Musings
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Children Who Feel Empty…
I found this article in my SF Chronicle Magazine, from Sunday’s newspaper. It’s pretty long, but worth a look if you have some time. Really, there’s nothing here that I haven’t thought before…too many kids today are overscheduled, over-pressured, and very unhappy because of it. One thought that came to me, though, is that this story is about upper-middle to upper-class kids…what about the lower-middle and lower-class kids. When their parents push them and push them, isn’t it supposed to be a sign of caring? And conversely, if they DON’T push them, isn’t that a sign of failure? Where’s the happy medium? The article, which is really exerpts from the…
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Everything Old is New Again
My buddy Neva and I went to dinner and a little shopping on Monday evening, and one of the places we ended up was Sephora. I wanted to get some Lorac mascara, as recommended by Gina. The girls who worked there had the bright, multi-colored eye shadow that was semi-popular in the mid-80s. You know, like Cyndi Lauper here used to wear. Seeing them made me think a couple of thoughts… 1st, boy, I’m getting old, because things that were trendy when I was in college are coming back around. 2nd, it reminded me of my mindset when I tried these looks…I just wanted to be cool. That was the…
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Resistance Is Futile
Now that I’m working from home, phone calls have been coming to my home phone, which I don’t really like. Sometimes someone else wants to use the phone, or if it’s during work hours, Ted and Maya feel funny answering it. Options: 1. A second phone line. 2. Vonage. 3. A cell phone. Let’s look at these, one at a time. 1. I don’t really have a big problem with a second phone line, but I’m not sure of the intricasies of having one for work, and having maybe a different calling plan than our regular phone. Our regular phone has no special provisions for long distance during the week,…
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Why do we live here again? Can anyone remind me?
Maya said she likes Girl Scout Camp, but it’s pretty hot, and I think she’s starting to get a little bit bored with doing the same activities every day. And seeing as how we’re in the middle of a fairly fierce heat wave, with the crappy air quality that goes with it, I don’t blame her for not really enjoying being outside all day. Right now it’s 11:20 in the morning, and it’s already 91 degrees. Blech. Maybe we should move to Portland. Today: Plentiful sunshine. Very hot. High 106F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight: Mainly clear. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow:…
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Girl Scout Camp
Maya’s going to girl scout camp this week. It’s a one week camp at Little Hills Ranch, which is in San Ramon. She is really enjoying it so far. She’s learning archery, they swim almost every day in a big pool, they learned to make egg drop soup and chinese chicken salad, they do art projects, etc. All in all, lots of fun. It’s kind of a pain in the butt for me, because it takes about an hour to an hour and a half to drop her off and pick her up every day. But it’s only for one week, and the benefit of starting work so early and…
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When I’m 64
Happy Belated Birthday to Paul McCartney, who turned 64 on June 18th. I’ll confess, Paul was the Beatle I had a crush on first. And come on, look at that face. That’s a face a 13 year old can love. He’s so…safe. And cute. 😉 John was the one who I had a crush on in High School (though of course he was already dead by that point, lending him an even greater sense of tragedy and mystery). I sometimes thought, personality wise, that Paul was the Heart of the Beatles, and John was the Soul. Not sure where that leaves poor George and Ringo. I like to picture Paul…
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Happy Father’s Day, Dado
I thought that maybe I could have a guest blogger today, to wish her father a very happy Father’s Day. She’s not as verbose as I am, but she loves him VERY MUCH. So, with no further delay, here’s Maya. Happy Fathers Day, Dado! I love you! You are the best! Love, Monkey
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What About This, is THIS Wrong of Me?
Maya and I were out and about today, and Gloria Gaynor’s disco hit, “I Will Survive” came on the radio…and it took me back to 1999, when this little video was making the rounds at work…I’m sorry, but I just looked at it, and it STILL cracks me up.
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Is It Wrong of Me…
To be thankful that the damn bluejay that used to SCREAM outside my window EVERY morning at dawn seems to have dissapeared? Not that I wished him harm…just that he would move to another neighborhood and bother someone else. Maybe he did. Don’t really care. Now if we can just do something about the guy with the bass cranked up so high on his car stereo that it shakes the buildings…
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Too Many Random Thoughts…
Better grab yourself a beverage and sit down, because I have way too much today, and I suspect it’s just going to spill out in a bunch of randomness. If I were to make a post of each one, and save them for future use, boy, I’d have a lot of posts ready, wouldn’t I? I could use them one by one when we go on vacation or something. But I have faith in my bloggareah, and that I’ll still have other things to tell you all in the future, so I’ll just spill it all now. Some of it is thoughtful and important, some is more of the ‘light…
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A Fish?
If you remember, our good friends Cherry and Eric came over for dinner last weekend. In addition to the lovely ice cream and homemade sauces that Cherry made, they also brought us this lemon. I know, it looks like a grapefruit. I suspect that Cherry has been waiting to see if it pops up on my blog, because it’s so huge, and because, well, blogarreah. Well, finally, it’s time. Every time I see this lemon sitting next to our other fruits, I wonder, “What shall I do with this lemon? Lemon pound cake? Lemonade? What?” The most common use for lemon in our house is as a sort of bath…
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Weekend Wrap-Up
For some reason on Friday, I woke up at 4am with Ted, and couldn’t go back to sleep when he left for work. I usually sleep until about 5:30 or 6:00 lately, so this was odd. Well, that all caught up with me at about 1:00. Luckily, since I work from home, I could take a 30 minute power nap after eating lunch, and see if that helps. It didn’t. I woke up grumpy and feeling like I had a nap hangover. So when Ted came home and said he wanted to go somewhere nice for dinner, somewhere in the city with French food, I was bitchy. I didn’t really…
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Money money money….
Now that I’m working from home, I am even more horrified by the number of charities and political calls that we receive than I was before. We are on the “Do Not Call” registry, so we don’t get the sales calls, but charities and politicians are exempt from the rules, there. Part of me would LOVE to give them all some money. They are all worthwhile organizations, out there doing good work. But I have a couple of issues. What percentage of the money I donate goes to the telemarketer? I have read that for some of these charities, 75%-80% of the money goes to the expense of raising the…
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Sunday Yoga Thoughts…
Last week when I was in yoga class, my teacher was talking about Atama and Ego, and how Ego can get in the way of a yoga practice, and in the way of a fulfilling life. We all pretty much know what Ego is, and how the concern with how we are perceived, with maintaining a certain ‘status’ in life, all of that, can get in the way of feeling at peace with one’s self. But what is Atama? Simply stated, Atama is the inner self, the real you. So in your practice of yoga, or any meditative practice (I know one person who meditates via Karate, and one via…
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Good Food/Bad Food
The other day when I went to give blood, it turned out to be a volunteer/community type faire at an office building near my house. So in addition to the Red Cross, there were several other worthy organizations there, and they were also giving out little gift cards to thank you for coming, either to Starbucks or to Jamba Juice. Since I don’t drink coffee, I chose the Jamba Juice. The woman said, “Good for you!” A few weeks ago, I was having lunch with my friend at a buffet (I don’t like buffets, but I like my friend…), and the options for dessert were lime jello or chocolate cake.…