  Wow! Another fantastically boring Monday! Well, I guess that's better than being too busy to sit down at my desk. So I will try not to complain. At lunch today, I went over to The Gap to get my little nephew something for his birthday coming up on the 17th.
So I'm at the cash register and the guy says, "did you buy out the store? " and I artfully reply, "well, if the women's section wasn't done entirely in pastels, I would have bought something for myself instead. " Yes, I know I left him reeling in shock but sometimes you just have to put your foot down. I absolutely refuse to wear pastel colors so that I match a gazillion random kids walking down the sidewalks of New York.
Not me, buddy. No way. Speaking of fantastic days, I got the new Mardi Gras rice bag order form in today's mail from Bertrand Rice down in Elton, Louisiana! http://www.bertrandrice.com Check out their site and order something! The couple that owns/runs this little shindig are cousins of mine on my Dad's side. Every time we would go down to South Louisiana to visit, we would stay at their house. David & Lorraine have 3 kids: Jon, Andre & Julie.
So much fun!! Jon is in school and is also currently in a band that travels around playing Cajun music. Andre is at McNeese studying hard, I'm sure. Julie is at LSU and running track. My oldest sister, Bridget, sees her from time to time, as Bridget is a grad student at LSU. Well, I haven't been down to good ole Elton in about 7 years and I sure would like to go again soon.
They do an old fashioned Mardi Gras run where all the men dress up and ride horseback along a predetermined route. They start (usually) at my cousin Todd's house for a little breakfast. The men ride their horses while a wagon follows that carries the musicians and the beer. At homes along the route, the Captain of the "krewe" will ask for permission for the group to approach the house.
Once they have permission, the group sings a song, which asks for a little something to go into the pot for their gumbo. If the owner wishes to contribute a chicken, for example, then they release the live chicken in the yard for the boys to catch. Once the chicken is caught, its neck is wrung and it is tied to one of their horses to be brought back to add to the gumbo.
This continues throughout the route and they acquire various ingredients for the gumbo. The ride ends at the local Catholic Church where the women take the goodies the men have brought back and they make their gumbo. All who have contributed are invited to attend and partake in some social gathering and mighty fine gumbo. OK, off the feel good stuff for a bit. Time to get down to stupid political antics: Amazingly enough, someone (OK, any active Democrat about right now) out there is willing to spend hard earned money to look into whether or not our President went AWOL from the Alabama National Guard in 1972.
Granted there's no investigation at this point, but as this is an issue now, it will certainly be an issue later this year during the campaign for the White House. I'm floored - who the hell cares?!? Do you? If you were going to vote for George Bush in November, would this newfound knowledge change your vote?
Are we voting on what happened in 1972 (6 years before I was born) or are we voting on what's going on right now in this country and in this wonderful world of ours? Yeah to Kerry who received 3 purple hearts, a bronze star and a silver star in Vietnam. Congratulations. Well done. Kudos. That still doesn't tell me that he can run this ship any better than ole George W. F*ck it! I'm voting for Ross Perot. And finally, the Grammys. I guess if you didn't know who Beyonce was before, then you do now.
Other than that, the show left me hopeful that MTV's music awards will be absolutely fabulous this year because the Grammy's were slightly boring. The media has used the words: demure, downplayed, etc. They say the only way Justin Timberlake was allowed appear was if he apologized, which he did. BORING! I wish Janet had shown up - that really would have rattled everyone! And we'd all be happier viewers if SOMEONE - ANYONE would have gotten rattled. Thank goodness MTV goes over the top each year! Top 10 Reasons to visit yayaempress: 10. Rotel Tomatoes (Queso) 9.
Mrs. Gertie this, Mrs. Gertie that 8. Comfortable Couch 7. Chris's Teeth 6. umm, chicken! merrily! 5. SERGIO 4. Ummm Sandwiches 3. Coooo-kies 2. "so this is Queens" 1. Watch the relationship between Berg and Yayaempress unfold Top 10 Reason NOT to visit yayaempress: 10. Do I take the N or the W train?
9.
"attention... attention this is a Brooklyn bound train" 8.
"I hope Berg does not bite me" 7. Unlimited supply of Comedy Central (Chris! ) 6. 1 hour and 15 min. commute 5. memory loss 4. "no more wire hangers" 3. Mrs. Gertie 2. sex, lies and video tapes 1. "sure is a lot of noise coming from upstairs" 
