I ordered my pal, Morag, a Christmas gift online from a company outside the US.  And I think I’ve been taken.  I ordered it in November.  In December, after about a month, I emailed them asking for an update.  It took five emails over the course of two weeks for them to finally respond.  At first they had lost the order, then they said it had been sent.  This month, I started emailing around the 15th.  It’s now the 30th and still no reply (after three more emails). 

The only good news that comes of this is that I got to shop for Morag’s Christmas gift again (I always have a ball shopping for her).  And I learned a lesson. 

Until now I’ve been quite lucky and have never had a problem with internet shopping?  Has anything like this happened to you?  If so, what did you do?

 

Airing on your local PBS stations tonight is part two of MASTERPIECE THEATRE’S JANE EYRE.  If you didn’t catch it last week, check it out this week.  It’s a great production and is as good as, if not even better than, the 1983 BBC version with Timothy Dalton (no easy feat since Timothy Dalton is a fantastic actor and a wonderful Rochester).

One of the best parts about this particular version is the chemistry between Ruth Wilson (Jane) and Toby Stephens (Edward Rochester).  They bring the characters to life in a way I haven’t yet seen.  Bravo to both for great performances!

For further info, check out the website http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/janeeyre/.

For only the second time in three weeks (and I’m not exaggerating), the sun is shining in Houston.  We’ve had nothing but rain and ice lately and this is such a nice change! 
Since we moved to Houston about four and a half years ago, winters have been sunny and warm.  Greg and I always joked that while we’re wearing shorts, New York (our old haunt) is experiencing snow and ice.  Not this year.  I’ve never seen so many 30 degree nights in Houston.  And the days haven’t been much warmer.  Not today, though.  Today brings sunshine and 60 degree temps … gorgeous!  It’s supposed to rain again tomorrow and into the weekend so we’ll have to enjoy it while it lasts.
Our youngest kitty has been protesting the bad weather.  We have a fenced-in backyard and he loves to sit outside, next to the bird bath, under the Red Riding Hood entwined trellis soaking up the sun.  Just this morning, as I was heading out to work, he was sitting by the back door demanding to go outside.  He’ll be happy tonight when I let him out for a bit.  His brothers will join him (although they’ve been far less vocal about going out lately than he’s been).
How’s the weather in your neck of the woods?  I hope the sun’s shining and that you’re enjoying every minute of it!
Until tomorrow …

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning and all I can think of is … they’ve come a long way! Case in point: did anyone ever listen to Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’s song “Good Vibrations” and think that Marky Mark would be nominated for an Oscar some day?  Well, Mark Wahlberg was nominated today, for Best Supporting Actor in THE DEPARTED.  I’m a fan of Mark Wahlberg and think he’s a very talented actor but still, to think of how he started out, it’s pretty amazing. 

The same holds true for Wil Smith, nominated as Best Actor in THE PERSUIT OF HAPPYNESS.  The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air has grown up!  And has grown into a great actor. The most surprising for me is Eddie Murphy.  I never considered him Oscar worthy when he released “Party All the Time” in the 80’s.  It’s amazing how times, and careers, change. 

Also nominated today was Jennifer Hudson, former AMERICAN IDOL contestant.  Like Eddie Murphy, she was nominated in the Supporting category for DREAMGIRLS.  It’s incredible the amount of talent AI has discovered.  From Grammy winners to an Oscar contender … WOW! 

So, there you have it.  Everything changes.  And these four have proved that you can make the most of any opportunity.  Quite an inspiration.

Happy Monday everyone.  I hope your weekend was enjoyable!

With the change of servers, I wasn’t been able to access my email through tracygoodwin.net this weekend.  However, as of now, tracy@tracygoodwin.net is up and running. 

Talk to you soon!

Have you seen the FAST FOOD FREESTYLE video on YouTube?  If not, you MUST check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLn45-7Pn2Y#

The last time I saw something this funny was when THE PREP TEA PARTY was released.  In case you missed that one, it’s a Smirnoff commercial in which preppy white men rap about country clubs, Peppermint Schnapps, their “homies” in lock up for insider trading, and other topics I never would have considered hillarious until I saw the video.  You can catch it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I5oWFLyoeI

Have a great evening!

Like 37 million other viewers, Greg and I were glued to our TV screens Tuesday to watch the season six premier of AMERICAN IDOL.� And we were bored.� They concentrated heavily on the bad, to the point where it was uncomfortable to watch.� Case in point: a woman stating that her husband told her not to�audition, stating that he�doesn’t support her, stating that her child is the only one who believes in her, singing badly for the judges then begging for a second�chance.� Then begging for a third chance.� Then singing over the judges, unable to take no for an answer.��And then crying emotionally after leaving the audition room.� Ugh!� Reality TV isn’t enjoyable when you’re watching someone deeply disturbed falling apart on screen (at least�not for me).�So, it was with trepidation that we tuned in again last night.� And it was�hilarious.��Then�it dawned on me that�it’s not the contestants I enjoy watching during the initial audition phase …�it’s the judges.� On Tuesday night, the judges were joined by guest judge Jewel, who seemed to change the dynamics.� They weren’t as funny.� The didn’t mesh.� In truth, they were boring.� Last night, they had personalities and were a hoot.� There were still a few emotionally unstable contestants who I felt very sorry for but, in all, it was a good show.�

IDOL is back.� Better than ever?� The jury’s still out�but … it may just turn out to be as good as it was.�

Until tomorrow …

I remember moving from the North East to Houston four and a half years ago.� Am I in a time warp?� No, I’m�in Houston but it’s freezing!� And I mean that literally.� Temps have been hovering in the 30s for two days now.� Today, we’ll hopefully reach a whopping 38.� For Houston, this is unheard of.� The list of school closures this morning was so long that I thought I had gone back to New York for a moment.� We’ve got ice storm warnings galore and weather reports are predicting tomorrow to be just as bad.

With that said, how is the weather in your neck of the woods?

As I’ve previously posted, I love UGLY BETTY on ABC.� And I was thrilled to hear it won two Golden Globes last night, one for best TV comedy and one for best actress (to a most deserving America Ferrera).� Now I must give props to ABC for taking the premise of the show one step further, creating www.beugly07.com.

The home page states:

“It’s a fact that society has an unfair and unrealistic definition of beauty, but many people still struggle daily to achieve it.� What’s the result?� Most of us continue to feel less than beautiful.

But thanks to�Betty, UGLY can be beautiful.� Ugly beauty isn’t about physical appearance, the “BE UGLY�IN 07 Campaign” is a pro-social movement that proves ugly is the new beautiful and asks America to:

Be Real,

Be Smart,

Be Passionate,

Be Determined,

Be Kind,

Be Honest,

Be true to yourself.”

It is frightening to see children emulating models who are so thin that their ribs are visible.� I’m all for being healthy, but too thin can be unhealthy (and often times is).� Hooray for realizing that some standards are impossible to meet and bravo to ABC for taking this stance and for partnering with non-profit organization, Girls Inc!�

I’m totally supporting the Be Ugly ‘07 campaign and hope you do, as well.

Question: What celebrities are you tired of hearing about? 

For me, it’s the Donald Trump/Rosie O’Donnell feud.  I’m just tired of hearing it.  She said, he said, blah, blah, blah.  Please no more! 

And who do you think the next overexposed celebrities will be?  In America, I’m thinking it will be David & Victoria Beckham.  I know they’re not new to gossip in Europe but, with him signing with an American team (the Galaxy), American entertainment reporters have already started the Beckham watch.  Just this morning CNN reported that Victoria Beckham flew into Los Angeles.  Stop the presses!

What are your thoughts?