Forgive Me, 'Jay...

I know it's not the best photo but I spent a wonderful day with my friend, Arjay, beginning with the movie "Biutiful" (it's hard to watch) and a bit of shopping. Here he is drained from a depressing movie, frigid weather and lots of walking (we hit the shops at Georgetown) BUT his Lockit Horizontal still LVooks fab!

First LVook: Louis Vuitton Ixia

For fans of the intricately quilted leather, Antheia, a new style is coming out called the Ixia. Slated to be released in March, it will come in PM, MM and GM with a variety of colours; pictured here is the anthracite. I really LVoe the current trend of top handled bags with a shoulder strap option. It makes life so much easier. Prices are $2950, $3060 & $3480, depending on the size. Also, it is a seasonal piece, so put your names on the list if you want one. LVoe, LVoe, LVoe it!!!

Claire Danes in Louis Vuitton

As much as I hate Claire Danes due to ignorant comments she made about the Philippines in a past interview, I have to admit that she LVooks ravishing in this Vuitton ensemble. Taken at the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, sigh...she did well. Thanks, Hydie!

Take This Tune

My pal Jamie from Duward Discussion has reintroduced her wonderful weekly feature.  Take This Tune provides a musical prompt each week, usually a video with the song lyrics.  The task is to write something inspired by the song or something in the lyrics.

This week's prompt is actually your choice of two songs from the movie The Big Chill.  Jamie says...

One of my favorite movies and soundtracks is "The Big Chill" with its window on a generation. It featured 14 great songs that acted both as music for the film and commentary on the interaction of the characters. This week you get your choice of two songs to use for your Take This Tune prompt.

The Big Chill is one of my favorite movies too.  The song choices are Ain't Too Proud to Beg from The Temptations and You Can't Always Get What You Want from The Rolling Stones.

I chose The Stones.

You can't always get what you want

But if you try sometimes

You just might find

You get what you need

My blog pal Lois wrote yesterday that she and her husband found a full service car wash.  They stopped in and got the works.  She wrote, "Those four sets of hands represent four families that have jobs.  So we'll be patronizing this place often."


Now, Lois and her husband have recently relocated to Ohio.  Ohio is getting snow these days, so you wouldn't think getting the car washed would qualify as a need.  Oh you could make the case, as Lois did, that the winter salt on the roads makes it necessary to periodically get a vehicle washed.  That stuff can cause corrosion which can lead to rust, which can lead to an early trade in for a new car.

Need versus Want.

One needs to be aware of what winter salt can do to a vehicle's undercarriage and exterior paint.  Then one can pay the relatively low cost of a full service car wash periodically to avoid needing to pay thousands later for repairs, or a replacement.  It's like getting the oil changed or having your transmission checked.  It's basic preventive care to secure your investment. 


The side benefit is that one's patronage helps another family by providing a job, so that family can meet its own needs.


I can extend that analogy to just about anything.  But my main point is this...what do you do if you have money left after you pay the mortgage/rent, buy groceries, and pay your subsistence bills?  You save some, if you're smart, and you give some to charities.  And you spend the rest on entertainment.


That's what keeps the economy chugging along.  Sometimes it rolls downhill like an out of control rock.  Other times it slows to a trickle like a dried up stream bed.

"Money, pardon the expression, is like manure.  It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around, encouraging young things to grow."  Dolly Levi, from the movie Hello Dolly

In December 2010, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the national unemployment rate was 9.1%.  That's so high, and I feel for all those who are still having trouble finding jobs.  They face so many challenges.  I've been there and it sucks.


But I always try to find the positive.  So 90.9% of the working age population is employed.  Most of us are working in this country.  For some it's still a struggle just to make the monthly nut, but they are finding ways to get it done.


And some of us are making the monthly nut and then some.  So we're saving as much as we can against the possibility that the economy might hiccup again.  We want to be prepared and we want to be cautious.  But we can also help the economy by giving in to what we want once in awhile.


I guess my point is, don't let fear stop you from doing what you want.  If you're struggling, of course you'll fall back as far as you can to meet your basic needs of food, water, clothing, and shelter.  


But if you are reasonably secure, then spend responsibly.  The responsible spending of those who can do so saves jobs, and can sometimes create jobs.


Maybe you can't always get what you want.  But when you can, you might find someone else gets what they need.

A Little Good

I do best when I have soup, crackers, and Gatorade or something similar. Otherwise, indigestion. Brian, Melissa, and Brendan have had diminished appetites but have been eating non-soup meals. That's good that they can branch out. Hope we never get this again!

I'm still behind in blog reading and writing and emails. I'll do the best I can but also have all this reading for classes. This novel I'm reading for one has 600+ pages with little print! Books of essays for the other one with an assignment looming ahead I'm working on.

Watched some LOGO while lying around this afternoon and saw Drag Race and early episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then I got into a profile on Jack Wrangler and wasn't familiar with until I saw this. Interesting about him and Margaret Whiting, whom I do remember.

(I wrote this last night - Saturday - but apparently didn't post it.)

Louis Vuitton Heart Coin Purse

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and what better way to surprise an LV LVoer such as myself than with a Monogram Canvas Heart Coin Purse! The Miroir and the Vernis have had their interpretations but nothing beats Georges' iconic canvas. Available for $390 at www.louisvuitton.com. Thanks, Angie. LVoe, LVoe, LVoe it anyways!!!

Louis Vuitton Multicolore Patti

The Multicolore Patti is that perfect piece to transition from day to evening. A smaller companion for the Annie, these new releases for the Murakami Collection is whimsical with its bows that match perfectly the playfulness of the line. $1600 at www.louisvuitton.com.

Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2011 Catalogue

The winter snow is quite enjoyable for the first few weeks but there comes a time when you just get tired of it and LVook forward to the arrival of Spring. Thankfully, I received my catalogue today for just such a purpose and the fabulous pics truly brought some warmth in my 30° environ. LVoe it!!!

Five on Friday Set 53

So I debated for awhile whether to embark on Year 2 of Five on Friday by calling this Volume 2 Set 1.  In the end I decided that was silly.  So Set 53 it is!

I've never really been much of a concert-goer, but I have seen quite a few performers in smaller venues like jazz clubs and such.  Just after I turned 21 and could actually get into a nightclub to see a show, I won tickets from a radio contest because I happened to know that although Rick Derringer played the guitar solo on the single release of Free Ride by The Edgar Winter Group, it was actually Ronnie Montrose who had the solo on the album They Only Come Out at Night.


I never thought it was all that obscure of a fact, but I won the tickets after about 40 callers got it wrong.  Go figure.


I was happy because I got to see one of my favorite groups, The Guess Who.  It wasn't the original line up, but I lucked out that it was one of the times that Randy Bachman was back with Jim Kale.  Alas and alack, I did not get to see Burton Cummings.


Stay tuned gang...I think there might be a round of Five Degrees of Musical Progression coming up soon!

If you've never joined in, give it a try.  I know you've got some favorite music you'd like to share with the FoF gang.  Here's how to play along.

1. Grab the banner, make your post title Five on Friday, and be sure to link back here.

2. Go to Playlist.com to make your play list of five songs. You may choose a particular theme to share with us, or post random tunes if that's your vibe for the day. You can simply post the play list, or you can add a little summary about what you are sharing.

2a. Don't feel restricted by the tracks listed on Playlist.com. And don't be discouraged if the Embed code won't work. You're welcome to use any type of media to share your Sets.

3. Be sure to sign Mr Linky so everyone can visit your Set.

4. No tags, but feel free to invite your friends to play along if they need a post topic on a Friday.

Go forth and enjoy music!

Thursday 13 from the Wayback Machine

I used to be silly.

I used to have real mojo in the silly department.  When I first started posting to message boards, I was the Sultan of Silly.

But that kind of silly really doesn't lend itself to blogging.  I don't really write comedy, although I do admit that I have written things that have been kind of funny.  But I'm not a joke teller or a comedian.  I'm certainly no satirist.

I do have a sense of humor.  And I just want to have a few silly moments.

There are a few of my Soul Patrol brothers and sisters who remain here in our blogging community.  Talk about silly?  Oh man!  We were all about the silly on the American Idol message boards way back in 2006 for Season 5.  We supported our gray haired Soul Man Taylor Hicks, and we came up with some off the wall crazy silly stuff.

So, as American Idol returns for Season 10, I want to relive some of the silly things I enjoyed with my SP pals on the message boards and in chat rooms.  Most of it won't mean anything to many of you, but that's OK because there's non-specific silly stuff too.

Anyway, indulge me.  I'm feeling a little nostalgic for some good times I recall.  Step into the Wayback Machine with me.  I've added some clarifying words to the original post, just for, well, for clarity.  These are in italics and parentheses.  Everything else is from the original post.

Thursday 13 - 100th Post, originally posted here at Trav's Thoughts on 8 February 2007.

Well gang, today is my 100th post.  YAY ME!  (Editor's note:  I just checked my dashboard and found that I recently posted #1400.)

In honor of this milestone occasion, my 13 today is a little different.  I met many of you over on the American Idol boards, specifically on the Taylor Hicks board.  We had great times and lots of fun.

And we celebrated milestone posts.  We celebrated with post parties and silliness.  We did some goofy stuff y'all.

For my 13 today, I present 13 of my favorite ways to celebrate a milestone post.  Don't worry if you have no idea what any of this means.  It's all about the silly!

1. **tosses confetti and walnuts**
2. **tosses flaming walnuts while juggling mittened kittens**  Note:  The mittens are so I don't get scratched.  (Editor's note:  I get that it doesn't make any sense.  How could I toss something while juggling something else?  Don't try to work it out.  Just go with the silly.)
3. **does a hop jig, a soul twitch, and a left leg swing with extra thigh action while juggling leprechauns and singing in the rain**  Note:  Regrettably, sometimes a kitten gets dropped.  That's normally no big deal, 'cause kitties land on their feet.  But, see, the mittens make kitty feet very slippery.  Thus the move to leprechauns.
4. **hops in the T-bird, screeches donuts in the driveway of the Original Soul Patrol place, breaks out in random song**  (Editor's note:  The Original Soul Patrol place was a thread that the moderators would constantly delete because it didn't really conform to the AI message board rules.  So we would restart it and continue to break the rules until they deleted it again.  It was one of those "run back home" threads, like a safe house where we congregated for conversation about anything.  That's what broke the rules...we were "off topic" in terms of not posting news or thoughts about our Idol.  But it was the way our community operated, before we discovered chat rooms.)
5. **takes a quick running start, does a round off into successive back hand springs, followed by a punch front into a full twisting triple back somersault in pike position, sticks the landing without stepping out of bounds, vaults forward into a hand stand**  (Editor's note:  In my message board youth, I was a master gymnast and quite the amazing acrobat.)
6. **plants feet, takes firm grasp of one wrist and one ankle, gets a good three spin wind-up, and tosses Gary Coleman with enough force to launch him into orbit**  Note:  Now you have to be careful with this particular celebration.  Most of the time we fail to heave Mr Coleman with sufficient trajectory and force to actually achieve stable orbit.  On those occasions we have special ships at sea to track his orbital decay on highly sophisticated radar.  Unfortunately, the radar has glitches and we inevitably lose track of Mr Coleman's re-entry.  Once, he actually crashed down in the OSP backyard and nearly killed the pool boy!  (Editor's note:  Clearly this is not so silly since Mr Coleman's death in May last year and there is no disrespect intended to his loved ones.)
7. **see above, only substitute Emmanuel Lewis**  Note:  The diminutive star of the program Webster has a much higher success rate in achieving stable orbit.  Unfortunately, we tend to forget he's up there.
8. No milestone celebration is complete without an open bar.  I'm a Gentleman Jack man myself, but we have a wide variety of spirits to satisfy the most diverse pallets.  For our Canadian Soul Patrollers, we have plenty of watered down American brews...wait...no, I've got that one mixed up.  We have all the best Canadian brews for our friends from north of the border.  Yeah - that's what I meant to say.  Oh yeah, for those non-drinkers we provide bottomless pitchers of ice cold milk and sweet tea - 2 of our man Taylor's favorite drinks. 
9. We've had celebrations disrupted many times when someone forgot to shut the barn door and lock up the corral.  The cow gets a little crazy, llamas chase the ducks from thread to threat, while the twins Madness and Mayhem wreak havoc.  And then the Damm Duck breaks the thread and we all end up in banned camp.  (Editor's note:  This is one of those where you kind of had to be there.  I wish I had saved some of the threads to show you the sheer wackiness of the things people wrote.)
10. Water balloons!  I almost forgot water balloons!  And whipped cream drawings of Onions and Ears and Tatas oh my!
11. A favored spectacle during any milestone post celebration is the appearance of thread hoppers and the occasional flasher.  Sometimes all it takes is a little of this - (.)(.) - and you don't need a reason to celebrate.  Stare at 'em long enough...you'll figure out what they are.
12. The party really gets hopping when the TK's show up.  TK stands for Thread Killers, but it's not what you think.  See, sometimes our board would be invaded by the dreaded trolls whose mission was to ruin all the fun and get people all ripped up and mad at each other. TK's started off as a thread for peeps who thought they were death to any thread they joined. Turns out, they are just about the sweetest group. They feel so bad about killing threads, that they just can't seem to let anyone be the last to post!! And when those dreadful trolls appear, TK's zoom into the thread and hi-jack it so fast, the troll has no choice but to begone!! And then the party is back on baby!!
13. (Editor's note:  This last one is me being a flirt.  It pulls together the things that Soul Patrol gals love about Taylor's performances and was usually written out line by line in a chat or on a message board, as a tease with pauses in between to let people post their hoots and hollars.)  **puts on leather jacket, whips out harmonica, tilts head, batts eyelashes, wails Taylor-style on Tobbaco Road, bends knees, shakes tail with sexy mambo hip swivels, leather jacket flapping about the onion, numerous left leg swings with extra hip and thigh action, finishing with a fast and furious Taylor-go-round that makes me so dizzy I fall on the floor for one last fuzzy belly shot**

Now some of that stuff I didn't come up with.  I took what others had posted and made it my own...put my own silly spin on it, if you will.  The great thing about that Taylor Hicks message board and the Soul Patrollers who posted there was the sense of community.  We were fiercely devoted to voting our guy through every week.  We were dead serious about his talent and that drew us together.


In between working hard to bring in fans and votes, and to rebut the critics whenever and wherever we found them, we were outrageously silly.  The message boards, and later the chat rooms we ultimately established after Season 5 ended, always felt like we were actually in the room with each other.  Although we couldn't see or hear each other, the way we wrote in post after post made us feel as if we were.


It's hard to explain.  The boards felt real.  So when somebody wrote something like **tosses confetti**, it felt like a physical thing that had just been done.  And so we all piled in to write the things that we would do if we were all gathered together in a room actually tossing confetti.


Of course, if we'd really been together we probably wouldn't have been throwing flaming walnuts or juggling kittens...


At least, I don't think we would.

Good times. 

Wednesday Wonders

We wonderss thingssess...yesss precious, we doess.  


Like...

...why not take the few extra steps to put the shopping cart in the shopping cart corral?

...why would anyone think that words and images don't influence people?  Isn't that what a marketing campaign is all about?  An advertising executive tries to build a series of images and slogans to graphically and verbally influence consumers toward a particular product.  If rational consumers can be influenced to buy a cheeseburger from Jack-in-the-Box over one from Burger King, then why would anyone think that an irrational person couldn't be influenced by words or images to act on his own perception of what the words or images suggest to him?

...why do some want to rewrite our history, and the literature that describes it, because it doesn't conform to the modern version of morality they practice?  Instead, why not teach children how to think critically so that when they are exposed to something a modern mind might deem offensive, they can question it and determine for themselves what the words say about the time in which they were written?  I don't think kids are stupid.  I think over-protective and selfish adults do kids a disservice by not teaching the fundamentals of thinking, research, reasoning, and determining context.


...if any part of your statement or commentary about an issue includes the phrases "I don't have any experience with that" or "I haven't really taken time to research the facts", or any words to that effect, shouldn't you maybe consider withholding your opinion?  I mean, you certainly have a right to your thoughts about a situation regardless of whether you have any experience with it or knowledge of the facts surrounding it.  But you're a bit lacking in the credibility department to pass any kind of judgment, don't you think?

...why can't the sports networks understand that college basketball games run longer than 2 hours?  And that means that viewers who want to see the second game invariably miss the tip off, and a good portion of the first half waiting for the first game to finally end.

Yesss precious.  Those are just a few of the thingsses that we wonderss.

Make your Wednesday wonderful.

Weather

It's snowing again. Great big fluffy flakes! Report in the morning about how much.

Just Sayin'

I still like President Obama and am glad I voted for him.

Knew it would be upsetting to see Orange Boner sitting there beside VP Biden during the State of the Union Address. It was worse than I'd thought.

I missed it. What are those black and white ribbons they have on?

Hillary's hair looked so good during the campaign. Not so much now. Also she looks more tired. Did she get help with her face during the campaign, too? I like her and think she's doing a good job but just felt compelled to mention the obvious.

Michelle Obama is beautiful and smart and lovely and a great mother. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't go back to a career when they are out of office at some time.

Obama almost made the Weeper of the House cry, but he managed to get himself under control.

I do wish something that actually works would happen for education and no more of this extreme emphasis on testing. We're way behind and getting worse!

We need infrastructure, fast trains, energy advances, and more. Help!

Valentine's Day Windows

I was pleasantly surprised today when I saw the new windows in our local Louis Vuitton Boutique. The Groom is back with a stack of LV pieces on his head! I fondly reached for my pochette wallet inside my "B" to say hi to the lil' guy. Gosh, it's been almost 4 years since I bought him. I was so happy to see the windows and I would like to share it with y'all. LVoe it!!!





Actually an SA was fixing the window as I passed by on my way home. I think she was embarrassed that I took snapshot. Also, the store was flanked by close ups of antique trunks and this silver hardware was my favourite.

From New Zealand with LVoe

I was so thrilled when a friend recommended that i check out your site! Your photo's are truly amazing & i will now be checking your blog religously lol.

Attached is a photo of me & my baby sister outside our LV store here in Queen Street, Auckland - New Zealand after purchasing some much desired Christmas presents for ourselves :-)

I will have to send another photo soon to show you what goodies are actually in the brown little bags lol

Anyways....Keep up the good work & know that your LV friends here in NZ absolutely LVoe your blog!!!

God Bless. Tommy and Taylah

Thanks for sending your photo in T & T. LVoe it!!!

Take This Tune

My pal Jamie from Duward Discussion has reintroduced her wonderful weekly feature.  Take This Tune provides a musical prompt each week, usually a video with the song lyrics.  The task is to write something inspired by the song or something in the lyrics.

It's a shame that this feature isn't more popular.  I think it's a great way to combine music and writing.  It's not restrictive at all...you can write something or you can post another song inspired by the prompt.  You don't have to post on a special day...just pick up the prompt, usually posted by Friday afternoons but sometimes posted later in the weekend, and then put your post up sometime during the following week.

Then sign Mr Linky at the TTT blog and cruise around to read some great work.

This week's prompt is the song The House that Built Me, written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin, and performed by Miranda Lambert.  The task is to share a story about what makes me, me.

Grab your Mr Peabody glasses children because we're taking a trip in the Wayback Machine.  I first posted this story in July 2007.  Some of you may remember it, but it's also new to some others.

San Mateo Bridge

When I was about 10, my parents divorced and my younger sister and I were raised by our single mom.  We lived about an hour and a half from my grandmother, and so we made lots of weekend trips over to the San Francisco Bay Area to visit.  They were like mini vacations for us.  We would laugh and sing in the car during the entire drive.

I remember the time we tried to take a short cut through Hayward to get to the San Mateo Bridge.  We ended up lost!  If there was a way to lose a large body of water like a bay and a huge bridge...we found it!  But such were our little adventures.

Editor's note:  I have inherited that trait.  Just after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, while driving late at night in downtown San Francisco, I managed to lose the Bay Bridge.  But that's a story for another trip in the Wayback Machine.

Anyway, that shortcut turned out to be the best thing because we passed right by a 7-Eleven convenience store on a side street.  Once we figured out the short cut, we almost always used it and Mom would give in to our begging and stop for Slurpees.  Not always, but more often than not.  If she didn't, we'd have to wait until we got to Gram's.


My sister and I were Slurpee-holics in those days.


Gram was the best.  She was a fireplug of a redhead and she was so much fun when I was a kid.  She'd take us down to Tanforan Mall in San Bruno.  We'd have adventures in parking.  She'd drive and drive around the side lot next to the Sears entrance to the mall, waiting for "her" spot to open up right near the front.  My sister and I would play scout from the backseat, keeping an eye on the entrance and watching for people heading to their cars.  And then, just like that, Gram's spot would open up and she'd swing the big Caddy in like a pro.

Honestly!  Can you imagine a woman all of 4'9" wrangling a huge 1970's model Cadillac around a parking lot?


After our triumph in parking, we'd walk into the mall through Sears.  This was my first experience with any large shopping mall.  Gram would always take us to the toy store and the pet store.  Sometimes she'd need to stop at a shoe store, and she always picked the one next to the book store so we could browse while she got her shoes.

Then we'd head over to the Walgreen's.  Now back in those days at Tanforan, the Walgreen's was more than just a place where Gram could get her necessaries, as she called them.  Once in awhile we'd get new coloring books and the small boxes of new Crayola crayons.  Of course we'd lust after the big box of 64 with the built-in sharpener, but that was always reserved for a holiday or birthday gift.


But the Walgreen's...it was a drug store like it is today, but it also had a cafe/restaurant!  My sister and I were always on our best behavior with limited fidgeting and whining during the shopping phase of our outing, because we knew that after all that good behavior we'd get grilled cheese and hot fudge sundaes at the Walgreen's cafe/restaurant.

The best thing though...the ultimate...the grandest thing about going to Gram's was that she lived around the corner from a 7-Eleven.  Can you imagine anything better for a couple of Slurpee-holics?  After a day of racing Big Wheels down the big hill, or building Legos and Tinker Toys in the backyard, or drawing and coloring on the big dining room table, Gram would hand us a dollar and send us around the corner for Slurpees.


My grandmother has been gone for more than 20 years.  But my grandfather still lives in that same house.  And right around the corner is that same 7-Eleven.  In fact, in 2006 when I went down for my cousin's wedding, my sister and I introduced my niece to the joy of walking around the corner for a Slurpee.


So what makes me, me?  


Memories.


Memories of my redheaded spitfire Gram, and Caddy wrangling in a parking lot, and Walgreen's grilled cheese and hot fudge sundaes, and Crayola crayons, and getting lost as an adventure, and Slurpees.


So many memories.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Gosh, I LVoe this photo of Rosie as she arrives today in LAX with her Mon Monogram Pegase! Eeeeekkkk, she checked it in!!! By the way, Josh Statham is not too bad too LVook at too...

Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2011: Trapeze

Part of the Louis Vuitton Art Déco Collection for Spring Summer 2011, the Trapèze is a cute purse that is crafted out of calfskin and embellished with an impressive hardware. The bag has a long chain strap that would sit comfortably on the shoulder. Estimated to be around the low $3K. LVoe it!!!
Runway Photo: style.com

Protest

On November 23, 1969, four years after receiving it, John Lennon sent back his Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) award. He stated that he was returning the MBE in protest against British involvement in Biafra, Nigeria, and Vietnam.

Right, Froggy?

Ten thousand insects are required to feed a single toad during the course of a typical summer.

Feeling Better

I'm feeling better and had breakfast this morning. That was my first meal since dinner Saturday. I spent most of the day in bed yesterday and still slept last night. This stuff is highly contagious and has run rampant in the schools, etc. Brian and Melissa also caught it, of course. Thank goodness it didn't last longer. Fortunately the gross part was over with after a few hours early Sunday morning (or what I call late Saturday night). The fever and malaise stuck around for a while.

Maddie texted me and is also sick with this same thing. He called in to miss work today and said he's almost never sick.

Super Bowl XLV

Super Bowl XLV is set.  It's NFC Champion Green Bay versus AFC Champion Pittsburgh.  The Packers have a chance to win the 4th Super Bowl title in 5 trips to the big game, while the Steelers can win an unprecedented 7th championship in 8 tries.

Dallas (5-3) is the only other NFL franchise that has been to 8 Super Bowls.  San Francisco (5-0) is the only franchise that has been to multiple championship games and never lost.


The game will be played on 6 February 2011.


I don't have a favorite here.  In fact, I have disliked Green Bay since I learned about football and as a Raider fan, I have a traditional dislike of Pittsburgh.


I like Aaron Rodgers, QB for the Packers.  I kind of like Hines Ward, WR for the Steelers.


But I'm essentially indifferent to the result of the game.  The best I can say is that in two weeks, football season will be over and I can focus specifically and intently on college basketball.


Good luck to fans of both teams.

Whine Time

What Brendan had is highly contagious because now Brian and I have it. Brian said he thinks it's a norovirus (which I had to look up and think he's right). I went to bed before midnight and threw up every hour from around 2 until 4. I covered up in my "reading chair" as Brendan calls it and dozed off and on until around 7 when I decided to go to bed. Oh no, not so easy. Those of you with cats know about those spells of bulemia they get because of hairballs. Yes, as if my experiences weren't enough, Brigit threw up on my bed for the first time ever. Laxatone for her again. So I had to change my sheets. What a night and morning!

So I've been in bed most of the day and am heading back there. I have a fever so don't want anything to eat. I hope this fitness water has electrolytes in it since I've had a little of that. OK, see you later.

Sofia Coppola & Louis Vuitton

Director and screenwriter Sofia Coppola and actor Stephen Dorff pose during the 'Somewhere' preview and reception at Louis Vuitton Roppongi Hills on January 22, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan. The film will open in Japan on April 2. Photo: zimbio

LVoe the Gator Clutch!!!

Saturday

Brendan is feeling better today. I called Brian to check on him, and he said Brendan was eating today and feeling pretty good. Based on Brendan's talking in the background, I'd say he was in usual form.

I went to the yarn shop to catch up with everyone. Then I went to this new market to check it out. It's owned by Mennonites and has all kinds of selections. This is a really dull part of this post! Good grief! I'll try to come up with something more entertaining next time or quit while I'm informative.

Visit Revised

Brian and Brendan made it here just fine; however, Brendan got sick on the way down. While they were here, Brendan got progressively worse even though he said, "I feel a little good" but stayed curled up in Brian's or my lap all afternoon. He dozed off some which is totally unlike him. He kept trying to feel better and said he wanted to stay with me. He kept saying, "I'll feel better. Let me stay with Grammy!" Then he started asking when they could come back to Grammy's. By the time they left, he was ready to be home. Bless his heart, he must have a virus that's going around. So Brian and Melissa decided not to go to ChattaCon, and Brendan will visit me another time. I wish he'd felt well enough to stay, but he wasn't.

The streets are fine, which is great since I was planning to make chili and have no beans. I have two of the three kinds I put in it (black and cannellini beans but not kidney or red beans). So I'll go out tomorrow and get some.

Brian and I had a good visit despite the circumstances.

Snow Again

I'm snowed in again which I don't really mind that much up to a point. I prefer being able to get out and about. Brian is planning to bring Brendan here for the weekend which worries me. My street is ICE. He and Melissa have plans to attend ChattaCon and are really determined to go. He said he'd park down the street near the by-pass and that he and Brendan will walk to my house. I think it's too risky, and it's supposed to snow again Monday and Tuesday. Even though he's going to come pick him up Sunday, the temperatures won't be low enough to melt the ice. They also have to drive over Monteagle Mountain (not really a mountain - Tug knows), and I really wish they'd go somewhere else some other weekend when the weather conditions are better.

Louis Vuitton Fall Winter 2011 2012: THE BAGS

Judging from Louis Vuitton's Fall Winter Men's Runway Show, the MAN CLUTCH is back! I remember my Papa carrying one of those when I was growing up. They are nice and all but you can't really carry a lot in them. As you scroll down the briefcases and travel bags, nothing seems remarkable until you are arrested by the bum bag. Cutesy but I could imagine myself wearing one. One thing I find interesting and would LVoe to see in real life are the ginormous hardware. They truly make the piece. The skins used are amazing especially the distressed LVook on the briefcases and luggages. Also, the Nomade-like leather on the clutches especially the creme folio is a must see. The white and red Damier embossed are definitely show stoppers. Lastly the lone Monogram Canvas clutch was either an after-thought or an obligatory "affordable" version. All in all it's a fantastic collection of arm candies from Paul Helbers. LVoe it!!!














Photos from style.com









Photos from style.com