Cookie Supper

Counting Crows

2011-01-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

I heard on a local NPR show today that crows gather around and injured or dying crow that is part of their group and just wait with the crow until it dies. Some people have also witnessed crow funerals.

This is very cool.

I am going to start watching the crows in the yard. I will be the pleasantly eccentric (i.e. weird and geeky) woman who looks up from her work occasionally to peer out the window with binoculars.

And by the way, here is another picture I took. Not a crow but a bird nonetheless.

I Am Not a Blogger

2011-01-02T13:15:00.000-08:00

It's true. I am neither disciplined or interesting enough to be a blogger. Besides, pretty much no one reads it. However, every year I have revisited Cookie Supper.

So here is the deal: I'm gonna keep doing this. When I feel like it so I don't feel pressure to post. I may rant about some idiocy happening in the world. I may just post a picture I took that I am proud of. I may just treat my nearly non-existent readership to some stream of consciousness (fear that!).

So here is a picture I took.

Sand Zombies

2010-04-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

Gotta say life here at Club Orient is pretty awesome. The days have a sort of structure but not much at all. At 8 am folks converge at the Boutique for their morning pastry and whatever else they need for the day, trade in yesterday's beach towels for clean ones and wander back to their units for breakfast.

After breakfast the procession to the beach begins. Lay on your lounger, read, float around in the water, get a fruity drink or two from the Perch beach bar (my favorite is the Bahama Mama).

At 2:25 the line forms at the Perch because at 2:30 the bell rings and happy hour (2 for 1 drinks) begins. After that folks wander back up to their units for naps, more sun, etc.

Somewhere around 4 most folks have wine and cheese on their patios. Then either out for dinner or cook dinner and later wander over to Papagayo (the on-site restaurant) for dessert, drinks and dancing and back home to bed. It's a grueling schedule, I must say.

Mischievous Elf

2010-01-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

Early Evening Dog Walk and Warm to Cool

2010-01-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

Moonrise

2010-01-01T16:10:00.000-08:00

Being Taken to Dinner or Being Arrested?

2009-10-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

I can't decide it it looks like we are being driven to dinner or being arrested in some 1930's time warp. We are actually being driven to dinner in a 1939 Cadillac limousine by our very dapper driver, Malcolm. This was part of our weekend package at White Rocks Inn in Vermont last weekend.

Dinner at the Victorian Inn was amazingly good (but not even close to Weight Watchers friendly). We both had escargots as a starter. Karl had rack of lamb and I had duck - both perfectly cooked. Dessert was creme brulee for Karl and chocolate mousse for me. The chef who owns the restaurant is outstanding, formerly executive chef at the Kennedy Center. I highly recommend having a meal there.

Pix from Vermont last weekend

2009-10-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

I am a Horrible Blogger

2009-10-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

Last post was 7/25 - pitiful

Motherzillas, Bridezillas, and the Best Wedding Video

2009-07-25T04:31:00.000-07:00

Unless you live under a rock you have seen this video in the last day or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

I confess I have watched it several times and every time it makes me smile and cry and just pretty much makes me happy.

This is pretty much how a wedding should go - happiness, celebration and pure unbridled joy.

I kind of have unique perspective, having officiated at a few in a past life. While the ones I participated in never really reached epic Bridezilla levels (btw, who are these people and what makes them think that because it is 'their day' the world needs to revolve around them and they can be rude and abusive to everyone - and why don't the grooms have sense enough to run screaming from these crazy women? And more importantly, how long do you think these marriages actually last?), especially the rehearsals were fraught with tension, tears, and this whacked out sense that everything had to be absolutely perfect..and the world as we know it would end if the bridesmaids spacing as they walked down the aisle was not perfect.

Often the culprit was not the bride herself but the bride's mother. After my first rehearsal when a tiny flowergirl and ringbearer who couldn't have been more than three years old were reduced to tears because they couldn't understand the concept that the flowergirl was not to begin walking until the ringbearer had passed six pews in the church and they wanted to walk together (and I'm not sure they could even count to six) that I instituted a few rules, I probably said them a bit nicer but the general jist was this:

1. I was in charge of the rehearsal. I had met previously with the bride and groom and had a good sense of what they wanted and they knew going in that this was a rule. Suggestions for changes during the rehearsal had to come through the bride and groom. All my brides mentioned afterwards that they appreciated this so much because their mothers had been driving them crazy.

2. Since it was obvious in some cases that the party had started long before the rehearsal and there wasn't a chance in hell that anyone would remember where to stand when the time came, I used the old theater trick of masking tape on the floor to indicate their marks. Simple: find the X with your name on it and stand there.

3. The third rule was the most important. Relax - remember why you are here and this is just 30 minutes of the rest of your life and stuff may go wrong. The groomsman may wake up with an ear infection causing such vertigo that he spends the wedding time in the ER instead of the church. The videographer's equipment may fall with such an impressive crash it sounded like a bomb. A passing thunderstorm my make you have to scream your vows so folks can hear them. There is a lot you can't control in this 30 minutes as well as in life. What better time to have things go to hell when you have your family and friends around supporting you.

All that said, I would have loved to work with the couple in the video. They truly seemed to understand that the day was about joy and happiness and dancing and not whether the flowers were a shade off, or the fake eyelashes were falling off, or the flowergirl could not count to six.

19 Days to Japan

2009-07-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

In honor of upcoming Japan trip Demetria sent me this link to crazy Japanese commercials. Enjoy

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/21/the-9-craziest-japanese-a_n_241957.html

Racial Profiling - Harvard Style

2009-07-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/20/henry-louis-gates-jr-arre_n_241407.html

There is so much wrong with this incident it's hard to list them all.

I may not know all my neighbors personally but I recognize them and would not call the police if I saw one of them trying to get into their own house.

It is neither unreasonable nor illegal to ask a police officer for his/her name and badge number. Dr. Gates provided his identification. The officer was obligated to provide his information.

It is neither unreasonable nor illegal to become angry when confronted by the police in one's own home for trying to unstick the front door. Especially after a long flight from China. One wonders if the cop has flown anywhere lately - or ever.

We may have an African-American president who happened to have graduated from Harvard Law but we still have a long, long way to go. Harvard does not have a great recent record - a professor questioned for simply walking across Harvard Yard; an African-American woman denied the degree she earned because someone from the old neighborhood showed up on campus dealing drugs and killed someone. I will not argue that was a horrible crime but I can't help but wonder if this young woman had been a rich white legacy student and a friend from her rich white neighborhood showed up and killed someone in a drug deal gone wrong the outcome would have been different. I'm guessing the legacy would have gotten his/her degree and there would have been some kind of cover-up.

Dr. Gates deserves an apology from the Cambridge PD. They were way out of line and Dr. Gates' reaction was completely understandable. and anyone who argues that this incident wasn't racially motivated is lying or stupid.

Sashimi

2009-07-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

This is what I am craving at the moment.

I am hesitant to eat much raw fish here in America but in Japan I can't get enough. And here is the kicker. A year or so ago there was an article in Vanity Fair about the fish auction in Tokyo. It seems like all that lovely raw tuna that is so fabulous in Japan but that I have serious doubts about in Connecticut starts it journey at the fish auction in my hometown, Gloucester, Massachusetts. Then it goes to the airport where it is flown to Tokyo and sold to the restaurants. All this travel doesn't seem to affect the freshness and overall deliciousness of the fish.

So that makes me wonder if I should be less concerned here; but then I wonder if what we get here travels back from Japan. That could be too much flying for the fish. And then there is the issue of volume. Not many people around here will eat raw fish so it is likely to sit around longer getting that not-so-fresh fish funk.

At any rate, in about three weeks I will be in Japan and will be able to satisfy my craving. Maybe some of the fish I will be eating when I get there will be on the same flight over.

Can You Spell P-H-O-T-O-S-H-O-P?

2009-07-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

Even though this is a horrifically bad picture (I was juggling the grocery scanner and the iPhone), this has got to qualify for one of the worst photoshop jobs EVER!!

Suffice it to say if that body actually belongs to Khloe Kardashian, then I am Twiggy - Twiggy from the 60's Carnaby Street era - not Twiggy from ANTM.

I didn't know there was a Khloe Kardashian bobble-head.

Maddow vs. Buchanan - last night MSNBC

2009-07-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

Great exchange last night when Pat Buchanan tried to convince Rachel Maddow that white men 'deserve' preference in American life because 100% white men signed the Declaration of Independence, blah, blah, blah. Rachel is amazing in how she handles his raving lunacy.

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8004316/

Thoughts on 'Retirement"'

2009-07-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

Karl turns 62 in October and we have been talking about retirement. I have lots of mixed feelings.

Old people retire. I don't consider us old. But retirement, for all its good points, raises the issue or mortality and I'm not ready for either of us to be mortal just yet.

It would be nice to have entire days and weeks to do whatever we want, on no one's schedule but our own. To go away for a week and only have to consider boarding the dog rather than boarding the dog and what stage my work projects are at and who will see Karl's patients and how many paid time off days we have left and is this a wise use of them because what if we have to use them for sick time.

I have always said I didn't want to end up like my mother. She died at age 75 and was still working full-time. Since she lived alone, the only indication that something had happened was she didn't show up for work. While it was good that her co-workers drove over to check on her and called the police when they found her apartment locked and her car in the driveway, it was bad that she never had a break from work to develop a hobby she could enjoy or travel or just spend a day at the beach with a book.

Then there is the age thing. Karl is eight years older and while that's not really a significant difference it does make the mathematics of retirement a bit trickier. We both would like to be able to have time together, to enjoy ourselves, and to do things, travel especially, while we are still healthy and active. But if I retire at 62, I get significantly less Social Security than if I work until 67. But when I am 62, Karl is already 70 and when I am 67, he's 75. Clearly there are no guarantees but things seem more tenuous when your age has a 7 as the first number - and yes, I know, people are healthy and active well into their 70's and 80's and I have no reason to believe that will not be the case with us since we are both in good health and take care of ourselves. It just seems somewhat risky to wait and not carpe diem for the sake of a few thousand dollars a month.

This whole line of thinking is weird and depressing. I feel like even thinking about this is killing us off before our time. But on the other hand the idea of freedom for the daily 9-5 work routine makes me happy.

I confess I got kind of excited the other day when he said he thought he would retire at the traditional 65 and maybe I should just retire at the same time. That's only three years away!!!

RE: But Is It Art?

2009-07-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

Lorimarsha has an interesting post on her blog (link on the bloglist to the left) from Denis Dutton's book The Art Instinct listing some criteria for determining what is art. Even though I ask that question myself at times I have a visceral negative reaction to those people who look at a piece of art in a gallery or museum and say 'my kid could do that.' If you don't care for the piece or if it doesn't speak to you that's one thing. But the 'my kid could do that' attitude is insulting and dismissive to the artist.

I saw DuChamp's Fountain in the Dada Exhibit both at MOMA and the National Gallery (I thought the National Gallery did a much better job with the exhibit). I agree with Dutton that as as a Dadaist gesture, it is brilliant.

Infectoid

2009-07-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

So last week I had a bit of oral surgery and I have felt kind of under the weather since. Not really sick or feverish or anything - no pig flu - just out of sorts with a side helping of more pain than I would have expected. Today I had my stitches removed and lo and behold, I have a bit of infection (despite 5 days of antibiotics). So more antibiotics for another 5 days and hopefully that will get rid of it.

Random thoughts:

Sarah Palin: 'I'm not a quitter. I'm proving that by quitting."

Joe Biden: Biden speaks, Obama walks back what Biden says. Getting to be a pattern.

Jodi Rell (governor of CT): I thought she was kind of harmless when she took over after Rowland went to jail. Not so much, her policies are terrible.

Example of weird English on a t-shirt from Japan. It says 'Precious', 'Unbreakable', 'Realize'. The circle says 'There is no precious time like the present'. I have no comment. I think the shirt says it all. BTW, Char is the model.

Just Plain Dumb

2009-07-07T07:17:00.000-07:00

This guy is definitely in the running for the Darwin Award:

NORTH HAVEN — A man who allegedly used a shotgun to try to get rid of a tree limb in his backyard has been arrested.Antonio Chiaia, 74, of 9 Cricket Court, was arrested at his home Saturday morning after a neighbor reported he was discharging a shotgun in his yard, Capt. James Merrithew said.Chiaia told police he could not reach the tree limb with a saw, so he was trying to remove it by shooting at it. The branch is still there, Merrithew said.The gun, a double-barrel 12-gauge, was seized, and Chiaia was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm and second-degree reckless endangerment. He is scheduled to appear July 16 in Superior Court in Meriden.

I'm Still Dressing Like It Is Winter

2009-07-07T05:06:00.000-07:00

This is my Wardrobe_Remix photo for today - July 7 - in the Northern Hemisphere - where it is supposed to be summer. I am so jealous of other people's summery outfits. I think Mother Nature has abandoned us to her Evil Twin. I can count the nice weather days on the fingers on one hand. Save us from this madness!!!

Red Purse

2009-06-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

I have been on a quest for a red purse. I had two requirements - cheap and preferably vegan and vintage - okay that's maybe three. Not that I am rabidly anti-leather, I wear leather but not all the time. And not that I am committed to all things vintage but for something I will only use occasionally (I like to rotate my bags but not necessarily in a 'matchy-matchy to the outfit' way), I think it is entirely reasonable to reuse something that already exists rather than buy something new and encourage the landfill shops (I stole that term from the fabulous Middle-aged Teacher).

So after much searching and a week of it sitting in my Etsy favorites, this is what I decided on. I like the shape, it's kind of unusual and I love the outside pockets for keys, phone, keycard, etc. It's from ThreeChicksVintage on Etsy.com. They have some cool stuff. I hope it gets here soon.

Nothing to blog about

2009-06-23T05:24:00.000-07:00

Normally I wait until I actually have something to say before I blog. That means blog entries are few and far between. So I decided to blog daily even if it is simply trivia. Still probably a decent discipline.

It's Tuesday morning. I haven't left for the office yet because I am waiting for an 8:30 conference call.

Just got a free year's subscription to Lucky magazine because it came free with tee shirts I got Mr. Elfcookie from Amazon. Hopefully it will still be publishing in a year.

Excited that Gil Simmons on Channel 8 said that actual summer weather is coming. I am so jealous of the folks in the wardrobe_remix group that can wear cute summer stuff and I'm still dressing for March which is what it feels like - rainy, windy and cold.

Just saw a really cute photo of a cutoff skirt with safety pins lining the pockets. Kudos to cuteness.

Speaking of cuteness - can't wait to see Rintarou in the flesh - or at least on Skype for now - in the flesh in August. We fly to Japan on our second wedding anniversary. No one can say we don't know how to celebrate!! 15 hour flight - non-stop from JFK to Tokyo.

How to Feel Like a Criminal

2009-04-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer #1: I think this country's War on Drugs has been a huge money-wasting failure. This is not just my opinion; the facts have been well documented.

Disclaimer #2: I think meth is an ugly drug and no one should use it. Ever. For any reason.

That said, yesterday I went to buy Sudafed to try to de-congest my head, get my eustachian tube functioning and hopefully stop listing to the right when I walk due to dizziness caused by middle-ear problems. This is the first time I have bought Sudafed in a long time. When I had Grave's Disease it was verboten. Since my surgery I can take it now.

Used to be you walked into the store and picked it up off the counter paid for it and went home. Because it is a key ingredient in the manufacture of meth the procedure is now somewhat different. Now you pick up a card from the counter and take it to the pharmacy where they proceed to examine your ID and make you sign a book. Only then will they unlock the secret stash drawer and give you your Sudafed. I was kind of waiting for the fingerprinting and strip search. Crazy.

A few weeks ago I had minor dental surgery and the oral surgeon gave me a prescription for Vicodin. No problem. Here is your highly addictive pain medication. We don't need to verify that you are the person whose name is on the prescription. We don't have to be sure you are not going to go out and sell the pills on the street. Just here you go and have a nice day.

But Sudafed on the other hand, is a different story. Because one ingredient can be used in the manufacture of another drug there must be restrictions. Ridiculous restrictions but restrictions none the less. And restrictions that can make a regular person like me feel as if I was doing something nefarious by buying a decongestant.

I was also brought up short a few years ago when using the self-checkout at the supermarket. Suddenly the computer voice boomed out, 'You are attempting to purchase an age restricted item. Please wait for cashier to verify your ID.' Turns out I had a bottle of Robitussin for Mr. Elfcookie's cold-related cough. Again, I am not 13 years old. I am not likely to be interested in robo-tripping. And again, I am being made to feel as if I am doing something nefarious.

I confess, Officer. I'm guilty. Of trying to unclog my head.

This Is What We Feared

2009-04-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

However the Jane Harman affair comes out, this is using wire-tapped conversations for political ends. This is what we feared would happen. This is what we were assured would not happen. This is what happened.

Real "Housewives" of NYC - Part the Third

2009-04-15T18:08:00.000-07:00

I have to lay off The Countess this week because, although she did not fail to deliver many mock worthy moments, her compatriots have been sadly neglected. I do have to mention the meeting with the woman who is 'helping her write', aka ghost-writing, her book about All Things Countessy. As The Countess droned on and on the poor woman looked as if she were wondering what happened to her dreams of life as a writer in New York. They seemed so bright and shiny back in Creative Writing class.

On to Kelly. Kelly Horseleatherface of the Sun Damaged Dermis is the 'new' 'housewife'. A single mother of two girls with strange names, Kelly does something but I'm not sure what. Apparently she writes for a magazine and plays at making jewelry for 20-something soccer moms to wear out to dinner with their husbands. I know, it didn't make sense when she said it on TV either. Oh, and by the way, when your boy toy says in his bumbling English that your applied-with-a-spatula make-up gets all over his face when you smooch? That's not a good thing.

Kelly and Bethenny have an ongoing bitch fight because Kelly didn't want her name on the invitation for Jill's charity shindig. Last week, Kelly invited Bethenny for a drink so she could shriek at her about how much she hates her. Kelly then met the boy toy for another drink and made horse-teefs at him for the rest of the night.

And what the f$%k was she doing running in the middle of the street? Passersby were turning around - yes, in NYC - to look at the crazy lady running amongst the taxis with a camera crew in the middle of the damn street. Oh, and she also went with Jill while Jill picked out at $16,000 handbag (Jill explained that what with the economy in the shitter an all, she was being frugal and not getting jewelry for her birthday this year.)

This was birthday week. Jill's and Alex's. Jill got the handbag as a gift from her sugar daddy/husband. Sugarpops also surprised her with a Mercedes SUV. She bitched because it didn't have an iPhone connector.

On the other side of the bridge in Brooklyn, Simon picked out a paltry pair of cheap-ass earrings (a mere $6K) for Alex. He then surprised her by taking her home. Quite the gift for surprise that. He wigged out in the car because the driver actually took them home instead of driving around the block first just to confuse Alex. I actually felt bad for Alex. It was obvious she was embarrassed to tears (literally) but she laughed it off in the joy of being surprised by being taken home to celebrate with cupcakes and the two strange, screaming blond creatures that live in their house. Must be some sort of exotic Brooklyn house pets.

FAIL!!! The Giant Souvenir Tee Shirt Project

2009-04-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: General consensus was that this was a FAIL. Oh, well. At least it didn't matter that there was egg dye on it before the night was done.

I was rooting around in a closet the other day looking for something and I found a couple of old men's XL souvenir tee shirts that I had come to own by various means. I have all the shirts I need for chores and gardening so before I put them into the Goodwill bin I decided to see if I could improve them and make them into something that could actually be worn in public.

My first attempt is above. The shirt in question is from a trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg a dozen years ago. I got the shirt to commemorate the fact that I was the only one not too scared to go on the roller coasters. I removed the sleeves and neckband and and used double fold bias tape in co-ordinating colors as trim.

View 1 is as is. Not sure I like the power rangers shoulders.

View 2 is layered over a long sleeve white tee and a black hoodie. It's still cool here. I think I will wear it to egg dyeing tonight.

The other shirt I found is purple (also XL) and says 'Support Your Local Feminist Bookstore' in white. I'm thinking lace and/or ruffles.

Real "Housewives" of NYC - Part the Second

2009-04-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, maybe this is the DVR version of live blogging but I can't resist. Another priceless Countess Moment this week. The Countess went to Brooklyn (oh my god, she was slumming) to a Girl's Club to teach the 'Smart Girls' about self esteem.

Sadly, before she could begin her schtick, the actual teacher had planned an exercise where each of the girl's wrote at least five things they liked about themselves. The Countess of course participated and ran out of paper making her list.

1. The Countess likes that she's 'likable', Where is she likable? I don't want to go there.

2. The Countess likes that she's 'funny, because (she) likes to tell jokes." Again, who thinks she's funny? Laughable, but certainly not funny.

3. The Countess likes that she's 'organized'. She says this with a crazy-assed scary-eye look. Monitor the woman's intake of substances made with beans that are grown in South America.

Not five seconds later it starts. 'Do you know anything about me? I'm a countess." Sweet Mother of God what is it with the title, woman? While some girls' eyes glaze over and other girls' eyes roll uncontrollably, she goes on and on about her (soon-to-be-ex. See Ethiopian sexpot in the previous post) husband's family and the Suez Canal and how he's related to the Statue of Liberty, blah, blah, blah.

After asking them what they would like to do with their lives, she belittles their answers, calling a girl who wants to be a babysitter, 'cute'. A very overweight 10-year-old who wants to be a model is told that she will certainly be tall enough and has a beautiful face and that the 'losing weight part' is 'easy.' Really? Is it easy?

I never knew the true meaning of 'stunningly oblivious' until the next scene where she blatantly played to racial stereotype by mentioning that she noticed a gym on the way in and of course since the girls like to play basketball, she'd love to go on down to the gym and shoot some hoops with them - which she does - in stilettos - that probably cost what those kids' parents make in a month.

In the face time she reflects that the girls really appreciated her taking time out of her day to spend a few minutes with them to 'help' them. I feel for those poor girls. They had to endure an hour of hell with this woman for the sake of TV. But seriously, there no end to the awfulness that is The Countess?

Real "Housewives" of NYC - Part the First

2009-04-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's my dirty little secret. I watch this show. I actually DVR on Tuesday and watch it on Wednesday so I can relax with a glass of wine, watch the show sans commercials and read Richard's hysterical synopsis at Gawker.com in one sitting.

I tried to watch the RH of Orange County. I think I made it through part of one episode. I didn't watch the RH of Atlanta. But the RH of NY is like a train wreck I can't stop watching. These women are awful. With the exception of Bethenny I would not want to know any of them. But I seem to have embraced their horridness and thus my Wednesday night ritual.

For the uninitiated some basics:

Some of these women are wives - Bethenny and Kelly are single - but none of them seem to do anything remotely housewifey. Unless of course you count shopping, lunching, and bitching about one another. That pretty much sums up every episode.

The Cast:

Bethenny - Top of the list for coolness. She is some kind of celebrity chef who was on the cover of some snooty magazine in the Hamptons when this season began. She is totally in your face; a no nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is type. One reviewer said she functions like a smart-aleck Greek chorus injecting a snarky common sense into the madness generated by her co-stars, the rest of the 'housewives'.

The Countess LuAnn - married to some 3rd rate French Count geezer who is somehow related to the Statue of Liberty. His 4th wife, I believe and in the real world, not the TV world, this week he dumped her via email for a much younger Ethiopian sexpot he was courting in Geneva while his wife was in NYC doing countess-y things on a reality show). Countess LuAnn believes her lofty position gives her the gravitas to write the soon-to-be-released etiquette tome, "Class With The Countess." I am not making this up.

Favorite Countess moment - she and the oft-absent Count (see Ethiopian sexpot reference above) were being honored by some random charity at some random Hamptons shindig. At her table, The Countess bitched incessantly because the woman who introduced her didn't use the title 'Countess' enough times. Then, annoyed that the other attendees were talking while the charity woman was speaking, she got up, grabbed the microphone and basically told everyone to shut the f&*k up. After which she returned to her table and proceeded to talk loudly to her tablemates while the poor charity woman gamely tried to finish her speech. Bethenny's take: it wasn't very 'countessy' in fact 'it was discountess'. This is why I love Bethenny.

Second favorite Countess moment: The Discountess's meal ticket (see Ethiopian sexpot reference above)/daughter is off to boarding school in the fall and while it is still summer in the damn Hamptons, Countess LuAnn decides to host a luncheon for the girl and her friends. About a dozen 14-year-old girls, looking extremely uncomfortable, arrive at the tent where lunch is to be served. The Discountess's daughter appears to be praying for the Hellmouth to open and loose the demons on them all.

Instead of the Hellmouth, however, the Discountess's mouth opens and proceeds to berate the poor girls for there abominable etiquette; 'YOU, close your mouth when you chew' - YOU, elbows off the table.' In her face time with the camera she self=righteously explains that she has done these girls a wonderful service by pointing out to them their egregious table manners and they are extraordinarily privileged to be in the presence of A Countess who is willing to help the poor dears. Not all girls are so blessed. Again, I am not making this up.

Okay so we've covered Bethenny and The Discountess and this post is already way to long. More to come on Ramona, Alex/Simon, Jill and Kelly Leatherface later.....

YAY! Rupert is Not Sick!!

2009-03-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

The vet thinks he is okay. Maybe a touch of pancreatitis or gastroenteritis. He suggested I bring in a urine sample in the next few weeks just to be absolutely sure.

The mechanics of getting a urine sample from a dog is puzzling. The only way I can think of is to chase him with a paper cup and stick it under him when he lifts his leg. I am sure he will enjoy that immensely.

Any other suggestions??

Is Rupert Sick?

2009-03-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

Rupert is going to the vet tomorrow to be checked for diabetes. He seems to have some but not all of the symptoms so I think it's a good idea to have him checked out.

Here is what happened. On Sunday he threw up and didn't eat but was drinking water like crazy. I thought it was just because he made himself sick on something on Saturday. He didn't eat until Tuesday but he is still drinking more water than usual. He ate yesterday and today he threw up again. He is not acting sick at all though.

Mr. Elfcookie doesn't think it's diabetes. He says he would be peeing more, eating more, and losing weight in addition to the drinking. He is not doing any of those things. Maybe I am just being overcautious. But diabetes is treatable in dogs if it's caught early so this will not be horrible news.

At any rate he is due for his Lyme Disease booster and we need a replacement rabies tag.

AAHHH!!! SPARKS IN MY BRAIN!!!!!!!

2009-03-06T14:20:00.000-08:00

PLUS

PLUGGED INTO THIS

IN A VERY DRY HOUSE

EQUALS

Wild Animals are WILD

2009-02-27T13:59:00.001-08:00

This is a wild animal. In this picture the wild chimp is eating a wild monkey. They are both wild animals.

I've refrained from writing about the chimp incident because too much has already been said and none of it has added much to the conversation. In addition, lawmakers and politicians frantically are trying to pass monkey legislation on the state and national level. Suffice it to say the woman had an inappropriate relationship with the chimp (a glass of wine, a bath together, then a snuggle in bed). But clearly this was a sad, troubled woman; having lost a daughter the chimp filled a void in her life.

But I am not so much focused on the incident, tragic though it was. I am more concerned with the issue of people keeping inappropriate animals as pets.

Whether we like it or not certain animals at this time are bred primarily as pets. These are domesticated animals who over a period of time came to prefer living inside and being fed over prowling the countryside and finding their own food. In exchange for shelter and food they provide humans with companionship. I don't know what animals experts would consider 'domesticated.' My list doesn't go far beyond dogs and cats.

Other animals are not domesticated; they are wild. This category includes chimpanzees and wolves and alligators and countless other animals that live in cages and terrariums

We have an internal social/professional networking site at my company. I belong to the dog lovers group. Today, in the midst of a heated exchange about pit bull as pet, someone mentioned a friend who had a timber wolf as a house pet. It is 98% wolf and the rest is dog. This person stopped going to the house after the wolf attacked him for the second time. Apparently owning a timber wolf is legal in their state. A wolf is not a dog. A wolf is a wild animal. Wild animals are not suitable as pets.

Most of the folks who keep wild animals as pets probably consider themselves animal lovers. However much they say they love animals, they certainly don't respect them. Respecting an animal involves appreciating it for what it is and where it is most comfortable living according to its own instincts. It does not include forcing an animal into an environment where its natural instincts are stifled. Chimps live in the jungle; they don't wear clothes, they don't drink wine out of stemmed wineglasses. They swing from trees and eat other animals. They attack when they feel threatened. No one can train a wild animal to live apart from its instincts, be it a circus, a Las Vegas nightclub act, or a lonely woman who craves a lost child and have it end well for the animal or the handler.

Respecting animals does not involve taking wild animals into our homes and trying to conform them to our wishes. Respecting animals involves creating conditions where they can live well as what they are. It involves working to save the rain forests, protecting habitats, opposing offshore drilling, avoiding the products of factory fishing and agribusiness as much as possible. It doesn't necessarily mean becoming vegetarian or vegan although some make that choice. It means being responsible for knowing that the steak you just bought at the supermarket came from a cow who was forced, against its nature, to eat corn instead of grass, and then was shot full of antibiotics to keep it from dying from eating the corn instead of the grass it was designed to eat. It means looking for alternatives, buying fresh and locally whenever possible.

Pets are pets. For good or ill that is how they have adapted. Get a dog. Get 10 if you can responsibly care for ten. But for all animals' sakes, don't keep wild animals as pets.

Please God Let It Be Spring Soon

2009-02-10T04:23:00.001-08:00

Pretty pic of sunrise while Rupert was pooping.

Hopefully the pretty picture will offset my depressed, irritated rantings.

I have a question. What is the purpose of February? It has Valentine's Day, a day that some people enjoy but others find it heinous. It has Dead President's, oops, President's Day which is only a holiday if you work in government or banking. Beyond that the most positive aspect is that it is shorter than the other months.

Above sunset not withstanding, when I look out my front door I see a grim patchwork of dirty snow, muddy grass, and salt and sand covered pavement. It is still cold although tomorrow is supposed to be 55 F but raining. But hopefully that will take care of most of the dirty snow.

Anyway, today I am feeling about as grim as the view outside the front door. I NEED ME SOME SPRING!!!!!!!!!!

Ede and The Esthers

2009-02-08T15:17:00.001-08:00

Leaving aside what it says about my 20-year-old self that I preferred the company of my grandmother's friends to friends my own age, my last post got me thinking about my grandmother Ede and The Esthers, Esther K and Esther A. The Esthers were neighbors and also attended the same small church as my family. Esther K was a year-round resident; Esther A wintered in Florida.

Esther K taught me to crochet. Esther A taught me to play canasta. My grandmother taught me not to put up with shit from men. Now if you've gone all Friday-Night-Knitting-Club on me and are imagining that sharing-of-female-wisdom-across-the-generations that goes on in all our Book Club books, stop. Get that image out of your head right now. Mostly we shared snarky gossip about neighbors and fellow church-goers and I complained about my seemingly endless supply of loser boyfriends (I didn't listen so well to Nana in those days.)

Even more entertaining was that my grandmother was always mad at one or both of The Esthers. Frequently The Esthers were mad at each other and tried to recruit my grandmother and me to one or the other side. Usually it started on the phone. One of them took offense at some minor, and I do mean minor, slight, hung up on the other, and they were off and running. I'd listen to my grandmother's version of the conversation in apparently perfect word-for-word detail. Later on I'd wander over to visit whichever Esther was the offender/offended to get her side. It still amazes me that women in their seventies could act like such middle-schoolers. Ede complained that Esther A called Esther K on Monday and Tuesday but didn't call her until Wednesday. Esther K complained that Esther A was so busy at church introducing her house guest to the pastor that she didn't introduce the guest to her. Esther K and Ede thought Esther A 'put on airs'. Esther A thought Esther K was bossy. The Esthers thought Ede was a busybody.

These women were in their eighth decade, not in eighth grade.

I guess if there was any wisdom to be learned from my time with Ede and The Esthers beyond how to crochet, how to play canasta, and not to take shit from men, it is that being old doesn't automatically mean being grown up - and I don't mean that in a necessarily good way. As I move closer to their age that may be an important lesson.

Handicrafty

2009-02-08T07:04:00.000-08:00

Apropos of nothing other than the mere fact that I haven't posted for an obscene length of time, I discovered yesterday that I remember how to crochet. It has been at least 20 years since I crocheted anything - and back then it was delicate doilies and antimacassars, but the above is my double crochet - maybe not perfect but pretty darn good for not having picked up a hook in a while.

I have also been re-teaching myself how to knit and that is having mixed results. I did knit much less than I crocheted so I think muscle memory is key here. Of course, yesterday when I tried to figure out how to do a double crochet stitch I immediately went to the illustration and written directions. After a half hour of failure and frustration I took a deep breath, closed the instruction book, and using what I had gleaned from the previous half hour, sat back and relied on muscle memory. Before I knew it I had finished a whole row.

But I think the fact that crochet comes more easily to me is based a lot on who taught me. My grandmother crocheted but her friend, Esther K. (as opposed to Esther A.) taught me. I sat in her living room hours during breaks from college while she taught me how to make my afghans rectangular instead of 'blobular' and fed me tea and cookies.

When someone attempts to teach a family member, higher than normal expectations combine with higher than normal desire to please to create at best, an unstable learning environment. I am definitely a better crochet-er because of Esther K. The knitting I will have to master on my own.

Lamenting the Lack of Blogworthy Events

2008-12-17T04:56:00.000-08:00

Even if there were Blogworthy events, I'm not sure I would have had the time to write about them.

1. Too much work

2. Too many concert rehearsals (over at last)

3. Too much general laziness

4. Time off next week - maybe blogging will happen

If not Happy, Healthy Holidays!!!

Love and Marriage

2008-11-13T07:22:00.000-08:00

The pictures in today's paper of crying, happy, smiling couples getting married yesterday made me happy. Yesterday was the first day my state, Connecticut, allowed same sex marriages. Yet it can't be too far from any one's mind that what is permitted now in Connecticut has been taken away in California - not just up-front banned - a right that had been previously granted by the courts has been taken away - revoked as a result of a well-financed coalition of special interest groups.

Additional states have passed ballot initiatives to revise their constitutions to expressly take rights away from same sex couples.

Particularly disturbing is an initiative passed in Arkansas that prohibits couples co-habiting outside a legal marriage from becoming foster or adoptive parents. While this applies to both homosexual and heterosexual couples, according to the NYT, the intent of the backers was expressly to thwart the 'gay agenda'. As a result approximately 3700 children in state custody who have been abandoned, neglected or abused by their heterosexual parents are being doubly punished; denied the potential of a loving home because of bigotry and hatred and fear.

I was particularly moved by Keith Olbermann's Special Comment the other night on Prop 8. I plan on emailing the link to everyone I know. I think Keith says it all.

www.msnbc.msn/id/3036677/#27652443 (you will have to copy and paste in your browser since I haven't figured out how to embed the video)

Today I am Proud to be American

2008-11-05T15:37:00.001-08:00

After 8 long years, I kept thinking of Ford saying about Watergate, 'our long national nightmare is over'

Is the Slime Indeed Bottomless?

2008-10-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

Fake Virginia vs. Real Virginia

Anti-America vs. Pro-America

Godless Money vs. ??? WHAT???

I would have posted a link to the video if I could figure out how. It's on YouTube.

The Final Weeks of High School

2008-10-29T04:44:00.000-07:00

Admittedly I spent my final days of high school skipping classes and hanging out with my friends at a beach so remote the Vice-Principal would have had to be in a boat on the water to find us.

The final days of this election cycle is populated with perhaps the archetypes of high school seniors in the final days of school.

Bush:

Bad case of senioritis. No friends to hang out at the beach with. Most likely to attempt some huge destructive prank before graduation.

Palin:

The kid who pulls the fire alarm and calls in the bomb scares just to be disruptive. (Note: when I was in high school bomb scares were: a. more frequent than fire drills, b. taken less seriously than fire drills, and c. unlikely to be covered by our local paper much less become a media event.

McCain:

Palin's creepy anti-social boyfriend who she is openly cheating on. He is the angry, dispirited kid who just wants everything to be over. This kid was never a good student, not an athlete, never found a social niche, and lives with the scars of some long-ago childhood abuse. He shows up at school most days but may as well be invisible.

Obama:

He reminds me of a specific person rather than a 'type'. Our yearbook editor was a girl named Sandy. Sandy was a tad under 5 feet tall and renowned for the number of books she could carry home to study. And not 'study' as in 'do the assigned homework' but 'study' in the sense of do more work than required and learn more about the topic than possibly the teacher. Even with the yearbook safely at the printer, the college deposit sent in, and her position as class valedictorian assured, Sandy was still writing papers, still studying for tests and still showing up for class (or so I heard from the beach) prepared and ready to discuss the topic of the day.

Obama must remain like Sandy. No letting up until the diploma is safely in hand, belongings are moved into the college dorm room and class registration is complete. Then maybe a coffee break of an hour or two, but surely no partying away the first semester. The same level of commitment shown in high school must be evident on Day One of college.

Designer Hockey Mom Duds

2008-10-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

Not sure I know of any other grade-schoolers who carry Louis Vuitton. But maybe she's just carrying it for her mom. Wait, I didn't know hockey moms wore Valentino (and I swear I would have blanked out the face if I could have and still made the point). Maybe this only happens in the 'real', 'pro-America' America. Surely not in the 'fake' America where I live (outside of Fairfield County, that is)!

$150,000 for clothes, hair and make-up? Did Joe Biden get a multi-thousand dollar makeover? Just sayin', you betcha, also.

Coolest Dogs Ever!!! (After Rupert the Noisy, of course)

2008-10-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

I was not aware of this breed but a co-worker has two of them so I looked them up on Google images. This is a Bergamasco and it bears a striking resemblance to a dust mop - in a good way.

I had to include a picture of Rupert lest he be offended. This is the 'why are you waking me up to take my picture' look. About two seconds later he was barking like a lunatic at the mail carrier.

Reasons to Love Fall

2008-10-18T07:40:00.001-07:00

Twisted Logic

2008-10-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

Much has been made over Barack Obama's middle name. The yahoos at the McCain/Palin rallies just love to refer to him as Barack Hussein Obama. Clearly this is an attempt not only to portray him as 'other' but also to link him to that other Hussein (psst, you know which one). Saddam Hussein was an enemy of America. Obama's middle name is Hussein. Therefore Obama is an enemy of America.

Using that twisted logic, since my middle name is Edith, I must be a 'dingbat'. Non-religious Hubby (middle name Peter) must have some hugely Catholic leanings or at some point caught a wolf by the tail. And, Becki, have you been hanging around in Oz again with Rupert look-alike Toto, a scarecrow, a lion, and a tin man???

So the only conclusion we can come to, using this McCain campaign logic is that John McCain is gay. His middle name is Sidney. From 1981-1983 there was a TV show called Love, Sidney in which the title character, an artist played by Tony Randall, was gay. There you have it. The character Sidney was gay. McCain's middle name is Sidney. Therefore McCain is gay.

Road Work

2008-10-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

I know the city/state or whoever owns the road is trying to save money on overtime, but it just doesn't seem like a good idea to repave the major access road to the highway on a weekday at rush hour. Saw and heard lots of road rage on my way to physical therapy this morning. Took the back roads home.

(This is not a picture of the actual road....this is Google image)

I Want to Knit Again

2008-10-05T08:13:00.001-07:00

This is the Icebreaker speech I gave at Toastmasters a couple of weeks ago:

"I have not knit in over 20 years. The last time I knit I made myself a sweater. It was a very nice sweater but it had very long arms. Now I have long arms so normally that would not be a problem but this sweater was made from a stretchy mohair yarn so each time I wore it and had it dry cleaned the sleeves got longer and longer and longer until finally they were a good foot longer than my actual arms. I eventually had to get rid of the sweater and I haven’t knit anything since.

But when my book club read The Friday Night Knitting Club and decided that in addition to discussing the book we would all begin a knitting project I got excited. The book was quite enjoyable and I began to have visions of the scarves and wraps and shawls and bags I would knit in fabulous silk, cotton and wool yarns. I had already decided that I was giving up on sleeves so sweaters would no longer be an option. I was pumped. Unfortunately, due to family commitments I was unable to attend the book club meeting but I did get a report from my friend Karen who picked both the book and the project.

The project, a scarf, was billed as a two hour effort; all ‘knit’ stitches, nothing fancy, no purls, no yarn-overs, no slip stitches or anything complicated. It was knit with a double strand of yarn so the idea was to pull one end from the outside of the skein and one end from the inside, hold them together and knit with the two strands. This is harder than it sounds. According to Karen much wine-fueled hilarity ensued as the yarn got increasingly more and more tangled. Eventually everyone managed to get untangled, cast on the 12 stitches and even actually knit a row or two. The evening was declared a success.

The next day Karen dropped my yarn and knitting needles off at my house so I could catch up. I read the directions, discovered that I had the wrong size needles, decided that I would cast on 14 stitches instead of 12 to make up for using slightly smaller needles and then I set to work. The outside end of the yarn was easy to find. I began to root around inside the skein to find the inside end. Then the tangling began. Two hour project indeed. After two hours all I had was a mess. I was supposed to have a scarf not a bagful of purple spaghetti.

Every night I tried to untangle the yarn with less and less success. Eventually my daughter, who, incidentally, was effortlessly creating a mohair and cotton confection with a definite lacy pattern on scary-looking double ended needles, suggested I cut the yarn at the knot and keep trying. I thought cutting was the easy way out so I soldiered on. Still I had no success.

My husband is a casual fisherman. Fishing lines frequently get tangled and he is quite good at getting them untangled. I thought that if I sat on the sofa with my purple pile of spaghetti and looked sad he might take pity on me and do the untangling for me. Sadly he did not rise to the bait.

Eventually I cut the yarn but it still didn’t help. Time was running out. It was two days before our next meeting and everyone supposedly was bringing their projects. I didn’t have a project; I had a mess. So I did what any sane person would do, and what I should have done sooner, I went to buy more yarn. This time I got two skeins so I would only have to deal with the outside end and the proper size needles. Then I got busy. Luckily by the time the meeting rolled around I had about 20 rows done and it actually was beginning to look like a scarf.

At the meeting we shared our projects, at least Karen and I did. The others said they ‘forgot’ to bring theirs but I think that was code for ‘I was embarrassed to bring mine.’

Karen decided against giving her scarf to her daughter-in-law as a birthday gift. It would likely send the wrong message as Karen had picked up a few stitches along the way and the shape of the scarf was definitely not rectangular. But she is thinking about a baby sweater for an expected grandchild and I still have the visions of scarves and shawls, so I think I will continue.

Our next book is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I hope this doesn’t involve cooking."

Here is my finished project:

I have a new project. It is supposed to be a felted hobo-style bag. Clearly I have not made much progress.

Bud & Clamato

2008-10-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

I found this a while back when Becki and Sho were here. For the uninitiated Clamato is clam flavored tomato juice and Bud is, well Bud. Maybe this is a big hit I know nothing about but is it vile? You betcha.......

Self-reflection

2008-09-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

Not sure why I am posting this. I wrote it in a fit of self reflection brought on, I think, by a question my ex-husband's current wife asked about what I remember about a disastrous co-ministry my ex and I had many years ago. I've thought this and talked of it for a while but I haven't put it to paper (virtual tho it may be) 'til now. A fit of honesty can be good for the soul.

I went into the Christian ministry as a ‘fuck you’ to the religious tradition in which I grew up; a tradition that told me women were second class citizens, required to subjugate themselves to men.

For all their limitations and the difficulties in our relationship, I saw my mother and grandmother put a roof over our heads and food on our table every day of every year without the assistance of a man. I saw women come to church every week knowing that their husbands were waiting to beat the shit out of them when they got home because the husbands forbade them to go. These were damn strong women. And while I now may not share their beliefs I have to respect their strength.

These women were no second class citizens. They were under no obligation to subject themselves to abusive asshole husbands. They came to church for comfort and relief, yet they had no voice in a system that said only men had the right to speak; only men had the right to decide; only men had authority given by God over matters of the home and the church.

When I was 12 I asked my pastor if he would rather see a church close for want of a pastor or have a woman as pastor. He would prefer the church close. This was crap. As were the visiting preachers with their flow charts of ‘God’s Order for the Family’ with God as the head, Men next, and women and children together on the same bottom rung. More bullshit. More anger to fuel me.

I rebelled in the way I knew would piss them off the most. I signed up for seminary with the intention of becoming an ordained minister.

I graduated seminary cum laude. I had a baby in the middle of my studies and appalled male classmates by discreetly but unashamedly nursing her in classes where I was one of only a handful of women. I was a campus leader and agitator for the inclusion of women the great boys’ club of the church. I was ordained in the denomination of my choice.

I was serving as superintendent of the church’s Sunday School when I started school. One of the church's 'ministries' was to provide financial assistance to male seminarians. Their response to me was to inform me that I was no longer fit to have influence over the souls of the children since I was willfully and disobediently overturning God’s order.

Needless to say my future relations with that church were rocky. One of my greatest personal victories, as I defined 'victory' at the time, in this battle occurred when the church invited my then husband to preach on one of the weeks the pastor was on vacation. My mother, respected though no longer allowed to serve on a church board or committee on account of her being a woman and divorced and all and having no man under whose authority to operate, insisted that my husband would do no such thing unless I was invited to preach the next week. Surprisingly they caved and I preached from a pulpit to which, I was still officially denied access.

So I did it. I accomplished my great ‘fuck you’. I was good at doing the minister thing. Congregations liked me and respected me. And I was a phony. Not only was I there for the entirely wrong reasons, a personal kiss-off to a tradition I abhorred, I wasn’t sure that I believed what I was saying from the pulpit I had bullied my way into.

The end came in, as they say, the middle of success. I was serving as associate pastor of a moderately sized church. I did lots of counseling, a fair amount of preaching and married and buried a number of church folk. People trusted me. I stood up for the youth of the church, insisting they not be treated as mere children. I led well attended and well received bible studies. I served on statewide and national denominational committees. I was a great package. But I no longer believed any of it. And I played the part, week after week, month after month.

Until I got the letter. It was anonymous, slipped into my church mail slot on an ordinary day. It was a plea simply for me to pray for the writer. About what he/she didn’t say. He/she did say that the strength of my faith was evident and he/she knew that if I prayed God would surely listen.

Whoever the writer, whatever their sincerity, it suddenly hit me that while I didn’t take myself all that seriously in my role as minister, other people did and I had absolutely no right to do what I was doing to them. I had no right to allow them to trust in an illusion. I had no right.

So I left. At the time I said it was because I needed a job with health benefits since my husband had been laid off. However true that was, it was not the whole truth. I could no longer sell my soul to the church. I could no longer maintain my personal integrity and my position in the church. I had said ‘fuck you’ to a religious tradition. Big deal. I was miserable playing a role, lying to myself and to the people who looked to me for truth.

So now, many years later, I am a reasonably happy agnostic, trying to live not for Heaven but for the day, the moment; for this life and not the next; trying to do good where I can and not do harm when I can help it. And it feels right to define my life for myself and not as a fuck off to a magical way of thinking.

iTunes 8 Genius Feature

2008-09-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

ITunes 8 has a new feature called 'genius'. If you activate the feature you can select a song from your library and the program will create a playlist from your songs as well as suggest songs you might want to add from the iTunes Store (of course).

Being a geek, I tried it. I requested a playlist of 100 songs based on Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water. On a quick glance there are some choices that are spot on and some that are a tad puzzling. For example, between Elton John's Bennie and the Jets (possibly a questionable choice in and of itself) and Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell is Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera.

There are a few other choices that are a little bizarre considering the base genre: Barry Manilow's Mandy and Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go jump out as obvious weirdness. Why those particular songs are in my library at all can be a topic for another post.

It would be interesting to know the selection criteria Apple uses to create the lists. Then I would know if the choices are truly strange or just due to the limitations of my library. I am going to try a smaller result set and see what happens. And, yes, I realize this paragraph is incredibly geeky.

Bottom line, this looks like a fun feature to play with. So far I am having fun.

The Larson-Aldrich Dirty Dish Reduction Act

2008-09-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure about the science but I believe it to be at least anecdotally true that the amount of dirty dishes generated in a day increases exponentially with the addition of each person to a household.

At our house we have enacted The Larson-Aldrich Dirty Dish Reduction Act.

The residents of the Larson-Aldrich household are most kindly requested to observe the following guidelines.

A.) Each resident is allowed one coffee cup, one water glass and one glass for other beverages per day. These allotments must be reused for like beverages for the duration of the day. Beer glasses are exempt.

2.) Measuring cups and spoons should be cleaned and returned to their homes after each use.

Z.) If it possible to reuse a dish for a similar food, e.g. an english muffin plate used for breakfast can be re-used for a sandwich at lunch (or as they say in Osaka 'sandwitch').

These guidelines are entirely voluntary but in the interest of harmony and joy all residents should attempt to follow them as often as possible.

The View From Not There Part 1 - Shipley & Halmos

2008-09-06T07:57:00.000-07:00

I am playing with the idea of blogging my thoughts as I check out the slides of the runway shows on www.style.com.

I watched the Shipley & Halmos show today. On the women's side there was a lot of the same thing; shorts/skirt, tank, jacket-like thing. I did like the orange minidress and the ivory dress at the end of the show. Overall the clothes were cute and flirty without being too girly but not extraordinary.

I was more impressed by the men's offerings. Well tailored suits; I especially enjoyed the longer jacket in one of the slides. And I loved, loved, loved the narrow too-long pants. Such a relief after a couple of seasons of those horrific Thom Browne high-waters.

Gotta run to catch a couple more (virtual) shows before household chores.

Safari Joe and Some of His Girls

2008-09-05T04:18:00.000-07:00

Fashion Week starts today in New York and I am excited. I plan to spend this rainy weekend watching slide shows of all the shows. Speaking of fashion, Hubby (above) is quite the trendsetter (Click on the pic for a larger image). Actually the Granddaughters now call him Safari Joe. I guess in fairness I have to say that he is normally a well dressed person but that day started out cool (hence the long pants) but by the time we reached the Bronx Zoo it was pretty hot (hence the rolled up long pants). Even I can't explain the asymmetry of the socks. Looks like a gang sign to me but I can't figure out what gang. Anyway, I find this picture highly amusing and it demonstrates one of the reasons I love Hubby. He is not afraid to be a bit out there and I think this is a great example.

Rare Political Post

2008-08-27T04:33:00.001-07:00

This is not meant to be a political blog. But this post is slightly breaking the rules. (And the occasional political post will keep Becki up to date on what is happening on the home front.)

I watched Hillary's speech last night at the Dem Convention. If we had seen that Hillary on the stump; human, passionate, funny (and if she just hadn't voted for the damn Iraq war) she might have been on the podium as the nominee.

She came down hard on the Hillary supporters that threaten to vote for McSame - a real come-to-Jesus speech about how if they were in it for her they owe it to the country to move their support to Obama as she has.

She did a great job in a situation that had to be difficult for her. Brava!!!

And a note from Monday night - Sasha Obama is the just cutest thing.

Surviving the Maze

2008-08-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

We survived the sunflower maze today. A few rules:

1. Wear the bug spray. I could post pics of my bugbites but that would be gross.

2. Sunflowers are heavy. They also fall at about the same height as the human face. If you are following someone and the flowers are hanging over the path and the person you are following is pushing the flowers away they will whack you in the face on the way back. Do not follow too closely.

3. Don't be the person that has to be rescued from the maze at the end of the day by the staff.

4. Have fun.

Char-Gar's Engrish Tee Shirt

2008-08-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

I couldn't get a good pic with my phone but in addition to the above words of wisdom it says ZEALOUS - POSITIVE MOOD. I'll try to post a better pic later.

Sissy's Engrish Tee Shirt

2008-08-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

I know that I shall daily strive to be in my most charming aureate pomposity!!!!

You're So Vain????

2008-08-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

I am trying to wean myself off celebrity gossip sites. I decided that I didn't need mean-spiritedness cluttering up my soul at this point. I have moved on to fashion sites. I like the Sartorialist-type sites where a roving photographer finds a regular person on the street whose outfit is particularly fetching, snaps a picture and posts it on a blog. The commenters are mostly positive; even if they don't care for the outfit they will applaud the wearer's courage. There are few if any trolls. I have found new ways to wear some of the things in my closet.

Today I discovered there are sites where people take pictures of themselves in their own outfits and post them on a daily basis. Now initially, it seemed a little weird. Not that I wouldn't be tempted to do it on a day I felt I had accomplished a higher than normal level of sartorial splendor.

Now if a stranger wants to take your picture on the street because you put together an interesting outfit that's one thing. It's a compliment. Taking a picture of your own outfit and posting seems self-congratulatory in a slightly inappropriate way. On the other hand why not celebrate one's sense of personal style? No need to be a celebrity or model or designer to have style and flaunt it.

So maybe the concept is not so weird. People look. I look. Some find wardrobe inspiration and some just like the fact that these posters are brave enough to put themselves out there.

I'm Having This for Dinner - YUM

2008-08-06T06:26:00.000-07:00

The American National Costume

2008-08-06T05:21:00.000-07:00

Boston Daughter is spending fall semester at the University of Exeter, England. One of the mailings suggested that international students bring along their 'national costume'. That seems to be one thing we lack here in the U.S., although it is fun to speculate what an American national costume might look like. Here is what most of the world probably sees:

American National Costume - Female:

Capri length pants (alternative: mom jeans. If this option is selected the accompanying tee-shirt must be tucked in)

Tee or sweatshirt with flower appliques (alternate shirt design: puppies, kittens, grandchildren, or a large American flag)

White socks (preferably short in length - especially if choosing the capri option - leg must be visible between the top of the sock and the bottom of the pant)

Blindingly white Reebok sneakers

Visor (either hard plastic or fabric)

Fanny pack

Optional: oversized canvas tote for all the things accompanying male doesn't want to carry

American National Costume - Male

Shorts

Tee or sweatshirt with jingoistic or offensive slogan or large American flag (alternative: polo shirt with golf club, college or corporate logo)

Knee length socks (can be white, brown or black)

Blindingly white Reeboks (alternative: sandals...alternative 2: brown or black lace-up shoes)

Fanny pack

Camera (must be large and worn around neck)

Baseball style cap with, preferably, American sports team or military logo (alternative: golf club, college or corporate logo)

If traveling in a foreign country it is advisable that both the male and female costumes include a vinyl or canvas passport case worn on a lanyard like a necklace.

Those are my ideas. Anyone else?

Coincidence? I Think Not

2008-08-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

This can't be a coincidence. I DVR'd an episode of Shin Chan from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim last week. A few days later I got an email from Amazon.com telling me that Season 1, Part 1 of Shin Chan was available on DVD.

Looks like AT&T and Amazon are in cahoots.

Best Movie Musical EVER!!!

2008-07-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

I saw it this past weekend. I saw it the weekend before. I'm pretty sure I could see it again this coming weekend. Any takers?

(Hubby says once was plenty for him.)

Hopefully Karma is Not a Bitch

2008-07-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a classic ethical dilemma come to life. It is Sunday afternoon. There are about eight people on the subway car when a woman about 30 years old boards. She excuses herself and asks for everyones' attention. She then tells a story of how she fell asleep at the bus station and had all her money, credit cards, bus ticket, and insulin pens stolen. She stayed outside all night with nothing to eat or drink, she was scared. She says she called Travelers Aid and it would take three to seven business days to get her some help. What's more her dog is alone in her apartment and she has to be at work at 7 a.m. on Monday at a job she just started two weeks ago. She says a bus ticket is 11.99 and asks if anyone would be willing to give her one dollar toward bus fare home.

At the next stop a few more people get on and she repeats her story. This time she adds the detail that she is pregnant. Maybe she should have led with that.

If a panhandler on the street asks for money, it is easy to look away and ignore. In a subway car with only a dozen or so other people it's a tad more difficult.

Probably just another panhandler, albeit with a more detailed story. There are holes in the story; if she is an insulin dependent diabetic she would be in a coma if she hadn't had anything to eat or drink and such.

So there is a 99% chance she's a hustler. But what about the other 1%? What if what she says happened did happen? What if someone on the train who could give her $12 and not miss it? If she takes the money to buy drugs or booze, that's her choice. The giver chooses to do a good thing. The receiver chooses to do a bad thing. The receiver's choice shouldn't dictate the giver's, should it? Won't karma be favorable to the giver regardless?

OK, you can probably tell by the title of this post what choice I made. But I thought about it for a long time and I feel bad. I like to think I am a better person than I demonstrated and this is an open apology to that woman. Next time I think I'll take a chance on the 1%.

Congrats, Hubby

2008-07-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of Hubby receiving his service award for 30 years at the VA. Congratulations!!!

And Happy Birthday Char-Gar on turning 5.

Instructions for Visiting the Miyajima Monkeys

2008-07-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

And because I wish this blog to be educational, if you happen to visit the monkeys in Miyajima, Japan, please follow these simple instructions:

My New Hero

2008-07-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

For anyone who would argue that McCain is the NOT same as Bush, i.e. McSame (and I don't think anyone I know would actually argue that point), I offer you Exhibit A: Carol Kreck (pictured above). Kreck is a 60-year-old librarian who had the audacity to carry a hand-made sign reading "MCCAIN = BUSH" at a McCain campaign event in Denver.

Guess what happened. Venue security, acting on a request from McCain's staff (or the Secret Service, depending on who is telling the story), had this dangerous subversive removed from the Town Meeting and charged with trespassing. Does this sound disturbingly familiar? It should. We have already had nearly 8 years of not-so-free speech under Bushwhack. We don't need it for however many more years if McSame becomes president.

And in case anyone needs more evidence, this old familiar picture speaks for itself:

R.I.P. Cat

2008-07-09T05:28:00.000-07:00

Sadly we had to have our cat, Cat, put down last night. As close as we can figure she was about 18 years old and she had breast cancer. It was the right decision at the right time but still sad. She was a good cat.

Today's Spinning in His Grave Person of the Day: Thomas Jefferson

2008-07-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

When I posted yesterday I had no idea that Bushwhack was speaking yesterday at Monticello, Jefferson's home. Good old Tom must have done some massive grave spinning yesterday.

It was heartening to see that Bush actually had to witness the fact that people actually disagree with him. It's a sign of how much 'political capital' he has squandered that he can no longer be assured that his advance team can drag up enough true believers to fill an audience or that they can keep protesters out of sight and out of earshot. In addition to the Code Pink contingent at the event there were actually protesters on the motorcade route and not corralled as usual in a 'free speech' cage where they cannot be seen or heard by Bushie.

There's been some debate as to whether the swearing in of new citizens was an appropriate venue for protest. I'm not commenting on the appropriateness of the venue of protest but it is telling that Bush's response, less than a minute into his speech, about how we believe in free speech in America, was at best disingenuous and at worst, a flat out lie. 'We' might believe in free speech; it may be enshrined in our Constitution but since when has the Constitution been anything to Bush other than a minor inconvenience that can be ignored when it gets in the way of his imperial presidency?

January 20, 2009 cannot come soon enough.

July 4 Thoughts

2008-07-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

In 1821, in a letter to John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, reflecting on contemporaneous events in Europe wrote:

I shall not die without a hope that light and liberty are on steady advance...And even should the cloud of barbarism and despotism again obscure the science and liberties of Europe, this country remains to preserve and restore light and liberty to them. In short, the flames kindled on the 4^th of July, 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them.

Much to Jefferson's great sorrow, were he to know, in the past 7 1/2 years the cloud of despotism has obscured the science and liberty not of Europe, but of Jefferson's own beloved and hard-fought-for United States.

With the upcoming election. let's seek to rekindle the flames of freedom so that the engines of despotism that have recently been rebuilt in this country will indeed prove feeble and be consumed by the renewed and rekindled flames of liberty and light.

Obama, Osama and Matt Lauer

2008-06-30T15:22:00.001-07:00

I think he does it on purpose. This morning on the Today Show they ran a report on the newest search for Osama Bin Laden. When it was thrown back to Matt after the piece he immediately said 'Obama.......excuse me...........Osama........' and went on to talk about bin Laden. No stumbling on it, just out with it. As if there weren't enough folks already confused about Obama's name, Matt Lauer again pairs the next President of the United States with our greatest terror enemy. Do the Republicans pay him to do that or is he just a true believer?

BTW, thanks to D for catching this alleged 'slip'. If she hadn't noticed it as well, I might well think I need to make myself a tinfoil hat.......

Also, BTW, or BTW Part Deux, if you haven't already, RUN to the theater to see Wall-E. It is amazingly good. I wouldn't recommend it for really little kids; they may be bored or scared during the first half.

AWWWWWWW

2008-06-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

Is this the cutest thing you've ever seen, or what?

Larry Craig Moments

2008-06-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

Before Larry Craig took his wide stance into the men's room I, as a woman, would think nothing of reaching under the stall partition to give or receive that most precious gift a women's room can bestow, toilet paper. Women do this all the time. Women's rooms are notoriously short on paper and if you sit before you check, as I often do, you can be in trouble. But will this activity become suspect? I now think twice about asking for t.p. I am less nervous giving it when someone asks. I can plead innocence that the question, 'Could I have some toilet paper' also means 'Can we do the sexy times' especially if I am caught with wad in hand.

Today I had my mini-Larry Craig moment. Only it wasn't in a airport bathroom. It was in a department store fitting room. In taking off the shirt I was wearing, I inadvertently shot my Bluetooth ear thingie under the partition and into the fitting room next door. Not even thinking about it I reached under to get it. Only then did I notice that the room was occupied and the feet and the girlish giggle that occupied it were no more than 12-years-old. Shit! I grabbed the Bluetooth, lamely apologized and, had I not been half-undressed, would probably have just nonchalantly strolled out of the fitting room area. My thoughts were racing; what if the fitting room attendant or the security cameras saw that? What if they think I'm perverted instead of clumsy and call the police? One has to think about these things.

Alas, nothing happened. I finished my business, the girl finished hers and returned to her grandmother. (Oddly the grandmother was dressed totally in black with her hair arranged in white, Pippi Longstocking pony tails; but that, while an amusing image, has no relevance to the story). I have not been branded as the local Lorrie Craig and all is right with the world. Makes ya' think though.....

See No Evil

2008-06-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

I was in the checkout line at the supermarket yesterday and noticed that in addition to a couple of candy-free checkstands there was now a couple of 'Child Friendly Checkouts'. Apparently some parents don't want their precious little snowflakes seeing the moral decay represented by magazine covers. The store (as far as I know this is an individual store thing and not chain-wide) has printed up and laminated green signs that cover all of the magazines and state that this is, indeed, a child-friendly checkout. Now, okay, I can live with that if the magazines they are covering up are Maxim or Playgirl but we are talking about my faves, People, OK, Star, Us Weekly!!!!

I mean, the stories are trashy and morally decayed and if I had a six-year-old I probably wouldn't want her to read them. But the cover pictures are not really racy. I think this is a case of too much coddling of the precious snowflakes.

On the other hand, covering up Oprah, More and AARP may not be such a bad idea. (And I know they don't sell the AARP magazine in stores. Don't ask me how I know.) But Oprah and Goldie and Jamie Lee, all of these women with whom I share a decade. All looking fabulous. Maybe some young - er - ish - middle-aged women don't want to see these beautiful women. Maybe it makes them feel bad about themselves. If I do say so myself I look damn good for my age but I also know when the wrinkling and sagging does set in, I don't have the money to get it repaired. So here's to the 'Young - er - ish - Middle Aged Women Friendly Checkout.' Do you think they could fit that on a sign?

Those Good Old God Fearing Atheists

2008-06-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

An interesting survey was published today (recently?? I just read about it today) concerning religious belief. Seventy-five percent of people surveyed believe that heaven is a real place where good people are rewarded when they die. Sixty percent of people surveyed believe that hell is a real place where bad people are punished when they die. Nothing surprising here. However one out of five atheists believe in God. Excuse me, did you just say that twenty percent of ATHEISTS believe in GOD?

This is just impossible. Atheos, the root of atheist means 'a' = 'less' + 'theos' = God equals GOD-LESS. How does one who identifies him- or herself as 'godless' believe in God?

Are they confused? 'Agnostic' might be a better self-designator. Do they believe in God and just don't care? Maybe they should try on 'apathetic' for size. What is this?

I sometimes wonder if a presidential candidate, instead of pandering to the superstitious masses, came out and said they were an atheist? I don't believe the candidacy would last long. Who would the candidate pray to for guidance in difficult times? Who would the candidate thank for good times? Why is a candidate required to express belief of some sort in God?

Here are thoughts to ponder? Do we as Americans think that the person who we elect to office is so incompetent that only God can bail him out? No wait, we have that now and God doesn't seem to be doing any bailing. What about the concept of the founding fathers envisioning a christian nation?

Can we please stop conflating the Pilgrims and the Founding Fathers please......

The Pilgrims came here in 1620 looking for religious freedom, which roughly translated means to find a place where they could practice their version of religion without having to mess with folks who didn't agree with them. They sought to escape the official state religion and to practice their religion in their own way. So they came to America, almost died off and were saved by friendly natives who invented Thanksgiving. End of story.

Not end of story. Once they figured out they could survive here they immediately made their version religion the official state religion and everybody who lived in whatever village or town where the Puritans had plunked down a meetinghouse had to support said religion and said meetinghouse whether they shared the faith or not. Dissenters like Roger Williams had to go find somewhere else to live.

Roughly 150 years, give or take a few, after the pilgrims landed along came the Founding Fathers. The Founding Fathers were not the Pilgrims. The Founding Fathers were wealthy, male landowners, many educated in law and other professions. They didn't want to pay taxes to England and not have a say in what happened to them - no taxation without representation.

Long story short, they were aware of what was happening with the official church. They were aware that people of faith were in an analogous position vis a vis the church as they were with England. So they enshrined in the constitution the freedom of religion. Their intent was to allow people who dissented from the official church to dissent without threat of punishment.

R.I.P.

2008-06-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

R.I.P. George Carlin - you were one of the great ones.