Falling off the Bridge

I am absolutely flabergasted at Parade magazine. In their May 4, 2008 issue on page 26 under "Parade Picks" they have a suggestion for a great Mother's Day DVD to buy. The opening line is "Every mom--and most dads--fell for The Bridges of Madison County, a beautiful love story..." HAVE THEY LOST THEIR MINDS?!!! "The Bridges of Madison County" is about an Iowa housewife who cheats on her husband with a traveling photographer, while her husband takes their kids to the state fair. He demonstrates nothing but kindness to her, and the movie shows him being a great dad---not that an affair would be justified if he wasn't. And make no mistake about it, Parade is calling the affair the beautiful love story, not the loving acts of her husband--oh no--wouldn't want to praise that. The very idea that Parade thinks this is a great idea to hand a mother on Mother's Day adds even more insult to injury. This is the most disgusting show of disdain for marriage I have ever seen in this magazine and is an insult to all married couples---even, heaven forbid---ones who occasionally find married life "boring." Parade may have thought moms and dads "fell for The Bridges" but it sounds to me like the writers over at Parade are the ones who fell offf the bridge on this one. Let's let Parade know we don't think too much of their "pick" for moms at parade.com. Scroll to the bottom and click on "contact us" and please let them know what you think. I'd say a well worded printed apology to married couples is in order!

Make mine polka dot

There they go again...these people on HGTV walk into a house they're looking at at exclaim with relief "Oh yeah, that's great, the kitchen has hardwoods, stainless and granite counter tops." I just don't get it. I went to a private girls high school where we wore uniforms and yearned for those occasional "free dress days" where we could go wild with our wardrobe selections--well, as long as you didn't hike up your skirt to your waistband--but the point was, we liked to be different after looking like everybody else all week. Now it seems like some "principal" has declared that all kitchens wear the same uniform, and the public is buying it--literally! Just for once, I'd like Mr. and Mrs. first time homebuyer to walk into that kitchen and say "You know, I was really hoping for leopard print formica countertops, can we get some of those? Or, maybe some good old fashioned vinyl floors, that actually are made to take pitchers of orange juice your toddler spills at 9pm and you don't discover till the next morning. I guess I'm just too old for this mass trance of remodeling. I've seen too much. It really wasn't that long ago we were looking for our first house and the fancy schmanchy homeowners all ran out to update with---textured almond appliances with pouffy window "treatments" in country blue and mauve. Yep, I'm holding on to my fix-it-up dollars and waiting till this all passes and we see what the next kitchen "uniform" looks like. Personally--I'm really counting on the leopard look to be the one.

packing up

I walked out to get into my car parked in the driveway today and noticed I did it again...forgot to lock it up! I'm just so glad nobody broke into it. A couple of years back someone actually did and it was a terrible feeling. Makes me realize how lucky I am in that regard. When I was on tour with Holiday on Ice we were playing Prague and four of us were sharing a room and someone broke in during the night while we were sleeping. We can't believe that nobody woke up but we know they were there, because stuff was taken that had been laying on the dresser, etc. It was such a creepy feeling. Then, a few years later, I was staying with some dancer friends at an apartment in West Hollywood and the same thing happened. They had come in through a window over the sink--they have these alley way things, so a thief can really kind of hide. Anyway, my entire purse had been dumped out right next to my bed. My cash was taken, but my credit cards were still there. To think someone was standing right over me two times while I slept really makes me wonder if it's such a good thing to be a sound sleeper. I guess I really believe the old saying, when it's your time it's your time and when it's not, it's not. Maybe that's why when Gary is out of town I check and re-check the doors over and over. I also don't like candles very well, which may have something to do with the fact that I caught on fire when I was four! Oh, the traumas of life. Well, it only burned my slip and my poor mother put it out with her hands and we were fine. But still...I can pass by a candle shop oh so quickly...
Today it's sunny out (well at least for Oregon) and I'm escaping to the coast for a conference and the speaker is Carol Kent--she has such a great message of hope, I can't wait! Oh dear...the dryer stopped--- I'd better get packing....and I get to interview her too! What fun!