Month: May 2009 (Page 2 of 2)

another day closer to death.

May 18, 2009 / melissa / 0 Comments

“Remembering that I am going to die is the best way for me to avoid the trap of thinking I have something to lose”. — Steve Jobs

Get busy living, or get busy dying. — Andy Dufresne The Shawshank Redemption

Many colleges and graduate schools had their graduations this weekend. As a result, many graduation speeches were heard. Other blogs commented on great graduation speeches. One that was mentioned over and over again was Steve Jobs’s speech at Stanford University.

When I was a teenager, I was quite a morose kid. I guess you could call me an EMO child– reading Sylvia Plath, thinking about teenage alienation and cliques and the cruelty that goes with it. I went to college and eventually out grew it but it did leave me with a tendency to be drawn to the darker things in life.

Later when I became an investigator, I was exposed to the bad things in life with crime, drugs, desperate poverty shaping a person’s decisions. I learned very quickly that there is no guarantee that when you walk out of the house in the morning that you will walk back in the house later that evening.

As a result, I try to make each day count. It is the explanation for many of my actions. It is what lead me to DC. I always wanted to live in a big city. It makes me grateful to be here in Arkansas spending time with my parents and grandparents because they are old and someday much sooner than I want to consider, they will be gone. I have this tension between myself wanting to do big things like travel to great places and stay here to be with my family. It is also part of my discontent with where I am now. I don’t feel like I am making a difference. I don’t feel that I am experiencing any great new experiences. I feel left out of the small town scene (also known as the “good old boy network”) and that life just might be too short to make it worth my while to try to break it down or change it.

It’s also why I keep a big bold “bucket list” with things I want to experience. I’ve always been a reach for the stars type of person. I have found that even if you don’t achieve the stars– well the moon is pretty cool.

Still excited about 21st Century Breakdown, even if Belle hates Green Day. blargh.

ugh

May 16, 2009 / melissa / 0 Comments

I’m feeling rundown. I have something. No blogging, as little work as possible, and sleeping/no sleeping. Maybe I got too many toxins in my system. Maybe I need one of those colon cleanses. Oh yeah, nothing like self induced diarrhea to make everything ALL BETTER. Seriously.

The bad part is that I am missing the Filmfest and the Greek Food Fest. I don’t feel like driving 90 miles to participate. If I lived in LR or a lot closer, I would have probably stopped by both of these events. I definitely could have slugged myself to a movie. Hrmmm… Thoughts on moving and relocating.

Good stuff.

Coldplay is giving out free downloads of their music here.

The new Green Day album is out.

I got sucked into this game called Metropolis on Facebook. You build a city from scratch.

Another episode of TOTALLY AWESOME VIDEOS

May 12, 2009 / melissa / 0 Comments

From the kids who bought you Dick in a Box, it’s “MOTHERLOVER” If you missed this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, well you missed out. This might be the funniest thing I’ve seen in 2009 so far. …. okay kids, I can’t embed the thing. You’re just going to have to click the link.

“MOTHERLOVER”

Wanda Sykes performed at the White House Correspondents Dinner, otherwise known on Twitter as “nerdprom”

Part II

There is quite a lot of controversy about this bit. Part of is due to Wanda saying that she hopes Rush Limbaugh’s Kidneys fail. It was in response to Limbaugh saying that he hoped the Obama administration fails. Her response:

“He just wants the country to fail,” Sykes said of Limbaugh. “To me that’s treason. He’s not saying anything different than what Osama Bin Laden is saying. You might want to look into this, sir, because I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker but he was just so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight. … Rush Limbaugh, I hope the country fails, I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? He needs a good waterboarding, that’s what he needs.”

Strangely enough, the comparing speech that is harsh and questioning of the Presidency with treason was the mantra of the day every day during the Bush administration: “You’re with us or against us” Oh how times have changed. Some of the more fringe elements of the Right have been insinuating that Obama is Muslim and a terrorist for quite a while but when Wanda Sykes does it to one of their “hometown heroes” OH this is how it works.

As far as Rush Limbaugh personally, he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. He’s said nasty things about a lot of people. He said some HORRIBLE things about Bill Clinton. I’m not sure that he’s really a person who has much leeway to get offended by anything anybody else says about him. Strangely enough, Limbaugh himself hasn’t had any response to the Sykes comments.

“Teardrop” by Massive Attack. It’s the theme song to TV show HOUSE. Okay I just like it.

Mother's Day Musings

May 10, 2009 / melissa / 3 Comments

I love my mother. She is my hero. She somehow managed to raise me and my brother without killing us. That in and of itself is a major accomplishment. She drove us to Brownie and Cub Scout meetings, Swimming lessons, piano lessons, band practices, and whatever else that we needed to do.

She taught us compassion. Everytime, my brother or I would say something bad about somebody, she would reply, “Well, they probably think you’re weird/silly/stupid or whatever insult you laid into them, too” For some reason, it managed to teach us that your opinion is only an opinion and to be wary of what you say about others because well, they might be saying it about you, too.

She is the person that tends to sick. She is the one who offers to stay with the friends and family members in ICU so that the immediate family can go out and eat or take a nap in a comfortable bed. When her neighbor was rendered legally blind due to macular degeneration, my mother drove her to all her appointments, took her grocery shopping, helped her clean her house, and helped her with her checkbook. My neighbor was so impressed with my Mom, she said, “If I had know how great Gwen was, I would have hung out with her more often years ago.”

My mother is a quiet woman and as a result, not everyone “gets” her. She’s the best listener in the world. Sometimes, she’s so good at listening that a lot of people get wrapped up in their own lives and story telling that they forget to ask. I learned the perils of self centeredness from that.

In fact, my mother was so good at nurturing that when I was in college and I found out that my brother and father were going away, I asked her “what are you going to do?” and offered to come back home and stay with her. She laughed at me. I’m sure she laughed at me a lot harder when she got off the phone but she was so good at it, I could only ponder what she could possibly do.

So today I thank my Mom for all that patience and hard work. I hope I’ve made her proud.

Snippet of the day

May 9, 2009 / melissa / 0 Comments

Last night, I got pulled over by my local town’s law enforcement. I had pulled a “California rolling stop” as opposed to actually stopping at the stop sign and my rear brake light was out. I didn’t know my brake light was out. THANKS Officer.

So he asks for my license and proof of insurance and I give it to him.

He looks at my license and proceeds to talk to the person at the station via walkie talkie.

This is Officer. … I got a License with 873.. oops.

He begins to laugh. My license number has none of those numbers.

He starts again. He gets the second number wrong. By this point, he’s about to totally lose it and giggle like a kid who farted in church. He calms himself down and starts reading my license number. He gets the fourth number wrong and starts laughing again.

“Lady, I’m just going to let you go. Get that light fixed as soon as possible, OKay.”

“Okay officer”

If I had been laughing like that, I would have been on the sidewalk saying my “ABC’s backwards while touching my nose”

Guess who's back?

May 6, 2009 / melissa / 1 Comment

Breezy

Originally uploaded by melissathegoofy

Yes, it’s another couple of days with the best dog in the world. Puppysitting again. OH joy.

So my blogging post will be a little more sporadic.

illness

May 6, 2009 / melissa / 2 Comments

I feel like poop. I got crazy sleeping irregularities, sore throat, and a digestive system that manages to make noises that I’ve only heard in horror movies. Usually in those movies, the person explodes or an alien comes flying out of their stomach right after those noises are made. Sleeping is downright scary when you think you’re stomach is going to explode.

I am alive and hanging in there and have read the Oxford American issue on race. I have some thoughts about that. When I am not weary from sleep and keeping my stomach from exploding, I’ll put them here.

See Bo…

May 2, 2009 / melissa / 1 Comment

P031509PS-0140

Originally uploaded by The Official White House Photostream

See Bo run.

Run Bo Run.

See President Obama.

See President Obama run.

Run President Obama Run.

awwwwwww

I love lists on Friday.

May 1, 2009 / melissa / 2 Comments

I’m borrowing this from Sharon

Is Our Personality Written in Our Handwriting This is a fascinating site about analyzing your (and other people’s) handwriting.
Okay I’m getting a kick out of SWIM. I admit it.
Some people in Hot Springs are reenacting Smokey and the Bandit on Monday. This cracks me up to no end. This, to me, is pee in my pants funny. I grew up watching the Bandit movies and knew all the words to those Jerry Reed songs. I still have a soft spot for those goofy Jerry Reed songs. They’re as much a part of my childhood as bellbottom pants and Garanimals.
David Sedaris!!!
I have said it once. I will say it again. The biggest flamewars, heated discussions, etc. in Arkansas are on the Arkansas Eats blog. Arkansans are sensitive about their food. T
My town is having its annual town festival, complete with its own 5K. This was the first paid 5K I ran about 2 years ago. (maybe 3). It should be interesting to try it again. I remember the Sheriff asking me around 2 (he was blocking traffic) if I thought I was going to finish. At the finish line, he was all “oooh you made it” No he didn’t get re-elected.
I got a weekend to rest up and get over my sinus infection. (no I don’t have swine flu or N87195710760161 virus or whatever it is)

Cake Wreck!.

May 1, 2009 / melissa / 0 Comments

Happy Birthday?!?!?!?

Originally uploaded by melissathegoofy

It was my brother’s birtthday. He wanted chocolate cake. My mother decided to use some Duncan Hines “sugar cookie” icing. Or something like that to write “happy Birthday” on the cake. Well you see what happened.

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