This is totally my cat

This is the "Garfield" comic of the day:
This totally reminds me of my cat. I seriously think Garfield is her uncle.

4th of July

It's that time of year. People have been playing with their fireworks at all hours of the day for the last couple of days. I personally don't mind it. In fact, I look out the window to see if I can see what the neighbors are setting-off so I can enjoy it too.

I an attempt to not repeat last year, we are going to the St. Paul Rodeo. I have no idea what to expect, but I have heard it is fun. It's about time we go, too. After living here for about 9 years, you'd think I've made it out to this event. Other than Zapote in Costa Rica, this is the first real rodeo I've ever been to.

Hopefully it will be fun. There is a chicken barbecue this church is hosting out there; we're going to try it to see if it the meal is really as memorable as "they" claim it is. And I mean: memorable good--not memorable bad.

We'll see.

The most dangerous career

What is the most dangerous career these days? It seems like being a celebrity is up there in the top ten. I just has not been a good week in Hollywood.

First Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson die on the same day. Now Billy Mays, who made one think everything he sold was fantastic, was found dead this morning.

Studies have already been done on one breed of celebrity is most at risk: young rock stars.

Within half a century, nearly 100 rock starts have died, according to the BBC news. On average, US rock stars die at the age of 42 and those from Europe usually die at the age of 35. 25% of these deaths is linked to drug and/or alcohol use. Excessive behavior could also be a contributing factor.

FYI: the average American usually dies at the age of 78.

At least with this week's celebrity deaths, there is only one star the public is looking at and his possible irresponsible use of prescription drugs. That one star is the rock star.

Billy Mays is dead

Billy Mays, the infomercial celebrity made famous by his OxyClean commercials, was found dead in his Florida home this morning.

The cause of his death is not clearly known at the moment. However, his wife reports Mays hit his head yesterday during a rough landing on a plane. He did not feel well last night and went to bed at about 10:00 pm. No fowl play is suspected.

The AP reports:

"U.S. Airways confirmed Sunday that Mays was among the passengers on a flight that made a rough landing on Saturday afternoon at Tampa International Airport, leaving debris on the runway after apparently blowing its front tires.

Tampa Bay's Fox television affiliate interviewed Mays after the incident.

'All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping,' MyFox Tampa Bay quoted him as saying. 'It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head.'"

Update on Michael Jackson Post

It was announced later in the day, on the 25th of June, that Michael Jackson died as a result of a heart attack. Toxicology reports are still in the works.

This really surprised me: a heart attack. Jackson seemed like he was a very slim person. Maybe too slim? He was a vegetarian as a result of his love of animals. I do not know if he worked out, but dancing has to count for something. He was not even that old: 50.

What I can only conclude from this is that he had ridiculously high stress levels in his life. And/or he had high cholesterol that went unchecked. I guess he could have also had an underlying heart condition that was not made known to the public.

Learn about heart disease among the African American and Latino populations.

So, what can we, the public, learn from this? Prevention is key:

• Exercise.
• Eat right.
• Chill out: learn to manage stress and anger appropriately.
• Monitor your blood pressure. Check it at the drug store or supermarket. If it seems to be high a lot, talk to your doctor about it.
  
• Check your cholesterol levels. If those are high, do something about it. One does not have to be overweight to have high cholesterol.

Heart disease is one of the number one causes of death in the US.
Be proactive about this in your own life.