Mutton

Barnyard animals are cute. We went to a farm last weekend and did the whole family-autumnal-afternoon thing. I forgot my MP3 player and was so BORED the whole time.

Sheep are alright but you can't make great coats out of them. Or hot dogs.

Curious George

Bumpa looks a little tired at reading this Curious George episode for the seventh time. I don't know why! With every read the 1950s sensibility surprises me.

The Man in the Yellow Hat has stolen this monkey, whom he names Curious George from the, as he says- jungle. Is he a zoologist? Scientist? Conservationist? I think not. He has a pith helmet on which leads me to believe that he may simply be a recreational traveler, exploiting the environment and capturing monkeys simply because he finds them "cute". He buys George a bicycle (a bicycle!) with the direction, "stay near the house" as he leaves for work. George is inevitably captured by a roaming band of circus performers who exploit him for his bicycle riding talents.

There is a grand reunion with The Man in the Yellow Hat at the end. Give me a break! George never realizes he is being exploited. I don't think Bumpa realizes it either.

Separated at Birth: Part 2

"Kiss my Grits!"

Dad keeps saying that when he sees this photo, he thinks I look like Linda Lavin- she played Alice on the 70s series of the same name. You know, the one with Mel (the hilarious Vic Tayback) and Flo, it takes place in a diner, and you can count on Flo saying, "Kiss my Grits!" at least once in every episode. That's Alice on the left in this photo. I don't know-I personally think I look more like a young Mary Kate or Ashley.

Ava

Ava and I hung out yesterday at her house. We made muffins and ran around. Her mum is really nice.

OK, Dad's gone. Ava! Call me on my cell after 8:00pm. That's when I'm in bed, I'll put it on vibrate so Mum and Dad won't hear. Or text message me and tell me when a good time is to call. Make sure you have that new issue of Us Weekly, you HAVE to read me that interview with Orlando Bloom! He is so hot! Is that really his girlfriend in the photo? Maybe they're just friends. I can't believe he wil be 47 when I'm 18! That is too depressing to even think about. (JK!)

OK G/F. TTYL.

Else

Do the Elsa!

This is my new dance move- check it out homies! You put your hands on your sides and then rock back and forth. After eight bars you put your hands in the air and you spin around. After that you jump up in the air. Then you do it all again.

It works especially well with David Bowie's song, "Sound and Vision" off his 1977 LP, Low (the one with The Man who Fell to Earth photo on the front). You know when to start spinning when the sweet Brian Eno keyboards come in halfway through the first verse.

So Many Sports...So Little Time!

Dad is watching a lot of sports these days. The Amazin's are in the postseason and the Bears are 4-0. "What could be better?" he says. I am constantly yelling "Go Mets!" or "Go Bears!" just to get some attention. Sometimes I end up saying "Go Bets!"

What's a girl to do? If you can't beat 'em...join 'em.

4:00:36!

Mum finished the Wineglass Marathon in 4:00:36 on Sunday. Dad and I raced around like maniacs all morning and got to see her at the start, at 9 miles, 13 miles, and at the finish. The first time I saw her, at 9 miles, I freaked out because she ran by without even stopping! She just waved and blew me a kiss and kept going! I started crying really loud so Dad had to explain that she had to keep going, that she was in a "hurry". But I didn't really understand it until I saw her again at 13 miles.

She was with her running buddies Mark and John. We all met up at the end and saw them cross the finish line! They were weird-looking at the end. They all had wind burnt faces and sour expressions and were really pale and wanted to sit down. Except Mark, he looked pretty normal. But Mum kept saying, "that was really...hard..."and she had this weird silver blanket on. All John did was eat bananas and stare at his legs and feet. And his toes were pretty gnarly.