I have some random comments to make about some of the movie trailers I saw yesterday.

High School Musical 3
Aside from being frightening just for the sheer volume of nasally teen singers involved in the clips they showed, it was also kind of terrifying to see a flash of a scene that I think was supposed to be the basketball team putting up their hooded jacket in sync. Instead, it really, really looked like a lot of white, suburban teens putting on KKK hoods.

Role Models
This is the first time I can actually recall hearing a LOT of hardcore swearing in a movie trailer. There was liberal use of the words sh*t and f*ck, as well as the word c*m. There was also a close-up of a child drawing a picture of people’s naughty bits. The disturbing thing is that this is the only trailer that got laughter out of the audience.

I hope I did not offend anyone by listing the words, even though they are not fully typed out. I just wanted to give you a feel for the tone of the trailer.

Pauly Shore – he’s getting old, he’s a little creepy, and his brand of humor definitely appeals mostly to a niche audience, but I still love the guy.

And, he’s at the Tampa Improv all this weekend—September 19-21.

The Tampa Improv is located at 1600 East 8th Ave C-112 in Tampa, Florida. You have to be 21 years or older to get into the club and seating is on a first come first seated basis.

I admit I’ve not taken advantage of the venue as often as I should and I’m pleased to see there are performances coming up in the near future by Bill Bellamy, Jamie Kennedy, Hal Sparks and a litany of others.

And no, Trev, like I told you on the phone: closed captioning is not available. This is a live show Mr. Common Sense.

For more info, see improvtampa.com.

Want to go to one of the U.S. Disney parks for free in 2009? All you have to do is show up o your birthday. Talk about a great deal.

In an age when few if any restaurant even offer you a free meal on your birthday, Disney is willing to hand you a park pass worth about $75. Sweet.

My daughter and I usually go on her birthday every year, but I do not have her on her actual birthday this year, so we will just have to wait until mine and make a day of it together.

You can either register online (disneyparks.com) in advance or just show up at the gate with your photo ID. My daughter does not have a photo ID yet (she’s only five), so something official wither birth date on it will work.

If you have already bought passes for days that include your birthday, you can alternately get a one-day, one-park ticket to use within the next year, a Fastpass for four rides for up to six people (Fastpass allows you to basically turbo right past the long lines for any number of the more popular rides), or a gift card amount equal to the cost of the free ticket to use in the parks.

I guess there is no longer a reason for me to book a ticket and browse travel insurance prices for a trip tot Switzerland now that the Large Hadron Collider is damaged and projected to be down for at least two months.

That sure made for a disappointing startup, no? The planning and building of the project took about 20 years, and then it ran about 10 days and then fizzled out like an outdated bag of Pop Rocks.

I still see the thing as mostly a follow up to the many science fiction books that have centered on similar machines. And, as a time travel enthusiast (well, fictional time travel, that is), I’m all for the notice. I just don’t see it actually working the way these scientists hope that it will.

I read Blasphemy by Douglas Preston a bit ago, so this “real world” scenario seems like a bit of life imitating art, really. The book was more exciting, though.

I know it is a horrifying concept to stomach – going in for a pedicure at your local salon with your leg hair grown out for several days. Oh, the shame. However, it’s an age-old fact that a fresh save can make for a dangerous pedicure.

Well, duh!

CNN would have you think this is news, timely news in fact. Of course, in the age of cable and internet news networks, the sheer volume of “news” it takes to satisfy the hunger of the viewing public is overwhelming to even the most seasoned journalist. So, you’ll often see recycled bit of facts posing as hot news stories.

Anyway, I thought that I would jump on the old bandwagon and remind my readers why hairy legs make for the best pedicures. Basically, you do not want any cuts or scrapes on the skin that you are putting into the tub water when getting a pedicure. Even the smallest abrasion is adding to the risk that you can pick up a nasty infection.

You have no idea who is putting their feet in those tubs before you. Why do you think the pedicure folks wear latex gloves? They know better.

Of course, it is the responsibility of the salon to wash out the tubs with disinfectant between pedicures and let the tub rest for at least 10 minutes between customers. They should also be using a hospital grade sanitizer for their tools.

Tell me, though, when in the last time you actually saw any of that being done? I have quit my patronage to more than a few nail salons over the years due to what I consider to be unsanitary conditions. A pedicurist should never just take their tools out of their cart to use them on you. If they are doing it right, they will prove their worth by getting up and removing the tool from the sanitizer right before using it.

To avoid fungal infections, MRSA, and other nasty outbreaks, make sure you go prepared for your next pedicure. Look to make sure you don’t have cut, scrapes, sores, or bug bites. Wait a few days after shaving or having laser hair removal. It’s the ugly truth.

I cannot seem to get off of Facebook some nights! It’s sucks you in like a black hole.

The interactive qualities of the site are so simple and quick. It is easy to keep track of hundreds of people at a time, just by looking at your own profile page. Plus, with my 20th HS reunion coming up, tons of my classmates are signing up on Facebook where we have found a great central place to keep in touch. I’m back in touch with so many people and it feels great.

Still, it’s nuts that I am even up this late and it’s all because of Facebook. I should at least learn how to put together an app for the site so I can make some money off the thing.

As many of you know, I have a website called Girly Things that offers loads of hair bow instructions, for free. I’ve also got a couple of beading instructions and links to other great free beading instructions online. For some reason, people who enjoy making hair bows also tend to enjoy beading projects.

Personally, I enjoy making beaded jewelry. I’ve also made hundreds of wine charms that I have given as gifts over the years. I love using unique beads for the charms, like handmade lampwork beads, along with gemstone beads. They look upscale and classy. I really should put the instructions for that project online. It’s a simple task and has such a satisfying outcome.

I love it when I find a great source for wholesale beads. If you are a beading enthusiast, you are probably buying them in bulk or combining orders with friends. In fact, I know one person who buys wholesale gemstone beads to take advantage of the prices and resells online to fund her obsession.

Anyway, here is a tip for all of you bead lovers out there. Beads of Cambay, a top wholesale bead supplier, has discounts of up to 30% on wholesale gemstone beads and freshwater pearls. And, if you want to keep your eye out for even more exclusive savings, sign up for their Beads of Cambay newsletter. I love being able to put a good word in for an American company located right here in the south.

Not working outside of the home is nice sometimes. It is not a long-term goal, though, because my income is not steady and I cannot count on a set amount each month. Plus, I want to buy a house and I cannot just walk into the credit union and declare my income when most of what I do is freelance. I need a job so I can prove regular income.

When I was first married I lived in a townhome community that I LOVED. My mother and my mother-in-law both begged us to not sell it when we moved to Gainesville. They thought we should keep it as an investment property and my mother even considered buying it. In the end, we sold it to have a tidy down payment on the dream home we bought in Gainesville.

What I wouldn’t do not to have that townhome. I’m back in the area now and single and in need of a place just like that.

However, I just noticed that some of the units are coming down in price and are not so much higher than what we sold ours for in 2003. I want one! I want one now, but I have to get that job first.

Websites like Facebook and Ikariam might be a serious threat to my tight schedule, but for the most part I find that there is so much about the internet that actually helps me make MORE time for myself and my daughter than ever before.

Not only do I order checks online and avoid another trip the lobby of my bank, but I upload pictures taken on my digital camera and have Christmas cards printed online and sent to the house – therefore avoiding the need to make an appointment at the photo studio and the local print shop. I renew my driver’s license and car registration online and pass on those annoying waits at the DMV. I order most of my textbooks online and not only save what generally amounts to 75%, but also avoid the lines and the college bookstores.

Last year I used Vista Print, the online printing resource, for a fair number of the gifts I gave for Christmas. What I did was design amazing layouts for photo calendars and then uploaded the files, ordered the calendars and sat back and waited for them to be delivered. I did a unique set of designs for each person who received a calendar, and made one for myself to boot. I’m particularly fond of Vita Print’s consistent quality, so I also use them every year to order Christmas postcards.

Plus, Vita Print always offers coupons and codes for free merchandise, which is good for even returning customers. Basically, you can take advantage of their deals as often as you like. For example, right now you can use Checks25 for 25% off checks or PC50 for 50 free oversized postcards (GREAT for Christmas cards).

How come I cannot locate a full version of the SNL skit where Tina Fey portrays Sarah Palin? I have found clips, commentaries and a LOT of Obama supporters hoaxing the public into watching cheesy Obama-worship fan-vid that are labeled “Tina Fey Sarah Palin FULL version.” Not that I am surprised that an ultra-lib supporter would stoop to dishonesty and bait-and-switch tactics – but that is another topic altogether.

No, really, where in the world is the full version of the skit, void of a news programs intro or needless editorializing?

If you find a link to the full version, let me know.

No matter how you might feel personally or politically about the current war, I’m sure you agree with me when I say that the soldiers involved still deserve our support and appreciation for the way they daily risk their lives.

Soldiers’ Angels is a non-profit volunteer organization that backs such programs as Adopt a Soldier, Blankets of Hope, and many more. They provide a plethora of ways that anyone can easily get involved in supporting the men and women of our armed forces.

GalleryCollection.com has donated 180,000 Personalized Holiday cards to Soldiers’ Angels for the care packages that will be sent to every man and woman serving in Iraq and Afghanistan over the holidays. It’s a small way to thank them for a commitment that will keep them far from family and loved ones during the holiday season.

That got me thinking about Christmas cards and how ever since my daughter as born I have waited longer and longer before getting my card list together and having photos taken to send out. In all honesty, it is not too early to start of my Christmas card project. If I order personalized cards and have a photo done at my favorite studio, the hardest past will be done ahead of time and I can focus on my list and tucking in personal notes.

And, while I am at it, I want to join in on eh sentiment of ‘may no soldier go unloved’ and contribute some gifts to the care package effort.

I see links all of the time for ways to search for sex offenders in your neighborhood, but what about everyone else who may have been convicted of crimes like manslaughter or battery?

I just came upon the link for FelonSpy.com on a local forum I was visiting to talk about a crime that had been committed in the Tampa Bay area. Someone had posted it and I thank them very much.

I was hap-hap-happy to see that my neighborhood looks clear, though there are some questionable folks over toward the highway. I pout in the address for my old house where my ex still lives and my daughter visits every other weekend and there is a neighbor around the corner that should be kept an eye on for sure. I forwarded the results to my ex for him to take a look at.

Anyway, give it a try. You might be surprised.

It’s about more than stolen credit cards, hacked online accounts, and bad checks. Identity thieves could be using YOUR identity when they commit crimes.

I was a victim of identity theft back in 2004 and the police officer who wrote up the report in the state where it took place told me I should keep a copy of the police report on me at all times in case I am ever pulled over for speeding or something and the police find warrants out for my arrest that may have been committed in my name by the person who stole my identity.

Think that sounds unlikely? Thin again. Here is a news item from the Tampa area this morning.

A Temple Terrace police officer pulled over a man yesterday afternoon for playing music too loudly in his car (the music could be heard more than 150 feet from the vehicle.) When the man was pulled over, he gave his name as Bryan Harmon and gave a birth date, saying he only had a Pennsylvania license.

The police officer ran the information and found a current Florida license issued to a Bryan Harmon with the same birth date, but the photo did not look like the man he had pulled over.

At that point, the officer contacted the police in Lakeland, Florida and they went to the address listed on the Florida license. It turns out the real Bryan Harmon was home and said he had not given anyone his information to use. After being taken to the scene of the traffic stop, Harmon said he did not recognize the driver.

The driver continued to insist he was Bryan Harmon, all the way to the jail on Orient Road. At the jail, he was identified by the fingerprint scanner as Joshua A. Smoot, 28, of Tampa. According to the affidavit, Smoot never volunteered the information about his real identity.

Smoot was charged with identity theft, resisting a law enforcement officer and driving with an invalid license. He also was arrested on warrants accusing him of tampering with a victim and failing to appear on charges of delivery of cocaine and possession of cocaine.

He was also He was also cited for playing music too loudly.

You can get watches for a couple of dollars at your local low-end department store. You can buy knock-off watches from street vendors. All in all, you might save money and fool some people – but an inferior timepiece is never worth it in the end. I’ve tried it and I can attest that there is no satisfaction.

When I buy a watch, I want it to last. I want a timepiece for my wrist that is equivalent to the mantel clock I have that belonged to my great-grandparents. Why? It keeps more perfect time than any other clock I own and it is at least 80 years old. You can safely call that a quality mantle clock.

I recently cleaned out my jewelry box and got rid of the junk I had in my watch drawer. Some of it still looked relatively attractive, but not a one worked correctly. And, I can guarantee you that none of them were even close to being 80 years old. Then, I looked at one of the boxes of jewelry I received at my wedding and never paid attention to until now. Inside was one of a pair of Cartier watches we had been given by a distant relative on my ex-husband’s side of the family.

My first thought was that should give the watch back, since it was obviously a pricey gift. But then, I started browsing the watches on the The Watchery website and came across a tank cartier that pretty much reached through the monitor and put its pretty little claws in my heart. It reminded me of how much of an heirloom these watches are and that the best thing to do is put the wedding watch aside to give to my daughter once she is old enough to appreciate it.

I am sure it will still be keeping perfect time.

I was pleased at how many ceremonies and events were planned and staged for the remembrance of September 11, 2002. It shows that we are a nation that does not want to forget about the insane violence that runs rampant in this world, the violence that wishes to penetrate our nation.

I am hopeful that we will all be able to take a few minutes, in the very least, every year to remember the fallen.

I also hope we will wake up and realize that we have American terrorists tucked safely way in our own county. In fact, we have American terrorists who are befriended and harbored by a presidential candidate. How marvelously handy.

I wonder how it is that patriotism has become so sadly redefined in the last couple of decades. The concept of personal freedom has cut so deeply into our collective unity that even dangerous people with ill intent are handed more liberties than ever before. How have we come to a place where people who have harmed others and even go as far as to boast of their criminal acts are now celebrated and lauded?

I wish that the remembrance of September 11 would also serve to embolden Americans to feel the pride for the Nation that we deserve to feel.