What's coming up?

Spring is the time for fairs and festivals in South Florida - we only hang outside during the winter here, hibernating in the 95-degree summer like northerners do in the dead of winter. But summer is time for air-conditioned entertainment. I just started running that beloved a/c in the car this weekend, so I'm already looking forward to some indoor fun (no, not that kind, piggy):
~ Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull comes out this Thursday. 'Nuf said.
~ Florida SuperCon runs this Friday through Sunday. It's for people who dig comics, manga, anime, cosplay, and actors from "Harry Potter," "Clerks," Cartoon Network, etc.
~ A craft fair will run at the Coral Ridge Mall in Fort Lauderdale Saturday through Memorial Day. I haven't been able to find any details about this fair, so I'm not sure if it's a Granny's-crocheted-tissue-box-cover-type event or something younger, funkier and punkier, a la Craft Mafia. (Don't get excited by that last statement; it's definitely NOT a snazzy mafia get-together.)
~ The Strangers and Sex and the City opens next Friday, May 30. Acquaintances who saw an early release of "Sex" say it's everything it ought to be. I just fear the variety of trailers that've aired on TV have given away entirely too much of the movie. "Strangers" looks like it might be a satisfying thriller, for a change.
~ Kung Fu Panda opens June 6. Kick ass! Animated critters AND Jack Black... I'm hopeful, but a little voice in the back of my head warns me to not get my hopes up. Whattaya think?
~ The Fort Lauderdale Home Design & Remodeling Show should be really cool - not nearly as cool as a car show, but perhaps on par with a boat or RV show. Yes, I'm a geek. What of it? I'm also hoping to buy a home in the near future, so I'm hoping to stumble across a useful tip or two while drooling over remodeling marvels that are out of my financial reach: marble countertops and showers-made-for-five, for instance.
~ The Incredible Hulk AND The Happening open on the same day, June 13. OMG OMG OMG. No one will see me outside of a theater that weekend. (Yes, I realize this has devolved into a list of upcoming flicks, but trust me, there are plenty I'm planning to see that you didn't have to suffer through here. Bear with me and read on...)
~ We're celebrating one of my bestest girls' 24th birthday at Off the Hookah, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. Yes, you'll find belly dancers and hookahs, plus hummus and alcohol and US! Oh yeah.
~ Here comes more ass kicking... The Broward County Derby Grrls is having two bouts on their home turf (that is, at the Gold Coast Roller Rink in Fort Lauderdale) on June 15 and July 13 before several months of "away" carnage. A friend and I watched these girls in action this weekend, and they definitely deserve their own post - hang tight; it's coming.

Question of the Day: Services

What single service is most worth paying for?

Answers so far:
~ Driver
~ Somebody to drive me around and then do my laundry, so I guess a maid/driver.
~ Car wash

My answer:
My initial thought was to choose something extravagant, but of course it would be something I don't actually currently pay anyone to do for me. So, I started thinking of the services that I either now pay, or have in the past paid, someone to do for me. Having the house cleaned gives me more free time and thus sanity. Having my car detailed does the same, as well as spares me from that hard work in the hot sun, but I invariably regret "my laziness" when I see spots I'm sure I wouldn't have missed if I'd just done it myself. So, I'll go with a haircut; it's the single thing I really, truly know I wouldn't have - couldn't have - done better myself, and not walking around with a butchered mullet (self-inflicted, no less) is worth every penny.

Question of the Day: Books

What's the last book you read?

Answers so far:
~ "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain (Me, too! Loved it!)

My answer:
I'm in the middle of "Desert Solitaire" by Edward Abbey. It's atmospheric, ponderous, funny, sensual without being sexy, quite beautiful. It's a classic nonfiction, part of the birth of the environmental movement. You should read it. I have to finish it before my book club meets next week, but I've not been in a rush; I'm relishing each page, carrying the mental images with me for a few days before I lap up the next chapter.

Here's how Amazon describes it...

With language as colorful as a Canyonlands sunset and a perspective as pointed as a prickly pear, Cactus Ed captures the heat, mystery, and surprising bounty of desert life. Desert Solitaire is a meditation on the stark landscapes of the red-rock West, a passionate vote for wilderness, and a howling lament for the commercialization of the American outback.

And from The New York Times Book Review...

Like a ride on a bucking bronco...rough, tough, combative. The author is a rebel and an eloquent loner. His is a passionately felt, deeply poetic book...set down in a lean, racing prose, in a close-knit style of power and beauty.

Question of the Day: Gas

How much does it cost to fill your car's gas tank?

Answers so far:
~ $50
~ I'm not sure, 'cuz I don't remember the last time I filled it all the way. But almost $40?

My answer:
$30. Just five years ago, when I bought the car, it cost $15 to fill it. Then, I thought that was great; now, not so much.

(What about yours? Post your answer as a comment.)

Question of the Day: Clothes

What are you wearing?

Answers so far:
~ Boxers and work pants and shirt
~ Orange tank, grey lil' sweat shorts, HOT babe
~ My uniform, and my Batman Underoos

My answer:
Jeans with the cuffs turned up, brown Reef flip flops, a pink Life Is Good tee with a lady bug on it.

She'll kick your ass

People Clutter

[Warning: Today's QOD post very quickly led to a rant about People Clutter. Consider yourself warned.]

Actually, now that I think about it, what's been most genuinely disturbing of late is what I'll call People Clutter - the unending disruption to my concentration, and thus productivity, caused by people:
~ streaming in and out of my office and sitting down without asking, often just to BS or to eat from my candy dish
~ calling multiple times without waiting for a return call, sometimes without even leaving a voice mail, or worst, alternating between my desk and cell phones until I'm concerned or annoyed enough to pick up
~ hitting "Reply All" on every group e-mail so that a small afternoon project creates 50 messages, only one of which pertains to my department (if I'm lucky)

This noise, this People Clutter, is ridiculously disruptive. E-mail and text messaging is wonderful. Send me a message saying you need 10 minutes, or 2 minutes, or 2 weeks from me; suggest a time to chat about it; I'll get back to you as soon as I'm finished what I'm doing. See, some of us are able to prioritize our daily duties, and it isn't usually in anyone's best interest for us to break our focus to discuss your issue, let alone work on it, right this very second.

Think of it this way, if you needed to borrow sugar, you wouldn't just walk through your neighbor's front door, open the cupboard and take the sugar without asking. Well, maybe you would, but the rest of us wouldn't. Maybe she was planning on making a pie for the fam tonight and doesn't have any sugar to spare today; but she'll have more tomorrow if you can wait 'til then. Or maybe she can lend you some, but not all that you need. Or maybe she can lend you brown sugar; would that work for your recipe? You have to ASK her, compare what you need with what she can give. It's not all about you and your sweet tooth, buddy!

Time and focus are precious resources, just like anything else.

This is particularly important for someone with a sizeable team working on a variety of projects, and that's me. Heck, aren't most of our plates piled high? This is not to say that "I vant to be aloooone" all the time. I just don't want to hear you grouse about your shitty Saturday night date through a mouthful of my M&Ms, while I'm scrambling to put out the mini fire to which I've been assigned by the company president. Instead, regale me with the gritty details of your love life while we wait for fresh decaf to brew in the break room. (In the same vein, do NOT come looking for me in that break room to talk about work. Do NOT.)

Comprende? And, si, I promise to try and do the same, as I readily admit I'm not always innocent of these egregious offenses.

Author Tim Ferriss is a great resource for tips on streamlining your workload and schedule, and much more. A funny, insightful, useful read.]

Question of the Day: Disorganization

What one thing/place do you hate to be disorganized?

Answers I've received so far:
~ The food bins at work. [Restaurant worker]
~ My life!

My answer:
I despise clutter. It's disquieting and distracting, and drives me utterly insane. If I had to choose one place where it bothers me the most, I'd say my desk. Work is the place I absolutely have to be in control and productive, and I certainly can't be when I'm engulfed by crap.

(Second would be my bedroom - clothes on the hook over the closet door and over the back of the chair, shoes kicked in the corner, stack of reading material by the bed. That keeps me up at night. But, I'm not pretending to be Ms. M. Stewart, 'cuz I wouldn't have to straighten up if it didn't get rowdy in the first place.)

Leaving my mark: Reality TV

My comment in response to Newscoma's post about our fascination with reality TV and how it benefits the GLBT community:

Ahh, Pedro Zamora. How I remember him.

I was a young’un when he took MTV by storm. I was enthralled by “The Real World,” and all that it was then, not what it is today.

Of course, I loathe today’s most popular reality shows, those prime time hits discussed over the water cooler the next morning. I much prefer such gems as “The Girls Next Door,” “Dress My Nest,” “House Hunters” and “Ace of Cakes.”

This most assuredly reveals too many of my secrets. But guilty pleasures, when outed, tend to do that.

(Ohhh, and P.S. Does anyone remember Eric Nies in the first season of “The Real World” in NYC? I was about 13. *swoon*)

Check out Newscoma's post and leave your mark.

Leaving my mark: Litter and reusable bags

My comment in response to Sarcatic Mom's post about how we can all make a difference in our communities by simply picking up some litter while out for a walk or carrying reusable bags when shopping for produce.

Thanks for posting the link to the OneStringBags. I love love love my reusable shopping bags and am always looking for more for myself and loved ones. Plus, I happen to adore sewing and making bags, so this is right up my alley! Can’t wait to try making some.

Regarding trask pick up:
Every time I sit at the red light at my community’s entrance/exit, I glare at the trash people’ve dumped in the landscaping. It’s always irritated the poop out of me, but this last month or so it’s really gotten my blood pumping. You see, our neighorhood association applied for and received a beautification grant from the county to help pay for pretty, drought-resistance shrubs, trees, etc. And some folks took the time to dig out the old stuff and plant the new. And what do these ungrateful idiots do? Within two days, there were cigarette butts, soda cans, beer bottles, etc., scattered throughout the new plants.

Anyway, the solution? I’ve gone, and will again go, up the street (just a little farther than I normally go with the dogs anyway), place these “trashables” in a garbage bag, and take them home. Neighbors look at me like I’m That Crazy Plastic Bag Lady, but I don’t care. Maybe I’ll guilt them into helping, or at least littering less.

Check out Sarcastic Mom's post and leave your mark.

Become a Millionaire in Five Easy Steps

I was originally drawn to this article because its headline caught my eye; I wondered what silly (or ridiculously impossible) things it might list. But upon reading through it, I found the steps to be reasonable - things we likely should be doing regardless of our financial goals - and so a nice reminder, and the information about who's happiest really pleased me (see the italicized bit at the end of the article). Can I get some applause for all the bright women who bust their butts for their families and careers!? I've pasted the entire piece here for your quick perusal.

Five Habits of Millionaires
by Barbara Reinhold
Monster Contributing Writer

According to a study of college students at the Ernst & Young International Intern Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida, 59 percent of these young leaders expect to be millionaires within their lifetime. What's more, 5 percent of them expect to hit the million-dollar mark while in their 20s.

And the super-rich are a growing group. The top 0.1 percent of the population's average income was $3 million in 2002, up two and a half times the $1.2 million, adjusted for inflation, that group reported in 1980.

Earned Money vs. Easy Money

Easy money usually comes from inheritance or luck, such as winning the lottery. The track record of people who get their money through the lottery or other windfalls is usually very different from those who created their wealth themselves or who planned for an expected inheritance. Lottery winners are often a sorry lot; more than 90 percent use up their winnings within 10 years -- some go through their money in weeks or months.

But there are some consistent patterns among those people who earn or plan to inherit their money, and these five strategies may be worth emulating.

1. Avoid the Earn-to-Spend Mentality

Michael LeBoeuf, author of The Millionaire in You, points out that to increase wealth, it's essential to emulate millionaires who view money as something to save and invest, rather than income to spend. Many wealthy people live quite simply, he points out, choosing less pretentious homes than they could theoretically afford and opting for financial independence over material showmanship.

2. Focus

LeBoeuf also counsels resisting the impulse to be scattered in your efforts and interests: "Winners focus; losers spray." And goals that are clearly written down are easier to keep in focus.

3. Do Whatever Is Necessary to Meet Your Goal

People who earn their millions are able not only to focus but persevere in the pursuit of their goals. One single mom entrepreneur, Melissa Clark-Reynolds, started her first business, a health and safety consultancy, when she had a young son. En route to her goal of being a millionaire by age 35, Clarke-Reynolds and her son ate lots of pizza, did homework late at night and often slept at the office. She is now a chief executive mentor for Empower New Zealand, a global business consulting firm headquartered in London.

4. Take Calculated Risks

You have to take strategic risks to earn and grow money. And a little rebelliousness seems to help too. One interesting study found a majority of male millionaire entrepreneurs had been in trouble with school authorities or the police during their adolescence.

5. Be Generous

And why doesn't it surprise us that millionaires are often very generous? Sometimes it's for the tax breaks, obviously, but often it's not. One Jewish Swiss millionaire, for instance, flew to Israel to give $5,000 in cash to a waiter at a Jerusalem café who foiled a Palestinian suicide bombing. Among the most generous of millionaires are those from North America, who are, according to a Merrill Lynch Cap-Gemini report, two to five times more likely to give to causes they value than their European counterparts.

These five habits are a pretty good prescription for living happily even if you're not a millionaire.

But LeBoeuf insists it's not so unusual to be a millionaire. As of 2004, there were 8.2 million households with a net worth of more than $1 million. And are the folks in those households happy? Yes, says professor Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in the UK. After studying more than 9,000 people over eight years, Oswald concluded that people who come into money are happier. The happiest among them, he says, seem to be "highly educated, well-paid women who have jobs."

And how much money does the professor say it takes to be happy? "About $1 million, give or take a little."

Contract HIV via kissing?

Reuters reported today that HIV can be passed to babies through pre-chewed food. I know it sounds gross, but hang in there with me for a minute more.

...In developing countries, some mothers pre-chew food for babies. These women may lack access to packaged baby food or may not have a way to blend baby food...

The researchers said HIV transmission appears to have occurred when the children ingested pre-chewed food that contained blood from the bleeding gums of HIV-infected women, and this entered the children's bloodstreams through a cut, sore or inflammation of the mouth or digestive tract...

This is RIDICULOUSLY SCARY because it begs the question: What if a guy with gingivitis makes out with a girl prone to canker sores?

Does this mean what many of us have feared all along -- that you can, in fact, contract HIV by French kissing?

Have any of you read more about this? Can you chime in here -- freak me out further or assuage my fears? What do you think about all this?

The things left behind

We all find other folk's belongings, whether it be litter, a rumpled newspaper on the train or a sweater forgotten in the lunchroom.

While walking along the sidewalk at the beach tonight, I came across several things that'd been left behind by their owners. There seemed to be more abandoned goods than usual, but you can be damn skippy sure I wouldn't have found an orphaned twenty if I'd been out scouting around for one.

Anyway, were they simply forgotten? Or did their owners decide they were no longer needed and that those particular places were ideal for their disposal? How do these things happen?

~ A white bath towel over the fence surrounding a very expensive condo building on the ocean. It appeared stiff and a bit sandy, leading me to think it'd been used at the beach today, draped over the fence while its owner was readjusting her sarong, and was sadly forgotten. [Expect the towel's former owner to miss her, as she served the family well, but not enough to return to the beach to look for her. So sad. Can we have a moment of silence for hardworking, underappreciated towels everywhere?]

~ A single brown thong. No, not the underwear kinda thong; that woulda been even less hygienic but even more humorous. It was the flip flop kinda thong. And it was large with a thick lug sole, so I'm sure it was a man's shoe. It was sitting nicely, in a well-behaved sorta way, upright and clean-looking, at the edge of the grass surrounding a parking area. I envision some fella sitting down in the passenger seat, his legs out of the car, trying to get the last of the sand off his feet to avoid the wife's wrath (the Audi is new, after all). But the ungrateful witch just keeps rushing and nagging him, rushing and nagging, and tells him to get the damn door closed 'cuz she's a-peeling out! "Um, honey. My shoe. I've only got one..." [Don't think this dude's coming back for his lost item, either, only because I don't think she lets him out without a leash.]

~ A pair of filthy dirty white socks underneath a bench that faces the ocean from the sidewalk. These weren't just sorta dirty. Not even hella dirty. These were the kinda dirty that can only be accomplished by that 10-year-old boy who deliberately ran around outside in the rain after his mother told him not to in his brand new socks. Surely, he stashed them under the bench while she was loading up the SUV, in a clever attempt to hide the evidence. "I just don't understand why you never have any socks, Jimmy! I buy them almost every time I'm at Wal-Mart. What are you doing with them?" In a few years, Mom won't wanna know what he's doing with his socks or how they're getting so dirty, but anyway... [Little Jimmy's pretty swift; he has no plans to return for those socks. They'll get picked up by a city employee - the kind who wears a green polyester uniform and weilds one of those long-armed litter grabber thingies - and quickly dumped into his black bag-o-nastiness, alongside the cigarette butts, smashed soda cans and used rubbers.]

Oh! And this whole train of thought, lost and found items, was sparked this weekend when I found an iPhone in the ladies room at the bookstore. Man, I sure would like me an iPhone. (And I've already got AT&T service!) But, of course, I took it straight to Customer Service [note the foreshadowing], and explained to the man/twit behind the counter where I'd found it and that I'd probably have no luck finding the owner because there was no number labeled "Home" in the Contacts list. As I was mid-sentence, he took it from my hands, walked away, handed it to a coworker, told her to lock it up by simply grumbling "Safe," and never returned or looked my way again.

Now, I didn't expect a cookie or anything for my good deed, as it's not really a good deed at all but simply something you just do. But, if for no other reason than good customer service, I would've liked a "Thank you" outta that schmuck. Even eye contact and a nod. Look me square in the eye and belch. Whatever. Something. Anything to let me know I was, in fact, dealing with a human being. I want my existence acknowledged, damnit! [Insert foot stomping here.] The poor "customer service" really has zilch to do with the business of me finding the phone. If I'd been up there to tell him anything at all - maybe I was pleased with the service I'd received from one of his cohorts, or maybe I just wanted to tell him I fancy purple teacups - he should've looked me in the eye and said, "Thank you, crazy lady." Where are the manners?

Question of the Day: Lost

What's the last thing that you lost?

Answers I've received so far:
~ My ID badge
~ My mind!
~ Reading glasses. And, of course, I found 'em right where they were supposed to be.


My answer:
I've been thinking and thinking, and am just stumped for an answer. (Perhaps more than anything, it's my memory that's lost.) Meanwhile, let's hope this doesn't mean I'll be losing something soon, just to provide blog fodder. Ahh!

Question of the Day: Super Bowl XLII

Roll call: New York Giants or New England Patriots?

Answers I've received so far:
~ Pats. Historic. They earned it.
~ Giants.
~ Patriots! Are you kidding?!

My answer:
I have no vested interest in either team. That said, I'm rooting for the Giants for two reasons: 1) I like to support the underdog, and 2) I'm from New Jersey and it's all about proximity.

(Which team jersey are you sporting today? Post a comment.)

Where my mouse has taken me

Here are a few places my mouse has taken me today:

I'm about to start reading The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars for my book club. Looks like a interesting inside look at the world of chocolate companies, much like Fast Food Nation was an inside look at the world of fast food companies. I really enjoyed that book, so I'm hopeful about this one.

Backpacker Concierge helps travelers looking for bang for their buck in Egypt. Nubian guesthouses, sailboat cruises on the Nile, desert safaris. Pretty cool.

A group of hackers and activists calling themselves Anonymous has shut down a Scientology website and is working to disseminate information that will, they say, show the religion for the dangerous joke it really is. Meanwhile, they accidentally shut down a Dutch school's server, too. This all began after the church tried to take down all online versions of the leaked, four-year-old video of Tom Cruise extolling the virtues of the religion.

The One City One Book idea -- that the local library can get the whole city reading and discussing a single book at once -- has expanded to a police force. Perhaps these books are worth checking out?

Got the movie times for Cloverfield, which was pretty good but I was pretty immobilized by the motion sickness caused by the HandyCam effect. Similar to watching Blair Witch Project all over again -- ugh.

Browsing

Here are a few interesting nuggets I stumbled across while browsing the Net tonight.

**********
I wonder what they would deem appropriate. What do you think's a fair punishment?

Food fight fallout lingers
Parents question 15-hour community service sentences
By Jolie Breeden (Contact)
Monday, January 21, 2008

BROOMFIELD -- Parents of students sentenced to 15 hours of community service for a food fight at Aspen Creek K-8 said the school disciplined their kids too severely -- even if the form of punishment is a well-meaning one.

About 20 eighth-graders took part in a 30-second food fight at the Broomfield school on Nov. 8, said Briggs Gamblin, spokesman for the Boulder Valley School District.

School officials would not comment on any punishment, citing student privacy laws. But several parents of the students involved said they were sentenced to community service on top of writing essays and cleaning the lunchroom...

**********
We all know I have a soft spot for community news in general. I particularly like to check out news or neighborhood sites from places that interest me. This photo is today's cover shot for the online Delta Discovery in remote Bethel, Alaska.

Nicholson Brink of Bethel thoughtfully contemplates the beauty of the spinning Star during Slaaviq last week during observance of Russian Orthodox Christmas at the home of Theresa Nick and family. photo by Greg Lincoln

**********
The Delta Discovery site also has a section called Elder of the Week. I think it's super cool how these Alaskans respect and honor their seniors, as we all should. Check out these cool dudes.

**********
And who doesn't find stories about the Yakuza sexy? :)

Side note: I didn't realize Japan's preferred method of execution is hanging. Seems a bit old-fashioned, which I suppose is aligned with that love affair the Japanese have with all things old and new.

Third mobster faces gallows over Gunma bar shooting
MAEBASHI, Gunma Pref. (Kyodo)
The Maebashi District Court sentenced a gangster to death Monday for killing a mobster and three bystanders in a shooting at a bar in 2003.

Relatives of people slain in a 2003 bar shooting in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, face reporters Monday after a yakuza was sentenced to hang for the crime...

According to the court, Yamada and another member of the gang, Masato Kohinata, 38, opened fire at the bar in Maebashi on Jan. 25, 2003, killing three bystanders and seriously wounding another as well as the 60-year-old former boss of a rival group. They then fatally shot the bodyguard of the mob boss outside the bar.

Yamada and Kohinata were involved in the shooting under orders from Osamu Yano, 59, head of the Yano Mutsumi-kai, the court said.

The shooting was part of a turf war between the rival Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai syndicates. The Yano Mutsumi-kai was affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai, and the shooting in Maebashi was targeted against the rival group member as a reprisal against the murders in 2001 of two Sumiyoshi-kai members in a funeral house in Tokyo, according to police...

**********
This is my favorite song today.



**********
Thanks to Cute Overload for my daily dose. That's right! It's four kitties in a Kleenex box, people!
Wait for it...
Wait for it...
Here it comes...
Awww!

Question of the Day: Fame

If you could be famous for something, what would it be?

Answers I've received so far:
~ World peace and a cure for addiction.
~ Writing a really cool story which would then be turned into a movie starring Johnny Depp.

My answer:
I'd like to write something useful or of substantial interest; things like that are written so rarely nowadays. In my next life, I'd like to be musically inclined, maybe play an instrument or sing. That'd be fun!

(What're you going to be famous for? Post your plans as a comment.)

Question of the Day: Relocation

You're moving to a place you've never before visited. Where is it?

Answers I've received so far:
~ Tokyo, for two years. Makes you learn, and leaves a window to return.
~ Canada

My answer:
Domestically, I'd choose Colorado; even though I've never been there, I've always thought of it as a place that would really suit me, and I'd not be afraid to move there blindly. Internationally, I've been wanting to live in Japan for years and years, so that's my top choice. (Of course, my wanderlust makes this list quite long, so there aren't too many places I wouldn't visit or move to on a whim!)

(What about you? Post your answer.)

Question of the Day: Craving

What's the last food craving you had?

Answers I've received so far:
~ Chili dog
~ Pizza with everything on it

My answer:
Right now I could go for a popsicle. Remember the kind that came as an attached pair, and you'd break it in half and eat each stick sepatately -- or (horrors!) share the other half with someone? I know, it's not exciting, but it would feel good on my sore, raw throat right about now.