Before and After

I haven’t been blogging much lately.  I’m on vacation and just haven’t had much quiet time in order to do so.  The problem with NOT blogging regularly is that my head just gets filled and I end up with so many thoughts that I doubt most of the things I want to write about will ever get written.  (In addition to the dozens and dozens of things I want to write about that I haven’t even started, I have 118 drafts currently sitting in my draft box in varying stages of completion all waiting to be posted.  Yikes.)

Yesterday was event day here.  My nephew Mitchell had a soccer game.  So did my nephew Jonathan.  And my nephew Richard had a robotics event.  I did get to see both games, and part of the robotics event.

At Mitchell’s game, I just happened to have the camera trained on him when he did a knee kick and I was able to capture it on film.  Here it is:

Too bad it was filled with people and dirt piles and fencing.  I wondered if I could photoshop any of that stuff out.  I figured that I could at least try.  So I pulled it up in Photo Impact and gave it a try.  I am so tickled with the result.  Mind you, if you zoom in on it, it looks TERRIBLE, but from a distance, it looks like (what Richard calls) a Mitchell Trading Card!

I don’t usually manipulate my photos except for cropping.  But I’m delighted to have learned this new skill nonetheless.  Here’s my Mitchell Trading Card…

Never trust any photograph that you see in a magazine!  I’m not even sure you should trust any photograph you see at all unless it has some sort of disclaimer swearing that no manipulation was done to it.  Heck, if I can do it, who can’t???

The house is momentarily quiet.  All have gone to church.  I need to pack while I have the place to myself.   But I HAD to post something! 

Now that I’ve gotten one post out of my head, I best get to that packing before the house fills back up with kids!

…

“It’s like a horror movie, only horribler…”

We (my brother, his four kids, and I) were on our way back from eating the most fabulous BBQ Tri-tip sandwiches out at a take-out place called “Green Acres” in Simi Valley.  This was an eating establishment that my brother found as a result of his being a freight delivery guy and driving all over So Cali.  (My family is committed to driving great distances to enjoy the best taste sensations.  This trip was no exception and was easily 60 miles each way…  Worth the drive?  Oh, you bet.)  I am giving the “Green Acres” Farmer’s Market’s BBQ Tri-tip sandwich my “unpaid product endorsement”.  Google it yourself and see what others have to say about it!

“Have you ever seen the Wizard of Oz house?” my brother asked as we entered his neighborhood on the way back home.  I had, but only briefly, and I’d been wanting to take pictures of it.  So we decided to swing by the house on our way back home.  This house is an abomination really.  We all decided it might not be TOO bad to live next to it, but it would be a daily horror to live across from it.  I may go back at a later date and try to get a few more good pictures.  However, the streets in town are narrow and it’s hard to get far enough back to encompass the whole monstrosity in a single frame. 

As I am shooting various aspects of the front of the house my eight year-old niece Avalon piped up with her opinion on what the experience of this house was like for her.

“It’s like a horror movie, only horribler…”

Go ahead!  Enter that gate if you dare!

 Every house needs a “mission statement” plaque imbedded in the front wall, doesn’t it?

This is what meets you by the front door.  (Was that baby in the movie?) 

Details… 

Details….

I must admit to a certain degree of morbid curiosity as to what the INSIDE of this house looks like…and to an even greater degree of curiosity as to what the people are like who live there!   

…

Understatement

I’m on the road again.  This time I’m driving to Los Angeles by way of Utah and Nevada.  I left early yesterday morning.  While on the road heading for my first stop, Arches National Park, my sister Whitney called and told me I needed to take the 128.  Just like she told me I would, at first I wondered, “now WHY did she have me take this road?”.  About halfway down the highway it became more than apparent why.  I’ll share pictures of what this road had to offer later.  Suffice it to say that “scenic byway” is more than a bit of an understatement!

On to Zion!

…

We were meant to live for so much more…

(“Meant to Live” by Switchfoot)

“Holy Discontent”.  I just finished reading it.  The book I read before that was “Sacred Romance”. 

Read these books. 

“Sacred Romance” is by John Eldredge and Brent Curtis.  “Holy Discontent” is by Bill Hybels.

…

That black lace bra is Pam’s not Maya’s!

Bear with me.  This is one of those stories that requires a little background information!  My blog reported an interesting sounding referring site to me this morning.  So I clicked on it to find out how that link even came to exist.  What I found was that I showed up on the blogroll of a blog called “the little Bee“.  It looks very interesting, but I can’t read anything but the titles because it’s in arabic or farsii, I’m not sure which.  In addition to my blog, on this blogroll, there were two others.  One called “Journey of Life” is the personal blog of a Vietnamese full time mom/grad student/research assistant who lives in Viet Nam, and the other is called “Integral Options Cafe” and is the blog of a writer/personal trainer from Tuscon, Arizona.  His blog “offers a place to discuss all things related to a Buddhist, integral worldview’.  And then there’s my blog.  Isn’t that a fascinating blogroll?  I think so.

Anyhow, I glanced at a few of the titles in each blog and read a few entries.  One of the “Journey of Life” entries was titled ‘Maya Angelou’s “What Every Woman Should Have”‘.  I’m not generally a fan of Maya’s.  Don’t ask me why.  I know that ALL women love Maya’s poetry.  But poetry touches the heart in a very special way, and hers doesn’t generally do that to me.  Her style is sometimes clipped, sometimes rambling.  I get lost in her poems, but in not in the good way.  However, I read this poem, and I liked it.  Not so much for style, but for content.  When putting content created by other people into my own blog, I like to try to find something original to link to so that I can give appropriate credit.  So I googled this poem.  While most of the results I found credited Maya for the poem, and in fact credited it as being Maya’s best poem EVER, what I found was that Maya didn’t write it at all.  This is where my journey led me…to Jan Marshall’s blog and her entry “That black lace bra is mine not Maya’s“.  (Yes, yes I did.  I copied her title).

This “poem” was written by Pamela Redmond Satron.  But it wasn’t a poem, it was originally a list.  It was first published in Glamour (magazine) in 1997.  Click HERE for the original list with a 2005 update.  I absolutely love that it was originally published as a list, not a poem.  It was a content piece to start with and not poetry at all!  (The content being what I liked about it in the first place).  Since I have provided a link to the original, I will also post what it was turned into and the credit given to Maya Angelou…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …
Enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …
Something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
A youth she’s content to leave behind….

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …
A past juicy enough that she’s looking forward to retelling it in her old age….

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …..
A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …
One friend who always makes her
laugh… and one who lets her cry…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ….
A good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her
family…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …
Eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal,that will make her guests feel honored…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …
A feeling of control over her destiny…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
How to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
how to quit a job, break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without ruining the friendship…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
When to try harder… and WHEN TO WALK AWAY…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
That she can’t change the length of her calves,the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
that her childhood may not have been perfect..but it’s over…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
What she would and wouldn’t do for love or more…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
How to live alone… even if she doesn’t like it…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..
whom she can trust, whom she can’t,
and why she shouldn’t take it personally…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
Where to go…be it to her best friend’s kitchen table…or a charming inn in the woods…when her soul needs soothing…

So, this entry has served a few purposes for me.  One:  to share how I spent part of my morning.  Two:  to impart some good words of wisdom to the women of the world.  And Three:  to show how important it is to check your sources AND to be a skeptic.  The chances are good that somewhere along the line what you are hearing was fundamentally changed in some way!

Happy Monday.

Now, go.  Get that cordless drill.

…

Update 11/17/11  Link to the blog cited as The Little Bee no longer works.  Can’t find the blog anywhere.

…

The Cash Equivalent

Some of you in reading the title of this post already know what I’m going to write about.  Most of you don’t.  Those of you who do know are probably chuckling just a little bit to yourselves…

Richard.  My nephew.  Since he was young I have had fascinating discussions with him about finances, and investments, etc.  I remember one day when he was just about five we were talking about risk versus rewards when it came to what to do with money.  He wanted to know about his options for investing.  At five years old his little mind was doing an assessment of what level of risk he was comfortable with.  He decided that when he came into any money, like on his birthday, or whatever, that he would put half of it aside to invest and possibly spend the other half on something he wanted.  We discussed straight savings accounts, CDs, stocks, and real estate.  His first goal was to save enough in his savings account to be able to invest in a CD.  A few years ago he told me his goal was to be able to buy a house.  I think he was 12 or 13 at the time.  I don’t know how close he is to that goal, but I do know that he continues to save his money avidly.  How do I know this?  Well, he’d much rather have the cash equivalent than get presents or gifts along the way.  Not your “usual” child, for years the only thing on his “wish list” for Christmas has been “money”.  This has expanded somewhat beyond Christmas and birthdays.  I heard that this past summer while vacationing with his family, when they’d stop to buy souvenir sweatshirts or souvenir whatevers, he’d ask for the cash equivalent instead, and then he’d write down that amount and keep a running tab of what his Dad (my brother) would be giving him when the cash equivalency was finally paid out to him!    I wonder what the final total was!

Apparently this “may I have the cash equivalent instead” approach to receiving gifts has extended beyond the family.  Two weeks ago I went up to visit him in northern Colorado where he was visiting his best friend and his best friend’s family.  I heard from the best friend’s sister that Richard was given an iPod Nano for his birthday.  She laughed as she told me what her mother had had engraved on the back of it for him!  Here you go….but you probably already guessed it…

It appears that the answer this time was an engraved “no”! 

…

Adult Sized??

I have 111 blog posts in varying stages of life (and in many cases of decay) sitting in my “draft” box here at “Blah Blah Blog”.  Some of them are simply titles that exist to trigger my memory that I want to write about that certain thing.  Some are drafts that I’ve been working on here and there since I started this blog. 

My little sister should probably be sharing this little gem on her blog, but I’m pretty sure she won’t get around to it.  She’s actually a very busy human being and doesn’t have time like I do to putter around on a blog! 

So, she (my sister, Whitney) takes her son (Mitchell) to get some new shoes for school.  She decided to get him a  pair of VANS.  We all used to wear Vans when we were younger and it was a big outing for all of us to load up in the VW bus and head off to one of the original Vans Shoes stores to get new sneaks for the school year.  That was back in the days when there was one style that came in only a handful of colors!  I still have a pair of those classic blue Vans that I got in junior high school.  True.  They’re in my closet as we speak!  A couple of years ago they somehow became about a size too small.  I can’t wear them any longer.  But I can’t throw them away, either! 

Anyway!  Whitney and Mitchell pick out a $35 pair and take them to check out.  When the total comes up on the register, the shoes actually cost $48!!  My sister questioned the disparity in the price listed IN the display shoe and the price now showing on the register.

WELLLLLLLLL….it turns out that size three and below was $35.  Bigger than size three was $48.  Mitchell’s shoes?  Size 3 1/2.  Why the jump in price?  Size three and below are junior sizes.  Size 3 1/2 and above are ADULT sizes.  I knew Mitchell was a big kid, but he hasn’t started kindergarten yet (he starts tomorrow)!  But he has to pay (or to be more accurate, his mother has to pay) for adult sized shoes?  Hey!  He can’t get into PG-13 movies by himself.  Why are his shoes adult priced??? 

My sister had a flash-forward as she shelled out the $48.  “I saw myself with Mitchell at 17 wearing sized 20 shoes and having to pay extra to have them made to fit him…I might as well get used to paying more for his shoes now!”

I guess at some point shoes have to go up in cost to account for the increased materials and time needed to assemble them.  But there’s something sooooo wrong about a five-year old paying for adult sized shoes, isn’t there??  Made me laugh!

…

Phishing for Spam

The spammer scammers have been working overtime today!  Let’s see, so far today…

…I have (yet again!) been selected as a category B European Lottery winner.  All I needed to do was to fill out the “datas bellow” to start the payment process!  Lucky me! 

…”eBay” was attempting to contact me (on an e-mail account not linked in any way to my eBay account) for payment of an item that, you guessed it, I never bid on.

…”PayPal” tried to get me to cough up a bunch information to verify my account as someone was attempting to access it “from overseas”.  PS…my PayPal account is inactive due to my not providing them with a new credit card after I cancelled my old one. 

These folks are so smart and clever that they could probably find a cure for cancer if they’d put their minds to work on THAT.  Instead they probably stay up nights trying to perfect their scams.  I’m telling you, other than the clearly bogus lottery thing, these sites look REAL.  I guess it’s a good thing I’m a natural born skeptic…

…

17th Avenues

I was recently in Greeley, Colorado.  While driving around looking for our destination, I espied these signs at an intersection.  We were at the corner of 2000 17th AVE and 2000 17th AVE ct??  Wow.  The town just wasn’t that big.  How’d they run out of street names???

Do you have a crazy corner like this in YOUR town?  I wonder if I have one in mine…

…