Duct (tape) and cover
Ok, I've already mocked celebrities once today -- but this is just 'tawded enough to warrant its own entry. Some celebrities apparently will be wearing swatches of duct tape tomorrow evening at the Academy Awards ceremony. According to Yahoo! News, "that bit of anti-fashion is a sly reference to the government's suggestion several weeks ago that citizens buy duct tape to seal their windows from airborne poisons".

Ok, I can understand the dove peace pins. If the celebrity wearing it doesn't grab the mic and turn the awards ceremony into their own 10-minute political platform, fine. Wear the pin. Make your quiet statement. But just what message is the duct tape sending, other than "I'm a moron"? If you spot any celebrity wearing duct tape, snag a pic for me. I'll make them their very own Special Olympics ribbon to wear to next year's Oscar ceremony. At least then they'll be supporting the mentally handicapped on their red carpet duds, instead of becoming one themselves.

UPDATE: Perhaps Oscar attendees could get fashion tips here instead?
posted at 06:10 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (4) shout it

Mail call!
When I was forced to go on dial-up last weekend, my Dell laptop got hosed by a nasty virus thanks to the fine folks at Juno web. I've had this p.o.s. since '98, and lost five years worth of software -- including all of my mail. Todd had to completely wipe the harddrive and start over from scratch. Yeah, I was pleased. So if you wrote me between Friday and Monday and I haven't replied yet, that's most likely the culprit. Please resend and I'll get back to you just as soon as I can! -R
posted at 05:55 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (3) shout it

Near, far, wherever you are...
For immediate press release: I want to publicly announce that for security reasons, I will not be attending the 75th Academy Awards Ceremony tomorrow night at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. I will remain at home, quietly watching the event with family.

*This entry has been typed with tongue firmly planted in cheek, because far be it for me to turn down the opportunity to be trendy.
posted at 12:39 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (8) shout it

Uhh, Breaker 1-9, this here's the Rubber Duck

posted at 11:29 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (6) shout it

Surprise and marvel
I swear to all that's holy...if I hear the words "shock and awe" one more time tonight... Here, please allow me to help. There are other words in the English language. Seriously.
posted at 07:28 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (14) shout it

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

I had to take a few moments, step outside, and try to find peace in nature...
posted at 04:55 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (17) shout it

It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we
should thank God that such men lived."

- General George S. Patton

posted at 03:03 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (10) shout it

Unlimited a power can belong only to God

I'm taking tomorrow off to follow the world events, how they effect our
country, and to pray for our service men and women. Please do the same,
if only for a short while. -Robyn
posted at 10:10 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (5) shout it

My new-style American girlfriend
File this under "no freakin' way" -- looks like there might be a sequel to "Sixteen Candles" titled "Thirty-Two Candles".

Molly Ringwald moves back to her hometown, and starts pining away for her boyfriend Jake, who she apparently followed to college. It didn't work out...and she subsequently lost touch with him.

Anthony Michael Hall, the triumphant hero rolls in, now a multi-millionaire vis-a-vis inventing some goddamn fancy-dancy search engine and...apparently hilarity ensues?

I have no idea about Long Duck Dong's possible involvement. (Read more at "Ain't It Cool News".)

Ok...let's lighten the atmosphere around here... Post your favorite quote!
posted at 09:26 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (15) shout it

Bill of Rights

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

- President Theodore Roosevelt

posted at 06:26 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (11) shout it

Call me - call me for some overtime
For the first time ever, it looks like cell phone numbers are going to be available via 411 Directory Assistance. Soon you may be forced to pay extra for an unlisted cell phone number. Why don't I believe them when they say "the centralized database of wireless numbers would be off limits to telemarketers"? To me the beauty of having a cell phone is that, for the most part, only the people you want to have the number get it. Those days are about to be history. (Read more at CNN.com.)
posted at 05:22 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (4) shout it

And now for something completely different...
FARK is having another Photoshop contest -- your favorite collegiate mascot -- just in time for March Madness!
posted at 04:02 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (4) shout it

Highway to the danger zone

I rarely talk about my exes here, because well...I'm happily married, have been for years, and I married the right man in my life... But today my thoughts are drifting across the world to a man I once loved and still care very deeply about (even though we haven't spoken since the evening I called to tell him I was engaged). We dated -- and were friends -- for two years when I was at OU. During which time he started Naval flight school (in Pensacola, FL), was promoted in rank to Lieutenant, and was accepted into jet training (in Meridian, MS).

The last I heard, he was also happily married and stationed in Spain. I think of his wife on a day like today and think "what if". Was I really prepared to be a military wife if my life had taken another path and it had ultimately come to that? I don't think so. I wouldn't want to be in her shoes for all of the money in the world. That would be the hardest 'goodbye kiss' you could ever give. But even though I haven't spoken to this man in seven years now, I still think of him -- and his wife -- and pray for his safety.

When I say I support our troops it's because I do. It's not just liberal talk to keep the conservatives from jumping on me. I very much loved one of them once upon a time. I once laughed, and danced, and soaked up the sun.....with several of the pilots who could be dropping bombs and flying rescue missions tonight. I know that, politics aside, they have a job to do whether it was one they would have asked for or not. They signed up because they believe in -- and love -- this country as much as I do.

And they're willing to die for it.
posted at 02:20 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (5) shout it

Tick tock tick tock

I mentioned this over at Solonor's yesterday, and it still applies. Right now I have that uneasy / queasy feeling you get after waking up from a bad dream. You know the one. You wake up thinking you've forgotten to attend a class all semester long, and suddenly it's the day of the final and you're late for it -- and of course, haven't studied a single chapter of the book. Once you check yourself and realize that you are, in fact, 30 years old and haven't even been enrolled in a college course since 1995 -- you still can't shake that "did I turn off the oven, forget my keys, leave the iron on" feeling all day. The pit of my stomach is kicking my ass right now. Sometimes it's really hard to ask God to bless America after the way we act.

Wishing strength, safety, courage and peace for all of those who defend us and their families... Thank you for doing so. Hurry home!

UPDATE: I've now been critcized publicly for stating, "Sometimes it's really hard to ask God to bless America after the way we act."

"...I just don't understand people, and as of now I've officially given up on trying." [link]

You can find my direct reply in the comments of the link above. But please raise your hand and tell me if you believe that we, as a nation, have always acted in a global manner that we can be proud of. Ultimately we are governed by human beings. And human beings have faults and make mistakes. I would be forced to surrender my degree in History if I tried to claim all of our actions in the name of the United States of America over the years are beyond reproach.

You know how your mom would say, "I love you. But I don't really like you right now..." Well that's how I feel. And because I'm an American citizen, I have every right to feel that way. It doesn't make me less patriotic. It doesn't mean I love my country any less than you do. It does mean that the Constitution gives me the right to question my leaders and their actions.

Don't try to understand people. Try to understand democratic life in a Republic instead.
posted at 09:18 AM | link-

-it | mail it | (26) shout it

Somewhere out there, out where dreams, come true...
The March 2003 "Fifteen Minutes of Fame" wedding is now online. Their story is very timely given our current events...
posted at 08:43 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (3) shout it

Will Photoshop for food

Create your own clip-art protest sign here...
posted at 02:28 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (8) shout it

Roman holiday
Here's an interesting follow-up to this entry on director Roman Polanski... It turns out that the release of the Grand Jury documents wasn't a "Hollywood Oscar-smear campaign" at all. The reason the testimony was unsealed (which in turn made the documents available to The Smoking Gun) stems from actions by Polanski himself.

Late last year, the director filed a libel action in England against Vanity Fair. In the process of defending the magazine, Vanity Fair’s lawyers filed a motion to have the long-sealed grand jury testimony of Polanski’s victim unsealed. They were successful, which meant that those frisky folks at The Smoking Gun could get their hands on the testimony.

“When we heard all this stuff about us being part of a smear campaign, we thought, ‘That’s just insane,’ ” The Smoking Gun’s Bill Bastone told The Scoop. “People want to believe that there’s this overarching conspiracy and there are these munchkins at Miramax leaking this stuff to us. We wish! We wish we were in that sort of a loop. It was just us doing what we do. . . . The irony of all ironies is that if Roman Polanski had not filed the action, those papers would not have got out in the first place.”

At the time of his suit, it was reported that Polanski sued Vanity Fair because he feared that the magazine’s article might damage his reputation come Oscar time. (Read more at MSNBC.com.)

Uhhhhhh...oops there Roman. Mission accomplished. By you!
posted at 01:23 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (0) shout it

Let's play catch-up!

Ok, I know I was only offline for three days -- but it feels like a zillion. So before I head off to bed, I'm going to send out a plea. Leave one blog entry in my comments that you've made since last Thursday, which I might have missed but shouldn't have! Kind of like the Blogging Cliff Notes for Blondes...

Thank you! -R
posted at 12:00 AM | link-

-it | mail it | (22) shout it

Salted or unsalted?

U.S. citizens have turned on French fries and toast to vent their frustration at France's anti-war stance on Iraq. Now the French have joined in the food war -- with pretzels. A French Web site is urging people to send pretzels to U.S. President, who fainted and fell off a sofa in January 2002 after gagging on the salty snack.

"We think that to oppose war is not to be against the American people, but simply against the politics of the Bush administration." (Read more at the official site and CNN.com.)
posted at 11:14 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (4) shout it

Leapin' lizards!
During my offline time today, I ventured out into the great outdoors in search of lizards:

posted at 08:50 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (6) shout it

Can you hear me now?
I think we're finally back online! Just as well. I was starting to get the shakes. It was bad. Five more hours and I'd have been wandering the streets begging for fifteen minute "hits" of high-speed access!
posted at 04:40 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (11) shout it

Insert grumbling voices here
Our DSL is still down, with no end in sight. We're finding out Verizon's DSL service is really great if you manage to stay online -- but if something goes wrong, fuhgetaboutit. They can't provide any service updates. They can't give ETA on the end of the outage. They can't even tell us how widespread it is, other than "two or three area codes in your area". We were s'posed to have a callback within the first 36 hours and we've been down since Friday night. Greeeeeat. This ought to set my schedule back a good week now. We only have a network card on the PC, and I have no way of transferring any of my files or mail from there to here. We're SO getting a discount on this month's bill!
posted at 02:16 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (10) shout it

I play some bas-ket-ball
Still on dialup...but wanted to take a few moments to congratulate the Lady Sooners who've just been invited to play in the NCAA Tourney. They're a 10th seed and their first game will be on our home court in Norman, OK. Good luck girls!

The OU mens team three-peated today and won the Big XII Tournament Championship for the third straight year. It was a fuh-gly performance with a blown 22-point lead in the second half, but the Sooners went on to defeat Mizzou 49-47. The mens NCAA Tourney seeding will be announced later this evening. I must say I'm a little concerned. OU didn't have a pretty second half in any of the Big XII Tournament games. They got in foul trouble against Colorado. They blew a huge lead over Texas Tech and ended up going into overtime yesterday. And then there was today's collapse... Let's hope a week of regrouping, and free throw practice, will help get us back on track.

Although my

belongs to football, March Madness is awesome baby!
posted at 05:27 PM | link-

-it | mail it | (9) shout it