What's In Your Driveway?

Outside of Ocala, Florida lies what is called a residential 'aviation community' a.k.a. my worst nightmare. The community is officially named Jumbolair, and it is designed around one very large runway. Each of the 38 lots consists of about 2+ acres, and every home-site has a street and driveway in front, and a taxiway in the rear for your plane(s). John Travolta actually lives there....the pic is of his estate. He owns a 707 and a Gulfstream jet, and employs a cockpit crew of six, who along with him wear navy blue uniforms and jaunty white caps. He uses the 707 as the family van and the Gulfstream as his sportscar.

I can't imagine living here. It's an interesting concept, if you love flying and are the owner of a private plane, which would make you filthy stinkin rich. It's not that obsurd, sort of the same thing as living on the water with a boat or two.

We have a Ford in our driveway. I bet Travolta doesn't have a Ford....

Have A Seat

This Yves Saint Laurent chair stunned the auction world when it sold for $28.3 MILLION US DOLLARS - more than seven times its pre-sale estimate of $3.8 mill USD. The piece, designed by Eileen Gray, an Irish architect and furniture designer, and dubbed 'The Dragons', sat in Yves' sitting room.

It was sold by Christie's Auction House in Paris on Tuesday. The chair was made in 1917 or around there-in by Eileen Gray, for her first commission as an interior decorator.

Christie's just wrapped up their three day auction of the late Yves Saint Laurent's 733 piece collection.

I am finally getting around to decorating our bedroom. Unfortunately (or, fortunately?) this chair is not in my budget.

Stop It !!!

I don't know why this bothers me so much! I feel like Oscar should be put in a special velvet lined, stainless steel, bullet and flame proof case if you are going to carry it around with you. This woman friend of Sean Penn is barely holding onto Oscar, she clearly has a better grip on her cell phone which is in the same hand that is holding Oscar. Who does that?!? And she is holding Oscar with her ring and pinky fingers, and EVERYONE knows they are the weakest in the finger family. This is an injurious treatment to a sacred object. And I would never do it.

And if I did I would hold it with all my fingers, including the thumb....

Welcome # 10!

TEN! I have TEN followers!! Am in the double digits my peeps!!! Welcome, blog follower #10. I know who you are, my little Slumdog friend (and by that I mean we went to go see 'Slumdog Millionaire' together).

So, as I did for Follower #9, I will do the same for #10, which is list famous 'tens' or things with 'ten', etc etc. Here goes:

• The Ten Commandments (holla!!)
• Alexander Hamilton is on the $10 bill
• 10 Downing Street, where the British PM lives
• '10'....the 1979 movie starring Dudley Moore & Bo Derek (hey #10, you might want to consider getting beaded braids in commemoration of this significant event!)
• Eli Manning, NY Giants
• A decagon has 1o sides
• LL Cool J and Pearl Jam both had albums named 'Ten'
• The 10th month of the year is October, my birth month
• Ten Lords a Leaping
• Anything listed as 'top ten'
• Jabar Gaffney, NE Patriots
  

I 'ten'd to think that is it for now.

Kaaaaatttte........

WE STILL KNOW WHAT'S UNDER THERE KATE!

(she clearly reads my blog.....)

This Doesn't Work For Me

I always have wanted an Oscar. Always. I have been trying to figure out a way to get one for years now. Best Documentary Short? Or Best Adapated Screenplay? I mean, those seem like the easiest categories to win for. The short only has to be 14 minutes long, and then BAM....Oscar. I can forget about Best Actress, unless I get discovered which will never ever / might happen. Fingers crossed.

I've always thought that if / when I do win an Oscar, that I would carry it around with me every where I go. Just be all "see I have an Oscar", like when I go for a jog, or run an errand at CVS or the post office, or when I go to Zume's for my most delish large sug free hazelnut mild roast. But now that I see this photo of Kate Winslet taken Monday morning while she enters a studio with her Oscar in hand sans ball gown, I realize it doesn't look right. The Oscar NEEDS the glitz and the glam......Harry Winston Chandelier earrings and Oscar de la Renta at the Vanity Fair Party or the Governor's Ball is the way to be photographed with Oscar. NOT wearing black skinny jeans and a blazer whilst getting out of an SUV in a parking lot while it's raining.

So if / when I win an Oscar I have decided not to carry it with me wherever I go. Because it looks funny.

Red Carpet Versus The Runway

Frieda Pinto's dress last night at the Oscars was gorgeous! It suited her so beautifully, but thank goodness she opted for those added layers. The dress isn't nearly as pretty with the 'see everybody look at me I am wearing blue lacey granny panties' feature. No thank you.
I always thought that actresses wore dresses that were specifically designed for them, but apparantely I was wrong. I haven't decided if I am disappointed about this or not.....

The Simplest and Sweetest Sentiment

It has become a beloved ritual at Dana-Farber: Every day, children who come to the clinic write their names on sheets of paper and tape them to the windows of the walkway for ironworkers to see. And, every day, the ironworkers paint the names onto I-beams and hoist them into place as they add floors to the new 14-story Yawkey Center for Cancer Care. For the young cancer patients, who press their noses to the glass to watch new names added every day, the steel and spray-paint tribute has given them a few moments of joy and a towering symbol of hope. (Boston.com)

Chunk - Answer to 'Where Is He Now?'

Jeff Cohen, who fabulously played 'Chunk' in The Goonies, is an entertainment lawyer and living in L.A. He is completely unrecognizable!

Chunk from 'The Goonies'

Did you ever wonder what happened to this kid? I loved him in The Goonies. My fave part:

Francis Fratelli: Tell us everything!

Chunk: Everything?

Francis Fratelli: Everything!

Chunk:OK!

I'll talk!

In third grade, I cheated on my history exam. In fourth grade, I stole my uncle Max's toupee and I glued it on my face when I was Moses in my Hebrew School play. In fifth grade, I knocked my sister Edie down the stairs and I blamed it on the dog... When my mom sent me to the summer camp for fat kids and then they served lunch I got nuts and I pigged out and they kicked me out... But the worst thing I ever done - I mixed a pot of fake puke at home and then I went to this movie theater, hid the puke in my jacket, climbed up to the balcony and then, t-t-then, I made a noise like this: hua-hua-hua-huaaaaaaa - and then I dumped it over the side, all over the people in the audience. And then, then, this was horrible, all the people started getting sick and throwing up all over each other. I never felt so bad in my entire life.

Jake Fratelli: I'm beginning to like this kid, Ma!

Answer to 'where is he now', but you have to wait till tomorrow!!

David After Dentist, Take Two

Hopefully this video will work. Poor David.

Welcome, Blog Follower # 9 !!

I have a new blog follower. I will refer to this new follower as # 9, even though I am pretty sure it is one of my brothers. But welcome, and congratulations for joining the most fascinating blog spot in the creation of all blog spots.

In appreciation for the time you have taken to join and to follow all future blogs faithfully, I have decided to honor you by listing other famous #9's. They are as follows:

• Ted Williams (retired #9 at Fenway...he is a God)
• Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics player and so adorable
• Reggie Jackson
• Tony Parker
• Michael Jordan (wore #9 in the Olympics)
• Lawrence Tynes, NY Giants
• Love Potion No. 9
• Nine Lives cat food
• Nine West shoes
• Niner, a trucker or pilot word for 9
• Rudolph, who was the 9th Reindeer
• Dressed to the 'nines'

And in honor of President's Day today, William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the United States.

What do you wear when you fly?

Recently I have been flying quite a bit. I am actually taking a hiatus from it for a while. Hawaii was quite traumatizing for me, over all that water over the Pacific for hours upon hours, anxiously wondering where we will land should an emergency arise. And since we were flying United, I knew Sullenberger wasn't our pilot, so a water landing was out of the question since he is apparantely the only man on the face of this earth who can succeed at one.

Anyway, this morning I was reading one of my favorite gossip blogs, and came upon this photo of Victoria Beckham arriving at JFK yesterday. And I thought, huh, okayyyy. I certainly don't look like that when I fly. Or ever come to think of it. Since I am aerophobic, I am the person who is convinced that THIS plane will be going down. If I am on flight 347, I think, I can hear Bob Hager on MSNBC talking about it, and how the numbers 347 ring so well for an air disaster to be covered by the media. They would just roll right off of Bob Hager's lips, 3-4-7. Sick, I know.

So I figure, why not just throw all fashion sense out the window and be as comfortable as possible during my last moments on earth. I have a 'uniform' I wear on every flight:

• Favorite black yoga sweats with the elastic waistband



• Ugg boots



• White T, long sleeved



• Black wrap around sweater that is very flowy and almost shawl like



• Pink pashmina (has to be pink, it's always been pink)

Apparantely Posh isn't afraid to fly, judging by the outfit she has chosen for her trip into NY yesterday. I wonder if she wore those gloves the entire way? And did she put her Chanel bag under her seat or in the overhead bin? I don't carry Chanel when I fly, I carry my favorite monogrammed LL Bean tote bag. Well, kudos to Posh. You go girl, with your spandex pants, platform heels, leather kid gloves and fur stole. Happy Flying!

Happy Valentine's Day. What kind of card are you?

Ahhh, Valentine's Day. The one day a year when lover's are pressured into expressing that extra bit of love for each other by exchanging cards, presenting flowers, or offering high calorie confectioneries. If your loved one truly loves you, he will give you those high calorie confectioneries, because no matter how fat you think / complain you are, a gift of chocolates is a sign that he really, truly doesn't think you are in fact that fat. Because if he did he would've given you a yogurt, or maybe even a can of Slim Fast.

Upon selection of that most perfect card for my loved one, I am always reminded of our personalities. Of course if you aren't mushy gushy baby-talking couples, you won't exchange cards that express serious love and appreciation. If you are in a 'real' relationship, you always go right for the cards that are funny and cute, special and sweet, yet not overly sentimental or dirty. BTW what the hell is up with those dirty cards? It's CVS for crying out loud, children read those things too! Anyway, if I might, on accident, pick up a serious card, I usually wince and quickly put it back, as if the sentimental card had actually electrocuted me or something. For example, I picked up this card, that read:

"FOR THE MAN I LOVE".

So I'm thinking, okay, sounds promising, and maybe not to icky....so I opened it and read on.

"I love you because you listen, you help me through, and you make me laugh when times are tough. I love you because you're such a part of my favorite memories as well as my most important dreams. I love you because I can't imagine what life would be like without love... because I can't imagine what love would be like without you."

Okay, see now, that is SO not me. Or him. Or us. I figure if you don't SPEAK that way to each other, why send a card with such a sentiment. 'You make me laugh when times are tough'. Maybe, but sometimes you don't make me laugh when times are tough....times are tough usually because of something you said, or I said (but most def because of something YOU said) and therefore we are mad at each other so basically I want to tell you to F off, not get all icky and lovey dovey. Times can be tough, but I still love you, even though sometimes we think the other is the biggest asshole ever. Now THAT is a card I would buy.

Regardless of icky cards, I still love Valentine's Day. I chose a very funny and cute card for my man that expresses my love for him in a humorous, realistic way. It reads:

FOR THE MAN I LOVE

Love doesn't mind if you make lousy coffee. Love will still kiss you when you have the flu. Love moves the driver's seat back when you need it, reminds you to wear sunblock, cares if you do. Love may not have time for intimate dinners - you'll sometimes make do with a night of TV, but love will stand by you, defend you, remind you.....you're never alone in this world - You Have Me.

Perfect!! I always get on his back about sunblock!!! And I do love him, and he WILL always have me. : )

Happy Val's Day.

Aloha

And mahalo for your patience during my leave of blogging absence. You see, if you haven't already figured it out, or know me personally, which all 8 of my faithfuls do, I have been in Hawaii. Or Hawai'i as they say. It was an amazing trip. I went with my makamae ipo, Steve, and his Ka welo lani. I wore many lei nani's, swam in Wai nani and felt the most soft Koaniani's. Upon my return I am a full fledged Hi'iaka!! Can you believe it? Me neiths.

Well I am home now and miss the moani ke 'ala's of Hawai'i already. And since I am practically fluent in Hawaiian, I plan on returning me ke aloha again someday soon.

Prepare To Scream

This is no joke. It was on msnbc.com. Apparantely, the very saintly woman pictured above and named Kimberly Johnson, selflessly donated a kidney to her ailing niece. Amazing woman, right? Well read on. I will never complain about my 'annual' ever again....

Surgeons remove kidney through vagina
Doctors hope less painful procedure will encourage more organ donations

BALTIMORE - Surgeons removed a woman’s kidney through her vagina so she could give it to her ailing niece, an unusual operation they hope will encourage others to donate because it reduces pain, scarring and recovery time.
Doctors at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said donor Kimberly Johnson, 48, and her niece, Jennifer Gilbert, 23, were both doing well following operations Thursday.
“It was easier than childbirth,” said Johnson, who has three children.

Transvaginal kidney removals have been done before to remove cancerous or nonfunctioning kidneys, and other diseased organs have also been removed through mouths and other orifices. Many donated kidneys are removed laparoscopically, through small keyhole incisions.
But hospital officials think this may be the first time a donor kidney was removed through the vagina.
The operation left three pea-size scars on the Lexington Park woman’s abdomen, one hidden in her navel. Surgeons hope the procedure will lead more women to become donors, said Dr. Robert Montgomery, chief of the transplant division at Johns Hopkins, who led the team that performed the surgery.

Johnson said the operation was less painful than gall bladder surgery and she is recovering more quickly than Gilbert’s father, who gave his daughter a kidney 12 years ago.

Gilbert, of Baltimore, needed the first transplant because repeated infections had destroyed the kidneys she was born with. She needed the second after she began suffering chronic rejection.
Johnson, an assistant sales manager for a St. Mary’s County newspaper, said she was able to get out of bed Thursday night, the same day the kidney was removed.
Quicker recovery and less pain are the key benefits of the new technique, said Montgomery and Dr. Anthony Kalloo, the director of the Division of Gastroenterology at Johns Hopkins and a pioneer of the method of using natural orifices for organ removal.
Kalloo said more than 300 such surgeries have been performed worldwide, mostly gall bladder and appendix removal through the mouth, anus and vagina. Kalloo said there has been some resistance in the medical community because of concerns, for example, that stomach acid could leak into the abdominal cavity in operations where organs were removed through the mouth.

Dr. Jihad Kaouk, a urologist and director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery, is among those concerned about contamination. He was not involved in Johnson’s surgery.
“There is the risk of infection having the kidney passing through a contaminated area and then going to another patient who is immunocompromised,” Kaouk said. “That is the concern we have and we would like to monitor the outcome in that regard.”

In Johnson’s case, Montgomery said a plastic bag placed into her abdominal cavity through a tiny incision protected the donated kidney from contamination by bacteria and other organisms in her vagina. Johnson was chosen because she has had a hysterectomy, which made the operation easier, but the procedure could be used without affecting women’s ability to give birth, he said.

More than 78,000 people are on the national waiting list to receive kidneys from deceased donors. The need is increasing as diabetes and obesity rise, threatening to further lengthen a wait that can last years. In 2007, more than a third of the 16,629 kidneys transplanted in the U.S. came from living donors, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
Montgomery said the number of living donor transplants has tripled since laparoscopic removal debuted in 1995, providing an alternative to so-called “shark bite” abdominal incisions. He hopes advances such as the vaginal removal will continue the increase.
“We think she’ll be probably back to her normal activities within a week or two,” the transplant surgeon said. Recovery from laproscopic surgery typically takes several weeks. “So, that greatly reduces the inconvenience of donating and we’re hoping that will encourage more people to donate.”

Okey dokey! Well, what do you think? If one of my loved ones needed a kidney and their survival depended on Doctors harvesting one directly out of my 'area that my bathing suit covers' I would do it. I would just specifically request that they not refer to it as 'Transvaginal Kidney Removal'.

E*TRADE Baby Outtakes

The E Trade Baby. The coolest kid in town. This video is hilarious. My favorite part is when he looks at his buddy and says DUDE.