Bucking the System

My sweet blog friend Joann over at Laundry Hurts my Feelings is following yet another really good blogger  thegirlnextdoorgrowsup and they are doing Feel Good Friday. And as much as I would love join in the fun, my contrary side wants to buck the system and rant and kvetch and bitch about something.  Anything.  Just for the fun of ranting.

So I am going to do some more stream of consciousness blogging and we shall we whether it is more ranting or more good stuff, won't we?

~~Right now I am so thrilled with my gorgeous 24 inch iMac that I don't know what to do with myself.  Recently I talked about my niece who tragically lost everything in a house fire except her new husband and her 2 dogs.  And of course that got my brain rolling on to what would I try to save if I were in such a situation.  And how on earth am I going to get 3 dogs and 4 cats herded out of the house to safety (the kids are now technically adults and on their own, I am afraid).  I would be hard-pressed to leave my iMac.  That's what I was getting to.  I don't just use it for email, reading the news, facebook, but now that I am feeling a little more confident with the iPhoto and iTunes I am having lots of fun with it.

Here's something my kids will tell you that drives them nuts about me.  I get a song stuck in my head and I will listen to it in my car on repeat.  Just that one song.  On repeat. For weeks.  Weeks.  Weeks on end.  And guess what?  I can now do that on my iMac too!

Last week is was "Man on the Silver Mountain" to honor Ronnie Dio. R.I.P.

~~I don't know about the rest of you, but I visit certain sites on a regular basis.  Not necessarily on the same day each week, but whenever.  And the two that bring me the most joy and always bring me to tears are Where the Hell is Matt and The Free Hug Guy  And I love the music on both sites.  Matt is getting ready to head out again and do more dancing around the world, so I will probably get obsessive to check it and see if he is heading here.

~~Last week my son and I went to a town hall meeting that was being held at one of the local universities.  It was a panel of experts on drug addiction and all were locals except for Jeff Van Vonderen from the show Intervention.  Anyway, it was a really good and informative meeting.  The last half was opened up for Q&A and there were so many brave people who got up to share their pain, heart aches, triumphs, and loss.

~~My uncle is in the hospital right now.  He was taken in with chest pain and had a million tests run on his heart.  He has to take medication and reduce stress in his life and lose weight.  I hope they gave him specific instructions on how to do the last two.  Because if he already knew how to reduce the stress and the weight, don't you think he would have done so?  This is the kind of advice that pisses me right off.  "Lose weight".  Seriously?  How?  Which of the 20 gazillion weight loss systems is the right one for me?  "Reduce your stress"  Really?  Cause I was just rocking along here in life assuming that high stress was how it is.  That kind of non-informative advice irritates the beejeebers right out of me.  How do I reduce stress?  Is meditation right for me?  Is yoga?  Is going to the gun shooting range?  How do I know?  Give me a list. Give me some guidance.  I am not a total Goober, but a little shepherding to the right stuff might me in order here.

~~You know how people used to ask who your heroes were?  People you admired, wanted to emulate? I had a list of 4.
1. Groucho Marx

2. Howard Hughes

3. Frank Zappa

4. Rod Serling

So I was thinking about this and the only thing I can come up with that these disparate people had in common was a fierce independence and a need to flaunt the rules.  "Make the reality you want" seems to  be a recurring theme with them.

It is kind of sad that I didn't have any women on there.  And the first woman that popped in my head when I typed that was Mae West.  Now, there is a pistol of femininity right there!

~~I have been cleaning out drawers, closets, and all the accompanying detritus.  If I didn't have family coming to spend the weekend with us I would spend more time and be brutal about getting rid of more and figuring out why I have so much crap.  And why I have felt the need to box it up and haul it around the globe with me through 10 moves in 4 countries, 8 cities and 14 years.

I have already decided that I am not taking any doula clients after my two June clients deliver.  Just till the end of August.  Sept. 1st I will get back to business.  But that will give me some time this summer to really focus on clearing things.

Enjoy the long weekend.  I hope you all get to spend it with someone you love.  If they can't be with you, give them a call just to say how much you love them.

Thank you for coming here and spending a few minutes with me.  I appreciate your comments so much.

T.V. shows 2010 Part 7

Not a full update here, just a Readers Digest condensed version of what has been going on.

LOST - I already told you in a separate post my views on this series finale.  I am still on the fence about it.  Some of it was really good, and some of it just irritated the beejeebers out of me because they didn't address things.  Whatever.

Biggest Loser - Michael won!  Here is the interesting thing, if America's vote had gone the other way and Koli had been in the final 3, then he would have won.  His percentage of weight lost was greater than Michael's.  As it is, Koli got the $100,000 and Michael won the QUarter of a million dollars.  Allison Sweeney kept saying Korter.  And every time she did I wanted to reach through the t.v. and smack her.

DWTS - How in the world could Nicole and Derek NOT win?  Honestly, she is so good.  Just built for dancing, wasn't she?  Any of the final 3 would have been great winners.  No complaints here!

Saving Grace - ok, they finally started back with the last few episodes.  And I am a bit lost.  There was such a gap in time from the last show that I can't figure out what the hell is going on with Earl.

Breaking Bad - Did y'all see this last episode?  Holy flyswatter, Batman!  Hilarious!!

Tudors - Not many episodes left.  Ole Henry VIII is not looking good.  And that gross, disgusting ulcerated  place on his leg?  Pretty nauseating.  He is on his sixth marriage and we are seeing a little more about the progeny and what kind of people they will become.  And they keep advertising the upcoming series about the Borgias at the end of each episode.  That should be a real winner.

U.S. of Tara - I really like this show.  And I can't figure out where we are going next.  Actually, I am continually amazed at the ride we get to take with these people each week.  Good writing, Diablo Cody!

Survivor - Praise the Lord that Evil Russell did not win.  Not a single vote.  He really is a nasty little troll of a man.  I liked that Sandra won.  The only 2 time winner in Survivor history.

and last but not least . . . .

BIG BROTHER coming in July!  I will let you know as soon as I get any scoop on what is happening over at the hamster house.  You do the same, won't you?

Are you still Lost?

Lost.  Thank you for a great six seasons.  Thank you for keeping me completely and totally bumfuzzled the whole flipping time.  I never knew which end was up.  And you know what?  I still don't!

I sat through the whole 4 1/2 hour long marathon.  Then I got up and stretched and regained feeling in my body and sat through Jimmy Kimmel Live.

I consider myself a fairly intelligent person.  I am smarter than the average bear.  I have a bit of common sense, too.  Which is way under-rated, by the by.  And Lost just confounded me.  I am not sure I buy the whole story of "Oh yeah, we had this planned out from the get-go.  We knew exactly where we were going and how we would end up at this point all along".  Really?  Let me just re-cap some of the many, and I do mean, many, things that were never resolved.  Were these all just red herrings?

1. The polar bear

2. Mr. Ecko, Ana Lucia, Michael, Walt, and all the other Tailies, Others, Dharma Dudes and such. Never explained.

3. Vincent the dog.

4. Where were the wildlife on this island?  No regular snakes, bugs, monkeys, feral hogs, deer, ducks, anything?  If there were no bugs or bees, not a lot of the fruit would have been pollenated.

5. What about the women who couldn't have babies?  Except for the French lady who was Alex's real mom.  There were exceptions to everything.

6. If Jacob was "Good", then why did it seem so creepy and evil in that cabin when Jack's dad and Claire were there and seemed to be brain washed?  Was Jacob really good and the brother/man in black guy really evil?

This is a lot of things to go unexplained.  Things that were just filler to distract us from the real story.  "Oooh, look, shiny objects!  Watch this!  Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"

From the first season people were saying in all the chatrooms and message boards that the island was some kind of purgatory and everyone was dead.  And the writers kept saying "Oh no, we are going in a completely different direction."  Was all the smoke and mirrors to keep us interested until they could give us the "yeah, they really were dead and in purgatory all along" ending and not have us all pissed off?  who knows?

All of that not withstanding, I truly did enjoy my six seasons of Lost.  I loved getting to know the characters, even the island which was a whole character of its own, don't you think?

Did you have a favorite character?  favorite scene?  story line?
Are you going to miss Lost?

Lemme hear from you!

Top Five List for Joann

I have a blog friend who is the most eloquent and fabulous and entertaining woman alive.  And she has bestowed upon all of her readers an award that was formerly bestowed upon her own self.




Here is the award:

Aren't you all impressed?  Don't you want one of your very own?  Here is the link to Joann and all the rules and her own selections.  Say hey while you are there.  She will make you feel all cozy and welcome.  Especially if you are a lover of all things Bono.

I loved all of her choices.  I made a list of my very own and tried and tried to narrow it down to 5.  But 12 was about as good as it got.  However!  Since some of Joann's were the ones I would have chosen, I am selecting my 5 that are different from her 5 even though some of hers (Gerard Butler in p.s. I love you) ranks way up on my list.  So, as they are wont to say on Dancing with the Stars all the flipping time, "And now, in no particular order . . . . "

Here are 5 of my top 12:

Rodrigo Santoro in Love, Actually.  Even with Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson and all the rest, when this guy was on screen my heart just melted.  Laura Linney was a big fat wiener for not turning off her damn cell phone!  Good Lord, what was she thinking!  Brazil, I thank you mightily for sending us this fine man to share on the movie screen.

I know, Joann chose Robert Downey Jr. in Ironman.  But for me, this character from Only You is the most romantic person he has ever played.  I adore this movie because of him.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  Aaaah. Remember him as Denny Duquette on Gray's Anatomy?  Remember him as the poor recently departed husband on Weeds?   Remember him as the Other Irish Guy in p.s. I love you?  Fabulous.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a photo of Lenny Kravitz without sunglasses?  Lenny with no hair, hot.  Lenny with puffy afro, really hot.  Lenny with his really long dreads, steaming smoking hot.

Naveen Andrews.  aka Sayid on Lost and that other guy on the English Patient.  Just look at that handsomeness.  So dashing and strong and full of confidence.  Love him.

In order to cut down on the length here I am just going to tell you the rest of my list.

Bruce Willis - I have loved Bruce Willis since the first episode of Moonlighting.  There is nothing like a man with that much self-confidence, self-deprecating humor and just enough swagger.

Stanley Tucci - His new role in The Lovely Bones, not withstanding.  He is a beautiful man.  And those eyes.

Carey Grant - more of the handsome self-deprecating funny and just too much fun.

Denzel Washington - I don't even know how to describe how handsome he is.

Gerard Butler - honestly, with Harry Connick, Jr. and Jeffrey Dean Morgan starring along with him in p.s. I love you, you wouldn't think he would steal the whole movie would you?  But steal it he did.  Along with the hearts of every woman who saw it.

Colin Firth - back to the cast of Love, Actually.  I can't imagine how this movie could have crammed any more gorgeous men in that cast.  Colin Firth is such a good actor that when I went to look at pictures online, every photo was completely different.  He is chameleon-like in his ability to become the new character.

John Corbett - I believe some of you may already know of my adoration of Mr. Corbett.  My love of him goes all the way back to Northern Exposure when he was Chris in the morning.  Oooh!  And have you seen the new previews of Sex and the City 2?  He's in it!  Yea!  Plus, you can watch him every week on Showtime in the series United States of Tara.

That's my 12, I mean 5.  Plus 7 extras.  : )

Enjoy and feel free to post your 5 right here!

and then again, there are these idiots

Read this article from the news today.  Hurry, and then come back so we can cuss and discuss this moron.

It boggles the mind how people are able to reproduce when they can't take care of themselves.  Dipsticks, that's what they are.

There are some good people out there

and companies too!  Do all of you have Panera bread?  They are a good company making an outstanding product.

And now they have outdone themselves.  Check this story out.

Did you read it?  What do you think?

I surely hope that the local clientele get this off the ground and that they do expand.  Seems like a fun idea to me!

Random Thoughts

It has been a whole week since I have actually posted anything.  I am kinda shocked.  I have been busy as well.  Shocked and busy.

So I decided I would do some random stream of consciousness musings, ramblings and maybe even a rant or two!

1. Which do you find most annoying?  People who smack their food, people who slurp their soup, coffee or whatever, or people who do that weird breathing thing when they talk like that douchebag Dr. Phil?

Let's face it, all three of those are annoying in the extreme.  Just curious.

2. I love, love, love, pink puffy heart, love my Kindle!!!  And you know what else I love?  My Borsa Bella carry bag for my Kindle.  Isn't it cute?  It's stylish, functional, and protective.  It has a front pocket that holds the power cord, a cel phone or whatever else you might need.  Love the Borsa Bella bag!  Check out her site.  She has bags for damn near every electronic device you could have.  She has purses, totes and even the cutest diaper bags ever!  And no, I do not own this company, I do not even personally know anyone affiliated, or anything else.  I seriously love my Borsa Bella Bag for my beloved Kindle! and by the by?  The one I linked you to is the one I got!  I do love those big flowery things!

3. This one might be a problem.  I went to the free books for Kindle site to get some fabulous classics for free for my Kindle.  I got some great books by the by.  But then somehow I mosied over to the not-for-free books and was throwing them in my shopping cart willy-nilly just as if I were still in the free area!  Word to the wise:  Never shop both areas at the same time!  Never.  And let me just reiterate:  N E V E R.

4. My friend Patty Cakes is out of town.  So I have no one to read the obits with.  It's sad and not near as much fun to read the obituaries all alone.  There I was reading yesterday with my highlighter in hand ready to find some little gem, some fabulous turn of phrase, someone who really took the time and wanted to showcase their dearly departed's life.  And nothing.  Yes, people died.  Yes, it was sad.  But, nothing really stood out.  It was a (I hate to say it) a dull week in the obit section.  Maybe that is a good thing?  Maybe we don't want our fabulous, flamboyant, and living life to the fullest people to be dying off?

5. My niece got married last fall.  She is such a sweet and beautiful girl and made a lovely bride.  Anyhoo, she and her new husband built a big, beautiful home and furnished it together and filled it with wedding gifts.  They have 2 dogs and are a happy new family.  Then Friday night we were completely covered in thunderstorms.  The whole area was inundated by rain, flooding, thunder, and lightning. Her husband woke between 4 and 5 a.m. to the sound of the smoke alarm going off.  He opened the bedroom door to see what was going on and found himself standing in water and able to see the night sky above him.  Night sky surrounded by flames where their roof used to be.

He grabbed his new bride, they got their dogs and her purse and ran out and watched their house burn down.  All their belongings gone.  Their wedding photos gone.  All the wedding gifts gone.  I know, they are lucky to be alive and have each other.  And it makes you sound ungrateful if you don't preface with that thought each and every time you say "all my stuff is gone".  But if I were in her shoes, I would be falling apart.  You can not plan for a random lightning strike.  And all weekend I have been having these thought creeping into my consciousness "what would I do?, how would we go about corralling all our multitude of pets?, what would I want to grab and take with me on my way out the door? what will I have regrets over?"

See why I have no great and interesting thing to post today?  My brain is completely absorbed by this tragedy.  I keep thinking of her day-to-day life and how every aspect of it is changed.  "oh, I need to get dressed.  wait, I don't have any clothes", or "I will just put that in the washer.  nope, no washer."  She has to start completely over.  New clothes, new makeup, new shampoo, temporary place to live.  I haven't even asked yet if their cars were in the garage and are now totalled or not.

6. I can't end on news of my niece and her home. So here's one more thought.  Are you gardening?  Are you composting?  Are you harvesting rain water?  Are you using less of those horrendous plastic bags? You should know by now how I feel about those bags.  They are worse than Dr. Phil.  At least he doesn't sit in my pantry and multiply.