Book Your Ticket

Swiped from Mostly Cajun and Leeann:

To follow the NPR (US National Public Radio) meme, copy this list, putting in Bold those you have read.

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card (I read the whole series and the Bean series.)
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin (Three times, except for the most recent book, which just came out last month. Give me time...)
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman (One of my favorite books ever, which I've read four times.)
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan (Up to book 10. When I realized that really nothing had happened over the course of 10 books, I threw up my hands and cried "uncle".)
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey (I read everything in the Pern series published before 1995. Then I got a life.)
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God’s Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke (Completely over-hyped. Does anybody want my hardbound version?)
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel’s Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

Actually, that's more sci-fi/fantasy that I would have thought. And it's missing some others I enjoyed but which didn't make this list -- Gayle Greeno's Ghatti series, Mercedes Lackey's, Valdemar and Elemental Masters series, Rick Cook's Wiz series (hilarious), John Ringo's Council Wars series (yes, I should read more Ringo), anything by Michael Chabon... and that's just getting me started.

Holy crap. I guess I am a bit of a geek in my reading choices.

How about you?

Winter is Coming

... and I'm not talking about the Great Blizzard of 2011:

The Artisans: Maisie Williams

Love, love, LOVE Arya!

Drive-Bys

Winter is coming!

The Game Begins

This sent a thrill up my geek-girl leg!

The Artisans: Buster Reeves

This did, too. April can't come too soon.
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One space or two after a period? Personally I don't care which you choose as long as you're consistent about it.

That is all.
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(Spit take alert)

Why do I love Momma Fargo? I dunno. Maybe because of posts like this?
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Saturday Ramblings

Normally he's the most serious of babies, so this shot of Mr. Monkey Toes grinning at the camera made my day!

He may look like his daddy, but he's got his mama's sweet smile!

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As cool as this is (and it is)...

... the fact that the animation was done by a high school freshman is just amazing!

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Mary Schmich lists her nine best books for 2010.

While I still haven't posted my list of December books read, here's my own Top 10 Books Read in 2010 (I'm choosing by what I read this year, not necessarily what was published this year)

1. Beatrice & Virgil: A Novel, Yann Martel -- In turns beautiful, comical and horrifying. This one has stuck with me like no other. I highly, highly recommend it.
2. Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority, Tom Burrell -- Written by a black man to a black audience, but for anyone who wants to understand race relations in this country it's a must-read.
3. Born Under a Million Shadows, Andrea Busfield -- My favorite character since Piscine Molitor Patel. I'll read this one again and again.
4. Confessions of a Compact Camera Shooter, Rick Sammon -- If you want to do a whole lot more with your little point-and-shoot camera, this book is packed full of good information and written in terms that won't intimidate the techno-challenged (like me).
5. The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafón -- Set in post-war Spain, it's a quest novel of heartbreaking beauty.
6. Packing for Mars – The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Mary Roach -- It made me laugh out loud and it was stuffed with interesting data.
7. The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food and Love, Kristin Kimball -- Not a life I'd choose for myself, but one that certainly is rich and wonderful. I could practically taste, smell and feel every element of life on an organic farm.
8. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand: A Novel, Helen Simonson -- A reminder that there's no age limit on finding love.
9. The Believers, Zoe Heller -- Whether you're liberal, conservative or independent, this is a fascinating fictional peek into the mind of the liberal left. Favorite quote: “’You want to know what I’d do if the truth revealed itself to me and it wasn’t the truth I wanted to find?’ ‘Yes’ Audrey smiled. ‘I’d reject it.” Bang on.
10. Mary Ann in Autumn: A Tales of the City Novel, Armisted Maupin -- I loved the original series and was delighted that Maupin treated my old friends, all of them dearly missed, with such affection.

What are your Top 10 reads for the year?

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Speaking of love stories, here's a dandy:

For the back story, go here. Sappy. Hilarious. Charming.

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So my underwire bra is a threat to national security and requires a groping that left marks for days, but an Iranian-American can get on a plane with a Glock in his bag? Sooooooooo glad to see that the TSA has it's priorities straight and is so effective in its mission.

By the way -- this story about a TSA agent stealing travelers' laptops is exactly why I object to having to step away from your stuff for a body scan or grope fest.

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It's no secret that I'm fully in favor of repealing that obnoxious "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law. I'm happy to report it's on it's way out the door! Well done.

(John McCain can go pound sand, as far as I'm concerned.)

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More Game of Thrones geekery:

The Artisans: Simon Brindle

Beautiful, no?

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I just had to swipe this from Becky:

Drive-Bys

I'm still not back on my A-game, but here are a few goodies for you in the meantime:

They've now wrapped filming on the first season of Game of Thrones. Here's a behind-the-scenes peek that has me positively giddy:



I put the tee-shirt (either one of 'em, actually) on my Christmas list.

Now if George would just get back to finishing A Dance With Dragons, I'd be a completely happy fan girl.
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Also on my Christmas list:
I got this for a couple of my bosses. They've all raved about it and loaded it up immediately. Now I want one for myself!
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Excuse me while I howl with laughter:

Mayoral challenger James Meeks scrambled Thursday to put out a political fire touched off by his suggestion that only African Americans should be eligible for city contracts set aside for minorities and women.

Meeks made the statement on Wednesday during an interview on WVON-AM (1690). It happened during a discussion of why African-American businesses got a 7 percent sliver of Chicago’s $1 billion spending pie through Aug. 31, down from 8 percent a year ago.

“The word ‘minority’ from our standpoint should mean African American. I don’t think women, Asians and Hispanics should be able to use that title,” he said. “That’s why our numbers cannot improve — because we use women, Asians and Hispanics who are not people of color, who are not people who have been discriminated against.”

Hours after making those remarks, Meeks back-tracked by saying he would only exclude white women if elected mayor. The set-aside program currently earmarks 25 percent of all city contracts for minorities and 5 percent for companies owned by women.

Now tell me again who's the racist?

Buh-bye, Reverend Meeks. You just publicly shot your campaign for mayor in the left ass-cheek. (Major style points there, though!)

Update: He clearly doesn't understand the basics of back-pedalling.
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It's bad enough when it happens in the movies. When you've paid good money to see a top-notch play and it completely throws the rhythm of the acting off, it's outrageous:

Just before the end of Edward Albee's “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” a cold and brutal dawn rises over New Carthage. The dangerously destructive nocturnal games of George and Martha are subsumed by their mutual loneliness. In Pam MacKinnon's very arresting and intense Steppenwolf Theatre Company production, which takes its audience on an exhausting voyage through some of the horrors of marital codependency, Tracy Letts' George finally puts his hand gently on the shoulder of Amy Morton's Martha. She puts her head back. He is about to sing, softly. Their nonsense song — “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf” — has become a kind of lifesaving lullaby. On Saturday afternoon, the audience was rapt.

“Are you all right?” asked George of his Martha.

Suddenly, from the back of the house, a boppy, perky, electronic tune rang out in answer to that deeply existential question. Letts and Morton froze. Mouths of audience members dropped open. The phone rang on. And on. And on. Freed from its merciful, muffling confines, it got louder. Instead of staring into the depths of a New Carthage exorcism, we were suddenly transported to a pachinko parlor in Shinjuku.

Make no mistake — the moment was gone forever. Letts and Morton gamely paused and then finished the last minute or so of the play, but this was like a fumble with seconds to go. There was no time for the team to recover. And, at that instant, the ringing cell phone of Saturday, Dec. 11, became the most egregiously timed audience-caused interruption of my entire theatergoing career.

When are people going to learn act like grown-ups and turn their fucking phones off???
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Giggle of the Day:

Around the Bend

Winter is coming!

(Pardon my fan-girl palpitations...)

And here's one for the guys:

The Artisans: Tommy Dunne

Drive-Bys

WTF?

A shooting at a Coast Guard recruiting station in Northern Virginia is connected to a string of similar incidents at military-related buildings, the FBI said Wednesday.

FBI spokeswoman Lindsay Godwin said ballistics tests concluded that the same gun was used in the first four shootings, and preliminary test results also link the latest shooting. The Coast Guard incident was reported Tuesday. No one has been injured in any of the shootings.

No details about the type or caliber of weapon have been released. But investigators previously have said it appeared that the shots were fired from a high-powered rifle.

Five different military buildings in Virginia have been shot at and this is the first we've heard of it???
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It's idiotic articles like this that make me want to disown most feminists:

It’s a wise child, they say, that knows its own father. Nowadays, however, wisdom is hardly required; DNA tests can do the job with scientific certainty. For the entire course of human history, men have nursed profound, troubling doubts about the fundamental question of whether or not they were fathers to their own children; women, by contrast, usually enjoyed a reasonable level of certainty about the matter.

Now, a cotton-wool swab with a bit of saliva, plus a small fee, less than £200, can settle the matter. At a stroke, the one thing that women had going for them has been taken away, the one respect in which they had the last laugh over their husbands and lovers. DNA tests are an anti-feminist appliance of science, a change in the balance of power between the sexes that we’ve hardly come to terms with. And that holds true even though many women have the economic potential to provide for their children themselves. [Emphasis mine]

I want to tar and feather this bitch myself for her breathtaking egocentrism and profound stupidity.

Gawd. It's no wonder so many men dislike and distrust women.
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For all you people who think only cat people are nuts, think again:

The PAWsitive Therapy Troupe is hard at work preparing to present "A Canine Version of the Nutcracker" in Glen Ellyn and Downers Grove this holiday season. Their 45-minute production will feature 28 dancing therapy dogs and one human, said Becky Jankowski, founder of the troupe, organizer of the show and wife of the human (Don Jankowski).

Some dogs are unleashed for solos, and others perform on leash with their owners in group dances. All are in costume, or as much as a dog will tolerate.

At least cats are smart enough that they'd never put up with this nonsense!
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Well, this little piece of news makes me have new respect for Oklahoma voters:

Oklahoma voters have approved a measure that would forbid judges from considering international law or Islamic law when deciding cases.

Republican Rex Duncan, the sponsor of the measure, called it a "pre-emptive strike" designed to close the door on activist judges "legislating from the bench or using international law or Sharia law."

Well done!
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Because I just love the guy:


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Quote of the Day:

"We've got pigs in there, you've raw meat hanging up...I was there this morning, and it was absolutely disgusting. It smelled foul and looked foul but that's how it should be, so we're happy."

I'm such an idiot fan girl!
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Urk. It'll be days until we know who are next Governor will be. I have no idea what the voters in this state were thinking that made the race this close.
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The owner of a North Side auto dealership was ordered held on $50,000 bond Wednesday on a weapons charge after police found a gun on his passenger seat and him apparently naked from the waist down inside a Bentley on the Near West Side.

What do you want to bet there was alcohol involved?

Sunday Schedule

For my BlogDaddy:


(Via those awesome guys at The Awesomer.)
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Giggle of the Day:

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This wasn't me. I swear.

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Drive-Bys

Quote of the Day:

'The rise of the compensation culture over the last ten years is a real concern, as is the way health and safety rules are sometimes applied.

'We need a sensible new approach that makes clear these laws are intended to protect people, not overwhelm businesses with red tape.'

Mad props to the first one of you who can identify the speaker without peeking.
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For those of you who think the recent efforts by Turkish ships to break the Israeli naval blockade is a good idea and that those poor Gazans would be starving to death without the Turkish aid -- go here, noodle around the site, watch the video and then come back and talk to me.
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It seems to me that the crux of the problem is that we keep catching these rambunctious rascals and then just sending them back to Mexico so they can try again. Now I’m no Lou Dobbs but a wiser idea might be to round these folks up, pop them in a cargo plane and then parachute them into Belgium under cover of darkness. And if the Belgians take issue and kick up a stink, we can always try the Swiss instead. They’re a tolerant lot and dandy yodellers too.

Those Mexican lads may be able to hop a fence but I don’t expect they can swim the Atlantic. And if they can – I’d say they’ve damn well earned a green card.

Donald Mills for President in 2012? I'd vote for him!
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Here's another example of Illinois' taxpayers getting told once again to "bend over and grab your ankles":

Local officials acknowledge that a giant sewage-cooking machine in west suburban Stickney is a waste of money, but they have decided to move ahead anyway with a project that could cost Chicago and Cook County taxpayers $217 million.

Once billed as an innovative way to turn the region's sewage sludge into fertilizer, the project is a decade behind schedule.

And you wonder where Obama learned it?
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It's sad to see that another of my childhood icons has passed away:





And one of the Princess Mom's Sunday brunch favorites was Jimmy Dean sausage patty sandwiches with lettuce, tomato and mayo on a burger bun. (None of that sausage biscuit business for Yankees like us!)
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Winter is coming!

Winter Is Coming

Geek girl here got goosebumps. I'll admit it.
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Giggle of the Day:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Drive-Bys

Finally a sunny day!


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Everything that's wrong with America today can be summed up in one simple post.
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Don't have the pickup truck that's just begging for a pair of bumper nuts to shout your masculinity to the entire world? Fear not! Just think a bit smaller... and you, too, can display your studliness to the masses. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Sexy.

(A tip of the cap to Calvin's Mom for the giggle.)
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Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! George has more distractions keeping him from finishing Dance. (Horndog!)

He'd better get cracking (and quit flaunting all the damned fun he's having while he's keeping us waiting), or my fiance and I are going after him together... and it won't be pretty.
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Now I'm off to meet Mr. Bill and also to rustle up a little more swag for the silent auction Friday night....

Sunday Schedule

Giggle of the Day:

(A tip of the cap to the guys at The Awesomer. They truly are.)

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Apparently the manlier sex has its answer to vajazzling -- baldazzling. I don't know if I'd be willing to be seen in public with a human disco ball, personally:

(And, yes -- Phil is a total head case.)

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Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! See what I'm missing!!!

(Yeah, yeah. I am glad to hear 'Pup is up and around.)

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Quote of the Day:

“Well, when I put it on the fridge, it just falls off!”

(Brainz. She need'zm.)

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This made me bust a gut. Especially the tilty gay head on this little item.

What can I say? I took my baby sister and a friend to see him for her 16th birthday. It was a BIG DEAL to her at the time. Every teeny bopper in the room screamed and reached out, trying to be the one girl he invited on stage to dance to this song:

(Hi, Sis!) Nope. I can guarantee she wouldn't do that today.

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Arya lives!

(Sorry. Giddy Fan Girl moment. She's a favorite character of mine.)

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My daughter really ought to be shaking in her boots.

I just sent this bit of naughtiness to a 12-year-old who accidentally set himself aflame earlier this year. (Fortunately, his mother has nerves of steel and a houseful of boys, and his father likes things that go "boom!" as well as things that go "vrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooooooom!")

Just imagine what I'll send my grandson when he's that age!

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Saveur's 1st Annual Food Blog Award winners. Lot's of good stuff there!

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Drive-Bys

If you've missed all the hoopla and haven't gone here to vote for Mary and Densey Cole to win the wedding of their dreams, here's a little more incentive. It costs nothing but a moment of your time and a couple of clicks of the mouse.
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Double Deputy:

First of all, this headline created a clear and hilarious Road Runner/Wiley Coyote-esque picture in my mind:

Mad emu attacks deputies along El Paso Freeway

I don't know about you, but it gave me a chuckle.

But this story really kicked over the gigglebox:

A Kentucky sheriff says a claustrophobic deputy has lost his job after accidentally locking himself in a jail cell and trying to shoot his way out of it.

And, no -- his name isn't Barney Fife... but it should be.


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Department store gift-wrapping may be going the way of the dinosaur? That's a shame. As I kid, I loved visiting the gift wrapping department, and learned a lot from those women who turned out gifts so marvelously beautiful that it was almost a shame to have to unwrap them. Trips to Halle's department store in the Cleveland area were my favorites, as their designers were especially creative.

Sometimes change is not a good thing.
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Oooh! Looks like HBO is definitely picking up "Game of Thrones"!!!!! Winter is coming. I can hardly wait! I'm especially excited to see that they've cast Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister. Fabulous!

Now if I could only kick ol' George in the pants to get him to finish A Dance With Dragons...

(And yes, that's a lot of exclamation points, but I'm a big ol' geek when it comes to this phenomenal fantasy series.)
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I'm a Zeta Tau Alpha, too. You go, my sisters!
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Need a little story to cheer you? Go here.
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Quote of the Day:

“They start fires and they’re snacks! Holy s***!”

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Ear Worm of the Day:



(Back story here. How utterly cool!)