... so I could boycott Pizza Hut.

From today's L.A.Times:
Steve Harvey: Only in L.A.

'And Would You Like a Reminder of Your Age With the Pizza?'

"Getting old is getting old," said Alvin Ellis, age 63, "but who wants to be reminded of it while dining at Pizza Hut?" Ellis was referring to a sales receipt he received at an L.A. eatery that identified him and his 79-year-old companion as "A Old Man and A Old Woman" (see accompanying).

Ellis complained at the time, and said he was told by the cashier that she was sorry but that "it was to assist her in remembering who had placed the order." He talked to the cashier's supervisor, and was told she also was sorry but that it happened "to be the way they do things here."

Finally, he phoned the company's complaint line and was told that the identification was not "appropriate" and that the cost of his meal would be refunded. More than 60 days later, he said, he still hasn't received the refund.

iTunes is currently playing: What Goes Around from the album Too Far To Whisper by Shadowfax.

... and turn my stereo up really loud and you sit outside in your car listening to my music, are you breaking the law?

It seems to me that if someone is dumb enough to set up a wireless network and leave it open to the world... oh, well ...

iTunes is currently playing: Steal Me Blind from the album Alf by Alison Moyet.

I went to a concert/dance tonight. (For those who find that hard to believe, I have the video to prove it! Someone even asked me to dance. Imagine that :) )

A local band called Together played at the East Chicago Marina (near the floating casinos). I never knew that East Chicago had a marina. Maybe it is new (as in "built since I moved away in 1979").

In any case, the band was great. They played soul from the 60's (Temptations, the Dells, Rare Earth...) along with salsa, Sinatra, and a bit of disco thrown in for good measure. Robin says that some of the guys played with the Enchanters, a band we danced to in high school. If I ever throw a party with live music, I'll get these guys to play.

Here is a picture of a little girl who attended the concert but was more interested in the fireworks show which was to follow the music and dancing. Isn't she cute?



iTunes is currently playing: Dance Away from the album Heart Still Beating by Roxy Music.

Tom Cruise is a f***ing idiot and everybody knows it.

As my mother always says, consider the source.

iTunes is currently playing: When Sunny Gets Blue from the album 16 Most Requested Songs by Johnny Mathis.

That's how I felt as I drove my new Scion xA off the dealer's lot.

Is it cute or what?!



iTunes is currently playing: Driving from the album The Language Of Life by Everything But The Girl.

Do you think life sucks? Do you look around, take note of the pain that bombards us relentlessly as we move through life, and wonder why we don't all just blow our brains out and get it over with? If so, DO NOT read Alice Hoffman's "The Ice Queen". I cannot remember when I've read a drearier book. Not that the story and characters won't hold your interest. They will. But if you are prone to depression, you will pay the price for reading this book.

You have been warned.

iTunes is currently playing: Tears All Over Town from the album Idlewild by Everything But The Girl.

They contain so many stories, the details of which we can only guess. These gravestones, located near my family's plots in Northwest Indiana, are two of my favorites. I want to know so much more than what appears on the stones...





iTunes is currently playing: Lost Child (String Quartet Remix) from the album Moto.Tronic by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

The current (March/April 2005) issue of Poets and Writers magazine includes an article about a young fiction writer from Thailand named Rattawut Lapcharoensap. The article says of Lapcharoensap, who recently published a collection of short stories called Sightseeing:

When he lived in Chicago, his parents frequently took in political dissidents and foreign refugees. One day, an old, scraggly man, a diswasher at a local restaurant, showed up and took over the family's couch. Lapcharoensap asked his mother who the man was and what kind of work he did. "He's a poet," his mother replied.

iTunes is currently playing: The Book I Read from the album Live at the Sun Palace (Tokyo) by Talking Heads.

An interesting article in today's L.A. Times explains how sleazy lawyers get rich by filing class action lawsuits and then negotiate settlements that give them millions while giving each "injured" party less than a dollar. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that many of the plaintiffs don't even know they are a party to the action until they get a check that isn't worth cashing. Strange but true...

iTunes is currently playing: The Game from the album Another Place by Hiroshima.

From Drudge:
En route to Rome, Clinton told reporters the pope centralized authority in the papacy again and enforced a very conservative theological doctrine. "There will be debates about that. The number of Catholics increased by 250 million on his watch. But the numbers of priests didn't. He's like all of us - he may have a mixed legacy."

iTunes is currently playing: Your Cheatin' Heart from the album 24 Greatest Hits by Hank Williams.