FABOO MAMAInside the mind of an opinionated mama…

Remember when I used to write? When each new discovery and test and general silliness was posted here? Lots of things have happened that made me stop updating this site, in general, but I think I’m ready again. To be sure, I never stopped writing. There are 117 drafts–spanning between August 2009 and last Friday–are mocking me. And guess what? I’m going to delete them all. It’s time for a new start and to refocus on what I like.

The MINI was towed yesterday and the mechanic said it wasn’t the clutch, it was the transmission. Again. This will make it the 4th transmission in the 8 years we’ve had the car. Luckily, the first one was replaced under warranty. I believe the 2nd, we only paid half the price and the dealership covered the other half because it had been less than a year.

There comes a time when it’s not just worth it and I think we’ve come to it. The transmission issues, at least for manual cars (2002 – 2006), are known problems that BMW/MINI USA will not recognize. It’s something about metal bits rubbing off and winding up inside.

Unfortunately, it’s no longer 2002. Being carless is not an option. We have two small children now and don’t live in Hollywood any more. Cracking down on finding a car for our family. I am very sad over this. I like driving the MINI. I had no problem with the idea of getting a larger automobile, knowing that we still had the MINI to drive. I just assumed the larger car would be parked most of the time.

Time to be flexible. Everything else seems so big though! My driving habits will have to change. Driving a big car for a few days is one thing, but getting one to drive “forever” is different. We’ll figure out something.

Last month, we got notice that Spring photos would be taken the week before Spring Break. We got the form and tossed it because we were not interested in buying more photos. Imagine my surprise when I picked my child up from school and she had pictures.

What you’re seeing here is an 8×10, 5×7, 2 4×6, wallets, decorated wallets and a fun pack (bookmarks, ruler, door tag, key chain). I did not want this. I do not need this.

I am livid that this company, School Portraits by Kranz, Inc. and the school find it appropriate to not only take unwanted photos of my child, but print them and send them home with her so that we can look over them and pay for what we want to keep.

Yep. You read that right. She’s to return the photos if we don’t want them. What they do with these prints, I have no idea.  I do know that little kids want everything. Six year olds, really don’t grasp the concept of cost or not needing useless stuff.

I also don’t get how this makes any business sense. Taking the time to photograph a person who never submitted an order form is one thing, but to print all of this and send it to the school seems like a great way to lose money. There are people who will keep the photos and not pay. There are people, like me, who will send the photos back and not pay for these already printed items.

I am also concerned about what happens to these photos once they are sent back. I want them destroyed. I do not want my daughter’s image used in this company’s marketing materials, if any. I really have no way to guarantee that both happen, beyond any promise the company may give me.

But beyond all of this, I am extremely upset that my little girl was in tears because I had to say ‘no’. She was so excited over the photos and in was in no state to listen to reason as to why I was saying ‘no’. To be sure, I’ll sit down with her tonight and explain again, but a 6 year old should never be put in this position.

What say you? Have you had this experience before? Do you think I’m over-reacting?

There was this girl, yeah, Her name was Anika.
But everybody acted like she was some kind of freak, uh
One day…when she down at beach-y,
This dude asked her name,
She said, “Yo, they call me Ceviche.”

He said, “Hey that’s strange, do you smell like fish.”
Ceviche said, “No, it’s ’cause I’m a kickass dish.
Im like all kinds of awesome, complex & flavory.
Add some Tapatio; it makes that tostada savory.
Ceviche’s my name, and when in doubt,
Just watch me swim fast like I was a trout.”

Well this girl Ceviche, reps the City of Angels
Sometimes it’s so hot that she sounds like Charlie Rangel.
You see her around, she drives a green Mini Cooper
Speeding one, she got pulled over by a trooper,
He asked for ID, and said, “Your smile is kind of peachy.”
She laughed and say, “Yep, that’s why they call me Ceviche.”

He said, “Hey that’s strange, do you smell like fish.”
Ceviche said, “No, it’s ’cause I’m a kickass dish.
Im like all kinds of awesome, complex & flavory.
Add some Tapatio; it makes that tostada savory.
Ceviche’s my name, and when in doubt,
Just watch me swim fast like I was a trout.”

The cop was tired since it was an early morning,
He said, “Ceviche, Imma let you off with a little warning.
But next time, I’ll have to give you a ticket,
Take your ass to jail as an excuse just to kick it.”
Ceviche told him, “You don’t need no excuse, man.
You got my address, just come over and we can play Rock Band.”

Yeah, you can check her online, she’s all over the place.
FriendFeed and Facebook…well, not on MySpace
She got her photos up on Flickr,
And updates her status on Twitter.
If you’re in LA, you can check her on BrightKite,
See her Last.fm profile for your party at night.

Her name is Ceviche and she don’t smell like fish.
They gave her that name ’cause she’s a kickass dish.
She’s all kinds of awesome, complex & flavory.
Add some Tapatio; it makes that tostada savory.
Ceviche’s her name, and when in doubt,
Just watch her swim fast like she was a trout.

As we drove the streets of Oakland, I was discussing with a friend about why I keep my dreadlocks a certain length and had been considering cutting them a bit shorter. At a stop light we saw an older lady with long, grey dreadlocks.

“See, that’s what I want”, I said. “Grey dreadlocks. I live for that day. After that, maybe I’ll cut my hair short.”

My friend had cut her dreads off back in ’03 after 12 years of having them. She replied, “Yes, I love that look. I think maybe when my hair turns grey, I’ll lock it up again.”

“But that’s cheating!”, I exclaimed.

“No, it isn’t. My hair will be grey no matter how I wear it”, she answered.

Still, somehow I think it’s cheating.

I just awoke to find a litle ‘US Elections’ tab on my plurk page. Curiosity took hold; I clicked through to a contest page. Plurk is offering ‘One Plurk, One Vote’. You go to a friend’s plurk page and you can vote for your candidate of choice.

You don’t have to be a US citizen, but you do have to have a Plurk account.

Clever.

As of this moment, the scores are McCain/Palin -16%, Obama/Biden – 84%.

So why don’t you visit my plurk vote page and register your voice.

This is going to be pretty short and too the point.

There’s been mandatory evacuations called for New Orleans. During a presser earlier in the day, Mayor Nagin and Gov. Jindal made it expressly clear that there will be no government provided shelters for those who choose to stay/can not afford to leave their homes. Or in Nagin’s words, ‘”You’re on your own.”

Social media has been, excuse the pun, atwitter on this all day long.

There is now a Ning community for all Gustav related posts.

Seesmic conversation on the hurricane.

Many of my remaining family members are already gone. I’ve heard from friends (online and meatspace) whose families have fled already, as Gustav is being called as worse than Katrina. I believe we all know that he levees will not withstand anything over a Cat3 storm, so this is pretty big. Let’s hope that Gustav loses strength before it makes landfall. There’s already been 78 deaths in the Caribbean. I pray there’s no more.