Alison tagged me!

Alison, a Kindergarten teacher from SC whose blog I just discovered through Friday Feast, has tagged me. I'm going to cut and paste the rules just as they appear on her post. (And I encourage you to check out her blog. Scroll down a little and you'll find a funny/cute photo of her mother -- the kind my mom would KILL ME for posting!)

The Rules: “Each person posts the rules before their list, then they list 8 things about themselves. At the end of the post, that person tags and links to other people and then visits those peoples’ sites and comments letting them know that they have been tagged, and to come read the post, so they know what they have to do.”

1. I've never read one of the most influential books of my life, Charlotte's Web. My mom read it to my older sister and I, a chapter a night, one night in my sister's bed and the next night in mine. To this day I cannot kill a spider, strictly adhering to "catch and release," and found myself emotionally opposed to the use of rat poison in my condo building's courtyard. It was just one rat, and what if he was like Templeton? (I lost that battle.) Most of all, I aspire to being, as Wilbur said of Charlotte, "a good writer and a true friend."

2. My niece, enjoying a magic summer between grade school and high school, is, as we speak, wandering around wearing a cape and necktie and carrying a wand. She and her posse are enjoying all the village-sponsored Hogwart's activities until dark, when one of her friend's moms will pick the girls up and take them to Border's for THE BOOK. She didn't expect to see me, waved wildly and hugged me. I suspect that this is a special time -- for once she gets to high school she won't be so into a book launch, nor so willing to hug her old aunt in public. I'm so glad I got to see her today. As the Grinch would say, it made my heart grow three sizes.

3. I have three cats -- Charlotte, Reynaldo and Joey. All shelter babies, each with a most individual personality. Joey is the most aptly named. Friends was required viewing back when I got him and so he's named for Matt LeBlanc's character. A dumber, sweeter and more enduringly charming cat than my old Joe has never lived.

4. I am a news junkie. I can tell you MSNBC's an CNN's evening lineup with great accuracy. I get online news updates throughout the day. I don't know why I do this, since I seldom find the news very happy these days. But I worry that something may happen that I don't know about!

5. I consider myself spiritual, belong to a church, and go sporadically. But we have a new minister (OK, it's been 4 years now, so I guess he's no longer new), and I still haven't taken to him. I don't know if it's because he's so relentlessly cheerful that I doubt there's much intellect going on behind his eyes, or because he's so young it makes me uncomfortable looking to him for guidance. I miss my former minister so much. He wasn't a very charismatic speaker, but he was so smart and wise. Plus his name was (no shit) Reverend Deacon, which cracked me up.

6. Politically I'm liberal, but I prefer the word "inclusive." I am fortunate to have friends of different faiths, ethnicities and sexual orientations in my life and since I know what terrific, loving human beings they are, I'd love to see them better represented.

7. I love books. One of the most beautiful books I've ever read is "In Cold Blood." Yeah, I know. You don't usually see the word "beautiful" and the story of a mass murder in the same sentence. But Truman Capote took that true-life event and made it about destiny, doing it with gorgeous prose. Really. If you haven't read it, don't be afraid to.

8. This all makes me sound so high-brow and la-de-dah. Nothing could be further from the truth! Right now I'm reading yet another book about Princess Diana. I loved Jenny McB's TT about farts. I can be the trashiest gal you've ever met.


I'm tagging these people, but that doesn't mean they'll respond. I'm off to comment them to let them know:


Sparky the Duck

Book Mama

Mo

Kwizgiver

Jenny McB

Izturis sent to Pirates -- and I'm not happy

All we got in exchange for this shortstop was cash and that ever-popular "player to be named later." With Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot, there was just no way he was ever going to get much playing time with the Cubs. Apparently this led to whining, and Lou Pinella doesn't seem to cheerfully endure whining.

So why aren't I happy?

Not quite a year ago, Cesar Izturis was such an important key to our future that we traded my beloved future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux to the Dodgers, just to get him.

Of course, that was the future as envisioned by Jim Hendry and Dusty Baker. We've got a new sheriff in town, and his name is Sweet Lou.

No longer riding on the merry-go-round

My favorite John Lennon song keeps running through my head. I love my best friend. I miss him terribly. When I don't hear from him, everything kinda shuts down. I get scared, anxious, lonesome. My focus isn't as sharp. I worry and I hate it.

He is leaving Los Angeles and returning home today. His wife and kids unexpectedly joined him on the trip to LA. Apparently it didn't go well. Things are "rough" right now between him and his wife and he feels stretched too thin.

I am so sorry to hear that! A child of divorce himself, nothing means more to my best friend than providing a stable environment for his girls. But I can't ask him anymore about what's going on at home -- it's not my business. And I can't keep hurting like this. As John Lennon sang, "I just have to let it go."

I'm not going to stop caring about him. That's not possible. And I won't stop missing him. But I have to let go of all this intensity. I cannot control the outcome of anything of this, so I just have to be patient and hopeful. I just have to wait. I just have to let it go.

"I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round. I just love to watch them roll.
No longer riding on the merry-go-round. I just had to let it go."

Friday's Feast #8

Appetizer: On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest) how much do enjoy watching sports on television?
Chicago Cubs baseball = 10; any other baseball = 5; any other sport = 1

Soup: If you could completely memorize any one work of fiction, which one would you pick?
Do plays count? I'd like to be able to quote Tennessee Williams -- Streetcar Named Desire or Sweet Bird of Youth. I love how Tennessee Williams characters speak.

Salad: What is your favorite breakfast food?
Eggs Benedict (which could explain why I look like a fat pigeon)
Main Course: Name something fun you can do for less than $10.00.
Saturday matinee bargain price is $5.50. Either Twizzlers or a small Coke (but not both) and I'm still under $10.

Dessert: How long does it usually take you to fall asleep?
Forever!


Read more Friday's Feasts, or add your own, at www.fridaysfeast.com

Thursday Thirteen #25 -- 13 women I want to hang with in Heaven

Thirteen women THE GAL HERSELF will invite to tea when she gets to Heaven This TT is inspired by Carly Simon’s song about her late mother, “Like a River,” where she wonders if Mom is enjoying the afterlife, “dancing with Ben Franklin on the face of the moon.” Isn’t that a lovely thought? Instead of waltzing with history’s most famous men on the face of the moon, I’d like to celebrate my arrival in Heaven by having a celestial tea party with some of its most famous women. My guest list includes First Ladies, writers, movie stars, an aviator and a princess. 1. Jackie Kennedy Onassis. I’d like her to share how she handled all that with her dignity, strength and integrity in tact? 2. Lady Bird Johnson. A woman of means and intellect, she worked tirelessly toward building LBJ’s career. Yet she lived nearly 35 years after his death. What was that like? Her husband was gone, her children were grown, the spotlight had moved on … Was it lonely, or peaceful? 3. Eleanor Roosevelt. She received so much ridicule during her lifetime! She was ugly. She didn’t know her place. Her voice was grating. Yet today she inspires people all over the country – from friends who have her quotes pinned to their office bulletin boards all the way to Hillary Clinton. She even has her own statue at the FDR Memorial. Do the respect and adulation she receives now, posthumously, help assuage the hurts she endured in life? 4. Mary Lincoln. She once said that she did “the wrong things well.” As she’s watched women’s roles change, century by century, does she wish she lived in a later generation? She certainly would have had an easier time. But then she would not have been right there, with her truly great husband, during a critical time in history. 5. Adela Rogers St. John. Reporter and screenwriter, she had a fabulous career that began with William Randolph Hearst, took her into silent films, had her in the pressbox for the Lindbergh kidnapping trial, and ended with an appearance in Reds. She wrote What Price Hollywood, which was remade twice as A Star Is Born. She even covered the assassination of Huey Long. I’d just love to hear her stories. 6. Lillian Hellman. Playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and true rebel. She was the first woman to be nominated for a screenwriting Oscar, gave HUAC what-for, & Dash Hammett used their love affair as his inspiration for Nick and Nora Charles. Her drinking and her fiery temperament made her life difficult but it fueled her writing. I’d just like to thank her for the entertainment that her writings have given me. 7. Louisa May Alcott. She gave us the March sisters, thereby influencing every woman I know. Shouldn’t that have been enough? No, she was a suffragette and the first woman to vote in Concord, MA. She was an abolitionist who hid a slave in her home. All this, and she died at the tender age of 55. 8. Anne George. It would probably amuse this soft-spoken little lady to be included among these firebrands. Ms. George wrote the charming Southern Sisters mystery novels. Her style was engaging and real. She gave us a pair of sixty-something heroines – Mouse and Aunt Sister – who loved their families, their pets, the South, solving crimes … oh, yeah, and one another. (Even though they bickered about a certain Shirley Temple doll at least once per book.) She only wrote 8 of these slim, adorable volumes, and I’d like her to enchant me with just one more Southern Sisters story. 9. Nancy Dickerson. Before Katie Couric, before Barbara Walters, there was Nancy Dickerson. She was the only woman I remember seeing on the news when I was a little girl in the 1960s. I used to look forward to her appearances because she was so rare – like the okapi at our local zoo. She covered Washington for NBC and got real stories, not fluff pieces about food or fashion. What was it like to be one of the first chicks in the boys’ club? 10. Marilyn Monroe. Her celluloid image is joyous, fuzzy and funny. Her personal life has become a tragic cautionary tale. How could one woman embody two such divergent personae? What was she really like? And do Madonna’s and Anna Nicole Smith’s lame imitations annoy her as much as they do me? 11. Katharine Hepburn. One of a kind. Not simply the first, but the only. The Great Kate. I might be too intimidated to speak to her. But that’s OK, I might not have to. She used to joke that she was her favorite subject, that she found herself endlessly fascinating. I – and much of the world – agree. 12. Amelia Earhart. WHAT HAPPENED? Was it an accident, or did you stage it to escape your marriage? Were you a spy? Did you enjoy an idyllic life on an island for decades? (I hope so). C’mon, spill it. It’s OK, it’s just us girls. 13. Princess Diana. I don’t know why she touches me so, she just does. I’d find it comforting to see that she’s happy and at peace. Besides, if I’m going to have tea in Heaven, I want a royal there. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Toni's is 13 of her favorite girls' names 2. Jenny's TT is musical and fragrant and hilarious 3. As fate would have it, Wylie's is about smells, too (but hers is FAR more PC) 4. You won't believe all the uses for peroxide Lori came up with 5. L^2 posted a TT that is positively supernatural 6. The Lady Rose does some Internet research about ... "The Lady Rose" 7. Gattina, who seems to have some doubts about my ascent into Heaven, has 13 completely charming quotes 8. Hootin' Ani's is all about the joys of summer 9. Miss Frou Frou's monumental 100th TT is up! 10. If you're a cat lover (and aren't all the best people cat lovers) then Dorothy's TT is a heart tugger 11. Supina's is a classic TV TT 12. Sue's TT is a riot about the life lessons we get from horror films 13. Gabriella offers a delightfully adult TT 14. Mo's TT is all critter pix (including some extremely charming kittens) 15. Puss Reboots full-color TT is up. 16. Qtpies chronicles a harrowing dental nightmare. Enter if you dare! 17. In Adelle's TT, she channels Maya Angelou


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! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants



To cleanse your palate

That whole Michael Vick thing is so icky that I thought you'd enjoy reading about a couple of athletes who get it:

Back in 1990, when he was manager of the Oakland A's, Tony LaRussa saw a black cat wander onto the field. The fans went wild (perhaps they'd heard of our curse!) and terrified the poor thing. Tony's heart went out to her and he helped the umpires capture her, and then kept her safe in the clubhouse until the game was over.

He drove the cat around the Bay area looking for a shelter to leave her at, but was dismayed to find that the odds were she'd be euthanized. By now she and Tony were buds, so he couldn't let that happen. He found her a new home on his own and then he and his wife opened ARF. His Animal Rescue Foundation is not only a no-kill shelter, it also offers free spay/neuter services and oversees a pet therapy program that brings dogs and cats to visit the elderly and abused.

I've contributed to ARF and know it meets all the BBB's standards. If you'd like to help out:
Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation
P.O. Box 30215
Walnut Creek, CA 94598

I hope all who visit appreciate how difficult it is for me to give any Cardinal props. However, I'm lovin' Lou and I'm loving my Cubs so I've become a kinder, gentler Gal.

And then, of course, there's my beloved, future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. He and his wife Kathy fund and run the appropriately titled Greg Maddux Foundation. Says she, "We put money into it Greg receives from appearances. And we use it to support children's homes, domestic crisis shelters for battered women, and boys and girls clubs in Atlanta and Las Vegas." Because Greg Maddux funds it himself, donations aren't solicited. But it gives me a chance to run a photo of him. (I do dearly love that man.)

Can't think of anything bad enough to say about Michael Vick

"Burn in hell!" just seems so inadequate.

Behold QB Michael Vick, who has run afoul from the law because of dog fighting. DOG FIGHTING! Training/torturing innocent creatures until they either become killers or are killed. For fun and profit. What a cruel asshole/waste of space millionaire Michael Vick is.

Yeah, yeah, I know. He's been indicted but not convicted. "Innocent until proven guilty." Normally I fight for that fundamental American right, but I lose my better judgment where kids and critters are concerned. There is nothing uglier than exploiting and injuring those who are smaller, less powerful and more innocent than ourselves.

It also makes me sad about the state of the professional football. Yeah, yeah, I know. I now sound like every middle-aged couch potato who ever lived. But I remember back to my girlhood, when Joe Namath got into trouble with the commissioner of football for owning a bar. From OJ Simpson to Rae Carruth to Tank Johnson to this piece of flotsam … what a long, strange and ugly trip it's been for the NFL.

A portrait in isolation

This is a great photo of how I feel: completely isolated, a tad irrelevant, and yet still trying to hold my own against the elements.

It's now been two solid weeks since I've spoken to my best friend. We have exchanged about one short, jokey email a day since he's been swamped with this project, but that's not enough. Not for me.

He's in Los Angeles this week, entertaining clients and market researchers around the clock. I know this isn't his fault, and I know he's not having fun, but that doesn't make me feel any less isolated and irrelevant.

I know I have friends who care about me. I know my mother is always at the other end of the telephone line. In this regard I'm fortunate. I realize it and I appreciate it.

But no one gets me the way he does. And when I can't check in with him, it all starts to shut down a little. Oh well, just as the lighthouse has successfully weathered decades of storms, I can get through this. Nothin' to it …

When he goes, he's going like Elsie

Since last November, when he spent time in the hospital battling heart failure, I have worried about my friend John's health. We've been part of one another's lives for more than 25 years now. As Paul McCartney sang in "Two of Us," John and I "have memories longer than the road that stretches on ahead."

I say this because he knows he is not supposed to drink much, nor drink regularly, and yet he does. We spent Saturday together at Navy Pier. Now granted, our outing took more than 6 hours, and we were celebrating his birthday, but I was surprised to watch him consume a bloody mary and six beers. To my two.

Now it's not that I don't enjoy beer, nor that I don't like to drink, but over time I've learned that on hot sunny days it hits me harder. I knew I had to get myself home. Chicago is no more dangerous than any other big city -- probably less dangerous than many -- but regardless of where you live, it's simply unwise to navigate around on your own when you're obviously buzzed. It's like wearing a sign that proclaims you, "VULNERABLE!"

While we were sitting on a bench watching a bridal party board a boat for a Lake Michigan wedding reception, we talked about booze: his and booze: mine. It was a frank and very enlightening conversation, as many with John have been. We appear different initially (he's a tall, gay black dude) but if you take a closer look, we're very much alike. For example, we both live alone and fiercely guard our independence.

So why, asked I, does he still drink so much when he knows he's not supposed to? I explained that as I get older, I take better care of myself. I know I'm alone, I know I don't have progeny or a significant other who is honor bound to care for me, and it seems obvious that protecting my health is protecting my autonomy. How can he not feel the same way?

He understood exactly what I meant, but he looks at the same situation differently. He doesn't ignore his doctor's orders. He's diligent about his meds, he's learning to make exercise a part of his life, and he sleeps more than he did before. He never has been a smoker, thank God. Yet he still drinks.

He thinks his solitary status gives him license to do it. It's his body, after all. He has no children, no significant other depending on him. He's never had a pet, and you would not wish to be one of John's houseplants. So what the hell?

It is his life life, and I respect that. But just as I wouldn't buy him cigarettes if he smoked, I refused to pay for anymore drinks after the bloody mary and first beer (he was the birthday boy, after all). Being John, knowing me, he very graciously said he understood that it's because I consider him "dear."

And I do.

Ever since Saturday night, I've been thinking of the title song from "Cabaret" because it's so John:

"I used to have a girlfriend known as Elsie
With whom I shared four sordid rooms in Chelsea
She wasn't what you'd call a blushing flower
As a matter of fact she rented by the hour

The day she died the neighbors came to snicker
Well that's what comes from too much pills and liquor
But when I saw her laid out like a queen
She was the happiest corpse I'd ever seen

I think of Elsie to this very day
I remember how she'd turn to me and say
What good is sitting all alone in your room
Come hear the music play
Life is a cabaret, old chum
Come to the cabaret

And as for me, and as for me
I made my mind up back in Chelsea
When I go I am going like Elsie."

Here's to you, Steve Goodman!

Today's win against the Astros not only completed a sweep, it was a heart-stopping, come-from-behind affair. Since I'm sure Heaven has a satellite dish, I know Steve Goodman saw it, so I salute him with his ode to his team:

Hey, Chicago, what do you say?
The Cubs are gonna win today.
They're singing ...
Go, Cubs, go!
Go, Cubs, go!

It's such a kick to hear thousands of fans singing this as they file out of the park after a win. And I know that every time he hears it from above, Goodman gets a kick out of it, too.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Steve, he was an extraordinary Cub fan and much more. He wrote the famous "City of New Orleans" (Good night, America, how are you? Don't you know me, I'm your native son ...), recorded by Arlo Guthrie. A local hero, he wrote "The Lincoln Park Pirates" about the infamous towing company that still strikes fear in our hearts.

He suffered from leukemia, but that didn't keep him away from Wrigley Field. He called himself "Cool Hand Leuk" and got to see the fabulous 1984 season (when he wrote the above song for WGN radio). He died before he could see his team play in the postseason, though. Before that historic game, the first time the Cubs had been in the playoffs in decades, Jimmy Buffett sang in his honor. Steve Goodman's ashes were buried in Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.

Unconscious Mutterings #3

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Situation :: comedy
2. Theme song :: "… you might just make it after all …"
3. Kelly :: Girl
4. Club :: Med
5. Swerve :: curve
6. Couch :: potato
7. Bigfoot :: Loch Ness Monster
8. Arbitrary :: whatever
9. Inventor :: scientist
10. Blazer :: jacket

For more information, or to play yourself, visit Unconscious Mutterings

Ain't no way to treat a hero, or his family

Just when I thought this White House couldn't disappoint me anymore … Tillman's story deserves an honorable end, and his parents deserve the truth. This is just so damn sad.

House committee accuses administration of withholding key document

SAN FRANCISCO - Two influential lawmakers investigating how and when the Bush administration learned the circumstances of Pat Tillman’s friendly-fire death and how those details were disclosed accused the White House and Pentagon on Friday of withholding key documents and renewed their demand for the material.

The White House and Defense Department have turned over nearly 10,000 pages of papers, but the White House cited “executive branch confidentiality interests” in refusing to provide other documents.

For the entire story, visit msnbc.com.

Saturday Special #2

Time again to use your imagination ;-} Fill in the blanks.

1. You are walking along the surf of a lonely seaside and I think I see something … or someone … familiar.

2. As you walk further along you notice the posture of the figure I'm approaching. I recognize that it's best my friend! He has his Blackberry pressed against his cheek and he's speaking animatedly to someone.

3. Your curiosity gets the best of you and you get close enough to listen in. He's leaving a message on my voicemail! He wants me to join him on a dinner cruise, but once again, I don't have my cell phone on. He's soooo frustrated with me.

4. From the distance you can see the ship we'll be sailing and dining and drinking upon. Of course we end up having a wonderful time. We always do when we're together.

Visit the Saturday Special for more information, or to "climb aboard and join in" yourself.

Friday's Feast #7

Appetizer
What is your favorite fruit? Grapes

Soup
Who is someone you consider as a great role model? Jackie Kennedy Onassis

Salad
If you were to spend one night anywhere within an hour of your home, where would you choose? Hotel Intercontinental on Michigan Avenue

Main Course
Name something you do too often. Roll in late for work

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I really like Lou Pinella because the Cubs are currently in second place!


Read more Friday's Feasts, or add your own, at www.fridaysfeast.com

Well, I am a big fan of mocking ...

Found this quiz over at Pam's, and I gotta agree they nailed it (um ... me).

My Liberal Identity:

You are a New Left Hipster, also known as a MoveOn.org liberal, a Netroots activist, or a Daily Show fanatic. You believe that if we really want to defend American values, conservatives must be exposed, mocked, and assailed for every fanatical, puritanical, warmongering, Constitution-shredding ideal for which they stand.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

Thursday Thirteen #24 -- Thirteen things about a special summer

Thirteen things about the summer THE GAL HERSELF was 13 That would be 1971. Some of these things I remember, a lot I don’t. That’s one of the best things about summertime for a 13-year-old – it’s pretty much all about you and your posse. 1…. Jim Morrison died 2. The price of a first-class stamp rose to 8¢ 3. My favorite ring was from the Avon Book – the stone flipped open to reveal the solid cologne inside 4. The Cubs finished fourth, 10 games over .500 (only two leagues back then) 5. My dad just couldn’t stop talking about how great Archie Bunker was on this new All in the Family show 6. George Harrison organized The Concert for Bangla Desh 7. Three Dog Night was very popular in my crowd (One, Easy to be Hard, Eli’s Coming, Out in the Country were all on their groovy new greatest hits album) 8. Cher was quite possibly the coolest women in the universe, dominating TV and magazines and our transistor radios 9. I was alternately in love with Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy – and disavowed them both at the end of summer when I crossed the threshold of the local high school for the first time 10. Nixon and Agnew were both still in office, so that resignation thrill ride was still ahead of us 11. That summer’s Harry Potter movie – the one every girl had to see – was Love Story. The tear-jerker had just made it to neighborhood theaters, and it made me cry and cry and cry. (I think I started crying as I passed the poster on my way to the ticket booth) 12. We all wanted long, stick-straight hair, parted down the middle (as popularized by Cher, Ali MacGraw and Susan Dey) 13. My favorite book that summer was Freckled and Fourteen. I read it in the backseat I shared with my two sisters en route to our Wisconsin vacation destination. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Shannon's TT is about her birthday (past and upcoming) 2. Impworks's TT is a funny apology/excuse for perhaps maybe not always leaving comments 3. Tink's is all about what she can't do without, and what she doesn't wanna do without 4. Amy takes a new approach to the whole TT thing. 5. Friday's Child's TT will make you go, "Aw ..."6 6. Blogaritaville introduces herself to us with her first-ever TT. 7. Charming Bernie's TT is about IVF. 8. Nancy has a TT about vitamins. 9. Moving Mama's TT takes us on a delightful trip around her refrigerator. 10. Janet's TT is about the letter S, beginning with her fave, of course 11. Lisa's TT combines Harry Potter and her cellphone 12. Damn that Jenny! Her TT was the last one I read before lunch. 13. Today we learn that Crimson Wife and The Gal Herself have nothing in common. Oh well, she's a great blogger all the same and always welcome here. 14. The inimitable Sparky Duck takes us all to the beach. 15. L^2 introduces us to her sister. 16. Gabriella Hewitt's TT tempts us with ice cream. 17. One of the two moms has a random TT about kids, parenting and pregnancy 18. Nancy Lindquist has been busy and brings us up to date 19. Sue's TT is devoted to the real name of phobias (I found mine there). 20. Elisheva's TT is about the book that begins The Book: Genesis 21. Danielle gives us 13 reasons to sponsor her blog; check it out 22. Chris shares his favorite book series 23. Lori's highly visual, and really cute, TT is about her family

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! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Missing you

Ah, D. Lee, I just can't stay away from you!

Yes, I was going to intentionally avoid the All-Star Game because of some ass whose name shall not even be mentioned in a post accompanied by your photo. But the All-Star break means NO CUBS BASEBALL until Friday! Is that cruel or what?

My will is weak, and I found myself missing you sooooo much that I flipped over to Fox for the ninth inning, just in time for your last at bat. It was terrific to see you swing (and swing and swing, because you ended up fouling a few times before you walked) again. Now enjoy your time off and be rested and ready for Friday.

They finally let poor Rudolph join in their reindeer games

The agency that I work at has a reputation for being cutting edge and quite creative. We have a beer account and a fast food account, so within the industry we are considered major players. We're proud of our awards. Being here myself, and having worked in the industry as long as I have, I find "our culture" alternatively annoying and funny.

The best advertising doesn't win awards, folks. The best advertising convinces you to buy a particular brand. Looked at through that prism, I'd rather work on those coupons you find in the food section than a spot on the Super Bowl. That's because over the years, I have come to value steady employment and the ability to pay my utilities over glory.

Most of the people who come to work here, though, are dazzled by "our culture." They want to be cool. They view themselves as cool. They could actually OD on their own coolness.

One of the newer members of our team definitely came here to be cool. Unfortunately, she landed in our group. As creative teams go, we're older than most. As clients go, ours is duller than most. We're not big on bonding here. None of us plays on the agency softball team or goes to the agency book club or meets for drinks at weekly agency get together at Rock Bottom Brewery. Mostly we go home.

The new team member became a more obnoxious bitch by the day. Consequently they are moving her to another group and this morning when I saw her in the elevator, she nearly glowed. Really, it's that look new brides have. "Lit from within," as my best friend likes to say. And it's because she was surrounded by cool kids, her new teammates, on their way up from a morning Starbuck's run.

I realized this morning she wasn't a mean little snot, determined to make my life hell, after all. She's a young girl, new to Chicago from St. Louis, who came to this agency to make friends, and to dazzle the gang back home with tales of her exciting career at a Michigan Avenue ad agency. She must have been so disillusioned and bitter working with all of us old farts.

Well, good for you, Meredith. I'm happy for you. Really. I'd forgotten that when you are young, you're supposed to want to be cool. Enjoy your new friends.

She's come undun

My best friend warned me that July and August would be bad for us, with little time to talk. I rather perkily said, "no problem!" because I know he can't help it. His agency made it clear that they expected weekend and evening work all summer. Independently I happened to run into a coworker of my friend's. This tres disgruntled gentleman reported that EVERYONE has to work weekends, and this guy even had to move when he could pick up his son from college. So yeah, my best friend works in an exclusive, affluent sweatshop. Same as the rest of us in advertising.

It's been 8 days since we've spoken or corresponded at length and I hate it.

I didn't calculate how bad it would be. How isolated and lonely it would feel. I thought knowing about in advance would mitigate all that. It hasn't.

I keep sending him chatty emails to cheer him up and keep the lines of communication open. I know this will end soon and I hope when it does, he'll still be him and we'll still be us.

In the meantime, I must work at keeping my ends from fraying.

If you try carrying this to the beach, you'll get a hernia

It's more than 1500 pages and includes a CD-Rom, so it's exhaustive. And the illustrations, while not at all sensational, are still grisly, so it's not fun. But damn if Vince Bugliosi hasn't put an end to all the back-and-forth: Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.*

Usually when the Kennedy Assassination is discussed, I agree with whoever spoke last or loudest. "Yeah, that makes sense" quickly becomes, "That makes even more sense! Why didn't I think of that before?" But Bugliosi -- fabulous litigator that he is -- debunks every aspect of every conspiracy theory you've ever heard.

I haven't finished this yet (1500 pages!), but from what I've read the strength is that he treats this as a murder. A crime. Not one of the tragedies of the 20th century, but a homicide. Strip away the romance of Camelot and it's easy to see this as the tawdry, poorly planned crime it was. For example, Oswald didn't have to be a great shot. After the first shot, the non-fatal one that pierced the President's neck, his target didn't really move. Most victims would have fallen onto the seat and out of view with that first shot. But JFK wore a crude but tragically effective back brace that prevented him from much motion, giving Oswald a clean target and enough time to actually commit murder.

Peter Jennings once said that JFK assassination theories flourish because the crime and the criminal aren't equals, and we want it to be about more somehow, to even the scales and give the horror greater meaning. How could a loner with marital and financial problems and an itching to be famous manage to martyr our President on a bright, sunny Dallas afternoon? It doesn't make sense. As Jennings pointed out, Hitler was a brilliant, powerful monster the likes of which the world had never seen before, so emotionally it's understandable that he was able to exterminate millions of blameless citizens. Oswald was an aimless failure. It's harder to accept him as Assassin. So we invent alternative theories with "bigger" villains, like the Mob or the CIA or Castro.

But it is what it is. Just a gunshot homicide. Bugliosi goes after the truth the way a smart prosecutor/investigator does. John F. Kennedy was, by all serious accounts, a realist. I believe he would have appreciated this detailed but emotionally unvarnished view of his demise. Thanks to Bugliosi, we get to "reclaim history," which is not unimportant at all. (It's just not a "lightweight" summer read, not in any sense of the word!)





*Thereby vindicating Crash Davis (Kevin Costner in Bull Durham). That speech that begins with, "I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone," still takes my breath away, even after 20 years.

She POSED for this cover shot!

This New York cover story is getting a ton of press because Katie Couric takes a gi-normous bite out of the hand that feeds her, CBS News. Some of her coworkers bite back, so yeah, it's pretty juicy. But it's this cover shot that has me shaking my head. God, but this is awful. Why, Katie, why? Is this how you think serious journalists are supposed to look? Do you hate yourself for leaving Matt, Ann and Al? Are you trying to show us the dark side of perky?

I miss them already

"They" would be Lou Pinella's second place Chicago Cubs, who won four of their last five series leading up to the break. Fucking All-Star Game is messing with our momentum and depriving me of something to look forward to today … and tomorrow … and Wednesday … and Thursday. (I'm boycotting the FA-SG because of Barry Bonds. I know he'll be hurt by my defection, but life is filled with disappointments … as he'll learn when he tries to get into Cooperstown.)

My little rant about the FA-SG gives me an opportunity to attach a photo of my beloved, future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. In so many ways, he is the antithesis of Bonds. Kind of a Luke Skywalker to the Darth Vaders of the MLB (like Bonds and the anti-Christ himself, Roger Clemens). Since this is primarily a Cubbie post, I am showing Greg Maddux during his last (sigh) performance as a Cub at Wrigley Field.

All this airtime wasted on a non-issue!

Ok, so Scooter Libby was pardoned. Yeah, it was sleazy. But c'mon, we all saw it coming, didn't we? And I'm sorry, but when I think of all the other rights and programs and international relationships this President has gutted, I can't get all that upset about Scooter. I guess when it comes to this Administration, I'm plum out of outrage.

That's why it's making me CUH-RAZY that it's being discussed ad nauseum on the news shows! General Petraeus and Iraq, let's talk about that. Will these recent terror incidents, and the public's reaction, influence Gordon Brown's policy on Iraq? The impact of this Court reversing Brown v. Board of Education, let's talk about that. Does all this attention to Scooter mean that all is forgiven with Attorney General Gonzalez? All of these issues are far, far more important than Scooter, aren't they? Why have we allowed ourselves, and the media, to be distracted by this?

And, oh, how it's seeped into the 2008 discussion! Bill Clinton's impeachment ... Bill Clinton's last-minute pardons ... blah-blah-blah. NO CORRELATION. Apples and oranges. We all know that. The Clintons are discussing it themselves, running to their weakness, getting it out there, so by the time Iowans and New Hampshire-ites (is that right, Jenny?) get ready to cast their votes, Hillary can dismiss the whole pardon thing by saying, "Didn't Bill and I discuss this openly and honestly way back last summer?" And when we're talking about the (first) Clinton Presidency, we aren't talking about Barack Obama. So I understand Bill and Hill's motivation. But why is the press taking the bait and comparing/contrasting the Bill Clinton/George W. Bush pardons at this length?

McCain is imploding. Thompson still won't commit. What impact do Gore's family problems have on his decision to run? What's going on with the Edwards staff? Why are we STILL talking about Mark Rich and Susan McDougal?

I feel like we're being manipulated. How can we control the conversation?

Under the Umbrella

Like just about every little girl, I read Little Women and completely related to Jo. I recently saw the Broadway musical version and still completely related to Jo.

Book, movie versions and musical all have a scene toward the end that touches me in so many ways. As Jo shares an umbrella with Professor Bhaer, he clumsily proposes. Since this is post Civil War era, he apologizes for being a poor immigrant without much in the way of earthly possessions, "nothing to offer" our Jo. Nothing, that is, except the ability to appreciate, understand and completely accept one of the prickliest, most complex and enduring heroines in American literature. Naturally she accepts and together they run Plumfield, a school for boys, in the house Aunt March left her. (So ultimately, while Jo may have lost each and every battle with Aunt March, she wins the war: Aunt March eventually does care for the less fortunate, even if it's posthumously. How very Jo!)

Oh, I adore that scene under the umbrella! A completely spectacular woman finds a man who loves her, who encourages and helps her with her writing, who wants her to be his equal and achieve every wonderful goal she's set her sites on.

I still believe. None of my relationships worked out, but, for the most part, I spent time with some really lovely men. I just wish one of them had turned out to be my professor.

Color me a little paler than Sparky Duck

You'd think our colors would be closer, seeing as Mr. Duck and I share the same "girly smell."

you are aqua

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is very high - you are all about getting things done. The world may think you work too hard but you have a lot to show for it, and it keeps you going. You shouldn't be afraid to lead people, because if you're doing it, it'll be done right. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Unconscious Mutterings #2

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Happen :: stance
2. Terribly :: Awfully
3. History :: Teacher
4. Master :: Lock
5. Petrified :: Forest
6. Moan :: Sigh
7. Attack :: of the Puppet People*
8. Picture :: Show
9. Students :: School
10. Potter :: Harry

*One of my favorite bad movies EVER!

For more information, or to play yourself, visit http://subliminal.lunanina.com

What to call this feeling?

My local public library has a major fundraiser every summer -- the book sale. I love the book sale. The village really gets behind it, a line forms around the block (veterans know to bring their own shopping bags, or carts, or even the occasional baby stroller to fill with books), and we pay $5 to get in there and look at books that sell for 50¢ to $2. It's social and fun and a good way to support a tremendous community asset. I also enjoy looking to see what once-popular book is now sooooo over (last year I spotted many hardcover copies of The Nanny Diaries).

But the book sale is not really what this post is about.

Because I love the book sale (and because there's another sale in another town coming up to support the animal shelter where I got Reynaldo), every summer I bug and nag and cajole my friends to bring me their cast-off paperbacks. (I don't have a car, which makes hardcovers a bit difficult to manage.) Usually I get a dozen or so, which is nice because every bit helps and besides, my friends are a diverse group and a good selection of books always makes for a better book sale.

My coworker, the one who is FINALLY getting divorced, asked me if I wanted the books she and her husband are divesting themselves of. Sure, OK, why not? She's had to go through a lot of pain during this break up (pain she has not been shy about sharing with me ...), and why shouldn't some civic good come of it?

She says she has four big boxes of books and will be here with them at 5:30 tonight. Then we can go to dinner and have a few drinks and ... I just asked for the books on Monday. I didn't expect anyone to get them together so fast. And I don't know that I want to spend my Saturday hearing EVEN MORE about her upcoming divorce.

Is it evil that I hope she cancels?

I don't feel like seeing her. I don't feel like seeing anyone. I know it's Saturday, and I'm supposed to want to go out. But there's a Cubs game on tonight, I have a movie rental I really should either watch or return ... I'd rather be alone than go out with her.

I wouldn't mind talking on the phone to my mom. Like the Cub game, by dropping off the books and going to dinner I'll miss my weekly yak with her. And I really, really miss my best friend. I haven't talked to him since Monday and, as always when he's incommunicado, I'm unraveling a bit.

Does this feeling count as lonely? When I have a cellphone list filled with numbers and there are only two I want to call, I'm not sure I'm lonely. Antisocial? Spoiled and unsympathetic to a coworker's pain? Lazy?

Oh well, I'll just comfort myself knowing that I'm helping the library ... and that maybe she'll cancel.

A Dreamy Saturday Special

1. My dream house is …
A high-rise condo with a terrific view of The Lake

2. My dream car is …
Always at my disposal, and comes with a driver

3. My dream vacation is …
Quiet and relaxing

4. My dream life is …
Not that different from the life I have. I'd just like to enjoy it wearing a smaller size.


Visit the Saturday Special for more information, or to join in yourself.

Celebrity vs. Movie Star

Bruce Willis played "Hardball" with Chris (HA!) Matthews this week. He was very soft spoken and focused, intent on getting his bi-partisan message out about respecting and caring for our troops. He maintained they are our "real action heroes." Chris Matthews seemed uncomfortable. Not annoyed, the way Anderson Cooper clearly was whenever he had to cover Paris Hilton. No, Chris Matthews came off instead like an interviewer with a subject he wasn't very into. Another celebrity with another cause. Not something the trips Chris' trigger.

Compare that with his interview with Redford shortly after we all learned that "Deep Throat" was Mark Felt. Matthews began with the premise of talking to the celluloid Bob Woodward about his source. But he couldn't stay on the subject. What about the movie industry? What about the Sundance Institute? What about the environment? What about the death of Johnny Carson? (Huh? What? Do we have any reason to believe Redford even knew Carson?) The questions came so fast that Redford barely had a chance to answer, and instead just looked at his host with weary amusement. That night, Chris Matthews wasn't a journalist or even a provocative interviewer. That night, he was just another movie fan.

Recently George Clooney said that he felt Newman and Redford are our last movie stars. There may be something to that. After all, Matthews, the man who has rattled ambassadors, journalists, candidates and statesman, was practically drooling all over himself when he found himself before The Sundance Kid.

Yes, this is accurate

I Am Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"We saved the world. I say we have to party."

What Superheroine Are You?

Friday's Feast #6

Friday Feast is taking a break this week so Kim went into the archives and found one from 2004 to answer. (Thanks, Kim!)

Appetizer: Name 3 things that you are wearing today.
Sandals, jeans and a t-shirt

Soup: Who was the last person you hugged?
A coworker who's going through a divorce.

Salad: What do you like to order from your favorite fast food place?
Ironic that this is the salad, because you won't find a vegetable anywhere near my order, unless relish counts. The fast food place: Parky's Hot Dogs. The order: Meal #1 -- dog, fries and a medium Coke.

Main Course: What time of day do you usually feel most energized?
Probably mid-morning; 11-ish, right before lunch.

Dessert: Using the letters in your first name, write a sentence.
Gone at last! (Our office closes early today.)

Read more Friday's Feasts, or add your own, at www.fridaysfeast.com

Do you know when it's your autumn, 1993?

I love this photo of Greg Maddux, ca. November 1993, because it shows someone who appears to be at the apex.

He's at home in Las Vegas, on the phone with Tom Glavine, his friend/Braves teammate/only real competition for the Cy Young award. Fortunately for the reporters assembled in what appears to be his kitchen, he soon received official notification that he did, indeed, win his second consecutive Cy Young. That's his very pregnant wife, Kathy, in the doorway. Their first daughter, Amanda Paige, was born in a few weeks.

Today Greg Maddux is a 320 game winning legend. But when this photo was taken, he was a phenomenon. He was playing on $30 million/3 year contract (huge for the time), and he had a couple more World Series appearances and Cy Young awards ahead of him. Summer of 2007, he's still making $10 million/season, but it's a one-year contract with San Diego. He's still with his high school sweetheart, Kathy, and they added a son to their clan. He seems to still love the game. I'm sure he's happy (I hope he's happy.) But it will never be November 1993 again.

Now that I'm old, I wonder, do you KNOW when it's your winter of 1993? Did he KNOW that this was as good as it was gonna get? Did he enjoy it fully? Ironically, I was very happy in November 1993, too. And no, I didn't appreciate it as much I should have.

Can't you feel them circling, honey? Can't you feel them schooling around?

Today my oldest friend asked me to help her figure out how the Thursday 13 works. One of her blogspot buddies recommended she investigate it, but the homepage confused her. I responded by rather desperately changing the subject. But the exchange left me feeling pissy, anxious, and sad.

First she asked me if I'd ever read a blog that yes, I've visited. Now this. She's getting closer to discovering this, my blog. My musings. And I don't want her to.

I like keeping this blog separate from my real life. I like having something that's mine exclusively. I don't want to share it with my oldest friend, or anyone else I "really" know.

When I have an issue with her, or my family, or a coworker, and I blog about it, I'm not trying to score points, and I certainly don't want to hurt anyone. I just want to have an outlet for my honest feelings and my real voice.

I use a nom de blog. I have never mentioned the name of my agency, nor of any clients I work with. The photos I've used here haven't even been my real cats! And that's because I want to maintain my anonymity and my privacy.

I don't think I've posted anything here that's so bad our friendship couldn't survive it. And yes, I could just go through and delete any posts that might rattle her. But dammit, that's not the point.

I want this to be my own!

I'm going to have to worry and stew and awfulize on this some more.

Thursday Thirteen #23 -- 13 Great Thirteens

Thirteen Thursday 13s THE GAL HERSELF found memorable 1…. Bohemian Rhapsody/Thursday 13 Random Facts about My Sweet Cat I still believe my cats are the most fascinating ever, but with this TT Harlekwin introduces us to a most charming feline, Rikki. (Wait till you see the photos!) 2. Inside Mo’s Mind/ Thirteen things my pups have destroyed this year Mo’s affectionate inventory of mutt mayhem. 3. Gabriella Heweitt./13 Reasons I Adore Chocolate This post is simple, it’s evocative and it made me smile. Kinda like chocolate itself! 4. Philly Transplant/Thirteen Great Things about Mrs. Duck Sparky Duck can be such an irredeemable, irreverent smart ass … except where Mrs. Duck is concerned. Which makes this sweet and romantic TT all the more enjoyable. 5. My Life in the Urban Zoo/13 Things We Should Have Learned By Now Some are corny, some are cute, and this is the post where I picked up my my oft-repeated, “Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.” 6. J’s Thoughts and Musings/13 Facts about Drawing Blood OK, so it’s not fun. But it’s important, especially since now The Gal Herself is an old broad who needs to get her cholesterol checked. And I like learning things, and Jenny McB has a gift for making the complicated accessible. I gotta admit, I enjoy my own. Coming up with my TT idea and then fulfilling it is a lot of fun. So I'm ending with ... 7. The 13 Most Popular Movies of All Time The TT in which I use inflation to avenge Rhett Butler and help the South rise again! 8. Why I'd Like to Switch Places with My Cats If you share your homes with cats, you'll understand 9. Little Things That Mean a Lot I loved writing this one. I should reread it to straighten myself out! 10. Mushy Moments Sigh ... my favorite love scenes ... sigh 11. Stuff I Can Do Without Um ... I really was gonna organize this place and throw some of that crap out some day 12. Gloriously bad pop songs It's embarrassing to admit I know the words to, and can sing tunelessly along with, every one of these horrors. 13. Rewatchable Reruns As a matter of fact, I'm watching Law & Order (again) right now ... Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Life is good in these United States

The Cubs are solidly in second place, and finally over .500.

Of course, I'm still fat and I still have a red and irritated eye, and there's still so many books and magazines and papers and other assorted crap laying around that my home may actually qualify as a fire hazard.

But the Cubs are winning, and I have been awarded the title of Rockin' Girl Blogger! (Thanks Ms. Hewitt.) So, in all, life is good.

Happy Independence Day!