Da Goddess

Discovery Channel loves us mommies. They love us so much they’re giving us a full day of crab fishermen on the (vast) Bering Sea!

The Deadliest Catch marathon starts at 1pm Eastern.

Watch promo and then watch five billion hours of awesomeness.

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep… ~ Psalms, 107:23-30, KJV

Did you? Between last week’s Deadliest Catch episode ending and this episode, I’m deeply, deeply affected. The lives of these people, the sensitivity of the production crew, the dangers fishing vessels and their crews face are all very powerful storytelling. But it’s the reality of it that takes it to a whole different level. Serious stuff. Not a time for moment by moment commentary.

I will say no more. Except, God bless each and every soul who ventures out to sea.

God grant that I may live to fish until my dying day. And when it comes to my last cast, I then most humbly pray: When in the Lord’s great landing net, and peacefully asleep, that in His mercy I be judged “good enough to keep”.

Don’t forget to check local listings for the Deadliest Catch start time!

Tonight: “Red Skies in the Morning” — foreshadowed by Phil last week.

It’s week 2 of the season, and boats are hunting down the elusive King crab. A vicious storm kicks up and a Mayday goes out. The Skippers are glued to their radios — waiting to hear the fate of 11 brother fishermen in distress…

Be prepared to sit on the edge of your seat for the full hour.

Before the show tonight, you can “catch” up with the crews by checking out some of the on Discovery Channel’s website. Go on. You know you want to.

You watched, right? C’mon! You promised!

Okay, so the baby was crying and little Johnny had a fever. I’ve been there. I’ll give you a pass this time.

Here’s what you missed (and by no means do I really think I’ll be doing this every week, so get it while the getting’s good):

Capt. Keith on the Wizard dodged the cancer bullet. Mild epithelial dysplasia. I could offer you a long explanation about what this is, but let’s just cut to the chase, shall we? These are not changes you see in a healthy mouth for the most part. Smokers, tobacco chewers, and those who drink heavily are more prone to having lesions appear. While they may not start off cancerous, you simply can’t keep up the same lifestyle without risking your health. As Keith told his wife, he’ll need to make some changes. No more chewing tobacco. Keith also had news on his finances. It was a rough year and there’s no way to maintain a healthy boat without pouring money into it. It’s not great starting the season out with a zero balance, but what’re you gonna do? His first pot yielded poor returns, but with good reason. There’s sharp metal cutting the lines while the pots are being hauled on board. Not good. Not good at all.

Capt. Phil on the Cornelia Marie didn’t fare so well. Doctors said he wasn’t well enough yet to take the captain’s wheel. YET. Just remember that. Things can change quickly if you follow anticoagulant therapy to the T. Murray was given the job of captaining the C.M. again. The Harris boys were sad, but they understood. Phil needs to get healthy and return to his rightful place. No worries. Murray Gamrath will do a good job and give Phil that time he needs.

Capt. Sig had to bite the head off a herring after losing the straw poll. Unlike Edgar, Sig spit the head out. Or maybe they’ve just never shown Edgar spitting the fish head out. Either way, it’s my least favorite part of the start of crab season. Looks like the Northwestern isn’t going to get oodles of screen time this episode and that’s okay. We’ll have plenty of Sig in the months to come. We always do.

Capt. Johnathan on the Time Bandit started off this season with a bang. Literally. He dumped fireworks into a barrell where the captains had gathered to tell stories pre-sail. He then dumped cold, cold water on a deckhand. There are hints of personnel changes coming. I’ve already heard about it and to see it being played out on the screen is rather uncomfortable. Ah, well, that’s all part of the show, right?

Bets were made prior to the boats heading out for their first strings of pots. Winner of the Captains’ Wager will get a cool $4000 (according to Mike Rowe) or something like that. You know the winner will give the money to the fishermen’s fund as they always do, which is probably one of the reasons I like this bunch so much.

At one point, cameras cut to Phil standing onshore, noting the morning sky was red. Not the sort of thing a seafaring man wants to see. Keith isn’t liking it either. Sure enough, that red sky leads to more problems for the skipper of the Wizard. He’d decided to make a dive under the boat (in cold five foot swells) to check out the situation and while under the boat, takes a mean slam to the head.

We’re left wondering what will happen.

And with that, it was time to say goodbye to our skippers and their crews for the week.

Next week can’t come too soon around these parts.

I was fully hoping I’d find a way to get my buns up to Seattle for CatchCon, but it’s just not happening this year. Yep, I’ve thrown in the towel and am no longer looking to go. Winning the passes was great, but I have to take care of business here at home. Since I made that decision, I’ve booked two shoots. Will either bring in money? Not enough to pay the bills, but it’s work. Will I be sorry I’m missing out on CatchCon? Hell yeah! All I can say is this: if any of the skippers and/or crew end up down in San Diego, they should let me know. I happen to have two local papers awaiting photos and interviews. (How’s that for working every angle?)

At 9pm, I want you all to go to your televisions and turn on the Discovery Channel (unless it’s on at 8pm for you Mountain folks). Watch the Season 5 premiere of Deadliest Catch and then come discuss it here. Or live blog it. Whichever. Just go do it! You won’t be disappointed. It’s one of the best shows on TV.

Then set a reminder for every Tuesday night at the same time. Let’s make a new habit of it, shall we?

Also, make a note on your calendars that next Tuesday, some of the captains and crew from Deadliest Catch be appearing on Cash Cab (another guilty pleasure).

This one should be a hoot! The ‘Cash Cab’ episode with the ‘Deadliest Catch’ skippers is slated to air on April 21st at 6:30 pm eastern. Not too many details are available however, we should be seeing the Hansens of the Northwestern up against Andy Hillstrand of the Time Bandit and Josh Harris of the Cornelia Marie. We’ll see which group of fishermen can ‘reel in’ the most correct answers!

There. I’ve made it very easy for you newcomers to get up to speed. I’ll see you around these parts later.

Tuesday night, 9pm. Discovery Channel.

Don’t miss the premiere of Season 5. We’ll finally find out what happens with Capt. Phil Harris and the rest of the crab fishing daredevils.

You definitely need to see this.

Also, I was recently awarded two passes for the first annual Catchcon in Seattle on April 25. If you have flight vouchers or tons of frequent flyer miles to spare, I could use a ticket and you could join me in this adventure! I need a response quickly, though. If I don’t book this in the next two days, I will have to forfeit the passes and let someone else go.

Yes, you read that correctly: in exchange for a plane ticket, you get to attend Catchcon with me.

You have to respond by no later than Thursday, though.

Now, remember, watch Deadliest Catch Tuesday night at 9pm!

I don’t know how she does it, but Deb so frequently knows what I’m about to write and she makes it into a assignment that I’m beginning to wonder if she can guess what I’m thinking…right now. Or now. (Oh, I hope she didn’t catch the following thought…) It’d be spooky if it weren’t so great. Sometimes I’m not sure whether I should be flattered or if I should file a restraining order.

First, let me explain a bit. See, I’ve written a few posts for while I’m away, right? Don’t want the blog to languish or anything in my absence. And, while I was writing one entry, I started thinking of a “what’s in your wallet” post as well. (You’ll totally get this when you read that post.) Then Debbie comes along and makes it a PROMPT! That lady is just too into my brain. Either that or she completely possesses what little I have left. Either way, here we are.

Now the second thing you must understand about why this particular PROMPT is special to me is because…I graduated to big girl purses recently. Yes, indeedy. I sure as shit went ahead and got myself a real purse. (For those of you who haven’t heard me go on and on about micro purses and the lack thereof, well, consider yourselves lucky.)

About a month ago, I was out with Little Dude and some friends of ours. I had to return my spare camera battery (because I totally found the one I thought I’d lost, but which was hiding in plain sight, of course. Which reminds me, in addition to Deadliest Catch coming back [is Phil back? Who’s captain if he’s not? Will the boys spend money foolishly while he’s not around? Who are the new captains? What’s with the new boats? Will I ever visit Alaska?] on April 14 on Discovery, In Plain Sight will be returning on April 19 on USA [Is Mary going to chill out? Will her sister stop being such a wild child? Will their mother ever grow up?]. Just sayin’.). Anyhow, I found my extra battery and was returning the other one, right? Okay. As I was getting the receipt out of my ratty smallish black purse, I had a revelation. If I’m going to look successful, I should have a purse that reflects that attitude and goal. Thankfully my girlfriends were also in the market for purses and that’s where we headed. (Poor LD, you’d think he’d have learned to call in sick on days like this.)

We began discussing the merits of size in relation to handbags, purses, pocketbooks, or whatever other term you choose. I jumped in and said, “Stacy and Clinton say that a small purse makes a heavier woman look even bigger. I’m going to get a freakin’ HUGE purse so I look tiny.” I’m not sure that’s exactly what they meant, but I was running with it anyway. I did not go for the largest purse in the world, thankyouverymuch. However, I did manage to find one of reasonable size and yet it still feels smaller. It has, get this, a cute giraffe print to it. What? Shhh! Let me finish the story, okay?

Where was I? Oh yeah, giraffe print. Laughing Rhino…wild theme…giraffe print purse…that makes sense. A cute giraffe print with red trim. It’s much cuter than it sounds. Seriously. (Ask Cheri! She’s seen it. It’s cute, isn’t it?) Of course, this meant that I’d have to do something about all the loose stuff I’d normally just tuck into a pocket in my smaller purse. So I started looking for a wallet. I had my hand on a zebra patterned wallet and LD protested. “Get the giraffe print wallet, Mom. Trust me on this.” Yeah, I know, I’m taking accessory advice from a 12 year old boy. What can I say? He’s never steered me wrong! And yes, he’s very much all boy. He just knows what goes together. Anyhow, I then had to decide whether I should get the giraffe print wallet with the red trim (like my purse) or the one with the brown trim. LD pointed out that the red on the wallet was different from the red on the purse and to make a long story only slightly shorter, I got the brown trimmed giraffe print wallet.

Whew.

Now, what’s in my wallet? My driver’s license, photos of the kids (they finally have a real home!), my ATM card, a couple of business cards, discount cards for Von’s, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Staples, and my Kinko’s card. Oh, and $1.28. And two receipts.

In my purse, I have my pain meds. I never go anywhere without them. Sure, I sound like a walking pharmacy, but whatever. I also have (in a single small pocket within the purse) house keys on a little rhino keychain, lipstick, lip gloss (so girly, isn’t it? I know!), ChapStick, a box of wooden matches (have to take those out before I fly), and back to the main part of the purse, I have a pair of sunglasses, an envelope I really must throw away, two pens, and a business card holder that sports a leopard print (in keeping with my wild theme).

For once in my life, I have a big girl purse with lots of room and it’s kind of fun, too. It’s not some boring granny pocketbook. It’s totally…me! And somehow, I feel so much better walking around with this thing than I ever thought possible. Go figure.

Hey Deb, are you sorry you asked? Now, shh…I’m casting my votes for Fug Madness 2009.

I did something radical last night: I watched Planet Green’s Living With Ed. Now, we all know Ed Begley, Jr. is an actor who’s passionate about the environment, so it makes sense that Planet Green would have a “reality” series featuring him. The first episode I caught was the one where he’s celebrating his birthday.

Most of the first eight minutes are spent with him complaining about the volume on his wife’s answering machine. Typical marital issues. Nice touch. However, here’s what I noticed about this opening scene: Ed’s reading a script of some sort and it’s printed only on one side. Considering how often scripts go through rewrites, that just seems horribly wasteful and not very green at all.

Hey, Ed, here’s a thought! Be like Matthew Modine (this was on his website at one time, but I can’t find it right now) and request that all the paperwork that comes to you (scripts, contracts, etc.), come printed on both sides. I know it’s not the way most of Hollywood does things, but you know what? Think about how many scripts are floating around out there and how many pages are in each packet. I’ll wait here while you do the math on your solar powered calculator. Back? Okay. It’s a pretty significant number, isn’t it? MAJOR! So, what’s say you put that little plan into action and save a few hundred thousand trees.

For those of us with kids, think of how many times have you said, “You only colored on a small corner of this paper, you can use it again!” I make my kid write and draw on both sides. He doesn’t get to write or draw, decide he doesn’t like it, crumple it up, and throw it away. Nope. He uses the whole piece of paper and when he’s done with it, then it gets recycled. It’s a simple act that goes a long way. If kids can get the hang of it, adults should, too.

If you’re going to be a proponent of living green, you gotta be willing to go all the way. And Begley’s been doing this long enough to know better.

Just my two cents.

Well, now we have an answer to why some dogs chase their tails more than others. Maybe.

I dunno. I’m skeptical. I think it’s just dogs being silly. I think for the puppies it’s about playing and a form of self-entertainment. And maybe for some high strung dogs it’s about anxiety disorders, high cholesterol, and OCD. But I want to believe, with all my heart, that the average dog is just easily amused. That’s what I’m going with.

like it!

The Incentive (great name for a crab boat, eh?) is said to be full of hard core Kodiak natives with tons of personality. Can they keep up with the rest of the bad boys of the (vast) Bering Sea? We’ll find out in a few months when Deadliest Catch returns in April. (It better be April. I can’t wait much longer than that.)

Thanks to Erin for sharin’!

Deadliest Catch is on. It’s been on all day long.

Go! Run! Do not hesitated!