News is that Barack is weighing his options for Vice President and two options are cutie John Edwards and this guy, Nunn. I’m wondering what you guys think about this. Scientific studies have shown that monkeys prefer gazing at an attractive, leader monkey and will choose a lever that opens a window to allow viewing this beautiful monkey over a lever that allows access to sugar water (which they also love). I think you can follow where I’m going with this… We as humans are not far from monkeys and beauty pays a huge part in whether we like someone or not. I know it’s awful, but it’s true. So what are your thoughts?

Sometimes a trip doesn’t live up to all you had hoped for and this past weekend was a perfect example of that. We went on a 2 day canoe trip with a river that didn’t cooperate. I learned, after the fact, that a river’s discharge is measured in cubic feet per second. Anything over 100 CFS is good for canoeing, rafting, etc. and the Guadalupe River this past weekend was at 37 CFS. In other words, we spent more time out of the canoe, pulling it through rock fields than we did paddling. It wasn’t the greatest timing for a hike through sharp rocks as my sprained ankle is still recovering and continues to swell daily. At a certain point, I slipped and fell on my ankle and re-injured it. I lay in the middle of the river bed and cried like a baby. Not silent, classy tears but loud, howling crying like someone on the verge of a mental break-down. I have to give props to my husband who put his arm around me and allowed me to cry inconsolably as drunken college kids went past on their booze laden inner tubes. He didn’t rush me, and let me cry it out and then helped me back into the canoe and proceeded to pull my dead weight the rest of the way down the dry, barren river bed. We finished out the camping trip and were in the car, on the way home last night when we pulled up to a red light at a major intersection. A huge lady in a Chevy Tahoe plowed into the back end of my car. Everyone in our car was okay except for whiplash but my Toyota is crushed and in need of a body shop. The only light moment came when my daughter said, “Mommy, I can’t believe we got hit by a manatee.”

Steve Jobs announced today that the new iphone will be ready on July 11th. It’s sleeker, faster, and will be priced at $199. See, I wasn’t so dumb for toting around a chipped up pink Razr for almost three years. Who’s laughing now?

I was watching Running With Scissors last night and it prompted me to think about my favorite mental illness movies of all time. B. said that I should include The Silence of the Lambsbut I said, “Why? No one’s really mentally ill in that.” He said, “Of course he was, he ate people” to which I replied, “He was just into cannibalism. That’s more of a hobby. Besides, he was highly functioning. He was even called in to consult.” So without further a do, here’s my list:

1. A Beautiful Mind
2. Girl Interrupted
3. Sybil
4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
5. Primal Fear
6. The Hours
7. Identity
8. Primal Fear
9. Red Without Blue
10. Nuts

What’s your favorite mental illness movie?

I’ve been waiting patiently for you and today at last we met. I’ve heard some people criticizing you, but they’re obviously not real fans because you delivered everything that you always did… many laughs, tears, hot bodies and fantastic fashion. It was so good to see you again and I wasn’t dissapointed. Viva el sexo en la ciudad! Oh and if you’re wondering why I’m speaking in Spanish… you’ll just have to see the movie.

The girls in our book club decided to work on dreamboards at our next meeting. I wasn’t opposed to the idea, but having just read a few books on over-consumption and materialism, I was thinking to myself, what am I going to stick on my dreamboard? I don’t really need anything. Well, all that came to an end Sunday when we were invited to a friend’s new home on a private lake. The house was an open-plan with gorgeous, stained concrete floors and huge plasma tv’s everywhere, including over the built-in grill in the outdoor kitchen. If that wasn’t enough of a shock to my 2BR/1BA self, they proceeded to load up all 11 of us and take us on their new party barge. The minute I was on board, I felt a sense of peace that can only come when you’re being transported around a beautiful lake by a $22,000 water vehicle. Materialism, shmerialism. It was freakin’ fun. Has anyone seen my glue stick?

Happy Memorial Day, everyone. But on to more important things… my 11 year old daughter has had her first break-out, and I don’t mean an acting role. Her sweet little face has two pimples on it and I’ve noticed her skin is getting a lot oilier. Both B. and I had acne when we were teens and we’ve sworn an oath, together, not to ever let her skin get as bad as ours was. We’re considering a trip to the dermatologist, but in the meantime, I was thinking of ordering that Proactiv group of products that are formulated for acne. Has anyone out there had any experience with this company? I just want to know if it works.

I heard that William Shatner has a book out. Am I the only one that is totally disgusted with him? It started like 10 years ago when I heard him interviewed on Howard Stern. He was foul mouthed and totally degrading to women and just disgusting. It’s one thing if you’re hot and you’re acting that way, but he is so far past looking hot. I think he still thinks he looks like this…

I saw him the other day on The View pushing his book and he looked like he was about to keel over from a heart attack. I’m not kidding. Oh, and his big revelation– that he never knew how disliked he was by the other cast members of Star Trek. Wow what insight. Unbelievable, Bill. I think I’d rather read this book. Or this one…

Barbara Walters’ deepest secrets? Affairs with married men? A daughter with a drug problem so bad that she had to send her away for years? A workplace filled with people she hated? Yes, please. I’m all over this book.

My friend, Jen, has the best ideas and she told me recently that she makes home made pizzas for her family using her bread machine to make the pizza dough. I told her that I would love to try that if I could ever find a bread machine. Not long after that, she sent me an email and said that she had located a FREE bread machine on Freecycle. I was amazed that she had located one so quickly and that it was FREE on top of that. The lady that gave it to me said that it had only been used twice (I thought you only said that when you were selling something).

So, Friday the bread machine made dough while I was at work. I had B. take the dough out to rest when it was done mixing, and I made two large pizzas when I got home. Our favorite was the four cheese.

Crusty Pizza Dough

• 1 1/3 C water
• 2 T olive oil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 C all purpose flour
• 2 C whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp yeast

Place water, oil, salt, flours and yeast in the bread machine pan in the order listed. Make dough on the dough cycle. Remove dough from the machine and roll into a  rectangle or circle. Place on a baking sheet and turn excess under, forming a crust on the edges. Brush very lightly with olive oil. Top with pizza sauce, cheese and other desired toppings. Bake in a preheated 500 degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until crust is brown and cheese is melted.