And then there were two...

John Edwards has left the building.
With that news it becomes all but certain that for the first time in American History a woman or a black man will indeed be a major party candidate for President of the United States of America!

These are exciting times people! I couldn't be more proud of my Democratic party.

A woman and a black man as the Democratic nominee does more than just make us look progressive, it opens up a national dialogue to discuss a few topics that for the most part we won't discuss or haven't had any reason to discuss. My mother pretty much summed up this discussion in one conversation. Mother is a typical Midwestern, white woman, independent who leans left when voting. Her statement was this, "I like Hillary but I'm not sure I would feel safe with a woman in charge and I like Obama but I think his wife is too uppity to be First Lady (her words, not mine)

Does she have a point? Does the rest of Middle America think like this?

I was browsing Obama's website the other day and came across this button.


Now, I have color television and I am well aware of the fact that Barack Obama is a Black Man, but I have to confess that after seeing this image of a young black family with the title of America's First Family, My core was rattled for a brief second. The only things close to resembling a First Family in that picture (from what I grew up knowing) are the pearls around Michelle's neck and her hairdo. Is this an image that you think America can accept and get use to?







On the other side of the ticket there is the discussion of whether or not a Woman can be commander in chief and leader of the free world. My first line of thinking is, Sure. She will surround herself with knowledge Generals & advisors (all male) so she would be well advised when making any kind military decisions. But what if they are Women Generals? Would I still feel as confident?

Is it deep planted seeds of racism and sexism (no matter how subtle) that makes us ask these questions or is it the fact that we have never had a woman or black man in this position before to prove to us that it is, in fact, possible. It's not like all white men have been good presidents. (I'm looking at you G.W.B.)


I'm not sure. But what I do know for sure is this, Sexism, Racism, or uncertainty be damned. When the day comes this November and I find myself in the voting booth, I will proudly cast my vote for either the first Woman or first African American ever and in doing so, play a small part in making history while slowly erasing the prejudices’ of our past history.

Can I please have the 5 minutes back that it took me to read this worthless piece of journalism?

Source: CNN

journalism
Huckabee challenges Romney over fried chicken
Posted: 09:01 AM ET

Romney stopped in at a KFC over the weekend.
PENSACOLA, Florida (CNN) – Mitt Romney's failure to eat fried chicken with the skin on is nothing short of blasphemy here in the South, according to GOP rival Mike Huckabee.
Romney, of Massachusetts, dug into a piece fried chicken at KFC while campaigning in Lutz, Florida on Saturday, but not before peeling off what most would consider the best part — the crispy skin.
Admittedly, KFC's chicken doesn't exactly stack up against the delectable kind that comes out of deep fryers in kitchens around the South, and Romney said he was looking for the healthiest option available to him for lunch.
Huckabee, looking ahead to a flotilla of southern states up for grabs on Super Tuesday, was told about the move by a reporter here in the Florida panhandle.
"I can tell you this," he said, "any Southerner knows if you don’t eat the skin don’t bother calling it fried chicken."
"So that's good. I'm glad that he did that, because that means I'm going to win Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma … all these great Southern states that understand the best part of fried chicken is the skin, if you're going to eat it that way."
Huckabee admitted that he hasn't eaten fried chicken in a while because of his weight loss program, preferring it broiled or baked instead.
And speaking of possible gaffes, a good Southerner might also dispute one of Huckabee's claims: since when is Oklahoma "a great southern state"?

Atta Girl! - of the Week

Alison Arngrim - AKA Nellie Olson!

I stumbled across an article about Alison earlier this week and since nobody else really made any news this week, why not give the award to her!

Nellie Olson was the original "Mean Girl" as she made life for Laura Ingalls and the entire town of Walnut Grove a living Hell! Each week we couldn't wait to see what kind of terror she would unleash and whether it was blackmailing Laura to be her slave over a stolen music box or convincing the townsfolk that Bunny the horse had kicked her and therefore the horse needed to be "put down" just to piss off Laura, She made life on the Prairie Must See TV.

After "Little House" Alison became a tireless activist for AIDS awareness and education after the untimely death of her Little House costar, Steve Tracy (Percival) in 1986.

Alison is an icon in the Gay community and is currently touring the country with her one woman stand up act "Confessions of a Prairie Bitch" the show can be seen at venues across the country ranging from the Vancouver Gay Men’s Chorus in February to a prison guard's convention in Las Vegas.

Bigger Issues

A coworker of mine just sent me this picture accompanied by the following text:
"Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin stand during the national anthem.Barack Hussein Obama's photo (that's his real name)......the article said he REFUSED TO NOT ONLY PUT HIS HAND ON HIS HEART DURING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, BUT REFUSED TO SAY THE PLEDGE.....how in the hell can a man like this expect to be our next Commander-in-Chief"

I responded with the following text:
"With 47 million American’s without health insurance, Illegals crossing the boarder every day, 4000 dead American’s in Iraq, gasoline at $3 dollars a gallon and an economy in recession, I sleep well knowing that he/she has a firm grasp of the REAL issues of this election like whether or not a black man with the middle name Hussein puts his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance."

Seriously People!

It astounds me that some people think the only qualification one needs to be Commander in Chief is the ability to put your hand over your heart and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Dear God, Save me from your Followers

The following is an actual Press Release from the Reverend Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Ministry regarding the untimely death and funeral of Heath Ledger.

Discuss amongst yourselves and click here if you would like to send a message to the Rev. Fred regarding his little note.

Crush

I saw the other day where Lorenzo Lamas turned 50 years old. Damn he's old! But he still looks pretty good!
I can remember as a young boy having the biggest crush on him when my mom and I would watch Falcon Crest on CBS Friday nights. I just thought he was the most beautiful man in the world as he strutted around Jane Wyman's pool wearing nothing but a yellow speedo. (swooon)


Lorenzo was just one of many of my childhood crushes from television shows of the 80's so after seeing his picture the other day it got me thinking about some of the other TV crushes of my childhood.



A big one for me was Jeff Colby (John James) from Dynasty, and later the the spin-off the Colbys.



I saw a picture of him recently and he really hasn't aged all that well. But back then, I would have taken down Fallon (both Pamela Sue Martin & Emma Samms) for a chance that he might marry me one day!









Another BIG crush of mine was Tyler (Tommy Puett) from Life goes on.


His entire look reeked of the 80's and he couldn't have been more Hot with his blond mullet, rolled pants and white hightops! I remember his character being kind of an ass on the show but when you look like that, Who cares? For some reason later in the series his character vanished and Chad Lowe was brought in to play Becca Thatcher's love interest. God I loved that Show!






Anywho... Moving on,

Although I can barley remember the show, it would be hard to ever forget Jon-Erik Hexum who played Phineas Bogg on the short lived series "Voyager".



As best I can remember, his character was from the past and he met up with some homely little kid from the present and they traveled through time to solve a mystery or save the world or something. In trying to find a picture of him, I discovered that he's already dead... Killed himself by holding a gun to his head and firing off a blank that fractured his skull... so sad.





Moving on,


My Brother was a HUGE fan of the show CHiP's but I couldn't be bothered with it... that was until they brought on Bruce Penhall to play the roll of Cadet Bruce Nelson!



Cadet Bruce was the younger brother (or cousin) of Larry Wilcox's character. He was some kind of officer in training and famous for his motorcycle skills.... or something. It didn't matter. Cadet Bruce made this show an instant favorite for me!






Lastly, there was Ricky Schroder *sighs*



I was Fascinated by him... I'm pretty sure that I wanted to BE him rather than BE WITH him. He was everything I wanted to be; cute, blond, rich and a killer dresser. Not to mention, his dad owned a Toy factory! My Dad worked for the Co-op at the time so we were more likely to have a tractor in front yard rather than a train running through the living room.







Aside from Ricky, Most of these people have vanished from the public light and I couldn't tell you what they are really doing today. (except for poor Jon Hexum) I suppose, when the beauty fades, so does the career. But I will always have my memories of them and thanks to Nick-at-Nite and TV Land, maybe a quick glimpse every once in a while.

Atta Girl! - of the Week

This weeks Atta Girl goes to none other than Miss Dolly Parton who tomorrow will turn 62 years old! (at least the original parts of her will anyway)

At age 62, Dolly shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon with the new album "Backwoods Barbie" due out next month and a musical stage version of her movie 9 to 5 (penned by Dolly no less) due to make it's stage debut later this year!

Someone once asked Dolly what she hoped people would say about her in 100 years and her response was "I hope they say Damn she looks good for her age!" Right on Dolly. Right on! At age 62, you've never looked better!

(Not so) Forced Entry

A long time ago, there was an episode of Designing Women where the Sugarbakers had to redecorate the home of an older lady that had recently passed away. Upon entering her house for the first time the Sugarbaker clan was perplexed by the strange and unusual items they found. Having not known a thing about the dead woman, they simply drew the conclusion that she must have been some Crazy old lady that lived alone with her cat. Later, they met the man who checked in regularly on the elder lady and after a quick explanation of the strange surroundings, Every thing that was once a mystery to them now made perfect sense. This experience made the ladies ask the question: If you suddenly died today and somebody had to go into your home to clean it out, What would they find. What in your home right now makes perfect sense to you but might lead an unknowing observer to believe you were one ticket shy of the crazy train?

That particular episode came to mind last night when i got home... Let me back up a few days.

On Monday, I came home to find a note on my door stating that the building management would be entering random apartments on Wednesday to inspect for dust and lead levels as they are considering whether or not to update the kitchens and bathrooms. If they decided to inspect your particular apartment, a note would be left on your door. Please secure your pets and what have you... blah, blah, blah.

Tuesday I get home and there is no note on my door... Cool.
Wednesday night, i get home and there is a note on my door:


Thank you for allowing us to enter your apartment today. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated,

The Management.
\
Oh Crap!

What did i leave laying out? I didn't make the bed this morning! Lord, please tell me I threw my underwear in the hamper this morning and didn't leave them laying on the bathroom floor.

Granted I didn't have anything so bad as a sling hanging from the ceiling or any adult toys beside the bed. ( I don't own either in case you were curious) but... there might have been a "grown up" DVD (or 2) on top of the DVD player. And if they looked inside the bathroom closet they might have found a garland bedazzled black velvet dress along with a size 14 pink prom dress and a huge blond wig hanging on the door hook and if they chose to look at the pictures stuck on my refrigerator they would find a bevy of captured moments of me and my friends in costumes and dresses over the past couple of years.

So on the bright side of all of this I now realize, if I suddenly died today and somebody had to enter my home to clean it out I am pretty certain that they wouldn't think I was a crazy person living alone with a cat. But I'm pretty damn sure they would think I was a drag queen!

Double Trouble

So, I was watching the News last night and apparently, the FDA has now approved the sale and consumption of cloned meat! (with the exception of sheep (?)
My first thought was "Hmmmm?"
My second thought was, When did we get to this point?
Wasn't it just a few years ago that we cloned Dolly the Sheep? Doesn't it always make the news when an animal is successfully cloned? Apparently not because according to the news report, there are currently over 600 (known) cloned animals in existence in the United States
Seriously!?!?
They even interviewed a researched scientist who has been working on/with cloned animals for the past 10 years... 10 YEARS?
So I guess that being able to clone a living creature is not news anymore... only whether or not we can eat them!
I guess it's only a matter of time before a human being is successfully cloned (if it hasn't happened already) which begs the question... would you clone yourself if you were able to? I'm not sure myself. On one hand, it would be a fabulous resource for a new liver and lungs when my give out but on the other hand, , on the other hand... Wow. I can't think of a single reason why i wouldn't clone myself. Guess i'm feeling a little conceited this morning!

Atta Girl! - Of the Week

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Girl friend pulled off one of the biggest upsets in modern political history Tuesday when she defeated Barack Obama in the New Hampshire primary.

I raise my glass and say: Atta Girl!

Blanche Endorses...

Hey Ya'll

It feels like I haven't blogged in ages! The truth is, I have not done a good job at keeping up with this thing in the new year... My Bad! I'll try harder in the coming weeks.

So what's been going on? Not too much here.

I am currently listening to John Kerry endorse Barack Obama over on CNN.com (puke)

I haven't talked much (if any) about politics here on my blog because frankly, Fitness Nerd does a much better job of it over on his blog. So, if you'll allow me, let me give you my 2 cents on what i think.

I love politics. I love it as a spectator sport. I love that because of the television writers strike, the 2008 Presidential campaign is pretty much the best reality show going right now, full of drama and suspense.

I am a supporter of Hillary Clinton. I have been since it was rumored she might run for the presidency soon after she was elected to the Senate for the first time. I feel that she has the perfect mix of experience, strength, intelligence and compassion to pull this country out of the hole we've been digging ourselves backwards into for the past 7 years. She is the only choice for me. I love watching her in debates. I love watching her go toe to toe with a room full of men and coming out overwhelmingly as the smartest person on the stage. I love that when all of the other candidates are talking about the abstract issues of Hope and Change, she's talking about better screening of cargo ships entering our ports and the recent housing market crisis.

Don't get me wrong, I like the ideas of Hope and Change and all that Optimistic crap. Barack has gained a huge following with those themes and I can see why. Being an optimist myself, I want to believe that anything is possible and that Change can come and give rise to hope and that we'll all be better off one day because he is the candidate of change and blah blah blah...but eventually the Optimist in me has to give way to the realist and ask, "How are you going to do that?"

My personal opinion at this point is that Barack would make an excellent Vice President. I like the guy a lot and wouldn't mind seeing him as my President someday... He's just not ready yet.

Less than a month ago I would have told you that a white woman and a black man would have the same odds of making it as a donut in a weight watchers meeting, but after the events in Iowa and New Hampshire I'm beginning to think otherwise. Barack is a movement. He has been drawing people to his rallies (and more importantly to the polls) in droves. Record turnouts in both Iowa and New Hampshire out numbered Republican 2 to 1 in some places. Plus, he has done what John Kerry couldn't do in 2004. Get out the youth vote. I honestly believe that a Clinton-Oboma ticket could turn some long time red states, Blue.



The Republican party is pretty much on Life support this year and I don't think that all the Evangelical prayers in the world are going to help it.

For the Democrats, Our time is now. People are engaged in this in this election like never before. Record turnout at the polls along overwhelming ratings for a televised debate (on a Saturday night no less) are just the start. This is going to be an exciting and historic year so I encourage you all, get informed and get involved in the conversation.



01/20/09 will be here before we know it and it is my hope that when that day comes, A woman will have crossed that bridge to the 21st centruy into the grand hall of that City on the hill and that Barbara Striesand will be singing one more time, "Happy Days are Here Again"

I was going to quit smoking today but...

I was going to quit smoking today but I had too many cigarettes left at the end of last night to just Throw Away!

I was going to quit smoking today but it's a beautiful warm day and nothing beats a smoke break to go outside and enjoy the weather.

I was going to quit smoking today but when I woke up this morning I didn't know what to do with the time originally reserved for smoking a cigarette and watching the morning news.

I was going to quit smoking today but the truth of the matter is I just wasn't ready to. I have a brand new box of of extra strength patches on the counter at home and the name of a Doctor who will prescribe me the Medication needed, but I just didn't feel like quiting today.

The truth is, I enjoy smoking. There is nothing more enjoyable to me than a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, or a cold beer, all accompanied by a nice relaxing smoke. And don't get me started on the enjoyment of a cigarette after a bloat inducing meal!

I know that smoking is one of the most unhealthy things a person can do to themselves yet despite that, the small pleasures seem to outweigh the long term risk.

I know that I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $1700 dollars on cigarettes in the year 2007 but that point seems irrelevant when you can get such a "good deal" by buying the 3 pack special.

I still have every intention of trying to kick this monster one more time but with the Mean Girls Biggest Looser and a handful of other resolutions I've made to myself, there's only so much self improvement I can focus on at once!

So for now, I"m still smoking. Someday (within this month) I will again, pick a date and attempt to slay this beast that has such control over my life. God Willing!

I was going to quit smoking today but I just wanted a damn cigarette.

2008 is Here!

Wow... where do I even start?
First of all, I'll start off by apologizing to everyone who has been checking back to my blog only to find Julia Carson's face staring at them each time (may God rest her soul). I took some much needed time away and now I'm back. I feel recharged and rejuvenated and I realize how much I actually miss coming to work. I like the routine, the hustle, the drama and the unexpected surprises that come with a full days work.
Can you believe that it's 2008 already? it seems like only last year we were ringing in the new millennium and stocking up on our Y2K rations and here it is 8 years later already! I like the New Year. I like that it somehow feels like a fresh start. A chance to start over or at the very least improve on what you started in the year before.
This year, the Mean Girls are starting a "Biggest Looser" program and I'm excited about it. nothing motivates me more than a good ol' competition and with $50 on the line to the winner, I can't wait to get started!
I also am going to try (again) to quit smoking. I have been a smoker since the age of 22 and have tried to quit numerous times. Will this finally be the year? I hope so! Check back here regularly for a progress report on that.

So what do we take from 2007?
Well, It was a Fun year without a doubt. check out Romeo's blog for a re-cap of just some of the fun we had. Plus after searching for for a good couple of years, Fitness Nerd, Maestro and I finally found that magical 4th person that had long eluded us. I don't remember when it happened or where it happened but Romeo one day appeared and the rest is history.
It was also exciting to watch the transformation of close friends this past year. We watched as Xena blossomed and found her way into the sisterhood of Sappho and even joined Dykes on Bikes for the Indy Pride Parade as if to say, I am Woman, Hear me Roar! (litteraly)
We were witness to the continuing transformation of Mom. Once a quiet and meek soul that would rather bite her lip till it bled than say anything that might offend someone, she somewhere along the way found her voice and is now the first person to call something for what it is. She has no problem getting in someones face when needed and she is often times the voice of reason in the sea of stupidity that we sometimes find ourselves in.
And the Mean Girls themselves changed somewhat this year. Once fixated to the dark corners of social gathering, we stuck our heads out into the light this year and (painfully) met some new people and made a few new friends.

So with 2007 behind us it's time to look forward. 2008 promises to be a fun and exciting year.
I was watching Sylvia Brown on the Montell show the other day and she herself said that even numbered years are always better, and that the number 8 is the infinity number (???)
anywho, There's all the usual annual events to look forward to, Pride, Birthdays, Chicago, Halloween, plus the addition of the Summer Olympics and a Presidential Election.
Those big events are the best. but it's important to know that those events would mean nothing without the little moments found within them. Having your face painted side by side to the smell of Sloppy Joes, Eating Pie Hole Pizza on a stoop in Chicago at 2:00 in the morning or Trying to take one's picture on stage as your being flipped off. Don't ignore those little moments. They are what makes the ticket worth paying for, and the ride that much more fun!

May all of your Hopes and Resolutions come true this year!
Happy New Year Everybody!