OK...so I'm not *REGULAR*

For those of you who REALLY know me, I'm sure you're surprised by the title of this post. You've got to be saying to yourself, "of course she's regular...I've seen the reading material and sudoku puzzles in every one her bathrooms! she's got a regular lending-library in there!"

The honest truth is that I am not referring to my scatological comings and goings (mostly goings), but to the irregular nature of my "pattyfabulous is just that" blog activities.

Who knew blogging took up so much time? With work and the new adventure of school kicking my shorts into midnight four nights a week (whoever even suggests that Capella is a diploma mill is welcome to stop by and write papers with me any time!), I barely have time to scoop cat boxes, exercise, and see my darling Shawn.

Gentle reader - I hope you'll forgive my delay in posting:

• parts 2 through ? of with stories of our Mexican vacation,
• highlights of my last kayaking adventure
• how much I frickin' love Bert Summers (and you ask "who the hell is he?")
• my very own reviews of cheese, local restaurants, beer, school courses, and more!

It will come...just not as fast as a "professional" blogger would deliver.

I *HEART* Squidbillies

I am a big fan of Aqua Teen Hunger Force (saw the movie in the theaters!), but I am an even BIGGER fan of the Squidbillies! As the name suggests, the show is about squid hillbillies. Charles Napier (of Blues Brother fame) is the voice of the sheriff in Season 1. I haven't seen a new episode since 2006 - I sure hope they make more!

Here's a fun episode -- enjoy! (p.s. - Dokken is devily music.)

PART ONE:



PART TWO:

A kinder, gentler version of "My Humps"

I've not been a big Alanis Morrisette fan, but I think in this case she comes very close to making the nonsense Black Eyed Peas song into something pretty and listenable.

Our Mexican Vacation

Shawn and I recently spent two lovely weeks in Mexico. We spent our first week in Puerto Vallarta and our second week in the little seaside jungle village of Yelapa. The trip was grand, and I'll probably tell you about it over a couple of posts. Read on...

On our first day, we arrived at our hotel just in time for happy hour(s). We happily discovered that happy hour meant "dos por uno" for all drinks from 3-6. Needless to say, we made it back by at least 4pm during our time there.

While in Puerto Vallarta, we stayed at the Hotel Mercurio. It's a VERY GAY hotel that welcomes open-minded straight people. The place was FABULOUS (just like me!)...a new pool, a well-stocked bar with a great mixologist on staff, free calls to the states, free high-speed internet, free breakfast, nice staff, and a kick-ass location right in the heart of the Romantic Zone.

As it's VERY GAY, we did get questions from other guests about why we chose to stay there, but most everyone was friendly. We were sort of the human oddity exhibition for the other guests, who for the most part seemed to be gay couples who liked to drink, go to the beach, drink, go to dinner, drink, and then go clubbing. One snarky little gentleman from Canada did tell me that I looked like an old Jewish lady because I kept my cowboy hat and sunglasses on while drinking my pina colada from the pool, but I think it's just that he was JEALOUS.

So - our first hours at the hotel were spent drinking in the sunshine and the wonderful margaritas! After three hours of drinking, we decided to do some exploring and headed to the beach, heading north along the malecon and eventually getting something to eat (I don't even remember where!). It was a great first day!

Separated at Birth?

This is my kitty, Maruschka. She is a friendly calico who loves to be pet very hard (she loves the hair brush!). She weighs in at 20 lbs. and has been known to stop dogs in their tracks! She has a rather loud motor and cannot sleep with people because she paws and licks heads to wake people up!

This is another kitty cat who seems to have a playful wink and wonderful dance moves!



Separated at birth? You decide!

A song for a mere 10 cents!

So I spent about a year paying 99 cents a song on iTunes until my British friend Paul turned us on to the Russian music site phenomena. He SWEARS it's the exchange rate that allows them to sell songs for as low as a dime, and trusting lass that I am, I BELIEVE HIM!


The one I've been visting lately is at: http://www.gomusic.ru/

Not all songs are a dime - I found a bunch of (what I thought were) relatively rare Coil songs that were listed at 15 - 25 cents a piece, but I figure the mark-up is all related to volume - and if you buy the entire album you get 10% off - what a deal!

While this site won't have super obscure American music (no Slant Six in this catalog), it does carry most anything you'd want in terms of traditional Russian, European dance and popular American music (including everything "alternative") and can be a cheap walk down memory lane. I bought almost all of Social Distortion's catalog of music for less than the price of a bargain bin CD...now that's what I call living! Hell, I was skipping and hopping down memory lane!

Since it's from Russia (with love!), we call these sites "iTunskis!" Yabol!

Here it goes again!...and again....and again...

Ok, so I know this is from July 2006, but it's still rated in the tops on YouTube. I just watched it for the 90-somethingest time (was linked to from another guy's page) and it still is one of the most creative physical performances I have EVER seen.

Test Drive Your Dream Job!

Are you a HR exec who's always hankered to be a cattle farmer? Maybe you're a marketing analyst who really wanted to be a choreographer?

No matter what you're doing now, if you've ever DREMPT of doing something different vocationally, you have to check out the Vocation Vacations website.

The service hooks you up for a "vacation-length" period of time with real people who are doing your dream job. You spend time working the job and learning what it's really like to have THAT vocation (the perfect antidote for "grass is always greener" syndrome!).

If you LOVE your job and know that you're doing your life's work, you can also sign up to be a mentor with the program and have people come to you!

Banks vs. Credit Unions

Everyone who knows me knows I like a good "movement!" Whether it's a movement of pleasing classical music, an abundance or rapid progress of events, a "grassroots for a good cause" movement, or (my favorite) "I had coffee on an empty tummy in the morning" movement, I like 'em all and support those that are my favorites or make a big impact.

I do this professionally, too, because I work for the leading provider of financial services to credit unions and their members worldwide. The credit union space is typically referred to as a "movement" as well, because the CU community is a diffusely organized or heterogeneous group of people or organizations tending toward or favoring a generalized common goal.

Some people are saying that the CU movement is in trouble. There's a lot of consolidation in the industry, and attracting new members amid changing charters and on-line bank offerings can be tough. I think there's a lot of confusion over the differences between banks and credit unions, too

I just found a VERY COOL website that helps to differentiate the difference. Check it out!