What's In Your Cookie? (A Reprise)

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I'm sort of cheating on this post as I pulled it from the archives of my Live Journal blog and am resurrecting it here. I originally wrote this on May 5th, 2006 so it's just a little over a year old. I was reminded of it this evening while I was at the same restaurant that I wrote about with the same two people - Amanda and my friend Paula. Enjoy ...

The past week has seen me at the Eastern Sake Buffet not once but twice as it seems to be Amanda's favorite food-joint of choice right now because she's wild about the (be still my roiling stomach!) octopus. Being amongst the large group of large Americans that likes to eat way much more than I should, I like the buffet but it's getting a little old because, contrary to popular opinion, there really can be too much of a good thing!

Anyhow, I thought I'd share my latest fortunes courtesy of the American Chinese Fortune Cookie Company or whoever it is that makes these things (visions of a little Mexican guy sitting in El Paso, Texas come to mind for some reason!). After all, what self-respecting Chinese restaurant, be it buffet or order-off-the-menu, doesn't offer a fortune cookie along with the bill? Why, that would be just downright unAmerican if they were to do that!

Last Saturday's fortune read "Reconcile with an old friend. All has been forgotten." Now there's a fortune that calls for some contemplation rather than the standard rolling of the eyes and you've-got-to-be-kidding look. Chances are good that everyone has someone from their past that remains there simply because all has not been forgotten. And what a shame that is.

One person from my past readily leaps to mind here but somehow I think that all has neither been forgotten or forgiven where he's concerned. And that's sad because I really do miss his friendship. Could I dare hope that the cookie is right? Well, if it is I guess I'll never know for I'm certainly not going to drive up to his new palatial homestead, knock on the door, and say "my fortune cookie sent me".

Last night's fortune cookie asked "What is the distance between the eyes and the soul?" Good question and one to which I don't readily have an answer. I've heard it said many times that the eyes are the windows to the soul but if you look into someone's eyes long enough will you actually see into their very soul?

I very distinctly remember staring into someone's eyes for so long and so intently that all I wanted to do was climb into the same body with him and stay there forever but does that mean that I saw into his soul? Had our souls joined through our eyes? It certainly felt like it. And no doubt all of us know someone who's eyes are about as flat and devoid of life as one can get - chances are good their soul matches that same sort of vacancy.

I have no intentions of visiting any Chinese food place anytime soon (though we all know the way of good intentions!) but it will be interesting to see what my next fortune cookie brings. I just hope it isn't like the one Paula got that said "Made in the USA" ... what the heck kind of rip-off is that?!? Brings me back to that little Mexican guy sitting in the Chinese fortune cookie sweat-shop in El Paso!

I've Got a Question, You've Got an Answer

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Amanda had concert band practice tonight from 5:30 to 7:30 for her upcoming concert next Thursday which left me with the choice of make dinner early, make dinner late, or stop by one of the local fast food joints. Guess which option I chose? Yep, off to the local Wendy's for a quick stop at the drive-thru before coming home to try to catch up on some of my blog reading.

So that brings us to this week's question:

What is your favorite fast food restaurant?

When I'm Wrong, I'll Admit I'm Wrong

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When I did my post last week about the My Chemical Romance concert (was that really only a week ago?) I wrote that the opening band, Circa Survive, was "one of the worst bands I've ever heard". In retrospect that seemed rather harsh as it's very possible that the reason they sounded so bad to me was because of their sound system's inadequacy which could be attributed to the fact that they admitted that they weren't used to playing in a venue the size of The DCU Center and that they were a last-minute add-on when Muse canceled.

Wishing to be fair, and knowing that I wasn't being so by making that blanket statement, I decided to do a little more research and find out what Circa Survive sounded like minus the horrendous bass reverberation. What was their music like if I could really hear the lyrics? First I stopped by their My Space Page (here) and listened to some of the music they have there and then I checked out some of the lyrics to their songs as well as their blog and message boards (here).

After listening to four songs, I have to be perfectly honest and say that theirs is not the kind of music that I would normally listen to - not because it's bad, mind you, but because it just doesn't appeal to me. However, once I could actually listen to the music without the distortion they had that night, they certainly didn't qualify as "one of the worst bands I've ever heard".

What I found most interesting, though, was that in a post on their blog that they wrote announcing that they were going to be playing with MCR in Worcester some of their fans felt that they were "selling out". For example this post:

"Please, for the love of all that is holy, never EVER play with a band like MCR ever again.

If people want to listen to MCR, fine. More power to them. But the 14 year old girls that call themselves MRC fans really are not deserving of the genius that is (or possibly was..) Circa Survive.

And now you’re doing Warped Tour? Come on guys. You don’t belong on such a venue, simply because you are way out of all of those bands’ league. I don’t care how much they are paying you to do the tour.

-A worried fan"

Now if I did my research right, it's my understanding that Circa Survive actually went on tour with My Chemical Romance during the winter of 2005 so last Tuesday obviously wasn't the first time they had ever played with them. Why the uproar from their "devoted fans"?

When a band gets the chance to play in a bigger venue to people who may not have had the chance to hear their music before that shouldn't be considered a bad thing - it should be considered an opportunity to gain some new fans. If Circa Survive's music has so much passion and emotion like their fans say then they should want more people to be exposed to it and become loyal listeners and not knock those people for being MCR fans (which a lot of commenters did).

What those people are doing is basically the same thing I did last week when I wrote what I did about the band. I hadn't given them a fair chance based on technical difficulties that distorted their music. My daughter - one of those 14-year old girls that calls herself an MCR fan - encouraged me to listen to Circa Survive outside of the show and reevaluate my opinion rather than base it on that one time. Which I did and I admit that I was wrong in my opinion.

Maybe Circa Survive's fans should do the same for My Chemical Romance and stop thinking that their band is selling out when I'm sure that was the last thing on their minds when they were given the opportunity to fill in for the other opening band that had canceled.

In music as in life, why can't we all just get along?

Behold the Long-Awaited M&Ms!

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At long last it's the final chapter in the Personalized M&M Saga that began way back on April 3rd when I found out that I had won the contest to be the 500th commenter at Bobbarama - the very funny humor blog of an inkblot named Bob (who looks rather like a smiley-faced M&M with hair himself!)

I'm sure that when I won the contest, Bob had no earthly clue that it would take me over three weeks and seven different posts to finally decide what to put on the M&Ms but it turned out to be the dilemma of a lifetime that was finally resolved with not one but two polls wherein I asked you, my faithful readers, to cast votes for your favorite sayings. Had it been left to me I might well have ended up with M&Ms emblazoned with "duh ..." and "uhm ..." on them!

When I arrived home today, the above box was sitting on the front porch and immediately brought a smile to my face as I knew that all of the waiting was over and inside would be not just any M&Ms but my M&Ms. Not to be overly dramatic but the excitement was just about as good as Christmas morning as a child when you come downstairs and see all of those presents under the Christmas tree! Granted, it's the middle of May and the box was sitting under the mailbox but I'm sure you get the idea!

Even though I wanted to rip right into the box as soon as I came in the house I decided to be an adult about things and changed out of my work uniform first, read my latest utility bill (and gasped in shock and dismay at the amount listed), and then thumbed through the rest of the junk that passes for mail these days. Finally Amanda told me to quit fooling around and open up the box for crying out loud!

Inside the cardboard box was a foam container and inside that was an abundance of bubble wrap along with the above four packages of my personalized M&Ms. Aren't they pretty? Amanda immediately snatched up a package and attempted to beat a hasty retreat out of the kitchen with it. I managed to stop her and a hand-to-hand battle ensued whereupon I wrested the bag from the hands of a hungry teenager! As a way of killing time until I actually opened one of the packages, she began popping the bubble wrap which was annoying but at least kept her from devouring an entire bag of M&Ms in what would surely have been no time flat!

Because I'm getting old and apparently blind, I really wasn't able to read the sayings on the candies very well until I took the above close-up picture! Part of the reason that some of them are upside down is because I couldn't even see well enough to position them all in the same direction! If I could make one suggestion to the good folks over at the M&M factory - they might want to change the printing to the same color as the lone "M" on the front of the candy as that's in gray and much easier to read than the black print - at least for those of us who really should wear glasses but are stubbornly refusing!

Upon completion of the photo session, I finally allowed Amanda to eat some of the M&Ms and then sat down to write this post. Halfway through she came into the living room and grabbed the bag that sat next to me on the couch. When I told her to give them back she asked "Why? Do they have your name on them? Besides, they're telling me to eat them!" Ah yes, my daughter the wise ass, I have no idea where she would have come by such a trait!

In conclusion, a big thank you once again to Bob for giving me the opportunity to have so much fun with this and for such a fantastic prize! The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have Bob deliver them in person but I guess it's a long trip from San Diego just to deliver candy! I'll be taking one bag to work with me tomorrow to show off over there and hiding the other two before my chocolate-crazed teen decides that they need to melt in her mouth and not in my hand!

You're all welcome to help yourself to a cyber-handful!

Mother's Day Memories

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Five years ago, I received a Mother's Day gift from Amanda and Jamie in the form of a small fig tree. I don't believe the tree was more than two feet tall and fit very nicely in my living room next to the TV. When it got to be too big for the living room, I moved it into the dining room during the winter where it took up a good part of one corner while in the summer I would wheel it outside and let it sun on the front porch until it got to be too cold when I would haul it back into the house.

Last year at the end of the summer I came to the sad conclusion that there was no way this no-longer-small fig tree was going to fit back in the dining room without having taken over the entire corner and then some. But it was a beloved Mother's Day gift and I didn't want to just get rid of it either. What to do? What to do?

Then it dawned on me that at the company where I work, the entrance lobby has very high cathedral ceilings and a good number of other plants already taking up residence so why couldn't my beloved fig tree take up a spot next to them? Besides, there are times when it seems like I spend more time at work than I do at home so I'd still be able to see my tree from time to time while it thrived and grew in the perfect environment. I made a few inquiries, was given the go-ahead, and a helpful friend bundled the tree into the back of his truck and delivered it to the lobby where it took up its spot next to several other semi-large indoor trees.

Today being Mother's Day and me being at work, it seemed like the perfect time to go down and check on my gift of many years ago so I descended the stairs from dispatch down to the lobby and "visited" with my tree for a bit. As I stood there and looked at how much the tree had grown over the years, I reflected on how much the givers of that gift have grown, too. Amanda will turn 15 in just a little over a month and her sister Jamie will then take her place as the 14-year old in the family a little over a month after that. I haven't quite figured out how they have both gotten to be in their mid-teens yet but I do know that they got there very quickly!

Just as the fig tree grew taller over the years (now close to 6 feet tall), Amanda also shot up to 5'10" and, though I haven't seen her since last summer, Jamie tells me that she has gained some height, too (she's always been the short one in the family). I will probably barely recognize her when she steps off the plane on June 6th for her summer visit.

A lot has changed since that small fig tree was given to me for a Mother's Day five years ago but to me those years have gone by in the blink of an eye. I shudder to think how quickly the next five years will fly by and how much will have changed by then.

To all the Moms out there - I hope that you had a fantastic day and that you have many happy memories to carry into the future with you; a future that I am sure will come way too soon for most of our likings.

The Weekend Wrap-Up

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Normally on Saturday I do the Photo Scavenger Hunt but decided to opt out this week due to several factors with the first and foremost being the fact that I couldn't find a picture of anything with the theme of "five" and just didn't have the time to go out and take a new picture either.

It has been a busy week between the My Chem concert and a mixed-up schedule at work. I've barely had a chance to even look at my favorite blogs, never mind leave any comments, and I feel like I'm still playing catch-up with just about everything. Add on the fact that I want to get up to visit my mother today for Mother's Day in lieu of tomorrow as I have to work and I just don't have the time to dedicate to the Photo Hunt that I usually do. My entire blogging schedule has been thrown off this week - augh!!! Oh well, it was worth it to have reached "epic Mom" status.

So, in the meantime, what else has been going on? For those who are curious about my personalized M&Ms and their status, I had an email from Bob of bobbarama this morning to advise me that my 3.1 pounds of chocolaty goodness should be arriving on Monday. 3.1 pounds?? Woohoo!!! And they're mine! Mine! All mine! Bwaahaahaahaa! I shall be sure to post a picture of this most monumental prize so that you can all be jealous!

In other blog happenings, Ed of The Pisstakers recently posted his review of my blog that I second-hand won as the result of Polli of Polliwog's Pond giving her second win of gummi bears and a review to me. You can check out Ed's review here and I wish that you would and let me know what you think.

For those of you that might remember the "review" that I got from italk2much.com back on January 30th (and if you don't, you can certainly read it by clicking here) where I was one step up from sucking, I must say that this review from Ed is quite glowing and complimentary - even though he does point out that I have "the mother of all sidebars" which is similar to a comment made in that other review.

Sigh ... what's a blogger to do? I have tried trimming it down from time to time but there are just so many good blogs that I read and other things that I want to put over there to the right that I just get carried away! I've been thinking I should get in touch with my totally awesome blog designer, Se7en, and ask him about going to a three-column format (though I'm not sure how or if that would work for this particular layout). Chances are good, too, that if I go to three columns then I would have double "the mother of all sidebars"!

Meanwhile, over at Pretty Good on Paper, Caveblogem studied the words used in my blog to add to his "Which Words Do You Own?" study that he is compiling. The word cloud that he did for my blog ended up looking like this:


You can click on the picture to get a bigger look to see what words "I own". Per the post, "Linda added 630 new words to the vocabulary database, quite a lot of new words after seventeen blogs and a total of more than a quarter of a million words (I was expecting maybe 450)." I think that means I use a lot of words! If you'd like to read the rest of Caveblogem's post on my blog and use of words, click here (I'm in a "click here" kinda mood today apparently!) Also, if you're interested in seeing what words you own, volunteers are being accepted!

I think that about catches me up with the things I've been meaning to post about this week and just never got the chance. For those of you who are anxiously awaiting your questions from me for your 5 Question Meme, I promise to have those out to you soon and I thank you for your patience!

Okay, I need to attend to my "other" life now! Hope everyone has a fantastic Saturday!

The Stuff Which Dreams Are Made Of

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I am feeling somewhat disoriented today in spite of the fact that I have had a very large cup of coffee to try to clear the cobwebs.

Have you ever woken up from a dream that has left you feeling somewhat dazed and confused and you just can't shake it? I think that is what's going on with me today and no doubt it will eventually clear but for now it's still messing with my mind.

For the record, I generally don't have what one might call "normal" dreams, meaning that they don't follow any sort of normal order - things always seem a bit skewed somehow for lack of a better way to put it. Sometimes my dreams remind me of the old Batman TV episodes where the camera was always turned at strange angles and people walked up the sides of buildings. Hmm, perhaps I dream in "comic book"? This dream, though, actually fell into the realm of normal, or normal for me maybe!

The dream was about someone that I haven't spoken to in a few years - someone who basically won't speak to me anymore due to circumstances that I won't get into here as a) I'd be typing until midnight tonight, b) it isn't really necessary to know the details, and c) I'd rather not dredge up that part of my past.

So, that said, I had this dream where I was out with one of my current co-workers and ran into this other person who apparently had finally decided that it was okay to talk to me and the heavens would not open up so that God could smote him down on the spot. The dream mostly consisted of catching up - the "so, how has your life been going?" kind of catching up - but I guess it threw me off because it just seemed so real. And that's probably what has me so messed up still - it seems like it really happened even though, in reality, I know it didn't.

Dreams are funny things as Sigmund Freud pointed out many times. When you want to dream about someone or something, you can't but when you least expect it - they pop into your nocturnal slumbers uninvited and then totally mess up your whole day! I think it might be the Native Americans who believe that you actually do travel in your dreams and visit places and people so that's why sometimes you wake up more tired than you were when you went to sleep to begin with. Maybe I was out visiting rather than getting some much-needed sleep? Hmm ...

I'm sure the dream meant nothing, other than that I still have some residual feelings for the person, but still ... anyone know a good dream interpreter??

I've Got a Question, You've Got an Answer

In honor of Tuesday night's My Chemical Romance concert (for which a post of epic proportions appears below this one!), I thought this week's question should be along those same lines.

Therefore, let me ask you -

What was the best concert you ever went to?

P.S., To all my favorite blogs that I haven't visited lately, I'm sorry! It's been a horribly busy week but I shall catch up - just not today as I'm working a double shift - ugh!

I Am No Longer a "Cool Mom"

Excited fans waiting for the show to start.

When I bought tickets to go see My Chemical Romance back in March, I don't think I had any idea exactly what I was getting myself into. I figured that I would drive Amanda, Nicole, and Dan up to the concert, we'd all have a good time, and then we'd head home possibly grabbing something to eat on the way back to Connecticut. Wrong!

Amanda had very different plans as to how this whole thing was going down and it included meeting some of her MCRmy friends (other fans that work tirelessly to promote the band) that she had made on-line and during her trip to Anime Boston as well as staying after the show to try to meet some of the band members and give them some of the artwork she had drawn for them. I had a feeling that we were in for a very long night and that feeling was pretty much right on the mark.

The show kicked off at exactly 7:30 p.m. with one of the worst bands that I have ever heard. (Please bear in mind that this is my own opinion and not the opinion of anyone else lest you take offense; Amanda said that they sound much better on their MySpace page!) The original opening band, Muse, had canceled so a group by the name of Circa Survive was filling in. Hailing from Pennsylvania, this was apparently the biggest venue the group had ever played and their sound system was absolutely horrible. Due to the extreme reverberation, no one could understand a single word they were singing and their lighting kept them in the dark most of the time. Thankfully they only played for 37 painful minutes, though the reverberations did make for a rather massaging type affect with the seating so there was that.

Word must have been out that the opening act was not all that great as the crowd in the arena looked to be pretty sparse at the beginning of the concert but before My Chem began, the place had filled up quite nicely. The general admission section in front of the stage, where Amanda really wanted to be, had gotten quite crowded and I was thankful that GA tickets had not been available when I purchased our tickets as it didn't look like any place I wanted to be! Going to a rock concert is one thing, standing shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of sweaty teens in general admission is another thing entirely! Young at heart will only take you so far!

When the lights went down and Gerard Way, the lead singer, was wheeled out onto the stage on a gurney while dressed in a hospital gown to begin singing the opening words to "The End", almost the entire arena jumped to their feet while hundreds of girls began screaming in unison. I looked at the lady sitting next to me, who looked to be about my age, and we just smiled and shook our heads as we knew we were in for it then.

Amanda sprang to her feet along with everyone else and didn't sit down again until the lights came back up at the very end of the show. She sang, she jumped, she waved her cellphone in the air, she danced, she cried ... she had the whole rock concert protocol down to perfection while I sat there looking at her wondering who this kid was and what had she done with my daughter?? I had to smile, though, as she was having the time of her life. Plus I think it was the most exercise she'd gotten in her life to boot! I can only imagine how she would have been down in "the pit" {shudder!}

As this is The Black Parade Tour, the band ran through the entirety of the album and it seemed that everyone in the audience knew all the words to all the songs (myself included) as it sounded like the entire arena was singing along with Gerard while he gave one heck of a performance on the stage. Let me just tell you that the guy can move ... no wonder the girls were all screaming! These guys do a fantastic show complete with pyrotechnics, fire, and black and white confetti that rains down like snow for almost an entire song and the audience loved every single minute of it.

At the end of the first set, MCR did a quick change and came back out to do five songs from their previous album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Having listened to this CD along with the other for the past several months guess what? - I knew all of these songs, too! I could have stood and sang and jumped and yelled along with Amanda but I decided to not embarrass her and stayed in my seat to enjoy the show. After over an hour and a half, My Chem wrapped up but the night was far from over.

We met up with Marisa, an MCRmy buddy who took these wonderful pictures of the band performing with the camera she managed to sneak in, near the merch stand (that would be the counter where they sell all the band merchandise to those not familiar with the lingo) so that Amanda could get a t-shirt and arm band before we proceeded to the back of the DCU Center where she hoped to meet at least some of the band members when the poor guys tried to get out of the building!

The mob at the stage door

Amanda had drawn some special pictures (I got to hold the folder during the show as she was too busy with the aerobics portion of the program) and she really wanted to be able to get them to someone in the band. While waiting with the rest of the fans, Amanda was showing her drawings to someone when suddenly a whole group of people came over and ooh'd and aah'd over her artwork proclaiming it to be the some of the best they'd ever seen. Next thing I knew, she was sitting in a circle on the pavement with her own flock of groupies while Nicole, Dan, and I stood back and were somewhat amazed.

Amanda showing her drawing to "her" fan club

Finally, at almost 12:30, there was movement at the door and Frank Iero, who is the rhythm guitarist, came out to meet some of his adoring fans. Amanda was standing in a group over near the door with her MCRmy buddies while I stood across the driveway and watched the whole thing unfold. Shannon, whom Amanda had met no more than half an hour before, managed to get Frank's attention and told him "Before you sign anything of mine, you have to see my friend's artwork because it's totally amazing and you're going to love it." Frankie then turned to Amanda and said "Hello, is this what she was talking about?" Amanda managed to nod her head and gave him the sketches. He took a minute to look at the drawings and said "Dude, these are amazing, you are so (expletive) talented. Thank you very much, I'll make sure that the guys will see this." Amanda stammered out "Thank you, I mean you're welcome" and that's when Frankie gave her a big hug.

Frank Iero, MCR guitarist

A little later, after signing autographs for some other people, Frankie turned back to Amanda and autographed two tickets from the show - one for her and one for Nicole. At that point Amanda gave him the rest of the things she had for the band, including a small plushy doll of Gerard she had handmade. Frankie told her that he would get the things to the guys and assured her that they'd love them and ended by telling her the things were "(expletive) awesome".

Amanda's autographed ticket

I've got to give her a lot of credit as after that Amanda merely walked across to where I had been standing and simply stood there with a shell-shocked look on her face. No squeeing, no passing out, no shaking (unlike some of the others there!). After Dan and Nicole had gotten a chance to meet Frank, I decided that chances were good no one else was going to come out and it was high-time to head home. It was 12:45 in the morning at that point and I was still looking at an hour drive back home and I was starving!

Once we all got in the car with the doors shut and seatbelts fastened, Amanda let out with the longest and loudest squeal I have ever heard come out of her mouth! Luckily, I was still partially deaf from the concert so it wasn't as bad as it could have been! She said she had wanted to hold it in just in case anyone else came out because she didn't want to seem like a deranged fan-girl. Again, I give her credit for her control!

So now, a little over 24 hours, later my hearing seems to have returned to normal while Amanda still can't speak above a loud whisper but she also hasn't stopped glowing or smiling or being totally excited about the whole thing. Amazing. There have been a lot of us telling Amanda for a long time that she's got talent when it comes to her artwork but apparently she refused to believe it until a rock star told her that she's "talented and awesome" (expletives again deleted!). What's a Mom to do?

Oh, and speaking of Moms - when I said that I was no longer a "cool Mom" it's because I am now "epic" according to Amanda and some of her MCRmy buddies because I not only took her to the concert and got her a t-shirt but I let her stay to give her artwork to the band. Hmm, I wonder what comes after "epic"??

Frankie holding Amanda's artwork

Wordless Wednesday - Preventing a "Cat-astrophe"!

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Wordless Wednesday Participants

1. Naeva - Mom of 2 2. ingrid 3. Dariana 4. Shaz@UsDanes 5. Hagerman 6. Magician 7. Alison 8. SargeCharlie 9. Angela Giles Klocke 10. Our Happy Happenings 11. Bridget 12. High Strangeness Altoona 13. The Raven\'s Barrow

14. KC 15. ju 16. Amber\'s Crazy Bloggin\' Canuck 17. Angel Mama ( Pearls of Wisdom) 18. Dragonheart 19. Stacey 20. mags 21. Skittles 22. Claire Rachael Pitt 23. jams o donnell 24. Green Eyed Girl 25. It\'s A Blog Eat Blog World 26. empress bee (of the high sea)

27. amy 28. Misslionheart 29. MCWC 30. Pinks & Blues Girls 31. dawnae 32. Get Your Blog On! 33. Lori 34. anyhow 35. Rav`N 36. The Splintered Mind 37. Simone\'s Butterfly

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Off to the Black Parade

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The long-awaited anticipation is almost over as My Chemical Romance takes over the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts tonight at 7:30 p.m. I believe that Amanda has lived and breathed nothing but MCR for the past several months and I just hope that the actual concert finally gives me a little relief, though I have the sneaky feeling that there will be over-excited recounts over and over and over again.

It's times like these, when I am going to a sure to be ear-splittingly loud rock concert with three teenagers (one who has taken to squeeing like the ultimate fan-girl lately) that I really have to question my sanity. Seriously question my sanity!

I was just sitting here trying to picture either of my parents ever taking me to a rock concert when I was a teenager and that's an image that I just can't conjure up at all! Of course, my parents were listeners of country music back when Johnny Cash, Slim Whitman, Jim Reeves, and the like were considered the "kings" so even The Beatles were over the top for them. For them to have taken me to see my favorite band when I was a teenager (I think it was Electric Light Orchestra at the time), would have been a major miracle and you can bet I would have been eternally grateful and helped out as much around the house as possible until I felt I had paid them back for such a totally awesome thing (Amanda, you getting all this??).

I'm sure we'll be getting back at some ridiculous hour so I suspect that my Wordless Wednesday post will be late but I took the day off from work (see, I'm not totally crazy!) and can spend the day looking at everyone's pictures while the ringing in my ears subsides and Amanda continues to squee.

In the meantime, here's a picture of three really happy teenagers (if Dan looks confused it's because he's trying to figure out his new camera) and I'm sure that there will be more to post after the concert. Lots, lots more to post ...

Dan, Amanda, and Nicole looking forward to The Black Parade

The 5 Question Interview Meme, Part Deux

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I volunteered to do another five questions for Gale of Gem-osophy after finally answering the questions that Jamie of Duward Discussion had asked me. I thought it would be interesting to see what sort of questions another blog author would have for me and Gale has provided me with some good food for thought. Of course, that's probably because Gale is a professional writer who has won several awards recently (and well-deserved ones, I might add!).

I must however admit that I had an ulterior motive in volunteering to receive five questions from Gale; I figure it gives me bragging rights for when she becomes a well-known and best-selling author! After all, can you imagine if Stephen King or J.K. Rowling had been your blog buddy before they became world famous?? Oh yeah - you'd be telling everyone about it and then some! So, just remember, Gale, when you get that first book published I want an autographed copy and permission to drop your name at every possible opportunity!

Now - on with the questions!

1. Why did you begin blogging? When did you decide to ask a neutral party to design your blog (it's very spiffy!)?

I actually began blogging on LiveJournal in August of 2004 as a way to put some of my thoughts down somewhere (they were getting a little too heavy for me to continue to carry around all the time!). An on-line buddy had suggested I give LiveJournal a try so I posted over there on and off until October 2006 when I came to the conclusion that trying to juggle more than one blog was more than I could handle (those of you who have multiple blogs amaze me!).

In July 0f 2006 I had the opportunity to begin blogging as part of The Norwich Bulletin on-line. They had started looking for bloggers in January and I submitted sample entries and an outline that apparently were good enough for me to "win a spot" on their Blog page. I don't get paid by The Bulletin, and my opinions are strictly my own, but it's been a great opportunity as I seem to have developed a fairly good amount of regular readers who found me via The Bulletin. Granted, I fall off topic more than I probably should but it's not always exciting being a single working Mom with a teenage daughter so I have to try to entertain in other ways sometimes (hence the major amount of memes lately)!

As for my spiffy blog design - first off, thank you! I decided in early December that it was time for a new look after seeing some of the really kick-ass blogs out there that other people had and thinking to myself that my page needed a make-over. I contacted Se7en from BlogsGoneWild, told him a general idea of what I wanted, and let him run with it. He was great to work with, especially considering my lack of HTML skills!, and when he presented me with the finished product I was thrilled. I officially unveiled my new look on December 10th and if you'd like to read the post that launched it, you can click here.

2. You've made no secret of the fact you're turning 50 in no time at all (whereas I am dreading it.) How are you able to embrace this reality when most women are terrified of the impending big 5-0?

I have always subscribed to the belief that with birthdays you either continue to have them or you don't - which means you're dead. Considering the alternative, I've opted to go with the birthdays! Aging is not an option, it's mandatory, but growing old - well, that's a horse of different color entirely! Facing 50 is easy when you look at it as exactly what it is - a number.

Granted, I have noticed that I am starting to fall apart by the numbers (my aching back, my changing hormones, my graying hair!) but mentally, I don't feel like I have reached old fogeyism just yet. Or have I? Hmm, I can't quite remember ... I think I used to know the answer to this ...

3. If you asked many people, they would say you are one of the most thoughtful, sweetest personas in cyberspace. Do you go out of your way to project this caring, considerate affect, or does it come naturally to you?

I can see a lot of people at work rolling their eyes heavenward at this question! People who don't know me very well will probably tell you that I'm tough-as-nails most of the time but, to be perfectly honest, that's generally an act. I actually wrote a post about this very thing that you can read here if you're so inclined.

The persona that I project in the Blogosphere is the person that I really am and not the person that I generally allow the rest of the world to see. I'm not exactly sure why that is, perhaps it has something to do with being able to hide behind a keyboard and not getting one's feelings hurt quite as easily or something. That and maybe I have just always expressed my thoughts and feelings better in writing than I can in words - which goes back to Question #1 and why I began blogging.

4. Okay you've turned 50. Paint a picture of what ideally happens in the next 10 years.

Well, if turning 50 also included a winning lottery ticket as a birthday present than I can tell you that the next 10 years will be wicked cool! If not, ideally I would like my years between 50 and 60 to be a time of newfound happiness either by myself or, better yet, with Prince Charming who finally managed to swim the right moat and storm the proper castle doors (at this point, I figure he took a wrong turn in Albuquerque!). Incurable romantic that I am, I still believe in the happy ending and I'd really like one of those if they haven't all been passed out to others!

5. Which blogger that you have never met face-to-face would you like to meet in person and why?

This is a tough one! Everyone brings something different and unique to their blog and I can only imagine what they're like in "real life". Ideally I would love to meet every person listed on my sidebar but for the sake of this question I'm going to say Bob from bobbarama would be my number one choice simply because the guy cracks me up and I'd like to see if he's as funny in person as he is in print. Also, even though the headless inkblot is quite cute, I am horribly curious as to what Bob himself looks like!

And there you have it - if anyone is interested in being interviewed by me (Mimi, I am working on your questions and you'll have them soon!) then please let me know. I'd be happy to dust off my former journalism skills and come up with some thought-provoking, hard-hitting questions for you! Conversely, if anyone's interested in asking Amanda 5 questions, let me know and I'll interview her for you!

Fun with Wikipedia

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Tagged again!

I seem to be getting tagged with memes by the royalty of The Blogosphere lately as, after being tagged by The Empress Bee of the High Seas with yesterday's meme, The Buzz Queen hit me with a rather quick and fun meme herself. I'm beginning to see how Mimi, the Queen of Memes, got her start!

This is an easy meme that requires one to simply go over to Wikipedia, type in the month and day of your birth, and then post three things that happened on that date in history, two people who share your birthday, and one person who died on that day. Why, this is one is so simple that even a cave man could do it! And because it's so simple, I thought I would also do Amanda's birthday, which just happens to be my Mom's birthday, too! Let me just say that was the last year she got a grandchild as a birthday present!

The Wikipedia Meme

My Birthday - September 9th

On This Date in History:
1543 - Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is officially crowned "Queen of Scots" in the central Scottish town of Stirling.
1776 - The Continental Congress officially names their new union of sovereign states the United States (the United States didn't become a country until the ratification of the Constitution).
1956 - Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time.

People Who Share My Birthday:
Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, French statesman (d. 1642)
Otis Redding, American singer and songwriter (d. 1967)

Someone Who Died on This Day:
1997 - Burgess Meredith, American actor

Mom & Amanda's Birthday - June 18th

On This Date in History:
1873 - Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.
1967 - Jimi Hendrix burns his guitar on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival.
1983 - Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.

People Who Share Mom & Amanda's Birthday:
1942 - Sir Paul McCartney, English singer and songwriter
1952 - Isabella Rossellini, Italian actress

Someone Who Died on This Day:
1959 - Ethel Barrymore, American actress

Easy to do yet fun and informative at the same time! So, let's see - who shall I tag for this one? Hmmm, perhaps ... Joan (I owe you one!), Akelamalu, and Dixie!

If You Don't Know Me By Now ...

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I was double-tagged for the "Ten Things You Don't Know About Me" meme - first by my favorite Erstwhile Librarian, Joan, and then by Her Royal Highness, The Empress Bee of the High Seas. Even if I had been able to decline politely to Joan, one does not ever decline the invitation to participate in a meme when that invitation is issued by The Empress Bee - I am sure she would not be amused!

To that end, I have wracked my brain for the past several days trying to think of ten little known, yet still possibly interesting, things about myself. This is tougher than it first appears to be, especially if you tend to write a lot about yourself like I do! It's made even tougher when you're losing a little more of your mind each day to hormonal fluctuations but I will do my best to educate and entertain.

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Me!

1. I cannot, cannot, cannot sleep in a quiet room! I need some sort of white noise in the background or I just don't stay asleep. A friend of mine in North Carolina sent me one of those noisemaking gadgets for my birthday a few years ago and every night I fall asleep to the sounds of a thunderstorm. It was one of the best gifts I ever got!
2. My middle name is Jean. No offense to my parents but - ugh! I always thought maybe I should move down South where if one said "Linda Jean" it would roll off one's tongue with a nice drawl to it!
3. I cannot sing for beans but I used to sing in a church choir and even got talked into doing a duet one year for a Christmas Cantata. Be glad you weren't there!
   
4. I once drove across country from California to Connecticut in a rented U-Haul type vehicle with just my son, who was six years old at the time. By the time I got to a place called Nile, Ohio I had almost had enough and was thinking it might be a nice place to settle but managed to push through the rest of the way!
   
5. I have never once painted my toenails or had them painted either.
   
6. My first marriage took place in a dentist's office in New Jersey when we were both in the Air Force. The dentist was the Justice of the Peace in town and performed the ceremony in between patients!
   
7. I have a fear of heights and will even get sweaty palms watching circus performers on TV when they are doing the high wire or trapeze acts.
   
8. I have never had a speeding ticket - ever - even though I do tend to drive too fast (watch - now that I've said that I'll get pulled over next week!)
9. Before I started having back problems I was a pretty good bowler and even threw a 260 game once a long time ago when I lived in California.
10. I was the Co-Editor in Chief of my college newspaper when I attended San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California.
    

There you have it - ten things that the vast majority of people probably wouldn't know about me! There are a couple that might but they don't comment on my blog so I guess they don't really count! Not to say that they don't count at all, just not where this post is concerned!

Now, the proper rule of etiquette when doing a meme is that you have to tag someone else so I hereby tag the Queen of Memes, Mimi*, and another blogger whom I have come to admire and respect, Gale of Gem-osophy. Hope you ladies don't mind!

*Mimi, I know you just did the "100 Things About You" meme but I'd sure appreciate it if you could dig up ten more somewhere!

A big thank you to Amanda for the artwork I used in this post!

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt - "Childhood"

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TNChick and the Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt took us in search of "childhood" this week so I get the feeling that there will be lots and lots and lots of pictures of kids up for all of us to ooh and aah over!

Not wanting to be left out of the fun, I managed to dig up a picture of my oldest brother, Mark, and myself that was taken way back in 1959 when, as my mother put it, I was so cute that she used to dress me up like a little doll. I must say that for someone with no hair, I think I looked pretty darned good! Eat your heart out, Britney Spears!



Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt Participants

1. PowersTwinB 2. Janet 3. Barbara H. 4. Biker Betty 5. srp 6. bonggamom 7. jenn in holland 8. Lynn 9. Dragonheart 10. chupieandjsmama 11. Lulu 12. It\'s A Blog Eat Blog World 13. empress bee (of the high sea) 14. Crazy Working Mom 15. Gattina 16. Lauren S. 17. Gabrielle 18. SargeCharlie 19. Brandy 20. Samantah & Tigger 21. Bengbeng 22. Coonie 23. Mom Unplugged

24. JHS 25. Tara 26. peppy 27. crookedeyebrow 28. Chelsea 29. letha 30. george 31. Skittles 32. Hummie 33. Chen 34. Drew 35. jan(bbsgirl) 36. Patricia 37. Heidi 38. Sandy 39. Denise 40. Tiffane 41. A. 42. jmb 43. YellowRose 44. pat 45. Loni 46. tray

47. Heather 48. wrchili 49. Soccer Mom in Denial 50. Mousey 51. Gewels 52. PEA 53. Angelika 54. RobK 55. Friday\'s Child 56. Lowell Crabb 57. Amy in NY 58. alisonwonderland 59. Ryan Velting 60. maleah 61. ashleystravel 62. Pastormac\'s Ann 63. eph2810 64. Claire Rachael Pitt 65. Rach 66. Stine

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Dedicated to Sgt Dub and All of Our Fighting Men and Women the World Over

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I got this video in an email today and I just HAD to share it. Please take five minutes out of your busy schedule to watch this and if you don't find yourself with at least one or two tears then I want to know why.

God bless all of our troops and bring them home safely. ♥ ♥ ♥

I've Got a Question, You've Got an Answer

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I thought it might be kind of fun to start a weekly feature of my own right here in my small part of the Blogosphere; after all, even though this is my blog, there's no reason for it to be "all about me" (as my friend Andrew might say!).

Once a week I'm going to ask you, gentle readers, a question and I will look forward to your answers as I'm sure will everyone else who pops by my blog. This gives the lurkers a chance to come out of the shadows as well as giving us all a chance to learn a little something about each other!

I hope you'll join in and play along - please???

This week's question:

What is your all-time favorite cartoon?

Not exactly Wordless Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesday Participants

1. And Miles to Go... 2. Claire Rachael Pitt 3. Liza\'s Eyeveiw 4. The Twinkies 5. Starrlight 6. CKC 7. Simone\'s Butterfly 8. Our Happy Happenings 9. Sue 10. Comedy Plus 11. Beckie 12. celeste 13. Jim 14. Isabelle aka Tricotine 15. Faith Family Friends

16. karen (miscmum) 17. Alissa 18. anyhow 19. amy 20. NspiredByFaith 21. Biker Betty 22. jenn in holland 23. Alison 24. jams o donnell 25. maiylah 26. Kuanyin 27. Amazing Gracie 28. Beaman 29. Skittles 30. ribbiticus

31. mar 32. Mama Duck 33. Patois 34. mags 35. svend 36. Denise Patrick 37. Shaz@UsDanes 38. Crazy Working Mom 39. Angel Mama ( Pearls of Wisdom) 40. MCWC 41. It\'s A Blog Eat Blog World 42. SargeCharlie 43. empress bee (of the high sea) 44. Bengbeng

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The 5 Question Interview Meme

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A long, long time ago on a blog far, far away (or at least several webpages over!), Jamie at Duward Discussion did a meme with five interview questions asked of her by Mo of It's A Blog Eat Blog World. Her answers were fantastic and it seemed like a lot of fun so I volunteered for Jamie to ask me five questions of her own choosing.

Jamie sent me off her five questions and I have sat here and looked at them since the 23rd of April trying to think of the best way to answer them. I was actually rather surprised that I didn't fire off a response right away but it has obviously taken me awhile to compose my responses. Jamie did say that she hoped it was easier for me than it was for her but obviously that hasn't been the case! I think, though, that I have finally managed to answer these to the best of my ability so without further ado, I present to you The 5 Question Interview Meme:

Question #1: Who is YOUR favorite Anime character and why?

My favorite anime character would have to be Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes from the series Full Metal Alchemist. As to the why; Hughes is a family man who is very devoted to his wife Gracia and is completely and totally besotted with his daughter Elysia. He comically shoves pictures of her into other people's faces much to their annoyance but this goofy action is more or less a cover for the serious and depressing nature of his work in the Investigations Division.

His undying love for his wife is what ultimately ends up killing Maes when Envy, one of the evil characters of the series, transforms himself into Gracia during a fight and Maes hesitates just long enough for Envy to fatally shoot him through his arm and into his chest.

Incurable romantic that I am, I can see the power of love in Maes' character and that's why he is my very favorite. Plus, as far as animated characters go he's not too hard on the eyes!



Question #2: What was the absolute worst call you have ever had to dispatch and how did you come to terms with it?

In November of 2001 I was working as a police/fire dispatcher at the Norwich Police Department when we received a call for a structure fire on Lake Street. I dutifully sent out the Fire Department and began the ritual of fire dispatch, which is a lot like being a parrot as you constantly repeat back what is being reported from the scene. When crews arrived on-scene, the house was engulfed in flames and it was then that I learned that four children were trapped on the second floor.

None of them made it out alive and when it was radioed back to me that there were four fatalities, my heart dropped to my feet and it was all I could do to not break into tears right then. At the end of my shift I was given a very big hug by the police officer that I had been working the desk with and then I went home to reflect on how helpless we as dispatchers sometimes are no matter how quickly we get help to the scene or how well trained those people are.

I opted to seek counseling through the Employee Assistance Program and was able to talk out my feelings of frustration and inadequacy - something that I think all dispatchers feel from time to time as oftentimes it seems that all we can do is send the right help and hope it goes well from there. We may not be physically on-scene fighting the flames with everyone else or providing hands-on medical care to a patient but trust me - we're there.


Question #3: If there was one place you could never see again, which one would make you miss the most?

Lake Tahoe in California. When you are leaving the Tahoe Basin via Route 50 heading towards Sacramento, there is a road that you can take that makes a hairpin turn to a spot overlooking the lake. From there you can see the whole vista spread out before you just as the pioneers might have seen it and, if it's at night, it seems that all you have to do is reach out your hand and you could pull the stars down from the sky. It's breathtaking.


Question #4: What song (piece of music) always makes you smile when it surprises you in an unexpected place such as the supermarket.

"White Flag" by Dido always makes me smile when I hear it unexpectedly as it became "my" song when it first came out in 2003. I had managed to get my heart rather severely broken and had doubts that I would survive the agony of it all (ah, the melodrama!) and this song seemed to sum it all up nicely. It would come on at the oddest times and now when I hear it, having obviously survived said broken heart, I always smile and shake my head while remembering that time really does seem to heal all wounds. Most of the time!


Question #5: Design your calendar. What image would you put on each month that would represent your hopes for a year from that date; i.e. May on the calendar would be a wish for May of the following year.

I hate to punk out on this one but I cannot for the life of me come up with a decent answer for this and I'm afraid that it is the one question that held up this entire interview! It's hard for me to project out what I want for the next year to come other than health, a little bit of financial breathing room, and reasonable happiness. Jamie, I hope I didn't disappoint you too much by not being able to answer this one properly but - honestly - I am stumped!


And now it's your turn - if you'd like me to interview you just follow the instructions below and I'll send you five questions of your own to mull over and agonize about!

1. Leave a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions (if I don't have your email address, you can email me instead, just click on the mailbox on my sidebar). I will pick the questions that I think are applicable to you.
3. You then update your blog with your answers to the questions.
4. You include this explanation and offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you then ask them five questions.

You never know - this could be fun and it's a great way to have others get to know you a little better!