So by this point, everyone who knows me knows that I really hate technology BUT I give into it because, well, that is just that way it is these days. For quite some time now, I have not had a printer for my computer. I do some bookkeeping work on the computer, it isn't just for fun and games, and I really needed a printer. The last time I bought a printer was years, and I mean years ago. So, I went into Best Buy and all I really wanted was a very simple black and white printer that makes copies and doesn't need to be able to fax anything. Simple, very very very simple...and not expensive. I made my way to the printers and was almost attacked by the salesMEN! They really must work on commission because I felt like a piece of flypaper in a roomful of flies. It was weird but at least I wasn't waiting for someone to help me until the end of time.
Which reminds me of the time that I went to Wal-mart (I really don't like going there at all) and I had to pick up a basketball backboard for my grandson's birthday gift, I went to the very back of the store where they used to have a layaway department but now it is the area where you pick up things if you order online. I was waiting at the counter and there were a few employees who looked at me but didn't offer to help me. Then a few more employees showed up and then a few more and a few more until the entire room was almost FULL of Wal-mart employees who were sitting on all of the counters and talking amongst themselves. It was like...do I have a cloaking device on and they REALLY CAN'T see me? It so reminded me of the movie "The Birds" by Alfred Hitchcock. I was afraid these blue coated employees might end up attacking me or something. I left the room. Finally, my wife, Kathy came to my rescue and got the manager and we got the basketball backboard and left. The whole thing was way too creepy for me and I am never ordering anything online with Wal-mart again because I have absolutely no desire to reprise Tippi Hedron's role with Wal-mart employees playing the crows. NO WAY!
Anywhooo, back to Best Buy and printer shopping. I told the young man in the printer department exactly what I wanted and he got another associate to show me the exact printer I needed and ta-da it was a done deal. I checked out and was out of the store in no time. I even took the time to answer a questionnaire about the service I received at Best Buy because despite the "attack mode" of the associates it was a quick, simple and pleasant experience. I was happy and I have a new printer. Yeah!
The next day I set my task to install the printer. The last time I installed a printer you hooked it up, the computer recognized new hardware, you put in the disc, clicked install and it was done. Okay, remember when I said that the last time I bought a printer was years ago. Well, it wasn't really years ago, it was EONS ago based on my brand new printer installation experience.
First, I got out the directions because I have found that with computer equipment it is always best to follow the directions. Normally, I just don't "do" directions because most items that need assembly are fairly simply to do and directions just slow down the process of finishing the project. But, again, not in the case of computer equipment...directions are a must. So, off I go with my installation process! Yippee! The plugging in was easy and I happen to have a wireless network so that meant less wires and less plugging in! YEAH! I hate wires! I truly believe everything should be wireless...and I mean everything! When the Best Buy salesmen told me that the printer was wireless....I was sold!!! So, I am proceeding with the installation and the printer has to "talk" to my wireless network. That is so weird. I was TOLD, not asked mind you, but TOLD by the printer that I must put in the correct passcode. Okay, something is wrong now because the printer who just became a member of the family knows that I have a passcode and I didn't know I had a passcode. How does it know???? And why don't I know??? So, I put in a passcode that I use for other stuff. The printer YELLED at me...truly! She said, I feel that the printer must be a woman because she is getting quite disagreeable, that "I put in the wrong passcode and I need to check out why and correct it and get back with her and put in the correct passcode". I was just cut off by a printer! I couldn't believe it! What happened to the time when you put in the disc and the computer said "Install Now" and you, as the user, made the decisions. You were in charge. This was your computer and printer. No more, I say. The machines are now telling US what to do.
I had no choice in the matter at this point and had to find the passcode. Luckily, the friend who had installed the wireless network wrote everything down on a piece of paper which included the INFAMOUS PASSCODE! So I went back to the printer and enter the wireless passcode and I'll be darn, the printer started installing and blinking and doing all sorts of flashing lights and told me to WAIT. I figured she'd let me know when she was done installing and/or needed me again. I swear if the printer had hands she just would have pushed me out of the way and said "human, move over, I got this!". So, off and on, the printer told me what to do but basically had the whole installation process under control....until.....the little screen started flashing "critical failure". Are you kidding me! I have spent the last hour soothing the likes of a bossy printer and being subservient to this inanimate object and now she says "critical failure". At this point, I think the printer who is now duly named, Bossy, was messing with me hard. Really hard. I actually cussed at this moment in time. Something I rarely every do. I was disgusted. Printers playing mind games..what has the world come to now. Well, I showed ole Bossy! I shut her down and unplugged her. HA! Now who is the boss, I say! Thinking to myself...you can't be bossy if you aren't plugged in to a wall socket! I'll show you! So I took my good old time ..... waiting....waiting....waiting...and then I plugged the bossy printer back in and took control this time. You will install correctly, I said. No more messing with me! Well, I guess Bossy responds better to an in charge kind of gal because she complied and now I have a nice obedient printer just waiting for my command to print something important. She is even putting up with our cats who like to lounge on her. However, as to not push my luck, I did put a towel over her sleek black casing so she wouldn't get scratched by the cat claws or fuzzy from the cat shedding. Now, Bossy seems perfectly content and has learned how to be a part of our family. Thank goodness!
Until next time,
Anne
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Robert Frost Sucks
When I was in high school, I had several favorite writers when it came to my English class. I truly enjoyed the works of Pearl Buck and Henry David Thoreau. I never was much for Shakespeare but I did enjoy The Merchant of Venice. That was a great story. I always enjoyed poetry and was especially fond of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken". I enjoyed and was enthralled by the whole concept of the poem. I was never one to follow the pack.
I liked being different and sometimes I was different just because I was, not because I tried. Sometimes being different was difficult. I was shy and still am shy. Sometimes I feel like I just see things or feel things differently than other people. I am very old fashioned in so many ways and I have always felt like an "old soul" even when I was a youngster. I was never part of the "in crowd". I never really wanted to part of that "in crowd" to be honest. I was never giggly or silly or all into making some fashion statement or have the latest fad item of clothing. I was always overweight and went through that awkward pimples, glasses and braces phase. That was such a joy! My friends were always the different people too and I never had a lot of friends. I had a few friends that were loyal and just special individuals. No one I associated with were divas or drama queens or cheerleaders or anything. For example, my best friend in junior high school learned how to fly a plane and got her pilot's license at 15 years old. She was something back then and continued on that path as an adult.
So when I thought about Robert Frost's poem, I always related to it. I felt like I always took the less traveled path in life. I rather liked it as I don't want to be like a cow that just follows the herd and runs off a cliff. No! Not me!
As I grew up, I made some different choices. I didn't go to college to "get away and party" like so many young people do. Instead, I started working. I had a high work ethic although a lot of people my own age didn't at all. I became a mom at 19-years-old when my daughter was born while most of the girls I knew had no thoughts of anything more than their hair products or what was going on the coming Friday night. I was much more serious than them. And even in my shyness, I eventually started my own home-based business. I was tired of office politics and lackadaisical work standards as that just wasn't me. It took a risk and took control and it panned out.
Then 13 years ago I took another risk that changed my whole life. I realized that I was gay and embraced the fact of who I really was. Talk about going down a less traveled path....I really did it. I lost a lot in this process but I found myself and it's the best thing I ever did. I am different and it is all good.
So for quite some time, I have been travelling down this less traveled path and in the process I have found my soul mate and myself. It is a wonderful thing.
But, at the same time, I have realized that the less traveled path can be a royal pain! The hardest part of this path isn't finding yourself it's about what you do as a profession in your life. The less travelled path is for the dreamers. I am one of them. Dreamers have visions and magnificent plans in their brains that constantly go 'round and 'round. Dreamers, I believe, are the people that make things happen and make things change. The dreamers go out on the limb and risk it all. Dreamers are never complacent about life. Dreamers actually seek out that less travelled path and want to run down it even with the brambles and ruts. It's a crazy thing to seek it out...the difficulties and the hardships. But I am hoping that Robert Frost was right. I am hoping that the road not taken is the right road. A road where your blood, sweat and soul and all that you are as a person and all you have to give is worth the walk through the difficulties. In my heart, I do believe it is worth it. But if for any reason I am wrong...then I am going to say that Robert Frost sucks!
Until next time,
Anne
I liked being different and sometimes I was different just because I was, not because I tried. Sometimes being different was difficult. I was shy and still am shy. Sometimes I feel like I just see things or feel things differently than other people. I am very old fashioned in so many ways and I have always felt like an "old soul" even when I was a youngster. I was never part of the "in crowd". I never really wanted to part of that "in crowd" to be honest. I was never giggly or silly or all into making some fashion statement or have the latest fad item of clothing. I was always overweight and went through that awkward pimples, glasses and braces phase. That was such a joy! My friends were always the different people too and I never had a lot of friends. I had a few friends that were loyal and just special individuals. No one I associated with were divas or drama queens or cheerleaders or anything. For example, my best friend in junior high school learned how to fly a plane and got her pilot's license at 15 years old. She was something back then and continued on that path as an adult.
So when I thought about Robert Frost's poem, I always related to it. I felt like I always took the less traveled path in life. I rather liked it as I don't want to be like a cow that just follows the herd and runs off a cliff. No! Not me!
As I grew up, I made some different choices. I didn't go to college to "get away and party" like so many young people do. Instead, I started working. I had a high work ethic although a lot of people my own age didn't at all. I became a mom at 19-years-old when my daughter was born while most of the girls I knew had no thoughts of anything more than their hair products or what was going on the coming Friday night. I was much more serious than them. And even in my shyness, I eventually started my own home-based business. I was tired of office politics and lackadaisical work standards as that just wasn't me. It took a risk and took control and it panned out.
Then 13 years ago I took another risk that changed my whole life. I realized that I was gay and embraced the fact of who I really was. Talk about going down a less traveled path....I really did it. I lost a lot in this process but I found myself and it's the best thing I ever did. I am different and it is all good.
So for quite some time, I have been travelling down this less traveled path and in the process I have found my soul mate and myself. It is a wonderful thing.
But, at the same time, I have realized that the less traveled path can be a royal pain! The hardest part of this path isn't finding yourself it's about what you do as a profession in your life. The less travelled path is for the dreamers. I am one of them. Dreamers have visions and magnificent plans in their brains that constantly go 'round and 'round. Dreamers, I believe, are the people that make things happen and make things change. The dreamers go out on the limb and risk it all. Dreamers are never complacent about life. Dreamers actually seek out that less travelled path and want to run down it even with the brambles and ruts. It's a crazy thing to seek it out...the difficulties and the hardships. But I am hoping that Robert Frost was right. I am hoping that the road not taken is the right road. A road where your blood, sweat and soul and all that you are as a person and all you have to give is worth the walk through the difficulties. In my heart, I do believe it is worth it. But if for any reason I am wrong...then I am going to say that Robert Frost sucks!
Until next time,
Anne
The Monkey Took My Ladder
Crazy title isn't it. Well I promise it will make sense, eventually. I had this habit, and actually still do, about picking the fuzz or loose hair off of Kathy's shirt. One day Kathy said, "you are just like a monkey picking stuff off of me!". I had to agree, monkeys do tend to pick "things" off of each other. Well, then she went on to add, "you are like the Queen of the Monkey People!". I had never been a queen of anything so I thought it was kind of cool to be a queen even if it was of the monkey people. Seemed like quite an honor! At about this time, Kathy and I were on a bowling league. That seems unrelated but actually it isn't at all. The other members of our bowling team were informed that I was THE Queen of the Monkey People as I had no problem in picking fuzz off of Kathy's shirt even in a public place like the bowling alley! Our team members felt quite "honored" to have a queen on their team and when my birthday rolled around I was given hand towels with little crowns embroidered on them and a button that said "make way for the queen" and several other very queenly type gifts.
Well, news spread quickly and our friends, especially Rebecca and John, found out about my royal title and I was bestowed many gifts on special occasions such as an actual barrel of monkeys - stuffed monkeys in all shapes, colors and sizes. I received a flying monkey that had a red cape which flew across the room with a contraption that looked like a big rubber band. I also received many little porcelain monkeys, and pencil topper monkeys, and monkey puzzles and monkey band aids and every other type of monkey paraphernalia known to man. It was great! I was the queen and I had a bunch of little monkey subjects even if they were stuffed or came in different shapes and materials.
I even had an experience that I will never forget when I looked out my window and I had LIVE monkey people in the trees in our backyard! We were having our trees thinned and much to my surprise there were a bunch of guys swinging from ropes between the trees and trimming the branches! It was like they knew the Queen of the Monkey People lived in our house and they were putting on a spectacle for ME! It was awesome!
Now some time has passed and I have enjoyed all of my monkey business! It has been great fun! Recently, I have taken a liking to computer games that have hidden objects and seek-and-find scenes. I purchased a game called "Return to Mysterious Island". This is a very cool game! The premise is a girl is stranded on an island and you have to help her get off of the island. You do this by finding different items that help repair her cell phone or make sure she eats or build a fire. In the course of the game, she befriends, GUESS WHAT, a monkey!!! His name is Jep and you have to nurse him back to health and in return he helps out.
So I really felt like the Queen of the Monkey People all over again because now I actually had a cyber simulated monkey! Too cool! Unfortunately, where there is a nice monkey friend there also happens to be not so nice monkeys on this island. The mean monkeys throw things at you and have clubs to prevent you from proceeding in the game. For these mean monkeys, you must make them homemade cakes or a potion that will make them go to sleep. It is hard to appease these monkeys and I was a tad annoyed because they obviously did NOT know that I am The Queen of the Monkey People and I should not be treated harshly. I tried my best to make these bad monkeys respect me and as I was playing the game I was talking to them.
Kathy, who was sitting in the room reading at the time, was quite amused that I was talking to the computer game. Then all of the sudden, I shouted, "the monkey stole my ladder!". Kathy surely thought I had lost my mind but I couldn't help it! I was trying to climb up this cliff with a ladder that I had made and this darn monkey took my ladder! It was appalling and caused me quite a bit of grief in playing the game because then I had to go all the way around the dumb island in order to get where I needed to go. If that monkey hadn't stolen my ladder it would have been just fine and dandy. I tried getting my ladder back by giving that monkey a cake or a coconut or anything I could think of that was available in the game but he totally refused. He was not a nice monkey at all. I was completely annoyed. I tried to have my monkey friend Jep appeal to him but there was no bargaining and even Jep said "no way" to me. I gave that mean monkey a good talking to but nothing worked. He totally ignored me.
So my conclusion is that totally without my knowledge I must have been dethroned as The Queen of the Monkey People. If I can't get respect from the computer simulated monkey then I won't have much luck with a real one! And even my friend monkey, Jep, that I totally nursed back to health, wouldn't help me out. It is quite disappointing all the way around!
So, I must have had my 15 minutes of fame and now it is over. Now I will just return the regular old Anne without any title. But, at least, I can look back and know that for a short time I really was The Queen of the Monkey People and I did a good job during my reign. Now I pass the torch onto the next candidate whomever that may be. I hope you don't run into any insolent and rude cyber monkeys during your reign because I wouldn't want you to get surprisingly usurped like I did! So good luck to you, next Queen. If by any chance you need any advice don't hesitate to ask as I am quite an authority on monkey business!
Until next time,
Anne
Well, news spread quickly and our friends, especially Rebecca and John, found out about my royal title and I was bestowed many gifts on special occasions such as an actual barrel of monkeys - stuffed monkeys in all shapes, colors and sizes. I received a flying monkey that had a red cape which flew across the room with a contraption that looked like a big rubber band. I also received many little porcelain monkeys, and pencil topper monkeys, and monkey puzzles and monkey band aids and every other type of monkey paraphernalia known to man. It was great! I was the queen and I had a bunch of little monkey subjects even if they were stuffed or came in different shapes and materials.
I even had an experience that I will never forget when I looked out my window and I had LIVE monkey people in the trees in our backyard! We were having our trees thinned and much to my surprise there were a bunch of guys swinging from ropes between the trees and trimming the branches! It was like they knew the Queen of the Monkey People lived in our house and they were putting on a spectacle for ME! It was awesome!
Now some time has passed and I have enjoyed all of my monkey business! It has been great fun! Recently, I have taken a liking to computer games that have hidden objects and seek-and-find scenes. I purchased a game called "Return to Mysterious Island". This is a very cool game! The premise is a girl is stranded on an island and you have to help her get off of the island. You do this by finding different items that help repair her cell phone or make sure she eats or build a fire. In the course of the game, she befriends, GUESS WHAT, a monkey!!! His name is Jep and you have to nurse him back to health and in return he helps out.
So I really felt like the Queen of the Monkey People all over again because now I actually had a cyber simulated monkey! Too cool! Unfortunately, where there is a nice monkey friend there also happens to be not so nice monkeys on this island. The mean monkeys throw things at you and have clubs to prevent you from proceeding in the game. For these mean monkeys, you must make them homemade cakes or a potion that will make them go to sleep. It is hard to appease these monkeys and I was a tad annoyed because they obviously did NOT know that I am The Queen of the Monkey People and I should not be treated harshly. I tried my best to make these bad monkeys respect me and as I was playing the game I was talking to them.
Kathy, who was sitting in the room reading at the time, was quite amused that I was talking to the computer game. Then all of the sudden, I shouted, "the monkey stole my ladder!". Kathy surely thought I had lost my mind but I couldn't help it! I was trying to climb up this cliff with a ladder that I had made and this darn monkey took my ladder! It was appalling and caused me quite a bit of grief in playing the game because then I had to go all the way around the dumb island in order to get where I needed to go. If that monkey hadn't stolen my ladder it would have been just fine and dandy. I tried getting my ladder back by giving that monkey a cake or a coconut or anything I could think of that was available in the game but he totally refused. He was not a nice monkey at all. I was completely annoyed. I tried to have my monkey friend Jep appeal to him but there was no bargaining and even Jep said "no way" to me. I gave that mean monkey a good talking to but nothing worked. He totally ignored me.
So my conclusion is that totally without my knowledge I must have been dethroned as The Queen of the Monkey People. If I can't get respect from the computer simulated monkey then I won't have much luck with a real one! And even my friend monkey, Jep, that I totally nursed back to health, wouldn't help me out. It is quite disappointing all the way around!
So, I must have had my 15 minutes of fame and now it is over. Now I will just return the regular old Anne without any title. But, at least, I can look back and know that for a short time I really was The Queen of the Monkey People and I did a good job during my reign. Now I pass the torch onto the next candidate whomever that may be. I hope you don't run into any insolent and rude cyber monkeys during your reign because I wouldn't want you to get surprisingly usurped like I did! So good luck to you, next Queen. If by any chance you need any advice don't hesitate to ask as I am quite an authority on monkey business!
Until next time,
Anne
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Games Shows
Okay, I admit I don’t watch too much television. I find it very difficult to find anything to amuse me or interest me in any way. I do like crime stories so I watch Law & Order S.V.U. and Criminal Minds. I always wanted to be a forensic pathologist for the F.B.I. so these types of shows interest me. I used to watch Law & Order: Criminal Intent but ever since Vincent D’noforo and Kathryn Erbe left I have no interest in the show even though I LOVE Jeff Goldblum. It just isn’t the same for me any longer. I took a long look at Cold Case and did like it but ….nah after a while. And I didn’t mind C.S.I. but I really prefer William Peterson over Laurence Fishburne. Just a personal choice you know although Gorja Fox is cool and so is Marg Helgenberger. Why do these actors have to have such difficult names to spell anyway!!! Now on the other hand, “Glee” is one of my favorite shows and I will not miss it EVER. If I am not home, then the TIVO gets if for me. It is by far the best show on T.V. as far as I am concerned and extremely entertaining. I love the music, I care about the characters and Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester is a “scream”. The whole show is awesome and I just love it to pieces. Which brings me to my story of the day…rather evening. I saw a repeat of “Glee” which was wonderful!!!! Then after ”Glee”, there is a show called “Million Dollar Drop”. So, it starts and I am doing laundry while watching and OH MY GOODNESS. I cannot believe what I am seeing. This show is a game show. I actually like some game shows like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune and an occasional Price is Right. But this show, OH MY GOODNESS. The premise of this game is that a couple gets a $1 million dollars and they can keep the money if they answer questions correctly. The way it works is that a question is asked and there are possible answers. The answers are EACH on a little platform and the couple chooses which answers they feel are correct and actually place banded groups of money on the different platforms that match the answers they feel will be correct. When the correct answer is revealed the money on the incorrect platforms is DROPPED and the money on the correct platform stays. So, the name of the show is “Million Dollar DROP”. I guess on the surface that seems fairly logical. But, that isn’t the problem. The problem is the questions! OH MY GOODNESS. Okay, here is an example: “What ingredient is NOT on a Big Mac?" The possible answers are Pickle, Tomato or Lettuce. Are you serious? Really? I mean, REALLY? We are talking ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Hello...”two all-beef patties, special sauce, LETTUCE, cheese, PICKLES, onions on a sesame seed bun”! On what planet do you live that you do not know this information! Guess what!?!? The contestants didn’t know! They actually pondered the answer and I don’t mean pondered I mean PONDERED! OH MY GOODNESS! In case you are wondering, this one question was not an accident. Here is another example: “What marshmallow shape was NOT in Lucky Charms?” The choice of answers was a horseshoe, a heart, a clover or a rabbit’s foot. REALLY, are you serious? I personally have never eaten Lucky Charms but I knew the answer….duh, rabbit’s foot! (I really don’t want to eat marshmallows in my cereal, but that is just me). Anywhoo, the contestants actually DEBATED about whether hearts were in Lucky Charms versus a rabbit’s foot. OH MY GOODNESS! At this point, I left the room because doing laundry was much more intellectually stimulating than this show! At this point, a passing thought was how you get on this show in order to win a million dollars!?! But, then it became apparent….there must be criteria to get on this show. The only criteria I could imagine was total utter and complete STUPIDITY. A thought occurred that stupidity could be faked but all I could do was shake my head in total disgust over the whole thing, really. It brought to mind this movie I have seen called “Idiocracy”. The story about this particular movie is long and involved but in a nutshell is it about the total and complete decline of intelligence of human beings in the future. It is worth a watch if you haven’t seen it. When I saw the movie I thought to myself that would never happen. Well, I was totally proved wrong by watching “Million Dollar Drop”. It is happening right now, right here and at this very moment. It is rather frightening to be honest. So, if you find yourself with nothing to do on a Tuesday night and you notice that “Million Dollar Drop” is on and you are in the mood to be totally and utterly appalled by the decline in the human intellectual condition turn it on and feel very sorry for the contestants on the show OR you can choose to do laundry like I did and at least feel like a productive person.
Until next time,
Anne
Until next time,
Anne
Perceptions and Snippets
I have a perception about myself that I am a relatively nice person. Well I try to be nice to everyone. I don't like trauma OR drama and avoid it if at all possible. But as I think about it I realize that I am very particular and have certain things that I am quite adamant about to the nth degree. So because of that I don't know if it really effects my nice factor or if it is okay to be nice and particular at the same time. I just know that there are certain things I feel very strongly about and I am not likely to ever change my mind no matter what!
For instance, Home Depot is decorated in orange. Why? Orange is a "hot" color and not very conducive to shopping in a pleasant environment because it makes you feel HOT! Like you are in a fireplace or something. I want to go in the store but then I realize I am pushing this orange buggy and I am surrounded by orange decorations and I just want to leave. Even if the prices are 10% lower I really don't care. I hate orange. I feel like it is eternal Halloween in the store and although I like Halloween and pumpkins, I wouldn't want to live in a pumpkin or shop in a pumpkin because orange just isn't all that. It is way too HOT! I much prefer the serene blue of Lowes. Now that is a much more pleasant experience. It is like you are in the clouds or the water. Very nice and very serene shopping experience. Blue rules and orange sucks! Worse nightmare? Shopping at Home Depot on Halloween!
Here is another one. Chick Fil-A......what is that? Didn't they mean Chick Filet? It is totally and completely spelled wrong. I will not go there to eat. If you don't know how to spell then I am not going to your establishment. Period. End of story. "Fil-A" isn't even a real word. It is stupid. And not that I think the management should do this BUT if they want people to pronounce it Fil-A then there should be a tilde above the "A" so you know it is a long "A" and not a short "A". That is all I have to say about that. I still wouldn't go.
Along the same lines is Toys R Us. To point out the problem just in this writing let me say that the "R" is supposed to be a backwards "R". My typewriter will not even type that because it is WRONG. I do get the "R" meaning "are". That is okay by me. But why does the "R" have to be backwards? Aren't you just messing with people with dyslexia not to mention that this IS a children's store and you are being impressionable on young minds to show a letter so incredibly wrong that it isn't even on a standard keyboard. I don't want to go there and shop. It really bothers me. But, I have four grandchildren so every so often I have to go there and totally cringe each and every time. I feel like I am compromising my principals of good grammar. Enough said.
Okay...here's a good one. The name of the street that I live on has to sound okay. I don't want to live on any funky named street. I don't want to live on a street with 1/2 in the number...like 112 1/2 street. That's just wrong. I don't want to live on a street with a person's name like Joseph Hooker Avenue. NO! NO! NO! Not only is that just bad but "hooker" really and truly? Who thought that sounded good? NO.....!!!!! Then there is Branched Antler Court...no way! Then there are street names that are combinations of names like Benmarv Drive and Rexmatt Avenue. Absolutely not! Even if I found the perfect home I would NEVER and I mean NEVER live on a street with a funky name. I couldn't deal with it...looking at the address on my checks or telling someone that I live on 5 1/2 Joe Johnson Street. What an embarrassing thing to tell. You would think that developers would have more sense. Would they want to live at 5 1/2 Joe Johnson Street? I don't think so. Street names should be solid names with some sort of formality and strength. Nothing too complicated. Very straightforward and normal. I live on Brooklawn Avenue. That is a nice name. Nothing crazy and nothing complicated. It sounds normal and nice. That is just how I feel about it. So if you live on a street with a funky name....I am sorry. Think about it next time if you ever move.
Dumb commercials. I despise dumb commercials! I am very particular about how I am informed about a product. I want to know the facts and be able to discern if the product is right for me. I don't want my intelligence to be insulted. Please give me some credit. So, my newest dumb commercial example is the one for Snickers with Peanut Butter and the sharks. That doesn't even go together in my opinion. The sharks are being "interviewed" after having EATEN people. The sharks are in a board room and they are TALKING and they are NOT IN WATER. The sharks preferred the person who recently ate a Peanut Butter Snickers over the other person who did not. Do I have to say any more? This would NOT encourage me to buy a Peanut Butter Snickers which is the point of the commercial. Too bad for Snickers! Also, Kathy tried one because of the commercial (insert sigh) and she said it sucks!
I think the thing that is most disturbing to me is lack of attention to detail by the human population as a whole. Now I really don't mean every single person. But, I truly believe that 90% don't get the details of life and 10% do get the details of life. This is my biggest gripe of all time. We were all given a brain and reasoning. Why not use it? I may be odd but I do think that the "little things" in life really do add up. Being good to your spouse by doing something small but significant, paying attention to your job and doing it well and if you are in the public eye making sure you give proper attention to the customer or client. I get very tired of people wanting something for nothing. That isn't how it works. You give and then you receive. And the most important part of that is not doing anything for what you get. You do things because it is the right thing to do or it makes you feel good to give. I think everyone has forgotten that except the few. The few righteous people who are on the path of being great people. I feel very adamant about this fact. It isn't about being selfish or coming in ahead of everyone else due to greed. It is about compassion and care and love. This is what gets you ahead in life. And, paying attention to people and their needs and the details of their life is what is important and makes all the difference. So take your life and be particular and look at the fine details and figure it out. Do the right things. Make a difference and don't be a cookie cutter cutout of the next person who just doesn't get the real meaning of life. Care! Take Care! Be real and pay attention to all the details because it really does matter.
Until next time.
Anne
For instance, Home Depot is decorated in orange. Why? Orange is a "hot" color and not very conducive to shopping in a pleasant environment because it makes you feel HOT! Like you are in a fireplace or something. I want to go in the store but then I realize I am pushing this orange buggy and I am surrounded by orange decorations and I just want to leave. Even if the prices are 10% lower I really don't care. I hate orange. I feel like it is eternal Halloween in the store and although I like Halloween and pumpkins, I wouldn't want to live in a pumpkin or shop in a pumpkin because orange just isn't all that. It is way too HOT! I much prefer the serene blue of Lowes. Now that is a much more pleasant experience. It is like you are in the clouds or the water. Very nice and very serene shopping experience. Blue rules and orange sucks! Worse nightmare? Shopping at Home Depot on Halloween!
Here is another one. Chick Fil-A......what is that? Didn't they mean Chick Filet? It is totally and completely spelled wrong. I will not go there to eat. If you don't know how to spell then I am not going to your establishment. Period. End of story. "Fil-A" isn't even a real word. It is stupid. And not that I think the management should do this BUT if they want people to pronounce it Fil-A then there should be a tilde above the "A" so you know it is a long "A" and not a short "A". That is all I have to say about that. I still wouldn't go.
Along the same lines is Toys R Us. To point out the problem just in this writing let me say that the "R" is supposed to be a backwards "R". My typewriter will not even type that because it is WRONG. I do get the "R" meaning "are". That is okay by me. But why does the "R" have to be backwards? Aren't you just messing with people with dyslexia not to mention that this IS a children's store and you are being impressionable on young minds to show a letter so incredibly wrong that it isn't even on a standard keyboard. I don't want to go there and shop. It really bothers me. But, I have four grandchildren so every so often I have to go there and totally cringe each and every time. I feel like I am compromising my principals of good grammar. Enough said.
Okay...here's a good one. The name of the street that I live on has to sound okay. I don't want to live on any funky named street. I don't want to live on a street with 1/2 in the number...like 112 1/2 street. That's just wrong. I don't want to live on a street with a person's name like Joseph Hooker Avenue. NO! NO! NO! Not only is that just bad but "hooker" really and truly? Who thought that sounded good? NO.....!!!!! Then there is Branched Antler Court...no way! Then there are street names that are combinations of names like Benmarv Drive and Rexmatt Avenue. Absolutely not! Even if I found the perfect home I would NEVER and I mean NEVER live on a street with a funky name. I couldn't deal with it...looking at the address on my checks or telling someone that I live on 5 1/2 Joe Johnson Street. What an embarrassing thing to tell. You would think that developers would have more sense. Would they want to live at 5 1/2 Joe Johnson Street? I don't think so. Street names should be solid names with some sort of formality and strength. Nothing too complicated. Very straightforward and normal. I live on Brooklawn Avenue. That is a nice name. Nothing crazy and nothing complicated. It sounds normal and nice. That is just how I feel about it. So if you live on a street with a funky name....I am sorry. Think about it next time if you ever move.
Dumb commercials. I despise dumb commercials! I am very particular about how I am informed about a product. I want to know the facts and be able to discern if the product is right for me. I don't want my intelligence to be insulted. Please give me some credit. So, my newest dumb commercial example is the one for Snickers with Peanut Butter and the sharks. That doesn't even go together in my opinion. The sharks are being "interviewed" after having EATEN people. The sharks are in a board room and they are TALKING and they are NOT IN WATER. The sharks preferred the person who recently ate a Peanut Butter Snickers over the other person who did not. Do I have to say any more? This would NOT encourage me to buy a Peanut Butter Snickers which is the point of the commercial. Too bad for Snickers! Also, Kathy tried one because of the commercial (insert sigh) and she said it sucks!
I think the thing that is most disturbing to me is lack of attention to detail by the human population as a whole. Now I really don't mean every single person. But, I truly believe that 90% don't get the details of life and 10% do get the details of life. This is my biggest gripe of all time. We were all given a brain and reasoning. Why not use it? I may be odd but I do think that the "little things" in life really do add up. Being good to your spouse by doing something small but significant, paying attention to your job and doing it well and if you are in the public eye making sure you give proper attention to the customer or client. I get very tired of people wanting something for nothing. That isn't how it works. You give and then you receive. And the most important part of that is not doing anything for what you get. You do things because it is the right thing to do or it makes you feel good to give. I think everyone has forgotten that except the few. The few righteous people who are on the path of being great people. I feel very adamant about this fact. It isn't about being selfish or coming in ahead of everyone else due to greed. It is about compassion and care and love. This is what gets you ahead in life. And, paying attention to people and their needs and the details of their life is what is important and makes all the difference. So take your life and be particular and look at the fine details and figure it out. Do the right things. Make a difference and don't be a cookie cutter cutout of the next person who just doesn't get the real meaning of life. Care! Take Care! Be real and pay attention to all the details because it really does matter.
Until next time.
Anne
Girl Scout Cookies
It is the time of year for Girl Scout cookies! These cookies are like seeing fireworks on the 4th of July. They get the "oooohh" and "aaaaah" response. Everyone likes Girl Scout cookies! There are the Thin Mints, the Samoas, the Do Si Do's, the Trefoils and all of the other varieties. Everyone has a favorite! My favorite is the Do Si Do's as I love peanut butter cookies! And let me tell you, I have eaten and sold my share of Girl Scout cookies because I was involved the the scouts from the time I was in grade school as a Brownie all the way to being a Senior Scout. I have seen boxes and boxes of Girl Scout cookies in my lifetime. I think I even earned a badge for selling them! I earned lots of badges over the years and had to do a lot of crazy stuff to get them too
I remember the time that I had to go on a makeshift camping trip down by the creek where I lived back in the 1960's. I brought my mom and dad along to participate. I had to make a campfire, cook food, wash the dishes and practice all of the safety procedures for camping. The big trick was the lighting the campfire. I had to gather the straw, kindling, twigs and a few larger pieces of wood from the surrounding woods. I laid everything out on a big rock that was beside the creek and started setting up my little campfire. I was so enthusiastic about it as in my heart I am a true fire bug. I am totally fascinated by fire! (Don't let that worry you though, I am not a serial killer.) So, I got everything ready and took out my matches -- yes we were allowed to use matches and not really "rough it" like Tom Hanks had to do in "Castaway"! Thank goodness!! So there I am trying to light the match and of course it was a little windy that day. I was having a heck of a time. Well, unbeknown to me, my dad had brought along lighter fluid. Oh yea! And when I wasn't looking he doused my little campfire with a nice squirt of that lighter fluid. Guess what happened?? I got the match to light and stay lit and stuck it next to my campfire and WHOOOOSH! FLAMES!! I just about fell over from the shock and luckily I still had my eyebrows intact! Good thing I already had my First Aid badge! At the time I remember being upset with my dad because I didn't want to earn my badge due to cheating with the lighter fluid. He just laughed at me and said it would be okay. I was seven years old...I believed him! So now that I had my campfire, I proceeded to cook a meal on my trusty Girl Scout pans. The pans were neat because they all fit together with a little clamp and you ended up having three little pans not to mention the REALLY cool collapsible cup. Remember the collapsible cups??? You have to be my age to remember that! (you figure it out - I was 7 years old in 1964 and ladies don't tell their age!) If you aren't old enough you really missed it because they were too cool! I am sure that my campfire meal consisted of baked beans because what would a Girl Scout meal be without beans! And, of course, smores for dessert...those yummy marshmallow, melty chocolate graham cracker thingys. A scout staple around every campfire. I always started scoping out the perfect stick for the marshmallow as soon as I got settled during any camping trip! This day was no different! And, I liked my marshmallow burnt on the outside and runny on the inside. YUM! YUM! I remember that day so well and I accomplished everything I needed to do in order to earn my Campfire badge. I even went in the creek and captured some tadpoles. That was the deal! I don't think kids today even know what a tadpole is! Too bad! It was so much fun and then you would end up with lots of frogs in your yard!
Anywhoo back to the Girl Scout cookies. As I said, I have sold my share of them. So this year, I got my box of Do Si Do's. I opened the box of 24 cookies that cost $3.50 and was a bit surprised. My Do Si Do was about the size of a Susan B. Anthony dollar. What happened? My cookie shrunk..not just a little but a whole lot! I remember Do Si Do's being as big as a silver dollar and much thicker. It's like two of this years cookies are about the size of the cookie I remember having in the past. I felt cheated by the Girl Scouts! I mean if you went into Starbucks and bought a cookie that was the size of a Susan B. Anthony dollar would you expect to pay $1.25 for it! Really! Truly! I don't think so. I think you would feel there was some price gouging going on. But obviously there is some magic in Girl Scout cookies because we just hand over the money and we are HAPPY to do it. It is sort of like in Field of Dreams -- "Build it and they will come!". With Girl Scout cookies it would be "bake it and they will eat"! I think if the cookies were $5.00 per box we would buy them. Which makes me wonder...is there something IN the Girl Scout cookies that we don't know about. Some subliminal ingredient that draws us to the cookie...??? We must ponder this question. So the next time you have your favorite Girl Scout cookie take a good look at it because somehow it has turned into an iconic cookie that we will pay any price to have even if they get smaller and smaller every year.
Until next time,
Anne
I remember the time that I had to go on a makeshift camping trip down by the creek where I lived back in the 1960's. I brought my mom and dad along to participate. I had to make a campfire, cook food, wash the dishes and practice all of the safety procedures for camping. The big trick was the lighting the campfire. I had to gather the straw, kindling, twigs and a few larger pieces of wood from the surrounding woods. I laid everything out on a big rock that was beside the creek and started setting up my little campfire. I was so enthusiastic about it as in my heart I am a true fire bug. I am totally fascinated by fire! (Don't let that worry you though, I am not a serial killer.) So, I got everything ready and took out my matches -- yes we were allowed to use matches and not really "rough it" like Tom Hanks had to do in "Castaway"! Thank goodness!! So there I am trying to light the match and of course it was a little windy that day. I was having a heck of a time. Well, unbeknown to me, my dad had brought along lighter fluid. Oh yea! And when I wasn't looking he doused my little campfire with a nice squirt of that lighter fluid. Guess what happened?? I got the match to light and stay lit and stuck it next to my campfire and WHOOOOSH! FLAMES!! I just about fell over from the shock and luckily I still had my eyebrows intact! Good thing I already had my First Aid badge! At the time I remember being upset with my dad because I didn't want to earn my badge due to cheating with the lighter fluid. He just laughed at me and said it would be okay. I was seven years old...I believed him! So now that I had my campfire, I proceeded to cook a meal on my trusty Girl Scout pans. The pans were neat because they all fit together with a little clamp and you ended up having three little pans not to mention the REALLY cool collapsible cup. Remember the collapsible cups??? You have to be my age to remember that! (you figure it out - I was 7 years old in 1964 and ladies don't tell their age!) If you aren't old enough you really missed it because they were too cool! I am sure that my campfire meal consisted of baked beans because what would a Girl Scout meal be without beans! And, of course, smores for dessert...those yummy marshmallow, melty chocolate graham cracker thingys. A scout staple around every campfire. I always started scoping out the perfect stick for the marshmallow as soon as I got settled during any camping trip! This day was no different! And, I liked my marshmallow burnt on the outside and runny on the inside. YUM! YUM! I remember that day so well and I accomplished everything I needed to do in order to earn my Campfire badge. I even went in the creek and captured some tadpoles. That was the deal! I don't think kids today even know what a tadpole is! Too bad! It was so much fun and then you would end up with lots of frogs in your yard!
Anywhoo back to the Girl Scout cookies. As I said, I have sold my share of them. So this year, I got my box of Do Si Do's. I opened the box of 24 cookies that cost $3.50 and was a bit surprised. My Do Si Do was about the size of a Susan B. Anthony dollar. What happened? My cookie shrunk..not just a little but a whole lot! I remember Do Si Do's being as big as a silver dollar and much thicker. It's like two of this years cookies are about the size of the cookie I remember having in the past. I felt cheated by the Girl Scouts! I mean if you went into Starbucks and bought a cookie that was the size of a Susan B. Anthony dollar would you expect to pay $1.25 for it! Really! Truly! I don't think so. I think you would feel there was some price gouging going on. But obviously there is some magic in Girl Scout cookies because we just hand over the money and we are HAPPY to do it. It is sort of like in Field of Dreams -- "Build it and they will come!". With Girl Scout cookies it would be "bake it and they will eat"! I think if the cookies were $5.00 per box we would buy them. Which makes me wonder...is there something IN the Girl Scout cookies that we don't know about. Some subliminal ingredient that draws us to the cookie...??? We must ponder this question. So the next time you have your favorite Girl Scout cookie take a good look at it because somehow it has turned into an iconic cookie that we will pay any price to have even if they get smaller and smaller every year.
Until next time,
Anne
Technology Part Two
Oh I am so not done talking about technology. Let's talk television. As I mentioned previously, I grew up with a black and white television that was 19" size. It had a rotary dial and worked just fine. The television season ran from September to June each year and we had a whopping THREE channels to choose from if you don't include PBS which was always a little fuzzy on our T.V. and mostly showed religious programs or symphonies. We had ABC, NBC and CBS to pick from as our stations and everyone had the same stations which were 3, 8 and 12. Everyone had an antenna on their roof to get reception with the occasional aluminum foil on the actual indoor T.V. antenna to sharpen the picture. This was it! We were happy! Period. End of story.
Nowadays, you can have as many as 800 channels and you can have any number of ways to get the channels. You can have cable or Internet or dishes or whatever. No more antennas and no more tin foil. You don't even have to get off the couch to change the channel because we have remotes! Then you have "packages" for selecting what channels you want out of the 800 or more that are offered. You can choose basic or silver or gold or "extreme" for the ultimate couch potato. You can choose movie channel packages perhaps just one or two or all of them! You can get music, sports, shopping or reality shows. You can get it all or just a part of it. And of course, you have to decide if you want your local channels too. You can order special sporting events for an extra price. Not to mention that you can get a television that is just about any size and shape you can imagine. You can even get one as big as the wall in your den with surround sound and all the bells and whistles. And now it just isn't in vivid color it has high definition color. Wow! The television is now a world of multiple choices not just those lousy THREE choices and one size fits all screen that I remember. So we should all be so happy and entertained, shouldn't we? I don't know how you feel about it but why is it that with all of the choices and all of the channels there is NOTHING on television?
I don't want to really buy anything off of T.V. so all of the shopping shows are not for me. I will admit that I have bought a few things in the past but I stopped doing that altogether. I am a person who wants to see and touch what I am buying not just look at it on the tube. I also think you can get totally suckered into to buying stuff you don't need and it can get you in trouble if you aren't careful. The shopping channels make it seem "too easy" to buy things with their easy payment plans. Before you know it those little payments can turn into a big payment each month. That isn't for me. I am not much of a sports fan either so the sports programs aren't for me. I do understand that lots of people do follow sports so that is cool for them and I am glad they can follow their favorite team. I just don't need 20 sports channels. Then you have the soap operas that not only play during the daytime but repeat at night, and the nostalgic shows like The Golden Girls, Happy Days and many others that are in reruns on different channels. You have the cartoons and the kids shows which are numerous and if I ever have to watch "The Suite Life on Deck" or "The Wizards of Waverly Place" again with my grand kids I think I will scream. I think there is probably a channel that plays shows that didn't really make it in syndication but they are out there anyway and come on at some time during the day or night. If they didn't make it the first time then why would you play them now? My biggest beef is the reality shows. I am so against reality shows it isn't funny. I don't mean the reality shows that are a contest like "Hell's Kitchen, "Dancing with the Stars" or "American Idol" or my personal favorite "So You Think You Can Dance". Those reality shows are okay. I mean the reality shows like "The Real Housewives of ...wherever". Why would I want to watch that? Or do I really care what Tori and Dean are doing this week? Do I care about the Kardashians? Or the some group of bad girls or guys or weirdos doing whatever from wherever? NO!!! Absolutely not! Why do I want to watch them fight and argue and snip at each other and cheat and back stab? Why is that even considered entertainment? I don't care...never cared...have no room to care about such stupidity. I have enough drama in my own life why do I want to watch someone else's? No thank you. Oh and then there is that other group of reality shows...Intervention, Hoarders, Animal Hoarders and "I am so fat I can't get out of my bed" shows. I am not callous about the problems that any of these people have. I understand that they need help and they have a REAL problem. But, why is it necessary to expose their difficulty to the television public? Why would the person with the problem want to be totally exposed? I don't understand that at all. Is the viewing public on a path of wanting to see people suffer? Are we headed for that time when we want to see people die on national T.V.? Really? Is that where we are headed?
When I watch television, I would like to be entertained. I would like for there to be 26 NEW episodes of shows that I like that are interesting and have real actors and a real story. Remember knowing that Gunsmoke would be on every Sunday night? The anticipation of wanting to know if Miss Kitty and Marshall Dillon would tell each other they were in love? Remember that? Or remember Richie Cunningham and wondering what trouble he would get into with Ralph and Potsie and how was Fonzie going to save the day .... again? Or how about watching Dick Van Dyke trip over the ottoman every opening credit for his show? It was always funny. And Lucy...oh my...what shenanigans was she going to get into? Even Star Trek...what adventure this week...maybe more Tribbles?! Who knew! It was entertaining. These shows took you away from everyday life and put you into their world. It was fun and exciting and, oh!!!, I must NOT forget Mission Impossible...not the one with Tom Cruise (yuk) or the one with Robert Irvine. The REAL Mission Impossible with Peter Graves and Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. Now that was a GREAT show and I got permission to stay up late and watch it because it ran on a school night. I miss all of that. Don't you? There are a few good shows on these days with very good actors and I do seek these shows out and make sure I watch them. The problem is that they are few and far between and the rest of the television schedule is filled with dribble.
A lot of times I choose to watch a repeat of one of the good shows because it is a whole lot better than anything else out there. So the bottom line for me is that even though we can now have up to 800 channels on television, are we really better off and being entertained more? Nope. I think the THREE channels did a much better job and television was actually worth watching. How about you?
Until next time,
Anne
Nowadays, you can have as many as 800 channels and you can have any number of ways to get the channels. You can have cable or Internet or dishes or whatever. No more antennas and no more tin foil. You don't even have to get off the couch to change the channel because we have remotes! Then you have "packages" for selecting what channels you want out of the 800 or more that are offered. You can choose basic or silver or gold or "extreme" for the ultimate couch potato. You can choose movie channel packages perhaps just one or two or all of them! You can get music, sports, shopping or reality shows. You can get it all or just a part of it. And of course, you have to decide if you want your local channels too. You can order special sporting events for an extra price. Not to mention that you can get a television that is just about any size and shape you can imagine. You can even get one as big as the wall in your den with surround sound and all the bells and whistles. And now it just isn't in vivid color it has high definition color. Wow! The television is now a world of multiple choices not just those lousy THREE choices and one size fits all screen that I remember. So we should all be so happy and entertained, shouldn't we? I don't know how you feel about it but why is it that with all of the choices and all of the channels there is NOTHING on television?
I don't want to really buy anything off of T.V. so all of the shopping shows are not for me. I will admit that I have bought a few things in the past but I stopped doing that altogether. I am a person who wants to see and touch what I am buying not just look at it on the tube. I also think you can get totally suckered into to buying stuff you don't need and it can get you in trouble if you aren't careful. The shopping channels make it seem "too easy" to buy things with their easy payment plans. Before you know it those little payments can turn into a big payment each month. That isn't for me. I am not much of a sports fan either so the sports programs aren't for me. I do understand that lots of people do follow sports so that is cool for them and I am glad they can follow their favorite team. I just don't need 20 sports channels. Then you have the soap operas that not only play during the daytime but repeat at night, and the nostalgic shows like The Golden Girls, Happy Days and many others that are in reruns on different channels. You have the cartoons and the kids shows which are numerous and if I ever have to watch "The Suite Life on Deck" or "The Wizards of Waverly Place" again with my grand kids I think I will scream. I think there is probably a channel that plays shows that didn't really make it in syndication but they are out there anyway and come on at some time during the day or night. If they didn't make it the first time then why would you play them now? My biggest beef is the reality shows. I am so against reality shows it isn't funny. I don't mean the reality shows that are a contest like "Hell's Kitchen, "Dancing with the Stars" or "American Idol" or my personal favorite "So You Think You Can Dance". Those reality shows are okay. I mean the reality shows like "The Real Housewives of ...wherever". Why would I want to watch that? Or do I really care what Tori and Dean are doing this week? Do I care about the Kardashians? Or the some group of bad girls or guys or weirdos doing whatever from wherever? NO!!! Absolutely not! Why do I want to watch them fight and argue and snip at each other and cheat and back stab? Why is that even considered entertainment? I don't care...never cared...have no room to care about such stupidity. I have enough drama in my own life why do I want to watch someone else's? No thank you. Oh and then there is that other group of reality shows...Intervention, Hoarders, Animal Hoarders and "I am so fat I can't get out of my bed" shows. I am not callous about the problems that any of these people have. I understand that they need help and they have a REAL problem. But, why is it necessary to expose their difficulty to the television public? Why would the person with the problem want to be totally exposed? I don't understand that at all. Is the viewing public on a path of wanting to see people suffer? Are we headed for that time when we want to see people die on national T.V.? Really? Is that where we are headed?
When I watch television, I would like to be entertained. I would like for there to be 26 NEW episodes of shows that I like that are interesting and have real actors and a real story. Remember knowing that Gunsmoke would be on every Sunday night? The anticipation of wanting to know if Miss Kitty and Marshall Dillon would tell each other they were in love? Remember that? Or remember Richie Cunningham and wondering what trouble he would get into with Ralph and Potsie and how was Fonzie going to save the day .... again? Or how about watching Dick Van Dyke trip over the ottoman every opening credit for his show? It was always funny. And Lucy...oh my...what shenanigans was she going to get into? Even Star Trek...what adventure this week...maybe more Tribbles?! Who knew! It was entertaining. These shows took you away from everyday life and put you into their world. It was fun and exciting and, oh!!!, I must NOT forget Mission Impossible...not the one with Tom Cruise (yuk) or the one with Robert Irvine. The REAL Mission Impossible with Peter Graves and Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. Now that was a GREAT show and I got permission to stay up late and watch it because it ran on a school night. I miss all of that. Don't you? There are a few good shows on these days with very good actors and I do seek these shows out and make sure I watch them. The problem is that they are few and far between and the rest of the television schedule is filled with dribble.
A lot of times I choose to watch a repeat of one of the good shows because it is a whole lot better than anything else out there. So the bottom line for me is that even though we can now have up to 800 channels on television, are we really better off and being entertained more? Nope. I think the THREE channels did a much better job and television was actually worth watching. How about you?
Until next time,
Anne
Technology Part One
I am not even going to mince words on this topic, I HATE TECHNOLOGY. This is odd because I am sitting here at a computer which is hooked up to the Internet and I am writing a Blog. So I guess I hate technology but I use it. When I was growing up we didn't have a lot of technology. Although compared to when my mom grew up, I had a lot of technology as a child. My mom didn't have indoor plumbing or television or running water. She had an outhouse, the radio and a well with a pump at the kitchen sink. I know this because as a child I visited the house where my mom grew up and all of those things were still there. Although my mom's parents did put in an indoor bathroom and they did have a black and white television later in life.
When I grew up we had a rotary dial telephone and a black and white television and initials like "DVD, PC, CD and DS" were non-existent. Not to mention words like "Internet, Facebook, Cell Phone and Caller ID" were not part of our vocabulary. Our idea of "caller ID" was if I was home and my mom was at work and she wanted to check on me, then she would ring the phone two times, hang up and call back. Then I knew it was my mom and answer otherwise I just wouldn't pick up the phone. That was a good system! It worked! And for some reason these day it is necessary to walk around while talking on the phone. With the phone I grew up with you couldn't walk all around the house. There was a cord and it was attached to the phone which was attached to the wall. You talked on the phone and you stayed put because the cord was only about one foot long. Although, I must say, that at some point the phone company began selling longer phone cords. This longer cord was the bomb as it allowed you to walk about six feet if you liked to pace. The problem was the cord got all tangled up and would get stuck on the furniture or a person or a pet if you weren't careful. This could be a problem if you got tangled up with the dog who was running across the room! Then, of course, every so often you would have to dangle the cord and the phone off of the receiver and watch it spin like a top to get untangled. That was kinda fun. Anywhoo.....
Now I have to admit that I do have a cell phone. I have always felt that I am just not that important that I need a phone on my person all of the time. I didn't grow up with that and we were all fine and got in touch with one another without any trouble. I know the reasoning behind having a cell phone is the "infamous line" of "if there is an emergency you have a phone". That sounds really great but honestly do we all really use the cell phone just for emergencies? I don't think so! It is more like a toy for adults...and kids too these days. Because it isn't just a phone, oh no!, it has games and Internet and ring tones and GPS and an alarm clock and every other gadget you could possibly want in one neat little package. Some of them you don't even have buttons instead you have little icons that scroll at the touch of your finger! My goodness! I will say that even though I DO have a cell phone, I don't have any of the fancy gadgets. The "fanciest" thing I have is a keyboard for texting. Now lets discuss texting for a moment. Instead of calling and actually SPEAKING with someone we are now choosing to "write" to them over the phone. This takes WAY more time than just talking. So why do we do that? Why do I do that? What happened in the last 20 years or so that makes us NOT want to talk to each other? We text and we email but we don't TALK. Have we gotten that impersonal with even our closest friends and family? I don't understand it and I DO IT! And, when we run into someone that doesn't have texting or email it is almost "shocking" -- well why don't you have text and email?...what is wrong with you!? Kinda crazy! I know for me and a number of friends that I know, a cell phone was a better choice and less expensive than having a land line at the house. After a recent trip to the Verizon Store, I found that you can now get a "wireless" land line for $19.99 per month with unlimited calling all over the U.S. No long distance charges and no outrageous bill each month. It was a true deal to be honest and hard to pass up compared to paying $50.00 or more for a land line. So my question is ... Is it really a land line if it is wireless? Will a new technological word have to be created for this new telephone device? Good grief.
The other phenomenon of technology is the personal computer and Internet which is just a larger version of the cell phone these days or vice versa. Used to be that a personal computer was used for writing a letter or for bookkeeping or keeping your recipes. Not any more! Now it is about how fast can you find out what you need to know. I will admit that I like checking on the weather and find out right then about an approaching storm but now you can "google" or "bing" or whatever just about anything and find out in a matter of seconds. When did we get so impatient? What happened to books and dictionaries and encyclopedias? The poor door-to-door encyclopedia salesmen are surely out of a job! They used to be around when I was growing up. I loved looking at encyclopedias and got excited about the new book that came in the mail. Those days are gone now. Now we just type in "pictures of crooked toes" press search and behold we have pictures of crooked toes! We search for things we want to buy, people we want to meet, services we want to sell, jobs we want to find. It is all at the touch of our fingers but at what price? Lack of real interaction with people. It is worth it? I saw this commercial, oh no another commercial, a few weeks ago and I was absolutely appalled. There is a guy and a girl and they went out on a first date. The guy drops the girl off at her house. It appears that the date went well. The guy gets in his car and SPEAKS to his car and says "FACEBOOK" or something like that. He asks for the girls Facebook page or wall or whatever to see if she wrote anything about the date. Well of course, she did. She liked the date and was telling her girlfriends on Facebook. Now I have so much to say about this I could go on and on. First of all, the girl doesn't call her friends she Facebook's her friends and not just A friend ALL of her friends and anyone else that wants to read about her date. No privacy anymore. Problem one. Then the guy actually finds out about what she says on Facebook before he EVEN pulls away from the curb in front of her house. No anticipation or curiosity that might spark a conversation or an actual phone call to the girl. Problem two. AND FINALLY, how in the world did we come to a place where we SPEAK to our car and the car ANSWERS and a car actually has INTERNET. Problem three, four, five, six etc etc etc. Are we that lazy? Do we need to know everything right at that second. Where is the mystery in life. The intrigue. The guessing and waiting. The excitement. The wonder. It makes me wonder a lot. A whole lot. I think that there is a true place for technology when it saves lives, allows us to communicate in a reliable way, even makes our jobs easier, and even sometimes technology is cool if it is fun. But, technology should not replace our humanity or the splendor of personal interactions with our fellow human beings. If it all comes down to a keyboard and a search engine, then where is the joy of life and living it fully?
Until next time,
Anne
When I grew up we had a rotary dial telephone and a black and white television and initials like "DVD, PC, CD and DS" were non-existent. Not to mention words like "Internet, Facebook, Cell Phone and Caller ID" were not part of our vocabulary. Our idea of "caller ID" was if I was home and my mom was at work and she wanted to check on me, then she would ring the phone two times, hang up and call back. Then I knew it was my mom and answer otherwise I just wouldn't pick up the phone. That was a good system! It worked! And for some reason these day it is necessary to walk around while talking on the phone. With the phone I grew up with you couldn't walk all around the house. There was a cord and it was attached to the phone which was attached to the wall. You talked on the phone and you stayed put because the cord was only about one foot long. Although, I must say, that at some point the phone company began selling longer phone cords. This longer cord was the bomb as it allowed you to walk about six feet if you liked to pace. The problem was the cord got all tangled up and would get stuck on the furniture or a person or a pet if you weren't careful. This could be a problem if you got tangled up with the dog who was running across the room! Then, of course, every so often you would have to dangle the cord and the phone off of the receiver and watch it spin like a top to get untangled. That was kinda fun. Anywhoo.....
Now I have to admit that I do have a cell phone. I have always felt that I am just not that important that I need a phone on my person all of the time. I didn't grow up with that and we were all fine and got in touch with one another without any trouble. I know the reasoning behind having a cell phone is the "infamous line" of "if there is an emergency you have a phone". That sounds really great but honestly do we all really use the cell phone just for emergencies? I don't think so! It is more like a toy for adults...and kids too these days. Because it isn't just a phone, oh no!, it has games and Internet and ring tones and GPS and an alarm clock and every other gadget you could possibly want in one neat little package. Some of them you don't even have buttons instead you have little icons that scroll at the touch of your finger! My goodness! I will say that even though I DO have a cell phone, I don't have any of the fancy gadgets. The "fanciest" thing I have is a keyboard for texting. Now lets discuss texting for a moment. Instead of calling and actually SPEAKING with someone we are now choosing to "write" to them over the phone. This takes WAY more time than just talking. So why do we do that? Why do I do that? What happened in the last 20 years or so that makes us NOT want to talk to each other? We text and we email but we don't TALK. Have we gotten that impersonal with even our closest friends and family? I don't understand it and I DO IT! And, when we run into someone that doesn't have texting or email it is almost "shocking" -- well why don't you have text and email?...what is wrong with you!? Kinda crazy! I know for me and a number of friends that I know, a cell phone was a better choice and less expensive than having a land line at the house. After a recent trip to the Verizon Store, I found that you can now get a "wireless" land line for $19.99 per month with unlimited calling all over the U.S. No long distance charges and no outrageous bill each month. It was a true deal to be honest and hard to pass up compared to paying $50.00 or more for a land line. So my question is ... Is it really a land line if it is wireless? Will a new technological word have to be created for this new telephone device? Good grief.
The other phenomenon of technology is the personal computer and Internet which is just a larger version of the cell phone these days or vice versa. Used to be that a personal computer was used for writing a letter or for bookkeeping or keeping your recipes. Not any more! Now it is about how fast can you find out what you need to know. I will admit that I like checking on the weather and find out right then about an approaching storm but now you can "google" or "bing" or whatever just about anything and find out in a matter of seconds. When did we get so impatient? What happened to books and dictionaries and encyclopedias? The poor door-to-door encyclopedia salesmen are surely out of a job! They used to be around when I was growing up. I loved looking at encyclopedias and got excited about the new book that came in the mail. Those days are gone now. Now we just type in "pictures of crooked toes" press search and behold we have pictures of crooked toes! We search for things we want to buy, people we want to meet, services we want to sell, jobs we want to find. It is all at the touch of our fingers but at what price? Lack of real interaction with people. It is worth it? I saw this commercial, oh no another commercial, a few weeks ago and I was absolutely appalled. There is a guy and a girl and they went out on a first date. The guy drops the girl off at her house. It appears that the date went well. The guy gets in his car and SPEAKS to his car and says "FACEBOOK" or something like that. He asks for the girls Facebook page or wall or whatever to see if she wrote anything about the date. Well of course, she did. She liked the date and was telling her girlfriends on Facebook. Now I have so much to say about this I could go on and on. First of all, the girl doesn't call her friends she Facebook's her friends and not just A friend ALL of her friends and anyone else that wants to read about her date. No privacy anymore. Problem one. Then the guy actually finds out about what she says on Facebook before he EVEN pulls away from the curb in front of her house. No anticipation or curiosity that might spark a conversation or an actual phone call to the girl. Problem two. AND FINALLY, how in the world did we come to a place where we SPEAK to our car and the car ANSWERS and a car actually has INTERNET. Problem three, four, five, six etc etc etc. Are we that lazy? Do we need to know everything right at that second. Where is the mystery in life. The intrigue. The guessing and waiting. The excitement. The wonder. It makes me wonder a lot. A whole lot. I think that there is a true place for technology when it saves lives, allows us to communicate in a reliable way, even makes our jobs easier, and even sometimes technology is cool if it is fun. But, technology should not replace our humanity or the splendor of personal interactions with our fellow human beings. If it all comes down to a keyboard and a search engine, then where is the joy of life and living it fully?
Until next time,
Anne
It's about Nicole
I decided I am just going to bite the bullet and get this one out of the way. If you know me you will understand why. If you don't know me you are going to find out. This story is about Nicole Kidman. Yes, you heard me right, Nicole Kidman. Several years ago I was very worried about her. Worried in a very concerned worried way. Every time you turned around she was in another movie. She never rested. It was awful. She was so skinny. I was really worried about her. Well, everyone thought I was nuts to worry like that but then low and behold Nicole Kidman was on a Chanel No. 5 commercial. Now I ask you, when did she have time to do that commercial? She made about a bazillion movies in three years and here is a commercial too! Really! Are you serious!? Anyway I only saw the commercial one time and my philosophy on that was even the commercial was tired and it just couldn't run more than one time. Good decision. See here I go with the commercials again. I really do pay attention. She was wearing a long black dress and she was standing on a long stairway... I distinctly remember that. It was shortly after she did "Moulin Rouge" one of my favorite movies of ALL time. Have you seen "Moulin Rouge? If you haven't seen it you MUST rent it. It is Spectacular! Spectacular! If you haven't seen it you won't get that but you will get it once you have seen it. Trust me. This story is about love and that "the greatest thing you will ever learn is to love and be loved in return" and it has music and dancing and costumes and sets and Ewan McGregor and, oh no, here we go again, that guy, that guy that is in everything and looks different every time. He was in "The Fifth Element". I love that movie. Milla Jovovich plays the supreme being in that movie and there is this part where she is crying over the destructive state of the world and what is there in the world that is really good. And Bruce Willis, one of my other favorites says..... Didn't you love "Die Hard"? I liked the part where he was in the air conditioning vent and said. "come out to the coast, will have a few laughs". I didn't really like "Die Hard II" but I did like "Die Hard III" with Samuel Jackson. That was really good. Don't you think? I love riddles and they had to figure out all of those riddles. The part with the water and the jugs was the hardest for me. Anywhoo Bruce Willis says to Milla Jovovich in "The Fifth Element" that "love, love is worth living for". Now that's something two of my favorite movies are about....love. One of my other favorite movies, while we are on the subject is "Forest Gump". I love "Forest Gump" and that movie is about love too. Forest really loved Jenny. They were "like peas and carrots". Such a cool line! The best part of that movie was when Forest meets Forest Jr.
I cry almost every time when Forest wants to know if Forest Jr. is "like him or. not"... and Jenny says "no Forest, he is smart, very smart". I loved that part but I love anything that Tom Hanks is in. I admired his courage in "Philadelphia" and also, you know, the Wilson volleyball movie, not "Overboard". That is with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. They are cutie pies and that movie was wonderful and all about love too! "CASTAWAY" is the Tom Hanks movie... I had to call my daughter and get her to tell me. Give me some credit at least both movies had oceans in them!
Anyway, back to the matter at hand, the guy in "The Fifth Element" that was in "Moulin Rouge". I know it is Gary but Gary who? I know it isn't Gary Sinise... I am just thinking about him because of "Forest Gump"....Lieutenant Dan! He has done a lot of good in real life because of his character of Lt. Dan. Really neat! I read about it in Guidepost Magazine which is an absolutely inspiring magazine. You should read it sometime. Makes you really think and appreciate life.
Okay, I cheated. I didn't tell you but I went and found my copy of Moulin Rouge to find out Gary's last name. Woe is me, I must have a short circuit in the trivia section of my brain because the character in "Moulin Rouge" that I thought was Gary something is actually the actor, Richard Roxburgh. The Gary I was thinking of is Gary Oldman. He has been in everything and he really does look different each and every time. He was in The Dark Knight and did a good job but Heath Ledger stole that movie completely. I am still sad that he died. Very sad. I really don't know who Richard Roxburgh is from anything else but he was GREAT in "Moulin Rouge" -- he even looked like Gary Oldman! Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
So the bottom line of my story about Nicole Kidman is that I am not worried about her so much any more. She married Keith Urban and she isn't making quite so many movies nowadays and I have not seen her in any commercials. Maybe she realized the truth, like we all should, that the greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return.
Sounds like a good plan for all of us.
Until next time,
Anne
I cry almost every time when Forest wants to know if Forest Jr. is "like him or. not"... and Jenny says "no Forest, he is smart, very smart". I loved that part but I love anything that Tom Hanks is in. I admired his courage in "Philadelphia" and also, you know, the Wilson volleyball movie, not "Overboard". That is with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. They are cutie pies and that movie was wonderful and all about love too! "CASTAWAY" is the Tom Hanks movie... I had to call my daughter and get her to tell me. Give me some credit at least both movies had oceans in them!
Anyway, back to the matter at hand, the guy in "The Fifth Element" that was in "Moulin Rouge". I know it is Gary but Gary who? I know it isn't Gary Sinise... I am just thinking about him because of "Forest Gump"....Lieutenant Dan! He has done a lot of good in real life because of his character of Lt. Dan. Really neat! I read about it in Guidepost Magazine which is an absolutely inspiring magazine. You should read it sometime. Makes you really think and appreciate life.
Okay, I cheated. I didn't tell you but I went and found my copy of Moulin Rouge to find out Gary's last name. Woe is me, I must have a short circuit in the trivia section of my brain because the character in "Moulin Rouge" that I thought was Gary something is actually the actor, Richard Roxburgh. The Gary I was thinking of is Gary Oldman. He has been in everything and he really does look different each and every time. He was in The Dark Knight and did a good job but Heath Ledger stole that movie completely. I am still sad that he died. Very sad. I really don't know who Richard Roxburgh is from anything else but he was GREAT in "Moulin Rouge" -- he even looked like Gary Oldman! Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
So the bottom line of my story about Nicole Kidman is that I am not worried about her so much any more. She married Keith Urban and she isn't making quite so many movies nowadays and I have not seen her in any commercials. Maybe she realized the truth, like we all should, that the greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return.
Sounds like a good plan for all of us.
Until next time,
Anne
Yard Sales
I am sitting here recuperating from bronchitis. Such a nasty thing! Bronchitis totally wears you out. I am an on the go kinda gal. I make lists, do the things on the list, check things off the list and then look at the list and make another list. Bronchitis does not allow for lists. Bronchitis says, "Sit! Stay! No list for you!". I really don't like that as I want to be productive and useful and helpful as much as possible. Prior to having bronchitis, I did have a list. Not just a little list a MAJOR LIST. This was a yard sale list.... a big yard sale list. Personally, I am not a yard sale type of person. I don't go to them as I do not want to buy other peoples junk. I have enough junk of my own which is why I decided to have a yard sale. The advantages of the yard sale is that you make some money from stuff you just have sitting around the house taking up space. Sounds like a great idea. We can all use a little extra money these days. I mean how much trouble is it really. You gather stuff up, you put it on some tables, you put an ad in the paper, people come and buy the stuff and ta-da you make some money. Easy enough right? WRONG! First of all, my house has three floors. Three floors of stuff to look at.... on a day to day basis you just don't realize how much stuff there is everywhere. No one needs that much stuff. I don't need that much stuff. So in order to have a yard sale you have to look at the stuff and make decisions. The basic strategy is KEEP, THROW OUT, SELL. Should be simple. WRONG. As you look at the stuff you remember where you got it or who gave it to you or how sentimental is it? And on the sentimental scale is it way up there sentimental or just a teeny bit sentimental. It all becomes quite tiring looking at all the stuff. Then once you sort it, you have to carry it either up steps, down steps or across the room to get ready for the day of the sale. At this point, you have piles of stuff now and to be honest I wondered why I thought this was a good idea. I have just spent days sorting through stuff in order to make piles of stuff. Egads! I feel like a hoarder! Have you ever seen that show "Hoarders"? It is perhaps one of the grossest shows I have ever seen. I makes me kinda sick so I really avoid watching it now. It is hard to believe that people actually hoard everything... and I mean everything including their garbage in their home. And, they don't want to let it go. Are you kidding? Even though I am not a hoarder like that I did wonder why there was so much accumulated stuff? So the purpose of the yard sale is to PURGE the stuff. So now I have these piles ready for the yard sale which is the next morning and is to begin at 8 a.m. Do you know what time you have to get up in order to be ready for an 8 a.m. yard sale? 4:00 a.m. as in the morning when it is still dark outside. At that moment I really wondered why I thought this was a good idea. But, I am in it now and have to follow through. So, with some great help, the piles of stuff were brought outside and put on the tables....in the DARK! And if you think that I put price tags on all of the stuff, you have got to be joking. No way! That would have taken forever. All I wanted to do was get this over with now. So, here we are in the dark putting stuff on the tables for the 8 a.m. yard sale and LOW AND BEHOLD here comes a guy with a flashlight (because it is DARK and it is 5 a.m.!) to look at the stuff! REALLY! To think that this is something that drives a person to get up that early in the morning. It is hard to believe. I never want to get up that early and if I did I wouldn't be driving anywhere to look at other peoples stuff. I would be drinking coffee, period, end of discussion! I guess this early morning yard sale hunt is like getting up in the middle of the night and going out on the beach looking for seashells after the high tide. I see the similarity but, call me crazy, the idea of finding a perfect conch shell on a pristine beach at dawn, with the tide softly tumbling in and lapping over your toes sounds a whole lot better than finding a shot glass from Kings Dominion on a table in someones front yard. Don't really see the awe in the yard sale venture. You know. So anywhoo, after the early bird came and went from the yard sale and the sun was finally coming out, we were deluged by the yard sale regulars! There were people coming from everywhere, buying everything. I guess we had "the good stuff". We even had repeat customers! Some of the people were really nice and something caught their eye and they were happy to buy it. But, then there was the other group of people, that apparently do this on a regular basis. I cannot even imagine how much stuff they have! Do you think we encouraged the "hoarders"? I mean some of these people were getting piles of stuff. I feel kinda bad if I added to their hoardingness...is that a word? Then there was another group of people that obviously use yard sales as their social event of the week. They chat and chat and stay and chat and come back and chat some more. I guess we were good chatters versus the other yard sales of the day. Kinda sad in a way. So we got bombarded and sold a bunch of stuff and we should be happy, right? Well, yes. BUT, at 4 p.m. after having been up twelve hours already, we had to put the unsold stuff away. That was THE worst part. After you drag it out of the house, you really don't want to drag it back in the house. You wish it would just disappear. But, you just can't leave it in the middle of the yard -- someone may steal it! Would it matter if someone stole it at this point? Would you really care? There is something inside that says, man, I could have gotten a quarter for that... I don't want someone to just take it. Okay, sure, good reasoning there.
A few years ago, my mom started giving stuff back to me that I had given to her. I thought it was kind of insensitive on her part. Why would she do that? I soooooo get it now. You live this life and you get stuff along the way. At the time is seems so important. You just had to have it. Couldn't live without it. But really, no one needs that much stuff to be truly happy. I know why my mom gave stuff back to me --- it did mean something to her and she just didn't want to throw it away. She knew I liked it if I gave it to her so she gave it back to me so I could enjoy it too. I really get it. So, at the conclusion of this yard sale, I found that I had learned alot of truths. It is true that having some sentimental items is wonderful.... things you can pass down to your children or family that will mean something for generations to come. I learned it is wasteful to buy so much stuff. You don't need it. I learned that having a yard sale is a really hard task and the benefit of making some money comes at another price...namely your sanity and well-being. And I learned if you have stuff that you really don't want there are places that you can donate to. Places like Goodwill, The Salvation Army and many other organizations that rely on donations to carry out their mission. They want your stuff and will come and GLADLY get your stuff. Finally, I learned the absolute truth about yard sales. I am never ever ever having another yard sale as long as I live. Now I will think down sizing and simplifying and appreciating what I have without excess. As my mom always said, if you don't use it three times a week you don't need it. So don't buy it or either get rid of it and give it to someone who truly does need it.
Until next time,
Anne
A few years ago, my mom started giving stuff back to me that I had given to her. I thought it was kind of insensitive on her part. Why would she do that? I soooooo get it now. You live this life and you get stuff along the way. At the time is seems so important. You just had to have it. Couldn't live without it. But really, no one needs that much stuff to be truly happy. I know why my mom gave stuff back to me --- it did mean something to her and she just didn't want to throw it away. She knew I liked it if I gave it to her so she gave it back to me so I could enjoy it too. I really get it. So, at the conclusion of this yard sale, I found that I had learned alot of truths. It is true that having some sentimental items is wonderful.... things you can pass down to your children or family that will mean something for generations to come. I learned it is wasteful to buy so much stuff. You don't need it. I learned that having a yard sale is a really hard task and the benefit of making some money comes at another price...namely your sanity and well-being. And I learned if you have stuff that you really don't want there are places that you can donate to. Places like Goodwill, The Salvation Army and many other organizations that rely on donations to carry out their mission. They want your stuff and will come and GLADLY get your stuff. Finally, I learned the absolute truth about yard sales. I am never ever ever having another yard sale as long as I live. Now I will think down sizing and simplifying and appreciating what I have without excess. As my mom always said, if you don't use it three times a week you don't need it. So don't buy it or either get rid of it and give it to someone who truly does need it.
Until next time,
Anne
Monday, April 18, 2011
Chicken Skin
When I was little one of the things I really looked forward to doing was visiting my grandmother and grandfather who lived in Pennsylvania. They were my mom's parents and I affectionately called them Mum-mum and Pappy. Their nicknames weren't my doing as I was one of the youngest grandchildren but instead came from one of the older grandchildren and it stuck. All of the grandchildren called them Mum-mum and Pappy and it suited them completely.
Pappy was a quiet man and had traveled all the way to Ohio when he was a young man to go to barber school. He returned to his Pennsylvania home town that was a coal mining area and became the one and only barber in the very small town. Even though he was quiet, he was very well known and respected and would often barter his barbering skills for whatever the customer had to offer...maybe some vegetables, a chicken, a homemade pie or he would even extend credit.
The town was known for coal mining, and it wasn't a rich town. The people there worked very hard for every penny and everyone was very thrifty. My grandfather, Pappy, was a very good man and good to his neighbors and accepted whatever was offered for that shave and a haircut. He was never greedy. He was kind and caring, always. He was a good man and helped around the house. He tended his garden, which had snap beans, carrots, potatoes, radishes, corn and lettuce.
As a child, I would help him gather the ingredients for dinner each evening. My favorite was digging the potatoes. It was like a game with him....he would say, "Got one!". The trick was to not damage the potatoes with the spade as you were digging. It was simple and fun. Aside from his vegetable garden, Pappy had a passion for Zinnias. As far as I am concerned he grew the most beautiful Zinnias I have ever seen! The were straight and tall and he planted them in four rows along the sidewalk that ran up to the house. Every summer you could count on the red, yellow and orange sea of Zinnias. They were gorgeous and his pride and joy all summer long!
My grandmother, Mum-mum, was known for being the mid-wife of the town. I have no idea how many babies she brought into the world but I imagine it was quite a few even though the town was small. She was a slight woman who always wore a simple house dress with a belt. Her salt and pepper hair was cut short but as a young woman she had long flowing tresses. I know this because when she cut her hair she had the two-foot braid that was removed tucked in a metal box for posterity. That might sound odd in todays' times but it meant a lot to me as a young child. It was a memento of my Mum-mum whom I loved so dearly. Mum-mum was a dear, dear woman. She had a wonderful way about her and always took time for me. She showed me how to make egg noodles from scratch. She didn't have any fancy gizmo's to do this...she did it all by hand with her trusty rolling pin that I now have. For me it is a magic rolling pin because it was hers and she was a magical cook. She made everything from scratch and has always been my inspiration for being a good cook. Everything she made was done on a coal stove and everything was perfectly delicious.
The one thing that I loved about visiting Mum-mum and Pappy's home was the continuity. The green shingled two story house sat on a nice piece of land surrounded by hills that turned into small mountains. The land was divided into the area around the house that had lush green grass and all kinds of trees and flower beds as well as a vegetable garden, some woodland and several out buildings - namely a garage in the front and a barn in the back. Not to mention the ever so famous outhouse that was a two-seater! There was a well that connected to a hand pump in the kitchen and although indoor plumbing had been added when my mom was in her 20's the outhouse and the pump remained as they were from the older days. All of the rooms were always arranged the same, the house had that wonderful grandparents smell, the oatmeal raisin and cornflake cookies were always in the tin on the metal cart in the kitchen. Mum-mum's dusting powder sat on the cabinet shelf in the bathroom in the same place...always. It smelled absolutely like Mum-mum! There was a bowl of butterscotch candies on the bureau in the kitchen which was Pappy's favorite, and there was a shot glass of pennies on the kitchen window sill that could be counted endlessly, and a six pack of 7-Up by the treadle sewing machine in the alcove off the kitchen. A box of wooden blocks and a plastic sheet game board and extra large checkers sat in the closet in the dining room. A grandfather clock ticked away in the parlor and African violets lined the window sills in the sun parlor that had a wonderful built-in day bed and a two-seater burgundy leather sofa along with Mum-mum's oak desk.
This parlor was her room. She wrote her letters in this room...all long-hand letters, of course. And she made her phone calls on the black rotary dial phone with the assistance of the local operator whom Mum-mum knew personally. Mum-mum said her rosary in this room every day of her life as she was a devout Catholic. It was a very special room where Pappy and I used to play the card game, War, and naps were a wonderful thing while the sun sparkled through the windows even though the shades were half drawn.
Upstairs held three bedrooms. Of course, Mum-mum and Pappy had their room and then there were two other rooms for guests. Each room had wonderful windows that frosted up in the winter time but not to worry, Mum-mum had quilted heavy blankets for the beds to save you from the cold. There wasn't any heat in the upstairs unless some of the heat from the coal furnace in the basement happened to drift your way during the night. The rooms were simply decorated although in today's times you would know that all of the furnishing were incredible antiques! The one thing each bedroom had was a chamber pot. Most young people today wouldn't know what this is! But there was a white porcelain pot and lid with red trim in all of the rooms. These were in the bedrooms so you wouldn't have to go all the way downstairs and outside to the outhouse in the middle of the night in case you needed to go to the bathroom. So every morning, all of us would carry our chamber pots downstairs and empty them. You cannot believe how cold it can be in Pennsylvania in March, so I was all for the chamber pots!
Now there is one thing about visiting grandparents that is a given. When you visit them you visit all of the other family in the area. It is an endless visiting experience. Aunts, uncles, first-cousins and second-cousins and third-cousins! You never knew you had so much family. As a child, I have to admit, it was rather boring. All of the older people got together and talked about everyone else. Who was doing what and how were they doing and most importantly how were they feeling. I never quite understood the obsession with everyone and how they were feeling and their ailments. It was all about ailments, always. Aunt so-and-so had the gout, and uncle what's his name had arthritis and cousin whomever just got over pneumonia. It all sounded so crazy to me that all of these adults had nothing better to discuss than everyones illnesses and ailments. Until.....now. Now I totally get it.
I turned 50 not long ago and my main topic of discussion is what is hurting me today. I really didn't understand until it hit me like a ton of bricks! Ailments, although not interesting, are an important topic...at least to an older person. It's like comparison shopping...I have this...what do you have? What do you do about your problem? Can it help me? Who is your doctor? Can he or she help me? I didn't get it but now I SOOOOOoooooo get it! It really sucks to get older and have all of these aches and pains and it is very helpful to be able to commiserate with other people about it...you get some sympathy and some advice. That is a good thing when you get to this place!
One other thing I did really notice about older people...even though I was just a child when I was visiting my grandparents... was understanding that my grandmother was an older person. I know that sounds odd. But, think about it, do you really think about your parents being "older"? Don't you just think about them as your parents that are eternally your parents? You don't really think about them as being OLD. You just think about them as being your parents, right? BUT, on the other hand, if you are lucky like me, you had grandparents that you do think of as being older. Because they already were older when you came along. They had the gray hair and the wrinkles...something your parents didn't really have when you were a kid. Sooooooo, anywhoooo, I was kind of intrigued by my Mum-mum and Pappy because being one of the youngest grandchildren, they were old when I came along. They looked like grandparents should look. I admired them but I was fascinated and tickled by them too. It's like my Mum-mum would go to say my name but she would start with the oldest FEMALE grandchild and call out names until she got to mine. It was funny at the time...it's like Mum-mum why don't you know my name!?! Duh, I get it now and when you are older than 50 you will get it too! It's also like going into a room and forgetting why you went into the room in the first place! My grandmother used to do that alot. I didn't understand why. Now I do...I hate to admit! I have to stand there and think about why I walked into a room when I know that two seconds ago I knew exactly why I went that way. Getting older sucks!
But, believe it or not, my most favorite grandma memory, and it is specific to my Mum-mum, is her hands. Perhaps it is because I watched her bake and cook and make my Pappy's lunches so many times. I was intent on her every move that involved her hands so maybe that is why it sticks with me so intensely. I so remember her hands. One day, I touched her hands and I said, "Mum-mum you have chicken skin". I said this because the skin on the top of her hands was like chicken skin. You could pinch the skin between your fingers and lift it up and the skin moved so freely from side to side and up and down. It seemed weird to me as a youngster. Then not long ago I noticed the same thing on my own mom's hands....chicken skin again. I never saw my mom as getting older but then I saw the "chicken skin" and thought to myself, wow, mom is getting older. For me this whole chicken skin thing is a sign. Then, again, not very long ago, I looked at my own hands and there it was....chicken skin! It felt funny to me but I am a mom and I am a grandmother. So I guess that it is okay and goes with the territory. All I know is that if my "chicken skin" is as good as my Mum-mum's then I must be doing something right. She was an awesome lady and if I can be even one-fourth of what she was then I will be a happy woman.
Until next time,
Anne
Pappy was a quiet man and had traveled all the way to Ohio when he was a young man to go to barber school. He returned to his Pennsylvania home town that was a coal mining area and became the one and only barber in the very small town. Even though he was quiet, he was very well known and respected and would often barter his barbering skills for whatever the customer had to offer...maybe some vegetables, a chicken, a homemade pie or he would even extend credit.
The town was known for coal mining, and it wasn't a rich town. The people there worked very hard for every penny and everyone was very thrifty. My grandfather, Pappy, was a very good man and good to his neighbors and accepted whatever was offered for that shave and a haircut. He was never greedy. He was kind and caring, always. He was a good man and helped around the house. He tended his garden, which had snap beans, carrots, potatoes, radishes, corn and lettuce.
As a child, I would help him gather the ingredients for dinner each evening. My favorite was digging the potatoes. It was like a game with him....he would say, "Got one!". The trick was to not damage the potatoes with the spade as you were digging. It was simple and fun. Aside from his vegetable garden, Pappy had a passion for Zinnias. As far as I am concerned he grew the most beautiful Zinnias I have ever seen! The were straight and tall and he planted them in four rows along the sidewalk that ran up to the house. Every summer you could count on the red, yellow and orange sea of Zinnias. They were gorgeous and his pride and joy all summer long!
My grandmother, Mum-mum, was known for being the mid-wife of the town. I have no idea how many babies she brought into the world but I imagine it was quite a few even though the town was small. She was a slight woman who always wore a simple house dress with a belt. Her salt and pepper hair was cut short but as a young woman she had long flowing tresses. I know this because when she cut her hair she had the two-foot braid that was removed tucked in a metal box for posterity. That might sound odd in todays' times but it meant a lot to me as a young child. It was a memento of my Mum-mum whom I loved so dearly. Mum-mum was a dear, dear woman. She had a wonderful way about her and always took time for me. She showed me how to make egg noodles from scratch. She didn't have any fancy gizmo's to do this...she did it all by hand with her trusty rolling pin that I now have. For me it is a magic rolling pin because it was hers and she was a magical cook. She made everything from scratch and has always been my inspiration for being a good cook. Everything she made was done on a coal stove and everything was perfectly delicious.
The one thing that I loved about visiting Mum-mum and Pappy's home was the continuity. The green shingled two story house sat on a nice piece of land surrounded by hills that turned into small mountains. The land was divided into the area around the house that had lush green grass and all kinds of trees and flower beds as well as a vegetable garden, some woodland and several out buildings - namely a garage in the front and a barn in the back. Not to mention the ever so famous outhouse that was a two-seater! There was a well that connected to a hand pump in the kitchen and although indoor plumbing had been added when my mom was in her 20's the outhouse and the pump remained as they were from the older days. All of the rooms were always arranged the same, the house had that wonderful grandparents smell, the oatmeal raisin and cornflake cookies were always in the tin on the metal cart in the kitchen. Mum-mum's dusting powder sat on the cabinet shelf in the bathroom in the same place...always. It smelled absolutely like Mum-mum! There was a bowl of butterscotch candies on the bureau in the kitchen which was Pappy's favorite, and there was a shot glass of pennies on the kitchen window sill that could be counted endlessly, and a six pack of 7-Up by the treadle sewing machine in the alcove off the kitchen. A box of wooden blocks and a plastic sheet game board and extra large checkers sat in the closet in the dining room. A grandfather clock ticked away in the parlor and African violets lined the window sills in the sun parlor that had a wonderful built-in day bed and a two-seater burgundy leather sofa along with Mum-mum's oak desk.
This parlor was her room. She wrote her letters in this room...all long-hand letters, of course. And she made her phone calls on the black rotary dial phone with the assistance of the local operator whom Mum-mum knew personally. Mum-mum said her rosary in this room every day of her life as she was a devout Catholic. It was a very special room where Pappy and I used to play the card game, War, and naps were a wonderful thing while the sun sparkled through the windows even though the shades were half drawn.
Upstairs held three bedrooms. Of course, Mum-mum and Pappy had their room and then there were two other rooms for guests. Each room had wonderful windows that frosted up in the winter time but not to worry, Mum-mum had quilted heavy blankets for the beds to save you from the cold. There wasn't any heat in the upstairs unless some of the heat from the coal furnace in the basement happened to drift your way during the night. The rooms were simply decorated although in today's times you would know that all of the furnishing were incredible antiques! The one thing each bedroom had was a chamber pot. Most young people today wouldn't know what this is! But there was a white porcelain pot and lid with red trim in all of the rooms. These were in the bedrooms so you wouldn't have to go all the way downstairs and outside to the outhouse in the middle of the night in case you needed to go to the bathroom. So every morning, all of us would carry our chamber pots downstairs and empty them. You cannot believe how cold it can be in Pennsylvania in March, so I was all for the chamber pots!
Now there is one thing about visiting grandparents that is a given. When you visit them you visit all of the other family in the area. It is an endless visiting experience. Aunts, uncles, first-cousins and second-cousins and third-cousins! You never knew you had so much family. As a child, I have to admit, it was rather boring. All of the older people got together and talked about everyone else. Who was doing what and how were they doing and most importantly how were they feeling. I never quite understood the obsession with everyone and how they were feeling and their ailments. It was all about ailments, always. Aunt so-and-so had the gout, and uncle what's his name had arthritis and cousin whomever just got over pneumonia. It all sounded so crazy to me that all of these adults had nothing better to discuss than everyones illnesses and ailments. Until.....now. Now I totally get it.
I turned 50 not long ago and my main topic of discussion is what is hurting me today. I really didn't understand until it hit me like a ton of bricks! Ailments, although not interesting, are an important topic...at least to an older person. It's like comparison shopping...I have this...what do you have? What do you do about your problem? Can it help me? Who is your doctor? Can he or she help me? I didn't get it but now I SOOOOOoooooo get it! It really sucks to get older and have all of these aches and pains and it is very helpful to be able to commiserate with other people about it...you get some sympathy and some advice. That is a good thing when you get to this place!
One other thing I did really notice about older people...even though I was just a child when I was visiting my grandparents... was understanding that my grandmother was an older person. I know that sounds odd. But, think about it, do you really think about your parents being "older"? Don't you just think about them as your parents that are eternally your parents? You don't really think about them as being OLD. You just think about them as being your parents, right? BUT, on the other hand, if you are lucky like me, you had grandparents that you do think of as being older. Because they already were older when you came along. They had the gray hair and the wrinkles...something your parents didn't really have when you were a kid. Sooooooo, anywhoooo, I was kind of intrigued by my Mum-mum and Pappy because being one of the youngest grandchildren, they were old when I came along. They looked like grandparents should look. I admired them but I was fascinated and tickled by them too. It's like my Mum-mum would go to say my name but she would start with the oldest FEMALE grandchild and call out names until she got to mine. It was funny at the time...it's like Mum-mum why don't you know my name!?! Duh, I get it now and when you are older than 50 you will get it too! It's also like going into a room and forgetting why you went into the room in the first place! My grandmother used to do that alot. I didn't understand why. Now I do...I hate to admit! I have to stand there and think about why I walked into a room when I know that two seconds ago I knew exactly why I went that way. Getting older sucks!
But, believe it or not, my most favorite grandma memory, and it is specific to my Mum-mum, is her hands. Perhaps it is because I watched her bake and cook and make my Pappy's lunches so many times. I was intent on her every move that involved her hands so maybe that is why it sticks with me so intensely. I so remember her hands. One day, I touched her hands and I said, "Mum-mum you have chicken skin". I said this because the skin on the top of her hands was like chicken skin. You could pinch the skin between your fingers and lift it up and the skin moved so freely from side to side and up and down. It seemed weird to me as a youngster. Then not long ago I noticed the same thing on my own mom's hands....chicken skin again. I never saw my mom as getting older but then I saw the "chicken skin" and thought to myself, wow, mom is getting older. For me this whole chicken skin thing is a sign. Then, again, not very long ago, I looked at my own hands and there it was....chicken skin! It felt funny to me but I am a mom and I am a grandmother. So I guess that it is okay and goes with the territory. All I know is that if my "chicken skin" is as good as my Mum-mum's then I must be doing something right. She was an awesome lady and if I can be even one-fourth of what she was then I will be a happy woman.
Until next time,
Anne
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Weight....seriously.
I am amazed how society is so hung up on a person's weight. When I was growing up the model, Twiggy, was the "ideal" woman. I never understood that concept as she was nothing but skin and bones. And things haven't changed much at all. I see the models on the magazines and television and not only are they all extremely young but they weigh like 98 pounds soaking wet. Is this our example that shows the average woman how they should look? I don't think so. Have you been to Wal-mart recently? The average woman is probably a size 12 to 14. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. But somehow and somewhere we have been told that size 0 or 2 is the right size. Who said so? I don't believe them. And, I don't like to be made to feel that if I am not a size 0 or 2 there is something wrong with me. I am average and I am a size 14. But, everyday I think that I need to lose weight because of some invisible standard that someone I don't even know has set. Why do I let that happen?
Society seems obsessed by this whole weight issue. One of the most popular television shows is "The Biggest Loser" and the tabloids are filled with pictures of celebrities and their cellulite. Then there are the "fat" shows. Fat teenagers, fat adults, fat couples...it goes on an on. I realize that being overweight can be a health issue. I am all for taking care of yourself and not compromising your health. But, I don't think you have to be a size 2 to be healthy. You can be average and still be alright.
What I don't understand is people that weigh so much that they cannot move from their bed. I truly don't understand it. I feel very badly for these people and I know that there is obviously a major health problem. A problem that needs to be addressed. But here is my question, if someone is so overweight that they cannot get out of their bed, then how do they get anything to eat? I promise that I am not being callous in any way. I just don't understand. You would think that if someone cannot get out of bed then they would waste away....not gain any weight.
So clearly someone is enabling this dangerous problem for the person who is so overweight they cannot move. Let's just say you have a male family member, say it is your son, and he is an adult and is on disability because he can't work due to his weight problem. And let's say, as his mom, you go to see him each day to make sure he is alright because you really love him ... he is your son. Let's call him Joey. So you go to see Joey and there he is in his bed. He has been in the bed for months and cannot get up. And you ask him what can you do to help him? And, Joey says, I would like 2 dozen fried eggs, 6 pieces of toast, a pound of bacon and a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Would you really give it to him? Really and truly? Why would you do that? Long before you got to this moment, wouldn't you have appealed to your son and the problem he was having and help him? This I really don't understand. If you really love someone then you should try and help them in a situation like this.
There isn't anything funny about it. This is quite a serious matter. Our society has gotten to the point that the food that is available to us has so much preservatives, fillers and injections. It isn't like it is real food anymore. It isn't really fresh and wholesome unless you really work at it and look. I mean these days you can even buy pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the frozen section at the market. Then there is all of the fast food. The amount of calories is astronomical in all of that food. The recent news story about Taco Bell needing to meet a requirement that the beef they use in the tacos must have at least 40% beef and it was found that Taco Bell was only using 30% beef. Question...what is in the other 70%? Kind of scary to me. Some years back I went to Denny's and ordered a steak. It looked like a steak but it wasn't. It was like plastic meat. I don't know how that happens but I saw it with my own two eyes. And then there are school lunches with pizza and fries on the menu for the day. What is that teaching our children about healthy eating?
I am not really one to preach about eating correctly because I don't always do very well. But, I can't help thinking about the person lying in a bed somewhere unable to move because of being so overweight. I wonder how that happened. I wonder who in that person's life allowed it to get that bad and do nothing. I wonder how they must feel being so isolated. I cannot imagine how it must feel for that person. I really can't.
I don't think we should allow some ideal set forth by society, whomever that is, to determine that everyone should be a size 2 or a 24" waist or look like someone gracing the cover of a magazine. Everyone should be themselves and not feel less than beautiful because of some unrealistic standard. What we should do is help those people that are isolated from life because maybe that unrealistic standard has impacted their life in such a negative way they cannot cope. Why do we have to be so judgmental? Why can't we just accept people for who they are and raise them up, instead of condemning them? Wouldn't the world be a better place if we took care of each other?
Until next time,
Anne
Society seems obsessed by this whole weight issue. One of the most popular television shows is "The Biggest Loser" and the tabloids are filled with pictures of celebrities and their cellulite. Then there are the "fat" shows. Fat teenagers, fat adults, fat couples...it goes on an on. I realize that being overweight can be a health issue. I am all for taking care of yourself and not compromising your health. But, I don't think you have to be a size 2 to be healthy. You can be average and still be alright.
What I don't understand is people that weigh so much that they cannot move from their bed. I truly don't understand it. I feel very badly for these people and I know that there is obviously a major health problem. A problem that needs to be addressed. But here is my question, if someone is so overweight that they cannot get out of their bed, then how do they get anything to eat? I promise that I am not being callous in any way. I just don't understand. You would think that if someone cannot get out of bed then they would waste away....not gain any weight.
So clearly someone is enabling this dangerous problem for the person who is so overweight they cannot move. Let's just say you have a male family member, say it is your son, and he is an adult and is on disability because he can't work due to his weight problem. And let's say, as his mom, you go to see him each day to make sure he is alright because you really love him ... he is your son. Let's call him Joey. So you go to see Joey and there he is in his bed. He has been in the bed for months and cannot get up. And you ask him what can you do to help him? And, Joey says, I would like 2 dozen fried eggs, 6 pieces of toast, a pound of bacon and a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Would you really give it to him? Really and truly? Why would you do that? Long before you got to this moment, wouldn't you have appealed to your son and the problem he was having and help him? This I really don't understand. If you really love someone then you should try and help them in a situation like this.
There isn't anything funny about it. This is quite a serious matter. Our society has gotten to the point that the food that is available to us has so much preservatives, fillers and injections. It isn't like it is real food anymore. It isn't really fresh and wholesome unless you really work at it and look. I mean these days you can even buy pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the frozen section at the market. Then there is all of the fast food. The amount of calories is astronomical in all of that food. The recent news story about Taco Bell needing to meet a requirement that the beef they use in the tacos must have at least 40% beef and it was found that Taco Bell was only using 30% beef. Question...what is in the other 70%? Kind of scary to me. Some years back I went to Denny's and ordered a steak. It looked like a steak but it wasn't. It was like plastic meat. I don't know how that happens but I saw it with my own two eyes. And then there are school lunches with pizza and fries on the menu for the day. What is that teaching our children about healthy eating?
I am not really one to preach about eating correctly because I don't always do very well. But, I can't help thinking about the person lying in a bed somewhere unable to move because of being so overweight. I wonder how that happened. I wonder who in that person's life allowed it to get that bad and do nothing. I wonder how they must feel being so isolated. I cannot imagine how it must feel for that person. I really can't.
I don't think we should allow some ideal set forth by society, whomever that is, to determine that everyone should be a size 2 or a 24" waist or look like someone gracing the cover of a magazine. Everyone should be themselves and not feel less than beautiful because of some unrealistic standard. What we should do is help those people that are isolated from life because maybe that unrealistic standard has impacted their life in such a negative way they cannot cope. Why do we have to be so judgmental? Why can't we just accept people for who they are and raise them up, instead of condemning them? Wouldn't the world be a better place if we took care of each other?
Until next time,
Anne
It's like anchovies
I have talked a bit about several movies I like and you have probably noticed a theme. I like dramas or comedy/dramas. I am a very "PG" or "G" rated kinda gal. You know how parents look at the ratings on the movie boxes to protect their children? Well I read the movie boxes to protect ME! If I see an "R" rating and if there are any words like, "bloody violence", "strong language", "nudity" or especially "GORE" then that movie is absolutely not for me. I am more of the "Mary Poppins", "Sound of Music", "Norma Rae", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", type of person. I have never seen, nor will I ever see, anything with Freddy Kruger, Jason, Chucky, or any of those other characters that create total mayhem and murder with knives, axes, lots of guns, spears or arrows. I hate arrows most especially because they make that "wooshy" sound. Nope! Not now, not ever! I didn't even watch "Gladiator" with Russell Crowe because the movie box stated that there were approximately 5000 sharp implements used. Egads! 5000? Really? Usually I can automatically rule out a movie just by the cover on the box. If there is any blood dripping off of anything, there is NO WAY I would watch it! I wouldn't even waste my time reading the back of the movie box to find out what the story is all about. Who cares...way too much blood, I am sure! I have absolutely, positively ruled out "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Are you kidding?!?! The title alone is much more than I can stand. To put the word "chainsaw" with the word "massacre" together in a movie title just screams a BIG OLE NEGATIVE for me. I have a few movies that I like that are on the "edge" like "Die Hard" and "Lonesome Dove", I have made allowances for these movies because I just leave the room during the icky parts that I can't watch because there are only a few and I can tell by the music in the movie that something is going to happen that I really don't want to see. Then I wait and come back after the icky part is over. It works for me.
The other thing I really don't like is cussing. I don't cuss except for the very rare occasion. For instance, if a song that I really like has a cuss word in it and I am singing along I may say the cuss word. But, I try to just "mouth the word" rather than saying it out loud. A couple of times, when I got really, really angry I said a cuss word but I never said any of the really "bad" ones. I have thought cuss words without really saying them out loud, but I don't know if that counts as really cussing or not. I guess it is a no if no one hears you say it. So for instance, when I watched "Goodfellas" and "Pulp Fiction", I turned both of them off within 10 minutes. Way, way too much cussing for me. I couldn't stand it. I couldn't even think about enjoying the movie. All I could hear was the bad language. No story, no interesting aspect, nothing, nada, yuk. Turned it off. The same goes for nudity. I don't want to see other people naked. Why would I want to see that? eewwwww....nasty. I don't even like to see me naked! Why would I want to see some actor naked. Super disgusting! I like love stories with just an innuendo. It leaves things to your imagination. Imagination is romantic. However on the other hand, for example, there was "Showgirls". That was just traumatic for me...I had to leave the room! First of all, Elizabeth Berkeley was on "Saved by the Bell" and she was the nerdy and smart girl on that show. Then she does this movie and oh my goodness....I didn't need to see any of that...I ran out of the room as fast as I could. I will never get over that experience. Way too much for me.
So, I stuck with films like "The Black Stallion", "The Man from Snowy River" and movies that are on the Lifetime channel that are based on true stories of survival against the odds. That's what I like to watch. I don't have to leave the room and none of my boundaries are crossed. I was a happy woman! That is until.....
Until a new show came on HBO. I am so addicted to this show I can't wait until the new season begins. I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting!!! Not only is the show totally awesome, it also has the absolutely the best, better than best, opening song! I love all of the characters and the whole thing is just crazy great! This show is "True Blood". This show has blood, gore, cussing galore and nudity that runs rampant! And, I just love this show! It is awesome! It is about vampires, lots of vampires and werewolves and fairies and humans and more blood and cussing too! It is crazy good! Can you tell I really love this show!?!?
So I am thinking about it. Contemplating this whole thing. I really love this show, and I don't mean just love it, I mean really LOVE this show and it has everything I don't like. I never have to leave the room or hide my eyes or anything. I can watch the whole, entire, complete show and I am left wanting more. Why is that? How can it be? Well, I figured it out! It is like anchovies! I love anchovies but I hate salt. I rarely ever, and I really mean rarely, use salt on any of my food. But, I love anchovies and they are nothing but salt! It is a weird circumstance! Cannot be explained. But what I know now is that "True Blood" and anchovies are the same for me! Sometimes, just sometimes, a lot of something that you don't like is just perfect!
Until next time,
Anne
The other thing I really don't like is cussing. I don't cuss except for the very rare occasion. For instance, if a song that I really like has a cuss word in it and I am singing along I may say the cuss word. But, I try to just "mouth the word" rather than saying it out loud. A couple of times, when I got really, really angry I said a cuss word but I never said any of the really "bad" ones. I have thought cuss words without really saying them out loud, but I don't know if that counts as really cussing or not. I guess it is a no if no one hears you say it. So for instance, when I watched "Goodfellas" and "Pulp Fiction", I turned both of them off within 10 minutes. Way, way too much cussing for me. I couldn't stand it. I couldn't even think about enjoying the movie. All I could hear was the bad language. No story, no interesting aspect, nothing, nada, yuk. Turned it off. The same goes for nudity. I don't want to see other people naked. Why would I want to see that? eewwwww....nasty. I don't even like to see me naked! Why would I want to see some actor naked. Super disgusting! I like love stories with just an innuendo. It leaves things to your imagination. Imagination is romantic. However on the other hand, for example, there was "Showgirls". That was just traumatic for me...I had to leave the room! First of all, Elizabeth Berkeley was on "Saved by the Bell" and she was the nerdy and smart girl on that show. Then she does this movie and oh my goodness....I didn't need to see any of that...I ran out of the room as fast as I could. I will never get over that experience. Way too much for me.
So, I stuck with films like "The Black Stallion", "The Man from Snowy River" and movies that are on the Lifetime channel that are based on true stories of survival against the odds. That's what I like to watch. I don't have to leave the room and none of my boundaries are crossed. I was a happy woman! That is until.....
Until a new show came on HBO. I am so addicted to this show I can't wait until the new season begins. I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting!!! Not only is the show totally awesome, it also has the absolutely the best, better than best, opening song! I love all of the characters and the whole thing is just crazy great! This show is "True Blood". This show has blood, gore, cussing galore and nudity that runs rampant! And, I just love this show! It is awesome! It is about vampires, lots of vampires and werewolves and fairies and humans and more blood and cussing too! It is crazy good! Can you tell I really love this show!?!?
So I am thinking about it. Contemplating this whole thing. I really love this show, and I don't mean just love it, I mean really LOVE this show and it has everything I don't like. I never have to leave the room or hide my eyes or anything. I can watch the whole, entire, complete show and I am left wanting more. Why is that? How can it be? Well, I figured it out! It is like anchovies! I love anchovies but I hate salt. I rarely ever, and I really mean rarely, use salt on any of my food. But, I love anchovies and they are nothing but salt! It is a weird circumstance! Cannot be explained. But what I know now is that "True Blood" and anchovies are the same for me! Sometimes, just sometimes, a lot of something that you don't like is just perfect!
Until next time,
Anne
To PEEP or not to PEEP that is the question
Let's talk Easter candy. Everyone has their favorite. Kathy and my daughter, Sarah, like the Russell Stover maple cream eggs. My mom always liked the black jelly beans, yuk, I don't like licorice! I personally will only eat the green or orange jelly beans. In a pinch I will eat the yellow jelly beans but only if neither of the others are left. I feel there has always been a discussion about whether a solid chocolate Easter bunny is better than a hollow chocolate Easter bunny. I think hollow is better...I don't know why but I do! I especially like eating the candy eyes. Do you? Is that weird? In the midst of all of that chocolaty goodness you get this crunchy sugar thing. It's GOOD!
Of course, we can't forget the Reese's peanut butter eggs. For some people they are the bomb at Easter time. Can't go without it. But for me, I have a special need for Peeps.
I love Peeps. But, I only love Peeps at Easter. It is something I look forward to every year. If you have never experienced it, Peeps are dollops of creamy marshmallow coated in a wonderful fine yellow sugar. They are shaped like little chicks.
Actually, there is a science to eating Peeps. This is the way a true Peeps lover does it, like me. Now pay close attention! You have to get the 10 pack. There are two sleeves and five Peeps in each one and the whole thing is wrapped in cellophane. The first thing you do is take the cellophane off one of the sleeves and you eat ALL five of the Peeps one right after the other. YUMMY! Then you leave the other five Peeps in the other sleeve semi covered with the remaining cellophane and wait. This is the hard part....waiting. You wait a day or two until the next five Peeps are semi-hard. Not too hard mind you, just a little hard....not stale either...just less soft. Then you take those five Peeps and eat them one right after the other. Oh it is a little piece of heaven. Truly it is. You get the first five nice and soft and creamy and then you get the second five just a bit chewy. MAGNIFICENT!!! I looked forward to this Peep experience every year since I was a little girl. I was utterly content with the Peep process.
BUT.....BUT.....BUT....to my dismay, one year I saw Peeps that were not yellow. I saw PINK Peeps, and PURPLE Peeps. I was confused. Let's review so you understand my issue. Peeps are called Peeps because they are little chicks. Little chicks are YELLOW...hello! So there is no room for pink or purple Peeps! Chicks are YELLOW!!!! Then to add insult to injury I saw BUNNY Peeps. Peeps are NOT bunnies. Peeps are chicks. Chicks make the noise, "peep, peep, peep". That is why they are called Peeps. Bunnies do not make any sound, they just wiggle their noses. They are not Peeps! They are wannabe Peeps. There is no room for bunny Peeps. Bunnies cannot be Peeps. No way, no how! My sacred chick Peeps have been compromised by sharing the same shelf in the store with the bunnies. It isn't right. I was so upset. Now it isn't just the wrong colors...Peeps should only by YELLOW, now they are the wrong shape. What is wrong with the world when you can't count on a Peep to really be a Peep? Peep impostors cannot be tolerated!
Easter passed and I got over being upset about my chick Peeps. Everything was going along just fine and then Halloween season came along. Do you know what I saw at the store? Pumpkin Peeps and they were ORANGE! And then there were ghost Peeps that were WHITE...these are not Peeps. Nothing like Peeps. Cannot ever be a Peep. I refuse to buy any of them not to mention eating any of them. Should the ghost Peeps be called Boo-Peeps? Really? Are you serious? Halloween Peeps? They are not yellow nor are they chicks. They cannot be Peeps. And, right on the heels of Halloween, were the Christmas Peeps, and then the Valentine's Peeps. Honestly, I was disgusted. I mean what can you say about the state of the world?
I thought I had seen it all. My disgust over the Peep situation had become widely known as I made sure everyone I knew was aware of the Peep problem. But then, THE most appalling Peep issue presented itself. I was so taken back I couldn't contain myself. I actually saw a chocolate covered Peep at the store! Oh my goodness. I totally went off right in the store. Luckily the checkout person felt my pain at the complete blasphemy of a chocolate covered Peep and we commiserated together for a brief moment in time. A Peep cannot nor will it ever be a Peep if it has any chocolate on it. If you cover marshmallow with chocolate it is just the run of the mill cookie or candy or whatever. Peeps cannot have any chocolate anything! Peeps are, as I stated, dollops of creamy marshmallow coated in a fine yellow sugar and shaped like little chicks. Period end of story. Anything else isn't a Peep, no matter the color or the shape or the disgusting chocolate dipping. I won't eat any of those impostors as I wouldn't want to compromise my loyalty to the real Peep.
So my feeling on the whole thing is when you have something that is so perfect like the real Peep, the only Peep, why would you want to change it? No one needed to try to improve something that needed no improvement. Why is it that we can just enjoy the most wonderful things in life without having to alter them in some way? I say stand by your yellow chick Peeps and boycott all the rest! Perfection has no competition!
Until next time,
Anne
Of course, we can't forget the Reese's peanut butter eggs. For some people they are the bomb at Easter time. Can't go without it. But for me, I have a special need for Peeps.
I love Peeps. But, I only love Peeps at Easter. It is something I look forward to every year. If you have never experienced it, Peeps are dollops of creamy marshmallow coated in a wonderful fine yellow sugar. They are shaped like little chicks.
Actually, there is a science to eating Peeps. This is the way a true Peeps lover does it, like me. Now pay close attention! You have to get the 10 pack. There are two sleeves and five Peeps in each one and the whole thing is wrapped in cellophane. The first thing you do is take the cellophane off one of the sleeves and you eat ALL five of the Peeps one right after the other. YUMMY! Then you leave the other five Peeps in the other sleeve semi covered with the remaining cellophane and wait. This is the hard part....waiting. You wait a day or two until the next five Peeps are semi-hard. Not too hard mind you, just a little hard....not stale either...just less soft. Then you take those five Peeps and eat them one right after the other. Oh it is a little piece of heaven. Truly it is. You get the first five nice and soft and creamy and then you get the second five just a bit chewy. MAGNIFICENT!!! I looked forward to this Peep experience every year since I was a little girl. I was utterly content with the Peep process.
BUT.....BUT.....BUT....to my dismay, one year I saw Peeps that were not yellow. I saw PINK Peeps, and PURPLE Peeps. I was confused. Let's review so you understand my issue. Peeps are called Peeps because they are little chicks. Little chicks are YELLOW...hello! So there is no room for pink or purple Peeps! Chicks are YELLOW!!!! Then to add insult to injury I saw BUNNY Peeps. Peeps are NOT bunnies. Peeps are chicks. Chicks make the noise, "peep, peep, peep". That is why they are called Peeps. Bunnies do not make any sound, they just wiggle their noses. They are not Peeps! They are wannabe Peeps. There is no room for bunny Peeps. Bunnies cannot be Peeps. No way, no how! My sacred chick Peeps have been compromised by sharing the same shelf in the store with the bunnies. It isn't right. I was so upset. Now it isn't just the wrong colors...Peeps should only by YELLOW, now they are the wrong shape. What is wrong with the world when you can't count on a Peep to really be a Peep? Peep impostors cannot be tolerated!
Easter passed and I got over being upset about my chick Peeps. Everything was going along just fine and then Halloween season came along. Do you know what I saw at the store? Pumpkin Peeps and they were ORANGE! And then there were ghost Peeps that were WHITE...these are not Peeps. Nothing like Peeps. Cannot ever be a Peep. I refuse to buy any of them not to mention eating any of them. Should the ghost Peeps be called Boo-Peeps? Really? Are you serious? Halloween Peeps? They are not yellow nor are they chicks. They cannot be Peeps. And, right on the heels of Halloween, were the Christmas Peeps, and then the Valentine's Peeps. Honestly, I was disgusted. I mean what can you say about the state of the world?
I thought I had seen it all. My disgust over the Peep situation had become widely known as I made sure everyone I knew was aware of the Peep problem. But then, THE most appalling Peep issue presented itself. I was so taken back I couldn't contain myself. I actually saw a chocolate covered Peep at the store! Oh my goodness. I totally went off right in the store. Luckily the checkout person felt my pain at the complete blasphemy of a chocolate covered Peep and we commiserated together for a brief moment in time. A Peep cannot nor will it ever be a Peep if it has any chocolate on it. If you cover marshmallow with chocolate it is just the run of the mill cookie or candy or whatever. Peeps cannot have any chocolate anything! Peeps are, as I stated, dollops of creamy marshmallow coated in a fine yellow sugar and shaped like little chicks. Period end of story. Anything else isn't a Peep, no matter the color or the shape or the disgusting chocolate dipping. I won't eat any of those impostors as I wouldn't want to compromise my loyalty to the real Peep.
So my feeling on the whole thing is when you have something that is so perfect like the real Peep, the only Peep, why would you want to change it? No one needed to try to improve something that needed no improvement. Why is it that we can just enjoy the most wonderful things in life without having to alter them in some way? I say stand by your yellow chick Peeps and boycott all the rest! Perfection has no competition!
Until next time,
Anne
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