The Smarmy Carny

I am now officially convinced that 2-year-old my son was trying to taunt me tonight.

I took him out of his high chair and he was a bit fussy. I sat back down at my computer desk with my son on my lap. Within twenty seconds, I saw this:

I'm a night owl, so this isn't a late hour for me, but a sleeping child always tends to make one drowsy!

Now why don't I make him sleepy when I'm sleeping and he's batting me in the face with an empty 2-liter bottle?

How do these tongue twisters stack up? Please, feel free to try saying these tongue twisters right now!

• Cher shot Sharif, the shoddy city sheriff: B Here's one you don't want to mess up in front of grandma!
• How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?: F I don't know if this one has ever twisted my tongue.
• I'm not the pheasant plucker, I'm the pheasant pluckers mate and I'm only plucking pheasants 'cause the pheasant plucker's late: B+ This four-line tongue twister is a bit long for my taste, but it's a great one to try out. Though it's not particularly hard if you can read it, it's a doozy when you do mess up!
• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers: D- The only hard part about saying this traditional tongue twister is that I always try and figure out what a "peck" is.
• Red rubber baby buggy bumpers: C- This one is a classic tongue twister, though I've never seen a bumper on a baby buggy before.
• She sold six Swiss wristwatches: A I like this tongue twister because it has just five words, but gets me almost every single time.
• Unique New York: A I appreciate this one for its simplicity. When I tell this one to people, they scoff — until they try to say it. I like the deceptiveness hidden here.

Please feel free to leave a comment. What do you agree or disagree with, and why? Which items do you wish were included that I didn't cover here?

One Economy's The Beehive offers low-income people and families plenty of information on various categories. One of those categories is titled Jobs and Careers. Subsections in the Jobs and Careers section are:

• Find a Job
• How to Apply for a Job
• Plan a Career
• Starting a New Job
• Getting Training and Education
• Make More Money
• Unemployment Benefits

The Beehive has information on how to perform a job search online and offline, write a resume, and how to interview for a job. There are also articles about pursuing further education and getting a GED. The site also features articles on how to increase your earnings along with an "interest inventory quiz", much like the one guidance counselors gave in high school, that matches your personal interests with careers. After all, if you like what you do, then you'll do a better job at it.

The site also has information on unemployment benefits — how to know if you qualify and how to get them.

Which minor Seinfeld characters do you enjoy? I left Newman out because he appeared in 47 episodes. That's a step beyond minor, in my book.

• George Steinbrenner: C- George Costanza could never get Steinbrenner to fire him. Steinbrenner's face is never seen on the show. Larry David did his voice, so there's an extra point right there.
• J. Peterman: A- Elaine's boss made her do all sorts of things just to keep her job. Perhaps it was watching Elaine's awful dance that caused John O'Hurley to host Dancing with the Stars. (And read the interesting story about the post-Seinfeld John O'Hurley and J. Peterman.)
• Susan Ross: C George's poor fiancée who died licking the poisonous wedding invitation envelopes that George bought.
• The Soup Nazi: A No soup for you! The Soup Nazi is probably the best minor Seinfeld character. Not only is he one of the most well known characters from the show, he only appeared in two episodes.
• Uncle Leo: B Uncle Leo was annoying, but at least he was good at it. He'd always talk about his son Jeffrey, who was never seen on-air.

Please feel free to leave a comment. What do you agree or disagree with, and why? I'm sure there are a few characters that people would like to see: Which minor Seinfeld characters do you wish were included that I didn't cover here?

e-coffee

Phwew, I was nervous for a few short minutes. The server my host has me on was a bit unresponsive for a bit.

Normally, I'd never notice because it was just a short blip, but since I'm sitting here for 24 hours, I was certain to find this one.

Hopefully it wasn't the Blogathon traffic here that caused a problem. I like to think that I'm unpopular enough, even during the rush hour of Blogathon, to make any sort of impact on a web server.

Thanks to Glo Paint for the e-coffee!

Also thanks to John for playing Wesley Willis at my request! The song was just posted, so catch it while it's hot! That track is "Rock and Roll McDonalds."

We Blogathonners have just completed the first half of Blogathon!

As a reward for making it halfway, I will take this hour off from posting a Grating Rating. Next hour's Grating Rating is Minor Seinfeld characters!

I think it's time to get up and take a little walk . . .

Blogathon Status Update: Hour 12
Sponsorships: 7 pledges for $100.00
My neck is tired right about now. I think I'll get up and move around for a bit.

The official Blogathon site hosts games throughout the event, and there was a game just posted to write a poem about the Blogathon. So, here's the limerick I wrote:

There once was Meme the Sheep
who didn't really give a beep.
He read The Smarmy Carny
and gathered an army
and bit Novac 'fore he fell asleep

(For those who do not know, Meme the Sheep is the sheep character created by Ryan Estrada that is currently used in the Blogathon logo.)

Sponsorship update: 7 pledges for $100.00