Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Apparently we raised poodles.

      Both my boys are very social.  Every parent-teacher conference we've had involved a discussion about the boys social behavior. Their need to get up and wander and to hold conversations at inappropriate times were always among the topics.
      The little one has no hang-ups about making friends, we can go anywhere and within five minutes he's fully entrenched in a half dozen new friendships. I've set him up with a couple age appropriate MMO games and I'm shocked at the fact that I get him started and walk awayand by the time I check in on him he has 200 friends!. When I jump into something like Guild Wars or Conan I'll be lucky if I feel comfortable running one quest with another player, which leaves my friends list as empty as the Buffalo Bills trophy case.
      The only time any of this becomes a problem is when company comes to the house. From the moment someone comes to door our youngest turns into one of those annoying yappy little dogs and I suddenly have to be the Kid Whisperer.
       Wherever the house guest shall go a small child will follow, so I'm just glad the bathroom door locks for their sake. I can only imagine how uncomfortable it is to sit down and have a child staring at you waiting for a biscuit and a belly rub. The actual doggy yapping though is replaced by questions and episodes of show and tell. The biting and nipping is replaced by attempts at play fighting and roughhousing, and the leg humping is, well, pretty much in tact.
       I know My older son is laughing and nodding at this, BUT, we went through the same thing with him as well. In fact on one occassion when he thought he wasn't getting enough attention from comapany he grabbed a pair of scissors, snuck up on his mother and chopped off a chunk of her hair.
      This is obviously behavior we try to discourage and despite the fact that my wife has seen every episode of "The Dog Whisperer" and "It's Me Or The Dog"...twice (groan) we haven't yet been able to break him of this behavior.
      Those of you saying "Hey, there's your problem you can't raise a kid like a dog."  well you obviously haven't raised both kids and dogs. That's why they make both baby gates and dog gates, as well as kid and dog leashes, not to mention toilet locks.Have you ever tried to keep dogs and kids from playing in the toilet? They're really not much  different are they?
      Try leaving either of them in a room with their food in reach, either way when you come back the floor is now covered in crumbs, and for that matter both will eat anything they find on the ground. How many times have you had to pull random stuff out of the mouths of dogs and kids because you're not sure what they ate.
      They both will chew on anything when they are teething and put EVERYTHING in their mouths whether it's food or not. My sister chewed the varnish of her crib and I have pictures of my oldest son eating my coffee table.
      How much time do you spend trying to toilet train them both, and until they are trained either of them will just go wherever and whenever they want,to be honest it's actually easier to toilet train a dog.
     Maybe the solution is to treat children more like dogs. I'll take them to the park to wear them out before leashing them in the yard and then crate them for the night. Also with my oldest son's social behavior I think it's time to call the vet about neutering.
      If I had to do it all again I'd just get a couple Huskies. They may not be able to do chores but at least they won't give you attitude if you ask them to.
 
     

Thursday, August 19, 2010

The Cookie Rule...Revised.

    I know for a fact my youngest son can count and very well to be honest. The one exception is the "Cookie Rule". This rule states that when mom or dad say you can have ONE cookie the child's brain translates this one into a five, and sure enough five delicious chocolate chip cookies are consumed. I may take some blame for this particular brain damage since it's the same as my "Beer Rule".
      I was completely unaware until recently that the "Cookie Rule"  had other applications, but my son is very adaptable and apparently so is the "Cookie Rule".
  When it's time to jump into the car, for even a short ride, my little one will bring something to entertain himself for the ten minutes before he falls asleep. Usually it will be his Nintendo DS or a book.
      The other day as we are heading out he decided to bring his DS and along with it a stack of ten games, boxes and all. This left him precariously balancing the DS and a foot high stack of plastic boxes while trying to get out the door.
      "No, just bring one game."
       "One? I'll be bored"
       "We'll only be gone a half hour"
        "That's too long, I'll be bored with just one."
This is coming from the kid who can watch the same episode of "iCarly" eight times...in a row.
        "I said, bring just one, besides you'll be asleep before you can get bored."
        "I'm not tired."
         "One."
He stomps off into his bedroom where there is a small commotion followed  by junior running by me and out to the car. When I get to the car there my sweet and innocent demon spawns sits with a lap full of games, five of them to be exact.
       "I thought I told you to bring one. That's not one that's five."
       ."But it's closer to one."
Running late I choose not to argue get into the car and pull into the street and sure enough I look over and he's asleep.
     

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Further proof....

      Back on July 9th I did a post stating my thoughts about the need for parent licensing and classes, you can find it in the blog archive if you missed it, or need a refresher. In any case I would like to present further proof that some people need serious help when it comes to parenting and just because you can make a child it doesn't mean you should be allowed to.
      Children are not pets, nor are they a way for you to make your stoner friends laugh, they are not a way for you to make a statement or a way to prove to the world how unique you are, and you should remember this when naming your child.
       Don't get me wrong I love different names. god knows the world has plenty of John's and Jennifer's and something a little different is a great thing, but there comes a point when you, trying to make a statement, are bordering on child abuse.
      This all became sand in my shorts when I started noticing a trend of parents throwing Y's and Q's against the wall and deciding that was a good girl name, or slamming two different names together for a boy and deciding that works. Let me tell you that making a name unpronounceable to the rest of the world does your child no favors socially or on a job hunt. What boss is going to want to hire someone whose clients can never pronounce your name or who will be a running joke in the office. Yes, that's right when you leave the room people make fun of you, I've seen it more times then I can count, along with the eye rolling and head shaking that comes when you name your child Chyniquya, Q'Antity, Uhlleejshaor, Q’ashaani-Ja’de or even Anfernee, Tay'Sh'awn and Oranjello. Just stop it these names are not names, they are not words, they are not in any way related to...anything... EVER and you are dooming your child to never rise above sales associate. Their will never be a president Taqiyya or Shantanique or Shanequa and right now the spell checker on my computer is having an aneurysm over these "real" names.
      Next come the people that think the entire rule set for the English language changes because they say so. For example the name Chyna, which I've seen a few times, is pronounced China not sha-nay. You can get mad at us all you want for mispronouncing it but it won't change the fact that your WRONG. If you make up new words and think the rest of the world should change the rules of the English language just for you then you are an egotistical lunatic.
      Speaking of breaking the rules of the English language, the first of two recent incidents that inspired me to write this came from breaking this rule. Recently a mother made an appearance at a local school so she could have a hissy fit and scream at all the teachers at this school for mispronouncing her daughter's name insisting on the stupidity and ignorance of the teachers for incorrectly pronouncing such a simple name. Now I'm going to type it here and then I want you to take a moment to pronounce it yourself....Ready.... A-ia...I'll wait you go ahead and pronounce it....................

         Anyone have a guess? Well according to psychotic mommy dearest this very simple name is pronounced - A dash ya...that's right in her world she couldn't understand why teachers well versed in the English language weren't saying the dash. apparently in her world punctuation is pronounced. so no longer is that girl you dated your ex-girlfriend she's now your ex dash girlfriend. Me personally I can apostrophe t stand stupidity exclamation point...see doesn't work does it...question mark.
        People regularly name their children after other things. Please be careful not to repeat these mistakes I've seen like Sparkle, Apple, Cinderella, Master, Budweiser, Espn, Scatman, Prada, God, Batman, Joker and Kal-El (for those of you who don't know Nic Cage named his son Kal-El which is Superman's alien name) there are many many more that would shock you but I was just giving you a small sample.
         The latest incident, the one that made me have to write this because I just couldn't take anymore involve people who choose their child's name because it's funny. I knew someone when I was younger named Rob Banks, while it was slightly amusing the play on words wasn't going to destroy his life. This may not be so for the children I'm about to mention, and I swear to you this is real. There is a local four year old boy who will proudly tell you that his name is Blue. That in and of itself isn't TOO bad. The mistake was asking for the rest of his name. This little boys full name is Blue Balls Johnson...I'm not joking. Blue has a sister as well, his sister's name is Giana which dad proudly says is pronounced jy-na, I wouldn't even ask for the middle name. I walked away in disgust. I believe naming your son Blue Balls Johnson and your daughter after her body parts is child abuse, and people like this have no right to be allowed to raise a child.
          You've now subjected these children to an entire lifetime of ridicule and abuse because you were trying to be funny. It's not funny it's sick and cruel and he should have his kids taken away.
           I love different, I tried to be different naming my kids but there are limits and there is a difference between original and cruel. There is a difference between unique spelling and making up your own rules. You may think your being clever but it's your child who has to live with it and struggle with it, so get off the ego trip and and use some common sense just like your kids will when they turn 18, change their name and never speak to you again....wait maybe they were on to something after all.

     
     
   

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

I'm Batman...except...you know...straight.

      In 30 plus years I had never seen a bat, but in the last few years I've had a half dozen of them fly into my house and I spent last night tracking down and capturing yet another one and in fact it was the biggest one I've seen to this point. For those concerned, yes it was safely released back into the wild.
       I think this is a sign and I'm taking it seriously this time. Yes, that's right I'm taking the next step and changing my name to Bruce Wayne. I think I'd make an excellent Batman.
       To start with I am definitely a "child of the night". My wife says, that, combined with my hairy...everything, makes me a werewolf not Batman but hey this is my story and I'm sticking to it. I only wear dark colors, and I tend to attract psychopaths (have you met my family and my ex's?). I mean if Val Kilmer can play the caped crusader I sure as hell can. I suppose if I tried hard enough I could even do Christian Bale's ridiculous Batman voice, so why not go for it.
        I'm going to start looking for my Batcave today I figure with the real estate market what it is I can probably pick one up pretty cheap, and with low APR financing maybe even a new Batmobile.
       Tomorrow I'll put an ad out for my girl wonder...yes, GIRL-wonder. What? I'm not stupid, if I'm going to have some teenager running around in a Mardi Gras mask, boy shorts and spandex it's going to be a chick Grayson not a Dick Grayson.
      I mean I respect the original Bruce's lifestyle choice, it's just not for me. Those of you who are shocked by this thought are the same people who didn't know that Scooby-Doo was a stoner cartoon.
      Come on, Bruce has a history of bringing young boys; Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake into his big mansion and making them jump around in skimpy outfits for Alfred and himself. I mean The one time he brought in a girl Robin, Stephanie Brown, Batman stripped her of the title almost immediately and refused to acknowledge her as a past robin even after her presumed death. So even though I think The original Bruce was a great role model for the gay community I'll have to do it differently.
        In fact there should be a couple more gay and lesbian superheroes, what we need less of is gay vampires. If 10% of the population is homosexual then why are 100% of vampires gay?
        When I first saw Interview with a vampire I just thought the vampires were effeminate because it was Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt playing the parts, but apparently not. Ever since Anne Rice decided that all vampires were descendants of Richards Simmons every vampire I see is gay. I watch True Blood with the wife and sure enough gay vampires everywhere. Twilight's Edward...gayest man alive and don't try and deny it, the dude sparkles like RuPaul on disco night. There is even a list of books that have gay vampires as characters that is now numbering 141, and doesn't even include the Twilight books. What's with all the vamp's coming out of the coffin suddenly. Dracula would turn over in his grave if he didnt want to avoid disturbing the Latin boy he picked up at Nathan Lane's last night. I always said that Vampires represent the feminine while Werewolves represent the masculine (Zombies represent Fox News viewers) and apparently I'm not alone in the belief.
         I don't care who or what you sleep with, I'm a strong proponent of gay rights, I was thrilled when Prop 8 was killed, and Neil Patrick Harris is one of my favorite people on the planet but enough is enough with the gay vampires...now lesbian vampires that's a different story.
      
      

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Hall of Fame Game Day.

    In honor of today being the start of pre-season football I've decided to do my Facebook Fanpage daily updates as a post. Mostly because this weeks sports news lends itself to some sarcasm. I know this isn't my normal kind of post here but I felt like doing something a little different today feel free to comment and tell me how much you hate it.

                                                       THE HALL OF FAME GAME
 Today kicks off pre-season football with the annual Hall of Fame Game. This years game could be played in San Quentin instead of Canton, Ohio since it features the Dallas Cowboys versus the Cincinnati Bengals. Two of the teams with the longest police blotters in the history of the NFL. 

       The Dallas Criminals errr Cowboys history of criminal activity started in 1970 when Lance Rentzel was arrested for indecent exposure for exposing himself to a 10 year old. He did this while he was married to famed sex symbol Joey Heatherton one of the most beautiful woman on the planet at the time. The Cowboys arrests continued through fullback Deon Anderson's arrest this year for deadly conduct for threatening a restaurant employee with a gun. 

      Other Cowboy infractions include DOZENS of drug, DUI and weapons charges. Several arrests for beating woman. There was also a few other incidents involving sexual assault and abuse of children including Rafael Septian pleading guilty to a LESSER charge of aggrivated child molestation of a 10 year old he had been accused of sleeping with. Septian's punishment was a $2000, fine not prison. The judge was a fan. Not to mention the vehicular manslaughter of two people trying to pull a driver from a burning vehicle on the side of a Dallas freeway,. I guess Dwayne Goodrich couldn't see the burning car until his BMW hit it at 110 mph, he of course fled the scene. There is not one BUT TWO cases of different Cowboy players stealing their OWN mothers life savings and many, and MANY more incidents. America's Team? Yeah I guess it's a good thing that they gave themselves that moniker isn't it.

Cincinnati though leads the league over the last 10 years with 32 arrests in that time span. That's right 32! In the last ten years, BAD KITTIES, No super bowl for you, followed by Minnesota with 30.

                                                               NASCAR's  FUTURE
       NASCAR fans still deny it's a redneck sport but...
NASCAR is touting 12 year old driver Grey Gaulding as the future of the sport. When Grey was asked about possible future accomplishments in the sport he said " You know really I don't know, but I just gotta thank my sponsor gunbroker.com." Yup, the 12 year old's sponsor sells guns-online.
       His father Dwayne was quoted "There ain't no other sponsor come along I feel comfortable with." 
Nope no rednecks here.

                                                 GO GO GREEN RANGER
      Maybe just maybe former actor Jason David Frank is a bad-ass after all. The actor who once portrayed the green power ranger in the Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger's TV show made his MMA debut this week at Texas Cage Fighting's "Puro Combate" in Houston, TX. Not only did the former actor hold his own but he "owned" his opponent beating professional boxer Jose "Garfield" Vasquez in just 46 seconds. With a rear naked choke. No rubber suited monsters and no hot pink ranger to distract the bad guy. Frank didn't stick around for interviews though as his Zord was double parked. No word on his next fight, though Lord Zedd claims that Frank is ducking him.

                                                         AND BY THE WAY

Today Brett Favre is Retired Playing Retired Playing
Albert Haynesworth finally passed Redskins conditioning test. They simplified it for him, New test was "Just run to Wendy's and get yourself a frosty...here take my car."

    

Friday, August 6, 2010

Dream On

     Not many people have heard of Quinn Pitcock who was an All-American defensive lineman at famed Ohio State University and drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in 2007. Not many have heard of Quinn because he quit football in 2008 due to bouts of depression and video game addiction.
      I'm a gamer as well, and I have been since the day my step-father brought home a Pong console he had bought off another drunk at a bar. As much as I love games I couldn't imagine giving up my dreams for them. I imagine Pitcock had worked his way through Pee Wee's and high school then college to get to the NFL. I imagine the NFL was a dream for Pitcock.
      Everyone has dreams, I'm sure no one wanted to run a cash register or dig ditches. I had several dreams growing up. I wanted to be a race car driver until I got my license and realized I hated driving. I wanted to be an archeologist but only like Indians Jones. I wanted to be a pirate but I hate water. I wanted to be Han solo, but the whole needing a spaceship thing is ruining that. I wanted to be a Wookie and all I got was really hairy. I also wanted to play  left-wing for the Penguins. Other than being a writer my most enduring dream had been to play linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
      I couldn't wait to get to high school to start my dream. I showed up at my first high school practice so excited I could barely breathe. The first several days were nothing but running and calisthenics though. Every chance I got though I went to the coach and asked him if I could play linebacker. A couple weeks in to it coach decided we were going to have a scrimmage against the varsity. So naturally I ran up to coach and did my, let me play linebacker song and dance,  he agreed.
      All geared up and fired up I lined up for the first play. I was starting to live my dream. I flexed my fingers, snarled and watched the receiver go in motion and I listened to the QB's cadence. I saw the running back twitch and scan my side of the field, It's a running play I just new it, and I was right.
      The tight end fired off the line and came right at me, I saw him grinning like a fool just before he made contact with me . The next thing I saw was a gray August sky. Coach was kneeling over me "Harmon, you ok?" I could barely breathe so coach leaned in to hear what I was saying. "Coach, can I play tight end?"
      I still want to play linebacker for the Steelers I'm just not delusional enough to think it can still happen, but I still do have dreams, I still dream of being a writer and I am giving it one last shot. My oldest Son has always wanted to be a pro soccer player. He's still young enough to give it a shot, and I worry when he acts like he's done with his dream. He wants to get a job and start a normal boring life, I say "Son take every shot, no matter how crazy, at your dreams before you settle, or you'll regret it." I support you.
        Life is hard when you're miserable and unsatisfied. Life is impossible when you have nothing to dream about. Quinn Pitcock is in Seahawks training camp this summer giving his dream another shot. I'm here taking one too. Don't ever give up on dreams, even if an unforeseen hit changes it's direction, even that's progress, and if anyone knows where I can get a hold of a Millennium Falcon cheap please let me know.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The first rule in the zombie survival guide is-

ALWAYS FIGHT WITH A FRIEND

THE ULTIMATE IN CO-OP GAMING