Penny Stock

Class Reunion

Well, I had my 10 year class reunion today. I had been working pretty hard for it and quite honestly I was dreading it. I am glad to say that I had a great time. 27 out of the 55 graduating classmates were there and even though the turnout wasn't great, It was still really nice. In fact, it may have been nicer than if everyone came. The people who came really wanted to be there and were very laid back the whole time. We all laughed like crazy, we sang the school song (the good and bad version), we watched the video we made in 12th grade for our graduation dinner, we opened the time capsule we buried (in a classmate's attick) when we graduated (there was a floppy disc in there- I haven't seen one of those in a while!), we played Jeopardy- I have to apologize to any of my former classmates who read this for my competitiveness, we took pictures. It was really great.

If I hadn't sworn off doint stuff for future reunions, I would say I was looking forward to the next one!

Andy Kaufman- Dead or Alive?

So the 20th anniversary of Andy Kaufman's death was on May 16th. Rumor had it that Kaufman told his pal and cohort in comedy crime, Bob Zmuda that he would "return from the dead" on the 20th anniversary of his "Death."

There have been various internet rumors going around that Andy is alive and well- there is even a blog out there supposedly authored by Kaufman himself. When you search for Andy Kaufman on Google news, the first return makes it seem like he is back from the dead...until you click on the link and see this message: We're sorry. This release has been placed on 'Dispute Hold'.

There has been enough out there for the past few days to make you wonder, or at least a bit curious. But finally today, my friends at Snopes.com put an end to the hype. Here is an excerpt from the latest from Snopes.

...The supposed recent photographs of Andy (appearing as Tony Clifton, his abusive lounge singer character) displayed in the blog were taken from a 17 May 2004 Andy Kaufman tribute event held at the Bunny Ranch in Nevada, during which Kaufman's friend and writing partner, Bob Zmuda, played Tony Clifton. Zmuda himself said, during a 1999 interview:

"The hoax and the practical joke are lost art forms." But did Andy Kaufman pull one last stunt on his deathbed at age 35? No, says Zmuda. "Andy Kaufman is dead. He’s not in some truck stop with Elvis." While Kaufman tinkered with the idea, tells Zmuda, he never brought it up again.
If the real Andy Kaufman were back, his story would be picked up by every major news service in the U.S. and a good many abroad, not merely a single "anybody can submit a story" free publicity service. And if the real Andy Kaufman genuinely wanted to demonstrate he was still alive, just one public appearance would serve that purpose far more convincingly than an unverifiable DNA test. Most important, if the Andy Kaufman I remember — the brilliant, unpredictable, erratic, and unique comic genius — had finally emerged from hiding twenty years after faking his own death, I have no doubts that he'd find a much more imaginative way of revealing his return than a free press release and a rather ordinary blog.

For the record, Andy Kaufman is supposedly buried in the same cemetary in Long Island that my grandparents are buried at. I have had thoughts to look for his grave (more out of curiosity than anything) the next time I pay a "visit" to my grandparents, but I don't even care that much.

Cicada Pictures

If you are not lucky enough to live in Baltimore or you are not in one of the other cities fortunate enough to have been infested, the Baltimore Sun has readers' pictures of cicadas here (via Baltimore Roll).

This little guy is my favorite:

This picture fits in nicely with my color scheme (or lack thereof).

Swallowing in the Sun

Today's Baltimore Sun has a nice article about swallowing disorders. I don't work with children with swallowing problems but 60-80% of my daily caseload of adults/senior citizens have dysphagia (swallowing problems). I am not sure if the Sun ran this article since May is Better Speech and Hearing Month but it is nice to see something positive written up about SLP's!

Ebay Rocks

So, Lanie just came over to show me her wedding gown. Guess where she got it (in case you didn't read the title of this post)? E-bay! No joke. She got it for 50 bucks. I think it was worn maybe once and it is absolutely beautiful and unbelievably classy. All she has to do is take it in a bit, but it is the perfect length and meets all other requirements for her needs/wants in a gown. All she needs is a headpiece now so if anyone has one, speak now or forever hold your peace.

Lanie saved hundreds of dollars getting her gown on e-bay. It is amazing what you can do on the computer nowadays.

Survivor 9 Application

Just in case anyone is interested here is a link to the written application for Survivor 9. By the way, there will be interviews/auditions in Baltimore. Survivor is the kind of game I would hypothetically LOVE to play. I really enjoy the strategy involved (something that all the "All Stars" this season conveniently threw out the door). Unfortunately there are too many (obvious) reasons why I couldn't play this game. Oh well. Is there a board game?

Caught in the act

Tonight at dinner I found myself do what they tell you never to do in Parenting 101: Threatening for no reason.

Here is how the conversation went down.

Ezra: If you don't give me dessert, then I am not going to get undressed for bed.

Me: If you don't get undressed for bed, then I am not going to read you a story.

Ezra: If you don't read me a story, then I am not going to fall asleep.

Me: It will be your problem when you are tired in the morning. (how mature am I?!?)

Luckily we both forgot the conversation (he didn't get dessert) because I just tucked Ezra into bed. He was wearing pajamas and I read him a story. Now he will hopefully get a good night's sleep.

Question of all smokers or former smokers

One thing I like about blogging is the ability to pose questions to the a variety of people who I wouldn't necessarily speak to on a daily basis. If I am lucky, people actually leave answers in the comments section.

So here is my question of the day. Note: this is NOT coming from a sanctimonious non-smoker- I am just curious about something. Today is an extremely hot day here in Baltimore. As I was driving I saw two people walking down the street smoking cigarettes. My question is this: Is it appealing to smoke in the gross heat? I would think that it adds a few unwanted degrees to your body (and conversely I would assume smoking in the bitter cold might be somewhat nice) and doesn't help with the overall gross feeling of being outside on a hot hot day. Discuss.

Procrastination

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task. ~William James

Yesterday and today I learned a great lesson. I had so much that needed to be done- I needed to return phone calls, schedule appointments, fight with the library about an overdue fine, and many other things. I had been pushing off some of these tasks for months. Every time I thought of doing one of these things, I got a pit in my stomach and pushed it too the back of my mind. Yesterday morning while sitting with a patient who was eating breakfast and didn't require my 100% nagging (about chewing, swallowing, etc.) I made a list of all of these things I have been pushing off doing. I started when I got home yesterday afternoon and I finished today. I realized that the anticipation of completing these tasks was so much worse than actually doing them. I will have to remember that next time I have something hanging over my head.

(Note to Greg: we still have to get in touch with Bulk Trash)

You've Got the Power!

In case you haven't been keeping up with the media, the folks at Survivor are now calling upon the American People to award a million dollars to the All Star Player of their choice. So, go to the CBS Website to watch the pleas from the players and vote for one of them (I say either Rob C. or Rupert...).

Happy Mother's Day

What's better- getting a card or a present or displaying these beautiful words for millions (I may be exaggerating JUST a bit) to see. In any event, I know my mother reads this blog- so Happy Mothers Day, Mommy. Thanks for being a great role-model as a mother and grandmother. We love you.

Spinoffs

Last night after Friends ended (thankfully that is over), Greg and I got to talking about spinoffs (in light of the whole Joey thing) and we tried to come up with a makeshift list of TV spinoffs- I provided about 90% of them. Here is what we came up with- this was all done off the top of our heads:

-Mary Tyler Moore Show->Rhoda
-Happy Days ->Mork and Mindy, Laverne and Shirley, Joannie Loves Chachie
-All in The Family ->The Jeffersons, Gloria
-Soap->Benson
-Littel House on The Prairie ->Father Murphy
-Brady Bunch ->Brady Brides, Kelly Kids
-Mash->AfterMash, Trapper John, MD
-Diffrent Strokes ->Facts of Life
-Cosby Show ->Different World
-Who's The Boss->Living Dolls
-Cheers ->Frasier
-Growing Pains ->Just the Ten of Us
-Three's Company ->Three's a Crowd, The Ropers

That's all I can remember for now. Got any you can think of off the top of your head (the honor system is in place)?

Time in A Box

My parents are converting their garage into a room so my mother is busy cleaning out the garage. Much to my dismay, she wants to give me all the "peninah boxes" in the garage so I can go through them. Anyway, yesterday she brought over the first installment.

It was a box full of pictures, letters, cards, and various memorable objects from when I was between around 11 and 13. The letters were mostly from when I was in camp (from me and to me), there were cards from my Bat Mitzvah, and the pictures were from all aspects of my life at the time.

It was pretty amazing going through the box. Here are a few thoughts I had/have about it all:

- My mother is a pretty darn good mother. She wrote me before I left for camp so I would have letters on the first few days and she wrote every subsequent day I was there. I took it for granted then, but the letters were amazing.

-I was pretty shallow as a pre-teen. Nuff said.

-It is a really strange feeling to find letters and cards from relatives and friends who have died since sending them to you. It is funny, I kept all the letters and cards that I found from the people who have died,yet I threw out some letters from family members that I know won't be around forever. Wonder what that is all about.

-I found letters and pictures from friends I met in camp, NCSY and around. It is unbelievable that so many of the people who I became friends with when I was 11, 12, 13 are still important parts of my life. Most of these people were not from the same city as I was. Greg was looking at the letters and pictures and he could not believe how I literally have had the same friends for so many years.

-On the same note, it is so sad that the kids nowadays and in the future use IM, e-mail, and text messaging to keep up with friends. They use digital cameras to take pictures. How many kids have pen pals? How many kids wait by their front door for an anticipated letter to arrive from a friend out of town? How many kids store their pictures on hard drives rather than in picture albums or shoe-boxes? These kids won't have these boxes to go through when they grow up. What a loss...