What did I choose? Go on, guess. OK, fine, I shall tell you:

White Zinfandel!

Honestly, I was probably meant to live in a trailer park. I shouldn’t say that, because I’ve known some downright classy trailer park dwellers, but white zin is considered the bottom of the class barrel when it comes to wine and I think it’s freakin’ yummy.

I now pledge my undying affection for the zin. White zinfandel lovers of the world unite!

This made my blood boil, and here’s why:

So many women scream about how we’re objectified, oppressed and underestimated.  While history shows that we definitely started out behind the 8-ball, what nobody wants to acknowledge is that we’re setting ourselves up for a lot of it.

Example #1:  In my experience, female bosses  who nurture and support female employees are very rare.  Almost every work-related knife that’s gone into my back has been put there by a woman.  How is the glass ceiling ever going to completely disappear if women don’t get over their insecurities and give each other a leg up, or at least stop tossing up road blocks?  I’m pretty sure there’s room at the top for everybody who deserves to be there.

Example #2:  On the flip side, any woman who does manage to defy the odds and achieve great success had better have her battle armor on.  Take what’s gone on in American politics in the past year.  No matter how you feel about Hillary Clinton’s and Sarah Palin’s views, the bottom line is that they both worked their backsides off to get where they are and they deserve at least as much respect as is shown their male peers.  What did they get?  Hillary’s “cankles” became the stuff of legend and Sarah was dismissed as “Caribou Barbie”.  One wasn’t attractive enough, the other was too attractive … so both were automatically stupid?  The most infuriating thing was that the vast majority of the people I heard reinforcing this were women.  Two of us finally got within spitting distance of the White House and …. ugh.  We don’t have to vote for them, but basing our criticism on issues and ideas, not what they were thinking wearing that hairdo is crucial!

Example #3 (and further to #2): Back to Mrs. Jackman.  The only comments on a lively interview with this pretty, funny, confident woman ran along the lines of, “What is Hugh doing with that???????” and, “She’s an old hag!”.  Rather than celebrate the fact that a real, mature woman has the heart of the Sexiest Man Alive and cheer her on, the only people who cared enough to post comments chose to tear her down.  It kills me that so many women’s minds automatically revert to such destructive, vile garbage.

The world tosses enough negativity at women without us turning on each other.  I wish it were so obvious to more of us.  Ugh … can’t change the world.  All I can do is try to do one small thing to raise another woman’s spirits every day.  Random compliments, positive reinforcement, supportive comments on blog posts … whatever I get the chance to toss out there, I will.  Just my little attempt to turn this pervasive, reflexive negativity around.

Care to join me?  Think I’m full of crap?  Come on, hit me.

Right?  Isn’t that what we’re being told constantly?

OK, got it.  We are, en masse, penniless.  Which makes my experience yesterday all the more baffling.  Y’see, my husband had the most awesome epiphany ever: our lives would not be complete without Rock Band for Wii.  Mr. WonderAli  gave the game to WonderAli for Christmas and one visit got us hooked on rockin’ out with our … umm, fake instruments out.  So, off we went to Circuit City to get us one.  The place was packed, not only with people but with Rock Band for every flipping console except Wii. The official word: the Wii version had sold out.  On to store #2: Best Buy.  Same deal, but the place was even more packed with customers and the checkout line (not customer service, just straight up purchasing) wrapped halfway around the store!  Actually, that line prompted my husband to blurt the title of this post aloud as we walked and walked and the line refused to end.  The man cracks me up! 

On to Wal-Mart … third verse same as the first: packed with shoppers, no Wii versions, checkout lines up the wazoo!  Finally, we found what we were looking for at the Happiest Place on Earth: TARGET!  Rock Band Special Edition, complete with badass-looking chrome plated drum pedal!  We walked away happy, but not before navigating our way through throngs of shoppers just dying to lay their money down.

There are a few roads I’d love to take this down, but I’ll stick to one:

Hundreds and hundreds of active shoppers crossed our path in one afternoon, which kind of baffled us a bit.  Retailers are desperate!  The whole industry is going down in flames!  Nobody’s buying!  Then what were all these people doing?  If we could line up and drop what looked like hundreds of dollars each into the collective retail coffers and stores still can’t make ends meet, maybe it’s time for some revision of their business practices.

Really, is it just me?  I’m not exactly a retail expert (on the sales end, anyway … heh), but haven’t most stores set themselves up for this money hemmoraging thing?  Thoughts?

New Poll (because I know how you love them):

Until this morning …

when WPLJ played my clucking ON AIR and announced that I had won!  The guys in the office had a good laugh (my luck at winning small things is the stuff of legend … never the lottery, but if there’s a concert you want to go to, chances are I can win tickets from somewhere) and I went ten shades of red.  Then I called the station and discovered that I am now the proud owner of a rather substantial Quick Chek gift card.  It’s awesome, but I guess I’ll have to spend more time in Jersey now because that’s where all the Quick Chek stores are!  Road trip, anyone?

Random Thought of the Day: Putting Coffee Mate in tea is a very bad idea.  Eeeugh. Fmeh.

Here’s where things get tricky for me.  Every day, I see something I want.  I tend to have a running internal wish list in my head, but my head loves to mess with me.  Coming up with my Secret Santa suggestions just might be the toughest thing I do all year!

This year’s list was finally completed with the aid of the massive stack of catalogs that has formed in my living room in recent weeks (gotta love printed retailer desperation).  After flipping through about a half dozen of them, I had enough “ohh yeah!” moments to piece together a list of stuff I’d actually enjoy!  I typed it up, clicked Send and washed my hands of the whole thing.

Then …

My internal wish list slowly began seeping back into my conscious.  The wine aerator I lusted after three months ago, the funky old fashioned stovetop popcorn popper, the sophisticated cherry wood tea box, that awesome “Medicated and Motivated” journal I saw in Barnes & Noble, season one of the cheesily awesome soap MVP.  That’s five right there!  Yet none made my Secret Santa list.  Dang.  I suppose I could always slip them into conversations with my husband and see if anything magically appears under the tree.  Or I could just set this list aside and toss it into next year’s mix.

I really should decide soon, huh?  Only 18 shopping days left!

Shiba Inu Puppy Cam!

Considering that so many things around us are currently going to hell in a handcart, it’s not surprising that these little guys have so many people hooked. They’re giving us a chance to ignore our imploding 401Ks and the awful news that never seems to ease up (wars, uprisings, forest fires … hell, we’ve even got pirates to deal with) and get all caught up in watching little bundles of pure innocence enjoy a world that hasn’t had time to jade them yet.

I get so caught up in the fluffballs, I have to force myself to close the window once in a while and focus on life stuff.  I can’t help going back, though.  Just try to watch the little guy who constantly runs around in circles , straight over his lounging brothers and sisters (who don’t appear to mind having their faces stepped on!) and not squee at least a little bit!

All the puppies have families anxiously waiting for them, so check out the site while you can.  Even if you’re not a puppy person.  Trust me, your soul needs a shot of these guys.

I used to listen to about a dozen regularly, but have now whittled my playlist down to these essentials:

1. Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me! is one of the smartest, snarkiest, most inspired shows I’ve encountered in any format.  Each week, a panel of such oddly endearing nutjobs as P.J. O’Rourke and Paula Poundstone let rip on all of the week’s news.  Ringmaster … uhh, host … Peter Sagal is funny as hell, managing to be both irreverent and hospitable to his guests (typically politicians, writers and performers) who play quiz games like “Not My Job” (they are asked three questions on some insane topic they know nothing about).  The audience gets to play games too, for the most awesome prize EVER: announcer Carl Kasell’s voice on their answering machine!

2. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon Speaking of Faith, but I know I’m better for having found it.  It may be listed under Religion, but this show is anything but preachy.  Host Krista Tippett refers to SOF as a “conversation about religion, meaning, ethics, and ideas”.  Ms. Tippett (who has one of the most strangely mesmerizing voices I’ve ever heard) is openly Christian, but her genuine interest in every topic and her relaxed, open interviewing style keep the show pretty neutral.  Half of the time, the topics aren’t even about religion.  My favorite, which first aired last year and popped up again a few weeks ago, featured author Barbara Kingsolver discussing the year that she and her family spent eating only what they could grow themselves.   OK, that sounds less than awesome, but it really was fascinating!  Bottom line: I believe that this show is short-changed by its category.  It’s absolutely worth a listen, even if the word “religion” makes you bristle.

3. If you look up “quirky” in the dictionary … OK, Google it then … you’ll probably find This American Life.  Each episode has a theme and host Ira Glass puts together three or four segments to illustrate it.  The themes alone can be pretty wacky, but the segments can include anything from serious interviews to authors like David Sedaris reading screamingly funny excepts from their bestselling books.  Each episode has surprising depth and, whether giggle-inducing or gut-wrenching, each segment is more than worth a listen.

Now you know what I’m usually listening to on iPod.  These podcasts … and my freshly downloaded Dr. Horrible soundtrack! Yep, y’all, I am most definitely a dork. 

For example, being listed on IMDB.com used to be a hard-earned rite of passage for anybody in show business.  Keep selling your soul for tapes and a free lunch long enough and one day one you’ll find your name in lights!  Yep, there’s you … third assistant lackey or “Mother of Spaz” (my absolute favorite movie credit ever … wish I could remember which movie) on an indie that never did make it off Sundance’s waiting list, but had a producer who knew his way around Wikipedia. Your theatrical relevance lay largely in the hands of people who didn’t give a rat’s tuchis about you, but had just enough coattail flapping behind them for you to grab onto while they weren’t looking.

With a little research and a credit card, I just created my own damned passage straight to the Promised Land.  For a small fee and about half an hour’s worth of data entry, I have now made my theatrical resume available to the masses, headshot and all!

I am now a Legitimate Actor.  Oh yes, I am.

My sense of accomplishment is tremendous, albeit kinda pointless.  Aww, who cares how I got there?  I’m on freaking IMDB!!!

I trust that you shall find my musings as awesome as I do.

Musings shall commence post haste.  But not right now, as I have a ton of work to do and, until this blog starts to pay the bills, work cuts the precedence line.