My take on the issues

"The high-level United States Preventative Services Task Force of scientists and researchers Monday recommended that breast cancer screening in women should now start at the age of 50 as opposed to 40.

"And it further said that women between the ages of 50 to 74 should be screened every two years instead of annually."

Yeah, definitely. Catching cancer earlier means more stress. If you've got cancer, do you really want to know? NO! Stress is bad for you.

It is better to wait so you are further along and won't have to be faced with all those pesky choices of treatment.

(*Note to sensitive types: Heavy sarcasm was at work)

Good idea, Task Force!

The High Line, NYC

I found my fudge! And it has a name: Caramoo

www.caramoo.com

I wrote to the company yesterday:

The caramel crumble is exactly what I've been looking for for YEARS!!! I wrote a blog entry a while ago about this kinda crumbly fudge candy I used to get in the bulk candy section of CVS in the '80s that I adored.

I even sent them this letter months ago, but they said they didn't know the answer:

Years ago, in the early 1980s, CVS used to sell bulk candy that you'd scoop out of different containers. There was a really great vanilla fudge candy, individually wrapped, that had a picture of a cow on it. I loved it and it was delicious!!! At some point you stopped selling it, and then later you stopped selling bulk candy altogether (at least, as far as I can tell here in NJ). Can you tell me what company used to make those individually wrapped vanilla fudge candies you sold, or what they were called? Thanks! [email address]

I found out about Caramoo by looking around the web, and I saw a review on Amazon describing it. SO I ordered a few flavors. Caramel crumble is the one I've been searching for!

I'm going to tell all my friends and write about it on my blog, www.addledwriter.com. So thank you again for making such great candy...and for being so kind!

Caren ------

Caramoo fan

The hard part of a song

There's the age-old question of why writers of Hollywood scripts don't get more credit, or at least nearly as much as the director. What is a movie but its story?

Here's another one. When two people write a song, often one writes the music and the other writes the lyrics.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it is way harder to come up with original music than it is to come up with lyrics. There are, of course, exceptions: There are brilliantly written songs, brilliant lines in songs, brilliant poetry, and some fantastic Broadway lyrics that I marvel at.

But like, to come up with music that is original and catchy, and doesn't sound like anyone else? That is the height of talent.

People like songs for the melody, not for the lyrics (usually). If you have great lyrics with a song that isn't pleasing to listen to, your song will go nowhere.

Example: Here's the Black Eyed Peas song that's popular now. It's completely a dance song and a bar mitzvah song for 13-year-olds. But it's on the radio ALL the time and quite popular.

It is NOT popular for its lyrics, which are:

I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night
That tonight’s gonna be a good night
That tonight’s gonna be a good good night

Tonight’s the night night
Let’s live it up
I got my money
Let’s spend it up
Go out and smash it
Like Oh My God
Jump off that sofa
Let’s get get off

I know that we’ll have a ball
If we get down
And go out
And just loose it all
I feel stressed out
I wanna let it go
Lets go way out spaced out
And losing all control

Fill up my cup
Mazel tov
Look at her dancing
Just take it off
Lets paint the town
We’ll shut it down
Let’s burn the roof
And then we’ll do it again

Lets Do it (x5)
And live it up
Lets Do it (x5)
I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night
That tonight’s gonna be a good night
That tonight’s gonna be a good good night
A feeling
That tonight’s gonna be a good night (x2)
That tonight’s gonna be a good good night

Oh God, this song gives me a headache.* But I can see that it can make people get up and bounce around. It's sure not because of the lyrics!

And really, if they took the time, they could have come up with better lyrics. Anyone can come up with good lyrics if they've got a good tune. That's the easy part.

I don't think their intent was to write Shakespeare here; it's to make people dance. And to make people request the song at clubs. It's not "Where is the Love?" (Closer to Let's Get Re...I mean, Let's Get It Started.)

They have succeeded in their intent, and they've done their job. My only point is that it's the song that is the real work - not the words...with a few exceptions.

*(Note to hubby: No, you don't have to turn it off when it comes on in the car. I'll live!!)

More crap from my camera

Saw this in the Urban Dictionary today

Piglet Flu

During times of pandemic, the common flu is known as Piglet Flu. While less deadly than Swine Flu, it still makes you feel like shit. However, because it is not infamous like swine flu, you get no respect from having it. So you feel like crap and no one gives a damn because you don't have h1n1.
Doctor: How do you feel.
Patient: Like shit.
Doctor: Well the tests came back, you don't have swine flu. So get the hell out you lazy good for nothing bastard. Come back with a real illness.

Protesting too much??

ME: (reading headlines on the internet): "Woman finds frog in bag of salad."

HUBBY: I had nothing to do with it.

Random recent stuff

Lower East Side, NY

In the bathroom of a pretty cool restaurant called Public

Recent storm

Pumpkin French toast at Turning Point, a restaurant chain in NJ that specializes in breakfast and lunch items. It is GREAT. Check it out on the internet, then come visit us and we'll go.

Halloween night in my town.

Damn!

What is it with you men, going after women 100 years younger than you! Can't he be with someone his own age? And imagine how sickened she will get on her wedding night when she gazes upon his wilted peepee. Oy!

When they talk about '90s music, he'll really mean the 1890s!!! Ewww!

A Somali man who claims to be 112 years old has married for the sixth time, and he hopes to have children with his 17-year-old bride.

Hundreds of people attended the wedding this week in the town of Guriceel in central Somalia, according to reports Thursday by the BBC as well as in The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian newspapers.

"Today God helped me realize my dream," groom Ahmed Muhamed Dore said, according to The Guardian.

The bride, Safia Abdulleh, did not comment, but her family said she was "happy with her new husband" -- even though he is nearly a century her senior.

A highlight

I recently got an e-mail asking me to write an intro to the literary magazine for the high school that I graduated from in Central Jersey. I'm very honored to have been deemed successful enough at my writing that they actually care. Now I actually have to come up with something cogent.

And no, it won't say, "Incidentally, Carrie Pilby would make a great summer reading assignment for today's literary-minded youth."

Blogfan Sam writes in from Hawaii:

"Just a theory, but the only reason this is even news is because the David Letterman story made such big news. It's the way the news business works. One big story opens the door for similar stories that wouldn't ordinarily be national news (or even local news). Example, one female teacher is caugth having sex with a student making national news, then suddenly any such story is automaticly national news. No doubt teachers had sex with students before this, but it never made news. Really, who cares if a sportscaster cheats on his wife with a co-worker? The rest of the world doesn't really need to know. Those involved have enough to worry about without being on national news."

Oh my

This is interesting. The ESPN guy in the affair is continually called handsome, while the 22-year-old woman is the "Tubby Temptress" and other choice names. I kinda feel bad for her in that respect.

Combonym of the day

Twitwit - n. - Someone who comes off as idiotic on Twitter.

This is terrible. What a country.

Homeless at 97, Begging in L.A. Area

AOL News

posted: 18 HOURS 45 MINUTES AGO

comments: 44

filed under: NATIONAL NEWS

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(Oct. 17) -- The sign on the window of the old black Suburban, published in The Los Angeles Times, says it all.

"I am 97 years old. Homeless. Broke. Need help please."

Skip over this content

Deano, Splash News

Bessie Mae Berger is 97 and homeless. She has outlived three husbands and all but two of her children and now spends her nights in a black Suburban SUV on the streets of Los Angeles.

Bessie Mae Berger was born in 1912. The Times tells of her hard life: losing all but two of her children, either to death or to simply losing touch, and outliving three husbands.

She used to live in Palm Springs. Her son Larry Wilkerson cared for her full-time through a state program, a job he held for more than 20 years.

Then the owner of their home had to sell. The state cut Larry and his mother from the support program, the newspaper reported.

Skip over this content

Together with Berger's other son Charlie Wilkerson -- who collects disability -- they've tried desperately to find a government-subsidized home. But they've been stymied because mother and sons insist on staying together.

"There's a million empty homes here in California, but they can't seem to find one we can live in," Larry told the paper. At least in the Suburban, she's not alone.

Occasionally Bessie Mae Berger begs for money. People accuse her of lying about her age, but she has a state-issued ID card with her birth date.

This week they happened to meet comedian Kevin Nealon at a gas station, who was with the owner of a popular club, the Laugh Factory. The club owner gave them pizza for dinner.

But no one seems to be able to give them a home.

Read the full story, and hear the audio slide show, from the The Los Angeles Times.

Olgunquit, ME

Another question

How come there are only signs for slow children playing? What about average children?

???????

What color do evergreen trees turn in fall?

Trip to Concord, Mass. last fall.

Gosh

Recently, the tracking program I use started telling me the phrases that people put into Google that led people to my website.

Recent ones include:

"single professional men binghamton ny "

Well, sorry, I didn't see any. Come to think of it, I don't think I saw any PEOPLE there.

"indoor dog restroom reviews"

Are the dogs writing the restroom reviews?

"do you need to sleep with hef to be playmate of month"

Answer: Probably.

Train station, Philadelphia

Bridge in Trenton

More later.

This is stupid

It should indeed be for charity then; not for profit.

Of interest

This girl writes an essay about how when she was little, she got picked on for being fat. Nowadays, if she is friends with very pretty girls, they boss her around. It's amusing to read, anyway. What do you think?

I've always wondered about how a person's looks dictate his/her personality and behavior. Put someone in a good-looking body and they are just going to have different experiences (and expectations of friendships/relationships) that an average or below average person, probably. Not always, but some of the time.

'The Potty Patch' indoor restroom for dogs

Why didn't I think of that?!

This is an awesome and amazing photo

Here

TWO

Well, it's almost our anniversary, and hubby bought me a beautiful "I love you" bracelet. I love it.

I was joking that we'd almost surpassed Shannen Doherty's marriage, but actually, after using a highly technical research technique (Google) I have determined that we have outlasted Shannen's TWO marriages! They were about a year long each. Who knew?

We've also outlasted McKensie Phillips' relationship with her dad. Haw haw.