Commen-Tater

I received a couple of comments on the Super Bowl blog from some folks who seemed upset at the use of particular word.

“It is too bad you chose words like fag and faggot in this post-maybe you should be more cognizant of who might be reading....
As an overweight or fat, obese, beefy*, big, blimp, brawny, broad, bulging, bulky, bull, burly, butterball*, chunky*, corpulent, cow, distended, dumpy, elephantine, fleshy, gargantuan, gross, heavy, heavyset*, hefty, husky, inflated, jelly-belly*, lard, large, meaty*, obese, oversize, paunchy, plump, plumpish, ponderous, porcine, portly, potbellied, pudgy*, roly-poly*, rotund, solid, stout, stubby, swollen, thickset*, tubby, weighty, whale person, you know all too well the negative thoughts and feelings hatred and bigotry cause. Your wording expresses this to gay people. I guess you get the drift...
Very disappointing for someone who has probably faced their own discrimination issues.
You stated that you enjoyed Princes' peformance, why didn't you call him a fag too?
His stage which is a sacred symbol to him; represents the integration of male and female sexuality.
Chose your expression carefully as you ARE on the World Wide Web.”

Okay first of all I need to address the intent in which I used the word “fag” (and by the way I never used the word “faggot” as the commenter states). The thing is, I always use that word to describe even manly men as well as gay men. I have known and been friends with, and hung out with, and been in love with, and danced with, and lent money to, and been in car accidents with so many gay men in my life, I think it would surprise even the haggiest of fag-hags. The comment was not meant in a harmful way, and I was not by any means demeaning anyone of the gay persuasion. For that, I apologize.

Sometimes I think we get hung up on words and their meanings and the intentions in which they are used. It’s just the way I am – it’s why I call Greg "a bastard” or my sister’s family “hillbillies” or my nephew “honey.” I have nothing against bastards or hillbillies, it's just words I use.

And then there’s the question of using the word “retard.” Now most people think that’s a cruel moniker for a person who is mentally challenged. For me, having taken care of my mentally retarded aunt for 20 of the last 30 years, I feel like I’m entitled to use that word. I would sometimes call her a retard, but it never hurt her feelings…

I have been called most of the names the reader mentioned (you left out "Jabba" and "Sta-Puft") but you know what, maybe I was all those things. Maybe I’m still some of them, but I don’t care. It’s someone else’s problem. I’m over it. (thanks for putting those in alphabetically order by the way so I can easily file them for later when I get skinny and can make fun of fat people too).

Actually it’s too bad that this person is nitpicking my tiny little insignificant blog, when there are SO many sites on the world wide web that are there solely for the purpose of persecuting groups of people, created by narrow-minded boobs who view those they hate as "different."

I’m impressed with the reader’s passion and I am just as passionate about these issues. See my friend Greg’s blog on the subject here. It’s a mean world and we can’t change it overnight. We can only be careful and kind in and of ourselves and hope some of it rubs off on others. And the reader is right, using hateful words in any forum sometimes fosters those prejudices.


And maybe Prince is a fag too. That’s okay with me.

Why I Love My New Job

So it's about 10 degrees here and it's been snowing since about 1 AM. I brought home my laptop from work and so I'm "working from home" today. I decided to take a lunch break and catch up on my blog.

So the idea of working from home once in a while when the weather's like this and gas is still $2.11 a gallon is one of the main reasons I love my job. There are many others:

- In the breakroom we have FREE coffee, hot water and teabags, and a filtered ice and water machine.

- In the women's bathroom there are FREE tampons and pads and tissues.

- The parking lot is paved (only MICA people will appreciate why this is a big deal)

- There is a security guard named George who greets you with a smile every morning. Since it's a secure building we have little badges that have electronic things that open the doors.

- There are other people in my department who know the same things I do! Like how to write an SQL query or Access VB script!

Of course there are some things that bug me about work...

- The Smoking Woman (akin to the smoking man from X-Files). She goes out to smoke about every 45 minutes. She uses the restroom and gets a drink and so really only works 45 minutes out of every hour. I'm not sure that's fair to us non-smokers, but then life and the universe aren't fair.

- The Balloon Lady. There is a lady who has balloons ALL the time. Not just for special occasions, these balloons. Her newest ones are star-shaped. I don't know why she has them, but she must really love balloons.

- There is a girl and a guy who work accross the "hallway" (it's actually open, but I call it the hallway). The guy comes up to the girl's desk and they go out (I'm assuming to smoke also). Sometimes they go get coffee together. I can't decide if they are having an affair (the girl has a wedding ring, the boy does not) or if they are just good friends. It's probably the latter. Kind of like me and Andy were at MICA.

- Why are there sombreros on top of some people's cabinets? I don't know. Laura says they were there when they moved in. I mentioned we should have a "Fiesta" sometime for lunch and make the guys wear those hats. She agreed. We're working out the details.

- Why is the ice and water machine in the breakroom so LOUD? I mean if you go there to eat, you can't really hear the TV (did I mention we have TV in the breakeroom? Another perk). And forget it if you're trying to make a phone call in there. Yikes.

- There are always interesting smells in my building. Sometimes it smells like Indian food (this happens alot). Usually there is a distinctive morning smell and afternoon smell. Yesterday, it smelled like cinnamon rolls in the morning and in the afternoon - sewer gas. Mmmm....

- Of course then there is the age-old question: "WHAT IS FOR LUNCH?" Eric used to do a phony MICA newspaper called the "MICA Tattler" where in every issue on the front in the list of articles, this question would appear. For me it's usually soup or a salad, sometimes a sandwich; cottage cheese; a banana; etc. Some people go out for lunch, and my boss, Scott, usually goes and gets a Subway sandwich that sits on his desk until about 3:00 pm when he gets to actually eat it.

All in all it's a fun place and I'm enjoying it.

Be safe and look for the next blog wherein I will discuss my theory on the Antichrist. I know Greg's looking forward to that one.

Well, I wouldn't call it "Super..."

So the bears lost. Oh well, at least they scored and how about that opening return for a touchdown? What a thrill! Then there were so many turnovers, I thought the Pillsbury Doughboy was playing! At least it wasn't the stupid Patriots again - fags...

Then before the game, there was this weird kind of opening ceremony - a la the Olympics - where the Cirq Du Soleil performed. It was kind of this weird, surreal faggy football ballet/circus act. I guess that's how the French see American Football...

The half-time show was a hit for me when Prince performed "Purple Rain" in the pouring rain. He was a blast! And yes, it's okay to have different guitars for different songs. The Prince "symbol" guitar was my favorite - especially when the curtain came up around him so it looked like he had a giant arrow for a [insert euphemism for male organ here].


Anyway I hosted a kick-ass Superbowl party nonetheless. Joe, Eric, Anita and Gregory came over for snacks and supper. It was a blast. I made my famous Aunt Nette's Black and Blue Division Cheese Soup (made with ham, 3 kinds of cheese, cayenne, mustard, and Texas Pete hot sauce - Yumm).


Also on the menu were authentic Chicago Style Dragged-Through-The-Garden Hot Dogs. I ordered poppy seed rolls from the Dahl's store in Johnston and picked them up on Friday. I couldn't get Vienna Beef dogs, so I settled for Hebrew National. They were all beef and kosher so they worked out great! I actually ate a better part of one of the dogs, but of course couldn't finish it. It was yummy though. The whole experience took me back to the wonderful day I spent in Chicago with Greg and Kimber trying out and rating the Chicago dogs. "Thanks fer stoppin'!"



For appetisers I made tiny pigs in blankets. I used Hormel Little Smokies cocktail sausages, and cut my Pillsbury Cresent rolls into fourths. I wrapped each smokie in the tiny cresent and baked 'em until GBD (Golden Brown and Delicious). I served them with a barbecue sauce and a creole mustard sauce. They went pretty fast.


Along with those things we had the usual chips and dip and dill pickle spears as nice accompaniments. Brownie sundaes for dessert were not turned away by anyone (except me of course).



All in all, it was a success - except for the actual result of the game. The Bears gave it a go and they lost. It's the way it is.

I have to apologize for taking so long to get a new post out. I have an entire list of topics so people get off my back!! I'm a working woman again and it's taking me some time to get into the routine and the commute. I do have some photos since it was requested. I'm down 148 pounds now - so I'm about 64% of the way to my desired weight. Not bad! Here is a photo of me from last Christmas (thanks Greg - this is the worst photo I have seen of myself for a long time) next to a cutout of me from this year's group shot. I was down 135 here so I'm a teeny bit skinnier, but not much.


So there you have it. Football season is over but we still have Spring to look forward to - only 4 more weeks (since Phil didn't see his shadow) and we'll be Ready to Mow the Grass Again (that's the new Barry Manilow song I just wrote to the tune of "Ready to Take a Chance Again") I'm weird - what can I say. Rachel and Greg know about the whole lyrics thing so they can explain it.

Have a good one! Stay warm!