't they? It's one of my pet peeves about economists, for instance, that they study human behavior without ever actually considering the properties of humans. So they make pronouncements on how 'workers' or 'markets' should behave, without regard to the fact that workers and consumers are also uh, dang, what's that word? Oh right - people. For instance, that it's often necessary for a business to fire workers, or freeze their wages, to remain competitive, and the workers should accept that, and be flexible. The fact that workers need to eat (for which they need money) is simply not a factor in their theories. But it is an inflexible property of humans, and so the theories are bunk.
So here's a psychologist for you, a professor at the University of Washington, expounding on German women without regard to what factors are influencing their decisions. He has an article in the L.A. Times that is subtitled: "Why are 30% of German women choosing to go childless? Free will, baby."
Wow. The term "free will" really trivializes the sacrifices you have to make in order to have children here. As I mentioned before, having children means choosing "housewife" as your career. In a country where taxes are high, and prices are high, raising a family on one income is becoming more and more difficult, since businesses need to stay competitive. Housewives here are battling for respect from both men and feminists, just as they are in the U.S. It is not a glamorous career choice. It's not a financially sound one, either. I'm trying to enter the workforce at 35, and I already know that even if I get a job this fall, I will never be able to retire. I started too late to save enough.
Of course we who have children know that they are totally worth it, and we'd do it again in a heartbeat, but you don't know that until you have kids, do you? So you can't really expect women to take that into account when they're trying to reach a decision.
He also mentions that "child-wariness...rises from 30% to more than 40% among German women who are college graduates" without noting that in Germany, a "college graduate" has a Master's degree at minimum - University here is more or less equivalent to grad school in the States. That is a critical distinction, because it changes the meaning of the sentence considerably. You don't get a Master's degree so you can spend the rest of your life scrubbing toilets.
Moreover, why is it always about the women? I realize that my immediate acquaintance does not represent a valid statistical sample, and I have no scientific data to back this up, but among the people I know, it's invariably the women who agitate to have a(nother) baby, and the men who say "not yet" and "we can't afford it" and "wait till I've advanced to the next step in my career."
So I'm frustrated. Because this guy is a psychologist, and therefore an "authority", and he's being irresponsible and people will read that and believe him. Argh.
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