Just five more minutes...

It has been a busy, crazy week and I am simply tired! I fell asleep about 12:45 and got a phone call about 4:00 a.m. and thus I am up. I realize I have nothing good to say, so I just am not going to say much of anything. Everyone enjoy the day, the temperature is 8 degrees. Go back to bed!

Out and about

Mayor Graham Richard spoke at the Downtown Rotary Club to give his preview of the state of our city. Little talk was given about the smoking ban, other than a quick joke that he would sign it. He spoke of our crime rate dropping. (This has nothing to do with fashion police issues, this is at an all time high in Fort Wayne without clothing retailer Marshall Fields). He was able to speak about the great strides made in hometown security, and Rusty York and his accolades for a job well done. Of course the peanuts and popcorn, even a few cracker jacks made a bulk of the questions and comments. Yes, Harrison square, the multi-functional sporting facility that will host a track, a ball diamond, entertainment venue along with retail and other public consumer areas. The mayor gave a shout out to the Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana. It was the opportunity that I took to publicly thank the mayor for allowing and helping bridge communication to our organization. I am the only active YLNI member in the downtown Rotary club. I have been a member for ten years of the Rotary Club. The organization is known world wide for the eradication of polio, and know in Fort Wayne for helping to brand the walking path around Headwaters Park, as the Circle of Hope. Also, the avenue of trees (along Clinton Street, were donated by the Downtown Rotary Club.) The organization has over 200 members which are viewed as top community leaders in key positions in their organization. Rotary has adopted Washington Elementary school, as of three years ago. Rotarian's spend time tutoring, reading, and participating in the school life of the students. ISTEP scores have shown recently that the school that ranked its 3rd grade class, the class we started with, at 1,000th in the state, shows now the students rank in the 300's!! Creating the impact or perhaps just a catalyst is what the Rotary Club has achieved.

What the preview of the Mayor's state of our city really is about that Fort Wayne is making some changes. Change can be good. Change definitely is a challenge. However, if the community as a whole does not get out and start doing something different, we may be chasing tumbleweeds with our kids and grand kids.

Go ahead, kick the bucket...

Now, I am not above a bad pun. Sometimes those bad puns can get me into a sticky situation. Sometimes when I am writing, I just simply am horsing around. I was watching the CBS evening news when I saw a

press conference about a surgery that did not go as planned. It was about Barbaro, no this is not the elephant in the children's book, though I think his name is pretty darn close to that.... this is the horse that broke his leg at the Preakness this summer. After seven months or more, the famous horse was simply in too much pain to go on. With a little help from a Dr. Kovarkian doctor, Barbaro is no more. RIP.

Me tepee you tepee

A friend and I went to an Indian restaurant last night for dinner. I enjoy eating somewhere that serves something I either can not cook, don't want to learn to cook or am too lazy to cook. We did a bread sampler, thought it is not sold that we, we created a bread smorgasbord with four different types of breads. Had a chicken and potato dish that was medium in heat and still is kickin in me. It was a pleasant evening as we recounted events in our life, talked about the benefits of building or remodeling homes, cooking and the life of being single in Fort Wayne. On a Saturday night, when most restaurants are standing room only, this one was easy in and easy out. At 6:30 p.m. the population count was under 10 and it never rose above those numbers. I arrived a bit early, and as I sat in my booth the couple behind me were having a slow conversation. I tried not to listen, well, I guess I wasn't - it just seemed like the right thing to say. Every time he said a sentence, he would stop half way through and start over as if he was reading it. "Every time I have been.. every time I have been to this restaurant I have not ..been to this restaurant have not had a bad meal." I thought, oh my could you imagine him reading Dr. Seuss! I know it is not good to make fun of anyone, and I am not so much making fun, but pointing out the challenge this person must face. Anyway, I listened for a sentence or two and thought I just did not have the energy to keep eavesdropping. Well, I think it is great to try something new and different. I am glad we went and had a nice Indian meal.

Oh it must be PARTY time!

Finally, the music industry is releasing some new, yet exciting, music. It has been since November when the last Super Tuesday took place. This Tuesday new music by Dave Koz, Tony Desare, Norah Jones, Chantal Kreviazuk Harry Connick Jr. all will be released along with the Best of The Grammy Awards. In December, few artists release cd's that are not holiday selections. January begins the slow climb back up to allowing the public to get some new tunes. Last week Carly Simon, America and Diana Ross all released tunes. Now that both American Idol and Nashville Star kick off the music awareness campaign, plan to see more new music soon. Until Tuesday, enjoy Sugarland or Sara Evans or
Brenda Russell or Rob Thomas or Justin Timberlake or Anne Cochran or Gabin or Robbie Williams or Kristine W or Jim Brickman for some fun, upbeat music. If you don't know of them, you really are missing out on some nice tunes.

Let's Hair for the boys!

Driving to work out Wednesday, I was listening to WOWO Radio. Bob Chase, who is older than any fourteen people you know, began his commentary about the Colts playing the Bears. Yeah, Go Bears! When he began the conversation about the two "Afro American" coaches. It was Afro this Afro that. I think somewhere the King was rolling over! (Possibly not the same King I was able to capture on the anniversary of his death, but you get the point). Bob Chase continued to talk about the momentous occasion of two Afro coaches going to the Super Bowl. His thoughts may have been in the right place, but the words did not catch onto the lingo in the diversity training courses he has taken over the years. Oh, in case you have no idea what I am referring to, the Super Bowl being played in Miami in a couple weeks, has two head coaches that are ... oh now, what word do I use.... black? AfriKan? colored? Oh, no, no matter what I put in that blank I will have offended someone. I definitely can't say the N word, because I am not one, but if I was one, I could, or so I have heard from Dave Chappell. I guess no one wins at this ... except next Sunday one of them will, and we will wait to see what is said about the coach then. Until then, talk about the team not the coach.

Traveling with my Uncle

Oh yeah, it is that time of year again. Tax time. I used to look forward to tax time, as a kid (and up until a few years ago) I would take out more money than I needed to each pay period for taxes. It was awesome, because every spring I would receive a nice check that was called "Uncle Sam is sending you on vacation, check". I always planned that that check would allow me to travel or go some place fun, all because my Uncle Sam believed in me. Well, I guess my Uncle Sam passed away and now I am sending him a vacation check, and it sucks. Now, for you financial gurus that just read this excerpt, probably are thinking how ridiculous that idea of taking an extra twenty or thirty dollars out and giving it to the government to invest for a year. I am smart enough to know that, but I am also smart enough to know that I do not have the discipline to hold those funds in an account for a year. I once tried a Christmas account, but I think I celebrated Christmas in July.

Tomorrow I spend some time with my personal accountant. I am prepared, have my books in order, and copies made, ready to hand it over and see if this year Uncle Sam is sending me on vacation or if my Uncle Sam is going to spend another year on some warm beach.

Last dying wish, to drive to the store!!!

Survey reported recently shown that teenagers are safer drivers than the elderly. In fact, elderly women are the worst on the road and have a 40% chance of dying on the road. This given the fact that teenagers are texting and driving and crashing! A report also identifies that teenagers, through texting, become emotional while driving and have been in an accident within 3 seconds of receiving the text, resulting in 80% of the cause/reason for a critical accident. Still, the elderly lady is drifting lanes and running down mailboxes at still a staggering rate. Survey also says that if you are a young male, you will probably be the cause of an accident because of your drinking. You drink, you drive, you hit someone. Oh, yeah, here is the other fact, that most accidents take place near or within five miles of your home. Which goes back to the elderly lady who "only drives to the store and to get her hair done". So, perhaps, great granny needs to drive to California more often.

And on with the snow...

I have thought about building a house. Kinda like the one in the picture. Some aspects ring true to me as something I would want, spacious living for Clyde and myself. Big pillars and a porch. Not sure it needs to be a white house, but I can cope with it either way.

Inside it would have exposed brick walls, and the entire first floor would be a kitchen. Plasma screens suspended from the wall with overstuffed leather chairs in the kitchen for casual dining. Perhaps it is the horseshoe shaped kitchen bar that would allow for 12 to eat or watch dinner being prepared. The upper level is where the bedroom (s) are located, if it is just me than it is a loft but if there is someone else, then the upstairs will be bedrooms. Lower level will be an oasis. A bar and plenty of room for a juke box in a tranquil environment (though reading that, it does not sound like they are one of the same). This picture also stands out as Fort Wayne finally has received our batch of Christmas snow! Lordy, did we need it. This weekend at the Grand Wayne Center is the kitchen and bath showcase. I plan to attend to get some ideas, begin sketching and keeping notes. Perhaps someday the Carbo parties will be hosted in a fresh new spot. Until then, enjoy the snow.

Singing my song for you...

Oh how wonderful it was to escape the daily grind. Hanging with three other buds, we stood through the Sara Evans concert in Indy Friday night. She did a pretty good job! She does not know how to dress herself, but the girl has pipes. mmhmm. The picture to the right, is actually from the show, you be the judge about her attire and the tag!! Oh well.... We left the concert and went to our hotel/suites. I do not know that if today we remember the name of the place, Downtown Suites, Hometown suites something like that, but the place was nice and directly across from Keystone. We hit the road to find comfort in a drink or three or four at a bar called the Wellington. One of our friends had friends from Indy and we shared stories and drinks until the lights in the bar went up. This means cleaning time and we all bolted for the door. Time, 2:30 a.m. Of course we were headed back to the suites, we each went our own direction until one person said to another, I am hungry, which lead to all of us piling back into the vehicle and heading to Marsh to pick up groceries. Our suites had refrigerators, dishwashers and a stove. We bought a couple pizzas and chips and other munchies. Well, when all was said and done, and the fire alert was signaled from, well, we guess the pizza that over cooked in the oven, we all went our separate ways after 4:00 a.m. It was rise and shine at 9 and breakfast at 10. Shopping soon followed, but let me tell you, that no one is in the mood to shop when you have slept less hours than one hand can count. We packed up the SUV and made our way back to the Fort, feeling that we made great friendships, saw a decent concert and know now that pizza in an oven can blacken under high heat. Mmhmm, and now you know what we know.

Mile High ...

Curiously..... Well, if you have never ate or munched or sucked on an Altoid you are missing the boat. Altoids are not the mints where if you bite them that they spark, these are the strong mints that let you know you actually have a mint in your mouth. Well, low and behold, the Altoid has been improved. Well, at least for the winter it is great. In my car, I have a tin of them. I munch on one when I am hungry. Okay, I eat a tin a day. The outside taste like a Junior Mint, without having to go to a movie theatre! The chocolate melts in your mouth and on your teeth. I know this because as I drive, I look into my rear view mirror to see the gooey transformation. Okay, you probably think I have lost it, but really, these mints are making my top ten list of things you got to try in your car! I only eat them in my car. Perhaps not everyone eats mints in the car, but I do. I do not eat Taco Bell, so this is my weakness. So, if you are in the local corner Walgreens - no matter what corner you are on, there is a Walgreens - stop in for a tin and experience a tin tonight.

Where have all the stores gone?

I thought the Entertainment Book was the kiss of death for any vendor who selected to participate. Ever notice, by November when the new book appears, 10% of the places are out of business. As if this was the last ditch effort to provide a buy one get one free offer would save the restaurant from closing. Lately though, Fort Wayne, Indiana has had the Entertainment Book Blues. The closing of Instant Copy's north store was one. The Gap is closing and so is Bombay Imports (yes, it had been open all this time!!). La Hacienda closed. Bacharchs, closed. These are not closed due to weather, no snow delays or ice storms, nope, flooding has not lead the pack either. I guess the way to look at it, without office jobs, no one needed copies from Instant Copy. Without the job, they could not buy clothes from the Gap or if they were in management, from Bacharachs. Which lead to no home furnishings at Bombay and this concluded with no one needing to eat at La Hacienda. I think the real answer to the question of where and why? It lies in the Marshall Fields voodoo over the city. Without Marshall Fields the city is doomed to seven years bad luck. It is not the mirror that brings bad luck, it is the fact that broken or cut up credit cards for Marshall Fields have cursed the believers in a brighter future. We must work toward finding and bringing retail commerce to Fort Wayne. We need our Ikea store. Our large department stores. We need a Crate and Barrel. Not another Starbucks.

National Security for the American Idol

Well, last night American Idol began showing the worst of the worst or hopefully this is the case. It was putrid, ear wrenching, awful. I know that if they started off showing the great talent, we would not watch for 50 hours of talent competitions. I have been a huge fan of Nashville Star, where the talent must know how to sing, play an instrument and write their own songs. Go figure, real talent a necessity to be an "American Idol". I am not sure I can sit through another night of it, but I am sure that if I don't it will be covered on the radio, newspaper and CNN as the next big thing. I think I had heard that the security level in America is now set at Blue. For American Idol that is. We are on stand down, sit down and listen up to the next Clay Aiken?!

I have a dream...

... grab your pen to write a hate letter to me now, I know, this is not Martin Luther King, but how could I pass this one up. I don't remember Martin Luther King. I was born one month after his assassination. I worked today, my company did not see the value of observing it. However, half dozen of my employees felt it was worth taking of for. One of my banks was open and that was comforting to know that I could do some actual work. The city closed and the county closed, of course the schools closed, but the schools won't talk about Martin because ... it is not the type of history they want to share. The newspaper was a brochure more or less tonight. I wonder if he thought that forty years later his dream would mean that employees would take off work or companies would close and yet not discuss why they are closing. Oh well, I wonder if forty years from now if someone will take the day off to remember some like Ford with a day off work. Crowns'off to the King.

Eye of the beholder...

Sometimes in life, we hold back and let life pass up by. Last night, I was living out loud. Some friends invited me out to an art exhibit followed by reservations for dinner at the Oyster Bar (the cool one downtown!). Mind you, these friends did not say, 330 p.m. art and 5:00 p.m. dinner, as you might expect in Fort Wayne. Rather, we began the evening at 8:00 p.m. Dinner at 9:30 p.m. What was really nifty about this evening was that it was something out of my comfort zone. As most may have guessed by now, I have always been the Alpha Male. Plan, control, do - so the opportunity to coast and be in the same boat as others seems to be more rare as each day passes. The art, first and foremost, was not framed. So the reason for the "frame" without a picture on the blog is to show that what you are accustomed to viewing is not always the same. There was a photographer who exhibited his creations. Black and White, some color and something that had a shade of 'hot topic' to it, as it seemed unreal to be real. So, curious minds want to know, in Fort Wayne can three planes land simultaneously? Because if so, then his picture was real. If not, it was a fake. A nice collection of art that were paintings. A decent exhibit of local art. Not that starving artist kind in the mildewy hotel lobby that some people have coined as art. Dinner was a culinary delight and our oblong table was perfect for the five of us to zap one liners and conversations continued to flow for about three hours. We spoke of sports (go New Orlean Saints). We spoke of U-tube (you rock me Justin Timberlake). We spoke of Rosie vs Trump vs Common sense (the entire talkshow war) We spoke of great fashion for less at Stein Mart. We spoke of creatures in the night. We spoke of an upcoming party that will be created as a free-for-all in the kitchen. We just had a darn good time living out loud. We were in Chicago or New York or L.A, in spirit and actions but we really took in Fort Wayne and experienced what the city has to offer. So, perhaps, I had room to dream last night and our dorky slogan is true. It is all in the eye of the beholder. Support your local artists, your local eateries and you will see that in the end it can be more than you first thought.

Stuck on you!

I do not know if you have paid much attention to the growing number of cars that are plastered with magnets that support everything and anything possible. There is Jesus, and hope, and Thyroid cancer. Supporting troops, cancer survivors and even the cause of magnets. I have not seen so many levels of giving and forms of expression since, well, I don't think I can put a tag on it. Or magnet on it. I think we can all help clean up America by going through the parking lot and removing these horrible magnets. It really will help with resale value of a car.... do your part today.

Don't wake me up for this...

Well, we have Field of Dreams, Dreamgirls, Dream sickles, and now Room to Dream. Reminds me of the old TV game show, Match Game....badabumm tabum bum boink. The show that said surveyed 100 people and it went like this: A city in the midwest is so desperate for a tag line, they said why not call it Room To Blank!! Then six C and D list celebrates, though I did love Brett Sommers, wrote on blue pieces of paper and cleverly said the one word they wrote on the paper. Well, my guess Fanny Flag or Richard Dawson did not get the chance to work on our tag line. Room to Dream, meaning there is not much here so make it what you want. But what they forgot to say is please do not change anything, because this is not "Changing Rooms in a dream!" I am all about community pride and spirit. I am spinning toward the light to see if I can somehow embrace this tag line and actually use it to make sense. We are so lazy we sleep, have lots of dreams, are overweight and we need more room. Or how about on nearly every street corner there is an empty shopping or strip mall, we have the room, so be creative and put something in there like another coffee shop or subway. Oh well, the jury is out (though I sound as if I may have been the jury of one). Perhaps over the next weeks I can figure out why Room to Dream is not Room with a Nightmare.

Speeding News...

For Christmas, most kids want something fun, expensive or what everyone else wants or has. Well, I am no longer a kid, but I did ask for something (and did receive) a gift that is just truly remarkable. It is the magic bullet. Just this morning I dropped two eggs, salt, pepper and cheese into the bullet dome, pressed and voila, I had a frothy egg mixture that was perfect yellow from tip to toe. I had my skillet on high heat, sprayed with a small amount of Pam (god, love that gal), and poured the egg mixture right in the pan. It took no more than one minute and it was dyn-o-mite. The other day I made whip cream for my black raspberry and marshmallow jello :) Okay, so maybe I am a kid still. I poured in the whip cream, added some vanilla for flavoring. I pushed the dome down and as you may have guessed, by now, it was creamy whip cream. This little contraption is a wonder and comes with multiple lids, and domes and handles and who knows what else, because I have not even opened the entire box. I just pulled out the magic and the bullet and began to whip! Should be the must have kitchen item of the year, if you do not like to cook or mix or whip or if you do love to cook but just want to cut out a few steps, a few minutes and alot of clean up.

Toot, toot yeah!

Since 1988 I have attempted to give back more than I take. As I was thinking of the different organizations I have had the opportunity to work with, I thought I would toot my own horn: Ball State University - Senator; IPFW Mastodons on Parade, IPFW Marketing Committee, United Way Day of Caring, IPFW Alumni Association Oaken Bucket, YWCA Tribute to Women of Achievement, IPFW Tapestry - A Day for Women; IPFW Lego League Competition, University of Saint Francis Alumni Association - officer, Allen County SPCA, Chamber of Commerce - Public Relations Chair; Chamber of Commerce's Mayor's State of the City Master of Ceremony, Chamber of Commerce's Business Expo chair, Chamber of Commerce Membership Drive, YLNI Board of Directors, American Cancer Society Board of Directors, Fort Wayne Museum of Art - Articulates, President, Fort Wayne Museum of Art - Art for Sale; Fort Wayne Community School's Principal for the Day - twice (so I guess that is two days haha), Project Renew Board of Directors, Three Rivers Festival Board of Directors, Bicentennial of Fort Wayne - many, many committees, All America City, United Way of Allen County, Marketing committee, WBNI project for the Friends of WBNI, Civic Theatre Board of Directors, Embassy Theatre's Festival of Trees chair, IPFW 40th Anniversary, 75th Anniversary Gala for the Urban League, 75th Anniversary for the Embassy Theatre, Junior Achievement Bowl-a-thon, Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation computer instructor to the elderly (that was a challenge), American Red Cross's Capital campaign, Downtown Rotary Club, Membership Development, Board of Directors, Public Relations, Parkview's Cookin' Men, and the United Way of Allen County's Volunteer connection. As I think of what I have volunteered for already, I am excited to what I will have the opportunity to work on in the future.

Bleep Bleep Bleep

I have a new phone. Fancy smancy, that is for sure, but my goodness I may need to return to college to figure out how to use it. The things I do understand like sending a text message is very simple. I have a "broken pen" type apparatus that I can poke the flat screen to type on a key pad. I have figured out how to make phone calls, a touch screen appears and I push the buttons as if they were a real key pad. The phone slides in half and i can send an email. Well, I have figured out how to use it when I am near my computer at work, because of being able to tap into the network (wireless) of the office, but I am struggling how to do that on the road, or just outside the office building. I was surprised to find the phone had like eight rings. I am accustomed to have different rings for different people. Which allowed me to discriminate against my friends. Oh, I know, you are agasp by this, but you do it too. Sometimes you are just not able to talk to someone, rather you do not want to talk to someone who is calling about something you either A) do not want to discuss B) do not have as much time left in life to have THAT conversation or C) or simply I may be in my 'I hate people' mind set. I also was accustomed to having my dog as the desktop picture. I am not sure I can have that now. I think I am on chapter 5 of the manual, and if anyone knows me well, realizes I hate to read, so this text book that accompanied my new phone may take the six years it took for me to graduate college, without honors. If you have cliff notes on how to use this phone, let me know. I am not above cheating on this exam to be able to use it in the real world. Sorry, St. Francis, but some habits may be hard to break.

Flashback ... alert

Perhaps this happens to you, but I was lying in bed this morning thinking of the Dixie Cup. Okay, this probably has never happened to you, but now it just might and you will have someone to blame --- ME. What I remembered, or kept thinking about, was how they were a staple in our household. They could be found in the kitchen or in the bathrooms, but then they normally would be found under a bed, in the living room, in the sand box and everywhere in between. They helped to make great sand castle tops, they held screws and bolts perfectly in the garage. The held water up to an hour without the sides splitting and pouring on the floor. Sometimes they had cute little sayings, sometimes dressed up for the holidays with holy and the (now) evil saying "Merry Christmas" but it also did the other holidays that were observed back in the 70's. I look around my house today and there is not one dixie cup that has survived. My sand castle days are over - drats! I have a garage but would not know how to use a bolt if it came out of my neck, and I drink from a real glass now, thank you very much. Uncertain why on earth I would have this flashback this morning at 6:00 a.m. but I did and now you know! When I go to the store today, I think I will gander in the paper section to see if they even exist. I will not be buying them, because I still find them of little value in my adult life. They were a hit as a kid and that memory lives on some thirty years later.

New and old ... all together

• FOOD REVIEW - Friday night I went out to dinner with a friend. The restaurant we selected is the new joint called "Laguna Grill" located on Dupont Road in the former Japanese restaurant "Mysono". I actually enjoyed that restaurant. Great sushi - had it's own sushi bar where fresh sushi was made. It also had a long cooking table with plasma screen televisions where you can watch the cooking in progress. Well, back to the food review of Laguna Grill. As you would expect on a Friday night at 6:00 p.m. in the restaurant world in Fort Wayne, the place was... well, it really wasn't busy. It was not standing room only, in fact there was no wait at all. In fact, there were not more than seven tables occupied. Ironically, when I walked into the entrance it smelled like a tanning salon. Oh, it is located next door to one, how appetizing! The former sushi bar is there but not operational. The real bar was also not operational, either. The plasma screens were showing cable television. The cooking table, well it sat empty. The building looks the same just no sushi. First gander at the menu and one may wonder if it was written by a person with ADD. Soups and salads are mixed in with the eggs, the pasta and the burgers. It was four pages and the prices were very reasonable. A special was announced by our oddly-friendly waitress. She returned to the table about four times before we had selected our entrees. We really were just enjoying our conversation, but I am certain she was making sure our order was in before the mad-rush would commence. My friend ordered a blue burger and a Caesar salad with the dressing on the side. I ordered the Cajun burger and a Caesar salad with the dressing on the side. Within minutes our waitress brought out a wooden sushi tray with a warm loaf of bread. (hmm, foreshadowing). Our salads arrived shortly thereafter on a flat plate a small flat "bowl" (that was formerly a soy sauce dipping plate). The salad was bag-ready so it was just like home cooking ought to be. When our dinner arrived, our hamburgers, they arrived on a larger flat plate. The burger was very large, and served open faced. The inside of the bun was toasted however the top was not. The blue burger had chunks of crumbled blue cheese on it, with a few slices of tomato and lettuce leaf. The Cajun burger had grilled onions, with a few slices of tomato and lettuce leaf. Uncertain why it was Cajun because it had not flavor of creole, or blackened. The burger was slightly pink. It tasted pretty good, but just seemed to be missing something. The table behind us ordered there hamburgers while we were eating and the waitress said that board of health prohibits hamburgers being cooked any other way except well. I wanted to lean back and said their "well" is pink centered. The restaurant never picked up speed. We enjoyed our time lingering in the restaurant, catching and this only upset the staff. On a scale of 1 to 10, one being Hardees and 10 being Eddie Merlots, Laguna Grill ranks a 3. I can't wait until the oriental restaurant that will replace it can use the space for what it was intended to be!

Ohh My Gawwwddd....

I signed up for Net Flixx... I somehow thought I had alot of time, but not enough time to go to a video store to pick out a video. Oh, I know, the irony... well I have been watching South Park this past week and made that my first selection from NetFlixx. Well I stumbled across a character that made me tumble over, the character's name is Token. At first it did not register, but then all of a sudden it hit me between the eyes... South Park is so not politically correct, but when this came to light I thought I can not believe this has not made CNN Headline News. So, today my first disc arrived in the mail and it season eight I believe. I plan to watch it at my leisure and return it in the self stamped envelop. Should be interesting don't you think. I will keep you posted on the next DVD on my list (South Park Disc Two - Season 8)

No toast with my JAMS

I have been caught up with some of my favorite dance tunes. Here is a quick gander at them...

"Can't Get You Out of My Head" by Kylie Minogue

Sophie Ellis Baxter (no relation to Meredith Baxter Bernie) "Murder on the Dance Floor!"

Kristine W's "Stronger!"

Lara Fabian's I Will Love Again!

Mamma Mia by ABBA

Pour some sugar on it...

Happy New Year! I made it through the night without being slammed, arrested or intoxicated. Sounds boring I know, but I actually had a very good time. Funny, for the first time in a long time I was starting the new year with a different group of people. The tradition went unfulfilled and the new wasn't all bad, but it was sad not to ring it in with my traditional buds. I did a little dancing, did a little talking, did a bit of a photog work, did a bit of eating, did a bit of socializing, did a bit of singing (sorry to those in earshot), and I did have a good time at the YLNI Masquerade Ball. The steering committee worked their tails off to make the 300 people capture the feeling they were aiming to achieve. Many people thought the facility (The Historic Embassy) was tastefully decorated. Others thought the music made it feel a bit New York-y. But no matter what happens not everyone will be happy. Perhaps like a couple that got "locked" in the coat closet. At first thought, it was believed they were checking out more than coats. But once the door was unlocked by Embassy staff, the two came out looking like one strangled a cat and the other looked as if the gun did not have any bullets. Today, my goal is to organize - not a mafia - but I am getting ready for the tax season, making sure the closet it in order, and then next to the pantry to figure out how I ended up with 10,000 brands of tea!?! To all my faithful readers, I have not set goals or aspired into a plan of ten things I need to achieve this year. Rather I challenge myself to have productive and awesome memories in 2007. Hope you are a part of them!