Category Archives: Uncategorized

Saw this on my morning walk. Some poor kid is desolate right now, looking for their lost troll.

Last week I posted a challenge to myself to exercise to the old 45 record, Chicken Fat, because I’m in such lousy shape that I need to start over at an elementary school level. Well, I was right. That record is kicking my butt!!!

First, I learned a very important thing: wear a sports bra. Jumping Jacks, which I haven’t done since … well, I don’t know how long … are not friendly to unconfined, middle-aged mammary glands.

I was able to do a lot more push-ups than I expected, but sit-ups are a no-go. I may need to practice doing them because the record goes way too fast for me to keep up with.

Also, it was a lot easier to get up and down quickly when I was in second grade. You go from standing to lying on your back and back up again a few times during this short workout, and he doesn’t give you nearly enough time to struggle to your feet after doing The Bicycle.

But, hey, I’m cutting myself a break because at least I’m doing it. I’m not letting my vertigo issues, or my crunchy knees, or (insert an infinite number of reasons to not torture myself here) stop me.

At least, not yet. 😉

And, just for fun, here’s you a dog, which posed very nicely for the camera:

This dog ABSOLUTELY posed for this picture. It was all goofy and happy and wagging its tail, until it saw me pull out the camera. Then it refused to stop voguing for me until it heard the shutter click.

I’m not into war talk, but I have been following this story enough to know what’s going on. I say that first, because I have friends on both sides of the coin: drop the subject or let’s beat it to death with a double-tap of the broom. I want to make it clear that I’m not on either side of that coin, so if an interesting story comes of this negativity, I’m going to look at it.

Osama Bin Laden Dead, Al Qaeda Confirms

That said, I found this article fascinating because there is a very subtle shift in the way Al Qaida spokesmen sound. They used to sound like scary boogeymen, but now they sound like a faint echo. There is no energetic punch behind their words anymore. Anyone else think so?

I haven’t written anything for a while, because I’ve been tumbling down the rabbit hole. I don’t know if I’m now climbing back out, or if I’ve just landed in a place that looks very like the old world (but has a different set of rules). Either way, I think I’m done free falling and I’m able to finally dust myself off and take a look around.

It’s a long, involved and strange story how I got here, and I’m not sure how much of it I want to tell. So let me just say this, for now: as a result of a very painful event, my career—as I knew it—is over. I’ve spent the past eight years or so being a very specific person, doing very specific things, with a very specific goal. That has been ripped away and now I’m left, shaken and dazed, trying to figure out who I am without all of that.

I’m using dramatic language to describe how I feel, but I want it clear that I don’t intend to convey self-pity. Not that there hasn’t been any of that—after all, I’m only human—but I’m not feeling self-pity when I describe how monumentally I’ve shifted. I’ve taken a quantum leap and am feeling every bit of it. I’m still a little shaky, getting my sea legs.

One interesting thing that I’m noticing is that it’s now very easy to live in the present moment. What else do I have to do? I used to spend all of my waking consciousness on that old persona, the one that has been ripped away. So now what do I do? I might as well just sit in the Isness of the moment. And since I’m here, I might as well deeply and consciously experience it.

It’s taken me a long time to blog about this, because I realize now that there is no one out there reading this, aside from a handful of good friends who hear all about this on the phone or through email, so why bother writing? I’ve mostly been just living each day as it comes. I’ve deactivated my Facebook page and may dismantle my website(s). I still haven’t decided what to do with all that … haven’t given it much thought. In the meantime, Jeff and I have decided to take our own road trip, sort of an Epiphany Quest 2. That’s what I’m spending my time working on.

We’re going to take a similar trip to the one Vicci and I made, but we’ll travel the eastern side of the country. Plus, we’re going to camp and we’re taking the bike with us. The trip will be exactly the same, only completely different.

Our focus isn’t going to be the destinations on our route as much as it will be the journey itself. We do have some specific places we intend to visit but, for the most part, we’re going to take our time and just drive a few hours each day. We’re going to pay attention to what the little towns have to offer: what’s the best meal in town? what landmarks are there? what kind of work do the people do?

We’ll probably be taking off in mid August. We have a lot of stuff to take care of and arrange. When you leave your house for that long, you have to find people to take care of it in your absence. When you go on such a long camping trip, you have a lot of careful packing and planning to do. And when the route is so long and detailed, you have to be grateful for your AAA membership.

I’ll keep all four of you posted on our progress and the trip, as the story unfolds!

I don’t usually discuss politics, mostly because, as Bob Marley said, “Politics no interest me. Dem devil business.” But this isn’t about politics, per se, it’s about really thinking before you talk or act. I thought about this when I read a news story about a teacher in Alabama who recently used the example of assassinating our President in order to teach geometry angles to students.

The Secret Service investigated a teacher in Jefferson County, Alabama after “he picked the wrong example” and used a hypothetical assassination of President Obama to teach angles to his geometry students, the Birmingham News reports:

The Secret Service questioned the math teacher, but decided not to arrest him or charge him with a crime after they determined he was not “a credible threat,” an agency spokesperson said. Superintendent Phil Hammonds called the incident “extremely poor judgment” and “a poor choice of words,” but said he has no plans to fire the teacher. “We are going to have a long conversation with him about what’s appropriate,” Hammonds said. The Birmingham News was unable to reach the teacher for comment.

In the comments section of that web page, and on Facebook where it’s also posted, some folks are responding by saying that if it were Bush the teacher was metaphorically aiming at, the response would be different. I say, let’s forget WHO it’s about. The fact is, the teacher is teaching CHILDREN, using the example of how to shoot another human being. How is that even close to okay? (Whatever happened to using billiards as an example?)

During the election campaign, I remember watching a McCain rally wherein his rabid followers (this particular crowd was exactly that) were chanting about death to Obama. McCain interrupted them, clearly afraid of the mob’s violent turn, and told them to knock it off. One of the women in the crowd said that she’s afraid of Obama because he’s a Nazi.

McCain did what he could to defuse the situation, because he could see how dangerous this was getting, but he only managed to stop the chanting. He didn’t change their minds about him. These people still wanted Obama dead, for things he’s not guilty of … for words used by political enemies and media commentators. Problem is, they’re using the words metaphorically and the mob thinks they mean them literally.

Mob mentality is a scary thing. We’re not talking about rational, thinking people. This kind of name calling that is aimed at Obama … whether you support him or not … is dangerous and irresponsible.

I hope that they don’t have to learn the hard way, by having their words come back to haunt them after an assassination. Look at the Gulf oil spill and “Drill, Baby, Drill.” Yep, learning the hard way on that one, aren’t we?

I learned about mob mentality during my 20’s when I traveled to Washington DC to a protest march that brought 500,000 people to the Capitol. It was supposed to start at noon, but by 12:30 we still weren’t moving. We were getting antsy, impatient and pissed off, and had no idea what the holdup was. A rumor starting filtering through the front of the crowd, where I was, that some opposition protesters were blocking our path, and we had to wait for the police to clear them out.

Well, as a 25 year old, this was exciting and dramatic! My friends and I, and some of the others nearby, started spreading the word and the crowd members near us got whipped up into a frenzy. Finally, an older woman grabbed us and said, “What the hell are you doing? Do you have any idea how much harm half a million people can do if they start pushing? People in the front will get trampled and will be killed!” She then pushed her way through the crowd, calming those who we had stirred up.

Suddenly I realized the gravity and seriousness of mob mentality. Sure, drama might be fun and exciting when you’re in the middle of something monumental like that, but you gotta watch what you say when tempers are flaring. Just because you might be rational and feel like your words are poetic and allegorical, doesn’t mean that someone else isn’t taking you literally. I’m not saying I’m not guilty of this very thing, but I do at least try to be careful. I wish certain members of the media would do the same.