Until We Meet Again
Posted on November 19, 2008 - Filed Under Dear Readers..., adventure, good wishes
Okay everybody, this will be my last post until I get to my new home. Wow. I can’t believe I’m doing this wild and crazy thing but I dont’ regret it for one second.
We’re just about ready and will be hitting the road soon, hopefully after we manage to get my few possessions into what I hope is my big trunk. I’ll try to take some pictures, if I see anything interesting from the car window and if I luck out and stumble upon an internet connection while we’re traveling I’ll check in to give you an update.
In my absence a few of my very good blogging buds have done some guest posts for me. Please drop by and make a comment or two. Thanks to Panther, Michael, Evyl, Teeni and Moe. You guys are the best and I really appreciate your help. And Moe will be keeping an eye on things in my absence, so no food fights or hogging the coffee. Okay?
I love you guys - and I’ll see you soon. Big hugs.
LD Weekend
Posted on August 30, 2008 - Filed Under Holiday, good wishes, my opinions
Happy Labor Day Weekend, everybody. Hope you find some nice quiet time for yourselves. See you Tuesday. 
The Kindness of Strangers
Posted on August 11, 2008 - Filed Under brain farts, good wishes, hope, kindness
“Whoever you are…for I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” I’m sure most of us know that is a line from the movie/play A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Wiliams and spoken by character, Blanche Dubois. It has always been one of my all time favorite lines of dialogue for so many reasons. Chief among them is that I believe we all depend on the kindness of strangers so many times in our lives we probably can’t keep track.
The person who stops when you are broken down on the side of the road and inexplicably spends the next two hours helping you get back on the road, for no reason whatsoever, the woman who lets you in line ahead of her because your baby is obviously upset and crying, the IRS agent or government worker who helps you straighten out a mess that would have taken months, the bartender who calls and pays for a cab to take you home when you are stranded in a bar by your angry boyfriend, and so on. I’m sure we all have a thousand or more such incidents that we can name both on the receiving and giving end.
It gives one pause when you stop to think of these small but ever so kind acts. Especially from people who do not know you, whose lives are not connected to yours in any way, who simply have no motivation other than kindness to help you. It touches the heart - at least it touches mine.
I was raised to believe that being kind to others was the way to be. Simply so. No question about it. No argument no pondering. It just made sense, really. And so in my life I do try to always be kind to people, I do not always succeed since I do have an Irish temper, after all. But I try. And the reason I try actually probably isn’t really because I was raised to do it, it is because it is so easy to be kind to another person. So easy to pat them on the back, offer them a hankie or five bucks for a sandwich and coffee. So easy to give someone else a reason to smile and feel just a little bit better about themselves and life in general. So easy that it hard to resist giving that little piece of your time and attention.
There is so much anger, and unkindness in the world. So many examples that you can’t swing a dead cat without finding 200 of them right within arm’s length, that it seems to me that if everyone just did one act of kindness per day, it could truly change things. I know that may sound trite and even ridiculous or laughable to some. There are those who believe that you must change the entire world, the entire pardigm of existence in order to have a real impact on people and the world around you. But I’m not one of them. I am one who believes that every good thing begins with one small act. One small kindness. Something that barely costs anything at all and pays back a thousandfold.
Unlike others, I don’t believe there is any lack of technology, innovation, programs, ideas, resources, etc. We are aswim in those things, I think. More to the point, I think it is what we do with those things, how much we share not of the things but of ourselves that always makes the difference. It’s what we give that matters I think much more than what we get, what we want, what we control.
So, like Blanche Dubois, I will always depend on and be happy for the kindness of strangers, and friends and family and do my best to be one of those strangers, who is kind and knows that we are all just human beings, frail and full of flaws but deserving of the kindness nonetheless.
All Is Calm
Posted on December 24, 2007 - Filed Under Christmas, Dear Readers..., good wishes
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty Christmas-ed out, as far as Christmas posts go.
Tomorrow is the big day and we’ll rip open packages given to us by those we love as they will the ones we have bestowed. We’ll settle in for a big meal, probably too big, but oh so tasty and possibly a Christmas movie or two. If it’s cold enough, maybe we’ll even get a fire going.
But mostly, we’ll give thanks for all the blessings in our lives - family, friends, snow-sprinkled nights, laughter and love. And prayers will go out to those far away who can’t be at our holiday table and whom we keep in our hearts.
I have to say that this year has been the most peaceful Christmas I have ever had in my life. Not because I don’t have a million things to do, because I have, nor because I’m not cooking up a storm, because I am - honestly, I don’t know why I feel as I do. I only know that I don’t have that horrible aniticipation, obsession, gift-craving, joy-forcing, monster wearing my skin this year. And you know what? It feels good.
I hope that every Christmas I have in the future feels just as this one does, calm, peaceful and filled with love and goodwill. And I wish for all of you the very same.
Love,
Annie
I Want a Do-Over!
Posted on June 18, 2007 - Filed Under Humor, bad hair day, crap!, good wishes, head exploding, little rants, my opinions, rat bastards, really stupid shit, temporary insanity
This past week at work has been unbelievable. Besides the usual sniping, blind-siding employees that seek to ruin my life - it seems the whole fricking universe wants to get into the act too.
Okay, Monday was okay and Tuesday started out okay but then - somebody asked me something which I needed to check on the Internet. Ooops. No internet. Crap. Have everybody check their computers to see if they are having the same problem. Yep. We’re all screwed for that. Oh well, life goes on.
A little while later, somebody said the fax wasn’t working. I noticed a message saying the cartridge was low, so I sent someone to go get a new one. Nope, that didn’t fix it. Hmmm.
I called the IT guy we use and told him the problems we were having. Naturally, he insisted in doing one of those ‘let me walk you through it’ things that never work. So, he said he’d come over. He arrived later and checked this and that and nope, we simply did not have an internet connection.Crap.
So then I spend an hour trying to figure out who the provider is because nobody knows. Since we have an Earthlink account which we pay every month, I assumed it was them. After an hour on the phone with them I realize that it probably isn’t them. Is the bookeeper any help? You know, the one who is in charge of such things as vendors - uh..duh…nope. I grab the phone bill and discover yes, my dear friends at AT&T provide the service. Okay, we go through the whole bullshit routine with them. You know the one, where the Tech guy on the other end of the line just knows it’s a user problem? Sweet. And he’s asking me which line it is - we have 15 lines mind you. And I’m thinking ‘how the hell should I know? they installed it, why can’t they just look it up on the computer?’
Finally the guy figures it out after forcing me to read a 20 page phone bill. Ah yes, it’s the fax line. So, let me get this straight - my dsl is on my fax line and so that then means they are both out, right? Crap! At least I have my backup fax line. Ah…no…that one is out too.
When can they come to fix it? Tonight at 7 p.m. What? We’ll all be gone by then you dope - this is a business, not my house, which should be pretty obvious since I have 15 phone lines, doncha think?
Okay, tomorrow between 9 & 1. It sucks but I can live with it. We just need to hang on until then. Oh by the way, the receptionist just told me the credit card machine doesn’t work either. Okay, call the company. Shit, you need an internet connection for that too? And guess what? Most of our transactions are on credit cards. So now the receptionist is writing down numbers and other pertinent info so she can run the charges the next day.
So, Wednesday I call up the company to get an update and make sure they are really coming. Guess what? The tech guy tells me that it’s actually a bigger problem and my repair ticket has been canceled because it’s actually a whole grid that is out and it will take days. Days! Probably not til Monday.
So, long story short - we spent the rest of the week without internet, faxes or a credit card machine. And I don’t even know if it’s going to be working when I get in this morning.
Oh yeah, and the doc told me she’s going on vacation in two weeks and we’ll just have to reschedule all the patients and make the associates take care of things.
Oh yeah, and the bookeeper actually twigged that if we don’t get things fixed we may not be able to do payroll on Tuesday.
Oh yeah, then there was this crazy patient who had filed some stupid ass complaint and so we had to run around trying to find stuff that we could fax…ah…er…send over to the board, so they would know she is just a nut job who threatened to off herself at the office a couple of months ago.
Oh yeah and the attorney who is (bumbling) handling a legal case of grand larceny for us - is calling me every two minutes from the police station to help him with stuff I gave him months ago.
Yep, a do-over. I deserve one and need one. Or at least have things back to normal. Wish me luck - I just know I’ll need it. Crap!
WC
We Interupt Our Normal Programming to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILLIE!
Posted on March 6, 2007 - Filed Under Birthdays, Humor, acts of valor, adventure, american idol, cool cats, fangirly, favorites, friends, funny bone, good wishes, kindred, my opinions, tay-tay, voices in my head
Hey, I don’t care - it’s my blog and really if I can’t use the worldwide web to wish a good friend happy birthday then what good is it?
Billie I love ya and want you to have a great birthday. You are and always will be my first real Taylor Hicks buddy. We shared a very special obsession and truly without you it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun as it was.
I wish to hell that someday we will go see TayTay together in concert and complete the making of total fools of ourselves in utter splendor and abandon - cuz honey if I’m a gonna do that - then you’re the one who I want to do that with.
I thank you for your cheer, your caring, your humor and even your bitching. Love ya doll. Happy Birthday!!
Hugs & Kisses,
Annie
PS: We all pitched in and got you a stripper.
You like? 
I Love Me Some Thin Mints! Don’t You?
Posted on March 3, 2007 - Filed Under Current Events, Dear Readers..., Deep thoughts, Diet, Family, Fat Ass, Food, I gots to have it, ab fab costumes, acts of valor, adventure, american idol, classics, dining experience, favorites, friends, good wishes, honor, joy of creating, kindred, loving it!, my opinions, our troops, really cool shit, support our troops, that's class, time to eat!, tribute
I don’t know about you but every year right about this time I start to get a little excited. Not because Spring is right around the corner or because a cute guy has moved in to the house across the street but because the cookies of all cookies are about to go on sale.
Yep - I am a girl scout cookie junkie. I just can’t help myself. If there is even one thin mint within a 20 mile radius I can smell it, hunt it down and take it for my own. Since I don’t even smoke any more I figure I am entitled to just this one little obsession.
Also too there is just something sweet and nostailgic about them. They have been around since I can remember and I can remember pretty far back. Always somewhere around spring break you would start to see little cardboard table and folding chair sales stands cropping up - in front of super markets, laundramats, banks and even street corners in some suburban neighborhoods. Naturally when I was a kid I knew many of the salesgirls now, not so much.
However, I do have one little friend who is probably one of my favorite cookie sellers: 
Let’s call her Cookie-Girl - she does a bang up job, according to her mom and troop mama. But I mean who has to be told, check out that stand, nice display, clean, neat with lots of variety but no clutter. Poifect.
What many of you may not know is that there is a whole lot more to selling girl scout cookies than meets the eye. In the words of my favorite Girl Scout Mama:
Cookie sales gets so much negative crap that people don’t see the good it does. On the money side, it funds the whole Girl Scout program and it helps troops earn money for their activities. (camping, horseback riding, community service projects [one troop paid their way to Build A Bear to stuff and dress bears then donated them to the Fire Department to give to kids that needed them])
On the “Where Girls Grow Strong” side of it (a Girl Scout saying) cookie sales gives girls a chance to learn so much in a safe environment. Sales, money handling, responsibility, people skills, persistence, goal setting, etc. When it’s all over, they have such a sense of achievement! You can see the change in them. They’ve grown!
Also, especially in recent years, there are many troops who are selling cookies in order to send them to the troops. The way it works is this: you buy a box of cookies and instead of taking them home and eating them and making your thighs and butt even bigger, you tell the troop to go ahead and send them to the troops overseas. In addition to this, the kids take a lot of the money they make and send additional cookies to the troops. For example there is a relatively well known program called Operation Cookie Drop, which is a program started by Girls Scouts who managed to send bagillions of cookies to our young men and women in Iraq and gave them a taste of home.
If you see a local troop selling in your area, ask them what their ’cause’ or program is that they are selling for - I’m sure you’ll discover that they are not in it for a beach chair or so they can all go to Chuck E. Cheeese for a weekend. They are going to do something special with the money for someone who needs it, senior citizen homes, the troops overseas, underprivilidged children and so forth.
So the next time you see that little cardboard table and chairs set up, don’t hide your face and mumble something about being on a diet. Chat with the girls and find out what they intend to do with their proceeds. And don’t be so darn stingy, give them a five-spot and tell them to give a box of cookies to their favorite shut in, kid stuck in a hospital, or a kid in a uniform overseas and far far away from home.
If you want to know when the cookies are going on sale in your area you can go here - type in your zip code and councils in your area should come up, with their schedules of sales.
Heck there is even a myspace girlscout page here.
So for pete’s sake, get some Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Samoas, Trefoils or even som DoSiDos and know that you are likely contributing to something worthy and worthwhile. Heck if you are really worried about your diet they even sell some fudgy sugar free numbers AND all the cookies have Zero trans fats. So let’s not sweat the small stuff, otay.
For pictures, descriptions and nutritional information about the cookies go here
Also, if you just want to help and contribute to a troop who is sending cookies to the troops, I personally know of such a troop and I’d be happy to hook you up with them. If so, feel free to email me.
Okay, let’s get our fat asses down there and be loading up on the damn finest cookies ever made in America. Sound good?
WC
Valentine’s Day
Posted on February 14, 2007 - Filed Under Current Events, Dear Readers..., Dreams, Holiday, Humor, Just For Fun, Life, ab fab costumes, adventure, classics, double yoiks, favorites, funny bone, good wishes, joy of creating, kindred, laughs, love, my opinions, tribute, valentine's day, wishes
May you have the most unique of Valentine’s Days, ever. And if not that, may you at least get some kickass chocolates!
Happy Valentine’s! WC
Cross Your Fingers
Posted on January 15, 2007 - Filed Under Dear Readers..., Life, WTF?, acts of valor, adventure, back to work, breathe, crap!, double yoiks, good wishes, nerves, voices in my head, wishes
Okay guys, back to work with me. My first day. Got my new underwear, new shoes and fake smile. Wish me luck. See you later.
WC
Renaissance Man
Posted on January 9, 2007 - Filed Under Birthdays, Deep thoughts, Family, Heroes, I'm in awe, Life, Writers, acts of valor, adventure, amazing, good wishes, honor, kindred, that's class, tribute, wishes, writing
(I originally wrote this post last summer while guest blogging for the subject of the post. In honor of his birthday, I repost it here. Happy birthday, Michael - you’re one in a million. Annie)
He’s a writer. He plays a mean piano - by ear no less - hard on the head but easy on the hands from what I hear. He’s a dad. He’s a husband. And to me, a friend. What you would call a real friend.
It’s funny, though we’ve never met face to face and honestly I’m not sure what it would be like if we did, we have fostered a friendship over the last 4-5 years that is rare. We go beyond friendship, almost all the way to family.
He’s shared with me about the tragic illnesses of both of his parents. I’ve told him about my brother who died of AIDS. I know all about his beautiful daughters and how special each of them are to him. About how his wife is one in a million. About his cute little cats. And his big silver truck. He knows about my love-hate relationship with cigarettes. My sloppy, anal room-mate. My hilarious dog.
We met at an online writer’s group, of all places. It was one of those places that wanna-be writers flock to and need-to-write-to-live writers approach with caution. What the heck, it was free and you also got to meet other writers. What’s not to love?
We swapped crits (critiques) on each other’s assignments. Culminating into a ‘story’ at the end of the course. His was the “Goodbye House” mine was “Faith.” From the beginning I admired the work and the man. Always taking the time to really say something, really give you his honest opinion. You could tell this guy had a lot of heart.
Well, our stint at the online group didn’t last long. We both realized in our own ways that truly we were engaging in Writer’s Socialism. Struggling to help the writers who couldn’t and barely having time for the writers who could. We both like to think we were among the latter.
But our friendship didn’t end there. After there were emails. More story swapping. Talking about anything and everything. Yakking on the phone about this and that. Really, somehow this guy became the brother I lost so many years ago. Somebody who I could talk to about anything and everything. Somebody who really cared about what I had to say.
I was amazed by his life and how he took everything in stride. Juggling parents that needed constant supervision, a family, a marriage, a job, doing music gigs on the side and somehow still finding the time to write. For cripes sake he wrote on the train into work.
Not long ago, we got into this wild marathon email where we starting discussing deeply writing - the ins and outs - where to publish - how to publish, the whole ball of wax. And it got positively addictive. It got to the point where we were each jonesing for the next response. We even had discussions about posting it on his blog. But realized that only a lunatic or a psychic would be able to follow it. It’s done us both good. And I hope it continues to do us both good. Keep us inspired and motivated.
Recently, he went on vacation and asked me to babysit his blog. Frankly, I was a little scared. I’d read his blog and hell I’ve read his writing. A little intimidating to say the least. I was sure his ‘readers’ wouldn’t like my style. That it would be a shock to the system to go from warm, gentle Renassaince Man to whacky, who the hell knows what’s firing those synapses Writer Chick. But…I like a challenge and try to force myself to do things that scare me.
So, I’ve struggled along this last week. Trying hard to entertain the troops in his absence. I hope I have done him justice. Cuz he’s a helluva guy and a true Renassaince Man is a modern world gone (almost ) mad.
Writer Chick
