Just checking. I've had trouble sending msgs-they won't go. 60 lbs now!

Catching Up

It's been a while since I posted, hasn't it?
Unfortunately, I can't claim to have been SO BUSY that
I couldn't find time. My life has been its usual
boring self with a few exceptions, such as Bro S
having to return to the hospital because they found
blood clots at his chest incision - they put him on
blood thinners and kept him for a couple of days - he
has to give himself shots for a week or so then all
should be well. Mom's still in the health center
getting rehab - the cast is off her leg and she's in a
boot now - hopefully, she'll be able to go home soon
but, at the same time, I want them to keep her until
she's walking good.

Good news: I bought the airline tickets for our
cruise yesterday. Everything's a go - cruise is paid
for, airline tichets are paid for, hotel reservations
are made, we only need to set up some shore excursions
now. I am SO ready to go on vacation, and I know this
will be loads of fun but it will be over so soon. I
guess then I'll think about Maui in July....

Wo, what else?

Survivor has started - all that media blitz was a gig
hoo-haw about nothing because it's the same old
Survivor, some of them are more amused by the tribes
than anything else, but it all comes down to surviving
the challenges and tribal councils and I haven't seen
much dwelling on "race" among the contestants - I
think they are just intent on playing the game and
hoping to win $1mil. In their place, that's all I
would be thinking about too.

Amazing Race is on again - so far so good. Most of
the teams seem OK - I really like the tema of Dave and
Mary. He's a coalminer from Kentucky and she's a
housewife and mom - she's never been out of Kentucky,
believe it or not, and so far she's been to Seattle,
China and Mongolia, with about 30,000 miles and
several continents to go. Pretty cool.

Project news: well, we'll see. I'm doing a weigh-on
on Friday at the end of the month.

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Extraordinary Rendition - a Big Load of Bull*&it

Extraordinary rendition.

What a bizarre, innocuous term for a heinous crime. A
crime that has apparently been committed over and over
again by our own government. You know what I think
when I read about cases of people being taken from
their work, people taken from their homes or from the
airport as they change planes, people who are picked
up in the name of "cleansing the world of the threat
of terrorism" and then disappear for years while they
are hidden and tortured and their families and friends
wonder what happened to them and their lives are
turned upside down and OUR GOVERNMENT is the cause of
it all because they heard a whisper, a rumor that this
person or that person is supporting this or that
terrorist group and MAYBE they are or maybe they
aren't but to some government officials it really
doesn't matter, a rumor is enough for them to
terrorize you, hide you for years, send you to a
foreign country to be tortured and it's all done in
the name of FREEDOM and in support of the AMERICAN
WAY? It's criminal.

In my opinion, we have invaded countries for less than
that on the basis of "in the name of freedom and
democracy" - we've condemned foreign leaders and
foreign policies for less then "disappearing" and
torturing people, we have pursuaded the United Nations
to place sanctions on countries who perform these
types of actions.

Are we the biggest hypocrites in the world or what?
We condemn and then we copy. We shake our heads and
then we do worse things. We quote God and the Bible,
and then we break the commandments.

Do as I say, not as I do. That's us.

We cerainly do not follow our own rules.

Some of this stuff we read everyday in the papers and
on the net are clearly violations of the Constitution
- is our Congress asleep? If our President doesn't
have the moral fortitude to follow the rules, why
don't the other hundreds of men and women who make up
our Congress get off their asses and make him?

I get really tired of hearing stuff like "cleansing
the world of terrorism" and "we are the leaders of the
free world" when we repeatedly show ourselves to be
morally corrupt. Why should anyone believe us? Why
shouldn't they get mad or quit listening and hit back?

In the schoolyard, the kids only take so much and then
they get together and beat the crap out of the bully
who's terrorizing them. If we're the bully, then
where does that leave everybody else?

If you don't hear from me again, it'll mean "someone"
took offense that I have an opinion - maybe I'll be
disappeared, too.

I hope the feds pay my bills while I'm gone.

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Project News: Mid-September - another 4!

Here's an update on Project news:

Weighed in today and I lost another 4 pounds! I guess
that's OK for two weeks, but I've GOT TO lose more
than that in the next two weeks of Sept to make up for
the (only) 5 I lost in August (fell short 4-5 lbs).

So, my plan is to step up and actually try to add in
some exercise. How's that for a plan 57 pounds into
this Project? I feel pretty good about the loss so
far since I have not added exercise into the routine
yet - I wanted to get some weight off first.

I'm not talking about jogging and weightlifting, by
the way. I'm talking about maybe walking in place for
a few minutes in front of the TV, taking the long way
to the bathroom at work, that kind of thing. I
certainly don't want to rush into anything! haha

I'll let you know how it works.........next update is
September 29th.

Sad, Sad, Sad

I don't really follow the many-storied fates of Anna
Nicole Smith but her son dying in her hospital room is
the saddest thing. Can you just imagine? She
had just given birth via C-section to a brand new baby
daughter, Daniel flew to the Bahamas to see her, and
went straight to the hospital. He stayed with her
that night and was found dead in his chair in the
morning.

This is one of the saddest stories I've heard - I
don't know why I feel so emotional about it but, jeez,
it's a sad one. I'm still emotional about the loss of
Steve Irwin so maybe that's why I'm susceptible to
weepy things right now.

Rest In Peace, Steve and Daniel.

Rock Star: AFFLICTION (tba), BB:AS (ass, for real)

Well, it's all over. Anti-climatic, disappointing,
wimpy, wimpy, wimpy endings for both BB:AS and RS:SN.

Luk-ass "won" RS - but really, is that a win? Already
they've lost their name because of the court case.
Oh, but I DID think up a new name for them:
AFFLICTION. What do you think? I thought it was
especially appropriate because Luk-ass always looks
like he's suffering from some kind of affliction when
he's on stage. Perfect, huh?

Update: They are now called "Rock Star: Supernova"

And, BB:AS came down to two of the most smarmy, icky
players and the finale wasn't even interesting. Mike
Boogie and Erika? Good grief, could they get any more
uninteresting finalists? If I was on the jury it
definitely would have been a choice between the two
worst players. Oh, and Mike won. Mostly because of
his association with Will - I think people gave him
credit for the whole Chill Town thing and realized
that they at least HAD A PLAN, which Erika did not -
she just floated with the breeze through most of the
summer. Anyway, yuck.

A perfect Final 2 would have been Will and Janelle -
then we would have seen an infinitely more interesting
and passionate show.

Storm & Janelle, sorry, sorry, sorry

It's my fault.

On these stupid shows I pick the one person I like and
stick with them through thick and thin, but, I think
I'm a jinx. So I apologize to Storm and Janelle -
it's probably my fault you both got kicked off your
shows this week. I rooted for you and the stars
laughed.

I'll miss you both - and the unfortunate thing is that
on Big Bro:AS there is NO ONE else to champion -
Janelle was the last - and Boogie and Erika are both
loathsome. ick. blech. ickeeee.

On Rock Star we still have Magni and Toby, but I can't
say I'm backing them because I'll jinx them. And I
CAN'T SAY I back Dilana-gate or Luk-ass because I JUST
WON'T.........

So there you go. It's been fun.

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Big Bro and Rock Star:SN - Coming to the end

I am happy to report that Janelle found her brain, and it wasn't in Will's pants. Since she had the POV Boobie had to put Will on the block - Erika started talking with Janie and rightly pointed out that Will was directly responsible for having her entire alliance voted off. THEN, the good stuff started - J and E went out for a cig (I am SO GLAD that Erika started smoking again if only for this moment) and they started comparing notes about what Boog and Will had told each of them. And they found the stories were the same. They both knew they were royally played, decided to join up, and Janie booted Will's ass. It was a wonderful thing to see.

On RS:SN news, last night we heard a cover and an original from each rawker. Here's what I thought:

Dilana sucked (The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" and a sucky original). There's nothing more to say - the girl is so dead to me. I felt sorry for her though - I know pulled calf muscles are extremely painful. Ouch.

Magni rocked with The Beatles "Back in the USSR" and a pretty good original. I enjoyed his performance on both songs - his vocals were very strong. Tommy: "Those songs sounded pretty much the same. Why was that?" Magical Magni Moment: "Because they were sung by...me?"

Storm blew the roof off with Bowie's "Suffragette City" (accompanied by Dave N - those two were electric playing off of each other - best performance I've seen in a long time.) Then she sang her local hit "Ladylike" which just plain rocks in a jazzy kind of way (she played the PG version, not the R version. Of course.) I loved it, the audience seemed to love it and she got nothing but compliments from SN.

Then Lukas was up and HE SUCKED. He sang Bon Jovi's "Living on A Prayer", which I know the words to but I couldn't understand a thing he was saying - I kept going "what?" what?" Way to ruin a song, Luk-ass. Then he sang an original song called "Headspin" which was so boring I grabbed the remote and surfed till it was over. Maime said she picked up her book and read it. It was gawdawful and he mumbled through the whole song - don't ask me what it was about cause I don't know. Something about his mom. As usual, SN poured the sugar on him, but they must have seen a different performance than I did. I had to laugh because some of his fans on the TWOP forum were all "just wait till you hear "Headspin!!!!! Wow!! That song RAWKS! It's the BEST SONG IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!" So I was waiting to hear something really good - and it bored the hell out of me. Maybe it was in a foreign language or something....like Canadian. haha.

Last up was Toby. His cover was The Killer's "Mr. Brightside" and it wasn't very good. Nothing against Toby, but that version was pretty average - and I LOVE that song. Then he sang a catchy little original that had everybody up on their feet. I enjoyed it, it was fun. Is SN looking for fun? I don't think so - I think they're looking for black eyeliner and angst.

Anyway, Dilana, Luk-ass and Toby were my bottom 3 (Toby just thrown in to make three)

So you know tonight's real bottom 3 will be Storm, Magni and Toby (Toby just thrown in to make three).

I put in 30 votes for Storm.

RS:SN Go Storm! - BB:AS Go Janelle!

I am SO HAPPY that Storm is still in the running on
RockStar - I hope she feels the same! Last week's
"Bring Me To Life" was pretty good but SN didn't
really take to it. She was in the bottom 3 and sang
The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" for her bottom 3
performance. It was great.

So, this week I hear she rocked with house with her
original song "Ladylike" and her cover, which I can't
think of right now - we'll get to see it tonight.

Go Storm!!!

On Big Brother:AS (hee) Janelle's still in there -
it's down to 4 now (Will, Mike, Erika and Janie). As
of now, Mike has the Head of House, he nominated Janie
and Erika, and Janelle got the Power of Veto (I think
we'll see that tonight along with her taking herself
off the block). Mike will have to put up Will for
eviction, and Janie will have the only vote and will
have to evict either Erika or Will. If she's REALLY
playing the game she'll evict Will - she's even
intimated in the Diary Room that she's just waiting
for a chance to do that. BUT Will is playing her so
well, and focusing on her dislike of Erika so much that she
may just forget her goal of playing the game, and
go along with what he's brainwashing her with -
anything to keep himself in. Of course, in the end,
it won't matter if she evicts W or E because she'll
have to win the last HOH in order to stay in with either
event - Mike will take Will to F2 and Erika will take
her Mike-lover to F2. The only way Janie can get
there is to win the last HOH.

Speaking of Erika and Mike - eeeewwwww!!! She
diary-room's that she's "in love", they have a "real
relationship" and she's found her "mate" on Big
Brother. Followed by scenes of Mike in the DR saying
how he knows she's going to be really, really angry
when she realizes he's just playing her for votes.
hahaha, this one is for the books because they're both
so stupid. Janie and Will, on the other hand, flirt
with each other outrageously, but both say they've not
lost sight of the game - they're just having fun. If
Erika is serious about her feelings for Mike and her
expectations of a relationship with him, or marriage,
outside of the house, then I feel really sorry for her
because she's going to get REALLY hurt. We'll see how
this all plays out.

GO JANELLE! and vote out Will on Thursday!

caveat: Although my ideal Final 2 would be Janelle
and Will because I think they're the two best players
ever on BB, I just don't see it happening without an
incredible series of events going her way.

Just some stuff

Boring, boring. That's me right now......nothing much
going on, still trying to lose more weight (that would
be a LOT easier without 3-day holidays) - gotta get
back on the stick now and really slam some pounds off
in September. I "only" lost 5 pounds in August, but
the good thing is that I could tell I'd lost inches by
the "new" clothes I could wear so that didn't feel so
bad.....but now there's NO sitting on my laurels -
I've got to keep it up, go, go go, maybe add some mild
exercise in the mix (my knees are still so
unpredictable - I can be totally pain-free one minute,
then just step down and be in pain with the next step
- grrr, it's frustrating).

Besides that, everything's the same. Mom's still in
the health center waiting for her broken ankle to heal
- she's been in 3 weeks so far with at least one to
go, she still isn't allowed to put any weight on her
leg so she basically just lays there on the bed. They
come in and do "restorative therapy" every day or so
with her sitting on the side of the bed, and she says
she sits in the wheelchair for an hour or so most
days. But after all this time of JUST DOING NOTHING I'm
afraid she won't be able to walk when she finally gets
a walking cast (or I should say "if") - I just don't
know what will happen then.....

It's Such a Shock

I still can't believe Steve Irwin is gone. I've been
a HUGE fan of his for years, I've watched the progress
of his zoo and his family and he almost feels like a
friend. It's unbelieveable. I feel so sorry for
Terri and the kids - they've lost an amazing husband
and father. It seems so unreal.

Project Update is Tomorrow - eeks

I weigh in again tomorrow. The end of the month.
It's already here and I'm askin' "what happened to
August?"

We'll see tomorrow how I did this month - I'm hoping
for another 4-5 lbs to bring my August total to 8 or
9.

fingers crossed......

9/5/06 - I just realized that I forgot to send an update about the loss.

It was only 1 pound, for a total of 5 for August. BUT I can tell I lost inches

because I was able to wear a cute t-shirt that I could not wear earlier in the month.

I put it on just to see how it fit and it was fine - two weeks earlier I couldn't

wear it because the sleeves were too tight. SO I feel good. Now, on to September.

RockStar:SN: I See Through You and I Hate It !

I am just getting so TIRED of the continued
deviousness of the PTB on Rockstar:SN. Here's my
question to Mark Burnett: "If you know who the winner
is before the show even STARTS, then DON'T HAVE THE
FREAKING SHOW." Just tell SN who their new lead
singer is and don't put the rest of us through all the
crap.

The comments from Dave and SN following each
performance are getting more and more blatant and
slanted - it's impossible to believe it's not rigged
anymore. Last night was the Dilana-show; the entire
season has been the Dilana-show, the SHOW is the
Dilana-show. I AM SICK OF IT! And now since she

kind of messed up, it's becoming the "Lukas Show".

baahhhh.

Storm Large has been the consummate professional on
this show - she is beautiful, calm, strong and has a
lovely clear voice. Is that what SN wants? No. Week
after week Storm gives us fabulous, excellent,
emotional performances and week-after-freaking-week
she is bombed and condemned by SN - she's the only
contestant who has received
slightly negative/negative/totally negative critiques
EVERY WEEK even after sensational performances that
totally do not deserve anything but kudos. Last night
she kicked everyone's butt with a stellar version of
"Bring Me To Life", with backing vocals by Toby. It
was excellent - one of the best performances of the
season. And Dave and SN? "Oh gosh, Toby, you were
really good and you stole some of Storm's thunder.
Storm, Jill did that song better, yours just wasn't
memorable." WTF did they hear? Is the sound quality
of my TV that much better than the CBS studios????
Jill sucked when she sang that song.

They SO OBVIOUSLY don't want Storm - I'm sure they
want Dilana-gate, Luk-ass, Ryan and Toby to be the
final 4 so they can pick Dilana - if Storm goes too
much further they won't be able to justify not picking
her. I'm just sayin'.

I hope other voters saw what I saw and heard what I
heard and voted the hell out of their phones for
Storm. She does not deserve to be kicked off the show
for being better than the favorite.

Oh, The Humanity!

Ok, this thing just happened to me and I'm still
reeling from shock.

I'll try to share it, but it's really hard.....here
goes:

I was just downstairs in the restaurant getting a
breakfast sandwich and coffee for breakfast. I
ordered it, paid for it, and waited for it to be done.
I glanced over at the table next to me and to MY
SHOCK AND HORROR someone had a left a
beautiful piece of B A C O N on a plate on the table
to be THROWN OUT!!!!!!!!! INTO THE TRASH!!!!!! My
first instinct was to grab it and eat it. It was
sitting on a clean plate beside the obvious breakfast
plate (remnants of hashbrowns and omelette) so my
guess is that it was ordered on the side and it hadn't
been touched by food or man and it was just sitting
there, clean and beautiful and almost irresistable.
It was nigh onto impossible to restrain myself from
grabbing it - if I had been alone in the restaurant
and no one could have see me I would have eaten it.
Leaving your bacon on a plate is like leaving your
baby in the car - it just SHOULDN'T BE DONE.

OK, here's how sick I am: If I had my phone with me when

I saw this tragedy I would have taken a picture of the

doomed slice of bacon and posted it here to remind us of

a wasted slice-of-heaven.

RockStar Looking Forward

Just flashing by to say that I am REALLY looking
forward to seeing Rockstar:SN tonight. From what I
gather in the forums, Dilana is still tantrum-throwing
and bawling and generally acting like a two-year old.
I'm so sick of that - this woman is 34 (?) years old and
she acts like a toddler (plus she looks 54 - damn,
that's some hard living she's had, if her face is
anything to go by).

And, why oh why, do the SN dinosaurs not like Storm or
Magni? I still don't get the Dilana/Lukass (hee) love
when they're both a lot of trouble? If I was
touring with someone I wouldn't want it to be a bitchy
crybaby (D) or someone who loses their voice 2 songs
into a set (L).

So, I'm looking forward to the wild card songs tonight and
no matter that SuavePorn trashes Storm's performance
I'm power voting for her.

Again, I say, she's just too much for them and they're
intimidated by someone they won't be able to control.

BB:AS Janelle Rides Again

hahahahahah!

I could not have WRITTEN a better Big Brother: All
Stars - this thing is cracking me up! I know, I know,
a lot of people think the BB:AS is boring, but not me.
JANELLE Rules again....first she was put up for
eviction by Erika, then she won the Power of Veto -
again. Everytime they think they have her out she
wins POV and saves herself or she wins Head of House.
The others have wanted her out since the first week
and, here it is almost at the end, and she's still
there. It's magical. No matter what they do the girl
somehow saves herself.....and they get so SPITTING MAD.

Love it!

Rock Star Last Bits

A bit more on Rock Star: Suave Porn (aka Supernova,
but I really like this dig from the forums)

DILANA, how could I have forgotten your long, pink
eyelashes? Before the show aired in my time zone, I
downloaded your performance to my phone, where the
screen's so small I couldn't see what was on your face
and kept saying "what's wrong with her effing eyes?"
"What IS that?" Totally ridiculous. Also? Too bad
they were too heavy and you couldn't open your eyes
all the way. And, in that outfit you looked like an
ostrich.

Then (I'm not speaking to Dilana anymore because she's
dead to me) while she was singing Every Breath You
Take, she chanted her own name "dilana. dilana.
dilana. dilana. i'll be watching you" with little
finger-to-eye-to-audience motions AND stuck out her
stupid tongue. aaaccckkk! cooties.

While she was going on about her honesty re trashing
her housemates, it was interesting to watch Lukas, who
got reamed earlier in the season for opening his
mouth. He was quiet as could be, but you just know he
was seething inside. Ryan/Lukas/Dilana must have
quite the thing going for it to have come to such a
head. Let's just get rid of them and let Toby, Storm
and Magni duke it out. My money's on Storm, but
cripes, why would she want to be in this band of
has-beens anyway? They've shown me nothing yet but
recycling.

Here's what I think: Storm should cut an album with
The House Band. That would rock.

Maime and I were talking about this at lunch today and
we have the ideal idea for next year's show. Listen
to me, Mark Burnett, this will work:

RockStar: The House Band

They already have more talent than most bands out
there, they have a great name - let's get them a lead
singer and send them out into the world.

RockStar: SN - Down to Six Now

Rock Star: SN (last night)
Buh-bye, Patrice. It's about time you were "aufed" -
it's been coming for several weeks now.
Patrice was the last of the Supernovices who were
clearly not going to make it to the end. Her
departure leaves us with Storm, Ryan, Toby, Magni,
Dilana and Lukas. These are the six contestants most
of us viewers pegged from the start to be the
finalists. It's like the competition is finally going to
start now.

I'm a big Storm fan, but I think the guys are
intimidated by her - she's outspoken, freaking
gorgeous, tall and lushly-figured, and stands up to
them verbally and physically - they can't shake her.
I think she flusters them - they become little boys
when they talk to her. I'm throwing all my votes her
way. She has by-far the most professional experience
and poise, and the best voice of the remaining
Supernovices.

Dilana is a face-bejewelled freak who has lived to the
ripe age of 33 or whatever and has never learned when
to keep her big trap shut. Does she not realize that
"the music business" is called "business" because it's
a BUSINESS? You can't just spout out whatever you
think, whatever you feel, and not have repercussions.
It's a BUSINESS - if you're going to get anywhere you
have to follow some (not many) rules. Supernova
members and Dave are legitimately trying to teach some
of the rules of the road to these contestants - things
they've learned from the school of hard knocks, for
the most part. Dilana thinks she's some kind of REAL
star instead of a reality-show contestant whose name
we'll all forget in a few months. There have been
hundreds of reality show contestants with pumped-up
publicity in the last two or three years but how many
do we remember now? They may have been quasi-stars
while their shows were on but they were quickly
forgotten. (Test: Name the Supernovices who have
already left the show this season. Even I have to
think about that one.) Dilana is not a star. Not yet.
And, if she doesn't learn just a bit of humility, J.Q.
Public will not like her and will drop her like a hot
potato fresh from the fire. I'm sick of her attitude;
I hope she goes away next week. (not a chance)

Oh, and I'm really tired of the Dilana/Lukas
we-hate-each-other show. The producers seem to think
we're all fascinated by this mess and continually cut
to the one when the other is singing or talking, and
vice versa, to show us the hateful looks they give
each other. Yeah, we know, Dilana and Lukas hate each
other; you don't have to throw it in my face every
second. It's like a freak-show within a carnival. I
guess there's only room for one striped-haired, kohl
eye-linered, jewelry-in-unusual-places, shredded
clothing, contestant on RS:SN.

Anyway, last night's bottom 3 were Toby (who is in no
danger yet), Magni (second time a row in the bottom
3), and Patrice (4th week in the bottom three). It
was a foregone conclusion that Patrice was going
bye-bye. Her consolation prize was that she got to sing her

original song "to the world" this week. no comment.

TV Updates: BB-AS, RS-SN

In other words, Big Brother: All Stars and Rockstar: Supernova.

BB-AS: (heh, still like saying that (ass)). Janelle was HOH this past week and she nominated Dani and Erika for eviction, with the aim of getting rid of Dani. Dani had different ideas, however, and won the power of veto with a LOT OF HELP from her Legion of Doom alliance. So, she took herself off and Janelle had to pick someone else. She chose that vicious-mouthed Marci, which did not hurt my feelings at all, and she assured him that the house's intention was to vote of Erika and keep Marci. What Janelle did not know, though, is that her alliance is not strong and the LOD alliance wanted Marci out, so that's what happened. He's the first in sequester-ville. He said he didn't want to go to sequester-ville because it's probably a dump in Tijuana or something - right, Marci, they're going to pick a dump for BB-ALL STARS. They probably have a beautiful, private, seaside villa somewhere in Belize or something - I wonder if the forum-folks know. I'll check later.

We also found out that Mike has the new power to de-throne a HOH and replace their nominations and he has 3 eviction ceremonies to use this new power (he did not use it last night). The correct answer was "you reap what you sow." ("ewe reap what ewe sew - from the three clues: female sheep, spool of thread/needle, and a surprise visit by the Grim Reaper).

The new HOH is George (after a painfully-stupid-answer-but-not-as-stupid-as-Dani's-answer to a tie-breaker question. "How many minutes were the housemates without hot water?" The answer to which I'm sure they all know is a week times number of minutes in a day and Julie gave them time to figure it out. George chose 350 minutes and Dani's answer was 308 - I think they were both trying to throw the competition. Anyway, after a brief celebration by George, Julie dropped the bombshell that this is a double-elimination week and he had to name his 2 nominations for eviction RIGHT THEN. Poor George didn't even have 5 minutes to think about it before he nominated James and Erika. Both are OK with me. But remember Booger still has the power to change everything on eviction night.

And the theme for the night was Prom - they were all in their best bib and tucker. I'm sure they were pissed off when they learned that the audience picked Janelle as the Queen of the Prom. Hahahaha, some things are just too good to be true. I LOVED it! They get SO PISSED OFF because "America likes Janelle (insert whiny voice)" and they just can't figure out that for most people it's because the rest of them are so loathsome and petty. It's just fun for us to tease and poke at them with Janelle.

Mom

Well, she fell again on Tuesday getting out of her
chair. The ironic thing is that her new lift chair
came that morning, but after she was taken to the
hospital. The lift chair would probably have
prevented the fall from happening in the first place.

I talked with the doc yesterday - her ankle is broken,
her ribs are bruised and she is anemic again, leading
the doc to think she may actually be bleeding
internally. He's also cutting her morphine because he
this the narcotics may be a factor in the falls. He
wants to have her primary doc do some further tests
for colon cancer or something but I don't think mom
will let them do it. In the meantime, she's still in
the hosp and they're looking for a place to put her
for a couple of weeks until she can stand. I hope
they find some place close and not out in the tooleyweeds
somewhere.

Update: she just called - they are moving her this afternoon.

More later.

Look at my Lovely Crown

I made it myself! Co-worker Jen brought in foam stickers for her birthday and we all made crowns. I'm sharing mine with you.

In case you can't tell, this lovely creation depicts a smoke-and-ash belching dragon (thinking "yummmmm") chasing after a hapless unicorn screaming "help"....all accompanied by lovely star designs. I unfastened it so I could photograph it flat - and, no, I'm not posting a pic of myself wearing it.

TP Thoughts

Maime and I got on the subject of toilet paper this
afternoon at break. It was one of those rambling
conversations that go strange places and this one
wound over to the Cottonelle vs cheap brands of TP.

My personal experience with Cottonelle is that it
inevitably plugs up the da*ned toilet every time I use
it - I have to leave the stupid plunger right there in
hands reach because even if it's just a pee, the
stupid paper will plug. I know why, too. We replaced
the toilet a couple of years ago and the only ones you
can buy now are those ridiculous low flow models.
Which means a simple wad of quilted TP or Cottonelle
will make a plug. jeez, we have to use the thin stuff
cause I don't want to spend half my life plunging the
toilet. You know what I want, though? One of those
newer toilets that FLUSH TWELVE GOLF BALLS AT ONCE!
Those babies have some POWER!!

Oh, and here's something I wondered about last night
as I looked at my package of white, thin, non-clogging
TP sitting by the toilet, not knowing at the time that
today's afternoon break conversation would involve TP.
Remember when TP came in colors? Pretty, soft pastel
colors. I used to like the baby blue and the pink.
And you could buy TP with designs also - pretty
florals mostly. When did TP makers decide to make all
white TP and why didn't I notice before?

Wild hairs. The bad kind.

I just tweezed out a 1/2" long hair off my chin - it
wasn't there last week!!!!!!!!! I know because I
checked!

Between weird skin spots (aka "liver spots" whatever
that he$$ that means) and wild hairs, I don't know
what to think about this aging business. Especially
when coupled with all the aches and pains that pop up
daily in different places.

Oh, and last year? I found a hair in my eyebrow that
was at least an inch and one-half long. Not really an
eyebrow hair - but a "head" hair that was much thinner
and almost invisible, but growing out of the top of my
eyebrow. jeez. I'd probably seen it a million times and thought it was just bangs.

Cake, Ice Cream and Potato Salad - Oh, My!

I fell a bit off the "diet" wagon this weekend what
with having a birthday party yesterday. I piled my
plate with a huge piece of cake, ate 5 bites and gave
the rest to my cousin. Same with the ice cream - I
ate less than half of what I had plopped on my plate.
I have this thing where I give myself permission to
eat as much as I want, fill my plate, and then just
eat as much as I REALLY want. If I had just put a
baby piece of cake and a dab of ice cream on my plate,
I know I would have had seconds.

What did I indulge in though (you just know there has
to be something)? Well, on Saturday I made a huge
bowl of potato salad - MY MOTHER'S potato salad -
which is pretty famous in my family - and I admit to
eating two (large) helping of it and then I had a bowl
of it for dinner. Nothing else, just potato salad for
dinner. My potato salad rocks.

Of course, everyone else makes their own "special
potato salad", just like their mom's or grandma's.
And most of them taste weird to me because they have
olives or radishes or (blech!) celery in it or they
use dill pickles or pimento. shiver with disgust.

But, really, they can make it any way they want and
put anything into it that they want BUT the BIGGEST
MISTAKE people make is in the initial prep when they
DON'T SALT THEIR POTATOES WHILE THEY'RE COOKING. I
can handle anything in the salad except for raw,
unseasoned potato taste, which you can't disguise
because adding salt while making the salad can never
completely cover that raw potato taste - the ONLY way
to successfully season your salad it right at the
start - dump a tablespoon or so of salt right into the
water with the potatoes and you can't fail. Add
anything you like after that.

I don't know if the people in the restaurant
downstairs in our building make their own potato salad
or purchase it from Costco or something, but it is
extremely bland - unsalted potatoes in the cooking.
I'm telling you.

Oh, (back to the Project) Ken went to Wendy's Saturday
evening and I said "no thanks" when he asked if he
should bring me something - and Wendy's in one of my
favorites! - because I thought I should eat some
yogurt and a bagel instead. I felt so virtuous.
(Right now I'm thinking I'd kill for Wendy's but
there's no one here volunteering to go fetch it so
I'll just live with it......)

I'm still hoping for 60 pounds lost by the end of
August - today's the 14th and, as long as I didn't
gain any potato salad-pounds this weekend - I had a
good start with 4 down by last Friday. Just 8 more.
I think I can. I think I CAN. I THINK I CAN.

Oh, and one last thing. Would you believe that NOT
ONE PERSON in my family has noticed that I've lost
weight? At least no one has said anything. NOBODY!
They better say something by the time I've lost 90-100
pounds (December - fingers crossed) or I'm bopping
somebody upside the head.

Project Update: 52 pounds

Hey, guess what? I lost another 4 pounds today! That makes 52 total.

And, guess what else? I just realized I'm sitting here typing this WITH
MY LEGS crossed!!!! It's been years since I sat in a chair and crossed
my legs. Of course, I'm sitting sideways in the chair, but still. It's
a moment...and I'm savoring it.

Next goal: lose another 8-9 pounds in August.

Epiphany of the Day

I just figured out why it's kind of a struggle to keep
this blog going. I think it's because there is no
audience. No one to bounce stuff off of. No
give-and-take of inanities.

It's like talking to myself. And I don't have much to
say.

weird.

I Am Going Mad and it Ain't Purty

I am THIS CLOSE to pulling my hair out.

The folks next to me are restructuring their filing
and are banging the wall, thumping crap around, and
driving me batty. I want to kill and maim!

MUST HAVE A SMOKE. RIGHT NOW.

I'm listening to the radio on head phones but can't
block out the thumping and desk-shaking.

I am going mad.

Hey, there's a New Primal Scream Album!!

I just heard a cut off the NEW!!! Primal Scream album.
Can't wait to get it.

"Riot City Blues", by Primal Scream

love, love, love.

Their "Screamadelica" album is generally ranked in the
top 10 of all British albums. Along with my other
FAVORITE!!! ---- the beautiful, excellent "The Stone
Roses" by (duh) The Stone Roses. Excellent,
excellent, excellent. Of course, I love Brit pop;
others hear it and are like "wha'?"

That's why this blog is just for ME ME ME!!!! I can
rave about brit pop, my weight, people that bug me,
and use crazy punctuation and leave out commas
because they take too much time to type in and it's
ALL MINE!!!! hahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mine, I say!!!

Rockstar SN Creep and more

I don't think Zayra hit one correct note last night.

With her odd notes and key-changing I barely
recognized Mott the Hoople's "All The Young Dudes" and
WOW that song is old. It's gotta go back to the
really early '70's. I'm not sure I knew that David
Bowie wrote it before Brooke told me so.

Storm rocked with "We Are the Champions." I think the
SN spooked her after the first couple of weeks because
she has toned down her "rocking" so much - I think she
just needs to do her thing and make them love it or
hate it but not tone herself down just for them - of
course, depending on how badly she wants this gig,
she's also smart for changing it up some. She's
really an excellent singer and performer so, in the
long run, it doesn't matter.

Zayra needs to go - my picks for bottom 3 tonight are
her, Jill, Ryan. Throw in Patrice and that's my
bottom 4.

Lukas sang "Creep" and the audience and SN raved, but
it wasn't that good - less snarling and screaming but
still could have been better - I'm done with the
posturing, which ruins all of his performances for me.

And the makeup looks like he's crying all the time.

And Lukas is not Marty, who totally owned that song
last year.

Marty. swoon.

Oh, and Maime is swooning too - she came to my desk
and grabbed my last year's RS cd she made from
downloads - which includes several Marty songs,
INCLUDING the totally-awesome-and-totally-unbelievable
-if-you-didn't-hear-it-performed-song.....
"Hit Me Baby One More Time".

Yes, indeed, that loathsome Britney song. Which was
transformed by Marty into something cool. Ah, Marty.

I love you.

Argh! Keep me out of the kitchen

The weekend went well Project-wise, but then last
night I had one of those times where you just can't
eat enough food. I made the mistake of eating next to
nothing all day because I was out, and then coming
home and "looking for something to eat." aaarrrgggg.

Here's what I had in the space of two hours:

Healthy stuff: a fresh just-picked peach, a cucumber,
lite peach yogurt

Oops stuff: a tuna sandwich, 6" sausage, a cheese and
pickle sandwich, about a dozen little cheap cookies

I guess it could have been worse - if I could have of
found more I would have eaten it.

So, today I'm back on track.

No one's putting a damper on my vacation

Bro Steve is recovering well from his surgery but now
says that he may not be able to go on the cruise in
Dec. They're making him take his vacation time for
his recovery. That makes no sense! He works for a
reputable place, they must have some sort of short
term disability or sick leave program. I'm hoping
that the use of vacation is temporary until they get
something in place. If not, I'm calling them to see
what's going on - Steve doesn't really know and if I
ask him he gets mad at me. I did tell him, though,
that he's paying for the cruise by the first week of
September whether he ends up going or not because it
has to be paid early and come December this will
probably all be sorted out or he can put in for
leave-without-pay. December will bring what it brings.

BB-AS No, Not Janelle!

I can't really blame Danielle for putting Janelle up
for eviction this week but darn! she's my favorite
player. She's up with James, who is being his usual
asshat self and pretending he didn't know Dani was
going to put him up, when she talked with him
beforehand about it and PROMISED him he wasn't going
anywhere. The thing about BB, though, is that there's
a LOT of time between nominations and eviction and
anything can change - you're NEVER "safe" if you're on
the eviction block. Never.

Update: Hahahahaha! The forum posters say Janelle
won the power of veto! She'll take herself off
(unless she's really stupid) and Dani will have to
pick someone else. I know she promised Howie and
Erika on the spiderweb that they were safe. She's
basically told Kaysar, Will and Mike they were safe.
That leaves Marcellus and George and I just don't see
it. Janelle's win puts Dani in a big quandary - can't
wait to see how it plays out tomorrow night.

Rockstar Supernova: Ahhh, Zayra

I finally found out why that awful she-devil Zayra is
still on Rockstar SN instead of getting the big-boot
last week - according to TWOP (my Bible for all things
television) Supernovice Phil had made it clear that 1)
he was only on the show to get exposure for his band,
and 2) he didn't like Supernova's music anyway. Is it
any wonder that last week Gilby questioned his
"commitment" to the band and then booted him? D'oh.

So, we still have Zayra to suffer through.

AND THEN, last night she was in the bottom 3 during
the evening, but not in the ultimate final three so
she was SAFE again! Which means we get the pleasure
of hearing her "sing" again next week. I had to
laugh, though, because I think no one was more
surprised than her that she was safe.

And, we lost Dana last night, which is OK. I was done
with her anyway. For her obttom-three-song she chose
to sing "House of the Rising Sun" which she slowed
down a little bit, gave it a blusey-twist and
over-exaggerated the words. It wasn't bad. BUT, it
wasn't Eric Burden, and it certainly wasn't Frigid
Pink, which recorded MY favorite version of "House..."

Nobody beats Frigid Pink's version.

sidenote: The Blind Boys of Alabama recorded a cool
mixture of "Amazing Grace" and "House of the Rising
Sun" that's worth a listen if you haven't heard it.

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Overheard

The woman across the wall just said "I have to implement my fecal matter." WHAT?

I'm afraid to ask.

It's possible I heard it wrong - I hope so.

Boring to all but me

Of no interest to anyone but me:

I've been trying to figure out, based on past experience, if I'll make my goal of wearing a 20/22 size by December. Here's what I figure: when I was 160/65 or so I was in a 12, so computing one size for every 20 pounds, at 180 it'll be a 14, at 200 it'll be a 16 (that actually sounds about right), at 220 it's an 18, at 240 it's a 20 and at 260 it's a 22.

So, if I keep on the same track for the next 4 months that I've been on for the past 4 months, it looks like at 250 I'll be a 20/22 which is perfect. Most of the "advance clothes" I've bought are in the 20-24 range.

So I think I'm OK. But all my fingers are crossed.

Storm Rocks the Stars

There's an article in the Living Section of The Oregonian (local newspaper) today about Storm Large. I think it's cool that the paper has been supporting her since Rock Star Supernova started - they run an article every Tuesday.

She's doing a great job on the show - if she really wants this gig with Supernovea then I hope she gets it. I think she's about the best singer and performer there - Magni's pretty cool but I do not think he's one of the frontrunners. I'm more concerned about Dilana and Toby, than Magni. Storm said in the interview that she thinks the competition will come down to her, South Africa's Dilana, Australia's Toby, and Canada's Lukas. Of those four, I like Storm and Dilana. Of the two men, I'd add Magni and pick him, but I think there could be an attitude problem there. I don't Lukas much at all, and Toby is OK but not necessarily consistent - however, I think he might have the best chance if Supernova is looking for a guy.

Anyway, good luck, Storm, and rock it out tonight. I'll be voting.

Follow-up on today's celeb news...for what it's worth

Oh, boy, there's some good stuff going on today.

First, Tori Spelling is selling some of her clothes on
eBay. What? She needs the money or something? I admit
I just read the headline on this one because, after
all, it's Tori Spelling and I don't care enough to
even click the clicker. But, selling her clothes on
eBay is just too priceless.

Then, poor, mis-understood Britney never gets a break
this time her former pool boy has "leaked" to the
media that she's "not nice." Doh. Really?

Oh, and lest we forget Mel, he's apologized again for
his actions this weekend and is trying to negate the
impact of some of his comments by asking for "help"
from the Jewish community...what? He said he's "in
the process of discovering where those vicious words
came from during that drunken display." This from the
man who has previously made anti-semitic remarks (I
don't think I spelled that right...), who put out a
controversial (though popular) film on the Passion
which showed Jews as boogey-men and willful murderers,
and whose own FATHER has publicly said that reports of
the Holocaust are mostly fiction. Gee-whiz.

Where do YOU think those comments came from? I know
that when I drink my tongue is loosened and I say
things I might keep hidden otherwise, but I don't have
hatreds like Mel does - he let loose with a lot of
stuff that he's kept relatively hidden from public
view for a long time. But I don't think that anything
he said is something he doesn't REALLY BELIEVE.
Alcohol loosens the tongue - it doesn't make you spout
things alien to your nature, because at the time your
mind's too fucked up to make up that stuff. What pops
out of your mouth is the stuff you usually put
controls on. Mel needs to never drink again because
he's one of those really mean and hurtful drunks. The
worst kind of drunk.

"help me understand where those vicious remarks came
from" INDEED. They came from YOUR MOUTH, ass wipe.

I'm Totally Disgusted

Mel G is an absolute ass. He's a hypocrite, a
religious zealot and a drunk with a big, fat mouth.
He despises gays, women and Jews and, if you had any
doubts about that, the truth certainly came out during
this weekend's drunken sideshow-from-hell.

Anybody who hates other people that much is extremely
dangerous.

bah! I spit on him (figuratively only, of course)

Project Update - wahoo!

Ok, I feel pretty good this morning becase I just
weighed and I HAVE MET MY GOAL NUMBER 3. I am out of
the 3's. Just barely. Just squeaking by.

Total loss since April 4: 48 lbs

Yay, me.

Gotta set a new goal - Goal #4. Tune in.

The Weekend and What-Not

Isn't it frustrating when you can come up with all kinds of fun and interesting things to blog about when you're NOT on the computer, and then when you ARE your mind goes blank? acckkk.

I just know that my blog could be HILARIOUS and INTELLIGENT and DELIGHTFUL if I could write it directly from my head at any time. Oh, and that reminds me, is it weird that sometimes my dreams are "written" and "acted" like novels? Complete with third person POV, "he said/she said", and explanatory narration. Exactly like reading a book - and in my head they are really good! I am an excellent novelist. But only in my dreams. haha

_________
Big Brother AS (heh - I like writing that because it sounds like "ass") - hello, Jase, I was just going to say you were voted off on Thur and we don't miss you. I know some people were sorry to see you go, but not me. Weekend update: Janelle got HOH and put up Boobie (oops, I mean Boogie) and Erika. I hope Mike goes because I don't like him at all - Will's ass-kisser, that's all he is and he tries to talk so tough but he's really just a wimp. cracks me up.

____________
Everyone's home from the hospital now, and they're doing fine. Ken and I spent most of Saturday at M&D's - they're both OK, and Steve still had a huge bandage on his scar. It was due to come off on Saturday, but Ken was squeamish about taking it off so he went to the store and, from the driveway, yelled: "Take his bandage off while I'm gone!" Like I wanted to do it.
But, of course, I did - it was huge and covered most of his side and part of his back and don't think it wasn't SO MUCH FUN to rip that much tape from his skin.....I got it off, with minimum whimpering from both of us, and saw his scars - the main one is at least 4 (maybe 5) inches long and is all stapled together, the other one is where the tube was put into his lungs and it was basically a hole with stitches in it. yeeeesh.

When Ken got back he looked at it, but he only saw the "tube hole" and said "well, jeez, that's not so bad - just one little cut!" and I said "what? you didn't see that big one?" "What big one?" yeah, he completely missed it.

Am I the only one who gets the heebie jeebies from seeing stuff like that? like the shivery creeps.

_____________
You know what? I'm making a resolution RIGHT NOW that I will no longer be nice to people who can't be bothered to at least say "Hi" or smile when I greet them. We have one guy here at work who is uber- friendly with most of the men, and at least acknowledges some of the women, but, for at least 10 years now, he has completely ignored me when I greet him. And I will no longer acknowledge him. I think it's OK that after 10 years I stop trying to be nice to this jackass. And it's not just me - several women here wonder about this guy all the time. Like we wonder how he ever met his wife and married her? She must have worked really hard to get him to see her in the first place since he so obviously doesn't respect women. ass.

_____________
OK, that was rude. Maybe he's shy.

heh. haha. HAHAHAHAH!!!!!

Nope.

"Are You Losing Weight?"

That cracks me up. AND it brightens my day when someone says that to me even when I haven't a reason to think I've lost any weight. And when I've been working at slogging off the pounds, it's a reassuring statement. Funny, I don't feel like I need to have that reassurance but when the question comes I can't help smiling and saying "maybe a little." I guess it's just good to be noticed.

I meant to weigh in today for the end-of-the-month weighing, but then I realized I was fooling myself into weighing on FRIDAY instead of waiting until MONDAY, the end of the month, because then I wouldn't have to worry about the weekend so much, which is like thinking up a plan to cheat on myself. So I didn't do it, but CRAP! it was all so reasonable in my head until I actually thought about WHY - it's like there're different trains of thought going on in my head and sometimes I have to stop everything and figure out what all the trains are thinking and where they're going. So, good or bad, I'll post on Monday after the REAL end-of-the-month weigh-in.

I'm hoping for at least 4 pounds (it's been about two weeks, hasn't it?, so it's possible) which would meet my "Goal 3 - Get out of the 3's". I'd prefer about 20 pounds (haha) but Burger King may have put a dent in that one..... so I'm shooting low for 4.

I'm BUYING the Frigging Hospital

At least that what it seems like when Mom has been inthe hospital three times in July and Steve has been in the past week. They're both doing fine, in fact, mom came home last night after 3 days of observation of her kidney function. The doc was worried about the anemia that has plagued her and finally just wanted to measure in/measure out. Steve has had a horrid cough for the past 5 years or so and the docs have not been able to stop it. They've tried various procedures to no avail, so this week they put him in to take a biopsy of his lung. A short, overnight stay if they could do a laproscopic(?) procedure like they hoped, but longer if they couldn't. Well, Bro Steve's luck is such that, of course, it did not go as hoped. When they got in there, they discovered his LUNG is ATTACHED to his CHEST WALL - I've never heard of that. So, instead of a fast in and out, they had to go through the ribs to get through to the lungs. He's still in today (operation was Tuesday) and as soon as his lung capacity has improved he'll go home - perhaps today or tomorrow. So it's been basically a pretty crappy week. On top of all that is DAD, who is the one I generally worry about, but as long as he gets 22 hours of sleep everyday he seems to get along OK. Fingers crossed for EVERYONE.

The Queen of BLAB

In my office, I sit right across the cube from the loudest, talking-est, on-and-on about nothing, blab, blab, blab, woman POSSIBLE!

My boss (and her boss) has told me she will address this because she's close enough to hear it, too. Someone else came up to my desk today and made the "yakkity-yak" finger motions toward her while rolling their eyes her way.

On and on and on ALL FREAKING DAY LONG!!!!!!

Whether it's about work or if it's personal doesn't matter because SHE'S LOUD! And it's CONTINUOUS!

She's also a friend of mine so I would never say anything to her - just here.

Whare are my Posts?

I still have two posts missing. What the f*ck happens between Yahoo! and Blogger? space aliens eat the posts?

TV update

Big Bro -All Stars: sorry to see Jase go but it was inevitable eventually anyway. Although Will is just being a big ass and should go home. Janelle is HOH so maybe she'll put up both Will and Boogie and good riddance.

So You Think You Can Dance: VERY sorry to see my fave dancer, Allison, leave last night. boo!!!

Project Runway: Not sorry to see minnow Katherine get booted - there are too many sharks in the water around her. She was uninspired and uninspiring. Loved the dogs!

Rock Star Supernova: GO STORM!!!!!!! Surprised that stupid can'tsing cow Zayda didn't go this week but Ok with Phil the Nodder getting the (nodding) boot. Zayda sucks rotten eggs and should go NEXT WEEK before anybody else goes. GO STORM!!!!!

hahahaha!

I was just perusing some of the other Blogger blogs because I'm feeling a bit stupid about mine being so lame, but now I feel OK because, from what I saw, it's really just kind of average.

Insert Big Sigh of Relief Here

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted a loss on my Project and it's my own damn fault. It doesn't make it less exciting, though, to say that I have LOST another 5 pounds. Hopefully, it'll be like June never happened, and I never fu*c*ed off for 5 weeks and now I'M BACK ON COURSE. To reiterate:

Goal 1 Find Scale - DONE

Goal 2 Lose 20 pounds - DONE

Goal 3 Get out of 3's - 4 pounds to go!

Total weight loss since April 4th: 42 pounds

I also now have a roomful and closetful of clothes I can't wear, either because they're too big or because they're too small. I'm packing up the "too big's" asI run across them, and I'll donate them when I have a chance. The "too small's" are my guesstimates for the cruise in December, and my meager supply of smaller clothes that I had stuffed in closets or hanging in the basement - I think I said earlier that I must have skipped a size or two because between a few size 4x's and a few size 2x's there is a large blank space where 3 should be. I warned my boss yesterday that I may be short on clothes in the next few months because I refuse to keep buying fat clothes and will be wearing my relatively meager supply until I pass through to the 2x and 1x grouping, which is actually pretty large. So, wish me luck, I'm on my way. Again.

One Honkin' Pecan Roll

Check out the size of this huge pecan roll Maime picked up for me in Nevada. woo-mama!

Once I open it I'll probably wolf the whole log down in one sitting - I'll have to make it a Project goal before I open it. You know, "at 50 pounds lost I'll eat the log."

Rockstar Supernova, BB-AS, Project Runway

I said before that we were coming into an television
wasteland after my favorite shows wrapped up and
nothing new was on the imemdiate horizen. Well, I
lived through it, and now have an abundance of trashy
shows to watch and I LOVE IT!

Project Runway - One of the best shows on TV, I just
started watching last year in season 2. This show is
so awesome. It pits fashion designer against fashion
designer and gives them terribly inadequate supplies
or crazy projects to make their creations from and
then they have to sell them on the runway and in front
of a panel of judges. Heidi Klum is the host, Tim
Gunn is the father-figure/hand holder during
production, and the judges and guest judges are
diverse and quick. Love this show! I am constantly
amazed by what these designers can whip up out of
nothing and make into fashion. So far,
season 3 has had one episode. Here's how it went: We
were introduced to 14 (?) designers; they went to
their (shared) apartments/hotel rooms to throw their
suitcases down; got a note from Heidi and Tim to go to
the roof for a champagne celebration; then were told
they had 15 minutes to find stuff in their room to
make a "dress that reflects your creative vision" -
meaning what followed was a mad melee of "grab what I
can" - sheets, duvet covers, rubber mats, curtains, lamps, sofa
covers, rugs, towels, curtain rods, kitchen items,
anything that wasn't nailed down went into their bags.
They then had 8 hours or so to create their "vision",
meet their model, go to hair and makeup and be ready
to present. Some of these creations are totally
awesome - it's amazing what can be done with rugs and
chandeliers and bedsheets. I'm sure they have pics on
the Project Runway website - my favs in this challenge
were Keith (who won with his lovely, lovely halter
dress made from a bedsheet) and Robert, who made an
absolutely beautiful short dress from a duvet cover
and sheets and chandelier chains- it was awesome and
looked totally viable and wearable. Check it out.

Anyway, enough about that except to say that Project
Runway is a thoroughly awesome show. It's the highest
watched Bravo channel show by far, one of the highest
ranked cable shows of all the channels, and is
repeated on NBC on Monday nights, I think.

Big Brother - All Stars: What can I say? I love this
show, I hate this show and it's on too many times a
week but I watch it all three times. Big Brother is
one-of-a-kind and (for me anyway) it's totally
addictive (or maybe I just like watching train
wrecks). It's fun out-analyzing the contestants and
telling them how stupid their decisions are (Kaysar,
I'm talking to you!) and just vicariously living the
experience through them.

Solitary: I don't know if people have caught onto
this Fox Reality Original show or not but man,oh, man,
it is so good in a brainwashing, "I couldn't do that"
kind of way. We're down to the final 3, soon to be 2
after the next show, so it's almost over, but it's
been a show that deserves wider viewing.

Rockstar Supernova: Excellent - there are some great
singers and some good singers but there are no
mediocre singers like on American Idol. My vote is
for Storm (home town girl), Magni (from Iceland), or
the way-outside overly-theatrical Danela (that's not
even close - I'll have to look her up). And maybe
Phil.

Last night was also the premier of The One, another
singing show and I caught the last hour after Rockstar
went off - it was OK, but more in the American Idol
line, so a comedown from Rockstar.

I've also been enjoying VH1's "World Series of Pop
Culture" - fun, exciting show. It's in the
semi-finals now. It's amazing what I don't know
because I feel like my brain is full of useless pop
trivia. I'm happy when I know an answer.

I'm Still Here

Missed me? I just realized it's been while since I
updated this page so, "Welcome Back, Me!"

Not much has been going on Project-wise, I don't know
why I'm in a rut but I am. June flew by and I just
maintained my weight-loss from May. Here it is
mid-July and I still haven't weighed in because I'm
pretty sure it hasn't changed (at least for the better
- if it's for the worse, I really don't want to
know). It's like I'm jinxing myself by not doing
enough to lose more, but not gaining either. grrrrrrrr

So, June was a good month book-wise:
Laurell K. Hamilton put out the new Anita Blake book,
"Danse Macabre"

Kim Harris put out the new Rachel Morgan book
"Fistful of Charms"

These are two of my fave series and authors.

Also in June, I re-read the 4 LKH Merry Gentry Books
and love, love, love them - the next one isn't due out
until Nov or Dec so I'm on pins and needles waiting
for it. Maybe it'll be out before I leave on vacation
and I can read it on the cruise ship - that would
rock.

My mother was in the hospital again on June 29, and
got out on July 1. She'd apparently stopped taking
her diuretic because it "made her go to the bathroom
all the time" and she swelled up like a balloon. She
was also anemic and they had to give her blood. I
can't hardly blame her for not wanting to go to the
bathroom all the time because she uses a walker and
her legs are shot through with arthritis, so it just
plain hurts when she has to walk.

THEN, she fell down this past Tuesday (on the way to
the bathroom - OF COURSE). She's supposed to get out
of the hospital tomorrow. She has two compression fractures (to be
honest, I don't know what that means, so I'll Google
it soon) and is still anemic. More blood today, home
tomorrow. I hope. It's hell when parents get old
because there's not really much you can do for them...

Project and June

Ok, confession time.

I have basically skated through June on my Project,
and couldn't quite get back on track for more than
just a day or two at a time. That's bad news because
it puts me a month behind schedule.

The GOOD news, though, is that I haven't gained
anything I just checked and I am now exactly where I
was at the end of May (actually June 2). It's like
June never happened.

Hawaiian Weddings

Blogger is bouncing a lot of my posts from Yahoo so I
don't really know what's going through and what's
not.......

Anyway, Good News! I got a card from Nephew Andy the
other day. It was a pic of he and Tara with a note
that said "Save the Date", Maui, July 6, 2007. So
they're getting married!

So....it looks like I'm going to Maui next July. He's
supposed to get back to everyone when he finds a
condo/resort that can accommodate everyone so we can
get our reservations made. I imagine Bro Steve will
want to go with me. I don't know about Bro Ken - his
first reaction was "I have absolutely no interest in
going to Hawaii!" Now he says he'll think about it.

Me? I have a lot of interest in going to Hawaii.

In fact, Maime and I had talked about taking a
Hawaiian cruise next summer when cruise prices are so
cheap. Now that this has come up, I need to check
with Andy and make sure it's OK if she comes - I can't
imagine why it wouldn't be. So we'll still get our
vacation in Hawaii next summer.

However, I've been thinking about this. Wouldn't it
be cool if we could combine the wedding with the
cruise? The only reason not to is the expense - which
increases due to having to stay at a hotel/resort for
a few days before hand. But, really, that's not any
different than staying a few days in any other city
before a cruise is it? I guess it'll depend on how
expensive it is. The Maui cruises usually depart on
Saturdays, the wedding is on Friday. We've already
paid the air fare and we're there. So, why not?

I'm going to suggest this to Maime and BroSteve when
we get the hotel costs sorted out.

Splash

The handicapped stall at work (the only stall actually
built for adult-sized people) has the unfortunate
habit of splashing either the seat or your butt when
it's flushed. Just what you need on your butt is
water spattered pee or poop that you can't easily
wash off. Because the sink, with the clean water, is at the
other end of the room. What are you going to wash

splashes off with? Toilet water? That's the
problem in the first place. You can't get to the damned
sink without pulling up your undies and that's just
gross.

You just can't win. iccckkk.

Tent Clothes

At Maime's insistence, I have packed up and will give
away all my clothes in the size I wore when I started
the Project. She said they are now too big and sloppy
and she insisted I not wear them. Ever again.

So, the 6x tops are gone. The 3x pants are gone.

I am only wearing 5x and 4x tops and 2x pants. I had
hoped to dump the 5x's by the end of June but that's
not going to happen, so now I'm shooting for mid-July.

The 4's are still a bit snug for my taste, which runs
to "the clothing cannot touch me anywhere" which means
they probably fit normally for most people, but I just
can't do it. My clothes have to have a certain amount
of bagginess before I determine they fit me.

The problem I see coming up is that I have absolutely
nothing in size 3x. I have looked through the closets
and I see that I have a gap between 4x and 2x. So,
when I get comfortable in the 4's, and dump the 5's,
I'll have to wear them for awhile, through what would
be the 3's, and down to the 2's. Because I AM NOT
buying 3's.

Swimsuits - A fab website

So, I haven't been on here for awhile - mostly because
nothing's happening. The month of June has been a
wasteland for me weight-wise. I don't think I blogged
here that I weighed in mid-June (a week ago) and had
gained 1.5 pounds. Mostly due to birthday parties -
or maybe I did? Hell, who cares. So, my absolute,
never to be broken goal for the following two weeks
was to get back on the proverbial stick and lose that
10.5 pounds total June goal. I don't think I'm going
to make it because I've been fu$$$ng off again. BUT,
the intention is still there.

I re-found a great website yesterday that has their
swimsuits on sale for fantasic prices. I bought a
couple of rayon dresses from them in the spring and
their latest email said they're having a sale. It's
"swimsuits for all" (swimsuitsforall.com) and they are
having a FANTASTIC sale! I just bought a $65 suit in
size 20 for $9.98. And another one in an 18 for
$19.98. You can't beat those prices for swimsuits in
those sizes. They also had a skirt I had my eye on
from before, but it was $42 which is too much for a
cotton skirt - but now it's on sale for $5.98.
$5.98!!! I bought it in both black and white. And it
has silver sequins - fabulous! Me luvs me some
sequins. They also had it in khaki and brown but I
thought four of them might be just a bit much. But it's only
$5.98. If you need a swimsuit- womens, kids, mens -
definitely head over there and check it out.

Ok, here's a pet peeve - why do swimsuits cost SO
MUCH? They're one of the most expensive items (for a
decent one I'm sayin', not a cheap drugstore suit) and
they're one of the smallest items?!?? I get excited
when I see them on sale......

Project: June is a bitch

Ok, time to get really serious. Here it is the 19th
of June, 2 weeks left in the month, and I have gained
1.5 pounds.

June is the hardest time for me to concentrate on
weight loss - it's the beginning of barbecue season
and the weather is turning nice, it's filled with
birthdays and birthday parties and cake and ice cream,
and Father's day and more barbecues, and I have tried
to not completely indulge but when someone sticks a
perfectly barbecured tri-tip steak and mashed potatoes
in my face, what am I to do? Add that to
fresh-picked strawberries and ice cream and you can
see my dilemma. So, in the scheme of things, I think
that a gain of 1.5 is damned good.

So, the birthdays are now over. Father's Day is over.
I have two weeks before the next "event" - the Fourth
of July. I can lose something in 2 weeks.

I'd like to lose 11 pounds. That would keep me on my
goal of being out of the 3's by end of June.

We'll see - I'll keep you posted.

I'm actually quite happy (and surprised) that it was
only 1.5! It could easily have been much more.

I love cake

I just figured out that I've eaten the equivalent of 9
pieces of cake in the last three days.

Next time, if I can't give it away THAT DAY, I'm
THROWING IT IN THE GARBAGE!!!!!

I obviously cannot have cake in my house.

Project - mood dejected

I've lost momentum.

I have to get myself back on track on the Project but
it's not easy - I start out every morning with good
intentions but, ever since Saturday, it's hard to
maintain that resolve. Weekends are hard anyway.
Then on Sunday I had a bunch of folks over for
birthday parties and we had a great potluck. And cake
and ice cream. And, unfortunately for me, there was
half a cake left and I could only give away about half
of that, so I'm inundated with cake. Or I was before
I ate a bunch of it. I still have some, though, so
I'm tossing it tonight when I get home if Ken hasn't
eaten it. I finished the chocolate ice cream last
night, which was most of a half-gallon of light
Breyers, so that's now out of the picture. The
Pringles are now gone (last night). I lost my mind
last night, obviously, on leftovers.

Ok, I'm not weighing in for a few days - I've made a
promise to myself that I'm weighing on Friday. That
gives me time to get back on track, and maybe lose
anything I've gained back through the last few days'
binging (bingeing? binging? having binged? the act of
eating like a pig?) At least I don't purge, although
it might have been a relief last night after all that
cake and ice cream.

So far, at 37 pounds down, no one has noticed except
Scott, but he always notices if I've lost weight.
Maime has noticed but she may be just encouraging me.

Food and Mind Garbage

Yesterday I had a bagel from Starbucks for (kind of)
brunch. Then I bought a salad at the restaurant in
the building and took it home for dinner. After I ate
that I was still hungry, so I did what any dieter
would do - I raided the cupboards.

I found brownie mix - but if it's not cooked it
doesn't have as many calories, right? So I poured
about half of it into a bowl, stirred in some water,
and ate it.

I might have the second half tonight.....

What's weird is that vacation is still 6-plus months
away and whenever I'm at rest I'm thinking about it.
What am I going to wear? Do I need more long pants?
Too many shorts and capris? Skirts? What if it's
windy - do I really want to be wearing skirts in the
wind? What should we do for our shore excursions?
Just get off and explore the port and shop and eat?
Pay for one of the cruise's excursions? Is there a
quiet place on the ship to sit out and read? Or will
I end up on the balcony? But the balcony might be
kind of small if we all sit out there...can you stay
in your room or do they want you out of it so they can
clean it? Where will we eat? There are something
like 9 restaurants on the ship - will I get lost?
When can I buy cigs to bring back? Can I buy them in
the duty free shop before I disembark or in the ports
and bring them back on board? I hope they have cheap
jewelry and gifts to bring back for Christmas presents
- what should I buy so-and-so for Christmas? Steve
will be along - I usually get him, Dad and Ken hats
whenever I go anywhere - he'll probably buy his own
hats if he wants them, so what do I get Steve for
Christmas? Do Dad and Ken really want a bunch more
hats? What should I read? The new "insert here" book
is coming out this summer, should I save it for the
trip or read it when it comes out? What should I take
to read? on and on and on and on and on...................

Wasteland

Not much going on here - TV is a proverbial wasteland
right now with Survivor, The Amazing Race, America's
Next Top Model, Lost and American Idol having just
wound up their seasons. I might watch Project Runway
when it starts up again, which I think is pretty soon.
I've read that it's pretty good. And I know I'll get
hooked into Big Brother All Stars when it starts up in
a couple of weeks.

Everything else seems to be cops, doctors, forensics,
etc. and I just can't get much interested in those. I
like CSI but this season I've barely watched it.

I end up watching a lot of A&E and Poirot, Sherlock
Holmes and Midsummer Murders. Those are all pretty
good and I like the characters.

I watch a lot of television because I'm home alone a
lot so I don't apologize for it - it's good company.
Spongebob has kept me company for many, many hours...

Project Update

hmmmmm, this didn't go through last week - trying
again.....

Not that it's SO important but it is to me.

Ok, here's the weekly update

Another 4 pounds!

This was actually about a 10 day period so it was
not as good as I could have hoped, but it's in the right
direction so I'm certainly not complaining.
Another 9 pounds and I'll hit my next goal of leaving the 3's.

I can't wait.
So, total since April 4: 37 pounds

Too good to forget

It's nutty what I obsess about sometimes.

All day today I've been thinking about the macaroni
and cheese dish I made yesterday. MAC AND CHEESE!
Bro Ken and I had asked the folks and Bro Steve if
they wanted to come over for Memorial Day and have a
barbecue, and be on the patio, depending on the
weather. Mom has a really hard time climbing the step
into my house so when it's nice we're always outside.

It rained Saturday. It rained Sunday. And Monday
dawned pretty nice and got better throughout the
afternoon. I called them and they said they'd really
rather stay at home and not trust the weather to stay
nice (how can I blame them?)

So we decided to take dinner over there. Ken started
barbecuing his ribs at about 11:00 am - a couple of
racks at a time at a couple hours per session, so he
got those done about 3:00. FOUR racks of pork ribs -
we have LOTS of leftovers. I decided to make
something else meaty that Dad could eat because he
can't really gnaw on ribs anymore - I think he's just
never adjusted well to his dentures...so I made mac
and cheese with loads of sausage. Oh, man, THIS WAS
GOOD! There was quite a bit left but I left it over
at their house for them to munch on today. And my
mouth has been watering for it all day - I'm obsessing
on my sausage mac and cheese. Salivating over it.
And I left it over there.....

I also made a salad with lettuce, cabbage, grated
carrots, sharp cheese and grape tomatos which was
really good but I'm not fantasizing about it. Baked
beans? No excess saliva. Corn on the cob? Nope.

Just the damned sausage mac and cheese.

Quake and Volcano - Oh, My!

This sounds pretty familiar: The huge quake in Java,
that killed and devastated so many, may have
destabilized Mount Merapi and NOW there's the
possibility of having to survive an erupting volcano.

This is just what the scientists are speculating might
happen here if the "big one" hits the Cascadia fault,
creates a huge tsunami, and perhaps weakens one or
more of the mountains in the Cascades. Some of them -
St. Helens, Rainier, Adams, Hood, South Sister - are
currently showing signs of rumbling.

I just can't imagine what the people in Java must be
thinking. They're dealing with the aftermath of the
horrible earthquake and they're looking at the
mountain as it spews and spits and they probably
wonder just how much more they can take.

AI: One last thing

Hey, here's something I forgot in my recap of the AI
final.

David Hasselhoff was in the audience and he was crying
buckets of tears at the end. What is he? Taylor's
boyfriend or something?

OK, that was snarky, I know. But TEARS!?!

AI: Idols and Idols (and Taylor Hicks)- An Ending

Well, I had no intention of watching the finals show.
In fact, with "Lost" winding up its season with a
2-hour finale at the same time plus a catch-you-up
show at 8:00, my plan was to just stick with the one
and ignore the other because I did not want to see 2
hours of crap-filled filler just to have Taylor
announced as the winner.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I switched over from
"Lost" during a commercial at 8:14 pm and saw Paris
singing a duet with Al Jareau. What? Al Jareau is
here? Then, Ryan introduced Chris - and he was
singing with Live! Man, oh, man, that was good -
what's going on here?

It appears that I missed the first song of the night,
which was current AI, Carrie Underwood, singing with
Kat and Taylor. I imagine I didn't miss much.

Then, for a little humor, we had Wolfgang Puck and
Kellie Pickler in a little thing called "Puck and
Pickler". Which basically played on the fact the
Kellie is pretty ignorant about exotic food, as am I,
and can't always pronounce it or believe that people
actually eat it (again, ME). So, when Puck introduced
her to escargot from the menu, she couldn't believe
people actually ate snails, and then a plate of them
appeared in front of her and she was shocked to be
told to eat one. Which she pretended to do but was
grossed out and spit it into her napkin and placed it
under her chair (hah! me exactly). They followed
later in the show with another little vignette about
lobster, which she knew about and might have even
eaten, but they placed two live, crawling-around
lobsters on the table and she freaked (again, ME).
Her food reactions are so in tune with me and mine
that I have a great time watching and understanding
her where other folks might not. When it comes to
food and what you will and will not put in your mouth,
Kellie and I are cosmic sisters.

Anyway, on to the music. Following Pickler and Puck,
Meatloaf came onstage and sang with Kat. Now, I'm a Meatloaf

fan from way back and even I thought something was off about the

performance - I think it started in the wrong key for him and then he

added bunches of vibrato which I didn't like - but it was great seeing him. The song

just didn't work for them. I heard later he was upset about the performance.

Ryan then introduced a new stupid part of the show - the
Golden Idols. He said they would award a few that
night, and started with Outstanding Female Vocalist.
These were culled from the best of the worst of the
auditions. They showed a few of the "nominations" and
then awarded it to Princess Brewer, who thought she
sounded like Aretha Franklin and auditioned with
"That's What Friends Are For." And sucked the big one.

Ryan then moved on to Outstanding Male Vocal. There
was no shortage of worthwhile auditions (snark.) but
nobody could forget Crazy Dave Hoover jumping around
and singing "Bat Out of Hell." Crazy Dave was there
and leapt around the stage to accept his award. yawn.

The male finalists, all wearing black, sang a montage
of "guy songs." "Taking Care of Business", "Tobacco
Road", "Don't Stop" - Bucky! was as sweet and
beautiful as ever - Kevin and Ace were just there,
Elliot looked and sounded great, Taylor even sang well
- when these guys sing together they really do sound
better than any of the previous seasons' group
sing-along mixes. Chris was awesome also. I was
thrilled to see Bucky! who, you know if you've been
reading this, is my favorite. Not so much for his
singing which is good in a honky-tonk-bar kind of way
but he is so sweet, he has such a lovely smile and he
seems so genuine that something about him just tugs at
me and makes me smile when I see him. (sorry, I can't
help it. It's out of my control.)

Next, they showed a new Ford Pimpommercial, one that
combined parts of all the previous ones, and featured
Kat and Taylor sitting in a drive-in theater in a
convertible, watching the season's pimpommercials.
When they returned to the stage, Ryan had Kat and
Taylor up there with him and he surprised them both
with keys to a brand new Mustang convertible. yawn.

Golden Idol: Proudest Family Moment.
This was a pretty nice one, because it showcased
three nice things: Elliott's mom who has always been there for him and
whom we've kind of gotten to know over the past
several weeks; Chris' wife, who has been so supportive
of him; and Kat's dad, who loves his little girl so
much and has cried gallons of tears on national TV.
And the winner is, Elliott's mom.

Ryan asks E-Mom to introduce her baby, Elliott, which
she does, and Elliott comes on stage to sing "One." A
few bars into the song Mary J. Blige slides on stage
to join him and it's awesome, except she kind of hogs
the song but I don't think he cares - it's nice to see
Elliott so Happy - he's just beaming. She was kind of rude to him.

Cut to Lost: the end of Reckoning - me to the TV as
Michael is thrown out of the bushes to Jack and Kate:
"Don't trust Michael! Leave him in the jungle!
Aacchhh!!!"

Carrie is next, and she's fresh from her wins the
night before at the Country Music Awards: Best New
Female Vocalist, and Best Song (Jesus Take The Wheel).

She's absolutely gorgeous and sings her new single,
"Don't Forget to Remember Me." It's pretty good, but
all I can think of is how bored Simon must be - he
hates country music (or at least that's his story).
At the same time, he must be very proud of Carrie and
her accomplishments - in only one year.

Golden Idol Award: The Randy Jackson Award for Public
Speaking.

This was won hands down by Rhonetta Johnson, who
appeared to us in auditions in a white miniskirt,
silver tube top, silver go-go boots, and possessing
the biggest potty-mouth in the history of history.
They presented her award to "her"* via satellite, made
some jokes, she got mouthy and they "lost the
satellite feed." She was unnecessary. She's very
crude and AI is giving her 15 minutes of undeserved
fame. *I think it was a look-alike but it was hard to tell.

Back to music: Taylor comes out and starts singing
"In The Ghetto." A few bars in, he's joined onstage
by Toni Braxton and they sing it out together. This
combination worked less well than some of the others,
but it was OK.

Next, the Girls do their medley of "girl" songs: "Man,
I feel Like a Woman", "I Am Woman", "Natural Woman",
"I've Every Woman" - it was all pretty good. This was
Lisa, Melissa (who?), Kat, Kellie, Mandisa and Paris.
This was really good, they all sounded great,
especially Mandisa who is awesome, but still needs someone to dress her.

Golden Idol: Best Impersonation of Another Artist

This one was pretty funny: It featured Kenneth ? when
he auditioned in Cher's voice - or what he thought was
Cher's voice. Hysterically funny the second time too.

Seth Strickland, who thought he was a dead-ringer
white-boy for Michael Jackson during the Thriller-era,
but who couldn't remember the words, couldn't sing and
dance at the same time, and kept saying "Oh, Crap"
when he couldn't remember where he was in the song.
You just can't make up this stuff.

The next nominee was Michael, who had fixed his hair
and dress to resemble Clay Aiken, and was proud of the
fact that he "sounded" like Clay too, except he
didn't. At all. Poor Michael was severely deluded,
but he sure liked Clay. Oh, I almost forgot - he's
the one who, when he realized how badly he was doing,
told the judges "I'm nervous as hell and I gotta go
pee." HAH! So they let him go pee, to the
accompanyment of the Chariots of Fire Theme, and he tried again
and was just as bad.

And the winner was, of course, Michael aka "Clay". He
came onstage to receive his "award" and Ryan asked him
if he would like to sing one of Clay's songs - "Don't
Let the Sun Go Down on Me", and he was excited and
started right in. The kid seriously thinks he can
sing, I think, and he closed his eyes and started
crooning - they let him get just a couple of bars in
when the curtain opened behind him and a newly-coiffed
(longer, dark hair) Clay Aiken stepped out and started
singing with him. The audience went crazy, Michael
opened his eyes wondering what was going on, took a
few seconds before he realized the attention was no
longer on him, turned around, saw Clay, and screamed
and yelled and jumped around. He was almost beside
himself with excitement. It was very genuine and so
touching that, even though that whole maneuver is so
hackneyed and old, it was awesome and made me a bit
teary-eyed. Michael just kept singing (sort of - he was
shaking very badly) with Clay, until Ryan finally
brought him a stool to sit on before he fell over, and
Clay pretty much took over the song, but Michael's
face was just awesome to watch - the tears were
rolling, he was shaking and awestruck and the look in
his eyes was just magical. In fact, it was Michael,
not Clay, who made that moment shine. It was Magic of
a kind we're not privileged to see very often. Some people

thought it was hokey - I think it was sweet and rawly emotional.

Bert Bacharach was next - he and the Finalists sang a
(long) montage of a bunch of his songs, but then
Dionne Warwick came out and sang with them. The
Bert/Dionne relationship goes way, way back and it was
fun watching them interact again. This was
quite a long segment but it was pretty good. She sang
"Walk on By" and with the group sang "That's What
Friends Are For." I've never been a big Dionne fan so this was just OK for me.

Plus, there was a real clunker note at the end from Dionne.

Lost: What's with the statue? Huh? It's only a leg
from mid-calf on down and there are only 4 toes. It's
on the beach - Sayid, Jin and Sun see it from the
boat. Oh, man, this is definitely something we won't
see again until next year.

Golden Idol: Male Bonding
A reprise of the 3 cowboys from the auditions (Garrett
and the other two I don't know). They came out, AI
called them the Brokenote Cowboys (ha ha.) and they
sang "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be
Cowboys." It was actually pretty good and kind of
cool to see them because they were all (especially
little Garrett) a big part of the auditions.
(The way the rest of the night had gone, I was kind of
hoping Willie Nelson would pop out from behind the
curtain while they were singing, but he didn't).

Ryan's back on stage, and he says "OK, down to
business - no more guest stars. Let's hear it for
your finalists!." Audience starts whooping, the lights
start flashing, the music rises, camera points to the
closed curtain and........two scantily clad dancing
girls come out. What? They gyrate for a few seconds
- point to the curtain (ala The Price Is Right) and
out comes...........Prince. The crowd explodes and he
sings two songs - "Satisfied" and another. That Ryan
is such a trickster.

OK, down to business again, really, this time. Ryan
calls out Kat and Taylor. 63 MILLION votes Tuesday
night ("more votes than a Presidential election" or something),
Taylor wins. Who cares.

Kat is gracious and lovely, Taylor is overwhelmed and
when he gets himself back together he sings his new single, the
title of which I forgot already but it's the one he
sang Tuesday night, the typical AI ballad.

I never wanted Taylor to win. But from the first of
the final 12 and I saw how he never finished in the
bottom 3 or the bottom 2 and his popularity grew, I
knew he would win. I resigned myself to it when Chris
was voted off, then Elliot was voted off.

Taylor annoys the crap out of me with his spazzy
moves, his fetal-back dancing, and his various tics,
but the fact is that he comes across as always being
upbeat and pretty joyful just to be there. And he
loves to sing. I think he's basically an ass, but
America voted him as their next American Idol, so now
they have him. Enjoy!

AI: Fetal-Back Will Win

Well, the writing is certainly on the wall for Kat
McPhee - she lost. She just doesn't know it yet, but
she'll find out tonight.

From the time of the auditions, I have not liked
Taylor or his spazzy mannerisms, or his one-note
voice. But I knew, and it became clear as the season
wore on, that he would win. It's something I don't
understand, but people seem to be enamoured with him,
with his gray hair (for fuck's sake) and his singing
and "dancing."

Last night, the final night, the most important night
in the lives of Taylor and Kat so far, somebody
decided that Taylor would win, and they'd make sure of
it by screwing Kat and giving her an unsingable,
boring song to sing in the finale.

Now, I must admit that neither of these two were my
picks to win AI (Hello, Elliott and Chris!) - the fun
times of the Carrie Underwood/Bo Bice rivalry are
gone, and Taylor and Kat just don't have "it",
whatever "it" is.

I don't know, I'm rambling now because it is all so
meaningless to me this year and the final "ballad" was
so gouge-your-eyes-out-boring that no one who sang it
would have a hope of winning - so bye-bye Kat, you got
screwed, the writing's on the wall, tonight's just a
formality to nail your coffin shut.

I just want to say one more thing: Who is handling
Kat? They are surely not working in her best
interests - Black Cherry/Red Horse (whatever the hell)
and Over the Rainbow were good the first time but she
should not have re-done BOTH of them, and certainly
not from the goddamned floor. And then the sheer
horror of that ill-chosen "My Destiny" song.

Blech, it's Taylor's show to lose tonight.

I knew AI would be indescribably horrible so I mostly
watched Stephen King's "Desperation" last night and
just switch-oed to AI. Which one was more
"indescribably horrible?" The singing competition or
the horror movie? Well, in my book, the entire
essence of Taylor Hicks, and Kat singing the "My
Destiny" song (or whatever it was) beat Stephen King
in the stomach-turning.