P2C2E

I loved that Didi wore her Pink Ladies jacket for the curtain call. It made my night!

I have never cried at the loss of a celebrity, until this week. I have teared up almost every day since Alan Rickman passed. Everything I read about him just makes it worse. I has always hoped that one day I could see him on Broadway and I'm devastated that will never happen. This sucks.

Happy Holiday from the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

They do realize that people will call him Spooge, right?! Good god, the inanity of these folks...

I highly recommend the book "Being Mortal". Apologies if I've mentioned it before, but it's a really great read about end of life care and the decisions involved in that. It talks about hospice care and how the goals of hospice are very different than a hospital. It's very well written and easy to read but also challenges you to think about how you want to make decisions for yourself and others. http://www.amazon.com/Being-Mortal-Medicine-What-Matters/dp/0805095152

Have there been any posts saying that mom and baby are well? Or just the myriad pictures of baby? I'm starting to get concerned that Jessa's complications may have been very serious.

For years I thought it was "Dirty Steve and the Thunder Chiefs".

I just saw a Loot Crate ad on tv, who knew?! I just know about it from you guys.

Last night I texted that, just that, to a friend. The reply, "oh what's he been in lately?" My response, "PTV Mafia." I love that any ridiculous name means Bedandbreakfast Comfypants. That's my personal favourite.

I don't know but I started the game resigned to a Seahawks loss and I'm pissed they got my hopes up and couldn't follow through.

Shit. At this point, I'm not worried about his career or his foot. I just hope he survives. MRSA is a nasty superbug and it's only going to become more prevalent.

So great to hear from you, Wanderwoman! I'm sorry that things are still rough for you but you have a huge support group here and I'm so glad you found the time to check in. Hang in there, you and Maisie are WonderWomen and I know the two of you will make it through. Screw the ex, Maisie has more than enough in you to get her through. I'll echo everyone else and say I hope you have a good support system in person around you to help out. We love you, and wishing you the best.

Dammit, now I want pie!

Unless he's lying, because he wants people to think he won by accident. Steve might be playing a long con.

I love fruitcake! My mum makes it without alcohol (nothing against it, she just doesn't like the taste) but they are still so moist and delicious. Since I'm allergic to food colouring, she even searches out candied fruit with no colouring - even cherries! - and makes me my own batch of cakes. It's so hard to make them last, I could eat a whole cake in one night if I wasn't careful. Funny story, one Christmas on Boxing day we were having leftovers. We were all serving up the leftover Christmas pudding with the leftover brown sugar sauce on top. I was halfway down the line and about to pour on the brown sugar sauce when my uncle made a "blech" sound and my aunt yelled "It's gravy!!" The leftover sauce was actually gravy that half the family had put on the Christmas pudding. I was glad I was spared and it became one of those stories told every Christmas. "Pass the brown sugar sauce, please." "Are you sure it's not gravy?" My username comes from Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie which I highly recommend to everyone. Bonus points to anyone who knows what it stands for!

In the Dillards thread, some posters were talking about their first CPR training. I was 9, because we had a pool in our backyard and my parents wanted me to know the basics just in case. My mom (who had been a lifeguard when she was younger) even taught me basic lifeguarding. For a 9 year old that was throwing a life ring, using a towel or pool noodle to reach someone and running for help. =) I ended up becoming a lifeguard for my late teens and early twenties. I enjoyed it then, but now I think the responsibility would scare me too much.

Taking to Small Talk...

I haven't been able to post much this summer because life has become crazy. No big things, just lots and lots of little things stacking up to be extremely stressful. But I try and read here as often as I can and you are all in my thoughts. I'm sending as much peace as I can to all of you. Be well.

I've always thought this was the best car commercial and I saw it again tonight so I hope it's back in rotation. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wc3DEL04bVg

This last weekend I had to take a ferry. It was a busy weekend with lots of events so the ferries were full (I got there an hour before the ferry I wanted to catch, and still had to catch the one after). First of all, I see a young boy maybe 6ish? (I don't know, I'm terrible at guessing - but clearly old enough to be a person) run up to a stranger's dog and start petting it. The owner politely informed the boy that his dog was friendly but in the future, ask first. The child stared at him and then began hitting the dog in the face (not punching, just lightly whacking - but STILL!) At this point, dog owner said to the mother of said child, "Ma'am, please secure your child!" I wanted to high-five the owner, but since I was sitting in my car I settled for eye-contact and a mutual eye-roll. Not 15 minutes later, I see said child running down the lanes of cars (all parked since we'd been waiting a long time). His parents, both chatting away completely oblivious. After a little bit they look around and the dad begins whistling for his child, like you would a dog!! Mom starts calling his name. They have to go searching for him as he's having way too much fun to listen to parents. Let alone the fact that this child was running around alone between cars full of strangers, there were railroad tracks near by and of course, the water!! I know that you can't watch kids every single second, but for god's sake I would think you cared about your child a little bit!! Feral children are one of my biggest pet peeves.

In Gaby's "get to know ya" bit I kept thinking she looked so familiar. I finally realized she reminds me soooo much of Sutton Foster!! And then she did a Broadway routine and I was sold on the similarities.

I don't think I developed my allergy until my 20s, but my first indication was it causing extreme cramps and diarrhea. (Sorry, everyone) Now that I've cut it out completely, even a little exposure gives me excema type bumps on my face and occasionally hives as well. Anytime I see something delicious looking that's full of coloring, I just remember the time I will spend in the bathroom and it's an easy decision. It is not worth it at all!! Unfortunately, allergies to food dye is not something that's talked about or necessarily acknowledged in the medical profession. A lot of kids have reactions to food coloring that cause behavioral problems. I've found studies back in the 80s that talked about this occurence, but mostly now it's all blogs. I'm sure there's a lot of gibberish, but there are also a lot of parents that have noticed definable improvements by putting their kids on a dye-free diet. She's hasn't updated in awhile but there's a good blog here. The problem is that food dye is so ubiquitous that kids especially eat tons of it during the day. I know there is no one thing that contributes to ADD/ADHD but I do believe that if we cut food dye out of our foods we would see a marked difference in kids. Another problem for those with dye sensitivities or allergies is medication. Most medication is colored, especially liquid meds for kids. It took me three stores this past winter to find a store brand expectorant that wasn't colored. Usually the amount of coloring in pills doesn't bother me too much, but I can't take any liquid cough medication because it's a much heavier dose of color. Vicks makes a NatureFusion that I've bought in the past, but couldn't find this last year. Sometimes you have to trade one evil for another. I'll deal with the itchy face in order to have migraine relief. I love finding white mint chocolate ice cream, because it's one of my favorites and I don't get it very often!

God, do I hate "the customer is always right"! No, sometimes you are stupid. Once working in food service I had a customer come in and rudely say "I left my coupon at home, but you're going to give it to me anyway!" Oh, I am, am I? I have a pretty bad allergy to food coloring, but it's on me to make sure it's dye free. I never go to an ice cream place without looking them up online or calling beforehand to find out if their ice cream has artificial dye or not, or which ones to avoid. On the offchance that I do stop in someplace, if it's slow I may ask politely if they have a book of ingredient lists. If they look at me completely blank, I say nevermind (usually the younger employees that either have no idea it exists or where it is) If there's a line, I'll just go for something vanilla (and hope it doesn't have blue in it) I guess that's a huge pet peeve of mine, food coloring!! Good glob, the stuff is everywhere it doesn't need to be!! First off, you don't need it anywhere. There are all kinds of natural things, like vegetable juices, that provide plenty of color. Secondly, why is there blue food coloring in marshmallows? Why is there red food coloring in vanilla cheesecake? Why did the chocolate brownies with chocolate frosting have red, blue, and yellow food coloring?!?! Why are you adding yellow to mac&cheese? Cheese isn't yellow enough for you? Sometimes it's downright ridiculous! I try to eat healthy - all natural and organic - as much as possible, but it's always a bit of a bummer when I'm at a restaurant or someone else's house and I have to pass on dessert. Most dessert has some kind of coloring in it and often people don't keep the packaging. I'm not taking my chances, so I'd rather go without.

Most of what I know of dancing is from watching this show and Dancing with the Stars, so I don't really know that much. To me, the "brave" contemporary was boring. I thought Jaja didn't have the same technique in the arabesque type things, but her movements are so sharp and purposeful. I really like her. The trio of hiphop was also boring, it didn't seem very difficult. Megz made me think of Justin Bieber, and they seemed to be all about having the swag but not the dance. The jazz trio was okay, that's about all I have. That cha-cha was ridiculous. You can tell that Asaf has no idea how to partner. I had to laugh in rehearsal when Travis? was telling Marissa to trust him more. I do not blame her at all for being worried about lifts!! She was amazing though, wish she hadn't been saddled with that nonsense. The African jazz was awesome!! I loved the choreo, especially the girls' handspring flip lift. I really appreciated how fully committed they all were and it made it more enjoyable.

Alright, this one could go in the scratch your head thread, but it also irritates me so I'm putting it here. It's the new Samsung commercial where they are advocating a new way of charging so that you don't have to deal with those pesky wires. Only thing is, their charging pad very clearly has a wire on it! How exactly is this saving me from wires? I get it, it's a nicer way of charging, but how is it the wiring any more convenient? You still have to shove the wire for the charging pad up behind your bedside table. Or carry it in your purse/briefcase every day in order to charge it at work. Don't sell me on a benefit of your product that isn't actually more beneficial! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvDOosa8PEo