Update for Charla

Since my step-mom uses this blog as an update on what's going on (or what I'm thinking about) and I've been really bad about posting lately, I thought I'd update her. My apologies to the rest of you who probably are a couple of seconds from yawning if you go much past this sentence.

Sam - A few weeks ago she had a set-back. The right side of her face became paralyzed (previously it was her left side). Fortunately, since we'd been through this on her left side with visits to the neorologist, cat scans, spinal taps - all that kind of fun, we got her to the vet immediately and the recovery has gone a lot faster. Sam still can't blink with either eye. So poor Sam, four times a day we try to convince her that sitting patiently while we smear goop in her eyes is fun. Of course, the peanut butter covered pills help. Although, she'd prefer those to the eye full of goop. Sam's left eye now blinks more regularly, but it's not consistent. Despite all of this and the added trouble of the cats popping her every time she looks at them wrong, Sam is one of the happiest and goofiest little dogs around.

Bowling - April is the last month of bowling and I plan on ending as the worst bowler of the year. WOO HOOO! You see, we get a ranking list once a week and there's my name right there towards the bottom. "Suckiest Bowler in the History of Our League: Beth". The handout used to include a "Least Improved" listing, but someone thought that was a little mean and they removed it. Still, I know in my heart that my name is there in the software.

Work Stuffs - I'm in the process of working towards a CAPM certification and should have it by the middle of the summer. This is the first step to me eventually getting a PMP certification (I just need the hours). Basically, I'll be an authority on acronyms and will have a lovely piece of heavy paper with my legal name on it (yippee). I'm hopeful it will also include one of those little gold embossed thingies to make it look all official like.

OtherStuffs

Anna lost a bet and will be treating me to a fun-filled vacation day in the next couple of months. YAY!

It's still not too late to get your Dragon Con tickets (Aug. 28-Sep. 1) for my 40 1/2 birthday. Guests are signing up and so far it looks like a decent BSG turn-out. I'll be the one cheering madly in the front.

Lance's Band the Killer Crocs of Uganda is performing at Momo's on April 5, 11pm

Colt, April & Jonathan celebrate their birthdays in April. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! (Now I don't owe you cards.)

I still need people to come help me design a garden and give me lawn advice!!! HELP ME PLEASE! (I'm not kidding.)

...and I'm plum out of updates

Stuff White People Like

Stuff White People Like
I keep bumping into this site thanks to several friends, so since I'm seriously too lazy to post something of my very own, I thought I'd pass this along

... and btw, this white girl likes blogs poking fun at what "white people like", although she occasionally holds her head in shame as she reads the list.

"Glass Half Full!"

I'm a freak magnet. Just take my word for it. It's just something about me - like Anna is good with computers, Jeff is good at drawing and well Beth, Beth is good at having crazy randomness bump into her.

I've had days when it's been easy - studying for a test and some random stranger interrupts with an, "excuse me, but have you ever been to a Star Trek convention?" to a guy landing in my office and announcing "I have gangrene! Give me a knife so I cut it out of my leg." Yes, I'm going to hand crazy a knife. Mmm hmm.

So, I don't know really why I bother being surprised by it, but I always am.

Take Friday. I was sitting and waiting for some people when a guy pops in to ask what I'm doing. "Waiting, but I think the folks aren't going to show because it's Good Friday so I'll probably be leaving soon."
"Does this happen to you often?"
"No, not really."
"Oh. Mind if I sit down?"
"Sure."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"What do contemporary Christians do on Good Friday."
"Uhhh..." (They go to movies? They taunt me from home? Sleep-in?)
"Do they go to church?"
"I believe they go to mass." (Yeah, the stations of the cross totally not in my head because I really wasn't prepared for this question.)
"Oh. Ok. Can I touch your jacket?"
"Ummm sure?" Then he reached over and pinched my sleeve.
"Well, good bye! Glass half full, you know!"
... and he scampered away.
... and I had the biggest uhhhhh moment before I could finally actually send impulses from my brain to move my legs and run away.

I won't even mention the Tai Chi moves he slowly performed except to mention them. But I must admit that I do plan to spend the next week annoying Jay and my friends by asking if I can touch random bits of their clothing and then shouting, "ok! Glass half full!"

Cubicles

Last week I was fishing around for blog ideas and my cousin suggested something along the lines of people who forget they're in a cubicle farm and thus end up sharing too much on personal phone calls.

I can't relate.

Sure, I work in a sea of cubicles, but everyone goes all secret agent when it comes to personal phone calls. Voices drop. Feet scurry. When their cells ring there's a curtly whispered "ummm... psst hello" quickly followed by the opening and closing of the hallway door. Your only hope of pure, unadulterated eavesdropping occurs if you're lurking around hallway - the "oh my, I haven't ever read this poster about the importance of security badges before. Maybe I should give this a closer look" approach or you move onto a landing in the stairwell - you know, voices really carry in those. Not that I know from personal experience. I've just "heard" things... from others. To top it off, a good portion of the people I work with speak multiple languages, thus severely reducing the chance of a good, solid, gossip-able family meltdown. Wow. I've found the one good reason to force people to only speak English - how will I know if the guy next to me is a player unless I can hear him making his moves?

It's not that I haven't had some great moments with co-workers and their personal calls, but it's been so long that I can't even think of one good story. Sure, there was the time Robert yelled at his kid over homework versus video games, but really, that's just nothing.

Now, if we can take it out of the office. I've heard some GREAT conversations that people were either sharing with a friend on the phone or personally entertaining a crowd at the store. Take the time Jay and I were at a coffee place called Mozart's (by the way, a "Z" in German sounds like a "ts", so when you read that think Mote's Art - not Moe's Art - random factoid for the day, forever pet peeve of mine... ANYWAY). While we were out on the deck enjoying the moonlight dancing over the murky water the young frat guy behind us was having an amazing conversation with some guy friend. Now he was a player and was cheerfully chatting on about all the women he was stringing along and was downright giddy (and very loud) while using every thumping-chest kind of derogatory remark he could. Suffice it to say that Gloria Steinem would have given him a beat down had she been there. Sure, what he said was wrong... but funny... and well, I can't really justify that statement because for the life of me all of his cheesy comments that I had committed to memory for so long have finally been purged from my long term memory.

Or there was the guy at the comic shop recently who had several other customers enthralled as he loudly proclaimed that everyone should trust him because he was a genius. (Personally, I always sit up when any conversation involves someone touting their IQ.) He meant the conversation for the younger geeks in front of him, but the conversation was wafting (as words and smells tend to do at comic book stores) across the store. Honestly, once I heard the beginning of this promising speech, I gave Kendra the look which basically meant "Oh, this is good. I'm going to be feigning interest in this shelf over here to hear the rest." (It's ok that I'm occasionally mean. I wasn't hugged much as a child and I have self-esteem issues. And yes, it does make me feel better about myself. Look it up!)

So, I guess that while overall I get where my cousin is coming from - that people should be mindful of where they are when they discuss personal things, I still enjoy the occasional random conversation I bump into. It makes me feel confident that when I'm making an ass of myself, because someone has just caught a stray sentence or two from one of my little monologues, that there's someone out there gleefully mocking me (I hope they got the voice right). And really, we should all take a moment to laugh at ourselves and each other. We've funny little creatures that can get wrapped up in being too serious too often.

For Susan

Susan, who is both an amazing person and is hands-down one of the most amazing meeting facilitators ever (she makes meetings both worthwhile and fun), told us about the following fun little "performance art" piece:


And since I'm in a YouTube frame of mind, I thought I'd pass it along.

Young at Heart

A grab bag of some random thoughts...

After I graduated from college, my mother gave me a copy of Robert Fulghum's book titled Uh Oh. In truth, without cracking it open, I decided it was silly, overly simplistic and a better choice for anyone else but me. I finally did read it (a sure sign that I had run out of books) and one particular section stuck with me...

Ask a kindergarten class, “How many of you can draw?” and all hands shoot up. Yes, of course we can draw—all of us. What can you draw? Anything! How about a dog eating a fire truck in a jungle? Sure! How big you want it?

How many of you can sing? All hands. Of course we sing! What can you sing? Anything! What if you don't know the words? No problem, we make them up. Let's sing! Now? Why not!

How many of you dance? Unanimous again. What kind of music do you like to dance to? Any kind! Let's dance! Now? Sure, why not?

Do you like to act in plays? Yes! Do you play musical instruments? Yes! Do you write poetry? Yes! Can you read and write and count? Yes! We're learning that stuff now.

Their answer is Yes! Over and over again, Yes! The children are confident in spirit, infinite in resources, and eager to learn. Everything is still possible.

Try those same questions on a college audience. A small percentage of the students will raise their hands when asked if they draw or dance or sing or paint or act or play an instrument. Not infrequently, those who do raise their hands will want to qualify their response with their limitations: “I only play piano, I only draw horses, I only dance to rock and roll, I only sing in the shower.”

When asked why the limitations, college students answer they do not have talent, are not majoring in the subject, or have not done any of these things since about third grade, or worse, that they are embarrassed for others to see them sing or dance or act. You can imagine the response to the same questions asked of an older audience. The answer: No, none of the above.

What went wrong between kindergarten and college?

What happened to YES! of course I can?

Excerpt from Robert Fulghum's book Uh Oh entitled "Yes, I Can!"

Of all things, it reminds me of my mother and singing in the car or around the house - we'd play a game where you had to start with the letter A, sing a song that began with that letter and work your way through the alphabet, - it also reminds me of a time when my Mom, aunt, cousin and I were watching Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas" and leapt up to do a not so amazing interpretation of Ann-Margret's dance to "C'mon Everybody" (I just listened to a sample and am finding it hard not to dance). And it makes me a little sad, because at some point I decided I shouldn't sing, I shouldn't dance, and I shouldn't play. Of course, society (that's what I'll call them to play fair), helps - who hasn't said, "you know why they sing that song? So you don't have to!" which is really more about ribbing in most cases, but it ends up being limiting, because eventually you just stop singing, and dancing, and drawing unless you're completely alone. Then when people ask "how does that song go" you shrug, "I don't know" just to avoid singing it.

... and this brings me to the documentary that is coming to Austin called "Young at Heart" - these people who still sing and dance and find joy by singing pop songs around the world. So, today I'll leave you with a little bit of them:

NPR Audio Clip - May, 2000

Movie Website

And of course, a video that made me smile - The Young at Heart Choir singing The Ramones "I wanna be sedated".



... don't stop singing, dancing, drawing, writing or simply creating. You know why they sing that song? So you can sing along, too. You know who sings that song? Must be you, since you're singing it.

Daylight Savings

...or Daylight Saving Time, if you prefer. I was informed the latter was the proper term, but really let's just cut to the chase. I hate it no matter what you call it.
You see, I'm not a morning person and getting up an extra hour early, even if it means I'm leaving less of a carbon footprint, makes me fussy. Fussy in the way that would inspire your parents to consider you a moment then ask in a cutesy little begging to be hurt voice "Does someone need a nap?" That kind of fussy. In fact, I went up to a co-worker today and demanded, "do I look like a train wreck?" "No." "Are you sure, because I feel like a train wreck and I'm pretty sure you can see it in my face." I'm pretty confident he's a bad liar and not to be trusted. I'll be keeping my paranoid-due-to-extreme-fatigue eye on him until my body sorts out this whole time adjustment thing.

Seriously, can someone just pick a time. I don't care which one - draw straws, pick a number between 1 and 2, flip a coin (and tell me that coin traveled 50 years to ultimately determine my bed time and the bed times of millions, I don't care - just flip it and someone call it).

For the record:
I'm also against Sundays and any day that is the last day of a vacation. I have the emotional IQ of a 14 year old. The internet told me. It tells me things... especially when I'm dangerously sleep deprived.

I need a nap.

Dungeons & Dragons: Goodbye to Gary Gygax

I remember my first exposure to Dungeons & Dragons. It was the "it" game in the 1970's and because it was the "it" game my mother grabbed a copy from the local Toy Box (it was the overpriced mall version of Toys R Us back in the day - before Kaybee). Knowing my mother, she probably had to explain we'd be trying it out because it was incredibly popular (and Parcheesi and Monopoly weren't cutting it). I remember Mom opened the box and started reading the rules, "it says I have to be something called a Dungeon Master." Hmm. "I'm supposed to create a dungeon with monsters in it and you walk around and discover things." Hmmm. "It says the game can go on indefinitely." Umm? My Charlie's Angels board game was sounding more appealing by the minute. Within days that box (aka - future collector's item) was returned to the store. (See, back then D&D came in boxes - not those fancy hard bound books - these books were probably hand stapled... by real dwarves...)

That's where I left roleplaying until 11th grade came along and I was being forced to terms with my dorkiness and social inadequacies. (I was SOOOO not the homecoming queen.) A group of guys approached me with a little "psst" and a "hey, wanna play Elfquest?" Sure, it sounded like a creepy come-on line, but I could hurt most of them and it's not like my Saturday social calendar was full. I remember they handed me my character sheet with the drawing of a buxom midget elf leaning against a mace. And then I acted like I've seen a lot of new gamer girls act. "What do I do?" they made some noise about dice and skills - honestly, who could follow that nonsense? "Ok," as I twirled my hair and feigned being geek cute. (I'd seen actual cute people pull this off - me, it's a lot like a Joan Cusack in any 80's movie rip-off - kind of awkward and a tad spastic, but hell they were glad to have a REAL LIVE GIRL.) "I don't get it. Can you guys just tell me as we go along?" I was NOT about to read a rule book. I scanned my sheet a little more closely, "umm... does this mean she's pretty?" The guys who had obviously voted against girls in the club house groaned. "I mean, it is an 18 in pretty isn't it? Can I attack the bad guys with my hotness?" To this day I'm not sure why they didn't boot me out of the house. But, as I said, I was a real girl - and for me, there were BOYS that actually noticed me - a win-win. So, among the many reasons I thank Gary Gygax, it's for giving me a dating outlet. D&D and every game that followed meant that I had a date not only for prom (I'd share the picture, but it was a bad hair day that pounds of Aquanet couldn't fix - you can thank me for global warming, too - it all started thanks to flat hair) but that I could date through college - heck, and even meet this really great guy that I married.

So, on this day (only a couple of days late) I mourn the loss of Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and co-founder of TSR. You allowed us to continue playing pretend long past the time we moved out of our playhouses and sold our Hot Wheels, holstered our toy guns and waved goodbye to Barbie as she made her final move into a cardboard box (ok, so they call us Kidults - there's still a place for us).

You gave me a reason to draw so badly (and share). (NOTE: This is 20+ years old and something obviously died under the laminate - and yes, 20+ years ago, I decided laminating was a COOL idea.)

You gave my friends a reason to to set some paper on fire and choose the blood red font color. All for the sake of giving a lost Orc leader the means to recapture her pride, honor her father and save her people.

You helped introduce me to new friends.

Commission art.

Say hello to my cousin online because I'm too cheap to call (hello, the internet is CHEAPER - and this way I can loom over him - he's a halfling!) and I can also remind him, one more time, about one of the 101 reasons he loves me - LOVE YOU!

... and have an excuse to be around the people I love - my husband and friends. (HUGS PEOPLES!)

Oh, and how could I end without thanking you for teaching us about baby sacrifices, because everyone knows that's what we're really up to when we're not scampering around sewers having hallucinations about being our characters. (A small nod to Tom Hanks and his movie "Mazes & Monsters" you do the 700 Club proud. For those not familiar with the flick, it's the geeks version of "Reefer Madness".)

Thank you, Gary Gygax!

(Psst, the photo above - that's what gaming looks like - a bunch of paper, pencils, dice and a hex map. All babies sacrifices are conducted in the antechamber or a cellar, which is the right and proper place to do it if you have the correct amount of candles, dark hooded robes and one of those wiggly knives. You don't want to ruin a perfectly good character sheet by making a mess in the kitchen.)