Things I like about Super Bowl Sunday

1. Football pool

2. Food and beer

3. Half-time show

4. Super Bowl Ads

5. The game.

The 15 Most Brilliant Super Bowl Ads – The Daily Beast.

I WON $150 !!!

Shoe Giveaway | ShoeBlog.

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Another one bit the dust.

My neighbor across the street died last night. He was in his early 50s and didn’t look a day over 40. It was not unexpected. He’d been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July. Actually, his was the third death due to pancreatic cancer in our neighborhood within the last year. The disease had reached stage four by the time it was discovered. His wife and son had a woman from their church move in to help. The support from his church and friends kept the family going.

On my 6 hour drive home yesterday, I passed about 4 cemeteries. Each one reminded me of my brother’s sudden passing last July and then I thought about my neighbor across the street. It was getting close. I’d been following and responding to his journal on Caring Bridge. I mentioned him to my mother not 10 minutes before calling his home to see if I can bring some dinner by for them. They told me he died, that it was a blessing. There was little the pain medication could do for him and now he didn’t have to suffer anymore.

We lived across the street for years. We participated in neighborhood pot luck dinners. I taught their adopted son about Mother’s Day and gave him flowers to give to his adoptive mom. Over the last 4 years, we lost touch. We waved to each other. Pot luck dinners in general stopped. The newer members of the neighborhood were younger and these pot luck dinners only served to make us uncomfortable more than bond the neighbors together. Time goes by fast.

Still, I can’t get over the guilt I feel for not having liked him at all from the word go. I had my reasons and they will stay personal. But, I didn’t let it show. I liked his family and to a certain extent, him by extension. Now that he is gone, I have to let this guilt go. I will be there, along with everyone else, their friends, extended family, and neighbors to help them mend. That’s the best I can do.

RIP C. I hope you made your amends.

After  much ado about nothing at a site that means a lot to me and many others, this clip seemed appropriate:

Here’s a freaking Friday challenge!

Answer these five questions without using any of the Taboo words or phrases. Challenge yourself not just to avoid using the words, but to think of fresh, new answers to these sort of cliched meme questions!

1. Who’s making a positive difference in your life? Wolffie

Taboo words: friends, family, husband/wife/spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend.

2. Where would you like to be right now?  France

Taboo words: home, bed, anywhere but here.

3. What’s the first thing you’d do with a $5,000 (or your local equivalent) gift?  Fight mother nature with dermal filler injections and then get Wolff an airline ticket with the change.

Taboo words: save, debt, vacation, payments, invest.

4. What super-power would you really like to have?  The power to time travel.

Taboo words: invisibility, x-ray vision, flying, strength, transform.

5. What’s your favorite sound?  the sound of tinkling glasses and silverware in a nice restaurant

Taboo words: laughter, music, ocean, wind, ____’s voice.

Your turn:

Answer these five questions without using any of the Taboo words or phrases. Challenge yourself not just to avoid using the words, but to think of fresh, new answers to these sort of cliched meme questions!

1. Who’s making a positive difference in your life?

Taboo words: friends, family, husband/wife/spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend.

2. Where would you like to be right now?

Taboo words: home, bed, anywhere but here.

3. What’s the first thing you’d do with a $5,000 (or your local equivalent) gift?

Taboo words: save, debt, vacation, payments, invest.

4. What super-power would you really like to have?

Taboo words: invisibility, x-ray vision, flying, strength, transform.

5. What’s your favorite sound?

Taboo words: laughter, music, ocean, wind, ____’s voice.

Billie Holiday aka Lady Day, legendary jazz singer, died 44 years ago today.

Some rare footage

Strange Fruit – one of the first anti-racists songs of that time.

Billie and Satchmo

“Reunited after many years with tenor saxophonist Lester Young, Billie’s visual reaction to his moving solo remains as eloquent as anything she ever sang; a touching finale to their historic musical “

We always rent a vehicle when we take a long road trip. With the economy being what it is, a lot of people seem to be doing that too. The price of renting vans and/or SUV’s are at an all time high. The best deal was on pickup trucks. We picked a BIG one, a Chevy Silverado. No problem. It was cool. I didn’t intend to drive it. Hubs always does. (pause) Not this time. I got left holding the keys. (gulp)

Give me a van, and I can tool around with the best of the soccer moms, but stick me in a big, four door pick up truck with a V8 and I’m a mess.

First of all, I’m too short. If I stand straight, tummy sucked in, shoulders back, I’m 5’4″. I should have put a pillow on the seat to see over the steering wheel. Still, it was okay. I added an inch to my vertebrae by stretching my neck.

I hate having to pull myself inside the cab by holding onto a handle. Sure the high heels help, but it’s hard to get a butt cheek on the seat no matter what I wear on the bottom. Come Monday morning, I have an appointment to see the doc about a pinched nerve on my right buttock.

The blonde spots, oops, the blind spots ARE dangerous! It’s embarrassing to struggle for 20 minutes to make a turn in a parking lot and realize it’s impossible! When I tried to back out, I just about hit four different cars! I was so frazzled I almost cried. I can’t go back to that restaurant ever again. They know my red hair.

On the upside, I didn’t have trouble with right of ways. ‘-D

Oh God. After I wrote these up, I realized I have to answer them. ;-O

1. Do you have something secret that you carry in your pocket or purse most of the time? i.e. condoms, sanitary wipes, lube, vibe, etc? What are they? Actually, no. Just a spare pair of panties on occasion.

2. What made you laugh last? A youtube cat clip.

3. Pheromones. Do you believe that we are attracted to someone who gives them off? Has it happened to you? I was aware of the pheromone phenom when I was much younger. Guys reacted more to that than I did.

4. Are you sensitive to smells? Oh God yes. I can smell a fart across the street. It’s that sensitive. What are they? *cough* The obvious, cigarettes, but from far away. Someone can be in a non smoking restaurant and I can smell it on their clothes at least 3 tables away. BO and food. I can tell the ingredients in a dish. The essences in perfumes. The list is too long folks.

5. What’s your favorite sexual activity? Fxxxing ;-D *did I say that?!*

your turn

1. Do you have something secret that you carry in your pocket or purse most of the time? i.e. condoms, sanitary wipes, lube, vibe, etc? What are they?

2. What made you laugh last?

3. Pheromones. Do you believe that we are attracted to someone who gives them off? Has it happened to you?

4. Are you sensitive to smells? What are they?

5. What’s your favorite sexual activity?

1. Moving along.

2. Drama free.

3. My best quality is openness.

4. In describing shooz, one needs details.

5. In nearly 10 years, my time passed by like a flash.

6. A plan is what I need right now!

Your turn

1. Moving _____.

2. _____ free.

3. My best quality is _____.

4. _____ details.

5. In nearly 10 years, _____.

6. _____ is what I need right now!