No Pain, No Brain

I spent most of yesterday with a heating pad on my back and today I'm feeling better. I went to my last Dreamweaver class last night and walked out of there shaking my head. There is so much to learn and my little head is so full of fluff that I'm not sure I can shove anything more up there. Four more weeks of classes -- this next time it's all about Flash. I just don't know which trench coat to wear to class.

They (and who the hell "they" are I don't know) say it's good to keep learning new things it exercises your mind. Well I've never been much for exercise but I guess if I'm going to strenuously exercise anything it's going to be my mind. I think after I finish this series of classes, my brain will be ready for the Boston Marathon.

Oh The Faces I've Seen

Would you refinance from this guy? I didn't know ZZ Top had gone into the refinance business. And do you think he's wearing orange because he's a fall person or because it's the uniform du jour?

I get the oddest ads on Facebook. There's another one that says "Men Over 50 Are Looking For You" and they have all these incredibly handsome guys. I know the ones looking for me are either alcoholics, bill collectors or this guy here.

I love to see how I am perceived by the ads that I am targeted with. I get wrinkle cremes, vacation spots, and a lot of animal rescue ads. I need to change my life or profile or both so I start getting ads for Victoria's Secret, Cosmopolitan, or at least not Big Girl Panties.

Hey, that would be a good title for a self-help book "Change Your Underwear, Change Your Life." Excuse me I have to get to work on that.

I just found out I'm too late. Look here.

A Picture Paints A Thousand Intentions

I don't write a lot of serious posts, but when I saw these pictures I couldn't let it just go pass. These were taken during the integration of the New Orleans schools in November of 1960. There is a good article to read on the subject in today's NOLA paper.

I found these two pictures to be so sad and yet ironic. One is a picture of someone who believes "God" does not want integration. She and her friends stand together in the name of their god to intimidate and jeer at children as they go to school. The other is a picture of someone who believes "God" does not discriminate. She is courageously taking her child through a crowd of god-fearing people to take her daughter to the school that has been integrated.

The feeling of sadness I think is obvious, or I hope so. The feeling of irony may not be so obvious. Today I see god-fearing people again with their signs and their hatred and fear everywhere whether it be at the funeral of homosexuals, the attempts to build a Mosque, or a political gathering. And occasionally I see courageous people who do the loving thing just because, well it's the loving thing.

I'm realizing when we celebrate 50 year anniversaries now as "historical events," that I am part of those events. And that's not a bad thing when it was joyous moments like the first time the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan, the first time a man landed on the moon, or Nixon's resignation; but when it's moments like this, it reminds me of the fact that terrible and tragic events were not that long ago. That what I do today will be judged by others. And I have to decide, every day, in 50 years, what picture do I want to show up in?

Let it snow? Let It Snow. LET IT SNOW!

Okay I know that snow is a bummer in many ways. I don't have to shovel and my car is in a heated garage so I'm in much better shape than many people. But today, with the snow coming down, I realized there are a few good things about snow:

1. I am feeling very Christmasy again. My friend Peter told me I had to decorate this year and I was all "yeah, yeah, yeah" about it, but today I want to take everything out of the closet and start decorating. I have even created a "favorite holiday" playlist on my iTunes so I'll be ready to go on the day after Thanksgiving -- which my friend Sue insists is the proper day to begin listening to Christmas music. I may, however, watch "Elf" tonight. I love that movie (yes, Peter I know you hate that movie).

2. Freckles loves the snow. When we went out this morning she got up on the grass and looked up at me with a look that said "Oh boy it's back." I think dogs believe we can make this stuff come and go. When it's nice she likes me, when it's not so nice she's thinking "hey lady, get rid of this stuff." She ran as fast as she could through the snow and was bouncing all around with glee. Then she came in and went to one of her five beds and curled up in a sweet little ball of contentment. She doesn't usually sleep like this, she likes to stretch out but today she was in a secure ball.

3. And seeing her so content reminds me that snow gives you a perfect excuse not to go anywhere. It sucks when you are going somewhere and you have to make your way through it, but when you don't have any plans, a snowy day makes you want to curl up into your own ball of contentment and settle in for a nap.

So if you'll excuse me, I have some hibernation to do.

Big Friday Night

Annie and I are having a big night tonight:

1) A couple hot games of Uno where I will undoubtedly have my butt handed to me

2) A homemade dinner (by me, yes really) of macaroni and cheese with hot dogs.

3) Watch the classic "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken"

Annie and I hang together most Fridays. She is a great friend and reminds me of what is best in life. Have a good weekend.

Thank You

You may have seen this photo before but I think on Veterans' Day it is worthy of a second viewing. This is my dad (on the right) and his two brothers.

Having grown up during the Vietnam War days, there was a time when a veteran was not given much respect. In fact, I know when guys came back home they tried to hide the fact they had been in the service. Oh how times have changed -- for the better.

What has me ticked off though is the commercializing of the day. I got an email from one of our vendors. It had an American flag and said Veteran's Day and then underneath had his name and a tagline for his company. I thought that was extremely tacky. Even tackier than the President's Day Lingerie Sale they have every year at Dayton's/Marshall Fields/Macy's. Happy Birthday George Washington ... do you like my new push-up, cross-your-heart, underwire bra?

Well anyways ... thanks to all the men and women who have served in the armed forces.

Give Me A Break

The company I work for has season tickets to the Vikings and I am the go-to-person to handle payment and distribution. I received an email about voting for the top 50 Vikings to celebrate their 50th anniversary. When I was a kid my dad use to build apartment complexes, many of them that are now on the Bloomington 494 strip, and a number of his investors were Vikings including Fran Tarkenton. In fact Mr. Tarkenton (see I'm still 8 years old) use to come over to the house. So when I saw this opportunity to vote I thought what the heck, I'll see how many names I recognize. Well to my surprise they had a long list of present and former Vikings to chose from but I couldn't believe Brett Farve is one of them. Now he did a phenomenal job last season but they had to beg him to come back this season and he's been with the team for 1-1/4 years!!!! Give me a break.

Now for one of my best memories of all time that involved Mr. Tarkenton. When I was about 12 my family went up to Bemidji for a vacation and to watch the Purple vs. White game at Bemidji State, where the Vikings use to have their training camp. The day after the game about 6 or 7 of the players came to the resort to have dinner with us. Now besides having the entire resort starring at our table in envy what I remember was at one point when I came back to the table (I have no idea where I'd been), Mr. Tarkenton stood up and held out my chair for me. At 12 years old I felt like the queen of the world. He showed me what a gentleman is.

It was such a small gesture but, as you can see, I've never forgotten it. Makes you wonder how many small gestures we do in this world that people remember. I hope the ones I do are good ones.