Things I Think Are Odd

September 7, 2009

1.  Catch and release fishing.  Ummm ok.  I think I’ll just go out here and stick a hook in a fish just for the fun of it.  But I won’t actually catch the fish for any real reason other than I want to feel like I can fish really well.  I’ll let them all go after I catch them so that I can feel like I’m not a greedy bitch.  It will make me feel all warm and fuzzy to know that I let a fish lunge for food and BAM, it now has what amounts to a grappling hook gouged through its  facial structure.  Never fear though little fishie.  After I’m done yanking it out of your flesh while you gasp for air, I’ll turn you loose and you’ll be just fine.  WTF?

2.Three Minute Long Chantix Commercials. Holy Mother Of God!  These things last for EVER!  I timed the second one I saw, mainly because after the first one came on I went to the kitchen, got a cup of java, a lil scooby snack, checked the clothes in the dryer, and came back only to find the commercial STILL PLAYING!!??!!  What the hell did it cost to put those little devils on there for three solid minutes?  The idea of the price for that is staggering.  I hope they get their money’s worth.  If irritation was money they’d be rich off of me already.

3. Social Kissing.  Ew.  I just don’t get it.  With all the germophobia going around, why would having someone rubbing their lips all over your face be a good idea?  I’d prefer someone grab my ass to having acquaintances rubbing their face around my face.  Having been a bartender for eleven years, I KNOW where some of those lips have been and I’m telling you I do NOT want them anywhere near my mouth!  Just, ick!

4. Michael Jackson’s Two Month Long Wait For Burial.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I think that white people (yes I’m one of them) are way too quick to put their dead in the ground.  Personally I would prefer to have a little bit of time to get used to the idea that I won’t ever be able to lay eyes on my loved one again.  However, two months seems to be pushing it a little.  Where on earth was he for all that time?  Exactly where does one store the dead if you wait two months to bury them?  Do you have pay rent?  Are there utilities?  Too many questions.  And to be honest I don’t really care enough to find out the answers.  Just don’t wait two months, okay?

5. Monetary Compensation For Breaking News Tips.  That’s just gruesome!  Stop it.  It’s like getting paid to be one of those people who wave lanterns at runaway trains.  It’s getting monetary gain for someone else’s misfortune.  Cut it out.  Your momma probably didn’t raise you like that.

6. Teenagers.  Yeah, you know.  Nuff said.

5 Comments | Crack house humor, Crazy, Daily Life, Humor, humour, life, Teenagers, Thoughts | Permalink
Posted by thought4food

Thoughts on Back Yards

August 7, 2009

I have recently become conscious of other people’s back yards.  They fascinate me.  You ride along the road and sometimes catch a little glimpse of a back yard.  My imagination takes over and off I go!

It reminds me of when I was younger and lived in town.  I loved to walk.  I walked everywhere I could every chance I had.  My favorite time to walk was just after dark.  People had turned on their lights, the shades were still up and I could see the upper parts of their walls, and their ceiling.  Occasionally I could see someones head as they passed by.  I always wondered what happened in those houses. 

What were they doing right that second?  Was the whole family together or were they all doing their own things?  You could tell when the television was on because the room flickered.  That made it seem that much more magical.  I never wanted to see the people in the daylight.  I never wanted to be able to see the entire room.  I made up stories for each house and the people I imagined in them. 

Now, back yards make me feel the same way.  I have noticed that often back yards are not at all the same as front yards.  They usually have a totally different feel to them.  My guess is that back yards reflect the owners personality more clearly than front yards. 

Front yards are for show.  Back yards are for living in.  For instance, my front yard is nice and neat(LOL  sometimes!) while my back yard is a total catastrophe!  It is just like my brain, disorganized, messy, but with the potential to be really nice if you could just get a clear picture of what you want and the methods of making it right would come to you in the proper order.

Living way out in the country, I have the chance to see quite a few back yards on my way to and from town.  My favorites are the back yards of older houses.  They usually have old farm buildings back there.  Some have smaller houses as well.  My guess is that the smaller houses are the original house on that site.  Sometimes they are old and empty, sometimes still in use. 

Some of the other things I see in back yards are swing sets, kids toys, gardens, rabbit hutches, chicken coops, interesting small buildings, patios, decks, junk cars,ponds, rusty old farm equipment, horses, and llamas.  I really like the llamas. 

In my own back yard there is the following:  a fire-pit with benches around it, a picnic table, my mom’s house, a grape vine, a ton of roses, a swing set, a barn, some jet skis, the dismantled building from MDH’s grandfather’s house, a garden, a clothes line, a target for knife throwing, a chin up bar, various and sundry bicycles, a canoe, a john boat and a burn pile.  That burn pile is really getting big!  Partly that’s because it contains the chair our dog Ditto gave birth in.  (shudder)

That’s what’s in my back yard, what’s in yours?

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Thoughts For The Day July 2, 2009

July 2, 2009

I have been busy this time so I have an excuse for being irresponsible. 

At the risk of jinxing it, I seem to feel better. Physically, anyway.  So I’ve been pushing myself lately.  Not too much, just enough to feel it a little bit.  Usually when I feel good I push myself way too far and end up FUBAR’d all over again.  I’m trying to use a little common sense this time and push myself a little at a time. 

I go outside even when it’s hot.  Doesn’t seem like much, does it?  But for me it’s huge.  I don’t do heat well at all.  It scrambles my brain and my body.  It makes me feel like I’m suffocating.  It turns my face bright red, and I get dizzy.  My body feels weak and I can’t think right.  I hear words but I don’t understand them.  It takes about four repetitions before I can finally make them make sense.  The inside of my head sounds like helicopter blades….whoomp  whoomp  whoomp.  I know how to do things but the proper order escapes me, so I get bogged down in trying to figure out if I have it right or if I’m forgetting something.  I can’t start anything because I have to keep going over it and over it to make sure I have it right.  It’s never in the same order, no matter how many times I think it through, so I never know which one is right.

I do more things that require strength.  I have a garden.  I work in it.  I dug holes and mixed dirt and planted some plants.  The Buddha and Princess Bella planted alot of plants too.  Like I said, I’m trying to push without over doing it.  Whenever I do anything that requires muscle, I only have a limited amount of time and strength to do it.  After that it’s all I can do to haul my tonnage back to a chair.  I can do it again after I rest.  No matter how much I work at them, my muscles will burn and give out after only a little bit.  I’m trying to have more little bits now, so maybe I can build myself up some. 

I take chances again.   For instance, MDH and I went canoeing down the Dan River a couple of weeks ago.  I was really scared that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off.  But I’m tired of being left behind and never doing anything, so I went.  It was awesome!  Granted, the Dan River was way high, and way fast and mostly all we had to do was steer, but I went!  And, even though my wrists still hurt even after two weeks, I did it.  The satisfaction is well worth the price. 

I drive…..far away…..every week.  The Buddha’s new counselor is in Chapel Hill.  That’s an hour drive from here.  It kills me.  Did you ever make mud pies?  Remember how they would start to dry out, but you could pat them and they would get wet all over again?  Well, riding in a vehicle is like patting my brain.  It gets all mushy and starts to lose it’s form.  It’s a damn scary thing, driving that far away.  I’m never sure if I’m going to be making it home under my own steam or not.  And it is exhausting.  Every time.  It takes me days to get over it, but I DO it. 

I read more.  This should be the easiest thing in the world, right?  No stress, no strain.  It’s not hot, it doesn’t require strength.  However, it does require me to understand the words.  If I’m doing ok, it’s easy.  If I’m not doing ok, it’s hard work.  I have to re-read the same sentence over and over to get it.  I read every book at least four times the first time I read it. 

MDH built a fire pit in our yard.  I love that thing!  I love a campfire.  There was about a year or more after our house burned down when I would go quietly insane whenever I smelled smoke.  I had a raging case of PTSD whenever I saw a flame.  I woke up a bazillion times a night thinking we were on fire again and every time I did, the house looked smokey.  But, I don’t do that much anymore. 

Anyway, we cook on the fire pit every Friday night, weather permitting.  It’s all very cave girl.  Um, cave girl and pioneer I guess.  We have the big ol Dutch oven.  That little baby is a gem!  I can start the fire, keep it going until I have enough coals to cook using the Dutch oven, and feed it coals until the food is done.  Like I said, I love that fire pit.  Can you tell?  One of my favorite things about the fire pit is that I don’t heat up my house by cooking inside.  By dinner time, the heat starts to build up in the house and the last thing I want to do is heat it up even more by cooking.  (remember the heat intolerance thing?  riiiight!) 

We moved our picnic table from the back deck to the fire pit area.  It’s the perfect place for all of us to gather up and play games or just sit and talk.  It’s also nice to sit there in the cool of the morning and drink coffee and watch the day start.  Especially since the outside dogs have taken over the porch swing and now I need to get new cushions for it before humans can use it again. 

My hummingbirds are back this summer.  I have two feeders that hang on the front porch.  If they start getting low on food, the hummers will come and hover in front of the screen door, waiting for me to come fix it!  They are fascinating to me.  The males fight like cats and dogs.  There are four hummers all together.  Two males and two females.  The males spend all of their time chasing each other away from the feeders.  The females wait until they are zooming around the field, then they will swoop in and eat until one of the males comes back.  Then they go sit in a tree until it starts again, which is usually about six seconds. 

We have quite a few bluebirds.  They love to sit on MDH’s motorcycle mirrors and fight with their reflection.  It’s hilarious.  But every once in a while it reminds me that the ancient dinosaur birds were pretty mean fellas.  I forget what they are called……raptors?  Is that it?  Anyway, birds are definitely not serene by nature.  Those pretty little bluebirds are aggressive with those reflections.  And they are building up some new White Cliffs Of Dover on the handlebars, too!  MDH is not amused.

I am now the proud new operator of a riding mower that doesn’t give me vertigo.  I can mow until my heart’s content and still be able to walk upright back to the house when I’m done.  I love the instant gratification of mowing the lawn.  I also love the smell.

All in all, for summer, things are going pretty good.  I’ve knocked wood and rubbed The Buddha’s belly for luck to keep from jinxing myself here.  (you could have bought The Buddha for a nickel when I did that) 

P.S.   Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day – This book rules.  The recipes are easy, they really work, and it feels really good to make your own bread by hand without having to knead yourself into oblivion.  If you’ve never made homemade bread, you’ll be an old hand at it after the second time.  It sorts itself out in your head pretty quick, and considering MY head, that means it’s easy to do.  If nothing else, borrow it from the library and try it at least once.  New experiences are good for you.

1 Comment | Daily Life, Health, Home, Self, Thoughts | Permalink
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I Don’t Even Know What To Title This One

July 2, 2009

I just found out some scary news about one of my favorite people on earth.  I can’t wrap my brain around it.  My friend Mel has a tumor in her brain.  WTF?  How is that fair?  How is that right?  How can this happen?  I have more questions than I have the ability to type. 

She’s my friend.  From the first moment we clicked.  We were riding the same slipstream.  She smart, and fun, and funny, and h0nest,  and brash, and vocal, and sweet,  and real.  She’s herself and I love her for it.  She’s smarter than the average bear.  She’s got dreams and goals and someone she loves.  She has plans.  She has a life!  

So what the hell is a tumor doing in her head?  There is nothing more frightening than being attacked by your own body.  It feels un-natural in the extreme.  It’s wrong on such a fundamental level that it’s hard to even accept, much less understand.

The surgery is soon.  Too soon.  Not soon enough.  My thoughts are scattered everywhere and I can’t seem to catch any of them. 

I read somewhere that there was a study done that proved that people who were in bad health, got well faster if they were prayed for.  They didn’t even need to know that it was happening.  It still worked.

So, do my friend Mel a solid, if you will.  Pray for her.  Start now.  Please?

Leave a Comment » | Family, Friends, Friendship, Health, Help, Thoughts | Permalink
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Nadya Suleman

March 26, 2009

Up to this point I have refrained from commenting on this situation.  Now the pressure to speak is about to blow my teeth right out of my mouth.  I think there are several points on which good old common sense is called for.

Let me begin by saying that the most important factor in this entire situation is the well being of all of Nadya’s children.  Period.  Their well being should be first and foremost in everyone’s mind.  They had no choice in their existence and should not be held responsible for, or pay the price for, anyone else’s decisions.

First:  Nadya made bad decisions.  We all know that and there is no argument about that as far as I can tell.  So, enough of the condemnation.  You can’t unring that bell.  Move on.

She obviously has issues in spades.  I don’t know much of anyone who wouldn’t when viewed through unyielding eye of the public.  The spectacular success of her last pregnancy isn’t one of them.  Yes, she was wrong to have the embryos implanted when she was obviously not able to care, by herself, for the six children she already had.  There were many other options available to her besides the implantation.  For example:  She could have used the money she spent having them implanted to store them for a longer time. 

You have to admit this one thing about it though: In no stretch of the imagination could anyone have thought that not only would all six implants take, but that two of them would split!  Add to that the fact that all eight survived and you have an astronomically cosmic coincidence.  She couldn’t have predicted the extent of that one bad decision.  No one could have.  I believe her when she said that she didn’t expect, based on her previous implants, that any of this would happen.

She needs help in a lot of areas.  However, that doesn’t make her a bad mother or a bad person.  That makes her a normal human being in abnormal circumstances.  Up until Gloria Allred and the Angels In Waiting team were removed from her house, I never heard anyone say she wasn’t a good mother.  Kids don’t care about anything except whether they are loved.  I believe her kids feel loved by her.  Yes I understand that kids need more than love, but these children aren’t going hungry or neglected.  By whatever means are being used, they are being taken care of. 

 

Second:  This audaciously presumptive idea there has to be “Total Transparency” in everything Nadya does.  That’s the biggest crock I’ve ever heard.  That was an idea I first heard spouted by Dr. Phil on his television show.  Usually I agree with Dr. Phil, but this time I think he’s full of it.  The last thing these children need is to have every moment of their lives debated by ignorant assholes with a media fetish  people who could care less about anything but themselves on national television day after day.  What they need is  “Total Privacy“.  That includes Dr. Phil and Gloria Allred!  Butt out!  Stop inserting yourselves into someone else’s life in order to get ratings and media attention.  The powers that be in her area are on it.  Let them do what they are supposed to do and stop trying to use her to get whatever you can for yourself out of it.

 

Third: Dr. Phil and Gloria Allred – I’m ashamed of both of you.  If your main concern was truly the welfare of these fourteen children, you would have quietly and without fanfare, gone to Nadya and offered her whatever help you could.  There was absolutely NO need for all of the shows done or all of the press conferences held in order to assist this mother.  I don’t blame Nadya for not wanting any of you around anymore.  If you were using me and mine the way you used her and hers, I wouldn’t want your greedy butts around me either!

Gloria Allred, what makes you think that you have a right to enter a private residence, uninvited, and then make them force you to leave?  You and your ladies could have just as easily set up a time and place away  from all the media AND THE CHILDREN you claim to want to protect, to have your little celebration, couldn’t you?  That should have been a private celebration away from the children.  The fact that you chose instead to insert yourself into someone’s private residence to do it, then make a big deal out of the fact that you had to leave is the perfect indication that your motives are less than altruistic.  Greed for the spotlight doesn’t look good on anyone, Gloria.  You should keep that in mind.

Fourth: Angels In Waiting – Your best bet would be to stop letting Gloria Allred blow smoke up your ass about how much good it would be for your organization to swoop in and “rescue” these eight preemies.  She did you NO favors.  It’s really NOT your place to “set boundaries” for a woman in her own home in regards to her own children.  The fact that you believe you have that right is frightening and speaks volumes about why you are no longer there.  Nadya’s decision to choose her own assistants seems to me a good first step towards getting a handle on what’s going on around her and her family.  “Total Transparency” is not good for her or her children.  NO one needs to try to live their life on a stage for the approval of the public.  That idea is ridiculous and dangerous, not the least reason being that the public will never approve.   And it’s not the public’s business!  What moron decided that it was?

Did it occur to any of you nice ladies that Nadya had MANY places to be every day?  She still needs to spend time with the four children who remain in the hospital, she has to spend time with the six older children every day, she has to supply food for them, she has to deal with the legal issues she now has.  IF she came home at midnight with Gap bags in hand, it is possible that midnight is the only time she HAS to shop for her children!  And regardless of whether YOU think it’s appropriate or not, she has to have a FEW moments for herself as well if she is to continue to try to care for her family.

Please, get away from Gloria “media hound” Allred.  Take a deep breath and relax.  Now, do you really think you came off well by going on a rant about the replacement of a leaking bathtub?  If she hadn’t replaced the bathtub you would have been having a fit about the unsanitary and unsafe conditions in the house……again.  You really can’t have it both ways.  Just accept the fact that it didn’t work out, you won’t come out of all this as the heros you saw yourselves being in the beginning, and let it go.  You’re embarassing yourselves by all this justification. 

Let your organization and it’s deeds speak for themselves and you’ll be fine.  I’m sure that in normal circumstances you are all fine and giving people. 

 

And…… on a view I have heard way too often lately by people who have the media spotlight:  Dr. Phil stated today that the legitimate press was too often quoting the internet and therefore reporting false information.      Dear God where do I start with that one? 

 1. It is the JOB of the “legitimate” media to check their facts before they report them!    If someone on the internet reported that Dr. Phil was a pedophile, wouldn’t it be the job of the “legitimate” press to check their facts before they reported it?  “I read it on the internet” isn’t really your best defence if you are “legitimate” press! 

Dr. Phil also stated that that is a “problem” with the internet, that anyone with a computer can say whatever they want to say!

2. Well DUH!  To quote YOU on your show today, “This is America!”  As far as I know, the right to free speech is still alive and well in America.  Just because you don’t agree, it doesn’t give you the right to condemn the rest of us for speaking OUR minds.  YOU do that too, Dr. Phil.  We’re not out here trying to get your show taken off the air just because you are so incredibly wrong in the way you dealt with Nadya Suleman!  OR because you make your living off the backs of desperate people who need help.  Now are we?  So you can take your dislike of the internet and those of us who speak our minds and stick it where the sun don’t shine. 

 

One last thing for those of you who believe that putting Nadya Suleman’s children in foster care:  You obviously have NO idea what you’re talking about.  I was awarded custody of  my grandchildren only after they spent eight months in foster care.  They were abused both emotionally and physically.  Their very blood was vilified because they had different fathers.  They were turned against each other in a way that was horrifying.  Only now, after nearly six years of weekly counseling, are they able to interact with each other in an almost normal way.  Survival instincts are very hard to undo.

The foster care mother they had no longer cares for children because, right after my grandchildren left her care, a child died.  Unattended in a bathtub.  So, unless you are going to personally guarantee the safety of these children, both physically and emotionally, STFU.  You can’t imagine the devastating effect of being wrenched from your natural parents.  No matter how bad their home was, it was home.  No matter how much you love and care for them you will never ever be their parents.  They will always long for the home they lost.  They will never feel that they totally belong.  They will always feel once removed.  Even when they understand that it was the best thing for them, you can’t take their longing for belonging away from them.  You can never take the shame of being removed from their parents away from them either. 

So, unless you feel that total emotional devastation is an acceptable price for these kids to pay for their mother’s bad decisions, please stop talking about it.  It will only hurt them when the person you really want to punish is their mother. 

I wish the best for Nadya Suleman and each and every one of her children.  So should everyone who professes to care for the welfare of those children.  And I hope that I don’t hear another word about her for a long, long time.

29 Comments | America, Blogging, Child Abuse, Children, Family, news, Seeing Red, Thoughts | Permalink
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Thoughts 3.5.09

March 5, 2009

I watched Princess Bride again yesterday.  I love that movie.  It made me think though…….we see movies based on books all the time, but we never see a book based on a movie.  Why is that?

 

Another thing I’ve been thinking about lately is this:  Why is it that some people have no problem creating children, but when the children are no longer in their “possession”, they can’t imagine a reason in the world why they should be financially responsible?  What must one say to oneself to make it alright to not pay child support?  How do you justify to yourself that it’s okay to throw a $500.00 party, but it’s not even in the realm of possibility to pay for your child to eat, or have clothes that fit, or maybe just eat at McDonalds?  People sometimes mystify me. 

 

Rihanna is living proof that even celebrities are not immune to the battered wife syndrome.  Hell, she’s not even married to Chris Brown and she’s putting up with this crap.  It’s unfortunate that people see themselves from the inside out just when they most need to see themselves from the outside in.  I wish them both luck.

 

Why don’t the banks stop taking back houses that they can’t sell, and in the process, creating an entirely new class of h0meless people?  Why not take half payments on mortgages until the economy gets better?  Isn’t half of something better than one hundred percent of nothing? 

 

I’m old.  I know this not because I’m fifty-one but because I don’t get it anymore.  I don’t understand why people feel the need to live out their lives on a stage for all the world to see.  I like my life to belong to me and the people that I’m closest to.  I don’t feel the need to “update my status” multiple times a day for people that I don’t know and never will.  I don’t want pictures of myself and my family all over the internet.  I can use the phone and call whoever I want to.  I can drive down the road and see people all day long.   It seems to me that by living your entire life for the public to see makes it so that everyone feels the right to be a critic.  And in my opinion there are only two people who have a right to comment on my life and that’s me and My Dearest Husband.  Everyone else can just stick a sock in it. 

 

It is very, very, VERY hard to give away fifteen puppies, but it is NOT impossible if you have a nearby WalMart parking lot and a few hours!

1 Comment | Children, Daily Life, Thoughts | Permalink
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“Hate Crime” at North Carolina State University

November 14, 2008

After the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, four unidentified students at North Carolina State University spray painted racist comments in the “Free Expression Tunnel.”  The students admitted to doing it and the university police, state and federal authorities have not charged the students with any crimes at this time.

However, students at the university are calling for a “Free Expression Tunnel Hate Crime Act” in order to prevent/punish actions of this kind in the future.  The NAACP are also calling for “Hate Crime” legislation.

I find this entire incident disturbing on several levels:

1. Does anyone else find it screamingly ridiculous for them to want to censor comments made in the “Free Expression Tunnel”? Name it the “Free Expression, But Only If You Agree With The Majority , Tunnel.”  What kind of idiot thought bitching about what was written in a tunnel with that name was a good idea?  If the tunnel is NOT for free expression, don’t name it that.

2. No one reporting on, commenting about, or involved with this stupidity has yet mentioned that elephant standing in the big, fat middle of the “Free Expression Tunnel.”

3. I dislike the entire idea of a “hate crime” being legislated differently than any other crime.  What this boils down to is that people want to legislate thought and feeling.  When a citizen of this country can be prosecuted for what they think, we have ceased to live in America. 

 What ever happened to agreeing to disagree?  Every time someone with a different point of view speaks out, people want to run to the legislature to have a law passed against it.  We have come to the point that we believe we have a right NOT to be offended by what we consider wrong thought. 

 Now, let me just say that I totally think that what was written was reprehensible.  It shows the ignorance, intolerance, and stupidity of the individuals involved.  That’s my personal opinion.  They wrote their personal opinion.  I, for one, don’t want to limit they’re ability to express their opinion because when I’m successful at doing that it opens the door for someone else to limit MY ability to express my opinion. I feel that I have that right because I still live in America (for now, anyway).  One of the foundations our country was built on was that of free speech for every citizen. 

I do like the NAACP’s idea of diversity training.  But, again, that’s just me.  If I choose to become an informed, educated, sensible human being then that’s my right.  If you choose to remain an ignorant ass, that’s your right.

I have a very personal reason for not wanting this kind of hatred to spread.  I wish people could get over the idea that the melanin levels in our skin mean something about our character.  That’s my own personal little pipe dream.  As long as we have people who’s self esteem is only raised by lowering someone else, we’ll have people who dog out others for whatever reason they can find.

I think we need to lose the Law Mongering mentality and grab a clue here.  Our new President-elect is a man of mixed race!  The majority of this nation elected him.  People will grouse and fuss and argue and bitch about him just like they have every other president we’ve ever had.  The Bush’s were dogged out because they were Texans.  President-elect Obama will get dogged out because he’s mixed.  Learn to live with it. 

One last thing:  Be careful what you wish for.  All of these laws that people want to make up concerning “hate crimes” can’t be implemented to cover only what YOU want them to mean.  Eventually each and every one of you who want them will be subject to them yourselves.  Then YOU will be the one who can’t say what you think or believe or feel. 

At that point you will no longer live in the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”.

2 Comments | America, Crazy, Crime, Law, Legal, life, news, Rights, Seeing Red, Thoughts | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
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Musings On Nothing Relevant

November 8, 2008

One of my teachers from childhood told me this story and I remember it often:

One night at the dinner table a husband asks his wife why she always cuts the roast in half and only cooks half at a time.  The wife thinks about this and says, “That’s the way my mother always did it.”  She thinks about this and decides to find out why.  She calls her mother and asks her the same question.  Her mother answers, “I do it that way because that’s the way my mother did it.”  Now mom is curious so she calls her mother and asks why she always cut the roast in half and only cooked half at a time.  Her mother replies, “I did it that way because my roasting pan was too small to fit the whole roast!” 

We often get in the habit of doing things and never really question why.  When the light bulb goes off over our head, it sometimes gets hilarious.  Think about the things you do out of habit.  You might just get a laugh when you find out the origin of the habit.

Which brings me to the next part of my post:  The origin of phrases we use everyday, but have no idea where they came from or what they really mean/meant. I found two really great websites that give the origin of phrases and words.  I’ll list them at the bottom of the post.  For now, let’s look at a few of the common phrases we use everyday but never question.

The quick and the dead:  This phrase didn’t start out meaning “fast and dead”, which was made popular by the Sharon Stone movie of the same name.  Quick means alive.  So the phrase means “the living and the dead”.  You can click on either of the links and find a more complete explanation.

Three sheets in the wind:  We use this phrase to mean blind, stumbling drunk.  It’s a nautical term.  The sheets aren’t the sails, which is what I thought.  The sheets are the ropes or chains that secure the sail in place.  If three of the sheets are loose and blowing in the wind the sail will flap and move like a drunken sailor. 

Tit for Tat:  This phrase is used to mean returning slight for slight or returning in kind what we have been given, usually something bad.  It was originally spelled “tip for tap” as in blow for blow.  The spelling was changed to tit for tat. 

The websites that gave me the explanations for these phrases have a blue million more as well.

The Phrase Finder is here:    http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/t.html

Word Origins is here:   http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/big_list/

These sites are interesting and informative and will be a total time suck if you’re like me and can’t get enough of explanations for things.

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Thoughts For The Day November 7, 2008

November 7, 2008

Election

Well, we have a new president elect.  I wish President Obama luck and success in all he tries to do that is good for this country and its’ people.

I was listening to him discuss the new puppy his family is getting when he described himself as a “mutt.”  At first it seemed humorous, but after a bit it wasn’t so much funny as painful.  I know how difficult it can be for people of mixed race, especially if it is black & white.  They rarely seem to feel like they belong to either race.  It can be a hard and lonely existence. 

It would thrill me to no end to be able to figure out a way for them to identify with allof their cultures.  It makes sense to me.  That’s what I do.  I’m German, Irish, Scotts, French, Canadian, and Asian.  I’m not sure exactly where in Asia, but it showed in my eyes a lot before my face started melting.  My eyes had a very pronounced slant.  And I can’t confirm it yet, but I have a suspicion that there are Native American genes on my father’s side. 

I embrace each and every one of those places and cultures.  Being of more than one nationality, like most people, I pick and choose which things I want to keep about a culture and which I choose not to keep.  I’m each and every one, therefore they all belong to me.  I can do with it what I will. 

I do NOT have to pick only one, because that would be denial.  I am ALL of those things and undoubtedly even more that I’m not aware of.  I am them and they are me.

Sometimes I’m very German, other times I’m a Scot through and through.  I have no problem moving from one to the other.  It seems to be harder for people of black and white mix.  Probably because of racial conflicts that are instilled in peoples’ memory. 

I hope our new president will be able to help people of mixed race to overcome some of that discomfort.  If he can go even a tiny bit in that direction he will have my vote.  (an itty bitty pun there) 

 

Halloween

We had a great time Halloween night.  I was feeling really good so we went to the Fire Fighter’s Burned Childrens Fund haunted house.  It was CREEPY.  It was fun.  It was huge.  It took all night to get everyone in the line through the house and the woods trail.  We bugged out at about 11:30 pm.  It seemed like it had only been a few minutes that we were there. 

MDH dressed up like a scarecrow with a pumpkin head.  That sounds innocuous enough, but it was really disconcerting.  He had this HUGE pumpkin head that he got from Wally World.  He had cut the bottom out, hot glued an orangey-yellow film over the openings and put it over his head.  You really had a hard time keeping your eyes off of him. 

He went onto the woods trail and stood by a tree.  Now, MDH does Tai Chi.  So he was doing this standing exercise to keep from locking his knees and fainting, because he was exhausted from working all night the night before and getting no sleep.  When you came around the corner and saw him, it looked for all the world like he was hanging from the tree.  Everyone thought he was stuffed.  He would wait until about half of each group would go by, then slowly bend into the line and reach his hands out.  Sometimes he would speak, and sometimes not.  I have never heard grown people scream so much like little girls!  After twenty times of seeing it, it still creeped me out in the extreme to go past him.

Princess Bella was stationed at the exit door of the haunted house.  After each group would go through the haunted house, the guides would tell you that now you were going to go on the haunted trail.  You thought everything was over, you descended the back stairs of the house and stepped out onto the porch thinking that you were going to get a moment to gather yourself when BOOM!!!!  Princess Bella would scream at the top of her lungs and start making this God Awful banging.  It made you want to jump out of your skin.  And it didn’t help that she was  the perfect little Cinderella.  It just made the contrast that much more disconcerting.

The Buddha and I were the back guides on the tours.  We followed the groups through the house and trail in order to keep everyone together and to block them from running backwards off course.  It was hilarious and spooky all at the same time.  We had one group of kids that skattered in the very first room.  Before it was over, we had lost three of them.  They demanded to go back to their moms.  It was great.

I went through that house for hours, in fifteen minute intervals.  I walked my every lovin legs off.  It was great.  It took me two days to be able to stand up without groaning like I was 100 years old. 

When we left at 11:30, there were still about 100 people waiting in line to go through and more were still coming.  They were such a success that they opened it again the next night!  THAT rules!

We did the same thing we do every Halloween, we bought all of our favorite candy for the trick or treat bowl.  But we weren’t here to give it to trick or treaters, so we get to eat it all.  I guess that means that I need to learn to love my fluffy figure.  🙂

Accomplishments

MDH got employee of the month at work.  He got a certificate, a paper with his picture on it along with a description of what he did to earn it, and a great big huge re re looking thing to hang on his rear view mirror so that he can park in the Employee of the Month parking space.  I died laughing at the parking thingie.  It’s twice the size of a handicapped card that you hang on your mirror.  He said that he wasn’t going to use it.  I don’t blame him.  I am very proud of him for getting this honor because he deserves it.  Congrats, MDH!

The Buddha and Princess Bella both got honor roll on their report cards.  I’m proud of both of them because I see how hard they work everyday to get good grades.  We had a special dinner when they got their report cards in order to celebrate.  I love it when a plan comes together.

I went grocery shopping.  I know this doesn’t seem like much of an accomplishment.  But……when they rang up my groceries it came to $249 and change.  After all my coupons and discounts and such it was $164 and change.  I really like that.  A guy in the line behind me said that if it didn’t stop taking money off, that they were going to end up having to pay ME for buying groceries.  Kinda made me feel good.

My daughter and son-in-law both have their child support set up.  I’ll start getting it this month.  Considering all of the circumstances, that is one hell of an accomplishment for both of them.  I’m happy and the kids will be too.

Rocky has settled into her house.  I am happy for her but I miss having her here.  I know that she’s only a few feet away but it’s not the same.  She gets more familiar with her surroundings every day. 

So, that’s us.  That’s what’s going on up here on the hill.  That and the leaves are changing.  MDH and I pulled onto the Lane today and a breeze was blowing.  It sent the leaves falling down around us.  It was snowing leaves.  It was a beautiful sight to see and it made a memory that I won’t forget for many years to come. 

I love autumn.

 

PS……Click on the Bloggers Unite badge to the right and read about how you can help.  Then come back here on Novemeber 10th to read my blog post on refugees.  Better yet, write your own and we can read each other’s posts.

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Aimless Wandering Of My Brain

October 14, 2008

Our local convenience stores and gas stations are having a price war.  (Excuse me while I jump for joy)  They are currently down to $2.99 a gallon.  When you consider that my vehicle sucks gasoline like an alkie at an open bar, this is happy news for me.  I hope they continue along these lines because I have been trying to wean my truck off of the stuff and it’s like trying to rehab Robert Downey, Jr.  Not gonna happen!  Any day now I expect to get a call telling me to come pick my truck up from the impound yard because it was found asleep in a stranger’s garage. 

Drew Cary sucks as a replacement for Bob Barker.  I’m not sure anyone would have been able to take Bob’s place smoothly, however, Drew Cary sucks as a replacement for Bob Barker.  I had to say it again because once is simply not enough.

I will be immeasurably happy when the elections are over.  If I see one more campaign add that features a fifteen year old video clip of one of the candidates, taken out of context, I’ll puke.  If they were more evenly matched physically, I’d just love to see them mud wrestle.  It would be far more entertaining than having to dodge all the mud they’re slinging. 

I love sunrises and especially sunsets.  This has nothing to do with anything, but as the title says, I’m rambling.

I love being grown up.  Unlike Princess Bella and The Buddha, I get to stay up as late as I want and play video games!  Yay me!  I got one for my birthday.  I rule and I have mad skillz.  No one can touch me on the game.  This is mainly because I have all day and all night to play and they don’t.  Sucks to be them.  I still rule!  MDH will catch up with me in time, but for right now, I’m da boss.

DeeDee, our momma dog, is in heat.  I let her out the other morning and she ran off for a couple of hours.  The next time I saw her she was running out of the woods from a direction I have never seen her go in.  I believe that she took off and got some “strange.”  *sigh*  This could get ugly.

Tomorrow I get to spend my third day in court at a child support hearing for the kids.  I would rather take the beating.  They never say my name, they never speak to me, yet I have to be there every time.  They would never know it if I didn’t show up.  I would be just my luck that if I didn’t go, that would be the day they decided to call my name.  You would think that after three months it would be settled, but nooooo.  Sheesh!

Strangely enough, being fifty-one is just like being fifty.  Whoda thunk it?

I always over-pack for trips, vacations, etc.  If you have it and you don’t need it, it’s no biggie.  If you need it and don’t have it, it is a biggie.

I wish I could remember to write down my ideas for this blog so that I wouldn’t forget the things I think about that I want to write. No such luck.  If I did write it down, I would forget where I put it, anyway.  The neuropsychologist told me that I needed to use organizational tricks to remember things.  She used pocket sized notebooks as an example.  Yeah, right.  I have about thirty of those floating around here.  I can pick up any one of them and read what I wrote in it, but I cannot for the life of me tell you what any of it means or why I wrote whatever it is.  It’s like reading a dead language. 

I want to learn a dead language.  That way, if I screw it up, who will know?

I sometimes consider having my legs amputated.  They usually work pretty good and there is nothing fatal wrong with them.  But if my legs were gone people wouldn’t look at me so strange when I say I can’t do something that they think I should be able to do.  That “Oh PLEASE!!!!” look would be gone.  That would be nice…….for a minute.  I guess I would rather have my legs and just hope that someday education will win the fight and people won’t be so thoughtless.  That kind of thing always makes me feel bad about myself.  It hurts.

What in the name of all that’s holy could women over the normal age for childbearing be thinking of when they deliberately get pregnant?????  Say a fifty year old woman gets pregnant.  By the time her kid is of age, she will be in her seventies.  Who the hell thinks THAT is a good idea?  On the other hand, I’m prejudiced against the idea only because I’m tired and old and I’m raising kids who feel cheated because I can’t walk through the haunted house with them.  Any of you who feel that you need to get pregnant when you’re over the normal childbearing age, just remember, you aren’t the only person to consider.  Then, when you’re done, you tell me to STFU and mind my own business.  Do what you think is right. 

I have heard and read a bazillion arguments against gay marriage and I have yet to hear a single one that doesn’t end up reading like this: “Two thousand years ago, in a land I’ve never been to, a God that didn’t belong to me told some people that have nothing whatsoever to do with me, in a language that isn’t mine and never will be, that it was a bad idea.  It says so right here in my never altered, never mis-translated, never amended, never changed by human hands, English language, KING JAMES version  Bible.”   However, those same people shave their faces, cut their hair, get divorced, steal, lie, and covet their neighbor’s ass like there’s no tomorrow.  And still there is not one iota of an indication of how gay marriage is going to harm anyone, of how it will adversely effect one single person.  If the only argument against it is a religious based one, it has no place in the laws of this country.  Get over it.

2 Comments | Gay, life, Random, Thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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