Thursday Thirteen

1. Heroes often fail. And stories always end. Those lines are from a song. Any guesses?

2. Conversation on Tuesday.
    Me: I think my qi (pronounced chee) is bad.
    Friend: What do you call bad qi?
    Me: Chong.

3. I opened up my little hometown paper yesterday and saw this article headline: How to Respond to an Active Shooter Seminar. So instead of working on mental health and societal issues that make people think it's okay to gun each other down, we're just going to give in and learn how to duck, cover, and shoot back. Okaydokey.

4. I saw a new acupuncturist yesterday. She told me I have problems with my lung, kidney, spleen, and gallbladder meridians. There are twelve standard meridians. That means I'm 1/3 messed up.

5. A friend told me earlier in the week that when she first met me, she thought I was a normal, boring person. Then I said something (she didn't remember what) and she knew that she was in the in company of someone who did not follow the rules and who marched to a beat of her own making. I took it as a compliment.

6. The tenants in my rental house did at least $1,500 in damage. They knocked holes in the wall, removed the shower heads and inner guts of the toilets (?), and broke a door. Thanks for nothing, jerks.

7. I told my husband I was thinking of getting rid of my books. He said it would leave me heart broken. I think I see it as more like making way for new ones. Besides, the older ones are dusty and I'll never read the book again. However, I say that, but the books are still here. Maybe he's right.

8. Watching Game of Thrones every week is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. You know there will be blood and gore but you can't look away.

9. Have you figured out the song in #1 yet? It's here.

10. This is not the song, but it is a song and version that has been trapped in my head for the last several days. It's from the Newsroom, which was one of my favorite shows when it was on. "That's How I Got to Memphis."

11. I started a gratitude journal at the beginning of the year, but I haven't written in it since March. The entries were all starting to sound the same. "I'm grateful my friend called me today. I'm grateful I was able to do a little housework. I'm glad the pain was a 7 instead of a 9." I will go back to it, though.

12. Does anyone know how one changes her karma? Is there a formula you can follow? Do I need to find the yellow brick road? Walk a mile in bare feet over a rocky road? Burn incense? Stick straws up my nose?

13. I worked in retail a very long time ago. The proprietor scolded me because I did not honor the money. She insisted that I turn each bill so that they all faced the same way, smooth the cash, and treat it with respect. It was the first time I realized how much people worship greenbacks.

If only we worshipped our souls so much.


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 394th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.