Saturday, July 18, 2009

Dirty Sexy Money Returns... Kind Of

Since I used to follow Dirty Sexy Money and have covered it before on this blog (here, here, here... and here), I figured I should let any other fans of this soapy series know that ABC will be airing its final four episodes this summer... starting tonight.

That's all there is since the series was canceled, but at least we'll get some closure... which is better than nothing, I suppose. I have a feeling that the finale is going to be totally ridiculous, but since the only other thing I'm watching this summer is NYC Prep, "ridiculous" is all relative. Anyway, if you want to see how DSM ends, set your Tivos!

(By the way, for sci-fi/fantasy fans who may be interested, I've also been advised by several people to Tivo Torchwood: Children of Earth on BBC America, its premiere is on the 20th. There's been nothing but awesome buzz on this one so I'm willing to give it a shot.)


Thursday, July 16, 2009

Bad Purchases

Every time I prepare to do the laundry, I get annoyed. Not from the actual task of doing the laundry (though that's certainly not my favorite thing in the world), but rather from the constant reminder of how I wasted money on a crappy sweater from Gap. This black sweater has been at the bottom of my dirty-clothes hamper for months at this point. The reason I can't wash it is because it has to be laid out flat to dry, and there's just really no place in my condo to do that, unless I don't mind whatever's on the floor getting covered in dog hair.

Perhaps if it was actually a nice-looking sweater I would find a way to make the air-drying work (I could probably lay it on a towel on top of the counter or something). But it's kind of pointless now, because it's all pilly and fuzzy and looks like I've had it for twenty years. It's made of some weird acrylic/wool/polyester/spandex blend and basically started breaking down after the first time I wore it.

The thing is, I knew this was going to be a bad purchase... so why did I buy it? I have no idea. I guess I wanted a black sweater and thought this one would be a fast, quick and relatively cheap option. So -- as with the unflattering gaucho pants of 2007 and the sky-high-what-was-I-thinking-I'm-going-to-break-my-ankle brown heels of 2008 -- I just need to donate my black sweater to charity and be done with it.

I gave it a proper funeral (as you can see from the picture in this post), so now I no longer have to be annoyed by Crappy Black Gap Sweater. May it find a nice home with someone who has the patience to shave the pills off of it and lay it out flat to dry time and time again, because that person is certainly not me.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Another Successful Taste of Chicago Visit

The Taste of Chicago food festival has come and gone from The Windy City once more, and I still don't think my digestive system has fully recovered. This year Nerdy P was not able to join me like she has the past several years (do you recall our '06 and '07 adventures?), but my husband's parents were in town and so it was fun to go with people who had never experienced the craziness before.

Those of you following me on Twitter already know the bizarre combination of meats, starches and desserts I downed this year... but are the rest of you ready for the list? Well here it is... I had: a slice of deep-dish spinach pizza, three skewers of sesame beef, a slice of garlic cheese bread, a HUGE piece of Baklava (forgot to mention that one on Twitter), two mini-brownies and a ton of chocolate-covered caramel corn. No, I did not throw up at any point that day -- over the years I must have developed a stomach of steel! (Which, unfortunately, is very different from Abs of Steel.)




While it wasn't as hot as it's been in past years, I did end up getting freakishly sunburned on my arms, which I'm very bitter about as 1) I was carrying sunscreen in my bag but forgot to put it on, and 2) I won't be able to wear anything but long-sleeved shirts until these weird patterns fade. Grr.

Despite the sunburns, we did have a great time at the festival. The low point was seeing the scary dummy I wrote about a few days ago.

Actually, after I published that post I realized that I never mentioned how completely ridiculous it was that the guy controlling that evil-looking puppet was hidden behind a makeshift shelter. I mean, isn't the whole point of having a dummy to make it look like he's really the one talking when you're sitting next to him? I guess whoever was in the black shack had absolutely no ventriloquial (yes, that's a word, I looked it up) skills. He just wanted to haunt everyone's dreams for the rest of eternity.

If he's there next year I'm going to bust down his hideout and shoo him away. Unless The Frozen S'more returns (it wasn't there this year), then I'll be too busy stuffing my face with those.

Monday, July 06, 2009

My Second Worst Nightmare

Back in January I wrote about my worst nightmare, zombies on the loose. This past weekend at the Taste of Chicago I unfortunately realized what my Worst Nightmare Runner-Up would be: evil clowns, dolls and dummies on the loose.

Allow me to explain. From afar this ventriloquist's booth didn't look too disturbing. Or at least I figured it couldn't be that scary since there were little kids crowded around the set-up.


Since the dummy was turned away from me and I saw his pretty normal-looking Howdy Doody friend sitting off to the side on the ground, I moved closer.


Still not really focusing on the dummy's face, I read his sign, which said, "For a quarter (or change) I will tell you a joke or take a picture with ya."

Then I took a good look at the tiny mannequin's mug. Mistake! I was absolutely horrified. I mean seriously, who creates a dummy that looks like this?


Forget Chucky, this guy is evil!

Needless to say, I didn't sleep well that night. At first I thought it was from all the food I ate at the festival (more on that some other time), but now I realize that I was obviously haunted by the face above. And tonight you will be, too. Aren't you glad I shared it with you?

(On a related note, only a few minutes ago it hit me that perhaps this dummy was meant to look like Michael Jackson, what with the hat, outfit, white socks and all (though they must have been fresh out of stock at the sequined glove store). That's no way to pay your respects, Mr. Ventriloquist!)