Cat etiquette

Dear Ms. Kitty Manners -

I am writing to you today to ask your opinion about a couple of cat etiquette issues. My two cat family members, Onyx 12 and Maggie 11, and I have recently moved into a spacious two-bedroom apartment. Because everything in our home is new and/or fresh from relocation, I have become more aware of some possible rude behavior from my recently relocated cat companions.

First, do you believe it is a bit cheeky for one or more cats to use their commode and immediately return to bed, thereby depositing numerous grains of litter on our sleeping space?

And second, do you think it is necessary for Maggie to revisit her luncheon on our new/old livingroom couch instead of in an easier-to-clean or less public area? I especially find this infraction heinous as it may well have been done on purpose and with malice!

Believe me Ms. Kitty I did raise my pre-teens to have more couth than these examples would suggest. Please advise if the above behavior is in fact worthy of demerits and/or reduction of kitty treats?

Thank you for your time, and may your cats refrain from grooming their intimate areas in your front picture window just as company arrives at your genteel home.

Sincerely,

Buckycatt, Livingston MT

Books, tomes, volumes

I looooooove books. I've been packing my beloved books all week for moving to my new apartment. So, I thought for a little long weekend levity I'd give you the final tally: I am taking with me 23 boxes of mysteries, histories & romance (w/ a lot of miscellaneous in between). And there are another 8 stuffed, lawn & leaf sized garbage bags for an upcoming garage sale. You try correctly typing garage & garbage in the same sentence. Anyway, I'm glad they are packed but I will be even happier when they are all up the 15 stairs and the others have been sold. Then I will have $$$ to buy more, new and different books. Such as the ones on my attached Amazon wishlist



Happy reading!

Burn After Reading

Could this be the funniest movie all year?



I love Coen Brothers movies, Brad Pitt & George Clooney so I think it stands a good chance of being Hi-larious. The trailer sure is. Enjoy & Happy 4th of July.

Rom-Com Results

Well, thanks for hangin' out twiddlin' your thumbs while I tallied all the results from the romantic comedy movie survey I started back in May. As July dawns, I am finally ready with the results:

58 of you were kind enough to respond and a total of 40 films received at least one vote. The 40 films in alphabetical order are:

10 Things I Hate About You
6 Days, 7 Nights
A Fish Called Wanda
The American President
As Good As It Gets
Benny & Joon
Big
Blast from the Past
Bridget Jones's Diary
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Bull Durham
Continental Divide
Dangerous Liaisons
Enchanted
Fools Rush In
Goodbye Girl
House Calls
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
It Happened One Night
Love, Actually
Moonstruck
Much Ado About Nothing
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Pretty Woman
Pride & Prejudice (1940)
Princess Bride
PS I Love You
Serendipity
Shakespeare in Love
Shallow Hal
Sliding Doors
So, I Married an Axe Murderer
Sweet Home Alabama
Under the Tuscan Sun
The Wedding Singer
What Happens in Vegas
When Harry Met Sally
The Wiggles (children's film)
While You Were Sleeping
You've Got Mail

As for the "winners", in 3rd place were Love, Actually and Moonstruck.
2nd place was a 3-way tie between How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Pretty Woman and When Harry Met Sally.

And the winner -- beloved by men and women alike -- The Princess Bride!! This 1987 film directed by Rob Reiner from the book by William Goldman, stars Robin Wright (before she added the Penn) and Cary Elwes as the romantic couple. It also includes a bevy of classic comics such as Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane and Christopher Guest. All, in all, a witty script, inventive action, an adorable child "narrator", and just a smattering of romance made this film the clear winner.



My personal favorite was Sweet Home Alabama. How could I not choose a movie the begins at Tiffany's where Reese Witherspoon gets to pick out an engagement ring. Both of the male protagonists are very likable -- Patrick Dempsey is um, er "dreamy" and Josh Lucas's southern accent gets me every time. Reese makes an engaging, sympathetic heroine and there are lots of cross-cultural laughs along the way.

Thank you again all for participating in this interesting experiment. If you would like to have a copy of my Excel spreadsheet listing many additional romantic comedy films, as well as the year they were released and the romantic leads please email me.

Til then, see you at the movies. We'll laugh, we'll cry and maybe someone will fall in love -- at least on the silver screen.

Mariah Carey Math

Today I have some math equations to share w/ you:

Way back on 7/14/1949 Tommy Mottola was born, making him 58 today. Then on 3/27/1969 Mariah Carey was born, making her 39 today. Next on 8/26/1971 Thalia was born, making her 36 today. Finally on 10/8/1980 Nick Cannon was born, making him 27 today.

Keeping with my chronological timeline, on 6/5/1993 Tommy Mottola and Mariah Carey were married. By my calculations, Mariah is just under 20 years younger than Tommy. Alas, Mariah and Tommy divorced on 3/5/1998, meaning their infinite love only lasted 6 years and 9 months. Fortunately, .00 children resulted from their divided union.

Happily, Tommy found love again w/ Thalia, and they married on 12/6/2000. Tommy is almost 22 years older than Thalia, but this did not stop their family from multiplying when daughter Sabrina was born on 10/7/2007. This only makes Tommy 58 years older than his daughter, so there is a chance 1 of her lucky classmates could be wife #3+ someday. For now, Tommy and Thalia are still married.

We all know that Mariah has had her ups and downs, and worn very little, since subtracting Tommy (and the clothing). For the past 6 weeks or so, she has been dating the 11 years younger Nick Cannon. Their blessed union began on 4/30/2008, making it IX days old today. As of this blog entry they have a total of 0.0 children.

What do all these statistics mean? My thoughts: Mariah needed an older man at the beginning of her career, namely the head of Sony Records. She also needed someone of means to give her the Princess Di modeled wedding of her dreams. When she hit 29, she decided to reduce her immediate family by 50%; she divorced the mogul and apparently lost 100% of her full-coverage clothing in the settlement. Now that she is as chart-topping as Elvis(!?) she can afford to have a low-key wedding in the Bahamas to a younger boytoy. As Napoleon Dynamite would say, "Lucky!"

In addition, Tommy could marry Thalia because he was still a rich music mogul, and she appears to be a younger singer/actress/trophy wife. Sabrina must be the product of a 6 & 5/6-year itch, or a way of adding $000s to any future divorce settlement.

Only time and math will tell what is next for these 3 beautiful adults, the baby, and Tommy.

Math sources = Internet Movie Database and People Magazine
Buy People Magazine, which I have read since I was 11 years old (that would be 32 years of continuous reading for the math geeks and curious among you).

PS: Check my figures!

Bush used to be a band

The other day my co-worker bought some Red Stripe for a St. Patrick's Day party she was planning to attend on Saturday. I asked about Red Stripe being Irish and she said it's Jamaican. I said that one of my favorite groups named Bush had a line out of a song that was "Red Stripe & vicodin" and I'd always wondered what Red Stripe was. My pop culture sadness is that when I mentioned Bush she looked at me all blankly and I could tell she was wondering why I liked a band named after our president. Now she grew up in Seattle, and was down w/ the music scene back in the day. She is 5 years younger than me but still! How did Bush go from being a major 90s band to lead singer Gavin Rossdale becoming known as Mr. Gwen Stefani? With all that talent, and those great songs, it just doesn't seem right. I mean, they made it commercially. I saw them in two sold out concerts - one in Missoula and one in Seattle. Even now when they want to allude to the mid-90s the show Cold Case plays their songs - a lot. My theory is the fanbase just got too old and since the band broke up @ the height of its fame, today's tastemakers just don't remember them. I think if Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell and others weren't still creating new music all of the grunge scene would be "dead". Nirvana is still known because Kurt Cobain really is dead. It's still great music. I'm sad. Your thoughts? Also who, if anyone, even comes close to that type of music these days? And don't even say Daughtry. They are fine, but they are no Bush, Pearl Jam or Soundgarden.

Old business

Finishing up slightly old business, I promised you a photo of my Oscar ensemble w/ details. Don't say you weren't warned!

Shoes by Propet from onlineshoes.com
Socks by Hot Sox from Obsidian Collection
Jeans by Chic from Pamida
Oregon Coast tee from Rick
Rhinestone bracelet from Cookie Lee
Turquoise/Lapis cocktail ring from Ebay
Blue topaz cocktail ring from QVC
Turquoise earrings and star rhinestone earrings from Obsidian Collection
Silver ball earring from Ebay
Eyewear from Liz Claiborne
Lipstick in Red Stiletto from Lancome w/ Clyde lipgloss from tarte
Eyeshadow from NYX
Bag by Hello Kitty from Ross Dress for Less

As to the results, I'm thrilled No Country for Old Men rocked the house. Much deserved win for Coen Bros. I was jumping up and down happy that Falling Slowly from the wonderful film Once beat out the Enchanted drivel. Katherine Heigl had a fantastic retro-looking red dress on. Mom made excellent potstickers and other goodies.

Now its bad movie season for until fall. I am a bit concerned that the Nielsen numbers were down for the live telecast. After the writer's strike uncertainty I would've thought the numbers would be up. Several of my movie loving friends didn't even watch live or at all because they believe the movies nominated aren't relative to what the movie going public actually watches. I could go on a long diatribe about how people are so used to mediocre movies, they won't take the time for excellence. But instead I will just say that I'm finally going to watch Into the Wild this afternoon, so am still enjoying nominated movies almost a month later. See you at the movies!