Insectoid

So check out the little - well not little, he's the size of my thumb - dude in the front yard this morning. Normally I'd be freaked - it's a bug, yo - but we get decent insects so rarely in The Jungle - ants, flies and roaches mostly; some spiders - and he was outside, that I was intrigued instead. At least I think it's a he. Maybe it's a she? It's brown so that would suggest female - less colorful pattern - but it's huge, relatively, so that would suggest male? Does anyone know? It was on the orange tree if that narrows it down. This is me, curious.

Not At All Important

In fairness I should be blogging about the Presidential Debate that I did watch last night. but really, it's the same old promises and snide comments and talking in circles and making statements that don't have any suggestion of HOW it's going to be executed. I don't see any indication that either of them deserve to become the next President of the United States. I just don't.
What I have come to realize is that the kind of person who would BE a good President would never get to be because they don't know enough people, make enough deals, talk out of both sides of their mouth, or make up enough promises. So we get those who are crooked enough to get there, despite not being able to do the job.
I hope whoever gets elected proves me wrong. I doubt they will.
***********************************************************************************************
So on a completely frivolous note I discuss the season opener of ER.
And I know, it's days late, but still.
HOW COULD THEY KILL PRATT?
Is it written into the contracts that some doctor must die every season? 'Cuz I don't know if I would want to get involved with a show like that. And will Abby and Luca leave County and move to another state? I sort of want them to. Will County get closed down? That's a rumor I heard. What will Carter do when he comes back? Will he mess with Abby again? I really, really, REALLY hope not.
This is the last season you know.

This is me, divided, and yet not.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

::Onesome: "Goodbye,--Norma Jean"? Hmmm.... Best song ever? ...or did he top himself when he adapted it for Princess Diana?

• I was never too enthralled with either of them. The songs. But the first one made more sense to me. The second one was just a bid for attention.

::Twosome: Yellow--lights: run 'em or slam on the brakes? ...or do you plan your speed so you never hit them yellow? ...or maybe, "What yellow light, Officer?"

• I like to think of myself as a safe driver, so it all depends on the yellow light. Close enough to run it? Likelihood the left hand turn-er from the other lane will kill me if I do. Police officer nearby? Was I paying attention? Things like that make all the difference.

::Threesome: Brick Road--s and flying monkeys? Okay, did those things just creep you out? ...or were you one of those people who really, really, really wanted one for a pet? Just askin'...

• I was not creeped out by the flying monkeys. And after seeing Wicked, it all makes a certain kind of sense. Though I never did, and still don't want one for a pet. It's all make-believe you know.

This is me, too many memes for the week?

Who Plays On Thursday?

I do not like where this is going. It has been good for some moments, and not good for way too many more. Why can't we catch that little midget on the Oregon State team? He's so tiny we should just step on him and be done with it. It's REALLY getting on my nerves. And then there's the penalties and the muffed passes - hello Joe, what are YOU doing? - and the commentators still (always) bug me. Gah!!
I suppose I should be thankful it's a Pac-10 team we are losing to but I can't put a lot a enthusiasm into it. Yeah, make the rest of the country notice that we are a respectable conference, blah, blah, blah, but when they lose next week to a nothing team, this sacrifice will mean nothing.
And what is the deal with playing in the middle of the week? Who plays on a Thursday?
...
An interception is not going to get us anywhere boys. Crappity, crap, crap, crap.
...
And I don't like this new 40 second play clock, because NOW OSU can take the knee four times and use up the whole 1:16 left.

This is me, watching the chances for another National Championship title going down the drain.

Eight Is Great

The show: Too. Many. Dances. Thirteen couples is a lot of people to keep track of. Suffice it to say that there was lots of dancing, Cody and Julianne had an awesome song (I Want You To Want Me), Cloris was hilarious again, Bruno said Rocco had "hips of fury" and I was sad but not surprised when Jeffrey got sent home. Stupid way to open a season though; standing for two hours, no warm up time, and all the stress of wondering. Plus there was one more dance to do after we found out who was going home? Weird. Uncomfortable I would think.
The apology: Well, now I feel the right loser of a person. After crying like a child day before yesterday, Keah went and edited her blog so that I could shut the freak up and just post the meme. I am such a whiner. And she is such a nice person. I don't deserve to be her in my next life.
(And here I am whining again! Gah! Is there a whiners anonymous or a whiners rehab a person could check into?)
The meme as promised from two days ago:
8 Things I'm Passionate About

1. Tarzan
2. Family
3. The gospel
4. Wicked
5. Fairness
6. Anything Irish
7. Stephanie J. Block
8. College Football

8 Words Or Phrases I Say Often

1. Dude
2. Groovy
3. Oy
4. Seriously?
5. I love you three
6. What's up?
7. Bad kitty
8. Honey, can you reach that?

8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die

1. Cruise Greek islands
2. Visit Australia
3. Tour Europe
4. Have a bunch of kids
5. Remodel my house (this one or another one)
6. Serve a couples mission for the church
7. Have a big garden
8. Own a Saturn Sky convertible - in forest green

8 Things I Pray For

1. Peace
2. Our families
3. Tarzan
4. The neighborhood
5. Continued safety
6. The government
7. Continued health
8. The kids at church

8 Things I Have Learned

1. Tarzan is awesome
2. The proper equipment makes ALL the difference
3. I cannot tell a joke well
4. How to work the DVR
5. Humor is essential for all relationships
6. Pie crust is very temperamental
7. My thumb is only a little bit green
8. To not say everything I am thinking

and now I tag Rocketgirl, RHM and PhatFiddle.

This is me, tagged! Whoot.

Not The Meme You Were Expecting

Oh Keah, dear Keah; I am a loser. I am, I am, I am. And I will grovel appropriately tomorrow when I post the meme. It's done, but last night was the season opener of Dancing With The Stars and there has been a request for my opinion. And with the second half of the show airing tonight I should blog now or I will never get caught up.
First, Julianne and Cody. I think we've covered my view on Julianne enough to not reiterate the whole thing again. Cody seems funny though, so I may not hate them totally. Ew, on Julianne's dress. The cha-cha (why do they insist on calling it the cha-cha-cha - that is not the correct name of the dance.) was not bad. A lot of poses, not a lot of content. And "the flash of youth" (Bruno's metaphor, not mine) messed up in the middle there.
Can we let it go with the "combined ages" business? Jeepers, let's just rub it in everyone's face?
I think I can love Rocco and Karina is growing on me. Her dress also was ugly though. LOVED their song! Big Bad VooDoo Daddy all day, any day. I agree with Carrie-Ann, their foxtrot WAS cute. (What is up with her hair? Not liking that.) A little wild, but that could be nerves too.
I already love Alec and Toni didn't cop an attitude in her opening interview. I liked their cha-cha. My gut says it was good. She missed a few flourishes, but that is definitely nerves. Her feet weren't bad. I think they messed up one part but it wasn't obvious.
I didn't know Maurice Green was the guy who set his shoes on fire and Cheryl is, hands down, my favorite professional. And her hair is short again. Yay! They will have fun together. The foxtrot was good. Energetic for sure. My gut says, "head up and shoulders down, dude." But he can work on that. At least he's got rhythm.
Brooke seems to be a model with some potential. The last two on this show got sent home the first week. Total rip-off, but I'm not going back there. Derek seems to be maturing and I like that. He also seems to be a good teacher. I thought it was a good cha-cha. Nice combination of moves. She might need some more restraint in the upper, um, chest area...she's humble though. So sweet.
I'm with Tom, save some of the high numbers for next week.
Ted is going to be funny. He didn't really know what to do when they weren't in a hold, but when they were he was very graceful. I think he missed a step somewhere at the beginning, but a really nice ending. Inna hasn't been on the show before so I don't know if she knows the deal with showcasing a partner's talents or judging the audience. She seems nice enough.
Okay. Not entirely sure who is the professional and who the newbie in the Lance/Lacey combo. He seems really poised and she seems a little excited. She's got the moves, yet he has the stage presence. Not sure I am down with the "edge." Maybe it's just the costumes? Len didn't like it, as I figured, and I think it will lean more that direction when they get into the smooth dances. Two 8s? Really?
OMG, Cloris and Corky are so hilarious! Mostly Cloris. I hope she stays just for the amusement factor. I thought Carrie-Ann was going to hyperventilate. I'm gonna say no, though. Heel leads, heel leads, heel leads. I think she lost her balance once? And I see where Mark learned to sing along with the music. Not bad, she IS 82!
Oy. Jeffrey is another one who will be funny. He's got to speed it up though. It was a little slow. A lot slow. Cute. Funny. But not a lot of content and again, WHAT was Edyta wearing?
What is up with the Mickey Mouse gloves on Mark? Kim certainly doesn't lack for confidence, but her balance could be a problem. Their foxtrot was smooth. She seemed stiff maybe. Maybe it was that her head didn't move at all. The music was cute, and Mark is a really good choreographer.
Susan needs to unbend her arms, and speed it up. Tony is marvelous, always. She seemed stiff and nervous. I get that, it's really hard and she's not a spring chicken, but if she relaxes it will be better.
(Do you like how as the night goes on the reviews get shorter?)
Yay Maksim! So excited to have him back. He's so cute and so funny. Misty needs to work on her arms. Elbows, shoulders, wrists. Again with the sports chicks who have bad posture. Such different muscles. She certainly looks better on stage than in rehearsals, and I think they edit it that way on purpose.
Warren can move! He's got great feet, but he's a big man. He's going to have to work on the hips. But he also seems like a nice guy. Kym should not wear that outfit. It makes her look all top and no bottom. Which I suppose is not a bad thing if you're a guy, but it's very disproportional.
Whew, that was a long show. I almost forgot some of the first dancers.

This is me, settling in for the season.

Stealth Is Our Middle Name

While I LOVE that I got tagged and included in the meme thing - someone actually wants to hear my self absorbed ramblings - I don't know if I should link back to the tagger to show appreciation. I love her. I would love to meet her in Real Life. She's really cool and fun and practical. My kind of person. And I know how we all want validation for our blogs. Most of us do not have thousands of faithful readers, so we really, really, really want the lurkers to post once in a while. Red letter days for me are posts with more than three comments. Then I know I wrote a good piece. I think I've done it twice. So I want to post the link and maybe have some of my readers go and read her blog too.
But here's my deal.
It's all about the stealth. One of the things I loved most when I started reading blogs was the code names people thought up for themselves and their families. What a genius idea, thought I. Fun, cute, interesting AND it provided some moniker of protection in The Real World. I was so excited that our Internet identities came together so nicely. Tarzan, Jane, The Jungle. My smart readers can probably figure out the basics, and of course family knows all the details, but I enjoy the idea that random viewers don't know who we are and come back for the sake of the content, not because they know us. Is that stupid and self absorbed? Snickollet managed it for years, until she got so famous there were articles online and in real papers that outed her. Since I have nothing profound to say and blog because I write better than I speak and spend a large amount of my day on the computer, I doubt we will become famous.
So.
Am I obsessing over unnecessary things? Maybe people don't actually follow the links in a blog entry, and I am being silly about this. What's the likelihood our "cover" will be blown if I link to the tagger's blog?

This is me obsessing, and yes the meme will come tomorrow.

Not Really An Ode

Just wishing Stephanie J. Block a Happy Birthday because in my twisted little mind if I remember to post something every year she may just have lunch with me the next time she's in The Jungle which is now because of the show that's running downtown until the middle of next month.
Just sayin'.
On the less neurotic side, she really is a great actress, her voice in phenomenal and she seems to be a perfectly lovely person in real life. (Or as real a life as I am privy to.)

This is me, wishing for my idol much joy and a marvelous birthday.

Loss Of Connectivity

::Onesome: Loss-- of appetite? Have you ever been invited to an event where the food just was too terrible to even pretend to like? What was your solution? ...I mean, besides holding out for a burger on the way home!

• I can't say that has ever happened to me - usually there is something I can stomach (a cast iron one is what I have) but if that were to be the case...I think it would depend on the situation. At a person's house I would pretend to eat it - and pretend to be full really soon. If at a function, then not eat and get out as soon as possible. Otherwise...never visit that restaurant again.

::Twosome: of-- the last three days, we've lost Net access in Central CaliLand most of the time. I'm thinking it has to do with the lack of a State budget out here. Do you have long periods of disconnect where you are?

• Not that I have noticed. I can aimlessly read blogs and search random queries with little or no effort or impediment. And I think they have fixed the budget now? No? Hopefully it gets done soon.

::Threesome: Connectivity:--, addiction or necessity? Is the Net essential to your daily activities (yes, work counts!)? ...or would you even notice if someone cut the wire?

• I think I would definitely miss the Internet if it wasn't there, but I have been known to go whole days (gasp!) without using it so it's certainly possible. But I wouldn't like to have it happen regularly.

This is me, with a total random comment: Alan Rickman was HOT as a young man. (Die Hard on TV in the background.)

Odd Perhaps?

Seen while driving on the freeway:Does that slogan seem the slightest bit odd to anyone else? Just checking.

This is me, observing the locals.

They Were So Not

I realize it's been three days now, but still, was that not the greatest game ever? All the media hype about how great Ohio State was (emphasis on the was) and how it was like a Bowl game and how this would set the tone for the rest of the year because the team to win would be the one likely to play for the championship game and how the Pac-10 has issues and look how all the other teams from the conference did not do well 'today' already and maybe USC is over-rated, blah, blah, blah. And boo-yah baby!
Us: 35
Them: 3
Yeah, not even a full on touchdown. Who is #1? Not Ohio State.

This is me, in all likelihood cursing the team for the rest of the season because of this post.

Memories From The Past

::Onesome: Memories from-- a few years back: what were you doing on 9-11?

• I don't know if I've told this story before. Probably last year...but where was I? I was on my way to work, because I don't watch TV before I leave the house in the morning, and the radio in my car was set to CD so I didn't even know anything had happened until I got to work and the boss was freaking out. So I called Tarzan and he knew of course, but the kids still had to go to school and there was an assembly and he had to go. So we listened to the radio in the office and then I went home at lunch and watched it all over and over on TV.

::Twosome: the-- thought occurs: Should this be a holiday? ...or perhaps a day of remembrance with a moment of silence nationwide?

• I realize this event is still recent in our minds, and a lot of people think it should be a holiday. But I think not. We didn't make a holiday out of Pearl Harbor - it's still remembered and for some people it means more than for others. This is the same thing for me.

::Threesome: Past-- 'days that will live in infamy': do you recall any other days of tragedy that have a placeholder on your mental calendar?

• Well, the day MQ died will not be forgotten. But I choose not to dwell on that too much. I much prefer to remember the good days. Happily for me, there has not been a lot of tragedy in my life. So there aren't too many days like that.

Bonus: Who's quote did I paraphrase in the question above?

• That would be FDR from the speech after Pearl Harbor was attacked.

9 to 5: The Musical

I went for Stephanie J. Block. I had seen the movie and other than Lily Tomlin I wasn't too impressed with it. It's cute, quirky, a little weird, but whatever. I was so excited to see that Stephanie would be in it though, once they announced it would be a musical. Since I discovered who she was/is, I have been following Stephanie J. Block. Anything I can find about her, interviews, images, blogs, Youtube. Call it stalking if you want, I call it admiration. Well, I admit it, I have a crush on her. She's so...so...marvelous. I can't say enough about Stephanie obviously, but I risk being repetitive so I'll let it go at marvelous. Fantastically, amazingly, marvelous. And she was. She played Judy Bernly just right, a timid, novice girl growing into a confident, capable woman. And Stephanie's quite right in her interview, her song in Act Two, "Get Out and Stay Out" was kick butt. Really, the best part of the play, except for maybe "One Of The Boys." Because if I went for Stephanie J. Block, I stayed for Allison Janney. She was...impressive. That woman keeps surprising me with her talent and ability to play different roles, different styles. Now I can add musical theater to the list. Really, really good as Violet Newstead. Surprising, and totally solid. She can sing!
Megan Hilty was good as Doralee Rhodes. You could totally tell that she had been inspired by Dolly Parton's portrayal but it worked. She seemed to have more songs? Maybe just that she had the connecting pieces of songs? Whatever, it seemed like she sang solos a lot. But she's got a great voice so it was okay. The songs definitely added to the show. It made the dream sequences fit better, I thought, and it was surely good to hear them all sing. Probably not a Tony winner, except for the set designer. That guy, Scott Pask, he deserves a Tony. It was a really intricate set, but not cumbersome. Really flexible, and creative. They utilized the trap in the middle of the stage. (It's my guess that that's what caused the technical difficulty in the middle of the second act.) My sister totally has a crush on the musical director, Stephen Oremus. He was cute but the guy that was really yummy, for me, was Andy Karl, who played Joe. Oh boy, he can ask me to make copies any time he likes. The "boss," Franklin Hart was played by Marc Kudisch and he did such a good job that I didn't like him. I know we're not supposed to, but I certainly didn't, so I guess that makes it a success?
The sad part is, I can't recommend the show to my friends. All the good parts were really good, but the gratuitous nudity was not. I don't agree with it but I could at least understand why they thought it would be funny to put the guy with the hospital gown in, but what was with the girl in the lavatory scene? No need for that, no point, it didn't even make sense. That was a bummer. Because, otherwise it was a cute show. It was funny - the required political comments - it was musical, Dolly certainly did a good job with the lyrics and everything. I will be buying the soundtrack, if they make one and if Stephanie is on it. It was creative. But I can't send people I know and like to see it.

This is me, back from the theater.

I Wish I Was This Cool

Why can I never think of funny things like this?


Weding Party Dance - Click here for another funny movie.
This is me, impressed.

Momma Mia

Pierce Brosnan should not sing. Do not misunderstand me - I completely adore the man - he looks so yummy:

(And the man is 55 remember. Ah, why couldn't I have been born in Ireland in 1955?) But. He should not sing. It's tough to judge him harshly in anyway but there it is.

We went to see Momma Mia yesterday. Love the music, loved the stage show, loved the movie. But not in the same ways at all. The movie was really fun. Fun to watch - it's rare that I feel the desire to laugh out loud in a movie theater but this time I had to restrain myself more than once. But not in a bad way. I think it was a case of watching a show in the spirit in which it was intended. Yes, Aphrodite's fountain was a little cheesy, but it fit. And who doesn't like to see Colin Firth's bare chest all wet? The outfits were undoubtedly the best part. What I didn't understand was why there were so many big names chosen who couldn't sing per se while some unknowns were specifically chosen because they could sing.

Meryl Streep did a great job. I was surprised at her singing ability. The only song I winced during was "The Winner Takes It All."

Amanda Seyfried is not really unknown but she's not a superstar. And she was really good. I liked her portrayal of Sophie. Nice balance between innocence and confident.

I think Dominic Cooper did well as the fiance - didn't try to overplay it, or hog the screen. It's a smaller part, but he was really cute and funny when appropriate. I really liked the choreography for "Lay All Your Love On Me."

Julie Walters and Christine Baranski were hilarious as Meryl's sidekicks.

Really, the most questionable choices were the three fathers. Pierce, as I've mentioned, shouldn't sing. He was marvelous in every other respect. So hot. But his character had a lot of songs and each one seemed a little more forced. I really wanted to like him. I tried. But...just not enough.

Colin Firth only had the one solo number, but he did okay, I guess. I did not appreciate where they took his character though, a total diversion from the stage show.

Now, Stellan Skarsgard must be a big name in Sweden, and he's done things here, but he didn't even sing at all, and I don't know if that was written in for his character or what but it seemed a little unusual.

Even with all that though, it was a fun show and I think I might buy the DVD. If only for the closing credits. That is an image I will keep until the day I die.

This is me, gimme gimme gimme a man, who can sing.

Greenwaste Disposal Facility

::Onesome: Greenwaste-- containers: we're using full sized 'toters' (those cans the trunks can automatically dump); are you using anything special in your city? Does anyplace in the US still let you burn leaves in the Autumn?

• If we wanted to buy a green bucket for the truck to dump we could. As is evidenced by our front yard, we don't do any trimming or yard care ANYway, so what's to collect? The thing I am most excited about right now - though it's not really greenwaste - is The Jungle is offering to collect kitchen scraps in a pail for composting. I think we might just use it for our compost but use their pail. It's nicer than the ones we use.

::Twosome: Disposal-- systems for electronics: out here in CaliLand you just can't 'dump' the old computer or stereo with the trash; they need to go to an 'electronics recycling center'. Do have anything like that where you are?

• We most definitely do. There are facilities that take items, there are drop off places to leave items. Stuff like that. It's handy. They're trying to make it easy to recycle.

::Threesome: Facility--, facilitate, faculty, faculties... Do you ever get any of those a little mixed up? Just curious...

• I suppose I do, when speaking, but not when writing. I like to write for that specific reason. The ability to edit. and spellcheck. Awesome.

This is me, considering disposing of some items now.

Half Asleep

What is it about my dreams that make me sure my cats are distressed? (And WHY can't I find the previous entry I wrote about thinking my cat was dead?) I woke from a dream I don't remember sometime last night convinced that I had rolled on Speck, who was sleeping by my nose, making his rear legs paralyzed and I would have to carry him around for the rest of his life. He didn't seem too distressed by this but the illusion was compacted by the fact that the cat was nearly under my face, he was sound asleep and not inclined to move until I prodded him so I could breathe. Not amused by this he jumped down and ran away to sleep on someone less neurotic.
Maybe it's that the cats always sleep ON me and so my dreams are in some way connected to them. That's probably it.

This is me, with the weird that is my normal.

In Which We Almost Got Something For Nothing

So we drove out to The Desert on Sunday after church to spend the holiday with my parents. Despite all the stress of finding and moving into the house, it's a nice place. Full A/C (thank goodness - it's The DESERT for crying out loud) pool, lots of room for people and horses. It's nice. Really nice.
Lots of food, lots of hanging out. It was mostly relaxing which is what one wants the day before back-to-school madness. (Tarzan was pretty exhausted today when he got home.)
In reference to the title of this post however, we did do one errand. Monday morning we went to Home Depot to get the propane tank refilled. We stood in the Returns line, as I was told we should, and the girl asked if we had paid already and I said "yes, this is a refill." She called some dude to come and exchange the tanks and he offered to put it in the car for us. (Young man hefting heavy things for ladies; it's a cheap thrill but no one gets hurt.) He did so and bid us a good day. Didn't ask for a receipt or proof of purchase or anything.
Now, if we were not honest, upstanding members of the community, we could have driven off right then and not paid for the refill. But we are not. So we went back in and told the girl. She did not seem at all concerned about it. No thanking us for being honest, or making a joke or nothing. Just "okay, that'll be $20."

This is me, not as special as I thought I was.

Mail Call

Random piece of mail for the day:
"Saturday, September 20th, 2008
Join us for a BBQ lunch; then view the new facilities and program opportunities at Forest Lawn..."

This is me, should I be checking out that neighborhood?