Hannah is a glamour queen

Hannah has long had a love of shiny shoes.


Shiny silver Pippi Longstocking sneakers, bought in Sweden when she was 3.


Shiny pink platform sandals, bought in Sweden when she was close-enough to 4. (Diva-tastic!)

(I am now wondering about all the shiny children's shoes available in Sweden--probably a response to the dreary winters.)

And now, to complete the trinity of shininess:


Shiny silver flip-flops, bought here in Germany to replace her old, worn-out, pink rubber flip-flops.

Oops, I forgot the tennis shoes, which I think I may have already shown here:

Shiny gold swooshes on white leather, bought here in Germany, but American all the way, Baby!

Hannah is quite demure in all other aspects of her dress, so I don't mind buying her some flashy shoes if she wants.

Favorite Headline Ever

Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens

Yes, it's a bit old, but I was poking around in my favorites folder and came across it again this morning.

Welcome aboard!

About a week ago, Mr. Jooge sent me a link to an NPR piece, because it made him think of me:
Stimulating the Economy with Gay Marriage

I had read somewhere that New York was also using this argument in support of gay marriage.

Then today I read over at the Whatever, How to Save Your State Economy, Scalzi’s commentary on the MSNBC article on the same topic. Only, some commenters have rightly pointed out that $64 million in tax revenue is chump change when you are talking about a state with a deficit of $15 BILLION.

When I got the original email from Mr. Jooge, I had just been tearing up over the story of George Takei’s* wedding. He has been with Brad Altman for 21(!) years, and now they are able to be married, thanks to the change in California. The man is *71* years old. You never know—he might not have that much time left (although he looks much, much younger than that). It made me really happy to know that he will get to experience a state that many of us take for granted.

Way back in the day, John and I were not dead-set on getting married. We were committed to each other and knew that a piece of paper wouldn’t make any difference in how we felt about each other. But then we decided that getting married would make life easier (God—I can’t imagine what a nightmare moving abroad would have been if we weren’t married to each other). I am honest enough to admit that I got all gushy and tingly over throwing a wedding, and reading about George Takei, I felt that all over again on his behalf. I would have loved and honored John no matter what (as George and Brad have done for 21 years), but there was something magical about going through the ceremony, and I am tearing up again thinking about all the people who are going to get to share in that magic.

Mushy, gushy aside, just today I read a fascinating article in the NYTimes, "Gay Unions Shed Light on Gender in Marriage," on how researchers are looking at gay marriages in comparison with hetero marriages, and how they are discovering that some marital problems are not gender-specific, as previously thought. Very interesting stuff.

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* For the geek-impaired, George Takei played Sulu on the original Star Trek series.

Quote of the day

John to Hannah:
“I love you, monkey—will you translate a book for me?”

2 great tastes that taste great together

You know I love me some Avatar, and some Muppets. Here's what you get when you mix the two: Avatar, the Last Puppet Bender. Enjoy.

Muppets never get old

Hannah finished watching a Barbie movie this morning and wanted to know what to put in next. She suggested The Muppets Take Manhattan, but I didn’t feel like it. She said I had to turn in my “I appreciate the Muppets on a much deeper level than you” t-shirt if I didn’t want to watch it. She doesn’t understand that even if I didn’t feel like watching it in the first place, that doesn’t mean I won’t laugh myself sick at Dabney Coleman running up and down the hall with a Muppet chicken clamped onto his ear and Animal grabbed onto his legs, or the Swedish chef throwing popcorn in his face and singing, “Popping corn--3D!” I still got Muppet cred.

Phone message from Hannah

"Mo-om--hi, it’s me did you just try to call a few minutes ago well I’m home now and just want to talk and I was wondering what happened, like why isn’t anybody here cause like I’m here and, hel-lo shouldn’t someone be here usually? *Sigh* Ple-e-ease come ho-o-ome. Bye. Hannah."

Yes, it was all in one long breath. I was waiting for her outside her school, and she had got out 5 minutes early and taken an earlier bus home. Can I help it that I wasn't waiting at home for her when I had expected to actually ride home with her.

I like how she added her name at the end like it was a letter, or like I didn't know who it was before that.