“Come her right now!” A petite and pretty 13 year girl sheepishly skates to the opening between the boards where her crazy ass mother is standing. “You are just disgusting!” “What?” as the skater coughs, drinks some much needed water and wipes her nose on the shoulder of her Lululemon jacket. “You heard me, that layback was […]
Things that suck
The weather sucks. It’s March 18th and we are expecting a snow /ice/sleet and rain storm tonight. An on time school opening is unlikely, perhaps another snow day….school until July!
I might be obsessed
What was up with crappy, Jerry-rigged chimney they slapped on top of the Sistine Chapel that provided the all important color-coded smoke? I have seen better engineering in the slums of Buenos Aires where unarguably the resources were much more limited than the Vatican. This is my last pope related post, promise.
Pope Thoughts
I was raised as a Catholic and having received all the available sacraments less the Holy Orders and Last Rites, I am the textbook example of a non-practicing Catholic. My reasons for not belonging to the Roman Catholic Church as an adult are many. The most obvious being the imperfect hierarchy that doesn’t allow for married priests and continues […]
Quisp and Quake
When I was a kid my mom never bought good cereal. We never had Captain Crunch, Fruity Pebbles, Count Chocula , Fruit Loops or Lucky Charms. Instead my mom made huge batches of healthy granola chock full of nuts and dried fruit. I did managed to tried all the above at someone elses house, or […]
Not Enough Learning, the Epilogue
This is an update that relates to the post Not Enough Learning. lifted from http://interacc.typepad.com/synthesis/2009/06/standards-schmandards.html I dont know if I should feel pride or feel shame. Is it Pride that my son is a satirist in the making or am I ashamed that I have exposed my kids to my distain for the school’s singular focus on […]
Bat Shit Crazy Elephants
Not sure where to start on this one. I think as I eluded to in the fall with some HIGHlarious videos (here and here) of Republicans saying stupid shit, I was amused by how the GOP’s primaries were shaping up. I am still amused and not at all disappointed. Although I have to say some of what […]
Not enough learning
I loathe the fact that our public school system puts so much emphasis on the standardized test. I realize that almost every state mandates a series of achievement test administered periodically in a student’s primary and secondary academic career. State and local school systems can glean all sorts of information from them. I understand there […]
Craziness
I had prepared the below post yesterday about the Blunt Amendment. Fortunately, the Blunt Amendment failed, barely 48-51. Then things just got weirder. I have updated the original post at the end. What the hell is going here? There are some pretty crucial pieces of legislature that Congress should be considering to keep our country on the road […]
O’Christmas Dog
Tevez really likes all the Christmas lights. He likes to nap under the tree.
Big times at the O’Connell house during the Holidays
This could be a full time job for me
I believe in Santa Claus
and God has a sense of humor.
Happy Christmas Dutch People
Today is the Eve of Saint Nicolas. Its the day that kids in the Netherlands, Belgium and parts of Germany put their shoes out at night hoping that Saint Nicholas will leave presents for them. It all depends if they have been good. They might get sticks, coal or even worse, kidnapped. I know this […]
People in Hell, when they are bad, have to do Laundry
As I have mentioned ad nauseam, our life in Argentina afforded us many luxuries. The luxury of time, of family and of people in your home helping lightening your load. One of things I dreaded on my return wasn’t the cooking or general house keeping which for the last years had been done for us. […]
The dogs are not allowed on the furniture
Here is his response to my request to get off the couch
Did not sign up for this
Its October 30th. We spent two hours yesterday trying to get home from doing errands in our village. Roads where bad with lots of unexpected heavy snow, bad drivers blocking the roads, and leaf filled trees heavy with snow causing lots of branches down in the already treacherous roads. We had dinner plans with friends who live […]
Might be worse than water boarding
Not that I can personally attest to the fact. I can only presume this is the case after I spent the morning with Owen and his 6th grade class at a local contempory art museum. It was a well thought out and effective program in art appreciation. What wasnt appreciated was the 15 minute each […]
Really?
Since returning I have had numerous conversations with people, some I know and some I dont, about living in Argentina. These conversations are generally short and inevitably end in me thinking really? I try hard not to be superior or condensending about possessing a world view but really? Examples of some of the not so enlightened American prospective […]
America is Laaaazzy
Went to a store to by some containers for Henry’s dorm room. Bed Bath and Beyond is beyond and a whole lot more (junk). Henry and I were reeling from all that could be bought, still not use to seeing all the non-essential stuff you can buy here in the states. But some of it […]
My political exile in Argentina 