I'm still here.

Brian and me, unplugged at Chevy Chase Beach Cabins July 2016

Wow, it's been almost two months since i last wrote on this blog. Funny how i gave up doing so many things i never had time for when i was working now that i have time for them. I am going to try and get through this whole blog post without making any political references. Let's see if i can do it.

I don't want to leave this blog entirely so i'm just going to start numbering and writing and see what comes out of me, like a speedwriting exercise. and if i don't like it i will just save it as a draft instead. (I actually have done that quite often.)

1. Recently i couldn't help myself and took some of those stupid tests going around Facebook. I found out i am only 20% Hippie; I have a 22,000 word vocabulary, (which doesn't sound like enough words to me, given that Sarah's mom who is i think 88 or 96 years old (I get her age mixed up with my friend Dick's mom because they are both so sharp) tested at 33,000, though to be fair, she is a really smart person, but at 88 or 96 years old you would think she might forget a few words); i thought i would pass the Pulp Fiction movie test but i got 6 out of 30 wrong. I think i am remembering that correctly, or maybe that was the M*A*S*H TV test. And though it was not a test i found out i am a "social introvert" because i hit every single one of those criteria!

2. I don't even attempt those geography or history tests on FB.

3. Recently my husband and i went on a vacation and for four days unplugged even though the place had wireless. I was amazed at how easy it was. Brian would check his phone once in the morning and i would check mine before bed, ONLY to make sure there were no emergencies. It was GREAT!!!! I didn't miss Facebook or email or texting at all. We played more Scrabble and cards than normally because of it. There was no cable either so we didn't watch news. I am going to try that every time we go away. I highly recommend it.

4. I don't think i am an addictive personality but i believe because i am slightly OCD and like all things familiar and therefore i tend to settle most comfortably into habits. And i lam finding that it's a good thing to mix those habits up. Like running a different route while exercising; not always pouring  a glass of wine while cooking or blogging - make hot tea instead;  not rummaging around for a cracker or snack the minute i walk in the door; shutting down the iPad for Facebook and email.  Also I have started leaving my phone at home when i run quick errands and today i put it in the trunk of my car when i was gone most of the day and never checked it. (The phone is the easiest habit since i've not had a phone that long anyway.)  It's been liberating to know that i can do this.

5. Hahaha.. Though i am NOT having hot tea right now!

6. Today i noticed that our row of maple trees was starting to turn colors. AND it is pitch black outside and only 9:14 as i type and that always makes me a little bit sad when i realize that autumn is on its way.

7. The upside is that our Seahawks play soon!

OK. I got nothing really. Just gonna hit send and let it go. Retirement is fun, but it has made me less creative i am afraid! ;)

Like Gumbo YaYa.....A Totally Random Wine Musings Post

I have no idea what i am going to say and will just let her rip, like i did in the old days back when Gumbo YaYa was running hot!

1. First on the list: let's talk about Brock (Turner) the Rapist. I love so much that this story is getting traction. And because of that traction i think i have a better appreciation for Facebook. There was no real justice for Brock's victim ....but the posts on Facebook have leveled the field and i read every word of her letter. It was powerful. Like i said on Facebook, this case could be the one that finally puts the spotlight on rape and women's rights. AND not only that, the discrepancy about how white men are charged and sentenced and African American men are charged. I have never been raped. But someone close to me has been this kind of victim:where she thought she was so drunk it was her fault for going with the guy in the first place, so she didn't report it.

2. Hillary and Bernie: I actually surprise myself that i am not all over the Bernie Bandwagon, because i was so into Howard Dean and the anti-Iraq war movement. But my thing with Bernie is i don't buy into idealism. Bernie feels like the grandparent who promised you on your 4th birthday to take you to Disneyland when you got a little bit older, and they never did. And you remembered when you turned 9. I like having a president who is qualified and who knows how to stand the fuck up when the hits keep coming. And that is Hillary. She may be the toughest candidate to ever run for President when you think about it.

3. And i don't buy into Bernie's free college for all. First off...not everyone needs to go to college. And too many will go and fuck around because it's free. And then what happens to our military if everyone is going to college? (Actually, that might be a good thing, now that i think about it, because we can't declare wars without a strong military)   I never had the chance to go to college though i had very good grades all through high school. And as a pragmatic personality, i like starting big things small. I think Bernie should start with free community college for any high school student who has the grades before he declares free college for all.

 4. Grace and Frankie! I love this Netflix series with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin! I wish there were more episodes to binge watch. I think i sailed through them in about four mornings. Jane Fonda looks amazing. And Lily Tomlin looks great too. She has inspired me to just let my hair just do the fuck what it wants to do.  I cancelled my haircut appointment after watching and decided to just let it grow like Lily's and pull it back. I will still color it for awhile because it's such a sickly dishwater gray, but i already know i'm not ready for the work of cutting it short and trying to make it not look like the gal on Murder She Wrote because it's so curly and frizzy when short.

5. I told a lie. I wrote on Facebook that inferred that i turned 60 years old. I didn't exactly come out and say that i was 60, but i made it sound like that....because i am trying it on for size. Turning 50 wasn't that bad because i am still middle age. But 60 is different. I am older than the age my mom was when Brian and i first got together in 1992 and my mom was old! Yet she was only 57 years old. I am starting to not like how i look and how i feel when i wake up. But i know it's not terrible. After all i can still run a 10K if i want to. So that's something. But there is not doubt. This is the beginning of old age. I don't like beginnings. I think i will like the middle better!

6. When i turned 40 i cut off all of my hair and bought a one piece bathing suit, which was really stupid when i look back on it, because i actually was probably in my best physical shape at the time. And everything was firm and not lost to gravity. And i had a libido. And i didn't hurt when i woke up in the morning. And i didn't worry about being on top! hahahha... That's sort of why i want to grow my hair out like Lily's. Don't want to make that mistake again. But i am aware.

7. Family. I do not know where i would be without my brothers and their kids. My niece Kylee gets married a week from Saturday. My favorite nephew Brian's daughter will be born in July (we jokingly refer to her as Clementine now because i texted the name to Brian as a joke and he loved it, though his wife , Adrienne, understandably did not) and i love his little boy Brady so much already. (The grandkids i always wanted without having kids myself.)  My brother Troy just got a great job that took two months of hoops to jump through, with Garrette Construction. My niece Ashley and her husband (who my husband Brian who officiated their marriage ceremony last August) are such a great couple who i truly believe will be married for life are in touch often. My parents are both stlll kicking though i worry for how long. Brian's mom is a special lady too and i worry though about her the most. But all in all. This is a good time for family. Weddings and babies.

8. Retirement. I didn't think i would love it this much. I keep thinking i can probably go off of my blood pressure medication now. I am as busy as i want to be and sometimes busier. Still not bored at all.

Totally Random, Unscripted, Unedited, Winging it Blog Post

I don't even know where to start. And it's not because I have anything worthwhile to say, because I hardly ever do. But I am not ready to give up blogging. I don't care if people do it or not. I'm going to still write when I get the urge the just write stupid shit about everyday life. It's a Friday night and my husband is over the mountains to see his mom. My brother Troy is in the other room taking an online test on my desktop for a final phase in his job hunting. It's sort of an IQ test. He doesn't want my help. Hahaha! So I just poured a glass of wine and am waiting for him to finish so we can eat dinner I have in the oven.

I have no idea what I want to write about but I'll just start numbering and see what happens.

1. Record breaking temperatures in our area. Oh my, it was 87 degrees last Monday! For three days in a row we had hot summer temperatures and no rain. It was wonderful. I got me inspired to do that horrible job of switching out the winter clothes for summer. I hate doing that and it takes so much longer than you think. And why do I have about 47 tank tops? I don't even look good in them anymore. I swear I used to be so vain about my arms, which back in the day rivaled Michelle Obama's. Really, should find a photo and put it up later to prove it. I could have beaten her arm wrestling. But now they are starting the get that crepe-y look and a little bit of wiggle, even though I am still doing my 8 lb free weights every few days.

2. Just started a new YMCA schedule again after giving up yoga back in September because it was too stressful for me, what with the people showing up late, old ladies who couldn't stand any deviation from the routine and even requesting more lights be turned on and the final straw for me was that chick who came in 5 minutes late, grabbed a YMCA mat and proceeded to scrub it down with some kind of scouring pad that sounded like fingernails on the chalkboard. The instructor said not a word and THAT is what pissed me off the most. I never went back. So now I'm going to try Pilates.

Get ready. I'm sure I will have some Pilate Rants.

3. Politics. Holy Moly. Who could ever predict that this would happen? I am going for Hillary though of course I chose Obama over Hillary before. I like Bernie but he's out there. And maybe it's his supporters that even irritate me more. The ones who won't vote for anyone but Bernie. I haven't sent Hillary any money, yet. Maybe I won't even. I like her but I'm not super passionate about her as I was Obama. Besides she probably doesn't need my money. But I get a little bit irritated with the Bernie folks in the same way I get irritated with people who proudly claim they never ever watch TV, as if they are beneath it. There is a lot of good shit on TV first of all. Maybe they are just too cheap to pay for cable.

4. Speaking of TV. My new favorite show is "Better Call Saul". Jonathan Banks and Bob Odenkirk are so awesome! I also love "Walking Dead". And my all time favorite show is "Breaking Bad" (which is why I am watching Saul). Never thought I would like anything more than "The West Wing", but I do!

5. I was thinking about stuff I am missing. I was thinking about cars and I said to someone the other day that I really miss chrome bumpers on cars. You know, like in a '68 Camaro or an older Mustang. And I miss playing CDs. I think they sound better than streaming music. I still play them and in fact right now I'm playing Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" as I type. I miss when people used to talk to each other in restaurants instead of looking at their phones. Damn, I am going to quit with just these because I am starting to sound old or like Clint Eastwood in the El Camino movie....(speaking of chrome!)

6.

Prince died yesterday. And all of a sudden I sort of got obsessed with his death. It feels like when Michael Jackson died. I actually don't own any Prince CDs but I really love so many of his songs and "Little Red Corvette" and "When Doves Cry" are way up there in my all time favorite songs. But I mostly loved them covered by someone else. I could never find a version that Prince did that didn't sound like that 80's pop sound (which I hate). The Be Good Tanyas do a great version of "When Doves Cry". I always hoped Prince would do acoustic versions and release them. And of course Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares to U" was so amazing.

7. Lately I've been thinking that maybe I am starting to get Alzheimer's. The broke my favorite Le Creuset lasagne pan because I laid it on the burner to make room but I didn't turn off the burner and even though it was on low it heated that cookware up and shattered and just like that $200+ dollars out the window. Yesterday I caught myself starting to put the leftover salad bag in the cupboard instead of the refrigerator. And where I used to be good at remembering names I am no longer. Also I can't keep characters straight in books, though in truth, I always did have a hard time with retention in  anything I read unless I wrote it down. That's where I learned to take copious notes and write really fast! Anyway I put this down for reference. I am going to be 59 years old and I feel like I'm slipping.

I have to end this because blogging is a bitch on the iPad and my brother is still online with my desktop. Maybe I will come back and edit and add a Prince video or a photo of my favorite Le Cruset pan, RIP! :)

I'm Baaaack. And Old Fashioned Random Blog Posting.

Numbered of course!

1. Well, this is disconcerting. Back in the day when i would go to log into my blog i only needed to type the L (for Letmetellyouwhatithink) and it would go to my blog. Today when i started to type in my blog name it popped up 'Lamps Plus".

2. Best thing happening: Brian and i discovered Blue Apron meals a month ago and we love it so much i feel like it's changed our life! No more calling each other "whaddya want for dinner" ; "I dunno, maybe Pho?"; "Yeah, i don't want to go to the grocery store"; Now it's delivered to our door. I am going to do a post about this on Facebook because i want other people to know because i wish someone had told me sooner. The food is amazing. We cook it, but the quality of the ingredients is so good and the recipes are perfect for us. I did do a lot of research online before i chose them.

3. Best books I've read all year: A Man Called Ove. Now i'm reading his other book My Grandmother Told Me To Tell You She's Sorry. The other is Home is Burning by Dan Marshall, which is a memoir written by a young guy who dropped everything to go home and help take care of his dad who had ALS. I would like to be friends with Dan Marshall and recently clicked to follow him on Facebook. He's hilarious.

4. Oh for Fuck's sake.... I was so so so very wrong about this election! I said Bernie had no chance and wouldn't go far. I said no way would Trump be the nominee, that it would be between Mark Rubio and Jeb Bush, maybe even Chris Christie. I am going to the Democratic caucus this month and gathering with friends afterwards. I almost want to go in uncommitted because i want to see how the Bernie folks sell me.

5. I will be turning 59 years old pretty soon, but i wish i was turning 60 so i could just get it over with. When i turned 39 i told everyone i was turning 40 for the same reason. When the folks at the office where i work gave me a 40th bday party and i never told them i was only 39.

5. For me, turning 40 and 60 are very similar feeling birthdays.  Turning 40 makes you officially middle age, which isn't a good feeling when you are still feeling like you are 28. And turning 60 is BEYOND middle age. Nobody lives to 120. So yeah....60 is undeniably ....not youthful.

6. Holy shit. Just to make an example of how shitty it is to get old ... i just now went in to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of wine. And while doing so i thought of what to put up for #6 Random Thought. And in the 32 steps (since we live in a small condo) back to the computer room i forgot what i was going to say.

7. I do this running very often too. I think of lots of stuff while running. But since i am not running with a paper and pen i forget what they are when i get back. Brian says it happens to him often too and we laugh and talk about how we might get alzheimers at the same time and maybe it would be nice in our old age because we would feel like we are always just meeting each other again and that newborn fragile madness of falling in love could be fun when you are 80 years old.

8.  My favorite musical artist these days is a guy i've mentioned before on here. Jason Isbell is amazing. I bought his new cd and have to stop myself from overplaying it. I forget the title but my favorite song on there is How to Forget. Another artist i love right now is Andrew Duhon. His song Evelyn slays me. My favorite nephew Brian and his wife Adrienne (Brady's parents) are going to have a little girl this summer and it's fun coming up with girl names. I told him Clementine as a joke but he actually likes the name and on his phone he is keeping a list of girl names and Clementine is at the top of his list. I was totally joking. But then i told him Evelyn, because i do like that name - in part because i don't think it's trendy. So i told him to listen to the song by Andrew Duhon. It will be fun to see what they come up with.

9. I'm going to look for the YouTube of Evelyn by Andrew Duhon and call it a night. Hope i remember how to do that on blogger! It's been awhile.

Let's Go Chris Rock!

OK, I will likely be here by myself blogging about the Oscars, but it's been kind of tradition for me and even though I'm almost always disappointed in the Best Picture I do like making fun of the celebrities and love their dresses.

I am wearing a 15 year old pair of drawstring baggy rolled up cuff pants from Costco that I think I paid $17 for. I have a glass of Spellbound Syrah in my glass. Not sure I will stick it out for the whole time, but I am interested in Chris Rock.

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'