Pineapple & Macadamia Breeze

AUDIO-VISUAL

There's a new cop show set in Hawaii on the Fall TV schedule. It will compete for hearts, minds, and time with Magnum, P.I., coming out on DVD.

I'd like to read something romantic into this but having known K for a number of months, I'm sure it's just so I'll be a better research assistant for him. But he's trying to convince me to take lessons in Hawaiian - the language.

SURVEY SAYS .......

Courtesy of Woman's Day. At least it's a break from political polls.

What is the ideal size for a woman of average height?
Size 8: 37%
Size 4: 26%
Size 10: 23%
Size 12*: 14%
*12 is the average size of the American woman

Love me, love my body: 81% of you would choose to be married to someone you love even if it meant being overweight

Perception vs. Reality
The reality: 64 percent of Americans are overweight and of those, 30 percent are obese.
The perception: Here’s what you said about yourself.
A few pounds overweight: 37%
Overweight: 29%
Just right: 20%
Obese: 9%
Underweight: 5%

Do you think your life would be better if you lost weight?
55% would feel more attractive
20% would feel healthier
13% are happy the way they are
12% would still have the same problems

He Says/She SaysWhen we asked men for their opinions about women’s bodies, we were surprised. In many cases, they’re in tune with what you told us about yourselves.
What makes a woman sexy?
A voluptuous body: Women: 43% Men 54%
Inner confidence: Women: 33% Men 24%
A svelte and trim body: Women: 24% Men 22%

68% of men say:“I love how my partner looks.”
61% of women say:“My partner loves the way I look.”

What would you and he change about your body?
Lose weight: Women: 50% Men:40%
Larger breasts: Women: 18% Men: 27%
Slimmer waist: Women: 18% Men: 21%
Fewer wrinkles: Women: 4% Men: 2%

Who has the ideal body?
Catherine Zeta-Jones: Women: 44% Men: 45%
Jennifer Aniston: Women: 38% Men: 39%
Venus Williams: Women: 11% Men: 7%
Gwyneth Paltrow: Women: 7% Men: 9%

Would you put on 30 pounds for $100,000?A third of you said, “Yes, pass the ice cream!” That’s a lot of people!

FATHERLAND SECURITY

My brother and I chat on IM sometimes and we tend to talk in code. This is primarily because we know each other so well and it's just the way we communicate, but sometimes lately we exaggerate to confuse the Fatherland Spybots. I take my entertainment wherever I find it.

HOW I SPENT MY SUPPER BREAK

First time I've ever seen a Fortune magazine but gleaned the following from it:

430,000 people in the U.S. make a full-time living off eBay.

Can my employer really ban camera phones from the workplace? Yes.

Personals sites to find those singles whose political views are in line with yours:
RepublicanSingles.com conservativematch.com
DemocraticSingles.com ActForLove.org

In 1979 Wendy's became the first fast-food chain to offer a salad bar.
In 1984 McDonald's tested the Lite Mac; testers hated it.

Nick Denton runs five "deliciously wicked" influential blogs: Gawker for New York media gossip; Gizmodo for gadget freaks; Wonkette for D.C. dish; Defamer for Hollywood; and Fleshbot for..... flesh.

HINTS THAT YOUR JOB IS IN JEOPARDY

Courtesy of Stuff, a few subtleties for The Anonymous Blogger to watch for:

Your coffee smells like urine.
That burning effigy hung from the ceiling looks just like you!
Bernadette from accounting would talk to you if her mouth wasn't full of bile.
Your desk was moved to the stairwell.
For your birthday, the office bought you a one-way ticket to hell.

IN THE MOOD FOR A MELODY

Reading the Blog of Wes a few days ago and his reference to Billy Joel got me thinking about my youth as a piano woman so I went out and splurged $100 on a Casio keyboard. The beauty of such toys (vs a baby grand) is not only the cost but the plug for earphones so I can pound away without riling the neighbors. Amy said if my John Thompson teaching books have not been tossed, she will send them to me. I'm not quite ready to apply for a job at a piano bar but when I'm too old to lift cases of beer, perhaps that will be an option.

TWILIGHT ZONE?

There's a mystery afoot. I just checked my blog stats and discovered that someone had searched "guy named Kas" and found my blog. I don't recall ever having disclosed that Kas is a shortened version of my friend K's full name, so now I'm confused. When I first spotted it, my reaction was that it must have been one of my friends or maybe even Kas himself who did the search, until I got my brain working and realized that no matter who did the search, why did it find me if I've never posted his name?

Any ideas? I think Google must have spied on me and found out his name. (Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're NOT out to get you.)

Anyway, now you all know his name.

ON THE QUAY AT KAUAI

If I had it to do over, I'd have planned an overnight stay in Kauai as there is much to see and a decent room can be had for $100 or so a night. Republicans will be paying that at the Waldorf Astoria later this month and they won't have the view. Some months ago, I noted herein reading that Mount Waialeale on Kauai is the wettest place on Earth, with an average rainfall of 450 inches. But it's not as though it rains constantly all over the island - the severe drenching is pretty well isolated. And while Kauai does have a good number of big elegant resorts, many areas are unspoiled. We did not get to see a lot but I did have the foresight to make reservations for a van tour up the west coast to Waimea Canyon. It has lush jungles and waterfalls but also barren rocks, thanks to landslides that have denuded some of the canyon walls. Jaren said he would come back and rent a Harley ($160/day) to tour Kauai. I offered to ride shotgun (or, for you motorcycle purists, pillion). I actually didn't find this out until afterward from Cliff but many of you have seen Kauai in Jurassic Park and/or Six Days Seven Nights and your grandparents saw it in South Pacific. All of the islands have parks and gardens but on each of them it takes some effort to escape the beach hotel atmosphere. Well, too bad if Jaren and Corrine didn't get to see everything - it will be a good reason to pay another visit.

A MONDAY FEELING

It's back to work for me tonight. My friends are off to the airport. It was really fun to have them here and I'll tell you more about our adventures tomorrow. Kauai is a slice of heaven.

DAY TRIP

I wonder how long it will take my internal clock to get back to normal. I can't seem to tell what time of day or night it is with my friends here. We're not getting a lot of sleep, for one thing, and when we do, it's not on any particular schedule.

Jaren and Corinne got to meet K yesterday and we all went snorkeling. Corinne is a little sunburned, but not too much, I hope, because we are flying to Kauai for the day and taking an island tour.

NEVER MIND

I've agreed to take Corinne and Jaren clubbing and they've agreed to release me.

It's Kitzi. Send help.

This blog is hijacked.

My name is Corinne. My buddy Jaren and I are appropriating this blog and wish to inform you that Kitzi is being kidnapped and forced to eat junk food. She has a well-stocked bar here, so we're pretty sure she's bringing booze home from work. Otherwise we'd be forced to drink cheap beer with the junk food, because we spent all our hard-earned dough getting to this island.

Kitzi is bound and gagged in the corner, but otherwise unharmed. If you want to hear from her again, Jaren says you must each contribute $20 to the campaign fund of Barack Obama. I'll try not to let Jaren near the keyboard. You don't want to get him started.

As soon as we clean up, we're going to find some food and then out on the town. We'll try to keep Kitzi out of trouble. Get out your checkbooks. That's B A R A C K O B A M A.

Excerpts from A LEAP INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE
Anna Quindlen - The Last Word, Newsweek, Aug 9, 2004

My friend, Jaren, says I have to post this, and if any of my readers are from Illinois, get out there and campaign for Obama:

At the end of Barack Obama's keynote speech to the Democratic convention, I stood up and cheered at the TV. I was alone in the den with two dogs, a piece of needlepoint and a cup of Sleepytime tea. I must have looked like a solitary lunatic, but I'm certain I wasn't alone in my reaction.

As much of the country knows by now, the Senate candidate from Illinois is a born orator, passionate yet reasonable in a venue that seems to bring out the inner screamer in even the most seasoned politician. He galvanized a gathering long on orchestration and short on surprises. And one more thing: he revived the power and the glory of American liberalism just by showing up.

We liberals have fallen on hard times in recent elections. At the very least, like feminists, we are not supposed to say our name. Certainly none of the sanctioned speakers were supposed to describe either John Kerry or John Edwards using the L word. That will be left to the Republicans, who will use the description as a pejorative to suggest that the Democratic candidates are out of touch with the moderate values of the American people.

But it's worth remembering that today's moderate values were the liberal notions of yesteryear. Social Security. Integrated schools. A war on poverty. In just one generation we have gone from the dark threat of something labeled socialized medicine to the promise of the same thing, called univeral health care. We liberals have been shamed into thinking our vision failed, when in fact it has simply been absorbed into the national self-portrait. From the idea that a woman ought to have the same legal rights as her male counterparts to the belief that workers should count on being safe from hazardous conditions, formerly liberal principles have become bedrock democracy.

In his speech, Obama reclaimed patriotism and traditional values for liberal activists, who have allowed their detractors to confuse dissent with disloyalty and tolerance with amorality. "There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it," he said. And he added, referring to the great fractured map of Blue Democratic states and Red Republican states that is the legacy of the 2000 election, "We worship an awesome God in the Blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red states. We coach Little League in the Blue states and have gay friends in the Red states."

The American Heritage Dictionary, fourth edition, defines "liberal" this way: "Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behaviors of others; broad-minded." I've always seen it as an ethos in which possibility gets way out in front of reality and takes a flying leap.

Sometimes I fear that politics will never have the will to act audaciously and courageously again. Certainly the divisive and derisive voices of talk radio and TV have managed to suggest that the so-called liberal agenda has outlived any usefulness it might once have had. But remember this: it is not moderation that redresses the great injustices, demands the vote for women or the right of black soldiers to fight alongside white ones.


What she said. Thanks, Ms. Quindlen.

I'm SO excited to have friends visiting from Chicago. They arrive tomorrow.

My apartment is pretty small, but I don't think they'll mind, because hotels are expensive here. Joan let me borrow an air bed and some extra sheets for one friend and my sofa is pretty comfy for the other. I do have to work tonight but then I'm free until Tuesday. Did I mention I'm EXCITED?

THE VILLAGE

K and I saw The Village Friday night, and I've been trying to decide what to say about it. I had very little information going into it. I read the synopsis on Fandango: "Set in Pennsylvania during 1897, the film revolves around a close-knit community that lives with the frightening knowledge that a mythical race of creatures resides in the woods around them." It listed the genre as Drama, Suspense/Horror.

That doesn't say much, so I didn't have a clear expectation, but even so, the movie was not what I expected. For the most part, I didn't find it terribly suspenseful and it seemed somewhat slow-moving, and there are some questions I have about how "the elders" pulled the whole thing off.

I'm not sure I can recommend the movie, and yet I kind of enjoyed it. Bryce Dallas Howard is very good in her role as Ivy, and is probably the main reason I liked it at all.

The big news in my world is that two friends from college will be here this week, and I'm going to take a few days off work to enjoy their visit. I'll share our adventures. I've been remiss lately.