My inner spirit has been most appeased during the course of this still-not-yet-over-weekend.
Last night: Watching my husband get loopy from drinking one Long Island Iced Tea. Meanwhile, one Bloody Mary and two Rolling Rocks caused me to be a tad more belligerent, but not a jot less coherent.
Same night: Driving through McDonalds to satisfy an ice-cream cone craving, watching same husband drop his cone into his lap, later causing him to claim his ice-cream tasted like "pant leg". My cone was consumed in its full, unblemished, vanilla goodness.
This Morning: Looking up the recipe for a Long Island Iced Tea and discovering it's fairly high alcohol content.
Later On: Doing groceries and saving almost $11 with coupons. It just feels like I've given the big middle finger to the food companies of America who try to stiff us on high prices and bloat us on crappy nutritional content.
Way Later On (Straddling Sat-Sun): I must say I am somewhat satisfied with the contents of my winter closet. First of all, I have a decent variety of colors and styles to suit any occasion of the winter season. Many of my tops/sweaters/shirts are multipurpose, meaning I can pair them with work khakis or trousers as well as jeans. However, when I set about the very satisfying task of organizing my closet by color, I noticed something very interesting...
All long-sleeved tops - includes basically anything that is not a t-shirt.
13 - Pink
1 - Orange
4 - Green
4 - Blue
2 - Purple
2 - Brown
4 - Black
4 - White
Do you see what I see? An inordinate amount of pink. Definitely disproportionate to the rest of the colors of the rainbow. Perhaps this activity will help temper my shopping habits: if I choose to purchase a new article of clothing (aka top), it may not be pink. Or...if it is pink, I must discard a pink shirt from my wardrobe in its place.
I feel as if I am John the Apostle, who received the Revelation on the Greek island of Patmos. I have heard the word of the fashion god.
Sunday Morning: Arose at eight o'clock and completed the following tasks before hopping in the shower at 10:45.
1. Made a carrot cake (will be icing later).
2. Reorganized spice racks and pantry area (with help of daughter)/
3. Made Veg Noodle Soup and portionalized for the week ahead.
4. Prepared pot roast for today's dinner.
5. Prepared baked potatoes for today's dinner.
6. Did a load of laundry.
To me, this is a very satisfying way to spend a Sunday morning. In the kitchen. After my shower and lunch, I'll probably go workout, throw the roast and potatoes in, finish laundry, frost the cake...
23 January 2010
19 January 2010
Many Thoughts - Let Them Commence
My inner spirit has been most appeased during the course of this still-not-yet-over-weekend.
Last night: Watching my husband get loopy from drinking one Long Island Iced Tea. Meanwhile, one Bloody Mary and two Rolling Rocks caused me to be a tad more belligerent, but not a jot less coherent.
Same night: Driving through McDonalds to satisfy an ice-cream cone craving, watching same husband drop his cone into his lap, later causing him to claim his ice-cream tasted like "pant leg". My cone was consumed in its full, unblemished, vanilla goodness.
This Morning: Looking up the recipe for a Long Island Iced Tea and discovering it's fairly high alcohol content.
Later On: Doing groceries and saving almost $11 with coupons. It just feels like I've given the big middle finger to the food companies of America who try to stiff us on high prices and bloat us on crappy nutritional content.
Way Later On (Straddling Sat-Sun): I must say I am somewhat satisfied with the contents of my winter closet. First of all, I have a decent variety of colors and styles to suit any occasion of the winter season. Many of my tops/sweaters/shirts are multipurpose, meaning I can pair them with work khakis or trousers as well as jeans. However, when I set about the very satisfying task of organizing my closet by color, I noticed something very interesting...
All long-sleeved tops - includes basically anything that is not a t-shirt.
13 - Pink
1 - Orange
4 - Green
4 - Blue
2 - Purple
2 - Brown
4 - Black
4 - White
Do you see what I see? An inordinate amount of pink. Definitely disproportionate to the rest of the colors of the rainbow. Perhaps this activity will help temper my shopping habits: if I choose to purchase a new article of clothing (aka top), it may not be pink. Or...if it is pink, I must discard a pink shirt from my wardrobe in its place.
I feel as if I am John the Apostle, who received the Revelation on the Greek island of Patmos. I have heard the word of the fashion god.
Sunday Morning: Arose at eight o'clock and completed the following tasks before hopping in the shower at 10:45.
1. Made a carrot cake (will be icing later).
2. Reorganized spice racks and pantry area (with help of daughter)/
3. Made Veg Noodle Soup and portionalized for the week ahead.
4. Prepared pot roast for today's dinner.
5. Prepared baked potatoes for today's dinner.
6. Did a load of laundry.
To me, this is a very satisfying way to spend a Sunday morning. In the kitchen. After my shower and lunch, I'll probably go workout, throw the roast and potatoes in, finish laundry, frost the cake...
Last night: Watching my husband get loopy from drinking one Long Island Iced Tea. Meanwhile, one Bloody Mary and two Rolling Rocks caused me to be a tad more belligerent, but not a jot less coherent.
Same night: Driving through McDonalds to satisfy an ice-cream cone craving, watching same husband drop his cone into his lap, later causing him to claim his ice-cream tasted like "pant leg". My cone was consumed in its full, unblemished, vanilla goodness.
This Morning: Looking up the recipe for a Long Island Iced Tea and discovering it's fairly high alcohol content.
Later On: Doing groceries and saving almost $11 with coupons. It just feels like I've given the big middle finger to the food companies of America who try to stiff us on high prices and bloat us on crappy nutritional content.
Way Later On (Straddling Sat-Sun): I must say I am somewhat satisfied with the contents of my winter closet. First of all, I have a decent variety of colors and styles to suit any occasion of the winter season. Many of my tops/sweaters/shirts are multipurpose, meaning I can pair them with work khakis or trousers as well as jeans. However, when I set about the very satisfying task of organizing my closet by color, I noticed something very interesting...
All long-sleeved tops - includes basically anything that is not a t-shirt.
13 - Pink
1 - Orange
4 - Green
4 - Blue
2 - Purple
2 - Brown
4 - Black
4 - White
Do you see what I see? An inordinate amount of pink. Definitely disproportionate to the rest of the colors of the rainbow. Perhaps this activity will help temper my shopping habits: if I choose to purchase a new article of clothing (aka top), it may not be pink. Or...if it is pink, I must discard a pink shirt from my wardrobe in its place.
I feel as if I am John the Apostle, who received the Revelation on the Greek island of Patmos. I have heard the word of the fashion god.
Sunday Morning: Arose at eight o'clock and completed the following tasks before hopping in the shower at 10:45.
1. Made a carrot cake (will be icing later).
2. Reorganized spice racks and pantry area (with help of daughter)/
3. Made Veg Noodle Soup and portionalized for the week ahead.
4. Prepared pot roast for today's dinner.
5. Prepared baked potatoes for today's dinner.
6. Did a load of laundry.
To me, this is a very satisfying way to spend a Sunday morning. In the kitchen. After my shower and lunch, I'll probably go workout, throw the roast and potatoes in, finish laundry, frost the cake...
14 January 2010
Ellen Vs. Oprah
Usually, I am on the treadmill at the Y around the four o'clock hour, at which time I have a serious choice to make.
First off, let me include a disclaimer: I am very naive and impressionable when it comes to daytime TV talk shows. After all, for the first time in my life, I have distraction-free access to this type of TV programming! Egads! I am a bit like a child at the circus - I am unsure what to look at first: the comically dancing white lady or the more-serious-yet-not-less-compelling black lady?
So - what better way to make a serious decision such as this? Make a list!
ELLEN:
+ Her mannerisms make me laugh. I loved her "Ellen" show way back in the day.
+ The camera always pans to the keyboardist who does her music, and he's always laughing at something she's saying.
+ The audience is always smiling and laughing.
+ She includes little mini-segments, like the one today called "Ellen's Quest for World Domination". She telephoned some guy at that tower in Dubai and asked if she could put a flag of herself on top of their tower. How audacious is that? I love it. I was drawn to that like I...I mean, one might be drawn to a show like "Jackass".
BUT...
- Sometimes she has side guests...like the five-year-old piano prodigy who can play Chopin perfectly. That I'm not really interested in - it only serves to remind me that my children are not prodigies of any kind.
- There's a lot of audience participation-type stuff. Not that I'm totally against that...but one of the main reasons I tune in is to see the celebrities, or even Ellen herself. I'm not too keen on watching my next-door neighbor, who can play the recorder through her nose. But, that's just me.
Now...
OPRAH
+ She discusses very compelling issues. One episode was a spin-off of Hoarders...people who keep everything they ever get. Trashed houses, filthy, clutter everywhere...I couldn't stop watching it; I was enthralled. My kids and I rushed home from the Y to finish watching it - which we NEVER do. But it was that fascinating. Part of another episode (today's, actually) was about a 41-year-old woman who was lamenting the fact that she couldn't get a boyfriend. So Oprah sends out Nate Somebody, her "go-to" guy to solve this problem. Turns out the woman has Harvard-like expectations: dealbreakers include the guy having a Facebook page or using a drinking straw. Psycho!
+ It's Oprah. I loved her in "The Color Purple".
HOWEVER...
- For every episode like the two I described above, she also has episodes where she brings Robin Givens on to talk about Mike Tyson or Whitney Houston on to talk about Bobby Brown. Eh. Just not my bag.
- No laughing keyboardist sidekick.
- Prepare your rotten tomatoes and hate emails, but sometimes she gets too philanthropic for me. It's cool that she supports a lot of good causes, but hell, she's got the money to do so. Frankly, at four in the afternoon, I want to workout, get sweaty, and be physically fit...I don't want to be made to feel like a heartless ass.
So yeah, wow. Looking at this list - it's definitely a tough call. I'm going to need to know more, which means watch some more episodes. I don't know, for now, it will have to be a day-by-day judgment.
First off, let me include a disclaimer: I am very naive and impressionable when it comes to daytime TV talk shows. After all, for the first time in my life, I have distraction-free access to this type of TV programming! Egads! I am a bit like a child at the circus - I am unsure what to look at first: the comically dancing white lady or the more-serious-yet-not-less-compelling black lady?
So - what better way to make a serious decision such as this? Make a list!
ELLEN:
+ Her mannerisms make me laugh. I loved her "Ellen" show way back in the day.
+ The camera always pans to the keyboardist who does her music, and he's always laughing at something she's saying.
+ The audience is always smiling and laughing.
+ She includes little mini-segments, like the one today called "Ellen's Quest for World Domination". She telephoned some guy at that tower in Dubai and asked if she could put a flag of herself on top of their tower. How audacious is that? I love it. I was drawn to that like I...I mean, one might be drawn to a show like "Jackass".
BUT...
- Sometimes she has side guests...like the five-year-old piano prodigy who can play Chopin perfectly. That I'm not really interested in - it only serves to remind me that my children are not prodigies of any kind.
- There's a lot of audience participation-type stuff. Not that I'm totally against that...but one of the main reasons I tune in is to see the celebrities, or even Ellen herself. I'm not too keen on watching my next-door neighbor, who can play the recorder through her nose. But, that's just me.
Now...
OPRAH
+ She discusses very compelling issues. One episode was a spin-off of Hoarders...people who keep everything they ever get. Trashed houses, filthy, clutter everywhere...I couldn't stop watching it; I was enthralled. My kids and I rushed home from the Y to finish watching it - which we NEVER do. But it was that fascinating. Part of another episode (today's, actually) was about a 41-year-old woman who was lamenting the fact that she couldn't get a boyfriend. So Oprah sends out Nate Somebody, her "go-to" guy to solve this problem. Turns out the woman has Harvard-like expectations: dealbreakers include the guy having a Facebook page or using a drinking straw. Psycho!
+ It's Oprah. I loved her in "The Color Purple".
HOWEVER...
- For every episode like the two I described above, she also has episodes where she brings Robin Givens on to talk about Mike Tyson or Whitney Houston on to talk about Bobby Brown. Eh. Just not my bag.
- No laughing keyboardist sidekick.
- Prepare your rotten tomatoes and hate emails, but sometimes she gets too philanthropic for me. It's cool that she supports a lot of good causes, but hell, she's got the money to do so. Frankly, at four in the afternoon, I want to workout, get sweaty, and be physically fit...I don't want to be made to feel like a heartless ass.
So yeah, wow. Looking at this list - it's definitely a tough call. I'm going to need to know more, which means watch some more episodes. I don't know, for now, it will have to be a day-by-day judgment.
02 January 2010
Angels & Demons
I’d attempted to read Dan Brown’s “Angels & Demons” about three times before actually succeeding earlier this year. I was surprised at my recalcitrance, as I’d loved “The DaVinci Code”.
Anyway, it was a great read, and my husband and I finally got around to watching the movie. Great movie! Yes, things were changed from the book, but fortunately, it’d been so long since I’d read it – ignorance was bliss.
There were two lines that I thought were very profound. The protagonist (Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks) is explaining to Ewan McGregor’s character before he goes into the Vatican archives his stance on religion and he says, “Faith is a gift I have yet to receive.” I don’t know what is it really about that sentence, but it’s really deep. I just liked it.
The second one occurred much later in the film. One of the cardinal dudes tells Tom Hanks, “Religion is flawed because man is flawed.” And it struck me that perhaps that is my problem with organized religion. Christianity makes me uncomfortable because of its enormous dependence on one man (Jesus), twelve men (the Disciples), and many men (the Council of Nicaea). Their teachings and decrees were interpreted by more men, and as time passes, cultures and attitudes change radically, and after a thousand years, Christianity has become something I am positive Jesus did not intend it to. Wars have been fought, innocent people slaughtered, ignorant prejudices created that cannot be erased – all in the name of Christianity.
All right, all right, I’ll stop.
Believe me, I used to be a lot more virulent than this.
I think that movie’s line pinpointed and clarified for me why Paganism holds such appeal. It is a nature-based religion, and nature does not change and is not subject to the whims and desires of man. And because it is such a personal experience, any flaw in a man stays within that man. Paganism does not have any organized, hierarchical clergy, and thus, nobody is responsible for “spreading the gospel”. Therefore, Pagans don’t rely on one man’s interpretation. There is no God, no Bible, and no Commandments.
Again, I must stop. My essential point is that “Angels and Demons” is a great book and movie. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched something that really provoked me and made me think.
Anyway, it was a great read, and my husband and I finally got around to watching the movie. Great movie! Yes, things were changed from the book, but fortunately, it’d been so long since I’d read it – ignorance was bliss.
There were two lines that I thought were very profound. The protagonist (Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks) is explaining to Ewan McGregor’s character before he goes into the Vatican archives his stance on religion and he says, “Faith is a gift I have yet to receive.” I don’t know what is it really about that sentence, but it’s really deep. I just liked it.
The second one occurred much later in the film. One of the cardinal dudes tells Tom Hanks, “Religion is flawed because man is flawed.” And it struck me that perhaps that is my problem with organized religion. Christianity makes me uncomfortable because of its enormous dependence on one man (Jesus), twelve men (the Disciples), and many men (the Council of Nicaea). Their teachings and decrees were interpreted by more men, and as time passes, cultures and attitudes change radically, and after a thousand years, Christianity has become something I am positive Jesus did not intend it to. Wars have been fought, innocent people slaughtered, ignorant prejudices created that cannot be erased – all in the name of Christianity.
All right, all right, I’ll stop.
Believe me, I used to be a lot more virulent than this.I think that movie’s line pinpointed and clarified for me why Paganism holds such appeal. It is a nature-based religion, and nature does not change and is not subject to the whims and desires of man. And because it is such a personal experience, any flaw in a man stays within that man. Paganism does not have any organized, hierarchical clergy, and thus, nobody is responsible for “spreading the gospel”. Therefore, Pagans don’t rely on one man’s interpretation. There is no God, no Bible, and no Commandments.
Again, I must stop.
My essential point is that “Angels and Demons” is a great book and movie. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched something that really provoked me and made me think.
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