This week I had the great opportunity to talk with author Mary Ellen Geist.  Several years ago Mary Ellen was described by the New York Times as the:

I'm going to tell you a truth about life, and in order to do that, I'm putting my revelation in context with the comedy of Russell Peters and his commentary about our racist world. In the piece, Peters draws laughter pointing out a snippet of reality we've probably observed, and he begins it telling white people how much he admires them.

Did you hear Mrs Tennessee was bit by a rattlesnake? (There are snake pictures - don't click if you don't like snakes!) Contrary to the news reports, Mrs Idaho did not pull the fangs out or suck out venom. It would have been cool if she had, though. It appears as though it was Mrs Iowa who offered nursely assistance. I guess it can be hard to tell one beauty queen from another? I just want to clarify that none of the news reporters have checked their facts very well. I am not an RN, I did not pull a snake fang from Mrs. Tennessee's foot and I did not suck the venom out. Yes, I was there and yes I did take lots of pictures (what can you expect from a scrapbooker) but that is it. I have posted pictures of the snake on my blog, but the pictures of Christina are not going to be posted by me. I took them for her and she will decide what to do with them. Just goes to show you that what you see and hear from the media is often very wrong.