I'm Moving!

Just my blog ...

I've been having some technical difficulties lately with Blogger that I haven't been able to solve which has prompted me to make some changes. I am moving the blog to my website, Imitation of Life and will be writing there from now on.

Change your bookmarks and follow me . . .

Unconscious Mutterings

I found this website yesterday which I thought might be fun (at least for a while). It's called Unconscious Mutterings and is based upon the theory of free association. The site publishes a list of 10 words every week and asks readers to write down the first thing that comes into their heads when reading each word. There aren't really any rules - you can write down a one word reaction or a series of words; You can post your responses with a bunch of other people on Sunday or post any day of the week. (Be sure to check out the website for more details.)

So here's my first attempt. If you've got a few minutes, try it yourself. You might be surprised what you come up with and who knows where some of these free thoughts can lead - I refer to continued inspiration for writing only ;)

1. Traditional :: Antiquated



2. Popeye :: Spinach



3. Gin :: and Tonic



4. Harsh :: Teenagers



5. Topless :: Beach



6. The thing :: You don't want anyone to know



7. Defiant :: Bold



8. Huge :: Ginormous (I can't believe that made it into the dictionary this year!!)



9. Food :: Necessary



10. Lenny :: Kravitz

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P.S. I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Saturday and it was wonderful :) I am a little sad though that there won't be any more new adventures for Harry and his friends. I can still look forward to the final two installments of the movie version though!!

This WTF Moment Brought to You By . . .

While perusing the paper yesterday I happened upon this this headline: Courts struggle to find jurors who will serve. I couldn't think of any reason why off the top of my head, after all it's not like the adult population has suddenly dipped in number, so I continued on figuring it would be an interesting read.

Interesting, but somewhat maddening actually.

You see, the reason that courts across the country are having trouble finding enough jurors to serve is because PEOPLE JUST AREN'T SHOWING UP!!!

That's right. According to one study, "fewer than half of all Americans summoned report for duty." LESS THAN HALF!!!

When I shared this information with my husband, he was surprised (as was I) pointing out that he thought there were all kinds of penalties for not showing up. While I believe this is true, I also believe that many people are playing the odds that the courts won't prosecute them because they have bigger things to worry about. Apparently they're right.

Which is why I find this so despicable. Look, no one likes having to report to jury duty. It sucks getting up early, finding a parking space within reasonable walking distance of the courthouse (at least around the courthouses I've had to serve in), no one likes being locked up in what reminds me of a high school classroom with 30 or so other strangers (all as happy as you and I are about their present situation) and waiting . . . and waiting . . . and waiting . . . Hoping not to be called so that you don't end up with some case that brings you back to this place for several days, but hoping that they fill all the panels (without you) in a reasonable amount of time so you don't have to sit in a very uncomfortable chair all day.

Like I said, I don't like it either.

But it's necessary. It's one of those things that comes with the territory. I know we're all really busy with our own lives and all, but if we expect police officers to protect us then we have to back them up with a system that holds criminals accountable. (I will at this point agree that there are definitely problems with the criminal court system, of which I'm not about to get into here, but I'm pretty sure that there are very few, if any, who skip out on their jury service for that reason.)

So, according to the article, some counties are coming up with non-traditional ways of getting people to serve. For example, in Sanford, North Carolina court officials stand outside of grocery stores and hand out random jury summons - for that same day!! Now how inconvenient is that?! And if you mention not showing up because you have other plans, the court official will politely remind you that you will be held in contempt of court.

In New York state it is no longer possible to get a jury service waiver if you are a doctor, lawyer, police officer, firefighter or judge. In D.C. judges will issue a summons for those who skip out on their jury service and if they no-show again they can face up to seven days in jail and a $300 fine. In Tulane County, California officials have gone one step further and will personally deliver the summons to appear in court to the no-shows' home.

I don't personally know of anyone who enjoys juror duty, but you know what? Sometimes, as adults, we have to do things we don't want to do. We don't have to like it, we just have to do it. So next time you get one of those official looking envelopes in the mail, groan, let out a big sigh, complain about it constantly for the weeks leading up to it - but just show up, OK?

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I'd also like to thank Em over at Notes from my Corner for giving out this award to me:

Now I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first - having never thought of myself as a schmoozer - but as Em pointed out, schmoozing can refer to simply conversing in a casual manner or to "talk intimately and cozily." Now that doesn't sound so bad, does it?

He has also sent some nice readers my way and I'm always glad to "meet" new people and hear their thoughts on things. I hope you all continue to visit and be sure to let me know what you're thinking!

So thanks again, Em! (Great post about the award itself, btw. I LOVED the last paragraph ;)

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One more thing . . . This article was written by a truly talented reporter and while I have admired his work for years now, I must say that this particular piece has been one of his best so far. Really. So if you're interested, go on over and check it out . . . Oh yeah. In the spirit of full disclosure, the writer is my husband. It's still REALLY good though :)

I'm Still Here

Yes, I know. I haven't been blogging. Haven't been in the mood, I guess. Been busy with other things - Work mainly, but I've managed to squeeze in some good stuff, too. You know, real life. Like Thursday . . .

Thursday was my older son's last day of school. It was exciting (even at four years old he knows enough to look forward to summer vacation) and a little sad, too. I tend to get attached. I'm going to miss his teacher. (I will admit to having one of those sad smiles on my face when he hugged his preschool teacher goodbye.) She was great with him. She really got to know him and our whole family. She even gave him what I consider to be one of the best compliments someone can give when she told me that he reminded her of her own son :)

I won't miss having to split my day in half to go pick him up for lunch. I'll enjoy being able to take a few highly anticipated day trips to the zoo and such. It will be nice for my younger son to have his playmate back in the A.M. And it will be fun to experience that back-to-school excitement again in the fall. (Kind of brings me back to when I was a kid . . . going school shopping, picking out my first day of school outfit, not being able to sleep the night before the big first day . . .)

So that was Thursday. I've also been reading a lot instead of writing. Really I should be doing both, but haven't quite found that balance yet. I'm reading "American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau: Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work" by Susan Cheever. (Yes I'm on that transcendentalism kick again :) It's pretty good. A good portion of it I'd read in other books, but I'm learning a lot about Alcott and Hawthorne that I didn't know before. It really was a kind of magical time in the mid-1800's in Concord, MA. I think I would have enjoyed the atmosphere - all that talk of literature and philosophy. The idea that there was more to life than just work . . . That God could be found in nature and not just in a church . . . That it was important to experience life, to live it, to not rush from one task to another in order to get everything done . . . I just think I would have liked it.

What else? Oh, I was listening to one of my favorite shows on NPR the other day, On Point with Tom Ashbrook, and they were doing one of my favorite topics of the year - summer reading lists. Ashbrook had several guests on sharing what they thought would be great summer reads this year. There were quite a few that sounded interesting and I've already suggested Boomsday by Christopher Buckley to my husband. (Buckley wrote Thank You for Smoking which I haven't read but the movie was darkly hilarious.) It seems right up his alley. If you're looking for something to pick up at the bookstore, be sure and check out their list.

Another topic that was covered this week on the show was titled "The End of the Private Life." It talked about how people are willing to share everything from their most embarrassing moment to stories about their children and bosses with complete strangers via the Internet. And it got me thinking. I've always tried to be somewhat conscious of revealing too much (because you never know who might be reading :) but I know that I have also written things on here that I don't have the courage to say out loud anywhere else.

At the same time, I started to think about how this blog has changed over the last year or so. It started out as something that was somewhat impersonal where I mainly talked about issues that were important to me or thoughts I had about random things I saw or read about, but now it seems I spend more time talking about my personal life than anything else. And I'm not sure that's how I want it to be. I need to reevaluate what it is I want my writing to represent. I think I need to refocus on some of the issues that are important to me and share my ideas with all of you so that maybe you'll begin to do some thinking of your own.

Maybe I just haven't been thinking that much lately about anything other than my personal stuff . . . That's certainly a possibility and if that's the case, I definitely need to switch gears.

All right. My mind has pretty much shut down at this point. Getting up at 5 a.m. makes for a long day by four in the afternoon. I could really use a nap. Or maybe I should go clean my house. It could use it. But I'll probably go try and catch up on my magazine reading instead. Give me something to write about ;)


***Just to illustrate how unmotivated I've been - I started this entry Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. and didn't get around to finishing/posting it until 4 p.m. on Saturday. Oh well.

I Forgot!

I knew it was coming up. I just forgot about it earlier in the week. (Have I heard that excuse somewhere before?)

Yes, it's true. I have been sharing my random thoughts with you all for a full year. Yes, I had a blog-a-versary this past week. (See how far I've come?) I can't believe I've actually kept this thing going for a full year. It's not my usual M.O. But here I am - still - and here you are, too.

So thank you to everyone out there in cyberspace who have been reading this thing for the last 365+ days. (And thank you to my friends who have also shown interest. It was pointed out to me recently that some of you have learned things about me by reading this blog that you probably wouldn't have found out otherwise. That may be true . . . although I can get pretty chatty after a couple of beers ;)

But I'm tired now and should go to bed. Thanks again for stopping by and hopefully you and I will all be around this same time next year.

I Gratefully Accept This Award on Behalf of . . . Me!

Alex recently awarded me with the Thinking Blogger award (although I didn't notice for some time because I had fallen behind in my reading. Sorry, Alex!) and I must say that I am honored. (I guess the title of my blog hasn't been in vain after all.) The award is given to a blogger for a specific post (or the blog itself) that makes you think. You know ... think ... that thing we do when we actually have a spare moment to pause and let an idea ebb and flow through our brains (clearing out all the cobwebs) ... At least that's how it's been for me over the past few weeks. Lots of buzzing around from place to place and not much thinking going on.

Anyway, here is why Alex nominated me, "because her blog does such a great job bringing attention to many social and environmental issues." Yeah!! I know I shouldn't care what other people think, but it is quite the ego boost to hear someone echo one of your reasons for writing. So thank you, again, Alex for your nomination. (And I promise, that "Real Moms" post is on it's way!)

Now, the rule is that once you receive an award you nominate five more blogs/posts that are worthy of the title. So here are my nominees:

1. the true story of what was - Cheryl's posts make me think about my own personal relationships and issues. She is so honest and raw with her emotions that I can't help but think of my own role as mother, daughter, wife, friend, etc. (And she tells the best stories!)

2. Formula Fed & Flexible Parenting - Although she's already been nominated, I had to throw this thing right back over to Alex. Her posts are always full of advice that isn't just coming from some article supposedly written by some expert that (whether intentional or not) ends up making most mothers feel guilty about their parenting choices. (And, again, with humor!)

3. Sempiternal Horizons - Shani makes me think most about my writing. Whether she's inspiring me with quotations or writes an entry that spawns a writing prompt for me . . . she is the epitome of thoughtful. (Especially with those words of encouragement for me that she is ever so generous with)

4. retro research - This brief bit of blogging opened up all kinds of thinking for me. It's the tale of the beginning of a graduate project where a student committed to living without post-1950 technology for one month. That's right no cell phone, no television, no microwave, no ATM cards . . . none of this gadgetry that today we rely so heavily on. (As if the world might stop spinning if I don't pick up my cell every time it rings!)

5. 365: A Photo a Day - This is a photo journal that is thought provoking because the pictures stimulate all kinds of feelings and emotions. And Emily does it all without using more than three or four words per entry.

So there they are. Check them out if you'd like to get those neurons firing, and a thank you from me to all the nominees for giving me lots to think about!

P.S. to Sporadic Posting

I found this over at Izzymom today. It's a great followup to my post the other day about my sporadic posting as of late (which is really kind of funny considering I think I've posted everyday since then :)

So here it is, The Blogging Declaration of Independence: (The articles which apply to me anyway. If you want the full version click the icon at the top of this post)

1. I will only write when I feel like writing. I will not allow myself to feel obligated to write a blog post or do any other blog-related activity if I don’t feel like it.

3. I will write from my heart and remember that my blog is about me and whatever I want to write about.

4. I will not compare myself to other bloggers.

7. I will not feel bad if something I care about doesn’t get a lot of feedback or comments.

8. I will always try to remember that blogging is a hobby first and foremost. When it stops being fun, I will step away and re-evaluate.

11. I will not worry about losing readers if I change my focus from time to time.

12. I will be true to myself and my feelings. I will be cranky if that’s how I feel. Being a diplomat 24-7 is just exhausting and unnatural.

15. I will update and add to this declaration as necessary.

As usual, I have found that I'm not the only one suffering with whatever ails me in the moment; But it's still nice to hear it once in a while.

So to all of you bloggers out there who managed a post today - Congratulations! And to all of you bloggers who did not - Double congratulations!! You must have been having too wonderful of a day ;)

Sporadic Posting = Busy (Happy) Life

I realize my posts have been sporadic lately, but someone :) pointed out to me that he actually enjoys visiting my blog and noticing that I haven't been posting very regularly. He (quickly) told me that while he enjoys reading what I have to say (whether it be personal or political) he experiences a moment of joy by my blog absence because it means that I'm busy living my life; busy spending time with my family; busy being away from the Internet. Although I had never consciously thought of it that way, I realized as soon as he said it that it was true.

I have been busy (and dealing with illnesses, my own and my children's) lately. I am easing back into work. I've been helping my sister with wedding responsibilities (Yeah! Less than two months away!), planning a housewarming party, dealing with some very small concerns regarding my son at school . . . I've been busy. And while I've still been checking in with some of my online friends and reading the things that I enjoy reading, no, I haven't been blogging. And that's OK.

I respect and enjoy the comments I get from readers. I appreciate that while we are ALL busy there are those of you who take time out to stop by my little nook and read what I have to say. But, of course, my biggest responsibility is to myself and to my family; so I will continue to blog when I can, but there may be lapses. I will continue to use this space as a place to rant and to think out loud and to vent, but as I approach my one year "blogaversary" I realize that I must make choices and sometimes my choice will be not to write and instead jump into my new interest in gardening, get back to writing some fiction (which has been neglected for too long), continue ticking off titles on my "to read" list (while adding two titles for every one I read) - and of course there's plenty to do with my kids (and my husband, too).

So keep checking in . . . I've actually got a couple of topics running around in my head at the moment. (Don't worry, Alex, I'll be posting the Real Moms meme next!)

I'm off to read some more of Born on a Blue Day, which is excellent btw.

Do You Really Want to Know?

I've been tagged. Yes, it's true. Alex believes that people might be interested to learn six "weird" things about me. (Either that or she just needed people to tag because apparently I have to tag six more people myself.) At any rate, I don't know how weird any of this will be, but here goes . . .

1. I have this (sometimes overwhelming) fear that I will die in a car accident on the highway. It usually creeps up on me when I'm driving, no less, on the highway and my heart begins to pound and I merge over into the slow lane and I won't let my car go one mile over the speed limit and my eyes dart all over the place looking for potential trouble ... Anyway, you get the idea. It doesn't happen all the time - there are plenty of times when I cruise along without a care in the world (especially early in the morning when there aren't too many people on the road) - but it happens enough. Enough said.
2. I can't stand looking at people's feet on television. OK, this one is definitely "weird" because, generally, I'm not bothered by other people's feet say at the beach or in the summer when everyone is wearing sandals - but there's just something about seeing feet on TV. I have to leave the room whenever the Elmo's World segment on feet comes on; I have to change the channel when the commercial about the foot fungus comes on, the one for the prescription medication and the yellow foot fungus guy with eyes and teeth and they pull up the toenail so he can crawl in .... OK. I know there must be others who find that particular ad unsettling, but overall, no feet on TV for me.
3. I'm a scab picker and a lip biter. I simply can't stand to have anything but smoothness when it comes to my skin. I will bite and bite at my lip until it bleeds (and my eyes may even tear up) just to have a fresh new, SMOOTH, layer of skin to work with. (It's also a nervous habit and I always bite my lip, ravenously, when I'm worried or anxious. My husband yells at me when I do it.) We may be heading toward to much information, so I'll take a step back on the next one.
4. I can dislocate my left shoulder at will. I used to do it all the time - kind of like a party trick - and actually had to go to physical therapy to try and fix it. It got better, but I can still do it. Hurts more now though. Must be because I'm getting old.
5. And finally, this is totally weird ... totally out of character for me ... You're all going to be so surprised ... shocked maybe ... If the Democrats put up a chimpanzee for President in 2008 I will vote for him/her rather than vote for another Republican. (Besides of those in the running right now, the chimp is the only one who hasn't sold his soul to the highest campaign contributor.)

That's enough of that. I'm tired. I need to go to bed. So I tag Gretchen (of course!), Shani, Em, Christina, Cristina and . . . Damn. I don't even have six people to tag. Definitely time for bed.

Honey! I'm Home!

Yes, it's true . . . I'm in my new house!!! (You all knew I couldn't go an entire week without blogging, didn't you? I've been without internet access for the last few days, but I'm taking a well deserved break from moving responsibilities, so what else would I do?)

Anyway, everything went well at the closing, the move has been going even better. My boys LOVE the new house. Every time we have to leave to go back to the apartment they get upset and say they want to stay. My little one asks every morning when we wake up "Can we go to new house today?"

So, yes, I am on cloud nine ... or 12 ... or 104 ... it doesn't matter. Suffice it to say that, even with the overwhelming task of moving ahead of me while I sit in a maze of boxes, I am happier than I've been in a very, long time.

I took a picture today of my precious mantle clock on my new mantle, but I haven't found the cable for the camera that connects it to the computer - so I can't post it yet. But I will. You can take my word for it, it looks perfect.

Let's see ... I have all kinds of ideas running through my head, but really don't have the time to write about them right now. I shouldn't even be doing this. I have a kitchen full of boxes; I have a living room full of boxes; I have a dining room full of boxes - and people coming to help us move our furniture over here tomorrow morning and right now they don't have much of a pathway.

I should go. So until next time, take care of each other ... and thank you to all of you who have sent such kind and supportive words to me regarding my grandmother's passing. She's in a much better place now and after more than 15 years apart she's with my grandfather again. How can I be too sad about that . . .