You go, Blago!

I am watching my governor on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show. I missed him on Nightline, but I did catch him on Good Morning, America and The Today Show and (via You Tube) The View. He's so ballsy, so fabulously full of shit, that I am actually enjoying this. He's not guilty of corruption! He's been impeached because he got free mammograms for lower income women, discounted meds for my mom, and is trying to stop Sam Zell and Tribune Company from (gasp!) tearing down Wrigley Field. The Illinois Legislature is filled with Snidley Whiplashes who twirl their mustaches and laugh as they drive the White Knight out of office!

As an Illinois citizen, taxpayer and voter, I'm not horrified by this spectacle. I'm amused. Here's why:

Blagojevich is not THAT bad. At least not by Illinois standards. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you George Ryan. He's Blagojevich's immediate predecessor, and he's in prison right now. The worst of all the charges Ryan was convicted of involves selling big-rig drivers' licenses to unqualified truckers. One of those drivers hit Rev. Scott Willis' car and quite literally incinerated the Willis' six children. Think about that -- Scott and Janet Willis lost their entire family because George Ryan financed his campaign by selling truck licenses. This happened in 1994. But now think of it in a post-9/11 world. George Ryan could have sold one of those licenses to a terrorist -- a member of Al-Queda could have been on the expressways hauling hazardous materials. Consider that next time you're stuck on the highway behind a big rig with Illinois plates.

But wait! There's more! The first time Blagojevich ran, I voted for him because he wasn't Jim Ryan. No relation to the former governor, this Ryan was pretty icky, too. For in 1985, he basked in the praise and positive press he received for prosecuting and convicting a young man named Rolando Cruz and sending him to Death Row. The crime -- kidnapping, raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl -- was brutal and disgusting. The conviction was reversed and Cruz was retried … and found guilty yet again. Only one teeny-tiny problem: Rolando Cruz was innocent, and Jim Ryan knew it. At least he knew that another man, Brian Dugan, had confessed to the murder. Ryan's assistant attorney general resigned rather than try to block Cruz' appeal, as she was ordered to. The facts came out when Cruz was exonerated and he turned around and sued DuPage County for more than $1 million dollars, and won.

So how bad is goofy hair and a potty mouth, really? Oh, I know he's going to be removed from office. I bet he ends up in prison for at least a time, too. I'm sure he will deserve it. But bribery, extortion and stupidity aren't as bad as allowing an innocent man to rot on Death Row in exchange for statewide fame, nor to allow six children from one family to burn in their car because licensing unqualified truck drivers is profitable.

It's nothing personal, but you all annoy me

It looks like juice in this coffee cup, but I spiked it with cheap vodka. Because my all my coworkers are bugging me today.

I am not their mother. Were I to have a baby, it would be a tiny pink body that weighs between 6 to 8 lbs.; it would most emphatically NOT be a gaggle of fully-grown 35 to 50 year olds.

We began this project last Friday. I won't bore you with the details, but it's not bone crushingly difficult. My boss said back then he wanted to see something "mid-week." This morning, I pressed him as to when exactly he wanted to review our work in progress. This whole team -- hell, all of advertising -- is very deadline-driven and if we don't have a deadline, we tend to procrastinate. Including my boss. "Oh, how about 1:00 tomorrow?"

So I sent out an invitation to the team to attend an internal review with our boss at 1:30 tomorrow. I gave us an extra half hour.

Yet all day the art directors (including the one who exasperates me) have been complaining about being under the gun, and about all the questions they have that keep them from completing the task at hand. Let's see -- you've known about this since Friday, why didn't YOU manage YOUR time better? And don't just look at me pleadingly and with big eyes -- if YOU have questions, why are you asking ME? Go talk our boss your damn self! I've written the copy, I'm done and waiting for you!

My favorite comment -- "Boy, I wish I'd worked on this over the weekend." Hell, I wish you had, too. But what do you want me to do about it NOW? It's Tuesday afternoon!

I'm drinking vodka. I'm listening to Sir Paul. I'm blogging. Leave me alone!

Heads or Tails #22 -- Loud

Make any kind of post using "Loud" as your prompt. You can either use the word itself or post about something that IS loud.

My "loud" post is all about the family that starred in a PBS "reality show" (back then they were merely 'documentaries') more than 30 years ago. The Louds enjoyed instant, if short-lived, celebrity as An American Family.

Bill and Pat Loud lived in California with their 5 kids. They opened their upper-middle class home to filmmakers, who documented their every move and aired them over 12 episodes -- including when, at Pat's request, Bill moved out of the house, and when their son, Lance (second row, far right), came out of the closet.

My family was riveted by the show when it first aired. My parents were aghast by Lance, but I thought he was great. He was totally over the top and nelly, but I figured he had to be to get his uptight parents (we used words like "uptight" back then) to see and accept him as he was. I was sad to learn from Wikipedia that Lance died back in 2001 at the age of 50. Even though his life was relatively short, I hope it was happy.

To play Heads or Tails yourself, click here.

Tuesday Tunes #17

What music can cure whatever ails you, and why?

The most reliable individual day-brightener in this Gal's world is "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire. It's about nostalgia, so the lyrics are upbeat without being too heinously cheerful, and I just love the sound of it. Hearing this has been known to make me smile at my worst moments.


- Earth Wind & Fire Lyrics

A distant second is "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5, because it's evocative of something I undoubtedly wish I was doing (lolling around in post-coital bliss with a man I love) instead of ailing.

If I needed lots of curing, instead of a just a jolt of song, I'd turn to Sir Paul. Beatle Paul, Wings Paul, solo Macca … it's all good for what ails me. Paul McCartney has provided the soundtrack to my life, and there's always a good memory attached to his music.

To play along, or to see how other bloggers responded, click here.

In Praise of Chris Noth

You're looking at a durable TV star here. He clocked 147 episodes as Mike Logan on Law and Order and Law and Order: Criminal Intent, plus a L&O made-for-TV movie. Then there's his 41-episode stint as Big in Sex and the City, plus last summer's SATC movie.

I find him sexier as Detective Mike Logan. Which is odd because Big was always the often-idealized object of Carrie's affection. But over those 147 episodes, we saw glimpses into Mike Logan that made him even hotter than his tall-dark-handsome package. Irish-Catholic alter boy still battling demons, rough-and-tumble street kid turned dedicated cop. I loved the chemistry between Logan and Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), as two snotty, cynical, smart-ass cops who had seen too much and cracked wise to stay sane. Big may have had a better tailor, but Logan -- wrestling with his personal demons as he protects and defends the citizens of New York -- is more attractive and multi-dimensional.

I'm always happy when, like now, I can't sleep and am rewarded with an early 1990s rerun of Law and Order featuring Det. Logan. He makes a lovely last sight before I close my eyes and doze off again.