25 January 2007

Random thoughts:

* It's been a tough week for the girl...and the cat. The girl has been battling a serious stomach/intestinal bacterial infection for nearly a week now. She's been through hell and back, but I think she's finally starting to turn the corner. It's been an adventure.

* As for the cat...our wonderful vet (who thankfully makes home visits) gave her an exam earlier this week and said her "inappropriate elimination" issues were behavioral. (We knew that, but wanted to rule out any medical issues.) The doc prescribed her valium (an EXTREMELY small amount) and so far, so good. She's going where she's supposed to go, it's not a struggle to get her to actually SWALLOW the pill, and she generally seems a lot more content. I read online that until the cat is used to her "happy pills" her balance and coordination might be a little off. It's a point that I only remembered after the girl threw Ellie's crunchy toy down the stairs for her to run after last night--and Ellie "missed" the last three stairs. (Don't worry--she was fine.)

* As many of my readers know (Hi Mom!) I've been doing some looking around on the web for solutions to Ellie's "issues" and found some pretty strange websites. Well, I found another one: THIS website about cat spraying that inexplicably includes music to Andrew Lloyd Webber's "All I Ask Of You" from Phantom of the Opera. Yes, you too, can listen to this hauntingly beautiful song while reading about how you can prevent your cat from urinating all over your furniture.

* Meanwhile, can't BELIEVE Bush didn't once mention Hurricane Katrina or rebuilding New Orleans in his State of the Union speech. What a crock. And the folks in NOLA aren't taking it too kindly.

* Also--how about Dick Cheney going off on Wolf Blitzer about (GASP!) his gay daughter! What an ass. Here's the transcript.

BLITZER: You know, we’re out of time, but a couple of issues I want to raise with you: your daughter, Mary. She's pregnant. All of us are happy she’s going to have a baby. You’re going to have another grandchild. Some of the -- some critics are suggesting -- for example, a statement from someone representing Focus on the Family, "Mary Cheney's pregnancy raises the question of what's best for children. Just because it's possible to conceive a child outside of the relationship of a married mother and father doesn't mean that it's best for the child." Do you want to respond to that? 4
CHENEY: No

BLITZER: She's, obviously, a good daughter --

CHENEY: I'm delighted I'm about to have a sixth grandchild, Wolf.

And obviously I think the world of both my daughters and all of my grandchildren. And I think, frankly, you're out of line with that question.

BLITZER: I think all of us appreciate --

CHENEY: I think you're out of line.

BLITZER: We like your daughters. Believe me, I'm very sympathetic to Liz and to Mary. I like them both. That was a question that’s come up, and it’s a responsible, fair question.

CHENEY: I just fundamentally disagree with you.

BLITZER: I want to congratulate you on having another grandchild.

17 January 2006

A STAR is born! The girl is being tapped by Abbot Laboratories to appear in a NATIONAL print advertising campaign...with MAGIC JOHNSON. I give Abbot a lot of credit for wanting real medical people for the ad--not just models.
The girl is as pretty as a model, of course--but the fact that she is a bona fide medical professional--is quite a feather in their cap.

My role in all this? Help bring the girl up to speed about just how cool Magic Johnson is. She knows him from an appearance on Oprah and knows, of course, that he's HIV positive and is a huge advocate but she's not up on the whole NBA Hall of Fame thing. Hope I can get an autograph!

10 January 2006

Random thoughts:

* Whatever warm weather we've been having is definitely OVER. I went to get some lunch a little while ago and it was blustery and COLD...like it was JANUARY or something! (Meanwhile they are getting LOTS of snow in Syracuse, I hear.)

* Gearing up for Bush's speech tonight on "a new way forward" in Iraq. The White House just released some excerpts to the news media. After a quick read it doesn't look like anything "new" to me--or anyone else in Washington. I was only a baby when Vietnam started to unravel--but the mood here in DC (and around the country) must be the same. The problem is--in this age of terrorism--the stakes are MUCH higher.

* The news out of New Orleans is depressing. The violence is getting completely out of control. Reading B.Rox and Frolic is absolutely heart-breaking. There will be a march on city hall tomorrow.

* On a much LIGHTER note--the girl is in the throes of choreographing several skating routines for her students--which means lots of "teen" and "tween" music in our house. Forget Hillary Duff. Apparently Hanna Montana is the new Disney "IT" girl. I'm sadly VERY familitar with her song "Pumping up the Party." The girl played it non-stop in our house for about an hour and half last night. (I was even humming it at work today.) I'm not complaining--it's just extremely entertaining to me. Oh, and here's a fun fact: she's the daughter of Billy Ray "Achey Breakey" Cyrus.


* Had to send our living room rug out to be professionally cleaned after our cat had another "accident." She is known to have some "separation anxiety" -- so when I saw in the Los Angeles Times today that vets are prescribing Prozac for pets, I did some reading. I also looked at OTHER remedies--including cat MASSAGE. There's even a website with VIDEOS on how to do it. Troubling. Especially the picture at the top of the website of the cats massaging EACH OTHER.

5 January 2007

The girl made me cupcakes to bring in to work for my birthday. Everyone is enjoying them--including the host of one of my shows who told T herself when I had her on speakerphone.

Noticed THIS post from AOL's Gay & Lesbian editor who writes about what unmarried (gay!) people call their significant other. My mom asked me this question when I was home recently. I prefer "partner" --but increasingly call T my "wife" too. My mom, much to her credit, refers to T as her daughter-in-law.

ANYWAY--reading through the article I noticed the editor is a local boy--he mentioned talking to his friends at the Duplex Diner.

22 December 2006

Random thoughts:

* Today is the girl's birthday! I woke up early to hang a Hello Kitty birthday banner and put out a present and card before she got up. We're having folks over for dinner tonight to celebrate. It's a big one for her: the big 3-0. (Yes, I'm "robbing the cradle" as it were.)

* I'm here at my desk at work, listening to our coverage of the D.A. in the Duke rape case--dropping all the rape charges against those 3 students. (Other charges, such as kidnapping and sexual assault charges, remain.) Let's just say the discussion about those remaining charges --esp sexual assault--is getting EXTREMELY graphic. It's even silencing this normally bawdy (and usually politically incorrect) group of TV producers. This New York Times piece gives you an idea of where the discussion is going. Merry Christmas.


* Every now and then I browse job listings on the mediabistro site...and today I came across a job opening at TROUT Magazine. It's based across the river in Arlington, VA. A magazine--not just about fish in general--but about one SPECIFIC fish: trout. Good times.

* There are many Christmas-themed e-cards floating around---many of them quite tastelsss. But THIS one takes the cake. It features Santa Claus pole dancing.