Em sent out an email the other day with the subject line: The Old Stand-By. The old stand-by refers to her sister's claim a while back that the automatic default gift for kids, if nothing else comes to mind, is puppets. When Em told me that, I remember we exchanged a look and were both like, what the eff?!? In what world is a kid's top gift a puppet? Too funny. So anyway, the purpose of her message was to alert us to a site advertising these awesome Jesus puppets. Notice how the company is really selling hard by lining the puppets up in manner of chorus line. The page is entertaining, but I have issues with the devil puppet, and I'm going to tell you why. Check it out. First of all, this guy is more expensive than any of the other biblical characters. What's the deal? The devil is gonna cost you a pretty penny. Second, if you click on the image for the larger view, you'll notice that the dude basically looks like Guy Smiley from Sesame Street, only red. Rip. Off. Finally, apparently "the devil" is a white guy (notice the wrists and ankles) sporting red gloves, a painted face, and a cape. I GUESS. He sort of looks like a borderline magician, in my opinion.

Puppets do have their uses, I suppose. One of my friends and I agree that sock puppets could be an useful tool in romantic relationships. You know when you have a convo with someone you're dating or whatever, and they say something to you that makes you think to yourself, maybe you should have tried having this conversation in your head before saying that to me? Yeah. If you or someone you know has been in that position, and the thought of going over a potential discussion in your mind beforehand is just too daunting, the sock puppets could be just the right dose of reality needed.

Lately I've been thinking about the special activity I'd like to do with my mom and fam. My sister had the PiR, and now in the spirit of our family's tackiness--hey, might as well embrace what is--I feel the pressure to choose something equally cheesy. I think I've found the answer. Graceland. Yes, party people, I believe it's time to visit the home of my childhood obsession. Elvis. Molly is totally on board and has even started planning our adventure. She is always very dedicated to making A Plan. Pretty much all I ever have to do is show up, usually with some cash to hand over, because she has everything ready to go down to the very last detail. At this point she's priced out the trip and has us staying at the Heartbreak Hotel (24 hour Elvis channel!). The one thing we both feel is a must-do item under the Visiting Memphis link is seeing the Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center. Woohoo! I love that a trauma center is a listed tourist attraction. She's going to send the itinerary for my approval, even though we're about a year out from even thinking about taking this trip.

The funny thing is my mom's reaction to my proposal. She says she's not "feeling" Graceland. I'm surprised. How can someone "not feel" Graceland? Especially my mother? Needless to say, she is lukewarm to the idea, and I thought she'd support it wholeheartedly. She even commented rather snidely in email how proud she is that her daughters aim high in their wants. Mom and Rex are in Tahoe this weekend and I've instructed Molly to work on convincing her. Molly has also suggested the Sundance Film Festival to me as an option, which is totally on my list of dream things to do, but I have a hard time picturing the fam swinging that. Graceland is still the front runner.

In the past few days I've seen North by Northwest, Shortbus (finally), and Hot Fuzz. All were good fun in different ways. North by Northwest is charming, and Hot Fuzz is hilarious. I adored the references to Point Break. Surprisingly, I was surprised by Shortbus. I hit the play button expecting to see a lot of pushing the boundaries sex for the sake of sex, but that wasn't the case at all. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of that, but emotional exploration and the complexities of human relationships really felt like the driving force behind each character's story. The sex, although explicit, seemed almost secondary. Anyway, a lot of the reviewers on IMDB explain this a lot better than I am, but I was surprised by how touched and kind of exhilarated I felt after watching it.

Anyone ever been addicted to fish oil? I'm just wondering.