Condi and Kiss

Happened upon this news story floating around the AP this morning. We definitely need more people like this in D.C. Rock on!!

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The Kiss Army fan club has an enthusiastic new recruit: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Rice was in the Swedish capital Thursday for an international conference on Iraq. Kiss had a sold-out concert to play Friday.

"I was thrilled," Rice said of her late-night encounter with Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and bandmates Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer in the executive lounge of the Sheraton Hotel where they signed autographs and handed out backstage passes and T-shirts to her staff.

"It was really fun to meet Kiss and Gene Simmons," she told reporters, noting that they seemed well-informed about current events. The band had asked if she could stop by after she finished dinner with the Swedish foreign minister and Rice readily agreed, she said.

Rice, a classically trained pianist, said she has eclectic musical tastes ranging from Beethoven to Bruce Springsteen.

Hard rockers such as Kiss are included in the mix, and Rice said her favorite Kiss tune is "Rock and Roll All Nite."

But, Rice conceded, she has never seen the band in concert.

___

On the Net:

http://www.kissonline.com/

102

Its post 102!! A milestone! A cause for celebration!

Or perhaps, just a casual mention?

Blogging has become my latest, well, obsession is a tad strong, but I certainly enjoy it. Its liberating to unleash your thoughts, ideas, and creativity on an unsuspecting digital world.

If only my friends would follow suit. Update your blogs people! I'm bored!

On another note, Sex and the City comes out tomorrow, and I really want to see it. However, I want to watch the series in its entirety first. I don't have HBO, so I've only caught bits and pieces of the story since its been in syndication. Bonny and I are planning on renting and/or buying (depending on availability) season 1 and watching it tonight. I'm excited! As a 27 year old, I feel like I can appreciate the series more now than when it initially came out. I'm older and unquestionably more fashionable than I was in college. So bring on the cosmopolitans and lets hit NYC.

Allergies or Sleep?

Why should I have to choose? I recently went to the doctor and talked to him about allergy medicine. These OTC pills just ain't cutting it. He put me on Allegra. The weekend after I started taking them, I managed to come down with a sinus infection (it still hasn't totally gone away). So I had to go back to the doctor.

Anyway, since I've been taking Allegra, I can't really say if my allergies have improved all that much. Now part of me says, 'well think where you'd be if you weren't on Allegra.' Scary. BUT, I haven't been sleeping worth a crap either. I stopped taking Allegra on Saturday. Last night I actually got some decent sleep--though I'm sure the trip to the gym and the thunderstorm at bedtime helped.

So here's my dilemma. Do I keep taking the Allegra for my allergies, and just hope that the sleeping thing works itself out, or do I ask about another medicine? Several of the prescription allergy meds claim to be effective for 24 hours, which I think is why I'm not sleeping well. Will one pill be better than another?

Or should I just go invest in a super comfy soft mattress and quit whining?

Sigh. I just don't know.

another slow friday

Good grief. Its not as bad as last Friday, but its pretty darn close. Its one of those afternoons where you click the 'check mail' button just to see if someone loves you enough to break the monotony for even a few minutes. Outlook keeps making the new mail noise, but its all spam. Its irritating.

I've checked everyone's blog, I'm current with the news, both local and national.

Its sad when you can't even find stuff on the internet to keep you entertained.

Get me out of here...

Veggies and BBQ

This week is National Vegetarian Week. I think I read about it on peta's website about a month ago. And no, I'm not a crazy 'free all the animals, lets eat carrots!' kind of person. I have no problem having chicken or a hamburger for dinner, because those animals are raised and bred for food. They're not somebody's pets. However, the unethical treatment of animals is irresponsible and cruel, and that needs to stop.

I decided to make a 5 day pledge to go vegetarian. I'm only doing 5 days, because its Memorial Day weekend. Who's bright idea was it to have NVW lead into Memorial Day? That's just crazy. Anyway. Carol and Bonny have joined me as well, and it actually hasn't been hard to stick to. I've had spaghetti, portabella mushroom fajitas, salad, homemade pizza...good stuff!

Today, however, we are having a BBQ at work. They've brought in meat from Hard 8 BBQ. Pork chops, jalapeno sausage, brisket. I'm drooling. BUT its NVW and I'm sticking to it, dang it. I brought salad, and I plan on loading up on corn and potato salad and beans. I did bring a tupperware container though.

Pork chops for breakfast!

Soap Box

Ok. So I was just on the weather page checking out how hot its supposed to be in the next few days, and I see a poll.

Who is most to blame for America's obesity problem?
1) the individual
2) the fast food companies
3) our 'more is more' culture
4) other

My vote lies somewhere between the individual and fast food companies. Yes, we should be responsible for what we choose to put in our bodies. However...lets look at a few examples, shall we?

McDonalds:
Quarter Pounder with Cheese
Large fries
Large soda (not diet)

The total calories here add up to 1390. Fat? 56 grams. Sodium? 1520 mg. That's insanity! You would be consuming 87% of your daily value of fat, and 64% of your sodium. In one meal.

Ok, well, they have healthier options. You could get a salad! Ok, how about the Premium Southwest Salad with crispy chicken? 450 calories, 21 grams of fat, and 970mg of sodium. That's not too bad. Now you could go with the grilled chicken and shave off 130 calories, but you're still at 9 grams of fat, and no less sodium. Make sure you opt for fat free salad dressing.

Quizno's
On their website they boast 8 subs that have less than 500 calories. They don't, however, tell you how much fat or sodium or fiber they contain. Hmm.

Taco Bueno
Chicken Nacho Salad sounds like a healthy choice, right? Wrong.
713 calories, 43g of fat, 1911mg of sodium. ACK!

If you're more in the mood for a Taco Salad, why not try the Beef variety? It only has 1043 calories, 75g of fat, and 1705mg of sodium. GOOD LORD. 75 grams of fat. In a salad.

Of course, there's always Subway. But why is Subway one of the only healthy alternatives out there? Sure you can sometimes find healthy choices at other fast food joints, but who wants to eat salad all the time?

If I can make dinner at home that is tasty and healthy, why is it so hard for fast food places? Sure, I can drive right on by Whataburger, Arby's, Taco Bell, blah blah blah...but what if those places started offering healthy choices in the menus? Maybe baked fries instead of grease fried? Or burgers made with lean meat? I'd even be willing to pay a bit more.

So. Who is most to blame for America's obesity problem?

Autumn

And a few of Autumn.

Sarah

Ok, I couldn't help it. Here are a few of my favorites from Saturday. Don't steal. Its not nice.

the weekend

Saturday was definitely as busy as I thought it would be. But it was a fun busy.

Photo shoot at 2:30. Me driving nervously to ACU, trying not to think about throwing up. Met Bonny there a few minutes early, and she managed to calm me down a bit. By the time Carol, Sarah, and her Mom showed up, I was immediately fine, and off we went. We started off in the WPAC, next to the wall of windows. Took a few inside and out, some on the stairs, and then we walked over to the Jacob's Dream sculpture garden. Its beautiful!! I hadn't really had the chance to check it out--as I'm rarely on the north side of town anymore. We then trekked over to Minter Park and wandered around there for a bit, shot a few inside the Elks Art Center, and then made our way to Shades of Hope in Buffalo Gap. They have a beautiful garden area, with a gazebo, white picket fences, benches, a fountain, and quaint little swings. Adorable. The weather was wonderful, though I wish the sun would have come out a little earlier. I'll probably wait to post these until the wedding is over. I would hate for the groom to somehow happen across these (though I'm sure the chance of that happening is pretty slim).

The bride and party left just after 5, and Bonny and I stayed to wait on the prom-goers. One of the girl's at work hired me to take photos of her daughter/date/and friends. We got some really cute shots of the couple, the candid ones were definitely my favorites. I'll try to post a few of those this afternoon.

Mucho thanks to Bonny for being my assistant. She helped me out tremendously. I had a blast, and I hope everyone else did too. The camera was fantastic. Very easy to zoom in and out, focus, adjust, and everything else. I'm extremely happy with it.

Yay!

Finally Friday....lalalala.

I'm feeling better today, probably operating at about 70%. If I'd been able to go to sleep last night at a decent hour (which resulted in NOT wanting to get up this morning), I'd be better. But oh well. Its FRIDAY.

Got a crazy busy Saturday ahead of me, but I'm very excited. My friend Carol has a sister that's getting married this summer, and she asked me to do her bridal portraits. Yay!! I'm very excited...all the different cool places to go (yes, even in Abilene). MAN. Hopefully she's willing to trust me. I might be crazy.

I'm also doing some prom photos for one of the accounting girl's daughters. Bonny has agreed to be my sidekick, which I'm very thankful for. She's got a great eye.

I get to use my new camera this weekend...WOOHOO! I got a Sony a200 last week at Circuit City. I've been researching for weeks, trying to figure out what will work best for me. I looked at the Nikons, I looked at the Canons, and I just decided that I really loved my Sony CyberShot. It takes amazing photos, especially for a 5.1. I went with a Sony. So far I'm very pleased, its light and well-balanced, easy to maneuver. I'm not extremely impressed with the stock lens (my 5.1 had a 12x digital zoom), but that's to be expected. Gotta save up for really great lenses.

On another artistic note, I've been itching to get back in the studio and start working on pottery stuff again. Its been a little over a month. I've got several pieces in my head that I want to make, and I've got a bunch that I need to glaze. Maybe tonight. I'm going to be the "Featured Artist" at the Cockerell Gallery again next month, which is very exciting. I've got a few more photos to put up, but I'd really like to have some new pottery pieces as well. Maybe a painting. Who knows...

drugs? yes please.

I hate being sick. Especially when I have to go to work everyday. It wasn't such a huge thing when I made my own schedule. Don't feel good? Clear the day, stay at home, sleep it off. Can't do that now though, not with a big girl job.

SO...yesterday sucked. Today sucks more. I took my lunch break (plus an hour) to go to the doctor, so he could tell me I was sick. Duh. Gave me a shot, 2 prescriptions and sent me on my way. I foolishly headed straight for Wal-Mart, and it took them 45 minutes to fill my stupid prescription. Had I not been feeling like a wad of total and complete crap (and looking like a druggie with my nose all red), I would have appreciated the time away from the office. Alas, it was not a welcome break.

So the lady finally is ringing up my purchases, and it is then that I discover the $35 cough medicine my doctor prescribed. Too late to change my mind, too annoyed to pitch a fit, I swallowed the price tag and took my much needed drugs with me. I'm already on the antibiotics, but the cough medicine is reserved for bedtime. You know, no operating heavy machinery and whatnot. Whatever. I'm going straight home to play with the bucket lift in our backyard.

Take that $35 cough medicine!

sorry

Yeah, so life has been a bit crazy for the past week. I promise I'll post the rest of the info on our NYC trip.

And I bought a new camera.

And I was the featured artist in my gallery for the month of May, and we had Artwalk last night.

Promise I'll get to all this. Soon(ish).

Going to the Taste Addison festival this weekend. VERY excited about that. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals (my newest musical obsession) and the Black Crowes are playing Saturday night. Fantastic food, arts & crafts, cooking demos, wine tasting, AND awesome music? YES PLEASE.

If you're in the area, swing by Addison. Tickets are only $5 if you're in before 5.