Today we went out and chose unwisely.

Sometimes you hit it right with the events in one’s area and sometimes it’s a BIG MISS! Today, I will not mention where we went, since it would be considered not appropriate to be so harsh with a local function and others may have enjoyed themselves; all a matter of perspective. Every weekend I find my self checking the local venues to see what’s up and two out of three that I usually check had nothing going on today and so we went to the third that wrote on their events calendar that they did. To say what we went to see took merely a half an hour would be right on target. I was at first upset with myself once again, since when we initially pulled into their parking lot I thought, oh no, I forgot my camera once again! And Hubby was not willing to go home to get it and in the long run it proved to be just as well. I will have to start to leave that old thing, in the car in our garage! (Not Hubby, the camera, but you knew that, lol) Not all fun things can be fun for everyone. Although, it was refreshing to know, but a bit like we were gypped too, to find out when we arrived home that Charlotte Harbor had their Chili Challenge and Blues and Beer Festival today too and we missed that, it was not on our usual radar, darn. A Facebook friend posted from there with his girlfriend that they were having a great time! Now that would have been a lovely hit for us too, not a miss! So much can go on here that unless you are aware upfront you become like us, out of the loop, oh poo! Well, there is always next year… It more than likely was on the news somewhere or in the paper or I looked just now to see if anyone posted it on Facebook prior today and nope I couldn’t find it. I do know that Charlotte County has a site too, perhaps it was on there? Oh, this is silly and after the fact. I found a card that was on my refrigerator with a list of upcoming events, but all it has for there today, is ‘5th Annual Hands Across the Harbor’, at 6:45 A.M. … I wonder why no mention of the rest all at Bayshore Live Oak Park, never mind. You know that expression that I have used way too much, about beating a dead horse, oops I am doing it again! Dotty, and not proud of it. Moving on… We did have a nice drive to our beachfront park, and it was bustling to our surprise, apparently due to a bocce tournament, since many were gathered around that area with chairs and umbrellas to deflect the lovely sun. Although, the air was just marvelous in the mid- seventies with low humidity! People were even in the pool there, must be all of those northerners, none of us Florida transplants would go in now, way too cold for us. We would have gotten out to watch, even though we do not play, just for the curiosity to see. It appeared that all ages seemed to be enjoying the games, but there were no handicapped parking spots available and so we left for home. This was all after our disappointment of our initial destination. We had had lunch out the first time in quite some time. Yes, we are cutting back on that joyous outing due to the expense; but today lunch for two, would you believe was only $10.49, and I had soup and salad and Hubby had ziti both with our own waters. Update: I did hear back the other day from that nice lady Elaine with that assistance program and she told me there was one more possibility to try and she emailed the info and I will be getting on it next week, you see I did the preliminary questionnaire online and it said that I might meet their criteria, but that was Friday. On that odd note of weirdness day, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share all those overages with you know who and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?!

Who likes Facebook anymore?

The days have moved on and on and what I am noticing is that not so many are posting on Facebook as previously. Could it be just me? I mean that has noticed? [Since I scaled way down, a while ago due to being told to keep it clean and A-political, don’t talk about this or that, thus my link to my blog was posted evermore, where I don’t refrain from any of that or not...] Is it because now that we think that we know each other a bit more we are not pulling any punches with our comments on the postings? Or could it be that some find a few of them just tedious, like, dare I say mine…but non-controversial with family or friends just outing my own self not them these days so much anyway as before, yep, I did do it before, but now I don’t talk to anyone due to talking about them all before made them no longer talk to me…Uh oh…oh well, such is life? We have been warned not to post too much personal stuff and many are not anymore, but some continue to. My eldest thinks that Facebook is a waste of time; did I say that out loud? Too late…And he asked me not to post anything about him from the get go, including pictures and that is the son that loves me and talks to me and so I respect his wishes, and please this is just between us, okay, oops, guess this might be what he meant! Slow on the uptake, I suppose… Sometimes, I feel like the mother of the Smother Brothers, To read more about the Smothers Brothers, copy and paste this site: http://smothersbrothers.com/smobro_bios/sb_bio_.html but they would fight over who their Mom liked best of the two of them and mine don’t. I just know which one likes me best, since I am his only Mom, bud dump bum. But to be fair I am also the only other one’s too! I just noticed that my Facebook page had another post for me to look at, you know the ones they are if you agree repost on your site or if you want my sales to go through the roof repost and the like, well, I have been doing my own little survey and as I have seen many times before many may like the concept by hitting the like button, but few are willing to share it with others… fear of controversy or taking a stand or leaning too much in one direction or showing that they have guts or just lazy or unsure if they will have ramifications… Boy, do I know that ‘ramifications’ one. Forwards, a little old fashioned concept called emails; you must remember them, hmm? You think something is funny, cute or politically correct and so you forward to your pals and boy, there is always one who thinks that you have lost your mind or you’re way off center of the middle or some such ridiculous other thing that makes them block all your next emails and tell the rest of the family/friends that you are nuts! Yep, those innocent, harmless little thingies called 'forwards'. Just like some of those shared postings on Facebook, volatile! I have come to the conclusion that writing this baloney of trite verbiage for myself nightly and no one but me, myself and I is the best entertainment that I have found online i.e. for me that is, you find yours and I have already found mine, see, I’m easy. Back to last night’s ‘Leap of Faith’, well to be fair, I do understand, although I know many read it, no one committed to continue it and yes, I do understand, but fear of WHAT? You could post anonymously. Breath, okay so you don’t want to play the game and I have not joined in any of yours either on FACEBOOK! Is that why? Kidding, I am fine with all of your decisions and I will eventually accept your decisions to not interact with me…your loss…sadly…LOL! Maybe it wasn’t my best work and you thought I made some typos, but nah it was me creating a new language before your very eyes…and now no one will ever know where I thought I was going with it. Although, I just might add to it myself, na, na, na, na ,na after I edit it some more, and we all know what I write needs it quite a bit and often and daily and oh so what! Alright already, allow me with that sad format way of begging for friends, noted…to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you to kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?!

My Giant Leap of Faith...

[I am about to try to post a story, started by me, to begin as a tale to be added to by all of you, and that is exactly what I want from you your expertise of your own vivid imaginations with all your creativity that you can muster up to expel, shall we begin? Here goes nothing, or I really do hope, something really big and great with all of yours help! My leap of faith in all of you, please don’t let me down…Notice the comments area below on this page that is where you can add in your next prose to this allegory unfinished…. The first lines are prophetic to my own needs from you.] Help me, help me, oh pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeee help me! My days are numbered. My life is not one that you would want… I am being held against my will…are you there? Oh please be there. No one knows what is going on; to the outside world all looks ‘normal’ with my lithe body of a ballet dancer and flaxen hair and eyes that I have been told that are the color of the sea on a calm day, a bluish green. I am nearing thirty years on this plane being not that far from when all my future hopes shall be lost forever more. But believe me when I say that I am here not due to my own desires, but to take care of his… I am a slave to his wants and his needs… Do this, do that is all I ever hear. I have scars that are deep, within my soul, thankfully none visible from my outer shell, but torturing me way down inside, I think you may understand, at least I would like to think so. And to think that less than a year ago how much simpler my life had been… I was a success in my life doing what I loved to do. It was not that exciting or wealth making, but I loved doing it just the same. What it did do for me was make me feel useful, be it capable and it all clarified my thinking to be my best, since I was helping others to be their best too. All in all I was someone that had others respect and caring concern to succeed; I was an elementary school teacher, of the fifth grade, ten and eleven year olds, where I could make a real difference. A wonderful responsibility that I undertook with enthusiasm and wide-eyed optimism, fresh out of college seven and a half years ago with a desire to change the world for the better, one child at a time. Little did I know what was coming my way in a vivid horrid change to my existence beyond my own and any others’ thinking within two months after of my anniversary of the sixth year of my teachings? To my memory, which is rather cloudy now on how this all began, but if I recall it was on a weekend that I was riding my bike to do some errands in the village. Oh, I forgot to mention where I was at the time, since now I have no idea where I am at this time… anyway… Where I was, it is called the Village of Camera alongside the sea of Glamora, quite picturesque, thus its name, albeit both letters ‘a’, at their ends is held long in their pronunciation, a lovely area not far, about twenty miles southeast from one of our largest cities in the uniony, called Tempera in the land of Calamari, which is on another waterway called the Sea of Noreturn. Any-who, but as I was saying, my life was rather mundane in the sense that all was common place. I would do my job weekly, molding young minds to know what was true and right with our world and to care for one another, etc. what all of us teachers were trained to do at the University of Tempera. When I had been nearly halfway through my weekend chores, stopping and dropping off my dry cleaning, getting my coffee at the “Daily Grinder’, where they also have wonderful baguettes to eat there or to take along after or when you have finished devouring their delish egg with cheese and ham on a muffin, the best; and I recommend it highly if you ever visit there. Newspapers are also quite abundant there too from all over our world, and yes, even from the ancient cities too of Lotus and Hayworth; gosh, they have worse politics than even Tempera! But as we all know, such is life. The more things we think change; they actually do stay the same. Oh, who am I? Allow me to introduce myself, I am, Yu Andme, a family name, let me assure you, not one of my choosing. If I had my druthers I would have chosen something more literary like Colera Espinosa or Oracle Clancy; I don’t suppose you recall their fame, as characters which is in the most famous of all time books of Carry Ousted’s, ‘The Family of the Tenth Power’? Ah, such is the memories of my times more of my likings of all is well and fine. Back to my last memories of my days as a ‘normal Cameraian’…I was riding my bike when all went black…and by the time I awoke I was here, which is nowhere. Am I dead or alive? Please tell me which. What is this hellon that I am existing in, just barely? [Now, remember, I am counting on all or any of you.]

I would like to think that...

We try hard to be green; that is in the sense of water conservation with having two rain barrels, a compost container, a veggie garden, recycling, not driving unnecessarily therefore not wasting gas and by using canvas reusable sacks for the grocery shopping things like that. Some are lined specifically for keeping items cold or warm with their insulation, and others are thin but capable of carrying our groceries that are not needing refrigeration, freezing or heating. And when you go to the stores here in Florida you are somewhat spoiled with people paid to pack your purchases up into them. Sadly, at first, being from New Jersey, where we not only had to pack our own groceries, but oddly enough were not allowed to pump our own gas, the reverse of here… any-who it is a given that those who are paid to do something should know how to do it, that is logical reasoning, correct? Well, not to be mean, because we have both tried for years to explain to the ones who didn’t seem to have the hang of which bags were for what and yet they would still get it wrong and we would go home, only less than two miles away and think… it is what it is. Thankfully, our food would not spoil in that mini distance trip. Sure it was great to have that perk of someone else filling up your satchel for you with a smile, no less, and no tipping is allowed. Silly me when we first arrived in the state in 1986 I tried and it is not allowed I was told exuberantly! But frustrating to have them not use the correct ones for hot or cold or room temperature products and so we grinned and bared it, until today. Today, when Hubby who went to pick up our missed and on sale items, I had stayed home, but on his return I did/do help to unpack them and put them away. He kept saying that one man no matter what he said to him kept putting things in the wrong bags, like he put paper goods in with our gallon of milk in our large insulated zippered bag and cold items in a thin un-insulated canvas one, as well as our steamed shrimp. And on and on as we unpacked together it seemed ridiculous that we bothered with any different ones for their purposes and additional expense too…! So today, I decided to ask anonymously if there were any training into bags different uses and if it was part of the baggers course. I did not ask to speak to management only a customer service rep and a young fellow named, Greg, and he said yes. And I said that we have been customers for many years and it seems that either the baggers forget what they were taught or might need a refresher course; trying hard not to be difficult. Then I went on to explain what had been happening and of course as all good customer service reps are expected to do, he apologized, but of course I wanted more, and waited the usual awkward silence beats and he was quite forthcoming without my need to interject anymore. He said from what I said that they indeed might all need a refresher course and he would take care of it personally! Who knows what will come of my call, but at least now they are aware of the problem and perhaps someone, very likely this Greg will do something positive about it… one can only hope… that’s me trying to change the world one incident of my annoyance at a time… On that note of a not too sour one, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?!

Creepy, morally wrong and just down right horrid!

Imagine you lived in a place where ‘neighbors’ all had binoculars to stare into your back yard. And you could see them using them; what would you do? Now pretend that they are people you have known for some time and you did not have any idea why they would be so invasive in creating a fear of your privacy being completely compromised; what would you do? After polite confrontation, perhaps they would deny that it happened and then… You would probably make a fortress of your home that would be my next answer. With that said, could their over indulgence in nosiness make you feel safer or paranoiac? Safe in the respect that they were checking to make sure that you were okay. Or just too prying with too much interest in your life and perhaps they have not that much going on in theirs? All this is just speculation and supposition and only possibilities when you live in close quarters in a tight neighborhood, with closely situated homes, with people from all countries and all curiosity levels, of course, hmm? Suppose that you too have binoculars to use and you too form an opinion that you should counter their attack with your own nosiness; does that seem like a just retaliation? Tit for tat, we used to call that in life’s getting even movement; nonviolent, but rational behavior of some adults, hmm? If I were to say that these fictional people now switched it up to photography of you in your no longer private home’s yard, what would you do with that? Add in a telescoping lens to see inside your home as well, now what? Do you too buy the same equipment to deal with their inappropriate display of taking away all that you hold near and dear? And when is this a police issue? Or would you believe that enough is enough and take out your automatic weapon and shoot them to get back some peace of mind in your odd mind? OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooo... You have just been in the twilight zone of presumption; a short drive into your psyche of what ifs… My point is that without any weapons it can be a very calm discussion of why and if nothing works with no other alternatives you either live with the issue/problem or you talk to the perpetrators and ask them nicely to stop or you make your own home more private with fencing and or plantings…or a last resort is to hope that they move or if nothing helps, you do…and that is what civilized people do! In other words, always be kind and rewind if you need the time to change your mind to one of refined. Some nights I just want to start another fictional story, perhaps a book and write that here and ask each of you to add to it and continue on and on, indefinitely, with all our imaginations just taking off…how swell would that be? But with me not receiving any feedback of late I could probably start something, but I have no idea if you would be there to continue what I started…, hmm? The concept would be unique in the respect that we all have vivid imaginations, most artsy people do and we could really share it all with the world, since this is read in ten countries in ten languages weekly! Oh well, something to think about, hmm? On that idea of my imagination; I hear Dr. King and John Lennon both saying what they were known for, a dream with all our imaginings in tact…not so different. Tonight’s experiment was a short feeler to see if anyone besides me wants to create a new writing concept online in a blog and so with that out there for all to think about, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and to ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know who, and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?!

King! (Revisited) Again.

Two years ago I wrote this paying homage to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a king amongst men and women... And I thought perhaps you would all like to read it again or for your first time... Monday, January 17, 2011 King! In a world where our surnames are determined by our heritage or in the case of us old fashioned women by our spouse’s family names; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a man whose family had no idea that he would grow into his with such a worldwide dynamic of what the name stood for and that he would become a ‘King’ among men in the sense of his leadership, and bring to our family of men and women a legacy that any of us folks could be proud of from whence we came. And so today we honor that man of our history who brought about a unification of all races to know that we as a unit of beings will be better at working and accepting one another and freedom should ring true for all. A blessed person loved by all except for the one lunatic who cut him down way too soon in his prime of life. Thankfully our children and grandchildren have been taught to continue Martin Luther King Jr.’s bequest of liberty for everyone no matter what the color of their skin. I do believe that we have made quite a bit of progress on this forefront but have a ways to go, you see, we still hate too much here in this country and until that stops completely his words will not be fulfilled! And so I beg of all Americans and all people of the world to listen closely to what this man’s words were, you can copy and paste this site: http://www.mlkonline.net/quotes.html for he knew what we all should do and felt we had the capacity to accomplish it all…and now more than ever we need to try harder! Thank you Mr. King we all have much to thank you for! His actual birthday was Saturday the fifteenth when he would have been eighty two years old. I hope that you enjoyed that as much as I did writing it two years ago around this time. On that note of understanding about what a true hero was allow me to be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and to share those overages with you know who and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear? And I do believe we all should have a dream! PS Congrats to our president on this his second inauguration today on this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s celebratory, Remembrance Day! PSS Some additional sites to copy and paste for the kid’s to see and hear you too, enjoy: http://www.todaysthv.com/news/govt_politics/244165/125/Verbatim-of-President-Obamas-Inaugural-Speech http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Idea story boards, reminders... and the like.

In advertising and writing, on occasion, one might write an outline or post items on a story board to try to make some ideas gel. Albeit, mostly done B.C., meaning prior to, ‘BEFORE COMPUTERS’. I can remember when I did a short stint in promotion that is how the commercial concepts were begun and even for the one music video I had the pleasure to work on. The commercials I was asked to help cast, Old Milwaukee beer, was my most notable, a national one, filmed on the beach in Daytona using a ‘60’s battered Volkswagen bus. I and the cinematographer spent the evening perusing local bars trying to find that unique realism in the clientele’s faces that the California film company asked for. In the end we found quite a few, and it had been my job to question the prospects as he filmed. We rushed to get the clips to their hotel and we got there just in time. I also recall they did want some professionals, which I chose from our models list of pictures, it’s been too long, so I cannot recall the correct name for those cards that had their poses of them on them... Any-who, they requested a couple and on such short notice all I could come up with was, a short interesting faced African American man and a beauty statuesque woman, also an African American. I was hopeful that they would use them both, since their experience was quite vast and oddly enough I thought they made a very nice couple. They contacted them by phone and they were both available and they thanked me, saying it was a wonderful look, just what they had thought of and those two became the stars of the shoot. (In those days shoot meant, filming! This was over twenty-years ago.) On others like local commercials for the tourist bureau I was the make-up gal to the models. Nice memories of that and the music video filmed on what appeared to be an island with dunes, in Daytona, that had been scouted by the cinematographer for this certain Columbian singer, who I don’t know to this day whatever happened after. All I remember was that our boat was used to get to the destination with the people and equipment… so long ago. I did that clap board thingy and was basically a gofer on that one, but still it was fun, Hubby was the boat captain. Later on, much later on I started writing my novellas, and although I did not use story boards or outlines since all those stories appeared to magically come out of me…10,000 words a day! It was as if I were possessed. Sadly, I never did get them published, although, I did have an offer from an obscure publishing house in the mid-west called, Gardenia. I stupidly investigated them after I was invited, all expenses paid to go up there and meet with the owner of the publishing house at that time, she loved my writing and stories and did want to publish them. I contacted one of those professionals who told me not to do it and said they were not on the up and up and so I basically, stupidly did not do it. Why stupidly? Because they were on the up and up and this person just did not realize that, she was untrusting that I was that good and found a publisher that fast. I told her what the other person said, which was probably what black balled me from the field… since I did try other major publishing houses. And so I gave up. That was nearly sixteen years ago and my discs are on floppies and my floppy part of this computer does not work for the last few years and even that publisher was helping to edit them as was one of my local friends who is too ill now. She had moved and came back very, very ill. Professional editors want dollars on the pages too expensive for my pocketbook then and now. Plus they are all rather dated with current events from that period. It would be a major mess to revamp the whole five books even if I could gain access. I know, I appear to be talking myself out of it…bad me. I did write a few by-lines for the local newspaper over the years since then and wrote radio commercials for our business up north before… and this blog keeps me feeling, gosh like I can do something besides contemplating my navel… On that note of some hope or not much, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share all those overages with you know who and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?!