·:[ Jason On A Shtick ]:·
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Lately, Lindsay has been all about Star Wars.  Some of the boys at her school talk about it and pretend to be the characters, so that has piqued her interest.  We’ve even let her watch the original movies, though we’ve skipped the “scary” scenes, of course.  I’ve had to do a lot of explaining about who are the bad guys and who are the good guys and what their deals are, but she has caught on pretty well.

A couple of weeks ago, I got the bright idea to bust out some of my old Star Wars figures to show her.  She always wants to look at the Star Wars toys whenever we are out at a store, so I thought those old things would entertain her.  Little did I know that I’d be playing Star Wars in the living room floor on a regular basis, helping poor Princess Leia get captured and rescued over and over!

Then one weekend, she spent the night with my parents and took the figures with her.  When I went to pick her up the next day, she was sporting my totally old school Darth Vader light saber which I had completely forgotten about!  My parents never throw anything away, so my dad dug it out and presented it to her much as Obi-Wan did to Luke: “This was your father’s light saber and he wanted you to have it.”  Too funny!

Tuesday is garbage day and I happened to notice that virtually every house with a McCain/Palin sign on our street did not have a recycle bin on the curb (seven or eight without, one with).  Coincidence?  Drill, baby, drill!

For today’s ever-expanding vernacular:

whe . don [wee-duhn] verb; whe . doned, whe . don . ing, noun

-verb (used with object)

1. To shock or surprise at the end of a story by killing off a likable character that is generally assumed to be safe.  Near the end of the movie Serenity, the death of Wash whedoned loyal viewers.
2. To stun with an unexpected twist at the end.  The staff meeting went well until I whedoned them by announcing my departure.

-noun

1. The act of whedoning.
2. The condition of being whedoned.

From current English in reference to Joss Whedon, an American writer and director that became famous among fans of his work for killing off beloved characters.  See as reference Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly/Serenity and most recently Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

And the saga continues… makes you wonder what has happened since the first one went up…

In Lexington, our garbage carts are called Herbies. There is a city ordinance that states the Herbie should be placed on the curb no earlier than 7pm the night before garbage collection and should be retrieved no later than 7pm the day of garbage collection. Needless to say, a lot of people leave the things sitting out for days after garbage has been picked up.

As a result, our neighborhood has a vigilante “Herbie police” presence. During their morning jog on the day after garbage collection, this champion of curb appeal will take your abandoned Herbie and roll it right in front of the middle of your driveway, forcing you to move it. I will admit that I am amused by this act, probably because I make an effort to get my Herbie off the curb each week.

In response, a neighbor down the street now has this display out front:

The very bottom line reads “Smile – you’re being surveilled!”

Can’t we all just get along???