Star Trek ala Sims...

I squealed when I heard the Sims 3 was coming out. I heart the Sims! Alas, my lil' ol' laptop won't be able to handle the graphics. Time for a new laptop, anyone?  =)

In any case, here's a totally fab vid to share:

lots of work... & some fun stuff!

So. I've been out of the country for almost 2 weeks now - had to head over the pond for parts of a project. It didn't start auspiciously: at 4:30 a.m. a disembodied-voice told me that my flight had been canceled (I was heading out the door to catch the bus down to O'Hare), and I'd been re-booked on the evening flight out. No problem - I head back to bed, caught the little man's first soccer game for the season, hung out with my boys, and THEN hopped on the bus to O'Hare... Check-in went fine. Immigration went fine. Sat next to this dude who worked audio for Metallica's concerts. Couldn't sleep.

Got into Heathrow at 7:30 a.m., took about 40 minutes for luggage & immigration. Another 45 minutes to get to Oxford & check in at the hotel. Hopped in the shower & changed. Found the train station & caught the next train to London, where I met up with two of my 3 cousins who live in London, whom I haven't seen in 10 years...


After walking around London with them (thanks, guys!)I headed back to the hotel, unpacked, and crashed. Only to be woken at 3:30 a.m. by a group celebrating a 21st birthday, down in the streets. Ugh. Monday morning was rough. Working 11 hours was REALLY rough. On Thursday I had dinner with another cousin, and we got lost walking around Oxford looking for this little restaurant... =) But how fun it is to catch up!

After a looooong week, I headed to Paris for the weekend. We skippeth-d out of work early (after still working an 8-hour day) and headed to the airport. Where we found out that they couldn't check anyone in because they got virus'd. So they had to print off lists and scratch your name off the list when you got up to the counter. We finally left London at 10 (3 hours late!) and got into Paris by midnight! =)

And then, ah! Paris! What a beautiful city! Absolutely enchanting & entertaining!

OMG, what a ditz!!

So. I believe in the little man getting exposure to a range of activities throughout the year, as long as it's a feasible schedule. We usually have tickets to the symphony's kids concerts, and the children's theater for plays. Swimming in fall/winter. Soccer in spring/fall. T-ball in summer.

I signed up the little man for spring soccer and summer t-ball, three weeks ago. And looked at the calendar yesterday & noticed that we have a soccer game this Saturday. & I'm wondering, why haven't I heard from his coach?

*sigh* I'm a ditz. When I signed him up, there's a form to fill out. The coaches get that form. Apparently I neglected to fill that form out, and I definitely neglected to turn it in. Sheesh. So today I called up, got that filled out, got him assigned to a team, called the coach. And we're playing on Saturday morning at 11. *phew*

Maybe one of these days I'll find my brain?

It's that time of year again...

Uh huh. Time to renew subscriptions, for the '09-'10 season. I just received my brochure for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and boy, I already can't wait! There are so MANY performances I want to go to! But, after lots of deliberation - ok, 30 minutes! - here's what I'm going to:

1. Lang Lang, Apr 21. Duh. Of COURSE I'm getting tickets to this! So what if it's not till April 2010??
2. The beginning of the de Waart era at the MSO, Sept 26. Can't wait to see what this new maestro does for our talented orchestra, starting with Mahler's Symphony No.5... link
   
3. Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle, featuring six spectacular glass works by legendary artist Dale Chihuly. When else? Halloween weekend, of course... link
4. After a looooooooooong draught, returning to hear cellist Johannes Moser play Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No.1 in January... link
5. Pianist John Lill plays Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1 in February... link
6. The following month it's violinist Vadim Repin for Beethoven... link
7. In April, Garrick Ohlsson (another pianist) plays Chopin's Piano Concerto No.2... link
8. And, finally, in May, pianist (yes. another.) Simon Trpceski plays Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No.2... link
   

Hmm. Now that I'm looking at my list, it doesn't seem like there's enough... =D

This is so WRONG!!!

Imperial Valley News: Children's author Kevin Patrick Bath was arraigned on felony charges of distributing, transferring and receiving child pornography. The indictment also charges him with two counts of possessing child pornography. He pleaded not guilty to each count.

He's a children's author, for goodness' sakes! WTF?? Moron.

Bah, humbug!

Ok, I am officially anti-March Madness! This is the second time basketball has messed with my recording of The Amazing Race! Grrrrr! I really don't give a cr@p about all of these profiles that 60 Minutes (I think this is 60 Minutes!) is doing about the players/coaches/whoever. Whatever. I want my show. I only follow a handful. Ok, maybe two handfuls. So give me my show!

Congress & credit cards...

From Reuters: Congress rides to the rescue with credit cardholders rights & reform

I have credit cards, like many many other people. I use it for everything - gas, groceries, household items, entertainment, bills, etc. I do all my bill-paying online. In fact, I get annoyed when I get my quarterly bill for my water/sewer/garbage service, because I have to write a check & mail it in. And the Mr. & I have quite the credit card limit when you add up the limits on our joint card, my Amex, and his Visa. Plus another card that we never use...

Now, I know that there are proponents of absolutely no credit card usage out there. But why would I stop? It's convenient - I never have to worry about carrying enough cash around, or my checkbook. In fact, I have to find my checkbook - summer registration for the little man's here... In addition, I get points, which I convert into gift cards to feed my reading addiction. Have I mentioned it's convenient? And I don't do debit cards - they just don't have the consumer protection that credit cards offer.

Here's what we do that lets us use our credit cards freely.
#1. Pay it off. Every month. I don't like to pay interest, on anything, if I can help it. I get online statements, with an email reminder that the statement's ready. Then I schedule the payment for the due date stated on the statement.
#2. Never carry a credit card with an annual fee. It's not worth it.
#3. Never have a credit limit higher than you can afford to pay off. See #1.

There you go. Now go forth and prosper, and don't count on your government taking care of you. Because that ALWAYS comes with strings attached...

Shopping trip!

It's been quite a while since I've gone shopping. And by golly, I needed new shoes. And/or a purse. So I hit the mall on Tuesday, with the little man in tow. No, he doesn't like shopping. But I don't like whining, so I figure we're even. =P

Anyhoo. I ended up with only one pair of shoes. This is what I get for hitting the end of a sale instead of the beginning. Now I need to buy some heel stops, so I can actually walk in these darn shoes! They kept slipping off my feet, which makes it entertainingly difficult (entertaining for those who see me navigate my way from my desk to the cafeteria / bathroom / car; difficult for ME) to actually walk in 'em. I was sorely (ha ha) tempted to just run around barefoot all day. 'cuz I do that. =P

I found two purses though. They're both bigger than I normally carry. But I got tired of trying to figure out how to fit the personal cell phone, work cell phone, iPod, headphones (for the iPod), wallet, keys, & etc. into an itty bitty purse. So now I have something(s!) to throw all that into. Whaddaya think?