songbird's crazy world

interesting article on superstitions It always fascinates me how superstitions work, and why people believe.  This article explains the origins of thirteen superstitions. though honestly, I never knew about the Jewish superstition to always keep something in the oven.  Guess you learn new things every day. Don't Kiss a Mustachioed Man: The Origins of 13 Weird Superstitions   Monica Garske AOL News (Sept. 23) -- We're surrounded by superstitions every day -- don't walk under a ladder, don't step on a crack, avoid black cats -- but where do these beliefs come from and why do we follow them? More importantly, are superstitions the real deal or just real silly? British author Harry Oliver has just released in the U.S. " Black Cats & Four-Leaf Clovers " (Perigee), a book that explores the origins of superstitions and old wives' tales from around the world. Today, AOL News delves into 13 of Oliver's weirdest and wackiest superstitions and...

(cross posted at Midcentury Modern Moms ) With two kids in college I've become somewhat fluent in the language of financial aid -- FAFSA, Pell Grant, Stafford loan, PLUS loan, scholarship..... I was browsing the federal government website, I needed to make a payment on my Parent PLUS loan, when I opened the link to my "account history" and disocvered.... the government never forgets. There, in detail, were all of the student loans I'd taken out "back in the day" to finance my own education.  In those days we called them "Guaranteed Student Loans."  I borrowed money for each of the three years I was an undergraduate, and for each year I was in law school.  the maximum you could borrow for undergraduate education was $2,500 per year, and $5,000 per year for grad school, so my total amount borrowed was $22,500.    That covered a good deal of my tuition, room, board and expenses.  took me 10 years to pay it all back, and worth every penny....

So, OK, I watched the premier last week.  good to see Bob and Jillian again.  they started with an anti-obesity message. It's individuals this time around, not couples or friends or relatives.   the show staff  went to 7 different cities and in each city there were 3 people competing for 2 spots on the ranch.  Really couldn't get into who's who just yet.  but it's an interesting mix of characters. I'm thinking it's time to go back to Weight Watchers.  I'm feeling gross and disgusting.  And the next WW at Work cycle begins today.  Wish me luck.

So a group of us went to play Monster Golf. It's very much like any other game of miniature golf, except it's done indoors.   The course is laid out on a black carpet.  Everything is painted with fluorescent paint and the room is lit by black lights.The theme, of course, is "monsters". You enter through the cemetery gates: This box actually moves: And try hitting the ball when this beast is roaring at you: Jimmy Buffett's worst nightmare: And the scariest hole, the 18th:

Your thoughts? I like to hang out with friends as much as anyone, but I'm not wild about block parties. There have been several such parties in Drew's neighborhood this summer, including one last night.  They block off a portion of the street for the party, play their music  very loud, and create a parking nightmare for all the surrounding blocks.  I usually park my car in front of Drew's house when I'm there.  That is, unless there's a block party and someone took "my" spot.  (I'd love to park on his driveway -- there's room for two cars, but one of his house mates has a non-working vehicle semi-permannetly located on the driveway.) I wonder if any of these parties had a permit?

I occurs to me that I don't have anything definitive planned for this weekend, or the next, or the next.... Drew mentioned that he wants to try Monster Golf.   Apparently that's mini golf played indoors and in the dark.  reminds me of the moonlight bowling events we did back in the 80's.  We've got friends who are interested, so we're going to try to set something up.... but we don't have theater tickets or concert tickets or party plans or anything....that used to be my norm, when my kids were younger and I was car pool mom extrordinaire.  But that hasn't been the norm lately....gotta start planning!

The last Friday of every month is Denim Day at our office. Employees are permitted to wear jeans to work that day -- usually we're business casual -- if they donate to whatever charity the company is sponsoring that day. We've donated to the American Red Cross, the American Cancer Society, the Boys and Girls clubs of America....It's an easy way to raise money for worthy causes. So if you see me in my jeans today, I'm not playing hooky, I'm doing my part.