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 |  My Blog. Generally Intended for Reading-Not Eating!. |
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Rose-Tinted Ramblings ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** A Little of What You Might Expect & A Lot of Everything Else that You Don't!. My writing style for my blog is invariably 'snarkastic'. This is because I am a nice, unassuming and quietly-spoken person IRL-and this blog is where my innermost moments and torments happen. Trust me, I am no exception to that delightful rule. Greetings! Welcome to my THIRD blog here on WDC. A re-incarnation of my earlier version of my Blog, here "Insanties and Sensibilities" this v.03 should prove to be equally...challenging and hopefully, entertaining. That said, life often weaves through our writing in mysterious ways, and this Blog will probably prove to be no exception to that. We are very likely all quite different, yet the same, us writers and our collective little whims, fascinations and insecurities. |
| November 23, 2008. Ever have family members you wish you didn't?. Selfish, arrogant and throwing old issues back in your face, just to get their way?. Argh....I simply want to slap one of them upside on the head, and shake them, at this point. I'm not a violent person, but I have bent over backwards once too often for them. No more. The final straw is when they use my daughter like a pawn with my husband. No contest. Maybe having no contact is a mental health imperative?. Ugh. This early on a Sunday, too. |
| November 22, 2008. Whether the Weather be: 50 (F) Cloudy and damp. Events of Note: We have a new family member. In the Nudes: Carter, Annan 'not welcome' in Zimbabwe.  I have a lingering health issue today, but that has been eclipsed by the impending arrival of a new family member. As you know, our lifetime cat was killed, a while back, and then the last of our daughter's ducks was killed by raccoons recently. "Beanie" was so lonely: it was heartbreaking to see and hear on an ongoing basis. With the holidays and cooler weather fast approaching, we needed to find a solution that worked for us. So, now, without further ado-I introduce our newest addition: BoBi the boy guinea pig. I have zero experience of caring for guinea pigs, so this is going to be an interesting change for all of us. The expression of sheer delight and joy on "Beanie's" face is worth it, all by itself. The name BoBi is our daughter's decision. Pictures posted soon!. |
| November 21, 2008. Whether the Weather be: 50 (F) Clear and cool. Events of Note: Painting with "Beanie" In the Nudes: Clinton accepts Secretary of State-a choice which I hope isn't regretted.  Well, the standard WDC-Novemberitis has hit Blogville again. I'm a shoddy blogger at best, but good folks are leaving here in droves, so, either, my life is far too dull, or I'm missing something here....I know, I know-it's NaNo, the world is in a slump, people are penning books, or just staving off the gloom of Winter-but COME ON!. I'll be frank, and say that writing a book holds absolutely no interest for me. That's not to say that it isn't a lifetime imperative for many here-and that's really admirable. Just not on my personal chalkboard of stuff I now want to accomplish, is all. When I was 18, I had my first article published nationwide. Since then, I've had numerous articles and an historical document published. At the end of last year, my MPH thesis was published. Publication holds no hidden allure for me. I've also edited two Master's theses-a public health one on domestic violence, and an electronic engineering one on chaotic cryptography. Not just a single edit, either-a whole 12 months worth of editing on each thesis, never-mind stressing over the new edits on my own one. Anyone who has ever edited anything of any significance-be it their own work, or that of another, for publication, knows that this can be sheer, hard, dreary slog, sometimes-and, mostly, a thankless task. I've taught English as Second Language privately, to fund 'extras' throughout my technical college and university education. So, I'm on a writing sabbatical, of sorts. I did a bit of reviewing here a while back, but the reviewing soon quickly overtook just plain reading for enjoyment-and, I don't really want to spend my free time here constantly being some stranger's editor (sorry).  And, while I'm on the subject, something else that I've noticed, is that when I do try to write something educational in here, both my views and my comments go down. Markedly. So, I ask you, where is the real balance to be found?. People don't much like change, and some will do anything to either avoid, or provoke drama, so either way, I find myself between a rock and a hard hole. I think I work well as far as time management goes. I live my days and nights quite differently, every twenty-four hours, like most folks. Ain't nothing strange in that. I do my chores and routines in 30 minute blocks. Yep, you won't find yours truly sitting still for too long. I've got something beginning with 'A' in my pants, and no, it's not my arse, before you arksk. I don't much like to re-hash over old issues and history. If If I'd let life's obstacles hold me back, I wouldn't even be here now. As my husband is so good at reminding me, in his Nebraskan drawl: "It's not like you're SPECIAL or something!!." Knowing what he and I know, he's right. Oh, sure, I mope, moan and feel sorry for myself, but I'm mostly just biding my time, till the next roaring train arrives.  Today was good. Tomorrow probably will be, too. Or, not. I'll still probably blog about it. Or, not. Or, whatanot. Happy Friday-whatever you did or didn't do, today. |
| November 20, 2008. Whether the Weather be: 60 (F) Sunny Events of Note: Who needs psycho-active drugs, when you have Suisse Mocha?. In the Nudes: Judge says Algerians must be freed from Guantanamo.  Half a squinting, sandy eye on my blog page, and another watching a doco on Hunter S. Thompson. I always like learning about the cultural, political and social history of SF[amongst other places] in the 60s. Johnny Depp is narrating parts of this-and so well, too. Last night's sleep was a shredded sequence of half-dreams and imaginings. Probably explained by my drinking two large soup bowls of Suisse Mocha with whipping cream, an hour or so before bed. I listened to alternate wind and rain, hoisted myself up on my elbows to look at the carpet of bright stars, and the sea-breeze whipping around the trees, before it fogged in, and the drizzle dumped down. Eventually, I got up, went to the bathroom, sat out on the front porch for a bit, and, as the first light of sunrise shifted through the trees, eventually went back to bed. Toby has been spotted. That wiley Tom broke out of the Kitty Hilton somehow. So, we'll let him be, leave some food out for him, and he can please his own self for the duration. That's the extent of it.  Don't you love how dirty dishes expand according to the space provided. We have three commercial-sized sinks-so that's three times the amount of dirty pans. To add to my grunt work, my husband is a firm adherent to the idea that you must use a new pan for every ingredient cooked in a single meal. That's what dishwashers are for, in the food service world. In his home world, that chore falls to me. I'm SO excited and so unmotivated...At least tomorrow is Friday-and six weeks or so till Christmas, er, Humbug (sorry Scarlett). |
| November 19, 2008. Whether the Weather be: 45 (F) Cool. Events of Note: Headaches. In the Nudes: Texas Grand jury indicts Cheney, Gonzales. Well, I'm still catching up on yesterday's comments. Woke up to the beginnings of a monthly, hormonal migraine, which, true to form, colored my outlook and energy level for my whole day. My day began with my cleaning out the "Kitty Hilton"-the custom-designed kitty kennel where my in-laws two cats are being cared for by us, for the next three months. Trouble is, I think that one of the cats has prematurely absconded-a grey Tom called Toby. Hrm. This is rather unfortunate. I did, however, have a chance to take a daytime tub bath, and to wash my hair. Watched the film, "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, 2". Very Oprah-style movie, but pretty good to zone-out to. What's more, I don't care if doing so stereotypes me. I'll have to try and write a more complete entry tomorrow. *Yawn. |
| November 18, 2008. Whether the Weather: 48 (F) Cold and foggy. Events of Note: Staying home and staying warm-yes, it's cool here on the coast. In the Nudes: Obama to appoint first African-American head of Justice Dept?. There has been a(nother) shocking child abuse case in New Zealand. Three year old Nia, died of head injuries, after, amongst other atrocities, being strung from a clothesline and spun around until she fell off, put into a tumble dryer, while the dryer was turned on and door shut-only taken out when the dryer had reached over 65 celsius, and her nose was bleeding, and kicked in the head-so hard, that she ended up in a coma for 36 hours, BEFORE she was taken to the hospital. Two men who were supposed to be her caregivers, have been convicted of her murder this week, after a month-long trial. Nia's mother was convicted on numerous charges, including failure to protect Nia from violence and abuse. Now, Nia's mother is in the media, lamenting how she didn't know what was happening in the house where her she and her little girl lived. The two men who murdered Nia have yet to be sentenced, but unlike the U.S., life imprisonment in New Zealand, does not mean life. Offenders are offered parole after they have served 2/3rds of their sentence. In New Zealand, the average life sentence of imprisonment for murder starts at 10 years or so. At the worst end of murderous offending, the highest non-parole sentence is 17 years. Judges have some discretion in imposing preventive detention, but that's limited. Frankly, Nia's mother's attitude is not news. Granted, everyone's circumstances are different, and I am not oblivious to the many factors that background such abuse cases. The causes, which should inform preventive work, are also numerous, diverse and complex. You would think, that in such a tiny nation, there would be zero tolerance of domestic violence and child abuse. Sadly, the reverse is true. People would rather not become involved. Turn a blind eye, and pretend that it isn't happening in their extended family, on their street. Rather, many choose to close ranks. Or, after the fact, like Lisa Kuka, Nia's mother, use the news media as their personal apologist. I am far removed from anything at all like Kuka's circumstances-the total lack of maturity of all of the adults who frequented her household, the 'inconvenience' of this little girl, who impinged on her ability to continually party and socialize, to the exclusion of acknowledging her little girl's very existence, and her seemingly blind trust of the men who were supposed to be watching Nia. Kuka is not of my world, and neither am I of hers. But, as the mother of a little girl, who is Nia's age, I am saddened that there must be something so severely missing or lacking in the awareness of a human being who knowingly inflicts such trauma upon a child. Or, worse, in my mind, who stands by and lets it happen. Ignorance, can be bliss. But, ignorance should not be used as a sympathy vote, or as a convenient out, for not listening to your maternal gut and your instinct when it comes to protecting your own child. We cannot protect all children from horrific abuse, but when and where we have every opportunity to do so, there really is no excuse.  The Rainbowapple household is quiet, today. Subdued. "Beanie" slept till noon, and is still lounging around, refusing to get dressed. Given the fog and cold, misty rain outside, I can't blame her. So far, she's watched "Wall-E" and "Atomic Betty". Ergh. I'm trying to interest her in a sticker activity book called, "Avec le animaux et leurs petits". So far, her interest is glancing. Could be an interesting afternoon.  I opened my birthday gift early, last night. My birthday falls on Thanksgiving Day, this year. My gift was something that I wanted, and didn't strictly NEED, but was also something that I couldn't otherwise justify the expense for, unless I got it for my (36th) birthday. Make sense?. My husband 'won' a ten pound turkey while out grocery shopping last night for .28 cents a pound. Now, we, er, I will be expected to cook the dreaded bird. Turkey is lame. Blah. Gosh, are the retailers laying on the holiday season, early, thick and fast, this year, or what?. It's ridiculous. Maybe I will "Freecyle" the turkey?.  |
| November 17, 2008. Whether the Weather: 58 (F) Partly cloudy. Events of Note: Feeling weary and wary. In the Nudes: Oh, let me see-the Republicans are tipping Hilary for Sec of State [hope not!]. I need a holiday. I'm worn out. A regular state of being at the moment. "Beanie" is asleep at the moment, and I'm letting her. Exhausted too, poor moppet. I need to call her doc at some point today, but I'm not disturbing her quite yet. She didn't settle until after midnight, and that was after dinner out with us. It was 'officially' my husband's birthday, yesterday. He turned 50. He says, and I'm inclined to agree-he's a rather good-looking fifty, frankly.  Hubby and I were chatting in bed at 1:00am, when a massive explosion rattled our windows. Sounded like another earthquake. Or, a bomb. No idea what it was. We lay awake, waiting to hear sirens, but there was nothing. Most odd. Uh, spoke too soon-"Beanie" is awake, demanding her "Good Morning ! " hug, and breakfast-and likely, a side episode of "Invader Zim" to go with that. |
| November 16, 2008. Yes, we're all o.k. following the earthquake, last night. Quite a shaker. Got our attention. However, this morning, "Beanie" suffered a second degree burn. Not good. She howled, which is kinda significant for a child who's such a brave kid. Can't say I blame her in the slightest. It happened instantly. I'm just waiting on my husband to drive back from work in the neighboring city, and we'll take her up to the hospital. Poor "Beanie". Not looking good, and of course, as accidents tend to-happens on a Sunday!. |
| November 15, 2008. 4.4 Earthquake. |
| November 15, 2008. Whether the Weather be: 48 (F) Frosty with sunshine, followed by highs in the 60s. Events of Note: Getting wrapped up-in more ways than one!. In the Nudes: G20 Summit, Southern C.A. burns (L.A and Santa Barbara) Oops-yes, I used the 'p' word in my post title. Before you nod off too quickly, or slink away-I'll get to that later. First, feel free to browse the [edited] highlights of the past 24/48 hours in the Rainbowapple household. Yesterday, I took the initiative, purchased an international calling card, and called my mother in New Zealand (her email has been on the 'fritz' lately). We spoke for 77 minutes. She has numerous loads on her mind, at the moment, and it saps her energy just thinking, er, worrying about everything. Quite a while ago, her cousin living in New Zealand returned to Zimbabwe for a visit, and my mother hasn't heard anything from them since. In addition, my uncle who had brain surgery, is still in the hospital, having developed a serious complication or two, which I won't go into here. Suffice to say, like all families, we are experiencing numerous ups and downs. As well as family issues, we discussed new international developments, and I mentioned the job applications I'd just put in. In all, a good call, doom and gloom aside. I have gradually come to the realization, that while my mother and I are not as close as we once were, it is still good to have conversations like the ones we used to have, during our sessions of setting the world to rights. Am slowly putting together Christmas boxes and packages to send to New Zealand, as has become slightly 'traditional' in our household. This year is a little bit different, in that I'm exercising a renewed sort of discretion in my selection of gifts. Since the 1980s, with the exception of our child family members, everyone in our family agreed to put a limit on the monetary value of gifts at NZ$5 each or thereabouts. You must understand, that in New Zealand, extended family or whanau is considered important to many-and so a list comprising 50 + gifts, all wrapped and trimmed up, was not uncommon. Living on a ranch, following ten consecutive years of drought, our Christmases in the material sense were always the best that could be managed. Sometimes, the best that could be managed wasn't a whole lot, but we still had each other. I remember my mother noting how she didn't have a spare 20 cents to buy herself a tube of lipstick, or a pair of stockings. Little luxuries. When you never had much, little luxuries like those mattered a lot, sometimes. Coming from a family background like that, now helps me to appreciate and to use some commonsense in selecting Festive gifts. As for ourselves, we've had our Christmas gift early. Bath towels. Quality bath-towels are a luxury. In our case, our need arose irrespective of the holiday season. Isn't it interesting, how circumstances come full circle, and history is inclined to repeat itself?. The political positioning, or should that read "poisoning" that's been happening following the election, seems to be even more vitriolic and frenzied now, than at the peak of the campaigning prior to the election. I refer here, to numerous [largely] over-exaggerated and unsubstantiated predictions surrounding everything from the deity-like characterizations of leaders, or lack thereof, to the further erosion of civil and personal rights. Perhaps, most offensively, are the mass, unauthorized emails circulating, as a means of convincing us that the end of the world is nigh, just because someone "else" is becoming our leader. My Inbox has been "graced"-if that's the 'right' phrase, with these same forwarded letters. In days of uncertainty, questioning and heightened anxiety within the popular masses is inevitable. Still, there comes a certain point, where intolerance rapidly erodes all logical reasoning, and people's brains immediately appear to dribble out of their ears. I mean that not unkindly, except that this mass hysteria, in my opinion, is based mostly on religious indignation, righteousness and ignorance. I have been told (from a credible source) that the intended direction of this new Administration, is to place greatest and most urgent priority on appointing their most senior people first, followed by a gradual transition. Of course, there is far more than simply this happening behind the scenes, as with all politics. I am in agreement with Ken and Tor, that the auto-industry, which has long been the jewel in the crown of the U.S economy, at least at one time in years gone by, should have some timely guidance on their financial direction. Not necessarily with great gobs of money instantaneously, because I think that sets a dangerous precedent of financial 'Band-Aiding". Rather, a structured approach, implemented in a responsive, rather than a reactionary way. Too much to ask, or too little too late?. Time will tell. We are merely spectators in this particular goldfish bowl-for the time being, anyway. On that note, I'm headed to the tub, for some extended navel-gazing. A pleasant Saturday to all. P.S: The body of my missing family friend in N.Z, was found in the early hours of this morning. A local fisherman on a trawler, hauled up his net and found him (friend) caught in it. Closure, of sorts. |
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