All New Husband-Minder Robot

This headline from Reuters "iRobot revamps vacuums, plans more home robots" got me thinking, what should their next robot be? I vote for the all-new "Husband-Minder" model, personalized to each wife's needs, programmable for up to 5 specified tasks, more programmable tasks available for more dough, of course.

My Husband-Minder would:

1. Automatically dispose of garments and shoes as they develop holes from wear and tear so that he cannot continue to wear them.

2. Follow him around when he has a cold and zap snotty tissues as he lays them on the kitchen counter.

3. Download sports information to his brain while he sleeps.

4. Mow the lawn once a month, or at the very least, act as an intermediary when code enforcement shows up regarding the forest growing in our front yard.

5. Bake him home-made cookies, buy his clothes, do his laundry, put away his things, clean his room, and tell him how wonderful he is, because frankly I don't have time.

What would your Husband-Minder do?

Musical Meme -- Seven Songs I'm Singing

Okay, so the meme rules don't actually ask for songs you are singing, but if I'm into it, I'm singing it. Hence the post title.

The Meme Rules actually are:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what they are. They must be songs you are presently enjoying. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

These are the tunes that thump my ride:

1. Gwen Stefani's "4 In The Morning" from The Sweet Escape, a more grown-up, sophisticated sound from Gwen in a song about the trade-offs we sometimes make for love. View the video by clicking here to go to the Gwen Stefani site.

2. Gwen Stefani's "Yummy" from The Sweet Escape, perfect for driving the mom-mobile and singing like you are the hottest thing ever, totally.

3. "Now That You Got It" from Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape. Something like the SoCal equivalent of saying, "Cowboy up."

4. "London Bridge" from The Dutchess by Fergie. What can I say? This one speaks for itself.

5. Joss Stone's "Headturner" from Introducing Joss Stone. Nothing beats live music, but few artists get as close to the vibe of live as Stone does in this CD. If you don't have the urge to groove along, check for a pulse.

6. "Girl They Won't Believe It" from Introducing Joss Stone. Although new to my collection, this CD is destined to be a long-time favorite. It's got staying power.

7. India Arie's "Video" from Acoustic Soul. This is one I will play for my daughters as they grow up. If you haven't heard it, you can check out the lyrics by clicking here.

*Special note -- I love indie, new artists, and live music, but haven't been able to enjoy nearly as much since taking on full-time mommy duties. In that realm, I have to mention some favorite artists or risk becoming a total sell-out.

Garrison Starr -- the perfect mix of LA and the deep south, if you can imagine that. Great in concert.

Guster -- mellow, but good. Good in concert, if you can avoid the contact high.

Johnny Lang -- Best of Class in Blues. No longer indie or new, but still super good. Rocks the house in concert.

For more meme, I tag DoubleDutyDiary, Mom-101, Dragonfly, Chicken and Cheese, Blog Con Queso, Laurie's Reflections, and Oh the Joys, assuming they have not already completed this meme and I just totally missed it, having been such a bad bloggie citizen. Cheers Ladies, I would love to know what you're listening to.

I've Been a Bad Blog Citizen

I have been derelict in my blog citizen duties. I completely missed a meme I was tagged for by PunditMom, long, long ago. PunditMom is one of my most favorite bloggers, so many apologies. I can only offer as an excuse that I have two two-year-olds who since spring have launched a non-stop competitive offensive aimed at taking mommy down by seeing who can stay awake the most hours in a row, who can scream, "POOooo! POOOooo!" at the most inopportune moments at the fanciest restaurants in LA, and who can throw the wildest, most hysterical arm-flailing tantrums in any given hour. Oh, and I don't have a nanny. Any takers?

Sorry, PunditMom. My next post is in response to your meme tag.

Introducing Political Popsicle

A refreshing taste of politics from my alter ego, Political Pollyanna. Drop by and leave a comment -- Political Popsicle.

My husband says it's really cool.

Bad Toys, Bad Toys, What Ya Gonna Do?

Sign the petition. At least that's what I did, plus dumping what seemed like dozens of toys in the trash.

Click here to to go to Senator Chris Dodd's petition page. You can learn more there, and sign the petition if you wish.

And Now for A Commercial

Debating the Democratic Debate

Watching today's Democratic Debate, you might have thought Barack Obama was the front-runner and other candidates were desperate to bring him down. You might have thought that until you noticed Hillary Clinton's responses were largely unimpassioned and low-risk. Then you might have thought the nomination was hers to lose and the other candidates, in large part, would rather attempt to make themselves look better by stepping on Obama instead of sparring with the front-runner.

Biden, Richardson, and even Edwards (Say it isn't so!), nitpicked Obama's answers, while avoiding direct confrontation with Clinton. While Obama is perfectly capable of holding his ground in any toe-to-toe debate, the tactic of several individuals working together to belittle another can be amazingly effective, especially in public settings.

Edwards, Biden and Richardson came across as more interested in bringing down Obama than in answering questions. It is, after all, easier to point out somebody's inadequacies than propose your own solutions.

If you are competing for the nomination, why not point out the inadequacies of the front-runner? Is the nomination process really so far afield from populist democracy that before even the first vote is cast, Washington insiders know full-well who the nominee will be? It certainly seems so.

Clinton was never engaged in a full-court press. She simply held the ball, waiting for the clock to run out, while the other players scrambled to keep Obama at the other end of the court.

Dodd performed admirably, and Kucinich and Gravel used the debate as a platform to blast politics as usual, but overall, the lasting impact from today's debate is the way in which candidates who could be front-runners bowed to Clinton.

Political Bling

Feel free to download these buttons, post them to your blogs and share them in email. The catch? When the time comes, vote.

Just click on the icon to be taken to the album where you can choose from over 100 different designs.

Photobucket Album

*Brought to you courtesy of my ever-growing obsession with PhotoShop.