Extra Tit-Bits

• It's Heritage Weekend in Leland! Turns out my uncle, Sada Omoto, had a hand in planning this year's festivities. It's my favorite time of year in the Leelanau. If you're close enough to make it to any of the events that are being held there -- go without hesitation. Get a bottle of local wine, some cheese curds and smoked whitefish. I will be jealous.

• It's also International Talk Like A Pirate Day! It's time for all you saucy wenches to get in touch with your Inner Buccaneer!

• The economy is taking its toll on the romantic life of millionaires. Poor little Richie Richs.

• It could be a good idea...it could be crap.

Daily Hot Flash

• This weekend my beloved 'Mad Men' has a chance to do something no other television show has done before -- be the first non-HBO show to steal an Emmy from the networks. I have my fingers crossed for Don Draper, Joan Holloway and the rest of the gang at Sterling Cooper. The Los Angeles Times has their priorities in a order, instead of going over who the nominees are in all the various categories -- they've devoted their editorial space to an Emmy fashion preview. I love those guys!

• New York Times columnist Judith Warner chronicles another miracle of middle-age -- attending the wedding of a friend's children.

• I would so read a book of Carrie Bradshaw's teenage diaries. Why do they always market the good stuff to young women? Just because I'm old doesn't mean I want to read dreary and depressing unrequited love stories like all the time. I want to read juicy and deliciously vapid books too.

• Long Beach, California is the new Hollywood. Say what?

• Great idea, Caribou Barbie! Too bad Barack Obama has already been there...and back again.

Cinderellavision

Watch this! I'm a white woman who's voting for the cute girl...Michelle Obama.

Daily Hot Flash

• A new New York Times/CBS poll puts Obama back out in front of the Presidential horse race after enduring two weeks of Sarah-mania. It was a national poll -- so it doesn't really count because as we all learned during the '2004 Election Debacle', our country elects our national leader using the Electoral College method. Before Sarah Palin banishes me to Siberia (which I understand she can see from her house), the method that I'm mentioning has nothing to do with birth control. And I'm with New York Times' columnist Maureen Dowd when I tell you that I'm so over Caribou Barbie.

• Meanwhile, Democratic Veep candidate Joe Biden has been practicing inserting his foot into his mouth...again. I thought he had already gotten so good at this trick that he was an expert...but no matter. There must be a more eloquent way of saying that the middle-class are bearing too much of the burden.

• White House spokesperson Dana Perino has been getting her own personal peek at the mortgage crisis.

• The lovely Rachel Maddow's new show on MSNBC kicks everyone's ass in the ratings.

• Sarah Palin may have made him rich and famous...but he's sticking with Obama.

• A snippet of the theme song for the new James Bond film has been previewed on the BBC. It sounds good! I'm getting excited for the November release -- Daniel Craig will be in his swim trunks again, won't he?

Don't Point! Be Polite!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Celebrate by getting your mammaries grammed. Or take a loved one to get their mammogram. It's an act of love. Just do it!

Extra Tit-Bits

• One of my favorite writers, Annie LaMott weighs in on the Sarah Palin situation in this Salon article. The story includes a link to the Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator. Just call me Claw Washout Palin.

• I need a diet that works. Any ideas? My problem really is that I love food. I honestly have no food dislikes. Maybe liver. But if you wrap it in bacon, I'm sure I'd be willing to eat a few as appetizers.

• White people are still white people...

Daily Hot Flash

• I was instrumental in inventing the microwave. Seriously, I didn't have one in my home until December 2007, so using John McCain's logic, I must've had something to do with the fact that it has become a ubiquitous kitchen appliance.

• Sarah Palin's wearing $2500 jackets and getting style advice from experts outside of the Beehive Beauty Salon in Wasilla. Despite all the expert fashion advice, Hillary still doesn't want to be seen with her. Instead it'll be the Katie and Sarah show. I hope they don't bring their pom-poms.

• Michelle Obama proves that you can have grace, substance and style...even when you're from a working class home.

• Carly Fiorina proves that her mouth and her ego are as big as any male CEO.

• Jon Stewart leaves us with a little something-something to think about...

Daily Hot Flash

• No, You're pretty! I just can't believe that the President of the United States might soon be a woman who used to hang out in the Beehive Beauty Parlor getting a hair-do that didn't make her 'too sexy.'

• I watched a two minute promo video for this new reality show on Bravo and it was too much. I'm happy to have been validated by the New York Times television critic.

• No women made the list of authors of the funniest novels ever written. Let me guess...was the list written by a group of twentysomething guys?

• Tips for the Obama/Biden campaign from the Wall Street Journal.

• From the Just-Making-Sure Department: there's been a recall of pet food recently that hasn't been very well publicized. I only know about it because I work at a News radio station. If you are currently owned by a dog or cat, check here, to make sure your favorite brand isn't on the list.

• When I was little, I wanted to grow up and be Agatha Christie. I used to fantasize that I was one of the characters in her books when I spent the weekends at my Grandma's house. Agatha's books always started with a group of people heading off for a weekend in a rambling old country manor...and then someone would be brutally but creatively murdered. My family's gatherings rarely resulted in death, I'm happy to report.

Count Your Blessings

Across the United States this weekend, people seemed to be getting an extra heaping helping of tragedy and loss. In Los Angeles we had a horrific Metrolink accident that claimed 25 lives. I ride the Metrolink trains regularly and I also edit an online news website, so it had an impact on my life -- but I am grateful that I didn't lose a loved one.

Hurricane Ike rolled through the Gulf coast like a freight train, and people in Galveston and Houston will be dealing with the consequences of Mother Nature's wrath for some time to come.

On Wall Street, the credit crisis has taken out two of the oldest and most storied financial institutions. It's impossible to imagine that the economy has taken such a plunge.

On a more personal note, I was shocked to read a post on a friend's Facebook page about the sudden death of her husband when I signed on Sunday. They have been together as a couple for twenty years although they married only recently. I remember every detail of their fairytale romance twenty years ago as if it was only yesterday. It was heartbreaking to read her note, written in a time of shock and grief, that her husband had died and she wasn't sure what she should do, but she couldn't sleep so she was online contacting friends and family. All day long, I kept shaking my head and thinking it just can't be true, maybe she should have his doctors check again. But then I realized that I too was just experiencing the denial phase of the grief process. My heart breaks for my dearest friend as she struggles through her grief. Her husband was a good man. I wish there were words that could comfort her, but I know that only time will heal her wounds.

I do think that all of this bad news is a good reminder to count your blessings. Seriously! Take the time to get a pen and paper today and write down ten blessings that you are grateful to have in your world today. Do it now!

Daily Hot Flash

Love this! Forbes put together a list of Hollywood's most overpaid actors and actresses.

Sarah Palin's growing popularity continues to confound the members of the public who actually have a brain in their frontal lobe. Personally, I am at a loss for words at how she has survived all of the media scrutiny of the last two weeks, and still manages to look just like a...well...like a beauty queen. Hmmm?

Meanwhile, First 'Richie Rich' Lady candidate Cindy McCain doesn't think she got a fair shake on the Boob tube. That's funny, I don't think I got my fair shake at owning seven houses...

Here's the featured wedding in the New York Times this weekend. I read them every Sunday with my first grande non-fat vanilla latte of the day. They're usually incredibly delicious -- but this one was almost too romantic for even my sensibilities.

Cinderellavision