cactus i.v.

By Ionna Vixen
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
I just found out I have a sister… an identical twin sister!
I grew up in a restricted area with no family or friends but my mother.
My sister grew up with lots of friends and our alcoholic, abusive father. Neither of us knew about each other.
One day shopping in a dollar store… I went […]

By ROXY RETAIL
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
I work by this really cute boutique. It absolutely yearns to be a sheik, cutting-edge New York-style boutique, and it could be, but here’s the problem: The display changes once a month.
Now, I’m sure raincoats might be all the rage, but they haven’t been the hot item for the entire month of February […]

By CATHY S.
sokocathy(at)gmail.com
I became a fan of Jason Castro last week when he sang The Lovin’ Spoonful’s Daydream. I thought he was an adorable performer and I enjoyed his vocals. A cactus i.v. reader told me that he was one of her choices for best of the night. What a difference a week makes. One co-worker predicted that he […]

By ANDREW STEEVES
steeves(at)uwm.edu
Kane and Lynch is a game probably most famed in the gaming community for being the game that potentially led to the firing of Jeff Gerstmann, former game reviewer for Internet monolith Gamespot.com. Gerstmann was let go directly following a poor review of the game Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. Gamespot and parent […]

By JIM MONTANA
jim.montana(at)yahoo.com
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned how the Presidential candidates are bickering over who the true Conservative is. In contemplating this week’s column, I was struck at how much Mitt Romney did (and John McCain still does) sound just like Ronald Reagan. I went back into my research materials and pulled up […]

By JAMES “TATTOO” CHAPRACKI
geocities.com/tattoospinstriping
This is a lot better than that quarter behind your ear trick.

By Ty Freer
ty_freer(at)yahoo.com
For the first time in my NBA-loving life, I really have no idea who will win the NBA title. Thanks to the “Will the NBA Live CPU let me get away with this ridiculous trade?”-like last couple of weeks, genuine stars (albeit generally of the washed-up category) for suck teams (whose levels of […]

So we’re once again making a few changes around the cactus. On Friday, we welcome Ionna Vixen… sort of. That’s actually former food and drink writer Michelle Riccardi, but she wanted an alias, so there you go.
She’s going to write Springer-like columns. They’re going to be completely ridiculous, but that’s the fun in them. The […]

By DA Southern
dasouthern(at)gmail.com
Have you been watching Big Brother in its first ever Winter Season? Well, Idol has been killing it in the ratings, anyway, so don’t feel bad. That’s why you have me.
Well, the big “twist” this season has been Big Brother: Til Death Do You Part where we see, mostly […]

By LANIE PIMENTEL
petunia5045(at)gmail.com
Leeks, an oversized green onion-looking vegetable, is a close friend of garlic and onions. Like an onion, this vegetable can be the star of the show, or an awesome side dish.
Although leeks are big, the whole thing is not meant to be eaten! Once ready to cook with the leek, cut off the […]

By REESE WRIGHT
jrwrightxiii(at)yahoo.com
Old sayings such as “Behind every great man is a great woman” have always tickled my curiosity due to that, despite how silly they may seem, there is a lot of truth in them. Well just as our saying above is true, so to is the saying “behind a […]

By BEN SZMANDA
I will at some point go three weeks with out launching off on a tangent that makes me sound like an insane old man writing his local paper. Start the clock next time though because I just got back from Borders, God help me, and I have to say it: I really […]

By JIM MONTANA
jim.montana(at)hotmail.com
In many ways this country is on a road to recovery. Whether we are recovering from a disaster that has struck or an administration that has taken advantage of their position in office, we all, in some way, are on the road to recovery.
Let me ask you this: What is a conservative?
I bet that […]

By MELODY
MyMelody4U(at)gmail.com
I have found that many people come to me for advice. It’s been like this for my whole life, from relationships to family to what should I wear?  I have been told that there is something comforting from obtaining another person’s advice. Some of my friends come to me for advice — even if […]

By JAMES “TATTOO” CHAPRACKI
geocities.com/tattoospinstriping
If you’ve never seen You, Me and Dupri you totally missed the headline.

By Ty Freer
ty_freer(at)yahoo.com
I am probably only one of about 16 people on the planet that really looks forward to NBA All-Star Weekend (and 11 of those guys live in China). To me, there are just so many things to love about it: I love the random shots of celebrities in the crowd, where we can see everyone […]

I had a dream this weekend that I was running through a casino, looking for the promotions booth. When I finally got there, I found uncirculated slot tokens that were in half-oval shapes. I was so excited, I decided I was going to write a column about it.
You know what this all means? It means […]

By LANIE PIMENTEL
petunia5045(at)gmail.com
Bell peppers, otherwise known as sweet peppers, are vegetables that have no limits.
Green peppers are unripe bell peppers, while the others are all ripe, with the color variation based on cultivar selection. Because they are unripe, green peppers are less sweet and slightly more bitter than yellow, orange, purple or red peppers. It […]

By DA SOUTHERN
dasouthern(at)gmail.com
I watch my fair share of reality TV, well, because I do enjoy watching it. It is the human condition on display in all of its’ glory; the good, the bad and, sometimes, the very ugly.
With the writers strike that misshaped the current season, we have had quite a […]

By REESE WRIGHT
jrwrightxiii(at)yahoo.com
Tickets, we all know what dreaded things these little clumps of paper mean, right? As a driver on the road, you can arguably expect at least to have a run in with the law at at least one point in your life. It’s almost a given, so you had best prepare for it. […]

By BEN SZMANDA
After last weeks debacle, I have to tell you that Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights, Big City was the best mouthwash I could have grabbed. If you haven’t read this one, you really, truly need to pick it up. It’s a slick, fast paced, and ultimately touching portrayal of a 20-something yuppie […]

By Cathy S.
Sokocathy(at)gmail.com
The top 24 are selected.  Are any of your favorites still in? I have four casualties already.  My top 12 are (or were) David Cook, Leo Marlowe, Chikezie Eze, Danny Noriega, Josiah Leming, Michael Johns, Angela Martin, Brooke White, Amy Davis, Katie Malloy, Alexandrea Lushinton and Samantha Sibley.
Josiah was one of my favorites so […]

By ANDREW STEEVES
steeves(at)uwm.edu
No More Heroes, a game released for the Wii by Ubisoft earlier this year, has gotten generally good reviews. It has been hailed as the Kill Bill of video games, and in certain ways, that’s a pretty accurate way to describe it. When I think of assassins fighting assassins and ridiculous amounts of […]

By JIM MONTANAM
jim.montana(at)hotmail.com
As many of you may know Memphis was one of the many cities in the Tennessee region to suffer from a series of devastating tornados last week. Now normally I would start my column with some sort of odd incoherent gobbledygook, however this week is different you may have noticed the lack of […]

By TY FREER
ty_freer(at)yahoo.com
As I wrote a few months ago, every year when my Spurs come into Indianapolis I hit up Conseco Fieldhouse as soon as the gates open to get autographs. (Note: This is only pathetic if you are the oldest person holding a Sharpie. I was not. Therefore, due to the transitive property, I […]

By LANIE PIMENTEL
petunia5045(at)gmail.com
One of my favorite fat-free snacks of all times is Salsa. It is a versatile snack that can double as a spicy topping to our favorite main courses!
I like to whip up my own salsa. Below is the recipe use when I make my way to my local […]

By DA SOUTHERN
dasouthern(at)gmail.com
As I told you, the strike is looking to end with a whimper, and I thought that you should know what your favorite programs might have in store for the rest of the season. Now, these are the shows that were affected by the strike, not the […]

By BEN SZMANDA
Who controls the British Crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?
We do, we do.
Who keeps Atlantis off the maps?
Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
We do, we do.
Who holds back the electric car?
Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star?
We do, we do.
Who robs cave fish of their sight?
Who rigs every Oscar night?
We do, we do!
There. […]

By REESE WRIGHT
jrwrightxiii(at)yahoo.com
Recently I was forced to part from dear Jimmy, my beloved ‘96 Gmc Jimmy. Though it was my first car, it was time to advance to something a little more modern but still within my budget. Scouring the market I came across Mazda, and I checked out this company […]

By Cathy S.
Sokocathy(at)gmail.com

The auditions are over.  We saw Atlanta’s on Tuesday and The Worst and the Best on Wednesday.  Hopefuls we picked this week for our lists include Brooke Helvie, Amanda Overmyer, Josiah Leming, Amy Davis, Cardin Lee McKinney, JoAnne Borgella, Chikezie Eze and Danny Noriega.  See their bios below in addition to the bios […]

By ATARI JAY
dearatari(at)gmail.com
            It was Saturday night and my bestest female r0c dweller insisted on hitting up the main bar strip in Rockland. I hadn’t been much for the bar scene in Rockland but I was always up for a reunion night. I feel as if I run into more people in one night at […]

By Melody 
Dear Melody,  
I work in a fairly large corporate building and have found myself dating a man in a different department. Its against company policy for us to be pursuing each other in a romantic relationship but, we have known each other for so long and are such good friends that it makes sense […]

By JAMES “TATTOO” CHAPRACKI
geocities.com/tattoospinstriping
You may recognize this arm. It’s Peter, our former poet.

By TY FREER
ty_freer(at)yahoo.com
We all watched it. We all talked about it the next day at work. Some of us might have even put a little money on it (not me… um… I promise… and my fingers aren’t crossed, they’re just… stuck). The following are some high (and low) points of Sunday, February 3 between 6 […]

I don’t know how many of you know this, but I’m in transit right now. My stuff is in a storage box in Pennsylvania, so that’s my physical home, if you will. If home is where your heart is, then my home is both equally New York and Colorado, where I’ve split my sleeping time.
I’m […]

By LISA SOKOLOWSKI
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
I’m a Pete Wentz fan. Everyone knows that. If you know me, you know my affinity for the Fall Out Boy bassist. You know who else is a fan of his: Ashlee Simpson.
It’s funny. A few years ago, Ashlee wasn’t on anyone’s radar. She wasn’t even Jessica Simpson’s little sister. No one even […]

By DA SOUTHERN
dasouthern(at)gmail.com
Stone, Eli Stone…and I might be a prophet.
I don’t know if you had a chance to catch the new ABC show, Eli Stone, that premiered after Lost on Thursday, but it is an interesting show to be sure. It is a lawyer show, yes, but if you are tired […]

By LANIE PIMENTEL
petunia5045(at)gmail.com
Mustard is a condiment that most people associate with pretty much just hot dogs (my fiancé was stunned with this revelation!). But mustard adds a great zing to pretty much anything!
I have discovered and prepared three recipes using honey as one of the main ingredients. One is for […]

By BEN SZMANDA
The only time cable news condescends to talk about something other than Britney Spears — or whatever fluff story they’re obsessed with that day– is during the elections. Unlike the in-depth coverage of Britney, though, their election reporting is boiled down to poll readings, inane commentary on the candidate’s hairstyles and a […]

By REESE WRIGHT
jrwrightxiii(at)yahoo.com
It is no surprise to most that investing into an automobile is one of the biggest purchases you will make, next to buying a home. Yet year after year most people are subject to getting their cars stolen. For some, they have taken measures to try to prevent this; […]

By CAITLIN HANVEY
caitlinhanvey(at)gmail.com
There Will Be Blood, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Punch Drunk Love) lives up to its name. Blood flows freely throughout the film, not only in death but also in the ties that bind. The creation and destruction of family and the differentiation between a family of choice and […]

By ROXY RETAIL
cactusiv(at)gmail.com
Tis the season to get engaged it seems. Maybe not the season, just the year. My friends are averaging one a month. I’m so totally stoked for them. I really am. I’m not the girlfriend who nudges her boyfriend in the arm every time another one of her friends calls to say she’s […]