On The Whole Tom Cruise Thing

Sometimes you read an article that perfectly articulates what you were thinking. This one, written by Caryn James for The New York Times is of those:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/24/features/celeb.php

The parts that really stand out to me are:



"The essence of Cruise's appeal going all the way back to "Risky Business" and on through crowd-pleasers like "Jerry Maguire" was a fresh-faced, unpretentious exuberance, a glee that practically leapt off the screen and that even worked in unlikely roles like the outraged, paraplegic Vietnam veteran in "Born on the Fourth of July."

and:


"But in the past year his life has become a public relations debacle as he has gone into full Scientology mode, and he has come to seem self-righteous and intolerant (most conspicuously in his confrontation with host Matt Lauer on the NBC television news show "Today" about prescription drugs).
He now seems too strange and remote for the average moviegoer to relate to.
This summer a Forbes magazine list named Cruise as its most powerful celebrity, but that calculation was based on income and media presence, obviously not on common sense.
While Cruise's last two movies have done well around the world, he wasn't the only - and maybe not the main - reason for their success. This year's Cruise film, "Mission: Impossible III," is part of a self-propelled franchise; last year's, "War of the Worlds," was a Steven Spielberg movie. The roles did not demand much, and Cruise seemed to coast through them, assuming the audience would coast with him.
Today's Tom Cruise is the opposite of a Teflon celebrity; he can't seem to get anything right, not even baby pictures. While Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie expertly and quickly stage-managed the sale (for charity no less) of the baby snaps of their daughter, Shiloh, Cruise and Katie Holmes have been secretive and elusive about their 4-month-old daughter, Suri. There are reports that Annie Leibovitz has photographed Suri for Vanity Fair magazine, but no pictures have arrived yet.
And into the void comes more tantalizing gossip, including a widely circulated report from a British tabloid that David and Victoria Beckham were invited to see Suri but were forbidden to use baby talk because Scientologists think goo-gooing is bad for babies. True or not, a report like that alienates fans.
Such distance isn't necessary. John Travolta may fly his own jet, but he creates the impression of remembering where he came from. More instructive, when he is asked about his devotion to Scientology, he explains patiently and good-naturedly, without antagonizing anyone.
But Cruise has done so much damage to his image that his camp's best efforts at spin now seem hollow. When word filtered out that the entity known as TomKat had stopped on the road to aid at the scene of an accident recently (OK, they just stopped and waited until the police arrived), the incident invited speculation about how carefully orchestrated that little news item might have been. The same could be said of reminders that Cruise had, conveniently enough, helped stop a mugging in 1998 and had rescued a family at sea in '96, as if he were a volunteer action-hero.
Before "Collateral," he hadn't challenged himself as an actor since 1999, when he played a ponytailed self-help guru who does television infomercials in the daring Paul Thomas Anderson ensemble film "Magnolia." It was a role that may have cut too close, revealing how illusory a celebrity's public image is.
These days, he is like a charlatan who can't manage to dupe anybody. He seems desperate to maintain his stature as one of the world's biggest movie stars, even as he morphs into something no movie star can afford to be: a guy you wouldn't want to know."

More Funny Spam Titles

I've been collecting spam in a special folder for a while because some of the subject lines really crack me up. I've decided to try to break them up into categories.


These are just worded really oddly:

Enjoy the newest Have you ever wished to have more intense final?
(It sounds like they are discussing school exams in a whole new way.)
But now I can penetrate hardly and give the pleasure to every woman!
(So if he can hardly penetrate, where's the pleasure coming from?)
Feel Pleasure from Act while others wait!
(Now with this one I'm picturing a room full of bored people waiting on the one person having fun by themself.)
New and hot Have you ever dreamt to have a very hard penis during all process?
(I just love the "during all process" part!)
It is absolutely safety for your health!
(Okay this one is just bad grammar)

Things Yoda Might Say:

Hot and new Every man wants it Take pleasure from
Discover the latest It will be great Delight in
The newest Surely you only dream of it Take pleasure from
Hot'n'new I think, yes. Enjoy
Never-seen I am sure it was Feel Pleasure from

But now for my very favorite:

I felt it myself when my girlfriend had left me!

Ever So Goofy, There's No Place Like Home

Whoa, August has been a blur of heat and stuff happening. That may look like an ad, but it's an actual polaroid picture with all that Bud stuff pre-printed on it. We were at olivertwist Saturday night (I think, I mean I think it was Saturday) and some Bud people took our picture for no reason. I flew in on Wednesday. The funeral was Friday. I left on Monday. It was a nice ceremony for my grandmother. The speaker was a retired minister from back when my grandmother still attended church there. It was VERY obvious that he knew her well. I was impressed by that. I've been to funerals that seemed kind of impersonal and generic. I saw cousins that I had not seen since the 70's. The funniest was my cousin Vicky. Mom had told me she wasn't coming (from Wilmington) because she had been missing for some time. Apparently she is a crazy crackhead (a 49-year-old one!) and disappears for weeks at a time. Well not only did she show up, but she was wearing a dress she must have stolen right out of the wardrobe department of Big_Love/ . Seriously she looked like an Amish woman from 1963. It was very weird. My favorite nephew was there and he was too cute. He stood by me at the cemetery. He'll be 18 in October. Unfortunately he is my brother's son and I don't care for my brother. Oooh, and my brother came up and hugged me. Yuck City. There was no gathering after the cemetery part. My Aunt Ann lives near there, but when I asked her if people were going to her house afterwards, she just said, "I don't know." I did not consider that an invitation. Lolo and I had to pee like mad monkeys at that point and stopped at the first place we could find. It was a Mexican restaurant there in Raleigh. We went to the bar for some beers and although we told them we would not be eating, they served us chips and salsa. Oddly enough, it was some of the best salsa I have ever had. Very fresh and homemade. Lots of cilantro and garlic and a good spicy bite without burning your tongue so bad you couldn't really savor the flavors.

On Sunday I saw an old friend that I've known since junior high school. His band did the closing credit song for the Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn movie Clay Pigeons/ . The song was "Clay Pigeons (The Ballad Of Lester Long)." He's a really cool and really sweet guy. On Monday I saw my bestest bestest guy friend Bill. We had lunch and he told me the funniest joke. I can't tell it here because it is totally an aural joke. I had a great time seeing old family, hanging out with Lolo and spending some time with old friends.

It was nice being back on my Meals on Wheels route today. Also today was my daughter's 22nd birthday. My Sweetie, Kate and my parents (who are temporarily back from their NC retirement/vacation place) all met at a great small Italian restaurant for Kate's birthday dinner. It's really hard to believe that my daughter is 22.

I'm in a cleaning/purging mood and want to seriously de-clutter the house. The next charity group that calls about a pick-up will be thrilled when I say, "Yes! I will have many items!"

Oh and it was actually UNDER 100 degrees today. Woo Hoo! So anyway, I'm back and am ready to get back into my groove and hopefully make an attempt at filling the unforgiving minute.

(wink)

I May Never Catch Up

I was getting around to part two of my July North Carolina beach trip and things kept popping up. On Sunday (the 13th), my grandmother who has been wasting away for quite some time, finally passed on to the other side. So, here I am heading back to North Carolina. Although Grandmother was in a nursing home in Wilmington, her original home base was Raleigh, so that's where the funeral will be. It's not a big sad thing because she was 95 and had no "quality of life" for many years. I'm really looking forward to seeing some of my cousins that I have not seen in decades. I'll be there tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5:00. Lolo is going to pick me up and I will be staying with her until Monday. I'm glad we will get to spend more time together since our time was cut short on the last trip because she had a last minute business trip.

I AM dreading flying with all the new restrictions. I've always taken a backpack as my one carry-on, but I don't want to deal with having it searched. This trip I am taking my tiny "date purse." That means I have to put EVERYTHING ELSE in my suitcase. I narrowed the "have to carry on" list to: medicine, jewelry, wallet, kleenex, smokes (yes having to fly has me smoking again) and cell phone. It will all fit into my lovely little purse that I bought in San Diego. I just feel like I will forget something because I have been packing the same for so many years. And now I have to deal with splitting up all the things I used to throw in the backpack. Of course, on the bright side (and I ALWAYS look there), I won't have to trudge around with a heavy backpack on my shoulder. My date purse is one of those that you wear across your chest, so there is no shoulder slippage or anything. You don't even have to think about it. I will probably have the feeling I am forgetting something all day tomorrow.

I'm off in the morning, and Lolo does not have internet at home, so again, I will be missing out on my blog reading, APOD, etc. I seriously plan to catch up on my tales when I get back. But, I think I always say that. I guess I NEVER will fill that unforgiving minute.

The New Normal?

Wow. I've been so out of sorts for so long, it's hard to even remember what normal feels like. On top of being so sick, I don't think August has EVER been my best month. With that out of the way, I want to do some catching up:

This is a Google Earth picture of the spot on the beach where Lolo and I sat for hours on Saturday, July 22nd. The longer arrow points to our spot on the beach. The shorter arrow to Buddy's bar, and the lone red spot to where we parked (and we shouldn't have, but we got away with it). The weird thing about this satellite picture is that it was taken in the middle of winter with snow on the ground. The odds that the satellite people happened to pick a day to photograph this site when there was snow on the ground seem very slim. But it is what it is. And what it is is Topsail Island in North Carolina.

The flight out of DFW was uneventful, which means everything was good. The quick stopover in Charlotte, NC was just long enough to hit the bathroom and hit the bar for one beer and one cigarette. And may I say thank you to the Charlotte airport for having smoking bars (DFW does not). The quickie hop from Charlotte to Wilmington did not start out well. Some fratty-looking guy was in my seat and the flight attendant didn't seem to care and just told me to find a seat. I got VERY lucky and ended up next to a guy on the emergency exit row (aaaaah stretch those legs out!) and he was not only friendly, but laughed at EVERY joke I made. I told him that he could do the physical removal of the exit door and I would tell everybody what to do (in case of emergency). Well then they said no beverage service, but it really was a very quick flight. I almost tumbled head first out of the plane, because I was not expecting a ladder to the ground. It was really funny to me at the time. Mom was RIGHT THERE when I stepped into the terminal. It's been years since anyone has met me at a gate. I didn't even think that was legal.

Mom had cold beer for me in the car and I was certainly ready for one. The ride wasn't too long. Of course she was pointing out all sorts of stuff to me (like "that's the road to your Aunt Shirley's house") that I knew I'd never remember. We finally got to the campground and pulled up to their camper and of course it had the nicest "yard" around. I dropped my suitcase inside and looked around and then we sat on the screen porch and yakked away. I called Lolo when I first got there and she was just leaving Raliegh. Mom started getting antsy about eating so I said, "Let's go to the beach and get an appetizer." Well somehow time passed in a blur and Lolo called for close in directions and somehow got there before we got back. I felt bad that we weren't there to welcome her. It was weird getting back to the camper and Lolo is sitting on the screen porch! More yakking ensued. We went back to the same place we had been for dinner. It's actually on that map up there. The building just to the right of Buddy's.

On Saturday, Mom left to make her every-other-day trek to the nursing home, and Lolo and I went to the beach. We had GREAT weather. The hours just flew by. We didn't realize how late it was until we got to the car. We were meeting Lolo's friend Angela in Wilmington for dinner. We got ready as quickly as possible and headed out. Mapquest didn't mention that we were to take business 17, so we stayed on 17 and got a little lost. A quick phone call fixed all that and we finally ended up here: http://www.indochinewilmington.com/index.html There were six of us altogether. Afterwards the three girls went to a Dave & Buster's type place. And then to Angela's house. Somehow we made it back to the campground. Unfortunately it rained steadily all day on Sunday, but we did eventually make it out to Rick's http://www.eatatricks.com/ where the three of us pigged out on crab legs. Poor Lolo was driving and it began to pour on the way home from the restaurant. Between the pouring rain and my Mom serving as navigator, well I was just glad I had lots of beer.

Monday was Lolo's day to head back to Raliegh, and Mom went to the nursing home. They both left before noon. I watched my soap (well mostly listened to it - the reception was awful) then spent most of the afternoon trying to get a signal on Mom's wireless laptop. It was very cozy out on the screened-in porch with the stereo playing and lots of cold beer. About mid-afternoon I realized I had not seen Mom's cat Maxie all day. I went into the camper and looked everywhere. The camper is not THAT big, so I thought I would find the cat right away, but I didn't. I remembered that Mom does let him out, so I kept an eye out for him, but sort of forgot about him. Around 4:30 or so, Mom drove up and retrieved a cat bed from her trunk. She said she kept forgetting to get it out. I said, "Well I don't know if you'll need it. You don't seem to have a cat anymore." I then told her how I had noticed the cat missing andhad looked everywhere. She said, "Do you suppose when you closed the sleeper sofa, he was under it?" I couldn't see how there was enough space in there and it seems he would have yelped or something when I closed it. Besides that was about 7 hours ago at this point. We were sitting on the screen porch and she was telling me about her visit to the nursing home and I just jumped up and said, "I have to check the couch!" I ran in with Mom on my heels and we started pulling off the seat cushions and we both heard a small cry. I tipped the bedding part up and there he was. Maxie was NOT a happy camper. At least he wasn't broken. We still can't figure out how he even fit under there with the couch folded up. He must have been as flat as a pancake!

On Tuesday we blundered onto a set for "One Tree Hill" and met with VERY OLD friends. I'll cover that next time.

Time Flies When You Feel Like Roadkill

I thought the reason I was so sluggish during July was that I had a super case of my normal "Summer Sloth." I thought the reason I was wheezing was that I REALLY REALLY needed to stop smoking. I thought I somehow might have gotten a urinary tract infection from the water in my Mom's camper that we weren't supposed to drink or brush our teeth with. I thought my extreme allergy symptoms were from spending a week in 90 degree very moist air and then coming home to 104 degree very dry air. I was wrong about everything.

I contracted what is considered a "rare disease" called Strep B. By "rare" they mean that about 200,000 Americans contract it a year. The vast majority are newborn babies (which I am not) and very old people with compromised immune systems (also not). Guess what the other (tiny) group is? Women who have had gynecological surgery - and this isn't even mentioned on some websites! Yep. That would be me. I had a uterine biopsy on June 27th. So I was just cruising around in the heat all this time growing this very special bacteria which can cause sepsis and meningitis. Because it is such a rare disease and mostly applies to newborns, it took quite a bit of internet research to find much about it. Well anything not just about newborn babies. I'm glad my doctor ran that culture.

So basically I've been sick as a dog since I got back from my trip. It's actually kind of funny that I thought I had three unrelated things wrong with me at the same time, but I'm weird like that. I did choose this time to stop smoking for once and for all though. Not because I'm smart, but because I've barely been able to breathe for several days. It really made me realize how much more I enjoy breathing than smoking. And when you are lying on the couch in a fevered fog, you are not so much thinking about your next cigarette. Beer, yes: cigarettes, no.

I've had two days of very strong antibiotics now and am starting to feel somewhat alive again. Capacity-wise, I'd say I'm at 45% normal. Hopefully I will be at full function soon and can tell my beach stories. Or maybe by then, I'll be on to something else.

I'm Off!

Well I'm off to the North Carolina coast in just 9 1/2 hours. I'm gonna miss reading blogs and TVgasm and other related internet doodads. My Mom does have a wireless laptop connection so I may be able to check out a few things although she says it is horribly slow. I hope to have lots of fun. And now I REALLY REALLY need to get some sleep!

A Moment of Silence (Before We Weep)

I got this e-mail the other day:

Dear Valued Customer!
Thanks for doing your shopping online at Albertsons.com. In an effort to focus our attention on our in-store shopping experience, this service will no longer be available in your area as of July 21st. We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Although we'll be discontinuing this service, we want you to know that Albertsons values your loyalty. We understand that grocery shopping is just one of the many things you need to accomplish in your day. That's why we're committed to providing you with clean stores, fresh products and superior customer service.In short, the best shopping experience possible.We hope to see you in your local Albertsons store soon!
Albertsons, LLC
New Ideas at Work

I love that line "We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you." They have no idea. Grocery stores are HELL for me. Sometimes I'm okay if it's just a few items and I'm on my way home from Meals on Wheels, but in general, not so much. Usually after spending 3 hours "getting ready" to go to the grocery store, when I finally get there I am okay at first. Invariably I reach critical mass and a little sing-song voice in my head starts up with "I want to get out of here!" which plays over and over, usually with a little chorus of "I want to go home, I want to go home." I've even caught myself singing it out loud. Many times I've come very close to abandoning my cart and just running out of the store. Sometimes I just get very close to the breaking point and realize I need something on the other side of the store and I just can't seem to make it over there and just decide I don't need it. It's like trying to wade through a bog. Inconvenience? Ah, hell no, just a MAJOR crimp in my life. My Sweetie, who knows me so well, has tried to reassure me and said he would take me on the weekends, but then I feel bad because he works all week.

Saturday evening we made a short run to Tom Thumb and as we were getting close to check-out time he asked me if I wanted to wait in the car (I usually say yes) but I said, "No, I'm okay." I made it through the trip and we are pretty well stocked for a while. I'll be mourning the loss of having my groceries delivered for a while, but I will just have to get over it. I guess grocery shopping can become part of my Wednesdays out, but that may make me dread Wednesdays. In any event, it is what it is, and there is nothing I can do about it.

I think, for now, I'll just concentrate on my trip to North Carolina and seeing my beloved Atlantic Ocean. Aaahhh, I can almost hear the surf and the seagulls.

Hollywood's Happy Couples

I usually wash my sheets every Monday, but on July 3rd, I thought I'd wait one more day. I knew my Sweetie would be home on the 4th and I had wanted to flip and turn the mattress for some time. Also, I figured this would be a good time to remove both mattresses and vacuum under the bed. I'm ashamed to say this but we have not done this in the 5 years since we've lived here. AND we have three cats. I was dreading what we would find. I imagined gross dried old hairballs and such. What I did NOT expect to find was a 1998 People Magazine. I can't for the life of me figure out how it got there. Not only that, but it was not from the last place we lived, it was from THE ONE BEFORE THAT! I seriously can't imagine how it survived two moves and ended up under my bed. But enough about that. The cover really floored me.

I don't know how clearly the picture is going to show up, but I'm sure you can see the headline and the line beneath it and the main picture. "Stars Who Beat The Odds and Make Love Last." That really kills me. Not one of the three couples are still together. In case you can't see the couples on the bottom right corner, they are (from left to right): Brooke Shields and Andre Agassi and Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger. We know Tom and Nicole are being cool for their kids. I imagine Brooke and Andre are still friends or at least not enemies, but Baldwin and Basinger freaking HATE each other! That quote from Tom & Nicole: "We will be on our honeymoon the rest of our lives" is not exactly false. I guess they are - just not with each other.

I just wonder why they picked these three couples for their cover. Inside, for the story, they also feature Steven Spileberg & Kate Capshaw, Harry Connick & Jill Goodacre and Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson along with several other couples that (as far as I know) are still very happily married. Of course they also feature Ted Turner & Jane Fonda and Harrison Ford & Melissa Mathison.

Here are some quotes: Kim Basinger says about Baldwin, "He trusts me to the ends of the world and I trust him." Brooke Shields on Agassi, "He was more important to me, ultimately, than anything else."

As for the"Weddings of the Year!" section featured in the top right corner, that's Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, who are still together. Inside the magazine, the only "wedding of the year" couple that jumped out at me was Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. Not together.

Everyone (well except Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston, who went around saying stuff like, "Well we'll just see where this adventure takes us.") expects to be married forever. I'm really the last person who should say anything about these couples since I've been divorced twice. At least I was lucky enough to go through my divorces in private. If it ever comes up though, I will NOT make any grandiose pronouncements about the state of or future of my marriage to ANYONE. But I CAN say that My Sweetie and I will never get divorced. Hee hee hee. No, seriously. But that's off the record.

Going to the Beach. . .

I'm really looking forward to my beach trip and I think Mom is just excited as I am. She called today and we went over important details like does she have a large ice chest? Check. Does she have a small ice chest? Check. I told her I was bringing a bunch of movies and her reply was a less than enthusiastic "Oh, okay." I know she probably could, but I can't converse all day long for several days in a row. And they don't have cable. Besides, I think watching movies with someone is a good basic way to create a shared experience. I guess we'll see how that goes when I get there. She really is more of a walk around person and I'm more of a sit around person, so I guess I'm just going to do a little more moving around - which is what I would do if I were in Vegas or New Orleans or wherever. Well except Hawaii. Hawaii was a lot of very pleasant balcony sitting around. But I digress. The trip is almost just a week and a half away, and I'm pretty excited. They've had their trees and bushes put in and she can't wait for me to see them.

Biopsy Results? The phone rang this afternoon: "Hi, I'm Nurse Confusing. Your lab results came back negative. We need to make an appointment so you can discuss treatment options." I said, "Treatment for what? Didn't you say negative? Doesn't negative mean I DON'T have cancer?" I could hear her shuffling papers and she confirmed the tests were negative, but she wanted me to make an appointment. So, I'm pretty sure I don't have cancer. I thought the whole thing was pretty weird. My appointment is not until the middle of August, so I will tell the doctor about her phone manner.

Life's a Beach!

I'm pretty excited. In a few hours short of two weeks from now I will be in North Carolina, about 7 miles from the beach. My Mom and Step-Dad have parked their pull-out fifth wheel at a permanent spot down there. My Step-Dad is coming back for several weeks to do some work, so I'm going to go down and stay with Mom for a week. My very best friend, Lolo, is going to take a long weekend to visit with me for the first 3 or 4 days, and I think my friend Kim may visit after that. I'll have to write down all my favorite blogs because I have them on bookmark here. Also, I don't even know my password for my own blog, so I guess I'll have to figure that out if I want to post from my Mom's computer. I'm terrible with passwords. I once had the password "chair" on a website because that's the first thing I bought from them. I've been trying to be more consistent, and maybe my blogspot password is the one I've been using lately. I don't even know how to find out except trying to get on it from another computer.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to seeing, smelling and hearing the ocean. I LOVE the ocean. Not so much getting into the ocean, more seeing, smelling and hearing than FEELING. And I'm looking forward to some great seafood. The only negative aspect of the trip is having to visit my grandmother. I mentioned her on this_.post . She is doing poorly and is not a very pleasant person. I realize that I would not exist if she didn't exist, but I never liked her. I was a bed wetter as a child and when I had to stay with her she made me wear diapers at bedtime. And I'm sure it didn't help that Granny (my paternal grandmother) spoiled the hell out of her 4 grandkids. The comparison between the two was like night and day. Plus with Grandma I was just one of - okay I have no idea, but my guess is - 15 grandkids. With Granny (to use a Star Trek term) I was "Three of Four." I really miss Granny. She was so cool. She introduced me to some great books. And we used to love watching "Perry Mason" together.

So less than two weeks and all I have to do is get my hair colored and buy some beachwear. I'm getting my hair done Wednesday after Meals on Wheels. I have no idea when or even from where the beachwear will be purchased. I guess I should figure that out.

TV Stuff: The first Big Brother was GREAT! I'm really looking forward to all the killer backstabbing and plotting. I wasn't expecting such an intense first episode. Also the season opener of Monk was good, but my new favorite summer show is "Psych." We really enjoyed it. It was odd that I had read good and bad reviews and kinda felt like I would like it based on the premise but it was even better than I thought. It airs Fridays at 10:00 E / 9:00 C. It is fun stuff. Yay finally some good summer television!

Oh and in two weeks, I'm going to the beach. Double Yay!

Invasion of the Sticky Paws

I finally got the pictures developed of Rufus. In the first picture he is lying on the hassock that was intended for the cats (and the other cats enjoyed lying on it and looking out the window) but Rufus decided it was also a scratch post, so I replaced it with The Castle. In the 3rd frame he is on top of one of the library shelves. He's not allowed up there anymore, but he was spoiled when he was new. That painting is a painting of my Dad that his friend Henrik Ravn (a Dane) painted when they were working in the Dominican Republic together back in '72. Dad said they would hang out every night and drink and talk. Dad imagined that canvas must be about 1/4 inch thick because Henrik just kept painting over and over it. Oh and that's Lilly's rump peeking out of the inside of the castle.

Speaking of Rufus, I discovered the joys of stickypaws . My best friend, Lolo, told me about this product and now, thanks to Rufus, Sticky Paws is starting to take over my house. It seems like every couple of days I'm putting a new strip someplace. I've always bragged about how easy it is to train a cat to use a scratch post. Now, I'm eating crow. Lilly really spoiled me for cats. She is a VERY good cat. I trained Rufus the same way I trained Lilly and he DOES use the one scratch post, but he's not into exclusivity. So every time I catch him having a go at a piece of furniture I jump up and grab the Sticky Paws. He's also a paper chewer, which drives me crazy. He'd go crazy if he were allowed in the bathroom with all the bits of stripped wallpaper on the floor.

Speaking of wallpaper, it is slow going, but it's going. I did a goofy little drawing on artpad to show my progress. It's here: http://artpad.art.com/?j1tber8n55o I've never linked to artpad before, so I hope it works. As you can see - if it works - I am no architect. It's not straight or to scale. The two "done" sections are completely done from floor to ceiling, although there are several other areas that are at least half stripped. I should scan a piece of the wallpaper just to show how freaking hideous it is, but I can't tonight because My Sweetie is asleep and I don't want to go in there. It sure felt good today to have those two sections totally cleared. I won't be doing any more until Thursday. Monday I'm going to make quiches - for some reason, that's an all-day affair. Tuesday (the 4th!) will be a fun day with My Sweetie and Wednesday of course is Meals on Wheels day.

I'm looking forward to a bunch of TV shows coming up: "Big Brother All-Stars," "Monk," and the new show "Psych." The only fresh programming we are currently watching are "Meercat Manor," "The 4400," and "The Dead Zone." We like "Rescue Me," but always forget to watch it. We watch a lot of "Frasier" on DVD. And every 3 days or so we get our Netflix movie. We just watched Omega Man. I forgot how dated it looked, but it's still fun.

Happy 4th of July and make your own fun fireworks here: http://www.maylin.net/Fireworks.html

Catching up AGAIN

A cool thing happened today. I had sent a photo entry in to tvgasm.com. The contest was for numbers for them to use for their countdown to "Big Brother 7". I sent the picture I had used from this_post . Well they used it for the 11 days. It's here: http://www.tvgasm.com/archives/big_brother/002341.php
And I won a prize. Announcer voice: "It's a brand new car!!" No. I won a T-shirt. But I think that is so cool. I've always been lucky at winning things like T-shirts. Actually, I think I was more thrilled about getting an e-mail from one of the TVgasm writers (madeyoulaugh).

I finally decided to tackle the monstrosity that is the wallpaper in my master bath. Since I don't have a deadline this time (I wanted to have the other bathroom done for a visit from My Sweetie's Grandmother) and it is the MASTER bath, which means no one ever has to see/use it besides us, I believe this project will be relatively stress-free. I've already had a glass guy take the giant mirrors down, so now it's just down to the actual wallpaper stripping. I do not enjoy this task, but I'm getting it done. Also we took the horrible shower door out and I'm just going to use a rod and clear shower curtain until I can find the perfect shower door. It's fun to be able to see out of the windows while I'm in the shower.

Tuesday I'm getting a biopsy from my uterus. Or is it "of?" I haven't given it much thought because that's how my mind works. I don't like to think about stuff I don't want to think about. I don't even know why I'm mentioning it here. From what I could find on the internet, it doesn't sound like I have any problems. It's just that they told me the procedure would HURT. They said to take ibuprophen before I go. Yeah, I'm going to take ibuprophen and drink about 12 beers. And if it does hurt after that, I'll drink 12 MORE beers. I thought it was funny that the doctor said it would feel "like bad period cramps." That's how I described being in labor.

I finally got my pictures developed of my new kitty Rufus, so I'm going to post those next time. I'm too lazy to do that tonight.

Mini Movie Review: We saw Diamond_Men last week and I really liked it. It's mostly a character study. If you are a fan of either Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) or Donnie Wahlberg ("Band of Brothers") you will like this movie.

For My Dad

I've been thinking about my Dad a lot lately and I guess it was because Father's Day was approaching, although I didn't really put it together. I've lightly mentioned the fact that he died at his retirement party in October 1998, but I haven't really gone into it. I'm still not really ready to go into that. Suffice it to say it was a horrible experience and it took me quite some time to realize I was suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome from the experience. Basically I sat on the couch and drank beer for a long time afterwards and gained a lot of weight. I already had my anxiety/panic disorder before that and I think some more mental problems were added at that point.

My Dad was a VERY interesting person. He was a GREAT storyteller. I loved his stories from being in the National Guard. I think it's called Army Reserves now, but I'm not sure. He also had great stories from his teenage years. He told heartbreaking stories of his childhood. He had a "distant" dad (My Papa, who died when I was 3 or 4). As Dad told it (and I must have heard this expression a million times) his dad was "a man of few words." To hear it from my Dad, his dad pretty much just didn't speak to him at all. Dad didn't have many stories about his dad - and my Dad was a storyteller, so this told me a lot. The only two stories I can remember are the jail story and the car wreck story. My Dad was thrown in jail for something as a youth and when Dad's friend reported the news to Papa, he said, "I didn't get him in, I won't get him out." The car wreck story was Dad walking into Papa's bedroom, terrified and totally freaking out, and telling him he had just wrecked his brand new car and Papa said, "Well, I'll get another one." Dad said he never even looked up from his newspaper.

Dad was pretty insecure about his looks. He was small and wore thick glasses, but it was the 50's and he was tough and cool. He was friends with a group of guys and they called themselves "The Deadly Six." Dad used to say he met many people years later that said they were one of the Deadly Six. Kinda how EVERYONE says they were at Woodstock. Anyway my Dad somehow managed to woo a beautiful girl, new to their high school - my Mom. This was after all, the birthing ground of Ava Gardner (and my grandmother attended HER birth).

Mom and Dad got married when they were 19 and 17. That was 1955. My brother was born in July of '57 and I came along exactly 3 years and 9 months later, which alway made me think I was conceived on my brother's third birthday. I always imagine my Dad thinking, "Damn, he's THREE already? I'm ready for my next one." Although my brother is the first person I remember from my childhood, my Dad was next. My Mom worked nights and slept during the day so I didn't quite get to know her until later. She hates when I talk about this, but I have no hard feelings and she is my best friend now.

Anyway, Dad was such a fun parent. He taught us all the yard games like kickball, kick-the-can, and "ain't no bears out tonight." He was always the fun neighborhood Dad. Sometimes he would set off a colored smoke bomb on the street (did I say "street?" it was a dirt road) and we would all run through it. He was also the Little League coach and nothing was more fun than riding to an away game stuffed into our '64 Ford convertible with the entire team. Yeah, none of that would be legal now but it was fun at the time.

When my parents' marriage went sour when I was 15, it seemed an obvious choice to live with my Dad. Actually the main reason was I knew it was the only way my Mom could get a clean break. Otherwise Dad would be coming around to visit me all the time. At this time, my big brother was in the Air Force, so it was just me and Dad. It was a big adjustment, but we figured it out. Our favorite thing was Duke basketball and we liked a lot of the same music. At 16 I got a job at Sears, in the record department. My Dad was just downstairs in the Allstate Insurance office. I could just walk over to the escalator well and talk to him. The Allstate booth was between the escalators.

He came home one day and said, "Do you want to go to New York?" I already posted about that here: http://geewits.blogspot.com/2005/09/big-apple.html

Although Dad lived in N.C. and I live in Texas, we saw each other as often as possible. Dad and I would take trips when we could. Our first was to Vegas in 1987. It was a while until our next trip (which was always my fault, he was always offering). But over time we went to the Bahamas (where that picture was taken), Puerta Vallarta, New Orleans, and Lake Tahoe. We also visited back and forth quite often between N.C. and TX, and took a few N.C. beach trips.

I miss my Dad. Happy Father's Day Dad! SQUARE!!!!

The Five Year Itch and Stinky Dirty Rice

We've been in our house for five years now and I am going crazy. There are so many things I want to change and I KNOW it doesn't help that I watch HGTV every day. I did finally get a new light fixture for our "dining" area. We have what is officially called a breakfast nook, but I call it the dinning room, because we don't have a formal dining room. What the realtors call the formal dining room in our house, is our library. Yes, it's just that. Walls of books with two comfy wing chairs. The two big things I really want to change are 1) the floor in the guest bathroom and 2) the walls in the master bath. I am a do-it-yourselfer, but I do not want to deal with unseating and re-seating a toilet (from #1). And as for the walls in the master bath, I have two minor problems. The first is that there are two HUGE mirrors in there so I want to hire people from a glass place to take them down and then to come back later to re-hang them. The second thing is I HATE removing wallpaper, but my friend Kim told me her tried-and-true method, so I hope it works. I still can't believe I have lived with that wallpaper for 5 years! It is some sort of horrible plum color and the print, as far as I can guess is supposed to look like leather(?). How have I let this go for 5 years? The guest bathroom had a giant pastel floral print and I took care of that 3 or 4 years ago. I did a sponge technique (in a robin's egg type blue) and my favorite compliment was that someone thought it was wallpaper. I'm going to do the same thing in my master bath, but a different color. I'm thinking something in a seafoam green.

Meals on Wheels: I did my new route on Wednesday and the oddest part was that I had been to every place before. I had thought there would be a new place or two, but it was all places I had been before. My two original ladies were very glad to see me and that was nice.

So after my cooking slump, I was back on track again and have made some great meals. Well tonight I tried to make dirty rice and it was horrible. When I opened the lid, it didn't smell good, so I tasted it. I asked My Sweetie to taste it and I was watching him and said, "So are we going to order pizza?" And we did. So now I can add dirty rice to the list of things I can not make. And it seemed to stink up the house. We were watching Hitchcock's Saboteur and I asked, "Do you suppose if we ever see this movie again, we will remember this terrible smell?"

A funny Spam title: Never seen working people need this

Hasn't everyone felt at some point like one of the "never seen working people?" I never open spam but it would have been funny if you opened it and in great big letters it said, "TO BE NOTICED!"

I saw Denis Leary, who I adore, on The Late Show with Craig Ferguson (yeah I don't think that's the actual title of the show) and he was showing his DVD's that were out and showed the movie The Pledge and said it was a favorite movie, so we Netflixed it. So now I'm just thinking he is really good friends with Sean Penn who was a producer and the director. Oddly the movie was full of Oscar nominated people and some Oscar winners (from other movies) but it was just odd and the ending was horrible. Not as horrible as my dirty rice, but unpleasant. Maybe just odd. If you want to see a movie that you can't possibly guess the ending, this is the one to see.

According to my calendar, today was the "Queen's birthday (AUS, except W AUS)" That's just funny. Can't everyone just get along?

I've Fallen and I Can't Catch Up

What a looong day. I had a roofer here doing two repairs and an electrician working on our spa pump. And it was 96 or 98 degrees outside. It was HOT. The electrician was in the shade, but I really felt bad for the roofer guy. It seems like he would have just died from heatstroke. I almost passed out working in the yard on Sunday. It's just really freaking hot.

Meals on Wheels update: About 3 posts ago I mentioned I didn't have my two ladies that I've had since the first day. This past Wednesday, again, they were not on my list. I called MOW to see what was going on. Apparently they've changed the routes again and these two ladies are now on route 4. So I called the volunteer coordinator and said, "These two ladies are the main reason I've been driving all the way over here since I moved 5 years ago, so if I'm not going to have them, I'd rather do something closer to my house." She called me back later and told me the route 4 guy would trade routes with me. This is good for at least two reasons: 1) I get my ladies back and 2) I won't have the apartments anymore. The reason I don't like apartments is I have to turn my truck off and lock it, and I think I mentioned how hot it is. When I deliver to a house, I leave my truck (meaning A/C) running. Also I think this will save me a couple of miles. I'm guessing I'll be back with the doorbell-dont-work-please-knock. lady with the cute little dogs as well as the trailer park people. That one trailer lady that always says "God Bless You" can't hurt. I'll take all the blessings I can get. Also, this morning, the son of one of the aforementioned original ladies called me to see what happened to me. I told him the whole story and he seemed to be glad that I will be back tomorrow. On another note, I'm afraid that if anyone from my old route asks where I am, the man might tell them "She asked to trade routes with me." I hope he doesn't say that.

It's funny how you're supposed to be able to find anything on the internet, but on Memorial day I heard the first Cicada and really couldn't find out much about them. I waded through pages and pages of stuff, but there wasn't a lot of information. I like to stick their discarded body shells on my nose. My Mom once said, "To some people these might be like potato chips." That still makes me laugh.

We saw The Da Vinci Code at The Movie Tavern last night. It was pretty good. I'm still mad about the casting though. The whole time I was reading the book, I was picturing Ian Holm as Teabing. He would have been perfect. It's ironic (or maybe just odd) that they cast his castmate from The Lord of the Rings movies. Jean Reno, however, was a great choice as Captain Fache. And although I adore Tom Hanks, he didn't quite seem as manly as I imagined Robert Langdon would be. Yeah, yeah, you're saying the book was better. Well duh! All books are better than the movie version. If you know of an exception please let me know. One thing I can tell you, and actually I may have mentioned this before, is DO NOT read a book right before you watch the movie. I did that with Jurassic Park and spent the entire 127 minutes thinking things like "Well where's this character?" and "He didn't do that!" At Least with The Da Vinci Code, I think a good year or more had passed so I wasn't so nit picky.

My cooking has been a little off. I haven't been very fond of my last couple of meals. I don't know what that's all about. Hopefully Thursday I'll be back as the great home chef (I don't cook on Wednesdays). I guess to get my groove back on I should cook something simple that never misses like my angle hair pasta with Italian sausage. My husband is so sweet, he always claims to love everything I make. Either he's "just being nice" or I'm just being too critical.

I've been really enjoying following this guy's journey across the U.S. on a souped up Tricycle. It's a great site and if you have time, you should read through the archives.

I feel caught up now. Fwooooo!

Celebrity Fidelity

I never really followed much of the Heather Mills/Paul McCartney gossip. It was pretty obvious to me that McCartney was one of those guys that HAS to have a mate. Everybody knows a guy like that. My brother is a guy like that. When the gossip rags ran stories about Heather and McCartney's kids feuding, I didn't think anything of it. That's been the history of step-moms forever (and for the record, I am not one and I loved my step-mom dearly). But what I did NOT know was that when Paul met her (Heather, not my step-mom) on a TV show or at a charity event or whatever, she was engaged to be married. So he got her number and called her and she called off her wedding. I think that speaks for itself. I'm sure a lot of women would have done the same thing. I'm not sure about now, but he used to be the richest guy in the whole U.K. Kinda the Bill Gates, buckwise, over there, but much better looking and with a sexier job. I've got to wonder why he didn't question that she just up and dumped her fiance. And everyone knows they had no pre-nup because he said it "wasn't romantic." What a sick love puppy. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Speaking of Jerry Seinfeld, he met his wife about 2 weeks after she returned from her European honeymoon. At a health club. I've always wondered how that conversation went.

Jerry: Hi! I'm Jerry Seinfeld

Jesica: Yeah, I know.

Jerry: So are you married or what?

Jessica: Uhm, it's nothing really, what's up?

They've lasted 7 years and have 3 kids. I bet money Jerry has a pre-nup. I just wonder about these women, though. There is not one single celebrity in the world, including the guys on my list that would entice me away from my husband. What was Paul McCartney thinking?

Snowmen and Carrots

Wow, I didn't realize I hadn't posted in a week. Let's see....

Meals on Wheels Wednesday: My daughter Kate drove me and we spent the whole afternoon together, ending up at the hair salon, where she got her first cut in ages (she has VERY long hair) and I got a fresh new color. We changed the formula and I am VERY happy with the new shade. Then My Sweetie and I went out to eat at Pasado's (Pasados?) I love some good Mexican food. Back to MOW: about 3 weeks ago I lost my trailer park people to another route - and this happened AFTER they finally fixed the roads there. I didn't think too much of it, but this past Wednesday, my two original ladies that I've had since day one were not on my route sheet. I suppose they may have both had cancellations on the same day, but if they are not on my list this Wednesday someone has some 'splainin' to do. After we moved here in 2001, the only reason I stayed with that route was for those two ladies. If they are off my route, then I'm going to request a route on this side of the world.

Mini Movie Reviews: I finally saw The Green Mile. It was excellent. I love it when someone does something well with a Stephen King book (story or whatever). We also saw A History of Violence. It was a good movie and it was wonderful to see Viggo being so NOT Aragorn. He really does become his characters. It is amazing to watch.

The Office: Because of my social phobia and anxiety problems, I have pretty much avoided meeting anyone from My Sweetie's business. Well I decided to buck up and attend a baseball game Thursday night. One of their vendors got a suite and it was really fun. There were a bunch of people there and I finally got to meet My Sweetie's boss. I had agonized for over a week about what to wear, but after I got my hair done on Wednesday, I knew it didn't matter. My hair was my best accessory.

"Lost": We finally watched the 2-hour season finale tonight. It was very interesting. Like they said, it answered questions and raised new questions. But it was good.

Sunday we are going to spend the afternoon at my Mom's. I think we do this every year but we don't make a big deal out of it. That's why I can't remember if we do or not. We're going to play in the pool and have some good food. They are leaving June 1st to head back to N.C. for a month, so I want to have some quality time. Other than that, we are just going to enjoy the 3-day weekend. Yay for those!

Elvis Has Left The Casbah

We just discovered the funky joys of TV karaoke. We have Comcast cable and we can play free karaoke on our TV. So there we are, two "mature" adults standing in front of the TV and singing along. And laughing. The funniest was My Sweetie singing "Rock the Casbah." He sounded exactly like Elvis Costello. It's a shame they don't have any Elvis Costello songs. Of course then he might sound like someone else. The weird part, though, is that you think you know every word to a song, but when the words are scrolling there in front of you it seems somehow alien. Sometimes it helps to just close your eyes.

Speaking of cable; our cable box has DVR. I've gotten so used to pausing live TV shows, that my brain seems to think I can apply this technology to everything. My front door is always open, and the outer door is a glass door. I can see my mailbox from my couch. On Fridays I look to see if the mailman is giving me a People magazine. A couple of Fridays ago, just as the mailman pulled up, Rufus jumped on Jake's back, so I had to swat him (Rufus) with some newspaper and when I looked back out the door, the mailman was gone. For just a moment, I thought I could play it back to see if the mailman put my magazine in the box. And a few times while doing Meals on Wheels, a great song will come on the radio just as I get to a client's house and I'll think, "Oooh, I love this song; I will pause it." Same with Yahoo poker. I need to stop thinking I can pause stuff.

I don't have an ending for this except my sister-in-law just called and said she was going to come by so I have to go clean the bathroom.

I Only Have Crowns on My Teeth

The famous dooce recently had a post titled "For your reference" about word pronunciations. The last time I looked there were 439 comments. At the time I read it there were over 200 comments and I read through them. The whole thing started about the fact that she pronounces the word "crayons" as "crowns." There was also a big deal about the words "talk," walk," and "chalk" being pronounced without the "L." As in "tok," "wok," and "chok." It seems the latter are the correct pronunciations. I do pronounce those last three words with the "L." What cracked me up were all the comments about all sorts of different words. I love the fact that people pronounce things differently. My second husband had a whole list of what he called "southern homonymns." Words like "fill" and "feel."; "pin" and "pen." Some pronunciations do stand out to me. The Canadian pronunciation of the word "sorry" sounds like "sore-E" when Alex Trebek or Jim Carrey say it. The other one I notice is "mirror" pronounced as "meer." That's just weird. But, like I said, different pronunciations are fun.

What drives me insane are all the misspellings. I DO NOT mean typos. I play poker a lot on Yahoo and here are some examples of things I've seen that make my teeth scratchy:

"im new here"

"there all cheaters"

"your right their"

Holy Crackers! What are these people thinking? First of all, the "your"/"you're" thing almost drives to the edge of reason. Then there is the "there," they're," and "their" thing. I wish keyboards would send electric shocks to people that use these words incorrectly. And, by the way, those are actual quotes that I wrote down after seeing (gagging on) them. Yeah, there's also the "to," too," and "two" problem. Why do people have so much trouble with these words? Oh and one last one that really makes my brain spin:

"My hand was better then yours."

I see that A LOT. How on earth do you confuse the word "then" with the word "than?" Eeeeeeee! If I weren't listening to Norah Jones, I'd. . . Well, I don't know, I suppose I'd be listening to something else. Anyway, I just wanted to grouse about this.

Oh, and I pronounce "crayons" as "cray-uns."