the tailpipe of my (dad's) beloved blue rav4

this is an actual conversation that happened just last night...

maddy:  anna, can i drive your car to school again tomorrow?

anna:  [chuckles]

maddy:  why are you laughing?

anna:  because you think that my car is dumb.

maddy:  i know, but after driving it yesterday, i realized that the inside is really nice.  i mean like really nice and it is nice to drive a car that does not require hard manual labor to drive.  even though the outside of your car is ugly,  the inside makes up for it.

anna:  i know this.  so how did you get out of tesoro without your student id card yesterday?

maddy:  oh juan, the really nice proctor, just said, "its ok sweetheart, you can go."

anna:  [laughs]  oh i like him.  he is the one with the ponytail, right?

maddy:  [laughs]  i made up that name, but yah, he is the one that is balding and everything.

anna:  i know but i knew who you were talking about.  he is the only nice one.

anna & maddy:  [laughs]

anna:  remember that time when the tailpipe fell out of the rav in the tesoro parking lot?

maddy:  what?  how does that happen?  did anyone see you?

anna:  i don't know but i was late for school.  like maybe three people saw me and juan.  i was driving into the parking lot and i heard a scraping noise on the pavement and then the car got really loud and stopped working.  so, i turned it off and turned it back on again to see if that would fix it.  nope.  the car still wouldn't work and it was still really loud.  then juan came over and said, "honey, your tailpipe is dragging on the ground."  so he pushed my car as i steered it towards the closest (red) curb to park it on.  then he told me to call dad.

anna & maddy:  [uncontrollable/hysterical laughs]

the fundamental attribution error

yesterday, my sister told me that i look like this:

(a skunk from bambi)

you see, i have this eye problem.  dont ask what is wrong...four doctors and i dont have a clue.  my right eye (specifically) is currently protruding from my head thanks to a lot of swelling and at best opens halfway.

i remember in psychology learning about the fundamental attribution error.  it is the tendency to attribute situational things, like behaviors, to the disposition or personality of a person.  we all do it--you have to a little bit to be able to relate to people.  let me give you an example.  when people see my eye, they probably feel sympathy for me because i am a retarded person, obviously, because my eyes are not normal.  not because i have a temporary eye problem caused by an allergy or something like that.  nope.

it is something to think about.  how many times have you made the fundamental attribution error in the past week?  probably a lot.  the holidays can make people behave in strange ways...

thanksgiving highlights

i am thankful for all of the wonderful things i did over thanksgiving break, like...

(1)  i went to disneyland.  there is no better place in the world, i think.  I am grateful for the happiness that radiates from the atmosphere there.  its contagious.  i am grateful for the family time that i get to spend there.  and i am grateful for my annual pass.  it is a very tragic life without it.

 (2)  i played with the dog in the gorgeous california weather.  i am grateful for reggie's companionship.  basically, she is the best.  and the smartest. and i will miss the sunny weather profoundly.  i was not made to live in climates where the temperature dips below forty degrees and snow falls from the sky and subsequently stick to the ground for long periods of time.  nope, thats not for me.

(3) i played with my camera.  i am grateful that i can capture precious moments like this one.

and (4) i played with my sisters.  thats really my favorite part about going home.  i am so grateful for my three sisters.  i love them lots.  from going to concerts with maddy to seeing new moon with rachel to chasing liza around the house.  love.  love.  love

bubbles

my littlest sister liza is six. she loves to play, most of the time by herself. she is easily amused and finds some creative things to do.

she likes to collect things from around the house. any old thing will do. she gets all of these little things together and plays with them under the dining room table. when she is done playing, she puts everything back in its place. so if you ever lose anything at the house, maybe you didn't really lose it. liza probably knows where it is.

when i was at home during thanksgiving, i found liza in the kitchen one day doing this:




she was kind enough to let me take a few pictures...this is my favorite...


photo shoot over. "anna stop. annnnaa. what are you doing? you did not just take one more picture."

one more little gem from liza the other day..."mom i dont want anna to go to the emergency room.  then she is going to have dr. house."

the story of the mustard ring

let me tell you a little story about a certain mustard ring that caused great suffering and anguish in my life.

first, lets explore what a mustard ring is. have you ever heard of it? essentially, it is a mustard-flavored jello that is set in a small bundt, and thus shaped like a ring. i am pretty sure that it was a popular garnish for ham in the fifties, but has tragically gone out of style. i am also pretty sure that very few people under the age of thirty would venture to taste a mustard ring...it doesn't sound all that appetizing. this is what it looks like:

would you try that? no thank you.

so on to the story.

a few years ago, my mother was preparing for our annual dapper family (after) christmas party. this involved a lot of food, naturally, because everyone in the dapper family has a hearty appetite (unlike the other side of the family). unfortunately, mom's stomach was taken over by a vicious virus that caused her to be confined to the bathroom and unable to prepare any of the food for the family. luckily, i am a pretty good cook and i wasn't at all daunted by the task. with the help of booma, my mother's mother, i was convinced that i would be just fine.

the menu was all planned out. all i needed to do was throw everything together. the day of the party came, and i was ready for the marathon cooking day...i thought. booma had her own ideas about what should be on the menu. to be specific, she thought that our spread desperately needed a mustard ring. so she worked for hours (literally) making her mustard ring while i struggled and subsequently failed to get all of the food on before the family arrived.

while i warmed the ham, she prepared the mustard ring. while i peeled the potatoes, she prepared the mustard ring. while i baked the cookies, she prepared the mustard ring. while i set set the table, she was busy...preparing the mustard ring.

by the time that the family arrived, i was dead on my feet. but, thank goodness that we had that mustard ring (that no one touched...really). what would we have done without it? oh yes, we would have had the exact same meal. not one person would have missed it.

ever since that experience, i have harbored intensely bitter feelings towards mustard rings. (a) no one likes them and (b) they taste disgusting. and i love mustard. just not in a congealed form. eww.

anyways...last night booma informed me that for the dapper family christmas party this year she is going to make baby sausages in a mustard sauce. hmmm.

my christmas wish

this is was i want for christmas. donations will be accepted through december 24.

another thought gleaned from les miserables

"Thenardier was one of those double natures which sometimes pass through our midst without our being aware of the fact, and who disappear without our finding them out, because destiny has only exhibited one side of them. It is the fate of many men to live thus half submerged. In a calm and even situation, Thenardier possessed all that is required to make--we will not say to be-- what people have agreed to call an honest trader, a good bourgeois. At the same time certain circumstances being given, certain shocks arriving to bring his under-nature to the surface, he had all the requisites for a blackguard. He was a shopkeeper in whom there was some taint of the monster. Satan must have occasionally crouched down in some corner of the hovel in which Thenardier dwelt, and have fallen a-dreaming in the presence of this hideous masterpiece."

i hope that i will never find someone that i can think this of. i hope i never meet anyone as unctuous / depraved / foul / loathsome / repulsive / vile as thenardier. i hope the same for you too.