Some women find a hairstyle they like ...

... and never see a need to change.

I could totally see myself doing this

Attention John Edwards, Mark Sanford and ...

... other lying, cheating scumbag politicians: There's a new dog in town. Paulding County, Georgia's newly elected Republican state house rep has outclassed you all. He cheated on his first wife when she was pregnant with their daughter. The woman he had the affair with was his wife's mother.

Quote of the day

"I had a major hiccup."

~ Chris Brown, referring to the beating he gave Rihanna

Note to CB: Hiccups don't leave bruises.

Thought for today

No good deed goes unpunished.

Elle? Seriously, Elle?

That's actress Olivia Wilde. I have no idea what movie(s)/show(s) she's been in. I've seen this picture floating around the internet and assumed it was from a men's magazine. Maybe Maxim. Possibly an "edgy" shoot for Vanity Fair or GQ. No, it's from Elle.

It pisses me off. It's pretty standard fare for actresses to be photographed in sexy poses, flirting with the camera, giving off that "maybe I will" vibe. But this pose is more like "hell yes I will and bring your friends too."

Not that I have anything against porn - hardcore, softcore or otherwise - fine with me, in its proper place. This picture disturbs me. The fact that it was featured in a women's fashion magazine disturbs me even more.

The funky chicken

This is high fashion. Designer Charles Anastase sent this down the runway at London's fashion week. If he tried this shit on Project Runway, Michael Kors would say it looked like "a toilet paper tornado" (which he actually said to one of the contestants this week.) And Heidi Klum would be like "kiss my Auf wiedersehen."

An offer you can't refuse

Thought for today

Vintage eye candy

Jim Palmer in his jockeys. Belated happy hump day.

This guy should have his own reality show

I kind of think he was auditioning for one.

Crazy congressman shoots raccoon

I usually get very discouraged when I read the opinion pages of the Sioux City Journal. The editors and most of the posters seem to skew toward the right-wing. But this warmed my heart:

Speakout: Whom would you be most alarmed about seeing outside your home: Steve King, the Crazy Raccoon or PETA?

For those who don't follow the never-ending blunders of Iowa's Republic Congressman King, he recently Tweeted that he shot a raccoon outside his house. Weapon of choice for battling coons? Automatic handgun. Needless to say, PETA doesn't approve.

A few of the replies to speakout:

• That's a no-brainer. King of course. He's crazier than the raccoon & PETA put together.

• Steve King is so worried that the sky is falling that is is doing nothing for us. It is time for him to leave and maybe patch up some of his family life. If he wasn't saying no to health reform when his son was getting married he would have been busy saying no to something else. He should get to work and quite crying!!

• I'm no fan of Steve King or meat, but I've dealt with a Crazy Raccoon or two and PETA got this one wrong. If I ever have another run in with aforementioned critter, I know now to call Steve King. The best thing the voters can do is bring him home from Washington to start a varmint removal service.

• I'll take my chances with the raccoon.

A conversation with my friends' 4 year old daughter

"I'm becoming a cat."

"Really?"

"I wished upon a star so it's going to come true."

"I'm not sure you can always get what you wish for."

"Yes, I can. My voice is already changing, can't you tell? It's getting higher. Then my feet will change next, then I'll grow a tail, and my eyes will change 'cause cats' eyes aren't as big. The fur comes last."

"How long is all this going to take?"

"Oh, it'll be really slow but my voice is already higher, right? Mew. Mew."

I'm fat. It's Tuesday.

OK, now I understand

Republic Congresswoman Nancy Elliott explains why she's opposed to gay marriage:

We're talking about taking the penis of one man and putting it in the rectum of another man, and wiggling it around in excrement, and you have to think.... hmm, not sure, would I allow that to happen to me?

You can see the video here.

As of the commenters there wrote, Who'd know more about wiggling around in excrement than a member of congress?

yin and yang

Sarah Jessica Parker likes 'em big

Do you know what your kids are watching?

Quote of the day

Have you ever been with a girl who made you want to quit the rest of your life? Did you ever say, "I want to quit my life and just fuckin' snort you? If you charged me $10,000 to fuck you, I would start selling all my shit just to keep fucking you."

~ John Mayer on his relationship with Jessica Simpson

Memory lane

Last night, I stumbled across an online article in a big city newspaper that was written by a kid I used to babysit many, many years ago. I googled him and his siblings and parents, checked out their Facebook pages, etc. There's a surprising amount of info about all of them online.

At one time, I was closer to this family than I was to my own. I took care two of their babies from the time they were six weeks old. I loved those kids and they loved me.

I quit babysitting for them when I was in the midst of a psychological meltdown. I was experiencing extreme mood swings that I couldn't explain. This was years before I was finally diagnosed as bipolar. After I quit babysitting, I kept in touch with them for awhile but I became so depressed that I couldn't function anymore and I lost contact with them.

I'm really sad about that. These kids have turned out to be really good human beings. Extremely smart, well educated, successful. The best part is that their family was Republican back when I knew them and now, the kids are all liberal Democrats. One of the daughters - the one who was always my favorite - worked on Obama's campaign.

She looks just like her mom now - absolutely gorgeous. The other sister, unfortunately, looks just like her dad. Not homely by any means - sort of average, I guess.

As for the son, the one who wrote the article for a major newspaper - I loved him dearly but the main thing I remember about him was the thrill he got from dropping his pants and flapping his penis at anyone who happened to be there. He started that when he was 4 and grew out of it by the time he was 5. Hope he hasn't regressed.

More to say

I was going to post this on Sunday and couldn't quite bring myself to write it.

Last week, there was a very sad event in our area. A small town high school football coach and his son both committed suicide on the same day.

One TV report first said it was an apparent murder-suicide and promised more info later. It turned out (as much as I've been able to piece together from scant coverage), that the son committed suicide. The father either found the son or got the news about the son and then killed himself.

All week, I was trying to find out more about what happened. Finally, the biggest newspaper in our area published obituaries for both of them. The son was 30 and according to the obit, had struggled with mental illness for more than 15 years. The father had "an extraordinary bond" with his son. I was impressed by the personal details that showed how much they were both loved.

The paper's editor then published an opinion piece explaining why he had chosen not to cover the story at all. Excerpts:

In this case, seeking truth and reporting it as fully as possible conflicts with minimizing harm. It was clear to us that reporting on these deaths would add to the pain and suffering the family and friends of these two individuals are experiencing. The question then becomes: Does the good we do by engaging and educating the public about this situation outweigh the harm we would inflict?

I think the answer is clear. These are not public figures. Their deaths did not happen in an overtly public manner or place. Police do not believe that any crimes were committed; there is no investigation ...

Reporting the details of this situation serves no public interest beyond pure voyeurism.

Here are some excerpts from the comments I wrote to the editor:

Every single day, I read your stories about human tragedy. If someone dies in a car accident, does his family grieve any less? Yet, you have no qualms about reporting those deaths.

What about the little girl in South Sioux who was raped and murdered? Her family is suffering immensely but the Journal's covering that story. Front page.

The fact that so many in the community were aware of what happened to this coach and his son, the fact that people were contacting you asking for information, the fact that police were called to the scene and investigated, and the fact that the school recognized the need to bring in counselors to help the students cope - that makes it a news story.

I think it's disrespectful to the memory of this fine man and his son not to cover the story.

It could have been done in a straightforward, non-sensationalistic way. And it should have been ...

There is a stigma attached to mental illness and suicide and I think withholding information in this particular case only serves to reinforce the stigma.

It was an overwhelming tragedy and I can't imagine the pain the family is going through right now. But I think it would be a great service to the community for the Journal to cover the story in a responsible and respectful way.

I applaud the family's decision to mention the son's history of mental illness in his obituary. I think the public needs to know that this kind of suffering exists, that it affects not only the patient but his family as well and that some people die tragically as a result. There's nothing to be ashamed of if you or a family member struggles with mental illness.

Right now, there is a terrible shortage in the availability of mental health treatment. Many private insurance companies don't provide adequate coverage and public resources are underfunded. This tragedy should serve as a reminder of how important it is to provide psychiatric and psychological care to those who need it.

I HATE PEOPLE!!!

I fucking hate Verizon for having all their cutesy little stores all over hell but when you need service on your phone, the store you go to says "Oh, you'll have to go to the corporate store." The corporate store is a half-hour drive away and I have to pass about 6 of their other stores to get there.

I fucking hate the guy in the Verizon parking lot who could clearly see I was turning into a parking space and dived in front of me. He would have hit me head on if I hadn't slammed on the brakes. Then he gets out and runs inside without so much as a shrug at me. Fucking asshole!

I hate the fucking Verizon guy who kept me waiting more than an hour while he tested my phone then came back and told me there was nothing wrong with it.

I fucking hate the fucking Verizon supervisor who told me they put it on the computer so now it should work better and if it doesn't, come back tomorrow and they'll replace the battery for me. So tomorrow they'll believe me when I say there's a problem but they wouldn't believe me today?

I hate the fucking asshole in the parking lot who was leaving at the same time as me. He inched out, I waved him forward, he waited so I started going, then he starts going, so I wave him ahead again, but he stops and as soon as I try to go he starts again. Fuck you!

(God, I wish I still had my old car. I totally would've taken him out.)

Most of all, I'm pissed off that my phone isn't working because I let someone else do something that I knew would damage the battery. They told me I was wrong and I didn't insist and now my fucking battery is ruined. Fuck me!

Best $6 I ever spent

When I bought my new car in December, and then when I put so much into it for repairs that first month, I decided to get full coverage on my insurance. Almost as an afterthought, I checked the box for "Roadside Assistance." Six bucks.

Well, I more than got my money back on Friday. I had a flat tire. There's no way I could have changed it by myself.

One of the things I hate about minivans is they hide the spare tire underneath the car. That's the main reason I couldn't change it myself. I couldn't even get the tire down.

When I took the tire in on Saturday, it was only $15 to fix it. I would have paid them another $15 to have them put the spare back underneath but I didn't realize they just tossed it in the back until after I got home. Oh well.

It's been almost a week since I posted. I used to be really good about posting something almost every day. I've noticed that a lot of bloggers I read don't post as much as they used to either. Has everyone gone to Twitter? I signed up for it so I could read someone else's stuff but I haven't actually tweeted yet. I think there's a way to put an RSS feed here on my blog that would should my tweets. Maybe it's worth a try. There are lots of snarky little comments I'd like to say that aren't worthy of an entire blog post.

I've got more to say today but I'm going to put it in a separate post.

Today's post brought to you by Sadaqa

More quickies:

• If your husband left you but his stuff didn't, the Harrisburg, PA, Goodwill wants to take it off your hands. They're conducting a "Dump Your X's Stuff" donation drive in honor of Valentine's Day.

• Speaking of jilted lovers, a guy in Stockholm got arrested for pushing 19 mice through the mail slot in his ex-wife's house. Now he's fighting to regain custody of the mice.

• Speaking of people who aren't getting laid, a disco in Spain is offering women free vibrators. Now that's a ladies' night I can believe in.

• Speaking of sexy times, the president of South Africa recently fathered his 20th child. He's 67, he has 3 current wives, 2 ex-wives, and at least 2 other baby mamas out there.

• White male swinger/child molester in Florida seeks submissive woman for BDSM play. Oh yeah, he works for the TSA.

• A Republican congressman says his party platform should focus on cutting Social Security for everyone under 55 and privatizing the program. Maybe there's hope for the Dems to keep their seats after all.

• Sadaqa: The Muslim practice of slaughtering a goat and distributing the meat to the poor in order to win Allah's blessing and protection from misfortune. The president of Pakistan kills one every day.