Viva What???

I'll admit up front, I'm not much of an Elvis fan. I can remember as a kid my aunts taking my sisters and me to the drive-in movie to see his films, but what I remember mostly is the snacks and playing on the playground right in front of the screen. The drive-in was always fun, but I was too young for Elvis.

Never developed much fondness for him as an adult, either. Some of his music is okay. Most of it . . . meh. (Though his gospel music . . . Lord above, nobody sang gospel like Elvis! I do listen to that.)

But, even not being a fan, I can't begin to tell you how truly offensive I found it when a commercial came on the other night selling magic little blue pills to old men to the tune of Viva Las Vegas -- Vegas substituted of course, with that other V word. "Viva Viagra . . ." WTF???

Like him or not, Elvis is an icon in this country. He's got more fans dead than most musicians will ever have alive. He's a symbol.

And his people sold out Viva Las Vegas for a pecker pill commercial??? How incredibly crass, offensive and just plain sad. Rachel10:47 AM

Catherine Mann guesting at the MJP blog!

Over on my alter ego's blog, she's featuring RITA winner Catherine Mann's latest book! Go to: http://www.marilyn-pappano.com/news/index.php. Rachel12:06 PM

A few of my favorite things

Ha! I hate rain. Cold. Valentine's Day. Feeling piss-poor. Winter sports. Gloomy days. Staying inside. High heating bills. Wearing heavy coats, gloves and scarves and still freezing my ass off. February. At the end of a crappy week in a crappy month, I pretty much hate everything.

I've been hating everything for a while now, but not so much as before. One crappy day, sister Liz called, and we talked about everything and nothing, commiserated with and encouraged each other. It wasn't a long call, but when I hung up, I felt almost as if the damn coward sun had come out of hiding.

It's amazing what a few words in a friendly voice can do for your spirits. (Watch out: I'm about to get sentimental here, and I try very hard to never get sentimental.) It can mean the difference between feeling so blue the sky is jealous, and finding value in your day again, even if it is gray, cold and gloomy.

I've had some "friends" who turned out to be liars, fakes and frauds and still stand as monuments to my enormous lapse in judgment at the time I determined them to be worthwhile human beings. But then I've had some FRIENDS -- true blue, always sympathetic, willing to go kick ass and take names on your behalf. The kind whose voices make you smile even if you don't want to. The kind who always spring to mind when you feel needy or vulnerable or picked-upon. The kind who are ALWAYS on your side, even though they do, when needed, stop you from doing something totally insane even while agreeing with you that it's totally deserved.

I had two good friends before we moved back to Oklahoma. I had just found out that another friend was one of those fakes mentioned above, and I was feeling terribly betrayed. Good friend #1 -- psychology major in college -- would listen to me vent, but then she would look for reasons to explain the woman's behavior. Good friend #2 would listen to me vent, then say, "We hate her. Let's kick her ass."

At some point, I might have been willing to consider why the woman did the things she did, but when the hurt was still fresh, I needed #2's response. No bullshit-we don't care why she did it-we hate her and we'll hurt her.

#2 was from Texas. The best, most understanding, loyal and wonderful friends I've ever had all come from Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming. Wonder if it's something about that frontier/cowboy/oil territory thing that turns out better friends?

"Being pissed off is better than being pissed on."
--- Saffire, Uppity Blues Women Rachel10:50 AM

I need it bad

Years ago -- probably dating myself here -- there used to be a series of commercials for Florida tourism with the theme that "when you need it bad, we've got it good."

It's chilly, gray, and rainy here in Oklahoma. Not cold enough for sleet, thank you, God, but still just a pretty icky day, which it seems we've had more than our share of this month. Where has the damn sun gone???

Sister Liz and I were discussing the odds of getting our doctors to write a prescription for us for a week in a warm, sunny, beachy place. I've never been bothered by the lack of sunshine before, but while recuperating from the flu -- STILL -- it just seems way more important than usual.

Or maybe it's the fact that I haven't had a vacation in more than two years, when Liz and I flew out to Las Vegas to visit sister DL and her sweet hubby. Maybe it's the fact that I haven't been uncontracted for this long in a long time (my agent says my editor says they're working on it. Whatever happened to the days when an editor could offer a contract for reasonable money without having to have everyone else in creation sign on off on first???)

Robert's working today, and since it's gloomy, I'm having lunch with family. They get together every Saturday, but I don't make it all the time. It's a nice tradition, though, and it beats sitting home along with the dogs and looking out walls of windows at foggy drizzle.

Besides, if I stay here, who besides the dogs will listen to me whine? {Yes, I whine. Sometimes. And yes, I eventually get over it. And no, the dogs don't give a damn as long as I scratch their bellies, let them out, let them in and give them treats. Come to think of it, if my life was as easy as theirs, I wouldn't give a damn either.) Rachel10:16 AM

Marie Ferrarrella Featured on MJP's Blog

Over on my alter ego's blog, she's featuring fellow suspense author Marie Ferrarrella's latest book! Go to: http://www.marilyn-pappano.com/news/index.php. Rachel11:24 AM

Deserving punishment

For the past week, I've had the flu. Bad. Achy, stiff, sore, can't breathe, can't swallow, can't eat, can't hear, can't even hold my damn head up because I'm so lightheaded and my neck muscles are strained from hacking out small (but vital) portions of my lungs.

If it was genetically possible to track down the person who gave this to Robert, who then gave it to me, I would plan something so devious, so torturous, that he/she would be afraid to ever set foot in public again. Something truly vile and nasty, like spending the rest of his life in a locked room watching nothing but political ads on TV.

Person we've heard waaay too much from in this campaign: Bill Clinton. (Dear God, I don't think I can stand another four years of him in the White House.)

Best-looking (now ex) candidate: John Edwards. Loved his accent. Made me miss the Carolinas.

Candidate's wife who startles me the most: Barak Obama's. I keep thinking what the heck is Condeleeza Rice doing with him??

Funniest line I've heard this campaign: one about the Democrats' hopes in Liberal Oklahoma. Where is that??? I know a few liberal Okies, but it's a stretch describing the state that way. Most folks I know here are conservative enough to make ME look liberal, and I'm not. Trust me.

I'm just cranky, and still gunning for the putz who gave me this flu. Rachel9:09 AM