Red Nose

C-A-P-S CAPS CAPS CAPS!

We interrupt the Gulfport volunteering trip report to expound on the amazing, beautiful, heartstopping comeback by my Cardiac Caps to tie the first-round playoff series with the F(in)lyers. Joe and I were worried at the end of period 1 when our boys behind by two, but we kept our fingers crossed and rubbed the red rabbit's foot for luck.

And then... magic. First, Babyface Backstrom, then Sasha Semin, and then Ovie smashed through his scoring malaise and executed a picture perfect breakaway to put the team up by one goal. And then... Ovie smashed a slapshot past Martin Biron to seal the deal and force Game 7 here at home!

Joe leapt like a gazelle around the living room. Had he had an armful of flowers, he would have strewn them hither and yon.

Hot Missionary Action

This takes prosletyzing to a whole new level.

I gotta say that the ones who visited our house would not have qualified, unfortunately.

Lucky Dog

This is Luther. He's a pit bull.

Notice anything strange about him? Take a close look at his head. Hmm? Right. Luther has no ears. Let me tell you why.

My great good friend Shad works in Las Vegas. She was driving home from work late one night when Luther ran into the street, right in front of her car. She slammed on the brakes, then she pulled over, got out of her car, and called to him. He cowered in front her, scared to death.

Well, Shad took him home and then to the vet, who immediately knew what was going on.

Luther was a bait dog, used to teach other pit bulls to fight. The cruel people who owned him would cut his ears to draw blood, so that the fighting dogs would learn to recognize the smell and attack.

Somehow he got away. He managed to run in front of exactly the right person, who took him in and cleaned his wounds and loved him and trained him. Now he's one of the friendliest, gentlest dogs you'd ever want to meet.

I have no sympathy for Michael Vick. He deserves to go to jail.

Give 'Em Hell in Heaven, Molly!

Molly Ivins has died, and I am very sad. I loved her sharp, incisive writing.

You Go, Girl!

Weddings always make me feel a little mushy, and I particularly enjoyed the announcement of this one in today's Washington Post:

Gina Lollobrigida, 79, one of the great bombshells of all time, is finally tying the knot in Rome with her boyfriend of 22 years, Javier Rigau y Rafols, 45.

I did the distraction (you know, one of the four arithmetic functions: aggravation, distraction, uglification, and derision). They met in Monte Carlo when she was 57 and he was 23.

Way to go, Gina!

Evidently they were going to get married later this month in New York, but so many friends from Spain and Italy wanted to attend the wedding that they postponed it until next year so that they could get married in Rome.

Monday Marching Orders

Meg of Blogcabin gives the Monday marching orders:

1. Tell us about the weather in your 'hood today.
   Cloudy, damp, chilly -- mid-40s. I thought about taking a walk down to the California Tortilla for lunch (about a mile) but quickly thought better of that silly idea. But! It's supposed to be in the 70s this weekend -- I am hopeful, but March is a teasing bitch. We had one of the worst ice blizzards in DC history on March 19 in the mid-90s.
2. Describe the last item of clothing you purchased for your own use.
   I purchased five pairs of quite comfy undies, on sale no less. I am very brand loyal when it comes to undies; when I find a comfy brand, I cleave unto it. I really needed undies, too -- my undies drawer is overflowing with Sunday undies. What are Sunday undies? I hear you cry. Why, they are "holy," of course.
3. Tell us who you'd like to give an Oscar to, and name the category you'd award them in... or, of course, make one up...
   I would like to give an Oscar to Joe, for Best Hugging in Bed. Oh my yes.
4. Did anything actually shock you in the last week?
   Yes -- I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that South Dakota has banned almost all abortions, and then Mississippi is about to do the same thing, and now Missouri is, too. You know, I was a senior in college in 1973 when Roe v Wade was decided. I remember feeling amazingly relieved that I finally had a safe alternative if my birth control should fail.
   It's very simple: Banning abortions does not prevent them. If abortion is illegal, women will die. (Warning: That last link is disturbing. Those of you of a certain age will recognize it. I hate to have to believe that there will be more instances of this.)
5. Tell us about the last thing that really made you laugh.
   The latest article from the insanely funny and insightful Borowitz Report, especially the last line.
6. Would you describe yourself as crazy, normal, or somewhere in-between?
   I'm only a little crazy, but I'm definitely not totally normal (especially given the way I behave at my age), so I guess I'm somewhere in-between!