The Weekend Was (cont'd)

The most exciting moment of the day was when cops came bursting into our building, between 12 - 15 cops actually, to stop a burglar from breaking into a fourth floor apartment using a baseball bat.

The Astoria Sports Complex has a four lane pool, regular length. The locker room was kind of small. That was alright, not great. The pool was very chlorinated and it felt good to be back in that environment. I tried my first lap. Three strokes, face in the water, turning my head on the fourth stroke. I was winded at the end of the first lap but it felt good to stretch out and pull my way through the water. I didn't last too long. Not having swam in more than half my life, I'll admit I'm not in top swimming form, so after 15 minutes, I called it a day and came home.

A couple of hours later, I went to my friend's birthday party where Jon later joined me. After the party guests left, we remained and watched Clambake with the host until 3 in the morning. Good times. Good times.

Saturday, Jon and I slept really late. Well, not that late. But, I have to admit that I didn't really do all that much on Saturday. After Jon left for work, I chilled out. I watched a couple of movies on DVD. I napped. I read. I went food shopping (ahhhhhh). It was nice. Very, very nice. When Jon came home we played a couple of games of Scrabble and then called it a night because we had big plans on Sunday.

Sunday, we ventured into the city. I wanted to show Jon some stores I like but we couldn't get to them because of the protest moving up 7th Avenue. We ended up going to Bed, Bath and Beyond which was swimming with NYU students and then to Old Nave which had nobody in it, except a few protestors picking up some school clothes for their kids. (the kids were wearing T-shirts that said Kids Against Bush. Obscene to have children messed up in all that if you ask me).

Going home, we walked as far away as we could from the protest toward Broadway where we could pick up our train, but little did we know that there was another protest (or perhaps the same one) walking down Broadway. We made it safely to the subway without having to hear any malarchy about how Bush sucks and all. Of course he does, but I knew that already.

After we got home, 3 hour nap. Yeah.....then pan fried steak for dinner.

The most exciting moment of the day was when cops came bursting into our building, between 12 - 15 cops actually, to stop a burglar from breaking into a fourth floor apartment using a baseball bat. Turns out it was my neighbor just trying to get into his apartment.

It was a good weekend.

Consider Yourself Chastised

I have suspended The Anonymous Blogger's link due to the graphic nature of his last posting. I understand that he is trying to be funny and even controversial, but his last posting regarding abortion was over the top. It is a subject that people are barely comfortable discussing on a personal level even though they argue about it from the safe distance of political and philosophical debates.

He may as well have written a humorless and offensive limerick about rape or incest or female castration. What happens to a woman emotionally and physically with regards to abortion is too sensitive a subject to be set to the tune of Yankee Doodle. I find his choice of language particularly offensive.

It is no wonder T.A.B. is not able to maintain an adult relationship with a worthy women when he views the world through the eyes of an immature 16 year old inner child.

If you want to read the post, you're going to have to find it on your own. I refuse to give positive attention for his negative behavior by linking to the piece of crap that is his most recent post.

I am thoroughly and completely offended by his Yankee Doodle Abortion song and I think an apology is in order, not only because he offended me, but because his attitude about abortion is an affront to women everywhere, women both for and against the issue.

Those Wascally Kids

Read about this charming 11 year old's antics.

The Weekend Was

The weekend was great. Friday night I did something I haven't done in years. I did something I forgot I even knew how to do. I went swimming. I was reminded that I know how to swim at the beach a week ago Sunday. The ocean was beautiful that day. No seaweed, no jellyfish, no dangerous shells in the soft sand beneath my feet. There were crabs in the soft sand but no shells to jab and cut. Once you got past the breakers, about chest deep, the ocean was smooth and calm. While wading through and diving into swells I started to remember my swimming lessons from childhood and then waves of memories flooded over me from the time I trained with the swim team during my first period gym class in my senior year of high school.

All of a sudden, I was swimming free style. I was then seized by the idea of starting to swim at the pool. The idea stayed with me the whole week, building and brewing until this past Friday. I was so worked up that I couldn't even walk to the pool which is about a 15 minute walk from my house. I took a car service.

I live near the Astoria Sports Complex.

to be continued . . .

GOP in NYC

Republican National Convention Opening in New York

Republican National Convention Opens in New York

A NYC Tale: Two opposing cultures collide

More than 100,000 protest Bush in NYC

Anti-Bush Protestors Heckle Broadway Theater Goers

Jaw Breaker

Here is a story in favor of stem cell research.

Doctors in Germany grew a jaw bone in a man's back to replace one he had to have removed because of a cancer.

Critical to the growth of this new jaw bone were stem cells.

Subway Sorrows

Dear Unsuspecting Older Woman on the Subway:

You do not know this but you really upset me yesterday when you asked the gentleman and me to make room for you on the subway. You did not fit comfortably. You had no business trying to squeeze in between us. You made it worse by not being able to sit still. Your elbows stuck me several times and I was skeeved by your hips rubbing against mine every time you bent down to take a tissue out of your bag, to get a candy out of your bag, to get a tissue out of your bag, to get a piece of paper out of your bag.

You really seemed to enjoy getting things out of your bag because you did it repeatedly for the 15 minutes you were rubbing against me in the subway.

Interestingly enough, I noticed that you stopped moving when I finally lost patience with you and moved away, choosing to hold the pole over putting up with your nonsense. It is almost as if you were moving around in order to ensure that I would move away from you giving you more space because you knew full well that you didn't fit.

Toil-etiquette

Dear Random Woman with the Hairy B---:

Perhaps you might take an extra second when you have finished peeing, to look at the seat before flushing. Every day now for the last several months I have walked in on one of your pubes balancing ever so gently on the rim of the toilet in the stall furthest from the door. I don't know if you leave fresh one for me every day or if the same one keeps finding its way back home. Either way it is disgusting.

Please find a way to keep your bush in tow.

I'm sure I speak for everyone on the 10th floor.

Thank you.

Tuesday Night Trivia

Our team, Costas is a Crack Whore, won second place, missing first by half a point. Our team name, thought up by me, made two people on my team laugh but brought silence down upon the crowd worse than the first announcements of Kennedy's assassination.

I thought it was funny though. I'm pretty sick of Costas. He's a little overexposed.

Don't you think?

Let's Get Bombed

Is it really a security risk if someone sneaks a fake bomb onto a plane? In this article, Yahoo reports on an English reporter who through a series of fakeries and lies was able to get a job as a baggage handler and then smuggle a fake bomb or bomb making equipment onto a plane at Birmingham International Airport. The reporter, Anthony France, used fake references to get a job as a baggage handler. Admittedly, that's pretty scary and yes I do believe that it is a bit of a security risk. You can read about his story here or you could just read my summary. He basically put together resume where one of his previous places of employment was completely made up. He had access to all kinds of places in the airport and smuggled bomb stuff onto a plane. How did he do that? When he set off the airports metal detectors, he explained that they went off because of his steel tipped boots and then got through.

The Yahoo article stated that the Department of Transport and or transportation officials are taking this quite seriously and have launched an "urgent investigation".

It would be nice if someone could catch the airlines doing something right. I remember learning when I was teaching that it was very important to catch children doing something right and then make a big fuss over it, in other words, to positively reinforce positive behavior. By bringing attention to this huge security mistake they are giving something negative too much attention, possibly hurting the travel industry even further, which could potentially make travelling even more expensive than it already is.

Instead, I would like to see a piece that positively reinforces what usually goes on in travel which is nothing more than people getting from one place to the other.

Master and Commander

I am reading Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian.

It's very good.

More later.

As if you care . . .

I'll tell you about my weekend. I'll pretend that you care. (sniff) I'll tell you about it. Gosh! Alright. Geez!!! Stop pushing me. Fine. . . twist my arm.

Friday night, I wanted to go to the Russian Turkish baths for a steam and a quick massage but I got held over at work and it killed the mood. I was held over for no reason. The rushed document I worked on was a red herring. The guy who actually needed it today (as opposed to the guy who wanted it done on Friday) said there was no reason for me to have stayed late. Anyway, I got home at 7:30. Kill Bill Vol. 2 had just arrived at our doorstep two days previous, so I watched it and made it an early night.

Saturday morning, for no apparent reason, I woke up at 6 am. What does one do at 6 'o'clock on a Saturday morning you might be asking? Probably, you have never seen that side of noon yourselves because you have the ability to sleep late. How I envy you. In answer to the question I asked for you, I went online and visited sites I've been meaning to visit. For weeks, Jon has been telling me about these 30 second animated shorts of bunnies re-enacting famous films. Finally, I was able to visit www.angryalien.com and watch these shorts. Very funny. Highly recommended. My personal favorite was Jaws, second The Shining . . .but they are all good. I think the artist has 5 posted. They don't that long to view, so you might as well check them out. Go ahead. . .my weekend story isn't going anywhere. Check it out.

About 10 am, Jon was up and wanted to see Kill Bill, Vol 2 so I watched it with him. How could I watch that movie twice in such a short time? You have to ask? What is wrong with YOU? How could I not watch it? The movie is/was THAT GOOD!!!! After Jon left for work, I took a three hour nap and then headed out to Long Beach to my parents house. I slept through the most amazing thunderstorm but I slept. When was the last time YOU took a three hour nap during a rain storm on a Saturday? Exactly. It was perfect.

Once in Long Beach, I had a nice mom-cooked meal, after which I popped in Kill Bill Vol. 2 into my parents DVD player for my dad, so he could watch it too. No. I did not join him for a third viewing within 10 hours of a second viewing which came 12 hours after a first viewing on DVD of a movie I'd already seen in the theater on the big screen. My mom and I finished a NY Times crossword puzzle from two weeks ago. After which we picked up Jon at the train station. Jon, my mom and I played a three way Scrabble game, then the four of us (MOM and DAD, Jon and I) played PICTIONARY until 2 in the morning.

Why did Jon and I spend Saturday night with my parents? Because my parents live near the beach, which was our Sunday destination.

If any of you live in the tri-state area you understand how perfect yesterday was for the beach. By far, it was the best beach day I've seen in two years. We spent hours there, splitting our time between the swimming ocean and basking in the sun. The sky was the bluest blue without a cloud to be seen. The air temperature was perfect. The water was smooth and clean. The sun was strong. I lotioned up at least 5 times, however one of those times I forgot my ankles and insteps leaving me with a most unusual and painful sunburn.

We ended our weekend with a fine dinner at a local Italian restaurant that you really, really must try. Amici Amore. Charming, quiet, romantic and delicious food. What more do I need to say?

Please rate this weekend on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 means bloody awful and 10 means brilliant. You can rate it in the comments section.

Not So Subtle

Perhapsyou noticed that I dropped a hint about my birthday. I'm not sorry or embarassed. As a matter of fact, I'm thinking about registering somewhere. Why not? I've bought enough stuff for other people off of registries. Why shouldn't I?

Because it's in bad taste, that's why.

When I posted that I was reacting to the fact that Star Trek is on DVD period. I thought it would be funny to not only bring attention to the release of this TV gem but also broadcast that my birthday was coming up.

It came out in a way that I'm not proud of. But I will leave it, because you guys left great comments.

September 13, 2004

The above date is my birthday. I am starting to compile a list of things I want for my birthday.

Here is the first item on the list.

You can't see me but my mouth is watering and there is lust in my eyes.

Sad Story

My friend's mother told me the sad story of a 480 pound Florida woman who was found by rescue workers attached to her couch. She had been couch ridden for so long that her skin became grafted to the upholstery.

In the article I read yesterday (which I haven't been able to relocate), the woman was scared to leave her house for years after an incident where she fell down, hurt her knee and needed assistance getting back up. She was scared to fall down again in public, scared to suffer in front of others. Before she fell down, she was known to the community as a big, happy woman who volunteered and did things for her neighbors. Everyone knew who she was.

In another article, her 54 year old friend Herman was quoted as saying he took care of her the best way he could and repeatedly told her to get up. He must have missed the other ways he could have helped her, like by cleaning her up or cleaning her apartment. The walls and floors of her aparment were reported to have been matted with feces and trash was strewn across the floor.

I don't think it gets any sadder than this. She was so isolated, so cut off, that this woman died what can only be described as the most humiliating of deaths.

Her name was Gayle Laverne Grinds and I pray she rests in peace.

Does Anybody Remember the Rest of This?

Ms. Lucy had a steamboat
The steamboat had a bell
Miss Lucy went to heaven
and the steamboat went to

Hello operator
Please give me number nine
And if you don't step on it
I will chop off your

Behind the fridgerator
There was a piece of glass
Miss Lucy sat upon it
And it went right up her

Ask me no more question
I'll tell you no more lies. . . . .

Thursday Morning

Well. I've made it this far. It's Thursday morning and I'm right in the middle of my work week morning routine. The bath is waiting for me, the coffee is brewing and I'm catching up on my online correspondence.

Are you bored yet? Well you shouldn't be. You should be very interested in what you're doing otherwise you should be doing something else!!!!

The Aftermath

Last night's trivia game was a whooping success!!! The bar was packed. People were loud and drinking a lot (which never looks bad for the people on the stage). There were 10 teams, 2 or which were huge.

This time, I have the answer sheets with me to help remember Funniest team name and funny answers.

Funniest Team Name: New Jersey Doesn't Suck, but It's Governor Does.
Winningest Team: McGreevey Gets Gold on the Pummel Horse.

Honerable mentions go to these other team names:
Flames of the Week: The Olympic Torch and McGreevey
We Didn't Know Whether to Take Julia Child Out of the Oven or McGreevey out of the Closet
The Frugal Gourmetn, Julia Child - Only One more to go for Dead Chef Tic-Tac-Toe

Eric and I ran the game without the Top 10 list or the Current Events round. We replaced those with two theme rounds. The first theme round was Eric's Games People Play round. People did very well on that round, each team had at least four correct answers. The second theme round was my Greek mythology round. People did very well on that too. Actually they might have done too well. One team answered all ten correctly and several had 8 or 9 out of ten. But it was still a fun round to compile.

Perhaps you would like to try it yourself. (Greek names only)

1. This son of Zeus was doomed to stand in water that always receded when he tried to drink it and under branches of fruit he could never reach. Who is this mythological figure who inspired a word meaning to tease by withholding?

2. What class of gods were overthrown by the Olympian gods? A metallic element is named for them.

3. Because this mythological figure's image appeared on the front of a certain type of reference book so often, the book itself came to be named for him. Who is he?

4. During the Trojan War, which of the gods aided Paris in killing Achilles by firing an arrow into his heel? (hint: he shares his name with one of Rocky?s opponents)

5. Who was doomed eternally to push a rock up a hill, only for it to roll back down again?

6. King Midas once rescued a Satyr, earning him the gratitude of a god who had valued the beast as his right-hand goat. In fact, this god was so pleased that he rewarded Midas with the golden touch. Who was this god?

7. Megaera, Tisiphone, and Alecto were the three daughters of Gaia created from the blood of Chronus when he was castrated. They were the spirits of Conscience, Punishment, and Retribution. What is the collective name for these three goddesses?


8. What nymph as punishment for running away from Pan was condemned to a life of muteness, only able to speak by repeating others?

9. The gods were always trying to get with humans and humans were always rejecting them. This leads us to this woman who was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo because he was trying to win her affections. When she rejected him, he let her keep her ability to foretell the future but cursed her by making it so no one would ever believe her predictions. Who was she?

10. Who was the Greek god of the sea, earthquakes and horses?

My Personal Hell

The New York Yankees, Scientologists
Circle I Limbo

General asshats, Creationists
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind

Militant Vegans
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow

Parents who bring squalling brats to R-rated movies
Circle IV Rolling Weights

PETA Members, Uday Hussein
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled

River Styx

Osama bin Laden
Circle VI Buried for Eternity

River Phlegyas

NAMBLA Members
Circle VII Burning Sands

Saddam Hussein
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement

Qusay Hussein
Circle IX Frozen in Ice

Design your own hell

Tuesday Night Trivia

What? You can't believe I'm co-hosting trivia two weeks in a row? Well, believe it. Because I am. Tonight, I will be assisting the ready and ador"able" Eric Kabakoff.

We're changing things up a bit and it should be an exciting night.

Meet us at the Baggot Inn, tonight at 7:30pm.

There will be prizes and drinking and fun and thinking.

If you don't already know, the Baggot Inn is located at 82 W. 3rd St. between Thompson and Sullivan, in New York City.

Hope to see you there.

Something else
Perhaps, this guy shouldn't be broadcasting his alibi so far in advance:

Down the road in the park sat Vietnam veteran Gary Snyder, drinking Miller High life. Snyder, who was among only a handful in Harborview who rode out the storm, said residents were anxious about looters, but he was prepared. "If I see 'em, I'll shoot 'em," he said. "They're gone. I'll tell 'em I had a flashback."

Saturday the 14th to Lucky in Love

(this originally ran on August 14th, 2004 but I was unhappy with the original post so I changed a few things and now it's back)

I looked but there aren't any legends about Saturday the 14th being unlucky. Too bad because traditionally that has been my unlucky day. Perhaps I was spared from bad luck on the 13th because I was born on the 13th of September so many years ago. (many, many) Yes, that does mean I have a birthday coming up.

Actually, I don' t much believe in luck anymore anyway. I believe more in the power of doing things, positive things to improve your life. It is a little more work than just waiting around for my bad luck to change to good but it's true what my mom says which is "The more you work, the luckier you get." Sometimes, she says that a little bit too much but it's true.

For example...I took a chance on someone I liked and now I am living with him. Is that lucky? Perhaps, but it's more likely a result of paying attention to my life and what is going on around it. Last year, I started attending trivia games. That led to meeting more people which led to meeting Jon. I watched Jon at trivia for several weeks. Then one day I said to my friend, "What about him?" and she replied, he's a nice jewish guy and I think he's available. That led to paying more attention to him and attending a trivia event hosted by him, etcetera...

Thank you to that friend because she obviously believes in your philosophy of friends matching up friends. I paid attention to her suggestion and now I'm happy.

I had another friend who said that MR RIGHT isn't going to come knocking on my door. She was right. I had to look for him. It took a while but I think I found him.

I agree with the Bloggette's point of view and will pay closer attention to my friends that I already was in the past.

Met the Parents

This weekend, Jon and I went up to his hometown to visit with his parents.

We had a nice time.

We visited with a 99 year old woman who didn't look or act a day over 75.

We went to a couple of garage sales.

We went shopping at this great place called Wal-Mart. I can't believe how cheap this place was.

We went to a town called Skaneatlas (pronounced skinny atlas) and watched the sun set from a long pier where we taken out to a fabulous, wonderful dinner.

We had a nice time.

Check Out This Web Site

The administrator of this web site asked me to give a mention to Recipes and Relations, a new advice blog that combines the wisdom of Ann Landers with the practicality of Food TV.

Please take a look and see if it is something that interests you. If you have any questions that you would like answered, you can write to the adminstrator at Recipe_Relations@aol.com. (Delete the underscore between the words but leave the space),

Also, the administrator asks that other people start publicizing Recipes and Relations on their own website. She is trying to generate some buzz.

Julia Child is Whisked Away

Julia Child passed away. She was 91 years of age. I used to love watching Julia Child as a kid on PBS and then later as an adult on the Food Network which reran her shows as well as PBS again.

She is basically responsible for introducing French food to the American public. Before that, our food was pretty Ameri-centric centering around hot dogs, hamburgers, meat loaf and steak. She also sneered at the health food movement because she believed that people shouldn't eat fake food (referring to low-fat or engineered food). The Yahoo obit quotes her as saying that red meat and gin would be her ultimate meal.

She was enjoyable to watch. She loved what she did and took great pride in sharing it with others.

She will be missed.

More on Friday the 13th

taken from the website Urban Legends and Folklore

The Devil's Dozen
It is said: If 13 people sit down to dinner together, all will die within the year. The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary (Brewer, 1894). Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names). There are 13 witches in a coven. (Click here for more)

Friday the 13th

Abstract from the British Medical Journal

Is Friday the 13th bad for your health?
Scanlon TJ, Luben RN, Scanlon FL, Singleton N.Department of Public Health, Mid Downs Health Authority, Haywards Health, West Sussex.

OBJECTIVE--To examine the relation between health, behaviour, and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom.
DESIGN--Retrospective study of paired data comparing driving and shopping patterns and accidents.
SUBJECTS--Drivers, shoppers, and residents.
SETTING--South West Thames region.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Numbers of vehicles on motorways; numbers of shoppers in supermarkets; and hospital admissions due to accidents. RESULTS--There were consistently and significantly fewer vehicles on the southern section of the M25 on Friday the 13th compared with Friday the 6th. The numbers of shoppers were not significantly different on the two days. Admissions due to transport accidents were significantly increased on Friday 13th (total 65 v 45; p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS--Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52%. Staying at home is recommended.
PMID: 8292946
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Governor McGreevey Resigned Today

The Governor of New Jersey announced today that he is gay, acknowledging an affair he had with a man and simultaneously resigned effective November 15th.

I think it's a great that he came out, but find it odd that he resigned. Clinton admitted to having an affair and they couldn't peel him out of office.

I wonder what else is going on.

Perhaps it's nothing more than him feeling guilty about the dishonesty of having an affair.

Blog Round Up

The Anonymous Blogger is pandering for comments. That's sad.

The Anonymous Blogette pleads with her coupled up friends to be on the lookout for single friends that would be good romantic matchups.

Wes has been watching the New Cutey Honey which I'm guessing is Japanimation.

Candy Blue Kite expresses herself and well.

Caren woke up, got dressed and linked to some information about a hurricane/tropical storm.

Dawn is back from her vacation.

Evil Twin Theory is teasing us with his first few short entries in over a month.

George Takei presents his essay "Seattle: The Crucible of Imagination".

Human Oddities' Amanda has been on a roll. She's been writing a lot. Her observations continue to entertain us.

Phil sums up last evening's activities and gets a little political.

Sarah continues to be cute.

Vidiot continues to post good links.

Violently Executed Blog's Adam and his wife celebrate the one year birthday of their son and are paying attention to the terror alerts.

Wendy is coming to New York City over Labor Day Weekend!!! Hoorah!!!

The Fun Continues

It is Wednesday and the work week trudges on. I have been assigned a mailing of 100 pieces. It is the oven mitt mailing. Don't ask. I already put together 100 boxes last week. Today, I was told to affix the specially designed lables, get this . . . are you ready? . . . nice and straight. That was literally part of the directions for getting this mailing done. I received these instructions by email where someone else was copied. It's a little humiliating. I'm looking forward to the job where I don't have to label or stuff anything.

On the fun side of life, last night I co-hosted trivia with the seasoned veteran Jonathan Bloomfield. There was a good turnout by the way of 10 teams, I'd say at least 70 people showed up. Granted the turnout wasn't as good as when Sarah and Caren hosted together but it was good none the less. Funniest team name. . . can't remember. Winning team . . .can't remember. I'm bad that way. But again, it was fun and I had a great time doing it. I'll be co-hosting again next week with Eric Kabakoff.

Tonight I'm treating myself by going to a turkish bath. I won't say where to protect my privacy but I'm going with a girlfriend and I imagine we are going to have a great time.

Well, back to the salt mines. I've got to go label 100 boxes, nice and straight.

Tuesday

Today is Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday
It will be fun day, fun day
All day long . . .

. . .and all night long too at the Baggot Inn when you come down to Tuesday Night Trivia.

Tonight I am co hosting with Jonathan B. not my Jon B., but an other.

It will be nice to see you there.

In a surprise move today, Laura Bush came out in support of her husband's policy on embryonic stem cell research.

Honk twice if this is news to you.

Happy Birthday Gen X Misanthrope!!!!

As of August 6, Rantings of a Gen X Misanthrope is officially one year old.

Here is my first post.

Bad vs. B*A*D

I am reading a book by Paul Fussell called Bad or, the Dumbing of America. I am enjoying this book because he eloquently put into words why so many things in America are stupid for not so obvious reasons. His book gives credence to my cynical attitude about various institutions and the people and crap they turn out.

If Mr. Fussell googles himself, I hope he finds this post.

Thank you for writing your book. It's a relief to learn that I am not some weird, societal black sheep with an arrogant attitude looking down on the dopes around me.

Thursday

If I click my heels three times and repeatedly chant, there's no day like Friday, there's no day like Friday, do you think I will move forward in time to 5:15 Friday afternoon?

Yeah. I didn't think so.

Channukah Came a Little Early This Year

Hey Ladies!!

Check out who is "cruising" for a new wife.

Tuesday Night Trivia

Trivia was packed last night. Hats off to young Ms. Ackerman for doing a great job co-hosting for the first time. Her questions really excited the crowd and got people talking. Perhaps it's Ms. Ackerman's teaching background or perhaps she is just a skilled speaker . . .she provided solid back up to the main host Caren Lissner, who is back on stage after a few weeks away from hosting.

We were on the winning team , which I named "Paris is Bruising" per a recommendation by Phil that we make fun of Ms. Hilton somehow. Playing with me were Barry, Bob, Claire, Eric, Phil, and Robert the Republican. Claire and Phil were first time trivia players and I was very happy to have them with us on the team. They contributed throughout the game but ran the Top Ten list which helped put us over the top at the end.

In a personal best, this was the first team I've gathered that scored so unbelievably high. In the second round out of a possible 20 points we scored 19. I won't say why we missed the 20th question, but you can read about it here.

I also played against two other great bloggers, Candy Blue Kite and akachris both of whom I link to and both whom were worthy opponents.

I particularly enjoyed the audio round last night. Ms. Lissner provided 10 snippets from famous songs from American musicals and when answering we saw that she arranged them alphabetically. Definitely fun and my favorite audio round yet from the year or so I've been playing trivia.

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch . . .

Today is Tuesday and it's back to work time at the salt mines. Having the day off was priceless. Jon and I got a lot done and had a lot of fun doing it. Because of our work schedules the only full day off we have together is Sunday. Monday was a bonus, an extra, a treat and romantic.

I won't bore you with the seemingly mundane and together activities that occupied most of our time but I will tell you about two fun things we did.

We set up the home entertainment center and watched an episode of the Simpsons from the 4th season DVD. It was lady's choice and I chose the episode called "I Love Lisa" where Ralph Wiggums develops a crush on Lisa because she gives him a pity valentine with a picture of a train and the words "I Choo Choo Choose You". Aside from being a tremendously sweet episode, it introduces Ralph as Chief Wiggums son, gives us a President's Day pageant with the children of Springfield paying homage to our nation's mediocre Presidents in a song and dance number which is funny on "so many levels", it features some great details regarding Krusty and his show giving the writers an opportunity to satirzie Carson and the talk show format. . . .of course I can go on but then I'd be telling you how to enjoy the Simpsons instead of letting you enjoy it on your own.

We also saw Thunderbirds, the live action version directed by Jonathan Frakes. Too much cheese to write about in this post. I'll give you more later.

Monday

Today is Monday, Monday . . . .

Hey, wait a second. . . .Today is Monday and I have Monday off!!!!

Yay!!!! Wahoo!!! Yippeeee!!!!!

The move went well. All of Jon's stuff is in. It's officially official. We picked up a couple of great pieces from my parents on the Island and they followed us back to the city to help us unload. My friend and neighbor helped with a particularly large piece of furniture, "in the speed of light, he arrives just in time."

We were pretty wiped out last night. We were also pretty out of touch. We didn't find out until dinner time that the terror alert was not only on orange but underlined as well. I guess that really does justify the defense budget afterall. Sometimes I think the terror alerts were designed to convince people why we need to spend money on the military. I also thing the timing of the underlined orange alert is conveniently juxtaposed agaisnt the backdrop of the Republican Convention, but that's just me. I could be over thinking things.

I'm going to go to the post office now and pick up the baby mug mugs.