Best. Food Store. Ever

Woodman's.

I heart Woodman's. In fact, I am willing to totally make it a family bonding event. Today that's just what happened. I got separated from my parents (heh) and some guy ran his cart into me. Turns out it was my brother. So we had a great time, my folks, my brother, and I, perusing limitless selections of ice cream, types of turkey products, a plethora of bacon, walleye, buffalo meat, british cookies, seafood, That Good Toilet Paper, and dried raspberries. Woodman's is all that, and a bag of chips. And fries with that. I'll take it!

While Doing Research on Iron I Came Across This Gem:

"Does this baby make me look fat"

Yes, honey, it does.

You Are Not Allowed To Give Up

Buck up soldier.

He said caption it so....

I dun it!

My Dream Ticket

...for president, someday.

Paul Ryan and Bobby Jindal. Bobby Jindal and Paul Ryan.

Tell me this would not be a true change agent, positive ticket that would stand for all this country is about.

Viva La Vida

This is a great song by Coldplay, and generally, I don't like them on purpose because I think they've been oversold. But this, and the Buena Vista Social Club version of "Clocks", are great tunes :)

Halfway Through The Week!

More Bumper Sticker Tripe

Seen in the parking lot at Pick 'n Save:

"Too Bad The Ones Who Know How To Run The Country Are Busy Teaching School"

So I had a thought, which was to go over to the car and regurgitate on the bumper. However, there was a very attractive man with shiny black hair walking towards his Range Rover, whose attention I would have really liked to have. He won out, this time.

It's GAS!

Real Gas!!!!

Y'all, I had a horrible day on Tuesday. Jay Weber announced that the Concord BP station was no longer carrying unreformulated gas. That changed everything for me on a very basic economic level. Concord got all of my business for the past four years. All of it. Ethanol only touched my tank when it was unavoidable.

So I was heartbroken on Tuesday.

But, alas, all is not lost.

The East Troy Shell station, which I do frequent from time to time, still carries nonreformulated. So if you are driving 30 miles to fill up, Shell is your stop.

And I asked them how long it would be before they were forced over. They said that they were in no danger of that happening, but he gave me a number to call and let Shell know that I want real gas. So if you want real gas, and want to ensure it's future, call 888-go-shell (888-467-4355).

I'll let them know that they can have my business, exclusively, for the next four years and beyond. They can have the business of all of my family members, exclusively, too. If I was a business owner, that would be a dream come true. Almost as good as a mandate.

Phel Jones' Urban Hang Suite

That's the name for the new place downtown. And it will be a bit more urban. Less retro. Classic yes, clean lines yes, but nothing that says "does not have life together". Steel signs will be replaced with abstract art. Things will be symmetrical. With a touch of danish modern and asian flair.

And allll city girl :)

The pinups, they stay though.

Hooray! Big Girl Furniture!

Ah yes, the days of skating by are done. Well at least for today :) I have bought myself a couch, a matching chair, and a storage ottoman. This is a big step for yours truly. The magic of financing helps - I took advantage of Steinhafel's sale this weekend. No payments for a year, pay it off within two years.

It's just the right size and style for my new place. It will look GREAT! First thing I noticed about it was that it was proportioned for a little person. Also did a test-nap position and yes, I can confirm that there will be some long afternoons of taking a nap like a dog in a sunny spot.

It sure is nice to have life coming together. A few months ago I would not have even been able to think about furniture. Now I just need some updated floor lamps and curtains and I should be pretty well put together for a while.

Click on 'em for detail

Happy Birthday Bob Dylan II

Hat tip to Wiggy!!

Happy Birthday to Bob Dylan. He is truly one of my favorites. If I had to dump all my CDs and keep only a few, you can bet that my copy of No Direction Home would be in there.

And yes, I'm totally copying his idea and sharing a couple of my favorites. Including the way he talked to the press :)



The country/folk classics he brought us:


This song was written about me, btw :)

"Utility Back Bills Residents"

Do you think they could find it in their heart to eat this one? What an incredible PR opportunity it would be. The headline and story could instead be along the lines of "After long expensive winter, utility will absorb costs". Heck, even Hugo Chavez understands a good energy PR opportunity:

From the JSOnline:

Utility back-bills residents

We Energies seeks money lost due to broken meters

At least 21,000 We Energies customers are getting hit with unexpected bills totaling about $3 million after broken meters failed to accurately report natural gas usage this winter.

We Energies is back-billing customers by estimating their gas usage. The utility is allowed to do this under state law, but some customers complain that the company is taking advantage of them and charging too much for the utility's own mistake.

"I don't know where they are coming up with these numbers," said Angela Lucchesi, who received a $600 bill from the utility in April for billing mistakes made since January. "The equipment is not working, so I have to pay for it?"

Lucchesi lives in a duplex in Milwaukee, where one of the meters went on the fritz this winter after extreme swings in temperature caused problems with automated meter reading technology.

Read the rest online. I know many single mothers who are struggling - I mean really struggling - against a big utility who threatens them with dump payments of "$750 or else well turn it off". And that's before this latest news to arbitrarily charge people what they think they should pay.

Where is Barack Obama when we need him? THIS is something that is actually "Unfair" and "Big Energy".

Christina Ricci Cat

more cat pictures

Ready, Steady, Go!

It's the WEEEEEEEKEND!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy this uber classic from Generation X... otherwise known as the band that made Billy Idol ;)




FTR... Dancing With Myself is STILL musical genius. Put that baby on your iPod and there's no way it won't get you going. The version by Generation X rocks way more than the pop version we all knew.

Worst. Dress. Ever.

Horrible fit.

Bad color.

Stupid style.

Minute 1:28, in all it's glory.

Oh, with the exception of three, the guys are a bunch of boorish douchebags, too.

BFL, Week Four

Nothing helps like a little iron. Whatever it is you plan to do in life, it can be greatly assisted by a daily iron supplement. If you're female, or you know someone who is, you should be taking it and/or ensuring all femaledom that iron is their friend. Even the gentlemens, especially if physically active, can beat those two week blahs.

Take iron at night, on an empty stomach, at least three hours after dairy. Ferrous glycinate and succonate are friendly and highly absorbable. And they dig you, too. In fact, they think you're pretty hot. How you like 'em now?

However good and fine you feel, iron will make it even better.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now on to week three. I've only lost about 3 lbs in three weeks, but I started out at a flabby 121. If I go up to 125 that won't bother me. The goal is health, strength, vibrance and discipline. Now I haven't hit all of those, but I am squatting up to 30 lbs this week. Sound wimpy? You try it tuff guy!

Four weeks is a good point in an aggressive exercise routine. After the first four weeks of it sucking, and sucking it up, you start to see some results. It's easier to lift things, push things, walk up hills in high heels, and not feel like you're dragging yourself. Oh, and my formerly very painful knees, elbows, and back have all improved. No more knee braces or patella straps.

Each day that I work out, I take notes. How I felt, what it was like to push myself up to or four pounds for a cumulative set, what was on my mind, what I'm going to do next. What I could have done better. At first my notes were kind of dour for obvious reasons but now I can see the tone has changed.

Moderation is one of my goals in this program. And I am beginning to moderate better. Before if I "fell off the wagon" I would be very discouraged that I broke my streak. I would have thrown my efforts out the window. Now I know that I can just get back on the horse and keep going. I get that now.

Six weeks to go. Hope to go a little further :)

Adventures in Blog Stats

Oh yes you can run, but you can't hide from MEN IN FRILLY PANTIES!

Starting the Week off Right

Dagnabbit..... let's do this again!

Sunday Music: Sugar

One of my favorite songs by Sugar: Your Favorite Thing.

I heart this song <3

`

The JS Online News Watch

....most days, it's just a body count meter.

And beat-up people, hit and run meter.

Carbon/Silicon: Why Do Men Fight

What I'm listening to now ....

Just because I have heard more Clash/Big Audio Dynamite in the past few days while I've been out and about :)

It's definitely the longer version of the song

Overheard at Target

Two gentlemen in their early 20s as they walk past the fitness nutrition display....

"Dude, that protein stuff is rank"

Yes, yes sir, it is!


(Just some advice for anyone considering a protein supplement: whey products will turn you an olfactory terrorist. If you love your loved ones and you have any self-respect, pass on the whey. If you don't believe me, try some. Just do it on a weekend.)

You Flipping Sissies

Yes, you, you sissy

Oh poor me, look at me, look at how offended I am

Really, I'm sure these boys are secretly wearing frilly pink panties.

There are other words I want to use here but I try to keep this family friendly.

In looking at these pictures, I see a group of people who should not be defended, who should not be fought for. They look like a bunch of ungrateful, entitlement minded p***ies. They wouldn't last a second in a stressful situation and would collapse like folding chairs.

I see a lot of these types and I often say to myself, "they'll eat you first".

For every freedom there is an equal responsibility.

In other news today, I went to the Metro Market and bought a few industrial size tubs of baby wipes and three containers of q-tips and dropped them off at the Troop Support event that was held today at the War Memorial Center.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, you dopes.

Back to Black

She's a mess, but she is enormously talented. Back to black - for no good reason other than it's a good song :)

First Female Vice President?

ahhhh so pretty!!!!!

Pick me, pick me!

Movers: Who have you used, and who was most affordable?

So far I have heard 50/50 on Two Men and a Truck.

I hear ABC Kortsch is good but expensive

Heard Shamrock rocks.

This isn't a big move, but it does need to be handled with care. It's mostly my bed, some antique furniture pieces like a dresser, a desk, and my fan-tastic rattan table. Tv, stand, and some boxes of crap that I have managed to whittle down.

But it is mine, and I want to be sure that I get the right folks at the right price. Any recommendations would be aper-ciated!

People in India Eat Twice as Many Calories Per Day As I Do

"Americans eat an average of 3,770 calories per capita a day, the highest amount in the world, according to data from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, compared to 2,440 calories in India."

Via Drudge

NEW DELHI: Instead of blaming India and other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy and go on a diet, say a growing number of politicians, economists and academics here.

Criticism of the United States has ballooned in India recently, particularly after the Bush administration seemed to blame India's increasing middle class and prosperity for rising food prices. Critics from India seem to be asking one underlying question: "Why do Americans think they deserve to eat more than Indians?"

The food problem has "clearly" been created by Americans, who are eating 50 percent more calories than the average person in India, said Pradeep Mehta, the secretary general of CUTS Center for International Trade, Economics and Environment, a private economic research organization based in India with offices in Kenya, Zambia, Vietnam and Britain.

This is quite the Blame the US article, but c'mon, we aren't "hogging all the food". Food shortages have a lot more to do with the Corn crisis, because let's face it, we've been piling our plate here for a good 15 years. The big difference is that we have a market for high calorie food, India does not.

Can we and should we make some changes? Heck yeah. I made the change in 1992 and lost 45 pounds. It was habit based. Now, even with weightlifiting, I'm averaging 1300 calories a day. So shouldn't the writers of the above article be preaching even lower calorie diets? Who decides what's appropriate?

Wednesday Tune

"Rockville" by R.E.M.



...well, at least I'm not going back to Lutherville!

Conspiracy Corner

What if the price in oil per barrel is actually economic terrorism?

Let me guess

They looked at her, first.

Two Phrases That Don't Normally Fit Together

IRS and Good News.

I called today to find out where my piece of the pie is. Well let me rephrase, for the status on what the government is giving to me, that it has already taken from me.

I expected a $300 check. Hotdamn! I'm getting $600!

The new Dell. She done totally gonna be paid off and sh*t

Rebuilding - the Body for Life Program

Monday will start the third week on the Body for Life program. This is something I definitely needed to do in order to get my health back on track. My cholesterol is high, my eating habits were willy nilly, and the yoga was for sissies and suckas. And it was expensive.

This is a program that was introduced to me by the person I was most recently seeing and I started it the day before he broke up with me. Knowing this was coming, I vowed to myself that I would continue and claim it as my own.

BFL provides a lot of opportunities to work on areas of your life that need it, not just the physical. Some of my goals with the program, besides getting back into my exercise groove, are to learn moderation, overcome inertia, and get over myself and seize the moment. I also want to reestablish the structure in my life that was lost while working in my former job.

I also am hoping that the experience will help me meet more people. It will also get me into the swing of living downtown, getting up earlier, and having more energy through the creation of energy instead of waiting until I have some. Big lesson for me.

The program is 12 weeks long, and it's hard. You do cardio 3x a week prior to breakfast, 20 minute sessions of increasing intensity. Weight training is 3x weekly, alternating two days upper, one day lower one week, and then two days lower, one day upper the next, and so on. Sunday is a free day with no exercise and ability to eat whatever you want. Although most of the time, you don't go that crazy with it.

I have had many moments during the first two weeks where I wasn't sure I was game for doing this type of thing anymore. Perhaps I didn't have it in me. But those thoughts alone are the reason to do it. Plus, I want to be hot again. The old boyfriend took the before shots of me in my swimsuit, and I think honestly that it turned him off. This isn't my problem, it's his. And the reasons for doing this, as noted above, extend far beyond the opinions of any particular person.

Already, I see major differences at the end of the first two weeks. My posture, my glow, my movements, my social skills have all improved. Heck, my eyes are brighter and my mane is glossy, too.

Bring on summer :)

A Happy Friday

Mars goes into Leo today. We can expect a lot of the navel-gazing gloom of the past six months to lift. I'm not an astrologer, but I am an observer. This energy will last for the next six weeks as we move into spring and summer. Spend time with family and friends, move forward with your plans, have fun :)

Friday Music

This song has been going through my head all week :)

Holga, My Holga

For a long time now, I've wanted a Holga camera.

If you're not familiar with Holga, I strongly recommend checking it out. Holgas are plastic cameras with fixed focus. No bells and whistles unless you physically modify the camera. But oh the magic that comes from Holga. Behold:






Holga is a medium format, 120 film camera. Yep, film. One shot, can't check it kind of pics. You have to use your imagination to think about how it might turn out. Holgas are full of light leaks and other nuances that create these dreamy, vibrant images. Not necessarily crisp, but they are vibrant.

I took one roll this past week. Will be taking some more at the Mother's Day gathering. As this comes together, I'll scan and upload them for all to see.

My Energy Grand Plan

Well, it's a preliminary plan, let's put it that way.

As most of you know I'm moving downtown this summer from a wonderful duplex. This was a good place to live, but energy costs just don't allow for it anymore. Plus, I did take a slight pay cut for my new position and I have to be careful about that.

In my latest round of calls with We Energies, they suggested a budget plan of $230 per month for me. In a word, no. I have We Energies readers and that's just robbery. There is only me, and that's disproportionate.

Here is what I am estimating. Hard numbers to come later:

- When I live downtown I'll be able to walk to work. That will save me at least $100 per month in gas if not more.

- It will also reduce my insurance rates since I will be driving less than 5k miles per year.

- I will not be paying anywhere near $200+ to We Energies per month. The number will more likely be $30. My wonderful gas stove will be gone, which stinks, but this is reality now.

- My family is getting more shop savvy. Pa discovered that Woodman's is a great deal. Instead of all members of my family going there separately, we can make biweekly or monthly runs. We can also combine our spending dollars and divvy up according to the deals on things we use most. Yes, in America. It'll also save on gas money for us to carpool to the store.

- Already I have made the switch to Aldi

- Starbucks. My last bastion. Because I'll be walking to work, there will be no occasion for me to stop at Starbucks. There isn't one on the way.

- If I have to, some months I will park my car at my brother's or maybe my parents. One thing that must not touch my car's tank (it barely ever does, anyway) is Ethanol. Your car cannot sit - let alone in hot weather - for an extended amount of time with Ethanol in it. It's perishable and will break down in your tank. Then what're you gonna do?

In the meantime, back at the duplex:

- Mornings will be spent at the new club that I joined. This is a good and healthy plan that I am on which will help rebuild my life. It will do some other things though - prevent me from having to pay to heat the water for my showers. I also will spend less money on laundry since I will wash towels less frequently.

- Still going to hit Aldi on my way out to the country to get gas.

- Going to put my savings into my sofa fund. The sofa must have ample cuddle, crash out, and Tom Cruise couch jumping attributes. And good pillows for pillow fights. Hey, it's not completely out of the picture to misbehave at Aunt Phel's.

Surely I'll have more things to share but this is a start. Is anyone else blogging their money-saving ideas?

PS: The bike in the garage. You know, the one that's been sitting for 15 some odd years...she done gotta be tuned up because her loafing years are over!

Inspiration from Real Debate

My awl-time favorite Looney Tune! I used to talk about this when I was in my early 20s and everyone looked at me like I was in outer space. Now that he has a name, my honor has been restored!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Michigan J. Frog:

Now I want to pick up a copy of the Shepherd and see for myself

In the meantime, stop over by John McAdams to see what all the flap is about.