Champagne Friday: Enough Already

I feel like I've become a sometimes-Friday blogger with some Wordless Wednesday pictures thrown in every now and then for good measure. But it's summer and there are Olympics to watch, key lime cheesecake muffins to bake, the occasional below-95-degree-day to enjoy, and peach orchards to visit. I know y'all understand as my Google Reader is no longer breathing heavily under the strain of thousands of unread posts. Cheers to enjoying the summer and not being a slave to something with a motherboard....

-insert really cool Google Images photo of champagne, which I am terrified to do now that I know someone who gave photo credit STILL got sued. Note to self: take more pictures of champagne.-

1. My first and final word on Chick-Fil-A:

While I have giggled over the photo of a KFC sign floating around on Facebook that reads "Serving delicious chicken. Without the hate." and I've mused over the copycat chicken sandwich and sauce recipes showing up on Pinterest, the cold hard truth is that I'm done eating there. I absolutely commend Dan Cathy (and his dad, Truett) for making their stance on religion known, since it is something that's important to them as a family (and by extension, their business). I don't know that anyone is particularly shocked about their religious slant since they are closed on Sundays. However, there is a wide spectrum of "Christians" and the very liberal side does find fault with the ultra-conservative (usually viewed as hypocritical and judgmental) side. So, when you come out as a business owner and publicly proclaim your views on any controversial topic, you have probably already prepared yourself for the likelihood of alienating (and seriously pissing off) approximately 50% of your business. Then, it just becomes a numbers game...can you afford to lose 50% of your business for quite some time and probably 10% of your business for forever? (Let's face it...they do have the best playground in town and when you need some girl time and your girlfriends all have mini-me's, an indoor, virtually sound-proof playground is a huge bonus.)

Apparently, the Cathy Family thinks so. Whether they believe that God will take care of them if they throw themselves to the lions or that if they die as a business, at least they'll die as martyrs, they've made a business decision. And in the land of Capitalism, that's totally OK. It's even *gasp* encouraged. (Because another hard cold fact is that it has opened the door for Zaxby's, Wendy's, American Deli, Popeye's, BW3's, Church's, Cane's, etc, etc.)

So there are about 10 sides to this situation: from why they felt the need to go public with this philosophy in the first place to how they choose to spend their profits to what it really means to be a "Christian." And every single one of those horses has been whipped beyond recognition. Although it has made Facebook increasingly more interesting to read. Gone are the "just got my car waxed!' updates and they've been replaced with debates, slurs, photos, controversy, and passion. And I do love a slice of passion with my morning coffee.

However, in light of "Support Chick-Fil-A Day" (well played, Gov. Huckabee. I hope your family gets free nuggets for life) and the resulting response from the liberal camp, let me say this: "Please stop berating the Chick-Fil-A supporters for buying lunch for themselves instead of the homeless on Wednesday. I no longer support CFA, but I also didn't rush right out and serve the large population of less fortunate in Macon, either. I downed the most delicious shrimp po-boy ever at a local seafood dive and then came home and took a nap. I consider myself an all-inclusive Christian, but I still struggle with including myself first. If you didn't take it upon yourself to tend to God's meek on Wednesday, then throw smaller rocks...there's a spider web crack in your glass house."

THE END

2. Michael Phelps is obviously not operating at peak physical condition. He has, by his own admission, felt burnt out on swimming and didn't train for the 2012 Olympics the way he did for the ones in 2008. Can we please just leave him alone? I cannot imagine training that intensely for...what?? 15 years? I trained for 1/2 marathon once and then, after the event, didn't run again for 2 years. I think he has always understood that he couldn't rely on talent alone...that training is essential to success. And I give him a lot of props for not punching the NBC ground crew in the face every time they ask him if he wishes he had trained harder or if he's surprised at his lackluster performance. I hope he shows up on the cover of Time, wearing all 20 medals, a pair of Speedos and 2 great big middle fingers.

3. There is a Sears commercial that airs during the Olympic coverage. A young, beautiful couple is frollicking on the beach, splashing in the waves, while upbeat music plays and words like "Be Free" and "Live" are flashed across the screen in an Abercrombie and Fitch kind of font. Suddenly, the guy runs straight into a refrigerator, followed by the girl about 3 seconds later. It doesn't matter how many times they play it, I forget that it's a Sears commercial and I'm thinking it's for perfume or Old Navy. Until they run, head-first, into unsuspecting appliances. Every. Single. Time. And it makes me laugh. Every. Single. Time. If anyone at our NBC affliliate is listening, can we replace all of the cheesy Honda Clearance Event commercials with that one? Awesome. Thanks.

*added per request of some superspecial readers*

I think we, as a nation, need a blender of something strong, frothy, and fruity. Or we need our corks popped. Something. Between constant trial photos of a deranged individual, constant arguments over fried chicken and God, our need to judge an Olympian's method of preparation, and an election year, we may not make it out alive otherwise. About the only thing we're going to agree on as a nation right now is that those asshats at Westboro Baptist need to take a long walk off of a short cliff.

Cheers, loves! It's finally Friday and the only song I have stuck in my head right now is "Let's Get Drunk and Screw". Word.