The World According to Hicks.

Who do I have to blow...?

That's my go-to line for when I ask for something repeatedly and am not getting a response. It's very effective because:

1. It gets a laugh every time.
2. It shocks people into responding right away...and they're in good spirits, because of Reason 1.

The whole curriculum issue has made me say this line (within the house) many times over the past month or so. Seriously, that war is STILL raging on. I need a moment to vent on the personal side of the blog...which brings me to...

...The much more ominous revelation that, at the highest levels of the Archdiocese, there is a lemming mentality. I kind of always suspected it, but have seen clear, sobering evidence of it played out before my eyes. Even though they're jumping off the proverbial cliff to their deaths, these scholars/leaders simply refuse to display any semblance of independent thought. Common sense be damned! They're united in their quest to reject the obvious. And with that, they've resolutely chosen to ignore us, the parents and parishioners; the sheep whom they are supposed to lead.

Let's be clear on one thing. Where they're leading me, I have no intention of going.

Lookit, I'm no saint by any means. I drink a lot. I swear a lot. I'm rude and irreverent (e.g.: the title of this post, duh). I make a ton of mistakes each and every day and I totally own up to that. However, I'm not a pillar of the community nor am I an authority on Catholic education like the folks whom we are battling over this curriculum issue. I'll be the first to admit, I'm a little naive. However, I knew that the Archdiocese was not an infallible entity. But the degree of shadiness that they're displaying, en mass, is jarring me to the core.

And, in case you were wondering:

Hicks has contacted Archbishop Schnurr (a.k.a. the Superintendent's boss, per his recommendation) and even the Archbishop responds with the party line of "talk to the Superintendent." Seriously, Hicks has received that response from a lot of upper-level people within the Archdiocese. Uh, hello? HICKS HAS ALREADY DONE THAT. He did that weeks ago, and he's STILL getting that response.

These people just don't get it. This whole mess is way beyond the scope of just the curriculum. They dropped that ball a while back. Now, it's about doing the right thing. Sure, we want the curriculum to be readily available to parents. But now, the actions of the leaders of the Archdiocese are under our microscope. How do they responsibly handle someone like Hicks? After all, he has the gall to ask them to do something that will ultimately better their own product, per se. Is that so awful, so heinous?

No, I don't think so either.

Hicks is a smart, persistent guy who won't rest until this gets resolved. Period. We know Hicks. We know better. These folks are getting a crash course in Hicksology 101. They'll learn that they can't blow him off by passing the buck or by ignoring his emails. They'll learn that they can't scare him with empty threats. They'll learn that if they want to engage him in a battle of wills, well, sucks to be them. He'll school them.

Go Hicks.

2010 - Year of the hard core Cake Bake

The 2010 Cub Scout Father/Son Cake Bake is officially in the books. This is an annual event in which Cub Scouts (grades 1-5) and their fathers (grandfathers/uncles/etc.) bake and decorate a cake. The entrants bake the cake ahead of time and then decorate their cakes at the event based upon a theme that is literally drawn out of a hat. The theme was "Military." There are 3 Golden Spoons awarded - my apologies to the Williams', I didn't snap a picture of your cake. Let's take a look at the other winners, shall we?

Our friends, Tom and Ian, won a Golden Spoon for their entry:

Justin's friend, Patrick, his brothers and their father won with this nifty cake:

Justin and Grampy's cake didn't win anything, but was a solid attempt nonetheless:

But the clear winner of the night, by far, was:

I guess when they heard "Military," they heard "Celebration of Manhood."

This not only won the massive "Golden Dildo" Award, but also conveniently provided an inroad by which fathers can talk to their little scouts about the horrors of STDs. And isn't that what male bonding is all about?

 

Hitting the Friday Afternoon Wall

Why is it that every single Friday afternoon, about 3:00, my productivity smacks face first into a concrete wall of weekend? All my motivation just flushes out of me with such force that I swear that I can almost hear the "whoosh" of it leaving. I still have stuff that needs to get done (well not today, but still). But suddenly, that stuff can wait until Monday. It HAS to. There's no other option. Weekend has a choke hold on me and won't let go.

I've tried to fight it. But with experience comes wisdom: It's simply easier to relax and succumb to the inevitable. The work week is over, kaput, sayonara.

Oh sure, I'll find a way to make up those two lost hours over the course of next week...until 3:00 Friday rolls around.

It's time for my annual "Pay Attention to the Website" spree. Huzzah!

If you see weirdness here or on the Hickspub.com site, that's me. I'm converting the site to a new program, so there will be a learning curve that I have to bear. Lovely. Not to mention that Typepad over here has totally revamped itself (without my consent - sheesh!) so I need to wade through new foliage over here, too.

In the meantime, may I direct your attention to my new oracle: The Pioneer Woman. http://thepioneerwoman.com/

That's the site that I wish I could create. That there's a strong site, through and through. It makes me want go out and take purty photos. It also gives me hope that someday, with her help, I might just be able to do something in the kitchen other than heat up frozen pizza. Her cookbook ("Pioneer Woman Cooks") has step-by-step directions (with photos! and explanations!) seem idiot-proof enough to make me at least want to give it a try. Hicks has just installed new batteries in all the smoke detectors, so I should be good to go.

We really should blog more often.

Yeah, it's 2009. And according to my watch, it's almost February...time to bust out another paragraph. Some people post their thoughts daily. Weekly. Even monthly. Well, me being the mouth-breather that I am, it takes me about a season to organize a single cohesive thought. 

This was the winter storm that passed through a couple days ago. We don't know where the driveway is, either.

This morning, the tree is still saggy (even more so, actually), and partially blocking the driveway. The other side of the tree is almost touching our porch.

See?

The pool? Gone. A mere memory of warmer times and fruitier cocktails.

So, in summary, winter sucks.

Best. Book. Ever. (according to Justin)

In Justin's ever-expanding world of literacy, he had an epiphany yesterday. He discovered the miracle that is The Dictionary. The sheer, glorious joy on his face when he realized that he could look up words like fart, poop and vomit was priceless. It was like he discovered a vast treasure chest of toilet humor. Brought back a lot of memories for me. I mean, who didn't learn the intoxicating power of The Dictionary by doing that?