A Tall Girl's Adventures in a Tiny World

I woke up to this little ditty on the radio this morning, something that took place unnervingly close to my own home. Verizon Solicitor Arrested For Indecent Exposure Police in New Castle County arrested a Verizon solicitor for lewdness after witnesses reported seeing him masturbating while sitting on a street in North Wilmington. Authorities say Daniel Chelland, 18, of a Garfield Avenue in Wilmington, was arrested Tuesday and charged with counts of lewdness after witnesses reported the indecent exposure to police. Police say Chellend was allegedly going door-to-door on Monday soliciting Verizon services in the North Graylyn Crest community when he was observed taking a break on the curb and masturbating while watching a woman working in her garden. Neighbors told police Chelland then got up and went to a home on Knowles Road where he attempted to sell Verizon services. By the time police arrived, Chelland had left the area. Aut...

It's recently occurred to me that I've spent too much time editing other people's words and not enough time writing my own. So, I've jumped on the blogwagon to get me back into the writing lifestyle -- and I present to you Tall Girl's Adventures in a Tiny World . The idea Even day-to-day life is an adventure for this very tall 30-something suburban working mama-wife-daughter-sister-friend. Here you'll find my musings (ramblings?) on current events, trends, entertainment, and social goings-on. Whew…how’s that for a broad canvas? Basically, when it pops into my head, I’ll write about it. And I hope you’ll respond. I’m new to blogging, but I’m pretty sure the whole point is to have a truly interactive writing experience, so please interact! You can subscribe to the adventures, too, which will tell you whenever I've posted something new. (Oh, and read more about me, if you’re curious, by clicking the link to the bottom of the page.) The title I have b...

There are few things in this world that I love more than a Monte Cristo sandwich from Bennigans (chased with a Death By Chocolate dessert...oh, how my stomach rumbles as I write these words). Due to constant calorie counting over the past 10 years, however, it's been a long time since I surrendered to such decadence. Maybe too long, since I read this morning that all company-owned Bennigans and Steak & Ale restaurants have closed . WHAT? Can you just close a restaurant chain without warning? (The article does state that franchisee-owned restaurants are remaining in operation, so I will be driving by my local Bennigans later today to check it out.) Take heart, greasy-gooey sandwich lovers. There are a number of recipes online for the Monte Cristo sandwich, and the one below got good ratings on recipeczar.com . (Interestingly, if you click this link and go to "print this" the nutrition information appears. It's not health food, but it's not as bad as I'd ima...

Sweet Boy and I just came from an awesomely fun birthday party at our local Moonbounce Adventures . He ran around like a spring-footed maniac, and I watched with a big goony smile on my face, thinking, wow, what a grown-up boy he is...and how easy and wonderful this is to just stand here and watch him have fun. (Sidenote: I really wish I'd remembered to wear socks because I really would have been in there bouncing with him!) Then I looked around at my mom-friends, all of whom have more than one child. They were really working! These mamas are amazing. Do they give out the secret hidden arms and extra pairs of ears and eyes when you check out of the hospital with your second child? They're keeping track of more than one kid in more than one location at all times, attending to every child's needs without once yelling "Mommy just wants to sit down!" I found myself staring dumb, feeling like I should be helping, but how in the world could I give a hand without totally...

For months now, I have been ranting to anyone who will listen (and really that's only my husband, who has to share my bed, and my coworkers, who have to sit in an adjoining cubicle for 8 hours a day) that our forefathers would never have allowed what's happening in our country these days. We're all sitting around griping -- myself included -- about gas prices and grocery prices and wars and idiot leaders...but who's going to start the revolution? Who's going to throw the tea in the harbor ? I was delighted to learn today that we've rediscovered a little bit of our revolutionary roots. Tonight ABC News reported that Americans drove almost 10 billion fewer miles in May 2008 than in May 2007. And guess what? The average price of gasoline has dropped 11 cents in the last week. YES! (Did you ever think you'd see the day that I danced over $3.87 a gallon?) Keep up the good work, my fellow gas guzzlers. And if the price of gas keeps falling, please don't forge...

I just made me run for the Verizon FIOS hook-up in my garage...then I realized I don't own a sledgehammer, and who knows what that thing is actually hooked to and whether its destruction would lead to some kind of space-time alteration. Anyway, here's a snippet of the article that just caused my minor embolism: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TV Really Might Cause Autism Today, Cornell University researchers are reporting what appears to be a statistically significant relationship between autism rates and television watching by children under the age of 3. The researchers studied autism incidence in California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington state. They found that as cable television became common in California and Pennsylvania beginning around 1980, childhood autism rose more in the counties that had cable than in the counties that did not. They further found that in all the Western states, the more time toddlers spent in front of the television, the more likely they were ...

My current project is editing a book about how to teach boys to read and write. Yes, you got it: The premise is that boys and girls are biologically wired to learn differently -- and, get this -- boys develop literacy skills more slowly than girls. So we need to go easy on them, which in teacher-speak is called "differentiate instruction." And K-3 teachers need to teach them how to be good men by using picture books that contain positive male characters and positive messages about masculinity. Whoa. This project is a challenge on many levels. First of all, it's written like ass. That's right, I said it: ass. But that's what I get paid to do, un-assify it. So I'll do my best. However, I have such a problem with the fundamental argument here, that it's all I can do to remain professional and not write queries like "Are you freaking kidding me?!" in the margins. OK, so I think we all can agree that girls are more verbally inclined than boys (which i...

...but it might be too late. Have you seen this Barack Obama speech from Berlin? Damn, the man can orate. Since he announced his candidacy, I've been resisting the Obamamania. I really, really wanted to see Hillary in the White House, for many reasons, but mostly because the thought of a woman President just gives me chills. But, alas, we will have to wait for that. I still am not convinced that Obama is ready for this big job. But wouldn't it be nice if he could deliver the change and hope of which he speaks so eloquently? Every time I stand in line at Shoprite and marvel at the expense of milk and every time I drive by Gulf and vomit at the expense of gas, I think, maybe...maybe in just a few short months this knot in my stomach will dissipate. But I'm afraid to get my hopes too high. I'm afraid to love him. I'm afraid that this time around, if I'm too invested in this candidate, the disappointment on November 5 would be much more than I can handle. (Oh, Lord,...