To Peeve or Not to Peeve, That is the Question

Hi!

Nice day we had yesterday, no? That was some crazy weather. I found myself twice caught in the leading edge of both storm systems yesterday. In the case of the first series of tornados, I was at my parents and we were three miles away from where one tornado touched down. The sound was like hundreds of jet engines powering down on approach.

In the case of the second, my sister and I were on our way to Barnes & Noble when the rain let loose in ways only to be described as biblical in volume and intensity. We ended up sheltering in place in a parking garage for about 30 minutes. Sadly, a fun evening was not had by all. Three people died in last night's storms, including a guy in Annandale who had a tree fall on his car.

In other non-Mother Nature news, Tuesday was a banner day in politics, wasn't it?

I'm thrilled beyond words that Barack Obama has received enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination for president! Yes, he can! Yes, we can! And Yes, we did! Now, Hillary just needs to back off and let the process move forward. Her not-so-subtle-through-others hints that she'd take the VP slot is pissin' me off. Talk about presumptuous! If she's the servant of the public and champion of the downtrodden she claims to be, she'd send an email to all her supporters and loyalists and beg them, for the sake of not having a three-peat, to give their support and votes 100% to Obama. The last thing we need right now is for Hillaryites to give their votes to McCain in a fit of pique. Think Ross Perot. Think Ralph Nader. Think: BAD IDEA.

And did you see in the news that GM is discontinuing their Hummer line? All I can say to that is "Hallelujah!" Those gas-guzzling, road hogging, small car squishing monstrosities are meant for one purpose and one purpose only: to transport troops and material in zones of war and conflict. The sooner we get those buggers off the road, the better for all of us.

Finally, whilst trolling through DC Blogs today, I read an entry by someone who participates in a group they wittily call "The Collective." Each of the members of the Borg, er, Collective, has their own little website. Lovely and all, until I noticed this in the sidebar on one of them.



Thinking perhaps she was encouraging donations to BlogHer or some other worthy cause, I clicked on the "Donate" button. To my horror, it took me to a Pay Pal page where, if I felt so inclined, I could part with my hard-earned, non-existent money and give it to Heather. No special reason. Just give it to Heather because Heather is Heather, I guess. Is this for real? And is it socially acceptable? What the fuck?!

I'm definitely getting old, because first, I can't even begin to articulate how disturbing I find this idea of being audacious enough to just expect that people will give me money for nothing. And second... I don't have a second, I'm just so flummoxed by this. Holy hell!

Meanwhile, I have a friend who could really use some financial help and who, if she put up a button like this on her blog, would be more than justified, but still.... And yet, instead of holding her hand out like Heather, she digs through her many years of foreign travel and really cool acquisitions and makes them available on eBay.

I can't write anymore about this, I'm just so baffled.

Tomorrow, we're going to the National Gallery to see Afghanistan: The Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. Speaking of the friend who eBays, she's the same person who wrote the proposal that landed the funding that resulted in this fabulous exhibition coming to the United States.

If you have half a mind to do it, send a few bucks her way. Compared to Heather, she's actually making a difference in the world.

P.S. In all fairness to Heather and to avoid commenters castigating me for misjudging her purposes for the "Donate" button, I emailed her to ask what cause she was supporting. So far, I don't have a response, but as soon as I get one, I'll let you know. I'm willing to eat humble pie, but in the meantime... Seriously?!

NEVER Again

I'm getting old. I finally have absolute and irrefutable evidence of this fact.

In a word or two: shopping malls.

Shopping malls are direct evidence that I'm old.

Bee and I went out to White Flint Mall in not-so-tony, ugly-stepchild North Bethesda yesterday afternoon.

First of all, and as a total aside, could there be a cruddier mall in the D.C. area? (Oh yeah, I forgot. The one in downtown Silver Spring is pretty depressing, but I think there's hope for that one, because there's a ton of development going on over there.) Of course, I'm not exactly a mall expert. My mall experiences in the metro area are limited to Fair Oaks Mall, Tyson's Corner, the Premium Outlets in Leesburg, and the National Mall. That last one doesn't count, though, 'cause the shopping is lousy and it's really about the monuments, isn't it? You can only own so many 3-for-$10 t-shirts and $5 cherry blossom snow globes.

But getting back to the point: how shopping malls are direct evidence that I'm aging.

It's three days after Christmas and it's 2:30 in the afternoon, so I'm thinking, "Going to the mall won't be a big deal. It'll be quiet and shopping won't be a madhouse."

WRONG!

All I wanted to do was go to Bath & Body Works for some Warm Vanilla Sugar soap, to Borders for a birthday card (for a friend whose birthday was December 11 and I totally missed it) and a new crossword puzzle book, to some pen store that Bee wanted to browse in, and then to grab a bite to eat at P.F. Chang's or the Cheesecake Factory.

Sounds pretty plain and simple, right?

By the end of the whole three hours, I was done in. I'd been jostled and sneered at. I'd been walked through, like I was invisible. I'd had cashiers who moved slower than molasses in subzero temperatures. I ate food that was subpar at best. (And that's a whole other aside: how bad the food really is at the Cheesecake Factory and yet we still persist in consuming it.) I could go on and on, but I won't.

Suffice it to say, I am not a mall girl. At all. No after Christmas sale is worth all that hassle for so little reward. (And even then, one of the cashiers in one of the stores we went to didn't give me proper discounts on the stuff I bought. Did I go back and demand my measly $4.25? I did not. It just wasn't worth it.) Give me the good old internets any day.

Maybe what I really need is this.


Photo copyright: Google Images

Brilliant Television

I rarely watch t.v. these days because there's so little of value on the telly and the amount of advertising is mind numbing and frustrating.

Occasionally, though, there is a gem that bears Netflixing and enjoying sans commercials. Recently, I've been watching episodes of Boston Legal and I have to say, that has to be some of the most intelligent, witty writing out there. James Spader and William Shatner are brilliant!

Another show that was a gem is The Carol Burnett Show. The talent of Carol Burnett, Harvey Corman, Tim Conway, and Vicki Lawrence was superlative. The Bob Mackie designs were amazing. Who can forget that scene where Carol Burnett, in spoofing Gone with the Wind with a sketch called Went with the Wind, descends the staircase of Tara wearing a velvet drapery with the rod still attached mocking Vivian Leigh's drapery-made dress? As she gets to the bottom of the stairs and Harvey Corman compliments and asks her where she got the dress, Carol replies, absolutely deadpan, "I saw it in the window and I just couldn't resist it." Brilliant!



Monday night, I was watching a PBS series called American Masters and they featured Carol Burnett. At one point, Bee turned to me and asked, "Do you ever think the variety show will make a comeback?" I thought for a moment and then said, "I doubt it." In a country where instant gratification, soundbites, skankiness, and crude repartee are the hallmark of so much television and entertainment, a show like Burnett's wouldn't have a chance in today's world. Which is really lamentable.

Did I mention that what's missing from television is brilliance? Oh, I did? Just wanted to be sure.

So, what shows do you think are brilliant?

Video clip courtesy of YouTube.

Getting Old

I realized today, whilst leaving a comment on a friend's blog, that I'm getting old... er... older.

What's the big epiphany that goes with this realization, you ask?

Compound words. I'm realizing they confound me. Not the fancy- schmancy ones like skyscraper or rhinorrhea or butterfly or supercalifragilistic. Those ones are fine. No, it's the day-to-day, run-of-the-mill compound words that make less and less sense as I age.

For example, the word everywhere. Why? Why is this a compound word? Why hasn't it been--I don't know--reformed, like alright was to all right a few years ago, and simply made back into every where? The same goes for someone, something, anything, anyone, everyone... Well, I'm sure you get my drift.

And then there's instead, which has lost its flair and high English qualities by being run together in a mealy mouth, oatmeal sort of way. Instead. Instead. Ick. Something... No wait, some thing in my verbal DNA demands that we return to the older, more wizened (read: Shakespearean) usage of this word. As in, he will attend the meeting in my stead.

Yeah, I know. I know. I make absolutely no sense, and this is just further proof that I'm nonsensical.

P.S. And yes, I know I'm mostly talking about pronouns and adverbs and prepositions in my examples, which are probably exempted for some stupendously exceptional reason as is often found in the English language. Feh.