ROGER FEDERER IS BEATEN AT THE U.S. OPEN!!!!!

I haven't been going out much lately. However, I'm SO glad that I went to First Draft last night. Rachel McKibbens is great. Period. She blew me away at last year's Nats; so I had to take advantage of the opportunity of hearing her again.

I'd like to say that Rachel McKibbens' feature inspired me to write. That's not the case, though. And, really, if you don't have a seed of inspiration within you to begin with, there's nothing someone else can do. I just don't feel like I have anything to say in a way that it hasn't already been said. This isn't a judgement thing. I don't know what to call it. Poems still come to me (like when I'm driving down the street). By the time I try to write the words down, though, they're gone. Or I seem to forget the "best" lines, the ones that excited me most when I was in the car.

It's frustrating.

In fact, it just sucks sometimes.

It's my favorite font!

Campaign to ban Comic Sans

So, I lost my house keys on Friday. I have NO IDEA where they are. They've got to be in the house, though. JP and I have torn the place apart with no luck. And I LOVED my Eiffel Tower keychain, too. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

On a good note, Banana Republic had a CRAZY sale over the weekend. Buy a suit jacket, get the pants for free. Say what?!!! I won't know what to do once the economy improves and everything is full price again.

MEME: Using only song titles from one artist, cleverly answer these questions.

Artist: Jamiroquai

1. Are you male or female: Cosmic Girl
2. Describe yourself: Canned Heat
3. How do you feel about yourself: Supersonic
4. Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: Half the Man
5. Describe your current boy/girl situation: You Are My Love
6. Describe your current location: Planet Home
7. Describe where you want to be: Drifting Along
8. Your best friend is: Alright
9. Your favorite color is: Morning Glory
10. You know that: If I Like It, I Do It
11. What’s the weather like: Destitute Illusion
12. If your life were a television show what would it be called? Music of the Mind
13. What is life to you: Whatever It Is, I Just Can't Stop
14. What is the best advice you have to give: Blow Your Mind
15. If you could change your name what would you change it to: Didjerama

I really need to start opening my emails from Borders. I had no idea about the Open-Door Poetry series.

P.S. Is the streaming choppy for you?

For the first time in over ten years, my sister has hearing aids again. It is so weird watching her hear things. We just had a conversation in which she was at the top of the stairs and I was down in the living room. About 30 seconds later, I ran upstairs and met her coming out her bedroom door. We were both rushing to each other to say that it had just occurred to us that we were talking from separate rooms and she could understand me!! It's so amazing. She's discovering that almost everything makes a sound. "My car beeps? I didn't know that. Do all cars do that?" "I can hear myself yawn!" "The light switch makes a sound!"

It's just so amazing. It makes me want to cry.

I hope this doesn't give you a heart attack.

Most of you know that I volunteer at South Mifflin Elementary once a week through Big Brother Big Sister's Project Mentor program. Next week, we're going to be creating origami and writing haiku. I've decided to write some new haiku to share with the children. If anyone else would like to post some original haiku for kids aged 8-11, I'd love to share your work with them.

On Monday, I'll post about how everything went. Thanks!

I forgot to set the DVR to record the Inauguration. So, I left work at 11:30 to get home in order to watch and record the event. I am so glad I decided to do that. What a moment.

Hmmm...the Inaugural Poem just started. I'm not impressed.

Edit: No one even knew the poem was over!

During the New Year's cemetery walk at Green Lawn (two words, even though the street is one word...go figure) I decided that I'd really like to return each season. It'll practically be a different place by the time Spring has sprung. So, the invitation is open to anyone who's interested.

Because I'm a native Clevelander and winter just isn't winter without snow on the ground, I think there will be another walk before March 20th. Maybe that will be the official kickoff walk. I'm excited!

Weight Watchers has a new program called "Momentum." I saw the commercial last night. The commercial's antagonist is named Hungry. OMG!! He is so cute! I LOVE HUNGRY! He's T-shaped, orange, mouthless, and furry. He tantalizes his victims with doughnuts, pizza, and coupons to fast food restaurants. He's naughty...if he were on Sesame Street, he'd totally be Oscar's cousin or something. Anyway, he's adorable.

Click here to see Hungry at home.

Does anyone else know more details about this?

I cannot wait until this election season is over. I'm not used to dealing with this much ignorance on such a consistent basis.

I loved it. Go see it.

* Grab the nearest book.
* Open the book to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post the text of the next seven sentences in your journal along with these instructions.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

Grandpa Jack's apartment shares an elevator bank with the "constant care" floors, rendering every trip up a reminder of what the future holds. No one wants to see those ubiquitous poles with packets of fluid hanging like plastic fruit, the big nurses taking care of the small people. No one wants to hear the groans that sound an awful lot like good-byes.

I wave hello to Grandpa Jack and Ruth, his neighbor and friend, when I spot them on the other side of the lobby. As I cross the marble floor, I see Ruth lean in and brush a piece of lint off my grandfather's plaid shirt.

"Have you been drinking, love?" my grandfather asks, after I kiss his cheek. The man has a nose like a narc.

After work yesterday, JP's car wouldn't start. She had been driving it just fine; so we really weren't sure what the problem was. Well, forward to today. Of course, the car started once we had it towed to the auto body repair shop. There was nothing mechanically wrong with the car. Basically, JP's car thought she was trying to steal it. For some reason, the security code in the ignition column was not matching with the car itself. So, it didn't start. The mechanic said that this is very common; they've been seeing a lot of this issue lately. However, most cars will timeout and allow you to restart it. Here's how to do it:

WHAT TO DO WHEN THE CAR WON’T START BECAUSE OF THE ANTI-THEFT SYSTEM

How to determine this is really the issue:
When you attempt to start the vehicle, the engine won’t crank and the anti-theft system light is blinking.

What to do:
1. Leave the key in the "on" position for 10 minutes.
2. If the anti-theft system light goes off after 10 minutes, turn the ignition off for 5 seconds.
3. Try to restart the car again.

If the anti-theft system light doesn't go off after 10 minutes, you won't be able to start the vehicle. Don't re-attempt the process.

If the car will NOT start after going through steps 1-3, do NOT repeat the process. You'll just end up draining your car's battery.


One of the mechanics said he's never encountered a car that wouldn't restart after going through the timeout process. However, if this is happening all the time, you should just have the car repaired instead of getting stuck all the time (especially since you'll never know when it's going to happen again).

The mechanic will actually have to go through the dealer to resolve the problem because it involves the anti-theft system and security codes. If you have a foreign car, the repair can get really pricey. This repair on a Porshe runs about $2,800.00. Yikes!

So, I hope this helps anyone out there who might encounter this problem.

BTW, the shop that we took the car to is great! This was our first visit and they didn't charge us anything to give the car a once-over.

NAPA Automotive Experts
2375 Schrock Road

614-890-0449

AAA recommends this place and their bulletin board was covered in thank you letters from satisfied customers.

So, this clear, wet substance is falling from the skies here on the northwest side. I've watched two people run from their homes in swimming trunks and bikini to frolic in the rain and splash in the puddles on the tennis court. There's also a very interesting gentleman doing some type of irish jig/rain dance.

P.S. If I was still sporting a natural 'do, I'd be out there with them. : )

When someone makes a dish so delicious that it causes you to slap that person in the face, make sure he hasn't had his wisdom teeth removed recently. Ooops! Sorry, Corey!

I had to give mo_better his laptop back this weekend. Thanks for the lender, babe! So, this means that I have to visit the library to get online. That being said, if you really need to get some info. to me, please call me or send me a text (I've got a text plan now!).