The Golden Circle

Our Ring Road tour, the Golden Circle, was amazing. We saw really pretty stuff. The air is so fresh here and I am so bedazzled by beauty that I am incapable of writing another word.

Happy Valentine´s Day from Reykjavik

Happy Valentine´s Day!!

Jon and I finally made it to Reykjavik yesterday, 6 hours later than originally scheduled.

While we are so happy our flight wasn´t cancelled, due to snowy conditions at the airport, only one runway was open - meaning we idled on the runway for about 5 hours before taking off. There were so many planes waiting to land that we had to wait for them to land before we could leave. So, the planes were alternated - two or three would land and then two would take off.

But that´s okay. . .because our plane did leave and we arrived to mild weather. It´s not that cold here. As a matter of fact, I learned from one of the residents that it hasn´t snowed here in five years - except for the mountains.

The first thing we did was get something to eat because we were starving. We found a quaint vegetarian restaurant with three items on the menu - all good.

Then I took a nap while Jon went to the Icelandic tourist center to pick up our tourist cards. With those we have unlimited access to museum, the busses, the municipal pools. While I was napping Jon also visited the Culture House which houses the oldest manuscripts on Iceland and he spoke with someone who could trace their ancestry back to the beginning of Iceland´s history. Turns out, because the population is small (about 290,000) that almost everyone here can trace their family back to the roots. The geneologies are old and constant.

In the evening we went to Laugardalslaug and enjoyed the municipal outdoor geothermally heated pools. It was pretty cool. Yes. We were outside in our bathing suits in freezing cold weather yet once you entered that water, you were in good shape.

Today we´re taking a tour of part of the Ring Road. It should be exciting - full of beautiful volcanicly formed landscapes, waterfalls and geysers.

Blizzard 2006

We all now how excited weather forecasters get when there's even a suggestion of drama in the weather, which is why I always listen to weather forecasts with a healthy dose of skepticism. Well imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and the predictions of a blizzard were not false. This is the view from our kitchen window.

Our first concern was whether or not our flight was still on for Iceland. We won't know that until around 3pm. My cousin Sandra (maid of honor at our wedding) called me while we were searching for any information at all on our flight. She suggested that we call our car service to make sure they have a car available. When I did I found out they are closed. Panic set in. How were we going to get the airport?

Not to worry. We called SKYLINE (Gotham Limousine service) and arranged a car. Whew. They are my new favorite people. We booked that baby 3 hours in advance. And I've used them before. They are as reliable as the Pope's stance against birth control.

We have an evening flight so we're pretty sure that there should be no problems - maybe only a slight delay.

Word Cloud

Make your own word cloud here.

Subway Offensive

Sometimes I write about how upset I get at other people's behavior in the subway. It's not just because I feel like a misanthrope a lot of the time when around strangers. People do really behave badly. And I'm sure most don't even know when they are participating in very bad behavior.

The N/R/W subway line was running slowly this week so I had ample opportunity to photography my fellow riders. This woman wins the award for most offensive subway behavior. Note her body position. She is sitting on an angle so her shoulder is actually taking space from the woman to her left. Her bags are everywhere.

Her knapsack is again invading the space of the woman on her left. Her shopping bag is hanging so far to the right that the man to her right has to shift his knees uncomfortably to keep from getting hit. Her coffee looks like it could spell at any moment. And she's reading so she can pretend to be oblivious to her obnoxious subway etiquette. I'm just glad I wasn't sitting next to her. I would have said excuse enough times to get her to put that book away, put her bags on the floor and sit in an upright, space conserving position.

Maybe some of you laugh at my entries about the rude behavior of NYC subway riders but it's not funny. This rude behavior lends to a poor quality of life experienced by those of who have to use the subway to get to and from work. It's tiring to always have to sit in a crooked position to accomodate the rude f***ers who think they are invisible and can't be seen or felt by those around them.

Won't you help in my campaign for better subway etiquette? Please be considerate of the people sitting around you.

The Phallological Museum of Iceland

I was very disappointed to discover that the Phallological Museum is only open from May to September. I guess we'll have to find something else to do our first day there. (sniff).

Worst Cold Ever - Progress

The worst cold I've ever had has turned into a mild annoyance.

My nasal passages, once clogged, are now clear of any blockages. My sore throat has been completely eradicated. My ears are no longer achy or itchy. While my eyes no longer suffer from the conjuctivitis affliction, my sinuses are still applying pressure causing burning and tiredness. The sinus discomfort is my only complaint - that and fatigue. My usual 8 - 9 hours are not proving to be enough sleep. 11 - 12 hours would probably do the trick.

I'm glad my cold went away because Jon and I are going away to Iceland on Sunday for four days. Sinus infections and airplanes don't go well together.

In Iceland we plan on touring the town of Geysir, the Ring Road, the Blue Lagoon and maybe we'll get to visit the Icelandic Phallological Museum.

Kelly Pickler

FOR MORE ON KELLY PICKLER AND OTHER AMERICAN IDOL CONTESTANTS,
GO HERE.


Kelly Pickler, the very popular American Idol contestant, is soooooo popular . . .

(roll tape of studio audience in the style of Match Game 76)
"HOW POPULAR IS SHE?"

. . .she is so popular, that she already has a BLANK.

a) record deal with EMI
b) Line of clothing at WalMart
c) Fan site

If you said c) Fan site - you are correct!!

American Idol - Season 5

Tonight's episode showed the beginning of Hollywood week for the 160 or so contestants who made it to Hollywood. The auditions continued. Each of the contestants sang one of 12 songs to see who would move even further into the competition.

Boy. Those producers sure know how to get to me. There is this one contestant whose story really pulls my heart strings. Kelly Pickler. Her voice has a lot of polish so I doubt she's been singing to only chickens all her life. She's a sweet young woman who has been raised by her grandfather because her mother bailed on her when she was little and her father's in jail. Naturally, she's a small town girl with a big, big heart. And when the judges told her after her initial audition that she was going to Hollywood, I cried right along with her. Well, tonight she did really well and she's moving on to the next round.

Then there is Taylor Hicks. There is something original and interesting about him. He's an older guy - well older by the competition's standard. He's in his late 20's and went grey as a teenager. I googled him and was somewhat surprised to see that he's already got a website and a little bit of a singing career going already; not that it matters. All you need to know is that his voice is fantastic. It's deep and raspy and soulful and when he sings, he exudes quiet confidence. I really hope he makes it through to the competition because he's a pleasure to listen to.

Worst Cold Ever - Progress

I finished my five day protocol of antibiotics and I couldn't tell you if they were working or not. There is some improvement in that my sore throat is gone and my left ear is no longer ringing - but the ole sinus cavities are still full of whatever it is that has been making me so uncomfortable since last Wednesday. I spoke with the doctor. He seemed satisfied with these small improvements and suggested that I wait until 10 days after the first day of antibiotics to see how I feel. If there is no further improvement, he said we'll test for allergies or some other cause for my discomfort.

The Half-Ton Man - Update

A little while ago, I wrote in passing about Patrick Deuel. He had been given the nickname half-ton man because when emergency workers found him trapped under his own weight in his home in South Dakota, he weighed over 1000 pounds. He had been bed ridden for year.

I learned about Patrick Deuel in a special program on obesity on the Discovery Health channel. The program picked up his story at his rescue and followed him through his first big initial weight loss.

When his ambulance got him to the hospital, doctors found his heart was starting to fail due to his great weight and came up with a plan to help him lose a lot of weigh fast. They had to wait to give him gastric bypass surgery because even though he was so heavy he was malnourished and not healthy enough to undergo the strain of the procedure. So instead they put him on a restricted diet and exercise plan. He lost over 500 pounds before they deemed him healthy enough to undergo the surgery. When they were operating on him they found a hernia the size of a watermelon. His health problems were numerous.

Anyway, the surgery was a success and as of January 2006, he weighs 471 pounds, less than half of what he weighed before being brought to the hospital in Sioux Falls.

Well. . . it's been hard finding updates on Patrick Deuel. One article I found is no longer posted, another I found isn't linkable because you need to subscription to the newspaper's website. But, I did find a good and thorough write up at CalorieLab Calorie Counter News .

Here I learned that Mr. Deuel had been scheduled for surgery as recently as January 26, 2006 to have 100 pounds of excess skin removed - something CalorieLab called his pannus, an apron of flesh that hangs down to one's knees. Turns out he wasn't able to have the surgery because he had a cold and his surgeons didn't want to take a chance that he wasn't healthy enough.

Whether or not he's had the surgery - I'm not sure. That is the most recent update I could find.

If you are interesting in watching the half-ton man, the Discovery Health Channel is re-running the original special on February 26.

Monday Morning - Meh

Monday morning. I'm going back to work after a four-day weekend essentially, except it was no ordinary four-day weekend. I was sick every day. And though I am feeling better today, I'm still not 100%. My sinuses are still congested although they no longer feel infected, so that's a good sign. And my pink eye has clear up which is an excellent sign- no matter really because I still have to use the eyedrops until tomorrow.

I have started coughing but it's more like hacking because the cough is still dry.

And I'm just tired. Wiped out. This sinus infection is kicking my butt. I feel like I could sleep another 5 hours.

Yesterday I woke up at 10:50 am which means I had an uninterrupted 11 hours of sleep. That was the first time in a week that I'd slept like that. Unfortunately last night, my sleep was interrupted - by discomfort.

Let's see if I can put in a full day of work.

Extra Large Super Bowl

Madden is commenting colorfully on Super Bowl XL. Just before the end of the third quarter he started repeating the word Bootleg over and over and over again to communicate to us the plays being used by Seattle. The other phrase he kept repeating was Gadget Play. I wonder if he's taking medicine for this disorder which I'll call Color Commentary Repetition Syndrome.

Yes. Jon, my husband, and I are watching Super Bowl XL and it's quite an exciting game. It seems like the referees are favoring Pittsburgh. One of Pittsburgh's players ran 75 yards on an intercepted pass breaking some kind of record. Don't ask me which one - I only know enough about football to enjoy a game without actually knowing the statistics.

The commercials - well a few stand out. I always like the CareerBuilder.com commercials because they use chimpanzees in comical situations so tonight was no different. CareerBuilder.com's first commercial was my favorite. Chimpanzees dressed as office workers are having a celebration because sales are up or so they think. The human employee stops the celebration to point out that their sales graph is sideways and that indeed sales were down. When he does the that, the camera cuts to the boss monkey who is lighting his cigar with dollar bills. That's just funny. Then another monkey turns the chart around so they can continue their celebration. In the second, the guy tells a woman on the phone that he works for a bunch of monkeys. She replies, "That's okay. I work for a bunch of jack asses." Cut to her and a long shot of the office reveals that indeed, she is working with donkeys dressed as office employees. That's good stuff. No one uses chimpanzees anymore. No one. I applaud CareerBuilder.com for using chimpanzees dressed as people.

The only other commercial I liked was the one for Budweiser featuring the Clydesdale horses. In this commercial, a Clydesdale colt is looking in his parent's barn at their accomplishments as being part of the Budweiser Clydesdale team. He is inspired to take the reigns and start pulling the Budweiser cart on his own. At first he can't do it and then all of a sudden the cart budges and the camera reveals that his proud Clydesdale parents are secretly pushing the cart from behind. I found that one very touching.

The commercials that bored me were the movie promos (yawn); and the other Budweiser commercials (blah).

However the one for the new Hummer was just disturbing. In it, a giant robot and a giant monster stop their city wide distruction to fall in love and have a baby. The baby they produce is the new Hummer 3 - the little monster. Very disturbing.

Betty Friedan - Al Lewis

Betty Friedan is dead. She lived for 85 years and then she died. While she was living she wrote the Feminine Mystique and started the National Organization for Women and now men and women in their 20's and 30's are so confused about gender roles, they don't know whether to wind their asses or scratch their watches. Every day I read several accounts on people's random blogs kept by both men and women about the difficulties and confusion of dating. I believe that a lot of the confusion about how to behave on dates comes from changes in the culture resulting from the feminist movement of the 60's and 70's. Don't get me started. This is an obit post- not a social psychology post.

Grandpa Al Lewis also died - Grandpa because he played Grandpa on The Munsters - a TV show about a fake monster family - perhaps you've heard of it. About 10 years ago, I had a friend that lived on Roosevelt Island where Al Lewis was living. He used to go out every day and talk to people on the island and acted like the local celebrity that he was - very outgoing, very friendly. His nickname was "The Mayor of Roosevelt Island." Capitalizing on his fame, he ran for NY Governor in 1998.

I'm not sure how old he was when he died. According to some accounts he was in his mid-90's while according to others, he died in his early 80's. Now, if you've seen him - he looked like he was in his mid 90's for the last 15 years or so. So, I don't know who to believe. If you look at his bio on the official Munsters website he was born in 1910 but his kid says he was born in the 1920's. If you're like me, you've seen old people of all ranges. He definitely looked like he was in his 90's.

Muslim World Just Hysterical Over Cartoon

I'm very proud of Jon because the above headline is the headline he wrote for a story that is one of the more frightening in today's news. Apparently Muslim groups the world over are calling for an apology from a Danish newspaper for running some political cartoons portraying Muhammad in a controversial light, including the on the left. Apparently, Muslims worldwide have been called to boycott any and all products that come from Denmark until this Danish newspaper makes some kind of statement expressing regret and apologizing for offending the higher sensibilities of the Muslim community. Apparently MUSLIMS are forbidden to depict Muhammad in any way. Much like Jewish people are not allowed to depict God in any way. It's the same precept. But I don't know a lot of Jewish people who riot when God is depicted in renaissance paintings or in movies like OH GOD or graffiti on the subway. It's understood that if you do not want to depict God in any way, shape or form, then it is your choice not to. But if someone else wants to . . . so be it.

Basically, Muslims are being asked worldwide to speak out against the freedom of speech. The same freedom that many Muslims take advantage of to criticize Europe, America and anyone else's culture that is offensive to the orthodox Muslim way of life.

Now. . . granted, the above image is controversial. It shows a man - not necessarily Muhammad - wearing a bomb in his turban. Clearly, the cartoonist is criticizing violent Muslims. I understand that all Muslims are not violent . . . but lately there have been, on a global level, a lot of violent incidents either caused by or involving Muslims committing violence in the name of their religion.

What really scares me is that this Danish newspaper is going to be intimidated into making a statement against running these images. What's ironic is that we've all seen footage of radical Muslims burning Western icons in effigy in small radical pockets in the world. If these radicals can burn effigies of President Clinton and President Bush, I don't see why a Muslim leader can't be drawn in a way that suggests that Muslims are violent. To the right are Pakistani Muslims burning the American flag. That's offensive to me. I'm not boycotting all products from Pakistan or refusing to patronize Pakistani owned newspaper stands or refusing to eat in Pakistani restaurants because NOT ALL PAKISTANIS feel this way.

Here is a link to an article that displays all of the images.

Here is a link to the BBC's article, which not surprisingly expresses regret for featuring the pictures in an editorial about the story. They won't even use the word terrorist when referring to Muslims who blow things up in the name of causing terror.

Emperor of the Death Cheese Bus

Okay. This is weird. This 38-year-old bus driver got into trouble for creating a small subculture on his bus. He ranked the children in 12 categories that ranged from "Lord- Apprentice of the Emperor" to "Sped - which stood for special ed." On the "Death Cheese Bus", every day the children would recite the rules of the bus and the higher ranking students would help control the lower ranking or non-ranked ones.

Doesn't this remind you of your biggest fear when you were a kid - that other kids were picking on you and the adults around you just didn't care? Except this is worse - in this scenario the responsible adult is encouraging the bullies instead of stopping them.

When Jon told me he was working on this story at the news desk last night, I instantly thought of the movie The Next Karate Kid - starring Hillary Swank. In that movie, Colonel Dugan played by Michael Ironside, was the gym teacher (or guidance counselor or vice principal or whatever) that he controlled the local high school (by whose authority is never quite clear) by using some of his students in a weird paramilitary group trained in the martial arts that patrolled the hallways but also wanted to get into Hillary Swank's pants. The most crushing moment of the movie is when Colonel Dugan's "soldiers" ruin the prom by bungi jumping into the gym from high up in the rafters (for no reason other than Dugan was a kill joy) and breaking the decorations upsetting the happy couples who were dreaming of maybe doing it for the first time that night.

Anyway, that's what it reminded me of.

I hope this guy serves time - at least 2 years. What he did was abusive to all the children involved.

Worst Cold Ever - cont'd

When I saw the doctor today, he said that he could tell there something wrong just by looking at me.

I was diagnosed with acute sinusitis and pink eye. Yes. Pink eye. When I woke up this morning my left eye was crusted over. It's been so long since I've had pink eye that I forgot what it's like. Can you believe it? Pink eye. I have pink eye. I had pink when I was a camp counselor the summer of 1989 and again when I came down with mono in college a couple of years later. Pink eye. I still can't believe it. I have pink eye. Weird.

The doctor prescribed Azithromyacin for my sinus infection and drops for my eyes - both with a 5 day protocol.

He also suggested I take good old fashioned Sudafed for relief which I've already done and I'm anxiously awaiting some relief from my sinagony. He also said that once the antibiotics start to kick I'll feel some relief. I couldn't tell you the last time I took antibiotics, maybe 10 years ago - maybe.

What I'm About

I found this on Finishing the Hat and thought I would give it a go. Try it yourself and see what you're all about.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Valerie!

1. Olympic badminton rules say that Valerie must have exactly fourteen feathers.
2. Long ago, the people of Nicaragua believed that if they threw Valerie into a volcano it would stop erupting!
3. In the 1600s, tobacco was frequently prescribed to treat headaches, bad breath and Valerie.
4. Apples are covered with a thin layer of Valerie.
5. 99 percent of the pumpkins sold in the US end up as Valerie!
6. India tested its first nuclear Valerie in 1974!
7. Valerie can squeeze her entire body through a hole the size of her beak.
8. Valerieolatry is the mindless worship of Valerie!
9. Valerie is the world's largest rodent!
10. American Airlines saved forty thousand dollars a year by eliminating Valerie from each salad served in first class.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Worst Cold Ever

This is by far the worst cold I have ever had. I can't sleep because I can't breathe and regular medicine isn't helping. Right now, my right eye, sinus and nostril are in synchronized agony. And that's under the effect of NYQUIL which normally provides with relief.

I'm exploring new territory today. I don't know how to bounce back from this one. Here is what I've been doing to bring myself relief. I took a bath scented with lavender to help me relax.
(Of course, I couldn't really smell the lavendar but the bath was very hot and therefore relaxing.) I've been drinking Airborne Formula every three hours. I've applied Vicks Vapor Rub under my nose in the hopes that it will clear me up. (My mom used to put that on my chest when I was a litttle girl.) I also just made myself a cup of tea using about one inch of diced ginger and a couple of slices of diced clementine. The tea turned out pretty nice. I also have Robitussin DM on tap for when I start coughing later and I know it's going to be a dry cough. I just want to jump ahead to the part where it's a little loser because my throat hurts so much, I don't want to lose my voice to dry couging.

This is the MOST uncomfortable I have ever felt from a cold. I'm hoping the doctor will be able to prescribe something for me tomorrow to give me some relief because I'm not finding it on my own.

February Idol

I can't believe it's already the first day of the second month of the sixth year of the 21st century.
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I woke up this morning with a sore throat, a pain in my left ear and a stuffy nose. The pressure from my sinuses has narrowed my eyes to slits and they burn. But I'm amazingly in a good mood. Calgon. Take me away!!
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I watched another magnificent episode of American Idollast night. This time the judges went to Las Vegas on their neverending quest for new talent. The producers of the show usually string together clips of bad auditions and show them throughout most of the shows. Last night was no different. We were treated to a couple of nice auditions but for the most part, it was a freak show. I guess that's what the producers think America wants - to see people making fools of themselves so we can feel better about sitting on our couches living vicariously through others.

I wish they would get back to sharing the good auditions with the viewer because watching people sing badly isn't really that enjoyable. And I certainly don't relish watching people come under attack although last night Simon's rude utterances seemed limited to an occasional positive remark or simply stated dismissals.

It could be because the show has been coming under fire lately for being homophobic or anti-gay. This proves to me that the show is entirely molded by public opinion. Add this to the large number of bad auditions shown and you get what was shown last night. We'll see how it goes in Texas tonight but I have a feeling it will be the same. Simon's comments will be limited to yays or nays and most of the attitude will probably come from the wanna-be's.
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My commute this morning was almost perfect. I let a train pass because it was too crowded and a less crowded one showed up seconds later. This plan sometimes backfires with another train not following for 10 or 15 minutes but this morning it went smoothly. There were plenty of seats and lots of room - which is why I was baffled when a young woman sat so close to me, her arm left arm was resting underneath my right one. I didn't feel like moving so I just sat there and stewed secretly wondering why, with all that room, she had to sit so close to me. I'll never understand why some people need to be so close to others. It makes me so nervous.