It Is What It Is

Danie: "What are you watching?"
Jesse: "Japanese gynecology video."

Hate to be Obsessive But...

At this point I'm all Emmy. I know I still have more than a full week to go but we only have one party to go to this weekend, so the Emmy Ceremony is my next big event.  Also, almost all the plans are made so I'll soon be able to sit back and enjoy my ultra mini vacation.  Here are the latest developments:

• Vicki will be coming. She wasn't before. That brings our party to 6. But Dayana doesn't have all of her teeth, so she won't be getting her own dinner plate. I hope the Omni Hotel has high chairs.
• Today I am wearing my Emmy shoes to determine if they are going to hurt my feet. They will.
• I got my invitation in the mail today. On the menu are Tomato Basil Soup, Goat Cheese Crostini, Char Crusted Chicken Forestiere, Pesto Crusted Salmon, Wild Rice Risotto, a vegetable, Starbuck's Coffee, and a Seasonal Fruit Tart. Yum and yum.
• I bought gloves for a lot more money than I wanted to spend. But the sale was final so there's no going back.
• So far I'm the only one with a dress locked down. My parents and Jesse are wearing suits. That's as much as they know.

And my competition (a nice guy named Mike) wants to sit at the same table. Stop and think how awkward that would be. If he wins, he gets to be ecstatic right in my face (and in my family's faces). If I win, he gets to watch us take pictures, make phone calls and sing "I'm the best." Either way it doesn't seem like a good idea. Of course we could both win, (we could also both NOT win) but I plan to be the sole victor.  Today I had hoped to tell him that I don't want to sit with him. So far I haven't found a way to say it that doesn't sound like "I don't want to sit with you."

Any suggestions?

Emmy 2006: Gloves

I've learned of a store that sells gloves. I'm going there during my lunch break. Also, the special bra has been shipped and the replacement invitation (because someone threw the original away) is in the mail. Hopefully by this time next week, I'll be ready to win an Emmy.

Update: Emmy 2006

I have a dress.

It's a small sentence but this was no small feat. Anyone who knows me knows two things I can't stand are dresses and spending money I consider to be excessive. Spending $172 on a dress that I'll likely only wear once is enough to put me in a bad mood. Add to that some gloves, shoes, a purse, and strapless bra and I'm flat out grumpy. I've given up on the gloves (I couldn't find any) and I can use the purse from my senior prom (maybe now I'll get my mother's money's worth) so all I really needed was a dress, bra, and shoes. Done and done.

I also got our hotel and took next Friday off from work. Once I but the tickets, I'm all Emmy ready. But that's just me. My parents and Jesse still haven't figured out what they're going to wear. My parents are flying in to San Diego Friday, June 2. I expect you'll find us on the beach for most of the day. The ceremony is Saturday at the Omni Hotel. I hope the food is tasty, or else I'll demand a refund. Unless I win. Then I might consider a $90 dinner to be well worth it.  Wish me luck!

Senate Vote

The Senate today voted to make English the national language of these United States. The vote was not unanimous. Now that that's out of the way, maybe they can get down to securing the borders, raising minimum wage, improving education, and eliminating poverty. Unless they first have to vote whether they want to do the jobs they pay themselves so well to do.

Taking Talk To The Next Level

I get my cell phone service through Verizon. I have been a loyal customer, singing its praises for four of the last 5 years. When I first signed up, Verizon was offering a new (free) phone every two years as part of the new every two" program, the other part being another 2 year contract. Since my last phone (the LG VX 6000), the free phone has been replaced with an $100 credit towards a new phone.

But I'm not here today to tell you any good things about Verizon. It gave $5000 to Tom Delay a few years ago, then promised to cut that out. Then I hear it's been giving my call logs to the NSA. Verizon denies some of it, and won't comment on the rest. Sounds like an admission through omission to me. All in all, I'm a little disappointed in the corporation, but I'm more than pleased with its customer service.

So this year I was up for a new phone. I had my heart set on the LG VX 9800, aka LG the V. And Jesse had his heart set on buying me a new phone. Apparently he knows how much I like new gadgets. Last week, he bought me a little V and I just can't get enough of it. I've actually spent more on accessories than Jesse spent on the phone.

The phone is super fun. I can out my own music on it, as well as my own pictures. The keyboard means it's easier to send longer text messages and has inspired me to send blog updates right from my phone. That might mean less pictures, but more content. Of course only time will tell. In summation: Verizon's ethics are questionable but their products are solid... And cute.

This just in: Angie is coming to visit. Hooray! Angie and I met in November of 1990. Apparently she didn't like me at first, but look how I've grown on her. It's been 14 years. Now she's coming to visit. What could be better? How about staying at Wynn Las Vegas for FREE. I'm so giddy I might add a countdown for that too. Hooray!

The Cheeseburger Challenge

My name is Danie and I live with a boy named Jesse. If you know that then you likely also know that Jesse loves cheeseburgers. I don't use the word "loves" lightly. Of all the different kinds of foods available to us out here in the great desert, he eats cheeseburgers the most. In fact, eating cheeseburgers is one of his favorite things to do. When Chris arrived for my birthday party in January, the very first thing we did was stop at In-N-Out Burger. Look at their glee.

When Jesse moved here, he pledged to limit himself to one double cheeseburger a day. At first we monitored that pledge closely. But as the months wore on, we kind of lost focus. I had all but forgotten about it until this past Saturday night when Jesse was laying on his stomach moaning from being so full. On Saturday our hero ate not one, not two, but FIVE burger patties throughout the day. That's one double cheeseburger for lunch, followed by another double cheeseburger for dinner and washed down with a simple cheeseburger.

So I issued him a challenge and he accepted. Basically, $100 says he can't go 30 days without eating a cheeseburger. That will take us to midnight on June 12th. I'm calling it the cheeseburger challenge, and I've added a countdown clock to your upper left. Even though I want him to do it (you know - for his health) I'm not planning to lose $100. Leave him some words of encouragement. Or not.

Also, I'm trying to send

Also, I'm trying to send messages from my new phone to my blog. if it works, I'll be able to update all kinds of stuff.

Happy Mothers Day!

Look: this is my mother. It's Mothers Day here in the United States. In this country we apparently need a reminder to thank our mothers. It's kind of a shame but at the same time even I have to admit it's necessary. So here's a toast to all the mothers I know and even the ones I don't. Good job.

I spent a weekend with my mother & Vicki recently and here's what I learned: babies are hard. Sure they're cute, until they start crying. And they always need something, but of course they can't tell you what that something is. They just don't make any sense. Kudos to anyone who chooses to take that on and like it. I'm waiting for the day when I'm ready for that. The last time I checked, it was like years away.

This year, I was adventurous in the present department. I got something (the same something) for my mommy, all of my aunts, and my grandma because they're mothers too. I hear it went over swimmingly. Also, I was curious as to how this whole Mothers Day thing came to be. So I got out my trust internet and here's what I found.

Fun & Games

I know. I promised two big issues last week and only delivered one. But as you can see, I've been terribly busy. This is a picture of me and Jesse from April 29, 2006. We were at my company picnic, armed with water balloons. Lucy took the picture. She was in town escaping from the stresses of life in Madison. In case you're wondering, Lucy is a great roommate. She's very neat and tidy. Do you know what it's like to come home to a clean house? It's fantastic.

The company picnic was a good time. The food was good and for the most part the games were fun. Somehow I got wrapped up in a faux grass skirt and was entered into a hula contest. I had no complaints, aside from my obvious lack of talent. Plus, wearing the skirt is a lot better than squeezing into those coconuts.

This is my friend Lizbeth. She's from Texas and insists we take a picture at every event. We go out a lot, so that means we take pictures about once a week. I'm sure in a few years we'll have a detailed photo album. But right now it just looks like we love ourselves.

So Lucy was all about taking pictures, but she flat out refused to be in them. "No pictures please," and all that. We plumped her up with some food and drinks and she eventually came around. There she is with Jesse. Neither one of them is very photogenic. But they are quite tan.


Joel was there too. He and Jesse did a lot of sitting, mumbling, and eventually football tossing. And then it was time to pack it up and head out. We took a few more pictures and went on our merry little way.

To Church or Not To Church

When I moved here, I promised myself I would start going to church. There was no big event that pushed me in that direction, it's just something I wanted to do for myself. Of course, once I actually moved, church got pushed further and further down on the "to do" list. Every now and then I would remember but one can't just google a church. One kind of needs to just find one.

Two weeks ago I thought I had. I was volunteering at RTNDA and while waiting for a task, I had a good conversation with two local ladies. We talked about housing prices, living in Las Vegas, customer service in town, higher education, etc. We were actually sitting for about three hours (the RTNDA did not have it's poop in a group) and touched on all sorts of stuff, including church. Two of us were not going, but wanted to start. We decided to go to the church to which the other belonged.

So at 8AM on Sunday, April 22, 2006, there I was at the Word of Life Christian Center. I know - the pastors are White but you couldn't tell if you closed your eyes. It's a predominantly Black church, which is important. It's just what I grew up around and where I feel comfortable. The service was good and I felt good for going. Afterwards I decided I could join.

I went to the 10:30 service the following Sunday (the 8AM was a one time scheduling fluke) but I've since decided not to go back. Before the sermon, they have these notes and updates. One of the notes was asking for everyone to sign and send postcards to Nevada Senators John Ensign and Harry Reid.

The postcards (in part) read:

Marriage has historically been the union of one man and one woman. Its benefits for children and for society are incalculable. Protecting traditional marriage is not rooted in discrimination- as some might try to convince you. It is rooted in common sense, for the common good. For marriage to flourish in our culture, it must be protected from redefinition.

Then Pastor Vicki stressed the importance of sending the postcards, saying if marriage is redefined homosexuals will be equal with heterosexuals. She also said there is other legislation pending that would give homosexuals so much equality, it will be illegal to speak out against them. The congregation was just appalled. And I was just disgusted.

At that point I sank into a real tough internal debate. Is this the new face of church? I'd like all agendas checked at the door please. On one hand, I disagree with their politics. On the other I went there to worship, and not to be enrolled in a war over civil rights. When I don't like something someone says, I enjoy challenging them to debate. On Sunday I didn't have that option. As dumb as it sounds, I did not go to church to be preached at.

I was angry for the whole service, and I don't think that's the intention. I tried to rationalize it, saying the pastors might be doing what they think it takes to be the best people they can be. But the intolerance and hypocrisy of it all bothers me. I doubt the Bible says "love your neighbor, unless your neighbor is queer." It's just don't think it's right.

After the service I bought a Bible. I'm going to read it and get my instructions for life that way. While I was standing in line, I noticed a DVD titled "Christians & Homosexuality." The lady behind me said she was so glad the church was doing something about homosexuality, because the devil is out there spreading it. I just looked at her and out of all the things I thought to say, the nicest was to say nothing.

So I've decided not to church.