Random Crumbs

Just a few things that I've been thinking about lately.

1. I've been wondering something lately... when you dig a hole in the sand at the beach, both kids and adults are compelled to come up and look into it. I was hip deep in a hole that I was digging at the beach on Memorial Day and every time that I actually looked up, there was someone peering down at me trying to see the bottom of the hole. Why is this?

2. Tatum O'Neal was busted for buying crack in NYC. I had a hard time pretending that I was surprised given her past history, but the woman is a mother in her 40's. I had a conversation a few days ago with a 25 year old acquaintance and he was talking about how he's still going to be "kicking just as hard" in his 40's (married and with kids) as in his 20's, indulging in the recreational substances that he's doing now. Some people would say that drug use is always evil while some people can excuse it as a part of the exuberance of youth. But it got me thinking... at what age does even recreational drug use become pathetic?

3. The people next door had a birthday party for their three year old yesterday and they hired a musician (who amplified his performance for all of the neighborhood to hear) to entertain the kids and their expensive-SUV-driving-parents with an elaborate show. Whatever happened to plain old cake-and-ice cream and a few party games for birthdays?

4. A new friend of mine was surprised to find out that we teach our kids at home because I was the only home schooler he'd ever met who didn't trumpet it from the rooftops (I had known him for about a month and generally don't talk about the home schooling thing unless it comes up in conversation... with the crowd that we hang with that is, thankfully, almost never). I think that we all may have met the rooftops kind of people, the ones who are (*trumpet fanfare*) HOME SCHOOLERS. This is kind of how I'm thinking... just put the banner away, folks, and quietly do your thing. Waving your choice in someone else's face, well, it's kind of just bad manners.

5. The Mister recently thanked me for keeping him young by introducing him to new things and keeping him in a younger mindset (he's always been quite serious and maybe a little "old" for his age). A lot of my peers are so set in their ways that they stop seeking out new things. I've noticed that many of them have sort of frozen themselves in the era that they came of age. Why is that? Shouldn't life continue to be an adventure of discovery?

Speaking of which, here's one of the things that I've discovered lately that I've been pretty excited about. While looking up some musicians that I spent a brief time hanging out with (in what now seems like another lifetime), I found that they were playing with this group: The Mutaytor. From what I understand, the group/troupe took shape at Burning Man Festival and the show seems like a microcosm of the festival. I really like the music and the show looks awesome. I'd love to experience both the show and the festival sometime.

The kids love Chinese dragon and the smiley face guys near the end. I like the fire spinning stuff... but more about that at a later date when I feel like talking more about it. ;-)