it's just a life story, so there's no climax.

So, I don't really think of myself as appropriate. I don't really shy away from saying what I want to say, though I do refrain from the F word at work and at church. But these days there are some things I just won't say, and it's occured to me that I may be becoming appropriate in my old age. I'm getting to the point, the place where I explain what I'm talking about and why I think I may be becoming appropriate. I'm getting there, I'm getting there.

Last weekend I had lunch with my grandparents. We were talking about my grandfather's brother and blahblahblah, it occurs to me that my grandfather's niece - my mom's cousin and my godmother - never got married. And she's like, a cat chick. Stereotypical cat lady, loves her cats more than she could love any man. I don't see her a lot at all, this is why this fact suddenly occurs to me. But what I really want to know is -- DO YOU THINK SHE IS A LESBIAN??? She probably is, right? And I think if it were just my grandmother sitting there, I probably would have asked. But I actually had an inner dialogue for about 10 seconds and decided not to say it (OMG I am so appropriate). So I just said, "why do you think she never got married?" And my grandfather said, "these days people don't always want to get married." Really? Because I think I am a fairly modern woman, and I would prefer to get married over hanging out with cats all day every day for all eternity. But that's just me, I am bizarre. And then my grandmother adds that she also NEVER HAD A BOYFRIEND. Wait, so she is a 40 something year old virgin??? WHAT? And yet they say this nonchalantly like it's normal to never have a boyfriend and just live with cats and never have sex. I feel like I am taking crazy pills at this point, because this is BIZARRE and I need to ask if they think she has ever had sex. But I don't, because I am appropriate and appropriate people don't ask their grandparents if they think their 40-something year old niece has never gotten it on. But I have to make sense of this, so I do by taking the firm stance (in my mind at least) that she is a lesbian.

Now I wonder if I should get in touch with her and try to get her to come out of the closet and live her life like the full fledged lesbian I know she is. I comfort myself by thinking that she has had wild lesbian affairs without anyone knowing. This would at least make her seem a bit more normal. And she plays second life where she is also a lesbian, but in her second life game she is an out lesbian. OUT AND PROUD. I'm proud of her second life that I've made up in my mind. A small part of me wonders that if I kidnapped her cats, maybe she would be brought closer to reality a bit. Then a bigger part of me gets to work plotting the kidnapping. Take the cats, replace the cats with blow up women. Later, steal the blow up women and replace them with real women. Later, let the women go home.

In conclusion, since I don't care about appropriateness here.... is my godmother a lesbian? thanks.

ain't another woman that could take your spot

I feel like I'm letting you down with my lack of posts... all three of you that read my blog. I have no choice but to admit to you that I have been distracted by love. Yes, love. A love not unlike that Columbo felt for his dog, Dog. Yes, I've adopted a small hamster, and we've been spending a lot of time together lately. His name is RunsInAWheelAlot... I like this name because it is similar to the kinds of names that Native Americans have. And RunsInAWheelAlot told me when we first met that he was a Native American in a past life. You HAVE to respect that. Otherwise RunsInaWheelAlot might scalp me in my sleep... ooohh burrnnn, don't tell him I said that. Anyway, RunsInaWheelAlot and I do a lot of fun things together. I carry him around in a Louis Vuitton bag meant for a dog, we play fetch with toothpicks, and I give him baths in an espresso cup. When he talks to me, his voice sounds a lot like Jerry Seinfeld. He doesn't tell jokes like Seinfeld does, though... I mean, Seinfeld looks around him and makes jokes about the things he sees, right? I would say that RunsInaWheelAlot is more like Carrot Top in that he really likes to use props with his jokes. Sometimes it can be a little out of hand, like the other night when he nearly impaled himself with a fork trying to do a joke about sushi. It was a close call, I was worried, but in the end, love prevailed and RunsInaWheelAlot was ok. And I guess that is all that matters in the end. In closing, just wanted to say that I am going away for a week and should be gathering a lot of material in my travels, and expect a lot of making fun of french people when I get back, as well as a brillpost on 19TH CENTURY BRIDGES.

I invented the piano key necktie... I INVENTED IT

I haven't said anything about this because I don't feel like "starting something," or "filing a lawsuit," but I created a character awhile back, and it was stolen from me and used on a television program that is quite popular these days (what is it, like 1998 or something?).

A couple years ago, I had a decent working relationship with this guy David Shore. Some might tell you he wanted to take it to another level with me. Some would be wrong. However, we used to drink like, five or six pint glasses of tequila every day and just share our thoughts. Sometimes we would share our dreams, sometimes we would pretend to be chickens. This is really neither here nor there. But getting that drunk causes me to open up to the Shoredog in ways that I never would sober. I confessed to him that I had an excellent idea for a recurring character in a novel. A doc that would walk with a cane, eat vicodin like tictacs and define the word SNARK. Witty and brilliant but mean as hell. He could diagnose diseases like no one's business. And he was also a superhero on the side, he could fly but only between the hours of 2 and 3 am, and he could light people on fire but that would require a lot of concentration so he wouldn't do it that much (maybe once per novel). His name would be Alan Home.

A good idea, right? The Shoredog thought so, and he encouraged me to pitch my idea all over town (we were in Wichita, Kansas at the time). A few weeks later, we parted ways, promising to write each other a handwritten postcard each week we were apart. We did, for awhile, but then the postcards became few and far between, and the Shorester became a distant memory. Sad, but gave me the opportunity to ask myself, "Wonder what that old bastard David Shore is up to these days." I always did want to say that.

Imagine my surprise when, a couple years later, a new show on Fox features, yes, the character that I created. And who is listed as the creator of the show, but the freakin Shoredog! I kid you not. And the idiot left off all the best parts (superhero, flying, fire), and then changed the guy's name to Greg House. And while Shorey McGee is now rich and powerful (I think he bought a third world nation or something), I am poor and homeless... still clinging to an imaginary Alan Home every night when I curl up in my cardboard box. THANKS A LOT DAVID SHORE.

I can haz yawnz?

Why do we yawn? Oh why oh why oh why, indeed. If you are telling me a story and I yawn in the middle of it, does it mean I am not interested? No. Well, I'm probably not interested, but the yawn does not reflect that. Recently I went to a lecture on yawning. The lecture-er-er, a man name Kirby McDirbyington*, was trying to tell me and the other four senior citizens present that we yawn in order to "cool off" our brains. He threw fire at me. I yawned while stopping, dropping and rolling. Then, he threw ice at me. I did not yawn... how could I? I was busy leaping behind desks and old people in order to avoid the glaciers of ice being thrown at me. This, he said, proves that overheating causes people to yawn. A valid argument? Of course it is!! I have jumped on the McDirbyton bandwangon in ways that you wouldn't believe. McDirbyington t-shirts, coffee mugs, a car with a special "yawning is for hotties" bumper sticker. Obama/McDirbyington 08. Need I say more?


*Nope


Post inspired by Three Repute

UPCOMING 5 MIN RULE TOPICS

Yawning (tomorrow)

House (the day after that)

EDIT: some jerky jerk thought this means I'm going to be spending more than five minutes on each one... no no. I'm just planning to put aside five mins for each over the next couple of days. TOTES YES? totes.

Essential questions before you get married

Awhile back I received a marketing email from a guy who had a book of dating advice. I blogged about it and inserted my own advice. I'm pretty sure I moved it over here, so if you feel like looking for it, props. Major ones. It's one of my best, really. So, clearly I am an expert on dating. Look at me, come on. But did you know I am also an expert on marriage? Yes! I've seen it all, my friends.

A friend of mine is getting married soon and is doing the whole pre-cana thing. For those of you who are not aware, wikipedia defines pre-cana as "a course or consultation Catholic couples must undergo before they can be married in a Catholic church." Fine. Part of this is asking the essential questions we all must find out before we get married. Now, I have no clue what questions the catholic church says you should ask. I do know what questions Oprah* says you should ask. And I will even help you figure out what the answers mean for your relationship You will thank me later my little porkchops.

OPRAH*, WHO HASN'T BEEN MARRIED SAYS YOU SHOULD ASK EACH OTHER THESE 5 QUESTIONS*:


How do you feel about getting a poland spring dispenser for the kitchen?

Huge. Maker/breaker. If your partner doesn't want a dispenser, he or she is most likely hiding homosexual tendencies from you. Seriously, you marry someone who doesn't want the dispenser and in five years you will be talking to Matt Lauer about your partners foot tapping. If your partner does want a dispenser, but a different brand of water, then this person is just some sort of freakshow. And I would be 77% sure that this person is also a cutter. Poland Spring has been bringing people together since 1845 and I would seriously recommend that you not forget that.


Do you have HIV?

Wow, I'm really not sure why this question is here. If you are engaged and don't know the answer to this question, you might be having some communication problems. I mean, I am a very open person. Nine times out of ten my first question to a potential suitor is if he has HIV. But don't believe people the first time you ask. Ask them a few times and see if you get the same answer. Ask in sneaky ways. Like, your partner will say to you, "do you want white or wheat bread?" and you can reply, "Not sure, but, you have AIDs, right" You might catch them off guard and get the real answer, which is more than likely YES. This is the 90's people, let's get with it, ok?


What is your opinion on the dress that Molly Ringwald wore at the prom in the classic 80's film Pretty in Pink?

Again, this one is CRITICAL and should be used to determine mental stability/detect mental illness in your significant other. The dress that read-haired Ringwald wore in the film was basically a pink polka dotted trash bag. It was not stylish for the 80's or any other period of time, except MAYBE in the alternate 1955 but I seriously doubt it. If your partner appreciates this dress, you should not only end it right then and there, you should think about having them committed. You might want to tear out their eyeballs with a fork and then light them on fire, though (easier).


If I were to have sex with someone else in the bathroom of a dive bar, would that be considered cheating?

Everyone has different rules for constitutes "cheating." For example, flirting with another person is considered a form of cheating by some. Going to a strip club is another example of an activity that is frowned upon. Masturbating while talking to another person via webcam. Posting ads on craigslist for sex during lunch. I can go on. The point is that, yes, this is an excellent question to ask, because everyone's definition of cheating is different. A good rule to follow: if you have another person's ejaculate on you, you probably did something wrong. Also, you can't hire a prostitute for your husband or wife and then later claim they cheated. That's just not fair.


Are you going to get fat?
Nobody wants to get married and then have their partner gain 200 pounds and then go on the Biggest Loser so everyone at work can make fun of them. Yes, if your partner wins, you get some money, but the mental image of them walking around shirtless and in spandex will stick with you (and your co-workers) a lot longer than $150,000. So, that's that, but really, no one can really answer this question without yes, you guessed it, jumping in the delorean. So you have to answer this question for yourself. Look at the person: do they look like they have the fat gene? How many people in their family are fat? Feed your partner like 13 donuts a day for a week and see what the weight gain looks like. Only then can you proceed... but I would proceed with caution.


FINALMENTE

This blog was inspired by Tara, who is the queen of pre-cana.


* I'm lying, of course. Oprah is not affiliated with this blog, this topic, or me in any way. She was a bitch about that James Frey thing, though.

landlords are nerve-a-licious

And also funny.

So, someone puts an ad up on craigslist for an apartment, and includes pictures. Except, instead of putting up pictures of the apartment, the brilliant person puts up pictures of the view from the apartment, or local scenary. I loved the person who put up a pic of the UBS building in Stamford, like that is doing to draw me to the apartment. It's near the UBS building! Snap, I'm in, I don't care that it's 280 squarefoot studio that I'm renting for three grand a month. I don't even know how the apartment is related to the UBS building, but I don't care: there is a picture of the UBS building in the ad.

Also amusing is when people think I want to live in an apartment without a kitchen. Oh, the apartment has a great living room, great bathroom, great bedroom, but no kitchen. That will be 4 grand please. Oh, but it's ok because the sweet landlord will let me have a microwave, or perhaps a hot plate. Well that's freakin great, because as an adult, the only cooking I do involves a microwave. Who needs a fridge, I have a goddamn hot plate. What is this, an apartment, or prison? Is the toilet in the middle of the living room or what? What the heck?