5 true confessions of a jaded mind

5 true confessions of a jaded mind

March 11, 2015 / No Comments

* I am simply incapable of leaving a bookstore without purchasing at least one tome.

* A 5-year-old once beat me at putt-putt. I was a teenager at the time.

* I’m also lousy at bowling.

* It is very difficult for me to return library books on time. Part of the problem is the fact that the library is 20 miles away. The other part is that it’s only open for limited hours (usually when I’m sleeping). Try as I might, I always end up paying fines.

* Whenever someone famous dies — particularly a person I admire — I’ll spend the next week searching for their movies or books or music or TV shows and then going on what I call a “tribute binge.” It just feels like the best way to honor them and their artistic contributions.
My least favorite sentence of the day

March 8, 2015 / No Comments

…is from this story on Daylight Saving Time:

You may have lost a bit of sleep, but in the months ahead you’ll gain an extra hour of sunlight in the evenings.

To people like me, who work the graveyard shift, this means going to bed when it’s daylight and waking up to find it’s STILL FREAKIN’ DAYLIGHT.

Spring is on the way and I am seriously dreading it this year. The season itself is fine — I like flowers and peepers and rainy days as much as the next person — I just hate the fact that Spring is the opening act for Summer’s long hot days. Spring rarely lasts long, but once it’s gone, all I’m left with is noise, bugs, sleeplessness, sweating, swearing, sun hats, sunglasses, sunblock, and of course, heat-induced migraines.

Needless to say, I’m not a happy camper. And I want my hour back.

Grrrrrrrr.

(Photo by FooTToo.)
Sleep, Interrupted

February 28, 2015 / No Comments

I didn’t get much sleep this week; things just kept getting in the way.

On Sunday, I was distracted by a new book.

On Monday, I had a nightmare.

Tuesday was not bad. The dream I had was so fascinating that I’ll probably have to turn it into a novel.

Tree trimmers kept me awake with their chopping, buzzing and grinding on Wednesday and Thursday.

And Friday, a day I normally use to “catch up,” was interrupted by news of Leonard Nimoy’s death. Instead of going to sleep, I read obits and tributes and cried.

I have no big plans for tomorrow so I should be able to sleep in. I’m excited and grateful for this opportunity. Soon we’ll be moving the clocks forward and returning to a time when the daylight hours are long and brutal. Even though there’s still snow on the ground, I can already feel the summer grumpiness awakening from hibernation.

(Photo by Hurley_gurlie182)
Don’t be a giant squid of anger. Change the world

February 20, 2015 / No Comments

On a daily basis, many of my friends will post images/graphics on Facebook that blast politicians for doing something wrong. Conservatives and liberals may hold different points of view, but the one thing they share is unbridled umbrage.

These posts always seem to end the same way, too: “Share if you agree!”

Now you probably know that I’m all about sharing. I like to share information, recipes, jokes, books, food, hugs and cute kitty pictures. But if you really want to change the world, you have to move beyond online outrage and Facebook sharing. Instead, consider becoming an expert on a particular topic. The more you know, the better equipped you’ll be to come up with useful solutions.

You could also write letters to your lawmakers, launch or sign petitions, participate in protests, contact your local media, write a blog, form a community group, vote, run for office, donate money or volunteer for a charity that supports your cause.

Sharing a Facebook post tells people what you think. But if you really want to make the world a better place, you need to make it happen.

(Photo by lentolo)
Luckier than I thought

February 14, 2015 / No Comments

I’ve never been described as “lucky.”

Most of my successes have come from hard work and determination. I rarely win contests of chance. I don’t gamble. And my favorite carnival game is the one where you turn over the floating duckies and call out the number on the belly because everybody wins a prize.

When it came to finding my husband… well, I don’t know if luck or fate or coincidence was involved. Whatever it was, having M in my life has brought me more joy than anything else. More than books, more than cats, even more than chocolate.

Happy Valentine’s Day, my heart.