TampaBLAB

Litbrit has a lengthy post on the Honduras coup. The current situation in Honduras is of personal interest to Litbrit. She spent time in Tegucigalpa during her youth.

The United States is taking a cautious tone. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton expressed concern over the removal of President Manuel Zelaya. Clinton would go as far as label the crisis a coup. The first reason is pragmatism. The White House is waiting the see how the situation plays out. The second reason is the Obama administration has tense relations with Zelaya. The Honduran president is a close ally with Hugo Chavez. That doesn't win points with the White House.

Asked whether it was a U.S. priority to see Zelaya reinstalled, Clinton said: "We haven't laid out any demands that we're insisting on, because we're working with others on behalf of our ultimate objectives."

Zelaya has been threatened with arrest, if he returns to the country. Zelaya intends to enter Honduras with U.N. General Assembly and Organization of American States. Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi has threatened Zelaya with 20 years in prison.


Zelaya placed a referendum, on the ballot, that would ask if the Honduran Congress should rewrite the Constitution to allow the President to serve more than one term. Rubi and the Supreme Court ruled the ballot illegal. Zelaya kept the referendum on the ballot. The military refused to distribute ballots. Zelaya overstepped his autority by going against the Supreme Court. The military and opposition members overstepped by launching a coup. Democracies do not throw out their leaders by gun point.

Residents in Tegucigalpa sensed trouble before Zelaya was ousted.

Some businesses in the capital, Tegucigalpa, closed earlier this week amid the rising tension.

"A lot of people are worried there will be a coup," said Julio Godoy, a 66-year-old retiree who supplements his pension driving a taxi through Tegucigalpa's hilly streets. "You have businesses closing, stores, even banks. That only causes more fear, even after they open again."

Godoy said he would not vote Sunday because he thinks Zelaya only wants to hold on to power. "This is why presidents are only allowed four years," Godoy said.

Supporters of Zelaya have taken to the streets in protest.

My best friend Bruce Kessler and I would be glued to ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” during the 1970s when it aired its ‘Superstars” competitions, pitting athletes and celebrities against one another in sports which no one had a natural advantage or, usually, much experience.

Now ABC has once more brought back that old chestnut in a new primetime seasons of “The Superstars,” airs on Tuesday through July at 8 p.m. on ABC. This time around, we get male/female, celebrity/athlete teams including Terrell Owens and Joanna Krupa, Robert Horry and Estella Warren, Lisa Leslie and Dan Cortese, Brandi Chastain and Julio Iglesias Jr. and others.

Joining me today are two superstars who are not teamed together, Baywatch and Melrose Place star David Charvet and actress and former Miss USA Ali Landry.

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You can LISTEN to this interview with THE SUPERSTARS celebrities ALI LANDRY and DAVID CHARVET by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player above!

LISTEN! Brandi Chastain on Mr. Media Radio!

Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

USA Hockey named its 2009 Olympic Orientation Camp roster today. The Lightning's Ryan Malone was named to the 34-man roster. Jeff Halpern, a long time fixture on Team USA, was not.

2009 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Orientation Camp Roster

Goaltenders: Ryan Miller, Jonathan Quick, Tim Thomas

Defensemen: Tom Gilbert, Tim Gleason, Ron Hainsey, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, Mike Komisarek, Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik, Brian Rafalski, Rob Scuderi, Ryan Suter, Ryan Whitney

Forwards: David Backes, David Booth, Dustin Brown, Dustin Byfuglien, Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Patrick Kane, Ryan Kesler, Phil Kessel, Jamie Langenbrunner, Ryan Malone, Mike Modano, Kyle Okposo, T.J. Oshie, Zach Parise, Joe Pavelski, Bobby Ryan, Paul Stastny.

Yesterday, former Lightning and current head coach of the New York Rangers, John Tortorella, was named one of the assistant coaches a well. Scott Gordon, the head coach for the New York Islanders was named the other assistant. Ron Wilson is head coach of the American Olympic team and Brian Burke is its general manager, both holding the same positions with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I have to admit that I'm a bit surprised by this roster. Mike Modano but not Halpern? Jonathan Quick but not Ty Conklin?

Of course, nothing is set in stone and no one has to name a team made up of just these players. Team rosters aren't finalized until December, I believe, so anyone can still make it on if they have a strong first half of the NHL season. Even having said that, it appears that there's a certain type of player that Burke and Wilson want, and they tend to be on the young side.

The problem with Team USA...well, actually, there are several problems. But a problem that many American teams have in any team sport is that they lack a clear identity on both the national and international stage. It's not good enough to just be representing your country. You've got to be genuinely proud to represent your country as part of a team - as in, no "I" in the word team - and that's been seriously lacking in many American international teams.

For Canadians, it's a matter of pride to win the gold medal in hockey. They won't accept anything less. For Europeans, international competition is more prestigious than anything else offered in their individual nations or around the world. For the US, it comes down to "I'm honored to be named to the team" - and that's just not good enough to win any medal, let alone the gold.

Hopefully, Tortorella puts to starch in their back when it comes to that. He's very Old School, and won't stand for anything less than everyone's best and total commitment. Wilson may be the head coach, but Tortorella will become the heart and soul of that team. And that's what Team USA desperately needs: heart and soul, with a good dose of pride thrown in.

Update: TSN is reporting that the Montreal Canadiens have acquired center Scott Gomez, winger Tom Pyatt and defenseman Mike Busto from the New York Rangers in exchange for winger Chris Higgins and defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko .

From the Tribune's Twitter page: Vinny Lecavalier not being moved today, tomorrow or anytime soon. Ownership situation likely to linger throughout the summer

Now, let's end the Vinny to Montreal rumors.

Stay tuned!

This recent article entitled "Green goals part of historic preservation topic" discusses how San Antonio is making the connection between historic preservation and green building efforts.

I still remember the first time I got a byline in VIBE; a forgettable, four-paragraph piece about super-talented character actor Steve Harris, who was playing chrome-domed lawyer Eugene Young on ABC's The Practice.

Didn't matter how small the gig was, though. It allowed me to put VIBE magazine on my resume, and that's all I cared about.

VIBE was the Rolling Stone magazine for black music and black culture, featuring hip-hop-inspired columnists with patter so thick it was sometimes hard to read, and insight into the oddball ways of black artists who were less likely to get attention from mainstream music mags.

But all that is about to vanish. VIBE is shutting down, according to numerous reports on Gawker, AOL's Daily Finance blog and among journalists who should know. The closing places VIBE on a long and depressing list of magazines which have gone away this year, including Radio & Records and Blender. (cofounder Quincy Jones has said he wants to buy the magazine back, but it's unclear whether that's just idle talk)

Paid Content has a list of all the magazine which have folded this year, and the list includes:

Alpha Media Group: Blender—March (Online only);

Hearst: CosmoGirl—December-January (Online only);
Hallmark Cards: Hallmark Magazine—February-March (Shuttered)—Up 11 percent
Condé Nast: Portfolio—May (Online only)
Hearst: Oprah At Home—January (Shuttered)
Ziff Davis: PC Magazine—January (Online only)

Billboard: Radio & Records—June (Shuttered)
American Express: Travel + Leisure Golf—March-April (Website still live, but inactive)
Wicks Media Group: Vibe—June (Possibly online only—stay tuned)

Such a fate didn't seem possible back in 1993 when Jones founded the magazine, stirring up controversy when it was revealed that editor Jonathan Van Meter was a white guy. Eventually, VIBE's brand expanded to include a 1997 talk show and an annual awards ceremony. Check the magazine's history here.

But recent money troubles led to a sale in 2006 and more recently, cut salaries and shortened work weeks for staffers.

As the magazine prepares to officially announce its status later today, the only question left is how many great pop culture magazines will vanish before this awful media recession ends?  

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Old House Journal has a recent post entitled "Superior Sheds: A Garden Shed Guide for Old Houses" with some great information on rehabbing an existing historic shed in your yard. It also offer tips for designing a new shed that looks appropriate with historic homes.

Like every year for the past twenty years, the courageous Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan will start their annual trip to Cuba. The genocidal Yankee imperialist embargo against Cuba prevents Americans from sending any article to the Caribbean island.........here

Haters are like roaches,
running for cover when the light of knowledge and truth shines upon them.

The Technician Shop is a career, work, education and life resource for technicians. A technician is a person who works in a residential or commercial setting to repair, replace, maintain or install various things. From an A/C technician to a...

Florida House Rep. Pat Patterson (R-DeLand) will officially announce his candidacy for Florida Chief Financial Officer. Patterson will make the announcement at the Grant Bly House. Patterson will face Jeff Atwater in the Republican primary.

Event: Rep. Patterson Kick-Off Campaign for CFO
Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Time: 5:30 PM

Location: The Grant Bly House
842 East New York Ave.
DeLand, FL 32724

By Catherine Durkin Robinson
PoHo contributor

As we remember Stonewall and the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, the progressive community is understandably frustrated with the pace of our administration in bringing about real change.

They have a point.

Enough already with the military’s ridiculous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

And it’s about time we legalize gay marriage.

Yet after the stunning parades this weekend and the first official recognition of the movement by a sitting working US President, I’m filled with more hope than ever before.

Which is why I didn’t allow my blood pressure to rise when WFLA/News Channel 8 aired an “it would be disturbing if it weren’t so silly” documentary infomercial Saturday night about wicked gays trying to silence Christians. I urged my fellow libs to take deep breaths and see this program for what it was — a spoiled brat stomping his feet and holding his breath in the hopes of getting attention and that last piece of cake.

“Their world is ending, Mary,” I said with a giggle. “It’s falling down around them and they can’t do a thing to stop it. Let’s not be so reactionary. Pass the Sangria and shut the fuck up. I want to hear what these freakshows have to say so I can make fun of them later.”

My calls for calm were roundly ignored. Equality Florida and St. Pete Pride urged boycotts and asked supporters to write letters, send emails, and make phone calls (oh my) designed to make it all go away.

And yet the show went off without a hitch.

Either News Channel 8 wasn’t impressed or paradegoers were too busy using their mouths and hands for other pursuits.

It was, after all, a Saturday night.

But a few of my gays started screaming and using the c-word.

And that’s when I put my motherfucking foot down.

We should be extremely concerned when we start behaving like the tyrannical fundies we rail against. And the whole, “Would it be all right to allow Holocaust deniers to broadcast a program on Rosh Hashanah?” smacks of intellectual desperation.

Come on, we can do better than succumb to a lazy metaphor.

Let’s get angry about the lies the radical right spews under their crosses and from behind their Bibles. Absolutely, let’s laugh among ourselves about how funny it is that their movement is dying and true equality is within reach. Let’s counter illogical arguments with reasoned debate and religious mumbo-jumbo with good old-fashioned wisdom.

If we try to shut them up, their rallying cry becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Who needs that? Haters are like roaches, running for cover when the light of knowledge and truth shines upon them.

I prefer they stay in the light. It’s easier to aim the bug spray.

And besides, Mary, that’s how we’ll win.

Catherine Durkin Robinson is a “feminist mother of twins” and a political blogger, working under the title Out in Left Field.

Social conservative and anti-gay marriage Gov. Mark Sanford admits to having affairs with more women. Sanford uses the Bill Clinton defense that he didn't get to home plate. Only mistress Maria Belen Chapur had his heart.

"This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story," Sanford said. "A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day."

Sanford sounds like a bad Hallmark card.

Sanford and Chapur met 7 times during their 8 year "forbidden" relationship. The last time was in January of 2008. Sanford and Chapur ended the relationship after Jenny Sanford learned about the affair.

In related news: South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster is investigating if Sanford broke any laws when the Governor disappeared.

News of relations with other women ends the slim hope Sanford had of saving his political career. Sanford can hold on to his term as Governor but he will never be elected to public office again. The worse matter is his hypocrisy. Sanford as been outspoken again gay marriage. Sanford as no ground on whic to speak of the sanctity of marriage.

Update: Gawker points out something I missed. Sanford ended his affair with Chapur twice. The second time was when Sanford pulled his now infamous disappearing act. The first time was in New York of this year.

Two nights in Manhattan in September 2008.

Three nights in the Hamptons in November 2008.

One night in New York in 2009 with a "trusted spiritual adviser," to end the affair, which his wife found out about in January of that year.

As you know, Hillsborough County's proposed budget calls for closing Flatwoods county park Monday and Tuesday.

This is unacceptable and SWFBUD (South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers) is asking bicyclists and park users to join a 5-mile bike ride to the county building on July 16 to tell the commissioners to Keep Flatwoods Open 7 Days a Week at a budget hearing at 6 PM in downtown Tampa.

SWFBUD is announcing a "Keep Flatwoods Park Open 7 Days a Week" Bike Ride from the Seminole Heights Garden Center at 5800 Central Avenue to the County Government Center for the first Budget Hearing on July 16. Email your contacts and tell others.

5PM: Meet in front of garden center on Central Avenue, a half-mile north of Hillsborough Avenue. Lots of space to park if necessary.

5:30PM: Reach county government building in downtown Tampa and sign up to speak.

6PM: Hearing begins.

Also, make your voice heard:

Call the budget hotline at 813-307-8337 at tell the county to keep Flatwoods open 7 Days a week.

Send an email to hcbudget@hillsboroughcounty.org

And show up July 16 at 6PM at County Government Center to speak at the hearing.

I have contacted the offices of all 7 County Commissioners and the aides for each commissioner provided the following information:

Rose Ferlita: Not available. Will get back to SWFBUD possibly tomorrow.

Ken Hagan: Opposes closing the park two days a week. He's asking budget officials to look for ways to restore the two days.

Kevin White: Aide will pass message to White to keep Flatwoods open 7 days a week..

Al Higginbothom. Supports not raising taxes. Looking for money to restoring those two days by knocking out "dead weight" in the budget and streamlining and cutting other areas. "We're trying to put money back to parks and see if cuts whether in other places.

Jim Norman: Jim is going to look to do everything he can to keep it open.

Kevin Beckner: Aide doesn't know and aide said Kevin Beckner will call.

Mark Sharpe: Eric the aide is getting a lot of requests and it's an issue to be determined. "We're getting hit on it on a daily basis. We hit a nerve on this one."


Budget Public Hearings (all starting at 6 p.m.) and Public Comment is taken:
Thursday, June 9, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009 (First State-Required Public Hearing to adopt tentative millage rates and a tentative budget)
Thursday, September 17, 2009 (Second State-Required Public Hearing to adopt final millage rates and the FY 10 operating and capital budgets)

Budget Workshops (all starting at 1:30 p.m.) and NO Public Comment is taken:
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 (if needed)
Thursday, July 30, 2009 - Budget Reconciliation

My kids share a room. Maisie is three and Carson is five. Maisie is into Tinkerbell and Carson is into Disney's Cars. This makes decorating their room a little difficult so since there are two of them and four walls each kid gets two walls.

When Disney's Cars came out we started buying the die cast cars for Carson. They were only releasing a certain number at a time so we hopped on the collector band wagon buying two of each car when we could. In a giant blue bucket are the cars the kids are allowed to play with. The other set is on the wall except when Snowdrop pulls the tacks out so she can play with them (the tacks, not the cars). This is also an attempt to cover up the horrid burgandy and gold the previous owners thought looked good. By pre-ordering the DVD we received 4 small posters which we put up on the wall. I bought a poster with all the cars on it but Snowdrop (the cat not the ship) chewed the edges. So, I cut each car out and glued them across the top of two walls. My favorite cheap decorating tip is coloring pages. Not the kind in the book that your child scribbles in and is so proud of they litter the refrigerator door.

Bigger. Nicer. Mine.

I take my coloring very seriously. The kids are not allowed to use my set of 150+ Crayola crayons in the plastic tower. Yes, I did spend an hour organizing them all by color only to have someone dump them all out when I wasn't looking. I've even had friends suggest I color pictures and sell them. Like I don't have enough to do during the day. BUT, if anyone offered to pay me, I'd gladly do it. Ok, onto Maisie's half of the room.

The last two years her birthday presents have been wrapped in Tinkerbell wrapping paper. I cut out the Tinkerbell pictures and flowers and glued them to the wall. I also bought her a Tinkerbell poster and a Disney Princess poster ($4 each at Wal Mart). Easy peasy decorating!

This summer I plan on repainting and experimenting with silk flowers and vines as well as plastic tools. It helps that the kids have an aunt who just graduated with a degree in Interior Design (Woot! Woot! Aunt Ro!). If I ever get it finished I'll post an update. In the meantime start cutting and coloring! It's cheap and easy.



If you click on the pics you can see the detail better, and my mistakes, and Maisie's blue crayon on the Beck picture and the orange marker on the Tinkerbell picture. :)

Note to thieves: Don't swipe a thousand-dollar watch when you're surrounded by sheriff's deputies and surveillance cameras.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says that's what happened Monday at the Criminal Courts Complex on 49th Street.

People going into the courthouse are asked to take everything out of their pockets, so the belongings can be run through a scanning machine. They walk through a metal detector and then get their belongings out of the trays, often with half a dozen or more sheriff's deputies supervising. The process can take less than a minute.

On Monday morning, one man complained that his $1,000 Wittnauer watch somehow didn't make the journey. It wasn't in the gray metal tray when he went to retrieve it.

Deputies played back the surveillance video and saw another man pocketing the expensive watch, said spokeswoman Marianne Pasha.

One deputy recognized the thief, whom they later identified as Willie Jeter, 53, of Clearwater. They found him in a fourth floor courtroom, where he had a pretrial hearing on a charge of selling cocaine.

Pasha said Jeter pulled the watch out of his pocket and told deputies "he didn't even need a watch but he liked the way this one looked."

He was arrested and booked into the Pinellas County Jail. He was later released on $5,000 bail.

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From Tampabay.com

Katja Presnal of Skimba Lifestyle is hosting an Interactive Mutlimedia Live Show that is part of e.l.f. Cosmetics BlogHer stories series, done by Snazl.com. You can view it here at 2 PM EST today! And by being here, you can be one of the lucky ones to win one of five $25 gift certificate to e.l.f. Cosmetics being raffled by Katja. So be sure to stay tuned!

The first gift card will go to the person who guesses WHO Katja saw in NYC yesterday. She’ll be giving clues and you can take part in guessing. One of the cards will go to one of the bloggers (like me) who are posting about this event and adding the live show. The rest go to you!

His candidacy has been called “quixotic” as he flies into the face of a Republican challenger who likely will be Charlie Crist, but Kendrick Meek is strongly confident in his ability to force Floridians to examine the real record of their favorite, white-haired governor.

Meek is a rising star in the Democratic Party, finding himself with a seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee after just four terms in office. Helps to have a progressive voting record and agenda. It probably also doesn’t hurt when your mom served on the House Appropriations Committee with (now Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, as Congresswoman Carrie Meek did.

He’s largely untested (he won his seat in Congress unopposed after his mother retired so close to the qualifying deadline that nobody could mount a real challenge to her son) but he’s shown great energy and won a good deal of the hearts and minds in the Florida Democratic Party, so much so that a few major challengers have stepped aside rather than force an expensive primary race with him.

Meek was in Tampa today and stopped by the Creative Loafing offices. We talked about how to pay for health care reform, whether the stimulus is working, his role in forcing smaller class sizes in public schools and his famous 2000 showdown with then-Gov. Jeb Bush over the dismantling of affirmative action in the state, which resulted in a 26-hour sit-in at the lobby of the Governor’s Office after Bush refused to meet with him and another lawmaker.

He also had this to say when I asked him why he is so confident he can beat Crist:

Meek: Well, first of all, I am running for the people of the state of Florida, and the governor happens to be a candidate in the race. That’s the way I look at it. It’s hard for me to have you see what I see, throughout the state of Florida, I see a very strong will and the desire of the people of the state of Florida to better their community and their state. I offer myself as a member of the House of Representatives from a safe district where I can be a member of Congress for a very, very long time. My grandchildren could see me be a member of Congress, because I work hard on behalf of not only my district but also the state of Florida.

When the election day rolls around, titles will not be on the ballot, only the name and the track record. This is a very historic campaign, because there hasn’t been a statewide elected official that has qualified by petition, that’s 112, 476 signatures. It’s important that we qualify that way so we can hear the stories of Florida. Just because I’ve been … in public service 15 years, that doesn’t necessarily mean I understand all of the issues and know what’s going on in the homes of every Floridian. But I can tell you in the 57 counties of the 67 counties that have turned in petitions to help place my name on the ballot, it is already made me a better candidate and eventually will make me a better senator. That experience will allow us to rise up from the primary experience into a general election, and as we start to look at the issues that are facing Florida, as we start to look at who will be in the majority and who will be in the minority in Washington, D.C., I think one of the bigger questions for this entire Senate race will be: Governor, you’re the most powerful elected official in the state of Florida, politically. You could sign a piece of paper and change the outlook for Floridians. You’re relinquishing that and that position in the majority in Tallahassee, [where] you have the House and the Senate supermajorities that are there, you could help us. But you have opted to run for the US Senate, going to a legislative mode from an executive mode to then serve in the minority in the US Senate, and you’re saying that you’re doing all of this for us. And in many minds of Floridians, I believe, that goes against good common sense and logic, if you’re doing it for the people. So there has to be something a little different there, and he’s going to have to explain that, more than I have to explain why I am running for the US Senate as a member of the House of Representatives. My intentions are pure.

My track record has been one of helping people, helping small business, and and being a fighter on behalf of the poeple that I represent. And I want to represent all of Florida, and that’s the reason that I got into this race first. That’s the reason I am qualifying by petition. And that’s the reason we will continue to build this grass-roots campaign throughout the state. And when I’m elected, God willing, I want to be one of the best senators Florida has ever seen as it relates to constituent service, as it relates to giving a strong voice for Florida and in the US Senate, and I’m very excited about the response that we’ve seen thus far.

We’re a year and a half before the election, and there’s a lot of ground to cover.

To listen to the entire podcast, Download here.

With all the evil and destruction in the world sometimes I stop and ask “Why Me?”

The first time I asked this question was when I was told my unborn son was going to die. Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Why my son? Hasn’t my family suffered enough with the death of my older brother when he was eight? But then I learned something from Jacob’s death and I was able to answer the question. I didn‘t like the answer but at least I had one. Or maybe I just made up an answer to make myself feel better.

Watching the news and seeing the brutal murders, the fatal car accidents, the burglaries, rape, tornadoes, fires, etc. I wonder ‘Why Me?’ Why am I so special that I haven’t had to either go through one of those situations or dealt with one through a close family member or friend. The death of an elderly relative doesn’t count, I don't mean it doesn‘t matter but it happens. It’s just part of the natural process of life. Though I miss Grandma, Pop, my great aunts, and great uncles, they went when it was there time. I didn’t want them to go but they’d lived long lives and were ready.

When I was little a tornado ripped our tree in half but that was all the damage it caused. During the 2004 hurricanes, the cage to our screened in pool was shifted while our neighbors house across the street lost their whole house. Why them and not us?

I’ve had to deal with classmates dying young but they weren’t really close, not the ones like I talked to everyday. When I was in seventh grade the guy I was ‘dating’ (we never really went anywhere) lost his best friend in a motorcycle accident. They were riding side by side. Since I wasn’t that close to Andy plus being so young I didn’t go to the funeral. I was sad but not in a way that I would have been had we been closer. Buy why Andy? He was just a kid.

The summer before eleventh grade a cheerleader was shot and killed by her boyfriend. Unfortunately I was closer to the boyfriend than the cheerleader so I didn’t go to her funeral either. Why Monica? What had she done to deserve such a sick twist of fate?

When my friend Kevin was killed by a drunk driver, I wanted to go to his funeral because we were close in high school. I’d just had surgery and was unable to go. Instead I had to lay in bed and cry, remembering the wonderful times we had together. Why Kevin? Why not the idiot who hit him? Why did that guy walk away?

I’m not complaining so please don’t think that. I feel blessed that I have been spared, for the most part, of being the victim of a violent crime or losing a someone very close to me from one. Or losing everything we own. I’m left with sympathy and compassion for the families and friends who have lost loved ones. For our neighbors who lost their house. For a mom who lost everything when her home burned down on Mother's Day. Why them? Why were they chosen? I don’t know why anyone asks these questions. We won’t ever know the answer. Sometimes I think maybe I’ll find out when I die but then it won’t matter.

I try not to linger on the question but instead take the time to give each of my four children a hug and kiss. I make sure to tell them I love them before I leave the house or before they leave. I never know if, when I tell them good bye I will ever see them again. With all of that said I’d like to share a rule we have in our family- Never leave angry. Ever. No matter how angry I’ve made Hubby, if he leaves the house I either tell him or text him “I love you.” As mad as he may be at me he tells me he loves me, too.

I don’t really know what the point of this post is. The idea came to me halfway through Mr. Magorium’s Magic Emporium this morning. Maybe this is what people mean when they say, “Food for thought?”

What do you think?

Hey guys. I don't know if you guys are big fans of Twitter or not. I just recently started trying it out but I did manage to find a few Buccaneers on there. The only two current players I was able to find were Earnest Graham and EJ Biggers. Warren Sapp and Warrick Dunn both also have accounts though. There are quite a few players from around the NFL on there. I was able to find Peyton Manning, T.O., Champ Bailey, Shawn Merriman, Jason Witten, and last but certainly not least Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson. Be careful if you start following him though because the dude literally "tweets" every couple of minutes. Within minutes of following him he took up my whole screen with asinine, rambling tweets. You would think the dude would want to be training for the upcoming season. haha. Well I put this up here to let you guys know that you can follow some of the players if you want to. Also: if anyone knows other players that have Twitter accounts please feel free to tell us in the comments section.

A homeless man broke into two University of Florida fraternity houses and was arrested while cooking eggs in one of them.

According to the Alligator, Gainesville Police arrested Alexis Dominguez in the kitchen of the Alpha Tau Omega frat house while he was cooking French fries at 1:30 a.m.

A smoke alarm sounded from the eggs and cheese he was also cooking leading authorities to Dominguez.

Dominguez also broke into the Phi Kappa Tau house Thursday by removing a window air conditioner and climbing through.

He told police that he lived at 513 Homeless in Lake City and that he broke in thinking he would not be charged with a crime.

Gainesville Police charged him two counts of unarmed burglary of an occupied dwelling and petty larceny.