Overheard

Person A to Person B: "I find you attactive in an odd sort of way."

Person C to Person B: "You look like a pedophile."

Person D to Person B: "You look really hot with that mustache. Can I unbutton your shirt? I think you look really hot."
Person B to Person D: "A fake mustache turns you on? If I had only known after all of these years!"

Friday Flashback

I'm having a flashback tonight to a flashback on Sunday which was a flashback to the '80s. You see...

On Sunday while I was having the oil changed in The Cal Mobile I heard three songs in a row that me think of my youth. Here are the songs;

1. Don't You Want Me Baby by Human League

2. It's Still Rock 'n Roll To Me by Billy Joel

3. Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood

I'm sure there were others but those are the only songs I remember hearing. Old age ya know.

Overheard

"I don't trust anyone who doesn't like grits."

"I have a cousin who at any point in his life could have been a star on Hee Haw." "Saaaaaa-LUTE!"

Thanksgiving

Gratitude is the memory of the heart.
-Jean Baptiste Massieu

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America. Some people will spend the day with their family. Some will spend it watching football games. Others will watch a parade or be in a parade. Some may do a fun run first thing in the morning before they sit down to a big meal. Some people may spend the day alone.

However you spend your day, I hope it is a good day for you. I hope that you will take a moment to find something that you are thankful even for.

I am sure Dear Abby will run her yearly Thanksgiving Day column tomorrow but just in case you miss it here is part of it:

DEAR READERS: By popular demand, here is my traditional Thanksgiving column:
Today is Thanksgiving Day, so take a few minutes to reflect upon all the things for which you are thankful.

How's your health? Not so good? Well, thank God you've lived this long. A lot of people haven't. You're hurting? Thousands -- maybe millions -- are hurting even more. (Have you ever visited a veterans hospital? Or a rehabilitation clinic for crippled children?)

If you awakened this morning and were able to hear the birds sing, use your vocal cords to utter human sounds, walk to the breakfast table on two good legs, and read the newspaper with two good eyes, praise the Lord! A lot of people couldn't.

How's your pocketbook? Thin? Well, most of the world is a lot poorer. No pensions. No welfare. No food stamps. No Social Security. In fact, one-third of the people in the world will go to bed hungry tonight.

Are you lonely? The way to have a friend is to be one. If nobody calls you, pick up the phone and call someone.

Are you concerned about your country's future? Hooray! Our system has been saved by such concern. Your country may not be a rose garden, but neither is it a patch of weeds.

Freedom rings! Look and listen. You can still worship at the church of your choice, cast a secret ballot, and even criticize your government without fearing a knock on the head or a knock on the door at midnight. And if you want to live under a different system, you are free to go. There are no walls or fences -- nothing to keep you here...

Happy Thanksgiving Day everyone!

Overhead

At a party last night:

"I stopped going there because they cleaned up the place."

Sign of the times?

On Friday night while I was driving home from work and chatting with Friend G, I saw this sign. I abruptly ended the conversation, pulled into the gasoline station filled up The Cal Mobile for less than $26.00!!!! THAT hasn't happened in a LONG time.

John F. Kennedy

Today marks the 45th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. A few years back it was hoped that people would not commemorate the anniversary of his death but would celebrate his life on the anniversary of his birth (May 29).

I was only 2 years old when JKF died. I don't have much of a recollection of that day. What I know about that day is what was told to me.

I do know that I was with my maternal grandparents on that day while my parents were at work. I have been told that pretty much everything came to a stop. It was a devastating day.

My Aunt Mary Lou and her boyfriend (who is now my Uncle Raymond) at had gone to Carswell Air Force Base in Ft. Worth to wait for the arrival of the John and Jackie. They had been in Houston earlier in the day and flew to Ft. Worth to spend the night.

My aunt said that when the Kennedys arrived it was like they were movie stars. There was a large crowd waiting for them and there were bright lights and photographers everywhere.

The Kennedys spent the night at The Texas Hotel (which has since been renamed several times but the building is still used as a hotel in Ft. Worth). They attended a breakfast banquet at the hotel and then flew from Carswell AFB to Dallas Love Field.

The rest is history.

My sister who was four years old does remember the headline the next day on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram because she said the point size for the font was really big.

I have commented before about the effect of 9/11 on me and I can only imagine that many people felt the same way the day that Kennedy was assassinated.

There are so many things I could comment on (Jackie planning his funeral; Lyndon Baines Johnson being sworn in on Air Force One by Sarah Hughes; knowing where Lee Harvey Oswald is buried; Oswald's mother always insisting that he was innocent; visiting Kennedy's grave/eternal flame at the age of 13) but instead I have decided to show this video: What The World Needs Now/Abraham, Martin & John.

Sticky & Sweet @ Minute Maid Park

Madge blew into town this weekend. Even though she said she had never been here (maybe she meant Minute Maid Park and not Houston) we knew better. I wasn't here when Blonde Ambition came to town (although I saw it in Dallas) but it is documented in Truth or Dare that she was here and staying at the Omni. I figured this time around she would stay at Hotel Icon (because she is an icon), Hotel ZaZa, St. Regis or Four Seasons. Turns out she was at Four Seasons and her crew was at The Hyatt.

So she was spitting distance from the Pre-Madonna Party I went to at Houston House Mike's apartment. While I was Pre-Madonnaing, KIM (Kenny In Montrose) got a lesson on why it is good to have a Crackberry AND be on FaceBook. In a matter of minutes, the following picture was, uploaded and posted on FaceBook.

Tall Todd and I both discussed how easy it is to keep up with folks via FaceBook. However, some status updates are a bit cryptic

Neighbor Nina and Friend Cassie showed up at the Pre-Madonna Party and wowed the crowd with the outfits. I told them to strike a pose. And they did.

They brought some accessories along with them so I donned some sunglasses and a halo.

Neighbor Nina and Friend Cassie had floor seats and took the following photos. I was Club Level (near a bathroom and a bar) and life was good.

Madge was two hours late taking the stage. Geez...she was staying right down the street. I figure she gets a cut of the bar tab which if that is the case, she made out really well.

She didn't do many of her vintage songs. As expected, it was heavy with Hard Candy songs. I like Hard Candy so I was fine with her selection.

She took ONE, yes ONE, request from an audience member and what does goofus ask for? Secret. Yes, Secret from Bedtime Stories. I think that was her lowest selling cd and he asks for a song from it? LOL I would have said, Material Girl or Express Yourself. OY!

At first I thought it was odd that she sang You Must Love Me as her selection from Evita and then I remembered that she wrote the song! The queen of self-promotion was self-promoting.

Another odd thing was that there wasn't an encore. When she left the stage, Holiday started to play and I got excited and then the lights came up. ?????

I enjoyed the trip to the candy shop and the group I was with, we all needed insulin shots when we left. We danced. We laughed. We chatted. We people-watched. We drank copius amounts of vodka while we were at the candy store. Maybe that is why we had such a good time.

=

Today across the U.S.A. people gathered in various cities (I think approximately 135) to rally against what happened in California on election day.

from Wiki:
Proposition 8 was a California State ballot proposition that amended the state Constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman. It overrode a recent California Supreme Court decision that had recognized same-sex marriage in California as a fundamental right. The official ballot title language for Proposition 8 is "Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry." The entirety of the text to be added to the constitution was: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

The campaigns for and against Proposition 8 raised $35.8 million and $37.6 million, respectively, becoming the highest-funded campaign on any state ballot that day and surpassing every campaign in the country in spending except the presidential contest. The proponents argued for exclusively heterosexual marriage while claiming that failure to change the constitution would require changes to school curriculum and threaten church tax benefits. The opponents argued that eliminating the rights of any Californian and mandating that one group of people be treated differently from everyone else was unfair and wrong.

Voters in Arizona, Arkansas & Florida also weighed in on the issue on the same day. So people on both sides of the issue got fired up. What's odd about all of this is that on the day that Americans elected the first African-American as President, some citizens decided to deny rights to other citizens. How far have we really come?

At the urging of David Dust, a group of Dust Bunnies joined the rally in Houston. We got there around 12:00p.m. and people were just arriving (as you can tell by the first few photos). My guesstimate is that over 1,000 people showed up. It could have been 2,000. Here are some photos from the rally.

protesting made us really hungry and thirsty so we went to eat after it was over!

Where do I begin?

To tell the story of how great a love can be? Everytime I start a conversation with that question, "Where do I begin?" I hear Andy Williams singing The Theme from Love Story. Well, I don't have a love story to share. Sorry.



I feel like I haven't stopped dancin' yet I haven't been able to stop and have a cocktail catch my breath. There's been quite a bit going on.

Work is pulling me in 20 different directions all at once. I was at a conference for part of this week and picked up some new ideas. Even though I was about 1.5 miles from the office, I might as well have been 1600 miles away. So of course I get back into the office mid-morning today and caught myself having to take deep breaths and not feel overwhelmed.

I haven't been running. I haven't been working out. I'm going to get as big as a house. More of me to love.

I did attend a fun soiree at Museum of Fine Arts/Houston on Monday night. That also happened be at the same time of the arrival of the typhoon that hit Houston this week. OY! Thunder & lightning and lots of rain.



I met some interesting people from around the country. I'm always amazed at the number of people who know about my place of employment.

The Latin Grammy Awards will take place tomorrow night. Downtown is full of Latinos & Latinas. David Dust would be in Papi Heaven. Having the awards here in Houston really puts us on the map. From what I understand, this will be broadcast all over the U.S. & Latin America. ¡Aye Dios Mio! And I think this is the first time that the awards have not been held in Miami or Los Angeles.

So it's been cool to see all the happenings around the Toyota Center, the George R. Brown Convention Center and the Hilton Americas. I'm just wondering if Ricky will be shaking his bon bon and will Shakira's hips not be telling lies?

Madge arrives on Sunday and brings her Sticky & Sweet Tour to Minute Maid Park. I'm not sure what to wear. A Jean Paul Gaultier inspired bustier? There was some banter about wearing a WWMD? t-shirt. LOL

I've been so busy I didn't even realize that Top Chef/New York starts tonight so on that note...gotta go!

Are you ready for some football?

Friend David invited me to join him at Reliant Stadium for the game between the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens. I haven't been to a Texans game in a couple of years so I was more than happy to accompany Friend David.

Long story short, the Texans lost.

Football games are great places for people watching and I had more than my fill of people watching today at Reliant Stadium.

I have always heard (and I believe) that citizens of the U.S.A. are more overweight than citizens of other countries. Well, is it any wonder? The food selection at Reliant Stadium consisted of funnel cakes, hot dogs, nachos, chicken tenders, hamburgers, ice cream, french fries, popcorn, cotton candy and beer!

I also noticed that people don the most unusual attire at football games. There were a few that I wanted to walk up to and say, "Did you look in the mirror before you walked out of the house?"

I'm not sure what it is about professional football games that makes people wear silly hats AND paint their faces? I do wonder what happens if they don't use body paint or face paint? What do they look like at work the next day?

Then there are the cheerleaders. I determined that to be on the Texans' squad you have to have long hair. The long hair seems to accentuate the dance moves of the scantily clad females.

There are four guys who carry HUGE Texans flags and when the Texans score they run from one of the field to the other. The Texans don't score very often so the guys don't get much exercise and think two of them spend their time eating funnel cakes, nachos, etc. They should take a lesson from the cheerleaders who appear to only eat celery sticks. Just sayin'.

Bye George!

This was Yahoo! and compiled by a guy in the United Kingdom:

While large corners of the world are busy celebrating Obama's presidential victory there will be some people feeling slightly deflated to see George Bush step down as US president.

Over the past eight years Bush has provided us with endless amusement as a result of his faux pas or ‘Bushisms' as they've been dubbed. Here are twenty of our favourites.

20. "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." - Nov. 28, 2005

19. "We don't believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans." - Sept. 6, 2000

18. "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." - Dec. 19, 2000

17. "Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness." - Aug. 30, 2000

16. "I think we agree, the past is over." - May 10, 2000

15. "I understand small business growth. I was one." - Feb. 19, 2000

14. "This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." - April 23, 2002

13. "I want everybody to hear loud and clear that I'm going to be the president of everybody." - Jan. 18, 2001

12. "One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures." - Jan. 3, 2000

11. "I was proud the other day when both Republicans and Democrats stood with me in the Rose Garden to announce their support for a clear statement of purpose: you disarm, or we will." - Oct. 5, 2002

10. "I just want you to know that when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." - June 18, 2002

9. "I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein." - May 25, 2004

8. "I firmly believe the death tax is good for people from all walks of life all throughout our society." - Aug. 13, 2002

7. "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again." - Sept. 17, 2002

6. "The truth of that matter is, if you listen carefully, Saddam would still be in power if he were the president of the United States, and the world would be a lot better off." - Oct. 8, 2004

5. "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." - Sept. 29, 2000

4. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." - Aug. 5, 2004

3. "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" - Jan. 11, 2000

2. "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." - Jan. 27, 2000

1. "They misunderestimated me." - Nov. 6, 2000

Election Day (cont'd)

It is 10:00PM CST here in Houston, Texas. NBC & CNN have declared that Barack Obama will win the election. Calvin & I have been watching both stations tonight while doing chores.

Based on the previous two Presidential elections, I was expecting this to end up with another major fiasco either in Florida or Ohio.

It took a coalition to get Barack elected. It appears that the Hispanic (Latino) vote did play a role reaching this milestone in American history. Many of my friends didn't believe me when I said that I was concerned that the Hispanics would stay home and not vote for an African-American. As odd as that sounds, it is a fact that many of us know. Plus, George W. Bush did well within the Hispanic community in previous elections. And the Clintons have been longtime friends of the Hispanic community. It all came together tonight. A potpourri of demographics got him elected.

If you have been an avid reader of this blog, you will remember that I was a Hillary supporter. While I did not actively campaign for Barack, I always knew that I would vote for him. And I am glad he won.

Election Day

Today in the U.S.A registered voters have the right and the responsibility to cast their vote for the next President. There are many other races that will be decided.

If you didn't early vote like Str8 Up With A Twist, please exercise your right to vote. I won't tell you who to vote for but I do want you to ask yourself this question: Are you better off now than you were 8 years ago?

Str8 Up With A Twist is blogging live while standing in line waiting to vote. Str8 Up With A Twist arrived @ 6:59a.m. & was approximately #55 waiting in line @ Memorial Elementary School.

Str8 Up With A Twist observes that approximately 90% of the people in line are Caucasian. Str8 Up With A Twist also knows that this precint 0070 tend to vote Republican.

Str8 Up With A Twist sees many of his peeps from SBUX @ the polling place. SBUX must be empty. Str8 Up With A Twist also sees many people with Crackberrys.

It is 7:19 and I am getting closer to the door.

UPDATE: I voted and was in my car by 7:31AM.

Feast of All Saints

In the Roman Catholic Church, today is the Feast of All Saints. The day is observed to remember all of the Saints (and no I don't mean the team members of the New Orleans Saints). As will all things human, some saints are more popular than others so this day is sort of the catch-all day because there are just to many Saints to have an indvidual feast day.

Feast of All Saints is also a holy day of obligation. This means that Roman Catholics are obliged to attend Mass today. However, since today is Saturday and tomorrow is Sunday and we're obliged to be at Sunday Mass anyway...members of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston received a special dispensation and we don't have to go to Mass today.

So, as a public service to readers of Str Up With A Twist I have decided to provide a sample of some of the Saints who are recognized within the Roman Catholic Church.

Patron Saint of the mentally ill: St. Dymphna
Patron Saint of athletes: St. Sebastian
Patron Saint of alcoholics: St. Monica
Patron Saint of addicts: St. Maximillian Mary Kolbe
Patron Saint of the United States: Blessed Virgin Mary (Feast of the Immaculate Conception)
Patron Saint of the wine trade: St. Amand & St. Vincent of Saragossa
Patron Saint of venereal disease: St. Fiacre
Patron Saint of perfumers: St. Mary Magdalene
Patron Saint of knee problems: St. Roch
Patron Saint of lost items: St. Anthony of Padua
Patron Saint of impossible causes: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
Patron Saint of the internet: St. Isidore of Seville

Even though there are over 3,000 Saints, don't think just anyone can become one. I found the following information on an unidentified website:
The word "saint" derives from the Latin word sanctus, a holy or consecrated person. A person so designated and canonized by the church is considered to be in heaven, and, accordingly, capable of interceding with Christ for persons here on earth. The actual process is based on evidence of a miracle (from the Latin miraculum : "an event or action that apparently contradicts known scientific laws and is thought to be due to supernatural causes"). The church considers evidence of a miracle as proof that the individual is of exceptional holiness. One certified miracle -- usually the restoration to health of someone incurably ill, after praying to the saint, or contact with something belonging to the saint -- must be documented, for the first stage, which is called beatification. A second such documented event is required for sainthood.