The Wall Street Journal: Patient takes charge

The Wall Street Journal has this compelling story about a man battling cancer, while at the same time battling doctors and his insurance company over bills. James Mannett, who lives out West in an RV, pores over everything on his bills; and has even bartered over the cost of procedures.
I admire his panache. Even as a relatively healthy 41-year-old, I hardly check medical bills and hardly question; but he was a dogged advocate--not only for his body but for his wallet.

Williams defeats Henin

Serena Williams won her fifth Australian Open title by defeating Justin Henin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Read Bloomberg News story here.
With the time difference, I've not been able to watch these matches live. "You could DVR it," one might say. But then, I'd need a DVR.

Mental health day

Ironic that I'm blogging here (for our work Web site) but mostly I was out of pocket for a mental health day today. Even got a massage, which I didn't plan on, and the massage therapist was very interesting to talk to and of course her hands were magical. I'd been day-dreaming of a massage.
I'm almost as relaxed as our 25-pound feline next to me, but not quite.
It's raining out. The sound of it is soothing.
Saw a friend late this afternoon "in the streets" and when I said I was taking a mental-health day he said: "You ought to be ashamed of yourself!" I said, "No, actually I'm not."
Have a great weekend, Internet.

J.D. Salinger of "Catcher in the Rye" dies at 91

J.D. Salinger, the legendary author, youth hero and fugitive from fame whose "The Catcher in the Rye" shocked and inspired a world he increasingly shunned, has died. He was 91.
Salinger died of natural causes at his home on Wednesday, the author's son said in a statement from Salinger's literary representative, which went out over the Associated Press. He had lived for decades in self-imposed isolation in the small, remote house in Cornish, N.H.
Read a Time.com story here.
Here's a link to his short stories from the New Yorker.
I remember being assigned this book in high school and loved it immediately. The writing, the rebelliousness of Holden Caulfield (insane though he was) made for a very compelling read.

Ask your doctor what Plungerhead Zinfandel can do for you

Always in the market for funny names on wine bottles, I stumbled on this just now.
Wonder what it takes like? Zinfandel or a plunger?

10 swoon-worthy grilled cheese sandwiches

Check this out.
Love me some grilled cheese.
The ones on here that look most interesting are 1) the one with Gouda; and 2) the one with three cheeses.
Bon appetit.

Dictonary.com: Tacky

tack⋅y
2  /ˈtæki/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [tak-ee] Show IPA
–adjective, tack⋅i⋅er, tack⋅i⋅est.
1. not tasteful or fashionable; dowdy.
2. shabby in appearance; shoddy: a tacky, jerry-built housing development.
3. crass; cheaply vulgar; tasteless; crude.
4. gaudy; flashy; showy.

Somehow this word came up today and I posted it on Facebook. Here in the South, you can be lots of things but tacky isn't one of them. (We have our share of tacky people and behaviors, of course, but the ultimate put-down is to be tacky. Or so it seems to me.)
Share your vision of tacky. Whether real or imagined.
Mine? Some guy who walks around in a three-piece suit but eats his dinner with his hands. Or showing up REALLY late for a funeral. Or name-dropping, loudly.