First Shot at a Gallery

I'm trying out Picasa's new web gallery - I may not keep things there, but for now you can see some of my recent pics...

http://picasaweb.google.com/gwendolynjorgens

Crazy. Part II.

She's at it again.....

Katherine Harris said.. wait, let's make sure I get this right...

"If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin," Harris said.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeah. She said that. AND THEN she added that she's been supportive of pro-Israel legislation and legislation to recognize the Holocaust. Because she doesn't want anyone thinking she's not a good christian, I guess?

Note to Ms. Harris: I don't care where you are, or who you are talking to. Never, ever believe the voices in your head when they tell you it's OK to ride the crazy train.

Party Harty, The Aftermath.

Yesterday we celebrated my dear husband's 31st birthday with a party at our house. Its always so wonderful to be surrounded by our friends...we had a fabulous dinner, cake and all kinds of munchies. In a strange twist, we ended up with more liquor than we had before the party started.

Thank you to each and every one of you who came over to celebrate! Tom had a wonderful time (actually a little too good a time...) and it certainly will be a birthday to remember :)

Flaming Lips are....

Fun, fabulous, entertaining, exhausting, deafening and well worth the trip!

So we haven't really had rain in 3 months, but the skies decided to open up about an hour before the show. This storm was kickin' butt and takin' names - I saw water shooting fountain style out of one of the manhole covers downtown! One of the opening acts (Magic Numbers...blah) was cancelled due to the weather, but Sonic Youth came on at 9:00PM followed by the Flaming Lips at around 10:15PM. The universe may have conspired against us, but the Flaming Lips fans ultimately won...

My sister had two tickets and invited me to join her for the show. I wouldn't classify myself as a *huge* Flaming Lips fan, but I saw them at a Lalapolooza stage in 1994 and have rather enjoyed their recent CDs. I really, really, really enjoyed the show and would love to see them again. I sang my heart out on some of my favorite songs and, in a rare moment for me, didn't give a rip what anyone around me thought of it :)

So the show starts with the lead singer surfing the crowd in a big, inflatable hamster ball....

There were TONS of streamers and confetti, an inflatable dolphin could be seen rockin' out for most of the show and a pink plastic pony made an appearance in the crowd toward the end. A boxing nun sang about a robot-defeating Yoshimi and 5 foot tall foam hands punctuated a faboo protest song. On the right side of the stage we had the dancing santas, and on the left we had the dancing aliens and elves (local folks who won contests on the Current from what I hear). The crowd was a little lethargic after the long weather delays, but the band did an awesome job loving what they do on stage and drawing people in to the fun. Towards the end two state fair gopher mascots got up and boogied down to "Do You Realize?"

It's now past 3 AM and I've made it home from my great big state fair Flaming Lips adventure. Time to go fall over in bed. Good thing I get to sleep in tomorrow!

Ridiculously Cute

Oh that's just so cute it hurts.

"Duz the witty bitty monkey want to suck on a thumb? Oh yesyoudo! You're just a witty bitty cute ball of fuzz, you are!"

Look Out Tokyo!

Our plane tickets are *finally* booked and I've blocked my vacation days. Tom fired up the "Learn Japanese" CDs and we know how to say 4 whole words and ask a question! "Eigo-ga wakarimasuka?" means "Do You Understand English?" So I'll be a dorky American tourist, but hopefully not an ugly American tourist.

We are making headway on how we'll travel from Tokyo to Kyoto and what we'll be doing while we're there. Everything looks so cool I don't even know where to start :) We'll be in Kyoto to see the premier of Takumi's (my Japanese brother) movie on the 18th and the rest of the time is pretty wide open at this point. Could I be going on a cooler vacation? I think not....

Happy Birthday to You....

Last night a bunch of us (Rachel & Pat, Adam & Dena, Deb & Terre, and Tom & I) went out to celebrate Deb's birthday at Ichiban's All-You-Care-To-Eat sushi moat/buffet. We got our fill of good sushi, a funky cake with a candle for Deb, and I had more cucumber salad than you can shake a stick at. Going to Ichiban's is *always* a great time with good sushi, and its made even better when its shared with friends in celebration. Happy Birthday Deb!!

I paced myself well through the sushi and made it out of Ichiban's feeling full and satisfied but not stuffed. The group toddled over to The Local for some fabulous "Big Gingers" after flopping down on a couple of couches and wingback chairs.

I'm reminded by these events how insanely lucky we are to be happy, healthy and surrounded by such fun and interesting people. Here's to food, fun and friends!

This time its personal.

*sigh*

That's it. My parents are no longer allowed on international flights.

My father has been on business in Europe for the last week and a half, and he is due to return to the US on a flight from London's Heathrow airport today. While it sounds like he'll make it home as scheduled, he will be packing up all his luggage, including his laptop for the cargo hold.

While talking to my Mom about this whole thing yesterday, I remembered where the two of them were on 9/11: In Newark, NJ, boarding planes. My parents were returning from South America via Newark with seperate flights to Minneapolis. My mom's flight took off around 8:43 AM, a few planes behind United Flight 93. My Dad was slated to fly at just after 9 AM and never made it off the ground. The remainder of that week is a looooooong story, but it is sufficient to say they were both too close for comfort.

I can only take so many calls telling me that one or both of my parents is in the midst of a terrorist ruckus. Since we are now up to 2 such events, I'm banning my parents from planes! Enough is enough already :)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Amazonites review MILK!

I have been trying to determine how to activate the various features associated with this product ("Kosher", "Grade A", etc.) but without the associated documentation, I haven't been able to do so. I don't think this product should be sold without adequate documentation to allow consumers to get their money's worth.

Usually I don't pay much attention to what is in my refrigerator, but this Tuscan Whole Milk has got to be the greatest thing I've ever seen. I carry it around with me all the time now using its convenient handle. Just the other day, I saved a busload of nuns careening down a precipituous mountain by placing this object in their path. While on vacation in the Swiss Alps, Tuscan Whole Milk protected me and the tour group I was with from a terrible avalanche. And one afternoon, finding myself trapped in a nuclear submarine beneath the Antarctic ice, I was safely transported to the surface by Tuscan Whole Milk alone. I just can't imagine what would happen if I drank some. And weighing in at 128oz, it makes an excellent paperweight!

Rant-o-rama

I've been so disheartened by the stories in the news about animals the last couple of days.

First was the story seeking a man who broken the necks of ten crying puppies in front of his girlfriend, apparently to threaten her. What kind of person does this?

That was bad enough, but then I read this. The story is about meerkats at the zoo that had to be put down. Why you ask? Watch out, here comes the rant...
Because a 9 year old girl was at the zoo. Whomever was with her was not keeping an eye on her, and she climbed up 4 feet of rocks and stuck her hand in the enclosure, resulting in a bite. These were rabies vaccinated, non-aggressive animals. They had to be destroyed because the girl's parents refused to get her a rabies shot.
How callous can you be? First, you're irresponsible enough to let the kid climb all over and put herself in a dangerous situation, and THEN you cap that by deciding that saving junior the pain of a shot is more important than the lives of 5 animals who did nothing wrong?
Jackasses.

No More Slanty Stoop!

Ahem.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*pounds head against cube wall*

That is all. Thank you.

I know, I know...

It reeks of Schadenfreude. But I can't help it. Katherine Harris just plain looks crazy.

GOP tells Harris her campaign is too damaged by crazy talk to win