Some Things Friday for January 22, 2010

This is my first Some Things Friday for the new year. I can't even remember when I posted the last one.

Some Things I Love:

1. Quotes. I'm not good at putting words together succinctly enough to convey a profound thought in a few short words, but I admire those who can. I find quotes every where - in a book, a spoken line from a movie, a magazine article or a verse from a song, just to name a few. If I am looking for something specific, particularly for my food blog, I'll Google a word or phrase until I find something suitable. Yesterday, while reading two separate articles, I came across two different quotes that made me ponder.

• "You shouldn't gloat about anything; you ought to keep going and find something better to do." Instead of purposely stopping to express some sort of malicious pleasure, it's best to avoid initiating such unseemly encounters and move on to something more productive and positive. Couldn't we all think twice before we start or say something ugly?
• "Most of us retain enough of the theological attitude to think that we are little gods." I currently live smack dab in the middle of the bible belt (Oy Vey !!) and I have never lived around so many people who believe they are bible scholars, picking and quoting verse after verse out of context to support their moral agenda and pass self-righteous judgment and damnation on those they believe don't practice as they do. My mother had a saying, "He knows just enough to be dangerous." My mother didn't go to high school. My mother didn't read biographies or great novels. She read cheap romance novels with pictures of bare chested men embracing weak-kneed women with exposed, heaving cleavage. My mother was definitely not a great thinker or philosopher or brilliant scholar, in fact my mother often made shit up as she went along, most of which didn't even make sense. But my mother could sometimes assess people accurately in the simplest of terms.

2. I got my new treadmill and Tom assembled it and it runs perfectly AND there aren't any leftover parts!!

3. Contrary to the night before last, Joe only barked twice last night. I got up twice, shortly after going to bed, to go tell him "NO!" but the first time he apparently didn't believe I was serious so within minutes he was barking again. I got up the second time and told him "NO!" Joe took it seriously that time and stopped barking and slept all night long without another bark. Whooo Hooo!!

4. We've had some nice days this last week, in the high 60's, almost spring-like. We even had windows and doors open two afternoons in a row. Ahhhhh. Fresh air!

5. Our fish in the pond are alive!! We are surprised. We thought they were dead. A couple of times before our really cold weather set in, Tom saw Suzy Q (our neighbor's cat) perched on the edge of the pond with one paw poised in the air, ready to scoop up a tasty morsel. It's also been extremely cold for the last three weeks and a two-inch thick slab of ice had formed over the surface of the pond. I didn't think the fish would be able to survive those cold temperatures. After all, they are just WalMart goldfish. It took three consecutive warm days for the ice to melt from the pond and when it did, I didn't see any fish. But, a day later when Tom looked, they started to come out of hiding and all seven of them are alive and well....so far. We have more really cold weather on the way and our neighbors still have their cat.

Some Things I Hate:

1. That the earthquake in Haiti caused so much human and property destruction. The videos and photos of the aftermath are overwhelming.

2. Passive/aggressive behavior!

3. Cold weather!

4. Not having any motivation whatsoever to do anything!! I'm still a little sick with a chest thing that won't go away. I'm tired all the time (and the all night barking the other night did not help). And the cold weather with very little sunshine. UGH!! This has been my crappiest health year EVER!! And I take high potency vitamins every single day. I haven't really done much walking since before Thanksgiving, so I am hoping using the treadmill will increase my energy level.

5. Living so far away from my kids and their families. Mike and Kathy are a three day drive to the west. Chris and Kelly are a 14 hour drive to the east, but moving to the Florida gulf coast in the next few months, an additional 4 or 5 hours, so it will be a two day drive. I hate missing so much of my grandkids' growing years.

Some Things I Just Don't Get:

1. Some of the completely stupid and inappropriate questions that journalists ask people who have just experienced painful, life changing situations. "Your husband was trapped under his automobile for several days before rescuers found him. They had to remove his body in pieces and transport him to the morgue in a body bag in the back of a pick up truck. How did that make you feel?" You can take your microphone and .....

2. Why political talk show hosts have to always yell their point of view? The Right. The Left. And in the Middle. They all seem to have to yell and throw things. Grow up. Please.

3. Jersey Shore. I HAVE NOT watched the program, but I've seen clips on other television shows. And the fascination with these young people would be...????

4. Goldman Sachs made a $3.28 billion profit the last three months of 2009. They are giving employee bonuses totaling $9.3 billion. The bonuses are more than $6 billion more than their profit. Just where do you think that money came from?? You better start scouring under the couch pillows for quarter and dimes, my friends, because they will be asking for more of our money in the not so distant future.

5. Male sports fans who get drunk, paint their rotund bare bellies with team colors, wear stupid animal mascot hats, yell at and make sexual gestures toward the cheerleaders and call that a good time. And Super Bowl Sunday is almost here! I can't wait!