BJ and Tyler

I LOVE BJ and Tyler. LOVE THEM!

Here's why: They are so friendly. They are so nice and goofy and happy-go-lucky.

But what I really love is that they have learned to say something (at the very least, "thank you,") in the language of all of the countries they visited. AND THEY USE IT!!!

Often times, people will know how to use the language but not actually do it (so often you hear them say thank you in English with attempting the other language... in the case of The Race, it could very well be the stress of racing, being in a hurry... but often it is being nervous about saing it wrong, or just not knowing it or whatever...

BJ and Tyler are SO GRACIOUS!!! They ALWAYS talk to the locals and always say something in that language. I LOVE that about them... They are so fun and happy and unselfconscious and friendly.

They are my All Time favorite Racers

Glad I'm an HB Barbie

Irvine Barbie
This princess Barbie is only sold at The Irvine Spectrum. She comes
With an assortment of Louis Vuitton handbags, a Lexus SUV, a toy dog named Honey, and a cookie-cutter house. Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with "augmented" version.

Orange Barbie
This modern-day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Windstar
Minivan and white silouette stickers of family members on the rear
window. Known as a "soccer mom" she gets lost easily and has no full time occupation or secondary education. Has PTA membership and comes with Tupperware accessories. Cell phone sold separately.

Garden Grove Barbie
In addition to perfect English, this Barbie also speaks fluent
Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Mandarin and Tagalog. Comes with her own
street-racing import car, complete with Japanese animation decals. Large collection of video games sold separately. Careers or homes for this Barbie are not available, because she will stay with her parents until they die. If you purchase a Ken doll, he must move into her family's home and wait for their inheritance.

Buena Park Barbie
This recently paroled former "Porn Actress" Barbie comes with a 9mm
handgun, a Ray Lewis knife, a Chevy with dark tinted windows, and a
meth lab kit. This model is only available after dark and can only be
paid for in cash.

Tustin Ranch Barbie
This yuppie Blond Barbie comes with your choice of a convertible
Mercedes AMG55 or a Cadillac Escalade. Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card, and Curves membership. Comes also with Giorgio Armani fragrance, Gucci bag and Kate Spade sunglasses. Additional options for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. (You won't be able to afford any of them).

Yorba Linda Barbie
This brunette Barbie is the sister to Tustin Ranch Barbie and comes
with or without highlig hts. She comes with a BMW convertible or Hummer H2, Kenneth Cole Sunglasses, a Country Club Membership, and a Pier 1 credit line. Options for Yorba Linda Barbie are the Shiseido makeup kit; the Bvlgari jewelry set, or the Prada shoe collection. Yorba Linda Barbie has optional yuppie Ken doll complete with Corvette, hair gel and Rolex watch.

Newport Beach Barbie
This collagen injected, rhinoplastic Barbie wears an Yves Saint Laurent leopard print bikini outfit and drinks cosmopolitans while entertaining friends at the beach house. Percocet prescription and monthly alimony checks are included. This Barbie is only sold in Fashion Island.

Laguna Beach Barbie
This doll comes complete with craft set. She has long straight brown
hair, archless feet, no makeup, and Birkenstocks with white socks. She prefers that you call her "Willow." She does not want or need a Ken doll, but if you purchase two Laguna Beach Barbie's, you get a rainbow flag sticker free.

Long Beach Barbie
This Barbie now comes with a stroller and infant doll. Optional
accessories include a GED and a bus pass. Gangsta Ken and his '79 Caddy were available, but are now very difficult to find since the addition of an infant.

Huntington Beach Barbie
This very tan Barbie comes with string bikini, wet suit, 3 friendship
bracelets and surfboard. An MP3 player, Blockbuster video membership, pair of Vans and a beach cruiser are also included. Optional is her Lifeguard Yellow Ford Ranger with board rack (free KROQ sticker included!) Spicolli Ken can be purchased separately and comes with Hawaiian shirt and board shorts.

Rancho Santa Margarita Barbie
She 's perfect in every way. Her home is perfect. Her family is perfect. Comes with a part time job to earn her own spending money and a bible for church on Sundays. Also has a pre-assigned carpool day. We don't know who Ken is because he's always away hunting or biking or something...

Santa Ana Barbie
This Spanish-speaking-only Barbie comes with a 1984 Toyota with
expired temporary plates and three baby Barbies in the back seat, but
no car seats. The optional Ken doll comes with a meat-packer's uniform and is missing three fingers on his left hand. Green cards are not available for Santa Ana Barbie or Ken.

OUT OF TOWN BARBIES:
Fontana Barbie
This pale model comes dressed in low rise Levi's, a NASCAR shirt, and a Tweety Bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Coors Light and a Hank Williams, Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and
kick mullet-haired Ken's ass when she is drunk. A mobile home is also
available.

Norco Barbie
This tobacco chewing, brassy-haired Barbie comes with her own horse and dog! Her ensemble includes pair of Wrangler jeans (2 sizes too small), straw hat, fake rhinestone belt and belt buckle bought from the local paw n shop. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free!
Hemet Barbie
This aging Barbie is best kept indoors. She comes complete with wire
grocery stroller, Omni Trans bus pass, food stamps, coupon book and
sewing machine. Optional mobile home comes with choice of colored rock and various cactus varieties.

West Hollywood
Barbie/Ken
This versatile doll can be easily converted from Barbie to Ken by
Simply adding or subtracting the multiple "snap-on" parts.

Happy Birthdays

Not long ago, Brooke Shields bravely shares with the world her battle with postpartum depression.

Tom Cruise gets on the Today show and tells the world that there is no such thing as chemical imbalances that need to be treated with drugs.

Brooke lives a happy, peaceful life with her family, and recieves kudos and support from many in the community who have faced similar battles.

Tom jumps on people's couches, and delivers unintelligible interviews which typically involve the interviewer asking a question, and Tom Cruise responding by staring down the interviewer with a glazed look, complete with a half-smile, before answering with incoherent statements that badly dodge what the interviewer was looking for.

(And this behavior is proof that drugs are not needed for chemical imbalances?)

Today, April 18, Brooke Shields gave birth to her second daughter, Grier.

Also today, April 18, Katie Holmes (Tom Cruise's fiancee) gives birth to their daughter, Suri.

Let's hope Katie doesn't suffer from any depression.

Let's hope Tom comes out of the closet.

Let's hope Suri isn't totally screwed up by the time she's 10.

In Michigan

I'm in Michigan this week spending time with my mom and Bobby. We are having a blast. Lots of talking, lots of singing karaoke. Oh and I keep playing on their treadmill. I want a treadmill! We went shopping yesterday and I bought a really cute skirt that I am going to wear on my Mexico cruise this summer!

Poor Ginger is blind now. Her eyes are kinda freaky looking becasue they are all cloudy white and covered with cateracts. However (and I guess this sounds strange about a dog, and really, what other choice does she have?) but I just feel such a sense of pride and admiration in this dog. She could just sit in one place every day, but she doesn't... she still roams about the house and out in the back yard... she moves slowly and cautiously, but to navigate the world blind like she does, its amazing to see. I know many people who aren't as brave as this little dog is.

We are going to Skyline Chili tonight. I am SO excited. I am getting a four way (for those of you who don't know the lingo, a four way is spaghetti topped with chili, cheese and onions,) and a coney. YUMMERS! I can't wait!

I'm going to hop in the shower and we're going to go to the mall now. Bye!

Good Morning

I saw a rainbow this morning on may way to work. The bottom half in front of me led me all the way here. And then when I got out I was greeted by the whole arc.

Beautiful.

Crash

Wow. I just saw the movie Crash. What an amazing, thought provoking movie. It was, in many ways, painful to watch.

Perspective.

Moving.

SO many amazing, powerful scenes. So many seemingly minor, yet incredibly thought provoking.

The odd thing about this world is that you can never really get inside someone else's head.

I could go in and describe scene detail by detail and analyze it (like I am doing on the phone with my mom right now..) but I can't because I don't know if you've seen it.

See this movie.

I like facts. I like dealing in facts. I like dealing with what is. The rational. The logical.

But the problem is we live in a world of people. And not all people are rational or logical or factual. People are emotional. People are opinionated. People often rely more on their beliefs then anything else. And no facts can change that.

If someone believes that one race is superior to another, their beliefs are going to create an alternate reality, despite the fact that no race is superior.

If someone believes that being gay is wrong, then it is their beliefs that are creating the reality.

If someone believes that people on the street have a choice, then their beliefs create the reality, despite what may be true for each individual.

If someone believes that a person with a tatoo is morally indecent or trashy, then every person they meet with a tatoo has entered into the reality of that person.

People's opinions, people's beliefs, create their reality. But that reality extends beyond their lives. It reached out and touches others.

People hurt each other, disrespect each other, call each other names, honk at each other, spread anger and hate... because they believe the person they are doing it to... what? doesn't have feelings? deserves it? Was a born a certain color? Lives a certain lifestyle?

If someone is pissed off and decides to pull a gun on someone, no amount of fact or logic or reason is going to change that situation.

But what I really liked about the movie is it wasn't all about death. Death isn't the only bad thing that can happen when people's opinions invade into other's lives.

This is the world that our opinions and beliefs are creating.

Are we happy with it?

When I was in high school, my friend wrote me a letter once. She has a child. She is white, and the baby's father is black. My friend was worried about being a good mom. She didin't know how to raise her daughter... in the black culture or the white. I thought that was the most ridiculous thig I had ever heard. I wrote back that she should raise her daughter to be herself. Why does she have to be raised black or white? My friend wrote back, "You live in such a bubble out there in California. The real world isn't like that."

That line resonates in my head to this day. What does it mean? I grew up rarely seeing racism. Or did I? Maybe I BELIEVED that racism didn't exist, so I never saw it. Maybe my beliefs made me just as blind?

When I see a movie like Crash, I want to think that it can't really be true. People don't really treat each other like this. Do they? It doesn't make sense.

But then I start thinking about beliefs that I have heard... "She has a tatoo, wow she must be pretty messed up" "Isn't being Gay totally sick?" "Asian drivers" "illegals working at the drive through."

Sigh. I'm not living in a bubble. It exists all around me. And whether its a choice (tatoo, piercings,) you were born with it (your race), or the jury's still out (being homosexual), not a single one of these things, in and of itself, is a reason for hate, meaness, disrespect. Its only people's beliefs that make it such.

I know people with tatoos who wouldn't hurt a fly, who are caring and respectful. I know Asians who are good drivers. I know Mexicans who have come legally to America and worked hard to learn English so that they could work at drive throughs. And I know gay people who are more family oriented and moral then many straight people I know. I've seen them. I've had their children in my classrooms.

Why the tendancy to have opinions that assume the worst out of people?

What good does that do? To make a more peaceful, humane, better society, wouldn't it be better to assume the best of people?

Think of it this way. If you go into a situation where you think negatively, how hard does the other person have to work to make you change your mind and view it positively? On the other hand, if you assume a positive view and need to change your mind, well, it is a lot easier to change your view to the negative then to the positive.

Another point the movie brought up is those within a certain stereotype who choose to perpetuate it. In this movie, blacks who continue to steal and rob was a major example.

Some great examples:
1) Anthony: That waitress sized us up in two seconds. We're black and black people don't tip. So she wasn't gonna waste her time. Now somebody like that? Nothing you can do to change their mind.

Peter: So, uh... how much did you leave?

Anthony: You expect me to pay for that kind of service?

2)
Anthony: Look around! You couldn't find a whiter, safer or better lit part of this city. But this white woman sees two black guys, who look like UCLA students, strolling down the sidewalk and her reaction is blind fear. I mean, look at us! Are we dressed like gangbangers? Do we look threatening? No. Fact, if anybody should be scared, it's us: the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people, patrolled by the triggerhappy LAPD. So, why aren't we scared?

Peter: Because we have guns?

Anthony: You could be right.

And the response, later in the movie?
Cameron: [to Anthony] Look at me. You embarrass me. You embarrass yourself.

SO true. When people behave badly, they perpetuate stereotypes. WHen someone does something wrong, it reflects on their type. Someone commits a crime? Well, its becasue their black, or Mexican, or an Asian gang banger, or a spoile rich white kid, or poor white trash, or a punker with tatoos and piercings...

So what else needs to change? Not just people's beliefs, but people's actions. Represent. Remember, for every action you take, you are representing. Yourself, your family, your culture, your community, your "type."

And what about those who truly do represent in a positive way, but are still assumed to be "less then..." Keep fighting the good fight, people. Its a vicious cycle. Don't fall into it.

Where am I going with this? Sigh. I don't know either. Maybe that's why Crash "ended" the way it did. Kind of like this blog. It didn't really end.

Officer Hanson: Something else funny?
Peter: [laughing] People, man... people.

Cute Puppy!

Ok, so I was watching an episode of Great Cruises today. It was about an Alaskan Cruise on the Radiance of the Seas (which is the same cruise ship we are going to take to Alaska in August.)

Anyways, there was a long scene with an excursion that involved sled dogs.

Normally when dogs come on tv, Belle runns up to the screen and watches for a bit, and then loses interest, but this time, the sled dogs had her attention for the entire segment!

What was really funny was, several times, the sled dogs would run across the screen at an angle and run off a corner of the screen. Belle would go to the corner of the screen and track the dogs running of the edge of the screen with her head, as if she was trying to figure out where they were going! Her head whizzing down following the running dogs... it was so cute!

South Park goes in for the "kill."

This article comes from here

South Park: "The Return of Chef"
TV Review: The animated series comments on a cast members departure.
by Eric Goldman

March 23, 2006 - [SPOILER WARNING: Key episode plot points are discussed in the course of this review.]

Don't piss off Matt and Trey. The South Park season premiere this week once more proved that to be true in a big way. Though would you expect anything less? In the past couple of weeks there has been a lot of attention given to the fact that Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef on the long running series, would not be returning this season. Hayes was quoted as saying he was upset over the show insulting religion as an explanation for his departure, but as many (including South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker) were quick to point out, the show has pretty much lampooned every religion through the years in equal measure. Thus it seemed somewhat notable that the show had done their big Scientology episode "Trapped in the Closet" last fall, and that Hayes is in fact a Scientologist.

One of the great things about South Park is that because the show is so quickly and crudely produced, they can have episodes on the air that are amazingly topical, often commenting on headlines that just occurred. And you knew there was no way there were going to let something like Hayes quitting the show go by without commenting upon it. "The Return of Chef" began with a fake "Previously on South Park" segment that showed Chef deciding to leave town and join a group called The Super Adventurers Club to travel around the world, as all of the kids (Cartman included!) got emotional and wept. But in the premiere Chef returns, and everyone rejoices… until they notice something isn't quite right with him.

In an extremely funny move, Parker and Stone took previously recorded footage of Hayes from old episodes and awkwardly spliced it together to create new dialogue for Chef. Chef it seems came back to South Park with a shocking new fondness for sex with children, and one of the episode's running jokes had Chef continually begin to sing his popular "I'm Gonna Make Love to you Woman" song, except "woman" was replaced with every rude and crude thing you can think that involved children and their bodies. Suffice to say, the show isn't getting any more family friendly as time goes on.

"Trapped in the Closet" had started this whole situation by parodying Scientology, and while Parker and Stone weren't about to bring up the religion by name again, they pointedly made it pretty clear what they think of the situation with Hayes, pulling no punches. We learn that the Super Adventurers Club has in fact brainwashed Chef, changing him from the friend all the boys loved to this "weirdo" they're talking to now. Make your own conclusions as to what that is supposed to signify. One inspired in-joke had the leader of the Super Adventures Club explaining their belief that having sex with children makes them immortal, as text on screen informed the audience that, "This is what the Super Adventures Club actually believes;" a clever reference to the "Trapped in the Closet" episode using the same wording when showing Scientology beliefs. The episode then went to the South Park extreme, as Chef makes his choice to stay with the Super Adventures Club rather then return with the boys… only to be burnt alive, fall off a cliff, get impaled and then finally be torn apart by a mountain lion and a bear. And yes, it was all wonderfully, horrifically hysterical.

In the end, a funeral is held for Chef, and Kyle delivers a eulogy that probably says how Parker and Stone really feel about Hayes, in which he says he's not going to let Chef's recent weirdness ruin his memories of his friend and the good times they had. It was a truly sweet sentiment for a show that had just had Chef's face ripped off by wild animals. Then again, as the Revenge of the Sith inspired coda proved, Chef has been rebuilt by the Super Adventure Club and you never know if he might pop up again, Hayes or no Hayes. There's been some pretty strange rumblings in the past couple of days involving rumors that Hayes had a stroke and speculation on whether or not he was even the one who actually quit or if someone did it on his behalf. If more of this story comes out, I wouldn't put it past the creators of South Park to bring forth more of their brash commentary on it in future episodes.

Just Like Heaven

I just finished watching Just Like Heaven. It was really good! It stars Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. I knew the premise and it sounded like a cute romantic comedy, but I couldn't figure out how they were going to end it. I really thought it was all around good.

Also, it had Jon Heder in it... which was funny because I saw Napolean Dynamite for the first time last night. (I wasn't crazy about it, but I also slept through a lot of it 'cause I was so tired!) But anyway, I'm watching this guy in Just Like Heaven and its like one of those things where you know you've seen them in something else and then I realized... hey that's Napolean!

Also, I got my report cards done this morning. I got 1-15 done while watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and 16-31 while watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

If each movie is 2 1/2 hours long, thats 150 minutes. Which means that each report card took aprx. 10 minutes. Yeah. Thats fun math.

From the pen of a 5th grader

Question: Transportation by water was very important to the British Colonies. The folowing term is related to water transportation. Explain how the term is related to water transportation.

Raw Materials:

Answer: People grow raw materials and then swim to the other side to trade.

South Park

Check this out: and pay careful attention to what Matt Stone says.




Soul singer Isaac Hayes quits 'South Park'

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Soul singer Isaac Hayes said Monday he was quitting his job as the voice of the lusty character "Chef" on the satiric cable TV cartoon "South Park," citing the show's "inappropriate ridicule" of religion.

But series co-creator Matt Stone said the veteran recording artist was upset the show had recently lampooned the Church of Scientology, of which Hayes is an outspoken follower.

"In ten years and over 150 episodes of 'South Park,' Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim, Mormons or Jews," Stone said in a statement issued by the Comedy Central network.

"He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show."

He added: "Of course we will release Isaac from his contract, and we wish him well."

In a statement explaining his departure from the show, Hayes, 63, did not mention last fall's episode poking fun at Scientology and some of its celebrity adherents, including actor Tom Cruise.

Rather, Hayes said the show's parody of religion in general was part of what he saw as a "growing insensitivity toward personal spiritual beliefs" in the media, including the recent controversy over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs ... begins," Hayes said.

The crudely animated cartoon, heading into its 10th season next week as one of Comedy Central's biggest hits, centers on the antics of four foul-mouthed fourth graders in the town of South Park, Colorado.

Outlandish religious satire has been a mainstay of the show since its debut on the Viacom Inc.-owned network in 1997. The series grew out of two short films by Stone and collaborator Trey Parker -- "Jesus vs. Frosty" and "The Spirit of Christmas," the latter featuring a martial-arts duel between Jesus and Santa Claus over the true meaning of Christmas.

Hayes, the first black composer to win an Oscar for best song with his theme to the 1971 film "Shaft," gained renewed fame on "South Park" as the voice of Jerome "Chef" McElroy, the school cafeteria cook whom the boys often seek out for advice.

In an episode last fall, one of the gang, Stan, scores so high on a Scientology test that church followers think he is the next L. Ron Hubbard, the late science-fiction writer who founded the religion. Hayes did not take part in that episode.

In an interview with Reuters late last year, Hayes talked about a foundation he formed to bring Scientology-based study techniques to disadvantaged inner-city schools, in partnership with fellow devotee Lisa Marie Presley.

"But it's not religious," he said then, describing himself as Baptist by birth and Scientology as "an applied religious philosophy."

Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox said producers have not decided whether Chef would be dropped from the show or continued with another actor supplying his voice.

Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.




Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/13/south.park.hayes.reut/index.html


A few more good points:

Remember, Isaacs said this:

... "he fumes, "Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored. As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."

Stone has fired back at Hayes saying, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem - and he's cashed plenty of checks - with our show making fun of Christians."

And here is the key point, which I couldn't have said better myself:

Stone adds that he and Parker "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and, to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."

Parker has previously said the show had avoided the controversial topic of Scientology out of respect for Hayes and his religious beliefs. He explains, "Finally, we just had to tell Isaac, 'Dude, we totally love working with you, and this is nothing personal, it's just we're South Park, and, if we don't do this, we're belittling everything else we've ripped on.'"

(These quotes are cited from various articles, including the one found at http://www.azcentral.com/ent/celeb/articles/0314hayes.html

I just want to add that one of the major reasons I love South Park is that they take on everyone. Matt is right. The fact is, Chef has particiated in plenty of episodes that bash Christians (I can think of one specifically about Catholics right now). He i turning himself into a hypocrite by saying that he can't support such a thing after participating in it for many years. Matt is so right when he points out that intlolerance begins when someone is okay with bashing all religions but then claims to support religious tolerance when their own beliefs are satired.

In other words, other belief systems aren't as important, so its okay to poke fun at them.

Frustrated

AAAAAAAAAAAAH. I am so upset. I want to cry. I cry about the stupidest things but still grrr....

So I go to the eye doctor to get my new contacts and I find out I have an eye infection (so my eyes don't just itch from the cold I have!)

So He writes me a prescription and I go to fill it.

SO my pharmasist says that my insurance won't fill my prescription because he is an eye doctor, not an MD. All I need to do is call my general practitioner and have them call in the same prescription.

WHAT??? Well thats all well in good, except I don't have a general practitioner.

SO I run over to the 24 hour clinic and pray they can help me.

SO the doctor there looks up my prescription in his little drug reference book, and then he looks at me, and then back at the RX, and then back at the reference book, and then looks at the RX again and says...

"so you have an infection..in your...? "

"eye" i say...

"Ok and this prescrition if for...?" (as he references his book)

"The infection" I repeat "in my eye..."

"Ok and your wearing contacts now?" (book reference)

"Yes, becasue I haven't been able to go home and get my glasses yet..."

"because you have an infection?" (look at the book again, flip back and forth a few pages...)

"Yes,"

"in your..."

" in my eye..."

"Is it on the cornea?" (scanning the book...)

"Yes. Its not pink eye, its on the cornea."

"the infection?"

"Yes. The infection is on the cornea. In my eye. "

"Come back here, please"

So he looks at my eye (like the guy knows what he's looking for. I mean seriously. I am asking for a prescription for an antibiotic eye drop. I'm sure thats big on the teen drug scene these days... Can't he just copy the damn perscription?)

So he looks in my eye with his chunty MD light and I say. "It should be easy to see. My eye doctor just put in the dye..." (As in, I just left the freakin doctors office, come on!"

So he says, "You shouldn't need dye to see this infection," (Excuse me? you baggin' on my eye doctor?)

"Well," he says, "I guess I'm just going to have to take his word for it..." Grrrrrr

(Which, by the way, really pisses me off because it sort of felt insulting toowards my eye doctor..."well, i better take his word for it..." Uh YEAH, he is an EYE DOCTOR, and to be honest, a damn good doctor at that! If I could find a GP and an OBGYN that were as nice as my eye doctor I'd be in heaven... I mean, imagine, not feeling rushed at my appointments, getting my questions answered, even a moment or two of genral conversation.... and he calls me back on the phone! Personally!)

Anyway back to the know-it-all at the clinic...

SO he writes me out the RX.

... and a run back and this time, "Sorry, this time it got declined because your insurance doesn't cover this medication."

Way to freaking go.

I was so pissed off. All that damn running around! Thank the gods that my doctor gave me a sample of the stuff to start out with.

Why does this have to be so complicated? I mean seriously! Some drugs covered, some not. What is the deal? I hate going to the doctor becasue it just seems like everything is so complicated when doing so. I don't deal well with this stuff. I know its stupid but hoops and loopholes and all this stuff just stresses me out. Things should be clear. I shouldn't have to wait until I get to the pharmacy to find out if my insurace covers my medicine. I shouldn't have to even worry about that. I pay good money for my health care insurance. I should get whatever medicine my doctor thinks I need.

And if I don't stop writing about this I am going to cry, which probably isn't good because I only have this teeny tiny sample bottle of antibiotic eyedrops, and they aren't going to do any freaking good if I cry the damn things out.

Do you hear the people sing?

From: Broadway World

Les Miserables to Return to Broadway for 6 Months Beginning October 21


February 16, 2006 - by BWW News Desk

To celebrate LES MISÉRABLES becoming the longest-running musical in the world in October of this year, producer Cameron Mackintosh announced today that Boublil and Schönberg’s legendary musical will return to Broadway for a special limited six-month engagement, beginning this coming fall at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). Previews will begin Saturday, October 21, with an official opening slated for Thursday, November 9. Casting for the production will be announced in the coming months. Tickets will go on sale to the general public in June, with group sales beginning later this month.

LES MISÉRABLES is the third longest-running show in Broadway history and will, on October 9, pass the 21 year old record of Cats in London to become the longest-running musical ever on the West End or Broadway with 8,372 performances; a run nearly three years longer than Broadway’s record-holder The Phantom of the Opera, all three shows having been produced by Cameron Mackintosh. LES MISÉRABLES has been seen by over 53 million people in 38 countries and 21 languages since its first London performance in October 1985. The original Broadway production opened on March 12, 1987, at the Broadway Theatre, winning seven Tony Awards that season, including Best Musical. The show went on to play a total of 6,680 performances.

“2006 has been a very special year for me with Phantom becoming the longest running musical ever on Broadway and soon, in London, on October 9, LES MISÉRABLES becomes the longest-running musical in the world. So the opportunity to bring LES MIZ home to Broadway in the exquisite and intimate Broadhurst Theatre, next door to Phantom, to celebrate this historic achievement is irresistible. I am sure that the timeless power of the show will be an unforgettable experience both for new audiences and serial Les Miz-ers,” said Cameron Mackintosh.

Produced by Cameron Mackintosh, LES MISÉRABLES is musical by Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It features music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, with original French text by Alain Boublil & Jean-Marc Natel and additional material by James Fenton. Directed by Trevor Nunn & John Caird, the musical is designed by John Napier with lighting by David Hersey, costumes by Andreane Neofitou and sound by Andrew Bruce.

LES MISÉRABLES was first presented by Cameron Mackintosh and The Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre in October, 1985. The musical transferred to the West End’s Palace Theatre later that year, where it played for 19 years. LES MISÉRABLES transferred to the Queen’s Theatre in April, 2004, where it continues today.

My Reality Stories

Well the season is in full swing and all my favorite shows are on!

Survivor is turning out to be a good season so far, with some characters I really like , and some that I don't. I think Cirie is turning out to be a very cool player, which I think is very good for her. I also like Dan a lot. Currently, I can't stand Shane, and for some reason, I'm not so crazy about Bruce.

The Amazing Race has some great teams this time around! Love the nerds, David and Lori, a team after my own heart. Also, love the hippies, BJ and Tyler (I hope they can stay focused!!! They were pretty excited on the first episode!) Ray and Yolanda are cool, I really admire Yolanda's attitutde while putting that bike together in San Paulo with all of those rude guys watching. She really kept her cool. I felt so bad for her! In the mother and daughter team, (Wanda and Desiree), I am struck at what a good team they make. They really seem to balance each other. and the daughter is beautiful! Lisa and joni, while, I don't like or dislike them, but gah... I could do without another set of screamers like the bowling moms. Finally, Lake and Michelle. DO they always have to put an ass hole guy and his submissive girl on each show? And his motion sick patch is annoying.

And of course there is American Idol. Getting ready for the top 12, I really like Paris, Mandisa, and Melissa, Ace, Chris, Will, and Elliot. But the show is overall quite enjoyable because there are a lot of good singers!

Thats it for my stories for now.

CAG Conference

I went this weekend to Palm Springs for the California Association for the Gifted conference. It was very informative on many aspects. Its nice to be in a place where the general swing of things tends to go my way... towards creativity in teaching (instead of the cookie cutter robots that seems to be the current trend).

Also, I went to a highly reccomended conference on "Parenting the Gifted Child." The speaker was awesome and I walked away with so many ideas to pass along to parents of my students, as well as ideas of my own for when I have kids some day.

In addition, the confrence was very enlightening on a personal level. Some of us shared stories of when we had grown up, teachers and experiences we had, how we saw ourselves as learners and how teachers saw us as learners... it was very thought provoking.

At the end, Grant and I did the Palm Springs Ariel Tram, which was really cool. (I had never been to Palm Springs before!) We got home around 7:30 and I was falling asleep by 8:30, I was SOOOO tired! One of those weekends where you sit around alot and absorb a lot of information.

Catch Up

I know its been a while. So lets play catch up...

Grant and I had a great weekend in San Diego last week. You can read about it here if you haven't yet.

I spent a lot of time with Amy this week and she officially had her bone marrow transplant on Friday evening. Now, we wait.

Grant left one of my book crossing books on the deck of the Sapphire Princess when he and Steve went on their cruise and someone found it and responded!!! My very first in the wild book found! Yipee!!! They left it at LAX.

Ok, I gotta go eat now.

Upcoming Dates

Feb. 21 Rent come out on DVD.

Feb. 28 Sims 2 Open for Business expansion pack is released.

Feb. 28 The Amazing Race premiers.

Sims 2 Open for Business

Ok, when I first read about this new expansion pack for Sims 2, I wasn't terribly impressed. Moreover, I couldn't wrap my mind around how I would work it into MY game, as in the way I like to play the Sims. So I thought, eh, I'll probably pass on this expansion pack.

Well, a couple of things have happened recently that have made me change my mind. First of all, I started reading tons of articles and seeing all of these great screen shots and videos (try the cinematic trailer on the left if you are interested) to see what the game included and how it would work (for example, you can run businesses like toy shops, bakeries, floral designs, hair stylists, night clubs...), and if you want, you can run businesses from your home or on a seperate community lot.

Ok, this all sounds good, but there is already a career element to the game, how would they fit together?

Well, I am now in my 2nd generation of Sims. These sims were able to go to University, and were able to start earning skills when they were toddlers. As a result, they were able to higher into their jobs at level 5 or higher (out of 10). I have two 2nd generation sims who have already met their life time wants and will now be permanently platinum in their life aspiration meter. (This is a good thing!!!) And these tweo sims are pretty young...what to do with these guys now? Their lives need meaning nd purpose...they still need to meet goals, but career and money are no longer an issue...

Well, along comes this new expansion, and now my Simmies have something new and exciting to do with their lives....run a business! And there are so many different types of businesses to choose from, I can have each sim family start a different kind of business and not have to repeat for a few generations! In addition, I can hire Sims from other families to work in these businesses.

Sigh. Leave it the the Sims people... I am now anxiously awaiting the release of this new expansion pack!!!

Winter Olympics

Are you watching? I can even get Grant to watch becasue we can watch it in HDTV!!!

In any case, I just waned to point oout how much it annoys the crap out of me when the damn commetators talk over the figure skating routines. Save it for the recaps, people, I just want to enjoy the routine and the music... sigh... Is it just me?

By the way, Airborne??? Its a gimmick. Anyone remember Cold-eze??? Sigh...

I think I'll go blow my nose now.

The Amazing Race

YEA! The Amazing Race premiers on Tuesday, Februaury 28th! I am so excited! The teams look very interesting!!!