Plaid Stallions asked us to tell our best schoolyard BS story.

• Plaid Stallions : Rambling and Reflections on 70’s pop culture: PS Contest: Schoolyard BS Rumours

My story seemed a little long and I needed to include pictures, so I’ve written it here:

Chris Buttars was the bully who bothered me in the fourth grade. He called me a “Jehobo-Witness” every day at school. Sure, I was a weird kid because I was a Jehovah Witness and my dad wouldn’t let me pledge allegiance to the flag or celebrate any holidays, but don’t you think that should have been punishment enough? I guess Chris didn’t think so and inflicted daily insults to the suffering I was already experiencing.

In fourth grade, Charlie’s Angels trading cards were popular. I don’t know why. It doesn’t seem to make sense to me and I don’t really believe this memory, but for a couple of months, the coolest thing were Charlie’s Angels trading cards. One day, I got this card in my Charlie’s Angels set:

At first glance, I thought the man on the right was Charlie. My mom pointed out to me that, no, it wasn’t Charlie. It was Bosley. I kept pointing to the words on the card. They said, “The best boss an angel ever had!” That MUST mean that the guy in the picture was Charlie, right? My mom finally convinced me that I didn’t have a rare Charlie’s Angels trading card that showed the elusive Charlie.

When Chris Buttars was looking through my trading cards to see if there were any he wanted to trade with me, he found the card that fooled me and flipped out. He made the same mistake I made, thinking that it was Charlie who was on the card, not Bosley. I played it cool and said that it was a really rare card and I’d never trade it. Suddenly, he was offering me his entire pack of Charlie’s Angels cards for it. I told him no. He started handing me his Pittsburgh Steelers pencil (unsharpened) in addition to the pack of his cards. I told him no. He started offering me money, but I stopped him.

All I wanted was two of his cards (his best, but that was more than I could bear to take without guilt) AND he had to stop calling me a Jehobo-Witness. He agreed, the trade was made and he went around the classroom showing off his “rare” Charlie card.

Everyone believed him. No one noticed that it was Bosley. And Chris Buttars only called me a Jehobo-Witness one more time after that, but I threatened to take back the rare Charlie card. He never teased me again.

Charlie’s Angel’s Trading Card via: Bubble Gum Cards: Charlie’s Angels

For more Charlie’s Angels memories, read this:

• Pick Me! » Charlie’s Angels Dolls

After a marathon moving day yesterday, we are in the new house at Daybreak. I brushed my teeth in the new sink and happily watched the water easily slip down the drain instead of pooling in the basin.

Right now, I’m back at the Sugarhouse house, gathering the leftovers. The old sink is looking at me in the bathroom with its rust stains, jeering at me. No matter how hard I scrubbed or what toxic chemicals I used, I could never get that rust out. I almost liked the rust. It gave me an excuse not to clean the sink altogether. The slow drain, however, was another irritant that ate away at my love of the house.

In the end, it was a wish for drains that drain that created all this work. It might have been easier to hire a plumber.

I got an order for a Starling Fitness journal this morning. Honestly, I can’t tell you where my journal supplies are right now. I can barely tell you where my computer is, much less my specialty hole punch. I emailed the reader that it will take an extra week to send out the journal and offered a refund if that’s unacceptable. I haven’t sold a journal for weeks, but the minute I lose track of my hole punch, I get a new order.

Maybe I should move more often.

On the plus side, I’m super excited about the house. I can’t wait to show it to my mom, Stacey and Dan today. They are helping us pack all of our furniture and boxes into a UHaul truck today. I’m wishing for a smooth move.

On another note, this WordPress app on my iPhone seems pretty nice. Writing on my phone is much easier than when I tried to type out entries on my Treo a couple years ago. Nice to know that I can still let words flow from my fingers even when my computer is boxed and inaccessible.

Wish me lots of luck, please. I need it!

• Window seat with Ikea bookcases http://bit.ly/Xd1T7 #

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I blame the complete lack of fear of water and the audacity to consider the entire home his own for these photos.

You can see all the pictures of Elvis in the sink here:

• Elvis in the Sink – a set on Flickr

• Dear Lady Gaga: Thank you for picking up the slack since Peter Burns has been incapacitated. You fill his shoes excellently! #

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I love this photo of Maggie.

Sometimes I need to just take a moment and learn how to relax like Maggie does. Lately, it seems that I only relax when I’m so exhausted that I can’t do anything else.

Elvis, our new cat, has decided that he likes sleeping in the dog’s bed. Poor Sid lets him just take over.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw them both in the bed. It was adorable.

• Rubber band run Mini Cooper papercraft. Very cool! http://bit.ly/3WRJO #

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• Mega Shark Vs. Octopus starring Debbie Gibson! How did I not hear about this sooner?! http://tinyurl.com/ojjbov Thanx @kittygutz #

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It all happened so quickly that I can’t even believe it. About a month ago, Stacey and Mel introduced me to the Daybreak community down in South Jordan. It looked so much like Sugarhouse, without the added benefits of roaming panhandlers that I became obsessed with it. Mike had been hinting that he’d like a bigger house, so within a month, we find ourselves packing and heading south.

Just for my records, I’m posting some of the blogs and websites I’ve found that have information about my new home:

• Daybreak Utah — Newsroom
• Daybreak Community Association: The official community site
• CDA Properties SLC Utah: The Realtor who helped us find a rental in Daybreak so quickly. Ask for Adam Willis. He’s awesome!
• Facebook | Daybreak: Most of the great information that I’ve been able to get is from the Daybreak Facebook fan page.
• The Daybreak Daily: An unofficial community website
• DAYBREAK TODAY: A Daybreak resident’s web log about the community
• Daybreak (@DaybreakUt) on Twitter
• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – Daybreak Community: A little out of date, but some good links to maps and such.

My biggest regret is that I won’t be living next to NakedJen anymore. Everything else about Daybreak is looking to be wonderful. I’m sure to bore you all with lots of photos of the area and the lake.

• Wil Wheaton writes about being a writer. http://bit.ly/kiOcz #
• Good-bye, Farrah Fawcett. We will miss you. http://tinyurl.com/lz5tsy #
• Marina and the Diamonds: I Am Not A Robot. Not available in the USA yet. :( Get your act together RIAA!! http://tinyurl.com/kmocpv #
• UT Blogger/Geek Dinner TONIGHT 06-25-09 6p at Paradise Bakery http://www.codeaway.org/?p=219 Please RSVP and RT! #

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Love this photo!

• RT @TheBloggess: http://bit.ly/tso0B I get all my news from autotune now. Lettuce soon to be outlawed, I think. #
• Even Martin Luther King is better with auto tune. http://bit.ly/1a6A2k #
• I can see no way in which this carefully laid plan could ever fail. http://tinyurl.com/ljkbq5 #
• Last night at the Ritz: June 1993 http://bit.ly/MPiny #
• Always wanted a window seat. Ikea hack for one here: http://bit.ly/Xd1T7 #

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I was looking through some old photos and stumbled across some funny photos that I had forgotten about. Back in 2005, we took a trip to Vegas. While walking through Mandalay Bay, we noticed that there were two conventions being held there: the Professional Bull Riders Expo and the China Manufacturers Alliance.

They were both having their after parties in the same place. At first, we didn’t know what PBR was, but this sign explained it.

Mike pointed at the signs and said, “That looks like a bad idea…”

• UT Blogger/Geek Dinner THIS Thursday 06-25-09 6p at Paradise Bakery http://www.codeaway.org/?p=219 Please RSVP and RT! #

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I love this comic:

• Sheldon™ Comic Strip: Daily Webcomic by Dave Kellett 06-20-09

Sometimes when I get all mired in doing work, I forget to try to be awesome. I need to post this comic on my computer so I can remember.

• Steampunk shoe spats how to video tutorial. http://bit.ly/u95f9 #
• Disapproving froggy makes me laugh! http://bit.ly/ugChK #
• seez dis eye? i killeda man wif dis eye http://bit.ly/BUyO #

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Officer Christopher Bieze of the Travis County Police Department in Texas said she was violent and resisting arrest.

She was pulled over for speeding and refused to sign the ticket, so the officer told her to get out of the car and he was going to arrest her. When she realized she was going to be arrested for not signing a paper, she said she would sign the paper, but by then it was too late.

Here is the dash cam video. Do you think she should have been tasered?

This is the reason I don’t like to speed when I drive. You never know what kind of whack job is going to pull you over. They could shoot you for resisting arrest when all you did was say, “I’m getting back in my car.” Officer Bieze screamed, “Tasered!” when he shot her. This looks like another case of a power drunk officer who got out of control. This sort of stuff happens all the time. It’s a wonder we give these people guns.

It looks like the district attorney is looking into this case to see if the officer acted inappropriately.

• Austin American Statesman: District attorney’s office to review Tasering of 72-year-old

I’ve talked about this before:

• Pick Me! » What It’s Like To Be A Teenager

Apparently, you don’t have to be a teenager to be treated like a second class citizen.

• RT @postsecret: Gina gets a special message via Google Maps http://ad.vu/6wev #

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I LOVE this website:

• three frames

He takes three frames from a movie and animates them into a gif file. This one from Harold and Maude is lovely:

My only wish is that they would identify the movies. I recognized Harold and Maude, but many of their entries are completely unknown to me. Seeing this one made me want to see the movie, but I have no idea where it came from.

It’s amazing how three frames of a movie without sound can make me want to see the entire film.

Via: Littlest, Yellowest, Differentest – Three Frames

One year and one day until Toy Story 3. Is it wrong that I got so excited about this movie by just watching this ONE trailer?

Via: Discopop Directory – Toy Story 3 Trailer

• Why I’m not a teacher today. “The education system has strip-mined our minds.” http://tinyurl.com/7swydn #
• When I feel like I can’t write, I need to watch this TED Talk again. http://bit.ly/1b8qjZ #
• Funny! RT @alyankovic OK, come on, who just hacked my web site?? http://www.weirdal.com #

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I love these two TED videos by Richard St. John. In this one, he talks about his eight principles of success:

The eight principles are:

• Passion: Do it for love, not for money.
• Work: It’s all about hard work. Don’t be a workaholic. Be a work-a-frolic!
• Good: Get good at stuff by practicing.
• Focus: To get good at something, you have to focus on one thing.
• Push: Push yourself physically and mentally. It’s not always easy to push yourself, so that’s why they invented mothers.
• Serve: Millionaires serve others with something of value.
• Idea: Listen, observe, be curious, ask questions, problem solve and make connections.
• Persist: Keep going despite failure. You have to go through all the CRAP: criticism, rejection, assholes and pressure.

In this video, he talks about how success is not a one way street. Once you’ve “made it,” you still have to follow the eight principles to STAY successful:

I love to see these videos. It gets me going and ready to work.

Every time I start to think about moving to San Francisco, someone posts something like this:

• Littlest, Yellowest, Differentest – An undercover cop arresting a crack dealer outside the dollar store on 17th and Mission. Which is two blocks from my house.

What gets me is how casual the bystanders are. An unattended child and a man with a walker look on with no surprise or fear.

Thanks, Ernie, for reminding me why I love Salt Lake City.

I was very faithful writing Merriton right until the point at which I have to start making my heroes suffer. I have to send Randy and Sierra back to San Francisco and I just don’t want to. Heck, my readers don’t even want them to leave.

Can’t Randy and Sierra leave the Bowen house but stay in Merriton? Maybe there could be a fire that destroys the house and they are forced to rebuild some super-green one? Just pondering…

I would love to keep them in Merriton and they are definitely going to stay in the lives of the people of Merriton, but they have to leave the Bowen House. No one stays in the Bowen house more than two years.

I just don’t want to make them suffer, so I haven’t written. I’m FOUR months behind because I don’t want to bring the story to its logical conclusion.

I have to just get over it and do what I need to do…

• Hanners “UR not absent minded, UR just lazy. A grown woman, living in filth! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!” http://tinyurl.com/pps33o #
• I never realized how WEIRD the video for Total Eclipse of the Heart was until I saw this: http://bit.ly/Kwhw9 #
• New post on my blog: twenty years ago… http://tinyurl.com/q4jca5 (via @wilw) #

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• When Lake Ontario eats your long board, you fight back with a grappling hook! Totally AWESOME story! http://tinyurl.com/kvg4lg #

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Somewhere in a Utah school graduation, God was mentioned. I can’t honestly say I’m shocked. I can’t even say that I’m offended, but Susan at Seagull Fountain mentioned me by name, so I feel like I must comment. Here is her description of the event:

• The Honorable Graduate | Seagull Fountain

His was pretty standard stuff: remember the lessons of the past, set high end-goals for the future, strive to be happy, and then he quoted from . . . no, not the Book of Mormon, or even the Bible, but from Benjamin Franklin (he also quoted the Scout Oath and Muppet Treasure Island):

I believe in one God, creator of the universe, that he governs by his divine province, that he ought to be worshiped, that the greatest service we can render to him is in doing good to his other children.

and later

That God governs in the Affairs of Men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his Notice, is it probable that an Empire can rise without his Aid?…Our Lives are comparable with the Empire Benjamin Franklin references. He continues, without his concurring Aid, we shall succeed in this political Building no better than the Builders of Babel.

My thoughts?

My first instinct was to think that his civics and history teachers didn’t do a very good job about mentioning the separation of church and state, but he wasn’t quoting scripture. He quoted Benjamin Franklin, founding father of our country. You can’t get more “state” than that.

God has been so interwoven into the binding of our country that excising him completely smacks of revisionist history.

As a young man embarking on the world, however, there was so much BETTER advice from Benjamin Franklin that he could have quoted. Even the, “In the dark, all cats are grey,” advice was more practical help for a young man than the quotation he chose. When you’re trying to inspire people, the God-card is a strong card to play, but only for those who believe in God. You end up ostracizing the rest. It is better to avoid that route and choose a subject of inspiration that is inclusive rather than exclusive.

Of course, he’s only 18 years old. If he spends any time outside of Utah that isn’t on a mission, he’ll learn soon enough that bearing his testimony in secular places isn’t a very smart move. Playing the God-card too often not only breeds resentment, but cheapens the sanctity of it.

Holy things are meant to be HOLY. Dragging them out into the secular world doesn’t make the secular holy. It makes the holy profane. That’s why the LDS church has private ceremonies in the temple away from prying eyes. Bearing testimony should be a sacred act in a church or maybe a religious camp-out. Bringing it into a public school commencement speech actually devalues it.

Should God be mentioned at a public high school graduation? I say, “No,” for entirely religious reasons.

It brings the sacred into a profane place, sullying the sacred in the process. There are so many inspirational quotations that one could draw upon that bring across the same idea without marking a delineation between believers and heathens. Isn’t it better to be inclusive rather than exclusive?

I can’t believe how many people thought that doing things like this was acceptable. This video is set in a restaurant, a video store and a barber shop to show how INSANE it is to tell your real estate agent to take less commission.

The truth is, people do this to all kinds of tradesmen: plumbers, web developers and programmers. You wouldn’t walk into Wal-Mart and tell them that you wanted them to take half off the price of the pants, would you? Then why do you think it’s alright to do it to your landscaper?

This isn’t about negotiation. This is about paying for services rendered.

I found that if a client tried to negotiate down my commission when I listed the property that their ungrateful minds would think that it was alright to do it AGAIN when I sold their house for them. By the time I was at the end of my real estate career, I would just walk out on clients that even talked about negotiating the commission. They weren’t worth my time.

I’m so glad that I don’t have to deal with people like that anymore.

Via: BloomBurst – The Vox Pop Design Blog » Blog Archive » ‘Do it Now and We’ll Add it to the Next Invoice’

• Guitar Goddess Kaki King playing her song, Playing with Pink Noise. Lovely! http://bit.ly/1LIis #

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Last Tuesday, I sat behind a woman with the most beautiful and perfect gray hair I’ve ever seen.

After the class, I asked her if it was alright if I took a photograph because I liked her hair so much. I’m so glad she said yes.

I’m starting to go gray. I have a bunch of gray hairs and I see them every day. Since my hair grows nearly a half inch a month, I can’t imagine dyeing my hair. The upkeep alone would be too costly and I wouldn’t be able to stand to see my roots growing out. It would be a constant struggle between my thriftiness and my vanity.

My thriftiness has won before the war was ever raged. I would MUCH rather have gray hair and not have to worry about going to the hairdresser’s for a touch up every three weeks.

My kind doesn’t go gray very quickly. When my grandma had an aneurysm, they shaved a portion of her head for her brain surgery. It didn’t help much and I will always remember the short dark hairs that grew back before she died.

I want to live long enough to be this gray.

• Very cool kitty litter box made from IKEA furniture. http://bit.ly/10jivI #
• Internet Memes without the main characters. Can you name them all? I only knew two! http://waxy.org/2009/05/memescenery/ #

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I love this comic from Something Positive:

• something positive: May 26, 2009

Sometimes I feel like I should write a book like that. After living in Utah nearly my whole life, I feel like I have a whole toolbox full of Anti-Religion Skillz. The only problem is that I’m constantly tempted to superstition myself, so any god talk is risky for me.

Want to know the BEST way to get the fundamentalists to stop bugging you about their religion?

Try to convert them to Paganism. :)

• This papercraft gun might be good for my steampunk Halloween costume if I can make it brass instead of steel. http://tinyurl.com/ouquh5 #

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I have this Obama shrine on my desk at home.

I got the Obama button from my friend April, who went to the inauguration. She told me how she got the button for me in this video.

This is such an enjoyable story for me to hear. I have watched this video every month or so since I filmed it because I love the story so much. It’s such a beautiful and funny piece of history that she shared with me that I had to share it with the whole world.

I found this video while looking through my iPhoto library yesterday and I thought I’d post it here. It was filmed two days after Christmas back in 2007 and I never got around to posting it here.

Winter and snow seem so far away now. I know I just got snowed on my first day in Yellowstone two weeks ago, but it’s so warm now that I can barely remember being cold anymore.

No matter what the weather, Sid has fun!

I’ve been enjoying the Awkward Family Photos blog lately.

There is something evil and jealous of me that hates families with matching sweaters or denim shirts who all have their photos taken together in a beautiful park by a photographer. I’ve done it with Mike and that didn’t make me feel any less jealous.

Seeing these photos however, makes it ALL better! No matter how coordinated they are, if Mommy is wearing a Pooh Bear costume, it’s just embarrassing!

• Dear Charmin, You have finally invented the perfect toilet paper with this stronger and lint free version. Now STOP changing it!! #

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I love this commercial of Fisher Price Little People toys.

My grandma had the school, airplane AND airport. Stacey and I played with those things for HOURS at end and FAR past the time when we should have been playing with Little People. I LOVED those things!