“Stuff” must go! We have stuff coming out of our collective ears. I’m not talking about physical stuff, but rather the use of the word “stuff“. Its driving me nuts and therefor I must oversee it timely demise.

I’m sure you’ve heard it. ” Sorry, I can’t attend your function. I have stuff to do.” Or perhaps, “I’m not in a good place cause I’m dealing with some bad stuff!” I The overuse of the word is so flimsy as to defy translation when you hear it. It so non-specific! Have you heard these:

“Family stuff is driving me crazy!”
“Work stuff is keeping me from taking a day off.”
“Hey, I can’t deal with your stuff cause I got my own stuff to deal with!”
“Why are you always throwing stuff up in my face?”
“If I didn’t have so much stuff on my plate, maybe I could get some other stuff done.”

Either tell me what stuff you are talking about or use something a bit more specific. Oh well, come to think of it, I’m not really interested in your stuff!

Despite what the headline says I’m not against romance. And with Valentine’s Day fast approaching, its not an Anti-Valentine’s day rant. Nope. It a rant against romance in sitcoms! I hate romance on sitcom and I’m sure you are asking yourself what would a sitcom be without a good romance or two? And its not the romance in itself but how the sitcoms handle it. In my opinion not very well or realistic. (Yeah I know using the word “realistic” when discussing TV is unwise).

In the beginning is was all well and good. Lucy and Desi or Burns and Allen were great. I’m thinking this silly sitcom disconnect started around 1985 with Moonlighting with Cybil Sheppard and Bruce Willis (probably the last time he had hair) hit the tube with a cute little mystery sitcom. It was a great program and took American television by storm. They keep us on the edge of our seats week after week mainly trying to figure out whether they would hook up or not. Every since then it seems like every other sitcom uses this device of NOT having the romantic couple to get together. Think about it…Ross and Rachel took forever to finally get their act together. I’ll challenge you to find one romantic sitcom where the couple got together within 4 episodes. Can’t find one can you?

In real life that would be soooo unrealistic. If it took that long to hook up with the object of your affection, it would drive you to frustration. The only good thing would that the birth rate would drop. Why we continue to let the networks lead us around by the nose using this device is beyond me so we still torture ourselves wonder “will they or won’t they”! Please stop, I beg you.

Of my favorite programs, Chuck, Burn Notice or Leverage, they all have the same problem. These couples just can’t seem to get it together. All of these seemingly intelligent people have no romantic skills whatsoever and the network want us to believe this is real life. Bull. Chuck and Sarah should hookup and become kickass spies! Or Michael and Fiona can spend more time blowing stuff up if they didn’t have the romance barrier in front of them…although I’d tread carefully around Fiona since she is so good with explosives and large guns. And don’t get me started on Sophie and Nate of Leverage. Watching them fence week after week makes me want to tear my eyeballs out. All the guys need to grow a set or the women need to move on. Frankly I lose interest after a few weeks and it becomes as annoying as watching commercials…both are unavoidable.

I realize however, that the nature of television being what it is, they will use any device to keep us glued to the TV set week after week. I just wish they would try a different approach. It sometimes painful watching seemly intelligent men fumble their way around equally clueless women. Stop it, I say. Just stop it!

I’ve heard people say that they can’t remember their dreams or those that say that they never dream. I can believe the former but I think the latter is nearly impossible unless they are brain dead. As for me, I am one of those people that remembers their dreams. Its always been that way and not only that, but I dream in full color and stereophonic sound! Some years ago a sleep study came to conclusion that highly artist people were like that. I always assumed everyone could remember their dreams or that their dreams had color and sound.

Dreams are defined as: A succession of images, thoughts, sounds, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.

Generally the biggest mental stimulus I have before falling asleep seems to dictate the type of dreams I’ll have later. Lately though, that rule doesn’t seem to apply. My dreams have been absolutely silly, not to mention weird. Like this one: H and I are driving around the country in weather that is snowy and icy. This silly part is that the vehicle we are driving is a large blue tennis shoe with ripple soles. (A least we had good traction.) Of course the steering wheel is the shoe laces! Could be that dream was the result of my road trip down to San Francisco.

However I’m at a lose to understand last nights dream. I’m playing tennis against Serena Williams! My racket is made from a large upside-down turkey wishbone strung with angel-hair pasta and she is beating me badly. And she is doing that grunting thing that is so un-nerving. I wake up asking myself why it couldn’t be one of those sweet Russian ladies. I might still be getting my head handed to me but at least she wouldn’t be grunting!

Frankly, I hope to get my dreams back on track. Not that I don’t like silly, but I prefer the adventure of being the King of the World!

Well I’m giving this another shot. Now that I’m not so busy, I have more time to travel and write. So I should start this decade off right…or write! Your support will be appreciated and do not hesitate to comment and add your opinion.

You look online or watch TV and see the endless “Year or Decade In Review” and I wonder if most people have the same, on a more personal level. My decade wasn’t too bad. Below are some of the highlights…

2000-2003 was a banner year…Moved back to DC from San Francisco, got married, stopped being a travel photographer for an international magazine and started working for the Washington Post, which meant I finally got to use some of my educational values. After all, a Master’s Degree in computer science is only good if you use it

2003-2006 — Moved to Finland as Hannamari closed in on her degree and got to understand the Finnish society and language. Second hardest language in the world, but met some wonderful people and made a number of great friends. Became a permanent Finnish citizen, used my Culinary education and worked as a chef. Had to have an operation which cost me all of 72 euro ($103) including doctors and medicine and hospital stay. Puts American healthcare to shame. Returned to America like immigrants of old…on a ship. A nice trans-atlantic cruise.

2007-2009 — Relocated to Portland, Oregon. We love the Pacific Northwest and it doesn’t rain here as nearly as much as people think! Hannamari went to Finland for a few months to finish her degree while I stayed home, worked and took care of a rescued black cat we named Musta. Hannamari gets a job as a nurse and I freelance writing security software and doing graphics. Lived in a beautiful area in an apartment where we could see Mt. Hood. Moved into a new townhouse and added another rescued cat named Asia. Started piano lessons and have met wonderful new friends. Was diagnosed with diabetes but with the help of my friend Yee (who was my doctor at the time) I have got it under control. Even managed to stop smoking…cold turkey…no patch, no gum! One day I was smoking and the next I wasn’t. Interesting. Finally getting back to painting and doing my art and still cooking up a storm. Spent a bunch of time traveling, including several cruises and two cross country trips via automobile and one road trip up and down the west coast. We acquired another pet…a German Shepard name Major, who is now 8 months old and 100lbs! He is keeping me healthy. Now I can do 5 miles without breaking a sweat. Hannamari is finishing another educational spurt with a legal nurse course.

And loads of new experience and made lot of new friends. Of course for all of the good things, we lost few people, most notably my Aunt Broncie (100 years old), my Aunt Ethel and my uncle Mac. Also two friends lost in New York during 9/11. They will be missed terribly. All in all, the decade was not too bad and hopefully the new decade will be better. Happy New Year one and all.

I just saw this video that Microsoft put out. They gave this lady $1000 tp buy a laptop computer and she goes into an Apple store and can’t buy a laptop with a 17″ screen for $1000 or less. She comes out disapointed and says he is probably not ‘cool” enough to own a Mac. Duh. So she buys a PC laptop for about $700. I had to laugh….cause when she gets it home and discovers that it comes with “nothing” and that she has to buy all this new software, she gonna realize that she would have been better off paying a little extra to get a mac that comes with some of the programs she is going to have to pay for.  But she will get something for free…viruses!

Anyone that knows me understands how much I dislike the “talking heads” that spew on the airwaves. However I have to give props to one in particular. Jack Cafferty from CNN made some great points in his latest column. If you have gone to a restaurant and been forced to put up with the bad manners of little monsters that their parents are unwilling to control, then this will be of interest to you. I think he hit the bulls-eye with this one. I for one, want to shake some sense into these clueless parents. If I am  at a fine dining establishment, paying big bucks for a meal, I centainly don’t want to be hit with food, or loud and obnoxous behavior. Had I done some of the things these little whiners do in public, I probably wouldn’t be alive to write this post!

After talking to a few of my married men friends, we all have decided that one way to stay married is to insist (and I use that word advisedly) on having your own space. Said space hereafter known as a Man-Cave. Face it, women always get the walk-in closet while your clothes are lucky to be relegated to a few hangers and perhaps (if she’s feeling generous) a second  minuscule closet somewhere in the house, or possibly in the next time zone. They always get the  most shelves in the bathroom, filled with makeup that most men can’t even pronounce.

But fear not my brothers, because recent studies by scientist say that men that have their own man-caves are more rounded and better husbands. No bull. This is mine shown above and still a work in progress. Although its in the bowels of my domicile I love it and even have a door by which I can escape when the wife issues any directives that pop into her head. And in case you don’t think that a man cave is important, just do a search for “man cave” and see how popular they have become. I highly recommend it. This is one of my favorite “official” sites!

One important aside: Don’t think you are completely safe gentlemen…cause they can hunt you down from any place on earth. Enjoy while you can before the summons comes. Just practice the following: “Coming dear!’

Ask any guy about his aversion to “chick-flicks”…roughly translated as any movie that he is dragged to (kicking, screaming and pouting), by his significant other. The first thing he will tell you is that he hates them and would rather eat glass or swap spit with Richard Simmons then admit he EVER attended such a movie. But if you dig deeper you will find nothing is further from the truth. The problem lies in the fact that some “chick flicks” are not recognizable as such. But fear not dear ladies. If you are interested in attending a movie classified as a chick flick by your favorite knuckle-dragger, then follow these general rules.

1.It must have some humor…the slapstick variety is best. 2. A little action never hurts and I’m not talking about the horizontal kind. 3. Skin, skin and more skin. Hopefully the skin of the starlet lending her talents to the hated film.

This pretty much guarantees attendance at the movies with a minimum of fuss and bother. There are those enlightened gentlemen, such as myself, who actually enjoy a good chick-flick, mainly to keep the peace and because some of them actually have some merit as films  (But I still want the skin though). I gave this some thought one night while sitting with my friend Yee and watching one of my favorite “chick-flicks” on the TV. She enjoyed the film. Chick flicks are better watching when there is an actual “chick” present. I was surprised that I liked so many of them. Below is a list of my top 20 favorite “chick flicks”. What are yours?

1. Cyrano (The old one with Jose Ferrer. Plenty of swashbuckling action too!)
2. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Anything with Audrey Hepburn is worth a watch)
3. The Princess Bride (This is a classic! Can you believe it was made 20 years ago?)
4. Romancing the Stone (The ultimate Action/Romance movie)
5. A Little Romance (Diane Lane’s First Movie)
6. When Harry Met Sally (Worth it for the classic Meg Ryan restaurant scene)
7. Waitress (What man doesn’t love pie?)
8. Love Actually (Lots of skin and then some and great Brit cast!)
9. Mostly Martha (The American remake of this GERMAN movie was crap))
10. The Importance of Being Earnest (I love period pieces)
11. A Room with a View (A period piece with one of my favorite actresses, Helena Bonham Carter)
12. Splash (Tom Hanks is brilliant)
13. Once (The REAL music biz.)
14. The Holidays (Jack Black being serious..kinda)
15. Under the Tuscan Sun (More Diane Lane later in life)
16. Dirty Rotten Scoundrel (Who can resist Steven Martin and Michael Cane)
17. Father Goose (Cary Grant was a class act and could teach style to a pig)
18. Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (A breakthrough movie in so many ways)
19. As Good As It Gets (Jack Nicholson at this best)
20. Love and Basketball (A good movie for a sports nut)

Well after a long vacation away from the blogsphere and with the kind backing of a lot of people, I’ve decided to give it another try. Thanks to all the people that “pestered” me to get started again. You know who you are and I’ll get you! (Smiles) I’ll be tinkering with the appearance for few days, so bear with me. In any event, I’ll try to make this as entertaining as possible. And visual too. So sit back and enjoy the ride.

*Rules: As usual a few rules for those reading that object to any of my content. THIS IS MY BLOG and I’ll write anything I damn well please. Feel free to comment, but any mean-spirited, nasty stuff will get you booted and deleted. I try to keep the cussing to a minimum, only because I have better ways to express myself and since this in an exercise in writing it makes sense to try to use the language properly.*