good to be an american

Can you imagine if a city or state tried to enforce something like this?

Seriously, try to picture it. Well, at least you non-NYC peeps. Literally only being able to drive your car every day.

Oh wait, with gas prices they way they are life is probably like that already...

fun trivia

One of my top five favorite movies of all time is M*A*S*H*

Not exactly the same as the TV show. Actually, the sitcom has some storylines that totally are opposite to those in the movie.

Yes. Really.

For example in the TV show Hawkeye tried to free the Korean boy from servitude. In the movie? Pshaw.

I'm not knocking the sitcom, it was really awesome. I'm just saying the movie was better.
....................

But let me show you what I really mean.

You know that catchy theme song? C'mon, you know. If not, just check out a rerun on cable. One is always on.

Know what the original lyrics to the song are?

No??

Why let me tell you....

Lyrics to the song 'Suicide is Painless'

Through early morning fog I see

visions of the things to be

the pains that are withheld for me

I realize and I can see...

[REFRAIN]:

that suicide is painless

It brings on many changes

and I can take or leave it if I please.

I try to find a way to make

all our little joys relate

without that ever-present hate

but now I know that it's too late, and...

[REFRAIN]

The game of life is hard to play

I'm gonna lose it anyway

The losing card I'll someday lay

so this is all I have to say.

[REFRAIN]

The only way to win is cheat

And lay it down before I'm beat

and to another give my seat

for that's the only painless feat.

[REFRAIN]

The sword of time will pierce our skins

It doesn't hurt when it begins

But as it works its way on in

The pain grows stronger...watch it grin, but...

[REFRAIN]

A brave man once requested me

to answer questions that are key

is it to be or not to be

and I replied 'oh why ask me?'

[REFRAIN]

'Cause suicide is painless

it brings on many changes

and I can take or leave it if I please.

...and you can do the same thing if you please.

................

OK, maybe I have a dark sense of humor. Maybe. You think?

being girly

The whole concept of having to have 'feminine' traits in order to be accepted just burns me. It always has. If anything, I go out of my way to be un-stereotypical, embracing enthusiastically my masculine traits. Like math. Tech-love. Ability to play sports.

Heck, I even embrace the less-positive masculine traits. Like bad sense of fashion. Inability to care about my hairstyle. Task oriented behavior. (otherwise known as lack of sensitivity to personal situations in the workplace.)

On occasion I wonder if I am so quick to celebrate my differences because I decided sometime ago I was different. For example did I move to NYC because it is a place where unique people all fit in? Does the mass diversity in some way allow me to in some way to be considered 'normal' for once?

One thing I will say, appreciating the gender-neutral in myself allows me to appreciate the same in men I meet. Give me a sensitive guy any day over Mr Testosterone.

And hey - if the guy I'm with happens to be a little less task-oriented, I say bonus for me my friend. I can set up the speakers if he remembers the birthdays...

best of all worlds

Huh, let's see.

Created by Joss Whedon, master of Firefly.

Starring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion as superheroes.

Oh, and its a musical.

Seriously...what's not to love???

Click here for a preview.

*sigh*

tree of knowledge

Growing up my family life was very Irish-American stereotypical. Which means we just did not talk about the important stuff.

Oh, we talked. A lot. And by nature we are loud. But talk to each other about feelings or emotions? Ha. My parents did not fight nor kiss in front of us, the kids. Or anyone else for that manner. Thus my skill to mask emotion. But not the point of this post.

Throughout my life my parents had a routine. They watched TV every evening. My mom would wash her hair around 10:00 pm, then put her hair into curlers. (Yes, in the 80's and 90's) Then she would go to bed, and my dad would stay up to watch more TV, eventually hitting the hay around 1:00.

On and off during my college career (Which did last nine years, thank you very much) I would live for a bit with my parents. The routine was always remained the same.

One night, when I was in my early twenties, I was awake watching TV around 3:00 am. My mother went into the kitchen, washed her hair, and then sat down in the TV room with me to put it back into curlers.

Strange, I thought. So I asked.

"Mom", I said,” Why are you doing your hair again?"

She smiled. A mischievous smile. Which frankly I had never seen before. Then replied. "It got messed up"

My response? "Ewwwwwwwwww"

At this point she laughed, "Don't ask if you don't want to know"

To this day, the best advice I have ever gotten. Simple truths always are the best.

oops

One of my rather strange quirks is that I cut my own hair.

Since all of my other quirks are obviously SO normal. But I digress.

My mom always has and still does cut her own hair. Once or twice a month she washes her hair, then sits down in the family room in front of the TV with two hand mirrors and commence to her trim. She has had the same hairstyle as long as I can remember, a very short pixie-like cut.

So you could say the concept wasn't strange to me. But it isn't just that. No matter what I do and where I go, whenever someone else cuts my hair it looks awful. U-G-L-Y horrible.

Really, I'm not kidding. I gotta tell you, for some reason all the training and experience a hairstylist may have for some reason makes them look at my face and think:

"She needs a mullet. Clearly, a mullet."

I've gone to fancy salons and to regular joe shops. All the same, after shelling out a kabillion dollars I go home and 'clean it up'.

Now, the funny part is that I really have no rhyme or reason to how I cut my mop. After years of watching my mom I kind of know how to do layers and trim the back of my head. But as to maintaining a style?

Yeah, no.

Thus my ‘do is constantly in a state of flux. Which can be a downer if the previous style was a particularly flattering one? My hair grows pretty rapidly, thus nothing looks the same for more than a few weeks.

Which today would be a good thing. Since I trimmed my bangs yesterday. And well....

Oops.