Saturday 9: Would You Take Them Back?

1. Think of all your exes. Would you take any of them back? No way, the man I married is pretty darn spectacular!

2. What was the first car you drove? What happened to it? It belonged to an old boyfriend I had in high school. He thought he'd teach me how to drive. Two driving lessons later, I dumped him...he was the meanest driving instructer EVER!

3. What’s the longest amount of time you have driven a car non-stop? Five hours, from Miami to Tampa on a road trip.

4. Have you ever been stood up on a date? If yes, when? Not that I can recall.

5. What TV network do you watch the most? Bravo, by a mile. I'm hooked on Project Runway, Top Chef, and Shear Genius.

6. Pick out a song you like that has special meaning to you. Share with us what song is it, and what’s the meaning to you. "Kiss from a Rose" from Seal. It's not that I particularly love the song, but it was the hot song the summer I met my husband so it brings back memories.

7. Who was your first celebrity crush on? Johnny Depp. Is it weird that I still have a crush on him?

8. What is your favorite romantic comedy movie? Moonstruck. Some of the best movie lines ever.

9. It has been said, "First Loves Are Never Over." Is this true for you? No.

Where's The Platform?

When I finally became eligible to vote, I rushed out to my local Supervisor of Elections and promptly filled out my voter registration form; I was excited to finally be able to take part in the process. I grew up in a home where my parents didn't vote, and I always thought it was unfortunate that my parents didn't take it seriously. My grandpa, a Korean War vet, never missed an election; and I'm glad that his enthusiasm for exercising the right to vote has rubbed off on me. Flamenco Dad and I take our politics seriously; and we've explained to our kids the importance of voting. Zoe was surprised when I told her that women got the right to vote just 88 years ago.

In the interest of keeping my sanity, I have declared a moratorium on watching all this nonsense going on in the news (television, radio, and internet) with respect to the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates and their respective running mates. I keep looking for information on platforms; I want to know what these people believe in, what these candidates suggest is best for our country...and all I'm getting is "Vote for me, because the other guy is...(insert nasty comment here)." I don't want to vote against someone. I want to vote for someone, because I feel they can best represent me. So far, I'm not hearing issues, I'm hearing insults. I don't believe either party is doing an effective job in relaying its vision for our country; and this has left me disappointed, angry and offended.

To make matters worse, the news and entertainment media have now gotten in on the action. Competing news and entertainment markets (I'm grouping them together because the line seems to be blurring between what is news and what is "entertainment") have gotten to the point where it has become something akin to mud wrestling matches or wet t-shirt contests. It's almost a race to see who can be the most outrageous and garner the most attention by printing or broadcasting the most sensational stories. Sorry, I don't mean to offend mud-wrestlers or wet t-shirt contest participants.

But come on: is this what news is supposed to be about? I want my newspeople to just. read. the. news. You remember the news, right? Where stories are researched, confirmed, and fact-checked, and then broadcast to the public without the anchors interjecting their own personal slant?

And when did the entertainment media decide that they should get in on this? Internets, if I'm watching an entertainment program or reading a magazine, I just want to know who wore what, what the hot trends are in fashion, which movies suck and which movies deserve my eight bucks (plus the price of a Cherry Coke).

So I'm going to conduct some research of my own. No more of this baloney I keep watching on television or reading online. I want to know what these candidates believe, and how they plan to lead the country. Wish me luck. I have a feeling this is going to be an uphill battle.

Laptop Leftovers

Remember this post I wrote a while back about the Zoe's lunchbox? Well, I love the darn thing so much I bought one for Ayden and one for myself. Of course we each have a different color (to prevent the inevitable fights over which lunchbox belongs to which person); and since red is my favorite color, I purchased this lovely lunchbox in black with red inserts. Oh, and the carrying case? Red and black...too cute!

I'm trying to adhere to gluten and casein free as much as possible. It's not too difficult, since I already prepare all Zoe's food; the only time I find myself in a pinch is when I don't plan ahead. So I'm now being more diligent about doing just that.

Today I had some leftover Pineapple Fried Rice (I went out for Thai food after class last night), salad greens with dressing, some spicy peanuts, and some fresh blueberries. It was delicious, satisfying, and since everything was in moderate portions I felt like I was doing my body good. I'm planning to use this more often; especially on days when I'll be in class till late in the evening. Getting my learnin' on makes me hungry; and after sitting in class for six hours I'm usually ready to chew on my textbooks. That could get expensive.