Jenn Martinelli Blogging in Boston

Eat lots of candy! Don't egg anybody!

Here's me in costume at work.

Is it just me, or is this a little ridiculous? Instead of cancelling holidays, especially very secular ones like Halloween, why not celebrate more of them and let kids learn about different cultures? Of course the woman who says something like, "What about Columbus Day or Valentine's Day?" is stupid. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Kids don't care about Columbus Day, it's just a day off of school and doesn't have any religious implications of any sort. Valentine's Day isn't anything compared to Halloween for a kid either.

This is, as my friend Sheilagh put it, HIGH-LAR-I-OUS.

I'm just about to finish up a pretty, fuzzy, fluffy mohair scarf for my friend Suzanne. Now that I've switched to the continental/European way to hold the yarn and knit, it's going much faster.

Check out photos at my flicker site here and here.

I'm using Ingenue yarn by Katia and size 13US/9.0mm needles.

I love NPR. And I love my little Tivoli radio Rob bought me last year for my birthday. It lets me listen to NPR all day at my desk.

Here are some interesting stories I've heard lately:

Ex-Mormons forming their own communities because they're shunned by their former church and its members.

Two political women, one Democrat, one Republican, talk about how women are quietly taking over a lot of power in the US. It's about time. I think it's kind of funny. Phyllis Schlafley, kiss my ass.

Why does Hollywood fake politics so badly?

The correlation between how many Fedex packages are shipped in a day and how the US economy is doing.

Musical guest is Sheryl Crowe. How did that go?

"We'll only take Sheryl Crowe if Lance hosts."

Something like that?

Just heard a funny interview on NPR with George Carlin. He was talking about how he used to do some routine called "The Secret News" and he listed some of the topics that he listed in his fake news report, as if they were headlines:

• Everybody is Scared

• No One Knows What They're Doing

• At Least One of Your Children Will Disappoint You

• Everyone is Dressed Improperly

• Your House Will Never Be Perfectly Clean

It's like the stuff you secretly suspect is true but no one will admit. Everybody's house is a mess, no one has a plan, etc. Pretty funny.

Hey, look at this cool idea from Bank of America. I know lots of people hate B of A because it's basically taking over the country and will be the only bank or something, but I haven't had any complaints so far about them since I've banked with them. And Rob's banked with them for years exclusively online until they took over Fleet so now we have branches here. Anyway, I think this is a good idea. It's just like saving up your change in a jar, but easier.

Amazing Race is one of our favorite shows. It's fun because they send these people all over the world and you get to see people act like total idiots and make fools of themselves in other countries. I'm sure it's not doing wonders for the image Americans have in general, but still, it's good entertainment. There's always some team to really hate because they're just horribly whiney and awful, or they scream all the time at each other, etc.

But Amazing Race Family Edition sucks. First of all, it's taking till the 4th or 5th episode for them to even get out of the country, and they spent the first part driving around to stupid crap in the southern US. A couple things I'll say OK to like they went to the space center in Alabama. But they also went to the "World's Biggest Office Chair" somewhere else in Alabama, and also mobile home sales company somewhere either in Alabama or Louisiana.

I mean, if you're sticking to the US for some reason, can you at least see some good sights? Like what about the Grand Canyon? Or Niagara Falls or the Rockies or something? Alaska, hey, that's cool. But having pit stops at places like a random BP station off a rural route in Alabama is more than a little lame. I mean, did they run out of money for the show or something? I can't figure it out.

Plus, it's horrible watching these families. Almost every one of them is perfectly awful.

Then there's the Jesus freaks from Florida, the widow and 3 kids whose husband/father died somehow at an auto racing track or event. First of all, don't feel too sorry for them, because they're awful people. The woman thinks she is on some kind of mission to save her kids because their dad died, and they pray almost every 5 minutes about everything. I don't think you're supposed to pray for material things, at least that's what I'd learned, but these stupid people are constantly asking Jesus to please help them win the race. Well, the prize for the race is a million dollars. Oops.

I can't even remember all the upsetting, awful things this family has said and done, especially the mom, but the two girls are whiney brats, someone needs to tell them to stop dressing like skanks and plucking their eyebrows to one-hair's-breadth, and that skunk stripes in the hair went out of style about 8 years ago (not that they ever should have been in style).

But the absolute topper that almost made my head explode this week, was when they got to Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana (this was filmed before the hurricane obviously) and one of the stupid kids in this stupid family commented on how big it was, and the mom said, "Yes, it's one of the five great lakes."

Hey, idiot, it's like 1/100th the size of the smallest great lake, and you're from Florida which is right next-door. How is it that you think one of the great lakes is in your neighborhood? What would even prompt you to say that? I mean, it's not like you learned it in school, so why are you volunteering the information? You just think any lake that's big is a great lake? I'd like her to list the other four. Let me guess her list:

• Lake Okeechobee

• Lake Kissimmee

• Lake Placid

• Lake Tahoe

Shut your mouth, you stupid woman! Your kids might still have a tiny chance of not being complete morons if you can just stop telling them things, because everything you tell them is wrong!

You might think TV is a dumb thing to get upset about but the reason I'm upset is that these are real people and this is what I have to run into in my daily life. People who are this horrible and dumb.

Happy Birthday, Heather!

Friday is Heather's birthday, but do you think she is putting a list of demands on her site like in previous years? No, she's not.

How are all her fans supposed to shower her with gifts?

This is crazy! Who knew? Well, I guess these guys did. And to prove they were right, one of them drank a sample of the bacteria to give himself an ulcer. Now that's really being dedicated to science.

Oops. I guess she did a pretty good job of learning the lyrics then, huh?

It seems she dropped out of school in 9th grade. OK, but how did she get that far without being able to read? What is wrong with our education system? How can you take tests in school without reading? I don't get it.

This is a little creepy.

We saw Serenity this afternoon. Good movie! I've only seen part of the original series but we're watching it now because they're re-broadcasting it. Anyway, it was good even if you don't know the series at all, but I think fans won't be disappointed either. Hallelujah, a movie that's actually decent. It's a miracle.

In case you want to vote in a poll about your period, go visit Heather's site.