And then there were five

While it was definitely time for Shannon to be in the departure lounge of Dancing, I can't help but think that Cristian got a sympathy vote. Next week will tell.

A tough call for Dancing

I know it seems as if I've been trying to get rid of Cristian and Shannon for weeks now, but I think it's time for one of them to go and in that order. Even without Cristian's injury, he was not up to the level of the others. So, that's my pick.

A slippery soap

Ever notice how as long as the bar of soap in the shower stays whole, it lasts longer? Even if it's almost thin enough to see through, it's useful. Onto the washcloth, over your hands, through your fingers... you can hold on. But just as soon as it breaks in two (usually in the middle), it's all over. You might as well throw it away. You can't find it. You can't hold onto it. It seems to be used up at twice the rate because it's surface area is more exposed.

Are relationships, marriages?, like that? As long as it's whole, stuck together as it were, it's stronger, more useful. But let it crack--let it break!--and it's all over. You can't put it back together again. With time and use, it may not be as plump and full as it once was, but even worn and thin, it's stronger together than in two.

Like old home week

Whatever "old home week" was, but I'm thinking a community/family reunion. That's what last night on ABC was. Ugly Betty, followed by Grey's Anatomy and then Lost. Did it get any better than that? No. Then the sense of loss sets in and the rest of the week, except for Dancing and PBS Masterpiece, is a bummer. Well, okay, there's Boston Legal moving to Wednesdays which brightens that night.

And speaking of BL, we wonder every week why we watch. It's so over the top--and then Alan and Denny sit in their comfy chairs on the patio and share a glass of Scotch and a few words, liberal or thought-provoking or both. And then we know why we watch. For the friendship.

Irony, sarcasm, or coincidence?

Listening to CNN Headline News on XM Radio a couple of days ago, I found this juxtaposition of news story and commercial to be smirk-worthy. The story concerned the polygamous uproar going on in El Dorado, Texas, and the collection of DNA from all concerned so family groups could be matched up. The commentator broke for a commercial, a commercial for an erectile dysfunction drug.

Irony, sarcasm, or coincidence? You be the judge.

Week 6, part 2

I'm doing pretty good at predicting who's off on Dancing, but not who will be in the spotlight with them. I'll really need to polish my skills because this is only going to get more difficult.

I knew it would get difficult...

... eventually in picking the bottom 2 for Dancing with the Stars. I just didn't realize it would happen NOW.

I think I have a safe one in Marlee. In fact, I think she'll be off the dance floor. But as to who will be in the red spotlight with her? There are several candidates (of the it's-easier-to-pick-who-will-not-be variety) but I'll hedge out on my shaky limb and say Shannon. I think everyone else's fans will save them.

We'll see tonight.

A question for the idly curious

So, I'm the only one at my bank's drive-through. There are four stations, one of which is devoted to commercial usage. So, why, if you're pulling into this situation--and assuming you don't want the commercial window--would you pull behind a car that's already there and not one that's empty? To play the hurry-up-and-get-out-of-my-way game?

Just boggles the mind.

And, no, I didn't hurry up.

If only I were this good all the time

So long, Priscilla, and Cristian was also in the red circle. Would that my clairvoyance extended to games of chance. Alas, a trip to a casino had better have some good stage entertainment or shopping, cause you won't find me betting. Abysmal.

Guess I'll stick to reality TV.

Quick--here's the picks!

Was out to dinner with girlfriends during last night's Dancing so watched it on tape and skipped the commercials and talk. Still, have picks to leave the show: 1. Priscilla. 2. Cristian.

Tonight I'll see how I fare.

TGIF!

It's Friday. The storms are gone, the sun is shining, a breeze blows through the house. There's bread rising in the oven for the Library's bake sale tomorrow and I'm reading a good book. The Wall Street Journal Weekend section is on the dining table. Tonight we're going to dinner and a play with good friends. Tomorrow we celebrate the granddaughter being one year old, her other grandparents will be in to visit, and we're all going to a nice dinner. (Sans granddaughter who will be at the sitter's.)

And, oh yes, I got the Dancing with the Stars Tuesday cast-off prediction right.

Sometimes things are just good and pleasant, and we need to write about them too, so when things aren't going so well, we can read that once they did. And will again.

Where did that optimist come from?

The Dancin' Game

Re: last night's Dancing with the Stars and who should be voted off: My first pick is Adam, second is Marissa. But pretty soon it's going to be really, really hard to call.

I don't know whether the costumes last night were so outstanding just because they were or that the dances presented, the Viennese Waltz and the Paso Doble give themselves to beautiful skirts and great guy-clothes. But they were wonderful.

Spray painting my way to fame and glory

For over 20 years our backyard consisted of bad grass, two old hackberrys, a disappearing sidewalk, and the trash cans. We didn't use it, preferring instead to perch on the front porch in the swing and watch the world go by. After we spruced up the house in 2001-2, we decided the backyard needed a makeover too and we had a patio poured. Then we landscaped. Planted a new tree. Bought furniture. And all of a sudden, I had twice as many flower beds to take care of as before (division of labor: spouse mows, I flower) and I wasn't particularly good at what I had to start with.

But I found I could still rise to the occasion and I'm in the midst of flower bed revival right now. I'm not keeping track of how much I'm spending, just trying to concentrate on perennials. Spend it once and benefit for five years. That's my motto.

So what does any of this have to do with spray paint? The year we bought our metal furniture, all fashionable in bronze tones, my mother-in-law did away with her green metal in favor of something else, and we inherited the green. It was about this time that I remembered my mother's trick with the refrigerator: poor thing, it went from white to harvest gold to copper, depending on the fashion and Mother's inclination.

So there I stood at the spray paint aisle of the local big box and was amazed. Crowded alongside the whites and blacks and primary colors were hammered paints and paints that would speckle! There was matte and gloss. There was the answer to my multi-hued backyard furniture.

I turned everything into hammered brown except the old six-tiered basket holder. It became whiter. Each spring I've replenished them and this year, I pulled the "copper" cats off the front porch and made them pumpkin, sea foam, and daisy. And if I tire of that? Oh, I think I know where the goods are sold.

Agreeing to disagree

For no particular reason, I've been contemplating the concept of friendship lately. It's just one of those things that zinged through my thought processes and hung.

I think some of my best friendships have been those predicated on disagreement. Not fighting disagreement, but respectful disagreement. Agreeing to disagree, if you will. This nearly always happens in the beginning of a relationship, the "feeling out" period, when both parties are deciding if the other is someone they want to know better, to socialize with, to call with a problem. Sometimes two people are so incompatible that there's no question that this just isn't going to happen. You stay on your side of town (church, boardroom), and I'll stay on mine.

Then there's the people where it's not incompatibility, but a touch of contentiousness. A little argument for argument's sake, an agreeing that there are two sides to everything (and yours is wrong, but I'm tired of trying to convince you otherwise), but you go on as friends. These are the people who have your back, whom you call in a crisis. Like siblings who fight tooth and nail--until one of them is threatened from the outside and then the defenses come up.

I don't know what it says about me and my best friends, but I want them to know: I've got their back. Yes, their entire back, not just part of it. I know, I know, it's a big back...

Well...

...I almost got it right. Marissa stayed, but Steve, my second choice, said good-bye. And he was having such a good time, too!

Here's to next week.

Let the guessing begin

Considering that I agreed with the judges twice out of 10 times last night, this prediction of who will be ousted off the show tonight is hardly worth the ink it's taking to type it: Marissa. Second guess: Steve. Probably going against the grain yet again.