WHAT SWITZERLAND HAS BEEN WORKING ON

It has been working on improving the spaghetti plate.

(Thanks to Lisa White)

Comments

[kibby F5™]

Oh, all that was about Grey's Anatomy?

Well, suppose 1. I don't need to watch it now, 2. IF that's what it's all about (sleeping around) I don't think I really need to watch it anyhow.

We know what happened to 3.

[slyeyes]

Kibby, by any chance, did you tape and watch Rules of Engagement this past Monday?

[slyeyes]

OK, off to work where I'm BANNED from the blog.

Catch you all later.

[«LabSpecimen»]

Looks like Jeff and Kibby have the runs this morning.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Lab, the Steely Dan tickets went on sale at 9:00. At 9:01 the mid-price tickets were - apparently - already sold out. Have you been up to your old tricks again?

I wasn't about to pay $154 a ticket so we opted for the "cheap" seats - a mere $54 each.

You pay a heavy price to see concerts in New York.

[«LabSpecimen»]

Wow. I'm seeing 60 bands, including Steely Dan (ok, I won't actually be seeing them, but I could) for about the same price.

I'm not saying that I'm getting a better deal, but... ok, that's what I'm saying.

[kibby F5™]

sly, I didn't get it programmed in time. I'm set for next week though! Seems Monday's a popular TV day.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Me too, in New Orleans.

Good thing we're getting that refund.

[Leetie]

Ski poll:

What is your favorite thing about skiing?

* The mountains!
* The hottubs!
* Apres ski nightlife!
* The polls!
* The poles!
* The Poles!

[Leetie]

And in sports news...

Virginia Commonwealth University upset Duke.
And I thought George Mason University was a nobody.

[Jeff Meyerson]

The Pivo!

[«LabSpecimen»]

* The bikinis!

[Fish]

* The Hot Czechs!

[Eleanor]

*zips in*

I bet everyone in an office March Madness pool is pretty upset about Duke.

Answer: $3.19, $3.29.

[kibby F5™]

*knows EXACTLY where to find the pivo drinking, bikini wearing, hot Czechs!* ;-)

[Jeff Meyerson]

Wow, hot Czechs indeed.

I think the only reason Duke got a #6 seed was that they were Duke. Any other team with their record would have been a #10, maybe.

I noticed a few commentators picked Oral Roberts to win but they were wrong. I wonder what Oral thinks.

And in other religious news (nice segue, right?), in checking the ages of a few of the Grey's Anatomy guest stars from last night, I discovered this surprising (to me, at least) fact:

Both Roger Rees (who became an American citizen in 1989) and Mare winningham are converts to Judaism.

[kibby F5™]

.... terrible place to live ....

[Fish]

Hey now, don't go sinking your teeth into Oral. Us ins around here don't much care for that. ;)

*celebrates St. Paddys day Prematurely*

*dumps orange powder into the Moat water with one hand, while holding his Guinness in the other*

*watches it turn flourescent GREEN*

*burps*

[kibby F5™]

PIVO:30!

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

Good morning! Happy St Paddy's Day! I'm there already.. it's also my eldest niece's 15th birthday. So HBD to (my) Sarah!

Grey's - Alex (Karev) gave the nurse the STD, and she passed it on to George. I remember George finding out and giving Karev a black eye. I'm 99% sure that Denny wasn't well enough for long enough for Izzy to sleep with him. Wanted to, definitely, but I don't see it happen.

*hums along with Liberty Valance*
*throws green pants on Lab's lawn* He'll have trouble finding those - they're the same colour as the grass

In a random programming note, I'm up too damn early

[Mad Scientist Weasel]

throws green skirt on Lab's lawn. Doesn't run away, but stays and does a strip tease for the lawn gnome.

[Jeff Meyerson]

It's Saturday, Kaf. Take it easy.

Oh wait, isn't the birthday party today?

It's really icy out there and of course too many drivers are just not being careful enough. The Turnpike & Parkway in New Jersey are littered with accidents.

[Brian B]

Afternoon MOATies! A very happy early St. Patty's Day to one and all, aye and begorrah.

Seriously, I am so f#@$%^&ing ready to go home and start the festivities a bit early.

Tomorrow will definitely be a Guinness fueled day. I went to Costco and picked up a 15 pack of the brown gold. At this point and based on the day I have had so far, I don't know if that'll be enough.

Fish,
Are you going to Beaver this weekend?

[Trillian]

*flings undergarment on Lab's lawn*
Erin no Bra!

[«LabSpecimen»]

*looks out across the front lawn*

I hate Fridays.

*pours a martini*

[Fish]

*SPEWS Guinness stout Fishnostrils for Trillian*

No B.Twin - In March, every Sat. I've had to work and at the end of the month is the dreaded once a year INVENTORY. So, the benefit of that is, I'll be at Arnie's under the tent drinking FREE Guinness behind the stage with the boys in the band. Me uncle's band that is - LARKIN

(also, speaking of responsible behavior, my custody eval is still under way, but I have done my 4 hours of face to face with a pysch, and I took a 575 question True or False, hand written, personality test that took over 2 hours, and now we are waiting on a court order to get her to attend the same, otherwise she wouldn't. so, i'm still not any nearer to getting this thing behind me. but I will call a cab.)

[Leetie]

*snork @ Erin*

[Fish]

(and, I have kept lil fish for the past 4 weeks straight, we keep him temporarily, alternating a week at a time, and she has opted not to watch him the last two times and has seen him a total of maybe all but 5 minutes in one months time. Does anyone find that cRaZY?! or am I crazy??)

[Brian B]

Can't it be both?

[«LabSpecimen»]

The poor kid needs a mom. But not THAT mom. Find him a new one. Any takers?

[Mad Scientist Weasel]

I would love to be a mom. Does that mean I have to stop doing my strip tease for the gnome on your lawn Lab? I think the little fellow was just starting to enjoy the green pasties and thong

[Mad Scientist Weasel]

hmm no comment from anyone. I guess I am not cut out to be a mother or a gnome stripper.

*sob*

[neophyte]

Mad, you can be my mom. Of course, the age thing might be a problem.
And while I'd be a terrible Mom to Li'l Fish, I would love to be his Aunt.

*still giggling at Trillian*

[BigD®]

Fish, yes, she is so self involved right now she is not a good mom. Be a good dad and the youngun' will be fine. All I know is what you have shared with us, and at this point, yes she is nuts. We know you are nuts too, but in a GOOD WAY. We will pray for you and the little fish.

AKKK, the wife is watching RR and "yummo", "sammies", "EVOO", etc. are making me CRAZY.

60 today, gas about $2.50.

[insomniac]

mad scientist - we were just waiting to see how long you would keep stripping (and given today's weather it would take a long time)...

fish - hang in there, i can't give any advice on acting normal, though...

off topic* valerie plame (ex-cia spy) is pretty hot, and (joke removed about her being 'under cover' while they are preparing my suite at git-mo . i hear the big sport down there is called waterboarding, is that like shuffleboard?) it's difficult to see her infiltrating any covert groups.

"brothers of the struggle against the west, there is a leak in our group. it is either abdul-aziz or the tall blond american woman, how shall we decide?"

[Jeff Meyerson]

Bummer, Fish. Crappy mother indeed.

I am so glad we didn't have to drive today as it is ugly out. In our area it's been sleeting and freezing raining pretty much all day, though north of the city they got all snow and south (hi, Leets!) it was more rain. It should end overnight.

/end weather

[Eleanor]

*snork* at insom

Excellent evaluation of the Valerie Plame situation. :)

Hang in there Fish! I'm available for hugs or anything moral support whenever you need some. ;)

[Mad Scientist Weasel]

Ummm I think it hit 90 here today so stripping is NOT a problem in SoCal.

Gas prices for regular unleaded vary from $3.03-3.30 on my drive to work. Yes this is within 10 miles a 30 cent difference. Although that was this morning everything has probably gone up by a few pennies as it seems to daily.

Fish in all seriousness it is probably better if she isn't around your son until she gets herself straightened out. Not fun for little fish nor you, but probably for the best.

*offers whiskey shots to the gnome*
What it worked on Grey's anatomy last night?

[Mad Scientist Weasel]

Neo - I would love to be your mom as long as breast feeding is not involved.
NTTAWWT Ok maybe there is.

*sorry (or not) for the mental image)

goes to look for brain bleach

[Leetie]

Fish, did she have to go through the same psych evaluation?

[Mad Scientist Weasel]

Leetie - If I read Fish's comment correctly he was seeking a court order to require her to get the same evaluation.

I'm off for the evening. If the craptastic company of charter "you will never communicate with the outside world again" communications manages to fix our cable and internet you may see Weasel or I around this weekend. Otherwise everyone have a happy, safe, fun, drunk, green St. Patty's day!!!

*tosses pasties and g-string to the gnome and disappears*

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

Is everyone saving their revelry for St Patrick's Day?

Fishy.. I'm single, great with kids (I even have certificates to prove it!) a lot of fun to play with, and I'd love to move to Beaver. I think the only downside to the whole situation (for you, anyway) is that I don't eat fish.

*sprinkles shamrocks (and a few real ones) around the Moat*

*fills drinks vat with shamrocks*

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

Question - does anyone else here watch Antiques Roadshow (UK or US) and just KNOW that the people who say "It's not about how much it's worth, it's the sentimental value that makes me love it" will be hocking their sentimentally valuable item on eB@y as soon as they can get their skinny little asses out of the studio set? Or is it just me?

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

Daylight Savings Time begins in another couple of hours. I'm gona miss my Susan in the morning!!

[Jeff Meyerson]

"It's not about how much it's worth, it's the sentimental value that makes me love it"

Kaf, I don't watch the show more than occasionally (my father loves it) but yes, you're (not yore) right. It's the same as professional athletes who say "it's not about the money, it's about winning the World Series (or Super Bowl)" to explain & justify why they went for the big bucks.

As Mike Lupica & other sportswriters have pointed out: it's always about the money in such cases.

The snow/sleet/ice/freezing whatever finally ended overnight but it's still frozen. We didn't get much of an accumulation but it was all frozen. I'm waiting for it to melt to move the car.

/end weather

Traffic, anyone?

[slyeyes]

It's Saturday; no traffic.

Current temp: 32

Gas Prices: $2.41

Right ankle: Purple and puffy.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Wha' hoppened?

/end Ricky Ricardo impression

[Jeff Meyerson]

Out Dancing With the Stars again, sly?

[Jeff Meyerson]

Current temp: 28.

Gas: $2.77.

[Leetie]

*giggles at Jeff's unintentional pun*

(((Sly!!!)))

Speaking of Dancing With the Stars, I saw a commercial for the upcoming premiere. Apolo Anton Ohno is one of the dancers. I think I may have the hots for him. I set my TiVo to record it.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Who said it was unintentional?

[slyeyes]

Yesterday, I stepped on it "wrong" when reaching the bottom step of a flight of stairs. It didn't bother me too much yesterday; but it wasn't happy when I woke up this morning.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Maybe you should get an x-ray. When Jackie did that she broke bones in both of her feet!

[neophyte]

*loves Sly some ice*

*and a drink for it to go in*

[Eleanor]

ROFL, neo!

Excellent idea. :)

[bbescuela]

Kaf, when I watch Antiques Roadshow, I keep waiting for someone to yell "SOLD" when the guy tells them how much he thinks their crap is worth. "Write me a check and it's yours!" would be my response.

My experience with art auctions has me convinced they're full of it. I had occasion to sell a modest art collection at Butterfield and Butterfield a few years ago. I was totally naive going in. They went through the collection with me, giving me their opinion on value, and making recommendations as to what I could expect at auction. I signed a contract, using their recommendations on setting reserve prices for each piece. The contract included fees for storage, insurance, listing in the catalogue, photography, video, remote auction listing, seller's premium (commission) and a few more that I can't remember. Plus I would pay a seller's premium (based on the reserve price) if the items did not draw a bid above the reserve (that they set). It was especially bothersome since the auctioneer can decide how much time to take and how hard to work on each lot. If he doesn't want to try, you have to pay anyway.

Needless to say, they made more money than I did. In fact, I got a statement from them once for a lot of three paintings they sold as one lot. After all the fees, I owed them $15! I called them up to argue, telling them I could have thrown them away for free. They waived the fee after that argument.

One print they could not authenticate through their extensive research, I authenticated myself by looking it up in a book at a college. It was a Miro print. They wanted to list it as "attributed to Joan Miro" which is auction speak for "this is a fake." I kept it and sold it on ebay for five times their estimate.

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

Okay, my last post last night should have read Daylight Savings Time ENDS, not begins.

I would might have gotten my extra hour's sleep, except that my cellphone doesn't auto-correct, and went off at it's usual time, which is technically an hour early today. It has since been fixed.

Beebs - good for you!

Sly - take care of yourself! I got a text from my brother yesterday which said "what do you know about white-tail spider bites?" Turns out he got bitten on the ankle by what he thinks was a white-tail, and he's still a bit sore this morning.

*attempts to inject some cheer into the proceedings*

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

Let's try the last link again, this time while closing the tags

HAPPY GREEN BEER DAY!!

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

Helloooooo.. is anyone home?

Is it just me or does the blog clock still need fixing?

[rita]

Justin Timberlake just walked into the lobby of the hotel where I'm staying this weekend.

The crowd (pageant girls) went wild.

[rita]

Hi, Kaffy--I didn't mean to be rude. I was so excited that...

*rolls eyes*

[rita]

The friend that my daughter drove up with has a room on the opposite side of the hotel; she said that Justin got out of his tour bus, walked around it, changed his shirt outside in freezing weather, and instead of going in the back door inconspicuously, walked to the front of the hotel and went into the lobby. Which was full of pageant girls and their moms.

Sly--I second that you have your ankle checked; I broke mine by just slipping on a perfectly dry sidewalk.

[slyeyes]

My ankle is ok. I iced it, propped it up, popped ibuprofen. It's gone down, is changing colors as bruises usually do and doesn't hurt.

Much.

I wore high heels every day this week, and I think that had something to do with it. It's been awhile since I've worn heels that often and I believe my ankle was protesting.

[rita]

I'm glad that it's feeling better.

[Susan]

*pinches everyone not wearing green*

*debates playing with html to post in green*

*decides not to*

Sooo....where is everyone tonight?

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

Probably off drinking green beer, Susan.

Well, my Sunday was lovely. It was a mild, virtually windless day, with a huge thunderstorm and pouring rain. All of this, of course, happened when I was in town getting some grocery shopping done. It was quite wonderful to watch and listen to.

CSI is on in 10 minutes. Toodles!

[Leetie]

Jeff: I did. ;)

And you've got to have REALLY brittle bones if x-rays can break them.

bb: That's a horrible story. Except for the last part.

I was a fairly successful seller on eB@y for awhile. I stopped selling when they bought P@ypal. I find it despicable to collect double fees from sellers -- firstly, they force sellers to accept credit card payments if using paypal; "paypal" collects 5% of the final sale on the credit card transaction itself, and "ebay" collects 5% of the final sale as well. ba$tards. I'd understand a flat fee per credit card transaction. But now it's not even worth it to try to sell stuff.

[Leetie]

OOPS. I didn't continue to substitute @ for a. I hope the sp@mmers don't come for me. In my defense, I'm really, really, REALLY tired.

As soon as the coffee kicks in, I'm gonna whip up some bacon and pancakes PAAKES.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Hi, all. Quiet weekend on the MOAT. Glad your ankle is OK, sly.

I spent much of yesterday finishing the book I was reading, the latest Kate Shugak tale by Dana Stabenow. Her books don't make me want to move to Alaska but I like reading about it.

Kaf, do you have the new J.D. Robb book yet? Jackie is #8 (of 79) on the library's list, and is about to reread the previous one (Mavis gives birth) in preparation.

Last night we went to the city for our concert. It was snowy and slushy, especially on the street corners, and still pretty darn cold for March 17 in New York, but overall not too bad.

The concert was fantastic - The Levon Helm Band. The former drummer of The Band had throat cancer & chemo in the 90s but has been back singing for over two years. He performs regularly near his home in Woodstock, NY and gathers all kinds of musicians to play with him.

He started out with a real New Orleans (or at least Louisiana) sound, which was obviously helped by the presence of Allen Toussaint ("Yes We Can Can") and Dr. John ("Such a Night"). Later he did a bunch of bluegrassy songs (he played the mandolin and was accompanied by fiddle & accordion, as well as the drums & guitars), including "Evangeline".

He did a lot of Band songs too. They played from 9:15 (after two opening acts) to 11:35.

Great show.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Levon Helm.

Rita, where are you? What is this, your granddaughter's pageant?

And what's Justin doing there?

[slyeyes]

*enters, covered in flour*

Hi, all. Just baking some quick breads for Meghan to take on her trip to Florida; banana and pumpkin.

I've never been a big fan of Antiques Road Show; but I loved what they did with it on Frazier. Namely the "veneer" drinking game.

[slyeyes]

Hello????????????????????????????????????

[Eleanor]

Hello. :)

How's tricks?

[Tricks]

cosi cosi.

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

Hi!

I have a cat on my lap. I think she's trying to apologise for waking me twice last night (the first time at 3:30, when I refused to feed her, second time about 10 minutes before my alarm went off) Grrrrrr.

Jeff.. I've got it (Innocent In Death) on order - it hasn't been published here yet, and I'm #39 on the waiting list, which means, hopefully that they'll order plenty of copies and I'll get it pretty quickly. I'm usually higher on the list, but I forgot to check for it regularly.

Sly, I remember that episode of Frasier! Excellent! Then again, I've loved Frasier since he got his own show (I found him a little like a one-trick pony [with the occasional standout, usually thanks to Lilith] on Cheers)

It's too soon for it to be Monday already.

[Jeff Meyerson]

It's too soon for it to be Monday already.

*checks calendar - 'Sunday' - oh, yeah, New Zealand*

We went out for a walk and brunch. The sun is out and it was fairly pleasant, despite the snow. Unfortunately, Jackie has had a sudden attack of (apparently) arthritis behind her left knee (normally her 'good' leg) and has trouble when sitting too long. Walking seems to be relatively good for it.

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

Ouch! *loves Jackie some Voltaren*

[Crash]

Did someone mention canpakes?

[Susan]

Kaf, you're lucky to have a cat on your lap. One of our cats is quite annoyed with me. He needs hairball medicine right now, so guess who gets to give it to him? He doesn't like it, although I don't know if it's the texture or the taste. It smells kind of like molasses...I have to smear it on his mouth and let him lick it off. Fortunatly the every day doses will stop soon.

Two random notes...I just got a pair of Crocs. They are ugly shoes, but very very comfortable. And unlike some of my comfie shoes, they don't make my knee hurt when I wear them.

And secondly, chai tea is goooood. I tried it this week for the first time. It is wonderful stuff. Had it twice yesterday actually.

I do live on the edge, don't I?

[Jeff Meyerson]

A friend of ours is into chai tea, too, Susan, and gave us some last time we saw him. Good stuff.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Where is everybody?

My parents called with an amazing (to me at least) story. A friend of theirs needed a kidney transplant and his daughter was a match and volunteered to give him one of hers. They did the operation on Tuesday - laporoscopically! - and he went home on Friday!!!

That seems incredible to me.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Also, at age 68 Diana Rigg looks at least 10 years older.

[Blogchik]

((((FISH))))))

Grey's Anatomy does sound like Musical Beds. I'm impressed at how well ya'll have kept track.

I had a nice weekend at home. The drive down was terrible due to snow/wintry mix, but it was totally worth it. I needed a break from this place.

rita, Justin Timberlake sounds just as conceited as I always imagined him!

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

*crawls into Moat*
*curls up in cosy hammock*

Today's toddler bathtime spelling lessons (courtesy of foam bathtub letters)
What animal says "Quack Quack"?
What animal says "Meoooow"?
Where does Kathy go when she leaves for the day?

[kibby F5™]

Fish - "custody testing"? Why don't 'they' require that for want-to-be parents!? It always irks me that while you're married you're (not your) considered a fine parental unit but once you get divorced you're questionable! What's happened to make 'them' change their minds!? "love lost" between parents = questionable parenting???? doesn't get it, and hopes a "SOCIAL" worker asks ... "EXCUSE ME! WHO died and made YOU responsible for my child!?"

/mini rant - feels for fish (I said FOR folks!)

Susan - "chai tea". Isn't that the tea that sprouts if you leave it in the glass too long?

kibby's weekend story, but FIRST! a side note, F2 painted her face green for St. Pats! ... hoping to get a photo soon! ...back to this weekend...

kibby decided this was the year his boat would get a new paint job. Well, he's taken allot of parts home for sanding and varnish/painting. The varnishing's coming out ok, but the painting S_CKS! This is expensive "boat" paint (read: $50 per quart) and after 1 coat IT PITTED DURING THE DRYING PROCESS!! So, it's back to sanding it down and trying to figure out what went wrong (either planted them too close together, or too deep - to quote a chicken farming joke). kibby's considering buying sand paper by the train load...

[Kaffy In Disguise (With Glasses)]

*waves at day shift*

*sets out coffee and paakes with fresh fruit*

[kibby "There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line."F5™]

COFFEE!

[«LabSpecimen»]

Happy Thursday, everyone!

My reason for not visiting the MOAT over the weekend: It's not at all interesting. Although I'm sorry I missed Leetie's brilliant post about the bone-crushing x-ray!

Most Random Post of the Weekend goes to: Also, at age 68 Diana Rigg looks at least 10 years older.

Post I most Disagree With: Justin Timberlake sounds just as conceited as I always imagined him!

I don't think it's conceit if it is a smart business decision.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Good morning. And thanks to Lab for the award.

What do I win?

What happened was, Jackie was watching her last Nora Roberts/Ovary Channel movie (Angels Fall). After it was over she was switching around semi-randonly and settled on "The Best of Masterpiece Theatre" on PBS. (Winner: Upstairs Downstairs.) One of the actors they interviewed was Ms. Rigg, hence the comment.

Kibby, amen on the parenting comments. I stand with you and "Tod" (Keanu Reeves) in Parenthood, who memorably said:

You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, to drive a car - hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-re@ming @sshole be a father.

[Jeff Meyerson]

randomly

And pypetad forgot my information again.

[«LabSpecimen»]

Thanks for setting up a segue for me, Jeff. Speaking of PBS: As a regular volunteer for my favorite public radio station, I'd like to take a moment to remind everyone: If you enjoy the programming from public television or public radio, please consider making a donation. These stations cannot continue to bring you the great programming you enjoy without public funding.

Thank you. *steps down*

[DDi]

*claps*

I'm a huge fan of the concerts our PBS brings us, but to buy the dvd's/cd's they sell can be very very costly. So instead, I decided to just make a monthly donation. It may not be much, and in the end it would equate to the dvd's they sell, but at least I'm not out the $200 up front.

And, GOOD MORNING!

[kibby "There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line." F5™]

CAR!

[«LabSpecimen»]

*moves Di up a few notches on his list*
Thanks, Di, for making my day. *smile*

[Jeff Meyerson]

Lab, add me to the "donates every year" list.

[«LabSpecimen»]

*moves Jeff up a couple notches, too*

But I'm NOT emailing you a *smooch* so don't even wait for it.

[kibby F5™]

*doesn't get a chance to watch PBS*

darn, misses again....

*wonders which channel it's on*

[Eleanor]

Channeling sly:

Kibby, I have another punchline to the chicken farming joke: Send me a soil sample.

[DDi]

*licks lips, and distributes slobber evenly*
*plants a wet one on Lab*

[rita]

Jeff, we were in Charlottesville, VA, and it was for a pageant, but it was one that A won last year and had to come back to crown this year or she didn't get her prize money.

I agree that it's pretty good for business for Justin to change his shirt in sight of so many windows, most of which had little girls and nutso pageant mommies behind them. My daughter said that he was in pageants when he was younger and won a car at age 10.

This is the first time that I've noticed just how insecure most of these girls and women are. It's been obvious from the first pageant I attended that the mommies are driven and probably living through their little girls, but I'd never noticed that the girls are terrified of any tiny fault (uneven hem, scuffed shoes). It really isn't a realistic view of life (ya think?) and they're pretty sheltered, except from meanness and criticism. I don't like the atmosphere at all and don't like seeing my little granddaughter exposed to all this crap and becoming more and more worried about her hair and clothes.

And my grandson, B2--he thinks that one gets attention by putting on a dress and posing. He got his big break on Saturday night when there was a Daddy Longlegs pageant. J asked him if he wanted to go on stage in a dress and makeup--"YES!!!" He was ecstatic. He modeled (he's watched A enough to know what to do) and waved and danced and laughed and high-five the men who were in the contest.

Later that night, he said he had to put on the dress and shoes and go back down to the stage to get his crown and banner (which weren't given for that contest, and he didn't win anyway). He was mollified when J "crowned" him with A's crown and put her banner on him. Again, he was so happy.

It's really pathetic and more than a little scary. He's such a cute little boy in his on right, but he craves public attention.