Crazy Daze, Silly Knights

The first snow is magical...it's something you can't appreciate unless you live in snowy areas. But it really is magical. When the first flakes are spotted, gently floating toward the ground, it causes a bit of a stir. People gather around the nearest window in childlike excitement. We assess the size, the shape and how fast or slow it is snowing. The first snow is a cause for strangers to talk about how pretty it is and how much fun the winter can bring. It's a bonding experience. That's how we feel about snow in December.  In the middle of February, the feeling is very different about snow. By February the wonder has worn off. There is no excitement when we see snow falling. There is cussing when we see the next set of flakes falling. There is more cussing as we lug bags of salt around so we can avoid falling on our keisters.....and generally end up on our keisters because we are balancing a bag of salt on icy surfaces.  In the end, most of us up north are...

My cat and I have a disagreement. He believes he owns every bit of the house because he sleeps everywhere...I believe the one who pays the bills rules the house. It is a constant battle of control. Like right now, I am sitting on the couch, watching the news and paying bills. The moment I sit forward to drink from my water glass...he scoots in back of me and lies down, trying to own the space. I immediately move him next to me and scold him, telling him he knows better and why does he keep trying the same old things. This has been happening for 17 years. In some ways, I can see his point of view. We sleep in our rooms, come out to get ready for our day and then we leave. He is here 24/7. In some ways, this house is his world and we are the invaders. We come and go and he vigilantly sits in here, guarding the citadel. Okay, not so much guarding as much as sleeping, eating and pooping. But close enough. He is a kept kitty...I go to work to keep up the lifestyle he has grown ac...

It is official...my social experiment is done. I have logged into Facebook. The things I learned on my week hiatus: 1. Read the news before logging into Facebook. You can already be influenced by bias before you ever read a story if you read a long list of either negative or positive comments about a certain topic. It will then feed into your confirmation bias and will keep you from making your own opinions without preconceived notions. 2. Block all political sites. That's right...all of them. I don't care if I agree with them or not. They have an agenda and are pushing it. I don't follow corporations because all they will do is push their product. Same thing with political sites...they are pushing their products. If I agree with someone I don't have to belong to a group to say I do...I know it and it is good enough for me. 3. Keep social media in its place...put the phone down. I went to events last week and I just enjoyed them at the time, not taking pictures...

We are all the bad guys in someone's story. We don't want to admit it, but it's true. You don't have to be an ax murderer to be the bad person in another person's mind. Maybe one day you didn't pay attention and you cut someone off. Maybe you were having a heated discussion on your cell phone and you annoyed someone. Or possibly you apologized for something and the recipient never heard it, and now, forever, they are cut to the quick. A sharp word, an inadvertent action, and ~POOF~ you are now a star in their "this asshole" story. They will tell this story to their families and friends, possibly at a party or a bar. Just know, there is a whole crowd that is hating on you for that moment. Did you ever think that that anonymous person might not be so anonymous? That one day, you cut off the friend of a friend and you all go to the same gathering and they tell the story about how much of a jerk someone was, and you cheered on their angst, never kno...

This morning I walk into the kitchen at 5:15 am. I go about my normal routine of washing dishes and preparing my lunch for the day. The house is quiet except for heater, just blowing away the morning chill. It turns off at some point and I notice something...every time I take a step something is rattling. An entire silent house and I notice rattling. I didn't notice it before because of the noise of the heater. But now that it is extra quiet, that rattling is making me crazy. I must seek and destroy the source of the noise or my life will just not be right until I do it. Turns out, it was the Marsala wine bottle knocking the olive oil canister. Nothing really loud, but just enough to distract me from my morning routine. That's pretty much the way my entire life is. If there is a lot of noise, I don't notice little things, I pass them up. The roar of life will keep any little thought hidden, that little thought will never have a chance to be heard if every moment is fil...

This is the day my daughter said I would break down and check Facebook. She gave me until sundown. I bet her a stick I would be able to avoid it...she bet me a gum wadded up in pink paper that she dropped on the bus by accident and lot that I would be checking out Facebook by sundown.  The challenge just got real.... Ok, so we don't really take betting seriously. She turned 18 and I took her to an OTB shortly after that. We bet on the horses based on if their names sounded cute or not. Or if they reminded us of characters in movies. For anyone thinking this is the way to bet, it's not, we lost our asses off. In fact, if you bet opposite of what we bet, you would probably win. Which now, I think I have my next strategy in betting....but I digress.  One strange ancillary effect of not scrolling through my news feed first thing in the morning and not playing the next level of Candy Crush...I get out of bed sooner. I did not see that coming. I never realized just how m...

Day 2 of no FB... I had to delete the shortcut on my phone. All of the notifications kept coming up and it become hard to ignore them. So I figured, out of sight out of mind. Once it was gone, I stopped looking at my phone. It took a moment to realize that I was trained by an inanimate object. And not just Facebook notifications...if my email even has a number by it or it makes some absurd noise, I have to check to see what new email has hit my inbox. Normally it is some company trying to get me to spend money I don't have....but for some reason I feel the need to check it. I wasn't always like this. When I was younger, BCp (before cellphones), if I heard random noises throughout the day, I would think, "that's weird" and move on with my day. Now I hear something and I feel the need to stare at a tiny screen. It has become an obsession. As if to say, "whatever is going on out there must be a lot more interesting than what I'm doing...so I must dive...

There is that moment when you realize you are an adult. Maybe it is when you are going to the grocery store for the first time and you are in charge of the cart. Maybe it is when you have to sign your first lease. Or when you see bills coming up in your name. Or when you buy your first car. For me it was when I bought a couch on credit. I picked out my couch from JC Penney. I was 20 years old. The credit card company called up and they told me my credit limit was not enough to cover the couch, but this time they would do me a favor and raise my limit. I was thrilled…honored. I felt as though I should send them a fruit basket. Possibly add them to my Christmas list. I got off the phone and jumped for joy because I was a Chosen One. Then came the payments to the credit card. Yea, they are easy at first, but then you realize how much and how long you have to pay for the honor of being the “Chosen One”. Suffice it say, if I did the minimum payments, I’d still be paying that c...

Day 1 Why am I doing it.... Do you ever lie in bed, flipping through your phone, waiting out time for your next life on your game to hit and think, "what the hell am I doing?" I had 1 of those moments the other day. I had an image that my gravestone would say, "Here Lies The Candy Crush Queen!....meh." It was a chilling moment in my mind. I realized all those things I wanted to do I could do if I just disconnected slightly. Oh, I know I can't do it completely, because....well I love the internet. It's fun and exciting. However, with as much as the internet has to offer, when you limit yourself to Facebook and Candy Crush it defeats the purpose. It's like going to the Grand Canyon and seeing the movie Grand Canyon to get a feel of what the Grand Canyon is like, never looking anywhere else but the screen. If you would just widen your view you could take a look for yourself. No, I'm not going to the Grand Canyon. I wish. Right now, I'd se...