Dresses to Cakes and a Shooting In Between

In a departure from my usual bitch-and-moan posts about co-workers and locals in SoFl, I've decided to post some news snippets that have caught my attention over the past couple of days. I know, I know, you want to read all my petty complaints about my office and the people of Miami, don't worry, it will return. Beleeeee dat. Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves here - some of this is not news at all, but someone wrote about it online, so it gets lumped into the "news" category by default.

1) Project Runway season 2 started last night and it was fabulous. For real. Fabu-friggin-lous. There's a designer from LA, Nick Varreos, who's a pattern making instructor. He's amazing. I mean, really super duper amazing. The man and I both are totally taken with him and his level of skill. Besides, pattern making is something that fascinates me because it's something I'm learning and he's such a pro at it. I hope he goes far. There are a couple designers that I'd like to kick in the teeth, so I hope they either go soon, or they're kept around and made to suffer later. I'm such a bitch. But hey, what's a reality show w/o a little drama, right?

2) A man who said he had a bomb in his backpack was shot and killed at Miami International airport yesterday. Turns out the man was mentally ill (bi-polar, I believe) and was either off his meds or on the wrong ones. Bottom line: he said he had a bomb, he reached into his bag after marshalls told him to stop, he was shot. He had no bomb. I think the marshalls made the right decision. The details that came out later (the mental issues, the lack of bomb) make it really sad, but you can't say you have a bomb and threaten to use it when you're getting on a plane. You just can't. His wife was travelling with him and she's devastated. She tried to stop him, but couldn't, and now he's dead. Sad stuff. I can see the airport from my office window. There were news helicopters all over the place yesterday.

3) Nicole Richie and her fiance have called off their 9 month engagement. I wanted them to live happily ever after just so Paris Hilton would feel like she came in second place, but hey, what are you gonna do? Plus, as I told K & J this morning - I was rooting for her dude because he's a former fatty who scored a cutie like Nicole (even though someone needs to give that girl a sandwich... or four). Former fatties, unite!

4) Local DC lawyer turned master baker (insert juvenile joke about "master baker" here and laugh heartily - 'cause dat shizzle is funny), Warren Brown, now has a new show on the Food Network in addition to his fantastic DC bakery called Cakelove. He's opening a second location and shooting season one of this new show. I love this guy. He's super cute and he totally changed career paths midstream even though it was terribly difficult and he became a huge success. Most folks who start a business, let alone a food-based business (which has a lower success rate for start-ups), fail or only see a profit after years of toil. But Brown saw a profit after just one year of running Cakelove. He's charismatic and it's great to see his success unfold in the public eye. Way to go, Warren. You're my hero of the day.