Day 664: SchutzHappens, April 2010: "One Day in April"

Day 663: HOLIDAY – Dance Like a Chicken Day

Did you know May 14^th is ‘National Dance Like a Chicken Day’?  Me neither!  But much like everything bizarre and strange… SchutzHappens must celebrate this holiday and bring a little bit of the Chicken Dance to your computer screens!  So, in order to bring everyone up to speed, I will hand our festivities over to Lawrence Welk:

Day 662: We’re ‘Famous’

REF: Day 643 & Day 660

Well we’re ‘famous’… I guess it was bound to happen someday… and it only took 643 days and Poisonous Vietnamese River Fish to pull SchutzHappens from the murky depths of mediocrity to the link-worthy blog it has become.

That’s right folks we’ve been “linked” for the first time!   Which we all know is the first step in taking over the world. 
  
Back on Day 643, first time commenter “A Daring Adventure”, was so grotesquely moved by my story about the poisonous Vietnamese river fish that she not only revealed her “web-stalking” presence, ;)  But, two days later she linked my post in her weekly “State Department Blog Round-Up”… which I didn’t know existed.  You learn something every day.

Anyway, for months Serena and I have toyed with the idea of making our blog private... but you know?  I’m starting to lean towards keeping it public again.  The life of an expat is all about community and by making our experiences private seems to limit that idea of ‘community’.  After all, why should I deprive anyone my endless meanderings on Conan O’Brien, the Oscars, and Child Birth?  It seems darn right Un-American!  And seriously folks… who can forget Hats of Meat at www.hatsofmeat.com.  Schutz Happens every day and it’s enriching the lives of… ummm… hmmm… that’s a good question… I don’t know whose lives are being touched with this little obsession of mine… which bring me to another point:

For two years I’ve been writing this blog… and for the better part of this time we’ve had five followers.  Five incredibly loyal followers.  However, from time to time we’ll have a random commenter like Peegee and A Darning Adventure.  So, I know we have folks following this blog who haven’t formally established themselves as “followers”… and of course, I get curious, so I finally embedded a hit counter on May 7^th… and well… the results were a bit surprising.  In the first six days, SchutzHappens received 45 unique visitors and 78 page loads.  This is way more than I was expecting.  Crazy.

I wonder what a month will look like. 

BTW:  The hit counter works off of a cookie.  If you don’t have a SchutzHappen’s cookie you’re given new comer status… if you have a SchutzHappen’s cookie you’re given returning user status… so please!  Have a cookie!

Day 661: TV Review – Gravity

If you haven’t figured it out already but I am a TV junkie.  I always have been.  My mom freely admits that she let me watch as much TV as I wanted growing up… and well… I turned out fine, right? 

And I have to admit, whenever Serena and the boys go out of town leaving me at home… I’ve nicknamed the time “TVpalooza”… and well… that’s pretty much all I do the entire time they are gone.  I catch up on all of the shows Serena isn’t interested in watching with me… and sometimes I check out pilots of new shows to see if they are worth watching.  I actually get really jazzed up when new pilots are rolled out... I like to see if new shows are any good and try and predict if they will get cancelled… I know… I’m a nerd… but it’s fun for me.

But it’s a win-win, because making fun of this part of my personality is fun for Serena.  She claims I’ll watch anything no matter how good or bad it is… and truthfully… I can see where she might get this impression.  I do not believe you can judge a show by its pilot alone.  Pilot episodes, by design, are not intended for the TV watching public… No, pilot episodes are intended for TV network executive who are looking to buy shows.  So, because of this… I believe viewers should give a show at least three episodes before passing judgment. 

Well… I must be getting harsher in my old age… because last TVpalooza I turned off a pilot 10 minutes in and I have no intention to ever watching it again.

I didn’t find it offensive… I didn’t find it rude… I can handle offensive and rude… I just found it annoyingly shot, cheaply made, and pretty unnecessary.  So I turned it off.

The show is called ‘Gravity’.

What was Gravity about?  It was about a court ordered support group for people who have attempted suicide... sure, it’s a depressing concept… but it could have had some potential.  But as long as it is trying to be a comedy shot on a home video camcorder… I think the concept will remain lost to me.

Day 660: Poisonous Vietnamese River Fish – Part 2

REF: Day 643

First, I want to say welcome to our new readers, “A Daring Adventure”.  It’s always nice to see another friendly face get involved… I haven’t quite figured out how to track visitors on this site… so most of the time I feel like I am writing for Pauline and Kerry most of the time.  Welcome.

Anyway, to address your concerns about the fish:

Question 1: But... but... DID YOU EAT IT?!?!?!

No.

Question 2: Did you eat it before looking it up?

No.  We looked it up first.

Question 3: Did you look it up after you ate it and felt gross?

No.  We looked it up first.  However, we still felt kind of gross about having it in the house.

Question 4: Did you look it up and then throw it away and not eat it at all!??!   

Not exactly.  We looked it up before eating it and we certainly weren’t going to eat it after finding out what it was… But… oh man, this is going to sound really bad… but… our housekeeper didn’t care.  Even after we told her what it was… she asked if she could have it.  So… we gave it to her. 

Personally I feel strange about it… but at the same time… the fish is sold all over the European Union which has incredibly strict food regulations… so I have to assume the fish is okay, but I certainly can’t bring myself to consume it.  And I don’t really like thinking about my housekeeper’s family consuming it either.  But I can afford to make that call for myself and my family… but, for others who need the food?  Throwing it away would simply be wasteful. 

Anyway… that’s how it all played out.

Again, Welcome to the party and I hope to hear from you again!

Day 659: Clean Up Your Room Day

Man!  The holidays just keep on coming!  Hot Dog!  It’s ‘Clean Up Your Room Day’!  Wait a minute… in my house EVERYDAY is ‘Clean Up Your Room Day’… or a more accurate description would be, ‘Clean Up Grayson’s Room Day’.  Seriously… every day before bed we have to clean his room… it’s a complete and total disaster!

This is the best description of ‘Clean Up Your Room Day’ that I can find:

“May 10 -Clean Up Your Room Day - is the official holiday for cleaning up our rooms and we can all take part in defining and planning a way to make a party out of this holiday. Parents, children, students, roommates, teachers and co-workers alike can all take part in observing this day. As long as we keep in mind the nature of a holiday - fun that is observed with family and friends - then we are on the right track for setting up our own Clean up Your Room Day celebration.”

Did someone say party?  Sweet.  Now you’re speaking my language!

Day 658: Lost Sock Memorial Day

Did you know that May 9^th is “Lost Sock Memorial Day”?  Seriously… or maybe not so seriously… I don’t know… although the day really does seem to exist… no one has taken responsibility for creating the “holiday”.

It’s quite thought provoking though… When it comes to my own socks I have a pretty strict personal rule.  If I find a sock with a hole in it I throw away pair, even if the second sock is perfectly fine.  What am I going to do with just one sock?

However, if I send a pair of socks to the laundry and only one comes back… I don’t throw the survivor away.  I keep it… in hopes that someday I will witness a reunion.  Sometimes I do… sometimes I don’t… but still… I can never bring myself to throw away the survivor.  And for that?  I understand what today really means. 

In honor of “Lost Sock Memorial Day” I would like to share a poem:

The Land Of Lost Socks
by Michelle Close Mills

Unloading the washer

I saw the mate to my sock
had vanished in thin air.
I called my friend Shelly.
“Where do you suppose that it went?”
“To the Land Of Lost Socks” she said.

“The Land of Lost Socks?
You’re putting me on!”
I wasn’t buying into Shelly’s tale.
“Socks get bored” she insisted
“and they want a fresh start.
They get tired of stinky shoes.

 Like people who wander
in search of adventure,
craving freedom, they go on the lam.
They creep out of their Kenmore
as it agitates, spins,
leaving half a pair wet, and alone.

 What does a sock do
when away from his shoes,
and new to the singles scene?
He parties hard, and hits on
other socks on the run
while his wife sleeps alone in a drawer.

 Ah, the Land Of Lost Socks
offers excitement and laughs.
No more trips to the washer and dryer.
No more pondering life’s meaning
from inside a dank boot.
It’s fresh air, wine coolers and fun!”

Well her yarn did make sense,

I had to admit.
Though I didn’t like losing my stuff.

But to seek something better,

is the American way,

though it’s so hard to part with my sock!!!

Hmmm… yeah… so I kind of wish I hadn’t shared that poem… oh well.

Anyway, here are some creative things to do with your surviving socks!

http://www.missmatchedfun.com/lost_sock_memorial_day.php

And for those of you who haven't lost any socks this year... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!