I am a Pastafarian

Hello fans and friends. I am back. I am not sure how often I shall correspond with you all, since my new little room-mate can be quite demanding and occasionally, ill tempered. As well as leaky.

But the main change in my life is that I am now a Pastafarian. May the Great Flying Spaghetti touch you with his Noodly Appendage!!

As a Pastafarian, I now believe quite strongly in pirates and midgets. I also follow the 8 sacred laws, known as the "I'd Rather You Didn'ts." They were discovered by the prophet Bobby Henderson. Here they are:

The Eight "I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts"

1. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Act Like a Sanctimonious Holier-Than-Thou Ass When Describing My Noodly Goodness. If Some People Don't Believe In Me, That's Okay. Really, I'm Not That Vain. Besides, This Isn't About Them So Don't Change The Subject.
2. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Use My Existence As A Means To Oppress, Subjugate, Punish, Eviscerate, And/Or, You Know, Be Mean To Others. I Don't Require Sacrifices, And Purity Is For Drinking Water, Not People.
3. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Judge People For The Way They Look, Or How They Dress, Or The Way They Talk, Or, Well, Just Play Nice, Okay? Oh, And Get This In Your Thick Heads: Woman = Person. Man = Person. Samey - Samey. One Is Not Better Than The Other, Unless We're Talking About Fashion And I'm Sorry, But I Gave That To Women And Some Guys Who Know The Difference Between Teal and Fuchsia.
4. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Indulge In Conduct That Offends Yourself, Or Your Willing, Consenting Partner Of Legal Age AND Mental Maturity. As For Anyone Who Might Object, I Think The Expression Is Go F*** Yourself, Unless They Find That Offensive In Which Case They Can Turn Off the TV For Once And Go For A Walk For A Change.
5. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Challenge The Bigoted, Misogynist, Hateful Ideas Of Others On An Empty Stomach. Eat, Then Go After The B*******.
6. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Build Multimillion-Dollar Churches/Temples/Mosques/Shrines To My Noodly Goodness When The Money Could Be Better Spent (Take Your Pick):

1. Ending Poverty
2. Curing Diseases
3. Living In Peace, Loving With Passion, And Lowering The Cost Of Cable
   I Might be a Complex-Carbohydrate Omniscient Being, But I Enjoy The Simple Things In Life. I Ought To Know. I AM the Creator.

7. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Go Around Telling People I Talk To You. You're Not That Interesting. Get Over Yourself. And I Told You To Love Your Fellow Man, Can't You Take A Hint?
8. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You If You Are Into, Um, Stuff That Uses A Lot of Leather/Lubricant/Las Vegas. If the Other Person Is Into It, However (Pursuant To #4), Then Have At It, Take Pictures, And For The Love Of Mike, Wear a CONDOM! Honestly, It's A Piece of Rubber. If I Didn't Want It To Feel Good When You Did It I Would Have Added Spikes, Or Something.

There is a guy in my life

RandomReality will be on temporary hiatus. I met a guy. He is short and bald but I think he is perfect, although he can be a little whiny, especially when he wants to eat. Boy, does he have an appetite! He and I will be together at least through early July and then, who knows. Wish us luck in our relationship:)

Bono on NBC Nightly News to Discuss Africa

Bono will be on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams on Tuesday, May 23 to discuss his recent trip to Africa. Tune in. Or click on this link to the One Campaign to find out more about the organization's mission to end extreme poverty and global AIDS.

This is from the website:

How come Britney Spears doesn't have to take Parenting Classes?

Cause she clearly needs some! Check out this story of her almost dropping her baby son on his noggin because she was holding a drink in one hand and almost tripped on her too-high shoes. At least she did not spill her drink. Whew!

To get licensed as a foster mother, I had to get fingerprinted, answer questions about masturbation, buy a fire extinguisher that weighed over 5 pounds and sit through hours of parenting classes and videos. Britney just had to have sex. Granted, it was with KFed, so that is its own particular chore, but still.

That girl either needs to hire a nanny, stop carrying her child, or stop carrying her child while she also carries a drink and wears silly shoes.

Oh and the New York Times reports that one of the most popular girls' names is Nevaeh. It's Heaven spelled backwards. Yup yup.

Happy Birthday

George Clooney!!!!!!!!!!

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Guess what I learned this weekend?

So I wanted to make brownies. The recipe called for two eggs but I only had one. So I made the brownies with just one egg. Guess what I learned? That makes the brownies really, really hard and crunchy. But they are still tasty! Kind of like biscotti. But square, instead of long and rectangular. They are good when I dunk them in tea. I will make you some hard, crunchy-biscotti-like brownies if you ask me nicely and I only have one egg.

At least I don't get spanked at my job

If you ever think your job is bad, read this article. It could be worse. You could get spanked at work as part of "camaraderie-building" exercises.

I Would Worship at the Church of U2

Many chruches are now incorporating U2's music into their services. How come MY church doesn't have a U2 Eucharist????

George Clooney stalks Gawker

See? This is yet another reason why I love and admire George Clooney. The Gawker website recently created a real-time map of celebrity sightings in NYC. You would think I would be on the website constantly, searching for my love, GC, and where he might be in real time. But I am not. I have a life and so does GC. If we run into each other, it shall be due to Kismet, not a celebrity stalking website.

George, because he is clever, urged many publicists to flood the Gawker website with bogus sightings of himself and other celebrities. I think this is a good idea. Let me tell you something, I don't really WANT to see GC coming out of the men's room or disgusting from a workout at the gym. I want to see him all clean and in a tux like at the Oscars.

Great True Crime story

Click here to read a great true crime story by my friend Missy Stoddard at the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in Florida. She covers courts there and wrote about the case of a teenager who stabbed her older boyfriend to death. The story involves murder, motels, teen pregnancy and a BBQ fork used as a weapon.

Look What Happened In Paris the Day I Left

Rioting in the streets! Right near the hotel where I stayed! Oh my. We left our hotel in Boulevard St. Michel on Thursday morning to get the Eurostar back to London. On Thursday night, thousands of French students took to the streets to protest a new proposed labor law. Tear gas, demonstrators arrested. All that. Oh my.

Hello from London!

I am writing this in the business center of the hotel. Hopefully I will get done before my money runs out on this terminal. Eight minutes left! Must. Type. Faster!
British Airways is my new favorite airline. We had little TV screens on the seat backs in front of us and "Good Night and Good Luck" was playing! And "Pride and Prejudice." But I fell asleep during that one. The woman in front of me lowered her seat practically in my lap during the flight. I hate that.
It is chilly and rainy here in London but no different that this time of year in Philly. Our hotel is very nice - there is a "pillow menu" so I can select different kinds of firmness and feathers.
Am trying to save money so ate dinner at the KFC. Two completely different foreign tourists asked me questions about my meal (two piece with fries and corn on the cob). A man from Africa wanted to know exactly what comprised my meal. A student from Spain needed to know how to order corn on the cob. He ordered popcorn by mistake and they gave him popcorn chicken. I must have a look about me that says, "this woman knows her chicken. Ask her questions." Or they were trying to steal my purse. Whichever.

Cheerio! Pip Pip!

RandomReality is off to Europe to drink tea and meet men with accents. Discuss amongst yourselves: Is a guy with a French accent sexier than a guy with a British accent. Ta ta.

Farewell Coca Cola C2!

As many of you know, we here at RandomReality are somewhat obsessed with C2 Cola. It was marketed as "half the calories of regular Coke" and we at RandomReality found it to be yummy. The doctor told RandomReality to cut back on sugar so a switch was made from regular Coke (nectar from the gods) to Diet Coke. But this was bad. Not appealing. Not fulfilling.

Then Coca Cola C2 came along and bewitched RandomReality with its flavor - kinda diet but with enough of a hint of sugar to make it worthwhile. For a time, C2 was in steady supply. RandomReality and her friend Lisa L. drank C2 with enjoyment.

Then it got harder to find, and therefore, more precious. Much like diamonds. (Come to think of it, RandomReality doesn't have any of those either. Someone donate a diamond to me.)

As with all things in love and obsession, the harder it was to find C2, the more I craved it. I still had  my suppliers - namely the Wawas in Philadelphia and occasionally the ShopRite in South Jersey.

But all is for naught. All hope is lost. C2 is nowhere to be found. The Coke people want me to drink Coke Zero or Diet Coke with lime. BLEH. No.

There are two cans of C2 cola remaining in RandomReality's fridge, sitting there for a rainy day, special occasion or the next time we get thirsty. It will be a sad, sad day when the C2 is finally gone. But I don't think I shall save those cans, for unlike wine, I don't think C2 gets better with age.

Overheard outside my office

"Who died? My hamster? How did my hamster die?"

RandomReality on the 2006 Academy Awards

(In which we learn that it is hard out there for a pimp, but not for George Clooney.)

Oh the joy and anticipation of seeing my Fantasy Boyfriend, George Clooney, at the Oscars. I am very, very proud of him as well as happy that his movie, "Good Night and Good Luck" is so good and has received so much praise. My 78-year-old father has finally stopped talking about Ben Affleck as a possible suitor for me (good thing since Ben is now married) and realizes my deep love for George Clooney. But Dad heard George say on the Barbara Walters interview that he never wants to get married again. This troubles Dad. It does not trouble me. I do not wish to MARRY George. Wink, wink.

PRE-SHOW:

Felicity Huffman is being interviewed. She is being shown video of her "Desperate Housewives" cast mates wishing her luck, and calling her Flicka (?!?) This makes her cry. "Oh my God! My makeup," she weeps.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman is interviewed. He never read any of Truman Capote's works till after he got the part in "Capote." Blasphemy.

Billy Bush. Is. Such. A. Tool. He should shut up, shut up, shut up. Billy Bush is asking the very serious and cerebral actor David Straithairn whether he considers himself a "star." Straithairn takes a minute to answer. "No," he said. "No." And for emphasis, "No."

I am officially tired of hearing "Brokeback Mountain" referred to as a "cultural phenomenon." I get it, I get it.

7:57 p.m.

KEEP BILLY BUSH AWAY FROM THE CELEBRITIES INSIDE THE THEATER!!!

8 p.m.

Diet Coke is sponsoring the Oscars this year. I wish it were C2 cola. I love C2 and can no longer find it anywhere!!!!! Mourn with me. Oh, the show is starting.

A funny sketch about all the previous hosts and why they aren't hosting the show this year. Billy Crystal is sharing a "special" moment with Chris Rock in a tent. Hee! Jon Stewart is dreaming and is in bed with Halle Berry. NOW HE IS IN BED WITH GEORGE CLOONEY!!!! AIIIIEEEEEE! Hyperventilating. Jealous. Projecting. Hee.

Jon starts the show. I love him (but in a different way than George).

"Ladies, gentlemen, Felicity," Stewart cracks, in a joke about Huffman in "Transamerica." Stewart urges us all to celebrate excellence in film "with me, the fourth male lead in 'Death to Smoochy'."

The camera flashes to Charlize Theron who is NOT smiling, perhaps because of the enormous black bow butterfly-thing sticking up on her left shoulder.

Stewart makes a shout-out to George Clooney, quipping that "Good Night and Good Luck" is how George ends all his dates. Hee. Then a Dick Cheney and Bjork joke.

8:16 p.m.

Best Supporting Actor goes to..... GEORGE CLOONEY!!!! Pandemonium! Shrieking! Hysteria! All in my own head and apartment!!!!!!!! Nicole Kidman presents him with the award. She is very blonde and looks good. Remember they starred together in "The Peacemaker." George quips that he guesses he is "not going to win Best Director." Oh George! There is music playing while he speaks. Shut up, music! George talks about movies of importance and how Hollywood has shines a light on subjects like AIDS and Civil Rights.  He is very smart. Good speech. He is elegant and well-behaved and looks marvy in his tux.

Stewart is back on. That Oscar, he said, "is the kind of thing that can get a fellow laid."

Ben Stiller is now in a green unitard to present the Special Effects award. He does NOT look good in the unitard but it is funny.

Why is Jennifer Lopez at the Oscars? Did I miss something? I liked "Out of Sight" (also with George Clooney) but that was a lot of years ago.

Naomi Watts admires Dolly Parton and introduces her.

8:48 p.m.

Jennifer Aniston presents the award for Best Costume Design. She looks GREAT and is wearing a fabulous black chiffon gown. Take THAT, Brad.

I am now officially bored and am flipping between the Oscars and "Napoleon Dynamite."

9:04 p.m.

The lovely and pregnant Rachel Weisz wins Best Supporting Actress. Morgan Freeman, a.k.a. the voice of God, presents her with the award. More music while she gives her acceptance speech. Annoying music!

9:18 p.m.

A video spoof on campaign ads for the Best Actress category, like they are local politicians. Very funny.

9:26 p.m.

Flames, smoke, dancing, singing. People moving in slow motion. A man carries a child. Oh, it is the song from "Crash." How I long for the days of Rob Lowe and Snow White performing "Proud Mary."

9:40 p.m.

Crowd shot. Oh no. Jack Nicholson is sitting next to Keira Knightley! No! He will sully her! Stay away!

9:45 p.m.

Violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman (sp?) performs selections from the nominated music for Best Original Score.

9:57 p.m.

More filler! Another montage, this time of "epic" movies. What the heck are "Mary Poppins" and "Grease" doing in there?

10:18 p.m.

Rappers perform "It's Hard Out There For A Pimp" from the movie "Hustle and Flow." Hee! Rap at the Oscars! I am enjoying this. Now the song is in my head. Queen Latifah gives out the award for Best Original Song. It goes to "It's Hard Out There for a Pimp!!" The rappers are really excited. It is sweet.

"You know what? I think it just got a little easier out there for a pimp," Stewart quips.

Jennifer Garner, with her post-pregnancy breasts, presents an award for Best Sound Editing. She is fiddling with her dress.

10:30 p.m.

SHRIEK!!! George Clooney is on again! He is introducing the montage (bleh) of clips about people who died this year. He is good, but he deserves to present some OTHER award. He is the future, not the past.

10:44 p.m.

Hilary Swank presents the Best Actor award. She looks stunning in a strapless black dress. (I once interviewed her husband, Chad Lowe. Just an aside.) The flash on the nominees. Why does Heath Ledger have a cheesy moustache these days?? Again, why is Jennifer Lopez at the Oscars???

Philip Seymour Hoffman wins. No surprise. He was good.

"I'm overwhelmed. I'm really overwhelmed," he said. Then he thanks his friends,  his friends, his friends - whom he loves, he loves, he loves.

10:55 p.m.

John Travolta presents Best Cinematographer. Sigh. Get to the good awards already! (I'm sure the guy who won Best Cinematographer thought the award was good, but we, the viewing public, did not.)

10:57 p.m.

Jamie Foxx presents the Best Actress award. Charlize Theron does NOT look happy. She should just rip off that bow, already.

Reese Witherspoon wins. Her dress is silver with beading. She is "just trying to matter."

11:03 p.m.

See? This show could have been LOTS shorter if they had just cut out the stupid montages.

11:08 p.m.

Dustin Hoffman, in an elegant tux, presents one of the Best Screenplay awards. It goes to Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry (who is wearing jeans) for "Brokeback Mountain," adapted from the Annie Proulx story.

McMurtry praises books. Yea books. Ossana tells us that "the duty of art is to send light into the darkness of men's hearts." Yea light.

11:12 p.m.

Uma Thurman is the presenter for Best Original Screenplay. I can't tell if her dress is cream, pink or peach. Darn lights. George Clooney is nominated again!!!!!! Sigh. He loses to the writers of "Crash." That was a good movie. Everyone go see it.

The writer/director, Paul Haggis (named after a disgusting Scottish breakfast food) says that "art is a hammer." I am learning so much about art tonight. The second winner doesn't get a chance to say ANYTHING. Why do they shove all the good awards to the end? THESE are the ones I want to hear speeches for.

11:19 p.m.

Tom Hanks and his "DaVinci Code" head of hair present the Best Director award. Will George win?????? Nah. It goes to Ang Lee for "Brokeback Mountain." He thanks people in Taiwan and the characters of Ennis and Jack.

11:22 p.m.

Jack Nicholson, in his sunglasses, presents the award for Best Picture. He kind of wanders off - literally - while reading the names of the nominees. Come on back., Jack. And the Oscar goes to........"Crash." Wow. An upset. But a good movie. Did I tell you all to go see it? You should. It makes you think, but in a good way.

The End. Good Night and Good Luck.

If you want to read more about the Oscars, check out my friend Maureen's blog. She drank a lot of coffee while writing her blog, so she has more detail than me. And of course E!Online is one of the best websites for dish, dirt and photos.

 

Omarosa is All Wet

Very proud of the reporter on this story:)

Someone needs to keep Dick Cheney away from weapons

So that he can't do any more harm! Bizarre news today that our Vice President was hunting over the weekend and accidentally shot his friend. Who is 78. They were hunting quail. How could DC confuse a man with a quail? It wasn't DAN Quayle.

The friend got shot and goes to the hospital. He is apparently okay. And this story stays under wraps for A WHOLE DAY. Because why should we, the American people, EVER need to  know that our VP accidentally SHOOTS people?!? No, we don't need to know that!

Cheney needs to be kept AWAY from weapons. Of any kind. Weapons of mass destruction, shotguns, water guns. Whatever.

All I can imagine is the furor that would have been created if Al Gore had shot someone accidentally. Gore would have been impeached.

--

Here is a really BLUNT column about the whole thing. And the latest news is that the guy Cheney shot (who is 78) suffered a mild heart attack when some of the birdshot moved to his heart. Oh boy.

Snow

It is snowing lots and lots here in RandomReality land. Predictions are for up to 12 inches of snow. Here on the East Coast, that is a HUGE news story.

Right now, it is nice and quiet outside my window as I type. No car traffic. No airplane traffic up above. Everything is quiet and muffled and peaceful.

Oh wait! We are having Thunder Snow! Yep. It is snowing and there was just a large crack of thunder. Wow.

I got sucked into the "pre-snow" mania and found myself at the Walgreen's drugstore this morning. It was crazy, CRAZY, I tell you! People were grabbing milk, bread and toilet paper as if they were about to go underground to a bunker for five years. But I can't mock too much, because I bought bread, milk and toilet paper, too. I just won't use them all at the same time. At least not simultaneously.

In other news, RandomReality celebrates her birthday this weekend. I will be 29. Again.

U2 won Five Grammys! Wheeee!

Watched some of the Grammys last night, but not all, because I was ALSO watching "Lost" and "American Idol." Thank God for the DVR.

But U2 won five Grammys, beating out Kanye West and Mariah Carey!!! Here is some great coverage of the Grammys, especially the backstage blog of Joal Ryan of E!Online. Much more coverage on the official U2 website.

 

U2 on the Grammy Awards tonight!

Whee! U2 is nominated for a couple of Grammy Awards. The show is tonight at 8 p.m. Bonnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Robert Scorpio is back on "General Hospital!"

Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) is back in Port Charles. This is very exciting news! Almost as exciting as when Dr. Noah Drake (Rick Springfield) returned last month! In the 1980s, my teenage friends and I were HUGE fans of GH. That is what we called it - GH. That was in the heyday of Luke and Laura, Robert and Anna, Noah and Bobbi. Sigh.

When I was 14 years old and a freshman in high school, the wedding of Luke and Laura was THE most important thing in my life. The actors were on all the magazines and the wedding was covered with almost as much pomp as the nuptials of hapless Princess Diana to Prince Charles.

The other day, I was watching GH on the Soap Network, trying to follow some story line about Luke, on an island, with a monkey. (I started watching GH again in December when Noah returned, as an alcoholic, with a son, who needs a liver transplant. Noah, not the son.)

All of a sudden - there was Robert Scorpio! Now it turns out that the monkey is the carrier of some Dread Disease. Already, characters are being infected! The only one who might be able to stop the Dread Disease is Robert Scorpio! (Why am I writing in exclamation marks?!)

I tried to follow along yesterday as Robert had to explain to his daughter, Robin (the HIV-infected doctor) that he, Robert, had NOT died in a boat explosion. The explanation was soooooooo GH. See, no one saw the boat explode. And he wasn't really dead. He and Anna were agents for the WSB and Anna was going to be "black-boxed," which apparently, is a BAD thing. And the WSB blackmailed Robert, saying they would hurt Anna and Robin. So Robert became a covert agent and killed people for 11 years. And then he took a job with the Medical Rescue Association, where he is now on the trail of the Dread Disease, spread by the monkey.

Whew!

Bono Speaks At National Prayer Breakfast in D.C.

Bono addressed politicians, including President Bush, in Washington, D.C. today at the National Prayer Breakfast. He urged the United States to contribute just one percent more to the world's poor. Go Bono!

No half-human/half-animal hybrids!

W. got me all worked up last night during the State of the Union address! We must make sure these evils creatures never see the light of day! Here is a useful t-shirt!

George Clooney gets four Oscar nominations!

RandomReality is blogging bright and early this morning because of wonderful news! My Fantasty Boyfriend, George Clooney, received FOUR Oscar nominations! HEE!

His movie "Good Night and Good Luck" is one of the Best Picture nominees. George got nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Syriana," (a good movie although I still don't exactly know what was happening in it); Best Director and Best Screenplay. SHRIEKK!

Right now, I am telling you all NOT to call me on March 5 during the Oscars unless you wish to hear incoherent burbling and squealing from me.

Now, if I only I can meet him in the next few weeks and convince him to take me to the Oscars as his date. Hmmm. How to do that. Must ponder.

Russell Crowe was shut out of the Best Actor category for "Cinderella Man," even though he was very, very good in the movie.

Here are the nominees for Best Picture: "Munich," "Capote," "Good Night and Good Luck," "Crash" and "Brokeback Mountain." I feel very hip and in-the-know because I saw them all.

My friend Karen saw "Brokeback Mountain" last night and this is how she sums up the cowboys' tormented love: "If they can't be together, at least their shirts can." (You gotta watch to the end of the movie to get that. Hee.)

My review of "Brokeback Mountain"

At first, I vowed NOT to see "Brokeback Mountain," because I resented feeling obligated to do so. I like to discover movies on my own, thank you very much, instead of having Hollywood shove them down my throat. For instance, I didn't see "Schindler's List" until YEARS after it came out.
But this weekend, I caved. I felt I needed to see "Brokeback Mountain" since it is now part of the cultural zeitgeist. I am all about the cultural zeitgeist.
So here is what I thought:
There are a lot of sheep in this movie. LOTS of sheep. In fact, the sheep took up like the first 30 minutes. There is a lot of wrestling in this movie. Since the characters are so repressed, they tend to wrestle and smack one another as a form of foreplay. Later, there is punching in the mouth. So sheep, wrestling and punching take up a good chunk of the fist part of the movie.
Nice scenery. Good acting. Compelling story. But eh, I am not so sure it is THE best movie of the year. I saw "Munich," "Cinderella Man" and "Capote" and thought they were all better.
"Brokeback Mountain" breaks a lot of ground and all that. It is also quite depressing so don't go see it in a melancholy mood. It deserves the hype its getting, but again, I am not so sure it is THE best movie of the year.
The sheep would probably disagree.

Memorial for former Sen. Gene McCarthy

A lot of you know that I am friends with my 85-year-old doppelganger named Catherine Foley Quigley. (Or maybe I am her doppelganger) She is also a writer and is the coolest senior citizen I know. Her ex-husband was the brother-in-law of former Sen. Gene McCarthy, the 1968 presidential candidate.  Catherine was friends with McCarthy's wife, Abigail. Abigail died in 2000 and Gene McCarthy died a few weeks ago. The McCarthy's had separated in 1968 but never divorced.
Here is Catherine's report on the memorial service for McCarthy, a unique voice in American politics:
--
Last Saturday I attended the Memorial Service for Senator Eugene McCarthy at the National Cathedral on Wisconsin Avenue in DC. Although he was my ex-brother-in-law, his family always considered me as part of the family; and his oldest daughter Ellen, who planned the memorial, specifically invited me to the service.
It was simply a glorious occasion, and I am still recovering from it. My three sons and daughter-in-law flew down to honor their uncle, and with my daughter Eileen, our family was well represented.
Showers and 50 degrees had been predicted, but instead, an overcast sky held back the rain while we drove down to the cathedral. I wore my black and white checked pant suit with my small, red L.L. Bean cloche. Our instructions were to be in the Rare Book Room, to the right as you enter the cathedral, by 10 a.m. Anxious for a parking spot, we arrived at 9:30 and parked beyond the construction in front.
The family group quickly grew. What fun to meet Gene's children, two daughters and a son, and their children and cousins. I carried two cameras, my new digital and a "throw-away."
Suddenly, about 10:45 a.m., former President Bill Clinton materialized with his Secret Service detail fending off people who got too near him. Immediately, a rippling excitement flowed around the room while he, grinning, stopped to autograph the elegant programs. I told him that I had voted for him.  (But I didn't mention how stupid I thought he had been by getting entangled with Monica you-know-who.) He grabbed my hand, leaned forward to within an inch of my left cheek, caught my eye, and exclaimed, "Thank you. THANK you.THANK YOU! I felt that he appreciated my vote that had elected him President of the United States. Of course, I was busy snapping my cameras; and most of my pictures turned out great.
At 11 am, the Leader signaled for our family group to proceed into the nave of the cathedral. My oldest son Tim escorted me. We paused momentarily, and I had a flashback to June 25, 1945 when I had been present at Abigail's and Gene's wedding at the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota. Then, I looked around at the 800  people gathered in the cathedral last Saturday, and I realized that I was the only person there who had also attended his wedding so many years ago. I felt this a special blessing.
During our slow walk down the aisle. I was stunned with the beautiful altar, the magnificence of the cathedral, the whole ambiance. I loved it! Actually, I was blown away. And I am just now recovering.
Six long rows of comfortable seats were reserved for the family in the right section upfront. Tim and I sat at the middle-aisle end of the fourth row.
One of Gene's nieces had  married Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary of our youth. Peter and his daughter performed several times during the service. The congregation joined them in several songs. So I sang with Peter Yarrow that morning.
The service lasted three minutes short of two hours, but it was so beautiful that I wanted it to go on and on and on. Several times I tried to think what kind of a comment Gene would make about this wonderful service.
  Three Catholic prelates sat with the Bishop of Washington, an Episcopalian, and the service was non-denominational. Of course, President Clinton stole the show with his tribute to Gene. But the other speakers were excellent, too.
The music was superb. "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Copeland electrified me, and I tingled. After the service,  we faced a chilling wind for about a block across cobblestones to the St. Albans gym for the reception. Many familiar politicians were schmoozing, reminiscing about the '68 campaign.
My sister Mary whispered to me," I think I'll join the Episcopalians. They know how to put on a great show!"
A former campaigner walked through the crowd handing out "McCarthy" buttons from that old campaign of thirty-eight years ago. A harpist performed background music of Irish songs and other favorites. I complimented her and added, to her amusement, that her "Barcarolle" by Hoffman was the first piece I had learned to play on the violin.
Bookmarks were handed out, and immediately became collectors' items. I recognized the familiar "McCarthy " above a dove with "Peace" solidly below, a Shah drawing used during the '68 campaign. Below this was Gene McCarthy's poem, "The Road from Emmaus."
 The words are simple but reading them slowly I felt Gene had given us another gift with: "I walked alone from Emmaus; met a friendly company upon the road, heard soft voices, felt the warmth of love and passed on." 
-- Catherine Foley Quigley

Wish RandomReality a Happy Second Anniversay

My friend, Maureen, the intrepid reporter, spotted that this blog was created two years ago. Let me take this opportunity to thank you for reading RandomReality and to announce that gifts of chocolate are appropriate for this anniversary.

RandomReality fills out one of those silly surveys!!!

Welcome to the 2006 edition of getting to know your friends. What you are supposed to do is copy (not forward) this entire e-mail and paste it onto a new e-mail that you'll send. Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to a whole bunch of people including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends, if you did not know them already.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 10:30 A.M.
2. Diamonds or pearls? MUST I CHOOSE?
3. What was the last film you saw at the movies? 'MATADOR" VERY QUIRKY AND AMUSING
4. What is your favorite T.V. show? LOST
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? CEREAL WITH MILK AND OJ
6. What is your middle name? SARAH
7. Favorite cuisine? JAPANESE
8. What foods do you dislike? RAW FISH. KIM ORIOLE MADE ME EAT IT ONCE AND I AM STILL TRAUMATIZED
9. What is your favorite chip flavor? POPCORN RATHER THAN CHIPS
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? U2'S "HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB"
11. What kind of car do you drive? 1999 VW BEETLE
12. Favorite sandwich? WAWA SMOKED TURKEY AND PROVOLONE WITH PICKLES
13. What characteristic do you detest? RACISM
14. Favorite item of clothing? MY HOODIE FROM OLD NAVY
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where you go? IRELAND
16. What color is your bathroom? BORING BEIGE
17. Favorite brand of clothing? WHATEVER IS ON SALE
18. Where would you retire to? FLORIDA - EXCEPT DURING HURRICANE SEASON
19. What was your most memorable birthday? 21 WAS PRETTY MEMORABLE
20. Favorite sport to watch? NO SPORTS. ICK SPORTS
21. Farthest place you are sending this? ENGLAND
22. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? SUZANNE, CAUSE SHE JUST SENT IT TO ME
23. Person you expect to send it back first? CHRISTINA, BECAUSE SHE LIVES FOR THESE QUIZZES!!!
24. Goal you have for yourself? MEET GEORGE CLOONEY
25. When is your birthday? FEB. 18
26. When is your anniversary? HAVE NOT YET MET/MARRIED GEORGE CLOONEY
27. Are you a morning person or a night person? YOU HAVE TO ASK THIS?? NIGHT.
28. What is your shoe size? 6. ARE YOU BUYING ME SHOES?
29. Pets? DUST BUNNIES UNDER BED
30. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? JEFF CONAWAY IS REALLY REALLY WHACKED OUT ON "CELEBRITY FIT CLUB" AND I AM ENJOYING HIS MELT DOWN VERY MUCH
31. What did you want to be when you were little? A WRITER
32. What are you today? A WRITING TEACHER
33. What is your favorite candy? DARK CHOCOLATE
34. What is your favorite flower? ROSES
35. What is a date on the calendar you are looking forward to? ARBOR DAY, AS ALWAYS
36. If you could have one wish what would it be? SEE QUESTION #24
 

The Oscars

Yippee! Jon Stewart is going to host the Academy Awards this year on March 5!

SNL rap video: "Chronicles of Narnia"

This is a funny rap video made by two of the comedians on "Saturday Night Live." It is very retro-Beastie Boys, although the lyrics refer to cupcakes and Mapquest. Oh and Matthew Perry. Hee.