An Arizona Cheesehead's Thoughts

A few days ago, I was verbally lashed for washing a chapstick with my clothes. Sugar Daddy found the depleted chapstick in the washer when he went to do his laundry. He actually said the words, "At least you didn't run it through the dryer, too." So, of course I washed and dried my new chapstick tonight. I don't think there's any residue and he wasn't at home when I found it. There's no way I'm confessing to this one, either, since there's something else that's going to get me yelled at. I just burned microwave popcorn and the whole house smells. I've got the stove fans on hurricane level but it doesn't seem to be clearing out very well. Man, I hope he stays out REALLY late tonight. And, clearly, I should not be trusted home alone.

Richard North Patterson's latest book, Conviction , is an intense look at capital punishment. The protagonist, lawyer Terri Paget, takes on the death row case of Rennell Price. Price is a young black man who was convicted, along with his brother, of killing a 9 year old girl during a sexual assault. As Paget reviews the evidence, she comes to believe that not only is Rennell innocent, he's also retarded and that fact kept him from ever receiving proper counsel or effectively defending himself. The case goes to the Ninth Circuit (those liberal types in California) then on to the Supreme Court while Paget and her crew try desperately to get the evidence to prove Price's innocence. Patterson gives a lot of insight into how the death penalty process in California and the Federal courts plays out. Regardless of your beliefs, this book will make you think long and hard about the death penalty. On a personal note, I used to be in favor of the death penalty but now I'm not so s...

So, on the morning I wake up to find a mosquito family has feasted on me all night (6 bites!!), I read in the paper that the first case of West Nile Virus this season has been diagnosed in the Valley. I fully expect the flu-like symptoms to commence any time now. And, encephalitis will not be far behind, I'm sure. I am so doomed.

I think that Steven and I appear to be much more like siblings than Mother/Son because I was pretty young when I had him and I do suffer from arrested development. We have a lot of the same interests, we're both hip to the same stuff (though he wouldn't use the term "hip") and we both look at my parents as the "old people". However, one area where we are clearly not sibling oriented is my dating. Man, he doesn't like that much at all. If he finds out I'm interested in someone, he makes a point of meeting them so he can, I don't know, show he's tough or something. It's not like he says "Don't mess with my Mom or I'll hurt you." He really just likes to tower over them and, since he's a freakishly tall 6'4", I guess he thinks that's intimidation enough. He also doesn't like to hear any tales that anywhere include tidbits about me talking/flirting/kissing guys. He does the hands over ears, "la la la...

It was something from Crime Dog's blog...I guess I'm just a follower at heart.

Another sad day for Pooh world, John Fiedler who voice Piglet has passed away. His obituary from the AZ Republic is here .

The year of the book club classics continues with Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. What an amazing book for its time. The heroine could not have been a better feminist role model. Orphaned at an early age, Jane's sent to a strict, brutal even, religious school to correct her 'flaws'. Those flaws, as perceived by her unloving Aunt, appear to be intelligence, self-reliance and self-respect. The first section of the book shows Jane's struggles with her Aunt's family and her pursuit of being able to support herself by becoming a teacher. The second part of the book is the story of Jane's position as tutor to the ward of Mr. Rochester, an abrupt, rich man who takes a shine to Jane's intellect and personality. He eventually asks for her hand in marriage and she accepts but on their wedding day, the ceremony is disrupted by the announcement that he's already married. And, that his insane wife is locked up in the house. Hmm, something he forgot to mention. Ro...

Sugar Daddy and I get our hair cut (and colored but his is just the tips, kinda girlie, I know but I'm the one who talked him into it) by my friend Cheryl. We headed up there Saturday afternoon to find her in extreme pain from her back again. The surgery she had a while back helped for a while be she has to go in for a more intensive surgery. In the meantime, she's on 6 - 8 painkillers a day. We didn't know this until after she started but it soon became obvious that she was a little out of it, actually borderline psychotic may be more accurate. SD's hair came out fine. My color came out fine. She asked me how I wanted my hair cut and I said, as I always do, just trim it. I've been trying to grow my hair out for ages - damn genetics that doesn't let it get very long! She cut it and combed it out so it dried pretty straight and I headed home without inspecting it too closely. My first clue that all was not right was in the shower the next morning. Although I used...

I was very sad to read today about the passing of Paul Winchell, the voice of Tigger. He passed away at age 82 but lived a very full life. You can read more about him here . Most of the people who know me are aware of my Tigger love - physically evidenced by the tattoo on my back of Tigger playing football. He's such a joyous, if sometimes unaware, character who really appeals to me. Winchell's voicing made him even that more appealing. Tigger just won't be the same...

We had a problem Thursday night and here's the list of people who worked on it: Night Operator Sybase DBA (me) Legacy System Programmer IT Director (Sugar Daddy) Unix Administrator Former Night Operator/now PC Tech Senior Executive VP of the company Man, it was brutal. I went to bed at 11 and got called by the Night guy at 11:45 because our shipping process was running slow...at the rate it was going, we would have taken a full week to process one night's orders. This is not good. I checked my server and database and the legacy system's server but couldn't find anything. We conferenced in the Legacy guy and he had no ideas (he's pretty new). Then, I walked over to Sugar Daddy's room and banged on his door to get him up and involved. He started rooting around and we let the Legacy guy go back to bed. Next in was the Unix guy whose internet connection was down so he couldn't look at anything directly so I had to follow his verbal directions on some tests and r...

Nope, it isn't about my favorite Poker game, Texas Hold 'Em is a book by Kinky Friedman. It's another one of his collections of stories about his life, family and friends and acquaintances. If my list of familiars included Willie Nelson, Pat Green, Bill Clinton and W and Laura Bush, I'd be writing a book, too. (Though I probably wouldn't mention W.) Fun read - the Kinkster is always entertaining and I hope he does well in his pursuit of the Governor's office in Texas.

I knew as soon as I saw El Capitan hit Crime Dog with this meme that it was coming my way. Since I can't figure out how to duck in the blogoshpere, I guess I'm stuck with it. Anyway - the topic is "Five things that society at large enjoys, but that I just don't get..." 1. The Wave Man, I hate this thing. I go to sporting events to, um, watch a sport. Not to watch a bunch of people repeatedly bob up and down in a mindless mob action. 2. Loud and Crowded Bars I think I may be getting old(er), but I just don't want to spend an evening standing around in a crowd, trying to hear and be heard by my companions, strangers and the wait staff. I much prefer to go to a quieter place with a bunch of friends where we can sit down and actually converse. 3. Howard Stern I'm forced to listen to Stern on our morning commute. While I think he's an intelligent guy and we share very similar political beliefs, I can't stand that every female guest is subjecte...

The Sun Devils lost to Florida today by a 6-3 score ending their College World Series pursuit. It's down to Florida and Texas for the finals. Sorry, all my Texan buds, but I'm pulling for Florida so that I can say at least we lost to the champions. Nice run, Devils, you should be proud.

FINAL ARIZONA STATE 6 Florida 1 Scoring summary: Bottom of 8th Inning ASU: Tuffy Gosewisch singled home Curtis. Arizona St. 6, Florida 1 Bottom of 7th Inning ASU: J.J. Sferra singled home two runs. Arizona St. 5, Florida 1 Bottom of 5th Inning ASU: Colin Curtis singled home Jeff Larish. Arizona St. 3, Florida 1 Top of 5th Inning Florida: Jared Kubin singled home Gavin Dickey. Arizona St. 2, Florida 1 Bottom of 4th Inning ASU: Seth Dhaenens drove in Buck. Arizona St. 2, Florida 0 Bottom of 1st Inning ASU: Travis Buck solo homer. Arizona St. 1, Florida 0 I did get to catch the beginning of the game during lunch and, since the guys were all talking about printing presses and such that I don't care about, I got to watch it without interruption.

I saw this book on sale at Border's, looked it over, then saw it on the shelf at the library that same night. What, the heck, maybe the book gods are trying to tell me something? The full title is Likeability Factor: How To Boost Your L-Factor & Achieve Your Life's Dreams. Sounds a little cheesy, doesn't it? The author is Tim Sanders and he's a leadership coach at Yahoo! Sanders' provided a lot of documentation to back up the intuitive fact that people who are more likeable than others are better off. They get more attention from their doctors, their kids get more care from their teachers, they're less likely to be laid off and they're less likely to be divorced. His theory on how we evaluate someone's likeability (or L-Factor as he calls it) is that people judge on four consecutive factors. If you're missing the first factor, that's it and they will not consider you likeable and won't evaluate you further. The factors are: Friendliness ...

ASU, my beloved alma mater, is in the College World Series. Yesterday, we were playing Nebraska who beat us once already. Since ASU is in the losers' bracket, we have to win every game now. The game started at 11 AM our time so I couldn't watch it but I checked the score in the afternoon. 9th inning - ASU 5, Nebraska 3 Cool, I said a little prayer to the baseball gods that we'd hold the lead then went back to work for a while. Then I checked it again. 9th inning - ASU 7, Nebraska 7 Ack! I had to talk to a programmer for a while (I love my job, I love my job...) but I was on pins and needles until I could check again. FINAL - ASU 8, Nebraska 7 YAY!!! Today, we play #7 ranked Florida whom we would have to beat twice to advance to the Championship round. I'm going out to lunch with some guys from work to a little sports place and they'll understand when I'm glued to the TV and ignoring them. Go Devils!!!!!

I am on a mission. I need a good picture of me for something. Can't have a beer in my hand or be half lit and squishy face next to someone. Oh, and my hair has to look good, too. I went through all of mine and Pabla's ofoto pics, the club photos on the website and the ones on my laptop. No dice. I guess I'm going to have to gussy up and have Sugar Daddy take one of me. Unless someone has a nice pic of me that they're willing to send me...hint, hint.

Pabla thought I was too personal in my discussions of Mr. X. I mentioned that to Crime Dog and his response was "Blogs are supposed to be personal." I then talked about it with Sugar Daddy and he agreed with Pabla but his idea of a blog's purpose is very different than mine. Sugar Daddy has a blog. It's completely anonymous; I don't even know what it is. He finds it freeing to be able to talk about whatever he wants without fear of offending anyone. I think that completely fits his personality because he's not comfortable exposing himself to others. He thinks I made a mistake going public with my blog because I then temper some of my comments in order not to offend. I, however, am all about the public eye and being front and center so an anonymous blog is not my style. I'm also not about controversy so I don't get into too many hot issues. A lot of people can engage in respectful debate but there are those people who get really personal in their arg...

I got these from my friend Lorean. They remind me a lot of my golf game... # 10 Golfer "Think I'm going to drown myself in the lake." Caddy "Think you can keep your head down that long?" # 9 Golfer "I'd move heaven and earth to break 100 on this course." Caddy "Try heaven, you've already moved most of the earth." # 8 Golfer "Do you think my game is improving?" Caddy "Yes sir, you miss the ball much closer now." # 7 Golfer "Do you think I can get there with a 5 iron?" Caddy"Eventually." # 6 Golfer "You've got to be the worst caddy in the world." Caddy "I don't think so sir. That would be too much of a coincidence." # 5 Golfer "Please stop checking your watch all the time. It's too much of a distraction." Caddy "It's not a watch - it's a compass." # 4 Golfer "How do you like my game?" Caddy "Very good sir, ...

I got rejected when I tried to give blood last week - my iron was too low. That gave Sugar Daddy a reason to commence on his 'you need to take vitamins' lecture. He gave me the same speech a few years ago and even bought me some vitamins to put on my desk at work. His theory was that I'd see the bottle and therefore remember to take them. Didn't work out that way. The bottle just became another knick knack that I ignored. This time, he put more thought into it. Knowing my lack of maturity so well, he went the route of children's vitamins. He figured the little characters would entertain me as I could bite their heads off and play with them. (Anyone who's seen me eat animal crackers or marshmallow peeps can easily picture that.) It came down to Flintstones Chewables or Gummy vitamins. He knew the Gummys would be a sure thing but they didn't have iron so, Flintstones it was. I thought, cool, this could work. I popped a purple Dino into my mouth and, at first, ...

Ostensibly, this series by Eoin Colfer is for kids. Kinda like Harry Potter was at first. I love them though, perhaps because I am not really a grown up yet. The main character, Artemis, is a genius 14 year old master thief. He comes from a long line of thieves though his Father has now gone straight. Artemis is assisted by his faithful and awesomely trained body guard, Butler. Oh yeah, there's some fairies, pixies, goblins, dwarves and such which explains why I like these. Underneath the earth's crust is a whole other society with magical creatures. They're also massively technologically ahead of humans. In the last book, Artemis and Butler's minds were wiped of any knowledge of this other society after helping the Elf police capture the evil pixie, Opal. In this book, Opal is out to extract revenge and Artemis and crew are called upon to defeat her again. What makes these books so interesting to me is not necessarily the magic stuff, but Artemis' character. He...

Pabla cracked me up last night. We were sitting around the table when it was David's turn to buy the beer at the bar. After he got up, Pab asked, "Is that Mr. X?" I was like, "No. You know who Mr. X is if you think about it." She did and she does. Golf God was like, "Huh?" See, he reads Crime Dog's blog all the time but doesn't manage to remember to click over to mine very often so he had no idea what we were talking about. I can tell when he's been here because I'll get a comment from a really old post. For some reason, he can't post a comment on Crime Dog's blog so I get the posts, Crime Dog gets more hits. Am I bitter? Nah, Crime Dog's way funnier on a daily basis than I could ever hope to be on my best day.

It's the last weekend for one of my all-time favorite hangouts, The Monastery. I sent an email out to my cronies inviting them to join me for a final hurrah last night. I said I thought it would be like an Irish wake. LOL, the first thing I saw when I got there was a huge "Irish Wake" sign for this weekend. Audrey, Allen and I (the Friday afternoon work cocktail team) left the office at 4:30. I expected the place to be busy since TV3 had broadcasted from there that morning but it wasn't too bad. TV3 guy Dan Davis was there, drinking a brew and watching the ASU baseball game - I'm assuming he didn't stay all day, though. Audrey and I reminisced about our (mis)adventures through the years at The Monastery. Good times, good times. Allen had never been there before (he needs to get out more) but absolutely fell in love with the place. Bad timing on that. We were joined by David, the Golf God, Pabla, RC and Michele and there were several pitchers of Miller Lite co...

Gretchen Wilson and Kenny Chesney - I picked this because of the butt shot. (Photo credit to Pabla) Pabla, Tina, Carol and I went to the Chesney show on Tuesday. We met early and had a little party in the parking lot. These people just do things up right. Tina had a table, fancy tablecloth and plates, margarita pie...there was way too much food but it was all lovely. Sam and Elizabeth found us and hung for a while, too. We got into the show and to our seats just as Pat Green was starting. He did a good job. I first heard of him when his song, Wave on Wave , came out. I dug it and I really like his new one, Babydoll. Gretchen Wilson was next and she rocked like only a down home country girl can. She played several tunes from her upcoming CD and I'm definitely picking it up. Kenny made a grand entrance, floating in over the crowd on a big swing from the other side of the arena. He's just so fun to watch. You can tell he's just having a great time and is really appreciativ...

OK, you've heard all the sordid details from Parrots in the Pines but you haven't heard my rant. This is the third year in a row we've gone to this event at the Landmark and one would hope they had it figured out by now. Parrot Heads need very little: cold beer, served often. Some decent food would be a bonus. They haven't gotten it. Friday night - 5 PM Me: I'd like a Miller Lite, please? Server: We're out of Miller Lite. Me: dumbfounded stare How in the world does a bar run out of Miller Lite at 5 PM on a Friday night? So, they went on a mission to restock and I drank Bud Light for a while. When they finally had Lite, it wasn't cold. So, I had to wait some more. Saturday - noon and forward Me: (after having a Bloody Mary to start the day) Could I have a Miller Lite? Server: (brings back a rum drink) Here's your pineapple coconut rum. Me: I ordered a Miller Lite. Server: Oh, I thought you wanted another one of these. Me: I've never had one of those. ...

You're sweet, but not naive -- though you like to be babied like a child at times. You prefer to have a bad boy by your side, but sometimes have problems understanding why he has to run off to take care of business. You want to settle down, yet deep down inside, you are excited by the surprises life throws your way. Take the What Pulp Fiction Character Are You? quiz. I got this from El Capitan and I bet Crime Dog will be all over it even though he thinks these quizzes are dumb.

Don't expect to see me on July 16th and 17th as I'll be devouring the newest Harry Potter book. I've had it preordered since the day Amazon put it on sale. I'll probably be camping out at my mailbox on the 16th so I can get my hands on it ASAP. Sugar Daddy will be happy because I'll be out of his hair until I'm done with it. Unfortunately for him, it will probably only take me a day to read since I won't be able to put it down. Can you tell I'm excited? (Yes, I'm a book nerd...but proud of it!)

I actually managed to sleep in on Sunday until 8:30. Check out time was 11 so I took my time packing up. I headed over to Louie/Donna/Bob/Sue/and now Connie’s and chatted with them for a while. It was Bob and Sue’s 34th Wedding Anniversary so Louie and Donna made them (Bob and Sue) make breakfast. Nice. Sam stopped over and said Alexis tried her cabin key in Mark’s door and it worked so she was trying to get people to climb into bed with him for pictures. I actively wished a big hangover on him and hoped she got some takers on that deal. Too funny and I want to see those pics. I hit the road about 11 and was home by 12:30. I called Sugar Daddy when I was close to offer to pick him up some crack . He answered the phone with a “Nooooooooo. Don’t come home.” I told him too bad and to put his clothes on because I would be there shortly. He did thank me for bringing him lunch, though. I’ve left out even more stories, but I think I covered the major and semi-minor ones. It was a...

6:30 AM came way too early on Saturday. I was wide awake and trying to will myself to go back to sleep. My neighbors, however, were up and at ‘em and loading up their car. There’s a ton of gravel outside of the cabins and I swear it was a steady crunch, crunch, crunch as they marched past my front door until 8 AM when I finally gave it up and hit the shower. I couldn’t get too mad at them, though, as they were probably just as annoyed when we were hooting and hollering at 2:30. Ray Cody was scheduled to play at 11 so I hoofed over to The Landmark for a Bloody Mary and to get a good seat for the show. Woody was there and ready to slap and we had a surprise appearance from Tom Connors who decided to drive up for the day. Ray started playing and was soon introduced to the Vibraslap but he actually seemed to enjoy it. His girlfriend, Michelle, joined him for a couple of songs then he got Tom on stage with the tambourine. OK, I am very, very white. I can only play the tambourine if ...

Wastnawa did a nice summary of the weekend but you know I could never be that succinct so get comfy because it’s novel time… Man, I was itching to get up to Christopher Creek on Friday for the Parrots in the Pines weekend so I decided to work a ½ day. I made a quick run out to the store before lunch to get supplies. Supplies mostly being beer, soda, water and chips. Wouldn’t you know it…I got busted by the new guy while putting the empty Miller Lite box into the garbage dumpster at work. Nice. I hit the road about 12:45. Yahoo maps said it would take me 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach my destination. I did it in a little under 2 hours total. I was driving through those mountains like Jimmie at Lowe’s Motor Speedway – fast and passing everyone on the road. My car is so smooth that I wasn’t aware that I was hitting 80 until I checked the speedometer. At one time, I thought to myself, “I hope those are SAFER barriers separating me from oncoming traffic.” I got to Greyhackle without an a...

I should have all of the sordid details online tonight. What happens in Christopher Creek doesn't necessarily stay in Christopher Creek...

I am so jazzed to be heading to Christopher Creek for the weekend with a bunch of Parrot Heads. Mark Mulligan and Ray Cody will be playing on Friday and Saturday at the Landmark Saloon. It will be nice to be in the cool pine country. A bunch of us will be staying in a group of cabins that has a common fire pit area. I've heard we can even have a fire this year. Last year, the fire threat was too high and we actually got detoured on the way up to go around an ongoing fire. We still managed to have a great time, perhaps thanks to the Tequila. The many bottles of Tequila. Too much Tequila, not enough lime. (A little Mulligan reference for you.) Anywhoo - I'll be going dark until Sunday unless something really compelling gets me logged on tomorrow AM. Hopefully, I'll have some stories when I get back - and they won't all be about how silly I was. OK, not much hope of that. Especially, if there are some young men around to chat up.

If you're an axe murderer, please stop reading now. Thank you. Sugar Daddy is in San Francisco this week for the Apple Developers Conference. The last time he went to SF, he didn't bring a jacket so he had to buy one. It's a nice fleece that is now in my possession. Did he learn from that, though? Clearly not. He called me last night to ask a 'big' favor. I had to bring his jacket into work and then run it to the airport to give to a guy who works for us. He was flying in from Denver then turning around to head for SF for the rest of the conference. (Are there no flights from Denver to SF?) It wasn't that simple though, since our buddy was trying to get an earlier flight so it was really a 'be on call at all times' thing. Of course, I said yes (and I expect a present but maybe I should be happy with my laptop bag which was from a previous year's conference. Hmmmm, nope, I want a new present). So, I waited for the call and drove to the airport as requ...

Thought I'd give you all an update on the pursuit of men thoughts. I got some advice from my previous post that I actually took. I asked Mr. X out to lunch. I figured that was a safe enough activity that fell under the "getting to know each other without the influence of alcohol" category. Imagine my pleasant surprise when the invitation was accepted. Because of geography and work schedules, however, it turned into a Happy Hour/Dinner event instead. So, we met tonight for a quite pleasant evening getting to know each other better and left with the promise of a future engagement, perhaps even for a DBacks game. The parking lot goodbye was nicely done with a solid hug and a kiss on the cheek (his kiss, my cheek). It was really a lovely time and, even if nothing comes of it, at least I may have gotten over my cowardly fear of rejection. (Notice, I said I may . Let's not get crazy with the self confidence here.) My friend, however, did not do so well. She tried one more ...

Apparently Jimmy is only human and misplaced his cell phone . I have to admit, I probably would have called Harrison Ford. But, I wouldn't have been smoking weed when I did it.

A Stroke of Midnight is the latest Meredith Gentry novel by Laurell K. Hamilton. Meredith is a faerie Princess fighting for her throne amidst assassination attempts and court intrigue. Oh, and there's lots of sex, too. I describe these books as faerie porn. I never thought I'd say this about anything, but there's too much sex and not enough plot in this one. Hamilton is, well, let's just say very creative in her sex scenes. Meredith has a foursome with two of her faerie bodyguards and a goblin, metaphysical sex where her partner melts into the earth and more. This fourth book in the series doesn't advance the plot very much at all but the sex was quite interesting. One minor complaint that I'm probably being too picky about: Hamilton is repetitive with her phrasing. In her Anita Blake books, she uses the phrase 'sleeping together like a pile of puppies' all the time in some form or another. It popped up in this book twice and both times, I was like ...

I was very saddened to hear of Anne Bancroft's passing today. She brought to life the character that has inspired my entire dating philosophy, Mrs. Robinson. Grandpa, my only foray into elder dating, called to extend his condolences. He said the topic of older woman/younger man dating was all over talk radio and most people now think it's no big deal. A far cry from 1967 when The Graduate came out. Now, most people are unsurprised, and even supportive, of my pursuit of the 20-something boys. Know this, I'll continue to do my utmost to live up to the legacy.

What is your inner-hair color? Red Head You are wild and insane! You are the total red-head. Naturally insane you excite people and make their blood flow. Be careful though.. life isn't all about fun and games, but still, keep it real and be yourself!!! Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests. I may be an inner Red Head but Blondes really do have more fun so I think I'll stay that way.

What part would you play in a horror movie??? Lead Victim Usually you're a female but often times male. Despite the fact that you're not the biggest, not the toughest, not the smartest, nor always the fastest, you still get away most of the time make it to the piece of crap sequal. Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests. Umm, I actually think I would only live because I'd be under the bed. Oh, damn! I just gave away my hiding spot!

I went to Cafe Posada Friday night with the Crime Dog and the Fetching Mrs. Crime Dog for karaoke. My, what an interesting evening. The place was packed with what I will kindy call Local Yokels. Not quite Deliverance folks but still somewhat scary. They reminded me of the farm folk in the Midwest where the sun, drinking and smoking makes everyone look like they're 50 when they're really in their 20s. I did my standard survey for boys and it was like "No, no, no, ohmigod no!" Everyone but the three of us was chain smoking and throwing back quite a bit of alcohol. They all looked like they'd spent the morning on the tractor, the afternoon at the bar and were settled in until closing time. One woman, that we nicknamed "Braces Lady", was drinking Long Islands and stumbling into everyone. She was also dirty dancing and it wasn't exactly pretty. I'd put money on it that she took a face plant before the night was over. The karaoke ranged from t...

When I first got into NASCAR a couple of years ago, I had a little crush on Jeff Hammond who is a former crew chief and one of the FOX announcers. He was cute, a cowboy and knew a whole lot about something I know very little about. I'm always attracted to people who know more than I do. I wish I could get a brain dump from them and get their knowledge. I'm not so much into him now, though. He seems a little too much - like he's just trying too hard to be popular. His book was kinda like that, too. I enjoyed hearing about his start in the business, working for Junior Johnson, being the crew chief for Darrell Waltrip and the emotional ups and downs of a life in racing. But, I don't know, it seems like he can't say a negative word about anyone without following it up with something to soften the comment. Maybe, he's just that positive of a person. I did feel like I was given insight into the workings of NASCAR, the teams and the personalities from the book. And, t...

Now that the TV season is officially over, what's a couch potato to do? No more Lost, Deadwood, 24, Desperate Housewives. And, those are just the shows I admit to regularly watching - I won't even go into the hours of reality TV that filled my week. Sugar Daddy is content watching reruns of reruns of King of Queens but that doesn't cut it for me. I've caught up on all of my TiVo'd World Poker Tour shows and have two NASCAR races to watch but after that... Well, I do have five books lined up to read so that's good. We tried to fill some TV time with some summer shows that we heard about on Howard Stern . They were talking about Dancing with the Stars and interviewed Rachel Hunter. Stern had seen an extended promo and thought it would be good. It's not. Last night, we watched H1T Me Baby One More Time (another show we heard about on Stern). It's a music contest where 80s/90s musical acts perform head to head to move on to the next round. Oy vey, do thos...

This was an impulse pickup at the library. The full title is The Hookup Handbook - A Single Girl's Guide to Living It Up and it's by Andrea Lavinthal and Jessica Rozler. It was pretty frickin' funny. They talk about the different types of hookups, "The Walk Of Shame" and the dangers of drunken dialing to potential hookups. Here's some stuff out of the summary from the book: All We Really Need to Know We Learned from Hooking Up (Well, Maybe Not Quite, But...) Three hookups do not a boyfriend make. Guy friends are great for hanging out with but usually make for a hookup disaster (unless, of course, you get magically beamed up into a Meg Ryan movie). Yes, he really was a as painfully boring as your friends kept telling you. Wearing sweatpants in front of your hookup is the quickest way to end things. Know when to see him free: A little drama in your life is fun, but too much is a Lifetime movie.