I finally got around to watching Desperate Housewives yesterday, and I’ve gotta say – am I just not remembering what 4 1/2 year-olds are like, or is Gabrielle’s child especially well-spoken?
Also, watched Grey’s Anatomy. Every time Meredith starts to dither, I want to slap her.
Kevin McKidd and Christina? HUBBA HUBBA.
Please, if there is a god, they will figure out a way to make Kevin McKidd a regular. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.
So, ever since we moved the chickens to a bigger chicken yard* there’s been a fence post kind of hanging out in the middle of the back yard. At one point it marked a corner of the chicken yard, but when we moved the chickens to a bigger yard, Fred took down the fence to give the cats the run of the entire back yard.
I’ve been harassing him to build something for the cats, because some of them – Joe, Tommy, Sugarbutt, and occasionally Mister Boogers – really like to climb. In fact, at one point they started climbing the tree in the back yard, requiring Fred to put a metal “sleeve” around the tree so they couldn’t get more than five feet off the ground. (This came about after Tommy climbed fifteen feet up into the tree and I had to climb a ladder to rescue him. Fucker.)
Finally, a few weekends ago, Fred decided to put “steps” around the fence post and a platform on the top.
Every morning when I let the cats outside, Tommy and Joe Bob fight to be King of the Platform.
Yesterday, Joe Bob won the fight and he sat on the platform and mocked Tommy, who pretended not to care, and stomped away to hang out in the greenery in the middle of the back yard.
* For those of you who are new, last summer we only had 12 chickens and their coop and yard took up about a quarter of the back yard. When we decided to get more chickens, Fred made a bigger chicken coop and we moved them so they’d have a much larger yard. Now we’re talking about moving them again and using the garden shed Fred made as the chicken coop. This will be the third time they’ve been moved in a year and a half. We’ve found our dream house and have decided to stop moving every so often, but apparently the nomad in us requires that SOMETHING be moved regularly.
Alright, you pushy bastards, I am reading Twilight.
DON’T HURT ME.
It’s okay, but I’m not seeing the great love y’all have for the book. Mostly because that Bella girl is SO FRIGGIN’ ANNOYING. “Oh, look! I fall down all the time, LOL!” and the thing where every boy who claps eyes upon her is INSTANTLY IN LURVE, only she’s OH SO OBLIVIOUS TO THE FACT THAT SHE IS CLEARLY THE HOTTEST BABE THEY HAVE EVER SEEN SHE’S JUST REPORTING THE FACTS, MA’AM.
I know, I know, the way you get to know that a character is GORGEOUS BEYOND BELIEF is by how the characters around her act, but please. It’s so heavy handed! The thing that is truly annoying about this book is the same thing that’s kind of genius – it reads EXACTLY as though a 17 year-old girl wrote it, and there’s a reason 17 year-olds don’t get a whole lot of books published. (I consider myself an expert on this, since I recently re-read my journals from when I was 17, right before I BURNED THEM.)
Bella’s supposedly this klutzy goddess that makes every boy swallow his teeth upon their very first glance at her face, and I DON’T BELIEVE SO, BELLA. Because you annoy me. Also, this Edward fellow spends the entire first half of the book, practically, either glaring hatefully at Bella or smirking and laughing for no reason and of course instead of being all “What’s your issue, douchebag?” she’s all “I LURVE YOU OF COURSE!”
Also, she’s a total bitch about her father.
So I’m not adoring it the way you freaks do, but it is a fast read and I’m enjoying it enough and I know I’m going to have to read the rest of the series so I get all the damn in-jokes DAMNIT.
Apparently I have a wee bit of the vampire lurve going on, anyway, what with watching every episode of True Blood (oh my god, I LOVE YOU, SAM!), reading every book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, every book in the Queen Betsy series, and I have You Suck on my bookcase.
In any case, I’m only halfway through the book. Bella could grow up, Edward (I always want to call him Edmund, for some reason) could be a little less creepy, and something could HAPPEN in the second half, right?
….right?
Caveat: If one of these stupid boys mooning around after Bella pulls out the “It’s fitting that your name is Bella, because BELLA IS ITALIAN FOR BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL OMG I LOVE YOU!”, all bets are off. And I can FEEL it coming.
Previously
2007: Crazy Eyes say, āI am a fearsome creature.”
2006: Frying pan in the front flower bed.
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: She seems a little wishy-washy about it. I think she might secretly like the book.
2002: (He always calls when Iām in the shower or eating. I think he has a hidden camera somewhere in hopes of catching me with my non-existent luvah-on-the-side Juan.)
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
I love the circluar stairs Fred built around the fence post, so creative!
You guys are so creative in the things you build.
Love the pic of “my” Miz Poo
I am halfway through the last book, and Bella gets more and more annoying and unlikeable as the series goes on. I’ve never disliked the heroine of story so much! Yet, I keep reading.
I am so glad you have the same issues with it as me – I was starting to feel freaky!
I lurve me some Queen Betsy š
I’ve yet to read twilight, but I must do so soon as I’m also annoyed by all the inside jokes everywhere.
However I’m really happy I read your journal when True Blood first started, it inspired me to download the 1st eppy and it’s actually being aired on the canadian movie channel so we’ve kept up with the series and both my husband and I enjoy it. I’ve never read the books, but I do enjoy the show a lot.
As for 4.5yr olds, my daughter juuuust turned 5 and she’s been fairly well spoken since she was 3. That’s not just me talking, with motherly pride, when she was younger we had a kindergarten teacher comment that she spoke much better than many of her students. But there are several kids that I’ve met who I don’t understand at ALL at this age, to go along with those that impress me, so I think there’s definitely a mix at that age regarding language skills.
I had never heard of Steffany Meyer (sp) until about 3 days before Breaking Dawn (the last book) was due into bookstores. I emailed DH, and asked him if his daughter (my step-d) had ever heard of the books? He wrote back (in BIG caps) “where have you been! those books are the hottest thing since Harry Potter”. Um, okay?? So I did not purchase them but got them out of the library, one at a time. The first one began well for me, but then slowed down horribly the second half of the book. I was ambivalent about all the others — I can see why most teens and pre-teens would be gaga, but adults? Not so much. I found Bella reminded me of a holiday song I heard as a child called “The Monotone Angel” where the singer sang different words to the same, monotone tune, over and over. Boring… and flat rather than 3-dimensional. What creeps me out more about Edward is that I so cannot imagine Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter’s Cedric Diggory) as being the actor to portray him. So not feeling it!
See what I mean about Twilight? She’s stunningly gorgeous, he’s stunningly gorgeous, blah, blah, blah. And we have to be reminded of it every other paragraph. Come on! I finished the first book but have had zero desire to read any of the others. I much prefer the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series (Charlaine Harris, I know you’re a fan). It’s a lot more fun and less lovey-eyed teenage silliness.
Bella got on my absolute last nerve but I still read every word of every book. (Thanks to JANE, I might add!!) It was a fun series and a fast read. True Blood, however? Different species of vampire I’m thinkin’.
I don’t have HBO but really want to see the True Blood series. Does anyone out there have a DVR and is keeping the episodes? Could I beg someone to copy the episodes to a DVD for me (or VHS is fine too)? I’d be happy to wait until the season’s over even if I could get all of them. I’d pay for the DVDs and shipping. If someone’s willing, let me know and we can exchange e-mails or something to work out the details.
Sierra absolutely loves the Twilight series, but then again she is 12. I’m a vamp fanatic, so I tried my best to get into the whole Twilight craze, but it just didn’t work for me. But I do lurv me some Queen Betsy. We no longer have HBO either Lo, and missing True Blood is driving me insane.
I’m so glad to hear someone cut those books down. I couldn’t get past the first paragraph when I picked it up in the store.
Why is it that I never noticed Kevin McKidd before? I saw all the commercials for Journeyman but never watched it, and didn’t think he was anything special. But he was smokin’ hot on Grey’s Anatomy. The uniform, maybe?
I’m with you on the blahness of “Twilight.”
I read it because everyone on Plain Jane was raving about it, but that’s 11 bucks and about 5 hours of my life I’ll never get back. I also think it’s kind of — cheating, I guess, to fiddle with the vampire mythology so much that they are almost completely invulnerable. They are all stunningly beautiful, sunlight only makes ’em more dazzling, crosses and stakes to the heart can’t hurt ’em, they can fly, they attract humans, and are so exponentially stronger than humans that no human would stand a chance against them. An interesting character needs a vulnerability, and Edward’s only vulnerability in Twilight was his attraction to annoying Bella. Ho hum.
True Blood? True LURRRRRRVE! Renee does it for me, but I do love the Sam. Bill? Hot, but kinda creepy. Then again, he’s a vampire. He should be kinda creepy. Okay, I’ll stop now.
Eh, I liked the series. It wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever read, and I definitely understand the Bella-hate, but it was a fun, fast read and the story pulled me along.
The Twilight books (the first three which I read in a row this summer) are the first and only time I read something that I initially really liked… then as I thought about them, liked them less and less until I really couldn’t respect the story or the author at all. Now I rather hate the story, and myself for being such an easy, uncritical stooge in the first place.
The fourth book was the final nail in the coffin. (ha!) After I read a couple of pivotal spoilers about the fourth book — I love spoilers — it squicked me out so badly that I returned the book to Amazon without even opening it. And I’m pretty forgiving of vampire stories cuz I luv them so much. š
If anyone reads fanfiction of any particular genre (which I do, shuddup) s/he will recognize these books as the big ole Mary Sue fanfictions that they are. CLASSIC Mary Sue.
Hey, I know you’re a big Stephen King fan — I’m sure you’ve probably read ‘Salem’s Lot, right? How about the Interview with a Vampire Series by Anne Rice? Those are good, too, and are ADULT novels. I haven’t even bothered with the Twilight series because I know it will annoy me for the exact same reasons you’ve laid out!
I had a Friday question for you, and I for got it, dammit! Maybe I’ll remember later…
I didn’t see what the big hoopla was either. Edward: annoying, thinks he is all that..hehe Bella: annoying teen. I wonder how many women are going to name their daughters Bella because of the book @@@@@@
Oh THANK GOD I am not alone. I really, really disliked “Twilight.” I couldn’t even finish it. Gah. I hated the writing, hated the stilted dialog, hated the characters and basically hated the author and publisher for foisting it upon me. Bleh. The only thing I didn’t hate was the location because I grew up going to that area of the Pacific Northwest and I feel like she at least captured the feel of the place well. But the rest? Ugh. It’s right up there with that awful “Mulvaney” book that I almost burned in a fury of annoyance.
OMG YES Twilight is SO FUCKING OBNOXIOUS. Of course, I’m reading them. I’ve read the first two and am waiting for the third one from the library. I sort of loathe them, though. If Bella and Edward have one more conversation about their relationship, though, I’m going to puke all over the book. I like the base story well enough, I guess, but man, the writing, barf barf barf. You’re completely right, it’s just as though a 17 year-old wrote it.
I better understand the phrase “balls out”. Go look at my pictures.
I am loving these comments. I enjoyed the books (well, the first and third ones, haven’t read the 4th and wasn’t thrilled with the 2nd) BUT at the exact same time as I enjoyed them, I hated myself for enjoying them, because it was like reading one of those cheesy Harlequin romances where the women’s tits are falling out on the cover — except with vampires, and all the teenage angst I could (n)ever want.
It’s like your most shameful secret fast-food craving, that thing that everyone else thinks is soooooo gross and actually you kinda do too but sometimes you just have to have it, and while you’re eating it it’s so! good! except for the self-disgust and the worry that someone’s going to catch you. So yeah, the Twilight books, IMO, are the precise equivalent of the McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich.
And there were aspects of Edward’s character/behavior that my mind was looking at and saying, “Dude. That right there? Is messed up,” while my stupid little juvenile heart was going, “Oh, how roooMAAAAAAAAANNNNNNtic!” Which is why I prefer to remain single, until I can fix whatever that broken part of me that feels like having someone so besotted with you they sneak into your bedroom to watch you sleep would be just dreamy, even while my rational brain is screaming, “CREEP ALERT!”
Wendy’s comment reminded me I had a Friday question. You’ve probably addressed it before, but … WHY does the cat have to pee in the litter box the second it is cleaned and put back on the floor? Said cat, Simon, practically dances on his two back legs clutching his, um, self, waiting for me to finish!
O there’s that lovely Mz Poo. Gorgeous fur.
oh my god, the army guy that Yang made out with is HOT. I loved his take charge, no-BS attitude. Just what she needs!
and how dreamy is Susan’s painter man? I’ve loved him since he played a gay-stud heartbreaker on Queer As Folk. Gale Harold is his name.
count me in on the kevin mckidd love. journeyman wasn’t that great, but it was nice to see him on tv since Rome is done. I hope somehow they pick him up as a character on greys.
If you like audiobooks at all, YOU SUCK is one of the best. The actress who plays Abby Normal is so funny!
Robyn, Bella is NOT beautiful. She’s plain. Pale and boring brown hair! The boys just love her because she’s the first new girl in their small town. It says so in the book!
Oh God! No! Don’t waste your time reading those books, read the recaps that Cleolinda Jones wrote. Go here, they’re funny:
http://cleoland.pbwiki.com/Twilight#Bookdiscussionentries
Now, in Stephanie Meyer’s defense, she wrote a book called The Host for an adult audience which was much, much better. She’s definitely writing Twilight for a fourteen-year-old reader, and she KNOWS her audience. That’s why Twilight is such a repetitive soap-opera. Don’t be afraid to put the book down.
I only liked book 2 and book 4. I read the first book and did not understand why everyone was so ga ga over the series. The only character I liked out of the series was Jacob! Bella and Edward were to flat and not real.
Robyn,
This series is wonderful in it’s reason for mocking.
Keep reading for the lulz.
Love,
Leslie and the gang at Twatlight.
Twilight reads exactly like the fiction I wrote when I was 17, which is why I love it so very much. Truly awful writing, but a great story.
I love the stairway to kitty heaven, and I love that picture of Ms. Poo. Also, apropos of nothing, I ran across these poems Both by William Carlos Williams and thought of you and Fred.
Poem
as the cat
climbed over
the top of
the jam closet
first the right
forefoot
carefully
then the left
stepped down
into the pit of
the empty
flowerpot
…and for Fred:
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
Holy shit, I just finished Twilight and feel the same way.
Twilight is horrible. It’s total crap for the reasons you said. Seriously, I’ve read fanfiction written by teenagers a bazillion times better. For the life of me I can’t figure out why people are so obsessed. The characters are one dimensional and completely unlikable. Does nothing to further vampire mythology. NOTHING HAPPENS. Oh, and Bella is an annoying twit. So glad to know I am not the only one who doesn’t get it.