The 2000 Census lists my hometown in Kentucky as having 2,049 people. This is no doubt a surge in population brought about by the opening of the Burger Queen, roller rink and movie theater (that is singular, no fancy multiplexes for us). Last time I was home I noticed the theater had been turned into a church and the Burger Queen was a Dairy Queen.

Burger Queen’s mascot was this large Queen Bee that I always liked. I never gave much thought to the Burger / Bee connection and apparently no one else did either. There is no room in the burger world for so much royalty though and Burger Queen was taken over by Druther’s (slogan, I’d ruther have a Druther’s. Painful isn’t it?)


Actual photo of downtown:




Our favorite atraction though was the local ice cream parlor Scoopy-Doo. It came complete with crudely drawn, trademark infringing Scooby, Shaggy, Velma and Daphne. There was no Fred for some reason. Perhaps he recognized the poor skills of the artist and bowed out.

We had no national chains. This wasn’t out of any civic pride, the town council would have jumped on any development. No, the national chains couldn’t be bothered with such scraps. We had to drive a good hour to reach Fort Knox and Elizabethtown (yes the same city as featured in the movie of the same name).


I want to take my family back to visit. I’m thinking it will be a quick trip. One place we’ll be stop by for is by the Scoopy-Doo. (It’s still there! I just checked) I wonder if Fred has appeared yet

DC Pride

The good:




The bad:



and well, the other:

E has become much more talkative of late but it’s complete jibberish. It’s pretty fun listening to him carry on while saying absolutely nothing with complete certainty. He’s also pointing now but with his entire hand, fingers splayed. Buses and trains are incredibly exciting too.

Babies are adorable but wow there’s a lot of shit involved (literally) with little reward. I’m ready for talking and interaction. Yes, yes, I know the standard response that once they start talking they never stop but right now he’s a little mystery to me. The kid has such strong opinions too. We had our first argument last night I think. It consisted of him throwing things and slapping and me saying no a lot. The latin temper is real I think and I’ve surrounded myself with it.

Dios mio.

Chucky's revenge

Who says DC is only about politics?


Marie Osmond's 15th Anniversary

“Crystal Gala”

August 18th, 2006

August 2006 marks 15 years since Marie Osmond's Dolls debuted on QVC, and in celebration, Marie has dedicated the entire year to loyal, doll-loving, "Friends Like You."' You are the reason Marie creates dolls. You continue to inspire her with your delight in the details and ongoing enthusiasm, so to thank you for 15 years of friendship we invite you to share the spotlight when Marie is honored with an industry award at Doll and Teddy Expo East.

Marie has been chosen as the first recipient of the "Crystal Award for Industry Leadership" by Jones Publishing. The Gala will bring together industry leaders and collectors in honoring Marie for her outstanding role in promoting and representing the doll industry.

When: 7:00p.m. August 18th - 20th, 2006
Where: Expo East

Marriott Wardman Park

2660 Woodley Rd NW

Washington, DC 20008

Dress: Evening Wear

Cost: $175 - which includes:

Gift Bag with Limited Edition Event Doll and Other Surprises

Welcome Reception

Sit Down Dinner

Award Presentation

Now that Doug Duncan has dropped out the way is clear for the cutest mayor in the country to become the cutest governor. Even his running mate is hot! Signed the Shallow Committe to Elect Good-looking Democrats





That man over there is adorable.




None of you are really listening to me are you? You're just staring at my classic movie star good looks.

Things that have surprised me about parenting:

I never imagined how many times I'd be saying E no. E stop that.

...nor did I ever dream of this one:

E stop licking the bricks on the fireplace.

Vamos a Censorship

MIAMI - The American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal judge to stop the Miami-Dade County school district from removing a series of children's books from its libraries, including a volume about Cuba which depicts smiling kids in communist uniforms.

The ACLU and the Miami-Dade County Student Government Association argued in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Miami on Wednesday that the school board should add materials with alternate viewpoints rather than remove books that could be offensive.

Last week, the board voted 6-3 to remove "Vamos a Cuba" and its English-language version, "A Visit to Cuba" from 33 schools, stating the books were inappropriate for young readers because of inaccuracies and omissions about life in the communist nation.

The book, by Alta Schreier, targets students ages 5 to 7 and contains images of smiling children wearing uniforms of Cuba's communist youth group and a carnival celebrating the 1959 Cuban revolution. The district owns 49 copies of the book in Spanish and English.

The school board also decided to remove 24 other books in the series, including ones on Greece, Mexico and Vietnam, "despite not having received a complaint about those books and without having reviewed the books in its administrative process," the suit said.

The ACLU noted the books have received favorable reviews in nationally recognized publications including Publishers Weekly and the School Library Journal. The suit also cites staff recommendations to keep the books.

"The Miami-Dade School Board's decision to defy U.S. law prohibiting censorship and ignore the recommendation of their own superintendent and two committees is a slap in the face to our tradition of free speech and the school board's own standards of due process," said JoNel Newman, an attorney working with the ACLU.



- So yes we are at the point where now more than ever we need to remain vigilant against censorship. It's not just happy gay families that scare the neocons it's anyone who's different.

Happy Father's Day!

This will be my very first Father’s Day as a Father! It’s still a bit surreal and surprisingly after all these months a bit unreal. I can’t imagine life without my son now. We’re getting new words now. He points to pictures of babies in his books now and says “Be-Be.” It’s adorable, trust me.

Sidenote: Our house is now being shown this weekend and after all the work we've done to get it ready I feel like I’m in a perpetual state of exhaustion. I don’t want to move again for a long, long time.

We haven’t decided what we’ll be doing on Sunday but we have to be out of the house all day long. The important thing is we’ll all be together, including our dog…. My little tribe, I couldn’t be happier.

East Coast / West Coast and now Jay-Z / Rouzaud

Did you just bring it?

Rappers have long proclaimed their love for Cristal, frequently mentioning the high-end champagne in songs and popping the corks of the clear, gold-labeled bottles in music videos and at nightclubs.

But the makers of Cristal don't seem to feel the same way about hip-hop — at least that's one rapper-turned-record executive Jay-Z sees it.

Now president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Records, the multiplatinum rapper has decided to boycott his once-beloved bubbly over comments from Frederic Rouzaud, managing director of Louis Roederer, the company that produces it.

In The Economist magazine, Rouzaud said the company viewed the affection for his company's champagne from rappers and their fans with "curiosity and serenity."

Asked by the magazine if the association between Cristal and the "bling lifestyle" could be detrimental, Rouzaud replied:

"That's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business."

The comments left a bad taste in Jay-Z's mouth. The rapper said he would pull Cristal from his small chain of popular sports lounges — where bottles of Cristal sell for $450 and $600 — as well as from his personal flutes.

"It has come to my attention that the managing director of Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud views the `hip-hop' culture as 'unwelcome attention,'" Jay-Z said. "I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various brands including the 40/40 Club nor in my personal life."

Jay-Z plans to replace Cristal — which a club spokesman said it could never stock enough of — with Krug and Dom Perignon at the Manhattan and Atlantic City locations of his 40/40 Club. (There are plans for clubs in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong, according to the club's Web site.)

oh it has been brought!

Judy, Judy, Judy

Rufus Wainwright presents gayest concert ever:

Eclectic pop singer Rufus Wainwright bridged musical generations on Wednesday with a daring re-creation of Judy Garland's legendary 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall.

Wainwright took the stage to thunderous applause from the sellout crowd and launched straight into the first number, "When You're Smiling."

The Canadian crooner said "we're not in Kansas anymore, we're in New York," -- a play on the memorable line from the "Wizard of Oz" movie which launched Garland's career. Backed by a 40-piece orchestra, Wainwright then restaged the monumental concert often called the greatest single night in show-business history.




Yes, I will buy it.

These are a few of my favorite things

Here's the part of the show where I highlight some of my favorite books, cds, movies, and what have you.

Jem's cd "Finally Woken" keeps coming back to my stereo and ipod. It's one of those just laid-back, interesting, and comforting cd's. Highlight tracks for me include Wish I, They, and Just a Ride....and newly important to me it is kid-friendly. If your kid starts singing along at daycare you won't be completely moritifed.

Slap Happy

Chatting with some parents at the park I notice E walking over to greet another child sitting in his stroller. Aaaw how cute I think, he’s going to say hi. E then raises his hand and slaps the hell out of the little kid. The slapee’s mom rushes over to push E back saying something like “I’ll let daddy take care of you until you hit my child.” This seems totally reasonable and understandable. If I’d known he was going to whack your kid I would have intervened I promise. The other kid was 2.5 to E’s 13 months so I figured she must be able to defend herself.


Of course later that evening this triggered a novella of internal dialogue about how did I raise an abuser? Where did this violence come from? Fast forward a few days later and daycare tells me “he’s been hitting other kids.” I promise them that I’m working on it and I don’t know where he got it. Inner voice: well there was that high five game you were trying last week.

Sob. Well at least he’s not biting.


Uh-oh. He’ll probably be biting next week.