One Gal's Musings

Just looking at her makes me happy

2012-01-27T16:54:00.001-06:00

There's a card shop in the lobby of the massive office building where I work. I pass the shop a couple times a day. For the past few weeks, a Muppet Abby Cadabby has been in the window. I find myself going out of my way to look at her. I don't know why, exactly, but she's a most reliable smile-inducer.

Thursday Thirteen #156

2012-01-25T20:30:00.000-06:00

THIRTEEN FACTS ABOUT

WEST SIDE STORY

As we wait to see which picture wins the Oscar for 2011, let's look back at the one that won 50 years ago -- The Best Picture of 1961: West Side Story.

I personally like this movie well enough but I don't love it. Still, many people do. Recently, when we were gossiping about Natalie Wood's death, one of my coworkers sighed and confessed how much he loved her as Maria. Now 32 years old, he was only a toddler when she died. But West Side Story is still shown in high schools every year as an introduction to Romeo and Juliet. So I guess boys not yet born will see it and fall a little in love with Natalie Wood, too.

1) Director Robert Wise originally wanted Audrey Hepburn as Maria. Ms. Hepburn, then 31, didn't think she could credibly play a Puerto Rican teen and besides, she was pregnant.

2) Marni Nixon did all Natalie Wood's singing. Coincidentally, you can also hear her as Eliza Doolittle, singing for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.

3) Like Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, Natalie didn't know she wasn't doing her own singing during filming. On set, both women sang their hearts out. It wasn't until later that producers decided to bring Marni Nixon, who had to synch her vocals with their lips.

4) Director Robert Wise wanted Elvis Presley to play Tony. I would have loved that. As it is, Richard Beymer kinda sucks.

5) At least Elvis could have done his own singing. Beymer's vocals were done by a singer named Jimmy Bryant.

6) Rita Moreno won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Maria's friend and Bernanrdo's lover, Anita. A usually strong singer, her voice was dubbed for one song, "A Boy like That," because she had a cold and was struggling with the deeper notes.

7) The "slum" where the movie opens is really the west side of Manhattan, where Lincoln Center stands today. In 1960, buildings were demolished to make room for Lincoln Center and the film makers decided to use the rubble and chaos to lend authenticity to the scene.

8) In the stage play, the Jets' oath was brotherhood that lasts "Womb to tomb, sperm to worm." Hollywood censors changed it to, "Womb to tomb, birth to earth" for more sensitive movie audiences.

9) Shooting lasted 6 months. Most movies in 1960 were filmed in 6 weeks.

10) The cast went through 200 pairs of shoes.

11) Once it opened in Paris, it played for 249 consecutive weeks, making it the most popular Hollywood movie in French history.

12) 50 years ago, it was nominated for 11 Oscars and won 10. The one it didn't win? Best adapted screenplay.

13) Natalie Wood went to the Oscars that night as a Best Actress nominee but not for West Side Story. Instead she was nominated for Splendor in the Grass. She's shown here in the audience with her date and Splendor costar, Warren Beatty. She lost to Sophia Loren, the first and (I think) only actress to win in a foreign language role (Two Women).

For more information about the Thursday Thirteen,

or to play yourself, click here.

"How can you not be romantic about baseball?"

2012-01-25T19:51:00.001-06:00

I really enjoyed Moneyball. It's a baseball movie, but it depicts very little action on the field. I'm not a big Brad Pitt fan, but he's very good in the role of Billy Beane, the GM of the Oakland A's, who successfully introduced an approach to the game that has been adopted to a great extent by the Cubs' new GM, Theo Epstein.

When you play the Moneyball way, there's less emphasis on stars and more on stats, less on the glitz and glam of homeruns and more on grinding it out and getting on base, any way possible. It's about hating to lose even more than you want to win.

Most of all, it's about looking at familiar things in a new way. "Adapt or die."

Through it all, baseball remains the eternal, mysterious, infectious metaphor for life. When one player gets an unlikely second chance to stay in the game after every other team else has written him off, you smile. When another is told his career is over and sent packing, your heart breaks. As Billy asks at one point, "How can you not be romantic about baseball?"

What is the universe trying to tell me?

2012-01-25T19:19:00.002-06:00

It's only Wednesday, and so far this week I have ridden to and from work with more physically challenged people than I think I saw all autumn. People in wheelchairs or using crutches, some in casts while others are amputees, they are in my car on my train every morning.

Is this a coincidence? Have they always been there, but I haven't been sensitive to them before? Or is someone trying to tell me something? And if so, what's the message?

WWW Wednesdays

2012-01-25T10:45:00.000-06:00

To play along, just answer the following three questions… • What are you currently reading? • What did you recently finish reading? • What do you think you’ll read next? My answers:

1) I'm currently reading A Royal Duty, Paul Burrell's decade-old memoir about his time with Princess Diana. I can't believe that I'm just getting to it now!

2) Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell was much, much better than I expected. One of the best Scarpetta books I've read in years! The beginning is rather slow, with a lot of exposition, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

3) Mmmmm .... maybe the very popular 11/22/63 is next. I also have a Meg Cabot/chick lit mystery (Size 14 Is Not Fat) that appears interesting, as well as a thriller (L.A. Mental). I just don't know. So many books, so little time!

Go here to play along and check out other answers.

I Want Wednesday

2012-01-25T07:58:00.001-06:00

I want to watch movies and not see Robin Wright. First I'm stuck with her in the The Girl with Dragon Tattoo, now I find her in Moneyball. She has small parts in both and I have no idea why I hate her so much. She's aging gracefully, delivers her lines competently. I've never liked her, though. Not since she was Buttercup in The Princess Bride.

A Stolen Movie Meme

2012-01-24T13:35:00.001-06:00

Mark Hughes' 50 "The Best Films Never Nominated For The Oscar For Best Picture"

Hughes goes into detail on the first ten in his article, then lists the others. I wonder which of my readers have seen these films, so I'm going to color the ones I've seen in RED, and invite you to do the same. If you do, leave a message in the comments!

And thanks to Endomental for turning me onto this. Here's her list.

A Hard Day's Night (1964) My addition

Metropolis (1927/28)
North by Northwest (1959)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)
Mean Streets (1973)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Sling Blade (1996)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)The Dark Knight (2008)
Notorious (1946)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
The Searchers (1956)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Superman: The Movie (1978)
The China Syndrome (1979)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Blade Runner (1982)
Sophie’s Choice (1982)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Blood Simple (1984)
Brazil (1985)
Matewan (1987)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
Die Hard (1988)
Glory (1989)
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
Thelma and Louise (1991)
The Player (1992)
Malcolm X (1992)
Germinal (1993, foreign language film)
Dead Man Walking (1995)
Seven (1995)
Rob Roy (1995)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Magnolia (1999)
Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
King Kong (2005)
Syriana (2005)
Children of Men (2006)
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Shotgun Stories (2008)
Che (2008, foreign language film)
Shutter Island (2010)

Some things don't change

2012-01-23T14:42:00.004-06:00

My older nephew, the newly-minted sailor, was at my mom's house this past weekend. He has a couple weeks in town before he boards his ship and my mom, ever the doting grandma, wants to spend every moment with him she can. And she likes to show him off, so I went out of my way to stop by and visit with him, even took a few photos of her grandsons together.

The problem is my older sister. My nephew asked me why I keep my cyst in a jar. That's what his mother, my sister, tells people, that I keep my cyst in a jar to show it off.

First of all, it measured 11"x8"x5" and was shaped like a football. It wouldn't fit in "a jar." Secondly, the reason why it, and my ovaries and uterus, were removed was to biopsy them for cancer. So no, there's nothing left for me to carry around. I did ask the doctor for copies of the photos -- ones he would have taken anyway -- because I was dying to see the cyst that had such an impact on my life for months and months.

My sister happened to call my mom's house so I asked her, "Are you telling people I carry my cyst around in jar so I can show it off?"

"No."

"Your son says you do."

"Yeah," he said loudly. "You told me that repeatedly."

I didn't have the stomach to make her squirm. After all, she's tried to reach out to me recently and besides, our being civil makes my mother so happy. So I made a joke of it and passed the phone to my nephew.

But old as we are, my sister is exactly who she always was. She really cannot stand anyone thinking highly of me. Never has been able to. It makes me sad.

The best actor of the year is Uggy

2012-01-23T13:49:00.000-06:00

Look at him! He completely stole The Artist. He is loving, funny and brave -- everything you could want in a movie hero. And I'd much rather gaze upon his kisser than Brad Pitt's.

I demand an Oscar for Uggy!

Oh, we do that here?

2012-01-23T13:40:00.002-06:00

WARNING: This is not the post of a grownup. It's the brain fart of a very immature gal.

My boss was out Thursday and Friday. He explained these unscheduled absences by saying his son was in the hospital. Today, when he came back into work, he called us all into the conference room and told us that the 21-year-old is waging a brave, and so far successful, battle against bi-polar disorder.

I listened with an open heart until my boss said, "He's scared in the hospital and he would love to get cards. Just send them to my home and I'll make sure he gets them." He then went on to post his address outside his door so we can get the cards to his son right away.

What? Huh? I'm still waiting for an official card from coworkers. When I was in the hospital last autumn, when I was recuperating at home, I got individual cards from two of my coworkers, two others checked in via text and Facebook, but none of these messages were from my boss, and none were from "the team."

Oh well, we're talking about a scared kid here, not my boss. So of course I will send him a card. But I'd be less than honest on this blog if I didn't report that I'm feeling very petty right now.

Sunday Stealing

2012-01-22T09:01:00.000-06:00

Sunday Stealing: The Never Ending Meme, Ends
Cheers to all of us thieves!

36. Have you watched American Horror Story? No.

37. Baseball hat or toque? Please don't make me.

38. Do you shampoo or soap up first in the shower? Soap.

39. Wet the toothbrush or brush dry with the toothpaste? Wet.

40. Pen or pencil? Pencil. I'm never totally done with anything I write and am big into erasers.

41. Have you ever gambled at a casino? Yes.

42. Have you thrown up on a plane? No.

43. Have you thrown up in a car? Yes.

44. Have you thrown up at work? Yes.

I first answered #43 and #44 with "no," and then the memories came back to me. Yes, I guessed I repressed those times when i puked in public.

45. Do you scream on roller coasters? Yes.

46. How many shoes do you have? A lot. Nine pair that I can see from here. I not only own a good many shoes, I resist putting them away.

47. Who was your first roommate? I have never shared my bedroom for longer than a vacation with anyone, and I've never shared my home with anyone since I moved out of my parents' home.

48. What alcoholic beverage did you drink when you got drunk for the first time? Harvey Wallbanger. Haven't drunk one again since. Like it was Harvey's fault. Silly, I know.

49. What was your first job? Does babysitting count?

50. What was your first car? My only car -- an Impala.

51. When did you go to your first funeral? I was in second grade. It was my neighbor, Bill. I was sorry that he was buried in a suit because he always -- ALWAYS -- wore just a t-shirt around the house, no matter what the weather and I wanted to see the anchor tattoo on his forearm one more time.

52. How old were you when you first moved away from your hometown? 18

53. Who was your first grade teacher? Mrs. Krock. She was very pretty and had blonde hair.

54. Where did you go on your first airplane ride? Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. I was 16.

55. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with? I never snuck out. I used to sneak back in after curfew, but I never snuck out.

56. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends with them? She plays a big part in my life and my posts, referred to by the creative nom de blog, "My Oldest Friend." I have known her nearly 50 years.

57. Where did you live the first time you moved out of your parents’ house? My tiny, 3-room apartment.

58. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day? Depends on the problem.

59. Whose wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid or a groomsmen? My friend Mindy.

60. What is the first thing you do in the morning? Try to remember if it's a weekday or the weekend.

61. What was the first concert you attended? Bobby Sherman. No lie. I looooved Bobby Sherman. He won the coveted title of "My Fave Rave."

62. First tattoo or piercing? My only piercings -- my ears.

63. First celebrity crush? I am tempted to say Paul McCartney. But my mother tells me my first crush was Michael Landon as "Little Joe" Cartwright on Bonanza.

Saturday 9

2012-01-20T22:23:00.000-06:00

Saturday 9: Home

1. Do you live close to where you grew up? Why? I live about 20 miles/20 minutes from where I grew up. It's near enough to visit easily, but far enough way to maintain my independence.

2. Have you ever been so angry that you almost lost control? Yes. Often. I'm not proud of it, and I battle it, but I can have a nasty temper.

3. Are you a fan of a musical act that slightly embarrasses you? Why yes. The gentleman pictured here.

4. Is there a movie that always makes you cry? Brian's Song. "I love Brian Piccolo. And I'd like all of you to love him, too. Tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him." This is Billy Dee Williams as Gale Sayers in the movie, but it really happened this way, which makes it all the more moving.

5. Who is the most famous person that you've met? Bruce Springsteen kissed me.

6. Before you leave your home, what must you have? My keys so I can get back in.

7. What do you miss the most about being a kid? The Beatles, young and united.

8. Tell us about a passion of yours that your readers would not expect. Celebrity gossip. I am pathetically addicted. For example, I love this article. (Now don't you dare click on it and then judge me. You were warned in advance.)

9. At what age do you think you'd be to think, “I've had a great run”? That age keeps moving into the future.

Archie's at it again

2012-01-20T11:21:00.000-06:00

My oldest friend's prospective beau, Archie Bunker, has published another blog post. It's mostly just drivel -- unsurprising but sad because I have gleaned that he posts most often when he's sleep deprived and suffering mightily from diabetes -- so I suppose I shouldn't make fun. BUT ...

Today his pants are knotted up because California is considering making it illegal to eat and drive. His response? We should all get out a copy of Orwell's 1984 to see what our so-called leaders are up to. Then, he asks, why are we letting "them" take away the freedoms our forefathers fought and died for?

Look at George. You can just tell he's thinking of some yahoo 200 years in the future wanting to drive a car while eating a Big Mac. Sure he is.

Oh well. I think their flirtation has cooled. And for that, I am mightily grateful. For while my heart goes out to him for his medical problems, I am disturbed by how angry they make him. As it is, my oldest friend is coping with her son's massive anger management issues, which she believes spring from his depression. She doesn't need a middle-aged lover whose illnesses render him argumentative and ridiculous.

THURSDAY THIRTEEN #155

2012-01-18T20:48:00.003-06:00

Thirteen Popular Gifts -- Christmas 2011

A month ago, many of us were involved in retail, taking care of friends and family on our holiday gift lists. Well, the packages have been opened, the tree is down and the ornaments put away (you have taken all those decorations down, haven't you), and the numbers are in. Here is what many, many of us bought:

1) Amazon Kindle. It was the best-selling e-book reader.

2) Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Not only the best-selling biography, the best-selling book of the holiday season.

3) Rory's Story Cubes. I never heard of this, but it's a massively popular game. The 9 cubes have pictures on them, you roll them, and develop a story based on what you get.

4) Just Dance 3. For wii.

5) Levi's.

6) Christmas by Michael Buble. The only thing on the list I bought, and it wasn't a gift. I kept it.

7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. The season's best-selling DVD

8) Motorola Droid RAZR. The most popular of the smartphones this year.

9) Baby Einstein Take-along Tunes. Mozart and Vivaldi for wee ones.

10) UGG boots.

11) Hallmark Keepsake Father Christmas Table Top. He is an attractive gent, isn't he?

12) Jones Soda Holiday 4-Pack. This year's flavors were candy cane, gingerbread, pear tree and sugar plum.

13) Cabin Fever (Diary of a Wimpy Kid). The latest in the series. The YA Steve Jobs.

Did any of these make their way to a tree near you this year?

For more information about the Thursday Thirteen,

or to play yourself, click here.

Me fall down, go boom

2012-01-18T18:50:00.000-06:00

It wasn't quite this bad, but close enough. The toe of my boot got caught in a pothole on the sidewalk and down I went. Fortunately all I got was a scraped knee, nothing worse.

Then, when I got home, I hung around in the parking lot for a moment, waiting for Mr. B. to get on the elevator. I just couldn't bear the idea of talking to him today. He's over 80, very sweet, but deaf as a stump and our conversations are always so pointless they wear me out. And today, I'd rather stand outside in the 20º weather than talk to him.

I'm so happy to be home. It's brutal out there!

I Want Wednesday

2012-01-18T07:48:00.000-06:00

I want to not worry about money. I just spend just over $100 at Macy's for more than $200 worth of clothes (and a birthday gift for a friend). I was proud of my bargain hunting, of how I chose clothes that will not only be OK on Fat Gal but also look fine on (hopefully) Slimmer Gal. Then I found out that my trip to the dentist (my estimated oop cost: $600 for a new crown) might require an extra $800 trip to a periodontist! Yes, I know I could return the clothes but I really do need some/most of the pieces, and I'll never get them at these great prices again.

And the long-term care insurance I bought -- which I believe is a wise (pardon the phrase) long-term investment -- will be a short-term bite in the ass. $1020/year for a $78,000 benefit, which will be adjusted for inflation, still makes sense, but that extra $85 every month will hurt. The older I get, the more expensive LTC coverage becomes, and it's fiscally responsible to buy it now. I just don't wanna.

So obviously today, I'm bringing brown-bagging my lunch. And praying it doesn't snow that much. I paid $300 for my mom's snow removal -- which covers four visits of the plow. I'm hoping that Mother Nature is sympathetic to my plight and allows that to carry me through Valentine's Day.

Change is NOT always good

2012-01-17T15:59:00.000-06:00

My Chicago Cubs plan to fuck with that enduring tabernacle of baseball, Wrigley Field. I am not happy.

Do we really need a Budweiser Patio that features "LED signage and can accommodate 150 people?" Hell, no! Of course it has not escaped my attention that the Cubs don't care what I think. The owners believe that they need to renovate/modernize the park and bring in extra revenue with sponsorship.

Cub Con was this past weekend and fans were assured that this abomination will not interfere with any of Wrigley's landmark features, such as the ivy or the scoreboard.

Well, that takes a little of the sting out of it. But I'm still not happy.

I wish I'd gotten to see this

2012-01-17T12:52:00.001-06:00

Bonnie and Clyde opened on Broadway in November and closed by year end. Too bad, because I am intrigued. First of all, it's a great story for this economic climate. Our morals go a little wacky when times are tough. And, in a world where Kardashian is a household name, the blurring of fame and infamy sounds right for the times, too.

Then there's the staging. A story that depends on violence and car chases on stage? Let's see how they do that.

And finally, which B&C story do they tell? Is this the landmark movie brought to the stage? Is it closer to reality? Or is it a third spin?

Damn, I wish I'd gotten to see this!

Mitt Romney is a good and decent man

2012-01-17T07:11:00.005-06:00

... with whom I disagree on just about everything. Especially his desire to cut programs that benefit the poorest among us, rather than raise taxes.

But I bristle when I hear that he's anything but a good and decent man. For there is no evidence to the contrary. None.

This post is born of my experience working for Senator John Kerry's campaign. A genuine war hero* who became a pacifist at heart, a sensitive intellectual who could eloquently argue against the death penalty, he was the clear, correct choice for President in 2004.

Yet he lost because of the way the Bushies painted him. He was cold. And weird because he could speak fluent French and has a foreign born wife. Because he didn't mention Baby Jesus in every sentence, his faith was questioned. Because he was nuanced and would compromise to gets bills passed, he was a "flip flopper." And when he deviated from his prepared text -- which, unfortunately, he did a lot because he's smart and got bored giving the same speech over and over and over and over again -- he flubbed and flubbed badly.

In short, he's not that different in superficial ways than that other man from Massachusetts, Mitt Romney. Who can speak French, who isn't "Christian enough," who was more liberal when governing in his very liberal home state than he is nationally, who has been known to say stupid things when he speaks off the cuff.

I trust Barack Obama will not stoop to Bushie tactics and paint Mitt Romney as cold and weird, as anything other than a good and decent man with whom he disagrees. I will be desperately disappointed in my President if he does so, for it's no better than the conspiracy theorists who insist he's from Kenya, or call him a Marxist/Socialist, or question his patriotism.

And I hope my fellow Democrats will remember what happened to Sen. Kerry (although because he's not a beloved figure, they may have forgotten) and watch the personal attacks on Mitt Romney. They are irrelevant and worse, they are wrong.

I hope Barack Obama wins reelection this fall, but I hope he does it in a more honorable way than George W. Bush defeated Sen. Kerry.

*Don't get me started about the Swiftboating. Don't. That was fucking criminal.

What's all the fuss?

2012-01-16T09:10:00.002-06:00

Yesterday afternoon I snuck out to see Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep. I never was a fan of Margaret Thatcher's, and still am not. That "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" philosophy doesn't include those who don't have boots. But that's not the point of my post.

Meryl Streep rises above a pretty mediocre film. The narrative is all over the place. Some very dramatic personal moments -- such as a bomb attempt on her life or her husband giving her two strands of pearls to commemorate the birth of their twins -- are glossed over and don't have the emotional wallop they should have. I'm still not sure what the movie was trying to say.

But Meryl Streep humanizes a woman whose public persona was, for me, at least, lacking in humanity. She shows her as trailblazer who often got her feelings hurt, a mother who consciously made tough personal choices, a wife who loved her husband dearly. And her fragility now, as she fades into senility, is very touching.

Critics seem to feel that it's not right to show this formidable conservative icon as she (apparently) is today. Well, get over it. She's a historic figure. Much as I revere JFK, I don't complain when he's shown with other women or (worse) with his brains flying through the air. It happened. Every life has an arc -- a beginning, a middle and an end. Every life has good and bad, exultant and embarrassing.

If this mess of a movie is historically accurate, Maggie's supporters should just get over it. And thank Meryl Streep for making her more likable than I thought possible.

Will it ever stop haunting me?

2012-01-15T21:00:00.000-06:00

I have a swing top wastebasket in my bathroom. Today, while I was showering, gravity did its thing and the top moved a little. I heard it and pulled the shower curtain aside in terror. Yes, even though I'm on the fourth floor, behind a locked door in the lobby, a locked door by the elevator and a locked front door, I still half-expected to see Norman Bates' "mother."

I saw Psycho at least 40 years ago, and that one scene still scares me pissless. Literally. (Cut me some slack! I was in my own shower!)

I can't believe this is real

2012-01-15T19:49:00.000-06:00

This isn't a Hollywood special-effects portrayal of Titanic. This is real. And more terrifying than I can imagine.

From Businessweek.com: The captain of a Carnival Corp. cruise liner may have made “very serious judgment mistakes” before and after his ship capsized off Italy’s Tuscan coast, killing at least 5 people, the ship’s operator said.

Costa Crociere, the Carnival line that runs the ship, said “it seems” Captain Francesco Schettino sailed too close to the island of Giglio and didn’t follow company emergency procedures, according to a statement yesterday. Schettino was arrested and accused of manslaughter, abandoning the ship and causing the wreck late on Jan. 13.

Rescuers are still searching for as many as 17 people missing from the Costa Concordia. About 60 people were injured after the ship carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew hit submerged rocks in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The ship’s insurers may face total costs of about 405 million euros ($512 million), said one person with knowledge of the policies.

“In terms of physical damage, this will be one of biggest claims around,” said Eamonn Flanagan, an insurance analyst at Shore Capital Group Ltd. in Liverpool, England.

Two bodies were found onboard yesterday, said Stefano Giannelli, a fire department spokesman, adding to the three known to have perished. Teams found two South Korean passengers in a ship cabin at 3 a.m. local time yesterday and saved a crew member on the third deck, Giannelli said.

About 60 firefighters are deployed in the search operation that will continue “all night long,” Giannelli said. Rescuers have searched one third of the ship, said. Four tourists -- two French, one Italian and one from Spain -- and a Peruvian crewmember are known to have perished, the Civil Protection unit in Grosseto said in an e-mail statement.

My Christmas gift to myself

2012-01-15T19:12:00.001-06:00

I bought myself another, newer DVD of The Way We Were. This one includes deleted scenes. And Streisand is right, director Sydney was wrong -- the deleted scenes were important and would have made the movie so much better.

Especially the scene (4:55) when grown-up, married, pregnant Kate Gardner drives past UCLA and sees a young girl who reminds her of her younger self, Katie Morosky. And she realizes how far she has come, how much of herself she has suppressed, in order to have this man and this life. And how much is costs her.

I can't shut up about what matters to me. When I do, I don't like myself. When I do, I feel hollow and lonely, even if I'm in a crowd. Of course, there's a cost to this. But this scene reminds me there's a cost to every decision.

I also like the extra smoochy scene and the scene where Katie offers to leave Hubbell so that he won't have a subversive wife to endanger his career.

Sunday Stealing

2012-01-14T22:35:00.000-06:00

Sunday Stealing: The Never Ending Meme, Part Two

21. Did you go to your high school prom? I went to a prom, but it wasn't my own senior prom.

22. Perfect time to wake up? Before 7:00

23. Perfect time to go to bed? Whenever

24. Do you use your queen right away in chess? I don't play chess

25. Ever been in a car accident? No. I'm sure the fact that I don't drive has something to do with this

26. Closer to mom or dad…or neither? Mom

27. What age is this exciting life over for you? I don't think it's up to me.

28. What decade during the 20th century would you have chosen to be a teenager? The 1960s

29. Favorite shoes you have EVER owned? Oh, they were perfect. Black, of course. About 2" chunk heel. A silver buckle across the front. In short, the coolest, most beautifully updated pilgrim shoes. I loved them, could wear them with anything. Sigh.

30. Do you have an article of clothing you have had since you were in high school? No.

31. Were you in track and field? No

32. Were you ever in a school talent show? No

33. Have you ever written in a library book? No

34. Allergic to? Bee sting

35. Favorite fruit? It changes. Right now, bananas.

Saturday 9

2012-01-14T10:17:00.001-06:00

Saturday 9: I Know I'm Losing You

1. Have you ever still been in a relationship that you knew was ending, but you hung in with it anyway? If yes, why? Yes. I loved him, and I kept hoping it didn't have to be this way. But it did.

2. Tell why people around the world should be completely enthralled by you. I am loyal and smart and tougher than I look.

3. Other than where you live, what's your favorite city and why? Boston. It's a beautiful and historic city, easily walkable, and it has a great old ballpark.

4. What is something you are really passionate about? Oh shit, just about everything. I don't have a lot of different speeds. My best friend once told me he wished he cared about anything as much as I seem to care about everything. I love that he appreciates that about me. A lot of people don't, and find it tiring. (This explains my almost fetishist attachment to a certain character played by Streisand in a certain movie.)

5. What has been your most exciting prize that you've won? When I was in third grade, I won $10 (about $50 today) from the local newspaper for an essay I wrote, nominating my teacher as Teacher of the Year. It was my first taste of fame and got me thinking that I could paid for dumping words on paper.

6. Do you think there was there a second gunman behind the grassy knoll? No. And believe me, I've given it a lot of thought.

7. What was the silliest, most fun, crazy or impractical gift that you received? Nothing springs to mind.

8. What was the most practical gift that you received? Socks.

9. What blogger has been in your blogroll the longest? How did you discover them? Book Mama. We were brought together by The Thursday Thirteen.

I wish John Forsythe was my dad

2012-01-13T14:51:00.000-06:00

Andy Taylor used to be my fantasy father, but he's been replaced by Bentley Gregg, the main character of Bachelor Father.

Played by John Forsythe, Bentley is a well-to-do, never-married Beverly Hills attorney with a beautiful ranch house, a house boy named Peter, a dog named Jasper, and, suddenly, a teenage daughter. His niece, Kelly. She moves in with Bentley and Peter after her parents are killed in a tragic car accident.

The show ran from 1957 to 1962, and ended with Kelly enrolling in college. I imagine that Bentley was something of a heart throb back in the day. The show's plots all seem to revolve how irresistible he finds women, and how they feel the same way about him.

But I love how he talks to her. He always calls Kelly, "darling" or "dear." He takes her seriously and listens to her. He knows all her friends and all her friends' parents. He encourages her in everything she tries to do.

Sigh. When I watch reruns and find myself jealous of a girl on Bentley's arm, it's always Kelly I'd like to switch places with.

I like my doctor

2012-01-13T14:23:00.000-06:00

She's so great. She's the one who discovered the problem that had been plaguing me for months last summer, the one that my gynecologist had dismissed as menopause or depression but was really a very long, very fat cyst.

Today I had my regular old physical, no big deal. We have no reason to suspect anything is wrong, but she took a blood panel anyway, just to see if I still need cholesterol meds. While we were talking, she revised the order for blood work to check for some other things. My "incipient fatigue." While I'm feeling better than I was a year ago, I still tire so easily. She thinks it might be thyroid or, failing that, she'd like to investigate my sleep patterns. She thinks that a sleep disorder may be interrupting my restorative sleep and messing with my metabolism.

She listens to me. She doesn't give up until she gets to the root of the problem. She wants me to have the best quality of life I can.

She's so cool.

It's just SNOW, people!

2012-01-12T10:48:00.000-06:00

I admit I'm grumpy right now.

First of all, I'm taking tomorrow off for my annual checkup. I told everyone about this last week. I have a plan for getting all my work done -- nothing is falling through the cracks. I've got this, people! Just leave me alone and let me work and everything will be fine tomorrow in my absence, I promise.

Also, it just started to snow. We're supposed to have about 2" by evening rush. Yes, Mother Nature is making it inconvenient but 1) it's not really that bad if you take public transportation to work, which most everyone here does and 2) snow in Chicago in January is hardly newsworthy.

One of my coworkers, who lives within walking distance of the office, is really grating. First of all, a California girl, she really doesn't like snow. Then don't live here. Secondly, she's always been upset that I have a window and she doesn't. So when she just walks in here, unannounced, to look out my window at the (gasp!) snow, I'm annoyed. And when she makes a huge display of having to step over my brief case and my gym bag and my purse to get to the window, I want to scream. Sorry if I have set my office up for my convenience, not yours.

If I sound like a bitch, I apologize. It just feels good to take a moment to vent my voluminous spleen.

Thursday Thirteen #154

2012-01-11T20:11:00.003-06:00

THIRTEEN VERY BAD

BAD GUYS

The American Film Institute (AFI) is one of the best-respected not-for-profits devoted to the arts. It was founded to honor, preserve and promote movies, one of the most uniquely American art forms. Every now and again, to drum up support, they turn to the film historians and critics and put together one of their Top 100 series. I love these lists.

Today I'm throwing a klieg light on the top 13 of their 100 Villains list.

1) Hannibal Lecter. He who likes fava beans and a nice chianti. Silence of the Lambs. (Anthony Hopkins)

2) Norman Bates. The ultimate "mama's boy." Psycho. (Norman Bates)

3) Darth Vader. You know, Luke's father. Star Wars. (David Prowse and James Earl Jones)

4) The Wicked Witch of the West. "Surrender, Dorothy." The Wizard of Oz. (Margaret Hamilton)

5) Nurse Ratched. "If Mr. McMurphy doesn't want to take his medication orally, I'm sure we can arrange that he can have it some other way." One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Louise Fletcher)

6) Mr. Potter. The mean old man who tried to bring down the Bailey Building and Loan. It's a Wonderful Life. (Lionel Barrymore)

7) Alex Forrest. She'll boil your bunny if you don't watch out! Fatal Attraction. (Glenn Close)

8) Phyllis Dietrichson. An unhappy wife with a dangerous knowledge of how insurance policies work. Double Indemnity. (Barbara Stanwyck)

9) Pazuzu. Otherwise known as Satan. The Exorcist. (Linda Blair and Mercedes MacCambridge)

10) The Evil Queen. She who talks to mirrors and poisons apples. Snow White and the 7 Dwarves. (Lucille Laverne)

11) Michael Corleone. Well, I think Fredo had it coming. The Godfather, Part 2. (Al Pacino)

12) Alex Delarge. A music lover, a big fan of "Ludwig Van." A Clockwork Orange (Malcolm McDowell)

13) HAL 9000. A very unhelpful computer. 2001: A Space Odyssey

For more information about the Thursday Thirteen,

or to play yourself, click here.

WWW Wednesday

2012-01-11T17:59:00.001-06:00

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading? Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro. It's heartbreaking, purely heartbreaking, and very well written.

• What did you recently finish reading? My Fair Lazy by Jen Lancaster. Funny and silly. Pure fluff.

• What do you think you’ll read next? Probably Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell. She and I have a love/hate relationship. I'm so fond of Kay Scarpetta that I keep returning to the series, even though I'm invariably disappointed by her later efforts.

I liberated this from Kwizgiver. But if you want to play along yourself, you should click here.

Can't wait to play with it

2012-01-11T17:44:00.000-06:00

I'm $1600 lighter, but immeasurably faster and more modern.

I Want Wednesday

2012-01-11T17:42:00.000-06:00

I want my niece to always be this happy. She gets along well with her dorm roommates, has found love with a townie, and breathlessly told me today about the new culinary technique she "mastered." I know her life will have ups and downs -- as everyone's must -- but if only she could stay put in this glorious chapter of her life for as long as possible.

The Sound of Silence

2012-01-10T17:11:00.001-06:00

No access to a computer tonight! The contents of my old Mac are being transferred to a spanking new Mac overnight. What will I do with myself? Sure, I can check my email from my phone. But Facebook and Twitter and Blogger are all so frustrating on that tiny screen.

I feel like Ma Joad.

Let's hear it for the gal!

2012-01-09T19:11:00.001-06:00

My job is to advertise financial services. You have no idea how difficult that's been for the last four -- count 'em, four -- years. I'm working in a sector where regulations change regularly* and where public trust has declined. I've endured layoffs and reorganizations and rumors of even more layoffs and reorganizations. I don't deny it's been tough.

Which is why I want to take a moment to enjoy this ...

• My client reports that our recent direct mail effort has done better than any campaign since 2007.
• The product line I concentrate my efforts on exceeded projections, the only one at the company to do so.

I am happy. Happy, happy, happy. Happy that my efforts were successful, and that perhaps the worst of this Recession is behind us!

And grateful. Now I don't have to worry (so much) about the blade at my neck!

*I'm not saying they shouldn't, I'm just observing that the changes make my day-to-day more challenging

"That poor girl"

2012-01-08T18:06:00.000-06:00

I feel so bad for Lisbeth Salandar, the heroine of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Yes, it's a brutal movie and an exceptionally well-crafted thriller. But I spent much of the movie thinking, "That poor girl." And not Harriet, the girl whose disappearance is the catalyst for the action. Lisbeth. The hacker, the human weapon, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I was unprepared for how much I would care for her. Especially since she so clearly wants to no sympathy or understanding.

There is a moment when she is playing chess and says, with quiet pride, "I have made a friend." I almost cried.

I'm not eager to pick up the trilogy that gave Lisbeth life. The violence is too much for me. At times I viewing this movie felt like an ordeal and I don't imagine that I'd be any more comfortable with the subject matter on the page.

But I appreciated the movie on its own terms. And I don't know if it was the screenplay, Rooney Mara's performance, or the way Daniel Craig responded to her, but the character of Lisbeth Salander touched me.

BTW, I really cannot stand Robin Wright. I don't know why. She's very pretty and is aging gracefully. There's just a soullessness about her that gets on my nerves. Even when she was Princess Buttercup. Oh well, her role in this movie isn't that big and she does no real damage. I just wonder what it is about her that annoys me so.

Happy Birthday, Your Highness

2012-01-08T17:46:00.000-06:00

Today is the birthday of America's only king. Hope you observed it accordingly.

Sunday Stealing

2012-01-08T10:03:00.000-06:00

Sunday Stealing: The Never Ending Meme, Part One

Cheers to all of us thieves!

1. Song that always makes you sad? "Have I Told You Lately" was "our" song, only we didn't last.

2. Last thing you bought? A cardigan from Old Navy.

3. Last person you argued with? My friend in the Keys. We agree to disagree on Mass. Sen. Scott Brown. While we both hope Elizabeth Warren wins that seat, my friend thinks that Brown made up the stories of childhood sexual abuse he recounts in his biography to make himself more sympathetic, that it's suspicious Brown told no one about these incidents at the time. I believe Brown and know my friend is being unfair.

4. Do you put butter before putting the peanut butter on? Yes.

5. One of your stuffed animals’ names as a kid? My Lassie dog was my best friend and confidant.

6. Did you ever at one time own a Barenaked Ladies CD? Maybe You Should Drive.

7. Favorite day of the week? Friday.

8. Favorite sundae topping? Hot fudge.

9. Did you take piano lessons? No.

10. Most frequent song played? I completely love this song by Amy Winehouse, and was thrilled to discover her original version on her newest (and, alas, last) CD.

11. T.V. show you secretly enjoy? People's Court. I watch it whenever I'm home from work on a weekday.

12. Would you rather play basketball or hockey? No, but thank you for asking.

13. Date someone older or younger? Yes.

14. One place you could travel right now? Chateau Elan in Atlanta. I'd love to go back some day

15. Do you use umbrellas? There are people who don't?

16. Do you know all the words to the Canadian national anthem? "Oh, Canada, my home and native land ..." That's it.

17. Favorite cheese? Cheddar.

18. The Smith’s or The Cure? No, but thank you for asking.

19. Do you prefer blondes or brunettes? I like boys with dark eyes and dark hair.

20. Best job you ever had? I loved working on new product launches for a hair care company. It was fun.

Saturday 9

2012-01-07T04:35:00.003-06:00

Saturday 9: Nobody Told Me

1. When you grew up were you ever told how to deal with problems? I was raised by good, 1950s-vintage WASPs. There is no problem so big or so complicated that cannot be ignored or denied.

2. What was your first apartment like? It was tiny, in a big, beautiful old apartment building run by a not-so-beautiful old janitor who could argue about anything. For example, my apartment had 3 rooms: kitchen, living room and ... what to call that third room? When I called him to report the roof was leaking in "the bedroom," he snapped, "You don't have a bedroom. That's the dining room." To which I responded, "It's the room with my bed in it." At first, because I was so young, his attitude upset me. After a while, I began getting perverse pleasure out of bugging him.

3. What was the first car you owned? A big, green Impala that I never could parallel park.

4. Tell us about a crush or relationship that you had at high school. Mr. Cary. He was quite exotic (meaning not a WASP), with a full head of curly black hair. When he'd scratch his head, his arm would disappear to the elbow. He taught English and I'm fortunate that he was the one who introduced me to Shakespeare. He was colorful and imaginative and I spent a year enthralled by him (and then-Cub Joe Pepitone). Thanks to this question I googled him and discovered he went on to successfully teach theater at a major university out east. I'm not surprised. Though it took me a moment to recognize the man in photograph (for, like Joe Pepitone, he has lost his hair).

5. Have you ever had an “enemy” in your life? Professionally, many. Currently it's the co-worker I call The Chocolate-Covered Spider. She's just always right and I'm just always wrong. I wish I didn't let her get under my skin so.

6. What were you doing the first night that you got drunk? Here's an unsavory little saga: It was the summer I was 15. I'd been sitting a lot for Margot, the baby of a neighborhood couple, Joe and Mary. They were both 22. I thought they were the coolest people on the planet. She painted in the garage, rendering the acrylic versions of the portraits that came with The Beatles' White Album. He read Ralph Bakshi comic books. They threw a big bash for Margot's first birthday and invited me. Joe introduced me to Harvey Wallbangers. After a couple hours of summer heat and vodka, I was very tipsy. OK, I was plastered. Joe walked me home and, apparently, tried to kiss me goodnight in a way that was neither neighborly nor paternal. I have no first-hand knowledge of this, as I was very drunk, but my mother had been waiting up for me. And saw. And called me in, rather emphatically, through the screened window. Once I got into the house, and the air conditioning, I got nauseous. I remember her standing over me and yelling and scolding as I emptied the contents of my stomach into the porcelain. Needless to say, my mom saw to it I never sat for Joe and Mary again. However I wonder what would have happened if she hadn't dragged me into the house. I suspect that I would have puked all over his shoes, which might have dampened his ardor even more than my mother's voice through the screen had.

7. Ten years ago, what was you job and did you like it? I had a similar role at a different agency. I made more money but worked much harder, had more stress, and while I got off on the adrenaline rush I was en route to burn out and exhaustion. To borrow from John Lennon, I had to get off the merry-go-round, "I had to let it go."

8. What movie had the biggest impact on you as a child and why? Mary Poppins, because it was the first movie I ever saw in the theater. I remember everything about it … once the coming attractions ended, the heavy red curtains closed, then reopened, and there they were, the rooftops of London! Magic! I have loved going to the movies ever since.

9. What are your plans for this weekend? I really have to take these Christmas decorations down ...

Not the reaction I thought I'd have

2012-01-06T16:17:00.000-06:00

My mother tells me that our family patriarch is fading fast. He is frail and his memory comes and goes. She doesn't expect him to live much longer.

I don't care.

This is not the reaction I thought I would have. For he molested me when I was in high school and continued to behave inappropriately toward me all the way into my 30s, when I finally decided I would not put up with it anymore. I have not been in the same room with him since.

My relationship with him was major and has had an impact across my entire life. So when I imagined this inevitable turn of events, I always thought I'd have a bigger reaction. Relief. Or maybe a desire for reconciliation/resolution. Nope. I don't feel anything that complicated at all.

Actually, my overriding emotion is annoyance. Because when the old bastard finally does kick, I'll have to get out of town. Fast. For if I don't have an emergency, albeit quickly fabricated, trip to visit a friend who needs me, I'll either have to attend his wake and funeral (most emphatically not happening) or just stay home. And that would put me in the position of either lying about why I'm not there or explaining to relatives that he fondled and tormented me, and I don't think they want to hear that.

So I have to go out of town to visit a friend. On short notice. The one I want is the one I always turn to when times are tough -- my best friend. He has a way of making my world make sense, no matter what is going on. But he's a straight man and I don't think (OK, I know) his wife wouldn't welcome my sudden appearance on their doorstep.

I'm actually thinking of a solo escape to Vegas. It's easy to book a last-minute flight and I could play some slots in the casino and get a massage and pedi in the salon while my family is busy eulogizing and planting the old boy.

I know this is a weird post, but this is a weird situation, isn't it?

Oh well, the old turd is still breathing. So I don't have to do anything about anything right now.

Thursday Thirteen #153

2012-01-04T21:16:00.000-06:00

THIRTEEN MARILYNS

Last week I saw My Week with Marilyn at the beautiful Tropic Cinema and thought Michelle Williams was very moving as the movie icon. But she's just one of many to take on the role of Marilyn Monroe.

1) Michelle Williams is certain to get an Oscar nomination, and perhaps an Oscar for My Week with Marilyn. (2011) How ironic that Williams will get the respect from Hollywood for playing Marilyn that the real woman longed for.

2) Ashley Judd was very good as Norma Jean in Norma Jean and Marilyn, while ...

3) Mira Sorvino played the same woman as Marilyn in 1996's Norma Jean and Marilyn. Each lady was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for playing both periods of her life.

4) Catherine Hicks (yup, the mom from Seventh Heaven) won an Emmy nomination for doing an outstanding job in Marilyn: the Untold Story, while ....

5) Tracy Gold (yup, the sister from Growing Pains) played her as young Norma Jean in the same 1980 made-for-TV movie.

6) Poppy Montgomery of Without a Trace and now Unforgettable played Marilyn in Blonde (2001). Wish I'd seen this, for I think Montgomery is an underrated actress and I like the idea of Ann-Margret as Marilyn's grandma.

7) Charlotte Sullivan played Marilyn-as-mistress in three episodes of The Kennedys (2011) mini-series.

8) Sarah Lafleur played the same unsympathetic role in 2001's Jackie, Ethel and Joan.

9) Sophie Monk was Marilyn in The Mystery of Natalie Wood, a 2004 biopic about Ms. Wood's death.

10) Marika Taylor plays Marilyn in a docudrama called The Death of Marilyn Monroe (2002).

11) Holly Beavon had a small role as Marilyn in a 2001 James Dean biopic.

12) Barbara Niven played a sad Marilyn in the 1998 Rat Pack made-for-TV movie.

13) Heather Thomas of The Fall Guy played Marilyn in Hoover vs. The Kennedys (1987).

As with Jackie Kennedy in last week's TT, I find no actress as compelling playing Marilyn as the real Marilyn. The Prince and the Showgirl was kind of a suck movie, but Marilyn was luminescent, even in that ...

For more information about the Thursday Thirteen,

or to play yourself, click here.

The New Year's Movie Meme

2012-01-04T13:01:00.003-06:00

I looooove reading about old movies, and was happy to find this blog, The Girl with the White Parasol. I am also happy to find a good meme to steal. If you play along, let me (and The Girl) know.

1. What is your all-time favorite Grace Kelly costume? The elegant LBD she wears to the cast party at the very end of The Country Girl. She finally gets to go all glam after wearing those off-the-rack outfits.

2. What classic film would you nominate for a remake? The Americanization of Emily (1964). The way the Iraq war was marketed to us with embedded reporters (remember poor David Bloom of NBC?) makes me think this is a story that could powerfully be retold for modern times.

3. Name your favorite femme fatale. Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966). Though if she were here, I'm not sure she'd accept the title, saying, "I'm loud and I'm vulgar, and I wear the pants in the house because somebody's got to, but I am not a monster."

4. Name the best movie with the word "heaven" in its title. Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957). Deborah Kerr is great as a nun who tries to reform and comfort soldier Robert Mitchum.

5. Describe the worst performance by a child actor that you’ve ever seen (since Laura gave me the idea). Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler in GWTW. Didn't even have to give this one a moment's thought.

6. Who gets your vote for most tragic movie monster? Frankenstein.

7. What is the one Western that you would recommend to anybody? Shenandoah (1965). Jimmy Stewart is a patriarch trying to keep his family out of the Civil War. The movie is kinda soapy, but Stewart is sublime.

8. Who is your ideal movie-viewing partner? For old movies? My mom.

9. Has a film ever made you want to change your life? If so, what was the film? It's from the 1970s, so I don't know if it qualifies chronologically as classic, but The Way We Were. I often (still) find myself tamping down the truest part of my personality to fit in, and I (still) always hate myself for doing it. I believe this is the 21st time I've mentioned that movie in this blog ...

10. Think of one performer that you truly love. Now think of one scene/movie/performance of theirs that is too uncomfortable for you to watch. Judy Garland. Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). I hate how she's the talented ("I sing, you know") but plain girl in contrast to Ann Rutherford and especially Lana Turner, because I have read how much those comparisons hurt her in real life.

11. On the flip side, think of one really good scene/performance/movie from a performer that you truly loathe. June Allyson in Little Women. I know, I know! She's not even really very good in that.

12. And finally, since it will be New Year's soon, do you have any movie or blogging-related resolutions for 2012? Nope. Sorry. Here I've just met The Girl with the White Parasol and I feel I've let her down.

I Want Wednesday

2012-01-04T10:28:00.000-06:00

I want those Christmas decorations to magically take themselves down. I managed to un-holiday my office last night before I went home, but my home is still all covered in cards and evergreens. And then there's taking down the tree and putting the ornaments away! Ugh!

The beacon

2012-01-03T20:36:00.000-06:00

I stayed at The Lighthouse Court Hotel, so called because it's right in the backyard of the Key West Lighthouse. Built in the mid-1800s, the lighthouse is more than 85 feet tall ... and we climbed all the way up and all the way down.

Even though I'm a big fat moo-cow, I'm still in pretty decent shape. At least compared to the other tourists who were sweaty and breathless when they reached the top. I guess hurrying up the train platform every day, twice a day, is good for me. And it turns out going down was more difficult than climbing up. Those narrow, circular steps were a little dizzying.

I loved the romance of the old lighthouse. The views on the way up were pretty, too. I enjoyed looking down at my hotel. We had a wonderful time.

Welcoming 2012 in Key West

2012-01-03T15:36:00.000-06:00

The weather down there was ideal. Simply terrific. Warm but not hot. Sunny but not blinding. I couldn't have been happier with the send off Mother Nature gave 2011 down in Key West.

I spent more time in the water this time than I have in years gone by. As you can see, my pedi met the Atlantic Ocean, and liked it a lot. I also swam in the charming little pool at my hotel. And at midnight, we returned to the pool and dangled my little pink toes off the deep end.

More about my vacation to come. Happy New Year, Blogosphere.

How I didn't welcome the New Year

2012-01-03T14:59:00.000-06:00

New Year's Eve is a very big deal in Key West. Not only is there a giant shell that falls at midnight at Sloppy Joe's, one of Hemingway's favorite haunts, there's Sushi, who climbs into this stiletto and is dropped onto Duval Street as the new year begins.

I've been in this crush of people at least three times ... once at Sloppy Joe's and two times (or more) watching Sushi. And it's fun. But I'd rather not do it again. (I took the photo above myself, early on New Year's Eve. To see Sushi in action, watch the clip below.)

Notes from the road

2011-12-31T03:42:00.000-06:00

It's pre-dawn in Key West. I'm taking this quiet opportunity to update this here ol' blog.

If you're flying down here, I recommend US Airways because you'll change planes in Charlotte. It's soooo much easier than Tampa and (UGH!!!!) Miami. I don't fly well at all, and knowing that making my connection will be convenient and uncomplicated really improves the quality of my whole trip.

This island is known for it's seafood and so far I've had a grilled salmon BTL (yummy!) and a lobster BLT. But my best meal, by far, was the banana chicken at 7 Fish. Really. I loooved it. If it was a man I woulda married it.

I am very happy to be with my friends here. It's been low-key, relaxed. They have had money/health problems in 2011, too, and so it's especially nice that we can be together, all on the mend. Knowing this may be my last holiday down here, as my friend may have to leave for a new job, makes it a little poignant.

I don't even mind be awakened by a rooster every morning.

More musings next year ...

Thursday Thirteen #152

2011-12-28T19:30:00.007-06:00

THIRTEEN JACKIES

I'm watching a perfectly dreadful made-for-TV movie about JBKO starring Tim Matheson as "Jack" and Joanne Whalley as "Jackie." It's historically inaccurate and dull, and yet I can't look away. There's just too much inherent glamor and drama in her story. Here are thirteen actresses who took a crack at the part:

1) Joanne Whalley as Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. (2000) "She was the 20th century's First Lady. Now see her for the woman she really was."

2) Katie Holmes in The Kennedys. (2011) High production values and great hair wardrobe

3) Roma Downey in A Woman Named Jackie (1991) A very pretty, very delicate, Irish-born Jackie.

4) Sarah Michelle Geller in A Woman Named Jackie (1991). Yes, Buffy played her as a teenager.

5) Jaclyn Smith in Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1981). Jackie as Jackie! Unfortunately Ms. Smith seems more like she's modeling iconic outfits than giving a performance.

6) Blair Brown in Kennedy (1983). Haven't seen this in a while, but I recall her as doing a good job in a supporting role.

7) Jodie Farber in JFK (1991). Mostly re-enacted those horrible moments of the motorcade.

8) Jill Hennessey in Jackie, Ethel and Joan: The Women of Camelot. She's OK, but it's a drippy adaptation of a crappy book. Great hair and clothes, though.

9) Jeannne Triplehorn in Grey Gardens. (2009) She was only in a couple scenes, but I thought she did a good job.

10) Jacqueline Bisset in America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story. (2003) Another Jackie-as-Jackie. This time, Jackie is a formidable matriarch.

11) Stephanie Romanov in Thirteen Days. (2000) I enjoyed this movie a lot, but I really don't remember her in it at all.

12) Juanin Clay in Robert F. Kennedy and His Times (1985). A small part in a good mini-series about Bobby

13) Francesa Annis in Onassis: The Richest Man in the World. (1988) Jackie as American Ice Queen, in contrast to the passionate Maria Callas.

It occurs to me that no one has done a good job at capturing "Jackie Kennedy." Maybe because, as Jane Murphy wrote in The Huffington Post, the one who played her best was Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Intelligent, elegant and remote ... as I watch this clip I have no doubt that she is working very hard to 1) be a good reflection on her husband and 2) create an image that was as so charismatic and impenetrable that we wouldn't see the real woman, no matter how closely we look.

For more information about the Thursday Thirteen,

or to play yourself, click here.

I Want Wednesday

2011-12-28T10:25:00.000-06:00

I want packing to be easier than it is. I'm so bad at it. I always bring too much of the wrong stuff, and end up buying stuff when I get where I'm going.

Here's hoping I'm wrong about old Archie

2011-12-28T10:07:00.003-06:00

OK, so maybe he's so politically naive/racially motivated that he believes Barack Obama was afraid to face Herman Cain in November because it would stop the Prez from "playing the race card."

And so what if he actually hopes the Supreme Court repeals the ban on DADT?

And yes, he picks fights with strangers at the Century City Mall because the people who work in the kiosks "harass women." And when he's not watching FOX News he's listening to Tammy Bruce.

My oldest friend is completely twitterpated by him. She's seeing him again today. I hope it goes well because she's a woman who really does define herself by men.

For a year I have been trying to convince her to join a church or volunteer at the nearby family counseling center because she so desperately needs friends. Instead, she signed up for an online dating service. Now that she's met Archie, she actually volunteered at that very counseling center because, well, he does volunteer work. (She met her ex-husband at karate class, even though she hates being physically active ... I sense a pattern.)

He also works at a docent at a nearby museum. A museum she's never set foot in ... but you can bet she will now.

When I went out to visit her last year, the only dinner we had that wasn't Domino's or Subway was from In and Out Burger, and that's because I insisted. Yes, she lives in Beverly Hills and never eats out. But with him she will.

She's been there a year, and yet the only tourist-y thing she's done (and she's done it twice now because it's all she knows), is the Dearly Departed Tour that I took her on when I visited her last year. Now, perhaps, she'll take advantage of all Southern California has to offer. She complains about the traffic and the pace and the parking, but she's never been to a play, a concert, a TV-show taping or even the ocean. Even though all this is in her own, glamorous backyard. Maybe she will finally do that with Archie.

It worries me that his temper is so close to the surface. That he concentrates so much of his energy on hating on "them" (OWS, "the coddled/entitled generation", Barack Obama, gays in the military, and -- my favorite -- haters) because my oldest friend has one of the most coddled/entitled kids ever (think Mildred Pierce if Veda was a boy) and because she hates arguments and raised voices.

But look at Archie and Edith. Weren't they happy together? Maybe life will imitate art. As different as we are, I truly do love her and hope Archie brings her some contentment and companionship.

Loved this!

2011-12-28T09:30:00.000-06:00

VisualDNA™ Personality Quiz

personality.visualdna.com

I'm a Harmonizer. It was fun and, I think, fairly accurate. While I answered all the aspirational/goal questions with exercise/fitness, I was happy to see how many decluttering responses there were. Makes me feel less freakish. (And less like a hoarder!)

Thanks to Snarkela for turning me on to it.

I feel silly

2011-12-27T17:35:00.001-06:00

I have been exercising in front of the TV, during commercials. I feel quite silly doing this. But I am a big fat moo-cow and so it must be done.

I did not go through all I went through, healthwise, in order to throw it all away on sloth and obesity. I am going to get fit because healthy makes sense. My best friend is a diabetic, both my oldest friend and my friend John have heart problems. I am not going to join them.

So in addition to my half-hearted dedicated to going to the gym -- which I must fortify -- and eating better (and less), I am going to work on my metabolism by moving, moving, moving, whenever possible.

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Clean, clean, clean

2011-12-27T13:29:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I scrubbed my tub, toilet and bathroom floor. Today my kitchen counters, sink and floor got the treatment. Do I hear an Atta, Gal?

I'm glad I'm doing this because I always hate coming home from a stay at a hotel and feeling like the woman that runs this establishment is a slob. Perhaps I have hit upon a way to solve this problem.

A fragrant way to start the day

2011-12-27T08:26:00.000-06:00

For a couple years running, The Body Shop's fragrance of the holiday season was vanilla spice. It was a warm, delicious scent. I stocked up on it and hoarded some in the back of my linen closet ... and forgot about it until this morning.

I started the day by soaking in my old friend. Ah ... Lovely!

Well, that was weird

2011-12-25T19:57:00.002-06:00

My older sister was home for Christmas for the first time in, like, 30 years. My mom was nervous as a school girl preparing for a date. (I wasn't allowed to have my purse with me in the living room because it's so big it would distract from the holiday decorations -- I'm not kidding.) My favorite niece and nephew were weird, too. My niece, because she's in love and would have preferred to be with her fella than with us. My nephew is at a strange age -- he no longer believes in Santa, he's not so much into toys, but he still wants the gifts. With the adrenaline pumping through his veins, he's a different kid from the one whose company I usually enjoy so. My kid sister was all stressed out because ... I don't know why, exactly.

My older sister, her daughter and husband went to church with me, and that was a distraction, too. I'm not Lutheran anymore -- I worship in a Unitarian Universalist Church because it's more inclusive. So when she said she wanted to join me instead of going to local church we went to as children because, "Mom tells me they have a fat, gay pastor now," I bristled. I warned her that one of our ministers is a lesbian and mine is a gay-friendly congregation. I didn't tell her how I felt about homophobia on Christmas Eve because I was trying to make nice. But it did disturb me. As does my mother's apparent, incipient bigotry. It's ugly and not appropriate any time, but especially not on the Lord's birthday. I let it distract me from the beauty of the Christmas Eve service, of singing "Silent Night" by candlelight. After the service, I showed them my beautiful little tree. They seemed unimpressed.

We did laugh a lot, though. We played Apples to Apples and posed for silly photos. I will use them to make Mother's Day presents for my mom.

Oh, and my oldest friend ... I have been with her when she checked/responded to text messages in front of me, took cell phone calls in front of me. I texted her twice yesterday and still have received no response. That bugs and hurts me. I'm worth interrupting, but not interrupting for? It would have been nice to have heard from her yesterday -- from someone I have a long history with, who says she loves me, but that wasn't in the cards. She was too busy, I guess. I know I should be glad that this Christmas with her beloved cousin Sharon will be all she wants. But I'm still pissed/hurt.

Perhaps that's part of why I feel so unsettled today. There was so much new and unusual going on yesterday, so much tension, that I didn't feel any of the love I sent out coming back to me. The best part of the night was a present from my mom -- on behalf of my uncle. He had a big, thick book of video reviews (ca 1999) that he annotated in his own hand. We'd spoken about many of these movies often, especially silly, campy ones like The Terror of Tiny Town.

I miss him. He would have understood why yesterday felt so weird.

And I'm looking forward to the Keys and my friends down there (gay though they may be). I feel a terrific longing to be understood right now.

My best friend often says that we all expect too much from Christmas, that we put unreasonable expectations on the day. I miss him, too.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T17:01:00.003-06:00

And a big thank you to "my girls," the ones who sent so much support my way this year. If I'm able to keep the candle of Christmas burning in my heart all year around, it's in part because you ladies had my back when I needed it most:
Book Mama
Kwizgiver
Silver Neurotic
Vivian
Endomental
Kaye
Stacybuckeye
Mimi
SNARKYPANTS

Snarkela, I'm sorry. I didn't forget you. I deleted you. (That doesn't sound any better, does it.) I could not get the spacing between the prose and the links right, and in my constant fiddling with it, you disappeared. I am so sorry.

The wrapping is done

2011-12-23T22:15:00.002-06:00

And my cat Joey approves!

It took me a little over two hours to wrap all these gifts. I did it in front of the tree while watching The Gathering, a great old Christmas movie. It was so much fun to imagine the faces tomorrow when the paper comes off.

I tossed in the long black scarf I got from my best friend because I wanted to remember it as Christmas 2011. You can't tell, but it's all ruffly.

I'm so glad I put the tree up.

Glam

2011-12-23T00:13:00.000-06:00

My friend John and I went to see La Cage aux Folles Wednesday night. It wasn't a great production -- the actor who played the bitchy maid/butler chewed the scenery so radically it threw the balance off -- but it was fun. Mostly because we got to see George Hamilton as Georges.

He can't really sing. He can't really dance. He's too old for the role. And yet, it was fun. Just to see him. He's completely charming.

For my friend John and I grew up on him. He was on all the game shows and talk shows when we were kids. And I remember being a little girl, reading about his White House romance with Lynda Bird Johnson.

The only downside of the evening was John's health. He's still not well. I'm in shitty shape and, while a little winded when we got to our seats in the loge, I was fine. As were all the people around us. He was exhausted. On the way down, which you'd think would be so much easier, his foot bothered him again. It was sobering. He acknowledged the problem, saying, "This is something I need to mention to my doctor." Indeed! After all, George Hamilton is a good 15 years older than we are, and he was singing and dancing!

Christmas Meme

2011-12-22T23:36:00.000-06:00

Liberated from Kwizgiver (again ... of course)

1.The Christmas song I can listen to even in June is...

2.Hot Chocolate, Egg Nog or Mulled wine? hot chocolate

3.When do you put your decorations up? Thanksgiving weekend

4 What are you having for Christmas dinner? I don't know. My two sisters are (literally and figuratively) cooking something up

5.What is your favorite Christmas tradition? The Candlelight Service at church. It begins at 11:00 on Christmas Eve and ends at midnight,with all of us holding candles and singing,"Silent Night."

6. Have you ever gone Carol singing? Nope

7. When did you learn the truth about Santa? My parents sat my older sister and I down on the floor of my bedroom one Christmas Eve, read us the "Yes, Virginia" poem and told us. It's nice to think of my folks doing some parenting together. My older sister cried and cried but I kinda knew already.

8. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? In a way that's officially CAT-APPROVED.

9. What's the best thing about Christmas? Watching people unwrap my gifts!

10. All I want for Christmas is... Serenity for those I love best

Thursday Thirteen #151

2011-12-21T23:27:00.000-06:00

THIRTEEN POPULAR TOYS FOR CHRISTMAS 2011

These are among the top picks for kids, according to the gift gurus at Gifts.com. I like thinking of all the happy faces when it's discovered Santa left these under trees all around the country ...

1) Disney Tigger (Eco Plush). The wonderful thing about Tiggers is Tiggers are wonderful things -- and this one is made with recycled fibers and eco-friendly dyes.

2) Fisher Price Topzy Tumblers. It's bright and sturdy and it makes a bit of noise and, oh, hell, I don't know how to describe this. If you have a baby in your life and want to learn more about it, click on the link.

3) Go, Car, Go! A little Euro-styled coupe (in red, green or blue) with a curved roof that doubles as a handle. So kids can grab it, push, it roll it, etc. Even better, it has googly eyes that make it look really friendly.

4) Fisher-Price Rockstar Mickey Mouse. How cute is this! Mickey rocks out with a six-string guitar. His head bobs and he does the splits.

5) Paint a Wooden People Family. Plain wooden dolls come with paint and colored pencils and felt and glue so kids can make their own unique doll family.

6) My Keepon Interactive Robot. This little yellow bird dances to music and responds to touch. (I want one.)

7) LEGO Ninjago Fire Temple. "Battle for control of the four Spinjitzu weapons has begun. Sensei Wu, Kai, Zane and Nya need help to keep Lord Garmadon and his evil skeleton army from taking the ultimate Spinjitzu weapon - the Dragon Sword of Fire." I have no idea what any of that means. But then, I'm not a 10-year-old boy.

8) Barbie "I Can Be an Architect." I'm old school. I like Barbie at Christmas. And this Barbie comes with a hard hat and a blueprint tube and a little model house.

9) Spynet Stealth Video Glasses. High-tech glasses with a video camera on the bridge of the nose. So you can record people without their knowing it. (Tee hee.)

10) Inflatable Flying Shark. With a remote control! So you can make your shark do your bidding from up to 40 feet away!

11) Orbeez Perfume Magic. A kit to help you make your own perfume.

12) NERF Vortex Nitron. A kind of a friendly assault weapon.

13) Buckycubes. 125 little cubes made of really powerful magnets so you can build any cool design you want.

For more information about the Thursday Thirteen,

or to play yourself, click here.

I Want Wednesday

2011-12-21T17:14:00.000-06:00

I want a little more Christmas spirit! To that end, I bought another book for the shelter for abused/homeless children. Today's is Awkward Aardvark. Look at that big, round aardvark butt. How can it not bring a smile to your face? According to Amazon: "Aardvark's snoring keeps the other animals awake night after night. Something has got to be done! Mongoose calls on the others for help, but it is not until the termites get involved that the problem is solved. This is the story of how Awkward Aardvark came to sleep during the day and eat termites at night."

Everything still feels a little low energy, though. No one around me feels into it yet. I passed out my gifties to my coworkers today and got hugs and kisses, but eh. Maybe tomorrow everyone will be more in the swing of things!

Boone, IA! Who knew?

2011-12-21T17:03:00.000-06:00

I got my oldest friend's daughter a gift subscription to Glamour, and they screwed it up. Oh, well. Shit happens. So I'm sending them a copy of my canceled check along with a strongly worded request that they get their glamorous act together. Where did I send this letter?

Boone, IA! Who knew that was the Glamour capital of the nation?

Well, why shouldn't it be? After all, it is the county seat of DesMoines Township. According to the 2010 census, Boone boasted 12,660 people. Though none is Cheryl Tiegs. While a fresh-faced Glamour covergirl more than 40 years ago, there was no residency requirement.

The BEST way to start the day

2011-12-21T05:29:00.002-06:00

Normally, waking up like this would leave me grumpy. After all, I crashed on the sofa (which always annoys me) and was awakened by how freaking HOT it is in here.*

But instead I'm way happy. Why? Because my cat Charlotte gave me a huge yawn, opening her mouth as wide as the old MGM lion. This allowed me an unobstructed view of her tongue and THE LUMP IS COMPLETELY GONE! The vet was right! My little girl is fine!

I'm so relieved.

*It's December and I have the window open and the fan going. One of the joys of living on the top floor in winter, as heat rises.

North Korea confuses me

2011-12-20T17:08:00.000-06:00

I believe the sorrow I see following Jong-il's passing is sincere. I just don't get it.

Were these people so oppressed that they don't even know it? Maybe they don't realize that they don't have things the rest of the world takes for granted, like food and electricity.

While Jong-il concentrated so on military and nuclear development, his people suffered because of the rest of the world's sanctions. Food and materials never made it to the North Korean people, so new construction of houses, roads, power grids ... ANYTHING ... has slowed mightily, down to virtually nothing in some areas.

Is it possible I know more about North Korea's role in the world than North Koreans do?

Thank God for our free press.

Sad

2011-12-20T16:34:00.000-06:00

I lost my nice umbrella, and this leaves me sad and blue ... and on the horns of a dilemma. My friend Barb got me a lovely scarf from Macy's that I really have no use for. She was also nice enough to include the gift receipt. So I should be able to just return it, put the store credit to an umbrella, and go into Christmas with the confidence that I'll be protected from the elements.

EXCEPT do you have any idea what Macy's is gonna be like tomorrow? Do I feel like braving it?

I miss my nice umbrella, and hope whoever picked it up where I left it (most likely either the floor of the movie theater or a seat on the el) is getting a lot of use out of it. Really, it was almost impervious to wind. A truly gallant umbrella!

Yeah, I know

2011-12-19T23:51:00.000-06:00

Of the three versions of Little Women (1933, 1949 and 1994), this one is the weakest. I agree with the experts that the problem is June Alyson as Jo. I understand that she doesn't have Katharine Hepburn's incomparable spirit in the 1933 version, or Winona Ryder's soulfulness in the 1994 version.

And yet this one is my favorite. Probably because it's the first one I saw. Maybe because it's shot in bright color on great MGM sound stages, giving it a comfortable, familiar look. Or maybe it's because Elizabeth Taylor in a blonde wig is so much fun.

But this is my favorite. And it's Christmastime and I love it.

Christmas Meme #6

2011-12-19T22:38:00.000-06:00

As found at Ms. Kwizgiver's.

Christmas At My House…(one or the other)

1. Tree is fake/real? fake

2. Tree is under/above 4'? Mine is about 4'. The one at my mom's house is taller.

3. Open presents Christmas Eve/Day? Eve

4. House/entire yard is decorated? I don't have a yard. My mom has a little holiday flag on her lawn.

5. Amount of presents under the tree? I feel guilty about this. I have lots of presents under the tree. And scraps of paper and tape and gift bags and tags ... all waiting for me to be buckle down and get to work.

6. Snowman is a male/female? male

7. Go for Santa/Jesus? There's plenty of room for both in my heart.

8. Homemade/delivered/takeout Christmas dinner? Homemade on Christmas Eve this year. My two sisters are handling it. On Christmas Day I'm on my own.

9. Bedtime is before/after midnight? After. The candlelight service begins at 11:00 and ends at midnight when we sing "Silent Night."

10. Wake-up is before/after 7am? whenever

11. Go/don’t go to church on Christmas? Christmas falls on Sunday, so I may go. But I definitely go on Christmas Eve. See #9. It's very important to me.

12. Do shopping before/after Thanksgiving? I shop all year around

13. Low-key/over the top decorations (inside and out)? Low key. I did a little decorating at the office. At home there's my adorable little tree and I got this truly terrific wreath for my front door at Trader Joe's. Just $5! Makes me happy every time I see it.

Still worried

2011-12-19T11:23:00.001-06:00

So my best friend had her date with Archie Bunker. She thinks it went really well. He was funny and told her she has pretty hair and he regaled her with tales of the sports legends (Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Howard Cosell) that he interviewed in his heyday. And he spends his Mondays refurbishing wheel chairs for those in need. All that's good, right?

So why do I want him to dump her ... pronto ... before she gets too attached?

Because I hate his Facebook postings.

I always assume that one's FB is an idealized version of life. It puts your best foot forward. After all, it has none of the anonymity I enjoy with this here blog.

Yesterday, Archie took off after the Westfield Century City shopping center, asking them, "Why do you let over aggressive 'salespeople' harass women at your center?"

Followed by, "When those annoying people at kiosks try to get u to buy something, go to mall management and complain these are trained scammers." To which his son (30, or so, holding two little kids in his lap) replied, "Or walk by them and ignore them and don't waste your limited time on Earth worrying about these things!!!!!! Love you Dad!!!!"

Now this leads me to believe that old Archie has been picking fights with complete strangers for all of his son's life.

Then Archie posted a photo of the Grinch and said "Nuff said."

My friend's son can be very abusive with her. Yelling at her, destroying things. He is 21 and simply cannot control his rage. Nor will he leave her tiny apartment.

This man, who is perpetually mad -- at Obama, and OWS, and coddled athletes, and (my favorite) angry people -- is certain to upset her when she needs serenity.

I know, I know. All I can do is warn her and worry. It's her life. She has to learn these lessons on her own, no matter how much it hurts to watch.

Baracking the Christmas Tree

2011-12-19T09:07:00.002-06:00

Behold my two new ornaments. That handsome Santa is from my best friend, and the shiny green ball is from Obama for America 2012.*

I love my tree. I only spend a few minutes with it each day (it's locked in the den, away from Reynaldo) but that's where I intend to do my orgy of wrapping and I'll gaze upon it a lot next Sunday. I'm really glad I put it up.

*If you're looking for campaign pins, etc., this is a good resource.

Love with a townie!

2011-12-18T21:26:00.001-06:00

My niece and a man she met in town have declared themselves boyfriend/girlfriend on Facebook! She was just here on Friday night, stopping by to visit me, but didn't mention him at all. She did seem happy -- gloriously so -- but I thought that was because she loved her independence and her class work (she got A's). Now I know it's because she's in love, too.

His name is Jason and he works in town for a museum dedicated to railroad history. I don't know if he's actually a student at the college. He's quite into photography.

I'm so happy for her, even if I'm not supposed to know any of this.

She stays with me

2011-12-18T21:02:00.000-06:00

I took the bus on Saturday and saw the saddest woman. Or maybe she wasn't sad. But she was certainly disturbed.

She was over 40 with dreadlocks. She was wearing a black, puffy winter coat and having a terrible time with a stroller. A doll stroller filled with three American Girl bitty dolls. Two were dressed like twin girls. The third? Hard to tell. But all three were in warm winter garb. And she clearly believed these were her children. She lovingly loosened their jackets and scarves so they would be comfortable on the warm bus, and then bundled them back up before exiting. She was so careful not to jostle them too much as she maneuvered the stroller on or off the bus.

What's going on in that mind of hers? Did she lose a baby herself once and is unable to move on? Was she unable to bear a child of her own? Is that how she became unhinged?

There was no shame in her behavior. Nor was she drawing attention to herself. She was just trying to care for three babies as she traveled up Harlem Avenue on a winter's day.

Sunday Stealing

2011-12-18T00:37:00.000-06:00

Sunday Stealing: The Community Meme

Cheers to all of us thieves!

1. As a blogger, what do you draw inspirations from for your posts? My day to day life

2. If you could swap blogs with another blogger for a post, who would you switch with and why? Do I have to do this? I don't want to.

3. If your blog had a theme song, what would it be? Why? "Go, Cubs, Go." Because this is year and the Cubs are real. (It's still December, there's snow on the ground, I can believe the 2012 will be whatever I want it to be!)

4. What is your writing process for a post? I ask myself, "What's going on with me today?" I wish there was more to it than that, but there isn't.

5. Your blog requires a cute, new, mascot - what would it be?

6. Do you feel you express your "true self" on your blog? Yes.

7. What is your biggest online pet-peeve? People who say shit just to comment. For example, I once did a 200+ word post about how much Little Women has always meant to me, and how I long for my own Professor Bhaer. The first commenter wrote, "I'm probably the only person who read it as a little girl and didn't relate to anyone and never bothered to finish the book."Now why bother to leave such a comment? A more recent example: I posted a list of the most iconic movie characters of all time and someone commented that these "are all before my time." First of all, how can you be alive and not know Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz? And secondly, again, why bother to leave such a comment? Are people so eager to generate traffic to their own blogs that they believe that leaving any link will bring readers their way? I don't get it. There. Thank you for listening.

8. If you could live in a fictional universe, where would you live? Why? Galtopia. Because it is a village of my own creation, and I'm a benevolent despot.

9. You're having a bad day, you're upset, you're angry, or you're sad - what is your go-to comfort? My best friend. When he thinks I'm not acting in my own best interest, he often talks sense to me in his "dad voice."

10. What is your favorite inspirational quote? OK, prepare to be inspired: East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb will -- Groucho Marx

11. If they were to make a movie based on your life, who would play you, your leading lady/man, your best friend, and your rival? They already made the movie. Before I lived it, as a matter of fact. As you can see, Lois Chiles played my rival. Though neither of us gets him in the final reel. (For real. I recently found that my real Hubbell is divorced.)

12. Do you think the world is going to end in 2012? No, you silly!

13. If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be? I'd eliminate the extra chins.

14. What is your favorite season and why? Autumn. Because it's nice to say goodbye to all that withering heat and hello to my sweaters.

15. You've been bitten by a vampire. Would you fight it with all your undead being or would you embrace it for all it is worth? I think I'd embrace it.

16. Have you personally met any of your blogger friends? I met Book Mama, her mother Snowbird, and two of her three charming blond kids. I was honored that they took time out of her trip to Chicago, just to meet me!

17. What does your favorite pair of underwear look like? I love my white Hanes granny pants and no one can talk me out of them! Wait ... that came out wrong. I bet it would be very easy for the right guy to talk me out of them. I meant that I see no reason to change the style.

18. Have you ever drank something right from the container in the refrigerator knowing other people will have to drink out of the same container later? NO! EWWW!

19. What is your favorite word and explain why? "Gubernatorial." Because it's fun to say. Go ahead. You know you want to.

20. 2011 is soon coming to a close, is there anything you'd like to do different on your blog in the year 2012? Nope.

Saturday 9

2011-12-17T03:32:00.002-06:00

Saturday 9: I Will Survive

1. What in the 2011 has proved to you that you are a survivor? I got through the run up to surgery. In retrospect, that was worse than the actual procedure. Finding out what was going on with me, meeting an oncologist, getting the xray/blood tests, working with the insurance company, getting a date scheduled ... It was maddening and made the whole ordeal more stressful.

2. Have you ever stayed online for a very long time waiting for someone? I don't understand the question. I'm logged on almost all day long and I check my email regularly, does that answer this?

3. Are REALLY ready for the holidays? Pert near.

4. Did you have an imaginary friend as a kid? I was convinced my plush Lassie dog was real

5. What niche network do you watch the most? ME-TV

6. Have you ever seen the ocean? Yes. I've spent more time with the Atlantic.

7. Have you ever been hospitalized? Twice. Once in 2003, and again on September 9 of this year.

8. What do you think of the US Republican candidates for president? As a Blue State Girl, I think they're great because they strengthen the President's chances of re-election. As a concerned American, I'm a little disappointed because I wish we could have a serious debate about the issues and very few of these candidates seem to have any real gravitas.

9. Could you imagine life without a computer? Yes. It scares me and I don't like it!

To borrow from Joe Jackson, "She's really going out with him."

2011-12-16T12:45:00.000-06:00

My oldest friend is going on her first date, just coffee, with Archie Bunker this afternoon. In addition to OWS, he hates coddled athletes, Obama and this young, entitled generation. Oh, and rude people and those who "don't love." And, I imagine, kids who step on his lawn.

He's something of a local broadcast celebrity, even though he's on disability leave, and seems to exude self-confidence (along with grumpiness). She's very attracted to that.

I just hope that it either goes very well, that he truly is the "soul mate" she's looking for, or that he dumps her right away. I don't want her to have to deal with long, protracted drama and heartache. That's not what she needs this holiday season!

To borrow from Pinocchio, "I feel like a real girl"

2011-12-15T19:34:00.002-06:00

I was fingerprinted today as part of my refinancing with JP Morgan Chase. How legit and official is that! I can't recall ever having been fingerprinted before. Now I can be a plot twist on NCIS, with Abby telling Gibbs that the print I left behind is a three-point match with the one in my file.

Then Gibbs will interrogate me. His gut will tell him that I'm innocent, that I'm telling him the truth. Of course we will spar verbally and he will notice the slight red cast to my hair. And I will be come the next ex-Mrs. Gibbs. Sigh.

All this and a lower monthly mortgage payment, too!

Thursday Thirteen #150

2011-12-14T20:30:00.002-06:00

MY THIRTEEN FAVORITE GIFTS

OF CHRISTMAS 2011

1) An official Late Night with David Letterman mug for my mom. She loves her Dave.

2) Crocheted ear muffs/headphones for my niece, so she can enjoy her tunes in comfort as she walks across her windy campus

3) A pewter pink ribbon key ring from Shirley Pewter in Williamsburg for a friend who is celebrating a year of being cancer free this month!

4) Peacock flipflops for my oldest friend, who so prefers California's warm winters to Chicago's white Christmases

5) Guatemalan "worry dolls" for one of my coworkers, Tom, because he in 2012 I want him to not let the stress get to him so much

6) A psychic reading from Practically Intuitive for my friend Mindy

7) The 2012 Nuns Having Fun calendar to amuse a friend who is the proud product of 12 years of Catholic school

8) A Warriors illustrated novel for my nephew, who is a great fan of the series

9) A subscription to Glamour for my oldest friend's daughter, who aspires to a career in cosmetology

10) Lavender-scented fabric mist for my cousin, who is having trouble sleeping these days

11) Hand-crafted caterpillar charms to bring my coworkers luck

12) A movie theater gift card for the guy who does my hair, because he's always asking me what I've just seen

13) Homemade cookies for my best friend

For more information about the Thursday Thirteen,

or to play yourself, click here.

I Want Wednesday

2011-12-14T17:43:00.000-06:00

I want to always feel this way. I am happy today. No particular reason, beyond Christmas and friends.

Christmas Cookies -- Chapter 3

2011-12-14T08:44:00.001-06:00

Are they not gorgeous? Yes, they are. My best friend ate only one,* but he declared it, "very good" and said he's sure I could master more complicated recipes, too. (I admit I could probably never find an easier one.)

I am feeling very proud. I bet Pippa Middleton wishes her backside was as perfect as the back of my peanut butter and jelly cookie's!

*He is diabetic and we had the rich desserts included in our prix fixe dinner menu.

And it was 58% off!

2011-12-13T13:58:00.000-06:00

According to the website Delightful Children's Books:

Vera’s Baby Sister by Vera Rosenberry. A wonderful story about a girl, Vera, whose house is filled with noise when her baby sister arrives. Vera’s grandpa helps Vera plant a bean tent, which serves as a quiet space where Vera can go to be alone. Vera’s Baby Sister realistically describes the feelings that can accompany the arrival of a new sibling and has a sweet ending.

It was on sale for just $2.98. I discovered it after purchasing a knit Bulls cap for my nephew. NBA licensing being what it is, that red cap was $17.98. I'm somehow just as satisfied with the book I dropped in the collection bin for Chicago's abused children in our building lobby. (The only other thing in the box was three packages of Ramen noodles. This is one of the world's tallest buildings, more than 80 stories tall. I hope that the bin had recently been emptied and this isn't all we could muster for the less fortunate today.)

Christmas Meme

2011-12-12T23:46:00.001-06:00

Favorite Christmas…

01. Non-Jesus-related song? River (I wish I had a river that I could sail away on ...)

02. Jesus-related song? Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!

03. Santa-related song? Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

04. Fictional character? Scrooge

05. Animated movie? Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

06. Non-animated movie? Elf

07. Personal memory? Finding Blaze under the tree on Christmas morning the year I was four. I had been introduced to Blaze through the TV commercials and knew we were destined to be together. I remember telling Santa he was available at Sears, Roebuck and Co., in case the elves needed help.

08. Story/Fairy Tale? A Christmas Carol

He's a good egg

2011-12-12T03:58:00.001-06:00

My friend from the Keys was incommunicado Saturday, and I admit I was pissed. I wanted to get his birthday/Christmas gifts in the mail and all I had for him is his PO Box, no street address. Neither UPS nor Fed Ex delivers to PO Boxes!

I wanted the good folks at the UPS Store to pack his gift because included with it was one from my uncle. He's been gone just over a year now, but I only recently got access to his personal belongings. All I took of his was one record album. He mentioned to me once, years ago, that after his death, he wanted my friends in Keys -- whom he had met and liked -- to get his Barbra Streisand albums on vinyl. My uncle believed that they would be collector's items (they aren't; he didn't take good enough care of them, but never mind that) and he wanted my Babs-loving friends to have them. All that was left after family and friends picked through his stuff was the original Streisand Christmas LP. It's nearly 50 years old, and I couldn't have it broken en route. I mean, it made it through DECADES and then I get hold of it and it breaks? No. Not acceptable.

So I left messages all day long -- calling and texting his cell. "What's your address?" I was getting angry. After all, many a time while dining with me I've seen him check his phone. Now, all of a sudden, when I need him, he develops manners? And really, how hard a question was I asking? It's not like he'd have to look it up. I JUST NEEDED HIS STREET ADDRESS!!!

Well, he called me at 7:00 Sunday morning to apologize. (He forgets that Chicago is behind Key West, not ahead.) He was at the funeral of the mother of one of his former students. She committed suicide, and her son was the one who found her hanging in the bathroom. My friend and his lover spent the day with the boy -- now at nursing school in Miami -- and offered support. The kid is so close to his degree, they wanted to let him know he's not alone and that they will do whatever they can to help him stay with it and graduate.

The community college unceremoniously canned my friend earlier this year. Budget cuts. I understand the economic realities of the Recession but still, a teacher like my friend is too valuable to lose. He had this boy in his Spanish class years ago, but as far as he's concerned, the kid is still his student and still entitled to his full support.

I know my uncle's beloved Christmas album will soon be just where it belongs.

I ran away to the darkness

2011-12-11T20:48:00.000-06:00

I love going to the movies. Sitting there in the dark with movie food (today it was popcorn) is good for my soul. Because my weekend was full of holiday/weekend things -- laundry, grocery shopping, wrapping gifts and dropping them off at The UPS Store, and completing my great cookie experiment (see below) -- I felt I deserved a little motion picture respite. So I dashed off to the local theater (I can, literally, make it from my front door to box office in less than 10 minutes) and saw The Descendants with George Clooney.

The coming attractions make this appear to be a comedy, but it's not. George is an Every Man, a graying, overworked, under-involved husband/father who is suddenly confronted with a tragedy. He has to learn about how who he is and how he got where he is in the hardest possible way. This isn't the high-wattage star turn Clooney like his role in The Ides of March. He doesn't use charm to draw us in. His performance here is similar to the one in Michael Clayton in that he disappears into the role. And that his credibility is critical to our staying with this film. In that quiet way, he's wonderful.

So is Amara Miller, the actress who plays his younger daughter, Scottie. There's a spontaneity to her performance that captivated me.

Christmas Cookies -- Chapter 2

2011-12-11T15:30:00.001-06:00

Baked three more batches from The World's Easiest Cookie Recipe. Then I chose the 10 finest specimens, surrounded them by wax paper, cushioned them with Viva paper towels, and shut the lid on this sturdy penguin holiday gift box. They now sit in the refrigerator, waiting to be bestowed upon my best friend this Tuesday.

I just know he will be thrilled by this homemade gift.

He's also getting this pail of personalized Christmas Fortune Cookies from Chocolate.com. I wrote the fortunes myself:

Oooh Child, things are gonna get easier. Oooh Child, things will get brighter.

Your daughters will bring you much love and joy in 2012

You will appear on Brooke Shields’ wish list in 2012

The Gal cherishes your friendship

You are worth so much more than this job

You were born to work for Food Network

I am so looking forward to our celebration/gift exchange. Isn't Christmas great?

Sunday Stealing

2011-12-10T19:54:00.001-06:00

Sunday Stealing: The Blue Memory Meme, Part Two

26) Are you happy with the person you've become? Yes

27) What's a sound you hate; sound you love? HATE: The sound of cardboard scraping against cardboard (think packing boxes); LOVE: A cat's purr

28) What's your biggest "what if"? If I hadn't wasted too much time on the wrong man. But it's not productive so I try not to go there.

29) Do you believe in ghosts? Nope.

30) How about aliens? Nope.

31) What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far? To become a writer.

32) What's the worst place you have ever been to? Montello, Wisconsin

33) Can insanity bring on more creativity? Yes

34) Most attractive actor of your opposite gender? Mark Harmon, aka Gibbs, aka My TV Boyfriend

35) To you, what is the meaning of life? To help those less fortunate

36) Define “Art”. A diminutive form of the name "Arthur."

37) Do you believe in luck? Yes

38) In your opinion, what makes a great relationship? Acceptance

39) What's a song that always makes you happy when you hear it? "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire

40) Where were you yesterday? Here and there, busy preparing for Christmas

41) What's the worst injury you've ever had? If it counts as an injury, I'll go with that incision after having a few internal organs removed last September

42) Do you have any obsessions right now? Theo Epstein and the Cubs

43) What's up? Baking cookies, watching the NCIS marathon, preparing for Christmas

44) Ever had a rumor spread about you? God, yes. A couple were actually true.

45) Do you believe in real magic? Yes.

46) Do you ever hold grudges against people who have done you wrong? If grudge-holding was an Olympic event, I'd bring back the Gold.

47) What's your favorite (non-pet) animal? The okapi

48) What is your secret weapon to get people to like you? Apparent candor

49) Where is your best friend? This evening he is watching his youngest daughter perform in The Nutcracker Suite.

50) What do you think is Satan's last name? Bartman

Saturday 9

2011-12-10T08:49:00.001-06:00

Saturday 9: Drift Away (RIP Dobie Gray)

1. Who or what bores you enough to mentally drift away? I can easily send my mind away to the happy place during staff meetings.

2. How many members of your family not living with you do you see on during the holidays? My (crazy) older sister and her family will be here with us for the first time in more than 25 years. I find this daunting, but I'm determined to roll with it.

3. When spending time with family, how long after you arrive do you begin to feel "antsy" about being there too long? Depends. Thanksgiving wasn't bad at all, but that "gotta move/gotta get out" feeling kicked in after about two hours. Yet I can spend entire afternoons with my mom and nephew. We'll see. I want Christmas 2011 to be a good one.

4. Does your family more generally get along at a holiday gathering or are there generally arguments? Yes. (Depends on the year.)

5. Are you ever embarrassed by your family around friends? No.

6. Of the celebrities that died in 2011, who will you miss the most?

7. When you watch a movie in a movie theater, do you like the theater filled to capacity, halfway full, or nearly empty? Does your answer change depending on the type of movie you're seeing or do you feel the same way regardless of the movie or genre? I don't care. Sorry.

8. What’s one really cool/useful/nice thing you purchased for yourself this year? I splurged a little and stayed in one of the historic houses on the grounds in Colonial Williamsburg. It was more expensive than the perfectly lovely lodge, but it was sooooo cool. (I'm doing it again this spring, too.)

9. Are you in the holiday spirit yet? Yes!

This one is hard for me

2011-12-09T16:45:00.001-06:00

This week former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to a staggering 14 years for ... well ... he didn't actually accomplish any of his nefarious schemes. But he had them and was trying witlessly to put them in play, and he certainly shouldn't be rewarded for his ineptitude.

But should he spend 14 years in prison? I don't know. I'm not wise enough. I just know it leaves me staggeringly sad.

On the one hand --

• I voted for this turd ... TWICE! The first time, I actually believed in him, so my sense of betrayal is as personal as it is huge. (The second time, the Republican party in Illinois ran a candidate who was simply ridiculous and I felt I had no choice.)
• His predecessors got stiff sentences for corruption, too, and that didn't deter him, so the similar five or six year sentence I wish he'd gotten might not have sent a message to other politicians (Jesse, Jr., are you listening?). I know that the judge was trying to use this sentence as a much-needed remedy to the rampant corruption.

On the other hand, he got twice the sentence that his predecessor, Governor George Ryan, and Ryan's misdeeds were much greater. Really, check out the aftermath of his chicanery and the high prices The Willis Family paid. Perhaps it's only because Blago was such a bad crook, but he never did anything this bad.

Oh well, it's over. The toughest part of this, for me, is that when you visit the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum you see the names of at least three felons -- George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich and William Cellini -- carved into the marble. "Honest Abe" deserves better from his home state, he really does.

I hope this is it for a while. I don't want Jesse, Jr., to be guilty. But if he is, I hope he takes a plea deal and saves us all even more sordid drama.

THURSDAY THIRTEEN #149

2011-12-07T20:45:00.000-06:00

THE THIRTEEN

MOST POPULAR

CHRISTMAS SONGS

Thanks to Wikipedia for this list (and the pretty tree photo, too).

1 "The Christmas Song" (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) – Mel Tormé, Robert Wells

2 "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" – Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin

3 "Winter Wonderland" – Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith

4 "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" – J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie

5 "White Christmas" – Irving Berlin

6 "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" – Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne

7 "Jingle Bell Rock" – Joseph Carleton Beal, James Ross Boothe

8 "The Little Drummer Boy" – Katherine K. Davis, Henry V. Onorati, Harry Simeone

9 "Sleigh Ride" – Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish

10 "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" – Johnny Marks

11 "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" – Edward Pola, George Wyle

12 "I'll Be Home for Christmas" – Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram

13 "Silver Bells" – Jay Livingston, Ray Evans

I'm not surprised to see #12 on the list. I think I have heard "I'll Be Home for Christmas" performed by everyone from Karen Carpenter to Lou Rawls this year. I'm starting to wonder where the singer is that he or she won't be home for Christmas. Prison? The military? Working the holiday shift at a hospital? The backstory on that one changes for me depending on who is doing the singing.

For more about the Thursday 13,
or to play along yourself, click here.

Wow!

2011-12-07T15:21:00.000-06:00

Had an impressive session with my shrink last night. I told her that I'm really pretty happy these days, and that makes me feel bad because my oldest friend is suffering and just keeps on suffering, no matter what I do.

The doc started by pointing out the obvious -- that there isn't a finite amount of happy in the world, and that when I'm feeling good it's not like I'm preventing her from being happy. I know that. That doesn't mean I don't feel that way, but I know it's not true.

And then there's the fact that it isn't up to me to make my oldest friend happy or whole. It's unrealistic. It's undoable. It's dopey. I know that, too. I just need to be reminded.

Now here's the revelation: my need to fix her life may actually be harming and not be helping. This part I didn't get until my shrink pointed it out to me.

When I tell my best friend to join a congregation … to eat healthier … to stop smoking … to reach out to her friends and family more authentically … to enforce boundaries with her kids … etc., she's probably not hearing the love and support I intend. Heard through the filter of her overwhelming vulnerability, she may just hear, "Why didn't I think of that? I suck."

Instead, when she's blue, I should just say, "I'm sorry. How can I help?" And then, instead of solving, I should shut up and just listen.

Wow. Just wow.

My favorite traditional carol

2011-12-06T13:45:00.001-06:00

Peace on earth and mercy mild. God and sinner reconciled.

I love "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!" It makes me happy whenever I hear it. It encapsulates the religious side of the holiday for me: Peace, mercy and unconditional love.

It also reminds me of George Carlin's joke that it's really about listening for the LA Herald's softball team. And that always makes me smile, too.

A great honor for a Cub great

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

I only wish Ronnie was alive to see it!

I adored Ron Santo. I grew up on him! He wore the #10 in Cubbie Blue for 14 seasons, encompassing the seasons from when I was in pre-school and continuing through my junior year in high school. On the North Side he had a career batting average of .279 and more than 335 home runs. These stats are not earth shaking today, but remember, this was in the 1960s and early 1970s -- NO STEROIDS. He also played in four consecutive All-Star games, including his rookie season, and won five consecutive Gold Glove Awards at third base.

He did all of the above while battling diabetes. Think about that.

In retirement, he became the voice of the Cubs on the radio and was a complete delight. I loved having Ronnie in my head every summer as I wore my headphones and listened to him add passion and knowing observations to each game. He was also a tireless and influential fundraiser for JDF.

He wanted this honor badly. It came a year too late. As always, baseball holds life lessons for me. I must thank the people I appreciate NOW, when I can.

Only as sick as our secrets

2011-12-05T15:22:00.000-06:00

When I was at my mom's yesterday, I happened to see the Christmas card she received from my oldest friend. It was a lovely, very conventional affair with a touch of glitter on the front, and the inside was a form letter detailing how well everything is going for her in Beverly Hills.

Huh? What? Her life is a mess and has been since she arrived on the West Coast! She even goes on and on about how good it is to be so close to her cousin, Sharon. Yes, the same cousin who won't lift a freaking finger to help my oldest friend or her two troubled children.

I don't know who all is on my friend's card list, but my dear old mother has known her since she was 5 and could certainly handle, and lovingly welcome, the truth. I'm sure that there are others who received this sugar-coated nonsense who, like my mother, would rather hear an unpleasant truth and try to help than be lulled by her lies.

No, wait. "Lies" is unfair. Everything my oldest friend wrote was completely accurate, and just as untrue.

Denying her situation will not help her improve it. Seeing that Christmas card frustrated and saddened me enormously.

Celebrating my mom's birthday

2011-12-04T22:04:00.003-06:00

This intense and soulful looking man is Chaz Dean. He has a line of haircare products, sold on one of the shopping networks, that has completely captivated my mom. It's rather pricey, and when she hit this latest financial bump in the road, her Wen was economized away. So I was happy to find two new and sealed bottles of the cleansing conditioner (her favorite product) on eBay for her birthday gift. One of them was even one of 2011's special 2011 holiday scent: vanilla mint. I'm confident this part of my gift was a hit with her, and I'm glad.

Another portion of my gift to her -- a pair of $10 giftcards to Olive Garden -- were less so, and it makes me sad. Here's the deal: Whenever I buy giftcards, I always include the a portion of the receipt so just in case there's a problem when it's redeemed, there's proof that the card was activated. I bought these Olive Garden cards at Walgreen's, so it was Walgreen's that I taped to these cards.

As she examined the giftcards, holding them under the table lamp, I said, "I got two $10s instead of one $20 so you can use them separately and together. I know you enjoy going with your friend Shirley and with your granddaughter." My mom will be at the mall with Shirley and my niece will be home for Christmas soon, and I know visits to Olive Garden will be on her mind and her already thin budget. She thanked me.

As I was leaving, I made reference to Olive Garden and she said, "But I thought those giftcards were for Walgreen's!" She was fixated on the black and white cash register receipt on the back, not the glossy, brightly colored logo on the front? Didn't she hear me when I mentioned either using them separately or together, with either Shirley or my niece? I mean, who enjoys trips to the corner drugstore with friends and family?

It's this evidence that she doesn't get stuff anymore that makes me sad. I hate it that my mommy is getting old. (She will be 78 this week.)

Christmas Meme

2011-12-04T10:14:00.000-06:00

Purloined from Kwizgiver.

1. Worst Christmas song? "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"

2. If you were a Christmas character, who would you be? Mary Bailey from It's A Wonderful Life.

3. What type of decoration should stop being made? Voice-activated Santas, the ones that startle me as I walk through Walgreen's

4. Tastiest holiday treat? Anything with cinnamon

5. Favorite pop culture/stereotypical Christmas icon? Scrooge

6. Know how to make cookies/brownies/cake from scratch? Now I do

7. Ever cut your mouth on a candy cane/candy? No

8. What other culture would you like to experience Christmas with? London. I'd like to see if there's still a Dickens-y vibe.

9. What kind of pattern/pictures do you like on your wrapping paper? Small, so that it's still pretty on smaller packages.

10. Will you make a Christmas picture for your blog/website/profile? nope

11. Three best things about Christmas? The decorations, the music, the contagious and charitable spirit

Point. Click. Give.

2011-12-04T08:01:00.000-06:00

This made me happy. I was able to donate a copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever to the annual Today Show Toy Drive … WHILE STILL BAREFOOT AND IN MY PJs! How cool is that? All I had to was click here and I was at the Amazon Wish List.

I chose this book because my nephew is such a fan of the series and because I like giving children books. But I almost chose the mini NBA baseketball.

Sunday Stealing

2011-12-04T07:19:00.001-06:00

Sunday Stealing: The Blue Memory Meme, Part One

Cheers to all of us thieves!

1) If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say? We're all alive! It's a gift. Now do something with that gift.

2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be? Hillary Rodham Clinton. She's from here in suburban Chicagoland and look at the life she's had! I have so many questions for her (plus she considered my all-time idol, JBKO, a friend.)

3) You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go? Hot Springs, AR, so I can visit the spa at the Arlington Hotel again. It's a perfectly charming little spa in a historic old hotel, right next to a beautiful national park. Not great, mind you. But I always enjoyed my stays there and for some reason my times there keep popping into my head.

4) What do you think about most? Two of my friends -- the ones I have imaginatively christened My Best Friend and My Oldest Friend. I think of him with longing because he's such a comforting presence in my life. I worry about her because she is frequently so troubled.

5) You have the opportunity to spend a romantic night with the music celebrity of your choice. Who would it be? The Boss. A fine figure of a man at 60.

6) You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? None. I am not crazy about many of the things that happened to me, but they all helped make me the woman I am today. And I like me!

7) What's your strangest talent? Wiggling my ear.

8) What would be a question you'd be afraid to tell the truth on? This one.

9) Ever had a poem or song written about you? No. Though a lover once told me that he wished he had written Bob Dylan's "Emotionally Yours" for me. I hope that was about the impact I had on him, and not a yearning for royalty checks.

10) When is the last time you played the air guitar? Never.

11) Do you have any strange phobias? No. I think fearing clowns, air travel and squirrels is completely understandable.

12) What's your religion? In a macro sense? Christian. In terms of the worship services I attend, I'm a Unitarian Universalist.

13) What is your current desktop picture? This.

14) When you are outside, what are you most likely doing? Walking somewhere, while wearing headphones.

15) What's the last song you listened to? "Let It Snow" by Michael Buble.

16) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band? The Beatles. The Fab Four. The Lads from Liverpool. The Moptops. The Maestros of the Mersey. (If you had to ask, you don't visit here often.)

17) What was the last lie you told? "Thank you. Got it. I'm watching it now." Last night my mom told me NBC was rebroadcasting It's A Wonderful Life, and no, I didn't watch it.

18) Do you believe in karma? Yes.

19) What is a saying you say a lot? "The thing of it is ..."

20) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength? My greatest weakness? I'm like a dog with a dirty sock -- I don't let go. My greatest strength? I'm very loyal. I often think these traits are two sides of the same coin.

21) Who is your celebrity crush? Oh, good goobies! My mind is like a motel! Most frequently I dream of the aforementioned Bruce and Mark Harmon, my TV Boyfriend.

22) Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word: heart. "Everybody's got a huh-huh-hungry heart."

23) How do you vent your anger? I can have a sharp tongue.

24) Do you have a collection of anything? Books.

25) What is your favorite word? Gubernatorial. One good thing about living in Illinois, the Land of Blago and George Ryan, is that word comes up a lot. Unfortunately, often in indictments.

Saturday 9

2011-12-03T07:15:00.000-06:00

Saturday 9: Lies

1. “Everybody lies. But it's alright because nobody listens.” is one of Bud's Law's. What do you lie about? My social calendar. I often make up events to get out of doing stuff I just don't want to do. I'm afraid the truth ("I'd rather sit home and watch Law & Order reruns than go out with you") might hurt feelings.

2. When you purchase a DVD, what besides the the movie itself, what do you enjoy the most? Is it the director's commentary, the deleted scenes, the bloopers or the behind-the-scenes documentary? Deleted scenes. These extras are what I miss about streaming videos and ONDEMAND.

3. What would you most like to accomplish before the year is over? Nothing springs to mind. Which is a good feeling. While I could stand to part with more shit, I think I may just have that Clutter Monster under control.

4. What is your current percentage of online shopping? Is it going to be more this year than last? I was told there would be no math involved. It's probably a little more than half, and it feels the same as last year.

5. What's left to do at your place (or where you are going)? Is the tree up? ...or maybe you're just happy you found that fave Christmas coffee mug and are calling that good? My tree is up. My cards are in the mail. My shopping is just about done. Time for the paper, tags and tape! I have been considering a fresh wreath for the front door. Maybe this weekend.

6. If you could get worry free, cost free plastic surgery, would you? If yes, where? Yes. In a hospital.

7. Do you think the child you were growing up, would like the adult you've become? For the most part. I can be short-tempered. But I'm also imaginative and supportive. My niece and nephew and my friend's daughter all think I'm pretty cool for some reason.

8. What will you miss about 2011? Long-time Cub players. With a new manager and new front office personnel, it stands to reason that some changes will be made. But I've grown very fond of some of my heroes in Cubbie Blue.

9. What is something you'd love to see invented? The laundry room is in the basement, and I share those two washers and dryers with the tenants of 11 other units. I wish there was a way to know -- without going down the four flights of stairs with a ton of clothes -- if the machines are in use.

A Tale of Two Teeth

2011-12-03T03:35:00.000-06:00

A surprising and unwelcome part of my birthday celebration was my chipped molar. It's been more than a week and there's no pain, so I'm going to wait until January to get it looked at. Why work fruitlessly toward my deductible this late in the year, only to have the meter reset on January 1?

I realize I'm lucky to not be in pain, to have the chip in a barely visible spot, and to have dental insurance at all.

My friend from the Keys called to tell me how happy he was with the progress of his wrongful dismissal claim. But he was distracted by vodka -- partly because a cocktail is part of his after-work routine, mostly because he was in pain. He, too, has a broken tooth. But he can't afford to get it fixed because he doesn't have dental insurance. So he's going to self medicate and eventually get something done, but not the root canal/crown he predicts would set him back $1,400 he doesn't have. (I don't know what they cost, since I have the insurance, which I'm suddenly more grateful for.)

I'll know it when I feel it

2011-12-02T17:12:00.000-06:00

On my way back from the post office where I mailed paperbacks to the soldiers, I spotted a book fair. For just $3.81 (including tax), I was able to pick up this Nancy Drew book. I left it in the drop box for the children's home my office building assists each year. I loved Nancy Drew as a young girl, and it makes me happy to think of another little gal enjoying her adventures this Christmas.

My nephew and I have already shopped for Sebastian, the 12-year-old in the after-school program for the less privileged in my own neighborhood. And I dropped off the goodies I have been collecting all year for Toys for Tots. There's a box conveniently located at my local Walgreen's (and there's probably one at yours, too -- hint, hint).

I try to contribute to good causes all year because it's the right thing to do. As JFK said, we should work toward a world where "the weak are safe and the strong are just," and to that end, I should do my part. It's what's expected of me as a Christian.

But at Christmas, when it comes to kids, there's more joy and less obligation in my giving. I think it's because I love thinking of the absolutely perfect toys I got from Santa when I was little. Or the scented lotions, barrettes and patterned knee socks in my stocking from my parents when I got older.

It wasn't so much the stuff that make the memories special. It was the wonder and the magic. The joy and surprise. It's that excitement and happiness that I'm trying to recapture and pass along to another young person.

After Sebastian and Toys for Tots, I thought I had given "enough" and was done for the season. Then I saw Nancy Drew looking out at me from the book rack and I knew I still had a ways to go. When I can look at a potential gift and a collection bin and not feel the irresistable need to bring them together, that's when I'll be done for the year

One last gift

2011-12-02T13:59:00.000-06:00

I think I am almost done with my Christmas shopping! All that's left is a Chicago Bulls cap for my young nephew.

I didn't pick one up for him earlier because he's not really that much of a basketball fan and with the lockout dragging on and on, I was afraid there wouldn't be a season. For him, when the Bulls are out of sight, they are out of mind. (After all, they aren't the Cubs.)

But my mom is a huge fan and it will make her happy to see him wearing it. And, like many other 12 year old boys, it makes him happy to switch caps every day or so. Win/win.

About comments

2011-12-02T13:54:00.001-06:00

Every now and again I read one of you blogging buddies o' mine wondering wistfully why you don't receive any more comments. To which I ask, "Do you really want strangers venting their voluminous spleens on your blog?"

Every once in a while I'm accused of being an unsympathetic bitch for holding Betty Broderick responsible for shooting two people while they slept, pre-dawn on a Sunday morning, in their own beds. I'm too thick to understand that somehow it was self defense.

Now it seems I'm hard-hearted because I don't feel sorry for Joe Paterno after the role he played in the Penn State scandal.

Because I have Statcounter for this blog, I know that the Betty fans and the Paterno apologist arrived here the same way. They do searches for these hot button topics and then troll the web to tell complete strangers like me how wrong we are.

I don't get it.

It feels a more than a little sad, and it very annoying.

Pressing my "dad" button

2011-12-01T00:08:00.001-06:00

My dad was like Archie Bunker. He used to say grumpy shit that didn't make sense, that he didn't even mean, just to hear himself being grumpy.

"If [insert Democrat's name here] becomes President, we're moving to Canada."

"I'm never buying anything from Japan again." (Even though the TV he had just bought me for my room was by Sanyo.)

"I'm never going to another baseball game again." After the first baseball players' strike in 1981. OK, that was true. But because no one ever invited him to another game, not because of his heroic anti-labor stance. Anyway, you get the idea.

I HATE IT WHEN ANYONE PRESSES MY "DAD" BUTTON!

Unfortunately, my oldest friend is flirting with a man who is leaning heavily on my dad button. They met through some SoCal dating service and have traded emails and spoken on the phone. Because I am very protective of her -- and because she doesn't need anymore shit or heartache -- I have been cyber stalking this guy. Between Twitter, Facebook and his blog, he gives me a lot of material.

At first he gave me pause because he wrote that he was so sorry that Joe Paterno is a victim of this Penn State mess. What the fu ... Oh, well, the guy used to be a sportscaster. Maybe he can't stop looking at the world through that prism. A little baffling for a father and a grandfather regarding the subject of child abuse, but I'm a barren spinster, what do I know?

Then he complained about Black Friday and how he will never shop at Wal-Mart or Best Buy again, since those two retailers pander to our lowest instincts and encourage us to act like animals.Really? Really? You will never shop at Wal-Mart or Best Buy again? HONK! HONK! Dad button goes off loudly.

He's done with Bette Midler because of something she tweeted. He guesses she doesn't want conservative fans like him. HONK! Dad button again.

Today he's mad at OWS because they have taken over parks paid for with tax dollars and he wonders what's next. Are they going to camp out all night in affluent neighborhoods to protest people who work for a living and earned what they have? HONK! HONK! Yes, Dad, that's exactly what's next. They're pitching their tents on Kirk Kerkorian's lawn right now.

Like my oldest friend, he has had a lot of health problems lately. Perhaps they are weighing heavily on him, and that explains the dearth of joy in any of his posts.

But still, he sounds like an angry man and I'm getting a very toxic vibe from him. With everything my friend has been dealing with, I don't know that Archie Bunker is really who she needs right now.

Therefore, as mean as this sounds, I hope he cancels on her. I really do. I know how sad and lonely she is, but she's already looking at this man as her "soul mate" and talking about which cologne she's going to wear for their first meeting. I'm scared for her with this guy. Not physically, but emotionally.

I hope I'm wrong. I'd love to be wrong. Please let me be wrong and please let her have her happy ending.