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Time to Vote
Tomorrow is election day, and while I’m cautiously hopeful that the Democrats will be able to wrest control of Congress from the Republicans, and hopefully grow a collective spine while they’re at it, and stop the rapid decline of our country and loss of freedoms, I’m having trouble getting revved up about the local elections here in California. The most exciting part to me will be that the constant barrage of political phone calls will stop. I’m not a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger. His ‘special elections’ showed a complete disregard for the will of the voters, and they cost California a LOT of money that should have been much better…
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To Thine Own Self Be True…
Is that the same as “know thyself”? I think it’s a bit different. Anyway, MsMama tagged me for an interesting little meme… “KNOW THYSELF” TAG! What is/are YOUR: Easy how-to ways to beat a bad mood? A shower. Something about having that hot water all over me helps a lot. A walk in the rain can help. Ted has been known to make me laugh when I’m blue. Maya can sometimes kiss my boo-boos away… Never-fail lip color? I’m not adult enough to wear lipstick. Mostly it’s just vasaline or chapstick for me. My lips are naturally kind of pink, though….I’ve gotten compliments on my lipstick when it’s just chapstick.…
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Perfect Start to a Weekend…
…lunch with a Republican. Gosh, I never thought I would say those words! HA! But honestly, some of my best friends are Republicans. One such friend is Janet, who lives in NYC. Janet and I met at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA, and became good friends. She is a truly loyal and wonderful friend, though not without her faults, including: Spoiling my daughter. It was she that started Maya’s American Girl obsession. Maya now has 4 of the things. Janet only bought her one, so it’s not ALL her fault. Waiting until the last minute to call me and let me know she’s in town. I received a…
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Kindness
“Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind, the second is to be kind, and the third is to be kind.” ~ Henry James I feel as though this message is coming at me from all directions lately. My beloved Py Korry wrote a post about hatred, and how it can be used to dehumanize others…then Ms. Mama wrote a post about the death of someone she knew, and how we should all be kind to those we love, for you never know when we will see them again…then Cherry wrote about how we can start a peace revolution, spreading peace with kindness. Last night,…
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All Souls Day
Today is All Souls Day. Not being a good Christian (but I am a good Atheist, which is better than a bad Christian, right?), I don’t know much about this holiday, but I read a bit on Laluna and Zee’s blogs the other day. I was intrigued. The Christian belief is that the faithful departed who have not atoned for their sins can get into heaven, if they have people still in our land of the living pray for their salvation. (If I have that wrong, please let me know…it’s interesting.) I’m a little bit more interested, though, in the Pagan roots of the holiday, if there indeed are any.…
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Thankful Thoughts
Awhile ago, I read about a blogger who would write of the little things she is thankful for, because they are important and worth of recognition. I’m not sure if she still keeps up this practice, but I liked the idea, so every once in awhile, I take it out and dust it off, stopping and reflecting on the little things that have gone right lately. Here goes. I’m thankful that my brother & SIL came to visit. There was some shopping, a pumpkin was carved, yummy swordfish and Sees candy were consumed (not together, geez!), trick or treating was put behind us for another year, a lot of chatting…
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Learn Where You Can
I had an interesting vocab lesson the other night…I learned the following words: parvenu – one that has recently or suddenly risen to an unaccustomed position of wealth or power and has not yet gained the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with it. I think I’ve always used the other French term, “nouveau riche“, though in looking at the definition, it is slightly different in meaning. dyspeptic – showing a sour disposition. I think I’ve always used “sour puss”.  I think I need to try to use these words in conversation…that’s how you keep them, right? Anyway, the funny thing is where I got these new words…from the Netflix jacket…
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Lame Meme
OK, I got nothing today. It’s Monday, after all, and besides that, my Brother and my SIL are coming to visit! YAY! They live in Alaska, and don’t get down this way as often as we would like. And us up there? We went in ’99, but haven’t gone back since. Dang it all. Stupid poverty. 😉 Anyway, since I need to get all of my WORK work done early, plus wash the sheets on the bed where they’ll be sleeping, and swiffer the floors, I’m going to keep this quick and easy today, OK? This will be a lame meme about your favorite foods, in different categories. I figure,…
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Chicken Muffin Recipe? Ewwww…
Last year, in the clearance section of Barnes and Noble, I was tempted into buying a muffin cookbook. Tempted by the beautiful pictures and the yummy sounding recipes, like cranberry muffins, spiced carrot cake muffins, etc. What I forgot in the heat of the moment was, I don’t really LIKE baking. One little thing goes wrong, and the recipe is ruined. Blech. I’m much more of a cook. One section that I found especially intruiging was the section of savory muffins. Hmmm. Sounded good. Leek and ham muffins. Bacon and cornmeal muffins. I tried one recipe, for Spicy Chicken Muffins. Ted and Maya thought it was good, I thought it…
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Screw You, I’m NOT “Uncovered Meat”.
I’m assuming you’ve all heard of the uproar in Australia, regarding comments made about women by Sheik Taj ElDin Hamid Hilaly. I’ve been trying to figure out what to say about this, but I’m having trouble because it makes me want to vomit every time I think about it. So, I decided to copy and paste someone else’s words for you instead. Here then, straight from Salon’s Broadsheet: When are women like “uncovered meat”? What a nasty, nasty development in the now-global controversy over Muslim women’s dress. On Thursday, reports surfaced that Australia’s lead Muslim cleric suggested that women who do not wear hijabs are responsible for rape. The chronically…
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Eastern State
Yesterday, I had a sudden craving for Orange Chicken from Panda Express. So good, and so bad for you. So I hopped in my trusty car and drove over to the local PE. On the way, I was listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR. The few minutes that I heard were discussing Eastern State Penitentiary. I remember when we lived in Philadelphia, once in awhile we would drive past this prison, and I knew a little bit of its history, but not a lot. They have tours of the prison, which are supposed to be pretty amazing, but I was unaware of that at the time. And I’m…
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Bitacle?
So I’ve heard about this Bitacle thing…you go to the site, and they have content from people’s blogs there. Here’s what I got when I searched on my url: http://en.bitacle.org/blogs/blogsearch/jellyjules Mostly what I’ve read is on people’s blogs, saying, if you’re reading this elsewhere, don’t. It’s stolen. This content is only valid if you’re reading it on my site. What does this mean? I mean, I know it’s an example of someone stealing content, and putting it up on their site, but they’re not claiming to have authored the content, so I’m not sure what the difference is between this and, say, bloglines. It’s not plagarism if they link to…
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TV Shows I Tried, but Couldn’t Get Into
For my 13th Thursday 13, I thought I would confess some of the TV shows that I have watched, or TRIED to watch, but just couldn’t get into over the last several years. Yes, there are gratuitous Buffy references, when obviously, Buffy does not belong on this list. So sue me. 1. Desperate Housewives. I tried a few episodes, and I liked it at the beginning, but when Terri Hatcher’s character got stuck outside naked in the bushes, I just thought it was too dumb, and stopped watching. 2. Grey’s Anatomy. Everyone loves this show, and maybe I should have tried another season, but we rented season one, and found…
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An Unmade Bed…
 Gina wrote recently of her love for a clean, uncluttered top of the fridge. She hates to have stuff up there, where some folks might not even notice. Py cannot stand to have any miscellaneous items in the car. Car must be clean and uncluttered at all times. The house? Not such an issue for him (as long as the bathroom is clean, he’s OK). Maya’s Granny likes to have all of her books alphabetized. Not sure if she still sorts her clothes the way she used to…with different colored hangers for different seasons or whatever… My sister likes to have EVERYTHING very clean, organized, and put in its proper…
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DVD Weekend…
I’m slowly renouncing my claim to her, and all that I had hoped for in the world. ~ Jules and Jim. There’s nothing like a good French film to give you poignant little tidbits like that, huh? But I’m getting ahead of myself. Friday, after going to Stockton to see my Grandma, and after the presentation I had to give on Thursday (which was really no big deal, but that didn’t stop me from getting very tense about it), I was ready to relax on the sofa and watch a good romantic comedy. Something frothy and light and sweet. Unfortunately, we watched “Must Love Dogs” instead. This film can best…