Baby and a Tablet

Recently, I was at a clothing store and I saw a woman pushing her baby
in a stroller. I couldn't believe my eyes...She had a tablet computer at-
tached to the stroller. The baby looked about 6 months old, and he was
completely zoned into the cartoon that was playing on the tablet. He
should have been looking around his environment but he wasn't. The
baby had no idea what was going on around him. All he was aware of
was the cartoon sucking his attention away from a true learning experi-
ence.

Babies need to interact with people when they go out, not stare at car-
toons on their strollers. This mom doesn't realize that she's teaching
her baby that when they go out, her child will always expect some kind
of movie to be playing. I can imagine the tantrum he'll throw when the
tablet suddenly quits because it needs to be charged.

If you're a parent "entertaining" your baby with a tablet while shopping,
why don't you try attaching toys to the stroller, or simply let your baby
look around and interact with other people. Who wants a baby that's ad-
dicted to the computer before he can even talk?

Butt-Picking Girl

I've written about butt-picking before and I swear it isn't always on my
mind, but I couldn't resist telling you a positive butt-picking story.

Recently, I saw a girl around five years old digging in her butt like she
was in a butt-picking contest. Suddenly...Her grandmother spoke up,
"Get your hand out of your fanny! Do you need some more panties?"
The little girl quietly said, "No." That was the first time I had ever seen
any adult tell a child that her butt-picking was unacceptable. I was so
proud of this grandmother.

I wish butt-picking was considered inappropriate behavior. Are butt-
pickers simply suffering from dirty butts, or do they just need new
underpants?

Scared of the Pink Balloon

Yesterday, I was at a store where they give balloons to children. I saw a couple
with a boy and a girl. The salesperson asked the girl what color balloon she
wanted and the girl chose pink. But, when it was time for the boy to choose
his balloon the father spoke up, "Choose green or blue!" I couldn't believe
that the father wouldn't let his son chose his own balloon color. He didn't tell
his daughter what color to choose. The colors that were left were blue, green,
pink and orange. I watched as the little boy chose orange. I could see a sigh
of relief on the father's face. I can imagine the absolutely ridiculous argument
that could've occurred if the boy had chosen pink. Obviously the father was
scared that his son was going to chose the pink balloon.

It's shame that kids are taught at such a young age that a color can be bad
or good. This time it was balloon. The next time it could be a person.

Ever Had a Neighbor Like This?

Do you have
a rake
a needle
any Tylenol
a step stool
any new CDs?
Can I see your
Juice DVD
Boomerang DVD
your Aaliyah tape?
Can I have a ride to
McDonald's
a party
and to school?
Do you have 
some markers
a paint roller
that new Ice Cube
any clear nail polish
any white thread
an extension cord
any old newspapers?
Can I have a ride...
for the rest of the year?

Why I'm Keeping My Relaxer

I've been relaxing my hair for over 20 years, so the thought of not getting anymore
relaxers sounded like a great idea. After my last relaxer (about 6 weeks ago now)
I decided I'd research some women who have gone natural. I read through web-
sites, subscribed to newsletters, talked to women, and looked at a lot of videos
about natural hair. I've come to the conclusion that natural hair is a lot more work
than my relaxed hair.

If I was willing to cut my hair short and start completely over it wouldn't be as
much of a challenge, but I don't want really short hair. And If I decided to keep
my relaxed hair while trying to "go natural" I'd just have a head full of mess. It's
really hard to style half relaxed and half natural hair. Plus, the women that do 
have the patience to grow their natural hair long, spend hours taking care of it.
I give props to any woman with that kind of patience.

I know relaxers are full of chemicals and I'm a chemical hater, but I'd rather
give myself a relaxer every 7 weeks than spend hours a week styling my hair.
That's why I'm keeping my relaxer.

Weird Design #1

Weird Design #1

I decided to create this weird design.
I design because I'm weird.
I create because It's my passion.

Create something because it makes you happy.
Create a happiness from your mind.
Create because you can.

Passion can come in many forms.
Passion can take you very far.
Passion can turn your sadness into happiness.

Child on a Leash

Your child is on a leash
I wonder what you're thinking.
Maybe you meant to leash your dog.
I guess you've just been drinkin'
"No" you say, you meant to strap a leash on to your child.
You tell me that it works real well
and that your son is wild.
It doesn't matter if the leash looks like a teddy bear.
It's really strange I have to say
I just can't help but stare.
Your child is on a leash and I hope it's not too tight.
No matter what the reason is
I still don't think it's right.

Positive Weirdness

Are you the type of person that stands out or do you just blend in? 
I believe that you should make sure that when you decide you want to
stand out you should find positive ways to do it.

There are so many ways to be weird in a positive way. I'm stressing the word
positive because some people decide that negative weirdness is the way to go
and that's just not true.

Ways to have positive weirdness:

• Change your hair color to something unusual
• Get an uncommon haircut
• Wear your make up in a creative way
• Modify your clothes and wear them differently
• Buy an odd outfit you wouldn't normally wear
• Change the way that you trim your beard
• Wear an extra large mustache
• Dance on the dance floor alone before anyone else does
• Ask someone a weird question
• Wear a strange hat

Raw Meat and Vinyl Gloves

I like cooking, but I hate touching raw meat, so I wear vinyl gloves to keep the
meat germs off of my hands. I haven't always been this way, but now I'm a major
germophobe. When I touch raw meat I feel like I can't get the greasy fat particles
off, and I don't like the thought of having raw meat under my fingernails.

When I see someone touch raw meat and mix it with their bare hands I always think
about how gross it is. Oh...and if someone is mixing meat while wearing a watch and
rings, I really get squeamish. How could you not worry about getting meat stuck in
your rings?

If you've been wanting to fix a recipe requiring raw meat and you've not wanted it to
touch your bare hands now all you have to do is purchase some vinyl gloves, and
make that meal you've been dreaming of.

UPDATE: I no longer use vinyl gloves because they contain cancer causing
chemicals. Use Nitrile gloves instead.

"Fun" at the Health Insurance Marketplace

I just spent over two hours trying to obtain dental insurance for my son. I've been
dreading going to the Health Insurance Marketplace, because I heard so many
horror stories about it. I figured by now though things would be running a little more
smoothly.

I filled out information about myself then I had to create a username, password,
then give them an email address, so they could then email me to tell me to go back
to the marketplace website to finish my application. When I went back and finished
the application I thought I was set to pick out the dental insurance, but the section I
needed to click on was mysteriously "locked." I ended up calling the marketplace's
phone number for help and after an hour on the phone I was told that, "because 
you didn't pick out a health plan first, we cannot simply give you dental insurance on 
its own." The representative was really polite, but it would've been nice to have 
known that information before I spent an hour filling stuff out online! All I wanted 
was dental insurance, so that was all I applied for. So if you only need dental insur-
ance be warned, you have to pick out a health insurance plan first and if the plan you 
choose doesn't include dental insurance... then you can choose a dental plan.

We're Being Watched

I don't understand why the news is making such a big deal about how we're being
watched by the government. The government has always and will always watch us.
What is the big deal? If you're not doing anything wrong I don't think you have any-
thing to worry about. I guess paranoid people shouldn't use the telephone, a com-
puter, or even leave the house.

Does it bother you when everyone else watches you?

We're being watched by people and businesses like...

• your neighbors
• websites you visit
• retail stores
• grocery stores
• doctor's offices
• schools
• police officers
• cameras on street corners
• your TV may be watching you too