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OK, we get it. David Duchovny has entered a rehabilitation facility for the treatment of sex addiction. I’ve found it humorous to read the comments and opinions on lots of other blogs. Most of them naively believe that Duchovny’s addiction simply means he is addicted to having sexual intercourse, and some have even commented that his wife, Tea Leoni, must feel lucky.

Unfortunately, sex addiction has a lot less to do with a pure physical need for sex and more to do with an emotional disconnect. Sex addicts often have trouble with honest emotional relationships and compulsively seek to connect with other people via impersonal intimate acts like masturbation, affairs, prostitutes, voyeurism, and other intimately unfulfilling behaviors that are many times abusive, secretive, and lead to depression.

Sex addicts often find that their compulsive needs come before family, work and personal health.

His entire family is in my thoughts, and I wish everyone the best. Difficult times are certainly at hand for them.

The issue of addiction to computers in children was not something parents needed to really face when I was a child. Most households did not have a computer when I was a kid. And, if they did they did not have an internet connection. We got a little Apple 2c when I was in junior high. My dad did use a modem to connect to local bulletin boards about some of his hobbies, but that was it. I used the computer to type up papers and play silly little games like Lemonade Stand and Westward Ho! (the exclamation point is actually part of the game title).

Oh, how times have changed. Just take a look at this news item put out by the Associated Press:

PALM BAY, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a Palm Bay teen chased his mother with a knife and beat his brother with a sugar cane because of a change to his computer privileges.

The 15-year-old boy was on the home computer Sunday when he discovered changes to the system made by his older brother. Police say the teen then threw several objects and picked up a knife and a stick of sugar cane.

The older brother and mother told police the teen pushed his mother several times while clutching the knife.

The teen was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and battery.

Information from: Florida Today, http://www.floridatoday.com

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

Wow. Just wow.

A child finds out his computer use has been limited and he is upset enough to go after his mother with a knife? I can see throwing a tantrum, or sulking. A knife, though? He went at his mother is a deadly weapon. Insane.

As a mother, I am 100% in favor of limiting both the time and the content of a child’s computer use. I allow my daughter an hour on the computer a couple times a week. She is limited to websites I have chosen (WebKinz, Starfill.com, ect.) and right now she accepts that. Of course, she is five. I know we will have to go at things a little different in the future. However, she will not have a computer in her room, she will not have unlimited internet privileges, and I will monitor her online activity.

When she moves out of the house, it’s up to her to do the right thing. Until then, I will guide her every step of the way so that she has some idea of what the right thing even is. The internet is a wonderful place. It is also a dangerous place. Anyone who thinks porn is difficult to access online is just plain wrong – not to mention tragically naive. I want to protect my daughter. I do not want her to be one of the millions of modern kids who in their supposedly tender years already have a hardened and backwards view of sexuality.

I overhead a very telling conversation today as I was gassing up my car. The Democratic Party might want to work a little harder to understand how their party members really feel.

You could tell from the bumper stickers on their hybrid car that they lean so far to the left that if I had blown a bubble with my gum they would have tipped over. Those are the kind of Democrats I overheard this morning.

But, the conversation I heard the mother having with her son was too good not to pass along to all of you. The boy looked all of 11 and he was telling his mother he thought the Democrats should have put Joe Biden on the ticket as the presidential candidate, with Barack Obama as the candidate for vice president.

His mother looked at him for a second, flipped her overly-highlighted hair and said, “I agree. Dumb move, huh?”

The news today is full of information on how Barack Obama chose Joe Biden as his presidential running mate.

Still, all I can think of is how Obama’s gums creep me out. They always have. I am transfixed when I see him on television. His gums give me the shivers – and not the good kind of shivers. It is a lot like my past complaints about actor Zachary Quinto’s eyebrows creep me out (he plays Sylar on “Heroes”).

There are just some physical features that I find so repulsive that I cannot get past them. I know it is trifling, but it is real to me. Obama’s gums eclipse every word he speaks, every point he makes, and every action of his life.

Yikes.

I’m not a huge Sarah Jessica Parker fan, but this scene from the 1993 film “Hocus Pocus” always makes me laugh. Sometimes the clip just runs through my mind for no particular reason and I have to stiffle a giggle. I think the reason I recalled it tonight was all this talk about Halloween costumes.

By the way, though I can take or leave Parker, I adore Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy.

My daughter is 5. She has moved recently into different musical tastes. She is no longer interested in seeing Laurie Berkner or The Wiggles in concert. “Oh, yuck!” she exclaimed.

Nope, she recently informed me she wants to see The Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus in concert.

*sigh*

Unless you have been living in the back woods without electricity lately, you know all about the last Miley Cyrus tour, the expense of the tickets and how in-demand they were. Tickets were expensive to begin with, but once they got bought up by bulk resellers and scalpers, they become positively unaffordable.

The fan base for Miley Cyrus is young girls. Their parents are the ones forking over the dough for the tickets. And, there is obviously disposable income left in this society, or entertainers would not be able to demand and get such high prices.

I had to tell my daughter I could not afford for her to see Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers in concert. She is 5. Her abstract reasoning has not kicked in yet. She just could not understand.

And now I am seeing how Cyrus is celebrating her 16th birthday at Disneyland out in California and tickets to the party will be a mere $250.

What?

They go on sale August 30 and the event is expected to sell out quickly.

Don’t people have food and gas to buy?

Since there is actually a shortage of teaching positions in the district this school year, I started thinking about applying for non-instructional jobs simply to get my foot in the door with the school district and to add to my experience in the classrooms. My first choice was to work as an assistant in an ESE (Exceptional Student Education) classroom. I knew I would not find anything full-time, with benefits, or even high pay. However, I was attracted to the idea of taking one year to glean as much knowledge from highly qualified, working ESE teachers as possible.

Anyway, I have an interview to work 7-hours a day at one of the local high schools as an ESE Associate. Wish me luck. I really feel like if I am indeed offered the position, I will take it. It will mean that I will be an employee of the district, get to know some of the teachers, gain some experience, gain confidence, and the hours at the high school are OK as long as I take my daughter to before-care at her school as soon as it opens. It even looks like by the time I get off work, I will be able to make it to pick up Gigi right as she gets out of school.

What a treat!

This week we found heirloom tomatoes at Publix. They were a hefty $5 a pound, but we picked one each of the available varieties and will save the seeds. It will be fun to try to grow them.

After all the flavorless hybrids I’ve eaten from the local stores, the heirlooms were such a treat. I cannot tell you how much I miss the tomatoes in my grandmother’s garden up in West Virginia. When I went up a year ago for my other grandmother’s funeral. I ate garden corn, tomatoes, and green beans every day for at least two meals each day. I couldn’t get enough.

I’ve been trying some tomatoes on the back patio and they grow and ripen well, but the birds and squirrels keep beating me to the punch so I have not got any actual mature tomatoes yet this summer. I am going to start moving the plants onto the screened porch to see if that works.

Anyway, here is a snap of the tomatoes. Aren’t they pretty? The varieties are Red Brandywine, Gold Medal and Cherokee Purple. According to the stickers, they were all Florida greenhouse grown.

Here in the Tampa Bay area, almost everything is closed down for the day. The first day of school is delayed, offices are closed, and people were evacuated from low areas. And throughout all of this, we have yet to feel even a raindrop. In a bizarre turn of events, the hurricane that was predicted to make landfall in our area in blowing across Florida south of us, will hit the east coast and then bounce back across Florida, north of us. All in all, we are like this funny little triangle of land that will totally get missed this time around.

Years before I moved here, a co-worker up north told me the reason that the Tampa area keeps being missed in most hurricanes stems from an old Native American legend that the area is somehow protected by supernatural forces. That is all I have ever heard about that, because despite much searching I have never found anything to back up that story.

Either way, it looks like we are safe.

Can I just tell you how much it saddens me to know that morally decent people like me and most of the people I took my education classes with are looking hard for work as teachers here in the Bay Area only to hit closed doors over and over? We are all completely certified, come to the field with years and years of real-life professional experience, and solid ethics. However, there are not as many teaching jobs available now as there were only a few short years ago.

We can all accept the job shortage as a reason. But, it is harder to accept schools like Trinity Oaks Elementary in Pasco County (close enough to suit me and all of my friends if we could get jobs there) are hiring people like Joel Cupp.

Who is Joel Cupp? He is a 29-year-old elementary school teacher who used the screen name JCUPP01 to extend invitations for sex to two girls, ages 13 and 14. He also exposed himself on his webcam. It turns out the “teens” he asked to perform sex acts were actually investigators from the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office and state Attorney General’s Office.

He was arrested on felony charges and he subsequently resigned Thursday from Trinity Oaks. He was released today from the Pasco County jail after posting $30,000 bail. He faces three charges of luring or soliciting children to engage in a sex act and one count of lewd or lascivious exhibition.

Here is the kicker. Cupp asked the “teens” their ages and even after they told him, he went on to ask them to get together for sex. He acknowledged their ages, commented on how young they were, and went on to ask about their sexual experience and to even reveal to them that he was an “elementary school teacher.”

Sick. Sick. Sick.

I know we are all worried that our children might be in classrooms with people like Cupp. That is one more reason I want to be a working teacher. At least I can be sure the kids in the classroom with me are safe.

Has anyone tried the Attune chocolate bars that a have a daily dose of probiotics? I found them in with the yogurt this week and picked up 4 of the dark chocolate bars. They taste pretty great and my daughter liked hers better than some of the tart liquids I have given her in the past.

I have not heard anything about this product outside of the testimonial from the girl stocking the diary shelf at the supermarket, so I am just looking for input from anyone who has tried the Attune bars.

I will say this. I knew there was soy in the product before I even looked back and read the ingredients. I am allergic to soy and my ears and throat and mouth all itch now. It makes me wonder why they needed to use soy in the chocolate.

We’re excited about school starting this week. Tomorrow is orientation and on Tuesday morning, my daughter will have her first day as a kindergarten student.

Ironically, Tuesday morning is when Tropical Storm Fay might barrel through the Tampa Bay area. Forecasters are saying that tropical storm and hurricane-force winds of 75 mph or higher will probably gust through here Tuesday.

In fact, the Tampa Bay area will probably be put under a hurricane watch sometime today. That means hurricane force winds are possible in the next 36 hours. There is also a chance that the storm will bring with it tornadoes.

As of now, there have not been any school-closings issued for the nearby counties. In any event, I am getting more water run though the reverse osmosis system and into bottles than usual, moving plants and pots off the back patio, charging my cell phone, and making sure there are batteries in my flashlights.

I’ll admit that beyond the most common texting terms, I am clueless as to what the texting generation is saying to one another. So, as a follow-up to the post I recently wrote about kids getting cell phones, here is a handy texting terms translations chart I found online. It does not include the more sexual or crude terms.

•911 – Emergency, call me.
•999 – Emergency, call me.
•2DAY – Today.
•2MORO – Tomorrow.
•2NITE – Tonight.
•AAMOF – As a matter of fact.
•AFAIC – As far as I’m concerned.
•AFAIK – As far as I know.
•AFK – Away from keyboard.
•ASAP – As soon as possible.
•ATB – All the best.
•ATK – At the keyboard.
•ATM – At the moment.
•AWHFY – Are we having fun yet?

•B – Be.
•B4 – Before.
•B4N – Bye for now.
•BAK – Back at keyboard.
•BB4N – Bye Bye for now.
•BBIAB – Be back in a bit.
•BBL – Be back later.
•BBS – Be back soon.
•BCNU – Be seeing you.
•BF – Boyfriend.
•BHL8 – Be home late.
•BION – Believe it or not.
•BRT – Be right there.
•BTW – By the way.

•C – See.
•CM – Call me.
•CU – See you
•CUBL8R – Call you back later.
•CYR BRO – Call your brother.
•CYR MA – Call your mother.
•CYR PA – Call your father.
•CYR SIS – Call your sister.
•DK – Don’t know.
•D8 – Date.
•EOL – End of lecture.

•FAQ – Frequently asked question.
•FC – Fingers crossed.
•FWIW – For what it’s worth.
•FYI – For your information.
•F2F – Face to face.
•F2T – Free to talk.
•G1 – Good one.
•G2G – Got to go.
•GAL – Get a life.
•GMTA – Great minds think alike.
•GR8 – Great.
•GUDLUK – Good luck.

•IAE – In any event.
•IBK – Idiot behind keyboard.
•IC – I see.
•ICQ – I seek you.
•IDK – I don’t know.
•ILU – I love you.
•IML8 – I’m late.
•IMTNG – In meeting.
•IOW – In other words.
•IOU – I owe you.
•IRL – In real life.
•IYSS – If you say so.
•JAM – Just a minute.
•JTLYK – Just to let you know.
•J4F – Just for fun.
•KHYF – Know how you feel.
•KWIM – Know what I mean?

•L8R – Later.
•LDR – Long distance relationship.
•LMHO – Laughing my head off.
•LOL – Laugh out loud.
•LTNS – Long time no see.
•LTNT – Long time, no type/text.
•LUV – Love.
•LYLAS – Love you like a sister.

•M8 – Mate.
•MEGO – My eyes glaze over.
•MTE — My thoughts exactly.
•MTFBWY – May the force be with you.
•MYOB – Mind your own business.
•NETHNG – Anything.
•NMHO – In my humble opinion.
•NO1 – No one.
•NP – No problem.
•NRN – NO reply necessary.
•NTW – Not to worry.

•OIC – Oh, I see.
•OMG – Oh my God.
•OTOH – On the other hand.
•OTT — Over the top.
•PCM – Please call me.
•PITB – Pain in the butt.
•PLS – Please.
•PLZ4GVME – Please forgive me.
•PRL – Parents are listening.
•PRT – Party.
•PUKS – Pick up kids.
•QT – Cutie.
•R – Are.
•RGDS – Regards.
•RNGL8 – Running late.
•RLR – Earlier.
•ROTFL – Rolling on the floor laughing.
•RTM – Read the manual.
•RUCMNG – Are you coming?
•RUOK – Are you OK?

•SK8 – Skate.
•SK8R – Skater.
•SPK – Speak.
•SUM1 – Someone.
•SWIM – See what I mean?
•SYS – See you soon.
•TAFN – That’s all for now.
•THNQ – Thank you.
•THX – Thanks.
•TMB – Text me back.
•TTFN – Ta ta for now.
•TUL – Talk to you later.
•TTTT – To tell the truth.
•TTYL – Talk to you later.
•TVM – Thanks very much.

•U – You.
•UI! – You idiot
•UOK – You OK?
•U2 – You too.
•U4E – Yours forever.
•UR – Your
•W — With
•WAN2 – Want to?
•WB – Welcome back.
•WE – Whatever
•WKEND – Weekend
•WOA – Work of art.
•WOT – What?
•WRU – Where are you?
•WTH – What the Heck
•WTG – Way to go!
•WUF — Where are you from?
•W8 – Wait.
•W84ME – Wait for me.
•XLNT – Excellent
•XOXO – Hugs and kisses.
•YKWIM – You know what I mean?

What is the right age to get a cell phone for your child?

That’s a question that will have 100 different answers if you ask 100 different parents.

I was faced with the first glimmer of reality in this issue Tuesday night as my sister and her husband presentd my nephew with a brand new cell phone for his 7th birthday. Seven. The kid is seven.

I held my breath, feeling what was coming at me next. I was right. My daughter, five-and-a-half, turned and asked me when is SHE getting a phone.

Ouch.

I had hoped that question would comes a few more years down the road. I am not a big fan of giving a young child a cell phone. I do eventually want her to have one of those basic units that can call out to a limited array of numbers and maybe even one with a way to block texting and internet. I have not actually given it all that much though, aside from hoping I would be able to deal with it later.

In the wake of all the local stories about back-to-school in the local papers is a whole lot of coverage about cell phones and kids. The stories talk about six and seven year old kids getting phones, kids texting all day, and the fact the cellular companies are spending more advertising money than ever before to target young children.

My dreams of getting Gigi a “kid” phone with like three buttons died when I saw a statistic that said 10% of 8-year-olds have a cell phone, by age 12 that statistic is 50%, and at the age of 15 a full 84% of kids have their own phone. The phones they what are BlackBerries, Apple iPhones and phones with full-size QWERTY keyboards and social networking software.

Studies show that parents do try to maintain some sense of control when they give out a phone, though. A good number of children start out with pre-paid phones so that parents can control the costs. About one-fifth of parents say they attach the achievement of a particular grade-point-average to the privilege of having a cell phone.

I’ve gone over in my head the fact that a cell phone can be a safety for my daughter. It is a good feeling to know she can call me when she needs to, just like I carry a cell phone to know I can make a call from the car if I break down on the road. I think about how much easier it would be to get in touch with her when she is at her dad’s house.

On the other hand, I did just fine in school without a phone. I used a pay-phone if I needed to call home. My teachers did not have phones in their classrooms, but these days all of the teachers do. If there really is an emergency at school, there are many ways for my child and the teachers to get in touch with me aside from my daughter having a cell phone. At the age of not-yet-six, I do not plan on her being out on her own outside of school anyway.

It’s been a looong time since I was a teenager in Washington, DC. One thing that has stuck with me is the thriving hardcore punk movement that came out of DC – both straight edge and otherwise.

Concerts were at small venues and always full of rowdy kids. I remember concerts that my friends and I went to nearly every weekend. Black Market Baby at the Hung Jury Pub comes to mind.

I’m not sure you can ever replicate the feeling of music by bands like Scream, Iron Cross, Dag Nasty, GI (Government Issue), Bad Brains (the original DC hardcore), Fugazi, Minor Threat, …Ok there are just too many. I was going to link the bands, but it’s not even fair due to how many I left out.

We used to get a lot of our music at Smash in Georgetown, but I see from their website they recently moved to Adams Morgan.

I miss the scene. Is it nuts for me to hope against hope that my daughter will lose her love for bubblegum pop and discover the local hardcore scene around here?