I hadn't thought how bad this Koolaid discontinuation is for people with diabetes.  It is possible to make your own with regular Koolaid packets and Splenda, but its not nearly as good.  I'm still hoping there will be an outcry and they will change their mind!  That reminds me, I should be outcrying rather than just…

That is a good idea, Claudia!  I guess it might be fun to mess around with for some other purpose!  Maybe you can have that stock picture family chased into a minefield by carnivorous gorillas.  In desaturated teal and orange with lots of lens flares! 

Do you see a lot of backpacking tourists?  Are there hostels?  Is Russ having a midlife crisis or something?  He's not going to be able to spy on you too well lugging around a giant backpack!

Not more zombies!  Wasn't there at least one mummy?  I'll be glad when zombies are out and mummys are back in again.  I mean, one is just some dead guy in slacks and the other is an ancient Egyptian prince wandering the earth in search of his long lost beloved.  Not a difficult choice.

If you consider the single most important aspect of a moving picture story, its visualisation, as something that can be handed over to an algorithm and a stock illustration library, let me float the idea that just maybe you should not be writing for the movies.

I think Russians must like Pepsi too.  Do you prefer Pepsi or Coke?  I like both fine, I don't see the big difference between them that other people seem to see.  I like the traditional green Coke bottle, but I also like the vintage round red white and blue Pepsi logo.

EBs class got such a good theme.  Especially the 20s and 60s, the two best fashion periods!  I associate the 20s with narrow, airy dresses and cloche hats, was that the fashion in Japan too?  What sort of posters did you make?

Mrs Tennant, If you are even slightly claustrophobic, don't even think of a crawlspace house!  Even if you never plan on going into it, just knowing its there will give you the creeps.

Claudia, just google "Prairie Dogs Kissing" and you will understand my love of them!  They are the most adorable and affectionate things in the world!  They leap up and make these little chirping sounds, and you have to see them when they sit down to eat, so roly-poly with their little feet sticking out. An all…

I just want to say a word in defense of spiders.  Somebody has to!  I really hate bugs, and spiders eat bugs.  So spiders are cool in my book.  I'm constantly rescuing spiders from the squashers here and taking them to the firewood room in the back of the house where they can do their spidery thing in happy seclusion.

My claustrophobia is the traditional tight space kind.  I didn't realize how bad it was until we moved into this stupid house with a crawlspace.  The hatch is in the bathroom, and there is maybe a foot and half space between the house and the ground.

My sister thought she was invincible!  She got the chicken pox first and then I got them just as hers were going away.  The worst ones I remember were on my scalp because it was the middle of a very hot summer and we only had fans and they blew my hair around which made the chicken pox on my scalp itch even more!  I'm…

Its a shame those two girls can't become friends. School would be so terrible without friends.  I wonder if parents of shy or awkward children should meet together at school and bring their kids with them to maybe encourage them a little. If the parents were all friends that would make it easier for their kids to make…

Evilest Movie Smiles

We don't have mosquitoes here, just hornets and stupid sowbugs.  You need hydrocortisone for that bite!  Don't scratch it!  Now I'm thinking of when I had itchy chicken pox.  My sister still hasn't apologized for giving me chicken pox!  I'll have to remind her later I'm still waiting for my apology ice cream.

I've never seen the Disney Treasure Island!  Maybe a clip or two.  I only saw the older version with the kid from the Little Rascals and I remember his fake English accent was so annoying it ruined the movie!  But I'm really looking forward to the Disney one!  I'll keep an eye on Jim Hawkins' nose!

Claudia, I agree that you should follow your instincts and keep an eye on that girl.  If she is being bullied, and maybe even with the knowledge of her teachers, she needs someone to be watching out for her.  Do you see her often?  Is her classroom nearby?

Who locked the girl out of the classroom, the students or teacher?  Is this the girl with the helmet hair who you said was a bit socially awkward?  You did the right thing to say something about it.  Do you think she is being bullied?

Now I'm imagining a secret romance between Mr Crush and Ms New Music Teacher.  They sound like a good couple!

Was the sleepover mostly to practice singing?  What songs did you sing?  When is the competition?  How were you taught to breathe, like taking in a lot of air and filling your lungs, that kind of thing?