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It's hot, hot stuff...
CAT-A-BLOG ARCHIVE
CAT'S HOUSE OF FUN
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Tuesday, June 14
- The Aviator -- It was a little too long, but still enjoyable. Leonardo Dicaprio carried to Howard Hughes role off pretty well, but not phenomenally. The Katharine Hepburn character was a little over the top, but from what I understand, so was she! A solid... B
- Danny Deckchair -- Funny, heartwarming and quirky. Love the actor who plays Danny. He was the crazy flatmate in Notting Hill. This one is well worth a look on DVD. A-
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 4:04 PM] [Your comment?]
I took a shower with a spider this afternoon. ICKY! There's very little worse than being naked and wet and discovering an icky arachnid swimming along side your toes. Well, there is one worse thing. Showering with a centipede. I did that once. Never again! They hog all of the water! :-)
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 3:26 PM] [Your comment?]
I miss Martha Stewart's catalog. She had a ton of fun stuff. In one of my previous posts, I mentioned my collection of silver Xmas ornaments. Well, on thing that I ordered from her catalog was the silver snowflake kit. Absolutely a blast to make and they turned out so pretty. The kit consisted of four basic things --- flat 6-pronged welded "frames", silver wire, an assortment of silver beads and a pliers. You could follow the basic designs or come up with your own. Well, of course I had to come up my own, Silly. I even added some natural crystal beads to some to give 'em that "natural" snowflake look. A couple of other things I bought from there -- the cake decorating kit (all of the cake colors you will ever need and all of the frosting piping bits and bags to make whizbang cakes), the cookie decorating kit (all of coloring to make colored sugars you'll ever need as well as the piping tools to do frosted cookies and much more), -- both of 'em came in their own tin boxes. Again, read my post about accumulation of kitchen stuff. The pre-boxed idea was fabulous! Perfect for kitchen supply hoarders like myself. Oh, and then there was the annual Halloween catalog. I don't believe I ever purchased anything from there, but it had tons of ideas for Halloween parties. Yeah, I'm one of those Halloweenies who *must* throw a party every year. I grew up with it, what can I say? So, yeah, I'm better about my affluenza with accumulating stuff, but I still miss my Martha catalog. :-)
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 10:15 AM] [Your comment?]
Thursday, June 9
When is the too much home trend going to end? So many of the new homes that are being built around this country are HUGE. Not just 1600 square feet. That's *tiny*. I'm talking 4000, 5000, 10000 square feet. That's for 3.5 people and a dog. When will it end?? I know as a whole our waistlines are expanding. Are the home we are choosing to live in just made to accommodate that girth? Do people feel like they've lost weight when they move into a HUGE house? Maybe the homes are excessively large to accommodate all of the crap we buy? How about that trend? When is the accumulation of "stuff" and lots of "stuff" going to fall out of fashion? Confession time. I personally have two or three (well, at least two major) accumulation vices. Clothing, fabric and kitchen implements. Those are the non-holiday ones. Throw in Halloween stuff and silver Christmas ornaments and you've got FIVE accumulation vices. Luckily all of my accumulation vices can be housed in boxes or at least put away. My Halloween and Christmas things fit into two large boxes. The kitchen implements fit in the kitchen cupboards, and you guessed it, the clothing/fabric stuff fits into my closet. Trying to make a change. I envision ridding myself of "stuff". It's still a fantasy more than reality, but I'm working towards a "stuff-free" existence: - I've pretty much nipped my kitchen purchases in the bud. Our kitchen is very large, but small on storage. No room for the fun, worthless crap. I do miss my Williams Sonoma purchases. The funny thing about this is that while I'm purchasing less items, I'm actually using my kitchen more than I ever have. I've become quite the chef. (Insert humility here.)
- My clothing purchases have seriously tapered off and I recently cut my wardrobe at least in half by selling on EBay, discarding and donations. It felt *really* good to lighten that load. My wee closet appreciated the change tremendously.
- Fabric has been an ongoing thing, though, again, I recently sold off a bunch that was no longer "necessary". Unfortunately, I go through periods of fabric accumulation. Most recently I've purchased some fun fabric on EBay. I've made several purchases recently of Munki Munki fabric. While it's intended primarily for children, I can't help but appreciate the simplicity and joy found in the designs.
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 2:57 PM] [Your comment?]
Monday, June 6
At times I wonder if the LDS church isn't more of a business than a strictly faith born operation. I read in the newspaper this weekend that they intend on spending 1 billion dollars updating the malls in downtown Salt Lake City. That's right. BbbbBBBBillion! The details of the plan are quite secret. They did, however, feel the need to say that the money is in no part the result of tithing. *phew* Not tithing. But then, where are they getting the money? Is it the "fast offerings" that are dutifully collected by the deacons on Sunday mornings? Is it the missionary funds? Is it the result of charitable donations from wills? Or, is it, as I suspected all along, the money from their share of Coca Cola stock?! Hmmm...yeah, they said it was all rumor that they were big stock holders in Coca Cola. Now, I'm not so sure. <p> What's really curious is that this church is a church, right? Why are they spending the money on shopping malls?! Shouldn't they be assisting their members? Or even helping out people of other faiths who are in need? I don't mean to say that the LDS church doesn't do these things, they do, but wouldn't this particular loot be better spent on, oh, I don't know, PEOPLE? Feeding hungry people around the world? Assisting those who have no home or health insurance? I wonder, if with a billion dollars, they could afford to offer free health insurance for all of their members? What better way to get more people to join the church than to give them free healthcare?! The missionaries could go house to house preaching the gospel *and* telling individuals that they could get free healthcare if they got baptized and attended church regularly? <p> 1 Bbbbbiiiilllliooon dollars. The possibilities are endless.
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 12:18 PM] [Your comment?]
Friday, June 3
They were talking about inner-city schools in LA and some of the racial struggles that they’re going through right now. One thing that caught my mind was that Los Angeles hasn’t had a new high school built in 35 years! The one school they were specifically mentioning in South LA – Thomas Jefferson, was built to hold 1500 students and currently it has 3800! Talk about overcrowding! Here’s the curious thing about new high schools that stuck out in my head: In all of the travels my hubby and I have been taking to small towns around the wild West, there are TONS of new schools where the populations of the towns are less than 3,800 . The schools are often HUGE and could possibly hold 400 students. More than likely they have less than 100. It just seems wrong, wrong. I know that a lot of the funding for schools comes from the counties in which they lie, but c’mon, there’s got to be a way to share some of this funding around. I don’t think that there should be cutbacks in the quality of the education in the smaller communities, but if they have *too much* money where they’re building excessively large schools in shrinking communities, it just seems to be a waste when so many could benefit elsewhere. Gosh, am I a commie or what?! J
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 9:41 AM] [Your comment?]
Wednesday, June 1
Ivan’s kids are in their 20s. Ivan’s friends and immediate family are much older and almost all have grown children. I feel as if I’m in a lost generation here in Utah. I’m sure it’s only ‘cuz I really don’t have friends of my own here. (It’s hard to strike up friendships when 1. I work at home 2. I don’t belong to a church or other “standard” organization.) It’s very alienating, really. I’m on a first name basis with the people at the Post Office, but dang, I don’t think that counts as ~friendship~. Just sitting here contemplating my existence.
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 12:39 PM] [Your comment?]
Friday, May 13
Yesterday, I was working in a SPAM producing program. I don’t actually send SPAM, but I do send newsletters for work to subscribers from a website. Anyway, the site automatically checks for potential “stoppers” found in email system filters. Well, I received my first profanity warning in a newsletter about the construction industry. I checked through it. No swear words to be found. That was, until I saw it. We had attorneys listed in there that graduated “cum laude” and “magna cum laude”. Oh, geez. We opted to remove the honors from these graduates so that the email could make it through the filters. To add another funny, a co-worker emailed me and said, after I informed him of the profanity warning: “I spotted ‘condom’ in ‘condominium’.” I really liked the way he said he “spotted” it…as if it were intentionally hiding in wicked way and he rooted out the evil. Just kinda funny. J
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 11:20 AM] [Your comment?]
I learned a new word today: “Fungible”. I thought initially it had to do with mushrooms, but oh, no! It means interchangeable or equally exchangeable. Who knew? And I thought all this time that I had a good vocabulary. Obviously it is lacking some very nice words. J
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 11:11 AM] [Your comment?]
Tuesday, May 10
Long time no post, I see. I guess it's almost idiotic to post in here when I have the thing blocked from view anyway.
Sometimes I need to vent, and this is a great place to do it, even if no one else is around to read it.
Today's topic "insurgency". We switched our radio alarm clock to wake us up to NPR rather than music. It's quite the change as it makes me think more than just move my feet around in a dance move. The problem with it, is that I get ideas in my head in the wee hours and can't get them out. Maybe I can get them out here.
Insurgent. Insurgency. NPR used the terms a lot this morning. Sure, I hear them a lot listening to the news and never really thought about it until today. What is it? Why are these words being used so prevalent in the Iraq debacle? The best my wee brain could figure -- a political spin. I have a fairly good grasp of the English language and even I wasn't completely sure of what the full meaning of "insurgent" was. So, I go to dictionary.com and look it up. Pretty much as I thought it would be, but no more. The news could be using rebel or any other "simple term", but no, they use insurgent. It sounds much more sinister, doesn't it?
When taking a step back away from the news, one has to condsider that an "insurgent" is a rebel. But in this case, WE are the rebels in their country. We forced ourselves in to take away their government. We deemed it inappropriate and oh, so wrong. So, these "insurgents" are actually defensive protectors or guardians of their government. (Don't get me wrong, I believe their tactics are wrong, but hey, I've never been put in a situation where another country was trying to take me over either. Who knows what I might be capable of in that situation?!)
Who's right? Who's wrong? Who's putting a spin on the terms to make the "guardians" seem bad? Is it just the newsmedia or are they pawns to a larger control? It just makes me go hmmm.
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 11:00 AM] [Your comment?]
Monday, December 27
With over 22,000+ people dying in the devastating earthquake and responding tsunamis, it's very disturbing to me to see that online newspapers, especially the smaller local variety are putting this as their third or fourth highest newsstory only 24+ hours after the event. This is a HUGE loss. For the families of the victims as well as for the countries of the victims. It really dwarfs the WTC attack and most other items that are US-centric in nature yet are covered for weeks and weeks (and even months ... years!) in the news. Our media feeds what appears to be a common belief that "Whew, glad it didn't happen here. Hey, what did you get for Christmas, " shortsightedness. It's repulsive really. Are we that myopic as a country? Well, yes, it appears so. Although maybe I'm reading too much into the media's lack of interest. Are they only giving us what we want or are they feeding us what they want to feed us? Probably a combination. In either event, it's disturbing. On Minneapolis' Startribune.com, most of the day, the top story on the site was the Vikings. If that's not pathetic "news" organization, I don't know what is.
On a related topic, I read something about the earthquake over at cnn.com that mentioned that the quake was proably strong enough to jostle the Earth off if it's normal rotational path. Probably nothing major, but interesting nonetheless. I wonder if there really will be longterm implications aside from the deathtoll. This could be the start of some major Earth changes. Who knows for sure?!
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 9:30 PM] [Your comment?]
Tuesday, November 30
Briefly --" Lava lamp explodes, killing man with flying glass
KENT, Wash. -- A man who placed a lava lamp on a hot stovetop was killed when it exploded and sent a shard of glass into his heart, police said. Philip Quinn, 24, was found dead in his trailer home Sunday night by his parents. After the lamp exploded, Quinn apparently stumbled into his bedroom, where he died Sunday afternoon, authorities said."
Just one of those odd deaths that make ya go "hmmmm". I sometimes think of the best and worst ways to "go". I never imagined that one. Never, not once.
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 10:21 AM] [Your comment?]
Monday, November 29
Nielsen Ratings. Recently, I was contacted by letter that stated a Nielsen ratings or Nielsen Media representative would be calling me about participating in a special Nielsen family survey. Dandy. I threw the letter away.
About three days later, I get a telephone call from Nielsen. The woman on the phone identifies herself and starts to tell me about the Nielsen survey. I interrupt her and indicate that I do NOT wish to participate. She was literally stunned. Almost as if I had told her I don't wish to accept an Academy Award. She says, "Have you heard of the Nielsen Ratings?" Yes, of course I have. "Don't you realize how important this is?" Uhhh. It's television -- not a life or death issue in my world. I inform her that I wish to be removed from their call list (I tell all telemarketers the same...). She still wouldn't let it go, so I had no other option than to just hang up. That's that, I thought. I'm free from being part of the media machine! Well, that wasn't it. About three days later, I get another phone call from Nielsen. This time a man was on the line. He started out in the same way that the first woman did. Excited to give me this "opportunity". (Blah, if it's such a great opportunity, they should be paying me a quarter million to participate as I watch actors getting paid 20 million an episode or an athlete making 10 million per game.) Again, I decline.
Once again, I'm asked if I have heard of the Nielsen ratings. Again, I say, "Duh?"
He then goes on to say, "I'm not trying to sell you anything." Well, buddy, actually you are. You're trying to sell me on the idea that television really matters. You're trying to sell me on the idea that doing work for your company is somehow helping out the world at large. You're trying to sell me on the idea that my one little vote counts. Hey, I live in a very conservative state - Utah - I know my political vote doesn't really count here, so don't try to convince me that watching HGTV's home improvement shows are going to change the world. Grrrr. I hung up on him.
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 10:11 AM] [Your comment?]
Monday, July 19
I learned a few things on my trip to Reno this past weekend.
- They really do use Emergency Broadcast System for things other than the loud tests. When we were just a few miles outside of Reno, we were listening to the radio and sure enough, the EBS system was used to evacuate a large portion of Carson, City, Nevada due to a fire that was burning out of control.
- Cheap stake is just that. Again, on the way to Reno, we saw a billboard for a steak buffet at the Silver Club hotel/casino. Steak and buffet? Sounds delicious and while the McDonalds stop along the drive was tasty, we were hungry, hungry. After a quick swim in the hotel pool, we headed off to the casino for dinner and a little gambling. When we arrived at the restaurant in the casino, the crowd was very, very quiet. Quieter than what you would normally find in a restaurant that size. I figured the steak must be SOOOO good that the diners were hushed silent while they chewed. We were quickly seated and the waitress came over, took our drink and asked us how we'd like our steak prepared. Ivan and I headed to the buffet area where we found warmed canned peas, cabbage rolls covered in Spaghetti-O sauce and instant mashed potatoes and gravy. Yuck. That was bad enough, but then the steak arrived. It was probably nuked after being cooked the day before...and not even nuked thoroughly. It was a bit like luke warm dried shoe leather. Well, we found out why everyone was so quiet. They were keeping their mouths closed to prevent gagging. :-)
- You can go home again. While staying at a small casino hotel in Elko, Nevada, I discovered that this late model hotel was probably built around the same time as my childhood home was -- early 60s. The bathroom fixtures, tiling, countertops etc were all pretty much the same as my childhood home's bathroom. It was freaky as well as somewhat comforting.
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 1:02 PM] [Your comment?]
Tuesday, June 22
I finally did it! I experienced the full daylight of the longest day of the year. YAY! I've wanted to do it for years, but either forgot or just didn't wanna drag my butt up before sunrise on June 21. No, it's not a major accomplishment, but certainly one I can cross off my life experience list. I would like to do it again in Alaska though. That would be a really, really long day!!
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 8:28 AM] [Your comment?]
Wednesday, June 9
I woke up thinking this morning that I am Michael Jackson ...
- Other people stop and stare when I enter a restaurant, theater. I hear hushed comments and even some loud obnoxious ones. No matter how I try to cover myself someone always notices me.
- I have my photo taken without my permission, often when i'm doing the most mundane of tasks. These photos show up in jokes, news stories, and advertisements on television and in print, again, without my permission.
- I am called a freak.
- There are hundreds, if not thousands of websites poking fun at me.
- People ask, "How could they do that to themselves?" when talking about my being.
- The media, of late, has been going nuts with stories of me.
- My marriage has been thought to be a "sham" to some -- certainly my partner *must* desire someone unlike me.
- White *and* black people think that I am a disgrace; an embarassment.
- No matter how much talent I possess or how much I have proven myself at my job, my physical appearance overshadows it all.
Oh, wait, I'm not Michael Jackson, I'm a fat woman in America.
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 1:41 PM] [Your comment?]
Friday, May 7
Strawberry & Banana Cheerios. Tasty! Sure, it's probably loaded with preservatives, but heck, the oatbran content has got to balance out the good with the bad, right?
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 9:27 AM] [Your comment?]
Thursday, April 22
I often wonder what my life would be like if I had 1: no fear of failure and 2: all the time in the world. Hell, what would anyone's life be like if those two pieces were available to each of us. There are times when 1 gnaws at me. I can do a lot of different things, but all to often I let self doubts fill my head. If I have a great idea I pummel it with a million holes as to why it's not all that great. I'm analytical, sure, but isn't that sort of behavior self defeating? Am I only fearing failure when I do it? At the rare times when I think I can do it all, I figure that 2 comes in to play. Yeah, I CAN do it all, but crap, I don't have time to do it all or learn it all or see it all. Life is far too short and unfortunately, 1 keeps it far too limited. Just thinkin' too much, methinks.
[whispered by The Fat Chick at 1:01 PM] [Your comment?]
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