THE BLIRT 9/28

WOW! Pasties are a real thing and not just something for the 'adult' industry! Two...yes, I said, TWO BLIRTy girls knew what that church was selling (reference to last BLIRT). What do I do now with all the $$ raised for the church to buy more letters?? (kidding.)

Here are the replies - apparently known in the Midwest and Pennsylvania - and they sound amazing! mmmmmm...I'm HUNgry!

Well, Pasties really can be something you eat. I am from the midwest and can verify that they are commonly found in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan and the northern parts of Wisconsin. They are a tradition brought over by Cornish settlers who found them a very handy way of carrying their lunch with them to work. Pasties come in a few variations, but they are most commonly found as onion, potatoes, and beef wrapped in a pastry/pie crust type dough.....they are actually quite good :) I hope this clears the confusion.....and yes, the name is chuckled about in the midwest :) Here is a link to a recipe: www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/262/Authentic_UP_Pasties22289.shtml

lol...coming from a gal in PA...Pasties is an actual meal believe it or not. Here is a link explaining the pasty. Too funny!!! We were cracking up about this all weekend. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Pasty

Getting back to the financial drama we're going through, one bitter BLIRTy boy doesn't seem to be too worried about some of the folks getting severance:

"The guys at Lehman are smart.. They will be fine... But excuuuuuussseeeee me if i'm not so upset.. The average pay was $335K. Why don't they try being an asst. media planner making $28K, working on weekends and late at night..."

Yes, but speaking from experience, life gets sooo much better at an ad agency when you finally hit that $30k mark after about 7 years!

Before I get to last week's happenings, here's a pic from my triathlon this morning. I met a 51 year old woman who never had children (nothing wrong with that, ladies!) and never got married (nothing wrong with that, ladies!), but has lived with her man for about 30 years (again...) and has a great time just living life. We ran together for a bit until she PASSED me right up...she is my new idol in this life. Dang.

So what did we miss last week? I also missed the headlines since it was a busy week, so let's see...

• Rest in Peace, Paul Newman. Very sad, but what a great life he had, eh? And he was SMOKIN' HOT his entire life! Such a pretty man...we need to bottle some of those genes.
• During the debate on Friday, I will now officially require "precondition" before I speak with anyone. But my 16 year old niece may be available on occasion.
• Justin is house hunting in NYC? OMG, I'm going to freak out!
• Lindsay Lohan is officially dating Ronson. Does anyone care? Is this why she was such a train wreck for so long? Go back into the closet...In Touch needs to sell more magazines!
• Brit Brit's song is not only not good, it's absolutely atrocious!! I'm sorry, Jeremy J., but I listened to it on the radio and while I'm usually the first to support her, this song blows and there are NO redeeming qualities.
• OMG! Clay Aiken is GAY? How did I miss that!! hahahaha...
• Myspace launched a music player last week? Maybe Myspace needs to be on Facebook. Seriously, everyone is on Facebook, right? I know more about my old high school buddies' lives than I know about my own life!
• Emmy wins for Mad Men and 30 Rock may not mean people will tune in and give the shows better ratings. Because people are stupid. (was that too harsh?)

And to end on a happy note - here's last Friday's Song of the Day...a bit late since my days were all jammed up last week! I'll be like Avis this week and try harder.

"So my mortgage company bought my bank – nice to see it’s all in the family, huh? The country is a mess – so I thought that I would send something somewhat uplifting!"

(Song will automatically play when the site opens)http://www.imeem.com/ingridmichaelson/music/yGU7WvGM/ingrid_michaelson_be_ok/

Have a GREAT Monday!

I'm off...

THE BLIRT 9/19

Oh, what a week...what a week...in honor of Friday, let's start out with the Friday Song of the Day that will have you tappin' your toes and singing, "Hey! I love you! I love you! I love you!"

Michael Franti and Speahead : Say Hey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoaTl7IcFs8

First of all, I am (surprisingly) so very proud of J-Lo for completing a very respectful sprint triathlon in Malibu last weekend. She swam a 1/2 mile in 20 minutes in ice cold & wavy water, had an okay bike ride, and then ran 4 miles in just over 38 minutes. She could have trimmed off 3 minutes in her first transition (from swim to bike), but she can be proud, proud, proud! Then she jetted back to the East Coast for her hubby's birthday party - RESPECT!

What I don't think is very respectful is this sign outside of a church in the Poconos...am I missing something, or is the sign way off base? Pasties being sold at a church? Did they mean Pastries???? Someone needs to take up a collection for letters...


Insanity is all over the place this week...there are Lehman Brothers offices in my building and it was quite sad to see people walking out with boxes on Monday. Their main building is one block away...zero activity. Makes for a very quiet and drama-free subway ride to work, but I can't really enjoy that because the situation is so very sad. Don't get me started on McCain and Hillary saying they saw this coming 2 years ago.

In case you missed any of the insanity going on this week in the headlines, here are a few that were noteworthy:

• Who said, "Addiction, if untreated, can lead to jail, institutions and death"? Oh, yeah...that was Tatum O'Neal commenting on the arrest of Ryan O'Neal and his 23 year old son! Fortunately, Ryan's lawyer is saying that the drugs are not his - it's amazing how drugs just show up!
• Speaking amazing quotes, did you catch the interview on BET with R. Kelly? The host asked him straight out if he likes teenage girls. He said, "When you say 'teenage,' how old are we talking?" C'MON- that is BRILLIANT!
• I now need to see the new Clooney movie - apparently the 'toys' he totes around are selling like hotcakes! What are they? Are they that good?
• Here we go again wtih our Brit Brit soap opera. Just when you think she's doing well, BAM. Nothing major, but her case about her driving without a license will most likely be going to trial. Can't catch a break.
• It's great that Gary Coleman is still insane, though. That's always fun. He just punched someone out for taking a photo with their camera phone!

Finally, what do these things have in common:

1. Nasty armpit body odor on the subway
2. Stale urine smells on NJ Transit
3. Second-hand smoke on every street in Manhattan
4. Wayyy too much perfume at the gym (who wears perfume to the gym, anyway?)

Unfortunately, I smelled all of these all day on Wednesday and I've been nauseous ever since.

Have a great Friday and a lovely weekend! I'm off...

THE BLIRT 9/12

With the weight of the world on everyone's shoulders this week with the anniversary of 9/11, I'm just going to say ALWAYS REMEMBER. Yesterday's news covered so much that I'm going to move on to much lighter topics...I don't have headlines yet today, but here's some random crap:

So my undies were a big hit with everyone (except one guy told me I was a bit pervy in the last BLIRT)! I'll keep you posted on how they hold up through the wash and if they make me happy long-term. Also, for those interested, they're Calvin Klein brand...I believe they are the Seemlessly Fit Naked line. Love that microfiber!

I will say that that another pair of Calvins also helped me make it through a Boot Camp class this week @ Warrior Fitness Boot Camp! Everyone in the office has been going lately. I was so jealous that people were barely able to walk after taking a class, so I took a class earlier this week to check it out.

It is AWESOME (not to mention, the instructor/owner is smokin' hot)! Here's a pic of the gym...they had us jumping hurdles, lots of push ups and sit ups, running around the track, whatever you call it hanging from the monkey bars and "walking" across, running up stairs with and without a medicine ball...lots of stuff. So cool! They didn't have us climb the walls or climb the ropes in this class, but I imagine that's a crazy challenge.

Unfortunately, I wasn't sore after the class...had to send them a note that if I buy a package, they have to kill me more. Yes, I am a man.

So on my way into the office this morning, I was passed by a very, very, very tall woman. Jealous? Of course. First of all, I like being in front of everyone walking. I like to be first. But her long legs made her very, very quick and she zoomed right by me. I also realized that the top of my head did not even reach her shoulder blades. This pic doesn't really do her justice, but oh how I wish I had those legs...

Here's your ROCK SONG of the Day...our BLIRTy Music Girl is a total rocker chick...

AC/DC’s back and they still rock!!!

AC/DC : Rock n Roll Train

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YTYiuIHF3I

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND! STAY AWAY FROM THE EYE OF THE HURRICANE!! (see...I am very service-oriented!)

I'm off..

THE BLIRT 9/9 - Christmas in September!

Even though it feels like the longest week in history already (yeah...yeah...I know it's only Tuesday), it has been a great morning. TMI, but my brand new undies were a joy on my walk to work this morning and I'm still happy about them at 10am!

So let's have a fun day, shall we?

Speaking of undies, there's an unwashed pair going up on eBay (no, not mine...) of MICHAEL JACKSON's! So gross...so gross...so grossssssss! They're a pair from the '03 molestation case and they're starting the bid t $1 million. Really?

How do you change the topic after that? Must...change...gears!!

Okay, my former DIRTy readers are still looking out for me...remember the days of holiday lights in the middle of April? This takes the cake:

So I know how you feel about christmas lights up well after the holidays, but I’ve got something better for ya.

Get this, I’m over my friends house the other day and I look in the corner of her living room and what do I see??? A christmas tree, that’s right a big old fake tree about 8 feet tall---and it gets better...ALL of the ornaments were still on!! Plus, the little snow bunnies and other holiday décor are also sitting there on the fireplace and scattered throughout the room. So I do a double take and ask, “hmm, why is there a christmas tree still up in the middle of september?” and she’s like “oh, my mom’s on strike. She’s mad that no one ever helps her put it up and take it down so this year she decided to prove a point..”

Also fantastic are these commercials sent by our BLIRTy Music Correspondent. Is she allowed to watch TV if she's our music girl? But, anyway, not only will these commercials make you laugh, but they're quite effective. I feel like I NEED these appliances in my life now!

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen these, but these ads were all over the TV in Ft. Myers when I was on vacation last week. I found these to be rather amusing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgxcYz5cLN8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx7DBlrlzyc


What else is fun today?

• Will Lance come out of retirement? Did he NOT watch the Seinfeld episode where George was all about going out on a high note?
• Is Ellen the new face of CoverGirl?????? OMG, who doesn't love Ellen????
• J.T. canceled a meet & greet after his fashion show because he wasn't feeling well...let's hope it's not from eating at his NYC restaurant. Which I still have not been to...
• Bon Jovi was having fun tooling around NYC this week with his son who was wearing a Power Ranger costume. I don't know why the NY Post thinks this is news...on this fun Tuesday, I think we should all run around in some sort of costume!

Okay...I have a ton of work to get to, so HAVE A FUN DAY!

Me & my new undies are off...(okay, that didn't sound quite right)

THE BLIRT 9/5

Okay, I really do NOT want to get into politics with everyone, but I have a few things to rant about. Feel free to disagree, but no need to get angry at me for it...it's just my opinion, folks!

1. While I think that Palin kicked butt in her speech, and I seem to like her as a person, I'm still angry with the Republican Party for putting her on the ticket and now I really, really hate the party. They're only about the GAME and will do anything to win. Not that there's anything wrong with winning, but politics and politicians tick me off. George W. never even wanted to be President but he was pushed into it by the GOP...I'm still annoyed by that.

2. How little of a mad must Palin's husband feel? He really does look like he's 12 years old and a bit of a fish out of water. I love this quote from him, though: "Is it just me or do things move quick around here? It feels like just a few days ago, I was working at the North Pole on the night shift." No...nothing wrong with his line of work...I just thought the quote was sad, in a way. And the proper word is "quickly."

3. The debates are going to be GOOOOOOOD! At least I hope.

So what's going on that's more fun for a Friday? Not much, really...

• Drama with NKOTB? Seems that they may not be getting along very well...I know everyone out there is really, really, really hoping they make it through their awesome tour (sarcasm...)!
• Li-Lo won't pose for Playboy for $700,000 - what is this world coming to? Come on already...we don't want a clean Lindsay roaming around town! So boring.
• Nothing else really...this weekend starts Fashion Week, so J.T. is in town and I'll be on the look-out...everything else in the world is blah, blah, blah.

Anyone have anything interesting going on in their lives?

At least we have the Friday Song of the Day from our BLIRTy Music Correspondent - she picked a happy little friendly song for the day:

::: Alejandro Escovedo - Always a Friend :::

Click here to listen to the Music Download:

http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/window/media/player/listen/0,,4703734,00.html

Enjoy your post-holiday Friday and have a great weekend!

I'm off...

THE BLIRT 9/1 - AND GUSTAV

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

This is just a quick note to brag about being on vacation in Moab, Utah, and also link you all with a blog a friend is keeping while she and her family ride out Hurricane Gustav. Meant to post last night, but it's not very easy to get on a computer in the middle of these mountains (here's a pic outside the restaurant at the Red Cliff's Lodge...this does not suck):



Also what doesn't suck, is the hiking and biking and kayaking and everything else to do in the area. Went for a 10 mile mountain bike ride to a crazy beautiful overlook on Saturday, then road biked through Arches National Park yesterday (roughly 28-30 miles) and today it's a 1o+ mile kayak on the Colorado River...yay! Here's a photo at the start of the bike ride - the rocks on the left are named "The Three Gossips" because that's what they look like. So cool.

Now, what DOES SUCK is Hurricane Gustav. It's just strange to be on such a beautiful vacation, in the middle of red rock country, when a family I know and love is bracing for the hurricane, and it's starting to hit.

Since CNN can be way to annoying, here's a link to Sarah's blog as she sits in a house in Pearl River...right where the storm is heading in about one hour...unfortunately, this stupid blog post only emails out once a day and I can't figure out how to get it to post right away, so this is the best I can do!

http://www.gustavhurrication.blogspot.com/

Hope everyone has a safe Monday!

I'm off...