I haven’t been in the mood for any heavy thinking, and therefore, no heavy writing. I reserve my “fluff” pieces for private reading. I purposely diverted from watching TV in the past couple of weeks because I was honestly and plainly tired of it all.
Capping, not capping, re-capping…the reasons and excuses began sounding like a broken record. Gallons and gallons of oil pumping into the waters and nobody can come up with a solution. Robots, sealers, closures of various sizes have been tried but, to no avail. I think they’ve found one that has slowed the flow. I haven’t actually tuned in long enough to actually see the details.
I watched a piece on TV the other day about a man who is instrumental in creating a new “Pixie Dust” (that’s the actual nickname they called it!) This material replaces damaged muscle. For example, soldiers that have lost limbs or have suffered scarred or damaged tissue due to bombings and such, can undergo treatment with this new material and have it replaced. One soldier received it and has experienced complete rehabilitation of the muscle lost in his thigh. He said that it he has gained strength that wasn’t there before. It was also used on an elderly man diagnosed with cancer in his esophagus. Using this material, they replaced his esophagus and he has no signs of cancer.
Hmmm…
I bet you can guess where I’m going with this. There are doctors, scientists, technicians, etc. out there who can come up with the greatest discoveries known to man. You mean to tell me there isn’t anyone out there that can come up with way to cap a pipe?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
One For Bugs! (as in Bunny!)
Yesterday marked the 70th “birthday” of my all time favorite cartoon characters. The pioneer of animation, the original animated one-liner, the slickster himself, Bugs Bunny! There were a few acknowledgements within the news and print, giving brief histories of his start and such. Throughout the day, I had planned to go home and watch a marathon only to discover that the so-called Cartoon Network did nothing of the sort. (!!) I pulled up the guide on the television screen and expanded it for the week. The only thing scheduled to air is “Looney Tunes Back in Action” (??) This being a feature film starring “B” list Hollywood actors with maybe 20% animation. A poor attempt to capitalize on the then popular “Space Jam” (another live/animation combo)
Now, I figured because it was during the week, they saved the marathon, tribute, SOMETHING for the weekend. Nothing. I was blown away! Cartoon Network wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Bugs and his pals. I even skipped to the Cartoon Network’s second station (CN West) and still nothing! I wrote a note to this so-called “cartoon” network and expressed my feelings on the matter. I haven’t received a response yet and doubt that I will. I didn’t bash them too terribly, but simply pointed out that they’ve strayed from their origin. I may have thrown in that they ought to be ashamed of themselves for neglecting the one character they all were probably inspired by. The crap they show now is embarrassing. With the exception of "Tom & Jerry", and an occasional run of "Scooby", everything else the air is, I repeat, crap! They even show movies now (helloooo??)
A few years ago, when they edged out the REAL cartoons for the new stuff, I was at a loss. I began purchasing my favorites on DVD; "The Flintstones", of course "Looney Tunes", "Pink Panther", etc. for my own enjoyment. Then another cartoon network surfaced called “Boomerang” that I was really excited about. This is a spin off for veterans like myself that shows all the cartoons we grew up with and that Cartoon Network no longer airs. Classics like “The Jetsons”, “The Flintstones”, “Josie and The Pussycats” are shown here. All the Hannah Barbara lineup you could think of is featured on this channel. Now, I love the HB stuff, but after a while, it wears you down. Still, no Warner Bros. greats - No Bugs Bunny, Daffy, Foghorn. They began throwing in a few Nickelodeon “classics” like “Dexter’s Laboratory”, “Johnny Bravo”, and “The Power Puff Girls”, which leads me to believe these too were ousted from their home networks and replaced with updated, yep you guessed it, crap. (Sigh…)
Anyway…The Cartoon Network dropped the ball BIG TIME (ALL of them!) No marathon, not even a half hour special on Bugs creation, nothing.
I will hold my own celebration this Saturday and will watch all my Looney Tunes DVD’s! I’ll sit in the middle of my bed, in my PJ’s; with a bowl of Cap’N Crunch cereal and enjoy all my favorites…the way cartoons were meant to be watched!
Now, I figured because it was during the week, they saved the marathon, tribute, SOMETHING for the weekend. Nothing. I was blown away! Cartoon Network wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Bugs and his pals. I even skipped to the Cartoon Network’s second station (CN West) and still nothing! I wrote a note to this so-called “cartoon” network and expressed my feelings on the matter. I haven’t received a response yet and doubt that I will. I didn’t bash them too terribly, but simply pointed out that they’ve strayed from their origin. I may have thrown in that they ought to be ashamed of themselves for neglecting the one character they all were probably inspired by. The crap they show now is embarrassing. With the exception of "Tom & Jerry", and an occasional run of "Scooby", everything else the air is, I repeat, crap! They even show movies now (helloooo??)
A few years ago, when they edged out the REAL cartoons for the new stuff, I was at a loss. I began purchasing my favorites on DVD; "The Flintstones", of course "Looney Tunes", "Pink Panther", etc. for my own enjoyment. Then another cartoon network surfaced called “Boomerang” that I was really excited about. This is a spin off for veterans like myself that shows all the cartoons we grew up with and that Cartoon Network no longer airs. Classics like “The Jetsons”, “The Flintstones”, “Josie and The Pussycats” are shown here. All the Hannah Barbara lineup you could think of is featured on this channel. Now, I love the HB stuff, but after a while, it wears you down. Still, no Warner Bros. greats - No Bugs Bunny, Daffy, Foghorn. They began throwing in a few Nickelodeon “classics” like “Dexter’s Laboratory”, “Johnny Bravo”, and “The Power Puff Girls”, which leads me to believe these too were ousted from their home networks and replaced with updated, yep you guessed it, crap. (Sigh…)
Anyway…The Cartoon Network dropped the ball BIG TIME (ALL of them!) No marathon, not even a half hour special on Bugs creation, nothing.
I will hold my own celebration this Saturday and will watch all my Looney Tunes DVD’s! I’ll sit in the middle of my bed, in my PJ’s; with a bowl of Cap’N Crunch cereal and enjoy all my favorites…the way cartoons were meant to be watched!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
One of Those...
When life is too hard to bare, or so you think, it’s comforting to know there’s someone near who is willing to share those rough moments with you. If you think it, she says it. If you say it, she finishes the sentence.
Is it possible to meet and acquire a ‘best friend’ in your 30’s? Yes. I’ve been blessed with such a gift. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not all that easy to get along with. I’m critical, a perfectionist, and generally do not like people; I prefer to watch them from a distance like the alligators at the zoo. But, for some strange reason that either of have not been able to truly figure out, we clicked.
Now, that’s not to say we don’t get on each other’s nerves, because we do. When those moments arise and of late, there hasn’t been many, we know to give each other the necessary space needed. I usually put her on time out and she lets my calls go to voicemail. :-)
It dawned on me the other day after my family reunion just how much she means to me. There aren’t many folks who would volunteer to help with your family reunion. Not just set tables or fold napkins, but sit at the ‘registration’ table and deal with aggressive family members who demanded a certain sized T-shirt or more than what they were entitled. The kind of friend that was up at 6 in the morning, out at the park 3 hours before it started to set up and stayed 2 hours after it ended to help clean up; that’s what I’m talking about…and STILL showed up the next day at the finale to put in even more hours of her time! That’s Love (yes, with a capital “L”)
This isn’t the first and I’m confident enough to say it won’t be the last time she’s stepped up and walked hand in hand with me when I needed her. During other various crisis, big or small, she’s right there. In the midst of many breakdowns, known and unknown, she’s talked me through. Sometimes she doesn’t say anything which I can’t decide is just as or more valuable to me.
I think what touches my heart the most is that she took the time to get to know me and is hanging tight with me and my crazy mood swings and moments of dispondency. She’s willing to roll up her sleeves and go to war or to sit and listen when I analyze myself or a situation I’m going through and chimes in with just enough advice to nudge me in the right direction.
She’s the only person I know that I can spend the day with shopping (literally) and still want to hang out with in the evening into the wee hours of the night. Our conversations are stimulating and thoughtful. We learn from each other and WITH each other. We cry together and sit in silence together and know exactly what it all means. No words are needed, we know.
Yes, I have one of those…a Best Friend and I love her dearly (T.E.)
Is it possible to meet and acquire a ‘best friend’ in your 30’s? Yes. I’ve been blessed with such a gift. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not all that easy to get along with. I’m critical, a perfectionist, and generally do not like people; I prefer to watch them from a distance like the alligators at the zoo. But, for some strange reason that either of have not been able to truly figure out, we clicked.
Now, that’s not to say we don’t get on each other’s nerves, because we do. When those moments arise and of late, there hasn’t been many, we know to give each other the necessary space needed. I usually put her on time out and she lets my calls go to voicemail. :-)
It dawned on me the other day after my family reunion just how much she means to me. There aren’t many folks who would volunteer to help with your family reunion. Not just set tables or fold napkins, but sit at the ‘registration’ table and deal with aggressive family members who demanded a certain sized T-shirt or more than what they were entitled. The kind of friend that was up at 6 in the morning, out at the park 3 hours before it started to set up and stayed 2 hours after it ended to help clean up; that’s what I’m talking about…and STILL showed up the next day at the finale to put in even more hours of her time! That’s Love (yes, with a capital “L”)
This isn’t the first and I’m confident enough to say it won’t be the last time she’s stepped up and walked hand in hand with me when I needed her. During other various crisis, big or small, she’s right there. In the midst of many breakdowns, known and unknown, she’s talked me through. Sometimes she doesn’t say anything which I can’t decide is just as or more valuable to me.
I think what touches my heart the most is that she took the time to get to know me and is hanging tight with me and my crazy mood swings and moments of dispondency. She’s willing to roll up her sleeves and go to war or to sit and listen when I analyze myself or a situation I’m going through and chimes in with just enough advice to nudge me in the right direction.
She’s the only person I know that I can spend the day with shopping (literally) and still want to hang out with in the evening into the wee hours of the night. Our conversations are stimulating and thoughtful. We learn from each other and WITH each other. We cry together and sit in silence together and know exactly what it all means. No words are needed, we know.
Yes, I have one of those…a Best Friend and I love her dearly (T.E.)
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
All In The Family!
This past weekend we hosted our first Family Reunion. I say first because it wasn’t part of the previous chains or other extensions. My two cousins and I put together a weekend that I’m sure either of us will forget.
It started with “D” sending me an email 5 or 6 months ago simply stated: “Cuz, call me” Within minutes, I called him. When he realized it was me, he was blown away because I actually called him. He asked how did I feel about getting a reunion together? He went to say how the older members of the family always did it and now that WE’RE the older ones (so to speak) we should really try to put something together. As I listened to him I realized he was serious and wanted my help. We set a date to get together to talk it out in more details. I drove up to his house and we talked for over three hours about everything! Now, the key to this is that “D” and I had never spent any “real” time with each other. It was always a quick word in passing, at a funeral or messages on Facebook. But that night, we bonded our family ties and got to work. He called and reached out to a few other cousins who all responded with “Yea, that’s a great idea” but only one stepped up said “Yea, that’s a great idea…let me know what you want me to do” and “L” jumped in with both feet.
Because we all know how folks can be (well, most of us know) pulling this thing together was not easy. The minute the registration letter went out, the negativity began. We sat together and exchanged our disbelief at what was being said. Well, “L” and I knew it would come but “D” was really taken aback (poor fella!) From “I didn’t get a letter” even though the registration letter CLEARLY asked that copies be made and distributed accordingly because we didn’t have everyone’s address (a family as big as ours, who would??) to complaints of the location flew around like migrating birds. The biggest complaint of course was the price. Which we felt was faire considering it included your meals for all three days and a T-shirt. Sadly enough, most of the drama came from a certain ‘pocket’ of the family. A few times we were derailed because the battery had become a bit much and we had to REALLY encourage one another. I know I contemplated stepping down and not showing up at all. I didn’t catch any direct flack, but when I learned my two partners were catching it, I took it personal as if it were directly coming to me. I became defensive and confrontational. A couple of times I had to be talked down by “L” because I was ready to make THAT phone call to certain family members to check them. Of course we had those that totally disregarded and in my opinion disrespected the spirit and formation of the reunion by just showing up and not paying and forced us to come out of our own pockets to cover certain expenses. A few were the very same ones that caused all the drama.
Nevertheless, we pressed on and because we did, last weekend was a success! Nothing but positive accolades were given throughout the weekend by the family. There were few hiccups here and there, but they were so minor I doubt anybody noticed ;-) The three of us, with the help of "L's" husband and "D's" wife, "L's" good friend and my best friend, we pulled it off!
Friday night kicked off with an informal hang out of adult fun at a local bar. We were a little apprehensive because we didn’t book the bar for our use exclusively. We just told everyone to show up there and be prepared to pay a cover ($5) the bar sometimes charged and we knew there would be some that would complain about having to pay at the door. To our surprise, we were the only ones there that night and there was no charge for those that came later (1 down…)
Saturday was the Family Day, with the weatherman threatening rain. I believe we all prayed because there was a 3 minute shower around 8:45 and another one around 11 and that was it! Everyone (all who could) played field games, talked, ate and ate some more. We did a special balloon release for all family members that had passed away and the classic photo of the eldest and youngest family member together (2 down, 1 to go...)
The finale was a Family Fellowship Dinner with presentations of Praise Dancing, Poetry, and awards for the games played the day before. Our final comments were expressed more so to each other. A touching moment because only we know what we went through for the sake of the family; a job well done! (We did it!!)
Comments of next year’s reunion popped up. I ignored them. At the end of, a cousin approached me about ideas for the next reunion possibly being held at a location that meets in the ‘middle’ like Myrtle Beach. I told him it was a good idea and told myself I wanted NOTHING to do with the planning!
My Blackberry will be happy to know that I will NOT be taking any calls, emails, or texts from the family for at least 2 weeks. I will respond to FB inquiries on a very LIMITED basis. :-)
It started with “D” sending me an email 5 or 6 months ago simply stated: “Cuz, call me” Within minutes, I called him. When he realized it was me, he was blown away because I actually called him. He asked how did I feel about getting a reunion together? He went to say how the older members of the family always did it and now that WE’RE the older ones (so to speak) we should really try to put something together. As I listened to him I realized he was serious and wanted my help. We set a date to get together to talk it out in more details. I drove up to his house and we talked for over three hours about everything! Now, the key to this is that “D” and I had never spent any “real” time with each other. It was always a quick word in passing, at a funeral or messages on Facebook. But that night, we bonded our family ties and got to work. He called and reached out to a few other cousins who all responded with “Yea, that’s a great idea” but only one stepped up said “Yea, that’s a great idea…let me know what you want me to do” and “L” jumped in with both feet.
Because we all know how folks can be (well, most of us know) pulling this thing together was not easy. The minute the registration letter went out, the negativity began. We sat together and exchanged our disbelief at what was being said. Well, “L” and I knew it would come but “D” was really taken aback (poor fella!) From “I didn’t get a letter” even though the registration letter CLEARLY asked that copies be made and distributed accordingly because we didn’t have everyone’s address (a family as big as ours, who would??) to complaints of the location flew around like migrating birds. The biggest complaint of course was the price. Which we felt was faire considering it included your meals for all three days and a T-shirt. Sadly enough, most of the drama came from a certain ‘pocket’ of the family. A few times we were derailed because the battery had become a bit much and we had to REALLY encourage one another. I know I contemplated stepping down and not showing up at all. I didn’t catch any direct flack, but when I learned my two partners were catching it, I took it personal as if it were directly coming to me. I became defensive and confrontational. A couple of times I had to be talked down by “L” because I was ready to make THAT phone call to certain family members to check them. Of course we had those that totally disregarded and in my opinion disrespected the spirit and formation of the reunion by just showing up and not paying and forced us to come out of our own pockets to cover certain expenses. A few were the very same ones that caused all the drama.
Nevertheless, we pressed on and because we did, last weekend was a success! Nothing but positive accolades were given throughout the weekend by the family. There were few hiccups here and there, but they were so minor I doubt anybody noticed ;-) The three of us, with the help of "L's" husband and "D's" wife, "L's" good friend and my best friend, we pulled it off!
Friday night kicked off with an informal hang out of adult fun at a local bar. We were a little apprehensive because we didn’t book the bar for our use exclusively. We just told everyone to show up there and be prepared to pay a cover ($5) the bar sometimes charged and we knew there would be some that would complain about having to pay at the door. To our surprise, we were the only ones there that night and there was no charge for those that came later (1 down…)
Saturday was the Family Day, with the weatherman threatening rain. I believe we all prayed because there was a 3 minute shower around 8:45 and another one around 11 and that was it! Everyone (all who could) played field games, talked, ate and ate some more. We did a special balloon release for all family members that had passed away and the classic photo of the eldest and youngest family member together (2 down, 1 to go...)
The finale was a Family Fellowship Dinner with presentations of Praise Dancing, Poetry, and awards for the games played the day before. Our final comments were expressed more so to each other. A touching moment because only we know what we went through for the sake of the family; a job well done! (We did it!!)
Comments of next year’s reunion popped up. I ignored them. At the end of, a cousin approached me about ideas for the next reunion possibly being held at a location that meets in the ‘middle’ like Myrtle Beach. I told him it was a good idea and told myself I wanted NOTHING to do with the planning!
My Blackberry will be happy to know that I will NOT be taking any calls, emails, or texts from the family for at least 2 weeks. I will respond to FB inquiries on a very LIMITED basis. :-)
Monday, July 12, 2010
Back To Normal (?)
The title of this entry tickles me because as I typed it out, I’m not sure what ‘normal’ is anymore.
I have been in a state of chaos and frenzy for the past three months. I’ve almost forgotten what normal feels like. From running up and down the highway, to running relays to hospitals and nursing homes and doctor’s offices…I’m zapped! In the midst of all the emergencies, I’ve been co-planning our Family Reunion which took place this past weekend.
Now that things are beginning to quiet down, I’d like to get in some quality time with myself. I’m feeling the need to be revived in every sense of the word. I need some One-on-One time with the Lord. I need some uninterrupted time to be alone in His presence and in His Word.
Once that’s been done, I need a day or two of doing absolutely NOTHING! No cleaning, no organizing, no driving; just nothing. After that I think I’ll be ready to rejoin society in a more productive manner. ;-)
I have been in a state of chaos and frenzy for the past three months. I’ve almost forgotten what normal feels like. From running up and down the highway, to running relays to hospitals and nursing homes and doctor’s offices…I’m zapped! In the midst of all the emergencies, I’ve been co-planning our Family Reunion which took place this past weekend.
Now that things are beginning to quiet down, I’d like to get in some quality time with myself. I’m feeling the need to be revived in every sense of the word. I need some One-on-One time with the Lord. I need some uninterrupted time to be alone in His presence and in His Word.
Once that’s been done, I need a day or two of doing absolutely NOTHING! No cleaning, no organizing, no driving; just nothing. After that I think I’ll be ready to rejoin society in a more productive manner. ;-)
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