Things I am thankful for

Photo: www.studenthacks.org

It’s that time of year again. The turkey is defrosting in the refrigerator. I’m musing on all the things I should do before tomorrow morning. (Based on previous years, I’ll probably finish about half of them.) Dinner will be on the table tomorrow, and right now, it’s The Dauphin, Moose, Mojo, Oscar, and me. Our family’s Thanksgiving is happening this weekend, so we’ll have a somewhat quiet day tomorrow.

We have one ritual each year, though. Whether it’s the two of us or we’re blessed with friends and family, we go around the table and ask everyone what they are thankful for. Even closing in on the end of a rugged year, there are so many things and people that come to mind. We are so grateful for so much, and hope that we continue to share what we’ve been given so generously by so many.

Here’s the short list.

• The Dauphin has a job.
• We could never thank those enough that stood by us this year. Doug, we are lucky to know you, and we could never repay you and Tracey’s generosity and caring.
• We got another year with Grandpa and Grandma. We hope we’ll get more time.
• We have our house.
• Clay. He knows why.
• My friends in Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America, and those who mentor me. Thank you, Cherry, Mary, Jane, and Susan. I am the luckiest woman in the world to have such amazing authors take me under their wing.
• We met a big brown puppy and fell in love. He joins his big brown feline brothers.
• We get another year to try it again.

I’m also thankful for those who read TLPC, and hope that you sit down at a table full of delicious food, and all those you like and love.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Casa de Dauphin/Strategerie

Got puppies? Don’t let them eat the following, period.

On behalf of our chocolate Lab handful, Moose, just another reminder that there are many things our pets should never get their paws on, especially at the holidays. Moose turned Mommy’s purse upside down on Friday night in search of a plastic baggie of treats she forgot about. (Luckily for us, he ignored the bag of Dove dark chocolate I brought to the movie theater and forgot to take out when I got home the other day.) The treats were properly dispensed, the spilled chocolate was cleaned up, and I got yet another lesson in how determined (and hard-working!) our sweet boy is when he’s convinced there’s food in it for him…

If your puppy is like ours, it’s been a full-time job making sure there is nothing in his environment that can hurt him. Here’s a list from the “Dog Whisperer”, Cesar Milan.

http://www.cesarsway.com/tips/seasonal/dangerous-people-food?utm_source=Mobile+Storm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NovemberNL_4

This list is a resource to help keep your dog safe this holiday season, but be aware that it is not exhaustive. Many other human foods can be harmful to your dog, and depending on your dog’s particular medical background, any deviation from his regular diet can cause serious health issues. Consult your veterinarian for guidelines specific to your pet.

If you suspect that your dog may have ingested one of these foods or another harmful substance, call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center National Hotline: 888-426-4435.

• Alcoholic beverages
• Avocado
• Caffeinated tea
• Chocolate (all forms)
• Cigarettes and other nicotine products
• Coffee (all forms)
• Fatty foods
• Garlic
• Macadamia nuts
• Moldy or spoiled foods
• Onions, onion powder
• Pain relievers
• Raisins and grapes
• Salt
• Yeast dough
• Products sweetened with xylitol (such as chewing gum, breath mints, and even some “sugar free” baked goods)
• Turkey Skin – High fat foods, such as turkey skin, can be hazardous to your dog. Since the skin is hard to digest, it can lead to pancreatitis. If you still want to share your bird, give your dog a small piece of white meat.
• Turkey Bones – Cooked poultry bones are brittle and splinter easily. If ingested, they can lodge in the esophagus or cause stomach or intestinal irritation.

Thanks again to Cesar for the list, and here’s hoping all pets have a safe and happy Thanksgiving with their people as a result!

-S

A few thoughts on today’s Seahawks game: Guys. We need to talk.

There isn’t a man in America who doesn’t feel certain parts of his body retracting into – well, we’ll leave the graphic description for other sites, won’t we? – when his girlfriend/wife/significant other sits down on the couch, pats the cushion next to her, and says, “We need to talk.”

Seattle Seahawks, I have loved you for the past thirty-two years. I have bought your merchandise. I have gone to a few games over the years, and visited Qwest Field for the first time last season. (Thanks again to Michael for sharing his tickets with us last year. I will treasure that memory for the rest of my life. It was an incredibly generous gift, and you were so kind to do this for us.) Despite my lack of season tickets, I have a TV, and I have watched game after game after game after game. I am a loyal and faithful 12th Man, just like hundreds of thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest. You’ve been my extra-special Sunday afternoon dates five months a year, the guys I would rearrange my entire life to spend time with. Is it so much to ask that you’d rearrange your schedules to spend some time with me?

What is it with this team and 10 a.m. starts? Where were you today? I realize that nobody on the planet thought you were going to win this game, but isn’t this the same thing that everyone said to David about Goliath? What would have happened if he said to all his friends, “Well, screw this. I’m going home, and I’ll have something to eat and maybe take a little nap,” instead of packing his slingshot, his courage, and knocking that giant out? Obviously, someone would be looking for a better example, but really. Guys: There isn’t a team in the NFL that can’t be toppled by another team on any given Sunday. (See Oakland’s win over a red-hot Cincinnati this afternoon, for instance.) I realize that the Vikings are probably the most complete team in the league, but doesn’t this call for your best effort, instead of the containment that seemed to be happening? I am so sick and tired of watching this team snatch defeat from the jaws of victory over and over again. What IS it with road games? Please. Won’t someone explain this to me? I joke about summoning a priest and some holy water, and standing on the sidewalk outside of the VMAC for some kind of ritual, but guys, what’s it going to take? An exorcism? A sports psychologist? A hypnotist? We will NOT win until we can banish the 10 a.m. start curse once and for all, and it has to happen, NOW.

I could go on all day about missed tackles and where the hell was any kind of spark or fire, but that brings me to my next subject.

Jim Mora.

I understand that you have an offensive line that is patched together with used chewing gum and some type of easily-snapped wire. I understand that we were beset by another deluge of injuries the first five games of this year. (I’d like to know what is going on with the training and conditioning group, but hey, I’m just a fan.) I understand that you are in the first year of your head coaching job, one you begged for, one you said was your life’s dream. You said that failure was not an option. After all, you are from the area, and you’d like to hold your head up and know you did a good job. I know that if I met you, I’m sure I’d think you were a great guy. Right now, though, I’m mad, and I can’t figure out if it’s your fault, or Mr. Ruskell’s.

Here’s a few of my issues. You might want to sit down, this will take a few minutes.

1. What happened to our pass rush? We heard before the season started that it was going to be the most fabulous pass rush in the history of the world, or at least, the NFC West. Patrick Kerney has only been out one game this year. He’s our best pass rusher. He’s having trouble, for some unknown reason. Of course, again, I am horribly biased, but I’m not mad at him. He’s still fighting. He’s still making the extra effort. He doesn’t make excuses, so I have to believe there’s something else going on. Darryl Tapp is making that extra effort, too. Brandon Mebane is making the extra effort. Josh Wilson couldn’t play today, but he works his hiney off. Truly, most of the D works hard. Why is this not translating into an opposing QB that would rather be dragged buck naked over broken glass than face them?
2. Is wrapping up a tackle a “football fundamental”? You know, the ones you keep talking about? Why is the team not doing it?
3. I love Walter Jones as much as any other Seahawks fan. He is the greatest player to ever don the uniform in Seattle. He is an amazing talent that it is impossible to replace. Unfortunately, we are now in the market to replace him due to injury. At the same time, the person currently doing his job is not doing that great of a job. If you want to start a 34-year-old quarterback with known back problems, it would be good to obtain the best protection for him that money can buy. What are your intentions of doing so on the offseason? There isn’t room under the cap for anything this season; we’ll have to pray that Matt Hasselbeck does not sustain additional injury.
4. Seneca Wallace may be a really nice guy, but he’s not getting it done. Is Mr. Teel even a possibility? Great. What are you doing to bring him along? If you’re not, what is your plan?
5. Someone’s going to put John Carlson’s face on a milk carton if this keeps up. We want to see more of the Golden Retriever.
6. The Vikings were avoiding one Mr. Rankin on kickoffs. Would it be possible for him to switch positions or something? Just asking.
7. Speaking of adjustments, why does there appear to be NO halftime adjustments? Ever? Am I seeing things?
8. Mostly, Jim, here’s the thing. You’re not motivating this team, and I’m not sure why. I really liked the fiery speech I heard last week about the initial lack of fine over Darnell Dockett’s elbow in Matt Hasselbeck’s voicebox, but it seems like whatever comes out of your mouth at the time. I know you are under hella pressure. I know you have to answer to the owner and the GM. I know I am just one fan. What’s it going to take, though? What will fuse this team into one unit, that can do things above and beyond the sum of its parts? You need to find it. Today.

While we’re musing on this, I’d like to offer the following. I was pretty intrigued to hear that Jacob Green and Cortez Kennedy made a visit to the Seahawks locker room before a game recently. They told the players present that they would do “anything” for one more snap in the NFL. Guys. I realize this is a business, this is your profession, you get paid well, and honestly, I don’t know what it’s like to be a pro athlete. I know what it’s like to be a fan, though.

Do you guys have any idea at all how much it costs the average Seahawks fan to come and see you? Let’s explore that question, shall we? There’s a reason why, which I will explain.

Game tickets: If you’re a season ticket holder, they can be as little as $49 apiece, if I have the correct information. If you’re not, it’s at least $100 apiece. Two people. Two hundred dollars. It’s forty dollars to park in the parking lot at Qwest. Well, if you have a pass. Forty dollars. To park your car. Yes. If you have to park in a surrounding lot, you’re looking at $50. The minimum to see a NFL game? Two hundred and fifty dollars.

Food: A beer is $8.50. One beer. A bottle of water is four dollars. You don’t even want to know how much food is. Since most people are busy and don’t have time to pack a picnic lunch, they’re eating at the stadium. It costs a lot, especially if you’d like to bring your family. Let’s add another $50 onto that total, which is about how much we spent on our initial visit to Qwest. We each had a beer, The Dauphin had a barbecue sandwich and some Chinese food, and I waited till we left because I took one look at the prices, and decided I wasn’t that hungry. Those in the parking lot who are tailgating? I bought the supplies for a tailgate we attended last season. It was $225, to feed 15 people.

Souvenirs: Just a program is $4. There are lots and lots of little souvenir things one just can’t live without, like game beads. They are $7 a strand. I’m not going to die without them, but they are fun to wear, and most fans buy at least one strand. I don’t know how people with kids get out of there for anything less than (again,) $50. They want a 12th Man flag, they want a keychain, they want some other thing. You know how it is.

Jerseys:  I own one. There are replica jerseys and authentic jerseys. I own something of a hybrid. It was $150. It is the first jersey I have bought in 32 years, and I don’t regret it. Most people buy more than one. I’d like another, but right now, I can’t justify it. The least amount one spends on a jersey is $75, for something screen-printed that will wash out almost immediately. If everyone wants one, it can get spendy. We also have t-shirts, I have neon green gloves, hats, scarves, you name it. Nobody held a gun to my head. I bought the stuff because I wanted it. It’s nice to show some team support.

My point, and I do have one: The vast majority of Seahawks fans go to a job on Monday morning. They’re not rich. For them to plunk down several hundred dollars a game to see you play is a big chunk out of the household budget. I just want you to understand how much this costs the average person, one that doesn’t sign a seven, eight, nine figure contract, one that pays for shoes and housing and braces and car payments and wonders where the college money’s coming from. They want to sit in a stadium for three hours on a Sunday afternoon, and experience what it’s like to watch their favorite team win.

Ultimately, you don’t play for yourselves. If you are, maybe you need to find another line of work. You play for the city of Seattle, and you play for the fans, those same fans who have stuck with you year in and year out, winning season and 4-12. The same fans who sit in your stadium in the freezing cold, the rain and last season, the snow. They show up because they believe you’re showing up. The team is a bright spot in their lives. They think they influence the outcome by cheering at the top of their lungs, by confusing and upsetting your opponents with a wall of noise, by showing that no matter what the record, they’re still there.

Here’s a question: If there was someone in your lives that treated you as cavalierly as some of you treat the fans of Seattle, would YOU continue to show up? Do you think it’ll go on forever? Two losing seasons back to back, and the fans’ patience is wearing thin. After all, why should they continue to fork out their time and money if they get little in return?

Guys. It’s time to reach down inside yourselves, and find that last little bit of spark and fire. It’s still there. If you can’t do it for yourselves, do it for us. One more snap for the fans of Seattle, the 12th Man, the people that are there when other fans are organizing demonstrations on Monday Night Football and turning in their season tickets. What’s that worth to you?

To quote another local team: Give us your full sixty, dammit.

-S

Oprah Winfrey to announce the end of her talk show: September 9, 2011

Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful woman in America. I wonder what she will do after September 9, 2011, the last day of her talk show.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/generalities/wabc_oprah_winfrey_to_end_talk_show_143767.asp

WABC.com reports Oprah Winfrey will end her talk show. The announcement will come on her show tomorrow with the final airing expected to be Sept. 9, 2011.

The Oprah Winfrey Show airs on WABC-TV in the afternoons but originates from Chicago on ABC station WLS where it airs at 9amCT.

There’s a lot of things I could say about Oprah. She single-handedly gets people to read. She features topics and people on her program that have an instant, very influential platform. She succeeded in an industry that, twenty-five years ago, was dominated by those who didn’t believe daytime TV was an option for success. I don’t care about her celebrity profiles, or some of the other stuff she has on her show. I do care that she went inside the Louisiana Superdome shortly after Hurricane Katrina, against the advice of local officials. She has consistently worked to enlighten those who watch her show with any regularity on a wide variety of topics.

Oprah isn’t perfect, but she is an ongoing success story. I can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.

-S

It’s time for an intervention: I’m on Team Edward

Okay. I don’t want to bear all of Edward’s children, or anything. I do like his ‘do, however.

Photo: Official “Twilight” site

I’ve been reading since I was four. I read very quickly. Typically, I have several books going at a time. Right now, as a matter of fact, I just polished off three books in less than a week. I’m also reading Jon Krakauer’s biography of Pat Tillman. It’s hard to finish, because I know how it ends. I will review the book at some point here; Jon Krakauer is one of my favorite authors, and I’m really glad he decided to write about this particular subject. Back to those three books I devoured earlier this week.

To my everlasting shame, they’re “Twilight”, “New Moon” and “Eclipse”.

I’m still trying to decide if I’m reading the fourth book (“Breaking Dawn”) or not. There are a lot of readers who are really, really mad about “Breaking Dawn”, if Amazon.com’s reviews are any indication. I decided to finally read “Twilight” after hearing a lot of my author friends rhapsodize about it. I saw the movie ($1 from Redbox, baybee,) a couple of months ago, and prior to reading the book. It was enjoyable. I don’t give a rat’s furry behind about vampires, werewolves, young adult novels (well, I like the ones written by my friends,) or the dreaminess of Robert Pattinson, so maybe I just didn’t get it.

The book, though? I was glued. Transfixed. Couldn’t put the dang thing down. I raced through it, and then I tormented The Dauphin till he agreed to take me to Costco to get the other two books over the weekend. Here’s my whole problem: The movie Edward does little for me. The fictional one? Ahhh, Edward. (sigh)  Speaks in complete sentences. Holds two advanced degrees. (Evidently, vampires have a lot of time to study.) Drives a Volvo. Is (according to the description of the heroine,) more beautiful than the angels, smells really, really good, and has a great voice. He’s thoughtful and protective. Plus, he’s loaded. When all that’s not happening, he listens to classical music and sparkles in the sunshine. If he liked football, I’d have to marry him.

Most of my issues with the movie Edward are a) I’m old enough to be his mother, and b) He doesn’t look like the Edward in the book. Let’s face it: Whomever cast the “Harry Potter” series is a genius. He looks EXACTLY like I thought he would, and so do the other leading characters. (Plus, they were smart enough to cast the amazing Alan Rickman as Snape, who is the sexiest bad guy ever. Or is he?) Edward, on the other hand — no. He doesn’t look like the Edward in my imagination, which leaves me — sad.  Yeah. That’s it.

I’m trying to cut the movie people some slack here. After all, what a fortysomething woman would consider “more beautiful than the angels” is much different than the book’s target audience, which (again, I’m totally embarrassed,) is teenage girls. It is evident to all who read TLPC that I have impeccable taste in men, but I never seem to be attracted to the guys all my girlfriends are interested in. (There is the George Clooney rule, though. Everyone thinks he’s cute. Plus, he seems to have quite a sense of humor and he’s intelligent, which just proves my “handsome, smart and funny” rule.)

Back to the books. I wish I knew what makes them so gripping, and why Edward is so captivating, aside from the obvious. I have been exploring these questions with The Dauphin. After all, there has to be a lesson in here for me. Besides that whole Romeo and Juliet “doomed lovers” thing, and the cute thing, I think it’s the following. Edward is still chasing the object of his affection, Bella. He loves her enough to want her to remain the way she is, which means he will spend the rest of her life protecting her, and the rest of his life denying his own nature. It’s self-control none of us can imagine. Plus, it’s fiction. If a guy acted like this in real life, our girlfriends would (truly) be staging an intervention, no matter how cute he was.

I’m still mulling it over. In the meantime, I’ll be lining up next weekend with everyone else to see “New Moon”.

-S

Alert the media: Moose is one

Moose’s baby picture, taken by moi

Our chocolate Lab boy would like to thank everyone that made this possible, including the vet, various pet stores, and the Kong Company (for producing at least one toy he can’t destroy within five minutes…)

Of course, birthdays mean presents, but Moose would like to share his. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the antics of our beloved puppy over the last several months. If you’d like to help out some other very deserving animals, please dig another few bucks out of your wallet for the following: Pasado’s Safe Haven. Every pet should be a wanted pet, and Pasado’s does great work.

Moose got a few extra treats yesterday, (including some frozen yogurt made especially for puppies!) and spent most of his evening playing fetch with Mom and Dad. Of course, he got some extra hugs and kisses, too.

Our sweet Moosie is one, and our lives will never be the same!

-S

Thank a vet today

Photo: Legion Post 163

Every year about this time, we’re at the grocery store, and we see the vets manning a donation table. I am honored to put some money in the jar for other vets, shake hands, look them in the eye and say, “Thank you so much for your service.” I do not support the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I will always support the troops who fight those conflicts. We could never thank them enough for their sacrifices, but a little appreciation is always a good thing.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to thank a vet for their service today. If you’d like to give a little donation as well, this organization will be more than happy to use that cash for the benefit of those in the military.

If you are a vet and reading my words, on behalf of a grateful nation, thank you so much for your service.

-S

Big Bird turns the big 4-0 today

Photo: www.blissfullydomestic.com

I’m a bit out of “Sesame Street”’s target demographic, but this post is brought to you by the letter H, for Happy Birthday.

Here’s to forty more.

Love,

-S, who still knows the lyrics to “It’s Not Easy Being Green”…

 

Today is the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall

Photo: www.europa.eu

There is a small piece of concrete with the rest of my valuables. One side is a melange of colors; the other side is smooth. One of my roommates brought it back for me years ago after a visit to Germany. It’s part of the former Berlin Wall.

Google thought this event sufficiently important to put up a slideshow of photos and video at their site. You might be interested in taking a look.

http://www.google.com/berlinwall09.html

-S

And we have a suspect in the murder of Officer Timothy Brenton

I was relieved to read late last evening that there’s someone in custody. Looks like the party in question’s been pretty busy in the meantime.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010226607_suspect08m.html

Amid the carnage and confusion of the Halloween night ambush-slaying of Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton was one seemingly incongruous clue that soon took on an ominous meaning.

A bandanna printed with the American flag, found near the patrol car where Brenton was gunned down, provided a chilling connection to a second crime, just nine days earlier, that also targeted Seattle police.

The link — to the bombing of Seattle police vehicles on Oct. 22, where a small flag was found — allowed investigators to quickly determine Brenton almost certainly had been targeted simply because he was an officer. And it helps explain why police officials quickly labeled the killing an assassination.

Detectives are trying to determine why the man suspected of both crimes, Christopher John Monfort, 41, apparently held a grudge against officers that spiraled from destructive to deadly in so little time. Police on Saturday labeled him a “domestic terrorist” who was apparently acting alone and whose motives remain under investigation.

I don’t have anything vile enough to call Mr. Monfort. The English language fails to meet my need for self-expression right now. I hope he recovers from his gunshot wound. I hope that he stands trial. After all, that’s the way we do things in America. If he is found guilty, I hope he never sees the exterior of a prison again.

It’s unfortunate that those who wish to make a statement in our society by killing others can’t simply lean into the strike zone and take one for the team, to quote Dennis Miller.

-S