But his dad HATES broccoli*

"My curse will make him bloat like broccoli. Bush will feel unease during the visit," someone named Ki Gendeng Pamungkas told The Jakarta Post after performing a black-magic ritual during the president's recent trip to Asia. The curse required the blood of a snake, a goat and a crow.

From the looks of this photo, perhaps it worked?

Seriously, I don't know which is funnier -- the broccoli quip or the photo. It's like he's channeling Monty Burns and Austin Powers all at once. Oh, behave!

*The first President Bush banned broccoli from the White House and Air Force One: "I'm president of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli!"

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday today to Michael! He's in Oregon for the Ducks-Beavers game, so we celebrated a few days early. Our little neighbor Grayson and his parents joined us for squash-roasted garlic risotto and too-sweet birthday cake.

Go Ducks!

Getting to know you

If you've been reading much, you've probably seen references to my cousin "Lynryd" and wondered "What the flip?" -- especially why it is that Lynryd is a she.

To kick off a new occasional feature, meet "Lynryd," better known as Linda, No. 11. among the 16 first cousins (I'm No. 14). She's also No. 6 of eight "Madison Kids," a name fashioned by our grandma when the kids lived in Madison, Ind., in the 1970s with their folks, Homer and Mary Helen. It was a lot easier than saying Gary, Patty, Karen, Brenda, John, Linda, Mark and Sharon. Still is, and it's what I -- lovingly, of course -- call them collectively to this day.

Linda lives in Indiana and works for the federal government. She is mom to Ryan, who's in the Army Reserve and preparing to study criminal justice, and middle-schooler Blake. She's also an aunt several times over, most recently to baby sister Sharon's first child, Jack Cooper. Jack was born on his due date of Oct. 18, making him, like Linda and our grandma Lenore, a Libra.

1. What was it like growing up one of eight "Madison Kids"?

When I was growing up, being part of 8 didn’t seem any different to me than any other family except there was always a lot of turmoil. There seemed to be someone always arguing. Now, being part of a family with 8 kids is unheard of. Between us, there is a lot more companionship and a lot less fighting. Of course, you know we all love to get together and play poker. I remember one evening you came over to my Mom and Dad’s during a poker game and I can still hear you looking around saying “sensory overload” because everyone was talking all at once and there were so many of us crammed in the kitchen. That still cracks me up.

[Editor's note: I don't remember the "sensory overload" comment; all I know is, as an only child, I always wanted to be an honorary Madison Kid.]

2. Aside from "Lynryd," there've been nicknames for your sibs and at least one cousin. Give me examples, and who started the trend?

I have no idea who, where or exactly when this “name changing” trend started. I know I have been called “Lynryd” for over 30 years. It has been shortened (for the most part) from Lynyrd Sknyrd. Maybe, that’s when the band was created? Some of my brothers and sisters had some creative nicknames, such as a sister we called “Bernard,” but we have since changed that to “Barn Yard” due to her country tendencies. Another brother we called “Johnna” and yet another brother we called “Murtha” and even at times extended that to “Murtha Mucker Mutt”. I’m sure this was created by someone in the 8 as just another teasing method. (Probably Brenda.)

[Ed. note: "Bernard" would be Brenda; "Murtha" would be Mark; "Johnna" would be John and was probably funny to us when we were kids because of our girl cousin Jahna. I'm pretty sure Sharon is "Sherman." And Lynyrd failed to mention I was "Angus," though it's fairly coincidental we named our dog Angus, and I had a childhood dog named Rufus who was almost named Angus.]

3. What is your fondest memory of me? (Try not to embarrass me too much, if possible.)

HMMMM…………………fondest memory………It would have to be being lucky enough to stay the night at Grandma's with you and staying up eating SpaghettiOs, Little Debbies and anything else we could find in the pantry at 3:00 a.m. We never actually got to play with too many of your toys because I was super clumsy and would end up breaking something, but we always found something to do for hours on end.

4. You served in the Army and lived overseas. Tell me about some of your memorable travels. What's your favorite city among those you've seen?

My favorite country would be Switzerland because it’s so beautiful. I have been numerous times. Each time was breathtaking. I have been downhill skiing there and even camping at the foot of the Alps. Another favorite would be Holland. I love the sea, and the countryside is so clean.

5. What are some of your favorite movies?

"An Officer and a Gentleman," "Saturday Night Fever," "Clueless," "Home Alone"

6. Best concerts you've ever seen?

Bruce Springsteen at Wembley Stadium, London, England; Kid Rock in Louisville, Ky.

7. How do you spend your free time?

Attending sporting events that son is involved in, catching up with friends, hosting poker parties, going to the movies, experiencing some of the eclectic dining in Louisville and of course every now and then bar hopping. I also usher at Actors Theatre of Louisville for fun.

8. Why are you so funny?

Der?

[Ed. note: She really is. Trust me.]

9. What's something you've never done but always wanted to?

Parasail, fly in an F-14, take an Alaskan Cruise, travel to Hong Kong, Hawaii …………………

10. What's your favorite "Brady Bunch" episode?

I can’t remember the episodes -- the only thing I can remember of one episode is Peter saying “pork chops and applesauce.”

[Ed. note: This episode, which originally aired Oct. 22, 1971, is titled "The Personality Kid." Synopsis found online: At a party, Peter is told he has no personality. Rather than admit he simply had a bad time at a dull party, he tries to create a new personality. He forces several personas -- including his infamous impersonation of Humphrey Bogart in describing the family's meal of pork chops and applesauce, but none of them go over well. Later, he buys a joke book, but when he tries them out at his party, he finds everyone knows the punchlines. Just as he's trying to keep his party afloat, Bobby and Cindy (who in the subplot were on a safety campaign) call a surprise fire drill, forcing everyone to flee the house.]

**********

That's it. Thanks for playing, Linda!

If anyone would like to know more about someone else or if you have question ideas for next time, let me know!

The good, the bad and the ugly

The good: Democrats have won the U.S. House and Senate, hateful Rick Santorum is out in Pennsylvania, and Colorado has elected a Democratic governor for the first time in eight years and several Democratic congressmen/women!

The bad: Not surprisingly, Colorado approved a gay-marriage ban. I was holding out hope, though, that people could at least see it in their hearts to approve a domestic-partnership measure to offer couples some legal protections. At this writing, it's still undecided, with many Denver votes (approving the measure about 2-1) yet to be counted, but I don't think we can pull it off.

The most disgusting part is that Ted Haggard, the fallen leader of the evangelical New Life Church in Colorado Springs and the biggest hypocrite I can think of at the moment, was instrumental in shaping the gay-marriage ban. People apparently are threatened by gay marriage but not by a meth-head pastor who breaks his wedding vows to sneak around with a gay male prostitute. I couldn't care less about his sexual orientation, but you'd think he could've at least gotten his "experimentation" out of the way in Bible college before going on to deceive a wife and a slew of kids.

The ugly: Ah, the democratic process. Michael and I said we'd never vote on machines again after we did in New Mexico, so we went the absentee route. Simple, effective and no wait on Election Day. Turns out it doesn't really matter what you do, as your vote may or may not get counted, and the people who do wait in line eventually give up after waiting three hours for broken machines and/or people who don't know how to run them. What's it going to take to get some true voting reform in this country?

Sleeping baby

Congratulations to my cousin Sharon and her husband, Brian, on the arrival of Jack! He was born on his due date of Oct. 18.

Better than Molly Ringwald

In the weird-compliment category, I was just walking the dogs, and a guy said, "Ma'am, you're not just pretty in pink [I was wearing a pink fleece], you're absolutely gorgeous." I said thanks. "Don't thank me, thank him," he said, pointing heavenward. "Thank the big-spirit guy."

Ah, just another day of life in the city.

Stealing people's blogs

My little friend Lucy Mei in Kentucky has to be the hippest trick-or-treater ever! Her mom, Mal, says Lucy has been doing the Jeannie armfold and blink for a while now, though I am guessing her mom's love of pop culture must've come into play there somewhere.

I'm off work this Halloween and will be doling out candy for the first time in years, but I would bet money that none of the Denver kids will be quite this stylin'.

What a difference two days makes

Two days ago, we had probably 4-6 inches of snow in the backyard. Today it's 66 and sunny, a bit warmer than yesterday, which was in the high 50s. I have never experienced such crazy weather as here.

If you heard about the 2 feet of snow and blizzard conditions a couple of days ago, it was all around Denver but not here. The mountains got dumped on, Colorado Springs south to New Mexico got hit, and areas to our east and west did too. We haven't experienced any severe weather in the city yet. Just give it time. And then a few days to go away, become beautiful outside and start all over again.

Halloween silliness

I know most of you hate seeing dogs in costumes, but I'm a sucker for them. These are my favorites from an e-mail forwarded by cousin Lynyrd (a master forwarder if ever there was one).

Speaking of Lynyrd's forwards, go here to carve a virtual pumpkin!

Hello, it's me ...

... which reminds me, one of the things I meant to write about and never did was seeing the New Cars (fronted by Todd Rundgren, thus the song reference) and Blondie this summer. Oh, well.

Anyway, yes, I'm still here and more of a blogging slug than ever. I have a feeling that will change with the weather since I'll be spending more time indoors. As you can see from this backyard photo, we are currently experiencing our third snow of the season.

I am not used to snow this early in the year. Then again, yesterday and a couple of days before that, it was in the high 60s. Around here, they say, "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes," which seems to ring pretty true.

I just tried to let the dogs out, and they looked at me like I was crazy. Both are resting comfortably in one of their many spots -- couches, chairs, futons, dog beds, dog beds, dog beds, crates ... you get the picture.

I realize while writing this that no one may see it. Since it's taken so long for an update, you've probably all quit checking by now. Then again, that doesn't stop me from checking my favorite blogs on a regular basis.

Flickr update

While going through the computer to delete files and free up some memory, I found a couple of scanned celeb photos, which I've added to the "Photos of me with some famous people" link at right. There are lots not accounted for, and since the scanner is boxed away in the basement, I doubt they will see the light of day anytime soon.

Vote!

For Pedro or any other candidate of your choosing. I'm guessing most of you already do, but just a gentle reminder. Michael and I sent in our applications for absentee voting, as we've heard enough crap about black boxes to want to avoid them for the rest of our lives. We voted on those machines in New Mexico, and I shudder to think that my vote could've gone for Bush, which would've been even worse than not getting counted at all. As far as I know, all states allow absentee balloting, which means you can vote from the comfort of your home and ensure a paper trail (check your local voting commission for details). Of course, if you're in Oregon, you're all voting by mail anyway. When I lived there, I lamented the loss of going to the polls to vote, but now I see it may be the way to go until they figure out a better system.

Tag, I'm it

As I said in my last brief posting, my friend Kat has tagged me to answer a few questions. She was being charitable in referring to me as a knitter. Speaking of knitters, my tagee is Ann.

Here goes:

4 jobs I've had in my life

1. Token girl at the record shop
2. Whopper-maker extraordinaire (and for SUB-minimum wage, no less!)
3. Music PR assistant (unpaid but free admission to shows!)
4. Copy editor

4 movies I would watch over and over

1. "Rushmore" (left)
2. "Urban Cowboy"
3. "Bridget Jones's Diary"
4. "Cousins"


4 places I have lived

1. Louisville, Ky. (left)
2. Salem, Ore.
3. Albuquerque, N.M.
4. Denver, Colo.




4 TV shows I have loved

1. "Six Feet Under"
2. "Freaks & Geeks"
3. "The Kids in the Hall" (left)
4. "Love, American Style"




4 places I have been on vacation


1. Disney World
2. Nantucket, Mass.
3. Amarillo, Texas (left)
4. New Orleans




4 Web sites I visit daily

1. CNN
2. Yahoo!
3. The Loaded Goat (hoping for updates!)
4. Google

4 of my favorite foods

1. Philadelphia rolls (fresh salmon & cream cheese sushi)
2. Mac & cheese (I won't insult your intelligence with a directional)
3. Breakfast burrito with Christmas (red & green) chile
4. Chocolate

4 places I would like to be right now

1. Oregon coast (even though I was just there!)
2. Greece (even though I've never been)
3. Having dinner with friends or family
4. Watching a Boomtown Rats reunion concert (Bob, if you're reading, could you please get on that?)

I'm still here!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. We're just back from a glorious week in Oregon, so I have lots of catching up to do. I've also been "tagged" by my friend Kat, which means I have to answer some questions about myself, then choose someone else. That will be my next post, but gimme a few more days!

Rocky top

To escape triple-digit temperatures last month, we took a drive to Rocky Mountain National Park, about an hour and a half away. It was about 20 degrees cooler, and at one particular elevation, I put on a sweater and pants. Notice my hot-pink Crocs. Ugly? Probably. But very comfy. Made in Niwot, Colo. The recent IPO was a smashing success.


The dogs weren't allowed on any trails in the park, but we managed to get them in a few photos. This one was taken by a middle-aged biker couple. We returned the favor and took their pic in front of the Continental Divide signage.


A beautiful view from somewhere around the top. I think the highest elevation we reached was right around 12,000 feet, about a 7,000-foot gain from Denver.


A little snow was left. During some parts of the drive, I was scared senseless because of the steep edges with no guardrails. I was literally almost in tears at one point, though I didn't tell Michael until later (he was driving; don't know if that made it better or worse for me -- I was on the side with the edges). Michael's uncle mentioned he didn't much care for that aspect of the drive either when he visited.


Angus was enthralled by ...


A chipmunk. They were cheeky and coming right up to people.


Esther had to sit out the chipmunk portion of the trip. Too much excitement for her little brain to handle, and I was afraid she'd jump over the edge going after one.

Ray of "Sunshine"

OK, if you never listen to anything else I say, please, please, please go see "Little Miss Sunshine" or add it to your Netflix queue when it comes out. It is a darkly delightful, perfect little movie. The kind that reminds you why the medium of film exists in the first place. Perfect casting in every way and a flawless movie. The audience actually clapped at the end. How often does that happen?

Side note: Denver band DeVotchka performs much of the music.

Lego loco

Thanks to Maria for this Lego link of crazy creations, including Han Solo trapped in carbonite, above. My Lego skills never made it beyond your basic, not-so-mighty-mighty brick house.

Boy in the 'hood

Our little neighbor Grayson and his parents are among our favorite Denverites. It's been fun watching him grow and seeing him learn to walk. He loves playing with Esther; she likes to bite at his pants, a la Coppertone ads. 

Git along

Last week, on a day when it wasn't in the triple digits (sigh), Michael and I went to watch agility dogs in a regional competition. These are the best shots we got -- those little rascals are fast, and you have to hit the shutter at just the right second. I especially liked the mostly bald Chinese crested (top). The star of the event was Olympian Greg Louganis, but I had my camera on the wrong setting (always something with my camera, isn't it? user error this time, though) so action shots of Mr. Mustache and his cute dog didn't turn out. The guy's in great shape, but that mustache has got to go! Doesn't work on him.

Yesterday, to escape the heat, we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park and savored weather in the 80s (60s-70s at some altitudes). Photos to come.

New friends

Michael and I made a few new friends when my mom visited a few weeks ago. At top, Swetsville Zoo in Fort Collins; the other two are from the Denver aquarium, where we visited on the 101-degree day. My lucky mom always seems to visit during heat waves. That night, we saw the Al Gore global warming movie, which seemed appropriate given the heat.

Sorry I haven't written much lately; the summer just seems to do that to me. We did get a new, cheap phone to replace the lost one. I called Cingular and the woman bent the rules for me so I didn't have to buy the $120 one.

Off to work. I have a few more photos up my sleeve that I'll post soon. Scout's honor (as a former Brownie and Girl Scout, I can say that).

AT&T, phone home

OK, I need your help. We've lost our cell phone, and our options until it's time to renew our contract in October (when we can get a better phone for cheaper) are 1. Buy a new, super-basic, low-end phone for $120 (in October with a contract renewal we could get a better phone for $75) or 2. Find a cheap or free replacement in the interim. If we can get our hands on an AT&T or Cingular Nokia, we can put in the new SIM card and use it. So, if anyone has such a phone sitting around gathering dust that they'd like to unload, please let us know. There are some relatively cheap ones locally on Craigslist , but I thought I'd put out the call, so to speak, here too.

Also, if you could e-mail me your phone number(s), that would be great, too, since all the stored numbers on the now-deactivated lost phone are gone. Thanks!

The Sundance Kid

Michael & I finagled tickets to a Robert Redford speaking engagement and "VIP" passes for a reception afterward. Unfortunately, 100-200 people also had passes to said reception, and while there was a nice dessert/champagne setup, it meant no autographs or real photo ops other than snapping pictures of him on his way out. Michael managed to get the shot of me just after I shook Redford's hand and he'd moved on to the next person.

Michael did get a brief moment with him, sending regards from a family friend who was Redford's frat brother in college. Michael's mom says the guy sends naked Christmas cards every year!

Redford's talk was enjoyable; he touched on his movie career and activism. Said he bought a 2-acre piece of land in Utah back in the day for $500 that's now part of Sundance. It's also where "Jeremiah Johnson" (my mom's favorite) was filmed. He was asked what his favorite Paul Newman food product was, and he said he didn't eat it (sounds like they are still pals, though, and I heard recently they may have a new project in the works). All in all, he seemed like a pretty well-rounded, normal, happy guy.

Also, he is fairly short; I was wearing 4-inch heels (very unusual for me), but he didn't seem much taller. Maybe 5'8"? And for a nearly 70-year-old -- whoosh! He's still got it!