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January, 2010

• Congratulations to my favorite pitcher of all time, Randy Johnson, on his retirement from Major League Baseball.  One of the best of all time, maybe the best lefty ever to play the game.  What more can you say about a guy who won 303 games, struck out nearly 5000 batters, pitched a perfect game and a second no-hitter, threw a 20-strikeout game, won four straight Cy Young Awards, and brought the Diamondbacks their only World Series title as co-MVP of the 2001 classic, probably the best World Series in the last 50 years?  And he did it all while staying clean throughout the steroid era.  Good luck, Randy.  Enjoy the high life :)
   
• And so ends a 6-month hiatus from my web site... I have a page on Facebook that I've been using as my online 'base of operations' for a while now, but I thought it was as good a time as any to revisit my web site.  In the past year I've started graduate school for systems engineering, flew up to Boston to watch the Patriots fall on their faces in the playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens, and won a motorcycle. 
   
• So I won a 1976 fully restored Honda 750cc motorcycle.  It's an automatic, which I gather is pretty darn rare for motorcycles.  Still, I've never ridden a bike and probably won't ever ride this one either.  Thinking about selling it online.  It's in such cherry condition I may hang onto it for a little while.  I won it in a raffle at last year's Cowboy Ball to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 
   
• Photos from frozen Boston, January 2010:
  
• Photos from Long Beach, CA, September 2009... I was there with my Little Sister and a group of women from work at the Society of Women Engineers conference... we took a road trip up to Hollywood and met a few stars!
  
• This past year's Halloween costume... I was a "Gold Digger"... : )
  

July, 2009

• I'm not sure what to think of my convertible.  It's the first one I've ever owned, and in some ways, it's like getting two cars for the price of one.  With the top down, it feels like a totally different experience.  But, it tangles up my hair, and it makes a ton of noise, whether the top is up or down.  For all the fun of having a convertible, I like the serenity of driving, and the noise will probably get to me eventually.  For now, I'm still happy with my purchase.
   
• I've been to the car wash hundreds of times, and I have NEVER had a truly "spot free" rinse.  Oh sure, the option is there... Spot Free Rinse!  Drive away without having to wipe spots from your car.  It just isn't true.  Having a little breezy wall of water poured over my car isn't going to remove all the car wash spots.  Never has, never will! 
   
• Randy Johnson is the best pitcher in a generation.  Way to go on victory #300 Randy!  I've followed his career for years, and for a long time I worried that he might not reach the 300 milestone, but he persevered through multiple back surgeries to accomplish his goal.  I hope he sticks around for his 5000th strikeout too.  Here's a guy that did it all - 4 Cy Youngs, World Series MVP, perfect game, 20 strikeout game, 300 victories, nearly 5000 K's, dominating performances - all without ever taking steroids.  I hope he goes into the Hall of Fame as a Diamondback, but if he chooses to be a Mariner, nobody will fault him for it.  When he finally hangs it up, the game won't be the same without him.  I still can't believe he hit a bird with a pitch though!
   
• Michael Jackson's funeral... gee, that wasn't overblown at all.  The only part of the event that was truly sincere was the touching words of Michael's daughter Paris.  Never mind the solid gold coffin, but they actually shut an entire highway down to accommodate the ceremony at Staples Center.  All of you who were so moved by the service are going to feel really stupid if irrefutable evidence surfaces that Jackson was a child molester.  Then again, you'll probably remain in denial, like all the disciples that went to the show today.  Someone went as far as to say Michael lived his life according to God's will... Hopefully God didn't tell him to touch those boys... I'll admit, Jackson was an incredible singer and dancer, he had a very unique style.  But he was just a man, and a flawed man at that.  The funeral could have been choreographed by Jackson himself... overblown, expensive, ultra-exclusive, and ridiculous.  I'll be surprised if Michael Jackson doesn't continue to dominate the news for the next several months -- custody hearings, Neverland, people coming forward to drop more bombshells.  For what it's worth, I did like many of Jackson's songs, including "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Thriller" and "Beat It".  Although "Smooth Criminal" features some of the best dancing I've ever seen Jackson do, the song is just unbearable!  Did he really have to sing "Annie are you okay, are you okay Annie?" 55 times in one song?? 
   
• Go Lance!  See you at the finish line.
   
• Whenever I'm underwater, and I happen to mistakenly inhale a little bit of water... (like that last somersault I attempted), I get a shooting pain in the top of my head.  Excruciating pain, for about 10 seconds.  Does anyone else have this issue?  I never thought to ask anyone about it, but I brought it up to a few people the other day, and none of them had any idea what I was talking about.  Maybe I have a nerve stem connecting my lungs directly to my brain or something.  Can anyone give me some insight as to why I get that shooting pain?
   
• Considering the fact that our new president has been in office less than 6 months, and entered office with the country in a rather huge hole dug by our former president, I think people are being way overly critical of Barack Obama.  Give the guy a chance, for crissakes.  Every article I read online is followed by tons of uneducated, idiotic comments by people convinced he's leading us to the apocalypse.  You have to be kidding me.  Apparently you were okay with the economy collapsing, gas climbing to $4 per gallon, and our soldiers getting killed in a never-ending war under the Bush administration.  Shut up and at least wait to see how the new president's decisions turn out.  The country isn't going to be fixed overnight!

June, 2009

• As much as I like Sirius/XM Satellite Radio and the Father's Day holiday, it's still a little weird to hear a radio announcer say "For Father's Day, why not get Dad a Stiletto?  He'll love it!"  At least they don't come in pairs...   : )
   
• What does it say about the state of hatred in America, when a shrine like the Holocaust Museum in DC can become the site of a religious hate killing?  Disgusting.  Things like that shake my faith in humanity.  At least the killer's son didn't turn out like his piece of crap father.  
   
• Don't get me started on hospices.  I do not want to end my life in one of those places.  After watching a local hospice 'humanely' allow my stepfather to die by starving and dehydrating him for five days, I doubt I'll ever set foot in another one of those places.  Humane, my ass.
   
• I think the airlines are discriminating against businesswomen.  When I travel on business, I bring my little suitcase, which fits in the overhead, and my computer bag, which fits under my seat.  And, I carry a purse.  Guys don't carry a purse.  And the airlines have this little rule, "one suitcase and one bag per passenger".  So that's no problem for the businessman, but what about the woman who needs her computer bag, suitcase, and purse?  We're screwed - we have to either check a bag, or try to stuff the purse into the suitcase... and then take it right back out of the suitcase once we're on the plane!  It's ridiculous.  I should be able to take a stupid little purse on the plane without causing an airline emergency.
   
• I realize that I rant about things I don't like, much more than the things that thrill me... but I sat with my daughter the other night at Disney's California Adventure, and we watched Disney's Electrical Parade together.  I'd known it as the Main Street Electrical Parade since I was six years old and my grandparents took me to see it in Orlando.  It's changed very little since 1975.  And to experience it with my daughter, and to have all the memories of my best times with my grandfather come back to me at the same time, had me crying huge tears of joy.  I must have looked awfully silly, but I love that parade... and the music... I can still hear it in my head :).
   
• If products that advertise themselves as "Shampoo / Conditioner All in One!" really work, then why do the instructions on the bottle tell you to rinse immediately after putting the stuff in your hair?  Isn't the idea behind conditioner to let it set for a while in your hair before washing it out?  These products are just glorified shampoos, that leave my hair all tangled and hard to brush through!
   
• I was watching season 3 of Sliders the other night, and was reminded of a little thing in prime-time television that I like to call, "The Tootie Principle".  Back in the 1980's, I watched The Facts of Life, and during the last few seasons of the show, every time it was on, it seemed as though Tootie had a new hairstyle and look.  I couldn't keep up!  I couldn't follow... it made the show practically unwatchable.  So now I'm hooked on 'Sliders', and Wade Wells is showing up with red hair one week, and the brunette look the following week.  Worse, they completely changed Maggie Beckett's look from episode to episode. I think these shows need consistency, not variation, to keep viewers engaged.
   
• What is the difference between a halfwit and a nitwit?  Maybe I'm just nitpicking here, but I'd rather be a nitwit :). 
   
• I have a theory about why women get less skid marks in their underwear than men do.  It has very little to do with diet, although I'm sure men eat more beans, chili, and other messy food than women per capita.  The fact is, women have more frequent opportunities to wipe.  Every time we use the rest room, we're sitting down with full access.  It's not like a guy can wipe at the urinal.  So, they unknowingly go through the day with budding skid marks just waiting to happen, while women have more opportunities to take care of the problem... to nip it in the bud :).

March, 2009

• It frustrates me that Tucson is going to lose Spring Training in a year or two.  How a city of 1 million people can't support spring Major League Baseball in stadiums that only hold 9,000 people is beyond me.  On the other hand, to be frank, Maricopa County (Phoenix) is getting greedy, working hard to suck all 12 Cactus League teams there.  Don't they realize spring training is good for the STATE of Arizona?  We shouldn't be battling with Phoenix.  My city seems stuck in the past at times.  People here want to remain oblivious to the fact that our traffic situation is ridiculous, and there's nothing to do here in the evenings.  They're worried Tucson might become a 'big city', so they vote against anything that might draw people here.  Hey, guess what... there's already a million people here!!  How are we supposed to attract companies (and thus, new, high-paying, tech jobs) when nobody wants to come out here?  They prefer Phoenix, and who can blame them?  Phoenix is finishing a light rail system, and spent 30 years developing a highway system that snakes all through and around the city.  Tucson has one highway, that runs along the outskirts of the city.  If you want to get anywhere, you have to take the surface streets.  At rush hour, it takes me over an hour to drive to work.  This city lost its only ice skating rink, its minor league baseball and hockey teams, and now its Spring Training is going away.  Pretty soon maybe those closed-minded fools will get what they've always wanted, and Tucson will become a small town after all.
   
• I was named United Way's "2009 Young Leader of the Year" at an event in the Tucson foothills last week.  I was pretty shocked, there were 14 nominees for the award and I had no clue what to say when I went up on stage... but I think it went well.  It's very fulfilling for me, to work hard to help others.  If you can find the time, volunteer in your community.  You'll be glad you did.
   
• I got a promotion at work!!  Yeah!!!  Now. if I could only stop showing up in the morning with my blouse inside out...

February, 2009

• February 21 is up there with the worst days of my life.  This afternoon, my stepdad passed away from cancer.  On my way to the hospital to see him, I managed to total my car.  I'm at a loss for words.  He and my mom had 9 wonderful years together.  He was a wonderful person and an extremely caring man.  I'll miss you Herm.
   
• Ten takeaways I had from Super Bowl XLIII:
      1.  Ben Roethlisberger is an amazing quarterback.  I thought he was going to be sacked about 8 times, and he managed to find open receivers in the blink of an eye.
      2.  That was a FORWARD PASS Kurt Warner threw with :15 left in the fourth quarter.  It'll take a lot to convince me otherwise.  The officials are all saying the call would have   been upheld, had they bothered to send it to the booth for review... I think they'd be saying the same thing today if the call had gone the other way and it wasn't reviewed.  Covering their asses as usual.
      3.  Santonio Holmes should have been flagged for excessive celebration on his 'tiptoe touchdown'.  I can't believe the officials, who are supposed to retrieve the ball from the guy, didn't bother to pay attention to him!!! Christ!!!
      4.  Bruce Springsteen shouldn't be jumping around, or jumping up on anything.  I thought he might change the references in 'Glory Days'  from baseball to football.
      5.  Now I see why Frank Caliendo is so funny in imitating John Madden.  The guy sounded like he didn't know where he was, at times.
      6.  The game here in Tucson had some special 'surprises' in the 4th quarter... nothing like a little PORN in your Super Bowl broadcast!  I can't believe Comcast let that happen, especially since they should have been on alert when the first intrusion happened a few minutes earlier in the quarter.
      7.  I cannot believe the Cardinals could not tackle Harrison on that 100-yard interception return at the end of the first half.  If Fitzgerald and Boldin had started off at top speed after the guy, they'd  have caught him easily.  But, I'm guessing they were sure someone else would make the tackle, after all, Harrison isn't exactly a speedster!  Oh well.
      8.  The Cardinals played their hearts out, and should have had one last play from the Steelers 29 (or 14, if Holmes gets penalized) to score a touchdown.  What amazing drama that would have been, to end Super Bowl XLIII with.  But as they did throughout the game, the officials took the direction of the game out of the hands of the teams.  Arizona gained a lot of new fans during this year's postseason.  They did a great job.
      9.  I can now empathize a lot more with the fans of the Seattle Seahawks, who cried foul at the officiating in Super Bowl XL.  Yes, most of the calls were good, but there were two or three calls (or missed calls) that really impacted the game, and it's frustrating that on the game's biggest stage, these guys couldn't get them right.
      10.  This year's commercials were probably the worst I've seen since the 80's.  Probably it's directly related to the economy and the lack of funds companies have to throw into Super Bowl ads that may or may not work.  A lot of the time, people can't even remember what company the 'chipmunk' ad was for.   Someone please tell me what dalmatians and Clydesdales have to do with the taste of a Budweiser, please!  And why is it that 3-D television broadcasts always suck?  Not even close to the experience you get in the movie theatre.

January, 2009

• Here's a list of five songs from the 1980's that took less than 10 minutes for the artists to write (in my opinion).  You'll see a recurring theme in the songs, if you know them well enough.  The funny thing is, all but one of the songs went Top 5 on the pop chart, and the other is from one of the best albums of the '80s:
  
  - Got My Mind Set On You, George Harrison.  Weird Al had it right.  This song IS just six words long!
  - Shake Your Love, Debbie Gibson.  Debbie did write some surprisingly good stuff, but this one is as empty-headed as it gets.
  - Desire, U2... Come on, Bono... nice refrain... "Desiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyah...  Desiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyah... Alright!"
  - Roll With It, Steve Winwood... the fact that this song spent 4 weeks at #1 says a lot about the music of the time...
  - So Far Away, Dire Straits... and I LOVE the Brothers in Arms CD, but this song drags it down, and it feels like Knopfler didn't know what to say.
   
• It's been a while since my last entry... been awfully busy... but there are so many interesting things going on, I of course have to weigh in...  I am still thinking about converting this journal into a blog, to allow replies and discussion around my musings, but I think that lends itself to arrogance on my part... like the stuff I say is so compelling, you all have to tune in.  Don't let my head get any more swollen than it already is!
   
• So I just wrapped up two months of physical therapy.  My doctor recommended therapy for me after I started getting chronic headaches... they sometimes went on for days, even weeks at a time.  He would crack my neck during each visit, and remarked that I had a lot of muscle tightness in the neck and back.  So I went to 24 sessions of therapy and the headaches have diminished... maybe once every four days now.  My shoulder muscles have always been like rocks, but my neck did in fact stiffen up, and the therapy was able to alleviate that.  Now I have a list of interesting exercises to do on a daily basis.  So, if you catch me twisting my neck around in contorted ways, remember, I have a doctor's note!
   
• There's nothing I can say about Barack Obama's election and inauguration that hasn't been said a thousand times already.  I'm just sitting back with a big smile on my face.
   
• I can't even type this with a straight face... "The Arizona Cardinals are in the Super Bowl!".  hahahahahahahaha....see, I can't do it.  I was at the NFC Championship Game, and it was the first time I've ever been to a Cards game and seen more Cardinals fans than those of the other team.  Usually it's pretty even... Arizona nearly gave it up, but came back to win, and I think a lot of that had to do with the amazing noise of fan support in that stadium.  So, my thought for today is, it's OKAY to be a bandwagoning, fair-weather fan.  This week I've heard from people who have been following the Cardinals since 1988... since 1948!!!  Yikes... they have my sympathies.  They're like the "lovable loser" Cubs of the NFL, only without the "lovable" part, until this season.  As far as being a fair-weather fan goes, if you refuse to go to games and support a team because they suck, well, you're not alone, and overall, it affects a team's home attendance, road attendance, and their TV ratings.  In return, teams that want to get better work hard to get better.  So, in a way, you're helping your team by being a fair-weather fan.  It's people who go to games all year long, no matter how poorly their team is doing, that adversely affect the team's future.  Look at the Cubs.  They sell out every game, and make a ton of money, so what's the huge incentive on the part of ownership to go out and spend hundreds of millions of dollars?  And as far as being a bandwagon fan goes, the Cardinals need all the fans they can get, so I'm fine with it.  It's never too late to get behind something, even if you've been supporting something for decades.  I don't care if it's religion, politics, sports, whatever... if you come across something that makes you happy, happy enough to get behind it, then go for it.  My New England Patriots aren't going to care one iota that I'll be wearing an Anquan Boldin jersey and cheering the Cardinals next weekend.  Win or lose, they gave the state of Arizona an amazing experience this season.

November, 2008

• Maybe it's just me, but does it seem like the Juniors department in every store in the mall is totally full of cheap-looking clothes?  They look poorly made, not to mention tight and slinky.  If girls are wearing the stuff in the typical Juniors section to school, then schools are becoming more than just a teen fashion show.  I don't know why clothing companies seem to think pre-teen and teen girls want to look cheap and wear poorly-made clothes, but there must have been some serious market research behind it all.  Even the heavy clothes look slinky... am I just getting old and becoming my mother after all?? 
   
• And what's with this freakin' hip hop music?  I thought it would fizzle out 15 years ago with Biz Markie, Ton Loc and Ice T.  Guys... try actually singing, would ya?  It's nice to see that poetry is making such a huge comeback, albeit set to a hip-hop drum machine beat, but usually music involves, oh, I don't know, actual SINGING??  And speaking of singing, Hollywood, not EVERYONE can sing!  It seems like every teen and pre-teen star of Disney Channel and Nickelodeon is suddenly cutting their own CD.  Disney has neatly packaged Lindsay Lohan, Hillary Duff, Miley Cyrus, and the cast of High School Musical as actor-singers, and now is working on packaging the Jonas Brothers (who can actually sing... a little) as singer-actors.  And the co-stars of every show from Even Stevens to Phil of the Future are suddenly chirping away on their own hit singles.  MTV diluted music in the 80's by forcing it into video format, and in this decade, Disney and other corporate giants are further ruining music by packaging it, marketing it, homogenizing it, making everyone a singer-actor, and telling kids what they should be listening to.

• Here it is, election eve again.... it's times like this, that I feel the need to roll out an excerpt from a journal entry I made four years ago in November:

...how could you possibly fall for those ads??  What were you thinking, Florida? And you, Ohio?? Let's hope Bush makes good on his promise to address the needs and issues of all Americans in his second term."

Well, gee, that sure worked out well for America, didn't it?  Thanks so much, Ohio and Florida.... now it's time to redeem yourselves for that four-year-long mistake you made!  Get out there and vote, and don't let smear tactics cloud your judgment.  If you're not sure if some claim about a candidate is true, go to Snopes.com or do some fact-checking online. 

By the way, it is so nice to see that it really (finally!) is possible for an African American or a woman to hold such high office in America -- provided they're a god-fearin' Christian, of course.  And, if you happen to have the gay marriage issue on your ballot in your state:

"...For such a technologically advanced nation, the world leader in just about everything, it's ironic that we're also still mired in a conservative, 'good Christian morals' attitude in America.   To those of you who voted to ban gay marriage (10 states in all), I challenge you to remember the discrimination to which this country has been witness for centuries! Native Americans. Blacks. Japanese. Women. Jews. America is not a place for prejudice and bigotry. And that's exactly what this is. If you voted to ban gay marriage, you're willfully advocating discrimination against a group of Americans. And why? Just what are you people afraid of? These people aren't bothering you, they're not messing with your marriage or your life. It's none of your business if they want to get married. Stop hiding behind this 'sanctity of marriage' stuff. Yes, marriage is a sacred institution, it's the ultimate union of two people who love each other. You base your definition of 'marriage' on the bible. The Bible says Marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Well, the bible also advocates stoning your son to death if he defies his parents, all sorts of discrimination, hate, and retribution. Great source for developing a national code of ethics. And explain to me how Marriage is strictly a religious institution, if justices of the peace and captains of boats are allowed to perform them!!!  I don't see how two gay people getting married affects you at all, other than in your mind. Get over it and grow the hell up! It seems like there's a double-standard in America, where discrimination against certain groups of people is taboo, and discrimination against other groups of people is just fine and dandy. Start treating these people like human beings."

• If I could have my own 80's Video Arcade nostalgia room with 20 games, I'd get full-size standup models of these games!
  
  1. Star Wars
  2. Time Pilot
  3. Pac Man
  4. Tetris
  5. Galaga
  6. Gyruss
  7. Ms. Pac Man
  8. Donkey Kong
  9. Centipede
  10. 1942
  11. Burger Time
  12. Rampage
  13. Frogger
  14. Tron
  15. Donkey Kong Jr.
  16. Popeye
  17. Budweiser Tapper (forget the Root Beer version!!!)
  18. Gauntlet
  19. Asteroids
  20. Dragon's Lair

October, 2008

• In perhaps the ultimate case of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em", churches all over America will hold 'Halloween' parties tomorrow night, October 31, for the children of their congregations and communities.  Of course, most churches call these parties "Fall Festivals" or "Harvest Carnivals", or whatever other moniker they can think of.  After all, where better to spend the Pagan holiday of All Hallow's Eve, than a church?  The Christian Marketing Machine scores another big hit here, luring families to their event, rather than the traditional 'trick-or-treating' or Halloween parties they might otherwise engage in.  It really is a stroke of genius on their part.  Myself, I'll be out with my daughter walking around the neighborhood, knocking on doors and visiting neighbors we haven't seen since... wellll, since last Halloween  : ).  And we'll have a BLAST.  And I won' t have to put my name on a mailing list and get pestered throughout November about joining the local congregation.
   
• Maybe it's just me, but it sure seems like all the mudslinging in this year's Presidential Campaign is coming from the McCain / Palin corner.  I think it's a side effect of being behind in the polls, and grasping at straws, but they've been at it for months.  Questioning Obama's patriotism, his religion, his association with William Ayres, his stand on Israel, and of course the ever-popular "He'll raise your taxes!!!".  I think that line has been the Republican mainstay since the King Tut administration.  The next time you hear some idiot Republican try to scare you with stories about how his opponent will raise taxes, I want  you to remember six famous words.  Back in 1988, George H. W. Bush set himself up for disaster when he declared, "Read my Lips... No New Taxes!".  Uh-huh.  Sure.  And for how long did he keep that promise?  But anyway, if it feels as though Obama isn't firing back at McCain, there's a good reason.  He doesn't need to stoop to that level.  Oh sure, he could -- he could talk about McCain's association with Khalifi, an anti-Semite and PLO supporter to whom McCain donated $440,000, or Sarah Palin's husband and the Alaska Independence Party. Or Sarah herself and her total lack of qualifications to be VP, for that matter.  But he chooses not to, and why?  For one thing, he has the FACTS about the reign of George Bush on his side, and the failures of that administration are probably enough to get him a victory all by themselves.  But also, this is a guy who is eloquent, doesn't cheat on his wife, calls it like he sees it, and has overcome a lot of obstacles.  He knows Americans are sick of finger-pointing and blame.  He knows Americans know the press will dig up any story they can, in order to sell papers and get ratings.  He refuses to become a part of it.  He doesn't need to.  He's looking awfully presidential.
   
• I've finished 'Breaking Dawn', the final installment in the Twilight series of books.  I rushed through the amazing "Twilight", found New Moon" a fresh direction for the story to take, and was pleasantly surprised by "Eclipse", my favorite of the books, which kept me in suspense throughout.  And so, I raced into reading 'Breaking Dawn'. 
  
  I think I could have read a better story on the fanfiction.net web site.  'Breaking Dawn' is awful on so many levels, I don't remember ever feeling so disappointed with a book.  I like happy endings as much as the next person, but the way Stephenie Meyer accomplished it with Bella, Edward, Jake, etc. was just pathetic.  In an almost-Return-of-the-Jedi fashion, Meyer solves the love triangle between Bella, Edward and Jake, by pairing Jake with Bella's new baby daughter.  WTF???  Meyer makes sure the reader knows there's nothing sexual about 'imprinting', but to me, Jake falling for a baby is just disturbing.  That is the kind of talk we heard from the cults in northern Arizona and Utah that enslaved children and married them off at 12.  (Meyer is a Mormon, btw).  The idea of an 18-year old girl rushing to get married, being sex-crazed, having a baby, having all the money in the world, and getting her Prince Charming is probably the wrong message to send the reader (Meyer's target market with these books was teenage girls).  I've been okay with Bella's personality, her total lack of interest in anything other than Edward (and later, Jacob), her putting her own needs last, and her general attitude toward everything.  Bella is so shallow I wanted to smack her around.  But this was too much.  Add to that the huge, anticipated battle scene at the end of the book, which, oh by the way, never happened.  Everything was wrapped up nice and tight with a big blood-red bow.  Life isn't like that.  Like I said, I'm a fan of happy endings, but in general, there has to be some sacrifice, some pain, some strife involved to get there.  
  
  That said, I'm sure I'll be at the first showing of 'Twilight' when it comes out in theatres in November.

September, 2008

• I'm out on the east coast this morning, and haven't dared to look out my hotel room window yet to see if the leaves are changing color.  I hope so.  Autumn is my favorite time of year, and from Maine to Virginia, I've seen some beautiful autumn colors over the years.  So far it's just been wet and windy here!
   
• A sad day today... Paul Newman passed away at 83 years old.  I'll admit, I've only seen a couple of his movies, notably "The Color of Money".  However, this is a man who was a role model in Hollywood, and a role model for life.  Paul Newman donated ALL of the after-tax revenues from his 'Newman's Own' product line to charity.  During his life, he donated $250 million dollars to charity, notably an outdoor program for children with life-threatening illnesses.  Who else can claim such an enormous commitment to charitable giving?  A truly gifted actor and a man with a huge heart - we'll miss you.
   
• I finally created a FaceBook entry for myself.  Check it out at http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=686561585&ref=name .  I think that's the link, anyway.  I'm enjoying it so far, reconnecting with a lot of old friends and classmates.
   
• One thing about Tom Brady's injury -- it changes the whole perspective of the 2008 season for every Patriots fan.  If it's any consolation, this season has now changed, from one in which anything less than a Super Bowl victory would be a huge disappointment, to one in which the team is now an underdog, playing to prove something, and it's pretty unlikely we'll feel any worse later in the season than we do today.  If anything, the fans will rally around the team even more, and hopefully, so will the players.  Time to step it up, everyone -- defense, offensive line, special teams, Matt Cassel, everyone.
   
• I had really been looking forward to the start of the NFL regular season, but barely 15 minutes into Sunday's action, my optimism went right down the drain with my favorite player, Tom Brady's leg injury.  For me it was like being whacked in the face with a frying pan... though I'm sure it hurt Brady more...  I feel like the season's over, and it probably is.  Maybe this is the year I'll finally become an Arizona Cardinals fan!  Nah...

August, 2008

• So I was flying to Washington DC last week, and stopped in a DFW Airport bookstore.  I decided to see what all the hype was about, and purchased a copy of 'Twilight'.  Stephenie Meyer came out of nowhere to be the biggest author in the world since J.K. Rowling.  One week later, and I've already finished both 'Twilight' and 'New Moon', and am headed out to purchase 'Eclipse'.  It's certainly ironic that a Mormon wrote this blockbuster series of novels about a girl who falls in love with a vampire and befriends a werewolf.  In reading it, I can see parallels to Harry Potter, the Underworld movies, Romeo & Juliet, and the Roswell TV series.  I'm guessing some inspiration came from all three. 
   
• Well, I guess John Edwards is discovering that there are 'Two Americas', after all.  One that condemns him for being a hypocrite, and for cheating on his wife, and another that simply says, "well, he's human, and he's a politician, what did you expect?"  With 1 out of every 2 marriages ending in divorce, why is it such a shock to people when infidelity is made public?  Still, I was caught up in the romanticism of Edwards and his wife spending each anniversary at the table at the local Wendy's restaurant where they met.  Kind of a shame, really. 
   
• Back in April I received a ticket for an 'unsafe lane change'.  Not a big deal?  It carried a $188 fine and 3 points on my license!  So I decided to take it to court.  I had a great defense prepared and ready to present when I arrived in court, and I won my case!  The ticket was dropped.  It probably helped that the officer did not show up for the hearing.  I'd advise anyone who gets a ticket to consider taking it to court if you feel you are not at fault.  The guy whose hearing was just before mine also had his ticket dropped.  It turned out the officer had cited him for speeding just outside Tucson City Limits, where he didn't have jurisdiction to be stopping people for speeding.  Interesting, eh?
   
• I don't understand why most hotel pools aren't open 24 hours.  Most of them aren't staffed with lifeguards, so what's the point of closing the pool?  Does the hotel really take that big a hit from overhead costs of keeping the pool open 24 hours a day?  My schedule usually doesn't accommodate a 10am-10pm pool schedule while I'm on travel, but I'd love to go swimming at midnight or just before bed.  But nooooo.... most hotels I've stayed at close the pool early.  What's the reasoning behind that?
   
• For the 3rd year in a row, I was chosen runner up for the annual Tucson Citizen of the Year Award.  Guess the fix is in!   : )   It should be a fun evening of local volunteer recognition.
   
• I've been infuriating my son lately... he's a big fan of IRON MAN... so I came up with a new theme song for Iron Man!  Ok, it'll probably sound familiar, but sing along if you like!

            "Iron Man, Iron Man...
            Does whatever an iron can,
            Can he iron wrinkled shirts?
            Can he press pleated skirts?
            Look out... here comes the Iron Man!"

• I have the most amazing daughter in the world.  Jenna makes me so proud every day.  Not only is she a star student, she's also a black belt in Taekwondo, and she managed to put together a working robot.  Now that she's hit double digits in age, it's starting to hit me that my children are really growing up... it seems like time has gone by so quickly!  I'm on travel this week for work, and as I sit in my hotel room, I think of the kids and I miss them like crazy.

• 
   2002... ... 2008

• I have been away from my Journal for too long. There were some html problems with my Journal for a while, but I think they're fixed now. I am in Washington DC this week on business and as usual I have a lot on my mind!  I really like visiting DC and seeing the monuments and museums.  I am thinking about going to see the Holocaust Museum this week.  I've heard it's very difficult for people to go through, and that makes it all the more of a must for me to see.  Some things have to be seen, to truly be understood and absorbed.  I can't get my mind around the slaughter of six million innocent people.  It hurts to even think about it.  I think this museum visit will be one that sticks with me forever.  We'll see.
   
• What happened to AirFones?  For years, there were little white telephones embedded in the backs of airplane seats, and you could call someone on a credit card (for an exhorbitant fee of course) from the friendly skies.  Now they've all disappeared, and yet, we're not allowed to use cell phones while in the air.  In effect, we've been cut off from communications of any kind with the outside world.  This is kind of perplexing, when you hear stories about people on board Flight 93 during the September 11 attacks, who called their families on their cell phones while being held hostage.  How?  They must have been flying awfully low in order to get a signal, because I'm pretty sure there aren't any bars at 30,000 feet. 
   
• I loved Mamma Mia! the movie 

July, 2008

• Because you can never get enough of the music of the 80's...  here's my list of the top 20 rock anthems of the 80's!

  1.  Livin' on a Prayer, Bon Jovi
  2.  Sweet Child 'O Mine, Guns 'n Roses
  3.  Jump, Van Halen
  4.  Born in the USA, Bruce Springsteen
  5.  I Love Rock N Roll, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
  6.  Don't Stop Believin', Journey
  7.  Legs, ZZ Top
  8.  Summer of '69, Bryan Adams
  9.  Centerfold, J. Geils Band
  10. Eye of the Tiger, Survivor
  11. Start Me Up, Rolling Stones
  12. Pride (In the Name of Love), U2
  13. Welcome to the Jungle, Guns N Roses
  14.  Here I Go Again, Whitesnake
  15.  You Give Love a Bad Name, Bon Jovi
  16.  With or Without You, U2
  17.  Pour Some Sugar On Me, Def Leppard
  18.  Sister Christian, Night Ranger
  19.  I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, U2
  20.  Money for Nothing, Dire Straits
   

• I have some photos from my recent Carnival Cruise with my family...
  
   
• I think some serial killers must actually be parallel killers.  After all, doing things in parallel can be more efficient than doing one thing at a time.  Although, trying to kill more than one person at once would probably involve some multi-tasking, which is generally counterproductive.
   
• With the All-Star game approaching, I can't believe my Diamondbacks have gone from being the best team in baseball to being the worst team in baseball.  I heard the radio announcer say "and the slump continues" this evening after a 4-3 loss in which they blew a 2-0 lead.  It's not a slump when it lasts 43 games. That's just a team that stinks. After a 28-16 start, they're now 43-44.  They've found new and creative ways to lose every night.  And frankly it's messing up my summer.  Without football until August I'm doomed to spend July reading about one disappointment after another with this lousy team.  Until the manager goes, I doubt things will get any better.

June, 2008

• The first time I saw one of those " - God" billboards, I thought it was a neat idea.  But now it's grating on my nerves, and coming across as pretty darn arrogant.  "One Nation Under Me  - God".  "The Real Supreme Court convenes here - God".  Maybe in your opinion... While you're at it, why not add some of these billboards?
  • Top Five quotes rejected by the Christian advertisers behind the "God" billboards:

     

     

  

• George Carlin was my favorite standup comedian.  More than that, he was someone who stood out in my mind as one of the most influential figures of our time.  His views on government, politics, religion, the environment, and people in general were eye-opening, jaw-dropping, crazy, insightful, threatening, and genius.  He constantly reinvented his repertoire -- if you listen to his stuff from the 1960's, it seems like it's coming from a totally different person.  Perhaps it was.  He was just amazing, and I'm sad to see him go.  Some of my favorite Carlin quotes:
  • "Think about how stupid the average person is... and then realize, half of them are stupider than that!"
  • "Most of the people who are against abortion are people you wouldn't want to f**k in the first place."
  • "Save the trees, save the bees... save the whales... save those snails!"
  • "You know what the motto of this country ought to be?  You give us a color, we'll wipe it out!"
  • "I have lots of good ideas... the problem is, most of them suck..."

  And perhaps the most prophetic:

  "...thanks to our fear of death in this country I won’t have to die — I’ll ‘pass away.’ Or I’ll ‘expire,’ like a magazine subscription. If it happens in the hospital they’ll call it a ‘terminal episode.’ The insurance c ompany will refer to it as ‘negative patient care outcome.’ And if it’s the result of malpractice they’ll say it was a ‘therapeutic misadventure.”’

  I'll miss ya, George.

May, 2008

• I once found myself in the awkward position of having to spend the night at Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport.  Since I wasn't a serious frequent flyer of any airline at the time, I didn' t have the option of staying at the Admirals Club or Red Carpet Club room at the airport... so I made the decision to lock myself in a bathroom stall and spend the wee hours (no pun intended) of the morning there.  In the end, it wasn't all that bad.  The stall door went nearly all the way to the ground, there were hooks for my coat and purse, there was a pull-down metal table-thing that I set a donut and coffee on, and there was room for my carry-on bag.  I had my laptop and my MP3 player going... it was like having my own little apartment at the airport! So, I've decided to compile a list of what I look for in a makeshift bathroom stall hotel room.  You won't find this in your Frommer's guide!

April, 2008

• Childhood crushes... when I was young, I had three guys in my life... at least two of them graced my bedroom with posters of their likenesses, either strutting their stuff, or looking prepped for battle.  I doubt I'm alone on at least two of these guys.  First, there was, of course, Sean Cassidy.  I had a poster of the younger Hardy Boy on my wall... maybe you know the one... the white jumpsuit open at the middle, hands on his hips.  Next, I was an admitted fan of Battlestar Galactica, and again it was a blond... Dirk Benedict... who captured my eye.  I had a poster of him in his Colonial Warrior uniform, blaster pistol raised.  Finally, there was my obsession with the Boston Red Sox.  Growing up in New England, that's basically the norm.  Dwight Evans was my favorite hitter.  It seemed like he could throw anyone out from right field, no matter how deep.  He had that bushy mustache for a while, too... very nice. 
   
• Bill Buckner is quite a man.  What kind of man would be able to go out on the field at Fenway Park and face Red Sox Nation, a crazed group of people who scorned him, threatened his life, and basically forced him into hiding for years.  It even affected his kids.  But yet he went out there, on the day the Red Sox celebrated their 2007 World Series championship.  He doesn't owe the city or the fans anything.  To all the people who said "We forgive you" or anything like that to Buckner, I say, go to hell!  You forgive Buckner?  You pompous, arrogant, ignorant bunch of fans.  I count myself among Red Sox Nation, but I realize how horrible people have been to Buckner, and unjustly so.  The Mets had already tied the game when Buckner committed the error in Game 6.  The Sox had already blown it.  But that's not the point.  The point is that nobody on that field wanted to win the World Series more than Bill Buckner.  He was a great hitter, and a good man.  He didn't deserve two decades of hell over one stupid error.  Everyone commits errors.  And now that the Red Sox have now won two World Series, their fans aren't as sore about 1986 anymore, and so they're ready to "welcome back Buckner with open arms".  If it were me, I'd have told them to stick their heartfelt welcome where the sun don't shine... it was 21 years overdue.  The fact that Buckner did not, is a testimony to the caliber of person he is.  I'm glad his ordeal is finally over.  Maybe at last he can relax and enjoy life.  I think the standing ovation the fans gave him should be their way of apologizing to him for making his life hell, not some sort of 'we forgive you' nonsense.
   
• The other day I read an article about Bill Clinton and how he hurt Hillary's presidential campaign, and it reminded me, ironically, of his inaugural ball ,back in early 1993.  Don Henley and the rest of the Eagles were in the process of reuniting, and Henley performed at the inaugural ball.  Before he began playing, he left Clinton a warning of sorts, to keep the lyrics of his song in mind, and focus on the needs of the country, rather than creating a media circus around his own missteps.  He opened with "Dirty Laundry".  Clinton was warned... every time I think of the Lewinsky scandal, the impeachment and so forth, I'm reminded of Henley's admonition to Clinton that evening, and how prophetic it turned out to be.
   
• During the last few months, I've had something weird going on with my left arm.  I seem to get a tingling sensation in my left arm whenever I think of something gross, or see something that grosses me out.  Sorry for the valley girl language, but it's the best phrase for the occasion.  Here's one example that always does it for me... moldy bread or fruit.  If I turn over a piece of white bread and see mold on it, I immediately get tingles in my left arm, sometimes resulting in goose bumps too.  I'm not sure why this happens.  I haven't had pain in my left arm, otherwise I'd be getting my cholesterol checked... maybe I'll do that anyway!  And why no tingling in my right arm?  Maybe because I'm left-handed?  Too weird.

March, 2008

• How many times have you been watching a movie or a tv show, when someone gets into their car, and a criminal appears in the back seat and grabs them?  What kind of daze are these people walking around in, that they climb into their cars without noticing a person lurking in the back seat??  Unless you own a Humvee or a limousine with one of those panel-things between the front and back seats, there's no way you could get into your car and not notice somebody crouched in the back seat.  If you're not paying attention when you climb into your car, heck, you probably deserve to be grabbed from behind. 
   
• Why is it that people are supposed to remove their caps during the National Anthem before a ballgame?  What does an uncovered head have to do with being Patriotic?? 
   
• What exactly is the purpose of the little rubber gasket that sits snug inside a plastic bottlecap?  I wonder how many millions of dollars Coca Cola spends on these things annually.  Do they do anything at all??  Are they protecting the soda from the dangerous plastic of the bottlecap top?  That seems unlikely.  Are they preserving some sort of pressure in the bottle?  Doesn't seem like it.  So why are they there?  Seems the soft drink companies could save themselves a lot of money by dropping the gasket. 
   
• Here's something that gave me pause the other day.  It's tax season, and all over Tucson, there are guys dressed up as the Statue of Liberty standing outside H&R Block and other tax places, to advertise their services.  And I realized that the Statue of Liberty is the only female costume that a guy will go ahead and put on without any fuss.  It's Patriotic, it's American, and hey.. it's basically a toga!  I know, Animal House... To-ga! To-ga!  But if you think about it, you're a man in a ladies' costume.  Typically guys can't handle that, but it seems to be okay with Lady Liberty.  Interesting.
   
• I've been to many concerts, and I've been to see many comedians.  One thing I've noticed is that while bands plan on encores, and nearly always play 2 or more songs during those encores, comedians hardly EVER come out for an encore.  They leave the stage and immediately the lights come back on.  Why is that?  Did they use up all of their fresh material in the main show?  Why not come out for an encore to show an appreciative audience that you care?  The only comedians I know of that do occasional encores are Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen Degeneres, and both times I saw them, their encores were just Question and Answer sessions (albeit humorous ones) with the audience. 
   
• I'm back from our family trip to the Mexican Riviera... check out the photos here.  We had a blast