Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Close to Home — What it’s like on the street where you live
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Shameless Parents, Shameless Kids
What do you mean by "complicated new?" skenner? Are you saying that some intensification of chemical interference has completely changed what we know about human child development? Is it "very simple" or is it "complicated new?" Again, are you saying that a child fed a diet and a behavior-modification program to your specifications will have no temper tantrums? I don't see how that is possible. Anecdotally: I know a child fed nothing since birth but fresh, nonprocessed foods--including no red meats or soy--who has been given all the love our contemporary yuppie parents (one of whom has been at home with her at all times since birth) can muster, who is a total s*** to adults, and who pitches fits of all kinds. Perhaps she should have benefited from your program? Can you give us some links for your recommendations, then?— November 1, 2009 6:52 p.m.
For Refried and all of our Latino friends both North and South of the border
re: #20: Your cats are bullying you--they outnumber you, clearly :) re: #22: If we are editing, we are not writing--that is not at all true of my process. I've noticed that half the 'writing' happens in the process of revision, wh includes editing. I guess it is a matter of whatever works for the individual; many a thesis has been written on the creative process, but it just comes down to whatever works for you--IMO. "Dialogue" is intended to produce open agreement?" WTF? I'd better check into that! I also want to check into the computer term "dialog," as in "analog, dialog," as it has got to have had something to do with the replacement of one by the other. re: #23: Clearly, AG would not appreciate a critic of her work :)— November 1, 2009 6:41 p.m.
Shameless Parents, Shameless Kids
re #10: "Poor behaviour of children is related to diet. And some children are more reactive to processed food than others. Also vaccination reactions cause autism." skenner, this is rather reductive, as it ignores everything but the effect of processed foods and medicines on a child's behavior--what about the solid fact of plain old psychological stages of development?— November 1, 2009 6:21 p.m.
For Refried and all of our Latino friends both North and South of the border
re: #16: I would listen to your friend, refried. We should take it from people we can take it from easily--as long as they know what they are talking about. PS: When did the word go from "dialogue" to "dialog?" Is this a computer-related phenom? :) refried wrote: "My point is, there isn't a blog entry in here that wouldn't improve 100% from going over it and editing the hell out of it, my own included. But mostly we shouldn't." Why shouldn't we? What is this championing of sloppy work, people? Not that mine isn't--but I want to aspire to better, not worse, and don't see that there is really any supportable theory of a sloppy aesthetic.— November 1, 2009 6:14 p.m.
For Refried and all of our Latino friends both North and South of the border
re: #15: Nan wrote: "many writers think it thru in print and have the courage to let those who care about them in on the original imperfect draft..." So, you are saying that good writers let people see their unfinished drafts? Why is that necessary?— November 1, 2009 6:10 p.m.
For Refried and all of our Latino friends both North and South of the border
re: #11: In Defense of Cats: Mica never leaves evidence of whatever parties he and the mice carry on at night. He is neat, and even cleans his own plushy coat, daily. I've noticed that dogs do NOT clean their own coats, and the poor dears need us to do that for them. They also have more trouble leaving their "double chocolate biscuits sans chocolate" in one place--i.e. a box. :)— November 1, 2009 6:05 p.m.
Shameless Parents, Shameless Kids
Oh, and one more idea: I do not go to church, but the last time we visited some friends in LA, we went to their Sunday service. The children sit with their parents for a while, while the pastor speaks, but then they play special music as the children sing, hop, and skip their way out of the pews, and into a room where they do Sunday school activities. Then the adults can have their service. I understand if the Mass doesn't work that way, but really, why can't a parishioner or two volunteer some babysitting somewhere out back, while parents are inside?— November 1, 2009 3:31 a.m.
Shameless Parents, Shameless Kids
Sounds like clearer policy is needed: Have kid-free flights that cost a little more? Flights with kids, for a little more? On the jumbo airbuses, have a separate section for kids? Seems like we could have resolved this by now. I understand what you mean by an arrogant turn towards anger rather than shame. Sometimes there is also race on the table, and a mother might think someone is making a big deal out of racial discrimination. And in many situations, she is probably right--it's in there. So everyone has to remain calm, especially those priests. Now if his superior had been standing behind him at the lecturn, I would have expected the superior to control HIM after such a nasty outburst--maybe send him back to his cell to do some rosaries :)— November 1, 2009 3:28 a.m.
Fare Thee Well, Sweet October, With Your Pumpkins, Brisk Days, And Costumed Ne'erdowells!
It's got to have something to do with the time change?— November 1, 2009 3:03 a.m.
Shameless Parents, Shameless Kids
Without being there and seeing exactly how these parents handled the situation, it is hard to venture a clear judgement; however, I think that when the mother is doing her best to control the child, it is very rude of people to comment or call her out on the child's behavior. Anyone who has had kids, and anyone with a modicum of empathy for human nature, will endure the difficult moments with an understanding smile. You would especially think that a priest would not cop such a 'tude! In my firm opinion, the priest was a total a-hole announcing that on mic. Talk about brotherly love--what a hypocrite! On airplanes, tempers tend to run hot, and it can be unbearable to sit in front of a kid who is constantly kicking your seat, and/or screaming and carrying on. If the parents seem to be trying to help, then I stay quiet. Sometimes I'll quietly say "Hey, s/he's kicking my seat, could you ask him or her to stop? Thanks." I try to stay polite. However, this doesn't always work, and anything you say is taken as criticism of their precious darlings. Once, I politely asked a father with two children kicking my seat and even pulling my hair, to do this, and he whispered "F**k you!" I turned around and said "Excuse me?!" The next thing I know, the flight attendant came over and told me I was the one being difficult, and that I needed to settle down! The airline got a LONG letter for that, and I received an apology and a discount on my next flight. Another time on a long flight, I had a mother of three rambunctious kids threaten to kick my azz as we were exiting the plane. Everyone rolled their eyes--they'd all been tortured by these kids' antics. I in turn told her that it wouldn't be wise to touch me, as she'd be certainly arrested in front of her kids. However, these aren't necessarily the norm, as experiences go--not even for me :)— November 1, 2009 2:51 a.m.