Dear POTUS, Congress and whoever else is involved in this “debt ceiling” nonsense,

I have no idea what a “debt ceiling” is. In all honesty, I have zero interest in learning about it. That is why I didn’t go into politics — well, that and I am overly sensitive and do not respond well to criticism.

Anyway.

My point is, I don’t know the first thing about managing a $14-trillion debt (I had to look that up, as I didn’t even know how many trillions of dollars we are in the hole), and I don’t NEED to know, because guess what? That’s why we elect politicians. Yes, that’s right: Along with fame, fortune, a security detail and a winner winner chicken dinner health plan, you get . . . to balance the budget! I’m sure it totally sucks the big one, but we all have to do things we don’t like because they’re in our job descriptions.

The fact that this is a horrendous job does NOT, however, excuse the rhetoric that’s been floating around the national news lately: threats, name-calling, exaggeration . . . All I hear around the words “debt ceiling” and “budget” are wah-wah sounds reminiscent of Charlie Brown’s teacher. Pretty sure I’m not alone in this sentiment.

So please, do the American people a favor: Shut up and just get it done. Call us back (no, DNC, not you — please do not call me ever again) when you have a resolution. Assure us that you are perfectly capable of managing this country by actually completing the work. Feel free to give us the straight plot without all the behind-the-scenes extras: Those interested in the gory details can buy the director’s cut on DVD.

Thank you,

Crissy

Marmol came back yesterday. Fortunately, we had a sizable enough lead against the Phillies that we could survive our own closer.

But then Sean Marshall came along today and blew a perfectly good start by Garza. So there goes that one. Apparently, Marmol isn’t the only one out to get this team. As usual, others in the bullpen have chosen to get in on the act.

I have a confession to make:

I hate poetry.

Especially haiku.

I just felt the need to limit myself to 17 syllables when discussing Marmol because I was SO mad, I couldn’t afford to waste any more energy on him. Seriously, I went to bed early last night because I had exhausted myself being ticked off at Carlos Marmol. That’s probably unhealthy on multiple levels, but can you really say that those thousands of people who waited in line all day to see the midnight showing of “Harry Potter” are more mentally stable? Yeah, that’s what I thought. At least I was sleeping as Thursday turned into Friday.

I am relieved to say that I will not be writing another Marmol haiku for the foreseeable future because, as dumb as Mike Quade is, even he couldn’t take it after Mr. 16.63-ERA Marmol nearly blew another save on Friday. So we get Woody and Sean Marshall for a while. Maybe for the rest of the season. I could live with that — especially if Quade is the next one to get the boot. One can only hope.

Every Cubs season,
I think I need therapy:
Anger management.

Unemployment was
Nine point two percent in June.
You’re still our closer?!

What if all it took was your name and e-mail address on a petition, and we could change the way the WORLD takes on cancer?

News flash: This is your chance! The United Nations Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases will be held this September in New York City. If LIVESTRONG can get 100,000 electronic signatures on the letter linked below by the time of the summit, copies will be hand-delivered to UN Security General Ban Ki-moon and other key Heads of State.

It’s really very easy. Click here, type in your name and e-mail address and click SIGN ON.

It’s easy to sit back and think it’s all so complicated, that we just don’t know how to “fix” cancer — so why even bother, right? What if I told you that we could save lives by improving the distribution of what we already know? For many people, the simple reality is that their island, their country will never have a CT scanner, let alone radiation therapy. But what if we could change things for people who aren’t yet sick or who may not know they’re sick, by using culturally competent instructors and methods to change attitudes about cancer prevention and early detection? What if we could help people who are already sick by removing barriers to palliative care and pain management by improving access to morphine and other affordable drugs that we already know are effective?

It’s hard, when there is so much violence and economic instability in this country, let alone the world, to make people take a stand and do something — anything. But I’ve done it. You can do it. No matter where you’re from on this planet, no matter what your political beliefs, you can put your mark here and tell the world that you care. Do it for someone you love who is fighting this disease and will kick your butt if you don’t. Do it for someone you love who fought but didn’t make it and therefore can’t sign for herself. Do it because I won’t stop begging until we win the war on cancer. Just do it. And tell your friends.

This is Trisha. Trisha was my classmate in 4th grade, my first year at HBA. I remember that she was very tall and much more outspoken than me (don’t laugh, but I was very quiet at the time). I know, we look crazy young even now, right? (Come on, give us that much.) But check out how young we looked, well, a long time ago:

That’s Trisha in the bright red dress (told you she was bold) in the front row, and I’m next to her in the light blue dress. I think we only spent that one year together, though, before Trisha transferred to a different school.

So, this is how Trisha and I ended up getting together again:

1. I randomly connect with Scott on Facebook, and we begin following and leaving comments on each other’s blogs, etc., and become good friends that way — well, better friends than we’d been while attending high school together, anyway.

2. Todd and I start going to the church where Scott is a pastor. There, one day, I reconnect with Lance, who used to work in the development office at HBA. (I’m not really sure why I know the people at our development office so well, but somehow, I do.)

3. I become friends with Lance on Facebook.

4. One day, I notice that someone with an oddly familiar face has posted to Lance’s Facebook wall. Surprise! It’s TRISHA!

5. Trisha and I break our iPhones on the same day (well, mine isn’t broken, but the home button is acting up, so I figure it’s best to get it replaced while it’s still under AppleCare) and end up at the same Apple Store at the same time the next day.

Haha, OK, so that last part is just coincidence . . . or is it?! Weird, right? But I’m so glad it happened!

Rating: ***1/2 (3.5/5)

If you enjoy extended fight scenes and shots up the backs of girls’ legs — in other words, if you’re a boy — you’d probably give this movie 4 to 5 stars. If you prefer rom-coms, you’d probably give this a 1 or a 2, with a sympathy point thrown in just because Josh Duhamel and McDreamy from “Grey’s Anatomy” are in it. I am neither of these.

I confess, I have never been one to follow battle scenes very well. I can’t tell who’s who once the guns and swords start flying, even if they’re wearing different uniforms, and I usually have to ask the person next to me which side came out victorious — I’m not stupid, I just get lost. Take this confusion and multiply it by about a hundred when robots — not humans — are the combatants. I recognize all of two Transformers from my childhood: Optimus Prime and Bumblebee (it really helps that Shia LaBeouf keeps yelling, “BEE! BEE!” at one of them), but I think I did pretty well this time, even though the fight scenes are waaaaaay long. Then again, maybe this gave me time put two and two together.

The romantic subplot in this film is never played up to be more than it is, and thankfully, Shia LaBeouf does not even try to move his character anywhere past cocky. Patrick Dempsey, in a pretty largely unpublicized role, is flirty, smirky and condescending as a corporate version of “Grey’s” Derek Shepherd. Josh Duhamel . . . honestly, no acting involved, but I’m not about to complain about the eye candy, just like you boys aren’t going to whine about Euro-accented newcomer Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

The big star in this movie, though, is the city of Chicago. Seriously, it’s gorgeous. I have to hand it to the location scouts for making excellent use of everything from the macro skyline shots to the stairs that lead to/from the River Walk: Everything looked amazing, even as it was all being destroyed by the Deceptacons (oh, come on, that wasn’t a spoiler, we’ve all seen the trailer). I never really liked the Marina Towers, anyway.

You’ll have to watch the movie yourself if you want to find out why the movie is called “Dark of the Moon” — it makes me laugh too much to think about it, and I have a migraine right now, so that’s not going to work out real well; plus, I’m a firm believer in the idea that calling it “Transformers 3″ would have worked out just as well. But despite the awkwardness that comes with certain parts of the plot and my inability to pick Megatron out of a lineup, I enjoyed the couple of hours I spent following this little adventure, and I think you will, too.

Dear DNC,

PLEASE STOP CALLING ME.

1. You call me in the middle of my work day. Pay attention: I live in Hawai‘i. You know that. It’s on that computer screen right in front of you. During Daylight Saving Time, that means your 4pm is my 10am. Some of us have to work for a living — you know, to earn that money you so ungraciously ask for IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORK DAY.

2. I don’t make donations to people who call me asking for donations, anyway. Like ever. So don’t bother after hours, either. Don’t get me wrong, though: You totally earned NEGATIVE points by calling me during the work day.

3. I have asked you on multiple occasions to stop calling me. You’re usually good about complying with my request for a little while . . . until I make another Obama campaign contribution. And then it becomes free for all again. Let me be clear: I intend to financially support the candidate, not the party. I know candidates have agendas and the agendas are usually those of the party and the party needs money to promote its agenda, but I just don’t care. Especially in the middle of the work day.

4. When I politely interrupted the girl who called me today (from a blocked number, no less) and very nicely said that I was at work and did not want the DNC to call me anymore, she mumbled something and then yelled, “IT’S ONLY THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY!” which is all I heard before I hung up because she was just getting hysterical and I couldn’t take it anymore. And I was working. Seriously, is that how you train your people to phone bank? Guess what I’m doing in the middle of the work day when you call me and your people all but accuse me of being un-American? Trying to protect “the future of our country” by promoting disease prevention.

Yes, I’m a bad Democrat. In 1996, voted for Bob Dole, for pete’s sake, even after having shaken President Clinton’s hand. I only became a card-carrying party member in 2008 because I wanted to caucus for the man who ultimately became the President of the United States. He is the only candidate for whose campaign I have ever volunteered, and he may very well be the last one, as dealing with the DNC has left a bad taste in my mouth. So thanks for ruining that whole deal for everybody else. And please stop calling me.

Thanks,
Crissy

In case you haven’t got the word through Facebook or Twitter, my friends and I have started a menus “blog.” It’s not a traditional blog, exactly, but I’ve been wanting to put together an Internet-accessible compendium of takeout menus, etc., for a while, but I just couldn’t figure out a user-friendly way to display them. I love, love, love WordPress, so I finally said screw it, picked a simple template and flew with it — and from there, a labor of love was born. Click the screen cap below to access the blog.

As I explain on the About  This Site page, the blog is mostly for our reference, because, as we age, my friends and I have gotten pretty bad at remembering what dishes we’ve enjoyed at certain establishments, when certain places are open, what special tips we need to remember (e.g., order at least a half-hour in advance, make reservations) and, most importantly, what our menu options are! We’ve found that lots of local places don’t have their own websites, and even when they do, they don’t necessarily have online menus with prices. And then I thought, what the heck, if we’re gonna put this together, we may as well make it available to other frustrated diners, as well.

So there you have it. If you have any suggestions as to places we should include, let me know — though I can’t promise we’ll get to everything. I have become rather obsessed with adding restaurants to the blog, so chances are, if you suggest it, I’ll either try it myself or get one of my partners in crime (mainly Tina, Kara and Ju) to do the dirty work. In the mean time, just enjoy!