Something different...today I went to the theater with my daughter. We saw Wicked and it was great! I suggest you go if you get the chance. I do think it is a chick and gay guy play. The straight men I saw didn't seem that enthralled. One man in our row actually fell asleep! The story is about the witches of Oz. Very interesting book by Winnie Holzman taken from a novel by Gregory Maguire. The themes are friendship, loneliness, family dramas, censorship, oppression and love. What more could you want? It is at times very funny. The Chicago cast includes Ana Gasteyer of Saturday Night Live fame. She has a great voice. The actress who plays Glinda was out due to an injury sustained during one rather boisterous number, Popular. She better get back in a hurry. Her understudy, Sarah Jane Everman, was exceptional. Not very often that a beautiful woman can play goofy. She has an outstanding voice, too. Traffic was really bad getting to the theater. We were still in the parking garage two blocks from our destination at curtain time. We ran/walked and got in the lobby just as one of the ushers yelled, "Five seconds to get inside or you won't get in!" We sat down, the lights dimmed and we were off. For 2 1/2 hours, I was transported. I forgot all about real life and I laughed and was thoroughly engaged. That counts for a lot these days.

While I agree that we need another female justice on the Supreme Court, I don't think it should be Harriet Miers. The main reason I would reject her is the fact that she is a close friend of Bush. That shows an appalling lack of judgement on her part. I say we move on anyway, she isn't going to make it. Why Bush would put a "friend" through this is an indication of just how morally bancrupt the man is. You don't set your friends up for an ambush, George. Didn't your parents or your church teach you that? Meanwhile, more and more people are speaking out against the war in Iraq, gasoline prices are artificially inflated (check the crude oil prices) and the hurricane debacle isn't going away. Good times, huh George? This term probably isn't as much fun as you thought it was going to be. You blew it. But, it wasn't all your fault. It was the fault of the party that didn't bother to check your credentials to see if you should be president. Had they done so, they might have noticed that you are not that bright, that you are a bit of a weasel (shirking your military duty) and you have a stupid smirk on your face that offends everyone but your fellow good ole boys. Not exactly the presidential profile the country needed.

Another one bites the dust. A pal of mine has been slapped in the face by the ugly hand of alcoholism. He drank, argued with his wife, hit her, she called the cops, he went to jail. I have faith in him. I believe that he will go to counseling as he promised, and that he will give up alcohol.
Here's the thing about giving up alcohol. It is like giving up a close friend. Granted it is the friend that always gets you in trouble, but there are good qualities too. Like the way you can relax in social situations. The way you can head right to the tavern after a really tough day at work and knock back a few and feel so much better. The way you can crack open the cold beers with the guys and watch football. And then there are the not so good times, you know, when you forgot to get home in time to go out with your family for dinner. Or the time you said something really inappropriate at the office Xmas party. Or the time, you were so hung over you couldn't take your kids to the zoo like you promised. The list goes on and on. Giving it up is tough. It is like a death and you need to mourn. You need to grieve the fact of not ever having alcohol to lean on anymore. You can't have a glass of wine, a beer, a shot. What will life be like? For some, the longing never really goes away. For others, it is final like a death is final. No more. Done. And you move on. On the positive side, you will have more money and more time. You will not have to fear your kids will grow up hating you for being weak. You will feel stronger and more in control. And the part about no more hangovers is priceless.