whatever happened to blocks?

I just saw a story on the NYTimes website about the most popular toys for preschoolers this holiday seasons. Turns out laptops, MP3 music players, and digital cameras are the hottest toys this year ... for 3-5 year olds.

Get a GRIP, people! Preschoolers need blocks and cars they have to push to go "vroom" with, and dolls and pretend kitchens and puzzles, and bouncy balls they can throw and chase across the yard.

To paraphrase from the article, one of the hottest toys this year is an exercise bicycle connected to a video game. According to a toy industry analyst there's been a "huge jump" in the last year in toys that involve looking at a screen.

I saw the bike/video game thing in a catalog and thought it was the dumbest thing I ever saw.

I'm not speaking out of turn here...I have two children (T1 and T2) and I can report with great authority that they would probably have a brief fascination with that thing, and then it would gather dust.

On the other hand, T2 is still creating the most amazing structures with the basic wood block set his grandparents gave him for Christmas five years ago. He builds detailed courses for his Hot Wheels cars to travel on with wooden shims we got at the lumber store. T1 colors and draws with plain old Crayons, and makes toy critters out of rocks and things she finds in the yard, and castoff packaging from things we get shipped to us.

I found a box of marbles in my storage shed the other night that I had brought home from my parents' house several years ago. At the time T1 and T2 were too young to play with small marbles (choking hazard) but now they are old enough to not do that, so I got on the floor and taught them how to play. T2 is toting them around like a Major Prize Gift from the Gods now.

My sisters recently brought my kids the "Tiddlywinks" game. Again...how basic is THAT? And they LOVE it. Ditto with dominoes, Crazy Eight card games and the kid version of Monopoly.

I'm on my righteously indignant parenting soapbox right now, but puhlllleeeaaaase....don't ENCOURAGE your children to spend any more time in front of a TV/Video than they already do!!!!

Oh, and here's an idea...how about taking them out on REAL bikes for a ride?

12 step program

A good friend of mine informed me the other day that avoiding W.M. is sort of like being in a 12-step program. If you are trying to avoid it (like I claim to have been for nearly a year now) you have to find alternate ways of feeding your craving, especially in THIS town, when it offers the only reliable choice for groceries in a particular geographic area; you also have to confess when you've been bad and shopped there (I've been doing that a bit on this blog, but not enough) and you have to come to grips with who and what you are hurting when you shop there.

Even though she was gently teasing me at the time, it is true. It is too easy to fall back into the W.M. addiction, and I've defiitely fallen off the wagon of late. You would think that they planned it out or something. Market themselves specifically to me, even though I claim to hate the place. I do hate the place. I hate shopping there. I hate their smug corporate attitude. So why am I spending The Reenactor's hard-earned salary there? Even on the smallest purchase?

One word: convenience.

I find that I go there for weird multiples...I might have half an hour to shop for five items...trash bags, organic milk, DVD-Rs, a birthday gift for T2's friend, and ballet tights for T1. I need all of these items in the next 24 hours, and I have the choice of driving to four or five different stores....at least two of which would still be "big box" stores, of lumping all these errands into one location and being done with it.

So I'm guilty of shopping there. And I FEEL guilty. I feel bad that I'm supporting such an awful corporate culture. I feel angry that I don't have better choices for groceries and other items in the town I live in. I am disturbed that most of the items I buy there are made in a sweat shop on the other side of the world. I don't want to have such far-reaching consequences lumped on my hurried-up need for milk, toys, and trash bags.

I don't have an answer, I'm just venting. I am still going to make a choice to shop elsewhere as often as possible, and to avoid the big box stores as much as I reasonably can. I'm hoping that if there are enough of people out there like me doing at least a portion of their shopping elsewhere, that the big corporations will realize they ARE accountable to us to be responsible citizens. Maybe I'm dreaming....maybe I'm just fantasizing at this point....dreaming my dreamy dreams.

I can always hope, though.

China angst

I'm not the only one who really starting to get mad about this....(from MSNBC)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21825517/

of Chinese lights, and Indonesian colanders

Exactly WHAT do we manufacture in this country anymore? I have been making a lot of purchases in the last few days, mostly because we are in the throes of remodeling the kitchen and kids' bath, and as The Reenactor is like a man possessed about getting the job done, I'm all for making those runs to the big box stores for purchases as quickly as we need them. And I'm quickly realizing that I'm buying almost nothing made in this country.

This all started with a bonfire last week. We were burning the cartons from the kitchen cabinets we had installed the weekend before (those WERE made in the U.S.), and we decided to pitch in the remaining two broken cabinets from the old kitchen that had been hillbilly-ing up our front porch. As these burned quite nicely we decided that since the vanity in the kids' bathroom was broken as well, and we had been intending to replace it anyway, we went in, unhooked it from the wall and plumbing (I'm using the Royal "we" here....I didn't do any of that...the Reenactor did) and by golly, that went in the fire too. After that we realized we had pretty much commited ourselves to remodeling the bathroom at this point.

So anyway....back to manufacturing. In the last 48 hours I have purchased a ready-to-install vanity, lights, flooring, and various other products needed to get this done. I also made a side trip to a housewares store to buy some drawer organizers for my new cabinet drawers. The cool bamboo (renewable resource!) wood drawer divider I bought was made in Indonesia, as was the new colander I bought. I didn't search through every bin at the home improvement store, but I can pretty much guarantee that none of the lights I looked at were made in the US. I saw "made in China" on every box I picked up. Same thing for the other fixtures we've purchased.

Here's the thing.... I would actually BUY American-made products if they were available, and if the price difference wasn't grosssly unreasonable. It is the same choice I make when I seek out organic products. The more I have available to me, the more I will purchase.

Oh and now we have a toilet on our front porch. It adds to the overall ambiance of the place, I must say. And if any of you come to visit be aware that you might be greeted by a gap-toothed kid with no shoes on playing a banjo. And that would be T1.

and furthermore

Just to give you an idea of their editorial integrity, a week ago they published an opinion piece that mocked evolutionary biology.

As long as they can make a buck

I make it a point to not purchase my local newspaper. This is because it is poorly written, poorly edited, and pretty much a joke in the local community--especially for those of us who have lived somewhere else and realize what an asset a decent newspaper can be to a community. On top of this, the very wealthy family who own not only the local newspaper, but the local television station as well (and maybe a radio station or two?) are decidedly "right" in their politics. The newspaper is something of a print version of "Faux" News--pretty much unfair and unbalanced. I see no reason to give these people a dime.

Nevertheless, I do "read" their online version occasionally. You have to pay them to read the full stories...they have a paid online subscription, which I don't pay. Mostly I just a glance at the headlines to see if there is something of stunning importance locally I need to know. The irony here is that if there were, this newspaper probably wouldn't carry it, or would get the facts wrong.

One day a couple of months ago I did buy a newstand copy out of boredom while I was waiting for T1 and T2 at school. That particular day the editorial "opinion" was that global warming was a vast conspiracy made up by thousands of scientists and Al Gore, and that they (the editors) chose to believe the one "NASA" scientist* who says it is not only all a bunch of hoopla, but if we try to fight it we could actually make things worse. Kid ya not. I could literally feel the veins in my brain starting to snap and fizzle reading this editorial.

So in the last couple of days in my early morning checking of my online papers (I check three or four different newspapers online each morning) I noticed that the banner advertisement at the top of the local paper's website is a "fight global warming..learn how" ad. What the? Huh? I thought that was all a bunch of made up stuff? It is a legit ad...sponsored by the AdCouncil and the Environmental Defense Fund. So the message here is that even though your editors don't "believe" in global warming, they'll take money from an advertiser who is trying to prevent it?

I have a word for them, and it sort of rhymes with "mustard."

* The "NASA" scientist quoted in their editorial has ties to the oil industry. I guess they didn't bother to google him before they got all lathered up about how informed his opinion was.

For Ashley

In keeping a Fillmer-esque theme of photographing squash, and in homage to my organic-squash-lovin' farmer niece, 'shley, I am attaching a photo I took of the inside of T2's pumpkin, moments before turning it into a jack-o-lantern. I was particularly taken with the architectural aspects of the fibers.

I'll get off this nature-photography thing soon!

fern

We took T1, T2 and some friends to a state park in So. Ill. on Saturday for T1's birthday hike and party. It was a beautiful place, and I took lots of photos. This one looked totally different once I downloaded it onto my computer and looked at it in a "big" format, rather than just on the screen on the back of the camera. I would like to hear title suggestions for it. Fillmers...get those creative thoughts going!

bike parts and formal wear

Seen in mid-town NOLA...a corner bike parts, grocery store, and formal wear shop.

blue tarps

Hey campers, since I have a few moments before bed I thought I would post a quick blog from our work trip to NOLA.

For those of you who haven't been here since the Big K hit 2 years ago, I could TOTALLY go on a rant about those responsible for what HAS NOT been done here. It is stunning what is not happening. If you talk to locals, and we have done so a lot, virtually assistance has come to help people rebuild their homes and lives from non-profit organizations.

The beauracracy and paperwork, and corruption here is unbelievable...just ask anyone who still has a blue tarp sheltering them from the elements...and there are thousands of them out there.

And I don't really need to tell all of you this, but I will anyway, the blue tarps are NOT on the houses in the neighborhoods with brick entries, and 3000-4000-sq. foot houses.

On the flip side, the locals will also tell you that it IS coming back, and that though it is hard to believe in some of the areas we've driven through, but things look much better to them than they did two years ago.

The phrase that keeps going through my head as we drive to job sites....

"you're doin' a heckuva job, brownie."

Nuf said.

The Mouse

This is the symbol you see on nearly every ride at WDW...it clearly says to me "SIT and have fun. Stand up and you fall off screaming in opposite directions."



Hey there campers, we have returned from our vacation to the deep South, and specifically to WDW. I know most of you know the angst I have had over going in recent months. In my opinion prior to the trip there were too many insider "rules" that you had to know to prevent any fun from actually happening. It has been something I have been both surprised by, and loathe to listen to, in waiting rooms and coffee groups in this area that if someone brings up the subject of their next spring or fall break, it instantly becomes Disney-mania and that is the discussion for hours on end afterwards. It is something of a cult around here to spend not just one, but EVERY family vacation visiting Orlando, and the tricks, tips, rules, and insider knowledge traded in these conversations is unbelievable.

With that said, here were the two best pieces of advice we got prior to going, and they both came from our friend Jackie, who has been to WDW a few times, and has a sensible approach to visiting there. The first was to actually drive our car to the WDW parking lot and pay for parking, rather than wait for the "free" shuttle buses most the hotels in the area offer. We had no trouble getting there on any of the three days we were there, and as the whole trip from our hotel to the lot was about 10 minutes, it was well worth not hassling with even more tourists on the buses.

Tip no. 2, was to hydrate ourselves and T1 and T2. To that end The Reenactor took his backpack with the self contained water bladder thingie in it, and we drank cold water all day from it. Just remembering to keep drinking as we were waiting in lines made for us all being happier.

Here are my observations from the trip, now that you know some of my background about going.

Pros:

--The place really is beautiful. Having worked in a theme park myself, and knowing how much effort is put into "theming" a place like that, I think they truly do an exceptional job of creating a "set" for the entertainment going on around you.

--The signs in front of the rides are really informative about what age level will enjoy the ride. There was only one ride we took T1 and T2 on that they didn't want to repeat, and it was truly a bit scary for them....the signs had given us plenty of warning.

--In-park food and beverage prices were way more reasonable than I anticipated, and I was REALLY surprised at how much fresh fruit and vegetarian fare was offered.

--In spite of my original grumpiness about ticket prices I do feel that we got our money's worth each day. Just the shows and 3D movies alone are worth the admission price. The "electric" parade and fireworks show in the evening are an extra bonus that you don't get in a lot of similar venues.

--The kids had a good time...and ultimately that was what it was all about. For the record, they probably would have had an equally good time at any major theme park we took them to, as the rides and shows all in one place was a new experience for them.

The cons:

--the other tourists....the ones with the glassy-eyed gleam in their eyes who you knew were the "frequent flyers" to this place. They take it wayyyyyy too seriously.

--the darn autograph books. Apparently you purchase an autograph book (conveniently sold there on site) and haul your four-year-old child all over the place trying to get the characters to sign them ....this means the princesses, Goofy, Tigger, etc. all need to sign your kids' book with their big stuffed paws while you take pictures of "precious" looking on lovingly. This pretty much effectively holds up the line for the rest of us just wanting to snap a photo of our kid mugging with Mickey.

--TOO MANY STROLLERS. Seriously, these things really screw up crowd control. I have no problem with someone bringing in a simple single-wide umbrella stroller for their two-or-three year old, but the park offers stroller rental, and they offer these big, wide double strollers, that all too often are lugging around kids as old, or older than T1 and T2. Hey, if your normally healthy kid can't walk around this park at age 7 or 8, maybe they shouldn't be here. There were many times were we got hung in a slow moving line of traffic behind a dozen of these things being pushed around by equally weary parents, and it was a nightmare to try to get ahead of them.

So..with all that said I'll eagerly wait your comments.

Ta.

mouse ears

We're off to WDW this week. Camper discussions to return soon. Do you think I'll be consumed with conspicuous consumerism?

Don't read this!

For all you campers who don't regularly listen to NPR (are any of you out there?) it is National Banned Books Week! Did you realize that oftentimes the only person standing between your choice to read some of the great classics of all time, and some local moral authority who thinks there might be a bad word or idea in that classic, is your librarian? That's right! The sweet ladies at the public library in your town are (for the most part) stalwart defenders of your Right to Read. Just think how your literary education would be different if the yahoos had their way and you didn't get to read "Tom Sawyer," "To Kill a Mockingbird" or "Slaughterhouse Five" and "Lord of the Flies." Did you know that our beloved Shel Silverstein has a book in the top 100 banned books of all time? "A Light in the Attic" comes in at No. 51! Did you know the "Where's Waldo?" books and Harry Potter series are both in the list? Two of my favorite children's books authors--Mem Fox and Maurice Sendak--both have books listed in the top 100.

From the American Library Association's website, a lovely quote, under the heading of the First Amendment information:

“Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime . . . .” — Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, dissenting Ginzberg v. United States, 383 U.S. 463 (1966)

Go read a banned book, and hug your librarian!

To the Reenactor

My husband, The Reenactor, turns 40 today. He's out of town on a business trip, so in his absence I will discuss him on my blog.

We met when we were both photographers for a university that shall go unnamed, because we don't like the new name of it! I was working for the PR dept, he was working for the yearbook. We often were at the same place at the same time, waiting in bored patience for the grip-n-grin to occur so we could get our shot, and leave. We suffered through speeches, presentations, and really awful football games just to get enough usuable frames (pre-digital camera, folks!) to work with, and I soon found myself looking forward to his company at these occasions. The rest, they say, is history, and 16 years later (12 of those in wedded bliss) I still look forward to his company.

I'm proud of him for what he has done professionally...making chemicals we can all keep cool with...and with how seriously he takes his role in it. I'm proud that he has been given a whole new responsiblity at work, and that everyone who has worked with him recognizes that he is perfect for his new job...making sure that the process of making the chemicals is done as safely as possible.

I'm proud that he has taken his grandmother's pickle recipe and made it his own...taking something that was already good, and making it way better.

I'm proud that he probably knows more Civil War history than the average person, and in spite of the fact that all those CW books take up a lot of shelf space in our house, that he has actually read all of them, not just once, but multiple times.

He's not one to challenge at trivial pursuit...he has more obscure knowledge tucked away than the average person, and knows more strange facts than I'll ever know.

Anyway...here's to The Reenactor in a new decade. Much love from your bride!

sorry to be bore-ing!!!

It has been difficult for me to find inspiration for blog posting these last few days. I keep wanting to rant about how disgusted I am with the president and his hell-bent plans for keeping our young men and women in harms' way just so he can prove he's right, or at least he's the decider, or whatever. I am so unbelieveably frustrated with it all that I simply can't focus my thoughts into something coherent and understandable, and for what it's worth, I'm pretty much preachin' to the choir with you Campers, arent' I? No Rovians lurking out there are there?

So I'll latch onto something more fun...one of my new favorite televsion shows is "Living with Ed." No, it isn't about my brother (sorry Ed!). It is about the actor Ed Begley, Jr., and his wife, and their "green" lifestyle. It is on HGTV and is both funny and incredibly informative about ways the average household can limit their use of electricty, fossil fuels, water, etc. I said, average household...but really this season he has visited celebrity friends who have seriously gone green...some of them almost entirely or entirely getting "off the grid" --which is apparently the goal of folks like Ed. Some of these people have fabulous houses (estates really) that are powered almost exclusively by solar or wind power. In fact, Larry Hagman (yes, J.R. from Dallas) sells back some of the power his personal system generates to the power company, and I think I understood that he donates some of his power as well to low-income families. He said he went from having a $37,000 electric bill one year, to a $13 the next, after he installed his solar panels. Incredible. Of course the panels were plenty expensive, so folks like The Reenactor and I can't rush out to buy them, but it is impressive that this amount of power is possible from a unit like this. And it's CLEAN, folks!!!

On a smaller scale, they have installed numerous gadgets in their own home which I am really interested in...one is a switch that allows you to turn off all unnecessary power in your house when you aren't home....all the things that are on "standby" waiting for you to use them, and sucking electricty while they wait. You can be very specific about which outlets you want to include in this, and the energy savings was something like 25% per month.

Anyway...if you get a chance to watch it it really is good fun, and educational.

Cards vs. Cubs tomorrow...I've never seen the Cubbies before!

We'll lose, of course, but at this point, does it really matter?

I promise I didn't photoshop this....

Shley be 30

Cheers to my niece 'shley who is turning 30!

I was looking for a photo I have somewhere here in the house of her as an adorable five-year-old, but can't find it at the moment.

She is still adorable, and in recent years has educated me in the ways of organic and sustainable farming; shared political angst with me via email; and has gone on travels and adventures that I will have to live vicariously through.

But my favorite 'shley memory is that we shared a trip to Philmont together 14 years ago (yes, girl, 14!). I had a great time in her company there, and have many, many great memories of singing Billy Joel and Simon and Garfunkel songs while we hiked, dodging really fierce lightning storms, and eating really terrible food, and the last morning we were on the trail, sitting on the Tooth and watching the sun rise over New Mexico.

30 is a dawdle, Shley. I hope you find grand new ways to hike your path in this world. I will raise a pint of Fat Tire in your honor tonight.

Love ya,
Auntie K

Cat in repose

I tried to convince the cat that she wasn't being very ladylike in her posture last night, but she didn't listen.

How my kid spends time at school

Thing 1 came home the other day and announced in a very worried tone to me that her class had watched "Sponge Bob" at school that afternoon. I immediately understood WHY they had watched television — it is hell hot outside and too dangerous for the kids to have recess — but I was concerned about the choice of viewing material. Our kids don't watch Sponge Bob...it just isn't in our list of "approved" television. So all of you campers out there who are fans of the show, I'm not railing against that particular program, it just isn't one I personally choose for my kids to watch.

I spoke to Thing 1's teacher about it that evening at an open house, and she seemed mystified at my concern. I pointed out that at the same time period there are some great shows on PBS like Reading Rainbow and Between the Lions...surely more appropriate for kids to watch in an academic setting. A friend of mine observed later that the school library also has videos and DVDs of the excellent Scholastic books-on-video series....which are GREAT. Again, more appropriate for school, no?

Here's the irony of the whole situation....I guarantee that I am by leaps and bounds the most "liberal" parent in Thing 1's classroom, yet I'm the one questioning the fact that they are watching commercially-sponsored, non-academic television in lieu of something that they could actually learn something positive from. In fact, and this is REALLY ironic given the bad rap the label "liberal" has these days, is that I find myself very "conservative" on the ways that my children are exposed to different influences.

And, the next day, the kids didn't watch Sponge Bob...but they did watch another Nick show...one geared toward 'tweens. Again...this isn't complicated....just put in something more appropriate for six-year-olds.

red, or white?

What is the etiquette for a Rove Resignation party? Does one serve white wine or red? A keg? Or is that too tacky?

He says he wants to spend more time with his family. Clearly he needs to, because I wasn't even aware that he was married, much less that he has a teenage son. Maybe if he spent more time with his own family he would be less inclined to do harm to so many other families.

Not that I'm bitter, or anything.