Haunted Email and Caribou Queen

I was working along, lost in my own world, when my email beeped at me.
You’ve got mail.
It was from Uncle Kenneth…. He’s dead.
My uncle died August of last year and I haven’t received anything from his email account since then. Mom thought it had been closed because Aunt Ruth didn’t know how to use it. Well, either she’s taken a crash course, or Uncle Kenneth wants me to know that:
a. A WOMAN IS LIKE A TEA BAG...YOU DON'T KNOW HOW STRONG SHE IS UNTIL
YOU PUT HER IN HOT WATER.
b. BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL WOMAN IS HERSELF.
And
c. I'M OUT OF ESTROGEN And I HAVE A GUN.

I responded with a “Helllooo? Is that you Aunt Ruth?”
No answer yet. I guess if I’m going to be haunted, I couldn’t ask for a friendlier ghost.

After Kenneth the friendly ghost, I tuned into my favorite radio station on-line. It plays a wide variety of stuff from the 80’s, 90’s and today. Elton John, Michael Bolton, Backstreet, Ronnie Millsap… (Told you it was a wide variety.) This song comes on by Billy Ocean and I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I like this one… Caribou Queen, now we’re sharing the same dream… no more love on the run.'
And it hits me.
Caribou Queen? That’s really weird. So I looked at the player to see what the title is and yep, I got it wrong. It’s Caribbean Queen. That makes SOOO much more sense. I can’t believe I’ve been singing Caribou Queen for 15 years.

What is it with weird 80’s lyrics? There was a song by Mr. Mister that I used to sing along with in the car on the way to Jr. High. “Carry a Laser, down the road that I must travel. Carry a laser, through the darkness of the night...” Makes sense right? Futuristic flashlights and all. Yeah, figured that one out recently too. Kyrie eleison is Greek for “Lord have Mercy”. DING, DING, DING! Another song suddenly makes a whole lot more sense.

Makes me wonder what other songs I’ve screwed up.
A.

I couldn't help but pass this on. The babies are SO cute! Being a zookeeper must be a really interesting job.

Jerusalem zoo puts giraffe on birth control Family planning introduced in order to curb fertile female
The Associated Press msn.com

Updated: 3:19 p.m. ET Feb. 24, 2006

JERUSALEM - Staff at Jerusalem Zoo have introduced birth control in a bid to curb a giraffe population boom.

The number of giraffes has tripled to nine in recent years, outgrowing the zoo on the edge of the city, according to officials and a 5-year-old female has been mostly to blame.
The most fertile female, Shavit, has now been injected with birth control hormones, delivered by dart, after giving birth twice in four years.

Although zoo keepers admitted the babies are cute and that female giraffes make good mothers, there just isn’t enough room for anymore. There are also concerns about inbreeding.
The hormones injected into Shavit will prevent her from getting pregnant for at least a year. During that time she will be monitored and Jerusalem Zoo will share the information with other zoos around the world, including those in Berlin and San Diego.

“What we are using is actually a hormonal implant that we inject into the female. The hormonal activity changes and she is not supposed to be in heat," said Noam Warner of the zoo.
Warner explained how the implant is intended to “mess up” the female giraffe’s hormonal system so that the male giraffes are not interested in her. ”They won’t copulate with her and she won’t give birth,” he said.

The zoo recently moved two giraffes to a zoo in Singapore, but American and European zoos don’t want animals from Israel because of the risk of foot-and-mouth disease, and it’s difficult to transport giraffes overseas.

Other zoos also administer birth control, but dart delivery is unique, said Dr. Nili Avnimagen, the head vet for the zoo.

“It is a very short thing, almost no foreplay,” explained Warner, seemingly trying to soften the blow to the giraffes' personal life. “So, I don’t think they miss too much when they are not doing it.”

Celebrate Good Times...

Last night was a night for celebrations. It started out as a Sister's Night Out at On the Border. My oldest sister's divorce has been finalized - need we a better reason to celebrate? We even toasted her freedom with Virgin Daiquiris. After dinner we headed back to my place to watch movies and (drum role please...) to see who had been axed from American Idol.

Hallelujah! All my fav's made it to the next round! I had anticipated them cutting Becky, Stevie, Bobby and Sway. However, Sway made it through (How, I have no idea.) and they cut Patrick instead. That was a little sad, but overall I was really pleased with the results. I did feel bad for Stevie though. She sounded so much better last night than she did Tuesday. If she could have nailed it that way the first go round, she might not have been cut so quickly. However, she wasn't a strong competitor, so she probably would have gone home soon anyway.

After the elimination show, we had to make my oldest sister, Judy, watch Ace's performance from Weds. (Actually we watched it a couple of times. Then when they went home, I watched it a couple more...) Judy thought he was cute, but didn't get the major vibes he was radiating. Poor thing has been out of circuit so long she doesn't even recognize a hot man when she sees him. Seriously, if he has all the female viewers in a tizzy just watching him on t.v., imagine what seeing him live would do for you. Lucky Paula!

We ended the night watching 'Head Over Heels' with Freddie Prinze, Jr. He's so adorable and that movie slays me. Hamlet the Great Dane is priceless and cuddly looking. I love 'Candi with an i' ,too. Her stories from the 'dark farm' are hysterical. Heaven forbid any of us meet her Uncle Pete!

So now my weekend is almost here. Tonight I'll be tuned in to the latest Stargate episodes and Numb3rs. Hope your weekend ROCKS!

G'day,
A.

Fun Stuff

Ronnetta sent me this great way to drive myself nuts and waste a lot of time. My best was only 13.85 seconds. Lousy I know. Think you can do better?

The object is to move the red block around without getting hit by the blueblocks or touching the black walls. If you can go longer than 22 secondsyou are phenomenal. It is said that the US Military now uses this for fighter pilots. They are expected to go for at least 2 minutes.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~pontipak/redsquare.html

Guys and Dolls

Well, after last nights American Idol performance, I have to say that the Guys have it hands down. There were truly some great performances last night and a few that could have been if nerves were settled.

The girls just didn't do much for me. In fact, the highlights on Monday night for me were Ayla Brown and Katharine McPhee. Katharine especially was the dark horse of the night, since we really hadn't heard much from her previously. Ayla was nervous, but overall she did a good job with a very challenging song. Paris was energetic, but her vocals weren't great. For some reason I just wasn't feeling her performance. Kellie Pickler is one of my 'picks' for the top three. After Monday's performance I'm thinking I may regret that, but she still has a lot of potential so I won't count her out yet. Katharine or Ayla could give her a real run for her money though in the girls competition.

The guys however were just fantastic. Ace Young topped the performances for me last night. He may or may not have the 'best' voice in the competition, but he certainly knows how to use it. He's definitely the whole package. Thank goodness for DVR. We watched his performance a LOT last night. Rewind... drool.... rewind.... sigh.... rewind.... heart palpitations.... . He's one to watch. Chris Daughtry did a stand up job too. It was tough choosing a favorite last night because there were several that really gave it their all. Chris is definitely not a 'fake' rocker. I loved his vocals and his song choice. He's a real natural on stage. Elliot Yamin did a great job too. I wasn't sure what to expect from him since I hadn't heard him much. He did a fantastic job though. Some of the other guys didn't give their best performances, but I'm hoping they stay. I think David, Patrick, Kevin and Will are all good vocalists. Given a chance to find their place on stage, I think they could all do well.

And Taylor Hicks? He's still my man. I love his voice and his personality. I may not have chosen the song he did last night as a favorite, but the man's still just got it. He's so unique and in a GOOD way. I can't wait until next week to see what the guys pull out next.

Am I pathetic to be this into a reality show? Wait, don't answer that. You have to admit though, it can be an addictive show. I even find myself liking Simon this year. (Shocker, I know.) This could be the best season yet.

Keeping my fingers crossed for tonights results,
A.

Outside the Modus Operandi

Well, this weekend was definitely a switch from my normal ‘modus operandi’. (Did I spell that right? Latin isn’t my strong suit.) A typical Saturday entails movie and lunch out, usually with my sisters or some friends. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that, but it does tend to get a little boring. Thing is, there’s not generally much else to do.

However, this weekend, we kind of shook things up. (At least, in my world we shook things up.) After spending the afternoon shopping with Angel and our ‘nearly sister’ Angela, we headed to Alley Katz in Lee’s Summit to hear live music. Lovely LaShanda has joined the band Soul DeZire and they had their first gig. We met up with a bunch of friends and listened to them perform. After Alley Katz, Angela took us to Tanner’s for Karaoke. That was certainly a new experience. I’m hoping this was just a bad night, because other than a couple of singers, it was just HORRIBLE! Talk about caterwauling! We closed up with Tanner’s at 1am and then headed home.

When I told Mom what we did, she said, ‘You went bar hopping?’ Hmm. Yes, I suppose in essence, we did. Course the strongest thing we sipped was Coke, but I suppose we did bar hop. (Actually, I was the designated buyer. Most of them drank water. I felt like SOMEBODY, should order something if we were going to take up a table…) It’s not usually my scene, but the live music is fun, and it was a blast doing it with a group of friends. It also helped that none of the other patrons were obnoxiously drunk. I did learn a few things while we were bar hopping – like how to spin quarters, you really can screw up the simple songs, and … well I can’t repeat the other things. You’ll just have to wonder.

I think the only real downside was all the cigarette smoke. I’m still suffering a sinus headache and I had to wash my hair twice the next morning to get the smell out. Even my Coke began to taste like an ash tray after a while. It would be so much more fun to hear the bands, if we could get venues like that to all be smoke free. Maybe I’ll start a letter writing campaign….

It was nice to do something different for a change though – maybe next weekend I’ll take up dance halls. (Ha ha ha…. You should hear the laughter!)

Happy Monday, hope your weekend rocked.
A.

http://www.souldezire.com/band.php

Idol Predictions

Okay, I'll admit to being an Idol fan. I've watched every episode so far this year and I have to say, I'm feeling the guys a lot more than the girls. I think there are some great female vocalists, but aside from Kellie Pickler, none of them really seem to stand out personality wise. The guys however have a great selection - especially now that the annoying Brittenum twins are out.


All my fav's made it into the top 24, so that's a good start for this season. Right now, I'm really rooting for Chris Daughtry, Taylor Hicks, Ace Young and David Radford. Chris has a great rock sound, but I think he's capable of more styles than just rock. Taylor Hicks is just so unique, but in a really fantastic way. I think that whether he wins or not, he's got a record deal coming his way. Ace Young has such a smooth sexy voice, probably the most pop sounding. And David Radford looks like a young version of Harry Connick, Jr. - only with a better voice. He sounds a little more Michael Buble to me. The problem I see is that he might not be able to carry off any other style of music. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he can.


Now, last year I predicted after the 24 were chosen, that Bo, Carrie and Anthony would be in the top 3. I did pretty good. Carrie won, Bo was a real close second and Anthony was number 4 I believe. So this year I'm posting my predictions for all to see. I think the top three (in no particular order) will be Chris Daughtry, Taylor Hicks and Kellie Pickler. Kellie has a lot of charm like Carrie Underwood, I think she can carry a lot of votes. Plus, the chances of the last three being all male are pretty slim.


So there they are. We'll see just how close I get this year.


Idol on,
A.

Sister Surprise

I love surprises. At least, I love GOOD surprises, and last night I had a great surprise. I spent Valentine’s Day at a friend’s house. When I came home, I found Cards placed throughout my house. The one in the kitchen was a Valentine from my dog Jack. He’d enclosed a mocha lip balm. Very sweet of him.

The card on the dining room table was signed “Love, D.K.” and had dangly amethyst cube earrings. The card next to my bed had a different flavor of chap stick and was signed by Lance Bass. The fourth card was signed by Tom Welling and held diamond studs.

Now before you write me off as a completely psychotic stalker, there’s really a very funny explanation. And it’s all based on my weird dreams.

About a month ago, I dreamed that I was being romantically pursued by Clark Kent (played by Tom Welling) and Charlie Epps (played by David Krumholtz on Numb3rs). I couldn’t decide between the two since they’re both such ‘wonderful guys’. So, as a test I told them each to make me a pair of earrings that they had designed themselves. Charlie made amethyst and diamond cube shaped studs with my initial etched on the diamond front. They were very pretty and I knew that it was all very ‘mathematical’. Now Clark made me diamond studs by compressing the coal in his fists and then setting them with his laser vision. (I know, total throw back to the ‘engagement’ episode.) Anyway, I loved both pair of earrings and I still couldn’t choose between them. Finally, Lana Lang came along and took Clark back which left me with Charlie and I was quite happy with that ending.

When I told my sister this dream, she laughed hysterically. See, it’s not uncommon for me to dream about famous people I find attractive, like Lance Bass, however Angel thinks that I’m absolutely crazy to find David Krumholtz attractive. The fact that I ‘chose’ him subconsciously over Tom Welling just floored her. So as a fun little trick, she decided that I should get a Valentine from ‘all the men in my life’. To top it off I’ve been finding little chocolates tucked in all my drawers.

It was so much fun and made for a great Valentines Day.

Sisters Rock!
A.

Happy Valentine's Day

As a charter member of the Lonely Hearts Club, I can't say I've ever had a 'romantic' Valentines Day. However, for the last few years I've decided it's just stupid to skip such a great holiday just because I don't have a man in my life. I mean really, Chocolate? Roses? Love Songs? That's all girly stuff. So what if the only flower I got came from a girl, it's a rose. (and it smells great Lindz!) I bought Chocolate for myself and I'm spending the evening with my best girlfriend. We're gonna drown our sorrows in sappy romantic movies like 'Elizabethtown' and 'Just Like Heaven'.

As for a man, well, Josh Turner has volunteered to be my man. So I've taken him up on it. For all you other lonely hearts out there, go pick up his new album and spend the night with one of the best voices I've heard. He makes my knees feel like melted chocolate. Or, if you're not a country fan, Michael Buble will do the trick too.

Don't let tradition dictate your Valentine's Day! Buy your own Chocolate, have a bubble bath, light some candles and put on your favorite love songs. Love YOURSELF today!

Have fun!
A.

Odd and Miscelaneous

Today has been a strange one. It all started with my weird dream this morning just before waking. If you don’t know me, strange dreams are not unusual and REALLY strange dreams are actually very common.

Anyway, I think this one was influenced by the fact that I watched Charmed last night and then read the Fantasy novel ‘Od Magic’ that is our book club’s selection this month. I dreamed that I had the power to ‘orb’ things. (If you don’t watch Charmed, it’s the power that can transport things from one place to the next instantly. In Charmed the object disintegrates into white light and then reforms as the solid object at the new location.) In the dream, I and my old high school classmates were actually part of a secret, underground facility for students with super powers. We were infiltrated by military men that wanted to force us to use our powers for evil. They had a machine that they called their ‘Star Wars’ weapon. It used a crystal and a laser and shot down incoming objects. They were using it to block our attacks on them. I knew that the only way to turn the tide, was to orb the weapon out and away from them. Unfortunately, my power was not strong enough on it’s own. So, I joined forces with Julie H. and Jeremy G. who could also ‘orb’. We orbed it straight up, just out of the atmosphere where it would orbit as trash or at least burn up on re-entry. Then we ‘orbed’ all the guns away and took our school back.

To top off the day, my LF syndrome is still acting up. Today the song was ‘Isaac-A-Zumba’. Do you know it? Isaac-A-Zumba Zumba Zumba, Isaac-A-Zumba Zumba Zay. Isaac-A-Zumba Zumba Zumba, Isaac-A-Zumba Zumba Zay. Hold ‘em down, you Zulu warriors, Hold ‘em down you Zulu Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs, HEY! Tell me where that one came from?!?

Another odd note, did anyone see the pics of the new World Boxing Association Heavy Weight Champ? He’s a seven foot Russian and just HUGE! I mean, how do you have a fair fight with a guy like this? Forget not hitting below the belt, that’s the only place you could reach!

Hold em down you Zulu warriors…. (See it’s still stuck in my head!)
A.

See the full story here: http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/5305466?GT1=7840

LF Syndrome

I’ve discovered I have LF Syndrome. I’ve struggled with the symptoms for quite a few years now, but didn’t realize there was a term for it until today. It’s Loose-File Syndrome. Basically, it means that the many ‘files’ in my brain that store a broad range of miscellaneous crap keep coming loose and contaminating other ‘folders’.

For example, today, as I entered our Credit Card payment report, I began singing ‘Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bushes he, laugh kookaburra, laugh kookaburra, save some there for me!’

See? The file marked stupid kids songs obviously got loose and dumped ‘Kookaburra' into my ‘accounting’ file. (Yeah, yeah, 'Their coming to take me away! HA HA!')

This is not the only time it’s happened and certainly not the first time today.

One way to evaluate whether you have LF Syndrome (often confused with circular thinking) is to trace your thought process backwards to see if you can find the trigger that made you jump from accounting to ‘Kookaburra’. I tried. I could find no triggers. Not even a co-worker that may have been humming. It just ‘fell’ from one file to another. Obviously a true sign of LF Syndrome.

I have found that I suffer with the circular thinking too, but it’s a little less frustrating since I can usually track my thought process. For example, with Circular thinking, you might be running an internal dialogue/thought process and realize after a few minutes, that whereas you started out thinking about the fact that you’re coming down with a cold, you are now contemplating the latest Tom Cruise stupid stunt. How? How did I get from ‘I’ve got a sore throat’ to Tom Cruise jumping on a couch? Well, to discover that, you have to follow your thinking process backward.

Hmm, Tom Cruise… oh yeah, he was in War of the Worlds. He can be so over the top, good movie though. What did War of the Worlds have to do with anything? Oh yeah, the whole premise is that the common cold virus brought the entire alien civilization to their knees… Ah Ha! My common cold could kill off an entire alien civilization! I wonder if Tom Cruise is part alien?

At least now I have a name for my disorders. It doesn’t make them any easier to bear, but I do have an excuse now for singing random songs for no reason.

“la, la, la, la, la, la, laa, la, la, la, la….” (That’s the Smurfs theme song, in case you didn’t recognize it.)

A.

'Surface' Tension

Do any of you watch Surface on NBC? Last night was the season finale (way too early in my opinion.) All season we've watched Laura, Rich and Miles search for the answers about these new lizard like creatures that are taking over the oceans and killing people. We've finally been told that the creatures are man made and that there is a massive underground Science facility that has been secretly cloning things long before Dolly the Sheep. (Or is that the Dolly Lamb-a? Sorry, couldn't resist. You can flog me later.)

Laura and Rich broke into the plant and discovered a genetic Noah's Ark, so to speak, being loaded on trains and run deep into the Mariana trench at the bottom of the ocean. Above ground, the sea creatures have ripped up the ocean floor so much that they've caused a 9.5 earthquake setting off a bi-coastal tsunami. Laura and Rich finally meet Miles as they're fleeing the coastal area. As the giant wave is racing toward them, they race into a church and climb to the steeple. The final shot is of them standing on the roof overlooking the now flooded landscape. Sea creatures swim around the flooded buildings and Laura says, 'It's a whole new world.'

That's the end. Are you kidding me?! How am I ever going to stand the wait for new episodes?! As it was, I was shouting at the t.v. and holding my breath. If the last few episodes are that intense, how will my nerves handle a 9 month hiatus?

I think TV producers need to get with the times and schedule their shows more like we schedule our kids school time. A lot of schools now go year round with just a few weeks off ever so many months. Wouldn't that be a lot better option for the tv viewers like me? Give me new episodes for two months and take a one month break, then repeat the cycle. Or, if you must, try what Stargate does. Air for three months, break three months, Air three months, break again. It's not fun, but it's a whole lot easier on the nerves than waiting nine months! (I know, Pregnancy is gonna kill me.)

You're probably thinking I'd be better off, if I just wouldn't get so tied up in the story lines. I mean it's only TV right? Wrong! It's like living a different life, taking a vacation or being a daredevil - all without the lies, expense or risk. I need that kind of outlet and escape and very few tv shows can offer that right now.

So needless to say, I find myself full of 'Surface' tension. They'd better not cancel this one.

A.

What's in a name?

Shakespeare claimed that a rose by any other name would still smell just as sweet. Despite my love of Shakespeare, I'm not sure I completely agree with him on this one.

True, in the actual logical/scientific sense, a rose will smell the same even if you call it stink weed. But on the more philosophical/emotional side, do you really want a dozen long stem stinkweeds for Valentine's Day? I don't care how good they smell, the name does not say 'romance'.

I think our personal names are much the same. Would Romeo and Juliette have been as piercingly romantic if it had been Chuck and Juliette? Or maybe Herbie and Juliette? Now, I'm not saying Chuck or Herbie are bad names, but they don't give you the same romantic image do they?

So, needless to say, when it comes to naming my characters, I take it seriously. Besides the obvious research of looking to see how popular the name was at the time my character was born and whether it's regionally acurate (american, Scottish, etc.) I also check the meanings behind the name. My collosal Baby name book is my best friend. I think it's important that the meaning of the characters name reflects who they are as a person. Are they daring? Sweet? Mean?

Usually I don't have too much trouble finding the perfect name. However, I'm hitting a brick wall today. I'm trying to name a character in my chick-lit. He's an important secondary character, one who will become the true love interest in the end. He's reliable and sweet and romantic and a great friend. The name that keeps coming to mind is 'Sam'. When I look up the meaning it says, 'God hears'. Which kind of works since the heroine realizes that he is the answer to all her prayers (so to speak), but when I hear 'Sam' I'm not sure I think romantic lead.

Am I nuts? Does this name ring romance to anyone else? I've tried dozens of other names, but Sam just keeps popping back up. Does Sam conjur up "best guy friend of no romantic interest' or 'best guy friend just waiting in the wings to sweep you off your feet'?

I'm gonna have to think a little longer on this one.
A.

Happy Ground Hog Day!

It's Groundhog Day. No, I mean it's REALLY Groundhog day, the actual holiday. News says 'ol Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so we get six more weeks of winter. I guess Phil doesn't know that we haven't HAD any winter yet in Missouri. Not that I'm complaining. I love the great weather. I'm just leary of how that's going to affect our dog days of summer. Thank God for central air.

Today was slow, but not a repeat of living hell week where I lived Groundhog Day. My only theory today, is that someone turned all our clocks upside down so that time would run backward. Today seemed to just creeeeep by.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. I'm doing the pre-weekend boogie. (No! Don't look, it's not pretty!)

Get down with your badself,

A.

Pets are People Too

Pets are people too. They’ve got personality and feelings just like the rest of us. They sulk, smile, dance and cuddle.

They also get the weirdest cravings.

I’ve had several pets over the years that chose unusual treats. My deaf cat Jonathon loved doughnuts. Any kind would get his motor rumbling, but especially the powdered sugared. Mom had to lock them away in a cupboard or he would eat them. Once, he managed to get the door open. We came home to find every doughnut had one feline sized bite out of the top.

Raquel, (Rocky for short) liked spicy food. She was a shepherd/husky mix but I used to call her my little Chihuahua girl. Salsa, chili, jalapenos… she loved spicy food. She also loved peanut butter. She was the only dog I’ve known that could open a jar of peanut butter like a normal human. We’d come home to find the jar sitting upright in the floor, lid unscrewed and laying neatly beside it and a giant groove licked through the middle of the peanut butter. She had the longest tongue on a dog. She could give Gene Simmons a run for his money.

Jack, my current blue-eyed baby boy, loves Jelly Belly’s, Suckers and fruit. He’s even been known to gobble down tomatoes. He doesn’t like cucumbers, but give him oranges, grapes (I know, I just found out you’re not supposed to feed them grapes), apples, pineapple, strawberries, nectarines… the list probably goes on and on. If he smells it, he’s begging for it. What dog likes fruit?

He’s hysterical when it comes to suckers. The first time he begged for mine, I held it for him while he sucked on it. (I was finished with it – just thought you should know that.) My nephew didn’t know that though, so he just gave it to him. I looked over to find Jack lying in the floor with the stick between his paws, gnawing away. He ate the thing down to the stick and left the stick in the floor. Jelly Belly’s are hysterical too. He can hear those things rattle from the other end of the house. (Despite the fact that he can’t hear me telling him to come in at night – he’s got selective hearing.) I give him all the flavors I don’t like. Like black licorice and jalapeno.

(Now before you all freak out over what I feed my dog, trust me when I say these treats are few and minimal in size. But I can’t deny him completely. Those big blue eyes just melt my heart.)

Maybe I spoil my baby, but like I said, pets are people too. I draw the line at dressing him up though… I think they deserve to keep their dignity in tact.

A.