Farrah Fawcett Friday

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Date:                                   Friday, October 1st, 2010
Word of the Day:                 lucifugous (loo\see\FOO\guhs); avoiding light
Weight:                                221 pounds
Goal:                                    lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                     89 pounds
Waist Size:                           49 inches
Rowing Duration:                66 minutes, 48 seconds


The very first day of Friday, yup, the end of the week for the beginning of the month is here, make it count, CARPE DIEM EVERYDAY!

I loved, well I still love Farrah Fawcett, yes I was part of "The Farrah Fuss," I bought her shampoo, I loved her conditioner, and wish it was still available to buy, do you hear that marketeers?, and of course, Jill Monroe, Farrah, by her real name, was my favourite out of all of Charlie's Angels.  I also loved Kate Jackson who played Sabrina Duncan in Charlie's Angels.  Kate was the smart angel,and I'm pretty sure that in life she is also a savvy cookie, but Kate never had her own shampoo,  and Farrah was also not only married to Lee Majors and had a child by Ryan O'Neal, but I happen to think she was a great actress, did any of you see "The Burning Bed?" or "Somebody killed her husband", yes Farrah could act, and the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences owes the family of Farrah (don't you love that name?, its so Farrah,) an apology for omitting her name when they ran the piece on people in the motion picture industry who died that year, this was a big, big oversight, and what about Beatrice Arthur?, what did they have against her?, Bea too was omitted,  and was quite an amazing actress, didn't you see her in Mame?, she should have been nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Vera Charles, she was why dictionaries created the word fabulous!!!! (Dictionaries do not create words, if you're lucky, they will help you with the spelling and pronunciation of words.)

I need help people, I'm so tired of rowing and am finding it harder and harder to stay motivated, do you have any suggestions?  I know when I get home to Toronto, things will get better, there is so much that I will be able to do that I can't do here, such as shopping and go to movies weekly,visit friends, etc.,  all of these activities will require my walking and that should help shed some calories, please, please God help me burn off some of this weight.  If the walking doesn't burn off the weight, maybe my swimming on a daily basis will help,  it certainly can't hurt me, will it?  What are you doing to stay in shape?, are you into YOGA?, I don't quite get it, and I just don't think we were meant to bend and twist that way, it is definetly not my cup of Indian food.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Yesterday, I meant to write in my blog, a blurb about the blog "1,000 awesome things, I didn't so I'm mentioning it today, and I recommend reading it to all of you.  My niece-in-law, thank you M., referred it to me, and now I read it every day, it shows you and me that there are amazing things to be found in almost every aspect of life, do check it out, you'll enjoy reading it, but, first read thisthatandhim, I mean, 1000 awesome things is not me, is it?

I finally received in the mail the book "Freedom," by Jonathan Franzen and I started reading it right away.  Have you got your copy?, Come on, lets read this book together, but if you want to stay au courant with me, you better read fast, I'm already on Chapter Two.  Gosh, I wish I could write like this novelist, must be nice to have more than your share of talent;  it really is remarkable how the novelist has woven this tale, and you need to pay careful attention, there is so much information offered in this beginning, and I'm quite sure that I will need to reread the beginning as I usually miss the key to the story, which definetly isn't a slice of Jack.Cover of Freedom: A Novel

Yesterday was Truman Capote's birthday, gosh I miss him, he was such an amazing writer and personality.  Born Truman Streckfus Persons in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of 17-year-old Lillie Mae Faulk and salesman Archulus Persons.  His parents divorced when he was four, gosh, so many people are divorcing, there soon will be more divorced couples than married couples, anyway, back to Truman, Truman was sent to Monroeville, Alabama, where, for the following four to five years, he was raised by his mother's relatives. (I was so lucky, in spite of having 12 siblings (brothers and sisters) my mother kept us together,)Truman formed a fast bond with his mother's distant relative, Nanny Rumbley Faulk, whom Truman called "Sook". "Her face is remarkable—not unlike Lincoln's, craggy like that, and tinted by sun and wind," (how is that for a flattering description, NOT, but we definetly get the picture,)  is how Capote described Sook in "A Christmas Memory". In Monroeville, he was a neighbor and friend of author Harper Lee, who wrote the 1960 novel "To Kill a Mockingbird," with the character Dill being based on Capote.  (I always thought Dill was a little light in the loafers.)

As a lonely child, Capote taught himself to read and write before he entered his first year of schooling, just like Zac, but that is all that they have in common.  Capote was often seen at age five carrying his dictionary and notepad, just like me,  and Truman began writing fiction at the age of eleven. He was given the nickname Bulldog around this age, possibly a phonetic reference and pun of "Bulldog Truman" to the fictional detective Bulldog Drummond popular in films of the mid-1930s.

On Saturdays, Truman made trips from Monroeville to the nearby city of Mobile on the Gulf Coast, I, Efrem, went downtown to go to the show, and at one point Truman submitted a short story, "Old Mrs. Busybody,"  to a children's writing contest sponsored by a newspaper, the Mobile Press Register.  Capote received recognition for his early work from The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in 1936.

In 1933, Truman Capote moved to New York City to live with his mother and her second husband, Joseph Capote, a Cuban-born textile broker, who adopted him as his stepson and renamed him Truman García Capote. However, Joseph was convicted of embezzlement and shortly afterwards his income crashed and the family was forced to leave Park Avenue.  I, Efrem visited New York City when I was just sixteen years old, not a big deal eh?, well I went there all by myself!!!!

Image via Wikipedia

Of his early days, Capote related, "I began writing really sort of seriously when I was about 11.  I, Efrem started writing when I was ten years old, we had to make up stories from the words in our spelling list, and every week my classmates would yell for me to read my writing, they loved my writings, most of my stories were probably based on the latest movie that I had seen, regardless, my classmates cheered for me loudly and longily every week.  Truman says seriously in the sense that like other kids go home and practice the violin or the piano or whatever, I used to go home from school every day and I would write for about three hours. I was obsessed by it." In 1935, he attended the Trinity School in New York City. He then attended St. Joseph Military Academy. In 1939, the Capote family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, and Truman attended Greenwich High School, where he wrote for both the school's literary journal, The Green Witch, and the school newspaper. When they returned to New York City in 1942, Truman graduated from the Dwight School, an Upper West Side private school where an award is now given annually in his name.

When he was 17, Capote's formal education ended when he was employed at The New Yorker magazine, which he held for two years. Years later, he reminisced, "Not a very grand job, for all it really involved was sorting cartoons and clipping newspapers. Still, I was fortunate to have it, especially since I was determined never to set a studious foot inside a college classroom. I felt that either one was or wasn't a writer, and no combination of professors could influence the outcome. I still think I was correct, at least in my own case."Capote was 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm) tall and openly homosexual. One of his first serious lovers was Smith College literature professor Newton Arvin, who won the National Book Award for his Herman Melville biography in 1951. It was to Arvin that Capote dedicated Other Voices, Other Rooms.

Capote was well known for his distinctive, high-pitched voice and odd vocal mannerisms, his offbeat manner of dress and his fabrications. He often claimed to know intimately people he had in fact never met, such as Greta Garbo. He professed to have had numerous liaisons with men thought to be heterosexual, including, he claimed, Errol Flynn. He traveled in an eclectic array of social circles, hobnobbing with authors, critics, business tycoons, philanthropists, Hollywood and theatrical celebrities, royalty, and members of high society, both in the U.S. and abroad.  Part of his public persona was a longstanding rivalry with writer Gore Vidal. Their rivalry prompted Tennessee Williams to complain: "You would think they were running neck-and-neck for some fabulous gold prize." Apart from his favorite authors (Willa Cather, Isak Dinesen, Marcel Proust), Capote had faint praise for other writers. However, one who did get his favorable endorsement was journalist Lacey Fosburgh, author of Closing Time: The True Story of the Goodbar Murder (1977). He also claimed an admiration for Andy Warhol's The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B & Back Again.  I never liked Andy Warhol, but did respect his talent.

Well enough on Truman Capote, lets talk about me, but first I have to make the coffee.  I still haven't spoken to Judy, we are now on our third day without speaking to each other, on a typical day we speak to each other at least twice a day, I'm determined to let Judy call me first, after all, she hung up the phone on me and I don't reward bad behaviour.  However, I am missing Judy and want to know that she is getting by, I worry about her so much.  I am going to wait just one more day and then I'll call her, but I wonder if Judy  is still angry with me.

Fighting with family is so stupid but it happens, I'm trying not to be angry with Judy and I really don't think I am, but then, why don't I call her?  I will, I'm just waiting a little bit more. 

Rob, who represents Dell, came over to the cottage on the lake to check out the last laptop computer that I received.  Instead of sending my last laptop back to Dell, I decided a tech person could come and fix it instead, I don't like doing this as it is supposed to be a new computer, why then did it need fixing?, exactly my thought.  Anyway, Rob replaced the dvd drive with a new one and it is working just fine, but, I am skeptical and I will still buy an Apple the next time around, although I'm a little miffed with Apple.

On my last laptop, two laptops ago, I downloaded and paid for a lot of music.  The downloaded music has since disappeared and I am unable to reach anyone at Apple to assist me in retrieving it; I don't have an Apple anything (product,) and in order to send an email, or talk with someone, you need to provide Apple with a serial number from a product, like I said, I don't have one, I just downloaded music from Itunes.  Do any of you know how I can reach someone at Apple so that I can get my music reinstated on my new laptop?  Please help me if you can.  Thank you in advance.

Well, people enough about me and Truman, get busy with your life and have a great day and wonderful weekend, read my posts on the weekend and spend some time with your children, that's right, you heard/read me!!!!!

Topics coming soon:

Sex
Television
Blogging

I love Thursday

Date:                                      Thursday, September 30th, 2010 (last day of the month)

Word of the Day:                   confiscable (kuhn\FISH\kuh\buhl); liable to be taken by an authorized party

Weight:                                   221 pounds
Goal:                                       lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                        89 pounds
Waist Size:                               48 inches
Rowing Duration:                    two hours, four minutes

Thursdays were always my favourite day of the week, especially when I worked, we got paid weekly and on a Thursday, getting paid each week always gave you something in the work week to look forward to, and I did, even if I didn't get my paycheck, I preferred Thursdays over Fridays as people always called in sick on Friday, thus leaving more work for me to get done.

It is now a known fact that parents feel that their children will not have life better than what they had, this is directly opposite to how our parents felt about our future, I think that is a pretty revealing statement on the times we now live in, tres, tres sad.

Tony Curtis died yesterday and today Fred Flintstone turns fifty years old, how about that Mabel?

Did you know that yesterday would have been the birthday of Enrico Fermi who, as you know, is known as the "father of the atomic bomb."  I love providing you with these little tidbits of information.

I have a new published follower and I would like to welcome Julia to thisthatandhim.  I sure hope she didn't read me by mistake, and I sincerely hope Julia enjoys my blog enough to recommend it to all of her friends.  Maybe Julia just wants to keep thisthatandhim for her own private indulgence, who can say.  One thing more on Julia, please don't let her turn out to be a grammarian, I already am criticized enough.but not by you!!!!

I know quite alot of twins, one of my best friends is one of identical twins, Melinda, and her twin sister is Darlinda.  So it is best to start at the beginning, what is a twin?, and I'm not talking about the Minnesota twins, although some of you may wish I was talking about them.  Anyway, what is a twin?

Image via WikipediaTwins can either be monozygotic (MZ, colloquially "identical"),here we go people, meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic (DZ, colloquially "fraternal") because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.

A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy, finally, something I can easily comprehend.  Twins can either be monozygotic (MZ, colloquially "identical"), meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic (DZ, colloquially "fraternal") because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm, do you think that you will now be able to get to sleep tonight, now that you have this information?  I continue.

Twins are estimated to be approximately 1.9% of the world population, with monozygotic twins making up 0.2% of the total - and 8% of all twins.  The twin birth rate in the United States, and Canada, is slightly above 32 twin live births per 1,000 live births,[2] while the Yoruba, possibly Indonesia, I'm not quite sure of its location and I'll google it later, have the highest rate of twinning (don't you love that word?,)  in the world, at 45 twins per 1,000 live births,[3][4][5] possibly because of high consumption of a specific type of yam containing a natural phytoestrogen which may stimulate the ovaries to release an egg from each side, uh huh, please remember I live with a doctor, I'm not a doctor!!!!!

Due to the limited size of the mother's womb, I am so amazed at just how this organ works, but that really is another story for another day, multiple pregnancies are much less likely to carry to full term than single births, with twin pregnancies lasting only 37 weeks (3 weeks less than full term) on average.Zygosity refers to the similarity of genes for a trait (inherited characteristic) in an organism. If both genes are the same, the organism is homozygous for the trait. If both genes are different, the organism is heterozygous for that trait. If one gene is missing, it is hemizygous, and if both genes are missing, it is nullizygous, a word I can't even pronounce.


Most eukaryotes, this is English isn't it?, have two matching sets of chromosomes, that is, they are diploid. Diploid organisms have the same genes on each of their two sets of chromosomes, except that the sequences of these genes may differ between the two chromosomes in a matching pair and that a few chromosomes may be mismatched as part of a sex-determination system.  I hope you're paying attention as I will test you on this paragraph.

The DNA sequence of a gene usually varies from one individual to another, okay that is not rocket science and even I can understand that one. Those variations are called alleles. Some genes have only one allele. Any variation from the DNA sequence of that allele will be fatal in the embryo, and the organism will never survive to be born. But most genes have two or more alleles. The frequency of different alleles varies throughout the population. Some genes may have two alleles with equal distribution. For other genes, one allele may be common, and another allele may be rare. Sometimes, one allele is a disease-causing variation while the other allele is healthy. Sometimes, the different variations in the alleles make no difference at all in the function of the organism, sure tell that to Phoebe's one kidney.

In diploid organisms, another foreign language, this is probably intended for people in the medical profession, which again, I am not, one allele is inherited from the male parent and one from the female parent.  Well, that makes sense.   Zygosity is a description of whether those two alleles have identical or different DNA sequences, okay, but what does that have to do with the price of cabbage?

The technical part of this post is now over, you can again relax, take a drink of water, but keep reading my post.

 Melinda and Darlinda, can you believe that I made up those names, blogs are anonymous, my beautiful twin friends are very close, they fight alot and both of them are extremely beautiful  and tres thin, while one remains fiercly independent, and single, the other one is very much a family woman, she has three gorgeous children and works at the local school in their neighbourhood.  Melinda is very devoted to her children and likes to spend all of her free time, which is  not too often, with them.

I met both Melinda and Darlinda at my workplace, working closely with Melinda.  One day, when my supervisor switched my hours of work and I was put working on the later shift with Melinda, everyone had left for the day except Melinda and I.  I was always in the habit of working hard as I know that if you work hard, the time will fly by, so I was busy working and Melinda asked me to stop, announcing to me that now that everyone had left for the day, it was now our time to talk and get to know each other better, I fell in love with Melinda at that very moment,  and we have remained close ever since that day.  Friendships require a certain amount of work, and devotion and both Melinda and I have never taken each other for granted,  we have seen each other through bad times and good times.

Image via Wikipedia

The creme de la creme, they make my blog/post adorable, aren't they just the cutest girls that you've ever seen, outside of my nieces of course!!!!

Topics coming soon:

Sex
Television
Blogging

Wishful Wednesday

Date:                                 Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
Word of the Day:               efface (ih\FAYS); to cause to disappear, by rubbing out, to erase, to render illegible
Weight:                              221 pounds
Goal:                                  lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                  89 pounds
Waist Size:                        48 inches
Rowing Duration:              99 minutes, five seconds (I was whipped, I'm so tired, whew!)

Well, I did connect with the boss of my sister Judy's social worker and she made the decision to give Judy a new worker which I thought would make Judy very happy, I know I was.  When I called Judy on the telephone to tell her the news, Judy informed me that her old ineffective social worker had come by her house to see her and they cleared up all misunderstandings.  Judy has decided that she would like to retain the original social worker, so I have no choice but to let her make her own decision in this regard.  I have asked Judy to no longer complain to me about the social worker for not showing up for any future scheduled appointments or any other complaints of this nature, (this is just a matter of time,) as it will just make me unhappy, and I will not be able to help Judy with issues concerning the social woker as I'm pretty sure no one at the office where the social worker reports/works will take me seriously, I tried my best to help Judy in this area, but I failed and badly. 

  I am also trying very hard not to be sour grapes,  I am disappointed that after spending a week here at the cottage on the lake, Judy did not tell me that she wanted to keep her relationship going with the same social worker, Judy let me make telephone calls and make subsequent arrangements to have the social worker replaced, once accomplished  it seems  Judy changed her mind, or maybe it was just Judy's timidity that prevented her from telling me, either way, I just don't want to be involved with any more problems of this nature because like I said, I will not be able to help.  And maybe Judy needs to learn to find ways to help herself, and that is the lesson that I've learned.

My day is getting better and better as I have another outbreak of seborrheic dermatitis on my face; my face is quite dry, itchy, flaky, and very, very blotchy, I hate it, I don't like looking at myself in the mirror anyway (because I'm so overweight,) I've stopped saying I'm fat, I just have a little food problem that shows, thank you Christopher Durang, whom I just quoted.  I am curious as to the reason for this recent outbreak; I'm wondering if my mood has something to do with it, stress can cause illness, as we all know.

I love Andrea McArdle who was the original Annie on Broadway; I thought by typing in Andrea's name and Annie, my internet search engine would bring up a picture of Andrea, it didn't, obviously.

Image via Wikipedia

 I was unable to log on to the internet all morning, consequently, you are not only getting this post late, but I didn't much feel like writing, all of the creative juices I guess got dried up,  so you are getting yet another short post, je regret.

Topics coming soon:

Sex
Twins
Television

Not Tuesday Weld

Date:                                     Tuesday, September 28th, 2010
Word of the Day:                   rigmorole (RIG\muh\rohl);  an elaborate or complicated procedure
Weight:                                 221 pounds
Goal:                                     lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                      89 pounds
Waist Size:                            48 inches
Rowing Duration:                 91 minutes, four seconds

I got back to Cruella, finally, believe it or not, I've missed her. 

There is so much going on that I want to briefly chat about:  first off, there is the extreme weather all over North America.  Along the eastern seaboard there is a plethora of rain, causing some places to go up over eight inches in rain, sure hope it hits here, yes the lake is still low.  I am so sick of the rainy weather,I can't remember when I last experienced such a rainy September here at the cottage on the lake.  Also, in the west of the United States, temperatures have hit an all-time high, the temperature in Los Angeles rose to 113 degrees, it could have got even hotter but thermostates broke and the last temperature recorded was 113, this is the highest temperature set in the United States, pretty hot eh?, I wish I were there, at least for the warm temperatures.

There is now a huge infestation of stink bugs all over North America, they got here from Asia.  I can't spell the correct name of stink bugs but I can tell you that these bugs do not bite, they are awfully smelly, hence the name, the smell is akin to smelly socks, cats seem to enjoy eating stink bugs, if you  have them, and you want to get rid of them, you will need to call an exterminator.  Fortunately, so that everyone on your street, (or your closest neighbour,) doesn't know your business, many exterminators don't have advertising on their mode of transport, thus saving you the embarrassment of people becoming aware of your bug problem.

What else?  After I got finished on Cruella, I watched the movie "Up in the Air," for the eighth time.  I love Anna Kendrick who plays a work colleague of George Clooney, and evidently the Academy of motion pictures and sciences also enjoyed Miss Kendrick's performance, they nominated her last year for the academy award for best actress.  As an aside I should inform you that I also like the name "Anna" because it is a palindrome and I happen to collect palindromes, some people collect stamps, others deal in narcotics, I collect palindromes so there, you've now learned something else about me.

Cover of Up in the Air [Blu-ray]

I got so much accomplished yesterday, alas, I did not speak to the boss of my sister's social worker, I shall try one more time, and then I am going to escalate it to the social worker's bosses boss, if that does not work, I will contact the newspaper, one of you was very kind to supply me with a name, thank you again,  I was really hoping that I wouldn't need to use it, clearly, I should have known better.   Today, I will rectify yesterday's oversight in trusting people to do the job that they're paid to do.

On a completely different subject, I feel very badly about not giving respect yesterday to Saint Francis of Assis (1181) who was born on the 26th of September and no, I'm not Catholic but I do believe in Saints.

The patron saint of animals, Saint Francis was an Italian monk canonized as a saint in 1228.

Image via Wikipedia

  Born into a wealthy family, he was a soldier and prisoner of war before he experienced a conversion in his early twenties.

He sold his property, gave the money to the church and began a life of poverty and devoutness.  He soon attracted followers and became the founder of ther Franciscan order of friars.  Catholics believe that Saint Francis was the first person to exhibit stigmata which are bodily marks, sores or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Brother Leo, who had been with Francis at the time of the stigmata left a clear and simple account of the event.

Speaking of birthdays, today was the day that Confucius was born, positive evidence is sparse and modern scholars base their account largely on Analects, a collection of sayings and conversations and apparently recorded by his disciples.

Distressed by the constant warfare between the Chinese states and by the venality and tyranny of the rulers, Confucius urged a system of morality and Government that would promote peace and stability.   According to Tradition (s), which is also the name of one of my favourite books in all of the world, get it and read it if you haven't, the authors are Janice Rotchstein and Alan Ebert, anyway, according to tradition, Confucius compiled a set of texts called The Five Classics.

Did you know that early in his life Confucius worked as a shepherd, cowherd, clerk and book-keeper and that Confucius presented himself as a transmitter who invented nothing; who among us in this day and age does not follow Confucius' golden rule: "What one does not wish for oneself, one ought not to do to anyone else; what one recognises as desirable for oneself, one ought to be willing to grant to others." (Confucius and Confucianism, Richard Wilhelm) or as I read someplace else "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!"

I love to read quotes that philosophize and enjoy the teachings to that of Confucius, Plato and Socrates so if you will indulge me in providing snippets of their readings, I will try not to dwell too much on them, it can't possibly hurt you, it may enlighten you as it does me.
Topics coming soon:

Sex
Twins
Television

Blue Monday

Date:                              Monday, September 27th, 2010
Word of the Day:            aeon (EE\uhn) one of a class of powers as beings conceived as emanating from the Supreme being and performing various functions in the operations of the universe
Weight:                          221 pounds
Goal:                             lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:               89 pounds
Waist Size:                     48 inches

Rowing Duration:            back still sore, sorry Efrem

Judy is leaving today which is why it is Blue Monday, Winter is tres upset.  We've cleaned out the refrigerator so there aren't too many goodies that I can put into the lunch that I've made for Judy, but I am giving her two boiled eggs, a big chunk of old cheddar cheese, six strawberry cookies, one raspberry yogurt, one banana, nine strawberries, one balogna sandwich, and three pieces of mozzarella string cheese and that's it folks.  I hope it sustains Judy, it is a long bus ride back to Toronto.  I have also given her a tub of macaroni with cheese that Judy will be able to heat up for her dinner tonight.  Zac made the macaroni with cheese because it is one of the favourites of Judy, how very nice of Zac.

We always pay for the busfare of Judy because there is just no room in her budget to cover the cost.  Oh yes, I am supposed to talk with the boss of the social worker of Judy today, I wonder if she will be in the office.

I am currently having some trouble with the apostrophe key, which is why my wording may seem a little peculiar to you, when I hit the apostrophe key, an e with the french accent on it gets displayed and I certainly do not need that so I have to currently reword everything.

What did you think of my pictures in my post yesterday?, I am hoping to put more in the post of today.

I am currently watching the emmy-winning comedy show, "Modern Family," I think this show is not only hilarious but quite realistic, and both Zac and I enjoy it heartily.  Last night Zac and I watched the season premieres of "The Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives and Brother's and Sister's," (good, my apostrophe is back.) 

 I enjoyed all of the premieres but Zac thought the Housewives could have been better, I'm wondering where the heck the character of Katherine is, I know she turned out to be a lesbian but I didn't think she left the show, what the heck is Marc Cherry doing?, first Nicolette Sheridan and now Dana Delaney, two actresses that I thought really enhanced the show, especially Nicolette, big, big, HUGE mistake in firing her.  I am happy that they've brought Vanessa Williams into the show, she could turn out to be alot of fun and Lynette (Felicity Huffman) needs a good foil, don't you think?

Image via Wikipedia

I cried during the episode of Brother's and Sisters, I love Sally Field as the matriarch of this family and think this show deserves a much larger audience, I also think the producers may regret letting Rob Lowe leave the show, I guess Rob can always go back to making dirty movies.

Our cleaning lady, Gerry, is coming out today, but she is not coming until afternoon, we have alot of cleaning for her to do and we will most certainly get our money's worth today, Gerry works extremely hard and we think of her as family.

Great, Dell is calling me today, I'll probably spend another day on the telephone with them, I better make sure I get all of my other stuff done before they call, let's see, I have to buy Billy Elliot tickets, create/finish today's post/blog, speak to the Ministry of Social Services, shower, and then DELL, gosh and you wonder what I do all day!!!

Okay, I just spoke to Kelly at Mirvish Productions and she managed to get me three tickets, front row centre for a matinee performance of "Billy Elliot," it helps if you're friendly,  I also knew a friend of Kellys named Salvatore.  I once had to cancel tickets from Mirvish Productions and Sal not only assisted me in getting my money back for the cancelled show, but also told me about a new show that was coming to the Royal Alex called "Mamma Mia!" .  I told Sal that I always enjoyed seeing new shows so Sal gave me two free tickets to the show because he was also going to be in "Mamma Mia!"  How about that?, you just never know what can happen when you're nice to someone!!!(Yes, I know bad things happen as well, but more often than not, when you're nice, people will be nice back.)

Well I still have alot of tasks to do so the blog is again being cut short, you will live.

Topics coming soon:

Sex
Twins
Television

Sunday Special Sunday

Date:                                     Sunday, September 26th, 2010
Word of the Day:                    hobbledehoy (HOB\uhl\dee\hoy); an awkward, gawky young fellow
Weight:                                   221 pounds
Goal:                                      lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                       89 pounds
Waist Size:                             48 inches
Rowing Duration:                    still off with painful back


Today is my sister Becky's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BECKY, I hope the day is filled with joy, magic, happiness and much love.

Technically, Becky is my niece, but when my sister Lucina died, and as Lucina was unmarried, (yes it was at the time a big scandal,) my parents adopted her, so Becky my niece became Becky my baby sister, and I have always thought of her as a sister.

My back is feeling somewhat better, but I want to be on the safe side and wait until tomorrow to get back onto Cruella, maybe I'm just enjoying the break from it, I really don't know, what I do know is that for the last three days, my routine has been greatly upset, I haven't been able to write as well as I would like, and the weather has been just awful, so there!!!!

I did weigh myself and fortunately I haven't gained any weight, nor have I lost any,  but I did manage to lose another inch off of my waist, lucky, lucky me.

I really like the word of the day today and for a change, Zac did not know the meaning of my word of the day, hobbledehoy, he thought I was making up the word, I could you know, but I didn't.

The weather today is still lousy, at least its consistent, I don't even see clear sky in the horizon but I do know that it will change, eventually.  Eventually, is the name of Zac's second cousin's (Bobbie) cottage.  I really like the name Eventually, and it is appropriate, actually, it could be the name of all of our cottages as we are all always doing something new to add to the cottage.

Winter, Zac and I have decided to celebrate Thanksgiving up here at the cottage on the lake, we are going to invite our neighbours over to help us celebrate, however, we will not be having turkey, we will instead be having roast beef as we still have a roast in the freezer, and we like to use up all of the meat before we leave for the winter.  I feel slightly ambivalent about this as the last time we had our neighbours over for dinner, we served them roast beef, oh well, Zac makes an excellent roast beef dinner and my hor d'oeuvres are always the talk of the lake.

Image via Wikipedia

  

Currently, on the Turner Classic Movie (TCM) channel, they are viewing the movie "Butterfield 8" for which Miss Elizabeth Taylor won the academy award for best actress, I don't think she deserved it for this movie, I believe it was a sympathy award because it was believed that dear old Liz was dying at the time, fortunately for us, Liz lived!

Cover of BUtterfield 8

 My sister Judy is leaving the cottage on the lake tomorrow and she won't be back until next summer, alas, Winter, Zac and I shall miss her beaucoup, see, I'm practically bilingual.

Image via WikipediaI just finished talking with a really good friend of mine, Sarah-Mavis (SM,) SM has a very dark sense of humour and we frequently laugh at things that other people cringe at the very mention of; SM and I go way back and one of the things that I really love about SM is that she is one year older than I; I'm meeting fewer and fewer people who are older than I, at least I'm on the right side of the grass.

I haven't quite decided where and what I want for my final resting place, I know my soul is going to Heaven but I don't know what I want done with my body, the idea of being in a coffin in the ground greatly disturbs me, I don't like the cold and I've made Zac promise that if I am to be in a coffin, I will have a wool blanket on top of me, I don't care if its summer at the time, I want it!  I've always hated fires so the idea of cremation bothers me, even though I do like the thought that someone in my family will be able to keep my ashes with them, at least for awhile anyway. I don't like the cold so cryogenics is out,

beside they have to do this procedure while you're on your last breadth.  I guess the best thing to do, other than not die, is to be kept in some kind of crypt.  Yeah, I like that one, a mausoleum is my best choice, are they expensive?  I don't care, I'll pay for it on time or have it in my will that this gets done before anyone gets a penny of my money.

Sorry for the space interruption, but I dragged a picture of Miss Taylor and because Wikipedia wants the credit for the image, they've listed their credit right underneath the picture, and it almost looks like it is part of my text so I added a space to show that it isn't part of my text. 

Yes people I am adding pictures to my blog, what do you think?  I'll try not to get carried away with pictures but I think they add an element.

Its true, today's post is also a short one, maybe the weather affects my writing as well as my back, who can say, but I will definetly be back to say again.

Topics coming soon:

Blue Hawaii Saturday

Date:                                  Saturday. September 25th, 2010
Word of the Day:                frabjous (FRAB\juhs); wonderful, elegant, superb, or delicious
Weight:                               221 pounds
Goal:                                  lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                   89 pounds
Waist Size:                         49 inches
Rowing Duration                back still sore, don't worry I'll get back to it


Saturday again, the weekend gets here faster and faster each passing week. 

My back is still incredibly sore; I don't think I injured it but it is dark, rainy-drizzly, cold outside and I believe I already outlined my rational on the weather theory.

There is no special relevance to the title of today's post, I like Hawaii, maybe I'm a little blue that I'm not there, but my post today will certainly not be about Blue Hawaii, I have no idea what I'll be writing about, my brain seems to follow my fingers.

What a weird day, weather-wise yesterday, it was cold and dark, sunny and warm, cold and rainy, sunny and cold, and warm and dark, I hope that about covers each possible scenario.

Again yesterday, I was ill, I got a migraine late morning and that led to my stomach being upset; I thought I was going to vomit, I didn't, thank goodness. 

 I'm kind of surprised, I thought my post yesterday was rather funny, and that it would prompt you to publish a comment, it didn't; some of you did send an email and I thank you for that.   I guess you can never tell what is going to strike your audience as funny, maybe there was just an abundance of people leaving their computers early to start their weekend, yeah, I bet that was it.

Judy and Zac are going to go see a movie today,  I wonder which one they'll go see, I'm not going as  I volunteered to stay home and take care of Winter.

  We cleaned out the refrigerator yesterday by throwing out all of the leftovers, our fridge is now practically empty, what a waste of food!   I remember when I was young and didn't want to eat some particular food that my mother had served,  my mother would tell me that kids in China were starving, I wonder what parents tell their children now to motivate them to eat? 

I watched the movie "Finding Forrester" this morning which stars Mr. Sean Connery who just happens to be my favourite James Bond.  I love the James Bond (J.B.) movies, well, not the recent ones, I think the producers, directors, writers of the latest J.B. flicks have made a big mistake by removing the formula that made the other J.B. flicks so popular, the snappy dialogue just isn't there, nor is Miss Moneypenny (yes I know Lois Maxwell died but there are other actresses,) heck,  they even removed the pretitle sequence wherein the audience hears the J.B. theme, we see James Bond walking by, he is viewed by the audience through the eyes of the barrow of a gun trained by an unknown assailant,  or something like that,  and then the film opens with J.B. in some kind of danger, after that sequence is over, the titles then begin.   The latest J.B. films open with the title sequence, and we as the audience pick up that something is missing; it just doesn't seem right and people like you and I know exactly what is wrong.

The very first James Bond was "Dr. No" and the last one viewed was "Quantum of Solace," what can I say about that?, and I heard they recently cancelled the filming of the latest James Bond movie.

There is plenty to enjoy in all of the James Bond movies, lots of excitement, pretty girls, gadgets and gizmos, exotic locales, fast cars with plenty of car chases,  and a huge supply of megalomaniacal supervillains.

The James Bond film series is a series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of M16 agent James Bond (code designation "007") appearing in the novels of Ian Fleming.  Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories followed later by films with original storylines.  The franchise remains one of the longest continually running film series in history.

I have two favourite James Bond movies, they are "On her Majesty's secret Service, (OHMSS)" and "Diamonds are Forever."  I love Dame Diana Rigg so that should explain why OHMSS made the list, and I thought the chemistry of Sean Connery and Jill St. John was at its best in "Diamonds are Forever," in addition, I love its theme song.

I am not feeling well so consequently I don't feel like writing, there is no creative juice in me today.  Sorry.

Topics coming soon:

Sex
Twins
Television







 

Finicky on Friday

Date:                                      Friday, September 24th, 2010
Word of the Day:                   diaphanous (dyAF\uh\nuhs); of such fine texture as to allow light to pass through; translucent or transparent
Weight:                                221 pounds
Goal:                                    lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                     89 pounds
Waist Size:                            49 inches
Rowing Duration:                  not rowing today because of painful back

Yesterday, I spent all day in bed because of a sore back.  I was in intense pain and had to take dilaudid, which wasn't much of a help.  I was so proud of myself for not taking any dilaudid in a time span of about three weeks, oh well, back to the drawing board.  Being positively in pain, I didn't eat much which is always the way when you are unwell.

Today, I was going to fib and just make up an amount of time spent on Cruella, but why bother?, I wouldn't even be fooling myself, a sore back (and believe me its sore,) is reason enough to put off exercising until tomorrow, and I don't want to cause an injury, but right now that is the least of my concerns.

It is raining quite hard here and it is rather cold, I always wonder if inclement weather plays a part in my back pain, some people think it does, and I know we've all heard people say "I can feel it in my bones!"  Well, I can!!!!

Okay, I hope you're sitting down, are you ready for my latest tech problem?  My new replacement computer, and I hope I told you I was getting a replacement computer, arrived yesterday.  It is spanking new, big and purple, (yes it will be named after my youngest niece Jessie, The Camden Plus,) and has the feature of a backlit, so that if, and when, I touch any of the keys, the entire keyboard lights up.  I love this feature because I frequently type at night,  and will often get started on the wrong key because I can't see them properly, so this new tool is great for me.  So, what's the problem?

The dvd drive is broken.  Whenever I insert a cd or dvd into the drive, a loud ticking noise consumes The Camden Plus and will not play any music or movie.  Naturally, I called Dell, in India of course, where I was put on hold for 1.5 hours, I kid you not.  I thought I was going to get lucky as I got a real human being answering the phone on the third ring.  That person, and I still remember Alisha's name, said I had to be transferred to one of their technicians, upon doing so, I was put on hold forever.

  The good thing, and I always try to find something positive about all of my experiences, is that Alisha stayed on the phone with me, because I said I was afraid of getting disconnected,  and Alisha would not take down my phone number for someone to call me back, because Alisha stated that Dell just doesn't do that sort of thing.  Funny, they did that sort of thing last week, but Alisha reassured me that I'm mistaken.

After finally reaching a technician, I was told that the best solution to my problem, and there was a secondary problem as Dell left off one of the programs that was previously on the first computer, was for Dell to simply send me another replacement.  If you're keeping track, and I know you are, when the new replacement computer comes, it will be my third brand new laptop in four weeks. 

 Presently, I am wondering two things:  is Dell in cahoots with UPS? and making a small fortune on me alone?,  and should I volunteer my services to be in a Dell commercial,  and if Dell isn't interested, do you think Apple would like to talk to me?  Hmmm.
Change of pace, my sister Judy's social worker did not call me back, nor did her boss Evelyn, return my phone call, as she was scheduled to do so, fortunately I did not wait by the phone, I was in too much agony.   I will call Evelyn back today and then we'll all see what we'll see.

Okay loyal readers, today's post is shorter because I'm not 100% better, I have a plethora of things to do (because of not doing some of them yesterday,) and I'm told that brevity is best, but tomorrow, or the day after that, you may just read a short story, hehe, nah, I'm saving it all for my book, "Just don't tell my mother!"

Topics coming soon:

Sex
Twins
Television

No EXCUSES Thursday

Date:                                      Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
Word of the Day:                    agog (uh\GOG); full of excitement or interest; in eager desire; eager, keen
Weight:                                   221 pounds
Goal:                                       lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose:                       89 pounds
Waist Size:                              49 inches
Rowing Duration:                  120 minutes, 3 seconds

Okay, I've called today No EXCUSES Thursday because I'm not going to make any excuses today, for anything,  for anyone!, and NOR SHOULD YOU!!!!!

I was prompted to do this as my sister Judy's social worker called yesterday,  and she always makes excuses for not doing anything for my sister's betterment, not returning Judy's phone calls, missing appointments and for taking Judy, her employer and even you and I, (as taxpayers,) for a ride and damn it I'm very, very angry.

My sister Judy is bipolar and has had many struggles and difficulties because of her illness.   Judy knows to take her medication daily because should she become manic, her life falls apart,  and it gets harder each time to rebuild it.  Currently, I try very hard to help out Judy,  I do what I can by being there as a brother, and I do try to assist her financially, but I worry what may happen to Judy should something happen to me.

Judy currently lives in Cabbagetown in a run-down house that is literally an overpriced dump, and Judy has mice, bugs,  drunks and drug addicts  co-residing in her house.  I don't like going inside the house because it is so depressing, and I don't know how Judy finds the strength to go home each day.  Anyway, four years ago, Judy was appointed a social worker to help her out, named Gail.

Gail misses appointments with Judy regularly, does not have the decency to call when she misses appointments, and as far as I can see, has done nothing to help Judy.  I completed 90% of a housing application for Judy to live in rent-geared-to-income housing, (as Judy has a fixed income, and there is not very much of that either,)  and the remaining 10% required Gail to complete it as her recommendation, well the ministry that she works for,  will expedite the process.  Even with the approval of the ministry, it will take over a year to find suitable housing. 

 The housing application still has not been filed by Gail and she has a 1001 reasons for not submitting it, such as, she forgot it, it will take too long to process, and Gail is personally trying to get the landlord/owner to fix up the house and Judy does like the location after all.  Who cares if the house should be condemned, Gail doesn't live there!

Judy's dentures went missing when she was last in hospital and for over a year, Judy eats food without the benefit of teeth, if you think this is easy, try it.  The ministry wherein Gail works was supposed to be assisting Judy get replacement dentures, but we retain the status quo as Gail has not made any progress in this area.

The only clothes that Judy wears are the clothes that my family has purchased for her and we have also supplied all of Judy's furniture, such as it is.  My family and I have supplied everything to help out Judy, but none of us are in the position to have Judy live with us on a permanent basis, I often encourage Judy to visit me,  and Zac and I never tire of her visits, but Judy likes to have her own place and I don't blame her, Judy rarely complains about her living condition, because she thinks she doesn't deserve any better and my heart breaks for her.  Judy is a human being but gets treated worse than most pets.

The agency helping Judy out said they offered many services that can assist Judy and make her life a little more bearable, and they did visit Judy's home,  concurred that nobody should be forced to live there, left, sent me the application to fill out on Judy's behalf and you know the rest of it.  Do any of you have any new suggestions on what I can do to help out my baby sister, Judy?

I've called: MPs, doctors, hospitals, assistant housing, the church, alot of answering machines at social services, the police, and still I have been unsuccessful at changing anything to improve Judy's living conditions, but I can't, and won't give up, my conscience won't permit it.

Today, I am talking to Gail's superior, yet again, in another effort to try and get Judy some effective assistance.  I have my notes ready, I will count to ten at least ten times before calling at my appointed time with Gail's boss, and I am going to try and insist on getting Judy a different worker, yeah, that would be nice, a worker!!!!, I know you wish Judy and I well.

How about my rowing?

Topics coming soon:

Sex
Twins
Television