Weird Week

No, the heat wave didn't melt me into a puddle of goo.  It's still yucky out, but then, it's summer in Wisconsin.  It's gonna be yucky for a while yet.  I'm still here.  Haven't updated in a couple of weeks, I know.  It's been a somewhat stressful week.  My Aunt Betty died last Saturday so we were dealing with the subsequent wake and funeral.  Tried to rent a car for a couple of days, as mine cannot be trusted much out of town.  Unfortunately, the EAA Airventure show is going on this week and just about every single rental place was sold out.  Only one place wasn't but their prices were so inflated because of the air show that I was gobsmacked.  A matchbox-sized compact car was going for $100/day.  Fortunately, my brother was going to the funeral also so he did all the driving and I saved a shitload of cash, bless his heart.  Then, my tendency to store things up for a long time/not talk about them and then blow a gasket made me flip my lid on Tuesday evening.  Anxiety sucks. Fortunately, the people around me were more than forebearing and they let me get a ton off my chest.  I think I might have a talk soon with a family friend who is a counselor.  See what he says I could do to lessen anxiety and cope a bit better.  And CG's ex has popped back into the picture, sort of.  I don't think they're dating again but I think they're still friends.  I know this is way beyond my control, and frankly, none of my damn business but I can't help wishing she'd go away and stay away.  She reminds me of a cross between Pamela Anderson and Angelina Jolie ON A BAD DAY(but without the ridiculous breast implants and collagen lips).  She needs to piss off.  Hopefully she'll find herself a lovely new man and leave MY cute little monsieur alone.  


Does anyone do facial massage on themselves?  I've been looking at YouTube videos about facial massage and I am intrigued.  One lady who demonstrates her techniques is a 40-something woman from either Singapore and when I found out she was in her mid-40s I couldn't believe it. She looks no more than 21.  Her skin is pristine: no lines, wrinkles, crevasses, craters, broken capillaries or uneven tone.  It's impeccable.  I'm becoming more and more interested in preventive maintenance these days.  Anyway, these massage videos have become almost like pornography for me.  I watch them obsessively but instead of becoming amorous, like one does with porn, I get so relaxed I practically fall asleep.

My other YouTube addiction:  Maru the Cat.  Have you guys seen him?  He's got to be the smartest, cutest, sassiest baby out there, and so fat I want to hug him to pieces.  My current idea of the perfect day:  Get a relaxing, 90-min., anti-aging facial/head and neck massage, then take a nice nap on the couch with Maru.  

Heat Wave, Day 5, Part II...

It is now 88F and the heat index is 108F.  Today is not the day to forget coleslaw or potato salad in the backseat of your car.  I hope there aren't any people out there who think it'll be o.k. to leave their kid(s) in the car for "just five minutes" today...


It's supposed to cool down and be livable by Saturday.  I can hardly wait. 


Quick experiment:  Can listening to Christmas carols make a girl feel better on a day like this?  We shall see...

Heat Wave, Day 5...

PLEASEOHPLEASEOHPLEASEOHPLEASEOHPLEASEDEARGODMAKEITSTOPIT'SSOHOTOUTEVERYMINUTEFEELSLIKEANHOURANDNOAMOUNTOFANTIPERSPIRANTINTHEWORLDISGOINGTOKNOCKOUTTHESWEATIT'SSOHOTICAN'TSTANDANOTHERMINUTEPLEASEDEARGODMAKEITSNOWIPROMISEI'LLNEVERCOMPLAINABOUTTHEBADROADSEVERAGAIN!!!!!


Today's forecast: "Very hot and extremely humid.  Partly cloudy until late afternoon then clearing.  Breezy.  Highs 94 to 99. Southwest wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 15 to 25 mph in the afternoon.  Heat index readings 108 to 113."


I'm sorry, but that is obscene.  No place in the world should ever be that hot.  Ever.  


Haven't felt real great for the past few days.  Rather nauseated.  And I'm in a/c almost all the time AND guzzling cold water.  I think God meant me to live in Alaska, not the Midwest.  I haven't even cracked a single book.  Brain's too damn fried.  Tried giving myself a pedicure a couple of days ago and despite the a/c the polish clumped right up.  My toes look disgusting.  Can you imagine what would happen to mascara if I was crazy enough to put it on?  I miss makeup so bad, too!  I look like a pasty pile of crap with a super-shiny forehead.  The first cool day we have, I'm going to pile on the eye makeup and really slut it up.  I know it'll stay put.  Thank goodness July's almost over.  


It's sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hot!

Heat Wave, Day 3...

On the morning news, they're telling us all to stay indoors where it's cool and urging us not to venture outside.  It's already over 80F and we have some nasty storms moving in so I'll have to shut off the computer and unplug it before I go about my day. We had a lovely thunderstorm late last night.  The temperature dropped about 25 degrees in 5 minutes and it was glorious outside while the storm lasted.  The minute it stopped raining it got hot again. 


I cannot wait until the snow flies...

Hotter Than Hell...

Here in the Midwest, we are in the early days of the typical summer scourge:  the dreaded heat wave.  Today is Day 2 and its forecast to be 90-94F with heat indices around 105F.  Those of you in cool, lovely places like the Pacific Northwest(along the coast), Alaska and England/Ireland/Scandinavia/Siberia are lucky souls, indeed.  I'm sure Texans and other Southerners are laughing themselves silly at us right now.  My brother and his family just returned from a 2-week vacation in Texas/Arkansas/Missouri.  In Dallas, 105F is nothing.  One night, J called from Springfield, Mo., complaining that he was freezing to death.  The temperature:  85F.  He said my sister-in-law was wearing a sweatshirt.  I cannot wait til Autumn arrives and it gets chilly.  They are going to be miserable.  Come winter, they'll be catatonic.  I'll feel wonderful, however.  


It's been a disappointing summer.  I had planned on doing so much: going to museums and art shows, a rodeo, concerts in the park, the big 4th of July city-wide celebration, botanical gardens, etc.  With the exception of my niece's 8th grade graduation and subsequent trip to Cedarburg, I've done bupkis.  It's been way too hot and the mosquitos are the size of ping pong balls.  I haven't even been able to get out to a Baseball game.  The only thing I've been able to do successfully is lie quietly in front of a fan and read.  I'm really champing at the bit to get out.  My hope is that, like last year, it'll get chilly in early September and stay that way til winter.  There's a fabulous Jazz festival Labor Day weekend that I want to go to, Octoberfest (in late Sept.), a big classic car show and other activities.


Oddly enough, my organizational skills are always better in the face of doom.  I've got the laundry and grocery shopping done and most of this week's menu planned and prepped so that I won't have to turn on the oven.  I just made a pasta salad consisting of rotini, diced chicken breast, seedless grapes and poppy seed dressing.  It's wonderful stuff, really.  I also have a stack of books from my BBC list to go through, and as it's probably going to be hellish for the next 10 days I should have no problem finishing them (The Three Musketeers , Wuthering Heights, Atonement, and One Hundred Years of Solitude).

Judging A Book By Its Cover...

Fairly recently, I attended an exhibit at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum in Neenah, WI., that blew me away.  It was all about books as an art form.  Three book artists gave a little lecture about their craft and what little I could pick up on was great.  I didn't hear as much of the talk as I would've liked, due to the other patrons conversing among themselves, screwing around with their cellphones, allowing their children to run about whilst shrieking, plus the dude next to me was PICKING HIS DAMN NOSE!!! but I did catch a few things, like how they make their own paper and their own ink, and can turn the most mundane objects into works of art.  The following pictures are proof of that.  I think the "books" that delight me the most are the one that was made out of the walnut shell and the one made out of glass (photo #2).

Some people are remarkable!  It's good to know that you don't have to use a computer/internet for everything, and I rejoice when I see that people have talent that isn't cookie cutter-esque.  

I Can't Get This Song Out Of My Head!

Is The Road To Hell Paved With Good Intentions?

I spent the better part of an hour on the phone late this afternoon, trying to give an ear and advice to the lovelorn.  A friend called wanting to know if she should wait around for the guy she's been seeing.  Apparently, he's just 2 months past a painful divorce and says he still has some feelings for his ex.  His ex cheated and lied and prevaricated, yet now that the decree is final, she wants him back.  My friend tried not to fall for him but she did.  She tends to be susceptible.  He told her to wait til November, as his workload was kind of crazy and the divorce was crazy, etc.  Then, he sort of gave her the runaround.  She's wondering if he's just scared and if she should wait.  I told her no.  She wanted to know if she should give up the dream of a husband and kids.  I said absolutely not.  I told her to spend the time from now to November getting over this.  I suggested going on a little vacation if possible.  Getting out.  Trying new things.  Offering her ears and a shoulder to cry on to other friends.  I said that if it's meant to be he'll come back but not to hold her breath.  I said that since he's in pain right now he's not thinking/seeing straight and that he needs time.  I said it sounded to me like he has been treating her as more of a coping mechanism and distraction than potential girlfriend material.  She said she doesn't think she'll get over it.  I said she was selling herself short.  Did I do right?  Things have been rocky with this friend over the past couple of years and a weird vibe of competition has cropped up, which is something I've never experienced with friends before.  I've been irritated with and sick of this person, but she got crying and before I knew it I was trying to calm  her down and set her straight.  I don't know...did I say the right thing?  As mad as she can make me, I'd hate to be responsible for her missing out on "The One".  At the same time, to wait til November for something that's not a sure thing seems to be the recipe for more grief.  It's not like she can get those 4 months back.  And what if, in those 4 months, he goes crazy with the ladies, having one-night stand after one-night stand, booty call upon booty call?  I suggested she take a break from dating, take a break(but don't give up on) from the dream, heal, try new things, make me a bacon sandwich...


I don't know if I'm qualified to give advice.  I'm mooning over some damn guy who may or may not know I exist.  C.G. is NOT a sure thing.  I feel kind of like a hypocrite.  


Damn.

You Have Got To Be F*cking KIDDING Me/Monday's Rant...

http://www.cracked.com/article_19288_8-weirdly-sexual-products-you-wont-believe-are-kids.html

Ex-freakin'-cuse me?!  This garbage is for CHILDREN???  A stripper pole?  Thongs that read "Eye Candy" and push-up bikini tops for 7-year olds?  Slutty Halloween costumes?  Skanky-looking dolls?  Tramp stamps and Playboy accessories?  And then people have the nerve to wonder why kids get molested, and child porn exists, and little ones are trafficked around the world to cater to the - I'm calling it what it is - sick, twisted, filthy, disgusting, deviant urges of f***ed-up and EVIL adults.  When did this shit become o.k.?  When did it become o.k. to encourage little girls to become tiny bimbos?  Whenever I see crap like this, or hear that the authorities have busted up yet another child porn ring or child trafficking ring, I thank Almighty God that my nieces are in Tae Kwon Do.  I thank God that the 14-year old knows how to snap the femur of a large adult male.  I think God that she knows how to go for someone's carotid artery and render them unconscious.  I also want to cry because no child should be obliged to  learn hand-to-hand combat in order to fend off some filthy, disgusting asshole, hellbent on temporarily assuaging his/her revolting, damnable urges.  And I roar in blind, foaming-at-the-mouth rage because there's no death penalty for pedophiles. 


I'm over 21.  I'm also no prude.  Stripper poles, bikini waxes and thongs are just dandy for me.  I can get tramp stamped as much as I damn well please and if I choose to spend my Saturday nights staring at a different man's ceiling, that's fine.  I'm a consenting adult.  I know and accept the consequences.  I also know how to block a blow and aim my foot at a guy's gut or his nutsack (courtesy of my nieces).  Kids deserve the right to a safe and happy childhood.  Innocence is not a privilege but a RIGHT.  If you're a consenting adult, find another consenting adult and bounce off the walls.  Hang from the chandelier.  Screw your brains out - I don't give a flying damn, but leave the kids out of it.


I don't care if you call me old fashioned, but I long for a return of letting kids be kids.  Shame on these companies for their attempts at financial gain at the expense of babies.  Shame on them for giving perverts more fuel for the fire.  And shame on us for allowing things to get to this point.  

Happy 4th of July!

Let freedom ring!!!