Bombay House

Yes, you're jealous. You don't know that you are jealous, but you are.

I just had dinner at the Bombay House (shouldn't they call it Mumbai now?) and it was delicious. I barely have a stomach as the parasite takes up most of the space in my torso thus causing my stomach to be about two inches and I was able to eat 2 whole naans, lamb masala, rice, raita, mango chutney, strawberry lassi and much water...btw, I am a Murray, we enjoy eating so we eat, unfortunately I did not also get the Murray metabolism which allows most of my family to be 90 lbs so I really need to exercise a lot more to make up the difference...

Now I am lazily lying on the couch in this 90 degree heat and smiling...I love Indian food.

Duchess Explained

This is the Duchess. Not to be confused with who posts, because she will not deign to waste her time typing into a computer - except for all those kitty listservs I am sure she is on plotting the deaths of all of us human oppressors. She rules the roost. I would say she has ideas above her station, but then sometimes I am sure her station is far above mine. Today in the NYT I discovered why.

Cats descend from a specific set of five wildcats in the mideast whose mother left the jungle and joined a village of settlers. She decided that she'd rather eat their pests (rats and such) and have them take care of her than to deal with dangers in the jungle. Therefore, scientists have found that cats are independent and snobby because they chose to domesticate themselves rather than humans domesticating them. At any moment they could choose to leave and go back to the jungle. They don't really need us at all, we are the ones who hang around with them. Feeding them, cleaning up after them, waking up at all hours to let them in and out of the house, trying to get them to sit on our laps. They definitely have hand in this relationship.

No wonder I always find Duchess drinking milk out of my cereal bowl - while I am eating the cereal.

Gotta Comment on Dick Cheney

Okay. I can't not comment on this, for a whole host of reasons, but one more importantly than all the others.

First. I am a Democrat. I did not vote for anyone named Bush, ever. And I never will. Ever. Second. I am a strong believer in individual liberties and the idea from Vendetta that the people should never fear their government, the government should fear the people. Third. Anything that makes people talk about politics is fantastic! Brilliant! Interesting! I would much rather people get enraged about Cheney than the latest Idol vote.

But most importantly, I am an executive-legislative relations scholar. This is what I study for a living. How these two branches interact with each other. And into this comes the veep. Claiming he is not part of the executive branch in an effort to get out of oversight by the National Archives (I rather love this image of a bunch of archival librarians taking down the Administration). My response to this claim is WHAT?!?!?!? Um, yes, that's my expert response. The VP is only mentioned in Article II of the U.S. Constitution - for those of you good Americans who haven't actually read the Constitution which is written in English, Article II is the executive branch article. He is mentioned briefly in Article I (legislative branch) for tie breaking in the Senate. The 12th amendment to the U.S. Constitution makes it clear the VP is elected in with the President, so he is clearly connected electorally to the executive. Also, his office, the Office of the Vice President, is housed bureaucratically in the Executive Office of the Presidency. Note all those executives in there.

Today Rahm Emmanuel said, if he's not part of the executive branch, we'll stop paying into the executive budget for him. The VP said, oops, I am part of the executive branch.

That's the power of the purse.

New Television Show

So, I'm obsessed with a new television show. I have been watching One Tree Hill on Soapnet every afternoon. I love this show. I can't figure out why. It's way too young for me. It's way too stupid. But I watch it every day. It's when I think about how I love this show that I'm able to forgive Paul for his Family Guy obsession.

Clearly there's not much going on here...I'm 8 months pregnant, it's 100 degrees...so I'm watching Soapnet.

The Junction

This post will probably earn my crucifiction by the Weber County Forum who do not like anyone to speak who disagree with them.

Friday in the New York Times Ogden was featured. And dude, I mean FEATURED. Big story. Big article. Nice big pictures. All about how fabulous our city is and why people would want to come here. Considering the NYT is a national newspaper, our fair city just got fabulous coverage all over the nation. Friday in Ogden the Duchess and the husband went down to the new junction mall that opened last week. Today we went again. We love it down there. It was packed. It was fun. The new theaters are fabulous.

Why will I be crucified? Well, here we go: the mayor of Ogden deserves major kudos. He won't get them, but he deserves them. I moved here five years ago to pretty much a ghetto (well, as close as you get to ghetto in Utah which is not very close). Now the city is hopping. It's fun to be downtown. My house has appreciated quite a bit. I am proud to be from here. My family come to visit and they comment every time that the city looks better than the last time they were here. I will vote for this mayor again, considering he runs again. I may even publicly campaign for him, I am considering it.

I have been told this opinion makes me an outsider. Clearly because I wasn't born here, my opinion doesn't count (the $ I spend in taxes notwithstanding). I have been told this makes me part of the Godfrey amen choir (my opinion is somehow suspect when it happens to align with the mayor's). I have been told by some they will no longer speak with me if I publicly support Godfrey (my acquaintanceship apparently is contingent on my politics).

But I will say this. I am happy to live here now. I will probably not move, ever. Thank you Mayor Godfrey.

Only the Lonely

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, Howard Stern was discussing how lonely it must be to be smart. His basic argument was he wasn't all that smart and when people called into his show he was amazed how stupid they were, so therefore people who were really smart must be very lonely. That they do not have too many people to talk to. Now, I am not someone who considers myself "really smart" but I am one of the one percent of the population who has earned a PhD. which is probably an indicator of some intelligence. When I am in these childbirth classes I think about what Howard Stern said and I think, now I know what he meant.

My friends here are generally very intelligent so I have surrounded myself with people with whom I do not feel this Stern loneliness. It's when I go out into the real world I realize just how much of an anomaly I truly am. I won't make fun of them here, because that truly is classless, but I will say that my teenage eye rolling skills have come back in full force in these classes...so I sit in the back so no one will see.

Pad Thai

Last night my friends had me over for dinner. My husband is out of town and they were feeling badly for me that I was very pathetic and lonely (as I get when my husband is out of town) so they had me over. It was so much fun. She made pad thai - dude I didn't even know real people could make pad thai. It was delicious! DELICIOUS! And hanging out with my friends was so much fun!

Oh, and the things that pop on the pavement and the water balloons were fun too!!!!

The Magpies

Paul and I are very good to animals. Our animals have the run of our house and we pretty much let them. They never get yelled at or disciplined and they get to sleep and snuggle wherever they want to. As a result, the rumors get around the neighborhood that our house is a good house to be an animal. So...we've had stray cats set up camp in our yard; stray dogs have tried to move in and dogs that we know are not stray have come to hang out on our doorstep. Last week we had a little fledgling magpie set up camp in our yard, which was very cute. We followed it around the house and kept our eye on it so nothing happened to it.

Tonight, the fledgling and his two siblings are learning to fly and using as their launching pad the fence around our backyard. I've been watching their parents show them how to do it and laughing at their attempts to not fall off the fence. It's been very exciting around here. Lots of babies.

A Simple Meme

Tagged by Tomorrow …

Here are the rules to play:

1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

8 Randomosities …

1. I fell in love with my husband because he didn't tuck in his shirts, shave or get his hair cut - after years of dating Stepford guys, this was a real clue of how fabulous he is.
2. My favorite group is the Beatles, and has been since I was four not since the more recent 90s flashback retro craze.
3. I am from the east, live in the west, and believe that all people should live in each region of the country to truly understand what America is like - of course I refuse to live in the South, so I am also a hypocrite.
4. I love reading historical romances and watching soap operas (General Hospital, As the World Turns, Guiding Light, Days of our Lives, Young and the Restless, All My Children) - which is probably why I loved the Tudors.
5. I once was a cheerleader - well, for five years I was once a cheerleader - and I actually am proud of that.
6. I can't read books or watch movies about animals who die - even the most innocuous of them like My Dog Skip.
7. I was voted class flirt of my high school.
8. I like to dance in the shower and then while I get ready in the morning.

I tag ….
1. Eris

2. Meemoo

3. Private Idaho

4. Oxymoron

Um, I don't know any more bloggers...I am such a blogosphere loser.

Brush with the Past

Every week I attend (with the husband who is usually running late from a lacrosse package) child birthing classes. These are generally very interesting and enjoyable. This week the nurse took us on a tour of the maternity wing of the hospital to show us all the good stuff they have there (by the way, my hospital kicks as for ob stuff; 99% of babies who check into NICU check out alive - it is ranked #1 in the west for baby stuff and is in the top ten nationally - so they have good stuff). She shows us a delivery room. Which, and this is where I brush with my own sad history, is the exact room where I delivered Mary (my stillborn child from almost two years ago).

I stood there. Looking at the room in which the most momentous emotional event in my life happened. It was so different from my own memories. So sterile looking. And I thought, the last time I interacted with my baby was in this room. In many ways it was sad and in many ways I felt stronger for it. My little guardian angel began her watch over me in this room and I could feel that she was there with me then as well. I may request to not have that room on delivery date for this baby as I'm not sure she deserves to have all that emotion wrapped up in her birth day, I mean, she should have her own emotional reaction from her parents. But I know that my little angel will be with me and then with this little girl for the rest of her life as well.

Excellent Book

When the Emperor was Divine

Every American should read this book...NOW. This is an excellent book. It is about Japanese internment camps from WWII in Utah. You see, the fatal flaw of America is every time our country is in harm's way we lash out viciously at some minority group in our country and attempt to destroy them. Civil War: blacks looking for jobs who had been freed; Post-Civil War: Indians in the way of our taking land; WWI: anyone who disagreed with war; WWII: Japanese Americans; Korean War: Communists; Vietnam War: student protesters; High inflation in 1980s: all poor people; Post 9/11: Mexican Americans.

When will we learn to stop doing this to ourselves and our people?

That Scene from Alien

Today I spent about an hour sitting on my couch (ostensibly resting but also watching my favorite soap...I know I know) with my shirt kind of up so I was looking at my ginormous belly in which the parasite is currently residing. I was just kind of hanging out and all of a sudden I was in that Alien movie and there was movement. It was insanely cool and creepy all at once. Of course the only other live being near me was my dog (the one of the $2500 surgery fame) looking at me, not really impressed by the belly at all. I sat there, stupefied, for about 30 minutes until Paul arrived home (having just taken the other dog out for a walk) and I was like, come here come here come here. He comes down and looks at my belly and also sees the belly move.

He then said, well it's clear where they got that idea for the Alien movie scene...smile...

Random Update

Here's the score for the last couple of days:

• Spent some quality time with my favorite person to hang out with, my husband, and he allowed us to go see Pirates III. When I say he allowed us because he knows I am an Orlando Bloom fan and I had to drool and drool...and oh my heavens, his end of movie Pirate look has done a lot for me in my late night fantasies.
• Went to church today (and let me tell you why I love my conservative Catholic Priest - he walked up to me as soon as he saw me and said, how's the baby doing? I said good. He said how long to go? I said ten weeks. He said "hang in there little guy" - this is why I go to my church for all you naysayers, because people actually care and remember) and during the homily and the music (we have this kick ass Saturday evening mass with a bass, guitar and eucalalie and a phenomenal singer whose voice makes the hair on my body stand up) the parasite was kicking, so I'm thinking she's a Catholic too.
• Watched Talladega Nights. Oh my god, that movie was horrible. Paul likes Will Farrell so I try to be supportive and every other movie choice is his and he picks this crap. Then in the middle of the movie he falls asleep. I look over and say "oh no! I am not watching this hillbilly crap by myself, get the hell up!"
• Somehow this morning my ear popped closed so I have been walking around with hearing from one ear all day and a static sound in my other ear. Any suggestions on how to hell to clear this? I have tried big yawns and holding my nose and blowing real hard and swallowing real hard - to no avail. I am going CRAZY.
  

Cleaned out the House

Well there's a parasite on the way, in case you didn't know, so we had to clean out the house.

Today the husband and I cleared out as many books as we could, because quite frankly, we have too many damn books that we don't read more than once. All my historical romances - gone. All Paul's civil war historical fiction - gone. I had a much easier time giving up my sex books than Paul did his killing and death books, go figure.

Gone is the desktop computer we haven't used in a year. Paul of course still has his three laptops - why one person with one lap needs more than one laptop is beyond me.

We are now prepared to move some furniture around and be even more ready for this little person who gets her own space. As someone who is very keen on having my own space, it is important to me that she get her own space.

Five boxes of books, FIVE.

Parasite News

Today we had our 30 week appointment with the midwife. The little parasite is weighing in at 4lbs 2 oz, so she's pretty big (okay, that's coming out of my belly? through my what? who designed this procreation system?). Her heartbeat is strong. Her little kicks are strong. So all is good.

And, something that is very wonderful, a horrible thing happened at work today and I didn't even care as much because I am so happy about this little parasite.

Spidey at the Movies

Yesterday I went to the movies with my husband to watch Spiderman 3. I would have preferred Pirates 3 (apparently Orlando Bloom is particularly yummy, and for all of you who don't know, I wanted Legolas, NOT Strider) but Paul wanted to see Spiderman - so off we went. Here comes the rant.

• Hey White Trash freaks, the movie theater is NOT your trashy, dumpy apartment. Please do not eat your food loudly. Speak loudly. Spank your baby loudly. Oh and on that, white trash freaks, babies should NOT be at Spiderman 3. If your kid can't stand up, your kid can't be at a movie. And if you can't afford a babysitter, trade in the ATV and pay for one so you can go to these movies with the grown ups.
• Hey Teenage Goth Wannabe, kicking my chair doesn't make you cool, you are an idiot entirely on your own with no help from me. So please do not involve me in your pseudo-anti-authority trip. Oh, and if you were truly goth, you wouldn't be at a trendy Hollywood movie to begin with.
• Hey Spiderman 3 makers: COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE MADE A MORE BORING MOVIE????!!! No one went to Spiderman 1 or 2 to see whether MJ loves Peter Parker or whether Aunt May got engaged too early or whether Harry's dad loved him. They went to see ACTION. ACTION! Get a clue.
  

Heroes

Okay, we submitted. We collapsed to the never-ending pressure by friends to watch this show. We recorded the entire marathon from Sci-Fi, downloaded episodes that were missing, and we watched it. (this is something Paul and I enjoy doing, we often watch hours and hours of television of a single show...it's fun, especially when you like the person you're watching with) All of it.

Here are my thoughts (in no particular order, which is why this is a random pondering):

• Heroes is a rip off of X-Men, I liked X-Men, couldn't we have just had a television show of X-Men?
  
• Sylar is boring, boring, boring (and no, the episode with the mom did not make him more compelling)
  
• "Save the cheerleader, save the world" should be everyone's motto
• Nathan and Peter Petrelli (sp?) are the hottest heroes, Mohinder is the hottest non-hero
• Claire is the hottest chick hero (but that makes me a lesbian pedophile, so don't tell anyone I said that)
• Hiro ROCKS
• When the chick who can make you see what she wants you to see gets knocked out, shouldn't she become the fat person she tells Micah she is hiding behind the facade? why does she become the facade?
• Nikki rocks!
• And, wasn't Linderman (sp?) only following Dick Cheney's advice of proportionately small losses are acceptable if you can heal the world?