MJ

It is 1983, I am 10 years old. Fluorescent colors are all the rage as well as, bangles (those bracelets we wore by the hundreds up our arm), MTV, white lace gloves with no fingers, Reebok's with Velcro straps, big hair, VHS, aquanet hairspray, Jolt Cola, Fraggle Rock, Knight Rider, the A-Team, brightly colored legwarmers, jheri curls, stirrup pants, Madonna, Boy George, Wham and of course that was the year Michael Jackson released the number one selling album of all time and to this day, Thriller.

I don't usually have a hard time with the death of stars but his was an especially heartbreaking one for me because Michael Jackson has been incredibly famous my entire life. He was my first boyfriend and his face adorned the first boy toy idol type poster on my wall as a girl.

This was the poster I had



I cannot go on with my week without mentioning Michael Jackson in my blog. I was blown away on Thursday when I got to work and heard that he was dead. I was in total disbelief! How could the guy that we grew up imitating, adoring, and later making fun of just be gone forever.

The first two records I ever owned were Culture Club's "Kissing to Be Clever" and Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Thriller was by far my favorite of the two and my cousins, siblings and I spent hours listening to it on my dad's record player while we tried to master the moonwalk and many other dance moves we had seen Michael do on the greatest video of all time. I mean really this guy was a revolutionary he changed the way we danced, sang, and thought about the music video. Are you of an age to remember suffering through old Devo videos? I am, and let me tell you they were really nothing to brag about. Not to mention he broke through the race barrier and single handed brought an end to only crazy, shouldn't be dancing, white people on MTV (thank you).

His life has been continuously and often painfully scrutinized and wrought with turmoil as long as I can remember. There were the stories of his fathers abuse and pushing too hard, the Neverland Ranch (really, what 23 year old wouldn't want a ranch with amusement park rides and tons of weird animals if they could?) Later his marriage to Elvis Presley's Daughter, Lisa Marie, loads of plastic surgery that turned him from a fairly nice looking black man into a really weird looking white woman and then his increasingly outrageous behavior had the tabloids following his every move. All of his fame really came to a screeching halt when the accusations of child molestation came out. I am still unsure as to how I feel about that but the fact remains that he is one of the biggest icons of my life time and he will be missed.

Let us not forget the other fallen stars that unfortunately had to share their deaths with an icon. Farrah Fawcett (I always wanted her hairdo) and Ed McMahon (that guy always looked like he was having a good time).

My favorite Michael Jackson song was Human Nature and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind leaving me a comment with your favorite MJ hit as well as your favorite 80's stuff.

Update on Stan Lee

I wanted to give an update on Stan, the newest member of my dog pack. He is 6 weeks out on his antibiotics now and had recheck radiographs today. His legs are better but certainly not healed yet. He still has some infection in his bone and so will remain on his antibiotics for another month. Another worry is that because the infection was near his growth plates his ulna is growing faster than his radius causing his radius to bow out slightly. This is quite worrisome as this can cause some major problems and would require surgery to extend his radius which is time consuming and very painful. Right now the doctors are just worried about getting rid of the infection so he is going home tonight with another four weeks worth of antibiotics and has to stay on his anti-inflammatory (actually he may need these for life to help with the arthritis he will undoubtedly develop). So that is the update on Stan Lee. Here is a repeat picture from the Springtime Photo Blog but it is the most recent one I have.

He has no idea that anything is wrong with him. He runs and plays with the other dogs, is extremely friendly with the dogs at work and has great social skills so far (thanks to my pack). He has learned to sit and heel even off leash sometimes. He can jump in and out of the car by himself and most of the time doesn't even crash. He still barks with toys in his mouth which makes everyone laugh and is by far the most vocal dog I have ever owned. He is still really lazy and is fitting into the pack really well. I will keep you updated on his progress.

My Cool, Secret, Favorite things

Why is it that people keep finding out about my cool, secret favorite things!!! I have been drinking coffee for 14 years now and have lovingly turned it into an art form. I love everything about the coffee. I love the way it smells when you first open the can. I love the way it looks in its bean form before you grind it up. I love the way it smells when it is brewing. I love the way it makes me feel after I drink it and of course I really love the way it tastes. I drink my coffee many different ways and depending on what time of day it is depends on how I drink the coffee. Sometimes I like it hot, strong and black, sometimes I drink it with regular cream and some splenda, sometimes I want my coffee really rich and so I add heavy whipping cream and splenda (this is like a milk shake) other times I like those flavored creamers, that are not really milk, and sometimes I like it iced. This brings me to the point of this blog.

I moved to Texas in June of 2002 from Long Beach California and I was pretty sure of two things after I did that. One. People in Texas were suffering form some sort of brain damage that caused them to think that the climate here was suitable for human existence and Two. That I was going to die in the heat before the summer was over. My point being, the thought of hot coffee on a day when it is 100 degrees and 80% humidity made me cringe. I became an iced coffee addict. I drink my coffee cold from May until October to try and beat the heat out here. One of my favorite places to obtain the iced coffee is at the local 7-11. I go in, fill up one of those Styrofoam cups (I also have a Styrofoam cup, lid and straw fetish, a subject for another blog perhaps) with ice and then pour the hot coffee over the top of it. This is the most delicious thing ever when it is hot outside. Well no one was the wiser at the 7-11 they thought I had a soda and therefore charged me .89 cents. One of the women there caught me one time and made a huge deal about it and tried to make me pay for 32 ounces of coffee and so I just bought a cup of ice and a medium coffee and put them together my self which was still cheaper than 32 ounces of coffee. That was the only time someone gave me a hard time about it and to this day I still do that at the 7-11 in the summer.

I am hoping beyond all hope that this little wonderful ritual of lovely coldness doesn’t have to end for me. It seems that iced coffee is some new special thing and everyone has it for sale. It ranges from 2 dollars at the 7-11 all the way to 5 dollars at the starbucks.

Ready for a, mildly off the topic, rant?

I am appalled that starbucks charges two bucks for one cup of coffee (that is just coffee, not all of the whipped frap shit they pass off as coffee that will run you close to 6 dollars depending how much frap you want) and I am even more appalled at the people that actually pay 2-6 dollars for a cup of coffee. Most would say “hey, live and let live” and I would usually do the same, if someone wants to pay 2 dollars for a stinking cup of coffee, burnt coffee I might add, then more power to them.(I will however, admit to a liking for the gear they have at the starbucks and have been known on occasion to shop the clearance table for cups and stuff) I am angry because all of the other places you used to get coffee at a reasonable price are charging a ridiculous amount for their coffee as well. I guess they figure if starbucks can charge 2 bucks for a simple cup of coffee then surely they can charge $1.59 and the unsuspecting public will think they are getting a deal.

But I digress.

My point is that they now have McIced coffee at the McDonalds and some weird magical machine that spits out some concoction at most gas station shops that they are calling iced coffee! You too can have this magical coffee concoction for close to 2 bucks. The crazier thing is people are paying for it!!! It is ice and coffee...How does that equal 2 dollars? And why is everyone so quick to jump on the bandwagon? And why does everyone always find out about my cool secret favorite things!!!

This is a photo I took of some brand new beautiful shiny coffee beans that had just been opened. Can you smell them? I can.

Spingtime Photo Blog 2009

Happy Springtime All!

I know I have been MIA for the last month or so, I am currently taking Anatomy and Physiology during a six week summer course (insane I know). So I have had little time to do anything let alone write in my blog. My class is going great I got the highest grade in the class on the first lecture exam, a 96%(yes I do realize how nerdy I am and yes I am gloating a little bit). I haven't had time for the blog but I certainly can't let the beauty of this season pass me by, I have been able to take some photos this spring of my garden and some other things that for me, represent springtime so I thought I would share them with you here, in my second photo blog (hopefully this one comes out better than the last one). So here we go. Enjoy!

We have had quite a bit of rain here this spring...the sky here in Texas this time of year is pretty spectacular. This was after a really big storm.

This is sunset on the same day. The sun sets behind the back door of the hospital so I regularly get to catch a glimpse of it. Sometimes I have time to photograph it.


Extra springtime foliage brings wild creatures to hide in it! This is Miss Violet checking me out through the leaves of the Crepe Myrtle.

This is the Magnolia tree that grows in my front yard, because of all of the rain, it is covered with flowers. It took me awhile to catch one close enough to the ground so I could photograph it. The tree is much taller than the house! This bloom is probably 10 inches across!



This Crepe Myrtle will bloom from now until almost Fall. It provides some great privacy for me on the West side of my house as well as a wonderful color show!


Texas Hibiscus. It is not as fancy or large as the Hibiscus I am used to in California but it certainly is pretty, and it definitely reminds me of home.
"Gold Medal Rose" One of the newest additions to the garden this year and it just keeps on blooming and growing despite some nibbling by the local canines.

Shocking Pink Geraniums...these bloom constantly! I got them on sale at Lowes before Spring started they were only $1.59 a piece (there are two here) The best bang for the buck this year for sure!


Both of these are Oleander. I know, I know, this is poisonous to the dogs but it is in the front where they cannot get to it and it is too pretty to cut down. It will bloom from now until the end of Summer.


This is Sweet Pea Vine. It smells fantastic and is sooooo pretty! So far it only has two flowers but soon it will be covered with beautiful mixed colors and I bet I will be able to smell it from the front porch!!!



Had to throw in a picture of silly Stan Lee, he was curious about what I was doing on the other side of the fence. Beside puppies are very spring like! Check out the hackberry stuck in his lip!

Yellow Wildflowers in the field behind the animal hospital. They are not more than 1 inch across and so cute.


My rock patio after some nice spring rain.


This tree is so nice when it first starts growing in the spring time. I know spring is coming and the long dreary Winter is almost over.