%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |  I've maxed out. Closed this blog. |
|
This is a way of making myself write something coherent and grammatically correct almost every day. I'm opinionated and need an outlet. I'm also prone to flights of fancy. Thanks for stopping by. |
| I can understand why Indians want to get back to their roots, or why African Americans want to track their ancestors back to other continents. My background is kind of boring by comparison, but it's interesting to me. I hear or read of things my ancestral families did or things they survived, and I can feel connected to these unknown relations. Somewhere in the family tree was Meriwether Lewis. The family must not have known he was gay, but they were impressed by his fame or success and named a lot of nephews and distant cousins after him. My grandmother was a fifth cousin of Dwight Eisenhower on his mother's side. That means Russell Stover was a distant cousin. There were two obscure Scottish kings in my direct line, hundreds of years ago. In fact Macbeth, who would be really obscure if not for Shakespeare, was a cousin of one of them. There are claims of Cherokee Indian on both my mother and father's side, but I can't prove any of it. The people who claim to know have all died. One story on my mother's side I did track down and proved all of the details except the Indian part. Indians didn't have birth certificates or church records prior to 1900, so it's hard to prove anything. Marriage licenses didn't always specify race. I discovered Swiss, German, Bavarian, English, French, and Channel Island ties. The only Irish might be a falsehood: another researcher claimed David, who arrived here with daughter Sarah, leaving his proper English wife behind, because the daughter belonged to his Irish mistress. But the fascinating stories are about the ones who sacrificed a lot to get here. They left thriving businesses, relatives, and their homes to sneak away rather than profess things they didn't believe. They refused to be ordered how to think, how to act, what religion to practice. Some were shot in the process of plotting their escape. This makes me proud, and I tell myself their rebellious, strong-willed blood courses through my veins. I tracked down a Civil War casualty who was erroneously recorded in a book. I really felt accomplished when I uncovered the truth. But all these stories made me do historical research, too. I had to find out about Yankee prison camps, battles at Vicksburg, etc. I had to look at the vast movement out of France and Germany as recorded by English historians of the time. I learned what a Royal Housier was. I had to learn about the Basques, and a little geography, and changing borders of countries. So it was a good exercise for learning, as well. If you haven't looked at your family tree yet, I heartily recommend it. You might feel differently about yourself. Maybe not. I determined before hand that if I found out anything bad or shameful, I would still embrace it. It's part of me. |
| I've always believed that a really clean house is the sign of a woman without an interesting life. Although, I admit I always feel bad when unexpected company comes, and I haven't dusted, or gone through the mail. I have always had a hard time believing that people can get bored, outside of the classroom or the boardroom, or some place where they are captive, like a really bad movie. There are always things to do, whether you're alone or with others. I was never bored as a kid and I'm not now. I finally heard someone say, in reference to someone else, "He was comfortable with his own company." I guess that's part of it. I'm comfortable with my own company and can find many things to occupy my mind. I have known people who are always bored. I think they really have some other problem, not boredom, some inner unrest. Intelligent people can find ways to entertain themselves or their friends or kids. Children who are allowed to play and explore don't get bored either. I tried some low sodium, low sugar peanut butter. I want to be healthier. Yech!!! Wood putty would have tasted equally well. I looked desperately for jelly or jam, but there was none in the house. I ended up putting fresh blueberries on it, just to be able to consume it. Turns out, I like the sodium and sugar in peanut butter. Who knew they were such necessary ingredients? I made a really big mistake at work. It's going to cost money, and I'm nervous about what will happen. I fixed it so the correct project meets the deadline, but the wrong project is going to have a bill. I'm having trouble focusing on any thing else. I dread the chewing out that's coming. And it was a really careless mistake. I picked up the wrong package to send to the printer. Well, I guess it could lead to a job hunting opportunity. Or maybe just a very uncomfortable period of time and a reprimand in my file. They never let you forget those. |
| There are a lot of mistaken ideas about olive oil. If you have to have oil, olive oil is one of the better ones because of the monounsaturated fat. But you should still be stingy with it. That's right, stingy! People actually think it's so good for them, they use it liberally like water. They drown their salads in it, or cover cooked foods and sauces with it. Fat is still fat, no matter where it comes from. And olive oil is not the only "good" oil in town. Safflower and soy are also quite healthy. Corn oil is better than peanut oil (which smokes) or mixed vegetable oil or animal fat, which contains cholesterol. Remember, cholesterol only comes from animal products, not grains or vegetables. Virgin olive oil means the olives were only squeezed or pressed once, so there will no sediment in it. Regular olive is squeezed twice, so you may notice it's thicker or filmy from the pulp. EVO is the fresh, first oil that comes in the process. It's the thinnest, but no better or healthier. Some people claim it has a better flavor, less like the olive. "Light" olive oil does not mean low fat, like we have become conditioned to think. It refers to the color--no green tint. It's probably more from the breed of olive, not the process. Unless you have a baking recipe, say a cake recipe, that specifies olive oil, it's best not to use it because of the flavor. One of the other vegetable oils would be better. The bottom line is to avoid oil of any kind, unless necessary to the recipe. And don't be fooled by labels. Olive oil is more expensive, so many bottlers mix the olive oil with other cheaper oils and still collect the big price. Read your labels. |
| I saw Avenue Q Friday night. I knew nothing about it in advance, so when some of the players came on stage with puppets, I wanted them to put the puppets down. It took me a while to get the idea that the puppets were the real actors or characters, not the people operating them and singing, even though they sometimes danced and acted with the puppet. Trekie Monster sounded like Cookie Monster, and the resemblance to Sesame Street was not lost on me. Then Gary Coleman shows up. I may be a little slow, but without warning in advance, it took me a while to figure out the theme and why they were doing it this way. Turns out its an award winning Broadway play. The suspension of disbelief that we do at every play, movie or TV show just had to be a little bigger for this play. But this was no show for children. It was X-rated. The language is pretty adult, the themes very adult as well. Then there's Lucy the Slut as a puppet, with a EKG that looks like the outline of two boobs. And there is the song "Scream Loud As the Hell You Want" while everyone including the puppets have sex, with as many positions as they could get in the time. Two of the puppets engage in nudity (they have no shape in bodies). And Trekie Monster and several of the male characters are addicted to porn. I can't forget the song, "Everybody's A Little Bit Racist". The "bad idea puppets" encourage drinking, drinking games, missing work, and one night stands. The bottom line is that children's shows and programs like Sesame Street encourage children to think they're special, they have a special purpose in life, but reality is the world is a hard place to live, and we're not all special when we have to pay bills, get jobs, and have relationships. The show is entertaining, funny, and thought provoking, but not for children or the prudish. I understand that a GP rated version was developed, because they felt the message was important enough for high school students to perform it, and they would have to meet school standards and parent approval. |
| I was forced to have some down time tonight. The power went out for over 3 hours! No light, no music, no TV. I had passed up a shopping trip, because I was going to boil eggs for a picnic. I planned to devil them tomorrow night after I get home from a play. I had just enough time to change the sheets in the guest room, for the weekend, and boil the eggs only. I had already done dishes and swept the floor. The computer was on. Well, at least the summer evenings are still long. I took a book, my bug lotion, and my iced tea on the back deck. I read until it got too dark to see the words well. Then I sang softly to myself outdoors. The neighbors were talking and playing radios. They wouldn't have noticed me. Finally, in the twilight the sun powered butterfly lights came on. They were the only lights I could see except for the gaslight in the driveway of the farm behind us. I even managed some exercise and stretching on the porch. Then I realized I had gotten cold. Yes, cold in the summer! I went in and started peeling eggs. My dad came in from his outing. He started a lantern, so that I could peel the eggs without ripping them apart in the dark. Then, we sat and talked by candle light. I guess that was kind of old-fashioned. Sometimes you have no option. No computer, no entertainment, no light, no power equipment or toys. It was nice. My brain danced around on its own. I enjoyed it. |
| I heard a doctor making a speech this evening. He was talking about how busy we all are, how frantic our lives are. We can get a 3 minute egg in 20 seconds with the right devices. We have more time saving devices, energy saving devices, and work saving devices than ever, but we still don't have time for family or friends. We're living longer than people ever have, but there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything we try to do. And then there's multi-tasking. No one is allowed to do one thing at a time. You can't just drive, or just eat, or just cook dinner. You read mail or a magazine while you watch TV. You have to do multiple things. Employers don't want anyone who can't multi-task, even though studies have shown that the quality of work goes down with interruptions and multi-tasking. This doctor goes on to say that we have to take a day off once a week. Not the kind of day where you work yourself to death loading or unloading a boat, getting it out of the water, etc., or a day off to do yard work. He means a real sit down and chew the fat with relatives or friends day, or read a book day or meditate or whatever slows us down and lets us re-energize. Even God took day number 7 off to enjoy his work. Seize the moment. Stop and smell some flowers, watch some butterflies. Sit on the porch with a glass of iced tea for a few hours and do nothing. Don't use the time in the rocker to twitter or read email from work. Just relax and chat face to face. Life might be a little richer while we have it. |
| Some people just don't think about personal safety. It scares me how many pedestrians will step off a sidewalk with a phone in hand to ear, and step right into a busy bicycle lane or into an intersection. How crazy is that? Maybe motorists are supposed to be on the lookout in some areas, like around a hospital, but they are only required to stop in a marked crosswalk. These pedestrians don't even look up just to be sure, but step out bravely like there are no cars or bikes in these parts. If they would at least look up, I'd feel better for them. People without phones generally look about before stepping out, but the phone seems to shut down self-preservation. I hate phone users in restaurants and stores. Would it hurt to excuse yourself to the one on the phone while you pay for your groceries? Or go to the lobby instead of shouting into the phone while people are trying to dine or converse? Does the person on the phone deserve more courtesy than the cashier in front of you? Texting while I'm talking to you means I don't need to talk to you. Cell phones are a vital part of our lives. We need them and are safer and can stay in touch better with them. But we still need to keep courtesy and safety at the forefront of our lives. The phone can wait a minute. |
| On a more serious note, I am sorry to hear of the passing of actor James Garner. I always thought he was a good looking man, even when I was very young. I remember the first role I saw him in other than Maverick was a black and white film called Mister Budwing. I was in college at the time, and they ran old movies free on campus on Saturday night. So we weren't upset that it wasn't in color. He was dashing, and I loved seeing him do something other than cowboy stuff. Even Maverick was different from other cowboy shows. He was charming and funny, and the audience loved him. But he wasn't a hero. He wasn't a good guy. He was a card shark, a trickster, slightly short of the law.He was a lovable bad guy. He was an "anti-hero". I loved him in Space Cowboys and in The Notebook. Even his commercials were entertaining, like the Polaroid ads with Mariette Hartley. He served in the military and received two purple hearts in Korea. He was part of the Greatest Generation. Maybe the most amazing thing is that he was married to the same woman for 58 years. In tinsel town, that is truly an amazing feat. Several actresses said he was always a family man, and had an excellent reputation when so many of their male co-stars did not. James Garner was never arrogant, or tough despite his size. His ego never got the best of him. His humility and comedic touch always made him seem at ground level. Average people could relate to him and love him. He will be missed. |
| It was yesterday! I didn't find out until 10 pm. It was too late to observe it. I would have had an ice cream party and invited all the kids I know. We could have had ice cream until we got sick! Just that once. I would have had the canned whipped cream, because kids like to see it squirt out the enozzle. Sprinkles and chocolate syrup. Just plain vanilla and chocolate. Darn. I missed it. Just my luck.We need more warning about special national holidays like this. |
| I came across a new term while reading about television history. Yes, my life is so shallow that I read about and research television. The term was "Country Purge". It happened around 1970-1972. It was during that time that, according to Pat Buttram (Mr. Haney on Green Acres), anything with a tree had to come off the schedule. Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction were the silliest, but that also included their country cousins Hee Haw, The Glen Campbell Hour, and most cowboy shows. CBS had been guilty of overkill on the country bumpkin shows and had become jokingly known as Country Broadcasting System. So to clean up the image, those shows were dumped regardless of ratings. All of the networks went through a similar purge, maybe not as drastic, as they tried to become more urbane and worldly. Parent groups had protested the violence of cowboy and western shows. So they were replaced with police dramas, a different type of violence, but without trees. The big city and crime shows still prevail today. The major networks still avoid shows with rural themes or settings. Metropolitan police, hospital, espionage or big city stories rule the airwaves. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
