Monday, September 17, 2007

a hodgepodge

- In a free San Diego newspaper, there is a column which reviews and rates churches. I could not believe that they actually give stars to churches (the one reviewed got 2 1/2 stars), based upon the quality of the sermon, the snacks, the music, the architecture, etc... I was fascinated. The actual awarding of the stars seems so sacrilegious, but the review was written very respectfully. What a brilliant and ballsy concept!

- Despite having learned how to doggy paddle quite respectably at her expensive swimming lessons, Lola refused to swim an inch at the hotel pool. She spent a lot of time in the water hanging onto the side of the pool, splashing about on the steps, and letting Iris ferry her about. Iris later explained it to me: "I asked her to swim, and she said she only knows how to swim in that one swimming pool" where she takes lessons.

Huh. I guess this is the generalization problem I heard so much about in the context of speech therapy: if a child learns to do something in a special setting which is removed from the child's everyday life, the child often has difficulty using that skill in any other context. That is a big part of why we chose to have private speech therapy in our home, rather than using the public system for free group speech therapy in an office.

- I failed to pack my mascara and went without for three days. This was good in the sense that I didn't have to worry about raccoon eyes when I was in the pool and jacuzzi. However, I learned that "the smoky eye" does NOT work without mascara. I smudged on some purple eyeshadow for a beautiful smoky eye one evening, and it was completely wrong with natural lashes. Keep that in mind when you're getting glamorous, people!

- When one goes to rent a car, children will insist upon getting a convertible, but then when it actually comes time to drive in the rental car, the children whine endlessly about the wind if you have the top down. "Close it! Close it! I'm cold! My hair is blowing in my face!"

- Today's Wall Street Journal reports that a Filipino judge regularly converses with three elves which only he can hear. The Supreme Court of the Philippines had this man removed from the bench on the theory that he is psychotic, but since then, a number of mysterious tragedies have befallen the Court and its members. The Supreme Court, hedging its bets, has not put the man back in office, but has requested that he revoke any curses he has set. The public protests: they want their judge and his elves restored to power!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Filipino judge thing reminds me of a story about the road over the freeway by the Cancun airport. When you drive under the freeway, you see a small cement house. Apparently it was built for the Alushas (sp?), the Mayan equivalent of the leprachaun. Said bridge over the freeway was built on one of the main Alusha thoroughfares, and it pissed them off. It collapsed three times.

The Mayans kept telling the government that they needed to build a little house for the Alushas so they would be happy and not mess with the bridge again. The government, of course, ignored them, and rebuilt the bridge sans Alusha crib. Within months - yep, you guessed it! - the freeway overpass had fallen down again!

Finally, the governor of Quintana Roo told the transportation workers to build the house for the Alushas. The freeway overpass has not fallen down since!

hughman said...

i love the convertible story. what did you end up eating there?

the Drunken Housewife said...

Two meals: veggie burgers with fries (and cocktails!) at beachside cafe.

One meal: East Coast-style white pizza and salad at restaurant (and beer made on Coronado Island!).

Two meals: bread & cheese in hotel room, as purchased at nearby Von's by husband. Lola ate some lentil soup warmed up in the coffeemaker.

The husband ate the room temperature baked beans all by himself.

Another meal: good Mexican food at restaurant in "Old San Diego" tourist trap neighborhood.

It wasn't a big eating holiday.

hughman said...

well that sounds a lot better than the original plan. cold baked beans?? that's hobo food!

Amy said...

That is so delightfully weird!

Freewheel said...

Hmmm. Does the Filipino judge and his elves take an extended Christmas vacation every year?

Anonymous said...

The Filipino judge? This might explain so much about our current administration ....