'Toon Tuesday

The Lola Shuffle - "The YAY! I'm Getting a Massage This Weekend Edition"

So, I've told you how much I love living in Miami, right? Well, there are 9,875,347 reasons I love living in Miami - one of them is a brand new one: Miami Spa Month. You can go to spas *I* normally can't afford and get pampered for $99! This was one of my birthday presents from Hubby. Anyway, I chose Spa Chakra at the the Conrad Hotel, I'm going on Sunday.

It's going to be a fun weekend, today after work I'm going to get my hairs cut, Saturday morning Hubby and I are raiding with friends on World of Warcraft, Saturday afternoon a bunch of us are going to see Mamma Mia and later in the evening we're going to play games at a friends house. And then Sunday - the massage! WOO HOO!

So Lola, give me a shuffle worthy of this weekend...

1. Somewere in the Night - Barry Manilow
2. You Fill Up My Senses - John Denver
3. Lady - Styx
4. Hey Ya! - Outkast
5. Move Along - The All-American Rejects
6. Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson
7. Lay, Lady, Lay - Bob Dylan (one of my favorite Dylan songs!)
8. S'Wonderful - Diana Krall
9. Crazy - Willie Nelson
10. Here With Me - Dido

Well, that shuffle is all over the place - Lola knows me well!

Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

'Toon Tuesday

The Lola Shuffle - The "What the Heck is Floccinaucinihilipilification Anyway? Edition"

OK...are you ready for the correct answer? It's #3 - "The act of making something appear to be worthless by deprecation" - yep, a simple answer for a complicated word.

Wasn't that fun? Maybe we'll do it again. Or not. Whatever.

Yes - I'm having a day and I'm in a mood.

Sorry.

I won't inflict myself on you more than I have to, so let's get to the shuffle - Lola...hit it!

1. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You - The Chieftains and Van Morrison
2. Mr. Jones - The Counting Crows
3. You Always Hurt The One You Love - The Mills Brothers
4. When I Come Around - Green Day
5. Octopus' Garden - The Beatles
6. Delta Dawn - Helen Reddy
7. Southern Nights - Glen Campbell
8. Clumsy - Fergie
9. Ants Marching - Dave Matthews Band
10. Crash - Gwen Stefani

Have a great and safe weekend everyone!

The Dictionary Game!

Like me, my in-laws love playing games - board games and the like. Among our favorites is a game we call "The Dictionary Game" but which is the same as Fictionary. So we played it the other night and my mother-in-law came up with a doozy of a word! Let's see how you do...

The word is: floccinaucinihilipilification.

I'll give you four definitions - three that we made up along with the actual definition - and you have to tell me which one you think is correct in my comment - DON'T CHEAT! I'll reveal the correct answer on the Friday shuffle.

OK, here are the definitions:

1. The process of getting pox-like lesions on the skin after encountering a fablieaux scent of indescribable hoodoo in the men's room.
2. A process used by hyptonists to help patients suffering from spelling bee nightmares
3. The act of making something appear to be worthless by deprecation
4. That which occurs when flocks of domesticated animals are herded uphill in order to avoid their wool from pilling when they are sheared

Now wasn't that fun? Yep - wild and crazy times at the Mindwobbles' house!

'Toon Tuesday

Of course today I had to post the cartoon of the moment -the cover of New Yorker magazine.

I am a die-hard Obama supporter (even thiough he has disappointed me a bit the last couple of weeks, but that's OK) as well as a New Yorker magazine subscriber and I think the damned thing is brilliant! The cartoon has coalesced all the inane e-mails we've been getting for the last few months into one monumentally ridiculous image. It is satire at its best and it's doing what satire is supposed to do: make you think.

A bunch of Obama supporters are in a tizzy because they feel too many people "won't get it" - well tough! They're afraid the cartoon will reinforce the nonsense that has been going around like the bubonic plague. I disagree - I think if the media hadn't made such a big, fat, hairy deal over it the only people that woluld have noticed are the regular New Yorker readers, and, we "get it". For the most part, the ones who are likely to misconsture the intent are not New Yorker readers.

This nation has been dumbed-down for the last 8 years to the point where we are the laughingstock of the world. The New Yorker is a "smart" magazine and as such I expect them to produce this calibre of work not appeal to the lowest common denominator. The magazine has a long tradition of topical cover art - there are many who collect and frame the covers!

Frankly I would like to see Obama come out and commend the cover and the magazine and the artist just for being smart.

Book Review - "Audition" by Barbara Walters

I finally finished "Audition". It took me a long time not because it's difficult to read - it's definitely not - I just read it in small increments. I really enjoyed the book. Although quite long (500+ pages) I didn't find it had any slow sections, which i find often happens in long books, particularly memoirs.

I've always liked Walters well enough, and this book may have made me like her a bit less. Although her professional accomplishments are spectacular, no question, I found her - at least the way she presents herself in this book - to be rather shallow. For example, I am bothered that she goes out of her way to not reveal her age (she'll be 79 in September) when anyone can do what I did and Google it! Hell, if I were 79 and looked the way she looks and was still working in my chosen profession I'd holler it from the roof tops!

The story of her professional trajectory is fascinating because of the barriers she broke down without really meaning to - she just did it. She talks about a lot of the interviews she had with a plethora of fascinating people, and I found myself remembering them. When put all together the way they're presented in the book, you realize she really has interviewed practically anyone who was anyone in the last 40 years! A clear representation of that is the inside of the front and back covers where the names of all the people she's interviewed are listed alphabetically - very cool.

Not only did she interview important people, in some cases, she actually played small parts in the actual history, serving as a go-between or delivering messages. Again, very cool. Also, in addition to describing the interviews, getting the interviews, etc. she also provides a brief historical overview, enough so that we can understand why the interview was significant and what the ramifications were.

Despite her exposure to the world however, she came across to me as somewhat naive and rather old-fashioned in some aspects. She is after all a woman of her generation and although I'm not in any way saying she's a racist, at points she views and reacts to racial issues as a person of her generation would, and it's a little jarring - at least to me. And although she's obviously clever, she doesn't strike as particularly intelligent.

There's also the matter of her affairs with married men (yes there was more than one) that personally disappoints me. However, she is very honest about her difficulties raising her daughter, her inability to maintain a marriage, and her inability to deal in a healthy manner with her family's issues.

I definitely recommend the book and encourage everyone to not be intimidated by the length of the book - again it is very easy to read and will bring back a lot of memories - as Walters has been witness to a lot of history.

By the way, I don't care what she says - I still think she slept with Fidel Castro!

The Lola Shuffle - "The Birthday Week Edition"

Yes, I am still milking the birthay thing....I told you, prepare for a month-long celebration!

Come on Lola, shuffle me up a good shuffle.

1. Down To the River to Pray - Alison Krauss & Union Station
2. Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac (fantastic song)
3. I Touch Myself - Divinyls (oh my!)
4. Sexbomb - Tom Jones (am I beginning to see a pattern Miss Lola?)
5. I've Got the World on A String - Frank Sinatra (one of his best...his voice is velvet in this version)
6. San Francisco (You've Got Me) - The Village People (Don't start with me people! The Village Peope were cultural icons of an era!)
7. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) - Journey (UGH! 80s nightmare)
8. Jump, Jive an'Wail - Brian Setzer Orchestra
9. Represent - Orishas (really cool Cuban rap)
10. New York Minute - The Eagles

Have a great weekend and stay cool!

My 45th Birthday Celebration"s"

Inspired by my friend Purplepassion I have decided to make the entire month of July my birthday celebration - particularly this year when I turn 45 years old. That's a big one - the ones with fives and zeroes are always big ones. Really.

So the day before my birthday my visiting mother-in-law made me a delicious birthday dinner - yes boys and girls I got Halupki! And homemade macaroni and cheese! Along with roasted asparagus and a diabetic-friendly birthday cake pictured at the top of the post.

Here's Nancy, the royal mother-in-law and Chef extraordinaire - the woman cooked for me on her vacation!

I had the appropriate Birthday Princess regalia...

...which I shamelessly wore and waved! (Note the royal stain on my shirt - halupki splatters a bit!)

Presents...I got presents, I got lots and lots of presents...preseeeeents...(props to David Letterman).

Hubby gave me perfumes and a spa day, in-laws gave me the dinner and $$$, and I gave myself a Passport which arrived just in time the day before my birthday! No, I'm not going anywhere, but I like to know I can.

On my actual birthday we went to dinner at a great all-you-can-eat seafood buffet in Islamorada in the Florida Keys. Here we are in the restaurant.

Here are Hubby and his Dad futzing with the cell phones...boys and their toys!

Hubby and me by the water in Islamorada. Seriously, are we not adorable?

So I've had a wonderful couple of days...and the month is still young...even if I'm not! :)

'Toon Tuesday

The Lola Shuffle - "The 4th of July Edition"

Happy 4th everyone! Let's see what Lola's shuffling up for our nation's birthday...

1. Back on the Chain Gang - The Pretenders
2. Breaking the Habit - Linkin Park
3. Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Rod Stewart
4. Diamons and Rust - Joan Baez
5. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain - Willie Nelson
6. Luck Be a Lady - Frank Sinatra
7. Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
8. Swingtown - Steve Miller Band
9. Wherever You Will Go - The Calling
10. Ya-Ya - Buckwheat Zydeco

Enjoy a happy and safe holiday weekend - stay cool!

Mami Would have Been 85 Today

Happy Birthday Mami.

I miss you.

'Toon Tuesday