I just thought I would share these. Paul Thomas went through the Second City Conservatory with me many years ago. and he is one of the funniest writers I know. The song "Tighty Whiteys" debuted during the Conservatory years, and the "Questionable Beef " song is performed with his band, "Lola Balatro." Musically sound and catchy, these odes are to common things made zany and hilarious.

Short notes

I was expecting the Michael Jackson Memorial Service to be completely L.A. (false, crass, and smarmy) but somebody engineered a little taste into it. Still, I wished that someone had been caring for him better so that this did not have to happen. He was a gifted, odd and needy person, but the people around him only cared what he could do for them. Fifty concert performances from a guy in fragile health who was over 50...someone wanted him to go crazy or die trying...

Sarah Palin. Ah, so much has been written. What else can I say? Buh bye? Go away?

I pulled a gluteus medius muscle a few weeks ago weeding the garden, and it isn't healing as fast as I would like. We are having some of the best running outside weather, and I can only walk or use the extremely boring elliptical machine. What a pain in the ass.

Today is an important day--Twenty years ago, my husband and I tied the knot. I am not making a big deal out of it for some familial reasons, and also because I don't feel like I am old enough to have been married that long. It has been really a happy time. Dan is the best, and if I could clone him and hand him out to all my single friends, I would make them all happy too.

In Other News...

...Last weekend's show went just fine, and my early onset dementia seems to have been cured by antibiotics and the renewed ability to breathe.

...I am shocked and saddened by Michael Jackson's death, because his music was in the background of my life for most of my teen and college years. I never had to buy his albums because all I had to do was turn on the radio and one of his songs would come up within a few minutes. His life seems so terribly sad. RIP Michael.

...I feel sad for Farrah Fawcett too, but she had given it the good fight, and also wish her well in the afterward.

...What, now Karl Malden? Well, he was 97. That is a pretty good old age. I hope he was ready to move along as well.

...Closer to home, my friend Jesus's mom passed away after a 7 month fight with brain cancer. For him it is sadness, but also relief, because it is no fun to watch someone suffer so much, and just have to wait for the inevitable. I hope she is exploring whatever it is that comes next, and that he gets to have some freedom from worry and strife. Grief will be natural, but so is feeling unburdened and lightened to a certain extent. RIP Chuy's mama.

To get away from death, this weekend we have a celebration of the birth of our country, so make the most of it! It's not perfect, and we are still some of the most ornery cussed people around, but we have a new beginning this year, and time will tell how it all goes. Have faith, and try to keep from dying so we can all see how it turns out.