And I support this message

Ann Coulter on Piers Morgan:  Everyone wants to be black.

After the third debate:  I highly approve of Romney's decision to be kind and gentle to the retard.

This lady cracks me up. I agree, the word police is getting out of hand. Sometimes I wish I was as gutsy and die hard in not only believing and knowing but also defending those things to the death.

"I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashion," Lillian Hellman.

It's a struggle to be politically correct; those rules and regulations are constantly changing. I'm not offended by her use of the word because I occasionally do the same. When I use the term I do not think of special needs kids or adults BUT I would be more sensitive about it if I did have a mental or physical disability. I have tried to stop using the term, especially after the TV campaigns to stop saying it, and it requires continued effort; out of respect for some of the sweetest people I know, I'm willing to keep trying.

Epiphany:  Guys are so much more attractive well dressed as opposed to half naked. The same is probably true about women, but popular culture doesn't want us to believe that.

I have a few business casual tops, mostly purchased in order to comply with company dress codes. These tops double as church attire and "dress up" options, so they get a lot of wear. I enjoy going through the Women's Fashion boards on Pinterest and liking/repinning outfits and shoes. Today I went through some other categories and landed in Men's Fashion. I love those knit sweaters that remind me of Oxford professors, I don't know what they're called. I don't pin those things because there's no need for future reference, but in admiring how the outfits, and by extension the people wearing them, are put together I was struck with my epiphany. The shirtless pins on Men's Fashion weren't as awesome as a well-dressed, debonair photo. (Disclaimer:  Okay, so there was a picture of a guy with suspenders that caught my eye.)

Anyway, this is me saying I might be ready to put myself together, style-wise. I'm getting older and it feels like my go-to outfit, a t-shirt and basketball shorts, is ready for an upgrade.

Sleep. Work.

I did something bad the day before. I let other people's success and happiness be a stumbling block to my joy. I slipped into the cavernous wormholes of Facebook and started creeping on people from my past. They seem to be very happy, fulfilled, successful individuals and instead of stopping at being happy for them, I progressed to being discomfited for myself. 

Go back to 10/20/2011 - my life was very much the same.

Go back to 10/20/2010 - ditto

Go back to 10/20/2009 - same

Go back to 10/20/2008 - setting up for the same

I've done some great things in the last four years and progressed a lot in certain aspects, but the one that got me down the other day was more of a professional dilemma.

"Whatever our vocation, we should be sweetened, not hardened."

A couple of years ago I heard a talk by Neal A. Maxwell and in it he said, "Whatever our vocation, we should be sweetened, not hardened." I had become a robotic employee, only concerned with my own responsibilities and not very enthusiastic for venturing out of that realm. I listened to that statement and decided it was just for me. I took an active role in my team position and felt a difference in my satisfaction in a day well spent.

Today, and if I'm being honest for the last year, it doesn't seem like enough. I'm a year away from a teaching credential I don't desire, if the requirements remain the same; four years with a company that has been relatively good to me; and ten years with a boss who challenges and tries me, and generously compensates my time.

There's my professional state of the unit ( me ) address. I'm still figuring it out and some days I wish someone would just tell me "you're supposed to do this", but in the meantime I'm taking it day by day. I hope to be able to update this post soon with some kind of resolution, but until that time...

Sweet by and by.

I don't know the issues

This 2012 election is spilling into Facebook. I decided to like propaganda spigots on both sides of the fence to see if I could, however lazily, remedy my ignorance. The result: I still don't know the issues. I'm going to have to put in some actual work - fine.
Pre-research, here are my observations:
The commercials are annoying, thank goodness for my dvr.
Obama's camp keeps saying Romney is sending jobs overseas. The USA can't expect to maintain their position as one of the most powerful nations in the world and NOT expect to change. The rest of the world is stepping up their game, starting with education; we need to do the same.
We're always looking for a good deal, why should we fault business owners for following suit. Don't waste time blaming them for finding other business opportunities; instead, let's raise the bar here. Let's not settle for barely making it through hs or doing just enough. Let's find ways to make ourselves more valuable in the job market.
I truly believe that we need to change our paradigm. Making education a top priority is the key to reviving our country's economy. Yes, professional sports are awesome, but how many of us take that employment route and how long can that last? Sure, college isn't for everyone. There are other ways to get specialized training.  Let's find a way to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship instead of settling for the same old same old. When we educate and inspire our kids, their ideas and breakthroughs will stimulate our economy. Let's make an investment in our future!
Look into the mirror and place blame where it rightly lies. When we become stagnant, we can't expect the world to wait for us. The world keeps moving and changing and we have to do the same.
But I don't know the issues.
P.S.  I want to disclose the fact that I am in an industry that has been outsourced. In my own company, I've weathered the threats of lay offs due to outsourcing. I regularly work with vendors overseas and they are competent and efficient. It is very plausible that our company could be totally moved offshore and years later that threat hasn't been enough to put a fire under my bum. I  know I need to make a change, I'm just not sure what to do next.

TV Junkie

TV and I go back, waaaay back. A lot of my childhood memories involve me or my family surrounding a TV. My mum had a huge obsession with soap operas and the Oprah show. Yes, her TV schedule occasionally meant she was late or didn't show up to pick me up from school. Yes, before DVR I would grudgingly walk away from the TV to pick her up from places too.

We recently switched from cable to Directv and I got the DVR (woot woot!) so I've been recording anything that's remotely interesting. Here's a list of my newest addictions:

Rugby

The X Factor

American Colony:  The Hutterites

New and old movies

National Geographic everything

Heartland

Revolution

Leverage

Revenge

Reality TV

Covert Affairs

The Glee Project

Opening Act

Rugby is my newest favorite sport. I love watching the teams from New Zealand because they have heaps of islanders and I like to copy their announcers' accents. I picked a bad time to watch the Australian 7's on Sunday night. It was after 11 p.m. and while the rest of the world was winding down, I was desperately trying not to scream at the players in frustration/celebration. I love the format of the 7's. The games are really fast so the teams have to stay focused.

As I was typing that last paragraph Extreme Cheapskates started; yes, I'm watching TV as I type this. I like to save a buck here and there and I've never seen the show so I was intrigued. The cheapskate of this episode has lived in New York for three years and she has the worst case of penny pinching I've ever seen. 

She saves the paper towels she uses in public restrooms because her hands were clean when she dried them - so the paper is clean too. She keeps a container of water, soap and those used paper towels next to her toilet so she can clean up at home - no toilet paper here. She showers with her clothes to save herself from having to do laundry. She dresses up like a bum to go dumpster diving for food - and then serves it to her guests! "When I dumpster dive I get the opportunity to eat really high end foods that I would never pay for." At least she has standards. She chooses to dumpster dive at high end restaurants and stores. 

There are more shocking details, but the thing is, she doesn't live this way out of necessity. She owns her condo free and clear and seems to have a successful career as a CPA. She had a great career until the dot com failure so ever since then, she's been trying to avoid paying for anything or pay the least amount possible if she absolutely has to pay for it. I wonder what she does with her money.

The next episode intro:  "I save money if I only flush it once a week." Whaaaaat?! I'm gonna go be disturbed on my own. I invite you to figure out how you can save more of your money.

Extreme Cheapskates.

Australia 7's

40 to 5, advantage NOT to U.S.A. There will be more on my directv obsession with lakapi in a future post. I shouldn't have started watching this game right before bed. It makes me a little less happy to be  a U.S.A. born Samoan. Scotland, yeah whatever.
I like the 7's because it's more gritty and fast paced.

Sweetest dreams.

I'm in the bathroom and out the corner of my eye I notice this spider in the tub trying to make it up one of the corners. This lil guy has tried and failed so many times that I'm almost rooting for him; I have a soft spot for underdogs. I considered helping him, but what else is he going to do? What would that teach him? This spider was persistent; I should be more like him. This spider wasn't trying anything new; that was dumb. This girl is on fire...FIRE. I like that song. That makes the spider a dude.

My mum's first text message to me:

Hurray! I'm glad have fun and be safe out there. I hope the weather is awesome.

Love

Mom

She has come a long way since her first text to my sister (there's another blog detailing that little eye opener - my mom and technology do mix!). I sent a quick text to her letting her know that Nahdia and I arrived safe and sound in Las Vegas, NV. I didn't expect anything super flowery back, but I was pleasantly surprised when I read her reply. Flowery, you ask? Well, in our family, that's as good as a dozen roses! We're not emotionally demonstrative - especially verbally - so I'm going to save this text to remind me of how tender my mum can be.

There's an LDS song by Janice Kapp Perry that has to do with lessons learned at mother's knees. Here are a few my mother has tried to instill in me:

"You're no one's door mat"

Piano

Singing

Quilting - that was short lived

Carrot Cake Baking

Watching TV

Fried Eggs - I still burn myself so I opt for the easier scrambling method

Style - I believe if she could add her two cents she'd say I'm still learning this one

Walking in heels - she swears I can do it, but I feel like a new born colt trying to balance in those torturous contraptions. I get my wide feet from her and my long feet from my dad. I would shop in the tranny section if my sense of balance wasn't so lacking.

Save things, they might be useful some day, if not for you, then for someone else - trying to unlearn this one

Appreciation for good food

Dedicated church service

Doctors and medicine are good

Speak up

Ask

Word of Wisdom - no pepsi/coke, haha

She isn't perfect and this list is obviously incomplete, but I reserve the right to do a little censoring in my mum's behalf. I'm grateful for the good and not so good lessons. 

Cheers to my mum - 64 years of knowledge and experience - 40 years of marriage - 36 years of motherhood - 29ish years of homemaking and a lifetime of walking to the beat of her own drum. I think I can attribute some of my uniqueness and all around weirdness to her owning her personality.

Luv you old lady!

Food run.

guau, guau, guau

The first time I heard a hispanic person make a dog sound I laughed and then I said, "Dogs don't sound like that." I admit it; I have embarrassing, stereotypical American-arrogance tendencies.

bark, ruff, arf!

I spent this past weekend with friends from Seattle. I crashed a beautiful wedding - congratulations to 'Ese & Lorieal - practiced some Spanish and infected the aforementioned friends and their family with my Ode to Kiwi's accent. By the end of the second day even their toddler and grandmother were dropping some Kiwi flavored phrases. We were viral to the point the same toddler eventually complained to his mum, "Why are you talking like them?" Sorry boo.

Have you been watching X Factor? I love Willie Jones' Louisiana accent. I think that would be fun to try on for a couple of days.

Accents I'd like to test drive:

1. Irish brogue

2. Louisiana

3. Pidgin

4. Bostonian

5. African english

6. Georgia-n (the state)

7. Russian

8. Indian

9. Scottish

10. Kiwi!

Obviously learning the languages is do able, but would take me a long time and a whole lot of effort. My intent is to master the lingering accents their first language or culture causes when they speak English. I think it's fascinating how the same language can be personal and region-specific - LOVE IT - and that somewhere someone's version of English could be totally over my head. Oh yeah, how could I forget jamaican!

Sleep. Work.

Do you do this?

1. Look at the tissue after blowing your nose
2. Prefer to wait 'til the toilet seat loses lingering warmth
3. Have full on Spanish conversations in the car, by yourself
4. Fake a Kiwi accent to the point it annoys even the children in your company
5. Sing the same four lines over and over as you shower
6. Try to speak Samoan, only to be frustrated by repeatedly finding the Spanish word in your mind's catalog first
7. Mimic the sounds around you (elevators, car alarms, instruments, etc.)
8. Laugh out loud at random moments, sometimes inappropriately, because a great memory just crossed your mind's center stage
9. Go shoe shopping with friends so you can make them try on all the shoes you wish you could fit
10. Sing at the top of your lungs (what's goin' on?)

Then you and I have something in common. I saw this channel on Youtube that lists a bunch of random 10s. The video I watched was the 10 top insurance policies for body parts. Mariah Carey owns the number one spot. Her legs are insured for $1 billion. I don't think her legs are all that. I have AD&D insurance too!

Leverage and pins.