Will Farrell ad

You simply have to see this Will Farrell commercial - too funny!

Blogs from soldiers in Iraq are being shut down

I am saddened to see that a particular blog I was following of a soldier's experience in Iraq is gone. I knew that there was trouble on the horizon. A couple of weeks ago the soldier met with some of his higher-ups to discuss the content in his blog and according to the entry, they urged him only to avoid talking about things that may endanger the troops; and his following entries were then less detailed and I think he did a good job following their orders.

But that must not have been enough, because he has now removed all of his entries and left only one: "Ever Get the Feeling You've Been Cheated?" A friend of mine alerted NPR and they now have some coverage on the issue, Soldiers' Iraq Blogs Face Military Scrutiny.

I realize that there must be discretion in this area; we obviously don't need to be letting the enemy in on our strategy. But, this soldier was definitely trimming down the information at the end and still giving us a good picture of what war is really like. He even talked to some local Iraqi people and got information about how they feel with the troops there, how they feel about America in general, and so on. It was interesting discussion and much needed considering the massive liberal and conservative bias that our media now has. No one but these soldiers actually know what it is like to be there, and I for one was interested in hearing their story. It's a shame that they are being shut up, and we should ask ourselves how much of their freedom we should limit while they are there defending ours.

What's the big deal with the Olympics?

OK, so I may have a rather unpopular view on this one, but I can't for the life of me figure out what is so important about the Olympics. I just can't get into it for some reason. I think it's great that there are individuals out there who have spent years training and dedicating themselves to a sport or discipline. Goodness knows, I haven't done anything remotely close to what they have done. But, I still can't imagine sitting down and watching any of it on TV; and mind you, I love to watch TV. None of it interests me in the least. Oh well. Go USA!

Spiders in the shower

What is it with spiders and showers? I can't count the number of times I've run into one of the little eight-legged buggers in the shower over my lifetime. What is so friggin appealing about the shower that they feel the need to hang out there?

Just a minute ago, I'm getting ready to hop into a nice warm shower. It's been a hectic week, and as you've read in my last blog, I haven't been feeling 100%. So, I figure I'll hop in for a few minutes, and let my muscles warm up and relax. As I peel back the shower curtain, what do a find but a nasty little spider in the back by my shampoo bottle (insert your own scary music here)!!!

Now, those who know me fairly well, know that I'm pretty darned arachnophobic. I'm not empty-my-room-and-sit-up-all-night-long-because-I'm-freaked-out-about-the-spider-I-saw-on-the-wall kind of arachnophobic (like a friend of mine), but suffice it to say that I am a scream-out-loud-short-of-breath-call-for-my-husband-to-eradicate-the-sucker kind of arachnophobic.

Since my husband is gone this evening, I was stuck dealing with the problem myself. So, I turned the showerhead to the most powerful setting and shot it at the spider, who then decided to swim around a bit in the pool that was forming because we have a slow drain. Who in God's green earth decided that spiders should be able to swim? It was like friggin Wet n' Wild in there for him. I could just imagine him saying "whee" and all of his little friends in the wall or wherever getting excited at the prospect of a good time. I won't be surprised if I wake up in the morning and have spider fest going on in the bathroom.

I'm sure I looked like a complete idiot. Imagine a naked woman spraying a little spider with a shower head, meanwhile emitting little "eeks" whenever the spider got to a stable surface and started moving. I'm sure that in my own private little hell, I will have to face all of the innocent spiders who have lost their lives on account of my arachnophobia; I only hope that I have a huge-ass can of Raid and a space suit.

Coming down with a cold

Ugh. I think I'm getting sick and it's definitely not fun. Shouldn't there be a law or something that people can't get sick during the summertime? At least the weather has taken a turn for the worse over the last couple of days, so I won't feel so bummed about lying around the house.

Well, off for a nap :)

Common sense for common folk

What happened to natural selection? I thought that as time went on, nature would automatically start weeding out those who are less *insert characteristic* than others. As I get older (and hopefully wiser), I'm definitely seeing a decrease in natural selection as it pertains to the human race.

Perhaps all of our life-preserving measures and zillionth chance social programs are working against us. I'm not saying that civilization and modern advances aren't beneficial; I'm just exploring the possibility that we are carrying on less than stellar specimens and it's something to think about. We're actually working against nature. We find ways to circumvent our fate all of the time. How many times have you heard about women trying every last medical procedure in order to have a child or read about people surviving almost imminent death (thanks to a team of dedicated medical professionals) after doing something completely stupid?

Overall, it's the lack of intelligence and common sense that bothers me. I understand the natural urge to help people and want to save them from death and disease. I don't understand ignoring people who have spaghetti for brains (especially when they have children).

Take this woman I saw yesterday for instance. As my husband and I are driving along on a busy 5-lane road, we see a woman with a baby stroller cross the street. Now, normally, this wouldn't attract much attention. However, seeing as she wasn't crossing at the crosswalk, wasn't waiting for a clearing in traffic, and was actually holding her hands out to stop the cars coming around the corner at 40 miles an hour, I thought to myself, "she has reproduced." That's the first thought in my head. There's nothing stopping her from passing her insanity and lack of common sense onto another generation. And that's a scary thought.

Another good example is something I saw on the news last week; I see fabulous examples of stupidity on the news all the time, but this one really took the cake. A guy left his infant in his idling truck while going in for a job interview. Low and behold, someone comes to steal the truck with his daughter in it, so he runs out to stop it from happening. Again, I thought, "he has reproduced." The kicker is that the company with which he was interviewing said they'd hire him. I'm sorry, but anyone who leaves their kid locked in a vehicle should be cited with neglect and sent for parenting classes. That's not an individual I would want representing my business. What a dumbass.

I'm not saying everyone has to be Albert Einstein in the body of Lance Armstrong, but have some friggin common sense people! And can we please start sending these people to parenting classes or something? Let's start giving future generations a crack at a better existence than we have.

Mama mia! Tutta Bella!

If you are lucky enough to live close to Seattle, Washington, you simply must check out Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria in Columbia City. You may wonder why this is such a special pizzeria, so I'll go ahead and give you a little summary. The owner, Joe Fugere, went to Naples to learn how to make Neapolitan-style pizza, and then brought his knowledge back to our neck of the woods. The pizzas are made with the finest ingredients, and can only be made using low-gluten Italian flour, San Marzano tomatoes, and wood-fired ovens. The result is a delightful thin-crusted masterpiece. And did I mention that it's now one of just over 100 places in the world awarded the Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) certificate? The Verace Pizza Napoletana Association made it official in April of this year.

Perhaps one of the best things about this place is the price. While Tutta Bella uses only the best ingredients, you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for your meal. You get good service, good food, and good atmosphere at an affordable price!

Why do I always forget things when I get to my blog page?

Perhaps this is just a me-thing, but I seem to always have fabulous things I want to blog about until I actually get the time to write them down. I'm not sure what this phenomenon is, but it's really annoying me. Here I am; I have a good 10 minutes to spare writing down my thoughts, and I can't think of anything good to write. On my way to work this morning, I had all kinds of things floating around in my brain, but do you think I can remember a single one of them now? Of course not.

My officemate had a wonderful idea; maybe someone can develop the product and patent it. She suggested having an implant in my head that would automatically translate my thoughts into written words and upload them to my blog. It's a great idea, although I'd be worried about the bugs (hehehe...former software tester here, can you tell?). Who knows what kind of random things we'd see if this were actually developed.

Why rubberneckers might be good

OK, so I've had this idea floating around in my head for awhile, and figured I might as well get it on screen.

I'm prone to getting very upset on the road. I've never done anything stupid on account of it, but let's just say that I can get very vocal when people drive poorly. As such, I used to get REALLY upset whenever there was an accident and traffic suddenly ground to a halt. I mean, what on earth could be so friggin interesting that you suddenly forget that you're in a moving vehicle making an attempt to get somewhere? Move it along people!

Anyhow, as of late I've been thinking about this...thinking doesn't mean that I'm any less annoyed by the situation, but it makes my life a bit more calm when I'm in the car. Perhaps the slow down is actually a good thing in disguise. When there is an accident, there can be all kinds of unforseen things going on in the area - people about, things in the road, etc. So, while annoying, it may prevent worse things from happening. Or at least, that's what I'm going to tell myself to keep sane.

Bush feeds his dog a living fish

Ok, I watched something very disturbing earlier today, and feel that I must share this with the one person who may one day read my blog.

The guest on Fishing with Roland Martin today was President George W. Bush. For those who are unfamiliar with the fishing world, G.W. enjoys bass fishing and is even a member of BASS, a large bass fishing organization. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, except you would expect someone of his position in life to have an inkling of respect for the life that makes the sport so enjoyable for so many. Apparently this is a quality lacking in G.W., as he caught a largemouth bass during the show and actually threw it (still living and breathing) onto the deck of the boat for his dog, Barney, to play with and chew on.

Couldn't he at least have had the decency to kill the fish humanely and put it out of its misery before giving it to his dog as a chew toy? It's one thing if you want to catch and release fish, or even catch fish and eat them; but it's a whole different ball game if you're going to disrespect nature in such a way as I witnessed him do on the program.

My First Blog

Yep, here it is...behold the wonder of my first blog! My revelations will make you yawn, laugh, or cry, but I can't make any promises which of those three you'll actually experience.

Anyway, I don't really have anything interesting to say right at this moment, but I just wanted to get the first one out of the way and see what it looks like. Wahoo!