Anti-Celeb

Just now, while cleaning the kitchen, I clicked on an Oprah re-run, hoping to overhear a discussion of some interesting topic. Instead, seated next to Oprah in a luxuriously soft leather chair, was Jennifer Anniston. I have nothing against Jennifer Anniston -- I'm sure she's a fine person -- but she epitomizes one of the things I dislike about pop culture -- namely, celebrity worship.

Her hair is very pretty and she has a pleasant face and figure. People loved her in "Friends," a show I never watched. [I tried watching a few times but couldn't relate to the self-absorbed angst and sexual meanderings of the show's characters. My overall impression of the show is that it featured a lot of whining, and Jennifer Anniston's character seemed to whine the most, or maybe that was just her voice.]

When I was in junior high and crazy about a professional baseball player (who shall remain anonymous), I remember asking myself if I would still like him if he were a plumber arriving at our house to fix a clogged drain. I decided that I would still probably think he was cute, yes, but he would lose some of his allure without the uniform, the stats, and, let's be honest, the Porsche and the salary.

I've put other celebrities to the plumber test since then and found that all of them would lose some of their appeal if they weren't famous. The fame is what makes Jennifer Anniston Jennifer Anniston. Without the fame, she would be just a normal person - more attractive than most people, maybe, but no more interesting or insightful.

Jennifer Anniston's stock went up when she married the even more famous Brad Pitt. Her stock went up again when he left her for the even more famous Angelina Jolie.

What is it about human beings that makes us care about people we have never met and will never meet? Why do some people care about the political views of rap 'artists' and other entertainers? I know that many celebrities feel they need to use their God-given celebrity soapboxes to speak out on important issues of the day, but I wish they wouldn't. I also do not want to know details of their personal lives, like whether or not they bikini wax or have hair extensions. I really, really, really do not care.

On the other hand, I find real people fascinating. I was sitting in a doctor's office today, and, while waiting for my son, started chatting with an elderly woman on oxygen sitting nearby. I asked her if she likes to cook (we were watching a cooking show on the Food Network.) 'No, not anymore,' she said. 'Sick of it.' 'Me, too.' The celebrity chef was using ground lamb to make meatballs. 'I used to buy lambs right here in the valley from a farmer, but he's gone now,' she said.

I have a feeling that woman has a story to tell, and it would probably be more interesting and insightful (to me, anyway) than Jennifer Anniston's.

Pictures from Antelope Island, Utah

A tree in a corral at Garr Ranch on Antelope Island. This tree has probably given shade to a lot of grateful animals over the years.

Poppies and iris blooming at the ranch. Loved the contrast!

I've always been a fan of layering mountains. These islands lie north of Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake.

We estimate that we saw about 400 head of buffalo yesterday, many of them babies. We could hear them rumbling and grunting as they made their way north along the water's edge on the east side of the island.

Sunset at the Antelope Island Marina as seen from the causeway. Makes me think of Jimmy Buffet songs.


So much beauty so close to home! Antelope Island is one of my favorite places, but I was eaten alive by mosquitoes last night while taking these photos. I am now covered with baking soda paste from head to toe. Still, I would have to say it was worth it to take a mini vacation for a few hours.

We waited for the sunset, then realized the sunrise would be beautiful there as well, peaking up over the Wasatch Front. Maybe later this summer...

June 1st ...

Ugh! It's been that kind of day, and not because of the events of the day - just the day itself, from the get-go. Kind of a bummer of a day for absolutely no reason.

But how could that be when it's June 1st? Is there any other date on the calendar more full of promise? I don't think so.

It all began when I got out of bed later than I should have - never a good beginning. Behind the 8 ball from the start, I threw on my clothes from yesterday, hastily made the last sack lunch of the school year for Emily, and raced out the door to drive her to school. Forty minutes later, I arrived home, made myself a glass of OJ and two slices of toast. One fell butter-side down to the dirty kitchen floor..maybe that's when this otherwise ordinary Wednesday started to go wrong.

I checked my four usual web sites: email - no happy news there; Facebook - not much news since last night; the family blog - I was the last one to post days ago; Drudgereport.com - totally depressing headlines, such as:

"We are on the verge of a great, great depression"
"Economic Horror as Data Plunges"
"America Dithering As Double Dip Looms"

I came upstairs to get to work, but decided to update my online to-do list first. The list is four columns long! I read somewhere that each item on your to-do list represents a burden you're carrying. The self-help guru who wrote that said the best thing to do is clear the list by getting it all done. The theory is that the fear and dread of a task saps more energy than actually doing it.

I got an hour of work done before the doorbell rang. Our dog, Panda, had escaped from the back yard again and was returned by yet another neighbor.

I made a quick list and went to the store to buy a few groceries, then spent a while talking to a friend. (That was nice.)

The day picked up a little after that. The girls came home from school. Scott came home from work. We went for a drive to enjoy a rare evening of nice weather. I sat down to get back online for work and found that the system is down...no work tonight, which is probably a good thing. Maybe I just needed to BLOG (read: vent).