Dear Lord

That's the only reaction I have right now to reading the latest from the Sri Lanka disaster. While I know that these numbers tend to rise and fall, the idea of 50,000 lives gone is just horrifying. I don't think that I'd need two hands to detail the number of times that I've been in an area with that many people at once, and trying to consider that number of dead gives me the serious willies. As if that weren't enough, this business of unexploded mines floating around the area is just making me sick.

A bad night of Scrabble...

... doesn't really beat anything, actually; it jes' plain stinks! I knew I was in for a bad night at the club when I beat Sam Moch (little high school twerp who's quickly becoming one of the top amateur club players) in a warmup game, pulling both blanks and three of the four "s"s. I joked that I must've used up all of my good karma for the night in one game, and I was right... 0-4, with two of the losses being due to time penalties and poor endgame management. No bingos in my last two games after getting five in the first two, and getting a perfectly nice bingo challenged off 'cause the friggin' official word list doesn't know from SALINATE, fer cryin' out loud... (sheesh, even dictionary.com lists the word)... ah, well, that's what you get when you go a month without practicing or studying, I guess.

No more carols for another year, thank goodness. Christmas carols are one thing, but carols screeched out by contemporary pop "singers" are simply not cool. At least I avoided having to hear that "drummer boy" monstrosity this year... one of these days, someone's gonna go postal with a machine gun in a grocery, sreaming "rut-a-ta-tum THIS!" and I don't think there's a jury out there that would convict him.

Saying more would not say enough

Happy anniversary, honey. I love you.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Congrats to N'il on finally getting the letters "PhD" added after her name. If I were feeling snarky, I'd ask about when she's getting "Mrs" added before her name, but I'm not, so I won't.

Oh-bee Kay-bee!

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. It hurts. My face, that is. The Lovely Wife(tm) and I made it a night on the town with friends on Sunday, and I still haven't recovered. Where were we, you ask? I'm glad you did. The historic Apollo theater in Harlem, where we caught the legendary Bill Cosby on stage.

Now, I've been a fan of Cosby's standup material well before I ever heard of Dr. Huxtable, and my rendition of "Noah: Right!" is well-known in many circles (anyone reading this who is not familiar with the routine to which I refer is ordered to stop right now, and get this album immediately), so the chance to see the 67-year old master of family-friendly humor was one that I was not going to pass up on. I was expecting a grand time, but to get two-plus hours of straight full-out roaring laughter... well! As far as I knew, all-new routines, touching on all the usual suspects, plus a few jabs on aging ("senior moment? Uh-uh, this is an all-the-time thing"), and then.

He. Did. The. Dentist. Routine.

Again, for those whose parents shamefully neglected their responsibilities in providing their children with a rudimentary cultural education, get the album or the video of "Bill Cosby: Himself".

"Dentists tell you not to pick your teeth with any sharp metal object. Then you sit in the chair, and the first thing he grabs is an iron hook." Forgetaboutit. I squirmed against the armrests of my seat (who designed the Apollo seats, by the way? These are some of the most uncomfortable things I've ever sat in, and I've ridden Greyhound buses on Thanksgiving eve), and just shook.

Monday night, it was off to catch Bruce Kimmel doing a reading and signing of his mystery novel debut, Writer's Block. Agatha Christie's estate has nothing to worry about, but it's a fun read for what it is, with some very fun theater dish served up by someone who's seen the biz from just about every angle. The reading itself was a blast, and it was great to finally meet Bruce, after knowing him online for about eight years now.

Deep in December, it's nice to remember...

...to update the blog once in a while!

Not a whole lot of news out there it efrex-land: Thanksgiving weekend spent shlepping 'round New England (Connecticut to New Hampshire, to Massachusets, back to Connecticut again) seeing assorted relatives-in-law, followed by holding buckets at three different shows to help raise some cash for Broadway Cares (I hope that I worked the credit card doohickey at Avenue Q right).

The Scrabble word of the month is AGUEWEED, which I laid down against Jeff Schwartz last session at the club (it's a flowering plant, but of course, you all knew that, right?) for eighty points and a mention in the weekly club e-mail newsletter. Poor Jeff: I've played the guy twice now, and have bingoed four times against him with some really goofy words. AGUEWEED is a really ugly one, though: I only know it 'cuz the computer played it on me. Heck, even Richie was impressed by that one ("killer play, man").

Recently discovered webcomic: Something Positive (WARNING! Graphic language and vulgarity). Definitely not for everyone's taste, but I've been laughing pretty darned hard. Of course, the strip's main character is constantly abused by his Asian female friends, so that might strike an empathetic chord in me (Hi, Tina!).

Only five more shopping days till Channuka... better start checking out some latke recipes.