More Scary Stuff......

Am I missing something here, or is the Cash For Clunkers program similar to the mortgage catastrophe that was responsible for igniting the current economic problems in the U.S.?

People were lured to the thrill of new homes, big homes, more home than they could afford when they were able to be approved for a larger mortgage than they could realistically handle. The thought was, well if I can get the money I must be able to afford it. Then the payment book arrived and soon after the bank knocked on the door and took their house away. We are all now paying the price.

I'm not saying that the Cash For Clunkers program is going to ignite a new recession. But on a smaller scale, it seems to be doing the same thing....maybe there is a reason a person is driving a clunker. Maybe this person can't really afford a bigger, better, newer car.

But along comes this temptation....the thought that they could actually get $4500 on a trade in for a brand new shiny auto! The clunker will never be worth that much again.

So off they go to the dealership, sign their name for a brand new.....6 year auto loan. Something they really probably can't afford, another bill to pay, another loan.

Wait! This is great for the economy! It's helping the car dealers, the automobile manufacturers! So, who cares if the little guy ends up losing his new car because he can't make the payments? And who cares if now he has lost his clunker, too?!

At least Cash For Clunkers will have its 15 minutes of fame.

If that's not enough, take a look at what happens to your computer if you log in and register at the official Cash For Clunkers website:



No thanks, Obama. I'll keep my clunker.

Creepy Stuff

I was raised to appreciate creepy and weird things. I suspect there is also a genetic contribution so really, I can't help it. It's fun to speculate on who else in the family has acquired the creepy gene. It's pretty easy to determine by observing the reactions of everyone in the annual nighttime cemetery jaunt. Some are in their element, some are neutral, some are totally confused.

With this nature/nurture creepy background going on, I can't help being fascinated by the whole Michael Jackson thing. To begin with, the guy is a natural creep. I'm not saying I agree with his creepiness or even that I love it. There are parts of it I just don't even want to think about.

But the rest of it, well, it can be pretty interesting.

For instance, he has been dead for 23 days now and not buried yet. What?

And take a look at this video. I find this to be really very creepy. This was a press conference in London to announce his upcoming tour. The date of this press conference was in March 2009. The first time I watched it, I felt something was 'off'. I wondered if anyone else noticed. Now I'm not a huge fan of Jackson, I like some of his stuff but I sure don't idolize him. I feel it didn't take a lot of analysis to determine that the guy in this video is not Michael Jackson.

Look at how he walks, kind of slouched over. His voice is different, much lower, and it part of the video it sounds like he lapses into a fake British accent for a couple of sentences. This guy has the mannerisms of a much younger guy.

Anyway, look for yourself and let me know what you think:

I'm not saying this means anything or that Michael Jackson is not dead. (I didn't mean to plant that idea in your head, but I have heard that rumour.) But I am saying that this is weird. And if he was hiding out somewhere, alive, with a blanket over his head - I don't think that would actually surprise me. Not really.

The Rain, The Park, The Camping & Other Things

It started on the night before I was going camping. I was on Hulu and looking for something nostalgic to watch. I decided on the very first episode of The Partridge Family. About ten minutes into it (it was a little boring), I decided to look up some things about The Cowsills.

The Cowsills were a family rock (a loose definition) band in the late 1960's made up of a bunch of brothers and their little sister and (ugh) Mommy. Like most kids in this era, I loved the Cowsills and fought every day with my friend, Patty, about if I was going to claim Barry and she was going to be stuck with John and vice versa.

The connection between the Partridge Family and the Cowsills? The Partridge Family tv show was kind of based on the Cowsill family.

Some of the things I learned the other night -- the producers of the Partridge Family originally wanted the real Cowsills to portray themselves, but they didn't want the Mom. They wanted Shirley Jones (who ended up playing Shirley Partridge in the end). The Cowsills had a problem with their real Mom not being wanted so they decided not to do the show.

Now, seriously, I have to wonder about this. Who decided that they weren't going to do the show? Did the kids get together and say, 'we love Mom so much that we are going to refuse to further our career and become tv stars and even more teen idol-ish?' Really, do you think so?

Or did Mom step in and say, 'well, if you don't want me, then you don't get my kids either.'?

Either scenario is equally dumb if you ask me.

Another thing I learned is that Barry, my favorite Cowsill, is now dead. He was living in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and went missing after the hurricane. Some three months later his body washed up along shore and was identified. The day of his memorial, the family learned that another brother, Billy Cowsill, had just died at the age of 58. How sad.

So, back to the camping thing.....the whole weekend that I was camping and even now that I'm home, I have this song stuck in my head. Its really one of the worst cases of Song Stick I've ever experienced. It just won't go away.

Misery loves company, enjoy the video clip:



In case that isn't enough, try this one:



I find the second version to be a little bit depressing. The kids are grown up and the song has lost its happy bounce. The singers are Susan, Paul in the middle and Bob.

So, anyway, I hope to soon find a new song to play in my head. Maybe writing this will kind of help to clear out my brain. Any suggestions?

I hate this game

Here's my little farm! This is from Farm Town on Facebook. Here's how it goes: You start out with just a little big of money and you plant some crops. You can wait from 4 hours to 3 days for the crop to be ready to harvest, depending on which crop it is.

I had to stop growing grapes because they were ready to harvest in four hours and I never was back on the computer to harvest them in time and they would all die.

Now when your crops are ready to harvest, you can harvest them yourself and (1) sell them immediately (2) put them in storage to sell later, and you'll get more money for them. Or else, you can go to the marketplace and hire someone else to harvest them for you and get even more money.

In your spare time, while you're waiting for your crops to ripen, you can hang out at the marketplace and beg people there to hire you to harvest their stuff. You get paid for this, of course.

There are many levels to the game. You figured that, right?

At the beginning, you are limited to the types of crops you can grow and animals you can buy, as well as cute little accessories for your farm. As you progress, there are more and more things to choose from. Also, at Level 15, you can buy more acreage by going to the realtor's office. At different levels, you can expand more and more.

I'm currently at Level 11, Talented Farmer.

I'm not sure how I came across this game. I'm not really sure why its so addictive. Its the kind of thing you don't spend a lot of time at because mostly you're waiting for crops to be ready. But you keep going back to check to see if they are. Whatever.

In case you haven't noticed.....

When I don't have anything special to write about, I like to go through my picture collection and choose a favorite one to post.

Today is one of those days.

Here's a picture I just love! This is Payton, my great nephew and buddy. He is celebrating his sixth birthday in this photo. Check out his little sports jacket.

He's obviously getting ready to blow out the candles on his cake and I believe this is the great inhale. Normally, the candle blowing out pictures I take capture the puffed out cheek, ready to blow expression. I think this is the first one I've seen that is pre-blow. Mouth open, taking in huge amounts of air for the best and most powerful exhale.

Payton and his sister, Jordan, recently spent a few days/nights at my house. I am so lucky to be able to have them over. They are a lot of fun, really nice and well-behaved kids. So we do a lot of things together. In a few days, I'll show you some pics of the things we did.

In the meantime, have a happy and safe holiday! We're going to see the village parade tonight and then fireworks. We always end up on my friend's front lawn since she lives across the street from the park where the fireworks originate. Of course, there is plenty of food, drink & fun.

Guardian of the Bones

I just love these pictures of my kitty, William. Obviously, this is the dog's bed, but William decided he was going to claim it one day. I was very surprised to see him all comfortable in the bed when I walked into the room. But even more surprising was that he was nestled happily among the dog's stash of chew bones and various other toys. Would you call this arrogance? Or stupidity? Or maybe just living in the moment!




I really love the look on his face in this next one. He looks slightly deranged, as though he is tempting fate.

Travelin'

This was a wonderful trip! My two sisters and I left early on Saturday morning- we took the train from Oak Lawn to Union Station in downtown Chicago. From there, we caught the Amtrak to St. Louis. It was about a five hour train ride. It was such fun to visit the snack car and have lunch on the train. When we arrived in St. Louis, we took the Metrolink to Lambert Airport where we rented a VW Bug, which we then drove to St. Charles, MO. St. Charles is a very old, quaint little town on the Missouri River. There are blocks of old houses and buildings converted to shops and restaurants. Of course, there are many Lewis & Clark references - I think their journey began here. We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites which was very nice. And on Sunday, after Mass at St. Peter's, we visited almost every single shop. We never made it to Frenchtown, which is the antique district. We ran out of energy. We had dinner at Lewis & Clark's (what else?) which was delicious! On Sunday night, we went to the Ameristar Casino. I started out with $6, played slot machines for three hours, and ended up with $3.50. Karen did really well at the blackjack table. Finally on the last full day, we drove out to the countryside (beautiful!) to Defiance, Missouri and visited five wineries and tasted many different wines. I enjoyed the Chambourcin wine and brought home a bottle from Augusta Winery. The train ride home was fun, too, but the weekend sure did go fast! We had a wonderful time!

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