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A Letter To Tide Detergent

Dear Tide,
I have always used your product ever since my college days, because mom says it was the best. One weekend about a month ago, I was at my girlfriend's place, wearing my new white shirt. Much to my chagrin, I spilled some red wine on it. Then, she made a comment about my drinking problem. One thing lead to another, and soon I had her blood all over my not-so-nice white shirt. I tried washing it with her detergent, and it just didn't do the trick. So, on my way home, I stopped at the store and picked up a box of new Ultra Tide. It washed the stain so well that the DNA tests were entirely inconclusive! I can't praise your product enough. Thank you for saving my life! I must go now. I also have to send my praise to the makers of Hefty garbage bags...

Thanks again!

John Smith

posted by Kitty Friday, September 30, 2005

Just Stuff

At 8:30am today, it was already 82 degrees. Bleh.

If you think I have any kind of good taste in men, check out the September cover of Details magazine with Joaquin Phoenix on it. He has a funky lip thing goin' on, but other than that, he's lookin' pretty hot.

Little over a year ago I did Sing It, Baby! You answer questions with song titles. I answered all the questions using only songs from my iTunes list. Since my iTunes list has quadrupled since then, I'm doing it again and won't use the same songs as I did the last time.

My answers from a year ago:
Are you female or male:
Uptown Girl (Billy Joel)
Describe yourself:
Truly, Madly, Deeply (Savage Garden)
How do some people feel about you:
Fallen Angel (Poison)
How do you feel about yourself:
Don't Let Me Get Me (Pink)
Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend:
Paint It Black (Rolling Stones)
Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend:
I Need You (LeAnn Rymes)
Describe where you want to be:
Tunnel Of Love (The Boss)
Describe what you want to be:
Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show (Neil Diamond) :)
Describe how you live:
You'll Never Know (The Platters)
Describe how you love:
More Than A Feeling (Boston)
Share a few words of wisdom:
Every Rose Has It's Thorn (Poison)

New answers:
Are you female or male:
She Said (Brie Larson)
Describe yourself:
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)
How do some people feel about you:
Beautiful Soul (Jesse McCartney)
How do you feel about yourself:
Candle in the Wind (Elton John)
Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend:
Devils & Dust (The Boss)
Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend:
Can't Get Enough of Your Love (Barry White)
Describe where you want to be:
Moonlight Bay (Billy Vaughn)
Describe what you want to be:
Long Cool Woman (The Hollies)
Describe how you live:
Ordinary (Train)
Describe how you love:
I Only Have Eyes For You (The Flamingos)
Share a few words of wisdom:
Hold On Loosely (38 Special)

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posted by Kitty Thursday, September 29, 2005

he ate it all and didn't get sick
Originally uploaded by photo kitten.

Greg at Maggie Moos eating his cotton candy and grape bubble gum ice cream.

posted by Kitty Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Don't go in the water...

I know this sounds like a joke....I can hardly believe it's true myself.

Armed dolphins trained by the US military to shoot terrorists.

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posted by Kitty Monday, September 26, 2005

Great Things

A Great Quote:
"I have leared from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our depositions and not on our circumstances." ~Martha Washington

A Great Recipe:
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (Valrhona is the best)
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) cocoa
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces) sour cream

1-Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position;heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-sized muffin pan (cups have 1/2 cup capacity) with baking cup liners.

2-Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and fully combined. Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.

3-Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in small bowl to combine.

4-Whisk eggs in second medium bowl to combine; add sugar, vanilla, and salt and whisk until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift about one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined, then sift remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is homogeneous and thick.

5-Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake until skwer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean.

6-Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes. (To frost: Mound about 2 tablespoons icing on center of each cupcake. Using icing spatula or butter knife, spread icing to edge of cupcake, leaving slight mound in center.) Makes 12 cupcakes.

Will Be A Great Movie And Is An OUTSTANDING Website!
Corpse Bride

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posted by Kitty Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Live For Today

You hear that and read it, but sometimes (for me) it goes in one ear and out the other. However, last month I found out that a girl I went to school with died of cancer. I wasn't close to her or her family, but it hit a nerve with me because she was my age. To hear she died of cancer at age 37 was a reality check for me. I've thought about it off an on since I read about it and have even returned to her obituary page twice since then. I'm not sure why I've gone back to look at it....there isn't anything new there and obviously won't be anything new in the future, but I just needed to read it a few more times.

Then, this morning another reality check came. A woman I only know from Flickr died on Monday. I don't know exactly how old she was, but she was my age or younger. I browsed her photo stream again and a title on one of her pictures made me cry. It's of a cat and the title is "I love Babycat". That just made me sad. What was even more sad was when I looked at this photo.

I guess it's true, only the good die young.

Hug the people you care about and tell them how much you love them...today. You might not be around tomorrow.

Virtual hugs to all my readers.

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posted by Kitty Wednesday, September 21, 2005

San Diegans might be yawning at their desks this morning. I know I am. It's all due to the angles bowling last night at around 1am. Angles bowling? Yeah, that's what my Mom told me thunder was was when I was little so I wouldn't be scared. There was also lots of lightning last night. I don't remember her having a story for the lightning. Suzie (our cat) came up on the bed after it started and was noticeably scared by it. This is what I told her.

"It's okay, the angles are just bowling....and, umm....testing the flash on their new digital cameras."

I think she felt better after I explained. *grin*

This was on weather underground last night:
Thunderstorms with frequent lightning...small hail...and brief heavy downpours will continue through 2:30 am. At 1:20 am...the strongest cells were located in the following areas... In san deigo County...a line of thunderstorms extended from downtown San Diego northward across the entire coastal zone and the western valleys to Oceanside and Fallbrook. In Riverside County...Hemet...Temecula Valley...Elsinore and Woodcrest. In Orange County...San Clemente and Mission Viejo. The thunderstorms are moving north at about 25 mph. Widely scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to contiune streaming up from the south in a monsoon type pattern through the night and through much of tomorrow. Hourly rainfall totals should remain below one qurter inch due the speed of the storms. Most of the action from these storms will be the impressive...and dangerous lightning."

Gotta love the once a year thunderstorms in San Diego.

====

One other thing. Britney Spears and Kevin Federline make me ill. They are the essence of white trash in America. When I saw this picture, along with the caption, I thought it told their story perfectly.

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posted by Kitty Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Not a good start to the week.

This morning I was pretty happy because the UCSD shuttle started running again. It doesn't run during the summer so I had to walk to work from way off campus. So I parked and went down to the shuttle stop and waited. And watied. I started to get the feeling something wasn't right. I let 2 city buses pass me by because I let my bus sticker expire over the summer. Having waited 40 minutes, I finally got on the 3rd bus and hoped the driver didn't check to see see if my sticker was current...thankfully he didn't. When I got back to my office I looked at the shuttle page to see what was going on and why the shuttle never came. Turns out they changed the shuttle route!! After 3 years of the same route they changed it. Classes start on Thursday...do you know how many kids are going to be sitting there waiting for that stupid shuttle and it's never going to come! Hopefully they all have current bus stickers or a bus driver that doesn't check, or they are gonna be late for class. I have the urge to print a copy of the new shuttle route and post it at that bus stop so that poor souls like me know what's going on. That would be a really nice thing for me to do. Maybe I will so I'll have another thing to tell St. Peter about when I plead my case at the pearly gates. Every little bit helps.

posted by Kitty Monday, September 19, 2005

On Oprah yesterday they had an editor from Vogue on. At one point he and Oprah started to talk about how people don't get dressed up when they fly anymore. They used Jacqueline Kennedy as an example....saying she always had gloves on and a pretty dress, the whole 9 yards. But now people get on planes in old jeans and flip flops....and it's such a shame.

Wait just a minute. I have two points to make.

First of all, Jacqueline Kennedy flew in Air Force 1 or something. She wasn't all smashed into one of the cheap coach seats where the guy in front of you is in your lap when he puts his seat back.

Second, flying first class is way nicer than coach. I have a feeing Oprah and the Vogue guy fly first class. Oprah might even have her own jet. So yeah, getting dressed up if you are flying in Air Force 1 or first class might be nice.

HOWEVER, if I were flying for over 1 hour....forget it. I wan't to be all comfy in my jeans and flip flops so I can fall asleep and not have to worry my nice dress is getting all wrinkled. I can't even image having been all dressed up on my recent flight from London. God, it would have made the whole thing 100 times worse because I would have been even more uncomfortable. And I was damn uncomfortable trying to sleep sitting up for 8 hours.

So on this subject, I'm going to have to say Oprah is way off base. Won't catch me saying that very much.

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posted by Kitty Friday, September 16, 2005

Like Pecan Pie, But Different

Every other year, thousands of contestants go head-to-head for a chance to win a $1 million grand prize in the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest. This year the winner is Suzanne Conrad who won with her recipe called Oats and Honey Granola Pie.

Oats and Honey Granola Pie

1 refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz box), softened
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, beaten
4 Nature Valley Oats 'n Honey crunchy granola bars (2 pouches)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup chocolate chips
Whipped cream or ice cream, if desired

Heat oven to 350°F.

Place piecrust in 9-inch glass pie pan.

In large bowl, melt butter in the microwave.

Stir in brown sugar and corn syrup until blended. Beat in salt, vanilla and eggs.

Stir crushed granola bars (crush unwrapped granola bars in their wrappers with a rolling pin ), walnuts, oats and chocolate chips into brown sugar mixture. Pour into crust-lined pan.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until filling is set and crust is golden brown. During last 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil or pie shield to prevent excessive browning.

Cool at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled with whipped cream or ice cream.

Store in refrigerator.

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posted by Kitty Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Finally home and getting back into our normal routine. We're not sleeping well...we're awake when we should be asleep. I think it's just going to take time for our bodies to understand we are back on San Diego time and not Baltic time.

The vacation was wonderful! Greg and I had a great time. It wasn't a restful vacation, but I didn't expect it to be. We went to see different countries, not relax on a cruise ship. Perhaps we will take a "relaxing" cruise someday :)

I had my very first massage by a professional in the Aqua Spa on the ship! It was fabulous....so much so that I went back two more times. I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not....I'm just not really into the idea of people touching me. I know, I'm weird....or "special" as the people at work call me. But I got over that quickly thanks to Ianita. She was the one who gave me my first treatment. Truly one of the nicest people I've ever met. We became friends and I really hope I see her again someday. She got a promotion and will be the manager of a spa on another ship when her contract ends on the Constellation. Perhaps if we're lucky we will see each other again on another cruise. I hope we do :)

Pictures are coming...between Greg and I, there are 1811 pictures to weed through. I'll post some soon :)

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posted by Kitty Tuesday, September 13, 2005

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