This statement scares the crap out of me

"Just talked with a wonderful gentleman from Focus on the Family. Some super awesome things will be unfolding soon. Stay tuned...exciting!!"

Huge Ackman

So I'm catching up on the RSS and one of the sites that often has some interesting stuff about Old Hollywood, Allen Ellenberger, had a story today about Hugh Jackman getting his star on the Walk of Fame.

I have a few things to say:

1. Jazzhands!!

2. This mismatched blue-on-blue ensemble is awful. Blah blah, burlap sack, yada yada.

3. Oh who am I kidding? All I can see is his package.

Another peaceful Saturday morning

Claudia woke up on the wrong side of the bed:

short attention span

So it seems like the only genius I'm sharing in the interwebs is twitter. Guess my ADHD has finally found a home @ctstockula.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Because I didn't really want to know, that's why.

This week I learned a couple things I already knew but since I didn't have confirmation, could ignore.

I love chicken wings. C-Bus has decent ones everywhere, including our hospital cafeteria. I had always thought that if I just had 2 or three, that was moderation so Hooray for me!! NCH has started posting nutritional values of most of their offerings. A serving of 4 has 1060 calories and 101 g of fat. Wait, did I read that right? Holy cow! If I am "being good" I am having 75 g of fat!!?? I could slam down a pint of haagen dasz for that! Even 1 has 25!! I could go on, but since this math is pretty basic, you can figure out 2. So, I now assume they cook theirs in lard and continue to eat the 911 wings at the Lizard and the Mango Habanero at Gallo's.

I was getting dressed at the gym and there were 2 jock women chit-chatting in the locker room right next to my locker, because they apparently wanted to boost my self-image. Anywho, they started talking about the best spot for cardio. So they could people-watch and make fun of them. "The spot behind the pole is the best because you can see everything, especially the ________ at the ________." Great. Thanks. I thought I was only imagining it,  but now that I know it was true I can be even more self-conscious.

Speaking of Doubt, I went to the library website to reserve Doubt the movie. The search engine is this discover thing where you can flow from one topic to the next. I thought the flow from this search was interesting:

doubt, faith, dooby, skepticism.

Go in the other direction and you get Douglas Adams.

No Wonder

Oh no!!!! One of the little things I like about Columbus is thanks to the Wonder Bread bakery, it always smells really great downtown. Just found out the bakery is closing, so no more "Doughnut Breezes".

happy birthday

I have had my Yahoo account since somewhere around '95. It has served me well, as folks always know where to find me, particularly helpful when I was more nomadic. I had to laugh on my past birthday getting reminders of the many mailing lists I've been on. This email address has been passed around like a one-hitter at a Phish show. I especially got a kick out of the last one. Click to biggify.

Dreaming

Last night I had a weed dream for the first time in about 10 years. No, not that kind of weed.
A weed dream is experienced by folks in the restaurant business and I have been on the outside for 11 years now, after bartending and waiting table for 16 in Ohio and Texas.
Wiki Def: In the weeds: a waitress/cook that can't keep up with the tables. Refers back to chefs' military roots, where being in the weeds would cause your army to be slaughtered.
The dreams usually involve it being your first day on the job and you get a table of 4, which keeps expanding into a table of 10, 20, 30. All the while you realize that the rest of the restaurant is filling up and there are no other servers. You break away to place the order and there are no chefs. Then you wake up in a sweat.
Mine usually followed steak night at Blackbeard’s on SPI. Winter special for the snowbirds involving great steak dinners for next to nothing. Started at 5pm, there was a line around the restaurant at 4pm. Dollar a head all night long. Usually made $100, which was a lot after the off-season.
Looks like they still have it, but the prices have increased. Still a great value. This is the place that taught me how to make a real margarita. Hmm. I could really go for a margarita right now. And Manuel’s huevos rancheros (totally should not have visited that site). And the beach.
HELLO? Earth to Heather. Back to February in Ohio.
Anywho, I wonder what having this dream now says about my current mental state. I am at a crossroads with my career and have been spending a lot of time agonizing about what I am going to do. Must give it some thought.

Please explain something to me

Every year @ valentine's day, I tell Mr S that I absolutely do not want flowers. While I appreciate the thought, I don't really like them (hate the smell) and I think V day is kinda dumb. So I woke up this morning to a dozen roses and an apology that there weren't enough of them. And a card with a caveman that he was veeeeerry proud of. How can I stop him from buying something I do not like if he won't listen to me? I know he thinks he is doing something good and I don't want to hurt his feelings, but what I really feel is insulted that he doesn't listen to me. The cats on the other hand, think they taste wonderful.

Gesundheit

0545 this morning, Mitzi hops up on the bed and onto my chest. She paws at the covers to remove them from my face and sneezes at point blank range. Really? Thanks for sharing.

Bugs

Watched the movie Bug this weekend. While it never would have occurred to me to watch this as someone who is terrified of bugs, it had Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr. I have adored AJ since Ruby in Paradise and HCJ is hot in that tall big, beefy, but not-too-beefy sorta way and he always plays the good guy. I had a conversation with L and she said she didn't find him all that attractive, but had not seen the same movies I had featuring him. Hers were his darker roles. That got me thinking: I wonder if I would find him less attractive if I saw him in more unattractive roles? So let's tally:

HOPE FLOATS IIII
BUGS II

Maybe that’s it. I honestly thought I had seen him in more flicks. Still, 2:1 hotness.
Oh and the movie was really enjoyable; great suspense. The male lead, Michael Shannon, made the movie with his low-key delivery.

1/11/09 Mitzi discovers tv

For some reason, our cat had never noticed tv, until 1/11/09. Then she stood in front of the tv for like 30 minutes, giving us the opportunity to make her our own LOLcat.

Will work for chicken

Once I was coming home to San Antonio from South Padre, where my mom always loaded me up with food.
There was a guy on the freeway exit ramp with a “will work for food” sign.
I gave him a chicken. A home-smoked whole chicken.
For some reason I had to go around the block again and he had stashed it under a bush and was back in position.
It didn’t seem odd then, but now the fact that I gave him a chicken makes me giggle.
I wonder what the people in the car behind me thought?

Weather

The Weathertainment is in full swing. For the love of Mike, it is January in Ohio, If it was raining frogs, that would be news. We have had some interesting precipitation lately. I hear that Eskimos have like 300 words for snow (67% of all statistics are made up on the spot!), but I wonder if they use "Slurpee".

XMas

For Xmas, I officially got everything I want. I am caught up on material things. Mr S got me the GPS I wanted and his folks, crazy generous as they are, gifted us enough scratch to buy new phones. Cue Mormon Tabernacle Choir, because hallelujah I got my iPhone. I have craved one for years. What kept me from my Precious is the fact that I was mistaken in that AT&T didn't provide a corporate discount like Verizon that AT&T had displeased me greatly as a customer in the past. But come on, 5 years is long enough. I tried very much to like the Storm, but it was clunky and ...not an iPhone. We're still in the transition period since we have 5 days left on our V contract, but I already use it for so much. Like video games. Nothing like picking up a new teenage habit at 39. I expect to start smoking weed any day now. I love Urbanspoon, Wikitap, Tap Tap, Topple, Boomshine and I haven't even made it through many of the free apps. Ahh. One Phone to rule them all.

Oh my sides hurt. Stop making me laugh!

A while ago, a viral video went around showing Cagney and Lacey on this British talk show, Graham Norton. The video was pretty funny, if juvenile, and I forgot about it. I was browsing through our 6000 channels and stopped at BBC America. Saw his show listed., Thought what the heck, I'll watch this. Hooked. Absolutely smitten. GN is this adorable and funny man and the show usually has one famous American and a Brit comediam or actor, always entertaining, and a lesser-known-in-the-US musical guest. The funny part is actors and musicians from the US go on the show and don't realize it is silly, raucous, irreverent and uncensored like in the US. My first whole show was Jackie Chan. JC was funny without really trying. Robin Williams was a scream. It seemed he was delighted to be able to "open it up" comedically again. Brendan Frasier was absolutely baked, but he apparently is a very good at being funny while trashed because the stories he told about monkey self-fulfillment had me in tears. The last show, all I can remember is Lego Baby Jesus Circumcision. Many videos on the website.

Flotsam

Went to the Olde Towne Easte Toure Ofe Homese with D. I like these home tours. See some interesting homes, meet some nice folks, get a little exercise. Other touristas can be kinda dickish though.
We decided to grab a bite to eat, but D wanted soup and I wanted sushi. Whole Foods to the rescue. While we were there, I asked D about Greek yogurt because I'd seen it around but didn't know what made it different, aside from some obvious jokes. She said it was "like real food", unlike the $0.59 dannon crep they sell. I bought a couple varieties and the next morning I not only had a new favorite breakfast food, but I also would never eat the other stuff again. My fave now is a bowl of fruit with a couple scoops of yogurt and some Splenda brown sugar. Absolutely delish. Plus buying it by the pint is a lot cheaper. One exception to the yum is Trader Joe's little Greek Style Nonfat, not very good. I like Fage, all varieties and TJ 2%. Occasionally I, oops, grab the not-lowfat version, which is nirvana in a tub.

Shitstorm revisited

Update on the sky falling:

Truck no biggie.

Housejacking went off without a problem. Had to go down 33 feet to find solid ground. Very exciting to come home to no front steps and a 5-foot moat across the entire front of the house.

Door replacement by Lowes was really good with a few minor kinks. Apparently people still really like brass hardware. I only had 2 storm doors to choose from because I wanted nickel. The installer comes, tears out the entire frame puts it all back together, very snugly. Looks tight with our newly-level entrance. He had to stop by to install a part that was not working as expected. A few days before he was due back, I looked up and noticed that they had installed brass hinges with the nickel door hardware. What? You've got to be kidding me. Kinda thought that would be understood and I was never consulted about hinges. To Lowes' credit, they said they'd send him with the correct ones and fix us right up. He showed up to compete and they were the wrong size, although the correct non-ugly color. We got a call from our salesperson that he would be stopping by to change the hinges. Guess they figured they guy who made the initial mistake would fix it. I was really impressed with the whole project and will definitely use them again. Plus there is the added bonus that I now have a "Project Card". And Mr S doesn't.

Thanks for the notice

Our holidays began with Father asking me if I would mind hosting Christmas. 2 days before. Of course I didn't have to go to any trouble. Fine. Burgers and chips it is!! Just kidding, turkey and the standard squishy food. MMM I could go for some stuffing right about now. Us, Dad and Grandma, with the added bonus that G-Ma always stays over so I get some good quality time with a fabulous Octogenarian. Everything turned out tasty and perfectly timed, so life was good. G-Ma also helps with dishes so that was covered too. They left to visit, Mr S went to work and I hit the couch with pjs and some Just Pies pumpkin pie, the best in all the land.