Facebitch, Cam Newton, and other stuff i sorta hate and sorta like

I've said it before and I'm saying it again. I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook.  In the past year i feel like it's been sliding deep into a shallow pool of banality, stupidity and polarity and some other 'ity' words that i could probably come up with if i had a better vocabulary.

I blame it on memes.

I am sick of these types of memes: People keep falling for this shit and don't realize it's click baiting, click jacking or whatever the hell you want to call it. Don't do it people! Just don't! It's a scam!

Here are some memes I like: 

What i like about Facebook: .. real photos, especially photos people post that are old and back in the day when they were taken with Kodak Instamatic cameras and the month and year were stamped in the border; i don't mind baby photos (unless you post them all the time); YouTube videos of Jimmy Fallon playing as Neil Young, Springsteen, etc. and other good music i like;  recipes ( actually cook often from stuff i see on Facebook!) and funny stories that happened to people.

What i don't like: People posting about their dying family member, (though having said that i understand the obituary posts, but that might be because i have a fascination with a well written obituary and collect them for my scrapbook); the type of memes i posted above, especially those gushy ones about how much you love your family. You know what i think? If you are posting memes about how much you love your husband, daughter, son, probably means you are feeling like they don't love you back. It feel so manipulative!

I have a couple of friends who post about breast feeding rights which makes me a little crazy because they are fairly militant about it. I don't like anything extreme on Facebook. Our race issues/gun/abortion/Muslim vs God/ debates will never be solved on Facebook and i wonder why people even try and wish they would stop.

Now... about Cam Newton.... 

My brothers Scott and Troy taught me a lot about football and i was quite a fan of football back in the 1970's. They never stopped watching the NFL since they were kids and were totally invested in the Seahawks from the beginning.  I only watched when i liked the players which was when Richard Sherman and Russell Wilson came on board. (Like a novel i need to find a character i like in the book before i can continue reading it.) 

After we lost our chances for the SuperBowl I mentioned how much i don't like Cam Newton for all the reasons you've heard, (one of them being he ripped a 12th Man flag from the game we lost and threw it on the ground). Scott said he didn't mind him at all and felt Cam was misunderstood because if you watch him, his antics are mostly exuberance because he loves the game so much, he's always smiling and giving the balls away to the kids....and he added wouldn't we sort of like to see Russell Wilson break out of his controlled personality and let loose a little? I had to admit he had a point. Not only that, i realize my favorite Richard Sherman is also vilified for doing what Cam does. And i can see where other teams might not appreciate the 12th fan so much. (I get fairly irritated by the WSU Coug spirit where we live.) So yeah, Cam, maybe you're not so bad, but i'm still going for Denver and Peyton Manning. (LOVE those ridiculous insurance commercials he does.) But i have to say, that Cam Newton is a fucking amazing quarterback and i think they are going to cream Denver. (If i were that good i too would probably be doing the Superman antics and more.) 

Going Back to Work: 

I have been working part-time again at Washington Education Association, my old job since last September and will be working until April. First i was at headquarters for a few months and this month i started at my old office because my replacement (who is also a Jo) is doing organizing work in the field. I work two days a week for 9 1/2 hours a day. I like the paycheck - (they pay me my regular wage that i had before i retired) and i like that it I have to be somewhere a couple of days a week. 

What it reminds me of though is how burned out I was on organizing work and politics. And how it sucked the soul out of me for that kind of work which i used to think i was good at. They have hired me to only do the financial duties and membership database work, work that can't be done by the others in the office. As things swirls around me i feel how i am no longer invested in the importance of that work. And it makes me kind of sad. 

When i was working i did so much more than i am doing now. I haven't volunteered politically or working with kids or anything now that i have the time. I am not bored being retired, but i wonder what happened to my mojo for those things. 

That cliche is true : If you want something done, find a busy person. 

P.S. Re: the word meme: Who else saw the word "NO" first? 

Random Blog Ideas from my iPad Notes App

On my iPad Air is a NOTES app which i write on when i can't sleep (and sometimes when i just think of something during the day). I've been adding ideas about blogging; things i need to remember not to forget; movies i want to add to Netflix; and stuff i need to do. Here are some of those notes (most of which are blog ideas i've had in the past two years since i've own this iPad.)

I won't include all of them but they are in order most recent on down: (My added stuff from the iPad notes will be shown in italics.)

Ryan Adams - favorite song: Sweet Home Carolina 

Bruce Springsteen- favorite song: Thunder Road 

Van Morrison - favorite song: Celtic New Year

1. Famous People I Would Miss If They Died. (This came about because of David Bowie's Death). My brother Troy and i both agreed that we would miss Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen and Ryan Adams.

2. New Blog Title: "Hey Jo, Where You Goin' With That Pen in Your Hand" ... I actually think i will change the banner title to this now. It will still be the same blog URL letmetellyouwhatithink. 

3. What Not To Do On Facebook.

4. The word 'minimalist' is difficult to say and SHOULD be a smaller word when you think about it. ...And other absurdities.

5. Ten Better Conversation Openers Than Talking About the Weather and in parenthesis i have included (What law would you break if you could get away with it?)

6. Pa maw by cluster b be there by 2:50.... It really did say this and i could not understand what i was trying to say. It was a note i wrote when i couldn't sleep. Later i remembered it was about my doctor appoint with the Physicians Assistant and i needed to check in at Cluster B. hahaha! 

7. My 1969 Harley Davidson motorcycle. I wrote this down when we were remodeling and found the title to my motorcycle i owned in 1980. I bought it from a librarian at the law school where i worked. It got me to thinking about how much it would be worth at the Pawn Stars show. I left it when i got divorced. 

This is what mine looked like! 

8. Always Use This Alibi When You Are Caught Doing Something Bad

9. A Better Way to Take Care of an Asshole Without Having to Kill Them

10. How Best to Respond When Someone Seems to be Fishing for a Compliment and You Having Nothing Good to Say

11. How To Write a Sympathy Card for Someone You Don't Know That Well

12. The Best Way to Piss Off a Passive Aggressive Person

13. Things I Might Do. Things I Will Never Do

I couldn't find one photo that showed an electrical cord 

Where are the electrical cords? 

14. From Sandra Bullock Movie: Tell Me Three Images From Your Childhood

15. How Come You Never See Visible Electrical Cords on the HG Channel?

16. Things I Want Invented

17. Title of My Book That I Will Never Write: If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now

18. Blog Title About Getting Older: 'Relaxed Fit'

10 Reasons I Never Wanted to Have Children:

Me with Brady - T-Day 2015

My Dad and Brady - T-day 2014

Brady with his Dad Brian, T-Day 2015

First off, let me say that i actually really really like kids. I'll admit newborn babies bore the shit out of me plus i'm always afraid i will break their neck when their parents insist i hold them. But once they get about 3 months old and smile at me I start to come around. I especially like kids when they get to be about 18 months and start talking and understanding so i have to start being sure not to say "fuck".

It's no secret I am nuts about my great nephew Brady, who turned 2 years old October 15.

Brady is the first son of my brother's first son Brian. Because Brady doesn't have a grandmother around Brian let me know before Brady was ever born that they were hoping I would step up in the surrogate grandma role. I laughed it off at the time and reminded him that i didn't have children for a reason. But once Brady was born and got past that fragile stage I got to where i was missing seeing him if two weeks went by. I would call THEM to babysit. I babysit about 3 times a month, at least twice and after a couple of weeks i am amazed at how much he learns in that short time. (I'm doing pretty good, haven't slipped up and said 'fuck' once!)

Having said all this, i do not regret having children of my own. Not once have i ever entertained having a baby in a real way. Here's why:

1. Being a mom means more contact with family and i don't want more contact with my mom than i already have had. I call my mom Two Drink Minimum for a reason and if I had a baby i would probably be in rehab right now because she would have been in my life more often than she has been.

2. Alone time has always been a huge thing for me, ever since i can remember past the age of the time i played with Barbies. Maybe because i rarely got it since my 6 member family lived in base housing that was mostly less than 1200 square feet and i always shared a room.

3. When would i be able to read? I can't imagine not having time to read books. This might be more important to me than even #1.

4. I would rather have a colonoscopy every week than be pregnant. Not to mention giving birth.

And let me just lump this here too with #4: the idea of breast feeding always kind of creeped me out. I think it's because i have this total need to NOT BE IN DEMAND. I do not mind women breastfeeding, (UNLESS you are a militant breast feeder and trying to make a point....for example i saw a woman in Nordstrom's Cafe once letting it all hang out while she breastfed across from a woman i took to be her mom. It just pissed me off. There i said it. Just cover up at least a little and i have no problem. )  The idea of that kind of demand is appalling to me. And don't even go there with pumping breasts.

5. I never got to go to college. So ignorant were my parents about college that i didn't even know about student loans. I got excellent grades in school and graduated with honors but slipped through the cracks because i went to three high schools. I would be kicking my kid's ass ever if i saved up my money to send my kid to college and they flunked out or didn't do anything with their degree.

6. I don't want to go to jail.

7. Vulnerability. OH MY GOD. i cannot think of anything that makes a person more vulnerable than having a child. And then people do this more than once? How are you parents all so brave? Seriously! I would be worried every freaking minute because i tend to be an overly cautious person about most everything. (Not to mention what stuff happens to them emotionally through bullying or what have you.) You cannot protect a child all the time. But i would want to. Seriously when i am babysitting Brady i am obsessively looking at the monitor (especially when he was a real baby) making sure he was sort of moving and breathing and i will admit to a few times charging up the stairs because i couldn't tell if he was.

8. What if, when they become adults, they marry someone you cannot stand? I know too well how a bad spouse can ruin a whole family. Christmas and Thanksgiving are screwed forever. Plus paying for weddings when i want to remodel my kitchen instead.

9. Even worse, what if you don't like your own kid? This is possible i know from personal experience because my mom didn't like me as a kid. She was totally jealous of me when i was a toddler because my Dad liked me so much. One time not long ago after one too many chardonnays she admitted this. That and the fact that she didn't get to go to France on my Dad's two year assignment because i got really sick when i was 2.

10. The final one? Because i like saying the word 'fuck".

Happy New Year and Other Random Shit.

Since I retired I have loved the holidays more than I used to. It's nice to have time to shop and wrap and decorate and cook. It's also nice to be able to just hang around the house in comfortable yoga pants, (the baggy ones, not the ones that fit), just looking at the tree drinking a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, depending on the time of day.

I like hanging out doing nothing probably more than I should. It's one of the reasons I didn't want a Fitbit tracker. I didn't really want to know that on my non-run days I barely log in 2000 steps towards my set 10,000 step goal....as I did on New Year's Day, since I watched three movies back to back.

I did get a new Garmin tracker for Xmas since I broke three Fitbit ones. So far, so good. I am not making any real NY's resolutions except to still continue working towards my goal of continuing running until I am 60 years old. (Pretty sure I'll make it now, since that day will come next year.) I am also going to try and not check in so much on Facebook. Right now it's rather boring to me anyway. Lots and lots of memes and jokes that I've already seen before. I do like some of the breaking news and photos (as long as it's not the 32nd photo of your grandbaby that week). But I am ill equipped to respond to posts about illnesses and tragedies and they seem to be more frequent this time of year, so I think it won't be that difficult to leave it alone more than I used to. (Plus I will be back at work at Soundview, my own job part time starting tomorrow) and will be working until April.

I keep thinking of what I want to spend that money on because I told myself I would not put it into savings this time because I really didn't want to go back to work. I bought Brian a new MacBook Pro for Xmas which totally surprised him so that took some of it. Had new bedstands made by a carpenter friend. And I bought an expensive pair of Cole Haan rider boots. But I can't think of what else I want off the top of my head. One of the benefits of living in a small place I guess. It keeps me from buying stuff since we have little storage. I am sure I will come up with something. Maybe I will have my kitchen cabinets refaced and painted again, though they don't look THAT bad right now.

I recently discovered David Foster Wallace because I watched a movie about him with Jason Siegel called The End of the Tour. Funny thing, when I ordered it I thought because it was about the Rolling Stone reporters time spent with DFW that when I ordered the Netflix DVD I thought it was the end of  a Rolling Stones tour because I read it too fast. Hahaha. A nice happy accident. Since then I have read his essays on Cruise ship vacations and state fairs and since I am not fond of either I found them both hilarious and accurate. DFW writes with a keen but kind insight I think. He makes fun without being mean. How does he do that? I had heard of him awhile ago because he had been written about in Rolling Stone magazine (the only magazine I still subscribe to now) and I knew he had committed suicide. It's interesting that a guy who can write with such humor would be so sad.

Also over the Christmas break I discovered all of the Girl with The Dragon Tattoo movies, I love the Swedish Lisbeth AND the American Lisbeth. Honestly couldn't choose one, though I did think the Swedish actor was maybe a little too pretty for the part. Just as Daniel Craig was a little too cool for his part of Mikel Bloomqvist. All good movies. I had read the first two books, but not the third.

Let's see what else ? I can write all I want now without worrying about length since this blog is pretty much dead. But here's the thing about it. Recently I needed to know a couple of things - for example, when did we buy our iMac desktop?....and I knew I had written about it here so I was able to figure it out. I like having some history where I know I can find it since my filing system at home for such things is not as organized as you might think a slightly OCD person would maintain. My OCDness is mostly saved for the outwardly appearances. What is behind closets and cabinet doors and out of sight does not bother me so much. Hence, terrible filing practices. (Probably has something to do with that it is too much like work).

Brian's band The Brian Feist Band is no longer together and we sort of knew that it was probably not going to last a year, which is fine with me. Brian still practices with his old band and is practicing jazz now with a sort of hybrid of the musicians from the BFB and the Blues Oasis.

We got a new Samsung smart tv which was finally delivered in late August (just in time for Seahawks) And it was like Christmas because we didn't have a decent tv because it took 9 months to get our media center with the rolling barn doors built by Erichsen Brothers. It was worth it though because it came out so beautiful and I love our TV and being able to stream Netflix and Amazon and YouTube. Now I just have to be sure I'm not spending my non-Facebook time watching TV .

Well this is about enough for a post. I discovered adult coloring this year and have some cool Prismacolor pencils that I received for Xmas, so I think I will go and do some of that. It really is cathartic. Almost, but not quite like Xanax. I think once the election kicks into full gear I will be doing even more coloring to keep myself sane.

My hopes for 2016: Seahawks go back to SuperBowl and win. Everyone in my family stays healthy. And a small one, I hope it snows!