My phone rang and rang tonight, up until 10 p.m.
And always it was bad news.
First the bad news was about my husband's family. Two of his aunts are in the hospital. One I have written about before. Aunt Jenny had surgery for pancreatic cancer in early November. She is not doing so well. I love Aunt Jenny; she was a substitute teacher when I was in elementary school and I remember her coming in and teaching. When I married her nephew, she welcomed me with open arms.
Aunt Frannie lives in Salem and I do not know her as well, having not spent much time with her. She is in the hospital with a problem with her leg. I do not know the particulars on that but it does not sound very good.
The sisters are not in the same hospital. Their other sister, Aunt Nancy, is in North Carolina recovering from knee surgery. And their brother, my father-in-law, is on oxygen, though he continues to work far too hard for a man of his age. They all worry me.
And then my brother called tonight to tell me, among other things, that my grandmother who lives in California is in the hospital. They are unsure what is wrong. It is hard to know when you are this far away.
My grandmother turned 90 in March. I wrote about that in this post. I called her last on June 11, which was my grandfather's birthday, and we had a long chat. My grandfather passed away in 1989.
I have never spent much time with my grandmother, for California is a very long way away. For a long time I did not have the money to fly out, and have never had the time to drive out. Living on a farm generally means you don't take long trips like that, because someone must feed the cows. Then as we've aged, someone has had to be here to help out the older folks. Now I have a problem with my ear that keeps me grounded. I cannot fly unless I am sedated. I don't think I will ever get to California.
On top of that, my heart has been sagging for months now, with personal sorrows and troubles that I won't share but which have plagued me for some time. I try very hard to be happy in my writing in this blog but sometimes it is impossible not to feel totally overwhelmed by life, even though I know I really have nothing to complain about.
But tonight I feel as heavy as a dew that has stained delicate silks strewn about the grass. When the sun rises I know I will feel a little lighter, but right now, with darkness knocking at my windows it is very hard to recall.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Thursday Thirteen #145
Today I shall give you a few of my favorite little peeves. We all have them, the little things that just drive you nuts even though they shouldn't.
1. Food labels. I read labels a lot these days because my doctor told me to watch my sodium. But on food labels, servings aren't the entire bottle of soda. No, the labels are for half a bottle. Or half a candy bar or 1/8 cup of cereal. They are very misleading unless you read the entire thing, measure and do the math.
2. My phone rings and it is my bank trying to sell me insurance. Excuse me? You are my bank. I don't want to buy insurance from my bank. I buy insurance from my insurance company.
3. Telemarketers. Thanks to the government "do not call" list I get fewer of these than I once did, but still, the little loopholes about being partners and doing business with someone gives them the right to call you all the time make the list less than perfect. I do believe some countries don't allow telemarketing at all, and good for them.
4. Warranties that aren't. A warranty should cover all costs. I hate replacement warranties that are not. As in, something breaks and you can get it fixed but you have to pay a small fortune in "shipping and handling" that is nearly as much as what you paid for the item. I bought the product in good faith and then I have to pay for you to fix your mistake?
5. The weather. Okay, I can't do a darned thing about this but it is not supposed to be nearly 100 degrees in Virginia in June. That is August weather. In June it is supposed to be 75 degrees and breezy and clear, not hot and humid as hell. But there is no climate change because it snowed last winter, remember?
6. Artificial sweeteners. Aspartame and sucrulose are rat poisoning in disguise, dumped in our foods, and I am finding it more and more on those labels that are so difficult to read. This is probably all to the good because it means I have to resort to real foods which I should be eating anyway, but I worry about what this stuff is doing to other people. And to me when I slip up and eat it.
7. People who pull out in front of you and then slow down. I don't know what these people are thinking. Maybe something along the lines of, "I need a new car, if I slow down this yoyo will rear end me and their insurance will buy me a new one."
8. Toilet paper holders. I hate having to put new rolls on the holders. So there.
9. I'm like, you know what I'm saying? and other stupid phrases that permeate people's speech sometimes. I know a few people who are so busy saying those phrases that I never have a clue what they are actually trying to talk about.
10. PEOPLE WHO SEND EMAIL OR INSTANT MESSAGES IN ALL CAPS. This is terrible Internet etiquette and I find it quite irritating because it is quiet shouting. It makes me want to hit the delete key immediately.
11. Along the same lines, people who forward stupid political things to me. Most of it is wrong or just opinion and when you do forward such things you're just adding my email to some spam list. Or at least to a list of your friends whom I don't know. So stop it already.
12. Dogs in stores. Unless it is a service dog helping a disabled person, dogs do not belong in Lowe's or Kroger or Walmart or any other place where pooches seem to be turning up lately. I don't care if it is your little snookums. Leave the dog at home where it isn't likely to get close enough to me make my allergies flare up. Not everyone likes dogs, particularly big dogs that look like they could swallow your leg in one single gulp. Please be a little more considerate.
13. Lastly, the hard plastic from hell that covers batteries, computer and camera accessories, and other things. It requires dynamite to get that stuff open and it seems like a terrible waste of resources. Can't they come up with better packaging?
Many people play Thursday 13. Go check out the list of folks playing this week here. Ya'll come back and see me, ya hear?
1. Food labels. I read labels a lot these days because my doctor told me to watch my sodium. But on food labels, servings aren't the entire bottle of soda. No, the labels are for half a bottle. Or half a candy bar or 1/8 cup of cereal. They are very misleading unless you read the entire thing, measure and do the math.
2. My phone rings and it is my bank trying to sell me insurance. Excuse me? You are my bank. I don't want to buy insurance from my bank. I buy insurance from my insurance company.
3. Telemarketers. Thanks to the government "do not call" list I get fewer of these than I once did, but still, the little loopholes about being partners and doing business with someone gives them the right to call you all the time make the list less than perfect. I do believe some countries don't allow telemarketing at all, and good for them.
4. Warranties that aren't. A warranty should cover all costs. I hate replacement warranties that are not. As in, something breaks and you can get it fixed but you have to pay a small fortune in "shipping and handling" that is nearly as much as what you paid for the item. I bought the product in good faith and then I have to pay for you to fix your mistake?
5. The weather. Okay, I can't do a darned thing about this but it is not supposed to be nearly 100 degrees in Virginia in June. That is August weather. In June it is supposed to be 75 degrees and breezy and clear, not hot and humid as hell. But there is no climate change because it snowed last winter, remember?
6. Artificial sweeteners. Aspartame and sucrulose are rat poisoning in disguise, dumped in our foods, and I am finding it more and more on those labels that are so difficult to read. This is probably all to the good because it means I have to resort to real foods which I should be eating anyway, but I worry about what this stuff is doing to other people. And to me when I slip up and eat it.
7. People who pull out in front of you and then slow down. I don't know what these people are thinking. Maybe something along the lines of, "I need a new car, if I slow down this yoyo will rear end me and their insurance will buy me a new one."
8. Toilet paper holders. I hate having to put new rolls on the holders. So there.
9. I'm like, you know what I'm saying? and other stupid phrases that permeate people's speech sometimes. I know a few people who are so busy saying those phrases that I never have a clue what they are actually trying to talk about.
10. PEOPLE WHO SEND EMAIL OR INSTANT MESSAGES IN ALL CAPS. This is terrible Internet etiquette and I find it quite irritating because it is quiet shouting. It makes me want to hit the delete key immediately.
11. Along the same lines, people who forward stupid political things to me. Most of it is wrong or just opinion and when you do forward such things you're just adding my email to some spam list. Or at least to a list of your friends whom I don't know. So stop it already.
12. Dogs in stores. Unless it is a service dog helping a disabled person, dogs do not belong in Lowe's or Kroger or Walmart or any other place where pooches seem to be turning up lately. I don't care if it is your little snookums. Leave the dog at home where it isn't likely to get close enough to me make my allergies flare up. Not everyone likes dogs, particularly big dogs that look like they could swallow your leg in one single gulp. Please be a little more considerate.
13. Lastly, the hard plastic from hell that covers batteries, computer and camera accessories, and other things. It requires dynamite to get that stuff open and it seems like a terrible waste of resources. Can't they come up with better packaging?
Many people play Thursday 13. Go check out the list of folks playing this week here. Ya'll come back and see me, ya hear?
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
My Brother, The Peacock
Recently I visited my brother at his house, which is about six miles away and is beside the farm where we grew up.
He has a thing for birds. He raises chickens, guineas, and peacocks.
This is the bird I believe he calls Othello. He has two males but I forget what he calls the younger one.
I had never watched a peacock be, well, a peacock, before. Apparently it is not the brightly colored feathers that are the attraction for the female. No, it must be the plump little bottom, which shimmies and shakes as if in dire need of some great attention. I had never seen such a show.
And she, being female, paid him absolutely no attention!
He has a thing for birds. He raises chickens, guineas, and peacocks.
This is the bird I believe he calls Othello. He has two males but I forget what he calls the younger one.
This is Othello pre-strut. It was growing dark and I had only my small (and old) Nikon Coolpix with me so the photos did not turn out as well as I would have liked.
I had never watched a peacock be, well, a peacock, before. Apparently it is not the brightly colored feathers that are the attraction for the female. No, it must be the plump little bottom, which shimmies and shakes as if in dire need of some great attention. I had never seen such a show.
And she, being female, paid him absolutely no attention!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
The Four Seasons of Fincastle
As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I bid in the silent auction to win an item.
The item was a set of framed prints by Connie Marsh, who once lived in the town but does not now. They are pictures of various historical sites in Fincastle, one in each of the four seasons. It is titled The Four Seasons of Fincastle. In the late 1990s, when I was very involed in the organization, sales of this print were a big fundraiser for Historic Fincastle, Inc.
A silent auction, for those who may not know, involves writing down bids on a paper by the item. The last bid on the paper when time is called is the winner.
I did not start bidding until 7:15 p.m., and the auction was to end at 7:30 p.m.
It was an anxious 15 minutes for me for I was bidding against someone with a reputation that, if true, meant he could have written down any price and not blinked, whereas I was bidding in $5 increments.
However, I have always wanted this particular set of prints. I think it is quite beautiful and it reminds me of simpler times and a period in my life when I was working avidly to keep the historic nature of the Town of Fincastle foremost in people's minds. While it was not a particularly happy time in my life because of my mother's illness, it was a very busy and productive one.
This is a photo of the picture that I brought home. Yesterday we hung it in the hallway.
The item was a set of framed prints by Connie Marsh, who once lived in the town but does not now. They are pictures of various historical sites in Fincastle, one in each of the four seasons. It is titled The Four Seasons of Fincastle. In the late 1990s, when I was very involed in the organization, sales of this print were a big fundraiser for Historic Fincastle, Inc.
A silent auction, for those who may not know, involves writing down bids on a paper by the item. The last bid on the paper when time is called is the winner.
I did not start bidding until 7:15 p.m., and the auction was to end at 7:30 p.m.
It was an anxious 15 minutes for me for I was bidding against someone with a reputation that, if true, meant he could have written down any price and not blinked, whereas I was bidding in $5 increments.
However, I have always wanted this particular set of prints. I think it is quite beautiful and it reminds me of simpler times and a period in my life when I was working avidly to keep the historic nature of the Town of Fincastle foremost in people's minds. While it was not a particularly happy time in my life because of my mother's illness, it was a very busy and productive one.
This is a photo of the picture that I brought home. Yesterday we hung it in the hallway.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Raising the Roof
Saturday evening saw big doin's in Fincastle as one of the town's two historic preservation groups put on a shindig to raise funds.
The money was to be spent on new cedar shingles for the James Early Cabin, which houses a small museum dedicated to early settler life and historic information about the town.
The event was held on Main Street in the Rienhart-Luster House, which is currently undergoing renovation. The renovations were part of the attraction.
Note the molding around the door frame. You don't see woodwork like that anymore on most homes.
Two rooms in the old manse had been turned into very large bathrooms. This tub looks out over Main Street - soak and watch the traffic!
Another attraction was the area artists, who sold their wares.
My friend, Dreama Kattenbraker, was one of the local artists. That's her and a picture of her work above. I love her whimsy and style.
Other activities included music and wine tasting in the backyard.
I knew many of the people attending the event. Some were old friends and acquaintances.
This is Peggy Davis on the right and her daughter, Kathy. I did not know this daughter but do know two others. Peggy and I are distant cousins.
Many visitors were current or former members of Historic Fincastle, Inc., the organization which put on the event.
A very long time ago in another life, I was president of this organization. At that time the group put on the Fincastle Festival every year. While a Festival Chairman actually did most of the work for the festival, I did work hard to help and make sure things went smoothly. I took it all very seriously.
I dropped out of the organization in 2000, when my mother was ill with cancer.
There was also a silent auction, and I brought home a prize. I will tell you about that tomorrow!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Books: Dune Road
Dune Road
By Jane Green
Copyright 2009
Unabridged Audio (11 hours)
Read by Cassandra Campbell
Occasionally when I listen to a book, I start to wonder if I would have been better off to read it instead. This was one of them, but based on comments I read on Amazon.com, I don't think seeing the words on the page would have made much difference.
Kit Hargrave, Connecticut mom, has divorced her husband, Adam, because he worked all the time and she didn't want to be only a trophy wife. She's settled into a small house with a lovely older next door neighbor, Eddy, who takes her in as a surrogate granddaughter. Her friend Charlie is a consumer extraordinaire who buys diamonds and lives the high life until her husband Keith informs her that the recession has cost him his Wall Street job.
Tracy owns the yoga studio and is Kit and Charlie's friend - to a point. She has a mysterious past and mysterious involvements with men, including Kit's boss, a reclusive writer.
Meanwhile, Kit still loves Adam and he loves her, they just haven't figured that out yet, and then Kit discovers something odd about her immediate family that sends things spiraling in a weird direction. Toss in a boyfriend, lots of hints of something horrible, mother-daughter drama involving the wearing of clothes, and awkward writing and I'm afraid this was a book that I kept hoping would end sooner rather than later.
Many times I wished for an editor who would have erased many sentences as I listened, particularly as the writer seemed to go around and around in the thoughts in characters' heads and then back and forth in time.
Not a bad book, but not a favorite. Okay for the beach or if there is nothing else around.
By Jane Green
Copyright 2009
Unabridged Audio (11 hours)
Read by Cassandra Campbell
Occasionally when I listen to a book, I start to wonder if I would have been better off to read it instead. This was one of them, but based on comments I read on Amazon.com, I don't think seeing the words on the page would have made much difference.
Kit Hargrave, Connecticut mom, has divorced her husband, Adam, because he worked all the time and she didn't want to be only a trophy wife. She's settled into a small house with a lovely older next door neighbor, Eddy, who takes her in as a surrogate granddaughter. Her friend Charlie is a consumer extraordinaire who buys diamonds and lives the high life until her husband Keith informs her that the recession has cost him his Wall Street job.
Tracy owns the yoga studio and is Kit and Charlie's friend - to a point. She has a mysterious past and mysterious involvements with men, including Kit's boss, a reclusive writer.
Meanwhile, Kit still loves Adam and he loves her, they just haven't figured that out yet, and then Kit discovers something odd about her immediate family that sends things spiraling in a weird direction. Toss in a boyfriend, lots of hints of something horrible, mother-daughter drama involving the wearing of clothes, and awkward writing and I'm afraid this was a book that I kept hoping would end sooner rather than later.
Many times I wished for an editor who would have erased many sentences as I listened, particularly as the writer seemed to go around and around in the thoughts in characters' heads and then back and forth in time.
Not a bad book, but not a favorite. Okay for the beach or if there is nothing else around.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Thursday Thirteen
For some reason I was thinking about conspiracy theories this week (maybe it was murmurs of BP not capping the well to get at the oil or something like that; I've heard a lot of theories about that incident of late). Certainly I could not find thirteen . . .
1. The Shadow Government. Some people think that there is a second government that really runs things. This group of elite people control everything - the banks, the governments, corporations, and the media. These people want to create a new world order, one which, I suppose, would make them richer and wealthier. Seems to me like they are winning or have already won, if that is the case. Certainly they are not out to make things better for the likes of us.
2. JFK. This is a famous one. Who killed this president and why? Many conspiracy theories believe the shooter could not have acted alone. According to Wikipedia, (and we all know how accurate that is), more than half of the population do not believe the gunman acted alone. Assassinations of popular figures tend to lend themselves to conspiracy theories.
3. Presidential Hit List. Apparently a lot of people believe that presidents kill off people they consider enemies. Clinton supposedly has a body count in the 50s or 60s, as does the Bush family (who have also been implicated by some in the JFK assassination), according to Wikipedia.
4. No electric cars. One conspiracy theory states that oil and gasoline companies have suppressed the technology for electric cars in order to sell more oil and gasoline. Sound plausible?
5. Nuclear weather. Many conspiracies surrounding cataclysmic events claim that earthquakes, tsunamis, and other large weather phenomena are really the results of secret government nuclear tests. The 2004 tsunami allegedly was a result of secret tests, as was the Haiti quake, the conspiracy theorists claim.
6. Herbs, not drugs. Some conspiracy theorists claim that big drug companies work hard to keep herbal supplements out of the hands of people because they know they work. If the FDA approved herbs and things and allowed them to make claims of cure, then people would not buy the expensive pharmaceuticals. I first heard of this theory with tryptophan, which I was taking to help me sleep. It worked very well for that, and then it vanished from the shelves, ostensibly after a over 1,000 people were sickened by the pills. Apparently the pills were all made in one facility that did something wrong but according to the conspiracy theorists it was only a contaminated batch and the whole drug was banned because it was so effective. Tryptophan remained unavailable until the mid-2000s, when it returned to the marketplace.
7. Epidemic by Government. Has the government made us ill by dropping germs on us via airplanes? Some conspiracy theorists believe that to be the case. I first heard this several years ago from a chiropractor, who insisted that the reason so many people in the Roanoke area are on thyroid pills is because of something the government dumped on our heads. Appalachian regions are prime areas for that kind of testing, that conspiracy theorist said.
8. Kill, not cure. Some conspiracy theorists believe that drug companies will not come up with cures for illnesses because they would not make money once the diseases are cured. Chiefly, some conspiracy theorists believe the FDA is in league with drug companies and that its food guidelines are in place solely to keep people obese and unhealthy. I confess I do not believe that companies will ever cure cancer; there is too much money to be made in the treatment of it.
9. Peak Oil and Climate Change. Many people believe these two things do not exist. Conspiracy theorists believe there is plenty of oil - somewhere - and that climate change is something made up (I guess created by people who like to breath clean air and drink clean water). The benefit of making up these two things has to do with money, but then, doesn't everything?
10. Aliens among us. Some people believe that extraterrestrials are here and walking among us. On Wikipedia, one theorist claims that the Bush family are a bunch of reptiles and that Princess Diana knew about it - that is why she died. Apparently some people will believe anything. And then of course there is Area 51 and alien abductions. Vaseline, anyone?
11. Elvis is in the building. Many people could not accept the fact that Elvis died in 1976. For years he was sighted at various fast food places all over the United States. The conspiracy theorists said that he was tired of being in the spotlight and faked his own death in order to live in peace. Sightings have not been in the news for a very long time, I guess since people realized he would be very, very old had he lied. I imagine there are many people who think the same thing about Michael Jackson, that he is really out moon walking through Walmart somewhere.
12. Man never left earth. Some people believe that the moon landings were faked and that Armstrong actually was in a TV studio pretending to be weightless. Conspiracy theorists site a number of reasons why they think this never happened, including the flag flapping in the breeze (are there breezes on the moon) and the creation of flame when the space ship took off from the moon's surface. On the flip side, some people believe that Germany landed on the moon in the early 1940s.
13. Big Brother's Watching. Some conspiracy theorists believe that bar codes and ID chips, those little tags on all the things you buy at the store and bring in the house, are methods of controlling people. At the very least, someone with a machine could drive by and tell how many pairs of undies you have in your drawer, the theorists say. Additionally, digital TV was put in place so that people would have to buy the converter boxes, which in turn spy on you, as do new TVs and, one would assume, computers and maybe cell phones.
And what, pray tell, do I believe? I think there is an elitist class and I do believe that many of those folks will do whatever it takes to ensure that they remain wealthy and you and I do not. Do they run the government, the corporations, the banks, etc? Well, those are the wealthiest people. But I do not believe that they are reptilian aliens who are going to eat us in our sleep. Mostly they will just work hard to ensure that they and their loved ones are rich while the rest of us live off bread and circuses.
I have no idea who killed JFK other than the man charged with the crime, nor do I know if presidents have hit lists. However, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there were others involved in any assassination or that presidents have people killed. Mostly I don't think about it.
Corporations may not be evil but they aren't nice, either, and I daresay that in the matter of money things are shuffled to the side, whether that be technology for electric cars, herbs that cure, or using hay to absorb oil from the ocean in a natural way. Remember when there were many different types of computers and browsers and there were anti-trust lawsuits over that? And look who is left. Isn't it kind of the same thing? It's about the corporation, not what happens to humanity.
I do think we are probably running out of oil. It cannot be an infinite resource; nothing on this earth, including the earth, is infinite. As for climate change, it certainly is changing and I for one want to breathe clean air and drink clean water, so I am all for making sure that happens regardless of the reason. Pollution stinks. I don't want to see humanity growing gills. Hence, regulate and make sure industries don't pollute anymore than they must. It is a no-brainer to me but apparently not so much for others.
Are there aliens out there? On some planet somewhere, flowers grow, or bacteria, or something. I do not believe we're the only planet with what we call life. Maybe there are alien spaceships and things but I strongly think they are not what we think. And they certainly are not our presidents. And I do believe that we landed on the moon; look at the technology that came from that endeavor. Tang, if nothing else. What would the 1970s have been without that yummy orange drink?
Big Brother is watching but not through my computer or my TV - most people are decent and honest and there is nothing to see. It would be a vast waste of resources to try to watch us all when many of us don't do anything worse than have a glass of wine! Besides, they have the IRS and the Internet for that, right?
As for Elvis ... He's left the building.
Thursday Thirteen is played by many people; you can find a listing of them here. This is my 144th week of playing. Which is a very long time.
1. The Shadow Government. Some people think that there is a second government that really runs things. This group of elite people control everything - the banks, the governments, corporations, and the media. These people want to create a new world order, one which, I suppose, would make them richer and wealthier. Seems to me like they are winning or have already won, if that is the case. Certainly they are not out to make things better for the likes of us.
2. JFK. This is a famous one. Who killed this president and why? Many conspiracy theories believe the shooter could not have acted alone. According to Wikipedia, (and we all know how accurate that is), more than half of the population do not believe the gunman acted alone. Assassinations of popular figures tend to lend themselves to conspiracy theories.
3. Presidential Hit List. Apparently a lot of people believe that presidents kill off people they consider enemies. Clinton supposedly has a body count in the 50s or 60s, as does the Bush family (who have also been implicated by some in the JFK assassination), according to Wikipedia.
4. No electric cars. One conspiracy theory states that oil and gasoline companies have suppressed the technology for electric cars in order to sell more oil and gasoline. Sound plausible?
5. Nuclear weather. Many conspiracies surrounding cataclysmic events claim that earthquakes, tsunamis, and other large weather phenomena are really the results of secret government nuclear tests. The 2004 tsunami allegedly was a result of secret tests, as was the Haiti quake, the conspiracy theorists claim.
6. Herbs, not drugs. Some conspiracy theorists claim that big drug companies work hard to keep herbal supplements out of the hands of people because they know they work. If the FDA approved herbs and things and allowed them to make claims of cure, then people would not buy the expensive pharmaceuticals. I first heard of this theory with tryptophan, which I was taking to help me sleep. It worked very well for that, and then it vanished from the shelves, ostensibly after a over 1,000 people were sickened by the pills. Apparently the pills were all made in one facility that did something wrong but according to the conspiracy theorists it was only a contaminated batch and the whole drug was banned because it was so effective. Tryptophan remained unavailable until the mid-2000s, when it returned to the marketplace.
7. Epidemic by Government. Has the government made us ill by dropping germs on us via airplanes? Some conspiracy theorists believe that to be the case. I first heard this several years ago from a chiropractor, who insisted that the reason so many people in the Roanoke area are on thyroid pills is because of something the government dumped on our heads. Appalachian regions are prime areas for that kind of testing, that conspiracy theorist said.
8. Kill, not cure. Some conspiracy theorists believe that drug companies will not come up with cures for illnesses because they would not make money once the diseases are cured. Chiefly, some conspiracy theorists believe the FDA is in league with drug companies and that its food guidelines are in place solely to keep people obese and unhealthy. I confess I do not believe that companies will ever cure cancer; there is too much money to be made in the treatment of it.
9. Peak Oil and Climate Change. Many people believe these two things do not exist. Conspiracy theorists believe there is plenty of oil - somewhere - and that climate change is something made up (I guess created by people who like to breath clean air and drink clean water). The benefit of making up these two things has to do with money, but then, doesn't everything?
10. Aliens among us. Some people believe that extraterrestrials are here and walking among us. On Wikipedia, one theorist claims that the Bush family are a bunch of reptiles and that Princess Diana knew about it - that is why she died. Apparently some people will believe anything. And then of course there is Area 51 and alien abductions. Vaseline, anyone?
11. Elvis is in the building. Many people could not accept the fact that Elvis died in 1976. For years he was sighted at various fast food places all over the United States. The conspiracy theorists said that he was tired of being in the spotlight and faked his own death in order to live in peace. Sightings have not been in the news for a very long time, I guess since people realized he would be very, very old had he lied. I imagine there are many people who think the same thing about Michael Jackson, that he is really out moon walking through Walmart somewhere.
12. Man never left earth. Some people believe that the moon landings were faked and that Armstrong actually was in a TV studio pretending to be weightless. Conspiracy theorists site a number of reasons why they think this never happened, including the flag flapping in the breeze (are there breezes on the moon) and the creation of flame when the space ship took off from the moon's surface. On the flip side, some people believe that Germany landed on the moon in the early 1940s.
13. Big Brother's Watching. Some conspiracy theorists believe that bar codes and ID chips, those little tags on all the things you buy at the store and bring in the house, are methods of controlling people. At the very least, someone with a machine could drive by and tell how many pairs of undies you have in your drawer, the theorists say. Additionally, digital TV was put in place so that people would have to buy the converter boxes, which in turn spy on you, as do new TVs and, one would assume, computers and maybe cell phones.
And what, pray tell, do I believe? I think there is an elitist class and I do believe that many of those folks will do whatever it takes to ensure that they remain wealthy and you and I do not. Do they run the government, the corporations, the banks, etc? Well, those are the wealthiest people. But I do not believe that they are reptilian aliens who are going to eat us in our sleep. Mostly they will just work hard to ensure that they and their loved ones are rich while the rest of us live off bread and circuses.
I have no idea who killed JFK other than the man charged with the crime, nor do I know if presidents have hit lists. However, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there were others involved in any assassination or that presidents have people killed. Mostly I don't think about it.
Corporations may not be evil but they aren't nice, either, and I daresay that in the matter of money things are shuffled to the side, whether that be technology for electric cars, herbs that cure, or using hay to absorb oil from the ocean in a natural way. Remember when there were many different types of computers and browsers and there were anti-trust lawsuits over that? And look who is left. Isn't it kind of the same thing? It's about the corporation, not what happens to humanity.
I do think we are probably running out of oil. It cannot be an infinite resource; nothing on this earth, including the earth, is infinite. As for climate change, it certainly is changing and I for one want to breathe clean air and drink clean water, so I am all for making sure that happens regardless of the reason. Pollution stinks. I don't want to see humanity growing gills. Hence, regulate and make sure industries don't pollute anymore than they must. It is a no-brainer to me but apparently not so much for others.
Are there aliens out there? On some planet somewhere, flowers grow, or bacteria, or something. I do not believe we're the only planet with what we call life. Maybe there are alien spaceships and things but I strongly think they are not what we think. And they certainly are not our presidents. And I do believe that we landed on the moon; look at the technology that came from that endeavor. Tang, if nothing else. What would the 1970s have been without that yummy orange drink?
Big Brother is watching but not through my computer or my TV - most people are decent and honest and there is nothing to see. It would be a vast waste of resources to try to watch us all when many of us don't do anything worse than have a glass of wine! Besides, they have the IRS and the Internet for that, right?
As for Elvis ... He's left the building.
Thursday Thirteen is played by many people; you can find a listing of them here. This is my 144th week of playing. Which is a very long time.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Phew Kitty!
The other day I was reading an entry over at Sweet Virginia Breeze wherein she described seeing a skunk or two.
I was reminded of my own encounter with a pole cat many years ago.
It was 1988; our house was but a year old. We had a little dog named Ginger, a mixed mutt who stayed outside.
She was a small dog, part terrier and part something else, very hyper and moody. She could be very affectionate when she wanted to be but if she was pissed off at you she didn't hesitate to glare and let you know you'd messed up.
I loved her dearly but kept her outside in all but the coldest weather because of my allergies. She shed constantly. She lived to be 17 years old so I must not have been too hard on her though I always felt guilty when it rained even though she had a nice dog house with carpeting in it.
Anyway, when we first moved into our newly-built home, we had to keep her on a chain because she kept wandering back down to the house we lived in before (it was just on the other side of the farm but she would take the road).
After a while, though, she decided she liked her new digs and so the chain was nothing more than afterthought. Gingere would lay in the sun outside the kitchen door and when I was home I loved to peck on the glass and get her attention. She'd come up and I'd pet her and send her back to her nap.
One hot summer night as I slept alone in our bed - my husband was at work at the firehouse in Roanoke - I heard Ginger barking as if the world was ending. I bounded from bed and switched on all the outside lights.
She was in the front yard and I couldn't see anything but she had something cornered on the front porch. I put on clothes and as soon as I went outside I knew what she'd cornered.
Skunk. And it was spraying. It was spraying the dog and it was spraying my house.
Ginger would not come when I called. That was her skunk and she wasn't going anywhere. She stood a few feet from it, barking as if all of hell was in front of her. The smell was so odious that I could not get close. It burned the eyes and made the breathe in the chest feel as if it were solid fire. I felt it on my skin and it burned that, too.
The smell began to infiltrate the house as the poor frightened, cornered skunk kept using its only defense.
I can't remember if we had a game warden in those days and I am not sure what one would have done at 2 a.m. anyway. Dismayed and upset, I called the fire station and woke my husband.
"The dog won't come away from the skunk and its spraying and spraying and it's all over the house and I can't make it go away!" I wailed into the phone.
"What do you want me to do about it?" my husband mumbled.
"Come home!" I cried. "Come home and get this skunk or we're not going to be able to live in this house for a year!"
I wasn't sure he could actually come home for such a thing. Was there something in the fire department regulations about skunk emergencies at home?
Finally I bundled myself up in old clothes, tied a kerchief around my head to cover my nose and mouth, and went back outside. I hooked up the water hose and went around to the front yard, where I sprayed the dog in hopes of getting her away from the skunk.
About that time my husband, who must have driven well above the speed limit to get home, pulled in the driveway. Once he opened his truck door he realized what I was talking about as far as skunk smell. If you have never smelled skunk smell when it has immediately been sprayed, consider yourself blessed.
He found me there with the water hose, crying, covered in water and smelling a little like skunk myself. Finally, we got the dog on the chain. The skunk regained its senses and ran off into the meadow.
The skunk had indeed sprayed the house. At that time we had cedar siding on it and the wood soaked up the odor.
We washed the dog in tomato juice many times over, and then washed her many times in various shampoos. Our shoes stunk from walking in the grass around where the skunk sprayed and had to be thrown out. As for the cedar siding, we washed it down with Mr. Clean, vinegar, and everything else we could think of.
It stunk for a long time, and years later when it rained it smelled like skunk on the front porch.
The moral of this story: stay away from skunks.
I was reminded of my own encounter with a pole cat many years ago.
It was 1988; our house was but a year old. We had a little dog named Ginger, a mixed mutt who stayed outside.
She was a small dog, part terrier and part something else, very hyper and moody. She could be very affectionate when she wanted to be but if she was pissed off at you she didn't hesitate to glare and let you know you'd messed up.
I loved her dearly but kept her outside in all but the coldest weather because of my allergies. She shed constantly. She lived to be 17 years old so I must not have been too hard on her though I always felt guilty when it rained even though she had a nice dog house with carpeting in it.
Anyway, when we first moved into our newly-built home, we had to keep her on a chain because she kept wandering back down to the house we lived in before (it was just on the other side of the farm but she would take the road).
After a while, though, she decided she liked her new digs and so the chain was nothing more than afterthought. Gingere would lay in the sun outside the kitchen door and when I was home I loved to peck on the glass and get her attention. She'd come up and I'd pet her and send her back to her nap.
One hot summer night as I slept alone in our bed - my husband was at work at the firehouse in Roanoke - I heard Ginger barking as if the world was ending. I bounded from bed and switched on all the outside lights.
She was in the front yard and I couldn't see anything but she had something cornered on the front porch. I put on clothes and as soon as I went outside I knew what she'd cornered.
Skunk. And it was spraying. It was spraying the dog and it was spraying my house.
Ginger would not come when I called. That was her skunk and she wasn't going anywhere. She stood a few feet from it, barking as if all of hell was in front of her. The smell was so odious that I could not get close. It burned the eyes and made the breathe in the chest feel as if it were solid fire. I felt it on my skin and it burned that, too.
The smell began to infiltrate the house as the poor frightened, cornered skunk kept using its only defense.
I can't remember if we had a game warden in those days and I am not sure what one would have done at 2 a.m. anyway. Dismayed and upset, I called the fire station and woke my husband.
"The dog won't come away from the skunk and its spraying and spraying and it's all over the house and I can't make it go away!" I wailed into the phone.
"What do you want me to do about it?" my husband mumbled.
"Come home!" I cried. "Come home and get this skunk or we're not going to be able to live in this house for a year!"
I wasn't sure he could actually come home for such a thing. Was there something in the fire department regulations about skunk emergencies at home?
Finally I bundled myself up in old clothes, tied a kerchief around my head to cover my nose and mouth, and went back outside. I hooked up the water hose and went around to the front yard, where I sprayed the dog in hopes of getting her away from the skunk.
About that time my husband, who must have driven well above the speed limit to get home, pulled in the driveway. Once he opened his truck door he realized what I was talking about as far as skunk smell. If you have never smelled skunk smell when it has immediately been sprayed, consider yourself blessed.
He found me there with the water hose, crying, covered in water and smelling a little like skunk myself. Finally, we got the dog on the chain. The skunk regained its senses and ran off into the meadow.
The skunk had indeed sprayed the house. At that time we had cedar siding on it and the wood soaked up the odor.
We washed the dog in tomato juice many times over, and then washed her many times in various shampoos. Our shoes stunk from walking in the grass around where the skunk sprayed and had to be thrown out. As for the cedar siding, we washed it down with Mr. Clean, vinegar, and everything else we could think of.
It stunk for a long time, and years later when it rained it smelled like skunk on the front porch.
The moral of this story: stay away from skunks.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Hollins Reading
Last night I slipped out to Hollins University to hear two men read their work. Apparently it was meat night in the storytelling realm; maybe big guys eating lots of protein? I don't know.
The first reader was Thorpe Moeckel, an assistant English professor at Hollins who apparently lives near Purgatory Mountain, which is in my county.
According to the college faculty listing, this gentleman's "first full-length collection of poems, Odd Botany, won the 2000 Gerald Cable Award and was published in 2002 by Silverfish Review Press. Chapbooks include Meltlines, The Guessing Land, and Making a Map of the River. He earned his M.F.A. in 2002 at the University of Virginia, where he was a Jacob K. Javits and Henry Hoyns Fellow."
He read from his just-published book entitled Venison. I was sorry my husband wasn't there to hear this as he would never have believed someone could write poetry about killing and skinning deer. The poem - it is a single poem - is 72 pages long and is written in couplets.
The authors did not have books for sale at this event. I would have brought home a signed copy of this for my husband if there had been.
The poem flowed well and read well but I think it was something I would like see and perhaps read aloud myself in order to get a better feel for the work.
The second reader was Pinckney Benedict. Benedict formerly taught at Hollins but is now elsewhere. (Note: I never took classes from either of these professors as I was there long before they were.) His fourth book, Miracle Boy and Other Stories, also was just published. Apparently this book has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. I should put that in big letters: NOMINATED FOR PULITZER PRIZE.
Benedict read for perhaps 20 minutes. I could not decide if the story was set in older times and was plausible or if it was a bit of realistic science fiction, something along the lines of the twilight zone.
The story, told in first person, was of a young boy who was helping his father exterminate cows that had some kind of epidemic that required them to be killed.
I enjoyed listening to this story and now will spend some time wondering how it ended, for he did not read all the way to the end. What a tease, eh?
When I was an undergraduate at Hollins, I attended readings all the time. When I finished school, I went back frequently at first, but eventually my return to hear these authors dwindled to the point where I can scarcely remember the last one. I have been lucky if I made it once a year but I would like to do better in the upcoming school year.
But I must point out how lucky I and other area writers are to have an institution that brings in writers who are potential Pulitizer Prize winners. I have been to some great talks and readings at Hollins and I urge every writer to take a look at the college's events calendar and take note of what is coming up. These things are open to the public and free. There is a wealth of opportunity there.
While it is much more fun to attend these things when you know someone (I did not know a single person at this event, which really was unusual, I usually see somebody I know), I find them to be a little inspirational (and a little frustrating sometimes, too) but generally good for me. They make me think, they get me out of the house, and they put me out amongst people again. Those are all pluses.
So hooray for Hollins. Hooray for readings. Hooray for summer nights that let me venture out before it is dark!
The first reader was Thorpe Moeckel, an assistant English professor at Hollins who apparently lives near Purgatory Mountain, which is in my county.
According to the college faculty listing, this gentleman's "first full-length collection of poems, Odd Botany, won the 2000 Gerald Cable Award and was published in 2002 by Silverfish Review Press. Chapbooks include Meltlines, The Guessing Land, and Making a Map of the River. He earned his M.F.A. in 2002 at the University of Virginia, where he was a Jacob K. Javits and Henry Hoyns Fellow."
He read from his just-published book entitled Venison. I was sorry my husband wasn't there to hear this as he would never have believed someone could write poetry about killing and skinning deer. The poem - it is a single poem - is 72 pages long and is written in couplets.
The authors did not have books for sale at this event. I would have brought home a signed copy of this for my husband if there had been.
The poem flowed well and read well but I think it was something I would like see and perhaps read aloud myself in order to get a better feel for the work.
The second reader was Pinckney Benedict. Benedict formerly taught at Hollins but is now elsewhere. (Note: I never took classes from either of these professors as I was there long before they were.) His fourth book, Miracle Boy and Other Stories, also was just published. Apparently this book has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. I should put that in big letters: NOMINATED FOR PULITZER PRIZE.
Benedict read for perhaps 20 minutes. I could not decide if the story was set in older times and was plausible or if it was a bit of realistic science fiction, something along the lines of the twilight zone.
The story, told in first person, was of a young boy who was helping his father exterminate cows that had some kind of epidemic that required them to be killed.
I enjoyed listening to this story and now will spend some time wondering how it ended, for he did not read all the way to the end. What a tease, eh?
When I was an undergraduate at Hollins, I attended readings all the time. When I finished school, I went back frequently at first, but eventually my return to hear these authors dwindled to the point where I can scarcely remember the last one. I have been lucky if I made it once a year but I would like to do better in the upcoming school year.
But I must point out how lucky I and other area writers are to have an institution that brings in writers who are potential Pulitizer Prize winners. I have been to some great talks and readings at Hollins and I urge every writer to take a look at the college's events calendar and take note of what is coming up. These things are open to the public and free. There is a wealth of opportunity there.
While it is much more fun to attend these things when you know someone (I did not know a single person at this event, which really was unusual, I usually see somebody I know), I find them to be a little inspirational (and a little frustrating sometimes, too) but generally good for me. They make me think, they get me out of the house, and they put me out amongst people again. Those are all pluses.
So hooray for Hollins. Hooray for readings. Hooray for summer nights that let me venture out before it is dark!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Books: The Christmas Train
The Christmas Train
by David Baldacci
Read by Tim Matheson
Unabridged 7 hours
Copyright 2002
While it was the wrong time of year to listen to a Christmas book, I enjoyed this tale even though it had a rather unbelieveable ending.
I had heard of Baldacci but had not read any of his work. This was the only book available in the library when I went in search of something new to listen to in the car.
Tom Langdon is an aging war reporter who is trying to find himself. He has no family and wishes he had married Eleanor when he had the chance, but he let her slip through his fingers. He decides to take a cross-country train trip at Christmas time, ostensibly because he is related to Mark Twain and Twain did the same thing.
In any event, Langdon meets quite a number of characters, including a fiesty fat lady, a priest, a couple who want to get married aboard the train but haven't made any arrangements so that this will happen, a film director, and a boy's choir. He also meets up with his old flame, who is none to happy to see him.
Halfway through the trip Tom's current girlfriend boards the train as a surprise to Tom, which leads to even more interesting engagements between the characters. Will they get there on time or will a blizzard cause them all lots of problems?
If you enjoy seasonal stories, then this is a good one (but listen to it then, not now).
by David Baldacci
Read by Tim Matheson
Unabridged 7 hours
Copyright 2002
While it was the wrong time of year to listen to a Christmas book, I enjoyed this tale even though it had a rather unbelieveable ending.
I had heard of Baldacci but had not read any of his work. This was the only book available in the library when I went in search of something new to listen to in the car.
Tom Langdon is an aging war reporter who is trying to find himself. He has no family and wishes he had married Eleanor when he had the chance, but he let her slip through his fingers. He decides to take a cross-country train trip at Christmas time, ostensibly because he is related to Mark Twain and Twain did the same thing.
In any event, Langdon meets quite a number of characters, including a fiesty fat lady, a priest, a couple who want to get married aboard the train but haven't made any arrangements so that this will happen, a film director, and a boy's choir. He also meets up with his old flame, who is none to happy to see him.
Halfway through the trip Tom's current girlfriend boards the train as a surprise to Tom, which leads to even more interesting engagements between the characters. Will they get there on time or will a blizzard cause them all lots of problems?
If you enjoy seasonal stories, then this is a good one (but listen to it then, not now).
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Window Dressing
As you may recall, in May we had new windows installed in the house.
New windows called for new window treatments.
These are the curtains that I had in the living room. Well, really they were just panels.
A whole new look. Ta da.
New windows called for new window treatments.
These are the curtains that I had in the living room. Well, really they were just panels.
I never really liked them, because they had no color. They had been up for five years; they did the job.
When we went to Short Pump last weekend, I found curtains that I liked. Here they are:
A whole new look. Ta da.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Flowers
These are some of the flowers in the yard this week:
Red Rose
Pink Rose
Yellow Daisy
Marigolds
Summer Mum
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Thursday Thirteen
I am having trouble coming up with a topic, so we'll have to go for an eclectic Thirteen.
1. The wind is whispering to me like a swan's trumpeting today. I hear my name on the breeze as I watch the needles on the blue spruce prance and dance. Blue skies, cotton-candy clouds and green leaves on the oaks in the far fields seem to say, "Anita, come to me."
2. A bear ran across the farm about a week ago. He was being chased by the cows, who are not friendly with bears in the least. It was a pretty big bear. Unfortunately I had no camera with me.
3. Bluebirds have set up housekeeping in a post with a hole in it along the back fence. I discovered it the other day when I was tossing out some old bread for the birds. I will be trying to take pictures of the bluebirds now, but so far have been unsuccessful.
4. This is my favorite Bible verse: Psalm 121. I will lift up mine eyes. It is also the motto of Hollins University, where I went to college.
5. Bugs have been particularly hard on my roses this year, and the "safe spray" I have been using as a pesticide is not working.
6. My allergies have been particularly fierce this year. Last night I was visiting someone and began itching all over. I never did figure out what I was allergic to.
7. The best books I have read this year so far are The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow and The Help by Kathryn Stockett.
8. I have a huge backlog of books to read and I read at least 50 a year. Sometimes I think I read far too much and should stop reading entirely, but it seems I can't do that. I love my stories.
9. My birthday was Tuesday and I have been celebrating for several days. My husband took me out on a spur-of-the-moment weekend and my friend took me to lunch on Tuesday. Next week another friend and I will go to lunch to celebrate both our birthdays.
10. Because I am now another year older, I have been pondering the concept of time a lot. My friend gave me a wonderful clock which has words instead of numbers. It lists 12 things to make besides money and includes magic, friends, love, time, and dinner. I actually have three clocks on the wall in my office. Two of them are working but one needs a battery.
11. The things on my desk include Writing Magic by Gail Carson Levine, a tube of Arnicare, a wrap for my wrist, several sticks of sugar free gum, and Guide to Fiction Writing by Phyllis Whitney.
12. Other things in my home office include a Xena: Warrior Princess action figure (complete with raised sword), an autographed picture of Charlie Sheen, and a four-pack of Christmas Coca-Cola, which is about 15 years old.
13. Final thought: if it ain't pretty or nice, you probably don't need it or want to hear it. Rid yourself of the negatives and then see what is left. It has to be something good.
Thursday Thirteen is played by many people; you can see the list here. Check out Alice Audry's blog for her list of Thursday Thirteens that she likes (I am on it - thanks Audry) for recommendations.
1. The wind is whispering to me like a swan's trumpeting today. I hear my name on the breeze as I watch the needles on the blue spruce prance and dance. Blue skies, cotton-candy clouds and green leaves on the oaks in the far fields seem to say, "Anita, come to me."
2. A bear ran across the farm about a week ago. He was being chased by the cows, who are not friendly with bears in the least. It was a pretty big bear. Unfortunately I had no camera with me.
This bear was in the alfalfa last year.
3. Bluebirds have set up housekeeping in a post with a hole in it along the back fence. I discovered it the other day when I was tossing out some old bread for the birds. I will be trying to take pictures of the bluebirds now, but so far have been unsuccessful.
4. This is my favorite Bible verse: Psalm 121. I will lift up mine eyes. It is also the motto of Hollins University, where I went to college.
This is the Cocke building at Hollins.
5. Bugs have been particularly hard on my roses this year, and the "safe spray" I have been using as a pesticide is not working.
One of my roses.
7. The best books I have read this year so far are The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow and The Help by Kathryn Stockett.
8. I have a huge backlog of books to read and I read at least 50 a year. Sometimes I think I read far too much and should stop reading entirely, but it seems I can't do that. I love my stories.
9. My birthday was Tuesday and I have been celebrating for several days. My husband took me out on a spur-of-the-moment weekend and my friend took me to lunch on Tuesday. Next week another friend and I will go to lunch to celebrate both our birthdays.
10. Because I am now another year older, I have been pondering the concept of time a lot. My friend gave me a wonderful clock which has words instead of numbers. It lists 12 things to make besides money and includes magic, friends, love, time, and dinner. I actually have three clocks on the wall in my office. Two of them are working but one needs a battery.
11. The things on my desk include Writing Magic by Gail Carson Levine, a tube of Arnicare, a wrap for my wrist, several sticks of sugar free gum, and Guide to Fiction Writing by Phyllis Whitney.
12. Other things in my home office include a Xena: Warrior Princess action figure (complete with raised sword), an autographed picture of Charlie Sheen, and a four-pack of Christmas Coca-Cola, which is about 15 years old.
13. Final thought: if it ain't pretty or nice, you probably don't need it or want to hear it. Rid yourself of the negatives and then see what is left. It has to be something good.
Thursday Thirteen is played by many people; you can see the list here. Check out Alice Audry's blog for her list of Thursday Thirteens that she likes (I am on it - thanks Audry) for recommendations.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Quick Jump to Short Pump Part 2
As I noted in yesterday's post, over the weekend we slipped away to Short Pump for a birthday get-away.
Someone asked me about the different stores. Short Pump Town Center is a big open-air mall, but there are numerous strip malls in the area.
I am not a big shopper and the heat was incredible, but I did notice Whole Foods, Kohl's, Plow & Hearth, Dillard's, an Apple Store, Good Feet, Nordstrom's, Macy's (we went in Macy's and it was a much nicer Macy's than the one at Valley View), Dick's Sporting Goods, the Cheesecake Factory, Cold Stone Creamery, and Teavana, not to mention lots of other smaller stores.
If you like to shop then this is worth the drive, for sure.
One of our stops was a Williams-Sonoma. This was, truthfully, the reason for the trip. My husband had been asking me for a month what I wanted for my birthday.
"A salad spinner. They're about $5 at Walmart," I had told him time and again.
This bothered him for some reason, so he decided he was going to get me a really nice salad spinner. Which he did. He purchased for me a Good Grips Salad Spinner, made by OXO. He seemed very happy about this. It is a nice salad spinner; I've already used it.
After we checked out the mall we checked into our hotel. Our room was on the second floor.
The first warning of impending problems came when we stepped off the elevator.
"It smells like wet dog," my husband said. And it certainly did. My eyes stung a little as we wandered down the hall to find our room.
The room was very nice, with a king-sized bed, dark furniture, and spacious bathroom. The furnishings were very masculine; I told my husband that they must have had a male decorator. The room was also quite warm, about 76 degrees, and we switched the thermostat down while we settled in. I showered and dressed.
The staff downstairs sent up complimentary tickets for breakfast the next morning at their in-house restaurant, because I had told them we were there for my birthday. That was a nice surprise.
The temperature in the room did not drop, and finally we called downstairs to ask for help with the thermostat. I thought we had set it wrong.
Maintenance came up and said there had been problems with that room before with the thermostat. He set it and suggested we see how the room was after we returned from dinner.
We had planned to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, but the wait was 60 minutes and no restaurant is worth that.
We wandered around and came before Copper Grill Lobster & Steak House. We went in. The place was completely empty and it was 6 p.m. The hostess asked if we had reservations, which we did not, but she said that was fine and seated us.
It was rather odd that no one was there. Restaurants in Roanoke are crowded at 6 p.m. Once we took a look at the menu we figured out why. This was the most expensive restaurant we had ever been in. It is similar in style to the Pomegranate in Troutville, which prior to this was the most expensive restaurant I'd ever eaten at. We are Red Lobster folks for high-end dining, if that tells you anything.
James said he wanted to treat me to a nice meal, so we went ahead and ordered. I had shrimp and he had surf and turf. The meal was indeed very good and the shrimp was some of the best I've ever had.
During the time we were there, perhaps five other small groups came in. The place definitely was not jumping. I can only imagine it was the pricing, for the food and service was excellent.
After we ate, we returned to our room to check out the air conditioning. It was still warm. We called the front desk and they decided to move us.
We packed up and went across the hall. It was a little warm, too, but we turned down the thermostat.
Then we went back out for more shopping.
We returned to the room to find it still warm. It was not as warm as the first room but obviously the temperature was not dropping. The room should have been pleasant by the time we returned but it was not.
It also smelled much more strongly of dog than the other room. Regular readers know I have very severe allergies and I wondered if I would last the night without needing my inhaler - or worse, a call to 911.
I never said anything to my husband about the doggy smell, but he could smell it as well and said something about it. The longer we sat there, the angrier he grew. I had not yet unpacked our things again and as he grew more agitated I decided not to.
"I've had it with this," he said. He went out the door, headed for the front desk.
He later told me he told them we were not happy with the accommodations and were thinking about going home. The front desk said they would move us yet again.
This time we went to the 8th floor, which according to the front desk was supposed to never have animals on it. However, by this time I suppose the smell was in our noses because frankly the entire place smelled like a wet dog to both of us.
This third room was a little cooler at 71 degrees. That should have been fine but the room was close and warm despite that. The maintenance man set the thermostat to 67 degrees and by morning we should have been freezing, but the temperature was still 71 when we woke up at 6 a.m.
This is a new motel that opened in January. Obviously their air conditioning system is not strong enough to keep the rooms cool during severe heat. Anyone who tries to open a hotel in the south without proper air conditioning obviously hasn't been thinking clearly.
We dressed and went down for our complimentary birthday breakfast bar. It was good but very pricey and I was glad we were eating on the house.
Then we packed up and checked out. The hotel gave us a discount because of the problems with the rooms. We did not know before that this hotel chain allowed pets. We will not be staying there again for this reason, not because of the heating, which was simply unfortunate, or the customer service. The service was excellent.
The ride back was uneventful and we were home by 11 a.m.
And that was our quick jump to Short Pump!
Someone asked me about the different stores. Short Pump Town Center is a big open-air mall, but there are numerous strip malls in the area.
I am not a big shopper and the heat was incredible, but I did notice Whole Foods, Kohl's, Plow & Hearth, Dillard's, an Apple Store, Good Feet, Nordstrom's, Macy's (we went in Macy's and it was a much nicer Macy's than the one at Valley View), Dick's Sporting Goods, the Cheesecake Factory, Cold Stone Creamery, and Teavana, not to mention lots of other smaller stores.
If you like to shop then this is worth the drive, for sure.
One of our stops was a Williams-Sonoma. This was, truthfully, the reason for the trip. My husband had been asking me for a month what I wanted for my birthday.
"A salad spinner. They're about $5 at Walmart," I had told him time and again.
This bothered him for some reason, so he decided he was going to get me a really nice salad spinner. Which he did. He purchased for me a Good Grips Salad Spinner, made by OXO. He seemed very happy about this. It is a nice salad spinner; I've already used it.
After we checked out the mall we checked into our hotel. Our room was on the second floor.
The first warning of impending problems came when we stepped off the elevator.
"It smells like wet dog," my husband said. And it certainly did. My eyes stung a little as we wandered down the hall to find our room.
The room was very nice, with a king-sized bed, dark furniture, and spacious bathroom. The furnishings were very masculine; I told my husband that they must have had a male decorator. The room was also quite warm, about 76 degrees, and we switched the thermostat down while we settled in. I showered and dressed.
The staff downstairs sent up complimentary tickets for breakfast the next morning at their in-house restaurant, because I had told them we were there for my birthday. That was a nice surprise.
The temperature in the room did not drop, and finally we called downstairs to ask for help with the thermostat. I thought we had set it wrong.
Maintenance came up and said there had been problems with that room before with the thermostat. He set it and suggested we see how the room was after we returned from dinner.
We had planned to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, but the wait was 60 minutes and no restaurant is worth that.
We wandered around and came before Copper Grill Lobster & Steak House. We went in. The place was completely empty and it was 6 p.m. The hostess asked if we had reservations, which we did not, but she said that was fine and seated us.
It was rather odd that no one was there. Restaurants in Roanoke are crowded at 6 p.m. Once we took a look at the menu we figured out why. This was the most expensive restaurant we had ever been in. It is similar in style to the Pomegranate in Troutville, which prior to this was the most expensive restaurant I'd ever eaten at. We are Red Lobster folks for high-end dining, if that tells you anything.
James said he wanted to treat me to a nice meal, so we went ahead and ordered. I had shrimp and he had surf and turf. The meal was indeed very good and the shrimp was some of the best I've ever had.
During the time we were there, perhaps five other small groups came in. The place definitely was not jumping. I can only imagine it was the pricing, for the food and service was excellent.
After we ate, we returned to our room to check out the air conditioning. It was still warm. We called the front desk and they decided to move us.
We packed up and went across the hall. It was a little warm, too, but we turned down the thermostat.
Then we went back out for more shopping.
We returned to the room to find it still warm. It was not as warm as the first room but obviously the temperature was not dropping. The room should have been pleasant by the time we returned but it was not.
It also smelled much more strongly of dog than the other room. Regular readers know I have very severe allergies and I wondered if I would last the night without needing my inhaler - or worse, a call to 911.
I never said anything to my husband about the doggy smell, but he could smell it as well and said something about it. The longer we sat there, the angrier he grew. I had not yet unpacked our things again and as he grew more agitated I decided not to.
"I've had it with this," he said. He went out the door, headed for the front desk.
He later told me he told them we were not happy with the accommodations and were thinking about going home. The front desk said they would move us yet again.
This time we went to the 8th floor, which according to the front desk was supposed to never have animals on it. However, by this time I suppose the smell was in our noses because frankly the entire place smelled like a wet dog to both of us.
This third room was a little cooler at 71 degrees. That should have been fine but the room was close and warm despite that. The maintenance man set the thermostat to 67 degrees and by morning we should have been freezing, but the temperature was still 71 when we woke up at 6 a.m.
This is a new motel that opened in January. Obviously their air conditioning system is not strong enough to keep the rooms cool during severe heat. Anyone who tries to open a hotel in the south without proper air conditioning obviously hasn't been thinking clearly.
We dressed and went down for our complimentary birthday breakfast bar. It was good but very pricey and I was glad we were eating on the house.
Then we packed up and checked out. The hotel gave us a discount because of the problems with the rooms. We did not know before that this hotel chain allowed pets. We will not be staying there again for this reason, not because of the heating, which was simply unfortunate, or the customer service. The service was excellent.
The ride back was uneventful and we were home by 11 a.m.
And that was our quick jump to Short Pump!
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Quick Jump to Short Pump
On Saturday my husband said he wanted to go somewhere. His birthday was June 2 and mine is today (June 8) and a quick get-away seemed in order.
We decided to go to Short Pump, which is a shopping mecca just outside of Richmond.
We packed some things, made reservations at a hotel, and hopped in the car.
The trip down was uneventful. However, it is a three-hour drive, and that is with only one rest stop.
My husband. Isn't he handsome?
Our destination.
We were very impressed with the development in Short Pump. Here are people who, unlike the officials in Botetourt, understand that you can have attractive and well-designed structures and businesses will still come. In the Roanoke area, they seldom say no to any business regardless of what it looks like, which is why we have the shoddy McDonalds, the warehouse buildings for Walmart, and things like that. There was none of that in Short Pump.
Note that there are trees and the structures are off the highway. This is a Barnes and Noble. I don't think people in the Roanoke area allow trees to grow tall enough to hide signs.
Check out the lights. The properties were accessed from side roads off the main thoroughfare. We liked that design.
However, we slipped into Walmart to pick up more water bottles and found the same scanner there for $50 less. So we bought it and put it in the trunk.
We finally made it to Short Pump Town Center, where we discovered that this was not an enclosed mall but an open-air mall.
This would not have been a bad thing except that the thermometer in the car read 103 degrees and it felt like it. I wilt in 75 degree heat. Despite the heat, we walked the mall, making frequent stops for air-conditioning and venturing into the food court for drinks.
An Apple store attracted my attention and I had my first view of an iPad. It was smaller than I expected, about the size of a nice mouse pad or thereabouts. I can see the appeal of the device but not the expense of it.
Finally it was time to check in at our hotel.
We had never stayed at this motel chain before. Generally we stay elsewhere, having found that certain chains are usually clean. Some are now smoke-free, like this hotel, and that was a plus.
The lobby was quite impressive. The staff was very friendly and exceedingly helpful. We would come to learn that first hand, as you will learn later in Quick Jump to Short Pump, part 2!
Friday, June 04, 2010
Books on Yoga
Yoga as Medicine
By Timothy McCall, M.D.
Copyright 2007
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness
By Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.d.
Copyright 1990
Dr. Yoga
By Nirmala Heriza
Copyright 2004
My massage therapist, Karen Wright with Soothing Solutions, loaned me these three books. She is also a yoga instructor and has promised to show me how to "breathe" in such a way that it could help lower my blood pressure. The books each offer a few pages on breathing and she wanted me to read them before she gives me a one-on-one session. When that happens I'll let you know how it goes (and she gives a great massage, by the way, if you're local and need some therapeutic touch on your back or something).
I like the first two books the best. The Yoga as Medicine in particular is very information and touches on how body work can assist a person in her efforts to regain or maintain health.
I picked up the Dr. Yoga book at the Green Valley Book Fair when I went with a friend in May, so I have added this to my reference collection. I will pick up the Yoga as Medicine at some point, I hope. Maybe I will ask for it for Christmas.
I do not do yoga as a regular practice but probably should. I do a little Tai Chi several times a month but am not as regular with that as I should be, too.
I'd be a dynamo if I'd just do the stuff I oughta, wouldn't I?
By Timothy McCall, M.D.
Copyright 2007
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness
By Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.d.
Copyright 1990
Dr. Yoga
By Nirmala Heriza
Copyright 2004
My massage therapist, Karen Wright with Soothing Solutions, loaned me these three books. She is also a yoga instructor and has promised to show me how to "breathe" in such a way that it could help lower my blood pressure. The books each offer a few pages on breathing and she wanted me to read them before she gives me a one-on-one session. When that happens I'll let you know how it goes (and she gives a great massage, by the way, if you're local and need some therapeutic touch on your back or something).
I like the first two books the best. The Yoga as Medicine in particular is very information and touches on how body work can assist a person in her efforts to regain or maintain health.
I picked up the Dr. Yoga book at the Green Valley Book Fair when I went with a friend in May, so I have added this to my reference collection. I will pick up the Yoga as Medicine at some point, I hope. Maybe I will ask for it for Christmas.
I do not do yoga as a regular practice but probably should. I do a little Tai Chi several times a month but am not as regular with that as I should be, too.
I'd be a dynamo if I'd just do the stuff I oughta, wouldn't I?
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Thursday Thirteen
Today I thought I'd talk about food, strange foods I've eaten and favorite foods (mostly because I can't think of 13 strange foods). You might notice that I crave sweets a lot.
1. Dough. I love raw cookie dough and cake batter mix, brownie mix, etc. But not when it is dry ingredients, but when it is done and ready for the pan. Licking the bowl and the beaters, as it were. I know one is not supposed to do this because the batter contains raw eggs, but this is one thing I still do. It makes me feel like a kid again.
2. Uncooked spaghetti. We don't eat a lot of spaghetti and since there are only two of us, we generally have raw spaghetti left over from a box because I don't cook it all at once. Before I discovered it was bad for my teeth, I loved to crunch the leftover raw spaghetti.
I read that some folks think you can get something called "pasta worms" from uncooked spaghetti. Anyone know if this is true, or is it a grandma myth?
3. Bologna and catsup sandwiches. When I was a teenager, I had this combination for breakfast every morning for a long time.
4. Strawberry cream cheese and celery. I have found this to be a great snack combination while dieting. My husband likes it, too.
5. Eggs and catsup. This is something I usually do not have at home but will have when I have breakfast in a restaurant. I have always liked eggs and catsup. Maybe I just like catsup?
6. Root beer. A lot of people do not like root beer, but I do. I especially like that it is only 1 percent sodium, so if I want a sweet treat it doesn't affect my blood pressure. I prefer A & W brand will try others.
8. Raw veggies from the garden. Raw peas, raw green beans, and raw squash are among my favorite raw vegetables. My husband thinks I'm nuts for eating things raw but they are really good without anything at all. I only eat them this way straight from my garden, though. Store bought things I cook because I don't know where they came from.
9. Strawberries. Or any kind of berry, really. Eating a good berry is like eating candy.
10. Teas. I suppose these aren't really foods, but I enjoy tea. I like herb teas, black teas, green teas, etc. Ginger teas when my tummy is hurting (from eating all this stuff, probably) always makes me feel better.
11. Bubblegum. This is not a food, either, but it is something I like. I am not supposed to chew gum because of TMJ but I sometimes do it anyway.
12. Icing. It has been a long time since I have done this, but there was a time when I bought cake icing and simply ate it straight from the container without cake. Fortunately I no longer do this. I think some people call this cake frosting.
13. Watermelon. It's almost summer and soon these will be affordable and will become a staple for a little while. Yummy!
Thursday Thirteen is played by a lot of bloggers. Check out the list here and join in the fun.
1. Dough. I love raw cookie dough and cake batter mix, brownie mix, etc. But not when it is dry ingredients, but when it is done and ready for the pan. Licking the bowl and the beaters, as it were. I know one is not supposed to do this because the batter contains raw eggs, but this is one thing I still do. It makes me feel like a kid again.
2. Uncooked spaghetti. We don't eat a lot of spaghetti and since there are only two of us, we generally have raw spaghetti left over from a box because I don't cook it all at once. Before I discovered it was bad for my teeth, I loved to crunch the leftover raw spaghetti.
I read that some folks think you can get something called "pasta worms" from uncooked spaghetti. Anyone know if this is true, or is it a grandma myth?
3. Bologna and catsup sandwiches. When I was a teenager, I had this combination for breakfast every morning for a long time.
4. Strawberry cream cheese and celery. I have found this to be a great snack combination while dieting. My husband likes it, too.
5. Eggs and catsup. This is something I usually do not have at home but will have when I have breakfast in a restaurant. I have always liked eggs and catsup. Maybe I just like catsup?
6. Root beer. A lot of people do not like root beer, but I do. I especially like that it is only 1 percent sodium, so if I want a sweet treat it doesn't affect my blood pressure. I prefer A & W brand will try others.
7. Zero bars. These are not chocolate candy bars but are white chocolate with a nougat in them. I don't know of anyone else who eats these but obviously someone does or the company would not make them.
9. Strawberries. Or any kind of berry, really. Eating a good berry is like eating candy.
10. Teas. I suppose these aren't really foods, but I enjoy tea. I like herb teas, black teas, green teas, etc. Ginger teas when my tummy is hurting (from eating all this stuff, probably) always makes me feel better.
11. Bubblegum. This is not a food, either, but it is something I like. I am not supposed to chew gum because of TMJ but I sometimes do it anyway.
13. Watermelon. It's almost summer and soon these will be affordable and will become a staple for a little while. Yummy!
Thursday Thirteen is played by a lot of bloggers. Check out the list here and join in the fun.
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Books: The Help
The Help
By Kathryn Stockett
444 pages
Copyright 2009
The Help will likely be one of the best, if not the best, book I read this year.
Skeeter is just out of college and in need of something to do. She wants to be a writer, but how does one go about that when she lives in Mississippi in 1962?
She takes on a job writing a column for the local paper. She must frequently ask the advice of Aibileen, a black maid who works for one of her friends, because the column is about household tips, like how to starch a collar. Skeeter, being a child of privilege, has little knowledge about such common things.
As the Civil Rights movement unfolds, Skeeter realizes the discrepancies and biases of herself and her social circle. She decides to write the story of the maids who serve her friends. Aibileen agrees to help her, at great risk to her work position as well as her life in these terrible times of discrimination and strife.
They are joined in their work by Minnie, who has made herself an enemy of one of the town's main socialites. As the work progresses, other maids join in and soon Skeeter has a book that is accepted and published by a New York publisher.
This is a book that every southern woman, particularly those in the upper classes, should read. Maybe every woman should read it in order to better understand class relations, the inner turmoil of their neighbors, and the tragedies that come from closing the eyes to the inequities that are right in front of them.
I will be passing this book on to friends.
By Kathryn Stockett
444 pages
Copyright 2009
The Help will likely be one of the best, if not the best, book I read this year.
Skeeter is just out of college and in need of something to do. She wants to be a writer, but how does one go about that when she lives in Mississippi in 1962?
She takes on a job writing a column for the local paper. She must frequently ask the advice of Aibileen, a black maid who works for one of her friends, because the column is about household tips, like how to starch a collar. Skeeter, being a child of privilege, has little knowledge about such common things.
As the Civil Rights movement unfolds, Skeeter realizes the discrepancies and biases of herself and her social circle. She decides to write the story of the maids who serve her friends. Aibileen agrees to help her, at great risk to her work position as well as her life in these terrible times of discrimination and strife.
They are joined in their work by Minnie, who has made herself an enemy of one of the town's main socialites. As the work progresses, other maids join in and soon Skeeter has a book that is accepted and published by a New York publisher.
This is a book that every southern woman, particularly those in the upper classes, should read. Maybe every woman should read it in order to better understand class relations, the inner turmoil of their neighbors, and the tragedies that come from closing the eyes to the inequities that are right in front of them.
I will be passing this book on to friends.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Adventures in Reporting #3
During the 10 years I spent writing for one area newspaper in the 1990s and up until 2004, I was painfully aware of one fact about that particular community, which was not where I live, that troubled me, perplexed me, and appalled me.
The K K K (K u K l u x K l a n) had a strong presence there.
The county seat was what is called a "sundown town." That means it was all-white, and all-white on purpose. During my time in the county I once saw a picture of a sign that used to be within the town environs.
It said something like, "N------, don't let the sun set on you in this town."
While that was a long time ago, some things still have not changed. The town was then, and still is, a very white community.
It's a place where Confederate Flags fly proudly from many poles. The Stars and Bars line the roads. They're a people hardened by life in the mountains who distrust government and anything or anyone different from them. The only reason some people would speak to me was because I knew my history and could eventually point to some 7th-generation relative who might or might not be a common ancestor with them or a friend.
Its the kind of place where a grand dragon, an organization leader, flies his flag up in the hollows.
While I was over there, in 1998, an out-of-state group gathered at Fenwick Mines in the Jefferson Forest in Craig. The event made headlines but there was no mischief.
At least not that year.
That changed in 1999. That year a black man ventured into town to work on the new grocery store project. He took room and board with a 74-year-old local man.
Threats followed, in person and by phone. A sign in a neighboring yard told the black man to go home, except in worse language.
And then someone set a cross afire in the yard.
A group of women from my alma mater, Hollins University, went to New Castle and organized a peace rally.
Because I was a freelance reporter and could turn stories down, I did not write about these events but instead turned them over to someone on staff. Someone who didn't venture into the area weekly and who would be covered by the employer's insurance should the tires on their car be slashed or, heaven forbid, they turned up dead.
Yeah, I wimped out.
To say these events frightened me would be an understatement. Did they influence my work? I am sure they did. For a long time I could not conduct an interview without wondering, are you someone who would hide behind a white hood?
These memories came back to me on Sunday. My husband, as he always does, was reading the farm machinery and auction listings.
He called me over to look at one of the advertisements (which you can also see on the link).
"Look, they're advertising K K K memorabilia," he said.
Listed under collectibles it advertised an "original 1925 ... charter" and a full suit with a patch and other memorabilia.
I felt the distaste and surprise rise in my stomach. My mind flashed to those days in 1999 when I did not feel safe.
And up for auction one finds pieces of Americana, actual proof that such horrid things really did occur in this country, and still occur.
All I can do is shake my head. What a society we are.
The K K K (K u K l u x K l a n) had a strong presence there.
The county seat was what is called a "sundown town." That means it was all-white, and all-white on purpose. During my time in the county I once saw a picture of a sign that used to be within the town environs.
It said something like, "N------, don't let the sun set on you in this town."
While that was a long time ago, some things still have not changed. The town was then, and still is, a very white community.
It's a place where Confederate Flags fly proudly from many poles. The Stars and Bars line the roads. They're a people hardened by life in the mountains who distrust government and anything or anyone different from them. The only reason some people would speak to me was because I knew my history and could eventually point to some 7th-generation relative who might or might not be a common ancestor with them or a friend.
Its the kind of place where a grand dragon, an organization leader, flies his flag up in the hollows.
While I was over there, in 1998, an out-of-state group gathered at Fenwick Mines in the Jefferson Forest in Craig. The event made headlines but there was no mischief.
At least not that year.
That changed in 1999. That year a black man ventured into town to work on the new grocery store project. He took room and board with a 74-year-old local man.
Threats followed, in person and by phone. A sign in a neighboring yard told the black man to go home, except in worse language.
And then someone set a cross afire in the yard.
A group of women from my alma mater, Hollins University, went to New Castle and organized a peace rally.
Because I was a freelance reporter and could turn stories down, I did not write about these events but instead turned them over to someone on staff. Someone who didn't venture into the area weekly and who would be covered by the employer's insurance should the tires on their car be slashed or, heaven forbid, they turned up dead.
Yeah, I wimped out.
To say these events frightened me would be an understatement. Did they influence my work? I am sure they did. For a long time I could not conduct an interview without wondering, are you someone who would hide behind a white hood?
These memories came back to me on Sunday. My husband, as he always does, was reading the farm machinery and auction listings.
He called me over to look at one of the advertisements (which you can also see on the link).
"Look, they're advertising K K K memorabilia," he said.
Listed under collectibles it advertised an "original 1925 ... charter" and a full suit with a patch and other memorabilia.
I felt the distaste and surprise rise in my stomach. My mind flashed to those days in 1999 when I did not feel safe.
And up for auction one finds pieces of Americana, actual proof that such horrid things really did occur in this country, and still occur.
All I can do is shake my head. What a society we are.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Look at them windows!
The window installers from Southwest Sunroom and Windows showed up at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday to replace 13 windows in my house.
The framing around the windows had darkened considerably on the exterior. The things leaked like sieves and definitely needed to be redone.
The shot above is the rear of the house exterior.
A closer view of the old window.
A little closer still!
By lunch time, the old windows had been ripped out and new windows put in place. It took three men about four hours to do everything but the exterior trim, which they finished that afternoon.
The windows on the exterior now have a creamy white colored trim.
I like the looks of it a lot. I think it gave the house more personality.
The house is an L-shaped ranch.
This is a picture of the rear with the new windows, like the first shot.
The windows are vinyl and are made by Gorell. We investigated the window brand and the installer as thoroughly as we could and, in the end, we were satisfied that this was the best deal for the money.
There are more expensive windows - we had quotes that were three times what we paid for this brand - but these have a good warranty and numerous thumbs up for being Energy Saver windows.
We'll see what happens to the electricity bill now.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday Thirteen
Today, for my TT, I am going to talk about monsters. Specifically, kinds of monsters.
1. Politicians. One of my least favorite monsters. These monsters run around ruining lives by spouting out anything on their pea-brains and then expecting accolades and laws based on their verbosity. They can be members of any political party and any race or gender. They all have very large mouths and blood-sucking tendencies.
2. Giants. Giants in mythology went to war with Zeus and friends for control of the world. The Giants sprang from Gaia via the blood shed from Uranus's manhood (or godhood) when Cronus castrated his father. The Giants were essentially spawn of gods, but they were not friendly with the Olympians. Gaia urged them to turn on Zeus (her grandson) and so they did. The Giants hurled boulders and flaming trees at the sky. Zeus and the other Olympian gods fought back, though in the end they required Heracles to win the day. The days the Giants are sports teams and they are not very scary.
3. Ogres. These are humanoid monsters that eat villagers. Shrek and his ogress are lovable monsters in that they don't seem to really eat anyone. One might also apply this term to Wall Street CEOs and find it accurate.
4. Children. A few of these actually grow up to be politicians; they are the scariest kind. Monster children run around with crayons, scream in the stores, have jelly on their faces, and create havoc in their wake with each step.
That's me! Wasn't I scary?
5. Vampires. These blood-suckers have a new mystic in this world in that they are immortal, sexy, romantic and heroic. Vampires of old were rather nasty villains who wanted the creamy-white throated maiden and their immortality. Some vampires want to destroy the world and others want to save it. The most famous vampire is Dracula, but he has been lost to the charms of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, True Blood and various and sundry other stories about the living dead.
6. Bigfoot. Also known as Sasquatch, these humanoid creatures are ape-like beings that haunt the forests of the United States and Canada. They could also be your hairy uncle on a bad hair day.
7. Dragons. These reptilian creatures are generally huge, scaly and fire-breathing. Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea but was eventually forgotten.
There is also a dragon in Shrek and numerous other movies.
8. Banking officials. Bank officials rate up there with politicians in that they talk a good game but are sinisterly working to make you grovel and writhe in pain in order to take away your assets. They like to make you sign on the dotted line, too. Banking officials come in all shapes and sizes, but are almost always found lounging in bank offices.
9. Changeling. This is a creature left in place of a human child who has been kidnapped by another fairy creature. The changeling is usually sickly. Parents often continued to raise the changeling but treated it poorly if they could not swap it back for their real youngster. This could lead to ill-raised children en masse. See #4 for consideration on how often this might actually be occurring in present day.
10. Radio talk show personalities. These are among the most fierce of monsters, threatening lives and endangering entire civilizations with their hatred and vile-spewing venom. They can be known by their large size, beady little eyes and red faces. Truly hideous to look upon.
11. Not your mommy, mummies! Read closer. Mummies are another kind of living dead (except for the living part for real mummies) in that they are dead bodies wrapped in white strips of cloth that somehow come to life. Bram Stroker, who also created Dracula, gave us mummies as well in the novel The Jewel of the Seven Stars.
12. Ghosts. More dead things. Humanity has a real fascination with life after death, eh? Ghosts are spirits that continue on after the body has passed away. The belief in ghosts has been around forever and is as old as religions. Some famous ghosts include Casper (I used to read those comics when I was young), the three spirits in Dickens' Christmas Carol, and Patrick Swayze's ghost in Ghost.
13. Lastly, there are aliens!
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people. See a list of other participants here. This is number 141 for me.
1. Politicians. One of my least favorite monsters. These monsters run around ruining lives by spouting out anything on their pea-brains and then expecting accolades and laws based on their verbosity. They can be members of any political party and any race or gender. They all have very large mouths and blood-sucking tendencies.
2. Giants. Giants in mythology went to war with Zeus and friends for control of the world. The Giants sprang from Gaia via the blood shed from Uranus's manhood (or godhood) when Cronus castrated his father. The Giants were essentially spawn of gods, but they were not friendly with the Olympians. Gaia urged them to turn on Zeus (her grandson) and so they did. The Giants hurled boulders and flaming trees at the sky. Zeus and the other Olympian gods fought back, though in the end they required Heracles to win the day. The days the Giants are sports teams and they are not very scary.
3. Ogres. These are humanoid monsters that eat villagers. Shrek and his ogress are lovable monsters in that they don't seem to really eat anyone. One might also apply this term to Wall Street CEOs and find it accurate.
4. Children. A few of these actually grow up to be politicians; they are the scariest kind. Monster children run around with crayons, scream in the stores, have jelly on their faces, and create havoc in their wake with each step.
That's me! Wasn't I scary?5. Vampires. These blood-suckers have a new mystic in this world in that they are immortal, sexy, romantic and heroic. Vampires of old were rather nasty villains who wanted the creamy-white throated maiden and their immortality. Some vampires want to destroy the world and others want to save it. The most famous vampire is Dracula, but he has been lost to the charms of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, True Blood and various and sundry other stories about the living dead.
6. Bigfoot. Also known as Sasquatch, these humanoid creatures are ape-like beings that haunt the forests of the United States and Canada. They could also be your hairy uncle on a bad hair day.
7. Dragons. These reptilian creatures are generally huge, scaly and fire-breathing. Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea but was eventually forgotten.
There is also a dragon in Shrek and numerous other movies.
8. Banking officials. Bank officials rate up there with politicians in that they talk a good game but are sinisterly working to make you grovel and writhe in pain in order to take away your assets. They like to make you sign on the dotted line, too. Banking officials come in all shapes and sizes, but are almost always found lounging in bank offices.
9. Changeling. This is a creature left in place of a human child who has been kidnapped by another fairy creature. The changeling is usually sickly. Parents often continued to raise the changeling but treated it poorly if they could not swap it back for their real youngster. This could lead to ill-raised children en masse. See #4 for consideration on how often this might actually be occurring in present day.
10. Radio talk show personalities. These are among the most fierce of monsters, threatening lives and endangering entire civilizations with their hatred and vile-spewing venom. They can be known by their large size, beady little eyes and red faces. Truly hideous to look upon.
11. Not your mommy, mummies! Read closer. Mummies are another kind of living dead (except for the living part for real mummies) in that they are dead bodies wrapped in white strips of cloth that somehow come to life. Bram Stroker, who also created Dracula, gave us mummies as well in the novel The Jewel of the Seven Stars.
12. Ghosts. More dead things. Humanity has a real fascination with life after death, eh? Ghosts are spirits that continue on after the body has passed away. The belief in ghosts has been around forever and is as old as religions. Some famous ghosts include Casper (I used to read those comics when I was young), the three spirits in Dickens' Christmas Carol, and Patrick Swayze's ghost in Ghost.
13. Lastly, there are aliens!
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people. See a list of other participants here. This is number 141 for me.
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