goodness

I'm still subbing.  I took today off due to doctor appointments and I scrubbed the floors on my hands and knees, too.  Naturally, the one day I had free to write or catch up with other computer-y business, my laptop decided to do a system overhaul that took ALL DAY LONG.  But now it's up and running smoothly.

It smells glorious here.  Green and full of lilac blooms. 

Tonight was the first soccer game of the season.  I wore shorts and didn't feel remotely cold, which is rare and lovely.  Mr. G's team tied.  Mr. B's team lost their baseball game, but he played really well and made me proud.  Four hours at the park blew by like nothing for me and the boys.  There's one little guy--beyond cute and he plays with boundless enthusiasm accompanied by limited skill.  He cheers and does little dances whenever anything good happens for his team.  When a player got knocked in the face with the ball, this little guy was the first one to walk over, place his hand on the boy's shoulder and ask if he was okay.  It was unspeakably sweet--especially since they weren't even teammates--the hurt kid was on Mr. G's team.  I told the little guy's parents after the game that I admired their son's spirit and huge heart. 

I'm reading 1776 and it surprises me how exciting the Civil War battles were.  I had no idea.  Must read more about this part of history.

I helped a high school student with her spoken word poetry project this afternoon.  She had some great poems and the loveliest voice.  Sweet and crisp and clear and delicate.  I envied her voice and told her so. 

The only thing in worse shape than the inside of my house right now is the outside.  I ran out of potting soil, so there are pots stacked on the porch and seeds sitting on my kitchen counter and weeds everywhere.  Thank goodness for a 3-day weekend coming up.

I have wide feet, which means buying shoes is kind of an ORDEAL.  I can't just walk into a Kohl's or Younkers and find anything I can jam my feet into.  It never works.  So I have to shop at the one store in town that sells Euro-style cloggy footwear.  Last weekend I dropped in another shoe store just for kicks and guess what?  They had the most amazing display of all the brands I love and can wear--Merrill and Clarks, Dankso and Jambu--I bought two new pairs of shoes AND the prices were very reasonable. Plus it's locally owned and operated which makes me doubly pleased to have found it.  My standby store is great, but they tend to carry more leathery-dressy shoes.  I'm sort of a more casual gal, this new place really suits my taste.

I shall have to post pictures of the pretty things I've bought with my subbing money. 

Spill it, reader.  Some of the goodness in your world.

The storms will roll in tonight and between the random things like baseball practice and a pinball machine tune up, I pulled all kinds of muscles trying to get too much done outside.  But then the soft light of evening pulled me upright--why not walk around and enjoy all the pretty tonight?  Mr. G and headed off into the field together.

 The tulips are a nice spot of color right now.

 Crabapple trees

and lilacs just about to burst.

 Look at Mr. G!  (he's a bit of a demanding sort, but we do love him)

Oh!  I mentioned that Team Testosterone is digging holes.  Something to do with gophers or zombie apocalypses or some such thing.

They haven't reached China, nor have they found diamonds yet.  That hole is almost 5 feet deep.  When Mr. T jumps inside, I cannot see him AT ALL.  I've no idea how they got it so deep.  Nor did I know they could work so industriously, this same trio that cannot flip off a light switch, flush a toilet or close dresser drawers.  Perhaps having a tool in hand makes all the difference.  I should've given them shovels a long time ago.

Mr. G can do front flips!  Look!

Tilled and just planted with squash-y things.

The very last of the dandelions in the white garden on the northeast corner of our house.  This spot is so protected, yet the last to bloom.

Pear blossoms!

See that dog?  That lucky dog?  He's just FINE now.

My most show-offy, blowsy, extravagant tulips are by the front door.

A strange bush or tree blooming in our field.  

Mr. G leads us home.

The prairie is green mostly.

One last jump around before turning in for the night.

And I'll ignore the bits and ends and little jobs until another day.  I'm off to close windows now.

Spill it, reader.  Did you overexert yourself this weekend like I did?  Or are you smarter than me?

of movies and gatsby and geeks

Last night D and I went to a coffee shop and then to a movie theater to see The Great Gatsby.  I loved:  the soundtrack, the cinematography, the set design, the costume design, the depiction of Gatsby's parties, the fact that the script relied heavily on the novel's language.  I adored the panoramic views of New York.  I thought Carey Mulligan made a fine Daisy Buchanan AND here's a fun fact:  did you know she's one of the younger sisters in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, too?  Doesn't look anything like she does now and that movie isn't terribly old. 

I didn't like:  this version of Gatsby.  He came off as cra-crazay and manic and sort of stalker-ish.  Afterwards D and I agreed that DiCaprio played the same role once before and it's called Howard Hughes.  Robert Redford did it MUCH better.  Now I'm wondering, WAS Gatsby supposed to be interpreted as sort of a stalker?  He came off as more idealistic and less nutty in the book to me.  Also, screenwriters, yes, Gatsby says "Old sport," often.  But NOT in every sentence.  Sheesh.  Heard of moderation? 

For what it's worth, Mr. D really liked the movie and he's never read the book.  I gave him the set up, but didn't give any spoilers.  He thought it was a great story and also loved the cinematography and music.  As we drove home, I assaulted him with facts about the book and F. Scott Fitzgerald and literary history because I'm helpful like that.  To this day "I just remembered it was my birthday" still strikes me as the most random line in almost all of literature.  D hypothesized that maybe it WAS F. Scott's birthday the day he wrote that scene and just stuck it in there and it never got taken out.  Thoughts. anyone?

Was it worth $10 to see it on the big screen with other similarly inclined movie-goers?  Yes. 
Could I tell who was heading to Star Trek and Iron Man and Gatsby just by looking around at the crowd?
TOTALLY.

Also, D and I were sated with awesome movie previews, which I must say are a critical part of the whole movie-going experience.  The previews annoy me at home when watching a DVD, but in a theater, I expect to see plenty of them.  In fact, I feel ripped off when I go to a movie and they only play one preview. 

In other news, Mr. B came inside yesterday telling me that the husband and wife robins attacked him, too.  He was trying to check out their nest and they went nuts.

Two nights ago after a reallyreallyreally long day of subbing for 2nd grade, running to baseball, running errands, corralling kids and pumping green slurry out of the pool I took a shower.  Then as I lay in bed I remembered I'd left the faucet running outside, so I stepped onto the porch to shut it off.  The faucet is next to my potting bench, the spot where a robin will always make a nest every spring.  Still damp from my shower, I disturbed the robin, got shat on, and that robin squawked and flew wildly around my head while I cursed and jumped and made my own strange sounds.  We freaked each other out pretty badly.  In retrospect, it might have been two robins.  It sure felt like two robins.  I was so peeved to have to clean up again before bed. 

We have tulips, pear tree blossoms and Team Testosterone is digging another HUGE hole in the field.  Pictures to come soon.

Spill it, reader.  Did you or do you plan to see The Great Gatsby?

back and forth

I'm back for a few minutes today, but about to go forth and torch a pile of dead stuff in a garden so Mr. D can till it up before it rains again.  I've got this long-term subbing gig for a 2nd grade class, so all my writing time?  Gone.  Garden time?  Vaporized.  Errand-running time?  Toast.  Chore time?  Demolished.  Blogging time?  Evaporated.

The 2nd grade class has been a real hoot.  They're good kids, lots of energy and rowdy, but mostly sweet.  We're managing to slog through most of the assigned curriculum and I devised a pretty fantabulous seed/plant unit for science.  Next up:  a health unit on nutrition.  If it were up to me, we'd spend most of the day doing integrated science and reading and writing with a side of math.  It's not up to me, though.  I do squash most of the work in so we can have extra time to study bees and why their hives have hexagon-shaped cells.  I do that by skipping phonics, which none of the students has complained about.  (Don't worry, I'm a stickler for math and cursive writing still.)

When I come home after 3:00 I can't decide what hurts more sometimes, my feet or my brain.  Wearing shoes all day long is a total drag.  I walk in the door with Team Testosterone and we hit the ground running to baseball and doing homework and wrangling meals.  I think this will last for one more week and then I'll resume whatever passes for normal around these parts.

Meanwhile, I really miss reading everyone's daily posts, so hopefully tomorrow night I can hunker down for an hour or so UNINTERRUPTED (did you hear that, boys?) and catch up on my reading.

some thoughts on China, intellectual property and Motherhood 101

First, dear reader, let's get up to speed on some international politics:
America has it on pretty  very good authority that China steals intellectual property (stuff like trade secrets for making tablets and software and movie content) from American businesses.  You see, China can produce stuff cheap, but they have crappy ideas, while America produces really cool ideas for stuff, yet can't produce things at Walmart prices, so there's a lot of interchange between our two countries.  Plus, American businesses can't resist the GINORMOUS consumer base in one of the world's largest countries--a largely untapped consumer base, so they want to do business with China, but they can't afford for China to keep stealing their great ideas and selling them and keeping the profit for themselves.  Need more details?  The NY Times sums it up nicely. 

Here's a transcript from NPR's report last week:

"There are certainly some companies that are seeing [intellectual property theft] as part of a strategy for becoming more competitive internationally, taking innovation from somewhere else and incorporating it in their products," says Robert Hormats, the U.S. undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment.
"We want to make the Chinese know that we regard this as a threat to our most innovative companies, and are very serious about insisting that they stop it. Because if this lasts too long, a lot of innovation is gone from American companies," Hormats says.
 
In March, President Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, warned of "serious concerns about sophisticated, targeted theft of confidential business information and proprietary technologies through cyber-intrusions emanating from China on an unprecedented scale," and he called on China to "take serious steps" to investigate and halt such activities.

Mmmkay...America's telling China to stop it...
 
A few days later, Obama made that same request in an introductory phone call to China's new president, Xi Jinping. Later that month, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew raised the cybersecurity issue during a visit in Beijing. He was followed in April by Secretary of State John Kerry and the chairman of the joint chiefs, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey.
Undersecretary Hormats also visited the Chinese capital. His message reinforced what other senior U.S. officials were saying: The United States is running out of patience and wants China to end its cyber-espionage now.

Stop it because we are tired of it.  Yeah, I can TOTALLY see China responding to this request.  NOT!

"Having a prolonged dialogue is not our goal," Hormats says. "A dialogue that leads to results, that's our goal."
If the cyber-espionage continues, Hormats says, the Obama administration will consider possible punitive actions.

In other words, America's all "We're sick of asking you to stop, so just stop.  Stop or else."

Which brings me to why more women, specifically mothers, should be leading our nation.  All of the guys in charge of America right now are saying "China, STOP THAT.  Stop it or ... or else."

Or else what?  China's all, "Or else you're telling mom?  Or else you're not playing in my super-sized playground anymore?  Or else you're WHAT?"

It's Motherhood 101, people.  All good moms know you don't say, "Stop that or else."  You have to have an "or else."

Here's the thing, President Obama and Co., as a mom I can't say, "Stop that or else."  My kids would laugh me out of the Momvan if I did.  The effective threat has some beef backing up the command.  Like this:

"STOP FIGHTING OR YOU WILL NOT WATCH TV or PLAY THE WII FOR TWO DAYS."
(FYI, Mr. President?  You gotta say this in your "big" voice.)

In the first case, "Stop that or else," my kids keep fighting because they know my words are empty threats and I'm floundering to come up with an appropriate response.  And?  I'm probably too scared or lazy or distracted to follow through, so what's stopping them from doing what they want anyway?

In the second case, "STOP FIGHTING OR YOU WILL NOT WATCH TV or PLAY THE WII FOR TWO DAYS," my kids cease their bad behavior immediately because a) they know I control all the remotes and b) they love the remotes and would hate to lose access and c) the short-term joy of fighting does not trump the joy of gaming or watching Sponge Bob.  I laugh at the Obama administration's response to China.  What the heck is a "dialogue that leads to results?" 

When kids are naughty, you lay the smack down with consequences.  America's got to say, "Stop your blatant thievery or we will restrict trade with you."
Even better:  "Stop your blatant thievery of our country's entrepreneurial and innovative ideas by June 1 and have an action plan for dealing with those caught in the act or we will cease all trade with you by said date.  And we'll prevent Bieber/Rhianna/Eminem/Swift/Kesha/Gaga from performing because we're the $*(%%@%% USA and we can do that."

And then?  You have to follow through.  Sure, it might hurt a little bit at first...all the angry shoppers leaving Dollar General without their cheap Made in China electronics ...  I know what it's like to stand firm.  It's hard to take away the screens from my kids because they whine and pitch a nutty and irritate me for a few hours while I keep the remotes locked down.  But I do stand firm and eventually everyone learns how to get along because it's mutually beneficial.  The kids find something else to do besides play Madden 13 or watch Sponge Bob, and in doing so they develop their creativity and interpersonal skills.   If you implement an actual consequence, like trade restrictions, China recognizes that they need the American consumer much more than we need them, so they have to play nice on the economic playground.  They need us to come play more than we need to go play with them because there's nothing essential (like food or medicine) coming out of China that the American consumer HAS to have, so our consumers suffer a small inconvenience compared to the loss of China's exports which totaled $425,643.6 billion in 2012.  China needs America's brilliant ideas more than America needs China's electronic equipment, toys, games, sporting goods or footwear (seriously people, those are some of America's largest imports from China--no kidding).  And China's economy needs that $425,643.6 billion from us, too.

Good moms don't repeat the request or message a dozen times--or send in a dozen statesmen or ambassadors to repeat the message for them.  They attach an appropriate "or else" and resolve the issue.  Motherhood 101--it's effective, it's simple, and you can even use it to resolve international political problems! 

pots

When I haven't been stirring the pot on this whole fundraising debacle, I've been pottering around with all kinds of other projects.

I've got all kinds of seedlings patiently waiting bigger and better space to keep growing.  They're on the front porch in tiny pots I made out of newspaper weeks ago...I might have to bring them in tonight as the wet cold weather blew in this afternoon.

I cooked up hamburger casserole for supper in a pot last night.  I despise hamburger casseroles, but Team Testosterone eats it and some nights a mom just makes those concessions for the greater good.  I ate sugar snap peas and grapes instead.

There are tulips blooming in front of my house right now and a cardinal hopping around on the porch.  Mr. D's coaching a baseball game in the rain and the children are inside for the first time all week.  They were so overjoyed at getting their bikes back from the bike shop Monday that they've ridden them NONSTOP.  They're begging to ride them to school, but we live on a county highway which makes me so nervous.  I trust my kids, it's the other drivers who scare me.  Like the lady who tailgated me the other morning as I drove to school and then sped past me in a no-passing lane right in front of the high school where the 15 mph limit was posted.  Where's a cop when you need one?

In other news, I'm subbing for a 2nd grade class indefinitely.  I won't lie to you, the phonics instruction is dismal on my watch, but I'm nailing math, reading and science.  We've been studying the parts of a plant and a seed all week.  A little bit ago I dumped potting soil into a bucket to bring to school tomorrow.  The kids will each plant a seed in a cup and another in a baggie so they can watch the seed split apart and the roots sprawl out.  I just have to dig out some seeds to bring along, too.  Other than getting the little knuckleheads to quiet down when they need to listen, it's been a fun week.  Today was one girl's 8th birthday, so there was cake. And we went to see a Dr. Seuss musical for a field trip.  The bus ride was hot, a bit smelly and terribly loud.  I could drink a pot full of vodka after an experience like that, plus I'm not used to wearing shoes all day so when I return home with Team Testosterone my face has that glazed-over quality.

Naturally, when a girl earns pots of money, she looks to spend it.  Believe me, I tried.  Why is it when I have cash to blow, I never find any pretty things I love?  It's only when I don't that I run across cute clothes and whatnot.  What I really, really want is a kelly green cardigan sweater.  So far, no dice.  Ah well, there's always a greenhouse and a bookstore--two places I never have trouble finding things I love!

Spill it, reader.  If you had a pot of money to blow on yourself, where would you most likely spend it?  And where on earth can I find a kelly green cardigan?

in which green girl puts on her ranty pants

Happyland has an excellent park.  It's located in the center of our farm town.  It's got all kinds of great amenities from basketball court to baseball and softball diamonds, pavilions, concession stands, soccer fields and even a skateboard area.  The playground equipment is sturdy, well-used and always in good repair.  You don't find much litter in this park, but on summer nights you do find lots of crowds watching and playing sports.  It's free entertainment for the spectators--for $1.50 you can enjoy a slushee and a bag of popcorn while watching little kids chase a ball around.

The park is funded by some tax dollars and the Lions Club and local Boy Scouts do a fair amount of labor raising money and completing projects to improve the park on a regular basis.  But most of the money is raised via the Happyland Athletic Association (HAA).  Their job, as I understand it, is to coordinate park activities (like leagues and tournaments), manage field and diamond maintenance, manage concession stands and designate funds.  Everyone who plays pays--an average of $45 per player.  The coaches volunteer, which means all of that money raised through player fees goes towards uniforms, umpires and park maintenance.  Ditto for the money raised at the concession stands.

A few years ago, the HAA decided to raise some more money to install a concessions stand with bathrooms by the soccer fields.  A noble goal with which I took no umbrage.  They decided to raise the money through one of those rip-off pizza/cookie dough fundraisers.  The first year I obliged and bought the required amount of pizzas to fill my family's assessment of $120 in sales.

The second year I thought Wait a minute.  This is a bullshit enterprise.  I have strong opinions about fundraisers, why am I participating in this one?  I'll just cut the HAA a check so they can keep ALL the money and I'm not stuck with crappy pizzas.  I was discouraged from doing so (I wouldn't win any of the crappy prizes offered by the fundraising company!), but I ignored the HAA's directive and "bought out" my share.  And then I realized how few players actually turned in any money--from the fundraiser or buying out.  I knew who turned in and who didn't because Mr. D coaches and I keep track of all the paperwork for him.  Asking around, I discovered that the few people actually participating in this fundraiser were also the people coaching and volunteering their time.  In other words, people already doing more than their share were paying more than their share while other people were off the hook without any consequence.

What a rip off!  In my view, if you want everyone to shoulder the financial burden for the park, you need to do it across the board--like raise participation fees or concession stand prices.

Then this week I received the directives for the latest HAA fundraiser.  Here's an excerpt:

Each family will have to sell 4-5 tickets ($5 each ticket) regardless as to how many sports or kids you have playing this summer.  Number of tickets is based on your first letter in your last name.  All this is explained in a letter.  I need all money back again by May 28^th.  Remember this is not optional.  You will need to collect the money from everyone on your team.  It should be noted that if a family has say three kids playing multiple leagues, you may or may not get fundraiser info for them to handout.  Everyone that you get fundraiser info for you need to collect, this is not an optional program.  Thanks for your support.

So I asked around--is the men's softball league participating in this fundraiser?  Nope.  Is the legion baseball team?  Nope.  How about the men's baseball team?  Nope.  So, essentially only families with kids playing are funding the park--in other words, only some of the teams playing on these fields, not all of them.

And then I learned that the HAA pays bartenders for the men's softball league nights.  They pay bartenders to work in the concessions stand.  While during every other event volunteers handle the concessions stand.  Volunteers that the team's coaches have to beg to fill their assigned time slots.

And while working my kid's softball tournament last weekend I noted that they were charging $2 for a can of beer in the concessions stand.  Never mind that you cannot buy a beer for less than $2.50 at any tavern in town.  Or that the HAA pays the same amount of money for a liquor license as any other establishment.  Nope, charge next to nothing in the concessions stand, but ask the families with kids playing little league or soccer to sell raffle tickets and crappy pizzas.

Am I the only one seeing a huge discrepancy?   Apparently so because no one else is complaining.  Mind you, I'm all for park improvements and I'm happy to pay my share--but I'd rather see the money come out of raised fees and raised concessions prices so everyone's shouldering a fair share of the burden.  There's no reason why all teams shouldn't be treated the same, and by raising all the prices across the board, they would be.  Raise fees by $10 a person, raise the price of beer by $1 a can and there's be absolutely no reason to discuss fundraising.

I'm not buying any raffle tickets.  I'm turning in our unsold packet without apology and I double-dog-dare the HAA to try and squeeze more than my fair share out of me.  It's not going to happen.  It sticks in my craw that the fundraising falls on kids while the beer league gets to drink beer at discount prices.  

Spill it, reader.  Would you buy the raffle tickets or tell the HAA to stuff them?