Atlas Shrugged

I recently started reading "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. It's a book that comes highly recommended, but I have stayed away from it because I prefer not to have my "pleasure reading" injected with an author's veiled philosophical and/or political view.

But here I go.

Wish me luck.

A new experience

I just ate a Mediterranean dish from my grocer's freezer and it was tasty.

It contained a nine-grain orzo with beans, sautéed onions, diced tomatoes, and savory spinach packed with 12 grams of fiber. Topped with a cinnamon sauce, sweet apples, fontina cheese, and cranberries.

"Say What You Need to Say..."

Disclaimer: The following content may not be suitable for all audiences. (John Mayer fans).

When something is wrong in the world, people often blame the media. I propose, we all blame John Mayer.

Poor misunderstood John Mayer.

John Mayer recently apologized at one of his concerts for some (stupid) stuff he said that appeared in a Playboy article.

(No disrespect to "Heff" but I am pretty sure the bulk of the people who read what John Mayer said read it "second-hand" - like me - somewhere on the Internet.)

This is par for the course for Mr. Mayer - who likes the taste of his foot better than I like the taste of heavily frosted birthday cake.

Seriously, though, some of my friends like John Mayer (Trish) and I would have liked him too if he would only open his pie hole to deliver sweet little melodies.

When he first came out on "my" music scene (which, admittedly lags somewhat behind the rest of the world's) he was singing a song called "Real World."

I really liked it. I found him to be a clever wordsmith, a talented guitarist and in sum a musician with a lot of potential. (BTW, a ringing endorsement from me and a dollar will get you a double cheeseburger at McDonald's)

His conquests with some of my favorite leading ladies weren't a huge distraction from his music.

He went after the pretty petite brunettes first - Vanessa Carlton (a talented musician in her own right) and Jennifer Love Hewitt (supposedly his song "Your Body is a Wonderland" is about her. Talk about Too Much Information.)

His mouth, however, did become a distraction.

John Mayer's media interviews are what have secured his spot on the Asshole Hall of Fame.

His most recent interview in Playboy (where he talks WAY too explicitly about his ex Jessica Simpson and my favorite little pillar of strength and his most recent ex, Jennifer Aniston) is just more of the same.

The unapologetic (until recently) blunt, tell-it-like-it-is, casanova persona that he's taken on, in what he later admitted was an effort to be clever, has only made him look class-less; when at least musically, he WAS a class act.

Ironically, Hallmark uses one of his songs "Say" in it's commercials, so apparently they are able to separate the man from the music.

I on the other hand, think "Saying" is something John Mayer should do less of. He has recently vowed to cease talking to the press.

Truth be told, If he had never spoken to the press in the first place, I would probably have some of his CDs/MP3s, or gone to a concert.

But don't blame "the media" for your trouble, John Mayer.

You only have your own pie hole to thank.