7 Quick Takes

1. Thanks to twitter, CherylSmith999 to be exact, I have now discovered the comedy magic that is literal music videos. For example, they take this video of Rick Astley singing, Never Gonna Give You Up 1987 (man I’m old) and they voice over it literally describing what is happening in the video. Watch it here. If you can’t figure out how that could be funny just wait until, “enough of me, let’s cut to my shadow.” I also recommend Total Eclipse of the Heart-The Literal Version and With Arms Wide Open – Literal Video Version. You can manage on your own from there, I’m sure. Hours of free entertainment.

2. I just found out that people pay anywhere between $200 to $400/month for cable/internet. That kind of shocked me. What’s more shocking, to me, is that that people in my neighborhood who are on a fixed income, unemployed, on public assistance, etc, are the ones paying these bills. Yikes.
I pay $25/month for highspeed internet. The wireless modem router was about $200. That’s one month of cable, for the lower cost. In six months of paying your $200 cable bill you would be able to purchase a brand new MacBook and download your TV for free. Add the cost of a netflicks membership, which is way less than $200/month and you have all the entertainment you need, don’t you? Why would you pay that much for cable when you can’t afford gas or groceries or laundry? How do you have time to watch it enough to be worth it? Did you fail math?

Mind boggling y’all.

3. I got to go to SummerFest Under the Stars at The Cove in La Jolla with the GH last week. It’s a free outdoor classical concert on cliffs overlooking the ocean for those of you not wanting to click the link. It was lovely, even though there was no sunset. It may be the first time I’ve ever been at the cove in the evening that there has not been a spectacular sunset. But it was too overcast. The music was good though, and hearing the waves crashing below and the cry of seagulls in the silent places was a really beautiful combination. A friend who plays viola in the orchestra told us about it. I think it may be the first classical concert I have attended without needing to run after children since the Boy was born. Totally worth the hour long train ride to meet the GH after work, just for the pleasure of sitting and listening uninterrupted. Having a handsome guy for a date wasn’t that bad either.

4. I keep meaning to find out if there is any reason humans shouldn’t eat birdseed. I keep thinking this because a 5 pound bag is only $4 or so at Target and from what I can see it’s all really nutritious grains and seeds like millet. That stuff costs a lot at the grocery store. It looks like if you washed it and cooked it it would make some really good porridge. Now wouldn’t that be a healthy frugal tip. Perhaps I’ll try it and let you know.

5. The GH came in this week and collapsed into a chair in that way that lets me know he’s messed up. He was listening to PBS on the way home and they aired, from a documentary, a domestic violence call, made by a child. He said he was wailing all the way home. The worst thing he has ever heard. I can’t find it online, though he assures me I don’t want to listen to it even if I did. Did anyone else hear it?

6. Number 1 reminds me of a conversation that was relayed to be by a friend who was at that time the director of a nonprofit in Vancouver Canada known as Jacob’s Well. (It’s a really cool story how it started so you should click over and read about it.) One of the street guys she was friends with asked her for money one day so she answered, “Is it true that on a good night, Friday or Saturday, panhandling you can make over $100 bucks?”
“Yeah, sometimes.”
“And even on a bad night you still make a little right?”
“Yeah.”
“So you can make up to $400/week doing that. Right?”
“I guess.”
“And you get your assisted living check so when you add that all together, you actually make more money than I do. I should be asking you for money.”
“But you have a car.”
“Yes, I do. That’s because I don’t smoke all my money up a crack pipe. When you’re ready to quit that you know you can come and talk to me and I’ll help you.”
“Yeah.”
She qualified that by reminding her listeners that she was actually friends with the guy, and that’s the kind of conversation you can have with someone if you are in relationship with them and they know you care about them that you couldn’t as you are trying to ignore them when they approach you on a street corner.
I’ve always remembered it for some reason.

7. The GH and I joke around about how we should start a Husband for Hire business. He’s really good at all those little things that wives hate nagging their husbands about; repairs, maintenance, taking out the trash, foot rubs… All we need is a catchy slogan and paying customers and I think we’re set. Of course if this were to happen I would probably end up like the cobbler’s wife, you know, rubbing my own feet, or something, while he takes out someone else’s trash… (Man I tried writing that without it sounding suggestive and there is just no way to do it. You can see the trouble we’re having coming up with the slogan.)

And that completes the mind dump for this week. Thanks Jen for hosting 7 Quick Takes Friday.