Friday 5 - Ding

A big thanks to scrivener over at Friday 5 for reliably creating a fun and interesting diversion to ease us into the weekend! This week is totally dingy!

1. When is *ding* a most welcome sound? I guess the microwave I have is not technically a *ding* anymore, but I think of it as a *ding*, so I am going with that...when my sad microwaveable food is warm enough to eat. *Ding!* *Applause!*
Also, sometimes, the *ding* or other tone as I receive a message on my phone...

2. When is *ding* a most unwelcome sound? I so seldom have unexpected visitors that when I hear the doorbell *ding* I immediately feel like something must be wrong. At the very least I know that I am about to be inconvenienced by having to turn away someone selling newpaper subscriptions or religion.

Also, sometimes, the *ding* or other tone as I receive a message on my phone...

3. If a *ding* could be heard only by you to warn you about something in social situations, what might that *ding* alert you to, and how many times do you think you’d have heard it this week? Fortunately, I feel like I am generally pretty tuned in to social cues. When I was younger, though, I seemed to miss the point when something went from a discussion to a confrontation. So, for old times sake, I guess I'd like a *ding* to indicate to me when someone is getting genuinely angry with me, rather than just participating in a rousing debate. And actually, I would have heard that *ding* a couple of times this week for sure.

4. A Ding Dong is a hockey-puck-shaped chocolate cake(like) dessert filled with cream and covered with chocolate. Its name is somewhat suggestive to some. What other food items have names that inspire you to think naughty thoughts? First, let us bow our heads and mourn the passing of the Ding Dong era. I've been told something else will come along to replace it...but nothing yet! Nothing! Um, anyway....some other foods that come to mind are jerk chicken and blow pops. I mean, really!

5. What’s an item in your possession that recently received a ding, and whose fault was it? My mom's car. It was a little more than a ding. (Okay, quite a bit more than a ding). And it was Girlie Girl's fault. But of course, I feel responsible. *sigh*

Please play along in comments. Or just comment in comments. Or even post these questions and your answers on your own blog, if you'd like. Participation is the key :) 

Hope you'll stop by tomorrow for my Summer Saturday Scavenger Shots. You won't be sorry. Well, you won't be that glad either...but for sure you won't be sorry. I mean, how bad could it be? Come on. Geez.

Through the Jungle, Through the Dark

I've been working my way back to you, Choose and Defend Wednesday, with a burning love inside. And here I am, back in your arms at last. Let's run away together and start a new Choose and Defend life. We'll need a little place to call home.

Where would you prefer to live?

Houseboat

OR

Treehouse

Of course they'd both have positives and negatives....perhaps some overwhelming negatives...but where could you see yourself living if these were your housing choices?   Choose and Defend in honor of our Wednesday love.

Always Remember

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day. Give thanks in whatever way seems appropriate to you :)

This Musical Message is For It's Better to Feel Pain

The Ragged Men in Ragged Clothes

Hi guys. It is Saturday Scavenger Shots time...and my word choice has made this into a CELESTIAL Saturday too!

I picked the word CELESTIAL because I am fascinated by the beauty of the visible heavens. I wasn't so much thinking of anything suggesting divinity...but you might be! I'm looking forward to seeing what CELESTIAL might mean to other bloggers.

I am just going to post up a bunch of photos now. I took them all in my bedroom. Oo-la-la! Well, no...not so much. But, um, you can see that I like to rest and relax with the CELESTIAL around me.

This is one of my favorite pillow cases. Lay down your head and dream of beautiful, far away things.

This guy hangs right over the doorway as you exit my room. I look up and try to take a bit of the moon with me as I leave into the outside world.

 Feeling moon-y or sunny, I have you covered! You can gaze into your choice of CELESTIAL bodies!

Watching over us all is the Wizard Love Monkey. His hat is thing of CELESTIAL magic!

 

Now you know how I roll, so to speak. I'd love to see something CELESTIAL from you. Yes, you.  And for next week...I will throw this tag back to Tara, so as to mix up the mix a bit :)

Bring On the Bacon and Fill Me Up

What a day, what a day...at least it is a Wednesday, the perfect day to play Choose and Defend Wednesday! I have not been very domestic lately, so I thought maybe a rather domestic Choose and Defend could be nice.  So let's do that. Let's say it is time to prepare dinner and you are given a choice by your  *husband, girlfriend, mom, son, roommate...whoever!* Tonight you may either...

Cook the Meal

OR

 

Clean Up After

Which task would you Choose? Why? Defend your choice!  Choose and Defend :)

Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby

My baby, Daniel Handsome Lad, is 16 today. Unbelievable! Somehow, I had a much easier time as my older kids entered each new stage of their lives. But with my youngest, who trails his sister by 4.5 years, I have found each new phase both familiar and entirely new. I guess the slightly skewed view came because both he and I were traveling through territory already occupied by four others before him. He watched (and continues to watch) his older siblings intently, trying to see what to expect and how to behave. As for me, I could pretend to be jaded by now, but in truth every child is so different that going through an experience with one scarcely qualifies you to go through it with another.

Baby of the family. Aw!

Over the years, Handsome Lad has given me so many good times. He is very smart and funny. Nowadays, he seems to be focusing on the funny and using the smart to avoid all but the most passing glance at boring, boring school work. He fancies himself a man of style, an auteur. He remains commitedly hipster. He's actually pretty awesome, but also pretty frustrating. Hoping the next few months will bring some maturity that will aid him in finding his path...

Here is is from a distance, hanging out with his girlfriend.

So, here's to my baby, my Handsome Lad, the light o' my life. Happy 16th Birthday :)

This Musical Message is For I Naturally Fled

You Fix the Ribbon in Your Hair

It is Saturday, so I am here to post my Saturday Scavenger Shots. This week's word, chosen by Tara @ Eclectic Spaghetti , is DRAW. What a great word! I love to DRAW. But don't DRAW any wacky conclusions. Like singing, DRAWing is something I enjoy, but it isn't something to boast about.

Still here are a couple of examples of things I have DRAWn for fun and as part of my work.

Here are a couple of springtime images I created using the high tech medium of multi-colored die-cut card stock and crayon on white card stock. As you can see, I DRAW with only marginally more competence than the toddlers I work with.

 

Let me DRAW you in with another fine example of my work. As you can see, I have mastered the blue sky, the green grass, and the lovely orange sun. DRAW your own conclusions about the bear shown here. Could be a self-portrait I reckon...

 

I hope this weekend DRAWs out long and lovely for you. If you haven't DRAWn anything lately, please take a moment and just do it. It is great fun and quite relaxing.

 

Now to see who Tara will tag for next week!

We Let Our Hair Grow Long

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

That's right! This week's Choose and Defend Wednesday is all about neighbors. We all have them. Maybe you live rurally, or just comfortably, and your neighbors are some distance away. Maybe you, like me, are an apartment dweller living cheek to jowl with your neighbors.

There are good neighbors. I have some myself. And then there are the dreaded bad neighbors. Everyone has a least one, don't they?

So, my question for you today is - Which bad neighbor would you Choose? And why? Tell us all about it!

Noisy Neighbors

OR

Nosy Neighbors

Two bad neighbors, one choice. Which bad neighbor would you be more able to tolerate? Choose and Defend!!!

This Musical Message is For I Just Have to Remember

When You Are Gone

Thank you to the super-est of super men, Jasen @ Swamp Gas & Moonlit Reflections for choosing this week's Saturday Scavenger Shots word - STONE. It felt so right, as I am currently in the process of turning my heart to STONE! Perfect :)

The word STONE can feel negative (STONE-y silence), or positive (she is strong as a STONE, my Rock of Gibralter). And of course...I would not feel so all alone. Everybody must get STONEd.
All this descriptive stuff. But my STONE will be literal today.

Here is some STONE in my life -

This is a street island festooned with STONEs set in cement (which is really more STONE). So we got your STONE up in here.

At this house, they surrendered to the fact that lawns are a rich man's game in Southern California...people forget that it is basically a desert here! Go ahead...just make your yard into a STONE garden. I think it's kinda cool looking, but not very hospitable for lounging around on.

 

Here is a grouping of large STONEs at the front of the apartment building next to mine. Kids or young folks, as we oldies would say, like to sit on the big STONE to wait for their friends to pick them up or to talk on their phones in a sort of privacy.

 

As you can see, there are plenty of non-rolling STONEs around...none of them gathering moss! As a couple of my favorite song writers would say, "Well, it's a STONE soul picnic for the early resigned." Whatever that means...I don't know...it sounds cool.

 

That's it. Let's just hope that we can avoid the fate of  Tessie Hutchinson. Get it? Get it?!?!  Um, now we'll see who Jasen tags.   

 

Happy Mother's Day to all you badass mothers out there! Keep on fighting the good fight. ♥

And I'm An Honest Man

On Tuesday when I did my "Ick" post, I mentioned that there are also good things to report. So, let's go there, shall we?

My first piece of good news is that my daughter, Girlie Girl, recently finished her certification course to become a Massage Therapist. She laid low for about a week. Then, she got an interview at Cielo Mio Spa & Salon and got herself a job! I'm very proud of her for finding a place so quickly. She has such an outgoing, friendly personality. I'm sure that helped. Also, she's practiced her massage techniques on me and she's very good. So, yay Girlie Girl!

My second piece of good news is that my son Social Animal, after spending some time after high school working and slowly making his way through courses at Citrus Community College, decided to make a move to the big leagues. He applied to four very good University of California schools - UC Santa Cruz,  UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. He was quite surprised when he was accepted at all four. So, he had to make a decision. Fortunately, his first choice offered a HUGE fee waiver, which along with a PELL Grant should mean he can just go to school and not worry about working much, if at all. So, in the fall, Social Animal will be heading off to University of California, Berkeley! He has plans to earn a BA in Philosophy. I'm so excited for him. I admit to being a little nervous, just because this will be the farthest away (about 400 miles) that any of my children have ever lived. 

The future is bright for Girlie Girl and Social Animal!



5.01 – The Fabian Strategy

Going through some sadness and feeling uncomfortably numb. In an effort to get myself going and cheer myself up, I am stealing this week's Choose and Defend directly from 30 Rock. Thus, the title.

Frank: Liz get in on this. Would you rather...

 ...have to start every sentence for the rest of your life with Urkle’s catch phrase “Did I do that?”

OR

...be Siamese twins with Sharon Stone for a year

I don't know...something about this makes me laugh. And trust me, I really need a laugh. So even though this might be extra dumb, please play Choose and Defend Wednesday with me. Consider it a random act of kindness :)

Liz: No! It okay! No be cry!

Ick

I must say, things have been very up and down for me lately. The down is mostly just very ordinary stuff. Never quite feeling quite safe financially, which leads to the shame I feel when I'm perceived as being stingy. Some struggles with the people closest to me, which leads to feeling misunderstood, helpless, and lonely.

Here is something that is bothering me. Yesterday, when it was still fairly quiet in the library, I was pulling some books from the shelves when suddenly two teenage boys came up behind me. I heard a bit of a scuffle, then one of them grabbed my butt. I turned to them and they were laughing. I was furious, but just told them to get out of the library. I was going to leave it at that. One of the boys walked right towards the exit. The other one had the nerve to stop at the service desk and tell the Associate Director who happened to be working there, "The woman back there is making an unsafe environment for me." Seriously. Let's call her...Smiley...looked up and saw me and told the boy that I was an employee and if he was asked to leave he needed to leave. He started walking away and I muttered that he'd grabbed my ass. She started after him and I think just told him not to come back in for the rest of the day. She asked me to write an incident report, which then goes to everyone. So, I did. And of course, everyone has something to say about it. Some people felt I should have called the police...which seemed a bit much. Some people seemed to find it somewhat comical. It isn't that I don't understand that reaction, but it didn't seem funny to me. I know I am not the best humored person, but honestly, it felt like a pretty big invasion of my person. These were not small children, they were probably 15 or 16 and it felt creepy. So, I admit, the more jovial views of it have kind of upset me. Even the person I counted on most to sympathize went to the default snicker position. I guess part of me resents the internal chastising I've been giving myself for overreacting to what is, in the big picture, a small matter. Not outwardly overreacting...well, maybe once...but mostly internally sort of obsessing a little.

So...I am feeling mildly disgruntled. Yet there have been good things happening too. And those, I will save for another post. Because this one is just...ick.

This Musical Message is for Queue Jumpers

The Chicken Saved Me!

Welcome to my Saturday. I got to choose this week's Saturday Scavenger Shots word. I tried to think of a word which would allow me to incorporate the program I presented this afternoon. You know how I love presenting programs and there are generally photos to remember the good times :)  The word for this week is CLASSIC.

The program was called "Mice, Frogs, & Fish! Oh My!"  It was a celebration of CLASSIC children's author and illustrator Leo Lionni. We had a great time!  Here are a couple of CLASSIC shots -

Here is a display of some CLASSIC picture books for children. Leo Lionni wrote about 40 books, so this is just a sampling of his work. I love his art.

We are pretty sure our puppet play version of Five Little Monkeys is destined to become a CLASSIC of modern theater. The cast members were very talented, although the director was a bit of a goof.

Thanks for dropping by for this CLASSIC edition of Saturday Scavenger Shots.  I am tagging Jasen @ Swap Gas & Moonlit Reflections to choose for next week. Now, inch out of sight...

Just Remember, You Are What You Feel

 Welcome to another Choose and Defend Wednesday. I thought today would be a good day for a music oriented Choose and Defend, in honor of my guest post over at James' awesome blog - Why It Matters.

Here is the deal...you are musically talented. Good for you! Now, you are never going to be Paul McCartney or even Joe Newman. Still you can make a good living in the music industry. But how? Well, here comes the choice. Would you prefer to be...

A Session Musician

OR

A Songwriter

I know that you are so talented and amazing that you could do both! Or even more! But since this is Choose and Defend, you must Choose...and then you must Defend your choice.

All that's left to do is for you to explain how you're going to make your mark in the world of music. Feel free to include as much detail as you wish :) Choose and Defend!