What's Not Hot At The Gas Station

Has anyone noticed how high gas prices are? Of course you have! If it weren't so difficult to figure out where and how to safely store and dispense gas, we'd all be hoarding it by now. I bet it's the high gas prices that are making Charlie Sheen so angry lately.

What's Hot in Hollywood

The Academy Awards are just around the red-carpeted corner, so here's a little something I wrote in honor of the event:

If I were Oscar
I'd want to be taken home
By Ms. Natalie Portman
Or Mr. James Franco
If I could go home with
Either one of those beauties
We wouldn't waste our time
Discussing the year's best/worst movies.
 

What's Hot In My Cup

Via, the powdered version of Starbucks Coffee that you add hot water to (and milk, if you're me) and drink. It's nearly as good as the fresh brewed stuff you get in the cafes (no, really, it is!), and cheaper, too. Is Starbucks putting itself out of business by making available a version of its coffee that you can make in a jiffy at home, or will Via enhance the coffee merchant's profile and profits? Will coffee drinkers shun it because it reminds them of those declasse instant coffees like Taster's Choice and Nescafe that their parents and grandparents drank in the '70's? Stay tuned....

What's So Hot About Aging?

Now that I'm approaching 50, I think I should try and look at the bright side of aging as I reluctantly succumb to it. I'll get back to you when I succeed.. Until then, however, I will cling tightly to my dour belief that aging sucks! Big time!!!!! Especially for us gals. Breasts shrink, chin hairs grow, job opportunities dry up along with your ovaries. It takes twice as long as it used to to do just about anything, and then it takes twice as long as it used to to recover from doing it. People I once liked and respected tell me I should be happy that I am aging, that it's better than the alternative. I smile and tell them I'm grateful for a lot of things, but, hey, sorry, getting older ain't one of them. Then I take my Centrum Silver and call it a day.

What's Hot In My Closet

My favorite piece of clothing is always the one I'm about to buy, but having said that, the best thing in my closet right now is a cool faux leather vest with faux fleece lining and lots of snaps up the front -- it makes me feel like a faux biker when I wear it. I just need to get some temporary tattoos and a fake piercing, and I'll be ready for my close-up in Easyriders magazine. Vroom-vroom!

What If A Suburban Chick (me) Wrote A Country Song Lyric...

Like Taylor you were swift

Like Keith I was urban

We fell in love fast and hard

Over ginger ale and bourbon

Like Johnny you made lots of cash

Like Leann I wrote rimes

About how I would save you

From your cheating beating heart

We went up love’s hill with faith

But it was rocky at the top

Found out it wasn’t no sugar-land

Now like Dolly we are parton

You’re moving to Alabama

With some girl named Elvira

Bet she’s one of those Dixie chicks

You used to hang out with

Me, I’m walking after midnight

Trying to forget about you

Like Merle I’m getting haggard

But I got nothing better to do.

What If...

...you could be someone else for a day? Who would you be?
I'd be nobody else, because then I wouldn't be me.
I wouldn't be able to write a poem or strum a little guitar.
I wouldn't be able to drive around in circles in my little green car.

But if I had to be someone else for a day
I'd choose my younger self
Around the age of 8 or 9
Before I went into my shell.
When I was happy and confident
Not fearful and morose.
I never wished  for anything other
Than what was real and close.

What's Hot in Music

The powerful and soulful singing of Christina Aguilera, Florence Welch, Yolanda Adams, Martina McBride, and Jennifer Hudson during the tribute to Aretha Franklin on last night's Grammy Awards program. I'm betting this was a one-time union of these five disparate talents, but I for one really wish they'd go on tour together.

What's Hot in TInseltown

Warren Beatty and Annettte Bening make marriage look both comfortable and sexy -- like I imagine wearing a flannel thong would feel.

What's What, Tut -Tut

If you're blogging
You should be slogging
Through web sites and such
You gotta stay in touch
With what's going on
Around the world and so on
Or your blog will get stale
And won't be shared on email

What's Not Hot In Washington, DC

The mishandling of snow removal from streets during a recent storm, combined with the failure of PEPCO to restore power to homes within a reasonable period of time following that storm, has taken the Capitol City's stock value to a new low.

What's Hot On TV

American Idol rocks this year with the addition of Steven Tyler as a judge. To those who said the show wouldn't be the same without Simon Cowell, you're right -- it's better!

What's Not Hot In The World

Protests, uprisings, revolutions. No matter what you call the recent events in Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen, they have served to illustrate the upside and downside of gatherings of large numbers of angry people. Power to the people, yes -- but maybe not to mobs of disenfranchised people who seem to have honed their social skills in a mosh pit. Strength in numbers, for sure -- but when twice as many people show up to the party than the number that were invited, the music gets drowned out by the din of the crowd.

What's Hot On The Internet

Check out googleartproject.com. This way-cool site allows you to view and download a variety of works of art (mostly paintings) from museums around the world. Washington, D.C.'s own Freer Gallery is represented on the site with several works. The images are high resolution, so you can zoom in on them without any blurriness occurring . Granted, seeing art on a computer screen is not nearly as exciting as seeing it in person -- but on a bitter cold winter's day it's awfully nice to be able to visit a museum without risking frostbite getting there.

What's What With Regard To Aging (Gracefully)

So, as of yesterday at 3 p.m., my midlife crisis officially began. That was when I had my first guitar lesson.
Being a good thirty years older than most guitar students and teachers, I was happy to find out that my teacher, Lola, is a couple of years older than I am (the poor dear!) and can rock an electric guitar. And it's nice to be able to drop names like James Taylor and Bob Dylan with her and not have to give an accompanying history lesson, which I was afraid I might have to do if my teacher had been a younger person. Let's hear it for girls (ladies) with guitars!