01/15/2000

had to have more. It’s like me and books. I have a bookcase crammed with books I haven’t read yet, and still I asked for books for Christmas, and used my birthday amazon gift certificates to practically wipe out my wish list. I’m a spoiled rotten brat, that’s what I am. Speaking of the spud’s allowance, the reason I was paying her for the last five weeks is because I am absolutely awful about paying her on time. Every Friday, she says "Can I have my allowance?" and I say "I don’t have it right now. I’ll get it to you tomorrow." And she very forgivingly, with no attitude whatsoever, says "Okay." This goes on for weeks and weeks, until I get off my ass and make sure to have enough money to pay her. Her weekly allowance is $12 (I know! When I was 11, I got something like $1.50 a week, and I was happy to have it!), but she’s required to put 1/3 of it in a savings jar for short-term savings, and another 1/3 of it goes into her college fund, and I never seem to have $4 around when it’s allowance time. I am a bad, bad mother. I discovered this week that one of the good things about having digital cable and a zillion channels, is that one of the HBO channels shows old Dennis Miller Live shows every night at 7:30. Have I mentioned how much I adore Dennis Miller? (I also adore Denis Leary, but that’s neither here nor there) The two shows I caught this week were from 1995, and he had Fran Leibowitz on one, and Sharon Stone on the other. I’m not very familiar with Fran Leibowitz, but she was funny as hell. Sharon Stone was more annoying than anything; I suspect great deals of pot usage before she showed up. She giggled at inappropriate times, and Dennis generally sat there looking befuddled. I love that man, from the top of his getting-old head to the tips of his grumpy-old-man toes. We ended up watching Lake Placid last night, rather than Mystery Men. I liked Lake Placid, but Fred was majorly bummed that it was only an hour and 18 minutes long. I guess he would have been happier if they’d tossed in a few more dead guys. It supposedly took place in Aroostook County, Maine, which as I told Fred "is potato country!" I lived in Aroostook County for two years when I was about the spud’s age. We started watchingMystery Men this afternoon, but I got really sleepy, and went to take a nice long nap nap. Sometimes, there’s just nothing better than a nap on a lazy Saturday afternoon. ]]>