The Seven Random Facts meme

I have been tagged three times (one [okay, I can't find the first time], two, three) since the last time [I also can't find where I did this before, but I feel certain that I did], so I will play along...

1) I love cottage cheese. I'm not sure what it is, but if you put a tub of cottage cheese in front of me and hand me a spoon, I will eat the whole thing in one sitting. I can't do that with yogurt or ice cream which I also like, although I probably could with pudding. I love pudding too. Vanilla, chocolate, banana cream, coconut, mocha, whatever--cooked or instant, I don't care. This all turns out to be a good thing because...

2) I have an ulcer or something right now and have to eat bland food. It started a week ago in the middle of the night when I woke up with a little cramp or gas bubble right behind the base of my rib cage. At breakfast in the morning, I began to experience a slight discomfort after swallowing food. When it got worse two days later, I saw my doctor and she put me on a proton pump inhibitor. I think it's starting to work. She also sent me to the radiologist for an upper GI barium study--which happens to be just like this Wikipedia entry, but it all happens very fast, as the doctor has you roll over a bunch of times on the X-ray table as quickly as you can to mix up the contrast agent as it passes through your esophagus and stomach. He's taking X-rays the whole time. I think he took a good dozen. Anyway, I'm still waiting to hear from my doctor about the results. I'm pretty sure it's not cancer. And, frankly, I doubt it's even an ulcer. I think it's just stress and anxiety. I guess most people don't want to hear the doctor tell them "it's all in your head", but I'm very receptive to that diagnosis. I would rather have her suggest a course of Welbutrin than to hear her say that I need to change my diet and take proton pump inhibitors for the rest of my life. I did learn that I don't have Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria that causes many, perhaps most, stomach ulcers. You know, the medical establishment was resistant to the idea of bacteria causing ulcers for several years. That research came from Australia and few people in Europe or America were prepared to accept it. Now it's the first consideration.

3) A pet peeve: People saying "stomach" when they mean "belly". Your stomach is the organ inside your body between your esophagus and small intestine. You don't lay on your stomach, your "big stomach" doesn't hang over your belt, pregnancy does not give a woman a big stomach. Belly is the correct word. (Nothing personal if you're an offender. I don't keep track of those things.)

4) I've sunk low. My favorite television show right now is The Real Housewives of New York City. Link, link. I think one expects people to care much less about the opinions of others when they have enormous amounts of money, but that's not the case for these ladies. They seem to care more. Of course, they have to. If they didn't care, there would be no drama. And, of course, these people aren't old New York money. They're the vulgar nouveau riche. I think Ramona is my favorite housewife right now--although I hated her during the first episode when everyone went to the Hamptons. Her husband runs a third generation family business selling religious jewelry (truefaithjewelry.com). I think it's sweet that Ramona wears what I assume is her husband's company's product, although I don't know for sure, and she does not seem at all religious. Her husband is very good looking and he wants their daughter to enter the family business. I think that's a great idea. I wish my family had a family business. I would be all over it. Alex is the most interesting housewife. She seems really unnatural, like there's something wrong with her, especially her face, the features of which seem to move in all different directions. She's not what you normally see on television and I think that's what makes her interesting. She and her husband are joined at the hip which kinda grosses me out (they shop for clothes together, he shows up with his wife for Girls Night Out, etc.), but if that's what makes her happy, more power to her. Jill annoys me with her gay best friend, and her thick accent. I feel sorry for her daughter and I don't like her husband. I feel sorry for Bethenny, she just seems lost in life. She has a cooking business and she wants to be the next Martha Stewart. It's hard to guess how the structure of the show mediates the truth, but she seems to have much more passion for having a business than the cooking part. So she's doomed to failure because it takes both. That leaves LuAnn, a countess by marriage. She married into the French DeLesseps family who built the Suez Canal. She seems classy and well-balanced and I like her kids. There's a funny combination of uppity and down-to-earth about her, which also makes her interesting. She combed lice out of her kids' hair last week, then she gets snooty when Bethenny introduces her to the chauffeur by her first name. Who gives a crap? Not the chauffeur. LuAnn's daughter is a competitive equestrian. My aunt was Country Riding Queen of San Mateo County back in the 1970s. I also like to ride horses, but it doesn't happen very often.

5) Luckily for my television soul, the new season of Battlestar Galactica premiers tomorrow night. That's really my favorite show. Last season seemed to get a wee bit decadent for me, so I hope it gets back on track this year. I highly recommend beginning with the pilot, presumably available on the first season DVD. Sexy, gritty, smart, mystical, political--an engaging program that satisfies on many levels. No gardens tho'.

6) I'm an idiot in many ways. I have a mole on my right wrist, and that's how I know my right from my left. I have a hard time adding adding 7 + 5 and 8 + 5. Every time, I have to remember that 7 is the same as 5 + 2, and then translate 7 + 5 into 5 + 5 + 2. I go through the same thing with 8 + 5. Of course, at this point in my life I can do it very fast. 6 + 5 and 9 + 5 are no problem for me.

7) Today after this blog post I'm going to re-paint the stairway upstairs. The walls have gotten scuffed beyond any other remedy. So I'm going to re-paint. I did the bedroom several weeks ago, and it turned out very nice if I do say so myself. Last time I listened to Charles Mingus and the Pernice Brothers while painting, and I think I'll do that again today.