Did anyone catch this little tidbit in the entertainment news? Samantha Harris leaving DWTS?! It couldn't be true. Who else could ask such leading questions? Or try so hard to incite a hair pulling cat fight in the green room? This is as big as Bruno not coming back to make inane rhymes and drool over the females. (Should that happen I'd be first in line for the lottery tickets because apparently it's my day.) But Sam leaving...at first I was so excited I'm sure they heard the squeal in The Frozen North.
BUT
Then I considered the possibility that they might choose a replacement who is even worse. I know. Such a thing is not possible. So I searched a little bit to find who is being considered to stand next to the great Tom Bergeron.
I thought this poll was amusing and enlightening. My vote is Drew Lachey of course - he was really funny when he filled in for Sam before but chances are they will choose a woman - diversity and Drew doesn't look as good in an evening gown - so I think I hope it's Melissa Rycroft. I definitely don't want Paula Abdul, at least I don't think I don't. Mario Lopez is right out and if Cheryl Burke is co-hosting she isn't dancing which is too bad as she's one of my favorites.
This is me, on the edge of my seat. We'll see March 22nd for sure.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Highway 20 Drive
I heard this song on the radio yesterday - and I've heard it before - but I was touched this time in particular how rare the sentiment is in our society. Divorce is so common and children are often used as pawns or possessions. I liked how this song, which was about a break up true, was to the child after a break up: And I remembered the father in Clueless saying "you divorce wives, you don't divorce children."
This is me and I hope this song touches some people.
This is me and I hope this song touches some people.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Setting The Record Straight
Oh, oh, oh. The truth comes out!
For yeeeeeaaaaars now, for ten years in fact, Tarzan has been teasing me about THAT ONE letter, THAT ONE summer when I broke up with him and he was so devastated he turned to the first girl he saw, made out with her a bunch and would have gotten engaged if his parents hadn't stepped in and told him he was moving too fast. Not that I am jealous because, hello, obviously he and I got it worked out, but I have held to the resolve that I hadn't broken up with him. I remember the letter and I wasn't ending things; I was just clarifying a point and warning him I was going to be a high maintenance woman - I am, it's true - and *I* was surprised and a little miffed when he stopped writing me after that. We have never been able to clear it up either because though I saved all his letters he was sure he threw mine out, especially the one were I broke up with him.
Not so. Last night we were cleaning out the file cabinet to make room - ten years of bills and warranties takes up space don'cha know - and what did we find but a bunch of old letters. From me.
And - being me - I sat down to read them right away to find my proof.
Side note: What a difference 10 years make. I was such a little dictator back then. Lecturing and warning and explaining things. Very big sister-y rather than girlfriend-y.
But proof I did find. Not THE fateful letter. That might be in another stack or it might really have been thrown out. But all the making out and dating of this "rebound" girl Tarzan was seeing in his despair was going on while we were still writing each other. So ha! Ha ha!
This is me and I am vindicated! It is sweet.
For yeeeeeaaaaars now, for ten years in fact, Tarzan has been teasing me about THAT ONE letter, THAT ONE summer when I broke up with him and he was so devastated he turned to the first girl he saw, made out with her a bunch and would have gotten engaged if his parents hadn't stepped in and told him he was moving too fast. Not that I am jealous because, hello, obviously he and I got it worked out, but I have held to the resolve that I hadn't broken up with him. I remember the letter and I wasn't ending things; I was just clarifying a point and warning him I was going to be a high maintenance woman - I am, it's true - and *I* was surprised and a little miffed when he stopped writing me after that. We have never been able to clear it up either because though I saved all his letters he was sure he threw mine out, especially the one were I broke up with him.
Not so. Last night we were cleaning out the file cabinet to make room - ten years of bills and warranties takes up space don'cha know - and what did we find but a bunch of old letters. From me.
And - being me - I sat down to read them right away to find my proof.
Side note: What a difference 10 years make. I was such a little dictator back then. Lecturing and warning and explaining things. Very big sister-y rather than girlfriend-y.
But proof I did find. Not THE fateful letter. That might be in another stack or it might really have been thrown out. But all the making out and dating of this "rebound" girl Tarzan was seeing in his despair was going on while we were still writing each other. So ha! Ha ha!
This is me and I am vindicated! It is sweet.
Grocery Day
I was standing in a very long line at the grocery store today because today is the first day of the sales week and in a normal place the yellow signs would move and people would shrug and say "oh, look at that," but in The Jungle if one does not get to the grocery store on the first day of the sale...the store WILL RUN OUT OF FOOD. Or so the peeps in my neighborhood think because there were hundreds of people in the store today buying things that WEREN'T EVEN ON SALE.
So I was standing in this infinite line to buy the three things that I needed not really noticing the insanity of those around me, until one of the kids of the lady behind me hauls off and kicks me in the back of the leg. I turn around and the lady is chewing her kid out, I mean up and down and right and left - in a language I don't speak so maybe they were just passing the time, I don't know - but not once do either one of them talk to me. They barely even LOOK at me. No apology, no shrug, no mime about how the kid worships the devil and will be exorcised when they get home.
Nothing. No-thing.
Now this kid is probably only six, and a girl - go ahead, smite me for my sexism, do it, I dare you - so the chances are small I will have a bruise, but still, it hurt. And it's just not polite to ignore the person your kid kicked in public. I'm not the violent type, nor am I the dramatic-scene-in-a-grocery-store type but what if I was? The police might have been called. I might have beat up the lady AND the kid. Bad publicity for the store. Lots of things could have gone way worse. Is it too much to expect an apology?
This is me, accosted by a six-year old.
So I was standing in this infinite line to buy the three things that I needed not really noticing the insanity of those around me, until one of the kids of the lady behind me hauls off and kicks me in the back of the leg. I turn around and the lady is chewing her kid out, I mean up and down and right and left - in a language I don't speak so maybe they were just passing the time, I don't know - but not once do either one of them talk to me. They barely even LOOK at me. No apology, no shrug, no mime about how the kid worships the devil and will be exorcised when they get home.
Nothing. No-thing.
Now this kid is probably only six, and a girl - go ahead, smite me for my sexism, do it, I dare you - so the chances are small I will have a bruise, but still, it hurt. And it's just not polite to ignore the person your kid kicked in public. I'm not the violent type, nor am I the dramatic-scene-in-a-grocery-store type but what if I was? The police might have been called. I might have beat up the lady AND the kid. Bad publicity for the store. Lots of things could have gone way worse. Is it too much to expect an apology?
This is me, accosted by a six-year old.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Some Cousins Visit
I totally forgot to post this until BHB asked me where the videos were the other day.
Some of my cousins - my mother's brother, his wife and their kids - came to visit over the New Year's holiday. This is their family:
My mom's younger brother - this shot basically sums Uncle TD up:
Or maybe this brief clip:
Anyway...he and his wife were so good to host the party:
This is as much of our family who could make it - Tarzan was working, my brother's wife is pregnant and not up to driving all the way and of course M2 and PIT weren't able to make it from The Other Side of The World:
My mom and Uncle TD live fairly close to each other down here but their older two siblings live way up in The Frozen North. This is my mom and both her brothers:
They hadn't seen each other in probably 15 years - it's a long way and none of us exactly got in on the ground floor of Google - but somehow that didn't seem to affect our ability to laugh and talk for hours. Family is great that way don't you think? But with my getting sick immediately following their departure - I totally blame them for my cold - I forgot to recap the adventure including videos of Big Booty. Maybe you had to be there because this was not a complicated game but it was mighty hilarious to watch:
It's really amazing when you consider that none of us are drunk.
Some of my cousins - my mother's brother, his wife and their kids - came to visit over the New Year's holiday. This is their family:
My mom's younger brother - this shot basically sums Uncle TD up:Or maybe this brief clip:Anyway...he and his wife were so good to host the party:
This is as much of our family who could make it - Tarzan was working, my brother's wife is pregnant and not up to driving all the way and of course M2 and PIT weren't able to make it from The Other Side of The World:My mom and Uncle TD live fairly close to each other down here but their older two siblings live way up in The Frozen North. This is my mom and both her brothers:They hadn't seen each other in probably 15 years - it's a long way and none of us exactly got in on the ground floor of Google - but somehow that didn't seem to affect our ability to laugh and talk for hours. Family is great that way don't you think? But with my getting sick immediately following their departure - I totally blame them for my cold - I forgot to recap the adventure including videos of Big Booty. Maybe you had to be there because this was not a complicated game but it was mighty hilarious to watch:It's really amazing when you consider that none of us are drunk.
This is me, and my roots - which might explain the technicolor leaves.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Weird Dream #31
That was, quite possibly, the most continuous dream I have ever had. And I finished it before I woke up. (That really is weird.)
I was living in a dorm of some sort, maybe as a WAC or a WAV, at the start of WWII. On my first day there I met two girls - we were all walking down the very narrow corridor carrying dishes of food, couldn't pass each other, so we chatted and became friends - and they stayed my friends for the whole war. In a very Where The Boys Are moment we met three guys, with names like Biff, Joe and Buzz, and we fell in love. (I think mine looked like Tarzan, their faces were all very fuzzy.) In addition to our official duties we gave shows in a very USO-esque way. My guy and I couldn't sing so we danced. RHM was there, she waved at me from a parade she was marching in, until I remembered she couldn't have been alive in 1943 - could any of us? - and she changed to a baby who I found in a pile of orphans. It wasn't too hard as she had told me how to find her; she would be the only one who didn't "smell like milk." Somehow all seven of us survived the war - in separate units; I spent some time in an army hospital nursing soldiers - and the celebration was fantastic when we were released to go home. Sadly, the first of my friends to leave died when her plane crashed and because of that the rest of us drove or took the train. My soldier and I were married but apparently had a falling out. We were reunited years later for a benefit to save a theater - all very Barkleys of Broadway except the dance routine was more Dirty Dancing - and made up. There was more to it, something about us teaching dance classes and helping the theater owner find the love of his life. The longer I am awake the vaguer the details become.
This is me and that could be a full length movie - albeit a boring one.
I was living in a dorm of some sort, maybe as a WAC or a WAV, at the start of WWII. On my first day there I met two girls - we were all walking down the very narrow corridor carrying dishes of food, couldn't pass each other, so we chatted and became friends - and they stayed my friends for the whole war. In a very Where The Boys Are moment we met three guys, with names like Biff, Joe and Buzz, and we fell in love. (I think mine looked like Tarzan, their faces were all very fuzzy.) In addition to our official duties we gave shows in a very USO-esque way. My guy and I couldn't sing so we danced. RHM was there, she waved at me from a parade she was marching in, until I remembered she couldn't have been alive in 1943 - could any of us? - and she changed to a baby who I found in a pile of orphans. It wasn't too hard as she had told me how to find her; she would be the only one who didn't "smell like milk." Somehow all seven of us survived the war - in separate units; I spent some time in an army hospital nursing soldiers - and the celebration was fantastic when we were released to go home. Sadly, the first of my friends to leave died when her plane crashed and because of that the rest of us drove or took the train. My soldier and I were married but apparently had a falling out. We were reunited years later for a benefit to save a theater - all very Barkleys of Broadway except the dance routine was more Dirty Dancing - and made up. There was more to it, something about us teaching dance classes and helping the theater owner find the love of his life. The longer I am awake the vaguer the details become.
This is me and that could be a full length movie - albeit a boring one.
Friday, January 22, 2010
In The Spirit
Tarzan and I really love The Melting Pot as you maybe could tell seeing as I mentioned it here, here and here. But as I also think I mentioned, it gets to be a little pricey so we go only once or twice a year. This does not prevent us from wanting fondue more often than that however and despite our best efforts I haven't made one at home that I like enough to try a second time.
Today that changed. I made a fondue that didn't clump up and, with a minor adjustment to the Worcestershire sauce, I would totally make again. And because Tarzan's love and adoration is apparently not enough, I submit it for your approval as well. In the lovely fondue pot that Tarzan bought for me I tossed in:
3 cloves minced garlic and let it toast itself for 10-15 seconds (our fondue pot is non-stick but if yours is not or you're using a pot on the stove throw in a tablespoon of butter before the garlic.) Then add
1/2 cup chicken stock (the recipe I stole parts of this from asked for white wine, but I don't have any and in most cases you can get away with the substitution. Other recipes asked for beer but I wonder about that...) Then add half of
6-8 oz. Fontina cheese, grated (available in the specialty cheese section - near the deli - of most grocery stores) AND
6-8 oz. Gouda cheese, grated (again, the original asked for Butterkase but suggested Gouda as an alternative which seemed to work) and tossed with
1/3 cup of flour
Mix until the cheese is all gooey, then add
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce (I only added one and I think it needs a tiny bit more)
1 teaspoon of mustard powder
3-4 green onions chopped
Mix that all around and then add enough of the remaining cheese to make a thick concoction. Apparently it's supposed to have the consistency of honey not concrete when done. I needed to add a bit more chicken stock as Tarzan urged me to put in ALL the cheese but it didn't seem to affect the mixing.
Then we dipped in bread cubes, steamed broccoli spears, apples and mushrooms.
This is me and sometimes I surprise myself.
Today that changed. I made a fondue that didn't clump up and, with a minor adjustment to the Worcestershire sauce, I would totally make again. And because Tarzan's love and adoration is apparently not enough, I submit it for your approval as well. In the lovely fondue pot that Tarzan bought for me I tossed in:
3 cloves minced garlic and let it toast itself for 10-15 seconds (our fondue pot is non-stick but if yours is not or you're using a pot on the stove throw in a tablespoon of butter before the garlic.) Then add
1/2 cup chicken stock (the recipe I stole parts of this from asked for white wine, but I don't have any and in most cases you can get away with the substitution. Other recipes asked for beer but I wonder about that...) Then add half of
6-8 oz. Fontina cheese, grated (available in the specialty cheese section - near the deli - of most grocery stores) AND
6-8 oz. Gouda cheese, grated (again, the original asked for Butterkase but suggested Gouda as an alternative which seemed to work) and tossed with
1/3 cup of flour
Mix until the cheese is all gooey, then add
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce (I only added one and I think it needs a tiny bit more)
1 teaspoon of mustard powder
3-4 green onions chopped
Mix that all around and then add enough of the remaining cheese to make a thick concoction. Apparently it's supposed to have the consistency of honey not concrete when done. I needed to add a bit more chicken stock as Tarzan urged me to put in ALL the cheese but it didn't seem to affect the mixing.
Then we dipped in bread cubes, steamed broccoli spears, apples and mushrooms.
This is me and sometimes I surprise myself.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Weird Dream #30
I can only imagine what Tarzan or the cats were doing to me while I slept early this morning. I dreamed that I was on the Iron Chef America TV show and there was a lot of high speed chopping going on. In fact I was pulling a Morimoto using two knives at once and looking for a third. (Have you seen that man chop? Amazing.) The clock was ticking down and I wasn't done yet, I needed to complete the cheesecake for dessert - by chopping all the fruit into tiny little pieces - and record my sound bites for the show's trailer and did I mention the chopping? I couldn't dice fast enough and I was running out of time. I was halfway out of the bed before I woke up because I was running from one thing to another, chopping, always chopping.
This is me and once again I woke up tired.
This is me and once again I woke up tired.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
As A Concept I Like It
Does anyone else watch the Outdoor Room with Jamie Durie? It's a show on the Home & Garden network - naturally - where this Australian landscape designer renovates backyards. I've only seen two or three episodes and I already want to punch the guy in the head. (I know, it's Jane berating another television show, shocker.)
But this show illustrates the exact reason why I left the design business. (Plus it has the added irritation of all television reality shows. How do you get picked for these things? And who pays for it all? the sponsors? Do they get a say in who is chosen then? How much of the drama is scripted? Or edited?)
Maybe it's all in the editing but this Jamie person comes on the scene with the client, declares himself the seer of all that they need and then hands down the commandments from on high to the plebs who work in his office. He doesn't spend a lot of time on site, he doesn't listen to their suggestions, he doesn't acknowledge that there might be a problem in getting a 6-foot item through a 3-foot space, he rarely helps with the labor and often adds items to the list without changing the timeline and then when the team has worked it all out without his being there, Jamie takes the credit and hosts a party.
I was one of those plebs for a long while and I did enjoy a lot of aspects of the profession. I made some good friends and even made good money but I am not sorry to not be working with attitudes like that anymore. Some of you may think I'm whining (I surely am) or being illogical (highly likely) but when you take that kind of crap every day for seven years it starts to wear on a person.
Maybe I just had bad luck with the offices I've worked in, maybe it's not them it's me and I'm too sensitive but I have never met a designer (that's architect, landscape, interior etc.) that I liked as both a person AND a professional. It's either one or the other. And I didn't want to become a person I didn't like. So I left.
I may watch the show again, I like the idea of it, and it might give me ideas of what to do with our postage stamp of a backyard or I might not watch again. It depends on if Tarzan is there to keep me from throwing my shoe through the television screen.
This is me and some of us were made for the 9 to 5 world. And some just were not.
But this show illustrates the exact reason why I left the design business. (Plus it has the added irritation of all television reality shows. How do you get picked for these things? And who pays for it all? the sponsors? Do they get a say in who is chosen then? How much of the drama is scripted? Or edited?)
Maybe it's all in the editing but this Jamie person comes on the scene with the client, declares himself the seer of all that they need and then hands down the commandments from on high to the plebs who work in his office. He doesn't spend a lot of time on site, he doesn't listen to their suggestions, he doesn't acknowledge that there might be a problem in getting a 6-foot item through a 3-foot space, he rarely helps with the labor and often adds items to the list without changing the timeline and then when the team has worked it all out without his being there, Jamie takes the credit and hosts a party.
I was one of those plebs for a long while and I did enjoy a lot of aspects of the profession. I made some good friends and even made good money but I am not sorry to not be working with attitudes like that anymore. Some of you may think I'm whining (I surely am) or being illogical (highly likely) but when you take that kind of crap every day for seven years it starts to wear on a person.
Maybe I just had bad luck with the offices I've worked in, maybe it's not them it's me and I'm too sensitive but I have never met a designer (that's architect, landscape, interior etc.) that I liked as both a person AND a professional. It's either one or the other. And I didn't want to become a person I didn't like. So I left.
I may watch the show again, I like the idea of it, and it might give me ideas of what to do with our postage stamp of a backyard or I might not watch again. It depends on if Tarzan is there to keep me from throwing my shoe through the television screen.
This is me and some of us were made for the 9 to 5 world. And some just were not.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Blah De Blah Blah
Being sick really takes the will to think out of a person. Tarzan and I have been laying around for the last three days doing nothing. We've slept in, whined a bit, drunk hot things and then gone back to bed. It's been a party I tell you.
And it's raining. It's been raining for three days and it's supposed to last all week. The Jungle needs the rain and it's actual heavy, drumming, rain complete with thunder and lightening - which is rare - but it's also not conducive to my going outside.
This is me and am I boring enough for you?
And it's raining. It's been raining for three days and it's supposed to last all week. The Jungle needs the rain and it's actual heavy, drumming, rain complete with thunder and lightening - which is rare - but it's also not conducive to my going outside.
This is me and am I boring enough for you?
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
I Need A Moment
HOW did I NOT KNOW until TODAY that Pete Carroll OFFICIALLY resigned as head coach of my alma mater?! It was announced on Sunday and we get the paper every day. HOW did I miss that? This is big news people, big news. The end of a dynasty. Like when all the Mings were gone.
It is not as much of a surprise as one might think despite my protestations. We knew he would leave eventually but why now? (I would want to go out on a high note if it was me.) And WHY of all people in the short list to replace him did they pick this guy?
Don't tell me it would be a coup (koo) if Norm Chow came back to the team either because when you look at HIS short list for the past couple of years, it is not all rainbows and kittens.
This is me and it's not unexpected news but I wasn't entirely prepared either.
It is not as much of a surprise as one might think despite my protestations. We knew he would leave eventually but why now? (I would want to go out on a high note if it was me.) And WHY of all people in the short list to replace him did they pick this guy?
Don't tell me it would be a coup (koo) if Norm Chow came back to the team either because when you look at HIS short list for the past couple of years, it is not all rainbows and kittens.
This is me and it's not unexpected news but I wasn't entirely prepared either.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires
Just when you thought I had posted the best that there was, oh no, it gets better.
Two raccoons...and a possum. Oh yes, a possum. And I have seen them with my own eyes. Apparently we are living in the Woodland and not a Jungle after all.
This is me wondering when Smokey gets up.
Two raccoons...and a possum. Oh yes, a possum. And I have seen them with my own eyes. Apparently we are living in the Woodland and not a Jungle after all.
This is me wondering when Smokey gets up.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Right On Schedule
What I hate the most about being sick is what it does to my ears. Not to say that the constant blowing of the nose is a party or hacking up stuff as gross as my cat's hairballs is all fun and games, because it isn't. The sinuses and the headache aren't very enjoyable either BUT the part of having a cold that bugs me most is the near constant snapping and popping of my ears. When I chew, swallow, talk, breathe. It's so very annoying.
This is me with my "winter" cold..
This is me with my "winter" cold..
Friday, January 08, 2010
Astonishing
How is it the same man who can replace the wax ring on the toilet (to stop the leaking) and replace the garbage disposal - totally hot by the way, watching all of this go down - how can that same man miss the sheets when he comes to bed and fall asleep - still in his jeans because he "didn't notice" - pinning me down the entire night - which caused me to have horrible dreams about mazes and locks - because he's between the comforter and top sheet rather than under them both like a normal person? I ask you.
This is me and that's Tarzan.
This is me and that's Tarzan.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
One Step Behind
You know what I need?
I need a least a week between the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. A week to prepare for the new year. A week when things are open so I can make copies and buy all the paraphenalia that I will need to set up all the things for the next year.
And I know, we all have to deal with it - my whining is not new nor unique - but jeepers. If Julius Ceasar can change the calendar all around for his purposes can't someone speak to Washington and get me a week so I'm not starting already behind?
This is me, feeling rushed.
I need a least a week between the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. A week to prepare for the new year. A week when things are open so I can make copies and buy all the paraphenalia that I will need to set up all the things for the next year.
And I know, we all have to deal with it - my whining is not new nor unique - but jeepers. If Julius Ceasar can change the calendar all around for his purposes can't someone speak to Washington and get me a week so I'm not starting already behind?
This is me, feeling rushed.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
LEGO Rocks
There is a lot of superlatives and raptures I could write, but really, if you're a fan of LEGO, there is no need, and if you're not, what I love about it won't matter. So with less hyperbole from me this was quite possibly the best present I got for Christmas:
Thanks Mom and Dad!
Not the most useful gift to be sure, nor the one I will use with great frequency, but I think I like it best:
And frankly, how can you not love what they do with LEGOs:
This is me with a renewed love of the LEGO.
Friday, January 01, 2010
Happy New 2010!
Remind me to make sure Tarzan has his computer the next time we leave my parents house. Gah! For the last week he has pretty much monopolized my computer since he forgot his out in The Desert. I didn't even get to Mafia Wars on FB - and you know it's bad if that's how it's rolling.
Still, it has been a heck of a week, between seeing my parents, helping Tarzan's family clean out his grandfather's house, cleaning, trash and donation transporting and carting people back and forth from the airport. The good news is the work is done - for now - and Tarzan has another week off from school. Boo' to the 'yah for his district.
One of my goals for 2009 was to post at least twenty times a month and for the most part I managed it but I did fall short - sorry May, June and also December. It seems like an appropriate blog resolution so we'll see if I do better when you all know what the plan is. Along that vein, I thought it would be bad form to not start this year off without a word or three. So, that's my poorly worded apology for being absent so much and I will try and get some pictures and holiday memories up here.
This is me, to a new year.
Still, it has been a heck of a week, between seeing my parents, helping Tarzan's family clean out his grandfather's house, cleaning, trash and donation transporting and carting people back and forth from the airport. The good news is the work is done - for now - and Tarzan has another week off from school. Boo' to the 'yah for his district.
One of my goals for 2009 was to post at least twenty times a month and for the most part I managed it but I did fall short - sorry May, June and also December. It seems like an appropriate blog resolution so we'll see if I do better when you all know what the plan is. Along that vein, I thought it would be bad form to not start this year off without a word or three. So, that's my poorly worded apology for being absent so much and I will try and get some pictures and holiday memories up here.
This is me, to a new year.
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