May 11, 2012

Started relaxing with PSPX3 but then went to Culver's with Pete instead had good food & then stopped off at Walgreens on the way home. Xoco's 3rd birthday tomorrow!

Closet:

Organize your sock drawer. Match up pairs of socks. Toss any socks that don't have a match. Keep only the number of pairs you actually wear. Many people have sock drawers jammed full. Think about your average week of sock wearing, how many pairs do you actually need?

Drinkers & non-drinkers:

Question: I have a few friends who rarely drink or are recovering alcoholics, as well as those, like myself, who enjoy a cocktail or glass of wine with dinner. Is it okay to mix these 2 groups, or should I try to entertain them separately?

Answer: It's fine to mix drinkers & teetotalers, but be careful not to make the non-drinkers feel conspicuous. Stock up on non-alcoholic beverages & serve them just as you normally do. You could also offer garnishes like lemon & lime slices, if you think these would enhance the beverages, Provide alternatives with meals. Most non-drinking guests will want water, but they may also enjoy coffee or iced tea. If you're having champagne, chill a bottle of sparkling grape juice as well.

EVERY time you pick up a pot on your patio, you find a pill bug. You should get rid of these mischievous rascals as quickly as possible before they do a lot of harm, right?

EW! You have mildew attacking your beautiful begonias in your charming window boxes! How do you get rid of it?

The mildew that attacks begonias is hard to get rid of. Infected plants can seldom be cured, & removing them won't remove the spores left behind - in the soil, on plant debris, & on surfaces nearby.

To make your window boxes safe for begonias, empty them, &, wearing protective gloves, wash them with a solution of 2 tbsp. of bleach in a gal. of water (don't use bleach on treated wood). Fill the boxes with fresh potting material, choosing a light, quick-draining mixture formulated for begonias, them bring in a new mildew-free team. Begonias look prettiest when they are crowded, but mildew sees a closed space as an open door. It's better to leave plenty of room between plants for air to circulate. It also helps to let the top inch of soil dry out between watering. Mildew thrives in the humid conditions created by damp surface soil. Cleaning the boxes yearly will probably let you keep planting begonias.

Fecund:

1: Fruitful in offspring or vegetation : prolific. 2: Intellectually productive or inventive to a marked degree.

A particularly gecund & well-bred mare will fetch a very high price in the horse market.

"Fecund" & its synonyms "fruitful" & "fertile" all mean producing or capable of producing offspring or fruit - literally or figuratively. "fecund" applies to things that yield offspring, fruit, or results in abundance or with rapidity ("a fecund herd" or "a fecund imagination. "Fruitful" emphasizes abundance, too, & often adds the implication that the results attained are desirable or useful (fruitful plains" or"a fruitful discussion"). "Fertile" implies the power to reproduce ("a fertile woman") or the power to assist in reproduction, growth, or development ("fertile soil" or "a fertile climate for artists").

George Clooney makes return appearance on ER (2000):

On this day in 2000, in a sixth season episode of the NBC television drama ER entitled “Such Sweet Sorrow,” Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) watches one of her patients, a woman dying from cancer, bid goodbye to her family. Realizing that life is too short to not take chances, Carol rushes out of Chicago’s County General Hospital and boards a plane to Seattle to pursue her former and future love, Dr. Doug Ross (George Clooney). Clooney had left the popular show in 1998 and his appearance in the May 11 episode was a surprise cameo; his five seasons playing Ross on ER had provided a launching pad to big-screen stardom and a solid place on Hollywood’s A-list.

Clooney grew up around Cincinnati in an entertainment family: His father, Nick, was a successful talk- and game-show host and the brother of the singer Rosemary Clooney. George moved to Los Angeles in 1982 after a failed attempt to play pro basketball and a stint studying journalism at Northern Kentucky University. He signed a contract with Warner Brothers that landed him in several TV pilots, and first gained notice in supporting roles on series like Facts of Life, Roseanne and Sisters. In 1994, he was cast in a new medical-themed drama, created by Michael Crichton and produced (at least in its first season) by Steven Spielberg. The show was called ER (not to be confused with E/R, a short-lived sitcom on which Clooney appeared in 1984-85).

When ER premiered on September 19, 1994, it became an immediate hit. As the drinking, womanizing yet still sympathetic Doug Ross, Clooney emerged as the show’s biggest breakout star. Over the course of five seasons, he shot to big-screen stardom as well, thanks largely to starring turns in Out of Sight (1998) and the big-budget films Batman & Robin (1997) and The Perfect Storm (2000). Clooney left ER in February 1998; in his last episode, “The Storm, Part 2,” Ross resigns from County General before being fired, after he is involved in a patient’s death.

Clooney would become known for his frequent collaboration with the director Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, the smash 2001 hit Ocean’s Eleven and its two sequels, 2006’s The Good German), with whom he teamed to establish a production company, Section Eight. Clooney has also made several films with Joel and Ethan Coen (2000’s O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 2003’s Intolerable Cruelty and 2008’s Burn After Reading). He moved behind the camera to direct his first film, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, in 2002. In 2006, Clooney won an Academy Award for his supporting performance in the Middle East spy drama Syriana; he was also nominated that same year for Best Director for Good Night and Good Luck, about the legendary TV newsman Edward R. Murrow and his conflict with Senator Joseph McCarthy. In 2008, Clooney garnered another Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actor, for Michael Clayton. A two-time winner of People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” title, Clooney has also emerged as one of Hollywood’s most visible political activists, speaking out against the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and traveling to Sudan as a United Nations “Messenger for Peace” in 2008.

In addition to Clooney’s brief return, “Such Sweet Sorrow” was the final episode for Margulies, also part of ER’s inaugural ensemble. Other members of the acclaimed show’s cast over the years have included Anthony Edwards, Sherry Stringfield, Noah Wyle, Eriq La Salle, Laura Innes, Maura Tierney and Goran Visnjic. At the peak of its popularity, the show boasted some 40 million viewers. It was also the network’s most expensive series, with the price tag for a single episode reaching as high as $13 million (a record set early on in the show’s run). According to a report in USA Today, NBC announced in April 2008 that ER will end its run in 2009, after 15 seasons and 327 episodes.

I don't own single stocks, & I won't suggest them as part of a good investment plan. The fact is that single stock investments don't consistently generate returns like good, growth stock mutual funds. If, for some reason you're in love with the idea of owning stock, I'd suggest that you limit your single stocks to no more than 10% of your investment portfolio.

Microwave ovens:

Kids can prepare their own hot food, & they suddenly like vegetables (when cheese is easily melted on them).

Them Idiots! Whirled Tour:

Catch Blue Collar Comedy Tour vets Bill Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy in a hilarious sold-out show, filmed live in 2011. The trio riffs on everything from marriage and family to colonoscopies.

The Snack App by Everyday Health, Inc.
Hungry? The new Snack App from the No. 1 health site, EverydayHealth.com, helps you choose the perfect snack to satisfy your craving.
The Snack App sorts hundreds of snacks by calorie counts – 50, 100, or 200 – and by type of craving: salty, sweet, crunchy, cheesy, creamy, and more. Just tell the app what you want, and you’ll get a list of tasty snack ideas, complete with caloric and nutritional information. Feeling guilty after your snack? The Snack App also gives you simple ways to burn the calories you just consumed.
The Snack App includes:
- Hundreds of 50-calorie, 100-calorie, and 200-calorie snack ideas
- Tons of salty, sweet, crunchy, cheesy, creamy, sinful, healthy, late night, and on-the-go snack options
- A Surprise Me! category for times when you just can’t pinpoint your craving
- Plenty of ideas for burning calories, from having sex to playing ping pong
- New tips every day to help you make healthier snack choices
- Groups and discussions, so you can share snack ideas and weight-loss tricks with other people

What is kept in an arctic “doomsday vault” at the end of a tunnel hundreds of feet beneath the permafrost on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen?

What Revolutionary War hero was the inspiration behind actor Marion Morrison’s name change to John Wayne?

The colonial general known as “Mad Anthony” Wayne. Director Raoul Walsh gave the young actor the general’s last name when he signed him for his first starring role, in the 1930 film The Big Trail.

Which character was created 1st, 2nd, & 3rd?

A. Jolly Green Giant

B. Paul Bunyan

C. The Giant in "Jack & the Beanstalk"

Which country consumes the most, 2nd most, & 3rd most beer?

A. Germany

B. Czech Republic

C. Ireland

BCA. Beer is the world's oldest & most popular alcoholic beverage, selling more than 35 billion gallons per year. I'll drink to that!

Women living in wealthy neighborhoods are more likely to be unhappy with their bodies. Your neighborhood isn't wealthy enough to warrant rice cakes!