Bah Humbug!...or is it Bah-Ram-Ewe?

So, Poor Deby obviously hasn't been inspired enough to write anything here in a good, long while.  (Or else she has been living a super-secret high-profile exciting life as a Bond Girl and simply hasn't had the time.)  Whatever.  What brought her here tonight was a quaint little discussion with Hubby Dave about the upcoming Annual-Christmas-Season-Gift-Giving-Ritual, and how Poor Deby would like to "opt out" of the whole production this year.  Poor Deby simply mentioned that she is growing increasingly weary year-after-year-after-year of the ever increasing commercialization of the "Christmas Spirit."  Trying to figure out what useless thing she can buy for someone that they never knew they needed.  Or, inquiries from well-meaning friends and family about what she may or may not want when all she really wants is less clutter in her life, not more crap to donate to the Goodwill.  Whatever happened to the simple days... the "hanging of the Christmas stockings by the chimney with care"... you know, "SIMPLE" stuff like stuffing a couple of Satsumas in the stocking (or a lump of coal if you were on the Naughty list) and a few walnuts.  And maybe a hammer.  Follow that up with one or two gifts from the Sears catalog, along with the obligatory new pairs of socks and underwear, and hey, you're good to go for another year.  But, no, now it's gotten way too out of hand.  Gifts are more expensive, more electronic, less personal.  Poor Deby wonders how she might go about "opting-out" of Christmas this year.  It seems one can opt out of email lists, snail mail lists, telephone telemarketing lists, you-name-it-lists.....but, how does one "opt out" of the Santa List?  How about you tell the people that normally give you a gift to take that money and stuff it, er, I mean, to send it to their favorite charity? Or, to send it to "your" favorite charity? (the Tasmanian Devils in Tasmania still need my ongoing support!  See the above photo...what a cute little face!)  Christmas has become a media circus event.  Poor Deby remembers way back in the day when the Christmas decorations didn't dare go up in the stores until the day-after-Thanksgiving.  Now they go up pretty much right after the 4th of July, along with the t.v. commercials for all the latest toys and gadgets you never knew you were missing.  It's not about the actual "Spirit of Christmas" anymore.  It's about who can go into more debt buying more stuff for more people who have more than they can use.  It's time to go back to the simple version. 
The Jimmy Stewart "It's a Wonderful Life" version.  Not only at Christmas, but at Life in general.  Less is More.  Go back and watch the movie "Babe"... you know, the one about the cute little pig who thought he was a sheepdog.  The pig learned the simple secret of the connectivity of all life was "Bah-Ram-Ewe."  The farmer learned that the only necessary response was "That'll do Pig."  Simple.
Have yourselves a Merry LITTLE Christmas...

Follow Up to the "How Michael Jackson Gave Poor Deby Her Balance Back" Post (Oct. 5, 2010)

Several posts ago, Poor Deby talked about how learning to dance the Michael Jackson     "Thriller" routine gave her a renewed sense of purpose.  Here is a link to Poor Deby dancing "Thriller" with the Redmond Zombies last October (Poor Deby can be seen on the very right hand side of the group, about 5 rows back.  She is stylishly dressed in a black dress and wearing pearls.  She may have been channeling Coco Chanel herself!):

http://youtu.be/sC-0LScwkfE

And, as if that wasn't a great enough experience for Poor Deby, she and the Redmond Zombies were asked to join the Seattle Thrillers to perform the "Thiller" routine on Halloween day at Quest Field in Seattle for a crowd of thousands at the opening game of the Seattle Sounders!  Complete with fog machines and everything!!  Here's a link to that performance (and, once again, Poor Deby is wearing her stylish black dress and pearls, and can be seen towards the right of the group.  She is to the right of the Zombie with the long, fluorescent pink hair, and behind the Zombies with the purple hair and cape and the one wearing a cowgirl suit with fringe): 

http://youtu.be/wrkXkrnot7w

Here's a picture of Poor Deby at Matt's Oyster House restaurant with her good friend, Robin:

(Can you tell who is who?)








And here's a photo of Poor Deby visiting her stepson, Sean, while he is working at R.E.I...












(Look how proud and happy Sean is to see Poor Deby!)







Poor Deby looks forward to participating in the 2011 performance of "Thriller" this coming October.  She will start rehearsing with the Redmond Zombies in September, but on the day of the actual "Thrill the World" event, she will be away on vacation.  But, since this is a world-wide event, she will be able to dance with her fellow Zombies wherever she is.... which will just happen to be in Hawaii.  Poor Deby!


***Click on photos to view them in larger "Zombie vision" size!

The Redmond Zombies waiting to perform "Thriller"               Oct 23, 2010





Family Photo at Quest Field, Seattle                                      Oct 31, 2010

Cocktail of the Day: 

 

ZOMBIE: 

1/2 oz Bacardi® 151 rum

1 oz pineapple juice

1 oz orange juice

1/2 oz apricot brandy

1 tsp sugar

2 oz light rum

1 oz dark rum

1 oz lime juice

Blend all ingredients with ice except Bacardi 151 proof rum. Pour into a collins glass. Float Bacardi 151 proof rum on top. Garnish with a fruit slice, sprig of mint and a cherry.

Read more: Zombie drink recipes http://www.drinksmixer.com/cat/3236/#ixzz1MMLgR6yk



Don't settle for being petted with a stick...

Several years ago Poor Deby read a very funny book, "the Sweet Potato Queen's Book of Love" by Jill Conner Browne. This was one of her favorite sections and she still finds it to be sage advice:


"...Anyway, a stranger came to their door one day. He was singularly unattractive- very little hair covering his hideous, sore-wracked skin, just generally ratty and nasty looking. But as is often said of the unbeautiful of the world, he had a great personality. He came to be known as "Funkdog," because he was, in fact, a dog, and he was really funky. He came around regularly, and the boys would feed him and talk to him, but no one could quite bring themselves to actually touch him. And so they started this thing of petting Funkdog with a small stick. He would come and sit at a respectful distance, I guess knowing himself to be unclean, and eagerly await being petted and scratched with his stick. That image always just made me want to bawl, and now I think I know why.

I think Funkdog being petted with his stick is a perfect metaphor for what can happen to any of us in this life if we don't pay attention. In any area of our lives, things can go from great, to not so hot, to downright unspeakable, and do it so gradually that we keep downshifting our expectations to correspond with our current situation. We settle for less and less and tell ourselves, "It's not so bad" until finally one day we wake up and we are in effect, hairless and scabby, just hoping to get petted with a stick for a little while. You can forget what it used to feel like to feel good about life; feeling rotten - or just a low-grade funk - seems normal and therefore acceptable. I just don't believe that God intended for any of his creatures to be petted with sticks. If some area of your life sucks - do something else. Life is too short -- and too long -- to spend it being miserable. Life may indeed be short, but it is, for a fact, wide. It's high time we started settling for more."

So, Poor Deby says don't settle for waking up someday, hairless and scabby, just hoping to get petted with a stick for a little while. 

Cats Playing Patty-cake, what they were saying...

Reality Check about that New Year's Diet resolution:

Django: "Food is fuel. You get picky about what you put in the tank, your engine is gonna die. Now shut up and eat your garbage." 
(From Poor Deby's favorite-movie-of-all-time: "Ratatouille")

Talk Like an Egyptian

Poor Deby and Poor Hubby Dave have both been sick with stupid colds now for much longer than necessary.  When Poor Deby was in junior high school history class learning about the ancient Egyptians, she came across the following "ancient Egyptian cold cure" and she would like to share it with you now:

Depart cold, Son of a cold.

Thou who breaketh the bones,

Destroyeth the skull,

Maketh ill the seven openings of the head.

Go out onto the floor.

Stink.

Stink.

Stink.

Poor Deby must have thought these were some pretty powerful words to have remembered them for, oh, lets just pick a nice round number and say over 40 years later!  (Either that, or she was just a weird warped kid who found words like "stink. stink. stink." extremely funny.)  So, for all of you poor readers suffering from winter colds, Go out onto the floor.  Stink. Stink. Stink.

HAPPY 2011 TO EVERYONE!!!



Photo by Itsuo Inouye, Associated Press 2010



The Circle of Time

Poor Deby can't believe yet another year has come and gone.  Some of it good, some of it bad, most of it pretty neutral.  Neutral is good.  It's neither up nor down, good nor evil, democrat or republican.... eh, how did that get in there?  Anyway, Poor Deby has been cleaning and purging out old things in preparation of the New year, New beginnings, New stuff to take the place of the Old stuff.  Not really.  This time the old stuff is going and it's going to be gone to stay, not just going to be replaced with more new stuff.  Enough with the Stuff!  But, can this really be done? Are we doomed to repeat the cycle year in and year out? Are we just chasing our own tails?

While cleaning and purging Poor Deby came across an excerpt she had copied from the Hermetica, a 3,000+ year old book of ancient Egyptian wisdom.  In it, Poor Deby found that time is circular, with no beginning and no end. What goes around comes around.  Nothing is new under the sun.  We won't be the first and we won't be the last.  Here is the very excerpt she found:





The Circle of Time

The present issues from the past,
and the future from the present.
Everything is made one by this continuity.
Time is like a circle,
where all the points are so linked
that you cannot say
where it begins or ends,
for all points both precede
and follow one another for ever.

Yet, there is an even deeper understanding.
The past has departed and no longer is.
The future has not arrived and is yet to be.
Even the present does not last,
so how can it be said to exist,
when it doesn't stay still for a moment? 

What does this mean? Who knows. But Poor Deby likes it and believes it means you better enjoy every moment, right here, right now. Like the ancient wisdom says, the past is gone, the future doesn't exist yet, and the present is even questionable since the second you say "WTF?" the moment is gone.  It's now the past.  Which doesn't exist anymore.  Get it?  Back to the Future meets the Fockers meets the Smoke Monster who used to be John Locke before he was kilt by Benjamin Linus. Don't worry about it. Eat the cupcake now!   

So, Happy New Year to Everybody.  And since Time is just one big ole' circle, Poor Deby expects to see you all whizzing by on the great Merry-Go-Round-of-Life real soon!

A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down... and Then Some.

So, Poor Deby stayed home sick today. Yesterday was a real drag at work for Poor Deby.  She was sneezing and snotting and felt miserable all day. This morning she woke up at 4:00 and couldn't get back to sleep, so she got up at 6:00 and callled in sick. She remembers looking outside and thinking "Stupid liar weathermen. There's no snow out there." (They had said the snow was "supposed" to start around midnight last night.) So then Poor Deby went back to bed and Hubby Dave got up and took his shower. When he was done Poor Deby went into the kitchen to get some asprin and Hubby Dave pointed out that it had "snowed" while he was in the shower. Poor Deby looked outside and sure enough saw a smattering of white covering the deck, but on closer inspection saw that it was only tiny little hail balls, not really "snow". She went back to bed again and Dave finished getting ready for work, making his coffee, etc. Poor Deby heard the front door open as Hubby Dave was leaving, but then she heard the door close again with no footsteps going down the outside stairs. Hubby Dave came back into the bedroom and said "It snowed. I'm not going anywhere." Poor Deby jumped up and looked outside and saw that there was about 1-1/2 inches of the real stuff on the deck! She couldn't believe it! It had only been about 20 minutes from when she had looked outside before. Now it was a raging blizzard! By 8:30 there was about 4 inches. And it kept going on and off all day. The news was saying it wasn't even snowing in Bellevue or Seattle. Poor Deby never found out if the snow ever did get over there, but she has been pretty much house-bound today. Fine with her! She was home either way today with her stupid cold.

Hubby Dave warning Poor Deby about the snowfall outside...

All photos by Deby Alm, Artistic License Photography

Cocktail of the Day:  Grey Goose vodka with any kind of juice containing Vitamin C.  Oh, and a side of Kleenix tissue, please.  Aaaa-Chooo!

Field Trip Seattle

Sometimes you just have to take off and go on an exotic excursion.... and when time is short, that excursion may very well be in your own backyard.  Lately Poor Deby has been longing for less time in front of the television and more time for spontaneous, fun-filled adventures.  She decided to take a personal excursion last Sunday with her friend Michelle into the vast expanses of downtown Seattle: namely, the Space Needle and surrounding vicinity.

It's the Christmas Season, and the weather outside was frightful.... oh, forget-about-it... it was just plain grey with a capitol G... but, hey, it's Seattle and what do you expect?  This skyline has grown quite a bit since Poor Deby moved here from Los Angeles way back in 1996.  And even more so from when she was here for the Seattle World's Fair in 1962!  Whew!  Poor Deby is O-L-D!!! 

Poor Deby was awfully sad to see that her photographic options were pretty limited due to the dull grey overcast skies, but she decided to see how many various ways she could photograph the Space Needle from wherever she happened to be at any given moment in time on that day:

So, this is where Poor Deby's Space Needle documentation project begins.  This photo was shot from the Seattle monorail, looking up at the Space Needle while approaching Seattle Center on the 3.5 minute ride from downtown.

The monorail is getting closer to Seattle Center and affords yet another view of the Space Needle.  Wow.  It's so thoughtful how they eliminated some of the dark-grey-sunscreen-crosshatching-window-film so you can get a nice clear view of the Needle..

Typical cloudy and kinda grey Seattle day.  Makes a nice reflection of the Space Needle on the side of the EMP (Experience Music Project, Paul Allen's rock-n-roll tribute museum designed by architect Frank Gehry.)  I must say I don't care much for Frank's architecture designs, but I do like some of the jewelry he has designed for Tiffany & Co!

Sometimes those grey, cloudy days make for a splendid backdrop.

And, on such a low contrast type of day, Poor Deby was challenged to find ways to add a little color back into the scene.

Now, there is no way that Poor Deby could even think about going into Seattle without a stop for lunch at the new Hard Rock Cafe for the best ever cheeseburger and onion rings!  They truly rock the burgers-and-rings.  And Poor Deby is such a sucker for the touchy-feelie Hard Rock motto: "LOVE ALL SERVE ALL."

Now, this is Poor Deby's definition of "Happy Meal."  Rock On!  YuMMM!

Useful Tip of the Day:  Whenever Poor Deby goes to the Hard Rock Cafe she saves the receipt and uses it to log onto the Hard Rock website where she fills out a brief survey and in return the Hard Rock rewards her with a "$5.00 off" coupon good for her next visit, which is never too far away for P.D.!!!  Poor Deby always gives the Hard Rock great reviews on the survey, except for the question that asks about the volume level of music in the restaurant.  She always says it was "too loud."  Poor Deby really, really loves music, but when it's overwhelming her conversation with her tablemates or even the voices in her head, it needs a bit of lowering!

"How Michael Jackson Gave Poor Deby Her Balance Back"

Poor Deby! She’s been out-of-balance for the past too-many months, and we’re not talking checkbooks here! The current economic downturn and subsequent housing slump has turned rental properties that she owns into casualties and she’s been dealing with real estate agents and mortgage companies and real estate attorneys and real estate tax advisers, and yada, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah. After a great long while, there are finally “offers” on both properties, however both are ridiculously lower than the asking price and it is certain that if-and-when-they-sell, they will both be “short sales.” So now it’s just a Waiting Game, letting the buyers and the banks decide on the final selling price.
This is where Michael Jackson comes in, which I’ll get to in a minute. Poor Deby has been living in the Land of the Lost through all these months. Lost property, lost ambition, lost self-esteem, lost peace-of-mind, lost interest, lost mind, you get the picture. Last week, Poor Deby came across an announcement regarding an upcoming event on October 23rd called “Thrill the World.” This is an event attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the most people simultaneously dancing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance at the same time. Worldwide. This struck something in Poor Deby, who has always been a fan of Michael Jackson and has always wanted to learn the “Thriller” dance. Several of Poor Deby's coworkers expressed interest in joining her, but when the day for the instructional workshop came, they all had something-else-to-do. Not really wanting to go by herself, Poor Deby sighed and resigned herself to add yet another lost thing to her list. But then, on the Saturday morning of the workshop, Poor Deby heard a little voice say “Zombie On!” and so she did. For over 2-hours she Zombied-it-up with about 50 other people learning the “Thriller” moves just like Mr. M.J. himself! She felt alive again, which is kind of weird for a Zombie, don’t you think? Nevertheless, Poor Deby was back! Awakened from the dead (now THAT’s more like it!) She now has a purpose, a goal, something to work towards, something that won her interest back and restored her sense of balance. For the past 3 days Poor Deby has faithfully been rehearsing her Zombie moves and will continue for the next 18 days to work on perfecting those moves. Then comes the Big Event. For those not familiar, “Thrill the World” was started in 2006 by a woman named Ines Markeljevic in Canada who wanted to “unite the world in dance.” That first event had 62 people dancing “Thriller” together. In 2007 the event spread and had 1,722 zombie dancers and it grew again in 2008 to 4,179. In 2009 it really exploded with 22,923 participants, worldwide, in 278 events in 32 countries. The 2009 event raised $85,000.00 which was distributed to 80 charities. Worldwide. Michael Jackson would be proud. Poor Deby can’t wait to see the numbers this year. The local event she’s dancing in has 280 Zombie members (so far) that are going to be dancing in the center court area of the local town square shopping area. The event requires every Zombie to register so they can be included in the Official Worldwide Zombie Count. There will be a countdown to the Official Zombie Start Time so that everyone is performing the dance at the exact same time. What a great idea this woman had back in 2006. Her idea of uniting the world in dance seems to be catching on. Poor Deby just loves the idea of being a part of this. Something that brings so many people together to do something fun, and creative, and joyous, that reaches across the entire world. And while these people are dancing and the spectators are smiling and clapping and spectating, no one is thinking about war, or the economy, or any of the other things that people tend to worry about. It’s all good and it’s all in balance. Zombie ON!

 

 

To learn more about "Thrill the World" click on the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrill_the_World

Where's Poor Deby?

Forget Waldo.  Where the heck is Poor Deby?  The last I heard, she had gone to Disneyland in January.  Then I heard she ran off to the Caribbean for a week in February.  Then there was a trip to Salt Lake City in March.  She's been so busy planning and having adventures that I guess she just hasn't had much time to experience her normal routine rations of Princess Problems!  So, now she's back and trying to get reacquainted with her laptop computer.  Seems like lately the only thing it's been used for is watching movies from a cramped airplane seat at 35,000 feet up in the air.  Poor Deby!

Somebody oughta clean these aeroplane windows!  Poor Deby!

Quote of the Day:  Hubby Dave saw that Poor Deby was hunkered down in the Man Cave typing on her laptop with "Night at the Museum" playing on the t.v. and he said "Oh good!  You're back!  You can be typing away in BlogWorld while the soccer game is on!  Everybody wins!" 

A Few Thousand More Words...

So, if one picture is worth a thousand words, this must mean adding, like, 3 more photos equals four thousand words total, right?  This one shows, from front to back, Spencer, Sarah, and Poor Deby just about to get soaked on Disneylands "Splash Mountain" ride:

Note how Poor Deby was pretty smart (and looking pretty stylish) with the hoodie on her sweater tied tight around her head to keep her hair from getting drenched!

This next photo shows, in the back row, left-to-right, Sarah, Spencer and Poor Deby being terrified out of their wits on the Tower of Terror:

But, where's Hubby Dave, you say? He's driving north on Interstate 5 heading back to Seattle. He had a 2-day drive ahead of him, so he left Poor Deby to sit all-by-herself on most of the rides of Disneyland.  With the seat next to her empty, Poor Deby was pretty sad and it was very, very hard for her to have a good time. You can tell by her expression in this next photo, sitting all-by-herself next to an empty seat on Space Mountain:

 

Too bad some Dummy in the front row had to go and throw her hands up in the air and block out Sarah's face in this photo.  The guy sitting next to the Dummy sure doesn't look very happy to be on that ride with her.  My guess is he was probably pretty embarrased and wanted to jump right off of Space Mountain.  Wouldn't you???  Poor Dummy!  Guess she didn't know any better!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

So, Poor Deby got tricked into going to Southern California last week.  She hasn't been back there for over 13 years, but Dave enticed her with the promise that is Disneyland.  And the extra added Bonus Attraction, "California Adventure."  That's a "new" addition to the Disneyland Resort that wasn't even built the last time Poor Deby was there.

So, let me introduce the cast of characters in this photo, which was taken on the "California Screamin'" roller coaster at the California Adventure park;

Front row: Poor Deby's son Spencer and his girlfriend, Sarah.

Back row:  Poor Deby and Hubby Dave.

Does Poor Deby look like she's having Fun?  You bet she is! 

'Nuff said.

batteries not included

I think Poor Deby finally figured out exactly what happened to Lilly-the-Dog in the photo on the previous post! (scroll down to see it.)  Why is Lilly squinching her eyes shut like that?  It must be because Lilly probably never read the following sentence in her camera instruction manual:

"When operating the diopter adjustment control with your eye to the viewfinder, care should be taken not to put your finger in your eye accidently."

No Lie!  It really says that!  And Poor Deby knows this because she's one of those people who reads every single instruction manual that comes with every single thing she ever buys.  Sometimes she even reads instruction manuals for things other people buy.  Mostly that would be her husband, Dave.  He's a Man, after all, and everybody knows Real Men don't read instruction manuals.  So, Poor Deby reads the instruction manuals for stuff Dave buys, and then she tells him how to work the stuff.  Poor Deby gets to read the manual, Dave gets to pretend he's listening to her instructions... yada, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah... Everybodys happy!

So, not only does Poor Deby like to read Instruction Manuals, she also loves to read the Fine Print.  This would include Directions, Disclaimers, Lists of Ingredients, Adverse Effects, Warnings, Warranties, Exclusions, Expiration Dates, and Optional Equipment.  And in Poor Deby's world, Instruction Manuals are not limited to the written word.  Television commercials have opened up a whole new arena for what Poor Deby likes to call Verbal Fine Print.  These would mainly be advertisements for prescription drugs that show Happy People having a carefree time surrounded by loving friends in beautiful surroundings that leave you asking "How can I get that Life?"  But, Poor Deby has learned to listen with a keen ear for the Verbal Fine Print (VFP).  Her most favorite all time winner of the VFP Award has to be the following:

"May cause gas with oily discharge, a frequent urge to have a bowel movement, and an inability to control it."    

No Lie!  Of course, the announcer making this statement said it so fast that it took Poor Deby about 5 times of watching and listening to this commercial before she could even decipher the entire statement.  She doesn't even remember what the product was, and she sure hopes she never has a reason to use it, whatever it was!

So, there you have it.  Itching, swelling, anxiety, irritability, burping, farting, fainting, bloating, death, loss of consciousness, hair loss, memory loss, .... what was I saying?

  

"Objects in mirror may be dumber than they appear."

Cocktail of the Day:  Mind Eraser

2 oz Vodka

2 oz Kahlua

2 oz Tonic Water

Pour vodka, Kahlua, and tonic water into a rocks or old-fashioned glass.

Serve with a straw.

check out this and more recipes at: www.drinksmixer.com/drink5375.html

Degree of Difficulty of the Day:

What?

The Last Day

Poor Deby has been so busy trying to keep up with the Holidays she hasn't had time to update her blogs! She feels so ashamed! And her very good friend, Miss Radish(of http://www.radishandrose.blogspot.com/ fame) keeps reminding her that she is sick and tired of continuously checking and rechecking both the Poor Deby and Leapin Lilly sites only to see the SAME OLD POST, day after day after day..... So, Poor Deby is resolving to make a New Year's Resolution to create new posts on a very regular basis. In fact, she is working out a top secret schedule of regular "feature posts" to be debuted very soon. More about that another time. For now, Poor Deby would like to share this timely article from the New York Times. This being the Last Day of 2009, it seems appropriate:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/12/31/opinion/20091231_opart.html

Enjoy, and a Happy New Year full of health, happiness, love, joy, and lots of good words to everyone!

Click Click Click Click Camera Song

Here's a fun video that gets Poor Deby tapping her toes.

Just click click click click on the link below...

photo: Bishop Allen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LpmrZbTu1o

Play Ball!

• Deby has been following her favorite baseball team, the New York Yankees, as they claw their way up through the muck that is the playoffs. While Deby doesn't harbor any bad feelings or hatred for any of the other teams in either the American or National league (well, maybe with the sole exception of the Boston Red Sox) she is having quite a bit of difficulty understanding the intense hatred so many people have for the Damn Yankees. When Deby encounters a fervent Yankee Hater, she can't help but ask them "why?" The reasons boil down to the following:
  

The Yankees have bundles of unlimited money to fund their payroll account.

The Yankees scout out the best up-and-coming players from other teams and steal them away.

The other teams can't pay their players what the Yankees can, so their best players leave.

When the other teams raise the amount they pay their players, the Yankees just increase their offer.

I don't know about you, but Deby thinks these things define the very concept of Capitalism. Think of Corporate America. In particular, think of Microsoft vs all-the-other-companies-that-do-what-Microsoft-does:


Microsoft has bundles of unlimited money to fund their payroll account.

Microsoft scouts out the best up-and-coming "players" (CEO's) from other "teams" (companies) and steals them away.

The other "teams" can't pay their "players" what Microsoft can, so their best "players" leave.

When the other "teams" raise the amount they pay their "players", Microsoft just increases their offer.


Hmmmm. You can pretty much swap out the word "Microsoft" and insert any number of large, competitive organizations. The "players" are what make the organization successful. The largest, most successful corporations willingly pay the highest salaries for the best talent. No surprise there.


Now, Poor Deby is not a professional baseball player, but if she was I bet she would jump for joy if she received a letter in the mail from George Steinbrenner that said "We want YOU to play for the New York Yankees!"...

And, no matter what people say, Deby doesn't believe it's all about the money. Sure, making oodles of dough playing baseball for a living doesn't hurt, but there is just something about putting on those Yankee pinstripes. It's about playing for the team alongside the ghosts of all those legendary players.... Gehrig, Ruth, Dimaggio, Mantle, Ford, Durocher, Berra, Jackson ..... the list goes on and on, and it's still continuing today.

C.C. Sabathia fires in a fast one...


Andy Pettitte post launch...


Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez...


A-Rod about to hit one of his 500+ home runs...


So, until the Baseball Commissioner puts a cap on the salaries allowed to be paid to professional baseball players, Poor Deby says "Go Yankees! Go Capitalism!" That's the American Way.


Degree of Difficulty of the Day: A Grand Slam Home Run!

As a side note, Deby's husband, Dave, happens to be a Minnesota Twins fan. You can imagine the warm, fuzzy feelings going on in their home during the recent American League Division playoffs between the Twins and the Yankees. Poor Deby had to call their good friend, Jim, over to be the referee.... and here's the proof:

Now, can't we all just get along???

Cocktail of the Day:

all photos by Deby Alm http://www.flickr.com/photos/debyc/

Manhattan

3/4 oz sweet vermouth ("Vya Sweet Vermouth" if you're a N.Y. Yankee)
2-1/2 oz bourbon whiskey ("Crown Royal" if you're a N.Y. Yankee)
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 twist orange peel

Combine the vermouth, whiskey, and bitters with 2 - 3 ice cubes in a mixing glass. Stir gently, don't bruise the spirits and cloud the drink. Place the cherry in a chilled cocktail glass and strain the whiskey mixture over the cherry. Rub the cut edge of the orange peel over the rim of the glass and twist it over the drink to release the oils but don't drop it in.


Variation: No bitters. Substitute a twist of lime for the cherry and orange. Hold the lime twist in a lighted match over the drink and then drop it in. The heat really zips up the lime flavor.

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