So what'd you have for dinner?

Only two days left until the election and what was I doing last night? I was at home alone trying to decide what to watch on television. Doc. B. is cat sitting at our friends’ "OTP" house (FYI, OTP stands for "outside the perimeter" and is also now known as Palin-Ville). So I was home all by myself, responsible only for me. Here’s how the evening went...

I said to myself, "what will it be?" CNN? A Fox election special with Brit Hume (to keep up with the other side)? Larry King? Hardball with Chris Matthews? 60 Minutes? No, somehow those shows just weren’t up my alley last night. It’s not like I was trying to impress anyone; it was just me and the cats… so who would have known what I watched on TV let alone that I had popcorn and red licorice for dinner?

So as I scrolled through the Dish menu, here’s what really caught my eye: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, the E! True Hollywood Story of Star Jones, Sex Change Soldier on BBCA, Fun with Dick and Jane, and last but by no means least I didn’t know I was pregnant on TLC. As I was in the midst of this major decision-making process, up pops a commercial for stuffed crust Pizza Hut pizza. Normally, this wouldn’t even faze me, but after my carb-fest of a dinner, that bread stuffed with cheese was sounding really tasty for dessert. But you’ll be glad (and so am I) to know that I resisted and did not go into the light of Pizzahut.com to place an order.

Instead, I decided to hit the DVR to watch the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live. You have to give the old guy, I mean John McCain, credit with the whole QVC spoof thing he participated in. And then when he went on the "Weekend Edition" segment and explained his last ditch fallback efforts… well, that was just priceless. My personal favorites were the "Double Maverick" where he goes totally berserk and freaks everybody out and the "Sad Grandpa" where he reminds us that Obama is young, will have many chances to run for president and to take pity on McCain.

As I was L’ing OL at the TV, the robocalls continued to come in. Even at 9:15pm, the caller ID was displaying "Unavailable." I was thinking to myself, “Hmm… I’m really busy right now and also unavailable” but, having not had any human interaction in just over 4 hours, I decided to pick up the phone so that I could tell them I had already voted. But my speaking didn’t make a difference to that pre-recorded message – it just kept on playing. So I hung up, angry that those robots couldn't carry on a conversation and that they were calling so late (after all, with the time change, it was really 10:15 and it felt like it!).

I eventually finished watching TV and decided to check my e-mail one last time before hitting the sack. If the robocalls weren’t enough, I was surprised to see that I had about 10 new incoming messages. They included e-mails from Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Joe Solmonese (HRC President), and Barack himself. Like the robots, I guess they too wanted to make sure that I had already voted, but didn't really want to have a conversation with me. Can you believe that every single one of those e-mails said "do not reply to this message." Thank goodness for Facebook where you can hold real conversations with people you haven't talked to in 25 years.

Well, in about 24 hours, we should know who will take over the reins in 2009. I hope the person you want to win, wins (unless that person is John McCain, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney or any of the other write-in candidates…).

In Your Face(book)

About a year ago, one of my old BF's e-mailed me that he'd gotten married and did I want to see the pictures. I of course wanted to see what his wife looked like so I replied in the affirmative. He responded that the pictures were on "Facebook" and that I could join this social networking website to view the photos. I signed up, approved of his lovely wife, and never logged back on again.

But then last month, baby sis tracked down my unusual name in the Facebook search engine and viola, I'm now a full-fledged active member of this phenomenon. So instead of being outside working in the yard during these beautiful October southern days, I'm on the computer checking to see who wrote on my wall, who's doing what right now, who joined what group, who became a fan of what, who became friends with whom, who posted pictures, and who's sending virtual mojitos to whom. I haven't quite figured out how it all works out, but I'm guessing that will come with practice.

Facebook is somewhat addictive for no real apparent reason but it has saved me money, weight gain and relationship strain. How you might ask? No yard work = no acquisition of my annual bout of poison ivy = no co-pay for a trip to the dermatologist = no shot of prednisone that causes weight gain and mood swings = no fights with Doc. B.

Facebook also brings out two potentially stressful things though:
1. people from your past
2. a bunch of insecurities

Once people find you on Facebook, they send you a "friend request" that you can then accept or reject. So far I've heard from and/or connected with people I went to high school with, sisters of people I went to high school with, people from my home town, and of course current friends and acquaintances. I haven't rejected a single friend request and can't imagine why I would - it's not hurting anything to say hi to a high school classmate that I haven't seen since then. But what if I were to send a friend request and NOT get a response or get rejected - yikes! That would suck! It would be like being the new kid at school all over again! Or what if you had no friends at all on Facebook? That would be like sitting in the lonely chair (that one's for you Leona).

Oh what the heck, I've made it through worse periods of my life, I guess I can handle a friend request rejection at age 44.

Oh, and if you know my full, one-of-a-kind name, and want to send me a friend request on Facebook, you don't have to be worried about rejection. You can be assured that I will accept your offer :)

Okay, Doc. B. and I are off to find a Vietnamese restaurant on Buford Highway. I guess I should write that on "my wall."

Sometimes you want ear plugs (or, you just want the election to be over)

So I was dazing off (NOT dozing off) at work today while waiting for the computer to catch up with me, when the fire alarm went off. A co-worker came by to assure me that it was just a drill and to tell me to put on my tennis shoes and prepare to endure the painfully slow process of being herded down the stairs from the 21st floor. The drill was annoying enough but to make it a triple whammy, I had already started off the day with a pretty hard leg work-out at the gym AND I left my tennis shoes at home this morning (I usually wear them to walk to and from MARTA and then change out when I get to work, but this morning, I drove to the station).


When I walk the stairs at work for exercise, it takes me 5 minutes to get down and ten to get back up. Today it took 15 minutes to get down the stairs and you better believe I took the elevator back up after standing outside in the heat waiting for the all clear signal that we could return to the building.

That 15 minute march down the stairs allowed my mind to pick up where my dazing left off: wandering (or as I see in disability applications as a reason someone can't work: "my mind wonders"). As I was daydreaming, my brain of course went directly to the questionnaire invented by Bernard Pevo that includes "what sound or noise do you hate?" and I quickly added "fire alarms" to my list.

Then I made up my own question: "what words or phrases are you totally over, besides 'totally'?" (note, I'll never be over "over")
Here's my list, feel free to add to it:
Maverick
Joe Six Pack
Joe the Plumber (that one only took 24 hours to make my list)
Darn right
That one
and of course the one that makes me want to imitate Maddie coughing up a hairball every time I hear it: my friends

My friends, on a brighter note (add that phrase to the above list too), here is a photo of Doc B. (that one) and me (joe six pack) walking the labyrinth (darn right!) on our (maverick) yoga retreat this past weekend. I couldn't figure out how to get Joe the plumber into that sentence... Namaste Y'all...