WMD*

*Weapons of Mass Deception

Two seconds after it was announced we're leaving Iraq, look who's moving in.

Smells pretty fishy. Don't we need some jobs over here...

Movie Madness - The Descendants

Cleared out the last of the gobble, gobble, gobble and dropped off my co-descendant at the airport and single-handedly saved enough seats for the movie madness peeps, batting away the old batties with their grey hair and handbags and popcorn at the sold out show and snuggled in for an oh-I'm-so-thankful Monday movie. Clooney was great, by George, and so were his "daughters". Hawaii, so beautiful. Story, a bit strange, but good for some laughs and some more post-Thanksgiving reflection about what's important in life.

Hot Tamale!

New Times Chow Bella

Who says the Segal Sisters can't cook? We gave it our best shot drying, smearing, spooning, folding, bending until the pot was full. Bueno!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Simple Farm

Wow - I wish you could smell this. Basil, tarragon, parsley, other stuff, freshly cut.

I had to go Downtown to find a gem in my own backyard. New groovy friend, Kathy, is a real foodie and the other night mentioned The Simple Farm, just down the street from me on 90th and Cactus. It's been there a couple of years and I've driven past dozens of times, but have never even noticed it. Shawn needed some herbs for his famous roasted root vegetable dish for Thanksgiving, so we stopped by and were totally drawn in by an amazing lady. Red lipstick, cool boots, probably a former hippie, and totally adorable. She gave us the private tour, snipping herbs along the way, filling up the silver platter she gave us to hold. When Shawn turned his nose up at the thought of radishes, she gave him some as a gift

and told him to sauté them and they would be the sweetest thing ever.

She was right. Yum. She loaded us up with herbs and we couldn't resist some apple butter, strawberry/honey jam and some goat's milk/lavender soap. All handmade right there. Check out these eggplant.

What a fun place. The Simple Farm.

Shawn And The Giant Orange Shirt

I've never liked that shirt. For one, it's orange. That should be enough of a reason, really, to just walk on by anything in the store. Nobody looks good in orange. Well, maybe redheads, and I'm pretty sure it was a gift from Shawn's Mom, total redhead. She can pull off this color, so she must have figured he could, too. He has red tones in his hair, I guess, and sometimes when he doesn't shave for awhile, his beard looks sort of red. That must be why he gets away with not looking all peachy like most people would. Two, it's massive. Total roominess and he's in love. I've washed it a lot, and ironed it, but for the past several years, it's dry clean only since the guy wears it so much and I have other stuff to do. It's a fancy Tommy Bahama and holding up great (no, there's not a pina colada on the back). On the way home last night I asked him what he thought he might do if one day, someday, maybe, just possibly, the shirt is no longer with us. 

He just shook his head and looked sort of lost.

Party On, Noah!

Noah kickin' it 80s style.

Suddenly, all I can hear are Wham songs...

Super Committee Goes Down

Maybe the term "Super Committee" was a bit overzealous. As Rick Perry says, "You shouldn't go around thinking you're the superest guy in the room." Banks win. Corporations rule. Pizza is a vegetable again. Yay! Wait, that one's not the Super Committee's fault. But still, Yay!

This guy seems to have given up.













Maybe I'll call my Super Committee SuperSenator to see if he'll listen.

Hey there, Superman. Remember me? From back in the day? Birthday parties with your daughter? Hopi Hullabaloo cake walks. The old times when there wasn't so much fighting? I was so cute back then. You weren't bad yourself. Now how about a sweet little vote for your old neighbor? Huh? I know you're leaving big, bad Washington soon after a nice, long, profitable run, but just for old time's sake. Raise a few taxes. Just a few. Come on. Tell your Superhero friends. Put on your cape and get out your pen. You can do it.

Movie Madness - Like Crazy

How THANKFUL am I for Movie Madness?
Like Crazy!

Nice little love story, great acting, hoped for a happy ending - but that just went down the drain...

Hidden in the Hills Art Studio Tour

There are more fun things to do than drive around Carefree on a fall Arizona weekend looking at art, but I can't think of any. Mr. Man With The Map Shawn led the way as we traversed the beautiful hills on a stunning day in search of art, peeking into some gorgeous homes full of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, photography, jewelry - amazing. And everybody was soo nice and welcoming. May have something to do with living in Carefree and creating art every day, seems to clear the stress out of the brain. We saw some wildlife (a half second away from stepping on a four foot snake), had a delish lunch at Cafe Bink and rolled back down the hill after a perfect day.

Hidden in the Hills Studio Tour

A Bitchin' Time

When you get through the doorman and walk into a swanky CenPho apartment and this is the first thing you see, you know it's going to be a good night. My Bono. Looks a little Gangsta there, but that's OK.  There's Springsteen off to the right for you Jersey Girls, but cool Jill knows who needs to be front and center. She knows all about design - it's her day job and it definitely shows. Wow, right out of a magazine.

There's Kathy modeling on the bed and an amazing Snow White mirror in the boudoir.

We had some of Amy's soon-to-be-world-famous grapefruitcellos on the 10th floor balcony, watching the glittery city down below and heard all about a new Facebook Prince Charming, the needs-a-lint-roller chemical peel, the upcoming Tulum retreat and the elevator rules - no Chinese food or Starbucks, no bags, no young divorcees, and definitely no renters, before heading to Space55 to check out A Bitch In Time. Kim and Sativa brought down the house! Jaw-dropping incredible.

I'm still processing the pointy-boobed guy in drag and the camel-toed Superwoman's coal-exploding chest. Since we're so tragically hip (ha!), we ended the night at Lux Central, where the tragically hip live and breathe, where we laughed at blue typewriters, named drinks, pointed and whispered as I wondered whether it was good or bad to be with the head honcho after a not so great review (turns out, good) and topped it all off with a little Stripper 101 lesson in the parking lot - give him a cookie, take it away, give him a cookie, take it away...

Mothers Who Write - Mothers Who Wine - Mothers Who Whine

Oh, shit.

Pub Crawl

Whoa - it's been a busy week for the ladies, I'm just about worn out. We checked out the hip patio at Tommy V's in Old Town for some yummy food, trekked through the yet again renamed and revamped  Saguaro Hotel (yuk - good luck, guys, you're going to need it) then settled at the always classy AZ88 to end our little pub crawl lipstick call. Lots of fun, laughs, a bit of going deep and, of course, some boob grabbing...

Mothers Who Knight (Rise)

Last class of Mothers Who Write tonight back at the incredible Knight Rising space at SMOCA. We visited there a few weeks ago and it inspired some great essays that had since been workshopped and cleaned up before we read them tonight under the stars (well, star, I only saw one)  in front of a real live audience, always so scary. We had cookies and punch while tales of a non-Type A daughter, a prom night, a mud hut and a better than Pat Benatar live rendition of Hit Me With Your Best Shot circled the cocoon-like exhibit to round out the evening. 

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

A non-book club book club, just a gobble, gobble, gobble gathering with the ladies. No book, but we do have a new slogan, penned by our very own Jaye.

Leslie told a dirty joke - it was either the "how do you get over a man - by getting under another one" one or the one about the hemophiliac, hard to remember, when, following the punch line, Jaye yelled out, "I love us!" We're not getting rid of A Drinking Club With A Reading Problem just yet, but check your local stores for I Love Us! bumper stickers soon.

We had stoup and soup and salad and meatballs and pumpkin martinis and a wine tasting.

We contemplated buggy pine cones, how you get to the Y near Beaver Bay in Wisconsin there, don'tcha know, fishnet stockings, Michael Jackson, the Friends and Family discounts at Macy's. There must have been some contemplation about important, worldly, intelligent matters, but nothing's coming to me right now. Jo and Carla were in there somewhere, too, but seemed to escape the paparazzi.

A guy came a knockin' as the clock struck ten. Adorable new Tom, poor thing didn't know what hit him until Super Gobbler, Louise, pushed all of us turkeys out the door before he could get away.

No official book, but here are some recommendations:
Room by Emma Donoghue (just finished it - totally original, creative, disturbing - couldn't put it down)

From the other readers: Poisoned, Marriage Plot, Blue Nights by Joan Didion, Same Kind of Different Like Me

WWJD?*

*What Would Joe Do?

A couple of weeks ago, I had no idea who Joe Paterno was. I barely know the difference between a tight end and a jock strap. What I do know is that every single day, somebody tells us there is a big white guy with his dick where it shouldn't be. Molesting his daughter. Screwing the choirboy. Raping a stranger. EVERY SINGLE DAY. You're just not listening. You're like Joe. It's happening right now. There's a guy in the shower with a ten year old boy this very minute. In your neighborhood. Don't believe me? Call your Child Protection Services office for a few statistics. Do some research. Look it up. It's right in front of you, but you're ignoring it. We're all ignoring it.

Do something.

99.9

No, it's not Herman Cain's 999 Tax Plan, it's CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!! Now 24/7 on KEZ 99.9.

I can't seem to turn it off...

Maggie's Birthday Bash

Party, party, party at Aunt Chilada's as Maggie makes getting older lots of fun.

Remake America

Check out Remake America.

A daily dose of reality.

Movie Madness - J. Edgar

Clint - make my day! That guy sure knows how to put together a beautiful film, along with Leo, Naomi and Judi. What a great lesson in history, an amazing character study, so many incredible scenes through the eras and even a love story thrown in. Loved it.

The Jacobus

We've been hearing about The Jacobus for years. The adorable house right by the U of A campus. New. Convenient. Spacious. Perfect place for pre-pub crawl festivities. So it was exciting that Shana could move in for her senior year with three good friends. When I found out her roomies would be gone for the three day weekend, I invited myself and the in-town-for-a-conference-other-half for a slumber party. 

The Three Musketeers, but this time on Shana's turf.

Daddy's Girl

In our Girl Scouts gear

We snuggled, we did the forty-something version of a pub crawl, dinner with the bf, then back in the car to drive across the street for dessert, we spread out in the bigger than a hotel room house, checked out the backyard, fixed some squeaks. I was impressed by the whole roommate thing - the organization, the camaraderie, the cleanliness, the glaring evidence of goal-oriented studiousness of the place (I can't seem to get through a four day friends' trip anymore without a big blowout). Plus - not one beer pong ball in sight - see, excellent cleaners! Dr. Dad went off to learn him somethin' at a conference with medical marijuana and STDs on the day's schedule, while Ms. Student and I did a little campus tour,

 complete with glittery Band Day competition events and a trip to the science building (Shana's first time inside) for a cool exhibit about gas. Who knew neon and helium could be so exciting? 

She even promised to take Zach there later for a laser show in the planetarium. We went to the Girl Scout office for another glimpse into Shana's senior year activities. The kid's doing great. Skating through classes, study groups, mentoring, tutoring, promoting, figuring it all out down in T-Town.

Some medical advice on The Jacobus wall