Open mouth and insert foot

Awhile back, I was sitting at lunch with some friends and talking about the Sony rootkit issue. One of the artists that had CDs that installed the rootkit was Celine Dion. I really can't stand Celine Dion, so I made a comment to the effect of, "well, it serves them right for listening to Celine Dion". One of my friends, C., was like, "hey, I like Celine Dion." So, open mouth, and insert foot...

Anyway, it became a joke between us, and recently while I was down in Vegas I stopped in the Celine Dion shop at Caesar's. I bought C. a bookmark for Celine Dion's new show. And when I flipped the bookmark over, I was absolutely ROTFLMAO at the wording on the back. You'd think that I was buying a diamond ring or something, not a bookmark.

It says things like, "[The bookmark] is also meant to become part of your everyday busy life as a marker in an agenda or book." Hmmmmm...is that what a bookmark is for? By golly, I'm so thankful that she cleared that little mystery up for me. It goes on to say things like "Bookmarks are there to take you where you left off. Call it a day, a page, a phrase, a thought. What is behind is passe, what is ahead is unknown. Pretty much as in real life..."

Barf. I've never seen so much importance put on something so insignificant. There's more, but I'll spare you the pain.

Hey son of kotah

Thanks for being one of my best friends :) I like the name of our new animal...

Gotta love The Onion

I mean, really - didn't it seem like things were going pretty well when someone was getting head in the oval office? It's just an observation...

On a funny side note, this is my 69th post :)

WTF?

Is a cell phone really this important? I suppose by the point this woman swallowed the phone whole, the argument had surpassed rational thought, but still. I can't even imagine...

Who did I tick off in China?

Apparently someone over there is very unhappy with me, as evidenced by the insanely-attached price stickers that I tried to remove from some bathroom light globes last night. Of course, I can't locate my WD-40 anywhere (which I'm sure will turn up in some random box of stuff at some point), but rubbing alcohol seemed to help a bit. After spending wwwwaaayyy too long on a project that should have taken a couple of minutes, I finally got the stickers off and put the light globes up. At least in the end, they look quite nice :)

A note to the sticker-putter-on-er: I'm very sorry...please ease up on the adhesive.

On a side note, sometimes I'm amazed that I'm actually a writer when I come up with things like "sticker-putter-on-er". Thank God I have an editor at work...not that he'd change that himself, but he'd certainly come back with a whopper of a comment about it. And of course, at work I'd actually think of a term that made sense, but this is a blog for goodness sake.

What's missing?

I'm thrilled that after passing in the House, the Senate rejected the bill that would have opened up oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Thank goodness.

That said, what exactly are the republicans missing about the oil issue? They keep pointing to this as something vital to national security. Here's an idea - why don't we try reducing the amount of dependency we have on oil altogether - both foreign and domestic? Oh wait - we're already doing that in some ways, such as moving toward more hybrid vehicles and working on alternative sources of fuel. And here's the very obvious beauty in that approach: we don't have to depend on foreign countries to keep us running and we don't have to disturb a pristine area.

I know, I know - the national security slant is just something to get people to rally behind the bill. But still - are people really buying that? I guess they must be, which is so disappointing.

Another thing that bugs me about this bill (among other bills) is the way a bazillion unrelated things get mashed together to be passed all at once. For example, this bill included money for hurricane victims, help for low-income families, and money for troops in Iraq. What exactly do those things have to do with drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? Nothing, except supposedly money garnered from the drilling would go to support those additional items. Somehow, I think we can figure out how to address those other issues without oil.

Anyway, you can bet that when elections roll around again, democrats who voted against the bill will be burned at the stake because they voted against helping hurricane victims or something stupid like that. It's so frustrating. I wish that there was more political middle ground to grab a hold of right now.

And another one...

A friend sent this one to me...

http://www.jokaroo.com/funnyvideos/christmas_light_show3.html

Where do they come from? Mind boggling...

Weird request

I recently got a really weird email from someone who saw my profile on an online dating site. Here's the gist of the conversation...

Him: Hello. I saw your pictures and profile, and like what I see. Can I ask you a question?
Me (curious): Sure, no harm in that...
Him: It involves me cleaning while you watch. Can I elaborate?
Me: No thanks.

I was tempted to email back with a "yes" just to figure out what the hell would come after that, but decided that it was just too creepy. I have no idea what that guy would have said next, but maybe that's a good thing. Weird.

Vegas, baby!

I got back from Vegas on Monday night, and I had a wonderful time. While there, I saw the Cirque du Soleil show, "O", at the Bellagio and it was fantastic. I simply can't imagine how much work that must be to put on a show like that.

In addition, we did a lot of shopping, checking out the various casinos, drinking, and gambling. I didn't make any money, but didn't lose a lot either. I found out on the last day of the vacation that I should have just been playing blackjack because I was fairly good at that. Oh well - next time!

I think that my favorite part of the trip was the Paris. It's so adorable and the shops are really cute. It was tres me :)

Some people have too much time on their hands

I realize that's a very general statement, but who has enough time to do something like this? And by the way, watch the whole thing...I'm not saying that it's not impressive, but why?

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/wmv/xmaslights.wmv

I'll bet his neighbors are livid.

Thanksgiving

Well, it was an interesting start to the holidays this year. On my way home from work yesterday, I was just merrily heading home, thinking about seeing my family on Thanksgiving day and all of the good times we would have together. A couple of miles away from the place that I'm staying, I was rear-ended. Thankfully, neither of us were hurt, although the cars weren't quite as lucky. My car was OK, and will probably just need a new bumper and maybe a little look-see at the underside because it's running kind of loud now. The other person's car has a rather bent up hood. Overall, not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things though. My back is kind of sore, but it's not too bad. I've been taking some Ibuprofin today and just trying to lay low. I'll keep an eye out on it the next few days and make sure that it doesn't act up.

Anyway, Thanksgiving day was really great. I went over to my parent's house and we had 19 people there (including my new little nephew). It was a really good crowd and everyone was excited to chat and spend time together. I had a wonderful time playing with my niece and nephew, talking with my sisters and other family, and holding the new baby. My mom knitted the baby a little pumpkin hat, so he wore it tonight and looked so cute.

So, overall everything went really well. If I think back on this last year, I have a lot to be thankful for. I'm going to take a page from my friend's book and do a little list...

Things that I'm seriously thankful for:

• My family and friends, who have helped me through the worst times in my life and helped me to come out on the other end.
• My job, which keeps me challenged and well paid.
• My home, which will just get better and better with each new thing I do to it.
• A home away from home whenever I need it with people who love me and will never give up on me.
• My health, which at the moment is still a bit down in the dumps because of the cold, but is otherwise sound.
• My brain, without which I would be nowhere.
• My experiences, which have helped me become the person that I am today.
• My counselor, who is a very knowledgable woman and has helped me to see a lot of things more clearly.

And, things that I'm thankful for, but are silly in comparison to the things that I've listed above:

• Victoria's Secret, without which I would have no adorable pajamas or underwear.
• Coach, without which I would not be known to my friends as the Coach handbag girl.
• Zappos.com, without which I wouldn't have such fabulous shoes with free upgraded shipping.
• Tiffany's, without which I wouldn't have my adorable ring (a present to myself after the divorce) and a color for my bathroom.
• My bed, which is (using a term from Kati), heaven on a bun.
• Fabulous parties with Kati and A.
• My upcoming trip to Las Vegas.

Congratulations friend

I'm very excited for my good friend, E. because he got accepted to school in Tokyo and will study Japanese there next year. Way to go!

Waxwing is calling it quits

I recently talked to the dummer from Waxwing and found out that the band is calling it quits. I'm not sure why, but it definitely sucks. They're a local band, and I got to know the drummer through an ex-boyfriend many years ago. I did find out, however, that they are having their last concerts on December 16th and 17th, so I intend to go to one of those shows.

On the bright side, the drummer's other band, Gatsby's American Dream, is doing well. And a couple of other guys that I sort of knew from that group have broken off into other projects, such as a band called Slender Means and a solo project called Blue Checkered Record Player; both of those Web sites have some of the tracks streaming, so check them out. I heard Slender Means featured on the morning show on 107.7 The End a few weeks ago, and they sounded really good.

So, those are just a few local bands that I'm into right now and suggest checking out.

Weird story from Japan

As I opened a Web browser today and watched it load my home page (msn.com), I was puzzled to see the following headline: "Radish on life support after decapitation".

Before reading the article, I assumed that it must be about some poor guy or gal with a last name of Radish who was somehow decapitated but still living due to some hard core life support measures. Boy, was I wrong. The article is about an actual radish - yes, the vegetable kind - that was growing up through asphalt in Japan. Apparently this started a few months ago, but recently someone tried to kill the radish, so the Japanese are quite upset about it and are trying to save it. They've put the head of the radish in water to try and bring it back to life or to get it to flower.

What a weird friggin' story. More at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10078798/.

Down with the sickness

Well, that cold that I thought I was coming down with last week came to fruition this week. My cousin lovingly saved me by insisting that I come back to her house where there is food and furniture - two very important comforts when you're sick. So, I've been sick since Monday and I guess I'm on the upswing now, but try explaining that to my poor lungs and throat. Oh well. I should be over it all soon.

So, in addition to the cold, I'm PMS-ing and it was a full moon yesterday. It's making for some interesting moods. Maybe I should just throw in the towel for the day and get some sleep, then wake up to a better day tomorrow.

Lighting

All I can say about today is that I have such a fabulous support system. My cousin, R. and his wife (and one of my best friends), A. came over to help me install a fan with a heat lamp in the bathroom, and a new light in the living room.

Originally, I didn't think that I had a fan in the bathroom because there was just a random light fixture near the bathtub. However, after taking off the cover, we found that the fan was simply unplugged. After R. uncovered the wiring, we figured out that the fan was attached to a different light in the bathroom - a very strange setup. So, R. and A. rewired everything and got new switches so that I can dim the light fixture above the sink. It's quite wonderful.

We also got a beautiful new light fixture hooked up in the living room, so now we won't have to walk into the low-hanging lamp that was there before.

Element

Went to the club, Element, tonight with my friend, A. and S. for S.'s birthday. It was really fun. I haven't been there since it was Polyesther's, but it hasn't changed a whole lot. There are still two floors with different DJs and music. A. knows one of the part-owners, so he put us on the VIP list, so we got in free. Then S. got us into the VIP room upstairs. It was fun to look down over the dancers below and people-watch.

Overall, it was a fun night and a good time to just go out with people. I almost canceled because I was starting to feel like I was coming down with a cold, but I relented and went anyway. I have plenty of time to lay around in bed this weekend if I get sick, so hey - why not have a good time tonight :)

Good thought for the day

"Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around."
-Penelope Cruz in Vanilla Sky

Custom furniture

Over the last week, I ordered or acquired the following pieces of furniture for my new place:

• Custom bookcases for one wall of my den in distressed black
• Two media cabinets in distressed black
• Three stools with backs in distressed black for my breakfast bar
• A TV stand in distressed black
• A white corner desk hutch
• A white corner cabinet
• A white coffee table with glass top and drawer to display things
• A deep red colored sleeper sofa
• A mossy/sagey green colored cuddle chaise

The white pieces of furniture were from IKEA and were in stock, so Kati and I put them together last week and this weekend. They turned out really nicely and will kind of brighten things up a bit since I'm going with distressed black in the other pieces and with so much color in other areas. The whole look is very Restoration Hardware/Pottery Barn. I'm quite pleased with my color choices. Unfortunately, the distressed black furniture, the sofa, and the chaise are all special orders, so I won't receive those pieces for a month to two months.

I was looking at my bedroom furniture this weekend, and it's just so beautiful. It's a nice set in mohogany and includes a lovely sleigh bed. I dressed the bed up with some fabulous aubergine and dusty rose bedding, and it looks very rich. Then I thought about it, and figured out that I spent a LOT of money on that bed, even considering I got the bed and matress at cost from my step dad. All things considered, the bed and bedding alone probably hit the $2500 range. So, I shall sleep like a princess in my beautiful new home.

I suppose that it's fairly obscene the amount of money that I've spent on furniture over the last two months, but I figure that this is my home and it's mine alone. So, I'm going to make it exactly what I want :)

Haunted corn field

I went out last night with some friends to Maris Farms in Buckley, Washington. We went to walk through their haunted corn field maze and woods. It was terrifyingly fun. The actors were really good, and when one of our group asked if they got paid, the gal responded, "no, we're volunteers, but it's very rewarding." I can vouch for the fact that they found it rewarding - we were scared out of our minds (and yes, that includes the men in our group).

I learned some interesting things about myself walking through that maze. Here goes:

• I still really hate spiders.
• I don't like it when the ground I'm about to walk over pops up and becomes a creepy creature.
• If I'm ever in a situation with a crazy man and a chainsaw, I'll just cower and "protect" my head with my hands. Somehow, I doubt that my hands would do much to protect me from decapitation, but hey, whatever. Apparently that's my first reaction.
• Corn field mazes are creepy even without any actors. They rustle and make weird shadows in the dark, which creates its own atmosphere. So, the corn becomes an actor as well.
• After reading Steven King's, "It" as a kid, I still don't like scary clowns, and the guy who was a psycho clown on stilts last night just solidified that fact. Non-scary clowns are just sad, really; but the scary ones still freak me out.
• I will gladly sacrifice my friends to run away from the children of the corn.
• Given the right situation (such as a children-of-the-corn girl following me through the corn singing "la la la la" in a creepy voice and then screaming randomly), I will actually scream on demand. Yes, she said "Scream" instead of actually screaming at one point, and I obliged. Funny then and now.

It was such a blast though. I don't know what it is about being scared that can be so much fun, but I guess it's because you know that you're in a relatively safe environment and everyone else around you is in on it, too. It's the whole suspend the reality thing and just have a good time.

After the 1-1/2 mile walk/run through the maze and woods, we headed over to the Bonney Lake Tavern (BLT). We had a few beers and recounted the events of the night, several of which involved me hiding behind A.'s back, and one of which included S. falling on her ass. Fun times.

Fabulous night

I'm happy to report that I had a wonderful time last night. I went to a company party in downtown Seattle, complete with an open bar at the party and a one night stay in a swanky downtown hotel that overlooked both Puget Sound and Lake Union. It was stunning. We ate, and drank, and danced, and then drank some more. It was fun to just let loose and have a good time with everyone.

As if the night wasn't going along fabulously enough, when we got on the shuttle to go back to the hotel after the party, a group of my co-workers and I ended up getting off and going to the one guy's place for more drinks and a good time of patting each other on the back for all of the great work that we're doing and how much fun we have together as a team.

Anyhow, eventually Kati and I headed back to the hotel to try and get some rest because I was moving into my new condo today. Right after we got into our PJs, my manager and her husband came in and swept us up for early morning (4:00 AM) breakfast at Minnie's. I went in my Victoria's Secret sweat pants and top, because that's pretty much Minnie's attire at that time of the day. When we showed up, the rest of the group that we had just left were there as well. Overall, it was just a funny night of running into people when you'd least expect it. Nothing like showing up in front of people you work with in VS sweats.

Oh, and the moving went well this morning. God bless my family. My step dad got my bedroom furniture all put together yesterday without me knowing it, so when I showed up today it was all ready to go. And several people from my family and a couple of friends helped lug everything upstairs today. It went quite quickly and now I'll just have to unpack everything and get my new place setup. I'm sooooo excited!!!

Last weekend

This last weekend was quite interesting. I went out on Saturday night with a friend from work, A., and a few of her friends. We went to a party that was in a VIP room in the back of a cool club downtown. We even needed a password to get in...pretty swanky.

Anyway, I met some cool people and had a good time until this random Italian guy attached himself to me. He kept following me around despite the fact that I wasn't interested in the least. So, that was annoying. He wasn't bad looking or anything, but he was completely annoying when he started talking, and at this point in my life, I just don't have that kind of patience. That may sound snotty, but I just didn't click with him and didn't want to drink with him, dance with him, go home with him, etc. He finally got the hint. A. had a similar situation with another guy, who would randomly go make out with some girl on the couch and then come back and hit on her again. It was really surreal.

Anyway, as the night was winding down, we went out to the main part of the club and ran into a guy that we work with. He was sitting at the bar with another chick, and seemed kind of embarrassed when A. (my friend) and I went up to talk to him. So, I'm not sure what that was all about, because apparently he has a girlfriend in another state. But, who knows? Maybe they have some kind of agreement...I have no idea.

And it gets even weirder, folks...

It appears that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have undergone either brain transplants or have been abducted by aliens. In what world is it normal to be pregnant after only about a 1/2 a year of D-A-T-I-N-G?

Nicole Kidman must silently wonder why she marriedTom in the first place, and then she must breathe a sigh of relief that she's no longer attached to such a freak. At least Connor and Isabella have one good role model in their lives...

Cats in the cradle, raccoons in the kitchen

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I'm house-sitting for M., one of my upper managers. I leave the cat door open during the day so that the two outdoor cats can get in and eat whenever they need to. However, I put the cat door cover on at night because M. mentioned that they've been dealing with an ornery cat in the neighborhood and they don't want him wandering in through the cat door at night. So, this has been my SOP for the last week and so far I've had no issues.

Tonight (or rather very early this morning), I hear a big commotion downstairs. I hear cat bowls rattling around and dry cat food going everywhere. So, I high-tail it down the stairs and see the cat door cover across the room and a huge mess in the kitchen. Then one of the indoor cats wanders down the stairs, so I realize that he is not one of the ones making the mess.

When I turn on the outdoor light and look on the deck, I see a ginormous raccoon staring back at me. I don't think that I would have been more surprised to see a Yeti standing out there. I'm not sure why the raccoon was such a surprise to me. Afterall, we see them over on the eastside pretty frequently (usually as roadkill, but you know...), but this is friggin' Seattle. Based on the raccoon's current girth, he does quite well for himself in these parts...a real yuppy raccoon. Not long after, another one peeks around the corner.

So, I think to myself, "shit". Or maybe I said that aloud. Either way, the situation isn't good. These guys are huge and the plastic cat door cover was obviously a mere hocky puck standing in the way of tasty chicken livers and tuna treats. I quickly put the cover back on to assuage any thoughts of immediate return, and then assess the situation. Being a stranger in this home, I'm not familiar with all of the heavy objects which would make good cat door cover securers. So, I place a big brick in front of the cover, and then maneuver the portable (albeit not on wheels) kitchen island behind it for reinforcement.

I then go about the business of mopping up soggy cat food and water from the cabinets and floor. As I look around, I realize that there is another cat door that goes into the finished basement, and I pray that none of the raccoons made their way down those stairs, only to return again once I've finished cleaning up the mess. Luckily, one of the indoor cats plods through to use the cat box and since I hear no growling or anything, I am relieved that there doesn't appear to be a raccoon in the basement.

So, I finish the cleaning up and then refill all of the bowls with water and the various foods, and then trot upstairs again. However, I'm not rattled enough that I can't fall back asleep, so I decide to blog and IM with a friend who is clear across the globe right now. I briefly hear some attempts at the door, but then when I head back downstairs they stop. So, now that I'm finally getting sleepy again, I'm hoping that they decide to give up so that I can get some shut-eye. Here's to hoping that my raccoon adventures are over for the duration of this house-sitting gig!

Dress shopping

Kati and I went shopping today, and I did quite some damage to my bank account. I did, however, find some fabulous things to add to my wardrobe, makeup collection, jewelry box, and so on. I find it quite a blast to shop with such abandon AND be able to afford it all. Gawd, I love my job and my life. It is so great to be young and make enough money to actually have fun. I felt like Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman", walking around with bags from fabulous stores.

I was desperate to find an adorable dress for the Cirque du Soleil show, "O", for when we go to Vegas in December. Unfortunately, the last few times we went shopping, I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. I found something that would work as a good backup dress last weekend, but it wasn't perfect. Today, I found not one, but three dresses:

• First, I found an adorable little black dress with a V-neck in both back and front, with a nice mesh/lace overlay. It's quite stunning and will be perfect for things where a little black dress is perfect, which is for most things. That's why the little black dress is the standby of every woman's wardrobe.
• Second, I found a beautiful turquoise colored dress, with a halter neck and hankerchief hem. It's quite stunning and it is the dress that I will wear to "O". I even found some lovely peacock feather earrings to go with it. Very Vegas!
• Third, I found what I refer to as my Sarah Jessica Parker/Sex and the City dress. It's a lovely cream color, sleeveless, with a flowy skirt and beautiful sash. White House Black Market refers to it as the Swan Princess Dress (http://www.whiteandblack.com/store/productchoose.asp?PID=300102892). I'm not entirely sure what I will wear this dress for, but I just loved it so much that I even bought a nice set of freshwater pearls to go with it. I imagine that I'll have a Christmas party or wedding to go to at some point where this particular dress will be perfect.

In addition, I got a bunch of fun stuff for Vegas, like a cute corset top and shrug, as well as a ton of other stuff. I just love shopping. I can wait to get into my new condo so that I can go through my wardrobe and throw out some of my older stuff and make room for the new stuff.

Memoirs

I recently started listening to "Fraud" by David Radkoff on my iPod. It has been such a joy to listen to. I love David Sedaris, so I started getting into memoirs, and just finished two audiobooks by Augusten Burroughs, and then moved onto Radkoff. Although I thoroughly enjoy Sedaris and Burroughs, I'm not sure that I've laughed quite as hard (or as often aloud) as I have while listening to "Fraud". I'm such a fan of authors who read their own work, and Radkoff has a really great way of delivering a story. Plus, the sayings that Kati and I have come out with from these memoirs...I doubt many people would actually understand our conversations were they not versed in memoir-speak.

So far, I have two favorite sections from "Fraud". The first is when Radkoff describes a museum about the Loch Ness monster, and how they desperately need a proofreader for the captions on their photos. Apparently they have random sentences inside of random sentences, leaving the whole caption to make no sense whatsoever. The second favorite is where he talks about using a computer mouse for the first time and not realizing that you pick the mouse up when you hit the end of the mouse pad. Both accounts are quite funny and very much worth downloading the audiobook to your favorite audio device.

House sitting and realizations

This week, I'm house sitting for an upper manager, M., at work. She and her husband live in a very nice house in Seattle and have four cats. Two of the cats are indoor cats, and two are outdoor cats. They each have very distinct personalities, and one of the indoor cats likes a lot of attention, but on his own time. If you approach him when he doesn't want to be disturbed, he'll scratch you. So, he's a bit grumpy at times.

This grumpy cat recently went outdoors (which is OK according to my cat-watching instruction sheet), and now I have to sit here and wait for him to want to come inside or he'll scratch my skin off. I know this because I followed him across the street earlier, trying to get him to come inside and eat, but when I reached down to carry him back over, he batted a big ol' paw at me and gave me a big ol' yowl. The other two outdoor cats just flopped over and purred when I picked them up to bring them in and eat, so they were easy. The other indoor cat seems kind of jumpy right now, although M. said that she should warm up to me over the week.

My problem is that I'm not a huge cat person. I don't dislike cats. I have a mild allergy to them, so I usually tend to avoid them to some extent so that I don't have red itchy eyes. I have met some really nice cats throughout my life, but the tempramental ones just always make me think - why? Why would someone love them and feed them and take care of them? This may sound bad, but isn't that kind of a waste of time? Isn't that kind of co-dependant, almost? I suppose that there is something more to it, but it's something I'll never understand. I'm definitely a dog person, and I guess that's all there is to it for me.

The funny thing is that I just met up with an old friend of mine, M. H. He's just opened up his own business, so I took a look at his new office and then we headed down to U Village for some Starbucks and a good chat. When I returned, the cat was finally waiting at the door, ready to come in, so at least that crisis is averted.

Anyway, M. H. is one of those people who I will always be glad to have as a friend. Even when we don't talk for some time, I always know that he's got my back if I need him and true to form, when all of this came down with C., M. H. started calling me every few days to make sure that I was OK and to see if I needed anything.

He's also the kind of friend who reminds you of who you are and where you've come from. We've been friends for close to 10 years, and I remember what I was like when I first met him my freshman year of college at the UW. I was still with my high school sweetheart, but I was really attracted to M. H. and we became really good friends, and semi-dated for a very short period of time, although it never came to anything - not even a kiss. There was just something that kept us friends, and I'm really thankful for that because he has turned out to be someone that I can count on and always will be. Had we dated, it's uncertain that we would have survived, let alone come out on the other end as friends.

So, it kind of reminds me that everything happens for a reason. 9+ years ago, I was asking God why on earth M. H. and I couldn't seem to get together. But now, I'm happy that we didn't get together and I understand why. So, I can at least look back on things in my life and know that someone is watching out for me.

Cell phone companies

What is it with cell phone companies? Can they ever actually get an order correct? When I signed up with my current phone company, we'll call it A, I signed up for a plan where C. and I could share minutes on one bill. However, that particular fact seemed to escape the woman that I spent nearly an hour with on the phone, and she somehow got my phone and his phone setup on different accounts. I didn't figure that out, of course, until I got separate bills and noticed that the calls on C.'s were being charged at 45 cents a minute. So, I spent almost another hour on with different people trying to get that figured out.

Skip ahead now to me setting up new service and ordering a new phone. I called a new company, we'll call it B, and ordered a new phone (a really kick-ass phone I might add), a car charger, and the new service agreement. Apparently this company just switched to a new computer system, so I spent several minutes listening to, "sorry, but the system is being really slow right now" and so on. Finally, toward the end of the call, the system went down completely, so my information had to be taken manually and then he would input it into the system later in the day. The guy read stuff back to me correctly and I happily hung up, excited to receive my new cool phone in a few days. If only the story ended there...

Last night, I receive an order confirmation email and notice that my name is spelled incorrectly and that the address is off. So, I call B back and explain the situation. The gal who answers says, "I'm sorry, but the system is down again so I can't correct your information at this time. Please call back tomorrow morning to have it corrected. We open at 5:00 AM." Huh...ok.

I call back this morning about 10:00 AM (I was in la-la land at 5:00). I spend a 1/2 hour on the phone waiting for someone to answer, and memorizing the dumb Musak version of some song I can't figure out that they play over and over and over again. I then have to run for a meeting, so have to hang up. I then call back and wait for another 1/2 hour and finally get someone on the other line. This guy tells me that my phone and charger are in their truck on the way to UPS, so there is no tracking number yet and no way for them to call UPS yet to let them know the correct address. He tells me to call back later in the day when UPS gets the packages and then B will have to call UPS with the correct address.

So, I call tonight at 7:00 and explain the story again. The guy on the other line says, "Ok, just hold on one minute." He comes back a few minutes later and explains that his supervisor has told him that B can't do that - they have an agreement with UPS that they can't change the shipping address once UPS picks up the package. I politely ask to speak with the particular supervisor who has told him this, and I'm transferred. After he finishes his explanation, I explain that I've been proactive at calling back to have the information updated, and through no fault of my own 1) my information was incorrectly recorded and 2) the system was down, so I did not receive a confirmation in a timely manner to get it updated before the shipment went out to UPS. I ask if they can send me a new order of the phone and charger, and then they'll receive the other one back at some point when the people who receive it have no idea who I am and why they've received a package, so they'll send it back. He agrees. I then spend another 1/2 hour on the phone with the other nice guy who gets my information entered into the system correctly.

Considering that you have to select a particular department when you call these companies, and it's always something like, "to setup new cell phone service, press 1", you'd think the people on the other line would actually know how to set something up correctly. I mean, isn't that their job? I realize that mistakes happen, but I've talked to several people who have had similar experiences. Oh well. As long as I get my cool new phone, I'll be happy.

Shopping therapy

Kati and I spent the day doing some much-needed shopping therapy. We started at the Bellevue mall, where I finally got the Tiffany's 1837 sterling silver T & Co. ring that I've wanted for a bazillion years but could never bring myself to buy. Of course, there are a bazillion other things at Tiffany's that I would also love, but the ring is something that I can actually afford and considering the amount of times I've visited it, I decided to make it part of my collection. I needed a little bling for my left hand now that my beautiful wedding ring is gone (thanks to my soon-to-be ex husband), and I knew that this ring would be a quite lovely gift to myself.

We then headed up to the new Seattle Premium Outlet mall by Tulalip, and proceded to do some wonderful damage there. I got a few nice new outfits for fall at GAP and Banana Republic. Kati spied a beautiful pair of cream and aubergine tweed pants at Banana Republic for me, and I do believe that they are one of the coolest pieces of clothing that I've ever owned. I'm so excited to wear them and feel fabulous in them :) I got a couple pairs of shoes at the Naturalizer store, so they are both comfortable and stylish, which is always a plus when it comes to fashion.

And, last but not least, I bought 2 fabulous purses at the Coach outlet store. Now, normally I wouldn't spend anywhere near what I spent on those two purses. But one is an oversize black leather bag that is perfect for carrying files, books, etc. for work and something that I will probably use for the rest of my life. That makes it a very nice investment piece, and so I think it justifies the cost. Plus, it was from an outlet store, so I didn't spend as much as I could have spent if I had bought it when it was first for sale. The second purse is a good size lavender suede bag with aubergine accents. Based on my wardrobe, this particular purse will be a staple for years to come.

I know that I shouldn't take so much pleasure in material things, but today was so FUN. There is something really great about having the ability to buy some really great pieces that make you feel like the fabulous person that you are. And, since I'm getting my bonus from work in a couple of weeks, I decided that I should spend a bit of that on some nice treats for myself, since the rest will surely go toward earnest money on a condo or townhome in the near future. And, perhaps the best part was coming home after a day of shopping and not having to justify any of my purchases to anyone. I am a self-made, successful woman and I can afford to do something like this every once in awhile to remind myself that I work hard for a living and I deserve to enjoy myself because I only have this one life to live.

New Orleans

I can't even imagine what the poor people in New Orleans are going through right now. What would it be like to come home and find absolutely nothing left? What would it be like to be stuck in a sports arena with thousands of other people for days on end? What would it be like to swim through waters full of sewage, chemicals, and dangerous animals to find supplies to keep you and your family alive? What would it be like to be stuck in your attic, awaiting help that may never arrive?

Frankly, I'm appalled at the response from the federal government. I think that the media has done a wonderful job of showing the reality of the situation (aside from the very obvious racial slant, which is unacceptable), and I can't believe that it took president shrub actually going there to decide that the situation was dire. How dense is he?

Additionally, I find it quite interesting that this has happened in the wake of budget cuts to programs that could have helped avoid this situation altogether or at least lessened the blow. The bottom line is that we have infrastructure all over this country that is crumbling or would certainly crumble in a natural disaster such as this. I think about the Alaskan Way viaduct in Seattle and the downtown area, and wonder how that will hold up when the big earthquake hits. We could very well be in a similar situation if we don't do something about these areas in our country.

People used to pay taxes to fund the upkeep of these areas and to support a better existence for future generations. We've become so jaded about our quality of life, that we don't understand that tax cuts, such as those given by the shrub administration, actually HURT us in the long run. It's not like I enjoy paying taxes, but I do it and support it because it is important not only for my lifetime, but in the future. If there is one lesson to take away from this catastrophe, it should be that we need to take a good, hard look at our governmental policies and elected officials and determine if they are really doing what is right for us or if they're being led astray by hidden motives. What kind of a country are we going to have left if we continue down this path?

Finally, the fact that this has affected the poorer community in New Orleans is extremely sad. Here are people who had so little in the first place, and most of them were unable to evacuate because they simply didn't have enough money at the end of the month to get out. In this day an age, it is shameful that anyone would die or live in such a horrible situation because of lack of resources. The government should have recognized the gravity of the situation and got busses in there to take people out of the city to safe places.

I realize that the shrub administration, and FEMA now say that they couldn't have known how bad this would be, but I think that is a complete lie. There was plenty of warning that this could happen, but led by ideology rather than scientific research, our government chooses to ignore what the reduction of wetlands and other environmental problems cause in our country. I also think it's time to take a look at that and realize that government is not a place for religious ideology to rule.

Poor Dewey

After writing my last blog about how interesting the internet is, and how it has revolutionized research, I got to thinking about the Dewey Decimal System. Poor Melvil Dewey. I wonder if kids even have to learn about his system and how important it is to the organization of libraries. I remember learning about all of that as a kid in grade school.

But, now whenever I need to find a book, I just search online to find it. In fact, I'd probably be hard pressed to figure out my way around the call number system anymore, and would be baffled by the drawers of index cards with neatly typed information to locate a book. I just don't remember any of that stuff. I've cleared that section of my brain to make way for very important things like the age difference between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

What will our kids know 25 or 50 years from now? Maybe we won't even have books by then. We'll say, "Yes, little Jimmy, we used to have stacks of paper stuck together with typed words to tell stories..." So funny to think about. It will be such a different time.

The internet

The internet is a pretty interesting place. I really like Dave Chappelle's skit about how things would be if the internet were a real, physical place that you could go to...how nasty and weird it would be. That's one of my favorite skits from his show.

Anyhow, one thing that I really love about the internet is how easy it is to research stuff. For example, I recently downloaded Love Rollercoaster by the Ohio Players. I remember my high school band teacher, Mr. H, telling us a story about how you can hear a woman screaming on the track. According to legend, it was a real scream of a woman being murdered. That story stuck with me for awhile.

Now, if I had used my head, I would have realized that was fairly ridiculous. I mean, most studios are so heavily padded that you'd never be able to hear such a thing. However, maybe I thought that the Ohio Players were poor and put the song together in their downtown apartment or something. I dunno.

Anyway, it was a story that I liked to believe because I really liked my band teacher. He was really into the jazz band and the concert band, and couldn't give a rat's ass about playing at the football games. We played only because we were required to do so by the school, but Mr. H saved us from hideous uniforms and ridiculous marching routines. He knew that our lives were more important than making Johnny football player or Chrissy cheerleader popular. We put our hearts and souls into the jazz and concert bands, and just tried to have fun playing for the cheerleaders at games.

But, I digress. After some researching on snopes.com (my favorite urban legend myth debunker), I found that the story about Love Rollercoaster was wrong. But, I'll always remember Mr. H when I hear that song. And now, I'll think about how funny it is that we can pull information up in a split second, whereas 10-12 years ago, I would have had to slug it out in the library to try and find such information. And even then, I probably wouldn't have found what I was looking for because it appears that the truth wasn't immediately revealed (a tactic that was used to increase record sales).

Weird...

One of the funniest things I've ever seen

This is just a great site - hands down...

http://www.lileks.com/institute/

I especially like the one about the Dayalets - how gross!

Found link to that Jetta commercial called "Big Day"

Thank Kati, ya'll. She found a link to the Big Day commercial that I talk about at the end of my "Favorite Songs of ar-kay-es" entry.

Thank you, Volkswagen, for making such a stunning commercial.

March of the Penguins

I just got back from the documentary, March of the Penguins. It's a really well done film narrated by Morgan Freeman. I really came to appreciate how tough a life Emperor penguins have.

When Emperor penguins reach five years old, they make a trek to an area miles from the ocean to meet a mate and breed. Once the female lays an egg, she transfers it to the male, who then attempts to keep the egg warm during a few months of pure, wintery, Antarctic hell. The female heads back to the ocean to eat as she's lost about 1/3 of her body weight during the trek and making the egg. Once they've eaten enough, they trek back to the inland area and if the timing works out, they will make it in time to feed their young. The fathers then head back to the ocean to eat, as they've been without food for a few months and have lost roughly 1/2 their body weight. The females stay in the inland area to raise the babies to an age where they can walk on their own without freezing to death.

As the warmer months return, and the ice begins to melt, the mothers and fathers take turns going to the ocean to get food for the young. Then, when the babies are old enough to start taking care of themselves, the parents leave the babies for good and head back to the ocean.

The documentary was full of very beautiful shots of the penguins, as well as the surrounding landscape. And the film was very real to life, even showing several of the sad endings to the adults and babies. All of it served the purpose to show how amazing these animals truly are, and how powerful mother nature is. We would do well to remember that mother nature is the one in charge when we're busy trying work around her or damaging her with our wasteful ways.

Favorite songs of ar-kay-es

I recently bought an iPod and really enjoy iTunes. I especially like going through people's iMix lists and finding new music or finding old favorites that I had long since forgotten about. So, I decided to put together a list of some of the songs that really make me tick, with a brief explanation of what I find so appealing about them. For your visual pleasure, I give you Favorite Songs of ar-kay-es (in no particular order)...

Starry Eyed Surprise (Paul Oakenfold)
I can't remember where I first heard this song, but I fell in love with it immediately and it can bring me right out of a crappy mood. I got the album a year or so ago, but have since lost it. Thank goodness for iTunes!

Toxic (Britney Spears)
I know, I know. She's a pop tart, but I find this song really great. It's definitely good to move your butt to when you're at the gym or in the club.

You Got the Love (Candi Staton)
They played this when Carrie Bradshaw is walking down the streets of NYC in the final episode of Sex & the City. I found it to be quite an empowering song, so I finally obtained a copy of the CD from a special import company after failing at several eBay auctions and striking out on amazon.com.

Untitled (How Does It Feel) (D'Angelo)
If you want to spice up your romantic music mix, just put this on. It pretty much does the same thing for me that "Let's Get It On" does.

At Last (Etta James)
What a voice!!! This song just makes me ache.

Yeah! (Usher)
This song is just fun all around. You can't help but dance to it, and I especially love Lil' John (can he say anything other than "yeah", "what", or "okay"?). On a side note, there's a really funny Chappelle's Show with a sketch about Lil' John.

Feel Good Inc (Gorillaz)
This is one of my newer favorite songs. Shake ya booty!

Mockingbirds (Grant Lee Buffalo)
Don't worry; this isn't a cover of that awful Carly Simon/James Taylor song. I heard this several years ago and really fell in love with the part that starts, "One day this ground will break, and open up for me; I hope it will...". I know that feeling.

Good Day (Ice Cube)
I actually really like a remix of this song, which I call the "flowery" remix and can't find on an independent download site anywhere (take note iTunes!). They put the song over a kind of old school tune and used to play it on the radio when I was in Junior high. I hadn't heard it for years until I was in Germany and it came on the radio there while driving on the famous autobahn...nothing like driving really fast in a rental BMW while listening to such a cool song.

Video (India Arie)
I play this song when I start getting down on myself about various things - pimples, weight issues, etc. It reminds me that I'm always a lady no matter what I decide to do (or not do) to my exterior.

Touch Me Fall (Indigo Girls)
I used to listen to this song with my friend, Tesia, in high school and it was one of the only Indigo Girls songs that I liked at the time. There's something very hauntingly beautiful about the part where they sing, "touch me, I'm so beautiful".

Galileo (Indigo Girls)
Later in life, I've really come to like this song, especially the lyrics "how long 'til my soul gets it right; can any human being ever reach that kind of light..."

Sparkling Diamonds (from the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack)
I love to sing this one. It's great how they merged "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" with "Material Girl".

Je ne veux qu'elle (Marc Lavoine)
My lovely Parisian friend turned me on to this song. It just sounds like home.

La Belle Et Le Bad Boy (MC Solaar)
This is another song that I heard first on Sex & the City, and just had to find the album.

Temptation (Moby)
A simply beautiful song from Moby's newest album.

Dramamine (Modest Mouse)
This is the song that turned me on to Modest Mouse back when they were playing house parties around Washington state. Props for their big success, but I still prefer this to their newer stuff.

Friend or Foe (Bugs in Amber)
I once dated a guy who used to be in this band and remember the summer that they cut this song. It was so much fun when they actually played it on 107.7 The End one night...and then hearing it later on at a couple of parties loud and live.

These Words (Natasha Bedingfield)
This is a newer song that I found on iTunes and I'm addicted to it now. Turn it up loud in the car and sing along!

99 Luftballoons (Nena)
I can actually sing most of the German version of this song, even after losing most of my German proficiency. It's just too fun to pass up!

Rape Me (Nirvana)
Yeah, I still love "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and remember how revolutionary that song was. But, this is my favorite Nirvana song. "You Know You're Right" was a close second.

Cemeteries (Waxwing)
The drummer from this band is the same as in Bugs in Amber. This song just really touches me and appeals to me when I'm in a thoughtful mood.

Simple Kind of Life (No Doubt)
I actually hated this song when it first came out, but after listening to it a few times, it really grew on me. The lyrics reminded me of how I felt when I was a lot younger.

Hey Ya (Outkast)
This song is so fun and makes you move without you even realizing it. I always laugh when I hear it b/c a friend-of-a-friend once seriously said something to the effect of, "but really, you should never shake a polaroid picture"...yes, she's a photographer, but still...

La Nuit Est Mauve (Patricia Kass)
Patricia Kass has a really fabulous voice, and this is just such a haunting song. Even without knowing any French, you can feel what she's singing about.

Ignition Remix (R. Kelly)
Funnily enough, I ended up really liking this song after watching the parody on Chappelle's Show.

Time of My Life (Macy Gray)
I ended up buying the whole "8 Mile" soundtrack just for this song. Yeah, there were a few other good songs on the album, but this is what got me to hit the "buy" button.

Dry Your Eyes (The Streets)
I love it when rappers can turn around a good, touching song like this. There are other great songs on the "A Grand Don't Come For Free" album, but this one is my favorite.

Soma (The Smashing Pumpkins)
Simply put, this is the musical equivalent of an orgasm, and one of my favorite songs of all time.

She's a Jar (Wilco)
This is a newer find for me. Someone had it on an iMix and I really took to it.

Any Other Day (Astaire)
I found this on someone's iMix as well. Now I have several songs from them, all of which I like intensely, but this one is the tops for me. The lead singer has this sort of airy but grounded quality...no, I'm not sure that makes sense either, but it's about all I could come up with.

Sleeps with Butterflies (Tori Amos)
I love songs by Tori Amos. Her lyrics are so moving and poetic, and this song is certainly no exception. I recently bought a live version from iTunes that is really lovely.

Pyramid Song (Radiohead)
I was fairly disappointed with the album this song was on (which was surprising b/c I LOVE Radiohead), but this song made it worth the purchase.

Grave Digger (Dave Matthews)
It was hard to pick one song from Dave Matthews, since I love most all of his solo work and work with the Dave Matthew's Band. But, I chose this one because I love the play on "ring around the rosies". Also, it's just a great song.

One Million Miles Away (J. Ralph)
I first heard this on a car commercial. What's with car commercials that they get such great songs? Anyway, in this particular song a hot guy is driving a hot car trying to get to the wedding of his beloved before it's too late. The look on the bride's face when the doors fly open is priceless. It's one of the best commercials I've ever seen. I mean, this ad came out in like 2001 and it still gets me just thinking about it. I absolutely hate Volkswagen for removing it from their Web site though. After some googling of the ad title, "Big Day", I can't find it anywhere. So, you'll just have to check out this fabulous story of it instead and imagine it for yourself.

Why reading the Bible literally is impossible

I'm always amazed at people who claim to read the Bible literally. My first thought is, "wow, it's great that you know all about the life and times of that era as well as Hebrew." Inevitably, these people are neither historians nor linguists, but they don't let that stop them from believing that what they've read is completely true.

When I was very young, I asked my mom a lot of questions about the stories I read in the Bible. I had trouble believing that everything actually happened as it was written, and I was beginning to think that the whole thing was a complete farce. My mom then told me that she learned to analyze what she was reading rather than take everything at face value. She explained that a lot of the stories were parables, and that they were meant to teach people to understand the end rather than the means.

Over time, I learned a few things that basically made me think the same way:

• The Bible was written by many different people, all of whom had individual biases that affected what and how they wrote.


• The Bible was translated into many different languages along the way, causing a loss of meaning and again introducing biases from translators.


• There are many different versions of the Bible, which were subject to outside influences such as political leaders (such as the King James Bible).


• The Bible was written in a different political climate and culture that we don't understand today without additional information.


• The Bible is made up of both actual events as well as stories intended to illustrate how we should act and treat one another.

However, it wasn't until I was reading the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss that I added one more reason to my arsenal. In ancient languages, punctuation was used far less and in a much different way than it is today. Punctuation was used to indicate pauses in literature for actors, chanters, and those who read aloud. She says, "Perhaps the key thing one needs to realize about the early history of punctuation is that, in a literary culture based entirely on the slavish copying of venerated texts, it would be highly presumptuous of a mere scribe to insert helpful marks where he thought they ought to go."

She points to the following two (differently punctuated) phrases from the Bible:

"Verily, I say unto thee, This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise."

or

"Verily I say unto thee this day, Thou shalt be with me in Paradise."

The placement of the comma in the second passage indicates the existence of Purgatory (the Catholic view), while the placement of the comma in the first passage indicates that one would go directly to heaven to be with God (the Protestant view). Truss points out a few other passages that leave us with similar questions all because of missing or ambiguous punctuation.

So, this just gives me one more reason to look at the Bible and say that we need to look deeper into what was written instead of taking everything literally. I just wish that other people would do the same and stop imposing their "moral values" on our country when we supposedly have freedom of religion, and my version of religion may have a different interpretation than another due to differing punctuation.

Maybe we'll be OK afterall

Check out this really good article in The Stranger: Victory is Ours by Ted Rall.

First, I love the comparison of the Nixon administration to the shrub jr. administration. In fact, I saw a fabulous bumper sticker the other day with a picture of "president" shrub jr. that read, "Nixon was re-elected too."

Second, I love that people are starting to come around to realize how awful this administration is. Granted, as Rall states, it's too friggin' late since the election is over and we're stuck with this administration for the next 3 1/2 years, but at least we can say that we knew it all along.

Now we need to work on the educational system in this country and reverse years of budget cuts at the hands of republicans. At least that way, the next several generations wouldn't end up so easily brainwashed into voting for people who actually work against the common good.

Tom pops the question at the Eiffel Tower

Well, it's official - Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are engaged. I guess a couple of months of brainwashing - errr, dating - can really sweep a girl off her feet.

Katie has mentioned that when she was a little girl, she used to dream of marrying Tom Cruise. I wonder if that dream included her conversion to a cult, which I'm sure that Tom, Mr. "if-they-don't-like-Scientology-well-then-f***-you" was very objective about. Oh well...she's not the first woman in history to do something like that for her man.

On a related note, how much freakier can Tom get? He's suddenly this over-the-top, wacko kinda guy instead of the cool, handsome leading man. I'm not sure that this recent development has been a good career move, but I suppose he has plenty of money to retire on.

All around, it's just kinda weird - like Flava Flav and Brigitte Nielson kinda weird. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Why aren't we impeaching president shrub?

Of course, I know why - we have a very imbalanced government in the U.S. right now. But when I read articles about the inadequacies of bush jr. (such as this one of the Downing Street Memo), I just can't seem to figure out how half of the population still supports him. Why, oh why?

People were in an uproar over Clinton getting it on with Lewinsky in the Oval Office, which I might point out did not involve anyone but the two of them (and Hillary unknowingly) until it was blown up into a huge scandal by the republicans.

But somehow people don't care that our tax dollars are wasted on all kinds of ridiculous things, such as imaginary threats of a washed up dictator. They don't care that legislation passed to protect us from pollution in our air and water are now being defeated; and they don't care that programs that help people, such as adults who need job training due to layoffs, are being cut by the bush administration by 74%. These, of course, are merely a few things among a myriad of other detrimental policies.

Listen, if you support this guy and his crooked administration, don't come complaining to us (democrats) about the terrible illnesses your family and friends get due to increased pollution and environmental causes. And don't tell me about how difficult it is to get a job because you can't get retraining when the programs are cut. You brought it on yourself by supporting bush jr. and "moral" agenda, which is nothing more than a thinly veiled code name for increasing the gap between the middle class and the rich.

But, I still say that we should impeach the @$$hole, and make him and his wealthy friends pay off the national debt they've caused us to incur.

Awful Web sites

So, I'm in the market for a couple of toy poodles. I've been googling to come up with some breeders in my area, and I've also got some recommendations from various sources.

In all of the sites I've seen, I have yet to come across one that I think is well done. Most have ridiculous backgrounds, hideous colors, poor navigation, awful grammar and spelling, and some even play horrible MIDI tunes. There's little worse than having to wade through all of that crap just to figure out if you have a litter of puppies, especially when you're charging hundreds of dollars for each dog.

If you are the owner of one of these sites, please do all of us a favor and think about the design of your site. This advice is really for anyone designing a site, but I've come to notice the dog sites in particular due to my recent search activities.

If you need some help, check out Vincent Flanders' Web site for some tips.

Street ass

So, I absolutely love my sister-in-law, Kati. Today, we headed out to IKEA to do some random shopping. Along the way, we drove past a guy with half his ass exposed on the street. No, I'm not kidding. It wasn't even like he was overly huge or anything, but nonetheless, there was his big ol' ass hanging out. It was far worse than regular plumber butt. He was chatting it up with the neighbor next door, without a care in the world (obviously).

It could almost go without saying that Kati and I busted up laughing. It just wasn't something that you see every day (thankfully, I might add). I'm not sure why the guy didn't notice his ass hanging out of his pants, but maybe it's just an every day kind of thing for him or maybe he has no nerve endings in this butt. Perhaps it's like Tara Reid, whose breast popped out on the red carpet one day and she had no clue. In any case, it was an alarming sight and I can only hope that one day someone will buy him the proper size of pants to cover up his ass.

Bad news

So, one of my sisters was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis this week. It's a very helpless feeling knowing that I live several hours from her and because of that I can do relatively little to help her out.

Theaters in Kentucky refuse to show movie

I like to point out stupid things, so here's another shiny coin to add to your bank of insanity. Apparently there are a couple of movie theaters in Kentucky that refuse to show the film Monster-in-Law because of the position that Jane Fonda took against the Vietnam War. While I doubt that our country is in need of another dumb, romantic comedy like Monster-in-Law, this whole thing seems to be a tad bit of an overreaction. Ike - seriously - see a counselor and let go of that resentment. The war is over (in Vietnam at least)...

I find it odd that the very people who are so adamant about protecting American freedom and liberty, are usually the very first people to step in and squash it. And with the current administration, it's just getting worse as time goes on because we keep protecting these idiots when we should really be giving them a kick in the pants, sending them back to the sandbox, and teaching them to get along with others who are different from them. I thought that was something we were supposed to learn in kindergarden or first grade, but a lot of people seem to have lost that message somewhere along the way.

On the flip side, I'm sure that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is ecstatic about this guy. They're protesting the movie on the basis that Jennifer Lopez is in it, and her clothing line uses animal fur. I wonder what Ike thinks about that...interesting thing to ponder; two different agendas coming together in one kinda weird way.

In any case, Ike can do whatever he wants - he does own the theaters after all. And if this kind of thing makes him feel better about his own insignificance...well, I say go for it dude and buy yourself a Corvette while you're at it. Life's too short to stop compensating for a small penis and an even smaller brain.

More information on Fonda Film Banned From KY. Theaters.

Womens' rights slipping away

The debate about birth control is starting to heat up in the US. A growing number of pharmacists are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control, and even some doctors are refusing to discuss birth control with patients under any circumstances.

The reasoning? Because those pharmacists and doctors oppose birth control on moral grounds. As though things in this country aren't ridiculous enough, now we're having to contend with not getting our medical needs met. And some states are working on legislation that would protect these idiots. It's enough to make my blood boil.

A person's religious and moral values are personal. I have my own set of religious and moral values, but I don't jam them down another person's throat. Why? Because I happen to understand that we have a freedom of religion in this country, which means that people can either choose a religion or even choose not to have a religion. Plain and simple.

Here's a good rule of thumb for those who can't figure out the obvious:

• Don't become a stripper if you object to showing your body in public.


• Don't become a cook at a fast food restaurant if you object to cooking meat.


• Don't become a pharmacist if you object to filling prescriptions written by medical doctors.


• Don't become a doctor if you object to considering birth control as a valid treatment for various conditions, in addition to preventing pregnancy.

I realize that in areas where there are a lot of people, the impact of this type of objection is small. However, I'm concerned for women who live in rural areas where it may already be difficult enough for them to get to a doctor or pharmacy without the added issue of being judged by someone else's moral values.

More information in the article Pharmacists 'denying birth control' on the BBC Web site.

House Bill 1515

Recently, our Washington state senators voted on House Bill 1515, which would have made discrimination against gays and lesbians illegal in this state. Unfortunately, the bill failed by 1 vote. We can thank senators Jim Hargrove and Tim Sheldon (both conservative democrats) for joining the republican ranks to defeat the bill.

Hargrove is quoted as saying, "I have nothing against anybody who participates in this behavior...This issue is whether I believe the behavior is right or wrong."

Errrr - wrong Senator Hargrove. Was the bill called "House Bill 1515 - Homosexuality is Okey Dokey by Me"? I don't think so. The issue was not for you to determine whether homosexuality is right or wrong; it was about discriminatory practices aimed at homosexuals who are (among other things) trying to get jobs without being scrutinized for their sexual orientation. I fail to see how that is anything other than a civil rights issue.

While I understand that some people disagree with homosexuality, I don't understand why they think that discrimination against gay and lesbian people is OK. By not supporting such a bill, they are at the very least tacitly agreeing that discriminating against someone for a job, insurance, loans, etc. is OK. And it most definitely is not OK.

More details on the Seattle Times article, Gay-rights bill falls 1 vote short of becoming state law.