Roundup - sans flooding talk

I refuse to blog about the rain. I'm too sick of it. I don't want to talk about it. Instead, I think I may do a roundup. I haven't done one of those in a while. Here are things on my mind:

1. Don't bring your children to work. I know school is out. I know daycare is expensive. And I realize that you're child is good and mature and a joy to be around. But I can't emphasize this enough: no one else wants to spend their whole day with your kid - particularly if they have grown-up work stuff to do. Should I say it again? Because it's important. People do not want to spend their whole day with someone else's kid unless it's their job to do so, meaning they are a daycare worker or a babysitter. I am neither of those things, and neither are most, if not all, of your co-workers.

2. Don't name your kids something weird. I realize it's all about YOU and how cool YOU are because you were able to think up something weird and you had the balls to step outside the norm and actually name your child after fruit or a musical instrument, but for chrissake, the kid has to live with that name for the rest of his life. Every single year, he has to endure the snickers and teasing from other kids, correct teachers who can't believe someone seriously named their child something that stupid and bizarre and try to normalize the name, and then they hit adolescence, and well, isn't being 15 bad enough without being named after Superman's father? Then there's whole "being taken seriously" as an adult. Just set your desperate need for attention and to be "creative" and "individual" aside and give them a name that isn't scarring at worst and annoying at best.

3. Paula Abdul has some new reality show/documentary thing about to start, where cameras follow her around and record her bitter and somewhat paranoid daily ravings. No good can come of this, Paula. If it's not too late, consider pulling the plug. Don't say no one told you.

4. I watched a documentary about the Statue of Liberty the other night. It made me cry. I love this country. I really hope we're able to not only survive against the people trying to take us down, from within and without, but prosper in the ideals this country was founded upon. We really are the best thing going. Why do you think so many people want to come here? I haven't noticed Iran struggling with how to handle a massive immigration problem.

5. I also this week watched a documentary about Niagara Falls. Amazing! I really MUST get up to see it one of these days. I've said that for years, and I haven't made it up there, but now that I know even more about the falls, and I'm even more awed than ever about them, I've just got to make it a point to see them with my own eyes. That and the Grand Canyon. Can you believe I haven't seen the Grand Canyon? Me neither. Oh, and Mount Rushmore. Gotta see that. Man, there's still so much cool stuff to see that I haven't seen yet! And this is all just in the U.S. Don't even get me started on all the international trips I want to take! Travel rocks.

6. And last but not least for today, apparently Mitt Romney's name translates to "sticky rice" in Chinese. Yahoo has a story about how all the U.S. presidential candidates' names translate here.I don't want to know how mine translates. Unless it's something awesome, like "beautiful and brilliant flower."