piscesgal

[alec baldwin is a good role model]

2012-02-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

Alec Baldwin announced that he has diabetes, but that he started to eat better and exercise.Because of that he's lost a lot of weight. Good for him. He's doing himself a lot of favours by doing so.

That's something Paul Deen could learn from, for sure. Or not.

I'm sorry if my talking about Paula Deen bugs anyone, but the way that she is dealing with her diabetes-by continuing to cram her face full of unhealthy food-really upsets me, as a diabetic.And supposedly the drug that she is taking allows you to be a diabetic but eat anything you want.What's the freaking point,then? I get it, the diabetes drugs cause all sorts of side effects-some people can't tolerate the most popular diabetes drug(Metformin-and for some people there's an amount of time when they first start taking the pill that it can cause stomach upsets and the like. Granted, it goes away after a while but it's not fun. But it works.)

One of Paula's sons also has diabetes(a family history, though I wonder if in her case some of it was due to her diet) and is doing a show called Not My Momma's Meals. The meals-some of them-look just as unhealthy as what his mother cooks.

[what i'm reading,february 2012]

2012-02-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

Long ago, in days of old, when magic filled the air

Led Zeppelin, Ramble On

A Discovery Of Witches-Deborah Harkness

Where to start? This is a great book. With witches.And vampires. This is Anne Rice, if she still wrote good books(though I did read her autobiography and enjoyed it)

Diana Bishop is a witch who is a academic at Oxford. She has a hard time understanding her powers, and this becomes even more pronounced when she meets Matthew Clairmont, who is a vampire. And he's 1500 years old. But Edward Cullen he is not. For one thing, he can go out in the sun(Harkness takes all of the myths about vampires and turns them on their head.) Secondly, he doesn't sparkle. Diana is the one who sparkles-more like she gives off sparks-one of her many talents as a witch.

But her being a witch-and being involved with Matthew-is a problem. She's a powerful witch-the daughter of two witches and the descendant of someone who lived in Salem.Her parents were killed because of their powers. Now, Diana's relationship is putting everyone around her in danger.

[movies i love]

2012-01-31T16:45:00.000-08:00

In America(2002), Dir:Jim Sheridan

Johnny(Paddy Considine) and Sarah(Samantha Morton) are Irish immigrants who come to the U.S-New York City to be exact- via Canada with their daughters Ariel and Christy(played by real-life sisters Emma and Sarah Bolger). They struggle to survive, living what can only be called a hand to mouth existence, both Johnny and Sarah working any odd jobs they can find.

In spite of this, they find a place to live, in Hell's Kitchen. It's not much, but for them it's home. The girl happen to meet one of their neighbours, Mateo(Dijmon Hounsou) who is HIV positive. Despite some wariness from both girls at first, he becomes a good friend of the girls, and eventually, a friend of Sarah and Johnny's.

Sarah becomes pregnant, and Mateo's condition starts to deteriorate as her pregnancy(which is problematic) progresses. Johnny and Sarah's baby is born prematurely, with a health issue that requires a blood transfusion. There are worries since Johnny is being pressured to pay the hospital bills. It is discovered that one of the girls has the same blood type.After the transfusion, the baby makes a miraculous recovery.

Then, Johnny is told that the hospital bill has been paid-by Mateo-who died. It turns out Mateo had a large trust fund and he used it to pay Johnny and Sarah's hospital bill. Their new baby is given the middle name Mateo as a way of honouring him.

[random post is random:bad reviews?what bad reviews?]

2012-01-30T18:08:00.000-08:00

I do not like the 101 Cafe, and I don't care who knows it. I have written several bad reviews,letting everyone know what a sh!tty place it is. And judging from some of the other reviews that I've read online, I am not the only person. I am of the mind that the 101 Cafe has been on a downward slide for a long time, and the management doesn't seem to care all that much.

Matter of fact, when someone writes a bad review, the owner, John pooh-poohs it and calls the people liars. Wow. He doesn't seem to care that people HATE his restaraunt, and when they have a complaint that really should be addressed(like about the quality of the food for instance, or service(which several of the reviews mention-they say that the wait staff are rude and have tried to hit them up for tips-you should always tip of course-but apparently a few dollar tip is not enough for them.

And John, the owner Lets.It.Happen. There is a LOT of shady stuff going on there. I really wonder how much David-the other owner-knows about. John seems to be the mouthpiece for the 101 Cafe. When someone says something bad about the 101 Cafe, he's there with a defense for what is going on.

Take complaints about bad service. Anyone who writes a review that mentions bad service gets a reply along the lines of "We're sorry that you didn't have a good meal at the 101", blah blah blah. And it's not just one review, it's quite a few of them. You think that John would have picked up on that but nope..he doesn't get it. His restaraunt has substandard food, and substandard service.

John is always getting his name and face in the newspaper. He's not happy unless he's pimping the 101 Cafe in the newspaper. He's getting desperate. There are a lot of new restaraunts opening lately-places with food that isn't slop(like the 101's).Plus, what with the 101 only being open until 2 in the afternoon, that means they lose a lot of customers.People who will go elsewhere, have a good meal and decide they want to go back.

Like I said-everything John is doing-defending bad food and service, closing at 2 in the afternoon, among other things, is what is going to be its downfall.

[movies i'm looking forwards to,winter/spring 2012]

2012-01-29T12:22:00.000-08:00

W.E.

Big Miracle

Casa Di Mi Padre

The Hunger Games(read all of the books last year.From what I've heard they're very faithful to the book.)

The Three Stooges

The Dictator(Sacha Barron Cohen playing a Saddam Hussein-esque dictator. I read comments from a lot of people saying they though it looked kinda stupid.I laughed at the trailer though-in spite of myself.)

Moonrise Kingdom(directed by Wes Anderson, who directed The Royal Tenenbaums, one of my favourite movies).

[odds and ends,1/28/12]

2012-01-28T22:05:00.000-08:00

* I hate pet stores. I especially hate them when you walk in and it smells. I went to a place like that near my house the other day and it was sad. The animals were running around in their own mess, and in overly small cages.Supposedly the place that I went to rescues puppy mill pets but the quality of life for them at this pet store can't be much better.

*Gabrielle Giffords left Congress. Not really all that surprised.It's the best thing.She'll really be able to continue her recovery(though it's amazing how well she is doing.)

*Tried a new(well, it's been a couple of different places) restaraunt called Jennie's. I have actually been there twice(and had the same thing both time-bacon and eggs.)For some reason that has been my go-to breakfast as of late.

[well, i thought it was good reporting]

2012-01-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

Last week 20/20 did a special show on the Concordia disaster. It pissed off more than a few of the Carnival cruising faithful on Cruise Critic because they thought it reflected badly on Carnival. Personally, I would never go on a Carnival cruise, but I think some of the people that are frequent cruisers on their ships just don't want to hear anything bad about their ships(the other example of an extreme feeling like that is the Holland America boards.

They showed some of the problems that come up frequently on cruise ships.One of them was fighting. Not just on Carnival but on other ships as well; but Carnival really pushes their drink of the day-gee, I wonder if there could be a connection there? Of course the cheerleaders come out of the woodwork and say that they have never seen that happen on any of the cruises that they've been on and they have been on 20 cruises.Doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

They also claimed that there was an agenda on the part of ABC- which airs 20/20-because they are owned by Disney. Umm lolwhut? Disney also has a cruise line but that was only mentioned in passing.

Cruising is as safe as it's ever been;however the fact that other cruise lines' execs were slow to address it really got some people upset. I honestly don't think they did it to be malicious, they were just trying to find the right words and find the right words.

[paula deen is a sh!tty role model-round II]

2012-01-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

First of all, the was spotted eating a hamburger-and fries. Not that she can't eat that once in a while, but really, she should be making more of an effort to be eating healthily, especially given the fact that she knew she had diabetes for a long time and continued to eat the food that she eats.

She also does herself no favours in that she has hight blood pressure, smokes, and is *still* overweight. She needs to get all of those things under control, and quit smoking, too.

One comment I read? "What Paula is doing is inexcusable". I could not agree more. And a lot of diabetics(myself included-obviously) think what she is doing in going to kill her if she doesn't stop. She talks about "moderation" but given that she is as heavy as she has ever been, I doubt that is true. I'm not going to say I'm perfect but I don't eat lots of greasy, fatty, salty calorie-filled food-every day-like Paula Deen does.

Then, the other day Paula was whining about the fact that she hasn't gotten any support from her fellow Food Network chefs. "Waah, I have diabetes! I need validation from other chefs!". I had to roll my eyes at that one.

Ironically,Food Network is premiering a new show tonight called Fat Chef. It's self explanatory but what they do is help fat chefs to become well, not fat. Maybe Paula Deen should appear on that show.

The drug that she's taking,Victoza is injectable. It has some effects(most diabetes drugs do), but the most alarming one is that it causes cancer in lab rats. Definitely something to avoid.Metformin, for all its side effects, works really well for me.

my predictions for the oscars]

2012-01-25T09:08:00.000-08:00

I'll be watching the Oscars even though I'm not really rooting for one movie in particular.

Best Picture:

Should win:The Help

Will win:The Tree Of Life

Best Supporting Actor:

Should win:Kenneth Branagh

Will win:Jonah Hill

Best Supporting Actress:

Should Win:Jessica Chastain

Will Win:Octavia Spencer

Best Actress:

Should Win:Meryl Streep

Will Win:Rooney Mara

Best Actor:

Should Win: Gary freakin Oldman(can you tell I'm a fan? :P )

Will Win:George Clooney

Best Director:

Should win: Martin Scorcese

Will Win: Terence Malick

[overused words and phrases]

2012-01-24T12:08:00.000-08:00

*Getting my________ on.

*I just threw up in my mouth a little(a lot)

*Oh HELL no!

*Douche

*Ginormous

*YMMV(Your Mileage May Vary)

*I know, right!(I really overuse that one)

*LMAO, OMG,OMFG, etc.

*My bad

*You know

[random post is random:alex jones]

2012-01-23T12:06:00.000-08:00

Where to start on this one? Alex Jones is an paranoid idiot. And he doesn't care who knows it, either. He is also the most .He's Dale Gribble made flesh.

Seriously, I don't really give a f*** if you don't like Obama(god knows I don't-and I voted for the man!),but some of the things that Alex Jones accuses Obama are so out there that you have to laugh. Mind you,I don't buy into anything he says-I just listen to it for the WTF factor.

Speaking of that....The other day the WTF reached a new low. He said that he is wrestling with taking his kids to Disneyworld because he claims that the government follows him all over the place and tap his phone.He's scared that if they go to Disneyworld the big bad gubmint will arrest his entire family and make them disappear. Oh yes. He's already paranoid as hell about flying because of the body scanners(BTW-went through a body scanner the last time *I* flew-ain't no big thing!) and the groping(not saying it hasn't happened-but Alex Jones, as usual is all about the hyperbole.) And remember not too long ago they were trying to get people to opt out of being screened so that it would hold up security lines?Well, that turned out to be a whole lot of epic fail.

Alex Jones claims that he is mistrustful of doctors(a lot of the ads on his show are for "natural" product and the health "experts" on his show are proponents of "natural" medicine. God forbid people should go to the doctors,because most doctors don't know what the hell they are doing. Doctors are always trying to push drugs which have some sort of negative effect on you(usually some sort of cancer.) Sh!t, just existing will kill you. What's good for you/bad for you seems to change every other week(see also: Dr. Oz- I could do a whole post on Dr. Oz himself because he annoys the sh!t out of me.)

He makes all sorts of claims that he can't back up-like I said, he is very paranoid. He claims that there are people in law enforcement and the millitary that have "woken up" and are on his side. He also claims that there are lots of celebrities and musicians who have woken up(never really names names)but he also claims his "celeb" friends send private planes to come pick him up.I call just a little bit of b-o-l-o-g-n-a on that one.

[something I've never told anyone before]

2012-01-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

I was at a Christian bookstore(I was meeting someone nearby and there wasn't a lot to do)... I accidentally knocked a statue over(onto a carpeted floor, I might add) and part of it broke off. I didn't tell anyone and I left the store.

First of all, I know it was bad of me to break that statue and not tell anyone.I know that.

Secondly:How cheaply made is that statue if it falls on the carpet and breaks. If I had told someone that I broke that statue I guarantee you I would have been asked to buy it, and it would have been expensive.

I have experience with breaking what is a cheap thing, but not whenI(accidentally) broken. Back when I used to go to the 101 Cafe with some regularity, they always put their sugar bowls-little cheapie things that you can probably buy a gross of at Dollar Tree. I broke one and was charged $5.lolwhut? The sugar bowl in question was only worth a dollar(and just barely, even so) So sometimes you just have to say "I'm not going to let them gouge me because I broke something". And some places will. And I don't feel a bit bad about it, even though it was a Christian bookstore.

[odds and ends, 1/21/12]

2012-01-21T08:21:00.000-08:00

*Ran into Mr. S(not his real name) who was the principal of my elementary school. We were always the best of friends(normally principals inspire fear in people but he didn't. He was very cool). I know he had been sick a while back but he looks *great* now.

*So the local Waste Management company gave us new trash cans. Which is great but 2 things: 1)They're huge, and unwieldy. 2)They don't have a hole in the bottom and may get filled with rain.They want people to recycle and have more stuff in the recycling bin than the trash bin.

*You never realise how much you use the internet until there is an internet blackout.When they had the internet blackout of Wikipedia(and a bunch of other sites)..I kept needing to look stuff up on Wikipedia(of course!) and I'd remember "Oh yeah..."

*CBS has officially greenlit a modern version of Sherlock Holmes, set in New York City. Gee, where have I seen that before? :P

*Saw The Iron Lady yesterday. I just want to say this right now:When they announce the Academy Award nominations in a few days' time,she will have a nomination. She gets Margaret Thatcher exactly right. It's almost distracting..the last time I fel like that was watching Helen Mirren in The Queen.

[the titanic comparisons are getting a bit old, imo]

2012-01-20T17:09:00.001-08:00

Everyone is aware of the Costa Concordia tragedy. It is tragic and shocking that it happened.And I guarantee that there are going to be a lot of changes in the way that things are done-not just on Costa but all through the cruise ship industry.

It has engendered a lot of discussion on Cruise Critic-obviously. But some of the posts about small things(that don't even matter all that much) related to cruising. It is getting a little insane. Given the fact that-let's take Holland America for example- they have a lot of people who are not quite infirm, but there are a lot of people who have more than a few medical issues and need wheelchairs and/or scooters. So you can see how something like what happened would make them concerned. But it goes way past being concerned-I'd almost say that there are some people who are neurotic about it. I'm not sure which board had more posts about the tragedy- Carnival's. Holland America's or Concordia's (all owned by Carnival, I might add).

I thought the reaction to this was interesting.Yes, it's awful, and make no mistake, but given the fact that it was a cruise ship owned by Carnival,that is the only reason there was only a "Oh my goodness!" reaction. I guarantee you that if that had happened on a non- Carnival owned ship that there would be people(especially on the Holland America boards) pointing and laughing. Yes, they really *are* that petty. I've seen it with my own eyes.

[willing to try new things]

2012-01-19T14:01:00.000-08:00

On my "Must cook" list"

Paella:Even though I have been warned off it by people telling me it's incredibly difficult to make.

Semifreddo:A frozen dessert that is like a cross between mousse and frozen custard.

Fried Okra:If you think you hate okra try it fried. Just lightly breaded with corn meal and fried. You'll love it.

Cornish Game Hens:Nigella Lawson made these on one of her programmes. Simple presentation-she just rubbed the game hens with cinnamon and cooked them with sweet potato wedges.

I also want to go to a Ethiopian restaraunt. They are not shy with the spices.There is a Ethiopian dish called doro wat which is crazy spicy, from what I hear. I have a high tolerance for spice though, so bring it on!

[paula deen is a sh!tty role model]

2012-01-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well, she is.

Paula has known for 3 years that she had diabeetus[/Wilford Brimley] but she still continues to eat the food that she cooks-which is full of fat and sugar and calories. She can talk all she wants about "moderation" but it is bullsh!t. She can't cut down on all of the crappy food she cooks-and she *won't*.

If you ask me, the reason that her hand was forced on this is because she had some sort of crisis( diabetic coma, or almost had to have something chopped off). If she continues to eat fried and sugary food she isn't doing herself any good-no matter how many diabetes medications she takes(and apparently she is now a shill for a diabetes medication.) Believe me,I have seen what not having your diabetes under control can do to the body,thanks to a friend of the family's.

As a diabetic myself(and one that *does* have her diabetes under control) seeing someone have such a cavalier attitude about their diabetes pisses me off to no end.

[what i'm listening to, january 2012]

2012-01-17T18:43:00.000-08:00

I have been listening to a lot of different types of music-mix CD's, and some of the other CD's(of which there are many) in my collection.

But the one that I keep coming back to, as of late is Radiohead's OK Computer. 15 years later and it sounds ljust as it did when it came out. It can go under a very short list of artists who are timeless. That's not true of all of Radiohead's stuff, but it is certainly true of OK Computer.

Did I mention I've owned 3 copies? It is one of the few CD's I own that I've bought multiple copies of. I've worn out the other two playing them so much.

[random post is random:not being one of the "cool kids"]

2012-01-16T16:57:00.000-08:00

Remember I said I was going to take a random topic and run with it? well here you go.

I had friends in elementary school. I was never super super super popular but I got invited to all of the important parties and the like.

The tail end of 6th grade, I found out about Duran Duran. I immediately became a fan. Well, I started Jr. high school and it was the great equaliser. I was hated at my junior high school.And it had everything to do with me liking Duran Duran. I've told this story before but I was pretty much the only person who liked Duran Duran.I wouldn't say that I was bullied for liking Duran Duran but it wasn't easy. Occasionally I would run into people who liked Duran Duran and I was always amazed. There was a girl that liked Duran Duran-we'll call her N. who was a Duran Duran fan. We never really got to know each other all that much, because we only ever spoke a few words to each other-we'd be interrupted by one of her friends, who were most definitely NOT Duran Duran fans, and they told me so.

Because of this, I tried to reconnect with a friend I had when I was a kid-we went though kindergarden and first grade together, but it turned out that we didn't really have all that much in common.

High school was interesting. I wasn't a Duran Duran fan by then, but again, not so many friends. Which I was actually OK with. And get this: I was hated on by the nerdiest person in the school not once, but TWICE. Thank the good lord I didn't really care all that much in both cases, though in the first instance I later found out that the first person(who was female) was spreading rumours about me. Huh. The other person was a teacher's pet. I think he felt threatened by me for some reason. I dropped that class, but later found out that the teacher's pet was conspiring to get me bounced from the class.I didn't let him get the satisfaction-basically, "You can't fire me, I quit".

TLDR*:Being popular can, in some instances, be overrated.

*Too long, didn't read

[what i'm reading, january 2012]

2012-01-15T17:45:00.000-08:00

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It takes place during the time of slavery. I'm not far into the book yet but I am already seeing the good and the bad in the characters. There is a slave owner who separates the slave families even though it means a lot of hardships for the slaves. Then you have people like the wife of one of the slave owners, who is more than a little pleased when one of the slaves escapes.

It's rather ironic that I am writing this post the day before Dr. King's birthday. Black people have had their struggles, and it didn't end with the outlawing of slavery. I enjoyed reading The Help, but for me it was equal parts uplifting and upsetting. You hoped that the characters who needed to redeem themselves did, but you knew that, with all likelihood, they didn't. I really wanted to see the movie when it came out, but I knew it might make me angry, so I haven't.

One of my online friends is a big fan of Gone With The Wind(both the book and the movie).I'm embarrassed to admit that I have only seem parts of the movie, and haven't read the book. Maybe I should.

[odds and ends,1/14/12]

2012-01-14T12:54:00.000-08:00

*Katy Perry's parents are ..let's just say that I can see why Russell Brand wanted out of his marriage to Katy Perry. Katy's mom and dad were doing a appearance at a church in Ohio and were making some very, erm, interesting comments at this appearance, some of them anti-Semitic. He's since apologised, but still...

*I have heard that Barnes And Noble is having a lot of financial trouble and some(all?) of their stores are in danger of closing. I'd rather see some of the underperforming stores(like the one by my house) close.Plus, the B&N near my house got new management and customer service?Non-existent.

*On a related note, the 101 Cafe has different hours(8 a.m. to 2 p.m.) which makes me wonder if they are struggling. It wouldn't surprise me all that much. I was doing some googling and found this response to someone who wrote a bad review on Google saying that she was hassled for a tip:

John: "You had me 'till you said the waitress ran out the back door and started screaming at us for a tip and told us not to come back unless we tip.We take pride in how our waitstaff handles our customers".
Well,I'm going to have to call just a little-hell, a LOT, of bullsh!t on that one.When I was going there with some frequency, that *was* an issue. Looks like he was trying to sweep it under the carpet, and he continues to.

*On Tuesday I went to my dentist(who is totally awesome BTW). The subject of the holidays came up and he asked what I got for Christmas. I told him that I got a Keurig coffee maker but that I was dreading telling him that since coffee is such a no-no-it stains teeth-well,that's what ads for teeth whiteners and toothpaste will have you believe-but he said that everyone in the office loves coffee, and in fact, they even have a Keurig!

*Watched this show called Extreme Cheapskates with people who are, well, cheap. This one lady used tea towels that she cut up into squares that they used instead of toilet paper.The family had 4 or 5 kids and it was an expense they weren't willing to spend money on.Toilet paper isn't *that* expensive. You can buy craploads(HA!) of toilet paper at Costco for really cheap. I have so many questions about using towels instead of toilet paper. Mainly about hygiene.Especially given that it's a family with a bunch of kids, and 2 parents.

[cruise critic-still a gold mine of cray cray]

2012-01-13T23:03:00.000-08:00

So the latest thing at Cruise Critic is harshing on other cruise lines, and their ships.Look, there is such a thing as an opinion but using a thread to bash other cruise lines and their ships is just wrong.

The comments that they make are incredibly petty and more than a little immature. They also come off as more than a little snobbish, to boot.But it's pretty much typical for a core group of posters on Cruise Critic's Holland America boards.They are occasionally called on it-but those people, as brave as they are, are shot down fairly quickly.Of course.

The snobbery is even more offensive, with one comment being ""Have the "Other cruise lines" compensation gremlins taken over Cruise Critic?"(this was during a time period where there were lots of negative reviews of Holland America ships).

In response to stuff like that someone countered with(and I am glad they did) "The poster is entitled to their opinion.Do with it as you wish.Same as the opinions from those who have a vested opinion in defending HAL." There was also this comment:"Some of us lurkers are on the fence."Good to hear a couple of people confirming what I have been saying for a long time.Hell, the whole time I was there.Someone else said "Don't post anything negative on the boards(HAL in particular).Ain't that the truth!

Someone also said(in response to something negative):"You have to be more willing to make lemonade out of lemons". That is a common thing, especially on the Holland America boards. It's such a tired out thing.

""Some of us on this board do appreciate hearing the good and the bad".
Yes, but people who post less than glowing reviews are very very very likely to get shot down.

"I think a lot of people on this board feel the need to defend the cruise line like they are married to it or gave birth to it".
Some are worse than others.RonJoan is one of the worst ones in that respect.

"Others believe Holland America can do no wrong"
See above.

"First timers looking for open discussion about Holland America could well form a opinion of Holland America passengers based on this response"
And Holland America loyalists will tell you that's a load of hooey.

"I don't know why some cannot have criticism about Holland America and when they can't respond with fact,they respond with bitterness".
Sounds about right.

[this was so weird...i have to talk about it]

2012-01-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

I have to talk about what happened to me this afternoon. I'm still a little freaked out, so you'll have to forgive me.

There was a guy walking around my neighbourhood trying to sell some sort of cleaning product(something to get stains out I think?) I saw he was at my neighbours' front door. I closed the door and this guy then knocked on my door. I said that I wasn't interested and told him to go away and he acted like he did't hear me. It really freaked me out, so I called 911-I seriously felt so scared by it-I still do, even as I write this. The cops came and I guess talked to him, and maybe took him to jail, I don't know. I couldn't be at my house for a while(that's how I was feeling) . My neighbour Polly said that the guy came to her door and that it seemed like he was on something. When I talked to the 911 operator I told her that I didn't think that he was high, but thinking about it now-the way he was acting,the ignoring what I was saying..he was definitely on something.

Was he legit?I don't know, but the fact that he was apparently high on something makes me wonder. And I wonder if he was planning to take it to the next level if he found someone who was not at home?

I wonder sometimes about the people who are always trying to sell newspapers, or magazine subscriptions.Is that legit?You have to wonder. They always seem a bit sketch, as do the people who are always trying to get donations out in front of grocery stores. For the most part they're harmless, but every once in a while you will get the odd person who is very agressive. I've learned to say no-probably to the point of being rude at times, but I don't really care. Either that or I don't say anything at all.

At least those people are not walking around random neighbourhoods high as a kite -trying to sell what is in all likelihood a mixture of a bunch of different cleaners, claiming that it'll get any stain out, and being threatening to the people that tell him no.

[famous for 15 minutes? now it's more like an hour and a half]

2012-01-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite artists is Andy Warhol. I've always been fascinated with him. He died the day before my 16th birthday(February 22nd 1987)

Of course, he was the one who said everyone should be famous for 15 minutes. I wonder what he would make of people who get MORE than 15 minutes of fame-people like the Kardashians and Jay-Z and Beyonce. He was always an observer of pop culture(something that is reflected in his art-portraits of Liz Taylor, Michael Jackson, and most famously, Marilyn Monroe.

His Factory was the hangout for the proto-hipsters-the parents of today's hipsters. It was the base for the Velvet Underground. Attracted all sorts. Andy, at times, had what could be considered a bit of a open door policy, lol.

There was a movie made about him-I Shot Andy Warhol- that focused on the woman who tried to kill him, Valerie Solanas. We don't know how accurate the movie is, and it shows Warhol as being dismissive and a$$holish to Solanas. Lou Reed refused to allow the Velvet Underground's music in the movie when he found out that it was going to glorify Solanas. In any case, it's not a very good movie.

[food list challenge-amazing how many of these i've tried]

2012-01-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

Bold the ones you've tried

1)Abalone

2)Absinthe

3)Alligator

4)Baba Ghanouj(sp?)

5)Bagel and lox

6)Baklava

7)Barbecue ribs

8)Bellini

9) Birds' nest soup

10) Biscuits and gravy Food of the gods.

11)Black pudding

12)Black truffle

13)Borscht

14) Calimari

15)Carp

16)Caviar

17)Cheese fondue

18)Chicken and waffles

19)Chicken Tikka Masala

20)Chile Relleno

21)Chitlins

22)Churros Someone else mentioned the churros at Disneyland.They *are* good.

23)Clam chowder

24)Cognac

25)Crab cakes

26)Crickets

27)Currywurst

28)Dandelion wine

29) Dulce de leche

30)Durian

31)Eel

32)Eggs Benedict

33)Fish tacos

34)Foie gras

35)Fresh spring rolls

36)Fried catfish

37)Fried green tomatoes

38) Fried plantains

39)Frito pie

40)Frog legs

41)Fugu

42)Funnel cake

43)Gazpacho

44)Goat:

45)Goat milk

46)Goulash A standard when I was growing up.

47)Gumbo

48)Haggis

49)Head cheese

50) Heirloom tomatoes

51)Honeycomb

52)Hostess fruit pie

53)Huevos Rancheros

54)Jerk Chicken The two times I've had Jerk chicken, I sweated buckets whilst I ate-it was that spicy.

55)Kangaroo

56)Key Lime Pie

57)Kobe Beef

58)Lassi

59)Lobster

60)Mimosa

61)Moon Pie

62)Morel mushrooms

63)Nettle tea

64)Octopus Apparently I tried octopus when I was 3-and liked it.So I've always been a adventurous eater.

65)Oxtail soup

66)Paella

67)Paneer it's cheese! It's spinach! what's not to like?

68)Pastrami on rye

69)Pavlova

70)Phaal

71)Philly cheese steak

72)Pho

73)Pineapple and cottage cheese

74)Pistacho ice cream

75) Po Boy

76)Pocky

77)Polenta

78)Prickly pear

79)Rabbit stew

80)Raw oysters

81)Root beer float

82)S'mores

83)Sauerkraut I LOVE sauerkraut.

84)Sea urchin

85)Shark

86)Snails

87)Snake

88)Soft shell crab

89)Som Tam

90)Spaetzle

91)Spam Gross.

92)Squirrel

93)Steak tartare:No. Just no.

94)Sweet potato fries

95)Sweet breads

96)Tom Yum

97)Umeboshi

98)Venison

99)Wasabi peas

100) Zucchini flowers

[former beyonce fan]

2012-01-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

Beyonce had her baby Blue Ivy Cater at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.OK, first off all, let's talk about that ridiculous-a$$ name. WTF. Might as well just tattoo "Kick my ass" on her forehead.

No, the redoinkulous name is only the beginning. Beyonce has everyone drinking her kool-aid so they can't, indeed won't, say anything bad about her.

The offensive thing that she did is basically buy the maternity floor at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, have it redone, and install her own personal security guards who were so overzealous that they prevented several parents from being able to see their parents,including a man whose twin daughters were in the NICU. Sorry, but this hits a rather personal note for me. Two of my nephews were in the NICU as infants, my youngest nephew spent quite a long time in the NICU. He benefitted from my sister-in-law and my brother being there as much as possible. When babies are newborns, especially, they need to have that bonding time with their parents. Parents being in the NICU is good for the kids.

Granted, there was only a delay of 20 or so minutes in getting to see his daughters,but that's still not good. I come at this from a personal angle, and it's upsetting to me.

Of course the hospital claims that they were *not* bought, and that the stuff with people not being able to see their babies in the NICU and it interfering with doctors being able to do their job(at least one doctor said that Beyonce's security detail kept him from being able to do his job). Other patients have said that they felt ignored.

[the food dye is strong in this one]

2012-01-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

Quick, a European fast food chain is offering several Star Wars themed burgers, including a burger that has cheese curds(gross) and a Darth Vador(yes, it's deliberately misspelled) burger. With a black bun. Oh yeah. And it's not a small bun. We're talking super-sized here. I can't even imagine how much food dye(if it is food dye) is in it.That has to wreak havoc on your insides if it is.

There's a possibility that it's something like squid ink, which, even if it's not artificially produced(like most food dyes) still might be a problem for your insides. There are quite a few naturally-occuring dyes. Fun fact: The red colour of Red Velvet Cake? Frequently, it's beets. Though you would never know it!

[odds and ends, 1/7/12]

2012-01-07T12:11:00.000-08:00

*So I was at the 101 Cafe(within walking distance of my house) and one of the waitresses was smack talking one of the owners. I've never met the other owner, but John, the owner who is there a lot of the time is...to be quite frank, a jerk.I've had some dealings with him myself and he is more than a little rude. John, in the past, has had issues with his employees(I had an issue with a waitress there. It got to the point where I did not go to the 101 for quite a few years(and after having been brushed off by John when I expressed some of my concerns about what was going on there.)

However, I just started going back there again not too long ago and it's vastly changed. Of course John is still a jerk(that will never change) but I think the other owner got wise to what was going on-or someone took him aside and said "Look, your restaraunt is going in the toilet and John is the reason". I think the other owner and John sat down and had a loooong talk about some of the stuff that was going on.The other owner needs to keep John in check,otherwise it will be the ruin of the 101. It's the oldest restaraunt in Oceanside but that claim to fame may be gone if John isn't careful.

*The best malls in San Diego are 1) Fashion Valley 2)UTC 3)Horton Plaza 4)Carlsbad Mall. UTC might be going to the top of that list though-they are doing a lot of remodeling and it looks really good, I have to say. A branch of the Arclight movie theater is going to be coming to UTC late this year(can't wait). One HUGE improvement I was glad to see was the food court. The last time I was there there weren't many good places to eat and now there are a lot.

*My aunt and I went to the Oceanside Museum Of Art(I'm a member) and took my card and a guest pass.Turned out it was free(my other favourite four letter f word)! It's a nice museum, and not too big, either. Then we went to Swami's. which started in Encinitas(near its beach namesake). They just opened one in Oceanside recently. The food was REALLY good,but I really liked the iced tea-it was cinnamon-y and orangey-good stuff!

*This is my first Odds and Ends for 2012. I had to mention that. I normally would have done one last week but last Saturday was New Year's Eve, of course, so I had to do a end-of-year wrap-up post.

[another friday,another cruise critic post]

2012-01-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

*On the Cruise Law website, Cruise Critic gets a big up but it is noted also that threads frequently turn into flame wars(true) and that differing opinions are ridiculed(also true). Cruise Critic fans post comments on his site like "Throw the lawyers to the sharks".

*Royal Caribbean has gotten people to cheerlead on Cruise Critic.It backfired on them.And now Cruise Critic throws them under the bus every chance they get. You'd think they would try to nip that in the bud on the Holland America boards, since it is backfiring there too.

*There have been a lot of complaints about issues on Holland America ships.Anyone who posts a less than glowing review, especially one that mentions issues that they have been having frequently on Holland America ships-problems with toilets, primarily- is called into question. This is a big problem-and a potential health *and* safety hazard. Some people will not hear a bad word said about Holland America-though I will say....some people who you think are quite rigid in their opinion aren't really so-until you get them on one of their pet peeves.Then it's on.

[coming up]

2012-01-05T08:25:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to think of what I should be blogging about, and maybe some things that might be fun. I came up with this list:

Random Topic Post(where I take a topic and..just go from there. Might be a lot of fun. I've got a few topics in mind for that already!)

I am open to letting anyone who wants to guest blog. If you've got a idea for a post, get in touch with me!

Normally, I wouldn't post about politics, but I'm thinking I may get a few politics posts in between now and the election. It can only get more interesting in the months leading up to it. I'm sure we haven't seen the most OMGWTF of it yet, lol

For the Oscars,I am going to do a few favourite movie posts- but with an Academy Awards twist.

There are quite a few topics I have talked about once or twice, so I think I am going to try to do more of those.

[movies i love-a twofer this time!]

2012-01-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way
-Leon Tolstoy,Anna Karenina

The Royal Tenebaums(2000), Dir. Wes Anderson

The Darjeeling Limited(2007) Dir. Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson is an observer of many things. And families are one of those. In Tenebaums it is the Tenebaums, headed by mother Etheline(Angelica Huston) and Royal(Gene Hackman). They have been divorced for some time, but Royal comes back into the home by making up a story about being terminally ill. Their son Chaz(Ben Stiller) also moves in with his two sons. They are unhappy; Chaz is neurotic after the death of his wife in a plane crash.

Son Richie is dissatisfied;after what could have been a great tennis career, he screwed things up. He and his adopted sister Margot(Gwyneth Paltrow) have an interesting relationship, to say the least.

There are great small parts for Danny Glover( as Etheline's boyfriend) Owen Wilson(Eli, a friend of the family) and Bill Murray as Raleigh,who was obviously inspired by Oliver Sacks.

In The Darjeeling Limited it is three brothers that have the fractured relationship and a trip is planned-a year after their father has died in a car accident) to try and work things out(but not without a lot happening along the way(including pepper spray and a loose cobra!)

The Whitman brothers- Francis(Owen Wilson) Peter(Adrien Brody) and Jack(Jason Schwartzman are taking a trip through India by train. It's hoped that they can work things out-and they do-but a lot comes to light in between. There is a stop to visit their mother(played by Angelica Huston-a Anderson favourite) at a mountaintop convent which recalls Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus. In the end, it is all good, and the boys are able to leave their literal-and figurative- baggage behind at the end of the movie.

[what i'm watching, early january 2012]

2012-01-03T12:32:00.000-08:00

Chef Roble And Co (hadn't seen an episode but saw an ad, TiVo'ed it and became a fan)

Hoarding:Buried Alive/Hoarders

Rollin' With Zack :(a guy in a wheelchair goes to different cities to sightsee-a lot of fun-and Zach is a great host!)

Mob Wives

All American Muslim : I hadn't really watched this, but they had a episode about the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and how it affected the families, and how it affected them, as Muslims, at the time it happened.

[the good old days of music]

2012-01-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

James Rizzi, the guy who directed Tom Tom Club's Genius Of Love video and an artist, died a few days ago. If you ever saw the video for Genius, you wouldn't forget it. It was one of my favourite jams from back in the day. I have fond memories of a lot of music from back then, actually.

Remember Double Dutch Bus?That song gets stuck in my head every so often(and it takes a lot time to get out of my head, too!) as well as Rapper's Delight( "Hip to the hop...") and White Lines by Grandmaster Flash(which was covered by Duran Duran-I know, right? but it's not half bad!) and Rapture by Blondie(especially the rapping bit in the middle)

I never really got into rap all that much back in the day-I listened to the New Wave radio stations when I was growing up so got exposed to a lot more of that than I did rap;that's not to say I was in the dark as far as rap music, I watched a lot of MTV when I was in my teens and early 20's so I was well aware of rap; it just never was my thing.

[o hai 2012]

2012-01-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

My New Year's Resolutions this year:

Eat healthy/work out at the gym as much as possible(a repeat resolution)

Make a will(ditto-have been saying that for years, I know)

Keep up to date on my doctor's appointments(also ditto)

Take 15-20 minutes every day to meditate( also a repeat-I had it as one of my resolutions but never put it into action)

One new resolution: I am going to try making 3 new recipes, and one of them has to be difficult and take me out of my comfort level-not sure what that will be but when I do, I will blog about it!

I'm not making any TiVo-related resolutions. One of my resolutions last year was to have 5 TiVos or less at a time on my DVR. Well, that lasted about, oh, half a year before I had a ton of shows on there. When I went on my cruise, I came back to 20 shows that I'd TiVoed .Not that bad, given I was only out of town for a week.But I need to get 'em watched quicker,that's for sure. Though it must be said, you can have a lot of stuff on my TiVo before it starts taking up room.

[the end..of the year that is!]

2011-12-31T12:30:00.000-08:00

This was an interesting year to say the least.

A lot of people we miss(Steve Jobs for one) and a few we don't(Osama Bin Laden, Ghadafi and Kim Jong Il) and one death that wasn't all that surprising(Amy Winehouse, anyone?)

Saw a few movies this year(almost at the end of the year, but Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was really good, as was Melancholia. I think I was one of the few people that liked The Rum Diary. )

Turned 40 and was totally OK with it-I may be 40 but I don't feel like it. Got to go on a Caribbean cruise and had an amazing time. Hard to believe it took me 40 years to get there! Got to try a few things I'd never done on that cruise-I snorkeled for the first time(and would again) and also I did karaoke.You've gotta be a little fearless to do karaoke and I guess that night I was feeling very fearless- and without the help of any sort of liquid courage I might add!

Another highlight for me was the Royal Wedding. That is the sort of thing that will only happen once or twice in your lifetime.For me it was worth staying up all night(something I've only done 3 times in my entire life and will not do again anytime soon. Well, unless there's a Royal Wedding if Prince Harry gets married.But I'm not holding my breath, lol)

There were some interesting times in 2011- the Sheen meltdown and its aftermath.Let's not forget the great power outage of 2011 which happened in September. "Fustercluck" doesn't even begin to describe it.

[more craziness]

2011-12-30T15:29:00.000-08:00

Cruise Critic is an endless supply of OMGWTF. Yeah, I know I have said that before, but it is really true the last couple of days.

There was a thread about bad service on one of the Holland America ships. People were talking about all of the problems a certain ship was having with its toilets. Somehow,it got into an incredibly indelicate and, to be quite frank, more than a little gross discussion(thanks to IRL Headcase, I mean Joanie, who insinuated that younger women, with their sanitary products(tampons, mostly) are one of the many causes of clogged toilets on the Holland America ships.Sorry,that's gross, but ut got even grosser.

Then JabbaC weighed in(literally) on the subject. She would know all about wrecking cruise ship toilets..if not from sitting on them,then clogging them with all of the food that she eats when she's on a cruise ship(and she's probably on first name basis with her plumber back home, too.) Yeah, I went there.

Of course IRL Headcase and JabbaC (and Wazu, sorry, Kazu) can't talk about certain things without becoming shrill. The subject of leaving balcony doors open came up and of course the terrible trio try to make it seem as if the people who leave their balcony doors open are selfish, etc.) If you go by what a few other people on that thread have said, the problems with A/C on Holland America ships are not always from people leaving their balcony doors open.Of course Joanie, Wazu, etc. jump all over those comments and say they're wrong.

My favourite comment was from someone who said that all of the clogged toilets were from people flushing their adult diapers down the toilets-making fun of the fact that Holland America is seen as a floating old folks' home.

The comments about younger women and sanitary products reflect a certain way on Holland America and they reinforce the old folks home thing. For what's it's worth, there has always been an eclectic mix of people on the 2 HAL cruises that I've been on. People like the Gruesome Threesome probably put more people off of Holland America than sell them on it, which is a shame.

I've found out some things; I'm going to gather more info before posting anything..2012 might be a interesting year for Cruise Critic.

[the world was supposed to end twice this year.why would next year be any different?]

2011-12-29T08:15:00.000-08:00

I had every intention of doing a post about the countdown to the Mayan Apocalypse the day of but it didn't happen. Three hundred odd days until the end of the world(supposedly.) Might as well make the best out of the time that we have left, you know[/sarcasm]

I don't think anything is going to happen. We're going to wake up on December 22nd 2012 and it will be just another day. And anyways, several Mayan descendants(there are a few) have said that the world is not going to end on December 21st 2012. Remember Y2K? The big deal that was made about that? It is going to be the same thing with 12/21/2012. There will be some seriously stupid people doing stupid things. I have heard about a guy who is going to jump off of Bell Rock in Sedona on December 21. I know Bell Rock well;I've gone to Sedona many times. It's a shame that this guy is going to do it there, as I'm sure it will get the nickname "suicide rock".

Plus, you know there are going to be *tons* of public service announcements saying "Don't kill yourself" before 12/21/2012 but in spite of all that there will be people that kill themselves. One of the times that Harold Camping announced that the world was supposed to end,one of his followers killed her daughters and then tried to kill herself. Not sure if that is a true story(I believe it is) but if true, that is messed.up.

And let's talk about Harold Camping for a moment,shall we? It is insane that he predicts that the world is going to end, not once but TWICE *and* it doesn't happen! You have to bet that he lost a pretty big segment of his followers with the second failed prediction.

The 2012 movie that came out a few years ago didn't help things any. One of the early scenes in the movie shows news footage of a group of people who killed themselves at a Mayan temple in Guatemala. shows like Coast To Coast(which covers 2012 very frequently) are going to have to be VERY careful to tell people NOT to kill themselves. Which is tricky because a lot of the time when they're talking about 2012 it's not positive. There are a fair amount of people that listen to Coast To Coast who are very suggestible and *would* kill themselves because of 12/21/2012 even if they were assured that nothing was going to happen.

[took the 50 book challenge..and won]

2011-12-28T07:46:00.000-08:00

Yep-I read 50 books this year-actually, not quite finished with the 50th but I'm close to the end so I am VERY sure that I will finish it by Saturday(The challenge goes from January 1st to December 31st). I'd come close a few times but this was the first year that I was successful in doing so.

One of the reasons that I get books read so fast is that I tend to take them everywhere with me-especially on the bus-I've done a fair amount of reading on the bus-and no, it doesn't make me carsick-I've never been motion sick in any way, save for the time I went whale watching when I was in high school. Oof. I've been on 3 cruises now and nothing.nada.zilch.bupkis. But I digress. :P

I got 2 Barnes And Noble gift cards for Christmas-one for $50(!) and one for $25. I spent most of the $50 one and am going to use the other to buy some books for my Nook. One of the books that I bought was one about Christopher Columbus. I'm a history nerd, so I love stuff like that.

[what do we want?coffee!when do we want it?now!]

2011-12-27T08:16:00.000-08:00

So I got a Keurig one cup coffee maker for Christmas and..I love it. The coffee is in K Cups(they look like oversized coffee creamers). You put one in the machine, pull down the handle, hit the brew button and there you go!

The machine I have came with 60 of the K Cups, and we've already gone through a TON of them! It was a huge hit on Christmas morning because everyone had to try out the coffee maker of course! I have to say that so far the favourites have been the bold blends(Emeril's Big Easy Bold and the Tully's French Roast are especially good-not for coffee wimps by any means!)Personally, I hink the flavoured coffees are a little on the weak side myself.

I have a feeling I will go through the coffee that it came with pretty darn quickly. In looking around,I found that Target is one of the best places to buy the K Cups(they also have the largest selection of them). You can also get tea, cocoas and chai lattes. And you can buy iced tea K Cups-all you have to do is put a glass with ice underneath the brewer and instant iced tea(or iced tea and lemonade!) They even have Southern-style sweet tea!

Keurig is not the only one-cup coffee maker out there-others just don't have the selection that Keurig does, though. The Senseso and Tassimo don't have the selection that Keurig does-but some people like that. Williams Sonoma sells the Nescafe Dolce Gusto machine, but it's pretty expensive(which, given that it's Williams Sonoma, is hardly surprising.)

[i am officially sick of hearing about...]

2011-12-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

*The Kardashians. I have even heard them referred to as "America's Royal Family". OMGWTF.

*The Duggars: They are still trying to get sympathy for the miscarriage of their baby. They know that all of the things they are doing are making people think they are attention whoring(which they definitely are). Unfortunately, they know that they have fans that will support them no matter what they do..but even some of them are starting to see the light.

*Kim Jong Il. Well, it's more like I'm sick of hearing the conspiracy theories about whether he's dead or not(Alex Jones thinks he isn't-but he didn't think Bin Laden and Gadhafi were dead either. Then again, that is the way Alex rolls. Someone dies, Alex Jones call it into question. Everything is just one big conspiracy theory to him. Also, the most paranoid person I've ever come across(some of the commentators on Faux, I mean Fox News, notwithstanding. :P)

[so this is christmas]

2011-12-25T14:56:00.000-08:00

I got:

A Keurig one cup coffee maker

2 pairs of pyjamas

A book called My Last Supper-The Next Course- chefs talking about what they would have for their last meal-an interesting concept-a very cool one, too.

Mixing bowls

Duvet cover

Fleece jacket(for when we go to Alaska)

Appointment book and a calendar

Credit/gift card holder(and two gift cards-one for Michael's and one for Barnes & Noble-yay! )

[odds and ends, 12/24/11]

2011-12-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve! This year has gone by so fast-I am definitely going to write a end-of year post-this was an interesting year, to say the least!

*Thursday I went to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo with my neighbour Polly. I really liked it, and they didn't deviate much from the original book-only two instances that I can think of.

* Watched Kathy Griffin's new special Tired Hooker. She's hysterical, though not for the easily offended,I must say.

*Kim Jong Il died. Wow. him, Ghadafi and Osama Bin Laden all dead in the same year.

*San Diego CityBeat had an article about the decline of the Sam Goody store at Horton Plaza and how they are going to knock it down late next year. I remember what a big deal it was when that was built. They used to have a Planet Hollywood(yeah!) as part of the same building. It was rather novel when it first opened. They had a cafe right in the middle of the store. But over the years Sam Goodys have become a almost extinct species-save for the one at Horton Plaza. From what the article said, that store has seen better days-there are shelves held together with electrical tape, as an example.

*I am addicted to Words With Friends(it's like Scrabble) on Facebook. Talk about addictive.

*This week on the Howard Stern channels on Sirius satellite radio they have been doing Saturday Night Live week-interviews with various Saturday Night Live cast members over the years. Given what's happened to some (like Chris Farley) it's kinda sad. Then you have people like Victoria Jackson, who has become a right winger(she's on Fox news all the time. Say no more.)

*USA Today had an article about people not turning off their phones, iPods, etc when planes are taking off and landing. I believe it. I've seen it with my own eyes the last few times that I've flown. It is REALLY that much of a hardship for some people to not be able to use their cell phones, what have you just for a few minutes?Apparently, for a lot of people, it is.

[not that i am defending royal caribbean or anything]

2011-12-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

One of Royal Caribbean's ships, the Monarch Of The Seas, failed a inspection. They cited all sorts of reason-improper food handling and the like. They will take measures to correct it(obviously) but the usual suspects at Cruise Critic are jumping all over Royal Caribbean for failing the inspection. Nowhere more so than on the Holland America boards. I love Holland America, but I swear there are a few people there that drink the Holland America kool-aid. By the gallon.

It's worth noting that Holland America isn't exactly perfect either. They have had issues with outbreaks of Noro virus(nasty pukey-feeling bad virus) on more than a few of their ships. Things are getting better but they still have way too many outbreaks of Noro.

Royal Caribbean is hardly the first cruise line to have a ship that didn't pass inspection. but for some reason Cruise Critic likes to single Royal Caribbean out and post nasty stories about them. Meanwhile, most of the other cruise lines can do no wrong. It's insane. It wasn't all bad for Royal Caribbean since The Oasis Of The Seas(one of their other ships) passed inspection.

Holland America ships have failed inspections before-of course, when someone mentioned this on Cruise Critic it was deemed "Old news" since it happened 13 or so years ago. If you needed more proof that there are people who think Holland America can do no wrong, there you go.

[oh yes they did]

2011-12-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

I have what can only be called a love/hate thing going with the Oh No They Didn't gossip community on Livejournal. On one hand, I love it when they call out people who really do need calling out(like the Duggars). But then they get fixated-for lack of a better word, on others.

For an example:: Neil Patrick Harris and his boyfriend(husband?) had a really gruesome looking effigy of Amy Winehouse at their Halloween party and posted it on their Twitter. It quickly got taken down but there was a story about it on Oh No They Didn't with people( A lot of them Amy Winehouse fans) very offended by it. Yes, it was in bad taste but it's annoying for someone to post that picture in the comments section of EVERY(seriously.No lie) Oh No They Didn't post about Neil Patrick Harris.

Amy Winehouse(until her death) was a Oh No They Didn't favourite. Even when things were pretty bad for her she seemed to have people on Oh No They Didn't rallying around her. But it seemed like there were just as many apologists for her, too. This was close to the time that she died,and she was even more of a spiral than she had been.

Madonna is another person who gets no end of love from Oh No They Didn't. despite what I would consider "My sh!t doesn't stink" behaviour on her part. That and she's made a movie (W.E., about King Edward- George the 6th's brother-and Mrs. Simpson) that has been getting some pretty bad reviews. I was curious, since Madonna is so into Kabbalah and hatnot,if she is going to address the fact that both Edward and Wallis were Nazi sympthasisers..she doesn't. But both John Galliano and Leni Riefenstahl are thanked in the credits of the movie.What the everloving f.

And I thought the worst thing about her was her annoying fake Britiish accent (it is, don't get me wrong).

[teh intarwebs circa 1998]

2011-12-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

I was doing a word search where all of the words were related to the internet. One of the words was Netscape. Oh jeez. That brought back all sorts of memories of when I first got on the Internet in 1998. Nutscrape, I mean Netscape, was one of the few internet browsers out there(along with Internet Exploder, I mean Explorer.)

DSL was too expensive for most people so we had dial-up(remember dial-up? God forbid if someone was trying to call you because it tied up the phone line.)

Choices as far as internet providers were pretty limited. AOL was around of course..... I had Prodigy as my internet provider for the first few years I was on the internet. A few people had Web TV.

The first time I got on the internet I was on there for 4 hours(yeah.) just looking stuff up. I found Duran Duran websites(wanted to see if there were any fans around. There were, and that was 13 years ago!) and a mailing list for Duran Duran fans which was quite active at the time that I joined(this was one of the times when Duran Duran were very active-touring and recording and the like.) In spite of all the rules that they had, I liked being on the list. But then Duran Duran quit recording and touring so the list became inactive(and still is, as far as I know.)

[weird holiday traditions]

2011-12-20T11:31:00.000-08:00

*Caganers:Pooping statues, dressed like peasants that are a tradition as part of Nativity scenes in certain parts of Spain, But another common tradition is to have caganers of famous people(there are caganers of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Must.not.make.bad.joke. :P) as well as of Pope Benedict.

*Zwart Piet(Black Peter): A companion to Santa Claus in Holland. Nothing so odd about that until you find out that Zwarte Piet is a white man. In black face. With an afro wig. In other parts of the world this would be considered so not PC it's not even funny. And there have been a few attempts to make Zwarte Piet more PC but the Dutch like their traditions.

*KFC:In Japan, it's traditional to go to KFC on Christmas, and KFC's in Japan have festive buckets for the season.

*Krampus: He's the anti-Santa in Austria. He goes around scaring bad children.

[looking for a new doctor]

2011-12-19T12:45:00.000-08:00

I have, for the most part enjoyed my visits to my diabetes doctor. But lately it feels like he's openly ignoring my wishes and there is a real lack of communication. So what did he do wrong?

When I went to see him, he said that I needed to get a flu shot, and that I also had to get a tetanus shot(tetanus, whooping cough and a few other things). Now, I know I have had a tetanus shot recently. But apparently this tetanus shot is "better"-whatever that means. I would rather not have 2 shots at once, and tried to impress this on him several times. What does he do?He slams the door in my face. Yeah.

Then, I got a phone call from my pharmacy. When I asked what it was for, the pharmacist told me it was an antibiotic for a minor health issue. I knew I might have an issue when I was at the doctor's office, and they were doing another test to make sure but I never heard back from them. There is a very distinct lack of communication going on there,I think.

So, for that reason, I am seriously thinking going back to my old doctor. Yes, I pretty much saw a different doctor every time(there was/is a frequent turnover for the diabetes specialists there.) I'm thinking I can deal with that. I also like the fact that they would respect my wishes with respect to not having 2 shots at once. And if they were insistent on it, they would give me a damn good reason. not just "It's a better shot".

I have no problem telling my doctor why I'm not seeing him anymore...in a letter. I don't do face to face confrontation. I figure if he calls me and is sorry,then he's a good doctor. If he doesn't,or goes on the defensive, then it's definitely a good thing that he's not my doctor anymore.

[toys of christmases past]

2011-12-18T08:24:00.000-08:00

* Nerf balls- These were fun-until you left them outside and they got wet-from rain, or sprinklers or what have you.

*Speak And Spell-Yep, I had one, and I tried to get it to say rude words.

*Big Wheels-We always got the cheap off brand ones.

*Cabbage Patch Dolls-Granted, I was a bit old for a Cabbage Patch Doll, but I remember what a big deal they were back in the day.

*Easy Bake Oven-Never got why these were such a big deal-I never knew anyone that had one.I guess that's why I never wanted one.

*Barbie's Dream House-Now this I always wanted. But it was prohibitively expensive-even 30-odd years ago(and it's probably still very expensive).

[odds and ends, 12/17/11]

2011-12-17T07:24:00.000-08:00

*The Iraq war is over. Just like that.

*The foot store where I get my shoes went out of buisness.I noticed there was a sign saying something about eviction. Wow. Hopefully the store will relocate,though it would be the 3rd time-when they moved last time it was because their location was too out of the way for some of their customers-which it was.

*My mom and dad and I and my niece Chloe(who is almost 7) and nephew Eddie(who's 11) went down to the Hotel Del Coronado last Sunday to see the Christmas tree.

To get to Coronado you have to go over the Coronado Bridge which is very high at one point.The kids LOVED that, a thrill for them(I always though it was a pretty thrilling ride when I was a kid!)

The theme this year was Silver Bells. The tree was beautiful. Then we walked around the Hotel for a while and my mom and I got two(very expensive) cups of coffee. For lunch, we went to Miguel's Cocina which is across the street from the Del. I liked the decor, and the food was delicious too(I liked it so much I'm thinking about going there for my birthday!)

*Howard Stern is going to be a judge on America's Got Talent. This ought to be interesting.

[still insane]

2011-12-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

Fake Brit(David SF1 from Lovedamships Review is on a cruise. Probably harassing anyone that he thinks isn't dressed formally enough.

There have been several people at Cruise Critic* saying that they had less than perfect cruises.I am amazed that some of the more assholish posters haven't jumped all over them. There was one person that claimed that said their son was harassed on a Holland America cruise for not being dressed formally enough for a fellow passenger's liking. So it *does* happen. Just really surprised that the Holland America cheerleaders(as they are called) were not trying to do revisionist history and claim that it never happened.

Now, it's true of all the cruise ship boards, but Holland America posters seem to do it the most, where they will say that other cruise lines' passengers are slovenly because they don't dress up(don't have to, such is the case with Norwegian Cruise Lines) or Carnival(where the formal dress code is pretty much ignored.) Occasionally you get people on he Holland America boards at Cruise Critic making it seem like most of the people on the ship wear tuxes and gowns on formal night. They would be...wrong.

Matter of fact, it seems like the tide is turning towards formal night being optional. And there are quite a few people who would be happy to see that happen.Thing is, it probably wouldn't put an end to the dress code threads on the Holland America boards.Matter of fact, it might actually make things worse. I notice that the stringently pro-dress code people have been strangely silent on the possibly going to optional formal night thing. They realise that the stuff they want to post on the subject would probably get them banned(I'm thinking specifically of RonJoan here).

*Yes, I've been banned. But I still read the boards there. I just can't believe how batsh!tty things get there.

[movies i'm looking forwards to]

2011-12-15T15:18:00.000-08:00

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo(I think the original Swedish language movie is pretty much perfect. I'm interested to see what David Fincher does with it.) From what I know it's pretty much the same movie as the original(I thought maybe Fincher woudl add some elements that weren't in the original movie, including a plot element which is a pretty big spoiler for a certain character in the book)

Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

We Bought a Zoo

The Hunger Games(again, from what I hear it's very faithful to the book(which I read this year).That's good!

[a shot in the arm-and not in a good way]

2011-12-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday I had a tetanus shot in my left arm and a flu shot in my right arm. Necessary,although I was trying to convince my doctor that the tetanus could wait until next time. No dice. I got two shots, and was really worried about it hurting a lot but it was never too bad(thank goodness for Advil!)

Fast forward to almost week later and I still have a huge purplish yellow bruise on the arm that got the tetanus shot. The nurse said it wouldn't hurt when she gave the shot, and she was right.It did hurt afterwards but it was never that bad. It's just amazing to me that this bruise has stayed around for as long as it has. Not doubting her ability to give shots, just wondering if that's normal for tetanus.

Ideally, I would have waited and had the tetanus shot later, because the flu shot is really more important(and I'm glad I got it-I feel protected) but my doctor was insisted about me getting the tetanus shot and he wasn't going to take "No" for an answer. I'm not a big fan of when doctors kind of push shots like that, but if he says I really need them,then okay. When I insisted that the tetanus shot could wait, the doctor, who was on a computer just outside of the examining room, closed the door on me! Which is unprofessional, at best. Next time around,I'm going to put my foot down a little more.

[i hate the duggars]

2011-12-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

There.I said it. I feel badly that Michelle Duggar miscarried her 20th child recently but really.. she and her husband Jim Bob need to take this as a sign that they might want to stop. I have a strange feeling that they won't, though.

There was a backlash when they announced that Michelle was pregnant with #20(who was named Jubilee Shalom-no comment). Even though they claim not to watch TV or go on the intarwebs, they have to be aware that there is an increasing backlash against what they are doing. And if they aren't aware of it, then TLC, which airs their show does. And this latest turn of events has to have them seriously considering whether to keep the Dugggars' show going.

I get that they think children are a gift from god, etc. etc. but there are big families(my dad has four brothers and sisters) and the Duggars. The problem is, having all those children has come at a HUGE price for Michelle Duggar's health. The doctor warned her that there was a potential for all sorts of health problems for her. She had a lot of health problems with her last baby who was born extremely prematurely, and that pregnancy almost killed both her and the baby.

There was a lot of tut-tuting about her pregnancy with her 19th child. The Duggars claim that #19-named Josie- does not have any permanent handicaps from being so premature but looking at pictures of her it's obvious that she does.

And Michelle Duggar is constantly cropping up on the "Trending Now" thing on Yahoo. Because she keeps updating the media with what is going on with her. I know this is an unpopular opinion but..it's attention whoring. Even the entertainment shows like Entertainment Tonight aren't covering them anymore.

The best thing would be for TLC to cancel their show. TLC is enabling them by keeping their show on the air.The Duggars know that if they quit having kids, their gravy train is going bye bye. Which would be unfortunate for them.

However, I see what Michelle is doing as a form of self-harming. She's harming herself-she wants to have children because she thinks it's her Christian duty and will do so until it permanently injures her-or kills her. What she is doing is-for lack of a better word-compulsive-and she's harming her children. She basically gives the younger kids over to their older siblings to raise them. There has been a lot of criticism of her doing that(and rightfully so). There have been a lot of questions about her sanity(again, rightfully so).

[my favourite time of year]

2011-12-12T07:56:00.000-08:00

It doesn't take much for me to get into the holiday spirit, whether it be Christmas music, or movies, or what have you.

Cooking is one of my favourite things to do around the holidays. Christmas(and Thanksgiving too) bring out my inner Martha Stewart. I love cooking a side for Christmas dinner.Just the other day I made peanut brittle(gotta have it this time of year!). Speaking of holiday foods, I LOVE clementines(a type of Mandarin orange). Starting to see them in the stores more year-round but they're just not as good.

The weather is even Christmas-y(it's raining as I write this-a good thing since we need the rain).

Normally, I don't like wrapping presents, but this year it was easy. I kinda got things organised before I started, and I think that was a big help for me. Must remember to do that every year from now on.

One thing that I like to do is drive around and look at Christmas lights. We've got some impressive ones around here.There used to be a guy who lived down the street who I called "Clark Griswold" because he house and front laen really was like something out of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. He moved, and the people who live there don't go in for Christmas lights. Which is a shame.

[songs that get stuck in your head,christmas edition]

2011-12-11T08:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas Wrapping-The Waitresses

Do They Know It's Christmas-Band Aid

Christmastime Is Here

The Chipmunk Song(Christmas Don't Be Late)

Baby It's Cold Outside

Wonderful Christmastime-Paul McCartney

[odds and ends, 12/10/11]

2011-12-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

*Got to see the total eclipse(but not of the heart) this morning.Whenever I hear the word "eclipse" I think of that song. [/child of the 80's]

*Went to my doctor on Thursday. Got a good report as well as a jab(shot)in each arm. still slightly sore but nothing I can't handle. That's what Advil is good for.

*Not too long ago I was talking about all of the changes to the Catholic Mass and how I was a bit resistent to all of the changes.Well, I went to Mass last Sunday(for the first time in a while) and..I didn't hate it. Will be going again pretty soon.

*Movie I am looking forwards to: Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close. Tom Hanks plays a man who is killed on 9/11 and Sandra Bullock(LOVE her) plays his wife. I'm blanking on the name of the son, but he follows a trail of clues that his father left for him. Potential Oscar material, IMO and very emotional,considering the subject matter.

*Anthony Bourdain has a new show called The Layover. Great stuff.Last week he was in Rome. Oh my gosh I wish I could go to Rome. So far he's been to New York City and Rome.Next week he's going to Miami.

*Michelle Duggar miscarried her 20th baby. Honestly,I can't say that I am all that surprised. Her doctors have told her that having so many kids is dangerous to her as well as for the baby. She almost died giving birth to her 19th baby who was extremely premature and said baby *still* has health problems(and probably will her entire life.) Hopefully they'll take this as a sign that they REALLY shouldn't have any more kids.

[the batsh!t continues unabated]

2011-12-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

Cruise Critic is an endless source of WTF- people asking about going on a cruise after bariatric surgery??? From what I've seen of a few Cruise Critic posters,those are not people who would be able to control themselves and not have their stomachs explode from overeating if they had had bariatric surgery.

There was a thread about a bad experience someone had on one of the Holland America ships.I was amazed that RonJoan( Cruise Critic's most obnoxious geriatric poster) didn't come out of the woodwork with that one to be quite honest-it's the sort of post he can't stand.

Meanwhile, over at Lovedamships Review, they dish it out but they can't take it.I've noticed that David SF1( From here on out I am calling him Fakey Brit..because he's not British)'s fake Brit-ness becomes more pronounced when he's angry-as if he's trying to make a point or something.All it does is make him look like an idiot.

The idiots(not going to lapse into Fakey Brit-speak here) at Lovedamships Review can't stand being corrected. But they think their over-correcting of people(really closer to harassment and bullying to be quite honest) is fine and dandy but it isn't. They would LOVE to think that everyone loves them and that they are well-respected people on Cruise Critic.The truth is quite a bit different.

[christmastime in san diego]

2011-12-08T07:07:00.000-08:00

Even though our weather out here is pretty warm(though not at night-the last 2 nights running I've worn long johns underneath my pyjamas!),we get into the Christmas spirit, just like everywhere else.

It wouldn't be Christmas without the Hotel Del Christmas tree-something definitely worth seeing if you are in San Diego this time of year-as well as all the malls decorated for Christmas. And skating rinks-we have several temporary skating rinks-one outside at the Hotel Del-where you can skate and look out at the Pacific ocean-an amazing view-and the other is downtown, across from Horton Plaza. Never skated at either of them but I have stood outside and watched people skate. It reminds me of the Charlie Brown Christmas special,lol.

Balboa Park is always decorated for Christmas. I love going there at Christmastime because they do a lot of decorating.A few years back we went to see an exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art(they always have the best stuff there!) and had lunch at the bar in the Prado. Took for-freaking-ever but it was very festive and the food(I had chips and cheese dip which came with a basket of tortilla chips-including red and green ones, especially for the season) was good.

[what I'm reading, december 2011]

2011-12-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman. It's about a 13-year old girl(living in 1960's Louisiana) who travels back in time to Antebellum Louisiana and is a slave(she can pass for white-because she is-and there are hints she may have some black heritage from a great-great great(?) relative.

Well written, and well researched(Delia Sherman did her research when writing this book). it would definitely qualify as historical fiction(something I am very interested in). Reading about certain things rather specific to Louisiana(Chicory coffee!) made me think of visits to my family there.

The main character, Sophie is living with her aunt and grandmother in a house that has seen better days. Sophie is living with them whilst her mother goes to school. Her father has scandalised the family by leaving and going to New York City, marrying a woman named Judith Horowitz-very foreign to Louisianans even back then-and especially in a small town like Sophie and her aunt and grandmother live in.

I won't spoil too much of the book, but it's a good one-and a great version of the time travel story(some of them are better than others-Slaughterhouse Five-one of my favourite books-is one of the good ones. )

[movies I love]

2011-12-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

Secrets And Lies(1996)

Director:Mike Leigh

When Hortense(Marianne Jean--Baptiste)'s adopted mother dies, she goes looking for her birth mother and finds Cynthia(Brenda Blethyn), who never expected to meet her adopted daughter(we find out later on that she didn't even look at Hortense when she was born so had no idea that she was black. It comes as just as much of a shock for Hortense.

Mother and daughter make up for lost time after some initial wariness of each other, and Cynthia invites Hortense to her daughter Roxanne(Claire Rushbrook)'s birthday party,telling everyone that she is a co-worker. When the truth comes out, it's a shock for the entire family- Cynthia's brother Maurice(Timothy Spall) and sister-in-law Monica(Phyllis Logan), and their parents are the only ones who knew-and in a strange irony, Maurice and Monica are unable to have children-could they have raised Hortense as their own? There's a hint that Hortense's father may have raped Cynthia-so for that reason it was better that Hortense was put up for adoption. By all accounts, Hortense had a happy childhood-would she had had one if she was raised with Maurice and Monica? It's a big question mark to say the least.

Secrets And Lies hits a lot of nerves with me. For one thing,I was adopted.I also am half white. So I could relate to this movie wayyyy more than you know! The issues of race, and identity, and family are not usually discussed.But Mike Leigh puts them out there-almost to the point of discomfort at times.

[my taste in tastes]

2011-12-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

I have a very varied palate.Even from a young age I would eat things that most kids would not touch with a 10-foot-pole. When I was a kid we would go to a certain restaraunt and my parents would order steamed clams.My brothers and I would all eat them. Amazing, since my brothers were-still are-both very picky eaters!

But I have very strange taste-I like combos of food that most people would consider strange-I love combos like salty and sweet, salty and spicy and spicy and sweet(If you ever get a chance to have spiced hot chocolate with chiles in, do. It's a taste treat.Probably not to everyone's liking though.)

I love vinegar-y food(Tabasco and barbecue sauce are two of my favourite condiments) and love anything pickled(though I really shouldn't, I know). I've never tried kimchee(a pickled cabbage which is very spicy-I mentioned it in a recent post-it's two tastes I love-vinegar-y and spicy-in one dish. )

Kettle corn is my favourite salty and sweet combo(though sea salt caramels are a very close second). You get salty in one bite and sweet in another. The best place to get kettle corn is at farmer's markets.

There are certain combos that I think must be specific to me(though they probably aren't). When I go to a Indian food buffet, I like to get the Chicken Tikka Masala, and mix it with raita which is a yogurt and cucumber condiment. The yogurt tames the spiciness of the Chicken Tikka Masala-depending on how spicy the restaraunt makes it which usually isn't too spicy but I like it spicy! I also always have to have garlic naan bread and plain rice-the place I usually go to serves a rice with coconut in on their buffet. I'm allergic to coconut, thus the plain rice. They don't seem to mind special requests, so that's good!

[a street named for a great man]

2011-12-04T07:34:00.000-08:00

They are trying to get a street named for Harvey Milk in Hillcrest. If it happens, it most likely won't be until next year. It's really an awesome way to honour him, I think.

He already has several places(including a school for gay lesbian bisexual and transgendered kids) named after him- to say nothing of the movie that was made of his life, with Sean Penn playing Harvey Milk(a role that got him an Academy Award, it must be noted)

Harvey was the first openly gay person to run for public office-something that was unheard of then.

[odds and ends,12/3/11]

2011-12-03T12:06:00.000-08:00

*Has anyone else heard about My Tram Experience?It's a video of a woman on a London train, going on a racist rant(go to Youtube to see it). It boggles my mind how she didn't get the living sh!t kicked out of her!

*I finally got around to watching the Gabby Giffords interview that aired a few weeks ago. It was very moving.

*The local weathermen have a strange standard for "severe weather". Just a chance of rain is considered severe. And they were freaking out when it was supposed to be very windy the other day.That turned out to be a non-event.

*A kid got taken away from his parents because he weighed 200 pounds. The kid was 8 years old. Supposedly the parents weren't really doing anything to help the kid lose the weight, either. The kid was on his way to being diabetic, and already had sleep apnea.

[seriously.best news i've heard in a while]

2011-12-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

Heh. Carnival Cruise Lines has pretty much washed their hands of Cruise Critic.I can't say I blame them all that much. I really hope that other cruise lines follow suit very soon. With Holland America being next in line. I KNOW people have been scared off because of replies to posts(but that's the "friendly" welcome they get the first time they post there, dont'chaknow?)

The Holland America boards are awful-even worse than Carnival's. I've heard several people say that they think the people on the Holland America boards are very nice, especially to newcomers.I think that's a load of crap.

There's other, better boards out there. I hate to say this but I hope Cruise Critic *doesn't* go out of buisness-because then those boards would be overrun with former Cruise Critic posters who would turn those boards into Cruise Critic 2.0. Which is something we do NOT need.

Cruise Critic already has a terrible reputation in the travel industry, and for a cruise line not to have anything to do with them is shaming them-something that should have been done a long time ago. The stuff that Cruise Critic does is seriously shady.I think if the higher ups(and not the people who are playing at running the place) *truly* knew what was going on there, the place would be closed down so fast it's not even funny.

Cruise Critic is in bed with these cruise ship companies(some of them more than others) and they definitely have a bias towards some of them. Which is a problem. Carnival-to their credit-has decided to do something about it, and I say good for them.

[buyer beware,indeed]

2011-12-01T07:27:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to post something about Craigslist for a while now.Now, I'm sure there are plenty of people on there that aren't sketchy, and it's a great way to get rid of stuff you don't want and even *shudder* hook up.If I'm trying to find someone to hook up with,I sure as hell am not doing so on Craigslist, that is for sure.

Then you have all the horror stories. Several people have been killed by people on Craigslist.That's the sort of thing that freaks me out.

My friend Waterbaby has found several roommates through Craiglist. They all went bad.That right there is why a)I will never have a roommate and b)If I *were* looking for a roommate I would NOT look on Craigslist. It went more than a little wrong.

[christmas decorations?in target?in october? nein danke]

2011-11-30T15:03:00.000-08:00

It seems like "Christmas Creep" is,erm, creeping in earlier and earlier every year. During the run-up to Halloween, there is always a small corner of Target where they have a few Christmas decorations. And we're only just past Halloween when the rest of the Christmas stuff is in Target. That isn't even the worst thing though, not even freaking close.

I was WTF when I walked in Target a day or so after Halloween and right as you walked in they had a HUGE "Merry Christmas" banner hanging up Ugh.

For some reason, hearing Christmas music a few months early doesn't bother me(I can listen to Christmas music year-round) but sometimes you'll hear Christmas music in the middle of summer. Just a guess but I think those are automated systems, in stores,that will come up with a Christmas song, randomly. Like I said,I like Christmas music.Some of it I like more than others. The soft jazzy stuff, not so much...The Charlie Brown Christmas special soundtrack is a favourite of mine.

[good food..good for me?well, no]

2011-11-29T15:18:00.000-08:00

I have family from Oklahoma and Louisiana. I love visiting family in that part of the country. I just visited my brother in Oklahoma..some good food there to be sure.

Okra is wonderful-but for those of you who say you don't like it because it's slimy..try fried okra.It will make a fan out of you. They also sell fried pickles at the Sonics(fast food chain) there.Not sure if that's a regional thing, but they're delicious. You have to like pickles, though.

Some of the best BBQ I have had(though the best is actually in Encinitas-Brett's BBQ-as close as we get to Texas/Oklahoma BBQ around here) was in Oklahoma.

Grits are pretty delicious-and there are a lot of places that have them around here-believe it or not, Denny's makes really good grits,but they put a ton of butter on them. I'd never heard of black eyed peas(not the band) until half a dozen years ago or more. My mom always makes them on New Year's Day(which is considered good luck.) I've had collard greens exactly once. I thought they were just OK though. I had cornbread stuffing for the first time this Thanksgiving..it's SO good.But I love cornbread anyways!

Red Velvet Cake(especially in cupcake form!) is awesome, even if it does dye your tongue and lips red-it makes you look like you're wearing lipstick! Pecan pie(especially the way I make it) is awesome.You have to use cane syrup instead of Karo. It taste SO much better!

[what part of "It was a peaceful protest" did they not get?]

2011-11-28T17:31:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to talk about the protesters getting pepper sprayed at UC Davis.Granted,I don't get the whole Occupy thing, but they were doing so peacefully. I know Davis well, my brother went to college there. It's generally a pretty cool place. People were outraged, and rightfully so.

Then,there was an incident on Black Friday where a woman pepper sprayed her fellow shoppers so that she could be the first person to get a stupid video game.Even more shockingly, she is probably not going to be charged.(and I've just read that she was doing it in self defense.Allegedly.) To be fair, in the past few years there have been stories of people getting caught in huge mobs and almost being trampled(and one guy was trampled at a Wal Mart a few years ago).

I don't do the Black Friday thing.Mostly because I would never get up early/spend all night camped out at a store, and also because I'm done with my Christmas shopping well before Black Friday-I couldn't have done this year because I was on a plane pretty much most of the day.

[movies with downer endings]

2011-11-27T12:25:00.000-08:00

Seeing the end of the Nicolas Cage movie Knowing this morning reminded me that I have been meaning to write a post about movies with sad/depressing endings. I was thinking about it after I saw Melancholia that there are a lot of movies that have those endings . The end of Knowing is definitely a downer to be sure.

Other movies with sad endings:

Melancholia(obvs.)

No Country For Old Men( the bad guy gets away with it!)

Switch(A Ellen Barkin movie from the early 90's. If you think about it, the ending to the movie is pretty obvious(I won't spoil it, even though it's an awful movie-2 hours of my life I'm never going to get back indeed. )

The Seventh Sign A horror movie-it seems like a LOT of horror movies have downer endings, and this movie is no exception. I am going to spoil this one..Demi Moore's character dies to save the world from the Apocalypse.

Even though it's a TV movie, The Day After has a not particularly optimistic ending.

[odds and ends, 11/26/11]

2011-11-26T12:17:00.000-08:00

This is the Oklahoma City -centric Odds And Ends, given that I just got back from there yesterday!

*When I was going to Oklahoma City, I had to go through a body scanner in the San Diego airport.Now,I'd seen a body scanner(this was before all the brouhaha about them started) but hadn't been through one.It wasn't a big deal.

*Oklahoma has some seriously good eating places, we went to Cracker Barrel-I'd never been to one before- I am definitely a fan now! It's not very healthy though but screw it-I'm on vacation!

*I had a fun time in Oklahoma, but it went by way too fast for my liking. The weather was nice, if not a bit chilly-it was REALLY cold the night I got there and of course I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt(OK for San Diego, not so much for Oklahoma City in November!) I was hoping that it might get cold enough that it would snow but it didn't.

*My brother and his wife and my nephew(who is 15 and taller than me!) just moved into a new house,and even though there was quite a bit of unpacking to do when I got there, it still looked really good.

[the plot sickens..or thickens..one of them,anyways]

2011-11-25T19:18:00.000-08:00

It has come to light that Rev. Dbag from the Lovedamships Review blog did something that proves just why he has that nickname. What did he do?

He took pictures of passengers that he thought were not dressed formally enough-without their permission mind you-and posted them-with lots of petty comments- on a thread on Cruise Critic. He came in for a LOT of sh!t for it-but of course his feelings got hurt-because when he does things like that he only does it with the best of intentions(which is a total crock, of course.)

Of course, the people at Lovedamships Review think their "corrective commentary" is, well, correct and David the Fake Brit posted something about how the people at Lovedamships do nothing but pick Cruise Critic(and Lovedamships Review) apart. You know what, it's a free country, and secondly, some of the criticism of Cruise Critic is very fair. It's the same stuff-the same topics-being discussed over and over again. I'm glad that I can't post there anymore.It's very disheartening to go there to read only and see the same discussions going on ad nauseum. With an emphasis on "nauseum".

If you make a big deal about your feelings about certain things(the poster I call JabbaC always goes on and on about Holland America's chocolate and the food constantly), and being as obnoxious as she is about many things(she's one of the people that is always getting in the faces of anyone who disagrees with her about dress codes.)

The Lovedamships Review people can dish it out(or so they think) but they can't take it. Boy can they ever dish it out.About petty stuff, mind you. While the Lovedamships people give as good as they get. They could care less. They just keep it up and it makes the Lovedamships Review people crazy.

[i'm on an all-carb diet]

2011-11-24T18:03:00.000-08:00

*Bonus points if you know what movie that's from without looking it up!

It's not true all the time, but it's sure true today! I have ingested so many carbs today it is not even funny! However, it IS Thanksgiving, so I think I can be forgiven for doing so. We had the usual sides for dinner, as well as a broccoli,rice and cheese casserole(one of my sister-in-law's specialties) and pie for dessert(Pecan-one of my favourites..and a staple in Oklahoma for the holidays.) On the plus side, I don't feel like I ate *too* much, so there is that!

I am thankful for so many things-my family, my friends, my health..I could go on and on but I just think I'll mention a few things and leave it at that.

[people will talk]

2011-11-23T10:44:00.000-08:00

The Oh No They Didn't community on Livejournal is very interesting. I enjoy reading it(like getting caught up on all of the latest gossip). Whenever I go somewhere where I don't have access to a computer,when I get home,I wind up spending quite a long time at ONTD(for short) trying to get all caught up.

It's weird because there are some weird attachments that people have to certain celebrities. Like when Amy Winehouse was alive, there were a lot of people who were making excuses for her-there was a lot of "well, eventually she'll get her act together". We all know how *that* ended, don't we? Amy had a lot more people around her NOT helping her to get better-if anything she was being majorly enabled. But I digress.

There are a LOT of pro-Twilight posts. Look, I know it's a HUGE phenomenon and all, but I have to roll my eyes every time I see a pro-Twilight post.

People run hot and cold on Madonna. Right now, I run cold on her. I liked her music back in the day but now I think she's become one of the most fake people on earth, if not the fakest. The latest thing that all of her supporters have been going on about is her movie about King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. It's been getting majorly panned. I'm surprised that she's trying to portray them in a sympathetic light, given the fact that they were known Nazi sympathisisers(something that is often noted in portrayals of them).

[food obsessions,asian edition]

2011-11-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

Kimchi. I love anything pickled. Anything that is pickled *and* spicy,doubly so.

Broth dumplings:They're just like what they sound like.I believe the broth is frozen(in a brot-sicle?) and then steamed or boiled.

Peking duck:I'm not a big fan of duck, but I saw Peking duck on the Food Network the other day and now I really want to try it.

Sriacha:A hot sauce which is on the table at Asian restaraunts(and available to buy in most good supermarkets). It's very spicy, though.

[it won't really be the crystal cathedral anymore]

2011-11-21T11:33:00.000-08:00

So Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral has been bought..by the Catholic Church, of all people. It's going to belong to the Crystal Cathedral people for 3 more years and then it goes into the hands of the Catholic Church, who are going to do a lot of changes to it.

I know it's well loved by people all over Southern California, but it's always come off as a bit gaudy to me. I'm hoping that the church tones the gaudiness(is that even a word?Oh well) down a bit, though it's not like the Catholic Church doesn't know how to do gaudy(the Catholic Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles is a perfect example of this.)

What to call it, though? The Church Formerly Known As The Crystal Cathedral(TCFKATCC for short) is a good one.

[as a cancer survivor,i find this very upsetting]

2011-11-20T11:12:00.000-08:00

On occasion I listen to the Alex Jones show for sh!ts and giggles. The other day he was talking about the fact that the chemo they use for aggressive cancers(especially breast cancer) causes brain damage.

Alex Jones is the sort who is wary of doctors. He thinks that things are better cured by herbs and by natural cures than by going to a doctor. I do think where you can, you should try to use natural cures. But to rely on them all of the time? That, to me, is where it gets a bit dicey.

Yes, chemo is aggressive. God help you if you have a type of cancer that is difficult to treat. But would you rather try and cure something with herbs, and *maybe* have it work, or try chemo and maybe have it get you into remission, or maybe even give you a few more years of life,even if you have some side effects from it.

Me,I was lucky. I had a very treatable form of cancer(I didn't even have to have chemo) and am almost 10 years cancer free.

By a strange coincidence, San Diego is one of the places where they do a lot of cutting edge treatment for cancer.Mind you, it's not cheap. But if you have cancer and you live here, you have options.

[odds and ends, 11/19/11]

2011-11-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

A day late,I know but I had to talk about the whole CruiseCritic/Lovedamships/Lovedamships Review thing.

*I made mashed potatoes for dinner last Sunday.The real thing, not instant(though instant is perfectly acceptable in some instances, like when I make my sheperd's pie. )I fried bacon and garlic, and added it to the potatoes.It was crazy delicious!

*I have one gift left to buy and I will be done with my Christmas shopping.Go team me!

*Starbuck's has their Christmas cups now.Love those!

*On Monday,I will be going to Oklahoma City and spending Thanksgiving with my brother and his wife and my nephew.

* The trailer for The Hunger Games movie is out and..I am impressed.I don't think I'll be in line to be one of the first people to see it, but I will see it.I read The Hunger Games on my cruise earlier this year and loved it-and immediately got the other two books in the series.

*Got my haircut and have been getting a ton of compliments on it.I finally have gotten over my fear of Supercuts-I like the way they cut my hair-and it's certainly the right price-but I don't love the arm twisting I get to try and get me to buy hair treatments I don't need and overpriced shampoo and conditioner.

[ it's not just me]

2011-11-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

DavidSF1, who runs the bullies blog(that does "Corrective commentary" for the posts on the Lovedamships blog) is the biggest fake.And I am not the only one who has picked up on this. He claims to be a retired ships' officer(from one of the HAL ships I believe). He also claims to be British.

Well, he's not. He overdoes the use of the British words. He uses them so much it's a parody of how a British person would talk.

So, they posted a fake Dummies cover over at Lovedamships-and the title was "British Accents for Wankers"(one of his favourite words) Also on the cover it said "Talk to yourself in two accents", "Impress nobody"(ain't that the truth!) and "Unleash the a$$hole in you-pretend to be a retired ship's officer". It's so true it is not even funny.

Of course DavidSF1 went on the defensive(he doesn't think he's a bit fake even though he knows a lot of people can see right through him(and his "Britishness"). He and quite a few other people use their connections with Holland America and throw their weight around(literally, in the case of JabbaC.)

I still take a peek at CruiseCritic every so often(I can't post, though)-same old sh!t different day- the food is VERY important to some-there are people who sail with Holland America purely because of the food-and yes, it's good-don't get me wrong, but it's more than the food, for me. Mind you, some of the people who are *so* in love with the food could stand to miss a few meals.Just sayin'.

The "You must respect me/civilisation is going in the toilet!!" crowd are all still there(the second bit is because apparently on some sailings there are less and less formal nights-another thing that is of a LOT of importance -to the point of "OK, we get it, STFU already!"

And yes, the balcony door debate rages on. Interestingly, the Zuiderdam is the ship that seems to have the most A/C problems. One of the posters at CruiseCritic said:

"Some people love HAL so much, even if the ship sank, it would be caused by a bad passenger".

Very very very very true.

EDITED TO ADD:

Someone said that Rev. D-bag should come back and comment on a thread.Someone else commented "Oh no, anything but Rev. D-bag!".Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks he's completely insufferable!

[i've got a bad feeling about this]

2011-11-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

The Catholic Church is making some major changes to wording during the Mass.Instead of saying "And also with you" after the priest says "The Lord Be With You", we'll be saying "And with your spirit.".

That is going to take some getting used to.I've been doing things a certain way for so.many.years it will seems strange,but I'll give it a chance-a a few times at least.If I don't like it,I'll try a non-denominational church-maybe a few of them-to see if there is one that I like.

I'm sure that I am not the only one who isn't exactly crazy about the changes that the Church is making-and I've said this before but it seems like the church is going backwards, not forwards. You'd be surprised how many people think the going backwards thing is a good idea.There's a movement within the Catholic Church to go more towards the pre-Vatican II era. Most of them are in their 50's, 60's and even 70's and 80's(they would have been old enough to remember what it was like before Vatican II). These are people that were not happy with reforms like folk Masses and the Mass being in English and not Latin(The Mass being only in English is the best thing that ever happened to the church according to my dad).

[serious case of "what are they thinking?"]

2011-11-16T08:06:00.000-08:00

So the new James Bond movie-Spyfall-is supposed to be done by late fall next year-basically a year from now-though it will be out a week or so earlier in the UK. This means they will be rushing to get the movie done in time, to the movie's detriment, if you ask me.

They only just announced details of the movie(cast, locations, etc.) and the movie just started filming. I don't know how anything that has been thrown together so quickly is going to be any good-seriously.They're leaving things 'till the last(almost literally!).

Add to all of this the speculation that goes on in the tabloids...they have said at least half a dozen actresses are going to be Bond girls-hell, they could say that the Queen of England was going to be a Bond girl-I can imagine some of the discussions on the fanboy boards if someone put that rumour out there. Plus, there are always people "In the know" who make up all sorts of stuff-who is going to be in the movie,plot elements,that sort of thing.

Not crazy about the title of the film-as I have said before, it sounds like a video game(and quite a few people agree with me on that one!). I'll be interested to see what's up with the plot.Several people have suggested that Judi Dench's M be killed off-which I don't agree with.If M is going to retire she should have a real goodbye-or have it happen off camera. But I kind of hope Dame Judi sticks around for a few more Bond films-as long as she can still do it. She's 76-will be 77 in a few weeks.

[what I'm reading, mid-november 2011]

2011-11-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

So far this month I've read:

Love Times Three -Joe,Alina, Vicki and Valerie Darger

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me(And Other Concerns)-Mindy Kaling

The Rum Diary-Hunter S. Thompson

The Magician King-Lev Grossman

Now I'm reading To The Moon And Back by Jill Mansell-a sort of chick-lit thing-but it's actually way better than most of the the chick lit stuff out there.

(I'm looking at you,Sophie Kinsella/Madeline Wickham..you should have stopped the Shopaholic series with your main character getting married but no......you had to stretch it out into a book with her finding out she was pregnant, and then a book with her and her daughter, who is now 2 years old. Seriously, the best way to have ended the series was with your main character broke, and divorced from her husband, who, even though *he's* a total jagoff, really deserves better. Your books as Madeline Wickham are awful as well.Read one of them... was never so glad to be done reading a book as when I finished reading one of the MW books.[/rant]

The Jill Mansell book is the 45th book I've read this year, which means that I am closing in on 50 books, and I'll have gotten to 50 books by the end of the year,easily. Maybe I'll try for 75 books next year(it's good to have a goal!)

[a duran duran fan documentary-a niche subject, to be sure, but fascinating even so]

2011-11-14T17:30:00.000-08:00

I watched a documentary called Something You Should Know, about Duran Duran fans. Seeing the pictures of fans from back in the day(wearing fedoras-because one of the people in the band wore one), denim jackets covered with pins(I never understood the denim jacket thing but yup,I had one, and it was covered with pins!) and dyed blonde hair right in the front(like John Taylor did back in the day-it's amazing how many fans had those back in the day-and some of them still do!

The best part was that they interviewed a wide cross section of fans-not just female fans-there were a few male Duran fans (Durmanies?), including Jonathan Davis from Korn, who said he used to get made fun of for liking them, and for dressing like them, too(Granted, he grew up in a po-dunk town-and I'm sure it was that way for a lot of Durmanies, even for ones who lived in more cosmopolitan areas. )

It was amazing how long some of the people had been fans-they interviewed several people who had been at Duran Duran's first show in Los Angeles back in the day.(I would have loved to have been at those first few North American shows!)

They interviewed a fan named Durandy, who has an absolutely *astounding* collection of Duran Duran memorabilia-more even that Nick Rhodes, and he has even put on exhibitions of his collection. He has a website online that is really fun to look at.

The female fans are so funny-one of them had one of her old scrapbooks with all of the band's birthdays written in the back(I did that too-and their astrological signs!). There were interviews with celebrity fans, including Kelly Ripa, who talked about how her walls were covered with Duran Duran posters and pictures-sometimes even up to the ceiling(ditto-well, not to the ceiling.)

There were fans that have been following the band for *years*- in the interviews with the band(another great thing about this documentary) , Roger Taylor, the drummer was talking about how he has seen some of the fans for years grow up-they were teenagers when they first started going to concerts. How do you think we feel-Duran Duran were in their 20's back in the day, which made them much older than the vast majority of their fans.

Anyways, a fun trip down memory lane for me. :)

[we could be heroes, just for one day]

2011-11-13T13:02:00.000-08:00

People I admire:

Nelson Mandela

Aron Ralston(the guy who cut his arm off-incredible he survived that!)

Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger(Anyone who can land a plane in the Hudson River and get everyone out safely is Bad.Ass. :) )

Julia Child/ Anthony Bourdain:Say what you will about Bourdain-I know he annoys some people- Julia Child, for me-as someone who loves to cook- is an inspiration.

Pope John Paul II: Pope John Paul was very beloved of a lot of people-myself included. You can't really say that about Benedict the 16th.He seems to be taking more steps backwards, putting the Catholic church back in the dark ages. In any case, there has been a lot of call to canonise Pope John Paul II and I agree with that wholeheartedly.

[Melancholia(2011)]

2011-11-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

Originally I was going to post something else but I decided to post a review of Melancholia. I saw it yesterday and it is sticking with me in big way.The visuals in the movie are stunning-so is the acting.

Warning:The following review contains spoilers.If you are planning in seeing this movie, quit reading now.Seriously.

It begins with a dreamlike nearly 10 minute prologue (scored to music from Tristan and Isolde-a recurring theme in the movie. Director Lars Von Trier's direction of those scenes-among them birds falling from the sky and Kirsten Dunst's Justine floating down a river ala Ophelia, are among them.

Then the title card and it goes into the first part of the story, "Justine", which takes place at the wedding reception of Justine and Mike(Alexander Skarsgard). The wedding is being held at the home of Justine's sister(Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her husband John(Kiefer Sutherland, who is a amateur astronomer-this comes into play later.) Justine and Mike's marriage is a sham-a loveless marriage-you wonder why the hell they married in the first place and at the end of the wedding reception he leaves, never to be seen again. Adding to the drama are Claire and Justine's parents, Gaby(Charlotte Rampling) and Dexter(John Hurt) a dotty philanderer.

During the wedding reception, Justine comments on a star she sees in the sky, and is told by John that it is the planet Antares. In the second part, "Claire", it is revealed that what they saw is Melancholia a planet that has been hiding behind the sun(not sure how nobody noticed it before.I call slight BS on that one)

Justine clearly is going through a lot-she has family issues up the wazoo-her mother is one of the most contentious people-at one point John tries to throw her out of the house-during the wedding reception. John is tired of his mother-in-law and sister-in-law's erratic behaviour-during her own reception Justine does these things:Takes a nap, takes a bath, and has sex with someone who is almost a complete stranger-in a sand trap on a golf course no less.

There are some excellent supporting roles(Udo Kier is especially good, as a prissy wedding planner,Stellan Skarsgard as Justine's jerky boss-and yes, he's Alexander's father) and Jesper Christensen as Little Father, the butler.)

In the second part, "Claire", Justine comes to stay with Claire and Mike whilst she is dealing with a severe depression. She gets a lot of strength from her young nephew, Leo(Cameron Spurr)-the scenes with Justine and Leo at the end of the movie are almost heartbreaking for me to watch, as someone with 3 nephews myself.)

Melancholia is scheduled to make a fly by of Earth-that doesn't mean that they aren't worried about it-but John assures them that nothing will happen, and indeed Melancholia does do a fly by. By now, Justine has emerged from her depression.

It turns out that John was wrong, and Melancholia is coming back and is going to hit the Earth. John, realising he was wrong, commits suicide.

Justine and Leo build a fort out of sticks and they, along with Claire, get in it to wait for Melancholia to hit the Earth, which it does.

There is all kinds of symbolism in the movie-Justine's dream that is the prologue at the beginning of the movie, and the fact that the horse Justine rides refuses to go past a certain point on John and Claire's property, among other things. There is extensive use of light and shadow,and the visual of both Melancholia and the moon in the night sky(Melancholia is also visible in the daytime).

There's strange coincidences-the horses seem to know what is going on, but once John commits suicide, the horses are calm, and birds stop chirping.It's almost as if they know what's about to happen. And the power goes out just as Claire is about to print out an article about what's really going to happen with Melancholia.

Anyways,I really enjoyed it-10 out of 10.

[odds and ends, 11/11/11]

2011-11-11T20:49:00.000-08:00

*Today is my nephew Eddie's 11th birthday. There was a party at my parents' house with a big dinner,presents, and cake.

*We got rain(which we need).We're supposed to have some rain tomorrow but not like what we got a few days ago.

*I didn't think the anti-vaccine thing could get any more insane and then I hear about some insane woman in Tennessee who is selling lollipops that have been licked by kids who have chicken pox. Yeah."Batsh!t crazy "doesn't even begin to cover it.

*The Duggars, the Arkansas family who have 19 kids, just announced that they are expecting number 20.And are coming under a lot of fire for it. She is 45 and had a lot of health problems with her last baby. Not only that, her 19th baby was extremely premature and was in the hospital for a long time. I mean,I hope everything is OK but I hope the backlash makes them think about having a 21st baby.

*Last week on Extreme Home Makeover they built a house for a soldier who had PTSD. Noise was one of his triggers,so it was soundproofed and he couldn't hear any outside noise.I don't like a lot of noise, so I can relate to that.

*Andy Rooney died(grew up watching him on 60 Minutes-we watched it most Sundays when I was a kid.)

*Saw Melancholia today.Great movie.Didn't even mind that I had to leave my house at 9 this morning to get there in time(the movie started at 1). It's also playing at the Landmark theater in Hillcrest but I didn't want to make the trek-I have before, just didn't feel like it today)

[must have been all the corners i cut]

2011-11-10T06:36:00.000-08:00

I tried making a new recipe-a cheesy potato casserole -the other day. Now, casseroles of this sort are famously rich and filled with fat, so I decided to lighten it. I got rather mixed results.

Instead of 4 or 5 cups of cheese, I only used 2.I used the smallest carton of sour cream that they had.

So you mix the sour cream and cream of chicken soup together(some recipes call for milk and for it to be cooked on the stove), salt and pepper(which I did not add-I did however add Tabasco but you couldn't taste it.)

Then I thawed out a pound bag of hash browns and added the soup and cheese to it. Then I topped it with baked potato chips(another change to the recipe.) I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it,either.

I think if I ever made it again I wouldn't lighten it quite as much.I might add more to it- there are a zillion variations on this recipe-some call for green onions(which would be delicious with the potatoes) and ham(ditto).Pretty much anything that goes good with potatoes would be really delicious in there,really.

[i am so over cruise critic.seriously.]

2011-11-09T07:59:00.000-08:00

Yeah,I know I've said it before, but this time I mean it. The same people bullying others over trivial sh!t is getting on my last nerve. There was another thread about balcony doors(well, actually someone wondered if windows open-like a porthole.)

That set all of the usual people off, of course. People get that it's something that isn't supposed to be done, but the thread becomes nothing but "You know you're not supposed to do that!!!".

To the bullies, people who openly admit that they leave their balcony doors open are on the same level of evil as Hitler and Osama Bin Laden. I wish I could say I was exaggerating on that one, but I'm not. It is the ultimate faux pas.

People who cruise as much as some of the people there do(where does the money to cruise come from?Honestly,I'm not hatin'-just wondering.) think that they are the ultimate authority on cruising and what the do's and don't of cruising are. I dunno, it just gets very tiresome to see the same people being authorities on *everything*.

There's a lot of weight being thrown around(literally, in the case of one of the frequent posters.) I'm not skinny either, but this person is..how shall I say, obese. And not slightly obese,we're talking really,obscenely obese(they're the person I referred to as JabbaC in an earlier post. Mean?Yes, but if you saw a picture of this person you'd agree that the nickname fits rather well.

It's not all bad though.The demanding poster, who I have mentioned a few times-who wondered if she should go on a Holland America cruise after she had a particularly bad experience, went on another cruise(just got back a few days ago) and as far as I have read, had a good time. I'm happy for her.I am glad that she gave Holland America another chance. Hopefully she'll go on more Holland America cruises in the future(I think she has another one planned sometime in the future.)

UPDATE: I got banned. I won't be posting there again.EVER. Personally...I'm not sad or upset.

[its's a gift I have]

2011-11-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

I have excellent recall when it comes to song lyrics. Singing along with something the other day,I realised that I knew all of the words.

Some lyrics I know because I listened to them over and over again(I know the songs from the first few Duran Duran songs by heart because I listened to them so much between the ages of 12 and 14. I was a big fan.)

Other songs though,I can hear them once and remember all of the words.That gives me a rather unique advantage when doing karaoke!

But it's not just song lyrics-I have excellent recall for what we did years and years ago.I can describe details of, say,the trip we took to Yosemite when I was a kid in great detail and remember stuff that everyone else had forgotten. It's getting a little less sharp with age(yay, she says, sarcastically, lol),but for now it's still there.

[understand]

2011-11-07T17:13:00.000-08:00

This season on The Real World(which is in La Jolla-one of San Diego's nicer neighbourhoods), two of the cast members are staunch Republicans. Very close minded(think Elisabeth Hasselbeck on The View and you'd be close.)

Several of the other cast members are gay, and quite open about it, to boot. This does not go over well with the Republicans. There is a certain amount of friction, especially when they are forced to volunteer at San Diego's Gay Pride parade-this makes them very uncomfortable(to say the least) though none of the other housemates seem to have a problem with it. One of the Republicans shares a room with a lesbian.

Though they distance themselves, eventually, by the end of last week's episode they were starting to understand. They saw how happy one of the cast members' boyfriend was making him, and they got it . Which I thought was good.

*And*, on his show(which was back in New York ) Conan O'Brien married a same sex couple(one of whom was a staff member on his show) last week. You should have seen some of the comments I saw posted online. Sheesh. "Horrifying" doesn't even begin to cover it.

[songs that get stuck in your head,broadway edition]

2011-11-06T09:59:00.000-08:00

(My comments are in bold)

*Anything* from The Sound Of Music

(Though more because of the movie than the play)

America-West Side Story

When we were in San Juan,I had this song stuck in my head the whole time. Puerto Rico really *is* a lovely island!)

Man Of La Mancha

We had the soundtrack for the musical and I knew the words to most of the songs as a kid.

Tradition/If I Were A Rich Man/Matchmaker-Fiddler On The Roof

Seasons Of Love-Rent

Hard Knock Life-Annie

I had the soundtrack for Annie as a kid and this song was a favourite.

Defying Gravity-Wicked

Don't Cry For Me Argentina-Evita

[thank you, natalie portman....]

2011-11-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

I can't hear "Fifth of November" without thinking of V For Vendetta. That in turn makes me think of the Anonymous people(look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about) and now the Occupy people, who have started wearing the V/Guy Fawkes masks as well.

You'll notice that I haven't blogged about the Occupy thing at all. Yes, this is a pop culture blog. More pop culture than politics though. I really would like to blog about politics more but I am a little afraid to since it got me in a lot of trouble when I was still over at Vox. But Blogger and Vox are different. Vox started out as a really cool place, very chill, but it changed over time. Here at Blogger,I haven't had any bother at all...Well, that and I have it set up so that I have to approve the comments on my posts before they are posted. They sort of had that at Vox but it wasn't always perfect-and sometimes nuisance posts(especially spam) would get through.

[odds and ends,11/4/11]

2011-11-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

I saw The Rum Diary last weekend. Great movie.

*Last Saturday I went to IKEA. Shockingly, it was the least busy I have ever seen it. And given that it was a Saturday and IKEA is usually hellaciously crowded then. We found a bunch of stuff, including a floor lamp for my computer room, a set of table lamps for my living room, a light fixture for my computer room, and a duvet cover and set of mixing bowls that are going to be Christmas presents. And it was only $130 dollars!

*I have been having a run of "Good" lately. So has a friend of mine, Waterbaby. Hopefully she won't mind me talking about this..she had had a run of spectacularly bad luck and all of a sudden it just turned around.Which was wonderful. However after all this good she came home to find that her(psycho) roommate had changed the locks on her.I'm waiting for her to post the second part of that story-hopefully everything worked out OK.

*Kim Kardashian getting a divorce after only what was it, 72 days?I could care less. Not surprised in the least, either.

*There was a press conference for the new James Bond movie,Skyfall(hate that name-agree with everyone that has said it sounds like a video game).The watchword for this movie will be "Oscar".The director, Sam Mendes has already won one Oscar and wants another one.

Sorry, but can you think of any of the past James Bond movies that might have been good enough to get Oscars?I sure can't. To me they're just James Bond movies.

[big love-for reals]

2011-11-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading Love Times Three by Vicki, Valerie, Alina and Joe Darger.They are a polygamous family. Supposedly they were the inspiration for the show Big Love. It's interesting to read what courtships are like for them- it's not always as straightforwards as you might think-but it's certainly not the arranged marriages of teenage girls to older men(who are sometimes family members, like uncles) the way that they did in the Warren Jeffs compounds.

No, this is completely different than that. The Dargers are trying to present their version of polygamy, because what is shown(the communities of Short Creek and Colorado City especially) is very warped. Not all polygamists are like Warren Jeffs. And(by and large, from what I've read so far)they come off as pretty normal.Well,except for there being 3 wives instead of one, obviously.

Though it's interesting to note that I have read several books on polygamy(it's a endlessly fascinating subject to me for some reason-I can't think why-I was raised Catholic..one of my best friends as a child was Mormon though she was the child of a single parent..maybe that's when it started), and I recognise a lot of the names of the people. Several of the Dargers are related(I'm not exactly sure how) to several past and present members of Warren Jeffs' group.

[guilty pleasure songs]

2011-11-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

(My comments are in bold)

Rhinestone Cowboy-Glenn Campbell

Landslide-Fleetwood Mac

(I will always associate this song with South Park now because they used it in a couple of episodes)

Mama Mia-Abba

So What-Pink

One Night In Bangkok-Murray Head

(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles-The Proclaimers

If I ever have a chance to do karaoke again,I'm getting someone else to do it with me, and I am doing this song.

[different month, same crazy]

2011-11-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

The wars are still raging on over at Cruise Critic. And they don't look like letting up soon. It's the usual topics(dress codes especially-but smoking, and leaving your balcony door-if you have a cabin with a balcony-open are running a very close second and third)that are starting wars there.

People who go to Cruise Critic trying to find information about their cruise are going to get some -I'm not sure that it's helpful,completely-I mean there is some good information but you have to get past quite a lot of not-so-great information to get it.

There are a LOT of people with opinions about stuff;but dress codes seem to be a lightning rod. But there are people who would prefer Holland America was even dressier. Now, I'm sorry, but if I am going someplace like,say, the Caribbean, where it is warm a lot of the year,I want to be comfortable where at all possible. If it's time to be dressed up,I *will* be dressed up. But there are some that don't think it's dressy enough. There is one poster-we'll call him RonJoan-and no,he's not "confused"-it's a combo of his and his wife's name) who thinks shorts should only be worn in one's stateroom. Oh-kaay. He's quite forceful about his opinions too. When I mention the no-shorts thing, nobody believes me-his post saying as such got zapped pretty quick.But I have had people say "yes, there was a post like that" and back me up on it. I wish I could say that he's kidding about the no-shorts thing, but I don't think he is. He's just an old fart with an attitude problem.

The phrase of the moment is "Old World Charm". Mind you, this doesn't appear *anywhere* in Holland America's brochures. Maybe it did a LONG time ago, but not now. I don't think Holland America is going to go completely casual, but I think it would be the end of the world for some frequent Holland America passengers. There's one poster on Cruise Critic's Holland America boards-we'll call her(forgive me,but it's the truth 'cause she sorta looks like him) "JabbaC" who has taken up the "Old World Charm" thing as a mantra and is mentioning it whenever she can.

[every day is halloween]

2011-10-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

I always have the same subject line every Halloween.It's become a tradition for me.

Songs that get stuck in your head-Halloween edition:

(some of these are only tangentially Halloween-ish and at least one is an instrumental)

Witch Doctor

Monster Mash

Tubular Bells(The theme from The Exorcist)

Thriller

Ghostbusters-Ray Parker Jr.

Werewolves Of London-Warren Zevon

[what i'm reading, late october 2011]

2011-10-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Eagle Of The Ninth..A historical novel, set in Roman Scotland.

It's the story of Marcus, who goes looking for the lost Ninth Legion(among which was his father) and their mascot, a golden eagle.I'm only halfway through the book, and it started out kind of slow at first, but now it's starting to get good, but it's a subject I am interested in(ancient history) so it keeps me reading. It was recently made into a movie called The Eagle(which I really want to watch now!)

And now, with this book, I have read 40 books(so far) this year.That means that I only have 10 more books to read until 50, and since I am giving myself until New Year's Eve to read 50 books. I think I will make it, easily.

[i have seen the awesome..and its name is netflix instant]

2011-10-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

Watched a movie on Netflix instant- 8, The Mormon Proposition-about which more in a minute-but can I talk about how awesome Netflix instant is? Tons of movies, TV shows, you name it, all available to watch whenever you want. It's great!

Anyways,as I said,I watched this movie called 8-The Mormon Proposition. It's all about how the Mormon church got Prop 8(the proposition "keeping marriage between a man and a woman") passed. In the end, it wound up backfiring on the Mormon church big time because the fact that they had put so much money into getting Prop 8 passed.

They also showed some of the things that the Mormon church does to gay church members. There have been people who have killed themselves because they grew up hearing sermons about how evil homosexuality is. And there are not really any resources for gay teens-and especially not in Salt Lake City(among other places)where gay Mormons killed themselves, rather than come out to their parents and risk the consequences. There are plenty of such stories. Of course,there are exceptions to the rule-several former Mormons speak out on the Mormon Church's funding Prop 8 and how wrong it was-and how the collateral damage-gay teens committing suicide, as I said before. It's clear that there are quite a few people in the church who think some of the Mormon's church's tactics are wrong-and are not afraid to say so.Even if it means being disfellowshipped(the Mormon equivalent of excommunication for Catholics.)

The worst was the guy who had been kicked out of BYU for being gay. A common thing is for people to reported as being gay. Now, if you're not actually gay, it could be potentially harmful and get you kicked out of BYU. If you *are* gay, it's even more harmful. And from what I have heard about BYU, you don't get a fair trial when you get in trouble, and especially not for something like being gay, which is a no-no for Mormons. You can't be a member of their church and be gay(don't ask how I know all of this-I'm not Mormon but have posted on messageboards with them in the past and absorbed my knowledge of them that way.)

It's narrated by Dustin Lance Black, the guy who wrote the screenplay for Milk(great movie!) and himself a Mormon. He grew up in Texas, in a conservative Mormon home.In his early teens the family moved to Northern California where he heard the story of Harvey Milk. Eventually, in spite of being raised very conservatively, he came out.

[odds and ends, 10/28/11]

2011-10-28T22:27:00.000-07:00

*Amy Winehouse died from alcohol. Surprising, since I would think there could have been a zillion different things she could have taken that killed her.

*I really don't care if my new neighbour who built the McMansion two doors down knows that I hate his house.It sticks out like a sore thumb,in my opinion.

*Ever find out something(after the fact)that surprises you? I had that the other day..I found out someone who used to work at my gym was living in her car. I was honestly very surprised when I heard that.

*I'm going to IKEA tomorrow. I have what can only be called a love/hate affair with IKEA-I love their selection and their prices;I don't love the crowds. I do however love the meatballs that they serve in their restaraunt(there's only been a few times I've gone there and *not* had the Swedish meatballs)

*The Cardinals won the World Series(I was rooting for the Texas Rangers).

[saving money is a good thing!]

2011-10-27T07:20:00.000-07:00

I can see the appeal of Extreme Couponing. Watching that show,I think "I'd like to be able to do that". Maybe not to the point of having a stockpile of groceries, but saving money is always a good thing. Actually, if I was going to stockpile anything, it'd be household stuff-laundry detergent,toilet paper,shampoo,paper towels, etc.). That's the sort of stuff that I go through really fast-especially laundry detergent-there may only be one person living at my house, but when I do laundry I typically do more than one load and wind up using quite a bit of detergent.

There's practical reasoning behind it, too.I notice that quite a few of the families on the show have lots of kids. It would have been a good idea when my brothers and I were kids. My mom would spend a small fortune every time she went to the grocery store! My grandmother(who had 5 kids) had the right idea-she would go to the BX(base exchange-my grandfather was in the Air Force) and buy what she needed,about once a month or so(though she probably went and got things that they went through quickly-like milk- more frequently.)

[technology and disability]

2011-10-26T07:17:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday 60 Minutes had a story on how they are using iPads to help non-verbal kids with autism communicate. In the past they have had to use picture boards with pictures of what they were trying to say-or a letter board,where they had to point at each letter to spell out words or in the case of the pictures,what they want.

Now, there are several apps that can be downloaded onto an iPad. The kids can use those to "speak" for them, and it works quite a bit better than the old method, to say nothing of the kids are figuring it out very easily. They touch the keypad to spell out what they want or touch a picture of,say, a dog and a synthesised voice says "dog".

The autistic brain is uniquely wired to understand computers. A lot of people with autism are very good with computers. I'm no exception. I can't fix the computers(I'm good with computers but I'm not *that* good!) but let's just put it this way: I had the internet a few years before my parents did-I moved out on my own and had been so a few years when I finally got online. I had to teach my parents everything-and sometimes they still ask me how to do something on the computer.

Believe it or not, before I had a computer,the way I learned the internet, was at a internet kiosk that was set up at the mall. This was a long time ago. I think the connection might even have been dialup(remember that?). I can't even remember how much it was each time.. but I spent a lot of time there. It was good training for me,actually.