It's no secret that I am a sports fan ... college basketball most specifically. I have been taking in some of the ESPN 30 on 30 films and really loving them. Yesterday I saw the film on Ben Wilson, a potential NBA star from a local Chicago high school, and was completely touched on so many levels. The strength of his mother. The emotions his teammates have all these years after his death. The outpouring of support from all of Chicagoland...
But what gets me the most is how unbelievable it is that we have not grown and learned from his story. Benji's story could be on the news today, some thirty years later. Chicago is on record for the most murders in 2012 at 499! And I cannot help but remember the line that the kid who killed Benji said his grandfather told him "if you show your gun, you better use it." What? I mean, what? And people don't think we should have gun laws and restrictions in the United States.... Every high school kid should be required to watch this film. Period!
blogs and social media
I ran across Trent's thoughts on blogging and social networks and completely agree. I just had to share his analogies.
Ideas of March | Trent Walton: Places on the web for sharing content and ideas often remind me of real life interactions. Facebook is the everlasting high school reunion. Twitter, which I love, is maybe half cocktail party, half party-line. Flickr & Instagram can be the best way to send a postcard, while LinkedIn is the best way to send a fax ;) To me, there’s something sacred about reading a blog post on someone else’s site. It’s like visiting a friend’s house for a quick meal ‘round the breakfast table. It’s personal— you’re in their space, and the environment is uniquely suited for idea exchange and uninterrupted conversation. In many ways, we should be treating our blogs like our breakfast tables. Be welcoming & gracious when you host, and kind & respectful when visiting.
enjoy the silence
via pinterest.com
If only I could. I currently have the WORST upstairs neighbor. He listens to his surround sound movies so loud that I can hear them over the top of my own TV. I have spoken to him in person and via email and he blows it off every time. He is the only renter in our condo building, so doesn't care if his neighbors like him like the rest of us do. I PRAY that he will not renew his lease. I have copied the owner of that unit on all of my emails to him and if the situation does not improve will likely have to talk to him and the board about not allowing him to stay for another year. It's been a horrible year of noise and makes for a grumpy vettie. *frown*
black tea please!
Now when my doctor asks me what I do to combat stress I can say "I drink black tea!" I love black tea - forget that green stuff!
green then and now
Checking out at the supermarket recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. I apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days“.
The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations“.
She was right about one thing–our generation didn’t have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then? After some reflection and soul-searching on “Our” day, here’s what I remembered we did have….
Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby’s nappies because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 240 volts — wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn’t have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of Wales. In the kitchen, we blended & stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right. We didn’t have the green thing back then.
We drank from a water fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then?
Please post this on your Facebook profile so another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smarty-pants young person can add to this
This made me laugh. While I think the age range is a bit off, the points made are quite good. It has been within the last 20 years or so that 'we' developed the bad habits that have started to really harm the environment. Plastic bags. Plastic bottles. Ridiculous amounts of packaging to protect products.
And full disclosure, I am addicted to bottled water. I have tried many a reusable bottle, but nothing is as convenient as that damn plastic bottle of water. I do bring my own bags to the grocery store and recycle as much plastic and paper that comes into my home. Hopefully that counts for something...
OneCraftyFox: Twenty Little Things...
[image(s) source: We Heart It]
Hello girlfriends!! Nobody can give you wiser advise than you can give yourself, but I've put together a little list of Twenty Things I Think Every Woman Should Have In Her Lifetime. I hope you enjoy it, and perhaps you have some advice of your own to share... ;)
♥ 20. An amazing dish and all the ingredients to perfect it, should you require it within the hour.
♥ 19. Something ridiculously expensive that you bought for yourself, just because you deserve it.
♥ 18. A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, a black lacey bra... and the ability to *work* them all.
♥ 17. A hairstylist who listens to exactly what you want, and knows exactly what to do when you don’t know what you want.
♥ 16. A resume that is not even the slightest bit padded... because you are good enough just as you are.
♥ 15. Something in your wardrobe that has just the right amount of sparkle, and a pretty perfume that is just you.
♥ 14. One old boyfriend you daydream about going back to, and another who reminds you of how far you have come.
♥ 13. A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine and the ability to cook healthy meals that taste absolutely delish.
♥ 12. The understanding that you will not get away with smoking, drinking, doing drugs or not flossing for very long.
♥ 11. A sensual and smooth Latin American man who will leave you positively breathless.
♥ 10. One friend you can count on to make you laugh, and another you can count on to let you cry.
♥ 9. The perfect little black dress, and a darling little white one.
♥ 8. Some element of self defense training and the ability to trust your sixth sense.
♥ 7. A past that’s just juicy enough that you can look forward to telling it without shame in old age.
♥ 6. An incredible lip product that leaves you feeling super soft and super smooch-able.
♥ 5. Knowing what you would and wouldn’t do for love or money, and knowing when to try harder and when to walk away.
♥ 4. A good bullshit detector and a favorite sex position.
♥ 3. Realizing you should never need to apologize for something that isn’t your fault.
♥ 2. Recognizing that you are flawed, yet more so, that you are beautiful.
♥ 1. Having a theme song for all of your little moments.
I couldn't agree with this list more! While I've not achieved all twenty as of yet, I'm damn close! My song of the moment ... Somebody that I used to know by Walk off the Earth
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9NF2edxy-M]
this Christmas
Let me start this post by saying I love Christmas. I love the traditions that are created around holidays - specifically Christmas. When I was a kid we packed in a full day of family - having my father's parents over in the morning, opening gifts and having lunch together then in the afternoon we'd head to the farm to be with my mother's side of the family. As I have gotten older, those traditions have changed - some family members don't make it back because they are with the "other side of the family," the next generation becomes host and that changes venues and menus, some grow ill and some even pass away. Change is inevitable. Maya Angelou said "life is a gift, and I try to respond with grace and courtesy." It's quite fitting for where I am in life right now. So many of my traditions have changed, making my 30's a little bit unstable. I could not be more thankful for the 30+ years of family filled festivities, but I see change coming to my future.
That said .. I spent the month of December brunching, lunching and dining with friends and catching up on all the good times we've had this past year. I made the trip back home to Kansas for a few days over the Christmas holiday where I got to spend time with my immediate family (minus one). I met little Jackson (in green above) who will literally steel your heart - he just couldn't be more laid back. He smiles about everything and at everyone and barely makes a peep! Then there's Austin (in orange above) who is a boy's boy - rough and tumble and skeptical of everything, but once he decide's you're OK, a bunch of fun and so full of energy it's exhausting to watch him!
Sadly, my grandmother took a turn for the worst and had to be put on oxygen and breathing treatments. She was coughing so deep it sounded like it took every muscle in her body to produce. It was hard to see, but I am so glad she was able to celebrate another Christmas. At 92, she's had one good long life and is still with us after having a stroke 14 months ago. That's an impressive will to live! And God bless my mother for taking care of her all of those months! I cannot imagine how difficult life has been for her, but my grandmother could not be in better hands.
Life sometimes throws us tough times and I figure they only make us stronger. I hope you were able to spend time celebrating the holiday with your family and friends! All the best for a shiny new year!
my new friend, Jawbone UP
Meet my new friend, the Jawbone UP bracelet. I had read about the UP over the past few months on the tech blogs and thought it sounded like a pretty cool device. And someone tipped me off that they had hit the stores, so I immediately picked one up. You know I'm a sucker for a new gadget. Especially when it's supposed to make my life better! I have had the UP for just over a week now and have to say... I love it.
The UP is supposed to help you 'move' more - it tracks your steps, distance, pace, intensity level and calories associated with those activities. You can tell it to remind you to move - like when you're sitting in front of the computer working all day, it will give you a gentle reminder to get up and move around a bit. I find this super useful - it's so good to know what calories you're burning on a regular basis and then you can really see when you need to pick it up and get moving more.
The UP tracks your sleep too! This is probably my favorite feature of the UP. It tracks hours slept, when you're in deep vs. light sleep, if you wake up in the middle of the night and then gives you an overall picture of the night. Honestly, I have no idea how it does this, but it does. And it sure seems to be right! I program it to wake me at a specific time and it will wake me within a 20-30 min window before that time. It wakes me in light sleep and I feel Sooooooooooooo much better when I wake up. See, I had gotten into this horrible rut of setting my alarm and hitting the snooze a couple of times before I actually drag my butt out of bed. By looking at my sleep patterns, I totally get why this was such a bad thing! When I fall asleep, I fall direct into deep sleep, so if you wake me up 5 min into that I am going to be much more groggy than if I just get up a few minutes earlier but while in light sleep. This has seriously been THE. BEST. FEATURE. for me!!
So the only feature I don't love is the food tracking. You're supposed to take a quick photo of your food and the UP will ask you a little while later in the day how that food makes you feel (via smiley faces). The idea is that you can see what foods energize you and those that make you feel yucky. Well... for me, since it doesn't also track calories and such, I find that I don't really use it. Maybe they will do something to expand on it in the future that will get me a little more interested ... but despite this feature, the UP has been a fabulous addition to my life! Snap one up and let me know how you like it!
what is it about cuff links...
via pinterest.com
and French cuff shirts that make an ordinary shirt extraordinary? We had clients in from the UK last week and had told them we have a very casual work environment. And since it was going to be an all day work session, to come in something comfortable. They had simple button down shirts and casual pants, but French cuffs and links. Honestly, you just don't find that here in the US. It's a really nice touch!
missoni for target - wow!
I would not describe myself as obsessed by fashion, but... every once in a while I find something that really peaks my interest. With my recent obsession with chevron prints, the new Missoni line for Target certainly got my attention. It had a fair amount of press, but having never really paid much attention to the limited release lines at Target, I had no idea what kind of demand there is for these items. I woke up around 6:30 this morning and surfed the Target site on my phone and knowing that I couldn't really purchase till 7am, I didn't really do much else till then. Well the Target site crashed in epic fashion!
I thought oh boy, this isn't going to be good. I got myself ready while checking the site every now and then, to no avail. I decided to pop into my local store before work to see what I could pick up there. I arrived about 8:25 to find most of the shelves with one or two lonely items left and check out lines backed up with carts overflowing with colorful chevron patterned goodies. Boo. I had hoped to pick up a few of these fun things ....
Any of these would have been great - most specifically that throw!! Seems that was the hottest of the hot items and some stores didn't even get any in stock. The Target employees said they would likely restock, but later in the day they seem to have changed their tune. Clearly Target underestimated the demand on this product in a huge way!
Back in the office I kept trying to get online and sadly ended up looking at the little Target dog most of the day. Once I finally was able to sign on - everything I wanted was sold out. No stores show availability either. So I wonder if they really will get more product on the shelves or online in the next month or if folks will have to purchase what they wanted from ebay. Currently there are over 16,000 items listed on ebay from the Missoni for Target collection. This is the most disgusting thing to me!! No matter how bad I want that throw, I will NOT pay four times the price because someone went in the store and hoarded product to put on ebay. I wish there was a way to figure out how to stop people from doing this ... like concert and sport tickets too!
The good news... I was able to pick up a few items and will keep checking with my local stores to see if anyone returns one of those throws! The three ladies in front of me in line purchased over $700 worth of merchandise EACH! Does anyone need that much chevron?? Um... no. I am hoping there are enough of these types that will have some buyers remorse and return some of the stuff I wanted. And if not ... well then it wasn't meant to be!