This is what #5 is doing…

Roller-Derby
I kinda want to discourage her and cover her with bubble wrap…
But really, I’m proud of her and want her to kick some ass.
Maybe *I’m* growing up….

Blog Project 365-09 #189

Post 188.

Today (Tuesday) is the hundred and eighty eighth day of the year… Today I am caught up in cyber.
Now if I could just get my real life caught up, I’d be sitting pretty

Blog Project 165-09 #188 (for reals)

I have no idea where I am…

And that’s OK
So my goal in project 365 was to make one post per day for an entire year.
I usually post around midnight’ish. Sometimes for the current day, sometimes for the next day.
So here I am on post #187 and I have no idea if it’s Monday’s post or Tuesday’s post.
But that’s OK. My OCD voices are forcing me to count days (on my next day off) to find out exactly where I am.

Blog Project 365-09 #187 (or so)

Making someone happy in one simple step…

1) You can’t.

Having experienced years of being depressed, unhappy, and self sabotaging. After watch other people doing the same thing… I’ve decided that there really isn’t anything or anyone that can ever bring us happiness.
It comes from within.
And it doesn’t just happen, just like anything else we ever obtain in life… it’s a decision and we have the ability to choose it.

Starting the day by saying “it’s going to be one of those days”, sets us up for an entire day of chaos.
Pinning our happiness on an outside source (a job, a person, a goal) is destined to be a failure as the novelty of all of those things eventually wears off and “real life” kicks in exactly where we previously left it.
We all know that when we decide or verbalize that we are unhappy, then we are.
Why would it be a difficult leap to reverse the process and decide or verbalize that we are happy?

Some folks seemingly have everything… and have decided to be miserable.
Others overcome some of life’s greatest challenges with the best of outlooks.

It’s no accident that both happen. It’s a decision.

Blog Project 365-09 #186

Too Many Words…

Last night I was at Walmart picking up a few things.
The store was fairly crowded as folks were picking up last minute items for the 4th.
As I’m being rung up, a couple of kids were screaming bloody murder. Their parents opted to ignore the behavior.
The clerk gave me ‘the look’, you know the one that silently says ‘please help us’ with a subtle eyeroll….
My first thought was to blurt out “I’ll bet working here is great birth-control”.
I quickly thought the better of it and gave her a quick smile instead.
More and more, those thoughts that are best left unsaid have a way of just sneaking out past my lips when I’m not looking… I was a little proud of myself that I caught that one though.

Blog Project 365-09 #185

Speaking of words…

There was recently a story on some investigative program (like 20/20 or 60 minutes) revealing some scams that are taking advantage of the current economy.
One was on cash for gold… basically you send your gold and they mail you a check. On investigation, it was shown that the cash you receive (if any) is extremely under value.
The other notable one was related to the mortgage crunch. A company will negotiate a lower mortgage rate (either interest or principal) on your behalf to reduce your mortgage payment by as much as half… all without having to refinance. The result was that the company advises you to stop making mortgage payments so that the bank is more likely to strike a deal… in practice many people when into foreclosure and lost their homes. Meanwhile the company that the consumer payed thousands to has made no contact with the bank and often are gone by the time the consumer has lost their home.
Anyway…
Last night I saw several commercials for both on TV, repeatedly.
We’ve been trained to know that if something is too good to be true, it probably is. We are aware of spoof e-mails and to be wary of websites… but for some reason we think if a commercial is on network TV or in a “real” newspaper it must be legit.
In this day of “every man for himself”… anyone who can afford to produce and air a commercial can give the impression of credibility. The only thing that is pre-screened for us today in regards to advertising is that the check for ad cleared. Not that the thing being advertised is a legitimate product or service, or that the company doing the advertising even exists.
I miss the days of being able to trust television… not just in advertising, but in everything. Even the news really has to be taken as more entertainment value as opposed to fact.

Blog Project 365-09 #184

Not enough words…

Grandmonster is 5. Today he was VERY frustrated, we were trying to discuss those frustrations.
He stood up and told me he was “going into the other room to think of more words” so he could tell me what the problem was.
I was impressed.

Blog Project 365-09 #183

I’ve been playing a lot…

I’ve been spending quite a lot of time gaining some proficiency at photography lately.
I joined a stock photo exchange group where photos are free if not for resale, they have fairly strict technical standards yet some of my photos have made it… actually I’ve already had nearly 2000 downloads and given permissions for use a couple of my photos for a greeting card and an e-book cover.
So, feeling cocky, I put together a portfolio and applied with a company that sells stock photos and was accepted They accepted 6 of my first 7 submissions so I’m pretty stoked!

Blog Project 365-09 #182

Just being nosy…

More and more, people are hooking up on the internet.
There are a lot of ways they seem to be doing it. Blogs or other social networks, dating services and even gaming chats.
Recently I met a woman in the shop who “met” a man in playing mafia wars, both were married and live on opposite coasts. Their gaming characters where close and eventually they began to chat. Long story short, they’ve left their respective current spouses and she will soon move across the country to be with him. They were not looking for each other, but there they are.
More than a few of the people I know have met their spouses or significant others on line. Some were coincidences, others were actively looking for someone.

I have to wonder…
Are we meeting more people on line than in our person-to-person interactions?
Are we more honest or real when we are anonymous?
Do we trust easier because we are basically meeting people in our own homes?

Early on, like many people… I thought of meeting love interests on line as being for the desperate, the very shy, the very adventuresome, the very busy or for wolves looking for potential prey.
Now I’m not so sure.
When I see the numbers of connections people make on line… when I think of how close I feel to many of my blog-friends… I have to wonder why internet connections seem so strong for many of us… in certain instances that strength even blooms into love.
It would make an interesting study as to the psychology of why and how these strong connections form.
It will be interesting to see if those connections stand the test of time any better than meeting ‘the old fashioned way’ does.
It would make an interesting study in communication itself. How real life interactions differ from virtual communications and their current value in today’s society.
I know for me personally… I feel much closer to many of you than I do with friends I see on a regular basis. My computer has become my primary communication tool. I am much more likely to communicate with you on blog, myspace, facebook, flickr, twitter or e-mail than I am to just hang out with you… even if I know you in real life.
What are your thoughts?

Blog Project 365-09 #181
(One day… I’m going to have to get out a calender and see if I’m still “on” my count)

P-town

I skipped out on work today and went with husb to Portland, we hooked up with the Portland kids, and some of the Salem kids too.
We rode the Max (my first time).
I tried to hold my son’s hand on the Max. He’s 26.
In my defense it was crowded… and he was leaning against the door.
Some things will never change.

Blog Project 365-09 #180