Everything I Like Causes Cancer

Most days I wake up with a song stuck in my head. I don't know if this is common or why I do it. Maybe my dreams (which I rarely remember) are musicals. Yes, I am THAT happy sunshine girl you all hate to love.

Last night's dinner club host approached me almost as soon as I arrived, leaned in conspiratorially, and said, "You know how sometimes you see or hear a phrase and after that you can't get it out of your head?"

I stole the idea for posting this video from my friend Johnny the Jeweler who posted it on Facebook but he doesn't read this blog so I figure he'll never realize I'm a big stealer.

I've seen this going around but never paid any attention to it until a friend whose sense of humor I trust sent it to me with a note that read, "This is so blog-worthy. What were they thinking with those 80s videos that we all watched and took very seriously?"

Sorbet is served between courses of a meal to clean the palette and prepare it for the next dish and its flavors.  I think we need a super-sized serving of blog sorbet after all this birthday business.  Is everyone okay with lemon?

I found out Friday that it will take $1,000 worth of repairs to get my car to pass its State inspections.  This song has been running on a loop in my head ever since.

A friend posted this on Facebook and it made me laugh so hard I had to share.

Last week Beyoncé sang Etta James' At Last for the Obama's First Dance. She has a beautiful voice and it's a classic song but the thing that pushed me over the edge and made the tears that had been welling in my eyes all day come streaming down my face was the interview abcNEWS did backstage after she sang.  She didn't say anything groundbreaking and she wasn't masterfully eloquent, but she said exactly what has been in my heart since he was elected and it sent me over the edge.

(For some reason I can't get youtube videos to show up here anymore. I think it may have something to do with downloading new computer protection yesterday. Click HERE to see the interview.)

Secondarily, why hasn't Maya Rudolph done a spoof of Robin Roberts?  Roberts' manner of speaking can be so over-the-top and affected at times - it would make a great skit.  I'm just sayin'.

I just shut down the virtual network (work) and am rocking out in my office chair to this:

Isn't it?  Both kinds.  Both kinds of Spam are funny.  But all I have today is email spam.  Sorry.  I supply the funny, you supply the potted meats.  It's just how I roll.

Anyway, I recently went "All Google, All The Time" and when I was cleaning out my yahoo inbox I found a treaure trove of subject lines:

My friends and I do this thing we call Curtain Skirt Club.  We get together several times at least once a year for brunch or happy hour and each meeting has a theme and a charity.  The only rules are that your outfit has to be made from a curtain (or similar materials) and you need to bring items for the charity chosen for the event.

This coming Saturday, the 17th, is our next meeting and, in honor of the swearing-in of the 44th president of the United States of America, the theme is "The Audacity of an ObamaNation starring the lovely Miss Joan Crawford."  We are gathering canned goods for Wesley House Association, the community center where H and delivered hot meals to house-bound elderly on Christmas Day.

Not knowing much more about Joan than she wasn't fond of wire hangers, and refusing to be obvious with my costume creation, I did some research.  I found that she was an amazingly resilient and driven woman, born dirt poor she got her start in entertainment as a dancer in Chicago clubs in the 20's and from there refused to go unnoticed. This clip, Part 1 of several, details her early life and career, the era on which I am basing my costume.


Because I already have a white straw hat and red Mary-Jane shoes very similar to the ones shown below, I am going to try to make, from a white twin sheet, a Gatsby Girl dress that I will embellish and accessorize with red and blue and a suffragette-esque Obama button:

It's a simple shift and should be relatively easy to make but keep in mind I don't know how to sew and don't have a pattern.  I found a similarly-shaped dress in my closet and am using it as a guide.  This is a challenge but Joan wouldn't give up so neither will I.  I'll keep you posted regarding my progress.