According to a report, Mayor Mark Mallory has appointed Cincinnati Councilmember Roxanne Qualls as the new vice mayor. Click here to read more about it.

If only I could turn back the clock. Oh, if wishing could make it so. Roxanne, when she was mayor, was actually a pretty good one. I always voted for her and still would today.

On Election Day this past November, I held my nose and voted for Mallory. Nope—sorry, not really a fan. I think Mallory goes through the motions to collect his paycheck.

I wish Roxanne was mayor.

(Photo from wikimedia.org)

Back when I was living in Clifton, in the laundry room of my apartment building, tenants would often leave books on a table for other tenants to read. It was a nice way of sharing.

Some years ago, someone left a copy of Alice Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones” on that table. I’d never heard of it, but that night, I started reading.

I couldn’t stop. I finished it that night. I had to. It was that good of a novel—actually one of the best novels I’ve ever read.

Now, they’ve turned it into a movie that will be out later this month.

What do you think? If you’ve read the book, is it possible for the movie to be as good?

(Image found on Google)

If you will recall, back in August when I first watched Stacey’s audition for X-Factor, I said mark my words, that Stacey was going places.

I’m giving myself a pat on the back. So far I’ve been right. Stacey is now on her way to the semi-final.

Here’s a video that maybe I can get away with and won’t be taken down. The quality isn’t all that great but it’s not all that bad either. Here’s Stacey on the first live show singing that Coldplay song, “The Scientist.”

Good stuff, eh?

On a side note, I don’t put much stock in the UK press (or over here for that matter), but there are reports that contestant Danyl Johnson has been bullying Stacey. If this is true, I certainly don’t like it, but really the only reason I’m linking to it is because maybe this “rumor” may help get him voted off next week. That would help Stacey.

Hey, did I ever say I play fair?

(Photo from marieclaire.com)

I’m back from Apollo—an interesting and pleasant journey that I will write about in a column for CityBeat in a couple weeks.

I love to travel but whenever I return from a trip, it takes a bit to get back into my regular routine. Whenever I return back home, I tend to have rambling thoughts in my head. For example, this morning I’m thinking. . .

. . . none of my plants died while I was away. Thankful.

. . . I wasn’t robbed.

. . . I teach a writing class on Wednesdays. Why the hell didn’t I look at and grade those damn papers before I left?

. . . did somebody steal my can opener while I was away? I can’t find it. Maybe I was robbed.

. . . why do bills always arrive in the mail on time but my freelance checks to pay them always arrive late?

That’s enough. Let me try and get my head out of my ass and get some things done.

(Photo of Larry with head up his ass found on Google)

My friend lied to me. He lied! On Thanksgiving Day, we didn’t travel to Pittsburgh at all. We were on the road to Apollo, Pennsylvania.

I’m just kidding around a little bit. I sort of knew that my friend’s mother didn’t live in Pittsburgh. Apollo is about 35 miles northeast from there.

Curious about Apollo? Click here to learn more about the town.

Above is a photo of downtown Apollo. Seems a little “damp” don’t you think? Just kidding around again. That photo was taken during the big flood in Apollo in 1936.

Odd, I can’t seem to find a Skyline Chili here.

(Photo found on Google)

Actually, I wanted to put up a funny Thanksgiving photo today. Know what? There really isn’t any out there, so I settled on this woman wearing a Thanksgiving hat.

Funny? No, not really. Do you think she looks a little like Sarah Palin?

Do you think Sarah Palin is a turkey? Will she be eating that today or moose? Do you care?

Yesterday, I did laundry and cleaned my living space, preparing for my trip to Pittsburgh today. Why I’m cleaning my apartment up when I’m not going to be here is probably strange but that’s how I am.

You know, I really shouldn’t announce to the world that I’m not going to be home. For those of you thinking of robbing me, really I don’t have any good stuff at all. You would be wasting your time.

As stated earlier, I’ll be on the road to Pittsburgh very soon—going with a friend. Because of this and because of Thanksgiving, I’m giving the entire staff here a few days off. Yes, all of us will be taking a little break. More than likely, you won’t be seeing any new posts here until Sunday or Monday.

In the meantime, have a great holiday and we’ll be back at you early next week. Don’t eat too much turkey!

Ha, ha! Yes, very original humor.

(Photo of woman wearing stupid hat found on Google)

If you’re having turkey tomorrow, chances are you’ve already picked one out, but if you haven’t, beware. Sometimes picking out your turkey is easier than picking up your turkey.

Think I’m full of it? No. Take a look at this video.

Side note: The gentleman hit with the turkey was treated and released at University Hospital.

(Photo from whatscookingamerica.net)

I think we all know that newspapers are suffering all over—even here in backward Cincinnati, but actually it could be worse than we think it is.

New auditing rules have made it easier for newspapers to count a reader as a paying customer. Click here to read about it.

In a somewhat related story, it is being reported that more people are picking up free newspapers, such as Cincinnati’s Metromix, to line their bird cages with.

(Photo from Google)

I reported here on Sunday that my kids were coming over for dinner and that I was preparing goose.

Some of you want to know how it turned out (all right, one of you). I’m happy to say the meal was a success.

The timing was off a little. I didn’t stuff the goose—decided to fix the stuffing separately—so the goose got done a little quicker than I thought it would. It was only a minor problem.

So everything turned out well, the goose tasted good and no one got food poisoning. I always get worried about this when I’m preparing something unusual.

My daughter got out her cell phone and took a picture of me and my goose. I’m the one on the left.

(Photo from my daughter’s cell phone)

We’ll keep it short and sweet this week, but Stacey Solomon continues to roll on through the X-Factor. To read more about it, click here and to see who got voted off, click here.

Knock wood, Stacey has yet to be in the bottom two. Hey, all you people over in the UK, you need to keep it that way.

(Photo from X-Factor)