Well, that was rude!

So I just today logged into my account on the Latvian version of facebook. I had a notification that I had some new comments in some of my photo albums. That was a bit odd because I hadn't posted any new photos in quite a while, and therefore wouldn't expect anyone to be commenting on anything...

So the first picture was one of myself and Joel cuddling in a castle tower in Latvia. I had written the caption myself, which said, "Mmmm...all is well in my world..." Then this random lady wrote a comment saying, "He looks like he's happier some place else, Sweetie." !!!! ????

Then, there was a picture of me holding the test that Joel made me take to get my birthday present back in 2006. My caption said something about the test and the trip to Venice. Then she left a comment, "Well, of course, Joel will never give you anything for free!!!"

Finally, two pics from Oz. One of myself and Joel at the cricket with a couple of our Latvian friends. Caption says just that. She writes, "Joel and a chubby one! (laughing face icon)" And finally, a picture of me in front of the Sydney Opera House- and she wrote, "The chubby lady, way too chubby! (laughing face icon)"

WHO DOES THAT???

I checked to see if we had mutual friends and we were connected through two people (as in, she knows someone who knows someone who knows me), neither of whom have anything to do with Joel. I deleted my friendship with the lady I was directly linked to, and then tried to search for the mean commenter again, and we had no links anymore.

Neither Joel nor I recognized her name, and she didn't have any pictures anywhere where her face was really visible. We were thinking that possibly she was someone that Joel wronged or blew off in his time in Riga pre-me. But yeah, no recollection.

Who knows...but, it sucks that people can just be that rude. I'd never comment on the pictures of strangers unless I had something nice to say- and certainly, no matter how much I wanted to, I would never comment negatively on a stranger's looks!

People suck. :(

Sad sad day

As I "knew" and loved him

When I first saw the movie Dirty Dancing I was young. It came out when I was 7, I believe, and I know I didn't see it in the theater, but probably a couple years later on video. I'm pretty sure I remember watching it in the living room of our Lorraine house.

Here is what I KNOW I remember. This was the first movie that made me feel all warm and tingly and ughm, special. And let me tell you, it's wasn't Jennifer Grey that got my blood boiling. It was her place in the arms of her leading man that I wanted! That was the beginning of my love for Patrick Swayze.

Actually, to tell the truth, that is where it began and where it stayed. Yeah, I saw Ghost, and some of his other movies after that. But Dirty Dancing has remained one of my favorite movies to this day, and certainly my favorite piece of Patrick.

When I was in high school I was still very in love with him. I even wrote Rosie O'Donnell a fan letter asking her for help meeting him. It was when she still had her show and hadn't really come out yet, and really played up how much she loved Tom Cruise. So, I wrote her a cute little letter comparing my love for Patrick to her love for Tom. I told her that I knew if anyone could understand, and could help, it would be her. I never got a response. At least I tried.

Then came university and the local video shop. They started carrying these life size cardboard stand-ups of a whole slew of different movie characters. They had Princess Leia, Darth Vader, James Dean, and a bunch of other movie hot bodies/famous faces. And then they got Johnny Castle. Lord did I freak right away. I don't think it really took very long for me to decide to buy it. I remember that it cost $25 which was A LOT of money to a college freshman or sophomore (I was one or the other). Oh but I loved him. And considering I had started kissing the thing every time we went into the video shop, they were probably happy that I bought him. :)

He lived in the living room of my apartment sophomore year. After that I took him home, and he lived in my bedroom. I think his last place of honor/display was in my bedroom at the Burr Oak house. In all three of these places he would scare people out of their minds. :) He was after all life size and seemed to just be standing in the corner! I would always say, "He's lovely to look at, but not much for words."

When I moved to China, I knew that I needed to leave him in safe hands. I doubted whether either of my parents would wait long to simply toss him once I was gone. So, the last time I saw my friend Ang, I handed him over to her, asking that she take care of him. It was a moment of trust and tears, no lie.

So, when I woke this morning to find out, on facebook no less, that he had died, it was a sad, sad day. Which is funny, because I really only loved him for the one movie, which I own, and could watch endlessly if I wanted to (and could get my hands on it, as it's packed in a box in Latvia). Anyway, obviously, there is something about the Hollywood love of your life still being alive as you moon over him in a movie made 20 years ago.

All of the press I have read and seen talked about what a great person he was, how balanced he kept his life, how he didn't let celebrity or show business distract him from the other important things in life. He was married to his wife for more than 35 years I believe. In my book, that is an achievement for ANYONE, much less a celebrity. He just seemed like good people.

So, on this day I pay tribute to my first and longest Hollywood crush- my dear Patrick Swayze. May he rest in peace.

My handy-man husband :)

He knows how to make me happy.

When we moved into this new apartment, the one thing I was really sad about was not having a dryer. Judge me if you will, but basically, I grew up in Indiana and Michigan, yeah? We sometimes dried clothes outside in the summer, but when winter lasts half the year or more (in Michigan), basically, a dryer is something you're just used to having and using regularly.

And frankly, there is nothing like warm sheets or towels out of the dryer. It is lovely to not have to iron things because they've come out of the dryer and aren't wrinkled. And it's really nice to be able to do a load of laundry from start to finish (that is laundry basket to folded back in the closet) in one afternoon.

So, on Friday, we finally got ourselves in gear and went and bought the cheapest dryer we could find. :) We brought it home that very afternoon without any hassles. But, then it just sat there, and we didn't really know who was going to install it, set it up, etc. It needed a vent set up, and although Joel had some ideas, we were looking to ask for help in getting it done.

Well, this afternoon it turns out Joel decided to try to just get the job done. I was napping and reading on the couch as he came and went a few times gathering tools, materials and advice. Soon the sounds of power tools came from the laundry. Eventually, he invited me in to come look.

What a beautiful sight! The white one is the dryer.

And here you can see the board that Joel cut to fit this space, and the hole where the vent pipe goes, etc, etc. All very impressive. I certainly couldn't have done it, and had it been left up to me, the dryer would have sat not set up for months probably!

The funny thing is that a lot of our colleagues kind of poked fun at us for buying a dryer. In the, "Surely you could live without it, no?" kind of vein. But, now that it's home and set up, we're hearing lots of comments more along the lines of, "So, where is the sign up sheet going to be?" and "You're just going to set it up in the hallway so we can all use it right?" Ha ha!

Now, the only challenge- teaching the maid what can and cannot go in the dryer. I have asked that she not do my laundry at all anyway- but Joel has her do his. But Joel is also very picky about most of his shirts hanging off his body in that three sizes too big style that is only achievable by air-drying. So, yeah, good luck with that. I'd assume the maid if going to love the dryer, and probably going to want to use it for everything. I guess we'll see how that goes!!!

So, thanks to my handy-man husband for being such a man's man today and getting this all done. I love it, and I love him! :)