From the Vault

I went through some photos at my mom's house yesterday and found a couple more good 'uns. Time to open up the Vault again and give you a peek at my goods!



The Sixties were a confusing time. Grandma here is thrilled to be receiving what is possibly the most hideous and flammable outfit known to man. She was so excited that she clearly hurried straight to the Christmas morning present-opening without even bothering to put her teeth in. *sigh* I miss that crazy old broad.

Oh, and is that carpet cleaner or AquaNet next to her? Did someone give her cleaning/grooming products for Christmas? [scratching head]

It's well-established that I was a chunky baby, although my sister kindly insists that I was normal-sized and just looked fat in every single photo taken in the 1970's. However, this picture is pretty irrefutable proof that I was massive.

<----

Last but not least, I didn't even know that I still had these photos, so I have to share. When I was a teenager I babysat A LOT. It blows my mind nowadays that I can't pay a teenager to come watch my kids so we can have a night out because they are all just too busy, yet I worked for $3/hour and always said yes. (said the hooker) At any rate, throughout my teenage years one of my best "clients" was a single mom with two little girls whom she had adopted from India. Boss Lady had some money and loved to travel, but doing so with two kids under 5 was not easy for her, so she'd often bring along a sitter. When I was 17 she asked me to go to Switzerland with them for two weeks, and because my mama didn't raise no fools, I said "HELL YES!"

It was an interesting trip; I wasn't nuts about being with the kids and Boss Lady 24/7, but the sights I saw were so incredible that it was well-worth dealing with the spoiled brats children while she went off hiking for most of each day. The night we arrived in Geneva it was raining and foggy so I didn't see a single mountain until the next day. I'll never forget waking up in my dark room and opening up the curtains to the most breathtaking view I'd ever, ever, EVER seen. The pics don't do it justice.






"The hills are aliiiiiive... with the sound of Griswold...."

Anywho, there it is. I've got something special planned for later this week or early next. Would you all be interested in doing another round of "I'll show you mine/yours?" I've got a fun idea for those who want in.

Hope you're all having a happy Monday.
xoxo

Pop Culture Stew - it's piping hot!

Because I can't be bothered to organize my thoughts today, here's a random sampling of some stuff I've come across this week that I thought was noteworthy. Bon appetit!

Behold: the world's biggest bikini model.

No, this is not Photoshop at work, "Amazon Eve" is really 6'8" tall and a working model in Australia. Wowza! That's alotta woman!

I suddenly feel very short and stumpy in comparison.

What do you think, guys? Is this super hot or kind of intimidating? Spill. (not like that, ya pervs, I just shampooed the carpet in here!)

When did Helen Hunt get so scary-looking?
Sure, she's almost fifty and you've got to hand it to her for still rockin' a bikini. Who am I to judge? I haven't worn a bikini in public in over a decade.

But, well... she looks kinda rough, no? Maybe have a sandwich, Helen. Women with some plump don't look quite so... um, Crypt Keeper-ish. Just sayin'.

I am not sure why, but this photo made me think of the dark comedy Death Becomes Her. That's yet another one of those 80's/90's movies for which I have an inexplicable fondness; they're not good, per se, but I find myself watching them whenever I find them on TV. Kind of like Love Potion #9, The Money Pit, Baby Boom, Working Girl, and Overboard, to name a few. Yes, I acknowledge that I'm a shameless cheeseball. Sue me.

Puff, puff, pass, Marilyn!



I knew I liked her. What? It's clearly a rolled tobacco cigarette. What did YOU think it was, ya deadbeats? ;)


Are you all aware of the Three Wolf Moon t-shirt phenomenon? Click that link to see the explanation on Dlisted.



I find it hilarious, but then again, I love it when people proudly wear cheesy stuff in an ironic manner (*cough* blue pleather jacket *cough*). I always loved how Bret would wear those funny animal shirts on Flight of the Conchords, for instance.



And for some truly hilarious parodies of the 3 Wolf Moon shirt, look here. I want the Rowlf the Dog one, I think, or Teen Wolf. The Keyboard cat one makes me think of Samsmama!

Mrs. Keaton just came out! Good for her, and better late than never. I saw her at my sister's college graduation ceremony; her daughter was graduating as well. She was the first celebrity I'd ever seen out and about doing real-life stuff, not on stage performing or anything. It was cool. She looked hot.

So, there it is. My stew is always full of fiber and empty calories - the secret ingredient is saw dust. Shhh. I hope you enjoyed it. I know I enjoyed making it.

Have a nice weekend, everyone!

Yeah, I rode the disco stick.

Did you have any doubt?

The Gaga show was outstanding! Honestly, it was one of the best shows I've ever seen, and I've seen A LOT of concerts. I can't say it was the best I've seen in years because last summer's Paul McCartney show was also spectacular, but Gaga ranked right up there. The Wang (heh heh) Theater is freaking amazing, first of all. I hadn't been there in several years and I think I'd forgotten how breathtaking the very building is, how wonderful the accoustics are (hello, "Opera house!"), and how great the view is from just about every seat. From the moment you walk in it's just stunning - gilded and grand. I felt so appreciative of the whole experience; it was almost overwhelming.



Check out this ceiling:

Boobies:


Ok, so back to the beginning. Reeeeewind. Laurie dressed me. She bought me an outfit that consisted of a very tight, very low-cut tank top and a bright blue pleather 80's style jacket. When I got there she already had jewelry all set out for me, too. She knows that my idea of crazy club wear tends towards the conservative; in fact, I brought one of my wildest tops in case I didn't like her outfit choice and we laughed over the fact that it is a beaded brown silk DKNY tank. Me so crazy! Woo! Give it up for the wild child!

By the time she was done with me we looked like superheroes.



We drove down to the city and parked in a garage that turned out to be kind of far from the theater. OOPS. The minute we stepped out into the lobby of the business I felt like an idiot. Any of you who have visited Boston know that the people of Beantown are not flashy, bright color kinds of folks. In fact, I've never seen so many black wool coats and sleek brunette pony tails in my life. We were in the business district and everyone was coming out of work. They looked like this:

And we looked like this:


Awesome. Finally we made it over to the theater district and felt a lot more comfortable there, among our people. We ate a light dinner at an Indian restaurant and had a little wine, but didn't go crazy with the booze. We partied responsibly because I knew I'd be driving over an hour to get home later that night, plus I really wanted to be present and, ya know, remember the concert. Dinner was perfect; we had the perfect little buzz and when we walked over to the venue I couldn't stop admiring the full moon, which was bright and beautiful.

Once inside, we had a celebratory glass of champagne and watched the freak show for a while. LOVED it!






Then the concert began and we got our disco moves on! Gaga was perfection - she sang, she danced, she talked to us. She must've said "I love you, Boston!" about twenty times at least. She really interacted with the crowd a great deal and encouraged us to dance and sing and be "monsters." Great fun, really! The backdrops and dancers were wonderful, and whomever did the stage direction really grasped the concept of a stage picture like nobody's business. It was beautiful and grotesque and fucking brilliant. This theater nerd DUG it.





See? Definitely no penis here. Gaga is all woman (and a teeny tiny one at that!)

The crowd went wild!


We had a blast! I got home around 1 AM and immediately got in the shower to wash off the glitter and pleather sweat. Sexay! I went to bed with wet hair and woke up looking like Garth from Wayne's World, only brunette. Suh-weeeeet!

What a great night! I feel so lucky to live close enough to Boston to do stuff like this, and so lucky to have good friends who also like to put our domestic mom-wife lives aside from time to time to cut loose, old-skool. Complete with plastic clothes & push-up bras. Wooot.

It's That Time Again

Great fun despite the weather

Do you remember the massive electrical storm on Friday night? Thunder, lightening, torrential rain? Well guess what we were doing! CAMPING!!! Needless to say we didn't get a huge amount of sleep as it also rained like a bastard on Saturday night as well. The drive home on Sunday at least let some of us catch up on our Zzzs.

Can you imagine

a world without cancer? Yeah, gonna talk about this today, sorry to bring the room down and all.

Don't get me wrong, I'm in a great mood today. I'm pumped to see Lady GaGa tonight in Boston! Laurie picked up the tickets last night and the seats are actually really good - 2nd row balcony! So I think we'll be able to see & hear the show perfectly. The Wang (heh heh) Theater is an ornate opera house with big chandeliers and oppulant decor, and we're both thrilled to see her at a smaller venue before she does her next tour which will likely be a big stadium event. I'm very excited to get glammed up and see a great show! As always, I'll be armed with my trusty Nikon and will have my review for your entertainment sometime tomorrow... or Thursday, if I'm too hungover tomorrow.

But anyway, back to my original subject. This morning on Good Morning America I saw a segment about a doctor whose wife died of breast cancer 7 years ago, so he made it his personal goal to find a cure for cancer. He has made a research break-through that so far has been killing the disease in mice, and they're hopeful that it will translate to human anatomy as well. You can watch the clip here.

So far this experimental treatment has been successful in curing 86% of small cell lung cancers in mice. That's the kind of cancer my father had and it's basically considered a death sentence in humans; most people who receive that diagnosis are dead within a year. This doctor discovered a hormone made by our own hearts that may be able to kill cancer cells -- wouldn't it be amazing if it turned out that the cure to one of the most devastating diseases known to man lay in our very own bodies?

I know that there's a vast amount of research to be done before they can even green-light human trials, but I can't help but feel a little spark of optimism in my heart of hearts. I've lost loved ones to cancer. I've heard terrible words come out of a doctor's lips, felt myself turn cold as the blood drained from my face, felt like I was floating above my body as I tried to take it all in. I've attended the funeral of a friend younger than myself who died from brain cancer. I worry every day about having a doctor give me horrible news about myself or someone I care about again. Just having hope for a cure means something to me.

So, today is a good day. Every day is a good day when you're healthy and have hope for a healthy future. Going out with a great friend to see a beautiful freak in concert is just the icing on a delicious cake.

Enjoy your day, everyone!

Gleeful

I've had such a good time tonight watching back episodes of Glee. This show brings a smile to my face every episode and I have been known to frequently laugh out loud to the concern of my family. I am so rapt that there is a show on TV that brings me such joy and delight every week, it's a rare thing indeed.

.

(gratuitous Mark Salling pic just for my benefit)

.

Gidget is sharing the love and look what the angel has bought me for Christmas!! Can't wait to belt out a few numbers into my hairbrush but I have to wait until the 25th.

.