Riveting Television

Now that 'American Idol' and 'Dancing with the Stars' excitement is done for the season, we can all get ready for the next round of riveting television.

Latest new show on the air: National Bingo Night

Also showing later this week: U.S. Kids' National Spelling Bee

Television has officially run out of ideas.

Soon, they will be trying to get us excited about watching the test screen (and it may actually be better).

Next up: 'National Rock, Scissors Paper Competition' and 'Watching Paint Dry with the Stars'.

Ugh.

Illuminations

Just ordered this light fixture to hang over the dining table in the new place. Should arrive in a few days.

When I was in the Design District last Friday, we saw the "original" design of this piece in one of the showrooms. It was beautiful, moreso than this, but with a pricetag of $12,000, I opted for this one instead - Pottery Barn -- $329 plus shipping.

$12,000? How good could it be, really?

AKA Scone?

Okay, these are really, really bad for me, but I saw them at Whole Foods and had to try them: cream biscuits

I bought them because they look like the scones we had at Carlton Towers in London, and with all that butter et al in the ingredients, I thought they might taste like them.

They don't. *sigh*

Stuff

Random stuff from the long holiday weekend:

1. Spent most of it painting on the townhouse. While I'm there, I think it looks pretty fab. When I leave and recall it, I fear I may have overdone it. I keep looking at the digital pix I took to feel better about it. I wish I could get a fabulous gay man in there to further assess it for me. I have amateur decorator insecurity syndrome and need a 'taste' check.

2. Ate at the sushi/Asian fusion place across the street not once but twice over the weekend. The food is terrific and people watching superb. I feel sure we will frequent the place as soon as we move in and become downtown "locals". Dollar sushi on Monday nights. Yahoo. I may never cook again.

3. The hostess at the sushi place has a serious "Ramones" thing going. She looks just like Joey. Even her skinny jeans are anorexic. I wondered where she had stored away her vital organs, as she surely wasn't carrying them anywhere. She looked like a cartoon character. We have henceforth knicknamed her "Ramona". I will probably be seeing a lot of Ramona and her anorexic jeans.

4. It rained on and off all weekend, but mostly 'on' whenever we headed for the door anywhere. I had rainhead all weekend, but so did everyone else.

5. My shitzuh has officially become the world's cutest dog. We took him with us to do the painting, and he was perfect. I've never seen a happier being. He's just hap-hap-happy all the time, no matter where he is. I'm told it's in the breed. Hundreds of years of Chinese guys mixing just the right dogs together. I'm wondering, why can't we breed people to be this happy?

6. Oh! Big news -- we now have a contract on the other townhouse. Sold! And the people who bought it are nuttier than we are -- they are moving from a 5000 sf $2M home in the swanky part of town to this little townhouse. And why? They want to go urban, just like us. I feel we are on the front edge of a trend here. I almost feel cool.

7. As predicated, "Stairway to Heaven" is still #1 on the countdown of the top 500 classic rock songs. One of my personal faves, 'Gimme Shelter' was #37, way too far down the list. I feel it wasn't given adequate props.

8. My fingernails look like rats have been chewing on them after the weekend painting fiesta.

Retail by Design

I spent yesterday in the Dallas Design District looking at furniture with a friend who is an interior designer. All of the furniture showrooms there are open only to "the trade" and so I was finally able to get in to see the cream of the crop furnishings rather than just whatever I can find in the local retail stores on my own.

Here's the good news. With my friend's trade status, I am able to buy furnishings at 40-50% off retail. Whoo hoo!

Here's the bad news. Literally, 50% off of those prices are still significantly higher than paying 100% of the retail prices I'm used to seeing in the "regular" stores that allow access to us mere non-design mortals.

So now I'm not sure what to do. I mean, sure, I can get higher quality and edgier design in the Design District. And if I ever entertain the gay, hip crowd at a cocktail party in my home, they will be fabulously impressed.

But I'm thinking that's not worth twice the price (or more). The practical side of me says I can shop regular ole retail, albeit lower quality and generally of "knock-off" status, and still make the place look pretty rockin'.

So while I may have to disappoint my friend, I still think regular old retail is probably the way to go. As cool as things were yesterday, I can't see parting with $13,000 for that really great sofa. My shitzuh will love it equally at about a quarter of that price, truly. He doesn't mind retail. :) And neither do I.

Aging Frat Boys

I'm really beginning to tire of these guys.

I went through a brief pre-Daniel Craig period where I thought Clooney was hot, but only after he started to look older. As a young man, I thought he just looked like a punk. But then Mr. Craig came along and drop-kicked George completely off the planet for me.

As for Brad Pitt -- I've never seen the attraction there. I really just don't get what the fuss is all about. He's not a bad looking guy, but he has all the charisma of cardboard in my book.

And now these two have made yet another Ocean's #something flick and are officially walking about at the Cannes Film Festival as the 'too cool for school' club. They've become aging frat boys, and I'm way bored with both of them.

As for the Oceans films, I fell asleep during 11, so I didn't bother to watch 12, and I seriously doubt I'll be running to the theatre for 13.

And in the Middle....

And here's the fireplace in the middle of the room,which I may ultimately paint Sable Brown vs. the current Peanut Butter. I think it depends on the sofa and rug, still to come...and whether or not I paint the adjoining wall areas in another shade.

The Other End

And here's the other end of the room, kitchen and dining (pardon the handbag, et al on the island). I've done it a little less neutral, used more of the sable and peanut butter to cozy up the space. This shot also captures the dark/black granite on the countertops and the slate tile, from whence I plan to take an ice blue and carry it throughout the house in accent touches -- pillows, rugs and a little paint in the kitchen.

It's a project. And it could all change if I don't like it in the end! :)

Pop the Paint

Here are some of the results of the first layer of decorating done on the townhouse -- paint. In general I like it, but I still feel it's a work in progress, and I'll probably be in there with my own paintbrush and coveralls shortly. My goal was to paint most of it in creamy neutral and just pop a few accent walls (in 'sable brown' and 'peanut butter'). But now that I've done it, I almost think the neutral is too neutral, and I'm really liking the color pop. Plus, the creamy tones of the walls and ceiling are supposed to contrast a bit, and they don't. So I may have to go a shade darker. But it might all be okay once the furniture, drapes and rugs go in.

Still pondering....and the lovely thing about paint is that I can change it all in a single afternoon, if so desired.....

In Search of a Knock-Off

I am really liking this sofa for the new townhouse and will be out with a designer friend on Friday trying to find a good knock-off of it, as I'm sure it is outrageously overpriced.

Why is that? Why do you never run into the knock-off first?

I Didn't Say A Word...and it Worked

Every day, I either read in the newspaper or see it in traffic -- another motorcycle accident. Today, in the headlines of the local paper....and Friday, on the highway coming in from the airport. Same scene: fire engine lights blazing away, ripped up bike strewn across the road, ambulance loading up the unfortunate biker in no-telling what condition.

I don't get motorcycles. I can't imagine wanting to be moving at very high speeds among other traffic, surrounded by absolutely no protection whatsoever, not even a helmet in many cases. What's wrong with these people?

My husband went through his 'Harley' phase recently. He bought a 100th Anniversary Harley V-Rod in Florida about a year back. I didn't say a word...other than 'don't ride it on the freeway', and 'wear a helmet', and he said 'okay', and followed suit.

He proceeded to own the thing for about year, taking it out on rides less and less frequently as time went by. I didn't say a word.

Further into the year, he took it out so infrequently, the battery was often dead, and he had to jump the thing to get it started. I didn't say a word.

One day, he said, 'you know, I hardly ever ride that thing, and the battery is always dead. Maybe I should sell it.' I didn't say a word.

He put it on the internet, and a buyer appeared in no time. Within a few weeks, the Harley drove away with its new owner on it, along with my worries about having my husband's body parts strewn across the road. And I didn't say a word. (But I could finally breathe again.)

Now it's over, he's happy, I'm happy, and other than the general worries about all the other things that can kill us, things are good. My strategy worked. I didn't say a word and let him come to his own conclusion that the need for a Harley was short lived. If I'd protested, he'd probably still have it.

Now, the Vespa scooter remains, which can be equally dangerous in the wrong setting. I know this, because the first time I drove it, I slammed it into a Jaguar parked across the street and found myself on the ground underneath the car and the bike. Yikes! It actually ended up one of my more humorous tales, as I didn't get hurt (thankfully), and the Vespa didn't get a scratch, but the Jaguar had over $2000 worth of damage. (Hey, that's one tough little Italian scooter.)

At any rate, I vote to keep the Vespa (despite my history on it), because I want to zip around back streets to the beach on it, but I am very glad the Harley rode off into the sunset without my husband on it. And I hope that phase is over for good.

Winging It

It's been a short trip to the Florida house. Later today, we'll be closing it up, heading for the airport and flying back to Texas. We usually stay longer but have pressing things to do in Dallas right now. So we'll go take care of that and will probably come back to Florida for one more visit in June before the weather gets too hot and steamy to be here.

Off for a jog to the beach before going...

More from Texas later....

Mom of the Year

Yesterday, Paris Hilton's mother, Kathy, issued some sort of public statement about her spoiled and shallow spawn's recent plight, saying that she 'hoped that people who look up to Paris will learn from this.'

People who look up to Paris? Is she kidding?

People look at Paris, people gawk at Paris, people stare at Paris in the same way they stare at a car wreck....but does anyone actually look UP to her?

Methinks she assumes way too much there, and I think we can see the root of the Paris problem, front and center. Thanks, Kathy, for all that great parenting.

Enough!

I simply do not get this.

Over the past week, Hollywood harlet and rehab-candidate-du-jour, Lindsey Lohan, has been making the press rounds to promote her latest movie bomb that came out this weekend. I don't usually pay attention to this brat, but she was practically everywhere over the last few days, and I couldn't seem to avoid her. She was like a germ being passed from talk show to talk show, morning and night.

Here's the part I just don't get. The fawning. The constant fawning. And not by teenage boys....but by adults!

It started on Letterman. Dave practically fell all over himself to tell her over and over again how beautiful and stunning she is in person. It was almost embarrassing to hear him dripping all over her like that, prompting the audience to applaud her fabulous gorgeousness over and over again. He almost couldn't carry on a conversation for having to stop and fawn over her. It was pathetic.

Then, she popped up in the morning cooking with Martha Stewart. In between stirring the batter for whatever they were making, Martha kept interrupting the conversation flow to tell Lindsey how simply stunning and beautiful she is in person, prompting the audience to once again applaud her fabulous gorgeousness over and over again.

And what put me over the top on this today was seeing a headline that Lindsey Lohan tops the Maxim Hot 100 list. According to whoever votes on this, she is the most beautiful, gorgeous and fabulous woman on the planet.

Wow. I am just not getting this. I mean she's okay, but I'd rank her as slightly above average on a good day, and downright crusty and skanky on a bad day. That's her range, as far as I can tell.

Now maybe she's one of those chicks who is breathtaking in person but just doesn't do the camera all that well. Maybe she's really fabulously gorgeous, and I'm just not seeing it from here. Because I'm really not....

I could never figure out why this girl is in demand and who it is that keeps putting her in movies. They all bomb, which says to me that there really isn't a big demand out here to see this girl in anything. So who keeps writing the checks for that, and when will they get tired of losing all that money?

Whenever there's some "IT" girl who pops up in Hollywood (who doesn't live up to the goddess hype), I always think it's just some sort of collective conspiracy to convince us all that she's fabulously gorgeous, no matter what our eyes may be telling us. Like somehow they paid off Letterman and Martha Stewart to do the whole over-fawning thing, thinking we'd all buy it. (Well if Dave and Martha say she's fabulously gorgeous in person, then she must be.....) Well guess what. I'm not buying it. And by the take on movie ticket sales over the weekend for her bomb-du-jour, neither are most other people out there.

The good news is that her shelf life in Hollywood should be limited, and we probably won't have to put up with her forever. Soon enough, she'll disappear, and they'll all be fawning over someone else. And it's highly likely that I won't get them either. Maybe it's just me. *sigh*

Brush Collection

Discussion on SandDancer's blog has gotten me to thinking about random 'brushes with fame' over the years....happenstance meetings with 'glitterati' in various public places, purely by chance. I thought I'd try to inventory some of them here, just for fun. Here's what leaps to mind:

1. Dustin Hoffman in NYC. Very short and unattractive in person.
2. Raquel Welch in Newport Beach, CA. I have never seen more curves on one woman in my life. In addition to her own, I think she also got mine.
3. The entire cast and crew of Saturday Night Live in NYC, circa 1991. Got to watch the show from backstage and was subsequently invited to the cast party afterwards. Multiple famous faces. The Dana Carvey-Phil Hartman-Adam Sandler-Chris Farley et al crew. A great cast, and fun people to stay out with all night in NYC.
4. Melanie Griffith in Aspen. Proof that hard living doesn't kill you, it just makes you look like you're dead.
5. Various and sundry famous athletes in various and sundry places. Football players, Nascar drivers, basketball players, golfers, tennis players....too many to keep up with. Those guys are everywhere and have nothing else to do in the off season but "be places".
6. Christina Ricci. As a child, circa "Adam's Family" timeframe.
7. Bill O'Reilly. Very tall and actually very polite. He went out of his way to hold an elevator for me when it would have been easier for him to let the door close and go on his way.
8. Lance Armstrong. Shorter and smaller in person than I expected. Unimpressive, really.
9. Diane Sawyer. Tall (we were eye to eye with each other). A bit saggy-butt in jeans, but I can only hope to look as good at her age.
10. Leeza Gibbons. Thinner in person. They probably all are.
11. Elle MacPherson. Same height as me. Probably 20 pounds lighter. I wanted to hold her down and feed her a sandwich.
12. Rod Stewart. With current wife, Penny, pushing a pram down Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. He looked like an old Englishman out with his daughter and grandchild....you think he'd be embarrassed by that at some point, but apparently not yet.
13. Bruno Kirby eating Italian food in Ft. Lauderdale. This is before he was dead. RIP.
14. Some rapper that everyone else was excited about, but I had no clue who he was. Still don't. Still don't care.
15. Some other rapper and his "entourage" on Ocean Drive in South Beach, Miami. Also don't know and don't care who he was, but apparently, he was "somebody". At least that week, he was.
16. Jennifer Tilley walking around at The Bellagio in Las Vegas.
17. Jose Eber, Hair Legend. He once did a hair consultation for me, worth every penny.
18. Justin Timberlake. I think. He was a blur, sprinting through the MGM Grand lobby and into a waiting car in Las Vegas after some sort of performance there. He could have calmly gone out the back exit and avoided the crowds but what's the fun in NOT making a scene?

Seems like there are more...but apparently they were such riveting experiences, I can't recall them at the moment. I reserve the right to add to the list later.

Anybody else? Any brushes with anyone noteworthy?

Designer Genes

Just caught a story about a man taking his mother back to her parents' native homeland on a 'geneaology tour' as a gift for Mother's Day. It was really quite moving as they discovered the remains of the crumbled house her mother actually grew up in as well as grave markers of their ancestors.

It got me to thinking.....we are all from somewhere, and probably somewhere else.

My family history:

Father: Italian ancestry, first-born here with parents coming from the Naples area of Italy. The first time I was in port in Naples on a ship, I couldn't help but look out and think how this was the last thing my ancestors saw in Italy as they boarded a ship and left for America. Ironically, I had also been in New York City a couple of weeks before that looking out at the harbor and the Statue of Liberty thinking, this was the first thing my ancestors saw as they approached the new country. With my visit to the port of Naples, I had come full circle. I don't think anyone in my family had done that before. It was a small personal triumph for me.

Mother: Mostly English, Irish, with some French in the mix. We are told some of her ancestors were watchmakers in London before coming to the colonies. Her family has actually been in the U.S. since before the Revolutionary War and indeed participated in it. There are family stories of someone untying the horses of British soldiers and letting them go, while the 'redcoats' were busy in a local pub. Even small contributions to the war effort must have been helpful then. :) Eventually, they migrated to Texas as one of the 'Original 300', while it was still part of Mexico. They received one of the original land grants and were members of Stephen F. Austin's colony. They lived through the Texas revolution, independence from Mexico ("Remember the Alamo!"), Texas as a country and finally annexation into the U.S.. We also had soldiers in the U.S. Civil War -- on both sides -- which must have been pure hell for years at family reunion time. :) A pretty rich family history overall.

I've never attempted to go back to either "old country" on a gene quest to seek out signs of ancestors, like grave markers or family homes. But that might be a fun adventure to go on someday, and I just might do it.

Everybody's from somewhere else...at some point in their history. Where are you from?

Whose Day of Rest?

This Sunday is Mother's Day in the U.S. Probably the biggest brunch day of the year, since pretty much everyone takes their mom out to eat. But not at my house. I'll be cooking. Not for my mom, but for my mother-in-law.

Seems like it always turns out this way. Somehow, when Mother's Day rolls around, we are closer in proximity to my husband's mother than to my mother. So I send my mother something decadent via Fed Ex (usually something chocolate) and invite my mother-in-law and her husband here for a meal.

I don't really mind doing this, except it's sometimes a bit annoying that I always have to do the work rather than taking her out and having us all enjoy the meal. But it's a religious thing with her. She's a member of a very strict religious congregation...overly strict, silly strict in my opinion, but that's not really my business. She can't do anything on Sunday but go to church. Can't go out, can't shop, can't eat dinner out, can't do anything. She imposes all that on us on a Sunday, and since Mother's Day is always on a Sunday, I end up cooking.

Her rationale for not doing anything on Sunday is that it's a day of rest and one should not work, nor should they support anyone who works that day. So no shopping because that supports the retailers working; no eating out because that supports the restauranteurs working, etc. I don't even think she gets the Sunday paper, because someone had to work to make that happen (forget the practicality that the Sunday paper is actually a result of work done on Saturday...). She won't get it.

While I admire and respect anyone's religious beliefs (as long as they don't hurt someone else), I find it ironic that, subscribing to her interpretation of the "day of rest" rule, nobody should work...except me. I'll be doing plenty of work that day. I don't normally spend Sunday in the kitchen, but I will this week. Seems like work to me. It certainly won't be a day of rest, like it usually is. Funny how that perspective never enters her mind. :)

But I'll do it, out of respect for her and love for my husband (who also thinks her extreme views are a bit out there). But I'll do it for him, because he's the greatest guy ever.

Has It Really Come to This?

Here's more evidence of the corruption and impending crash and burn of civilized society. A billboard advertisement by a law firm in Chicago.

There is, however, a glint of hope out there. The city actually made them take it down.

Next up, they'll be filing one of those "freedom of speech" lawsuits. *sigh*

It's Just a Number

After that last post, I got to thinking about age and how life affects it.

I've never really felt my age, whatever it may be at the time. I've always mentally, subconsciously drifted towards a 'centerpoint' of life, sort of a grounding point, that seems to have a range but not really a number attached to it.

For example, when I was 13, mentally, I was older...more like 17. My friends were older, boyfriends were always older....I just always seemed to function in an age and maturity level that was greater than mine.

Then, when I got older and into my twenties and early thirties, mentally, I felt like I was 22. Always 22. It's like my mind's eye never went beyond that, even when I was much older. It's not that I hung out with people that age or that I liked the things that appealed to that age, it's just that my energy level never seemed to leave that age, and despite the outward trappings changing around me, mentally, I felt like I was still very young and spry.

Then when I hit 40, my grounding point seemed to move to age 27. 27 forever. I could see where I'd mentally aged up and beyond the forever 22 phase, but it stopped and stayed at 27 for a very, very long time. I just never felt older than that, despite what my birth certificate said.

Now, a bit over 40, I suddenly feel at least 35. I credit the recent trauma of the miscarriage with catapulting me mentally into another life phase. Mentally and emotionally, I just feel a bit zapped and fatigued in the aftermath of all that. It feels a bit like a life-defining moment. The sort of thing you start to refer to as 'before' the event vs. 'after' the event. It seems to mark something, and somehow I am forever changed.

I'm not sure how it's changed me yet. The fallout is still happening. I have days where I feel very normal with a returned energy level. And then there are days where I feel down, with a sort of sadness deep inside of me that I cannot explain, even to myself.

I've decided that it's not time that ages us, it's life's trauma that does it. I've been fortunate enough in my life to have suffered very little trauma (compared to a lot of people), and that has kept me from being robbed of my mental youth, energy and optimism. But the recent traumatic event certainly took some of it from me. And I understand how people who have been through a lot in their lives probably feel really, really old...despite their real age.

So how old do you feel? And why?

Kate does Barney

Looks like Kate Moss TopShop has invaded this side of the pond, being carried exclusively by Barney's. I'm reading that the store is limiting sales to 5 pieces per customer, and the Barney's website is already sold out. The line launched yesterday, by the way.

Wow. Is there really this much demand for the way this woman dresses? Has it really come to this?

I must be really, really old. I'm finding more evidence of that every day.

Taking Flight

Later this morning, I'm off to the house in Florida for about ten days. Will spend most of the day flying, so won't be online much today.

Hoping to leave the spring tornadic weather patterns for something lush and tropical. Can't wait to see the beach and the palm trees later today.

Will catch everyone from Florida!

Local Yocals

Why does local television feel the need to produce and broadcast their own daily morning show? I don't mean a news show, I mean a local, human interest/talk show broadcast only to the local metro area.

Every morning after the networks have done their morning dance, a local station in Dallas airs yet another 'morning show', like we just couldn't get through the day without that. The worst part is that they cover the same things over and over again, sometimes in a single week.

I can't count the number of "maternity fashion shows" for the "stylish mom-to-be" they've aired. Then there's cooking with a local chef...again. Then we talk about the weather that we've already spent too much time talking about on the regular news. Then there's some local home decorator who must share the latest home fashions with us....again. Then there's always some expert on how to be the perfect parent, and the local mortgage king who shares 'how to get you into your dream home for next to nothing.' And the worst, the absolute worst is when they manage to land a celebrity -- any celebrity, usually someone from the 'D' list -- and they fall all over themselves, fawning over the 'star' in their midst. It's just pathetic. Nothing is worse than a talk show host getting all giddy over some over-blown, has-been celebrity doing some lowly PR rounds.

I'm not even really watcing this....it's just 'on' in the background while I'm blogging and fixing breakfast, et al. And it's just so annoying.

Local television is the worst, no matter where you are....even in New York City. Must just be the nature of the beast.

Got Nails?

Yesterday, I stopped by my local nail salon for a quick manicure. I don't go very often. In fact, I usually like to do my own nails at home, but about once a month, I need to go have them "done" to get a good cleanup on the cuticles and all.

The salon was buzzing with fingers and toes being given the royal treatment. As I waited, I sat back and observed.

The only people working in the salon were Asian women. They were all young and beautiful, with bright eyes and easy smiles. I wondered what they thought of the people whose hands and feet they were pampering. I wondered where they came from, where they were going, and if this was a better place for them than from whence they came.

I have two good friends who are Asian, both originally from Toronto. A while back, we did lunch and nails together, and once again we were manicured by young, beautiful Asian girls. My girlfriends, both college-educated and career professionals, told me they felt a bit guilty about being there, being serviced by the young ladies because 'there but for the grace of God, go I'. They both felt that it just as easily could have been them on the other end of the nail file, had their lives been slightly different.

This was a specific example for them, but I always feel that way. My grandparents were immigrants who came to this country with nothing. Three generations later, we're all doing better, because they sacrificed so their kids could have more. But it could have been very different, and I never forget that. I see these young immigrant Asian ladies doing the same thing - working some long hours in a monontonous job, but they beam when they tell me about their children, how well they are doing in school and all. I guess that's what it's all about...that's still what it's all about. I wish the best for these sweet ladies and am glad they are able to be here to pursue the American dream.

On the other end of the equation, the nails being pampered by these young ladies belonged to the hands of 8 Caucasian women, 2 African-American women, and 3 little girls around the age of 4. At one point, it was me and the 4-year olds at the drying counter, staring at each other. I felt huge and old. I kept thinking of that Sesame Street song, "One of these things is not like the other....". I was the only one at the drying table whose feet touched the floor and who did not have hot pink fingers and toes with flowers on them. (Hmmmm....maybe next time.) I thought...wow, we're starting these little girls into this stuff really early, aren't we? What's next? Baby Botox? Shouldn't they be out climbing trees or something? In Dallas, we have more than our share of over-the-top, turbo-processed pampered princesses of the adult variety, and we start training them early, don't you know. They're really good at it by the time they reach the teen years and beyond, and it's no wonder why.

I watched lots of fake nails going on and coming off. I just don't know how people wear those things. I tried them once and hated them. It wasn't so much the nails as the maintenance. Every time I broke a nail or they grew a little bit, there I was at the salon getting them fixed. Ewww. No thanks. I like my free time way to much to be tethered to going to a salon every time I get a hangnail. Ick.

As I left the salon, I looked out at the shopping centers across the street and diagonal from this one. Every single strip center on every corner has a nail salon of similar variety. That's a lot of fingers and toes getting the royal treatment. There's no excuse to have bad nails in this town.

Minute Men

There is some upside to what I just posted about the Mavericks.

I really like to go to pro basketball games....but I hate watching them on TV. I find them really boring on the screen. My husband, however, loves to watch and seems to be able to find a Mavericks game on, no matter where we are. It's amazing. It's like he has an antenna on his head, and somehow there's always a Mavericks basketball game on my TV.

So finally, finally....there won't be. At least not for a while.

Which leads me to my theory on professional basketball. Seems like a game on TV takes forever to play. It's at least two solid hours (usually more) of running and shooting and dribbling and fouling, up and down the court, over and over and over again. Four quarters of this stuff, and it almost always seems to come down to a win in the very last minute or a tie, which sends it into overtime, for a win in a later very last minute.

So here's my theory -- all pro basketball games should only be one minute long. That's it. Sixty action-packed seconds. Because it seems like no matter how long they play, it always comes down to the last minute to decide who wins. So let's just cut to the chase and play only that last minute. Get it over with quickly, and move on.

My husband doesn't much subscribe to this idea, but it seems much more efficient to me.

One and Done

The entire Dallas metroplex is walking around in an embarrassed state today after the Mavericks have just allowed the biggest upset in NBA Playoff history. After burning up the charts and winning a record number of games in the regular season, they lost to Golden State in the first round of the playoffs in a humiliating fashion.

The Mavs came into the playoffs as the #1 seed, expected to take it all and were summarily defeated by the #8 seed in 5 games of a best of 7 series. This is like the biggest upset ever in the history of the world of sports. Or at least it feels like it this morning.

What's the point of being basketball gods during the regular season when you're going to walk into the playoffs -- where it really counts -- and barf all over the court?

By the way, they did it last year, too. They got to the NBA finals against the Miami Heat, had the series won hands down and were on their way to their first NBA championship. It was so one-sided, the Miami fans were leaving the arena and congratulating Dallas fans mid-game. Then all of a sudden, they forgot how to play basketball. It was like somebody turned off a switch. They literally died on the court in a single play and never recovered, handing Miami the trophy on a platter.

So here we are again, but in an even more embarrassing position -- we couldn't even beat the worst team in the playoffs in a series of seven games. And we're the team with the best NBA record! Aargh!

The entire city is in a bad, bad mood today. People wearing brown paper bags over their heads, staring at the ground, muttering to themselves. It's likely that incidents of road rage are up this morning.

What an embarrassment.

He Must Be #101

Time Magazine has come out with its most recent list of '100 Most Influential People'. It includes truly profound and very important players like George Clooney and Rosie O'Donnell (by the way, do they have a high school diploma between them?).

Left off the list? The President of the United States, George W. Bush.

Let's see. If you turn on any television show, read any magazine article or catch a random headline, it's pretty clear the Bush has destroyed everything and everybody since he's been in office. Everything is his fault...literally everything...you name it. Don't like the weather? It's Bush's fault. Have a bad day at work? Bush's fault. Bad meal at the local diner? Bush's fault. The victims and whiners are endless, and you don't even have to ask them, because whatever it is, they'll immediately tell you "it's the fault of this administration."

Gosh, with the ability to destroy any and everything on the planet and in the cosmos, one would think a person like that would be front and center on the "Most Influential List", like him or not.

But nope. Not GW. He's not on the list. No room after important folks like Justin Timberlake, Kate Moss and Tyra Banks.

No, there's no media bias out there. Not a bit of it.

Painter's Block

We closed on our new townhome on Monday (the one downtown that we plan to move into shortly), and now my thoughts turn to paint colors. Ugh! While I think paint is magic (it's the most bang for the buck in decorating), it's also one of the hardest things for me to do - envision a color scheme. I go to the paint store and stare and stare and stare at the color samples, to the point that salespeople there are asking me if there's anything they can do to help. Ultimately, I get frustrated and end up selecting a 'neutral' color scheme so as to not make a big ugly mistake.

My gameplan this time is to go ahead and choose some neutral tones for most of the house, while selecting some interesting contrast colors for some accent walls. That way, if I limit the accent colors to a random wall here and there, I can change it easily if I make a mistake.

So off to the paint store today to stare at some things for a while. *sigh*

Fashion Court?

Yesterday, while waiting in the hallway at the Dallas County courthouse, I couldn't help but 'people watch'. I wondered if I was in 'Fashion Court' instead of Family Court. Here are my observations:

- The majority of men wear suits that don't fit.

- Women should endeavor to wear what looks good on them and not what's "in".

- Plus-sized women should think twice before donning a mini-skirt. Layered knees are simply not attractive.

- Women should pay attention to the level of 'muffin top' billowing out over their low-rise jeans. It isn't attractive on anyone and is downright distracting on the 'supersized' muffin girl.

- Hosiery companies are likely going out of business just about now. Not one female was wearing panty hose, not even with a business suit. I had visions of massive layoffs going on at the L'eggs Corporation.

- Most people, male and female, wear bad shoes.

- A lot of people need to cut the '70s out of their hair. Mostly the men.

- Bald men feel the need to have facial hair. I guess it proves something they can't prove on the tops of their heads.

- Large, busy prints look good on no one.

- 'The Ultimate Guide to Cell Phone Etiquette' is not a best seller.

- TV lawyers are a lot better looking than real lawyers.

- The lifespan of a bad tie is forever.

The fashion police could have cleaned up in this place yesterday.

Here Comes The Judge

Following up on my Parental Alientation post, we all went to court again yesterday for another round of frustration.

Since the last time we were in court, new judges have been elected to office, so we have a new player in the mix who has no history with the case. While this felt like a setback originally, it may actually help.

We sat out in the hallway for ages it seemed, while other cases were being heard and decided on ahead of us. Once it was our turn, only the principals were called into the court, so those of us there simply for moral support were left to support only the hallway. That's the first time this has happened, and we were all a little disappointed. But at least we were all there for my brother, and he felt the love. He's had so many people and systems working against him in his fight to see his children, it felt good just to be there on his side, even if only in the hallway.

They weren't in there very long, and when they returned, it felt like good news, although it's hard to recognize that any more in this case. The new judge, the one with no history on the case, basically said he didn't care what happened in the past. As long as there were no violent incidents, he didn't see why the children were not seeing their father and blamed the fact that they weren't on the mother blocking it (probably because she's angry over the new stepmom). Wow. He gets it. Immediately. Maybe a new person with no baggage over this is just what we need.

So he's forcing a new court evaluation of the situation, and in his opinion, if there is no danger to the children (there isn't), then they should be seeing their father, and the sooner the better.

The ultimate question is what they will do to the mother if she continues to block the visits, and how will he 'motivate' her (and the children) to get on board with it all. That's the hard part. Nothing ever seems to actually get enforced. So we can't tell for sure yet if this is real progress, or just false hope.