Mishmash Musings

I just read that Anthony Hart, younger brother of former freestyle motocrosser Carey Hart, died last week from injuries sustained in a Supermoto crash. Anthony was going through qualifiers at the New England Grand Prix, which is a benefit race for former MX racer Doug Henry, when he crashed on one of the asphalt portions of the track (Supermoto combines both asphalt and dirt racing). The worst part is that Anthony was just 21 years old, with his whole life in front of him.

Motorcycle deaths strike particularly close to home, since my husband races motocross. He’s been doing it since he was 18, so even though I worry about him, it’s not as though I can ask him to stop. After all, he had this hobby long before he met me.

Still, I wish I didn’t feel like I should phone around for term life insurance quotes every time Jerry goes out to ride. There must be something that can be done — either to the tracks or the bikes — to make the sport safer. It really seems as though there have been far more accidents since those big 4-strokes came on the scene. Maybe it’s time to go back to the 2-smokers.

(I couldn’t find a picture of Tony, so that’s Carey up there.)

Monday was supposed to be the first day of school in Broward County, but Tropical Storm Fay has interfered with that plan. Broward County school district officials announced that parents and students should check www.browardschools.com for updated information as it becomes available.

Also, as Tropical Storm Fay bears down on Florida, tourists have been warned to leave the area. Though still designated a tropical storm at this point, meteorologists believe Fay could turn into a hurricane before it reaches Florida’s shores. The storm is currently over Cuba, and has reportedly left five dead in its wake after passing through Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

This sounds like it could be a bad one, so here’s hoping Florida residents are prepared and manage to get out of this one unscathed.

I spent most of the day cleaning, as we’re trying to get rid of at least some of our clutter. We’re total pack rats over here, and are reluctant to throw anything away — “just in case” we need it later. This especially applies to baby accessories that we’ve held onto for 5 years now, even though we’ve known for quite some time that we didn’t want to have another child.

So we’ve got a bunch of stuff out in the garage that we’re finally going to put on eBay. I don’t know how much money we can end up getting, but it should be a pretty decent haul considering what we have. For example, we’ve got a Maclaren stroller that is in excellent shape still. I received this particular stroller as a shower gift, and had no idea that they retail for around $300.

But apparently, they’re quite popular with celebrities and so forth, which is part of the reason for their appeal. Plus, they are just terrific products that come with a bunch of features that other strollers lack, such as a convenient carry handle on the side frame, a water-resistant hood with UV protected viewing window, a raincover, and reflective accents for safety when darkness falls. We should definitely be able to get a tidy sum for ours even though it’s used.

In addition to the stroller, we also have a nice crib, bassinet, baby gates, and assorted furniture that I’m sure someone will want.

I don’t often resort to eBay sales because I usually know a few people who need the stuff I’m getting rid of. But I guess it’s a sign of how old I’m getting that none of my friends can use baby items either! Sigh.

Okay, the hype about two men who claim to have found irrefutable proof that Bigfoot-like creatures exist has been inescapable. It’s on every blog I read and every news site I check, including reputable ones like CNN.

At first, I simply ignored all the stories, contenting myself with glancing at headlines only. But since these articles just won’t go away, I decided to start reading some today.

Apparently, two men named Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer have announced that they’ve found the body of a 7-foot tall half-man, half-ape creature that corresponds to the Bigfoot legends. They won’t reveal the precise location of their find because they say that there are several more of these creatures still living and they don’t want to turn set a bunch of hunters on them.

The men have released two photos of the alleged Bigfoot carcass, and say that the body is currently undergoing extensive DNA testing in California.

Well, I have my doubts about this “finding”, but then again, I’m not sure why anyone would go to the trouble of perpetrating a hoax of this magnitude. Plus, in this day and age, it would be impossible to put one over on the whole world, wouldn’t it? I guess the only thing to do is sit back and wait for the results of the tests and a more comprehensive press conference.

I just read that Julia Child and a bunch of other famous people were actually recruited to be spies for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) during World War II. The OSS was a precursor to the CIA, and attempted to create propaganda, infiltrate enemy troops, etc.

The information comes after the release of 750,000 pages of formerly classified documents detailing the activities of the OSS spy network. Some other famous people whose name can be found in those pages are John Hemingway (son of Ernest), Teddy Roosevelt’s children, Arthur Schlessinger, Jr., former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, and former Major League catcher Moe Berg.

Kind of interesting that all of these people, some 24,000 total, were part of the OSS. No wonder spy novels and movies were big at that time!

So my son is 5 now, and will be six in February. I usually don’t worry about his development, as he’s been a late bloomer in almost every category (walking, potty training, etc.), but I’m starting to become concerned by his lack of interest in reading. I’ve purchased a bunch of easy books for him to read, and we’ve spent a lot of time going over them together. He shows halfhearted interest when we read together, but absolutely zero when I ask him to spend 30 minutes or so reading quietly on his own.

He will be starting kindergarten soon, so hopefully he’ll develop more of an interest there when the class works on phonics. If he doesn’t, though, I’m not sure what I should do. Maybe forcing him to watch his favorite TV programs with the volume down and closed captioning on would help a bit!

I’m not panicking just yet, but I will keep an eye on the situation. The last thing I want is for him to fall behind his peers right from the beginning.

Our house is pretty small, so it’s important for us to be able to make the most out of what little space we do have. Unfortunately, neither my husband nor I are very adept at figuring out the best way to arrange furniture in a particular room, which is why the whole house has a cramped feeling to it.

Anyway, today we’re trying to figure out how to get more space in the spare room. Jerry currently uses it as an office, and it is so cluttered that I can barely stomach going in there. He’s got one of those huge computer desks that an executive might use, even though his monitor and keyboard take up just one tiny corner. The rest of the desk is covered with paperwork and junk, and looks pretty bad!

We want to get rid of the desk, replace it with a smaller hutch, and then buy a filing cabinet or two to keep the papers in order. That ought to give us more space in the room and help with organization, both of which are desperately needed in that area.

I haven’t done the “Five Things” meme in, like, forever, so I thought this would be a good time to bust out with a quick list! Here are five books that I’m currently reading and/or listening to on my iPod now. I normally don’t like to get involved with this many different stories at once, but I’ve been feeling far too restless to stick with just one title for very long.

1. The Innocent Man by John Grisham
2. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
3. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
4. There is a Tide… by Agatha Christie
5. Saturday by Ian McEwan

I’m closest to finishing Never Let Me Go (creeeepy!) and The Innocent Man, (boring) but am most intrigued by The Thirteenth Tale. Let’s see which one I finish first!