The C Word

It's everywhere, even in my reality TV escapes. The camera shot of David Cook's brother on AI yesterday brought me to tears. And even freakin' annoying Simon on The Real Housewives of NYC moved me when he talked about the death of his stepfather. The kids were watching AI with me yesterday and asked about David Cook's brother. They also know that Susan just passed away from cancer (and when we talked about that, H mentioned that the father of one of her classmates died of cancer), so I think it was natural for H to ask me, with a tinge of worry in her voice, "how do you get cancer?" I sort of sidestepped the question, but I think it makes sense to talk about it intelligently, but without creating needless panic.

I was pleasantly surprised by Mariah Carey. I figured she was just a dumb chanteuse, and was impressed that she actually wrote all those songs. She also seemed to give coherent, good advice to the singers.

Oh Alex and Simon. Alex, for somebody who fashions herself as an intellectual, cultured socialite, you would think you would know not to say "it's important to Simon and I." That's one of my biggest pet peeves--to me, it's the sign of someone who tries to appear smart because the "and I" construction is one of those things that was drilled in to you during grammar lessons, so the person goes to that as a knee-jerk reaction even though the "and me" construction is actually the correct one in certain usages. Oh Alex, way to shame that NU degree (in so many ways). Their kids were total nightmares. Who brings toddlers to a formal dinner party at a nice restaurant and then allows them to run amok? And Francois? Stick it. His whole "I'm too smart for you" at the child psychologist's office was so not charming. I was pretty amused to see that he will be attending a public school in Brooklyn--oh, the horrors.

Death and Taxes

My dear friend Susan passed away last weekend. She had been battling a very rare and lethal cancer (ocular melanoma that metastasized in her liver) for the past few years so while her death was not unexpected, it remains tragic and heartbreaking. She was only 38 and leaves behind a wonderful husband and 2 amazing little girls. Since I got news of her passing, I've vacillated between being perfectly normal (surfing the Internet, watching trashy TV) and being overwhelmed by moments of incredible sadness. Susan was an incredible person--smart, funny, self-aware--and I'll miss her.

New York Socialite - NOT!

Oh my hell--what was up with Paula's boobs last night? I couldn't focus on anything else, so have nothing else to say about AI. I also caught the trainwreck that is The Real Housewives of New York City. Alex and Simon are complete boobs--maybe that's the theme of this post. Apparently, Alex went to Northwestern, but I don't know her--not sure we even overlapped. But I'd be willing to bet that she lived in Jones and fancied herself to be theatrical. They are so completely ridiculous and must be mortified at how they're coming off--nah, that would require a sense of self-awareness that I doubt they possess. I love how they claim they like to vacation in St. Bart's in the off-season because they enjoy the quiet, yet talk constantly about networking and making connections. Ain't making any connections while everyone else is in the Hamptons! Maybe Alex could hock that hideous dress she wore to opening night at the Met and they could put that money toward a Hamptons share. I like Bethenny because she tells it like it is (and because I'm going to try her skinny margarita recipe) and Jill because she seems real--she's not exactly Brooke Astor but doesn't seem to have any aspirations to be anyway (not like you, Alex). Ramona is a disaster and LuAnn seems to be a relatively harmless snob, though she'd better prepare for years of therapy bills if she continues to call her son by the feminine "Noelle" instead of his given, male name "Noel." But Alex and Simon, you are the main reason I continue to watch this trainwreck because you are so pitiably ridiculous.

Drop one, add five

So H dropped tennis, which was once a week, and replaced it with swimming (3x/week) and hockey (2x/week). And I dropped DWTS and ANTM, and replaced it with Rock the Cradle and, on occasion, The Bachelor. Hmmm, clearly my scheduling/balancing acts need some work. H did OK on hockey skates. She did comment on how hard it was (maybe now she'll give her brother some props!) but seemed to have fun. We'll stick it out this spring, but I will not be shedding any tears if she drops it after this session. She's already talking about taking hip-hop/poms next year, and she showed me a little routine she made up. Not sure I should be encouraging a rap that ends "You mess with me, I'll mess with you," complete with chicken-neck movement.

I wasn't going to watch Rock the Cradle, but when my friend Trish told me Rafael was one of the studio musicians, how could I not? It was kind of horrifically bad--I'm rooting for Crosby Loggins because, despite his uncanny resemblance to his dad and his Zippy-like pin-head (or was it just a badly proportioned jacket?), I agree with June Ambrose that he's "secretly sexy." He reminds me a little of Adam Levine--here we go with the dark brooding type again....

We had a couple days of actually decent weather recently so I went running for the first time since the Phoenix half in January. I ran 3 miles on Friday, and then 3.5 on Sunday. I actually feel OK--I think the only reason I survived the initial 3-mile run was because I was running with a friend, and sheer pride pushed me along (plus I think being in Telluride a couple weeks ago helped acclimate my lungs to a lack of oxygen). Of course, it's going to be 40-ish and gray for the foreseeable future, so it's back inside to the elliptical for now.

Hockey and Teeth: Like Oil and Water

T lost one of his front teeth last night--the same one that got knocked out when A was watching him when he was about 1 1/2-years old when he fell off a chair but that A shoved back in out of sheer panic more than anything else but that miraculously turned out to be the exact right thing to do and that even more miraculously did not discolor and managed to stay in until now. Now he looks more like a hockey player than ever! In fact, his hockey coach was pretty psyched that he got a little blood on the front of his jersey during practice one day when his tooth was especially loose. And I quote, "it looks awesome! Don't wash the jersey!" As I've asked myself before, this is the sport I'm pushing on my kids? Speaking of which, H's first hockey practice is tonight. Should be interesting, as she's only been on figure skates, never hockey skates. But H surprises me with her athleticism--she's an awesome skier, and just made the swim team. She's definitely not the fastest swimmer, but is very precise and methodical with her strokes. Clearly she got her athletic genes from me--ha!

Not surprised to see Ramiele go on AI last night--her spirit really seems to have been broken. I'm so uninvested in this season--I really couldn't care who wins, as long as it's not Kristy Lee (why did it take me this long to realize there are two "Cooks" this season?) Syesha or Carly. And Carly, Simon may not have been nice about it, but that outfit this week was not doing you any favors.

I'm calling the Top Chef Top 3 right now: Stephanie, Richard and Dale (aka Hung Lite or Hung v.2). I do not like the angry lesbian Zoi. Manuel was all class in his exit last night. Ryan and Spike are decent eye candy, but kinda toolish.