Insomnimusing: Allons-y!

What a hectic week! I thought I'd be able to manage it, but I seem to be slipping further and further behind! We've got a reporter on vacation, so I've had to pick up his court duties. I fear I'm failing miserably at it. I got all of two minutes of "training" on it, and it's the court that I've never done before, so I've got no experience at it. That's eating into my hours quite a lot and ensuring some long days. And of course, there's no overtime allowed, so since I haven't mastered the art of bending space and time, I'm falling behind rapidly. I also had a political banquet to cover last night. It was originally thought that it would take about two hours of my time, but then they had to rearrange the speaker schedule, so it took four. Four hours out of my 40 for the week. That's a pretty precious investment. And to top it off, I'm working the night desk tonight. That's always a longer-than-normal day, but I have to go ...

Gin had to get a little tough love tonight. I told her we needed to talk as soon as I got home this afternoon, but she avoided me after, even sneaking off to bed and then saying that she couldn't get up, she didn't want to talk, the OAT is tomorrow (Ohio Achievement Test). Too bad, I told her. You avoided me all day. We talk NOW. I had to stop by the store this afternoon after work, and on my way out, I ran into my friend Ang. She also happens to be the mother of both my daughters' best friends. Or was anyway. Her family's going through an extremely tough time right now. About six weeks ago, her marriage ended. It had been going down for a while, but this time was the end. (Although, he's now having second thoughts and asking her back. Isn't that always the way?) Anyway, he sent Ang and her two daughters, R and C, packing, and they've been staying in a little hotel room ever since. C is Munch's best friend. And R is (or was) Gin's best friend. Ang is...

So I got to have a little bit of excitement yesterday. Another "almost" brush with fame. My history with fame is fairly sweet, really, for a chick living in the middle of nowhere. I dated Sarah Jessica Parker's brother in college for nine months. (Well, dating might be a stretch of definition, but, ahem, I'll leave it at that). I got to party with the rock band Slaughter one night after a show back in my modeling days (was told even that the guitarist was planning to ask me out when he got back to Ohio, but unfortunately, he got married - then died). I even spent three years in a relationship with a bona fide television actor of some niche renown - that was the famous "P" of the early days of this blog (you know, the one who crushed my soul when he dumped me out of the blue) whose name I have not ever and will not ever post here. Yesterday, my boss came out of his office and asked if I'd have a little time to write a story - nothing major, he said. Oh by...

According to Wikipedia (sorry, I'm not researching any harder than that, but I'm going to assume I can take their word on this one) "The principal components of volcanic gases are water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur either as sulfur dioxide (SO2) (high-temperature volcanic gases) or hydrogen sulfide (H2S) (low-temperature volcanic gases), nitrogen, argon, helium, neon, methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Other compounds detected in volcanic gases are oxygen (meteoric), hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen bromide, nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur hexafluoride, carbonyl sulfide, and organic compounds. Exotic trace compounds include methyl mercury, halocarbons (including CFCs), and halogen oxide radicals." This makes me wonder - where are the environmentalists protesting this beast in Iceland? Will the Icelanders be charged massive fines for this pollution? After all, it was quite recently that a per-cow tax was proposed on farmers for the methane g...

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dermajuv Skin Care Products . All opinions are 100% mine. I'm at that awkward age. With an awkward skin type. Or awkward hormones. Or whatever it is, I get to deal with the beginnings of wrinkles (maybe a wee bit more than beginnings....) as well as acne (which decided to reemerge with a vengeance after giving me a decidedly easy time of it during adolescence). As a result of this brilliant joke by Mother Nature on me, the skin care products industry is reaping the rewards. I'm not completely random about it though. I try a lot of different products, but I generally refuse to shell out the big bucks if I haven't at least had the opportunity to try it. However, if I have had the opportunity to try something, and it seems to offer some improvement, I will absolutely lay out the cash for it. (Little tip to the marketers, those sample packs WORK for selling your product if your product WORKS). And if I find something I love, I...

It was another flashback for me, as I headed out to another newspaper office for a little refresher course on posting news stories to our websites. As it turns out, nothing has changed there, so even though I haven't done that job in a year, it was instantaneous for me to pick back up again. In fact, in posting the first story, I found my fingers automatically doing the things they needed to do without even thinking about them. After I got back to my office after "retraining," I immediately checked the schedule. It was a good thing I did, because I found out I had a meeting to attend just half an hour later. I had time to do no more than copy down my schedule for the week before I had to head out again. Once I sat through that meeting, I went back to the office again, entered my schedule into my Google calendar, wrote the story - and it was time to go home. I got to leave early because I've got another meeting to attend tonight. It should be dreadfully exciting - the ...

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of CryoCell International . All opinions are 100% mine. Science is continually finding new ways to help us stay healthy and new ways of treatment for those illnesses and injuries that befall us. The latest news is that menstrual blood can be used as a source of stem cells. We've all heard of stem cells and the controversy surrounding the harvesting of stem cells from human fetuses. This exciting development means that your moral issues are safe. If stem cells can be extracted from menstrual blood, imagine the possibilities in medical science! The April 2010 issue of Stem Cells and Development features cover story about stem cells from menstrual blood and its potential to help victims of stroke. In testing, scientists found that the stem cells significantly reduced cell death and significantly reduced behavioral and histological impairments. Read the 'Stem Cells and Development' article and find out more for yourself. Menstr...

I'm in transition. Or crisis. Or springtime. It's a new week and I'm sporting a new haircut. I lopped off my long hair to medium length (bit below shoulder) a few weeks ago, but last night, most of the rest of it went. The back is now clipped to an inch, and the top and sides are about three inches. Pretty drastic. Jaws fell at the office, but it got raves all around. I'm also sporting a new netbook. My new toy/tool. I've already justified it by taking it to a meeting tonight to take notes. I'm getting used to the new keyboard pretty quickly. I spent my hours between work and the meeting tonight getting all my immediately necessary software downloads. I think I'm going to love it. Already, I'm sitting on my bed instead of at my desk. Yep, it's good to be mobile again. (Ok, I could do this stuff on my Blackberry, but it's awfully hard on the thumbs.) I'm thinking about leaving Facebook ... but I probably won't. I'll just spend less tim...

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of 20th Century Fox . All opinions are 100% mine. Hey, I've got an idea. Let's put Steve Carrell and Tina Fey on the silver screen together. We'll make them a bored suburban couple wishing for a more exciting life and relationship. Then..... we'll give it to them. Hehehe. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? How many interesting scenarios can you come up with? Some breaking and entering is a must. And of course, a car chase. A shootout? A showdown? THE MOB? YEAH! Guess what? You've got it! Everything you wanted all wrapped up in one neat little package that will be opening this Friday. Okay, so it wasn't really MY idea. Not initially anyway. It's the Date Night Movie , and with all that, you know it's going to be fun. Check out the trailer: This movie has got to awesome. You've got Steve Carrell - and every guy loves him, right? There's Tina Fey, who's sublimely brilliant. It's got the action ...

I'm crushed. I'm miserable. I'm drinking heavily. My boys - my beautiful, brilliant Man United Red Devils - were knocked out of the Champions League. They did not lose the game. They won 3-2. They lost the first leg 2-1. Even out? No. Thanks to the "away goals" rule, they were eliminate. I'd rather see a penalty shootout. I'd always rather see a penalty shootout. I wish they'd be consistent with their rules. If we'd finished 1-0, we would have moved on. We finish 3-2 and we're out. How much sense does that make? Borrowing from my Brit pals, I'll say I'm gutted. Where's my D to comfort me? :(

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Alvin and the Chipmunks . All opinions are 100% mine. I remember when I was growing up, I used to love watching Alvin and the Chipmunks. Especially around Christmas time, my sister and I used to sing THAT song to the point of annoying everyone within hearing range. It's pure silliness, of course, but isn't that the fun of childhood? I don't know if the modern incarnation of Dave and the boys quite lives up to my childhood memories, but then, what does? It does serve as a nice transition though to introduce the kids to the Chipmunks, however, and then show them my memories. Of course, kids these days prefer the slick animation to the kind from the "olden days." (Just to note: I'm not so old that I was watching when they originally came out. Don't age me anymore than absolutely necessary, please!) The latest adventure "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" is now out on DVD, Blu-ray and availab...

I'm off work today, taking a furlough day in order to watch the Man United-Bayern second leg in the Champions League. The tension is mounting, but I'm a bit torn. I haven't scheduled off for the later rounds, so I'll miss them if we move on. But I certainly don't want to be knocked out either. Then again, the focus has got to be on the Premier League after the loss to Chelsea over the weekend. Two points down and just five matches to go. It's not an easy schedule either, and on comparing the two, I think Chelsea has some easier matches coming up than we do. Am I rambling? Yes, probably a little. I'll follow along with my tweeps on Twitter and hope to boost my energy level. It's a dull, gray, windy day out, so I'm not up to full speed. I'm also missing D lately, but that's another story.....

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Incendia Health . All opinions are 100% mine. Some time ago I blogged about the "You Gotta See This" iLASIK Video Contest . The contest had entrants make a video saying how laser vision correction would improve their lives. Abbott Medical Optics has now announced the winners of the iLASIK Video Contest , and you can see the winning videos and all of the other entries now at www.GottaSeeThisNow.com or by clicking the iLASIK Video Contest links above. The winner of the $5,000 grand prize was Alex who created a "You Gotta See This Music Video." Entries were accepted in three categories: 1) My Contacts Are Getting in the Way of My Good Time; My Favorite Sport or Activity Would Be So Much Cooler with Better Vision; and You Should See Life After the iLASIK Procedure. First place winners in each category won a $2,500 value HDTV package, and second place winners won a Flip UltraHD camcorder. I got laser vision correction s...