This…
… makes me laugh.
Jul 102009
Jul 092009
I wrote a while back about buying Twinkies on impulse. At our family gathering on the 4th one of my nieces showed up with a box of Twinkies and a box of Suzy Q’s. She had pretty much the same reason — we haven’t had these in probably 20 years….
I, of course, remember the song — most notably the version by CCR. [I think it was CCR's only top 40 hit that was not written by John Fogerty.]
If you read my Twinkie post [go ahead, I'll wait...] you know that I found a surprise when doing an image search. Since Suzy Q is not an uncommon nickname you can imagine that I found a lot that have nothing to do with the cake. Like the 2002 Ms. Bikini-USA World and a “world-renowned pole dancer, burlesque and aerial artist” and… well, you can look for yourself if you like.
Finally, before anyone posts a comment here complaining that the apostrophe in the snack cake name is incorrect, on the Hostess web site they refer to a single cake as a Suzy Q and multiple cakes as Suzy Qs. And they explain that the treat is “named after the daughter of Continental Bakeries Vice President Cliff Isaacson.” I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt and say the name on the box is a [correctly spelled] possessive and not a [misspelled] plural.
Jul 072009
Someone at the school where I teach [SWIT] had the brilliant idea to require all students to read the same book this summer. From a letter to the parents our fearless leader explains:
In an effort to support academic performance, cross-curricular and community connections, and a lifelong love of reading, [SWIT] proudly announces our 2009 “One Book, One [SWIT]” required summer reading title Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The book is a heart-pounding account of one family’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar time.
Every student in the school will be required to read Life as We Knew It. This is in addition to any summer reading assignment for specific programs or classes. A school-wide test will be given to every student during the first week of school; some ideas and questions to think about as you read are listed on the back of this letter. In addition, all content areas will use the book as a foundation for many activities, writings, and projects during the first few weeks of school.
While I appreciate the concept, imagine the difficulty in choosing one book for all our students in grades 9-12 (which easily spans ages 14-19) of widely varying abilities and interests. Frankly it is a task I would not want. And while they chose a highly rated, award-winning title it is one that I think is really terrible. Bad science. Bad fiction.
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
My review
rating: 1 of 5 stars
This book is just awful. Honestly, I don’t understand why it is so highly regarded and has won so many awards. I don’t believe the premise on which it is based and I don’t believe the way the characters act. It doesn’t even get the phases of the moon correct. Ugh!
View all my reviews.
Jul 062009
It was a rainy weekend in Louisville, putting a bit of a damper [damp, damper, dampest....] on the Independence Day activities but we had a nice little family gathering. Hope you all had a great weekend!
Jul 032009
Let's do Something Cheap and Superficial 
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