Sea lion update

Happy Friday!

Tooling around on the Ledger's website this morning I encountered this. It's an update about the sea lion situation I blogged about a couple days ago.

Basically, they're having a pretty good day too! At least someone's making an effort to spare them.

xoxoL

Let's stay together

Today I covered a story on a recently released study conducted, in part, by Georgia Family Council that reveals our country's high rates of divorce and unmarried childbearing costs U.S. taxpayers about $112 billion annually.

Georgia taxpayers alone pay at least $1.46 billion each year to fund "costly social programs" such as antipoverty, criminal justice and school nutrition programs. The crux of the study is that marriage is both socially and econmically beneficial to society as it generates combined family capital thereby reducing the likelihood individuals will require state and federal assistance.

Read this for more on that.

Anywho, communities such as Columbus are developing programs to help curb divorce rates. Premarital counceling is one such method being advocated.

I suggested premarital counceling to my now husband prior to our 2007 nuptials. Morgan wasn't going for it. There's a stigma attached to any type of counseling making it difficult for most people, and in this case, couples to overcome. In short, counseling=something's wrong. But that's not necessarily the case. At least that wasn't why I suggested it.

What do you think?

xoxoL

Work it

Yesterday was marathon Monday in Beantown and though I wasn't there to cheer on the runners, my hometown pride was intact.

To most Bostonians M2 means a day off work. To some, it marks the culmination of months of dedicated training. Shout out to my girl Mary Flynn and this well known fellow.

This year, the glory went to a Kenyan man and an Ethiopian woman. Only one American, Nicholas A. Arciniaga, placed in the top ten. He was tenth, btw.


xoxoL

Club a sea lion

Slap, hap, happy Monday!

This is really bizarre.

My mother-in-law and I were discussing, wouldn't it be easier to cut back on fishing rather than resort to killing sea lions?

What's hilarious about this is there's a picture of a cute, wide-eyed, little sea lion poking his slick sea lion head out of the cool water accompanying the article.

xoxoL

Up sh*$ creek

Local watchdogs from Chattahoochee RiverWatch, have filed a letter of intent to sue the City of Columbus and Abney Grading and Paving Inc., for violating the federal Clean Water Act and the Georgia Water Quality Control Act.

Here's the premise: The city started rebuilding the dam on Ginger Creek in October. To do this, crews had to divert the flow of water so that they could get in there and construct a new dam. Hard rains and perhaps faulty diversion techniques have resulted in a buttload of mud and silt flowing from the construction site into the creek. That's according to RiverWatch Director Bill Edwards.

Basically, after it rains, Ginger Creek, Heath Lake, Lindsey Creek and the Chattahoochee River literally look like the chocolate river in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." I've seen it. It's actually really gross.

Additionally, workers have been pumping viscous mud and water from the site and releasing it downstream, Edwards claims.

City officials counter they've spent thousands to control the silt.

The point in all this is pollution sucks. And yes...silt and sediment are pollution.

Look for the story on our site.

Making sexy time

So, it turns out Marilyn Monroe has a sex tape too, putting her in the same company as class acts Pam and Tommy, Paris and Rick and Kid Rock and Scott Stapp. Ewww.

Is she performing oral on John F. Kennedy? J. Edgar Hoover seemed to think so. He even had prostitutes view the top secret silent, black-and-white film in an attempt to get the mystery man identified.

Too bad the tape won't hit YouTube anytime soon. The rich guy from Manhattan who bought it for $1.5 million wants to "protect Monroe's privacy."

What do you think about this?

Nice ass

I'm sorry, but I had to share this. The photo is courtesy of Morgan who, you may or may not know, is in Afghanistan.

In case you can't tell, that's a baby goat riding a donkey.

What other fun captions can you come up with?

xoxoL

Workin' for/on the weekend

This is cool.

Happy Friday everyone. This weekend is full of possibilities. Mainly, I'll be spending lots of money I don't really have. Tonight I'll probs go out to Caliente (3709 Gentian Blvd.) with Son-dogg. Nothing new there. Note to self: Don't get too drunk. See below for reasoning.

Augustan is coming over bright and early to lay sod in my front yard. Not a euphemism. BTW, bright and early=8:30 a.m. Dear God.

Later that morning, Son-dogg and I are headed to the Ikea store in Atlanta. ROAD TRIP BITCHES! So excited. Also looking forward to our pit stops at Trader Joe's and Chipotle. Not looking forward to assembling the love seat I plan to purchase at Ikea upon my return to C-town.

Sunday I'll be here working the cop beat until 5 p.m. Then it's off to my soccer match, which will be played at 6 p.m. at the Woodruff Farm Road Soccer Complex. Rumor has it they'll be some Acousti super fans on the sidelines. So come on down. Bring a picnic (or booze in a bag) and root hard for the girls in black. We haven't won one yet, but there's a first time for everything, right?

xoxoL

Tear jerker

Watching "Love and Basketball."

Cameo by Tyra Banks. Good trivia.

All's fair in love and basketball.

Crying.

Love this movie.

Rent it.

New look...same taste

When I was probably 13 years old, my mom took me to the store to buy new sneakers. She encouraged me to try on a sweet pair of pink Velcro high tops. Being the tom boy that I was, I refused and opted for solid black, Velcro high-tops instead. Also sweet.

The point of this story is that I used to hate pink. Now I love it for all its girly deliciousness. So, enjoy the new look.

xoxoL

Let's hear it for the boys

Here's a story a wrote for today's newspaper.

It's just amazing to me what science has allowed us to do. What's even more incredible to me is what our hearts are capable of enduring.

Sgt. Dayne "Darren" Dhanoolal will be laid to rest in Killeen, Texas, on Friday. Prayers, thoughts, moments of silence, whatever you can spare would certainly be appreciated by this grieving family.

xoxoL

Tea...the new coffee?

I certainly think so, for a number of reasons.

First, coffee is highly acidic so it upsets sensitive tummies like mine and, I'd venture to guess, my co-worker Brad's. This alone is why I made an almost complete switch to tea. And no, I don't mean the sweet stuff. But check this out.

My kitchen cabinet, once overflowing with stacks of Keurig coffee pods, is now packed with delicious teas in a myriad of flavors. This is mostly thanks to my mother-in-law, Carole, who recently visited Stash in Tigard, Ore.

There they sell loose and bagged tea, baked goods, kettles, presses, books, infusers and more. If you're planning a trip to Portland, I'd say include Stash on your list of places to visit. I certainly will.

Suicide lamps and crunchy bodies

My co-worker, Alan, just told me a story that is both so disgusting and so true to the south.

On balmy spring and summer nighs in Selma, Ala., millions of flys swarm to the street lamps in town and die. Left on the sidewalks are thick, crunchy blankets of carcasses. After the build-up, firefighters break out the shovels to plow away the bodies, like a New Englander shoveling snow after a nor'easter.

Here in Columbus, you can't take a step outside during the summer without witnessing the scurrying of the roaches. It's sort of like the running of the bulls in Pamplona, only we are the bulls and the roaches are us. Could there be hidden a deeper universal meaning here? Think about it.

xoxoL

Ode to Dave

This is Dave. He's a weimaraner pretending to be an Army lieutenant. It is my most sincere hope that you find this ridiculous photo as funny as I do.

Morgan and I adopted Dave about two years ago. He went from being a 30 pound puppy who loved to be held like a baby and chew on momma's nice shoes to a 100 pound pony who still likes to be held like a baby and is currently on a diet because momma over-feeds him.

Yes, I am one of those "parents" that rewards my "kid" with delicious treats. Sad, but true. I am, however, slowly changing both our habits--my giving and his eating--because I know Dave's health could be at risk. This scenario can be loosely applied to the nation-wide situation pertaining to childhood obesity. Our kids are fat and they're only getting heavier. Since the 80s, the percentage of children and teens that are overweight has more than doubled, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Today, about 17 percent of American children ages 2-19 are overweight.

It's not about aesthetics really. Although studies have shown that teens with healthy body mass indexes are more self confident and happy than those who are overweight. Obesity is also linked to a myriad of health problems from diabetes to cancer to heart disease. So, get up and get moving. Set a good example and your friends, children and hopefully fat dogs will follow.

xoxoL