Oh crappy day!

So...I'm sitting here, "waisting time" by doing various job searches, looking around on Facebook, playing solitair (I've won 3 out 10 so far) and looking for some "peppy and snappy" songs to play on this very grey day. (What is the correct spelling of that word please? I always use grey and then I'm corrected to use gray)

A few Facebook pals gave me suggestions for some peppy songs: Kari suggested: And She Was by the Talking Heads...very peppy indeed.

My pal Jenni in Chicago threw in: Mr. Blue Sky by ELO...also very peppy and quite apporpriate for a crappy day!

I played them both...felt a little better for about 8 minutes or so and then I started looking around on YouTube.

I typed in: Snappy and I found the Snappy Theatre Vagina Dance!

This would definitely fall into Dive's WTF? Monday because...WTF.

There are some strange things going on in this dance.

Around 1:22 I think these vagina's get crabs. But that is just my interpretation.

Then around 2:15 I'm thinking there is a yeast infection of some kind. But again...that is just my interpretation.

But I only have one opinion...I would LOVE to hear yours!

The ending is kind of odd, but cute...but still kind of odd.

Enjoy!

You'll have to click on the link...they've disabled the embedding...sorry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GbHkhGr6-A

Something different

Now that the basement project is done, I thought I'd post something different.

A friend of mine (Yvonne Yaar <- click here for her website) is a glass artist and she taught a glass fusion class a few weeks ago. I signed up because I had been wanting to give it a try.

Hey - you never know what you can do 'til you try right?

Here are the pendants that I made:


It was a fun class and it felt good to be creative again. I don't know if I will actually wear them but they have become a sort of artistic talisman.

A start to find the creative me inside.

It's out there...I know it is. It's been hiding out in Facebook and endless games of computer solitaire and working in the yard and various house projects.

So today - I promised myself to dust off the ol' easel and paint something.

A blob, a flower, a dot, a stripe...just SOMETHING!

Sooooooooooooo stay tuned Romper Room pals....next week I'll post the "something".

Sugar and spice

...and everything nice.

We all know that isn't true. Especially these days.

Unemployment here in the US is the highest it's been since 1983!

I'm so glad I'm doing my part. Actually I think I was jobless in 1983 for a while.

I hate being left out.

Me and my unemployed self have been taking a lot of naps, doing odd jobs here and there and watching a lot of political shows for some silly reason. Mostly because I like the personalities, not really because I'm interested in politics.

Rachel Maddow - cute and smart and funny and willing to challenge the people who come on her show. What a gal!

Keith Olbermann - I like him - I don't always agree with him, but his long standing feud with Bill-O is very entertaining.

I tried to watch a sitcom last night: In the Motherhood thinking it would be just as funny as the MSN short episodes - but it wasn't. It was kind of stupid. Luckily my Dad called me in the middle of the show and saved me from myself!

This is why I don't watch regular TV. News maybe, History Channel, Discovery Channel and Tuesday night is The Biggest Loser night here, but that's about it. (Everyone cries on this show)

This is the life of an unemployed woman - she actually tried to watch a sitcom.

I NEED A JOB!

(heh, heh) Not really - I'm kind of enjoying the down time and I've had a few good leads on some jobs so I'm not in panic mode yet. It will happen.

Today I thought I would start a new musical Friday post and this was inspired by driving along on a beautiful spring day listening to one of those radio stations that play a variety of music and promises a "no repeat work day". I like it because they play a lot of "older" music - stuff I grew up with and they smather in some newer stuff and then mix it around.

So the song: Sugar, Sugar by the Archies came on and I was transported back to those wonderful Saturday mornings as a kid laying in my pajamas eating breakfast cereal downstairs (which we were not allowed to do but Mom worked early on Saturdays and Dad slept in so we got away with it) and watching Saturday morning cartoons. The Archies was one that I liked: Archie, Jughead, Veronica, Betty and Reggie.

I had a "thing" for Veronica! ;)

Such sweet innocent times. I often think that a lot of kids these days aren't as innocent as we were because they are exposed to so much more. Oh well, times change.

So for my new series I will select some "Sugar" songs: songs so sweet they will make your teeth hurt and I will select some "Spice" songs: maybe not so sweet, maybe a little anger in there! Just a little something to get you started off on your weekend!

TGIF everyone - here is "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies!

Start all over again

It's been kind of a crappy week.

First I get dumped by my employer and now they are saying that I quit - which I didn't. Actually they said it was a mutual agreement - that isn't true either. I know I didn't like the job but I was trying and I certainly don't want to be unemployed in this economy.

It's amazing how fast people can turn on you. The daughter of Frau Blucher hasn't even had the courage to say a word to me, but I am fairly certain she's writing the script for the Peep of Sales on exactly what to write. If they fight me on my unemployment claim I will have no choice but to get out the mean lil' Shazza with her Irish temper.

Then we get 12 inches of snow - which I didn't really mind too much but I'm kind of looking for warmer weather now.

Tuesday thru Wednesday I did a lot of lying about - sulking and feeling sorry for myself. It's not very attractive, but I think every once in a while it's healthy. Yesterday I got outside and took the pups for a walk and that helped clear the fog a little. Then I came home and read all of the e-mails from "those people" and got pissed off and sulky all over again. I even snapped at M last night.

That's not really like me.

I stayed up til' midnight watching the History channel - they were having a show about Hippies and the whole LSD movement of San Francisco. Very interesting. It's weird to watch people tripping out on TV.'

So I slept in until about 10:00 AM, took a shower, ate my breakfast and then took the boys out for another walk. It was about 60 degrees today and the warm temps are doing a fine job of melting all of this snow.

The boys met a lot of new doggie friends - a golden retriever named Chance, a little black terrier thing named Teddy who was only 5 months old - cute as hell, a pit bull who looked a little cautious but gave Casey a kiss on the nose (probably just getting a taste of him) and then one very weird looking dog with BIG, ears, a rat terrier face and a tail that curled up like an Akita. Weirdest looking thing I've ever seen and he was petrified of the boys. I got a good chuckle over him.

I ran a few errands: picked up dog food, picked up people food and picked up wine for the weekend.

Got home - cleaned up the dog turds and then gave my compost a toss about.

Checked Monster.com and LinkedIn for any new jobs - nuthin.

Shredded a bunch of mail - that was extremely satisfying! Nothing like a little destruction to cheer you up!

Had a random thought that I should buy some rain barrels to catch all of this melting snow!

Had another random thought and wondered if I can throw the shredded paper in the compost. (yes I can)

Cleaned off the snow from the deck so it will drying out and M and I can enjoy a nice chiminea fire perhaps on Saturday sometime.

Flattened out all of the cardboard so I can take it to the recycle center tomorrow and now I'm just typing all this up before I go start dinner. I'm making pepper steak tonight. Yum!

It's after five - WINE TIME! heh, heh, heh!

So - how all have you been? I hope your week went better than mine.

Tomorrow if I have a chance I'll post some of the pictures I've been taking with the new camera. I'm having a blast with the macro settings!

I'll leave you with this song for the end of the week - it's kind of the way I feel - like a maniac or maybe I'm just manic and need to up my meds. Who the hell knows!

Have a great weekend all!



Peace

TGIFF

Thank God it's Fucking Friday!

Bloody hell, this was a crappy week.

Training at the new job.

Away from M and the Dogs.

In a strange place with no internet access.

Ice and snow and snow and ice and a miserable cold on top of it all.

Anyhoo - back at home. Just settling in and trying to catch up.

Will write tomorrow if I have some time.

Hope everyone in Blogville is doing OK where ever you are...I miss you all and hope to catch up on your posts soon.

Have a great weekend!

Peace!

(I'll do the musical torture tomorrow...just too freakin' tired to think now)

From Walt

My Dad is one of the worst SPAMer's in the world! He sends me way too many jokes and urban legends that I end up deleting them before I even read them.

This one I just thought was kind of funny - so I thought I'd share.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road... ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz

SARAH PALIN: BECAUSE, PRAISE JESUS, I WAS GONNA SHOOT HIS SORRY LIBERAL ASS OFF FOR BLOCKING MY VIEW OF RUSSIA! You betcha!

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground her e.

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of crossing?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARP TON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So inste ad of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one cal led me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmers Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth? That's why they call it the other side. Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chick en, you will become gay, too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like the other side. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious c ase of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, b ut will lay eggs, file your important docum ents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Friday fffffbbbbbblllllllpppppptttttttttt

Ok...I'm still not feeling very blogative today and since I posted 5 songs yesterday...I didn't dare nauseate you with more crap...

...sooooooooooooooooo...what to do?

I will leave you with these three commercials that may tickle your funny bone!

First up - New airline rates are going into effect so I thought it would be nice to advise you what to expect if you are traveling by air anytime soon.

As always...exact change is appreciated:






Next: Hate Crocs? You're not alone!

"Give the finger to fashion!"



Last but not least...invisi-bandages...hang in there with this one:



Have a nice weekend all!

Peace!

Hello from Phoenix

This is what I know about Phoenix so far - it's fucking hot here.

Yeah...yeah...yeah...it's a dry heat...but it's still HOT! Stand out in that sun for more than 5 minutes and it literally sucks the energy out of you. AND, from what I understand it's cooled off these past few days. Today it's supposed to be 98 and tomorrow 101. The humidity is only 29%, so at least it doesn't feel muggy.

I looked at the weather forecast for home back in good ol' Jersey and they have a heat advisory for temps in the 90's and the humidity is 78%.

fuckity, fuck, fuck.

The natural landscape in this part of Arizona is made up of lots of rocks and cacti. It's kind of barren and ugly. The mountain's are cool...if you like barren, rocky mountains. It is a desert after all.

The resort we are staying at is very lovely. They did a great job picking this place. They have about 6 pools and a golf course and a hiking trail. All of the rooms are like mini-suites with a little living room and a bedroom and a nice patio to sit on.

If you ever come to Arizona, I highly recommend this place and the prices were very reasonable.
But it's hot....eck...it's hot.

I met up with an ol' high school friend who has been living here for the past 3 years. She said you get used to it and there is air conditioning.

Sorry - give me lush, green, trees, damp, cold, clammy climates any ol' time.

I'm whining...I know - but I don't like the heat...in case you haven't noticed.

With that in mind - here's today's fabulous Friday Fahrenheit minded frolic to keep you HOT and Happy over the weekend!

Funnnnky Friday

OK...back to the funnnnnky stuff.

The song I picked this week there are THREE (3) versions to and I need your opinions - cause I have my own...and well...I'm curious about everyone else's.

The song: I Drove All Night - was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly for Roy Orbison.

I have to admit - the first version I knew of was when Cyndi Lauper did a cover for it in the late 80's, so that was my base, but I really like Roy's version too. You can't escape that classic voice of his when you think about it.

Cyndi's version is a bit slower...a little more dramatic, and that appeals to me.

Then...there was a version by....ugh...my hands are shaking as I type this: Celine Dion.

Here's a joke for you:

Celine Dion walks into a bar
Bartender says: Why so long in the face?

barump bump!

I'm not a fan of Celine. Sorry - there is something about her face that kind of freaks me out. I know she's loved and adored by many people...but I ain't one of them.

Anyway - three versions:

Roy Orbison - more of a classic rock version of the song. Simple drums, has that 80's pop quality to it. It feels a bit too fast for Roy's voice sometimes, but if it was any slower it would seem sluggish. The video is pretty cool...gotta admit - Jason Priestly is looking miiiiighteeeee fine and there is an awesome kiss at the end!

Cindy Lauper - she slows it down and adds more drama to the song. This appeals to me because she builds it up...the anticipation and then quickens the pace. It's a bit sexier. The video...eh...I'm not so crazy about it - but it's got those classic Cyndi moves in there...and having seen her once performing live...I tell you...she is freakin' awesome in person! Her voice really surprised me.

Celine Dion - Celine puts the electronica beat to the song. The funky electronic drums building up and fading out. She has definitely turns this into a dance song to appeal to today's club hopping crowd. Crysler used this in their car ads so it became really popular there for a while. Now I am sorry to all of the Celine fans out there, but I just can't enjoy this version of the song...and the video is kind of cheesy and I don't find her sexy at all, so watching this just was....well....painful for me.

But...you be the judge. Watch each one and let me know what YOU think.

Classic Rock Friday

Hey ya'll -

I didn't like the Funnnky Friday thing too much. I may pop it in from time to time, but for now I want to change gears.

I was driving home from work listening to a classic rock station this week when Bungle in the Jungle by Jethro Tull came on.

Now, I have to admit when their songs first came out...I wasn't a big fan. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was more the pop queen, but some of these songs just kind of grow on you.

When I was married ( yeah...like to a man) my husband owned a gas/service station and the guys working on the cars always had some kind of rock station going. I was the bookkeeper and had a little office just next door to the shop. It was hard not to get into the music after a while when you listen to it day in and day out.

Jethro Tull was kind of a dark secret for me. It was a strange combination of like and dislike. The flute in their songs really intrigued me (Ian Anderson is a freak on the flute) and the complexity of some of their songs was amazing.

Sometimes the lyrics didn't make sense and they didn't rhyme (oh no...what's a pop queen to do...words that don't rhyme?), but I liked them. For some strange reason.

My brother had one of their albums, but it was long after they had been out for a while...probably in the later part of the 70's when I was entering my short lived "punk" phase. I remember my Dad teasing my brother about the lyrics to Aqualung especially the part "snot is running down his nose". He would sing it with a fake cockney accent that cracked us up.

I didn't realize the song was about the homeless until much later when I looked up the lyrics and read something about the song. I always thought it was just about some creep in a park watching the girls and getting aroused.

I had to go to NYC yesterday for a seminar and walking down the streets I saw a LOT of homeless people. There are homeless in Philly too and I see the same ones everyday, but for some reason the NYC homeless seem much more desperate to me. Maybe it was the day...or my mood, but NYC on the whole just seemed angrier and dirtier than what I usually remember. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the area in Philly that I work in, which is clean and vibrant and sort of self contained.

Philly is NOT a safe city...quite the contrary. Philadelphia has more murders, rapes, robberies and assaults than NYC. Anytime that I romanticize about living there for a while...I think of this fact and put it out of my head. I like feeling safe and my little hometown has always been in the top five places to live in the US since we've moved here.

Anyway...I'm off the track.

Bungle in the Jungle and Aqualung are two songs that I've heard this week on the radio, so I thought I'd pick one.

I will dedicate this blog post to the many homeless people in America - either by choice or by circumstance they have a very tough life. We pass them by and don't look at them or when our conscious gets the better of us we give them our spare change. Some people are very good at volunteering at shelters and soup kitchens and many of us will donate our old clothes and blankets so that they will find some comfort in their situation.

We have to remember - they are people. They have a soul and a personality in there. They are dirty and smelly, but they are humans...they deserve some respect.

One of my favorite stories is when I was in Seattle a few years ago for a conference, I took a walk down to Pikes Market. I had to walk down these stairs that seem to go on and one forever and a gentleman sitting at the top of the stairs looked at me as I passed by and nodded. I nodded back...smiled...a little nervously. I became even more nervous when he started to follow me. My pace quickened...so did his. Ok...so now I'm a bit freaked. He said something to me...and I couldn't understand him...he repeated himself: "would you like to hear a song?"

"No thanks!" I replied

"Just a quick song." He yelled again

"Sorry...got to go!" Now I'm walking faster.

Then he started singing and THE WORST SOUND ever came out of that semi-toothless mouth of his!

I couldn't help by laugh!

Hysterically laugh!

"You're horrible" I told him.

"I know I am! ...and I'll stop if you can spare some change!"

He got me good on that one!

I gave him $5 and told him to invest in some singing lessons.

He smiled...winked at me and tipped his "invisible hat" towards me and said, "Thank you very much pretty lady."

I was serenaded and called a pretty lady.

He may have been butt ugly, smelly and had only two teeth in his head...but somehow I felt very happy and a little flattered at that particular moment!

So to you my song singing friend...I hope you are well and are still serenading all the pretty ladies around Pikes Market!




For those of us in the US...we start a long holiday weekend here. Memorial day. Please stop and think about all of the men and women who have served and lost their lives for us. They deserve our deepest respect even if we don't agree with the why they are doing it.

Have a safe and happy weekend all!

TGIF!

It's good to be home!

Traveling to a new place is always fun - for the first 2 days. After that, it's kind of a drag.

It was a great conference though, I met a lot of great people, and made some very important contacts.

Looking forward to chillin' out a bit this weekend. I'm hoping M and I will get a chance to see Beowulf while it's still in the theaters. We found one place where it is showing in 3D. Angelina Jolie in 3D...yeah...I can get into that!

I came home and found the cabinets were installed! YAY! It's lookin' good! Really good!

I love it when a plan comes together!

Have a great weekend everyone! Where ever you are on the Blogosphere!