Some Of My Favorite Images From This Election

Won't You Join Me For Coffee?

One thing you may already know about me concerns my adoration of coffee. It's my life's blood, and I seek its warm comforts every morning, even though I've recently switched over to making myself decaf (gasp!) whenever I'm at home.

Something else that's equally innate to my personality is my love for a good bargain. I can work a thrift store like a bloodhound on a budget, finding treasures buried among disasters.

So I present to you the perfect storm of two of my favorite things colliding into one, perfectly caffeinated, wallet-friendly indulgence: Free coffee.

As I discovered at the Buzz Off, Starbucks will be doling out free 12-ounce cups of coffee this Thursday, March 15th, between 10am and noon.

Not to be outdone by their grungy competitor, Dunkin' Donuts will be chilling their true opiate of the masses next Wednesday, March 21st, offering free 16-ounce iced coffees all the live-long day.

Imagine what I'll do with all my newfound exuberance after participating in both caffeine giveaways! Write a novel? Disinfect the entire house? Tackle those six loads of laundry that have been glaring at me all week?

Who knows? Maybe I'll even start blogging a little more frequently. (Ha! If only there were enough coffee in the world for that one...)

The Completely Bearable Lightness Of Being

You Light Up My Life

Other than the time I sat in on, well... a sit-in in UCLA's administration building with Woody Harrelson, Ron Kovak, and a bunch of fellow Bruins to protest the Gulf War -- and then bailed out after 20 consecutive hours because I had a ski trip planned with my fabulous roommate and the bus was shortly leaving for Lake Tahoe and I had to pack -- I'm not really a political person.

Sure, I have certain beliefs about how life and our country would best be run and I make sure to exercise my civil rights by voting accordingly in each and every election. But I tend to not pay much attention to the minutiae of political intrigue from day to day or week to week; in my opinion, shenanigans and machinations by those in public office are as old as time and are, frankly, part of the job. I'm astounded when people are surprised and outraged by this, as if it's a new discovery that politicians are slippery.

Politicians do bad and they do good, depending on where you're sitting. Hopefully, when all's said and done, they end up doing more good than bad for everyone involved.

All that aside, one news story caught my eye today that made me genuinely excited for the work of our federal government. Not surprisingly, I consider it a good one, although I can imagine certain people are calling poppycock from their bleacher seats. Here it is:

"Daylight-saving time (DST) will begin at 2a.m. Sunday, March 11, and will end a week later than usual, on Sunday, November 4. The change, thanks to a massive federal energy bill passed in 2005, adds extra hours of daylight with the hope of decreasing national energy consumption."

Four. more. weeks. of. light. than. usual.

Holy crap.

This is certainly one of the most exciting pieces of news to pass my monitor in years. This means extra playtime outside, longer walks in the neighborhood, babies sleeping in later, and sunnier dispositions all around in Casa DDD.

I'm sure there are plenty of energy moguls out there crying into their halogen bulb boxes, but this Mama's jumping for joy at the thought of more light in her daily life.

Let the sunshine in! Well done, Uncle Sam!

Doing Our Part, Kleenex By Kleenex, To Boost Revenues At Kimberly-Clark

Shea's getting over being sick.

I'm sick.

John's getting sick.

Finn's just sick of all us sickies.

Because I don't want you to be bored, though, I've found some fun stuff to keep you occupied in our absence of entertainment:

In Vino Veritas: Hop on over to this great blog, which does nothing but sample and rate wines from Trader Joe's.

Call Me Pablo: At this site you can let your inner Picasso shine to make beaaaauuuuuuuutiful artwork.

Can You Wrap That Up To Go? Finally, you can do some advanced armchair traveling here and view a slew of amazing photographs of Southeast Asia.

Enjoy!

On Their Way Home To Roost

For some reason the blogger system read this photo as a vertical, rather than as a horizontal -- the way it was shot.

I find the composition to be quite lovely this way.

So it stays.

10 Reasons Why I Love This Photo

1. My Mom, bless her heart, who was so happy to have her two kids in the same place and eager to capture the sunset, took this photo almost directly into the sun--with no idea of what shooting at that angle does to the visibility of one's subject(s).
2. If you look closely you can make out the Pacific Ocean in the background, right as the sun finally dipped into it for the night.
   
3. Since my brother had just spent countless hours in his pickup truck, making his way home from Northern California--and since he's spent the last three months in northern Northern California full stop--he was pretty stinky at this precise moment. (Hi Ed!) And you can kinda tell that I'm recoiling slightly from being in such close proximity to his offending armpit.
   
4. I have very few photos of just me and my brother as adults.
   
5. I'm rocking my old-school Fussy shirt.
   
6. Therefore, my boobs look great.
   
7. Ed's throwing out the cheesy, lounge-lizard finger.
   
8. You can see my dad's homemade plastic bird feeder, the one he cut out by hand from an old restaurant-sized mayonnaise container, along the right ridge of the image.
   
9. It's November and we're still in t-shirts at sunset. (Sorry to belabor this point lately, but it's pretty common knowledge that I do much better when the weather's warm. So you might want to brace yourself for posts from Moody Mommy over the next six months or so.)
   
10. It's always nice to have Eddie home again--even if it's just for 36 hours.

A First Time For Everything

Yesterday I did something I've never done before.

I stopped at a scenic lookout point, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, that I have driven past more than 100 times in my life.

As a kid, I did so as a passenger in my parents' car, so I was never really aware of it. Once I started driving myself through life, though, I was usually too focused on my destination or my schedule to take the time to stop.

Yesterday I did.

And it was beautiful.

And kinda windy.

And it made me thankful for the beautiful scenery in my home state.

And reminded me how important it is to slow down once in a while.

Maybe It's Time To Switch To Decaf

I love the name Shea.

It's simple, classic, androgynous, and--in my mind, at least--only subtly Irish.

And within the dynamics of our little family unit, it's also a perfect foil to Finnegan's three syllable, over-the-top, double Shamrocks first name.

It's also easily recognizable by most Americans as it graces one of the most famous baseball stadiums on the Eastern Seaboard.

But some people--particularly younger, less traveled ones--struggle with it, not quite sure how to put their mouth around the four little letters, S-H-E-A.

I've truly lost count of how many times someone has garbled out,

"What? Is that SHEEEEE-uh?"

...as they try to phonetically read it.

I've always been able to calmly counter with,

"It's Shea. Like Shea Stadium. And Shea Butter. Which comes from the Shea tree."

When what I'm really tempted to say is,

"It's really not that complicated, Twinkletoes. Just Shea, plain and simple. And, while we're at it, is it tough going through life so bewildered by alternative vowel combinations?"

Or, more definitively,

"Actually, no, I don't really think the S-H-A-Y spelling would be 'totally cute,' either, and much easier for people to read. In fact, I don't think the kinds of people stumbling over this one do too much reading to begin with, to tell you the truth."

(Note to self: Hmmmm, grouchy much, Karin?)

On Monday, unfortunately, my list of easy examples for the, um, less informed was significantly shortened after plans were announced to build a new home for the New York Mets. By 2009, the fourth-oldest ballpark in the National League will be reopened as Citi Field (you may commence cracking adolescent rhyming jokes now).

So, yeah. In sum:

I guess I'm sad about yet another old ball park closing. Piece of Americana, symbol of early '60s promise, yada yada yada.

And a little frustrated about having one less handy example at my--and my daughter's--fingertips.

And completely dumbfounded at the vapidity of many of the people I encounter on a daily basis.

But, really, mostly just jonesing for another strong cup of joe.

Beautiful Mystery

When I found myself fighting the urge to send this video link to every single person on my e-mail distribution list I realized it might be just the perfect content for a blog post.

OK, so it's not about my children, but it's about someone's child -- one who didn't say his first words ("pencil" and "paper") until he was five years old. And when he got that pencil and paper, oh, the magic he made!

The video is about five minutes long, and is SFW (safe for work), as the kids today like to say, so try to carve out some time to have your mind completely blown. I found myself with mouth agape in disbelief and astonishment more than once, completely in awe of this man's UNBELIEVABLE gift.

Here's the description that came with the video on YouTube:

Stephen Wiltshire is a British man who was diagnosed as autistic when he was a child. He's also been noted for his exacting memory, which allows him to recreate [in drawings] vast scenes he sees only once. This video shows his 16-foot-panorama of Rome after taking one helicopter ride above the city.



Thanks to www.kottke.org, who continually manages to rise above and find amazing and thought-provoking content on the Internet.

Only In Orange County...

...could someone use this headline without even the slightest trace of irony.


In fact, I guarantee that someone saw this little homemade ad in the window of one of the shops downtown and said to themself, "Yeah, you know, that really is a good price!"

Starstruck In A PBS Kind Of Way

Guess who I got to meet today?

Postage Not Necessary

And now, inspired by a funny post over at Amalah, it's time to catch up on my correspondence.

************

Dear unsociable neighbor who lives across the street:

You may think you're being really slick and hiding it successfully from everyone, including your wife because you turn your back to your house, but we can totally see you when you smoke your dope on the sidewalk.

Just so you know.

K&J

************

Dear Constant Clutter Around the House:

Go away.

I mean it.

K

************

Dear Hydrangeas in the backyard:

Damn, girls! You're looking FIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNE!

Looks like all that chicken shit John added as a soil amendment really agrees with you.

Let your love lights shine.

K

*************

Dear Shea:

I think it's totally adorable that you want to climb up on your brother's bed all the time and recline with your hands behind your head like a big girl.

But you've got to stop jumping on it because you're giving me heart failure.

Love,

Mama

**************

Dear Finn:

I love how half the questions you ask me throughout the course of a day all begin the same way, with:

"Mama, how do you spell...."

Word dorks beget word dorks. Welcome to the club.

Love,

Mama

**************

Dear Pacific Ocean:

Yesterday you were MAGNIFICENT.

Don't ever leave me.

K

**************

Let There Be LIGHT

It's been a busy few weeks here, with the kids finally getting over their sicknesses, multiple freelance writing assignments with rapidly approaching deadlines, and numerous weekend trips to LA. I hope to be able to post more about the latter two topics--as well as some other funny stories--sometime soon, but you may be seeing lots of photos in the next week or two. In the meantime I'll let you know that:

1) It's raining like crazy here
2) Finn's gone #2 three days in a row for the first time since he started using the big boy potty and if you know his bathroom history you know that is a BIG F---IN DEAL
3) My Dodgers and my Bruins both lost, but I'm OK with it because of a beautiful little thing call Daylight Savings time. Holy Hector ~ it was light until almost 7:30pm last night!

A Big Day For LA

Not only does today mark opening day at Dodger Stadium, it's also the day when my UCLA Bruins will take a stab at winning their 12th national basketball championship by trying to best Florida for the NCAA title game. A day to wear your blue, for sure!

For Your Convenience

In case you've ever had the inclination to conduct an online search while reading Double Duty Diary (you know, during those moments when you ask yourself, "Who the hell is Linda Fiorentino?" or "What does she mean by calling Gerhard Richter an abstract expressionist? I've only ever studied his figurative work!"), I've added a fun Google search bar at the bottom right-hand column of the blog. Enjoy!

Best Story Introduction That Sounds Like A Euphemism But, Surprisingly, Isn't

John to Karin, over dinner:

"So I went into Hooters today to look at the decor package..."

Experimenting

Our good friend Jody generously let us take her Canon PowerShot S60 digital camera for a test drive over the holidays. All I can say is, WOW! This efficient little machine let me turn something as everyday as an afternoon walk around the neighborhood into One Of Those Moments.

Thanks, Jody! You realize, of course, that you've created a monster and now I'll be forced to hold your camera hostage, right?

Generation Tech

I heard somewhere that most teens today don't know what a Walkman is/was, which made me wonder:

Will Finn's generation wax nostalgic for the simpler days of yore when they had to watch their movies on portable DVD players in the car?