Stupid Parents

Because parents of kidlets these days cant be bothered to pay attention what their kids watch on tv there is a chance we're going to have to pay for it. A la carte tv could be the way of the future if lazy parents of America can lobby their government enough. Instead of having to pay attention to those pesky tv ratings that appear like magic at the top of the screen when a show starts or comes back from commercial, they would rather just pay for the channels that are sanitized for their kids. WAKE UP! If you dont want your kids watching Nip/Tuck then enforce a bedtime because *newsflash* this show comes on at 10pm when your kids should be in bed. Even shows that come on at 9pm are under fire which can be seen as a transitionary time between kid time and adult time but what parent is going to advocate that their 6 year old stay up past 9 on a school night? Thankfully mine didnt and my warped behavior came long after and not at the hands of video killing the radio star.

I am so tired of hearing whiny parents lash out at material that is clearly labeled for a certain age group because they are too lazy to monitor their kids. Sure you can teach them to look both ways before crossing the street and tying their shoes but you cant take the time to say no to letting an 8 year old play Grand Theft Auto? Or a 10 year old listening to Eminem? Parental Advisory Warnings are there to let you know that this is something you should consider before letting your kids get their hands on it.

With this day and age of allowance and child freedom to wreak havoc at the mall unsupervised I understand that slack retailers dont have the time or the resources to check IDs for cd or movies or video games that are rated at a certain level. I mean come on, why would we want to encourage a circle of responsibility by telling the bratty 7 year old kid they cant have the product intended for 17 year olds. Now before anyone jumps on my case by saying "My kid is so much more responsible and mature and stuff than other kids their age, they should be able to choose their consumer products" I will say that there are kids like that out there. But be aware and talk it over with them so you know what the fuck they are buying.

/end rant

Thanks to the responsible parents out there. At least there will be some foundation of responsible kids that can beat up on the brats who think they can run over their parents.

I survived

Just wanted to check in here to let everyone know that I survived on Friday. Two of the little buggers didnt want to come out and let's just say my jaw is definitely feeling it. Who knew my teeth would be stubborn? Ok, I guess it's not such a big surprise. I am chilling at the house because I way underestimated how much I should talk after the extraction. All the people who know me, I am sure are glad that this has put me on talking restrictions, lol.

Truly Inspired

These stickers crack me up. If I could only get them here to decorate my cubicle space. I am going to be laughing about these babies for a while. Hopefully all of you readers out there can appreciate them as well.

Been super busy around here with work and stuff at the house. Escaped down south last weekend and am still trying to recover from that. Trying to fight off a throat bug of some sort so I can go through with the surgery tomorrow. Cross your fingers for me on that one kids. I am so nervous about it. Also have been working on the digital christmas list to end all lists. When people force you to make a list, they deserve some of the quirky stuff we put on them.

More to come later, got to get my nose back to the grindstone. I heard the *really* big boss is in town today and he likes to sneak up on people.

Metrospiritual

During my daily news perusal I ran across this article over at Whitney Matheson's blog (this post, second item) on USA Today. I have to admit it really caught my eye because some of the key questions they asked I said yes to. But upon taking their quiz my results said that I was: You are almost metrospiritual but you need a few more notches on the hipness meter before you can consider yourself a true metrospiritual. Your values are in line with metrospiritual thinking, but your lifestyle choices don't always match up. Either that, or you just can't afford a hybrid Lexus. Ok survey says, Raven can't afford the hybrid Lexus or an iPod (though Zipper and I are entering a raffle for an iPod Nano here at work). I would have to say that my beliefs have really focused on slowing life down and realizing that there are only 24 hours in a day and that the world can't be changed overnight. To be totally honest, I think it has helped. Yoga, scented candles, better understanding of karma and so on and so forth really helps you take a look at things. Now I am not saying I am ready to hop on the vogue metrospiritual bandwagon, but I would have to venture a guess that many people live their lives in this way with or without the moniker.

Not Spoiled?

Paris and Nicky Hilton want to make sure that the world knows they aren't spoiled. To that I give a hearty and gut busting laugh. These globe trotting heiresses still get an allowance from their dad, Rick. Allow me to interject a quote here before I give you the entire article:
"In terms of the girls being able to support themselves they definitely can but what I do for them is that Kathy and I give them a monthly allowance which pays for their basics, their rent, their car payment and their cell phone bill which can be, depending on the month, quite large."

Ok, so I am supposed to believe that they aren't spoiled yet all their bills are paid for them. Uh huh. Yeah. Sure. And I am also supposed to feel bad because people pick on Paris? I think not. I mean first nick against you is that your name is actually a boy's name but I'll chalk that one up to not knowing the classics and going with "cute". I believe the only time I'll ever use Paris and hot in a sentence is to refer to a location: Gee, Paris is certainly hot this summer. And her idea of getting back to reality with Simple Life please dont make me laugh. This girl needs an honest day's work without the cameras around. Pay your own bills honey.

Read the article that started this rant here.

Censorship

Most of you who know me could rather accurately pin me as an activist for some of the more liberal causes: gay rights, education for everyone, equal treatment for the sexes, blogger rights, and so on and so forth. With that being said, you can only imagine the other host of topics that would get my blood boiling. Censorship is most definitely one of them. When the retail giant WalMart announced that they were going to start censoring the music that they sold after the whole Sheryl Crow incident which I understand they have every right to do so. But their decision certainly left an impact where WalMart was the only place to purchase music.

Then there is the age old debate on what books are appropriate for students to read. This post actually came as a reaction to an article in the Orlando Sentinel. Granted this article shows the 'oversight committee' granting access to this book, it strikes at the core of the fundamental issues: how can an 'oversight committee' tell me or my kids what to read? The article talks about advanced junior and senior students who had to fight to read a book that certain parents thought was inappropriate. Now if these same certain parents had their way, their kids wouldn't have the opportunity to read classics such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Beloved or Fahrenheit 451. I am always amazed at the power of a miniority regarding questionable content to sway the opinion of the majority. Also the short sightedness of those who go on hearsay rarely read those books that they condemn or take their meaning completely out of context. Lists like these remind us that taking the word of others without experiencing it ourselves can keep us from some of the greatest literary masterpieces.

So for all of those uppity parents out there that will buy their 10 year old kids Grand Theft Auto in any of the iterations but shield them from books that may call into question long standing prejudices.

Quick Week in Review

It was a total blast to have the one, the only, J.Weston crashing at our place over the weekend. We were totally on the go with this kid and I hope he left well fed and happy with a good time had by all. He did get to see my wacky halloween get up so if you want to see pics, you've got to ask me nicely via email. Also, if you would like to hear tales of my cooking prowess please feel free to ask the afore mentioned J.Weston or ZipperSeven to get a full run down of the food I laid out.

But before the horseshoe's arrival in Tallahassee we had a nice dinner with Z7's parents who gave us some much needed advice. I am sure we'll hear some of the same parental goodness when we visit my parents next weekend. All in all they had some constructive things to say. Which in all honesty, we've heard before but needed to be told again so it sinks in. I hope this gets some career shaking moves started in the right direction for both of us.

I know this is skipping around a bit but I've got to keep some narrative flow to this, lol. So yesterday was torture Raven at the doctor day. Dentist in the am and GP in the pm. Yeah I threw in getting my hair cut in the middle but I needed something mildly rewarding between those two things. The dentist had pretty good news for me and the next step is (ugh) wisdom teeth in 16 days. Send your regards ;) Hair looks good since I dont know when I started miracle gro on my locks. It had only been 2 months at the most and my hair was totally unruly. I am hoping this latest cut will last me at least until the start of the new year. And the dr's appt in the pm had good news for me as well...believe it or not I've lost weight. Yeah, I was shocked too. So onward and upward I suppose is how the saying goes.

Most likely this will not entertain any of my normal readers. Eh, you win some and you lose some. I was just jazzed about the good news and needed to keep some of it for posterity.