Hit me baby one more time

One last time is more like it. On Thursday, I will go under the knife for a third (and final????) ankle surgery. Needless to say i am not looking forward to it. I know what to expect and it's not pleasant. The surgery itself is OK, I'll be asleep. No worries there. It's the next 6 months that suck.

The first week after surgery is not so bad. I am extremely drugged up and basically sleep the week away, which is good since I have a bandage wrap on. The cast doesn't come until 10 days after surgery so that swelling goes down. Once the cast is on is when the fun begins. I basically sit on my ass ,(which expands during the process by the way, I gained 25lbs last go around), watch tv, movies, or play on the net. I am still drugged somewhat, so I can't concentrate on reading yet. I actually get bored watching the View and Days of our Lives, can you imagine? I do have a Wii and Playstation 2, so maybe those will help a bit.

I'll probably have my cast on 9 weeks. Then starts the fun of rehab. Now don't get me wrong, I love my physical therapist, Tara. She is awesome and makes it fun. However, the home exercises suck. I'll also go back to work by then so I have to manage the pain of PT with working.

Oh I am not looking forward to this. Plus I get a third summer that I wont get to go swimming, enjoy festivals and fairs, and basically am inside the whole time. At least I have Tim to take care of me, which he does well. He even puts up with my whining (I know, hard to believe that I whine). Baxter will provide some much needed company as well. This surgery I also have our roomie and BFF Renee to help out. Thank God. Someone needs to clean the house. I'll post periodically to update you on my progress, and to bitch and moan a bit.

Baxter, Me, and the Cavs.

Quite alot has happened since I last blogged which is why it has been a while. First, as many of you know, my baby Baxter had ACL surgery. He's doing well. He's even using his leg which is very good since he only had the surgery 2 and half weeks ago. We have had a bit of trouble though. He tore open his staples which had to be restitched. Then when his staples where officially taken out and he no longer had to wear his cone, he chewed open a small part of his wound thus forcing him to get 5 more staples put in and he now has to wear his lovely cone whenever we can't watch him. But at least he's doing well and will recover fully.

I am not anxiously awaiting my surgery on June 11. I am actually starting to panic a bit. I know the surgery will go ok. I'm not worried about that. I am, hoever, worried about the recovery. It is long and grueling. I have been through it twice before and am not looking forward to it. Sure I get to stay home and wtahc TV, blog, and facebook. But that is all I can do. It is boring and I'll probably get depressed. I am hoping this is my last surgery and it will work this time. Who knows?

On a much lighter note, but almost as important. The Cleveland Cavaliers are blowing it in the NBA playoffs. I predict they will win game 6 tonight, but alas, they are from Cleveland and will lose game 7 thus adding another chapter in the long history of losing Cleveland sports. We need to come up with a name for it. The Browns had "the Drive" (86), "the Fumble" (87), and "Red Right 88" (81) in their storied past. My beloved Indians (who are actually starting to win finally) had "the Meltdown" (97) and "the Comeback" (07), and the Cavs had "the Shot" (90). Now we are on the verge of "The Debacle". As they say, There's always next year.

One final note, is it wrong for me to have a crush on Orlando Magic player Hedo Turkoglu? Cause I so do. No I'm not a traitor, just gay and horny. Go Cavs!

Fab U Lous!!!!

Britney is definitley back!! The show was fantastic. From start to finish, non-stop dance music. She started with "Circus", did a bunch of songs from her last 2 CD's. She threw in "Me against the Music", I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Baby, one more time". She ended with "Womanizer". OMG! Tim and I agree that is is right up there with Madonna's "Confession Tour" and Cher's "Farewell Tour". It could have been the best show had Miss Britney sang more of her hits. It was still incredible, lipsyncing and all. The Pussycat Dolls were awesome as well. They did "Don't Cha" and "When I grow up", even a version of "Jai Ho" from Slumdog MIllionaire. Those bitches can dance their asses off. The show is a gay man's wet dream! It was Fabulous.

Life, Britney, and whatnot

Things are starting to calm down thankfully. I have come to grips with my impending surgery. Worked out all the financial details. Set the date. And I'm am mentally preparing for it. Also I think we will be able to have Baxter's ACL surgery shortly after mine. That way someone is always home with him and he won't have to be crated, which we do not want. The poor baby will be going though enough without that added stress. Plus we can recover together.

Now It's just the waiting. June 11 isn't that far off I know, but it's still long ebough for me to have to have doubts and anxiety. Then again, what's new about that.

On the brighter side, I am seeing Britney Spears tomorrow. Yay!!! I want her to say "Thank You Cow-lum-bus, was my pussy showing yy'all?!" That would be spectacular! OMG, speaking of pussy, the Pussycat Dolls open for her. That is one GAY concert. All I have to say is "Hit me baby one more time, y'all!"

Goodbye to another Girl: Bea Arthur.

'Golden Girls' star Bea Arthur dies at the age 86

Updated: Sat Apr. 25 2009 13:46:13

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" and who won a Tony Award for the musical "Mame," died Saturday. She was 86.

Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, family spokesman Dan Watt said. She had cancer, Watt said, declining to give further details.

"She was a brilliant and witty woman," said Watt, who was Arthur's personal assistant for six years. "Bea will always have a special place in my heart."

Arthur first appeared in the landmark comedy series "All in the Family" as Edith Bunker's loudly outspoken, liberal cousin, Maude Finley. She proved a perfect foil for blue-collar bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), and their blistering exchanges were so entertaining that producer Norman Lear fashioned Arthur's own series.

In a 2008 interview with The Associated Press, Arthur said she was lucky to be discovered by TV after a long stage career, recalling with bemusement CBS executives asking about the new "girl."

"I was already 50 years old. I had done so much off-Broadway, on Broadway, but they said, `Who is that girl? Let's give her her own series,"' Arthur said.

"Maude" scored with television viewers immediately on its CBS debut in September 1972, and Arthur won an Emmy Award for the role in 1977.

The comedy flowed from Maude's efforts to cast off the traditional restraints that women faced, but the series often had a serious base. Her TV husband Walter (Bill Macy) became an alcoholic, and she underwent an abortion, which drew a torrent of viewer protests. Maude became a standard bearer for the growing feminist movement in America.

The ratings of "Maude" in the early years approached those of its parent, "All in the Family," but by 1977 the audience started to dwindle. A major format change was planned, but in early 1978 Arthur announced she was quitting the show.

"It's been absolutely glorious; I've loved every minute of it," she said. "But it's been six years, and I think it's time to leave."

"Golden Girls" (1985-1992) was another groundbreaking comedy, finding surprising success in a television market increasingly skewed toward a younger, product-buying audience.

The series concerned three retirees -- Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan -- and the mother of Arthur's character, Estelle Getty, who lived together in a Miami apartment. In contrast to the violent "Miami Vice," the comedy was nicknamed "Miami Nice."

As Dorothy Zbornak, Arthur seemed as caustic and domineering as Maude. She was unconcerned about the similarity of the two roles. "Look -- I'm 5-feet-9, I have a deep voice and I have a way with a line," she told an interviewer. "What can I do about it? I can't stay home waiting for something different. I think it's a total waste of energy worrying about typecasting."

The interplay among the four women and their relations with men fuelled the comedy, and the show amassed a big audience and 10 Emmys, including two as best comedy series and individual awards for each of the stars.

In 1992, Arthur announced she was leaving "Golden Girls." The three other stars returned in "The Golden Palace," but it lasted only one season.

Arthur was born Bernice Frankel in New York City in 1922. When she was 11, her family moved to Cambridge, Md., where her father opened a clothing store. At 12 she had grown to full height, and she dreamed of being a petite blond movie star like June Allyson. There was one advantage of being tall and deep-voiced: She was chosen for the male roles in school plays.

Bernice -- she hated the name and adopted her mother's nickname of Bea -- overcame shyness about her size by winning over her classmates with wisecracks. She was elected the wittiest girl in her class. After two years at a junior college in Virginia, she earned a degree as a medical lab technician, but she "loathed" doing lab work at a hospital.

Acting held more appeal, and she enrolled in a drama course at the New School of Social Research in New York City. To support herself, she sang in a night spot that required her to push drinks on customers.

During this time she had a brief marriage that provided her stage name of Beatrice Arthur. In 1950, she married again, to Broadway actor and future Tony-winning director Gene Saks. They divorces in 1978.

After a few years in off-Broadway and stock company plays and television dramas, Arthur's career gathered momentum with her role as Lucy Brown in the 1955 production of "The Threepenny Opera."

In 2008, when Arthur was inducted in the TV Academy Hall of Fame, she pointed to the role as the highlight of her long career. "A lot of that had to do with the fact that I felt, `Ah, yes, I belong here,"' Arthur said.

More plays and musicals followed, and she also sang in nightclubs and played small roles in TV comedy shows.

Then, in 1964, Harold Prince cast her as Yente the Matchmaker in the original company of "Fiddler on the Roof."

Arthur's biggest Broadway triumph came in 1966 as Vera Charles, Angela Lansbury's acerbic friend in the musical "Mame," directed by Saks. Richard Watts of the New York Post called her performance "a portrait in acid of a savagely witty, cynical and serpent-tongued woman."

She won the Tony as best supporting actress and repeated the role in the unsuccessful film version that also was directed by Saks, starring Lucille Ball as Mame. Arthur would play a variation of Vera Charles in "Maude" and "The Golden Girls."

In 1983, Arthur attempted another series, "Amanda's," an Americanized version of John Cleese's hilarious "Fawlty Towers." She was cast as owner of a small seaside hotel with a staff of eccentrics. It lasted a mere nine episodes.

Between series, Arthur remained active in films and theatre. Among the movies: "That Kind of Woman" (1959), "Lovers and Other Strangers" (1970), Mel Brooks' "The History of the World: Part I" (1981), "For Better or Worse" (1995).

The plays included Woody Allen's "The Floating Light Bulb" and "The Bermuda Avenue Triangle," written by and co-starring Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna. During 2001 and 2002 she toured the U.S. in a one-woman show of songs and stories, "... And Then There's Bea."

In 1999, Arthur told an interviewer of the three influences in her career: "Sid Caesar taught me the outrageous; (method acting guru) Lee Strasberg taught me what I call reality; and ("Threepenny Opera" star) Lotte Lenya, whom I adored, taught me economy."

In recent years, Arthur made guest appearances on shows including "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Malcolm in the Middle." She was chairwoman of the Art Attack Foundation, a non-profit performing arts scholarship organization.