TMP30: Aging Celebs

Welcome to my refreshed Monday Peeve! Unburden yourself of an annoyance and you’ll feel better afterward. Or not. Complain in my comments or crab in your own post. Doesn’t have to be on a Monday. You do you.

I know I’ve ranted about celebs before, but this time I’m peeving about their critics, specifically the media’s gasping over a celeb who has the audacity to age. HOW DARE THEY! The latest celeb under attack is none other than Tom Cruise, who had the nerve to show up in public recently sporting some weight gain and hair loss. Yep, the dude is about my age (60) and no matter how much money you pour into beauty treatments, eventually you will look older regardless. The media can’t bear it. They go on about the fact that Tom looks SO DIFFERENT. Hello, it’s called normal biology, so get a grip. It’s despicable how “journalists” gleefully post the worst pics of a celeb they can find in order to rattle on about how much they’ve changed, as if somehow movie stars are superhuman. Nope. They wrinkle up just like the rest of us, though it sometimes takes them longer due to plastic surgery, etc. I almost feel sorry for the older celebs, but then I think nah who cares. They can buy themselves a new house in consolation.

However, the problem trickles down to the rest of us with this hammering away that the only acceptable way to exist as a human, not to mention finding a romantic partner, is to be young and dewy-skinned, slim and gym-buffed, with fabulously thick and shiny hair. Most people don’t fit this description, ever.

~*~

Image altered from the original at Pixabay.

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.

TMP29: Tongues

Welcome to my refreshed Monday Peeve! Unburden yourself of an annoyance and you’ll feel better afterward. Or not. Complain in my comments or crab in your own post. Doesn’t have to be on a Monday. You do you.

I know you’re thinking wtf tongues? Does she mean languages? Nope. I mean actual tongues. There is nothing attractive about a human tongue; they are simply practical organs like spleens or whatever. It irks me to no end to see grown-ass adults sticking out their tongues in photos. I mean, WHY? Why do you want to look like a jerk? I don’t get it. It’s not funny, or cute… it simply makes you look ridiculous and often ruins a perfectly good picture. And it is proportional to age. A baby, a toddler, a little kid, eh, maybe a sticking-out-tongue photo is good for a laugh. But a teenager and up? An actual old person? Ick. You look stupid. Stop it. Oh, and it makes your wrinkles stand out more, in case you were thinking that these tongue pics create an impression of impish youth. No, they certainly do not. If you must take them for “fun,” don’t post them to the world, for heaven’s sake. Not everything has to be for public consumption; in fact, most things shouldn’t be. I realize this is contrary to the entire point of the internet now, but whatever.

If I had a lawn, I would indeed yell at you to get off it. Since I don’t, TMPs will suffice.

~*~

Image altered from the original at Pixabay.

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.

TMP28: Glitch Bitch

Welcome to my refreshed Monday Peeve! Unburden yourself of an annoyance and you’ll feel better afterward. Or not. Complain in my comments or crab in your own post. Doesn’t have to be on a Monday. You do you.

OK, it is now time for the irregularly scheduled WordPress bitchathon! Feel free to join in here or at your place with all the latest blogging glitches that annoy the crap out of you. Here are some of mine.

1. Randomly changing the direction of “curly quotes” to face the wrong way. I have to go into the code editor to fix this. It happens only once in a while, but still… why?

2. The media library stubbornly refusing to show images from a correct search term. This happens about half the time, but unlike pre-refresh, I don’t reload an image and waste space. Nuh uh. I manually search for it in the library. They aren’t going to charge me for more space when I KNOW something is there!

3. The inexplicable formatting of only a portion of text you select. Say I want to bold a paragraph or just once sentence (or link or italicize) ~ sometimes the editor says nah I’m only formatting part of what you picked, haha! Not a huge biggie to format the rest (except for links where you have to go into the code editor), but again why irritate us with this stupidity?

4. Why isn’t there a way to tell WP to auto-approve already approved commenters who link back? Why must we manually approve known linkers as though they’re new commenters? Annoying!

5. I’m still missing posts in my feed and often have to go hunting for ones I respond to regularly, like Fandango’s prompts and Melanie’s questions. GRRRR!

BONUS BITCH: Lately I have mistakenly written my first paragraph in the ”caption” of an image because the new improved blocks (lol) make it difficult to space down or to see that you haven’t. Just fixed my haiku posted Sunday afternoon. SO ANNOYING!

Your turn.

~*~

Image altered from the original at Pixabay.

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.

TMP27: Growing Old…

Welcome to my refreshed Monday Peeve! Unburden yourself of an annoyance and you’ll feel better afterward. Or not. Complain in my comments or crab in your own post. Doesn’t have to be on a Monday. You do you.

My title is a tad misleading because my peeve is not about growing old, which in general beats the alternative, but about a particular thing people say. In fact, I’ve read it at least twice this week. The saying goes something like “growing old is a state of mind.” That drives me nuts! This is either uttered by people who are not old yet or who are extremely lucky not to face any health ailments or disabilities and/or who have some kind of superior skin/hair genetics. For the rest of us normal people, as we creep through our 50s and beyond, our bodies will show OBVIOUS signs of aging. We will look older and we will feel older, no matter our “state of mind.” I can smile and laugh and listen to new music and follow trends day in and day out, but that doesn’t change the FACT that I suffer from sciatica 24/7 and my back ALWAYS hurts now (it used to hurt only when I did something dumb). It doesn’t change the fact that I don’t sleep as well as I used to (partly due to back pain) and thus have less energy for doing stuff during the day. It doesn’t change the fact that my memory is not as sharp as it was and it’s taking me twice as long as 4 or 8 years ago to review for the notary exam next week.

The problem with these Hallmark homilies is that it places blame on the aging person, as if we choose to feel sh!tty. Believe me, if back pain were a choice, I would choose not to have it. I mean, duh. But it’s like when people say “get over it” while you’re grieving a loss as if you can wave a magic wand and forget you have a broken heart because you were dumped or your mom died. Mostly they say these things because your feelings are making THEM uncomfortable, which is another issue. Sure, eventually, the grief may fade somewhat, but that’s simply due to time passing not some strength of character (as if there is something “weak” about missing a loved one in the first place). And, however long it takes, it isn’t willful suffering by the grieving person, just like I am not deliberately giving myself more wrinkles and flabby skin. Oh hey, I choose door number more gray hair, woohoo! Bring it on!

I know, I know. I can choose not to be bothered by gray hair, and I do choose that. I used to color my hair, but I’ve decided it looks OK and I don’t feel like spending the money. But that doesn’t change the FACT that I am aging, my hair is getting grayer, and I look like a 60 year old grandma, which I am. No mental gymnastics can change this reality and I resent people spouting crap about aging being “all in the mind.” Unless you die young, you will age, physically and mentally, and you will eventually look and feel old, end of story. (I guess there’s an exception for mental illness where you refuse to accept your age, but that’s a whole new problem.)

~*~

Image altered from the original at Pixabay.

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.

TMP26: Tipping

Welcome to my refreshed Monday Peeve! Unburden yourself of an annoyance and you’ll feel better afterward. Or not. Complain in my comments or crab in your own post. Doesn’t have to be on a Monday. You do you.

As I mentioned last week, I’m going to complain about tipping today. I hate our entire system of tipping ~ in fact, I just saw a waiter get murdered on the Sopranos over a tip, or lack thereof. (I’m rewatching all the Sopranos episodes in anticipation of The Many Saints of Newark movie, which is a prequel.) Anyway, to be clear, I always leave a good tip, 20% or more, for personal service or table service. I just figure it’s part of the cost because I don’t want to be that jerk who prevents someone from making a decent wage for the day. So why not just CHARGE THAT? I’m so tired of getting these bills with “suggested” tips (for people who can’t math). I like to round mine up from the 20%, which I can figure out MYSELF, thanks, to get to an even dollar amount because I’m OCD, but whatever. I just wish all this stuff would simply cost 20% more, the waiters would get paid appropriately, and it wouldn’t be my responsibility to tip them.

That’s part one of my annoyance with the whole thing. Part two is the nudge for tips for people who aren’t bringing anything to me. I’m talking about, for example, the person who rings up your order at a Starbucks. Why would I tip them? Do you tip the cashier at McDonald’s? How about the salesperson at Macy’s? The guy who works on your car? Where does this end? At the bagel place the other week, when I paid by credit card, there was a line for a tip and I left it blank. But I felt bad later and now don’t ever want to return, though I probably will, eventually. It’s so irritating!

GRRRR.

~*~

Image altered from the original at Pixabay.

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.

TMP25: Cardigans

Welcome to my refreshed Monday Peeve! Unburden yourself of an annoyance and you’ll feel better afterward. Or not. Complain in my comments or crab in your own post. Doesn’t have to be on a Monday. You do you.

Today I share a fashion peeve. I love sweaters and I especially love cardigans because they can be layered. Well, they HAVE to be layered if they don’t have buttons, amirite? I’ve may have complained about this before, but so what… since my refresh I’ve decided I can re-peeve old peeves since they aren’t on my site now (and don’t get me started about the creepy Wayback Machine). Anywho, buttons? What the hell ever happened to buttons? Is there a shortage? Did crows carry them all off to decorate their nests? WHAT??? Why are all the cardigans open-front? And those old-lady clippy things don’t work either ~ I bought three and they’re cute, but they’re only for show. They don’t keep the cardi closed. The sides flop around sloppily all day. So annoying.

Check back next Monday for more GRRRR. Until then, stay chill, my friends.

~*~

Image altered from the original at Pixabay.

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.

TMP24: “Personalization”

Welcome to my refreshed Monday Peeve! Unburden yourself of an annoyance and you’ll feel better afterward. Or not. Complain in my comments or crab in your own post. Doesn’t have to be on a Monday. You do you.

This week my annoyance is about the alleged “personalization” you can do on various sites. I put it in scare quotes because it’s mostly BS. Take Edge for example, which I had as the default browser on my laptop. Every time I opened a new tab, their newsfeed would populate. I kept TRYING to “personalize” it by telling it my interests and blocking certain sites, but that was useless. They ignore my prefs and blast what they want. Yesterday (Friday) was the last straw when a stupid article from Fox News popped up. That is always the first thing I block! Eff it, I said, and switched to Chrome. Edge had its chance (too much of a chance really), and now I’m done. The Bing search engine sucked too, honestly. It never put the Wiki articles first like Google does, and as you know I’m a huge fan of Wikipedia since I’m mostly looking for music/movie info and not pristine historical facts, as if there are any, lol. Also, you know what I get when I open a new tab in Chrome? NOTHING. It’s a blank page. That’s exactly what I want to see, not someone else’s idea of “news.”

Don’t even get me started about trying to customize things in WP. I have a paid plan and still can’t do much in the way of getting things how I want. Forex, why can’t we completely eliminate the reblog/share button? I don’t want ANY OF MY POSTS reblogged, shared, saved, archived, screenshotted whatever, even with a link back. (Not talking about my bloggity friends who copy stuff for a prompt.) I’ve peeved about this before. My writing is mine to do with as I will. But you can’t get rid of the damn button in the newsfeed, which makes me so mad. Yes, I know it wouldn’t stop the creepy Wayback Machine, but it would stop other randos from sharing my stuff.

Welp, at least I now have a new tab function that isn’t annoying me to bits. That’s something.

~*~

Image altered from the original at Pixabay.

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.

TMP23: Dumpster Divers

Welcome to my refreshed Monday Peeve! Unburden yourself of an annoyance and you’ll feel better afterward. Or not. Complain in my comments or crab in your own post. Doesn’t have to be on a Monday. You do you.

OK, so dumpster divers. Yes, we can all feel sorry for them, but I am so annoyed at the ones who come to my condo complex. They are complete slobs and fling trash everywhere while they’re looking for whatever it is they search for. One day I took some paper towels outside and picked up the garbage on the grass, but now there’s more and just ugh. I guess that isn’t the job of gardeners/maintenance peeps, so it just sits there and rots, possibly attracting rats. The actual garbagemen only pick up the bin to dump in their truck; they don’t tidy things up ~ nor do I expect them to. The fact that there’s a sign on the door to the bins saying NO SCAVENGING (with the relevant police code) does nothing to deter the divers, nor is there any point to calling the police, since they probably have more important things to do. And god forbid I should be a “Karen” over some poor dude just looking for cans to recycle for a buck. But if I thought it would have any lasting beneficial effect, I would totally go Karen on them! Perhaps it’s time to put locks on the doors so only residents can enter the bin area. Not sure how that would work for the garbage pickups though. I’m just so tired of litter and sloppiness. People have no respect for the property of others nor for the earth itself. It’s just more of the same selfish, inconsiderate behavior we see in other peeves.

~*~

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.

TMP22: California Recall

Welcome to my refreshed Monday Peeve! Unburden yourself of an annoyance and you’ll feel better afterward. Or not. Complain in my comments or crab in your own post. Doesn’t have to be on a Monday. You do you.

Everything regarding the California recall election irritates me. If you don’t know about this mess, California Republicans successfully gathered enough signatures to force a recall vote on Governor Newsom, who is up for re-election next year anyway. But let’s spend gobs of money now on this idiocy ($200M+). Does that mean I love Newsom? Nope! I think he’s a jerk. I will happily vote for another Democrat to replace him next year.

That’s one thing. Another thing is the obviously horrible idea of replacing him with some T-supporting Republican, especially with Senator Feinstein so ancient and frail. (This is also a peeve ~ why don’t these egomaniacs resign in time for a Democrat to choose their successor? Yes, I also mean the beloved RBG and now Breyer.) A third annoyance is the fact that the stupid Democratic party bosses forbade all the name Dems from campaigning, so now we’re stuck with a handful of nutball Dems to vote for. Oh, but they say we should leave that part blank after voting no on the recall. HOW R-WORDED IS THAT??? What if it passes? Of course we need a backup Dem.

But Newsom and the bosses arrogantly shrugged off the recall possibility until it was too late to run an intelligent counter-campaign. The whole thing is so incredibly maddening I decided not to finish doing my ballot today (Sunday) and stuck it in a drawer. I’ll do it. But I need to not be so enraged.

~*~

Image altered from the original at Pixabay.

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.

TMP21: Rando Linkers

Welcome to my refreshed Monday Peeve! Unburden yourself of an annoyance and you’ll feel better afterward. Or not. Complain in my comments or crab in your own post. Doesn’t have to be on a Monday. You do you.

This is a very minor peeve, but that’s OK. Feel free to respond with peeves large or small. Mine’s about these bloggers who randomly link to my posts, which should be fine, right? I assume some/all of you are experiencing this as well. We link to each other’s posts, but that’s when we’re doing prompts or otherwise interacting within the community. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about these RANDO bloggers who grab a post (they do it properly with only a snippet of the post and a link back to the original) without comment or further interaction. When I visit their site, there are never any comments or likes on any posts, just a series of unrelated linkages to other bloggers’ posts. And there is no theme to the posts they grab; everything is labeled “uncategorized.” I don’t know what their purpose is; it doesn’t even look like they’re selling anything or trying to get followers. I know there has to be a purpose, probably monetary, but what? They aren’t breaking the rules like that other site a few years ago, and they certainly don’t bug me as much as freaking Internet Archive with their creepy web shots, but still. Why are they doing this?

Yes, I wrote to a couple and they took down the posts, but it keeps happening with new bloggers. I suppose I should just forget about it, but hey peeve time. Actually, I wrote to another one Sunday evening asking him why he’s linking to me (I think he has a few posts of mine up now). This guy has left a couple comments, but still I find it weird. We’ll see if he replies. Again, these bloggers are not stealing content like that other site ~ they’re just randomly linking back.

~*~

Image altered from the original at Pixabay.

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.