Happy Halloween!

Madison was a gypsy.Spencer was a gypsy, too, and I was a pirate. We went to my frined Pam's house for a pretty neat Halloween party. Pam has a forest at her house. She built a door to her forest, which she calls the Narnia door. Behind the Narnia door, trails are lined with candles- some on the ground, some in trees. There are small houses behind the door, and a stage and a place for a fire. Pam and her band played music while the rest of us enjoyed the break in the rain. Pam's husband made caramel apples on a stick- but the sticks were the handles of disposable razors. The razors were still attached, but he did tape over the blade.
There was a bedside commode willed with water and apples for bobbing. A pack of tarot cards was laid on a table with a bundle of small twigs to burn for smoke. Watermelons (!) were carved into creepy Jack-O-Lanterns, and severed human limbs were tucked here and there.

Spencer by a tree full of candles. I think this looks like an album cover.

Happy Halloween!

I take a bite of a Soul Pancake

Soul Pancake is a website created by Rainn Wilson (Dwight from The Office, Rudy from Sahara) to explore the state of modern faith and creativity. Wilson is of the B'hai faith, which I have always found to be a nice faith because it is so inclusive. B'hais believe everyone is right.

Each day, maybe more than daily, Soul Pancake poses a provocative question which users answer. I am totally stealing this question and the image, and I hope they don't mind.

Are you a hypochondriac?

I am the opposite of a hypochondriac. Hyperchondriac? I prefer the term Illness denier. I am quick to dismiss symptoms. I have a wait-and-see attitude, and I am a firm believer in the tincture of time. I don't do self-exams. If I suspect something is amiss in my body, I just look it up on the internet and treat it with ibuprofen and/or gatorade. I am certain that I will not die of swine flu.

That is not to say that I think my attitude about my health is the correct one. In fact, I think it borders on weird, and it may not be the wisest of tacks to take. I have a little guilt because I am not a panic-and-call-the doctor mom. I took Madison in for all her check ups and immunizations and an occasional earache. Since she had an ear infection at every visit, she had a series of ear tubes and eventually had her adenoids out. I don't think that's my fault. I now know that chronic ear infections are a part of Turner Syndrome.
But I do wonder if I should have worried more about her size. If she had been diagnosed earlier, we could have started growth hormone treatment earlier, and maybe she would get an extra inch or so of eventual height.
Bah, that's crazy talk. Her first pediatrician was a geneticist, and he didn't suspect it.

Plan B.

Tonight was the NaNoWriMo kick off party, in Corvallis. I am so glad I went. Here's how it went down:

The invitation said the party was from 6-8, so I showed up at 6:05 to a room full of people, who were nearly done introducing themselves. I found a seat in the corner and introduced myself. The next lady was on her 8th NaNo, and she was recently contacted by an agent who asked her to do some editing on one of her older novels. Intimidating. The gal who introduced herself after her is on her second NaNo, she "failed miserably" last year. I missed the names and accomplishments of the other 15 people there.

Then, our leader Ellen started the icebreaker games. First, we had to write down where we were going to send our "inner editor" for the month of November. I said rehab, because my inner editor is a fat smelly drunk guy. We all read our various editor purgatories, then voted on the most evil place and the cushiest place. The winners got stickers. Stickers are a hot NaNo commodity. Only the coolest novelists have stickers.
Then we found the least and most organized novelists in the room. Since I have no outline, no names for my characters, no setting, no real "plan", I was co-winner for least organized. We each got a pack of index cards. I told Ellen that I already have index cards, but she wanted me to keep them because you can never have enough. Also, Madison was with me and she was coveting those index cards.
Then, we offered up our orphaned plots. We shared novel ideas that we hadn't quite fleshed out yet and made them up for adoption. I shared my "plan b" plot about a wealthy elderly woman who writes a letter to the world about her ungrateful family and pins it into the lining of a fancy coat (Perhaps a cashmere Norm Thompson coat?), which she donates to a thrift store. The buyer of the coat finds the note, and in turn writes her own story, which she hides in a donated item and so forth and so on.
And they LOVED it. They voted it the best plot.
So that's the novel I am going to write.

My "plan a" novel is still inside me, but it is so complicated that I think it will take about 11 months to get it untangled and ready to write for next year.

I forgot!

I have been making a daily post to my blog every day since April,without fail, unless I am out of town. Last night I forgot all about it, and here is why:

Every morning, I make a plan. I check my Google calendar, which I couldn't live without, to see if I have any girl scout stuff or ESA stuff or soccer stuff or library books due and what bills I need to pay. Then, I think about what is going to happen after school/ work: How is my daughter getting home from school? How long will we be home in the evening- do we have somewhere to be? What shall we eat for dinner? And recently I have had to add my television programs to the equation.
So last night, my plan was to do my blog before Glee.
But, no Glee, due to the World Series. My whole plan unraveled. I got sucked into reruns of The Office, and the The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and I went to bed early at 9:00.
I totally forgot to blog. Weird. Usually, it nags at me.

Anyway. Tonight I am going to a kickoff party for NaNoWriMo writers in this area. I'll get to meet other people who will be writing novels in November. I am going to take the camera and high expectations that I will meet creative people that inspire me and that like to be photographed. I am also going to keep my ears open for good words. I need to enrich the old vocabulary, I think. If you hear any, let me know. This morning, I heard "jingoist." It's a winner.

The problem with healthcare in America

The problem with health care in America is that providers and locations accept different payments for the same service. For instance: Blue Cross Betty, Medicare Mary, Worker's Compensation Wendy, Car Wreck Carrie and Green Money Gert all see Dr. Doctor for a cut that requires stitches.

Dr. Doctor charges 400.00 for the visit and sutures, knowing full well that-

Betty's insurance will pay $150, Betty will have a $30 copay, Dr. D adjusts (writes off) the additional $220.


Mary's insurance will pay $85.oo, Mary will have a $15 copay, Dr. adjusts $300

Wendy's insurance pays a rate set by the state, (in most states comparable to medicare, but in Oregon, the reimbursement is pretty high) and she has no copay. Dr. D writes off the rest.

Wow, you might think that Dr. D is quite generous, writing off over 50%, but he does that because SOME insurance companies will PAY WHAT HE BILLS- like Carrie's, but only up to $15,000 or one year from the date of the car wreck.

And Green Money Gert gets a bill for $400. Even though Dr. D accepts $100 from Mary, he needs $400 from Gert.

They all got the same stitches. I don't think we can have a good conversation about capping costs until providers stop shifting the cost burden to the uninsured.

8 people I follow on twitter

I signed up for twitter a year or so ago, and I have yet to tweet. In fact, until about 6 weeks ago, I didn't follow anyone. Louie Vito, snowboard sensation and my favorite Dancing With the Stars contestant, changed all that. He was the first person I followed on twitter, and since then, I have added a few more. Since I don't know any real people to follow, I had to pick people I don't know. Or people who aren't real. Here are 8 that I think are interesting:

* Shit my Dad Says- Every day (or so) Jason tweets a funny thing his grumpy old man of a dad says.

* Rainn Wilson/ Soul Pancake- Soul Pancake is a website (and organization?) that challenges us to be creative. Rainn Wilson seems to be in charge of this. He is hilarious.

* Dr. Tobias Funke- The accomplished yet fictional analrapist/ aspiring actor/ singer/philosopher shares his innermost thoughts.

* Dwight Schrute- To complete the Rainn Wilson trifecta, I follow Dwight, who follows Michael Scott, Jim Halpert, and Ronnie James Dio, among others.

* OPB Click of Zen- Once week, OPB tweets a link to a cool video or photo or article. Fun.

* Stephen at Home- This is Stephen Colbert the performer, not Stephen Colbert who follows Jon Stewart. Equally as funny, and he is trying out a new character that loves Miley Cyrus.

* Judah World Champ- This is Judah Friedlander, who plays a writer on 30 rock, but to me will forever be he Hug Guy in the Everyday video. He's funny.

* Holly Madison- She was Hugh Hefner's #1 girl, but she has moved on to Vegas where she has her own burlesque show. I never really connected to her on The Girls Next Door, but I'm sort of fascinated by her now. She's friends with Rob Dyrdek, so she can't be all bad.

I don't follow Rob Dyrdek, but I have looked at his twitter page and it makes me feel old because I have no idea what the hell he is saying bout anything. But he inspires me and he makes me laugh.

Things I Learned this Week: Zombies on the Loose Edition

This week was a humdinger for learning things. I'll get right to it.

* I learned about Science Bowl. Honestly, last week I had no idea what it was all about.

* I learned that people with seasonal allergies should eat local honey.



* I learned discovered that there are a number of condiments. like Bragg's Liquid Aminos, that I had no idea about. Which reminds me of this:

* I learned just how big the universe is. Okay, I have no idea exactly how big it is, but I learned that it is a heck of a lot lager than I ever imagined. The link goes to a video that explains how the Hubble telescope captured images of galaxies outside our own, and how scientists used those images to produce an incredible 3D image of a piece of the universe. Prepare to be humbled.

* I learned that Powell's City of Books is just a little bit smaller than that.Madison at Powell's

* I learned that Buffalo Exchange is just a stinky, crowded second hand store. Sometimes the things I learn are disappointing.

* I learned that Canadians call their jeans "skinnies", and everyone there wears thong underwear. At least that's what I heard from a reliable source.

It's a dumb thing: Parking Ticket

I had a great day today, but I did a Dumb Thing- I took the big truck into Portland and tried to park it.
When I left Albany, I knew that parking would be difficult to find, but I thought I would just find a lot or garage and walk a little bit if I had to.
Nope. The lots have spaces the size of Smart Cars, not Stupid Trucks. The garages had ceilings six to seven feet high.
Finally I found a big spot on the street really close to the restaurant where I met my friends. And it had a meter nearby that looked like the one in the picture.
Let me be clear: I am not an idiot. I can operate a BlackBerry, a computer and even set the clock on the DVD player. But this machine really intimidated me. I had to put my debit card into the machine before I told it how long I wanted to park. I hit the Maximum button, and told it to print me a sticker which I affixed to my window.
After lunch, I fed the meter again.
After that, I did not.
After that, I got a ticket- and that's the Dumb Thing. If they are going to pay a person to go around and check to see if we have paid to park, why doesn't that person just put Parking Bills on our window? Why get the courts involved? It's Dumb.
Parking Tickets: a Dumb Thing.

I like winter. This picture cracked me up.

I am pretty excited for tomorrow. It's the last soccer game of the season, and then after that I am taking my daughter to meet my friends from high school Heather and Erica. We are going to have lunch and then go to Powell's. I, myself, have never been to Powell's. Madison has been on a tour of PDX, and they have a Powell's there, so she has been to a Powell's, but not the Powell's, City of Books. The lady at the PDX Powells told her that they have Webkinz at the big store so Madison is excited for that.
Then, I think we will complete our hipster afternoonin the Pearl at Buffalo Exchange, which is like Play it again Sports for clothes, I guess. We'll see.

At tonight's Girl Scout meeting, the girls got to learn how to light a match and stick lighter, and then light a candle and use the flame to fuse the ends of a length of polyester rope. It was review for most of the girls, but one of them had never lit a match before in her life. This was her second meeting. If you ever need to entertain a group of 10-14 year olds, give them fire and let them stick stuff in it. Magic.

I do pooh pooh you, hulu.

Today, hulu announced that sometime in 2010, they will begin to charge for content. Which means that I won't use hulu anymore. I will have to watch my programs when they are broadcast on TV, which means I will watch less TV. Oh well, easy come, easy go, I guess.

What pisses me off about TV is this: Networks and affiliates sell time to advertisers in order to bring me programs for free. This is good wampum. The wampum starts to go bad when I pay for cable, and the cable operators and cable networks sell time to advertisers so that I have to watch commercials during programming that I pay for. Either I pay, and get no ads- or Procter and Gamble pays, and I get ads. Those are my terms.
Those aren't my husbands terms, however. His terms are we will pay whatever necessary in order to watch live sports. Therefore, we pay for cable TV.

I won't pay for hulu, and I predict there are plenty of people like me, or, maybe even worse for hulu- people like me with TiVo or Netflix subscriptions, who get content on demand. Hulu is neat because it's free and easy. The minute they ask for an email address and a credit card number, they will go the way of Napster.