The best and the worst

This, my friends, is the BEST:

Tiger's Bedtime Story Accenture Ad

I frankly needed a smile before my bitch-rant. This is my favorite commercial right now. When it comes on, I stop whatever it is I'm doing and watch...and by now I've seen it probably 4 dozen times. Still watching it. Why?

First, to see Tiger's sheer joy on his face at the end of it, when he says "He kicked his butt." To me, the daughter of a drama instructor and director, Tiger communicates perfectly...let me emphasize...PERFECTLY to all children what's so good about competing to win. He makes the prize of winning, or atleast a job well done, a tangible thing. Preparing to win. Following through. And Winning. Hell, he communicates it to all adults, too. He raises the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare to new heights as an allegory for success. For the first time in my 53 years, I saw the tortoise as a Player: a buff athlete determined to exploit his strength in order to win. Before, I just thought of him as an symbol of Good against Evil.

I raised a daughter through 9 years of softball and 4 years of dance team, and I've never seen a more effective persuasion. Nobody ever read that bedtime story to me that way. And I suspect I am not alone by a large margin.

The commercial is clear, concise, not an ounce of fat on it. Endearing scenario, excellent script, and may I say that even though Tiger's diction could use some training, he has a raw photogenic and communicative talent. The camera loves him. And that killer smile that he seems to guard protectively, not letting it out just for any old reason. Good strategy, for it makes that smile a precious thing.

I would love to know the ages of the team that conceived this ad. I suspect strongly that they are young, probably in their late twenties, early thirties, but no older. Everything about the ad is the new version of the traditional. GenX ad creatives would have ridiculed the traditional and that would have been the message and said, meh, buy us anyway. At least we can laugh at ourselves.

But not this. This takes the tradition and puts a new, more useable spin on it. It respects the old while changing it to new. This is Millenial / Gen Y creative stuff. I can just feel it. And since Tiger, at 29, is of that generation, it might even be coming from his own vision. I would not be surprised.

I'm a sucker for commercials. I bend over backwards to give them a fair shot, yet few of them ever really pass my muster. This one trampled all over me and leaves me screaming, Do It Again! Here's the direct link to it on Best Ads TV.

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Now to the Bad. What is it about the Obama Administration that leaves one feeling as if on a roller coaster ride conducted by a drunk driver and it never stops?

It definitely causes me to pick my battles, lest I spend 24 hours a day taking issue.

Today Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the 9/11 terror suspects (I'm not even gonna use their names because I'll screw them up) will not be tried by a military court, but in a criminal New York City court.

On the face of that news, you may be like, so what? Okay. And if you are a Leftie who has been in perpetual salivation mode for --- what? --- 3-4 years to see Dubya, Cheney and Rove hung from the highest trees because of Gitmo and waterboarding, then today was the Friday the 13th from Heaven. (Or, Allah smiled on you, take your pick.)

But if it's stuff like this about Obama that makes your blood boil, then you are livid at this news. Here, the Left is thinking, okay, there is zero chance these suspects will not be comvicted, so let's get a 2fer out of it. Obama is down in the polls, and what does he and his do when that happens? Why, they throw their Leftie base a bone! And this bone is called the Use the 9/11 Victims and Their Families to Punish Bush. Win-win in their eyes, and no downside.

However, the Right is worried. If they are actually worried about Bush/Cheney?Rove being punished and proven wrong, then I have absolutely no sympathy with them. Personally, I think Bush skirted the rules right along the line enough to do what he thought was needed while everyone around him, including Democrats in Congress, sat by and watched. It was a technical win as dispicable as what Obama's people are doing now.

But punishing Bush for skirting the rules is not my dog in this fight. Stopping that kind of politcial behavior is my more worthy cause, no matter how tempting it is to turn the tables and do it better. To me, to do what Holder announced today is to spit in the face of the victims and their families, for it will surely bring needless sensationalism and a circus atmosphere to what should be swift, sure and approriate justice. Those brave souls, our fellow citizens, deserve no less from us, in their memories.

And given what happens a lot in our criminal courts today (and New York is not a conservative bastion), there is a real possiblity these jokers could go free or get off on a technicality, something that military courts don't do an awful lot of. And at the least, the trial could end up being completely focussed on Bush and torture instead of what it should be focussed on: the events on the morning of September 11, 2001.

So, to me, it's not worth the risk of those things happening. Once again, an ADULT would know this is not appropriate. Tempting, yes. Politically expedient, yes. Good governance? In a textbook, maybe. But not in real life. The official argument (which if you do like me and start my day with MSNLSD as Mark Levin calls them, so by noon you know the Democrat talking points by heart) is that New Yorkers should sit in judgment of those who wronged them, and the Supreme Court has ruled in a way that can be interpreted to support this.

But we were all wronged on that day. It's bigger than NYC. America was terrorized. New Yorkers breathed in the smoke and had their buildings toppled and their friends and loved ones killed, but we all felt the fear and uncertainty, for weeks. It has not been the first time I think the SCOTUS has missed the point. And I will never ever be able to accept, much less condone, the ruthless nature of Barrack Obama and his team. At some point, it has to be asked, do the ends justify the means? And I am not talking about waterboarding.

Jimmy Fallon strikes again...

It's a Mad, Mad, MadMen World

I am a huge fan of MadMen on AMC. It's on Sunday nights at 10 est and repeats through out the week. Third season already, and I've seen every episode probably an average of 3 times each. LOL I like it because it's a period piece and it is intelligent. You have to pay attention to its many nuances to get the full effect, but even if you pay just enough attention to get the plot, it's still very good.

This is how much I love MadMen: I'm watching Oprah right now because Jon Hamm and January Jones (who play Don and Betty Draper) are supposed to be on. Nothing but MadMen could tempt me to break my Oprah boycott. *Update* - it was mostly a yawn. I did enjoy seeing my old Chatty Cathy doll. :-)

MadMen won best drama and best writing at the Emmys last night for the second year. Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss were nominated again for best actor and best supporting actress, respectively. I think they had 22 nominations but those are all I remember. The worst part was that episode 6 was on at the same time as the Emmys. I didn't see much of the Emmys, needless to say.

Vanity Fair has an Annie Liebowitz photo shoot with Hamm and Jones, and a story. Haven't read the entire article, but the photos are great. On Tom and Lorenzo's fan blog they showed some of Fashion Week's biggest fashion outfits alongside the photos and it sure looks like the 1960's and the show inspired this fall's styles. Even down to Betty's riding outfit.

Betty Draper's horse riding digs, circa 1963.

Ralph Lauren Collection, Fall 2009

 Valentino Collection, Fall 2009.

Nobody Put These Two in a Corner

Mourning the deaths of two great leading men today...

First, Patrick Swayze (this is a favorite photo of him):

Then I saw this photo taken of him days ago out in L.A. with his wife, and it was very painful to look at. Look if you dare, it is very sobering. Pancreatic cancer sure took its toll on him. He was 57, same age as The Hubster.

I guess everyone has a favorite movie of Swayze's. I liked most everything he did, even the often-panned Grandview, USA he starred in with Jamie Leigh Curtis. Then there was the other movie of his considered a bomb: Red Dawn. I liked that movie a lot...Wolverines! It made a big impression on me at 28 in 1984, because even though I had been in my share of bomb shelter fire drills under my desk as a schoolkid, I'd never before really thought about what it would be like to be invaded by an enemy. Red Dawn brought that home to me.

So, the next year when he played Orry Main in the TV mini-series North and South, I was in looooooovvvvvve. OMGawd. For me, it was Nick Nolte's Tom in Rich Man, Poor Man in the 70's and Swayze's Orry in the 80's that defined awesomeness for a television mini-series. He was perfect in that role and America began to take notice.

Then came Dirty Dancing. Nothing I can say that hasn't been said, except that he made Jennifer Gray sexy. No small task, as she was Jewish cute at best. When Ghost came out in 1990, he was set as a major star, and he made Demi Moore sexy-sensual, not just sexy-cute like she was in St. Elmo's Fire. He also played a great straight-guy to Whoopi's Oscar-winning role. Suffice it to say he made both his leading ladies classy in his presence.

After Ghost, he battled addictions and rehab, but managed to hang in there and give us two more of his best performances: as the awesome, awesome, awesome, did-I-say-awesome surfer-bank robber Bodhi in the ultimate xtreme sport action movie Point Break (with an also awesome Keanu Reeves in his first big break role). For those of you who have never seen this movie, I feel sorry for you. The photo above is Swayze as Bodhi. Here's another:

Oh, man. Hubba hubba and great acting, too. Plus, check it out: Swayze was the better surfer of the two, despite being 12 years older. Yes, they did their own stunts. Ya just gotta rent it if you haven't seen it.

The other great performance was as the sweet and graceful drag queen Vida in To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. Wow, what an amazing cast in that movie, and several of them were standouts. Still, Vida tends to be everyone's favorite. Even Roger Ebert's, who remarked that Swayze made a pretty nice looking woman. What do you think?

Swayze, a Houston native who graduated high school with actress Shelley Duvall, was in my opinion a pretty good actor when given decent material who put 200% into every role he played and made several less than decent roles presentable. I believe that he was vastly underrated because of his chick-flick roles, much like a beautiful woman is never believed to be a brain. Those of us who liked him, however, know the truth of his talent.

We also lost actor and Broadway star Harve Presnell this week. Younger fans will know him as the SOB father-in-law in Fargo, or Mr. Brooks in Dawson's Creek. But those of us who grew up watching the color musicals of the 50's and 60's will remember Presnell as Debbie Reynolds' husband Johnny in The Unsinkable Molly Brown movie (as well as on Broadway opposite Tammy Grimes), and in one of my favorite movie musicals, Paint Your Wagon, he sings the song They Call the Wind Mariah (as in Carey, and I betcha $10 bucks that's where her mom got her name from...just went to check and I am correct...yes!). 

Presnell then starred as Daddy Warbucks in Annie on Broadway and in between Fargo and Dawson's Creek, he appeared in the movies Saving Private Ryan, The Legend of Bagger Vance,  Flags of Our Fathers, Face/Off, Patch Adams and Old School. He was 75.

I remember when I first saw Presnell sing Mariah in Paint Your Wagon. I was awed by his rich baritone voice, but I was stubborn in my insistence that was Howard Keel. In fact, the two actors looked like brothers. Here's Keel young and old:

Not only did Harve and Howard look alike, their singing voices were alike, too. Both were rich, deep baritones. I had known Keel from movie musicals like Annie Get Your Gun, Show Boat, Calamity Jane, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Kiss Me Kate. Later on, he was Miss Ellie's 2nd husband on TV's Dallas.
But I digress. We are here to remember Harve, not Howard. I think it is a compliment to mistake Harve for Howard; that is how good Presnell was in musicals and then later on as a straight dramatic actor. Both Presnell and Swayze did their vocation justice and had many fans worldwide. They both loved to work and were complete professionals at it. Their deaths are our loss. God speed, gentlemen. May you sing and dance all you want to now.

Spin Cycles

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Would you like some bul*sh*t with that climate change?
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The Obama administration released this week a climate impacts report that was ready for the public in April, but has been in the hands of a San Francisco consulting firm that specializes in ecologic campaigning, allegedly in order to make it more digestible and understandable for the public.

Hmm. Given this administration's track record, I am going to take that as code for letting the consulting firm edit the report to make it back up what Obama and the Dem Congress want to shove down the public's legislative throats.

Even if the content wasn't "massaged", how credible or uncredible does it make that report to go through the promotional rinse cycle, a report of such importance mandating changes of such immense costs?

Once again, this administration's brazen play on the public's trust proves breathtaking but consistent. I mean, why let people read a record stimulus bill? Nobody needs to know what's in it, right? Same with this report. Better to just let us tell them what they need to know.

Even if you are a total Obama backer and green citizen who believes 100% in global warming, just think about this for a moment. Everything we've been told may well be happening. Let's assume that. The one big question I have is this: the facts are that we are in a warming trend, but why does everyone assume that our behavior as mandated by this report will reverse any of this warming, or even have a positive effect on it?

See, my beef is not with the spotting of this trend or climate phase. I do not dispute it one bit. My beef is, no one can prove conclusively that immediate, intense, concentrative, disruptive, expensive behavior change is going to make a good gawd-dang in the end, so why are they constantly trying to shock and scare us, and blatantly intimate that our behavorial changes will save us and undo these climate trends? Because, that's the hinge the entire argument rests upon, otherwise, why bother.

Oh, I'm not advocating doing nothing. Not at all. I'm just saying, why throw the baby out with the bathwater? Why rearrange the entire economy so quickly and intensely that people, sectors, industries are decimated and economic recovery threatened, when a slower, more steady approach delivers us to the same destination eventually.

This report's scare factor is huge, from what I read. So, could they be using this to scare us into adopting the political reforms of their agenda? Ask yourself this: how deep is your ecological resolve when your electricity bill in the summer is $1,000 a month, when it's $400 now? Or if you can only get electrical power intermittently?

I write this to force readers to just think twice before buying all this lock, stock and barrel. My take is, if the warming trend phrase we are in is causing heavier rainfall, rising tides and temps, and more violent weather storms (and I believe it is), we may be chasing quixotic windmills thinking we can control a Heat Age. Don't fall for it.

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Let's Play Spin the Letterman Bottle
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I'm sure you've all heard about David Letterman's latest attempt at spin. I would love to see Dave versus Sarah on Wopner over this, wouldn't you, heehee? At first, he tried to apologize for his series of tasteless jokes without really apologizing at all, and fruitcakes like Joy Behar echoed his denials.

Then, the American public got involved and suddenly it became all about money being lost, advertisers pulling out, and Dave's real heartfelt sorries came out (as did Joy's 180 reversal now making him guilty).

LOL, yep, probably alot of the same American public who were belittled and insulted as "tea baggers" and idiot hapless hacks of the GOP, people not even worth listening to, according to the Obama administration. I bet a lot of them were, so isn't it odd that when money's involved, they suddenly have a point?

Newsflash: that's only the tip of the explanation iceberg, see, because to many who are calling for Dave to be fired, his recent junior-high-immaturity-gone-old-pervert behavior was the last straw, not the first. Many who protest Dave have cited his plan to entrap McCain during the campaign (along with "hard-up-news" anchor Katie Couric), and employer CBS's unequal treatment of Imus in similar situations as factors requiring some tough consequences.

Palin accepted the second sorries, but this thing ain't over til the fat citizen lady sings.

If you are so inclined, there's actually a lot you can do to make your voice heard. Go here to sign the protest letter, get advertisers' numbers and addresses to inform them via letters of your intent to boycott their products, and see where other protest rallies are being held.

Make the little no-longer-funny immature brat in his 60's uncomfortable for as long as possible. Personally, I think he should be fired because he hasn't been funny in years, but that's just my opinion. If this accomplishes that, so much the better, means and ends and all.

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Senility or Spinning Sin?
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We learn that AmeriCorp Inspector General Walpin, whose job it was to protect the public's interest against wasteful spending in that agency, was fired for successfully doing just that. And when Walpin fired back to defend his good name, he was told it was because he was senile. If so, why would he be asked to represent the agency at a huge meeting and speak extensively the day after the board meeting where he supposedly exhibited the senility? Gee, wouldn't he have been immediately suspended and not allowed to so this? And, if this was truly exhibited (I doubt it), it was only on one occasion. Walpin couldn't have just had a bad day? Come on, this smells. Even worse, ACORN seems to be intricately tied to this agency as well. San Francisco, too.

My favorite headline on this was the Youngstown Vindicator's "Obama's transparency goal undermined by opaque acts". Ain't that the truth?

I continue to wake up each day thinking it can't get any weirder or more dangerous to our present way of life. But every day I am proven wrong...sheesh!

keepin' up with the corleones

Yup, got sucked into watching Part I tonite on AMC. To be honest, doesn't take much suction at all to draw me in. Parts I and II are in my Top Ten of All Time Favorite Movies. Pressure me and I'll even add Part III to the list, even though it is my least favorite of the trilogy. (Actually, I cheat and list the Trilogy as one slot on my list...too many movies, too few slots.)

The thing about the Godfather that sucks me in is the intensity of the details: of mafia life, of family life, and the details of the awful transition of Michael Corleone from a likeable innocent into a driven monster. Frankly, by Part III, I'm rooting for someone to do him in. Alas, nature takes its course and makes it anti-climactic for me. Michael, as does his father, goes out with a whimper, not a bang.



I was reading Internet Movie Database (again - it's like Trivial Pursuit Solitaire for me), and somehow I ended up on Spencer Tracy's biography. There I read the most interesting thing about his long time lover, Katherine Hepburn. She purposefully never saw Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, because it was Tracy's last movie (he died just 17 days later) and she feared it would just be too hard on her because she would want to watch it with him.

This alone would be one of those stories only told in Hollywood, but it gets even more amazing when you realize that Hepburn won the Best Actress Oscar for that performance! Wrap your head around that for a minute. Could you, or anyone else you know, have won THE award in your profession and not watch the movie and your winning performance? That's gotta be a first and last. I highly doubt Bette Davis would ever be able to resist. And just forget today's actors.

But then, this was a woman who never had a mirror in her home because she thought it vain and silly to gawk at oneself.

I also learned a few juicy tidbits about Loretta Young, who had a TV show when I was a child where she was a mercurial domestic goddess, the kind you could almost believe was still a virgin, just a married one...with children.



That was an image she carefully cultivated later on in her career and life, becoming a daily Roman Catholic communicant. But when she was younger she was apparently quite the risk-taker. I had known for a while that she'd had a torrid affair with Clark Gable on the set of Call of the Wild in 1934, became pregnant, went off in secret to have his child and then kept the paternity a public secret for a good many years.




Now, check this out. At the time, Loretta was single and unmarried, Gable was married - to someone else. Both were Catholic and both had clauses in their movie contracts that forbid scandal. Loretta kept their daughter in an orphanage for 2 years, then "adopted" her. So, the daughter, Judy, lived her entire childhood in the home of her real mother thinking she was her adopted mother, and never knowing who her real father was, although most of Hollywood knew, including her classmates. Many of them knew just by looking at the girl. She eventually found out about Gable when her fiance told her on the eve of her wedding.

This all makes my head spin. Unbelievable! But, maybe totally believable...my Catholic mother-in-law can convince herself of almost anything.

My ER / Friday, the 13th Weekend

I have had the most interestingly annoying last 4-5 days, with this weekend being the most annoying. Though I've tried, I have been unsuccessful at shaking the negativity involved with bad days. This leads to an ill feeling just under the surface. You're handling it, you think. But is it really handling you?

For one thing, it has been crappy weather: bone-chilly wetness hours on end, day after day and no sunshine. This gets my arthritii flared because of the humidity, so my neck is in crackly stiffness and pain 24/7. And, really, my fingers, feet, left shoulder, right hip...you get the idea.

I had a slight reprieve on Thursday night when I chanced upon ER on TV, and was utterly delighted I had. I used to be a huge ER fan. I know I watched faithfully for at least the first 5 years. It holds a place in my TV heart even if I got tired of the same old same old with different characters.

Well, they are closing it out right by bringing back old characters in the plot, like to say goodbye along with the current cast. This episode was especially awesome for me because I had always wanted Doug and Carol to re-unite and live Happily Evuh, ya know? Well, guess what, they have - score! It was pure heaven seeing that sexy smile on Doug's face and not have to cringe, thinking uh-oh he's going to screw up again. No, really, it was nice seeing them both in love with each other, mature and happy.

But Friday morning, I was woke up out of a dead sleep by the police knocking on my door! Turns out my phone had water in the line (again!) and was dialing 911 and hanging up. I kid you not. Now, that ticked me off. What a waste of tax money to send the cops on goose chases, and also, can't Verizon figure out how to cut the power to lines that do this...or even better, have them dial their own freakin repair number! Omgosh, that's just so messed up.

Next up, Saturday...the Hubs decides to clean under the cook top. You may recall our wall oven is not working because the element broke off in his hands when he was cleaning that. Well, you guessed it: somehow, when he was cleaning, he managed to make the clicker sound go non-stop (it's natural gas). We had to end up flipping off the breaker to get it to stop. The stove top can still be used, we just have to light the flame manually. Don't know about you, but I think he needs to quit cleaning appliances. LOLOL, poor guy.

Sunday night, my internet went out. Another annoying thing. I was spooked enough by this time to wonder if there was water in the cable, winkwink. Talked to my dad and he reminded me these things run in 3's, so I should be okay for awhile from now on. One can always hope! :-))

what's doin'

There's been some chilly nights down here lately. We've been having a few days of nasty uber-humidity and then a cool front blows through to dry things out slightly before the cycle repeats.

That means pain for me...when it's humid, pain all over. Pain after sleeping no matter the position. Even tried one night in the recliner and that used to never make me hurt. It's just to be suffered. When it's cold, I get a little relief but I also tend to feel the cold more and I'm a shaker. winkwink

Lots of concern down here over border events, too. People are on edge about it. It was recently reported that the Feds find around a dozen Middle Easterners a month illegally crossing the border. They just don't publicize it. Knowing this has somehow woke us up down here a little and we are concerned about the recent confrontations, on the border too. On top of everything else to feel insecure about right now, adding fear of invasion is not welcome. Not to mention that it was also reported that Houston is like the top Al Queda hit spot now. That's just great. Seriously.

I did my annual thing tonight and watched the Academy Awards. Didn't see any of the movies, but it did inspire me to share my 3 top actors and 3 top actresses of all time (this week):

Actors:
1. William Powell
2. Dick Powell
3. Gary Cooper

Actresses:
1. Norma Shearer
2. Lana Turner
3. Ingrid Bergman

Well, sleep calls. Time to go cause some more pain. winkwink

back atchya

guess it's past time to get back on here and figure out what this blog's purpose is gonna be. With the election over and my art on its own blog, frankly, i'm trying to rationalize any and all lame excuses for not closing it down.

i am lately full of all kinds of ideas for my paper playing and not much else if I can avoid it. what to write, what to write? i have some bragging i could do on missy and hubs. they have both been busy this fall. guess it wouldn't hurt to share. i will try to tone down the bragging.

missy made the deans list last spring, went to the national conference in dc of her student professional society last month, and a couple of weeks ago her team won their fall student competition among 6 or 7 regional universities, including texas a&m and ut. she is a junior advertising major and is focussing on the creative side of it as opposed to the marketing side. so, she has to work doubly hard and is very into her campus ad-fed society. we basically just leave her alone lately, we call at the wrong time a lot, and i think it's nothing more than she doesn't really have two seconds to spare.

there's more, like her job and her plans to rent a house next semester, and her getting serious about learning adobe in design by buying her first apple mac, but like i said, i'm trying to tone down the bragging. ;-)

hubs is still running his special project that i don't know the first thing about. he's been at it since august. that's a long time to work 6 days a week 12 hours a day, isn't it? it's supposed to last at least a year, maybe 18 months. ugh. he's so dependable though, he just chugs right along. i just avoid him if he's in a bad mood, which isn't often, knock-wood, and he's only awake a couple hours when he's at home so i do try to be accessible to him. i think missy not being here helps. it's more boring and calm here now...in a good way.
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i've always liked this shot. it allows me to *know* what comes next, yet *feel* the last few moments of what was Camelot. the *knowing* is what i must remember. the *feeling* is what i yearn to remember.
it was that heavy. americans of my generation ventured into unchartered territory that day. nobody's dying today or in the last 50 years (after martin and bobby) could ever produce the same shock for us. we were children basking in JFK love. then, bam.
i used to joke that kids my age grew up learning one set of choices and consequences, and then entered a world without any. this photo lets me go back before all that, 45 years ago today.

Political Potporri

Before I get into my hodge-podge of links and newsworthy items, I want to send a well-wishing shout-out to 2Paws Sarah who is experiencing Tropical Storm Hanna as I write this. She was just leaving me a comment the other day wishing me well during Gustav, and I remember thinking, she's in the middle of NC. How nice of her to think of me when hurricanes aren't a part of her life... Dang, hope I didn't cause the Hanna karma to find her... You might laugh, but after awhile a hurricaneer sometimes wonder why oh why, do I have a hurri-magnet on my butt or something? LOL

Anyway, Sarah, stay safe and dry! (She just re-did her bathroom floors this summer, too...).

And lookie what might be headed toward me next week? I don't like Ike!



Okay, on with the Potporri!


Saw this advertised on Greta Van Sustern tonight, and I'll be watching. I like Greta a lot. She is about the fairest commentator out there, and always takes great pains to appear neutral politically. Probably worth watching, on her recommendation...

Don't know about you but I can only take so much of this partisanship. I'm a judicious type by nature, always gotta weigh pro and cons, both sides. So, I think in a couple of days I will start something like a double-sider on the issues or the candidates. Doing that helps me stay grounded, like a reality check if one of those ever exist in politics...

Most of the internet posts and comments I read about the election are partisan, but sometimes there will be people post who say, "What Palin attack? I don't see it, can you provide links?"

This usually sends me into fits of laughter, but geebus, what a great idea that would be to have a website where they are all listed and linked? Anybody know of one or wanna start one? Huge job, too huge for me to produce, but I can provide help. Email me or leave a comment if you are interested. I mean, hell, Obama has an entire website devoted to fringe emails about him being Muslim. I think it might help us remember it all. And, I'm still waiting to receive my deluge of Obama email. Seriously, I'd love to know what the heck he's talking about?

See how that can go both ways? I'm just sayin....winkwink

Anyway, I can't decide whether to really believe that kind of question if it is indeed being asked sincerely. I guess someone who is watching Turner Classic Movies 24/7 would miss it. Or if they watch network news.

But it can, as I showed, easily be a tactic to cause chaos and upset. One of the boards I was on the other day had a group of Obama supporters in an obvious concerted effort to start as many threads as they could with Palin rumors. And after awhile, we McCain supporters were worn out trying to defend and correct the record, and one big reason I quit once I realized what was being done.

Those of you who do not know the name Saul Alinsky and his effect on Obama need to read this excellent 2007 article. When I look at what the Obama supporters teach each other to do (and his campaign can deny this all they want, but I'm sure the talking points are distributed by them albeit covertly), it always makes me think that Alinsky would be proud. Alinsky is the unofficial father of community organizers, among other more radical ideas. Anyone wanting to look objectively at Obama better make a long stop at Alinsky. The article I provided is a great start.

I kind of want to buy into some odds on whether Keith Olbermann can make it until Election Day without totally imploding or exploding. Let's think back to when MSNBC Prez Phil Griffin rationalized that they maintained objectivity using Matthews and Olbermann as anchors during primetime election coverage. The boys are supposed to be subdued and non-snarky. Right. Anyway, Keith finally blew that beyond all recognition on Thursday night. See the story here, complete with video.

This interesting piece of info from the article: Keith blogs on Daily Kos and read the comments in order to gain perspective.

WHAT?

I kid you not, my friends. (HA! I've actually begun using that phrase at times!) This arbiter of journalistic-objectivity-my-ass gains perspective from Daily Kos. Oh, never mind. He and they are both beyond any sane comprehension. Still, people should know he's a loon. A frickin loon.

Now, I used to love Olbermann before that political switch clicked in my head. I seriously did. I used to watch MSNBC 24/7 and abhor Fox. It's now the exact opposite. I really do think that partisans see the same issue or candidate through completely different lenses. And I have been, in one year, at both ends of the spectrum, lol. No wonder I've been having headaches, lol.

This is hard

Late Sunday evening --
Sorry, guys for missing my Wednesday posting day. I just haven't been feeling like sharing anything lately. Not that there's been anything really worth sharing, lol. Maybe that's it. All I can think to write about is how hot it is.

We got out this afternoon, late, 5-ish. Went down to The Boardwalk to have a birthday dinner for Missy, who turns 20 tomorrow. We tried Babin's a new seafood restaurant, but the service was so bad that Hubs insisted we leave after getting our salads. So, we went next door to Salt Grass, and had a wonderful time. Of course, I'm still stuck back there leaving a restaurant in the middle of the order, still a bit horrified, both at the audaciousness and at Hubs, who always talks about it but never does it. Till today.

After our meal, which we spent way too money on (even though it was very good), we rode the new roller coaster. Wow, that got our blood flowing! (And thankfully, no upchucking.) It was still so dang hot though, that I don't know that I'd do it again until October or November. Just standing around, with a breeze, and you feel like you've got gritty tanning oil all over you underneath your clothes. And I'd showered about an hour prior to starting out!

I'm just getting old and too fat, I guess. If I were able to cocoon in my home during the hot months down here, I could handle it alright. And that's getting more and more allowed (as in people thinking you are weird or not), what with the gas prices and the heat (cuz utility costs are rising too).

It's always funny watching a local TV news story about how to save gas, because there's really not much leeway. They shouldn't even run those kind of stories down here. Not running the a/c in your car is not an option, especially if you have children what with child endangerment and all. What else are you gonna do beside just not starting the machine up at all?

We're not speeding (anymore, hehe). We're consolidating our errands. We've forced Hubs to stop his gawd-awful grocery shopping practice of going to 3 different stores to save 5 or 10 cents on something. What made that doubly maddening once the heat set in, was that he'd poop out and not get it all bought in one outing, on account of the heat is exhausting. So, we were beginning to always be out of this or that, including stuff on my diet, which I of course have not been following religiously so I haven't lost much. Good take on that is I have not gained, either, but I digress.

Okay, well. I've been very busy mostly, back into working some on my RAK's to send out, working at finding some new yahoo groups to broaden my art horizons, and continuing to organize the snot out of my supplies. I am so slow, but I am making progress.




A couple of photos above of a 3-ring binder I re-purposed to hold empty magnetic sheets. I don't think there is anything that Crop-A-Dile can't punch through! Then, this is just like me, I decided this binder would be much more useful housing a year's worth of ATC collection when I decided to separate them by year received. So, I took that spine label and just turned it over and am now designing a title for my binder's new purpose. Oh well...and hey, shows that the label can be changed! LOL




The above photos show the other thing I've been playing with: making ring clips for my homemade clip-it-rack out of existing supplies. Again, Crop-A-Dile to the rescue! Yes, it can punch a hole in a wooden clothespin. I love the little mini ones. They're the same ones I used on my InspiraLine. Anyway, that project is going well.




I'm trying to patiently wait for the second season premiere of Mad Men on AMC, but I had to break down and rent season 1 at Blockbuster. Ahhhh! I love the over-the-top stylishness of it, like the Hollywood Rat Pack style applied to nonfamous white collar big city America. And since I know that the way they depict the sexism is pretty accurate for 1960, it blows my mind to realize how far we have come in just workplace behavior alone, not to mention marriages. The battleground for all that was the 1970's, when the nitty gritty sand lines were drawn. No wonder they were turbulent times. Geez.

Well, anyway, Mad Men's season 2 starts July 27th, and I can't wait. The season 1 finale blew me away with Peggy giving birth to a baby she didn't even know she was carrying and then refusing to take it. I'm guessing that means she wants to play with the boys and fight her way up the ladder from copywriter, and not just be a secretary. (Of course, the only chance she had back then was to be both in order to become a copywriter, but hey atleast she got that opportunity).

Big Red Scores Again!

Good morning. Well, today my money assignment is to watch MSNBC's key political shows and list all the advertisers. Seems there are quite a lot of folks who would like to write these companies...but let me save it for the paycheck and just say "I told you so" and get on to the art...

It may be clouding up outside my window, the economy may be heading into the nearest ditch, and the Democratic National Committee may be writing its own suicide note, but HEY! I hung onto my Big Red Sizzix instead of chucking it when I bought a Big Shot, and I am so avenged cuz I discovered that I can smash bottlecaps with it!


*******
The 3 photos above show how I did it. First, the right sandwich recipe: from bottom to top, I stacked 2 white platforms, 1 sheet of chipboard (paper pad backing), and then 2 black Sizzlets adapters. I laid the bottlecap with the inside of it up, and I made sure that the Sizzix system converter was OFF the machine. And the last photo shows the bottlecap before and after. Sweet!

I was so jazzed I grabbed my old-school Crop A Dile (it was easier to reach for than my Big Bite) to see if I could punch a hole in my bottlecap, and yes, we can (as they say in yadayada-bama land). This further excited me to the point where I quickly used a couple of smashed n punched b-caps to secure some woven ribbon onto my card box for a handle that I've been meaning to make for forever.

"Patchwork Earth" atc


"Sunflower" atc

Of course I had to make some art with my smashed caps, right? So, here are 2 of the atc's I created.

Now, why would I suddenly start using bottlecaps? (You know I'm Old-School 24/7, but still...). I should fess up: I've been really into the challenges at Bringing It Back blog. It's been fun to re-visit even more of my vast giganta scrap-stash than I've thought to use. I mean, the bottlecaps that have been sitting in my stash drawer for oh, about 2-3 years kinda frightened me. But the challenges give me courage to just experiment and play (I mean, what's the downside? This stuff is so old that if I ruined it, no loss at all. And if I don't and actually make something I like, that rocks.) And I don't have to worry about stupid peer pressure...working with materials in the BTDT category...because my "cover" is the challenge! So, hey, join us if it interests you.

Now, onto the other flowers before I get to the dirt. Been reading. A Book. Don't faint now. I do this from time to time, it's just that my tastes run towards historical and political, not Oprah-bot best sellers, so I rarely even mention them. But I want to mention 2 of them today. The one I'm reading is


Valerie Bertinelli's Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time.
It's a great read! Highly recommended, if for nothing more than all the dirt on her and Eddie. Which is pretty much why I'm reading it. I dunno though. She is brutally honest and just a nice, level-headed girl. I've always liked her and I always will. You can read a little of it at the link I provided and see for yourself.

The other book is one I ordered today:

Adam Shepard's Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream
I should receive this one Monday and cannot wait. It's brand new and I saw Adam interviewed on CNN. He basically took $25, his college degree and the clothes on his back and hit the road to find the American Dream by trying to build a life from scratch, to see if it could still be done. Everyone and thing in his life up til then had indicated to him that life cost so much to live that he might never be able to. He found out that old ways are still possible. It just takes saying no to all the spending, and in the bargain you learn and receive so, so much more.

Not only does that sound like my kinda story, but I want them to be Missy's, too. I plan on giving her both of these after I am through with them. Lots of great, great lessons. I probably shortchanged Valerie's book greatly, because it's biggest impact is in her learning to rely on and believe in herself and in not being tricked into not seeing yourself clearly.

Oh, been meaning to let you all know, I am continuing the RAK'ing, but I decided to do it privately. No deadlines, and from the heart. I've already contacted my next batch and totally aim to continue it cuz it makes me feel good and I want to give back. But I don't want to make a fuss over it, like it's a competition and that's how it was feeling to me. I am also preparing a box of handmade cards to send to soldiers, Mother's and Father's Day cards. It really makes me feel like I am making some little difference.

You know, we don't need any outside force or source to "give" us change and hope. It's within each one of us and only we ourselves can produce it. I am blessed to have known that my entire life, as I see an awful lot of younger people who have no clue of this truth.

"B$tch is the New Black"

(***Warning: This contains the B-word, so take whatever precautions you need to before viewing the video):



That was my favorite one. I did have my other favorite embedded here, but NBC pulled it off of You Tube. It was a parody of the Dem debates, and spoofed the media's thirst for Obama Koolaid, spoofed it beatifully, I might add. If I can find it elsewhere, I will try to embed it again...

Instead, here is my third favorite one, of Mike Huckabee on Saturday night's show. Dang, never mind, they pulled that one too.

Crap is a four-letter word...

It's also what I feel like. C-r-r-r-r-ap.

We had a cold front blow in late this morning, with a fast-moving band of thunderstorms and lots of volatile windshear. On the local noon news, they were already reporting on the scene of some businesses that had lost roofs and had windows blown out!

Thank goodness I didn't have to drive the in-laws to radiation treatment. They finally moved up on the waiting list for transportation with the county seniors program. Someone else has been driving them there since Monday. His treatment ends day after tomorrow, but what the heck, at least they called before then, huh? LOL And I didn't have to get out today.

Yup, I have no idea what my problem is. My head is filled with mucus, I have a crust in the back of my throat that I can clear up by coughing but then it immediately comes back. My nose is runny no matter what I do or how many times I blow it. My wrists, fingers, ankles, legs, hips, back, neck, and even my feet ache like the devil. Oh, and so does my left boob, if that means anything. LOL Not my right one, tho. And I have zero zip nada fever. Like I said, it's a mystery, but I sho do hurt.

I have no other choice but to conclude it's a cold. What a bummer.

Oh, the other weirdness is that I feel like I've gained at least 10 pounds, but only in my left boob, my stomach and at the very top of my thighs. But the scales say that I have not gained an ounce.

Anyway, Hubs has a few days off. He's not feeling much better than I am, but his problem is work exhaustion coupled with cold-front blowback (he is entirely too cold-blooded, can't handle it).

We had Chinese take-out for dinner (nothing fancy, we always get beef and broccoli, special fried rice and eggrolls, same thing every time). After we ate, we watched the only network show we both enjoy together: Boston Legal. I always get a kick out of seeing Henry Gibson play the judge. (I'm an old fan of his from his Laugh-In days.) Hubs loves Denny Craine like no other. His mood lightens and he becomes happy when he watches that show. And for someone who falls asleep at the drop of a hat, he always manages to stay up for that show.

We decided tonight that we won't do cards and candy. We are going to do a nice steak and baked potato dinner instead for Love Day. So, yay, no card to have to make for him, which is good because my mojo done gone down the road and left me.

For my final Valentine entry, here is a card I made for DD and mailed to her at school:
I totally {heart} that LOVE stamp I used on the inside. Had to use it. Missy likes gel pens so I doodled this one up for her. And she had noticed these papers last year when I bought them, so I know she will recognize them.

Well, off to slumberland for me, but before I go, I wanted to pass along a link to a really cool event over in France, their Citrus Festival. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed what they made out of oranges and grapefruits. Plus, my dang mouth was watering so much for some citrus, I had to drink a glass of OJ while I finished looking!

Super Bowl Sunday

Can't remember when the last time I actually spent the day engaged in watching football like I did today, but 'never say never' is one of my mottos. We feasted on comfort food, so that helped me stay with it, along with halfway entertaining pre-game, half-time and post-game shows. Oh, and the game was thrilling at times, too!

Get a load of our game day menu: shrimp and guacamole nachos, chili cheese dogs, tater tots, pizza, and chocolate chip cake. It was a smorgasboard-type buffet, to say the least. We grazed all afternoon. Hubs and I are so used to not wasting food since Missy went off to college, and today felt a bit weird with all of these eats, but we soon got used to it, LOL.

I do admit to sneaking off a few times to work on art. But my plans to read blogs got sidelined. My computer was pretty much an orphan today. At some point, I got email wind that 2peas was down, and there was one time that blogger was down, too. In fact, right at this moment I cannot run spell check or upload a photo through blogger. So, I will rely on flickr for the photos tonight and learn to love the typos, LOL.

This is a card I made a while back for my Mom. It had to be as flat as possible because of how I mailed it (long story), so I resisted the urge to frou-frou it up a bit more. It looks a bit plain to me, but the beauty of it is my Mom thought it was fabulous, and sometimes I forget that's really what counts:

I'm trying to find a good time tomorrow to get together for dinner with my bff Cindy on the other side of Houston. I have to deliver some papers for my in-laws and I want to hang out until rush hour ends, and she is trying to clear her schedule. So, I'm going to call it a night and get some shut-eye. Just wanted to pop in and post a bit. Here's to a good week for everyone!

Another Week to Forget...

Thank God for today. This has been the first time since I last posted (on Sunday, eegads, no wonder I felt something was missing all week), that I feel like I can shake all the crap off my fallen angel wings and move forward!

But while the crappy things were still happening, Hubs and I got sick. So yesterday I missed being able to give a shout out to my girlfriend Kim, who turned the big 4-0. But I will shout it now!


HAPPY BIG ONE, KIM!

There's the card I made for you. Finally got it mailed Thursday, so it probably did not get there on time. I am just a big fat loser all the way around, but oh well, hell. Thought that counts, right? Hope! LOL

I also wanted to share this video with Kim and all of my girlfriend readers. It's hilarious! Let us hope that none of us are getting Valentines (or any freakin card) made this way!



Okay, then!

On to or back to my Forgettable Week... In addition to daily radiation trips, which we did not cancel once, my F-I-L somehow falls in the bathroom between the commode and the tub. And bangs up his rib. But he throws a fit about going to the emergency room, so it isn't looked at for like 3 days.

(I dunno, I'm not a medical person, but if you are going to get radiation every day, could they not shoot a little x-ray of your rib while they are doing their thing? Apparently not. And, to be fair, if the patient is ornery about it, probably not.)

Finally on the 3rd day, my M-I-L loses it (like she should be doing all the time, LOL), and becomes assertive and insists it get looked at. She still needs to improve her timing though; this happened at 8 at night, so nobody but me, once again, could help out. We get him there and he has a fractured rib. What can you do? They taped it up and sent us home, after taking that x-ray.

Then, the next day they call the house and say there's something on the x-ray, looks like pneumonia! So, I take M-I-L to pick up all the scripts he's been written for that. And he starts that protocol, being told that if he doesn't quickly improve, it'll be a hospital stay. The best thing is he becomes a model patient, as the hospital is his idea of Hell.

Well, anyway, the day after that, some sheepish nurse at his doc's office calls to say, quit taking the antibiotics, he doesn't have pneumonia, that spot was his cancer.

Oy, oy, oy. Now, at that exact moment, I had all the proof I needed to feel fine with universal care, because if there's all this idiocy in the capitalist medicine world, any change would be a step up. Because, check out this sick syncopation: my mom calls and finally got word on her x-ray. No suspicious spot. It was just her hianal hernia.

OH MY GOD. What the hell? That was in two different states, too. Yep, better to just try to forget and go on with life. My mom is on Cloud Nine (and I am beginning to realize just how depressed she must be with all her chronic illnesses, like I get from time to time, because she is not usually this chipper and optimistic lately). My F-I-L is recouping nicely and quickly and my M-I-L is finally getting some relief.

But none of that good stuff happened until Friday (yesterday). And on top of those 2 story lines, the phone rang Monday morning and I couldn't hear or talk because of a lot of static and sounds of dial tones and such. So, after the person calling me tried to call 6 more times, I finally got them to answer their phone when I called them on my cell. Got that settled, then I called Verizon to report it. Well, for 2 days I dealt with a robot voice, albeit a very sophisticated and smart one. I was impressed. Except that to them the problem appeared to be resolved but it wasn't.

Finally late Tuesday I figured out how to talk to a live person and a repair guy was sent out Wednesday. Turns out our lines were crossed with someone else's. Took him half a day to get it working, but I'm glad he kept at it. We have all new cable and a new box on the pole. This is always a good thing. The worst part was probably M-I-L calling 45 times and having to re-route her to call the cell and her forgetting half the time, but hey, we got through it.

And in the midst of all that, Missy arrives for a day-visit. She had a dentist appointment here to get a couple of cavities filled. Good thing she did, as much as she wimps out at pain, one of them was just on the verge of infection due to our prior dentist closing the filling up wrong and leaving it open to bacteria! Missy was super close to having to have a root canal, but our dentist fixed it (he's very good). She had it pretty rough for a while, but after I finally found some mushy food she would eat, she felt better, as she'd barely eaten all week!

Anyway, she shows up without my memory card, darn. She got flustered, running late, and forgot it. (I gave her a CD mailer to just mail it to me, hopefully she will not forget that.) We teased her pretty good about not being allowed to come back again for a visit, because every time she comes home, something around here breaks and needs repair (last time she came home, the front bath commode was busted and the plummer had to come).

Oh, and she came home sick, so of course Hubs and I got it too.

Anyway, this morning I awoke fresh and with a little energy that I want to bottle so I can save some of it, LOL. Hubs has been on graveyards and is still asleep, so I'm hopeful he is feeling better, too. Since he only has one more night to work on his shift, and tomorrow is the Super Bowl, I'm thinking odds are good that he will be in a better mood at least.

Well, that's it. I did want to thank both Sarah C. and Linda for awarding me Excellent Blogger this week. I'm so proud of it that I have put it on my sidebar. Sort of like putting it on the mantel in my family room if this weren't cyberspace, LOL.

I'm supposed to pass it on and I will, but I'll do that tomorrow. I have tons of blog posts to catch up on at the blogs I usually read first. And I want to think it through a bit, too. Not, definitely not from a standpoint of who deserves it, though. Because every blog I read deserves it. There is no way I could decide on that basis. It'll be more like who needs the lift most, who hasn't been awarded yet, etc. Spread the love kinda thing. Let's be honest, it's acool thing to be told you are an excellent blogger. A little thing, but one mental/emotional lift that can help us keep going. Lord knows, I needed it this wunnerful week. LOL

Remind me in tomorrow's post to also talk about the groups I'm in for 2008. And I have more creations to show...

Half a Month Gone

Yikes! The realization of that hit me last night as I was doing email maintenance and trying to make myself come over here and post. Don't get me wrong, I have an almost continuous conversation with you guys, just in my head. The day they invent a think-it-keyboard that I can afford, I'm blogging 24/7/365! Til then, though, my poor readers must deal with my pain-killer-induced ADD and patiently wait for me to finally blog the old fashioned way, LOL.

Anyway, today is the 16th. Hard to believe, huh? There's just under a month until Valentine's Day. Double yikes! I really wanted to make lots of Valentine cards this year, but I have so many things artsy and non-artsy on my plate begging for service that I am wondering if that's possible now. OH, well, such are the ups and downs of Life. We'll see....

Thanks again to all of you who took the time and care to express such loving comments to me. I've been laying low the past few days, spending lots of extra with Reggie and just basically flitting from one chore to the next when I'm not sleeping. The weather down here is typical January wet cold, just miserable.And, looks like we are going to have an entire week of it, too.

I've been keeping a list of stuff to blog about, so I'd better get to it!

First up, not a toot, but a little artfart maybe. LOL One of my layouts is on the Scrap the Girls blog. One of the things I love about these kind of sites is the collective display of readers layouts. Challenge sites that have the guest designers and the design teams all the time get old after awhile. The readers gallery follows no set theme, so you never know what you are gonna see. I like that!

Next, congrats to AMC's Mad Men and its star, Jon Hamm. Hamm, who plays Don Draper, won best dramatic actor at the Golden Globes, and the show won Best TV Drama. Another of my shows won too: Glen Close won Best dramatic actress for Damages on Fx. I cannot wait for both shows to return for another season.

Next, I have a product review of a new item I just received yesteray: the second generation Crop-A-Dile, called The Big Bite! I love it! This is how it came shipped to me from HSN. I never watch the shows, I just get the email promos. HSN's shipping and service is top-notch, by the way. This is my third order since Thanksgiving, the first two being the Bind_It-All and then a card-scorer and box maker.

Right off, I encounter probably my only problem with this product: getting into the package. Boo! This is ridiculous. Took me 7 minutes with my utility scissors. I timed it. The entire perimeter of the packaging had to be cut away on the seam.

After that, it was all sweetness and light. This is all that was included in the package HSN was offering. That's over 350 gromments. I've not used a grommet yet, but I plan to compare this tool with my MM Grommet Tool real soon, for another blog review. I wanted the Big Bite, so I had to buy the grommets since they came with the tool. For now, I'll just assume it grommets nicely, too.

To test the hole-punch power (which is why I got the dang thing), I used a popsicle stick.
My guess is that the pop stick is like 3 mm thick, cuz it looks about the thickness of .03 cm on my ruler. Never could get the hand of the metric system!

Anyway, on one end of the stick is a hole made with the original CAD, and on the other end, the Big Bite. No diff. Both went thru like butta. Vundabarrrrrr!

The Big Bite is awesome because it now gives you a 6-inch reach into the page to punch holes and set metal. It has removeable feet that keep it standing upright and anchor the tool for when you press down on the handle to punch or set. It sets the same size eyelets, too, plus the grommet sizes. And we get slightly better instructions on this one. WRMK has sucky directions. They are too small and hard to read. The Big Bite's could be better, but I'm glad it's an improvement, much like how I feel about the Big Bite overall. I give it an A-, and I am very glad I took the plunge and went ahead and got one now. Lots of places are now out-of-stock. Mine only took 5 days to get to me, so I am doubly lucky.

Well, that's it for today. Have a great Hump Day and evening!

Degrees of Time: The week that was

Seems like this week's been juxtaposed against my life -- sorta like in the photo, where the clock hangs ironically next to my college diploma, as if to remind me, it's been a long time since I did that (1978). This past week's felt like it's taken almost as long, LOL.

**oh, note to file: I'm playing around with taking a photo daily if possible, like that one up there, but I'll be danged if I call that activity anything. Not yet, anyway. That'd make too many things I'm trying to do differently, then. And that sets me up for failure.*** I am just playing...

Last Friday, I was sitting around, piddling and out of NewYear focus, but happy and optimistic. I began to sharpen my focus on Saturday, 7 days ago. Monday has probably been my most optimistic day, but it's pretty much gone downhill since then.

Monday night, Hillary misted up and the media was in full-tilt nasty by Tuesday morning. Well, I guess I'm one of those women over 40 who were extremely offended by her treatment. My God, you know, I finally got it. The problem with Hillary is that she is threatening. And that's because she's so capable. And that's something I have seen happen to women all my life. And hello, move over racism, there's a new game in town. Now we are going to be dealing with a healthy bitter dose of both of them for the next year, like Battle of the Sexes Meets the Scourge of Racism. Godzilla himself would probably run screaming in fear.

If it plays out that way, then that means the generational history theory I'm such a huge fan of is going to come true 100%, and then it really is the Big One, Elizabeth. (Sigh, guess that one was lost on most...guess you have no idea who Samford & Son were, eh? Make that a 3-way and add in the Generation Gap, or whatever it's called today.)

On the home front, this was the week I was supposed to call the vet for the appointment to put Sheila down. I'd successfully managed to conveniently forget about it every single day until about 5:05 pm (and they close at 5), until today. So, Friday (today) at 2, I have to drive her there and hold her while she passes on, hopefully in peace.

Hubs wants nothing to do with it, and he's already got that on his plate with his dad. (The cancer in his lungs is Stage 4, by the way. And he never smoked.)

So I am giving Hubs a pass on Sheila. So for about the last 24 hours, I've been hoping against hope she dies during the night in her sleep, but that won't happen. I'm at least glad I have no doubt this is the best thing for her. I wish it made it a little easier.

Also this week, I've made a few hearty attempts at Sharing to Care. And wouldn't you know it? I managed to screw both up, somehow, LOL. No harm done, but still. Dang.

And I just know this has something to do with it: Hubs up and bought a widescreen digital tv, which promptly played a fuzzy picture back in his tv room. It replaced an analog set, so maybe it had some bearing. Anyway, Hubs brings the new set and sits it on our kitchen table in front of the little white set that's already there, and there it's sat until today. Hubs has watched the family room tv all week, which means he's hung out and slept in that room, too. Yup, the same couch I've used to do much of my sleeping the moment his snoring becomes unbearable.

Oy, it's just been a Twilight Zone episode all the way around. God Bless My Little Sheila. She's lived a good life. May she continue in Afterlife. Amen.

I'm now a Drug Trial Dropout

Yeah, so I'm a date late posting. Uh-gain. I promised to post Monday and now it's Tuesday @ 6:30. I run late in real life too, friends, so at least you know you're gettin the genuine article. lol

Anyone notice some capital letters being typed out? That's cuz my test appointment got moved up to yesterday (Monday). I got a call Saturday morning from the PA asking me if I could move up my appointment. They do that when they get cancellations around the Holidays. I think they're motivated into thinking if they get lucky, they can move up an entire week of appointments and close the office early or something. I'd think that way if that was my job.

But, oops, I digress. Back to yesterday. Yeah, so of course I went. You know how impatient I've been, just trying to make it until they did those tests. They took some blood first thing, then I went to do those cognitive tests, and that took 3 hours. I was a bit disappointed they didn't give me a Rorschach Test, but I think I had every other one I'd ever seen on TV. I had electrodes with cords stuck on me, blocks I had to manipulate while they timed me, memory tests at 2 different computers, and even some tread milling.

I got released for lunch, and Hubs and I went to a little nearby deli in the medical center somewhere. Then at our appt at 2, they gave me the news that I was officially kicked out of the study. LOL Ok, technically eliminated due to something about my blood levels and because of multiple side effects from the meds. I apologize for not paying enough attention to absorb the exact terminology, but frankly, by the time I had recovered from them having the blood test results back so quickly, my doctor had already gone over the specifics of the disqualification. (Here at my local doc, blood test results take at least one to two days, and well, I was really tired by then and my brain couldn't resist fixating on that boring tidbit.)

I have to admit that I was thrilled to get this news, even though I was in the study to improve my brain function. I just couldn't handle the side effects much longer. And I remain hopeful that those test results will show improvement, so that the whole thing was worth it. I'll find out for sure in about a week.

My last dose of trial meds was Sunday night (I was supposed to lay off the meds on testing day), and its effects have already left my system, thank heavens. I can tell ya though, my fingers are really sore from typing so much at once all on my own without Missy's help, even tho I cannot stop, lol, so I'll have to work my finger fitness back up in order to completely enjoy pain-free.

So, I was there all day and was so pooped out when I got home around 4 that I collapsed on the couch and began snoring loudly a few seconds later. No, literally. The Hubster saw it happen and never hesitates to keep me updated on those kinds of things. Thanks, Big Guy.

It must have been divine intervention that I awoke at exactly 10 to 8, with just enough time to go potty and get the channels on all 3 TV's in the family room, kitchen and my office by the time Heroes season finale started. Total immersion and it was thrilling. I must now try to live a Hero-less existence until the next season starts, bummer.

I was hoping that Claire would reconcile with West, and I was bummed-but-understanding about the allegory involved with Nathan getting bumped off (or did he? ie, NOAH; plus we all thought Peter bit the big one last year, remember?)

And I'm relieved that Noah isn't really dead, because I love seeing him give such a wonderful performance. Lord knows, he, Jack Coleman, the actor who plays Noah, deserves a meaty and prominent role. Poor guy, it wasn't helpful in the long run being the token gay Carrington on Dynasty, although he did a great job. I've missed him, so I love the episodes he's on as Noah.

My fave scene last was the "Hello, Claire-Bear" one, that entire scene with his family, and then leaving with Bob -- awesome! My second-favorite one was when Hiro took Adam into time warp with him and Adam lets go of the virus vial, but Peter runs in and grabs it just as it's fixing to break on the floor. Collective ahhhhs all the way around. Oh and just lovelove where Hiro left Adam, hahahahaha.

Hey, if you *heart* Heroes as I do, here's a great link that explains last night's finale step-by-step, almost like you were actually watching it, lol.

Speaking of Bob, the actor who plays him is named Stephen Tobolowsky. He was a boyhood friend of Hubs and my favorite guitarist, the late great Stevie Ray Vaughn, and he was the lead singer in Vaughn's first rock group, as well as the original first choice to play Al on Home Improvement, but turned it down. IMDB is my friend.....

Anyway, then I had to watch October Road and, you know it, I'm hooked on it again. I have this enormous need now to stick with it til she tells him the kid is his....

Let's see, oh what else. Yup, I have nothing ready to show you. I really need to accept that I should quit promising stuff when I know dang well that something's usually gonna mess those plans up for me. I was a total craft slacker all weekend, mainly due to illness and being exhausted, as well as being a total photo upload skank. I do have photos. Good ones, actually. But they will have to wait until next time, okay? I am seriously woozy still. I got halfway sick this weekend with a stopped up right ear and ridiculously pouring sinuses (I'm either in the throws of a weird cold, or reacting to all the weather changes we've had lately. I think.) I already overdid it all last week staying hyper-determined to do my AEDM's and those cards. (With my arthritis, that was over-doing it. Believe it or not.)

Then, Hubs forced me to go out clubbing with him Saturday night (my arm still hurts from being twisted, lol) and meet up with some friends of ours, and that further wiped me out, especially standing for about 3 hours straight. Had a great time, though and totally glad I went. OK, I'll show a couple of photos of us wild n crazy old-farts at this rock n roll club in Houston:





There are a lot more, but I'll save those for 2008 layouts.

Well, I'm not really in the habit of all this typing with caps, so that's enough for today. I probably should have kept on typing lower case, but oh well. I need to get back into the every day blogging thing again, but it may take me a week to get that frequent. I suspect there will be another post from me by Friday for sure, if not sooner, and this weekend I hope to go visit your blogs and be able to post a comment! Baby steps, but at least I'm able to type again, yay!