Housekeeping

Music News: My new iPod arrived over the weekend. So far so good! I don't keep my music in iTunes, so I had to re-convert everything from scratch, but think I've already got as many songs on it now as when my old one died.

Go West: We finished booking our annual pilgrimage to Los Angeles. Poolside at The Standard Hotel on Sunset is my idea of a good time. It's going to be a short stay along with a three-day stay with my family in Phoenix, but I cannot wait for some rest and relaxation in the sun.

Kitty M.D.: I decided to test Troy's urine again to make sure this diabetes-management diet is still working and sure enough, his urine comes up sugar-free. He's still the sweetest cat ever, though.

TV, Briefly: We watched a little boob-tube over the weekend. On Friday we watched "Cabaret" and it wasn't nearly as good as I was expecting (I know, it's shameful that it's taken us this long to see). But come on: a movie about Liza Minnelli falling in love with a gay guy? Who knew they were making reality TV shows back in '72?. On Sunday the new season of "The Surreal Life" premiered and was rather boring given the fact that the season highlights look completely wild and out of control. Tranny-in-transition Alexis Arquette has a temper and sort of does this Dr. David Bruce Banner-Incredible Hulk thing back into being a man when it's provoked. And the once-gorgeous Tawny Kitaen has gotten older -- which is fine -- but obviously cannot figure out her place in the world as a non-20-year-old sex kitten. She quickly turns nasty and self-destructive and somehow manages to make Janice Dickinson look stable. Oh, my ...

Blind Ambition: On Saturday night Michael lit a candle on my nightstand and somehow one of the arms of my plastic-frame eye glasses caught on fire. We were really lucky that he noticed immediately (the nightstand is made of pine and has a stack of books on it -- all perfect kindling). So on Sunday we went shopping for new glasses. I absolutely hate wearing glasses, but my right eye has been rejecting contact lenses for nearly two years now (with intermittent periods of acceptance), so I've really needed some glasses that I feel OK about wearing in public. The ones that we torched were these tortoise-shell cat-eyed numbers that were always meant to be "around the house" glasses -- that against my will became "my look." This time I set out to get something a little less kooky -- yet somehow managed to buy these dark blue(!) Gucci plastic square things that look like welding goggles (WTF?). There's something about going shopping for glasses that is just overwhelming. Even though I had Michael there for reinforcement, it just becomes so laborious and exhausting. And is there no way the glasses can be on display in a way that you can just try on pairs as you like them? We went to two shops yesterday and had to have a sales clerk unlock each pair I tried on. I guess it sort makes sense that you eventually get to the point where you just don't care what you buy anymore and wind up with something completely ridiculous. The new specs are going to be ready tomorrow afternoon and we shall see if I was completely out of my mind by the time I signed on the dotted line ...

Star Gazing: Saw Ricki Lake, Laura Linney and Mike "Brothers McMullen" McGlone on the street in recent days ...