It just doesn’t feel right typing up the trivial blog post I’d planned for today when all of Poland is mourning the loss of their president, his wife, and many top officials who were killed in a tragic plane crash at a Russian airport. And let’s not forget all the other passengers on board the plane who also perished. Those who have known me for a while know well that I am passionately Polish and I feel a strong connection to the country even though I have yet to travel there. I can’t help but wonder what this means for the future of the country, politically. And while yes it could very well have just been an accident, the conspiracy theorist in me can’t help but raise an eyebrow. It will all be sorted out in time (though hopefully it won’t take too long).

For now, I offer my thoughts and prayers to a nation that is buried in sorrow.

I feel so bad for those jurors on the R. Kelly trial. How gross: they have to watch the 25-minute sex tape! You can read the article on CNN. I’m not linking to it because sometimes when I link to CNN, the post gets trackbacked and I get werido comments. I have to imagine that when they chose the jury for this they made sure they picked people who wouldn’t take issue watching something like that. But seriously – how do you prepare yourself? All I can think of is Dave Chappelle’s hilarious spoof (definitely NOT safe for work or anywhere near kids!). Somehow I doubt that the real tape is anywhere near as funny (in a potty humor kind of way, of course).

Ew. Just… Ew.

I have a confession: I love, love, love birthdays. I love celebrating. I love making the day of someone’s birth extra special for them. I do not, however, feel like you have to spend a ton of money doing it. I read this story on CNN about over-the-top birthday parties for small children and I just could not believe it.

Two years ago, Stephanie Kaster of Manhattan set out to plan the birthday party of a lifetime for her daughter. Granted, little Sophie didn’t have many parties under her belt with which to compare it: She was not yet 3.

“I just thought, ‘If I go to another paint-a-ceramic-bowl or stuff-a-bear party, I’ll shoot myself,’” says Kaster.

So she booked a fondue restaurant, hired a musical troupe to perform as the Wiggles (her daughter’s favorite group) and ordered a four-layer cake. Each guest took home a Fisher-Price guitar and custom CD.

The price tag? $5,000

Seriously? What kind of message are we sending to our kids when we feel like we have to go to such lengths for a birthday party? Sure we all want to celebrate and “spoil” our children on their big day, but isn’t dropping 5K on a three-year-old’s party a little silly? I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. I know most parents have to think long and hard about spending money on “big” presents like an xbox 360 or something, forget about the party itself.

I guess I understand the people who say that if you have the means, why not do it… but how many people can really afford these things? People are defaulting on their mortgages, putting everything on credit cards. I don’t know. The last birthday party we went to was at Jake’s friend’s house. The kids designed their own t-shirts using foam stamps and fabric paint. We played games outside (potato sack race, pass the orange to the next kid without using your hand, hold the balloon between your legs and make it to the finish line without dropping it). My friend used those star-shaped cupcake molds and each child had his or her own chocolate star cake to eat. It was simple and so much fun. The kids played. The adults got to chit-chat. I guess I just wonder why people feel that is not enough? Why do you need to spend hundreds of dollars on a cake? Forget about saving money for a minute… wouldn’t it just be more fun do make it with your child? (They’re not going to care if you’re not an experienced baker, and really anyone can open up a Duncan Hines box.)

We’re already planning Jake’s 6th birthday party, and we’re going to do it at home, as always. We’re going to invite a few of his school friends. Drew is going to do a magic show for the kids, we’ll have plenty of outside games and they can run around. There will be some snacks, and Jake already asked me to make him a robot cake. (He picked it from a cake decorating book I have.) He’s totally excited about it all, and it’s not going to cost a lot of money. Money doesn’t make it magical. The people do. I think this country would be a lot better off if people would understand that.

A little over an hour ago, there was a very loud “BOOM” and it felt like the whole building shook. In fact, the back door even opened a bit. There’s a massage therapist upstairs so I thought maybe a large piece of equiment fell over, or else maybe a car drove into the building. I went outside to check… nothing. I immediately heard sirens and a helicopter. A little while ago, the therapist came down to ask if I had any idea what happened, and I didn’t. She asked over at the deli and someone said that a house exploded. Sure enough, a house about .25 miles from the store exploded. Here’s a photo and here’s the news story. I pray that there was no one inside. If the explosion was powerful enough over here to give us all a scare, I cannot imagine the force that was felt by the neighbors. My heart aches for these people. I can’t even imagine.

Update: According to this story, the house was under construction (nearly complete), and no one was in the house when it blew up. I see a law suit in the future, though… Can’t help but wonder if the gas lines weren’t clearly marked. Hopefully they’ll get it sorted out.

Lewis Black did a bit about this the last time we had these crazy tax rebates, so I can’t say I’m surprised. It doesn’t make it any less infuriating, though. Talk about a waste of our money. From CNN:

At a cost of nearly $42 million, the IRS wants you to know: Your check is almost in the mail.

The Internal Revenue Service is spending the money on letters to alert taxpayers to expect rebate checks as part of the economic stimulus plan.

The notices are going out this month to an estimated 130 million households who filed returns for the 2006 tax year, at a cost $41.8 million, IRS spokesman John Lipold confirmed.

And then, of course, they’ll have to spend that much again to mail the check out.

Sigh…

Someday I really want to go to CES. I think it would be so fun to see all of the cool (and crazy) electronic devices that companies are putting out. Check out the article in the Detroit Free Press discussing some of the, uh, more interesting ones. I think the product that cracks me up the most is one from Taser (they are one of the many companies out there that make self defense products). At CES they were pushing a Taser weapon that apparently has the same power as the ones cops use. Only these are intended for women, being sold in pink and leopard print patterns. Because, you know, when you’re shocking that jerk who attacked you, it’s important to make a fashion statement at the same time.