Summer reading

Normally, I hit summer with a fully planned reading plan.  One year I re-read Harry Potter.  Another year I re-read all Austen and Bronte.  This year I find myself with no plan.  Part of the problem is that the weather was so horrible for so long that I did not feel summer would ever arrive.  Also, work is stressful and busy.  This summer is a "fly by the seat of my pants" reading plan.  Here is what I have read thus far.....

Ordinary Grace
William Kent Krueger

Life after Life
Kate Atkinson

We Bought a Zoo
Benjamin Mee

Eating in the Light
Doreen Virtue

World War Z
Max Brooks

On a whim, I decided to read the Left Behind series.  I passed them up when they were popular.  I don't believe the doctrine in the books but I thought they might be entertaining.  I've read three.  They are not well written.   But once I start with a series, I almost always finish it. 

Left Behind
Tribulation Force
Nicolae
Timothy LaHaye

Upcoming are two books for book club

Gone Girl
Gillian Flynn

Blood Hollow
William Kent Krueger

Since I've not read 1-3 in the series.....I'm going to try and read them before I read book 4.

I also have book 11 in the Psychic Eye series

Deadly Forcast
Victoria Laurie

This list will keep me busy. 

What are you reading? Do you plan a summer reading list? 

What in the world is the matter with me

I seriously don’t know what’s wrong with me.  I really want to blog.  I LOVE blogs.  I follow so many blogs that My Yahoo won’t let me add any new blogs.  I spend a lot of time reading blogs.  It is safe to say that I am obsessed with blogs.  I have many thoughts that run through my head and I think, “I need to blog this”.  But I don’t follow through.  I don’t know if I am scared or just lazy?  It irritates my husband.  He tells me often that I should be blogging more.  When we have conversations, he often says, “You really need to blog this”! 

I do have such a wide variety of interests.   TV, food, books, movies, houses, current events just to name a few.  Yet, I feel like I should focus on one thing. Maybe that’s what is holding me back.  My mind is ALL over the place 24/7 yet I think that my blog should be focused.  Perhaps I need to let go of that and really just let the blog be like my mind.  Eclectic, off beat, a little weird, and fun. 

Going forward I’m going to be more stream of consciousness and I guess we will see how it goes. 

A beautiful distraction

I have been very distracted lately.  I have not posted in a while.  Work is very busy, but that is not the real reason. 

Here is the reason-

My grandson arrived on August 5.  His name is Ryder and he is completely awesome.  I come home from work and spend a few hours with him every day.  It is really great.  Grand parenting is the best.  I get to snuggle, cuddle, coo, and sing.  I feed and burp him.  But when he is fussy or poopy, I call his mommy….LOL!

SO, that it where I have been.  Worth it???? Yuppers....totally worth it!

When it is not funny and never will be funny…..EVER

A few minutes ago, there was a post on my Facebook wall with a picture of Larry the cable guy and the following quote.

 Larry The Cable Guy On Cajuns...

"Even after the recent Super Bowl victory of the New Orleans Saints, I have noticed a large number of people implying with bad jokes that Cajuns aren't smart.  I would like to state for the record that I disagree with that assessment.  Anybody that would build a city 5 feet below sea level in a hurricane zone and fill it with Democrats is a damn genius."

I cannot verify that this is real, but I found it posted all over the place.

A little background.  3-months before hurricane Katrina, my husband and I went to New Orleans for a week.  He was at a convention, so he saw very little of the city.  I spent all day exploring.  It was fantastic.  I walked all over and I rode the trollies.  That trip is in my top five.  Three months later, disaster struck.  It was one of the most painful things to watch but added to the horror was the faces of so many people burned in my brain from my time in the city. 

I am not going to go into all the details.  There are many.  I will share two.  I caught a glimpse of my favorite trolley conductor guarding his wife and daughter in the dome.  He was easy to spot.  Tall, built, gorgeous, funny, bald, black man.  The look on his face haunts me.  The second, I will always wonder if the sweet little old lady I met on the trolley got out.  I rode with her several times.  She was easily 80-years old.  She rode the trolley every other day to get her groceries.

At least 1,836 people lost their lives.  There is NOTHING funny about that.

A few days ago, Dane Cook made a joke about the Aurora, Colorado shooting

. 

12-people died, almost 60 injured.  Every single person in that theater is damaged, possibly forever. There is NOTHING funny about that.

A few weeks ago, a “comedian” named Daniel Tosh made a joke about rape and harassed a woman when she said it was not funny. 

I can personally attest that there is NOTHING funny about that.

 

I left a message for the person who posted the Larry thing.  I told her I didn’t think it was funny, and then I deleted her.  I didn’t know her.  I probably added her because she played some game I was into.  I left a status update for everyone else.  I see this crap on my wall, and I don’t care who you are, you are gone. 

Everybody has had that moment where something comes out of your mouth that makes you desperately wish life had a rewind button.  I have had my share of those moments.  Humans make mistakes.  But there are lines you never cross.  Some things are not funny.  Some things will never be funny.  Death, pain, and suffering….NOT funny!!!

I am inspired to be a fan of women's weightlifting

I was reading this article about someone on Twitter insulting an 18-year old British Olympic weightlifter named Zoe Smith. The article calls “infidel1978” (yea, I know, kind of says it all right there huh?) a Twitter bully. I’m not sure I’d call this situation bullying, but it is rude and insulting.


First of all, let’s take a look see at Zoe.

Here is what the twerp said –

"I wouldn't even look at you. I'd think you was a bloke and so would 9 out of 10 lads.”

My very first thought is that this “person” is awfully lucky that the Internet is “anonymous” because I’m thinking Zoe could handle herself in an altercation.

ANYWAY, I love Zoe’s response –

"Your futile attempts at insulting us have brought me many giggles! It makes me laugh that you think we'd give a toss what a closed-minded, clearly weak fool like yourself who can't handle a bit of muscle thinks anyway!"

LOVE it.

Proving that his screen name is not the only thing that’s dumb, he responded with –

"In other words your insecurities are kicking in lol. Now piss off back to the kitchen and make your boyfriend a sandwich he's hungry."

Would someone please explain to me why guys follow up appearance insults with kitchen insults? I don’t get that at all.

"Meh, not particularly. I just find it funny to argue with idiots on the internet. What a very original comeback, you are a credit to men everywhere. I bet all those feminine women you speak of are queuing round the block for a chance with you!"

LOVE it.

The article says that Zoe changed her Twitter handle and that twerp’s account has been deleted. Of course, he is out there again under some other snappy handle, perhaps infidel1979?

Zoe wrote about it on her personal blog. I tried to find it to link to it, but I could not locate it. What she says is so great. It is the perfect response to small minded jerks,

"We don't lift weights in order to look hot, especially for the likes of men like that," Smith wrote. "What makes them think that we even want them to find us attractive? If you do, thanks very much, we're flattered. But if you don't, why do you really need to voice this opinion in the first place?

"Shall we stop weightlifting, amend our diet in order to completely get rid of our 'manly' muscles, and become housewives in the sheer hope that one day you will look more favorably upon us and we might actually have a shot with you?

"This may be shocking to you, but we actually would rather be attractive to people who aren't closed-minded and ignorant. Crazy, eh?! We, as any woman with an ounce of self-confidence would, prefer our men to be confident enough in themselves to not feel emasculated by the fact that we aren't weak and feeble."

I adore this young lady and I am going to be rooting for to win the gold.


The only thing that infidel1978 has a chance at winning is the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes.

What's wrong with us?

Everywhere you turn, someone is asking what is wrong with our society. Typically, the asker has the answer and really just wants the askee to listen and agree. (Up until now, askee was not a word. However, I like it, I said it aloud, I used it in a sentence, and I asked others what they thought it meant. They all got it right. Therefore, it is a word now. Please, feel free to use it!)

Everyone who has an opinion regarding what is wrong with society (so, basically everyone) also has somewhere to lay the blame. Republicans blame the Democrats. Protestants blame the Catholics. Parents blame THESE KIDS TODAY!! Dogs blame the Cats. And, throughout time someone somewhere has blamed it all on the Jews.

I don’t think that there is any one group of people or one belief system to blame. I think that there are many many problems in our world today and I don’t know what the solutions are.

I can tell you that I believe that there is one thing, one very big thing, which is destroying our society piece by piece every day. It is something that is so prevalent no one thinks twice about it. Everyone has participated in it, including me. However, it is easy to fix.

I am speaking of judging. The actual definition of judging is –

Judging present participle of judge (Verb)

Form an opinion or conclusion about.

Decide (a case) in a court of law

That does not sound too bad. We all have opinions. Forming a conclusion is not scary. Basically, I read an article through the eyes of my own life experiences, I measure it with my personal opinions, and I form a conclusion. What’s wrong with that? Nothing, right?

 

Well, never underestimate human being’s ability to take something and muck it up beyond recognition. Modern men and women have taken judging to an entirely different level. To be fair, some of the blame needs to rest squarely on the shoulders of the person who thought a comment section on every article appearing on the Internet was a good idea.

  

Today’s definition of Judging should read –

  

Judging present participle of judge (Verb)

Also Judgy or Judginess

To present your opinion as fact and to conclude that all other opinions are wrong and stupid. Further, conclude that those individuals holding opposite opinions are equally wrong and stupid. AND possibly evil.

Decide (a case) in a court of law

 

One need only look as far as last weeks stories about Marissa Mayer to see Judging in all its vicious glory. You can read more about it here and here. I also encourage you to read a wonderful blog by the fabulous Cecily Kellogg with her opinion about judging.

 

I think that if we want to start true change in our society we need to start with the Judging epidemic. Before you post a comment or start a rant, run it through this little test. If the following words or a variation thereof, appears, you are guilty of modern day judging.

• You are out of your mind
• What an idiot
• You are an idiot
• I’ve never read anything so idiotic in my life
• You are so dumb you should die

If however, you want to post your personal experience as Cecily did, post away. Comment to your hearts content. Have respect. Honor the choices of other’s. If we all commit to this and we all follow through can you imagine the change? There would be a ripple effect through out all society. Life would be boring if we all agreed. So, unless you are an actual judge who has to judge for a living, get over yourself, and open your mind. Live and let live.

 

Remember when we were kids and Smokey, Woody, and McGruff taught us that one person could make a difference? Well…..I think we need an anti-judge character to help us with an STOP Judginess Campaign. (See paragraph one for a reminder of my criteria for creating a word.)

I chose this –

 I love this guy. But, we need a kick-butt catchy saying. Smokey, Woody, and McGruff all have awesome sayings. SO, help me out here people…..give me some ideas.

Update on Never Seconds blog

Back in June, I wrote my first blog post. OK, well that is not true. Back in June of 2010, I wrote my first blog post. Then in July of 2010, I helped advertise a raw food cookbook give away. Then I did not post again until June of this year. I have issues in not sticking with something once I start! In my third (but we are calling it the first) post, I talked about the inspiration gifted to me by a 9-year old Scottish blogger.


I thought I would give an update on where things stand. Veg is on summer holidays. She is having one school per week guest blog about what they are eating for lunch. Last week, it was a 9-year old girl from Wales. This week it is two kids from Herefordshire. They have not said if they are girls, boys, or their ages. I am excited to read the posts this week as this school eats vegetarian. I am looking forward to seeing what they eat all week!!!

The most exciting news is that Veg has garnered 7019 donations totaling £111,264.06 for a whopping 1589% over her original goal. All of this money is going to Mary's Meals. Remember .93 cents of every $1 you give to this organization goes directly to the kids. In October, Veg and her family are traveling to visit the kitchen her donations built and the kids who eat there.

It still blows my mind what this little girl accomplished in such a short time. SO, there is the update.  If you have the desire to share in this amazing journey please consider giving.