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 |   Blog Challenge And Other Tidbits |
| An opinion or two...or three or four... |
| Talk Tuesday! Are your favorite forms of entertainment (books, movies, television, music, etc.) in line with your life's perspective, or are they another form of escapism? For me, entertainment comes in lots of different forms...books, movies, television, shopping, traveling, quilting, card-making, game-playing, writing, antique shopping, and maybe a few that I don't remember right now. One of my favorite things to do is to "play hooky" from a day of work and go see a movie. Where I live the movies are only $5 on Tuesdays. And that's all day long! Quite a bargain. One time some of us from work decided we would clear our calendars on a Tuesday afternoon and took off to the cinema. We saw some blockbuster summer movie and ate lots of popcorn and candy and drank lots of soda. It was a great afternoon! It recharged us to work even harder for the remainder of the week. Another thing I love to do is to schedule a week each quarter to take time just for me and my hobbies. Yes, hobbies for me are a form of escapism. During that week I don't answer email, and I don't take phone calls, except in an emergency of course, and I don't do any planning or design work. I'll pull out my crafting stuff, or my quilting stuff, or rent a movie, or even go to a movie. Sometimes I spend the week working on a story I'm writing. This summer when I take my "hobby week" I'm planning to spend that time preparing for NaNoWriMo this year. And yes, I do believe my hobbies are in line with my life's perspectives...I'm a Gemini after all, great at most, but a master of none. I just love to experience life in every form! |
| Motivational Monday! Actress Joan Collins, born on this day in 1933, once said, "Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I'll show you somebody who has never achieved much." Do you think this is true? What's your greatest mistake? Mistakes? Are you kidding? I'm the queen of mistakes! Only I don't call them mistakes. I call them opportunities. And that's because I realize and accept that I am only human...which is very hard for a Gemini to do by the way. Because you know, Geminiis are practically perfect in every way! Just like Mary Poppins! Anyway...I digress...it really is difficult for me to recognize my mistakes and forgive myself for them, and eventually learn from them. But we're all like that I think. I don't know how we can learn and grow otherwise. The danger comes when we forget that people are just human and as humans we make mistakes all the time. And in doing so we must learn and grow and forgive. I think it's the forgiving part that we forget sometimes. Either for ourselves or for others. Sometimes we have a tendency to judge. We put ourselves on a pedestal and feel good about ourselves because we didn't make such a stupid mistake. But then we feel hurt and betrayed when we fall on our faces and someone else judges us in return. I think we just need to remember that everyone makes a mistake and we can all learn from it. Well, I didn't wake up this morning intending to preach to the choir...so my apologies for sounding like I'm waving my finger at everyone. Clearly I wouldn't want to do that. But I can come away from this post reminding myself that mistakes are simply opportunities for each and every one of us to learn something. Opportunities...that's what they are. |
| The Sunday News! Should police officers be required to wear body cams at all times, and how much access to this footage should the public be allowed? I've been thinking about this all day long. Why?, you ask. Well, I can see both sides. On the one hand the men and women who serve and protect are the people we should hold in high esteem. Each and every day we send them out to do a very dangerous job. Their spouses and families live day to day, not knowing if that will be the last time they see their loved ones. Case in point would be the slaughter of two police officers a few years ago here in the Greater Sacramento Area of California. How could they possibly know that would be their last day on earth...typically called "End of Watch"...and how could their spouses and children know that would be the very last kiss, the very last hug, the very last goodbye? It was senseless. In this situation, could a body cam have helped? Maybe. There's a chance the footage could provide useful information. Would it have saved the officer's life? No...I really don't think so. On the other hand, we must trust that those who protect and serve are upstanding citizens in every way, shape and form. Again, we should hold them in the highest esteem. But they are only human. They make mistakes. Does it excuse violence and abuse? No! Absolutely not! Even the bad guy is entitled to human respect. Would a body cam remind an officer to check his anger? Yes, I believe so. Would it save the life of "the bad guy"? Maybe...at least it could be used to better train the officers we put on the street. Should the public be allowed to view the footage? Yes! The public is paying for it! And just like one of my other blogger colleagues mentioned, if you don't like it then don't look! So...it's taken me all day to come to one conclusion: I don't really know how I feel about body cams... |
| Creation Saturday! You're in charge of throwing the biggest, best party of all your friends' lives, and money is no object...but you can only buy five items. What's on your list and why? Holy Smoke! If money is no object, then I'm definitely on board for the biggest, bestest, bash of the year! Well...in my humble neighborhood of course... Thirty years ago when I was in my vivacious and adventurous twenties my must-have items would have been LIQUOR, and lots of it. MUSIC, either from a live band or MTV (Yes, we used to have to pay for MTV). And let's get this straight. The higher the decibels the better. FOOD. Barbecued meats and veggies. Salads. Chips. Salsa. Popcorn. Peanuts. Cake. Cookies. Ice cream. Sugar, sugar, sugar! POOL. On a hot day in California nothing is better than a raucous pool party. Beach balls. Cannon balls. Diving. Swimming. Lounging. Ahhh...that's the life. TAXI CABS WAITING OUTSIDE. ALL PREPAID. No one leaves my house unable to drive. So that's what a blast in my twenties would look like. In fact, I may have done that a time or two... But now...fast forward thirty years...I'm in my fifties and surrounded by senior citizens...so the biggest, best party would look a little different. WATER AND LEMONADE. No more liquor. Everyone's got some sort of pill they're taking that has a warning not to drink while taking said pill. MUSIC. Beautiful instrumentals and the calming sounds of love songs from the past. After all, it's all about relaxation. FOOD. It's got to be a pot luck because everyone is on some special diet, or allergic to certain foods, or is vegan, or vegetarian, or just plain not eating. POOL. A calm, placid pool. No one is going to actually get in. Everyone just dips their toes in. After all, can't mess up that expensive hairdo. UBER ON SPEED-DIAL. We'd only need Uber for the people that sneak a little booze into the party and have a tablespoon too much. Or for the people that are out past their bed-time and are too sleepy to drive home. Or for the people that just want to try it out. So that's what a blast in my fifties looks like. To be honest, I'd rather go back to my twenties. |
| Fun Fact Friday! On this day in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope sent back its first photographs. What would be the best part of space exploration if you ever had the chance to spend an afternoon there while taking pictures? Has it really been that long? Twenty-six years? It really seems like only a few weeks ago that we were looking at some incredible images from outer space. And what images they were! Something so surreal words can barely describe. And although those pictures and images fascinate me I can't say that I would be excited to be the one taking the pictures...oh, I do hope that doesn't make me a bad person...ore worse yet, a stuffy old coot. I think if it were me I'd be worried about having enough oxygen, having enough to eat, wearing clean underwear, keeping my hairdo in place, and not wandering too far. See? All the wrong reasons for me to be in space! Ha ha ha. But as I sit and think about it, I can't imagine a more wondrous event! It's hard for me to even say how thrilling it would be to experience something like that. But once again, I'm afraid I'd miss the point and be more worried about my hair than anything else. So...I guess that would be the answer. The best part of space exploration for me is keeping my tush on good ole terra firma. |
| The Wildcard Round! Today's winner from, from the Virtual Dice, will receive a Family MB! Share a funny story about growing up with one of your siblings. If you're an only child...how do you imagine you might playfully torment a younger brother or sister? Oh my gosh, I've got a million family stories! It's hard for me to choose one, and it's also hard to keep it to a blog entry. I could tell you stories until next Tuesday and I wouldn't run out...so let's see...which of my crazy siblings do I want to throw under the bus tonight...??? Okay! True story! When my dad retired from the Air Force he just couldn't stay retired. He was still fairly young and had to make use of his time so he went back to work. It was supposed to be his "fun" job. Normally, you and I would think...consultant...hobbyist...retail...outdoor shop...you know, fun stuff that we normally do as hobbies. But my dad? Not a chance. His fun job was going to work for Western Electric as an electronics engineer. Yep, that's certainly my idea of fun... Anyway, we moved to San Jose, California, to be close to Western Electric. We had a brand new house in a brand new neighborhood and we went to brand new schools and my older siblings had brand new jobs and brand new cars. Everything was new. We were living the dream! One day, my older brother, Marty, asked what I was doing. Right here it's important to share some background information. Marty is ten years older than me. I was fourteen at the time so that made him twenty-four. He was studying at the police academy to become an officer. I was a sophomore in high school taking college preparatory classes in the hopes of becoming an instructor. It was a hot day during May. Graduation was very close for him and I was just looking forward to summer vacation. Both of us were sick of studying. So that's the setup. Anyway, that hot day in May my brother, Marty, asked me what I was doing. "Nothing," I said while giving him a look that plainly said, "DUH?" "Want to go for a ride?" he asked. I only had to think for a moment. I wanted out of the house so badly. "Heck yeah!" I answered back. "Get in the car," he said, picking up his keys. We hopped into his brand new VW Super Beetle and raced off. My brother drives everywhere fast. For him slow doesn't exist. So yes, we raced off. Down the neighborhood streets, onto the city surface streets, and finally zipping onto the freeway. He drove fast and we both loved it. We didn't care where we ended up. We enjoyed the ride all the way. Top down and loud music. We were cool! We enjoyed the ride so much that we just kept driving. Heck, we had time. No way we would be late for dinner. We'd be back before anyone knew we were gone. Only a few hours later, and I mean a few, because he drove so fast, we were at the southern border of California. And we kept driving...right into Mexico! Now that wouldn't have been so bad...but...the only thing Marty picked up before we left was his key ring. The only thing I picked up was...well..nothing. There we were in Mexico with no money and no identification. We weren't so cool after all. We were just plain stupid. And just to drive that point home, we somehow thought we could just casually drive back across the border into California! How dumb was that? Imagine our surprise when Border Patrol held us back and denied us entry into our own country! For a few minutes we both turned pale with fear. We knew we were in real trouble. So we did the only thing we knew...we called our parents and asked if they would come pick us up. Yeah, right. We were three hundred miles away in a foreign country and it was almost dinner time. But we were dumb enough to ask. Both our parents started yelling. Then they were screaming. Then they ordered us to stay put because one of them was in deed coming to get us! We both turned pale with fear again. Dad showed up a few hours later. He actually took a private flight to the border. Don't think that was free, or even cheap. He brought birth certificates to prove we were his dumb children. Border patrol let us go. We flew back with dad, leaving the VW Super Beetle in Mexico. On the way home dad made sure we understood that we were restricted to the house for life. "FOR LIFE! DO YOU HEAR ME?" Boy, I can still hear him shouting that... We managed to live through the summer. My brother managed to retrieve his VW Super Beetle. I managed to get all A's in my classes. And one hot day in August my brother, Marty, was home from the academy and I was laying by the pool. He shouted out one of the bedroom windows, "Hey, kid? You doing anything?" "Why?" I asked. "Want to go for a ride?" Seriously? |
| War Chest Wednesday! What is your favorite non-WDC blog and why? Oh Boy, it looks as though I have to come clean. The only blogs I read are those here on WDC! Oops! Did I just say that? What kind of writer am I? To be honest, my WDC community is my preferred place to write and to read. So...I stick with that. I honestly haven't taken the time to look outside of WDC for blogs that might interest me. There's too much talent here! At the end of the day I'd be a liar if I said that I read blogs outside WDC...so there you have it. I've come clean!  |
| Talk Tuesday! Go on now...is there something you can not talk about amongst yourselves (or anyone else)? Talking is my life. I was born talking! And because I'm a gemini I just LOVE to give my opinion on things...well, on everything. I don't think there is really a subject I will ignore or avoid. And that can be a problem. Sometimes I forget to hold my tongue or soften my words and I end up shooting my mouth off. Luckily it hasn't cost me any of my friendships or business relationships. But that doesn't mean I'm an expert at it. No, I must constantly work to get my point across in a friendly or professional manner. I remind myself to think before I speak. And I remind myself that opinions are just that. It doesn't mean I have to agree. I can always agree to disagree. That's something my mom taught me... And thinking about talking I was flustered and upset yesterday with a sort-of non-conversation I had. You see, I come from the old school. I grew up in a society where we did business over lunch. We picked up the phone when it rang. And we politely declined email nonsense. But in today's business world that seems to be all different! And sadly so! The young man I was trying real hard to converse with seemed not to care a hoot about what I was saying. I finally asked him if there was something wrong. He told me, and not very politely I might add, that he prefers to do business via email and text. He has no interest in having lunch or attending a mixer or even networking at all for that matter. He just wants to have the wisdom and business experience of "older" people like me. At the end of the day he doesn't want to talk...at least not for business. He'd rather text everyone and not have to worry about having a conversation! Are you kidding me? I later talked with my business coach about this. She told me that's the way the "new generation" wants to do business. I told her that was stupid. She told me to get used to it. So talking? Absolutely! About anything? Yep, you bet. Especially with the crazy family I have. Email and text? Well, I'm still grumbling about that. |
| Motivational Monday! Krist Novoselic, the Nirvana bassist who was born on this day in 1965, said "But whenever history is in the making, there's some kind of intangible feeling." Do you think this is true? Have you ever had a feeling like that before, where you knew you were on the verge of something positive? Really? Krist is fifty-one years old today? Seems like yesterday he was just a punky kid. My, my, my we are all getting old. Yes! I do believe Krist is right. There is "something"... it's that certain feeling that bubbles up inside. It's the excitement knowing that you're on to something. It's the big wide smile that just won't leave your face. And it's also the jittery knee that won't stop moving. All of it culminates into one gigantic YAHOO! I DID IT! And that's one of the best feelings in the world. For me it happens when I see understanding in my client's eyes. When I see a client's success because they've taken my advice. When I've pushed myself harder and focused more and I see the results in my paycheck. When all of sudden something clicks with one of my stories and I know I'm on the right path. That's a good feeling too. It's when I just can't get the words on the page fast enough. Sure beats sitting and staring at a blank page, or a blank screen. Yep, I love that little "something" that puts a big smile on my face. It gives me a sense of peace. |
| The Sunday News! The 2016 Olympic Games are scheduled to be held this summer in Rio de Janeiro, although a series of problems in the host country are threatening to upstage the whole thing. If any of the possible potential catastrophes regarding Brazil's Olympic efforts were to be realized (either there or anywhere else around the world afterwards), how guilty would the IOC (International Olympics Committee) be for not changing the location or protecting the athletes? Hmmm...this is a good question. I'd like to say that definitely, the IOC should be held entirely responsible for the outcome. Both for the countries visiting and the athletes who are competing. But something inside me says this just isn't realistic. How can one committee be held responsible for something that is entirely out of their control? Who knows? Maybe a catastrophe would happen regardless, and not just because of the Olympics. Maybe someone right now, at this very moment is carrying the Zika virus and doesn't know it, and is planning to be in contact with everyone involved with the Olympics. And who knows about the water in Rio? If it were me, I would certainly stay away. But really. If I were an athlete and this was my big opportunity, would I, and could I, stay away? At the end of the day I think I would take my chances. I'm healthy anyway and I don't get sick very often. I think I would take a chance. But believe me, I would take precautions and have tons of bottled water with me! There is so much to consider here. In the interest of world camaraderie what could anyone do? And if not Rio, then where? I hate to say it, but if it's going to happen, then it's going to happen, Rio or not. Would I go as a spectator? No. Would I go as an athlete? Yes. Would I go as a country? Yes. Would I be responsible for the world? No. I feel it is what it is. I'm going to place my trust in a higher power to protect all of us. |
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