I've decided.

This is my favorite flag:It's Turkey's flag. And I think it's the best flag I've ever seen.

Erica's Creative Team Award

Boy. I have such talented friends (and lovahs). I feel like every week I'm posting a new competition and begging all of you to vote. This one is from the creative team at Weight Watchers, where Erica works, and she asked that I post it.

Here it is:Hello everyone,

I just wanted to let you know (or remind you if you know already) that our “Stop Dieting Start Living” campaign hub is a finalist in one of the biggest Flash competitions out there – Flash Forward. You can view our submission and the other finalists here:

www.flashforwardconference.com finalists - it’s in the “Video” category at the bottom.

Also – it would be great if you could vote (and get all your friends to vote) for us in the People’s Choice Award:

www.flashforwardconference.com people's choice - again “Video” category - “Stop Dieting Start Living”

Voting ends next week so let’s get those votes in!!!

Stick a Fork in Me

I don't think my Zoloft is working. Does anyone know whether it's the kind of drug to which one builds up a tolerance? Granted, there are days when I forget to take it, but more than not, I'm pretty regular with it.

Erica tells me that it's not supposed to cut off all emotions. And if that's true, what exactly is the point?

Of course, it's been a trying few weeks for me. The whole family found the blog (Hi everyone!) and the word from my sister is that I have been anointed with the end-all, be-all punishment of Southerners.

Susan. They all read it. And they are done with you.

My family has always had their ways of being done with someone -- none of which involves direct confrontation (except the year I ruined Christmas -- I'll tell you that one later).

Perhaps the most infamous of the line of the "Done With" in our family was my great Uncle Elzie. As a young boy, Elzie decided to run off to California in search of his dream to be a movie star. Family rumor has it that he actually made it into a couple of films, though I couldn't find him on IMDB. I am, however, pretty sure that this rumor is the only reason the family kept talking about him during holidays after he was done with.

You know, we have a relative that was in the movies

That and as a warning to the youngsters to not betray the family lest you become done with as well.

Uncle Elzie's most vicious crime was that after he left for California he reportedly never returned. Not for Christmas, Easter, Homecoming at the Baptist Church. Nothing. He deserted his Mama and Fitzgerald completely. All because that selfish bastard wanted a life of his own. The only acceptable way you can move away from home in my family is if you return for visits as often as humanly possible. (Because it's always so pleasant when we all get together.) And, more importantly, you should never succeed too much, lest you become uppity or think you're better than everyone else.

Now. My take on Uncle Elzie is this: I don't know him, or his Mama, so I'm not sure what the deal is there. Maybe she sucked. Or, maybe they loved each other and they talked on the phone twice a day and enjoyed their wonderful long-distance relationship. What I do know is that Elzie had a loving wife who visited us once with photos and stories and did her best to get Elzie back into the fold. The family was super nice and sat through the stories and photos and as soon as she left the conversation went straight to how Elzie betrayed everyone.

I secretly envied Uncle Elzie. His story seemed so exotic and exciting. And for me, in a world where the only options I knew I had were to either teach, type or raise babies, Uncle Elzie gave me hope.

Uncle Elzie, if you're out there, know that even though I never met you, I loved you. Thanks for the inspiration.

I made it.

Who is Luckier Than I Am?

This is an article from the New York Times. Why, you ask, does this make me lucky?

One -- my friend Vickie gave me the coolest box of bacon band-aids ever.Two -- last week, my dermatologist took a mole off of my arm."Minor Surgery" he calls it. Know how to care for a wound incurred through minor surgery?

Three -- cover it with a band-aid for two to three weeks.

Presents for the Homeless?

I've thought about this a lot, so when Jay made this comment, I decided to address it in a post and put it to a vote so that you, my public, can decide what I should do.

As you've read (if you read this blog, I mean) there is a woman who spends a good deal of her time sitting on a suitcase in the 7th Ave and 9th Street station on the F Line. I've actually thought about getting her presents before. In fact, one day I bought her a couple of bananas. When I came up to her she was looking down and when I stopped and tried to get her attention, she didn't look up at me. I freaked out and ran away with the bananas.

I haven't tried to give her anything since.

There's another woman who I see on a regular basis. She sits outside the Jay Street - Borough Hall stop. Every time I see her she is either smoking or writing in her little notebook. Though, this woman isn't writing words, she's just making tiny, perfect, marks in some pattern. She usually has about 5 or 6 different pens -- ballpoint -- in different colors. I've often thought about buying her a new notebook, some multi-colored pens and a pack of Newports and wrapping them up like a birthday gift.

I'd make it beautiful and special and tell her, "Happy Birthday," even though I don't know when her birthday is. And I'd explain that although it may not be her actual birthday, I think that everyone deserves a birthday present so I wanted to give her one.

But then I worried. I can't decide whether giving a homeless woman a wrapped gift would seem pretentious. Or maybe she'd find it condescending. Would I really be being kind or would it be presumptuous?

In New York some homeless people tend to stay in the same areas, or ride the same subway lines. So, when you see them every day, you tend to have a sort of relationship with them, the way you do with the guy at the corner deli or the mail person. I don't know these two homeless women at all, but I see them practically every day and have noticed things about them. Like one loves soda and the other draws tiny lines in her notebook. I've developed a fondness of a sort for them and if I ever got the nerve up to give either of them a gift, it would definitely have to be in some anonymous way otherwise I'd totally chicken out. I guess I'd have to write my "Happy Birthday" message on a card.

So, whaddya think? Should I do it?