is that greg marmalard on the left?

i <3 the dan band.

Should there be a Michael Jackson butter sculpture at the Iowa State Fair this summer?

We appreciate the input of hundreds of people who have voiced their opinions, both positive and negative, on the issue of including Michael Jackson in the 2009 butter sculpture.

The ongoing discussion has created a lot of, well, ‘churn.’ Since everyone has an opinion about the sculpture, we’ve decided to put it to a vote and let Fairgoers decide.

The concept of the sculpture will be a celebration of the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk on July 20, 1969. In honor of Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind,” this year’s sculpture will include an astronaut, an American flag and a buttery rendition of the surface of the moon. Depending on the vote, Michael Jackson would be featured in a small side portion of the sculpture as the first pop-star to perfect and popularize choreographed moonwalking.

 VOTE NOW!!!

Thanks, Jeff!

when having surgery:

•  if your hair is not firmly and securely attached via roots into your scalp or a recently tightened weave (no judgement), why don’t you just leave that hair hat of yours on your night stand, or perhaps in your over night bag? a fetching scarf, bandanna or knit cap is a stylish way to hide a multitude of de-wigged hair sins, but rest assured that when you lie down and i get you off to sleep, your mop top is not on your head, but in the surgical bonnet on the pillow. and though i will try my hardest to maintain your dignity and keep that in place for you, your “look” as it were, is a bit further down on my priority list. i’ve got stuff like vital signs, a secure airway and delivering the actual anesthesia a bit higher up.
• ditto heavy make up. and by ditto, i mean, not today, k? i won’t deny anyone some concealer, cheek stain, a lash curler, perhaps lipgloss (when i had surgery last august, i made my friend and anesthetist hold my chapstick for me till i woke up), but if there is ANYTHING that could smudge on your face, it will, my friend, be smudged. Natch pancake make up. Once a person is asleep, I must secure any airway devices to the lip with tape. I also cover the eye lids with tape to prevent corneal abrasions. Tape won’t stick to greasy OR powdery skin. Since I lack running water In the OR, I actually have to use an alcohol swan to attempt to clear a path of attachment. That tape eventually comes off. So does the inch thick layer of orange make up you applied, as well as several gummy eyelashes. we do tell you not to put anything on your face, don’t we?
• remove all your clothes please may not seem like a beauty tip. Especially if your surgery doesn’t seem to be In the panty area. But let me ask you – do you want to run the risk of heading back home commando due to the urine scented panties now In a bag In your purse that some discharge nurse had to hand to you on your way out the door? Sometimes accident happen and we don’t want you to be embarrased. What happens In the OR should stay In the OR.
• please PLEASE don’t lie or misstate things such as dentures etc… because family members are in the room and your hubby of 64 years doesn’t know you wear dentures. i mean, i get that some people don’t want to be seen without such things and i TOTALLY respect that. but ya gotta fess up when we are out of earshot of family or at a time when you are alone with a nurse or whatever. i am happy to not have you have to reveal all your secrets when you don’t want to or it would embarrass you. BUT IF YOU DON’T TELL ME THERE IS SOMETHING LOOSE AND POTENTIALLY BREAKABLE IN YOUR MOUTH AND I BREAK OR LOSE THEM, IT PROLLY AIN’T GONNA GET FIXED OVERNIGHT. then where would you be?

Damn Linda Evangelista and damn her eyebrows! I have been off the last two days and work tomorrow. Finally got some precious pool time (mit sonnenshein) outside and have been passing the late afternoon with VH1s countdown of the top 100 songs of the 90s. Ahhhhh, the memories! Linda, Christie, Cindy, Naomi, Tatjana….

God I used to have so much fun going out every Thursday – not Friday or Saturday (for amateurs) – say to the I Beam in the Haight for 70’s funk remixes or DV8 and see my bouncer boyfriend du jour. This was a time when my bestie at the time and I would spend hours getting into costume – we did elaborate hair dos involving hair that was not our own – and i recall fringed shorts as well as chaps with hand cuffs as a decoration. We were on the list wherever and knew people. Fortunately for all involved, there is no photographic evidence documenting my circa 1990s love of beehive hairdos, electric blue eyeshadow, babydoll dresses or fishnets. They could not possibly live up to my memories.

• author sandra tsing loh is divorcing and wrote this article about it. interesting article, many truisms (i think, speaking as a never married) but ultimately too bleak.
• city of virginia beach FAIL: i noticed a change at the little park just across the street from where i live. about 2 weeks ago, there was lots of tree cutting and trimming activity. i am one that would normally support fairly vigorous pruning as i walk my dog alot and will have memorized which streets or trails have lots of low hanging tree branches that threaten to gouge out my eyes on my walks with the magpie. however, they did appear to be planning to deforest the landscape, which i had commented to my guy when i noticed it. in any event, sometime last week, i noticed that the benches were different. instead of just a regular, metal bench that was there – and not that old or weathered in appearance – i started noticing benches with a little armrest in the middle. like dividing a bench into two sections of two seats. so how does that relate to the compassion fail? well, those types of benches, specifically recently placed benches, are devised at least in part to render lieing on or sleeping on benches impossible. it harkens back to debates in my hometown (san francisco!!) in the 80’s (maybe they still debate it, despite SF’s reputation as completely socialist).  i just saw on this mornings news that a homeless shelter has been built about 2 blocks in the other direction, so i realized there is definitely a connection there. i find it disappointing. i mean, i have noticed a particular kind of asian appearing man on a 10 speed with really old school radio headphones that did seem to be stationed on one of those benches napping alot since i’ve been here, and i have noticed the wafting scent of pot drifting from individuals sitting for a long while in that area… but i also feel for the folks who don’t have a place to go during the day – and may not feel safe at night sleeping in a new and clean shelter with strangers in a room. i’m conflicted.  i don’t want to encourage loitering or unsafe areas by any means (the landscaping changes do make for more visible areas which i actually now think is an improvement and make it more likely that i might strol around the block there at dusk), but i also think switching out new and perfectly good benches for most likely lieing down inhibition is kind of paranoid.
• in regards to using FAIL above, slate posted a great article about the epic rise of fail
• i am enjoying twitter so much – i’ve so  been on it for a few years -  i do approve my “followers”, after the epic fail of having them as a widget on my blog last year and the ensuing nightmare – and i really do keep in touch on a daily basis with quite a few really cool people i know who live far away. wish i could get my brother and grandparents to tweet!
• i <3 my boyfriend! he is completely wonderful and awesome and smart and cute! i aim to get so we are able to spend any and every moment we want together, but for obvious reasons, i can’t really put all of that out there on the blog.
• maggie is barking at the open window. incessantly.

but i started tivo-ing jon & kate plus 8 about 3 months ago, and was interested in seeing what was going to happen next after watching their bizarrely awkward finale of their last “season” (when they still actually spoke to each other face to face), but, for the record, i loved and still like watching the kids run around and say funny kid things to each other and the camera people. 

okay, he may be an underachieving, non-assertive tool (i know of an “unhappily” married person or two whom i would describe the same way?? absolutely), but honestly, i am watching this “big announcement” show and it only confirms what a self-centered, ego driven, obnoxious martyr that biotch is!!!!!! OMG!!!!

i had hoped NEVER to tweet and/or blog about the waste of airspace that their 15 minutes of fame is, but she is soooooooo RIDICULOUS on this “very special episode”. i mean, forget anything anyone else ever has ever done for the good of humankind anywhere EVER, because, by gum, that kate gosselin!! boy! how does she go on!!!!

she is obnoxious to every one else in the show in lieu of or in referring to the husband she is not speaking to and vice versa, and clearly she is the ONLY person ever to merely think of her children’s safety (on camera), she’s the only person who she says in regards to her impending divorce that she let herself have half a day to cry and sob and hyperventilate (wow. 10 years and your first love, she wants to SAY out loud that a half day and she must move on for the happiness of her family and PS she will struggle to go on and be there for her family no matter how she has to!!! ie on TV), i mean HOW DOES SHE LIVE????? probably the new playhouses, one for each kid, with thecrookedhouse.com stenciled on the front of each, with appropriate camera time might explain some of that. and kate saying80 million times how these product placement items are making memories her kids will recall sooooo many years from now (hey aiden? remember when we got those crooked playhouses the day our folks told the world they were getting divorce? yah! those were good times!)… oh, and their could probably be more “peace for the kids” although, yes, not as much money, had you perhaps even ended this debacle when hubby sat beside you on camera and and essentially said he didn’t want to do the show anymore. STOP TALKING OBNOXIOUS CONTROL FREAK LADY!!!!! andour new cleavage looks fabulous, btw. i do wonder why she didn’t televise that, or wasn’t that gratis? 

again, nobody knows what all happened there, maybe jon is a freaky wife beater and unrepentant compulsive gambler… and she seems truly obnoxious in about every way, but jesus, probably you could have actually stopped this trainwreck and/or  spoken the fuck up before now,  but man, this dude should just lie back and let her continue to display her inappropriate self centered-ness to the world. oh, and start the kids in therapy now. i mean they are paying for it, right? literally and figuratively… anyway, he seems at list in touch with his issues unlike the hopefully-for-him-soon-to-be-ex-missus.

but seriously dude, diamond earrings? seriously? next he will be getting highlights….

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what seems best today, often…not so much in retrospect….

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 actually i dig the stainless steel. but every time i see the ubiquitous finish on every single decorating show, magazine, home, store…… even while i am admiring it, i am thinking “is stainless steel the avocado green of the “oughts”?”

and then i thought about how true my title is in regards to life, right? what are all those things you thought you loved, had to have had to do, go to, see, be with etc…. and what…. all avocado green frigidaires.