Definite likes and dislikes

Another series of random thoughts, because I can:

*I love mint and lime, and I'm allergic to eggs. So I was thrilled to discover these egg-free ice cream recipes, one mint and one lemon-lime, from Better Homes and Gardens this summer! The lemon-lime is particularly delicious in a float with fruity soda, like orange or cherry, over it. The kid in me demands that I dye them, too. I make the mint a cool aqua. I make the lemon-lime a lovely, poisonous-looking acid green. L'Ailee thinks the mint's too reminiscent of toothpaste and the lemon-lime's inappropriate to eat while watching the 4400. Next time I may have to just leave the dye out.

*If you understood that last bit without clicking the link, aren't you thrilled that Richard Tyler's coming back to the 4400?!?! Can't wait!!! Damn, that show makes me feel like I'm back in elementary school, wishing the teacher would hurry up and read the next chapter of the book already!

*My summer TV addictions are all on Sunday. I don't like ESPN's commentators, though, and not just because Tony Stewart's feuding with them on account of some idiot there thinks he's an embarrassment to NASCAR. (You're nothing in the world of NASCAR until Smoke fights with you!) They're boring, and most of them have almost no knowledge at all. They either put you to sleep or embarrass themselves explaining technical terms, and they get names wrong. Of course, Rusty Wallace, a veteran driver and one of my mother's old favorites, *does* know, but he's still not very good. He said Stewart's "Here, kitty, kitty" "turned into kitty litter." But Smoke came in *sixth*! Out of 43!

*And just how much drama can one team hold? Little Kyle Busch, the volatile and talented driver who looked like he was recruited right out of drivers’ ed, is joining the Gibbs team, alongside the volatile and talented Stewart and Denny Hamlin. Next year’s gonna be fun!!!!

* I was discussing furniture with my mother, and--sorry, all you IKEA fans!--I mentioned what is wrong with IKEA. The accessories are good if you like modern, I'll say that. But the furniture is cheap-looking, it's way more expensive than Wal-Mart even though it looks only slightly better than Wal-Mart, it's got boring lines, it takes forever to assemble even though I'm pretty good at assembling, you can still see flippin' drill holes even if you're not looking for them, and it's made of veneers over wood shavings intead of real wood. And then there's the environment of the stores--so snobby, so pretentious, so overly PC! She laughed, and I asked her what was so funny. "Ever since you were a little girl," she finally said, "you've always been that way. You are so *definite* about your likes and dislikes! You don't just say you like or don't like something--you give reasons. It's cute!" And then I told L'Ailee, and she laughed and nodded vigorously!

*I shared that 'cause I'm about to get really "cute". If anyone's an embarrassment to NASCAR, it's Robby Gordon. I do not like him. He is a menace who constantly wrecks other, much better drivers. He is only good on the road courses, of which there are only two, and he starts problems there, too. NASCAR's Busch series (consider that sort of the minor leagues, non-fans) went to Montreal for the first time, and he showed his ass to the Canadians, claiming that he should have won even though he got wrecked and then acting like he won by doing a celebratory burnout alongside the real winner, Kevin Harvick. In retaliation, NASCAR didn't let him race in the Nextel Cup race in Pocono, Pennsylvania on Sunday. I am so glad. What a complete and total piece of jackass meat. He proved he's a piece of jackass meat by making a statement in his own "defense" on his website, too. It's real entertaining.

If you think I'm harsh, one of our friends suggested that the guy substituting for him (some no-talent named Jones) should have worn a "WWSD?" bracelet in the car, because if he asked himself "What would Satan do?", he'd probably act just like Robby Gordon!

*Yesterday, I learned that when you're a woman talking about sports with guys, you should never say, "Anything with balls is boring," even if you really do think baseball and football and basketball are completely yawn-inducing. You particularly shouldn't say this if everyone knows you're bi and you're with a woman. Gentlemen pick up on the innuendo in that, and either laugh or take offense. And then you have to spend the rest of your lunch break dealing with the fallout instead of debating about whether Kurt Busch deserved his win.

*This weekend, I learned that if you're in a small jewelry store, you shouldn't say a necklace "looks like a hot, busy mess" unless you know for sure the designer's not in the store. You know, it wasn't such a hardship being frozen out of that place anyway. Fire Mountain Gems was good enough to send a sale catalog, and I spent way too much on awesome new materials to make my own.

*USA Today's forums are becoming my new bad habit. (I'm "GreenEyedLilo" there, of course. My profile's here.) A while back, St. Tropez Butler said the reason he didn't blog so much anymore was that he has a housemate, and he says all his random thoughts to him instead of his blog now. (He needs to get rid of that housemate!) While I'm obviously much more talkative than STB and don't let such things stop me, I have to say that I've gone to long weekly or biweekly wrap-ups because I can discuss the news at forums like USA Today's and blurt out random opinions at Yahoo! Answers. It took STB to make me realize that. So, if you don't like the long posts and wish I'd go back to short, frequent bursts of thought, now you know what to blame! :-)

*Last week, USA Today had an article about doctors denying medical care to people on account of their religious beliefs. Like, they don't want to give contraception to single people or Viagra to gay men. Verily, that woke the forums up and made some real creeps come out of the woodwork. (At least one user compared gayness to pedophilia, and others talked about how it’s nothing but self-gratification, as if they themselves would have been tempted if they weren’t such good Christians.) There is a case being taken to the California Supreme Court by a lesbian who was given fertility tests, medications, and treatments by two doctors for 11 months, who gladly took her money, and then at the last second when it came time to actually inseminate her and make her pregnant, they suddenly remembered--oops!--that their religious beliefs wouldn't let them help a lesbian couple make a family! Oh, this upsets me, for a number of reasons, most of them very obvious. (One day I'll share my experiences with medical discrimination here. Don't wanna right now.)

I hope Guadalupe Benitez kicks their self-righteous asses and sets a precedent. I'm grateful she fought even though she has her kids now. And I hope that their hairdressers remember halfway through their haircuts that--oops!--they have objections to mean people looking good, and stop!

Now do you want to know what's really interesting? According to a new study, atheist doctors are slightly more likely to help a poor person who can't pay for their services than religious doctors. This is in addition to not inflicting their beliefs on their patients. What would Jesus do, again?

*I keep saying things about religion that might offend somebody. I don't know why; I guess I'm just in one of those moods. Probably I'm having August crankies--I don't like anything except ice cream in August. But so is the Onion's staff! They published a piece about various deities sorting through a tragedy in Queens. The Onion always gets it right--I laughed in recognition. But there's something to offend everyone, especially Catholics.

*But something like that could have happened for reals this weekend, on a train bound for New Jersey. TTG it didn’t, and all anyone got was inconvenienced.

*Lastly, there's real tragedy. I hope anyone out in Minnesota, or who knows someone in Minnesota, is fine, both physically and emotionally. Just because the death toll is remarkably low for such a thing as a major bridge collapsing at rush hour doesn't mean it was insignificant. I don't know anyone in Minnesota, aside from online. I've never even been to Minnesota. So I didn't want to write anything about it. For the same reason, I’m not writing about those poor miners out in Utah, except to say I wouldn’t let anyone I loved work in one of those mines without an argument.

However, I myself have a fear of bridges. It is reassuring to know that there is a much-heightened concern about bridge safety, especially as I cross the Brooklyn Bridge, but still. I didn't want to dwell on this too much. The story has nothing to do with me; I don't want to make it about me. But I've learned that fear of bridges is extremely common, one of the most common phobias around. I guess I'm not the only one who sees water on both sides and thinks, "That ain't right." (And isn't it weird, when I got no problem surfing? But there it is. I can paddle back to shore surfing; that's not an option in the middle of a lake or river in a car.) Just knowing you're not the only one is a great thing; I've sung that song before.

One thing that helps me a lot is something L'Ailee came up with to help herself with her fear of planes. I have to remind her of it when we get on a plane, but it still works. It's easily adaptable. Basically, you remember that only catastrophes make the news. Why? Because they don't happen often. Because every day, millions of people cross thousands of bridges all over the world, and absolutely nothing untoward happens. That never makes the news, even though it's an amazing thing when you think about it. So I've been thinking about it. And I remember to look forward, just look forward, and trust my Water guardians and the construction workers, and remind myself that I'll be over soon, like every other day. I will not be in the news today, either.

Here's to everyone staying out of the news!