TMI Tuesday!

1. How many credit cards do you own? Are they paid off?

Only one, and it is not paid off. Not yet anyway.

2. Can you be in love with someone you don't trust?

No

3. Should prostitution be legal?

May as well be. They do it anyway. Have them pay taxes and also license them to be regularly tested and seek medical treatment (this is turning into a PSA)

4. On a scale of 1-10, how good of a lover do you think you are? (1 is lowest, 10 is highest)

I have no clue.

5. What are three mistakes someone could make on the first date with you that would automatically make you turn down a second date with them?

1. Be late.

2. Chew with your mouth open.

3. Make me do all the talking. I'm a good conversationalist, but I can't carry it by myself.

Bonus (as in optional): Tell us about your worst date ever.

They were late, chewed with their mouth open and didn't say much of anything. I think the worst situation was after getting up the nerve to ask someone out, they said yes, we met, had dinner, went really well (and of course I'm getting excited thinking it's going to go somewhere) and after dinner and walking i was told that they weren't interested in dating me, but thought it was rude to say so on the phone and preferred to do it in person.

Gee, thanks a FUCKIN' lot for letting me go on and on. Yes, it was good to let me know, but that's what you do when I ask, not after I've paid for the date... ASS....

Sadly, I have to see this person on a quasi regular basis and be nice for the sake of other friends. Karma is a bitch, you better watch out!

Wow.... Deep insight into the two sides of you

My brother sent me this video with the subject line of "You gotta see this". Given the nostalgic & artistic nature of his outlook on life I thought it was going to be something that would make me smile or make me laugh at animals, old cartoons or a lunchbox that he remembered me having when I was 3 years old.

He was the only one of my family who did not go into health care. When I finally crossed the line he jokingly chastised me asking imploringly what he was supposed to do now at the dinner table when all of us were talking blood, poop and body parts from work while he was trying to eat. Imagine my surprise when the video he sent me was about a health care issue, complete with an actual human brain (fascinating!)

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. She watched as her brain functions shut down one by one: motion, speech, memory, self-awareness. She gained priceless insight into her own work and spoke about it in the TED series of talks about Ideas Worth Sharing. This video is 18 minutes long so sit back, it is an idea worth sharing.

And in the end, I did smile and laugh... but there was no lunch box.

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229

Speed of Light TMI Tuesday - Late Version

This week... Good Lord....

SO much is going on. I have a 4 page "to do" list at work that just keeps getting longer (but I still LOVE my job!), a performance this weekend that I am MC'ing and running around to get ready for, guests coming into town to stay in my, currently, 80% clean house and I have 3 work events pulling at my time during and after hours. I'm sorry I missed TMI Tuesday yesterday, but it didn't dawn on me until this morning that yesterday was even Tuesday! So here's the Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am TMI Tuesday.

1. Is there a TV show you HAVE to watch, if so, what is it?

Only one? :) Actually with my best friend TiVo living with me I don't feel the impetus to HAVE to watch a show during it's original air time since I can catch it later and zip through the commercials. However, that being said, HEROES is the one show that I will wait 15 minutes for so TiVo has a head start, but I can't put off watching it. I get antsy. I'm behind the writers when they went on strike, but do you KNOW what you did to me breaking up the season this year? I'm glad you got the fair compensation that was due to you, but don't come between me and my Heroes again....

2. What is you favorite drink if you are going to drink more than one?

Diet Pepsi with a lemon wedge (not the factory created 'we-decide-the-ratio' flavor). In the bar it would be vodka with grapefruit juice or a good white wine

3. How long do you carry guilt around with you?

I should have been Catholic or a nun... If I find out how NOT to carry it around with me I'll be happy!

4. Where is or would be your number one romantic get away spot?

I can't think of a specific location just yet, but I think it's a beach house somewhere that can offer secluded beach area for us to enjoy privacy, but also be close enough to things to have fun with the rest of the world. I can't imagine having days on end of just one on one with no other interaction. I'm not that interesting and my partner would be bored to tears!

5. Have you ever seen a counselor?

Nope.... do I need to?

Bonus (as in optional): Last summer the Archives of Sexual Behavior the 237 reasons people have sex and the Top 50 Reasons Men and Women Have Sex. What are your top 5 reasons?

Do I need 5 reasons? Why does a mountain climber climb a mountain? Because it's there!

Mother's Day Blog

I've been planning a blog for my mom for a while, but just couldn't get the gumption to do it. Two and a half years later and it's still hard to talk about it. But just as I 'turned the corner' on many things at the new year I decided that closure with it all needed to be done as well. Anyone who knew my mom would know she'd be pretty pissed with me for continuing to be bogged down in all of this. So, on Mother's Day (rather obvious opportunity don't you think?) here is

An Ode to My Mom!

My mom was very special. All moms are in some way or another. A mom would have to work real hard to not be special in some small way. Mom could be special without working hard at it. In all my life I can really only remember getting into one argument with her. Don't get me wrong, she yelled a lot when I'd something wrong, but most of the time I knew I'd done it, why argue? Let her blow off her steam, apologize, fix it and we move on. She wasn't only my mom, but since my father passed away when I was very little, she was also my father figure and she was one of my best friends.

She became a single parent when I was 5. At that time my brother was 10 and my sister 13. Mom was a lab tech at the time so anyone in that field knows what kind of wages you make and it isn't ever enough, much less with 3 children and a mortgage. My mom made life fun as best she could. If you ask me what kind of childhood I had my immediate, and truthful, response is that it was great! I have great memories of growing up even with an older brother terrorizing me as older brothers are so good at. If I think harder about the details, I can remember being without things. I can remember the tuna & macaroni salad... again. I can remember never having Nike tennis shoes in Jr. High when they were SO en vogue. I didn't have the designer jeans or the latest fashions. I'm sure there was a part of me that wished I did, but I do remember a part of me knowing at that age that I didn't have it because we couldn't afford it. I also remember making a conscious decision not to say anything about it because the last thing I wanted to do was make Mom feel bad for not being able to give it to me. Besides, by that age I was growing so fast who would have been able to keep ME constantly dressed in the latest fashions.

Mom was born in North Carolina to Clyde and Beulah. Clyde & Beulah owned a store called Clybeau's so the family, while not wealthy, were comfortable. Clyde, the consummate gentleman, was well known in town so therefore, my Mom and her sisters were too. Like me, Mom was a good bit younger than her older sisters. In the pic to the left, Mom is that skinny legged lanky girl (yet a blossoming beauty!) on the left. She told me once that when she was growing up, she used to see her older sisters get into trouble for whatever it was that they had done. Mom said as she was growing up watching her sisters, she learned to either not do it, or how to do it and not get caught. I think that was my first life's lesson learned from Mom. Now my brother & sister know why I didn't get into trouble so much as they did... :)

I was never able to meet Beulah as she passed away from a brain tumor when Mom was in high school. I understand Beulah was quite a woman and a wonderful mother. I see that the apple does not, in fact, fall far from the tree.

Mom was pretty special growing up in rural North Carolina. She was on one of the country's first women's basketball teams in college. She was also the first female school bus driver in North Carolina's history. All this was in her college years. After college she went into the Navy. While she was in the Navy she met my father. I've always loved the story of how they met. Apparently back then when pay day rolled around, everyone got in line alphabetically. There was one woman in between my mom (Gri) and my dad (Gra). My father happened to be dating the woman in between them until she was transferred and BAM, they met on a more regular basis. I often wonder if he'd just been working his way through the alphabet!

They were quite the 50's couple, having parties with their friends and enjoying being around the world with the military. The pic on the left was when they lived in Japan. (Mom is on Dad's lap)

Once they came back to the states they started having the kids. Brother & Sister were within a few years of each other and that was going to be it. As my brother & sister are so fond of reminding me, I was supposed to be a ski boat. Daddy was apparently on the way to get one and Mom told him about the dead rabbit, and here I come!

Once I had moved out of the house and she was able to breathe and relax in her own domain, she enjoyed herself and did what she wanted to for the first time in decades. When she started seeing "Fred" (stepfather from an earlier post) they would spend many summer days out on the boat. I used to tease her saying that while I may live on the coast in Charleston, she had a better tan than I did!

Mom always wanted happy people around her. If I can remember biggest concern about people outside herself, she'd say "I don't see why they want to be so unhappy with their life!" She was easy to laugh about something and, whether she realized it or not, was pretty damn funny herself! Once, back in the mid 1990's a study came out that showed a certain species of monkey was resistant to the HIV virus. Both being in the medical field at the time, she and I were discussing the topic and wondering what the physiological reason could be for their resistance. She was quiet for a second and said "You know why I bet it is? They have such ugly butts!" Check out mom with the very subtle gay joke! To this day when I see one of those baboons with the flaming red rump I have to laugh as did she.

She was a laugh, all my life. From dancing around the house in a green leotard and playing my brothers drums to Mary Poppin's "Let's Go Fly a Kite" to laughing at some goofy thing that I had just done or said, she was a laugh. One of my favorite pictures of her came from my brother's wedding (they were married on a square in Savannah, Georgia). I can't remember precisely what they're laughing at, but I remember that at the very end of the ceremony a Hejaz Shriner parade started coming by the square and hundreds of men dressed as hillbillies came to offer my brother and sister-in-law congratulations on their wedding.

That's the mom I remember. Pre-cancer, pre-Fred's-family-drama, alive, happy and laughing. That's the Mom that will forever be in my heart and memory. I miss you Mom! I know, if God allows iPods, you're jammin' to Gladys Knight.

You like me! You really like me!

This wonderful little tag



was given to me by a group of folks awarding my Statistically Speaking... post the "Perfect Post" Award for April! I really appreciate the award and being put up for it by SueBob!

Thanks to all my tens of readers! I love you all! :)

TMI Tuesday

1. How many cell phones have you had? How long have you had your current cell phone number?

Wow, by 2008 that's almost as hard to remember as how many pairs of shoes have you had. I think I can say 5. They've always been 2nd tier phones as I was never really interested (nor could afford) the latest bells and whistles phones. Although, my current Blackjack was on the leading edge when I purchased it. Of course Samsung came out with Blackjack II a few months afterwards. My first was one of these ridiculous chunky ones

2. Where was the last place you had sex?

Where? In bed. When, so long ago I can't recall. It was actually around my birthday in February.

3. On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with your love life? (1 is lowest, 10 is highest)

Given my answer to number 2 I would think to say a 5, but given my situation I would actually give it an 8. Needs to be more frequent, but when it's there, it's THERE! Woohoo!

4. Does Bliss sound like a fun game to you? Have you ever played it?

Never heard of it until today so never played it. Sounds OK from first can.

5. Is there anything or anyone you would be willing to die for?

I could say it now, but it would depend on the situation. My family of course.

Bonus (as in optional): If you were (or had) a magic genie and could only grant wishes for others and you only had three left, what would they be and who would they be for?

Won't list them here. If you tell wishes they don't come true!

An ode to my Deaf friends

I spent most of the day Saturday in meetings working with a group of Deaf friends on a conference we're producing in June of 2009. I started out tired before the meeting because I'd been up since dawn's crack, I'd starting my marathon training, but by the end of the day I was even more tired but it was well worth it.


You may ask why it was tiring to be in meetings which means I was probably sitting on my butt. I was sitting most of the day, but now we're talking mental tiredness because I spent the entire day seeing my conversations and translating not only for myself what others were saying, but turning my thoughts that are formed into English syntax into sign language.


Anyone who is a verbal language interpreter understands how mentally taxing changing languages can be. Now add on the equivalent of doing the arms part of jumping jacks for hours on end and you've got a day in Sign Language.


Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining at all. I love my Deaf friends dearly and if God has given me one talent that I'm oddly able to pick up easily, it's been my ability to learn and retain sign language, a learning process I started in 7th grade.


So often the Deaf community is looked at through such a wide variety of views. When I first started learning sign language it was at the church I grew up in. It seemed that everyone thought (and expected) I was learning sign language to interpret church services. I never quite understood why those were supposed to go together as if the Deaf community were a bunch of heathens that needed saving.

I have heard several people over the years, upon learning that I know sign language, say something to the effect of "Well I know the alphabet, I thought it was the least I could do to help those less fortunate." My response to this (in my head) was "the only reason they're less fortunate is that you stopped at learning the alphabet" Would YOU like it if someone didn't talk to you as we normally do, but S-P-E-L-L-E-D E-V-E-R-Y W-O-R-D I-N A S-E-N-T-E-N-C-E? Don't get me wrong, if you know the alphabet that's FANTASTIC! You're ahead of 95% of hearing Americans. But don't stop there, learn more! It's fun! BUT FIRST... get rid of the idea that Deaf folks are "less fortunate" than you. Their numbers are just like ours. They have their ditch diggers and housekeeping professionals (which there is absolutely nothing wrong with) but they also have their doctors, MBA business people and one of my Deaf friends is a lawyer. I could probably be a doctor before I could be a lawyer. They own their own businesses; hold their own conferences; support, lobby and enact legislation seeing to their needs. They, like SO many other groups put out to the fringe by those seeing themselves as "normal" just want to be seen as important, contributing members of society. In other words....

They're just waiting for the world to change:

I'm BEAT!

The past couple of nights I've needed to get up early. Met trainer on Friday morning and had my first Marathon Training run on Saturday. I tend to worry that I won't wake up so if I wake up during the night I can't get back to sleep. I find myself in Starbucks this morning after yet another day of waking up around 4am and not being able to get back to sleep. I did laundry though this morning. I have another full day today so I have to get going, but if I post on one blog, I feel like I have to do something for another blog.

Movie suggestion of the day (because I caught the last 45 minutes of it on TV while I was trying to either get up or go back to sleep) Over the Hedge. Truly funny animated movie with some great voices. William Shatner as an overacting (?!) possum with Avril Levine as his possum daughter... and she's like "So... Whatever!"

Back tomorrow for more!

Run Post :)

Click here

Happy Friday everyone!

Inaugeral Over/UnderRated Friday!

A new type of Daily Special Meme has come about thanks to Troll. Over/UnderRated Friday. Pick a topic you think is over or underrated and let's hear it! Today I'm picking

OVERRATED!


I don't know if this is such a big topic outside Chicago, but the whole "Obama's former Pastor" otherwise known as Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Since he's a Chicago pastor it is on our news ALL the friggin' time. Some think him being constantly linked to Obama will hurt Obama's campaign. If you have seen Rev. Wright speak, you will probably agree that calling him Obama's FORMER pastor can only help Obama. I mean if we're looking for a president who makes smart decisions, then Obama has hit a home run by distancing himself from this OVERRATED big bag of hot f'ing air!

I will give him the benefit of the doubt. One of his congregants stated that Rev.Wright was misunderstood and the media only projects the most inflammatory remarks. But when he says all the media against him is "speaking against the black church". Unless the media says, "All this bad publicity is because of the black church" then NO, they're not speaking against the black church, they're speaking against your loud mouth, Al Sharpton wanna be, waning 15 minutes of fame, dumbass self.

I hope to hell we're at 14.5 minutes because this man and his drivel are OVERrated.