Vrooom vrooooom, Maktoum.

Landed in Louisvillle and the sheik's 747 was at the airport.  Farm Boy had to point it out because I get let out of my pumpkin so infrequently that I had no idea the big unmarked jet was owned by UAE royalty.

Besides, I would have thought that he would be out at the Breeders Cup. Maybe he has two planes. 

What Is Wrong With You?

Just got my latte before boarding the plane and the woman in front of me ordered -- I kid you not -- a soy milk, mocha, half caf, with caramel, light whip. 

What the hell is wrong with people? 

Tombstone

It's nearing Halloween and so tombstone topics seem particularly appropriate. Found this over at IMAO.US

I want my tombstone to be a mirror with the words "YOU'RE NEXT" scrawled across it
— Rich Lowtax Kyanka (@lowtax) October 23, 2014

I want mine to read:

Lord knows, I do.

Someday it's going to kill me. Mark my words.

Young Love

Some of you may have seen the video of  "The Perfect Proposal." It was featured on Huffington Post after Ashton Kutcher picked it up and put it on his Facebook on October 23. I believe he tweeted it out as well, but I don't follow him, so can't say for certain. Then it hit the front page of Yahoo. Officially viral. There is discussion that they may appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. WOW!

Anyhow, it is pretty special. Made me cry...but then I cry at Christmas commercials for beer.

The part where I come in is that the Princess is very good friends with Levy, the young man, as well as knowing Tiffany, his new fiancee.  So I'm kinda sorta famous if I stand close enough to my daughter. You know how it is...you can pretend the reflected light of fame glows on you if you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who is famous...it's like that.

Princess met Levy through FFA. He served as a California state officer when Ellen was a pipsqueak, and they became good friends, with Levy mentoring her in her own ambitions to become a state officer. He then went on to serve as a national officer. Tiffany is involved in FFA, too. That's how they met.

It's just so darned romantic! Somebody get me a tissue.

Explaining the Second Amendment

The erudite way, from Bill Whittle.

And the pithy, and rather more acerbic way, from Penn and Teller. Well, mostly Penn...

Your Halloween Tablescape.

Just call me Martha.

This year we won't be in Hawaii for Halloween, but we still won't be home to have a ghoulish celebration. Damn! I'm beginning to feel the need for a real SPOOKTACULAR Halloween party, but it will have to wait for next year. This year we will be in Louisville, KY at the national convention for the FFA to watch the princess compete for the national title in Parliamentary Procedure. California is always a powerhouse in Parli Pro and the princess's team won the state title pretty easily, having only one loss the entire year, and that by only a few points. At nationals, California is always a powerhouse, being one of the strongest FFA states in the country. Soooooo.....

Keep your fingers crossed that they bring home the win!

Picking up the blue at State Finals. On to Nationals!!

RIP, Cigar. You're over the rainbow bridge now.

I've been busy and haven't had time to note the passing of a Thoroughbred legend. Like Secretariat, Cigar was larger than life, breathtaking in his athletic perfection.

Cigar, a two-time Horse of the Year who won 16 races in a row in the mid 1990s, died Wednesday in Lexington, Ky., according to racing industry reports.

Cigar, 24, retired as the leading money-winner in thoroughbred history with just under $10 million in winnings and, in 1995 and 1996, he became the first horse since Citation (1948 and 195) to win 16 races in a row against top competition.

Weekend Entertainment

We went to a horse show over the weekend, and apparently, I am behind the trend yet again. It seems that a new level of competitive stick-to-it-tive-ness has sprung up among the event crowd, and it involved the rather novel idea of tacking up (or, more precisely, tacking up again) while riding.

At the recent American Eventing Championships in Texas, a rider had a wardrobe malfunction.

But eventers are "never say die" types, so she simply put the hackamore back on and continued with her course.

Now, it seems, what might have remained a singular oddity has become a trend. At the show this weekend we saw another rider accept the challenge of tacking up while riding. She managed to pull it off (so to speak) rather nicely.

The OOOOOOONNLY WAY TO FLY!

Life has a funny way of slapping me around. This has always been the case, so you would think by now I'd have learned something. But nooooooooo....!

Just a few days ago I let go with a rant about crappy airline service and the utter destruction of the idea that anyone in a major corporation could give a shit about service. But apparently, Singapore Airlines shows me to be completely ignorant of the trend in travel once again.

Behold! The SUITE way to travel. And I do mean sweet!

WHAT IT'S LIKE TO FLY THE $23,000 SINGAPORE AIRLINES SUITES CLASS

 The world's best airline experience from Singapore to New York.

Leonardo diCaprio has enjoyed the suite life, in case you were wondering.

So there you are. I KNEW there was still an extraordinary level of service out there somewhere, I just suspected (rightly) that it had moved significantly beyond my income level. I'm always playing the wrong game at the wrong time...and for a lot less money.

Now it costs $23,000.00 to get a lovely meal and a quiet nap on a plane.

Okay...I'll just keep my mouth shut from now on. I'm going for a swim.

DAMN! Those Oompa Loompas are GOOOOOOD!

This is why Katie left Tom.