• It is amazing how much of a story you can tell with five minutes of animation. http://bit.ly/VIG1r #

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• The youngest, who hates the vacuum cleaner, discovered the cleaner's on/off switch. He will probably stop screaming in a couple of minutes. #

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• At the Maxfield family reunion and both sons are soaked. K is grumpy fr a missed nap and Josh is reading over my shoulder. #

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I feel sympathy for Michael Jackson’s kids.

I enjoyed his music when I was growing up, even still have some vinyl of early albums.

So why don’t I feel much at the news of his death?

• Suffering what appears to be food poisoning; slept or purged off and on since 6 pm last night. Wish I could eat the yummy food in the fridge #
• Danger of swine flu: It sloughs off ciliated epithelium and opens you up to secondary infections. via @robinlloyd (via @maggiekb1) in reply to maggiekb1 #

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• Laying on the hammock with the eldest finding shapes in the clouds. Battle droid, tie fighter, brute pistol, seahorse, dinosaur. We so rock. #

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• At the SLC downtown Farmer’s market. What a load of overpriced artsy fartsy CRAP. Not just the food either; not one thing of interest. #

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• Dad has the remote. Dad is mean. Dad will pause the show if you don’t eat your dinner. Told you Dad was mean. #

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Since I’m already complaining today, here is my other complaint after working a week plus from home.

Much has been talked about with regard to an ala carte plan with regard to Cable and Satellite television providers with the providers against it and almost everyone else for it (with the notable exception of those cable channels that no one would purchase on an ala carte plan). While I support an ala carte plan, I want something else.

I want to be able to find a program in the guide and be able to mark that show so that I never have to see it again. For example, “Nancy Grace” on HLN? Add it to my kill file and then when that show starts, my tuner just skips over it. In effect, it would be eliminating that show from my bit of the universe. “Jon and Kate plus 8”? That drivel would just disappear, leaving my Dish programming unsullied by that fecal excuse for a show.

Several channels on my provider I don’t want to drop, except for certain shows – let me kill those shows and I’m happy to live without an ala carte plan.

Instead, I find myself recording shows and only watching from those shows; that kills advertising revenue that supports the shows though, as I either skip through the commercials or run a bit of software that automatically cuts out the commercials altogether. If there weren’t others in the house that enjoy live television, I would probably cancel the service completely and just take that money and allocate it to buying DVDs of the TV shows and select movies.

I may still do that and damn the consequences.

Dear CNN Headline News,

Hi. Nice to meet you. I think you are great.

Well, usually. Here are a few minor issues I have with your service for the next time you reorganize.

1. The name of your channel is Headline News. The Glenn Beck show, Nancy Grace, etc., are not headline news. I would suggest that neither show is news at all and actively take away from your branding as a news source.
2. Long interviews with the grandparents of a child reported missing a year ago isn’t really headline news either. I am compassionate for their loss, both of their granddaughter and the daughter now in jail for her murder but until there is some, you know, news, please leave this type of story for the fluff shows like Good Morning and Today.
3. Getting public opinion is kind of news, but picking a headline story and then asking people to call in with their opinions doesn’t provide much in the way of news, but does give people a chance to really embarrass themselves on TV.

Yes, delivering headline news on a 30 minute rotation isn’t the most exciting venue but being able to turn to your station and get accurate and timely news is extremely valuable. Please stop diluting your brand and return to what you do best.

News.