Big Brother 11

I found out that my kids did record Fri/Sat After Dark for me.  Long story of how they did it… I don’t know how they figured that out, but set it to record one minute before midnight for three hours and one minute, so it was listed under the title of the previous show.  I had no idea you could do that, but I’m happy my kids are smarter than me sometimes.

SPOILER ALERT!

So, I watched six hours of After Dark last night.  Much to my dismay, Michelle won the POV.  She wants Jeff to stay.  I don’t know why exactly… I guess she figures he’s the one she’d have the best chance against in the final two… plus, she has a little crush on him.  She tried to make a deal and convince Kevin to keep him, but I really think Kevin wants and needs to evict Jeff.  PFOOEY!  I did have a glimpse of hope as she was planning this strategy and then talking with Kevin about it, but then when Kevin was telling Natalie everything she said, I lost that hope.

Jordan and Michelle were both pretty drunk last night.  Jordan was so funny and cute… crying because she thinks Jeff is being evicted.  Michelle was not so funny nor as cute.  She was kind of slutty, IMO.  She went inside and got into her little bikini and strutted around in front of Jeff.  If there weren’t cameras on her so that her husband could see, I’d be willing to bet she’d try something with Jeff the minute Jordan was gone… another reason she wants Jeff to stay… it would mean Jordan would go.  I hate Michelle.  I hope Jordan kicks her ass.

Long time no see

I haven’t blogged in a long, long time.  I started a post in January, but never finished it.  That sucks because I was reading what I had written so far and it was about a jury that I was on. I was going to write all about the case, but now that it’s nearly September, I doubt I would remember enough of the details to make it interesting to anyone.  I wish I had finished it back then because it was such a great experience for me.

I’m having a bad experience right now. Sneezing.  I have to take an allergy pill.  The other day I took one and it made me drowsy.  It was the “non-drowsy” kind, but it put me to sleep anyway.  I really don’t want to have that feeling, but the alternative will not do either.  I’m about ready to die… not really, but…

OK… I just got back from the medicine cabinet and guess what I found out.  There are two packages of allergy medicine in there.  The one I took last time does not say “non-drowsy” anywhere on it.  So I guess that explains that.  I should definitely pay closer attention to medicine I’m taking. 

Changing the subject…  Anyone watching Big Brother this season?  I actually broke down and ordered Showtime so I could watch the “After Dark” shows.  The problem is my stupid DVR won’t always record it.  So unless I’m up at midnight to manually push the record button at that time, I don’t see it.  The night before last I stayed up because my DVR wouldn’t record it… I think it’s temperamental about the date change, but every time I set it to record, I set it to record every episode automatically.  So I shouldn’t have to do it every night.  But most of the time it doesn’t work.  Last night I went to bed early (about 11:30) and asked my kids to make sure it records (they were up playing video games), but either they forgot or couldn’t get it to work and gave up.  Anyway, I’m pissed off and that’s why I’m blogging right now. 

I really like Jeff and Jordan.  Jeff’s not too bright when it comes to book smarts, but he’s the most mature of the houseguests, knows how to play the game wisely and fairly,… and the best looking in a long time.  I thought at the beginning of the season that I wouldn’t like Jordan based on past seasons’ blonde bimbos, but she turned out to be a real sweetheart.  I love them together… they’re so cute.  

I hate how I spend so much time watching these people and once the show is over, they’re never heard from again.  I want to know what will happen between the two of them.  I probably will never know, though.  But for now, I think Jeff is really in love with her.  For some reason, she doesn’t have the same feelings for him.  Maybe she does, and she is just protecting herself in case things go wrong and he has to evict her or she has to evict him.  If there are hard feelings either way, it would definitely hurt more.  But, I think they both understand how the game works and there’s no guarantee that they will be in the final two together.  But I hope they are.  It doesn’t matter to me which one wins.  Jeff is my favorite, but Jordan might need the money more.

If neither Jeff or Jordan win, I would root for Kevin.  I don’t like Natalie that much and although it was smart game play to start the lie about Russell, Kevin did the hard part.  They really lucked out that although it was a lie, it was also true.  I mean, they didn’t actually overhear Russell making plans to get Jeff out, but he really did have plans to get Jeff out, so Lucky Them.  I don’t think Natalie deserves to win just because she got lucky on that one.  She hasn’t won anything… except poker.  You can’t count the first competition because Russell was still in the game at the end, too.  So, unless she wins the next two POV’s or something, she should go soon.  She won’t go this week.  Well, the only way is if Kevin nominates Michelle and either Jeff or Jordan, then either Jordan or Jeff (whichever is not on the block) wins POV, then Kevin will have to put her up.  Then, Jeff and Jordan will decide who goes home.  It probably doesn’t matter which one of the girls leaves at this point, but I would guess they’d keep Natalie since she’s no threat… she never wins.  And in that case, it would be Jeff, Jordan, and Natalie for the next HOH, so chances are excellent that at least one of them (Jeff or Jordan) would be in the final two. 

Assuming that Michelle is nominated this week and doesn’t win POV, I’m pretty sure she’ll be evicted.  If so, I’ve come up with the remaining scenarios.  Since Kevin cannot be HOH, he has the worst chances for next week.  POV is the only way to be safe in this game from here on.  I think Jeff and Jordan would be making a mistake if they ended up evicting Natalie over Kevin.  He’s well liked and could win against either of them… I think.  Jesse did say he might just vote for Jeff.  I don’t know if the others would or not… probably.  I think it’s anyone’s game.  My prediction is that either Jeff or Kevin wins.  Or Jordan. No, Jeff.  Final answer.

Smart People (2008) **

I don’t think I’ve written about a movie in a long time.  That doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching any.  I guess I haven’t had a real strong opinion about any of the movies I’ve seen lately.  I don’t really  have that strong of an opinion on “Smart People” either, but I just watched it and I’m procrastinating on doing any work right now, so here goes.

I usually really enjoy the actors in this film.  Thomas Hayden Church, who plays the “adoptive brother” Chuck is always awesome and funny.  I put the words “adoptive brother” in quotation marks because I thought they made too big of a deal about that.  First of all, the characters of Chuck and Lawrence look enough alike that I thought it would come out that they were biological brothers and that Lawrence just called him his adopted brother like all older brothers do to their younger, pesky siblings.  But no, I guess not.  Now then, it seems like they mentioned he was adopted so as not to gross people out completely when his niece plants a big wet one on him when he gets her plastered.  That’s fine, but why did they have to mention his adopted status every time he was introduced or spoken of?  In an actual family where two brothers are not blood related they just call each other brothers. 

I enjoyed some parts of the film in anticipation that there would be something really interesting happen eventually.  Nothing did.  I get the concept of the movie and I like that each character grew from beginning to end, but I wasn’t really entertained throughout that journey.  It needed to be either funnier or sadder.

I love Ellen Page.  “Juno” was one of my favorite movies, but her character here was very similar to that one. I hope not to find out that she is a one-note wonder. 

Dennis Quaid plays Lawrence, a university lit professor who’s been a widower for a number of years.  He’s very cliche with the tweed and corduroy blazers, messy hair, and scruffy beard.  He ends up in the emergency room and his doctor (Sarah Jessica Parker) turns out to be a former student.  They end up dating but I can’t figure out why.  I don’t see the attraction between them.  It’s like they deleted a few crucial scenes from the movie.  But, I watched all of the deleted scenes and they’re not there either.  Maybe I missed something, but I’m not willing to go back and watch it again.  If you figure it out, please let me know.

I’m Gettin’ There…

I finished “Twelve Sharp” last week. That’s Janet Evanovich’s twelfth book in her Stephanie Plum series.  I like these books mostly, but I have to say that this is my favorite of all of them so far.  I don’t really have a lot to say about it, but unlike the last one and a couple of the others, it was good right from the beginning.  It was suspenseful, interesting, a little funny (as they all are), and the emotions were more believable than most of the others. A lot of the time she seems to want to be so funny, that it takes away from the real reactions a person would have in the situation.  This time, she let the characters feel they way they would have.

Stephanie broke down when she got to talk to the little girl, Julie. Ranger, who always has had a great sense duty to protect and defend his loved ones was determined as any father would be.

As much as I like these books, I don’t love the slapstick humor of them.  I wish they would get on with it and make a movie or TV series based on it.  I think that would be great!  I don’t know what the hold up is. 

I’m almost caught up.  I started “Lean Mean Thirteen” on Tuesday.  This time it cost me twenty-five cents at the library because I had them reserve it for me.  Twenty-five cents!! Can you believe that? I’d have paid double.

Project Runway

Have I written about Project Runway?  I’m a little addicted to that show.  I think last season’s winner Christian is the best of all of them.  I mean overall. His final runway show was not my favorite, but he’s by far the most creative and interesting of any of the designers of any of the seasons.

As far as season 5 goes, however, I’ve liked Kenley’s designs right from the beginning.  For the last five weeks or so, it seems like everyone is against her.  She definitely has a whiney tone, is quite defensive, and a bit self-centered.  However, dontcha think a lot of them are? Think about some of the past designers in the top three.  Season two, Santino. He was a total jerk to some people. Season three, the winner Geoffrey. He was a camplete asshole most of the time. And Christian was very conceited, albeit in a cute sort of way.  I applaud the show’s judges and/or producers who looked past Kenley’s personality to be sure she was in the finals.  But, even though LeeAnn’s final collection was pretty, it was all the same.  Don’t get me wrong, I liked a lot of her work and think she definitely deserved to be in the finals, but her final collection had nothing on Kenley’s.  I thought of the three of them, hers was the least interesting.  Korto’s was very pretty, too, but not really my taste.  I think they got this one wrong.  Just my opinion.

Eleven Down. An Infinite Number to Go.

Finally done with “Eleven on Top”. It did get better, Tracy! I’ve had a busy few weeks, but the next book should go fast. I think I’ll take the next two out at the same time. I’m having surgery on Monday, so I might have a lot of down time to read.

I’m actually looking forward to finishing the next three and being caught up.  I have two John Grisham books to read, plus two classics that my sister loaned me… they’re John Steinbeck novels, but I can’t remember which ones. I also have about ten James Pattersons, five or six Nora Roberts, and a few other random novels that I’ve been wanting to read. 

Something I really like about reading books in a series is that you always know there will be more coming.  So many times when reading a good book, I get so invested in the characters that when the story is over I’m left wanting more.  A couple of the books in this series have kind of ended suspensfully.  Her writing is just good enough that I keep reading the next book.  But, if it weren’t a series, I don’t know if I would care to read all of her books.  I am glad that my sisters-in-law recommended her, though. 

At one point this summer the library didn’t have whichever Janet Evanovich book I was on and I needed something to read because I was on my way to the park with my son and wanted to read while he and his friend played.  So, I picked up Sue Grafton’s first in her series, “A is for Alibi”.  I think I could get into that series, too. I enjoyed that book and might try the next one after a few of the books I have around here.  Kinsey Millhone, Grafton’s main character, is definitely not as funny as Stephanie Plum, but she is more competant… that’s for sure.  There are at least twenty so far in that series, so that should keep me going literally (no pun intended) for years!

Peace.

VP Debate

I watched the debate last night… well, most of it last night. I fell asleep near the end and watched the rest this morning.  For the most part, I was more impressed with both of them than I thought I would be.  I, like probably many others, expected Sarah Palin to mess up a few times, based on the past two times she spoke on television.  She didn’t really mess up at all.  What was obvious, though, was that she was well rehearsed.  I don’t know if there’s anything really wrong with that.  She avoided answering several questions that she didn’t want to answer.  I don’t think that’s unusual for any candidate running for any office, though.  She had an agenda to get points across that were important to her.  She made her running mate look less stupid for choosing her.  I think people who liked her before, probably love her now.  I didn’t like her before and now I suppose I could “tolerate” her. 

A bit of a phony, though.  She came out and first thing she did was ask Senator Biden, “Hey, can I call you Joe?”  I guess if he had said, “No, I prefer you call me Senator,” she wouldn’t have been able to use her charming little quip, “Say it ain’t so, Joe.” The other thing that bugs the crap out of me about her is that she, like that bonehead currently in the White House, cannot pronounce the word, “nuclear”! There’s only one “U” in that word, Madam!

Joe Biden, on the other hand, spoke very intelligently.  I really wasn’t familiar with him at all before, but can see, in a way, why Obama would choose him.  I kinda wish that ticket was reversed now.  If it was, I think I would vote for him over John McCain.  The experience, in my opinion, should be at the top of the ticket.  I’m pretty sure that’s how it’s always been, right? But, was Biden even running for president? If not, I wonder if he supported Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama early on.

Being that they both did pretty well last night, my mind is more at ease.  They have leveled the playing field as far as Vice Presidential candidacy is concerned and now I’m not going to worry about that office again.  I can concentrate on who is running for President… finally… as it should be.

I’m looking forward to Tuesday’s debate.  I’m still not completely sure who I’ll vote for… I’ll make that decision after I hear how the two candidates pronounce the word “nuclear.”

I Hate Election Year

It never fails.  Every four years, when it’s time for the presidential election, I get a sick feeling in my stomach.  I do have to have gall bladder surgery in the next couple of weeks, but it isn’t that. I think I’ve posted about this before, so excuse me for repeating.  But, the closer we get to November 4th, the more uptight I get.  I never like any of the candidates… at least not since Clinton was re-elected in 1996. But, the last three elections and maybe a couple before that, I was always thinking I had to pick between two (or three) people I didn’t like and I get really nervous.

When I really think about it, I don’t know why I care so much.  I will end up voting and possibly won’t have made my final decision until I’m in the voting booth, but it really doesn’t matter who I choose.  I live in a state that, when the race is close, will always go Democrat.  So, I feel like in the national election, my vote really doesn’t count anyway.  I could just close my eyes and randomly pick during elections like this one. New York will choose Obama and if I don’t want Obama, there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. 

McCain has screwed himself.  I think he had an excellent chance before he chose his running mate.  I will not base my vote on the vice-presidential candidate, but some will and she is not his only problem.  I watched a portion of the debate and was much more impressed by Obama than McCain in how they handled themselves.  Bill Clinton won two elections because he has charisma.  He knows how to speak. I thought John McCain had enough brains and class to win a debate, but he seemed like he’s giving up or something.  Maybe that’s it. Maybe he’s giving up.  He’s got cold feet. This country is in deep shit and he doesn’t want to deal with it.  That’s hard to believe because he’s not the cowardly type, but I can’t figure out why he couldn’t look Obama in the eye, speak directly to him, and act like he had the self-confidence he’s had up to this point.

So, to say I’m undecided would be an understatement.  There’s still time and I hope McCain get’s back on track.  I don’t think I would be happy voting for Obama, but it’s still a possibility, at this point.  I know he’d try to make a few changes that I would be happy with, but how successful he is might not be too likely.  I don’t have a lot of confidence in nationwide changes.  Things never get better.  They either get worse or stay the same. 

I know I’m pessimistic, but I can’t help it with the way things are going.  Gas prices, 700 BILLION dollar bailout, healthcare in the toilet, my bank account dwindling. I’m not only pessimistic, I’m a bit depressed.  AND I’ve got to have my freaking gall bladder out! It will be all over by November 5 and I won’t have to worry about it anymore… until 2012, that is.

Palin

OK… I’ve had a few days to think about this and I’ve been a little… no, a lot… torn.  The first thing I heard was that John McCain chose a woman as his running mate.  This made me very happy and excited.  Shortly, within minutes, actually, I read that she was the mother of a new baby with Down’s Syndrome, plus four other children.  I was quite concerned at that point.  In my extended family, there are two special needs children, technically adults now, one with Down’s Syndrome.  As adults, they need to be supervised by their mothers or another adult.  I know that their mothers would never have had the time to run a government of any size and still given the attention needed to their special needs child and other children.  My step-brother with Down’s Syndrome is one of five children and my sister-in-law is the oldest of six.  Both of their mothers held full-time jobs when they got to a certain age because the kids were in school, but I know that they spent every minute taking care of the children when they weren’t at work.

I don’t know how much time the job of Vice President takes.  Maybe they don’t have a whole lot to do and can take a lot of time to care for an infant, let alone one with Down’s Syndrome.  Maybe Palin hasn’t gotten to the hard part yet and still doesn’t realize how different her new son will be in comparison to her other children.  Maybe she and her husband have enough money to hire a couple of nannies to care for him and she can see him from time to time and chooses not to be a hands-on parent. 

Then about a day later I found out about Palin’s sixteen year old daughter’s pregnancy.  They say that McCain’s people knew about this ahead of time.  I wonder if that’s true.  I find it a little hard to believe that he would take such a risk.  But, on the other hand, I find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t have found out something so important before choosing her.  Regardless, this showed me that Palin and her husband might not be the most diligent parents.  I also don’t think that the fact that they’re planning to get married lessens the seriousness of the problem.  Every sixteen year old girl who’s having sex with her eighteen year old boyfriend is “in love” and wants to marry him.  That doesn’t mean it’s ok to be careless with birth control.  But, you know, this happens to thousands of teenaged girls in all types of families, so this young lady is not to be considered an outcast, I hope.  People say that the candidates’ children are off limits.  I agree with that, but I’m not trying to attack the children.  I’m attacking the parents’ values.

I wasn’t happy with McCain’s decision anymore.  How can I vote for McCain when he could die and we’d end up with this woman as our president? Then, I thought, well, maybe I should vote for Obama after all.  I would have voted for Hillary Clinton if she was the nominee. But, I still don’t know about Obama.  I guess I don’t feel he’s quite right.  So, I still don’t know what to do, but I’ve still got a little time left, some debates to watch, I’m sure, and try to let it all sink in.

Now, after the RNC tonight (I only watched a little of it) I was thinking about this family values issue that I’ve been having a problem with.  I thought about the arguments I had with people who were so upset about Bill Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky scandal.  My argument was that it was none of anyone’s business and it had nothing to do with the way he ran this country.  So, now I’m thinking the same about Sarah Palin.  So what if she’s a bad parent?  So what if she’s more concerned about her job than her family?  I feel bad for her kids… all of them… like I felt bad for Hillary (I only felt a little sorry for Hillary because I guessed she stayed with Bill for her own agenda. Was I right?)  But if she can help the country as Vice President (and God forbid President), then why should I care? 

I could totally change my mind on this at any time and it doesn’t mean that I’ll be voting for McCain for sure, but I feel a little less torn about the issue.  I just wish I could be sure about someone.  This happens every time.  Why does it have to be so difficult?  If Hillary was the nominee, I wouldn’t have this problem.  And if Obama had picked her, I’d vote for him.  And if Giuliani was the Repulican candidate, even if he picked Palin, I’m pretty sure I’d vote for him.  But the way it stands, it’s a difficult decision for me.

Peace.

Bernie, Dotty, and bedtime.

I’ve been thinking about a lot of things to write about lately so this post might turn out to be a big jumble of unrelated topics… or I might just start with one and go to bed. After all, it is 3:30 AM.

Bernie Mac died.  This was a complete shock, of course, to everyone who was a fan, not to mention his family, no doubt.  I feel sad and I feel selfishly cheated, as well.  I was looking forward to the possibility of another Ocean’s movie, but now I hope they don’t make one without him.  I had written earlier that I wished those movies would go on forever, but just thinking how Carl Reiner might be getting to the point where he wouldn’t be around to act much longer, being that he’s nearly 90. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that a fifty year old man would predecease him.  Eliot Gould will be 70 this month, so that wouldn’t have been shocking, but 50 is so young!  I’ll be 50 in less than seven years… YIKES!!!  Anyway, I hate when things like this happen.  My heart goes out to Bernie’s family and friends.  He will be dearly missed by many.

On a completely unrelated subject, I’m trying to decide how I feel about a certain situation with someone I’m close to.  This person, we’ll call her Dotty, is splitting with her husband.  Dotty is around 40 years old and has an eight year old daughter.  She has started seeing a guy who is only 25.  Now, normally I would say that age doesn’t matter and I really believe that for the most part, but if the 25 year old acts like a 25 year old kid instead of a 25 year old man, then I’m a bit bothered.  Dotty acts a bit immature herself, especially when she’s around him and I’m thinking that is what bothers me more.  When I’m with them together I cringe.  But, when I’m not with them and just thinking about the relationship, I think, “Why not?  Go for it while you can, Dotty.”  Just keep him away from your daughter… I hope she does.  I think she’s fooling herself thinking that her daughter likes him and that he likes her daughter.  Not that he doesn’t like her daughter, but I’m sure he prefers things when she isn’t around.  As long as I never hear her say she loves him and she never let’s him sleep in her house when her daughter is home, I will just keep to myself (except for the occassional talking behind her back with my husband or a couple other people, that is.)

I know I was going to add more.  This post has become boring already and I can’t keep my eyes open much longer.  I’m going to leave it like this for the night and maybe add more tomorrow.  I wanted to talk about Big Brother, maybe the Olympics, and school vacations, but you’ll just have to wait.  Sorry   (Like you really care). 

Peace.