It's important to have a method for coping with immense rage. I recommend composing an angry letter or giving an angry lecture. The key is to not deliver the letter or the lecture. Just compose it. Save the email to draft or delete it, or rip up or burn the letter. Give the lecture in your head to the imaginary version of the offender.
If you do compose the letter or give the lecture out loud, I recommend doing it in your car when you are alone. Be prepared to accept that the people in the cars around you might come to the conclusion that you are just a touch crazy. If you have a bluetooth, first of all I will mock you mercilessly, but this might convince people that you are, in fact, not yelling at thin air or an imaginary friend in the passenger seat.
If you are composing your lecture or letter in your head, I recommend the gym. Not only does the rage make you want to run faster or punch harder, but you can put your adrenaline to good use, and at the end you have this wonderfully release of endorphins to bring you back to your happy place.
There are benefits to using these methods. First, you get in less fights. By not actually yelling at people, you keep more friends. Second, you work out a super good argument for when you do sit down and have a calm, rational discussion about how you are right and they are wrong. You have prepared yourself for every scenario by duking it out in your head, and can therefore help them see the error of their ways more quickly and cheerfully. Third, less injuries occur. You have worked out your aggressions ahead of time so you are not forced to cause them bodily injury for their stupidity.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Use Your Listening Ears
Listening. Most people seem to think they have this skill. But let me clue you in on something. Most people don't. Of all the people I interact with in different capacities, I can tell you that most of them are not listening to the people around them, and much of the stress and conflict surrounding them is due to a lack of understanding each other because they don't listen.
Step 1: Stop thinking.
Listening involves more than just allowing someone to talk. It involves more than giving feedback. When you really want to listen well, you should stop thinking about how you are going to solve my problem. If you're thinking that while I am talking, you are not listening. Often people can work out the answer to their problem if they can talk through it. So shoosh your brain and listen.
Step 2: Ask questions.
Even if you think you understand what they are telling you, and what the solution is, ask questions. This sometimes illuminates things that you didn't realize were at play even though you thought you knew it all. It also has the added benefit of making you appear as though you care about the person and what they have to say. Also, make sure you apply step one to this part too. Tune down the inner dialogue, you know, the one where you have the perfect answer, and listen to what they are saying.
Step 3: Ask them if they are saying what you think they are saying.
So instead of telling them how they feel, or how you would feel, try telling them what you think you heard, and asking them if you are hearing them right. This gives them the chance to tell you that you are on crack if you missed the point.
So that's it. The whole offering them advice part? Um, did they ask for advice? Do they look stupid to you? Because if they didn't ask for advice, and they don't look stupid to you, maybe they know what they need to do. In any case just because you think you know the answer doesn't mean you do. Because chances are that there's stuff they left out. Chances are that other experiences they didn't bring up are coloring this situation. And if you constantly tell your friends how they should act, you will either enable their indecisiveness, or annoy the crap out of them. So unless they actually say "what should I do," think long and hard before you tell them what they should do. Unless that is your job. If you get paid to be bossy that's totally different.
*Disclaimer: While I sometimes manage to be a good listener, sometimes I fail miserably. Also, this is not based on a certain encounter. So if you listened to me this week, this is not about you.
Step 1: Stop thinking.
Listening involves more than just allowing someone to talk. It involves more than giving feedback. When you really want to listen well, you should stop thinking about how you are going to solve my problem. If you're thinking that while I am talking, you are not listening. Often people can work out the answer to their problem if they can talk through it. So shoosh your brain and listen.
Step 2: Ask questions.
Even if you think you understand what they are telling you, and what the solution is, ask questions. This sometimes illuminates things that you didn't realize were at play even though you thought you knew it all. It also has the added benefit of making you appear as though you care about the person and what they have to say. Also, make sure you apply step one to this part too. Tune down the inner dialogue, you know, the one where you have the perfect answer, and listen to what they are saying.
Step 3: Ask them if they are saying what you think they are saying.
So instead of telling them how they feel, or how you would feel, try telling them what you think you heard, and asking them if you are hearing them right. This gives them the chance to tell you that you are on crack if you missed the point.
So that's it. The whole offering them advice part? Um, did they ask for advice? Do they look stupid to you? Because if they didn't ask for advice, and they don't look stupid to you, maybe they know what they need to do. In any case just because you think you know the answer doesn't mean you do. Because chances are that there's stuff they left out. Chances are that other experiences they didn't bring up are coloring this situation. And if you constantly tell your friends how they should act, you will either enable their indecisiveness, or annoy the crap out of them. So unless they actually say "what should I do," think long and hard before you tell them what they should do. Unless that is your job. If you get paid to be bossy that's totally different.
*Disclaimer: While I sometimes manage to be a good listener, sometimes I fail miserably. Also, this is not based on a certain encounter. So if you listened to me this week, this is not about you.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Dream Jobs: Jury Duty
I don't understand why people always talk about dodging jury duty. I personally find it fascinating. That is why it is on my bucket list. I once got called for jury duty, and I came SO close to being on the jury, but the stupid prosecutor dismissed me for no reason. It sounded like an interesting case, too, because they were asking us if we thought we could handle pictures of stabbing or something. I bet he thought I couldn't take it. I totally could have. I've seen CSI. And, ok, I don't like the parts in CSI where they get all graphic and show what the bullet would have looked like entering the person. But I didn't puke or anything. Or possibly he thought I looked too smart, like I would realize right away that the defendant wasn't guilty, and that he's just a jerk. That might have been it. That was probably it.
Since then, I've been just sitting, waiting for that magical piece of paper to come in the mail. Some people at my work seem to get called over and over for jury duty. What does a girl have to do to get the call?
If I do get called again, I think I will have to download some theme music onto my mp3 player to listen to while I wait in the little jury room they make you wait in until they need a jury. Things like the Perry Mason theme, and the doink doink sound from Law and Order. Also Night Court, and the People's Court theme music. And does Judge Judy have a theme song? On second thought if I can't think of it I don't know if it would inspire me, so scratch Judge Judy. Am I missing any other theme music for when I am on a jury again?
Since then, I've been just sitting, waiting for that magical piece of paper to come in the mail. Some people at my work seem to get called over and over for jury duty. What does a girl have to do to get the call?
If I do get called again, I think I will have to download some theme music onto my mp3 player to listen to while I wait in the little jury room they make you wait in until they need a jury. Things like the Perry Mason theme, and the doink doink sound from Law and Order. Also Night Court, and the People's Court theme music. And does Judge Judy have a theme song? On second thought if I can't think of it I don't know if it would inspire me, so scratch Judge Judy. Am I missing any other theme music for when I am on a jury again?
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
My Memoirs
When I googled things to do before I die as research for my previous post, I was surprised by how many people listed "write my memoir" or "tell someone my life story without omitting anything." Narcissistic, much?
I wanted to ask those people, why do you need to impose that on the world? I personally, don't think my memoir would be that interesting. Mind you, this blog is imposing me on you all the time. But that's totally different. Because in this blog, I talk about me. Which is totally different than what I would talk about in my memoirs. In my memoirs, I would talk about you, and how mean you were to me, and how you scarred me. Also crazy people. I would write about crazy people in my memoirs. Which I can't really do here because then I would offend all you crazy people and no one would read. Er, I mean, I wouldn't want the crazy people to read it by chance when they google "bucket list" combined with "holliberry" and inadvertently found my blog. That would be terrible.
Actually I tried writing my personal history once. I took a college course on genealogy (that's how we roll at the Y), and one of the assignments was to write a ten page life history. You know, for my progeny. I was really excited when I got the assignment, because I like to write and what could be more easy and fun than talking about me. It actually proved to be very depressing. I need to dig that paper up and see if it still depresses me. I can't pinpoint exactly why it depressed me. Lost childhood? Realization that I was an adult (21 at the time), and gone were the days of stitches without considering my method of payment for them? Possibly that was it. Or it could have been thinking about friends I had as a child that I had parted ways with. It was NOT because my life wasn't fascinating. Because it totally was. Just like now.
I wanted to ask those people, why do you need to impose that on the world? I personally, don't think my memoir would be that interesting. Mind you, this blog is imposing me on you all the time. But that's totally different. Because in this blog, I talk about me. Which is totally different than what I would talk about in my memoirs. In my memoirs, I would talk about you, and how mean you were to me, and how you scarred me. Also crazy people. I would write about crazy people in my memoirs. Which I can't really do here because then I would offend all you crazy people and no one would read. Er, I mean, I wouldn't want the crazy people to read it by chance when they google "bucket list" combined with "holliberry" and inadvertently found my blog. That would be terrible.
Actually I tried writing my personal history once. I took a college course on genealogy (that's how we roll at the Y), and one of the assignments was to write a ten page life history. You know, for my progeny. I was really excited when I got the assignment, because I like to write and what could be more easy and fun than talking about me. It actually proved to be very depressing. I need to dig that paper up and see if it still depresses me. I can't pinpoint exactly why it depressed me. Lost childhood? Realization that I was an adult (21 at the time), and gone were the days of stitches without considering my method of payment for them? Possibly that was it. Or it could have been thinking about friends I had as a child that I had parted ways with. It was NOT because my life wasn't fascinating. Because it totally was. Just like now.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
She's a Pretty, Pretty Princess
Saturday, June 21, 2008
And By Kick it I Don't Mean Hang Out
I have a friend who always used to say "kick it," as in, "we can just kick it here and watch a movie if you want." When I say kick it, I'm referring to the bucket. I'm a terribly unhip individual.
As previously mentioned, I am putting together my list of things to do before I kick the bucket. Some of the things I thought of actually harken back to my "I Never" post:
1. Ride a horse.
2. Fly a kite (up to the highest heights...).
3. Learn to ski.
4. Swim for enjoyment. You know, instead of feeling sheer terror that I will certainly drown in four feet of water.
5. Go to Disneyland.
6. Go to Hawaii.
The "I never" topic that didn't get added to my list of things to do before I die was "break a bone." I"m okay with not having that experience. I'm sure I'll manage it at some point, though.
Also on my list:
7. Visit Italy, Greece, Ireland, Scottland, Australia, and New Zealand.
8. Revisit and further visit France, England, and Germany.
9. Own a cute house.
10. Take a cruise.
11. Take a photography class.
12. Attend the Olympics.
13. Sit on a jury.
14. Spend New Year's in an exotic location.
15. Have a porch swing.
16. Have a library in my cute house that is covered in books.
And the list goes on...
As previously mentioned, I am putting together my list of things to do before I kick the bucket. Some of the things I thought of actually harken back to my "I Never" post:
1. Ride a horse.
2. Fly a kite (up to the highest heights...).
3. Learn to ski.
4. Swim for enjoyment. You know, instead of feeling sheer terror that I will certainly drown in four feet of water.
5. Go to Disneyland.
6. Go to Hawaii.
The "I never" topic that didn't get added to my list of things to do before I die was "break a bone." I"m okay with not having that experience. I'm sure I'll manage it at some point, though.
Also on my list:
7. Visit Italy, Greece, Ireland, Scottland, Australia, and New Zealand.
8. Revisit and further visit France, England, and Germany.
9. Own a cute house.
10. Take a cruise.
11. Take a photography class.
12. Attend the Olympics.
13. Sit on a jury.
14. Spend New Year's in an exotic location.
15. Have a porch swing.
16. Have a library in my cute house that is covered in books.
And the list goes on...
Friday, June 20, 2008
Things to Do Before I Kick It
While browsing movies on Netflix, I came across The Bucket List, with Jack Nicholas. I am not a huge fan of Jack, so I've really had no desire to watch it. But after reading the description I've been contemplating the concept on which the movie is based. As I understand it, the whole movie is about how one of them is dying and he has a list of things to do before he kicks the bucket. I know it's more complicated than that, but that's the part I care about.
I googled the movie to learn more because I didn't feel like the description was telling me what i wanted to know about it, and I found an interesting pattern. There are all these websites cropping up where you can have your own little profile, and have your own list of things you want to do before you die. I'm not sure if they recognize the movie, or even if they started as a result of that movie, but I found them through an article about the movie. They all require you to join, even if they are free, and you get to create a profile, blah, blah, blah. (Topic for another blog: How many profiles on various random websites with all kinds of odd angles can a person create without going insane?)
I really don't have any interest in joining any of these websites. Some of the goals they showed on their home pages as samples I found very annoying. Apparently no one explained to these people that if you say something like "eat healthy," it's very hard to determine when you have reached the goal. You should say "eat 5 vegies a day," or "cut out sugar from my diet," or "I'm one of those nuts that thinks I can cut ALL carbs from my diet." To have a goal to "volunteer" before you die is kind of silly. You could pick up trash in a park for half an hour and technically have completed that goal. That wouldn't be so meaningful but you would have completed it. You need to put "volunteer at the food bank at least 4 hours a month for the next year." That you could measure. Or even to say "become an active volunteer for Camp Fire USA and win an award for it" would be measurable, even though "active" is kind of an ambiguous term.
So I am now working on a bucket list, which I will post. My goals will be be worded in such a way you will know when I have accomplished it. So, nice three people that post on my blog, what's on your bucket list?
(Ooh, ooh, first on my bucket list is to get a lurker to post. A lurker, for you blog challenged individuals, is someone who reads my blog who I don't know is reading because they never say a peep. You should peep.)
I googled the movie to learn more because I didn't feel like the description was telling me what i wanted to know about it, and I found an interesting pattern. There are all these websites cropping up where you can have your own little profile, and have your own list of things you want to do before you die. I'm not sure if they recognize the movie, or even if they started as a result of that movie, but I found them through an article about the movie. They all require you to join, even if they are free, and you get to create a profile, blah, blah, blah. (Topic for another blog: How many profiles on various random websites with all kinds of odd angles can a person create without going insane?)
I really don't have any interest in joining any of these websites. Some of the goals they showed on their home pages as samples I found very annoying. Apparently no one explained to these people that if you say something like "eat healthy," it's very hard to determine when you have reached the goal. You should say "eat 5 vegies a day," or "cut out sugar from my diet," or "I'm one of those nuts that thinks I can cut ALL carbs from my diet." To have a goal to "volunteer" before you die is kind of silly. You could pick up trash in a park for half an hour and technically have completed that goal. That wouldn't be so meaningful but you would have completed it. You need to put "volunteer at the food bank at least 4 hours a month for the next year." That you could measure. Or even to say "become an active volunteer for Camp Fire USA and win an award for it" would be measurable, even though "active" is kind of an ambiguous term.
So I am now working on a bucket list, which I will post. My goals will be be worded in such a way you will know when I have accomplished it. So, nice three people that post on my blog, what's on your bucket list?
(Ooh, ooh, first on my bucket list is to get a lurker to post. A lurker, for you blog challenged individuals, is someone who reads my blog who I don't know is reading because they never say a peep. You should peep.)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Comfort TV
People talk about comfort foods, like meat loaf, or chicken soup, or a gallon of ice cream right out of the carton. But I have realized over time that I have comfort tv. Jeopardy is really comforting to me. When I am having a really down day and everything makes me want to cry, nothing soothes me more than the dulcet tones of Alec Trebec's voice. I think it must stem from the memories I have of Jeopardy being watched in our home by my family in my childhood when I was safe and protected and problems were simpler. For the same reason, Wheel of Fortune, one of my mom's favorites when I was little, also has that effect on me. I'm betting that Perry Mason and Magnum, P.I. would have the same effect.
Am I the only one who has comfort tv?
Am I the only one who has comfort tv?
Car Ettiquette for Dummies
To expand upon my driving topic, I would like to bring the focus to within the four walls of the car, and explain a few things to you about appropriate car behavior. Here are some rules we should all abide by:
1. If the driver of the car has just cranked up a song because they are obviously excited about it, this is a bad time to change the station.
2. Boys, you should open the door for girls. I don't care if you're all modern. It's just nice. You should do it. It's the polite thing to do.
3. When you get out of a car, you should make sure your door is locked. Some of us still have ghetto cars, not the fancy shmancy cars like yours that has automatic locks and possibly one of those little key chain buttons that makes your horn honk.
4. Keep your bodily functions to yourself. That's all I'm sayin'.
5. If I want to yell at the car in front of me for being a pansy, you should agree with me. Unless you want to walk.
6. If the driver needs assistance with navigation, it is the person in the passenger seat's responsibility to help them by consulting a map or whatever written directions they are handed. Stop trying to intuit how to get to the location. Learn how to read a map. It's your job.
1. If the driver of the car has just cranked up a song because they are obviously excited about it, this is a bad time to change the station.
2. Boys, you should open the door for girls. I don't care if you're all modern. It's just nice. You should do it. It's the polite thing to do.
3. When you get out of a car, you should make sure your door is locked. Some of us still have ghetto cars, not the fancy shmancy cars like yours that has automatic locks and possibly one of those little key chain buttons that makes your horn honk.
4. Keep your bodily functions to yourself. That's all I'm sayin'.
5. If I want to yell at the car in front of me for being a pansy, you should agree with me. Unless you want to walk.
6. If the driver needs assistance with navigation, it is the person in the passenger seat's responsibility to help them by consulting a map or whatever written directions they are handed. Stop trying to intuit how to get to the location. Learn how to read a map. It's your job.
Monday, June 16, 2008
My Purty Shoes
I know that you wish you had shoes like this:
But they are mine. You cannot have them. These are my super cool bowling shoes to go with the super cool bowling ball.
I went bowling tonight, and even though I totally bowled gutter balls fairly consistently, I still rocked, because I had my shiny purple bowling shoes and my pretty blue ball.
But they are mine. You cannot have them. These are my super cool bowling shoes to go with the super cool bowling ball.
I went bowling tonight, and even though I totally bowled gutter balls fairly consistently, I still rocked, because I had my shiny purple bowling shoes and my pretty blue ball.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Down with Nice Drivers!
If you are sitting in traffic, and you have the right of way, with two cars behind you, and you can either maintain your pace and make the green light or be courteous and stop right before the light to allow someone to turn out of a drive in front of you, do you:
A. Slow down even though it's your right-of-way to let the poor person trying to turn go, thereby causing you and the two cars behind you to miss the light and have to wait an extra light cycle, or
B. Maintain your speed and make the light, along with the two cars behind you.
If you answered A, I hate you.
I've decided that people who have to be "courteous," and ignore traffic rules to do so, are needy. They (the Traffic King) need approval from society around them, and to be loved by all other drivers for their willingness to sacrifice efficient driving in order to give someone a warm fuzzy and a thirty second leg-up in traffic. Only since it's the Traffic King's right of way, the person they are trying to let in pauses for an inordinate amount of time because they are (rightfully) hesitant to turn in front of a moving car when they are uncertain the Traffic King will really stop for them. So we all wait so TK can get his gratitude- filled wave from the car he let in. Only if they try to let me in, I refuse. I didn't ask for you to ignore traffic laws for me, and you get no thank you wave from me. Because courteous driving extends beyond that one car. It extends to everyone on the road.
That's not to say I don't appreciate someone letting me in. I think that in cases of merging you should be aware of your surroundings and allow for merging cars in reasonable amounts. Or when there is a line of cars a mile long behind you and the car you let in will never, ever get to leave the parking lot they are in, it's very kind and appropriate to let them in, if the cars in front of you are at a red light, or traffic is moving super slow. But only then.
A. Slow down even though it's your right-of-way to let the poor person trying to turn go, thereby causing you and the two cars behind you to miss the light and have to wait an extra light cycle, or
B. Maintain your speed and make the light, along with the two cars behind you.
If you answered A, I hate you.
I've decided that people who have to be "courteous," and ignore traffic rules to do so, are needy. They (the Traffic King) need approval from society around them, and to be loved by all other drivers for their willingness to sacrifice efficient driving in order to give someone a warm fuzzy and a thirty second leg-up in traffic. Only since it's the Traffic King's right of way, the person they are trying to let in pauses for an inordinate amount of time because they are (rightfully) hesitant to turn in front of a moving car when they are uncertain the Traffic King will really stop for them. So we all wait so TK can get his gratitude- filled wave from the car he let in. Only if they try to let me in, I refuse. I didn't ask for you to ignore traffic laws for me, and you get no thank you wave from me. Because courteous driving extends beyond that one car. It extends to everyone on the road.
That's not to say I don't appreciate someone letting me in. I think that in cases of merging you should be aware of your surroundings and allow for merging cars in reasonable amounts. Or when there is a line of cars a mile long behind you and the car you let in will never, ever get to leave the parking lot they are in, it's very kind and appropriate to let them in, if the cars in front of you are at a red light, or traffic is moving super slow. But only then.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Tradition!
Traditions are important. Just ask Tevye.
In our house growing up, we had a special tradition that I still think of with fondness. Every Sunday night, when The Wonderful World of Disney was on, and some Disney movie was being broadcast, mom would pop popcorn and we would sit and watch the wonderful world of Disney together. Even after college when I was at home I would crave popcorn every Sunday evening, even though the days of Wonderful World of Disney have sadly fallen by the wayside to make way for news shows, crime dramas, and sappy reality shows capitalizing off of people's misfortunes. Not that I'm referring to anything specific.
We didn't have our popcorn in just any old popcorn bowl. It was popped in our popcorn bucket, beautiful and orange, painted by the hand of my paternal grandmother. Those were the days.
When you are a single person living on your own, it's easy to lose the feeling of traditions in your life. I need to start some new traditions. Any ideas?
In our house growing up, we had a special tradition that I still think of with fondness. Every Sunday night, when The Wonderful World of Disney was on, and some Disney movie was being broadcast, mom would pop popcorn and we would sit and watch the wonderful world of Disney together. Even after college when I was at home I would crave popcorn every Sunday evening, even though the days of Wonderful World of Disney have sadly fallen by the wayside to make way for news shows, crime dramas, and sappy reality shows capitalizing off of people's misfortunes. Not that I'm referring to anything specific.
We didn't have our popcorn in just any old popcorn bowl. It was popped in our popcorn bucket, beautiful and orange, painted by the hand of my paternal grandmother. Those were the days.
When you are a single person living on your own, it's easy to lose the feeling of traditions in your life. I need to start some new traditions. Any ideas?
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
This Calls for a Celebration
I was just thinking about Christmas. It is, after all, only a little over six months away. I'm debating how early is too early to get out the Kermit Christmas ornament and the Peanut's Christmas CD, not to mention watch White Christmas. Since I think possibly June is too early, my mind turned to summer stuff. What do you break out to listen to, to decorate with, and to watch for the summer? I thought perhaps the sun might be a good thing to lead the way in breaking out here in Seattle, but that's just crazy talk.
So what does one listen to in celebration of the summer? Sometimes I pick obvious and listen to songs that mention the word "sun" or how the day is beautiful. So:
1. "Soak Up the Sun"
2. "I'm Walkin' on Sunshine (whoa-oh)"
3. "Here Comes the Sun"
4. "It's a Beautiful Day"
5. "You are My Sunshine"
6. "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" (out came the sun and dried up all the rain!)
But really I've been finding that Jack Johnson's music is good summer music. Not that it's not good music for the winter. But hearing him makes me want to go to Hawaii. I bet they have sun in Hawaii. We, on the other hand, are good and green.
Thinking of summer movies is a little bit harder for me, for some reason. Possibly because I have never needed an occasion to watch a movie, and I am always in the mood for a movie. So I'm just going to make a list up. Movies I need to watch in honor of summer. So here's my list:
1. Wizard of Oz. Because there is singing and shiny red shoes. It totally goes with summer.
2. Singin' in the Rain. In honor of summer in Seattle
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark, and all the other Indy movies. Adventures sound more fun in the summer.
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Doesn't a Quest sound so much more lovely when the sun is shining?
5. Princess Bride. Because a tumble down a steep hill sounds nice when the sun is out.
6. Parent Trap. They go to a summer camp. And there is whistling. And it was there that I learned for the first time how to repel bears. Or mountain lions. One of those.
7. Troop Beverly Hills. They hike in that movie. Also they stage a concert to sell cookies. They're so spunky.
8. Annie. The sun'll come out tomorrow!
9. Dirty Dancing. They were at a summer resort! Nobody puts baby in the corner.
10. Beaches. For when you feel like a depressing jaunt on the boardwalk.
So my only question is how do I decorate for summer? Opening the blinds is a good start. Sometimes I forget to do that in the winter.
So what does one listen to in celebration of the summer? Sometimes I pick obvious and listen to songs that mention the word "sun" or how the day is beautiful. So:
1. "Soak Up the Sun"
2. "I'm Walkin' on Sunshine (whoa-oh)"
3. "Here Comes the Sun"
4. "It's a Beautiful Day"
5. "You are My Sunshine"
6. "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" (out came the sun and dried up all the rain!)
But really I've been finding that Jack Johnson's music is good summer music. Not that it's not good music for the winter. But hearing him makes me want to go to Hawaii. I bet they have sun in Hawaii. We, on the other hand, are good and green.
Thinking of summer movies is a little bit harder for me, for some reason. Possibly because I have never needed an occasion to watch a movie, and I am always in the mood for a movie. So I'm just going to make a list up. Movies I need to watch in honor of summer. So here's my list:
1. Wizard of Oz. Because there is singing and shiny red shoes. It totally goes with summer.
2. Singin' in the Rain. In honor of summer in Seattle
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark, and all the other Indy movies. Adventures sound more fun in the summer.
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Doesn't a Quest sound so much more lovely when the sun is shining?
5. Princess Bride. Because a tumble down a steep hill sounds nice when the sun is out.
6. Parent Trap. They go to a summer camp. And there is whistling. And it was there that I learned for the first time how to repel bears. Or mountain lions. One of those.
7. Troop Beverly Hills. They hike in that movie. Also they stage a concert to sell cookies. They're so spunky.
8. Annie. The sun'll come out tomorrow!
9. Dirty Dancing. They were at a summer resort! Nobody puts baby in the corner.
10. Beaches. For when you feel like a depressing jaunt on the boardwalk.
So my only question is how do I decorate for summer? Opening the blinds is a good start. Sometimes I forget to do that in the winter.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Clean, Clean, Clean
I cleaned my room. It no longer looks like I'm getting ready to install the pen for the pigs. There's a show on BBC where these two ladies come in, and they clean your house on camera, and do little swab tests so they can tell you that you have E. coli or some lovely deadly fungus growing on your stove, or in your bathroom sink. Then the person they are helping giggles all cute like, because isn't it funny that there is death growing on the surface on which they prepare their food? Besides testing their fungi for them, they also shovel through the piles and piles of paper, unfinished knitting projects, beer bottle collections, etc that people keep in their living areas instead of using them to do things like sit, or live.
That is what my room was starting to look like. If there was any E. coli growing I have cleaned it. The ten million pieces of paper, and clothes, and books, and possibly a beer bottle collection-- you never know--has been cleared away, put away, and possibly thrown away or recycled. It smells like candles and cleaner in here instead of... E. coli? What does E. coli smell like?
I feel like a brand new woman. Also if you come over I won't have to body slam you to keep you from looking in my room. Just don't look under my bed.
That is what my room was starting to look like. If there was any E. coli growing I have cleaned it. The ten million pieces of paper, and clothes, and books, and possibly a beer bottle collection-- you never know--has been cleared away, put away, and possibly thrown away or recycled. It smells like candles and cleaner in here instead of... E. coli? What does E. coli smell like?
I feel like a brand new woman. Also if you come over I won't have to body slam you to keep you from looking in my room. Just don't look under my bed.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Perfect Saturday, Take One
My perfect Saturday might be as follows:
1. Sleep in until about 10am
2. Come downstairs to find that someone has made me waffles and sausage. Have a leisurely brunch.
3. Take a Leisurely shower.
4. Go shopping and find the perfect dress/skirt/shirt/coat/other article of clothing for a super good price.
5. Go see a movie with someone like Colin Firth or Patrick Dempsey in it
6. Go for a game of bowling with my very own bowling ball and my shiny purple shoes
7. Go for dinner at a yummy seafood restaurant in Seattle
8. Walk along the pier with dinner companion, and enjoy the clear evening sky and the warm breeze. Have stimulating conversation.
9. Return home and take a lovely long bath in the bathtub that will be in my dream house, while I read a nice piece of riveting literature.
10. Get into my comfy jammies and climb into my comfy bed with flannel sheets and watch Gilmore Girls, or Veronica Mars, or the newest episode of Grey's Anatomy (oh, the candles!) or Pushing Daisies.
1. Sleep in until about 10am
2. Come downstairs to find that someone has made me waffles and sausage. Have a leisurely brunch.
3. Take a Leisurely shower.
4. Go shopping and find the perfect dress/skirt/shirt/coat/other article of clothing for a super good price.
5. Go see a movie with someone like Colin Firth or Patrick Dempsey in it
6. Go for a game of bowling with my very own bowling ball and my shiny purple shoes
7. Go for dinner at a yummy seafood restaurant in Seattle
8. Walk along the pier with dinner companion, and enjoy the clear evening sky and the warm breeze. Have stimulating conversation.
9. Return home and take a lovely long bath in the bathtub that will be in my dream house, while I read a nice piece of riveting literature.
10. Get into my comfy jammies and climb into my comfy bed with flannel sheets and watch Gilmore Girls, or Veronica Mars, or the newest episode of Grey's Anatomy (oh, the candles!) or Pushing Daisies.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Laugh a Little
So today, W's oldest, Cookie (hereby so named because she wants to be a chef, and also is a cute little cookie), did the cutest thing. She was playing with bright orange "space goo" (remember gak?) from the space needle gift shop. She had it spread out into a very thin sheet, about as thin as bubble gum when you blow a bubble. She was holding it up and Baby Girl swung out her hand and "popped" it right onto the top of Cookie's head. It was spread out in a thin coat all over her hair, and she had to work at it to get it out. I haven't seen W laugh so hard in a long time. Cookie was not amused. She does not like to be laughed at. She would not have liked being in my family. She wouldn't even let me take a picture!
What ensued was a discussion about being able to laugh at yourself. W and I discussed the merits of being able to laugh at yourself when you are in what might seem at the time to be an embarrassing situation. Cookie was not convinced, but it got me thinking.
I have laughed at myself in the following situations:
1. When I fell down the steps in the business building in college in front dozens of people.
2. When I gave myself a black eye.
3. When I slipped on the rain-soaked steps at the football stadium in high school in my drill skirt and most likely gave everyone a really good view of what we wore under our drill skirts.
I'm seeing a theme developing here....
Is the ability to laugh at yourself a very important skill? If you laugh too often and too quickly, does that indicate that you don't take yourself seriously enough, or does it indicate that you know enough not to be so serious all the time? I personally think laughing at yourself is good. People should do it more often. Try it right now. I want to hear your best belly laugh. It could make you feel better. It could also make the other people in the room think you're crazy. So it's a two for one.
What ensued was a discussion about being able to laugh at yourself. W and I discussed the merits of being able to laugh at yourself when you are in what might seem at the time to be an embarrassing situation. Cookie was not convinced, but it got me thinking.
I have laughed at myself in the following situations:
1. When I fell down the steps in the business building in college in front dozens of people.
2. When I gave myself a black eye.
3. When I slipped on the rain-soaked steps at the football stadium in high school in my drill skirt and most likely gave everyone a really good view of what we wore under our drill skirts.
I'm seeing a theme developing here....
Is the ability to laugh at yourself a very important skill? If you laugh too often and too quickly, does that indicate that you don't take yourself seriously enough, or does it indicate that you know enough not to be so serious all the time? I personally think laughing at yourself is good. People should do it more often. Try it right now. I want to hear your best belly laugh. It could make you feel better. It could also make the other people in the room think you're crazy. So it's a two for one.
When the View from the Room is Bad
I am giving you fair warning: if you have not seen the new Room with a View, and you want to experience it with no preconceptions, all sparkly and new, you might not want to read this post. If you think you already know because you have read the book, you still might not want to read this post if you want to see the movie with fresh eyes.
I have a special place in my heart for A Room With a View. I find it witty, and I find it insightful. I also notice something new every time I read it. So I was excited when a new version of it came out, and Masterpiece Theatre featured it. Unfortunately, whoever wrote this screenplay was on crack. One of the sad side effects of all that crack was that they decided that the ending that Forster cooked up just wasn't quite good enough. It's not like the book was a classic or anything, so what does he know, right?
So at the end it couldn't just end like the book: back in the room with a view in the city in Italy. They advanced BEYOND that scene (which they played like a harlequin romance scene), to a scene where she was in Italy, with the same carriage driver who got in trouble for making out with his girlfriend while he drove them to the picnic (who now magically speaks English perfectly due to driving all those tourists--apparently he stopped making out with girls and started listening). The driver and our heroine drive out to the countryside and have a picnic together, because that's what you do when your husband has died in the war. You picnic with the strange Italian who happened to drive the carriage you once rode in with your husband in an awkward pre-courtship period of time. And as they picnic in this totally natural, uncontrived scene, the driver confesses that he led her to her future husband in the field where they had their fateful first kiss on purpose. Because of course the local peasant was the all knowing puppet master. I'm so glad the screenplay writer got the REAL point of the book.
Did I mention her husband died? WHY must they take a classic that ended happily and make the ending UNhappy? I do not understand this compulsion certain people have to equate tragedy with romance. Mostly they are wrong. Mostly tragedy just sucks. So why take a perfectly good love story, with an ending where the guy gets the girl, and kill off the guy?
I have a special place in my heart for A Room With a View. I find it witty, and I find it insightful. I also notice something new every time I read it. So I was excited when a new version of it came out, and Masterpiece Theatre featured it. Unfortunately, whoever wrote this screenplay was on crack. One of the sad side effects of all that crack was that they decided that the ending that Forster cooked up just wasn't quite good enough. It's not like the book was a classic or anything, so what does he know, right?
So at the end it couldn't just end like the book: back in the room with a view in the city in Italy. They advanced BEYOND that scene (which they played like a harlequin romance scene), to a scene where she was in Italy, with the same carriage driver who got in trouble for making out with his girlfriend while he drove them to the picnic (who now magically speaks English perfectly due to driving all those tourists--apparently he stopped making out with girls and started listening). The driver and our heroine drive out to the countryside and have a picnic together, because that's what you do when your husband has died in the war. You picnic with the strange Italian who happened to drive the carriage you once rode in with your husband in an awkward pre-courtship period of time. And as they picnic in this totally natural, uncontrived scene, the driver confesses that he led her to her future husband in the field where they had their fateful first kiss on purpose. Because of course the local peasant was the all knowing puppet master. I'm so glad the screenplay writer got the REAL point of the book.
Did I mention her husband died? WHY must they take a classic that ended happily and make the ending UNhappy? I do not understand this compulsion certain people have to equate tragedy with romance. Mostly they are wrong. Mostly tragedy just sucks. So why take a perfectly good love story, with an ending where the guy gets the girl, and kill off the guy?
Monday, June 2, 2008
My Dream Home: Volume II
So we've covered the hot tub, the nice big tub, and the towel boy. In this edition of My Dream Home, I would like to address another important item every home should have. Books.
I'm pro-book. I think that every home should have at least one. Hopefully you have more than one. I visited a house once during my internship out on the peninsula with this amazing view of the harbor. Sitting in their kitchen, as you looked towards the water, you saw on the wall shelves of books that pretty much covered the wall. They were the kind of shelves that were built in. They extended from one end of the wall to the other above the windows, and I believe the rest of the wall that was not window was pretty much covered in books. I want a kitchen like that. I want a beautiful view and a wall of books. I want lots and lots of cook books so I can cook yummy foods.
Along with the kitchen shelves, I want a library. I want to have a room where the walls are covered in books, like in those movies where there's a library with cozy arm chairs and a ladder that you can scoot around the room because the bookshelves go so high you need a ladder to reach the higher shelves. My library needs to have a fireplace, and windows to let in lots of natural light. The window should also have a good view.
I think that might basically mean that my perfect house doesn't have neighbors. Unless the neighbor is a cute cottage down the way, and they happen to like to bring me baked goods every so often just to be neighborly. Yes, definitely that kind of neighbor could work.
Have I mentioned I've been craving pie?
I'm pro-book. I think that every home should have at least one. Hopefully you have more than one. I visited a house once during my internship out on the peninsula with this amazing view of the harbor. Sitting in their kitchen, as you looked towards the water, you saw on the wall shelves of books that pretty much covered the wall. They were the kind of shelves that were built in. They extended from one end of the wall to the other above the windows, and I believe the rest of the wall that was not window was pretty much covered in books. I want a kitchen like that. I want a beautiful view and a wall of books. I want lots and lots of cook books so I can cook yummy foods.
Along with the kitchen shelves, I want a library. I want to have a room where the walls are covered in books, like in those movies where there's a library with cozy arm chairs and a ladder that you can scoot around the room because the bookshelves go so high you need a ladder to reach the higher shelves. My library needs to have a fireplace, and windows to let in lots of natural light. The window should also have a good view.
I think that might basically mean that my perfect house doesn't have neighbors. Unless the neighbor is a cute cottage down the way, and they happen to like to bring me baked goods every so often just to be neighborly. Yes, definitely that kind of neighbor could work.
Have I mentioned I've been craving pie?
I'm Going to Be an Aunt!
Again :)
I'm so excited. Little Man gets to be Big Brother, but not in a creepy 1984 kind of way.
I'm so excited. Little Man gets to be Big Brother, but not in a creepy 1984 kind of way.
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