In Katrina's Waves

Today, Bloggers across the net are participating in Disaster Relief day. I didn't get around to officially signing up, but I'm going to toss my hat into the ring from here and urge my readers to give.

A couple of charities that I and TFR believe in are among those listed, and I give them my hearty endorsement. They are:

Operation Blessing

Samaritan's Purse

Mennonite Disaster Services

Please give. We are.

UPDATE:

I just got off the phone with my local chapter of the American Red Cross, and they are going to call me back with information about volunteering for disaster relief work. I've also spoken to TFR about this, as well as emailed an inquiry to my boss. If I can get the following details resolved, I plan to go help with the relief efforts:

1. I will need special permission from work to take my vacation on shorter notice than normal.
2. I will need to be able to spend the amount of vacation time I have to spare, if the Red Cross can only accommodate long term volunteers, I can't miss extra work.
3. I need to scrape up travel expenses to get there. We don't have that in our budget.
4. We need local friends and/or family to step up and help The Feared Redhead care for the lad while she's at work and I'm gone.

I'd appreciate any prayers, well wishes, or financial support my readers want to pitch in. Thanks.

Good Luck With That

To whomever found my Blog while doing a Google Search for Giadas DeLaurentis Naked:

If I had that here, do you honestly think I'd be a measly Large Mammal in the TTLB Ecosystem?

It Was a Very Good Year

Thanks for the Memory to Robert of the Llamabutchers.

This is a pretty fun meme. Go to Music Outfitters, and lookup the year you graduated from high school. The search will bring up a list of the top 100 songs from that year. Post them. Put any you liked in bold, strikeout any you didn't like, and leave alone any you don't remmember or don't care about one way or the other.

So without further ado,

1987:

1. Walk Like An Egyptian, Bangles
2. Alone, Heart
3. Shake You Down, Gregory Abbott
4. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), Whitney Houston
5. Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, Starship
6. C'est La Vie, Robbie Nevil
7. Here I Go Again, Whitesnake
8. The Way It Is, Bruce Hornsby and the Range
9. Shakedown, Bob Seger
10. Livin' On A Prayer, Bon Jovi
11. La Bamba, Los Lobos
12. Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Wang Chung
13. Don't Dream It's Over, Crowded House
14. Always, Atlantic Starr
15. With Or Without You, U2
16. Looking For A New Love, Jody Watley
17. Head To Toe, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
18. I Think We're Alone Now, Tiffany (hey, I thought she was cute, ok?)
19. Mony Mony, Billy Idol
20. At This Moment, Billy Vera and The Beaters
21. Lady In Red, Chris De Burgh (Second whiniest song ever
22. Didn't We Almost Have It All, Whitney Houston
23. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, U2
24. I Want Your Sex, George Michael
25. Notorious, Duran Duran
26. Only In My Dreams, Debbie Gibson
27. (I've Had) The Time Of My Life, Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
28. The Next Time I Fall, Peter Cetera and Amy Grant
29. Lean On Me, Club Nouveau
30. Open Your Heart, Madonna
31. Lost In Emotion, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
32. (I Just) Died In Your Arms, Cutting Crew
33. Heart And Soul, T'pau
34. You Keep Me Hangin' On, Kim Wilde
35. Keep Your Hands To Yourself, Georgia Satellites
36. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me), Aretha Franklin and George Michael
37. Control, Janet Jackson
38. Somewhere Out There, Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram
39. U Got The Look, Prince
40. Land Of Confusion, Genesis
41. Jacob's Ladder, Huey Lewis and The News
42. Who's That Girl, Madonna
43. You Got It All, Jets
44. Touch Me (I Want Your Body), Samantha Fox (There wasn't a teenage boy in America who didn't break into a sweat thinking of Sam Fox singing this song to them!)
45. I Just Can't Stop Loving You, Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett
46. Causing A Commotion, Madonna
47. In Too Deep, Genesis
48. Let's Wait Awhile, Janet Jackson
49. Hip To Be Square, Huey Lewis and the News (Shut up! I did NOT identify with this song!)
50. Will You Still Love Me?, Chicago
51. Little Lies, Fleetwood Mac
52. Luka, Suzanne Vega
53. I Heard A Rumour, Bananarama
54. Don't Mean Nothing, Richard Marx
55. Songbird, Kenny G (Actually I can't remember it, but it's Kenny G so I struck it out on general principles.)
56. Carrie, Europe
57. Don't Disturb This Groove, System
58. La Isla Bonita, Madonna
59. Bad, Michael Jackson
60. Sign 'O' The Times, Prince (One of the few Prince songs I can't recall)
61. Change Of Heart, Cyndi Lauper (Ditto Cindy)
62. Come Go With Me, Expose
63. Can't We Try, Dan Hill
64. To Be A Lover, Billy Idol
65. Mandolin Rain, Bruce Hornsby and the Range
66. Breakout, Swing Out Sister
67. Stand By Me, Ben E. King
68. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Genesis
69. Someday, Glass Tiger
70. When Smokey Sings, ABC
71. Casanova, Levert
72. Rhythm Is Gonna Get You, Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine
73. Rock Steady, Whispers
74. Wanted Dead Or Alive, Bon Jovi
75. Big Time, Peter Gabriel
76. The Finer Things, Steve Winwood
77. Let Me Be The One, Expose
78. Is This Love, Survivor
79. Diamonds, Herb Alpert
80. Point Of No Return, Expose
81. Big Love, Fleetwood Mac
82. Midnight Blue, Lou Gramm
83. Something So Strong, Crowded House
84. Heat Of The Night, Bryan Adams
85. Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You, Glenn Medeiros
86. Brilliant Disguise, Bruce Springsteen
87. Just To See Her, Smokey Robinson
88. Who Will You Run Too, Heart
89. Respect Yourself, Bruce Willis
90. Cross My Broken Heart, Jets
91. Victory, Kool and The Gang
92. Don't Get Me Wrong, Pretenders
93. Doing It All For My Baby, Huey Lewis and The News
94. Right On Track, Breakfast Club
95. Ballerina Girl, Lionel Richie
96. Meet Me Half Way, Kenny Loggins
97. I've Been In Love Before, Cutting Crew
98. (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right To Party, Beastie Boys
99. Funkytown, Pseudo Echo
100. Love You Down, Ready For The World

Hmmmm.... that's 47% of the top 100 that I liked (back then, some still today), and only 7% (well, really 6%) that I didn't. Yup, as I recall, it was a fun time to be young, and the soundtrack was part of that.

Peace Offering

For Smallholder.

Thanks for the Memory to Russell at Mean Mr. Mustard.

Ovofacial

Yesterday I posted a (now removed) very snarky, nay, quite biting, post in response to a post by Smallholder at Naked Villainy. I was quite angry because I felt the post in question maligned me as members of a specific group of bloggers. SH contacted me personally and made it clear that he knew full well that I had conducted myself in a way different from those with whom he takes issue, and in no way intended to defame me by his post. His gracious effort to convey this to me was effective, and I have remove my offending post.

In retrospect, I should have contacted him personally with my objections before airing a feud that really wasn't to begin with. For thisd I am ashamed and offer my apologies to my readers and to my friend, you all should have been able to expect better from me.