Puerto Rican Senator Bares Ass!

And we thought Anthony Weiner and Christopher Lee made asses of themselves tweeting nude photos!  Well we have another "ass" to add to the collection, Roberto Arango.  Arango apparently was on a diet and "wanted to document his weight loss" with photos.  As Judge Judy would say, "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining" OR "Do I have stupid written on my forehead?"  The guy creeps me out.  Here is his direct quote regarding the picture:

“You know I’ve been losing weight. As I shed that weight, I’ve been taking pictures. I don‘t remember taking this particular picture but I’m not gonna say I didn’t take it. I‘d tell you if I remembered taking the picture but I don’t.”

But all is not lost.  After being caught with his pants down he "has resigned following reports that explicit photos of him surfaced on an iPhone application for gays and bisexuals, the head of the U.S. territory's Senate announced Sunday."

I have to wonder if this is the current trend of politicians?  None of them seems to learn fromthe other's mistakes.  I always knew there were a lot of asses in politics, but now they are just proving it with concrete documentation.  Do we really want people this stupid representing us?  Where does it end?   If they are so stupid as to put these pictures out there for all the world to see, how can we ever expect them to make good decisions?  I think we need to start screening the candidates who are running much more closely and make sure they are worthy of the positions they are seeking to hold.  I can't imagine what our forefathers would be saying at all this.  Ugh!



Bird Flu Resurgence



I just read that the Bird Flu may be coming back. I don’t know about you, but I have better things to do than be sick for at least two weeks straight. Three years ago, my younger daughter came down with the flu in February. It was the first time we had experienced what it was like in our family. There is no cure, but to wait it out. Expect, at the time, she had midterms and had to study and get to school, like it or not. She did amazingly well under the circumstances. However, I wanted to kick myself for not getting us all flu shots in the early fall.

By the time fall rolled around, the bird flu was out. People were panicking, ER rooms were full, schools were being shut down to lessen the spread of it. The media reports created enough anxiety and there were actual cases of fatalities being reported. I had already made up my mind months before, that my daughter was going to get a flu shot. However, after hearing all the news, I decided we all needed to get it. At the time they were giving a two in one shot and it worked out well. I have gone every year since and am planning for all of us to get them in a couple of months again.

Now that they say the Bird Flu is coming back, you may also want to consider getting the shot. I know some don’t believe in it, but I do. It takes very little time and discomfort and could be the best thing you ever did for yourself this winter. Of course I am hoping for a very mild winter to make up for the hell we had last year with all the snow and the devastating weather we have already had this winter.

Mother Nature? Are you listening?



Beyonce Expecting!

I am so tired of bad news, bad storms, bad moods so when I heard Beyonce was expecting I decided to blog about it. What can be more joyous than a little newborn? I am a fan of Beyonce and her music. I love so many of her songs. She worked hard to get where she is today.

There is a little irony to her story though, which made me laugh. As she announced her pregnancy on MTV’s Video Music Awards, Beyonce was slated to start a new project, which may have “foreshadowed” her new bundle of joy. She was going to be shooting the remake of “A Star Is Born,” which may be delayed by her condition. So Beyonce is actually is working on the production of two stars are born!

I can’t help but remember the version of “A Star Is Born” with Judy Garland and James Mason. That was a real tear jerker. I don’t know how many times I watched it. Now Beyonce’s version is an updated, modernized and I’m sure it will also tug at heart strings.

I wish her the best of luck with both productions!



We Survived Hurricane Irene…

Well the news has been talking about this storm for days. It’s true the areas near water were hard hit. As for me, I live inland, and my main concern was the huge tree in my backyard. Last fall I saw so many tress lying on the ground that I got very paranoid about this tree. If it were to fall it would land on the house and hit my daughter’s bedroom.

Of course the girls think I am blowing the tree out of proportion, and they can never foresee something happening until it does. I slept through the night. I didn’t hear any excessive rain or wind. I got up at six as usual. Everything was fairly calm. But I kept an eye on the tree and listened to the weather reports while the girls slept.

By 7:30 am the winds were really blowing and the branches were swirling around. I was anxious, so I woke up my daughter and made her move to my bed and finish her sleep. At least then I could stop worrying about her being in harms way. The worst was supposed to come at 12 noon. Suddenly, they are saying the eye of the storm is already on us and they expect it to move through here pretty quickly. The winds were bad for about 30 to 40 minutes. The branches blowing in every direction. I am practically holding my breath until it passes.

I get the girls up at 9:30 am. Ten minutes later the rain practically stops and there is a brightening outside with the sun actually trying to come out. They missed the worst of it, all of it really. In an hour it may look like nothing ever even happened here. They slept through it without a care in the world. I miss those days when nothing happen concerns you. It could have been a lot worse. I am so glad it wasn’t. I even had the phonebook out ready to call tree removal places.

So we survived hurricane Irene! I hope there was a minimal of damage and danger everywhere else. When you think about it, there is no place in the country that is safe from Mother Nature!



The World Is Topsy Turvy

For years I have noticed that nothing in this world makes any sense.  Nothing.  If you think a possible outcome of of something is right or just, you can bet your boots the opposite will happen.  I have just too many examples running through my mind.  I am just going to vent about this latest story I read and then mention a few other situations that made me sick.

Jeremy Hill, an Idaho father, was taking a shower when he heard daogs barking and kids screaming in his backyard.  He ran down to see three grizzly bears in his back yard and got a gun and shot one of the bears to death.  The other two ran away.  he then reported the incident to the athorities and now he could be facing jail time. He was trying to protect his family and now is facing federal criminal charges.  For what?  Killing an endangered species!  He faces up to a year in prison and a $50,000 fine.  The governor of idaho wrote to President Obama on Hill's behalf.  To add to the lunacy, Hill has to prove that the bears were an imminent threat to the lives of his children and not just "grazing" on his property!  His trial is schuduled for October 4th!

Now, consider that OJ got away with murdering two people despite all the evidence?  Casey Anthony got away with killing her baby girl.  First responders, who risked their on lives on 911, are not being invited to the tenth anniversary ceremony.  Lindsay Lohan is sentenced to house arrest where she has parties and never follows through with court ordered community service.  Somewhere, people are trying to decriminalize pedophilia and lable it a "condition."  The list goes on and on and on.  Where does it end?  It never ends.  Everyday there is something new to add to the list.  Common sense doesn't exist and we are now in Alice in Wonderland's world.  Nothing makes sense and if you think it does, just open up your daily newspaper or check online for recent news and I'll bet there is another story for you to shake your head at.

I really hope Jeremy Hill doesn't have to go to trial.  What if he hadn't had a gun?  What of the barking dogs had spooked the bears?  There were three bears and three children in his yard.  Should he have waited for one or all of them to be mauled?  He didn't exactly have time to think about different options at the time, did he?   I give up.  The world has gone mad.  Tomorrow is another peeve!

Hurricane Irene Is Coming!

Projected Path To New York City!

Well I have written about a recent Hail Storm, a few months ago we had a tornado, this week we had an earthquake, so how can I leave out Irene? She hasn’t gotten here yet, but she is all I have heard about the last couple of days. I hear she is headed up the northeast coast and due to arrive Saturday night and all day Sunday. Right now she is a category 4, but she may simmer down to a category 2 by the time she visits NY.

Hurricanes, or the tale ends of them are typical of our weather. I should say used to be typical, because nothing is predictable any more. I hesitate to believe the weathermen and their reports because they like to sensationalize the weather as much as tabloids and the paparazzi like to make something out of nothing with celebrities. But, times are changing and I don’t know if anyone knows or can predict what is ever going to happen any more.

The “hurricanes” that used to hit here were basically just heavy rains and wind. Nothing that would make the news. Now I’m not so sure. The weather trends are actually giving me anxiety. Last fall I walked around my neighborhood looking at all the fallen trees, huge trees that just keeled over. There were a lot of them. It looked like a war zone. I am seeing a lot of things I never saw before and they are all happening within months, weeks and even days of each other. The only think I cam be fairly sure of is that we will not experience volcano erupting. As far as I know, there are none in our proximity. Everything else seems to be possible.

I guess I will keep abreast of the news and just hope the track of it changes so it misses our area altogether. But, it’s still three days or less away, and I hate listening to the weathermen loving the moment because it puts them in the spotlight. Oh well, I guess I have complained enough for now. Let’s hope I don’t have to blog about Irene on Monday. I just want to say “Good Night, Irene, Good Night!”

The Earthquake…

I felt the earth move yesterday…but not the way I wanted to. Yesterday the east coast experienced a 6.0 earthquake. Some were pretty shook up by it as I expect it was worse in different places depending on where you were. I was sitting on my bed and suddenly it was vibrating. I was perplexed for a minute or two trying to find the source of this vibration. But when it stopped shortly thereafter, I just put it out of my mind. We have had ongoing construction for the past three years, to the houses on both sides of mine. I’ve learned to get used to noise and vibrations.

However, a few minutes later, I get an IM from my daughter. “Did you feel the earthquake?” she asks. I immediately reply, “No, what earthquake?” The seconds later a light bulb goes off in my head…unexplained the vibration! I change my answer to yes and put on the news. They talked about it for at least three hours before the regular two hours of evening news started. We are not used to earthquakes on the east coast, this is something to talk about. But where is this going to end?

This is what I know about my neck of the woods. Growing up in NYC we have had our share of snowstorms, blizzards and hurricanes. That is our “bad” weather. That is how it’s been over 50 years. But, the past three years, give or take, we have had tornadoes with three thousand trees knocked down just in Queens, a recent hail storm with hail the size of baseballs damaging my car (50 dings and a cracked windshield) and now an earthquake. All of these new developments are just springing up without warning too. We are minding our own business and suddenly it’s announced we need to be careful of whatever…while the even is occurring..gee thanks. There is no time to prepare. We just are not used to these types of things happening here and frankly I don’t like it. The earthquakes shook up more than the ground, it shook up our nerves.

And another thing, it’s not like we get a pass on our previous bad weather. We didn’t trade in blizzards and hurricanes for tornadoes and hail. No! Instead we have added to our list of catastrophic weather conditions. In fact a hurricane is on its way as I type! I really wish someone would explain what is going on, because I need to know!

I hope everyone on the east coast made it through this event without loss of life, injury or too much damage. I am just worried about next time and who knows when that might be. For all we claim to know about everything under the sun, we never seem to know the answers for what is really important.

Reality TV Bad For You?

If you star in it, it may be. Since the recent suicide of Taylor Armstrong’s estranged, reality husband, Russell Armstrong, of the Real Housewives of Beverley Hills, many are wondering if reality tv causes more problems than it’s worth. In the case of Russell Armstrong, his attorney explains that he invested heavily in promoting and supporting his wife until he was spending more than he was making. He got into financial trouble and she was at the peak of her “career.” However, she picked that point in time to divorce him. It’s a sad story and we may never know the whole truth, though I am sure there is a lot more to it.


I recall many years ago, watching the Loud family on PBS. It was a documentary of the filming of the daily lives of this family. The family was fine at the beginning of the show, but living under the scrutiny of a camera 24/7 eventually destroyed this family. When I look back on it, that was really a very similar example of reality tv to the max. Their cameras were rolling 24/7, unlike today’s shows, where they set up a situation and bring the camera crew in to film what develops.


I was reading that many of the Real Housewives are always saying how perfect their families are while the camera is on. Unfortunately for them, the media has ways of getting to the truth and publishing it. Once you are a “star” on reality television, you open yourself up to all kinds of scrutiny and everything that happens to you is a hot story. They no longer have any privacy. In fact, it turns out, that since starring on these shows, which are very successful, six women have become involved in divorce proceedings and at least that many more have filed for bankruptcy. Who knows to what degree the shows are responsible? Look at Jon and Kate who are divorced, and all of their dirty laundry was aired at the time. Though I have to say I blame Kate for that one, not the show.


I think these reality shows are going to have to bring in some experts and rethink the psychological damage these shows might be doing by throwing people into the lime light and exposing them to a ruthless media. Those they have skeletons in their closet, that they want to keep there, better rethink their decision. Many “friends” will come out of the woodwork and expose their stories for them for a couple of thousand dollars from a tabloid. If they are going to star on a popular show they better be prepared to handle all the consequences.

Sick Of Bad News!



I am really sick of bad news. I barely open my eyes in the morning and there is always something dreadful going on with someone I care about. First I get an email from my brother. There is another flood in his condo. He has only live there 3 years and spent $50,000 to renovate it. He has had two other serious floods before, for other reasons. This time it sounds like the water main is backing up. The building manager is away until the end of the month. I feel so bad for him. He waited his whole life to get his own place and it’s been so stressful.

Then I check my face book. One friend has a pregnancy scare, but seems to be fine now. Another friend, and this is worst of all, writes her granddaughter is in the ER as of last night and has encephalitis. She asks her friends to pray for her. I ask my friends to pray as well, you can’t have too many prayers. There has been no update today on her condition. I am worried sick. Such a beautiful young girl. This came on suddenly with a headache and nausea. How the hell does this happen?

I can’t even remember a “perfect day” when nothing goes wrong any more. No wonder I have so much anxiety. Was it always like this and I just never noticed? Or is this the way of the future? I’m sorry, but it’s just getting to be too much sometimes, especially the health issues. We don’t always have control over those and they are not always “fixable.” All we can do is pray. Now I am going to get back to praying and I hope all who read this say a prayer for Kendra today. Thank you.

Should Women Take Husband’s Last Name OR Not?



The great debate of whether or not a woman should take her husband’s last name or not continues. Traditionally, of course, there is no question, the answer is yes. But, the women’s movement have women questioning whether or not they want to change their names. My own daughter, who was raised with traditional values but has a mind of her own, thinks she should keep her maiden name after marriage. I don’t agree, but what else is new?

The trends towards taking the name and not taking it changes over time. There are other options of course. A woman can take the husband’s last name for her personal life and keep her maiden name for her professional life, like Carrie Underwood did last year when she got married. Or, another option is to hyphen the last names, making the maiden name the middle name. The keeping of the maiden name surged in popularity from the 70’s to the 90’s, when it reached it’s highest peak at 23%. In the 2000s it dropped to 18% and now only 8% are keeping their maiden names. It seems to me this was in response to the women’s movement as a way of expressing their independence and a sign of equality.

A lot of thought still goes into making the decision for many women. I suppose the divorce rate being so high might make one think that keeping their maiden name would save a ton of paperwork should their marriage become another statistic. But, a survey done by Indiana University showed that 71% of women believe that women should change their last name when they marry. So the trend towards traditional thinking may be coming back in style.

One couple suggested another alternative that worked for them. They combined parts of their last names to make one new last name. Eric Jankowsky and Laura Lindstrom invented the name Jankstrom for their union. Now, while I’ll admit that is a creative solution, I don’t like it. There is a family history that goes with each last name. Roots that go back for generations along with stories, tradition and culture. Even when immigrants came to our country years ago, simple misspellings made them harder to track down if you are trying to find your ancestors. This creative process will surely destroy any chance for future generations of these families to trace their genealogical roots.

My big argument for the wife either hyphenating or changing her name has to do with the children. I really feel it’s important for the whole family to share the same name. This is not a good way for women to take a stand on equality. Having a different name than one’s children will also cause all kinds of issues at school, for medical insurance and many things you can’t even anticipate. Being a family means sharing your lives, being a unit, sharing genes, memories, history…why not a name? I am very happy to see this trend going back to the way it was.

There are other ways for women to assert themselves besides refusing to take on their husband’s last name. They should look into some of them. Preserving tradition…there is a lot to be said for that.



The "Therapist"



People have often called me their therapist. I probably could have become one, but I have too much empathy. What I mean by that is pretty soon I start to feel like whatever is happening to them is happening to me. So I have to limit my sessions to family, friends, and people I know that might need someone to listen to and give a little common sense advice.

Two days ago I went for a haircut. My hair stylist wasn’t her usual happy self and she had gain a lot of weight since I was there last in June. I no sooner sit in the chair and she tells me her father passed away. In less than a week it would be the 11^th anniversary of my own father’s death. I can relate to what she is going through. She tells me she hasn’t slept since May. Of course she is upset over her dad, but now she is worried about her own health too. She has been putting over going for annual exams, like we all do. And then she says, all she wants to do is stay home. She is obviously depressed. I understand what she is going through and I start to talk about my own situation. She has never heard my story and as I tell her I can see she starts to relax a little bit.

Then, I start to give her some advice. I can’t even help myself. First I tell her thank God she has this business and cannot stay home. That would be the worst thing she could do. She needs to keep busy, let time pass, and give herself a chance to grieve for how ever long that takes. She is concerned about her weight. She has a pain in her ribs that has been aggravated by the weight gain. I tell her to get the 17 Day Diet Book. That will give her another thing to focus on and it will help her feel better. It works fast, especially the first 17 Days and she might get rid of the pain in her rib. I tell her I had just planned on using it to lose weight myself and then noticed with the weight loss the pain in my lower back disappeared and so did the water in my ankle. I tell her she will have to exercise. She makes a face. I remind her she only lives 20 minutes by foot from her salon. She can walk here in the morning and walk home at night, her exercise will be done and the cooler weather is coming. She agrees. She writes down the title of the book. I give her my phone number in case she has questions, wants to talk, or needs some encouragement. She seems so appreciative. I think I understand how she was feeling. It’s not just the loss of her father, but the feeling of being “lost.” She has a tremendous void, she doesn’t know how to feel like herself any more. She can’t help, but think about her dad and how her life isn’t the same any more. I think she could see that I understood, I had been through it too and more and came out okay on the other side.

She gives me a hug. As I walk out I tell her I will be passing by to check on her and see how she is doing. And I will. It really takes so little to help someone through a rough patch. She will be fine soon enough, she just doesn’t realize it yet. She just needs a little support, encouragement, and understanding. We all do.



Dr. Phil Does It Again!

"I'm slick, but not that slick!"

You may recall I recently wrote a blog that Dr. Phil is interviewing Casey Anthony’s parent, but not paying them. Well I am going to tell you what a friend just passed along to me and I will paste the link for you to read in it’s entirety. I am so peeved over this, it’s just not funny.

According to this source, Dr. Phil agreed to make a donation to the “Caylee Foundation” in exchange for the interview. This article claims, and I happen to believe it, that the Anthony’s take 80% of the donations made to the foundation and keep it for themselves for administrative expenses! There are links provided for notifying Dr. Phil that we know they are taking the money from the foundation so he IS indirectly paying them and we are not stupid. Neither is Dr. Phil. He knows exactly what he is doing and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is behind their setting up a foundation.

This family is very shady. They are liars. Poor Caylee’s memory is going to be used to make them rich now? Her mother, Casey will be writing a book and you can bet she will be interviewed and a movie made about this story. Her grandparents set up a foundation with them as Presidents and even Lee is on the board. And throw in Dr. Phil, who will exploit a good news story to death to add to his massive wealth. He will help to make them profit off the death of that poor baby, Caylee. Not one of them has a conscience. I am too aggravated for all the details, but the link is below if you feel you want to know everything.

By the way, I wrote to Phil and told him what I thought. Just having them on the show is appalling!

Link: http://www.cayleedaily.com/2011/08/cindygeorge-anthony-take-up-to-80-of-foundation-donation-money/



Blogging Almost A Year…



What have I learned? I learned that I don’t necessarily have as many complaints as I thought I did. I thought a “peeves” blog was ideal for me because I am always complaining about something and yet, ironically, people always tell me how positive a person I am. I am my own enigma! At first it was easy, I had a list of things that irked me and I could vent about each other. And in between those, things happen in life to give me more material to write about. Of course, politicians never fail to do something that gets under my skin. I don’t even going looking for things about them, they just seem to fall into my lap. There are certain “entertainers” that annoy me to no end. And let’s not forget injustice, lack of common sense, and sheer stupidity that cannot be ignored.

I was running out of material in my personal life, thank God. But, then I realized there is so much more out there that makes my head spin. It just feels good to get things off my chest without have to plague anyone by making them listen to it. And, I also find writing very therapeutic for me.

Meanwhile, I started this blog promising to write for a year, like the book Julie and Julia. I was supposed to write a blog a day, but unfortunately I think a day or two went by when I didn’t because of writer’s block. I have to at least feel something about a topic to write about it. I’m not sure what I am going to do comes the end of September. Should I continue or not? I did eventually make up for the missing blogs, I think, with a couple of extras that could not wait for the next day. We’ll see on September 30^th if I have 365 blogs or not.

Meanwhile, I seem to be peeve free this morning! But the day is young yet so if something aggravates me I will be back to rant and vent. Until then, I wish you all a great day!
　

Disappointing Talk from “The Talk!”

I am so disappointed right now. I was just informed that Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Pete are not coming back to The Talk next season! The show is just a year old and it seemed there was great chemistry between all of the hosts. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have made several comments about how Leah talks over everyone and dominates the show at times with her “Carrie Hefferin” personality. But, she was growing on me, she was toning herself down and she is damn funny! And as for Holly, there was nothing wrong with her at all. Who the hell are the executives making these judgment calls and what are they based on?

I found a couple of little tidbits of speculation for the departures. One suggests that Leah’s mom was in the audience everyday and often came on the set and refused to follow rules. She would not parked in her assigned parking space and was finally told not to park in the lot any more.

Another reason is that Julie Chen is too controlling and even told the women not to discuss the Casey Anthony case while she was on vacation.

“[Julie] said, ‘My husband feels strongly that you should not be talking about news [without me], you are not news people,’ ” our source told us. “Sharon just said, ‘I don’t know about this.’ She’d had enough. ”


“The ladies from The Talk are fed up with Julie Chen’s attitude. Apparently, when the Chenbot’s not around, the other ladies are not allowed to discuss anything that has to do with news because she’s the only one with a journalistic background. Rumor is that Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete are fed up and want to take Sharon Osbourne’s lead to leave the show. As of now, Sharon only said she was taking a break, so I don’t know what the deal is with the others…but it sounds like serious drama for the baby mommas!”

There are some who say Julie is the glue that holds the show together. Of course being the boss’s wife, you can get away with almost anything.

Well all I can say is this is just too bad. The chemistry between the hosts was terrific right off the bat. If this is all Chen’s doing then she just shot herself in the foot. Good luck finding women to step in and carry on!

Ah Michele Bachmann!

There is never a shortage of things to blog about when you look into the world of politics is there? I have heard about Michele Bachmann throwing her hat into the Presidential ring, but I haven’t paid much attention to what she has to say…so far. But, it’s come to my attention that on Tuesday, August 16^th, she started off one of her speeches in South Carolina, by wishing Elvis a Happy Birthday on the 34^th anniversary of his death. Yes, she is just another politician who just can’t get her facts straight. This was something so simple to look up that a five year old could do it.

You have to wonder what kind of fact checkers she has on her staff? This was part of a written speech, she wasn’t just shooting from the hip, like some other female candidate we won’t mention today. I have to get her direct quote in here now:

“Before we get started, let’s all say ‘Happy Birthday’ to Elvis Presley today. We played you a little bit of ‘Promised Land’ when we pulled up. You can’t do better than Elvis Presley and we thought we would celebrate his birthday as we get started to celebrating Take Our Country Back tour.”Elvis was actually born on January 8^th. The crowd tried to correct her, but she admirably went on with her speech, with egg on her face, because the “show” must go on. It even looks worse than it sounds in the video below!

Maybe if this was her first mistake, we might be able to overlook it. Campaigning is a long and hard ordeal, day in and day out. I am sure it’s tiring and stressful at times. Mistakes will be made. But what else has Michele said? Well, in kicking off her campaign, she referred to Waterloo, Iowa, the hometown of actor John Wayne when it is actually the hometown of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Another fact that could have easily been checked to avoid embarrassment.

These kind of mistakes do no inspire much confidence in her, at least not for me, but they sure do get plenty of media attention and headlines. Still, I’m not so sure I would want to become well known based on my gaffes. As far as I am concerned, those are the only two things I have heard from her since she got her campaign off the ground. And you know what? “I’m All Shook Up!”

Dr. Phil Interviews Casey Anthony Parents?

Ok this is either a practical joke or someone wants to ruin my birthday! The article says they will appear on the Dr. Phil show next month, Spetember 12th! I have a sudden and enormous headache! I am sick to my stomach, and yet not surprised. Dr. Phil is an exploitive snake in the grass! Pft, pft, pft!

Cindy and George are going to discuss the public scrutiny they have been under during Casey’s murder trial. The show is not paying them for their interview…BIG DEAL. Dr. Phil wants to give them a chance to tell their side of the story. How big of him? After all they suffered from the death of their granddaughter and then went under a public attack. Maybe that has something to do with all their lying and covering up for Casey? The Anthonys feel there is no better place on earth to break their silence than with Dr. Phil.

Dr. Phil says he looks them in the eye and asks some tough questions…same old BS, different day. Dr. Phil said they granted him the interview in exchange for a donation to Caylee’s Fund which was created to promote and eduate the public about grandparents’ rights.

Can I be more disappointed and disgusted with Dr. Phil? Yes, I can. Yes, I am. The stories are all over the internet, but basically state what I have written above. Let me know what you think? Has Dr. Phil done it again? I hope people boycott that September 12^th show…I am boycotting all of them!



Kate Plus 8 Cancelled, Big Surprise!

I watched enough episodes of Jon and Kate Plus 8 to see what a shrew Kate was all the time. I get the fact that having 8 kids is more than a full time job, but her husband quit his job to be there to help her, along with her television staff. Kate claims she was doing it all for her family, and her kids. But, her own brother and sister-in-law said otherwise. Kate complained about everything and everything had to go her way. She was a control freak, who abused and emasculated Jon every televised moment. I can only imagine how she treated him when the cameras were off. Can this really be good for her children?

It became obvious there was tremendous pressure on the “marriage” if you can call it that. The way she treated him, you would have thought he was one of the kids. She bossed him around, barking out orders and then complain about how he did everything.

I guess Jon got fed up, but still he wanted to go for marriage counseling. After all they had 8 children to think about. However, it was Kate that practically told him to get lost. She wasn’t interested in working on the marriage, she was interesting in working on her career in the entertainment industry. So what if she has to exploit her own children to accomplish that. Jon and Kate Plus 8 came to an end, but Kate managed to get Kate Plus 8 to take its place eventually. And, Jon is no longer there for her to blame everything on. She has sole custody of the children (I can’t imagine why) and Jon sees them when he can (is allowed). Now Kate Plus 8 is cancelled. Why? There are lots of good reasons why viewers can no longer stomach Kate…let us count the ways!

The show started out with a whole family, Kate broke up the successful “formula” that kept them on the air, by getting rid of Jon. Jon only gets to see his kids about four days a month. And he while he is still their father, that doesn’t stop Kate from badmouthing him every chance she gets. And, even though it says PLUS 8, Kate likes to monopolize her new show and make it all about her. In fact it’s always about Kate!

I’ve had enough of Kate. I did after watching the first few minutes of an episode a couple of years ago. I can’t imagine why anyone would like such an obnoxious person. I wish other shows would just stop having her on so she can get back to mothering her children. She wanted them, but now she travels to enhance her career like Dancing With The Stars and so many other things, anything at all, that keeps her away from home. Her kids are having problems in school, they are having behavior problems, where is Kate? She is worried about her appearance: hair extensions, abs, spray tan you name it.

I would love it if we never hear another word about Kate or from Kate!



Joy Behar Married Steve!

I couldn’t believe my eyes this morning when I saw the headline that Joy Behar, 68, married “Steve” Janowitz. They have been together for 29 years and I cannot count the number of times she has said she would never marry him. Well apparently, Thursday night, she did. There was no warning, no announcement, and no details were provided. Maybe they both got drunk, for all I know, and flew to Vegas. But, no, they were married in New York City in a private ceremony. There is always a source somewhere to spill the beans. Supposedly, she will discuss it all on The View, on September 6th, when new shows start airing.

Well I am happy for Joy, but I wonder why after 29 years she decided the time was right just now? You know I am a skeptic and a cynic. I always question things and people’s intentions. It’s just odd. Twenty nine years is a very long time to be with someone. I don’t know I suppose it’s possible that it took that long for her cold feet to warm up to the idea.

Another thing that struck me is “Steve” himself. This is not the Steve I picture in my mind the hundreds of times she has referred to him on the show. Isn’t he supposed to be a lot younger than she is. I searched and searched and could not find the age difference between them, but he looks a lot older than she does. Don’t you think? Not that it matters, but I had pictured a younger, dark haired man all this time.

Love her or hate her, she sure speaks her mind! Congratulations Joy and Steve!

911 And First Responders!

Excuse me if I am a little more than riled up this morning! I have come to learn that 911 First Responders will NOT be invited to this year’s 911 ceremony. Why? Because there isn’t enough room for them! All of the victims families will be allowed to attend. First Responders will be given a separate ceremony at a later date, it’s reported that there were approximately 91,000 First Responders. Those are the facts…now I vent.

You know what? No one told First Responders that there wasn’t enough room for them when they risked their lives to save others! No one told them there wasn’t room for them as they inhaled all that debris, which has caused some to died and others to become ill (some terminally). No one told the first responders who became ill that they would have to wait years for medical coverage and payments for their related disabilities. In fact, not long ago I heard that studies done on the debris from the site, was not harmful! There is no way in hell I am going to believe that. Now there is no room for them?

There was room for a new mosque near the site of 911. The very people who brought down the Twin Towers might have been funding it. No one has gotten any answers as far as I know. They were asked to build it elsewhere out of respect for the feelings of the victims and residents of the city. They refused, insisting it had to be built at a location that looks out over Ground Zero. There is room for a mosque, but not for First Responders?

I am just frustrated and exasperated. It seems as though nothing ever decided is “right.” It just may be my opinion, but surely someone has to see my logic. It’s always the same in this country. Those that are victims have no rights and those that commit crimes against society have to have their rights protected. When does it end? Are these First responders to be thrown a bone by creating a separated ceremony for them? It’s an insult and a disgrace they way they have been treated for all these years and now this?

There was room there for all of them on 911. There was room for all the victims under the rumble, many of whom were saved by these rescue workers. Now, there is no room, how sad are we as a society to allow things like this to happen. And good luck trying to get anyone to respond if there ever is another attack. Why the hell would they?



Pedophilia in Hollywood?

I came across this interesting interview of Cory Feldman.  I'm not a fan of his or know much about him, but I found his interview compelling.  He talks about the widespread abuse of pedophiles in the industry to child stars.  He sounds very sincere and honest about this well kept secret.  And why shouldn't I believe him?  The very same thing, on a much much larger scale, was going on in the Catholic Church and "no one" knew about it or talked about it.  I'm sure it's still going on today.  Maybe they have gotten better at covering their tracks?  But every once in a while a story will get out to the media that it's still happening.

So, why not Hollywood?  It's totally plausible.  It would explain part of the reason why so many child stars turn to drugs (besides the lifestyle).  Hopefully, the media will take this ball and run with it.  Maybe they can uncover who the abusers are. 

This is a sick world we are living in.  Everywhere you turn you hear of bad things happening.  No place is safe.  This is a time when parents need to be more vigilant than ever in protecting their children from just about everyone.  I don't want to sound paranoid, but can you be too safe when it comes to your kids?  Just this week a couple, using a nannycam, caught their nanny abusing a six month old infant because he was crying.  She actually kicked the baby!  We are hearing so many more stories of teachers molesting students.  Where does it end? 

See what you think of Cory's interview.

Big Brother, Brenchel!

UGH!

I had to stop watching Big Brother because of all the “twists” and manipulations, but I came back again because of my girls. They watch it and discuss it and I want to know what they are talking about. Besides, I was already familiar with some of the old cast members who were brought back to compete against brand new cast members.

I know I blogged about this before and yet I am peeved again. The couple of Rachel and Brendon needed to go from day one. Somehow they always manage to survive. Last week, someone finally got Brendon out of the house. This week Rachel was up on the block. Everything was going my way. But then there is the Big Brother “twist!” The person leaving this week has to compete with America’s favorite cast off to see who comes back to the house.

The worst possible scenario happens. Rachel does NOT get voted off because a “fool” volunteers to go up against her and actually asks to get voted off. He mistakenly thinks he is going to come back to the house with “special powers” and seems to have written his own script. So, no Rachel remains in the house and the “fool” now has to compete with America’s favorite. Guess who that ends up being? Right! Brendon. Brendon and the fool compete for a chance to get back in the game. Brendon wins and he and Rachel are reunited with extra allies in the house. Nice.

How the hell am I going to get through the rest of this season? Those that got them out or tried to, will be targeted and probably be next to go. Brendon and Rachel, as annoying as they are, have nine lives like a cat. Even when they are out, they get back in. I am so tired.

I guess I’ll wait and see how I feel about it by Sunday. I get a kick out of my girls’ reactions, maybe I will just focus on that. Problem is, I just cannot contain my own emotions when things go so wrong. Am I in the minority? What is up with America bringing Brendon back? Ugh!



Lifetime Bans Me From Posting about Russian Dolls!

I have a new peeve that I just discovered. You all must know by now that I am helping my daughter get a new blog going on Lifetime’s new show Russian Dolls. Sorry for all the statuses about that, but anyway it’s been about 2 weeks now and we are getting a decent amount of hits every day. Since it takes Google a while to acknowledge a new site exists, I have been posting our blogs on the Lifetime face book pages: Russian Dolls, Brighton Beach, and Lifetime itself. This not only promotes the blog, but the show as well.

Well, I got a new blog up this morning and made my usual rounds to the Facebook pages only to find I have been blocked and unliked by the Brighton Beach and Lifetime pages. I am just waiting for the Russian Dolls to block me as well. Apparently, Lifetime doesn’t want me advertising my blog on their pages, even if I do advertise their show for them at the same time. I might be sympathetic to their cause IF they advertised their own show, but they seem to be slacking in that department. Yesterday, four major media sources, who got sneak previews, wrote that the show was awful, torture even. These four sources, for those of you who live in NYC are NY Daily News, Newsday, New York Times, and New York Magazine. So you would think, under the circumstances and with the show premiering tonight, that they would encourage me to post about it and bring attention to the show.

I am not sure what their strategy is. They spent a year and a half developing this concept. The show was promoted as being the Russian Jersey Shore. But, because Lifetime has older women who watch their network, they included three generations in Russian Dolls. Some of the women are housewives too. The long and short of it is this: the show is a mash up of the Khardashians, the Real Housewives and Jersey Shore. From the sound of it, and by that I mean the reviewers, it stinks! So does the fact that Lifetime banned me from posting on two of their three pages.

I wish them luck with their show, which premieres tonight AGAINST Jersey Shore! Lots of luck, because they will need it. Oh, and I am going to keep blogging until I am the number one blog on Russian Dolls too! I’ll tell you why, these shows depend on bloggers to keep the interest of the fans going, because they do not promote them enough themselves. It’s expensive to promote shows and we do it for nothing. Let’s see what happens in a month from now. Maybe they will come knocking on my door? We only started this blog 2 weeks ago and already have over 2,000 hits. Let’s see how many viewers the show gets.

Shopping For School…

It’s that time of year again when many of us early birds get out there and shop for school supplies and clothes for the kids…only I am done with that. Some of you may be reading this and feel envious of me, but I am sad about it. I actually enjoyed going out every August and stocking up on all the new supplies and picking out the new fall clothes and shoes. But my “baby” is in her last year of college and already has everything she needs. There is no need for me to go out to Staples for anything, except maybe a package of pens and some folders, if that.

I was in Staples the other day, looking around for some legal documents and saw all the sales on school supplies. I got distracted from my mission for a few minutes, picking up the new pencil cases and looking at all the colorful notebooks that I won’t be buying. My husband got me back on track. I found the legal documents, but they were outrageously priced! It’s just a few pieces of paper, but they wanted $11 for it. I am thinking I must be able to find them online somewhere, so I leave. I leave, but not before I have another look around. I see the colored plastic folders and have to pick a couple up. I decide, before I get carried away, to walk out the store. I am sad to leave empty handed, knowing I will probably not be returning any time soon.

There will be no shopping for clothes either. My “baby” has her business clothes and her scrubs already. She needed them for the summer already, it’s a 12 month program. She is all set. My older daughter is shopping for last minute things for her vacation. We may not even get to take our annual trip to the outlets, to walk around and window shop before having a nice dinner out. Time is running out for that too. Don’t mind me, I am just not ready to give up being a “mommy.”

I’ll be going through the same thing at Christmas too. I’ll pop into Toys R Us and look at what I would have been buying this year, if they were still little. That’s my personal secret tradition and I make my husband suffer through it with me. I’m sure he “loves” looking at the latest Barbies, the newest games, and the hottest toys. But he humors me anyway.

Don’t be too quick to wish away the school shopping trips. They are special times that won’t be coming again any time soon.

Mammogram Day!



It’s time for my annual mammogram, ugh! It’s so easy to forget about going or put it off…indefinitely, but we can’t do that. Early detection makes breast cancer very treatable. If you already have a history of cancer, like I do, it’s all the more important to have it done.

I try to schedule it around my birthday. For one reason, I can’t forget about it that way. For another reason, and most important, it’s a “gift” to myself. An ounce of prevention yadda yadda yadda is worth a pound of cure. In this case, a few minutes of my time is well worth it if it saves me months of treatment, and quite possibly my life.

Yes the test is uncomfortable, but it’s fairly quick. The way I look at it, it gives me peace of mind for one whole year. If you notice, on the television, radio, magazines, they all mention breast cancer. It makes me paranoid. I start imagining symptoms I don’t have sometimes. It’s just better to have it done and know for sure everything is ok.

I know, being a mother, that we always put ourselves last because we are tending to everyone else’s needs. No one understands that as long as one of our loved ones needs something, we bump ourselves down on the list to take care of it. I do that all the time. But, one day I was forced to realize, what if I wasn’t there any more? Who was going to be the voice of reason, the one with common sense, the one with intuition and the ability to anticipate needs before they arise? That’s when I decided I need to take care of myself and be around as long as possible, to get my family through this chaotic, maze of life. Part of that is going for annual exams, like today.

So I may be a little sore and cranky, so what? I’ll get over it. It’s worth one year’s peace of mind to me to have one less thing to worry about. How about you bump yourselves up the list today and make an appointment? I’d like to know how many of you are OVERDUE! Don’t be shy…post it!

I Love Lucy...

Lucille Ball would have been 100 years old this weekend. It’s still hard to believe she is gone. I literally grew up watching her shows and movies. She is one of those rare talents who was a legend in her own time. The I Love Lucy show had people laughing 50 years ago and still has them laughing today. Where did the time go?

There was just something about Lucille Ball that made you want to laugh. Maybe it was her red hair or that devilish twinkle in her smiling eyes. I can’t imagine anyone not laughing at her humor. I’m sure I watched all the episodes of I Love Lucy many times, and I loved them all, but some just stand out in my mind more than others.

Remember the episode where she is stepping on the grapes in a huge vat in Italy?

Or the one where she keeps trying to tell Ricky she is pregnant and finally has to do it at the Tropicana, during one of his shows.

How about the time she thinks no one remembered her birthday so she joins a little group called the “Friends of the Friendless!”

I know everyone remembers the chocolates on the conveyor belt that goes so fast she ends up shoving chocolates down her dress, in her pockets in in her hat!

I remember her trying to smuggling a huge cheese on the plane home from Italy, wrapped in a baby blanket!

How about when she tried to steal John Wayne’s footprints from Grauman’s Chinese Theater?

I could probably name all the episodes if I put my mind to it. They were all ingenious, comedic ideas that have stood the test of time.

There will never be another comedienne like Lucille Ball. She was truly one of a kind. Thank God we have DVD’s of all her work so it will never be lost. I’ll bet people will be watching her for many, many years to come.

Nice Surprises!

Well, I have been having a string of bad surprises, some I have already blogged about, some I was too tired to blog about. I’ll some up the last week for you here. There was the hail storm, with hail as big as baseballs, which put two cracks in the windshield of the car while my husband was going to pick up my daughter. It lasted about 30 minutes and put at least 50 dings/dents all over the car. Then there was the identity theft scare, courtesy of Best Buy, who may have mixed up the name of a guy in Virginia with my husband’s, making us think someone took out a Visa card and purchased a TV with it. After 90 minutes of phone calls, we think it was an error. After that I wake up and discover there is no service in my cell phone area for outgoing and incoming calls. I only pay $200 a month for the damn plan so why should I complain? Oh yeah and yesterday I had a fight at the fish store. The guy didn’t want to weigh my fish so I could see if there was enough there for my husband’s dinner (there’s a blog for that)!

So my energy is depleted. I am tired of battling nature, the credit bureaus, the phone company and fish mongers. I go downstairs to start dinner and stop to check to see if we got mail first. There, behind my door, is a box. I’m thinking great! My daughter’s textbook came early and I would have to call about it. But, this box is really too big for a textbook. So I take a look at the name. It’s from a friend online. She writes a note thanking me for me friendship and I didn’t even do anything. So, I take my box to the kitchen and open it up. Inside is a beautiful basket! It has pears, crackers, lemon cookies, caramel corn, and cheddar cheese. I am so delighted. I love baskets of assorted things. I should mention, I am not used to getting packages or surprises. I rarely get anything, my family never knows what to get me. It’s not really their fault. They try, I know they do. But that is just the way it is. So, needless to say that on top of the week I had and considering I don’t often get gifts, this was such a thoughtful, totally unexpected and welcomed surprise. I actually forgot every bad thing that happened prior to that moment!

I hurried back to the computer and write a thank you note. But sometimes those two words just don’t “cut it” when someone goes out of their way to do something this kind, out of the blue and for no reason. I am going to enjoy my goodies and try to maintain a positive outlook for a while. After all, what’s more important? A string of meaningless irritating events or a thoughtful gesture of someone who makes me feel appreciated and cared for just because I’m me?



Fish Market Argument!

I was too pissed to write this earlier, but I am getting a hold of myself and going to try to write this up without having a mini stroke. I buy my fish at the fish store. In my neighborhood we have little stores that specialize in things like butchers, fish store, fruit stores etc. I have had issues with the fish store before, after it changed owners. The woman told me one day that the crab cakes weren’t ready, I should come back later. Well I went back hours later, against my better judgment and she still didn’t have them! We may have had another incident too, I try not to remember these things for too long.

Today I went in for jumbo shrimp for my husband. They had about a dozen, but they belonged to someone else already. Someone had put in an order. So she asks me if I want the next size down. I say ok instead of 8 jumbo give me 12 of those large ones. So there is a guy cleaning shrimp and he tells her to take 12 of those and to charge me $7.50. I ask her if she can weigh the shrimp for me because I need to know if 12 is enough for my husband’s dinner. The man takes a fit. He tells me 11 shrimp is half a pound. I tell him yes but I need to know if that will be enough for dinner. He tells her forget it don’t give them to her she doesn’t understand! I tell him I DO understand. The shrimp weigh more uncleaned, I am not questioning that. You don’t understand, I want to know if there is enough for my husband to get full on. As it turned out the 12 shrimp were less than ½ pound and I got two crab cakes to make sure I had enough fish for dinner.

Now I am pissed! The woman tried to make him understand what I meant. He is going to argue with me like I am implying he is cheating me on the money when all I needed to know was how much 12 shrimp weighed. What ever happened to the day when the customer was always right? That’s what I want to know. And this store isn’t exactly packed wit customers either. Fish is too expensive for most people in this economy. They used to have so much more fish in the store and now it’s down to the bare minimum. If there was another store nearby I would not think twice about never going there again. I really need to find another place for fish.

Good Bye Jerry Lewis!

Jerry Lewis is no longer going to be on the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon or Chairman of MDA. He is 85 and has been hosting the show since the 1966, on Labor Day. I grew up with that show and my father looked forward to it every year. It was on practically the whole weekend. He loved watching the money totals go up. The telethon raised over one billion dollars over the years. Last year alone they raised 59 million.

No one explained why Jerry Lewis won’t be there this year. He had planned on retiring and saying his final goodbyes. It’s too bad they didn’t allow him to do that, it’s the least they could have done to honor him for all his time, work and dedication.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am no fan of Jerry Lewis. I never liked his comedy. I never found him funny. If anything I found him annoying. But I do believe in giving credit where it’s due, and he does deserve to exit with some show of dignity and respect and not cut off at the knees. I seem to recall some outlandish statements he made in recent years, which might be behind this decision. We all know when people get to a certain age they feel they are entitled to speak their minds about everything and anything…either that or their mental censor is burnt out.

I just looked up what I was trying to remember. In 2007, Jerry Lewis called someone an “illiterate fag” during the telethon. That caused a ruckus with the gay community and rightfully so, but he was 81 at the time and, as I say, people are not always in charge of their utterings after a certain age. In June of this year he cancelled a tour in Australia because he was suffering from exhaustion. Maybe his health is not up to doing the entire weekend, maybe he is suffering from senility? Who knows?

All I know is there goes another remnant of my childhood out the window. Another reminder that not only is Jerry Lewis getting old, but so am I. There is nothing to be done about it but wallow in pity and blog about it. Now I feel better. Thanks for listening.



Another Politician Bares All!

A Public Service Announcement!

A new trend among politicians is to send out nude photos of themselves. Weiner opened the gate and now all the weiners are trying to get out. The latest weiner (and then some) comes from Freehold, New Jersey from Louis Magazzu, a Democratic congressman of seven years. Leaving nothing at all to the imagination AND learning nothing at all from the Anthony Weiner fiasco, Lou sends out a full frontal nudity picture of himself to a woman he corresponded with. Apparently Lou learned one thing from Weiner, he decided to step down one day after the media got hold of his pictures instead of denying it, or making up a hacking incident.

Magazzu, 53, has five children and is separated from his wife. The pictures were revealed on a blog following the politician. The woman herself contacted the blog first, but the owner told her to go to the media. When the media wasn’t interested, the owner of the blog decided to publish the photos.

The picture shows more than I care to post so check here if you are interested: http://magazzuwatch.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/whathedoesntwant22.jpg



Mother Nature Can’t Be Blamed!

People are not taking “Global Warming” seriously enough. There are enough facts to prove that it’s happening and on top of that, even if you disregard the facts, no one can dispute that weather patterns everywhere are changing and mostly for the worse. Never have we heard of so many tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes and all creating devastating consequences and happening more and more often. Last year, in Queens, NYC, we had a tornado that knocked down 3,000 trees! I didn’t even know we that many trees. And many of the ones left standing are a pretty sorry sight because of the trimming of branches that had fallen during the storm. We never had tornadoes here as far back as I can remember, but now we are always watching for them. Why?

Well, today I am peeved, but I can’t blame Mother Nature. Yesterday, my husband went to pick up my daughter. He left work at 3:30. The sun was shining. But, by the time he got to the next to the last exist on the parkway, there was thunder and big bolts of lightning. Then the hail started. Hail as big as golf balls, even baseballs. He called to tell me he would be late picking her up. He sounded scared and said he never saw anything like this before. I could hear the car being pounding in the background, and could only imagine what it must have felt like sitting in that car as the hail was hitting it. Traffic was moving very slowly. Then I get a call from my daughter. She tells me it’s so bad no one is leaving the lab and she heard from my husband. My husband told her he had to pull over to the side of the road because the windshield was shattered. I call him up to see if he is ok. He tells me again how bad it is and that he can’t go anywhere until it stops. The windshield is pretty bad, but fortunately it was mostly off to the passenger side and he can still see. Finally, the hail lets up and he can move again. He gets to my daughter and sees at least one other car with a shattered windshield in the lot.

All I can think of is that I pray they come home safe. This was an isolated storm that came out of nowhere and hit that particular location. The sun was shining here, just a few miles away. I thought about my mother’s instinct. My daughter should have been driving herself around yesterday, and for the past two weeks. But, my gut would not agree to it. I can’t bear to imagine her out in weather like that. Last time we had the tornado that knocked down all those trees, she happened to be driving from school. A 15 minute ride took her over an hour. I was panicked to no end. She wasn’t answering her phone and didn’t call me when she had the opportunity to tell me she was fine, but would be late. She was maneuvering around fallen trees and had to watch what the other, more experienced drivers, were doing. There was a lot of flooding then, and last night there was a lot of flooding too. My husband had to wait and watch to see where it was best to drive through because we have a tiny car. When he got home I looked at the car. The passenger side of the windshield had two spots where it was impacted by the hail. The rest of the car had about 50 dings all over it!

This morning I was ready to curse out Mother Nature. First we have the winter from hell, with so many storms and inches I lost count! And now, we have the summer from hell too! I wasn’t even complaining about the heat because it’s easier to deal with than snow and ice. But, despite 90 degree temperatures, my husband was pelted with ice the size of baseballs balls! Something here is just not right!

I think it has to do with Global Warming and if that is the case, then it’s not Mother nature’s fault, it’s ours.