EY's Rants and Raves

I've never really had a problem with the girls, until now. Even years ago, when they were small, they were always just fine. They knew when to behave, but when I'd let them out to play, they always have fun. Now, however, they've been more trouble than normal. Sometimes, they are way too intrusive and obvious. Other times, they hardly seem sufficient.

In case you're confused, I'm not talking about children. I'm talking about The Girls.....my, um, bosoms. Went shopping again tonight and half the shirts/sweaters I tried on were WAY too tight across the chest. The other half gaped open because there wasn't enough to "fill in". I just don't get it. I'm a C. Not an A (anymore) and not a D. I know, I'd said I wasn't going shopping for a while. But I'm tired of all my clothes, especially my shirts. Managed to get 3, so I should be OK for a while.....

It's President's Day and the kinda local horsetrack was open. A clear, slightly warm (if windy) beautiful day for February. So a few friends and I went to the track. I'm not a huge gambler, but if the company's right, it beats the heck out of going to work. For the first few races, nothing. Considering that my previous track outing produced no winning tickets whatsoever, I wasn't really concerned. Then I won a small ticket. Then....oh my.

Just on a guess, I put 2 favorites and 2 longshots into a trifecta (3 of those 4 had to come in 1st, 2nd and 3rd, although since I boxed it, they could come in any order). Two of my longshots came in. And by "longshot", I mean 15-1 and 20-1 odds. So I more than doubled the money I'd brought to eat, drink and bet with today. It was the largest ticket I've ever cashed and the most money I'd ever made gambling at any time. EY was happy. Her companions were happy because dinner was on me. My cashier was happy because since I had 3 winning tickets with her, I gave her a nice tip. One of my fav wine stores was probably pretty happy since I gave them some of my winnings in exchange for 2 VERY nice bottles of wine as soon as dinner was finished. After all that, I still have money to put (back) into the bank.

Yep, Abe and George.....I'm certainly glad we're still celebrating your birthdays.

Saw the Blue Man Group last night in their "How to be a Megastar" tour. It was really good and in many places, laugh out loud until you hurt funny. It was part The Boy's Christmas present, but we both had an excellent time. There is a video in the show that Fred Armisen is in. It's the funniest thing I've seen him do. He's been on SNL for 5 seasons and I've never thought he was more than slightly amusing. He's not side-splitting funny in this either.

We sat next to the geekie, techie stuff like the soundboard and control-y things I couldn't identify. I figured The Boy would get a big kick out of that, but I think I looked at it more. He has some friends who have been in one band or another for a long time, so it may be that he's just more accustomed to the technical side of putting on a show.

Today is Playing the Ponies Day--known to the rest of the US as "President's Day". Wish me luck!

It's been colder than normal for the past few weeks. We've had spurts of warmth for a day or so, but mostly cold (for here) and most days have had sharp, cutting winds as well. I've had a hard time getting warm or even staying warm. Flannel sleep pants, shearling house shoes, throws, sweaters, hot tea, nothing is really working. I've been in the house for over 4 hours now and my feet are still cold. The rest of me isn't too bad, but I don't *feel* warm. Laptop battery is helping my lap stay warm. Don't think I can get it under my toes without damaging it.

Next week, it will be in the 60's. Wonder if I'll warm up any?

Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen. Essentially, a Basset Hound who's having a bad hair day. Time after time after time, I see these dogs win the Hound group at shows far and near while their beautiful cousins, the Bassets, are snubbed. And at this year's Westminster, the Basset's fate was no different. Upstaged by the fracking PBGV. The Hound Group winner has only gone on to win Best In show at Westminster and this year will be one of many where the lovely Basset never has a chance.
Grrrr.

Yes, all in a day's work for EY. I've been attending a lovely, warm, welcoming church for a few months. Eveyone in the church is very nice and I absolutely feel that I "belong" after this short time. However, nearly every child in this congregation is wild to the point of nearly being feral. Kid today had to be taken out twice because he was yelling. One family has a passel of kids that have to go out, be forcefully handled or otherwise subdued in Children's Church or communion nearly every.single.Sunday. It amazes me. I think they leave them in the woods during the week. It certainly seems so.
I was a pretty good kid, but especially so in church. There is no doubt in my mind (more importantly there wasn't any then) that misbehavior in church was a huge no no. If I had had to be taken out twice in one Sunday (then), I'd be able to say to you (now) "Look, here's the scar from when I decided to be an idiot in church one Sunday....this is what I got the second time I was taken out". Unfortunately, that makes my parents sound like violent, cruel people. They aren't in the LEAST. They did set expectations early about how to behave in public and enforced their expectations. I knew what to expect for disruptive behavior and the choice was mine.

On to shopping....my other lovely Sunday chore. I hit one major new department store today for the second time. First time I was ignored and all the interesting-looking clothes wouldn't have fit me when I was 16. Nearly 20 years later, they were laughable suggestions. Today wasn't better. I felt very much like the guy in the Jeff Foxworthy story....I think I'd rather have exploratory surgery than go shopping again. Heck, I could use the break from work. After a couple of sad attempts at a local store, I was up to the Ron White analogies. I can't remember what he was comparing to, but next time I think about shopping for clothes, I'll see if I can't find an opportunity to sandpaper the @**hole of an alligator in a phone booth. It would be much more fun than I had today.

Believe it or not (if you've read this far through my whining), there was a bright spot in my day: The Queen. I love Helen Mirren and thought this movie looked really good. I've been trying to see it for about 3 weeks. I finally gave up on seeing it at an "arthouse-type" theater and went to a chain. No matter where I saw it, this was one fantastic movie. Helen Mirren rocks as does Stephen Frears (not that I like HIS movies or anything).

Pat Bradley that is. You don't know who Pat Bradley is? And you know me?? (Kidding, kinda) Pat Bradley played for the Arkansas Razorbacks in the late 1990's and was a fantastic free throw and three point shooter. He's also very cute. A friend of mine went to a UA BB game in 1999 and brought me back the program because Pat was on the cover. I still have it in my cube at work.

So when he attended a local event*, I HAD to be there (he's now a coach for a semi-pro team in the area). Unfortunately for Pat and the other guy from the team, there wasn't much of a crowd when I got there. Fortunately for me, I got to talk to him and get a picture. I took my program and he signed it. I didn't bring my camera, but since I have a camera on my phone, I was able to get a picture with him. He was impressed that I knew he led the SEC in free throw percentage and three point percentage.

Granted, Pat didn't make it to the pros and unless you're a free throw/3 point person, you probably wouldn't be that impressed with him. But here's a significant difference between a player like Pat and, say Shaq. Yes, if I need rebounds (and every team does), I'm going with someone monstrously tall. Shaq gets a lot of grief about his horrendous free throw stats. To the point that a couple of years ago he said that he just didn't care about free throws. No matter how tall you are, though, free throws and 3 point shots take practice....over and over and over. If I see a high percent on either of those, I know that's a player with a good work ethic. Height is great in basketball, but I'd argue that a willingness to work hard is just as valuable.

So as with many other things in life, size does matter. All size and no effort, however will never be as impressive as determination and a willingness to work to improve. I'll never be a big Shaq fan, but I'll always be a fan of Pat's.


*Unfortunately, this post is rather late. I actually met Pat last week, but haven't had a chance to blog lately.

The beter team definitely won the Super Bowl. Not that Chicago couldn't have won, but rather that they made too many mistakes, didn't take advantage of opportunities and left their defense on the field WAAAAY too long. I had a great time in the first quarter, but not so much after.

I'm sad. Sad because it's the last game. Sad that we didn't win. Sad that a season with such promise ends with such mediocrity....

Most of the sports fans in North America are all a buzz over tomorrow's game. A good many non-fans are planning for Super Bowl Parties. Oddly enough, I'm doing neither. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely looking forward to the game--my Beloved Bears are in and despite the predictions of every sportswriter, sports call-in show host and caller, I think they have a decent chance. But I don't do Super Bowl Parties. I have nothing against them as long as I don't have to go.

I'm a bit of a contrarian on many things and you could definitely make a good argument for me being anti-social. However, SBP's are wonderful for fans of PARTIES, but not so much fans of FOOTBALL. My fav SPB was last year at a neighbor's. During the actual game playing between the scads of commercials, the only sounds were the 5 of us eating, us making comments at the TV, and the host couple's daughter playing (quietly). During commercials, we talked, got food, got drinks and were back in our seats when play started up again. We had good game food: burgers, chips, dip, beer.

The Boy went to a "Party where the Super Bowl happened to be what was on TV". I've been to that particular one before. Giant TV, but no sound, lots of music, lots of chicks getting drunk and talking about fashion or their hair, or whatever, maybe 4 people out of 40 paying any attention to the game. Even when I don't care that much about either team (CAR vs NE 2004), that's not the way I want to watch the last game of the season. I do usually fix something and send with him, mostly so I don't have to eat all of a recipe of all by myself. He usually makes WONDERFUL popcorn to take and leaves me some. Think popcorn popped in olive oil with either garlic, rosemary, parmesan or carmel, orange and cinnamon (a FAR better combination than I thought it would be).

This year, I have two solo viewing options: here on top of the hill or in town at friend J's house. Why would I drive into town to watch the game at someone else's house? Someone who won't actually be home at the time? Simple: HDTV. J has it, we don't. And for 99% of the TV I watch, that is perfectly fine. But sports completely rock in HD. I've seen a few football games in HD and if I could rent an HDTV from Sept. to Feb., I'd be doing it. Going to J's would be a little inconvenient. I'm still not quite sure....and yes, I know I have about 24 hours to decide.

I'll keep you posted.....

# posted by EY @ 10:29 AM 0 comments