Sunday Stealing

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MASH UP MEME

1. What’s overdue for a good cleaning? My carpets. They're enormously funky.

2. What’s overdue for some kind of professional examination, service, maintenance, or upkeep? I need to go to dentist.

3. Who’s overdue for a phone call or letter to you? My Cousin Rose and my friend Tom. (Tom and his young family just moved to their first house and I want to send him a snailmail Hallmark card, not just an e-card.)

 4. What’s overdue for an appearance in your neighborhood? You mean where should I go that I haven't been? Public library. I don't use it as much as I should.

 5. Who’s overdue for a good comeuppance? So many people!

 6. What’s a gross food you like anyway? Cheetos

 7. Who’s an unlikeable person you like anyway? Nancy Grace. I don't like her, but her show is the television equivalent of Cheetos.

 8. What’s an unpleasant task you enjoy performing anyway? Grocery shopping

 9. What’s a dumb song you enjoy anyway? His life, his love and his lady is the sea. (Even the lyric's grammar is lousy, yet I love it.)

 10. What’s a lousy restaurant you frequent anyway? Red Robin. YUM!

 11. What's your favorite Sci-fi film/program, etc? I'm sorry if you're a fan, but scifi really feels like a tremendous waste of time.

 12. Have you ever had a proper Tarot reading? Yes.

 13. Have you ever used the phrase "back in my time" to someone younger than you? Yes.

 14. Have you ever done something really unbelievable, only to have no one around to see it? Nothing springs to mind.

 15. If you were famous, would you want a statue or a building names after you? Couldn't I please just have the cash?

Independence Day Musings

This happy gent decorates a friend's lawn each 7/4

I love my country. I support my President. I believe in God. So I think "God bless America" sums up my feelings rather nicely.

Happy to see the couple that has taught me so much about being a good American on the cover of this week's People. He's been gone more than 50 years. She's been gone more than 20. And yet here they are, appearing on newsstands just in time for our country's most patriotic holiday.

Sometimes I wish we could just let them, literally, rest in peace. But then again, maybe we need them. Certainly there are times when I do.

"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." I can do more. I must remember that. I must allow him to inspire me to do more than write checks. I must do the work required to help improve the lives of my neighbors. After all, JFK was never one to sit back and let others do the heavy lifting.

And then there's JBKO, sharing a cover with -- of all people -- Bristol Palin. Ms. Palin is spilling her guts about her broken engagement and second pregnancy outside of marriage. Jackie would never, NEVER discuss her personal life with the public. Wonder how she felt about The President's infidelities? Curious as to why she married Onassis? We never heard the answers from her lips. Not once. I know there are RWNJs out there who adore the Alaskardashians  but there is no way Jackie would allow her family to be merchandised the way Sarah Palin has sold hers. (I know of two reality series -- Sarah Palin's Alaska and Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp -- and perhaps there are more.) I think it's obvious JBKO was the real "Mama Grizzly" when it came to protecting her young.

Yet for all we don't know about Jacqueline's internal life, we do know how much she cared about America. How hard she worked on the White House restoration. How seriously she took the architectural restoration of Washington, DC. How badly she wanted this country's schoolchildren to see the Mona Lisa. While her personal papers have been kept private, as per her wishes, just about every piece of paper she touched in her official role as First Lady was preserved and passed along to the JFK Library, also as per her wishes.

Oh yeah, Kendra and Hank are on the cover, too. I wish I could tell you I'm completely unfamiliar with their saga, but I'd soooo be lying. (Shame on me.)

Oh well, Happy 4th! And let's try to think of how we can continue to help our nation on her way to being a more perfect union.

Not a damn thing was accomplished

I have celebrated the Fourth by doing nothing. I feel kinda bad about it, but not that bad ... or I would have accomplished something.

Spoke to my friend from California today. She began the conversation by saying she thinks she's on "a manic swing," and I agree. She was filled with plans for starting her own business on the side. Her son helped her set up a website. She looked into ordering business cards. She was so happy and positive.

Which is why I chose my words carefully. I didn't want her to think I was peeing on her parade. I told her my fear wasn't that she'd fail. I said I was worried that she'd make such a success of it that she'd be overwhelmed.

I pointed out to her that at times (meaning, "usually"), she is so overwhelmed at the office, so tired on weekends, that she never goes to the movies, can't summon up the energy to join a book club, doesn't even stay awake long enough to watch the late night comedy shows. How will she handle it when she hits one of those busy/overwhelming patches and she has extracurricular clients depending on her?

I mean, just last week she was talking about taking a week off work to "decompress" (my word). To eat nothing but healthy food, to exercise, to write in her journal, to get her head back on straight. That was last week. This week she's launching a business in her spare time.

I know this is part and parcel of her bipolar condition. If it's difficult for me to listen to, it must be a million times harder for her to live with. That's why I hope that she heard me when I said I was sure she could do this, that I know she has what it takes to be a success, and that I will help her. I want to sound supportive.

I also hope she heard me when she said she needs to talk to Susan (her psychologist) about all her big plans. I don't want to see her setting herself up to for stress and failure.