Road Trip Part Deux
Posted on November 13, 2008 - Filed Under Random Thoughts, Road Trip, adventure, brain farts
The last time I took a road trip was when I had a huge mental lapse and decided to move to Florida. I did write a post about it but I think I was still suffering post traumatic traveling syndrome when I did. Let me give you the Reader’s Digest version. Bad break up, needed a ‘change’, hey, Florida sounds good. Sold everything I owned, including two antique cherry dressers that I refinished myself, my favorite impressionist print of all time, a great chair and blah blah blah.
I cried when I got to Florida and pretty much cried every day until I left. To say I hated it was putting it mildly. My conclusion about Florida was that it was simply a swamp that the critters were trying to reclaim and as far as I was concerned they were doing a damn good job of it. Did you know that mold grows on everthing there? Seriously. My butter even grew mold on it. That’s just scary.
Anyway, so I quickly put everything in reverse and went running back to California and practically kissed the ground when I crossed the border. I decided at that point that the next time I left California (as I knew I would) that it was going to be for a much better reason - and so there is.
Although there are some similarities, such as I’m selling most of my stuff - hey if you ‘re in the neighborhood, drop by the garage sale - although nothing treasured, strictly utilitarian stuff. I am driving but in a much better, more comfortable car and have a driving partner. There are are a lot of ‘unknowns’ about where I’m going. Never been there - don’t know a thing about it, not really. Of course my trusty pets Maggie and Boodie will be coming along, so I’ll have at least two other friends.
The differences of course, are many. For one thing I’m not running away from anything (except maybe smog and bad drivers). It’s not about becoming invisible, it’s about enriching my life, making my life bigger, better. I’m not surrendering, I’m celebrating.
I have a feeling this will be no repeat of Florida actually it’s more than a feeling - I know it won’t be.
It will be a road trip to remember, punctuated with funny stories, new sights, snap shots, and joy. I can’t wait.
Is Change Always a Good Thing?
Posted on January 8, 2008 - Filed Under Random Thoughts, WTF?, my opinions, society
You know, the election cycle is stepping up and even if you are trying to ignore it you’re getting wapped over the head with it on a daily basis, anyway. Unfortunately. I admit, I haven’t been paying close attention but one thing that I can’t seem to get away from is that favorite theme of politicians - change. All kinds of slogans come from this humble and common word, such as: A Time For Change - We Need a Change - A Change is Gonna Come - A Real Change.
Okay people, let’s get real. First of all, the concept of change has been used by politicians ever since Sam Clemens started writing editorials for the Mudville Gazette. Apparently, this word, change, has mystical and magical powers. A candidate utters it and suddenly whatever bullshit they happen to be pushing is instantly believed. Particularly if the audience is composed of young, impressionable adults whose whole lives are based on change, largely because their hormones haven’t stopped fluctuating and they haven’t yet entered the real world of bills, taxes and obligations. It is a luxury of the young to be idealistic without any reality thrown into the mix. Yes, change would appeal to this crowd to be sure.
But how about the rest of us? Do we really want change? And if so, what is it we want to change? We have 5% unemployment - which when Bill Clinton had close to that number he was said to be an economical genius - is it really unacceptable simply because a conservative is in the Oval Office? How about the fact that we haven’t had an attack on our country since September 11, 2001? Do we want that to change? Whether or not you agree with the war, are you really upset that we haven’t had a repeat, large or small, of 9/11? Okay, now what about the economy - the Dow Index has reached record highs - the likes of which we have never seen before, nor ever expected to see. Do we want it to go down to a nicer, lower number? How about tax revenues, they too have hit highest evers (because of the tax cuts), do we want less of that? We’ve de-burkah-ized millions of women and now those same women get to go to school, teach and even vote. Is that something we want to change?
Now, I know some of you are going to come back and yell at me about the price of gas and the real estate market. However, those things are changing all the time. And isn’t it change that we want? And also, sorry, but both of those are private industries - the housing market was poised to crash starting about three years ago - it simply finally caught up with itself. There was another about a decade back. It’s cyclic, as is the cost of oil. The fact that traders have managed to convince people that unrest in the Middle East equals a shortage of oil is actually laughable when you stop to consider that we get a mere 13% of our oil from that region of the planet. Our primary source of oil is Canada and Mexico, neither of which appear to be in a state of unrest, nor look to be developing nukes to blow us up. And too, my feeling is that likely the same people who are all freaked out about the price of gas are the same dodo’s who vote to add a tax to gasoline prices every time they want some public entitlement program. Those programs aren’t free and yes, you are paying for them and yes, likely you voted to pay for them, quite possibly because you didn’t bother to read the fine print on the proposition before you voted for it. Reading is a good thing. Know what I mean?
How about small changes? Say you have a favorite Trader Joe’s or drugstore that you like to go to. But every time you go in there, they have moved the eggs and coffee and forget about finding the toilet paper. Is it better that you had to spend an extra 15 minutes in that store because somebody changed the layout of the place? Or when your boss decides it’s time to change and downsizes his staff because the government has changed something, that makes a staff of 25 unaffordable for him? Is that good? Or when your spouse of 15 years decides that he/she might like a newer, prettier model. Do we like that change?
So, obviously change for its own sake isn’t necessarily a good thing, nor is it often even necessary. Sometimes, it’s downright destructive.
So, when I hear these candidates yammering on and on about change and how they are the merchants of change it gives me a shudder. An honest to God, clutch in my gut, because let’s face it, when was the last time a politician came up with a change you liked?
When they say change, I say: What change? How will you change? Why are you changing it? Why is it better than what we’ve already got? And the ever popular, What makes you think you’ll be able to change it?
What about you? Anybody out there know what all this changie-ness is all about? What are they a-gonna change and why? And can they actually do it?
WC
A World of Our Own?
Posted on August 24, 2007 - Filed Under Random Thoughts, brain farts, in my head, my opinions, society
Technology is a beautiful thing. The conveniences it has given us and the simplicity it has made of once tedious work is nothing short of miraculous. But, in the words of one of my readers - are we enjoying the technology or is it enjoying us?
We have so many gadgets to give us creature comfort that we nearly never have to leave the house. As long as we have a computer, a phone, internet connection and a credit card we are set. We could easily begin to feel that really there is no one else in the world for all of the digging in we do in our little nests. We cocoon to coin a popular phrase.
It is any wonder that when we are actually out in the world our behaviour is less than amicable? We squeeze into spaces, nearly sending the car behind us in a ditch, but don’t notice because we have the a/c, stereo system and the cell phone going. We screech down residential neighborhoods at 3 a.m. with our music so loud it’s breaking crystal in someone’s house. We cut into line and don’t see the dismayed looks on other line mates’ faces. We yak to our friends while the movie is playing. Talk on cell phones anywhere, allowing all to hear everything there is to know about our lives, relationships and troubles. Our children run rampant, like wild animals through shopping malls, restaurants and groceries stores because we don’t believe in suppressing their desire to be free beings, even though they are giving everyone else mild heart attacks. We plug in our Ipods and giggle, gaggle and bang out the drum line on the table top, never noticing that the racket is bothering others.
All because of technology? Or is it us? Have we become so embedded in our own toys and gadgets of convenience that we no longer see the other people in the world. Or know that there are other people there? And when we notice them, are we confused by the strange or angry looks, the rude gestures? The stunned, gaping mouths?
It has been said of previous generations that it was all about me. But I’m wondering if that is a thing of the past or the present. Is the me generation still alive and well? If they lost their technology tomorrow, would they have the people skills and thinking skills to survive, to work in tandem with others and make it? Or would they just sit in a corner crying because they can no longer plug in, tune out and float in a world meant only for them? I wonder. Do you?
Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy…
Posted on August 15, 2007 - Filed Under I gots to have it, Just For Fun, Random Thoughts, favorites, reflections
For as long as I can remember one of my favorite songs was Summertime. Whether it was Lena Horne or Otis Redding, or anyone else who could belt one out, singing it. I think it’s one of the best songs ever written because it so thoroughly expresses the feeling of summertime. The hot days and mean summer sun - the fragrant balmy nights - the lazy, languid movements of sun-kissed skin. Oh yeah.
It’s been very hot in my little burg and though it drives most people inside to find the solace of air conditioning and bad television - it makes me smile. It makes me think of my dad and watermelon and eating giant beefsteak tomatoes on the front porch. Swatting away the flies and trying to catch the juice before it drips down your chin and onto your nice white tee shirt.
Of dangling toes in the cool comfort of a country lake. The symphony of butterflies, birds and bees that hover and dart in the garden, serenading and gliding - a cacaphony of color and songs piercing the cloudless blue sky. Of softie ice cream cones in the darkened livingroom, the fan rattling and television down low. Of sitting in the window when I should have been sleeping and listening to the crickets as they sing out the stars scattered across a darkening sky.
Of picnics and parties. Rollercoasters and cotton candy, apples dipped in sweet, chewy caramel and a sheen of oily sweat that never goes away until the weather breaks. The air so heavy with water that refuses to turn to rain.
Of my new keds, red and unblemished. Scraped elbows and new adventures along the railroad track, discovering rocks and trash that were treasures to us. Iced tea sweating and leaving a ring on the table, putting it to my forehead and how cool it felt there. Streaks of blonde hair glistening the mousey brown of winter.
It makes me think of all these things and more. I guess you could say I am a child of summer. I need the sunshine to live. I never want it to end.
WC
Is it All About Ego?
Posted on August 13, 2007 - Filed Under Humor, I gots to have it, Random Thoughts, Self Esteem, Writers, brain farts, motivation, writing, writing life
A couple of years ago I made an observation which I found startling. I worked for a couple of fellows who were very talented artistically, but where awful businessmen. The constant juggling and borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, drove me, their general manager, nuts.
I couldn’t understand how they could operate that way, much less live that way. Yet, they did and managed to pull off some very impressive things.
I also have friends who have done what I considered to be some very risky stuff and came out the other end on top. One friend in particular has become quite successful and it’s funny to me because I knew them when, so to speak and remember many times in the not too distant past when they would have been happy to be working at McDonald’s.
I became curious about this thing called success and so I started to really watch them, the boys and my friend, looking for some common denominator. One, which, apparently I lacked. I started to really listen to the things they said, how they dealt with others and there general approach to life.
What I found was that my friend and the boys and in fact, as I thought about it, anyone I knew personally who was or had been successful was ego. I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way. But they all do/did have quite the ego. They all believed that they were somehow superior, better, more capable, smarter, talented (you name it) than most other people.
This really floored me. Just to realize that the difference between constantly trying and getting nowhere and succeeding and ultimately getting what you want, was about having an ego that in some cases, actually lied to you. Sometimes quite often.
I looked around a bit at other people whom I didn’t know, to see if that was the deciding factor. I certainly found many examples. Madonna is a good one. She is marginally talented - accept for her dancing which used to be pretty good, and may still be but I’m not up to date on what she’s doing these days - yet she is one of them most famous and successful women in show business. David Letterman, a very popular talk show host, who clearly has a big ego - and not that talented. On the funny scale he rates about a 3, yet he’s making a bagillion dollars a year while many of my blogging friends who are hilarious are working 9 to 5 jobs. John Grisham is a another example - his writing style actually causes me pain, but everything he writes sure do make good, formulaic movies which of course make millions of dollars.
So far, it seems to be bearing out.
But here’s the rub - what am I/we supposed to do? I even tried to sort of emulate my friend - walk with a struth and swagger, think of myself as hot shit and all I got was my little voice chastising me for being a jerk. I try to cop an attitude and people just look at me and laugh. It’s pathetic really.
Since I’ve been on this quest to get an agent and somehow manage to do the impossible and get published it’s been beating up what little ego I have. In fact, my ego is so sore that it can barely move. Yet, I know that is what I need. I need to act and believe like I’m hot shit. Be confident though nobody in the world wants to represent me or publish me. Know that they are all wrong and I am right. Quite the challenge. Possibly the impossible dream. But what’s a Irish Catholic girl from the Midwest to do?
Nope, I don’t know the answer. But I do think I’m onto something. So starting today, I will practice my affirmations, come up with ego boosting mantras and look down my nose at as many people as possible. I will act like I have a million bucks in the bank and I don’t need a thing. Act as though I am motivated by ambition alone. LOL. Think it will work?
WC
Mystery Plant
Posted on July 15, 2007 - Filed Under Food, Random Thoughts, WTF?, adventure, brain farts, i dunno, nature, possibilities
As some of you may know, I’m an avid gardener. Not the Martha Stewart type though, who knows all the latin names for things and the special soil and fertilizer amendments - I garden by the seat of my pants. It’s an organic thing, if you will - I do what feels right and often I yield good results.
This year, my garden has been incredible, the weather has been perfect and the bugs and birds are barely bothering the plants at all. In fact, I’ve only lost two plants which is really amazing.
I’ve planted tomatoes of several varieties, summer squash, onions, bell peppers, lettuce, cucumbers, turnips, radishes and even a spontaneous string bean plant came up out of nowhere.
Then there is this plant. It started out as a little seedling and it looked so cute, I thought what the heck, I’ll let it grow and see what happens. The above is what happened. It looked an awful lot like my cucumber plants so I assumed that it was a cucumber plant and let it be. You can never have too many cucumbers in my mind.
About a week ago, I noticed this:
And I knew it wasn’t no stinking cucumber. Over the last several days this mystery fruit/vegetable has continued to grow into:
and
and
I’ve actually come to believe that I am growing watermelons. Or some kind of melon. But I can’t for the life of me explain it. I never planted any watermelon and I never had any watermelon seeds, yet, the fruit on this baby grows by leaps and bounds each day - the largest one is a bit bigger than a softball as of today - and looking more and more like a watermelon.
Anybody out there care to hazard a guess? I’m dying to know what I’m growing and I simply cannot be sure. So, feel free to lob your guesses my way. The winner may end up with a fedexed melon in a few weeks.
WC
8 Things About Me
Posted on July 12, 2007 - Filed Under Just For Fun, Random Thoughts, brain farts, meme, really stupid shit
Marion has tagged me to write 8 random facts about me - I could swear Kim had already done this, but what the heck, I’m game. I’m not much into tagging these days - but feel free to do the meme if it grabs you.
1. I am a political junkie, currently on hiatus and saving myself for the 2008 presidential race.
2. I was born on St. Patty’s Day and am half Irish. My Great, Great Uncle was Father Flanigan of Boy’s Town fame (they made a movie of it with Spencer Tracy - not my birthday but Boy’s Town).
3. Of the five children in my family only I have my mother’s green eyes - the rest of my siblings have blue eyes. Beyond that, I look like no one in my family and Mom used to tell me I was the Milkman’s gift to the family tree. (She was joking)
4. I have an IQ of 137 - which apparently makes me smart. But if I’m so smart, why have I done so many stupid things?
5. I can raise my left eyebrow at will - I had no idea this was an actual talent until Pretty wrote a post about her boyfriend being excited that on occasion his eyebrow raises of its own accord.
6. I compulsively give everyone I meet and know a nickname. I don’t mean to do it, it just comes out of my mouth and it sticks (at least in my mind) and I can’t seem to call that person anything else. My favorite nickname was “Rodg” but it never stuck, the other nicknames I’ve been given are, “Killer, Toughie, Neener, Neetz, Neato.” Is it any wonder that I started forcing people to call me Annie?
7. I was hit in three motor vehicle accidents in the same year. In each case, it wasn’t my fault but that was little consolation to my cars. The most ironic of these was the last one, in which a doped up delivery guy hit my junker with his delivery van, while I was on my way to make the final payment of the the car that was totaled in my first accident. Is it any wonder that I hate to drive and refuse to go on the freeways?
8. I wrote a song called “The Loose Woman Blues” when I was 14. I happened to be on a Janis Joplin jag at the time. No, I don’t remember the lyrics and no, I don’t remember the melody - the only thing that survived in my brain was the title.
Okay, those are 8 really irrelevant facts about me.
How’s about you?
WC
PS: Oh yeah, here’s a #9 - Bella thinks I’m a 
Thanks Bella!
The Bargain Gene
Posted on June 16, 2007 - Filed Under I gots to have it, Just For Fun, Random Thoughts, adventure, joy of creating, loving it!, my opinions, saturdays
I think all of us get some sort of talent from our gene pool. Not just our tallness, or beauty or perfect skin - but actual talents and character traits.
Now, my Ma has many talents and you wouldn’t know it because for the most part, she doesn’t know that these gifts she has are talents. For one thing, the woman can cook. She can cook any ol’ thing she wants and it comes out great. In fact, I truly don’t ever remember eating a experiment gone bad. She is one of those people who can put together dinner for 8 with nothing in the fridge or the pantry. A real talent and one I believe that inspired me to become a good cook and my love of food. She’s also a heck of a gardener, or at least was. She always had the roses, peonies, honeysuckle and God knows what else growing in the yard. But of all the many talents Ma’s gene pool provided the very best one was the bargain gene.
Nobody but nobody could find a bargain like my mother. She had an attitude, a savvy, a radar that could sniff out a bargain and get it in her cart before anyone was the wiser. Her policy- if it ain’t $3.95 or under, it ain’t a bargain. Okay, I exagerate, but with a family of seven and one income my mother fed, clothed and housed all of us. I don’t remember ever going without anything really. Oh sure there was stuff I always wanted but those were extras.
Anyway, this gene has apparently passed down to me. From the time I was old enough to earn money doing anything, I was a shopper. A bargain huntress, always on the lookout for un-noticed treasures and deals of the century. This year alone, I found 2 Kate Spade bags, a Prada bag, a Coach bag, a set of six crystal wineglasses, a rare, limited issue book, and a brand new foot massager, each for under $10.
Thrift stores, consignment shops, vintage shops, back alleys of antique shops, garage sales, outlets, what have you - if there is a bargain I will find it. I just have the gene for it and it all came from Ma.
Every weekend, just about, I’m out there, slugging my way through racks of crap to find the one gem nestled among the trash. Digging through piles of junk and pull out the antique jewelry box or designer silk shirt. I’m telling you, it should be against the law, I’m so lucky in my finds. In fact, if I don’t come home without at least one really unbelievable find, I feel cheated. As if the universe is punishing me or something.
So, while I can’t swim, or catch fish. Can’t do trig or the new math. And will never be able to figure out how to properly program a vcr or dvd player - I will always be able to find food or anything else at a bargain and feed myself and anyone else who wants to join me at the table. While it’s not everything. It’s quite a bit.
Now…what gene did you get?
WC
Simple
Posted on June 15, 2007 - Filed Under Dreams, Just For Fun, Life, Random Thoughts, imagination, joy of creating, my opinions, possibilities, tomorrows
Simple…isn’t it a great word? It sort of bounces off the tongue and flits across the room, landing like a raindrop in a pond. Plop.
But life is anything but simple, isn’t it? Or is it? You’re born. You live. You die. End of story. The only two certainties: death and taxes. Right? Pocada pocada and away we go…
I’ve been thinking about how simple life was when I was a child. I woke in the morning, had a bite to eat. Got dressed, washed my face and hands and off to school. Where I learned a little bit and then came home. Had some cookies and watched cartoons - fought with my brothers and sister. Dinner. Bath. A little tv and then to bed. Simple.
I never thought about the bills or the price of gas. World affairs or politics. Celebrities or assholes (well maybe the bully down the street). My job or rotating the tires. Nope, not even one brain cell was devoted to that.
My brain power was devoted to pressing questions like: Why don’t cats like to wear doll’s clothes? How can I get that way up there booger out of my nose? Do bees make their kids go to bed early? Yep, all the really pressing issues of the day. Well….at least my day.
And I dreamed…about the future. About being a ballerina, a teacher, a singer, a painter (now how did I end up a writer?) and even a fireman (firelady?). I imagined the pretty dresses I would wear and what I would name my babies. About becoming that mysterious and fascinating character: an adult.
Funny how when the dream becomes the reality it just ain’t that simple any more. Is it? Go figure.
WC
Is Reflection a Bad Thing?
Posted on April 12, 2007 - Filed Under Blogging, Feedback, Random Thoughts, Writers, art, introspection, my opinions, reflections, writing
Lately it seems I’ve been stumbling upon various posts that complain about the introspective (selfish?) nature of bloggers. Too self involved, too much ME and not enough THEM or IT (I guess?).
It made me wonder because recently I’ve been writing some ‘think’ pieces. Have I been just thinking out loud, instead of writing? Thoughts that shouldn’t be spoken or written but kept to myself? Maybe I’ve just been bumming y’all out without realizing it. Cringe. And hey, maybe that’s something bloggers shouldn’t do. Or maybe it’s just something I shouldn’t do?
Is it arrogant to think that anyone out there is interested in my inner thoughts? Could be they’re ‘inner’ for a reason. Hmmm.
But if that’s the case, doesn’t that violate that old writer’s chestnut about writing what one knows? The goal of writing in part is to write it real and to be true and honest in what we write. If that’s the case, then how can we write without looking inward and reporting what we find there?
Is reflection part of that or is it just pure indulgence? I really don’t know - so please feel free to jump in and offer your opinions about it.
We all have our reasons for blogging - we all write for a reason, but isn’t it a universal truth that writers (or any artist for that matter) write because they feel they have a voice and want it to be heard. That they have something to say? I mean, somebody has to say something, don’t they? Even writers/bloggers who write as though they are above it all - aren’t they really just espousing their opinions too? Aren’t they writing from the core they call self?
I don’t know - it could be there are those of you out there who can write from the ‘outside’ as observers. Maybe that’s the way it ought to be. But in my mind, if you’re writing from the ‘outside’ as an observer then aren’t you just recording what you see and hear? And if so, are you the origin or just the conduit through which the reporting of facts and events come?
Me? I write from the inside out. It’s my way and always will be. Call it indulgent, call it self-absorbed, call it egotistical - call it whatever you like. For me, it’s the only way to go.
What about you? From the outside or the inside? Is reflection actually a thing that is better left unsaid and in your head?
WC
