The Magic Number is 11

A 1-run victory is still a victory, which means that the Boys in Blue will go off on their unscheduled two days off as winners.

Kerry Wood was the closer, and naturally, I called out words of encouragement to him via my TV. Somehow my big ol' tomcat Joey interpreted "C'mon, Kerry Wood" as "Squeeze your massive feline body up against mine and watch the end of the game with me." While I didn't invite him onto the sofa with me, Joey was gentle, comforting company for those last 3, nerve-wracking outs.

We don't like Ike

Hurricane Ike is responsible for the postponement of Friday's and Saturday's Cubs/Astros games. I can't recall such a thing ever happening before (which highlights one of the things I like best about baseball: it's steeped in tradition and everything has happened before). I'm not pleased about it because the end of this season has been maddening and the sooner it's behind us and the Cubs are in the play-offs, the better.

I hope that all the Texans effected come through Ike OK. Especially the kind folks at the Houston SPCA. I remember that, after Katrina, the Houston SPCA was tireless in helping the lost and the homeless animals of New Orleans. Here's hoping that all the good karma they accumulated will help protect them from Ike.

DAY 11 -- September Fitness Challenge

No time for a workout, so I am left to burnish my healthy living halo by reporting my nutritious lunch choices. I really wanted the juicy bbq spare ribs from Panda Express. But instead, I went down to the buffet and chose roast turkey. For dessert, I had fruit salad. And I'm bound and determined NOT to give in to my craving for a Nestle Crunch Bar!

Thursday Thirteen #85 -- Meet two mystery-solving sisters

THIRTEEN THINGS

ABOUT THE SOUTHERN SISTERS

In the past I have done TT’s about fictional "good guys" Kay Scarpetta and Kinsey Milhone. This week I am spotlighting The Southern Sisters, created by Anne George. These mysteries always include murder, but Ms. George's stories are never grisly like Patricia Cornwell’s. They are specific to a time and place, but it’s contemporary and real, the American South, not Lillian Jackson Braun’s fictional Moose County (of “The Cat Who …” series).

Best of all, Anne George treats her main characters with respect, not condescension. It's not often that you encounter fully-realized, multi-dimensional, active and interesting women over 60 in mysteries. There are only 8 books in the series, since Ms. George passed away in 2001 at age 73. I miss the cozy and funny characters she created. I hope this overview will whet your appetite for her affectionate, sweet and very smart work.

1) The protagonists of these books are a mismatched pair of 60-something sisters who live in Birmingham, AL. The books are rich with local color and age/region appropriate language. For example, to these ladies, no one “dies,” they “pass.” People aren’t “vulgar,” they are “common as pig’s tracks,” and Birmingham’s Vulcan statue is almost another character.

2) Mary Alice is the elder. She is fashion-forward and flamboyant – and 6 ft. tall and 200+ lbs. She is wealthy because she has married well and often. She’s not as greedy as that makes her sound, just very impulsive when it comes to men. Within the family, she is known as “Sister,” or to her nieces and nephews as “Aunt Sister.”

3) Patricia Ann is the younger. Barely 5’ tall, still married to her first and only husband, Fred, and newly retired from her job of many years at the local high school. She still substitute teaches and cannot resist correcting Sister's grammar. Fred still runs his own business. She’s content to spend her evenings with Fred, eating on TV tables while watching Jeopardy! and the Biography channel. Patricia Ann’s name within the family is “Mouse.”

4) Patricia Ann is kept company by a dog who enjoys leisurely walks and sleeping in an igloo in the backyard. Mary Alice, on the other hand, has an enormous and spoiled cat named Bubba who sleeps on a heating pad. I cannot remember an instance in any of the 8 books where Bubba moved, but I do recall at least one time when Mouse suggested Bubba may have passed on.

5) The Sisters are one another’s best friend, but that doesn’t mean they always get along. Their disparate personalities just naturally lead to friction. When they do squabble, it usually denigrates into a rehash of an incident with a Shirley Temple doll when they were very little girls in the 1930s. But they pull together admirably when facing danger.

6) Murder on a Girl’s Night Out is the first book. Mary Alice decides to both have fun and diversify her investments by buying a country western bar, but before the sale goes through, the owner is murdered and the Southern Sisters begin investigating their first case.

7) Murder on a Bad Hair Day is second in the series. The Southern Sisters attend a reception for local artists, but the evening ends with sad death of the gallery owner – presumably of a heart attack. But things are not as they seem, since many of the artists had murderous motives.

8) Murder Runs in the Family is third. The girls are considering looking into their family tree and consequently go out to lunch with a genealogist familiar with Alabama families. During the meal, the genealogist is called away by a local judge. Later that day she committed suicide by diving from a courthouse window. Considering how nosy – and noisy – this genealogist was, The Southern Sisters suspect someone might have silenced her to keep some important family’s secrets just that – secret.

9) Murder Makes Waves is #4. The girls hit the road and get away to the beach. Unfortunately relaxing time on the shore is interrupted when a body washes up almost in front of them. Away from Birmingham, Mouse and Aunt Sister are not exactly welcomed by local law enforcement as they try to “follow the money” and get to the bottom of a real estate deal that went murderously wrong.

10) Murder Gets a Life is fifth. Aunt Sister is not at all happy that her beloved son married some ol’ gal named Sunshine Dabbs. Still, the Southern Sisters have good manners and it’s only right to pay a call on the Dabbs family at a trailer park off the beaten track. Somehow Sunshine’s “Meemaw” finds herself embroiled in a murder and the Sisters have to help the in-laws.

11) Murder Shoots the Bull is #6. The title refers to the bullish stock market, and the Sisters join an investment club. They get together with a number of Birmingham ladies, pool their money and (hopefully) make the right choices. Things go bad when their friend and co-investor Mitzi suspects that her husband Arthur is having an affair, and finds himself suspected of arson and the victim of a gunshot in a very embarrassing spot.

12) Murder Carries a Torch is the penultimate book. It revolves around family – the girls travel to Warsaw to visit Mouse’s newly-married and relocated daughter, Haley. Upon their return, Aunt Sister announces that she wants to marry again herself, if only she had a prospective groom. Then their Cousin Luke (“Pukey Lukey”) shows up to tell them his wife of 40 years has run off with a housepainter and he needs their help to bring her back. Investigating the housepainter’s life and his rural church, they find more deadly goings-on than just wife-stealing.

13) Murder Boogies with Elvis is the eighth and last in the series. I realize that Mrs. George didn’t plan this to be the final installment, but I’m grateful that this book ends with all the characters I had come to love settled and happy. But before we can get to that happy ending … While sitting in the front row of Birmingham charity gala and enjoying the finale – a line of high-kicking, dancing Elvises – the Sisters and the whole town are shocked when one of the impersonators drops dead from a knife wound to the back. What’s worse is that a bloody switchblade somehow ended up in Mouse’s purse.

Please leave your link in comments and I'll add you here:
1) Anthony North has a poetic TT
2) Susie J offers up easy and quick fixes
3) Sandy Carlson takes a closer look at the beauty in our word choices
4) Nicole Austin goes country in her TT
5) Hootin' Ani looks back at all the "trials of the century"
6) Claudia wishes she said some things, and I wish she had too!
7) Candy Minx has a very visual TT
8) Adelle's TT is full of love
9) Head on up north to the farm show with Lost Hemisphere
10) Jenny McB returns to the TT arena!
11) Lori's TT is very exciting … and yummy
12) SJR has some ambitious goals for herself and her home
13) Sparky looks back on 9/11
14) Poppingbubbles' TT is both random and visual
15) Julia takes a fresh look at tomatoes
16) If you visit Storyteller's TT, prepare to smile and saw "aw"
17) B Boys' Mom has an information TT
18) Lori looks at 9/11 through a child's eyes
19) Brenda's TT tugs at the heart




Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Elizabeth Edwards on dieting

From the September issue of O: "The easiest diet I ever went on was when I was pregnant and had gestational diabetes. I was so rigorous about my eating that I actually lost weight. It wasn't a diet for me to look some particular way (because there's a part of me that rebels against that); this had to do with my baby's health. so it may be easier if you describe your health goals in terms of somebody else."

I am so not liking John Edwards these days.

DAY 10 -- September Fitness Challenge

Spent lunchtime at a recording studio, which is neither as glamorous nor as interesting as it sounds. HOWEVER since my agency does the hiring for this project, the people who man the mics and boards were very willing to get us anything we wanted for lunch. I had an egg salad on whole wheat. No chips, no fries, no dessert. It occurs to me that I haven't had candy in a week. I feel very virtuous.

I wish I was remembering this

The math is still in the Cubs' favor. But this is the second consecutive game that they lost in the 9th inning. It's SO frustrating, as reflected by Lou Piniella's comments after Tuesday's game, as reported by The Sun-Times:

''We're playing like we're waiting to get beat,'' Piniella said, building into a red-faced, two-minute eruption that reverberated into the hallway outside his office at Busch Stadium following a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

''We had many chances today again and we had many chances Sunday against Cincinnati, and it's the same result!'' he said. ''If we had played ball like this all year, we wouldn't be here playing for a championship! We'd be playing a spoiler role for somebody else!

''I know we're trying. I've got no complaints about with the effort. But you've got to get the job done! We can talk about having fun. We can talk about relaxing. But you've got to get your damn shirts rolled up and go out and kick somebody's ass! That's what you've got to do! Period!''

I love Lou. I have faith in Lou. IN LOU I TRUST.

I just wish we were comfortably ensconced in the play offs and I was merely looking back on this stressful, brutal final stretch.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not UNhappy.

I'm just not HAPPY.

My best friend won't be visiting Chicago this month. The Cubs have lost 7 of their last 8.

But then he likes his job better these days, and we have a nice, solid 4-game cushion at the top of the NL Central.

I miss my best friend. He would say something comforting right now to shake me out of this silly, borderline gloomy mood.

It's just some of us have waited our whole lives for a Cubs World Series appearance. I know it's not a cure for cancer, but it's important all the same.

DAY 09 -- September Fitness Challenge

Another trip to the health club! TWO DAYS IN A ROW! Could it be a new trend?

30 minutes of cardio, 16 lifts per leg, and 24 reps on the machine designed to help strengthen my triceps.

Gotta go and move that little stationery bike on the bottom of the page.

Tuesday Tunes #12

Just tell us what artist/band/song comes to mind when you see these words:

Storm: Riders on the Storm by The Doors
Rain: Rainy Day Women by Bob Dylan
Old: Dirty Old, Egg-Sucking Dog by Johnny Cash
Magic: Magic by Colbie Caillat
Angst: Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin
Trust: If I Fell by The Beatles ("If I trust in you ...")
True: More, More, More by the Andrea True Connection
Broken: For My Broken Heart, Reba McIntire
Cheesy: Helen Reddy
Family: The Partridge Family (I'm not proud of this answer, but it was the FIRST response that came to mind)

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

I can't do that, but I can do this

The anniversary of September 11 is almost upon us. It occurs to me as I write checks, or when I pass specials on the flights or the World Trade Center that air on The History Channel.

I cannot watch the shows. I just can't. I don't have to "remember" 9/11 because I think of it nearly every day. It's not a maudlin obsession, the way some people read and watch everything they can about The Kennedy Assassination. Nor is it the result of a bitter, aching heart, because I didn't personally know anyone who was killed that day.

But it changed my life in ways I'm reminded of each day. I can see the Sears Tower from my front steps unless it's very cloudy. On those rainy or foggy days, the thought pops into my head unbidden, "I bet this is what it's like for people in New York who won't ever see the World Trade Center again."

While I don't work in the Sears Tower, my office building is nearly as tall and has very tight security. After my young nephew and I went to his very first ballgame in Wrigley Field this summer, we stopped by my office to use the bathroom (again). The kid found it fascinating/annoying that we needed my key card to get through almost every doorway, even the bathroom. "Why would anyone steal anything out of the BATHROOM?" I explained, as lightly as I could, that the security guards are more worried about bad people sneaking in to leave dangerous things in the bathroom, so the key cards are really a good idea.

Recently the Blue Angels flew past my office on the 37th floor. They were rehearsing for the weekend's Air and Water Show. The sound of those jets echoing among the skyscrapers scared me to my bone marrow.

As I ride through the Loop each workday, it's not unsual to see cops with dogs on the el platforms on one day, gone the next. Or police boats in the river in the morning that are gone in the afternoon. Or police on foot, standing near trash receptacles on Michigan Ave. We all know what it means -- the police dept. heard whispers about terrorism. It's great that they are out protecting us and I appreciate them, but still, it's a sobering reminder of 9/11.

And, of course, there's air travel. Let's not even go there. After all, I was a white knuckle flier before 9/11.

So no, I don't have to watch documentaries or listen to speeches to recall what happened that day 7 years ago. Yet I need to observe it somehow.

So I'm sending a check to Windows of Hope. This wonderful organization has been providing, and will continue to provide, medical care, financial assistance and scholarships to the families of those lost in
The Windows on the World Restaurant on the top floor of the
World Trade Center.
Many of those workers only made minimum wage,
had little if any insurance,
and left a total of 150 children.

This charity has been a success, helping these families recover (at least in part) from their losses not only with financial aid, job training and English language lessons shortly after the tragedy, but they have continued to provide financial advice, preventive healthcare, and college tuition. For example, if the son of a bus boy was 4 in 2001, today he's 12 and might need braces; the now 19 year old daughter of a waitress is ready for college or a career. Thanks to solid management, Windows of Hope is still there for them.

Windows of Hope continues to do their work quietly, efficiently and successfully. If you would like to send a donation, here's the address:

Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund
c/o Bloomberg LP
731 Lexington Ave
New York, NY 10022

I find that celebrating their good work helps me take my mind off what we all lost that day.

Just because I feel like it #2

A fantasy to brighten this cloudy day. Ah, Don Draper!

Just because I feel like it

It's raining here in Chicagoland today. It's raining in Key West, too. So I am posting the photo of the Simonton Street motel in Key West where I'll be spending New Year's because I need a little future-focused pick me up.

DAY 08 -- September Fitness Challenge

I worked out -- 30 minutes of cardio, leg lifts (8 on each leg) and 8 hip lifts. (After I click "publish post" I will update my workout counter at the bottom of the page.)

Because it was raining, I took the pedway that (eventually) connects the health club with my office building. By avoiding the precip, I also avoided many of your more evil fast food places and stopped instead at Subway. I substituted the Dannon yogurt for chips.

It all feels good. If I didn't have a fabulously dumb meeting at 2:00, I'd be a completely happy camper.

My mom and her doctor

My mother's gastrointestinal specialist called her yesterday afternoon when I was there visiting. At first she was frightened -- how bad must her test results be for him to call her on a Sunday? She quickly went from tense to downright giggly. Seems the doctor's wife and kids were off at his in-laws and he went into the office to clear off his desk, and one of the things on his "to do" list was call my mother.

Her test results were informative but not disturbing. She needs to take a different/additional antibiotic and hopefully she will feel better.

But more than discussing the results of the call, she wanted to talk about the caller. Her doctor is "so cute!" She wonders why someone so good looking would be so interested in bowels and intestines! He has dark ashes and dark hair but light skin and blue eyes. My 70-something mother was completely gushing.

"You make him sound like Ricky Nelson," I observed. "Yes!" she responded enthusiastically.

Sunday Stealing #2

Have you ever…

1. gone on a blind date? Yes

2. skipped school? Yes

3. watched someone die? No

4. been on a plane? Yes

5. been on the opposite side of your country? Both sides (I'm in the middle)

6. swam in the ocean? Yes

7. had your booze taken away by the cops? No

8. lettered in high school sport? No, but I did letter in volleyball in Junior High

9. cried yourself to sleep? Yes

10. played cops and robbers? No

11. sung karaoke? Once ...

12. paid for a meal with coins only? Yes

13. done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? Yes

14. cheated on an exam? No

15. made prank phone calls? Back when I was a letterwoman in volleyball

16. laughed until some sort of beverage came out of your nose? No

17. caught a snowflake on your tongue? No

18. written a letter to Santa Claus? No

19. watched the sunrise with someone you care about? No

20. been kissed under the misteltoe? Yes

21. ever been arrested? No

22. gone ice skating? Long ago -- and I did very badly

23. been skinny dipping outdoors? No

24. had a nickname? Yes

25. been on TV? Yes

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

DAY 07 -- September Fitness Challenge

I did it! I got my requisite 10,000 steps in! Listening to Pat and Ron call the Cubs game through my headphones. The day was mild and sunny, the game was exciting (even if the outcome was far from ideal) and I really enjoyed it. Plus I get to move that workout meter at the bottom of the page over a teeny tiny bit.

Cubs Win! Cubs Win!

"Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again …" That's what Comcast SportsNet is playing as the Cubs leave the field. The long, 6-game losing streak is over. Soriano got 3 homeruns, Pitcher Jason Marquis hit one out of the park, too, and D. Lee celebrated his 33rd birthday with a good day at the plate.

WHEW!

These two are starting to creep me out

I give you Cindy and George Anthony, the Florida couple whose granddaughter Caylee Anthony is missing and whose daughter Casey -- a "person of interest" in Caylee's disappearance -- is out of jail for the time being.

The story is tragic. Caylee, only 3 years old, is the victim, but the poor little girl is overshadowed by this Floridian version of the Addams family.

According to Casey, and reiterated over and over again very angrily by her parents, she gave her daughter to a woman named Zenaida, a lovely and seemingly trustworthy woman who had been watching Caylee for years, and Zenaida suddenly just ran off with her. According to the Anthony family, Casey has no address for this woman, nor a phone number, nor any banking information because apparently Zenaida the governess had been watching this child "for years" for free.

During the first month that young Caylee and "Zenaida" were missing, Casey didn't call the police but instead conducted her own search for her daughter … interrupted every now and again for a pole dance at a bar and time alone with her boyfriend, Tony.

Casey's car smelled terrible and cadaver dogs tagged it as having been the site of a corpse. According to the Anthonys, the smell came from a bad pizza in the trunk. Or, if there ever was a dead body in the car, "someone" must have put it in there to frame poor Casey. DNA found in the trunk is "consistent" with Caylee's, but Cindy Anthony doesn't believe in DNA results. Significant amounts of chloroform were also in the car. I haven't heard Cindy Anthony explain that way, but I'm sure she can and will.

Cindy Anthony is angry that the Equisearch team, who came to Florida from Texas at their own expense and have been riding through swamps and wooded areas looking for Caylee, aren't looking for her live granddaughter but instead a body. George Anthony screams at the reporters that swarm his home. The police, who have incarcerated Casey twice -- once for child endangerment/giving false statement to police and again for fraudulently emptying out her friend's checking account -- are harrassing their poor daughter!

When the truth comes out, Cindy Anthony said, Casey will be hailed as "mom of the year."

Caylee has been missing SINCE JUNE. These two people blame the media, the neighbors, the Equisearch volunteers and the police for their tragic misfortune … never their crazy daughter. They cannot possibly believe what they are saying. They must, by now, as the days go by and the evidence mounts, realize that their daughter killed their granddaughter.

Or maybe they're as loony as Casey is.

I wonder if poor little Caylee ever stood a chance with Casey as her mother.

Oh, for pity's sake!

My friend Kathy is on my mind, and on my nerves.

She has had a very, very rough summer -- at 61, when we all hope to be thinking of retirement, she lost her apartment, had to give up her cats, is unemployed and unable to afford health insurance. Even worse, she moved in with her daughter's family who were looking at foreclosure and bankruptcy after Labor Day! I have been terribly worried about Kathy.

Labor Day has come and gone and I still haven't heard from her. Did her son-in-law figure out how to keep their home? Can she continue to stay with them after all? When I had breakfast with her in late June, she had gotten a part-time job at a small newspaper in her daughter's community. Has she scraped up enough money to get her own apartment … and get her cats back? I want to know!

As my best friend likes to say, "The Gal worries."

Well, Kathy won't tell me over the phone or by email. She says it's easier to discuss face to face and is sending hugs my way.

I don't want HUGS. I want a PHONE CALL. I want INFORMATION!

I suspect this can't be good news because she didn't suggest a time for us to get together to talk face to face.

However something completely unrelated is making me very, very happy right now. I'm afraid to comment on it for fear of jinxing it …

It's review time

My boss came into my office this afternoon, sat down, and started to discuss one of my coworkers with me. The one I work the most closely with. The one who gives me agita.

This month we're all being evaluated by peers and subordinates alike. The results go to our supervisors, who add their own observations and it turns into our annual reviews. Her peer reviews are coming in, and they aren't very complimentary.

"She doesn't push herself, and people think she doesn't care."

That's true. He knows it, I know it, and if she were honest, she'd admit it herself. It makes me sad, though, because strange as it seems, this job is important to her. She was divorced not that long ago and just bought her first place on her own, so the paycheck is vital. Our agency is quite famous and even though our account is far from glam, she enjoys the cachet.

She's going to be very upset by this.

My boss and I discussed it and it might be better to split us up for the next project. I can be very Type A when I work, and her lackadaisical appearance might be a response to that. I mean, if the writer (me) is passionate and opinionated, the graphic designer (her) might lay back a bit to keep the mood level. Maybe if she works with someone else, she will appear more involved.

I hope so, but I don't think so.

As unpleasant as this is, it's necessary. This is business and we have an obligation to give our clients a good product.

I'm sorry I know all this and wish I could stop thinking about it.

DAY 05 -- September Fitness Challenge

This was not a good day on the fitness front. I didn't work out and the lunch I had at my desk wasn't especially nutritious. Once I got home, I began chomping on cheese crackers as I watch the Cubs fall again. But I did salvage the day by doing leg lifts on the livingroom floor. The cats were fascinated and delighted. I must do it again.

Magic Number: 18

Chin up, Cub fans! Any combination of Cub wins or Brewer losses that equals 18 means that the Boys in Blue will be the Division Champions. Yes, times have been tough within the (normally) Friendly Confines lately, but we're still at the top of the heap. First place in September is always a good place to be! Defending the lead is easier than earning it this late in the season.

Reality is still soooo overrated

Today I'm just so sick of real life! Everyone at work was annoying. The weather sucks (chilly and rainy). The Cubs are off. The Republicans are dominating the airwaves, and they annoy me, too. What I need tonight is an escape from reality, a safe and familiar place to retreat to, while I curl up in a ball on the couch. What I need is …

That Girl!

The Season Four DVD set just arrived and the timing ideal. I am having a silly, tranquil time, watching Ann Marie's wacky career-girl adventures, whimsical and sweet relationship with Donald, and impossibly expansive wardrobe. I loved this show when I was in grade school, and it's wonderful to get reacquainted with it.

DAY 04 -- September Fitness Challenge

I feel kinda bad writing this, considering I didn't work out today and began drinking beer at about 3:30. But still, my lunch was STELLAR! 2 hard-boiled eggs (a good source of both protein and those B vitamins I need) and grapes (vitamin C) and instead of dessert, yogurt (calcium) with blueberries (fiber and vitamin C). It was actually filling, too.

Didn't improve my mood, though. Maybe more beer …

I know why Don Draper drinks

It's raining. I lost my ID, so I'm trapped on this floor. The Cubs have been losing. And at this very moment I hate the head of account services. Let me rephrase that: I always hate her, but at this moment, I especially hate her. Don Draper would understand.

Fortunately the Friday Beer Cart arrived a day early. Just in time to help me with my mood. It's not the high-class hootch Don Draper drinks, but then, this isn't TV.

Thursday Thirteen #84 -- Putting the "Business" in Show Business

THIRTEEN MOVIE STARS
WITH POSITIVE ROIs

According to Forbes.com, these are the movie stars who more than pay for themselves. The dollar amount next to each name indicates how much each of their movies makes per dollar of their salary.*

1) Vince Vaughan — $14.73
2) Tobey McGuire — $13.44
3) Julia Roberts — $13.19
4) Brad Pitt — $12.73
5) Naomi Watts & Matt Damon — each at $12.15
6) George Clooney — $11.56
7) Jennifer Aniston — $10.48
8) Hugh Jackman — $9.90
9) Ben Stiller — $9.50
10) Renne Zellweger — $9.49
11) Kate Winslet — $9.48
12) Reese Witherspoon — $8.91
13) Jodie Foster — $8.59

My favorite movie star, Bruce Willis, came in at #19 with a respectable $6.86 payback. From a purely financial aspect, the worst investment is currently Nicole Kidman at $1.01.

P.S. YES! Johnny Depp is in the Top 20! But this is Thursday Thirteen, not Thursday 20. Plus I think that after the success of the Pirates movies, his asking price went up, which naturally makes his ROI go down. My guess would be that next year, Vince Vaughan won't be #1. The studios look at this and say, "Vince is a bargain." I bet some around Vince look at this and say, "You're underpaid."

*Forbes determines how much a movie makes by adding worldwide theatrical box office and the first three months of DVD sales. These numbers represent three films in the last five years, so actors who don’t work that often weren't considered. To see exactly which movies included in the tabulation, click here.

Include your link in the comments and I'll add you here:

1) Sandy shares the joys of being an early riser
2) Anthony North looks at aging -- or do I mean "maturity?"
3) Hootin Ani shares the gentle humor of Erma Bombeck
4) Claudia talks about her summer
5) Slender Octopus shares the history of the Australian flag
6) Nicholas shares slang from his side of the ocean
7) Lori gives us clues on how to spot a healthy relationship)
8) Small Reflections has an equine TT
9) Popping Bubbles has a movie TT, and I love movie TTs
10) Malcolm has a legal/movie TT, and it's great
11) Qtpies shares some "strange visions"
12) Elaine's TT is a tribute to classic movie stars
13) Patsy goes random on us!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

DAY 03 -- September Fitness Challenge

Lunch at my desk again. But instead of what I REALLY wanted (a grilled cheese or a cup of nice, creamy clam chowder), I dined on salmon salad on wheat bread. Salmon is supposed to be high in B vitamins and protein … nutrients I'm supposed to make sure I get. I feel quite virtuous. Pudgy and out-of-shape, but virtuous.

Greg Maddux gets 354th win

"He was great," Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said of Maddux, who notched victory No. 354 to tie Roger Clemens for eighth place on the all-time list. "I mean, the first three guys up in the game get base hits and then he just shuts them down completely." From the LA Times.

Ah, my beloved future Hall of Famer ...

Thinking positive

My Cubs have lost four in a row. They are even losing consistently at home, something that was, until this homestand, unheard of.

I know, I know. It's a long season and streaks like this are bound to happen. It's September, for God's sake, and we're still comfortably in first place.! Things will turn around soon (hopefully tonight at 7:05).

Times like this are just part of being a Cub fan.

On my mind

I hate bullies. I hate bullies more than I hate global warming, Republicans, or Roger Clemens. (Wait! He IS a bully!) I have always believed that it's the duty of the bigger to help the smaller, not hurt them. To me, that's even more important than the Golden Rule.

Which is why I can't get Saturday out of my mind.

My friend Tony and I were gossiping about the sad and squirrelly Caylee Anthony case in Florida. I said I thought the mom did something stupid, like leave her daughter in the car while she went to party and the poor tot died in the heat. Or maybe she didn't watch her closely enough in the pool.

Tony said maybe the mom lost her temper and struck her daughter, over and over. He said he could understand how it happened -- that when his now teenaged daughter was a toddler, she argued about everything and once had a loud, angry tantrum right in her exhausted father's face. He said he slapped her hard, on each cheek, while yelling at her. His wife intervened, scooping up the 3 year old and telling her husband to go outside and cool off.

I had no idea this happened, or even that Tony had it in him. I've known him more than half my life, and still I'm shocked.

His daughter seems fine. She has a boyfriend, has been visiting colleges, plays in the band. She and her father clash over how much she owes him for gas and how often she goes over her allotted cell phone minutes, but that doesn't sound serious, does it?

I am trying not to dwell on this, but it keeps coming back. I hope it won't change how I feel about Tony. The incident happened so long ago. But still ...

DAY 02 -- September Fitness Challenge

I missed my workout today because deadlines loomed! So instead I was healthy by choosing my lunch with greater care than usual. My carry-out container included 3 compartments -- 1) roasted turkey; 2) chopped salad; 3) fruit salad. I'm telling myself that the fruit salad was my dessert.

See how easy, Ms. Snowbird? Are you sure you don't want to come along?

Tuesday Tunes #11

Word associations: You tell us what musical, band/artist, song, album etc each word makes you think of:

Technology: "Video Killed the Radio Star" Buggles
Exercise: "Physical" Olivia Newton John
Punch: Nada. Zip. Zilch. I'm coming up with nothing here.
Temperature: "(Love Is Like a) Heatwave" Martha and the Vandellas
Fire: "We Didn't Start the Fire" Billy Joel
Clothes: "Dress You Up in My Love" Madonna
Doll: "Rag Doll" Aerosmith
Sweet: "How Sweet It Is to be Loved By You" Sweet Baby James Taylor
Makeup: "Lipstick on Your Collar" Connie Francis (and I HATE Connie Francis, so I'm just thrilled to have this one playing over and over in my head now!)
Drunk: "Tequila Sunrise" Eagles

To play along yourself, and see if other bloggers do better with"punch" than I did, click here.

The GOP VP's nominee favors teaching "abstinence only"

From MSNBC.com: "Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain."

I feel terrible for the poor girl. Being a pregnant senior must be rough enough. Being a pregnant senior and the daughter of the Republican vice presidential nominee has to be worse.

But, when your mother is the friendly Hockey Mom who is so comfortable telling the rest of us what we should do if we become pregnant (and, as a rape survivor I find her stance incredibly insensitive), and what to teach the following generation about reproduction (abstinence only), this must be off-the-chart dreadful.

Also, Sarah Palin knew her daughter was pregnant when she agreed to be on this ticket. She also knew this story would come out. I am confused by a mother's decision to put her unmarried daughter's expanding waistline on display. If Governor Palin is sophisticated enough politically to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, she must realize that her daughter's condition is going to be the hot topic of talk radio and cable TV. I hope she was able to adequately explain to 17-year-old Bristol how much attention her condition would receive.

I am not looking at this as a Democrat. I'm looking at it as a woman. I say to Governor Palin, "Yenta, heal thyself." To her daughter, "Hang tough, Sweetie, you're in my prayers."

Day 01 -- September Fitness Challenge

I haven't been feeling well lately. Nothing huge … just tummy troubles and headaches and a pesky but minor skin infection. But it's all left me physically tired, and it's time to take my own health into my own hands.

So I am replacing my August Happiness Challenge with The September Fitness Challenge. Every day this month I will do something that is good for me ... I PROMISE! It can involve exercise or diet, but it has to be inarguably healthy for me.

Today I am stopping at the grocery store to pick up fruit to munch on instead of chocolate.