My cat wrote this post

Well, my cat didn't really write this, but it reminds me of something he might write if he could figure out what to do with the keyboard besides sit on it. I think I kind of felt like him when I was writing it – sleepy, confused and when I was done I just wanted to lay on the couch and wait for someone to come scratch me.

In short, this is just a mash-up of different things in no particular order. I hope it doesn't make you want to cough up a hairball.

• Last Saturday I was invited to a performance of Peter Pan at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. I loved it and I'm going to post a full review soon, but I just wanted to share one of the more exciting events of the evening: Kiyomi dropped her iPhone in the toilet at the theater. It wasn't a new one - I gave her my old 2G - but was tragic nonetheless. All the advice on the internet said to bury it in some uncooked rice for a few days to draw out all the moisture, which I did but it didn't work. Having a dead iPhone is sad, but as an Asian the most painful part was seeing all that good rice go to waste.

• There's still time to Do Something. And by that I mean by leaving a comment on my Texting & Driving post or any of these posts that are part of the LG TextEd BlogHer Engagement Program, 5¢ will be donated to DoSomething.org. This weeks topic is Teens and Sexting – I know it's scary but it'll be happening before you know it. Soon your kids are going to want to kiss someone besides you.

• I wrote on Facebook recently about seeing a man at the post office who I thought was naked from the waist down, only to realize he was wearing flesh-colored leggings. As if this wasn't alarming enough, a few days later my senses were assaulted again by another legging-attired male. Now I come to find out there's actually a name for them – wait for it – MEGGINGS, and they're coming to a post office, park, school and construction site near you. I'm hoping this trend goes the way of the man-purse. Although, if you're a man wearing those meggings you're going to need somewhere to put your wallet.

• Speaking of cats, mine still doesn't know how to bury his poop, but he does have a new trick. If you're using the bathroom, he will wander in and try to flush the toilet. It's kind of cute and creepy at the same time.

• Still speaking of cats, Rigel sent me this video before he even knew my post was featuring cats. It's like he can read my mind! Right now I'm concentrating on him never wearing meggings.



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Baby you can drive my car, but put your phone down first

My post for the LG TextEd BlogHer Engagement Program is up. My topic is 'The Dangers of Texting and Driving,' and even though my girls are too young to drive I figure it's never too early to start teaching them these valuable lessons. They can tuck this one in between my other gems like, "Always wear elastic-waisted pants to an all-you-can-eat buffet."

I admit it – my kids text and drive. Well, at least they text while I drive. If I have a message I HAVE to get out while I'm at the wheel, I hand them my phone and dictate what I want the text message to say. It's my new method during those times when I'm running five minutes late (very often) or need directions (rarely) or forget to tell my husband to make that cappuccino a double (with alarming frequency.)

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(Please head over to my reviews blog and read the rest of my post and remember – for every comment a donation of 50 cents will be made to DoSomething.org, up to $5000.)
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Not just for spinning old Duran Duran tunes

Chances are, if you're old like me you've got a turntable sitting around your house somewhere. It's probably hiding underneath your Hammer pants over next to your Sony Walkman.

But did you know that old relic is good for something other than playing your old vinyl records while you fling your feathered bangs around and sing, 'Hungry like the wolf'? Check out this video of how some clever person with lots of time turned theirs into an animation device similar to a zoetrope.

(I can't seem to get the embedded ad out of this video, so make sure you hit 'stop' at the end once the screen goes black to avoid being yelled at to shop at K Mart.)

[via Yahoo!]

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Just a reminder to check out the LG TextEd BlogHer Engagement Program homepage, where this week's topic is Setting Ground Rules for Your Teen’s Mobile Phone Use.

(And remember – for every comment left on any of the posts in the program, 50 cents will be donated to DoSomething.org, up to $5,000.)
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Want to embarrass your kids? All it takes is LOL

You may call them 'reruns,' but I like to call them 'gently used.'  Whatever you want to call it, it's a re-posting of one of my pieces from the LA Moms Blog. And much like that 'gently used' mohair jumpsuit handed down to you by your cousin Louise, it may be annoying and itchy.

In case you haven’t heard, having your parents use chatspeak is the equivalent of seeing your dad dance the hula at your Sweet 16 party, or having your mom pick you up from school in her bathrobe. In other words, if you really want to embarrass the hell out of your teen or tween, try punctuating your sentence with ‘LOL’ or throwing in an 'OMG’ when you’re confronted with a long line at the grocery store. Chatspeak, the popular slang using acronyms found in chatrooms and texting, is apparently the exclusive domain of the under 20 set and any attempts at usage by parents or other old fogeys is, like, totally awful. IYKWIM (If you know what I mean.)

I found this out when a friend and I took our girls ice skating a few months ago. I was already inside, lacing up the skates of my 10 and 12 year old daughters when their two friends came in, red-faced and gesturing wildly towards their mom who was following behind and trying not to laugh. What happened was this: after overhearing a comment one of her daughters had made to the QT (cutie) working the skate rental, my friend had interjected her own comment (in itself a cardinal sin) and then punctuated it with ‘LOL.’ After giving their mom a brief, but stern lecture on the absolute wrongness of old people using chatspeak, they grabbed their skates and hurried inside. My friend was left to shrug at the QT but to her credit she resisted throwing out a TTFN (ta-ta for now.)

My girls reacted with absolute horror as their friends told them the story, and then turned to me and said, “You would NEVER do that, right mom?” To which I had to reply, “OMG. NW.” (Omigod. No way.) Sure it was a cheap shot, but it saved me a few bucks since they couldn't get away from me fast enough and skated off without asking for money for the vending machines.

Of course, my friend and I found this absolutely amusing. Who knew it would be so easy to embarrass our kids? We both had imagined having to put together elaborate slide shows of baby pictures to show to our girls’ dates, or showing up at their proms dressed in mom jeans and fanny packs. To think that we could raise their hackles by peppering our conversation with a few innocuous letters? We were elated at the possibilities.

For the next two hours while our girls did their best to ignore us while they raced around the rink, we came up with some clever acronyms of our own. We figured it would be an excellent way to get them to perform certain tasks without having to waste our breath saying it over and over again. For instance, CUYR! (Clean up your room!) and TOTTV (Turn off the TV.) See – much more efficient! Wouldn’t life be simpler without having to tell them repeatedly to PBYH (Please brush your hair), DFYH (Don’t forget your homework) and BNTYY (Be nice to your sister)? And then there was my favorite, NWAUWTTS-GBTYRACYL (No way are u wearing that to school, get back to your room and change young lady.)

I’ve gotten enough cold stares and eye rolling from my girls to know better than to use any chatspeak in front of their friends, but I still can’t resist blurting out a BRB (Be right back) when I head into the shower, or referring to my husband as my BFF. Call me sadistic, but I have to admit that I enjoyed seeing them cringe when I managed to put ROFL (Rolling on floor laughing) and JK (Just kidding) into the same sentence and then cleverly yelled out G2G (Got to go) as I ran out of the room. And when they start to protest, all I have to do is pull out some of their baby pictures, or remind them that it’s still better than having me show up at their school in my bathrobe. NTIEDT (Not that I’ve ever done that.)

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To read what others have to say about teens and texting, check out the LG TextEd BlogHer Engagement Program homepage, where this week's topic is Decoding Your Teen's Texting Lingo . You might just LOL.

(And remember – for every comment left on any of the posts in the program, 50 cents will be donated to DoSomething.org, up to $5,000.)
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