No more having to see that smug-looking SOB who once called himself our president. Whenever he was on the telly, it always made me want to throw things at the set (instead I usually changed the channel).
It will be nice to have a president with three IQ points for a change.
I no longer have to apologize or feel ashamed of being American as long as Obama is at the helm. He hasn’t even done anything yet, and is already more respected and revered around the world than GWB ever was!
It’s about time we had a little racial and ethnic diversity in office, not to mention a president who ISN’T from the south!
Maybe, just maybe, he’ll be able to solve, or at least come close to fixing some of the MANY problems he inherited in his “In Box from Hell” (thanks Sam Holliday).
It’s nice to witness a POSITIVE historical moment for a change (that being the inauguration).
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
A Little Crayon Therapy
(written in 2001, taken from my archives)
I was having a bad day at work the other day and decided I was in need of a little “crayon therapy.” What is “crayon therapy” you may ask? It’s a de-stressing exercise my friend invented while we were in college.
Whenever we got bogged down with studying and needed a little diversion, we would pull out our coloring books and crayons and color away until we felt able to cope with studying again.
I’ve been out of college just over seven years now, so I’ve since gotten rid of most of my coloring books and crayons. In fact, last Christmas I gave my three-year-old niece an unopened 96 box of crayons. Before giving it to her I thought to myself, “When am I ever going to use these?”
Now I wish I had kept them, because after going to every stationer and lots of other shops in our small town I came up empty. Out of all the stores I visited, only one actually sold crayons, but they were a cheap knock-off brand. Not only did they not smell like the old Crayolas we all know and love, they didn’t even have the names of the colors listed on the wrappers. Now what fun is that I ask you, to not know that you’re using burnt sienna or sea blue? That’s how we all learned our colors.
Disappointed I slumped off back to work to rejoin the adult world once again.
I was having a bad day at work the other day and decided I was in need of a little “crayon therapy.” What is “crayon therapy” you may ask? It’s a de-stressing exercise my friend invented while we were in college.
Whenever we got bogged down with studying and needed a little diversion, we would pull out our coloring books and crayons and color away until we felt able to cope with studying again.
I’ve been out of college just over seven years now, so I’ve since gotten rid of most of my coloring books and crayons. In fact, last Christmas I gave my three-year-old niece an unopened 96 box of crayons. Before giving it to her I thought to myself, “When am I ever going to use these?”
Now I wish I had kept them, because after going to every stationer and lots of other shops in our small town I came up empty. Out of all the stores I visited, only one actually sold crayons, but they were a cheap knock-off brand. Not only did they not smell like the old Crayolas we all know and love, they didn’t even have the names of the colors listed on the wrappers. Now what fun is that I ask you, to not know that you’re using burnt sienna or sea blue? That’s how we all learned our colors.
Disappointed I slumped off back to work to rejoin the adult world once again.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Things to Look Forward to in 2009...
Borrowing yet another idea from one of my favorite Bath Chronicle columnists, Sam Holliday (who recently wrote a column entitled, “Reasons to be Cheerful”), here is my first blog entry of the year.
“Barack Obama. In some ways it seems ages ago when he won the right to be the next President but in less than two weeks that is exactly what he will become. So cast your minds back to the general sense of elation and optimism his election created and it may help to get you through the next few weeks. True, he may have the 'inbox from hell' when he takes over, but he has the goodwill of a large chunk of the world's population and that has to count for something. And one other reason to be cheerful about Obama? It will mean no more of George Walker Bush.”
-- Sam Holliday
I couldn’t agree more Sam!
More Fun on the Silver Screen...
Among the slew of big Hollywood blockbusters to come out later this year, is the next installment in the on-going “Harry Potter” series. I believe it’s due out sometime in the summer, so heading into your local cinema is certainly one way to beat the heat.
Countless hours of fun playing on the Nintendo Wii…
Now that they’ve come out with Wii Fit, it doesn’t have to feel like such a guilty pleasure. It also brings out (what little I have) my competitive side. Okay, so it also makes me want to cheat to maintain those high scores, hopefully once I master some of the more difficult exercises, it will bring out my athletic prowess : )
Summer Vacation…
Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
(lyrics from the song by the GoGos)
Though nothing’s been booked or written in stone yet, we are thinking of heading out to the great Pacific Northwest to Seattle and Vancouver (and some of the outlying areas). The inspiration from this holiday comes from my in-laws who want to see the Canadian Rockies and are heading up to Banff and Jasper (and visiting Vancouver on their way back down).
Among other things I am looking forward to visiting Roslyn, the tiny town made famous when the 1990 CBS TV series, “Northern Exposure” was filmed there. From what I understand, although they enjoy reaping the financial benefit, they really don’t care much for tourists and would just as soon you not mention the show if you visit. I’ll certainly keep that in mind! Seeing as how the program ended almost 14 years ago, hopefully they will have chilled out a bit!
Miscellaneous…
I look forward to devouring more of my own personal book collection (only got three new ones for Christmas, so not too many more to add to the growing stack). Next on the list to read is Maureen McCormick’s autobiography entitled, Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice. Just can’t get enough of the Bradys!
I signed up for two more (one day) classes being taught in Upper Arlington. One is an all day (Saturday) writing class being taught by one of Natalie Goldberg’s former students. Having read most of Goldberg’s books, I am quite interested in learning from one of her pupils.
I also signed up for a lecture being given one evening all about the Frank Lloyd Wright houses in the near vicinity – some I’ve visited, but a couple I haven’t. Some of the evening might be a bit redundant, but I hope to learn more about the few local houses I haven’t yet visited.
As far as photography goes, I look forward to going back to my old ways by shooting a bunch of FILM pictures since I now have a refrigerator full of it. I particularly look forward to experimenting with medium format using the Diana F+ camera I received for my birthday last year. I have since acquired a macro lens for it, so I hope it lives up to its rave reviews.
Good food, fun with the family, cherry blossoms in the spring, autumn colors, Christmas lights - these are a few of my favorite things (and no they don't rhyme, like the items in the song).
“Barack Obama. In some ways it seems ages ago when he won the right to be the next President but in less than two weeks that is exactly what he will become. So cast your minds back to the general sense of elation and optimism his election created and it may help to get you through the next few weeks. True, he may have the 'inbox from hell' when he takes over, but he has the goodwill of a large chunk of the world's population and that has to count for something. And one other reason to be cheerful about Obama? It will mean no more of George Walker Bush.”
-- Sam Holliday
I couldn’t agree more Sam!
More Fun on the Silver Screen...
Among the slew of big Hollywood blockbusters to come out later this year, is the next installment in the on-going “Harry Potter” series. I believe it’s due out sometime in the summer, so heading into your local cinema is certainly one way to beat the heat.
Countless hours of fun playing on the Nintendo Wii…
Now that they’ve come out with Wii Fit, it doesn’t have to feel like such a guilty pleasure. It also brings out (what little I have) my competitive side. Okay, so it also makes me want to cheat to maintain those high scores, hopefully once I master some of the more difficult exercises, it will bring out my athletic prowess : )
Summer Vacation…
Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
(lyrics from the song by the GoGos)
Though nothing’s been booked or written in stone yet, we are thinking of heading out to the great Pacific Northwest to Seattle and Vancouver (and some of the outlying areas). The inspiration from this holiday comes from my in-laws who want to see the Canadian Rockies and are heading up to Banff and Jasper (and visiting Vancouver on their way back down).
Among other things I am looking forward to visiting Roslyn, the tiny town made famous when the 1990 CBS TV series, “Northern Exposure” was filmed there. From what I understand, although they enjoy reaping the financial benefit, they really don’t care much for tourists and would just as soon you not mention the show if you visit. I’ll certainly keep that in mind! Seeing as how the program ended almost 14 years ago, hopefully they will have chilled out a bit!
Miscellaneous…
I look forward to devouring more of my own personal book collection (only got three new ones for Christmas, so not too many more to add to the growing stack). Next on the list to read is Maureen McCormick’s autobiography entitled, Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice. Just can’t get enough of the Bradys!
I signed up for two more (one day) classes being taught in Upper Arlington. One is an all day (Saturday) writing class being taught by one of Natalie Goldberg’s former students. Having read most of Goldberg’s books, I am quite interested in learning from one of her pupils.
I also signed up for a lecture being given one evening all about the Frank Lloyd Wright houses in the near vicinity – some I’ve visited, but a couple I haven’t. Some of the evening might be a bit redundant, but I hope to learn more about the few local houses I haven’t yet visited.
As far as photography goes, I look forward to going back to my old ways by shooting a bunch of FILM pictures since I now have a refrigerator full of it. I particularly look forward to experimenting with medium format using the Diana F+ camera I received for my birthday last year. I have since acquired a macro lens for it, so I hope it lives up to its rave reviews.
Good food, fun with the family, cherry blossoms in the spring, autumn colors, Christmas lights - these are a few of my favorite things (and no they don't rhyme, like the items in the song).
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