I thought about writers and writing this morning...

as I walked my usual path.  30+ minutes, close to the record distance and worked up a good sweat.  Also managed to get my heart rate up and be a little short of breath, so I was working harder than usual.

Someone wrote the movie ("Hit and Run") I saw yesterday and I have to wonder what they were thinking.  Kristen Bell is an attractive woman and not a bad actress.  But she's not who I'd choose to portray a character that supposedly designed her own major at Stanford, and received a doctorate in nonviolent conflict resolution.  The problem though isn't so much the casting.  The problem is writing such a hard to believe character from the start.  Not that a woman couldn't be a Ph.D. in that discipline, just the notion that there is such a discipline, and then the woman who earns it would settle for working as a teacher at a small town junior college stretches the limit of believability.

Sometimes it's just casting.  A female nuclear physicist who has a Ph.D. and happens to be named Christmas Jones?  Okay, I can buy that.  I just couldn't buy Denise Richards in the role.  But sometimes it's the writing first and then the casting, and this was one of those cases with Bell. 

By the way, that doesn't make "Hit and Run" a bad movie.  It's actually a fun romp.  And, if you go, look at the wall behind Kristin Chenowith (the dean who is telling the Kristen Bell character she needs to take this fabulous new job she's lined up for her) and notice what's supposed to be her Delta Delta Delta sorority paddle hanging there.  Chenowith is actually an initiated member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority.  Now there's trivia!!

Back in the day, nothing came between Brooke Shields and her Calvin Klein jeans.  At that time there were other big-name denim brands and one of them came up in conversation yesterday and it relates to a writer.  The writer is Joseph Wambaugh, and in one of his novels ("The Delta Star") one of his characters is a big dude and another character is talking about his apperance in his "...Sergio Valente portlies."  Sergio Valente was the brand that came up in conversation yesterday and I was reminded how the notion of there being a 'portly' sizing of designer jeans like that was damn funny.

Kudos to a local business for what I consider great customer service and marketing.  This company had to close early the other day and they had posted a note for customers who showed up during what were supposed to be normal operations hours.  "Sorry, we closed early to attend an employee wedding.  Please, please come back tomorrow and we will pay your sales tax."  Now that's awesome.  They celebrated their employee and if any customer was inconvenienced, they offered a discount of nearly 10% for the inconvenience.  Great business.

Apparently having been involved with Hooters in your past can come back to haunt you.  House of Representatives member Connie Mack IV, who wife is also a House member, and she's the widow of the late Sonny Bono as well; was once a marketing executive for a company whose portfolio included several Hooters locations.  Now his work for Hooters ended over a decade ago, but in a political attack ad, it's okay to call him a "promoter for Hooters" without pointing out how long ago that was.  What's wrong with Hooters anyway, except maybe that their burgers, wings and curly fries are overpriced, because you're paying for the ambience and to be waited on by a pretty girl in tight orange shorts, not the quality or price of the mediocre bar food.  Do they exploit women?  If they do, why are so many women trying to get themselves into those shorts to sling those wings?  The women at Hooters are wearing a lot more clothing than women did on Venice Beach yesterday.

On Venice Beach yesterday, women went topless, while men who support their right to go topless were wearing bikini tops.  Do women have the right to go topless in public?  I think it's more about individual comfort with one's own body.  If you feel you have the body to go to the beach without a shirt, go for it.  If not, wear a shirt.  What others think is unimportant.  Although I must admit, I do feel that there should be a "spandex police" established, because there are some people who torture poor, innocent little spandex by wearing them in sizes too small, stretching the poor little spandex to the point of near-bursting.  That's torture and should be outlawed! 

Hurricane Isaac appear to be following the track of Hurricane Katrina.  But, for whatever reason, Isaac is travelling much faster than Katrina did and that's a good thing.  Yes, it means the storm will get there sooner.  But in the science of hurricanes, when the storm moves forward quickly, it can't linger over the warm ocean water that fuels the intensity of the story.  It's when a hurricane moves very slowly, like Katrina did, that it can fuel up and become a really intense storm.  From the FWIW file, while 2005's Katrina did devastate the New Orleans area, it wasn't the only hurricane of very strong intensity to ravage that part of the Gulf Coast.  Hurricane Camille was a Category 5 hurricane (the strongest category) that made landfall near Biloxi, MS.  259 people were killed and there was a 68 square mile area of total destruction.  Let's hope Isaac doesn't strengthen and that people will be prepared.  There was a story told back in the aftermath of Camille (once a storm's name is used for a storm that causes major damage, the name is retired) about an apartment building and its dwellers in Biloxi.  The building was on U.S. Highway 90, which runs right along the beach and the 32 residents who refused to evacuate decided to throw a big "hurricane party".  They all died.

I've come to a conclusion on how to handle my occasional "Jonesing" for some Chick-Fil-A, which I won't eat because I don't want to support the CEO's agenda.  If I feel the need for it, I postpone the need until the next Sunday.  That way they're closed and I just forget about it.

How would you feel, if you went to see a new doctor, highly recommended by a friend of yours, and the first thing they do when you walk in is weigh you.  No paperwork, no filling of forms, the first thing is a weight check.  And, if you're considered "overweight", it's hit the door and find another doctor.  That's what patients who try to see one doctor are experiencing.  It's legal, but it doesn't strike me as being part of what a physician is supposed to be doing.  What do you think?