My Little Stocking De-Stuffers

Never question a dog's ability to unwrap a package. Especially when it's filled with miniature Reese's cups and M&Ms.

Shut UP!

Either I've had too much coffee or I'm just way too excited that the Chicks got FIVE grammy nominations this morning including one for album of the year for Taking the Long Way and two for the single Not Ready to Make Nice. Even Rick Rubin got props for Producer of the Year. Needless to say, it is a happy day in Dixie Land!

Screw you, country radio.

What do Superheroes Dream?

For about four hours yesterday evening, while you were snacking on cheeze-its and watching reruns on your rooms-to-go sofa, I was busy summoning chain lightning and the will of the goddess in order to secure planet Earth from Mister Sinister. Fighting Dark Angel is no easy task, even with Magneto, Wolverine and Gambit having your back.

Ok, so, I only played Storm on the PS2 XMen II game. And really, no one should attempt pulling off tight spandex costumes and horrific one-liners unless your name is Halle Berry.

Perhaps I logged too many hours saving the world yesterday. This morning I awoke remembering the dream I'd been having that seemed almost too real. Of course, most of it is a blur now that its mid afternoon, but the parts I remember involve me being in a cab with Joe and Joe. And totally irrelevant to the story at hand, but worth mentioning, were both Joe's enjoyment of my obvious offense to the cab drivers' rude commentary. (Thanks, guys) Anyway, we were on a mission to save the world (or at least our neighborhood block) from this elusive serpent who had been reeking havoc on the city.

Cut to the next scene.

As we were closer to the stand-off with Mr. Sinister Serpent, we made time to stop so I could get my hair done. Can't exactly feel like a superhero when you don't look your best, you know. Then it dawned on me, that I did not know this man yielding scissors behind my head. I woke up panicked that I was about to hunt down a ferocious beast.

While having a bad hair day.

All About the Music

1. Favorite Beatles song: In My Life
2. Favorite Rolling Stones song: Beast of Burden
3. Favorite Doors song: Love Her Madly
4. Favorite Bob Dylan song: Tangled Up in Blue
5. Favorite Led Zeppelin song: Ramble On
6. TV Theme Song: The Dick Van Dyke Show
7. Favorite Prince Song: Cream
8. Favorite Madonna Song: Don't Tell Me
9. Favorite Michael Jackson Song: Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
10. Favorite Queen Song: Killer Queen
11. Favorite Motorhead Song: Ace of Spades
12. Favorite Ozzy Song: Iron Man
13. Favorite Public Enemy Song: Bring the Noise
14. Favorite Song from a cartoon: Aqua Teen Hunger Force
15. Favorite Bruce Springsteen song: I'm on Fire
16. Favorite Depeche Mode song: Personal Jesus
17. Favorite Cure song: Pictures of You
18. Favorite song that most of your friends haven’t heard: Thin Line - Dixie Chicks
19. Favorite REM song: Nightswimming
20. Favorite Beastie Boys song: Pass the Mic
21. Favorite Clash song: Rock the Casbah
22. Favorite Police song: Every Little Thing She Does is Magic
23. Favorite Eurythmics song: Would I Lie to You?
24. Favorite Beach Boys song: Good Vibrations
25. Favorite Cyndi Lauper song: I Drove All Night
26. Favorite song from a movie: Jimi Hendrix - May This Be Love - Singles Soundtrack
27. Favorite Duran Duran song: Ordinary World
28. Favorite Peter Tosh song:
29. Favorite Johnny Cash song: I Walk the Line
30. Favorite song from an 80’s one hit wonder: Come on Eileen
31. Favorite song from a video game: Kuru Kuru Rock from Katamari Damacy
32. Favorite Kinks song: Lola
33. Favorite Genesis song: That's All
34. Favorite Thin Lizzy song:
35. Favorite INXS song: Not Enough Time
36. Favorite Weird Al song: White & Nerdy
37. Favorite Peter Gabriel song: Come Talk to Me
38. Favorite John Lennon song: Happy Christmas
39. Favorite Pink Floyd song: Comfortably Numb
40. Favorite cover song: Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold
41. Favorite White Stripes song: Pretty Good Lookin'
42. Favorite dance song:
43. Favorite U2 song: All I Want is You
44. Favorite song from an actor turned musician: Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
45. Favorite disco song: Heart of Glass - Blondie
46. Favorite Power Ballad: REO Speedwagon - Keep on Loving You
47. Favorite Guns N’ Roses song: Sweet Child of Mine
48. Favorite The Who song: Squeeze Box
49. Favorite Elton John song: I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues
50. Favorite song, period: yeah, right.
51. Favorite Ryan Adams song: Come Pick Me Up
52. Favorite Green Day song: Extraordinary Girl
53. Favorite Alanis Morrissette song: Not the Doctor
54. Favorite Jamiroquai song: Canned Heat
55. Favorite Foo Fighters song: Everlong
56. Favorite David Bowie song: Ziggy Stardust
57. Favorite Metallica song: Enter Sandman
58. Favorite Jeff Buckley song: Last Goodbye
59. Favorite Pearl Jam song: Elderly Woman Behind a Counter in a Small Town
60. Favorite Grateful Dead song: Cumberland Blues
61. Favorite Def Leppard song: Animal
62. Favorite Dixie Chicks song: Truth #2
63: Favorite Cowboy Junkies song: Lay it Down
64. Favorite James Brown song: That's Life
65. Favorite Barenaked Ladies song: A Million Dollars
66. Favorite Creedence Clearwater Revival Song: Born on the Bayou
67. Favorite Garth Brooks song: Shameless
68: Favorite Chuck Berry song: Never Can Tell
69: Favorite Willie Nelson song: Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys
70. Favorite Tom Petty (solo or with the Heartbreakers) song: Runnin' Down a Dream
71. Favorite Van Halen song: Panama
72. Favorite Old School Soul song: Got to Give it Up - Marvin Gaye
73. Favorite Song That Totally Kicks Righteous Ass:
74: Favorite Song of Yours That Everyone Else Hates: Probably most of it.
75: Favorite ZZ Top Song: LaGrange
76: Favorite AC/DC Song: Shook Me All Night Long
77. Favorite Blondie song: One Way or Another
78. Favorite Bob Marley Song: No Woman No Cry
79. Favorite Violent Femmes Song: American Music
80. Favorite Alice in Chains Song: No Excuses
81. Favorite Wallflowers Song: Three Marlenas
82. Favorite James Taylor Song: Fire And Rain
83. Favorite Counting Crows Song: Mr. Jones & Me
84. Favorite Blues Traveler Song: The Mountain Wins Again
85. Favorite Drinking Song: Life of the Party - Charlie Robison
86. Favorite Hendrix Song: Wind Cries Mary
87. Favorite Break-Up Song: Hallelujah - Ryan Adams
88. Favorite Allman Brothers Song: Statesboro Blues
89. Favorite Rusted Root Song: That drum song that goes on for 20 minutes
90. Favorite Dave Matthews Band song: Jimi Thing
91. Favorite Elvis Costello Song:
92. Favorite Beck song: Jackass
93. Favorite Muse Song:
94. Favorite Radiohead Song: My Iron Lun
95. Favorite Stone Temple Pilots Song: Interstate Love Song
96. Favorite The Eagles Song: Life in the Fast Lane
97. Favorite Janis Joplin Song: Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)
98. Favorite Coldplay Song: Shiver
98. Favorite Soundgarden Song: Burden in my Hand
99. Favorite 70s song: Stuck in the Middle with You
100. Favorite Joan Osborne Song: Righteous Love

Things That Rock

in random order (or as I think of them):

Andybear's ThingsThatRock rights permission
Flip-flops
Finding out that garlic comes in fists and ears
Pink toenails
Joe
Republican scandals just before mid-terms
Pinot Grigio
Goody Powders
Dobros
Katamari
never stepping down from a 21mg patch
a Hello Kitty thermos
PigTails
being almost finished with the same book for 3 months
Jon Stewart
Clothes that never wrinkle
Curry
Anything Martha Stewart does with a pumpkin
Having a job you don't hate
The way I fold t-shirts
Sunsets at Big Sur
Sleepy puppy eyes and doggy butts
Being in love
Ikea
Jeans that are too big
A perfectly roasted lemon-basil chicken
Hugh Laurie
Coke Zero
the current playlist on iTunes
Using the fireplace for the first time in the fall
Getting my hair cut tomorrow
Eating at a new Greek place tonight

Second Opinion

Today I had the best message ever left on my machine by someone dialing the wrong number:

"Hello, Ms. xxxxx, This is xxxxx from Dr. xxxxx's office. And I just wanted to let you know, that no, you do NOT have to wash that off"


Hopefully it wasn't urgent.

Have I Mentioned I'm a Dog Person?

"Top Ten Reasons Why Dogs
Are Better Pets Than Cats"

1. Dogs will tilt their heads and try to
understand every word you say. Cats will
ignore you and take a nap.

2. Cats look silly on a leash.

3. When you come home from work, your
dog will be happy and lick your face. Cats
will still be mad at you for leaving in the first place.

4. Dogs will give you unconditional love until
the day they die. Cats will make you pay for
every mistake you've ever made since the
day you were born.

5. A dog knows when you're sad. And he'll
try to comfort you. Cats don't care how you feel, as
long as you remember where the can opener is.

6. Dogs will bring you your slippers. Cats will
drop a dead mouse in your slippers.

7. When you take them for a ride, dogs will
sit on the seat next to you. Cats have to have
their own private basket, or they won't go at all.

8. Dogs will come when you call them. And
they'll be happy. Cats will have someone take
a message and get back to you.

9. Dogs will play fetch with you all day long.
The only thing cats will play with all day long
are small rodents or bugs, preferably ones
that look like they're in pain.

10. Dogs will wake you up if the house is on
fire. Cats will quietly sneak out the back door.

IndieShirts Rocks!

I love it when the mail lady rings the doorbell! In the mail today were the ultra-groovy shirts that Tracy and I will be wearing to the Dixie Chicks show in Toronto in exactly one month from today. Thank you, IndieShirts! They are absolutely perfect!

Praise the lord and pass the ammunition

Yesterday I noticed that an empty building here in Conyers that once was a Christian Bookstore is no longer vacant. The new tenants, an adult toy and book store called Starship Enterprise, has set up shop and is open for business. Can I get an 'amen' for finally not having to drive to Memorial Drive to replace my dear Rabbit?!!!

As for how the rest of Conyers feels, well, here's one comment that appeared in today's Rockdale Citizen Poll:

“I notice the Citizen had a completely filled page of police blotter cases. I just wonder if the appearance of the new sex store, Starship, means we are going to have another full page of sex offenders and criminal cases. I sure hope not.”

By this logic, as Joe pointed out, we should be more worried about how many more fat people there are going to be because of the new buffet that opened down the street.

Looking for September

What the hell happened to September?

October stares me in the face and I now have just a few short weeks to plan a vacation I've been looking forward to for six years. The flight is booked. We leave for Toronto on October 26 and return on Halloween. We'll get back just in time to completely miss all of the trick-o-treaters this year. I guess my sweet festive finds at last years' Target clearance will have to wait another year to get any use.

The highlight of this trip will be getting to meet my longtime friend, Tracy, and her family for the first time. We've been friends since 2000, but we've never had a chance to meet. Tracy is my favorite friend. I admire her energy, envy her beauty and am sometimes paralyzed by her baby jesus wit. I'm looking forward to laughing beside her and calling her 'woman' as often as possible.

The big event of this vacation will be seeing the Dixie Chicks that Saturday evening at the Air Canada Centre. I've already ordered the custom vintage style tshirts for Tracy and I to wear to the show. We'll be dorks...and I can't wait!

I still haven't decided where we'll be staying, as all the rates of in-town lodging are making me nauseous. After discovering that Niagra Falls is only an hour away from Toronto, and I've never been, AND the hotel rates are super cheap, we might head there for the first couple of days. Then we'll head back into Toronto that Saturday and check in somewhere downtown for the night of the show. After that, who knows.

But I'm thinking somewhere Waterloo-ish.

Inspired

One day has arrived.

The intimidation of white space will no longer keep me from recording my thoughts and sharing them with the world. I've put it off for way too long. But lately, I've been feeling inspired.