4 kids

2nd generation.

My sea monkeys had babies! I started a sea monkey kit just after Christmas and have been faithfully feeding them and aerating their water. There were a lot of monkeys that hatched originally. When they got bigger, pairs of sea monkeys seemed to be "mating" all the time. I waited and waited for babies to come but none ever did. Occasionally, one or two of the sea monkeys would die. Last week I counted only 5 left. I was hoping they would have babies before they all died out. A few days ago I saw three of the sea monkeys stuck together, instead of the usual two. I guess that did the trick!

I am a ruler.

Here is a note that Ben gave me for Mother's Day. I love it.

What the...?

This picture hangs at the Dallas Zoo. They don't have the actual animal there. I looked it up and it turns out that it is not a cross between a turkey and chicken as the name would imply. I'd like to see a real one someday.

My religion comes from a coloring book

Recently, David has been doing a lot of research. He is working on defining his beliefs and putting those beliefs into a religion. He has spent countless hours reading, discussing, defining and redefining these beliefs. All the work he is doing is exhausting to me. Every variation in beliefs has a different definition and a different name: Agnostics, Atheists, Existentialists, Extropians, Freethinkers, Humanists, Igtheists, Materialists, Naturalists, Objectivists, Optihumanists, Positivists, Rationalists, Secularists, Skeptics, Transhumanists, Universal Immortalists, Universists and more! It's too much for me to absorb.

I told him I don't think it should be that hard. How I want to live my life is quite simple. I showed David a coloring book that I purchased two years ago to celebrate HumanLight. It has simple statements and illustrations on each page describing good ways to live, like the above "Hurting people is wrong and helping people is good.", and "Be nice and fair to everyone, including people who are different from you." and "Be kind and careful with animals." It also has reminders of the importance of Art and Science.

I don't know the name for what I believe, but I believe everything in this book.

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/colorbook.html

I'm full of rage.....to have fun

There once was a commercial for Levi's (I think) that was on MTV a long time ago. It was full of people saying random things including a lady saying, "Fine. It's over." two times. My favorite one was a boy saying "I'm full of rage...to have fun."

Sometimes when I'm full of rage and I think that, my brain automatically adds on the "to have fun" part. Then I crack up.

Why I don't want to try Netflix

It seems that everyone I talk to is using Netflix instead of Blockbuster. I don't get it. Even though my closest Blockbuster is closing, the next closest one is 1.7 miles away. I can go there WHENEVER I WANT.

Kids want a movie? We can go.
They go to bed and I want my own movie? I can go.
Something wrong with the movie? I can go back.
Don't like the movie, want to change it? Problem fixed within 10 minutes.

New releases come out on Tuesdays. Every Tuesday at 10am, I can watch the latest movies. I'll bet I couldn't do that if I used Netflix.

Netflix recently settled a class action lawsuit against them regarding limiting their rentals to those who watched a lot of movies:
http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2006/05/01/daily31.html?from_rss=1

"Subscribers who signed up for "unlimited" DVD rentals found that shipments were slowed down if they watched large numbers of DVDs and returned them quickly. Heavy renters, who use more of the postage-paid envelopes provided by Netflix, provided lower profits; critics called the approach "throttling.""

Someone who rents as much as I do would be affected by this practice.

Blockbuster now has an online rental service as well. It seems better than Netflix since you get 2 free in store rentals per month. That would help you get a new release without waiting, but there still is the problem of getting a broken DVD. Once I was in Blockbuster and a customer was speaking to the manager. She said that she was an online customer and several of the movies she received recently were damaged and unplayable. She further commented that was disappointing and also that it rarely happened when she rented the movies from the store. She asked if there was anything the store could do about it. The manager sadly told her no.

After about a year of being on the Blockbuster movie pass, I am used the instant gratification I get from it. There's no way I can stop.

McDonald's Friend

Do you ever see the same people over and over? Last summer, I was a frequent visitor to McDonald's playland. Each time I went, I saw the same woman there with her kids. One time was even on a Saturday morning for breakfast. After about the 4th or 5th time, I went over to her and said,
"I guess you like this place as much as I do."
She seemed puzzled.
"I've seen you here the last few times I've been here." I explained. She told me they come on Wednesdays after going to the library. I did not mention seeing her on Saturday too. She did not seem interested in talking further, so I went back to my table.

The very next time I went to McDonalds, she was there. I was in line and she got in line behind me.
"Hi, McDonald's friend!" I said to her.
She looked at me blankly.
"We met last time, remember." She smiled, but that was all, so I turned back around.

After summer was over I didn't go there in the afternoon anymore, so I haven't seen her there. However, since then I've seen her twice at Wal-Mart. Today I saw her for the 3rd time at Subway. I don't say anything to her, but perhaps I should change her name to "Subway friend".