Dear General Motors, NO. Uh-uh. Sincerely, America

GM has a tv ad running right now with a script that says something like 'America needs a rebound' blah blah blah with the honest-yet-uplifting recession talk that e v e r y o n e is employing right now. The thing about it is, GM failed as a company. Failed to keep up with the times and provide economically manufactured, desirable products at a competitive market rate. Survival of the fittest is as applicable in consumer culture as it is in nature. America has problems and needs a rebound, no doubt about that, but America's problems are sooooo not the same as GM's problems. GM made its own bed and now wants the rest of us to lie in it with them. Frankly, i resent them pretending we're the same entities with the same mistakes and the same path to recovery/success. To that i say, lame effort GM, but thanks- it made me love my Toyota all the more!

overdue post about Stella Bea

This is Stella Bea Rosten, only dog-child of neighbors and cohorts, Lyn & Jesse. She is Penny's bff, workout buddy, ringmaster, makeout partner, wrestlemania teammate and chief rival for affection and quality time with the tennis ball/rope toy/dino chewy etc. Though she is only half Penny's size, she holds her own in their near-constant wrestling matches. They were instant friends and, aside from a few tiffs resulting from Sexual Experimentation Without The Other's Consent, have been getting along swimmingly for about 3 months. Their wrestling techniques are strangely compatible: Penny attempts to devour Stella's hind legs and Stella tries to gnaw off Penny's face. Why this works so well, none of us really know, but it does and there has been intense wrestlage from day one. Josh and i are very glad they're besties because we were starting to think our Dog Of Emotional Baggage would never have a friend and never experience all the mental and physical stimulation that goes along with canine companionship. Stella Bea to the rescue.

Everyhing's Amazing, Nobody's Happy

Texts in my phone, vol. eleventybillion

I'm nobody's snow ho!

That's what small-group wives are supposed to do, right?

He decided to give me money instead! That was the most stressful experience of my life

just found 2 large furry detached legs of the insect varietal on bathroom floor.

Dance magic dance. I am jealous.

I'm going to punch linguistics in the balls.

I think I may start wearing hair pins. Is that okay? I'll start with bobby pins then work my way back in time. (note: not from a female)

You're bald???

It makes it really hard to stalk you when you park in the back.

He wants to be outside so much but can't seen to handle the wind. Kinda like a fat kid!

Jesse says that if pete comes it would be a petenic.

How can you "kind of" look @ a strangers underpants?

Bitch please

Hermie? Hermie? Hermie?

considering I'm STILL finding eyes from 5 years ago I'm very excited to see what you come up with.

Oh my god oh my god oh my god. What are you going to wear to the gala?

I'm going to poke my eyes out with...my shiny award!!! Let's to party!

i took a fake sick day last thursday, and now i think i have bronchitis or pneumonia. lesson learned.
--apparently i may have what they call "walking" pneumonia. yes, i am that lucky.

So. Two more years. Thats a lot of harley time.

only if i cough directly into your mouth. i promise i won't.

Who is the lead singer of the police? (Sting) You know that song "coming in the air tonight" who sings that? (Phil Collins) Its that guy right? (No)

That's amazing! Hey my sister's having her baby right now her f***ing b**** of a dr isn't there. She's lucky i'm down here buy i'd f*** her the f*** up.
--I just got the call...She pushed out a 9.3lb kid! Holy vagina batgirl!

Assolutamente fantastico, amico!

Dear NASA....

Now is the time, this is your chance: make outer space cool again. The people have spoken and i promise that it is in your best interest to listen to them. Remember back in the days of yore when Americans tuned in to watch shuttle launches? (i don't. i hadn't been born yet.) These days we gravity-bound plebians don't know anything about what you're sending into orbit (unless it crashes, unfortunately) but now you have the opportunity to make sure at least a handful of goofballs is paying partial attention. Be democratic. Give the people what they want. We want Colbert.

Oops: Colbert wins NASA space station name contest

WASHINGTON – NASA's online contest to name a new room at the international space station went awry. Comedian Stephen Colbert won.
The name "Colbert" beat out NASA's four suggested options in the space agency's effort to have the public help name the addition. The new room will be launched later this year.

NASA's mistake was allowing write-ins. Colbert urged viewers of his Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report" to write in his name. And they complied, with 230,539 votes. That clobbered Serenity, one of the NASA choices, by more than 40,000 votes. Nearly 1.2 million votes were cast by the time the contest ended Friday.

NASA reserves the right to choose an appropriate name. Agency spokesman John Yembrick said NASA will decide in April, but will give top vote-getters "the most consideration."
----
This journalist's bias against Dear Stephen is glaring. 'Went awry'?? why not 'went spectacularly well'? For shame. Where's truthiness in the newsmedia when you need it?

latest obsession

There's a show on the We network called The Locator and i can't not watch it. The premise is that this guy, Troy Dunn, and his family run a business locating lost people by request of their loved ones. It's often cases of siblings separated by the foster system and people separated from a parent. The stories are heartbreaking and the capacity of people to survive and to forgive and to love is fascinating. Sometimes Troy's 'searching' gets a little stagey, but he's good at guiding his clients through the very difficult process and getting the story told without it all devolving to an Oprah or Extreme Home Makeover-esque cloying weeper. He has his clients' best interests at heart, not his own reputation. Sometimes the 'lost' ones don't want to be found, and those situations are hard, but the successful reunions are very moving. The best part is that when Troy brings the two parties together, he does it simply and then walks away. Most of the time you don't even notice he's gone because you're caught up with the happy reunion. He doesn't mug for the camera and shout about all the good things he's done and he doesn't lurk around asking pointed questions to try to make them cry. (see: Pennington, Ty, then gag.) It's a well-made show and is very interesting and uplifting.

On the advantages of drought and dry heat

Looks like Mother Nature has a case of the Mondays. That's our mailbox:
This is the creek that runs beside our house and under the street....well, it USUALLY runs under the street. Not today. That's our car:
And this is our yard, which has a 2 foot retaining wall down to the sidewalk, which is of course higher than the street. Under normal conditions, of course. The red car is kindly demonstrating how the street in front of OUR house is the worst section.
Josh came home for lunch just in time to change into his best rain gear and start building dams to keep the deluge out of our house. And he was clever enough to measure the amount of water he had INSIDE his boots. (about 1 measuring cup each)

Song #11

Getting back to the top 15 countdown of my all time besty-songzies, we are making a most logical jump from rock-n-roller prettyboys Kings of Leon to The Mister of all Misters, Mr. Ray Charles. i chose 'Georgia On My Mind', which you might think is kinda cliche' of me but to which i say 'stop with all the hate, we're already in a recession, you jackweed.' Try to deny the beauty of this song- the way his voice oooozes, the way it creates an intimate sense of place between you and somewhere you've probably never been, the everyone you know can identify it within the first few notes.... The fact that it's historical and popular doesn't make it less of a good choice for a personal list. It's still a very good song. The 11th best song ever, if you ask me. Since this song was performed by Ray so many times and has been covered and covered and covered (and never matched, in my opinion), it was hard to find my favorite version to post here. i am very resourceful though, and i used The Google. Please excuse the foreign subtitles. Sit back, turn up the volume, and drift away.

georgia on my mind stereo
Uploaded by ces

It goooooooooooes

We spent the last few days with our 5 pals, Matt, Brenda, Lizzie, Addison and Wahoo. (Wahoo is a dog, not an unfortunately-named child.) We slept in, we made food, the dogs played, we turned the ceiling fans off, we turned the ceiling fans on, we visited The World's Largest Sundial That Is Also A Bridge, we saw Warhols and Lichtensteins and 15 different breeds of geckos, we journeyed through the magical lands of Costco and moscato, we turned the ceiling fans off, we turned the ceiling fans on, we judged bad interior design and ate tacos, bought boots, built fires, crowned Miss Ireland, turned the ceiling fans off, turned the ceiling fans on, and generally giggled like idiots. Good times. And all this within Redding city limits! see how much fun visiting us can be? No really, it's rad. Thanks for making time for us, kiddos! We were honored and tickled pink and are excited you'll be on the West coast with us for a while.