Oscars So Weird
Monday, March 28, 2022
Misc Wednesday
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Mistaken Identity
Saturday, June 26, 2021
Today in Pictures
Friday, December 4, 2020
In other random news, THIS is continuing:
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Just the Feet
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Me: No puns? I wouldn't watch that.
Me: All puns. No pundits.
Lauren: Just the feet.
Fredericksburg Weekend
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
We went to Fredericksburg with Cathy and George for the weekend. Supah-fun!
On the way, we stopped in Luckenbach. We probably could have missed it, to be honest. If there was a concert or something, I think it could be cool. We landed there with a bus load of tourists who were just sitting around staring at each other at the tables outside. It's tiny, which is the point, but it's just more commercial/touristy than the typical historical places we like to go. Still, a concert would probably be great!
We ate at a local Italian place in Fredericksburg Friday night. It was good, but the most significant thing was finding out that there is a modern Fredericksburg just outside the historical/touristy Main Street! Who. Knew.
Saturday we did the Main Street thang, hitting all the stores. Ate lunch at Jennie's Smoked Burgers and Tornado Fries. VERY good. The smoky burger is really different and delicious. The tornado fries are spiraled potato on a stick, fried in a fryer and seasoned. Yum.
We went out to the gorgeous Altstadt Brewery and tasted several of their beers. What a beautiful place to have a wedding or other event. We especially liked their Alt, and also a subvariant of their Kolsch, which was available on the tasting menu. Their restaurant menu looks divine, but we headed back to town that night for dinner at The Auslander. Everything was good at The Auslander, including their Opa's sausage, schweineschnitzel and the apple streudel.
They are building a Texas Rangers Museum outside of town, which will be a lot bigger than the one in Waco. It's right next to Fort Martin Scott on Main.
We stayed at the Fredericksburg Inn and Suites, which I recommend whole-heartedly. The inn is on Baron's Creek, just a block off Main, near the Nimitz Museum. The rooms are modern, clean and comfortable. Free fountain drinks are available in the historic Sunday House, 24/7. They have the typical hotel free breakfast. There are tons of cool little seating areas around the grounds, for groups large and small. Really nice place.
Cathy's stories are always entertaining, sometimes because they have a random surprise element towards the end. She was telling us about her mom's new boyfriend, and that Mom is moving out of Cathy's place to live with a female roommate.
Me: Why isn't she moving in with the new boyfriend?
Cathy: Probably because he's married.
Ha! Ahh!
Later, she was talking about her cousin who quit her job and went with her husband to Las Vegas to gamble on a big future with their gambling winnings. Then they ran out of money and started calling family members to send them more money.
Me: What does her husband do?
Cathy: I don't know. I do know he's a cross-dresser.
You really have to stop drinking when she's telling a story, or risk spitting your drink across the table.
Good times!
Friday Amusement
Friday, February 15, 2019
Yesterday, the colonoscopy anesthesiologist chatted with me about the anesthesia, and then did the normal round of medical history questions- that list of 100 things from seasonal allergies to stroke, where you say, "no...no...no...yes...no...no..." Always fun.
When she was finally on her way out of the room, she smiled and said, "Well, I'm glad you made it through the..."
I thought she was going to say, "...colonoscopy prep meds!"
She said, "...Hodgkin's and breast cancer!"
Ha! Yes, that, too! But those laxatives. Seriously y'all.
Another thing that's been making me laugh lately is a hilarious moment on the show "The Kids Are Alright." A kid is on the phone with someone, making an excuse that he can't do something, because his grandfather is dying. He whispers to his brother to make a noise in the background like he's dying, and the brother shrieks...
"AAAAAAAAAAH!! I'VE BEEN SHOT!!"
Yep!
Still hilarious!
Wednesday
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Got a message from Grant the other day, out of the blue. Just two photos of him, posing with a duck on his shoulder. Grant and I are the kind of old friends who send birthday cards to each other and text or email maybe once a year, so to start a text conversation with random photos, instead of "Hey! Check out my new pet!" was a clue that these photos were probably sent to me inadvertently.
Grant and I chatted a bit, and then I told Jeff about it. Jeff said, "Well at least it wasn't an unsolicited d* pic."
No. It was an unsolicited DUCK PIC.
Bwahahaa.
Jeff and I had margs at Curra's with Doug and his mom last weekend. She is still a firecracker, like she always was! It was fun to see them together again.
In other news, we saw A Star is Born, like a million years ago now, and Lady Gaga is SO talented. Holy moly. I mean, we knew it already, but she is amazing in this film. Bradley Cooper, also fabulous. I hope "Shallow" gets an Oscar nom!
We also saw Green Book, which I loved. Such a relevant movie for these times. It is very raw and real. The honesty is refreshing. And you'll be smiling at the end, which is nice.
Finally did our weekend in Waco with Scott-n-Julie. It was fun fun! We made it to the Waco Mammoth National Monument. It was VERY cool. Learned a lot. They may start digging there again soon.
We went to a museum with a John James Audubon exhibit. We've had great luck getting museum curators and directors telling us stories during our trips, and this one was no different. The lady told us how she accidentally ended up with a very rare print. Ask questions at museums! The real stories are behind the scenes.
Sorry to say, I wasn't very impressed with Magnolia Market. It's just a store, and it is packed to the gills with people, making it impossible to see everything. I would have bought a giant clock, but there is no way I could have fit it into the car was going to stand in that line.
We went to the Spice Village, which I liked a lot. There are a lot of neat things for sale there. Many stores in town have "Magnolia-like" merch that you can buy for less money and hassle than at Magnolia. At one of those stores, I wanted to get a retired red wine barrel for my in-laws' back patio (they're wine people), but wasn't sure how to get it home or to Frisco. Cool item though!
"Austin's Fun..."
Monday, June 4, 2018
Jerry Seinfeld said on the new Letterman bonus episode on Netflix that he loves the show Portlandia, and that Fred Armisen is so talented, and people should look up a video online where he does Texas accents by city. I actually remembered to look it up, and his accents are hilarious. The Texas part of this particular clip starts about 1:30, but the whole thing is awesome.
Saturday 9: It's Impossible (1970)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) In this song, Mr. Como maintains it's impossible to ask a baby not to cry. When did you most recently hold a baby? Did you ask him or her not to cry?
2) Perry Como was known for his casual, easy going style. Therefore people were surprised to learn that he could lose his temper. His long-time musical director reported that bad drivers really got under Perry's skin. What is one of your pet peeves?
3) Though Perry Como was born in Pennsylvania, he didn't speak English until he began grade school. His parents were Italian immigrants and the family only spoke Italian at home. Do you know any words/phrases in Italian?
4) He met Roselle, the girl he would marry, when they were both still in high school. Tell us about a high school classmate you were crazy about back in the day.
My two high school boyfriends were a gregarious, hilarious actor/free spirit... and a sweet, super-chill artist/world traveler.
5) When he was just 14, his father's ill health made it essential that Perry begin working after school to help support his family. He apprenticed to a barber but was so short, he had to stand on a box when he cut hair. Again, going back to school, were you taller than your classmates? Shorter? Or were you the average height for a kid your age?
I was taller than almost everyone until about 7th grade, when everyone caught up, and eventually passed me.
6) While taping his annual holiday special in 1971, he fell from a platform and broke his knee. He had to wear a cast and endure 8 months of rehab. Have you ever broken a bone?
Nope.
7) During the decades when he was a recording and television star, Perry Como was also an avid golfer. He was so popular that many of the best pro golfers of the day -- Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, etc. -- were happy to play with him. It's estimated that it takes about 4 hours to play 18 holes of golf. What celebrity would you most like to hang around with for four hours?
Michael Symon
8) After he retired, Perry's passion switched from golf to fishing in the waters near Palm Beach, Florida. His catch of the day often ended up as his family's dinner. What's for dinner at your house tonight?
Italian rotisserie chicken, lemon roasted potatoes and a cup of halved strawberries
9) Random question -- They say "birds of a feather, flock together." But that's not always true. Can you think of an area where you are out of step with most of your friends/family?
I'm more silly and lighthearted than most of my friends/family.
A Malapropism Walks Into a Bar...
Friday, March 9, 2018
This little gem is making the rounds on the interwebs:
A dangling participle walks into a bar. Enjoying a cocktail and chatting with the bartender, the evening passes pleasantly.
A bar was walked into by the passive voice.
An oxymoron walked into a bar, and the silence was deafening.
Two quotation marks walk into a “bar.”
A malapropism walks into a bar, looking for all intensive purposes like a wolf in cheap clothing, muttering epitaphs and casting dispersions on his magnificent other, who takes him for granite.
Hyperbole totally rips into this insane bar and absolutely destroys everything.
A question mark walks into a bar?
A non sequitur walks into a bar. In a strong wind, even turkeys can fly.
Papyrus and Comic Sans walk into a bar. The bartender says, "Get out -- we don't serve your type."
A mixed metaphor walks into a bar, seeing the handwriting on the wall but hoping to nip it in the bud.
A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink and then leaves.
Three intransitive verbs walk into a bar. They sit. They converse. They depart.
A synonym strolls into a tavern.
At the end of the day, a cliché walks into a bar -- fresh as a daisy, cute as a button, and sharp as a tack.
A run-on sentence walks into a bar it starts flirting. With a cute little sentence fragment.
Falling slowly, softly falling, the chiasmus collapses to the bar floor.
A figure of speech literally walks into a bar and ends up getting figuratively hammered.
An allusion walks into a bar, despite the fact that alcohol is its Achilles heel.
The subjunctive would have walked into a bar, had it only known.
A misplaced modifier walks into a bar owned a man with a glass eye named Ralph.
The past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.
A dyslexic walks into a bra.
A verb walks into a bar, sees a beautiful noun, and suggests they conjugate. The noun declines.
An Oxford comma walks into a bar, where it spends the evening watching the television getting drunk and smoking cigars.
A simile walks into a bar, as parched as a desert.
A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to forget.
A hyphenated word and a non-hyphenated word walk into a bar and the bartender nearly chokes on the irony.
Unfamiliar with this week's song. Hear it here.
1) This song describes the plight of "poor ol' Jimmy," who caught his girlfriend kissing someone else. Have you ever spied on a romantic partner?
2) In this song, Stephen Bishop sings that he "smiles when he feels like dying." When did you recently put on a happy face, even though you really weren't all that happy?
3) Stephen Bishop always wanted to be a musician, and as a child he began playing the clarinet. Did you take lessons -- dance, art, music -- as a child? If yes, did you take them because you enjoyed them, or because your parents made you take them?
4) When he was 12, inspired by The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, he switched to the guitar and began writing songs. Tell us about someone or something that influenced your career path.
5) Stephen Bishop attended Will C. Crawford High School in San Diego. This school requires students complete 20 hours of community service every year. Tell us about an organization, cause or campaign you volunteered for, either as a student or an adult.
6) In 1977, when this song was popular, Seattle Slew won racing's Triple Crown. Sam's mother has always been afraid of horses. Is there an animal you're uncomfortable with?
7) Also in 1977, moviegoers waited in line for hours to see Star Wars. What's the longest line you waited in recently?
8) The mini-series Roots first aired in 1977. Today Americans are spending more time and money than ever to research ancestry. How far back can you trace your family tree?
9) Random question: It's often said that nobody's perfect. How about you? What quality keeps you from being perfect?
How the Tides Work... 'n' Stuff
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
This post went random pretty quickly, so I thought I'd come back to the top to warn you. Random Wednesday!
One of the guys on TMZ started a new segment with what I thought was "The Olympics are over and a lot of the athletes wanted to breastfeed dogs from meat farms..."
Turned out he said "rescue" not "breastfeed"... which is still interesting in its own way.
You know those pre-fab, frosted grocery store cookies in the plastic boxes, that people debate about, whether they are the most delicious thing in the bakery or the most disgusting thing on the planet? Well, I have some with pink frosting. (You KNOW you're jealous!) Guess what? They make your poop pink. Just didn't want anyone else to worry that they might have a deadly GI illness.
(Yikes!)
Hey. So, is Chasez singing the Bubly sparkling water jingle on the new commercial? It sounds very Chasez-ish.
If you haven't been watching Blue Planet II, you need to. Every minute of each episode shows you a new and amazing something. They catch things on film that have never been seen. And! I finally understand how the moon creates the tide. I have always thought they were saying that the moon pulled the tide away from the shore with it's gravity, which didn't ever make sense to me, because the moon would have to follow a very specific path parallel to the land to pull the water away from a particular shore, and thus would have an effect on some beaches, but not others.
The more accurate explanation is that the moon is pulling the whole ocean UP with its gravity, which, in turn, pulls the edges away from all the shores. Get it? I had this light bulb moment when Blue Planet II was discussing it very briefly, and the time lapse video just hit me a certain way where it all made sense. Too funny.
And since I did more research on the Google, I will share with you that the reason there are two high tides a day is because the moon pulls the land away from the ocean when it's on the other side of the Earth, resulting in a second bulging of the ocean. (Here's a fancy gif.)
And finally, one of my coworkers sent me this (for those of us who manage data... or don't... still funny!):
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Congrats, Bama!
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Made Ina's famous cheeseball recipe for New Year's Eve, and again last night for the NCAA football championship. Always a hit! And what a game!! I had a slight leaning towards the Dawgs, but it didn't really matter much to me who won. All SEC, baby!
In a very amusing variation of "your sunglasses are on your head," Sunday, Jeff was lounging on the couch, complaining that he couldn't find the television remote... which was sitting on his chest.
Ha!
Cathy posted this clip this morning on FB- my guilty pleasure song for years. I dare you to listen without singing and/or dancing.
Awesome!
Great-Grandma McKenna
Saturday, January 6, 2018
My mom's mother's mom, who died the year I was born, was a part of the "Orphan Train" program. They sent orphans from New York City to homes out west in the late 1800's to early 1900's, for foster care or adoption. My Irish great-great grandparents in Wisconsin adopted her sometime between 1895 (the year she was born) and 1900. Sadly, I'll probably never be able to find information about her birth family, but I have found out many things about her that I didn't know before.
Yesterday I found her junior and senior year high school yearbooks online. She performed in some plays. She was also active in the Girls' Literary Society, which met regularly to discuss music, books and papers. Some of the girls wrote and published their own books, about everything from boys to beauty to autobiographies. My great-grandmother's book was called "Chemistry Made Easy," a guide for freshmen. Pretty cool.
Oh, her last name was McKenna, and her high school nickname was "Kenny." Kenny! Love it!
Kumail Nanjiani was on Ellen yesterday! He told a hilarious story!!
Happy 2018!
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Funniest part of the holidays...
Jeff's Mom: What was the situation that Christmas, when you and Steven (Jeff's younger brother) went to Missouri by yourselves, and Dad and I stayed in Dallas? You were in college and Steven was in middle school.
Jeff: There was something going on and you guys had to stay here, so we went without you.
Me: Wait. You let Jeff drive your precious baby all the way to Missouri and back?
Jeff's Dad: Nah, he drove the old car.
*crickets* (...other than me giggling)
Jeff: I think she meant Steven.
*crickets*
Aaaaaahahaha! It's funnier every time I tell it.
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) In this song, Barry Manilow declares New Year's Eve is "just another night." How do you feel about 12/31? Is it a special occasion or just another night?
If we're doing something special, it's special, otherwise, it's just another night!
2) Barry sings that in the past year, "we've made mistakes." What in 2017 do you wish you could do over?
3) He also sings of happy nights with friends. Tell us about a really good time you had in the past year.
4) The song references growing wiser, as well as older. What's something you learned or discovered in 2017?
5) What do you wish you had spent more time doing during 2017?
6) What was the smartest thing you did all this past year?
7) As this year comes to a close, what are you most grateful for?
8) When this week's featured artist, Barry Manilow, was a jingle writer, he wrote the famous "You deserve a break today at McDonald's" song. When's the last time you visited the Golden Arches?
9) Random question: In high school, were you more popular with the boys or the girls?
The boys. In high school and college, I had far more guy friends than girlfriends.
Andy and Anderson Road Trip!
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Laura and I went to Houston for last Saturday night's AC2 Live: An Intimate Evening with Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper. So fun! My favorite moment at the show was during the audience Q&A portion, when this happened...
Audience Member: What celebrity gave you butterflies and maybe made you... "bone up" when you interviewed them?
Audience: Oooooooh!
Andy: (I think he related a story about interviewing David Beckham here... sorta forgot when Anderson said what's coming up..)
Audience Member: ...I was thinking maybe *forgotten hot male celebrity* or John Hamm.
Andy: Oh, yeah!
Anderson: Well, when I was mediating the Presidential debates last year...
Audience: Uhhhhhh....
Andy: [wtf?!]
Anderson: What?
Andy: What are you about to say?! He is asking what celebrity gave you a boner!
Anderson: Oh. I thought he meant the person gave you butterflies, like they made you nervous, so you "boned up," like you did research on them.
Bwahahaaaaa! Oh man.
I only wished the show was a little longer, because it really was like hanging out at a bar, chatting with the two of them. Very interesting, and hilarious.
In other news... I just found out this afternoon that JC Chasez was in a musical comedy last year called Opening Night, with Topher Grace and a bunch of other big names. I watched a few clips online. I'll have to rent it. Last I had heard, he was going to play Pontius Pilate in an arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar with a bunch of cool music people, but then it never happened:
Anger for 'Jesus Christ Superstar' Cast and a Black Eye for Its Promoter
Bummer! At least I didn't miss it. I've been missing things lately- must pay more attention to my Ticketmaster emails!
Throwback Saturday
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Phoning it in today with amusing quotes from my old LiveJournal. I was reading through some entries from 2004 yesterday. Lauren was in fourth grade. The JC Chasez solo tour was going on. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King was the big movie at the time and we were all lamenting the end of the trilogy. I did a major redecorating of Lauren's room with an LOTR theme (it turned out so cool!).
Here we go!
I'm thinking that when I was in school, History would have held my interest more if Antonio Banderas had just sung it to me. In tight pants and an open shirt.
In other news, the DD has presented her book report on the J.R.R. Tolkien biography. It's a good thing we cleared up the fact that he did NOT grow up in Alabama. I can see how the Birmingham thing threw her off.
Never wear a red shirt to Target. Just sayin'.
Just spent ten minutes looking for a doll shoe. It's for one from DD's collection of display-only porcelain dolls. I noticed the shoe was missing when I was moving them around, as I like to do every so often.
Ten. Minutes.
The doll? Cinderella. She doesn't HAVE the other shoe.
While I'm making nasty comments about this weird email, DH says, "You didn't click on the link did you?"
Duh, no.
He says, "The guy has two penis names. Don't click on the link."
"What do you wanna do? Ahh! I can teach American sex slang."
"And... it's roly-poly season!"
"I'm not playing. Your ass is a technical background."
"George Clooney hasn't tweeted anything. We are both on a frozen custard sort of vacation."
"Piven does rock! Squeee!"
"Looking for a B&J's? I've heard that about you."
It's Pretzels.
Monday, July 31, 2017
Progressive Guy: I can't decide if this place is 'swag' or 'bling.'
Mall Pretzel Dude: It's 'pretzels.'
Bwahaha! That Progressive commercial cracks me up.
Fun With Light-Up Letters
Thursday, April 27, 2017
It's the little things that amuse me.
Also at Target...
Me: Are you going to try on that bra?
Lauren: Yes.
Me: Okay. I'm going to look for plastic cups.
Lauren: PLASTIC? Why would you want a bra with plastic cups?
Me: No... plastic drinking cups at the front of the store!
Ohmigosh y'all. This so-true article had me ROLLING----
People Can't Stop Making Fun of House Hunters Insane Budgets and Now It's a Meme
"I vajazzle labradoodles." Bwahaha! *wipes tears*
I've watched hundreds of episodes of House Hunters, and have correctly guessed which house they wanted maybe three times. I don't know if that means I'm not as tuned in to the buyers' needs as I think I am, or the show is edited purposely to mislead us, but I am definitely not a winner playing that game.
Our Girls Weekend finally begins tomorrow! Wheeeee! Read more...








