My birthday is in nine days, so I think I'll let those of you who care to know about that.

My PayPal button is to the left, and my amazon wishlist is here.

In addition, the Attila Hub and I could use some more military history, like the DVD of Band of Brothers (we've worn out the VHS). We also don't have a copy of Ken Burns' series on the Civil War, or any of those great specials on the founding fathers (Ben Franklin being a special favorite).

We always watch a lot of war around this time of year, starting with The American Revolution and going forward.

K. is permitted to send me fresh mangoes, and nothing else.

Thank you for your patience, and, yes: I know I'm a spoiled brat.

UPDATE: Attila Hub informs me that we do have that cool War of 1812 special, so I've deleted it above. We also have that one on the French Revolution, which is fun (abeit a little gory). So we may be alright for a couple of months. But I will be Jonesing for Band of Brothers soon.

Someday I'll stop embarrassing him, but I don't think today is that day.

Posted by: Attila at 02:19 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 209 words, total size 1 kb.

on the history of stewardesses in WWII over here at the United Airlines web site.

The fact that many stewardesses were nurses reminded me of my late mother-in-law, whom I never met (though I like to think she's present in our lives in some sense; I pretend she takes my side in family arguments, since my own mother tends to side with Attila the Hub). She served all over the world as a nurse in WWII, after having attended nursing school in London during the blitz. This included at least one very close scrape, and the experience left its mark on her—as it would on anyone.

She was a great Irish woman, and (later) a great American. She's been a grandmother several times over, and will be one anew sometime soon.

Posted by: Attila at 09:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 135 words, total size 1 kb.

We have to buy a new car soon, and our passionate love affair with Saturn has come to a screaming halt (long story, but it did us wrong).

The new car will most likely "belong" to my husband for a year or two, after which I'll adopt it as my daily drive.

V-6: probably not; we're getting stingy with gasoline in our old age, and the House of Saud doesn't need my money.

Manual transmission: I'll probably have to sacrifice this. We're between two model years, so if we want to cut a good deal we need to buy what's in stock from the 2005s. I'm inflexible on the sunroof and a decent sound system, but I think I can survive an automatic. That way I'll have a free hand for slapping Junior/Juniorette when he/she misbehaves. (Can't you guys take a fucking joke? Sheesh.)

And it's not that I don't love cars. I do. But until I get rich and can afford to tool around town in a '68 Mustang convertible, I just don't care much what sort of econo-box I drive. If it gets me to the Bay Area every few months, I'm a happy girl.

Bottom line: we're almost certainly going to get either a Honda Accord or a Toyota Camry. And I'll probably end up driving it well into its dotage, as I'm now doing with my old Saturn SL.

Your thoughts?

Posted by: Attila at 10:56 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 241 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Between a Camry and an Accord I'd take the Camry every day of the week. But, I just bought my wife a Nissan Altima and she and I both love it. It's fun to drive and gets 29 mpg on the highway.

Posted by: Chris Short at June 23, 2005 05:40 AM (0OCQY)

2 Venezuela doesn't need your money either. Well, they might, but until they de-unionize a bit and get a reasonable market economy going... but I digress...

Posted by: Ciggy at June 23, 2005 08:08 AM (Sy2Fl)

3 Both are great cars. From Toyota my mum had a Previa van from 91 and she just sold it a month or so ago with well over 250,000 miles no major problems at all. She also had a Carrolla from the early 80's that handled 200,000+ miles no problem major problems either. I have a Honda Civic from 95 and its been across the country twice and all over california for 100,000+ miles with only routine mantainance (did have to replace the O2 & MAP sensor for the emission system and fix a radiator crack) its been great. Ether car wll be quite fine just take the best deal for what you want. As far as smaking the kids while driving......just put a fly swatter in the car. Or you could just tap the breaks.

Posted by: the Pirate at June 23, 2005 08:53 AM (SksyN)

4 Sorry, can't do either of the imports. I support the Pontiac Sunfire - a good friend has one at this time with about 125,000 miles on it. Four cylinders, zippy and sporty but still a "compact sedan" for insurance purposes. Good brakes and she has only had to do oil, brakes (40K miles), and coolant since she got it. She bought used at 40K miles. Cheaper than the other two, parts are plentiful and cheaper by far. Good mileage (she gets about 28/35 Hwy). I drove a couple Pontiacs for years; a Grand Prix that was sold at 110,000 and a Grand Am that died at 140,000 hard miles after a tire slasher/vandal hit our neighborhood - it wasn't worth the 1200 to fix her up since I will be out to the sandbox in September. Anyhow, good luck with the car - SGT Dave, Ft. Leavenworth, KS

Posted by: Dave at June 24, 2005 05:40 AM (jPvjS)

5 Dave, thanks for your service to our country. We'll look into the Sunfire.

Posted by: Attila Girl at June 24, 2005 12:11 PM (8e5bN)

6 Attila, We just bought our first Honda Accord EX a few months ago. Matter of fact we got it fully loaded, with the touchscreen nav and XM radio. Yes, it's addictive. The only complaint is that the buttons on the steering wheel don't light up at night. Most important is that we got the 4cyl V-Tec engine. EXs typically come with a V-6, but we couldn't tell the difference. The V-Tec has the same power and pick-up, with better gas to boot. Go Honda! The Camry is not doing well right now. If you go Toyota, look at their new Scion TC. That car comes loaded but it's more affordable.

Posted by: El Capitan at June 24, 2005 12:22 PM (hF6uM)

7 We've had two Camry's in recent years and have been very happy with them. Though these were both older cars (the one we have now is 1990), the ongoing total cost of ownership has been quite reasonable. I do not subscribe to the idea of buying new cars. Ever. I can't see throwing away that much money in the first year's depreciation. Even as a car gets older, if you bought it carefully enough in the first place, the cost of ongoing repairs is almost always substantially lower than what payments would be for a new (or newer) car. To me a car is a tool with a utilitarian purpose. Flashy snazzy next-year's-model-new is a pure luxury that I just can't see the sense of paying for.

Posted by: Desert Cat at June 24, 2005 05:31 PM (n/TmV)

8 Well, in general I agree with you. But my husband and I are both independent contractors, so we do get to write off the interest if we finance. My father's never bought a new car in his life. I bought one once, and I think I'm done for the reasons you stated. However, I believe my husband should have anything he wants. If he wants a new car, then that's what he should have.

Posted by: Attila Girl at June 24, 2005 11:13 PM (RGWNz)

9 True, but it's only a deduction, not a tax credit. That is to say, whatever you pay in interest only reduces your taxes by whatever percentage your marginal tax bracket happens to be. Which means that at least 3/4 of the net expense (or more) is still on your dime. But if you have other reasons, well... (who am I to argue with a woman who wants to give her husband whatever he wants? Could I have you talk to Daisycat?)

Posted by: Desert Cat at June 25, 2005 12:07 AM (xdX36)

10 The rule is, "what you want, when you want it, and how you want it. Unless I disagree."

Posted by: Attila Girl at June 26, 2005 12:44 AM (RGWNz)

11 We loved our Camry--no real problems. My wife now has an Avalon and loves it. I have an Echo and it is great (and gets good mileage). We recommend Toyota; they last virtually forever.

Posted by: chuck at June 28, 2005 02:49 PM (UdnXf)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

And I'd forgotten it was Father's Day, because of yesterday's all-day workshop and the recent trip to Skokie. It's easy for me to get confused, too, because his birthday is so close.

And I missed my aunt's and my cousin's birthdays this month; it's been a hectic June.

Dad had sounded so stressed when he first called that I imagined something had happened to my grandmother, and was relieved to find out that this wasn't the case.

Well. I'll take him out to lunch a bit later in the month, and all will be better. But I hope my brother and half-sister were a bit more attentive than their flakey sister is.

No matter: I'm not going to get an A+ in every subject. As a matter of fact, my current area of concentration with respect to my parents is just being polite (you know: not snapping, not being irritable; really listening to them). Matter of fact, I'm working on that with everyone.

Dad? Sorry, man. I'm a work in progress.

It's circa 1979, and my dad and I are about to embark on a road trip. My father lives on the East Coast, so he flew out and borrowed one of his parents' cars. We've just spent half an hour listening to cautions from his parents, who forbid him to take it to Mexico, and emphasize over and over that he must be careful with the car.

As we pull away from their house in Whittier I ask why grandma and grandpa were so concerned.

"They think I'm 17 years old," he tells me.

"Why?" I ask, rhetorically. (In fact, I'm 17 at this point in time).

"Because I was until I was 42," he responds.

"So you're grown up now?"

"Yes. I'm grown up now."

I'll be 43 this summer, so it could just be that I'm lagging a bit behind the old man, developmentally speaking.

Posted by: Attila at 11:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 328 words, total size 2 kb.

I'm sitting/lying in a sleeping bag in a sunny corner of the living room, reading and basically deployed for any sudden naps I might want to take (although I already had one today, in this very spot).

I'm reading my nice book about maggots, and acting like one myself, except that I think I squirm a little bit less.

We didn't even go to church today. My husband just arrived on the couch, where he's digging back into Dostoevsky.

At some point I really ought to go out and get food for the coming week.

Posted by: Attila at 06:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 99 words, total size 1 kb.

I so loved being able to tell my husband's relatives that I was meeting with a client while in the Chicago area. It made me feel so grown-up. In fact, we were in town for my niece's graduation, and I met with B. because I was there that particular week, while I was still looking through the materials she'd sent. Had we lived in the same city, the meeting would have occurred two weeks later.

It's okay, though: I warned her in advance that I might not have anything too intelligent to say, but wanted to get some specifics from her about what her goals are, so I could formulate my plans around that. Essentially, I was going to have more questions than answers.

The day Attila the Hub and I arrived in Skokie, we had dinner across the street from the Holiday Inn at a coffee shop called Jack's, which was a 24-hour restaurant during my husband's youth. He'd landed there with his friends many times after some hard drinking. We were both exhausted, and we knew once our bellies were full we'd simply go back to the hotel and read ourselves to sleep.

My kind of coffee shop: not only does it serve breakfast anytime, but it's got latkes and blintzes, just like the West Coast delis. They took care of us, and we staggered back to the hotel to crash.

Several days later, I was there with B. I'd picked the restaurant partly because I knew I could just walk there, and I therefore wouldn't have to take the rental car, in case my husband might need it.

B. drove all the way out from Deerfield, so I decided it was a "consultation," and I was definitely off the clock. But we both had our notebooks out, and we kicked around some ideas for promoting her project. I continued to compile an action list, and then the food was placed in front of us. The notebooks went off to the side of the table for a moment, and then our waitress appeared.

"I just want to request that you have enough respect for yourselves to stop working for five minutes and eat your food, because cold food sucks."

B. and I sort of blink, but we see that it's a good idea and we clear our notebooks off the table. The woman nods approvingly, and tells us she'll be checking on us.

We continue to kick ideas around as we eat. Because I'm the world's slowest eater, B. finishes first and her papers appear back on the table. Suddenly our waitress is at our side.

B. looks up at her. "I'm finished," she explains.

"But she isn't," the waitress proclaims, pointing to me. Of course, I'm in terrible danger of giggling, because I think the woman from Jack's is being sweet and funny at the same time.

"You see," explains the waitress, "when you take proper meal breaks you can think more clearly, and then you make more money."

B. hides her notebook again, and I take a few more bites. When the waitress comes back, I've pushed my plate away and we're both furiously taking notes again. She starts to collect the plates, and sees me smiling up at her. "What are you laughing at?" she asks in mock rage. "And don't tell me you're laughing with me."

I just shake my head, because I never say I'm laughing with people; it's a cop-out. But my eyes twinkle, and she smiles back as she whisks the plates away.

B. insists on picking up the tab, and I declare that in that case I'm leaving the tip. And I make sure it's a good one.

Posted by: Attila at 10:21 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 628 words, total size 3 kb.

and I was doubly on duty for today's fundraiser: head of the food committee, and I also spoke. Attila the Hub came by to listen to my speech, such as it was, and refused to criticize it (probably a good thing—it was, after all, my first speech for this organization).

Then he came back. Not exactly because he wanted to, but because his Saturn broke down again: that thing has been in its swan song for six weeks now. We thought we were fed up before, but we really are now. Attila Hub says he'll accept another Saturn if the dealership almost gives it to him in return for the old LS. I love my ancient SL, but our recent experiences have been so bad I'm really thinking Toyota or Honda this time around.

So, tomorrow we start car shopping again, and I have to dig out the old notes I hoped I wouldn't need again (because they Really Fixed It, This Time).

Tonight, however, I'm goofing off. I'll either hang out online or read some juicy crime, engaging in the Sloth of the Just.

Posted by: Attila at 07:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 197 words, total size 1 kb.

Wow. Attila the Hub and I had a great time in the Chicago area, where we caught up with most of his relatives and experienced that interesting weather one associates with the Midwest and the East Coast (especially Florida): it can be a hot day, and then it begins sprinkling.

I tried to explain it to my mother: "imagine being at the beach, where the wind can whip up at any moment and you really don't know how to dress from hour to hour. Then add another 20-degree variation and the possibility of rain at any time."

But it was so beautiful: the clouds in the sky shift around all the time, and there's a continual light show. And without hills, the horizon goes down just about to your feet. Lots of drama. I found myself wishing I could be in that area for one really good thunderstorm, warm and cozy and a few floors up, watching the light change through a picture window.

And Skokie!—I loved Skokie. Where else do you go into an ordinary coffee shop and order deli food (latkes, matzo ball soup, blintzes)? But don't get me started on Chicago food, either: those sandwiches with the peppers are terrific, and they have that incredible pizza—either super-thin or mega-thick.

My niece just graduated from DePaul, and one of my cousins (the one who lives in Indiana right now) has a little girl who turns three this fall and is the cutest, smartest little girl in the world. Once Attila-hub and I get our own baby, we may be able to work out a "child-exchange program" over one summer when ours is a toddler and hers is 5-6. That might be a lot of fun. (More likely, we'll just plan a few long reunions when the kids can get together: who am I kidding that I'll be letting my child out of my sight?)

Thanks so much to Desert Cat for holding the fort down here: it was nice to see interesting entries on my blog when I went back to the Holiday Inn and went into nightly family-driven fits of exhaustion.

I'm speaking at a local charity event tomorrow, so posting could be light over the next 24 hours. But know that I'm grateful to everyone who frequents my blog—it's good to know you're there.

Posted by: Attila at 01:07 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 402 words, total size 2 kb.

. . . gets here in two hours. It's 4:30 in the morning, Los Angeles time. Attila the Hub and I are flying to Chicago for my niece's graduation on Sunday, and we'll be in the Upper Midwest for six days, catching up with family (and, in my case, touching base with one client).

This happened last time we both flew out to Chi-town together, back in 1998. I was up all night and damned bitchy the next morning as my husband dealt with the car-rental people.

I'd like to think I've grown so much in the past several years that I'll get through the next 24 hours without snapping at anyone. But let's just say I'll be putting the old antidepressants to the test soon.

Posting from me will be light to nonexistent; Desert Cat, however, will be checking in over the next week, performing guest-blogging duties and sharing his unique perspective. Be really polite to him; no trolling for the next week.

I'll be 43 in less than a month; I'm getting a bit long in the tooth for all-nighters.

Sweet dreams, boys and girls.

Posted by: Attila at 04:37 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 193 words, total size 1 kb.

. . . in Oldtown Pasadena. I'm having waffles, but everyone else—my husband, my father, and my father's wife—has decided it's lunchtime, even though it's only 1:00 p.m. They're eating seafood or something yucky like that.

Dad ordered red wine like he always does no matter what he's eating. And when it came he complained that the glass wasn't full enough. I instantly mutated into a fourteen-year-old and almost died of embarrassment, right then and there. They poured some more wine into his glass.

Somehow the 2008 elections came up, though my husband and I try to avoid talking about politics with . . . almost anyone in L.A. who doesn't belong to the Bear Flag League.

"It's almost certain that Hillary will run," I point out. My father's eyes light up, and he smiles and sort of coos, even though he hasn't had that much wine. "She has such a nice . . . smile," he tells us.

"And she may be running against Condi Rice," I add. Dad's eyes get big once more and he remarks, "oh, she's so . . . nice, too. Though I could never vote for a woman who was once a Goldwater Girl."

If people knew what Goldwater was about they would have been down on their knees begging for him.

I want to remark that the next presidential election is not Dad's own personal swimsuit competition, but, you know—he's 68 years old. And if I had said something he would have almost died of embarrassment, right then and there.

So I remained silent. Thank you, Mr. Prozac.

Posted by: Attila at 12:36 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 275 words, total size 2 kb.

. . . is running a lot. So he's dutifully cross-training, and that means he's at the gym several times a week. One time he was chatting with another guy who wanted to know what vitamins he took.

"I'm not sure," he told the guy. "Every day my wife gives me several pills. I just take them, and try to stay on her good side."

I try to reassure him that I probably won't administer any poison that way: "don't worry until you see me wearing gloves when I hand you your vitamins."

Posted by: Attila at 05:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 97 words, total size 1 kb.

I just did the usual quickie Bay Area trip: drove up in one day, spent two days there, and drove back on the fourth day. This experience included:

1) Seeing my aunt's new house in Walnut Creek, which is nicer than the one that burned down last year. I spent the first night there, listening to my aunt talk for two and half hours about what kind of furniture she plans to buy. It was interesting talk, but there was a lot of it, considering that I'd just spent over five hours on the road. Damn, though: I was gratified to be a good niece. My relatives can't help it that they talk too much. And neither can I, of course, when I get going. It's in my genes.

2) Having to choose which social engagement I would take. I have so many friends in the Bay Area that I only see each person every 2-3 years or so. If I didn't make this rule, I'd never spend enough time with my family.

3) Finding out at a family dinner that my "little cousin" (he's almost 40 and towers over me) is now engaged to the Very Nice Girl he's been dating. Being genuinely glad that my cousins are marrying such sweet, ethical women.

4) Eating ice cream at Fenton's in Oakland with my mom.

5) Getting lectured by my mother about how I need to cut down on carbs and sweets—over her third dessert. No, really; there was something kind of charming about it.

6) Letting my mom spoil me: she crashed on the couch, and I got to sleep in her brand-new queen-size bed, which includes a remote control that lifts the foot—hospital-style—and tilts the head. One almost doesn't need pillows, and it's terrific both for reading in bed and increasing respiration (because one is sleeping almost upright, at the precise angle of one's choosing). It was the second most decadent experience of my life. (The first: going to the 21 Club in New York City after my husband won his last Emmy.)

7) Lunch on Friday with my brother in Dublin, where he works. This has become my custom on the days I drive back to L.A., and it compensates a little for the fact that he and his family don't join the rest of us for dinner too often.

But no internet access for four days. That hurt. And I missed my biggest traffic peak of all time (1,100 hits in one day, double my previous high-water mark). The Ladies of the Cotillion danced on in my absence, aided by an Instalanche and a Malkinization.

Dang, but I'm content, probably because this Prozac shit is starting to really work. And I'm going to bed now.

Posted by: Attila at 03:03 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 475 words, total size 3 kb.