A Little Geography Quiz

I got such a positive response to my geography post - half-joking - that I thought it was time for another geography teaching moment. Maybe I'll make this a regular thing.

For work and play I travel to lots of interesting places around the globe. Recently I started a new job where it is expected that I will be covering a few countries for our team. Every day I would come home from work and my husband would ask "what did you get? what did you get?" and I had to answer "I don't know yet".

Well now I know. Maybe you can guess:

1. You would never get a tourist visa for either of these countries.

2. Both countries' average highs hover around 90 degrees F - every month of the year.

3. One country requires French-speaking skills, but not so much the French spoken in Paris. Cross the border and you need to speak Spanish.

4. The other country has a name very similar to its neighbor to the north - which when mispronounced sounds like a racial slur (it's fun to watch people struggle with that one!)

5. I'll be taking malaria medication. And hopefully this time it will work.

Can you guess them?

Baby Beethoven

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

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Joyfully, I find myself spending a lot of time buying baby gifts these days. If you invite me to a shower or over to see the new one I'll bring books and clothes (for 18 months - thinking ahead to the time when the 600 onesies you got will be useless).

Lately I've also been thinking about Baby Beethoven. I think it's partly due to a dinner I went to where the hosts played their CD incessantly - the child was upstairs sleeping and somehow the CD playing in the living room on the other side of the house for hours after the kid had gone to bed was somehow going to keep her in bed. Rather than soothing, I found the plunk-plunk of the toy piano on the CD mind-numbing. Maybe it was hearing my wedding procession played like I was a toddler that finally got to me.

Partly inspired by SMID's constant introduction of music to her children - real musicians playing songs the way they were written (graphic lyrics and all) - I put together a CD for a friend of a great album by Leon Fleisher. "Two Hands" is Leon Fleisher's first recording in 40 years after he suffered from focal dystonia - he had lost the use of his right hand. Thankfully, he recovered to great success and even went on to receive a Kennedy Center honor.

Hopefully my friend's baby will find this music soothing, at a time when she's probably more focused on burping better.

(I apologize for the poor quality video - go out and buy the CD!)

On a cold gray day

Hibernating

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

VaVoom!

Yesterday I posted on our attendance at one of LA's premiere entertainment activities - pro-wrestling mixed with striptease.

The VaVoom is all about the striptease. You'd think one would find this fascinating for the usual reason - women stripping - but there was so much more. Typically you have a woman using fans in a clever way to hide her body parts; if you haven't seen it in person you probably caught it in a movie like Victor, Victoria.

Here a few of the higlights of striptease brought to a whole other level:

It's hard to tell from the photo exactly what's going on - I'll do my best to describe it. There's a man dressed as a cowboy bouncing up and down continuously on a pogo stick with a plastic horse on it. Follow me? He's bouncing vigorously for what had to be 10 minutes (thighs of steel!) all the while taking off his clothes. Just when you think he's reached the end, wearing nothing but a stars and stripes decorated speedo he pulls at his last remaining piece of clothing (still hopping!) and a burst of silver glitter sprays from his crotch. Yes, a g-string! What ingenuity!

The best tease was the last one... a woman (or so it seems) using a feather fan eventually reveals herself to a be a himself. And then proceeds to perform the most acrobatic, beautiful, and truly impressive act with a hula hoop. Calves of steel! Brilliant!

The evening's finale was something called Sashay Gigante. You're watching a bunch of men onstage in various outfits (fireman, postman, etc) and they proceed to strip off their uniforms revealing a variety of speedos. Only this group seems off, they are not nearly as buff as the previous peformers - both wrestlers and strippers. You wonder what's going on as they proceed to gyrate. And then they run into the stands and hump various audience members. That's it. Nothing else to it - just a big ole Sashay Gigante.

Plates of steel? In their heads?

Lucha VaVoom!

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

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We just got back from LA where we hit both the high and low cultural points of this town.

For Valentine's day my husband and I joined my little brother and his girlfriend for Lucha VaVoom! A combination of Mexican masked wrestling and burlesque, this show was outstanding in its acrobatics and colorfulness. Wrestlers dressed as chickens and nurses, women (and sometimes men) performing denuding feats that only years of wasted time could produce. Truly astonishing. A memorable performance all around. And some heart-racing music played at full volume.

I leave you with this short clip of the night's festivities...

More on Lucha VaVoom! and other highlights later this week...

Valentine's Haiku

Flying to LA
Valentine's Day in the air
Join the Mile High Club...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone - we're off on vacation.

Visit My Mommy's Place for the Second Haiku Buckaroo Contest! You've got until Friday to enter your own poetry. And this time you'll win prizes.

Geography

I am a geography geek. I could peruse an atlas for hours. And so it was with great interest that I came upon this map.



Funny, they forgot to mark the Starbucks at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Another Round!

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

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With SMID visiting Europe this weekend I was reminded of my travels there as a child and all of the music we took in. Mostly, we staged productions of ABBA songs - "Fernando" and "Dancing Queen" were favorites. Occasionally we would be exposed to other music.

For instance, Roger Whitaker. Popular amongst the German housewives at the time, and sung in English, we found more fodder for our dramatic talents. I recall vaguely something about a staging of "Yellow Bird" and "Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella" - maybe that was the Muppets. Not that you could tell the difference. English-speaking children spending the summer in Germany will take whatever they can get.

Finally, I distinctly recall a particular song we learned while touring around - "In Munchen steht ein Hofbrauhaus, eins, zwei, Hofbrau!". While other kids were learning "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" we were learning beer hall songs.

Oh, what an educational childhood!



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p.s. Watching the Grammys as I write this. Anyone else think the sound quality is sucky? Isn't exactly selling any tunes.

I don't know what to make of it.

Dick Cheney's dog, Dave, and Lucy, our beloved cat, have the same veterinarian. Good thing we didn't schedule our appointments at the same time.

Poor dog, such a shame his owner is heartless.

Posting at 11pm on Saturday Night

Late

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

Kiss Them!

I came home today to this in my mailbox. Not only does it indicate that spring is a mere 6 weeks away, it shows last night's primary results.

I'm not going to promote one or the other - they are both clearly liked by a number of states and voters. In fact, one won more states, one won more delegates. Reminders of 2000.

Alas, I was not part of yesterday's frenzy - that is next week - but my family was! My dad tried to caucus in his new hometown but hadn't registered in time - but he really did try! And as luck would have it, the polling place was his favorite bookstore. Gotta love that.

My sister, brother, and mother all voted in the first ever global primary. Not sure how many delegates that is and who exactly those people are. And if any of them count. No matter, they voted! Kiss them!

Super Tuesday in Jakarta

(notice there are more cameras than voters)

Worlds Collide

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

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Are you a fan of Bollywood, Teletubbies, and HIV prevention?

I am!

And if you are too, this is the video for you! (Not for the kids)

Four Flights In Four Days

Dizzy

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

Oops I Did It Again!

I made onto Looking Into again!

I made a distinct effort over Christmas to take photos that were something more than documentary. Denver really leant itself to artistic photos - mostly taken by my husband.

I especially like this particular photo (that I took!) of the Denver train station because I love to travel and travel by rail is one of my fondest childhood memories.

And now with lots of travel expected in the new year I will continue to look for those "Looking Into" kind of shots. Except for airports where armed guards usually attack you if you try snapping a photo. Will avoid that.

Time Suck

As if there aren't too few hours in a day, here's how I've chosen to waste the ones that I have...

1. iTunes - hours of entertainment. especially when your friends have so many recommendations. also a great way to burn through lots of cash - in case you have suitcases full lying around

2. Facebook - really couldn't be a bigger waste. communicating with your husband via graffiti. how many friends can I accumulate in an hour so I can beat my sister in a popularity contest?

3. IM - when your family lives around the world, this can be a collossal vacuum of time. good thing they prohibit it at work or I'd be spending 8 hours a day trying to decipher my mother's shortand - cul8r!

4. The Daily Show - videos online. okay, not exactly a time suck since I do learn a lot about current events. but do I really need to catch up on what happened in 2003?

5. Kayak.com - how many fantasy vacations can you plan and never actually go on? hmmm... last count, 52. one per week. enough to keep me going back to the office.

Okay, I gotta go now and find another way to lose another evening...

Just a few questions

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

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If you were like any kid in the 80's, heck any kid today, you got a bit of your fashion advice from your favorite rock stars.

It's okay, you can tell me, you had the Flock of Seagulls haircut. How much hairspray did it take to keep that do going in all different directions? You don't need to run so far away when I ask that question.

Or maybe you modeled your hair after Heart? Tease me. Please. How big was the comb you used to get that frizz to perfection? These dreams don't scare me.

Did you show off your cute legs with a mini-skirt inspired by our favorite girl band the Go-Go's? You can tell me, my lips are sealed.

Don't worry, you can confess here. I won't tell anyone. I'm just sitting here typing away in my Madonna-inspired lace gloves. I know, I'm borderline insane.

After Two Office Retreats in Three Weeks

Spent

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

It's An Honor Just to be Nominated

Oscar nominations came out today - and since there may be nothing more than an Oscar press conference next month, I thought I'd take this opportunity to put in a plug for a few favorites.

Let me preface all this by saying that I am by no means an Oscar fan. I don't dress up, have a party, place bets. I find the whole thing annoying - I don't need *one* single favorite, I prefer a collection of favorites. Heck, it's not like I go to only one movie every year. These are just some thoughts that you might not hear from the mainstream critics.

Viggo Mortenson in Eastern Promises - Holy Cannoli! Literally. Full frontal nudity in a fight scene. And somehow not gratuitous.

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War - FRICKIN' HILARIOUS! Makes you want to become a CIA agent just like him - maybe they should put him in ads for recruitment.

Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone and Ellen Page in Juno - two sides of the young women maybe shouldn't be having children story.

Ratatouille - Cartoon cooking schools should be filled to over capacity after this film.

I won't comment on Best Picture - I haven't seen them all and I think the ones I have seen really bring different things to the table. You should see them all. No need to choose favorites. There are plenty of fake Oscars to go around.

And one sad note - an Oscar nominee we lost today:

Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

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This being MLK Day and being inspired by SMID's posting this week (Huckabee? Oh God help us!) I thought I would post on songs that inspired me to action.

I've been a bit of an activist all my life - hardly compared to some friends - but pretty much known among others as the one ready for a fight. Pick your battle, I'm in.

So this week's post is dedicated to those favorite songs that make me want to get up and do something.

Top of the List: "Talkin Bout A Revolution" by Tracy Chapman. I remember when this came out - heyday of George the 1st, successor to Reagan, one-termer. The "what me, worry?" president. Your own people can rise up against you when you dismiss and ignore them.

"Stop Children What's That Sound?" by Buffalo Springfield - I remember hearing this Vietnam Era classic on the Muppet Show. Hey, listen up! Pay attention!

and finally, a song that was adapted from another in response to Hurricane Katrina. oh, how far we have not come...(this one not for the kids)

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To follow up on my Campaign Songs posting last week - the Washington Post wrote an article on the very same topic!

To The Rescue!

Earlier this week I posted a phrase that I seem to be saying a lot these days. Quite honestly, I've been saying it for years. Someone thought it might be from a movie - Fast Times At Ridgemont High, for instance. No, it was uttered to a friend by our favorite neighborhood barman.

Way back in the early 90's a good friend (we'll call her Cathy) and I lived in the West Village in NYC. This was pre-super rent increase (though rents were still astronomically high) and we had a local bar that still maintained a regular (not yuppy) clientele and regular bartenders. The jukebox was fantastic, the beers cheap, wood-paneled walls, and the best burgers ever. Hands down. No kidding. It was such a happy place...

One night we were hanging out as usual and there was another woman who was falling down drunk, literally. At one point she collapsed on the floor. Cathy, being a lifeguard during the summers, moved into full-on rescue mode and dialed 911. While waiting for the ambulance, the woman's friends picked her up and carried her out of the bar.

The ambulance arrives with two very laidback EMTs who have come to rescue the fair maiden. Who is now gone. Cathy talks to them and tells them that the woman has been carried away by her friends and apologizes for bothering the EMTs. They're pretty cool and tell her no problem. Dude. Off they go.

Cathy is feeling a bit stupid for having reacted so strongly. I assure her she did the right thing, the woman had literally collapsed. Tommy, the bartender leans over and in his thick Irish brogue says:

"Next time someone does something crazy like that, you see that she's breathing, check her wallet for money, then ask her 'what are you smoking, and can I have some.'"

Words of wisdom.

Three Day Weekend

Glorious

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

Oft used phrases this week

"They send one of ours to the hospital, we send one of theirs to the morgue. "

"What are you smoking and can I have some?"

Grid-O-Rama

I once had someone do a psychological test on me - the result, "you like problem-solving". Not as in world peace (still working on that) but more like the NY Times crossword puzzle.

I recently mentioned that I saw the movie Wordplay about a crossword puzzle competition run by the NY Times puzzle editor, Will Shortz. I've been a fan of his for years - ever since he was editor of Games Magazine. I may be a geek, but I am in good company - Jon Stewart also does the puzzle.

My puzzling obsession has taken on epic proportions at my new job. Two weeks into it, and I have already created several grids and have embarked on a project to create an organogram. And another project to produce a service delivery cascade that can be best described as OrgPorn. I can't help it. I have to put things in boxes.

I see chaos and I need to create order.

Now if I could only apply this obsession to my closet.

Campaign Songs

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

This week SMID is out of commission - the details of which will no doubt show up under a posting for "parental horror". Please let me know that you will be posting!

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In light of the recent activity around the upcoming presidential election I started thinking about campaign songs. Some original, some from bands we all know. What makes a good campaign song? I have no idea.

Here's a few that I thought were pretty interesting:

1932: Franklin Delano Roosevelt: "Happy Days Are Here Again" which was totally appropriate to the time

1972: George McGovern: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" which I very much love and was appropriate to the time, but don't you think it's a bit morose?

1984: Ronald Reagan: "Born in the U.S.A." which I think is particularly funny since Bruce Springsteen asked Reagan to stop using it - Go Bruce!

1988: Michael Dukakis: "Coming to America", an odd choice since I think it's about immigration. Doubt that would go over well today!

1992: Ross Perot: "Crazy", toooo funny! I love Patsy Cline but don't you think this song's title isn't quite the image you want to project? And a bit slow and romantic at that.

2004: John Kerry: "No Surrender". Ouch.

2008: Hillary Clinton: "You and I" by Celine Dion - demonstrating that letting the public vote isn't necessarily a good thing.

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Want to read more about Music Monday?

A2eatwrite declares herself Nerd Princess - yay Nerds!

Cablegirl (aka 42) illuminates War Pigs - hmmm....

Wholly Burble has thrown her hat in the ring this Monday

Fleeing Floyd

This post is written today in honor of our family cat, Eloise, who passed away last week at the ripe old age of 18. She lived a full life, as evidenced by the following true story which she participated in.

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In September 1999, due to various transitions in our family, my sister and I found ourselves housesitting (and cat sitting) for our Mom in Savannah, GA. At the time, my sister and I were between homes and Mom was in Europe on a hike about to meet the man she would later marry. As my sister, Jenn, and I were homeless we also had our pets with us - the total in the house being 6 cats and 1 dog. Sounds like a lot but the house was pretty spacious. Blitzen, Eloise, Henri, Hector, Sophie, Lucy, and Wilma (the dog). And me and Jenn.

We were enjoying ourselves in this lovely coastal home overlooking a marsh when some friends from NY called one night - "Are you watching the news?". No. "There's a hurricane coming and you need to evacuate." Alrighty, then. We turned on the TV and the local news was on red alert - everyone must evacuate, Hurricane Floyd is going to hit the Georgia/South Carolina coast. Everyone.

We ran around the house putting away objects that might become projectiles should the glass doors on the house be smashed. We contacted Mom briefly to ask what we should pack in the car - important papers in a box and the rest of it would have to stay. To her credit, she didn't require us to pack all of her possessions - good thing, because the car wouldn't hold it all - what with the 6 cats and 1 (large) dog. Oh boy.

My sister furiously called around to hotels further inland and the best we could do was a motel in Augusta, GA - about 3 hours away. We packed up the car (thank God it was a station wagon!) and headed out. More like crawled. 10 hours of crying cats later, we got to Augusta. The country's 2nd largest evacuation had kinda clogged the roads. Hmmm.....lesson learned by FEMA??

We finally arrive at the motel and when Jenn checks in she discovers that there is a $25 per pet charge - per night. That would be twice our bill and half our income- thankfully, to enter the rooms at the motel you went from outside - no toting anything through the lobby. So under the cover of darkness, and with several trips, we managed to get everyone into our room. Two double beds proved to be sufficient - everyone had a place to sleep. After awhile we got kind of bored and started playing badminton (we had the forethought to pack rackets and shuttlecocks before we left Savannah). That proved mildly entertaining to our sacked-out companions.

The next day we realized we had to leave our room - taking everyone with us - since housekeeping was going to come by. So back in the car went our menagerie and we began to drive around Augusta. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant where we could see the car from our table. Went to a museum for a short visit - the city had made all museums free for the evacuees. And then we drove around trying to figure out what to do next.

The radio stations were in full evacuation mode - "thousands of people homeless, big storm coming" - and they kept asking people to drop off supplies at the local storm shelters. Heeding their pleas we went to the grocery store and stocked up on diapers, shampoo and baby food and headed off to one of these shelters. As we were walking into the shelter with economy size diaper packages a local TV crew filmed us. Later on that evening we ended up on the 7 o'clock news - "Locals help out hurricane victims". Ironic, given that we're from NY.

All the while we were sending emails to everyone to let them know we were okay - and on TV! Mom would get these emails at each stop along the hike and read them to her companions at dinner. Endless entertainment.

After another night in the motel we were free to go home - and in just under 3 hours we were back at mom's house. Lots of tree branches everywhere but otherwise everything was intact. Except the one dish that Jenn broke while trying to pack Mom's valuables safely away. But you can hardly blame that on Floyd.

One of our family cats (not Lucy) has died

Sad

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

The Dog Ate My Book Report

Oh, I'm having 4th grade nightmares all over again. We had to record the number of books we read and our totals were posted prominently on the wall. Despite being the best speller in the class, I didn't do speed reading. I've never excelled at reading "competitions". I just read whatever, wherever, whenever.

I could peruse an atlas for hours, go through hundreds of National Geographic magazines, pour through volumes of recipes - but ask me to count the number of books I read and I just fall short.

And now with Day to Read, I've failed at even the simplest thing - reading a page. I wanted to, really I did. But I spent a whole day in an intense office retreat and then went to a concert (I read the program!) and at the end of it all my brain was mush. Mush mush mush.

I promise, tomorrow is DEFINITELY Day to Read for me! And no excuses about the dog eating my homework. But there will probably be a cat reading over my shoulder.

Retreating

What will I be reading on January 10th? Well, for the past few weeks I've been telling everyone that it will be The Princess Bride - which is true. I'll be reading it at night when I go to bed.

Alas, the rest of the day I'll be reading minds.

I have an all day staff retreat on the 10th. For my new job. I'm somewhat famous for my ability to avoid such retreats - somehow I have magically either arrived at a job just after or departed just before a staff retreat. So, you see, I've never been on one. But I have heard horror stories.

At one retreat a friend was asked for one word that described her office. "Toxic" she replied.

I think the odds are that this will be a good day - alas, no bowling or karaoke like some retreats I've heard of. But maybe avoiding heavy projectiles objects and public singing aren't such bad ideas.

I'm fairly optimistic that this will be a productive exercise - for sure I'll learn a lot about my office and how it functions. I'll get to meet all the new people and learn a bit more about the current staff. I hear they're serving lunch too.

And later on that night I can retreat to my bed, forget it all, and be whisked away to a magical land with princesses and pirates.

I Feel Warm Inside

As I sit here writing this I am watching Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. He doesn't have writers but he's still funny - heck, he could be bombing and I wouldn't even notice. I'm just so glad to have my major news source back.

Having The Daily Show back is like:

1. a beautiful spring day lying in a meadow after a cold winter (as long as it's not January and 70 degrees!)


2. a tall cold beer on a blistering hot day (as long as it's not December and hotter than Texas!)


3. a breath of fresh air on a mountaintop (that still has some snow on it because it's not the beginning of the Presidential primaries and balmy!)

Ah, my heart is warm (and not because it's steamy outside!)

Remakes

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

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I was watching the movie Wordplay (which is awesome if you're a big NY Times crossword geek like me - includes Jon Stewart who is hilarious!) and there was a song playing that I couldn't quite place. The tune was familiar, the singer was familiar, but they didn't match. My puzzling mind tried to figure it out.

Finally it came to me - Shawn Colvin singing This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) - a song I've known to be sung by the Talking Heads. She did a wonderful version of it and I even felt like I heard phrases I'd never heard before. A positive effort all around.

And that got my puzzling mind thinking about remakes (not covers - which are more like what wedding singers or Las Vegas bands do) of other famous songs - and maybe not always so successful. Here's a list of a few remakes I like - can you add any others?

1. One: U2 (original), Mary J Blige and U2 (remake) [not really a remake but oh so much better with MJB]


2. Hurt: Nine Inch Nails (o), Johnny Cash (r)


3. Red Red Wine: Neil Diamond (o), UB40 (r)


4. Tainted Love: Gloria Jones (o), Soft Cell (r)


5. ...

Puzzling minds want to know...

Work is Harsh

I know none of you will shed a tear for me on this one. Probably throw tomatoes. But here goes.

I started a new job this past week. The first job I've had in an office in 3 years. In case you think I've been completely unemployed, I have been working - just from home. The consulting stuff got to be too unstable, and benefits too appealing, so I took a job (with more travel and interesting work too) and so it's back to the office for me. I think I'm prepared - I've been watching The Office for 3 years.

Well, at least I thought I was. Here's my past week's foibles:

1. First day walking to the metro - 28 degrees with whipping winds at 7am. ouch.
2. Work wardrobe. Shoes. ouch.
3. Need a security badge to go to the bathroom and anywhere else. Kinda like a hall pass only worse. Fear being accidentally strangled by lanyard.
4. Squatted in someone else's empty cube for 3 days before realizing that the cube they assigned me did in fact exist and wasn't just a figment of my imagination. To reach said cube, must enter wardrobe.
5. Staff. retreat. next. week. Never been on one in my life. Can't say I've heard good things about them.
6. No IM. No talking with my sister and mom who both live overseas in far away time zones.
7. Husband still learning "make dinner" concept.

Now here are the good parts just so you don't think I'm a total whiner:

1. Get to work with friend who is cool - alas need badge to get to her office.
2. Have work space not defined by couch length
3. Regular paycheck (soon)!
4. Lunch buddies
5. Conversations with people who aren't sleepy 19-year old cats
6. Husband understands "make coffee" concept very well.

After the First Week at the New Job

Pooped

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

There's An Epidemic

MADISON - New video was released of a police chase in Madison. Dash cam video shows officers pursuing a man in a stolen Krispy Kreme truck! You can see doughnuts literally flying out of the back. Police eventually caught up with the suspect. The cops say he was drunk.

Police recover doughnuts
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Police followed a trail of doughnuts to find a stolen Krispy Kreme delivery truck.

"It has a happy ending," Swatara Township Sgt. Robert Simmonds said. "The evidence was brought back to the police station, and the cops are eating the doughnuts."

It was 12:45 a.m. Thursday when Krispy Kreme deliveryman Tim Trostle stopped at a Swatara Township convenience store and left the engine running as he made the delivery. Someone fled with the truck, but since Trostle had left the back doors open, police were able to follow a trail of doughnuts.

The doughnut trail ended before long, but police in a nearby township found a doughnut cart near the Harrisburg city line. City police found the truck near a downtown bar.

No arrests were immediately made. The truck was returned to the company.

Although Simmonds had been joking about police taking the contents of the truck, he acknowledged seeing Krispy Kreme doughnuts in a station conference room Thursday.

"I suspect that the manager from the Krispy Kreme might have given us a little thank you for our efforts," he said.

Thieves Find Hole In Plan
TWO crack cocaine smokers left a 15-mile trail of doughnuts after they took a delivery truck from a car park lot.

The truck was parked at a store with its rear doors open and engine running while a Krispy Kreme delivery man carried doughnuts inside, police in Slidell, Louisiana, said.

They abandoned the truck when they were spotted by police responding to reports of a driver losing his doughnuts.

A police spokesman said: "I don’t know if it was a need for transportation or if they just had the munchies."

Digital Killed the Radio Star

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

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A recent article in the Washington Post got me thinking about how I hear about new music. The article talked about how the Recording Industry Association of America is suing a man because he copied CDs (that he purchased!) onto his own computer. Yep, that's it. Not copying and sending to a friend. Not posting on a website where others can download it. Just doing what millions of iPod owners do every day. Scary.

Enough about how the RIAA is trying to kill music. It got me thinking about how I acquire new music - sometimes (oh please, government don't read this post) friends will send me inspirational CDs, or a copy of some songs from an artist they think I might like. Generally speaking it's music I wouldn't otherwise purchase - I hadn't heard it before and the artist isn't someone I would seek out. And I no longer listen to the radio.

I remember growing up we would always have the radio on in the car. Driving around with Dad it was WQXR (classical). Driving to school with my siblings it was WLIR (alternative - during the 80's). In college it was WHFS (alternative in Baltimore/Washington). Many of these stations sadly no longer exist or if they do the music is very different (all talk, Latin). And I no longer own a car. On the rare occasion when I am in a car I now have satellite radio which lets me choose exactly which genre I want - back to the 80's for the most part - or we set up the iTrip and choose from what we already own. Our stereo at home might have a radio - I have no idea. Our alarm clock plays NPR.

So how do I acquire music nowadays? Read my friends' blogs, go to a movie, and get mix CDs for special occasions. Uh oh, better hide.

The Lull Between the Holidays

Peaceful

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

The New Yorker

Here's my weekly plug for Day to Read. This week it's all about The New Yorker magazine. Oh how I love it.

I grew up "reading" this magazine - mostly the cartoons when I was younger. They have by far the greatest cartoon collection of any magazine. Perhaps the only one. Legendary. They were my funny pages (seeing as the NY Times didn't have comics). My Dad had a few of Peter Arno's cartoons on the wall in his office. When Dad retired he gave the cartoons to partners in his practice. It's the one item in his office I was truly sorry to see go.

In DC, the #42 bus is also known as the New Yorker bus. Every morning as it wound its way through Mount Pleasant, Adams Morgan, and Dupont Circle, you could see all sorts of people reading their latest issues - I always knew when mine had arrived late just by looking at the cover of other people's magazines.

One thing I remember very distinctly about first meeting my husband is that he had a subscription - as did I. When we married, we merged our accounts and now we have to share. Good thing he's better about sharing the New Yorker than he is about sharing the NY Times.

My favorite writers are David Sedaris for his acerbic wit and Seymour Hersh for his unrelenting criticism of this administration. On occasion there is also Atul Gawande with medical conundrums and Malcolm Gladwell on sociological phenomena.

The covers are equally legendary - sometimes a quaint comment on reading or weather and sometimes a strong criticism on our world leaders. Always a painting or drawing - never a photograph or list of contents. Truly, a work of art.

Many people look to the groundhog as the harbinger of spring. I look for Eustace Tilly on the cover of the New Yorker - the guy in the top hat with the monocle. Then I know, it's only six more weeks of winter.

Denver Debrief

Here's a quick recap of our holiday trip to Denver (Dad's new home):

1. went to Tattered Covered Bookstore. If you love old bookstores with tables for reading and a yummy coffee, this is the place for you.


2. went to Denver Art Museum - with new wing designed by Daniel Libeskind. Just an aside, while working in Zambia for 3 weeks last year I saw a documentary on this famed architect about 10 times. Great museum, great museum restaurant too.


3. went to Red Rocks Ampitheatre - in whipping winds. Stunning. Would LOVE to see a concert there (during summer)


4. went to Museum of Contemporary Art. interesting.


5. spent holidays with family - played Wii with 7-year olds. Butt kicked thoroughly. will practice for rematch.

And of course we did other things - shopped, ate, survived snowstorm. Highly recommend the city. We'll be back in August.

Pretty (Gory) Women

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.

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Seeing as it's Christmas Eve I thought I would share a holiday musical story.

Only I couldn't think of one. So instead you get blood and gore.

Today we went to see Sweeney Todd - the film version of the very popular and successful Broadway musical. My dad saw the Broadway show many many years ago but somehow failed to remember, or perhaps it was because the stage version was less bloody, that this wasn't a terribly "uplifting" film. I didn't expect that it would be a happy story, but a little less throat slitting would have been nice. That said, I highly recommend the film. Johnny Depp is amazing. Helena Bonham Carter (who was also fantastic in Harry Potter) shines again - as a grim character. And Alan Rickman, ever the evil character, lives up to his previous roles.

My musical moment is this - over the years I have heard or read the lyrics to any number of Sondheim's musicals. Unfortunately, I never got to all the shows and thus only lived off of the songs - without the backstory. Who knew "Pretty Women" and "Not While I'm Around" were staged in such gruesome circumstances. No bother, I will be purchasing the soundtrack next week.

Almost Famous

Just a quick update on a previous SOS.

Lucy's sob story made the Washington Post.

Not only does our cat live, she is famous.

After a day spent in freezing winds with snow...

Frosty

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

Kudos to Me

Be warned, this post is about how great I am. I have proof. We had a party last weekend and I baked and fried myself silly. Just wanted to share two emails I received on Monday.

"you outdid yourself as usual. I ate at least 5 potatoes worth of latkes and as many donuts, which really turned out well. and a scone and and... MMMMmm. DOOH NUT. Still thinking about them."

"Thanks again for a great brunch and of course the best doughnuts ever! We both had a great time and can’t wait for the next time that we’ll get to have those little mouthfuls of deep-fried, jelly-filled goodness! (and to see you both of course)"

I couldn't be more pleased. Big grin.

and just to make this a Thankful Thursday - I'm thankful for my friends who are so appreciative of my efforts. And also thankful to them for the times they've had to eat some real duds.

I'm An Artiste!

I am thrilled to have finally made onto Looking Into!

I'm one of those people who tends not to take photos and even when I do it's more to document that I've been someplace - almost like a CSI photographer.

With lots of travel expected in the new year I can hopefully get some more artistic shots - and just let the passport stamps tell where I've been.

Go check out my artistic debut!

My Sunday Ritual

Putting in another plug for Day to Read. Don't get all freaked out if you can't read a book for whatever reason - screaming kids, pounding hangover, spoiled Christmas egg nog - there are other things you can read with a shorter attention span. Like the newspaper.

With the internet, newspaper reading has become a lost art. There's something not quite the same about scrolling around, jumping from page to page, reading "what other people emailed". I read more of the paper when I'm reading a PAPER. I'll be focused on one article and out of the corner of my eye I'll spy a word or a headline or a photo which grabs my attention - "ooh, go there next!"

In our house we get both the Washington Post and The New York Times delivered daily. It makes for a lot of paper. During the week my husband and I sit in bed and read the Post - he gets the front section first and I start with Style. It's the ritual, I can't change it. When he leaves for work (I work from home) he picks up the NY Times outside our building (seems only the Post has keys to the place), and takes it to work with him. So Monday through Friday, I get only the Post.

But on the weekends, oh the lovely weekends, we share the NY Times. I love the Saturday crossword puzzle and often have to fight him for it - it's generally in the Arts section. And Sunday, heavenly Sunday, is hours of entertainment.

Here's my ritual:

First I hit the wedding pages in Sunday Styles - on more than one occasion I've come across people I know and it's fun to see what they're doing (and who they're doing I suppose). I also like to read about people I don't know and place odds on the union. Some combos are just too hard to believe. Some I imagine ending badly in some torrid affair. Some have nothing in their biography but their parents' professions. Yours truly had a better announcement - although the lead line "Ms. Rose, 38, is keeping her name." seemed to indicate I was destined to be a spinster. Grrrrrrr.

Next I like to go to the Ethicist in the magazine. Love the conundrums and while I love Randy Cohen's writing style, sometimes I bristle at his advice. It is possible to be both an ethical and a horrible human being at the same time.

If there's a medical mystery in the magazine that week I go to that next. "Yes, Addison's disease! That's what I suspected too!"

Finally I hit the Week in Review. With the writer's strike the late night jokes listed on page 2 aren't as good. But the collection of political cartoons (the only time you'll ever see cartoons in the Times) from around the country are wonderful! After that it's some Frank Rich to get me all pissed off at Bush (yet again).

Then I move on - maybe travel, maybe real estate, perhaps the business section.

Whatever tickles my reading fancy.

Rocky Mountain High

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.
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Growing up with older siblings, my musical taste was heavily influenced by the records (LPs, big black disks) that my brother and sister would get for Christmas.

I very clearly remember a string of years with Donny & Marie (particularly the year of the purple rag look), Shaun Cassidy (red and white striped t-shirt, Da Do Ron Ron) and John Denver (Greatest Hits). These gifts were specifically given to my sister, but in a house where there was one turntable, everyone listened to these records.

I'm over Donny & Marie - not sure that I ever really was under them. And my Shaun Cassidy crush probably lasted all of a month. To this day, I am still in love with John Denver. Sadly, he was killed in a plane crash - ironic given that one of his most famous songs was about leaving on a (jet) plane.

Take Me Home Country Roads - who could love West Virginia so much?
Leaving on a Jet Plane - the saddest song about leaving a loved one.
Sunshine on My Shoulders - I vaguely remember this being sung on The Muppet Show
Rocky Mountain High - I'm in love with Colorado, a place I only ever briefly visited

and finally, Annie's Song. One of the most beautiful love songs ever. Sadly, he and Annie split, but it's still magical. "You fill up my senses." Sigh.

Breakin' Up Is Hard to Do

Nope, this isn't a post about romantic relationships gone bad - it's about breaking bones.

We had a party today and absent was a dear friend of mine - she broke her arm a couple of weeks ago. I told her story to many friends who wondered where she was - I owe her for making my cocktail chatter more interesting. But boy, am I glad I'm not her right now.

A couple of weeks ago she was at a party and slipped on some water, put her hand down and broke her wrist. I've seen her fall before - and she has fallen hard. She once fell off of a trail while snowboarding - over the ledge and into the ditch. A bit sore but that's it. I once watched her fall in a bar - no bodily bruises, just a crushed ego.

So she puts her hand down to catch her fall and hurts her wrist. She's in pain for a week and half but figures it's just a sprain and keeps popping ibuprofen. Her husband finally convinces her to see a doctor. A few hours and a few x-rays later the doctor announces that not only has she broken her wrist - she broke the smallest, most difficult-to-heal bone. She will need surgery.

Friday morning she went in for surgery - they put her under, tube down her throat, the whole nine yards. The gave her something called the "painbuster" - numbed her entire arm so much so that she felt nothing and had to be careful not to accidentally hurt herself, for lack of feeling.

She'll be in this puffy cast for a week, then a plaster cast for a month, and after that a splint for another month. Oh yeah, and she's got a titanium pin in her arm. For the time being she's doped up on Vicodin which makes everything seem not so bad.

I'm sorry that she missed the party - I really would have loved to have had her here. But she did give me a cool story and a great opening line "Jen has a broken arm and they had to do surgery!"

After dozens of muffins, scones, quiches, latkes...

Fried

For more Singular Saturdays go visit Jenn in Holland.

Tante Ily's Hazelnut Cake

Today is my sister's birthday - I won't say her age but I will say she looks a lot younger than that number. Where she is right now is December 14th - if I wait to post this I'll miss the birthday, so bear with me on the advance posting.

In honor of my birthday this year she posted some photos she knew I would like. As my talents don't lie in photography, I won't be doing the same. However, I would like to share with her (and everyone else in the blogosphere) a cake recipe. This recipe (along with many others) was given to me by Tante Caroline as a wedding gift. The original recipe comes from Tante Ily (Caroline's aunt) - the best baker I have ever had the pleasure to know.

Happy Birthday Jenn - hope to share this cake with you in person soon!
(keep in mind that Caroline speaks in colorful terms - not very precise but pretty!)

Hazelnut Cake with Chocolate or Mocha Cream Frosting
(The Mocha cream frosting is the preferred, but I have not a foolproof recipe for you - I, too experiment each time. So, use the chocolate; it is the same as for Sacher. Or be courageous and try Julia Child's reicpe.....)

(for two large cake tins, buttered and floured)

1lb. Hazelnuts (almonds are good too), some oven roasted*, ground
1T. finely roasted coffee
2 1/2 c. veryfine sugar ("verifine" = is between granular and powdered)
12 eggs (separated)
apricot or red currant jelly, sugar, schnapps

Oven set at 350 degrees F

Beat 1/2 the sugar into yolks till bubbly (use some vanilla sugar if possible***)

Beat whites with 1/4 cream of tartar (to stabilize the whites) - or use pinch of salt. Add in the rest of sugar and beat till smooth and glossy.

Probably using a large salad bowl, combine gently folding the yolk mixture with the whites and the ground nuts

Spread into cake tins and bake for 25-30 min.? May need a bit much longer? Test again with wooden cake tester till comes out moist, not wet. (just did this one recently and as this is an increased recipe, the timing is no longer valid)

Dump onto rack, slice with floss, glaze (as in Sacher recipe) topsides. Assemble. Allow to cool well and frost.

The chocolate = as in Sacher recipe. Or, look into Julia Child for the Mocha. This, too, keeps long in the icebox, without mouse intervention.

*To roast hazelnuts: place on oven cookie sheet in a hot oven and allow to bake till the skins start to split. Keep roasting till nut meats gain a nice "suntan". Remove from oven and put out to cool (winter window is best as the skins virtually pop off). Then roll them around between your hands to help some more of the skins off. Outdoors, then blow away the loose skins., the nut meats remain. Not all skins are gone but a lot. Do this with a generous handful of the total and you will achieve a wonderful aroma. Then grind all nuts, preferably in old hand mill, you know the type you clamp-screw to the table. These are the finest (your nuts are acting in place of flour) results - the bought ground nuts are rougher and haven't got the roasted quality. As we are dealing with a true T. Ily recipe....you might have fun training your store-bought-cake friends (do young slim career people still eat cake?) to experience what really good ingredients can amount up to (No baking powder! No flavor enhancers! No emulsifiers, no coloring, no preservatives - hey, what have we got here?)

**Vanilla sugar can be purchased, is, however, usually not quite the real thing - and WE don't accept "Vanillin" (Dr. horrible Oetker's substitute for real Bourbon Vanilla), do we! So, buy yourself a couple of vanilla beans - expensive, but cheap in the long run. Slit them open lengthwise. Scratch the black soft center out and use it for a nice vanilla pudding or vanilla sauce for over fruit, etc. Then take a tin or jar with lid and fill with the "verifine" sugar and the scratched-out bean hulls. After just a week, but for months to come, the entire sugar will serve as vanilla sugar - but the real thing.
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[I made this cake using the mocha frosting from Julia Child - yummy! The Sacher recipe for the glaze is just spreading the jelly on the cake while it is hot so it's absorbed by the cake. And I think that's 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar for the egg whites. You also might want to line the tins with parchment paper. Good luck!]

Thankful Thursday

I was going to post a photo for Wordless Wednesday and then I realized it's Thursday. Yep, it's one of those weeks.

So now I'm coming up with a new idea - if only for this week. Thankful Thursday.

This week I am thankful for my housekeeper:

• I am thankful that she is coming today to clean up before our party on Sunday.
• I am thankful that she can come on short notice.
• I am thankful that she makes my house smell so nice.
• I am thankful that she brought us flowers on our wedding anniversary.
• I am thankful that she loves my cat and has taught her Spanish.
• I am thankful that her fee is less than marriage counseling - because you know that one of the number one reasons couples fight is over household chores.

I am thankful for Consuelo.

Happy Hanukkah!

Tonight is the last night of Hanukkah - the festival of lights (instead of one day of presents we have eight crazy nights)

In our house we celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas - we basically will celebrate a holiday provided it doesn't involve fasting.

This year Hanukkah fell pretty early in December which is good I guess if you're eager to get one holiday out of the way. Challenging if you thought you had more shopping days.

Each night we light the candles on the menorah and say a prayer (for peace, our cat, our loved ones). Then we eat a candy from our Neuhaus chocolate advent calendar - what can I say, we like food.

As in past years, we'll be having a holiday party - we generally build the theme around Beethoven's birthday which is December 16th (think apfel streudel). I make lots of tasty food - the tastiest being latkes. Oil, potatoes, salt - what's not to love?!

Putting together the soundtrack for the party is a bit more challenging. Beethoven works but this year I thought I'd try some other holiday music. Plenty of jazz and rock Christmas music. Not so much interesting Hanukkah music. Basically it's Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song (which I love, but you can't play that 10 times during a party without it getting a little old). The Barenaked Ladies have a few good songs. And then I stumbled upon The LeeVees - these guys are awesome. So sit back, and enjoy "The Latke Clan".

Happy Hanukkah everyone!

Dog Dreams

This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory (some are freakin' hilarious!).

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This post is dedicated to memory of Wilma, a dog who lived the dream.

One of my favorite songs on The Story's album, Grace in Gravity is "Dog Dreams". It is exactly that - what a dog is dreaming about. I once had this dog bed for Wilma that had little clouds with fire hydrants and dog bones all over it. Wilma dreamed a lot. She would also talk in her sleep. On many an occasion I would wake up in the middle of the night to hear Wilma "talking". It was not yelping or barking or snoring (though she did plenty of the latter). She was having a conversation - her voice would come out in spurts with inflections - so human.

Of course this song always makes think of her. Today would have been her 18th birthday. We miss you Wilma.

"Dog Dreams"

Me and Rex took the car,
ha, ha, stay home...stay.
We're gonna run over
all the neighborhood cats,
'cause they tease us from
the other side of the fence.
We're gonna go in the swamp
and you can't hose us off.

Dog Dreams, Dog Dreams
Please don't wake us up!

No bad dog, No stay,
No basement, No way,
No choke chain, No dry food,
No fetch game, No, No, No,
No bad dog, No stay,
No basement, No way,
No choke chain, No dry food,
No sit, lie down, roll over, SHAME.

Me and Rex took the car,
ha, ha, stay home...stay.
We're gonna go through
everyone's garbage,
have the dinners we deserve.
We're gonna find some great-smelling bitches,
and see if they meant what they said
from the end of the leash.

Dog Dreams, Dog Dreams
Please don't hose us off!

No bad dog, No stay,
No basement, No way,
No choke chain, No dry food,
No fetch game, No, No, No,
No bad dog, No stay,
No basement, No way,
No choke chain, No dry food,
No sit, lie down, roll over, SHAME.

How Can I Say "I Hit You"?

This SOS came to mind about 20 minutes ago when I revealed to my husband that I had once hit a Rav4 (car). This story isn't so soapy, so much as an exercise in how to avoid stating the obvious.

Years ago I was driving up to Providence, Rhode Island to visit friends. It was part of a longer journey I'd been taking up the east coast sometime after my grandfather had died. That last sentence is mostly irrelevant - but perhaps I'm looking for some more excuses. Anyway, I'd been driving for a long time that day - something over 6 or 8 hours - with my dog in the backseat and we had just pulled into downtown Providence. Just pulled off the highway. I was meeting my friends somewhere downtown and while stopped at a light I looked down at the directions in my lap, looked up again at the light, looked at the car in front of me, and took my foot off the brake. And I hit the car in front of me. I think at the time my car was having some trouble (as evidenced by me hitting the other car) so that when I took my foot off the brake the car didn't just inch forward, it lurched.

I hit the Rav4 - a sort of mini-SUV - not too hard - but its back window just shattered! Weeks later there was a story on the news about a design defect on the back window of this car - so I hadn't even hit it that hard - but the window shattered and it made a big splashy noise. And I crunched the hood of my car (a lower to the ground old Volvo). Right downtown. In front of lots of people.

I phoned my friends and said I would be delayed - they offered to walk over (seriously, I was blocks from meeting them) and take my dog. I phoned the police and got out of the car to talk to the other drivers. They were very nice - they were on a date. A first date. Perhaps I had given them a bonding experience!

I remember very distinctly hearing from my insurance company that I should never admit guilt. It was kind of tough in this situation. I hit their car. I was behind them at a red light. Not much else to say.

All I could utter was things like "I'm sorry this happened. So you're on a date? Where were you going for dinner?". Ugh.

The cops came and took down all the info. They asked me what happened - "Uh, I was at the light. The car went forward. It hit the other car." I had to write a statement saying what happened. "I was at a light. I looked up. My car hit their car." As if the car and I were somehow not at all related. I could just see my English teacher rolling her eyes.

I'm sitting at an accident, which I caused, and all I can think about is how angry my high school English teacher, whom I hadn't spoken to in over 10 years, would be if she read my statement.

I'm such a geek.