From Kitchen (never used) to Workbench (used too much)

As some of you may know, I tore out the kitchen that I never used at my house and put it into the garage of the new place for a work bench and organization/storage/tool area. With the fusebox dead in the middle of the wall, I was so pleased with how the whole thing turned out. The only plug was low on the wall below the fusebox and I installed the two in the picture, which I don't know if you can see or not, but by eyeballing it, they wound up being lined up so perfectly with the top of the formica top that it's not even funny (click on the picture for an eagle-eye view). A master cabinetry man couldn't have planned it out better... that's me, always doing it by the seat of my pants.

Construction Guy...

You know how when you have a service man come to your house... to turn on the water or cable or something and you're like... I hope he's hot and that leads to many a fantasy... and you open the door and he's got three of things that other people only have two of... or buck teeth that could bite a hog through a picket fence? Well, I must have been extra specially nice lately, cause the guy that came to fix my front yard is absolutely gorgeous. After taking about 35 shots of him out various windows and points of view, the pictures still don't do him justice. I know it's not Christmas... and it's Matthew's birthday month so it can't be mine... but somehow I got a present. Guess today won't be too productive of a day! Oh... and don't tell my boyfriend, Kris.

My Boyfriend's in the Top 10

Kris made it through tonight, which will put him in the top 10 and he will be doing the AI tour this summer. I guess he'll be sending me a free family pass or something... saving me a seat or some bullshit. Ah... the perks of being his boyfriend. :)

Yah Obama... Boo Bush

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration will endorse a U.N. declaration calling for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality that then-President George W. Bush had refused to sign, The Associated Press has learned. U.S. officials said Tuesday they had notified the declaration's French sponsors that the administration wants to be added as a supporter. The Bush administration was criticized in December when it was the only western government that refused to sign on.

The move was made after an interagency review of the Bush administration's position on the nonbinding document, which was signed by all 27 European Union members as well as Japan, Australia, Mexico and three dozen other countries. They said the administration had decided to sign the declaration to demonstrate that the United States supports human rights for all.

"The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world," said one official. "As such, we join with the other supporters of this statement and we will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people in all appropriate international fora," the official said.

"In the words of the United States Supreme Court, the right to be free from criminalization on the basis of sexual orientation 'has been accepted as an integral part of human freedom'".

My Boyfriend, Kris, did great tonight...

One of my all-time favorite songs is Garth Brook's "To Make You Feel My Love". When I heard that it was country night, I had hoped that someone would do the song... or at least do some really slow ballad that showed some vulnerability... big dreamy eyes... big dreamy vocals... I couldn't contain myself when I heard that it was my boyfriend that was going to do it... and to sing it directly to me... rather than to his wife... wow. I'm really starting to feel uncomfortable with all the attention that he is giving me... and starting to feel bad for his wife (a little).

To hear his song... see krisallenation.com or iTunes

You go, boy!!

Obama Dance @ Yahoo! Video

A blast (off) from the past...

Anyone remember eating these? Hard to believe that my mom would get us anything nutritious, considering that I grew up on ketchup sandwiches and macaroni and cheese...

A woman had her place...

If you click on the picture, you can see the ad better... This is an actual ad on how a wife should act in the 1950's. Of course, most of my friends have the third one on the list down-pat.

Just Remember....

... Green going in, green coming out :) Happy St. Patrick's Day

My boyfriend....

On a night where the contestants had to sing a Michael Jackson song, Kris picked "Do you remember the time" and gave a pretty good performance. I would have liked to see someone do "Gone too soon" which is a great song... but considering that most of MJ's songs are written to go with his bizarre singing and dancing, it's pretty hard to pull off a MJ song when you're normal. As with the rest of the finalists, I have yet to see Kris really lay down his style and for me to get a feel for him... other than how adorable he is. And I agree with Simon... too early to start talking about your wife... especially with me as his boyfriend. How awkward for her.

Pomp and Circumstance(s)

I was out with friends last night and forgot to watch the "Miss Pittsburgh Quadrant" pageant.. thankfully I taped it. Imagine the drama of the tie between Miss Lower East Side and Miss Upper St. Clair... First, in the singing portion, Miss Lower East Side (Chrissy Krist Glen) tore up "She's just a coal miner's daughter, but you should see that pig iron"... while Miss Upper St. Clair (Shannon Castle Shannon)did justice to Tammy Wynette's "You ain't woman enough to be my man". The beaded gown portion was a draw, but it was the bathing suit portion that edged Miss Lower East Side ahead... nobody wears the Jacklyn Smith Collection by Kmart like she does... she tore it up with those ruffles around her bottom. Just when she thought she had it in the bag, Miss Upper St. Clair came back with her response to the question "who is your hero"... as the audience went silent, no one could have predicted that she would say the talented and award-winning Miss Sissy Spacek in her 1970's role as the coal miner's daughter in the movie of the same name... because of her ability to continually get those soot stains out of her dress. This did not compare to Miss Lower East Side's answer of Bea Arthur in the role of Dorothy in Lifetime's Golden Girls because "the bitch can pull off a caftan like nobody's business" and this made the competion a tie and they got to split the 27 dollar 50 cent prize. Quel Dramatique! It was an eleganza extravanganza!!

Out for a Sunday drive....

A mixed bag of tricks...

I'm feeling a little bit of each of these today... I can relate.

Relevant or Irrelevant?

rel·e·vant
Pronunciation: \ˈre-lə-vənt\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Medieval Latin relevant-, relevans, from Latin, present participle of relevare to raise up — more at relieve
Date: 1560

1: having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand

ger·mane
Pronunciation: \(ˌ)jər-ˈmān\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English germain, literally, having the same parents, from Anglo-French
Date: 14th century

1: being at once relevant and appropriate : fitting

ap·ro·pos
Pronunciation: \ˌa-prə-ˈpō, ˈa-prə-ˌ\
Function: adverb
Etymology: French à propos, literally, to the purpose
Date: 1668

1: by way of interjection or further comment : with regard to the present topic

EXAMPLE USING ALL THREE: Over the loud (not so much apropos) chit-chatting throughout the movie selection, I found myself having to point out details that were relevant to the plot and curb those that were not germane... a lot!

Daylight Savings Time...

I'd like to make a withdrawal from my daylight savings account... between the move and sleeping less and now DST, I'm way behind in my beauty sleep. I can't seem to get rested. Add to it the two hours of my life that I lost watching Vicky Christina Barcelona by the over-indulged, self-proclaimed wind-bag, Woody Allen... and I have a lot of catching up to do.

You gotta get a chandelier...

I've been walking around saying this for so long... I love this clip... truly one of the best skits they've done... (thanks Matt for the link)

That Wendy... she's such a lamb...

Since I sold my refrigerator, stove and dishwasher a few weeks ago, I've been eating out morning, noon and night (not that I cooked much before). It's just been easier for me since I've been running around. Plus... I eat out of stress and it's been pretty stressful, as evidenced by my big belly. With my gym, literally, across the street... next week I will start my routine.

So I'm at the Wendy's again and the lady at the window practically knows me by name and certainly by order... two jr. bacon cheeseburgers and a large mocha iced coffee with 4 Splenda... same things the last 8 times I have been there this week. So I don't know if she feels sorry for me because I have such a poor diet or she thinks I'm poor ordering off the value meal list... or that she feels like I'm family now.... or that she wants to get up in my stuff and do her bid'ness... but she gave me the cutest little Frosty today for free. It really made my day. It's the little things. Guess she's taking after Dave and adopting me.

What?????

Tatiana Nicole Del Toro? Really, AI? A wildcard? More like a wild child. Set aside that the girl can sing a little bit and is decent looking when she's not moving or talking... but is this what you want representing America? A self-indulgent, overly-dramatic, meladramatic, whiney bitch? (The fact that she uses 4 names is enough) But, of course you do since she is pulling in ratings. Why else would you have Scott, the blind guy? Nice as pie and sight considered, he still can't sing that well. But that would cover your 'handicap' angle... haven't had one of those yet. You've had the big fat guy, the redneck girl, the gay guy, the black and white girl, the interracial young girl, and the hick... Taylor Hicks. What are you going to add to your collection?

We are all wondering how much this is about talent or about selling Coca-Cola, Ford and AT&T... after all, without the ranting idiots in the auditions and all the drama that ensues, how much of it really is about talent? America doesn't know what talent is... it's become a personality contest and there are so many people out there voting for the most bizarre people just to skew the process.

I have half a mind to not watch it tonight... until 5 minutes after it starts... I'll show them. (I'll let you know how it goes)

Out of Hibernation...

A new start... and a new shave... no more Winter beard!

This was the view from the deck at the new place... it was a beautiful sunset and, as the saying goes (pink sky at night, sailors delight), I will take that as a sign that it was a good move in my life. The move itself, however, was less than delightful. Being 3 floors high, the new place had it's challenges... and I love my friends to death for helping, but we are all from the isle of misfit toys. Each of us has our own physical challenges that we had to deal with and were all happy when it was over. When I went to take the truck back the next day, it was so cold out that I couldn't get it started. I had to call service to jump start it. Then the cable guy came and spent 4 hours trying to get the cable to work. It's always something.

My dad and I slept like babies last night. All is well in our move to the 'East Side'... getting our turn, at last.... etc. etc. (Jefferson's Theme Song)