More Randomness

Diane at Diane's Addled Ramblings (otherwise known as just Diane to my friends and family) gave me a blog award as incentive (aka bribery, manipulation) to write more, but so far it hasn't worked. She's out of the country anyway, so what does she know? She gets back on Monday, so I have, what? at least 4 days I can post before she gets back and reads this, so maybe the illusion of prolificacy with 4 posts over the next four days will fool her. The award is cute, right? Her skirt is a cupcake! Mmmm...Cupcakes.

The other night on Jay Leno (not crazy about him, but Gerard Butler was on, so .... given), there was a commedienne on named Natasha Leggero. I've seen her several times on Chelsea Lately, and she's kind of funny. She was talking about American Idol, specifically about the early stages of the competition. She said something that was so true, and would be true probably for a great many of the people that regularly watch the show and vote for the contestants if they would only admit it to themselves. She said, "How are you going to make an idol out of someone you're trying to avoid in real life?" Well, it made me laugh anyway.

Sarah Vowell is awesome! If you've ever listened to the NPR show This American Life, you might have heard some of her essays/commentaries. She's also written several books including Take the Cannoli, The Partly Cloudy Patriot, and Assassination Vacation. She's very smart and entertaining. She has a way of making topics that are dry and boring, dryer (in the good sense, though) and funny. Who knew a book about the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley could make such a good book that I've actually read it not once, not twice, but three times? Her new book The Wordy Shipmates came out yesterday and it's about Puritans in the early 1600s. Fascinating, right? I promise it will be if you read it, though. I should say at least a passing interest in history should be a prerequisite for reading her books in general, though. I won't be buying it anytime soon as I'm on a book buying diet, so anyone looking for a Christmas list from me would be smart to add this book to it. She's been on a couple of talk shows this week to promote the book. Despite the comedians and actors that have been on those shows this week, she has been by leaps and bounds the funniest person on them. I wish all history teachers could teach history the way she writes her books.

Have you seen a commercial for that hair removal product called Smooth Away? It's basically like rubbing your skin with sandpaper, right? Let's weigh this, shall we? Having to shave every couple of days or hairless legs with the top layer of your skin essentially sanded away? Does it really matter if you don't have hair on your legs (or underarms, or upper lip) if you're red and blotchy and scabby?

That's all I know...