Do You Realize?

Thirteen Things...

...that I'm thinkin' 'bout on Thursday...

1. ...winners from my Blogiversary Giveaways! Congrats to Jeff at Biking Duluth (Greenies & Pet Promise dog food sample), Caroline in NH at Fiber Arts & Furry Critters (Bush's Last Day keychain), Hootin' Anni (CD of ten of my photographic images), Andree at Meeyau (Feline Greenies & Pet Promise cat food sample), Molly at RedMolly Picayune-Democrat (a copy of Diane MacEachern's book Big Green Purse), and Anonymous Mom at Tenuous at Best (handcrafted journal)! If I don't hear from each of you within 24 hours, I will contact you. I'm asking until next Saturday (hopefully won't need that long) to get everything ready to ship.

2. ...my complete and utter domination at the art of oatmeal. I have mastered my "perfect oats." No extra liquid, but not too dry either. MMMMM.

3. ...philosophical subjects like evil and faith. I've determined that the basis for one's faith in an idea or entity is a positive and memorable event that the person attributes, whether correctly or incorrectly, to that idea or entity. For example, my husband sees, on a regular basis, the healing and saving of lives. He attributes that to the science of medicine; his faith, therefore, lies in the scientific.

4. ...suicide. Not mine, no. The book I'm reading, Jodi Picoult's The Pact, is about a failed teen suicide pact, where the surviving teen is charged with murder.

5. ...how terrible I am at poker. Some friends of ours have bought a table at a local "Casino Night" fundraiser and have graciously asked Hubby & I to go. I know not a damn thing about poker, but I will throw down with the best of them when intoxicated, I'm sure.

6. ...Texas's crazy caucusing. We voted early to avoid voting day crowds, but then had to go out anyway for the caucusing portion of the night.

7. ...how terrifyingly easy it is to imagine Youngest as a drug addict. He has a very addictive personality anyway, and a bipolar individual's risk of addiction to drugs or alcohol is much higher than that of a normally functioning person. At thirteen, his drug of choice is Runescape or the Playstation 3; he will do anything, self-destructive or otherwise, to get his fix. Seeing his desperation while in Austin last weekend with limited Internet availability was truly amazing.

8. ...our freakish weather. It's snowing again. Hard. Remember, I was talking about the weather yesterday?

9. ...how hitting an already-dead, but still fresh, skunk on the highway is very, very bad. Very bad, indeed. I also discovered why so many of them seem to be hit on the road. Nearly impossible to see until the last minute. Poor buggers.

10. ...organ donation. My mom is down in Florida at a post-transplant checkup. She's doing amazingly well!

11. ...photography. I mentioned it's snowing again, right?

12. ...the Project Runway season finale last night. As I fully expected, Christian kicked ass. His clothes, while not designed for the everyday woman, were exquisite concoctions, full of ruffles and feathers. His runway music killed, too (created and arranged by Anonymous Mom's not-so-anonymous talented son). Way to go, Christian! I just want to eat him up like a cookie, he's so freakin' cute.

13. ...how I SO don't want to do the laundry and mop the floors.

Edited to add: I drove for six hours to accomplish what would usually take three.

Love It/Hate It

Just a post to let you inside the convoluted maelstrom that is my mind this week. It's an abbreviated list of things I'm lovin' or hatin'.

LOVE IT:  Whole Foods is getting rid of plastic bags! Their paper bags are both recyclable and recycled, but their focus is education and trying to convince people to bring their own. They were giving away a free bag with your purchase a couple of days ago. They are the cutest reusable bags ever, and they are roomy, strong, and made from 80% post-consumer waste (recycled water bottles and such).

HATE IT:  My shampoo, which is natural & plant-based, smells like pink SweeTarts. Two of the last four or five bottles of it, though, have developed a funky, soured smell. I don't know if it's the sunlight from the window in the shower or variations in crops or just what it is, but I'm ready to switch. Sad. I like pink SweeTarts.

LOVE IT:  My morning radio show, Lex & Terry, has moved to a new home radio station here in Dallas. I like the new station. They play a widely varying collection of rock and metal from many years and eras. The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Ozzy Osbourne, 80's hair bands, Kid Rock. I like variey; it keeps me from getting bored.

HATE IT:  These seriously psychotic hatemongers. One simply cannot wrap a logically-thinking brain around such poignant tidbits of batshittery. For those who don't follow links, don't read the newspapers, or have somehow missed these lovely citizens, they are the "church" that believes that America is being punished by God for our wicked acceptance of "fags," picketing dead soldiers' funerals with signs that say, "Thank God for dead soldiers" (because the military are "fag-enablers," dontcha know?). (It's a scary situation when radical evangelical Christians say you're crazy.)

LOVE IT:  This season's Project Runway. Go Christian! (Oh, the irony, Fred Phelps! I think my Christian may be a homosexual... he'd better hope he wins the whole damn thing before the apocolypse, because my other faves are also gay, and my first non-condemned choice, Gillian, would be a poor substitute for my fierce little Christian.)

HATE IT:  Being such a Master Procrastinator. There is such an overwhelming list of home repairs/improvements we need to make, and had we fixed them when they actually happened, I would not feel so damned suffocated right now. But, because we suffer from Scarlett O'Hara Syndrome, we figured we'd put it off. Now a dozen little things have become a dozen more problematic things that all seem to be developing a domino-effect relationship and all seem to have their own separate contractor, to boot.

Have a great weekend, all!

A Tuesday Ten

One of the things I hate about having whichever of my emotional conditions that this is a symptom of, is that on rainy, gray, overcast, forlorn, or otherwise Eeyore-esque days, I feel like doing nothing. I feel no happiness, no inspiration, no... nothing. Nada. My soul and my personality feel just as blank as the day.

So, today, instead of writing something inspirational, I'll post up another Tuesday Ten list. What shall our subject be?  How about... Ten Things You Didn't Know About Me (Unless You Live With Me)? Without further ado:

1.  I find androgynous and slightly effeminate men incredibly sexy (i.e. Davey Havok, Criss Angel).

2.  I love to take naps. But, often, I can't, no matter how hard I try.

3.  I love board games. They totally rule. My favorites? Scrabble, Monopoly and Wise & Otherwise.

4.  I have extremely diverse taste in music. All found on my iTunes: Enya; Arlo Guthrie; Butthole Surfers; Billy Joel; Dave Matthews Band; Britney Spears; The Flaming Lips; Harry Connick, Jr.;  Marilyn Manson; Sheryl Crow; Red Hot Chili Peppers; Prokofiev.

5.  I've never attended more than 1 year of college.

6.  I am a Reality TV junkie. There's nothing like the occasional episode of "Flavor of Love" or "The Bachelor" to make you feel like your life is deep and meaningful.

7.  I am not at all a social or gregorious person. A social event at which I know no one is akin to listening to William Hung sing "She Bangs" inside my head for hours.

8.  I am very high-strung.

9.  I absolutely love random bits of mostly useless knowledge. I read the Harper's Index religiously and devour Mental Floss magazine like candy.

10.  Oftentimes, when reading a good book, if I can't stand the suspense any longer, I will read the end of the book, then flip back to where I was and continue reading. It's like a great big literary orgasm.