Observations from the VMAs

Tonight I was reminded why I prefer talk radio to what poses as music these days.  I'll take Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh, & Dave Ramsey any day over the majority of what cluttered the VMAs tonight.

I didn't watch the whole thing, thank goodness.  I mean, a girl can only take so much.  I noticed several friends on facebook were commenting on Kanye West being an absolute jerk to Taylor Swift.  I like Taylor Swift, so I was curious about what had happened.  I found out, then watched the video on YouTube, and then tuned in for a while.  (So if it was a publicity stunt to get people to tune in, it worked on me, but rather than enjoy the show, it was more like a train wreck.)  

Taylor Swift (a classy, talented young lady who actually is a good role model for kids) won the award for Best Female Video.  As she was accepting the award & saying her thank yous, Kanye West (a hip hop THUG) came onto the stage, took Taylor's mic away, and told her he was happy for her & would let her finish, "but BEYONCE had one of the greatest videos of all time! ... of ALL TIME!!"  (Thank you for your insights, Kanye.  We were all waiting on the edge of our seats until we knew exactly what you thought.)  Kanye hands the mic back to Taylor, who is standing there looking surprised & embarassed & like she really didn't know what to do.  It appeared she attempted to wrap up her thank yous, but her audio had been cut.  So... thanks, Kanye.  It truly is all about YOU.

Lady Gaga.  First of all, she looks like a tranny.  Secondly, I would think that if your music was good enough that it could speak for itself, you wouldn't have to wear weird masks & wigs as big as a trampoline & big fuzzy wreaths to frame your overly made-up face & whatnot.  But I'm not really a fan, so what do I know.  Personally, I can't say that I've heard a new artist who needed to win an award lately, and I'm pretty convinced that the shock value of her appearance has brought more attention than any actual talent.  Nevertheless, she won "Best New Artist".  She took the stage with a red mask completely covering her face, and some contraption piled high onto her head.  Mid-speech, she took the contraption & mask off.  I guess it was getting in her way.  Imagine that.  Then she finished her speech by saying, "This is for God & the GAYS!"  Um... okay.  

Perez Hilton.  Did he lose a bet?  Was he in a contest with Lady Gaga on who could look like the biggest moron of the night?  Did my eyes deceive me or was he wearing a floral grandma blazer (with his hairy chest exposed) & a hot pink knee length skirt?  Really?  And I'm pretty sure my eyes didn't deceive me, because Melissa & I rewound & paused it & stood there in shock.  Can someone please tell him that he's a BOY?

Pink.  I like several of Pink's songs.  Her performance was pretty cool tonight.  But did she really need to have one breast completely exposed, with a pink heart covering her nipple?  Really?  

It was announced that some guy named T.I. won the award for Best Male Video.  Then they immediately explained that, of course, T.I. couldn't be there tonight, but he'll be going home soon.... ATL represent!  ATL represent!  So I told Melissa, "I bet he's in jail!"  I looked him up on wikipedia & sure enough, T.I., upstanding citizen that he is, is in jail for a year on a weapons charge.  

Also, I learned tonight that Michael Moore is coming out with another propaganda film!  I'd not heard of this until I was tuned into the VMAs on MTV ... so he can push his socialist ideas onto the impressionable youth of America.  Why doesn't he just move to Cuba & get it over with.  I prefer freedom.  And also capitalism, as evil as he may think it is.

I must say that towards the end of the show, Beyonce (much to Kanye's enjoyment, I'm sure), won Best Video.  (I can't say I see what all the hoopla is about with that video, but whatever.)  Beyonce invited Taylor Swift onto the stage to have her moment.  So Taylor came back & said, "Shall we try this again?"  (YES!)  Then she went on to thank a few people.  I thought that showed a ton of class on Beyonce's part.  

But yeah.  Wow.  That was something to see.  It was quite the train wreck - the whole thing.  Wow.  If I were an artist & were asked to perform or attend the VMAs, I'd probably tell them thanks, but no thanks.  I could find better things to do.  Like ... clip my toenails.  Or dumpster dive.  Or clean a toilet.  

Thoughts on Sarah Palin's Resignation

I was out shopping yesterday & I got a mobile Facebook update on my cell phone.  My friend, Renate, had written on my wall, "What's up with Sarah Palin?"  I didn't know what she was talking about, but I knew one way I might find out.  I went to my People Magazine application & sure enough, there was a news article - Sarah Palin Resigns As Alaska Governor.

I was surprised & curious & kind of sad.  Since being introduced to Sarah Palin, along with the rest of the lower 48 last August, I have come to respect her a great deal.  I respect & agree with the things she stands for, and I love that she will stand up for herself & her family.  I find it to be refreshing.  Being a conservative, she is despised by the far left & the majority of the media, but she is true to who she is, and she's transparent.  I like that.  (I'm sure Keith Olbermann is foaming at the mouth, waiting to rip this story & Governor Palin herself into shreds.  He's comical.)

Governor Palin never struck me as the quitting type.  She seems to be one who will persevere rather than throw in the towel.  So to get the whole story, I read the speech she gave when she announced her resignation, and I think it makes a lot of sense.  (To read the speech for yourself - click here.)  Of course, the media is going to focus on the resignation itself and ignore the reasons behind it.  But her reasons show that she is more concerned about her state of Alaska than she is about her title.  

She explained that she & her staff are having to spend the majority of their days defending against these countless (now dismissed) ethics claims that were filed against her.  She & her husband, Todd, have accumulated over half a million dollars in legal fees, just to set the record straight & defend themselves.  The work in Alaska that she should be doing is not getting done as effectively as it should, due to all these distractions.  She could easily stay in the job for the remainder of her term and just do what a lot of others would do ... collect the paycheck, travel the country, etc.  But, she is choosing to do the right thing.  She's stepping aside so the work can get done.  She doesn't want the time & money of Alaskans wasted, so she's stepping aside.  I think that's a very honorable & selfless thing to do.  She demonstrates a level of class that is rarely seen in politicians.  (Let's compare & contrast Sarah Palin with Nancy Pelosi, for example.)  I think Sarah Palin should hold her head high & keep moving forward.  

I don't think we're finished hearing from her yet.  I hope we're not.  She's a true conservative & there aren't many of those left.  I'm anxiously awaiting what's next for her, and she'll have my support & continue to have my respect.

The Smaller The Town, The Fewer The Boundaries

There's a reason I watch Fox News.  Local news is just so special.  It's good for some comic relief, but it makes me think, "Where do they find these people?!"

Last night, Melissa & I were at our friend, Wally's, house.  Again I stress that if we had been at our house, the tv would have been broadcasting the second showing of The O'Reilly Factor.  But, at Wally's house, it was the local news.  And if nothing else, it was good for some comic relief!  

A local community is having problems with their water system.  The water is basically the color of a pitcher of Luzianne tea.  I understand their reasons for being disgusted by it.  I really do.  But they sure did display some colorful characters for this segment.

Let me say that I think cities & small towns both have their pros & cons, but I think one of the problems with small towns is that everyone is so caught up in everyone else's business, that there are literally no boundaries.  I, along with most people I know, am of the mind that there are some things you just don't talk about with strangers, and you especially don't broadcast to the entire ArkLaMiss region.

So, to set the scene, imagine a big, hot Louisiana field.  There were probably about two dozen residents gathered around, all holding jugs, pitchers, glasses, or bowls of brown water.  The voice-over said something to the effect of, "Some residents in this Louisiana town will go three to four days without showering, because the water is so filthy."  (Okay ... gross.  TMI alert #1.)

Here are a few of the characters we met last night.

One lady held a milk jug full of the brown water & sang a song about how she took a shower, but didn't come out clean.  (Really ... don't do that.  And especially not on tv.)

One man said, "We've been tellin' 'em for years to fix the problem, and all we get is that they're workin' on it!  Well, we've lived here FOUR YEARS, and they're STILL workin' on it!"

Then what appeared to be a mother & daughter duo showed up.  The daughter looked to be in her early twenties & mom looked to be in her forties.  Daughter was holding up a rather large pair of formerly white granny panties, that were now brownish.  She exclaimed, "They look like they've been thrown out & reused!"  (Oh no!  Oh no!  MASSIVE GRANNY PANTIES!  Noooo!  On tv?!!?!  What is she DOING?!)

Then mom, pitcher of brown water in hand, informed us, "I went to the doctor & he said this is why I keep diarrhea for so long!  It's NASTY!  It's NASTY!"  (Uh ... YEAH, it's NASTY!  Why is she TELLING US THIS?!!?!)

To wrap up the segment, we went back to the first man, who said they'd been working on the problem for years.

Local Reporter - "How does this make you feel?"

Local Man - "PEEEEE OOOOOOH'd!"

Oh no.  No.  No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Thoughts on Miss California, Carrie Prejean

Women everywhere should be standing up & applauding Carrie Prejean.  If some of these women would stop hating her for two minutes & think about it, they would thank her.  She just pushed the envelope & did something pageant girls are apparently not expected to do.  She gave her true opinion on something.  Instead of worrying over being politically correct & giving the typical "world peace" answer, she answered a question based on her values & principles.  People were shocked.  Some were shocked because of her answer, due to their disagreement with her views, but others were shocked because she was genuine.  That is refreshing.

If pageant girls want to continue to be seen as mindless puppets ... basically empty, but beautiful, shells with attractive bodies & pretty smiles, then have at it.  Continue on.  But if they want to be seen as someone people will be able to respect, they'd be smart to follow in Carrie Prejean's footsteps.  A pageant girl with a brain.  Imagine that.  Who knew?!  A 21 year old young lady who was put on the spot over a very controversial issue and who chose to stick to her principles, even if it cost her the crown ... the very thing they were all striving to win.  That is incredibly admirable.

I've read an article about what some of the other pageant contestants had to say about Carrie's response to the question about gay marriage.

Miss Connecticut, Monica Mary Pietzrak, told Fox News, "In general, when you're answering a question like that, you have to be politically correct about it.  I would've answered differently to help accommodate all beliefs."  

Well, I guess that's where Miss Connecticut & Miss California differ.  Miss California was asked what she believed, so she told what she believed.  She was genuine.  She was not concerned with what the audience would prefer to hear.  She was asked her opinion, so she gave her opinion.  She chipped away a little at the "fake" persona that comes with pageant girls.  Miss Connecticut seems to have just confirmed that they're supposed to use the popular opinion, whether that is their true opinion or not.  Say what people want to hear.  Don't really answer the question honestly.

Miss Massachusetts, Alison Cronin, said, "Had she gone the other way with the question, she might have won.  I'm surprised that she would say it, knowing the demographic that she was speaking to."  She added, "She would've made herself look more like an idiot if she had changed her mind.  You got to be able to back up your opinion & not be wishy-washy.  Good for her for standing by it."

Again, she was supposed to say that she agreed with gay marriage!  Darn her!  If she had been fake, she may have won!  And, I don't think she made herself look like an idiot at all.  I think she made herself look genuine.  Maybe the pageant scene isn't really for Carrie Prejean, afterall.  I think she's a cut above it.  She has a little too much in the guts department.  A little too much integrity & authenticity to be in that industry.  

Several of the pageant girls interviewed said they disagreed with Carrie's stance on gay marriage, and it appears many would have answered differently regardless of their true beliefs, but they did admire her decision not to compromise her beliefs.

Miss California may have lost the Miss USA title, but she has won a lot of hearts.  She has garnered a lot of respect from a lot of people.  She certainly has my respect.  She's a class act, and California should be proud.  

Mom Of The YEAR!

**Warning!  This blog contains rather graphic (though not as graphic as I could have made it) content regarding a sick dog.  Do not read further if you have a weak stomach!**

You know that wonderful feeling when you walk into your house after a long day at work, and you're instantly hit with the smell of food that's been cooking all day in the crock pot?  Your mouth immediately starts to water & you just can't wait to fix yourself a plate?  Ah, I love that feeling.  Melissa & I like to cook in the crock pot, but we haven't done it in forever.   Until last Wednesday.

I had sauteed some chicken & purple onion with some honey teriyaki sauce Monday night.  Melissa loved it.  I thought it was okay, but I gave her most of mine in favor of a bowl of Honey Comb.  I just wasn't a huge fan of it.  Melissa loved it so much that she proclaimed, "We should have this again soon!"  I told her I wasn't really wanting to have it soon, because I was already tired of it.  But one of these days.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning.  Melissa sent me a text that said, "I'm going to make supper for us tomorrow in the crock pot!  I stopped at Walmart on the way to work & picked up what we need!"  I asked her, "What is it?!"  She said, "It's a surprise!"  That was her way of NOT telling me that it was the exact same thing I had sauteed the night before & didn't want to eat again any time soon!  But, this time it would be cooked in the crock pot, all day.  

Boxers tend to drool a lot.  Sayid is no exception!  If he sees or smells food, he immediately starts drooling.  Some of our friends think it's gross, but Melissa & I think it's cute/funny!  I guess we're biased.  So, when we were talking about the crock pot supper, I told Melissa, "Poor Sayid.  He is going to drool ALL DAY.  He's going to be SWIMMING in his crate when I get home!"  

Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon.  I walked in the door and smelled the crock pot food immediately.  Since I was hoping for a gravy smell & I was greeted with overly sweet teriyaki scent instead, it wasn't that appealing to me.  As soon as I looked at Sayid's crate, I was absolutely shocked/scared/disgusted.  He was swimming, sure enough.  He had thrown up in his crate SEVERAL times.  From the amount I cleaned up, I'm guessing he threw up four times in there.  And he also pooped in there.  He NEVER messes up his crate anymore, and if he does, it's NOT with poop!  I was really worried, not knowing why he was so sick.  As soon as I opened his crate door, he came running out as fast as he could.  And you can't really blame him.  He had been standing in that mess all day long.  Poor boy.  So I grabbed his collar & put his leash on him, and took him out the front door.  We walked to the back yard where he peed, and then he threw up really big.  Then he had diarrhea.  So I took him inside & got him a bowl of water, which he drank down in about ten seconds.  I called Melissa & told her what was going on, and we decided I should call the vet & see what we should do.

I called the vet & the receptionist answered.  They know Sayid pretty well.  He's such a sweet boy & he's been in there pretty often for different things.  So I told the receptionist who I was & that Sayid had messed up his crate pretty badly & whatnot.  She told me the veterinarian was out on calls & wouldn't be back until the next morning.  She advised me to pick up his food & water & don't allow him to have anything else all day.  She said I should keep an eye on him & if I saw blood in his ... sickness ... or if he was still throwing up by the next morning, I should bring him in.  So as we were about to hang up, I said, "Well, let me tell you this right quick.  I have no idea if this would cause him to get sick, but we've been cooking in the crock pot all day.  When Sayid sees or smells food, he drools REALLY bad.  In fact, I told Melissa that he would probably be drooling all day long, having to smell that food!  Would that be any reason for him to get sick like this?"  She told me, "That may very well be it.  The hypersalivation makes them have to swallow a lot, and if they're swallowing too much, it can mess with their stomach acid & make them sick.  So that may be exactly what's going on."  I thanked her & hung up.  Then I immediately unplugged the crock pot (which had been on for nine hours) & opened the windows in the house, so that poor boy could get some fresh air.

In the meantime, he threw up the water he drank on the living room rug & on my bedroom floor.  He looked so sad & ashamed.  He kept coming up & leaning against my leg while I would pet him & tell him how sorry I was that he got sick.  Then came time to clean out the crate.  I was literally praying that I wouldn't get sick in the process of cleaning it.  It was unbelievably nasty.  But, fortunately, once I got started, it wasn't that bad to clean it up.  God answered my prayer!  Sayid kept walking up and giving me some puppy love while I cleaned out his house.  Once I took the divider out of his crate & vacuumed up all the dog hair in the back of his crate, he was barking enthusiastically at the vacuum cleaner, like he always does.  His little tail was wagging and he seemed happy, but just less energetic than usual.

Melissa & I have decided that next time we want to cook in the crock pot, we can just get it all together at our house, and then walk it across the street to Cheryl & Cory's house & plug it in over there.  Then we'll go pick it up when we get home from work.  That way our poor dog won't get sick again from simply smelling food all day.  We felt horrible that he got so sick from that.  Oh, and the stuff Melissa made wasn't even that good.  (She thinks so too!)  We were horrible moms for making that boy sick all day long.  But I am MOM OF THE YEAR for cleaning out that nasty crate.  I even took a picture to show Melissa how awesome of a mom I am.  No worries though.  The photo has been deleted.  I won't do that to any of you.

But be warned!  If you have a drooler of a dog & he stays inside all day, you may want to avoid cooking in the crock pot.  Find a kind neighbor who will let you borrow their electricity for a day!

Um. I plead NOT guilty!

A couple of my birthday presents are every twelve year old boy's dream.  I got a basketball goal from my parents, a basketball from my dog (courtesy of my sister), & Rock Band from Janie!  I also got Blokus, which is a great game that someone got my eight year old nephew for Christmas.  But I also got some very good smelling lotion from Victoria's Secret, and I don't know any twelve year old boy who would want that!

So yesterday afternoon, Melissa, Janie, Sayid, & I played basketball in the driveway for about an hour.  It was FUN!  (And I hope we do it again when Melissa gets home from work in a little while!)  The neighborhood kids rode back & forth on their bikes as we played basketball, just doing their own thing.

I got home from work a few minutes ago & walked from my car to the mailbox.  Neighborhood kids were riding past on their bikes.  Then one little girl, who looks about nine or ten, yelled to another one, and then just rode back & forth in front of my house as they had their conversation.

Blonde Girl - "Hey Rachel!"

Rachel - "WHAT?!!?!!"  

Blonde Girl - "Have you seen my basketball?"

Rachel - "No."

Blonde Girl - "Well ... it was in their driveway."

Me - "My driveway?"

Blonde Girl - "Yeah."

Me - "Oh... I haven't seen it.  What does yours look like?  Just a regular basketball?"

Blonde Girl - "Yeah."

Me - "Oh ... well, sorry, I haven't seen it.  The only one I've seen is my basketball that I got for my birthday."

Blonde Girl - "Well, I haven't seen mine in about six weeks.  When did you get yours?"

Me - "Uh... Thursday?"

Blonde Girl - "What did it come in?"

Me - "Um... a gift bag?"

What the crap!?  I wanted to tell her I didn't steal her dang basketball!  I don't go around stealing from children!  I just called & told my sister this story & she was annoyed.  Her responses cracked me up.  She said, "I wish these kids would realize that we are not their age!  I mean, really, they don't need to stop by & hang out!"  And she said, "You got interrogated by a nine year old!"  I said, "I know!  If I had known that I needed to prepare my court proceedings, I would have asked her why did she leave her basketball in my driveway!  Why didn't she come & get it?!"  Melissa said, "You should have said, 'Do you make a habit of leaving your crap everywhere you go?'"  HA!!  So yeah, I have a neighborhood nine year old who thinks I stole her ball.  I may have the toys of a 12 year old boy, but I'm not one!

Predatory Lending & Trickery

I'm so sick of the whining from people who think it's not fair that people are loaned money for a home they can't afford.  Here's my thing.  A few years ago, I was interested in buying a house.  In fact, I came very close to buying a house.  I was approved for the loan to buy this house.  But then I found out how much my house note would be ... with PMI & all that junk included.  Could I have done it?  Yeah.  Would I have been eating a lot of Ramen noodles?  Yep!  So I used the brain that I've been given & thought to myself, "Self ... would you like to spend so much money on your house note that you're stuck eating Ramen noodles all the time?"  The answer was no.  So I decided to turn down the loan & the house afterall.  Thanks but no thanks.  Why is that so hard?  It's okay to decline.  But apparently, with the mindset of a lot of people who consider themselves victims, the bank TRICKED THEM into this loan.  I say read the fine print & know what you're getting yourself into, and then make a wise decision.  Where's the personal responsibility?  Now, for the people losing their jobs due to layoffs & whatnot, because of the current economy ... I hope those people are able to stay in their homes a little longer & work something out.  But the people who are simply taking loans they KNOW they can't afford, just because ... well, the bank SAID they could ... I have very little sympathy.