Jesus H. Christ. Who was the producer who came up with this segment and why the holy hell did Sherri Shepard do it?
"Sherri Shepherd Gets Bikini Wax On "The View" (VIDEO)
And, no, I have not watched the video and I won't.
I think I'm just going to be sick.
I'm sitting here working on my second cup of coffee. Two skinny, heavily beard men are already up in my attic running a new gas line for the new 4-ton heat/air package unit that we are having installed when we return from another short vacation. Poop Dogg is out in the back of the yard hiding behind the berry bushes laying in the mud from yesterday's rain. She doesn't know it yet, but she's getting a good squirt with the hose and a quick towel dry before she returns to the inner sanctum of the living room.
The sun is out. It has stopped raining. Finally. I don't know for how long. May was the wettest ever recorded. July is now setting records. According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, it's been the wettest July in 118 years, clocking in as of yesterday at 10.72 inches! Nearly everything in my vegetable and herb garden has died or become stunted. My heirloom tomato plant has had maybe two blossoms this entire season but has yet to set one fruit. But, it keeps bird bath full and the fish in the pond are happy!
Me...well, I'd rather it rain than have the temperatures head back up to the high 90's. The rain keeps it a little cooler, although much more humid. August and those high temps will come soon enough.
But, let's get to it shall we?
Some Things I Love:
1. A really good expert massage.
2. Walking with my iPod. I only hear the music and my own breathing. It's almost like a short vacation.
3. When the temperatures get cold and I put the down comforter on my bed and snuggle down underneath it.
4. Fresh baked cherry scones and a cup of coffee.
5. Getting a haircut.
Some Things I Hate:
1. For God sake, can we please stop talking about Gwyneth Paltrow's bowel cleansing (read: enema). TMI!!!
2. Falling asleep in the chair in the middle of a tv program I wanted to see.
3. Putting off getting a haircut even though my hair starts to drive me crazy.
4. Ironing. But I continue to buy clothes that need it. Go figure.
5. Traveling long distances by car.
Some Things I Just Don't Get:
1. Why dog owners can't pick up their own dogs' poop on our walking trails, but think they need a dog park, which would just become a dog poop landfill.
2. Why is it people who CANNOT sing LOVE karaoke?
3. Food eating contests and dipping hot dog buns in water to get them to go down your throat faster. {heave}
4. The new big thing ~ well actually, it been big for quite some time ~ is stainless steel appliances. I fell for it. I have them. I hate them. If I don't polish them almost every single day, they have spots and streaks all over them. You would think that people who bought them early on would have said something to those of us who were considering buying them. But, no, they kept that to themselves. Gee, thanks!
5. Why people think cheese dip is Mexican food.
That's it in a very large nutshell. I must move on to other posts, specifically one for each of my food blogs. Have a great weekend everyone!
It's raining real hard so Poop Dogg can't lay in the back of the yard behind the berry bushes without getting soaked, but she got wet enough to get her feet all muddy as she ran for the patio to the back door and sat and begged to come in.
With a towel in hand, I opened the door, said, "Com'on. Sit."
She came in, didn't sit, but rather darted passed me right into the living room behind the coffee table. Grrrr. Mud all over.
So, now I'm mad and I'm not speaking to her.
She doesn't seem to care.
I hope you take 10 minutes out of your day to watch this video. It's worth it.
Tom's sister is away for the week. She left town last Saturday. And, since she is sort of "the designated person" to see to the needs of her (their) parents, it shifts to us when she is gone.
We received an email from Christina last Friday, letting us know how long she would be gone and that (1) Tom's dad was craving Mexican food (Taco Bell), but didn't want to call and ask Tom to take him to TB or pick up the food and take it over to their place; and (2) Tom's dad has been itching to go to Tunica to gamble his $20, but won't call to ask Tom to take him.
Saturday morning when we got back from the Farmer's Market, Tom called his parents to propose a choice for Sunday dinner: Tom would go get them the Taco Bell food of their choice and deliver it to their place or Tom would pick them up (they no longer drive) and they could come to our house for dinner. Ultimately they chose dinner at our house even though we weren't having Mexican food.
We have been working hard at training Poop Dogg to inhabit the room where we are, rather than hiding/sleeping in the living room behind the coffee table. So every time we go into a different room, we call her. She doesn't like it one bit, so every time we turn our backs, she dives back into the living behind the coffee table. Then we have to call her back out and tell her "stay!" and hope it sticks. It's a never ending battle.
Sunday while we were preparing and serving dinner, we called her into the dining room. She doesn't sit next to your chair. She doesn't demand attention. She doesn't beg. At first, she will sit quietly, but with her eyes constantly darting towards the doorway to the living room, plotting her eventual departure. But, finally, after a couple of thwarted attempts at escape, she will just lay down and fall asleep, the activity for which she possesses the utmost talent. Sunday afternoon she did just that, laying down next to my mother-in-law's chair with her head resting on the bottom rung of the chair and quickly falling asleep.
We do our best to engage her, but she's resistant and seems to resent our efforts to interact with us. She just sleeps. And she's perfectly comfortable sleeping her entire life away. Of course, that is what bugs me. I wanted a companion dog. I wanted a friendly dog. I wanted a dog that's happy to see me when I get home. Nope. That's not her. So I bug her, sometimes mercilessly, moving from chair to chair or room to room, calling her, waking her up, making her move.
As she laid there on the dining room floor, sound asleep, I just couldn't help myself. When I stood up from the table, she opened her eyes because she heard me move from my chair to get my camera...
Apparently not in my lifetime. It seems as if women (and men), all of whom are a great deal younger than me, could care less what's right and think that it is perfectly fine to demean another woman, as long as you disagree with her politics, policies or positions.
I started getting pissed off Saturday when I read a degrading, demeaning and completely undignified newspaper headline for an article written by Washington Post staff writer, Robin Givhan. "SOTOMAYOR'S WARDROBE CHECKS FEMININITY AT THE DOOR!"
The article in the Washington Post has a different headline than the one that appeared in our newspaper, but the article is the same.
When was the last time someone chided, ALITO'S [OR ENTER THE NAME OF ANY MALE SUPREME COURT NOMINEE OR JUSTICE] WARDROBE CHECKS MASCULINITY AT THE DOOR?
Ms. Givhan is not some pre-teen adolescent testing her boundaries. She is old enough to know better.
Follow Givhan's rant with the inane, ridiculous and demeaning MSNBC panel "debate" in which one man and three woman discuss Sarah Palin's sexual appeal as the reason people are attracted to her.
I just don't suppose it could be, like it or not, that she speaks for a pretty sizable segment of our society. Oh, hell, no. Let's just pretend "those" people don't exist or, better yet, dismiss any real interest or support and hang the fascination on her sexuality. That's a lot easier to deal with and disses Palin and her supporters at the same time.
This isn't a matter of politics. This is a matter of treating people, ALL PEOPLE, with dignity, respect and equality. This whole discourse is simply disgusting to me.
There are some exceptions to that quote.
Take Jill and Kevin. They decided to make their wedding more like a real celebration. If you haven't seen this video, you've been living under a rock lately. People are sharing it all over the internet. I came across a copy of it yesterday (I've been living under a rock lately, too).
If this doesn't make you smile...well, go back under your rock!
I wish the week was just over. Gone. Finished. In the past.
I've had too much time on my hands. Too much time to think. Too much time to mull things over and over and over. I want to stop and take a deep breath, shake the cobwebs out of my brain, settle my stomach. I don't want to pretend that I feel better, feel great, feel centered, but just for a little while I'd like to forget about feeling crappy.
So...this week started off with a bang, so to speak. Monday afternoon as I was getting out of the shower, the tornado sirens were going off. I grabbed a towel and ran to the kitchen window, expecting to see wind, dark clouds, rain and hail, but it was sunny. There were some pretty dark clouds in the distance, but all was calm where I was.
Later, after I dressed, I checked the Log Cabin Democrat website and they posted this video of a water spout (a tornado over the water) over Lake Conway, a small man-made lake about 5 or 6 miles from our house. At about 2min15sec, you can see another spout on the left starting to form. Well, you could see it better if the person taking the video could manage to keep the camera from bouncing around.
I'm not really sure how my LCD blog is going. It's not like my regular blogs. I can't embed a stat counter, and I don't have any comments yet, so I don't know if anyone is reading. But, the new format has only been live since Tuesday morning. I'll just have to be patient.
I've been really organizing and cleaning the office, especially all my food blog stuff. I've made folders for categories of recipes I've printed "to try" and a file for "ready to post." It's much neater.
Tomorrow I start writing the first of many(?) payroll checks to our new employee. Tom hired a kid young man to help him out in the field; a go-fer of sorts. Lucky him...he gets to carry all the heavy stuff and sand treads and handrail. Today is his first day. We'll see how it works out.
As for the rest of the week and the weekend...no particular plans. The weather has been really nice this week (except for Monday). It's perfect for enjoying the patio. I think I'll make some more ricotta, stuff some portabella mushrooms with it and grill them outside. And maybe another batch of mozzarella for some caprese salad. Oh yeah, and probably more freakin' laundry...
I took pictures of Poop-Dawg while she was resting.
That is her, Please stop taking my picture so I can sleep, look.
and I thank God for those little green pills.
I started back on my estrogen replacement therapy Wednesday night. One little green pill every night before I go to sleep. Now, it could be that the temperatures have finally settled down into the normal range (mid- to high- 80's), but today I feel better (cooler) than I have in months. I've only had one mild hot-flash today, as opposed to the one, several-hour-long, unbearable hot flash I've been having on almost a daily basis for what seems like an eternity. And last night I slept better than I had in months. I did not realize how tired I had become, mostly I think because it was so gradual. When something fatigue happens so gradually over a long period of time, you can hardly remember what it feels like to feel good and sleep well until you finally do.
I've read that they only want you to take Premarin for the shortest period of time possible. How can I do that when my symptoms have continued over the last 10 years or so. Is that just drug company CYA? Who knows.
All I know is that I just came in from outside and I'm ready to go back outside and finish what I started (picking tomatoes, trimming herbs and tying up wandering plants) and I'm actually looking forward to it!
Oh, by the way, our local newspaper has not migrated to the new format yet, but they have provided a link to the beta version for readers to review. I've written 3 blogs already. You can see them here.
So, what's planned for the weekend? Nothing much. I think with the cooler temperatures we might head to the lake one day this weekend. I got a call from Tom earlier. He purchased some fresh mussels at Fresh Market, now packed in ice in his lunch cooler, and we are trying Mussels Saganaki posted by Peter @ Kalofagas. Add some crusty bread, some nice cold white wine, sitting outside on the patio (without sweating) listening to my Gregorian Wind Chime make music in the breeze....
Ahhhhhhhh, life is good again.
Our local newspaper, The Log Cabin Democrat, is changing it’s online format and the new format will provide an opportunity to be more interactive with it's readers. Several days ago, the publisher printed an editorial calling for community bloggers. I am proud to say that, after reviewing my blogs, the publisher has asked me to write a food blog for the online version of the newspaper!
Now, I know it's just a local paper for a little town of nearly 60,000 people and doesn't rise to the level of the state wide newspaper or of newspapers in other parts of the country. But, I take it as compliment just the same.
Since then, I've been busy setting up my blog and yesterday I received an email from the publisher asking me to do a couple of blogs before they migrated to the new format. Yikes! And Tammy, our pastor, was coming to dinner that night!
Well, I sat down in front of the computer for a couple of hours and produced two separate blogs. Tom jumped in and cooked dinner and everything has now settled down on the home front.
Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to keep three blogs going. I'm really going to have to see how it goes and, if I need to make decisions later, then that's what I will do. Right now, though, I'll just wing it.
So, there's not much happening at home. I know I mentioned that we are no longer referring to Goldie as G-Doggie. Her new moniker is Poop-Dawg.
Why, you ask? Do you really want to know? Three guesses.
We've had Poop-Dawg for a year and three months. If you don't know the story, here's a synopsis:
Her owner called around to local veterinary offices to notify them that she was giving away the Golden Retriever she had been using as a breeder to produce Golden Doodle puppies. We contacted our vet to get the names of Golden Retriever breeders. He gave us the breeder's number. The breeder gave her to us. Only after we got her home did we discover that, in any other situation, this would have been considered a rescue. She tested positive for heartworm and endured 3 months of treatment that basically consists of injecting poison into her system. She was so dirty it took three baths (one of which was with our vet's groomer) to get her clean. Her nails were so long and curled (under the fur on her paws) that, upon closer inspection, had a tendency to bleed where the nail meets the skin because of the pressure. When we had her spayed at our local spay clinic, her organs were so full of blood that the vet had to continually tie off bleeders during the surgery and her whole underside was black and blue for two weeks afterward (a sure sign that a dog is used as a puppy mill, said the vet). Consequently, we and our vet think it is quite possible that because of the necessity to continually nourish her reproductive organs (she was pregnant every single heat), she lacked some blood flow to the brain and is a little retarded.
My, my, my. I haven't done one of these in a while. But, I'm feelin' it this morning, so here goes...
Some Things I Love:
1. Today I love winter. It has been a really, really, really HOT summer this year. Bring on the cold weather. Bring on a little snow. Bring on the ice storms. Just give me a couple of weeks to get my Aerogarden started with herbs and I'm ready!
2. My new camera because I can take photos like this....JPG)
3. The wonderful 4th of July weekend we had in Memphis. We started out at B.B.King's where Tom had the biggest plate of fried dill pickles. Yes, folks, really...Fried Dill Pickles. Only a southerner could conjure up something like that. I mean, what were they thinking? "You know, I've fried the chicken, and I've fried the catfish, and I've fried the potatoes, and I've fried the okra, but I have a shit-load of grease left. Oh, I know, I'll fry some dill pickles!! Okay, I admit, I had a couple and they are not half bad. But that would also make them only half good. So anyway, after a plate of these...
...you are left with a plate of this...
...which would suggest that the grease that is left on the plate is just a small portion of the grease that WAS on the plate that is now swimming around in his arteries. Yuk!! But the weekend was great anyway!
4. Shopping online. What I can't find here, I can almost always find online, particularly for cooking Asian food.
5. Watching the critters than come into our backyard. We have birds, squirrels, rabbits and we have feeders and food for all of them to make sure we keep them coming, even in the winter.
Some Things I Hate:
1. This summer. If you knew how much I really LOVE summer, you would know that it is a huge deal for me to say I hate it. I really do love summer and I have since I was a kid growing up in Fresno. Fresno gets hot! Really hot! Even after the sun goes down, the temperatures outside can still be in the 80's and 90's. It didn't matter. I swam in our Doughboy swimming pool, rode my bike, climbed trees. I hated being inside. I was always outside. I'm not much different now. But, this summer here in Arkansas has already been brutal and we're only into the first 1/3 of July. It's too hot to eat dinner on the patio. It's too hot to garden. It's too hot to sit on the swing under the pergola. It's even too hot to go to the lake.
2. I've gained back the 6 pounds I lost while we were on vacation. Well, actually the first week of vacation. We did a lot of walking in Ft. Collins and then at the Grand Teton National Park. Who knew that repeatedly gasping for air at 7,500 feet could rev up my metabolism. Who knew that returning to 200 feet could be so fattening!
3. Big headlines: "CNN Wins Michael Jackson Memorial Service Cable News Ratings Race", translated means CNN was the biggest whore of all the news networks. They should be so proud.
4. Waffle House. What is with the south and their Waffle House. They love them! I've even been in a meeting with other professional administrators whose agenda it was to prepare a plan for the direction of a state university, only to find the discussion has turned to how the Waffle House is just the best darned place to eat breakfast. Hellooo...have you ever walked into one of them? I have. Once. They smell horrible, just like old, used frying oil, coupled with, I'm certain, the most cigarette smokers you can pack into 2,000 square feet. All for a waffle? No thank you.
5. Kansas. I wish we were able to eliminate the necessity of driving through Kansas the same way we eliminate column in Excel...highlight, right click, delete. It would make our trip across the U.S. soooo much faster and far more interesting!
Some Things I Just Don't Get:
1. Sarah, Sarah, Sarah...seriously girl, we need to talk...and you need to just shut up!
2. We buy lot of stuff in bulk. We started this when we moved out to the country. Now we do it because it's just more convenient than going to the store every other day and because it's a lot cheaper, too. But, when I send Tom to Sam's Club in Little Rock and he has "rice" in his list and he comes back with this...
...well, you just have to wonder about his thought processes sometimes.
3. Oh...My...God...why anyone would be interested in Gwyneth Paltrow's newest internal cleansing! Ew, ew, ew!!
4. Bruno...and Borat for that matter.
5. Yesterday I visited the "Farmers Market" here in Conway for the first time since we moved here in 1993. My garden is just gross and unproductive this year and I wanted to shop for fruits and vegetables grown by people who are better gardeners and farmers than me. I wanted beautiful heirloom tomatoes, deep purple Japanese eggplant, bright green peas and crispy green beans fresh from the garden. I came home with two small eggplant and a small bag of yellow squash. I think they are using the term "Farmers Market" loosely. This is our "Farmers Market"...
Five tables, five gardeners/farmers and baskets of sickly tomatoes, small yellow squash, misshapen zucchini, pickling cucumbers, unidentifiable potatoes, midget eggplants, about 5 skungy looking apples and one basket of purple hull peas that the farmer wanted to sell for $15.00 a pound! Oh, yeah, and some woman selling homemade apple and pumpkin butter. That was it! That was the extent of the "market." Why would any rational person even remotely consider that a Farmers Market?? I was so disappointed that I was in a pissy mood all afternoon. Obviously, it doesn't take much, does it?
Well, that's it for this week. We are staying home this weekend. I'm going watch my micro-greens grow. I am also going to make homemade mozzarella, Tom will take the photos and I will post it on my food blog next week.
What are you doing this weekend? And if you share your plans, please don't say you're doing something that will make me jealous and want to rip your lips off!
Michael Jackson died suddenly on June 25, 2009 at the age of 50. Since then, it has been Michael Jackson all the time.
Granted, he was a great performer even though he was eccentric (and I use that word loosely).
Yesterday was his memorial service, which has also dominated the television and news websites.
Sadly, through all the Michael Jackson madness and sadness, no one mentioned any one of the following nine American soldiers who lost their lives the same day as Michael Jackson and the days subsequent to his death.
If I am going to be subject to inhaling the excess carbon dioxide exhaled into the atmosphere by all the television talking heads extolling the virtues and contributions of an entertainer, some of it could have been used to remember and honor these soldiers and embrace their families in their time of loss. ABC, CBS, CNN, Headline News, NBC, MSNBC, FOX, et. al. should be ashamed.
So, I am listing the soldiers names. Thank you for your service and sacrifice to our country. To your families I extend my sincerest condolences. I am deeply sorry for your tragic loss.
Spec. Joshua L. Hazlewood
Died: June 25, 2009 in Operation Iraqi Freedom, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident in Arifjan, Kuwait
Hometown: Manvel, Texas
Age: 22 years old
Unit: Army, 614th Automated Cargo Documentation Detachment
1st Lt. Brian N. Bradshaw
Died: June 25, 2009 in Operation Enduring Freedom, when a makeshift bomb detonated near his vehicle
Hometown: Steilacoom, Washington
Age: 24 years old
Unit: Army, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska
Pfc. Peter K. Cross
Died: June 26, 2009 in Operation Enduring Freedom, from injuries sustained during a vehicle roll-over
Hometown: Saginaw, Texas
Age: 20 years old
Unit: Army, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.
Pvt. Steven T. Drees
Died: June 28, 2009 in Operation Enduring Freedom, of injuries sustained in Konar Province, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire and a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher
Hometown: Peshtigo, Wisconsin
Age: 19 years old
Unit: Army, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
Sgt. Timothy A. David
Died: June 28, 2009 in Sadr City, Iraq, of wounds suffered earlier in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle
Age: 28 years old
Hometown: Gladwin, MI
Unit: Army, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry, Fort Hood, Texas
Sgt. Roger L. Adams
Died: June 29, 2009 in Operation Iraqi Freedom, from wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad, Iraq
Age: 36 years old
Hometown: Jacksonville
Unit: Army, 120th Combined Arms Battalion, Wilmington, N.C.
Sgt. Juan C. Baldeosingh
Died: June 29, 2009 in in Operation Iraqi Freedom, from wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle Baghdad, Iraq
Age: 30 years old
Hometown: Newport, N.C.
Unit: Army, 120th Combined Arms Battalion, Wilmington, N.C.
Spc. Robert L. Bittiker
Died: June 29, 2009 in Operation Iraqi Freedom, from wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle Baghdad, Iraq
Age: 39 years old
Hometown: Jacksonville
Unit: Army, 120th Combined Arms Battalion, Wilmington, N.C.
Sgt. 1st Class Edward C. Kramer
Died: June 29, 2009 in Operation Iraqi Freedom, from wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle Baghdad, Iraq
Age: 39 years old
Hometown: Wilmington, N.C.
Unit: Army, 120th Combined Arms Battalion, Wilmington, N.C.
May you all Rest In Peace...
If it's like this and it's only June, I don't want July and August! I'm already tired of the heat.
This morning I'm miserable. I didn't sleep hardly at all last night, so I'm exhausted. It felt like 80 degrees in our bedroom (it was only 74 degrees, I checked ~ thanks to the cool clock Mike & Kathy gave me for Christmas one year that gives me everything but the headlines news). The fan was going all night and has been for a month now. Tom and Poop Dawg (no longer is she G-Doggie, with good reason) snored all night long. My hips were killing me, even though I took ibuprofen BEFORE I went to bed. My left shoulder hurts when I lay on it too long, and, of course, I sleep mostly on my left side. And, I'm sitting here in the middle of a hot flash! Next week, I'm going to Dr. Trussell and getting some more little green pills. I can't take it any more!
If I were still living in California today, I would be pissed off, irate, belligerent, livid and up-in-arms.
On Tuesday, I read this post @ Altadena Hiker, which gave me the first hint of park closures in California. WTH?? So, I went searching the news sites. Sure enough, Ahhh-nold is planning to close about 80% of California's state parks and firing 1,500 park rangers.
And, before we left for vacation, I was talking to my cousin, Rickey, about taking a trip out there in September and all of us going camping at New Brighton (on the beach) or Seacliff (on the beach) State Parks! It doesn't look like camping at our favorite beach state parks will be on our agenda.
New Brighton and Seacliff are on the cut list. So is Leo Carillo, Carlsbad, Torrey Pines, Morro Bay, Half Moon Bay, Natural Bridges and Sunset Beaches and Parks (you can see the full list here). All of those places I camped or visited so often as a child and then as an adult with my children. What a tragedy.
I am so mad and sad! But, I still miss California.
There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein. ~ Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith
"Writing isn't a profession; it's a disease." ~ Sherwood Schwartz
"Running a close second [as a writing lesson] was the realization that stopping a piece of work just because it's hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and sometimes you're doing good work when it feels like all you're managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position." ~ Stephen King
![Joe - Our Mostly Maltese](<a href="http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l80/grandmasrandomthoughts/Diary%20Blog/?action=view¤t=Joe2-101a.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l80/grandmasrandomthoughts/Diary%20Blog/Joe2-101a.jpg" border="0" alt="Joe - Feb 2010"></a>)
