Apparently I Am A Slacker

How the heck has 3 months flown by since the last time I wrote a blog?  I seriously was intending to take just a short break, however I obviously was caught up in doing a whole lot of nothing! 

I've gotten a new gadget I will be reviewing within the next couple of days that is very cool.  Any kind of technology that is affordable and improves the quality of life is ok with me. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that in the near future I will be adopting a new little dog, because my big dog, Balue, needs a pet.  What?  Don't your pets have pets?

I decided to go on some dates after my year of dating break, and I decided that I hate dating.  More and more I see why arranged marriages make sense.  Now if someone could arrange for me to be with Thor that would be greatly appreciated.

I've cooked a bunch of super yummy stuff lately, and thought as I was doing it "I should be blogging this" but lacked the heart to feel like taking photos of the process.  But trust me there's been some good stuff going into my belly.

See, obviously a whole lot of nothing going on here.  Which I'm assuming it's better that I haven't mindlessly written about nothing daily for 3 months straight, like some kind of blog writing zombie who feeds on wasting your brain cells instead of actually feasting on your brain cells. NOM NOM NOM

Ok so now that you've gotten this far and finally realized this was a complete waste of your time, HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!

Much Love!


In light of I obviously like to disappear for months at a time I thought I would share with you this cute little Pintrest find....

And for wasting your time here's a song I love....

Better Get To Livin'

I had never heard this song before but just ran across the video and found the song so great I had to share.  Who doesn't love Dolly Parton?  Such a good message.  Enjoy!

Much Love!

Giving Season

It is that time of year when people are out buying gifts for one another, their children, themselves.  Giving to the one's you love is usually pretty gratifying especially when you get the looks of excitement and the words of gratitude.

There are volunteers ringing bells for money donations and boxes at the front of every store collecting food donations.  Giving to the needy perhaps isn't as gratifying to some because you do not actually get that smile or hug and the thank you praises.  However is that really the spirit of giving?  Self gratification.

I think it is wonderful if you are able to donate money or food to a good cause that you can find on every random street corner this time of year.  However there is a good cause that doesn't always get as much attention and that is the cause of children without gifts.  Sometimes families are in a tough spot at Christmas and just do not have the means to buy their child a gift.  It's easy for someone who never had one of those Christmas' as a child to say "Christmas isn't about stuff, we were taught..." I've heard it time and time again.  It kind of reminds me of some lyrics in one of my favorite Everclear songs...

"I hate those people who love to tell you money is the root of all that kills, they have never been poor, they have never had the joy of a welfare Christmas"

True, Christmas is not about stuff, and hopefully families teach their kids that.  However children are innocent and know that their friends and classmates and other children they are related to are receiving gifts at Christmas, and they see other children opening gifts in abundance on tv and in movies.

How heartbreaking do you think it is for a kid to wake up on Christmas morning knowing that to them billions of presents are being opened that morning by other children around the world and to not find a single gift has been given to them...

If you can find it in your heart this Giving Season please donate a gift to a needy child.  There are usually angel trees at every mall.  Local children's services usually have lists of needy children as well.  Usually hospitals accept gifts for the children in their care because a lot of them are terminal and the families are completely broke due to their child's medical expenses.  Perhaps ask your church minister if they know of any needy children. And there many organizations that you can donate to online as well.

I know I may sound like I'm contradicting myself from the blog, Thankful Reflections.  I was talking about people were spending hundreds of dollars on each of their children buying them insanely extravagant gifts. Kids do not need tons of super expensive gifts, but nothing at all... I do not feel is right.  Unless the family does not celebrate Christmas and the child has been taught to not expect anything.  But the rest of the kids out there who do celebrate, they may not expect anything but they have hope in their heart.  Why not give them some joy and turn that hope into what can be a long lasting reassurance that there actually is some good in humanity.  You never know what kind of situation this kid is living in, perhaps they need that reassurance.

To be honest I feel so strongly about this because I was one of those kids.  I mentioned on my about me, Blonde Girl's Narnia Quest, that when I was a kid it was feast or famine in my childhood and that is just how it is for some families.  Not every Christmas was the greatest.  But one of the greatest Christmas' I can remember was a year when there were no gifts for me or my brother, on Christmas morning my mom's boss showed up with a sack full of presents just like a real life Santa.  It could have been like 2 gifts for each of us, I don't remember how many there were, but to me it was the equivalent to him dumping a semi-truck load of gifts in the front yard.  I do not remember how old I was, but I wasn't very old, and it's always stuck with me.  It was an early lesson on how good a benevolent heart can make another person feel.

If you decide to participate, a lot of times when you see a child's wish gift or list you'll see what you possibly feel like are extravagant things, sometimes these are things the parents wrote down because it's what they wish they could give the kid, and sometimes kids just want cool things.  I saw on an angel tree today a parent wrote down for their child they would like a wii racing game, my first thought was well if they can afford a wii then why can't they afford gifts and I immediately had to check myself.  We had video games as kids, but we didn't always have the means for gifts at Christmas.  I saw MP3 player, kids do not think about the cost of gifts, they just know they want what other kids have, my exboyfriends child asked for an iPod when she was 5, but meant MP3 player for music, it's just the typical thing they ask for, when I was a kid it was all about the Walkman.  A cheapy MP3 player is not so hard to get, 10-30 bucks is not a lot to spend on a child, especially if that is possibly the only thing they will be getting this Christmas.  Also, it's easy to think "can't the parents just go get them some cheap stuff at the dollar store"... or something similar may run through your mind, perhaps they can and unfortunately many really can not. It is no reason to validate yourself not helping out the kid because of resentment towards a hypothetical situation.

Even though you may not get that gratification of seeing a child's excitement when they open up their gift, and we as adults all know Christmas is not really about stuff, we need to remember it's also not about personal gratification. However it should feel good to know you are helping a child!

Perhaps find a place in your heart to help out a kid because no kid should have to wake up Christmas morning without at least one present to bring some beauty to their small world.

Below is the video to one of my favorite Macy Gray songs.  Enjoy.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!

Much Love!

Disrespect, Lets Work On This

I have absolutely no tolerance for people who are blatantly disrespectful of others.  The worst to me is when they do it under the guise of they are joking or having fun.  It may be fun and games to them, however usually the person who is the object of their fun making isn't all too pleased, but a lot of times is just too nice or non-confrontational to say anything about it to the person being disrespectful, and the bulk of other people who are watching the situation are thinking that the person is a complete jackass for acting that way.  In the mean time the person is so amused by themselves they have no care for who's feelings they hurt in the process because they think they have some kind of God given right to say what they want to who they want when they want.  I think there is a thin line between fun joking and being disrespectful. Freedom of speech is not a golden ticket to be a douche.

The worst forum that I see this most often in is on Facebook.  You can act how you want in your own personal Facebook page, but some people will comment on posts and pictures and be completely inappropriate and say things that particular person's friends and family probably shouldn't see.  I'm sure I've  been guilty of this myself in my own ignorant bliss.  However I'm going to be more aware of this myself in my comments on friends pages.  Sometimes comments that you may find funny to make just shouldn't be made in a forum for the masses to see, perhaps the person you are going to make the comment to will find it humorous as well, but stop and think if this is a comment that should be made privately between just the two of you.  That's when something that is funny can quickly become disrespectful is when you blast it for all of their people to see and something they would have been amused by is now a nuisance.  In a place like Facebook where a lot of people have their mom, dad, husband, wife, children, pastors, etc though they may have a colorful sense of humor they may not be comfortable with everyone seeing your super colorful sense of humor and personality spewing out all over their page. 

One thing I hate to see is when someone starts saying a person is crazy and they need to take their meds or they are bipolar or schizo or whatever.  I've done it from time to time and felt like such an ass afterwards because I know better.  It's a pretty disrespectful and hurtful statement to be said especially when it's being broadcasted for their friends and family to see.  As well as a very ignorant statement to make because there are so many people who truly do silently suffer from mental illness and you never know when you may say it to a person who does.  I worked at the National Alliance for Mental Illness for 5 years, and sometimes I just hate to see someone treat mental illness like it's a joke, it's truly not.  Another one I've become more aware of recently is making fun of retardation.  So many people suffer from this and I'd hate to think that me being ignorant and making jokes about it hurts someone who either suffers from it or has a loved one who does. It's so disrespectful to go there, and I hope that more education is put there there to the public to make them aware as well.

Other forms of disrespect that I find intolerable is sexism and racism.  And I don't mean just sexism towards women I mean towards men too.  I love men, and yeah the occasional man joke may be funny, but if you've never sat in a circle of true man hating women that are bashing men then you have not missed anything.  Though they are typically married to men, still the hate exists.  I sometimes start defending men and then I am shunned.  I need to have a little sign to pull out of my purse and put on my shirt when I get in those situations that says "Beware I Am a Friend to the Penis Wielding Ones".  Needless to say men who are sexist against women piss me off to no end.

As for racism I find it gross when I meet someone and just because we have the same color skin they assume I share their beliefs and start talking about their disdain for other races within the first few minutes of meeting.  It's so weird to me!  And I can see why the cycle or racism stays in it's loop, generation teaching it to generation.  I love everyone.  The most uncomfortable situations to me is when a close friend who we've never even discussed our feelings on the races starts telling me a racist joke.  It's like dammit why did you have to go there.  I think we all need to have respect for each other as humans no matter what kind of genitalia we may have or what color our skin may be.

A really bad form of disrespect that is very evident in our society right now is bullying by kids at school.  It breaks my heart every time I see a story about a young person who committed suicide because they were bullied.  I feel like parents need to teach their kids to love people for who they are, and that it's never acceptable to make fun of other people just because they are different or it's fun or the rest of the kids are doing it.  Hell step it up and teach them to defend the kids who are being picked on!  Even if it means their friends will not like them they should know it would feel better to protect someone than to be mean to them.  And in the same hand I think that there needs to be a more proactive stance taken in teaching kids that none of the stupid bullshit that happens when you are young is gonna matter when you are grown.  I pretty much love Pink's song "Fuckin Perfect".  What a wonderful message!




There's a whole realm of hatred and disrespect that causes people to not love themselves.  Self esteem is hard to find when you are constantly being pushed around for being different.  Whether it's because of your skin tone, the color of your hair, the size of your breasts, your weight, being a loner, having a quirky personality, cross dressing, being in an interracial relationship, being gay, lesbian, or bi, or having a different accent or a lisp... there's so many things that people find to make fun of about people and being completely disrespectful of their feelings.  How does someone being overweight or being flat chested or having lover of the same sex or marrying someone outside of their own race affect you personally as a person?  It doesn't.  So why make that person feel bad about themselves for being them.  You don't have to like everyone or be friends with everyone, but you shouldn't be mean to them. Challenge yourself to find the positive qualities in the people who make you uncomfortable for superficial reason's such as these.  Learn how to build them up as a person instead of tear them down.  You will feel better about yourself and so will they.

I think perhaps respect is something we can all work on!  It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.  And then no, it's not funny.  I think we should all just try to be respectful, even if we don't think the person deserves it.  I know it's hard but the least we can do is try!  Have some integrity and be respectful to others.

So my challenge and homework for all of us... be more aware of yourself, of your words and your actions.  Ignorance is not an excuse, train yourself to pay attention to what you are doing.  And make apologies when appropriate.  Lets try to make this world a happier place to live in.


Much Love and Respect for you all!