Maybe my favorite Bellagio display ever...

Model trains! And trolleys! And little miniature Bellagios and Smithsonians and farms and bridges and tunnels and hot air balloons! And kites! They even have a little miniature nursery rhyme village with the three pigs and the little kittens who lost their mittens and the old woman who lived in a shoe! Awesome.

How does he do that?...

This guy was on So You Think You Can Dance last night. I thought he was pretty amazing.

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I'm not ashamed to admit it...

What with Lost, AI, House, So You Think You Can Dance and Clay’s new haircut I never got around to posting about last Sunday.

I went to the all-day free concert down at the Fremont Street Experience. It was quite a mixed crowd. The concert was teamed up with a Harley Davidson motorcycle ride for charity. So there were a lot of motorcycle people that looked like they stepped right out of “Mask”. No Sam Elliott look- alike as far as I could see, though. Darn. They got to stand in their own little gated off section and there was lots of dancing going on in there. They seemed to be drinking a lot but never acted drunk. I can't say that for everybody, though.

You know that family in low-budget horror movies that live in the rundown cabin in the woods? The family that is always drunk and over-sexed due to years of in-breeding and possibly some nuclear waste exposure from the illegal dumping in the creek out back? I stood next to that family for about three hours. One woman sprawled on a beach chair surrounded by garbage. I’m not just talking a couple of wrappers. I’m talking hours worth of garbage. Another woman decided it was a good idea to pull her tshirt up under her breasts even though her breasts were reaaaally saggy and her stomach was reaaaally flabby. That woman’s closest companions were a supremely drunk girl in a bandeau top who kept flashing her boobs at the stage and another supremely drunk girl who was inexplicably wearing a long-sleeved thermal Old Navy shirt even though it was like 85 degrees out. Old Navy girl spent most of her time dancing with/molesting the men around her. One of those men decided to pour alcohol all over some other woman’s chest and lick it up. This was all in a crowd of people, mind you. Including lots of little kids. Lovely.

During Muzik Mafia I stood next to a couple who were very fond of the “sexy” dancing. They were both like 5 feet tall and the guy was in the front rubbing his butt up and down the girl. Which I thought was odd. I’m no dance expert but I think it’s supposed to be the other way around. He kept hitting me with his flailing little arms.

The concert itself was pretty decent. Montgomery Gentry, Big and Rich, Dierks Bentley, Trick Pony, Gretchen Wilson, Muzik Mafia, Buddy Jewell, Rocky Lynn, Little Big Town, Brian McOmas, Emerson Drive and some other people I don’t remember performed. The sound wasn’t all that great and it was a lot of standing, though. Plus, they were handing out free Berries & Cream Dr Pepper and everyone was pouring them on the concrete so the ground was super-sticky.

We got tired at one point so we skipped out for a few hours and saw Mission Impossible 3. Some woman talked on her cellphone the whole movie. And there were only like 20 people in the theater and this family still decided to sit right next to me. They didn’t even leave an empty chair between us. What’s up with that? I moved. I hate going to the movies. I’d much rather just NetFlix it later and watch it at home. The movie was good, though. I love Tom Cruise.

Things I learned today...

If you throw a free country music concert really trashy drunk people will show up.

Using night flash and the highest level zoom in a crowd of really trashy drunk people makes for really blurry pictures.

Even if there are only 20 people in a movie theater, the annoying rude ones will sit right next to me.

In and Out Double Doubles taste better after midnight.

Some thoughts and stuff and whatnot...

What's with tv shows killing off characters this year? At least six of my shows have killed a character off. And a couple of them were characters that I really liked. I admit, it makes for good television but...c'mon...it's one thing to kill people off of a big ensemble like Lost but there were only three main characters on Ghost Whisperer. Did one of them have to get squashed by a falling airplane? With Andrea gone, who's going to work in the store while Love runs around yakking it up with the spirit world?

Speaking of death: The Death Psychic
(Warning: no one dies a peaceful death according to this site.)

Jack (Sean Hayes) and Karen (Megan Mullally) sang "Unforgettable" on the Will and Grace finale and I thought it was so lovely that I teared up a little.

There used to be a YouTube video here but it was pulled by the Man. Damn the Man.

If you go here and click on video library you can watch clips from all the seasons of SNL. It's pretty cool. And, for the moment anyway, there's a really cute picture of Kevin Spacey!

I've seen this linked a couple of places. At first I didn't get what all the fuss was about. Then I thought it was sort of cute. Then the guy busted out some Vanilla Ice moves and I was hooked.

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Sunday I'm going to an all-day boot-stompin' party down at the Fremont Street Experience. It's motorcycles and Montgomery Gentry and Two Foot Fred and Big and Rich and maybe even Keith Urban! For free! Cool.

Grey's Anatomy is my favorite show but...

Man, Izzie Stevens is irritating. Seriously. I just spent three hours yelling at the tv because Izzie Stevens is so irritating.

Bonnie Springs Zoo pictures...

Red Rock Canyon pictures...

Blah blah...I'm boring....

Hmmm....what have I been up to lately.

I swapped chairs at work. The chairs the regular folk get at work aren't all that comfy so I was using a big leather chair that an ex-co-worker had taken from the lawyer but she didn't like it so I swapped the chair that I had taken from a moving architect's assistant. But I was bored with the lawyer's chair so I took a chair that a supervisor didn't like and gave my chair to another person. Then I realized that I hated the chair that the supervisor didn't like. It didn't adjust and it tilted forward and it made my back hurt. The person I gave my leather chair to loved it, though, so I couldn't get it back. So I just gave up with the office hand-me-downs and brought my own chair from home. I work on the second floor and there's no elevators so I had to carry the chair up a flight of stairs. I guess I could have had some guy do it for me but...a) I didn't want to have to answer questions on why I was bringing my own chair to work and b) I don't need a man to carry things for me. But, actually, I kind of do because I just about had a heart attack. Seriously. I'm pretty sure that I just about had a heart attack. I didn't, though. And the chair is super cool. So...cool.

You'd think that wouldn't be the most interesting story I could come up with but it sort of is. I've mostly just been watching tv and movies. My life is dull dull dull lately. But Sunday I'm supposed to go to Red Rock Canyon, a new casino, the Bellagio and the Ghiradelli chocolate factory for ice cream sundaes on Mother's Day. That'll be fun. Then there's the Survivor finale. Go, Terry.

Stupid cheerleaders...

I just cried watching the Cheerleader Nation finale. Seriously. I didn't just get a little misty-eyed, actual tears came down my face. That's so lame.

I couldn't help it. Megan landed her full and she'd been working so hard all year and Ryan didn't even feel her ankle and Katie did that punch front thing and no one fell on their stunts and it was perfect and cute Coach Saleem was all "YEAH! YEAH!" and punching the sky and all the girls were screaming and jumping and bawling and then they won!

I'm not made of stone, you know.

I love You Tube so much...

I discovered that You Tube has my two favorite cartoons: Tex Avery's "House of Tomorrow" and Chuck Jones' "The Dot and the Line". I couldn't get enough of these when I was a kid. I've been wanting to see them again forever and there they were. Awesome.


House of Tomorrow


The Dot and The Line


I'm going to have to look around over there some more tomorrow and see what else I can dig up. I know they have a bunch of Sesame Street stuff thanks to this guy. I never get sick of Sesame Street.

Speaking of...I rented The Best of the Electric Company from netflix. Man, was that show 70s! When I watched it in the 70s it didn't seem so 70s but now it seems craaaazy 70s. It also wasn't nearly as fun to watch again as I thought it would be. Sort of a disappointment. The theme song still rocks, though.

Shhh....it's a secret...

I went to the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage today. It's $15 and there's no local discount (boo!) but there are dolphins and lions and tigers and whatnot. It's really pretty, too. Lots of greenery and jungle sounds playing and places to sit and just watch the cats act crazy or sleep. Mostly sleep. There aren't any dolphin "shows" but there are trainers and they show the dolphin "behaviors" like jumping and waving their tales and generally being cute and stuff. I watched a bunch of people who apparently paid $500 a piece to be dolphin trainers for the day. That looked like fun. I'm not sure if it was $500 worth of fun but if you were spending a vacation day in Las Vegas you'd probably drop $500 on shopping and eating and gambling anyway.

I took pictures, of course.

The cats were pretty lazy.








The dolphins were really playful, though.

I don't really like celebrity gossip but...

Wow. Either Charlie is a big creep or Denise is a big liar. I've always liked him and I've never liked her so I'm leaning toward her being a big liar. But his history certainly leaves the door open for him being a big creep. Either way, the tabloids are going to have fun for a while.

Who I want to win...

American Idol : Taylor
Amazing Race : BJ & Tyler (the hippies)
America's Next Top Model : Joanie
Survivor : Terry


Just thought I'd throw that out there.

I'm just going to Jack next time...

So we go to McDonald's this morning. We pull up to the drive-thru speaker and order two sausage egg mcmuffins and two extra large iced teas. The drive-thru speaker repeats two sausage egg mcmuffins and two diet. We say "No. Two extra large iced teas." The speaker pauses a moment and then tells us to go to the second window.

So we get to the second window and the clearly non-English-speaking-so-let's-give-her-the-customer-service-job woman asks "sausage egg mcmuffin and iced tea?" We say yes and pay. We then realize that she didn't say two. So, when the window slides back open, we repeat that we wanted two sausage egg mcmuffins and two iced teas.

Well, she can't begin to fathom this. First she has us repeat ourselves. Then she looks at us confused. Then she closes the window and goes to talk to someone. When she comes back she has a little cup and says "hot tea?" What the...?!! Where did hot tea come from? Nothing was said that even resembled the word hot. Then she had the nerve to looked annoyed with us when we didn't want the hot tea.

Finally, after we repeated it like three times veeeerrrry slooowwwwlly, she figured out the concept of the word "two" and we paid again and she brought our food and we said thank you and left.

Why do fast food places always put people who don't speak English on the window? There are people in there who speak English. The old people speak English. The teenagers speak English. Can't they work the window? Most people go through the fast food drive-thru because they are in a hurry. So it would be helpful if the person helping them could actually understand them. That's all I'm saying.

I want one...

Awww.
Wook at the wittle wabbit.

Wanna' sandwich? It's only $148...

What is is claimed to be the world's most expensive sandwich goes on display at Selfridges Department Store in London, Monday April 10, 2006. Named the McDonald Sandwich, after it's creator, chef Scott McDonald, the ingredients are Wagyu beef, fresh lobe foie gras, black truffle mayonnaise, brie de meaux, rocket, red pepper and mustard confit, and English plum tomatoes, all packed into 24-hour fermented sour dough bread - and it sells for 85 pounds (US$ 148.33: euro 122.53) each.(AP Photo/Tom Hevezi)

I liked Crash better...

So I finally watched Brokeback Mountain. I've gotta say, I wasn't all that into it. The acting was definately good, I can't argue that. But I had heard for months about what a beautiful love story it was and I just didn't see it. I thought Jack and Ennis were a couple of losers so I didn't really care if they could or couldn't be together. I was just happy that Ennis' wife left him and married the nice supermarket guy. She was about the only person in the movie that I didn't find incredibly irritating. I guess I liked the waitress and Ennis' daughter ok. But Jack and Ennis? I couldn't stand them. And I didn't think they were romantic at all. They were just jerks.

Anyway...we can add Brokeback Mountain to the list of movies that I'm supposed to love but don't. Just this year I've also added Five Easy Pieces and March of the Penguins. I find the commercials for The Benchwarmers to be hilarious, however. I don't know what that says about my taste.

On a compeletely unrelated note, I discovered this game called Samorost 2 today. As you may have guessed, it is the sequel to Samorost 1. They're pretty cool to mess around with.

Just leave a message already...

I have six missed calls on my cell phone. They're all from the same number in Charlotte, NC. The only time they left a voice mail it was just somebody breathing for like thirty seconds. What the heck is that all about? It's annoying and borderline creepy. It's not as creepy as the guy who used to call me and tell me he met my parents at a "swingers" party, though. What was the point of that? It's sort of a weird angle for an obscene phone call, isn't it?



Mojave Max came out.
It's Spring!

I should have cherished better...

For some reason I decided to surf blogs using blogexplosion this morning. That led me to a blog that was talking about how myspace had helped them find some old friends. I've been wondering about a couple of my good friends from high school so I figured I'd give it a shot. So I sign up with myspace and, like in two minutes, find both of them! Cool! It turns out that Jeff grew up to be an artist in San Francisco. Which is pretty much what I hoped he would be. And Middagh is running for President. Which doesn't surprise me at all. And they're still friends. Which is neat.

Perusing their various profiles and whatnot, it seems odd that we ever hung out. I mean, one of these things is clearly not like the other. And that thing is puppy picture posting me.

When I find it I'll post this great picture of our English teacher that Jeff drew for me in high school. He drew it in a minute and it was incredible and made me think he was some sort of genius or something. It used to be in this little cedar chest that I stored all of my cherished high school mementos in. I emptied them all out last year so I could use the chest on my coffee table for nail clippers and remote controls. Now I can't remember what I did with my cherished high school mementos. I probably put them in a Walmart sack and threw them in the back of my closet with my cherished childhood toys.

ETA: I found it. He drew it on the back of instructions on how to "load DOS and enter your own data area".


I also found a bunch of magazines from high school that I saved. Now I'm going to have spend the afternoon drowning in nostalgia.

Yippee for me...

I put in $5 and won $625. Cool. Especially since I'm spending a fortune playing tourist this week.

Springtime in Vegas...

My nephew and his wife are visiting so I'm taking a few days off to play tourist on the Strip. Some of the sights so far:

Maybe the most offensive thing I've ever seen:



Elvis Chickens!!:



380 lbs of chocolate goodness:



Midnight in Paris:



Spring has sprung at the Bellagio:

Awwwww....

I've got nothing to say...

I just got tired of reading "the Oscars are coming, the Oscars are coming" every time I wanted to check my links.

The Oscars are coming! The Oscars are coming!

Here are my picks:

Lead Actor : Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) RIGHT!
Supporting Actor : Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man) WRONG!
Lead Actress : Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line)RIGHT!
Supporting Actress : Rachel Weisz (Constant Gardener)RIGHT!
Director : Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)RIGHT!
Adapted Screenplay : Brokeback Mountain RIGHT!
Original Screenplay : Goodnight, and Good Luck WRONG!
Best Picture : Crash RIGHT!

I haven’t actually seen most of the movies so I’m basing these picks on nothing much. You might remember that worked really well for me with my Grammy picks.

ETA: I did pretty well. I even picked Crash. Cool.

I really enjoyed the show this year. I thought Jon Stewart was funny. The pimp song won. Whoda'thunk it? I thought all the women looked great. Well, Naomi Watts' dress was a little out there but everyone else was great. Salma Hayek's dress was gorgeous. Philip Seymour Hoffman's speech about his mom made me cry. So? I'm a sap. Jennifer Garner almost fell on her butt. She's so cute. Good show. I wish I could go to the after parties. Preferably as George Clooney's date.

I'm too busy contemplating tv...

You should be a Philosophy major! Like the Philosopher, you are contemplative and you enjoy thinking about the purpose for humanity's existence. Philosophy 92% Psychology 92% What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3) created with QuizFarm.com

If I ever go to college I guess I'm supposed to double major in philosophy and psychology. Unfortunately, Amazing Race is starting up next week and I don't have time to do Survivor, Amazing Race, American Idol and a double major. I'm certainly not giving up reality tv so I guess the higher education has to go.

American Idol was pretty enjoyable last night. Katharine McPhee is my favorite for the moment. And she chose Gene Kelly as her American Idol. Awesome.

Come On Eileen was robbed...

I have a cold. A really, really, miserable cold. I was sick all weekend and I'm still sick but now I get to be sick at work instead of on the couch watching a rerun of the Top 100 One Hit Wonders on VH1. It's just delightful.

I was looking around Cute Overload last night and came upon this puppy. That's just an unreal level of cuteness.

Speaking of cute: Puppy War and Kitten War.

I'm older than I've ever been...

Wheeee!!! Happy Birthday to Meeee!!!

Yup, I turned 35 today. I celebrated by taking the day off from work.

I went to get my blood drawn for some tests. I had to wait over an hour with the crankiest people ever before they called my name. One of the people was a full-on cowboy who complained about all the "rules and regulations" in Las Vegas and how he couldn't wait to get back to where he could do some hunting and fishing. He also may have mentioned a desire to shoot the man who killed his son. Which is sad and disturbing and not something that I feel should be discussed with strangers in a pathology lab waiting room. Another woman complained about having to wait 3 1/2 hours and then found out that she wasn't ever going to get called because she didn't put her name on the list. Ha. Sorry...that's not funny.

After the bleeding was done I headed to a funeral home to do some business regarding some money that is owed the family and they were actually having a funeral which let out right as we walked in the door. Then we find out that the lady who was supposed to have handled the business several weeks ago had been in a car accident and broke both her legs and no one had actually done anything for us since then. The whole visit was uncomfortable to say the least.

After leaving the funeral home I saw a guy walking down the street with his unicycle.

I went to lunch at Marie Callendars and watched the guy next to me eat salads. Which would be healthy except that he poured like a whole bottle of ranch on each one. Well, the first one he dipped pieces into a bowl of ranch. The second one he just drenched. He loved him some ranch. If his plane ever crashes on a crazy island he's totally going to be the dude hiding out in the jungle with an unrefrigerated tub of the stuff.

After lunch I went to the best bakery and bought the best cake ever. (Bavarian cream in the middle, buttercream on top. Delicious.)

Next was a used bookstore that didn't have a bathroom. I, of course, immediately had to use the bathroom since they didn't have one. (What's up with used bookstores not letting people use their bathrooms around here? What kind of lowlifes do they imagine are going to be shopping in a used bookstore anyway?) I headed over to Der Wienerschnitzel praying they didn't have their bathroom all locked up like Fort Knox. They didn't. Unfortunately, this Der Wiernerschnitzel had a very bad odor and their whole kitchen area on display. Let's just say, I won't be getting any chili cheese dogs from them any time soon.

Another used bookstore followed where the owner didn't even greet me even though I've been in there before and I was the only customer and this really loud ringer sounded when I walked in and she was sitting right next to the door. C'mon....not even a grunt of a hello? A nod of the head? I get nothing?

Off to the clothing store where I tried on a bunch of crap and then bought three identical t shirts except they're different colors. It was a comfy shirt.

The casino came next because it was my special day and I was sure that the gambling gods would recognize this with a big win. Unfortunately the gambling gods seem to have some sort of grievance with me because I just lost all my money. The Elvis machine was particularly brutal. Stupid Elvis.

Then I went to dinner and accidentally dragged my shirt sleeve through some gravy while the waiter watched. Later, when he was clearing the table, he made a point of saying he was taking the knife so I wouldn't cut myself. So, I don't think I made a good impression.

Then I came home and watched a Survivor where the contestant I have in the office fantasy Survivor game was inexplicably almost kicked off. What the heck did she ever do to anyone? Stupid Survivors made me lose points every time they wrote her name down.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to Me!!

Grammy guesses...

These are my guesses for the Grammy Awards based on no knowledge of anything whatsoever:

Record of the Year: Mariah Carey WRONG!
Album of the Year : Mariah Carey WRONG!
Song of the Year : Mariah Carey WRONG!
Best New Artist : John Legend RIGHT!
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance : Bonnie Raitt WRONG!
Best Pop Vocal Album : Gwen Stefani WRONG!
Best Rock Album : Neil Young WRONG!
Best Male R&B Vocal : Jamie Foxx WRONG!
Best Rap/Sung : Gwen Stefani & Eve WRONG!
Best Rap Album : Kanye West RIGHT!
Best Country Album : Alison Krauss RIGHT!

Not everyone could pick that many wrong. I'm very proud.

I've really only had 4 jobs?...

This is sort of fun and every other blog I read is doing it so I decided to play.

Four Jobs I’ve Had

1) My first job was working at a photography studio. It was actually more of a photography warehouse. They did all the school photos and student ids and whatnot for a ton of West Coast schools. The boss was fond of screaming and once threw a cup of coffee at someone for loading the laminating machine wrong.

2) Job #2 was at a family owned flower nursery. The family was super-friendly, the nursery was beautiful & most of the men who worked there were totally good-looking. I used to make displays of the flowers and then people would come buy them all up and I’d get mad because I thought they were pretty. That was a fun job but was seasonal and didn’t pay very well.

3) Job #3 was data entry at a collection agency. Clients would send in the list of accounts that needed collecting and I would enter them in the system so the agents could call and hassle people for money. The owners were actually pretty nice about how people could be hassled but it was still a collection agency so everyone hated us. One guy paid us all in change. Another told the receptionist that it was her fault that his mother-in-law killed herself. We had two bomb threats. On the up side, it was funny to read the names of the porn movies that people never returned to a video store client and I had a crush on one of my bosses.

4) Job #4 is the job that I have now. I’ve been here for 12 ½ years. It’s a good job. I don’t see any reason to look for job #5 at the moment.

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

1) Defending Your Life
2) Gidget
3) Clueless
4) Valley Girl

Those are by far not the only movies that I can watch over and over. They’re just the first four that I thought of.

Four Places I Have Lived

I’ve only lived in three cities so I’m doing four houses that I’ve lived in.

1) Old Arkansas farmhouse. I was only there until I turned 7. It had a big porch, an old barn, a giant yard with a weeping willow tree, a rose garden, a vegetable garden, a rock garden, a wild violet patch and a hollow (but we called it a holler) with a natural spring at the bottom. Plus, my bedroom was going to have a skylight. I won’t go into why we left but I’m still whining about the fact that I didn’t get to grow up in that house. To make matters worse, the guy who moved in after us just trashed the whole place. Sob.

2) Rimrock Way. My brother made me a roller rink in the garage using all the newest Radio Shack lighting gear. Someone started to build a community pool years before we moved there but ran out of money or something so it was just a big hole in the ground filled with tall weeds and surrounded by a fence. It was the type of place that they would find a bunch of bodies in if my life was an episode of “Criminal Minds”. I tried to climb our yard’s redwood fence in my bare feet and got splinters. All the neighborhood kids voted “Dukes of Hazzard” the best show on tv.

3) Shelter Island Apartments. This is where we lived when we first moved to Las Vegas. I thought it was wonderful because it was an apartment in a big city and there was a mall within walking distance. After a couple of weeks somebody was killed across the street and I found out that what was commonly known as “Crack Alley” was a block away. Nice. We moved to…

4) Southern Cove Apartments. I had my own bathroom! And a walk in closet! And the mall was still right down the street. So exciting. The people upstairs had huge fights. After a particularly loud one they left some homemade jam by our door. Once I threw birdseed out on the lawn and a bunch of flowers started to grow.

Four TV Shows I Love

1) Grey’s Anatomy
2) Criminal Minds
3) House
4) Lost

And Survivor, Amazing Race, CSI, Deadwood, Gilmore Girls, American Idol, Search for a Supermodel, America's Next Top Model, Numbers, Bones...the list is endless. I watch a lot of tv.

Four Places I’ve Vacationed

1) Oahu. We won the trip. The hotel upgraded us. The airplane food was delicious.
2) Disney World. It rained most of the time. I’m going back my next vacation.
3) San Francisco. Like a bajillion times. I still love it, though.
4) San Diego. I think I've said enough already.

Four of My Favorite Dishes

1) Chips and Queso (Like at Cozymel’s.)
2) Really good banana pudding. (Like at Cozymel’s.)
3) Chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven.
4) Bacon cheeseburger with onions, mayo & ketchup.

Four Sites I Visit Daily

1) Best of Clay
2) Snopes
3) My Yahoo
4) Netflix

Four Places I’d Rather Be Right Now

1. That Arkansas farmhouse from Four Places I’ve Lived.
2. Hanging out with a very chatty Clay Aiken.
3. A secluded house by a river. With a very chatty Clay Aiken.
4. I’d settle for home at the moment.

It's too much...

Kyle Chandler and Patrick Dempsey were just on "Grey's Anatomy" at the same time. That's almost too much crushing at once for me to handle.

Even if you leave out the handsome, "Grey's Anatomy" totally rocked tonight! Funny and crazy and sad and scary...I just love that show.

Why did I start this?...

Qwyzzle is probably not going to be good for my sanity. Level 28 already has me teetering on the brink.


ETA:
Level 34 shoved me right over the edge. I hate Qwyzzle and chess and horses and letters.
I'm going to go watch "Grey's Anatomy." Maybe an hour of Patrick Dempsey can return my sanity.