uglygrandmother

08 July 2009 @ 10:32 pm

The first book published by Lyon was 'An Ordinary Girl, a Magical Child.' This year, it was a finalist for the 2009 Visionary Awards!

To celebrate, Magical Child Books, the publisher of Rabbit's Song, is having a giveaway! The details, and a trailer for the book, are here: http://magicalchildbooks.com/index.html

Give it a look!

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07 July 2009 @ 08:52 am

Just the facts, ma'am

The news source that I use most often is the local television station. However, this is not my first choice. My first choice would be the newspaper.

Television news has the advantage of being able to broadcast news as it happens, or just after it happens. But its disadvanytages are legion: I have to wait for a news program to come on (I don't have cable, so CNN is right out); as much as we would like to forget it, tv is an advertising medium, so the stories chosen for broadcast are generally sensational to get viewers to watch.

Now, this is not to say that I am silly enough to think that the newspaper is not an advertising medium as well. I recognize that! But it has no time limit on it. It doesn't have to cram all that information into a half hour program (sans commericals), so it will have stories hidden within its pages that are less sensational than the ones you see on tv.

And besides, tv doesn't have the comics.

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06 July 2009 @ 11:49 pm

It's My Life

Today's entry was: What wasthe title of your first lj post? MIne was "Saturday", and it was much more like something out of a diary than I would have liked.

I confess I always wanted to have a journal that would be interesting to someone after I died. Like the journals of pioneer women who noted such minutae as having a canary to keep from going insane in the silence of the prarie. Or feeding the chikdren bacon dripping and bread, serving the meat (bacon) to the husband so he would have energy to work the fields. (BTW, the kids didn't have it bad. I am sure it is a heart attack waiting to happen, but it is absolutely delicious! And yeah, I tried it!)

Or like the letters of Abagail Adams to John, discussing, among other things, politics, and her advocacy of women's rights.

Alas! Not all of my entries have been so interesting. But I have been trying. I mean, really. How many times can I write that I washed the dishes?

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05 July 2009 @ 10:14 am

Flea Wars

Since I moved into this house fourteen years ago, we have had very little problem with fleas. My yard drains rather naturally,so flea eggs don't get to accumulate. So, I got lazy. I have no outdoor animals anymore, and the indoor cats don't go outside.

Imagine my immense surprise when "suddenly" the house and the indoor cats (and the humans) got infested with fleas! I could not, for the life of me, figure out where they were coming from! It never occurred to me until well into the infestation that there had been a pack of dogs next door and suddenly they moved with their owners, and the new owners simply don't have pets. Duh!

At any rate, the battle has been raging and I do believe a major battle has been won. At least I can walk across he carpet without getting bitten, and we haven't found any fleas on the cats this morning. Air-n-darkness did a bang up job on the carpet and she even managed to get my cats to take Capstar without much problem.

Now, I just have to get over the idea that the "minimalist look" in the livingroom is cool, and move the furniture back into it.

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04 July 2009 @ 09:31 am

I Love You Janis, But You Were So Wrong

In the song, "Bobby McGee," Janis Joplin sang, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to loose." And like most starry eyed teens of the time, I interpreted this as , "Hey! We're free! That means we can do whateverthehell we want!" But, to paraphrase another song from that era, "I was so much younger then, I'm older than that now."

Today, those of us in the US celebrate the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed and we effectively declared ourselves free from the rule of Great Britain. In that document were some very radical ideas for the time:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

That this document was signed by imperfect men, I will not argue. They were abolitionists, slave owners, drunkards, and master political manipulators. But they wanted freedom. Freedom from tyranny. Freedom to form their own government. Freedom to live thier lives without an arbitrary power dictating their lives.

And they had everything to loose: their businesses, their farms, their livelyhoods, their families, even their very lives. None of them died rich. SOme of them lost family memebers and their own lives in the war that followed. But they risked it all for a chance to live in dignity, and to provide the very freedoms they so desparately sought to the generations that followed them.

My hat's off to you, gentlemen.

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03 July 2009 @ 10:23 am

Ah! Sweet history of life, at last I've found you!

I confess I love history. Oh, not that boring stuff you have to learn in school, but the story BEHIND history. The story of the people who made history. It is endlessly fascinating.

For instance, remember wicked King John from the Robin Hood stories? Admittedly, he did seem to tax the people to death, but the fact is that Richard the Lionheart had already done that in order to fund the Crusades. John really did have a few things going for him: for instance, unlike RIchard, he really loved England. His mother was Duchess of Aragon and Richard followed her in her love of what is now a very large part of modern France. Richard cared very little for England, if at all! And John did us all a favor in a left-handed sort of way: he pissed off the nobility of England so badly, that he was forced to sign the Magna Carta.

We all remember Thomas Jefferson as the hero of the Declaration of Independence. But he wasn't the first one to advocate separation from England. The First Continental Congress was actually formed to try and get England to see reason- that England couldn't tax the Colonies out of existence. After much debate as to how to approach England, John Adams was the first to propose separation from England. Many of the Congress were horrified- even called such an idea treason!

Speaking of major documents, the US labored under the Articles of Confederation until the Constitutional Convention adopted the Constitution in 1787. An interesting fact is that Thomas Jefferson was excluded from this convention, because he was the one most likely to vigorously oppose it. (He thought that the states should have a loose alliance rather than a strong central government.) Patrick Henry ("Give me liberty or give me death!") was ordered to follow Ben Franklin, another member of the Convention, so that he would have no contact with Jefferson until after the Convention. Franklin was a notorious drunk, and would have probably spilled the beans to Jefferson, who was a friend. Members of the Convention were afraid that if Jefferson found out, he was likely to disrupt the formation of the Constitution.

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02 July 2009 @ 09:29 am

A Matter of Trust

Most people would agree that reading someone's private writings is an invasion of privacy. And most people would not do that out of respect for the other person. This is admirable, and will keep most people's noses out of other people's private business. However, it seems to me that it leaves an ethical loophole the size of the Pacific: what if you don't respect the person? Would it be such a terrible leap of conscience, in this case, to snoop into someone's private writings? I can think of two better reasons not to snoop: I might not want to know what is contained in those writings in the first place, and in the second place, the burden of this private knowledge might be greater than I can bear.

Face it, we all wear masks around each other. We do this in order to live in relative peace with each other. And this is a good thing! None of us are perfect. Every single day of my life I do things that irritate someone else- and sometimes me! - and not all of these things are earth shattering. They're just annoyances. So, folks tend to be kind and not mention it, or dismiss it as just one of my quirks and focus on my good qualities. And I do the same for others.

Sometimes, though, we have a bad day and one of those formerly "petty" annoyances becomes a bigger issue? For instance, what if my habit of washing the dishes just once a day irritates the heck out of my spouse because he is having a bad day and nothing is going right, and the sight of dirty dishes in the sink is the "straw that broke the camel's back?" He might write about it instead of confronting me- do I really want to read what a horrible person he thought I was that day? As I have a very active imagination, I can imagine all kinds of things he might have to say about me. So I really want to know? While I have no illusions that I am perfect, do I really want to know that one one day out of 14 years I pissied him off because the dishes weren't done?

And what will be the effect on me? Will I begin to doubt that he likes me? That his love for me does not include my housewifely skills? Will I sit and wonder if it may become an annoyance so great that someday he will leave me because I didn't do the dishes after every meal?

I think I would rather keep my illusions, thank you very much.

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01 July 2009 @ 08:45 am

Movies

I confess in the past six months, I have gone to more movies in the theater than I have in the past six years. The reason is simple: to me, going to the movies is a total experience that involves popcorn and a soda (something I rarely drink outside of a theater.) And that makes it expensive. So, I only go to movies I already know that I will enjoy immensely.

Luckily for me, that usually means I can take my 7 year old grandson along. I absolutely love the kids movies that have come out recently. They have great storylines- simple enough for a child to follow, but sophisticated enough not to bore the grown-ups.

The last movie I saw in the theater was Up. I am absolutely in love with Pixar, and have been since Toy Story. This was our first experience with the "new" 3D movie genre, and I enjoyed it immensely. It was a poignant story about a couple who meet as children and promise each other they will build a house by a waterfall in South America, and what happens to make this dream come true. Along the way are many funny moments, many touching moments. It was just awesome.

OF course, I get to watch movies on dvd as well, and the last one I saw THERE was Inkheart. Naturally, I fell in love with the story- it's about a storyteller who when he reads, makes things from the stories enter our world. How could I not love it? LOL! As a matter of fact, it is the first story in a trilogy and of course, I have the second book on my shelf, waiting to be read.

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30 June 2009 @ 08:34 am

Do animals have a sense of humor?

That's today's question, and frankly, my first thought was, "Of course they do!" But I confess that I was thinking of the many times my animals, or animals I have observed, have done things that make ME laugh. Sometimes, those acts even seem deliberate- but are they funny to the animal?

I was taught that humor is a function of intelligence. And certainly I have seen some sort of intelligence displayed by the most unlikely creatures. The first that comes to mind is a Damsel fly that used to "visit" me when I washed out my porcelain tools outside near a ditch. This particular Damsel fly (a beautiful neon blue, by the way) would come and sit on a blade of grass while I washed the porcelain from my pitcher and stirring tools. Of course, being me, I would speak to it, and it would sit quietly until I was done. As I rose, it would fly back down to the ditch. After a while, it was joined by another damsel fly, also neon blue. Once, it even tried to go home with me! I had gotten into my car and the damsel fly flew in the window and landed on my shoulder! Certainly, this damel fly displayed some intellience as it seemed to "recognize" me when I washed out my tools (and this wasn't at the same time everyday, btw.) And even recognized me to the point where it wanted to join me in the vehicle that took me away from the ditch!

Certainly, most people with pets will tell you that their pets have displayed surprising intelligence. I, myself, have observed a cat that retained a memory for 6 years- we had given my uncle a kitten, and we just didn't visit that often (although they came to our house frequently.) We were visiting my uncle at his house, and this "kitten", whom we had not seen in 6 years, greeted us like long lost family!

Now, I have read that the more intelligent a creature, the more that creaure needs to play. Certianly we have seen this in cats and dogs, and I have even seen it in the squirrels in my backyard. And if play requires a sense of humor, then, yes, animals possess this quality!

But do they really have a sense of humor? Naturally, I looked up to see if there was anything on the net about humor in animals. And I found the most astounding story: apparently, scientist have discovered that rats emit a high pitched sound, that is higher in pitch than human ears can hear, when they are amused. I'm not sure I want to know what the rats are laughing about. But I am sure glad that I can't hear it.

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28 June 2009 @ 10:31 pm

What happens when a 7 year old meets an animatronic T Rex

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28 June 2009 @ 08:17 am

It ain't easy being green....

Today's question is: How green is your school, office or home? Of course, my first thought was: my home is yellow, thank you. Sandy colored brick with yellow siding and black shutters. And my office is a light lavendar blue.

As a player with words, and a fan of the English language, I am sometimes appalled when new words come into being (like "speechify") or old words take on new meanings, like the current use of "green" meaning "enviornmentally friendly." Mind you, saying "enviornmentally friendly" all the time is a mouthful, and certainly not the easiest thing in the world to spell or type repeatedly. But it irks me.

Mind you, I am sitting in my office in a subdivision that is full of savannas. You know, those treeless lots with carefull manicured grass and very little in the way of colorful or varied vegetation. But when I look out MY window, all I see is green, as the vines have leafed out and are covering most of the window. This vegetation is home to several sparrow families, not to mention bees, and the occasional butterfly.

My backyard is a riot of trees (and yes, I have a small yard), and flowers and vegetables, and it's shady in most spots. My grass has all but died out (it is thriving in the garden), and has been replaced by greenery that you would most likely find in a forest. (Whatever it is.)

Is it green? Oh, most certainly. That's all you see, with occasional bursts of colors from the variety of flowers and blooms (depending on the time of year), and the wildlife that visits my yard. Is it enviornmentally friendly? One could hope. I am doing my best to put oxygen back into the atmosphere, by simply encouraging the plants to grow. And I am encouraging the variety oif wildlife around my home by growing certain plants and feeding the birds and squirrels. And of course, I have the benefit of shade which keeps the house cooler in the summer. And when the winter comes and the leaves have all dropped off the trees, I have the best warming system available: the sun. Heck, even the English ivy that grows on the house insultates that portion of the house.

But I refuse to say that I have a "green" house. I simply try to live in harmony with Nature. After all, Her gown is varied and beautiful to look at.

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27 June 2009 @ 07:37 am

Jars

I admit that I am getting crotchety when I hear talk about "going green." To me, the easiest way to "go green" is to re-use something (or as some would put it: re-purpose.) So, I am going to start talking about it more. As a person who has NOT been independently wealthy at any point in her life, I can tell you this is just easy for me.

And I'm going to start with jars.

Jars are wonderful things. We buy things in jars becasue sometimes there is no other way to package a product. It is hard to imagine salsa in a plastic bag, or peanut butter in a box. They come in jars.

And the cool thing is, they can be easily re-used. Glass jars are the easiest to reuse, because all you have to do is wash them out. Plastic jars are a bit harder- after you wash them out, you have to leave them open for 24 hours, otherwise they retain the "scent" of whatever they held in the first place. (I don't know about you, but peanut butter scented noodles is just not my thing.) So, just leave them open- or better yet, store the jar lids somewhere else until you need them.

Of course, I try to keep jars that are clear. That way you can tell at a glance what is in them. Obviously, food storage is one use for jars, but there are many more.

For instance, cleaned pill bottles can be used to keep earrings in! My grandmother did this all the time. It helped keep them nice since they were not all jumbled up in a pile. Pill bottles can also be use to keep other small items in, like beads, sequins, small bells, tacks, paperclips, even small nails. (It also occurs to me that a larger pill bottle would be a good place to put some white thread and a needle for quick repairs instead of hunting through the sewing box. Hmmm.)

Jars also make excellent humidifiers in the winter. It is actually quite easy: cut a sponge in half, and put the half-sponge in a jar filled with water. (It is important that you keep part of the sponge above the water.) The sponge acts as a wick, drawing the water into the air. My piano teacher actually taught me this trick. I used to put one in my old upright to keep the sounding board from drying out in the forced air heat.

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25 June 2009 @ 12:31 pm

A Matter of Priorities

As I was talking to my sister this morning about going to see Wicked, she made the statement that I "always get to do the fun stuff."

I had to think about that for a moment.

Now, I could have spent that money on a new floor for my livingroom- which I need badly. And heaven only knows, I admire my sister's house. She has a fairly new couch. I have slipcover on a 12 year old couch that has been sat on by friends, children, grandchildren and other assorted family members. And I have taken many a nap on said couch.

I could have spent that money on some much needed clothes. I do admire my other sister's taste. She knows what looks fantastic on her and will spend the money to get a great cut for her. I just purchased two four dollar shirts and had a fit because I had to spend the money.

But neither of these things are a priority for me. If my livingroom furniture is comfortable and is not going to fall apart if I sit on it, I'm content. If my clothes cover my body and don't constrict me in any way, I'm content.

And believe it or not, stories are NOT on the top of my list of priorities. People, my pets and food all come first. But after that is stories- in book, movie or play form.

LOL! My father always advised me to spend my money on things they couldn't take away from me.

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24 June 2009 @ 11:37 pm

Wicked

Wicked has come to Memphis. Tonight was opening night, and I was on the mezzanine with air_n_darkness. (As a matter of fact, it's all her fault on several levels, and I worship at her feet because of it!)

I hardly know where to start to describe the experience. It will probably take a few days for everything to sink in. As a matter of fact, I will probably re-read the book again as well. Does it follow the book? Well, sort of, but you couldn't possibly cram everything ito three hours no matter HOW hard you tried. But on its own, it is a fabulous show.

The cast is absolutely brilliant. Galinda is bouncy and perky and terribly annoying. While her shallowness and conniving ways seem to be a result of her blond spoliedness, her true colors come out at the end. I never can decide if she truly likes Elphaba, and can only show her feelings "behind closed doors," or if she is simply tolerating Elphaba so that she can get to the Wizard.

Elphaba was awesome. Marcie Dodd played her on Broadway and is now touring with Wicked. Elphaba is the different kid, the rejected kid, the one blamed for Nesarose's being a cripple, and made to be her handmaid. Although she could be bitter, she tries to do good. But because she bucks the policies of the "establishment," she ends up being rejected by society as well.

The rest of the cast were wonderful as well.

The one thing I love about going to a play is the stage "magic." It is a highly visual play that relies heavily on lighting effects...creating such illusions as a forest, the Emerald City, and Elphaba flying with (not ON) her broom for the first time. One effect that I particularly liked (and was in the St Louis show as well) was when Elphaba puts a spell on Nessarose so that she can finally walk, her silver shoes are lighted red. Nice touch thinks I! LOL!

Is this show worth the money? Oh, absolutely!

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23 June 2009 @ 08:21 am

Kid

Today's question is, "What do you miss most about being a kid?" My first impression is to say, "Nothing!" But that's not quite true. I can no longer spend any time hanging upside down from a swing set cross bar because 1. I am too tall now, and 2. I would have to have on a bra with major engineering built in otherwise I couldn't see a damn thing!

But that's about it. The small pleasures that I enjoyed as a kid, I still enjoy- splashing in puddles, digging in the dirt (well, ok. I usually have plants or seeds around when I do that now), picking dandelions (or blowing the fluff from their heads), gazing out the window for no other reason than to see what's going on outside, dancing in the rain, curling up with a favorite book- I still do all those things.

Of course, there are times when I wish the "grown up" voice in my head would just shut up. I can't count the times I've had the grocery money in my hand and wish I could spend it on a new shiny instead of being "responsible" and buying food. Or those times when I want to play hookey instead of doing what I am "supposed" to do. But then, I now know the consequences of those actions and so I refrain from doing those things.

I suppose that is the real difference between being a kid and being a grown-up: Grown ups know that there are consequences to certain actions.

But if the consequences aren't dire, you'll find me playing. After all, what is playing but discovering for yourself the wonderfulness that is the world?

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22 June 2009 @ 05:16 pm

Music

Today's Writer's Block question was, "When you have to study or get work done, what music (if any) do you put on to help you ?"

Now, I will be the first to admit that I am a musical snob. I like music that is interesting, and it really doesn't matter to me what genre it is. It has to fire my imagination. It has to do things that I do not expect. It has to have passion. It has to MOVE me.

As such, my favorite music is from such diverse people as Beethoven, S.J. Tucker, Bo DIddley, Led Zepplin, Dave Brubeck, the Police and, well, I could go on and on.

Do I put music on when I study or work? Nope. Remember, I am a musical snob. IF I am going to put music on, I am going to sit and savor it. I am going to sit back and let my soul "ride" the music. I am going to let my imagination paint pictures in my mind.

Darn hard to get anything done under those circumstances.

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21 June 2009 @ 07:18 pm

Wherein I give Old Man Summer His Due

Summer is definitely present in all his glory on this solstice day. While the temperature outdoors is "only" 93 degrees, the heat index is 107. Walking from my house to the car gets my head to working like a fountain, and I am sorry I bothered to dry my clothes. Breathing is simply NOT an option until the ac kicks in.

I thought I would fool him, and weed the garden this morning before it got hot. I got up at 5:30am and was outside by 6:30. By 8:30am, I was nearly done (with my dear husbad's help), but by that time, the tempertaure was nearing the 90 degree mark and I was plum outta gas. I came inside to cool down and just couldn't make myself go out again.

Of course, I did. Went to Krogers, and was soaked by the time I got there. I find it quite disconcerting to have water dripping down the back of my neck from no discernable source. Luckily, no one but me noticed that the top of my head decided to mimic every fountain I'd ever seen.

Went out AGAIN at 2 to go to Anne's to celebrate Father's Day. It was certainly worth it to gather with the clan to eat and talk and watch Cadfael. And after 1/2 an hour and a pint of iced tea, I was almost feeling human.

I'm back home again, and blessing the man who invented air conditioning, and the man who keeps mine running. Tonight the fairies come out to play and celebrate the return of lengthening nights. I think I will leave them a treat and a big AMEN! from me.

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20 June 2009 @ 07:56 am

The Ideal Weekend

The idea of describing an ideal weekend for me is nearly impossible. I have had many weekends when I have been frustrated beyond belief because I was unable to accomplish what I had planned, but many more weekends that turned out to be absolutely wonderful simply because what I had planned didn't happen!

Even looking back at the weekends I have spent, I cannot choose a particular one that I would call ideal. How can I choose? Do I choose the weekend when I met an old friend for the first time? Do I choose a weekend when I was out in the woods with people I had never met and felt at home immediately? Do I choose a weekend when I picked and ate the first tomato that I had grown? Do I pick a weekend when "my" book was in the mailbox?

Do I pick a weekend when I work my butt off and sit back and am pleased with my accomplishment? Or do I pick a weekend when I do absolutely nothing and feel no guilt?

There are way too many to choose from. And yet, each of my wonderful weekends have certain elements in common:

1. I learned something. Maybe it wasn't earth shaking, nor life changing, but I learned something.

2. I stopped for a moment to just be in the now. Most people call this "Stopping to smell the roses." But stopping for just one brief moment to appeciate and be in the "now" has wonderful calming and centering benefis.

3. I felt loved. Sometimes only by a cat or a dog, or just myself, but I felt loved.

4. I accomplished something. Even if it was only to just relax for a moment when I needed it the most.

My ideal weekend has all of these elements. But so do my ideal days. ANd my ideal days happen much more often that days that miss those particualr ideals.

Oh! And chocolate every day doesn't hurt either.

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19 June 2009 @ 12:25 pm

Muscle cars to go the way of the dinosaur....

That was the headline that I read someplace on the net yesterday. And it saddened me to no end.

Mind you, my husband and I only have one car, and it is a four cylinder Malibu. And I love it. It gets great gas mileage (which is good for the enviornment as well as the pocketbook), and it handles like a dream. And I wouldn't want to have a 12 cylinder anything to drive to Krogers.

Ah! But there was a night, when I was the tender age of 17, and the parking lot of the local burger joint, and a shiny 1967 silver StingRay. She was beautiful. And she purred like a kitten, and growled like a tiger. And she tickled me in places she really hadn't oughta.

Even now, when I see a shiny new 'Vette, I gaze in reverent awe. Being a "responsible" person, I realize that this isn't a vehicle to just jump in and go- whereever.

But to think that there will never be another shiny new 'Vette to drool over, and touch in reverence, is too sad for contemplation. May the gods have mercy, I love that car!

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18 June 2009 @ 07:45 am

Identifying with fictional characters

Today's question was which fictional character do you identify with? For me, that is an almost impossible question to answer. Over the years, I have identified with MANY characters. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that this is the first job of any writer- to create a character that people can identify with.

Take Huck Finn for instance. I can honestly say he was the first character I truly identified with. My parents insisted I read it, and frankly at ten, I had no desire to read a story about a BOY. But Twain got me from the start. In the opening scene, Huck is hiding in the bushes. His father falls down in a drunken stupor right in front of the bush that Huck is hiding in. Not too much to recommend the story to me at that point-

But then....

Huck's nose begins to itch. And he's scared that if he scratches his nose, it will wake his father and he will get a beating. So he doesn't dare scratch his nose. ANd then the itch "travels" and his ear itches, and then his shoulder itches and all of a sudden he's "all over an itch."

LOL! THAT was something I could identify with- being in a position where I had to itch, or fart, or cough, or sneeze and I was just not in a situation where I would be comfortable doing it. And whatever it is I am trying to repress just gets worse.

And the worse part is I STILL want to go all the way down the Mississippi!

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