An Arizona Cheesehead's Thoughts

There are some flavors that are meant to be experienced in only one texture. Anything else is just plain wrong. I give you as a classic example, the popcorn Jelly Belly. They are absolutely the ick. Popcorn is supposed to be crunchy. Does anyone like soggy popcorn? No! Why would anyone then eat soft, moist and chewy popcorn flavored jelly beans? Seriously, They Sell Bags Of Just Popcorn Flavor - What Freak Buys Those? What inspired this rant? Well, it was actually that they're selling Chewy Sweet Tarts at work. Sweet Tarts shouldn't be chewy. Again, a flavor and texture fail. We also sell Jelly Belly combo packs but I refuse to buy the one that has popcorn in it because I don't want to vomit at my desk. That would be gross.

Sugar Daddy and I went out to dinner with our crazy friend Cheryl tonight. She's completely nuts and has been for as long as I've known her. After her usual quirkiness to start the evening she said, "I have a question that I've asked a bunch of people but they don't get it." We said, "Go ahead" "Why did Venkman have Thorazine with him on the date?" I was with her without even thinking about it. "Well, he was a Psychiatrist." Her response was the he was a Paranormal Psychologist and therefore shouldn't have access to prescription drugs. Good point. I then, not seriously, posited that he was going to roofy Dana. Sugar Daddy was lost. We had to explain to him that it was a Ghostbusters reference. Once he got that, he asked Cheryl, "Did you google it?" Of course, she didn't because she's not a techie like we are. He started typing in "why did Venkman (we had to spell it for him) have thorazine...

My friend Mark Mulligan put together a fundraiser last night for the Yarnell Firefighters Fund. Most of us in Arizona felt the pain and horror of 19 men losing their lives but Mark more so because he used to live in Yarnell back in the day. The event was at Aunt Chilada's and eventually around 200 people cruised through. Donations were accepted for Mark's performance and there was a silent auction and a raffle. All of Mark's tips for the night went into the kitty as well. To try to raise the take, Mark issued a challenge. If someone could give him a song he couldn't play, he'd give them one of his CDs. If he could play it, they had to throw some more money into the bucket. Because of this  incident in 2005, I knew exactly what to challenge him with. I walked up and said, "Aimee" and he said, "Go get your free CD." How Did I Not Have This One? Too funny. And, somehow there was one Mark CD I didn't own so I now have the complete ...

I got an email from a friend yesterday saying that she might have access to a free ticket to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - The Musical at Gammage last night and wanted to know if I was interested in going. My first thoughts were that I'd only gotten four hours of sleep the night before and already had plans for tonight and tomorrow night so the wise thing would be to pass. Oddly, the thought that I really don't care for musicals didn't even enter my mind. (Yes, let's just break out into song! It seems perfectly natural!) Of course, I didn't pass. You can sleep when you're dead. We met up at another friend's house and there were boas, tiaras and clown sunglasses in the car when I got in. Apparently, Doona thought we should dress up for the show so dress up, we did! Girls Night Out! We got several comments on our attire as only a few people in the crowd were decked out. The staff at the ticket counter were wearing boas, though, so we weren't...

I heart Trop Rock Musicians. It's pretty well known that I stalk poor Hal B. Selzer but there are others that I think are just fantastic. And, cute. Fortunately, they're all very nice to their fans so I haven't been put on any "Keep this person out of the show no matter what" lists. Yet. I went to Migration last month. It's a multi-club sponsored event held in Irvine, CA. They do a great job of bringing in local and imported talent. This year, they had Mike Nash of Southern Drawl Band on the bill and he was also one of our cabana mates so I got to spend some time talking to him. It's distracting to look at him while talking to him because he is, well, stunning. Usually, I say something like "easy on the eyes" but he's beyond that. Also, pretty nice to hang out with. Cabana Buddies - I made sure I was next to Mike because that's how I roll On Friday, I started a quiet side conversation with Christa that went like this: Me: I...

The Thursday before Parrot Grande, a group of was were at the Glendale Margaritaville for their summer SOS Thursday event. They bring in live music and have food and drink specials and it's a nice way to head in to the weekend. One of our Parrot Head friends from the Lake Havasu PHC was playing. His name is Gary Peaslee and he does a really fun show. Besides singing and playing various instruments, he brings a lot of props and encourages audience participation. I went over to say hey and introduce myself to the people I didn't know yet from Lake Havasu. "Oh, you're THE Kathy?" Why yes, yes, I am and that reaction doesn't get old. Who doesn't like to be famous if even just in a small way? While I was chatting they gave me stick on mustaches for my posse and told me when Gary was going to play the song in his set. For those not familiar with the song... We all proudly put on our mustaches and sang along at the correct time. That's A Lot Of ...

Many years ago, The Goat decided to wear the hotel supplied robe out and about for a weekend. It started a tradition that continues to this day. He's always breaking out a robe, people have given him robes, it's just silly. It's A Look That We See Often While Goat was out golfing on Parrot Grande Friday, a bunch of us were having breakfast in his room. Tammy said, "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if we all put on Goat's robe and didn't tell him?" That's all it took. Tammy Proudly Started It Off Doug's Turn Scott Going JC Penney Model There's One In Every Crowd That Has To Be Different That Would Be Wayne For Us Since Goat Can't Tell Us Apart Anymore, Crash and I Went Together Susan Does a Bird Pose Horst Is One Who Started The Robe Giving Christine's Turn Jan Goes Betty Boop Sandi's Turn Even Phred Got In On The Action Thom, Thom, Thom Julie Channeling The Sea...

Football season snuck up on me this year. I watched maybe 10 minutes of preseason games and did literally no Fantasy Football League prep except to download NFL.com's Fantasy Cheat Sheet and program in our scoring so it could rank players for me. But, I made it to through two drafts and remembered to set up the Club's Yahoo Pick 'Em game so I think I'm ready to go. Well, except that my FFL TV show, The League, moved to a new channel and I didn't get it. Football life is not worth living without The League! So, I happened to have gotten a flyer from Cox about prices starting at $99.99 per month for cable, internet and phone. That might not have triggered a call but needing FXX did. Of course, it was a lure. The free HBO portion of it was only if you didn't currently have HBO and it didn't include Hi-Def and DVR. However, after all was said and done, I was set to save $5 off what I was already paying and that included moving my phone from Century Lin...

My friend Tracy and I are serious fans of the bass player from a Trop Rock band called Jimmy and the Parrots. They're out of New Jersey and that's probably the only thing that stops Tracy and me from going to every one of their shows and stare at Hal on the stage with looks of utter adoration on our faces. Instead, we make do with seeing him (and the other guys, we like them, too) in places like Key West, Vegas, Laughlin and Irvine. Before each show, I scope out what side of the stage he's going to be on and then we pretty much plant ourselves in the very front for the duration. I also end up taking about 50 pictures of him...and the other guys, too. He's SUCH a good sport about it all. Seriously, the guy couldn't be nicer with two crazy old bats following him around like he was one of the Beatles. Poor Hal. We are mostly harmless. I swear. This was taken in Vegas last October. See, he looks happy to be with us! Tracy's husband Scott seemed to be c...

We have a tradition at our club weekend event, Parrot Grande, where people can pony up some cash to submit a sign for the golf tournament. It can be anything. A Happy Anniversary, a We Miss You, a This Is Just To Make Fun Of You. The latter happened to me this year. So Not Best Friends Forever Here's the story behind the sign. I grew up in Phoenix and Stevie's Dad owned Compton Terrace, an outdoor music venue. I went to a lot of shows there and, all too often, they would announce "We have a special guest tonight!" And, I would weep. I'm sure Stevie Nicks is a wonderful person. She's certainly beautiful. But, her live singing voice has nearly the same effect as nails on a chalkboard to me. Shudder. I would rage, "I didn't pay to hear her!" but it was all for naught. I think if she was in town, she got to sing. Fast forward many years and I still can't stand to hear her. It's so bad that I've learned to wait for the song t...

I came home from dinner with a friend on Monday night and knew there was trouble the second I opened the door. It was too dang hot. A quick look at the thermostat showed it was 87 degrees in the house. George was not happy but that could have been because I came home late. I tried all sorts of tricks. Turned the thermostat on and off, reset circuit breakers, turned it from auto to manual and even adjusted the temperature way down to see if just the thermometer was off. No go. Sigh. Fortunately, I already have an A/C guy. He's serviced the unit (I almost said "my unit" but I know how you people are) before and has told me every time that I should get a new HVAC. I tell him every time that I don't have $4K. After an overly warm night, I got up and opened the front and back doors and settled in to work under my ceiling fan. In the one good stroke of fortune I had, we actually had rain on Tuesday and the temps stayed low. It was a little warm but quite bearable. ...

The last in an exercise to feel more happiness. I posted 3 different things for 21 days for which I was grateful. The idea is that continued focus on the positive helps rewire your brain to feel it more often and more naturally. Joss Whedon's brain. There are a lot of very creative people out there whose work I enjoy but Joss is at the top. I'm grateful to him for his imagination and everyone who supported him along the way so that I could enjoy Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse (sorta), The Avengers, Much Ado About Nothing and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. The cherry on the ice cream is that his work has led to exposure to many great talents whom I enjoy watching in other shows and movies. One final bonus is that you can check nerd cred pretty easily if you drop his name. Most of us immediately start gushing. Born in the USA. I started life out ahead of billions of others by sheer accident of birth location. I share this good fortune with folks from many other countri...

Our club mascot, Phred Parrott, is no longer allowed to be in the state of Iowa nor in the vicinity of any Iowans. We might have to enforce a 100 yard distance rule. In case you've forgotten, there's this history. And, now we have a new story. Thom, Crash, Phred and I headed to Iowa to celebrate our friend Dawnie's 40th Birthday. I posted a check in at a rest area we stopped at and included Phred. Our friend Jason commented, "You brought Phred Parrott?" I replied, "I did and he better make it home with me!" Jason's reply was, "Challenge Accepted." Perhaps we should have left Phred home on Saturday when we went to the actual party which was held at the local VFW but everyone wanted to see him. I thought he was relatively safe when he was parked by the keg where all could keep an eye on him. Phred in a bucket. Well, we did give him a break from the bucket. Pull tabs and Rumchata shots - gateway activities to living out of...

Continuing on my quest to feel happiness, I'm going to post three things I'm grateful for for 21 days. When people think of me and share. I don't want to know how high I'd score on an official narcissism scale but I suspect it's close to the top. Perhaps it's because I live my life so publicly that people can't help but think about me when they see cats, princesses, Jimmie Johnson, Doctor Who, Jimmy Buffett, cows, etc. (The full list is pretty long.) It's great to just be thought of but my friends take it another step further. For example, two different friends posted the above video on my Facebook timeline on Friday. George doesn't pack her own stuff like Simon's Cat but she does try to pack herself! I won't even go into the random presents I get but I hope everyone knows how grateful I am for them. And, for every picture, video and status update that I get tagged in. Weight Watchers at work. I've lost 20 pounds in the last year. ...

Continuing on my quest to feel happiness, I'm going to post three things I'm grateful for for 21 days. Catching up because I was on the road. Again. Great traveling companions. Nothing can bum out a trip more than having someone who whines and complains about the inevitable  hiccups encountered while traveling. I'm always grateful when I'm with people who, even if they get frustrated, can shake it off and not let their frustrations overshadow the fun. Friend jumping. That's when one of your friends meets another of your friends and the two of them start hanging out without you. In my world, it's mostly a case of cyber hanging out but I love seeing people that I know separately develop a relationship together. We were in Iowa this past weekend and my friend Thom accumulated a bunch of new Facebook friends with people that I already knew. It made him feel pretty popular, too.  Staying home. Most of my travel of late has been self-inflicted but between work ...

Continuing on my quest to feel happiness, I'm going to post three things I'm grateful for for 21 days. I work with a lot of great people. If I did them all individually, I could have done all 21 days. But, there are a few that I really appreciate. Our receptionist. She is fantastic. She notices when people are gone for a few days, remembers when people tell her they're going somewhere and is a very warm presence to our guests. I've never seen her be negative and I always feel better after talking to her even if it's just a quick "Hi". It's nice to start your work day by seeing someone so upbeat. My cube buddy and software developer. This guy is great. He's a humble rock star and often my sanity check. We sit next to each other in the back of the room so we can turn and make "What the...?" faces at each other when things are nuts and no one else can see us. We also IM, especially when he's working from home. Oh, and he's a bi...

Continuing on my quest to feel happiness, I'm going to post three things I'm grateful for for 21 days. This exercise seems to be working on improving my outlook. I'm in the middle of Buffett ticket and Parrot Grande craziness and it usually leaves me frazzled. This time, I'm taking it one step at a time and focusing on the positives that I'm going to get to see a lot of friends at both events and we're going to raise a lot of money for charity for the latter. Hopefully, my positive attitude carries through the rest of August. That I bought my car. I feel very fortunate that when I went to buy a new car, a loaner had been turned in the day before with all the bells and whistles. If I'd had to buy new, I wouldn't have been able to talk myself into the extra money for those features, But I ended up paying about the same as I would have if I'd gone new and without the features and I couldn't be happier. Nearly every time I get in my car, I feel a...

Continuing on my quest to feel happiness, I'm going to post three things I'm grateful for for 21 days. Summer dress code at work. We're really lucky that we can wear shorts from July 1 through Labor Day. They can't be too short or too tight but, man, is it ever nice to not be a sweat box just from going outside during the day. They felt especially good today since I just spent five days in 70 degree weather and today's high was 108. A bit of a rude awakening back to the summer heat. Phoenix drivers. Yeah, you read that right. I think it's a matter of being used to where you live but every time I spend a few days driving elsewhere, I'm relieved to get home. At least in Phoenix, I know what to expect from the idiot drivers. The Milwaukee drivers were complete tailgaters which we usually don't have. I suspect it's because they're so frustrated at their speed limits. Seriously, 50 on the freeway. Those limits were driving us crazy, I can't i...

Continuing on my quest to feel happiness, I'm going to post three things I'm grateful for for 21 days. Having a home, sweet, home to return to. I love to travel but no matter how luxurious the hotel or how generous and welcoming your hosts are, nothing beats that moment when you can fall into your own bed after getting home. And, in my case, falling into bed then having 14 purring pounds of fur fall on you. There are many people out there without homes of their own. I'm very grateful that I do. Beer. Just as with wine, I applaud those who came before us and figured out how to make a fine, fine beverage. Beer provided me with a great topic of conversation on Friday night with a Milwaukee restaurant owner and was the basis of a tour of the Miller Brewery with Steven on Monday. I have lots of great memories from previous tours, too. Beer was also a source of small amazement as Steven and I had bought a couple of cases of Dos Equis, Dos Equis Amber, Tecate and Sol for my p...

Continuing on my quest to feel happiness, I'm going to post three things I'm grateful for for 21 days. This entry is inspired by one of the best days of my life. Mom, Galore, Shorty and Butch - they came all the way from Minnesota! My parents made it to their 50th Wedding Anniversary. I think 50 years of marriage is going to become more and more rare as society has changed. I'm lucky that my parents have had a long and happy marriage. Sure, they bicker but they love and support each other and they love and support Steven and me. I'll be eternally grateful to have them as my parents. That my parents are the people they are. I was amazed at the turnout for my parents' anniversary party. Not only did we have four generations of family members in attendance, there were literally childhood friends of my Dad's there as well as family friends from when we lived in Wisconsin, crap it's a long time, 40 years ago. The biggest surprise was when people that w...