I know I'm getting Mom's dining room table, which was originally Great-Grandma's. Grandma remembered getting on her knees to dust the legs as a kid, Mom remembered doing the same, and it was always my task to do that, as well, so Mom told me when I was a teen that the table would be mine. Dad had rescued it from the barn when he first married Mom--one of the leaves had already warped while stored there, but Dad stripped and varnished the table and the other five leaves to make it presentable and usable for us heathen kids. It's not like it was ever going to be a valuable antique, so the refinishing didn't bother any of us, but I love the idea of having it.

My paternal grandmother had crocheted baby afghans for both of my brother's kids who were born before she died, and we found out after her funeral that she had made ones for both my sister's and my first babies as well. Well, neither of us are going to be having kids ever, but I'm keeping mine for the first one of my niece's or nephews' kids to be born.

I know Mom needs to update her will. All her sentimental and nice jewelry was stolen when we were kids and she only has a few pieces now that qualify.

I'm sure there's some variation of "everything is split between the kids" for both my parents wills but I don't know for sure.

ION turns out the teachers in Tenn. were bigger assholes than we originally thought. The whole "safety drill" was really a prank. [link]

They were at the class trip and teachers had been telling scary stories, so Quentin Mastin came up with the idea of telling the students that someone was driving around with a guy. Another teacher drove a car around and flashed the lights, while a third put on a sweatshirt and rattled the doors. The children were told to "do a code red".

When teachers realized some of the children were really scared, they turned on the lights and told them they had just been pretending.

"They took the opportunity to say, 'This was a prank, but if it had been an emergency, you did the right thing,"' she said.

Nice to add that after they'd scared the kids.

Honestly, the one of the harder parts I imagine, and have seen, is deciding that no one really wants that and yet feeling a bit bad that you don't want this thing that had value to them. Or admitting that while it is comfortingly familiar...it's really kind of hideous/ridiculous/pointless.

That happened when my great aunt died, and saddled one of my distant cousins with a white leather recliner that he didn't really want, but felt he had to take home with him since she had mentioned him by name in connection with it. It could only have been funnier if it were made from elephant hide rather than cow. At least I wanted and got a lot of use out of the desk she left me.

it's an unwritten rule that the porn friend gets to keep said porn.

I never gave it much thought until recently, but people who are serious about their kinky/fetish-y stuff tend to have sunk a LOT of $$$ into paraphernalia and whatnot. Some friends of mine frequently remind me that they want their kinky stuff going to good homes, to people who will appreciate and use the stuff, because they're afraid that their family might either take it all to the dump or to Goodwill.

A fetisheritance, if you will.

Some friends of mine frequently remind me that they want their kinky stuff going to good homes, to people who will appreciate and use the stuff, because they're afraid that their family might either take it all to the dump or to Goodwill.

But I'm sure Goodwill could stand to have their fetish departments improved.

The whole "safety drill" was really a prank.

Just when I think people couldn't get more stupid....

It's about to storm here, so we've opened all the window shades to watch it come in. I *love* the Chrysler building in bad weather. It's just so freaking beautiful.

So is the Chrysler building now the second-tallest building in NYC?

It's probably my favoritest skyscraper evah....

So is the Chrysler building now the second-tallest building in NYC?

One of my guilty thoughts on 9/11 was, "Somewhere, an Empire State Building fan is muttering quietly, 'we're number one again.'" I may have been that fan, I confess.

We're about to be hit with the tail of the same storm.

Wanna see something cool? [link]