Well today is the first time I am posting in about four months or longer. The first thing I want to say is, I guess, related to that. I decided to note here (in direct contradiction of a promise of sorts to the people at the AAYSR site who did my review way back around the time I was last posting, give or take a few days/weeks) that I finally posted my 100th tweet on twitter within the last half hour. If the time stamps don't reflect what I say it's because I have the time zone wrong on the blog but haven't bothered to change it since that is the way it has been since the beginning. That is my excuse anyway. It is 1 hour behind (Pacific Time I think it is called - it is the West Coast time regardless - ie: BC & California). I always forget what our time is called and that is also why I haven't corrected it. I guess it would be easy enough to ask someone a bit smarter to tell me what it is. Anyway, on to other things.
I am not really sure whether to start at the beginning of when I was last here and move forward to now or to go backwards. It might seem obvious to start at the beginning but I think there are two reasons to start at the end at work back. Maybe three. First, the new stuff is freshest in mind. Second, the new stuff is kind of the reason I finally am getting off my duff to post again. Third, my vitamin d deficiency being what it is, I guess there are only two after all. LOL. And no, in my absence I have not lost my love of the term LOL. :) Well, I guess a decision has to be made. Oh, before I get to that, I remembered #3. Posts are by default backwards so I thought that might be a good reason to do it that way. Nonetheless, I have made the bold decision (pun intended) to go with oldest to newest. Just seems to make more sense to me to go chronologically.
Keep in mind that the older stuff may (or may not depending on how things work - which you can never tell) be sparser in detail as time may have taken it's toll on my memory of those events. See vitamin d deficiency in previous paragraph - lol. So onward and upward (backward?) to about 4 months ago. First off, I just went into edit to see what some of my last stuff was although I had an idea (of the very last one anyway) since I was stuck there so long. I mean, periodically I would come back here and debate a bit whether to post or not. After all, obviously, some things did happen - not the least of which way my birthday!, but I never could get in the spirit. In going into edit, I took note of exactly how long it's been. It turns out it is actually not quite 4 months. In fact, it is exactly 3 months and 3 days (3 hours and 3 minutes? Probably not. LOL). In case you are thinking, so what?, I mention that to note that I was gone slightly less long than I thought which makes me slightly better at posting (and therefore a slightly better person. LOL).
I guess I want to mention near the beginning that my review at AAYSR ( http://www.iwillfuckingtearyouapart.com/ ) was not great but went much better than it could have. The date of my review was Thursday, September 9th, 2010. The reviewer (Madame Bellicose), in her comment to me (approximately comment 40 or 45) did note that she didn't say she hated my blog, just that it was too much yapping about twitter, facebook, and especially, blogging about blogging. LOL. I have to admit, I can't exactly completely blame her for that view. There were alot of those type of posts. I would, in my defense, like to say though, that if you treat my blog like the treasure trove it is - lol and are prepared to hunt for nuggets of gold - lol, I am sure you could find a few. And after all, they only would have needed to read about 100 posts in their entirety. LOL. By the way, now may be as good a time as any to share a joke I came across at about this time about LOLing since I've been doing so much of it. I can't remember where exactly I came across it, for attribution purposes, but I think it might have been at imdb. Then again, maybe not. Well, here it is. I seriously doubt whether you are LOLing as much as you say you are. LOL. :) That struck me as somewhat true and definitely funny but in my case maybe not the most accurate.
If you didn't want to spend all that time scanning back to get to Sept 9th on the review site, I will give you another way to check it out. Go to my second last post, ironically titled "I'm Back, And I'm So Excited" and go to the comments section at the bottom. There is only one comment. It is from Madame Bellicose. If you click on the link she made directly in her short comment, where she highlighted the word reviewed it will take you not only to the AAYSR site but directly to my review (which after all was 3 months of reviews ago so I understand if you don't want to wade through all of them - although I must say the site's reviews are awfully funny and can be addicting)...
...
... don't worry I'll wait for you to read my review. LOL. Done yet? Agreed, disagreed, wet your pants laughing? Whichever, I am glad to have been reviewed. It's nice to be validated. Someone reviewed me!
Next up, in checking the web to see when exactly the Chilean miners were freed I found an article datelined October 11th (my birthday!) that said it would be the following Wednesday. I briefly mention the miners as it is a feel good story that beats hearing about the Chilean earthquake. Let me just say that I am looking forward to my Chilean FB, etc. friend FJ, who has posted a guest column here as have I on his blog ( http://english-fj.blogspot.com ) getting back to his blogging and writing his thoughts on the subject. I was about to say "him getting back to his blogging schedule" but as he pointed out when I asked him about his not blogging on his English blog for even longer than me (our last posts were the same day but his last post, which you will see if you follow the link to his page, is a guest post by me - his last post of his own was about a month earlier still!) he told me he "doesn't blog on a schedule. LOL. Come on FJ. If I can do it so can you.
BTW, if you check out FJ's blog, you might be in for a treat if you like shorter posts. Because English is his second language and the English blog (he has a Spanish one you can link to there if you happen to read Spanish) is to practice his English and, while not a stated aim of his - lol, so I can read some of his thoughts and not have to use the annoying mechanical translation feature that is a blessing, I guess, but does not work that well. Including my guest post, FJ only has about 17 posts up on the English blog so far, so if you want to check out a new blog that you can easily read in it's entirety in a short time, then check him out. Also, if you are so inclined, please consider "officially" following him as he only has about 5 followers so far. This may also be a reason why he isn't posting. I'm sure he would really appreciate it. Also, he loves comments (don't we all - lol).
As I said, the dateline on the miner story I read to get the rough date of the rescue was on my birthday, which brings me to, well, my birthday. LOL. This is where the laughing will stop for awhile. Some bad stuff happened the day I celebrated my birthday as well as, I forgot about till I mentioned the birthday, on Sept 19th which was shortly after the review so the first crummy thing I am about to mention could have been placed between those two stories but it actually is better this way as the two stories are same shit, different pile kind of things. So from the beginning, in somewhat short form. On Sunday night, Sept 19th, at about 8 pm I was getting off the bus at the stop near my mom's house. I had just had dinner with a friend at my mom's house, then went to a discount movie with the same friend not too far from mom's by bus. After the movie, we went our separate ways. She back home on the other side of town and me back to mom's to get a ride home with my brother.
As I am getting off the bus I did not notice it (I definitely pay more attention now - but that's closing the barn door a little late) but some asshole on a bike was lurking. The thing is the bus stop is within spitting distance of my mom's house. You can see the garage from the bus stop. It's about 1/2 a block away through a parking lot and down a flight of steps behind a building. Anyway, I am a little less than halfway through the lot probably when said asshole rides up behind me and takes my purse. Yep. There's a first (and hopefully last!) time for everything. Right out of my hands. I could feel the tug but unfortunately, instead of that making me reflexively hold tighter, it made me let go. Because it was raining slightly and also probably because I happened to yell something at the young kid on the bike (that's the closest I could come to a description for the police - a youngish man, teen to early twenties) he got about 20-30 feet away, I would guess, before he fell off the bike.
I am not in the shape to run up and get him not to mention I wasn't expecting it to happen so I was even slower than that but I headed towards him and he ran off without the bike. Lucky for me, I didn't catch up to him. Who knows what he would have done. There would have only been a very slight chance I would have gotten my purse back and could have gotten hurt. Still, it's possible I could have yelled enough to scare him away. I'll never know. So anyway, I decided he wasn't coming back for the bike too. I took it down the steps and through the alley and back yard and left it in the back yard out of sight of the alley he had just run down like Speedy Gonzales (I just got the bike down the stairs and looked down the alley and he was a little more than 1/2 a block away at the beginning of the next block just standing there, resting I assume) for the police to take. I was hoping that maybe they could i.d. him through the bike if, on the off chance, it was some dumb kid doing this on a lark as a newbie and on his own registered bike. Ha. As if.
Well, one good thing I have to say about this was that when I called the police they certainly responded! They were there within no more than about 15 minutes and they sent three officers. Maybe one of them was a student or a teacher. Not that it helped though. Two of them searched the immediate neighborhood for either the kid or, more likely, the discarded purse but came up empty. The officer who took my statement was nice enough but I am not sure he wasn't new or something as he tried calling my cellphone (as if they would answer and if they did that they'd tell him anything) rather than asking/telling me about possibly GPSing the location. Of course, I lost far more than I originally thought about at first glance. Thankfully, I had little money ($10) in there but of course it's all the things you have on you. The phone especially. And the bus pass. The i.d. Drivers License. Library Card (a bigger deal than you might think - just think how many items can be taken out at once and at what cost per item if you forget to cancel it).
Fast forward to the day we celebrated my birthday. My birthday fell on Thanksgiving Monday this year so we celebrated it on a Friday. That day, before we went out to a nice restaurant for a family/friends celebration where my mom celebrates all the kids (me, my sisters and my brother) birthdays on my birthday (I guess cause I'm the baby - lol along with a couple of my friends. Just before we went for dinner, mom and I went out into the garden to take the heads off all the carrots. One of the few things left in the garden. Being stupid, I, the last one out the door, decided not to lock it. I did close the door. But I didn't lock it. Especially stupid since I usually do. Well sure enough. Someone "breaks" in. I didn't even know my purse was gone until after dinner since I didn't bother to look for it when we went out since I wasn't paying so I thought I'd leave it at home. Uh huh. I noticed pretty much right when I we got back because I got money and a gift card that I went to put in my purse. That was g-o-n-e.
Thankfully, my mother had her purse in a less visible place and the person who came in was looking for a quick score. Also, thankfully, even though it was about 3 weeks between each purse snatching (a incredibly short period in which to be robbed twice! but an extremely long time to wait to do what I did) I didn't yet replace my i.d. and although I did replace my phone I didn't yet activate it so it was safely in a drawer at home. Also, my bus pass was in a different location entirely by sheer luck even though we of course had driven to the restaurant. I guess it is also lucky we didn't chance upon the person who took it as, again, who knows what level of larceny they were at and what they would have done. On a side note, that is to say looking on the bright side, the dinner it self was lovely, everyone enjoyed it and as it happened after and not before the robbery all my gifts were intact.
At the beginning of this post I said that the earlier stuff might be of sparser detail due to the time factor. This was obviously not the case. For one thing, I didn't think about what I was going to write about for the early stuff until I started writing. So I didn't even think about the robberies. Or the fact that the details would still be fresh (like a gaping wound) in my mind in all the minuate. So it works out well that the last stuff I want to discuss in getting back into things on the blog (and that I had planned out a bit more than the early stuff) is all stuff that I feel now like summarizing rather than going into detail on. There is time enough for that later. These things are much more recent, and thereby fresh, so I can come back to them in more detail at a later time. I'll mention three things. First, on the "technical" side of things (again disregarding my promise of sorts to the AAYSR people), I finally learned to copy and paste. LOL.
I know, I know. How pathetic. Since I promised to keep the rest short, I will leave the sorry details for another day. They are kind of funny. I think so anyway. Next up, in the celebrity news section, there is the news of the royal wedding s. Yes plural. Again, not to go into detail but in reading about William and Kate, I came across the news (almost 6 months later - lol) that Prince Albert of Monaco is also getting married next year. More on my thoughts, as a big-time royalty watcher in the past, about both of these upcoming events in a future post or two. Finally, I will leave you on a funny note. Again, it involves my Chilean friend FJ. I haven't been on FB for ages until recently and when I got back on I asked him if he was on imdb.com so we could follow each other there as well as we also do on goodreads.com. Anyway, that was the main conversation but is beside the point as far as getting to the funny.
In one of those recent talks, the most boring subject in the world came up. The weather. Yet this is where the funny comes in. When I told him how cold it was here as of just recently he said, and I quote, "When I pick up ice from the freezer, I try to imagine your weather". LMAO. Kind of like if I were to say "When I sit by a campfire, I try to imagine your weather". Well that's it for now. Next time, maybe a little more on some of the things I just touched on. Or maybe I'll talk about something that I left out - my new favorite tv shows or some past, present, and future movies I have seen/would like to see since I spend so much time browsing around imdb. I did decide that so as to, sort of keep my promise that I mentioned today twice before, I will perhaps talk about movies/tv (a la reviews, previews), news in general (both serious and silly) and even, yikes some personal stories that I promised more of, way back when I first started this blog (see my first entry).
Bye for now, Hope to see you soon but I think I'm through with the promises. Too much pressure. LOL.
Carmen
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Tulula Does The Hula
The title of this post is the actual name that a nine year old Hawaiian girl had until a judge forced her parents to change it. No word what it was changed to. One thing I don't understand is why it went to a judge when she had it for nine years already.
The weird name story comes from a site called Holly wired that I found through Yahoo News. In this article they list the 75 worst baby names celebrities have given their kids. One that is truly funny (the authors of the article thought it was clever. Sad but clever) is Tu Morrow. This is the child (I forget if it was a male or female child) of the actor Rob Morrow who I thought would be above this sort of thing.
Carmen
The weird name story comes from a site called Holly wired that I found through Yahoo News. In this article they list the 75 worst baby names celebrities have given their kids. One that is truly funny (the authors of the article thought it was clever. Sad but clever) is Tu Morrow. This is the child (I forget if it was a male or female child) of the actor Rob Morrow who I thought would be above this sort of thing.
Carmen
Monday, August 16, 2010
I'm Back, And I'm So Excited!
Well, minus the short post from the 4th of this month that I just posted, this is the first post in exactly a month. A long time to go without posting I know but two big things happened.
First, I hit 20+ postings in 16 days so I decided to quit until the new month started. Then, me and my family went on vacation for a few days at the end/beginning of the month and I got so sick right after we got back (like the day after!) that I was sick for something like a week and a half.
Anyway's, like I said I'm back. Now why am I so excited. Well, when I looked at my FB account yesterday after getting back to Veggie House from Mom's I noticed 3 new friend requests. One of the three I deleted almost immediately as it didn't seem like a "make friends" group request and I didn't know the person either.
As it turns out, it was a little hasty of me. When I looked at my messages I found that the same person had sent me a message about the author Wendy Shanker, whose name I did immediately recognize. It seems that this man is her literary agent or somesuch and he was offering me a free copy of her next book.
I know that after reading her first book, The Fat Girl's Guide To Life, which I think I reviewed here, I went on her website. I may have left some info on it to get ahold of me like an email address but I don't remember doing anything else so I have no idea why they would contact me on FB or why they would offer me a free book.
No matter. I love the word FREE. It just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it. LOL. So, when responding to the letter I mentioned my little blog (I didn't mention it's small size though) and said I would write a little something about the book, which is titled, Are You My Guru?, after reading it. So look for that in the near future.
Maybe this will be the start of something greater (LOL). Perhaps they will send me more stuff that I can review and then I can really call myself a "professional" blogger. Or maybe not. LOL. Whatever. It is just nice to be asked this one time.
Carmen
First, I hit 20+ postings in 16 days so I decided to quit until the new month started. Then, me and my family went on vacation for a few days at the end/beginning of the month and I got so sick right after we got back (like the day after!) that I was sick for something like a week and a half.
Anyway's, like I said I'm back. Now why am I so excited. Well, when I looked at my FB account yesterday after getting back to Veggie House from Mom's I noticed 3 new friend requests. One of the three I deleted almost immediately as it didn't seem like a "make friends" group request and I didn't know the person either.
As it turns out, it was a little hasty of me. When I looked at my messages I found that the same person had sent me a message about the author Wendy Shanker, whose name I did immediately recognize. It seems that this man is her literary agent or somesuch and he was offering me a free copy of her next book.
I know that after reading her first book, The Fat Girl's Guide To Life, which I think I reviewed here, I went on her website. I may have left some info on it to get ahold of me like an email address but I don't remember doing anything else so I have no idea why they would contact me on FB or why they would offer me a free book.
No matter. I love the word FREE. It just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it. LOL. So, when responding to the letter I mentioned my little blog (I didn't mention it's small size though) and said I would write a little something about the book, which is titled, Are You My Guru?, after reading it. So look for that in the near future.
Maybe this will be the start of something greater (LOL). Perhaps they will send me more stuff that I can review and then I can really call myself a "professional" blogger. Or maybe not. LOL. Whatever. It is just nice to be asked this one time.
Carmen
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Happy Birthday, POTUS
Happy Birthday, President Obama.
On a similar note, today is the 10th anniversary of my starting work at LiveBridge (see the Life at LiveBridge posts - particularily Part III, which is the funny one).
Also, a brief aside - did you know that President Obama shared his birthday, when she was alive, with the Queen Mother. And oddly enough she died the year I started at LiveBridge when she was about 101.
Carmen
On a similar note, today is the 10th anniversary of my starting work at LiveBridge (see the Life at LiveBridge posts - particularily Part III, which is the funny one).
Also, a brief aside - did you know that President Obama shared his birthday, when she was alive, with the Queen Mother. And oddly enough she died the year I started at LiveBridge when she was about 101.
Carmen
Friday, July 16, 2010
The 100th Post - The Guest Post by FJ
Some time ago, my FB friend CAT (oh yes, I'm not Carmen T.), owner of this successful and respectable blog, asked me to write a special article, the 75th post.
I agreed on the double (a honor for me to be "the one" chosen), but unfortunately I couldn't accomplish the request, so she asked me to try again, this time for the 100th post. And this time, I was able to write in her blog after figuring out how to be a contributing poster. Besides, the Centennial Post is more special than the 75th, isn't it?
Now you know why CAT wrote so quickly her previous posts. LOL.
A real challenge for me is composing an interesting piece of text in a language I don't speak or write fluently, and for people that usually read in English well written posts. I said Carmen that's only pure optimistic mood! So if you miss CAT's unique style, feel free to skip this post and read the next one.
If you are still reading, thank you. And may be you'd like to know I have my own blog. Actually, I have two: FJ's Blog, written in English, used myself to practice, and The Daily Chronicles, written in Spanish, if you can read in that language.
There you'll find there my pieces of art LOL. I'm just kidding, I'm not a writer, but I like to express myself thru a written media.
Thanks for reading.
FJ.
I agreed on the double (a honor for me to be "the one" chosen), but unfortunately I couldn't accomplish the request, so she asked me to try again, this time for the 100th post. And this time, I was able to write in her blog after figuring out how to be a contributing poster. Besides, the Centennial Post is more special than the 75th, isn't it?
Now you know why CAT wrote so quickly her previous posts. LOL.
A real challenge for me is composing an interesting piece of text in a language I don't speak or write fluently, and for people that usually read in English well written posts. I said Carmen that's only pure optimistic mood! So if you miss CAT's unique style, feel free to skip this post and read the next one.
If you are still reading, thank you. And may be you'd like to know I have my own blog. Actually, I have two: FJ's Blog, written in English, used myself to practice, and The Daily Chronicles, written in Spanish, if you can read in that language.
There you'll find there my pieces of art LOL. I'm just kidding, I'm not a writer, but I like to express myself thru a written media.
Thanks for reading.
FJ.
Oops, I Got Ahead Of Myself
Hi again. Remember the last post on self-promotion. In it I promised that you would see what I meant in the next, 100th post.
Well when I went to the draft page and realized I had jumped the gun by one. Hey that rhymes - aren't I good!
So I inserted this little announcement for no other reason than to make the next post truly the 100th post, as it should be.
Carmen
Well when I went to the draft page and realized I had jumped the gun by one. Hey that rhymes - aren't I good!
So I inserted this little announcement for no other reason than to make the next post truly the 100th post, as it should be.
Carmen
A Shameless Bit Of Self-Promotion
Hello everyone. Remember how back around my 75th post I promised you a special treat. Well due to technical difficulties it didn't happen when promised.
However, at the time I said that they should hopefully be straightened out by the 100th post. I am happy to report that they have indeed been worked out.
Sadly though I have to report that the content of said 100th post will be a bit lacking for reasons which you will come to see soon on your own.
I am publishing it as is instead of sending it back to the drawing board because I think that in it's own way it is pretty funny.
It harkens back to the experimental posts the me and my friend F.J. did on when we got each other to post a topic that the other one picked for them.
Nevertheless, because it first (and last - lol) struck me as a lack of inspiration plus shameless self-promotion I may have a second kick at the 100 can.
Oh, and self-promoting or not, please do follow the links you will find in that next post. I was hoping they would be there just maybe not so prominent! LOL.
However, at the time I said that they should hopefully be straightened out by the 100th post. I am happy to report that they have indeed been worked out.
Sadly though I have to report that the content of said 100th post will be a bit lacking for reasons which you will come to see soon on your own.
I am publishing it as is instead of sending it back to the drawing board because I think that in it's own way it is pretty funny.
It harkens back to the experimental posts the me and my friend F.J. did on when we got each other to post a topic that the other one picked for them.
Nevertheless, because it first (and last - lol) struck me as a lack of inspiration plus shameless self-promotion I may have a second kick at the 100 can.
Oh, and self-promoting or not, please do follow the links you will find in that next post. I was hoping they would be there just maybe not so prominent! LOL.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
In The News - Cemetery Assault
Hi there again. Yes I'm posting a-g-a-i-n today. Somedays (like the 7th - the first time I did it) I just can't help myself. I become a posting maniac. Not that everything I post is necessarily golden but I just wanna post.
I was trying to think of something a little different than the last few posts to post now to keep things fresh and I decided why not dust off my newish feature "In The News".
I didn't catch much of this story. Nothing really except the headline but I found it interesting. Apparently some youngish man recently (in Canada I think) just up and assaulting a 60ish year old woman while she was visiting in a cemetery.
Creepy, huh. The only thing creepier would be if this happened at night. I guess that's why people don't go to cemeteries late at night (at least you'd hope most people wouldn't).
What do you think? Would you ever visit a cemetery after dark? Even if it was in the winter when it gets dark so early? Does the thought of a dark cemetery creep you out in a major way? It sure does me.
Carmen
I was trying to think of something a little different than the last few posts to post now to keep things fresh and I decided why not dust off my newish feature "In The News".
I didn't catch much of this story. Nothing really except the headline but I found it interesting. Apparently some youngish man recently (in Canada I think) just up and assaulting a 60ish year old woman while she was visiting in a cemetery.
Creepy, huh. The only thing creepier would be if this happened at night. I guess that's why people don't go to cemeteries late at night (at least you'd hope most people wouldn't).
What do you think? Would you ever visit a cemetery after dark? Even if it was in the winter when it gets dark so early? Does the thought of a dark cemetery creep you out in a major way? It sure does me.
Carmen
Cats & Dogs
Hi people. Nothing original this time but I wanted to share a couple of cute quotes I saw on Facebook about cats and dogs.
The first one is from Garfield. Cats are poetry in motion. Dogs are gibberish in neutral.
The second one was a comment left (it's origin unknown) by someone who liked the above quote. Dogs have masters. Cats have STAFF.
Carmen
P.S. If you've already read my last post Butt I Forgot About The Hamster please re-read it as I just went in and edited in a very important P.S.
The first one is from Garfield. Cats are poetry in motion. Dogs are gibberish in neutral.
The second one was a comment left (it's origin unknown) by someone who liked the above quote. Dogs have masters. Cats have STAFF.
Carmen
P.S. If you've already read my last post Butt I Forgot About The Hamster please re-read it as I just went in and edited in a very important P.S.
Butt I Forgot About The Hamster!
Sex sells. I went to the blogger help - coffee shop yesterday after posting my last post and left it's title (Laura And Dildo Boy) on the thread about "what was your last post about".
Well, imagine my surprise when I logged into see my blog and the dashboard showed that I was up 3 followers in one day (for the second time now). I attribute this latest leap to sex selling. LOL.
I was just left wondering what the jump would have been if I had not, in my forgetfulness due to the length of the post, forgotten to include the gratuitous bit about stuffing a hamster up his ass.
Truth be told, he didn't but when I was talking to him and telling him what I was going to write I said to him something like "the only thing you haven't done to your ass is stuff a hamster in there". LOL.
Carmen
P.S. I almost forgot. My three new followers in this order Ingrid O'Brien, Julie Childers and Jillian Johnston. Welcome ladies.
Well, imagine my surprise when I logged into see my blog and the dashboard showed that I was up 3 followers in one day (for the second time now). I attribute this latest leap to sex selling. LOL.
I was just left wondering what the jump would have been if I had not, in my forgetfulness due to the length of the post, forgotten to include the gratuitous bit about stuffing a hamster up his ass.
Truth be told, he didn't but when I was talking to him and telling him what I was going to write I said to him something like "the only thing you haven't done to your ass is stuff a hamster in there". LOL.
Carmen
P.S. I almost forgot. My three new followers in this order Ingrid O'Brien, Julie Childers and Jillian Johnston. Welcome ladies.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Laura And Dildo Boy
Ok. So I promised to introduce you in my previous post to my very most recent follower - a friend named Brett. This story may be a little shocking to the more conservative folks amongst you so please be forewarned.
I met Brett through Facebook, but not directly so as I said previously. It was through an application called SpeedDate. I know, I know, how cheesy. Although I am single I am not really interested in dating so it is a little odd that I chose to use the SpeedDate application.
I think I added it to get something else and then didn't originally know how to delete it, then when I figured it out I decided to try it to possibly find friends It may seem silly (and it probably is) to expect to find platonic friends on a dating site but that was my plan.
It didn't help that there was this annoying "door-bell" feature that announced a new possibility almost immediately after you finished a very quick three (yes only three) minutes with one person. In spite of that annoyance I did manage to find not one but two guys that I befriended a bit online.
One was Brett. The other was a Nigerian guy named Ajbola but that is mostly another story. The one thing Brett and Ajbola had in common was (surprise, surprise) a belief that I really did want to meet someone to date, ie. have sex with.
Well after alot of conversations that were mostly about sex they finally got the picture (which is also a story for another day - a specific day in fact). So back to Brett specifically. When I say he and Ajbola finally got it I may have been overstating my case a little.
You see, even though I made it perfectly clear that I was not interested in sex with him, sex was still first and foremost the number one thing on his mind. Maybe a little detail that I have so far left out will further explain why. Brett is 18. LOL. Yes, 18. To my almost 42.
Not that that, or my weight, or my psychological "issue" or anything else under God's green earth that I mentioned (all true by the way) would take him off topic. Finally however time did what I could not do myself.
One day, I was talking to him on messenger as always and he tells me in yet again a case of TMI that he is sunning himself - in the nude. I ask him how he can get away with that in the city (especially the high-end neighborhood he lives in with his parents). This is when he tells me he is working for the summer at a farm.
Even so, you might think it a little weird that the owners of the farm were ok with this bit of free-spiritedness but apparently the single owner was not home. On top of that, it turns out that had she been it still really wouldn't have been an issue. Why not? Well because, my dear readers, the lady in question was/is something of a "Mrs. Robinson".
Mrs. Robinson or Mrs "X" as he called her originally seemed to want to get to know the help quite well. Intimately even. It seemed so at least from her actions. You see he told me off a number of rather shocking things this woman who is actually a friend's mother(!) did to show her interest. For one thing lifting up her dress.
Pantiless.
Well fast forward a bit and he is bringing our conversations around to his (self) sex life and how he wants to come into town (he was on the farm for the a good part of the spring/early summer) to buy a dildo. Yes TMI again I thought. So a conversation or two goes by and it seems he gets his little toy.
Because he either doesn't drive or just doesn't have a car it turns out that Mrs. Robinson was his ride for this purchase. I can't remember whether or not he said if she actually saw what he bought (I suggested buying a "shadow" purchase in case she asked) but in the end it turned out not to matter.
This is because after a short while of using his new toy on himself he was already getting bored/adventuresome. He talked of wanting to take his fun further. So I (half-jokingly) suggested that he would have a willing partner in the lady of the manor. He actually asked me if I really thought so.
You see, at first, I think he was unnerved by her forwardness but as I pointed out he was more than willing to bug me to have sex with him and surely she couldn't be much older than me. Not to mention that she seemed more than willing! Anyway, it took very little persuasion for him to actually ask her.
Not surprisingly, the answer was a resounding yes. So, I was the recipient of a few odd (well not so odd) tales of their adventures. The one that sticks out is that she bought him several pairs of ladies panties to wear. He told me this when he asked me to help him choose which pair to first wear. Ah, the things a friend does.
Now, this story is getting a bit long because I was basically not sure what to write exactly although I had the title in mind. I knew it would be chronological so it was bound to be at least a little long but even I am getting tired of waiting for the payoff.
Also, as an aside, I am also tired of typing because of a little exercise I did today that is going to become the subject of a post in the near future about writing I had to type two whole blog posts, that I previously wrote, out in full after writing them out in long-hand because I can't copy and paste. Copying and pasting or rather not copying and pasting is going to be the death of me.
But back to the story at hand now that I have given myself a little breather. I'll try to tie up the story in a few paragraphs with a abbreviated version of the rest. First of all, after Brett and Mrs. "X". got together he took to calling her by her first name, "Tara".
As the stories went on and on I told him (again) that now that he got his first experience (the reason I kind of steered him toward her in the first place) he should start thinking of ending things and finding himself a real girlfriend and obviously someone closer to his age.
Ah, but the lure of sex and sex with a hot-to-trot older woman no less who is more than likely more adventuresome than some random 18 year old that he might have something else in common with proved to much of a lure. After promising that he would do exactly that (end it with the end of the job) he, well lets just say he went back on his word.
In fact, when I was asking him what I could write about him when he asked me to write something on him, I told him I would need some more info and also I told him that I had previously planned to write something on his situation called Laura And Dildo Boy. I asked if he would be offended. Oddly, he wasn't.
Further to the fact he told me one thing when I was asking for other info to possibly write something more generic and less overtly personal. That was to tell people that he loves Tara. Ok. Done. And I'll refrain from stating the obvious.
After all, the one thing I have learned about him (other than more than I care to know about his sex life) is that he is a very sheltered (pot to kettle time - lol) kid who wears his heart on his sleeve. That story may be one for another time as well.
Finally, to conclude, how I got the title for the post since I am calling "Mrs. Robinson" Tara (close as I do to her name but of course not her actual name) and not "Laura" is a bit of a tangential aside to the story. Sort of like how the book/play Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead came about in my defense.
Remember, I said that when talking to Brett about what I was going to write I said I had the title and some of his story in mind. Well, that was because before "Tara" came along there was "Laura". I just didn't mention her in chronilogical order cause I promised "Laura" the story about her and Brett would not be written. I kind of lied.
That's because if it had been the actual story of Laura And Dildo Boy then it would have been much shorter. Before Tara came on to the scene I was trying to kill two birds with one stone and get Brett off my case and find a more age appropriate (sort of) girlfriend/boyfriend for Brett and Laura.
However, when I told Laura about Brett's endless chatter about sex she vetoed him as a credible choice. Undaunted, I persevered. Not really expecting to change her mind, it became a bit of a joke between us. So when I decided to write a brief story about it the title became fixed in my mind. Tara And Dildo Boy just didn't have the same ring to it. And maybe no small part of it is because their story is more serious.
Anyway, there you have it. My life as a sex therapist and humor writer (or not). Oh and if it got lost in all the details I called him Dildo Boy not just because a boy found himself a toy but because it became his obsession before Tara came into the picture.
So there you go Brett. Don't say you didn't ask for it. LOL. And to Laura sorry but I couldn't help myself and besides you were so little of the story that no one will identify you. As for Tara, well lets just say your on your own, hope your son doesn't find out, and please be good to Brett. He's a nice kid.
Carmen
P.S. This turned out to be only slightly less (I counted paragraphs) longer than my opuses on LiveBridge. Each of the three LiveBridge posts were all just slightly shorter. So this wasn't too much beyond the pale. I've been here before. LOL.
I met Brett through Facebook, but not directly so as I said previously. It was through an application called SpeedDate. I know, I know, how cheesy. Although I am single I am not really interested in dating so it is a little odd that I chose to use the SpeedDate application.
I think I added it to get something else and then didn't originally know how to delete it, then when I figured it out I decided to try it to possibly find friends It may seem silly (and it probably is) to expect to find platonic friends on a dating site but that was my plan.
It didn't help that there was this annoying "door-bell" feature that announced a new possibility almost immediately after you finished a very quick three (yes only three) minutes with one person. In spite of that annoyance I did manage to find not one but two guys that I befriended a bit online.
One was Brett. The other was a Nigerian guy named Ajbola but that is mostly another story. The one thing Brett and Ajbola had in common was (surprise, surprise) a belief that I really did want to meet someone to date, ie. have sex with.
Well after alot of conversations that were mostly about sex they finally got the picture (which is also a story for another day - a specific day in fact). So back to Brett specifically. When I say he and Ajbola finally got it I may have been overstating my case a little.
You see, even though I made it perfectly clear that I was not interested in sex with him, sex was still first and foremost the number one thing on his mind. Maybe a little detail that I have so far left out will further explain why. Brett is 18. LOL. Yes, 18. To my almost 42.
Not that that, or my weight, or my psychological "issue" or anything else under God's green earth that I mentioned (all true by the way) would take him off topic. Finally however time did what I could not do myself.
One day, I was talking to him on messenger as always and he tells me in yet again a case of TMI that he is sunning himself - in the nude. I ask him how he can get away with that in the city (especially the high-end neighborhood he lives in with his parents). This is when he tells me he is working for the summer at a farm.
Even so, you might think it a little weird that the owners of the farm were ok with this bit of free-spiritedness but apparently the single owner was not home. On top of that, it turns out that had she been it still really wouldn't have been an issue. Why not? Well because, my dear readers, the lady in question was/is something of a "Mrs. Robinson".
Mrs. Robinson or Mrs "X" as he called her originally seemed to want to get to know the help quite well. Intimately even. It seemed so at least from her actions. You see he told me off a number of rather shocking things this woman who is actually a friend's mother(!) did to show her interest. For one thing lifting up her dress.
Pantiless.
Well fast forward a bit and he is bringing our conversations around to his (self) sex life and how he wants to come into town (he was on the farm for the a good part of the spring/early summer) to buy a dildo. Yes TMI again I thought. So a conversation or two goes by and it seems he gets his little toy.
Because he either doesn't drive or just doesn't have a car it turns out that Mrs. Robinson was his ride for this purchase. I can't remember whether or not he said if she actually saw what he bought (I suggested buying a "shadow" purchase in case she asked) but in the end it turned out not to matter.
This is because after a short while of using his new toy on himself he was already getting bored/adventuresome. He talked of wanting to take his fun further. So I (half-jokingly) suggested that he would have a willing partner in the lady of the manor. He actually asked me if I really thought so.
You see, at first, I think he was unnerved by her forwardness but as I pointed out he was more than willing to bug me to have sex with him and surely she couldn't be much older than me. Not to mention that she seemed more than willing! Anyway, it took very little persuasion for him to actually ask her.
Not surprisingly, the answer was a resounding yes. So, I was the recipient of a few odd (well not so odd) tales of their adventures. The one that sticks out is that she bought him several pairs of ladies panties to wear. He told me this when he asked me to help him choose which pair to first wear. Ah, the things a friend does.
Now, this story is getting a bit long because I was basically not sure what to write exactly although I had the title in mind. I knew it would be chronological so it was bound to be at least a little long but even I am getting tired of waiting for the payoff.
Also, as an aside, I am also tired of typing because of a little exercise I did today that is going to become the subject of a post in the near future about writing I had to type two whole blog posts, that I previously wrote, out in full after writing them out in long-hand because I can't copy and paste. Copying and pasting or rather not copying and pasting is going to be the death of me.
But back to the story at hand now that I have given myself a little breather. I'll try to tie up the story in a few paragraphs with a abbreviated version of the rest. First of all, after Brett and Mrs. "X". got together he took to calling her by her first name, "Tara".
As the stories went on and on I told him (again) that now that he got his first experience (the reason I kind of steered him toward her in the first place) he should start thinking of ending things and finding himself a real girlfriend and obviously someone closer to his age.
Ah, but the lure of sex and sex with a hot-to-trot older woman no less who is more than likely more adventuresome than some random 18 year old that he might have something else in common with proved to much of a lure. After promising that he would do exactly that (end it with the end of the job) he, well lets just say he went back on his word.
In fact, when I was asking him what I could write about him when he asked me to write something on him, I told him I would need some more info and also I told him that I had previously planned to write something on his situation called Laura And Dildo Boy. I asked if he would be offended. Oddly, he wasn't.
Further to the fact he told me one thing when I was asking for other info to possibly write something more generic and less overtly personal. That was to tell people that he loves Tara. Ok. Done. And I'll refrain from stating the obvious.
After all, the one thing I have learned about him (other than more than I care to know about his sex life) is that he is a very sheltered (pot to kettle time - lol) kid who wears his heart on his sleeve. That story may be one for another time as well.
Finally, to conclude, how I got the title for the post since I am calling "Mrs. Robinson" Tara (close as I do to her name but of course not her actual name) and not "Laura" is a bit of a tangential aside to the story. Sort of like how the book/play Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead came about in my defense.
Remember, I said that when talking to Brett about what I was going to write I said I had the title and some of his story in mind. Well, that was because before "Tara" came along there was "Laura". I just didn't mention her in chronilogical order cause I promised "Laura" the story about her and Brett would not be written. I kind of lied.
That's because if it had been the actual story of Laura And Dildo Boy then it would have been much shorter. Before Tara came on to the scene I was trying to kill two birds with one stone and get Brett off my case and find a more age appropriate (sort of) girlfriend/boyfriend for Brett and Laura.
However, when I told Laura about Brett's endless chatter about sex she vetoed him as a credible choice. Undaunted, I persevered. Not really expecting to change her mind, it became a bit of a joke between us. So when I decided to write a brief story about it the title became fixed in my mind. Tara And Dildo Boy just didn't have the same ring to it. And maybe no small part of it is because their story is more serious.
Anyway, there you have it. My life as a sex therapist and humor writer (or not). Oh and if it got lost in all the details I called him Dildo Boy not just because a boy found himself a toy but because it became his obsession before Tara came into the picture.
So there you go Brett. Don't say you didn't ask for it. LOL. And to Laura sorry but I couldn't help myself and besides you were so little of the story that no one will identify you. As for Tara, well lets just say your on your own, hope your son doesn't find out, and please be good to Brett. He's a nice kid.
Carmen
P.S. This turned out to be only slightly less (I counted paragraphs) longer than my opuses on LiveBridge. Each of the three LiveBridge posts were all just slightly shorter. So this wasn't too much beyond the pale. I've been here before. LOL.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
As Easy As 1-2-3
Well hello again. Guess what! I'm so excited. In the space of about a day I got not one, not two, but three new followers.
First let me briefly introduce you. First there is Shinju, then there is TNT and finally there is brett...
So there you have it. Three new members all in the short space of a day. The first two are from the blogger coffee shop and the third is someone I met indirectly through Facebook.
Both Shinju and TNT have their own blogs of course since after all I did "meet" them in the blogger coffee shop. To check out there blogs click on their names.
As for Brett, he joined somewhat conditionally. Well, not exactly. But, kind of. You see when I asked him to join to support my little bet he was on board right away.
The reason I said conditionally is because he immediately said he wanted me to write something about him. It was actually me who set the condition.
Basically, it went something like this. He was having a little trouble getting signed up and I told him he had to be signed up before anything would appear. LOL.
How's that for strong arm tactics. Well, I say, you gotta do what you gotta do. Anyway, all's well that ends well and in the next post you will meet Brett.
Carmen
First let me briefly introduce you. First there is Shinju, then there is TNT and finally there is brett...
So there you have it. Three new members all in the short space of a day. The first two are from the blogger coffee shop and the third is someone I met indirectly through Facebook.
Both Shinju and TNT have their own blogs of course since after all I did "meet" them in the blogger coffee shop. To check out there blogs click on their names.
As for Brett, he joined somewhat conditionally. Well, not exactly. But, kind of. You see when I asked him to join to support my little bet he was on board right away.
The reason I said conditionally is because he immediately said he wanted me to write something about him. It was actually me who set the condition.
Basically, it went something like this. He was having a little trouble getting signed up and I told him he had to be signed up before anything would appear. LOL.
How's that for strong arm tactics. Well, I say, you gotta do what you gotta do. Anyway, all's well that ends well and in the next post you will meet Brett.
Carmen
Monday, July 12, 2010
50th Follower - A Legacy Of Sorts
Hello again everybody. So I was on blogger help - coffee shop trying to drum up some followers and amusing myself looking at other peoples blogs there too (fair's fair). Well, I got sidetracked and decided to try my hand at copy and pasting again to get a hit counter. Long story short, it didn't work. Again. However, when I came to my blog to attempt the paste I saw, to my surprise, a 50th follower. Yay.
Also, this 50th follower isn't one of the few possibilities I expected. But it turns out it was/is someone from the coffee shop. He had stopped by once before to just read the blog and leave a really nice comment for me. I believe it was on the post Life At LiveBridge Part III. That is the one about my experiences as a telemarketer and the best of my calls.
Anyway, this person who goes by the screen-name Legacy2000 is my official 50th follower. As I can't use blogger's friend connect (as I've said before it doesn't work properly) to thank him I can just hope he reads this post. I suspect he joined because of something I posted suggesting another person in the coffee shop become my #50 and the thought appealed to him. All's fair in love and blogging, I say.
Anyway, welcome Legacy, hope you stop by lots and leave plenty of comments while doing so. Thanks again for becoming #50. Now that you are on board maybe you could give me some advice in the comments on how to get my last 25 followers to win my bet on getting 75 followers by my blog's 1 year anniversary. You seem like an old hand in the blogger coffee shop forum so I look forward to hearing what you have to say.
Carmen
Also, this 50th follower isn't one of the few possibilities I expected. But it turns out it was/is someone from the coffee shop. He had stopped by once before to just read the blog and leave a really nice comment for me. I believe it was on the post Life At LiveBridge Part III. That is the one about my experiences as a telemarketer and the best of my calls.
Anyway, this person who goes by the screen-name Legacy2000 is my official 50th follower. As I can't use blogger's friend connect (as I've said before it doesn't work properly) to thank him I can just hope he reads this post. I suspect he joined because of something I posted suggesting another person in the coffee shop become my #50 and the thought appealed to him. All's fair in love and blogging, I say.
Anyway, welcome Legacy, hope you stop by lots and leave plenty of comments while doing so. Thanks again for becoming #50. Now that you are on board maybe you could give me some advice in the comments on how to get my last 25 followers to win my bet on getting 75 followers by my blog's 1 year anniversary. You seem like an old hand in the blogger coffee shop forum so I look forward to hearing what you have to say.
Carmen
Free Slurpee Day
Was yesterday. :( I missed it. Even though my niece Larissa works there. And we spent the day together celebrating her mom's/my sister's retirement. %&*$#@ Larissa. Can't get good help!
I guess I should have remembered myself as it is my 3/4 year birthday (07-11-10) and it's on "Slurpee's Anniversary" every year for the last several. Oh well, I guess there is always next year.
Besides a not getting a U.S. 7.11 ounce slurpee probably isn't the end of the world as we know it. Probably. Although when I found out about missing slurpee day late last night/early this morning I was very, very sad!
When I called Larissa's to bitch at her about this her daughter, "Sam", answered the phone. Naturally Larissa was at work. So I tried to convey the deep anguish I had felt to my great-niece. No luck. Even though she was a "slurpee baby" (7pounds 11 ounces - seriously!)
When I told her that I was mad at her mom and proceeded to unveil the reason why (the tell-tale date - 07-11) she knew right away what I was getting at. Yet, there wasn't a hint of sympathy. Damn those recessive genes. LOL.
Anyway, I guess that is my rant for the day. Now to the question of the day. Did any of you in Canada and the U.S. miss out on Free Slurpee Day too or were you one of the lucky ones who actually remembered or chanced upon it?
Carmen
I guess I should have remembered myself as it is my 3/4 year birthday (07-11-10) and it's on "Slurpee's Anniversary" every year for the last several. Oh well, I guess there is always next year.
Besides a not getting a U.S. 7.11 ounce slurpee probably isn't the end of the world as we know it. Probably. Although when I found out about missing slurpee day late last night/early this morning I was very, very sad!
When I called Larissa's to bitch at her about this her daughter, "Sam", answered the phone. Naturally Larissa was at work. So I tried to convey the deep anguish I had felt to my great-niece. No luck. Even though she was a "slurpee baby" (7pounds 11 ounces - seriously!)
When I told her that I was mad at her mom and proceeded to unveil the reason why (the tell-tale date - 07-11) she knew right away what I was getting at. Yet, there wasn't a hint of sympathy. Damn those recessive genes. LOL.
Anyway, I guess that is my rant for the day. Now to the question of the day. Did any of you in Canada and the U.S. miss out on Free Slurpee Day too or were you one of the lucky ones who actually remembered or chanced upon it?
Carmen
Friday, July 9, 2010
In The News - Community Doctors Appointments
So in another In The News post I'd like to mention another thing I heard on the same newscast as the previous post. In happier news, it is about a person centered heath-care advance.
It seems that in some provinces, including Alberta, doctors are testing something that I believe was called community doctors appointments. Or shared doctors appointments.
The basic idea here is that instead of having one person go to a doctor and get a 10 or 15 minute appointment to see a doctor and get a very quick once over that instead the doctor would cluster several appointments of people with similar conditions.
Now when I first heard this without the explanation it sounded stupider than stupid. How could each patient be properly treated as a cluster of patients. But as it was explained it made more and more sense.
The cluster of appointments would be enough that the appointment would be for approximately 2 hours. During this time the doctor would get to look at/talk to each of the patients one-on-one for a bit of time but would also give advice as a group.
So, as a result of the built-in effiency of the cluster more advice could be given to each patient. Also, as each patient would be given time to talk about their own symptoms the doctor could see if there were any similarities.
All in all, it sounds like not a bad new innovation to me. And as I said before, it said on the newscast I was watching, it is already happening in my home province of Alberta. Maybe, I should ask my doctor, who is seriously overworked, about it.
If she takes to it, I might become her new best friend for suggesting it. Of course, it is possibly something she has already heard of from medical journals or somesuch but still it's nice to think I could "tip the balance".
What do you think of all of this? Would you be willing to submit to a shared doctors appointment? Do you think it will catch on with the general public? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the idea? Leave a comment.
Carmen
It seems that in some provinces, including Alberta, doctors are testing something that I believe was called community doctors appointments. Or shared doctors appointments.
The basic idea here is that instead of having one person go to a doctor and get a 10 or 15 minute appointment to see a doctor and get a very quick once over that instead the doctor would cluster several appointments of people with similar conditions.
Now when I first heard this without the explanation it sounded stupider than stupid. How could each patient be properly treated as a cluster of patients. But as it was explained it made more and more sense.
The cluster of appointments would be enough that the appointment would be for approximately 2 hours. During this time the doctor would get to look at/talk to each of the patients one-on-one for a bit of time but would also give advice as a group.
So, as a result of the built-in effiency of the cluster more advice could be given to each patient. Also, as each patient would be given time to talk about their own symptoms the doctor could see if there were any similarities.
All in all, it sounds like not a bad new innovation to me. And as I said before, it said on the newscast I was watching, it is already happening in my home province of Alberta. Maybe, I should ask my doctor, who is seriously overworked, about it.
If she takes to it, I might become her new best friend for suggesting it. Of course, it is possibly something she has already heard of from medical journals or somesuch but still it's nice to think I could "tip the balance".
What do you think of all of this? Would you be willing to submit to a shared doctors appointment? Do you think it will catch on with the general public? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the idea? Leave a comment.
Carmen
In The News - The Grim Sleeper
Well, not having heard from any of you regarding possible topics (yet) I am taking another look at the news. Only this time with a little more inspiration than before (and I'm dressed to boot! LOL).
The first thing that caught my attention was the story, out of California, about a long dormant case of a serial killer who was caught using a new technique that was pioneered in Europe.
The serial killer in question was dubbed the Grim Sleeper because the murders stopped for 14 years then started again. The suspect Lonnie Franklin, Jr. was found based on a new technique called "familial DNA".
Basically, they caught his son on a weapons charge and automatically tested his DNA and put it through the DNA database for all old crimes with DNA and came up with a "close match". So they then focused on the dad.
After surreptiously gaining access to the fathers DNA (a piece of discarded pizza) they came up with a perfect match. As usual, the buzz around the neighborhood was what a nice guy he seemed to be. You just never know.
In looking up other stories on the same case, I came across one of the less stupid, knee-jerk comments that suggests that all people and not just those who have been arrested &/or convicted have their DNA taken.
All though this may seem like a civil rights nightmare this person may have a point. If you aren't guilty of anything then you can go along on your merry way. If you are then it's almost a sure bet you will be caught. What do you think?
Carmen
The first thing that caught my attention was the story, out of California, about a long dormant case of a serial killer who was caught using a new technique that was pioneered in Europe.
The serial killer in question was dubbed the Grim Sleeper because the murders stopped for 14 years then started again. The suspect Lonnie Franklin, Jr. was found based on a new technique called "familial DNA".
Basically, they caught his son on a weapons charge and automatically tested his DNA and put it through the DNA database for all old crimes with DNA and came up with a "close match". So they then focused on the dad.
After surreptiously gaining access to the fathers DNA (a piece of discarded pizza) they came up with a perfect match. As usual, the buzz around the neighborhood was what a nice guy he seemed to be. You just never know.
In looking up other stories on the same case, I came across one of the less stupid, knee-jerk comments that suggests that all people and not just those who have been arrested &/or convicted have their DNA taken.
All though this may seem like a civil rights nightmare this person may have a point. If you aren't guilty of anything then you can go along on your merry way. If you are then it's almost a sure bet you will be caught. What do you think?
Carmen
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Undressed And Uninspired
Hi again. It's been at least 5 minutes since finishing the last post so it must be time to post something else based on my July efforts. LOL. Yes, I have been posting a lot lately. And yet. Tonight, I sit here at the computer naked (it's hot! - lol) and devoid of an idea. But I want to post something, dammit. In my birthday suit literally and figuratively.
I could talk about the news I guess. But that doesn't really cut it. Well, it's all I've got to work with so I guess that's what I'm going with. "Somewhat" recently there was a video on yahoo or msn video that I think came from youtube of a 2 year old toddler who smoked 40 cigarettes a day. Yes, a 2 year old. Check it out. Apparently, the parents said they "tried to get him to stop" but he gets "grouchy". Like that's a real good set of parents. BTW, who do you suppose got him started?
Then there's Lindsay Lohan. She is going to jail. When I heard this on the t.v. entertainment news I stepped into the livingroom from the kitchen to take a peak. As I suspected she pulled a Paris Hilton and was crying about it. Not that I wouldn't have done the same thing if I were in her shoes. But it's just to bad she didn't take the terms of her probation more seriously before like she claims she did.
Finally, and this is not world news per se but it is in "my world" so here goes. Back to the Neo Counter... I got a hit from a place called Suriname. Apparently, it is a Dutch speaking country (?) in South America. The main language is Dutch even though the Dutch are not the "rulers" of the country. Strange situation. Check it out more if you like on Wikipedia.
Well, now that I have officially sunk to a new low of posting a trio of random nothings I guess I will probably just slink off to bed now. Not that I want to. I want to write 10 more blog posts. Don't ask me why. I just do. I guess I'm bored. If only I had a topic that captured my imagination. I have all those pages of ideas but I don't have an inclination to look at them. What I want people are your ideas.
Please leave a comment in the comment section that can be as long as you want. If it is long though please use the preview button first and use paragraph spacing, p-l-e-a-s-e. I am looking for ideas both "regular" and "special". Both highly serious and whimsical. Nothing is off-limits. No subject will be dismissed out of hand. Well, probably not. LOL. Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you.
Carmen
I could talk about the news I guess. But that doesn't really cut it. Well, it's all I've got to work with so I guess that's what I'm going with. "Somewhat" recently there was a video on yahoo or msn video that I think came from youtube of a 2 year old toddler who smoked 40 cigarettes a day. Yes, a 2 year old. Check it out. Apparently, the parents said they "tried to get him to stop" but he gets "grouchy". Like that's a real good set of parents. BTW, who do you suppose got him started?
Then there's Lindsay Lohan. She is going to jail. When I heard this on the t.v. entertainment news I stepped into the livingroom from the kitchen to take a peak. As I suspected she pulled a Paris Hilton and was crying about it. Not that I wouldn't have done the same thing if I were in her shoes. But it's just to bad she didn't take the terms of her probation more seriously before like she claims she did.
Finally, and this is not world news per se but it is in "my world" so here goes. Back to the Neo Counter... I got a hit from a place called Suriname. Apparently, it is a Dutch speaking country (?) in South America. The main language is Dutch even though the Dutch are not the "rulers" of the country. Strange situation. Check it out more if you like on Wikipedia.
Well, now that I have officially sunk to a new low of posting a trio of random nothings I guess I will probably just slink off to bed now. Not that I want to. I want to write 10 more blog posts. Don't ask me why. I just do. I guess I'm bored. If only I had a topic that captured my imagination. I have all those pages of ideas but I don't have an inclination to look at them. What I want people are your ideas.
Please leave a comment in the comment section that can be as long as you want. If it is long though please use the preview button first and use paragraph spacing, p-l-e-a-s-e. I am looking for ideas both "regular" and "special". Both highly serious and whimsical. Nothing is off-limits. No subject will be dismissed out of hand. Well, probably not. LOL. Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you.
Carmen
Ralph Nader, Great American
I was debating whether or not to go back to the original review for the Ralph Nader book that I am giving Part II of a review to now and title it Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us Part I so that I could make this Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us Part II
I decided against it for reasons I'm not quite sure of. It certainly would have made the reviews "go together" better but I guess I decided on the title I did because I really wanted to make the point that Ralph Nader really is a great American
Having finished reading the book in 4 sittings and failing at "sucking it up" as far as the crying goes (count another half dozen times in to the total - lol) I have to say well done, Mr. Nader.
For as "hokey" and full of (as two people on the epl.ca website said) "wishful thinking" as it is it is very inspiring and motivational. I don't know if motivational is actually the right word. But inspiring definitely is.
There really isn't much more to say about the book even though it is so long and this is therefore supposedly on the last more than half of the book. Mainly, for me, this is because it is pretty "procedural". Yet in spite of that it is not dry.
I did not "get" all the political strategizing talk by far but that really didn't matter. I didn't skip over any of it as is my usual wont when faced with stuff I don't entirely get. I just flowed. It was compelling.
How Mr. Nader kept track of so many details and wove them back and forth into the story is simply astounding to me although perhaps it shouldn't be. After all, he has had probably 30 plus years to let the story take root in his mind.
It truly seems that this is the case. That it is the culmination of all his dreaming (in so much as a practical person like he would have to be to have accomplished what he has) of what could be from the time he started his fabled career.
I can't urge people enough to read this book. Yes, it is long. So what. Suck it up. It's a U.S. domestic political fairy-tale of epic proportions. It's a Cinderella story. Also, I was right before when I said it is ripe for a sequel. Pure gold. Read it.
Carmen
P.S. For an aestetic (the right term?) he even includes a little "romance"!
I decided against it for reasons I'm not quite sure of. It certainly would have made the reviews "go together" better but I guess I decided on the title I did because I really wanted to make the point that Ralph Nader really is a great American
Having finished reading the book in 4 sittings and failing at "sucking it up" as far as the crying goes (count another half dozen times in to the total - lol) I have to say well done, Mr. Nader.
For as "hokey" and full of (as two people on the epl.ca website said) "wishful thinking" as it is it is very inspiring and motivational. I don't know if motivational is actually the right word. But inspiring definitely is.
There really isn't much more to say about the book even though it is so long and this is therefore supposedly on the last more than half of the book. Mainly, for me, this is because it is pretty "procedural". Yet in spite of that it is not dry.
I did not "get" all the political strategizing talk by far but that really didn't matter. I didn't skip over any of it as is my usual wont when faced with stuff I don't entirely get. I just flowed. It was compelling.
How Mr. Nader kept track of so many details and wove them back and forth into the story is simply astounding to me although perhaps it shouldn't be. After all, he has had probably 30 plus years to let the story take root in his mind.
It truly seems that this is the case. That it is the culmination of all his dreaming (in so much as a practical person like he would have to be to have accomplished what he has) of what could be from the time he started his fabled career.
I can't urge people enough to read this book. Yes, it is long. So what. Suck it up. It's a U.S. domestic political fairy-tale of epic proportions. It's a Cinderella story. Also, I was right before when I said it is ripe for a sequel. Pure gold. Read it.
Carmen
P.S. For an aestetic (the right term?) he even includes a little "romance"!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Neo-Counter 2.3
Well hello. Just a short, silly post. Couldn't sleep. Came by to check if my Chilean friend F.J. had been by from Chile yet.
Turns out that not only had he but he left me not one but two comments (blogging gold!). More importantly, he told me something I didn't know about Neo
I seems if you click on the circle it gives you a little more detailed info. There are about 3 or 4 clicks worth of information for the taking.
I can see a map of the world that has colored spots and or pin-dots to show where in the world are Carmen Tourneyagio's "readers" (or passerby).
I can also find out what cities the "viewers" have been from and how long ago they passed through.
Unfortunately, it isn't sophisticated enough (like some I hear are) to tell how long somebody stayed. This would tell me if they actually stopped to look and how much.
Well, considering the Neo Counter people did the work of copying and pasting for me I guess I shouldn't complain. Not that I won't mind you. LOL.
Carmen
P.S. Seriously, a big yay! on finding out this new information. Thanks again F.J.
Turns out that not only had he but he left me not one but two comments (blogging gold!). More importantly, he told me something I didn't know about Neo
I seems if you click on the circle it gives you a little more detailed info. There are about 3 or 4 clicks worth of information for the taking.
I can see a map of the world that has colored spots and or pin-dots to show where in the world are Carmen Tourneyagio's "readers" (or passerby).
I can also find out what cities the "viewers" have been from and how long ago they passed through.
Unfortunately, it isn't sophisticated enough (like some I hear are) to tell how long somebody stayed. This would tell me if they actually stopped to look and how much.
Well, considering the Neo Counter people did the work of copying and pasting for me I guess I shouldn't complain. Not that I won't mind you. LOL.
Carmen
P.S. Seriously, a big yay! on finding out this new information. Thanks again F.J.
A Shining Example
Well hello again. I am posting now after a brief bit of inspiration. I am continuing to read Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us (the Ralph Nader book) and this time didn't take on the herculean task of reading the second half in one bite.
I stopped reading at about page 491 because it was just under the 500 page mark nearest a new chapter (Chapter 14) beginning. I mention the book again although it is not really my subject today for two reasons.
First, I expect people would be expecting part two of my review fairly soon after part one because I read the first part so fast. Well, that will not be the case. This book is densely written (good but definitely densely written).
Also, I just don't feel up to another marathon even though it would have been nice to say that I conquered it in just two sittings. It would have been a feather in my cap to say (at least in my mind) but not worth the strain.
Second, the book got me thinking about something else. Something entirely different that I wrote and apparently not a moment too soon. I typed in the title of this post after my daily (more like constant) check of Neo and before signing off.
As I was signing off, I noticed that I had two comments on the Lockhorn post. Now I know I hadn't read them because that post was a bit atypical for me, I think. A bit of a bitchy post.
So after blogger signed me off, I immediately signed on to see what these comments were since the post I next intended to write was a follow-up of sorts to that very post. Well, it was a long, heart-felt thumbs up from a regular reader and friend.
I would like to thank Maureen for her comments. Even though this post is from a different angle entirely I do not distance myself from my previous remarks. So it is nice to know that someone in my viewing audience can identify.
That said, today I wanted to present the other side of the story. Not directly so, but the other side of said Lockhorn. The kinder, gentler side. I'm sure I would have gotten to this point without the book spearing me on but it was a nice push.
There are specifically 3 or 4 things I would like to mention briefly. None of them is earth-shattering (neither was the original come to think about it though either) but all definitely show the other side of the story.
First, their is a two-fold kindness. Living as I do in a group home on AISH (a disability income) I don't drive and my budget when not working is quite tight. Knowing this Loretta is often volunteering to drive me to events and also has been my main avocado supplier as well as offering other little goodies to supplement my needs for non-house related goodies. This she even often does for not just me but the other ladies as well, in the form of items for all.
Second, although this one is a bit more of a mixed blessing (LOL) it still shows a willingness to be involved in my life even when it is not always the most convenient. Whenever the house and it's staff need a family member to come and be part of a family meeting she is the main one to make herself available. My mom does this too but at 83 years old she isn't the first one we will go to. So it falls to the oldest, Loretta, to pick up the slack.
Third (or fourth if I would have separated the first) and finally, there is the thing she did for me one day completely out of the blue and that gives this post its title, A Shining Example. On the day of the High Tea at my mom's church that I mentioned in the post I'm A Tea Partier she again offered a ride, this time to a friends I was going to see soon after the party. I told her that I was going to wait a little bit before going and eat dinner at my mom's to save my friend food money.
This brought on a short conversation of my friends circumstances and how she was having a very hard time of it trying to pay all her bills/expenses when she was also on AISH (disability payments) and had the added costs of living on her own in her own appartment. I wasn't sure what she was doing originally but as me and my mom were getting out of the vehicle she went into her wallet and took out some money. She decided, there on the spot, to supplement my friends grocery money that month.
I couldn't believe it. It was such a nice gesture. While obviously only able to help so much, the fact that she would decide and so quickly to do this was very heart-ening. Much like my mother who often makes "care-packages" for this friend this was an extremely nice way to show that people care and that others who you would least expect to (people who really don't know you well personally) would do something that was so nice.
So there you have it. While my previous "bitching" is in no way, shape or form being disavowed, I thought that people should definitely see the other side of the coin in this case. So thanks again, Loretta, for all the wonderful things you do to.
Carmen
I stopped reading at about page 491 because it was just under the 500 page mark nearest a new chapter (Chapter 14) beginning. I mention the book again although it is not really my subject today for two reasons.
First, I expect people would be expecting part two of my review fairly soon after part one because I read the first part so fast. Well, that will not be the case. This book is densely written (good but definitely densely written).
Also, I just don't feel up to another marathon even though it would have been nice to say that I conquered it in just two sittings. It would have been a feather in my cap to say (at least in my mind) but not worth the strain.
Second, the book got me thinking about something else. Something entirely different that I wrote and apparently not a moment too soon. I typed in the title of this post after my daily (more like constant) check of Neo and before signing off.
As I was signing off, I noticed that I had two comments on the Lockhorn post. Now I know I hadn't read them because that post was a bit atypical for me, I think. A bit of a bitchy post.
So after blogger signed me off, I immediately signed on to see what these comments were since the post I next intended to write was a follow-up of sorts to that very post. Well, it was a long, heart-felt thumbs up from a regular reader and friend.
I would like to thank Maureen for her comments. Even though this post is from a different angle entirely I do not distance myself from my previous remarks. So it is nice to know that someone in my viewing audience can identify.
That said, today I wanted to present the other side of the story. Not directly so, but the other side of said Lockhorn. The kinder, gentler side. I'm sure I would have gotten to this point without the book spearing me on but it was a nice push.
There are specifically 3 or 4 things I would like to mention briefly. None of them is earth-shattering (neither was the original come to think about it though either) but all definitely show the other side of the story.
First, their is a two-fold kindness. Living as I do in a group home on AISH (a disability income) I don't drive and my budget when not working is quite tight. Knowing this Loretta is often volunteering to drive me to events and also has been my main avocado supplier as well as offering other little goodies to supplement my needs for non-house related goodies. This she even often does for not just me but the other ladies as well, in the form of items for all.
Second, although this one is a bit more of a mixed blessing (LOL) it still shows a willingness to be involved in my life even when it is not always the most convenient. Whenever the house and it's staff need a family member to come and be part of a family meeting she is the main one to make herself available. My mom does this too but at 83 years old she isn't the first one we will go to. So it falls to the oldest, Loretta, to pick up the slack.
Third (or fourth if I would have separated the first) and finally, there is the thing she did for me one day completely out of the blue and that gives this post its title, A Shining Example. On the day of the High Tea at my mom's church that I mentioned in the post I'm A Tea Partier she again offered a ride, this time to a friends I was going to see soon after the party. I told her that I was going to wait a little bit before going and eat dinner at my mom's to save my friend food money.
This brought on a short conversation of my friends circumstances and how she was having a very hard time of it trying to pay all her bills/expenses when she was also on AISH (disability payments) and had the added costs of living on her own in her own appartment. I wasn't sure what she was doing originally but as me and my mom were getting out of the vehicle she went into her wallet and took out some money. She decided, there on the spot, to supplement my friends grocery money that month.
I couldn't believe it. It was such a nice gesture. While obviously only able to help so much, the fact that she would decide and so quickly to do this was very heart-ening. Much like my mother who often makes "care-packages" for this friend this was an extremely nice way to show that people care and that others who you would least expect to (people who really don't know you well personally) would do something that was so nice.
So there you have it. While my previous "bitching" is in no way, shape or form being disavowed, I thought that people should definitely see the other side of the coin in this case. So thanks again, Loretta, for all the wonderful things you do to.
Carmen
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
6 Month Anniversary
This is it. Today is my 6 month anniversary. And as I've noted in my previous post (a pre anniversary post today) I've started it at the ready with a counter of sorts.
Now if only the AAYSR people would get here already! I'm like the bride waiting for her wedding day (and hoping the groom shows up).
Not too much to say here, except to crow a little at the accomplishment of making it 6 months and having pretty much remained true to posting "regularly".
I question I do have, now that I've hit this milestone is, what kinds of stories would you like to see more or less of. Or are they all golden. LOL.
Oh, there is one more thing to report on this auspicious day. Along with the counter I now have a (cheap but servicable) digital camera that I picked up last week.
There was a really good sale on a kids version digital camera and the lady I was with at the store said she bought her daughter one and it exceeded her expectations.
So I will have to get her or my "tech guy" to show me how to use it and more importantly how to upload the pictures I take.
This is perfect timing. Now at the around exactly the 6 month mark I can start adding pictures too. Maybe the first picture I'll take is one of Miller.
I'll introduce you to Miller when I get a picture. He is so cute though. That I can tell you right now. A real sweetie.
Anyway, I think that's all for now. After posting so much in the first six days of this month (ironic?/a good sign?) I think I may have a bit of a block. We'll see.
Carmen
P.S. I'm off (I forgot till writing this) to the post office to mail F.J his card - promised him a long time ago for winning the comment contest I mentioned ages ago.
Now if only the AAYSR people would get here already! I'm like the bride waiting for her wedding day (and hoping the groom shows up).
Not too much to say here, except to crow a little at the accomplishment of making it 6 months and having pretty much remained true to posting "regularly".
I question I do have, now that I've hit this milestone is, what kinds of stories would you like to see more or less of. Or are they all golden. LOL.
Oh, there is one more thing to report on this auspicious day. Along with the counter I now have a (cheap but servicable) digital camera that I picked up last week.
There was a really good sale on a kids version digital camera and the lady I was with at the store said she bought her daughter one and it exceeded her expectations.
So I will have to get her or my "tech guy" to show me how to use it and more importantly how to upload the pictures I take.
This is perfect timing. Now at the around exactly the 6 month mark I can start adding pictures too. Maybe the first picture I'll take is one of Miller.
I'll introduce you to Miller when I get a picture. He is so cute though. That I can tell you right now. A real sweetie.
Anyway, I think that's all for now. After posting so much in the first six days of this month (ironic?/a good sign?) I think I may have a bit of a block. We'll see.
Carmen
P.S. I'm off (I forgot till writing this) to the post office to mail F.J his card - promised him a long time ago for winning the comment contest I mentioned ages ago.
Neo-Counter 2.2
Well, FJ has been nowhere in sight yet and all ready we have a little bit of an international presence.
The count so far is Canada whatever. It's counting me constantly - although I do know from a comment that my friend Maureen has at least added to the count.
The bigger news is the U.S. is at 4. I know that seems a little low but then so would Canada if I wasn't being counted so often.
The biggest news is the 1 from Australia and the 1 from Spain. Yay! I can't wait for more international traffic. I'm spoiled now. LOL.
And as for F.J. - where are you. You do want a fairly high up place on the list, don't you? LOL.
Carmen
P.S. Couldn't help it but when I went to find this post in the archives to look at it against the rest (for "pattern") I noticed my count went up quite a bit.
United Kingdom - 6, and Spain is now at 2. Woo Hoo. Bring it on Neo. (And no sign of Keanu Reeves anywhere. LOL)
The count so far is Canada whatever. It's counting me constantly - although I do know from a comment that my friend Maureen has at least added to the count.
The bigger news is the U.S. is at 4. I know that seems a little low but then so would Canada if I wasn't being counted so often.
The biggest news is the 1 from Australia and the 1 from Spain. Yay! I can't wait for more international traffic. I'm spoiled now. LOL.
And as for F.J. - where are you. You do want a fairly high up place on the list, don't you? LOL.
Carmen
P.S. Couldn't help it but when I went to find this post in the archives to look at it against the rest (for "pattern") I noticed my count went up quite a bit.
United Kingdom - 6, and Spain is now at 2. Woo Hoo. Bring it on Neo. (And no sign of Keanu Reeves anywhere. LOL)
Monday, July 5, 2010
Neo-Counter 2
Well, hello again. A short post this will be. Just thought this was the perfect time to talk about my latest widget/gadget.
I have just added a "Neo-Counter 2" and not a moment too soon.
Tomorrow will be my 6 month anniversary of this blog. The AAYSR reviewers should be around shortly. I wanted some (any) kind of counter.
And any kind it pretty much is. LOL.
You see in the 10 minutes or so I've had it it has counted me (I'm assuming it's me) 7 times. LOL. Well better something than nothing, right!
I can't wait for F.J. to show up so I can get some international traffic.
Carmen
P.S. In the time that I have been messing around with this short post I'm at 11 "hits" here AND 1 from the USA so maybe all the 11 AREN'T me.
I have just added a "Neo-Counter 2" and not a moment too soon.
Tomorrow will be my 6 month anniversary of this blog. The AAYSR reviewers should be around shortly. I wanted some (any) kind of counter.
And any kind it pretty much is. LOL.
You see in the 10 minutes or so I've had it it has counted me (I'm assuming it's me) 7 times. LOL. Well better something than nothing, right!
I can't wait for F.J. to show up so I can get some international traffic.
Carmen
P.S. In the time that I have been messing around with this short post I'm at 11 "hits" here AND 1 from the USA so maybe all the 11 AREN'T me.
Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us
Well, I told you on the Fourth of July that I would write about the Ralph Nader book and I wanted to do it right after the Fourth of July post because I consider Ralph Nader to be a great American as I think I stated off-handedly in that post. After reading this book maybe people will consider him more seriously for president.
Well, truth be told, I have not finished reading the book. I have not gotten further than I was when I wrote that little p.s. Not because the book isn't good. As I said before it definitely is as I read just about 50 pages shy of half the enormous almost 750 pages in basically one sitting.
Anyway, I decided to do a partial review of the book so that it could be next to the July 4th post. Cause what I've read so far I definitely like. First of all, let me say that even though when I heard of the book and it's subject matter I was eager to read it, I have to admit that I thought I'd be disappointed.
There were two reasons for this. The first is because the author is not known to write non-fiction - it is his first time at it - so I thought it might be quite "dry". The second is because when I saw the book in Chapters, when I was considering buying it rather than borrowing it from the library, I saw it was huge!
That said, I got sucked in immediately. Although, the premise (as you can pretty much figure out by the title) is kind of hokey and schmaltzy, it still grabs you. Well it did me anyway. I was crying a bit on page 2. LOL. The next time I noticed myself crying was on about page 39. From there I managed to suck it up a little. LOL.
The plot is simply this... The world is going to hell in a hand-basket and the richest man in the U.S. Warren Buffett decides he is going to do something about it! He decides this after realizing that a disaster like Hurricane Katrina is being bungled by the government of the day (The Bush II government)...
He gets the idea to recruit about a dozen other "super-rich" do-gooders that he thinks can start a revolution of sorts. Well that is the basic plot outline. Some of the millionaires and billionaires he recruits are known by the general public. People like Ted Turner, Bill Cosby and Yoko Ono. Yes, Yoko Ono. She provides the art
Yoko Ono is also the only women in the little rich people do-gooder club but that is a small quibble. I did what I often do and read the last paragraph. LOL. She does get the last word. Yes! Although, the final paragraph did seem a little lame. However, since I'm not to the end, I can't really judge it fairly.
One phrase that stuck out as kind of funny was "the carbohydrate economy" (you'll just have to read it to figure that one out - lol). Another was Wal-Martians. It also refers to a Wal-Mart "wanna-be" it calls Wal-Fart. LOL. Actually Wal-Mart plays a big part in the proceedings and as I'm sure you can figure out, an unpleasant one
Anyway, that is about all I have to say about the book so far, other than to explain why I didn't finish the 2nd half already in a 2nd "big gulp". I knew if I started reading it again, I would want to finish it all at once and I didn't feel up to it after the 1st "big read". So, I'm giving myself "a day or few".
I look forward to telling you how it all ends (well not exactly). I am fairly sure that I won't be disappointed. At least I hope so. I also hope that the book ends in a way that suggests a sequel. Yes, it is starting out that good. Will "Bush Bimbaugh" get his comeupance? Only time will tell. LOL.
Carmen
Well, truth be told, I have not finished reading the book. I have not gotten further than I was when I wrote that little p.s. Not because the book isn't good. As I said before it definitely is as I read just about 50 pages shy of half the enormous almost 750 pages in basically one sitting.
Anyway, I decided to do a partial review of the book so that it could be next to the July 4th post. Cause what I've read so far I definitely like. First of all, let me say that even though when I heard of the book and it's subject matter I was eager to read it, I have to admit that I thought I'd be disappointed.
There were two reasons for this. The first is because the author is not known to write non-fiction - it is his first time at it - so I thought it might be quite "dry". The second is because when I saw the book in Chapters, when I was considering buying it rather than borrowing it from the library, I saw it was huge!
That said, I got sucked in immediately. Although, the premise (as you can pretty much figure out by the title) is kind of hokey and schmaltzy, it still grabs you. Well it did me anyway. I was crying a bit on page 2. LOL. The next time I noticed myself crying was on about page 39. From there I managed to suck it up a little. LOL.
The plot is simply this... The world is going to hell in a hand-basket and the richest man in the U.S. Warren Buffett decides he is going to do something about it! He decides this after realizing that a disaster like Hurricane Katrina is being bungled by the government of the day (The Bush II government)...
He gets the idea to recruit about a dozen other "super-rich" do-gooders that he thinks can start a revolution of sorts. Well that is the basic plot outline. Some of the millionaires and billionaires he recruits are known by the general public. People like Ted Turner, Bill Cosby and Yoko Ono. Yes, Yoko Ono. She provides the art
Yoko Ono is also the only women in the little rich people do-gooder club but that is a small quibble. I did what I often do and read the last paragraph. LOL. She does get the last word. Yes! Although, the final paragraph did seem a little lame. However, since I'm not to the end, I can't really judge it fairly.
One phrase that stuck out as kind of funny was "the carbohydrate economy" (you'll just have to read it to figure that one out - lol). Another was Wal-Martians. It also refers to a Wal-Mart "wanna-be" it calls Wal-Fart. LOL. Actually Wal-Mart plays a big part in the proceedings and as I'm sure you can figure out, an unpleasant one
Anyway, that is about all I have to say about the book so far, other than to explain why I didn't finish the 2nd half already in a 2nd "big gulp". I knew if I started reading it again, I would want to finish it all at once and I didn't feel up to it after the 1st "big read". So, I'm giving myself "a day or few".
I look forward to telling you how it all ends (well not exactly). I am fairly sure that I won't be disappointed. At least I hope so. I also hope that the book ends in a way that suggests a sequel. Yes, it is starting out that good. Will "Bush Bimbaugh" get his comeupance? Only time will tell. LOL.
Carmen
Sunday, July 4, 2010
The Fourth of July
So I'm all caught up on blog posts. I am working on a current day's post now. It feels nice. I really have to get away from this faux time-stamping thing I've got myself hooked on now. LOL.
Anyway, today is the Fourth of July. Even though I'm Canadian, I love the fourth of July. I wish I lived in a border town on day's like today. Then I could see the fireworks. Americans always do them so much better than Canadians.
Maybe it's because of the American's usual excess pride in themselves. But it seems like the Fourth of July (from what little I've seen) is always done like 3 times better than Canada Day. The fireworks, the bunting (I love the bunting).
Everything. Symphony with the Pops. It's just such an extravaganza. I haven't turned on the tv. (I'm not much for it anymore) so I haven't seen any of the events today but I probably will get my little fix before the day is out.
So, what do you think? Do the American's really do that much better a job of celebrating their day than we (and possibly most if not all other countries) do of celebrating ours? If so, why do you think that is?
Carmen
P.S. I just started a newly published (year old) book on the July 4th weekend that is sort of applicable to the holiday. It is a book by the great American consumer advocate Ralph Nader that is called "Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us".
It is his first work of fiction. It is incredible. In basically 1 sitting I read 312 pages of the 733 total pages. It's long but so far it is very good. I encourage you all to read it. I will probably review it soon.
Anyway, today is the Fourth of July. Even though I'm Canadian, I love the fourth of July. I wish I lived in a border town on day's like today. Then I could see the fireworks. Americans always do them so much better than Canadians.
Maybe it's because of the American's usual excess pride in themselves. But it seems like the Fourth of July (from what little I've seen) is always done like 3 times better than Canada Day. The fireworks, the bunting (I love the bunting).
Everything. Symphony with the Pops. It's just such an extravaganza. I haven't turned on the tv. (I'm not much for it anymore) so I haven't seen any of the events today but I probably will get my little fix before the day is out.
So, what do you think? Do the American's really do that much better a job of celebrating their day than we (and possibly most if not all other countries) do of celebrating ours? If so, why do you think that is?
Carmen
P.S. I just started a newly published (year old) book on the July 4th weekend that is sort of applicable to the holiday. It is a book by the great American consumer advocate Ralph Nader that is called "Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us".
It is his first work of fiction. It is incredible. In basically 1 sitting I read 312 pages of the 733 total pages. It's long but so far it is very good. I encourage you all to read it. I will probably review it soon.
Locking Horns With A Lockhorn - Not!
Well, hello yet again. This time I am posting a bit of a "vent". In my post from several months ago I think called "Outing" Family and Friends I talked about my oldest sister "Loretta Lockhorn". LOL. Obviously not her real name.
I must say though that that alias reminds me a lot of her and her husband "Leroy Lockhorn, Sr.". For anyone who knows of that comic strip "The Lockhorns", which I at first thought was called "The Bickersons", there is a pretty remarkable similarilty.
Anyway, the other day my late youngest uncle on my dad's side's wife, my "Aunt Lily" came to the city for a brief visit. She was only at my mom's house for one day during which me, and both my sisters and my surviving brother-in-law came for dinner.
It was during this visit, that I almost locked horns with a Lockhorn. LOL. It went something like this... I made some simple comment on something (I can't remember what as I was ticked off afterward & didn't remember).
My sister Loretta, as is her wont on more than one occasion, decided to get the last word like a typical oldest sister. It wasn't that it was the last word, per se, but the annoying way she did it that was the problem.
Whoever I was talking about (probably a celebrity) she decided she had to play the devil's advocate for. Her comment to me was "She probably doesn't think so". Now under the circumstances (specifically me not remembering what I said - LOL), it seems harmless.
I will assure you, however, I found it anything but. The snotty, I-know-better way it was said, combined with the childish, simple-minded (imo) sentiments of the basic statement itself just grated on my nerves.
I say childish and simple-minded because (and this is by far not the first time) this sentiment is so obvious. That is, if someone disagrees with you, like they obviously would if you were criticising them, they would "probably not think so".
I bring up this petty little thing because, well because, first of all, I can. LOL. I have a blog. And I'm miffed. I could have said something (not at all nice in the least as I have the exact words in mind) but at the time chose "the high road".
I left the "scene of the crime" annoyed with my self though for letting it go. I can't say for sure if it was a case (probably was) that I didn't want to start something in front of my aunt but I don't think the "high road" was so high.
I left feeling that I let my sister get away with being a bitch and I don't like it one little bit. Maybe I'm over-reacting. I don't think so. Being the youngest by so much, I'm used to bitchy, know-it-all comments & I think it's time I put an end to it
Once and for all. If that is possible. So my question to you is, with your limited knowledge of the situation (and my not remembering my exact comment doesn't help), do you think I am right to still have been so annoyed after the fact?
Carmen
I must say though that that alias reminds me a lot of her and her husband "Leroy Lockhorn, Sr.". For anyone who knows of that comic strip "The Lockhorns", which I at first thought was called "The Bickersons", there is a pretty remarkable similarilty.
Anyway, the other day my late youngest uncle on my dad's side's wife, my "Aunt Lily" came to the city for a brief visit. She was only at my mom's house for one day during which me, and both my sisters and my surviving brother-in-law came for dinner.
It was during this visit, that I almost locked horns with a Lockhorn. LOL. It went something like this... I made some simple comment on something (I can't remember what as I was ticked off afterward & didn't remember).
My sister Loretta, as is her wont on more than one occasion, decided to get the last word like a typical oldest sister. It wasn't that it was the last word, per se, but the annoying way she did it that was the problem.
Whoever I was talking about (probably a celebrity) she decided she had to play the devil's advocate for. Her comment to me was "She probably doesn't think so". Now under the circumstances (specifically me not remembering what I said - LOL), it seems harmless.
I will assure you, however, I found it anything but. The snotty, I-know-better way it was said, combined with the childish, simple-minded (imo) sentiments of the basic statement itself just grated on my nerves.
I say childish and simple-minded because (and this is by far not the first time) this sentiment is so obvious. That is, if someone disagrees with you, like they obviously would if you were criticising them, they would "probably not think so".
I bring up this petty little thing because, well because, first of all, I can. LOL. I have a blog. And I'm miffed. I could have said something (not at all nice in the least as I have the exact words in mind) but at the time chose "the high road".
I left the "scene of the crime" annoyed with my self though for letting it go. I can't say for sure if it was a case (probably was) that I didn't want to start something in front of my aunt but I don't think the "high road" was so high.
I left feeling that I let my sister get away with being a bitch and I don't like it one little bit. Maybe I'm over-reacting. I don't think so. Being the youngest by so much, I'm used to bitchy, know-it-all comments & I think it's time I put an end to it
Once and for all. If that is possible. So my question to you is, with your limited knowledge of the situation (and my not remembering my exact comment doesn't help), do you think I am right to still have been so annoyed after the fact?
Carmen
Saturday, July 3, 2010
"Chelsea Lately"
Well, hello again. Good news. I signed on briefly on Friday to date-stamp my Canada Day post and I found to my surprise that I had a 49th follower. I didn't even have a chance to look at who it was though as I was rushing out to catch a bus.
When I got to the library though, I clicked on the followers list to find that my new follower seems to be a total random. Yay! Her name is chelsea313... and unfortunately as I've probably said before, I can't use my friend connect feature.
So, Chelsea, if you are reading this please leave a comment on one of my posts if you have your own blogger blog and then I can click on your name and leave a comment on your blog thanking you.
If you don't have a blogger blog then leave a comment on a post (ideally this one, but regardless a comment) and if you don't mind leaving it for "the world" to see leave me your e-mail address in the comment.
Finally, if that doesn't appeal to you, my email address is listed in my facebook badge listed on the top right hand side of my blog in the first of my gadgets. If you can't find this then here it is again...
carmen_tourney2@live.com I look forward to hearing from you and having you follow my blog regularly I hope and ideally leaving comments on a regular basis. Oh, btw, in your response please note how you found my blog if you would. Thanks.
Carmen
When I got to the library though, I clicked on the followers list to find that my new follower seems to be a total random. Yay! Her name is chelsea313... and unfortunately as I've probably said before, I can't use my friend connect feature.
So, Chelsea, if you are reading this please leave a comment on one of my posts if you have your own blogger blog and then I can click on your name and leave a comment on your blog thanking you.
If you don't have a blogger blog then leave a comment on a post (ideally this one, but regardless a comment) and if you don't mind leaving it for "the world" to see leave me your e-mail address in the comment.
Finally, if that doesn't appeal to you, my email address is listed in my facebook badge listed on the top right hand side of my blog in the first of my gadgets. If you can't find this then here it is again...
carmen_tourney2@live.com I look forward to hearing from you and having you follow my blog regularly I hope and ideally leaving comments on a regular basis. Oh, btw, in your response please note how you found my blog if you would. Thanks.
Carmen
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Canada Day
Hi there. Canada Day was a bit of a bust. I had plans to spend the day at a local park - Borden Park with a friend who suggested this after reading/hearing about the event.
Event's conspired to make it so we didn't meet up. So I went home to spend the day quietly. She had to do the same as she lives in an area that is not far from the LRT but has lousy bus service from her home to the station I guess.
The event was a bbq in the park but my friend had to be on her way back home by only about 5 pm to catch the last bus. Isn't that pathetic. Bus service really should be improved. At least have buses run later if not more often.
Anyway, one thing I wanted to say about the event we missed before I go is how popular it seemed to be. I was reading a community paper at my Mom's (in roughly the same area as the event was held) and it gave estimated attendances.
It seems that this would have been the 3rd year for the event. The first year they expected 2000 people and got 5000. The second year they expected 7000 and got 14,000 They didn't say what the estimate for this year were but use your imagination.
Maybe next year we will get there. One thing is for sure though. I plan to get there early if those ever increasing numbers are anything to go by. I don't want to be in that crush of people for too long. LOL.
So how was your Canada Day?
Carmen
Event's conspired to make it so we didn't meet up. So I went home to spend the day quietly. She had to do the same as she lives in an area that is not far from the LRT but has lousy bus service from her home to the station I guess.
The event was a bbq in the park but my friend had to be on her way back home by only about 5 pm to catch the last bus. Isn't that pathetic. Bus service really should be improved. At least have buses run later if not more often.
Anyway, one thing I wanted to say about the event we missed before I go is how popular it seemed to be. I was reading a community paper at my Mom's (in roughly the same area as the event was held) and it gave estimated attendances.
It seems that this would have been the 3rd year for the event. The first year they expected 2000 people and got 5000. The second year they expected 7000 and got 14,000 They didn't say what the estimate for this year were but use your imagination.
Maybe next year we will get there. One thing is for sure though. I plan to get there early if those ever increasing numbers are anything to go by. I don't want to be in that crush of people for too long. LOL.
So how was your Canada Day?
Carmen
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
50 Followers - Well, Almost
Today (more on that later), I have some more exciting (to me) news. I am "officially" at 48 followers. Now some of you may be wondering why I didn't just save this news till I actually hit 50.
The reason for that is because I don't know when I'll hit the magic 5-0 and 48 is so close especially when it dove-tails with the other milestone I just mentioned yesterday of reaching my 75th post.
In a "brief" aside, I italicized yesterday because as I said in my first words of this post 'Today (more on that later)' my best laid plans to post at exactly 1:00am today were foiled by a "blogger glitch".
It time-stamps the original "save now" and the actual time on the post as two different times.
These times are only one to two minutes apart but it makes a difference when you are as "anal" about patterns and "parallelism" as I am. I wanted all my posts to be on the same day since they would basically be anyway. Oh well.
Deep calming breaths. LOL.
Well, so much for a brief aside as well. Anyway, back to my exciting news about my new followers. I picked up these followers in two different places. There should have been more (the exact fifty?) from a third place but that was not to be.
The first place, where I got 1 of my new followers is, oddly enough, the AAYSR site that I mentioned last post. I was reading some reviews there and clicked on her blog because of a funny post they mentioned while dissing the rest of her site.
I went on to leave a (nice) comment on the particular funny post in question because it was truly one of the funniest things I've read in a while and the lady whose blog it was - Nilu - was kind enough to check me out and also follow me.
The second place, where I got 3 of my new followers is one that is a secret. That is because I want to unveil the information that goes with telling you all about that site on my birthday in October! Yes, October.
It is a long ways away, but I think it is worth the wait because (perhaps it's just more analness on my part) my birthday is the same day as a special day for this particular group and this group is very important to me and plays a large part in who I am.
So, I will basically leave it at this - I have added Zane Rainne, Shelle (Nora) and Deaf Blind (Nika) from that group. Oh, and because the group is a largish one I have hopes of adding some more from there.
The third place, the one that was the non-starter as far as giving me any followers even though I had high hopes for it was the blog interviewer site I mentioned in a previous post. Well, maybe at some future point.
One can hope.
Carmen
P.S. I will not bother to add the links to the new followers who have blogs - Nilu and Deaf Blind (Nika) because I can't autolink yet.
When I can I will edit them in or instead do a listing of all the blogs up until that time that I wanted to give from the beginning of this problem.
The C.A.T.
The reason for that is because I don't know when I'll hit the magic 5-0 and 48 is so close especially when it dove-tails with the other milestone I just mentioned yesterday of reaching my 75th post.
In a "brief" aside, I italicized yesterday because as I said in my first words of this post 'Today (more on that later)' my best laid plans to post at exactly 1:00am today were foiled by a "blogger glitch".
It time-stamps the original "save now" and the actual time on the post as two different times.
These times are only one to two minutes apart but it makes a difference when you are as "anal" about patterns and "parallelism" as I am. I wanted all my posts to be on the same day since they would basically be anyway. Oh well.
Deep calming breaths. LOL.
Well, so much for a brief aside as well. Anyway, back to my exciting news about my new followers. I picked up these followers in two different places. There should have been more (the exact fifty?) from a third place but that was not to be.
The first place, where I got 1 of my new followers is, oddly enough, the AAYSR site that I mentioned last post. I was reading some reviews there and clicked on her blog because of a funny post they mentioned while dissing the rest of her site.
I went on to leave a (nice) comment on the particular funny post in question because it was truly one of the funniest things I've read in a while and the lady whose blog it was - Nilu - was kind enough to check me out and also follow me.
The second place, where I got 3 of my new followers is one that is a secret. That is because I want to unveil the information that goes with telling you all about that site on my birthday in October! Yes, October.
It is a long ways away, but I think it is worth the wait because (perhaps it's just more analness on my part) my birthday is the same day as a special day for this particular group and this group is very important to me and plays a large part in who I am.
So, I will basically leave it at this - I have added Zane Rainne, Shelle (Nora) and Deaf Blind (Nika) from that group. Oh, and because the group is a largish one I have hopes of adding some more from there.
The third place, the one that was the non-starter as far as giving me any followers even though I had high hopes for it was the blog interviewer site I mentioned in a previous post. Well, maybe at some future point.
One can hope.
Carmen
P.S. I will not bother to add the links to the new followers who have blogs - Nilu and Deaf Blind (Nika) because I can't autolink yet.
When I can I will edit them in or instead do a listing of all the blogs up until that time that I wanted to give from the beginning of this problem.
The C.A.T.
Post #75 - And Some Exciting News!
Well people for someone who was in such a hurry to post several things the last time I posted so that I could be at Post #75 right away, it's taken 9 days to post again. LOL. The reason for this sad state of affairs has little to do with me.
It's all F.J.'s fault. Or Blogger's. Or both. Definitely not mine. When in doubt, find someone else to blame. Seriously, though I blame one or both of them (haven't figured out which yet) because I was going to let F.J. do my 75th post as a guest.
First of all, I had to get in touch with him to tell him I was at the 75th post that we agreed upon that he would write, then he had to figure out what he wanted to write about (should've thought of that earlier) and then the problems really started.
Even after I gave him my username and password (trusting soul that I am - actually not really, F.J. is just particularly trustworthy) he tried to sign in not once but twice (or more) and it just didn't work.
I was waiting and waiting for it to work for him (if at first you don't succeed...) so I kept waiting as the days ticked by. This was a bit agonizing for me as I have a pattern of posts to complete by the end of the month.
That pattern means I need 3 more after this post I believe, so I really wasn't looking forward to glomming them all together again. But here goes. First, for Post #75 other than mentioning that F.J.'s post was the surprise I had planned I will tell you that on last Thursday which was June 24th I finally submitted to AAYSR.
That, for those who don't know, stands for Ask And Ye Shall Receive. That is the "extreme" blog review site - address - http://www.iwillfuckingtearyouapart.com that I talked about submitting my blog to quite a while back.
I said originally, I think, that I would do it at about 50 posts and then changed that to 75 or 100. Well 75 is here and I thought - now's the time. If I waited any longer I might just have changed my mind. They are tough after all.
I'm not sure when I will get my review. They listed two different time frames in two different places. On their website (at least way back when I read their submission rules) they said that it would likely take 2 to 3 months to get to submissions.
However, when I actually did my submission and got the reply email (time-stamped one minute after I typed in as my submission time - talk about making quick work of things) the e-mail said it would be more like a couple (2 - 3) weeks! Go figure.
Well, hopefully it is sooner rather than later as I am dying to see my review and the hoped for surge in traffic it brings with it. Hopefully I will get a friend to install (or at least help me install) a site-meter/traffic-counter before then.
Carmen
P.S. In the next post I will mention some other exciting (well to me anyway!) news that didn't "fit" with this post.
It's all F.J.'s fault. Or Blogger's. Or both. Definitely not mine. When in doubt, find someone else to blame. Seriously, though I blame one or both of them (haven't figured out which yet) because I was going to let F.J. do my 75th post as a guest.
First of all, I had to get in touch with him to tell him I was at the 75th post that we agreed upon that he would write, then he had to figure out what he wanted to write about (should've thought of that earlier) and then the problems really started.
Even after I gave him my username and password (trusting soul that I am - actually not really, F.J. is just particularly trustworthy) he tried to sign in not once but twice (or more) and it just didn't work.
I was waiting and waiting for it to work for him (if at first you don't succeed...) so I kept waiting as the days ticked by. This was a bit agonizing for me as I have a pattern of posts to complete by the end of the month.
That pattern means I need 3 more after this post I believe, so I really wasn't looking forward to glomming them all together again. But here goes. First, for Post #75 other than mentioning that F.J.'s post was the surprise I had planned I will tell you that on last Thursday which was June 24th I finally submitted to AAYSR.
That, for those who don't know, stands for Ask And Ye Shall Receive. That is the "extreme" blog review site - address - http://www.iwillfuckingtearyouapart.com that I talked about submitting my blog to quite a while back.
I said originally, I think, that I would do it at about 50 posts and then changed that to 75 or 100. Well 75 is here and I thought - now's the time. If I waited any longer I might just have changed my mind. They are tough after all.
I'm not sure when I will get my review. They listed two different time frames in two different places. On their website (at least way back when I read their submission rules) they said that it would likely take 2 to 3 months to get to submissions.
However, when I actually did my submission and got the reply email (time-stamped one minute after I typed in as my submission time - talk about making quick work of things) the e-mail said it would be more like a couple (2 - 3) weeks! Go figure.
Well, hopefully it is sooner rather than later as I am dying to see my review and the hoped for surge in traffic it brings with it. Hopefully I will get a friend to install (or at least help me install) a site-meter/traffic-counter before then.
Carmen
P.S. In the next post I will mention some other exciting (well to me anyway!) news that didn't "fit" with this post.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Another Friendly "Acquaintance" - Who Likes Cats!
Hello people. Another post today, as I want to get in a certain number of posts ASAP because after this post which is my 74th I have a surprise post I am posting for #75. So I want to get to it as quickly as possible. Just like a little kid. LOL.
I also have a second reason for posting yet again today. On about Thursday I got a phone call. It was not from anyone I knew. In fact, it was from one of many peoples most dreaded callers - a telemarketer.
Now having been a telemarketer myself and for several years (about 6 plus) I have some idea of how hard it can be. So I didn't "dismiss" the caller outright. However, this was the upteenth time I had gotten this same call.
I knew what it was about from the moment the girl I was talking to said she was from Shaw Cable. I was up to date on my internet bill. It could mean only one thing. She was trying to sell me on a "deal" on "my" cable &/or phone bills.
This is not to be dismissive, but there is no way I would ever use this deal. I live in a group home, as I've mentioned, and tv and phone are paid for by the house. So I attempted to cut her off at the pass so to speak.
Before I even got to that though, I realized I had a very spirited, and also formidable "foe" who was good at her job. Before I could get that statement out, which I did quite quickly though, she had already asked a "softening" question.
Her gambit was the weather. Apparently she was from Winnipeg, where it was rainy and miserable. She asked if that was the case in Edmonton. When I said no, she re-iterated her gloomy situation. I briefly commiss-erated.
What else could I have done. I was a telemarketer too. Having timed her "softening" just right I felt she earned the right to a friendly response. Nevertheless, I knew she had no hope for the reason mentioned above so I quickly brought out the I won't waste your time speech.
Basically, I told her, before she could even tell me why she was calling, what she was calling about. I think that surprised her a little, considering I let her "vent" about her city's weather.
After telling her quickly what she was calling about before she could tell me, I proceeded equally quickly to state the group home situation pre-cluded my needing to buy anything other than my own internet connection.
Finally, I told her the title line of the speech, "so, I won't waste your time". I told her that her next call could be the one and the sooner she went on to that the better basically. That is when she surprised me a little yet again.
She said she was having a bad day, and that she enjoyed talking to me. Apparently, she must have had, along with the crappy weather and perhaps, who knows what personal crises, several bad calls. So she wasn't in a real rush to get back to it.
That is when inspiration struck. Always one to seize an opportunity to promote this blog (my baby), I decided to act. I told her that if she found me so pleasant and agreeable she might be interested in reading my blog and more importantly joining. LOL.
She didn't seem put off by this, or the fact that obviously this was not going to be a quid pro quo situation. I definitely was not a buyer. Nevertheless, she willingly took down this blog's somewhat lengthy address.
Perhaps this was because I used my own "softening" technique. I told her (truthfully) that I had the bet I have with a friend that I get 75 "official" followers by my 1 year anniversary.
She seemed to be on board with this. She even asked about what my blog was about and enquired as to whether it in fact had anything to do with cats. I told her those were just my initials and asked if she liked cats.
She definitely did, so I promised her that I would in honor of her being willing to help with my "project" I would try to post something about cats. Well I honestly didn't know what I was going to write about.
The only person I know well who has cats that I know (and love!) and could tell funny stories about has banned me from talking about her. So imagine my surprise, and my delight when in looking at some other bloggers interviews from the blog-interviewer site I came across the perfect two posts. One in particular.
One site was of a photographer who does nothing but post his pictures (he takes copious amounts he admits) on a quite regular basis. I was going to give the web address to that site as one of his fairly recent posts high-lighted (and well at that) cat photographs.
The second site I came across had only one picture of a cat, but it was a doozy. Picture this. A cat wedging itself in a empty 12-pack case of coke. Head sticking out of the front. Front legs sticking out of the sides and back end and legs sticking out of the back of the paper case with the main body of the cat entombed by paper. LOL. It was a sight alright.
I won't add the addresses for them right now as I would have to look them up in my pages of notes I took surfing websites for inspiration and because my automatic links, as I've said before, don't work right now even after several attempts.
Besides, she stood me up. I'm still waiting for her to join or at least leave a comment as I had asked so I would know she was here. But I mentioned the cat stories as I had "promised" to include cat post material.
So, after beating the drum for friend/acquaintance Daniel Seddiqui in my last post, I was beating the drum for myself and fulfilling a promise with this post to another friendly a-c-q-u-a-i-n-t-a-n-c-e of sorts
Whereever you may be Sammy (yes that is the spelling of -her- name) I haven't completely lost faith in you. Perhaps you got busy. Maybe there were flash floods. Maybe the string of bad callers left you massively clinically depressed. Could be. LOL.
A fellow marketer can dream can't she. LOL. So, dear readers I'll try to keep you posted on any potential "developments". That is if I don't go into a massive clinical depression from waiting perhaps, even likely, unrequited. Alas, tis the way it is.
Till later,
The (sad) C.A.T.
I also have a second reason for posting yet again today. On about Thursday I got a phone call. It was not from anyone I knew. In fact, it was from one of many peoples most dreaded callers - a telemarketer.
Now having been a telemarketer myself and for several years (about 6 plus) I have some idea of how hard it can be. So I didn't "dismiss" the caller outright. However, this was the upteenth time I had gotten this same call.
I knew what it was about from the moment the girl I was talking to said she was from Shaw Cable. I was up to date on my internet bill. It could mean only one thing. She was trying to sell me on a "deal" on "my" cable &/or phone bills.
This is not to be dismissive, but there is no way I would ever use this deal. I live in a group home, as I've mentioned, and tv and phone are paid for by the house. So I attempted to cut her off at the pass so to speak.
Before I even got to that though, I realized I had a very spirited, and also formidable "foe" who was good at her job. Before I could get that statement out, which I did quite quickly though, she had already asked a "softening" question.
Her gambit was the weather. Apparently she was from Winnipeg, where it was rainy and miserable. She asked if that was the case in Edmonton. When I said no, she re-iterated her gloomy situation. I briefly commiss-erated.
What else could I have done. I was a telemarketer too. Having timed her "softening" just right I felt she earned the right to a friendly response. Nevertheless, I knew she had no hope for the reason mentioned above so I quickly brought out the I won't waste your time speech.
Basically, I told her, before she could even tell me why she was calling, what she was calling about. I think that surprised her a little, considering I let her "vent" about her city's weather.
After telling her quickly what she was calling about before she could tell me, I proceeded equally quickly to state the group home situation pre-cluded my needing to buy anything other than my own internet connection.
Finally, I told her the title line of the speech, "so, I won't waste your time". I told her that her next call could be the one and the sooner she went on to that the better basically. That is when she surprised me a little yet again.
She said she was having a bad day, and that she enjoyed talking to me. Apparently, she must have had, along with the crappy weather and perhaps, who knows what personal crises, several bad calls. So she wasn't in a real rush to get back to it.
That is when inspiration struck. Always one to seize an opportunity to promote this blog (my baby), I decided to act. I told her that if she found me so pleasant and agreeable she might be interested in reading my blog and more importantly joining. LOL.
She didn't seem put off by this, or the fact that obviously this was not going to be a quid pro quo situation. I definitely was not a buyer. Nevertheless, she willingly took down this blog's somewhat lengthy address.
Perhaps this was because I used my own "softening" technique. I told her (truthfully) that I had the bet I have with a friend that I get 75 "official" followers by my 1 year anniversary.
She seemed to be on board with this. She even asked about what my blog was about and enquired as to whether it in fact had anything to do with cats. I told her those were just my initials and asked if she liked cats.
She definitely did, so I promised her that I would in honor of her being willing to help with my "project" I would try to post something about cats. Well I honestly didn't know what I was going to write about.
The only person I know well who has cats that I know (and love!) and could tell funny stories about has banned me from talking about her. So imagine my surprise, and my delight when in looking at some other bloggers interviews from the blog-interviewer site I came across the perfect two posts. One in particular.
One site was of a photographer who does nothing but post his pictures (he takes copious amounts he admits) on a quite regular basis. I was going to give the web address to that site as one of his fairly recent posts high-lighted (and well at that) cat photographs.
The second site I came across had only one picture of a cat, but it was a doozy. Picture this. A cat wedging itself in a empty 12-pack case of coke. Head sticking out of the front. Front legs sticking out of the sides and back end and legs sticking out of the back of the paper case with the main body of the cat entombed by paper. LOL. It was a sight alright.
I won't add the addresses for them right now as I would have to look them up in my pages of notes I took surfing websites for inspiration and because my automatic links, as I've said before, don't work right now even after several attempts.
Besides, she stood me up. I'm still waiting for her to join or at least leave a comment as I had asked so I would know she was here. But I mentioned the cat stories as I had "promised" to include cat post material.
So, after beating the drum for friend/acquaintance Daniel Seddiqui in my last post, I was beating the drum for myself and fulfilling a promise with this post to another friendly a-c-q-u-a-i-n-t-a-n-c-e of sorts
Whereever you may be Sammy (yes that is the spelling of -her- name) I haven't completely lost faith in you. Perhaps you got busy. Maybe there were flash floods. Maybe the string of bad callers left you massively clinically depressed. Could be. LOL.
A fellow marketer can dream can't she. LOL. So, dear readers I'll try to keep you posted on any potential "developments". That is if I don't go into a massive clinical depression from waiting perhaps, even likely, unrequited. Alas, tis the way it is.
Till later,
The (sad) C.A.T.
Summer Solstice
Hi everyone. Today is officially the first day of summer - what is the longest, and supposed to be the sunniest day of the year. Well 2010 didn't disappoint here in Edmonton.
It was a nice sunny day that thankfully wasn't too hot. I hate that worse then it being too cold. It was a fine day to spend, as I did, meeting for coffee with friends.
Speaking of friends, I was contacted by a internet friend/acquaintance just the other day who asked if I would do him a favor. It didn't seem much to ask, so here it is. The friend acquaintance is the first-time author Daniel Seddiqui.
Daniel, wrote a book called 50 Jobs, 50 States about his adventure in work-ing, yes, 50 entirely different jobs in all 50 states when he couldn't find a worthwhile full-time job after graduating from his university studies.
He did this with the intention of seeing what there was to offer, picking and lining up jobs in each state that had some connection to the state it self. For instance, in West Virginia I believe he worked in a coal mine.
Each job was only a week as the project was to be completed in 50 weeks as well. However, it wasn't as easy as it sounds as many of the jobs were quite physical and a lot of them took a variety of different skills.
For example he was a surfing instructor in Hawaii, he made cheese in another state, and so on and so on. Now here is where the favor comes in. Daniel has entered a contest put on by Mitchum anti-perspirant. The main prize is $100,000.
The contest is promoting the hardest working person in America. The hook is that Mitchum sees itself as the hardest working anti-perspirant. There are all manner of people in all manner of occupations from florist to cop entered.
Daniel would like me to encourage the readers of my blog to go to the Mitchum web-site and vote for him. I have already done so myself. If you are interested in seeing why Daniel might deserve your vote go to the site and check out his video.
Each contestant has a video that makes their case for being the hardest working. When you see the breadth of jobs and the myriad skills he must have needed to pull them all off, I'm sure you will very likely consider him to be your pick as well.
By all means look at the other videos, but I really think Daniel's video made his case for him pretty well. You can only vote once but you do not have to sign up or register to do it as it seems to go by your computer address so one vote per family.
While this post was only nominally about the solstice, I encourage you all to take the longest day of the year to vote for the hardest working person in America, whoever that may be for you. For me that is Daniel. Hopefully, it will be for you.
Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers who take the little bit of time it takes to go to the site and look at the short videos of Daniel and possibly the other most likely candidates in your mind.
The address is http://www.lgcphxe9ri5o.mitchumhardestworking.com I was going to tell you to just click on the link but I can't get it to work so you will have to take a moment to write it down and then type it in. Please do. Note after the 5 is a letter o not a number 0. Thanks again
Carmen
It was a nice sunny day that thankfully wasn't too hot. I hate that worse then it being too cold. It was a fine day to spend, as I did, meeting for coffee with friends.
Speaking of friends, I was contacted by a internet friend/acquaintance just the other day who asked if I would do him a favor. It didn't seem much to ask, so here it is. The friend acquaintance is the first-time author Daniel Seddiqui.
Daniel, wrote a book called 50 Jobs, 50 States about his adventure in work-ing, yes, 50 entirely different jobs in all 50 states when he couldn't find a worthwhile full-time job after graduating from his university studies.
He did this with the intention of seeing what there was to offer, picking and lining up jobs in each state that had some connection to the state it self. For instance, in West Virginia I believe he worked in a coal mine.
Each job was only a week as the project was to be completed in 50 weeks as well. However, it wasn't as easy as it sounds as many of the jobs were quite physical and a lot of them took a variety of different skills.
For example he was a surfing instructor in Hawaii, he made cheese in another state, and so on and so on. Now here is where the favor comes in. Daniel has entered a contest put on by Mitchum anti-perspirant. The main prize is $100,000.
The contest is promoting the hardest working person in America. The hook is that Mitchum sees itself as the hardest working anti-perspirant. There are all manner of people in all manner of occupations from florist to cop entered.
Daniel would like me to encourage the readers of my blog to go to the Mitchum web-site and vote for him. I have already done so myself. If you are interested in seeing why Daniel might deserve your vote go to the site and check out his video.
Each contestant has a video that makes their case for being the hardest working. When you see the breadth of jobs and the myriad skills he must have needed to pull them all off, I'm sure you will very likely consider him to be your pick as well.
By all means look at the other videos, but I really think Daniel's video made his case for him pretty well. You can only vote once but you do not have to sign up or register to do it as it seems to go by your computer address so one vote per family.
While this post was only nominally about the solstice, I encourage you all to take the longest day of the year to vote for the hardest working person in America, whoever that may be for you. For me that is Daniel. Hopefully, it will be for you.
Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers who take the little bit of time it takes to go to the site and look at the short videos of Daniel and possibly the other most likely candidates in your mind.
The address is http://www.lgcphxe9ri5o.mitchumhardestworking.com I was going to tell you to just click on the link but I can't get it to work so you will have to take a moment to write it down and then type it in. Please do. Note after the 5 is a letter o not a number 0. Thanks again
Carmen
Father's Day
Hello everyone. Well unfortunately, this post isn't so timely. I didn't even get to "date-stamp" it "properly" as I was busy with checking out/posting to bloginterviewer.
Just gonna post what is probably going to be a shorter post about a nice memory of my dad. I don't have too many as he worked long hours while I was growing up so I didn't see much of him and then he died about 30 years ago when I was 13.
I don't know how old I was at the time - maybe my mom would remember if I asked her. Anyway, for some reason my dad was at the department store (Sears I'm pretty sure) with Mom & Me/I(?).
Whatever brought him to Sears with us that evening (I'm also pretty sure for some reason it was evening) it worked out extremely well for me. LOL. You see, usually Mom was very good about buying me whatever I wanted since I didn't really ask for much.
This day however, we were shopping for a coat (or at least a coat caught my eye - but I think we were shopping for it) and I picked one that she definitely said I could not have.
It was a "fur" coat. White with caramel colored splotches on it. It also had a jaunty brown leather belt. I r-e-a-l-l-y wanted that coat. I don't remember if I asked more than once but regardless Dad saw how much I wanted it obviously.
Somehow, he managed to prevail and Mom was over-ruled/won-over (again not sure which). I got my spotted "fur" coat! I loved that coat and wore it for several years/until I outgrew it.
Apparently, it was just like Dad (I wouldn't know as I am v-e-r-y much younger than my siblings) to be a soft-touch. One story Mom did tell me that I remember is that when my two sisters and my brother were young they went grocery shopping with Dad at least once.
On this/these shopping trip(s) he was a sucker for being talked into buying crazy fruits (like whole coconut - lol) and stuff like that. Can you imagine trying to get into a whole coconut? Or what Mom said when they brought it home. LOL
Well, I guess I'll end by saying "Thanks Dad" for this and my other good memories of you. I must admit that as you aren't here now for so many years and never really were a big part of my childhood, I don't think of you often enough. But I do still miss you when I do. Happy (Belated) Father's Day (you would have been 90 this year).
Love,
Carmen
Just gonna post what is probably going to be a shorter post about a nice memory of my dad. I don't have too many as he worked long hours while I was growing up so I didn't see much of him and then he died about 30 years ago when I was 13.
I don't know how old I was at the time - maybe my mom would remember if I asked her. Anyway, for some reason my dad was at the department store (Sears I'm pretty sure) with Mom & Me/I(?).
Whatever brought him to Sears with us that evening (I'm also pretty sure for some reason it was evening) it worked out extremely well for me. LOL. You see, usually Mom was very good about buying me whatever I wanted since I didn't really ask for much.
This day however, we were shopping for a coat (or at least a coat caught my eye - but I think we were shopping for it) and I picked one that she definitely said I could not have.
It was a "fur" coat. White with caramel colored splotches on it. It also had a jaunty brown leather belt. I r-e-a-l-l-y wanted that coat. I don't remember if I asked more than once but regardless Dad saw how much I wanted it obviously.
Somehow, he managed to prevail and Mom was over-ruled/won-over (again not sure which). I got my spotted "fur" coat! I loved that coat and wore it for several years/until I outgrew it.
Apparently, it was just like Dad (I wouldn't know as I am v-e-r-y much younger than my siblings) to be a soft-touch. One story Mom did tell me that I remember is that when my two sisters and my brother were young they went grocery shopping with Dad at least once.
On this/these shopping trip(s) he was a sucker for being talked into buying crazy fruits (like whole coconut - lol) and stuff like that. Can you imagine trying to get into a whole coconut? Or what Mom said when they brought it home. LOL
Well, I guess I'll end by saying "Thanks Dad" for this and my other good memories of you. I must admit that as you aren't here now for so many years and never really were a big part of my childhood, I don't think of you often enough. But I do still miss you when I do. Happy (Belated) Father's Day (you would have been 90 this year).
Love,
Carmen
Friday, June 18, 2010
Finding Something New
Well, I was supposed to post yesterday but I forgot. In fairness to me though, I have some pretty exciting news that I had to "wrap my head around".
First of all I have to say thank you to my friend Andrew D (starbird) for joining my blog when I asked him to a day or two ago.
Next, the exciting news. I have just stumbled upon a blogger feature called help forum (I believe that's the correct name) which actually allows you (the blogger) to chat (well not in real time) with other bloggers in a forum.
Not only does this mean I am now connected to other bloggers but it gives me a(nother) way of promoting my blog - through the forum which is what the other bloggers also do. Yay.
The best news about this so far, is that in just the first 24 hours or less, two people from the forums have found me and joined my blog officially. Thanks to both Coltin1948 and fizzee rascal for joining.
As a more formal thank-you I will include both their addresses for you to check their blogs out when I find out their addresses (right now I just link to them on the site). Each one has had something funny/or informative posted within the last few days as I found out for myself when I checked them out myself.
Another person from the site named Amber, who goes by the name Scrappy Chick or something similar (it's too late in the evening - actually early morning - to check on this but it's basically right) came by and, while she didn't join (yet! - lol), did leave a nice comment on my "Feel The Love" post (the Keanu Reeves mini-post).
I am finishing writing this "long" after I time-stamped this (about two days) and as I said it is late at night/early in the morning so I am adding on something that happened after (by a day or so) the help forum news.
I was looking at my list of blogs I follow and trying to decide which, if any, I could delete so I could add some of the forum people that add me (since, as I think I've said in a previous post, I am at my blogger limit of blogs to follow).
I only got to look at about 3 to 5 different blogs out of the 200 or 300 (whichever is the limit - I can't remember) when I came across something in someones comment section (since I was reading "sample" posts to see whether I "could" delete the blog or not) that caught my attention.
It was a offer to the blogger in question to submit an interview to something called bloginterviewer.com. It had a link so I checked it out and it offered the chance for bloggers like myself who chanced upon it to submit an interview to the site.
I am now officially on bloginterviewer.com. You can find me if you search through the 3 categories I picked to fall under (you were allowed a maximum of three). These are books and writing, movies and randomness.
I am hoping both these things will add to my blog's "stickiness" and bring traffic to my site. Only time will tell but I have a good feeling on both of them. So far, so good. I have left comments on several others interviews so maybe they will get back to me.
Carmen
P.S. I added a new widget/gadget to the sidebar. It is a refrigerator "toy" that you can leave "magnet messages" with. Unfortunately, there is a glitch. I don't cut & paste as I've said before, so I added it the "automatic" way and it is slightly too big so you can't use the letters I or R. LOL.
Till this is fixed use the -/_ key from the numeric feature. It's actually a - that you lower into the _ position. This makes it like a wheel-of-fortune puzzle. LOL. Feel free to leave me a message. It is at the bottom of my sidebar just under the Vanity Fair linkup. I look forward to reading your messages - just be nice! :)
The C.A.T.
First of all I have to say thank you to my friend Andrew D (starbird) for joining my blog when I asked him to a day or two ago.
Next, the exciting news. I have just stumbled upon a blogger feature called help forum (I believe that's the correct name) which actually allows you (the blogger) to chat (well not in real time) with other bloggers in a forum.
Not only does this mean I am now connected to other bloggers but it gives me a(nother) way of promoting my blog - through the forum which is what the other bloggers also do. Yay.
The best news about this so far, is that in just the first 24 hours or less, two people from the forums have found me and joined my blog officially. Thanks to both Coltin1948 and fizzee rascal for joining.
As a more formal thank-you I will include both their addresses for you to check their blogs out when I find out their addresses (right now I just link to them on the site). Each one has had something funny/or informative posted within the last few days as I found out for myself when I checked them out myself.
Another person from the site named Amber, who goes by the name Scrappy Chick or something similar (it's too late in the evening - actually early morning - to check on this but it's basically right) came by and, while she didn't join (yet! - lol), did leave a nice comment on my "Feel The Love" post (the Keanu Reeves mini-post).
I am finishing writing this "long" after I time-stamped this (about two days) and as I said it is late at night/early in the morning so I am adding on something that happened after (by a day or so) the help forum news.
I was looking at my list of blogs I follow and trying to decide which, if any, I could delete so I could add some of the forum people that add me (since, as I think I've said in a previous post, I am at my blogger limit of blogs to follow).
I only got to look at about 3 to 5 different blogs out of the 200 or 300 (whichever is the limit - I can't remember) when I came across something in someones comment section (since I was reading "sample" posts to see whether I "could" delete the blog or not) that caught my attention.
It was a offer to the blogger in question to submit an interview to something called bloginterviewer.com. It had a link so I checked it out and it offered the chance for bloggers like myself who chanced upon it to submit an interview to the site.
I am now officially on bloginterviewer.com. You can find me if you search through the 3 categories I picked to fall under (you were allowed a maximum of three). These are books and writing, movies and randomness.
I am hoping both these things will add to my blog's "stickiness" and bring traffic to my site. Only time will tell but I have a good feeling on both of them. So far, so good. I have left comments on several others interviews so maybe they will get back to me.
Carmen
P.S. I added a new widget/gadget to the sidebar. It is a refrigerator "toy" that you can leave "magnet messages" with. Unfortunately, there is a glitch. I don't cut & paste as I've said before, so I added it the "automatic" way and it is slightly too big so you can't use the letters I or R. LOL.
Till this is fixed use the -/_ key from the numeric feature. It's actually a - that you lower into the _ position. This makes it like a wheel-of-fortune puzzle. LOL. Feel free to leave me a message. It is at the bottom of my sidebar just under the Vanity Fair linkup. I look forward to reading your messages - just be nice! :)
The C.A.T.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Feel The Love!
I know I should have posted on Saturday and yesterday but I have to admit it. I just didn't feel like it. I am getting so bad and it isn't even 6 months yet. Sheesh.
Well, anyway's better late than never I guess. Today I just have a short little post but I'd like to think that what it lacks in length, it makes up for in heart.
Yesterday, I was looking around on imdb and for whatever reason I picked Keanu Reeves as one of the celebrities to look up for upcoming projects.
Well, I don't even remember if he had any (how's that for a pre-senior moment) but I did come across something kind of special.
Apparently, quite recently a photographer/fan snapped a picture of him on a park bench eating a sandwich and (supposedly) looking a little glum.
Well, anyone who knows anything about Keanu Reeves knows that he often goes out looking a bit like a homeless person. So this shouldn't have been news, but...
... it turns out that this picture caught the attention of a (fellow) blogger (I don't know who - only that it was a blogger who spread the story)...
... and in short order there were all kinds of sites devoted to cheering up Keanu Reeves. Never let it be said that the internet is heartless. LOL.
If you want to see for yourself check out the news section of his imdb page and see what I mean.
So there is your cheery little story for the day. If you want to spread the magic on his (or anyones) behalf, perhaps do a small random act of kindness after reading this
Carmen
P.S. I was just thinking that perhaps Keanu doesn't mean "cool breeze" or whatever his bio says, maybe it means "love". LOL.
Well, anyway's better late than never I guess. Today I just have a short little post but I'd like to think that what it lacks in length, it makes up for in heart.
Yesterday, I was looking around on imdb and for whatever reason I picked Keanu Reeves as one of the celebrities to look up for upcoming projects.
Well, I don't even remember if he had any (how's that for a pre-senior moment) but I did come across something kind of special.
Apparently, quite recently a photographer/fan snapped a picture of him on a park bench eating a sandwich and (supposedly) looking a little glum.
Well, anyone who knows anything about Keanu Reeves knows that he often goes out looking a bit like a homeless person. So this shouldn't have been news, but...
... it turns out that this picture caught the attention of a (fellow) blogger (I don't know who - only that it was a blogger who spread the story)...
... and in short order there were all kinds of sites devoted to cheering up Keanu Reeves. Never let it be said that the internet is heartless. LOL.
If you want to see for yourself check out the news section of his imdb page and see what I mean.
So there is your cheery little story for the day. If you want to spread the magic on his (or anyones) behalf, perhaps do a small random act of kindness after reading this
Carmen
P.S. I was just thinking that perhaps Keanu doesn't mean "cool breeze" or whatever his bio says, maybe it means "love". LOL.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Letters To Juliet
Well, as promised the other day after a fashion, I decided to do two posting today too. This will probably (though not necessarily if I really get going - LOL) be short. I say this because the movie that I saw and will be talking about, Letters To Juliet was one I saw about two weeks ago already so it is not as fresh in my mind as it might have been had I written this review of sorts back closer to seeing it when I planned to before going on my long break from writing.
As I have said previously, I had had the opportunity to see this movie once before and chose another one, The Trotsky (which I have already reviewed here previously) instead. That said, this is not a bad movie by any means. A little formulaic, I'm sure some would say, but still worth it if you like romantic comedies.
I only have a few things to say about the movie. One being that the premise was more interesting in theory than in practice. How the main character got to write the letter to her recipient of a "Letter from Juliet" or more accurately a "Secretary of Juliet" wasn't the most interesting part of the movie.
Also, the leading lady's would-be husband was, from minute one, a bit of a charming? (not really) creep who paid her no attention whatsoever and was rather disengenious about how he got out of doing things with her on their so-called pre-honeymoon.
The scenery was, of course, gorgeous. The casting of the older woman who wrote the 50 some year-old letter of the title was well-done. They got a name actress to play this part. As for the eventual romantic interest for the leading lady, he wasn't anyone I knew of, but played the part well.
The real star of the show so to speak was, well, the star of the show. Amanda Seyfried, who was also in another of her movies (probably her most well-known one) with an older female co-star - Meryl Streep in Mama Mia, definitely is well worth watching.
Although there was nothing hugely surprising about how the story played out, I will say two things for it. First, yes I did, at one or more points, cry. And second, I really thought Amanda Seyfried was good in her role. I am talking about how believable she came across in the role with regard to facial expression among other things.
Not the most original movie (although a unique premise that is apparently based on a true story) but well worth your time to rent, as it is probably out of theatres by now, if you like romantic comedy. Having said that, it is more romance than comedy.
Carmen
As I have said previously, I had had the opportunity to see this movie once before and chose another one, The Trotsky (which I have already reviewed here previously) instead. That said, this is not a bad movie by any means. A little formulaic, I'm sure some would say, but still worth it if you like romantic comedies.
I only have a few things to say about the movie. One being that the premise was more interesting in theory than in practice. How the main character got to write the letter to her recipient of a "Letter from Juliet" or more accurately a "Secretary of Juliet" wasn't the most interesting part of the movie.
Also, the leading lady's would-be husband was, from minute one, a bit of a charming? (not really) creep who paid her no attention whatsoever and was rather disengenious about how he got out of doing things with her on their so-called pre-honeymoon.
The scenery was, of course, gorgeous. The casting of the older woman who wrote the 50 some year-old letter of the title was well-done. They got a name actress to play this part. As for the eventual romantic interest for the leading lady, he wasn't anyone I knew of, but played the part well.
The real star of the show so to speak was, well, the star of the show. Amanda Seyfried, who was also in another of her movies (probably her most well-known one) with an older female co-star - Meryl Streep in Mama Mia, definitely is well worth watching.
Although there was nothing hugely surprising about how the story played out, I will say two things for it. First, yes I did, at one or more points, cry. And second, I really thought Amanda Seyfried was good in her role. I am talking about how believable she came across in the role with regard to facial expression among other things.
Not the most original movie (although a unique premise that is apparently based on a true story) but well worth your time to rent, as it is probably out of theatres by now, if you like romantic comedy. Having said that, it is more romance than comedy.
Carmen
The Glass Castle
Hello, well today I am going to start off with a post on another book I have read fairly recently. I read it about a week ago. It was called The Glass Castle and it is a memoir. The author is a writer for magazines named Jeannette Walls. She is apparently married to another writer named John Taylor (anyone heard of him?).
This book is one I found when I was looking at second-hand books at the local Goodwill store. I was browsing/strip-mining the biography section and it the title sounded vaguely familiar. I may be wrong on that but it seemed like I might have heard about it in a People review or something so I read the back page description.
I must admit, the description by itself didn't sell me on the book so much as the fact that I found not one, but two copies of it. As I have said previously, I plan to (or at least aspire to) having a book group so I thought having two copies would be ideal since at this time I can only think of two people (myself included!) to join. LOL.
I'm not sure what made me read the book right away since I bought several different books that day including one other set of doubles - Stupid White Men by Michael Moore. I am sure glad I did though. The friend (the one who can not be named) who is "on the short-list" for my book club wasn't thrilled that I bought the 2nd copy without consulting her.
I must admit I got a little ahead of myself on buying the doubles as we said that if we tried a little 2 person club we would still each pick about 2 or 3 books that we liked each and the other would get to choose 1 from that list. I guess I got over-excited when I decided to buy the doubles. After all, I do have a cell-phone and she isn't working right now either (we are both in the same boat work-wise) so I could easily have asked.
After all I actually did find the requisite 3 books (of the 2 or 3 to pick from) in doubles. There was also two copies of Kate Gosselin's first book on her family there. I passed on that. Oddly enough, my friend was slightly interested in that. She did say though that the Stupid White Men sounded ok. Her problem with Glass Castle is that it is basically a bit of a sad story and aside from not liking non-fiction as much (at all?) as fiction which is the exact opposite of me, she doesn't like the sad stories.
This book is a sad story in spades. By the time I brought the copy of the book over to her house all excited to tell her about my find I had gotten to page 75 in short order. In trying to entice her into it, by showing her how interesting it was I gave a not so short (LOL) summary of the first 75 pages. It was a laundry list of "horrors" that befell the Walls children because of their parents personalities and the odd way they saw fit to raise them.
The first story that stood out in the book that is the one I will use to illustrate my point is the story of how the author got badly burned in a kitchen accident when she was just three years old. Apparently, her mother who considered herself an artist was off in the living room "doing her own thing" while her three-year-old daughter was cooking herself hotdogs.
According to the book, this was not a one-time thing. She often made her self hot-dogs because, as she pointed out in somewhat different words, it was not rocket-science. However, this time her dress somehow caught fire. Luckily, her mother got into the kitchen quickly and got the fire out and then took her to a neighbors so they could go to the hospital (they had no car at the time, a clunker, or the mother sucked at driving are all possibilities as these are all things that were the case at one time or another in the story).
She was in the hospital for about six weeks before her father "sprung" her from the hospital in what he liked to call Rex Walls-style which basically meant ignoring the medical advice that she remain at the hospital further. He apparently also didn't think much of the fact that her mother took her to a hospital when it happened as he had on previous occasion when needing medical attention went to a Native medicine man or somesuch as they lived in various small desert towns that they were continually moving around from one step ahead of bill collectors.
The story goes on like that getting, at times, sadder for the shear number of crazy episodes the parents put the kids (and themselves) through. The father was an alcoholic and the mother called herself a excitement addict as well as a sugar addict. The sugar addict thing might not sound like much but it had a rather sad story around it too as the family was constantly going without proper food for long periods of time. So much so that the kids all sort of looked after themselves as to finding something to eat many a time, with the author herself admitting to rooting through garbage at school to eat her schoolmates discarded lunch items.
Apparently, the mother's mother was quite the character too, but in a good way. At times they moved in with her for short stays until the father and the mother-in-law could stand each other no longer. The mother apparently was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades and had amassed a considerable amount of money for herself. Her daughter and son-in-law on the other hand never had good "luck" with money they did get (the mother's mother died when the author was eight and the mother inherited one of two houses the grandmother had which they lived in for a time, trashed and eventually abandoned)and weren't too interested in the jobs that they could get.
The daughter had a teaching degree,like the wealthy mother, that she got at her mothers behest but hated to actually go out and use, feeling it was beneath her as an "artist". The father was considered by many to be "brilliant" but had a hard time keeping jobs not only because of the alcoholism but also it seems to me because he was flighty and a dreamer as well. That is where the name of the book comes from, in fact. The father was always claiming to be working on this gold finding device he was making so that when they finally struck gold he could build a literal "glass castle" complete with a glass staircase.
If, like my friend, you aren't into sad stories then maybe this isn't for you. But you may want to think again. Aside from being an interesting, if not sometimes infuriating, story it does end on a happy note of sorts. As a final note, the author wrote a second book about her wealthy grandmother (the other grandmother, who they also ending up living with for awhile in a coal town in West Virginia was a crazy alcoholic witch who did some truly shocking things to them) that she did not label autobiography because of some liberties she apparently took as a result of insufficient information and instead calls a "true life novel".
This book is called Half Broke Horses. If you do read the Glass Castle and read it in paperback format, some (the newer) copies (one of my two did) have an excerpt of it in it. I must admit that while I very much liked The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses may not be a novel in the true sense I still haven't read the excerpt because of my less-than-great interest in "novels" (ie. fiction). I probably will get around to doing it eventually though as the first book was so good.
Carmen
This book is one I found when I was looking at second-hand books at the local Goodwill store. I was browsing/strip-mining the biography section and it the title sounded vaguely familiar. I may be wrong on that but it seemed like I might have heard about it in a People review or something so I read the back page description.
I must admit, the description by itself didn't sell me on the book so much as the fact that I found not one, but two copies of it. As I have said previously, I plan to (or at least aspire to) having a book group so I thought having two copies would be ideal since at this time I can only think of two people (myself included!) to join. LOL.
I'm not sure what made me read the book right away since I bought several different books that day including one other set of doubles - Stupid White Men by Michael Moore. I am sure glad I did though. The friend (the one who can not be named) who is "on the short-list" for my book club wasn't thrilled that I bought the 2nd copy without consulting her.
I must admit I got a little ahead of myself on buying the doubles as we said that if we tried a little 2 person club we would still each pick about 2 or 3 books that we liked each and the other would get to choose 1 from that list. I guess I got over-excited when I decided to buy the doubles. After all, I do have a cell-phone and she isn't working right now either (we are both in the same boat work-wise) so I could easily have asked.
After all I actually did find the requisite 3 books (of the 2 or 3 to pick from) in doubles. There was also two copies of Kate Gosselin's first book on her family there. I passed on that. Oddly enough, my friend was slightly interested in that. She did say though that the Stupid White Men sounded ok. Her problem with Glass Castle is that it is basically a bit of a sad story and aside from not liking non-fiction as much (at all?) as fiction which is the exact opposite of me, she doesn't like the sad stories.
This book is a sad story in spades. By the time I brought the copy of the book over to her house all excited to tell her about my find I had gotten to page 75 in short order. In trying to entice her into it, by showing her how interesting it was I gave a not so short (LOL) summary of the first 75 pages. It was a laundry list of "horrors" that befell the Walls children because of their parents personalities and the odd way they saw fit to raise them.
The first story that stood out in the book that is the one I will use to illustrate my point is the story of how the author got badly burned in a kitchen accident when she was just three years old. Apparently, her mother who considered herself an artist was off in the living room "doing her own thing" while her three-year-old daughter was cooking herself hotdogs.
According to the book, this was not a one-time thing. She often made her self hot-dogs because, as she pointed out in somewhat different words, it was not rocket-science. However, this time her dress somehow caught fire. Luckily, her mother got into the kitchen quickly and got the fire out and then took her to a neighbors so they could go to the hospital (they had no car at the time, a clunker, or the mother sucked at driving are all possibilities as these are all things that were the case at one time or another in the story).
She was in the hospital for about six weeks before her father "sprung" her from the hospital in what he liked to call Rex Walls-style which basically meant ignoring the medical advice that she remain at the hospital further. He apparently also didn't think much of the fact that her mother took her to a hospital when it happened as he had on previous occasion when needing medical attention went to a Native medicine man or somesuch as they lived in various small desert towns that they were continually moving around from one step ahead of bill collectors.
The story goes on like that getting, at times, sadder for the shear number of crazy episodes the parents put the kids (and themselves) through. The father was an alcoholic and the mother called herself a excitement addict as well as a sugar addict. The sugar addict thing might not sound like much but it had a rather sad story around it too as the family was constantly going without proper food for long periods of time. So much so that the kids all sort of looked after themselves as to finding something to eat many a time, with the author herself admitting to rooting through garbage at school to eat her schoolmates discarded lunch items.
Apparently, the mother's mother was quite the character too, but in a good way. At times they moved in with her for short stays until the father and the mother-in-law could stand each other no longer. The mother apparently was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades and had amassed a considerable amount of money for herself. Her daughter and son-in-law on the other hand never had good "luck" with money they did get (the mother's mother died when the author was eight and the mother inherited one of two houses the grandmother had which they lived in for a time, trashed and eventually abandoned)and weren't too interested in the jobs that they could get.
The daughter had a teaching degree,like the wealthy mother, that she got at her mothers behest but hated to actually go out and use, feeling it was beneath her as an "artist". The father was considered by many to be "brilliant" but had a hard time keeping jobs not only because of the alcoholism but also it seems to me because he was flighty and a dreamer as well. That is where the name of the book comes from, in fact. The father was always claiming to be working on this gold finding device he was making so that when they finally struck gold he could build a literal "glass castle" complete with a glass staircase.
If, like my friend, you aren't into sad stories then maybe this isn't for you. But you may want to think again. Aside from being an interesting, if not sometimes infuriating, story it does end on a happy note of sorts. As a final note, the author wrote a second book about her wealthy grandmother (the other grandmother, who they also ending up living with for awhile in a coal town in West Virginia was a crazy alcoholic witch who did some truly shocking things to them) that she did not label autobiography because of some liberties she apparently took as a result of insufficient information and instead calls a "true life novel".
This book is called Half Broke Horses. If you do read the Glass Castle and read it in paperback format, some (the newer) copies (one of my two did) have an excerpt of it in it. I must admit that while I very much liked The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses may not be a novel in the true sense I still haven't read the excerpt because of my less-than-great interest in "novels" (ie. fiction). I probably will get around to doing it eventually though as the first book was so good.
Carmen
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