I'm taking a poll...

Okay, I know that there's a bunch of snow outside and the thought of outdoor activities makes me shudder, but for some unknown reason I was thinking about bike riding. Not motorcycle/bike, but bicycle/bike. My son (who is not yet 2) got a little dirt bike style bicycle with training wheels for Christmas...even though I told the person who bought it not to because I just bought him a tricycle. Anyway, someone brought up that I had to find a helmet to fit my little man. Though I freak out when he falls, I want him to learn that if you do crazy things, sometimes you get hurt. I can tell you that 99.9% of scars on my body came from running around outside, climbing things, falling off of things, etc. I see it as a right of passage. Every scar tells a story that makes me laugh and shake my head. Not one person that I know had a helmet to ride a bike when they were little. But it seems that now, if you don't cover your children in helmets/knee pads/ a full body pillow, that you're a horrible parent. I don't relish the thought of my son bleeding and crying for me, but I don't want him to be a wimp. Scars show that you've lived. That you tried. That you were stupid and didn't listen to your mommy, but you survived. I wish I could wrap him in a cocoon sometimes and hide him from the world, but I am somewhat disgusted by the new generation's obsession with video games/TV/cell phones/etc. When my son has children of his own, I want him to be able to say, when I was your age, I played OUTSIDE!!! With sticks and mud and bugs!!!

So, after all that, here's the poll:
Did you/do you wear a helmet while riding a bicycle?
Do you/or plan to make your kids wear helmets?

Just curious :)

Hallmark Holiday?

Valentine's Day is fast approaching. What the hell do you get a man for V-day, besides a blow job? I usually get him something small that he's been wanting, and the token suck or fuck, yet I expect (and never get) something more (usually it's flowers, maybe a card). I'm the woman. Don't I deserve something shiny? Or is this just another way for retailers to brainwash me into thinking I need something that sparkles? Usually birthdays and Christmas (now Mother's Day) is the big thing. Why the heck to we need V-Day, Sweetest Day, and all these other Hallmark Holidays? Why will we all "gather around the water cooler" on the 15th and talk about our significant others presents or lack thereof? Is it really about the present, the thought, the retail market, or the showing off? Is it just the one day to be romantic? Because, I want romance every fucking day!
Does anyone even know why we celebrate V-day? Because some monk named Valentine went to prison for trying to marry soldiers after the king/caesar/whatever you call him decided that no soldiers should marry so they could better serve him. So some kids sent him letters while he was in prison, and the Valentine was born. What the hell is Sweetest day? I'm all for presents, but aren't we getting a little bit carried away with all of this?
Of course, the princess in me really wants to delete this, but I won't let her!!!!

a cube with a view

My "office" (a blue cube) sits directly eye-level across from the Daley Center Plaza Picasso. I was treated to the sculpture wearing a Bears baseball hat this morning. I am a huge Bears fan, so I'm a little miffed that they used a baseball hat and not a helmet. Newsflash Mayor Daley the Dufus: THE BEARS PLAY FOOTBALL!!!

btw, if anyone has an extra $12-17K they'd like to use to buy me a couple Superbowl tickets, I wouldn't say no!!! :) Da Bears!!!

nickname of the week...

I'm not joking, this is for real. Some mixed race bad ass gang banger is called "Icky Red". Light skin with a reddish hue and freckles on a six foot something drug runner is supposed to justify this. I can just see it now. "Hey, Icky, got any rock?". Or how about "Icky Red runs rock down by the rowhouses". Say that ten times fast!

comments vs. compliments

I'm carrying my second alien and have already started to show. My mother told me, "you're going to look like a boat soon, just like with the first one". Gee, thanks Mom. I realized as she looked at me all innocently that she had no clue what she just said was SO WRONG! This got me thinking to all the backwards half-assed comments I've ever been the victim of. Then I started thinking about all the real compliments I've ever received. I'd say one of the best compliments I've ever received was actually nearly a decade ago, and though I've gotten quite a few since then, this one has stuck with me. I was on the bus standing next to a man in a wheelchair. He had no legs. As we reached my stop and a got ready to leave, he tells me I have really nice feet. I smile and say thank you. Then I think, he probably looks at peoples legs/feet all the time, and he told ME that I had nice feet. That is the compliment that I'll never forget for as long as I live.
So, what kind of compliment (good or backhanded) or awful comments have you gotten?

nickname of the week...

I know, you're all dying to find out this week's gang banger winner. More probable is the fact that you think I'm strange for doing this. Basically, this is more for me than for you. Anyway, this week's winner is....drum roll..."007" . Yes, a middle-aged black man is running around pretending to be super spy extraordinaire. I'm actually going to blame the parents for this one...guess what his real God-given name is? Yeah.

2007

Happy New Year! I've noticed that quite a few people are talking about New Year's resolutions. I don't make any. It's too hard to live up to my own expectations! Oh, well! Hope everyone has a safe and happy year.