i've been sick for a week. it's the weirdest cold i've ever had - SUPER cyclical, with me feeling okay in the mornings, CRAPPY in the afternoon, and okay in the evenings.

because i am a moron whose social calendar is overbooked, and because i feel pretty good at night, i'm staying up far too late. and the internal alarm clock that goes off in my head every morning is precluding any semblance of sleeping in.

fortunately, i don't have anything going on this week. this is good news, as in the last hour i have gone COMPLETELY HOARSE.

this sucks...

big six thanksgiving dinner 2006...

words from a hobbit who's currently staying at my house...

so yeah. go watch the lord of the rings with your loved ones this christmas. watch them and think of your own story. and think of someone you love, and someone who loves you.

but take something from em. they're great stories. they say: life is hard. sometimes you have to do some shit that you don't want to. and sometimes those things turn into adventures. or sometimes you want to have adventures and they turn into difficult trials. but either way, it's good to have friends there with you. live well. live fully. be ready for loss. or don't. but know that you have to keep going, even if you're crying as you walk. enjoy the nights by the fire. enjoy the days under the sunshine. enjoy the moments of shelter and kindness from people of all walks of life. live well. live full.

via hooch dupree and the whiskey priest

i'd like to buy a vowel...

wheel watchers, tonight you can see my friend edye bisagno as a contestant on WHEEL - OF - FORTUNE!!!

this is so random, so fun, and soooo edye...

be sure and watch!

world AIDS daydecember 1, 2006

In the 25 years since the first case was reported, AIDS has changed the world. It has killed 25 million people, and infected 40 million more. It has become the world’s leading cause of death among both women and men aged 15 to 59. It has inflicted the single greatest reversal in the history of human development. In other words, it has become the greatest challenge of our generation.

For far too long, the world was in denial. But over the past 10 years, attitudes have changed. The world has started to take the fight against AIDS as seriously as it deserves.

Financial resources are being committed like never before, people have access to antiretroviral treatment like never before, and several countries are managing to fight the spread like never before. Now, as the number of infections continues unabated, we need to mobilize political will like never before.

The creation of UNAIDS a decade ago, bringing together the strengths and resources of many different parts of the United Nations family, was a milestone in transforming the way the world responds to AIDS. And five years ago, all UN Member States reached a new milestone by adopting the Declaration of Commitment -- containing a number of specific, far-reaching and time-bound targets for fighting the epidemic.

That same year, as I made HIV/AIDS a personal priority in my work as Secretary-General, I called for the creation of a "war-chest" of an additional seven to ten billion dollars a year. Today, I am deeply proud to be Patron of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, which has channelled almost three billion dollars to programmes across the globe. Recently, we have seen significant additional funding from bilateral donors, national treasuries, civil society and other sources. Annual investments in the response to AIDS in low-and middle-income countries now stand at more than eight billion dollars. Of course, much more is needed; by 2010 total needs for a comprehensive AIDS response will exceed 20 billion dollars a year. But we have at least made a start on getting the resources and strategies in place.

Because the response has started to gain real momentum, the stakes are higher now than ever before. We cannot risk letting the advances that have been achieved unravel; we must not jeopardize the heroic efforts of so many. The challenge now is to deliver on all the promises that have been made -- including the Millennium Development Goal, agreed by all the world’s Governments, of halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV by 2015. Leaders at every level must recognize that halting the spread of AIDS is also a prerequisite for reaching most of the other Goals, which together form the international community’s agreed blueprint for building a better world in the 21st century. Leaders must hold themselves accountable -- and be held accountable by all of us.

Accountability -- the theme of this World AIDS Day -- requires every President and Prime Minister, every parliamentarian and politician, to decide and declare that "AIDS stops with me". It requires them to strengthen protection for all vulnerable groups -- whether people living with HIV, young people, sex workers, injecting drug users, or men who have sex with men. It requires them to work hand in hand with civil society groups, who are so crucial to the struggle. It requires them to work for real, positive change that will give more power and confidence to women and girls, and transform relations between women and men at all levels of society.

But accountability applies not only to those who hold positions of power. It also applies to all of us. It requires business leaders to work for HIV prevention in the workplace and in the wider community, and to care for affected workers and their families. It requires health workers, community leaders and faith-based groups to listen and care, without passing judgement. It requires fathers, husbands, sons and brothers to support and affirm the rights of women. It requires teachers to nurture the dreams and aspirations of girls. It requires men to help ensure that other men assume their responsibility -- and understand that real manhood means protecting others from risk. And it requires every one of us help bring AIDS out of the shadows, and spread the message that silence is death.

I will soon be stepping down as Secretary-General of the United Nations. But as long as I have strength, I will keep spreading that message. That is why World AIDS Day will always be special to me. On this World AIDS Day, let us vow to keep the promise -- not only this day, or this year, or next year -- but every day, until the epidemic is conquered.

Kofi A. Annan

source: UNAIDS

other helpful links:

* world AIDS campaign

* the global fund

* (RED) (be sure and also click on the global fund link)

rachael ray, i'm talking to you...

i made this soup for dinner last night. it was pretty tasty. the hen house in fairway didn't have chipotles in adobo (although they did have canned snails), so i settled for some roasted chopped jalapenos. a decent second for sure. the soup was pretty good (could have used more jalapenos), but next time i make it, i won't be finely dicing the zucchini. the texture reminds me too much of raw onions.

anyway, this post is not a commentary on my last night's dinner. it is me, asking rachael ray the question...

are you kidding me? Why-the-Chicken-Crossed-the-Road Santa Fe-Tastic Tortilla Soup?? rachael, ye who are supremely overexposed at the moment, please, PLEASE stop trying so hard.

i was reading some food blog the other day, and the recipe that the woman had listed called for extra virgin olive oil. the woman said, and i quote, "don't call it EVOO"

heh. it seems i'm not the only one who shares this opinion.

but the soup was good. and for that i say, thanks rachael...

early out...

it's disgusting outside. sleet, ice, twenty eight degrees...

as such, the long arm of justice has determined that we should all go home early! i was campaigning for immediately, but 3:45 will certainly do.

i'm going to make a pot of soup, and pray for snow.

from this, to houston tomorrow. a shock to the system, for sure!

in advance of the front...

outside, it's as windy as a spring day in texas. the kind of day where, for those of us of the female persuasion, we are careful to avoid wearing skirts.

it only took once for me to learn that lesson.

thank you to the ENTIRE month of march in plainview, texas...

grateful...

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of allnothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

~ e.e. cummings, XAIPE, 1950

wonder woman!

sorry, texas...

rick perry re-elected governor of texas

a great start to the season...

spurs edge mavs 97-91 to win 10th straight opener

you can't make this stuff up...

on the menu last night at bar natasha: the barclay martini.

this is good news...

a new book by wendell berry. arriving on my doorstep november 28, 2006.

hooray!

from my second grade halloween play, miss morgan's class...

strange things can happen
on a dark halloween
the SPOOOOOKIEST sights
you ever have seen

jill and dave humes...

here's to you, jill and dave. you know how to throw one hell of a party. my red hat and i had the most lovely time...

oh, and best wishes for your new life together.

good news for your thursday...

guess who has a new cookbook out?

ina garten is my favorite. FAVORITE.

i must have this cookbook. there are not alot of things in this world that i feel i must have, but friends, this is one of them.

many of you have enjoyed the benefits of my obsession with ina garten and her fabulous recipes - apple crostada, macaroons, sun dried tomato pasta salad, turkey meat loaf, peanut butter cookies, sour cream pancakes...

yum.

i heart you, barefoot contessa...

can't get enough of...

joe purdy. check out his music.

introducing...

my new friend, paxton sharp. paxton's mom and dad, ryan and holly, are some of my favorite people. they live in san francisco.

welcome, little one!

category: superfluous things for the kitchen...

this would fit so nicely in my kitchen. as if i have any extra countertop space...
           italian glazed antiqued salt box