The idea here when I started this baby, was to have an outlet to write, react, vent, praise, ponder and sometimes shout from the proverbial (and virtual) rooftop. Doesn't matter if anyone's listening. It's a way to stay sharp, be creative. Have my say.
Dang that takes a lot of energy. Or maybe it just takes time. I don't know what goes faster -- 24 hours or a paycheck. The principle's really the same -- you have X amount of minutes, just like you have X amount of dollars. Once you deduct all the daily responsibilities: showering, feeding the masses, getting the kids off to school, work, feeding the masses again, cleaning up, wrestling SpongeBob for a few minutes of quality time, getting ready for bed, reading stories, finishing the work you brought home .... The day's about spent. And when the day has really sucked, like today, and yesterday and last week ... There's not always a whole helluva a lot to say -- well, OK there is, but nobody wants to read it over and over again.
So the stories I want to write are still simmering in my head. My dear friend Kelly, whose heart is as big as her metabolism is slow (I'm just workin' with information you gave me sistah), always manages to leave me with little sayings that stick in your head like bad songs on the radio.
One is "If you want to make God laugh, make a plan." Being a planner, that is especially appreciated.
The one that's been kicking my ass lately (thanks Kel) is "Any idiot can write a page a day." I have pages and pages to write and can't manage a post a day. So this is my woe-is-me moment. I'll wake up tomorrow, start again and hope there's some change left at the end of the day. How long can it take to fill a page?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Never hold The Onion(s)
I love onions. My favorite grilled cheese has cheddar, feta, tomato and onions. Can't have a Coney without. Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, but don't ever hold the onions.
I even start my day with onions -- The Onion to be exact. And I don't know if it's because it's Monday, the start of a long week or because I had beef last night, but this post about cows made me laugh out loud. If you can't navigate by the North Star, just bet on the bovine, go with the Guernsey. That's no bull.
And if you didn't find that amusing (or better yet, if you did), wait 'til tomorrow and read this. A shout out to Phil for sharing it a long time ago. It still holds true at least once a week.
I even start my day with onions -- The Onion to be exact. And I don't know if it's because it's Monday, the start of a long week or because I had beef last night, but this post about cows made me laugh out loud. If you can't navigate by the North Star, just bet on the bovine, go with the Guernsey. That's no bull.
And if you didn't find that amusing (or better yet, if you did), wait 'til tomorrow and read this. A shout out to Phil for sharing it a long time ago. It still holds true at least once a week.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
A Daffy Duck Stamp Story
This just quacked me up today.
Apparently, people calling a phone number printed on card issued by the government to order Duck Stamps -- you know, the license issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service you have to buy if you want to legally go out and shoot things with feathers -- instead get a phone sex line because of a typo on the card.
KUSA in Denver first reported the error on Wednesday. The phone number to order a Duck Stamp is 800-782-6724 or 800-STAMP24. The number on the card is 800-872-6724 or 800-TRAMP24.
According to the AP story, if you call the second number, you are "enticed by a husky female voice to 'talk only to the girls that turn you on,' for $1.99 a minute."
What the story doesn't say is that if you dial the right number, you are enticed by Daffy Duck to talk to only the Looney Tunes characters you want for $1.99 minute. Let me tell you, if you pick Elmer Fudd, it's gonna get costly.
Apparently, people calling a phone number printed on card issued by the government to order Duck Stamps -- you know, the license issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service you have to buy if you want to legally go out and shoot things with feathers -- instead get a phone sex line because of a typo on the card.
KUSA in Denver first reported the error on Wednesday. The phone number to order a Duck Stamp is 800-782-6724 or 800-STAMP24. The number on the card is 800-872-6724 or 800-TRAMP24.
According to the AP story, if you call the second number, you are "enticed by a husky female voice to 'talk only to the girls that turn you on,' for $1.99 a minute."
What the story doesn't say is that if you dial the right number, you are enticed by Daffy Duck to talk to only the Looney Tunes characters you want for $1.99 minute. Let me tell you, if you pick Elmer Fudd, it's gonna get costly.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Random GOP thoughts
To those of you who have been checking for new posts, thanks for reading. It's been awhile. Many reasons, none valid other than sheer laziness.
Nothing jump starts the creative juices quite like a total and mindbogglingly unbelievable meltdown like that of the Republican party. File under truth is stranger than fiction, not to mention a helluva lot more entertaining. Hour by hour it gets more bizarre, almost to the point where it's hard to find the words ... by I'll try.
Nothing jump starts the creative juices quite like a total and mindbogglingly unbelievable meltdown like that of the Republican party. File under truth is stranger than fiction, not to mention a helluva lot more entertaining. Hour by hour it gets more bizarre, almost to the point where it's hard to find the words ... by I'll try.
- There are not truth to the rumors that the GOP is changing the convention slogan to "What Happens in St. Paul, stays in St. Paul.
- There are some hilarious, satirical (and yes, probably highly offensive) photos here. I wish Time or Newsweek ran a column similar to Sports Illustrated's "Signs the Apocalypse is Upon Us." The winner would have to be the report that Bristol Palin's Baby Daddy was joining the Palins at the convention.
- Is it me or does Palin look like Agent 99 (my apologies to Barbara Feldon)? And you know, it's really no stretch to picture John McCain as Maxwell Smart.
- And hey, if Gov. Palin can be vice president, do ya think there's a Cabinet position for Lynne Spears? Department of Labor? How about Health and Human Services?
The Women's Vote
Ladies, in case you didn't know, when the Republicans announced that the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, would be the vice presidential candidate, they pretty much locked up the women's vote. Game over for Obama. He shoulda picked Hillary.
At least that's what the cashier in my local Stop & Shop was saying late Friday afternoon ... "Well, he's got the women's vote now ..."
Not quite sure what he said after that because, true to my X chromosome, everything above my shoulders just stopped working. Good thing too, because the readers who know me well can't believe that I didn't say anything to the guy ... smiling sweetly and mentioning that I heard one of the southern contingents would be wearing bright orange Virginia for Vaginas T-shirts at the convention this week.
Judging from the words and self-assured ignorant smile of the 40-something white male running the 12-items-or-less lane around 5 p.m. on Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend, we vote with our tits, not with our brains.
We will vote for McCain/Palin because we share issues like motherhood and PMS and do-these-pants-make-me-look-fat. It doesn't matter if we agree on issues like the economy, health care, education, the war in Iraq. We will unite because we understand bad hair days and bloating and that creepy soft handshake men give us so we won't be intimidated or hurt ...
And that's really OK because when I use my brain these days, it starts to hurt. It has to process information like there probably being a lot more men out there with the same thoughts and perceptions of that cashier (and I was in a blue state Stop & Shop, not a Piggly Wiggly or Winn Dixie!).
So unite ladies. The election has been decided for us. We can get back to our knitting circles and sip our cosmopolitans and talk about the stuff that really matters. Like that brownie recipe.
At least that's what the cashier in my local Stop & Shop was saying late Friday afternoon ... "Well, he's got the women's vote now ..."
Not quite sure what he said after that because, true to my X chromosome, everything above my shoulders just stopped working. Good thing too, because the readers who know me well can't believe that I didn't say anything to the guy ... smiling sweetly and mentioning that I heard one of the southern contingents would be wearing bright orange Virginia for Vaginas T-shirts at the convention this week.
Judging from the words and self-assured ignorant smile of the 40-something white male running the 12-items-or-less lane around 5 p.m. on Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend, we vote with our tits, not with our brains.
We will vote for McCain/Palin because we share issues like motherhood and PMS and do-these-pants-make-me-look-fat. It doesn't matter if we agree on issues like the economy, health care, education, the war in Iraq. We will unite because we understand bad hair days and bloating and that creepy soft handshake men give us so we won't be intimidated or hurt ...
And that's really OK because when I use my brain these days, it starts to hurt. It has to process information like there probably being a lot more men out there with the same thoughts and perceptions of that cashier (and I was in a blue state Stop & Shop, not a Piggly Wiggly or Winn Dixie!).
So unite ladies. The election has been decided for us. We can get back to our knitting circles and sip our cosmopolitans and talk about the stuff that really matters. Like that brownie recipe.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Save Tiger Stadium?
The City of Detroit is not known for making good decisions. Apparently, it has started (via contractor) the demolition of Tiger Stadium. Part of the fallout is a sappy column by Mitch Albom in the Detroit Free Press -- it's so cliche and formulaic that I'm not even giving you the link -- and a rush by a group called savetigerstadium.org to raise nearly $400,000 by Aug. 1.
Should Tiger Stadium be saved? I'm not sure. Detroit is full of vacant, crumbling buildings that are never turned into anything. It's also overrun with vacant, overgrown lots filled with rusty Stroh's cans and discarded tires. One person who not only makes a great case for saving the old park at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull is ladyinblue, but calls out the City Council. It's one of the best posts I've ever read about any subject and shows that there are people in Detroit who are intelligent, logical and care about the city. Refreshing after the headlines and youtube videos about the Roman circus that is Kwame and his council.
I don't know if I'll donate to save Tiger Stadium, but I know this person should run for mayor. Wow.
Should Tiger Stadium be saved? I'm not sure. Detroit is full of vacant, crumbling buildings that are never turned into anything. It's also overrun with vacant, overgrown lots filled with rusty Stroh's cans and discarded tires. One person who not only makes a great case for saving the old park at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull is ladyinblue, but calls out the City Council. It's one of the best posts I've ever read about any subject and shows that there are people in Detroit who are intelligent, logical and care about the city. Refreshing after the headlines and youtube videos about the Roman circus that is Kwame and his council.
I don't know if I'll donate to save Tiger Stadium, but I know this person should run for mayor. Wow.
Silent Statement, Loud and Clear
Just taking a minute to send you to a great article in the Los Angeles Times on John Carlos and Tommie Smith, the American sprinters more renowned for their Black Power raised fist statement on race than for the race they ran. (Smith won the 200 meters, Carlos was third).
I was 2 when they made their statement in Mexico City in 1968, so no, I didn't see it. But as a sports fan, a runner and eventually a sportswriter, I've been aware of it and parts of the story behind it for as long as I can remember.
In the story, writer David Davis quotes Sociologist Harry Edwards as saying "One hundred years from now, what will matter was that their gesture became the iconic image of a phenomenal era, when people from Muhammad Ali to Curt Flood changed the face, the image and the dynamics of American sport."
In a way, their fearlessness and courage was also part of an era that changed America. Sports have become such an integral part of our society. Smith and Carlos were among the men and women who paved the way for Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, two men who not only transcend sports but also race.
At the same time, I hope Davis' article reminds readers of the fear and outrage that spread like a California wildfire 40 years ago, sparked by that simple, silent gesture. It's unimaginable today, but that doesn't mean the race for equality and justice is over. Too many people are still running.
What I ask is that readers remember the struggle, learn the history and teach the future. It's the only way we'll get any closer to the finish line.
I was 2 when they made their statement in Mexico City in 1968, so no, I didn't see it. But as a sports fan, a runner and eventually a sportswriter, I've been aware of it and parts of the story behind it for as long as I can remember.
In the story, writer David Davis quotes Sociologist Harry Edwards as saying "One hundred years from now, what will matter was that their gesture became the iconic image of a phenomenal era, when people from Muhammad Ali to Curt Flood changed the face, the image and the dynamics of American sport."
In a way, their fearlessness and courage was also part of an era that changed America. Sports have become such an integral part of our society. Smith and Carlos were among the men and women who paved the way for Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, two men who not only transcend sports but also race.
At the same time, I hope Davis' article reminds readers of the fear and outrage that spread like a California wildfire 40 years ago, sparked by that simple, silent gesture. It's unimaginable today, but that doesn't mean the race for equality and justice is over. Too many people are still running.
What I ask is that readers remember the struggle, learn the history and teach the future. It's the only way we'll get any closer to the finish line.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
