The best song ever to listen to at Halloween is "Thriller"! I mean it's got all the elements of classic fright and a great melody too. I never tire of it.
My attempt to carve a huge pumpkin with the seeds and pulp coming out the mouth so it looked like a vomiting Jack-O-Lantern came to an end when the high winds rolled it off the porch and smashed it on the rocks below. Next year maybe.
Only one more week of suffering through all those political ads. Last night a TV show I have been waiting to see was inundated with so many it was ridiculous. Five minutes of the show followed by eight minutes of political ads. After the first half hour of a 2 hour show I went out and planted flower bulbs instead. Back when pay TV started, all the extra so called premium stations were ad free. After all, subscribers paid for them. That's not the case anymore is it? Interesting how stuff like that sneaks up on us.
In reading the small print of one of those mailings for a new credit card a thought occurred to me about all that interest money: If the government is lending financial institutions money at the rate of 1/2% and they are lending it to consumers at the rate of 8% up to 23%, wouldn't it be a whole lot better for us to borrow that money straight from the Fed? BTW, isn't all money the government has derived from our pocketbooks through taxes anyway? I do get confused sometimes. Best approach? Listen to the guy on the radio and stay debt free. (Yeah, right!)
Unless we have an incredible heat wave this winter my bicycle trip around Lake Michigan is done for the season. Except for the usual short rides around town to finalize the clues for this coming treasure hunt the weather is too constricting for the lakeshore rides.
Twenty one and a half foot waves out on Lake Michigan yesterday. There were a few guys surfing in that water. Am I missing something or does that seem a little extreme in such cold water?
Something has spurred a little burst in sales of Joe's Story this month. A couple requests came from England. That's just plain fun.
Negotiations are continuing for the eventual publishing of a Christmas story I wrote. It would have already been in print by now except for my slow progress in understanding all of the ramifications surrounding editing and art work. So much more complicated, in my mind than Joe's Story which involved a minimum of art work and the editing went smooth as silk. I'd be a whole lot more comfortable with an editor and an artist from this area. The long distance stuff doesn't allow for eye contact. As I've said before, it's just me.
Kids and candy tonight. Maybe play Thriller a lot. Don't eat too much.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Conversation style and another "special" word
That hurricane "Sandy" is really making a mess on the East coast. The damage and devastation is mind boggling. On the other hand, the resilience, determination and hard work of the people affected by Sandy is incredible. They survived the storms of last year and they'll survive this year. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.
"Oppositional Conversation Style"
Just read about that. It describes someone that will correct, nullify, embarrass and belittle you during the course of a conversation, even if they agree with what you say. They are simply combative, lack empathy or concern and are always more interested in making themselves the fountain of knowledge on whatever subject is being discussed. Do you know anyone like that? I do! It seems they become much more obvious as the political elections draw near. It would be a blessing to have caller ID right about now. Otherwise completely likable friends seem hell bent on saving me from my total lack of ability to make a rational decision when voting. If they had their way they would walk right into the voting booth and guide my hand to the proper dots to mark. I pulled that description right out of "Reader's Digest" Knowing what they are called probably will not prevent those folks from being so confrontational but at least I can get some satisfaction from knowing I'm not alone. "O.C.S." has a certain ring to it doesn't it? Sits right there next to "C.R.S."
With the progress of hurricane Sandy the local and national weather people are hauling out the big words again. It happens every time we experience a weather event of this magnitude. regular words don't work at a time like this. Nope! Something memorable other than the storm itself I guess. And, I'm sure you've seen the silly reporters standing on the edge of a beech somewhere along the Atlantic, wind blowing so hard they are almost standing perpendicular, the microphone is so muffled and distorted we can hardly understand what is being said, waves splashing high in the air and suddenly, actually predictably, one of those waves knocks the reporter and all that expensive TV equipment into the next county. Exactly how valuable was that news report? Then, the picture fades to the meteorologist in the studio, face all wrinkled and distorted showing false concern and magnifying everything that is said so as to validate their own importance, after all, even the news is entertainment these days, background monitors showing devastation everywhere, bringing us to the edge of our seats, carnage and destruction similar to that shown on the silver screen years ago in the movie, "The Day The Earth Stood Still." We can't help but feel the winds, flooding, building collapses, electrical outages, overturned vehicles, uprooted trees and resulting homelessness will all fall onto us too. Any minute! Glued to our sets we await the next words from our meteorologist, she looks into the camera, eyes wide with worry, face contorted with concern, lips part and the word hits us like a falling comet: This storm is "EXPONENTIAL in magnitude!" Aaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh! I gotta go now. It's time to lock myself somewhere safe with water, batteries and toilet paper. Lots of toilet paper because of my own exponential nature when it comes to stuff like this.
"Oppositional Conversation Style"
Just read about that. It describes someone that will correct, nullify, embarrass and belittle you during the course of a conversation, even if they agree with what you say. They are simply combative, lack empathy or concern and are always more interested in making themselves the fountain of knowledge on whatever subject is being discussed. Do you know anyone like that? I do! It seems they become much more obvious as the political elections draw near. It would be a blessing to have caller ID right about now. Otherwise completely likable friends seem hell bent on saving me from my total lack of ability to make a rational decision when voting. If they had their way they would walk right into the voting booth and guide my hand to the proper dots to mark. I pulled that description right out of "Reader's Digest" Knowing what they are called probably will not prevent those folks from being so confrontational but at least I can get some satisfaction from knowing I'm not alone. "O.C.S." has a certain ring to it doesn't it? Sits right there next to "C.R.S."
With the progress of hurricane Sandy the local and national weather people are hauling out the big words again. It happens every time we experience a weather event of this magnitude. regular words don't work at a time like this. Nope! Something memorable other than the storm itself I guess. And, I'm sure you've seen the silly reporters standing on the edge of a beech somewhere along the Atlantic, wind blowing so hard they are almost standing perpendicular, the microphone is so muffled and distorted we can hardly understand what is being said, waves splashing high in the air and suddenly, actually predictably, one of those waves knocks the reporter and all that expensive TV equipment into the next county. Exactly how valuable was that news report? Then, the picture fades to the meteorologist in the studio, face all wrinkled and distorted showing false concern and magnifying everything that is said so as to validate their own importance, after all, even the news is entertainment these days, background monitors showing devastation everywhere, bringing us to the edge of our seats, carnage and destruction similar to that shown on the silver screen years ago in the movie, "The Day The Earth Stood Still." We can't help but feel the winds, flooding, building collapses, electrical outages, overturned vehicles, uprooted trees and resulting homelessness will all fall onto us too. Any minute! Glued to our sets we await the next words from our meteorologist, she looks into the camera, eyes wide with worry, face contorted with concern, lips part and the word hits us like a falling comet: This storm is "EXPONENTIAL in magnitude!" Aaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh! I gotta go now. It's time to lock myself somewhere safe with water, batteries and toilet paper. Lots of toilet paper because of my own exponential nature when it comes to stuff like this.
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