Not A Feast Fan

Unlike most Americans, I don’t like Thanksgiving. I’m not talking about the traffic and travel hassles, though those are indeed irritating, but the feast itself. I personally see no reason to stuff myself with more food than I normally eat just because it’s the fourth Thursday in November. I mean, why? To celebrate what exactly? It’s nice having a 4-day weekend of course ~ I’ll celebrate that, if I don’t have to travel anywhere or overeat.

I also don’t like buffets and potlucks much for similar reasons. It’s really hard not to overeat, whatever your intentions. Part of that is because you don’t have standard servings of a couple things, but several tiny dollops, so it appears you’re taking only little bits of this and that, but you end up with more and more. Plus dishes at these events generally aren’t as tasty as a single item off the menu, so paradoxically you tend to try more of them, hoping in vain to be satisfied. (This can be a useful analogy for other things.)

Of course I understand my anti-feasting position sounds incredibly crabby, but it’s actually very logical. Many people have an emotional reaction to the mention of holidays because of family and traditions yada blah, but it’s really okay to question the things we’ve always done, and their specifics, and ask why we do them and if they are, in fact, a good thing. Well, I’ve always thought it was okay anyway. I have my own way of doing things.

I like to lead the examined life… I like to put the magnifying glass so close to the blade of grass I don’t even know wtf I’m looking at any longer.

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Peanut Butter

I stole these 26 questions from Fandango, who snagged them from Barbara, at Teleportingweena. But I have an issue with 26 (yes, including our alphabet, annoying). Twenty-five is a great number, and oddly enough (hehe) so is 27. But 26? Meh! I guess I can think of it as 13×2 and be okay that way. That’s what I’ll do then: renumber the questions halfway through.

1. Share your profile picture.

– Which profile? Here’s one from last year, taken at the happiest place on earth.

2. Who are you named after?

– Paula Abdul.

3. Do you like your handwriting?

– Like Fandango, I used to have great handwriting, but now that I’ve gotten older, it sucks.

4. What’s your favorite lunchmeat?

– Peanut butter.

5. Longest relationship?

– I had a good relationship with my dad from the day I was born until he died in 2013 just before I turned 52.

6. Do you still have your tonsils?

– Nope.

7. Would you bungee jump?

– NFW!

8. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

– Sometimes.

9. Favorite ice-cream?

– Coconut chocolate chip.

10. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

– That they’re too close to me.

11. Football or baseball?

– Neither.

12. What color pants are you wearing?

– White lounge pants with grey and pink flowers.

13. Last thing you ate?

– Peanut butter on a banana.

1. If you were a crayon what color would you be?

– Ultraviolet, baby.

2. Favorite smell?

– Cinnanommmm.

3. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?

– One of the partners at work.

4. Hair color?

– Light brown plus some silver.

5. Eye color?

– Hazel (this feels like filling out a dating profile now).

6. Favorite food to eat?

– Seafood pasta.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

– Romantic comedies with happy endings.

8. Last movie you watched?

– I rewatched American Gigolo a few days back because it came up on Prime. Saw it over 30 years ago and liked it a lot. Didn’t like it that much this time. I didn’t sense any chemistry between the leads; it was just trashy and sad.

9. Favorite holiday?

– Loved Fandango’s answer, but I’ll go with New Year’s Day.

10. Beer or wine?

– Neither. Alcohol triggers migraines.

11. Favorite day of the week?

– Sunday.

12. Three or (four) favorite bloggers you want to learn more about?

– Anyone who plays along.

13. Added info you didn’t know you wanted.

– Buy my books!

All About Orange

The fact that I have this photo in my blog media library gives me the idea I have written negatively about orange before. But instead of searching for that poast, and lazily efficiently reblogging it, I’ve already banged out a new one. Maybe next time I’ll remember to look for a pic before I start typing like a maniac. Who wants to bet on that?

Orange has never been a favorite color or flavor of mine. There are a few exceptions. Color-wise, I like a dash of bright orange with pink and yellow, lime and purple, for that crazy fruit bowl tropical look. Perfect for the muumuu you need on a cruise to cover up the 10 pounds you gain the first three days before the dysentery hits. And naturally orange is the appropriate base color for Halloween shirts, preferably with black cats, owls, and bats decorating a spooky crooked tree. Boo!

Food-wise, oranges suck. What is up with these things? All pulpy and seedy, with icky white strings you have to keep peeling off. Feh! Waaay too much work. I don’t mind some orange juice, sans pulp, if it’s mixed with mango juice, but that’s a lot of sugar. Did I mention I’m eating a lot less sugar now? Paula’s diet… always a fascinating topic, but we’ll leave that for another poast. As far as the actual taste of orange? Meh. It’s good in cake, I guess. But there’s that pesky sugar issue again! Same with Panda Express orange chicken (soooo sweet and yummy). Oh, here we go with the Panda Express haters piling on to tell me it’s not real Chinese food. 🙄🙄🙄

Okay. Not gonna write a book rn. Bottom line: orange is pretty much last on my list, except for pretty flowers obviously, and it’s not because of you know who.

End Of Summer [SOCS]

Round round get around
I get around…

The Beach Boys’ music means summer to me, and September first signals end of summer. Labor Day weekend always meant back to school, but I suppose that’s not true these days ~ most schools start mid to late August now. Gotta stuff those little heads full of All The Things! Some college classes begin second week of September or even later. UCI hasn’t started up again yet, which is why my commute is still nice and smooth. Dunno why UCI affects everything everywhere, including my street nowhere near the campus a few cities away, but it does. As soon as classes start, it’ll be all stressful to pull out of my driveway. I live in fear of someone behind me honking because I’m too slow and scared to zoom out aggressively the way normal drivers do. I’d rather just wait. This is another reason why I always build extra time into my trips… my slow pokiness factor.

Okay, that’s enough stream of consciousness for now. I only have three days to finish all these prompts and do laundry too! Sheesh, blogging is getting more demanding. 😀

Sunset Drive [CWW]

This pic is a couple years old, but it fit Cee’s which way challenge, so I grabbed it. I was stuck in traffic on my way home from work, not going anywhere at that moment, but at least able to admire the glorious sunset.

I didn’t think I’d poast again today, but now I’m stuck at the airport waiting for a plane, gonna be delayed over an hour. Just saw the sun set. Sensing a theme…

Luckily I haz a good book to read!

Friday Crabfest [ranty rant NSFW]

I didn’t get a great night’s sleep and am feeling blah despite being on vacay, but I have found some energy to complain, yay!

First, I hate shopping for clothes in stores. Now that I’ve been spoiled by the vast selection of clothing online and the ease of clicking quickly to search for exactly what I want, regular meatspace stores drive me nutz. They have nothing but black! Is everyone going to funerals 24/7? Fucksake!

Also, I tried to find a casual beige or blue jacket or sweatshirt last night for my trip, but nopey nope. No jackets allowed. It’s summer, so stores will sell me sleeveless things only. I’m feeling too lethargic to try again this morning, plus who wants to spend an official vacay day at the maul? Yuck! Guess I’ll wear my lumpy old grey sweatshirt, boo.

Onto books. I have a lot of new books on my Kindle, which is great and all. I try to be openminded toward new ways of writing even though I’m old (and crabby) (don’t forget crabby), and I have grudgingly come to accept the multiple POV novel told in first person, even though for decades I found this utterly appalling. But there was always the first person rule about not saying stuff like “and then I died,” and it damn well applies to multi views too. Jesus GAWD how do these people get published and not me, waaah!

Okay, I would like to know what people did before there were leaf blowers. Seriously. Did leaves pile up on walkways and create big leafmonsters that swallowed up little children? Did they swirl into leafnados on our streets creating traffic hazards? I need to know what in the FUCK makes it so important for these nasty noisy machines to pollute the air every morning.

I was reading Foxnooz as I do because they have the best snake 🐍 and alligator stories, and I saw some bitching about how Keith Ellison got a pass from the liberal media on his alleged girlfriend abuse. So, I looked that up, and no he didn’t. But since she refuses to let anyone see the vid, what more is there to say? I am no fan of Ellison, btw, but this is just one more example of how the rightwing media blatantly lies to their consumers.

Finally, Del Taco fries 🍟 are not as good as they used to be, which is sad, but actually not because now after a couple experiences of meh DT fries, I’m no longer going to stop and get them for an occasional treat on the way home from work. Dunno what has changed, but the yummy factor is gone. Could be me, idk. Don’t think so because I still love Jack in the Box curly fries just the same. (I think it’s DT.) Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, there’s no JITB on my way home.

That’s all. We now return you to your regular stream of poasts about puppies 🐶 and rainbows 🌈.

Guilt by Association [mini-rant]

When I was in high school, I had a good friend who didn’t like me to smoke when I was with her, or ever ideally, because then people might think she smoked. Another friend refused to be seen with me at the homecoming football game because I was a freshman and she was a sophomore, and she thought she would look uncool hanging around with a “baby.” A lot of high school girls were like this, secretive and petty, concerned how their friendships reflected on themselves and projected whatever image they were trying to cultivate. Boys may have been similar, but I didn’t know them.

At various times, people say we ought to shun those with different beliefs partly because of the guilt by association factor. We should punish those of the opposition political party by refusing to eat in cafes with them, forex. God forbid someone should see us having a snadwich with the enemy ~ they might assume we also eat our bread with the butter side down! Or we should tell Grandma that we won’t go to her house for the holidays if she votes for so&so, or if she invites Uncle Neepy, who supports the ban on fruitcake.

I’m deliberately making light of some serious issues because I have friends with beliefs all over the place, and family too. I don’t believe in the guilt by association concept: I believe in judging each person as an individual… and then hating them. I didn’t like to be tagged and boxed by closed-minded folks when I told them I voted for a Democrat (and they were invariably wrong when they tried to guess my other positions from that one piece of information), so I try not to do that myself.

It was hurtful in high school and it still is.

My Independence Day

I celebrated this July 4th by flinging off my self-imposed yoke of fiction writing tyranny. Hurrah! Instead of dumping tea into Boston Harbor, I spilled it all over my laptop and destroyed my keyboard, thereby depriving myself of the means to gaze at the screen wondering why a best-selling novel authored by me doesn’t materialize while I screw around reading the news. Tuesday I had a meltdown while visiting my daughters because I’m so frustrated and stressed over my lack of writing progress and success, so I suspect the tea spill was a subconscious rebellion.

Of course I could buy a new laptop, but I don’t want to. My hard drive is fine and safe, if anyone cares, and most of my stuff is backed up, but I can’t write fiction on my phone. I feel relieved. I spent the day watching movies and doing NOTHING. I’m tired of telling myself that the minute I get home from the office, after typing on a computer all day, I have to start working on a novel or else I’m failing at life. Most nights I don’t even write ~ I just sit there, tired and miserable, staring at the screen, until I crash into sleep.

Maybe my subconscious was also at work when I titled my last book of poetry All She Wrote. At the time, I meant it about a specific situation… or so I thought. In any case, I don’t intend to stop blogging or tweeting, or even writing the occasional pome, all of which are phone-friendly. I’m only talking about giving up the agony of fiction writing and the hopelessness of self-promo. These nowhere goals have been adding to my depression. (I probably shouldn’t use the word depression, but since I allow people with regular bad headaches to call them migraines, I figure I can haz a pass.)

These are the movies I watched yesterday:

1. Spaceballs! So freaking funny. I can’t believe I never saw it before. Loved it. Just what I needed to cheer me up. And whatever happened to Daphne Zuniga? So pretty! She was in a sweet romcom with my honey John Cusack back in the day. What was that? Be my google.

2. Winter’s Bone. Yikes, what an intense movie. I can see the appeal of Jennifer Lawrence now. She is incredible in this utterly bleak yet fantastic film.

3. The Age of Innocence. Generally I don’t like narrated movies, but there are exceptions to every rule, and this is one. What a lovely film. Everyone was superb. Daniel Day-Lewis is such a gifted actor ~ what a shame he retired.

I plan to feast madly on movies and books from now on. Other people have created delicious art and I’m simply going to nom up theirs and shoot down any idea that I need to write a novel, should such a crazy notion ever raise its nasty serpentine head again out of the tangled jungle of my mind. Begone, slithery, sanity-stealing, ego constrictor of doom.

Freedom!

How I’m Spending Mother’s Day

My children live far away and my mom has passed on, so I planned a quiet restful day with kitty, writing, movie at home, stitchery, etc. No need for a crowded annoying brunch or peeps coming over to pester me with flowers and whatnottery. I was looking forward to a nice day alone to catch up.

But first my bathtub/shower stopped draining water. I thought okay, no biggie, it’s just draining slowly and I will text my landlord dude guy later to deal with it tomorrow. My sink is also slow, and he can fix both things at once, efficiency rah. After a little bit I went to check the tub again and it hadn’t drained at all since my shower, so that was just Not Good. I started having some anxiety about work tomorrow and things of that nature, making sure to dry my hair in such a way that it could last for two days.

I had some tea and checked the tub again. Nope, nothing. All the yucko shampooey water was still there. So, I made my bed and washed the dishes as you do when you think your landlord might be coming over later. Then, naturally, I bailed all the yucko shampooey water out of the tub with a cup and flushed it away, cleaned the tub and shower curtain all nice and sparkling, since I couldn’t have my landlord and/or plumber seeing anything yucko. That would be gross.

Then I refilled the tub one inch or so with nice clean perfect water, texted my landlord that things were amiss, and waited for his reply. He called after a bit and said he’d fix everything tomorrow, Monday. Okay. I could live with that.

In the meantime, I went back to my beautiful clean tub to discover that the perfect water had drained out and in its place, from the bowels of hell, was a giant pile of dirt. WHAT?! This was not smelly poopoo dirt or anything like that, but dirt-dirt, like from outdoors. How could dirt-dirt get up to my second floor apartment? Why did it need to burp out of the drain for the nice clean water to go down? What was this mystery trade-off?

Well. I got out some trusty disposable cleaning gloves and bleach and wiped up the dirt-dirt. Soon the tub was even cleaner than before, so shiny and gleaming it hurt my eyes to look at the thing. In fact, I was getting a giant migraine from all this tubby gorgeousness. Again, I ran some nice clear water in the tub and kept checking on it. Eventually it went down (after a million years) and left a teensy bit of residue ~ not the huge clumps of dirt, just a few specks. I wiped them away and did it again. Same. I’ll probably keep doing this the rest of the day because this is how I am.

Obviously there’s a voracious creature waking in the pipes, something alien that was left here by a spaceship, a dirty hairy drain monster that will soon burst through and devour us all, beginning with my kitty and me sometime tonight after I fall asleep during one of the tub rinse/wipe/refill cycles. Gatsby seems unconcerned because he’s a cat. But really there’s nothing we can do, so we may as well nap and dream our last dream.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Stripey C00kies

My dad loved stripey c00kies. Not sure why I have a pic of these actually, but I found it while searching for something to poast for the “sweet” photo challenge and decided to use it instead of cupcakes (since I don’t feel like going through the gallery to check which cupcake pics I’ve used already). I still love stripey c00kies too. There’s just something so nostalgic and wholesome about them for me.

Wishing all my blogfans a happy Valentines Day!

~*~

Photo Challenge: Sweet