[Obviously I've seen too many horror movies]

The other day my dad and I went to a play at the Old Globe. I had to use the restroom before we walked back to where my dad's car was. By the time we were walking across the bridge hardly anyone was around. There are a lot of homeless people that sleep in the park at night.That's one variable that was kinda making me uncomfortable(though we did get to out car safe.)

Then we ran into a girl who forgot where she had parked(turned out she was parked in a lot on the other side of the park.)My dad offered to give her a ride to her car. The directions she was giving were a little weird, and it was kinda making me uncomfortable(turns out that she was using the GPS on her phone but I didn't know that.) But we did get her to her car safely, so that's good.

I guess I just need to go out of my comfort zone-and occasionally do things that I wouldn't normally do-though I wouldn't do anything that might put me in any sort of danger.

[Mentioning a few things that couldn't go elsewhere]

*I will occasionally miss days-that's what happened yesterday..the day just got away from me :)

*Have I talked about the finale of Orphan Black yet?well,I thought it was awesome(I'll be amazed to see if they really did kill off a certain character)

*Summer is here.It's been feeling like it here for the past couple of days.

*No Hannibal news(if there is,I'll blog about it.)

*I have so much stuff for my Cruise Critic post that I have 2 weeks(and possibly 3 if there is an outbreak of drama) worth of posts.

*TV Line had a Blind Item: "I just got 2015-16 season intel that is going to leave a certain fandom shaken, stirred and pissed off".

I don't know why, but the first show that came to mind was Bones. If it's not Bones,I'm wrong, but I feel like we're going to get some sort of news about Bones when they start production again..I'm betting that they are going to announce a final season,possibly at the start of the season or in the middle of the season.

Problem being that they had a season finale which had to serve as a(possible) series finale because they didn't know if they had been picked up or not, and  everything was left very open-ended.So now they're going to have to write around that and explain what happened(but not have it be handwaving which would be lame.)

[Mish and indeed mosh]

*I had the best-if not potent-drink-vodka and Cointreau and not much else. I didn't finish it.

*We went to Anthony's for lunch(which I blogged about a while back-the port authority wants to get rid of it and put something more chi chi in there..however I haven't really heard anything else about it so there  must have been a lot of push-back about that..it's s a San Diego institution and it would be sorely missed if were closed and replaced with something else.

*Gonna have a chilled out Father's Day-go to Denny's for breakfast and dad wants coffee when we get home so I will do that.Apart from that,listening to The Dinner Party Show which Bryan Fuller is going to be on(again!)

[Both a housekeeping and odds and ends post]

First of all some blog housekeeping:

Hannibal posts will be Friday, after the ratings are posted.

Cruise Critic posts may be on a break for a while as things have really calmed down(apart from some minor dress code threads..This week's Cruise Critic post is an omnibus and is more than a little all over the place.
**********************
Now, to the odds and ends:

*Remember how I said that the pet store at the mall closed?well, it didn't. It just reopened with another name.SMH here.Well, it doesn't smell that bad anymore..maybe one of the conditions of their reopening is that they cleaned the place up,IDK.

*Only two more episodes of Orphan Black left. It's one of the things that has been keeping me sane whilst I was waiting for S3 of Hannibal.

*Finally finished Jonathan Strange And Mr. Norrell(side note:there is going to be a mini series of Jonathan Strange starting next Saturday on BBCAmerica. I finished the book just in time then!).It was the kind of book I really didn't want to finish(and unusually for me it took a month-and that's with me taking it everywhere I go,too!

[one less pet store selling puppy mill puppies can only be a good thing]

I was at the mall and I noticed that the pet store is closed. Well, there were 4 puppies in the store, so I don't know if the people that owned the store up and left all of a sudden and someone is taking care of the puppies that are still there-not sure if they're not sure what to do with the puppies that are still there-I would hope that they would be taken to a shelter or to a foster home.

The problem is that a lot of the puppies are frankenbreeds(I have no problem with mutt dogs but: obviously the pet stores get their animals from puppy mills-the dogs already have that against them) and the  breeds of dogs are being bred without any sort of thought to potential health problems.

Two cities(Oceanside and Carlsbad) in my area have banned pet stores that sell puppies-I forget the particulars but the one at the mall got around that somehow..but it was always being picketed(which I can totally see- the animals were in  small "cages"-there were large breed dogs-like Mastiffs-in tiny cages. Add to that that they were *always* in those cages-unless one of the dogs was lucky enough to have one of the customers play with them(the owners of the show actively discouraged lookie-lous, which is a shame because truly, it was the only way that those puppies would gets any sort of human interaction.

This is not the first pet store in the mall-there used to be one in another part of the mall long upon a time ago- this is so bad but as with the other pet store, you could smell it before you got to it-I mean it smelled BAD, I am always amazed that the stores  either side of it(a Sam Goody store-remember them?-and a shoe store) did not complain about it more. They didn't  have the frankenbreed dogs(that's a newish thing),but they didn't care about the animals(as evidenced by how bad the place smelled all of the time).As usual, lookie lous who  played with the animals were discouraged.I think they didn't want their customers to see  what bad shape the animals were in-laying in their own filth(very common for pet store puppies-pet store owners are many things, but ethical is NOT one of them.) among other things.

[hanging out with the family]

So I'm in Oklahoma City visiting family..my nephew is graduating high school and I kinda had to be here for it, you know? In spite of being sick(flying all day yesterday didn't help). but I tell you what: I could get used to flying to wherever I'm going to with only one stop and not having to change planes(I have to do the same when I go home,too)

Also,I was prechecked for TSA(don't have to take off your shoes) the last time I didn't have to take my laptop out of my bag;this time I did. We should have been in the TSA check line but my dad was not prechecked(how's that for random?) so we had to go through the regular security line.

[Gonna do these every so often]

What I'm reading: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke. I'm not very far into it but am enjoying  it very much.

What I'm listening to: I love this band called St. Motel. They've got kind of a retro, Franz Ferdinand thing going with their sound.

What I'm learning: OK, this is an interesting one. I was in a lot of pain the other day, and couldn't sleep. But I found that if I cleared/opened my mind, I relaxed, and  relieved my pain(well, it was down to a manageable  level anyhow.)

The other thing is: I am rethinking the Panama Canal cruise. I still think it would be a lot of fun and I *would* like to do it at some point, but there was a package deal in the most recent coupon book that my parents got from Costco. 5 days in Puerto Rico, 500-something dollars per person. And nice hotels, too. I don't think airfare is included(didn't look at the small print which you should do, BTW!) but I'm sure you can find good deals from San Diego to San Juan.

Of all the places we've visited, Puerto Rico is one of the places that  made the most impression on me.

[Rambly and I'm not a bit sorry]

I am at a really good place right now..My nephew is graduating high school in a couple of weeks so I'm flying out there-I'm his godmother, so I kinda gotta be there for such a momentous occasion, you know?

Currently, I'm doing a lot of looking around at things I could do to fill my time-I am not currently working, and I'd kinda like to take classes at a local community college-maybe even  add some volunteering to what I am doing already(my mom and I have done Meals On Wheels for almost 10 years and I love it. I've always said that  when it's not fun for me anymore,I'll say "stop" but it's still fun for me. No, scratch that, it's a joy  to deliver Meals On Wheels to people who need it.

The other thing I want to start up again is going back to counseling.I kinda dropped out of it when I was having my nosebleeds, but in point of fact, having someone to talk to about what was going on would have been tremendously helpful. I probably would still have been stressed and upset about it but that(counseling) would have lessened it some.

Waiting for Kate Middleton to have her baby..can't believe her doctor has allowed her to go so long past her due date, to be honest. It can't be comfortable..George was a pretty big baby, and if this baby is as big as George was, she has to be feeling it.Really hope that she'll just go into labor  without having to induce her.

[It's a small thing,but it helps.]

I just got shutters put in my  front windows and in  the kitchen, and new blinds in my bedroom. It helps SO much!I liked the blinds I had, but the shutters are classing things up..also, they make it much more private-it was kinda easy to see through the blinds-this will be good when I'm trying to avoid the Jehovah's Witnesses, who seem to love my neighbourhood for some reason.)

This is one of several small improvements that've been done to my house. The other(though it's actually quite a big deal) is air conditioning. Most people around here don't have a/c, though it's becoming a lot more common.

The reason for that being that we have been having a lot of hot spells-at times of year when it shouldn't be hot. Our summers have been becoming more hot and more humid as time goes on.Honestly, I can't remember it ever being having been that hot and humid for such an extended period of time. It brings out the insects(flies and cockroaches especially).

Normally, I can get by with with just a window air conditioner, and probably would have, but getting the a/c made sense because we wouldn't have been able to put the shutters put in the front window.So a/c it is!

If we keep getting this hot weather, there will be a lot mote people getting a/c in their houses;there already are-my dad said that the guy who put in my a/c told him there's a waiting list of people who want to get air conditioning.

[This is going to go on for some time if they're not careful]

An update on Cleve and Erica Rengo,the couple who had their kids taken away from them-twice-for many reasons, including domestic violence(though the parents Cleve and Erica claim it's because they had an unassisted-meaning no doctors or medical professionals)home birth.That is not the case at all.

Erica has been told that she has to separate from Cleve if she wants a chance to get her kids back.Cleve's physical abuse is why the cops had been called to their house MANY times and why their kids were taken away.

Erica's gone on several "alternative" radio shows that support her cause.She claims that the breast feeding and home birth, and their desire to cure their oldest son's eczema with natural cures(it wasn't responding to the natural stuff) is why their kids got taken away.To hear her tell it, her kids' health issues have gotten worse since they've been in foster care.

She gets supervised visits with her kids.Given the fact that she's tried to run in the past,that's a good idea.

Erica and Cleve could get their kids back,if they had done as the courts asked..but they didn't, and then ran for it, knowing the kids were going to be taken away(again!)
IMO they have no intention of fixing their situation-they had been living in a 1-bedroom apartment with Cleve's father, who is bipolar but *not* on his meds.Are you kidding me?

Erica claims that her kids' health issues have gotten worse since they were in foster care.One family member has said that one of their twins has permanent health issues as a result of not being checked out by a doctor after they were born.Erica didn't go to the doctor *at all* during her pregnancy..No scans, no nothing.They had no idea they were having twins, who were preemie, without a doubt. They refused the help of a paramedic who was called by a concerned family members after the twins were born.

As the aunt of 5 kids, two of whom were preemies,one of whom required a lot of time in the NICU because of issues related to his being a preemie,this horrifies me.(my nephew is fine now-he's 14 years old- thanks to the doctors at Rady Children's hospital.)

Erica talks about a right for parents to fight  without the cops being called.Well, that is the problem. Cleve was getting physical with her when they fight.

Cleve, to hear it, has been made out to be a bad person, if you believe the websites like Medical Kidnap(who would call concerned family members who called the paramedics "busybodies".) Erica  says that Cleve is not abusive to her.It's clear,to read what she says about Cleve,that she..for lack of a better word, brainwashed by Cleve.

Cleve and Erica have separated, but I don't see it sticking.I think she'll do it long enough to get her kids back, then move him back in on the QT, which will lead to their kids getting taken away(again.)

At the time their kids were given back to them,late last year, I said "Mark my words. We haven't heard the last of them". Sure enough, a bit later they were in the news because they tried to run for it..their kids were about to be taken away from them. They claim they weren't trying to run for it,that they were taking a break from the stresses of their situation. Riiight.

The courts and authorities need to discern if Cleve and Erica are truly vested in getting their kids back.. are they just going to have them keep given back, only for  something to go wrong-or go *really* wrong.That's my concern. With Cleve being physical with her, and Cleve's father(who they live with) being bipolar, that's just waiting for something bad to happen.

["uncatergorised" is right.]

*I don't really want to speak on the situation, in case I'm completely off..maybe I'll feel like talking about it in a few days..but  a spy who's on the inside would be helpful  here. I'll leave it at that.

*Health update:3 weeks and still no nosebleeds!

*I have free HBO-thought it was just for the weekend-they're trying to rope people in because the new season of Game Of Thrones started last night.

*2 Season 3 of Hannibal things I forgot from the other day: 1) There was a tweet from Martha De Laurentiis where they were editing episode 12 and Hannibal was in civilian(ie not prison) clothes. Then, there was a picture of Mads Mikkelsen with a writer from TVGuide. Someone pointed out it was a big-time spoiler(hard to explain if you've not read the books/seen the movies..)

[Thought this up myself]

A visual memory: The magenta and pink tiles and Tolouse Lautrec wallpaper in the bathroom of the house I lived in 'till I was 12.

A birthday memory:My Paddington Bear-themed birthday party.

A holiday memory: My brothers and I  coming home from trick or treating and dumping our candy out on the living room floor.

A food memory: Kraft Mac and Cheese.

A pet memory: Getting my dog Macduff(a Basset Hound.)

A life changing memory:Moving out on my own, for sure.

A "I'd rather not remember that" memory:The entire family getting stomach flu one Christmas.That was not pleasant.LOL

[Monday random]

*I got my haircut at Great Clips. Normally, I go to Supercuts but I was closer to Great Clips, so.. Also? $20.Exactly.Plus a couple dollars for a tip.

*Easter was  lot of fun-I  got to see my niece and her boyfriend, which was nice.And it was just really good company(we also had my sister-in-law's sister and her son and friends of my brother and his wife's there as well.)

*Ride, the shoegazer band are playing Coachella this year.

Hmm. The last time they toured the band was falling apart(which I only found out after the fact-I saw them on one of their last tours and it was pretty evident the band was coming apart)

In any case, their drummer isn't the original drummer(who I met back in the day..and again..he was in a pissy mood- when I read that the band were having a lot of issues on that tour it made perfect sense)

*Man, Call The Midwife is  bringing the awesome this season-only 2 episodes in! We've been introduced  to several new characters- Nurse Crane, who we met in last night's episode, and Nurse Barbara.

[random as random gets]

*Health update:No nosebleeds for 2 weeks as of tomorrow(YESS!) and..I went to the gym today for the first time in quite a while.

*I got air conditioning in my house and I LOVE it. I would have been perfectly OK with just having a window fan but my dad went with air conditioning.

*My parents are in Las Vegas-they're seeing Elton John at Caesar's Palace.Wish I was with them!(I've actually seen Elton live-not at Caesar's sadly,LOL-one of the best shows I've ever seen.)

*Call The Midwife is back!Just finished watching the first episode of the new season-lots of new characters..and there is some seriously interesting character development(as well as several new characters!)

[He's a legacy![/Animal House]]

My oldest nephew is going away to college next year-he has already been accepted to two colleges-and is waiting to hear from a few more. There are a lot of things to consider..the two colleges he han already been accepted to would be easy as far as coming home for the holidays(one is in Kansas-Kansas State- and the other is in Missouri.)

He's still got some time, but my nephew Spencer(who will be 17 on Friday) is starting to think about where he wants to go to college. They've already been to NAU(Northern Arizona University, where my nephew Jax also applied which would be a bit further from home, but it's where my brother Henry and his wife went. On the other hand, Kansas State has a lot of history with our family, as several family members, including my grandfather and uncle went there(when my brother and wife  went to check it out they bought K State shirts for my cousin Hank's twins-there was a picture of them on Facebook wearing the shirts which was really cool-not even a year old yet(they turn 1 next month) and they'e already getting pressure about where they should go to college(I kid, I kid!)

When my niece was thinking about where she should go to college, she went to a lot of different colleges-ultimately she wound up going to USD(The University Of San Diego), which is expensive, but you're getting a really good education(am I biased because my niece went there?Probably. LOL)

[This is what's up!]

What I'm reading:
My Promised Land, a history of Israel. Decided to read something that was NON fiction for once. I am branching out-I have been reading a lot more fantasy books-a genre I usually don't read but have read several fantasy books recently that I really enjoyed so there you go!

What I'm listening to:
Well, I just got Pandora for my iPhone, so I've been discovering all the music there is on there(I love it,though the ads are annoying;I'm too cheap to pay for the ad-free version)

What I'm learning:
All about nosebleeds. I have been having recurring nosebleeds and FINALLY got in to see the doctor today. It ended with me having to have my nose cauterised. Was it uncomfortable?Yes. But if it helps I will be happy.

Fortunately, I had a really good doctor-he was a rock star, seriously.Explained what was going on, and was very sympathetic-having your nose cauterised is NOT fun(speaking from personal experience here!).

[the day got away from me]

That's why no blog yesterday! But I did have a fun day yesterday so there's that.

*I went to a Purim carnival at a local(to my parents' house) temple.  It was fun to just walk around and check it all out.

*My health issues are still foremost on my mind..I am going to try and get in to see a doctor earlier than the 26th(when my appointment is).I managed to get in..2 days earlier than my original appointment!

*We have an airdate for S3! June 4th! I was on the bus when I heard the news. That means it'll be wrapping up just in time for the fall TV season.Wish Hannibal was on during the fall but I personally think that it being on during the summer gives it more of a chance as far as ratings go.

[choose your own subject line!]

*Still out of sorts. I had to go to a baby shower the other day, as I mentioned the other day, and I had to put on a happy face which was hard for me :(

*In happier news: 1) I got the new issue of Essential Homme magazine with Hugh Dancy on the cover. I  saw it at Barnes &Noble and was standing in the magazine section flipping my shit-I'm sure people wondered what my deal was!

(Of course I took a picture of the cover and tweeted it. I am such a dork!)

2)There is a sequel to the movie Hope And Glory-Queen and Country- which I can't wait to see!

*Friends of my parents' just got back from a Holland America cruise and they said it was kinda "meh". I know exactly how they feel. Wait,maybe I should qualify that just a little:

I like Holland America. I really enjoyed my last cruise on a Holland America ship.But I really liked our first Princess cruise. I liked it a LOT.

Unlike a lot of the people on Cruise Critic's Holland America boards, I do *not* feel like I have to be "brand loyal" and that I am "cheating" on Holland America by trying another cruise line.

Something is going on with Holland America,though:There have been a lot more posts about things(both major and minor)that have gone wrong on Holland America cruises. I am amazed at how things like malfunctioning toilets and a/c can be handwaved away as being "part of being on a cruise ship". I have much more to say about this but will save it for another post ;)

[who doesn't love a baby shower?]

Today I went to a baby shower which was a lot of fun-the mom-to be got lots of gifts-I don't think we had that much stuff when we were kids.


 Nowadays a lot comes with being a parent!Lots of clothes(which had to be neutral as we don't know if the baby is a girl or a boy)I figure at the very least they can give some of the clothes they don't need to someone in need.

The food was really good-they had sandwiches,and  a few nibbles(pigs in a blanket and and mini chicken and waffles-those were REALLY good!).At each place setting then had old school milk bottles filled with ice water, with a straw in it, and on the straw were two mini Krispy Kreme donuts(which were REALLY good!).

There was also a candy bar, with a bunch of different types of candy, as well as mini cheesecakes and cake pops(those were really good too!)

[the kids need a safe,stable home]

I've mentioned the Medical Kidnap website a few times.

Their current campaign is for a family with 7 kids from Alabama.Two of their kids are wanderers(i.e. leaving the house and winding up a ways away from home).There are some questions about domestic issues with the parents(it was an issue with the Rengos who I have mentioned before;they have 3 kids under the age of 2-a one-year old and newborn twins(yep, the mom Erica got pregnant almost immediately after her older son was born.)

The kids were all sent to several different foster homes(I would think it would be impossible to put 7 kids all from the same family with foster parents.)

One of the comments on the story mentioned a case which I remembered from a few years ago-a little boy with autism wandered away and was found in the woods.The detail I *didn't* remember was that the little boy was tethered to the tent his parents were living in whilst they were getting organised(they were living in a tent in their backyard;the house had been foreclosed on but they were still allowed to live in the backyard *shrug*). Of course there were people that defended the parents doing that- "You do what you have to do", that sort of thing.

Look, I get that parents of severely autistic children get overwhelmed(and you can't blame them..)..but is that REALLY the best solution?


They get charmed by the "woo"-"holistic" treatments and the like. Those things have a place..but where it starts to concern me is when autistic parents use it as a crutch.To the exclusion of everything else-the natural treatments may or may not work,the kids get worse and that's when the authorities get involved.

Reading through the stories on Medical Kidnap, you can see why the kids may have been taken away-in a lot of cases  family members(or neighbours or someone close to the family) sounded the alarm. With the family in Alabama, one of the little boys with autism wandered to a neighbour's house. Whilst a autistic child wandering *is* cause for alarm, I'm struck by two things:

1)Why didn't the parents try to make it more difficult for the kids to get outside

2)The neighbour whose house he wandered to  must have had a lot more concerns than just the kid running away-could she possibly have seen some evidence of neglect?Who knows.

I am, by my very nature, a skeptic. And I would love to think that these parents are being falsely accuse.However, from reading(REALLY reading) the stories,there are things that make me think only part of the story is being told;also, there's quite a bit of commonality in the sort of accusations(quite frequently alleged domestic abuse is a factor;parents are told that they must get a divorce of they want their kids back. ) This leads to suggestions(on more than one occasion)that the family should take the kids and run.

Well,that's the WORST thing they could do.But some parents feel like it's the only legit option-it's what the Rengos did-claiming they were "visiting family" but word is they were about to get their kids taken away again-which they did-for not following rules. Mind you,they're living in a one-bedroom apartment with Erica's husband's father(the babies' grandfather) who is bipolar. Far from an idea living situation(that's putting it mildly!)