Perceptions

So I'm not in Canada for Thanksgiving - big deal. Wanna fight about it?

Yes, I had these huge romantic plans to make a lovely little trip up to beaut-i-ful DOWNTOWN MONTREAL!! (said like a game show emcee), get a quaint room at a bed and breakfast just big enough for two, explore the city by day and candlelit dinners and whisper sweet nothings at night. I was going to woo Israel into my web and make sure our two hodgepodge lifes blend into one beautiful piece of art.

I don't know where he is.

I didn't romanticize and project something that wasn't there, did I? That's so unlike me!!!

Actually, I'm usually very pragmatic. Unitarianism, financially conservative (now), socially practical. So while it really isn't unlike me to plan my future out on a whim and a wing (how does that phrase go? ), it is unlike me to not have complete control of how to get to that future.

Don't get me wrong-the end of the Earth for Israel and all that - I mean, he is there on a business (of some sort) trip, and is staying in what sounds like a frat house. I have no idea how long he is going to be there (2 weeks? 2 months? 2 decades?) so maybe I just need to keep with the flow and just keep romance at a distance. I think he has similar feelings towards me, or I'm led to believe. Or he's a big fat sadist fucker.

So I'm having the downstairs lesbians for Thanksgiving instead. I know what I said. Maybe this other guy that I'm quasi-romancing, too, if his other plans fall through.

Yesterday, I'm talking to this pal. He's a big guy- tall and muscular and German. Now, a couple of months ago, someone saw us together and asked if we were related. Which is funny, because while I am of European descent, I am neither tall and arguably, not muscular. I say toned. So yesterday I see him and remind him of how similar we are to that lady.

"Yeah, like the movie 'Twins!'" he says.

Now, obviously I am not the Arnold Schwarzeneggar in this simile. Which means I am being compared to Danny DeVito. What?!?! Really? People look at me and think I look like a hedgehog? Because that's what Danny DeVito looks like - a humanized hedgehog. Actually, even a hedgehog-ized hedgehog. He looks like a hedgehog. Big fat hairy smelly squinty-eyed hedgehog.

I mean, he could have said Mini-me. Or the movie 'Stuck on You,' with Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear. But no - he had to pick the ugliest, most repulsive, hedgehogiest human being ever and compare him to me. Thanks for the reality check. Tastes like chicken. I wish these people would stop serving me chicken.

Saturay morning cartoons and breakfast

I thought it would be a good idea to pick up some of those cereal bars to munch on when I get a hankering, which I figured to be better for me and more economical (thanks Wall Street!) than the normal 1 pint of Hagen Dazs I eat as a nightcap. And, incidentally, Hagen Dazs has some nerve listing those tiny little pints as servings for 4!! The (lack of) nutritional value listed on the side doesn't look so horribly bad until you multply it by 4, and then, OH MY GOD!!! I can eat no fat until 2023 to make up for all the Hagen Dazs I have ingested. Maybe then I'll catch up to my suggested intake. And how is it that I'm struggling to gain weight? I'm not the only one downing one of those Hagen Dazs at a time, am I? One of these days I 'm gonna regret it, I suspect. Hubris can't be pretty.

So the cereal bars: they taste a whole lot better slathered in peanut butter. Yeah, like you've never done it.

How's that Bush thing going? Is it like he's Snidely Whiplash twirling his pencil moustache between his fingers while he thinks of some evil shenanigans to get his grubby cloven hooves into? Now he wants to KILL ENDANGERED SPECIES!!!! It's so true.

Here's the headline: Bush set to relax endangered species rules

And the way he wants to relax the rules is to no longer have the scientists or biologists have any input into projects that disturb the ecosystem, i.e. every building project. Instead, the builders or those funding the building themselves will determine if their project will effect wildlife. That's like having the tobacco companies determine the carcinogen level of cigarettes! Oh, wait....

Is it just me or is this just evil? And notice how he's doing this as a lame duck. Is he just clearing his way to his future plans in the business? Why would he wait til now? Because he is also eliminating the requirement that greenhouse gasses emitted from the building be assessed as to their effect on wildlife. And we know Bush luuuvs his oil drilling! He's not very good at it, but he loves to do it.

And the Interior Department is working like mad to get this done by the Friday deadline. So here I am thinking that the Interior Department should be an advocate of the interior.

I've been perusing the news channels on the TV to see what their two cents are on this. Network news - nothing. MSNBC - nothing. CNBC - nothing. Fox - I dunno. Like I'm gonna watch Fox.

This is major news!!!! Bush wants to kill sea turtles and robins! For God's sake, somebody do something! Pelosi says that she will do everything she can to prevent this:

The House, in consultation with the incoming administration and relevant committees, will review what oversight tools are at our disposal regarding this and other last minute attempts to inflict severe damage to the law in the waning moments of the Bush administration.

Yeah, Nancy. By all means, review your tools!! She never said she was gonna do anything about it, but she's all about reviewing her tools.

Review this.

You gotta have friends, la la de da da

Do you know the author Molly Mcnett? You don't?! I do and she is absolutely a doll!

That's Molly up there. We went to ISU together and had some acting classes together and some awful theatre lit (or something) class with this teacher who had no business teaching and a big scar on her chest. Get her book, "One Dog Happy." Molly's book, not scar-chest gal's. It's a great read and a bunch of short stories. It's a Pulitzer Prize winner, you know. Well, some award, I forgot which one, but it's a big deal. She did a reading at KGB Bar with two other authors. I'll leave it at I found hers the most enjoyable of the three out of deference to her co-readers. I think it's just that their books probably didn't lend themselves well to excerpt reading as well. Or maybe it's that Molly has to be one of my top 10 favorite people. Ever.

I went to this restaurant before the reading to grab a quick bite, and lo and behold! in walked Molly with her entourage. Her husband Dan is very funny and witty and he's a great guy that bought me a beer after the reading. And not just any beer, but a Guinness! Very classy man! Thanx Dan!

And her buddy Joe is also a very handsome urbane gentleman who (I think inadvertently) picked up the tab for my salmon dinner, while the other 6 people shared a plate of nachos. I certainly owe him something! Thanx Joe!

So we went out after the reading, as previously stated, and let me tell you: Irish guys have the BEST stories! Another bud of Molly and Dan's, Daru (?) had a HUGE HYSTERICAL story about his drunk uncle and his criminal cousin. I couldn't even begin to relate the story to you, but it began with a drunk crying on an entry stairway in the Lower East, to an Irish petrol station slash golf accessory store, to the IRA controlled docks of Dublin. Add a hallway filled with baseball bats and a crime spree in Perth, Australia, and I think you can piece the story together from that.

The night ended with a rousing rendition of "Danny Boy" and hugs and reminiscences. Except the "Danny Boy" part, it's all true. I loved last night!

You know, I had this really depressing talk with this other pal of mine. He was trying to convince me that online dating is quite the thing to do. And it makes sense, he says, as I am not really a big out-on-the-town kind of guy and really not even a big people person. I'm very content seeing a show or having dinner for one, but sometimes it would be nice to have a co-hort, I just got to find the guy that I'm not going to want to stab in the eye after the evening's done. That's the clincher. I accept my one-ness, as the alternative is prison.

But online dating seems so desperate and frankly, loserish. Not to mention I currently have an unattainable crush that I have fantasized into my Mr. Right. Israel (the object of my affection, not the country) has probably not the same delusion. Did I mention he lives in Mexico? Or that he's in his 20s? And that I am not in my 20s, or even 30s? But he is absolutely adorable and stimulating intellectually and physically (Rafael Nadal look-a-like)and if he came right now and said he needed $10000 and my right pinky, I'd tell him let's go to the bank first as I don't want to get pinky blood on the money. We email frequently and exchange online smooches and hugs, but I'm not an idiot. Not MUCH of an idiot. And he's the one that picked me up! Probably some freaky father figure thing.

But this guy was saying to just do it (the online dating thing), and no harm no foul, blah blah blah, and I should post a picture on some sites. He seemed shocked that I don't really have a picture of myself (does everyone have a self pic on their computers?), so I said that he should take my picture.

Well, for some reason, that was ABSOLUTELY OUT OF THE QUESTION, and I should get some friend to do it!

As I said ad nauseum, that people person thing stays at work, so my circle of friends is small. And I think it's weird and uncomfortable to ask anyone to take my photo so I can meet fatty losers online (present company excluded). And besides, isn't he the one who brought it up in the first place? And,if it's ABSOLUTELY OUT OF THE QUESTION for him to take my pic, why should it be in the question for anyone else to do it? And thanks for reminding me that the one person in whom I've confided quite a bit in and have thought of as a confident all these months really can't be bothered with solutions, but by all means throw the tons of problems out on the plate! Tastes like chicken! Unrefrigerated botulism-infested grey sickly bird flu chicken. With a side of Brussels sprouts.

Actually, I like Brussels sprouts.

But was it 'colored' flour?

PARIS – U.S. actress Lindsay Lohan has been pelted with a flour bomb on arrival at a Paris nightclub wearing a fur stole.
Animal rights activists showered the 22-year-old actress with flour when she went to the VIP Room Theater in the early hours of Saturday with her friend, disc jockey Samantha Ronson.

(sic)ening

I got this e-mail yesterday:

YOU START A BLOG (sic) YOU GET FOLLOWERS (sic) YOU DROP THE BALL(sic) WE GET NOTHING................HOW FUKED(sic) IS THAT ....ASSHOLE!

Can you believe it? I HAVE FOLLOWERS!! It's an actual fan letter from an actual (albeit angry) person! Tell mom I told her so, I am worthy of someones attention!! No more therapy - no more imaginary friends - just smooooth sailing!

Yesterday I'm walking down 6th Avenue in beautiful midtown New York, and behind me, I hear this scream. Well, not so much a scream as it was a high-pitched whirring sound. I honestly thought it was mechanical until I hear a lady scream, "Why did you do that?!?!" At that I turn around and there is a middle-aged woman screaming and pointing at a young thug who has continued to walk on. I'm thinking that maybe he just walked by and hit her or something. So I'm all ready to head him off (he's coming toward me), and then she continues, "He just HIT THAT BIRD!!! CALL THE POLICE! 911!! HE'S A MONSTER!!" And she keeps repeating, "YOU MONSTER! YOU'RE A MONSTER!!"

OK, now anyone that knows me knows my feelings about animal rights and the ASPCA commercials make me cry every time, and I stand outside circuses and protest animal abuses (Ringling Brothers HATES me! Well, if they knew me, they would surely at least roll their eyes towards me), I have spoken to groups concerning dogfighting and abuses in the entertainment industry, I volunteer when I can at the ACC in Harlem walking and cleaning up the runny stools of abandoned dogs. I am big into animals.

That being said, have you ever tried to hit a bird? Don't they just move out of the way faster than you can throw a punch? And how do you even throw a punch at a pigeon? And, no defense of this guy, but the bird in question was just on the curbside pecking at the sidewalk, seemingly oblivious to the broo-ha-ha of which he/she was in the middle. I'm a big believer in survival of the fittest (like the old ladies getting hit while crossing the street: if they're too slow or too stupid to use the crosswalk with the light, maybe this is nature's way of weeding out the ones that our modern science has kept alive with pills and treatments. I'm just saying.), so was this slow dumbassed bird just in the process of making way for the quicker smarter pigeons?

And as for calling 911 - I've tried that for real animal abuse and abandonment. They were not exactly responsive.

This thug ultimately turned around and started yelling something in his defense, so he obviously did do an awful thing and I had to stop and compose myself, as I realized that I did witness a man who has treated an animal probably the same way he treats his baby mama and kids and I did nothing.

AND THEN, this other guy on the street - mid-20s, groomed and wearing a sleeveless t-shirt exposing arms that probably measured the same as his IQ (it's mid November in New York - what kind of idiot is wearing sleeveless?) stopped and waited for the original thug to catch up to him so they could laugh at the lady together is some sort of caveman brotherhood. And they didn't even know each other!

I don't get straight guys. In every sense you can take that sentence. I'm all about respect and tolerance (not in that order) for other cultures, but really? I thought that kind of thing only happens in B movies with the 2-dimensional high school bully who gets a milkshake thrown in his face at the burger joint for the climax of the movie. Why is hitting a bird the bond of straight brotherhood?

Maybe survival of the fittest can't be applied an all situations.

Proposition 8 rally pic

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That's me a little to the left. Kidding. There were 10,000 people in front of the Mor(m)on Church. As you probably know, the Mormons were the major contributors to this awful piece of legislation, something about saving their families or something.

So if you really want to save the family, where's the legislation banning divorce? Isn't that the real problem, according to the right wingers? Dissolution of the family? Seems to me you may want to target the 50+% of the couples that want to break up the family, not the 10% that want to have a traditional family.

I USED to have a dream...

Obviously, I consider myself pretty well informed and able to discuss contemporary matters fairly lucidly. However, I remained pretty ignorant about Proposition 8 until the day of the election. Last night I went to a peaceful protest/march to oppose the passage of Proposition 8, and I overheard a guy being interviewed and he was talking about how the majority of black voters voted for Prop 8.

I didn't believe him. 'Why would a group that fought for their own civil rights so dutifully and vigilantly oppose someone else's civil rights?' I thought.

Now let me pre-empt my rant here for a brief moment. While I fancy myself a militant gay, I don't want to get married. 'Marriage' is a label defined by straight Christian values, of which none I have. I don't need society's label to identify or define my relationship with another man so teeny weeny minds can wrap themselves around my own personal committed relationship. Screw you! I can have my committed relationship on my own terms without you sticking your fat face into my business, so thank you for your interest, but fuck off and keep your cute little labels with your feast in your dining room, and let me have my stale-assed crumbs in the goddammed corner of the kitchen! Jeez!

That being said, if anyone gay or lesbian wants to assimilate and dream of passing as a straight couple, power to 'em. No skin off my nose.

Oh, wait - that's not the real beef I have. 70% of black voters chose to dis-allow gay couples to enter a legal committed relationship. 70%! That's 7 out of 10. Here I am, like most gay Americans, thanking the stars above that we have come to a point where a black man (although he is as much white as he is black - that's a whole new subject. When we get a dark-skinned gay female named Kenyatta Mbodgeckilou as president, or any federal elected position, then I'll say that discrimination has ended.) can be my president, and the same group that turned out to vote in record numbers to say 'this is my country, too, and I no longer accept the current socio-political values as my values' also decided that civil rights ALREADY in place should be rescinded. This is a huge problem. What are they thinking?! Apparently, all these black churches came out and said that gay marriage is awful, and the congregations listened. And also, polls show that African American women were making a statement to all the black men on the 'down-low' that their women ain't gonna take it no mo'. How this prevents their men from getting ass-plowed, I'm not sure.

It wasn't too long ago when a black man wasn't allowed to marry a fat white chick or a Japanese girl. Now, they can marry all big-assed white chicks or Asian tangs they want, thanks to me, basically. And now, they got the nerve to say that they don't approve of MY relationships? Guess what? I no longer approve of your relationships! I hereby shun and no longer recognize all straight interracial couples. I don't believe they are good for my family values, so I shun them.

But only the interracial California couples. I got some good people here that are interracial - I got their backs.

Theories on Palin #2

I hate to beat a dead horse (or maverick, as the case may be), but I meant to mention this weeks before. Palin did not have a baby 6 months ago! It's true!

Here's what we know:

(1) When Palin announced her pregnancy (she was 5 months pregnant at announcement), Bristol was taken out of school for many months. The supposed diagnosis was mononucleosis.

(2) Palin was in Texas preparing to give a speech when her water broke. She stayed to give her speech, got on an airplane and flew to Alaska (with a layover in Washington), drove 45 more minutes to the hospital, and out came the baby.
A 12 hour (minimum) commute from Texas to hospital.

(3) Bristol had already arrived at the same hospital, supposedly awaiting her mother's arrival.

Conclusion: Either Sarah Palin had no intention on giving a live birth, or she wasn't going to have a baby and was wearing a fat suit.

You think that Bristol is now pregnant debunks my theory? Watch:

Bristol's pregnancy is announced 5 months into her gestation, and four months after Trig is born.

So, obviously (!), Sarah had progressive pregnant suits to simulate the increasing belly size of a pregnant woman. Then, when she was selected as the Republican running mate, they had to do some quick thinking to quash the existing rumors of the unwed daughter-mother. So Bristol then adopted her mother's SAME pregnant suits, the Republicans made the big announcement of the new budding family and unsuccessfully attempted to make roses out of huge pile of shit.

And now it appears that Sarah P. has debunked the theory of her pregnant daughter BY MAKING HER DAUGHTER APPEAR PREGNANT! "See? Trig isn't Bristol's baby, because Bristol is pregnant now!" And you can't be five months pregnant if you had a baby four months ago. Unless your mom already has the fat suit to wear.

It's all so obvious, I don't know why this hasn't become common knowledge already.

Where's MY bailout?

I thought maybe I would write this blog to share about my life and its goings-on, how just full of life! I am, and how a single guy makes it in a married world. But can we do anything else politically to piss me off?

So GM, Chrysler and Ford now want their piece of the pie. They are collectively asking Congress for a $25 billion (BILLION!) bailout for their woes. I totally understand: all those Wall Street honchos got their $700 billion, why can't they get some?

Well, maybe we shouldn't have given $700 billion to companies going belly up (which, by the way is about $57,341.96 per person over the age of 18 in the US) in the first place. Maybe we were just supposed to suck it up, tighten our belts and figure out Plan B without the Wall Street gurus getting their bonuses. Maybe we were supposed to give $57,341.96 to each adult American and see what happens to the economy from that. Oh, wait. We can't. WE'RE BROKE!!!
(see that little square in the right? $57,341.96 is close to how much I have to pay to get this country out of this predicament.)

But now, $25 BILLION MORE?!!?!? For a conglomerate of antiquated albatrosses that can't make a car that gets more that 20 mpg ?

OK - so let's put this in a historical analogy. Billions of years ago (unless you're a Creationist, in which case it was 500 years ago or something like that), there were dinosaurs. Lots of them. Lets say there were 3 biggies: The Sebringasaurus, the Saturnasaur, and the Explorerodon. But then there was something awful that happened, and they died off. Most of them, anyway.

Some survived. Because of their genes, or adaptability, or maybe just luck, they survived and are still around. The Mazdasaurus Rex, the Nissanaridon, the Yugo. Still around because they adapted to their environment and able to co-exist with other species.

Are we playing with Mother Nature if we bail these guys out? What if all the dinosaurs survived? Would we be where we are? I mean, we know how to avoid sharks and alligators, but I don't think I can outrun a velociraptor. (I think I can outrun a Yugo, though).

And anyway, I don't think the great dinosaurs were holding hands with the oil companies and lobbyists, thank God. They'd still be alive and receiving billions of dollars if they had.

Halloween in Chelsea

So this was a blast! I say screw Christmas or New Year's or Easter - Halloween's the shiznit!

From left to right: Brandon my roommie as "Teen Wolf," Rachel his wife as "Schoolgirl Teen Wolf Victim" (she just drove in from PA and she's a smartypants Postgrad - great costume for the amount of time she had to plan), me as "Accident Prone Construction Worker."

And this was super-cheap and not too hard to do, thanks to Al M. The major expense was the plastic chain saw ($20), and the hat ($7) and blood and makeup ($4). Time was maybe 1/2 hour from the start to out the door (skipping the drying time for the adhesive to keep the saw upright in the hat. Looking at the hat, I needed more blood coming down the front. OH! And blood red fingernail polish (for the hat blood) (99 cents).

I had so many people stopping me in the streets taking my pic! And I learned that my new drink is whiskey and ginger ale!

Happy Halloween!

SACRILEGE!

Still riding a high wave after the massive MASSIVE upset over the conservative right-winged, backwards-thinking upwoods inbred, maleducados (my feelings of camaraderie with the losers has waned a bit). Obama's speech was heartfelt and important, and I don't care what you say - I'm a huge fan of Rahm Emanuel (try that link and let me know if it works), and Obama has a gorgeous family. BUT...

What was Michelle Obama wearing and who dressed her? Was that burst of red on the black dress symbolic of a blood splatter? And that satin cummerbund-slash-sheath-slash-girdle? Did she even look in the mirror, bless her heart?

Now don't get me wrong - if Michelle was running against Barack, I'd vote for her. It seems she has the same economic and social views of Barack, but honestly, if there was a throw down between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Michelle, my money's is on her. But between Ahmadinejad and B. Obama, I'd consider the odds very carefully, and then I wouldn't bet.

And how grumpy is everyone at the White House today? Like father, like son...

PRESIDENT Obama's acceptance speech

If you didn't see this, read it. If it doesn't bring a tear to your eye, see a doctor.

And it is so-

I can't write too much right now. 11:19pm and Barack Obama is the winner with 333 electoral votes to McCain's 149. I am full. Joy. Glee. Ecstasy. Hope.

We are getting ready to hit a Bush pinata, but my feelings have changed. 3 hours ago, I would have loved to have taken a bat to the real Bush. And watching Palin now. And hearing McCain's concession speech. 3 hours ago I would have loved to rub their collective noses in the shit they created. Now, I feel I want to shake their hands, say "Good game," and go out and have a drink with them.

I won. Obama is my president. Tears fall. I am full.

What the Hell was that?

So it's 20 mins later. I just voted. I think. Maybe I just designed a new vacuum. I'm not sure.

So I am not accustomed to voting in a big city - I've always lived in smaller communities up til now. But we voted the old-fashioned way: you slide your ballot into a sleeve and you mark an 'X' or you punch out the hole with a stylus (hence the 'hanging chads.').

But this machine was a huge contraption filled with pulls and levers, the way I imagine what the 'man behind the curtain' has in The Wizard of Oz.

Step one: Manipulate this giant red lever that sticks about three feet out of the ground and pull it to the right. And it wasn't necessarily an easy pull-I can imagine that there are some elderly or infirm who have troubles with this step.

Step 2: Reach up about 6 feet and twist these teeny little black levers (that are very close together and you have to shimmy your index finger in between the levers so that you can grasp and turn it) about 2mm until an 'X' appears. Repeat that step down the row until completed.

And then, on the very right bottom corner - about waist level - of this huge (4'X4') ballot is a smaller, very poorly written 'yes or no' vote on an amendment whether or not to allow veterans with disabilities to have to be approved by the DAV before receiving particular benefits, or something. The verbiage was awful.

Step 4: Push that huge red lever back to its starting position.

And when manipulating these pulls and levers, you can hear these gears and cogs twisting and shifting and ratcheting. I swear to God, I don't think I voted. I think I created a souvenir penny.

How do I know I voted? I know I saw 'X's next to my candidate, but did it go anywhere? Did I just exercise my right to masturbate? (sorry, mom) I'm freaking out!

And fortunately, I voted a straight party ticket, but I don't see how I could have voted for a Democratic president, a Green Party senator, and a Republican congressman (God forbid!) if I wanted to. Can I do that if I wanted to? It's all so complicated- I'm freaking out!

I got to go work out - my hands are shaking.

And it started--

9:30 am - I'm watching the news channel and a blurb comes across the bottom of the screen: "Columbus Ohio: reports of broken voting machines and people turning away from the polling places. Virginia: reports of malfunctioning machines and ballot boxes."

THESE ARE THE KEY STATES, PEOPLE!!!! Does anyone besides me remember the 2000 or 2004 elections and the states that were in question? It's only a matter of time before Florida comes into the fray. And I frankly can't survive 37 days (as it was in 2004) before knowing the 'results.'

OK: Now on the same channel, the newscaster says, "And a record breaking day of voter turnout, no major problems are being reported." YOU JUST REPORTED IT ON YOUR OWN CHANNEL!!!!! This is not a minor story!!! Jesus! This merits immediate investigation and reports warning us that our country is in the process of being swindled once again.

I'm going to vote right now and I've got my phone in one hand and a list of phone numbers in the other.

And a note to the conservatives out there: Are you sure you don't want gun control? Because I'm getting to that point where you don't want me to be able to bear arms -

Only in New York, kids!

So this looks like a cool thing to do: http://chanel-mobileart.com/. It's a moving art exhibit inspired by, well, a Chanel purse, but it's in a cool looking temporary pod that they break down and take around the world, and it's a gallery with a lot of contemporary art in it, and it's free. It looks like there will be a bit of a wait - they give you tickets and times at the exhibit, but quit complaining - you ain't paying for it, anyway!

DON'T

...click on my links that are people's names! They don't work! I don't know why! 'Bridge to Nowhere' - click away. 'Molly McNett' - forget about it. I was just trying to link her to her Amazon.com site. So go there yourself and buy the book. It's $10.88, for God's sake! Just buy it!

One Dog Happy, One Bob Happy

Molly McNett is one of the coolest and funniest people that I know. I went to school with her 140 years ago, yet she has maintained her girlish charm, presumedly. I haven't seen her since ISU days, but we have rekindled an email relationship (not THAT kind of relationship, perv!), and she's as delightful as she always was. The only difference is that she's now published! Well, that, and she has kids and a husband. Probably a mortgage, too. I'm not sure about that last one.

Molly is going to be at kgb Bar November 16th at 7pm to be doing a reading/signing from her BRAND NEW BOOK! Wanna go? 'Cause I'm definitely gonna be there!

Cute little piece of press I found

Exxon Mobil has posted another record-breaking quarterly profit. The oil giant earned $14.8 billion in the third quarter, the most ever by a US corporation. That’s nearly 15 percent higher than the previous record Exxon set in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Europe’s biggest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, also reported high third quarter earnings, rising 74 percent to $10.9 billion.

And what more can I add? OOH! Haw 'bout this?

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. foreclosure filings increased 71 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier to the highest on record as home prices fell and stricter mortgage standards made it harder for homeowners to sell or refinance, RealtyTrac said.
A total of 765,558 U.S. properties got a default notice, were warned of a pending auction or were foreclosed on in the quarter, the most since records began in January 2005, the Irvine, California-based seller of default data said in a statement today. Filings rose 3 percent from the second quarter and fell 12 percent in September from August as state laws created to keep people in homes slowed the pace of defaults.