Veronica Mars: Season II

"Normal is the watchword." Normal for Neptune, that is. I should be happy, I got what I wanted: Logan at the door and LoVe for a little bit. It's the rest of it that's killing me! The inevitable break up so that V can go back to Donut (so things can be normal again). Logan arrested and accused of murdering Felix; Logan doing something stupid that causes the breakup with V; Keith telling Logan to stay away (presumably forever); Logan hooking up with Kendall Casablancas (Charisma Carpenter). Sigh - I knew it was going to happen when I read that the Casablancas' step mother would be in the show, but I just don't want it. I'm sure it's completely necessary to the Logan subplot that will be running all year but gah! Just like the Veronica/Donut reunion. Blech. He's soooooo boring. They are sooooo boring. Dick Casablancas though - very funny last night. Very funny. Which is distressing because it was fun to hate him last year.

So, 2 mysteries: why did the school bus plunge off the road and into the ocean and who killed Felix ('cuz you know it wasn't Logan). Let's see if I can figure them out before the season finale...

DeLay Indicted!

You can read the early details here: The Drudge Report and here: Salon War Room

Oh happy day!

'Tis the Season!

Ah, fall - that means cyclocross season! The first cross race was yesterday. Which means that today I feel like I got in a fight with my bike and it won. No bruises on my calf (I have plenty from practice last week), but my shoulder is killing me as is my right hip. I should explain that in cyclocross you have to get off your bike sometimes and run with it up steep hills. You have to "shoulder" your bike, which is why my shoulder hurts. My hip is bruised because the bike frame/pedal will sometimes dig in/bang into your back/hip. Sounds great, doesn't it? Actually, you don't notice it while you are racing - probably because you are anaerobic and all you can concentrate on is getting as much oxygen as possible and trying to stay on your bike. I should clarify, that's all I'm thinking about. It's about the most fun you can have on your bike though. It's like being a kid again - you hop off your bike, you hop back on, you have to get over barriers, ride down sketchy descents, run up hills with your bike - it's fabulous.

At least today is my rest day - which means no bike riding, but I'll do some pilates tonight in a vain attempt to increase my flexibility...

A Call To Action!

We've all heard about the shortage of armored humvees in the armed forces and the lengths to which troops in Iraq have gone to put any type of "armor" on their vehicles. I am calling on all patriotic humvee owners (even those who have purchased the H3, I think that model will be particularly helpful on tight urban streets) to donate their vehicles to the National Guard and Army. Any armored humvees stateside can be shipped to Iraq and domestic armed forces can use the commercial models. With Hurricane Rita bearing down on Texas and the devastation that's expected to follow, you know they can use all the help they can get.

*I can't take complete credit for this idea - it's the result of my lunch conversation today with a couple of my friends.

The Constant Gardner

A very enjoyable thriller from the director of "City of God." I've been a admirer of Ralph Fiennes for years and I've usually enjoyed Rachel Weisz so it was a good investment of money and time. As this movie has already been reviewed by my good friend at Don't Trust Snakes, I'll only add this one comment. After leaving the theater my husband declared that Tessa's (Rachel Weisz) rampage against the government and at Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) reminded him of me. Substitute Bush for the British government and he's right. I was strangely flattered. I did reassure him that if I ever decided to write a report concerning big business/government corruption/manipulation that I would tell him first.

Today's List

The sun is shining.
My back hurts.
My boss is out of the office at a seminar until 2.
My department is going on a cruise Friday afternoon (I'm hoping for decent weather).
The season premiere of "Lost" is on tonight.
The season premiere of "Veronica Mars" is in one week.
Reading TWoP has reassured me that I am not alone in my unhealthy obsession with the show, a certain character and the actor who portrays him. Whew! It's like attending a Star Trek convention but online, and I don't have to dress up!
I've caught up on my backlog of "Battlestar Galactica" eps.
I'm halfway through my backlog of "The Daily Show."
I would marry Jon Stewart if I could. Actually, I thinkI would settle for a pleasant dinner conversation.
I love "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends."
My first cross race of the season is Sunday - I'm gonna get smoked!
I think I have a hotel for the London portion of my business trip next month.
I can't focus on work.
I'm irritated by the NYT premium thing. Grr . . . Argh.
I've decided that my work trip to London is going to be great because of my lovely "work boyfriends." So very amusing.
Management has decided we can wear jeans to work on Fridays for the next 6 weeks - if we pay $5 - all proceeds to go to Hurricane Katrina victims...now if we could just wear jeans on every Friday.
Did I mention that my back hurts?

The Good, The Bad and My Mother or What I did on my summer vacation

I just returned from a 2 week vacation in Japan visiting relatives and sightseeing. For this trip I went with my mother and my husband...

The Good: My relatives - I love them! They are funny and sweet and just so tiny! I'm the tallest and biggest woman in the family. And I'm only 5' 1/2". See photo above. The temples, shrines and castles. They are all made out of wood (some of some stone surrounding them). A great number of them have been rebuilt in the last 2 centuries because they have been destroyed by fires. Kyoto; see previous comment about temples, shrines and castles. The shinkansen or bullet train. It's like flying but on the ground. The Japan Rail Pass. Buy it outside of Japan and you can use it on any JR train. It's a great deal. The food. I love Japanese food. And no, we did not eat sushi. My family are not big sushi eaters so we ate everything but. Steaks, tempura, yakisoba, yakitori, ramen, tonkatsu, even Chinese food. Yum. I could happily spend every trip to Japan just eating. The people - they were all very nice and very forgiving of my poor, limited Japanese. At least I know how to be polite even if I can't carry on a conversation in Japanese. Tokyo Disneyland - I know, I go all the way to Japan and I go to Tokyo Disneyland - it was a birthday present for my beleaguered husband and it was fun. It wasn't as crazy as Anaheim or Orlando and they had 5 different flavors of popcorn! Coconut, salted, curry, caramel and soda. We skipped the soda and the curry (but boy, did it smell good). The coconut was outstanding. The town of Nikko. It's a lovely place where the 1st and 3rd Tokugawa shoguns (Ieyasu and Iemitsu) are buried. It's a day trip out of Tokyo and really worth the effort. Renting commuter bikes in Kyoto. It was a great way to get around and really see the city. It was cheaper than taking buses, taxis and the subway and it gave our feet a much needed rest! Japanese fashion - no color combination or pattern combination is too much for them. I love it!

The Bad: The humidity. I'm so used to a temperate climate that it's hard to handle 90 degrees w/90 % humidity and blazing hot sun. The typhoon. We had originally planned to go to Hiroshima and Miyajima (in the Seto Naikai - Inland Sea) after visiting Kyoto. The typhoon forced us to return to Tokyo after Kyoto. Grr . . . Argh. I have wanted to see the Seto Naikai for over a decade now so my disappointment was quite profound. It just means another ride on the shinkansen during my next trip. My language skills. I need to improve.

My Mother: I love her, really I do. She's a nice woman and, as she confessed to me on the trip, a spoiled woman. Been spoiled since childhood. Which goes a long way in explaining why she gets angry with me when I refuse to do things her way. At any rate, it was good to have her on the trip; makes it easier to converse with my relatives since my Japanese is not good and their English isn't great. BUT, she has a habit of reverting to childhood when we're on trips. All of the sudden she becomes completely incapable of certain tasks. I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to re-assure her that the world will not come to an end, she has chosen the correct outfit, the correct shoes, the correct jewelry, the correct purse, etc., that she looks lovely, that we aren't going to be late; that the immigration official won't need the phone number of the hotel in Tokyo, that I filled out the forms correctly, that the clothes I'm wearing are in fact the nicest clothes I brought with me on the trip, that I won't freeze because I'm wearing a tank top...you get the idea. She drives my husband crazy because she criticizes me and he thinks she's being unfair. Which is great except that I can't stop her from criticizing me so he gets worked up and has to tell me about it. Meanwhile, I'm trying to not take the criticism too personally so that I don't end up in a fight with her. So, he's mad, she's mad, I'm mad because I'm trying to placate both of them and it was exhausting. I wanted to leave them both on their own so I could get some space some days. I think I need better coping skills. The best part - the flight home. Seriously, she would drift off to sleep only to wake up and insult me. It was fabulous! Thankfully, we did not spend every day with her.

I do love Japan and I encourage everyone to go visit. I'll post a separate entry with photos. :-)