Not here...but SOMEWHERE. I wish I were there. Being stuck at work during the summer is just horrible to me. It is as if the world outside the window is going on with out me. There is wind, and sun, and water, and smells, and sounds…in here there is nothing. It is always the same temperature and all I hear is the humming of the air conditioner and buzzing of the florescent lights. It smells like mildew and stale coffee and old ladies. I bought a tropical breeze plug-in, but it doesn’t help and I am certainly not fooled into thinking I am in Belize somewhere.
Some days (oh, like TODAY) I feel I’m just sitting here in this chair getting older and fatter and my life is not making a difference at all. Do other people feel like this or is there something wrong with just me? I keep reminding myself to be thankful I have a job, live in a safe place, have food and shelter, people who love me and every resource available to me to live a wonderful life. And I am truly grateful for that. I don’t want to be the Ugly American here and complain about living this easy life. I know that life is a hardship I can not even begin to imagine for most of the people in this world. But does that honestly make me change my perspective? A little I guess, but I still can’t help questioning the authenticity and value of the life I am living. I was born a white American woman because that is what God wanted me to be. I have all of these things because if Him. I just don’t know what the heck I am supposed to be doing with it all. Sometimes when I read the news I feel guilty for my state in life. So many people have so little and here I am getting FAT from eating organic food and complaining about being in a safe air-conditioned building working a job at which I am in no danger (if you don’t count the asbestos in this old building).
So why do I live for 5:00? Why can I think of nothing more then what I'd be doing if I were not HERE? Ugh.
Well, this was depressing to write...so I am sure it was ever so much fun to READ. Sorry about that. If you need a smile, just go back to the post with the Jimmy Buffett pics. I'll come around and write something witty soon.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Who is 30??
Who says that 30 year olds can't have any fun? Since my birthday falls on Spring Break, the girls at work gave me an early party today...complete with Harry Potter plates, tablecloths and cups! I even got my own wizard hat, glasses and a light-up wand! It was a little funny explaining all this to our superintendent...but hey, if you are a true Potterphile, you embrace it and move on with life! Here is a pic for your amusement.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Even Charlie Knows!
I wish I could give credit to who ever created this...but I can't. It was forwarded to me via email. However, it was way too funny not to post. I love the social commentary it touches on...the inferences to the absurdity of pop culture. I love that even Charlie Brown is "bringing sexy back" and that our beloved Snoopy is now a pseudo-gangsta. And the fact that it is just damn funny sure doesn't hurt.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
...And Life Moved On
Excerpt from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson
"San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run . . . but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant. . . .
History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of "history" it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time -- and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.
My central memory of that time seems to hang on one or five or maybe forty nights -- or very early mornings -- when I left the Fillmore half-crazy and, instead of going home, aimed the big 650 Lightning across the Bay Bridge at a hundred miles an hour wearing L. L. Bean shorts and a Butte sheepherder's jacket . . . booming through the Treasure Island tunnel at the lights of Oakland and Berkeley and Richmond, not quite sure which turn-off to take when I got to the other end (always stalling at the toll-gate, too twisted to find neutral while I fumbled for change) . . . but being absolutely certain that no matter which way I went I would come to a place where people were just as high and wild as I was: No doubt at all about that. . . .
There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
And that, I think, was the handle -- that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting -- on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark -- that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."
That passage is always beautiful to me -- the imagery is timeless. It stands out on this particular day for a lot of reasons. First of all because today is the anniversary of Thompson's death. Something I still find very sad. I guess I just wish he'd had more to say. I am for anyone who stirs the pot of conventional thinking and makes people question. This segment always speaks to me when I think about the passage of time. Things that are so real and so true at one moment...and then are over the next. The temporary nature of life is sometimes overwhelming while at the same time acting as inspiration to live each day as authentically as possible. Life is going to keep moving -- regardless if we are on board or not. So we might as well buy the ticket ...and take the ride.
"San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run . . . but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant. . . .
History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of "history" it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time -- and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.
My central memory of that time seems to hang on one or five or maybe forty nights -- or very early mornings -- when I left the Fillmore half-crazy and, instead of going home, aimed the big 650 Lightning across the Bay Bridge at a hundred miles an hour wearing L. L. Bean shorts and a Butte sheepherder's jacket . . . booming through the Treasure Island tunnel at the lights of Oakland and Berkeley and Richmond, not quite sure which turn-off to take when I got to the other end (always stalling at the toll-gate, too twisted to find neutral while I fumbled for change) . . . but being absolutely certain that no matter which way I went I would come to a place where people were just as high and wild as I was: No doubt at all about that. . . .
There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
And that, I think, was the handle -- that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting -- on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark -- that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."
That passage is always beautiful to me -- the imagery is timeless. It stands out on this particular day for a lot of reasons. First of all because today is the anniversary of Thompson's death. Something I still find very sad. I guess I just wish he'd had more to say. I am for anyone who stirs the pot of conventional thinking and makes people question. This segment always speaks to me when I think about the passage of time. Things that are so real and so true at one moment...and then are over the next. The temporary nature of life is sometimes overwhelming while at the same time acting as inspiration to live each day as authentically as possible. Life is going to keep moving -- regardless if we are on board or not. So we might as well buy the ticket ...and take the ride.
Friday, February 09, 2007
The Tyranny of Size
This was just worth posting the whole article rather then just a link. I think of the battles I fight with myself daily over these issues and can NOT imagine what girls growing up today will have to deal with they are in their twenties. It reminds me that every single woman needs to work against this with every single word they say to the girls in their lives. They ARE listening and it is our responsibility to send right and true messages about beauty.
Why Skinny Models Could Be Making Us Fat
We know that the trend toward super-thin models is pushing some of them to go on potentially deadly diets. What's it doing to the rest of us?
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Jessica Bennett, Sarah Childress and Susanna Schrobsdorff
Newsweek
Feb. 8, 2007 - The specter of dangerously thin models has raised its beautiful, lolling head once again, this time at New York's Fashion Week, which ends Friday. Stung by negative publicity about boney apparitions on the catwalks, the fashion industry invited eating-disorder experts to an unprecedented symposium on the subject in the tents at Bryant Park. It was quite a spectacle. The press was regaled with tales of models living on lethally small amounts of lettuce and Diet Coke. The fashionistas declared that super thin was now "out" and promised to keep a better eye on the young waifs. But no one in the U.S. clothing biz seems eager to impose minimum weight guidelines on models, as some European shows have done. Diane von Furstenberg, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), added fuel to the fire when she recently told a reporter that model weigh-ins in New York would happen "over my dead body."
While the travails of the thin and beautiful almost always make for good copy, we should remember that only about 1 percent of the American population is anorexic, while nearly two thirds of adults are overweight or obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So it's not as if skinny models have inspired an epidemic of slimness. In fact, the real danger may be that the contrast between the girls on the catwalks and the girls at the mall is creating an atmosphere ripe for binge dieting and the kind of unhealthy eating habits that ultimately result in weight gain, not loss. "You always [have to] look at the discrepancy between the real and the ideal," says Cynthia Bulik, a clinical psychologist who heads the eating-disorders program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "If [kids] see themselves gaining weight and then they see these ultra-thin models, the discrepancy between how they see themselves in the mirror and how they feel they have to look is bigger. And that can prompt more extreme behaviors."
Unfortunately, that gap between the ordinary and the elite is growing rapidly. As American women have gotten heavier, models have gotten thinner and taller. Twenty-five years ago, the average female model weighed 8 percent less than the average American woman, according to researchers. Today, models weigh about 23 percent less than the average woman. Models are also leggier than before. Usually about 5 feet 10 inches tall, they are a good five inches taller than they were 10 years ago. Meanwhile, a typical woman is about 5 feet 4 inches and weighs 155 pounds, according to a 2004 SizeUSA study. The trend is enough to make any woman feel like a hobbit in comparison to what they're seeing in magazines.
But here's the rub: thanks to technology, often not even the models themselves can compare to their portfolios. Increasingly, photos for print are enhanced and perfected to an astonishing degree. Not only are moles, acne and subtle facial hair erased from already pretty faces, but retouchers are routinely asked by editors and advertisers to enlarge eyes, trim normal-size ears, fill in hairlines, straighten teeth and lengthen the already-narrow necks, waists and legs of 18-year-old beauties. "We're always stretching the models' legs and slimming their thighs," says a photo retoucher who works for a high-end Manhattan agency. In some cases, hands, feet or even legs are replaced in photos when the subject's parts don't add up to a perfect whole.
"Sometimes I feel a little like Frankenstein," says the retoucher, who would only speak anonymously because of the potential for professional backlash. The irony, she adds, is that the models and actresses pictured have usually have already been through hours of hair styling and makeup - including body makeup - to remove the slightest blemish. Yes, you heard that right, even after all of that, a 5-foot-10, 110-pound model still does not have legs that are long or skinny enough to suit some advertisers and fashion editrixes.
One might argue that photo alteration has been around for eons, but what is new is the industry shift from film to digital media about four years ago. Now it's easier, faster and more routine to clean up and "perfect" faces and figures. The doctored images are so pervasive that our eyes are perhaps becoming too accustomed to them. "The result is a culture of kids who are being socialized to unrealistic images, who need to learn to separate the real from the fabricated," says Cornell University historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg, the author of "The Body Project" (Vintage), which looks at the diaries of teenage girls from the 1820s through the 1980s. "Girls internalize this form of self- criticism and say, 'I don't look like that.' But in reality, nobody looks like that."
How do these unrealistic portrayals affect the number of people with eating disorders? It's hard to say. The statistics are notoriously difficult to track because of the shame surrounding these diseases. Experts say that sufferers are influenced by a combination of genetics and environmental triggers. But even if no one factor is to blame, for some of the 10 million women and one million men in the United States who struggle with anorexia and bulimia (and the 25 million more who suffer from binge-eating disorder), what they see in the media can, in some cases, have a pivotal impact. "Genes load the gun, environment pulls the trigger, and right now the fashion industry has their finger on the trigger," says Bulik.
Particularly disturbing are indications that the quest for perfection is reaching into younger age groups. Kids form their body images almost as soon as they can form words, and girls are now thinking negatively about their shapes in grammar school. Today, 42 percent of first- to third-grade girls want to be thinner, while 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of getting fat, according to a 2004 global study by the Dove "Real Beauty" campaign. "What we've seen more and more is an increasingly narrow image of beauty, not just completely defined by physical appearance, but a particular body type "tall, thin, maybe blond, with very little diversity," says Nancy Etcoff, a Harvard psychology professor and author of "Survival of the Prettiest" (Random House). The effects of that are striking. The Dove study found that just 2 percent of women and girls said they would describe themselves as beautiful, while two thirds said they avoided basic activities on days they felt unattractive. Those activities ranged from going to the beach or a party to showing up for work or school -- even voicing an opinion.
The fact that we're making the body the central focus of our lives is no accident, says Brumberg. Rather, it's "a symptom of historical changes that are only now beginning to be understood," she writes. So what are those changes? To start, there has been a centurylong shift from concern for good work to concern for good looks, says Brumberg. And while in the 1920s, for example, girls started becoming conscious of celebrity culture -- and, she says, for the first time using the word "image" -- today's obsession with personal appearance is largely a result of the technology that allows us to focus on it. "[Technological] inventions increased our level of self-scrutiny," she says. "Mirrors, movies, scales, the modern bathroom. You have to have a certain environment for that obsessive concern."
Of course, environment affects each woman differently. Influences on body image range from our families and school to our peer groups or media consumption -- even whether or not we take part in sports. For longtime model Carre Otis, that environment was fashion and the pressure it placed on her to be thin encouraged a nearly two-decade battle with a host of unhealthy habits. Now 38 and healthy, Otis (who is 5-foot-10 and at times weighed as little as 100 pounds) says she worries about the pressures her young daughter will someday face. "We're living in a culture that's so physically oriented," she says. "It's really dangerous for young girls to operate under the assumption that models, in general, are the majority."
But the majority image isn't what the public wants these days, according to the fashion elites. "Fat doesn't sell fashion," says Imogen Edwards-Jones, a journalist and author of "Fashion Babylon," an insider's look at the industry. "People don't fantasize about being a size 16 -- they fantasize about being a size 8." So even if the public can't fit into (much less afford) a size 0 designer dress, they'll probably buy a magazine with a size 0 model wearing that dress. "It's a presentation of this fantasy, and you buy into that," says Steven Kolb, the executive director of CFDA.
Of course, that can always change. Curves were cool in the '80s (remember Cindy Crawford?) and 90s (Anna Nicole Smith). And the industry will likely swing back around to embrace them again. Already, the faces on the catwalks in New York this week are looking somewhat less gaunt. But it doesn't look like it's going to get any easier for women to convince themselves, or their daughters, to stop looking for the model in the mirror.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17051511/site/newsweek/
Why Skinny Models Could Be Making Us Fat
We know that the trend toward super-thin models is pushing some of them to go on potentially deadly diets. What's it doing to the rest of us?
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Jessica Bennett, Sarah Childress and Susanna Schrobsdorff
Newsweek
Feb. 8, 2007 - The specter of dangerously thin models has raised its beautiful, lolling head once again, this time at New York's Fashion Week, which ends Friday. Stung by negative publicity about boney apparitions on the catwalks, the fashion industry invited eating-disorder experts to an unprecedented symposium on the subject in the tents at Bryant Park. It was quite a spectacle. The press was regaled with tales of models living on lethally small amounts of lettuce and Diet Coke. The fashionistas declared that super thin was now "out" and promised to keep a better eye on the young waifs. But no one in the U.S. clothing biz seems eager to impose minimum weight guidelines on models, as some European shows have done. Diane von Furstenberg, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), added fuel to the fire when she recently told a reporter that model weigh-ins in New York would happen "over my dead body."
While the travails of the thin and beautiful almost always make for good copy, we should remember that only about 1 percent of the American population is anorexic, while nearly two thirds of adults are overweight or obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So it's not as if skinny models have inspired an epidemic of slimness. In fact, the real danger may be that the contrast between the girls on the catwalks and the girls at the mall is creating an atmosphere ripe for binge dieting and the kind of unhealthy eating habits that ultimately result in weight gain, not loss. "You always [have to] look at the discrepancy between the real and the ideal," says Cynthia Bulik, a clinical psychologist who heads the eating-disorders program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "If [kids] see themselves gaining weight and then they see these ultra-thin models, the discrepancy between how they see themselves in the mirror and how they feel they have to look is bigger. And that can prompt more extreme behaviors."
Unfortunately, that gap between the ordinary and the elite is growing rapidly. As American women have gotten heavier, models have gotten thinner and taller. Twenty-five years ago, the average female model weighed 8 percent less than the average American woman, according to researchers. Today, models weigh about 23 percent less than the average woman. Models are also leggier than before. Usually about 5 feet 10 inches tall, they are a good five inches taller than they were 10 years ago. Meanwhile, a typical woman is about 5 feet 4 inches and weighs 155 pounds, according to a 2004 SizeUSA study. The trend is enough to make any woman feel like a hobbit in comparison to what they're seeing in magazines.
But here's the rub: thanks to technology, often not even the models themselves can compare to their portfolios. Increasingly, photos for print are enhanced and perfected to an astonishing degree. Not only are moles, acne and subtle facial hair erased from already pretty faces, but retouchers are routinely asked by editors and advertisers to enlarge eyes, trim normal-size ears, fill in hairlines, straighten teeth and lengthen the already-narrow necks, waists and legs of 18-year-old beauties. "We're always stretching the models' legs and slimming their thighs," says a photo retoucher who works for a high-end Manhattan agency. In some cases, hands, feet or even legs are replaced in photos when the subject's parts don't add up to a perfect whole.
"Sometimes I feel a little like Frankenstein," says the retoucher, who would only speak anonymously because of the potential for professional backlash. The irony, she adds, is that the models and actresses pictured have usually have already been through hours of hair styling and makeup - including body makeup - to remove the slightest blemish. Yes, you heard that right, even after all of that, a 5-foot-10, 110-pound model still does not have legs that are long or skinny enough to suit some advertisers and fashion editrixes.
One might argue that photo alteration has been around for eons, but what is new is the industry shift from film to digital media about four years ago. Now it's easier, faster and more routine to clean up and "perfect" faces and figures. The doctored images are so pervasive that our eyes are perhaps becoming too accustomed to them. "The result is a culture of kids who are being socialized to unrealistic images, who need to learn to separate the real from the fabricated," says Cornell University historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg, the author of "The Body Project" (Vintage), which looks at the diaries of teenage girls from the 1820s through the 1980s. "Girls internalize this form of self- criticism and say, 'I don't look like that.' But in reality, nobody looks like that."
How do these unrealistic portrayals affect the number of people with eating disorders? It's hard to say. The statistics are notoriously difficult to track because of the shame surrounding these diseases. Experts say that sufferers are influenced by a combination of genetics and environmental triggers. But even if no one factor is to blame, for some of the 10 million women and one million men in the United States who struggle with anorexia and bulimia (and the 25 million more who suffer from binge-eating disorder), what they see in the media can, in some cases, have a pivotal impact. "Genes load the gun, environment pulls the trigger, and right now the fashion industry has their finger on the trigger," says Bulik.
Particularly disturbing are indications that the quest for perfection is reaching into younger age groups. Kids form their body images almost as soon as they can form words, and girls are now thinking negatively about their shapes in grammar school. Today, 42 percent of first- to third-grade girls want to be thinner, while 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of getting fat, according to a 2004 global study by the Dove "Real Beauty" campaign. "What we've seen more and more is an increasingly narrow image of beauty, not just completely defined by physical appearance, but a particular body type "tall, thin, maybe blond, with very little diversity," says Nancy Etcoff, a Harvard psychology professor and author of "Survival of the Prettiest" (Random House). The effects of that are striking. The Dove study found that just 2 percent of women and girls said they would describe themselves as beautiful, while two thirds said they avoided basic activities on days they felt unattractive. Those activities ranged from going to the beach or a party to showing up for work or school -- even voicing an opinion.
The fact that we're making the body the central focus of our lives is no accident, says Brumberg. Rather, it's "a symptom of historical changes that are only now beginning to be understood," she writes. So what are those changes? To start, there has been a centurylong shift from concern for good work to concern for good looks, says Brumberg. And while in the 1920s, for example, girls started becoming conscious of celebrity culture -- and, she says, for the first time using the word "image" -- today's obsession with personal appearance is largely a result of the technology that allows us to focus on it. "[Technological] inventions increased our level of self-scrutiny," she says. "Mirrors, movies, scales, the modern bathroom. You have to have a certain environment for that obsessive concern."
Of course, environment affects each woman differently. Influences on body image range from our families and school to our peer groups or media consumption -- even whether or not we take part in sports. For longtime model Carre Otis, that environment was fashion and the pressure it placed on her to be thin encouraged a nearly two-decade battle with a host of unhealthy habits. Now 38 and healthy, Otis (who is 5-foot-10 and at times weighed as little as 100 pounds) says she worries about the pressures her young daughter will someday face. "We're living in a culture that's so physically oriented," she says. "It's really dangerous for young girls to operate under the assumption that models, in general, are the majority."
But the majority image isn't what the public wants these days, according to the fashion elites. "Fat doesn't sell fashion," says Imogen Edwards-Jones, a journalist and author of "Fashion Babylon," an insider's look at the industry. "People don't fantasize about being a size 16 -- they fantasize about being a size 8." So even if the public can't fit into (much less afford) a size 0 designer dress, they'll probably buy a magazine with a size 0 model wearing that dress. "It's a presentation of this fantasy, and you buy into that," says Steven Kolb, the executive director of CFDA.
Of course, that can always change. Curves were cool in the '80s (remember Cindy Crawford?) and 90s (Anna Nicole Smith). And the industry will likely swing back around to embrace them again. Already, the faces on the catwalks in New York this week are looking somewhat less gaunt. But it doesn't look like it's going to get any easier for women to convince themselves, or their daughters, to stop looking for the model in the mirror.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17051511/site/newsweek/
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Best Week Ever
Other than a tribute to the fun & kicky VH1 instant pop-culture history show...that is what I am having! The best week ever. There has been a winter storm moving across the country this week that has managed (gasp!) to make it all the way down to Texas. AND as of today, it does not look like it is over (more on the way!). First of all, it is important to note how infrequently there is any sort of frozen or even half-frozen precipitation in Central Texas. It is like the proverbial hen’s teeth...very rare and most difficult to come across. So when it DOES happen not only are we ill-prepared personally (“Coats!? What for?”), but our cities are not the best at getting out the sand to make the roads passable. In fact I think the sum total of sand for this type of occasion is in the mayor’s grandson’s sandbox – we weren’t using it anyway, right? Couple that with the fact that the way some people look at porn is the way Texans watch inclimate weather and you, my friend, have the makings for a truly wonderful week.
I am not sure what it is, but around here if there is a storm, we put the kids to bed, turn off the lights and turn the volume way down on the TV to watch the Weather Channel. It’s erotic. All those colors on the screen that we never see, the anticipation and excitement surrounding a front... it is almost more then the typical Texan can stand!
On top of all this hedonistic goodness is the crowning jewel of a Texas winter storm: school closings. Texas ISD’s will close school for even the slightest hint of a flurry in the air. Sure, there is the concern of safety of all the kiddos on buses. It is a known fact that our roads will inevitably suck and that NO ONE here knows how to drive when it is like this. No, not even people who move form the north and think we are over-reacting. They can keep it together until they see what looks like a street with snow on it – “no problem, I’m from Cleveland” – only to realize too late that we do EVERYTING better in Texas and that pretty patch of snow is only there to mask a big ole’ mess of sleet and frozen rain that is all but impassable. So yes, we are concerned about keeping people safe and THAT is why the schools are closed. That...and everyone has to get home and watch weather porn. It’s a beautiful thing.
So that has been my week – no work and lots of erotic weather. During the times over the last few days in which we actually had POWER (another story) we were glued to the Doppler. Sad? Perhaps. Strange? Sure. But very, very FUN.
That that is what I am having...the BEST WEEK EVER!
I am not sure what it is, but around here if there is a storm, we put the kids to bed, turn off the lights and turn the volume way down on the TV to watch the Weather Channel. It’s erotic. All those colors on the screen that we never see, the anticipation and excitement surrounding a front... it is almost more then the typical Texan can stand!
On top of all this hedonistic goodness is the crowning jewel of a Texas winter storm: school closings. Texas ISD’s will close school for even the slightest hint of a flurry in the air. Sure, there is the concern of safety of all the kiddos on buses. It is a known fact that our roads will inevitably suck and that NO ONE here knows how to drive when it is like this. No, not even people who move form the north and think we are over-reacting. They can keep it together until they see what looks like a street with snow on it – “no problem, I’m from Cleveland” – only to realize too late that we do EVERYTING better in Texas and that pretty patch of snow is only there to mask a big ole’ mess of sleet and frozen rain that is all but impassable. So yes, we are concerned about keeping people safe and THAT is why the schools are closed. That...and everyone has to get home and watch weather porn. It’s a beautiful thing.
So that has been my week – no work and lots of erotic weather. During the times over the last few days in which we actually had POWER (another story) we were glued to the Doppler. Sad? Perhaps. Strange? Sure. But very, very FUN.
That that is what I am having...the BEST WEEK EVER!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
January
I am not sure where December went, but it sure as hell disappeared faster then I wanted it to and darned if it didn’t take my two-week vacation with it. Yet somehow, in spite of all that mind-blowing activity, the mile-long to-do list I had for “the holidays” is still loitering round my desk…not joined, once again, by a work to-do list. Ugh.
I assume since it is the beginning of a new year I should make some sort of resolutions, right? I mean, I see all these people from my office hoofing it around the block at lunch time in their shiny new walking shoes and feel a twinge of guilt for skipping my workout yesterday in favor of a 2000 Bordeaux. Although the wine was marginal at best and I am sure I had a much more enjoyable time then the lunch-walkers, I still feel the need to recognize this year of our Lord, 2007, with some sort of list. So here goes:
1.) Put more stuff on my cat
2.) Wear comfortable shoes
3.) Write more
4.) Eat less (of the unhealthy stuff)
5.) Have more sex (tee hee hee)
6.) Spend less money
Sounds ambiguous enough to be achievable doesn’t it?
I assume since it is the beginning of a new year I should make some sort of resolutions, right? I mean, I see all these people from my office hoofing it around the block at lunch time in their shiny new walking shoes and feel a twinge of guilt for skipping my workout yesterday in favor of a 2000 Bordeaux. Although the wine was marginal at best and I am sure I had a much more enjoyable time then the lunch-walkers, I still feel the need to recognize this year of our Lord, 2007, with some sort of list. So here goes:
1.) Put more stuff on my cat
2.) Wear comfortable shoes
3.) Write more
4.) Eat less (of the unhealthy stuff)
5.) Have more sex (tee hee hee)
6.) Spend less money
Sounds ambiguous enough to be achievable doesn’t it?
Sunday, November 26, 2006
We Could All Learn
We could all stand to learn a lesson or two from this guy. What an inspiring story!! Take a look and make your own plans to carry on this amazing legacy.
From ABC News online:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/ChristmasCountdown/story?id=2680144&page=1
From ABC News online:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/ChristmasCountdown/story?id=2680144&page=1
Friday, November 24, 2006
Thanksgiving+Football=Awesome
I live in Texas. Therefore Thanksgiving is synonymous with football. Professional, college and high school...and I love every minute of it. Not only did the Cowboys have a fantastic game on Thursday, but we got to witness a stellar high school game today. My darlin' husband's high school team, the Southlake Carroll Dragons, played Trinity High School today at Texas Stadium. Almost 47,000 people in attendance and two teams that were very well-matched in talent. Nothing better to help burn off that turkey and extra pie then jumping up & down and balancing on the edge of your seat. It was a great game and the Dragons prevailed 22-21. I am also maniacally happy about it because Trinity once knocked MY very own high school team (the infamous Grapevine Mustangs) out of the playoffs. Aaahhh, retribution. That was, of course, many moons ago but the wound has yet to heal.
Why all this talk about football? What is it about the sport that brings people together and rouses feelings of nostalgia? Who knows...but I love it. All of it. The sounds, the smells, the painted faces and cheerleaders that don't know the words to the school song. It embodies all that is good about this country...and about Texas. :)
In other important football news:
Waco High School wins over Dallas-Hillcrest to advance to the next round of the 4A Division II playoffs (go Lions!!)
Grapevine kicks off tomorrow against DeSoto in round 2...we'll see how that goes.
AND...last but not least:
Texas A&M: 12
Texas: 7
Wow...an upset of epic proportions. I still can't believe it. We followed the game from our seats at Texas stadium via my cell phone and a sweet Aggie girl with a Walkman. Again, community at it's best (and well, at its most annoying when it comes to Aggies...like my precious darlin' loving man). While I can admit no love for either team (BOTH smushed my Baylor Bears on the field this year), it is always fun to see an underdog pull one out. That, and Darlin' will be in a right fine mood for at least 2 months because of the victory and will likely be more then willing to cheerfully do my bidding! Which, after all, is what I am really after.
Why all this talk about football? What is it about the sport that brings people together and rouses feelings of nostalgia? Who knows...but I love it. All of it. The sounds, the smells, the painted faces and cheerleaders that don't know the words to the school song. It embodies all that is good about this country...and about Texas. :)
In other important football news:
Waco High School wins over Dallas-Hillcrest to advance to the next round of the 4A Division II playoffs (go Lions!!)
Grapevine kicks off tomorrow against DeSoto in round 2...we'll see how that goes.
AND...last but not least:
Texas A&M: 12
Texas: 7
Wow...an upset of epic proportions. I still can't believe it. We followed the game from our seats at Texas stadium via my cell phone and a sweet Aggie girl with a Walkman. Again, community at it's best (and well, at its most annoying when it comes to Aggies...like my precious darlin' loving man). While I can admit no love for either team (BOTH smushed my Baylor Bears on the field this year), it is always fun to see an underdog pull one out. That, and Darlin' will be in a right fine mood for at least 2 months because of the victory and will likely be more then willing to cheerfully do my bidding! Which, after all, is what I am really after.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
We'll take them...all of them
Read this article: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14997834/?GT1=8506
First of all, let me say that this is a great story. 300 abandoned pets from the Beirut war are being air-lifted to America to find new homes. It is just the kind of thing I would support and gives me hope that the basic good in all people will shine through…eventually. This effort provides evidence that there IS something that connects us all…even if it is furry, has four legs and fleas. I love animals…all of them. I’d take in every last mutty dog and stray cat if I could (and everyone who knows me knows I will probably TRY). I’m all for saving the whales, the owls, the beetles and the manatees…and who ever else needs saving from our thoughtless plunder of nature. I think we have a moral and ethical obligation to take care of the animals on this planet -- especially those we have domesticated as pets and taught to be dependent on humans for food and affection.
But unfortunately this isn’t about the animals. It is about our continuance as Americans to take care of the rest of the world’s problems and tragedies, while people in many of those same regions rage hateful wars against us. This story is a perfect metaphor. There are hundreds and thousands of homeless and unwanted pets euthanized in America every year. Thousands of rescue organizations work tirelessly at the heart-breaking and never-ending job of caring for, placing, and often having to destroy these animals we have so carelessly let come in to a world with no plan to provide care for them. Yet here we are, opening our arms and hearts again to those in need – and they aren’t even ours. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." …your lost and abandoned little lives…we don’t care, we’ll take care of them because that is what we DO here in America. Maybe it is because we have seen too many Disney movies; after all, in many countries (see exhibit A, China, where recently thousands and thousands of dogs/pets were beaten to death in the streets to prevent a POSSIBLE rabies outbreak) no one would take a moment to think of saving these animals. They would be efficiently put to death and disposed of. When the socioeconomic circumstances of a country make it necessary to decide between caring for a human or caring for a dog, the question be comes less difficult to answer. But for the most part, we have been blessed and don’t have to make that choice in America. So here we are taking in Lebanese animals because we believe in the value of a life – any life – and we will use our recourses with out giving a second thought to it; faithfully filling a need in the hopes of saving a life.
Have we not done essentially the same thing in every corner of the world throughout our history as a nation? When there is a natural disaster, a war, a crisis of any kind and people need help, Americans are always there. It matters not to us that the people of the affected country are poor, that the land has few resources, or what skin color and religion happens to be prominent there. We will help. People can criticize our government, our collective gluttony and our past errors all they want, but when their country has a tsunami that kills 200 thousand people, we’ll still be there. Yes, there are people in America – often in the public eye – who make bad decisions and are very wrong. We know this and see they do not represent the majority of us. However, good or bad, it is part of life in America. What I don’t think the people who hate us understand is that 99% of the people living in America are not like that. Their hatred is misplaced and innocent people are suffering for their lack of vision. It is not wars and bombs that will kill this world; it is abhorrent generalizations, a complete lack of grace and a pervasive unwillingness to be open to the fact that we are all ONE. We ALL need to be reminded of this fact.
The U.S. government is not perfect. No government is perfect. No one person or leader is always going to make the “right” decision – it is simply not possible. However, in America, we have the freedom to choose our leader, and I think, can basically trust that the people in our government are, for the most part, people who are trying to make the best decisions they can with what information is available to them at the time. So no one in government has an agenda or can be influenced my money? Hardly. But I still have to believe, that this is the best thing going.
There are many in the U.S. rumbling about protecting ourselves from our enemies, closing our borders and cutting off aid to foreign nations…essentially sealing ourselves up in a bubble. To do these things would suffocate the very thing that makes America…well, America. Our openness to other cultures, our desire to help those in need, and our willingness to know this world and to be part of it are some of the essential concepts at the heart of this country. If we, for example, “protect ourselves” from terrorism by banning all individuals of middle-eastern decent from all flights (ignore, for a moment, the fact that this is absurd and not feasible in any sort of way) we cease to be what we claim to be at our core, kill an essential truth of this country, and abandon our rich heritage -- all in the name of “protection”. Political junkies on the extreme ends of the Right/Left spectrum will say what they may, but the millions of Americans walking the streets, going to work and taking care of their families on a daily basis will NOT let this happen. We will not give up on the dream of freedom from oppression that brought the founders of this country across the ocean; we will not give in to hatred and fear and live in distrust of the world around us; we will not let our compassion for others dry up; we will NOT give up on what it means to be American.
When your country has a need, don’t worry, we’ll be there; no matter how many times a few extremists -- who we know do not represent you or the majority your countrymen -- kill our civilians and soldiers. We know that, like us, the people living around the world – those who get up everyday, eat, work, and live – are the majority and do not want to be represented by a small but hateful faction. How can we still maintain this perspective and understanding after all that has happened? It’s called grace and our country was founded on it. While we sometimes forget it, step on it, misuse it and neglect it, grace remains life-current that runs through all we do.
So bring on the homeless dogs from Beirut. We’ll take them…all of them. And we’ll do the best we can to heal, feed and provide for them because that is what we do here.
First of all, let me say that this is a great story. 300 abandoned pets from the Beirut war are being air-lifted to America to find new homes. It is just the kind of thing I would support and gives me hope that the basic good in all people will shine through…eventually. This effort provides evidence that there IS something that connects us all…even if it is furry, has four legs and fleas. I love animals…all of them. I’d take in every last mutty dog and stray cat if I could (and everyone who knows me knows I will probably TRY). I’m all for saving the whales, the owls, the beetles and the manatees…and who ever else needs saving from our thoughtless plunder of nature. I think we have a moral and ethical obligation to take care of the animals on this planet -- especially those we have domesticated as pets and taught to be dependent on humans for food and affection.
But unfortunately this isn’t about the animals. It is about our continuance as Americans to take care of the rest of the world’s problems and tragedies, while people in many of those same regions rage hateful wars against us. This story is a perfect metaphor. There are hundreds and thousands of homeless and unwanted pets euthanized in America every year. Thousands of rescue organizations work tirelessly at the heart-breaking and never-ending job of caring for, placing, and often having to destroy these animals we have so carelessly let come in to a world with no plan to provide care for them. Yet here we are, opening our arms and hearts again to those in need – and they aren’t even ours. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." …your lost and abandoned little lives…we don’t care, we’ll take care of them because that is what we DO here in America. Maybe it is because we have seen too many Disney movies; after all, in many countries (see exhibit A, China, where recently thousands and thousands of dogs/pets were beaten to death in the streets to prevent a POSSIBLE rabies outbreak) no one would take a moment to think of saving these animals. They would be efficiently put to death and disposed of. When the socioeconomic circumstances of a country make it necessary to decide between caring for a human or caring for a dog, the question be comes less difficult to answer. But for the most part, we have been blessed and don’t have to make that choice in America. So here we are taking in Lebanese animals because we believe in the value of a life – any life – and we will use our recourses with out giving a second thought to it; faithfully filling a need in the hopes of saving a life.
Have we not done essentially the same thing in every corner of the world throughout our history as a nation? When there is a natural disaster, a war, a crisis of any kind and people need help, Americans are always there. It matters not to us that the people of the affected country are poor, that the land has few resources, or what skin color and religion happens to be prominent there. We will help. People can criticize our government, our collective gluttony and our past errors all they want, but when their country has a tsunami that kills 200 thousand people, we’ll still be there. Yes, there are people in America – often in the public eye – who make bad decisions and are very wrong. We know this and see they do not represent the majority of us. However, good or bad, it is part of life in America. What I don’t think the people who hate us understand is that 99% of the people living in America are not like that. Their hatred is misplaced and innocent people are suffering for their lack of vision. It is not wars and bombs that will kill this world; it is abhorrent generalizations, a complete lack of grace and a pervasive unwillingness to be open to the fact that we are all ONE. We ALL need to be reminded of this fact.
The U.S. government is not perfect. No government is perfect. No one person or leader is always going to make the “right” decision – it is simply not possible. However, in America, we have the freedom to choose our leader, and I think, can basically trust that the people in our government are, for the most part, people who are trying to make the best decisions they can with what information is available to them at the time. So no one in government has an agenda or can be influenced my money? Hardly. But I still have to believe, that this is the best thing going.
There are many in the U.S. rumbling about protecting ourselves from our enemies, closing our borders and cutting off aid to foreign nations…essentially sealing ourselves up in a bubble. To do these things would suffocate the very thing that makes America…well, America. Our openness to other cultures, our desire to help those in need, and our willingness to know this world and to be part of it are some of the essential concepts at the heart of this country. If we, for example, “protect ourselves” from terrorism by banning all individuals of middle-eastern decent from all flights (ignore, for a moment, the fact that this is absurd and not feasible in any sort of way) we cease to be what we claim to be at our core, kill an essential truth of this country, and abandon our rich heritage -- all in the name of “protection”. Political junkies on the extreme ends of the Right/Left spectrum will say what they may, but the millions of Americans walking the streets, going to work and taking care of their families on a daily basis will NOT let this happen. We will not give up on the dream of freedom from oppression that brought the founders of this country across the ocean; we will not give in to hatred and fear and live in distrust of the world around us; we will not let our compassion for others dry up; we will NOT give up on what it means to be American.
When your country has a need, don’t worry, we’ll be there; no matter how many times a few extremists -- who we know do not represent you or the majority your countrymen -- kill our civilians and soldiers. We know that, like us, the people living around the world – those who get up everyday, eat, work, and live – are the majority and do not want to be represented by a small but hateful faction. How can we still maintain this perspective and understanding after all that has happened? It’s called grace and our country was founded on it. While we sometimes forget it, step on it, misuse it and neglect it, grace remains life-current that runs through all we do.
So bring on the homeless dogs from Beirut. We’ll take them…all of them. And we’ll do the best we can to heal, feed and provide for them because that is what we do here.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Wedded Bliss
So my best girl friend has said "I do", kissed the groom and is off on a cruise to Jamaica. The wedding was, of course, beautiful and perfect and I could not be happier for Chris & Shannon (& Velcro...he is no longer a bastard kitty!).
But it got me thinking...how people find each other, fall in love and decide that THIS is what they want for the rest of their lives? I am still suckling at the forever-love teet -- I still believe it is real and it happens...if we let it. But then why do so many marriages fail? Is it, as some say, that the institution of marriage is not realistic? Are we all meant to be horny little suckers ever-searching for the next thrill? I just can't believe that is true. I think we are just a bunch a lazy quitters. The paradox has come to mind because in the midst of sending our friends off into what I know will be wedded bliss, we have been watching the 37-year marriage of another couple disintegrate. Two people who have been sweethearts since they were teenagers, have raised three children, and been nothing less then shining examples of what to do. I just can't believe that he just woke up one day and realized he didn't love her. I can't fathom that she is so desperate to win him back that she has resorted to following him, checking his cell phone and credit cards. It is so very sad to me.
I admittedly have a super-huge crush on a celebrity-chef/sexy guy with a TV show on the Travel Channel who will remain nameless (tee hee hee!). Don't worry, my husband knows and thinks it is in the top ten of wildly funny things of the century and constantly teases me. I bring this up because even with my crazy crush on someone I'll never know (I still play "what if"...you know, he came to Waco, saw me across a crowded room and instantly knew how down-to-earth and groovy I am)...regardless of my silly fantasy crush, I could not ACTUALLY imagine being with anyone besides the man sitting across the table from me right now.
So what makes some relationships stick and other fall apart? Doesn't everyone one, at some point in the relationship, have the same "this is the ONE" feeling? What changes, goes wrong, or stops working? What can you say to the newlyweds to help them avoid the pitfalls?
Again, I don't know the answers...I just ask the questions.
But it got me thinking...how people find each other, fall in love and decide that THIS is what they want for the rest of their lives? I am still suckling at the forever-love teet -- I still believe it is real and it happens...if we let it. But then why do so many marriages fail? Is it, as some say, that the institution of marriage is not realistic? Are we all meant to be horny little suckers ever-searching for the next thrill? I just can't believe that is true. I think we are just a bunch a lazy quitters. The paradox has come to mind because in the midst of sending our friends off into what I know will be wedded bliss, we have been watching the 37-year marriage of another couple disintegrate. Two people who have been sweethearts since they were teenagers, have raised three children, and been nothing less then shining examples of what to do. I just can't believe that he just woke up one day and realized he didn't love her. I can't fathom that she is so desperate to win him back that she has resorted to following him, checking his cell phone and credit cards. It is so very sad to me.
I admittedly have a super-huge crush on a celebrity-chef/sexy guy with a TV show on the Travel Channel who will remain nameless (tee hee hee!). Don't worry, my husband knows and thinks it is in the top ten of wildly funny things of the century and constantly teases me. I bring this up because even with my crazy crush on someone I'll never know (I still play "what if"...you know, he came to Waco, saw me across a crowded room and instantly knew how down-to-earth and groovy I am)...regardless of my silly fantasy crush, I could not ACTUALLY imagine being with anyone besides the man sitting across the table from me right now.
So what makes some relationships stick and other fall apart? Doesn't everyone one, at some point in the relationship, have the same "this is the ONE" feeling? What changes, goes wrong, or stops working? What can you say to the newlyweds to help them avoid the pitfalls?
Again, I don't know the answers...I just ask the questions.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Remember
Today CNN is showing online the real-time news broadcasts that aired five years ago when the U.S. was attacked. It is so bizarre to see the panic again -- the surprise and confusion about something we have now been living with the reality of for years. I was watching just now when the realization hit that the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania was also part of the attack. The disbelief expressed is staggering to hear again.
I did not see any coverage of 9/11 until late in the evening that day. We moved from Dallas to Waco five years ago today and had to listen to it all on the radio until we unpacked the TV at the back of the trailer. It was surreal to be driving, all my family, pets and belongings in separate cars, on my way to start a new life in different city. It was supposed to be a happy day. But as the news continued to break I realized it was going to be far from that. I remember stopping at a gas station half way between Dallas and Waco and just looking at everyone differently than I would have on any other day. While I am sure the shock and disbelief we felt was nothing like what was felt in New York, D.C. and Pennsylvania, it was none the less palpable. Somehow, we were all suddenly connected in a way that we neither chose not wanted, but that was very, very, real. I remember thinking, as I am sure everyone did, is this it? Is this all? Will it continue tomorrow? We couldn’t close on our house that day because the Fed Ex plane carrying all our papers had been grounded. This meant we should not technically have been allowed to be in the house, but our realtor handed over the keys anyway – one of the advantages to living in a small town I guess. I remember being worried about being so close to Crawford, wondering if that would become a target as well.
Today I keep watching the footage of the crashes thinking, somewhere in my irrational mind, that at least once the other plane won’t hit or the towers won’t actually fall. Even though I have seen the clips over and over again I still feel like I’ve been punched in the chest when I see the buildings go down. I can not fathom how those who lost their loved ones that day feel when they see the videos. I can not imagine looking and looking and hoping against hope for someone to come home, only to realize they are gone for ever – taken in an instant by someone’s hate for this country.
Remember the surge of patriotism that came after the attacks? How everyone came together and swore to put aside differences for the love of our country? The pictures and stories of heroism we heard that made us all look at our firemen and police officers in a different light? The WWII, Korean and Vietnam vets who wanted to re-up and go find who ever did this to the country that had fought so valiantly for? We all flew the flag and did what we could to help each other. We all grieved for our people and for those lost. For a few months we were all just AMERICANS and our most important conversations were with God. We had signs and bumper stickers that said we’d never forget, but five years later we have done just that. The stickers are faded and peeling, church attendance is back down and we are once again segregating ourselves by race, religion and socioeconomic status.
In the last five years we have seen our share of disasters around the world and on our own soil. The tsunami in Sri Lanka, the on-going genocide in Darfur, atrocities in Iraq, hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in India, the bombing of Lebanon…and the list goes on and on. Through every tragedy, we see something of the character of humans that we don’t see on a daily basis -- the willingness to help, the compassion for others, and the view that we are all one and connected by something bigger then ourselves. Why does it take tragedy to remind of these essential truths?
Looking back, you may see things differently then you did that day because of the events that have taken place since. But just stop and think and try to remember, even if just for today, what it was really like to be watching the events unfold on 9/11/01. Maybe, in the midst of remembering a horrific event, you can also remember the good that resulted from it – the conversations with forgotten friends, taking the time to hug and kiss your children, the sense of pride you felt when you saw the flag in front of businesses & houses, the money you realized you didn’t really need that could go to help someone else, the faith you felt in our country to ultimately do the right thing, the tears that came to your eyes when you heard the national anthem sung at the first football game of the year -- the realization that life is temporary and too short not to be living a life of love, grace & joy and sharing everything you can with those around you.
I did not see any coverage of 9/11 until late in the evening that day. We moved from Dallas to Waco five years ago today and had to listen to it all on the radio until we unpacked the TV at the back of the trailer. It was surreal to be driving, all my family, pets and belongings in separate cars, on my way to start a new life in different city. It was supposed to be a happy day. But as the news continued to break I realized it was going to be far from that. I remember stopping at a gas station half way between Dallas and Waco and just looking at everyone differently than I would have on any other day. While I am sure the shock and disbelief we felt was nothing like what was felt in New York, D.C. and Pennsylvania, it was none the less palpable. Somehow, we were all suddenly connected in a way that we neither chose not wanted, but that was very, very, real. I remember thinking, as I am sure everyone did, is this it? Is this all? Will it continue tomorrow? We couldn’t close on our house that day because the Fed Ex plane carrying all our papers had been grounded. This meant we should not technically have been allowed to be in the house, but our realtor handed over the keys anyway – one of the advantages to living in a small town I guess. I remember being worried about being so close to Crawford, wondering if that would become a target as well.
Today I keep watching the footage of the crashes thinking, somewhere in my irrational mind, that at least once the other plane won’t hit or the towers won’t actually fall. Even though I have seen the clips over and over again I still feel like I’ve been punched in the chest when I see the buildings go down. I can not fathom how those who lost their loved ones that day feel when they see the videos. I can not imagine looking and looking and hoping against hope for someone to come home, only to realize they are gone for ever – taken in an instant by someone’s hate for this country.
Remember the surge of patriotism that came after the attacks? How everyone came together and swore to put aside differences for the love of our country? The pictures and stories of heroism we heard that made us all look at our firemen and police officers in a different light? The WWII, Korean and Vietnam vets who wanted to re-up and go find who ever did this to the country that had fought so valiantly for? We all flew the flag and did what we could to help each other. We all grieved for our people and for those lost. For a few months we were all just AMERICANS and our most important conversations were with God. We had signs and bumper stickers that said we’d never forget, but five years later we have done just that. The stickers are faded and peeling, church attendance is back down and we are once again segregating ourselves by race, religion and socioeconomic status.
In the last five years we have seen our share of disasters around the world and on our own soil. The tsunami in Sri Lanka, the on-going genocide in Darfur, atrocities in Iraq, hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in India, the bombing of Lebanon…and the list goes on and on. Through every tragedy, we see something of the character of humans that we don’t see on a daily basis -- the willingness to help, the compassion for others, and the view that we are all one and connected by something bigger then ourselves. Why does it take tragedy to remind of these essential truths?
Looking back, you may see things differently then you did that day because of the events that have taken place since. But just stop and think and try to remember, even if just for today, what it was really like to be watching the events unfold on 9/11/01. Maybe, in the midst of remembering a horrific event, you can also remember the good that resulted from it – the conversations with forgotten friends, taking the time to hug and kiss your children, the sense of pride you felt when you saw the flag in front of businesses & houses, the money you realized you didn’t really need that could go to help someone else, the faith you felt in our country to ultimately do the right thing, the tears that came to your eyes when you heard the national anthem sung at the first football game of the year -- the realization that life is temporary and too short not to be living a life of love, grace & joy and sharing everything you can with those around you.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
I love this...
I think this is one of the most outstanding things I have heard about in a long time. Reading this gives me faith and hope in our future...but also saddens me deeply in regards to our current business leaders.
Take a look and this article from ABC news online: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/08/us_school_kids_.html
Take a look and this article from ABC news online: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/08/us_school_kids_.html
August in Texas
I received this silly forward today at work...and oh how fitting it really is! We have had ONE day this month that the high was less then 100, and it does not look like there is anything cooler on the way for a while. Don't even talk to me about heat index either...ugh! I do so love my Texas, but this is getting a bit out of hand! We have given up on watering the backyard...it is a lovely shade of maroon now. Ah well.
So here ya go...grab a tall glass of ice tea and enjoy a good laugh!
YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN TEXAS IN AUGUST WHEN. . . .
The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
The trees are whistling for the dogs.
The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
Hot water now comes out of both taps.
You can make sun tea instantly.
You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron!
The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
You discover that in August it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
The cows are giving evaporated milk.
Ah, what a place to call home.
God Bless Our State of TEXAS !!
So here ya go...grab a tall glass of ice tea and enjoy a good laugh!
YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN TEXAS IN AUGUST WHEN. . . .
The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
The trees are whistling for the dogs.
The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
Hot water now comes out of both taps.
You can make sun tea instantly.
You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron!
The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
You discover that in August it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
The cows are giving evaporated milk.
Ah, what a place to call home.
God Bless Our State of TEXAS !!
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Monday, August 07, 2006
Lock me in the bathroom, please.
What is on my mind today? That is a great question. I am content today, but with deep undertones of longing. How is that for making sense?! I am happily introspective and in the mood to observe and contemplate life, not to actually participate in it.
My big, black dog, Bosque, has recently aquired the habit of locking himself in our downstairs half-bath. He goes in, noses the door shut, and curls up in front of it – blocking everyone else from entering. Beautiful darkness and solitude. Since there is an air vent in there it gets very cool and I am sure he loves it. When we finally get him out there is always a big puddle of drool on the floor where he was sleeping. I think that must be the best sleep ever. I am thinking today I wish I could lock myself in the bathroom and sleep for a day – get away from all the stimuli the world throws at me every second of every day and get away from my own assault of thoughts for a while. As William Wordsworth said, “the world is too much with us.” Too bad our modern world does not respect & value humans’ need to get away from it all every now and then. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just take the day off from all responsibility with no better reason then, “I need to spend some time with nature”? And your boss, your kids, your spouse and all those to whom you have commitments would understand and applaud you for listening to your intuitive nature? We’d all be a lot happier and healthier if that were the case.
One of my all-time favorite poems (I’ve probably posted it before):
William Wordsworth: The World Is Too Much with Us (1807)
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn
My big, black dog, Bosque, has recently aquired the habit of locking himself in our downstairs half-bath. He goes in, noses the door shut, and curls up in front of it – blocking everyone else from entering. Beautiful darkness and solitude. Since there is an air vent in there it gets very cool and I am sure he loves it. When we finally get him out there is always a big puddle of drool on the floor where he was sleeping. I think that must be the best sleep ever. I am thinking today I wish I could lock myself in the bathroom and sleep for a day – get away from all the stimuli the world throws at me every second of every day and get away from my own assault of thoughts for a while. As William Wordsworth said, “the world is too much with us.” Too bad our modern world does not respect & value humans’ need to get away from it all every now and then. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just take the day off from all responsibility with no better reason then, “I need to spend some time with nature”? And your boss, your kids, your spouse and all those to whom you have commitments would understand and applaud you for listening to your intuitive nature? We’d all be a lot happier and healthier if that were the case.
One of my all-time favorite poems (I’ve probably posted it before):
William Wordsworth: The World Is Too Much with Us (1807)
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Shannon and Chris in '06
More updates from my bestest friend Shannon & her man, Chris, have been added to Shannon and Chris in '06
Please, if you visit, make some comments. Chris is threatening to boycott the blog if the comments don't increase!
Please, if you visit, make some comments. Chris is threatening to boycott the blog if the comments don't increase!
Thursday, July 27, 2006
10 Things You Don't know about Women
Here is a great article that was featured on MSN.com today (the link is at the bottom of the page). Not only is it hilarious, but it was written by the amazingly beautiful and talented actress, Sela Ward. You gotta love her.
10 Things You Don’t know about Women
By Sela Ward
1. Remember in old movies when women used to swoon and "take to the bed" for days at a time? That never happens. We're stronger than that. That being said, if we ever decide to "take to the bed" for days at a time, there's not a thing you can do about it.
2. Sometimes we think we really understand men. Then we regain consciousness.
3. Superskinny women really irritate us. We hate when they say, "Sometimes I just forget to eat." Now, I've forgotten my anniversary and where I parked my car. But I've never forgotten to eat.
4. We do like to have sex, just not at midnight when we have to get up at the crack of dawn to feed two kids, three dogs, and a pair of fat goldfish.
5. We'll gladly agree to stop complaining about our "time of the month" if men will kindly take over the little chores of childbearing, morning sickness, and postpartum emotional swings. Deal?
6. Women really do want to be on time. It's just that everything starts so darned early.
7. We know high heels are sexy, but we'll take our comfy black Uggs any day of the week.
8. Homespun wisdom from someone who knows: Just because we're southern belles doesn't mean we have bats in our belfries.
9. We really do like to cook. It's just that we cooked so much for our boyfriends before we got married that we're sick of being in the kitchen. Sorry you missed it.
10. Men are free to think they're the boss, as long as they know we're the chairman of the board.
http://lifestyle.msn.com/men/articlees.aspx?cp-documentid=678712>1=8307
10 Things You Don’t know about Women
By Sela Ward
1. Remember in old movies when women used to swoon and "take to the bed" for days at a time? That never happens. We're stronger than that. That being said, if we ever decide to "take to the bed" for days at a time, there's not a thing you can do about it.
2. Sometimes we think we really understand men. Then we regain consciousness.
3. Superskinny women really irritate us. We hate when they say, "Sometimes I just forget to eat." Now, I've forgotten my anniversary and where I parked my car. But I've never forgotten to eat.
4. We do like to have sex, just not at midnight when we have to get up at the crack of dawn to feed two kids, three dogs, and a pair of fat goldfish.
5. We'll gladly agree to stop complaining about our "time of the month" if men will kindly take over the little chores of childbearing, morning sickness, and postpartum emotional swings. Deal?
6. Women really do want to be on time. It's just that everything starts so darned early.
7. We know high heels are sexy, but we'll take our comfy black Uggs any day of the week.
8. Homespun wisdom from someone who knows: Just because we're southern belles doesn't mean we have bats in our belfries.
9. We really do like to cook. It's just that we cooked so much for our boyfriends before we got married that we're sick of being in the kitchen. Sorry you missed it.
10. Men are free to think they're the boss, as long as they know we're the chairman of the board.
http://lifestyle.msn.com/men/articlees.aspx?cp-documentid=678712>1=8307
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