Compatibility

I received an email recently from eHarmony announcing that I have 87 compatible matches in Houston waiting to talk to me. 87, really, that is a bit intriguing, even in my current state of mind.

I'm not an active eHarmony user, but 87 compatible matches sounded like something I should check out. {I have tried eHarmony a couple of times and while I did meet a few nice people, nothing really came of it.} So, I dusted off my password and logged on. After a few minutes I decided we had quite a disconnect....apparently we (eHarmony and I) have very different understandings of the word compatible.

Dictionary.com defines compatible as follows:

1. capable of existing or living together in harmony: the most compatible married couple I know. 2. able to exist together with something else: Prejudice is not compatible with true religion.
3. consistent; congruous (often fol. by with): His claims are not compatible with the facts.

Webster's definition (and mine) was similar.

Now, I'm sure that these are all perfectly nice people, but the only things I could see that we had in common were in the very broadest categories. So if I may, I would like to respectfully request, that someone at eHarmony refresh their understanding of the definition of the word.

Morgan & Chase

Introducing - Morgan and Chase

(That's Chase on the left and Morgan on the right.)

New puppies have arrived, although only temporarily. (I know, aren't all foster puppies temporary??) I'm puppy-sitting for another foster and Morgan and Chase will be staying with me for a couple of weeks, unless they find forever homes in the mean time.

Morgan
Chase

This is the first time I've had two puppies who aren't siblings and it is a little different. Chase is a couple of months younger and currently smaller than Morgan. (He won't be for long though, he's going to be a BIG boy.) Morgan doesn't really like to share her humans, so we've had a couple of discussions about not growling at the puppy. Most of the time they play pretty well together, fortunately.

Red Lights

Have you ever noticed that when you're in a hurry, you hit a red light at every intersection; but when you actually need a red light, say to take a picture of the plastic horse holding up a "whoa" sign shaped like a stop sign sitting on the trailer hitch of the pickup truck in front of you, the lights are all green...forever?

Mexico

Recently, Gnome had his first international adventure, visiting Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

He had a fabulous time, visiting the beach,

hanging out with his new friends, Senior Frog & Ben Waugh

visiting the jungle,eating delicious pizza at Cafe Roma

and, sometimes having a little too much fun.

He's definitely looking forward to going back next year!

Nonsense Tip

When you are schlepping boxes all over the place - to The Salvation Army, to storage, etc, wear actual shoes. Flip flops are not appropriate footwear for manual labor.

The Hangover

I'm not a big fan of slapstick/bathroom/embarrassment humor; so, I didn't have any intention of seeing "The Hangover". It seemed to fit squarely in the "Something About Mary"/"Meet the Parents"/Almost-Everything-with-Will-Farrell category of stuff I don't find funny enough to pay theater prices. But, when I kept hearing how good it was I added it to the suggestion list the last time we went to the movies.

Boy was I wrong. This movie is hysterical. Several of the gags could easily have been lame, but they are so over-the-top absurd and creative they're knee-slapping funny instead of eye-rolling funny. I cannot say very much about the movie here because a lot of it's punch is in the surprises. But I will say kudos to the writers and the cast (and everyone else involved) for taking a silly premise - losing the groom during a bachelor party in Vegas - and delivering a fresh and very (very!) funny movie.

Go see it. It's definitely worth the ticket price, even if you have to pay to park and you buy the big tub of popcorn.

Poison Plays Broadway

Or The Delcine of Western Civilization In The Time Of Anonymity

Let's get the disclaimer out of the way right up front.

I am a Poison Fan (yes, that's fan with a capital F). Back in the day, I didn't miss a show, I was at the record store the day the new albums were released, slept in the parking lot of Tower Records more than once to score good seats and once spent so much time at work trying to win tickets for the album release party my boss called his friend at the radio station to get me tickets so I'd get back to work.

Now, that that's out of the way.....

I didn't realize Poison was performing at the Tony Awards until the next day when the Today Show showed Bret Michaels getting hit in the head by a piece of scenery. Ouch. I emailed some of my friends from the "good old days" and one responded with a video clip of the accident.

While the video was slightly disturbing, the comments on msnbc.com were shocking. Almost every comment was downright hateful. The delight these people took in Bret getting hit by the scenery was unbelievable. I've never met the guy, but he seems like a decent enough human being, I do not understand the hate. You could practically see them rubbing their hands together over their keyboards and cackling with glee. It's not like the guy is a monster or committed some heinous crime. If you don't like the music, fine, if you don't like him, fine, but to take such joy in his misfortune is pathetic.

All of this left me pondering, when did it become okay to be mean and nasty to people just because you can do it anonymously?

Coincidentally, I saw a tweet today announcing that Trent Reznor (of Nine In Nails) is leaving Twitter. (I didn't know he was there...sorry I missed it.) His explanation is interesting, sad and a disturbing commentary on the state of the virtual world.

Nonsense Tip

Do not, under any circumstances, leave your purse open and unattended in the sink the ladies' room in the busiest Starbucks on the planet. Take it in to the stall with you, please. Really, you're just begging to be robbed and watching your purse sit there, helplessly is quite stressful for the rest of us.

The Bane of My Existance

I definitely have a love/hate relationship with my Bougainvillea. Most of the time, what's not to hate? Giant thorns, grows like a weed, will not stay confined to its assigned space in the garden; but then one day, I walk outside to see this......



And This



And This



and I remember why I haven't brought in a chain saw, yet.

What you can't see is that I've got a rival for Jack's beanstalk across the yard. Even after a serious cutting back post-Ike, I've got a branch that's almost at the roof of my (three-story) townhouse. It's insane.

Seriously, anybody got a chainsaw I can borrow? And, can you send along someone how knows how to use it? Thanks!

Foster Puppies

New puppies have been hanging out at the house and I feel guilty that I haven't introduced them yet. Melody and Clef arrived May 26. They're German Shepherd/Chihuahua mixes, as near as we can tell.

Melody

ClefThe first night was really rough - there was lots of barking and carrying on and very little sleeping. But, within 24 hours, they went from being the biggest challenges to the best puppies ever. They really picked up on the routine quickly and took the house training like champs. Melody was actually adopted Sunday, so it's been just me and Clef since then. Clef was pretty mopey for the first couple of days but he was back to his old bouncy self soon enough. He's also (finally) decided that playing with a human isn't so bad, especially if it's your only option. While he does like the diverse collection of dog toys scattered about, his favorite "toys" are ice cubes. I think he'd chase ice cubes around the room indefinitely. Unfortunately, they keep melting on him.