October 27, 2005

America's Next Muppet

Now this is a reality show I would definitely watch. Muppets rule.

The big news around here is that we finally have mail again! I still haven't picked up our mail that's being held, well, somewhere (if I knew where it was, I'd probably be more inclined to go get it). But we're very excited to have regular mail delivery again, if for no other reason than to get Netflix!

Not much else to report. Archi-Sapper will be gone this weekend so I have plans for a girl's weekend with a friend. Our plans? A wine tasting tomorrow night and we'll be hitting the newly reopened mall on Saturday. You know, to help stimulate the lagging economy.

Posted by Kitty at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2005

Everybody's Got a List

And now Time has one, too. I usually don't have much comment on these "top books" lists (and I have even fewer comments for top movie lists, since I see so few movies), but this one caught my eye. The list spans from the mind-numbingly b-o-r-i-n-g (i.e. White Noise ), to obnoxiously overwritten shlock (see, Tropic of Cancer -- and yes, I know it's a classic, but has anyone actually finished that swill and liked it? I doubt it) to books that are actually worth reading (I especially liked Atonement).

But I am at a loss to explain the omission of anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. C'mon folks, nothing? It doesn't even have to be One Hundred Years of Solitude (and Good Lord, I had no idea that was an Oprah pick until I looked up the URL on amazon), but really, nothing? When the New York Times Book Review says of your book that it is, "the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race," you may be onto something.

Posted by Kitty at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2005

The Call-in Show

Archi-Sapper and I don't yet have a television. Well, we do, but it doesn't work. No, it's not a hand-me-down, it is brand new. And it doesn't work. We braved the New Orleans Best Buy on Monday afternoon and picked through the 10-15 sets they had left in the category we wanted (27 inch flat screen). We found one that Consumer Reports had rated highly and carted it to the apartment and up the two flights of stairs (Archi-Sapper did that part). When we opened the box, we saw that the screen had not been bolted to the plastic mounting and was falling out. Thus, we have another trip to Best Buy in our future.

All of this is to say that we'll have a few more nights of the clock radio as our entertainment. When I sit on the bed at night and listen to AM radio, I feel like I'm living in Little House on the Prairie. I didn't realize how dependent I was on t.v. for entertainment or even background noise until I didn't have one. The last time I was without a t.v. was when I was a one L in law school renting a furnished apartment (which was furnished with everything except electronics equipment). The biggest problem with the radio is the dire lack of programming.

After scanning through the dial, I lit upon a call-in radio show. I've never been one to listen to talk radio, so I didn't really know what to expect. This show was so New Orleans it hurt. The show consisted of two DJ's who would take random people's calls (and these calls clearly weren't screened like they are on most shows with any listeners) and listen to them gripe. They offered no solutions, it was mostly just griping. A sample follows:

DJ One:Welcome back to the show. It looks like we have some calls, so let's go to Line One with Mike in Slidell. Hello, Mike, are you there?

*silence*

DJ Two: Hello, Mike? Mike? Okay folks, we lost Mike. Let's go to Line Four with Cindy in Gretna. Cindy are you there? Hello Cindy?

*silence*

DJ One: Hello? Cindy? Cindy, baby, you there? Well, I think Cindy was holding for a long time and we lost her. Sorry about that, baby. Call us back, Cindy. Let's go to Line Two with Matt Fancypants in Uptown. Matt are you there?

Matt: Yeah, I'm here.

DJ One: Matt! Good to have you on. Matt Fancypants, I remember when you were all-state in football at XYZ high school. Then you went on to play for Tulane, baby!

Matt: Yeah, that was me.

DJ One: You were the bomb, baby! The bomb! We've got a legend on our show tonight, ladies and gentlemen! You were the best, Matt baby.

Matt: Well, thank ya, thank ya, baby. I was on City Council in da parish for a while, but I moved on.

DJ One: We're so glad to have you, baby! This is old school, boys! I been knowin' Matt Fancypants forever. Matt Fancypants, I can't believe it. Hoo, boy.

Matt: Yeah, thanks.

DJ Two: So what can we do for you, Matt?

Matt: Well, I was just calling because I think it is a disgrace that the City of NewOrweans hasn't picked up the two bags of leaves I left on my front porch. I left 'em there two weeks ago and f'two weeks they been sitting there and that ain't right, baby.

DJ One: No kidding. Two weeks, it's been?

Matt: Yes, two weeks. And I just want to say that I love this City and I'm proud of it but the City's gotta help us out.

DJ Two: That's right, Matt. You tell 'em.

Matt: Well, that's it. That's all I wanted to say.

DJ One: Well listen, Matt, thanks so much for calling in. It was good talking to ya, baby!

Matt: You, too, dawlin'. Latah.

I can't take much more of this.

Posted by Kitty at 01:04 PM | Comments (1)

October 12, 2005

The Gambler

Last night I stayed in Shreveport, as I had a deposition here this morning I had to attend. I stayed at the Horseshoe Casino, as I got a cheap room rate and the hotel is very nice for the price. After hanging out in the room for a while, I decided to head downstairs to the casino to do some gambling.

I hadn't been in a casino in quite a while, and being homeless and all, didn't plan to gamble much. I walked around the room and played some 25 cent slot machines, not really winning much. I then saw an empty blackjack table with a $5 minimum bet, which is my gambling limit. I sat down, plunked my $20 down on the table and didn't get up until two hours later, when I walked away with $62.50.

Casinos always overwhelm me, which I think is one of the things the folks who run the casinos are hoping for. I know there are lots of rules that the dealers and pit bosses have to follow, and I don't know a one of them. Casinos are like Wal Mart -- they are huge buildings with no clocks or windows and they hire overly friendly people who know far more about what's going on inside than you do.

Knowing as little as I do, I get easily weirded out by things that happen, mostly because I don't really know what's "normal" for a casino. Last night was no exception. I was playing away at my table, talking to my table mates and taking their (quite good, as it turns out) advice, when a man walked up behind me. He was a skinny Asian guy whose first language wasn't English. He stood right next to me, brushing up against my arm at times, and took great interest in my hands. He would give me advice, all of which was good. I thought he was just hanging out watching the tables because he didn't want to spend any of his own money, but I was wrong. At one point, he encouraged me to double my usual $5 bet to $10, something I never do. I did it, and when I got an 11, he encouraged me to double down. He was so persuasive and it happened so fast I barely knew what I was doing, but I did it. The dealer went bust and I was incredulous when I won. He then wanted me to keep betting $10, but I was reluctant. He then said, "Here, I have money" and threw a $20 in my lap.

Since I'm not a stripper, I can't say I've ever had men literally throwing money at me. This was a first. I gave the money back to the guy and said, "I can't take your money". He was insistent at first, but then realized I was ignoring him and was playing blackjack instead, so he wandered away. The guy sitting next to me said, "Was that a friend of yours?" and I said, "No, I've never seen him before in my life." He said, "You're kidding!" and I said, "No. This is really weird. Who goes around throwing money at people?" The dealer then said, "It happens. It doesn't happen every day, but it does happen sometimes. People do it for different reasons. Sometimes they....." and she trailed off. The pit boss then came up to talk to her about something, and I never did figure out the explanation for this strange behavior. Can any gamblers out there shed any light on it?

Posted by Kitty at 10:37 AM | Comments (1)

October 09, 2005

Hurricane Shower

Even though we're "all settled" into the new apartment, I still can't say I feel like I live there. Something about sleeping on an air mattress on the floor just doesn't feel like home.

After a deposition on Friday morning in Baton Rouge, I headed to Dallas with Archi-Sapper two hours behind me. We spent Saturday afternoon buying a bed at Ikea (which they actually had in stock, unlike some of the other items we wanted). Archi-Sapper headed back to Louisiana this morning, and I'll be going back tomorrow.

This afternoon, my mom's friends hosted a lovely hurricane shower for us (much like a wedding shower only we're older now and actually need to purchase more stuff than we did when we got married). We received some very nice bed linens (400 thread count Egyptian cotton), some kitchen stuff and lots of gift cards to Bed Bath & Beyond and Target. I showed off the pictures of the inside of our house and we ate a cute cake that showed a wall of water and said that the sun would come out tomorrow. All in all, it was a lot of fun and I was overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and kindness.

Posted by Kitty at 07:32 PM | Comments (2)

October 02, 2005

Wrap Up

I've been wrapping things up this weekend before I head back to Nola. Yesterday, mom and I headed out to Wal Mart to stock up on "stuff" that Archi-Sapper and I need for the new apartment. Have I blogged about that? I can't remember any more. I could look through my Archives, but I'm too lazy. Basically, Archi-Sapper managed to rent a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment for us in Jefferson Parish. We'll be living there for the next year + while we rebuild the manse (read: ranch style house). The apartment is spacious with cathedral ceilings, a fireplace and not a stick of furniture. So, yesterday I picked up the essentials : a shower curtain, trashcans and trash bags, a laundry basket, an iron, etc. Among the essentials was an air mattress with a pump, to be used until we can figure out how to get a bed. Although I'm not normally a huge Wal Mart fan (the merchandise doesn't bother me as much as the clientele. Archi-Sapper once commented loudly while we were standing in the aisles of the Wal Mart Super Center in Harahan, LA, "Does Wal Mart pay rednecks to shop here? Because they're everywhere!", at which point I made him shut up before we were shot in the parking lot), it was a good trip.

Today involved some much-needed fun time. Mom and I went to the State Fair of Texas, a Dallas institution I hadn't visited since college. Not much had changed -- they still had the Hall of State, the midway, the overpriced corny dogs and Texas shaped nachos and, of course, Big Tex. I was surprised to see that he'd switched from Lee jeans to Dickie's jeans, though. And he has a much flatter butt than I remember. Is that weird that I'm checking out a statue's butt?

So, one foot-long corny dog, one glass of lemonade and one box of salt water taffy later and I'm ready to head to Nola. I'll be heading out in the morning, with a stop in Baton Rouge (against my will) to pick up stuff from the office. Hopefully we'll be able to bring Miss Maggie to Nola next weekend.

Posted by Kitty at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)