Monday, August 31, 2009

I Survived. Looking Back.

I view dating a lot like I view getting my haircut. When I go on a date I am not going on a date looking for someone to adopt or someone that I have to burp once in a while. I am looking for someone fun and intelligent. I will go as low as forty-five but really prefer an extremely young thinking woman fifty or older. Same with getting a haircut. When I want someone to cut my hair I am not looking for someone to adopt or to chew gum in my ear. I am looking for someone old enough to relate to my wants and desires and maybe someone that will make me look younger than my age but not to much younger.

I braved the waters and went to the salon early this morning and survived. The lady that was up in the rotation was a young looking and young acting fifty-four year old. Bingo. The dice worked. I think she did a pretty good job. Maybe not quite a short as I like but short enough. I still miss Sandy but this was a good enough experience that I think I can exist without Sandy until December when she returns.

The kind of trouble I had separating from my barber really brought home to me why my clients had a very hard time separating from me when I sold my business. Most of my clients had been with me for over twenty years. They all thought I was to young to retire. They didn’t want anyone else to be their accountant. What goes around comes around. I now wish I had been a bit more understanding when I received calls begging me to continue to be their accounant. My standard answer was I really love you, enjoyed the years that we spent together but truthfully I didn’t retire from doing tax returns to do tax returns. Now I wish I would have been kinder, gentler and better at smoothing things over than I was. Maybe I should have sat in on more interviews during the adjustment period. But you can’t have time back. I will just beg for forgiveness in my next visit to the chapel.

Have you ever had an experience that made you look back and wish you had done things differently? May this be a kind and gentle day for you.

TRIVIA

Yesterday’s answers: Mouth, It, Monkeyshine, Slot Machine & Place.

TODAY’S WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE

DISCLAIMER: THE MONEY MENTIONED IS IMAGINARY MONEY ONLY MEANT TO DEFINE THE DIFFICULTITY OF THE QUESTION AND NOT MEANT TO IMPLY IT AS A PRIZE FOR GETTING THE RIGHT ANSWER.

$2,000

In 1970, four students were killed by National Guardsmen during a Vietnam War protest at which of the following U.S. universities?

a. Columbia
b. University of Michigan
c. Kent State
d. UC Berkeley

$4,000

In the 1999 movie The Talented Mr. Ripley, where does Rom Ripley travel to locate Dickie Greenleaf?

a. Italy
b. France
c. Spain
d. England

$8,000

Kalamata and Picholine are popular varieties of what food?

a. figs
b. olives
c. coconuts
d. plums

$16,000

Which of these companies has used the ad slogan, “Moving at the speed of business?"

a. FedEx
b. U.S. Postal Service
c. DHL
d. UPS

$32,000

In the book and movie The Bridges of Madison County, Robert Kincaid is a photographer for what magazine?
a. National Geographic
b. Life
c. Time
d. Newsweek

And a bonus question. Februaries of 1809, 1847, 1866, 1885, 1915, 1934, 1961, and 1999 all had an event related to astronomy, name what that event was that won’t happen again until February of 2018.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Your Day Is Here Again

Another week bites the dust and Update Day is here again. The day the blog becomes yours. Vent. Share joys. Just Say hi. Introduce yourself. Tell us about your elderly or your children or any other relative. Traumatic event that you need to share? I am all ears. Have questions? There are several of people here willing to help. Most of us have been caregivers for several years. Since 2001 in my case. Pat, DR, & Dona have cared for elderly just as long. This is a great place to seek out help or support.

My week’s only highlight was a going away party for a niece that has decided to spend her senior year of high school in Slovakia. It should be a wonderful experience for her. Have a great time and enjoy the experience Katie!

This morning I had a me morning. I went out for breakfast by myself and enjoyed a nice breakfast while I quietly read the Sunday paper. I haven’t went out for a Sunday breakfast by myself in a very long time. I usually take Mom along but today I felt I just needed to be alone and reflect. After breakfast there was some errands. A battery for Mom’s sugar tester (has to be Mom in there some where). A stop at Radio Shack to pick up a two line phone jack to replace the one I accidentally stepped on. Then to the Franz Bakery outlet store to pick up the breads for the educated men being idiots night this coming Tuesday.

Do you get comfortable in life with certain things and certain people? Your dry cleaner for instance? Or your barber or hairdresser? People you really don’t think about until you seek out their service. They have been helping you for years and you know they will clean your clothes or cut your hair just the way you want them to. Then one day you show up and they are gone. I went to get my haircut a couple of days ago and asked when Sandy would be in. I was told she was off until December. She has been cutting my hair for almost ten years. I give her twenty bucks, she cuts my hair exactly the way I want it. Now she is gone. I was shocked at my reaction. I felt kind of lost. I looked around the salon and all the stylists looked to damn young. So I left. I know it sounds discriminatory but I would rather have a woman over forty cut my hair. I just don’t look good with spiked and multi-colored hair. I am going to my regular salon tomorrow and roll the dice. I am determined to survive someone new cutting my hair, young or old. However, If the dice sends me in the direction of a young woman, wish me luck!

Do you have anyone that has been providing you a service for a long time that if you went to seek out that service miss him or her if they were gone? The Blog is now yours. Tell me everything. Special kudos for secrets.


TRIVIA

Yesterday’s answers: Horatio, Ellen , Rabat, Judith Jamison , & Theodore Roosevelt

TODAY’S WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE

DISCLAIMER: THE MONEY MENTIONED IS IMAGINARY MONEY ONLY MEANT TO DEFINE THE DIFFICULTITY OF THE QUESTION AND NOT MEANT TO IMPLY IT AS A PRIZE FOR GETTING THE RIGHT ANSWER.


STARTIING OVER

$100

According to common phrase, a sad or dejected person is said to be “down in the” what?

a. mouth
b. lungs
c. heart
d. stock market

$200

According to the title of a 1984 Tina Turner song, “What’s Love Got to Do With” what?

a. life
b. happiness
c. it
d. tennis

$300

Which of these terms is often used to describe a mischievous trick or a prank?

a. cowpoke
b. sheepshank
c. monkeyshine
d. campaign promise

$500

Which of the following casino games is also known as the “one-armed bandit”?

a. keno
b. slot machine
c. roulette
d. craps

$1,000

By definition, what is the term for the horse that comes in second in a race?

a. favorite
b. show
c. front runner
d. place

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Belated Birthday Wishes

To longtime friend, blog reader and valuable poster DR. Sorry I missed it by a couple of days but know the wishes for the best year of your life is in my heart. As you adjust to being free from caregiving and your mom being being gone my all your dreams and wishes come true!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR, even if it is a couple of days late!

Where Do I Direct My Anger?

I’m back to seriously considering justifiable homicide. I am just not sure who I should choose as a victim, my mother, the caregiver, or the technicians from Comcast.

OK, so I was planning on some days off of care giving yesterday and today. A couple of weeks ago mother decided to change her phone service to Comcast from Verizon. She asked my opinion. I told her to go ahead and try it and if she didn’t like it she could always switch back. I did warn her, however, that the problem with having your phone service and cable service with the same company is that if the cable went out so did the phone. Nothing was said about it until yesterday. I was getting ready to go out to a showing of Inglorious Basterds (that is how it is spelled in the paper) when I get a call that informed me that the cable guys are going to be at Mom’s between two and four. OK, with that time frame no way will I be able to attend the movie. I went over to mom’s to wait for the cable guys, she doesn’t feel safe being alone with strangers in the house, and of course they don’t get there until four. I can understand Mom forgetting to tell me about the cable guys being there so I dealt with that. I mean I forget things all the time. I spent yesterday looking for a sack of fat free low salt potato chips that I had purchased the day before. I found them in the microwave this morning. So I can understand being forgetful. It happens. What I can’t understand is what happened after the cable guys got there.

Do your elderly parents turn small normal things into the most stressful situation that happened in the over ninety years of their lives? Just how stressful can it be for your phone service to be changed? Nobody is usually hurt from it. Nobody usually dies from it. Yet when the cable guys were there my Mom acted like it was the most stressful situation that she ever dealt with and she said it was so stressful that it was causing her to be ill. I don’t do well with drama. OK, I do just fine with drama when I am the one that causes it. I just don’t do well with drama caused by someone else. And I certainly don’t do well when it is insinuated that I am the cause of the other person’s drama. The caregiver got there about five. She asked Mom what was wrong and mom told her “this is just so stressful for me that it makes me ill. It is just to much stress for me since Bill told me I shouldn’t change phone companies.” Grrrrrrrr. Now not only did I not say that, I am now the cause of Mom’s illness. I really didn’t say anything at the time but will admit when I got home I wasn’t sure how safe the shoes at the door were from me. The was a good chance they would be thrown or kicked.

After the caregiver arrived at Mom’s and after it was determined I carry a contagious virus causing the elderly to become ill due to stress I thought it would be OK for me to leave. However, before leaving I went in and asked the cable guys if they needed anything and if it was ok for me to leave. They said everything was hunky dory so I went home. It was close to six when I got back home.

About seven I get a phone call. The cable guys couldn’t get the phone working. Mom can call out, but she can’t receive calls. They will be back Saturday to finish their work. There goes my day off today. I need some advise here. Even though I am sure no jury would convict me I just don’t have it in me to commit a homicide. I have trouble stepping on spiders. It would destroy me the be the cause of anyone’s or anything’s death. Justifiable homicide is out of the question. What I need to know is who I should be angry at. Mom for accusing me of making her ill? The caregiver for letting the cable guys leave before finishing their job? The Comcast cable guys for leaving a 93 year-old woman without a workable phone? All of them? Or should I just throw more shoes and write it off as a normal event in the life of a caregiver?

TRIVIA

Yesterday’s answers: Standup, Virginia, Eight, Hip, & Charles River

TODAY’S WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE

DISCLAIMER: THE MONEY MENTIONED IS IMAGINARY MONEY THAT IS ONLY MEANT TO DEFINE THE DIFFICULTITY OF THE QUESTION AND NOT MEANT TO IMPLY A PRIZE FOR GETTING THE RIGHT ANSWER.

$64,000

What Shakespeare character says “Good night, sweet prince” to Hamlet?

a. Laertes
b. Horatio
c. Ophelia
d. Polonius

$125,000

Which of these prime time TV show was originally titled, These Friends of Mine?

a. Will & Grace
b. Friends
c. Mad About You
d. Ellen

$250,000

What is the capital of Morocco?

b. Oujda
c. Rabat
d. Tangier

$500,000

Alvin Ailey created the 1971 dance solo “Cry” specifically for what dancer-choreographer?

a. Judith Jamison
b. Geoffrey Holder
c. Carmen de Lavallade
d. Garth Fagan

$1,000,000

Who was the first U.S. president to make an official visit outside the country while in office?

a. James Madison
b. Theodore Roosevelt
c. Benjamin Harrison
d. Grover Cleveland

Friday, August 28, 2009

Crime, Music, Sibling Rivalries.

Before today’s entry I wanted to thank Bev, Mary Z, Dona, Snug for trying to help me with links. I tried everything everyone said & it looks like I wasn't beyond help. The link I used today worked!! THANK YOU ALL!!

SHERWOOD OREGON’S CRIME WAVE.

“A woman in 17600 block of Inkster Drive reported that someone had thrown peanut butter on her front door and porch sometime during the night. She is not sure who would do such a thing but speculated it was Trader Joe’s brand peanut butter”

Now I am just curious how she knew the brand of the peanut butter. Did she taste it? Inquiring minds want to know,

AMERICA’S GOT TALENT.

Nothing else was really on TV the other night so I turned on America’s Got Talent at my sister’s bequest. The first performance was absolutely stunning. Breast cancer survivor, Barbara Padilla, gave the performance of a lifetime. A voice more beautiful than the amazing Susan Boyle. I am going to give Dona and I some kudos because we noticed early on in the game. She is my pick to win it all. You can see her performance here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBj2LW1cNoQ

TOP CHEF

I learned a lot on Top Chef this week including if you roll the dice you have to be ready to deal with the results. If you take risks sometimes there are rewards waiting. Sibling rivalries will sometimes produce great results. And no matter how hard you try to live a life where gender doesn’t matter you will be put into sexist situations by others.

The Quickfire challenge was to roll dice at the craps table and the number that came up was the number of ingredients that you had to use to create a dish. Michael used eight ingredients to create the winning dish of Nitro Gazpaccio with compress cucumbers and tart to walk away with fifteen grand and immunity from elimination.

I was extremely disappointed that the Top Chef producers would create such a sexist competition of the men against the women. The challenge was to cook for a bachelor and bachelorette party. The men to cook for the bride and her guests. The women to cook for the groom and his guests. The men, saving all of the men elimination. Bryan just barely edged out brother Michael with his apple sorbet and goat cheese cookies. Among the women I thought Jessie should have been sent packing but Eve’s shrimp and avocado ceviche with smokey tomato salsa and popcorn got her sent home. Right now I am really liking Jennifer to compete with brothers Michael and Bryan and the ever optimistic Kevin for the title this year.

Questions for the day. If someone threw peanut butter at your front door, would you taste it? If you did could tell the brand name? Can sibling rivalries be a good thing? And have you ever been put in a sexist situation by someone else?


TRIVIA

Yesterday’s answers: Overcoat, Whopper, Drive Drunk, Action, and Public Speaking.


TODAY’S WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE

$2,000

In Eminem’s 2000 rap song “The Real Slim Shady”, he asks the real Slim Shady to please do what?

a. wake up
b. wise up
c. stand up
d. shut up

$4,000

What state is the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America?

a. Virginia
b. North Carolina
c. Massachusetts
d. Pennsylvania

$8,000

What is the maximum number of tablespoons in a standard, 8-ounce stick of butter?

a. 4
b. 8
c. 6
d. 10

$16,000

When the petals have fallen off a rose, the dried fruit that is left is called what?

a. spur
b. pompon
c. shoot
d. hip

$32,000

In 1775, if two lights shone in the Old North Church, what “sea” would the British be crossing?

a. Atlantic Ocean
b. Massachusetts Bay
c. Charles River
d. Cape Cod Bay

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Deodorant And Dead Bodies

Trivia is back. We will be playing “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” the next few days. Today’s questions are at the end of the today’s entry.

Today is Bill gets offensive day. Well not so much me getting offensive but a couple of the stories that I read and thought I would share with you could be considered by some to be offensive.

First up is an infomercial that aired once in the middle of the night on MSNBC. Now due to the content of the commercial MSNBC has said the commercial will never air again. The commercial is for A-Spray, a deodorant for butt stink. As quoted on the commercial: "A-Spray goes where other deodorants can't. A-Spray your butt," the announcer boasts. "A-Spray under your arms. A-Spray your feet. You can even A-Spray your privates." At the end of the commerical a woman is shown crossing her legs and sparying her crotch, followed by the line. "A-Spray is safe for all your odor zones." Doc Bottoms A-Spray sells for two containers for $14.95 plus $ 7.95 shipping for each container. You can also get the “Pocket Shot” which according to the commercial is “Perfect for on the go or to give to smelly friend.” OK, I think I just came up with an unusual idea for a Christmas gift.

Next up are dead bodies. According to today’s Oregonian which you can read at oregonlive.com the economy has resulted in changes in many areas, one being that there are more unclaimed bodies. Oregon is apparently reflecting a national trend and could hit a record for the number of unclaimed bodies this year. Oregon State medical examiner, Dr. Karen Gunson, attrributes the rise to the recessionary drag on family wallets. If the current rate of unclaimed bodies holds up Oregon will have paid for the disposition of 246 people in 2009, 13 more than the previous record set in 2003. Oregon is the only state that pays to cremate the unclaimed bodies from a special fund that collects six dollars from the twenty dollar fee that funeral providers pay to register the death with the state. The other forty-nine states pay for unclaimed bodies from county or state taxes. For example, officials with the Los Angeles County coroner’s office say the number of unclaimed bodies is up thirty-six percent over last year. LA County needs to come up with an additional twelve grand A MONTH to pay for the unclaimed bodies. Similar stories have arisen in such diverse places as Las Vegas, Kenton County, KY, and Chapel Hill, N.C.

Are going to run right out and by Doc Bottoms A-Spray either for yourself or as a gift? Should the commercial never be shown again on TV? And what about dead bodies? A lot of unclaimed ones in your area? Hiding any in your garage?

TODAY’S WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE

$100

Which of these garments is commonly worn atop other clothing for warmth?

a. overcoat
b. boxer shorts
c. T-shirt
d. slippers

$200

Which of these popular fast-food items has the same name as a term meaning “big lie”?

a. McNugget
b. Whopper
c. Frosty
d. Chalupa

$300

According to notable public service announcement, “Friends Don’t Let Friends” do what?

a. Drive Drunk
b. Insult Wrestlers
c. Eat Rocks
d. Juggle Chain Saws

$500

What does the letter A stand for in the military abbreviation “MIA”?

a. American
b. Army
c. Action
d. Attack

$1,000

Someone described as an excellent “elocutionist” excels at doing what?

a. Repairing electronics
b. Polling voters
c. Tutoring children
d. Public speaking

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Another Icon Leaves Us

First there were the deaths of Walter Cronkite and Michael Jackson. Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy born February 22, 1932, died August 25, 2009 at his home in Hyannis Port after suffering for a year with brain cancer.

My first memory of Senator Edward Kennedy was when he gave the eulogy at the funeral of the brother he was closest to, Robert F. Kennedy, and spoke the following words:

“My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it. Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: 'Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.'

Regardless of your political leanings certainly you can appreciate all that the Kennedy family has given to our country and certainly your heart has to tug for the tragedies the Kennedy family has endured. Through it all Edward Kennedy became the center of the Kennedy family. Some of the Kennedy family tragedies:

Brother John Fitzgerald Kennedy assassinated November 23, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.

Brother Robert F. Kennedy assassinated June 6, 1968 in Los Angeles, California.

Ted Kennedy’s oldest brother Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr. was killed at age 29 in England while serving in Operation Aphrodite during World War II.

His oldest sister, Rosemary Kennedy underwent a lobotomy at age 23, after which she was mentally incapacitated for the rest of her life.

Another sister Kathleen Agnes Kennedy died in an airplane crash. at age 28.

On July 16, 1999, Nephew John F. Kennedy, Jr., and his wife died in a plane crash.

Senator Edward Kennedy a presidential candidate, a senator for over forty years, the youngest person to become Senate Majority Whip, and either the author or the force behind the following legislation: (the list is not meant to be all inclusive)

National Cancer Act of 1971.

Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974.

The COBRA Act.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Civil Rights Act of 1991.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The Mental Health Parity Act that forced insurance companies to treat mental health payments the same as others with respect to limits reached

In January of 1985 Kennedy staged a tiring, dangerous, and high-profile trip to South Africa where he defied both the apartheid government's wishes and militant anti-white AZAPO demonstrators by spending a night in the Soweto home of Bishop Desmond Tutu and also visited Winnie Mandela,. When he returned he became a leader in the push for economic sanctions against South Africa; helping to secure passage of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986.

In the weeks following 9-11 Kennedy telephoned each of the 177 Massachusetts families who had lost members in the attacks. He pushed through legislation that provided healthcare and grief counseling benefits for the families of all the victims of 9-11.

His personal life sometimes receives more publicity than his accomplishments. His career is sometimes defined by that dreadful event on July 18, 1969 when Kennedy was on Martha's Vineyard's Chappaquiddick Island at a party for the "Boiler Room Girls", a group of young women who had worked on his brother Robert's presidential campaign the year before. In a car with 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, Kennedy was said to have driven off Dike Bridge into the Poucha Pond inlet. Kennedy escaped the overturned vehicle and swam to safety, but Kopechne died in the car. Kennedy left the scene without calling authorities until the following day. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, receiving a suspended sentence of two months in jail. A book later written by my friend and Pulitzer prize winning author. Jack Olsen, titled THE BRIDGE AT CHAPPAQUICKDDICK concluded that Kennedy was not driving the car that night. I would highly recommend Olsen’s book to anyone that has an interest in politics.

Kennedy once said the following about his personal life:

"I am painfully aware that the criticism directed at me involves far more than disagreements with my positions, it involves the disappointment of friends and many others who rely on me to fight the good fight. To them I say, I recognize my own shortcomings — the faults in the conduct of my private life. I realize that I alone am responsible for them, and I am the one who must confront them.”

I will end this post with the official statement of the Kennedy Family:

"Edward M. Kennedy - the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply - died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port. We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all. He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it. He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it's hard to imagine any of them without him."

Monday, August 24, 2009

Entertainment Day

We will call this entertainment day. Just a blog note before today’s entry. Most likely there won’t be a blog post tomorrow and if there is one on Wednesday it may be late in the day or early in the evening. My schedule is brutal the next couple of days with a business lunch on Wednesday and tonight and tomorrow at Mom’s. Plus there is a men party on September first that I have been designated as the entertainment guy. Twelve to fourteen of us dudes, all with college degrees, get together to act like idiots and kick off the football season. It will be nice to catch up with some of the guys that I haven’t seen for a while. However, as I often have a penchant to do, I created more work for myself. Instead of having the evening catered like I always do I decided to test my entertainment skills and put a really nice meat, cheese, and fruit tray together with several choices of bread myself. Plus a nice desert. So I have decided to shop for the stuff today and tomorrow. It gets me out of Mom’s house and if Mom’s goes along it will break up her day too. If I am proud of what I put together for the men’s night out I will put pictures of it on the blog.

ABC has finally announced the professional partners for Season 9 of Dancing With The Stars starting September 21. Those pairings are as follows:

Aaron Carter with Karina Smirnoff
Natalie Coughlin with Alex Mazo
Mark Dacasos with Lacey Schwimmer
Tom Delay with Cheryl Burke
Macy Gray with Jonathan Roberts
Ashley Hamilton with Edyta Sliwinska
Mellissa Joan Hart with Mark Ballas
Kathy Ireland with Tony Dovolani
Michael Irvin with Anna Demidova
Joanna Krupa with Derek Hough
Chuck Liddell with Anna Trebunskaya
Debi Mazar with Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Mya with Dmitry Chaplin
Kelly Osborne with Louis Van Amstell
Donny Osmond with Kym Johnson
Louis Vito with Chelsie Hightower

I may send Cheryl Burke a sympathy card. Ever since meeting Kym Johnson at the first Dancing With The Stars tour that stopped in Portland she has been a favorite of mine. She has a smile that would light up New York during a blackout. However, I’m not really that fond of Danny Osmond so I will be have conflicting emotions when they dance. I love Anna Trebunskaya and have loved the spirited redhead since she was Jerry Rice’s partner in season two. My Mom loves Anna’s husband, Jonathan Roberts. My sister is in Max's corner and even named her cat after him. I don’t know anything at all about either Anna’s or Jonathan’s partners. I love Debi Mazar, Max's partner, so maybe I will join my sister in rooting for her. It is nice to see Louis back, he is a pretty good teacher as he showed in season two with Lisa the Lips as his partner. To bad he is stuck with Kelly Osborne. The couple that excites me the most right now is Michael Irvin and Anna Demidoy. Anna D, if you remember, won the competition to be a professional on this season’s show during last season. She did great things with her partners last year and I am guessing she is really going to do wonders with Irvin.

On another entertainment note. Parade Magazine polled 5,000 Americans on celebrity pop culture in its annual summer pop culture poll. My choices are in parenthesis. I would love to know your choices. According to today’s Oregonian the following are highlights of the survey:

Most Gripping Story of 2009:

Michael Jackson’s death.

(I would choose the inauguration of the first Africa-American President. Then there is the fortieth anniversary of man’s first landing on the moon or Walter Cronkite’s death)

Most Celebrity in need of therapy:

Amy Winehouse

(My choice would be Kim Kardashian or Lindsay Lohan )

Most Promiscuous:

Paris Hilton:

(My choice would be Governor Mark Sanford)

Biggest Trendsetter in America:

Michelle Obama

(my choice would be the same)

Sexiest Male:

Johnny Depp

(from a man’s viewpoint my choice would be George Clooney)

Sexiest Female::

Halle Berry.

(my choice would be Amy Adams)

Sexiest Couple:

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jole

(I am fine with that)

Most Normal Couple:

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner

(I’m not sure if I agree with that but can’t really think of anyone else.)

Hope this is an entertaining day for you. Tell me what your answers are on the above survey question. Would love to hear what you have to say!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Update Me, Duplex Marriages.

No Trivia for the next couple of days, I need a break from it. The answers to yesterday’s three of a kind are at the end of the blog entry. Today the blog is yours. Update me on your life. Your wants and desires. Events attended or attending. Trouble or joys going on in your life. How your elderly relatives or your children are doing. Vent if you desire. Scream joys at the top of your lungs if you so desire. If you have been reading the blog for a while and haven’t posted yet, why not? Introduce yourself and make some really outstanding friends. The same applies if you are new to the blog, introduce yourself and tell me how you found me.

It was really nice to see a post from Snug this week. She posted a brief update in the comment section of the August 20 post, “What’s For Dinner? Vices”. You can catch up with her there or post a welcome back to her here.

I pretty much updated you on my life each day this week but the one thing that I left out was a dinner that I had on Tuesday night with one of my favorite people. I met her online several years ago and she has become a treasured friend. She is the one that went to my dad’s memorial to support me. She was also the one that when the internet date from hell happened saved me by visiting the lady from hell in the hospital so I didn’t have to. We caught up on a family reunion of hers that she had put together. She spent a lot of time working on it and was worried it would go well. Over one hundred people attended it and it went off with flying colors. I knew she was to worried about how it would go for nothing. I met her at Newport Bay in Tigard at 6 PM. She says that is early for her and she never gets off of work that early. For me that is late. By 6 PM I usually have eaten an hour or so earlier. By that time I am in my comfy clothes, have one leg in my comfy chair, and the other leg in my comfy bed with remote control in hand. Among things we discussed was my idea of a duplex marriage.

There have been a lot of articles lately that have said more couples are choosing to sleep in separate beds. One statistic in one article that I read said three in ten couples are choosing to sleep in either separate beds or separate bedrooms. Maybe one person snores. Maybe one person gets up and goes to the bathroom more often then the other. Maybe one person likes to watch TV in bed and the other prefers reading. The studies have shown that sleeping separately has not only in most cases improved their sex lives but also has improved their marriages. Here are some links to articles about this:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/151874/married_couples_sleeping_apart.html?cat=7

marriage.about.com/od/sleepingtogether/qt/twinbeds.htm

http://marital-conflict-negotiation.suite101.com/article.cfm/should_spouses_sleep_separately

As I have a penchant to do I took this to a whole new level. I took it to buying a duplex. She lives on one side. I live on the other side. You put a door in between the two sides of the duplex (yes, she can lock it when she wants). She has her own space. I have my own space. You have a communal bedroom for date nights and for needing comforting nights. You are there to constantly support each other. You make sure you have at least one meal a day together to talk life over. You get together when ever the mood strikes. Maybe walk together in the morning. Or maybe coffee together on the patio outside. Could work, no? What do you think of a duplex marriage? Would it work in your case?

OK, now I need help. Or maybe I am beyond help. I know this is going to cause me to lose several notches on my man belt because I am going to ask for directions. I’ve been trying for six months now to figure out how to put a link into the middle of the blog entry where readers only have to click on the link to go to the site. No matter what I try it doesn’t seem to work. There is a button on the new post feature that says “insert link” but when I put the link in the box that shows up and hit OK, the link disappears and doesn’t show up on the blog entry. OK, Google bloggers tell me what to do to get that link to show up in a manner that readers can just click on the link to go to the site.

YESTERDAY’S ANSWERS

Herbie, The Ice Cream Man, Reverend Leroy, Geraldine Jones. FLIP WILSON.

A kiss, a flower, a bomb. ALL ARE PLANTED

A belt, a bra, a bank robber. ALL HOLD THIJNGS UPS.

LIGHTENTING, WATCHERS, STRANGERS. Dean Koontz Novels.

Radula, Tentacle, Ink Sac. OCTUPUS OR SQUID.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Spilling My Emotional Guts, A Mom's Disturbing Statement

My sister called yesterday. She had went to a psychic and wanted to tell me all about it. Here is where I stand on psychics. I go to them once in a while as a lark, something different to do. Seldom are they correct in their predictions but once in a while they will say something that will register on the advise scale that you can use. The main reason I do go to psychics once in a great while is it gives me something in common with my sister. My sister and I have very little in common. Politically we are so far apart it is pitiful. The way we view others and what love is about is also completely different. My sister is really into psychic, so much so that she is teaching a class on it. The way I got it figured is that as helpful as my sister has been with my parents that I needed to create a common interest that I can share with her. That has become psychics. That explains why she called me yesterday. To tell me about her experience with the psychic and what she had been told by her.

Move ahead a couple of hours and I am in the car taking mom to a restaurant for lunch and here is the conversation between Mom and I:

“Sis, called today.”

“What did she want?”

“She just wanted to tell me about going to psychic and what the psychic had told her.”

“I hope the psychic told her that I am going to die soon.”

I took a deep breath and didn’t say anything for about a minute.

“Do you know what it does to a son, when you say something like that?”

“I want to die because I don’t want to be a burden.”

Another deep breath, another pause.

“You only become a burden when you destroy me emotionally by telling me you want to die.”

“I don’t think Millionaire is on tonight, so there isn’t going to be much on TV.”

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I honestly didn’t respond and was pretty quiet until we got to the restaurant. I didn’t bring death up again, instead I just talked about the normal things a dude talks about with his mom. But frankly, I was kind of disturbed by the conversation the rest of the day. So many things bothered me about it. First, she has the same habit my brother does of changing the conversation to something mundane and immaterial when there is a chance to have a conversation that could prevent future problems or maybe change things. That frustrates the hell out of me. The other disturbing things where the questions I asked myself the rest of the day. Does Mom really want to die? What would life be like without her? This isn’t the first time she has made the statement she wants to die and each time she says it, it makes me an emotional wreck. And maybe I have reached the point that I am so tired of hearing the statement from Mom, “I want to die” that the next time I it comes up I may respond with “OK, you want to die. Maybe you should overdose on your pain killers.” I hope I am not there but truly I am sick of becoming an emotional wreck because of what someone says and having that person that says the emotionally wrecking thing ignore me when I tell her what those statements do to me. I just don’t know where I am at and not knowing where I am at scares me to no end. Scares me because I might say something even more emotionally damaging to her the next time I get hit with the dying statement.

I need your advise. Tell me how you would handle the above situation. Have your parents ever said something similar to you? If, so how did you handle it? I am all ears and open to any advise that you are willing to share.

TRIVA:

YESTERDAY:

Top three were Bev with forty-four words, Connie with twenty words, and Pat with twelve words.

TODAY IS BACK TO WHAT DO THESE THREE THINGS HAVE IN COMMON:

Sorry after a touch day I tend to choose really hard ones. Here we go:

Herbie, The Ice Cream Man, Reverend Leroy, Geraldine Jones.

A kiss, a flower, a bomb.

A belt, a bra, a bank robber,

LIGHTENTING, WATCHERS, STRANGERS.

Radula, Tentacle, Ink Sac.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Birth Order

Here is the link to then full article by Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor:

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2009/08/11/jobs-and-birth-order/?ncid=AOLCOMMjobsDYNLprim0001&icid=main|htmlws-sb|dl4|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fjobs.aol.com%2Farticles%2F2009%2F08%2F11%2Fjobs-and-birth-order%2F%3Fncid%3DAOLCOMMjobsDYNLprim0001

Some highlights:

A look at pay stubs will tell you that not everyone has the same earning power

“Blame it on social class, education -- even luck, but according to Dalton Conley, New York University professor of sociology and public policy, inequality begins at home. In his book 'The Pecking Order: Which Siblings Succeed and Why,' Conley says that 75 percent of the income inequality between individuals in the United States occurs between siblings in the same families. He points to the diverse fortunes of Bill and Roger Clinton, and Jimmy and Billy Carter as examples.

“A child's position in the family impacts his personality, his behavior, his learning and ultimately his earning power," states Michael Grose, author of 'Why First-Born Rule the World and Last-borns Want to Change It.' "Most people have an intuitive knowledge that birth order somehow has an impact on development, but they underestimate how far-reaching and just how significant that impact really is."

Conley concedes that birth order is significant in shaping individual success, but only for children of large families -- four or more siblings -- and in families where finances and parental time are constrained. (In wealthy families, like the Bushes and Kennedys, it has less effect.)

First-Borns:

More conscientious, ambitious and aggressive than their younger siblings, first-borns are over-represented at Harvard and Yale as well as disciplines requiring higher education such as medicine, engineering or law. Every astronaut to go into space has been either the oldest child in his or her family or the eldest boy. And throughout history -- even when large families were the norm -- more than half of all Nobel Prize winners and U.S. presidents have been first-born.

Middles:

Middle children are more easy going and peer-oriented. Since they can get lost in the shuffle of their own families, they learn to build bridges to other sources of support and therefore tend to have excellent people skills. Bill Gates was a middle child.

Youngest:

The youngest child tends to be the most creative and can be very charming -- even manipulative. Because they often they often identify with the underdog, they tend to champion egalitarian causes. (Youngest siblings were the earliest backers of the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment.)

Only Children:

Only children have similar characteristics to first-borns and are frequently burdened with high parental expectations. Research shows they are more confident, articulate and likely to use their imagination than other children. They also expect a lot from others, hate criticism, can be inflexible and are likely to be perfectionists.


Where are you in the pecking order? Do you agree with the above? I am the youngest I am not sure I agree with the assessment.. My sister is more creative than I am. And I don’t think I have ever been described as either manipulative or charming. And I am more of a peacemaker than my middle child brother. Where do you land on the sibling scale?

TRIVIA:

YESTERDAY’S WHO AM I?

Yesterday’s Who Am i was a woman that was arrested in the Abraham Lincoln assassination and hanged as a conspirator. Her name was Mary Surratt. You can read her biography here:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lincolnconspiracy/surrattm.html

TODAY’S BRAIN STUMPER.

Not testing your Google skills today, instead I am going to test your vocabulary. We are doing anagrams today. I am going to give you a set of letters and the person that emails me with the most words made from those letters wins the day.

Here are the letters: LIECNT

Thursday, August 20, 2009

What's For Dinner? Vices.

The thoughts and prayers from a few days ago worked because Facebook friend JG’s tests showed no cancer. YEA!! Now we need to send some good vibes, good thoughts, and prayers S.D.’s direction. She is one of the blogmeisters of a blog that I go to and is having a colonoscopy today. So lets root for an easy day for her, some peaceful rest afterwards, and a clean bill of health!

Top Chef Masters the final was last night. The challenge for the master chefs was to cook a four course meal that would tell the story of their cooking lives. The first dish was the dish they remembered as a child. The second dish was the dish that made them to want to be a cook. The third dish was from the first restaurant they opened. The fourth dish was to define what they see the future of cooking as being. Michael was definitely the best story teller and it brought him in second. Hubert went the easy route and it hurt him finishing last. Rick Bayless was the best cook and he took home the title of Top Chef Master. The three chefs in the finals cooked amazing dishes and only one and a half stars separated the three. It was really enjoyable for me to watch the comrade that the three chefs developed among themselves.

After the final of Top Chef Masters, Top Chef Las Vegas made its debut. The elimination challenge was to cook a meal that defined the chefs’ vices. Kevin’s ingenious riff on procrastination took the judges breath away and he won the night. Jen Z.’s Chile Relleno Stuffed with Seitan & Tomatillo Salsa got her sent home. I did think the challenge last night gave some Interesting questions to discuss here. What is your vice? What meal would define it? I am afraid I have so many vices that I would have had to cook a buffet. Gambling, chocolate, temptations, excesses and the list goes on. I would have gambled and cooked something new, then promoted excess by cooking something chocolate based, defining temptation I would have cooked something very unhealthy but very tempting like an amazing cheesburger and homemade fries. Your turn? What is your main vice or what are you main vices? What dish or dishes could you prepare to define that vice or vices?

TRIVIA:

YESTERDAY’S ANSWERS

Turkeys, statues, initials. CARVED

A tie, a nervous stomach, a piece of lumber. KNOTS

David Letterman, Alfred E. Newman, Lauren Hutton. GAPS BETWEEN TEETH

Beaver State, Webfoot State, Pacific Wonderland. OREGON

It’s A Hard-Knock Life, Tomorrow, New York City. SONGS IN ANNIE.

TODAY IS A WHO AM 1?

I was born in 1823 and married at the age of 17. I rented my tavern to a man that later would be one of the reasons I was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. Despite the juries plea for leniency and a request for a life sentence the president at the time signed my death warrant and I was hanged. My attorney tried hard to get me off arguing that the tavern keeper was not to be believed because he was a drunk and couldn’t properly remember anything. It was a little harder, however, for my attorney to discredit a secret agent for the other side, my son. The murder that I was said to be a part of took place in April and became big news again one hundred years later when another murder had several similarities with the one that I am said to have helped with. I was hanged on July 7 together with David, Lewis, and George. I was the first woman hanged by the agency that found me guilty. The actual murderer met his death earlier. Some people think there should be taverns with a Booth named after me. There is also a rumor floating around that Robert is going to try to make me more famous. Who Am I?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

A Dash For Cash

From Yahoo News, at Yahoo.Com:

GLENDORA, Calif. – California authorities say a man caused a traffic jam when he threw money onto a Los Angeles-area freeway and people dashed into the lanes to grab the cash. California Highway Patrol Sgt. Kurt Stormes says the man tossed money from his car on Interstate 210 in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendora shortly before noon Sunday. Stormes says about 10 people ran into traffic lanes to get it. CHP officers recovered about $1,000. The 56-year-old man then went to the Police Department in nearby Azusa. Police Lt. Steve Hunt says the man told officers he wanted to kill himself and was hospitalized for mental evaluation. His name wasn't released. Authorities asked anyone who picked up the man's money to turn it in so it can be returned.

From Today’s Oregonian and Oregonlive.com

Officers, citizens track down flying cash in Southwest Portland
by Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
Tuesday August 18, 2009, 6:30 PM

Money doesn't grow on trees in Portland but this afternoon, it was blowing in the wind. On Southwest Barbur Boulevard, not far from Capitol Highway, big bills fluttered across the busy street right in front of the Humdinger Drive In. Like a similar scene on a Los Angeles freeway two days ago, people stopped their cars to grab the cash. But not everyone driving by wanted to pad their pocketbooks. A woman from Woodburn, who was with her husband, contacted a Multnomah County Sheriff's deputy in the area and helped him recover about $1,000. ‘People were stopping in traffic and picking it up left and right," said Deputy Sheriff Johnny Ahn, who was finishing his lunch at a Chinese restaurant on Barbur. "She was a good citizen to let me know what she saw. She could have just taken it and ran." One man in his 50s or 60s tried to do just that. "He was ready to boogie quick with a fistful of cash," Ahn said. "He thought he was going to keep it because he found it." But under threat of arrest, the man angrily turned the bills over to the officer. "I had to run for it," Ahn said. "I was afraid someone else was going to beat me to it." He has no idea where the money came from but doubts that someone just tossed it into traffic, which happened in Los Angeles on Sunday. For one thing, the cash was all in big denominations -- $100s and $20s -- not small bills that would have created a bigger ruckus. Once all visible cash was recovered, Ahn called Portland police, who have jurisdiction over the area. Officer Jon Yochim of Central Precinct arrived about 1:39 p.m. to retrieve the cash, which is now waiting to be claimed in the bureau's Property and Evidence Division. And it's not clear whether all of the cash was found, either. "We're not sure if some of it got legs and walked off into people's pockets," Yochim said. "Nobody knows because it was pretty busy there."

-- Lynne Terry; lynneterry@news.oregonian.com


Two different days, two different cities, it was raining cash. What would you do if you were driving along on a busy freeway, like in Los Angeles, or on a busy side street like Barbur Boulevard in Portland, Oregon and it started raining cash? Would you stop? Would you risk your life on the freeway to pick up a few extra bucks? If you saw the police coming would you run for it with your pockets full? Even if the police weren’t around and you found the money would you keep it or turn it in?

First of all I wouldn’t stop. It would be to dangerous and my life is more important than a few bucks. If there was nobody around and I found the cash I would most likely turn it into the police department. I try to be fairly honest most of the time. Flexible ethics, honesty when possible are my mottos. An example is yesterday I did my Mom’s weekly grocery shopping. When I got to Mom’s and looked at the receipt I noticed that the clerk didn’t charge us for the cool whip. I struggled with whether or not I should return to the grocery store and pay for the cool whip. And I seriously considered it. However, that particular store was a half of an hour away. After struggling for quite a while about whether or not I should return to the store and pay for the cool whip I decided the drive was to far, the clerk that helped me probably wouldn’t be there, and if I talked to someone else it might get the clerk in trouble. So I kept the free cool whip. Now if the cool whip had cost a thousand bucks I am pretty sure I would have returned to the store and paid for it no matter what. What would you have done?

May it rain cash in your life today and in a manner that you can keep it!

TRIVIA:

YESTERDAY’S ANSWERS:

Izmir, Ankara, Istanbul. - CITIES IN TURKEYS

The first American in space, Rin Tin Tin, Jesus. - ALL WERE SHEPHERDS

Dick Tracy, Dudley Do Right, Kirk Douglas. - ALL HAD CLEFT CHINS

Step on no pets, Never Odd or Even, Madam I’m Adam. - PALINDROMES, read the same frontwards as backwards.

Heather, Lily, Tulip. - FLOWERS

TODAY’S QUESTIONS:

Turkeys, statues, initials.

A tie, a nervous stomach, a piece of lumber.

David Letterman, Alfred E. Newman, Lauren Hutton.

Beaver State, Webfoot State, Pacific Wonderland.

It’s A Hard-Knock Life, Tomorrow, New York City.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Growing Down. A Captive To Technology.

I spent yesterday and last night at Mom’s. Yesterday and today I have discovered some things that I thought I would share with you.

First, it is amazing that no matter how old you are that when you return to your Mom’s or parents home they immediately think you are their little child and treat you as if you are three minutes shy of your third birthday. Your Mom (parents?) become the master of the obvious and think you need to be told everything. An example:

“Turn on the dishwasher.”

“Really. I didn’t know you had to turn on the dishwasher for it to work, I thought it was one of those new technological machines that turned on itself.”

OK, I admit maybe my response was a tad sarcastic. But that was after a day of “make sure you put my walker close enough for me to reach it (I’ve been doing this now for over seven years and not once in that time have I forgotten to put the walker close enough for her to reach it), brush your teeth (can you believe it?), don’t put to much water in the coffee pot and the list goes on.

I mean my Mom and dad helped me through college. They paid for one year, I paid for the rest. You would think if you helped someone through college you would assume that their IQ was a little higher than a pile of dirt. Every week after spending a day or two or three at Mom’s I come home and start having a nightmare. The same nightmare, over and over. I meet the woman of my dreams. We get to that place where I want to introduce her to Mom. We go out to a nice restaurant. Everything is going well. Until the dinner comes and mom reaches over and starts cutting my meat. Think that might put a damper on the budding relationship?

Enough of that. I’m alone right now so I am back to being an adult. Yesterday I took off for Mom’s about one. Did all the normal things. Then when I got up this morning after making breakfast for Mom, I headed home to do the homely duties like watering the lawn. When I got home I saw my cell phone sitting one the dining room table. I had been without my cell phone for over twenty four hours and didn’t miss it! That got me to wondering if I was a captive of technology. I cannot tell you how many years it has been since I have gone a day without carrying my cell phone. Lately I’ve been carrying the cell phone in case there is an emergency involving Mom. Sometimes due to worry I even sleep with the cell phone waiting for that dreadful call. Before the care giving I carried the cell phone in case my clients had an emergency. Of course my idea of an emergency was the four D’s. Death, Divorce, Destruction (of a business due to fire or other tragedy) and the Deadly IRS audit notice. My clients’ idea of an emergency important enough to call at three in the morning was to schedule an appointment three weeks away or to find out if they could deduct their pet as a dependant. The thing that accidentally leaving my cell phone at home did for me was to give me a certain amount of peace and freedom. So much peace and freedom that I am going to accidentally on purpose forget my cell phone more often.

OK, Moms, I want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. When your children return home do you treat them as adults or do you treat them as the little rug rats they were when they last lived with you? And are you a captive to technology? If you are a captive to technology, what technology are you a captive to?

Goo, Goo. Translated, I am headed back to Mom’s for the rest of the day. My nephew comes tonight, so I get to go out to dinner with a friend and then come home and spend the night here. Now just where did I put that teddy bear I sleep with.

May this be a grown up day for all of you!

YESTERDAY’S ANSWERS:

Ronald Reagan, Thomas Delahanty, James Brady. ALL SHOT BY JOHN HINCKLEY

Herb Talek, Bailey Quarters, Jennifer Marlowe. WKRP IN CINCINNATI

Perwinkle, Azure, Cerulean. SHADES OF BLUE

Inspector Fenwick, Nell, Horse. DUDLEY DO RIGHT, SINCE THAT WAS PART OF THE ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE SHOW, THAT COUNTED TOO.

Bread & Butter, Midget Gherkin, Kosher Dill. PICKLES.

TODAY’S QUESTIONS:

Izmir, Ankara, Istanbul.

The first American in space, Rin Tin Tin, Jesus.

Dick Tracy, Dudley Do Right, Kirk Douglas.

Step on no pets, Never Odd or Even, Madam I’m Adam. (I love this one. Can’t Google it) (A hint though, a mirror might help)

Heather, Lily, Tulip.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Dancing With The Stars, Season 9 Lineup

This morning on Good Morning America they announced the cast of Season 9 of Dancing With the Stars. Their professional partners will be revealed tomorrow. For season 9 they have added four new dances; the Bolero, the Charleston, the Two Step and the Lambada.

Here is how I handicap the season. I reserve the right to change my predictions daily or weekly.

Here we go:

16. - Tom Delay (former house majority lead 500-1

( I hope he is gone first. I would have been less upset with Michael Vick and I despise him)

15. - Ultimate Fighting Champion - Church Liddell 400-1

(even Google doesn’t know who he is)

14. - from Iron Chef America - Mark Decascos 300-1

(hope he cooks on the dance floor)

13, - Joanna Krupa (model) 150-1

(voted sexiest swimsuit model in the wold)

12. - Kelly Osbourne, daughter of Ozzie Osborne 100-1

(ugh an Osborne)

11. - Sports Illustrated model - Kathy Ireland 90-1

(Model, actresses, infomercial star) 46 years old. Will root for her.

10. - TV star - Melissa Joan Hart 80-1

(Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)

9 - Donny Osmond 75-1

(Marie Osmond’s brother)

8. - Snowboarder - Louis Vito 70-1

(Google doesn’t know him either, but he is my surprise pick to do farily well.)

7. - Debi Mazar (from tv show Entourage) 65-1

(Entourage actress. 44. Love her)

6. - Pop Star - Aaron Carter 60-1

(The youngest male solo artist to have four Top 40 singles)

5. - NFL player - Michael Irvin 50-1

(Hall of Fame wide receiver, teammate of season 4 winner, Emmett Smith)

4. - Ashley Hamilton (son of George Hamilton)

(George Hamilton finished in the top four season 4. Now his son gives it a go)

3.. Olympian - Swimmer Natalie Coughlin 15-1

(first American female in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics)

2.- Grammy winner Macy Gray 10-1

(she has a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis.

1 - R&B artist - Maya 5-1

(Hip hop R & B style. Appeared in Movie, Chicago. Has dance experience)

I hope you are dancing through life today. If you were to be on a reality show, which one would you be on? One already on or one that you would create? I'd go on The Amazing Race with my brother or create a new one, Cooking For Dummies.

TODAY’S TRIVIA:

YESTERDAY’S ANSWERS:

John Cocktosten, Dr. Rosen Rosen, Harry’s Truman. ALIAS THAT CHEVY CHASE USED IN THE MOVIE FLETCH.

Epstein, Washington, Horshack.. CHARACTERS ON WELCOME BACK KOTTER.

Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, Melanie Griffith. Other than being actresses. ALL MARRIED THE SAME MAN TWICE. AND THEY WERE ALL CHILD ACTRESSES/

The presidential inauguration, The Olympics, Leap Year. EVERY FOUR YEARS.

A cavity, a donut, a prescription, ALL CAN BE FILLED.

TODAY’S QUESTIONS:

Ronald Reagan, Thomas Delahanty, James Brady.

Herb Talek, Bailey Quarters, Jennifer Marlowe

Perwinkle, Azure, Cerulean.

Inspector Fenwick, Nell, Horse.

Bread & Butter, Midget Gherkin, Kosher Dill.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Updates: Entertainment Update & Your Update?

Since I update you on my life daily, I don’t really need to update you today. It is really your day to update me. So instead of updating you about myself I am going to do an entertainment update. Then I will sit back and let you tell me about your life. Tell me everything. Any secrets? Give them up! Any events attended or attending? How are your elderly relatives doing? How are your children doing? How are separations from the elderly going? Any exciting trips just completed or planned? And if you are new to the blog or have been reading the blog for a while and never posted we all would love you to introduce yourself. You could meet some great friends here!

First entertainment update is the movie, FUNNY PEOPLE. Don’t waste your time. Terrible movie. Well actually the movie would have to improve to be terrible. I’d been better off spending the two hours having a full body wax. It would have been a less painful two hours. My advise to the readers here. Don’t go.

Second entertainment update is Top Chef Masters. The finals are this week starting at 10:15PM, 9:15PM Central on the Bravo Channel. In the finals are Hubert Keller, Rick Bayless, and Michael Chiarello. They moved on the finals after this week’s semi-final that disappointedly saw Anita Lo eliminated instead of Michael. Hubert Keller won the night. Rick Bayless came in a close second. They finished one two because the were able to inspire their team of former Top Chef Contestants. My man Hubert was “stuck” with Spike from Season 4 but also had Antonio from season 4, and Elia from season 2. Rick had Alex sason 5, Richard from season 4, and Betty from season 2.
Hubert and Rick gracefully attributed their success to their team. Because of their attitudes everyone wanted to work for Hubert and nobody wanted to work for Michael.
After this week I am back to dislking Michael but am still rooting for Hubert. GO KELLER.

Right before the finals of Top Chef Masters, Top Chef- Las Vegas makes its debut at from 9 PM to 10:15 PM, 8 to 9:15 Central time. I wonder why Top Chef have never had a Top Chef Portland since Portland is known to give New York a run for their money as the restaurant capital of the world. Portland has more restaurants per square foot than any city. Oh well, maybe next season. Competing on Season 6 of Top Chef are:

Ron Dupret, Executive Chef, 40, Haiti, Naples, Florida.
Robin Leventhal, Chef, Artist, Teacher, 43, Sun Valley, Idaho, Seattle, Washington.
Pteeti Mistry, Executive Chef, 33, San Francisco
Michael Voltaggio , Chef de Cuisine , 30, Maryland. Los Angeles.
Michael Isabella, Executive Chef, 34, New Jersey. Washington, D.C.
Mattin Noblia, Owner, Iluna Basque, 29, France. San Francisco.
Laurine Wickett , Chef / Owner Left Coast Catering, 38, New York. San Francisco.
Kevin Gillespie, Executive Chef, 26, Atlanta, Georgia.
Jesse Sandlin, Executive Chef, 30, Baltimore, Maryland.
Jennifer Zavala , Sous Chef, 30, Cromwell, Ct. Philadelphia.
Jennifer Zavala , Chef de Cuisine, 33, Philadelphia
Hector Santiago, Chef-Owner, Pura Vida, 41, Puerto Rico. Atlanta.
Eve Aronoff , Chef-owner Eve, 40, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Eli Kirshtein, Executive Chef, 25, Atlanta, Georgia
Bryan Voltaggio, Chef-Partner VOLT, 33, Maryland.
Ashley Merriman, Chef, 32, New Hampshire. Seattle.
Ash Fulk, Sous Chef, 29, Pleasant Hill, California. New York.

You can read the complete bios here: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/bios. I have already picked my favorite. Of course it is the oldest contestant. Teacher Robin Leventhal.

The blog is now yours. Tell me everything. If you are Top Chef fans are you looking forward to both the finals of Top Chef Masters and the beginning of Top Chef-Las Vegas?

TRIVIA:

YESTERDAY'S ANSWERS:

Vandella, IMAN, Paulina. - MODELS.

The Monster, Phantom of The Opera, London After Midnight. Other than being movies or plays. LON CHANEY MOVIES.

Fleet, Vice, Rear. ADMIRALS.

Moses, Superman, Cabbage Patch Dolls. ALL CAN BE ADOPTED.

Macaw, Toucan, Cockaiel - BIRDS.

TODAY'S QUESTIONS:

John Cocktosten, Dr. Rosen Rosen, Harry’s Truman.

Epstein, Washington, Horshack.

Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, Melanie Griffith. Other than being actresses.

The presidential inauguration, The Olympics, Leap Year.

A cavity, a donut, a prescription.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Have I Got Some Business Ideas For You

As I was trying to figure out what to write about today I was cruising the Internet and found a list of the weirdest businesses in America.
To read a complete list of the businesses you can go here:

http://smallbusiness.aol.com/features/weirdest-businesses?icid=main|htmlws-sb|dl2|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fsmallbusiness.aol.com%2Ffeatures%2Fweirdest-businesses

Here are the top 10:

CUDDLE PARTY
Location: New York City

Runs events at which adults "explore communication, boundaries, and affection" by donning pajamas and getting physical. Ix-nay on the naughty stuff.

ALIBI NETWORK
Location: Chicago

In a perfect world, you wouldn't have to lie to your wife/boss/parents about your whereabouts Friday night. In an imperfect world, these guys have your back.

HAPPYBALLS.COM
Location: Cumming, Georgia

A million-dollar company that makes a single product: foam balls for car aerials.

BAREFOOTLIST.COM
Location: Salt Lake City

Members create and track lists of things they want to achieve before they die.

CLIMAX GENTLEMEN'S CLUB
Location: New Alexandria, Pennsylvania

Drive-through strip joint.

AFTERLIFE TELEGRAMS
Location: New Athens, Illinois

Service for contacting the dead. Terminally ill patients memorize messages and deliver them when opportunity permits.

ENTHEM
Location: San Francisco

Writes full-length corporate theme songs. The ultimate in hold music!

FETAL GREETINGS
Location: Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Creates pregnancy announcements that purportedly come from the womb

GAMING-LESSONS
Location: Jupiter, Florida

Video-game-coaching services. Offers "world-class instruction" in Halo 2.

HEART ATTACK GRILL
Location: Chandler, Arizona

Menu features a quadruple bypass burger, flatliner fries ("deep fried in PURE LARD!"), and Jolt cola. Also available: unfiltered cigarettes

OK, now come on and fess up. Which one of these businesses intrigues you? Which one of these businesses upset you the most? Which one of these businesses would you be likely to invest in?

My choices: Barefootlist.com intrigues me. Afterlife Telegrams and Climax Gentlemen’s Clun equally bother me. Afterlife because it just seem lik it is taking advantage of vulnerable people. The Gentlemen’s Club because I hate the name, hate the idea, and I don’t want to have to dodge cars being driven buy men with woodies when I am on the road. Cuddle Party is the one that I would consider investing in because it seems like it might help people on some level. OK, your turn!

ON TO TRIVIA:

Yesterday’s answers:

Superman, Narrow Margin, Mississippi Burning besides being movies or books. Gene Hackman movies.

The mad decade, The Age of Red-Hot Mamas, The Jazz Age. Terms to describe the roaring twenties.

Sir Henry Morgan, William Kidd, Jean Laffite. Pirates.

A weak battery, a matador, a crime suspect. All are charged.

A snow storm in Florida, A hula hoop with a nail in it, and The USS Adams. Naval or navel destroyers.

Today’s questions:

Vandella, IMAN, Paulina.

The Monster, Phantom of The Opera, London After Midnight. Other than being movies or plays.

Fleet, Vice, Rear.

Moses, Superman, Cabbage Patch Dolls.

Macaw, Toucan, Cockaiel

Friday, August 14, 2009

Breakfast For Lunch. Sharing Stories.

Wanted to wish good luck to Facebook and Email Friend J.G. that her tests today will come out cancer free. I also wanted to mention that even though Update Day is now Sunday you don’t have to wait until then to update us. You can share anytime here. We have no rules here. Also wanted to let you know that if there is a trivia of the day it will always be at the end of the blog entry together with the previous day’s answers.

DR and I were chatting in email a while back that the hardest days for an elderly that has lost a spouse that they had been with for a lifetime are the special days. Anniversaries. Birthdays. What DR and I do for our Mom’s is to recognize those dates for them with either a small gift our a meal out to share memories with them. Today is dad’s birthday. I am taking Mom out to lunch today to celebrate the day, rather than to ignore it. We will share memories and stories. My dad loved breakfast. It was his favorite meal of the day. He could eat breakfast three times a day. Today Mom and I are going to breakfast for lunch.

During the recent contest I got a very nice email from Dona. As part of the contest she had reread the blog. She mentioned in her email that the stories about my Mom and dad were touching and that I was lucky to have the parents that I had. I was lucky to be blessed with those parents and with the encouragement of that email today is dad stories.

Two of my biggest regrets are never having children and never marrying. I know I’d be a damn good husband. And I know I would have been a great dad. When I was dating a woman with two children she was always telling me that she had never met a man with such natural fathering ability. Truthfully, when we separated I had a harder time separating from her children then I did her. My friends tell me that they appreciate me for being so supportive of them. I learned all of that from my dad. A great father, loyal, supportive and a really good man that I hope someday to be as good as.

I’ve told this story before early on in the blog but it is such a classic dad story it bears repeating. It is the perfect story to help define what my dad was like. If I wrote a book about my dad, this chapter would be titled WOOF, WOOF. It was when I was maybe six years old and we were living in Pocatello, Idaho. We had this neighbor kid, Freddy, about my age who was just the kid from Hell. He was the type of kid that made you dream of retroactive birth control. He had this habit of coming over and leaning on our doorbell. Not just ring it, lean on it. It drove my dad absolutely nuts. One Saturday, dad and I were sitting in the living room when someone began leaning on our doorbell. After mumbling something to the tune of “I am going to get that little bastard” dad got down on his hands and knees. GROWWWWWWWWLLLL. WOOF WOOF. He was doing the best darn imitation of a Pitt Bull this side of the Mississippi that you have ever seen. Between the WOOF WOOF’S and the GROWWWWWWWWWWWWLL’s dad said “open the door, Bill.” WOOF WOOF, GROWLLLLLLLL. I opened the door. Trouble is Freddy, the neighbor, wasn’t at the door. It was two people handing out religious material. Boy did they take off. We later learned from another neighbor, a member of that church, that our address was on the banned list, the list not to visit.

This chapter in a dad book would be titled, SHOVE IT. Loving was a good adjective of dad. But the best word to describe him was supportive. It was my junior year in high school. I was working at the local grocery store as a box boy (now called courtesy clerk) to earn money for college. I was on the JV basketball team. I wasn’t a great player but I was good. I was never going to be the star, I might make the team at a really small college but my basketball career was most likely going to be over when I graduated from high school. The trouble I had on the basketball court was that dreaded word, expectations. My brother had natural abilities, he was probably the most talented athlete in school. When I went out for any sport all the coaches expected me to be as good as he was, when I wasn’t then I was haunted by those dreaded words, “not playing up to his abilities.” So even though I was in almost everyone’s eyes one of the best five players on the JV team they wouldn’t start me. Each game it became more frustrating for me. I can take a lot but I have me limits. About the fifth game into the season, in the first half they inserted me in to the game when the team was ten points behind. We were ahead when they took me out of the game. I never played in the second half. We lost. I made a spur of the moment decision that I would rather work more hours at the grocery store than be demeaned by that idiot of a coach. Took a shower. Rolled up my uniform together with the jock strap. Walked over to the coach, gave him my uniform and said “shove this up your ass.” Went over and got dressed. When I walked out to the car, the coach was talking to my dad. I’m thinking OK so I won’t get to use the family car for a while. After the coach left, I asked my dad what my punishment would me. Dad said, “No punishment. I told him if it had been me I would have told him to shove it a long time ago.” I went on to become the best player in the church league. See why I miss and loved my dad?

May this be a day for you to celebrate life and share memories of and with loved ones!

Because the rumor has it that three of a kind are two time contest winner Connie’s favorite we will DO WHAT DO THESE THREE HAVE IN COMMON for the next couple of days:

Yesterday’s answers:

An iceberg, a tongue, a waiter or waitress. TIPS

Rip, hack, buzz. TYPES OF SAWS

Cob, pent, cygnet. - SWANS

Alamogordo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki. - SITES OF ATOMIC BOMBING

East of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause, Giant (besides movies or books) - JAMES DEAN MOVIES

Today’s:

Superman, Narrow Margin, Mississippi Burning besides being movies or books.

The mad decade, The Age of Red-Hot Mamas, The Jazz Age.

Sir Henry Morgan, William Kidd, Jean Laffite.

A weak battery, a matador, a crime suspect.

A snow storm in Florida, A hula hoop with a nail in it, and The USS Adams. (I love this one)

Thursday, August 13, 2009

I'm Back.

Did you miss me? Sorry about yesterday it just was so busy that the day got away from me and there just wasn’t room in the day for me to write on the blog. One of the things that I did do was to mail out the prizes and the calendars yesterday,. Look for an oversized envelope with a return address of Doofus Dahn from Sherwood, Oregon to arrive at your house by Saturday or Monday at the latest. . If you don’t get your gift card by Monday make sure you let me know.

Here is what I was doing yesterday:

Fixed breakfast for Mom.
Stopped by the firm that bought my business to pick up my royalty check.
While there was given an unexpected work assignment.
Mom’s grocery shopping
My grocery shopping.
Filled my car with gas.
Filled mom’s car with gas.
Took Mom to lunch.
Returned books to library and checked out more books for mom to read.
Went to the corporate bank to deposit a check and order deposit slips.
Went to the personal bank to make a deposit and order checks
Stopped by the UPS store to get a container to store a film that I have.
Went to Safeway to buy the contest gift cards.
Went to Walgren’s to buy the larger mailing envelopes to mail the calendars.
Got the cards and the calendars addressed.
Went to the Post office to mail everything.
Drooped clothes off at Dry Cleaners.
Reconciled my corporate bank account.
Reconciled my personal bank account.
Paid bills.
Went through the stack of paper on my desk to see what correspondence needed to be responded to.
Sent some thank you cards out.
Got the work assignment in order to start working on it. I have a working style that fits me. I go through all the documents and sort out documents that I don’t really need because most of my clients (except Pat who sends exactly what I need) send way to much information. Put the documents in order of the tax return. Then I do the work! The work is today's schedule.
Responded to emails.
Watched Top Chef Masters (which I fell asleep during. So will watch it today.)

Now the real big thing that I did yesterday was to write a chapter in my book. A friend mailed me a CD that she had recoded for me with some pretty neat music on it. I listened to the CD while I was driving around running errands. One of the songs was really inspiring and while listening to it, it mentally transmitted to me a place that I had been thinking about in relation to a chapter that I had been thinking about. When I got home I sat right down and began writing that chapter. It was a really hard chapter to write because it was a combination of mystery and romance. Mystery I can do but romance it really hard for me because in real life I am obviously not very good at or I would be married alright already. I don’t know but maybe at some point in the next century I will share that chapter with you and ask for your ideas on how I can improve it!

While I am thinking about it, if you would like to suggest a topic for me to write about on the blog I am all ears.

The answer to Tuesday’s trivia:

1. Name the rock group that was made up of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynn, and Roy Orbison.?

The Traveling Wilbury’s

2. Who was the only regular cast member of the TV show M*A*S*H* to actually serve in the army in Korea?

Jamie Farr.

3. Who played Chandler’s father on Friends?

Kathleen Turner, believe it or not. She played Charles Bing in several episodes of “Friends”, including “The One With Chandler’s Dad” which aired on May 10, 2001.

4. At 85 hours what is the longest movie ever made?

THE CURE FOR INSOMNIS. It premiered in its entirety at The School Of The Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois from January 31, to February 3, 1987 in one continuous showing.

5. An earthquake that measures 8 on The Richter Scale would be how many times stronger that an earthquake that measured 4 on The Richter Scale?

It is 10,000 times stronger. The Richter Scale is logarithmic, which means that each successive whole number represents a tenfold increase in power.

TODAY LET’S DO WHAT DO THESE THREE HAVE IN COMMON:

An iceberg, a tongue, a waiter or waitress.

Rip, hack, buzz.

Cob, pent, cygnet.

Alamogordo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki.

East of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause, Giant (besides movies or books)

Hope this will be a great day for all and I hope you will all forgive me for disappearing without an explanation yesterday.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Sharks, Gum Chewing, & More Trivia

A warning to the visitors to the Oregon Coast, there has been several shark sightings the past few days. The sightings have included a great white shark! You can read the full article at Oregonlive.com, here is the direct link to the article:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/great_whites_like_the_one_take.html

The teacher would say “spit out your gum, Bill” and half the class would run up to the waste basket and spit out their gum. I guess that is when it was ingrained into me that gum chewing was unattractive and annoying. I do chew gum. However, I would never meet a client while chewing gum. It just seems rude to me. I would never great a date chewing gum. Just seems a bad way to start a date. Sure maybe we might share a stick of gum after a nice dinner. But before moving on to an after dinner walk along the river in downtown Portland or along the Oregon Coast I would neatly place the gum in a napkin and ditch it in the nearest garbage can.

The reason that I am talking about gum chewing today is becuase that was my annoyance yesterday. Not only while taking mom over to our local credit union to help her take care of some banking chores but also while sitting at my Mom’s last night watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Before ranting about gum chewing I just wanted to thank Ed, the head honcho at the Lake Oswego branch of the Onpoint Credit Union. He was not chewing gum and was without a doubt the nicest, most accommodating, head honcho on the planet. He treated mom with just a tremendous amount of respect. He helped us transfer the direct deposit of Mom’s social security check from B of A to the credit union. Took a lot of his time so that we wouldn’t need to stand in line at the social security office. I just hope Ed succeeds at whatever he does, he deserves it. And it a weird bit of connection, Ed & I, both here in Portland, Oregon were born at the same hospital in Billings, Montana.

Now on to the gum chewing. I am starting to see it everywhere. The checker at the grocery store. The clerk at the gas station. The order taker at the fast food restaurant. OK, I admit I am old fashioned but I would NEVER allow any employee of mine to great a customer or a client while chewing gum. It just seems rude and bad manners. Yesterday when we walked into Onpoint, the first person we meet, the person right there in the front that is the first person anyone encounters is chomping on gum. Between chomps it was “Can I help you?.” Why was I so freaking annoyed at that?

Last night the third contestant on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire sat in the chair and the camera shows him chewing gum. I mean don’t they have a producer to tell him, “lose the gum you idiot.” It annoyed me so much I wanted him to lose. He didn’t, he is still going strong. I get to root against him again tonight. If he learned some manners overnight and ditches the gum then maybe I’ll change and root for him. Why did his gum chewing annoy me so much?

OK, talk me down here. My mom talked me down when I wanted to leave enough money for the coffee and walk out of the local Shari’s before the dinner came a couple of nights ago when I saw cook in the open kitchen scratch his back with one of his cooking knifes. She calmed me down enough that I stayed through dinner. Can you do the same here? Talk me down. Tell my I am to old fashioned and I should at least move into the eighties. Tell me that gum chewing by employees meeting the public is just to little of a thing to worry about. Of course if it annoys you too, I am all for you agreeing with me.

Today‘s Trivia:

1. Name the rock group that was made up of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynn, and Roy Orbison.?

2. Who was the only regular cast member of the TV show M*A*S*H* to actually serve in the army in Korea?

3. Who played Chandler’s father on Friends? (I love this question)

4. At 85 hours what is the longest movie ever made?

5. An earthquake that measures 8 on The Richter Scale would be how many times stronger that an earthquake that measured 4 on The Richter Scale?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWERS:

1) c. John Lennon
2) b. Some Like it Hot
3) c. lusted in his heart
4) c. Arsenio Hall
5) d. Harry Truman
6) b. Bonzo
7) a. Chevy Chase
8) b. Richard Nixon
9) b. golf
10) d. Babe Ruth

HAVE A GREAT DAY! LOOKING FORWARD TO SEE WHERE YOU STAND ON GUM CHEWING!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Daily Trivia Returns, Know Your Presidents

The contest prizes will be mailed out on Wednesday. Since I am really stumped on what to write about today I am going to use something Kaye sent me in email and thank her for helping me out on a day when my creativity is on vacation.

The email was titled "Know Your Presidents." Here goes:

Politics and popular culture go hand in hand. It began in the 1950, when TV entered millions of American homes. Since then, actors keep aspiring to our nation’s highest office. And almost every U.S. President has enjoyed (or endured) a “pop culture” moment that has helped to define his reputation and legacy. How much do you know about politics in pop culture? Take our quiz to find out.

1) Richard Nixon’s first “enemies list” include the name of a genuine rock superstar. Who was it?

a. Fabian
b. Elvis Presley
c. John Lennon
d. Jimi Hendrix

2) Reportedly, Marilyn Monroe had a crush on President John Kennedy, who greatly enjoyed a movie she made with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. That film was:

a. The Misfits
b. Some Like it Hot
c. East of Eden
d. Old Yeller

3) Jimmy Carter confessed to Playboy magazine that he:

a. hated peanuts
b. hated Richard Nixon
c. lusted in his heart
d. mishandled the Iran hostage situation

4) During the 1992 Presidential election, Bill Clinton played the saxophone for which late-night TV host?

a. David Letterman
b. Johnny Carson
c. Arsenio Hall
d. Pat Sajak

5) The movie and TV program M*A*S*H* took place during which President’s administration?

a. FDR
b. JFK
c. William Taft
d. Harry Truman


6) Ronald Reagan once starred in a movie with a chimp whose name was:

a. Mighty Joe Young
b. Bonzo
c. Koko
d. Harpo

7) Who created the unforgettable impersonation of Gerald Ford on Saturday Night Live?

a. Chevy Chase
b. John Belushi
c. Dan Aykroyd
d. Bill Murray


8) Laugh-In was a huge TV hit starting Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. Which President appeared on the show and said “Sock it to me?”

a. Lyndon Johnson
b. Richard Nixon
c. George Bush
d. Gerald Ford

9) President Dwight D. Eisenhower had one recreational passion outside of Miami. It was:

a. eight ball
b. golf
c. jogging
d. gangsta rap

10) The elder President Bush attended Yale, where he posed for a very famous picture. Who else was in it?

a. Lou Gehrig
b. Winston Churchill
c. Harry Truman
d. Babe Ruth

Send me your choices by email. Who is your favorite president? In history, it is Harry Truman. During my lifetime? JFK. Who is your least favorite president: During history. Grant. During my lifetime. Almost all of them.

May this be a presidential day for you!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Dating Snafu/Your Updates

OK, Good followers of The Dahn Report I need you to help me recover from a dating snafu by taking my mind off of my faux paux by telling me about what is going on in your life! Tell me everything!

I've been caring for Mom for over five years now. A lot of things I do for her have become a habit. Mom has arthritis in both shoulders. She is so much pain that when she gets in the car she can't fasten her seat belt. I cannot tell you the number of times I have taken Mom out in the car during the last five years, to family events, grocery shopping, to doctors' appointments, to lunches and dinners. Each time I open the car door for Mom to let her get in the car, walk around to the driver's seat, get in the car, reach over and pull mom's seat belt up and over her shoulders and fasten it for her. Very routine. OK, so I have a date. I open the car door for the lady, go around get in the driver's seat, reach over and start to pull up the seat belt up over her shoulders and fasten it for her. OOPS. I'm looking forward to my next first date.

My update is one movie, some dinners out, two nights at Mom's, and a tersee conversatuion with the main caregiver. Three out of that last four days that she was supposed to be at Mom's she hasn't kept her committment. Thursday she was three hours late, Saturday she couldn't be there, Sunday she has to leave. When I talked to her on the phone I got "I don't really want the job I am just doing it as favor to you and your mom so your mom can stay in her own home." Yes, and as a favor to use she is cashing the checks we give her. I told very bluntly that if she didn't want the job we would find somebody else because we are paying her to do a job and she seems to have to many other things going on to keep doing us such a big favor. I came to a realization, that the real reason often times I can't plan things isn't Mom, it is the caregiver. So where I am at, is I am starting to look for a new caregiver, the old one will stay until we find someone else. In addition my Mom has said she would like to try staying alone. I've been promoting that idea for five years so I am all for it. It would make mom feel more independent. It would be cheaper. It would be easier on me. And I think my Mom can do it as long as she has the help of MedAlert. I will keep you posted.

Some TV Updates. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire with Regis Philbin returns to ABC tonight at 8 PM, & 7 PM Central Time. Top Chef Masters is down to its final four. Anita Lo, Michael Chiarello, Rick Bayless and Hubert Keller. I am rooting for my man Hubert but think Bayless will come away with the trophy. One of the challenges this week is for the cooks to cook blindfolded! The next season of Top Chef starts August 19. My hopes of a Top Chef Portland were dashed by the advertisement of this season's Top Chef as Top Chef Las Vegas.

I know most of you are married but in your dating days are there any dating snafus that you would like to tell us about? Love to hear of dating snafus from the single women too. Are you watching Millionaire tonight? If you watch Top Chef Masters who do you think will win and does that match with who you think will win? But more important than the answers to any of these questions is what is going on in your life! Update me! Post about anything you damn well please! The blog is now yours!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Can Obsessions Be Healthy? Julie & Julia A Review

Do you think obsessions can be healthy? Or are obsessions always wrong because they make you focus on only one area of your life? Can some obsessions be safe? Or are obsessions dangerous? My answers are at the end of today's blog entry.

Yesterday I went to JULIE AND JULIA starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams as Julie Powell. With supporting roles as their husbands, Stanly Tucci as Paul Child and Chris Messina as Eric Powell. Based on two true stories. Based on the books; Julia Child's memoir, MY LIFE IN FRANCE, and Julie Powell's " Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen" The paperback was retitled Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously. The screenplay is written by Nora Ephron (Sleepless In Seattle, When Harry Met Sally). The movie is also directed by Ephron.

The movie takes place in two different time frames. Julie Powell in New York City in 2002-2003, Julia Child in France in during the forties and fifties. With great costumes, it is really easy to distinguish when and where you are at. The two stories: Julie Powell locked in a dead-end job in New York City sees all her friends making challenging career advances while she goes to the same mundane job every day. She needs a challenge, she takes on Julia Child's MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING by deciding to cook 524 recipes in 365 days. She starts a blog recording her daily challenges with the recipes. The other story is Julia Child is in France lost without much to do decides to go to cooking school. The first woman cooking student.

There was a lot to like about the movie. Amy Adam's legs. Amy and Meryl's acting. Stanley Tucci (whom I have loved ever since his role in SHALL WE DANCE) acting. I loved that the movie showed two husbands that were extremely supportive of their wives. Instead of the usual showing of husbands out having affairs and doing everything they can to destroy their marriages. It was really nice to see men loving their wives and standing behind them.

What I didn't like about the movie was that it sagged in the middle. I also didn't like how when one of the women had a kink in her marriage that they didn't really show what brought them back together. Nothing really changed in the marriage, so why would you re-enter it? I also wondered how healthy it was for someone to have an obsession on a celebrity that risked a job and a marriage.

Eat before you go to this movie because the food looks delicioous. Be prepared to laugh as there are several funny scenes. Be prepared to be frustrated at times. Be prepared to watch two couples in love.

One Football for Amy Adams. One Football for Amy Adams' legs. One Football for Stanley Tucci. One Football for Meryl Streep. A minus one-half football for showing an obsession that could have turned out awful in a perfect light. Total Three and a half footballs.

My answers to the questions at the start of the blog? Yes, some obsessions can be healthy. I never would have walked again without the obession to prove doctors wrong. I never would have passed the CPA exam without the obsession to study, in the morning before I went to work, on my lunch hour, listening to tapes driving to and from work, and shutting out everything at night including TV to study. But obsessions can also be dangerous and very harmful. Obsessing over another human is just wrong. Obsessing over a celebrity? Mostly wrong. Obsessing on one area of you life, like exercise, at the expense of everything else going on in your life? Physically healthy yes, mentally healthy doubtful. Where to you land on the obsession scale?

Friday, August 7, 2009

Healthcare Reform: Myths vs. Reality.

I switched Update Day to Sunday. It is just a more relaxing day. So coming up Sunday kick back and share your life with us. Today we are talking healthcare reform. Myths vs. Reality. On of the papers I read daily is the USA Today. I also go their online site www.usatoday.com , which is a great site for news.

Paraphrased from the print edition of THE USA TODAY, Monday, August 3, 2009, in an article titled “Health Care Legislation: What’s True, What’s not.”

CLAIM:: Senator Jim DeMint - R from South Carolina was quoted as saying “People are starting to figure out that the president is on record, Congressman Rangel’s on record as wanting a single-payer government system in America."

THE FACTS: A single-payer system is when a single entry such as the government acts as a sole insurer, collecting fees from patients and paying medical providers. None of the bills written by the Democratic-controlled committees include a single-payer system. However, House Speaker Pelosi has said she will allow a floor vote on an amendment that would establish one. President Obama is against the single-payer system because he thinks it would destroy the economy.

CLAIM: Overhauling healthcare will not expand the federal deficit over the long term/. President Obama has pledged that “health insurance reform will not add to our deficit over the next decade.”

THE FACTS: President Obama’s pledge does not apply to proposed spending of about $245 billion over the next decade to increase Medicare fees for doctors. Beyond that, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the House bill lacks mechanisms to bring health care costs under control. Budget experts warn of accounting gimmicks that could mask burdens of on the deficit, The bipartisan Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget says those include back-loading the heaviest costs at the end of the 10 years and beyond.

CLAIM: The House bill “may start us down a treacherous path toward government encouraged euthanasia.” House Republican leader John Boehner was quoted as saying. Former Lt. Government of New York. Betsy McCaughey, was quoted as saying “One troubling provision of the House Bill compels seniors to submit to a counseling session every five years about alternatives for end of life care.”

THE FACTS: The bill would require Medicare to pay for advance directive consultations with health care professionals. It would not require anyone to use the benefit. Advance Directives lay out a patient's wishes for life-extending measures under various scenarios involving terminal illness and severe braindamage. Patients and their families would consult with health professionals not government agents “if” they used the proposed benefit.

CLAIM: Americans won’t have to change doctors or insurance companies. President Obama said “If you like your plan and your doctor , you won’t have to do a thing. You keep your plan; you keep your doctor.”

THE FACTS: The proposed legislation would not require people to drop their doctor. But some tax provisions might make it cheaper for some employers to pay a fee to end their health coverage. Depending on how those tax provisions are written it might make their employees, if their employer dropped the plan, to move to a public insurance plan that might not include their current doctor.

I honestly don’t know how I feel about healthcare reform as it is currently written. I do think the current system stinks. Healthcare is way to expensive, the insurance plans often way to confusing, the excuses like not covering pre-existing condition discriminatory, and often excuses for not covering alternative care troubling. I think we can as a nation do better to take care of our ill and elderly. I’m just not sure the current reform ideas are the right way to go. How do you feel?

Thursday, August 6, 2009

The Answers/The Winners

The Results: Dona 585, Connie 585, DanaRae 565, Pat 525, Mary Z 525, Kaye 515. In a coin flip heads was assigned to Dona, tails to Connie. The coin was flipped at 10:00 PM at my house on August 5, 2009. It cames up heads so Dona wins the $50 gift card and Connie wins the $25 gift card. The others if they so desire win a scenic 2010 Oregon Calendar. Email me with your choices of gift cards and whether or not you want a calendar.

It is interesting that the two winners and Pat got all five right about me. The others only got four out of five on the blog questions. Dona re-read the entire blog. Connie used the blog feature, "search blog" to come up with the answers. Pat did it from memory. It was interesting because Connie came up with Spenser Tracy just by looking at my dad's picture.

I love clowns by the way as opposed to being feared by them. Washington's treatment of his slaves bothered me. I have admired RFK from the time that I was a little child. At one time I wanted to be him. I met RFK they day before he was assasinated. It was less than one second meeting as his plane touched down in Medford, Oregon when he was on the way to the Califorinia primary.

Off to take Mom to a doctor's appointment that I didn't know about until late last night.

THANKS TO ALL!!1 IT WAS FUN!!

Trivia Each (points listed after each question)

(source Trivial Pursuit)

1. What two German magicians met on a cruise ship when one offered up his smuggled
pet cheetah for the other’s stage performance? Siegfried and Roy. 10 points.

2. What is the Academy Award statuette, also known as Oscar, holding in front of him? A sword. 10 points.

3. What President is said to have had the largest feet, wearing a size 14 shoe? Warren G. Harding. 10 points.

4. What former forescenic scientist is known for her gritty well-written mysteries? Patricia Cornwell. 10 points.

(NOTE: THIS QUESTION WAS THROWN OUT BECAUSE CORNWALL WAS NEVER A FORESCENIC SCIENTIST. THREE BETTER ANSWERS WERE GIVEN. IN ANOTHER CASE A PERSON WOULD HAVE ANSWERED CORNWALL IF HER RESEARCH HADN'T LEAD HER TO SOMEONE ELSE. SHE THOUGHT IT WAS A TRICK QUESTION.)

5. The amusement park Six Flags flies what six flags? 5 points for each flag. Spain, France, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, The Confederate States of America, and The USA.

What do these three things have in common. 10 points each.

(source the game Tri-Bond)

6. What do a basketball player, a soccer player, and a baby have in common? 10 points. They all dribble.

7. What do the slogans “taking candy from a baby”, “falling off of a log”, and “shooting fish in a barrel” have in common? All are things that are easy.

8, What do Buster Brown’s Dog, Muhammad Ali, and full cut underpants have in common? They all are boxers.

(NOTE: THIS QUESTION WAS THROWN OUT BECAUSE BUSTER BROWN'S DOG WAS NOT A BOXER. There is onfusion as to what type of dog Buster was, some research says pit bull, other research concludes it was a Red Boston Terrier.)

9. What do a golf course, a bowling alley, and a wrestling star have in common? They all have pins.

10. Other than being famous or rich what do Frank Sinatra Jr., Charles Lindbergh, and Patty Hearst have in common? The were all kidnapped.

The Dahn Report - 10 points each.

(source The Dahn Report)

11. What famous actor was The owner of The Dahn Report’s dad often mistaken as?

A. Gomer Pyle..

B. Dustin Hoffman

C. Spenser Tracy XXX

D. Clark Cable.

12. The Owner of The Dahn Report is scared of:

A. Snakes. XXX

B. Dogs.

C. Lions

D. Clowns.

13. What did The Owner of The Dahn Report go out of his comfort zone to do in the fall of 2008.

A. Sky Dived.

B. Bungee jump.

C. Rock Climbed.

D. Took comedy classes XXX

14. Which of the following is not an idol of the Owner of The Dahn Report

A. George Washington. XXX

B. RFK

C. Thomas Edison

D. His Dad.

(Note: All but George Washington have been mentioned on the blog in other than trivia, this is the first time Washington has been mentioned on the blog in relation to me)

15. What happened to the owner of The Dahn Report his first day on a job in February of 2009.

A. He was fired.

B. He fell and had a concussion XXX

C. He was given a bonus.

D. His computer crashed.

WHO AM I 25 points each


16. I was born in Pasadena, California on August 15, 1912. I was the eldest of three children. At 6’ 2” I was the tallest student at Katherine Branson School for Girls in San Francisco, California. At the onset of World War II I worked as a research assistance Office of Strategic Services (OSS), now the CIA. After attending a special school in France I changed careers. Following a 40-year career in that new occupation I received France's highest honor, the Legion d'Honneur, in November 2000. And in August 2002, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History unveiled an exhibit featuring the place where I filmed three of my popular shows. Because of her height Meryl will never really be confused for me but she soon will be associated with my name. Who Am I? Julia Child

(source. Biography.com.)

17. I was Born in 1925, the son of a Boston doughnut company executive, and was educated at Phillips Andover Academy and taught myself to play piano as a teen. I attend Harvard and was elected president of the Hasty Pudding Club. My college was interrupted during WWII by a stint in the US Navy. After the war I supported myself by playing piano in bars and silent movies. Billy Wilder once said of me “there was a little bit of genius in everything he did." I starred with Judy Holliday in my first film in 1954. Using my military experience I became a famous MR. in smash 1955 filmed named after that mister. I won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for my fourth film. One film made Tony and I famous cross dressers. Known at the time mostly for comedy Lee and I had some wine after I gave her roses. Jane, Michael, and I were almost had a radioactive Syndrome. I died a year after my friend Walter did. Who Am I? Jack Lemmon.


(source: http://www.starpulse.com)

18. I was Born to Russian-immigrant parents, I made my first film appearance at age four. I took taking dancing lessons since infancy. I was in a grown up role opposite the causeless rebel , James, and frolicked in grass with Warren. I was also a regular on a 1953 television sitcom. My first marriage to Robert didn’t last. The second time Robert and I married it last until my death. I was nominated three times of Oscars with the rebel, for frolicking in that grass and for spending time with a proper stranger. I died at a to early age while filming a science fiction movie. My drowning death remains a mystery to some. Who Am I? Natalie Wood.


(source: http://www.starpulse.com)

19. I was born in 1820 into a wealthy and well-connected British Family and named after the city I was born in. I first had a calling into an occupation in 1837, into a career at the time that was handled mostly by female “hangers-on” who followed armies and were equally likely to function as prostitutes. The occupation at the time had a poor reputation filled by poor women. When I was old enough to go in the profession I witnessed the death of pauper in a workhorse infirmary after which I announced the intention of my career to my family which evoked intense anger and distress from my mother and other family members. I was a pioneer in hospital sanitation methods. Against my mother’s wishes in 1851 I rejected the marriage proposal for a politician, poet, and 1st Baron. During the Crimean war I took a staff of 38 to Scutari where despite the objections of the doctors I improved the conditions of the wounded soldier so that the mortality rate dropped from 40% to 2%. I treated 2,000 patients myself and came down with Crimean Fever. I am remembered today because of my compassion, care skills, administrative skills, and introducing new ways to care for patients and maintain medical records. I am often referred to by a phrase because of the Grecian lamp that I always carried with me. The lamp allowed me to write letters at night to the family of every soldier that died in my care. Because of my commitment to my profession I was able to start a training school on July 9, 1860. My notes on my profession was published in 1860. In 1883 Queen Victoria awarded me the Royal Red Cross and in 1907 I was the first woman awarded the Order of Merit. After I died in 1910 my relatives refused the offer to have me buried in Westminster Abbey. There is still a museum named after me in London. I once was quoted as saying "My occupation is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts." Who Am I? Florence Nightingale.

(source: http://www.tentmaker.org/biographies/)

20. I was born in 1860 and died a spinster in 1927. My family wasn’t the warmest family in the world. My sister and I shared the front of the Upstairs of the family home and my parents shared the back of the upstairs of the home. We didn’t always even eat meals together. I did try to bury the hatchet but that caused me nothing but trouble. I was acquitted by the jury in an hour and a half. I died of pneumonia nine days before my estranged sister died. In my will I left thirty grand to The Animal Rescue League and also left five hundred a month for the care of my father’s grave. I am a sixth cousin once removed of Elizabeth Montgomery. Among other things there was a Ballet and Theatre performances of my life story. The Travel channel once selected my home as the most scary place on earth. In 2008, The History Channel's series MonsterQuest visited my home looking for ghosts. An episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents entitled "The Older Sister" retold my story, in which my older sister was the real culprit and I was just covering for her. Who Am I? Lizzie Borden.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/)

JEOPARDY. Point value noted by question.

21. Let’s Play Jeopardy. No Double Jeopardy. No Final Jeopardy. You can skip any
question, You get the points next to the question. Subject it Miscellaneous
Questions.

10 points: Article 1, Section 8 if the U.S. Constitution says Congress can make this, regulate its value and punish people who copy it. Money

20 points: “A Foot In The Door” is the title of this brush salesman’s autobiography. Alfred Fuller.

30 points: In October 1960 this world leader sat holding his shoe in the U.S. General Assembly. He was also once refused entrance to Disneyland. Nikitia Kruschev,

40 Points: Dating back to the American Revolution it’s the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. West Point.

50 Points: This 14th century Nomadic leader’s corpse was exhumed by Russian scientitst in 1941. Tamerlane. Also known as Timur

(source: computer game Play Jeopardy 2 by Sony)

CURRENT NEWS: 10 POINTS.

22. You wouldn’t be all wet if you told us what feat 17 year-old Zac Sunderland was the youngest to accomplish. Sail around the world alone.

(source The Oregonian. Date provided after the contest)

WHERE AM I: 25 POINTS.

23. I am in a city where the population in 2006 was over a half of million. I am a port city. I have been listed as the night largest city in my country. My local economy has been lead by the steel and heavy manufacturing industries but lately has shifted towards the service sector, particularly health sciences. I am home to The Royal Botantical Gardens, The Bruce Trail among other things including a football Hall of Fame. Our local football team plays at Ivor Wayne Stadium. Because of diverse location several TV and film productions have been filmed here. What City and Country am I in? Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

(souce: wikipedia)


24. I am the second largest city in my country famous for my natural settings, carnivals, my beaches, the samba, and other music. I’m home to a giant statue named Christ The Redeemer. My city boast of the largest and second largest urban forests in the world. My city is often considered on of the most violent in the world. I was discovered by a Portuguese expedition that included Amerigo Vespucci. According to the IBGE of 2008, there were 11,835,000 people residing in my Metropolitan. As a result of the influx of immigrants B from the late 19th to the early 20th century, one may find in communities of Jews, Arabs of Lebanese and Syrian origin, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, within my city. A movie blamed a May-December romance on me. Where Am I? Rio de Janeiro

(souce: wikipedia)

29. THE FINAL QUESTION: 25 points each correct answer.

On the long running Perry Mason television series in “The Case Of The Deadly Verdict” Perry Mason lost the case. One of the guest actors on that case is the cousin of a current U.S. Senator that was recently in the news. Name the actor, Name The Senator, name the recent movie that the actor had a role in, and name the state that the Senator represents.

Stephen Franken, Angels & Demons, Al Franken, Minnesota.

(While Stephen Franken was in The Manchurian Candidate, the most recent movie he was in and the correct answer is ANGELS & DEMONS)

(source: The Oregonian as credited from wire reports. August 1, 2009)