Serendipity-Doo-Dah

Spring Cleaning

2011-04-03T01:50:00.000-05:00

Every spring I want to fulfill an ongoing resolution to tidy up and get organized. Spring cleaning is the apparition of the oft repeated New Year's Resolution of "Out with the old, in with the new," made flesh. I always intend to do something, scrub something, move something, throw something away, but before I know it, it's July and it is too damn hot, so I think, "Next year, I'll do it next year." I imagine hoarders must start out much the same way, huh?

This year, in my quest to better myself, I may actually get some of this done. Really though, I probably can't avoid it. We moved in with my dad in January and are about to put a lot of our stuff, now piled up and around my father's house, into a storage building built by my husband in the backyard. We've been tripping over our many boxes and bags since we moved in, since there's really no place for any of it, so this will be nice. Not only will we have room to move around, but I'll finally get to have that "spring cleaning" feeling of accomplishment.

This also means we can save money, in several different ways. The storage building will pay for itself within about 8 months since our alternative was to rent a space. At about $90 a month, no thanks. The other way is just, well, stupid. Since we can't find anything, we have to keep buying stuff we already have...somewhere in the boxes stacked around. We could have been more organized, but we weren't. We could go through everything, but we didn't, haven't and will not, not yet. We will go through things once, pretty much, and that will be as we're deciding what will go into the storage building, what will stay in the house, what will go to GoodWill and what will go in the trash. Most of the "go in the trash" stuff got sorted out in the move, so there shouldn't be much of that.

We should start moving things in to the storage building next weekend, probably in time to feel all smug like Martha Stewart for three or four weeks before a tornado comes along and blows everything away. Mother Nature is truly the most efficient "cleaner" around!

Oh, and I'd like to point out that I'm trying really, really hard not to refer to the storage building as "the shed." It's just too..."The Waltons."

"Grandpa, where's John Boy?"

"Out to the shed, young'n, out to the shed."

Priorities

2011-03-17T04:13:00.001-05:00

Well, so much for me posting briefly, more frequently. Right after my last post, I ended up over my head in homework. Study, study, study is all I do anymore. I have to keep reminding myself that this was my idea! Hopefully, it will be worth it in the end. I’m trying to keep my priorities in order. No fun online until the homework is done!

With the union protests around the country and the tragedy in Japan, I have been trying to keep up on things, since it is now spring break and I have a break from studying. I don't find the cable news channels help very much. Luckily, I have found some terrific online news sources. Believe it or not, outside our realm of CNN, FOX and MSNBC, all saturated with too much biased commentary, bogus information and arguing guest pundits, there exists a world of genuine journalism, reporting the facts without revealing the opinions of those doing the reporting. It’s refreshing. I have some links to a few of them at the bottom and will add them to my favorite links list.

I am concerned that most people now need to be signaled about what they should agree with. Judging by several people I’m acquainted with, if a news story doesn’t have the word “liberal,” “conservative,” “Democrat” or “Republican” in it, then they don’t know what to think about it. They are unable to read and form their own opinion about what is happening without being led by buzz words. It’s pathetic.

In the same way, those same people can’t decide if they agree with a politician or not until they see if they have a “D” or “R” after their name. Sometimes “D” means Democrat and “R” means Republican, but sometimes, if you really pay attention to what some politicians say and do (especially what they do), and process it with your own brain, you’ll find the “D” stands for “Douchebag” and “R” stands for “Repugnant.” Neither political party is perfect and, in my own humble opinion, many elected officials, on both sides of the aisle, are not there for the people who voted for them. They’re there for the corporate lobbyists who funded their campaigns in the first place. Priorities, you see. They know who butters their bread and, when all is said and done and they’ve been voted into office, it’s usually not us. It’s the corporation whose industry’s lobbyists promised to give their precious little sons and daughters jobs as overpaid, over-bonused, Vice Presidents as soon as they graduate from college. If that means the bought-and-paid-for politicians must travel around saying leprechauns are real, then that's what they'll do. They'll go up to Capitol Hill and pass "The Leprechaun Initiative" if that's what their corporate owners want and everyone who is charmed by the "R" or "D" after their names will agree that we must stand up for the Leprechauns and the people who aren't charmed by the "R" or "D" will argue that Leprechauns are bad for the economy.

I did turn to CNN earlier to see what they had on Japan and the big protest in Michigan. It was a mishmash of back and forth reporting and useless commentary. I did find out, however, that the cast of “The Facts of Life” will be reuniting at the TV Land Awards. Priorities, once again, rear their shiny heads.

Though I suspect absolutely no one is still reading this blog, and I can’t say I blame them, here are some links to some sites with actual, real, genuine news!

For a good look at what the most popular stories are, with convenient links to them, try newsmap. The bigger the block, the more popular the story. You can even remove the categories you don't care about and you can look to see what other countries find interesting using the country links at the top of the page.

There is a reason why Americans are turning to Al Jazeera for world news. It's because, unlike much our news, it really is news; journalism. I once mentioned Al Jazeera to a lady and she gasped saying, "But they're terrorists! They're Al Qaeda!" Uhhhh, no, they're not. They are a legitimate news organization. Check 'em out!

Surprisingly, CNN doesn't suck all over the world. Most of the rest of the globe still demands actual news. So, if you go to CNN.com, and click on the "International" link at the top, you'll actually get a decent news website, without top American-style stories about Justin Bieber's hair.

For anyone who's perfectly happy with their cable news choices, then here's a very important link for you, too.

I'm going to call it a night, or by now, a morning. My schedule is all out of whack due to spring break, so I better go to sleep. Priorities!

In a Blissy Mood.

2011-02-20T01:37:00.001-06:00

Some people go their whole lives and never find what their bliss is. By "bliss," I'm referring to something you have an affinity for, something you're good at, that motivates you, gives you contentment and can make you feel special.

Finding one's bliss is a modern topic, as it's been discussed on many daytime shows over the past decade. I'm not sure who first spoke about it that way, probably someone appearing on "Oprah." Many parents now make it a goal to help their children find what their "bliss" is. I'm sure some people even have more than one. I can say mine are music and writing. Music was probably my predominant bliss, but that ship kind of sailed on by as far as being any kind of way to make a living. That's why people need to seek out their bliss while they're young, so someday they can get a job they don't hate doing. Though I believe a person is never to old to seek their bliss, the fact is, people tend to learn a lot faster and a lot better when they are still in their youth. It's not a requirement, but it sure helps. It also helps, when you're a kid, to have your parents helping you look for, and nurture, what you like and are good at.

When I was a kid, probably around 6 or 7, my parent's bought me a keyboard. Well, it was called an "organ," but that sounds kind of gross and archaic, so...it was a keyboard. Each key had a number and there was a book of music that came with it and instead of notes, there were numbers to play. Each "number" in the book corresponded to the same number on the keyboard. You get the picture.

Probably for a good two years, I spent so much time playing that thing. I would be in my room for hours, playing and singing. I only ever had that one book, too. There was a whole series of them, but I only had that one that came with it. To this day, I can sing, "This Old Man" as numbers instead of words.

The elementary school I attended from Kindergarten to 2nd grade had several autoharps (pictured above). In a rotation, all the kids got to go play on them. I loved it, took to it quickly and would often play it during recess. When I went to a new elementary school in the 3rd grade, I remember asking if there were autoharps and feeling very disappointed that there weren't.

My mother had a friend who owned a piano. When my mother would go visit her and take me with her, they never had to watch me. I would sit and play on her piano the whole time. I never had piano lessons, but I would find notes that sounded good together and play them, then add more and so on. I remember being so absorbed in it, I had no awareness of time passing and I didn't want to leave. That was probably from the age of 3 to about the age of 5.

I wanted piano lessons, but my mother was of the opinion that I wouldn't want to practice. Around 4th or 5th grade, I spoke to my mother about being in band at school. She told me I didn't really like music, as if her saying it made it so. When I was 13, I wanted guitar lessons. I wanted to learn on a electric guitar. I was very into rock at the time and I didn't care for country music at all. She told me she'd get me lessons, but only on an acoustic guitar and only if I learned country music. I cried and said no. I didn't realize at the time that it didn't really matter how I started learning it.

I really wish my mother had known about bliss.

Years later, as an adult, I asked her why she didn't encourage my love and interest in playing music. I figured it was because she didn't want to spend the money. Instead, she seemed totally surprised that I felt that way about music. I reminded her of the keyboard I would play for hours, asking her, "Didn't you notice?" Well, apparently not! She also had no recollection of me playing the piano at her friend's house.

It disappoints me now. I wonder what could have been, if my life would have been any different if I could have learned to do something I loved at a young age. I think it could have been, in some way. At the very least, it would be something I could do now to be happy, even if no one heard it but me. For that reason, I've decided when I'm finished with going to school, I'm going to take music lessons, probably on the piano. It's never too late to find something new you like to do. I might even by a autoharp, too!

It's also very uplifting to see young people finding things they enjoy and are good at.

Then it's also fabulous to see them being validated and recognized for their hard work.

Bertha and the Birthday Cake

2011-02-18T01:19:00.000-06:00

I was thinking of a funny story about a lady I worked with quite a few years ago. I will call her Bertha for the purposes of this story. Bertha is not her real name.

The environment was that of an office for a fairly large company. The section I worked in was all females. One of the ladies had a birthday the next day and Bertha volunteered to bake a cake. The next day, Bertha brought in the birthday cake she'd baked. It was a chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting, baked in a 13 X 9 inch pan. Sounds pretty standard, right? Well, you don't know Bertha.

Part of the cake was gone. About one fourth from one end had been cut off. Bertha had "frosted" the cut end of the cake.

Someone exclaimed to Bertha, "You ate it!"

Bertha said, "No, I didn't"

"Well, then who did?"

Bertha shrugged, "I don't know what you mean?" The rest of us looked around at each other. Was Bertha actually trying to say the cake was untouched, even though it was obviously cut?

One of the ladies said sternly, "Bertha, the end is cut off. Why did you cut the end off?"

Bertha said, "I didn't."

"Well, someone did."

"I just baked it and frosted it."

"Bertha, the end is gone. It doesn't bake in the pan that way." Poor Bertha looked confused. She truly didn't understand why simply frosting the side of the cut end didn't cover up her crime. She replied, "Yes, it does! It did."

Another lady stepped forward to explain. "Bertha, when you pour the batter in, it fills up the whole pan. It doesn't just stop like that, like it hit an invisible wall on one end."

And with that, we could see the light bulb flicker above Bertha's head as she suddenly "got it," then her mind switched defensive gears. She responded quickly. "Well, I got hungry. I spent all that time baking it, I deserve to get to eat some of it. Everyone does that!" As I would come to realize, that was pure Bertha.

The ladies pooled their money together and someone went to get a cake, uncut and uneaten, from a local bakery at lunch time and the birthday lady was none the wiser, at least for that day. I'm sure she must have heard the story by the next day and probably laughed her ass off.

I must mention, while Bertha isn't the lady's real name, I did actually call her "Dumb Ass" many times in my thoughts. Ever since then, whenever the subject of getting someone a birthday cake comes up, I always think of Bertha and her nearly half-eaten cake. What a Dumb Ass.

Hit and Run Blogging

2011-02-18T00:55:00.000-06:00

Since I have been so bogged down with homework and other assorted "stuff," I'm not able to post as much as I would like. I am going to try a slightly different approach. I'm going to try posting some shorter blog entries, ones I can do in just five or ten minutes at a time, and see how that goes. I didn't start this blog to ignore it, so I want to make sure I keep it going.

Often times, I'll think of some little blurb I'd like to write, but then don't because it doesn't seem like enough, like I need to flesh it out more. I'm more accustomed to writing stories with an obvious beginning, middle and ending. Then when I've got something of a rough draft finished in my head, I have trouble finding time to type it up. While I still plan to throw some longer entries in here and there, I'll try not to stop myself when an idea is just a "blurb."

I don't know if any trends will emerge in what I like to post about or link to, we'll see!

Stuff of Dreams

2011-01-26T00:15:00.001-06:00

It has been way too long since I have found a moment to write. Things started happening fast. We are moving back to Tulsa. A week ago, I thought the timeline was more like we’d be moving in a month, then it suddenly, literally in one day, became a week.

In between moving and doing homework, I haven’t had a lot of time. I have written many blog entries in my head, mostly about current issues, but then they are irrelevant within a few days as the world moves on to other, more pressing events and I find I’m no longer inspired and move on to the next story-in-my-head.

For instance, when the shootings in Tucson, AZ happened a few weeks ago, I had so much to say. I actually started a rough draft. Then, there was all that political fallout afterwards which got me worked up even more, so I discarded the first rough draft and started a second one, with more of a political bent. Then the pundits on the Internet and television pretty much said everything I wanted to say and a thousand things more until I found I had waited too long. That inspired ship had sailed, so I discarded that rough draft, too.

I am trying to stay politically sensible and mostly neutral on this blog. People I actually know read this and I do not want to offend or hurt anyone. My views may actually surprise some people, especially people I privately speak to about my views. There’s a lot more to them and, someday, I do want to have a separate blog about those things. Surprisingly to me, those views are extremely neutral by design and really shouldn't reasonably offend anyone. The only people I judge and exclude, I suppose, are the aggressively mean. If you are mean or support those who are mean, then you probably won’t like what I think. That being said, I can’t think of anyone I know who would be excluded, regardless of his or her party affiliation. Yeah, I know that sounds boring, so I’ll try to jazz it up, probably with humor and I could always take a cue from L. Ron Hubbard and add space aliens or dinosaurs.

Hey, maybe my fairly newfound political views could be so awesome I could make a cult out of them and make a lot of money when it got bigger than Scientology? I could have mansions and yachts and gold and diamonds and…stuff, lots of stuff.

(Pausing for a moment to imagine stuff, lots of stuff.)

I will try to write more. To those reading, thank you very much, I appreciate it. You will be highly placed in my future cult and get lots of stuff, especially electronics. Now, I must pack the stuff I own now, to move to where I will buy most of my future stuff.

Last One in the Cement Pond's a Rotten Egg!

2011-01-07T00:02:00.001-06:00

I would love to win the lottery. I admit, I’m somewhat envious of the two winners of the latest Mega Millions jackpot. Only one of the two has come forward as of today and I’m happy for him and all, but damn I wish that were me.

Stan and I have passed the time on many occasions talking about “what if,” as in, “what if we won a lottery?” What would we want to do with the money? Depending on where I’m working when we have these discussions and on whom I’m working with, I either want to give everyone a nice chunk of change to show them how much I appreciate them before I go riding off in my newly acquired stretch limo, never to be seen again at said place of employment because I quit immediately, OR I want to stay working at my place of employment for a few weeks, rub it in by acting like I don’t really care that I’ve just won millions of dollars (“It’s not going to change me!”) and see how different the assholes I work with will start treating me now that they can see I exist, like Glenda the Good Witch suddenly appearing in their midst.

Then, after being kissed up to sufficiently by all my mortal enemies, I’d get into my stretch limo, flip everyone the bird and ride off never to be seen again until I circled the block again, then again, then probably again at the close of business for the next few days while everyone’s in the parking lot, leaving after their miserable day at work, wishing they were me. Then I’d laugh. I’d try to laugh the way Darth Vader would laugh if he indeed ever laughed. Glenda the Good Witch can be a total ass sometimes.

Then, I’d go shopping, buy everything I wanted on infomercials for the next month and order a bunch of stuff from QVC and the Home Shopping Network. The UPS dudes would know me, and perhaps fear me.

Much like "The Jeffersons," I'd be "movin' on up!"

Then I’d give some money to a charity, because I could mention my “charitable foundation” while I was laughing like Darth Vader at someone.

Wait! I know what I’d want to do if I won the lottery! I’d want my own reality show. Everyone else has one, so why not me? I don’t have any kids, so I’ll just borrow someone else’s for the purposes of the show. Like most cheesy, partially scripted and almost totally, fake “reality” shows, me and my “family” would meet in a big, spacious, lighting-recessed room to have “family meeting time,” like that’s something we always do. Then we’d discuss during the “family meeting time” that we were going to go someplace ridiculous where real people don’t ever go, like a dude ranch, and it would be for charity. Then we’d have all of this great, fish-out-of-water footage of ourselves at some dorky dude ranch helping some sick kids or something like that. There would also be “vittles.”

We’d act like we always did these family trips to help the less fortunate. In fact, we could talk about how we used to do the same thing before we were rich. We’d make up stories about how we’d have “family meeting time” near the most recently painted dumpster outside the ghetto apartment building we lived in down in “the hood.” We’d start a fire in a metal trashcan, huddle near the fire next to the hobos and the crack heads and plan to take the bus to a nearby soup kitchen to pitch in. See, that would make us look like we’d always been wonderful, even before the money. We would also use the term “pay it forward” constantly in case anyone missed the fact that we are better than other people.

I think I would become a luxury hoarder, too. Maybe I would hoard diamonds. I’ll be that would get me a segment on that “Hoarders” show. That would help me promote my reality show, that I would call, “Real Lottery Winners of Oklahoma.” Cool, huh?

I'm so excited by my fantastic ideas, why should I wait to win the lottery to do all this cool stuff? I could have my own reality show right now. My husband and I could start having “family meeting time” right now! There are some kids in the neighborhood, we’ll grab a few of them, it’ll be fine, I’m sure. There’s no dude ranch to help sick kids at, but there are some nearby parks that are actually very nice and well kept. We could go litter at those parks so people who go there will have something meaningful to do! They can clean up the parks! Wow. That is an awesome idea on my part. I can take some simple household trash and pay it forward to my community.

What am I waiting for? “Family meeting time! Family meeting time!”

I'm ready for my close up.

Inception

2011-01-06T08:59:00.003-06:00

I’m lagging behind on my “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” viewing. I’ve only watched one episode! I keep finding other things to do. I worked on my accounting flashcards on Wednesday. On Tuesday, I went to Tulsa Community College to turn in some paperwork and I took a test for a state job.

I don’t know why I want to work for the state again. Everything is old, broken down and taped together and they don’t give raises anymore with all the budget problems. I guess the appeal is how a state employee can rack up that vacation and sick time. Most private sector jobs can’t compete with that, so I guess that’s the draw. I would like to find a position as an Accounting Technician so I can be working in the area I’m going to school for. I don’t know what my chances are of getting another state job, but I know the chance is zero if I don’t even try.

My husband, Stan, and I don’t go to movies anymore. We always wait for the movies to hit Netflix and watch them then. It saves money, plus movies have gotten so damn long, I know if I go to the theater, I’ll have to go to the bathroom before the movie’s over and I hate having to miss part of the movie. At home, the movie can be paused, I’m not surrounded by a bunch of idiots talking, smacking their food and getting calls on their cell phones.

Wednesday night, we watched “Inception.” Basically, without giving any plotline away, the movie is about a guy who apparently can’t do anything right. Then at the end, the viewer watching the movie goes, “What the hell?” Then it’s over. Seriously, here’s the steps the viewer goes through watching “Inception” for the first time:

(Viewer receives DVD from Netflix in the mail) “Wow, I’m finally going to see this blockbuster of a movie everyone raved about all summer!

(Viewer inserts DVD in player, ready for exciting viewing experience) “This is going to be good!”

(25 minutes into the movie, viewer is bored and is wondering what the hell people were smoking to think this boring piece of crap was interesting) “Yawn.”

(An hour in, viewer gets drawn in, things start getting interesting) “I wonder what’s going to happen?”

(An hour and a half in…) “Wow, Leo’s character sure is a loser.”

(Two hours in…) “Wow, this has really drawn me in! I’m sure excited for the answers at the end. Bet they’ll be awesome!”

(Two hours and ten minutes in…) “Leo sure has an abnormally large head. You’d think that would have helped as a floatation device in ‘Titanic.’”

(The ending) “Uhhh, okay, what the hell?”

In summary, I sure am glad I didn’t spend my money to get confused in 3-D. I don’t think I want to see that big noggin comin’ at me in 3-D, either.

For other viewing, I am now 10 episodes in to Season 4 of “Buffy,” and only 1 of those episodes I watched this week. School starts again on Monday, so I’ve got to get going. I want to finish Season 4 by then, so I have 12 more episodes to go. Priorities! Thursday, I swear, will be a productive “Buffy” day.

The Inclined

2011-01-03T16:40:00.000-06:00

I have written a few things online in the past. I used to write review columns for a daytime soap opera fan site. Most of my reviews were about “General Hospital.” By “reviews,” I really mean I made fun of the show in a major way. It had jumped the shark and, while I still had hope for it, I had a lot to complain about and complain I did, always with humor.

I expect to fully tap into my ability to complain in the course of writing this blog, but I want positivity as well. There needs to be balance. Generally, when I complain in writing, it is for entertainment purposes and not about anything too serious. Some “General Hospital” fans took my past writings far too seriously, if you ask me, so I guess it’s relative anyway.

I am trying to make my life better in many different ways, by actually doing more versus sitting around thinking about what I could do if I were so inclined. This is now me trying to be inclined. I’m an expert at being reclined, I have that down, and so it’s time to move on.

Today, I started making accounting flashcards to help me with studying for the upcoming semester. I made some banana nut muffins and spent some time online. I forgot all about watching television. I was going to watch “General Hospital” while it aired and tweet insults about it for old time’s sake.

I also meditated. I keep hearing successful people talk about how they meditate, how it relaxes them and helps them focus and I figure I can use all the help I can get. On Dr. Oz’s site, there’s a meditation video by Deepak Chopra. It covers healing meditation and the “Laws of Attraction.” It’s interesting stuff. I’ve tried it a couple of times before, but it is not easy to get stuff out of my head. I keep thinking about all kinds of crap and in meditation, you’re supposed to keep your mind relatively clear. So, I have one day down and hope to keep this up every day. Maybe I’ll see some results in a few weeks.

To meditate, be better in general, write this blog, and so on, sounds like a lot of New Year’s resolutions, but this is really developing into more of a bucket list. It’s like, before I die, I want to be smarter, happier, more peaceful, more satisfied and my list of things to do is more reflective of that. Forget this resolution junk; it doesn’t have to be January to decide to do something anymore than it has to be a Monday. Whatever you want to start doing, you should just start doing it, be inclined.

These muffins, by the way, are delicious!

My Resolution

2011-01-02T21:22:00.001-06:00

For my 2011 New Year’s Resolution, I resolve to watch more television. Or rather, I resolve to admit that I want to watch more television. By blogging this, I am thus admitting it and so I have already fulfilled my 2011 resolution. I am awesome.

For 2010, I resolved to be awesome and did not succeed until just now, the 2^nd day of 2011, so I have already done better than last year.

Let us get back to the subject of television. I like it; I want to watch it, a lot. I always have. I can still remember the prime time network schedules from when I was a kid. For instance, “The Dukes of Hazzard,” was on Fridays at 7 pm. Right after, it was “Dallas.” “Three’s Company” was on Tuesday nights at 8 pm. My dad didn’t want me to watch that show because it was “dirty.” I watched it any way and most of the double entendres went right over my head. I was too young to get the “dirty.” I have always indulged in television viewing, until recently.

Last fall, I went back to school, taking a full-time schedule of online classes. I started a new, part-time job on the same day, so I suddenly found myself in a horrific situation: No time for television.

I know, right? It’s a cruel world.

The fall semester ended the first half of December and my job, which was also temporary, ended last Friday, the last day of 2010. Tomorrow morning, a Monday, I will have nothing to do for the first time since mid-August. Therefore, I will watch a lot of television. Yeah, I’d love to do some kind of crap to better myself, but television is something I really enjoy. I know that’s not supposed to be something to brag about since television viewing is generally considered to be lowbrow and lazy. My classes start again on January 10^th, full-time, so it won’t be long before education will distract me, but in the week before that, I am going to glue my eyeballs to my T.V.

Before I started school and work last August, I was up to Season 4 of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” on Netflix Streaming. I never watched that show, or its spin-off, “Angel” the first time around, so they are like new shows to me. “Buffy” will be my main viewing priority. I’m sure there are some other shows on Netflix that are worth watching, too.

Happy New Year and Happy Viewing!