Magic Number: 4

Kerry Wood gets the save against the Brewers. Is there anyone more exciting to watch in a clutch situation than Kerry Wood? I thought not.

Go, Cubs, Go!

DAY 16 -- September Fitness Challenge

So I didn't work out today. And maybe I did have a sliver of brownie (with chocolate chips) at the focus group I attended after work. BUT today wasn't a total loss.

At lunch today I had fruit salad for dessert, and for dinner I substituted yogurt for dessert. Instead of Coke, I had a V8 Vfusion. So I'm still awarding myself a jump rope. (I am, after all, the sole arbiter of such things here in Galtopia.)

No sister of mine

I admit that I, too, am fascinated by Sarah Palin. I'm fascinated by Paris Hilton, too, in that both women have become phenomena and yet have lives that bear no resemblance to the one I live.

Now I know that comparison isn't fair to Gov. Palin, since she has accomplished much in the career she has built, and Paris Hilton is, well, Paris Hilton. But the premise still works in that I find both women completely unrelatable.

Gov. Palin believes that I should be taxed less so I can hang on to more of my own money, since I know better how to spend it than the US Government does.

Gov. Palin opposes gun control because she believes that, as an adult American, I have a right to carry and use a weapon.

Yet Gov. Palin doesn't feel women should be left alone to make reproductive decisions about our own bodies (even in the instance of rape and incest).

I'm sorry, but I don't understand her reasoning and resent her conclusion. As a woman of faith, I resent the way she believes her relationship with her Lord is somehow so superior to mine that is should be legislated.

I sincerely hope that she is never in a position to appoint Supreme Court justices. I also sincerely hope that the press attention on her abates, now that Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch have turned the focus back to the economy.

A nice, round, MAGIC number

Any combination of 6 Cub wins and Brewer losses, and first place in the NL East belongs to the Chicago Cubs exclusively. How cool is it that we're about to embark on a homestand against none other than Milwaukee!

Have I mentioned lately which team it is that has the best record in the league?

I love Lou Pinella. He reminds me of Leo Durocher, the Cubs' manager when I was a little girl. Charismatic, old and alternately funny and grumpy. I don't mean that in a negative way. Not at all. Charismatic, old and alternately funny and grumpy is exactly what we need at the helm.

I discovered her a little late, but I'm glad I found her all the same

Dusty Springfield, that is. I grew up thinking of her as the blonde who sang "Son of a Preacher Man." Oh, and I loved her ultimate 1960s look. All teased hair and fake lashes. She and Michelle Phillips defined 1960s fashion for me. Really, that's all I knew of her.

After her death in 1999, I heard "Brand New Me" for the first time during a radio tribute and had to have it. I found it on a Greatest Hits cassette in the sale bin at Coconuts. Since then, I've been listening to her more and more. As I write this, I'm downloading Dusty in Memphis and am soooo loving it.

A friend gave me a Dusty biography and I may still have it around somewhere. But maybe all I need to know about her is in her music. She had such a terrific voice and used it in such an empathic way. There's longing and suffering and joy and wisdom in that voice.

Sights seen

My commutes to and from work Monday were ... memorable.

The el has become more and more crowded as the gas prices go up and people choose to leave their cars at home. This makes it hard for me to get a seat, and when I'm standing it's harder for me to read, so I'm left to pay attention to my fellow commuters. Again, today they were memorable.

This morning a HUGELY pregnant young woman squeezed on board an already crowded train. She looked so tired as she was starting her day. One of the healthy young men in the designated Priority Seats got up and let her sit, while others in in Priority Seats look away from the scene sheepishly.

This evening I saw a hooker in skinny jeans pick up a john in very baggy pants. It was hard for me not to see since she was seated, I was standing in front of her, and he was behind me. I wriggled out of the way so he could stand in front of her, which put his crotch about even with her face. She was eating a Tootsie Roll pop in a very Phoebe Cates/Fast Times in Ridgemont High kinda way and he stared at her soulfully. This went on for several stops. Finally she said, "next stop." The only words either of them spoke. The woman I was standing in front of rolled her eyes and I had such a difficult time stifling a laugh. I mean, it was the most completely ridiculous situation! As the train pulled away from the platform, I saw them talking. Negotiating the price, I guess. I suppose I always knew things like this happened, but I never witnessed it, up close (way too up close) and personal before. I was actually afraid that he was going to unzip right then and there. I'm no prude, but I'm still creeped out. It was so totally unsexy that I'm sorry I saw it. I felt like running away from the train, shrieking like Blanche Barrow in Bonnie & Clyde, "My eyes! My eyes!"

Can't stop thinking about it

I have a neighbor that I really dislike. She's one of those people who always has a chip on her shoulder. She should squeeze ahead of you in line at the local post office or to use the dryer in the building laundry room because … well … she's her. She's always in a hurry, her time is always more valuable than yours, and she never says "hi," "thank you" or even, "screw you" because she's always on her cell.

I don't like the bitch very much.

But over the weekend I saw that her fledgling neighborhood business is shuttered, and there's a nice, big EVICTION NOTICE on the door. Her inventory is still neatly arranged on the shelves, so I assume she was hustled out in a hurry.

My first thought was, I hope the cops brought pepper spray when they came to evict that pit bull. Then I was ashamed of myself. It takes guts to open your business. It must have broken her heart to lose it. That, of course, assumes she has a heart. Let's try this: it must have broken her spirit to lose it. I have seen for myself that she has plenty of spirit!

There is some level where we are all the same. For she and I, you have dig way deep to find that level. But still, this was a terrible thing to have happen to anyone, even her. In my own tortured, I-still-hate-you way, I feel sorry for her.

DAY 15 -- SEPTEMBER FITNESS CHALLENGE

I'm eating yogurt with berries and no granola as I write this. I worked out -- 30 minutes of cardio, 12 leg lifts on each leg, and 20 reps on that machine that works the triceps. I got to move that little cyclist on the bottomof the page another notch, so I'm pretty satisfied with myself.

Manic Monday #18

What's worse, physical or mental cheating? Why? It depends on the man who is doing the cheating. I know it sounds like a cop-out answer, but it's not. I've known men for whom sex really was no big deal, and with one of them, the intimacy of genuine friendship would hurt me more. If the guy is more conventional about love and commitment, then the physical cheating would be worse.

Do you think men and women can be just friends? Why or why not? Oh, yes! I have many men friends, and if we're hot for each other, it would be news to us!

How do you feel about dating co-workers? While I acknowledge that it is most likely a very bad idea, I have found it irresistible.

To see how other bloggers responded, click here.

No Hitter!

The first Cub game in DAYS, and it was worth waiting for! Instead of playing in Houston (Ike), the Cubs and Astros took the field in a "neutral" spot, Milwaukee, aka Wrigley Field North. The bats woke up, and Carlos Zambrano pitched the first Cub no-hitter in decades. I love my Boys in Blue. Right now, I even love Zambrano.

DAY 14 -- September Fitness Challenge

Leg lifts on the floor in front of the TV (with my cat, Charlotte, keeping me company by doing the feline version -- trying to kick the stuffing out of a catnip mouse). From a culinary point of view, I rediscovered PB&J, and I enjoyed it. This is a low-fat way to get that protein I'm told I lack.

Sunday Stealing #3

Sunday Stealing: The Meme About Blogging



1. How long have you been blogging? Since May 2006

2. Any advice to beginners? Nope

3. What are the good things blogging has brought to your life? It's a nice "bus man's holiday." I write for a living, but the subject matter and medium are dictated by my clients. (As it should be; they're paying for it). This way I get to write just to express myself. It's a great journal, wonderfully organized for me, and just waiting for me to chronicle my life. And it's been a terrific way to see how similar my life and feelings are to other women's, all across the country. There IS more that unites us than divides us!

4. What would you consider the pitfalls? I either have to figure out how to keep it anonymous (which is a drag) or pull my punches (which defeats the journal aspect). I've fallen somewhere closer to anonymity, but it's hard.

5. Tell us about your blog name. Ever think of changing it? If so, to what? Why? There weren't a lot of appropriate names available with "musing" in the title. There you go, that was my deep, creative process. It still works, so no, I haven't thought of changing it.

6. Knowing what you know now, was starting a blog a good thing for you? Why or why not? It was a good thing. It's comforting to have a place to deposit whatever is bugging me, making me happy, or that I'll want to remember years from now. It also helps me connect with others in a way that is, weirdly enough, often more "real" than my "real life," again, because of the anonymity.

7. How do you think blogging, bloggers, or the blogosphere has changed since you started? I get less spamming than I originally did a couple years ago (thank you, Blogspot). And I get fewer annoying commenters. I guess because I've learned that deleting them is more effective -- though infinitely less satisfying -- than responding.

8. Ultimately, what would you like your blog to accomplish for you or others? I'd like it to be an evolving chronicle of my life, and if it resonates with you, I'd like you to share.

Party like it's 1929

There goes Lehman Brothers … right after Freddie and Fannie and Bear Stearns. Are AIG, Merrill Lynch and Washington Mutual (the good people who hold my mortgage) next?

I have no idea what any of this means, but I know it's not good. I wish Barack Obama and John McCain would quit talking about lipstick and pigs and explain if these developments have any impact on their plans for the economy.

It's sooo frustrating! Four years ago it was a Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriage (hey! whatever happened with that, anyway?) and Swiftboating. Republicans are so good at this -- throwing a smoke bomb to distract us from what's really at stake -- and then the Democrats have to respond or it looks like the smears or silly "cultural warfare" stereotypes are true, and somehow frivolity rules the news cycle and no one talks about the real stuff, like Lehman Brothers and Freddie and Fannie and Bear Stearns.

Yes, they're ugly, but I love them

It's been raining -- and raining hard -- since Friday night. I am not in any way minimizing the horrors those on the Gulf Coast are suffering, but here it is mid-September, and Chicagoland is already setting records for monthly rainfall. Homeowners along the Chicago River have been evacuated, and that isn't standard practice. I'm in a fourth-floor condo, not a house with a basement, so I'm not as adversely affected as some. But I'm a little blue and feel almost trapped indoors.

It's times like these that I love my Crocs. To borrow from one of my favorite Marcia Ball songs, these shoes are "the right tools for the job." My far prettier denim/cork sandals are STILL soaked through from a run to my favorite coffee shop yesterday brunch. My Crocs? They then took me around town to my other errands, and are dry, comfortable and ready to go out into the rain again today.

I'm embarrassed by their looks, but I when I need them, I shamelessly turn to them. It's my fabulously dysfunctional rainy-day relationship.

I, on the other hand, like it

The Women has gotten some really brutal reviews. Yet I enjoyed it. Especially touching to me were Ryan's relationships with her best friend (Annete Benning) and her housekeeper (Cloris Leachman). Yes, Jada Pinkett's lesbian character seemed more like a plot device than a person. Yes, Ryan's transformation was a bit too neat. But you know what? It was fun all the same. The clothes were pretty (I loved Annette Benning's bag), and most of the performances were good. Hell, it was worth the price of admission just to watch Debra Messing's face while she was in labor. It was a fine enough way to escape a gloomy Saturday afternoon.

I'll be interested to see how The Women did at the box office. While the audience size was certainly respectable, I felt like one of the younger women there … and I'm 50. I wonder how big the middle-aged audience is.

Saturday 9 -- Whistle While You Work

We are talking about jobs today. Pick any job of your career. Tell us when and where it was. Then answer today's Saturday: 9.

1. Tell us which job your are telling us about, and when you had it. I am currently the Associate Creative Director and have been here since 2004.

2. Where do/did you work? Just off Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The location is one of the things I like best about this job.

3. Tell us about that boss. He's another thing I like about it. He's very low-key, which balances my more agitated work personality. And after his dog had hip surgery and couldn't use the stairs as he recovered, my boss slept downstairs with him. Gotta respect a man like that.

4. Do/Did you find your work creative? If yes, how? Well, it is in my title! I do enjoy concepting -- coming up with new ways to sell familiar products.

5. Tell us about your favorite co-worker. I met my best friend at this job. He always put our client first, which I admire. On a personal level, he's one of the few people who seems to accept me as I am. I don't meet people I'm this comfortable with often, and I miss him every day.

6. Tell us about the biggest jerk in that job. The freakazoid bitch who fired my best friend. I know there are tough business decisions made every day and I accept that. Hell, I've made quite a few myself. But this wasn't a business-based decision. She's not about doing what's best, she's about winning. Canning my best bud is just one decision she's made that I don't respect.
7. Where do/did you see yourself with this job in five years? This is advertising -- 5 years out is too far to predict! If I make it through 2008 without being canned, I see myself there through 2010.

8. Tell us about your commute. 45 minutes door-to-door on the el. I have more company on the train these days, with gas prices over $4.00/gal

9. What hours of the day do/did you work? I get there when I get there (at least for now -- I do expect my boss to lose patience with me one of these days) and I stay until 5:30 or ... I once worked until 4:00 in the morning. We live by schedules, and I am proud to report I always make my deadlines. Yes, there may be bruising and occasionally loss of life, but I make my deadlines!

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

No More News for Me

The wall-to-wall coverage of Hurricane Ike is making me anxious. No one knows anything yet -- the ferocious storm is still battering Galveston and Houston and it's impossible to know what the damages may be. It's gray and rainy again here, too. It would be easy to get very blue today. So instead, I'm returning to the safe and familiar: That Girl!

Please think of Ike's most vulnerable potential victims

The Houston SPCA is ready to help strays and pets who find themselves lost, soaked, or injured as a result of Ike with a lost/found hotline and emergency foster care. To come to the aid of those with fur and feathers, they need everything from medical supplies to bottled water to rabbit pellets. And this costs money. Please click here and help with a donation.

I know I've been begging a lot lately … what with plugs for Windows of Hope to help hundreds of children left behind when the Twin Towers fell and the Louisiana SPCA as they prepared for Hurricane Gustav. But that's because giving can be such a great deal. In exchange for the few minutes you spend keystroking your credit card number in on a website, you'll get instant relief from the frustration you feel when you see such sad stories on the news or in the paper. AT LEAST YOU'VE DONE SOMETHING! That thought can really comfort you. Honest!

DAY 12 -- September Fitness Challenge

Not working out today because I simply don't feel like it. It's gray, it's rainy, and I have become quite attached to the contraband heater that's warming my feet.

So let's look at my nutritious lunch, instead: small cup of clam chowder (not great, I know, but it's got protein, at least) and grapes and, for dessert, blueberry yogurt. I have maintained my candy moratorium for another day!

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.