We really are becoming a third world county. This is so sad.

I agree. I am so tired of Hollywood’s fascination with itself. There are a lot of people with stories to tell, and often, their stories are more interesting because we haven’t heard them a thousand times.

So “ripped from the headlines” Law and Order, SVU, Hollywood edition? Like all Ryan Murphy shows, it would start out with potential and probably be excellent for a few episodes, then dive off a cliff.

I completely missed the joke about the dog’s name.

I used to feel that way until I could afford good socks. Cheap socks from Target are horrible, but a nice, $15 pair of Smartwool—comfy.

Safety codes at work require that I wear long pants and close-toed shoes year round. It makes me tempted to look for another job.

The problem is the shoes are designed for some idealized foot that no one has. Most of us have wider feet than typical shoes are made for, and if you don’t think the problem is the shoes, consider the fact that toes are supposed to be straight but the majority of people have curly toes from a lifetime of foot binding…

A batiste is one of my favorites. Two parts good, dark rum and one part gran marnier. That’s it. Sometimes people will garnish with a lime or an orange, but I like the simplicity and it allows the flavor of good rum to shine.

I love rum sidecars or a dark rum batiste. Some heretics make a batiste with white rum, but they are wrong and should be ashamed of themselves.

I recently purchased a bottle of Zacapa, and now it will be my go-to brand. I have been drinking it straight or in a batiste. It even stands up well in a rum sidecar.

There are a few black characters with significant roles (including a delightful Carl Weathers in the first season). It could definitely use more Hispanic characters, though.

I spent the winter streaming the first two seasons and found it to be the first show that has filled the gap since Battlestar Galactica went off the air. There are a few illogical jumps in the plot, but on the whole it does a much better job of building suspense while moving the story along than most shows.

Shock Absorber is the only sports bra I will wear.

Has anyone tried Bravisimo? I got their catalog recently, and they are aimed at large breasted women with shirts and dresses cut for curvy, really curvy, or super curvy. One reviewer says they fit her 36J bust. Plus, they have POCKETS!

I hate black coats because that is what everyone wears, so when I find one that isn’t black, I hang onto it for years and years. (For the last few years, it has been a wine-colored wool coat.)

I used to work with developmentally disabled people, and they could not eat without getting food on their clothes. The stains were just too much, so we always bought them patterned shirts.

The guy needs to pull himself up by his bootstraps. Asking for money sounds like something a commie or liberal would do.

Was part of the pre-nup that she had to agree to give their children names that no one has used in over 100 years?

She has certainly sold hers.

The ice queen awakens.