To Czech and back

I moved!

2007-03-10T00:46:00.000-05:00

I moved everything over to a new wordpress blog with the same name:

sueczech.wordpress.com

I couldn't take the fact that I didn't have a hold on all the comments I was making and receiving. Wordpress lets me keep track of all that because Goddess knows, I'm terrible at remembering.

American vs Czech movies

2007-03-09T08:46:00.000-05:00

Last night we saw The Departed. It's not a movie I wanted to see so I read the whole thing beforehand so I wasn't left with any surprises or anticipation, plus I could zone out during the movie and not have to ask what's going on.
Hubby was on the edge the entire time wondering who's going to die, who's going to be discovered, and what the characters' names are. Once the movie was over he kept saying how great it was and that's how movies in America should be made. So here's our argument:
Czech movies end poorly by my American taste. All of the Czech movies I have seen have ended sadly and left me in a miserable and shocked state. Hubby's defense is that Czech movies represent reality and American ones represent la-la land. He said why show a fairytale when real life isn't that way? It gives people false hope or worse yet, depression that their lives isn't the ones on the big screen.
I told him that when I go to the movies I want to be transported to a different world and where dreams really do come true. Life is hard enough, I don't want to be reminded of it in movies as well. Maybe I'm disillusioned, but I think as a kid it helped my imagination and didn't make me settle for things simply because that's how life is. I always strive for more.
It seems to me that Czech cinema doesn't have love stories, and when they do they kill off the couple!
"Just one will do", he says.
I asked him if Czech girls prefer American movies or Czech ones and of course, the answer is American because we have the better love stories. Exactly! They may not be true representations, but they're nice stories that put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.
"But you leave the theatre forgetting the entire movie", he says.
Maybe I do, but at least I leave with a lighter heart instead of a heavy one where the main character gets killed after he loses his virginity.
"But you know how the movie will end", he says.
Only cheesy movies like The Lake House are predictable. Because it is an American-made movie I know I won't be disappointed that Sandra Bullock is going to bite the dust. I don't watch all cheezy movies, but I'm a chick and I appreciate them.
I decided to watch part of the Lake House last night and as I turned it off, hubby said "Why did you turn it off? I was just starting to cry."

Happy Birthday to me!

2007-03-06T08:42:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to me! Vsechno Nejlepsi!
Today I have reached the milestone of 30yrs old. If I was in a movie right now there would be a little capture under me saying "30 years later..."
Today I have to renew my drivers license, bake cupcakes for a playdate with Peanut's BFF, and go out to dinner with my hubby and daughter. I think it'll be a wonderful day because I woke up to the birds singing.
And luckily my hubby is home from work today so he's told me that he'll watch Peanut all day while I go and do whatever I want. So I'm hoping to take more pictures for my Flickr account and join more groups!
Yay! I'm 30!

Insane Asylum

2007-03-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

The New Orleans City Insane Asylum has posted a record of patients between 1882-1884 and 1888. I always find these things fascinating.. I'm not sure why. I've always been interested in psychiatric patients, but not enough for me to enter the actual field of it.
Some other interesting reads along the same line would be Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, which of course was made into a movie with Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. The book is ten times better and the people more interesting. That movie had basically nothing to do with the book except the names and the chicken thing.
There's also I Never Promised You a Rose Garden which I got off a free book rack in a used book store years ago. I read that book cover to cover a few times. It's about a 16yr old girl who creates a world "Yr" due to her schizophrenia and has moments of clarity while living in a mental hospital.
The other one is She's Come Undone, which doesn't necessarily deal with schizophrenia or paranoia but massive depression.
All fascinating reads... but of course truth is much better than fiction. Sadder too.

Those were the days...

2007-02-24T08:40:00.000-05:00

I asked my hubby to watch Peanut for 10 minutes so I could take a shower this morning. While in the shower I realized how much I miss taking morning showers, so I thought of other things I missed since I've had Peanut.

Morning showers
Jumping out of the car and running into a store quickly. Now I jump out of car and into the backseat, put on Peanut's socks and shoes because she took them off, find the dollie, double check I have the keys, find a buggy, put Peanut in buggy, and then run into the store
Being able to just travel somewhere because the wind carried me that way
Going to restaurants that don't have children's menus
Clean carpets and furniture
Being able to read for longer than 10 minutes at a time
Saying "yes" to going to places, parties, events, concerts without having to think if I can find a babysitter or if she can tag along
Staying in bed with hubby early, early in the morning and planning our day and maybe romping around *wink*

Things that make up for the things that I miss.. aka... things I would never trade for in all the world now that we got Peanut:

"I love you Mommy"
Morning chatter over a cup of coffee (for me) and a yogurt (for her)
Dance routines
Pretty pink little dresses, bows, glitter, feathers, and fun
"EW!!!! YUCK!!" in the middle of a crowded store
Nighttime cuddles and kissies
Finally having an excuse to be a grown adult and watch my favourite cartoons and having a partner watching Star Trek with me.
Having someone act exactly as you and your husband do and either laugh or be mortified.
Knowing that you brought someone into the world and that there's a possibility she'll help change it.
The capacity of love that I didn't even know I had.

Butts are naturally funny

2007-02-18T09:58:00.000-05:00

My Peanut is going through the "what's that?" phase right now, which means we tell her the name of body parts, objects, and food about 50 times a day. Today she pointed to her butt and said "What's that?" I said "Butt" and she laughed. She thought it was hilarious.
In school kids would say the word butt over and over again and make farting noises with their mouth, and I thought it was because of siblings or parents encouraging it. Apparently, it's not a learned behavior.. it's a natural one.
Oh boy. Or girl, I should say.

My Yummy Valentine

2007-02-15T10:06:00.000-05:00

When it comes to holidays, I specifically name what I want. That way I spare hubby wandering around a store wondering what to get me. If I don't say what I want.. I end up with things I don't use or can't wear. In the past he bought me clothes that are too small.. which is nice because he thinks I'm skinnier than what I am. Who can complain about that?
This year I asked for Choxie from Target. I love their commercials and their packaging, but I could never warrant buying a box of chocolates for myself. All the little chocolates were so cute sitting in their cubicles that I felt bad for eating them.
Almost.
Either way.. for the price, I felt they were worth it. They're yummy, look fancy, and a cheap alternative to Godiva.
Happy Valentine's! And for others.. Happy Anti-Valentines!

Anna Nicole Smith

2007-02-08T18:32:00.000-05:00

As you well may know.. Anna Nicole Smith has passed away. So I was reading Metafilter and I came across this quote that stopped me in my tracks:
"She just let go and no one was holding on" - four panels

How true it is for her and so many other people.
On another note.. I told my husband and he said "Who's that?"

A Morning at Home

2007-02-08T08:26:00.000-05:00

I highly recommend going to see A Night at the Museum. I haven't laughed that hard in quite a long time... even hubby laughed and then coughed to cover the fact that he just laughed out loud. It is a Ben Stiller movie, so he plays his typical underdog character.. but the story is so funny that I can forgive him this time.

Here's a few randomness for you:
The best place to hide money.. according to a burglar
The Gummy Bear Flickr group
An interview with June Oswald (Lee Harvey's daughter)

Your Peculiar Aristocratic Name

2007-01-30T23:37:00.000-05:00

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Reverend Lady Suzanne the Functional of St Winifred by Winchelsea
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

via The Generator Blog

The profane game

2007-01-29T08:46:00.000-05:00

Why don't you try your hand at The Profane Game? I did and scored 35! I'm surprised some of the words I said actually made it there and was counted.
I'd like to thank all the Marines I hung out with growing up to provide me with all this profane knowledge.

An Open Letter to TBS

2007-01-27T18:51:00.000-05:00

We have Comcast and their HD service because we have a plasma HD TV that we're quite happy with. The problem is... we only have a few channels on this HD service because Comcast doesn't carry all those that are available. Plus, we don't have one of those Gold packages so we miss out on some. Not that it matters, as long as Ugly Betty and NCIS come in HD.. I'm pretty content.
However.. this is to TBS:

To whom it may concern:
Why do you have an HD channel when you air NOTHING that's in HD? Thanks to Comcast we're limited on what channels we have in HD and thanks to you, you're wasting one of the only channels we have.
Either air something in HD.. or get off my HD.
Thank you.

You know.. I've emailed them multiple times, and I still have no response from them.

Back to Licensing

2007-01-27T18:48:00.000-05:00

After much consideration, we both decided to drop the sampled song off the final CD and just let it float around the Internet on its own. As of now it's being played in some clubs and there's DJs that are spinning the song while they're on a world tour. Cool huh?
So let the lawyers find us that way. It's a much better case for us that the song is floating on the Internet rather than being digitally distributed by iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, etc..

So this means we take the CD back to the printers for brand new covers and I have to burn brand new copies of the demo. But no complaints here.
My husband will have his first CD actually released in just a few weeks!

Music Licensing 101

2007-01-22T23:48:00.000-05:00

My hubby who made a remix of a very well popular song needs to obtain permission in order to sell that song on a CD, website, and other forms of media. Does this mean he'll do it? No.. this means I get to do it. :) Which I don't mind because if it deals with paper pushing.. I'm SO there!

He sampled this well known song (contact me for details.. heh), and now in order to sell it through CDBaby.. I really should obtain permission. It's the only fair thing to do. So I find the publisher info on ASCAP. From there I go to their websites to see if I can electronically get permission. That's a no go. So I look up music clearance services... one in particular is ridiculously expensive and the other just doesn't list the price. And then you see something like EMG that says on their page "Use a note and go to jail". Well fuck me.
I'm just going to do it my own self. I know I can. I can be all professional and stuff. *snort*
But on my little travels of finding out how to go abouts on getting the "ok" from the head honchos.. I run across this poor guy. All he wanted was to license some time of a few movies for his home project.. HOME, as in no audience but him and his family.

Anyways.. I'll keep my events updated. This should be fun. :)

Funny Quote

2007-01-20T00:43:00.000-05:00

This funny quote popped up on my Google homepage today:

"I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've traveled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down." - Mitch Hedburg

I had to look up who he was too. He was a stand-up comedian that passed away in 2005 due to OD'ing on heroine and cocaine

Here's some other quotes by him:
- I drink Orange Juice with Vodka. It's like Vitamin C that kicks your ass!
- I recently took up ice sculpting. Last night I made an ice cube. This morning I made 12, I was prolific.
- I type at one hundred and one words a minute. But it's in my own language.
- I would imagine that if you could understand Morse code, a tap dancer would drive you crazy.
- If my kid couldn't draw I'd make sure that my kitchen magnets didn't work.
- My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.

There's a TON of these!

What a difference 8 years make

2007-01-19T11:33:00.000-05:00

8 years ago I was in my hometown and going to the local dance club every Thurs night for lady's night. My favourite song back then was Fatboy Slim's Rockafeller Skank. The DJ would catch my eye when I walked in, I'd wave and just a few minutes later everyone could hear that song blasting through the speakers as I would dance, dance, dance.
Flash forward 8 years later, the song begins to play on one of my favourite radio stations (Dave FM) and there I am... dancing in my kitchen, folding laundry and all the while wearing my cow slippers. My 2yr old joins in the dancing and there we are, a couple of crazy girls dancing in our slippers.
My life has certainly changed, and I wouldn't exchange it for the world.

What American accent do you have?

2007-01-18T22:57:00.001-05:00

I really didn't think I am Inland North.. I mean, maybe Midwest, but North? I don't have "pop", I have "coke". Eh.. well.. it's a short test. :)

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The Midland
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I got great ta-tas

2007-01-16T23:10:00.000-05:00

I was running into a store the other day and didn't pay attention that the shirt I was wearing was slowly unbuttoning itself. When I came to a stop, I looked down and found my shirt mostly unbuttoned and my bra showing. This lady looked astonished at me and I quickly went to button myself, apologizing profusely and making wisecracks at how careless I was.
The lady fanned herself and said "Whew! That was very nice! You have a nice pair! You just made my day!"
Oh, no no no.. you just made mine.
I got a great rack! To which my husband replies, "I keep telling you that but it takes a lesbian to convince you?"

Free International Calls?

2007-01-13T10:16:00.000-05:00

Yes.. it's true, you too can make almost free phone calls to 50 international countries, check out Allfreecalls.net. The only amount your charged is any long distance rate you would naturally incur by calling Iowa, because you're calling Iowa who in turn calls the International number you want.
This article will explain why and how they do this.
Is it worth it? Well.. if you have free long distance then yes it could be worth it. However, if you have to pay then you could just use Jajah, which is free... or even Skype.
How do you get this free call?

Dial 712 858 8094
Enter 011, Country Code & Phone #
Enjoy free phone calls.

We may be calling this soon because Hubby's Babi just got out of the hospital after a bad attack of angina and heart failure. I don't know if this means that we'll be traveling to Czech sooner than I thought, but I know they want to see Peanut and well.. they aren't getting any younger.

Fuck You Baltimore!

2007-01-13T09:55:00.001-05:00

Now this is what a used car commercial should just say.

A little of this.. a little of that...

2007-01-12T10:10:00.000-05:00

Zubbles are coming! They're coloured blowing bubbles! The kid of me screams "Yay!" The Mom in me says "Does that stain the carpet?"

Cellswapper. Get out of your current cellphone contract by changing to another provider and they'll take care of the fees!

John Lennon and Let It Be. I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one who thought this song was about the alphabet. I love Lennon.

My Paris Hilton dream

2007-01-08T09:23:00.000-05:00

Forgive me, but I had a strange dream about Paris Hilton last night. That'll teach me to read gossip blogs before bedtime.
I dreamed that I was at a club with Eva Menendez, and Paris Hilton was on a stage in front of us. Just as she was dancing, some change and a piece of paper fell out from in between her legs, and she tried to pick it up. Luckily I wasn't the one who picked it up (even in a dream I knew I could probably catch something from her! Ew!), but the girl who did noticed it was enough money to catch a cab out of the club. The piece of paper ended up being a business card to a lesbian tow truck driver. The card was one of those optical illusion things that when you turned it one way it showed the driver in the daytime and when you turned it the other way it was her at nighttime. Paris looked embarrassed and we all called the tabloids.
I had another dream too.. but my hubby was in it and well.. it's for his ears only. *wink*

A few new shows

2007-01-06T09:42:00.000-05:00

It's rare that I actually sit and watch TV, but with Peanut's recent insomnia I've been catching up on lost time. There's been some new shows premiering this week that I was actually able to see. One was Knights of Prosperity and the other was In Case of Emergency. I didn't like ICE and I'm not sure why. Hubby said it was the acting. I thought the acting was pretty good, but I just got bored watching it. To me, it wasn't funny or interesting. Ah, well.
On the other hand there was Knights of Prosperity. I found myself grinning like an idiot through most of the show. I adored all the characters, the story (they're going to rob Mick Jagger), and just the humour of it all. It's like a blue collar Ocean's Eleven.
Peanut's new show is Jane and the Dragon. It was made in 2005, but we're just now catching it. It's about Jane who is training to be a Lady-in-Waiting except she'd rather be a knight, so she goes off to fight a dragon. However, she ends up making friends with the dragon and now they're friends. When she returned she became a knight in training. The CGI is fascinating and the colours are phenomenal. I like watching it for the art alone, but the story itself isn't half bad. She gets into trouble often, but she's very honest about (knight's honour you know) and things right themselves in the end.

To live in NYC

2007-01-04T09:43:00.000-05:00

I've never been to New York City, but hubby and I have talked about going there for one Christmas. Until then, I have a lot to look at thanks to all these photographers. There's also Overheard in New York and Gothamist and Metroblogging NYC.
My father loved New York City. He said it was his most favourite place in the world. He was there during the late 50's on a soon-to-be closed Air Force base on Long Island. I'd like to go so I can call it my most favourite place in the world.

The Inventory

2007-01-03T22:55:00.000-05:00

I said before how this new year feels so differently than previous ones. This one feels so hopeful. Maybe because our Peanut is a toddler and I can see that the future left up to her will be a great one. That's why I decided to take an inventory of my life. Just some random things to give me insight as to what I have to work with.

- One husband and one daughter
- One dog, Mickie and one cat, Louka
- One house, currently being worked on and still paying for
- One pair of really good fitting jeans and six other pairs jeans for when I'm having "fat days"
- Two books on how to learn Czech (Days spent on learning Czech - 0)
- One novel that I'm working on (er.. I meant have worked on or will work on soon)
- Dozens of books and reading two at the moment (Fiery Cross and the Tao of Pooh)
- One healthy obsession with the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
- Seven record albums including the original 1982 Mousercise and Cocktail
- Roughly 50 CDs my friend Michael burned for me as a Christmas present, he gave me the gift of a lifelong soundtrack
- The entire collection of The Sandman and many other books by Neil Gaiman
- One very old and battered pillow once owned by my brother

Wow, I almost sound like a bag lady (with the exception that most bag ladies don't have traveling companions). Although to be honest, if life ever came to that I believe I could fit my life into one grocery cart. My house flooded in 1994 and my family lost everything. After that, I realized not to put too much worth into items.

New Years Resolution

2007-01-02T09:11:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's true. I make a resolution every year. Sometimes I keep to it, and others I don't. This year I will. I made a long list of things we (hubby and I) need to do this year, come hell or high water. This year feels different already... I don't know what it is. It feels more alive, more promising. My list is pretty long and silly (paint playground, find European store that carries krupice)
So instead of posting my new years resolution. I'll post Peanut's.
- Learn how to use the potty instead of t'ing on the turtle
- Be nicer to Mickie, quit sticking finger in his ear. Kiss his nose more often
- Stop throwing toys.. especially at people.
- Learn new words... use daily.
- Play more. Less TV.
- Learn when to stop spinning around so I quit tripping over Mickie or running into walls.
- Keep up my Czech
- Point to my nose when Mommy or Daddy asks
- Play in more mud

I feel like I should make some sort of inspirational comment about children right about now, but naaaaah. Happy New Year!

Enter Sandman

2006-12-23T22:41:00.000-05:00

My hubby loves to download random stuff, and tonight he downloaded karaoke songs. Now.. if you don't know it my husband is a musician. So when he downloads karaoke, me and Peanut love listening to him sing. Peanut does her little spin dance and sometimes I join in with him on a song. When he sings, sometimes what he thinks are the lyrics are completely different or he just sings to the tune of words (if that makes sense). It's like singing La Cucaracha, you know the tune so you throw in whatever Spanish you may know. Unless you're Carmen.
So tonight he sang Enter Sandman by Metallica:

Say your prayers, little one
Don't forget, my son,
To include everyone

Tuck you in, warm within
Keep you free from sin
Till the sandman he comes

"Oh! So that's what it's about!" he then said.
I just love him.

The song after that was Annicka-Dido. Let me quickly explain. Czech has their own version of American Idol, and it's called Česko hledá SuperStar. The last season there was a girl on there named Annicka who sang "Thank You" by Dido. Not only did she sing off tune, but it's like she didn't even know the tune. Although the entire video is in Czech, it's hilarious to watch the entire thing.

Christmas Baking and Justin Timberlake

2006-12-18T21:27:00.000-05:00

Too bad the title isn't Christmas Baking WITH Justin Timberlake..
Yes, I have a guilty pleasure. It's Justin. Not so much his music, but him hosting SNL. SNL is another childhood favourite I never shook off, but I really indulge in it when he's hosting. He really puts himself out there... far more than other hosts (except for Natalie Portman! Love her!)
Plus..the digital short he did was hilarious. Even my husband laughed! And it's hard to make him laugh.. he more or less chuckles. Umm.. the tune is catchy... (you're welcome!)

In mother news.. I baked. Peanut stole a lot of cookie mix, got flour on her face, licked my measure cup that I used for baking cocoa and went "NUMMY!". Ugh. If you have her site.. I hope you check it out for yourself. She was a mess today. Had so much sugar she had no nap.

PS. A big thank you goes to Carmen for lunch yesterday! Biba's was an excellent choice for a place to eat. :)

Word of the month: NO!

2006-12-17T08:38:00.000-05:00

We should've never taught the word "No" to Peanut because it's become her favourite. Everything is "NO!". When she does want something she says "noooooooooooo" but when she doesn't want something she says "No! No! No! No!". Sometimes you can hear her in the crib when she has her morning chats with the stuffed animals.
But I wonder.. if she says no all the time in English, what would she say in Czech? Well.. she'd say "Ne" (neh), and I realized.. she says that too. But if we were German it'd be cute, "Nein! Nein!" and if we were Thai, it'd be "mai chai". My favourite would be French..."Non! Non!", and then she'd slap me and we'd all laugh about it later.
However, we're stuck with no and ne, and that's ok. I have a feeling "MINE!" will be next.

My hubby is all better now, after 3 days I convinced him to do a shot of Pepto which he chased it down with a shot of absynthe. Ironically it's the same cure his grandmother uses for stomach ailments.

My hubby and his bug

2006-12-15T08:10:00.000-05:00

Now my hubby is sick. I don't know if he has what Peanut had or the Chinese buffet offered a lot more than sweet and sour chicken. But it's pretty gross. I feel bad for him, but it's really hard to keep a straight face because he thinks he's dying. He was reassured that noone has ever died from diarrhea (cha-cha-cha), but me and my big mouth explained what dysentery is. So he told me to tell his mother that he loves her, he says there should be a paycheck in the mail soon, and that he wants to be buried as he is.
"Honey, you don't have dysentery, I'm pretty sure of it. It's probably just a 24 hour bug."
"Bug? I have a bug? Where is it?"
(me laughing uncontrollably because he's serious) "I think it's in your arm, best if we cut it out now."
"Oh, shit, really? It's an actual bug? A real bug inside of me? Is it big? I thought it was just my stomach! Not a bug!"
"Honey!! It's just a figure of speech, we say it's a bug but it's really a virus. Not a real bug."
"Damn Suzanne, if you mean a bug, say bug.. if you mean virus, say virus. Who calls a bug a virus?"
Mind you... his word virus comes out "wirus" because of his accent. I love being married to a Czech! They're so fun. :)

Bad habits

2006-12-14T21:49:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wanted to know your bad habits, but too afraid to ask? Have a kid. Suddenly you have a mirror of yourself.

Sick baby and randomation

2006-12-13T09:34:00.000-05:00

I had a sick Peanut yesterday and let me just tell you that it's amazing what Mother Nature does. The things that come out of babies are pretty gross, but your concern for your child is so strong that it doesn't phase you. Daddies gag, Mommies keep trucking. Peanut was so sick that her inner Kermit was summoned and her skin actually turned green.
She's doing much better today and is currently walking around with Mickie and putting things over his head. I'm sure he's terribly pleased that she's all better... I know I am. :)

Just some random things to throw your way:

Matt Damon does a bang-up job on impersonating his friend Matthew McConaughy (via yesbutnobutyes)

Bzzzpeek - Sounds of animals and vehicles from around the world done by people in their native tongue. Dogs here in America say "Woof woof!" but in Czech they learn to say "Huff huff!" The same goes for cows.. ours say "Moo!" theirs say "Boo!".

33 Things You Never Knew Had Names - and some Czech words to go along with that is Nedovtipa which means a person that can't take a hint and Přesezený is to be stiff from sitting in the same position for too long

10 Most Bizarre People - That just speaks for itself.

Grey Gardens

2006-12-11T22:40:00.000-05:00

I'm a HUGE fan of Grey Gardens. I'm not sure how I first heard about it.. but I had read it somewhere before seeing the movie. Suddenly, TMC aired the original documentary of it and I was giddy (giddy I tell you!).
Me and Peanut watched it the next day during nap time, and neither of us fell asleep. My Peanut is a film connoisseur much like her Mama. I fell in love with Little Edie (not so much Big Edie, she was scary to me) and her "revolutionary costume of the day".
Recently they turned this documentary into a musical and put it on broadway... which if you see the video, isn't half bad. They took all the footage of the Maysles Brothers and stemmed from it a show that critics are loving.
But now... now... there will be a new remake starring Drew Barrymore as Little Edie and Jessica Lange as Big Edie. Which kind of scares me because, I love Drew, but her movies are hit and miss. Anyways.. it's supposed to be the years leading up to the mother and daughter duo becoming recluses in their Long Island home that they shared with 52 cats, fleas, and vermin.

Czech word of the day happens to be Peanut's new word for the day: delej! delej! Go! Go!

The Great Jan Švankmajer

2006-12-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

Married to a Czech.. you're more than likely will hear about fairytales. They're BIG on fairytales. One of them happens to be Little Otik (Otesánek) which Martin said he was first introduced to when he was a kid.
It's about a childless couple who can't concieve and during a vacation one year.. the husband sees part of a cut down tree and notices the resemblence it has to a baby. So he gives it to his wife who immediately loves it, treats it as her own, and goes bezerk. It's a fantastic movie with a really strange twist and I couldn't finish watching it.
Jan Švankmajer is the animator to Little Otik and other movies such as Alice (equally creepy), Faust (creepy), many other movies, and a short called Darkness Light Darkness. He is a Czech surrealist and I couldn't recommend his work anymore than this long intro.

Czech word for the day: strašidelný (strash-ee-dalnee) it means scary.

Oh, and just a bit of interesting info. Peanut's name almost ended up being Bozena, Baruka, or Annicka. Bozena being the crazy lady in Little Otik, Baruka from some chick he used to know and he said "she was a bit of a slut" but he liked the name, and Annicka was a man-eating flower in another fairytale. I think I dodged a bullet. What do you think?

A little bit of this..

2006-12-09T09:13:00.000-05:00

We had a super time yesterday even though it was a little bit packed. We had our lunch in a corner somewhere so the girls had room to move, they made sugarplum fairy crowns, and rode on a carousel. Oh, and we saw some decorated trees. All for a good cause too! :)

I'm really big into music videos. I have been since MTV first came out (I remember watching those first programming minutes too!) and I could recite every video, artist, and song. I was a source of entertainment and conversational piece to my sisters' friends thanks to my elephant memory.
Where am I going with this? Oh.. yea.. Top 50 Music Videos of 2006

Over there on Ask Metafilter... the question was posed.. what does "The Pink One" really taste like? Well.. there's no real intro I could give to that or a gentle way of putting it.. but some of the answers were pretty interesting. Although hubby laughed at the 9v comment, got quiet and then said "No, not a 9v".

Habiq - Creating better habits that last, is a designless website that's strong on content. It has some pretty good articles on habits, health, and some other stuff I don't get too involved in. I like to live day by day... I could get hit by a Mack truck and then where does that leave me? It leaves me with my last meal being tofu with watercress. Blech.

2 hours til tomorrow

2006-12-07T22:02:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow morning me and Kristen are going to the Festival of Trees with our little ones, thanks to Crystal for the free tickets! She worked part-time there this week and got some freebies for us.
All of us are excited to go... I think it's because our kids are old enough to be amazed with lights. Last year Peanut didn't do much of anything.

Putzing around on the web, I found the Flags of the World with comments from a marketing group.

I'm pretty late for the Czech word of the day.. so as compensation, I'll teach you the dirty phrase - do pice (doe peechay) which sounds really good when your mad. What does it mean? Oh I won't tell.

Toys and questions

2006-12-06T09:22:00.000-05:00

Here's a list of the most wanted toys of 2006.. also known as the list of toys Peanut's NOT getting this year.
The only one Peanut could really get (because of her age) is the TMX Elmo (Tickle-me-Elmo), Peanut seems to like Elmo, but Mommy doesn't like Elmo enough to bring him into the home. She'll have to settle for paperdolls. Cruel? Yes. But you have to realize that when you bring some of these toys into your home.. they become possessed. Her Leapfrog table goes off in the middle of the night, and it's not just general noises.. it's the noises produced when something is moved.

I got giddy when I saw the list of the most 25 important questions in the history of the universe (with answers). It's from an article in Mental Floss.. a magazine I want a subscription to.

Czech word of the day: 3:15 tři patnáct (tree pahtnast) and a bonus word of the day is yes - ano (ahno)

Czech word of the day

2006-12-05T08:59:00.000-05:00

My father could speak 4 languages fluently and I, of course, can only speak one. But that's going to change. I'm determined to speak Czech. Not only for me but for Peanut as well. She's known Czech since birth but only from her Daddy, I should be encouraging this as well.. so this is where I begin. Each day I'll learn a word and maybe one day I'll be able to construct a sentence that doesn't include the words "beer", "food", or "whore". Don't ask.

Word of the day: cracker - sušenka (su-shen-kah)

What the world eats

2006-12-05T08:24:00.000-05:00

Peter Menzel (Photographer) has taken a series of pictures from around the world of different families and what they eat in a week. The outcome was shocking to me (except for the Americans, that one didn't surprise me). The text is in French but pretty self-explanatory. The series.

The Czech family home, I think would look like the German home featured there. They drink a lot of beer, wine, juices, water, fresh meat, fresh bread, and sauerkraut. I adapted pretty easily to eating there, and Martin stuffed himself. He looked like Brad Pitt in Ocean's Eleven. Remember how he always eating or drinking something? That was my husband.

Solla Solla Enna Perumai

2006-12-04T23:37:00.001-05:00

Could you think of a better way of opening a blog? This stuff is fantastic!

To begin at the beginning

2006-12-04T23:13:00.000-05:00

My BFF (love that term!) Carmen has a blogger account and I was so envious of hers, especially after looking at my limp Myspace blog that I decided to create this one. Granted my Peanut has her own blog but Mama has some words of her own.

I guess if you don't know me, I can give a quick run down of who I am and what I'm about. I'm married to a Czech and mom to a wonderful little peanut. My job is my family and home although I like to feel that I'm more than just that stay-at-home mom type. I work part-time as a Jill of all trades to a former co-worker, and it's a pretty satisifying job that I hope can spark one day into a full time job once Peanut is old enough to go to school.
I post some pretty strange things, I'm a big fan of cheezie things.