You just know

that whoever owns this car (a) has a great sense of humor (b) or maybe doesn't have one at all and (c) gets called this frequently by the car behind them regardless of their driving habits.

We saw this license plate on a car in a handicapped spot at the grocery store and at first I thought, "Aw, how sweet, both of their names." Then I said it to myself and thought "Moe ron."

Haa haa haa. Seriously, you really can't make stuff like this up. Someone paid extra money to call themselves morons on their own license plate. Yeow.

If this was my choice for a vanity plate, I'd rather go with whatever the state gave me.

What other vanity plates have you seen that were just wrong, clever or funny?

Phrases I love to hate

Phrases come and go from the American lexicon and there are a few at the moment that just make my skin crawl. Luckily I can avoid two out of three of them pretty easily.

Baby bump - this is perpetrated by the media/paparazzi in particular when stalking some poor female celebrity who may or may not be pregnant at the time. Instead of saying "hey, look at her belly getting bigger with child" or something of that nature, they get all cutesy and use arrows and circles (a la poor Katie Holmes (Cruise) this week on the cover of some gossip mag) to point out exactly where on a woman's anatomy a baby's prenatal growth pokes out. It's just an inelegant and cutesy phrase not worthy of the media or the celebrities about whom they are writing. It will be a great day when this phrase gets retired in favor of something more mature and respectful.

Mommy/Daddy likey - this is usually accompanied by real (or implied) waggling eyebrows and sly winks to connote something that smacks of sexiness. It's gross, people, just gross. Especially the mommy or daddy part. I'm certainly not a prude but -- just gross. I hope this one dies a quick death but it probably won't.

24/7/365 - this is of course the 21st Century shorthand for saying "around the clock" or "we're always at your service" or something of that nature. While I hate the phrase, in my writing work, I tend to use it or the 24/7 variation because it's quick and easily comprehended by any adult audience reading marketing literature or Web copy, my two biggest areas of writing these days. So while I really do hate it, it has earned a grudging respect from me and it helps me pay some of the bills.

How 'bout you -- what phrases have you heard recently that make your blood boil or your skin crawl? Jump in!

My mom

Lately I've been feeling chronically a day late and a dollar short. I usually send birthday cards and holiday cards to everyone and my promptness has fallen off precipitously in the past couple months. Part of it is I'm just busier than usual and part of it is an overwhelming feeling of apathy. I'm going to call the doctor today about the apathy and see what might be its origin. But I completely digress. Except to say that this is a Mother's Day post -- a day late. Dunno about the dollar short part although money is always tight, right?

My mom passed away in January 2001 at 87. Her last 10 years or so were spent in a nursing home, completely skewing the odds of that occurring. Truthfully, she was not a really nice person when she was younger and we had many, many moments of discord between us over the years. I loved her but she was a tough person to love at times.

She mellowed considerably as her body failed, starting with an aneurysm that she survived, over the last 10 years of her life. Yet there would be moments of the "old Nana" when the feisty Nana would appear in her eyes. I used to look forward to those moments, even if they just reminded me of what a witch she could be.

Anyway, I was thinking about her a lot over the weekend with Mother's Day on the horizon. I even changed my Facebook picture to one with my mom for a few days in honor of her.

I pulled a few pictures from Johnnie's computer of my mom and I wanted to post them here just to commemorate her. She looks kindly in these pictures but don't you believe it for one second.