More Random Shots...

My three girls love Taylor Swift...they love her songs, videos, hair, dresses...you name it and they dig it. And I completely understand why they do. My two youngest girls like her because, as Jossy put it, she 'looks like a princess!' Madelyn will be 8 in August, so her appreciation runs deeper. She admires Taylor Swift for writing her own songs, playing the guitar, and for her sparkly dresses...and she thinks she's funny. Maddy was mesmerized by Taylor's making of documentary for the 'Love Story' video, especially all of the segments that went out their way to show Taylor Swift being normal...baking cookies, goofing off, and being afraid of spiders.

Again, I totally understand why my girls and millions of other girls love Taylor Swift. For the tweener set, her songs are Judy Blume books condensed down to three minutes and set to music. Younger girls aspire to be her. I find her music to be annoying and grating, and when she sings live she's an abomination. She's the only performer I have ever heard that could be flat, pitchy, and out of key all at once. Just watch the train wreck that was Def Leppard/Taylor Swift crossroads or her ear drum abusing duet with Stevie Nicks a couple of years ago...and if her voice on her CDs was processed any more than it already is, stores would have to offer up her music next to the Velveeta and Easy Cheese canisters...but her music is not for me, so I'm not going to worry about it....so there.

You know, it really is kind of difficult to be snarky and cynical with all that's going on in the world right now. Not so difficult I couldn't take some shots at Taylor Swift, but still...I had a great night with the girls, we played some Wii Sports, ate some popcorn, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking about Japan and the devastation there. Take some time tonight or tomorrow and send a prayer out for all of Japan...for their loss of life and for the strength and resolve it is going to take to dig out from that mess. Also pray for the engineers working around the clock trying to prevent meltdowns at their nuclear facilities. The last thing the Japanese people need right now is for Godzilla to come stomping around (yeah, I couldn't resist...sorry...but not really...someone had to make a Godzilla joke).

Back to the snark. The Better Half and I did some shopping at WinCo over the weekend. For those of you that don't know what WinCo is, think WalMart without all the made in China Rubbermade products cluttering up the aisles. What's great about WinCo is the prices...you can save some serious coin at that place on everything from produce to ice cream...and when you leave you aren't burdened with the shame you might feel if caught walking out of Grocery Outlet. The bad thing about WinCo is that every other person in the joint looks like they may have been cast as extras in 'Winter's Bone'. There aren't a lot of handsome people in the place, yours truly being a welcome exception (if grading on a curve).

WinCo also is the place to go for items you might not find anywhere else...like giant tins of 'Campfire Stew'. I have no idea what 'Campfire Stew' is, and I don't really want to find out...but it was on sale, for whatever that's worth. They also stock every imaginable flavor of Shasta soda on the planet...and they carry a ton of those crazy Mexican fruit drinks that my cousins can't get enough off. Every one should give WinCo a try, especially since you have to bag your own groceries, that makes it kind of sporty!

By the way, 'Winter's Bone' was vastly overrated...great performances, but overrated as a film...