American Ambassador

Last night Matt and I were watching a story on 60 Minutes about, basically, why some Muslims hate Americans.  (That was way too brief.  You can read about the whole thing here.)

So, the 60 Minutes lady asks a bunch of young Muslim kids, "I sense a lot of anti-Americanism.  Is that correct?"  And one of the Muslim kids responds, "Give us one reason why we should love America."  And Matt shouts out, "GEORGE CLOONEY!"

And, you know, his answer gets better and better the more you think about it.

So, on this glorious Monday morning, I give you pictures of our greatest American Ambassador, a Mr. George Clooney.

(Mr. Pitt is easy on the eyes as well.)

Ahhhh, now there's a way to start a week.

My Blank Monday Thoughts

• Thomas Jefferson removed from a school's curriculum?  Are you f'ing kidding me?  F'ing Texas.
• Matt and I spent $195 at Publix today.  But we won't go grocery shopping again for three weeks, so that's good.  And we're ready for Y2K.
• Re-caulked the bathroom over the weekend.  It's amazing the things you'll do to avoid grading poetry portfolios.  It's also amazing that a person can have such a flat learning curve as to assign poetry portfolios two years in a row.
• Cassie came over for dinner tonight.  I think she should move into the house next door.  It's for rent, people.  And it's cheap at $825/month.  Don't you want to move in and be our neighbors?
• This week is going to be good.  It's just got to be.
• Mitch is the greatest dog on the planet.  But you already knew that.
• I love Sharpie markers.  I love the smell, love the colors, love the permanence.  Had to look up the correct spelling of permanence, and I'm a pretty good speller.  I did win the eighth grade spelling bee by correctly spelling the word nougat.  Oh yeah, I'm also fat.
• It's = "it is."  Its = belonging to it. It's sunny outside.  The dog wagged its tail.  Is it so hard?
• Professional maternity pictures are a creepfest.
• Next three weeks are going to be awesomeness wrapped in awesome.  Dogs and friends and birthdays and days off and food and wine and more friends and food and dogs and wine.  You can be jealous.  It's okay.
• Matt and I both have newly-cut hair.  I love the convenience.  Less time spent blow drying and hair that's not so heavy.
• Mitch just farted in my face.  That's the last time I give him a delicious hamburger.  I swear that dog positions his body so that the farts float up into my face.
• An exchange:

Matt:  He's the one who was interviewed on 60 Minutes last night, the guy who wrote The Blind Side.
Me: Oh.
[five minutes later]
Me: Hey!  Wasn't he on 60 Minutes last night?
Matt: You really don't listen to me at all, do you?

Guess I should get off here now so that I can pay more attention to the insightful things that Matt says.  Happy Tuesday to you.  Happy Ides of March, hope nobody killed you.  Also, happy St. Patrick's Day Eve [tomorrow].

Derek Paravicini

If you can carve fourteen minutes out of your day, check out this 60 Minutes story about Derek Paravicini, blind piano playing savant.

And if you want to know more about him, or want to listen to his music, here are a couple of links to get you through your Monday.

60 Minutes = We are old.

Matt and I are old. You know how I know? Because we watch 60 Minutes. And because our favorite part is Andy Rooney. Here's last night's little nugget of wisdom from Mr. Rooney.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

I love that curmudgeon!

This and That

A few things to get you through your Monday. (Mondays are my worst days; I have school and then a class--a dreadful class that sucks my soul from my body--and I don't get home until around 7:00. Boo hiss. The up side is that Matt usually has dinner ready for me when I return home, just like a 1950's housewife.)

• First, if you feel like you just can't find the perfect gift for that special someone, try the above rug. It's only 1K, and if you really want, you can have it autographed by Sarah Palin. (Okay, so that last part's a lie, and no polar bears died for the sake of this rug. It's from Etsy, and you can buy it here.)
• Speaking of Etsy, Matt ordered my "Bad Dingo" tote bag just in time. He got the very last one! I am REALLY excited about walking around carrying the bag. When he emailed the seller, he explained to her that our dogson is an American Dingo and had a tag that said that he's a baby eater. (We got him a different tag when he got bigger and more fierce looking. Now it calls him a professional snuggler.)
• Speaking of Matt, he is currently watching football and yelling and clapping. Mitch is lying by my feet under the desk, terrified of his manic father and loud noises.
• Speaking of football, did you see that Smash Williams won the Heisman? I saw that, and I even got to throw out some fake football knowledge during the show, all stuff I've heard Matt say. "You know, Tebow's game won't really transfer to the pros. He plays much more of a running game and he's not as accurate at passing. . .It's basically the difference between Matt Saracen and J.D. McCoy." Everything I know about football I know from listening to Matt talk to his friends and watching Friday Night Lights.
• Speaking of awesome television, 60 Minutes had both Obam' and Ricky Gervais on tonight. It warmed my soul. I think that Ricky Gervais is perhaps the funniest person alive today.
• Speaking of funny, isn't it weird that I've had two cute kid posts lately? Fear not--I do not have Baby Rabies (thanks for the term, Carly!). That shan't happen anytime soon, or ever.
• But speaking of things that shall happen soon, I've only got five glorious days of school until Mitchmas break. Friday the Savannah family is coming for Mitchmas dinner, and my friend Maureen and her husband are coming for New Year's. She's a vegetarian. Any good vegetarian recipes you'd like to share?
• Speaking of food, I feel like I eat enough on a daily basis to feed a small country, or at least an elementary school. It's disgusting and terrible, yet I won't stop. Matt's going to have to knock out walls in our house and invest in a horse trailer just to get me out of the house.

Happy Monday to you! Anything fun happening? What are your plans for Mitchmas?

60 Minutes--The Birdmen

Watch CBS News Videos Online

We watch 60 Minutes, which means that we are. . .old. Tonight, in addition to some very insightful commentary--and by insightful I mean crazy--by Andy Rooney about how much sleep Americans need and how he can sleep anywhere, there was an amazing story about danger boys who fly. It made me so nervous and scared that I was screaming at the TV, "Get away from that rock, flying handsome danger!"

I think you'll enjoy it.