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 |  Here's to bloggin' around the block--one word at a time. |
| The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up. ~Author Unknown Procrastination is something best put off until tomorrow. ~Gerald Vaughan We put off buying any Halloween candy until the last minute. We didn’t really expect any Trick or Treaters, but we thought we should have some candy on hand just in case. Two Reese’s are gone from the package. Guess who ate them. The bright white nearly full moon shone in a clear inky sky last night. It was a lovely sight as we walked to the car from the grocery store. Then I did a double take as I spied two nudists walking across the parking lot. My second glance showed them to be wearing nude costumes, but they were very convincing, embarrassingly so. I was thinking since this is the first day of a new month that I’d begin a whole new blog. But I decided that I don’t want to go to the trouble right now. Maybe I’ll do it in January. I doubt I’ll have this one filled up since I’ve been writing so hit and miss. Anyway, since it is a new month and so many people are doing NaNo, I did join the Invalid Item  . I’m certainly not as ambitious as you “novel writing fools,” but it’s a commitment I think I can keep. And it’s a good incentive to get back to some consistent writing. I think it’s going to be good for me. I’ve already made my entry today and still decided to make an entry here. Watch my smoking fingers!  Now if I can only get a kick start on all the other projects hanging over my head I should be in pretty good shape. Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment. ~Robert Benchley |
| ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Rambler is an automobile, a turn-of-the-century American bicycle, a style of house, a British charity for recreational walkers, any of certain climbing roses, and me -- a person that rambles — in this entry. I’ve been flirting with the idea signing up for NaNo but today I decided not to do it. I don’t have the heart for it right now, and there’s no use setting myself up to fail. I will try to get back to the 500 words a day group, although not all of those are going to be blog entry material. And I am still reading novels. In fact I have five more books to add to my finished list so I’ve surpassed my goal for the year. I also have to face the fact that holiday times are usually sad times for me, something I try to fend off but it doesn’t always work. And this year the sad season is starting a bit early. So, I feel comfortable with my decision to beg off NaNo for yet another year. It’s not like I won’t have anything constructive to do. I have plenty of other projects that I’ve been putting off. Besides, it might interfere with my Facebook games.  Today we drove out to our favorite park to look at the leaves. I’ve been kind of puny this week and Jack has a very sore heel so we only took a short walk. And it turned out that the leaves weren’t any prettier than the leaves on our own street. In fact a lot of the leaves in the park had already fallen from the trees, and most of the colors were duller than the ones around here. There’s one place on our street that’s like driving through a beautiful yellow tunnel of leaves. But it was good to get out for awhile anyway. The weather was really nice. In fact it was a little warmer than usual for this time of year. Here’s some more trivia on Ramblers. All my vast research came from Wikipedia. The Rambler (1750–1752) was an essay series published by Edward Cave, mostly written by Samuel Johnson The Rambler (1848–1862) was a Catholic magazine. founded by converts and edited by Cardinal Newman Rambler Channel (藍巴勒海峽) separates Tsing Yi Island and the mainland New Territories in Hong Kong Loyola Ramblers, the varsity sports teams of Loyola University Chicago.  Paige Turner |
| This morning I had a message to call the coroner in my home town. My sister had died, apparently in her sleep. The coroner, Shannon, who is also a funeral director, had not been able to reach my nephews. One is a long distance truck driver and the other is somewhere in the Middle East with the Air Force. So I spent pretty much the whole day on the phone. And the boys are coming home to bury their mother. This was a surprise but not a shock since we all knew she couldn’t keep abusing her body and stay alive. Her addictions and her behavior all took a huge toll on her health. In fact when I heard the message from Shannon, even though I knew her professions, my first thought about my sister was, “What kind of mess has she gotten into now?” How sad is that? She was 53, younger than me. Her roommate since my mother died was another drug abuser and the one who found her. It may sound awful but in most ways this is a relief. She’s at peace now and we’re not waiting for another crisis. My fear was she’d wrap the car around a tree or even worse kill someone else. Now I am the sole survivor in my original family. It seems odd to say that. My thoughts and sympathies are with my nephews. They’ve turned out to be great young men in spite of her. And although for years it was pretty much impossible for my sister and me to be close, once we were children together and I’ll always have that to remember. |
 Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert CamusDelicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot It’s a beautiful fall day! This time of year reminds me of a lot of things – good and bad. Last year at this time I was barely holding myself together. Mom was in hospice and I was making the three hour trip as often as I could. My job was absolutely insane. And there was the ongoing presidential campaign that I followed too closely. I barely slept for months and I had the physical signs to show for it. It seems impossible that was a whole year ago, but of course all things do pass. Two years ago we rode the train from Chicago to Seattle to see my kids and spend our first and last long vacation in a few years. And that’s okay. We’re both homebodies, not good travelers, so it’s best for us when trips are rare. And of course this is the time of year Jack and I met fifteen years ago.  I always enjoyed this time of year when my kids were growing up and when I was growing up. Our little town had a Fall Festival every year. (They still do, but I don’t live there anymore.) When I was a kid my folks had a TV and appliance store on the square. Three sides of the square were always blocked for the booths and the carnival rides. The stores stayed open late and it was a real social occasion for the whole town. I wrote a Twilight Zone type story once with that setting in my mind. I guess I should begin doing some more story writing. It’s not that I lack life experience to use in my stories. It all boils down to discipline for me, I guess. I’ve been too worn out from my year last year to even think much. Maybe this time of year will inspire me to get back to writing, something I gradually let go of through the stress of last year and beyond.  I’m thinking out loud (on paper) here because once again my Writing.com membership is about to expire. I have to decide if I’m going to use it enough to stay. There are a lot of things I like about the site, especially the people I’ve met. Even when I get tired and disgusted or put off writing for long periods of time, this place has been here as a reminder that I am a writer, even if it’s only for me. (Don’t count the words in the sentence.) So, I’ll probably stay. Maybe I’ll even re-up today. Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow |
| "I'm in my place. I'm the Speaker of the House." -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, responding to a GOP spokesman's call for a general to put her "in her place" on the Afghanistan war. Ah, but Nancy. Don’t you belong at home, in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant? Seriously, that’s the perfect response. Jerks. It's pretty hard to believe, but they're now actually selling Chia Obama decorative planters. --Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PKU2OI?ie=UTF8&tag=youwonnowwhat&linkCode=a... I guess I missed the Chia any other President. How about you? I can’t think of anything else to say. Oh, another 20-year-old from the Philippines tried to hit on my avatar again today, this time in Farm Town. Then he asked me to help him find a girlfriend. We had a nice little talk then. Lucky I can be a pretty good mom. It’s rainy and chilly and I didn’t sleep very much last night so I think I need to go take a nap. |
| The color of your skin don't matter to me As long as we can live in harmony I woke up with this song going through my head – Why can’t we be friends Why can't we be friends Why can't we be friends Why can't we be friends I couldn’t think of who sang it or any other words, but that chorus kept going around in my head. Now I know why. I watched a video of Tom DeLay on Dancing with the Stars yesterday and they were dancing the samba to that song. Not only that, I felt sorry for him while I watched him. Good grief! What does that say about me? I mean the disgraced former Speaker should probably be in jail, not prancing around on the stage as a “star.” I saw the documentary The Hammer. And I saw where he said he wanted “everyone to see Jesus” in his mug shot! But the reason I watched the video to begin with is because, well, I don’t know why. Anyway, he has to quit the show because he has stress fractures in both feet, but he went ahead and danced. He wore tight red pants and a red and white striped shirt with a stupid GOP Elephant on the back! He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t too bad, especially considering his feet were hurt. The dance was pretty short but he wiggled his butt and flung money at the crowd. Why would I feel sorry for that? Maybe because he got a 15 out of 30 points? But I was feeling empathy or pity or something even while he was doing the dance. What is that about? So after I realized that’s where I got the song stuck in my head I looked it up. The artist is War and there aren’t a whole lot of lyrics besides the chorus. But the lines above jumped out at me as a little ironic considering Hot Tub Tom is a “birther.” The tune’s still stuck in my brain. Here are the lyrics I found and the link to the dance video just in case you feel soft in the head like I am. Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? I seen you 'round for a long long time I really 'membered you when you drink my wine Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? I seen you walkin' down in Chinatown I called you but you could not look around Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? I bring my money to the welfare line I see you standing in it every time Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? The color of your skin don't matter to me As long as we can live in harmony Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? I'd kinda like to be the President so I can show you how your money's spent Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Sometimes I don't speak too bright but yet I know what I'm talking about Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? I know you're working for the CIA they wouldn't have you in the Mafia Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/06/delay-dropping-out-of-dan_n_311450.html... |
| The nature of any human being, certainly anyone on Wall Street, is 'the better deal you give the customer, the worse deal it is for you'. Bernard Madoff vent This is ridiculous! Wellpoint (also merged with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, the expensive and pitiful health coverage that I have) enjoyed a $2.5 billion dollar profit last year. The state of Maine, which is going through tough times like all the states, is now being sued by Anthem to make them pay 18.5% higher premiums so the insurance company can keep their outrageous profit margin. On top of that, Wellpoint, which encourages its employees to lobby against health care reform, is cutting health benefits on those employees! They’re raising the deductibles and premiums on their own. Of course, I’m afraid some of those employees are there strictly to deny claims. But you’d think at least they could provide great coverage for their workers. Anyway, Wellpoint’s headquarters is here in Indianapolis. The CEO, Angela Braly, made about $10 million in total compensation last year. She’s only one of the executives cleaning up on this botched up ridiculous health care system. Please, let’s not have a public option to compete with these poor pitiful companies. That would just be cruel. *gritting teeth* I bet if a public option ever comes down to a vote, our Democratic Senator Evan Bayh will have a hard time deciding what to do. His wife sits on Wellpoint’s board (one of six she’s on) and makes $300,000 just for that. This is why we’re in such a mess, folks. There are way too many conflicts of interest. The “gang of six” Senate Committee headed by corporate shill Max Baucus and representing a very small part of the country, are awash in industry contributions. And there are about six lobbyists for every legislator in Congress. There seems to be no guts or political will to actually stand up to the psychopathic corporations that are really running the country. /end vent "The history of the twentieth century was dominated by the struggle against totalitarian systems of state power. The twenty-first will no doubt be marked by a struggle to curtail excessive corporate power." — Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) The corporations don't have to lobby the government anymore. They are the government. -- Jim Hightower |
| I like the word "indolence." It makes my laziness seem classy. ~Bern Williams After saying I was thinking of trying for a blue month again, I’ve now waited until the fourth day to make even one entry. Guess that means I should just keep my thoughts to myself. So, now that I’ve committed to writing at least one entry this month, what should I write about? We were supposed to have company yesterday, but she cancelled. She left a message on the machine that she had just run 9.5 miles and was going to bed. If I had run that far I would likely be in a hospital bed. I hate running! I’ve never liked it and my knees haven’t liked it, from the time I was in high school. I love walking and hiking even though I don’t do it as much as I used to. Not that long ago we were walking about six miles a day and thought nothing of it. Now we’re back up to two miles a day after getting older and getting lax. I have lots of excuses – too busy, too hot, too cold, too tired, too full, will go early tomorrow instead, blah blah blah blah blah… So, back to our friend that cancelled. She did the triathlon in August and told us she was going to back off the training when she was finished. I guess she changed her mind. We’ll see her in a couple of weeks, though, because we’re all going to a hayride with a group of folks. We went last year and had a lot of fun. It’s one of the things I love about this time of year. Tomorrow I’ll (try to) write another entry about what I love and remember about the season. I need to be working my writing muscles again. Speaking of the season, have you seen the new emoticons?     All I can say about life is, Oh God, enjoy it! -- Bob Newhart |
| I’m Shiva, the god of death. That’s a line from the movie Michael Clayton which we finally watched the other night. It was pretty good, though sometimes I had a little trouble keeping up with it. Then I had to explain some of it to Jack. We may watch it again later. I loved the ending. The tagline is: The truth can be adjusted. That’s almost an understatement these days. George Clooney starred and was the executive producer. There’s something about him, besides his talent, I mean. Oh, yes, I remember. He’s gorgeous to look at! (Don’t you think so, Z.˚rz  ? You’re the movie buff.) Back to the Hindu god Shiva, the destroyer of the world. Shiva’s responsible for change both in the form of death and destruction and in the positive sense of the shedding of old habits. Shiva also represents the most essential goodness. I found more than I ever wanted to know about Shiva on this site: http://www.sanatansociety.org. Their tag line is: If you feel that you’re not enlightened you can always try to be. I like that. Enlightenment is good thing. We’re supposedly living in the age of Enlightenment although sometimes I wonder. You can get free wallpaper from the site, too. I need to get to bed at a decent time tonight so I better stop chattering right here. Nytol. |
| Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away Today we had to see an eldercare attorney about Jack’s 97-year-old dad, and the above quote was on their wall. I wrote it down. It’s something to remember. I don’t know why seeing an attorney is so stressful, but it is. Jack’s brother was with us and he’s one of those people who can’t sit still. The office was running late, the visit took a big part of the afternoon, and we came out with an overload of information to digest. Afterwards the three of us stopped at TGI Friday’s for a late lunch which was nice. Then on the way home Jack and I stopped and took a walk in our favorite park where we saw several deer. It was a smart thing to do since the walk and the deer had a calming effect. Also, we do our best brainstorming and planning when we walk, so it was a good way to debrief a little. Today has been cool and cloudy, and it’s looking a lot like fall. I love it! I even got to wear my Writing.com sweatshirt at the park. Tomorrow Jack goes for a pulmonary function test. He’s had a cough for several months and he had a CT chest last week. It showed a nodule on his lung, but the doctor said it’s nothing to worry about, they would check it again in a year. He has some early emphysema, though, (yes, he used to be a smoker) but he says he’s fine with that. We’re both just happy and relieved to know it’s nothing worse. By the way, Jack and his brother both go to the VA for their healthcare and they have no complaints. Everyone should be so lucky. Only a stomach that rarely feels hungry scorns common things. ~Horace |
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So glad to see your blog again, and I like the idea of a 'new' Clean Slate. I may just do that myself! I look forward to reading more from you! 
