Frozen Crack for dogs

First of all, I'm now convinced that The Calvinator didn't slip me a Mickey. I'm now convinced that a tsetse fly bit me and I have a sleeping disease. Not sure why I'm feeling so rundown & sleepy. It took everything in me to churn out 4 miles this morning. I really wanted to do a 6 mile run but as Louis Armstrong said one time, "Ya can't blow it out if ya ain't got it in ya."

This weather isn't helping matters any. We've had three days of gully washers. The sea breeze mixes with the hot air which has something to do with a low pressure system over central/ north Texas and well, we get thunder, lightning, rain and high winds.

Before my two hour nap this afternoon, I watched one of my favorite movies, Moonstruck. I'm sitting here watching another favorite movie, The Usual Suspects. The Calvinator is eating a Frosty Paw.

A couple of years ago San Francisco Steve told me about a frozen dog treat, Frosty Paws. I searched high and low and finally found them. Little did I know, Calvin would become addicted. Seriously. He will mope around and pout and give me sad eyes until I give him his nightly fix.

Frosty Paws are difficult to find because they have to share shelf space with human ice cream treats in the Frozen Food Department. AND not every grocery store sells them. I was hoping that when Purina purchased the company the distribution of the product would improve but it hasn't. Trust me. I've written an e-mail to Purina about the situation.

One day I drove around Houston trying to track down the frozen treats. I couldn't find them anywhere in Houston. I had this fear of Calvin "going Whitney Houston" on me and me being mauled in my sleep.

I finally tracked down a recipe that I use when I can't find the real thing. It's all about keeping The Calvinator happy. (And now I'm humming Amy Winehouse's Rehab to myself.) Calvin knows that the Frosty Paws are kept in the freezer. In fact, I have to speak in code so that he doesn't go ape wild on me. So if you ever hear me say, "FP" that is code for Frosty Paws.

One last thing...you know how humans get brain freezes from eating ice cold food too fast? The same thing happens to Calvin. And ya'd think that he would figure it out. Au contraire! Every night he gets a brain freeze, comes into the living room, drags his head on the floor, shakes his head several times, sneezes and then stares at me.

I swear..."FPs are frozen crack" for dogs!

Come on down!

I opted to stay in last night. I was feeling really run down and wondered if The Calvinator had slipped me a Mickey so that he could have run of the house.

I’m glad I stayed in because I forgot that it was Bob Barker’s final show on The Price Is Right(TPIR). TPIR is the longest running game show.

My first introduction to Bob was when he was host of Truth Or Consequences. I would watch the show with la familia Martinez.

TPIR premiered on September 4, 1972. I remember watching the show during the summer months when we would stay at Aunt Lulu’s. I remember the game where you had to guess the price of the car (one number at a time) and the price was less than $4,000. Of course the price of gasoline was also around $0.30.

I’m glad that the final show included Plinko. That was one game I always wanted to play.

Not much has changed over the past 35 years. Barker’s Beauties were still there. The contestants are still crazy. Like the guy who waited in line for five days, was the last contestant selected and then blew it. LOL Or the guy who fell down when he was trying to get to contestants row. The lady who won the showcase did really well. Close to $140,000 in prizes!

SIDEBAR: I thought it would have been great to bring back the lady who lost her tube top. Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction was nothing compared to Yolanda Bowsley’s malfunction in 1977.

True to form, Bob ended the show by reminding the viewers to “Help control the pet population; have your pet spayed or neutered.” This is a tribute to his wife Dorothy Jo who passed away in 1981. Dorothy was a champion of animal rights.

Bob…if you’re reading this…thanx for the great television memories. You truly are the King Of Daytime Television.

UPDATE: The Office

Readers of Str8 Up With A Twist will recall that I wrote about la revolucion that occurred at the office the other day.

Here's the latest...

On Thursday, I walked in and nothing had changed. The Judge (he really is a judge), who was the most calm of all us, shared my disappointment when nothing had changed. Well, they put three tables in a row and all the chairs faced the same way. Sitting there, we looked like we were being punished.

This morning, things had sorta been switched up. Some of the ideas were quasi-implemented. The Judge and I just looked at each other and shook our heads.

The real test will come on Saturday morning. The weekend peasants will determine if the new layout helps with the flow.

Big wheel keep on turnin'...

Thursday’s spin class at LeFittes was taught by substitute teacher Troy. This is the guy that I have nicknamed Drill Instructor Troy (DIT). DIT knows how to make a person sweat and he makes you “feel the burn.”

When DIT started the last song of the class, I started to grin because from the first three notes of the introduction, I knew it was Ike & Tina Turner’s Proud Mary. DIT looked at me and said, “I had to play this song.” As I’m spinning to the “big wheel keep on turnin'…”, I had a:

FLASHBACK

Picture this. New Orleans. August 25, 2001. 3:00A. Clover Grill on Bourbon Street. It is my last trip to The Big Easy before I turn 40 and Jim has joined me for my weekend get-away. We have walked every inch of The Quarter and are trying to make our way back to the apartment on Ursuline.

We stop at Clover Grill for a Cadillac Hubcap Cheeseburger and a Geaux Girl Waffle. Oh…did I mention we were over-served with adult beverages? We have to sit at the counter. I’m on the end, Jim is to my left and to his left is a man with no “teef.” Behind us is a table with two girls and a guy.

I notice that one of the girls is taking off her bra without taking off her dress. Jim is still talking to the man with no “teef.”
And then it happens. The opening notes to Ike & Tina Turner’s Proud Mary starts to play on the jukebox. I love the way Tina says, “Ya know, every now and then I think you might like to hear something from us nice and easy…”

Well, at some point during the intro, I have the bra on my head. Jim happens to turn to his right and just stares at me. Mr. Toothless doesn’t seem phased.

OK. So now the song is picking up. You know when the trumpets start to play and Tina lets loose. At that point Braless Girl assumes the role of Tina Turner, her friends jump up and I jump off the stool and we are now the Ikettes (me with the bra on my head.)

We are doing our best imitation of Tina & The Ikettes when I look out the window. There is a guy and girl looking in and he has the video camera rolling. Funny thing is…he doesn’t have the audio of what is happening inside. LOL The song ends and life goes on at Clover Grill.

I have romanticized what happened with the videotape. The couple looked German so I figure it ended up on some German tv show: Americans Do The Funniest Things or some bar in Berln figured out it was Proud Mary, added the audio and 6 years later is still showing it on comedy night.

I do remember Jim looking at me and laughing and saying, “I can’t believe you’re going to be 40.”

See what happens when my mind wanders during spin class?!

Quote of the day

"Taking care of animals is essential to developing more happiness in human beings." -Dalai Lama (06/13/07)

A Lasting Legacy Resale Shop Launch Party

The glitterati were en masse at the Launch Party for A Lasting Legacy Resale Shop. As mentioned before, it was a trifecta: eating drinking and shopping.

Rainbow Lodge provided the food and it was yummy! My favorite was the pork tenderloin medallion with orzo and smoked gouda. I could have eaten a bowl of the orzo but I didn't. I do have a teeny bit of good public decorum.

Joe Zoellers was recognized for donating his time in helping with the store. Martha and the staff will be happy to take your donated items for the store.

Below are some photos of the some of the partygoers. I realized late last night (more on that later) that I'm not in any of the photos and Jim & G are in almost all of them. LOL I think I may have had one too many glasses of wine.

Katy, Joe & Chree

Jim & Kenneth

G & Jim

Jim & Jim
Jim, Nichole & G

Steve, G & Jim

Daniel & Stuart

G, Dave & Bill

After I left the party, I meandered over to Mo Mong. In a previous life, I spent many a Wednesday night at Mo Mong. What happened at Mo Mong has stayed at Mo Mong (I hope). It was another hip crowd hanging out at the bar and I was able to reconnect with a few folks that I have not seen in forever. They asked, "Where have you been?"

Walking into Mo Mong reminded me of that scene in Monster-in-law when Jane Fonda looks at her Martini glass and says, "Hello old friend." (I crack myself up sometimes.) LOL

I left a bit early 'cause I was hungry and I had to meet up on Thursday morning with RunnerOne at 630A for a jaunt around the park. So what did I do?

Drive-thru at Jack In The Box: Jumbo Jack w/cheese...no tomato; large order of curly fries; Monster Taco. BFF AttyHou can tell you that is a BAD sign! And fortunately, I had already warned RunnerOne that I may not be at the top of my game this morning. He didn't push me too hard this morning. :-)

OH! Yoga Boi was back at the park this morning.

Bridezillas

Str8 Up With A Twist aficionado, Doni in Denver, reports that the season premiere of Bridezillas premieres this Sunday evening on the WE network. Houstonians can find it on Time Warner Cable Channel 48 at 800P CDT.

Str8 Up With A Twist theorizes that the women on Bridezillas are the breeders for the girls who appear on MTV's My Super Sweet Sixteen. hmmmmm.