Hot Dogs with Relish

Joelle said around mid-afternoon on September 8, 2007

Oh. Hello!

Went to the Weinerschnitzel Weiner Nationals this morning and took over 300 photos with my Nikon D80.  I posted my favorites.  I totally had a blast. I almost changed my mind about going because it was so early and I didn’t want to deal with potential crowds, but it was absolutely one of the best ways to start a day.  Really sweet dogs, really nice people and all kinds of cuteness!

The Dying of the Light

Joelle said at some point on September 6, 2007

I read that Luciano Pavarotti passed away this morning from pancreatic cancer.  I didn’t realize he was ill until yesterday and with the outlook grave, I thought perhaps he might not make it much longer.  With cancer, when they say “grave”, they mean it.  I know this from personal experience.

I’m saddened by this death, though, moreso than I thought.  Obviously, it’s a sad thing when anyone passes on, so my sympathies are with his family and loved ones, but as a singer and musician, the passing of Pavarotti seems surreal.  I’ve heard the name Pavarotti ever since I was a child, through my years as a classical singer and in my mid-twenties when I went through a brief opera phase, exploring it more from a listening standpoint than a performance aspect.  Pavarotti is like the gold standard of opera singers. When you think opera, I think most people probably think of Pavarotti. Even if you don’t like or listen to opera, you know who Luciano Pavarotti is.

It always surprises me when celebrity deaths affect me outside of the usual, “Wow, that’s sad.” It’s not like I knew him or even listened to him very often.  It’s the passing of a fixture, a legend that kind of takes me off-guard.  While opera and his fans have experienced a great loss, his suffering is blissfully over and I can only hope his family receives some peace and solace from that.

Royal Crown Review

Joelle said in the early afternoon on September 5, 2007

1955

The building I live in was built in 1955.  I was discussing the old wiring with my cable guy today and he found this under the building.  He came back, flipped it over and said, “Yup!  1955!” and sure enough, there’s a ‘55 embossed on the bottom of the bottle.  He said, “I thought you’d like this.” And I totally do!

I’m not sure how he knew, though…

This Sums Up Yesterday

Joelle said in the early morning on September 5, 2007

achewood via Ross — you know me well, sir.

Next Season: Tie-Dyed Plus-Size Catsuits

Joelle said around lunch time on September 4, 2007

The other day I saw a woman wearing acid wash, denim-esque spandex bike shorts (with a short top, but that’s not the point).  I can only imagine she bought them at a Wal-Mart or some other equally heinous place that offers low quality, unflattering “American” fashion sewn by Chinese girls for slave wages. But, I digress.

I had to wonder about the marketing and creative meetings that went behind those bike shorts.  I envision a table full of right-wing Wal-mart yahoos, all men, throwing out ideas for the new women’s fashion line.

“We need a short,” some honcho gestures, “that makes our wives looks as sexually unappealing as humanly possible so we can justify sleeping with our secretaries.”

Another guy pipes up, “Right, Jim!  They’ve got to be comfortable or else our wives won’t wear them. How about spandex?”

“Ok, but they should look like something she might wear in public, something she can run to store in.  What if we made them spandex that look like jeans? Denim spandex!”, the first guy says, with awe at his own idea.

Some other low-ranking guy throws in his two cents, “We should make them look stylish.  What about acid-wash denim spandex?!”

Meeting adjourned.

And lo, this woman’s unfortunate outfit was born.  Of course, this doesn’t account for her choice to purchase them and wear them, but hey, that’s on her.  I can’t even imagine a scenario for anything that twisted.