yikes

Duggar family welcomes 18th child

My vajayjay hurts just reading about it.

all I want for Christmas is NPH

I've had these soon-to-be classic holiday songs in my head since last night's episode.

the best holiday treats

Candy canes? Fruitcake? Eggnog?

Don't you remember? It's Schweddy balls!

today may be a sex-themed kind of day

1950s pinup model Bettie Page dead at 85

I apologize for the possible NSFW nature of this post but I can't seem to figure out how to hide photos with this blog. And I can't help but want to share two of my favorite Bettie Page photos...

Jay Leno = Douche, but Wanda Sykes = Awesome

Wanda thinks "there's gonna be some booty slappin' in the White House!"



Might there be a bit of a negative response regarding her comments about black people and money? Sure. Might there be a bit of a negative response regarding the belief of some that "booty slappin'" only advances the stereotype that black people are naturally hyper-sexual? Sure.

But when you're right, you're right, Wanda. Sexy, satiating, ass-slappin' sex?

Yes, we can!

my letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

Thank you for being a friend. Every year, you travel 'round the world and back again. And if you threw a holiday party and invited everyone you knew, although you usually are the giver of gifts, you would see the biggest gift would be from me. And the card attached would say: thank you for being a friend. And here is some milk and cookies. And could you please bring me this Golden Girls bag this year?



Thanks, Santa!

Question of the Day - 12/10/08

There are a lot of things we see most often in December, like caroling, potato latkes, mistletoe, mulled wine, eggnog, and returning gifts. What's your favorite holiday tradition?

My favorite holiday tradition has always been Christmas Eve.

I don't remember where the idea came from or the first time we did it but our family has always spent Christmas Eve at my parents' house. And although we're most likely changing it up this year, it's always consisted of a big, seafood dinner. My dad works for this upstate New York food service company and brings home fresh fish and crab legs and lobster and those little tiny legostinos that look like brains. My dad is in his glory when he's making a mess of his jail cell-sized kitchen so he spends the majority of the day there, while the rest of us help when he needs it. My uncle sits in the same chair with a blanket watching the news or his favorite show and the women usually wind up drinking some wine and despite the objections from my father and brother, putting on Christmas songs and cavorting around the house having a jolly ol' time.

It's usually just the Hamiltons (my "good" aunt, uncle, and two cousins) and my immediate family but one year, my mom did invite her other two sisters to spend it with us. My aunt and her alocholic husband came from Pennsylvania, my other aunt and my two cousins came, my "good" aunt and uncle and my two cousins came, and at that point, my maternal grandparents were still alive so they spent the holiday with us too. We had to borrow a table and folding chairs from one of my mom's co-workers and set it up in the foyer of the house but even with that, we used another card table and put it smack dab in the middle of the family room. It's the only time I remember the entire family being squeezed into my parents' small house and it's one of my favorite Christmas memories.

When I was younger, we went to Midnight Mass but as we Andy and I grew up and realized religion isn't really for us, we scrapped that tradition. Because Penn Yan doesn't offer midnight mass anymore, my mom has to go to Geneva (where my aunt and uncle live) so I still go with her so she doesn't have to drive alone late at night. I could take or leave that part of the tradition but part of me still can't help but associate Christmas with the smoky smell of the incense. And my cousin Ashley, aka the family entertainer, whispering and making smartass remarks that leave me spending most of the hour trying to cover up my laughter like a little girl who knows better than to misbehave in church. The choir always sings O Come, All Ye Faithful and I always cry and I always think back to one of my all-time favourite Christmas specials and how after Mr. Brady escapes from being trapped in one of his buildings, Carol and the rest of the bunch start singing it.

The night ends with my mom and I getting home close to two o'clock in the morning, wrapping ourselves up in blankets, turning on the Christmas tree, and sitting up in the semi-dark, looking at the tree and talking.

Over the years, bits and pieces of the holiday have melted away with the snow. My grandparents are no longer with us, my brother now has a family of his own with whom he spends Christmas morning, and with ever year, I find myself wanting more and more to spend the holidays here in Chicago. This is the first year I've found myself realizing just how comfortable I am with our changing tradtions and the fact there will be many more.

I guess it's because I don't ever feel like I'll forget the ones we've had so far.

sings in my best Marilyn Monroe voice...

Happy day before your birthday to you...Happy day before your birthday to you...Happy day before your birthday, Mr. Governor...happy birthday to you.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said,

"The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering...they allege that Blogojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States Senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism."

Frickin' genius, Rod.

as John Keats once said...

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.


Like a Christmas tree.

While back in New York for Thanksgiving, my mom and I got in the holiday spirit by getting her a Christmas tree. We've had a real tree for as long as I can remember but with my mom's illness this past year, the fact that she has to lug shit up and down the stairs from the cellar, and my dad having to haul a real tree in and out of the house, it just seemed easier to buy a good-quality fake one that will last and be much more manageable for them.

We went shopping the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the first thing we found was the tree. It's 7.5 feet tall, which proved to be just a smidge too tall for the family room so it's sitting at my parents' house decorated but sans angel. Which I prefer because for some reason, I hate angels atop a Christmas tree. While we were out, my mom also picked up a few new snowflake ornaments to mix things up a bit.


I also picked up my first Christmas gifts of the season; one for my brother and one for my father.


They were both delighted with their new Syracuse Orangemen ornament and it was the first to go on our tree after my mom and I had put it up. It's a nice complement to the SU banner hanging over the fireplace that my father won't allow anyone to remove.

We used to have the multi-colored lights and a bunch of random ornaments when Andy and I were little but as we got older, my mom started doing a color theme for the tree and it's been purple and silver now for a few years, which we both love, seeing as though purple is the most awesomest color ever. Look, purple and sparkly!


Now I just wait with childlike excitement and anticipation for Christmas.

smart girls DO have more fun

As if there aren't already plenty of reasons to adore the hilariously brilliant Amy Poehler, along with two other seemingly great women, she now has a web series, Smart Girls at the Party, which "celebrates extraordinary individuals who are changing the world by being themselves." Each week, she interviews a pre-teen girl and has so far, talked with a 10-year-old writer, a pair of sisters talking about the joys of sisterhood, and a 7 3/4-year-old girl who talked about feminism and sang a feminist song she wrote. The Barbie sponsorship seems to send a bit of a conflicting message but hopefully it will get more girls watching.



As expected from anything Amy Poehler-related, it's smart and funny and silly and she never talks down to the girls but talks to them as equals. Those are tough years for young girls and I think it's fantastic that there's a show out there reminding them that their awesomeness isn't defined by what they look like or what they wear or who they hang out with. But it rests solely in who they are, whomever that person may be.