The Diva Page By Lori

Tonight is WKZO Night at The Kalamazoo Civic.  Curtain for "Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels" is 7:30.

Remember that "Girls on the Run" will have several streets around the theatre closed off. Parking is available at Cornerstone, First United Methodist Church, in the spaces between First Congregational Church and Bronson Park, on Michigan Avenue and in downtown ramps.

We'll have giveaways tonight including Michigan made products from NATURE CONNECTION, Binder Park Zoo passes and a season ticket to The Civic!

The political shenanigans of The Susan G. Komen Foundation have decimated support for RACE FOR THE CURE events all across the country.

Sign-ups for the Kalamazoo event are reported to be way down from last year.  It'll take place this Sunday at Arcadia Festival Site.  Proceeds raised will go to pay for mammograms for local women who can't afford them.  Sign-ups can happen up to the start of the race.

It's too bad that a mission that everyone can agree on - finding a cure for breast cancer - has been stymied.

Local organizers are encouraging supporters to keep their eye on the prize: saving lives.

I get about 5 emails a day from a store named PB TEEN.

All you have to do is order something ONCE and you'll be bombarded forevermore with their sales pitches.

When I get my Neiman Marcus emails telling me they miss me..."Well, I miss you TOO!"

But you'd think that a business that caters to a certain age group might get that you AGE OUT of their store.

I wish it wasn't a "no reply" email because I would love to answer, "You may miss ME, but I don't miss having a TEEN one little bit!"

But I love my young lady.

One has to be in the mood to clean the closets.

"You'll never wear that again you fat..."

"Yeah, but I remember when I paid $*** for it and wore it to this, that and the other thing..."

"But it's just taking up space."

Repeat with every garment in the closet.

I just did that and dropped off 6 bags of clothes to GOODWILL.

Then there's the garage sale season.  My mom is having one. She wanted to know if I had anything.

"Well, there's the cushion from Pier One that still has the tag that goes with a setee I don't even own...but I'll never get anyway NEAR what I paid...and I only used it for a couple of months and......"

Repeat 5,000,000 times with all the crap in the basement.  Put stuff in the car.  Then put it back.

"Well, Emma might need it for her apartment."

I can't even watch HOARDERS because it's so disturbing..but going through this process, I can sure see how it could happen.

We were chuckling about a dude in Wisconsin who is picketing a restaurant that cut him off after 12 pieces of fish.  His beef is that it was billed as "all you can eat".  He is 6'6 and weighs 350 pounds and he said, "HEY!  I can eat more."

I'll bet there are a lot of restaurants that see these people coming and hope that it's balanced out by people who eat like birds.

Still, perhaps under the guise of good health we should start calling this type of special offer "FREE SECONDS" or something.  I would imagine that would cover the good majority of the people and you couldn't be accused of false advertising.

I mean, who really gorges themselves on "BOTTOMLESS FRIES"?  Have you even gotten seconds?

I went kind of cuckoo bananas on "all you can eat" mussels once, but they're teensie.

The whole concept is kind of gross, especially for those of us for whom moderation isn't a THANG.  

Everywhere I went this weekend, people were wishing me a happy Mother's Day.

How do they know I'm a mother?  Isn't that kind of presumptuous?

Couldn't that be upsetting to a woman who always wanted kids but couldn't have them, or a woman who lost a child, or a woman who'd just had a miscarriage?

I guess they mean well.  But still.

I asked my girlfriend if she thought it was weird that everyone just assumed we were mothers.

She said, "No.  Our broad child-bearing hips are giving us away."

I want to thank INFORUM for bringing Betsy Myers to town.  She gave a great presentation at The Radisson yesterday on leadership.

Myers served as President Clinton's senior adviser on women's issues and was the first Director of The White House Office for Women' Initiatives and Outreach.

During the Q & A, she was asked about the divisiveness of politics and the fact that you can't even have a civil conversation about issues anymore.

She shook her head and said that's why she's now in the private sector, pointing out that "back in the day" Tip O'Neill and President Reagan got together socially all the time even though they were on opposite sides of the political spectrum.  They'd find common ground and work it out.

Now we have a Speaker of the House who has vowed to do everything in his power to assure that the President fails.

Myers likens it to a board of directors telling the new CEO that THEY would do everything they could to make him fail.  How do you think that would fly?

Yet, that's where we are.  It's super depressing.

Be listening Thursday to THE LORI MOORE SHOW for "all your Mother's Day neeeeeeeds". 

We'll be giving away gift certificates for roses and dinners and you'll be the hero.

That, and PLUG AWAY THURSDAY 9-10 am tomorrow!

Did you know that at one time Detroit was known as the Paris of the Midwest?

I know.  It's kind of hard to imagine, now.

I was thinking Friday, how cool it was to be at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts for an exhibition and then trundling over to the Kalamazoo Civic for a world-class jazz concert--all before NOON!

Add The Art Hop, The Kalamazoo Marathon, several fun Kentucky Derby parties and fundraisers...and ain't we got fun?!

We are the artsiest fartsiest grooviest town around: The Manhattan of the Midwest.

KalamaWHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

MMMMMM...Asparagus.

Last year everyone wanted my favorite recipe for this time of year, so here it is again.  Emma and I enjoyed it last night.

This recipe is one I found in TRAVERSE MAGAZINE.

Thaw a bag of tater tots.  Moosh em into a big skillet.  Flip them over and over until you have a nice crunchy crust.  Pour in 8 beaten eggs & a bunch of asparagus that's been cut into bite size pieces (raw).   Put the top on the pan until the eggs set.  Put some shredded cheese* on top (I like cheddar) and put the top back on until it melts.  Cut and serve.

*the recipe calls for 1/2 cup.  I'm more like a 1/2 bag kinda girl.

Easy.  Quick.  HEAVEN.

And away we go!

I'm exhausted after opening weekend of The Gilmore Keyboard Festival...and we still have 13 days to enjoy.  What a great start.  I saw Diana Krall at Chenery last night.

One of the cool features of the festival this year are the Play Out Loud pianos around town.  They're brightly painted pianos out in the open just waiting for people to sit down and play.

My daughter came home from college for dinner this weekend and said she was all stressed out about exams, but someone on WMU's campus was tickling the ivories and it boosted her mood.  That's fantastic!  What an inspired idea.

And you don't have to be Liberace either.  I did a little "Chopsticks" when nobody was looking across from the library downtown.

Be listening each morning at 7:10 for a daily update on concerts.

YUM!

As if Girl Scout cookies aren't delicious enough on their own, a room full of chefs kicked it up a notch last night in Kalamazoo.  The challenge?  Take one or several kinds of GS cookies and make a beautiful and clever dessert creation.

Oh my.

Congratulations to Chef Sherrie Wilcox of Zazio's whose Thin Mint Chocolate Mousse Cake won first place last night.  In a live auction some the creations went for upwards of $500! Proceeds raised will provide dues and camp scholarships for girls who can't afford scouting. 

I had a great time as a Girl Scout.  Thanks to all who are making it accessible to some girls who need it most.