Siblings, in-laws or close friends might be the source of a current drama that begs for your involvement. However, if the circumstances are peripheral to you, it may be best to keep them that way. Your worry over something that doesn’t directly concern you could be motivated by your own unresolved issues. It’s best not to complicate the situation by adding your stuff to it. Establish a clear boundary and stick to it. Rick Levine Sunday, July 27, 2008
Without going into detail that will get me pilloried, I’m in an extended family that shares a large piece of lakeside property. Other than summertime, I have no contact with them–but in summer, no choice.
Ten years ago my cousin, who I swear must have been dropped on his head as a baby, attempted to beat up my dad who was in his sixties at the time. My cousin brought a small angry mob w/him and the police were called to diffuse the situation. What made matters worse is that my dad’s sister egged on the obviously drunk “mob.”
The rift between the three families has only grown wider as the years have passed. I was in no way involved in the situation which took place at the lake–I was up here but had gone with my spouse and younger son for ice cream. What made matters worse was that the nut-job cousin had a gun, too. So when we arrived home unknowing there was that element, too<eyeroll>.
I live far from here and don’t get up anywhere near as often as I’d like. Nut-job cousin lives pretty close as does the rest of the extended family so they can easily come up for the weekend or even just a day.
They were here this weekend and as is their habit drank themselves silly and got very loud and obnoxious over their bonfire. I remained in my cottage, probably about 150 feet from them. I turned up the new local radio station and even danced around, enjoying a Baileys and iced coffee. As the night wore on the temperatures dropped and I began closing the many windows in my cottage including the ancient, noisy, cumbersome ones in the screened-in porch, which was the closet point to the party.
Nut Job had to say something directed at me. hahaha.
I decided to have another Baileys and before I knew it I was telling them that they were “not nice” and that I dared them to come over and face me directly. I think the word coward was in there as well. They were so drunk and loud, with music playing and motorboats on the lake that they probably didn’t even hear me let alone make out what I was saying. Just the same, it felt good to holler out the feelings of frustration that this family has provoked. I could have done much worse and I’m glad that I didn’t allow them to fully pull me in.
Tags: annoyances, family, me, summer, under pressure, vacation
You know why I like this one? It caught me off guard. I read it, then paused and thought What?! and then read it again. Upon second reading I thought it really strange and possibly unhealthful. I also thought “yuck” and “sick.” I hope there are not too many people who share this secret though I think this one was rendered in a very interesting way.
Tags: favorite, Favourite Post Secret This Week, I eat the last page, me, Post Secret, quotes
What criteria do you feel makes a good QotD?
A good Question of the Day should open up the possibilities of an answer that reveals something about me that I might not have thought to write about and in reading other’s answers I’ll be enlightened about them as well.
I need to be able to relate to the QotD on some level. I realize this “universal” quality must be a challenge to produce in the QotD but it is appreciated as it adds depth to the question and it’s resultant answer.
I think a QotD can be light and frothy in nature–not deep at all–but another QotD can be very much one to ponder.
I like QotD’s that inspire me to pour out a post almost effortlessly–a QotD that inspires answers that are easy to share but I like QotD’s too that I can stash away–like this one–and come back to when I can give the question some thought before I tackle it.
Always at Maple Lake though depending if it’s every other year sometimes only for Labour Day weekend or maybe a week when we have big trips (Disneyland, D.C.) in the spring or summer or, like this year, much longer.
I live in a condo, we have a pool which I almost no one else uses. A kid my kid had in last years math class works there full time as well as another guy his age. So I guess I sort of hang but the pool a bit. Went today with spouse before dinner. Swim as much as I can.
This summer I’m the “adult driver” whilst my kid learns during the day.
Spouse and I “debrief” one another afterwards and we rate How It Was by how scared he made us! LOL.
You really want to know about my summers as a kid? My summertime Bio:
Maple Lake Ontario
–all summer, every summer from age 6 -13.
Downtown Haliburton, Ontario closest town to our cottage~ 07.03.08~ All webshots taken today July 3, 2008~
(The fake neon green car way up in theright upper part of the shot is at the very sharp leftward turn in the road as you enter town coming from Maple Lake on Hwy 35.)
Depp at Disneyland
Go to Disneyland. I’m serious!
I’ve had a plan to meet up with out-of-state friends at Thanksgiving in California with part of my family’s time spent in the Land of the Mouse. We go every two years. However, my calculations were based on what I was earning at the time I made the decision. Due to some :cough: unforeseen :cough: circumstances I’m now making about a quarter of what I was. I haven’t stopped working. In fact, I work 12-14 hour days because I refuse to write garbage but still it’s looking less and less like I’ll meet my financial goal of paying for three people to fly out to California and back.
Here’s something to cheer everyone up.
Johnny Depp meets Jack Sparrow on and in Pirates of the Caribbean. It made me smile.
Tags: blogging, celebs, disneyland johnnny depp interview, family, happiness, Internet, Jack sparrow, Johnny Depp, me, opinion, pirates of the caribbean, travel, under pressure, video, youtube
George Carlin first came to my attention when he got himself arrested for uttering the “The Seven Dirty Words You Can Never Say On Television” in the mid 1970’s, when he performed in Milwaukee WI. Until one of my friends bought his comedy album (which some stores refused to carry) with the routine on it I didn’t know what the content of the Seven Dirty Words was, only that they had to be the worst swear words, ever. There was no cable television then–no Internet to pull up a video or even audio of the routine so after about a year spent discussing and guessing on and off what those words entailed I finally heard them. I’d guessed a few of them but George taught me a few more. 
The George Carlin of this century was very different than prior to his wife’s death in 1997. She was with him from the early days and his humour took a harder, more bitter turn in the years that followed her death
For a time, it was hard to watch him because though he’s been a curmudgeon for forever the extra, extra, bitter George sometimes seemed more angry than funny. When examining his career of 50 years however this was but a small portion of it.
A very intelligent man and keen observer of just about everything it seemed, George Carlin was one of the funniest, most gifted comedians of my lifetime. Because I enjoy “language” with all it’s oddities and because George liked to take apart the words we use every day and examine them more closely he always had something to offer that tickled my funny bone.
I was unaware that he was fighting addictions as recently as 2004 and also that he’d had several heart attacks. Knowing this I suppose at age 71 he did not die “too early.”
In any case, his body of work will continue to speak for him.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/06/23…
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — George Carlin, the influential comedian whose routines used profanity, scatology and absurdity to point out the silliness and hypocrisy of human life, has died. He was 71. Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, died of heart failure died Sunday at at 5:55 p.m. PT. Carlin was “a hugely influential force in stand-up comedy. He had an amazing mind, and his humor was brave, and always challenging us to look at ourselves and question our belief systems, while being incredibly entertaining. He was one of the greats,” actor and comedian Ben Stiller said in a statement. Carlin was often quoted, his best lines traded like baseball cards. “Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?” began one famous routine. Another pointed out the differences between the pastoral game of baseball and the militaristic game of football: “Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park. The baseball park! Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.” Then there were the non sequiturs: “The bigger they are, the worse they smell,” he observed. He filled three best-selling books, more than 20 record albums and countless television appearances with his material. He appreciated the impact his words made on fans. “These are nice additional merit badges that you earn if you’ve left a mark on a person or on some people,” he told CNN.com in 2004. “I’d say it’s flattering, but flattery implies insincerity, so I call it a compliment.” Carlin was probably best known for a routine that began, “I was thinking about the curse words and the swear words, the cuss words and the words that you can’t say.” It was a monologue, known as “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” that got Carlin arrested and eventually led to the U.S. Supreme Court. The “Seven Dirty Words” bit prompted a landmark indecency case afte…
“Here’s a short selection of George Carlin’s best YouTube
flicks. If you’re a fan, I know you’ll enjoy them; if you’re one of the uninitiated, well, better late than never.
5. Voting
- why do we always feel like there’s a lack of real choice on the ballot? George explains the habits of an average voter, where politicians come from and why the country is screwed.
4. Ten Commandments - You know those stupid top 10 lists, that always seem like they were inflated up to a round number (any similarity to any persons or blogs living or dead is a coincidence)? Well, it goes all the way back to Moses.
3. Airline Announcements - Ever wondered why all announcements on an airplane sound like they’re spoken in some weird language from a parallel universe?
2. Saving The Planet - Saving endangered species is just one more arrogant attempt by humans to control nature. It’s what got us in trouble in the first place.
1. Religion Is Bullshit - If he was wrong about this one, it might get George into a lot of trouble right about now.”
ge
Tags: celebs, dead, fanwank, george carlin, humour, me, news, obit, Television, video, video mash up, videos, youtube
Every new “Today” seems more anxious than ever. Do you find more solace in “Yesterday” or “Tomorrow”? Why?
Solace: comfort in sorrow, misfortune, or trouble; alleviation of distress or discomfort.
Find solace in yesterday? No. Tomorrow? Tomorrow is probably what I need solace from, lol.
Today is as anxious as I allow it to be. It’s an old-fashioned notion but it happens to work. There will always be the good times and bad times. Most of the time life is on an even keel. Maybe some people think these are “bad times” and certainly for people in crisis it is. But I’m not in crisis–today anyway–so I have no need to find solace.
It’s not that I never worry. I do, absolutely. And I may seek solace in distracting myself for awhile. Ultimately however the only solace (for me) is to address the problem head on. If I know I’m doing something–even if it’s just keeping my head together and moving forward with my life then I feel OK. It’s when times are difficult and I get stuck that I have a real problem. I won’t stay stuck. I can’t. So I work on getting unstuck.
Tags: annoyances, behaviour, happiness, issues, me, our garden, photography, qotd, under pressure, yesterday or tomorrow
Father
My favourite Post Secret each week tends to be one of the ones that tickles my funny bone.
This week it was not one of the funny ones.
The postcard to Frank that grabbed me most this week was one that hit dead-center home. (Read at left.)
Many years ago I fell in love with a man who treated my son, whose father was/is completely absent from his life, like his son. The love affair ended but the love my ex-boyfriend felt for my son endured.
Even after my son grew older this man stayed in contact; even after my son grew indifferent this guy still professed his love. I was there and know his love to be genuine so when I saw this card with it’s image closely resembling my son as a child, I had to really, really look to see that my-ex boyfriend did not write it. I’m not convinced he did not and that is the very first time this has happened to me.
It’s an odd feeling.
Tags: family, Father's Day, favorite, Favourite Post Secret This Week, me, my son, Post Secret, The Love You Make, Weblog(s)
Post Secret was offline (down) before my offline trip of 5 days so I am really behind. I’ll make a sincere effort to catch up. Don’t forget to go to the “search” box on this page for more “Post Secrets.”
This Post Secret is priceless. It articulates so many feelings I have as someone that shoots photos intuitively and is mostly self-taught. Snob photographers can argue but digital photography coupled with Photoshop-like programs are making the perfect “white balance” a moot point–though it isn’t one I fake knowing. I learned what it is on my camera by using “white balance correction” software. One just fixes it.
You either have the eye or you don’t. Or in the case ( below) of the first of several people who made comments on this Post Secret and who work in various professions, the ear:
“Subject: “ISO”
I am a pianist of twelve years, and I have no idea the difference between a nocturne and a sonata or what a B flat scale consists of.”
Tags: behaviour, favorite, humour, ISO Favourite Post Secret This Week, me, other, post, Post Secret, secrets and lies, talent
All day today, I’ve had a nagging feeling that there was some “occasion” this month of May that I was forgetting. I did a mental check and Mother’s Day popped into my mind. I scratched that. I remembered that May 10 was the anniversary of my first marriage (it was also Mother’s Day that year) but that rang no bells–as it shouldn’t. The date May 20th, popped into my mind briefly but just as quickly was dismissed with a shrug. Nope. I didn’t know until spouse came home and opened a greeting card from his mom–my mother-in-law–that tomorrow, May 20th, is the 14th anniversary of our getting hitched.
It goes without saying that I forget many dates of anniversaries of birthdays, especially.
Some dates that I never forget however are both my kid’s birthdays and my Mom’s birthday. Dad would get thrown into the mix but he’s not ever seemed to enjoy celebrations and his birthday is right near Father’s Day and coincidentally also in the vicinity of my spouse’s birthday, too. Too many dates to remember in June. Lots of birthdays in the extended family too, as well as 8th grade and high school graduations.
So happy anniversary, dear. You are a good spouse. I was just thinking that. You do all the cooking and you work too much and you’ve spent countless hours working with our son on his ballista project for the Gifted Children’s Expo.
You are not really the romantic type (nor am I) so I’ll close using an unfussy statement. I think I got it right this time. Happy Anniversary. I love you.
Tags: 14 years, anniversary, family, In Sickness and Health, Love and Marriage, married, me, spouse, The Love You Make, wedding
