Moogie Slips Under the Weather . . .

. . . and I don't mean it's snowing or anything like that.

Have you ever noticed that when you're not feeling well, the force of gravity increases tenfold, at least?

Trust me on this one.

The Middle East -- The Big Uneasy

Don't know about you, but I'm pretty uneasy about this situation in Egypt.

And genuinely thankful I don't live in Israel.

This might be a pretty good time to invest in domestic oil exploration.

Like Cleaning Out the Fridge

I've had these for some time and figure it's about time to use them.

This one caught my eye when Younger Daughter worked at a place that very well could've been the portal to Hell and told me about it on the phone.  every.  day.  --

And then there's this -- a timeless, forever and ever truism:

Heh.

Barry the Sideshow Guy, and The State of the Circus

Yes, our Young President has joined the Circus as "BO, the Amazing Rubber Man." 

You can see how his act is adjusting to the message sent by voters last November -- he's learned the error of his Progressive ways and is moving toward the center!  Couldn't you tell from his campaign, or SOTU, or STFU, or whatever, speech last night?

Look again. 

While his words and face might have been coming at you from the smack-dab center of the political tightrope, his feet were firmly planted on the far left platform.  Let's just call him "Stretch," shall we?

Don't buy the sleight of face, folks.  Don't buy it.

Just one more thing -- where does he get off suggesting that our service men and women in Iraq have cause to do anything other than hold their heads high?!?!  What a clueless jerk.

I'm glad that spectacle is over with for another year.  And that Pelosi had to sit in the gallery with the rest of the ordinary Congressfolk.  I'm glad about that.  How do you like coach, Madame ex-Speaker!

Musings on a Dark and Rainy Evening

Here are some musings for ya.

How come the garbage bag waits to break and spill until you've struggled to get out of the kitchen door without an eager dog, it's dark and rainy, and you've already busted a blood vessel trying to move the big green monster trash can far enough away from the house to get the lid to stay propped open so you could've swung the previously unbusted garbage bag into said big green monster on an evening when your blood sugar is running low and you've been understandably a little testy? Trust me, you've been understandably a little testy. Trust me, okay?!?!

And just who busts a blood vessel in the knuckle of her pinky finger anyway? And who ever suspected a busted blood vessel in the pinky finger would smart so much?

Just wondering.

Passing a Good Time

Moogie has "passed" a nice weekend, as they say down here in southeast Louisiana.

I got to catch up on a lot of blogstalking.  I got to lounge around on the couch with Rosie, order middle eastern food delivery, and watch a couple of what I figured to be chick-flickish movies that Pepper wouldn't appreciate.  (It turns out that I think he'd like them both:  Eat, Pray, Love and Valentine's Day.)  I got to leave dishes in the sink without guilt!

Since Pepper took Bouie's crate with them, I also got to vacuum the powder room (usually referred to, with affection, as "Bouie's Room") that has been occupied by a sheddy Labrador retriever's crate since late 2006.  Talk about a filthy, hairy mess!  I put off that chore until today, knowing that it would make me sick.

And I got to sleep until I awoke on Saturday morning!-- no bratty dog begging to go on a walk or an adventure at the crack of dawn!   Then I spent the day at the Quarterly ESGR leadership meeting at recently rededicated Jackson Barracks, headquarters of the Louisiana National Guard, drowned by Katrina's storm surge and the federal levee failures.

How did all this free time come to be, you ask?  Yep, you guessed it: Pepper and Bouie went hunting!  They had a great 3-day hunt.  Bouie got to flush and retrieve quail, pheasant, and chukker.  (I'm still not quite sure about that chukker thing, but Pepper says they're pretty much like big quail, "but more of a meal," so they shouldn't taste foreign or anything.  I'm still not so sure.  This one looks pretty mean!  Are mean birds tasty?)

After we got the truck unloaded and Pepper was starting to put things away, Bouie sat right beside the equipment.  Even though he's pretty well exhausted ( and starving because he gets too excited to eat during a hunt), he was not about to let his dad put that gear back in the truck and go on another hunt without him!

It's good to have them home.  It was a little too calm around here to suit me.  Plus, I had to come home to an empty house guarded only by a quirky security system and a blind 16 year old shih tzu following my wonderful Girls Night at the Hive!

The hunt came up after we had already bought tickets.  Pepper said he'd come home early if I could't find anyone who wanted to go with me, but my wonderful neighbor came through!  When I called to ask her if she'd like to join me for Girls Night Out, her husband said tat depended on whether he had to entertain Pepper while we went to the game.  Heh.  Her husband has a rather droll sense of humor.

And, Woo hoo!  The Hornets stung the Spurs 96 - 72 as we cheered them on!

Right now, today, there's football!  Granted, it's not the Saints, so it's not nearly as much fun as last year, but I think I'll enjoy football while it lasts.  It's a long time -- and a heckuva lot of baseball to survive -- til August.

The White House's Symbolic Fashion and Weight Loss Agenda -- Success!

There's been a lot of internet traffic analyzing Michelle O's fashion selection for last night's State Dinner honoring Chinese President Hu Jintao, who opted to wear a simple dark suit to a black-tie affair.  (Those Chinese.  So . . . thrifty -- and fashion, um, negligent.  Not as bad as the NorKs, mind you, but . . . geez!) 

Many of the fashionistas have criticized the dress, for one reason or another.

Ordinarily, I'm not a big fan of Michelle's wardrobe selections, but this time I have to give it to her.  The color and style were both very flattering to her figure, plus the color red is said to symbolize prosperity and happiness in China, or good luck. 

And we all know how much into symbolism this White House is!

Even though the dress passes Moogie's muster, I'm a little disappointed about her accessory choices.  Michelle just couldn't leave well enough alone -- she had to go and pull something out of the back of her closet to wear as a wrap.  Or perhaps from her spinster great aunt's Palestinian headscarf closet.



The shawl didn't really even function as a wrap.  One might be wise to wear something a little warmer outdoors in D.C. in the middle of January, for crying out loud!  Or, maybe this is part of her "healthy weight" initiative -- eat all the steak, lobster, apple pie, and ice cream you'd like and shiver off that excess poundage.

(The dress also helped her come off as "powerful American woman who towers above puny Chinese leader.  I can squish you with one hand, little underdressed man."  Ah, so!!!  Symbolism, or symbolism?)

Michelle and her handlers really seem to like a black and red combination.  The State Dinner dress was reminiscent of, but not too terribly like, her choice for the 2008 election night victory appearance --

And, fortunately, not nearly as scary!  That "black widow" dress and pose still creep me out.