I've got a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig headache. Therefore... I will not be coming up with my fun and silly Thursday Three. Instead I found this page called blog candy and I'm gonna do Monday's list.

How old are you? 26

How many different schools did you go to? One school district; 4 schools; preschool, elementary, junior high, & senior high

How long have you known your oldest friend? I've known Deza about 20 years.

How many emails do you get every day? about 20. sadly, that includes 15 spams

What is on your mousepad? It's not my mouse pad and I don't know what the hell is on it, some weird psychedelic dealy.

What was the last thing you drank? water

What is the first thing you do in the morning? Pick up my wake-up call, listen to my horoscope and the tempature, hang up the phone, go back to sleep.

Who was the last person you spoke to? Rocky

What is your favourite film? I can't answer this.

Where was your last holiday? My last holiday was July 4th, hehehe... oh, my last vacation where I went somewhere was 2 years ago I think, I went to Tennessee to see Deza.

Boy, my head hurts... if I didn't have to go shopping tonight, I'd go home and sleep all night.

Sometimes I wonder...

This is the second article in the NY Times in the last 3 months that wonders: Is Madonna still relevant? Let me help you out NY Times: of course she is. And the fact you've had to write about it 2x to try and get your point across just proves it. Is she as popular as she use to be? Probably not. But that doesn't translate into irrelavance.

Can Madonna Still Move the Merch?

So she's 44... she looks great. If those Cedar Point chicks would take a clue from her and dress to flatter their bodies, I wouldn't have had to waste precious blog space on them.

I'm 4 for 5 on this week's goal!* Friday is going to be the real test though, it's always hard for me to get to work on Friday morning...

*This morning when I got here at 9:10, Sage declared, "Wow! You're unstoppable this week!" How sad is it for me that it's that impressive to my employers when I get to work before 9:30am...

Now, I know what you're thinking... why do they put up with this girl? Cause they don't know how to use Quickbooks! hahaha! I'm kidding. No, the truth is we have a little thing called flex-time here and no matter how late I get here I always work my hours. But I'm tired of being here until 5:30-6:00. I'm on a ultra-tony-robbins-self-improvement kick lately and this was the easiest thing to start with.

See? He's just adorable...

But I wonder what they're gonna do about Mr. Big?

Gonna have to do another Oh. my. god. for this news! But in a good way. I might to have to get HBO for this, I can't be waiting for 2 years until the DVD comes out...

Baryshnikov Will Play Heartthrob in 'Sex and the City'

Yummy.

The pic in the NYTimes leaves a bit to be desired but I've seen him up close and personal (and in nothing but a tight red shorts) and he's still lunchable.

But I don't think Carrie's gonna be able to wear her stilettos. I'm shorty Miss short (5'2") and in my 3 inch heels the other night, 6 feet away from him, I was sensing we were on the same height level... unfortunately he had to split, so I couldn't do the back-to-back-who's-taller-test to confirm my suspicions. I'm sensing flats in Carrie's future.

Oh. my. god. I will never understand why our country is so threatened by gays. I'd love to know how many tax $$$ they're willing spend to defend the "sanctity" of marriage.

Bush backs law to bar gay marriage

Look Mr. Bush, you're are certainly entitled to your personal religious beliefs and "morals" but exactly how is it going to hurt you or society if we let homosexuals marry or enjoy the same rights that straight men and women have? Do you know something I don't? Will the earth implode? I mean really, can't we EVER learn from history's mistakes?

Wow! I've been at work for almost 2 hours already. I'm working on my sleeping this week - making myself wake up in the morning, not taking 3 hour naps after work, turning off the TV before midnight, etc... it's my goal to get to work before 9:30am everyday this week. So far, so good. Yesterday it was 9:10, today 8:45. Hopefully, I can keep it up all week!

I've got a lot to blog about but I can't seem to get my brain energized today!!!! Baryshnikov was amazing on Saturday and Rocky & I had an awesome time! I'll definitely say more about that and other stuff later... I'm drinking up a diet coke right now so maybe I'll be buzzing & ready to blog in about an hour!

Ok, you've gotta be sick of these by now. But I'm just giving you something to read while I finish my Why VH1 Sucks manifesto. So this is from The Weekly Wrap-up...

1. What song (new or old) do you secretly enjoy, but publicly ridicule? Why?
There aren't any I can think of but there are some songs I hate that I know all the words to and sing along to unconciously. Like that Kid Rock & Cheryl Crow country song, all Red Hot Chili Pepper's songs (except the one I like), all Rod Stewart songs, A Moment Like This, etc...

2. Do you carry a purse or tote bag or backpack? If so, what's inside?
Yeah, purse. Inside it right now: Cynthia Rowley sunglasses, iAudio mp3 player, Walmart brand allergy pills, Shiseido matifying stick, target coupon, Express gift certificate, car key, 75 cents, Regal cinema coupon, my brother's new phone number, my address book, a pen and my Express mini bag, which has more stuff in it like my ID, credit card, another pen, Shiseido rice papers, lottery ticket, health insurance id, AAA card and Sage's giant eagle savings card.

3. Describe your dream job. Why did you select this one?
Queen of all things hip and cool. Because I'd be helping my fellow man/woman by bringing style and comfort into their lives.

4. You are given an opportunity to live anywhere in the world, expense free, but you can never move again. Where do you live? Why?
Italy (hehehe. See what I did there? I picked a whole country so I could just move around it and still be in the technical requirements of this fantasy) Why do these questions always ask why?? Because it's Italy, man.

5. What do you like about living in your particular city? Would you recommend it to others as a good place to live and work? Why?
Cause it's hip but not hip enough to be expensive. Yeah, everyone should live here. Cause I said so.

6. You have a superpower. What is it? What do you do with it? Do you tell anyone?
Do those bracelets that Wonder Woman had count? Probably not, that's more like a superpower accessory. I'd say the ability to fly. If I had that superpower than I'd well, fly, of course. And do good, blah blah blah. Although if that's the only superpower I have I don't know how much I could help people. I'd tell a select few.

7. What five people, living or dead, famous or not, do you wish lived on your block?
Jackie O, Audrey Hepburn, John Lennon, Frank Sinatra, and Madonna.

Sorry, my friday five took so long today. It was harder than it looks and I had actual work to do!

1. If your life were a movie, what would the title be?
Oooh, can my life be a trilogy?

Episode 1: Luke is god

Episode 2:
The Gucci Buddhist Manifesto
or
Confessions of a Gucci Buddhist

Episode 3:
The End
or
Dying Broke
or
Pulmonary Embolism

2. What songs would be on the soundtrack?
Hmmm... there'd have to be 3 soundtracks, too. I can't be spending all day on this so I'll just list some songs and the soundtrack producer can seperate them for each movie.

First off there would be a theme song written by Madonna especially for each movie.

You're So Vain - Carly Simon
Hurt - Johnny Cash
Material Girl - Madonna
The Way I Am - Eminem
A Simple Kind of Life - No Doubt
New - No Doubt
Nothing Really Matters - Madonna
The Very Thought of You - Billie Holiday
Living on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
That's Life - Frank Sinatra

That's all I can think of right now...

3. Would it be a live-action film or animated? Why?
Live-action Why? Cause it's my movie and I say so.

4. Casting: who would play you, members of your family, friends, etc?
Hmmm... how many people do I have to list? I mean there's gonna be 3 movies and hundreds of supporting characters. Maybe I'll just let everyone pick their own character's actor, here's mine:

little Me - that little girl from signs
middle me - Drew Barrymore
older me - Nicole Kidman or Drew Barrymore again (they'll both be old by then)

5. Describe the movie preview/trailer.
Nice try... but I'm not giving away the story!!!

Sometimes I wish the friday five came out on thursday to alleviate my afternoon boredom... but then what would I do friday morning? To solve this problem I'm going to create a thursday three for myself and it's going to be really silly & stupid...

Do you ever watch Soap Operas? If yes, which one(s)?
Why yes, yes I do and I'm not the least bit ashamed to admit it. I watch General Hospital the most, although I'll skip weeks or sometimes months at a time. It's pretty easy to catch up on what's been going on. Sometimes, I'll stop on One Life to Live when I'm channel surfing but the only character I was really attached to was Todd and he's not on anymore.

Do you approve of re-casting major characters on soap operas?
While I have witnessed successful recastings in the past, (some of the Spaldings on Guiding Light and Carly on GH come to mind), this is a very rare occurance. There are some characters that are considered so important & the actors that portray them so beloved that the soap would rather "kill off" or send away than recast (like Sonny, Jason, Brenda & Luke on GH and Todd on OLTL). Unfortunately for GH fans, Lucky Spencer is not considered one of these characters by the people who play god at GH and I'm now forced to change the channel every time the 3rd Lucky comes on screen. I can count the times recasts have worked on one hand but the times they've failed is staggering.

If you could be any soap opera character who would you be?
I'd be Chloe Morgan from General Hospital except I'd be alive, married to Jax and having torrid affairs with Sonny & Alcazar. (hey, it is a soap opera!)

Maybe you're all tired reading about how much I dislike our President but luckily I live in a country where I don't have to care what you think.

I know, I know, I should be thankful / impressed by that extra $56 a year I get because of his most recent tax cut but somehow I'm not. Especially since my local tax rate is going up .25% (or $65 per year) so that they can shore up the walls at the local school.

Maybe I'd be more impressed if I was a millionaire getting back $93,000 a year. But I'm not a economist and I'm sure W's "jobs and growth" plan was deemed to be the best solution to nation's current economic problems by many "brilliant" millionaires. Oops I mean economists...

Anyway this all had a point and it's so I could link to the splash page of Moby.com and you could judge for yourself our current administration's economic success rate. I don't know how long this page will be up so hurry up, peeps!

*But don't judge too harshly because that big "jobs and growth" plan hasn't had nearly enough time to kick in yet. And I'm sure that everything will turn around once all the millionaires have an extra $93,000+ in their pocket.

(*in case you hadn't figured this out for yourself, you should read that last statement in Michelle's sarcastic voice, which I'm sure you all know very well)

I had such high hopes for VH1's 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons but alas it's just proven once and for all VH1 needs to stop considering itself important enough to rank anything. While I agree that these sorts of lists are subjective, there are so many obvious problems with this one that I could spend all day listing them. And since I have to work all day, you'll all have wait 'til later.

Oops, I forgot my Cedar Point tip of the year... If you ride Disaster Transport, don't bother with the 3-D glasses they're selling for a buck and take off your hat!

Sorry I couldn't bring myself to blog yesterday, it was recover from Cedar Point day! Feeling a little perkier today, although that may just the sugar-loaded Double Iced Vanilla Latte & two C.C. cookies talking! Me sees a drastic blood-sugar drop at about 3pm...

Anywho - Cedar Point was a blast, my only complaint being that the Top Thrill Dragster is still not up and running on a regular basis. I hear that the problem is that the car can't always make it over the loop at the top! It just goes up, stops, and rolls (safely) back down! Looks like maybe they should have waited 'til next summer to super-promote it!

But the rest of the day was great! The lines were all pretty short, I think the longest wait was 45 mins for Millennium Force. And the weather was perfect, it wasn't too hot, it didn't rain at all and I didn't get a sunburn. Got to ride all the coasters at least once ('cept magnum, which I still haven't forgiven!), rode Raptor, Gemini & Power Tower (once up/once down) 2x each. Ate lots of yummy artery clogging food, including a triple grilled cheese sandwich that looked like it had a pound of cheesy-goodness on it! It was all loads of fun!

Unfortunately, I also had to witness a hideous new fashion trend among teenagey (14-22) chicks... it seems that it the new thing to not just wear really short shorts w/a decidedly bad 80's cut but too make sure those shorts are at least a size too small with an elastic top. Let's just say, this is not a good look on ANY body. In fact, on the 100 or so girls wearing these shorts, I saw only one who pulled it off. And it was because she was a size 0, maybe even a -2... To top off this look, most of these young ladies had on bikini tops or half shirts which might have worked (for a few of them anyway) if their elastic-band shorts weren't so unflattering to their midriffs. Then, as if that didn't make them look bad enough, a select few chose to wear boys socks pulled up with tennis shoes. If there's anything about fashion that every girl should learn, it's that anything that stops mid-calf will make (most everyone's) legs look shorter and thicker.

I have nothing against; "if you've got it, flaunt it" but I think that this needs to be amended to; "if you've got it, flatter it!"

I think this look (at least the shorts) is straight from Sex and the City a couple of seasons ago. And when Carrie wore the 80's shorts (scroll down), they fit her size 2 body correctly and she wore them with stilettos, which gives her 5'4" body supermodel looking legs. And let's face it, she still only look's OK in them!

Ladies, here's a good rule of thumb... if it doesn't look good on Carrie Bradshaw, it ain't gonna look good on anybody! And even if it does look good on Carrie Bradshaw, it's still probably not gonna look good on anybody else!

Somehow my Cedar Point post got off track...

Here's my word of my mouth for the week:

Rent The Guru

It's funny!

I'm off now to check out the Lodi Sweet Corn Festival w/Shani & lil' William!

Yea! My archives are all fixed up now thanks to blogger support!

Even though I don't currently have a pet living with me (my 2 dogs live at my mom's house), one of my favorite sources of information on all things pet or animal related is The Humane Society of The United States website. If you're thinking about getting a pet or if you already have one, this site offers a massive amount of wonderful info to help you out. But what this post is really about is to remind you all about one very important pet care tip:

NEVER NEVER NEVER LEAVE YOUR PET IN A PARKED CAR!

"On a warm day, the temperature in a parked car can reach 120° in a matter of minutes—even with the car windows partially open. Your pet can quickly suffer brain damage or die from heatstroke or suffocation when trapped in high temperatures. " Read more...

Wouldn't you rather have years of fun & companionship with your happy & healthy pet instead of taking Spot on a potential tragic trip to the grocery store? It's not like he's gonna help you with the bags or anything. So please, please leave the him at home so that he can greet you with crazy delight at the door and rummage through the bags with his nose while your trying to put everything away... because that is the kind of memory you'll want to keep with you forever.

This quiz offers you a chance to see how much real news you actually absorb from our sensationalistic media...

What you don’t remember can hurt you

I got 75% right. That's disappointing, I better start paying more attention...

And yes, sensationalistic is an actual word.

Do I already know more than any one person needs to know about the Kennedy family? Probably... but it's not gonna stop me from adding, "An Unfinished Life" by Robert Dallek & "The Kennedy Curse" by Edward Klein to my reading list. It's been years since I indulged my Kennedy fancination with an actual book (what with all the magazine articles & TV documentaries I can devour instead).

As for whether I actually believe in a Kennedy "curse" or not, I've always found Rose Kennedy's deeply held belief that "God never gives you a cross heavier than you can bear" an oddly comforting interpretation of their tragedies and troubles. But I think her grandson, Chris Lawford, says it best: "If you think of it as one movement from grandfather's early days to what has happened . . . right now, you realize that the Kennedy story is really about karma, about people who broke the rules and were ultimately broken by them."

Seems Joe Kennedy might have taken out the karmic credit plan for his family: buy now, pay forever...

Firday Five:

1. When was the last time you cheated?
Cheated how? Like on a test (never, unless it's considered cheating to not stop someone from looking over your shoulder and copying your test, in that case 7th grade. And since the teacher didn't seem to think it was cheating...) or on a boyfriend (I decline to answer on the basis that my answer may tend to incriminate me)

2. When was the last time you stole?
I stole a bottle of nail polish a couple of years ago just because I'd never stolen anything before. And I wear that nail polish all the time.

3. When was the last time you lied?
As Morrissey said; "I lie a lot, it's very useful."

Come on people, please don't kid yourselves... everyone lies! Constantly! The trick is balance. Never lie about love, death, or who you are as a person. Lie all you want about taxes (your accountant probably does), just don't whine when the IRS sends you to jail! I've been told that it's more than OK to lie when sparing someone's feelings (unless it's about love, death or who you are as a person). Don't make up things that never happened or were never said because then you risk becoming one of those compulsive liar-shit heads who nobody trusts & who've rewritten history in their minds... and that's one of saddest kind of people you could be.

4. When was the last time you broke or vandalized another's property?
Seriously... never. What's wrong with you people? Is that like a normal thing to do?

5. When was the last time you hurt a loved one?
Once again, I decline to answer on the basis that my answer may tend to incriminate me.

books:

postponed - Me: Stories of my Life by Katharine Hepburn
started - Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

Just wanted to read Seabiscuit before I see the movie next weekend!

The Emmy award nominations were announced this morning and they are...

PRETTY MUCH EXACTLY THE SAME AS LAST YEAR!

What the hell? Do these emmy voters only watch 10 shows? Can't these voters branch out just a little? I know it's too much to ask for Buffy the Vampire Slayer but what about Boomtown? Or Scrubs? I don't mind if a show gets nominated again and again if it's truly deserving (Law & Order, which didn't get a nod for the first time in 12 years) but everything I've read prior to the announcements said that a lot of them weren't really that good last year. I don't know... at least Tony Shalhoub from Monk got a nod.

Either way here's who I pick to win (which means they won't)...
Best Drama: Six Feet Under
Best Comedy: Friends
Best Actress (drama): Frances Conroy - Six Feet Under
Best Actor (drama): Peter Krause - Six Feet Under
Best Actress (comedy): Jennifer Aniston - Friends
Best Actor (comedy): Tony Shalhoub from the brilliant show that is Monk. (or Matt LeBlanc - Friends)
Best Supporting Actor (drama): I can't pick anyway who was nominated here because I've never seen any of these shows.
Best Supporting Actress (drama): Lauren Ambrose - Six Feet Under
Best Supporting Actor (comedy): Sean Hayes - Will & Grace
Best Supporting Actress (comedy): Megan Mullally - Will & Grace
Individual Performance (Variety Or Music Program): Jon Stewart - The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series: Late Show With David Letterman

I'm not getting into all those made-for-tv movie and mini series catagories.

Programming note: So, I know that VH1 has gotten carried away with their Greatest countdowns in the past but I for one cannot wait for the200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons list. It starts Monday, July 21 @ 9pm.

I wonder, as I am already the pop culture knowledge queen among my peers, could there be more for me to learn? And with even more wisdom, could I (dare I say it...) rule the world? hehehe!

Programming note: Here's a new TV show that I can get into...

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

It looks like loads of fun. I mean just look at the before picture of that guy.... right now I can't imagine they can help him at all! Personally, I think at least 75% of American men need to sign up for this show. Sorry, boys!

OK, I'm not morbid or anything but I find this blog interesting...

The Blog of Death

And the quote at the top is great...

"I shall not die of a cold. I shall die of having lived."
-- Willa Cather

I had just finished my Friday Five post and I lost it all in a freak blogging incident... luckily I had it in a text file first.

1. Do you remember your first best friend? Who was it?
Yep... Carrie Roach.

2. Are you still in touch with this person?
Nope. I'm still pissed off that she tore the head off my favorite doll when we were 5. OK, I'm kidding, she moved in 4th grade and you know how that is.

3. Do you have a current close friend?
Shani-banani is my official best friend if that's what you mean... but I have more than 1 close friend (at least, I think I do), why not give them all props? Alas, I had better stick to the friday five format. Sorry guys.

4. How did you become friends with this person?
We split a dinner at the drama club banquet and now I can't get rid of her... Kidding, I could get rid of her easy if I really wanted to, it's not like she uses a phone ever.

5. Is there a friend from your past that you wish you were still in contact with? Why?
I wish I saw Luke more than every 5 years but I know where he is so nothing is really stopping me but me. Why? Cause he's still the coolest guy I ever met even if it didn't especially translate into responsible adulthood. He's also my favorite ex-boyfriend cause he's such a sweetie and (as far as I know) he never wrote a evil-bitch poem about me.

Then there's Andy Campbell... Why? I'd just like to have lunch with him sometime and apologize for being a monster bitch and not appreciating his nice guy-ness.

Right after I answered that future children names question in one of those chain emails, I came acrossed this article about baby names. I found it interesting enough...

Where Have All the Lisas Gone?

But here's the really fun part... the article links to the baby names section of the Social Security web site where you can, among other things, track the popularity of a name over the years. Just what I needed, one more way to waste time on the internet... in fact, I started already... with the name of my godson, Tristan. Here's the ranking of the name Tristan over the last 12 years.

2002 - 104
2001 - 109
2000 - 106
1999 - 98
1998 - 92
1997 - 92
1996 - 70
1995 - 122
1994 - 454
1993 - 407
1992 - 385
1991 - 352

It seems he was born (1997) around the peak for that particular name. You'll notice that the name made a huge climb between 1994 and 1995. Why? I know why... because of the movie 'Legends of the Fall'... It came out in 1994 and featured a character named Tristan played by yummy Brad Pitt. That's just silly, you say. Nope, I know for a fact that is exactly where Shani got that name. That is precisely how some names become so popular. According to the NY Times article, the name Madison started catching on after the movie "Splash!"...

One of my favorite boy names, Elijah, is currently peaking at #41 up from #225 just 12 years ago. I blame Elijah Wood. Totally adorable & popular child actor in the early nineties who's now starring in massively entertaining & popular Lord of the Rings trilogy. Yep, I'm not ashamed to admit that is where I got the name... but it's been on my list almost as long ('bout 10 years) as Lucas (currently #76) so I'd probably still like it even if Elijah Wood had gone the way of Edward Furlong (of Terminator 2 fame, currently doing drugs in an alley wondering why he's not in T3). My other boys name (Jasper) has just cracked the top 500. Meanwhile... 2 of my girls names (Sachi & Jacinda) aren't even in top 1000 but I make for that with Anna, which is #20.

Yep, I could spend all night doing this...

Google Toolbar 2.0, have I told you lately that I love you? You have blocked 201 of those evil pop-ups in just 2 weeks!!

:-)

Seriously people, if you don't have it... GO AND GET IT NOW!

Gag... looks like there will be 3 more years of American Idol for me to avoid.

Why don't you idiots who watch that show & request those GOD AWFUL songs please do the world a favor and stop this madness??!!

books

started: The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
finished: The Great Gatsby
started: Me: Stories of My Life - Katharine Hepburn

:-(

Seems like all the great celebs are dropping like flies...

My favorite Buddy Ebsen character? Doc Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

My favorite Barry White song? "You're the First, the Last, My Everything"

The tickets are finally here! Want to see where Rocky and I are sitting to see Baryshnikov? I thought you might... We're in PIT A; Row D; Seats 6 & 7

Take a look!

Not bad, eh?

Looks like Andy Roddick ran out of steam...

Speaking of tennis... If you've been keeping up with Wimbledon you know my favorite, Andre Agassi, was ousted in the 4th round, which means that I'm now forced to root for Andy Roddick. Just kidding!! He's playing awesome and about to move into the semi-finals. Even though I use to be mostly annoyed by him when he first started playing pro, it's easy for me to hope that he can make Wimbledon his first Grand Slam win. But I don't want to jinx him. So you didn't hear that from me...

Breakfast at Wimbledon (if you don't know this means the Men's final, you probably don't care) airs at 9am Sunday, July 5 on NBC. It will be the earliest I've gotten up on a Sunday since... probably ever.

books

started: You Cannot Be Serious - John McEnroe
finished: You Cannot Be Serious

This is great!!! I found this courtesy of The Juice on MSNBC:

"Google helps GWB find WMD: Just in time for the Fourth of July weekend, Google has shown true patriotism with a giggle for the nation and especially for G. Dubya.

Try this: Go to www.google.com. Type: weapons of mass destruction (no quotation marks). Do NOT click Google Search. Instead, click: I’m Feeling Lucky. Then read the whole error message carefully.

If you’re one of those people who have no time for a couple of clicks because you’re leaving town now for the holiday, you can go straight to the error message. But it does spoil some of the fun."

Programming alert!

Hef is on Snoop's new MTV show this Sunday @ 10pm... can't miss that!

Doggy Fizzle Televizzle

My new google toolbar has blocked 70 pop-ups since I installed it Thursday! Woo-hoo!!!

Check out this little cutie!

Dylan Troy

I hope Dylan enjoys napping in his John Lennon playpen, excuse me, playard! Hell, I'd probably enjoy napping in there!

Congratulations Susie & Brandon!

Here's a great story on my early favorite for President in 2004:

How Dean uses power of the Web

Go grassroots, go!!