Hi

So I've been on fire the last couple days making changes in myself.

I put the story I started back in January on hold. I only had a partial scene and it just wasn't speaking to me anymore.  I'll probably come back to it eventually. Or at least I tell myself I will. I'm working on a story that I hadn't planned on writing. About a month ago, I wrote what I thought was going to be a one-shot, just something to write. But then it kept screaming at me, telling me that it was a Prologue. The story started forming and I've been more mentally working it out than actually putting pen to paper. But over the last couple days I've gotten the main characters named and started developing personalities. What's funny is that I cheated and when I created the characters in my mind, I made it a fan-fic and I knew that I was going to change all the names (I ended up leaving two) so when I was looking up name meanings and variations on variations, some of the name meanings ended up being absolutely perfect. One of the names means "fortress" and that character is going to be my white knight character. Perfect. I just can't gush over how well it fits with his character. I am a little hesitant about the story though. Not that it's sort of fan-fic, that doesn't bother me.

What bothers me is that it's fantasy.

I read some fantasy and enjoy it, but I've never wanted to write fantasy. I want to write romance. And yeah, it's a romantic fantasy quest. But I'm just... anxious about it. The only fantasy writers I can name are Anne McCaffrey, George R. R. Martin, and J. K. Rowling. I'm probably stressing myself out over nothing. Trying to kill it before it even gets started. Other than a prologue, I don't have anything written. Hell, I don't even know yet if it's going to be one novel or a trilogy of novels. I need to just shut up and write and let what happens, happen. This story picked me for a reason. There's a reason that the romance I was working on wasn't working. And I need to just take it as a sign and go with the project that the universe has handed me instead.

And to change the subject before I stress myself out any more and give myself a heart attack, I practiced piano Wednesday for about 45 minutes. I've been really sporadic about it. I changed books. I think I was bored with the song I was working on. Minuet in g Minor. Still. Yeah, that's what happens when you only practice piano sporadically. It takes months to work on a song. But then you still never really get anywhere with it. So I switched to a book that had been my brother's and started working on some random song Summer Is Icummen In. I'm not familiar with it. At least, it didn't sound familiar when I started working on it. But the name is familiar. Hm. Weird. I dunno.

Did I mention that I had my piano tuned last a couple weeks ago? Oh, she sounds absolutely amazing. And the tuner helped me figure out when she was made. 1941. Wow. I bought my piano at the ARC for about $150. And she was in bad shape. Some of the coating has rubbed off the keys revealing the wood below, and the white keys were so dirty they were as black as the black keys. There's rings where someone set wet glasses on her. And enough dust to kill an asthmatic. But she sounded good (a little out of tune but not horrible) so I bought her, brought her home and cleaned her up. She looks a little rough still because I didn't refinish the wood, but she looks amazing for being 71 years old! Best looking 71 year old you'll see. She still needs a name. Nothing has felt right yet.

Also practiced guitar for about 45 minutes yesterday. Still working on the same three chords: A5, E5 and D5. Again. This is what happens when you only practice sporadically. I'm worse about the guitar than I am the piano. For a few reasons. The biggest being that it hurts. Seriously. If you've never played or attempted to play guitar, you don't understand just how painful it is. More than 12 hours later, my fingers are still tender. Anyways, I finally reached the point when the chords sound like music rather than noise. Yay! I'm still fumbling a bit when I switch between chords but I'm getting better.

That's it for now. Just wanted to check in about some of the other stuff that was going on in my oh-so-adventurous life.

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Today

When I posted at the end of July that I was going to take a break from blogging about weight loss for a while, I was absolutely sure that I'd come back to it about now and I'd have been really awesome and lost all sorts of weight. Yeah. That didn't happen so much.

Or at all really.

I'll be good for a day or two then crap out. It's frustrating. I know what I need to do, I just can't seem to make myself do it. So today is Day One, again. I've decided to break my big weight loss goal (to get to 145 pounds) into smaller chunks. And I'll concentrate on each day as it comes. I think that I'm getting lost in looking at the big picture rather than looking at today. When I start looking at tomorrow, the day after, next week and next month, I stat drowning in frustrations and  what-ifs. I need to just focus on today. I'll worry about tomorrow when it's today.

So I got on the scale (Wii Fit if you want to be techinical) and weighed myself.

Weight: 259.5 pounds
Pounds to Goal: 9.5

As you can see, my first weight goal is 250 pounds. When it happens, it happens. No deadline.

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The Witch Hunt

I've always been very vocal on my beliefs about cheating and doping. I believe that there is absolutely no honor in winning if you don't win under your own physical or mental power. I'm the first person to scream "Cheater!" when it's revealed that someone used a banned substance to enhance their performance in their chosen sport.

So keep that in mind when I tell you that in my heart, I have absolute faith that Lance Armstrong is NOT a doper. The USADA has not proven that Lance doped. He's never tested positive. All they have is speculation and hearsay.

Why should I believe Greg LeMonde when he says that Lance doped? His career barely overlapped with Lance's. I believe that he's just jealous that he is no longer the only American to win the Tour de France. Lance did it. He did it better, for longer and has always been more popular than Greg LeMonde ever was.

Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton also spoke out against Lance. But they have both been found guilty of doping themselves. They FAILED their drug tests. That's why it's been proven that they doped. Their statements about Lance should be treated as what they are: the lies of two cheaters using misdirection to take the heat off themselves.

The rumor is that USADA has new accounts of Lance doping. But supposedly they exchanged a promise of just a six month suspension and immunity for the testimony. That sounds like bribery to me. And when I look at the list of the riders that are going to testify against Lance, it still doesn't make me believe that he's guilty. I refuse to believe that some of the men on the list doped. If they do testify that they doped with him, how can you really know that they're telling the truth? If I was facing the never-ending legal battles and punishments that Lance has faced consistently for defending himself, I'd say that I was guilty of doping. The testimony, whether true or false, was bought. It is not to be trusted unless it's accompanied with a failed test.

In this situation, the burden of proof should have fallen on USADA to prove that Lance was doping. Our country's law system was built on the belief that someone is innocent until proven guilty. That should also extend to our sports stars. Lance should not have to be the one to prove that he's innocent. But yet USADA has punished him, stripping his seven Tour de France titles and banning him from the sport for life, without proving that he doped. There's no failed tests, no questionable test results. There's not even a strange vial that has his DNA on it.

I know that some people are going to point out that USADA claims they have questionable drug tests from 2009 and 2010. But I have to point out that they didn't take action in 2009 and 2010. If Lance Armstrong had failed a drug test or had questionable results USADA, the UCI and every other cycling authority would have been singing in the streets and shouting from the rooftops. USADA won't say which tests he failed or how he failed them. If they're so dead certain that he doped and failed the tests, show us the results. They've put this case in the court of public opinion, so as judge and jury I demand to see the evidence. But they won't produce it.

Until USADA brings me cold, hard, undeniable proof that Lance Armstrong doped and not rumors from disgruntled, former cyclists, I do not believe that he is guilty. The record books might be changed but Lance Armstrong is still a 7-time Tour de France winner in my eyes. I still respect and admire him. He is still my hero.

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A Question, A Review And A Theory

courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So I had another burning question for you, but it wasn't enough to justify a blog post on its own so you get one movie review and a tv show theory.

First the question: Have any of you seen Love and Other Drugs starring Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal? I've kinda wanted to see it since I first saw the trailers for it. But I'm torn. I totally admit that I find absolutely no purpose to sex scenes in movies (or books); they don't further the plot any and are just an excuse for people to parade around naked. According to some reviews, there's very few sex scenes and then other reviews make it seem like they just did the whole movie naked. So what are we talking about, is there just one sex scene I can fast forward through or should I totally bypass the movie?

I watched Miss Austen Regrets yesterday. I've only read one Jane Austen book. I think it was Sense and Sensibility, I think. Don't quote me on that. It was a few years ago. But I do like watching the movies based on her books. So I thought I'd try this one. Mostly because the actress who plays Jane is Adelle from Dollhouse. It's really good if you like Jane Austen or period movies. I really hope that they fictionalized her mother because in the movie the woman was downright cruel to Jane. She openly talked about her and said horrible things to her. So anyways, check it out.

And last, do any of you watch Leverage? If you don't, go. Watch all four seasons that are available on DVD and catch up on this season then come back. Because seriously, you're missing out. I adore the team. How many times can you say that a tv show centers around five characters and you love all five? Never. Except for this one. Seriously. You can't take any of the five out without totally affecting the show. So I have this theory about what's going on.

Every season there's traditionally been one villain that they spend the whole season ramping up to take on. But there hasn't really been one yet this season. At the end of the first episode Nate (the leader) and Hardison (the hacker) were working on some secret project and Hardison said that he didn't like lying to the rest of the team. And then on last night's episode Eliot (the hitter) made it clear that he knows Nate is up to something. So my theory is that Nate is setting up the team to function without him. He's giving them solid covers: Sophie (the grifter) has the theater that she can run and Eliot has the pub that he can run. He's helping Parker (the thief) figure out who she is. And he's also helping the team learn to not rely on him all the time. Just last night Nat let Eliot work his own way through buying a congressman even though he knew all along what it would take to buy that particular congressman.

I think Nate's doing this because he's either dying or is setting himself up to take the fall for the crimes the team has committed. The show hasn't been renewed yet for the next season and I suspect that if it's not, then he'll die or get caught and we'll be left with the idea that the team just goes on without him. If it is renewed, he'll either be cured or not caught or if Timothy Hutton wants off the show, they'll write Nate off by having him die or get caught. So what do you think? Am I totally wrong and seeing things that aren't there or am I psychic?

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Help!

So I need you guys to do me a big favor. It won't hurt I promise.

I'm going to clean out my blog reader over the next few days but of course, I feel the need to clog it up even more before I do. Actually, I want to find some new blogs. So I want your suggestions for blogs that I should check out. They can be pretty much anything. Writing, weight loss, crafty, fashion, total time wasters. Whatever. Throw me some of your favorites.

I also want to expand my podcast listening. I love the podcasts I listen to but I want MORE! And I'm not finding any great podcasts on my own. I keep finding duds. So if you have any good podcsts to suggest, tell me those too.

See, I told you the favor wouldn't hurt.

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Reviews!

Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We'll take a break from my recent rantiness. I mean, what is up with that? I must be getting comfortable with you people to rant that much in such a short amount of time. New reviews. Yay!!!!!!! Keeping it mostly spoiler-free today (minor spoilage on The Vow).

This Means War - I wasn't sure about getting this movie. I really like Reese Witherspoon but I can't stand Chelsea Handler (I don't like raunchy comedy) and didn't know anything about the two guys except that one of them was Kirk in that newest Star Trek movie and let's just admit it right now, that movie belonged to Spock. So I wasn't sure if I wanted to see this movie because from the commercials I saw it seemed like it was going to be an hour and a half of dirty Chelsea Handler jokes. But then I saw that it was PG-13 and figured I'd give it a try. It couldn't be too dirty with that rating. I was glad that I gave it a chance. It's pretty funny. The story was cute and the two guys reminded me of my brothers. I even liked Chelsea Handler's character. The part I didn't like was what happened to her car. Why'd they have to use a VW bug for that?

The Vow - I'm not quite sure how I feel about this movie. I thought I was getting a movie where the girl fell back in love with the guy after losing her memory. I really did think that it was going to be a happily ever after movie. But it wasn't. It was just a nice ending that left the door open for happily ever after to happen. Maybe it's just because I was expecting something else that I was a little disappointed with this movie. The story was great, the actors were great, everything. I just was left with a wait that's it feeling at the end. If I had seen this movie without a preconceived notion of what I thought it was (caused by the trailers and commercials, seriously, they need to screen those things), I would probably be gushing about how amazing and fantastic the movie was.

Sherlock series 1 - I've always been interested in Sherlock Holmes but never got around to reading or watching anything except for the movie with Robert Downey Jr. Which honestly, while it was good, I didn't love it. So I've seen lot of people rave about Sherlock on Twitter, Facebook and blogs. So I thought I'd give it a try. And I don't know how closely it sticks to the original novels and stories, but I freaking love Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock. I must have really hated Atonement because I can not remember him being in that movie at all. And poor Watson. He takes so much shit off Sherlock. My one complaint about the show? Yet again the British can't figure out how long a TV season is! First, they get me hooked on Hamish MacBeth and only give me six episodes in a season. And now with Sherlock it's only THREE episodes a season! I don't care that they're an hour and a half a piece. That's not nearly enough. Why do they do that? I don't understand this super short season thing; someone please explain it to me.

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Hahaha

Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I am a horrible, horrible person.

Sometimes I see someone, whether in person or just a photo, that has bullied and harassed me about my weight, making me feel like shit. And they'll have gained weight.

And I can't even help myself. I point and say (sometimes to myself, sometimes out loud) "That's called karma bitch! Who's got a fat ass now?" And then laugh hysterically.

Yeah.

I'm going to hell.

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I Am The Sum

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This has been gnawing at me for a while.

Too many people define themselves by one thing. And it bothers me.

I'm a writer. I'm a reader. I'm a musician, a singer, a crocheter, a quilter, and a crafter. I'm a collector, a hoarder, a hard-worker. I'm a sister, a daughter, an aunt and a dog-owner. I can be lazy. I hike. I garden; I'm loyal. I'm American and a Coloradan. I have curly hair and hazel eyes. I'm a pessimist, a dreamer and a Pisces.

But not a single one of those can be the definition of me. Each of those contributes to the definition of who I am. If someone asked me to describe myself in one word, I'd never be able to do it. None of those descriptors up there capture all of who I am.

Too often I see people who stick themselves in one category and call it a day. I know a woman who's a mother. And hey, that's great that she has a child that she adores and is happy. But everything she does centers around that child. Every internet post, every craft, every sentence out of her mouth is that child and only that child. Just because you're a mother does not mean that your child is your identity.

And it's not just mothers that I see doing it. I see it all over. I see people that identify themselves at Southern and will only do something if it meshes with being Southern. Go to Wisconsin? What? That's not in the South. I can't do that.  I used to know a girl who was vegan that would only patronize vegan establishments. That meant she shut out everything and everyone that wasn't vegan. She ended our friendship merely because I eat meat. Our shared love of crochet wasn't even enough to bridge the gap.

When you limit yourself to being defined as one thing, you limit your possibilities. You'll miss out on meeting people that you would otherwise get along great with. Or you'll skip doing an activity that might become your new favorite hobby. Humans are meant to be a puzzle. One piece will contribute to the picture, but you'll never form the picture if you only look at one. Stop defining yourself by just one attribute, you're so much more than that, and can grow to become even more.

That's my rant. Brought on by yet another pin on Pinterest that pigeonholes the pinner into one single category. So frustrating.

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Well That Sucks

So I read a post Why I Took All Google Images Off of My Blogs from Taking Charge of My Life earlier today. And that linked to Bloggers Beware: You CAN Get Sued For Using Pics On Your Blog - My Story. I'd rather not get sued so I'm going to go back over all my posts. I found two sites that provide free photos to use in the future: Wikimedia Commons and freedigitalphotos.net. If you know of any other good sites that have free pictures, link them in the comments below please.

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A Personal Challenge

I was messing around on iTunes the other day and wandered into the section called iTunes U. Pretty cool stuff there. It's full of educational podcasts. So I was flipping through and a specific one caught my eye. Writing for the Web. So I checked it out.

I was kind of afraid that the episodes would be long and rambling; I subscribed and downloaded without paying attention to how long the episodes actually were. But the longest episode is about five minutes long. So they've really cut out all the fluff. Each episode covers something different: why the web is different than print, defining your page, structuring your copy, toning your copy, links, and refining the copy. It seems like a lot of common sense but really, looking at this blog I can see where I break so many rules.

So I decided to have a little experiment of sorts. I've been debating whether or not to combine my very dormant craft blog with this one. The main reason I haven't is that I hope to someday reopen my Etsy shop and a separate craft blog will be a good support for it. I'm going to keep my craft blog separate and try to challenge myself to follow the guidelines of the course. Following the course will streamline the blog and get it closer to what I actually want it to be when I get around to figuring out what I'm doing with my Etsy shop. Plus it might give me the drive to actually blog over there.

It'll be a few days before I get around to starting it because I've been screwing with some of the stuff on this blog, specifically the labels and I want to finish it before I start messing with that blog. But you're welcome to check it out and watch the transformation: http://ohfrogit.blogspot.com

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I Need This

Things have been rather serious around here lately, so let's lighten the mood a bit shall we?

Source: dogsoftheinterwebs.tumblr.com via KC on Pinterest

Hahahaha. I would totally wear that with Noel if it were on the front instead of the back. I'd be afraid of someone walking up and messing with her.

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What's Your Greatness

Another day, another controversy. Although, I think this one might be made up. Have you seen the new Nike commercial that's been running during the Olympics? The one about finding greatness where the overweight boy is jogging down the road. Apparently, some people are saying that it mocks the boy and exploits him. The first time I saw the ad I only caught the last few seconds, so all I saw was a chubby kid running and it kinda made my eyebrow raise. What? Nike couldn't afford some high priced supermodel or athlete in their commercial, they had to get a fat kid? But then I caught the full commercial a while later and thought it was a good commercial. I'll embed the commercial below but the gist of it is a runner on an empty road. He slowly comes into focus and we see that it's a chubby kid. While this is going, a voice over says:

Greatness. It's just something we made up. Somehow, we've come to believe that greatness is a gift, reserved for a chosen few. For prodigies. For super stars. And the rest of us can only stand by watching. You can forget that. Greatness is not some rare DNA strand. It's not some precious thing. Greatness is no more unique to us than breathing. We're all capable of it. All of us.

I don't wear or even like Nike shoes, but I think it's a pretty good commercial. I even found myself mentally repeating "Find your greatness" when I was on the elliptical this morning and things got tough.

I'm having a hard time believing that there's an actual controversy over this. All the articles and blog posts that I've seen calling out Nike for exploiting this boy are from newspapers, magazines, and news agencies. When the opinion comes from a blog or editorial on a site that has the purpose of making money, I consider the opinion to be that of the editor, or what the editor feels will draw the most attention and hits. Maybe I'm wrong, but to tell me that this kid is being mocked right along side an advertisement for shoes manufactured by Nike's competitors, it doesn't feel like a genuine opinion. Come talk to me about your opinion when no one's paying you to have that opinion.

Sadly, this country does need to have a serious conversation about adult obesity and childhood obesity. And I think that this advertisement is a good place to start. Georgia ran a series of advertisements that were just photos of heavy kids and told us that "Fat kids become fat adults" among other things. I found those to be more derogatory, mocking and plain hateful than this Nike ad. Instead of telling me how fat I am and that I need to get my lardy ass off the couch, Nike showed me what I could be doing. They didn't tell me I was gross or disgusting. They told me that I could be as amazing as any of the Olympians in London. Never once in the minute-long commercial did they discuss weight, weight loss, or obesity. They merely told us that we can be great, no matter who we are. Nike and the advertising company that created the ad were more respectful of overweight and obese people than any other company with advertisements for weight loss or active lifestyle products out there. If just one overweight person laces up a pair of sneakers instead of reaching for the remote, then this ad was a success.

This ad should be listened to by everyone. Everyone can make themselves better and reach for a goal. My goal is to lose over 100 pounds while someone else might have the goal to quit smoking or to read more. Every single person can and should make themselves a better person. And that is the lesson that needs to be learned from the Nike "Find your greatness" campaign.

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Again?

Some swearing ahead. Still PG-13ish.

Grayson County Sheriff's Office via TMZ.com

I have major issues with this picture.

This is Randy Travis, a very popular country singer and songwriter from the '80s and early '90s. He wrote and originally recorded "I Told You So" the big hit Carrie Underwood had a few years ago. He's got a great voice and is an amazing writer. But apparently he has too much time and money on his hands. He was arrested in February for public intoxication after fighting with his girlfriend and then in the last day or so, he was arrested again for drunk driving after crashing his car.

And he was buck-ass naked.

And he threatened the cops.

Everyone in the media and on Twitter is having a great laugh about this. Ha. Ha. Really great joke. But what seems to slip everyone's mind is that this man was driving drunk. He could have injured or killed someone. He threatened to kill the cops. Am I the only person left in the world who doesn't think it's funny or entertaining when someone drives drunk? There is a reason that driving while intoxicated is against the law. It's dangerous.

I don't give a rat's ass about someone possibly injuring themselves while they're drunk. But I do care about the innocent people around them. How many children are motherless or fatherless because a drunk driver killed their parent? How many mothers and fathers have prematurely buried their sons or daughters because a drunk driver killed their child? How many people will never walk again because they suffered an irreparable nerve, spinal or brain injury because of a drunk driver? How many people are receiving skin grafts right now because they were so horribly burned because of a drunk driver? How many people are missing arms or legs as a result of a drunk driver? How many police officers and sheriff's deputies have been killed trying to protect us from drunk drivers?

And of all the things a person could do with their money, the only activity that Randy Travis seems to participate in is drinking. Really? Is that what his life has become? His hobby is to drink and see how much trouble he can get into. Collect stamps if you're so fucking bored. Why does everyone feel the need to turn to alcohol all the damned time? Alcoholism is a serious problem; I'm not making light of it. But I'm really fucking tired of hearing about people and their boozing. Why is it so common place? More and more people are turning to alcohol strictly because they're bored. It's something fun to do. And again, the media and society just poo-poo it away. No one seems to take the time to care any more that we have a ridiculous amount of drunk drivers and active alcoholics plaguing our society.

My last complaint is that I'll be judged based on this picture. You're probably sitting there, shaking your head no, telling yourself that I've been hitting the bottle myself. But I'm serious. Humans judge other humans all the time. It's our favorite past time. We judge each other for our hair color, eye color, race, sex, sexual preference, clothing. Take your pick. We even judge each other by our music preferences. Someone who listens to rape is a gangster. Someone who listens to classical music is a stodgy old fart. And someone who listens to country music is a backwoods, gap-toothed, redneck, inbred, drunk hillbilly. Non-country music fans don't see the good qualities in country fans. They don't see that we're loyal friends, family oriented or hard working. All they see is a drunk, uneducated idiot. When I tell people I like country music, there's always someone who gets that look on their face like they just stepped in a pile of cow shit. And now, the image that will flash into everyone's minds is that picture right there.

Thanks a lot Randy Travis.

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Hamish & Cal



It's time for a some more reviews. Only two this time. Trying to chase down the Olympic events that I want to watch has really messed up my very awesome Netflix routine. I had it down so I was watching six dvds a week, but before watching Hamish on Monday, the last dvd I'd watched was on July 28. Over a week. Anyways. Here you are.

Hamish MacBeth season 2: I got started watching Hamish because Netflix suggested it, and it sounded interesting. Hamish is a small town police constable in Lochdubh, Scotland. Really small town. In an episode I watched Monday, he tells a lady that there's only one street in town. So he's a little unconventional. Rather than arresting people for their wrongdoings, he works with them to figure out a way out of their trouble, in a first season episode he even helped someone commit a bit of insurance fraud! In a funny way that ended up working out for everyone. Sadly, there were only five episodes the first season  and six this second season. And there's only three seasons! Freaking ridiculous.

Anyways, the show's funny and sweet. Hamish has an assistant, TV John McIver who wears a kilt, plays the bagpipes and is psychic. I absolutely adore TV John. I learned what jammy dodgers are because he packed some in Hamish's lunch in one episode. And Hamish also has the most adorable little dog named Wee Jock. This isn't a crime show. There's one case per episode but really, the focus is more on the relationships of the people in town. These people are freaking hilarious. Along with Hamish and TV John, there's Isobel the newspaper writer who is in love with Hamish (and is played by Moaning Myrtle, without the annoying voice) and Doc Brown the town's only doctor who sometimes dabbles in vet work. Lachlan McCrae and his son Lachie Junior, they seem to be jacks-of-all-trades. Sometimes they're seen selling sausages, sometimes they act as mechanics, they're always coming up with new business schemes it seems like. And there's Rory and Esme. Rory is the town grocer and Esme is the school teacher and runs a boarding house. They're having this affair and at first don't want anyone in town to know about it but of course everyone does. Not sure why it's a big deal. They're both unmarried. Barney and Agnes are the married couple that own and operate the pub and hotel. And there's the Major, a retired army man, and his daughter Alex, Hamish's on-again-off-again girlfriend.

And don't get me wrong, while this show is funny as hell, the characters are also well-rounded and have problems. The Major is supposed to be rich, but Hamish finds out that he's in financial problems. Agnes and Barney have been trying for years to have a child but can't. TV John spends much of his time hiding something he's horribly ashamed of. Lachie Junior is conflicted because he loves his daddy (yes, he calls his father Daddy) but wants to venture out on his own. Even Hamish has problems. Including an episode where he's suicidal because he feels responsible for someone's death. You have to watch this show. You'll be a better person for it.


Crazy. Stupid. Love.  And another movie that Netflix recommended. I was interested when I saw the trailers but then never got around to going to see it and had even forgotten about it by the time Netflix put it in my suggestions. I liked it but I didn't like it. The story's about a man who's wife says she wants a divorce after 25 years of marriage.
I liked the story. I liked Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. I liked the journeys of the characters Cal (Carell) and Jordan (Gosling). But what I didn't like was Julianne Moore and Marisa Tomei. I didn't like their characters and I don't like them as actresses. Marisa Tomei's character holds on to her anger and resentment way too long. Flipping a man off at his kid's 8th grade graduation is classless, especially for a teacher. Plus, he never lied to her. And in my mind, any woman who sleeps with a man the same night that she met him in a bar has absolutely no case for bitching when he doesn't call her. You want a man who calls you? Don't sleep with random men from bars. And Julianne Moore made it really hard for me to root for Cal to get back with his wife. She gets her panties in a bunch because he goes out and sleeps with some women AFTER she tells him she cheated on him and that she wants a divorce. They show her reading Divorce for Dummies so obviously the character is serious about getting a divorce. Sorry Sweetheart, you relinquished your right to bitch about him sleeping with women that aren't you.

So I'm torn about this movie. It was good, but I disliked two important characters/actresses. I guess you should just watch it and form your own opinion.

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Nice Butt Now Move It

So, is anyone else already over the Olympics? I've been irritated with them from the beginning but it's just getting worse.

I wasn't thrilled with the Opening Ceremonies. The pre-Parade of Nations stuff was kind of lame. Mary Poppins versus Voldemort? Really? Of all the British literary characters there are and those are the only two they chose? And the technology "story" was stupid. There was no point and it went on for way too long. Then during the Parade of Nations, I was irritated and bored. Bored because they just blabbed about nothing. And irritated because I think every country should be named, told what continent they're on, the population, the number of athletes representing them and some random factoid. And if they have awesome uniforms, talk about those. They barely showed Mexico even though they had one of the most colorful delegations. They would have time if they didn't show commercials. Why couldn't they just put up a sponsor logo and just say something like "Letters A through D are brought to you by Wheaties." Come on, it's the Olympics; NBC and the sponsors are going to make butt-loads of money from this. They can afford to show us the Parade of Nations uninterrupted.

I'm all sorts of pissed off at the way the Games have been shown this year. I've missed events I wanted to watch because what the schedule says they're showing, they're not really showing. Then they don't show those events on the prime time coverage. I wanted to watch Archery, turned it on just 5 minutes late and was instead treated to zoomed in shots of  Misty Mae-Trainer's ass with an occasional glimpse of a volleyball. A: the schedule said that time and channel was archery and B: how many times do I need to look at MMT's ass? It's been this way time after time! I missed diving (swimming instead), rowing (they showed soccer) and just yesterday track (it was indoor volleyball). The prime time coverage should show the highlights of the days events instead of just MMT's butt, Michael Phelps's headphones, Missy Franklin's Beiber obsession, Ryan Lochte's tattoo of the Olympic rings and the uniforms bunched up in the butt cracks of the gymnasts. Seriously, I have seen more zoomed in shots of the butts of Olympians than I have the actual events they've been competing in. Freaking ridiculous.

I know I'm not the only one that feels this way. My whole family gripes about it and I see complaints all the time on my Twitter feed. So what do you guys think? Is anyone actually enjoying the Olympics? What about my foreign readers? Are you guys getting better coverage?

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Quit Wasting My Time

Dear Spammenters (a.k.a. spam commenters),

Why all of a sudden is my blog so damned attractive to you? And could you try harder to make your comment look less spammy? I mean, if you read the post you'd see that I reviewed a movie named The Wedding Dress; I did NOT post pictures of a collection of wedding dresses. My yard sale went well using just some poster board, a sharpie and Craigslist for advertising. I refuse pay for you to promote my yard sale. I also will not be buying your miracle fat and/or weight loss product. And if my blog doesn't load properly in IE, talk to Blogger not me; I won't be paying you to design my blog. Thanks for the offer though. I'm really glad you wasted my time spamming me.

P.S. Buy a thesaurus. It's totally a tip-off that you're a spammenter when you use the words relevant and eclectic.

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LAMBCHOP!!!!!!

Was at Wal-Mart looking for a gift for Noel and there, in the pet aisle, was Lambchop! I got a bunch of stares because I totally said "Oh my god, it's Lambchop!" out loud and snatched that baby off the shelf. If they'd had Charlie Horse or Hush Puppy I would have snatched them too. But they didn't. Sad. Noel loves her little Lambchop. She's running around dragging Lambchop with her. No photos cause she won't stand still long enough to get one. So I bring you...



Hahahaha. You're gonna hate me when you wake up at 3 in the morning singing it in your sleep. You're welcome!

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