Wow ... lots to share.

First, we had one of the most delish meals in a long time this weekend at Sassy Marie's on the Northside.  Seriously.  The Cajun pasta I had was super reminiscent of my years in Louisiana.  They made the most delicious version of kettle chips with blue cheese and scallions.  And ... there was bread pudding. Not quite as good as the late Muriel's restaurant, but only this much away.  It was awesome.  AND Sassy Marie's is open on Sundays making it a perfect place to take parents, in-laws and assorted friends.  So that was awesome.

Now I have a confession to make.  I went to see Tropic Thunder. I felt so guilty with every laugh. It was so satirical, but a part of me despised myself for laughing.  As punishment, I opted not to have a drink or popcorn. I still felt really guilty.  It just seems wrong to laugh at someone flinging a child off a bridge.  Like someone should take my social work cred away or something. 

Not to worry.  When we pulled back into our driveway, I discovered that someone had smashed a window in my car.  Yikes!  The police arrived in record time and that's when I discovered that while nothing was actually stolen, the jackasses had tried to steal the car and my ignition was toast.  So I spent the next hour filing a report, talking with neighbors and duct taping a black plastic bag to my car.  Fun. 

Sunday was relatively uneventful. Went to celebrate the 94th birthday of Ledcat's Grandma (my Grandma is only 92).  Hung with the niece and nephew and five kittens.  Big fun.  Plus, cake. 

Today, the Tribune-Review published a little piece on my battle with PennDOT.

"All I wanted to do is report illegal dumping," she said. "They're not being a very good neighbor because they don't maintain the property, which leads to the dumping."

At most, PennDOT cuts the lawn there once a year, she said.

"If they kept the lot reasonably well-maintained, there wouldn't be any cover for people to dump," she said. "The state should set the bar high."

PennDOT is aware of the dumping problem but the overall condition of the property is not too bad, spokesman Jim Struzzi said.

Poor Mr. Struzzi.  It was his office that I called first.  If the woman who answers his phones had simply taken a message about the dumping rather than trying to pass my call on to someone else within PennDOT system, perhaps this whole mess could have been avoided.  Ah well ... this won't really make any difference.

I did, however, think of how much cover those really tall weeds gave to the jackass who tried to steal my car.  It was perfect cover.  Ironic, no?

So, now I have this rental car from Enterprise.  It kind of sucks cause the brakes make noise and the windows aren't electric.  Plus, I had to pick it up downtown.  In rush hour.

Still, my car wasn't actually stolen.  Nothing inside it was stolen.  Maybe it was karma tweaking my liberal guilt? 

I saw Gab Bonesso today.  She mentioned that Tropic Thunder is one of those movies that seems funnier in the rearview mirror than in the theater.  I can see what she means.  I was probably loopy from my bread pudding high, but oh how I laughed.  No such excuse today when I was peeing my pants as we revisited some of the more memorable scenes. 

It was satire, damnit.