What to do without Cable & Broadband

1. calm the dog's hysteria
2. love on the dog more than usual
3. water the plants
4. nap
5. cook a real dinner
6. eat at the dining table
7. go for a walk
8. brush the dog
9. read a book
10. gather and take out trash
11. think what you could be doing on the internet
12. watch the 3"x3" camp/emergency television
13. realize how lucky I am to only be without cable. love my house. love my electricity. love my refrigerator and its contents. and the hardest one on the list:
14. love my job.

Katrina On My Mind

Hurricane Katrina has been on my mind a lot these last few days... and then I had this thought!

Sucky News

1. Houston is The City of Syrup. And no, I ain't talking about Mrs. Butterworth's.
2. The State Legislature failed for the third time to pass school funding legislation.

Just For Fun

Need cheering up? How about some Milk and Cereal?

Boom!

Just cause a gun went off... don't mean no threat. It just mean you might want to pause and think about where you are!

Some Parents Support Their Children's Decisions

Cindy might think her son's decision to volunteer and dedicate his life to defend our country and to advance freedom in the Middle East... was totally full of crap.

But other parents resent the way she used their son's sacrifice to support her anti-war cause.

Random Memo 081305

1. decided it was more clever to call these occasional posts by their real names, rather than... randUmmemos..
2. vacuumed 12 pounds of dog hair off the floor. wow. that's almost 20% of my dog . made a note to weigh HER tomorrow.
3. went to the grocery store for toilet paper. spent $134.41. northern isn't the bargain toilet paper, but i like it.
4. caught up with LC and Stephen on Laguna Beach. it appears that they hooked up again in mexico! but, alas... Stephen left for school and snow boarding this episode.
5. tried to figure out how Stephen left in his truck... when he took an airplane home from San Francisco. very confusing.
6. found out i slept through a head on collision last night at the end of my street. the guy who caused it hopped out of his suv and ran past my house, but was tackled by young guys at a party on the other end of the street.
7. mourned the loss of limbs for my little "Ashleigh" (my 50 year old ash tree, in the front yard).

Ellen Degeneres and the Emmys

Ellen signed to host the Emmy Awards again on September 18th!

"You know me," Ellen said. "Any excuse to put on a dress."

Photo by MSNBC.

Back!

Discovery Returns Safely! What a divine sight!

Spectacular Photo by NASA.

Men...

They shouldn't be left to their own devices!

Prayers for Discovery

The Columbia accident was sickening and traumatizing.

Remnants were found in my hometown, and the huge tires fell to the ground on a friend's farm. It is a day that remains etched in my memory, and it causes me to worry...

And I pray for Discovery's safe return.

Random Memo 080605

1. woke to the news that it would again be raining south of I-10 and for the first time I accepted it as truth. I can tell you, I live just north of I-10 and we had sunshine all day.
2. got a call from my neighbor and friend. her house sold this week. :-(
3. washed clothes. boy was that fun.
4. caught up with LC and Stephen on Laguna Beach. He evidently stayed overnight, and LC made him breakfast... but before he left, he asked if she would make him breakfast again some time... O, and the preview to the next episode... looks like they might hook up again!
5. caught up with the latest episodes of Being Bobby Brown, Real World and Big Brother.
6. hopped channels and was able to catch the restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally. ;-)
7. ate breakfast for dinner. and then had to clean the kitchen.
8. got asked out on a date! will update, later.
9. spoiled the dog all day, but tonight, she really tested my patience.
10. chatted with CT about various things, including the case and animal insanity.
11. watched Geraldo who wasn't Geraldo tonight.

Random Memo 080505

1. woke up less late.
2. arrived at work less late.
3. encouraged a friend to compete in the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon next June. i think i'll go to San Francisco to cheer him on! ;-)
4. replied to an email by DDFL about the possibility of going to see Must Love Dogs tomorrow.
5. went to see Wedding Crashers with my friend and fellow Owen groupie.
6. decided Owen IS really cute in a hempish... errrr... impish sort of way.
7. spent more than 50% more on concessions than the ticket cost me.
8. left the theatre under dark clouds. radio informed me that there were bad thunderstorms expected south of I-10. wondered how they knew that I-10 provided a good barrier.
9. stormed on me on the west loop, but once over the I-10 overpass... sunny skies.
10. i thought... wow.
11. miss c must have forgotten that i come home early on fridays. i caught her sleeping.
12. watched dr. phil but he was pretty boring today, but he announced that his new season, coming soon, will change the world. wondered how.
13. oprah was a boring re-run that i had already seen. hoped her new season would also change the world.
14. researched the aruban rave culture and miscellaneous drug cartels.
15. let Miss C in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out... and suspected it was a game with her.
16. thought about having breakfast for supper, but think a pb&j sandwich would be quicker and less messy.

Will Support Gay Rights For Cash

Well, that's what Supreme Court nominee, John G. Roberts, Jr. did!

You've Heard "It" All...

then there's this!

It seeems that Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris has fenced off a famous tomb to prevent lewd acts being performed on a statue.

It seems that the reclined statue of a 19th Century journalist, Victor Noir (whose real name was Yvan Salman) is very popular with women, partly due to his reputation as a romantic figure, and partly... just because.

Noir was killed by Pierre Bonaparte, a great-nephew of the Emperor Napoleon, the day before he was to marry.

Along with the fence there is a new sign that warns: "Any damage caused by graffiti or indecent rubbing will be prosecuted."

Well, ok then...

Popcorn and 'Wedding Crashers'

Along with my good friend and fellow Owen groupie, I saw Wedding Crashers today.

We both loved it, and laughed our way through until some poignant moments brought a little mistiness.

It's a great movie. I highly recommend it. Take your irreverent sense of humor with you!

The movie hasgreat casting great casting (including Dwight Yoakum and Henry Gibson!):

Owen Wilson .... John Beckwith
Vince Vaughn .... Jeremy Grey
Christopher Walken .... Secretary Cleary
Rachel McAdams .... Claire Cleary
Isla Fisher .... Gloria Cleary
Jane Seymour .... Kathleen Cleary
Ellen Albertini Dow .... Grandma Mary Cleary
Keir O'Donnell .... Todd Cleary
Bradley Cooper .... Sack Lodge
Ron Canada .... Randolph
Henry Gibson .... Father O'Neil
Dwight Yoakam .... Mr. Kroeger
Rebecca De Mornay .... Mrs. Kroeger
David Conrad .... Trap
Jennifer Alden .... Christina Cleary (as Jenny Alden)

Tons of awesome lines in this one! Bring your silly and wry sense of humor!

Random Memo 080405

1. woke at 430am, pleased that I had 30 more minutes in bed.
2. woke (2nd x) at 655am, due at work in 5 minutes, displeased that i had forgotten to set the alarm.
3. lost my keys. found them in my hand.
4. had a devil of a time getting on the freeway... stalled truck and trailer in the lane i needed to be in.
5. mid-morning, thought about strangling an engineer (figuratively, of course).
6. opted to pull a large clump of hair out instead (MINE, not his!).
7. went to lunch with MMSP.
8. had a greasy burger at a health nut restaurant.
9. received appalling glances.
10. re-named the guy who cut me off on the freeway on the way home. can't repeat the name, but bet he's been called that before.
11. watched ng and swore i never would again.
12. she's STILL calling him "JOE-SEE".
13. chatted with CT, WE and MARU and watched GRETA on the side.
14. decided the world is a place that is rife with corruption, scandal, crime, mystery... and really good friends to mull it all over with.

Three More Weeks For Martha

It's not a good thing.

Anniston on Brangelina

This photo and the following text are from MSN, regarding Jen's life after Pitt (I'm afraid if I only link to it, it will lead to a dead end, soon):

Jennifer Aniston could have been forgiven if she'd taken the bitter ex route in her first post-breakup interview by laying the blame for her split with Brad Pitt on the Angelina Jolie factor. Instead, she takes the high road and says, despite everything, her soon-to-be ex-hubby is "a fantastic man."

"I don't regret any of it, and I'm not going to beat myself up about it," Jen, 36, diplomatically tells Vanity Fair in the in-depth sit-down. "We spent seven very intense years together...a beautiful, complicated relationship."

The actress says she believes Pitt's assertion that he did not pursue a relationship with Jolie before their separation in January, but admits the aftermath hasn't always been easy."Am I lonely? Yes. Am I upset? Yes. Am I confused? Yes. Do I have my days when I've thrown a little pity party for myself? Absolutely. But I'm also doing really well," she says.

Still, when the interviewer mentions a rumor about Pitt and Jolie possibly starting a family, Aniston reportedly looks stricken and breaks into tears that last for several minutes.

Jennifer adamantly denies the oft-repeated claim that their marriage unraveled because Pitt, 41, who is now reportedly shacking up with Jolie, 30, her son Maddox, 3, and her newly adopted daughter Zahara at his Malibu mansion, wanted a family and she didn't."

A man divorcing would never be accused of choosing career over children," rants the star, who reveals that she had planned to spend the last year pregnant. "That really p***ed me off. I've never in my life said I don't want children. I did and I do and I will! The women that inspire me are the ones who have careers and children; why would I want to limit myself? I've always wanted to have children, and I would never give up that experience for a career. I want to have it all."

Jen 'fesses up to being hurt by paparazzi pics that captured Brad spending quality time with Angelina and Maddox on a beach in Kenya.

"The world was shocked and I was shocked," she says. "I'd be a robot if I said I didn't feel moments of anger, of hurt, of embarrassment."

Aniston continues, "I can't say it was one of the highlights of my year. Who would deal with that and say, 'Isn't that sweet! That looks like fun!'? But [bleep] happens. You joke and say, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'"

She also wasn't a fan of the 60-page W spread in which Brangelina posed as bored suburban parents.

"There's a sensitivity chip that's missing [in him]," Aniston explains. "I can ... imagine Brad having absolutely no clue why people would be appalled by it."

The actress says she's still single and is fine with it, explaining, "I like a lot of people, but I am sooo not 'in like' with anybody."

But she believes another relationship will come in time: "I am really enjoying being by myself. I'm excited that I know there's somebody out there for me, but I am absolutely in no rush. This is all very fresh, very new. This was a 7-year relationship that was very dear, very complicated, very special. I need to honor it."

While the ex-squeezes are no longer speaking (the divorce will likely be finalized in the fall), Jen does seem to have achieved a bit of closure.

"I love Brad. I will love him for the rest of my life," she admits. "I really do hope that someday we can be friends again."

And like any good friend, Jennifer isn't afraid to speak the truth, taking a light-hearted dig at Pitt's lightened locks: "Billy Idol called -- he wants his look back."

This issue of Vanity Fair hits stands August 9th.

See also 'The Today Show' coverage on Aniston's interview.

Dawn Staley Is A Houston Comet

I hated to see us give up a couple of "big" girls...

but it's pretty hard not to be extremely excited about Dawn Staley in a Comets' jersey!