Living In the World, Not on It

Some weeks of People Magazine provide fodder, some don't. This week's - dated ahead for the 20th for reasons passing understanding - has fodder. Let's see what fun things there are to comment upon: In the Mailbag section, many people wrote in and denounced Arnold Schwarzenegger for his affair with the housemaid. The overwhelming majority condemned Arnold's behaviour and elevated Maria Shriver to a goddess-like stature. Realistically, marriages fail because there were issues on both sides. Women love to denounce unfaithful men, but never seem to think that the root cause may be due to the lack of sexual contact in their marriage. Men are not wired the same as we are. I tend to think that straying husbands stray because they are still sexually active but many women cease to have an interest as time marches on. Where I do feel Arnold failed was the housekeeper. Good gods above, this is the homeliest woman on the face of the earth! Couldn't he have at least picked a...

1) Last week women on Facebook started another one of those supposed "raise breast cancer awareness" status chains which end up just confusing men. This one had me saying "I'm 14 weeks and craving Skittles." Instantly people started asking me if I was pregnant. This has angered some people ( including a blogger who posted a rant about it because she says that "pretending you're pregnant isn't cute" ). What do you think of status chains like this? Ah-ha! I saw this and couldn't believe my soon-to-be-divorced friend was pregnant; the status said nothing about raising breast cancer awareness. Now, suddenly, it all makes sense! It seems kind of stupid to me if you don't specify comments like that one. 2) Do you think people should be able to buy music and share it with everyone he or she wants or should everyone have to purchase the songs themselves? I've spent enough on CDs that I have no problem getting music for free now. O...

That's right folks. If the arthquake we had yesterday wasn't enough, heeeeeeeere's Irene! "If the Virginia quake wasn't enough, authorities warn residents to watch out for Hurricane Irene Emergency officials say New Jersey residents primary concern isn't the Virginia earthquake that shook the entire East Coast—a reported hurricane could be headed this way in a few days. The National Weather Service reports that Hurricane Irene—which already has rolled through the Bahamas—is expected to land in North Carolina by Saturday and then travel northward. According to the AccuWeather website , Irene could "flirt with the Delmarva [peninsula] and New Jersey and then on to eastern Long Island and southeastern New England." The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management said via its website that the threat may be heaviest for shore areas, which could experience tidal and storm surge flooding. NJOEM offers these tips to make sure ...

It started just like all my days do. Get up in pain, get a bagel, take meds, take nap, feel much better. Not terribly exciting, is it? Especially the initial waking. But it got much more interesting in rather short order. I was wide awake and doing various things online, when suddenly both cats jumped up, gave a weird undulating sound - I've never heard a living thing make such a strange sound - and disappeared downstairs like bats outta Hell! It was bizarre. I didn't have a lot of time to really contemplate what that was all about, because moment later the couch was suddenly gently shaking from side to side. I was struck silent, listening for any outside sounds - a truck rolling by, a low-flying plane, but it was still - that eerie stillness that could only mean an earthquake. I looked over to see the hanging chair swaying and in a clear container Luis left out with red soda in it, there were constant ripples - and I began timing the quake. I knew I'd go on line to ...

Here is an article that came in today's Parsippany Patch e-mail: 'Parsippany Township Council President John M. Fox announced he's leaving his council post as of Sept. 1 to take a seat on the Morris County Board of Elections. For Fox, the invitation to play a new role in government comes at a good time. Paul Carifi Jr. defeated Fox in his bid to retain his council spot in the June primary election, and his term was slated to end in December. "I feel so fortunate," Fox, 69, said. "This will allow me to continue in public service for a couple more years." Fox said he received a call late last week from Elections Board Chairman John Sette, who asked Fox if he would be interested in joining the panel. "This was not an easy choice. I thought about it for a day," he said. "The governor's office said I couldn't hold elected office while being on the board, and I felt bad about resigning early. But I figured I was leavi...

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your web space. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website! What was your most memorable alarm-clock failure? Always in the spring, when clocks jump forward, although I do recall a couple of autumns where I ended up at work at 0500 instead of 0600! What item recently in the news do you find most alarming? I do my level best to ignore the news as mush as possible - it is all alarming, depressing... you get the idea. Of car alarms, burglar alarms, and smoke alarms, which do you consider most effective or useful? Oh, fire and smoke alarms by far. Many, many lives are saved that way. If the shoplifting alarm is tripped as you exit a store, what do you do? Go back to have the items in it scanned again to disarm the anti-theft device. (Every once in a while someone will say, "Don't worr...

I saw this government ditty on one of my friend's comments on Facebook and I just really liked the way this sounded: I do not like this Uncle Sam, I do not like his health care scam. I do not like these dirty crooks, or how they lie and cook the books. I do not like when Congress steals, I do not like their secret deals. I do not like ex-speaker Nan, I do not like this 'YES WE CAN'. I do not like this spending spree, I'm smart, I know that nothing's free. I do not like their smug replies, when I complain about their lies. I do not like this kind of hope. I do not like it. nope, nope, nope. I don't know where he found this but it certainly sums up a lot of the high feelings going around where this whole monetary fiasco has been and where it is heading. It's hard to have any hope or faith in this new plan, in the government, or in politicians, who really only think about their jobs and how to line their pockets. It's tough to know how the public perc...

My gods, how disappointing! I really love Ben Starr, and he's gone. He is a very lovable guy, so upbeat and fun. He also really did a lot of amazing things with food. And we are still stuck with Suzy, who badmouths everyone but when she complements herself, she gets kicked in the pants big time; and then there is Christ ian. Who is Christian, you ask? Just the biggest egomaniac on the show. He loves himself and is horrible to all others. He doesn't understand the judges telling him that he needs to ratchet the ego down. He is convinced that he is wonderful. He is so unpleasant. All I want is for him to be given the axe. And I think they do, too. He'll eventually get his just desserts and it won't be edible. But it will be extremely gratifying. Until then, we will just be cheering for everyone else.

Here are the results of the last poll, which centered on the Casey Anthony trial and the results of that trial. Casey is guilty as sin and should have been sent to jail. 2 (33%) Casey is innocent and I am relieved at the outcome. 0 (0%) Someone thought she saw Casey in Oklahoma and tried to mow her down. I would if I could. 0 (0%) I may or may not agree with the outcome, but the fact is we weren't there and will never know what happened to Caylee. 4 (66%) All I can say is Casey should be remanded into custody to have her tubes tied and then be released on her own recognisance. 0 (0%) Well, Casey is out on her own, but she should not get a book and/or movie deal. 0 (0%) Two people (33%) felt that she was "guilty as sin and should have been sent to jail". The other four people who voted (66%), felt that they "may or may not agree with the outcome, but the fact is we won't know what happened to Caylee". A mixed bag, but mostly the...

As usual, People Magazine has found a couple of interesting books... The first one is Inside Scientology , an exposé on what has to be one of the most screwed up ideas of a "religion" to pass muster in who knows how long. L. Ron Hubbard made up this wacky system and then made tons of money on the nutters who actually believed this stuff! I've read bits and pieces on this and really, I want to read this book, since it (hopefully) fills in the gaps about this weirdness and exposes all the fake information that people buy into (and "buying" is the operative word) in the hopes that the government will finally succeed in shutting this cult down. (It is misleading to call it a religion, since it is not mono- or polytheistic; how can it be a religion without a God or Gods/Goddesses?) The other book that looks interesting is Bed . This is about a man whose brother has taken to his bed two decades ago, has ballooned up to 1,400lbs and won't - or can't - get up. ...

Just when something positive and happy occurs, halfway around the world, something tragic happened. On 22 July, some madman armed to the teeth, bombed the Prime Minister's building in Oslo, then showed up at a camp in Utøya, a small island in the Tyrifjorden Lake in Norway that had 600 Norwegian kids there and shot at least 68 (dead) and injured many more. The shooter, Anders Behring Breivik, is a rabidly conservative, anti-immigration activist. He opened fire on children... to what end? How is this going to fix or solve anything? Why do people think violence is the answer to anything? I'm terribly disappointed in the human race sometimes. This is one of those times. I don't know what the Norwegian government will do with this nutter, but I hope they will at the very least lock him up and throw away the key. What insane thinking was going on inside this man to perpetrate such heinous crimes? And killing kids? What possible positive outcome can that have? My thoughts go out...

I'm delighted and happy to know that finally people can get married in New York no matter what gender the bride and groom, bride and bride or groom and groom (or however one wishes to phrase it) may be! Finally, a state that understands and bestowed its blessings on all couples. It has only taken far too long for this to happen. California, which appeared to be a modern and open-minded state, began granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples in June 2008 and then repealed that in November 2008, thanks to Proposition 8, which labeled marriage as a union between one man and one woman. I used to think highly of the state of California until that happened. How stupid is that? But New York has turned around and made it possible for couples - regardless of same-sex or not - to take vows, walk down the aisle, or whatever they wish in order to legalise their union. And I say, "Yahoo! for New York and same-sex couples!" I have always felt very strongly for this and it is none o...

A friend of mine put up a post on his site: "When Death Doesn’t Warrant Celebration Posted by Patrick in Celebrities , Memorial , Mind Boggling Any time a celebrity dies at a young age, over-enthusiastic fans come crawling out of the woodwork with their “only the good die young” platitudes. Over the past few days, since police discovered the body of singer Amy Winehouse inside her London home, fans have been tweeting about her now being an “official” part of the “Forever 27 Club.” That dubious honor goes to those troubled celebrities who happened to die at age 27. According to some tweets, those celebrities include Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. One can argue about the relative talent of those people compared to Winehouse. In most cases, I suspect Winehouse would come up short hands down. But that’s beside th...

Welcome to Saturday: 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: White Wedding 1. Tell us about the most recent wedding you attended. Wow... who's was the most recent wedding I've attended? Oh, yes, I know! It was a coworker's wedding - mine, for a refreshing change, not one of Luis' - and it was in 2009. They were married on a boat and was wonderful - romantic, sweet and the best music! 2. Do you enjoy attending weddings, or do they bore you to tears? Most weddings do bore me to tears. What can I say? The standard, usual wedding is boring and except for ...

[01] What is your reaction to the results of the Casey Anthony trial? I'm tired of it. The fact is we will never know what happened. So I feel the jury did the best they could with what they had. That is it. [02] Do you think the President and congress will be able to resolve the current debt issues? No, not unless some magic force gives him the answer. I do feel overpopulation and illegal immigrants are not helping the issues. [03] What do you think of teaching " gay history " in public schools? Absolutely! Please allow that. I feel teaching tolerance and history - accurate history - is very important. [04] Do you think a presidential candidate's religious affiliation should affect his/her ability to be a bi-partisan president? Wow. Sure. Do any of them really have it, though? [05] Will there be an NFL season this fall? The bigger question is do I care if there will be an NFL season? I suspect you can guess my answer...!

Q1 - Economy : The unemployment rate in the U.S. dropped slightly (by 1/10th of a point) to 8.9 percent in February, the Labor Department reported today. What do you feel is needed to stimulate our longterm economy? Wow. If I had that answer, I'd find a way to market it! I have to be honest, I don't see a way to do that. But I would start with limiting the number of children a family can have, by changing the tax base. One child, no excess taxes. Two children, stay even. Anymore, taxes go up a sliding percentage for each additional child. I think overpopulation has tonnes to do with current economic issues. Q2 - Rubber Stamp : Imagine for a moment that your hand has been replaced by a rubber stamp. What does it say? Interesting question... (no, that is not what the stamp reads...) I'll have to think on that. Maybe just "REJECTED". Q3 - 90 Minutes : If you could spend 90 minutes with any living famous person, not because of their fame or good looks but bec...

(Swiped from Sweet Memes, who swiped it from Kwizgiver ) 1) listening: Coldplay 2) eating: nothing but want a salt bagel, lightly buttered 3) drinking: Cranberry-peach flavoured water 4) wearing: blue lounge pants, top that reads "Heart (shaped like a heart) breaker" and slippers 5) feeling: like I have the flu (which I do) 6) weather: Beautiful - 77°F, humidity at 69% and dropping (it is only 0900). It will likely get to the mid- to high 80s and the humidity has been around 35% this summer - a lovely change from the usual 80%! 7) wanting: To feel better 8) needing: Just my health would be nice 9) thinking: about memes 10) enjoying: life in general, just not the flu...

Talk about current events. Is there a soul anywhere who did not hear about this case and the overwhelming public response to it? I tend to doubt it. Most every publication and many news stations at least covered the outcome of this case. It was a huge source of commentary and a lot of grumbling if not outright threats - whether made against Casey and/or the jurors - as well as that deplorable incident where some woman tried to run down another woman that she thought was Casey in Oklahoma to "save the children". (Yikes. I'm embarrassed to be part of the same race as this woman. She should be demoted from human... it is not our right to take the law into our own hands.) This case has been going on since 2008 and it has finally come to an end. Casey Anthony has no money, no where to go, is in general reviled by the public (as we can see) and has really had everything stripped from her. As much as the public believes in her guilt, they don't really know - they are just ou...

For the last two weeks I had the poll up that asked this question: "Do you think people like Kate Gosselin and the Duggars should parade their children on television to make a buck?" I was more than happy to see that the poll had 6 responses. Here is the breakdown: Yes - they are living the American dream (1 vote, 16%) No - it is potentially damaging to the children (4 votes, 66%) I would do it in a minute if I thought I could get rich (0 votes) I don't know (1 vote, 16%) I was gratified to see most people went for option number two. The first and third are disturbing, and the last one is at least honest like the second one. For some, the idea would not be just to get rich, but to possibly look at it from the standpoint of supporting all the children and ensuring that most, all or any who wish have the option to go to college or some kind of tertiary education. For many parents, that is important. This was an interesting poll to do - most people, I think, had a good feel ...

This is the most unbelievable thing I've seen: "CHOUTEAU, Oklahoma -- An Oklahoma woman believes outrage over the Florida murder case almost cost her her life. The 26-year-old says a crazed woman tried to kill her because the woman thought she was Casey Anthony. It happened in Chouteau last Friday night, July 8, 2011, just days after the Casey Anthony verdict. Sammay Blackwell hopes she never hears this again: "You look like Casey Anthony, I'm like 'okay,'" she said. Blackwell doesn't think it's funny after what happened last week. Blackwell works at a convenience store in Chouteau and said Shireen Nalley came in that night around 10 p.m. and looked strange, very suspicious, then left after buying gas. "I just couldn't keep my eyes off of her," she said. Sammay got off work at 10:30 that night and walked out to her car, which was parked on the other side of the building, and got inside. "Began to back out and looked and...