We’d be streaming incessantly (beyond Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime). I’ve been testing all the “Free Trials” of streaming services, I’ve tried: “Acorn TV”, “Disney+”, “Crave/HBO/TMN”, “Britbox”, and heading toward “Apple TV”, “National Geographic”, “Smithsonian”, and “Shudder” – who knows how far I’ll get, drinking my tea, watching me some “free”…
Who knew people would be fighting over and hoarding: hand sanitizer and yes, toilet paper (Seinfeld once again predicts the future).
We’d be trying to not gain something called, “COVID-19”, the virus or lbs.
Thanking our essential workers (literally not enough “Thank Yous” in the universe for that), even though many people and politicians didn’t even think they were worth giving decent pay, or really caring about them at all, until they needed them (newsflash geniuses, you/we always needed them).
Trying to learn languages. For me, I’m trying to learn the important stuff first, for example: “Spero tu stia passando una bella giornata miei adorati lettori, avete pasta per me? “(“I hope you are having a nice day my beloved readers, do you have pasta for me?”); “Ich brauche Kuchen” (“I need cake”); “¿Donde estan las galletas?” (“Where are the cookies?”); “Je veux de la pizza” (“I want pizza”)…just some essential phrases.
Traveling on YouTube (who knew it would take a pandemic to turn me into a travel blogger?).
We’d be learning (some of us) all kinds of new terms, like the ones below (how many did you know?):
Coronavirus
COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2
Physical/social distancing
R0/reproductive rate
Drug repurposing
Viral shedding
Flattening/flatten the curve
Planking/plank the curve
Bending/bend the curve (I feel like these will also be diet names soon)
Contact tracing
Data models (or as I call them, data stick insects)
Community transmission/spread
Fomite
Vector (what’s your vector, Victor?)
Essential workers (again, thank you just doesn’t seem to cover it)
Nasopharyngeal swabs
Oropharyngeal swabs (updates from Dr. Fauci, Dr. Tam, Dr. Birx and others are like watching police dramas, they all talk about swabs a lot, “Did you get the swabs?”, “I got the swabs”, “Did you need another swab?”, “What do ya mean we’re out of swabs? Get more swabs!”, “We need billions of swabs!”. Police shows and pandemics, brought to you by Johnson & Johnson, but that’s a whole other story https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/03/18/this-is-not-a-toy/)
PPE (personal protective equipment)
Vaccines https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/02/04/sharks-do-get-cancer/ (RNA) – I’ve seen/read enough sci-fi/apocalypse stuff to know this can lead to bad things including but not limited to: zombies, rabid living people, mutations, bad breath, bad acting, and bad Kharma…
ACE-2 is a gateway receptor (who knows what it will lead to?).
Be comforted by bedtime stories from: Dolly Parton, David Tennant, Oprah, Stephen Fry, Betty White, Rami Malek, James McAvoy, Sarah Silverman, Chris Pine, Kristen Bell, Tom Hardy – ooooh, can he read them in Bane (he was so ahead of his time, he worse a mask, quarantined a city and cancelled all events, including sports) or Venom voices too, please?
And James Earl Jones – seriously, Darth Vader reads me to sleep, “May The Fourth Be With You” and Beware the “Revenge of the Fifth/Sixth” and too much spicy food on Cinco de Mayo could cause Revenge of the Shi…well, you know, moderation, ok?.
Worrying about Murder Hornets, really, who came up with that name, at least make it alliterative, how about “Homicide Hornets” or “Horror Hornets”? Like this: “Slaughter Slugs”, “Maiming Moths”, “Assassin Ants”, “Snuff Snails”…
Getting slightly ever so bored with: baking (getting too warm now anyway); is there enough testing, not enough testing (it’s making me testy);
Zoomfail hashtags (don’t you wish you’d bought shares in Zoom?); “Baby Shark Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo”, kidding, who could ever get tired of that?,
people arguing about “Mandela Effect” online, hmmm, or maybe that never happened.
Making masks, cleaning masks, remembering to bring your masks, remembering not to wear a hockey mask to the grocery store…so many things to remember, what was I talking about again?
Being on video, seriously, before all this I hated going on camera or video, now it’s, “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Zoom, no, no, not that close!”.
People actually listening to someone that lies incessantly, slurs their words, and suggests we could kill COVID-19 by injecting disinfectant into the body and/or UV light, no buddy, why are you like this, why are you the way you are?
That we’d be staying so much: “Stay Home”, “Stay Safe”, “Stay Connected”, “Stay At Home”, “Stay Healthy”, Sit/”Stay”/Roll Over, “Stay in place”, “Stay trippy dude”, “Stay the course”, “Stay fresh” (seriously, you need to shower even if you’re isolated alone)…
I can easily imagine self-isolation has lead to re-enacting musicals with Star Wars action figures, Muppets and/or hand shadows, I’m sure someone somewhere is doing this (please, please, please send me links).
That our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau (Canada rules!) would tell us the things, the things he knows that stop you from “speaking moistly”?!?
I’ll be here for you When the someone knocks on your door (gasp!) I’ll be here for you When you’re dreaming Obama is still POTUS
I’ll be here for you ‘Cause you’re here for me too (on Zoom?)
No one could ever know me (cause I’m wearing a mask) No one could ever see me (cause I’m doing a flask task at home)
Seems now more people know What it’s like to be…chronically me?
Someone to Facetime (Skype/Zoom/Messenger, text, call, whatever) the day with.
Make it through Quarantine Life (only going out for necessities of life, I don’t know about toilet paper, but donuts count, right?) with…
Someone I’ll always laugh with Even at my worst, I’m best with you, yeah
I’ll be here for you When the sun starts to shine
I’ll be here for you When for the great outdoors we pine…
I’ll be here for you ‘Cause we’re (patiently?) waiting for a sign
I’ll be here for you (speaking moistly)
I’ll be here for you (singing: Andrea Bocelli; Ultravox; Ramones; Ed Sheeran; Elton John; Cher (if we could turn back time); Green Day – don’t wannabe an, well, you-know-what;
Foo Fighters; Nivana; The Beatles – “Don’t Come Together”, “We All Live in Self-Quarantine”;
I’ll be here for you (sissying my quarantine fashion, picture me rocking Mickey Mouse leggings, Guardians of the Galaxy T-shirt, Paddington coat, and Nirvana baseball cap https://yadadarcyyada.com/2020/03/17/im-still-standing-yeah-yeah-yeah/, strangely enough, no pictures, that I know of, while putting red ribbons on the trees to say “Thank You – no thanks are ever ever ever going to be enough for our essential workers, but you could start with simple steps: Be Kind, Stay Home, Wash Your Hands).
Hope you’re here for me too (but like, not here here, like, there but emotionally here, together but apart, but connected, so non-contagious virtual hugs and chats and tweets, comments, Zoom, Skype, Messenger, and all that, but over there while I’m over here, but we’ll both be there, well, here for each other…I’m confused. I need more simplicity https://yadadarcyyada.com/2020/01/26/aggressive-simplification/What about you?).
Oooooh, my little pathogen, my pathogen! Don’t be givin’ me germs, #Corona Ooh, you make me petrified, me petrified! Got it coming off o’ the flight from #China? My, my, my, aye-aye, whoa! M-m-m-my #coronavirus
Did you sing it to “My Sharona” by The Knack? The original lyrics are actually scarier/creepier… Pandemic, more like Pant-demic, am I right?
I thought we all deserved a break from the propaganda of pandemic shopping (what’s with the obsession with toilet paper? Will t.p. be our future currency? Will people years from now be telling their grandchildren, “I was there for the T.P. Wars of 2020, it was ugly, a real sh*tshow!”. Do people not understand COVID-19 is a respiratory virus, this is not the Crappocalypse…Every time someone says toilet paper I think of “Seinfeld”, “No, I don’t have a square to spare. I can’t spare a square.” Really folks, are you going to be those type of apocalypse people who can’t even spare a square?
Also, thinking of t.p. makes me want to sing, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Joy Division, but that’s for a psychiatrist to figure out…). Pandemic shopping panic is spreading faster than any virus single-strandedly could…I have my pandemic panic shopping priorities straight, I stocked up on chocolate. You know what kills the most people? Misinformation. Ignorance. And in the end, life.
Make no mistake about why these babies are here – they are here to replace us. ~ Jerry Seinfeld
Finally watched “Rocketman”. As a writer, I adore Bernie Taupin’s mind (played by the delightful Jamie Bell), as a music freak fan Elton John (Taron Egerton,who also sings the part, bravo!)is a tapestry on the castle wall of music. This film is: over-the-top, brilliant and self-indulgent, so basically, Elton John. People compare this with “Bohemian Rhapsody”, DON’T!!! Like comparing the Hope diamond with a million tiny diamonds on a huge pair of glasses, completely different, both dazzling.
Don’t you know I’m still standing, most of the time. Looking like a tightrope walker past their prime. I’m still standing after all this time. Picking up the pieces of my life, kinda like a mime (ummm, on a windy street) I’m still standing yeah yeah yeah
I’m still standing yeah yeah yeah Seriously, disequilibrium is discombobulating and even spelling them makes me dizzy!!!
What have you all been doing to keep COVID-19 from spreading and to stave off that beast, boredom? Have you been supporting one another, reaching out to offer help, or a kind word? Email isn’t cancelled. Texting isn’t cancelled. Calls aren’t cancelled. Kindness isn’t cancelled. Smiles aren’t cancelled. Goodwill isn’t cancelled. Some people are complaining they can’t get out, false, walking, cycling, jogging, running, hiking, all safe distancing activity that keeps you moving isn’t cancelled, just stay, stay hydrated and practice safe distancing.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day – wear green, eat green food, drink green beer, smile, get lucky, laugh, share some laughter. Support each other. Stop looking at the negative side and think about all the “me” time you’ve been missing, maybe without even realizing it. Some people are complaining there are too many precautions, maybe, but if nothing comes of this, guess what, that’s the outcome we want, nothing to happen.
Here’s things that have been keeping me amused while Earth is cancelled.
“The Alice Network” (not to be confused with “The Alice Project” or “Alice Cooper” or “Alice in Wonderland” or “Alice in Zombieland”…what was I talking about?) “TAN” by Kate Quinn, suggested by a friend, “thanks” cause I couldn’t put this book down!!! Seriously, my eyes got tired, so I logged onto the library, got the e-audio of it and let my ears do some of the heavy lifting. Ever read a book where the movie starts playing in your brain? Stark. Poetic. Mesmerizing. Unflinching. So many books sit on shelves, unworthy, taking up space, this book deserves a whole section to itself.
Words cannot describe how happy “Avenue 5” made me…Hugh Laurie (reminds me of his “Blackadder-A-Bit-of-Fry-Laurie-with-a-smidge-of-Jeeves & Wooster-glory-days), Zach Woods, Josh Gad, Ethan Phillips and so many more. A delightful disaster you can’t stop watching…more please?“Star Trek: Picard” is a gift to loyal Trekkies/Trekkers. Patrick Stewart reprises his role as the iconic Jean-Luc Picard(please commence arguments about who’s the best Starfleet Captain now) and with a whole host of new and oldie (but still-in-our-hearts) spacies: Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Santiago Cabrera, Harry Treadaway, Alison Pill, Isa Briones, etc. Not already a “Star Trek” fanatic fan, probably not for you; for those who’ve spent a majority of their lives thrilling at: “Make it so”, “Set Phasers to stun”, “Engage”, “I’m a doctor, not a…”, “Resistance is futile”, “Highly illogical”, etc.…you get it, that electric energy zinging through you. And the cherry on top? Picard has a dog named Number One…wonder-filled.
“The Outsider” – I got chills, they’re multiplying!!! Watch the series, read the book by Stephen King and when your inner voice says “Don’t watch another episode before bed!”, listen to it, same goes for what your I.V. tells you about donuts (mostly, sometimes your I.V. is just bossy and should mind it’s own business!).Oh no, I have a scratch on my hand, yikes.
“Hunters” – weirdly reminds me of “The Watchmen” (the mind-blowing movie not the HBO series), but, like, hunting Nazis in the 70s…Al Pacino is still a master of micro-expressions. This is a reminder to trust government…seriously? Obviously kidding.
“Sex Education” on Netflix, there are no words, just watch (and learn?).
“Freaks” (isn’t this just sorta “Firestarter” again?).
“The Stranger”, “The Five”, Safe” all adapted from Harlan Coben books– What? What? What? Oh, the UK sure knows how to do a mystery up right.
Watched “The Hate U Give” and “Where Hands Touch”, apparently Amandla Stenberg likes to make me keep-the-tissue-box-handy because, ok, I’m welling up now thinking about both films, so amazing.
Too many books to list (just when I think I’m getting caught up on my to-read book list, I’m…squirrel! Yes, that easily distracted), for now, yet “F*ck No! how to stop saying yes when you can’t, you shouldn’t, or you justdon’t want to” by Sarah Knight (author of one of my favs, “The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck”) stands out. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2020/01/26/aggressivesimplification/
So before we panic, er, even more (Don’t Panic! Be Cautious! Be Kind!)…
Frankly, I’m feeling a bit panicked about how upset people are about having to wash their hands! And asking how to wash their hands properly! Being put out at having to wash their hands more! Ummm, supergross…) and all the stockpiling hoarding toilet paper, masks, hand sanitizer, medications, water, etc.
Not to downplay the loss, it’s terrible, but to put this into perspective, approx. 500 people die each day to firearms worldwide. Not to mention: cancer, heart disease, poison, fire, flu, diabetes, suicide, murder, driving while: texting, drunk, high, tired, smoking, sleeping, watching TV, checking their phone, hair, make-up, eating, and wow, seriously people, just drive the car, sober, rested, it’s not a toy.
I could go on. People die of preventable illnesses and “accidents” (is anything really an accident?). People are still starving, really, that’s still a thing in 2020? So before we continue to panic (which involves a lot of toilet paper I guess?),
I know this is bad and gonna get a whole lot worse, but let’s look back at all the things that went bump-in-the-night, the “scare-du-jour” that made us run out then and buy, buy, buy (currently residing in the “Where Are They Now?” files):
Ebola (since I was a teen I’ve been saying Ebola and other viruses are just a plane ride away, then again, I also wore a Hawaiian shirt every Thursday cause Magnum P.I. was on…so that happened).
Zika. Iran. West Nile Virus. Ozone Hole. Y2K. SARS. Caravans. H1N1. Acid Rain. Mad Cow (I simply can’t get a disease like Creutzfeldt-Jakob, I can’t even spell/say it correctly). AI. Jellyfish. MERS. Sharks (landsharks?).
Global Thermonuclear War (seriously, watch “War Games” again, you’ll thank me).
Weapons of Mass Destruction (now plagued by Weapons of Mass Distraction). Terrorism. UFOs. Comets. Asteroids (also a cool video game).
Vampires. Pizzagate. FOMO. North Korea. ISIS. AIDS. Momo. Rickrolling.
Remember the world ending in 2012? Mayans must be having a right good laugh at us. Evil clowns, sorry, that was redundant…I meant, clowns.
Chemicals in the water that turn the freakin’ frogs gay!
Swine flu (that’s some pig!). Eggs. Chickens and other birds (which came first?).
And my all-timefav,Killer Beesfrom South America.
Where are they? Did they take a decades-long siesta? Are they still coming? I need answers!
Fear is used to manipulate the population, to keep them docile and easily lead. Then again, how have we survived this long? Seriously… “What, me worry?”Worry is a weird thing to do cause stress/worry hurt your immune system which leaves you open to viruses…see where this is going?
Risk is part of life (and a magnificent game).
Maybe we need relax, take a deep breath, calm down and have some tea and some chicken soup (gluten-free, GMO-free, organic with no chicken for our frightened souls). I have just the thing. A delightful friend and tireless blogger, Cher P. Garman https://thechicagofiles.com/ has contributed to “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, Live Happy (101 Stories About Creating Your Best Life)” by Amy Newmark and Deborah Norville (CSS) and good news, none contain tales of rushing to Costco, pushing people out of the way to stockpile toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Cher’s inspirational story is #60. This ex-pat was a fish out of Canadian waters when her family moved to Chicago, but did Cher wallow? No, in the belly of the windy whale the blind taught her to see. Cher helped herself by helping others. You can’t feel alone or sad or frustrated when you give the gift of yourself to those in need.
“Chicken Soup” books are oft mocked as ‘corny’ or ‘cheesy’ (both corn and cheese taste good in soup, by the way), but they’re meant to remind us to see past the doom-and-gloom headlines and “if-it-bleeds-it-leads” stuff because it sells, sells, sells!!!
That the “Breaking News” crap and social media frenzies aren’t meant to motivate you, or to make you content or grateful or happy, they’re meant to disrupt, disturb, depress so you’ll be desperate and despairing.
I’m not dismissing the loss, the horror, the fear…germs are super scary, they’re a killer we can’t see, but really, so are a lot of things, Mother Nature is always trying to kill us and we’re doing the same to her. How about a truce?
Anxiety is my brain telling me to be careful, except fear isn’t using it’s inside voice. Panic, anxiety, worry, grieving, frustration, depression, etc. during these situations is normal, but if we amplify, then fear wins.
I feel sad for so many people in this crisis, including those told to stay home when they have no home. I’m going to rely heavily on science, I know, not popular in some circles, but it’s one of the few things in life that’s always tried to be honest with me.
My thinking is: stay home more, “social distancing” (hmmm, people with Autism were born for this), help “flatten the curve”, stay calm and we can do this…
Also, keep your risk perception under control, toilet paper will not keep you safe from COVID-19:
1) Wash your hands w/ soap often for 20-30 seconds. Use hand sanitizer when you can’t wash your hands. Stop touching your face so much! Seriously! Stop! Humans touch their face anywhere from 15-50 times/hour (what?!?). And clean your phones, they may very well herald the zombie apocalypse.
2) Human contact is important, but again, be cautious (a good general rule). Animal/human is also important, but this is zoonotic, again be cautious and be kind. Stop blaming bats, if we weren’t stomping all over their ecozones, their homes they’d just continue to hand around and be batty.
3) This is a good time to educate people on the risks (“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” Mark Twain would tell you 100x and more goes for the internet) and how to combat them. Don’t Panic! Be Cautious! Be Kind!
I’m going with what the doctors/scientists/experts say, wash your hands. #WashYourHands #SafeHands
The world is a ball of wonder, don’t let the latest storm be your whole life’s weather forecast. Don’t just learn to dance in the rain, learn to dance like you’re in the rain, in a “Wham!” video!
“There is no point in using the word ‘impossible’ to describe something that has clearly happened.” === Douglas Adams
It happened and I let it happen. Not once, twice, or thrice, but over and over again. As impossible as it seemed, I let my life, wait, “let” seems too passive, I actively participated in the over-complication of my life.
Oh, I told myself I was simplifying. I did all the “right” things. I organized, sorted, classified, tidied, de-cluttered…tried to keep only things that sparked joy.
Yet my life felt like I was just moving round those deck chairs on the “Titanic” (there was room on the board for Jack, Rose, remember, never let go?).
Then complications, on tiny clawed feet creep, whether or not I leave them a treat…
1. First stage of grief – denial. In denial my life was that complicated. Ihad balls in the air, juggling like a clown; I like helping people laugh (I’m a bit of a Joker), but clowns wear too much make-up, for mypersonal taste.
“Simplification” always means removing stuff, right? Usually, but not always, sometimes it means: adding, switching, modifying, adapting, accommodating, changing, rethinking, reclassifying, redistributing…a whole lot of re-ing.
2. Next, I hit a wall of pain and guilt.
Yup, those flying “Whys” hit like me like a sock full of pennies. “Why was I so sick?” “Why couldn’t I get better?” “Why me?” “Why?”
3. Anger (Envy?) and Bargaining. “So many people don’t appreciate: their health, their life, the good people and things; why do they have so much of things they don’t appreciate?”
“Whoever may be out, let’s strike a bargain, what do you want to make this better?”
4. Depression/Reflection/Loneliness. “I’m worthless.” “I’m a drain.” “I’m a burden.” Breaks into a chorus of “All by Myself” while fighting her own hand reaching for the cookies.
5. The upward turn. “I can do this.” “I can find even more resources.” “I can find more people who understand.”
“I can help myself.” “I can push even harder.” “I’m pretty amazing.”
6. Reconstruction and working through.When I said it wasn’t all about de-cluttering, it was a big part because…sigh,
I’m a fantastic bargain snifferhunterstalkerpredator shopper.
Brand names for dirt cheap, price/ad matching, coupons/freebies, sales…long story short, had (insert understatement here) more stuff than I realized. More than half of the more is gone now.
Bumped up my phone plan cause counting seconds wasn’t saving my brain and I was missing stuff and things.
Got more medical resources.
Watched stuff that made me smile and think and not think and lot of giggling: “Knives Out”,“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”, “Fleabag”, “The Walking Dead”, “The Good Place”, “Virgin River”, “Lost”, “Grace and Frankie” (want to know if a veteran actor/actress is alive, watch this), “The Orville”, “Jack Ryan”, “SNL”, “Joker”, “Lost In Space”, “Spiderman: Far From Home”, “Marriage Story”, “Glitch”, “The Expanse”, and thank you kindly to Netflix for Season 2 of “You”…You know I like to watch.
Unplugged from social media more; it’s a learning curve of an addiction.
7. Acceptance and hope. Now more organized, but with the understanding things pop up to: disrupt, disturb and displace the calm and toss things into the chaos realm.
Hopefully the extra measures I have taken with my “aggressive simplification” will be enough to keep the monsters of chaos at bay.
There’s no linear path to anywhere or anything, it’s all wibbly wobbly, up and down, round and round.
Most living things grieve, in different ways. We grieve those we’ve loved and lost, friendships, connections, community, hope, opportunities, time, health, jobs, dreams…
I predict complications and chaos will continue, but instead of thinking (or overthinking it, thank goodness I never ever ever ever, did I mention ever, do that!) of it all as a catastrophe, think of it as a chance to learn.
The holiday season stresses out most everyone, but for those who are ill, the holidays can be a nightmare(before and during Christmas); it’s stressful for even those who don’t celebrate Christmas(or try not to celebrate).
The roads are busier. Malls overrun by zombies (We are The Walking Dead, but with brightly-wrapped gifts). Christmas songs drone on, but peace on Earth, really, there’s barely a pretense of civility.
So many Santas, ringing and ho-ho-hoing for money to buy toys – I thought there was a workshop and elves for that…
Expectations. Unrealistic expectations. Too much food (First World Problem).
Frolicking. Accidents. Frolicking accidents. Ugly Christmas sweaters (no longer ironic), now ironically iconic?
Gifts/gift cards/e-gift cards, “the perfect gift” for the “perfect” Christmas – that’s where stress-relievers come in.
First, take a deep breath. Christmas is one day.One.24 hours.1440 minutes. Let’s also enjoy the other 364 days in the year. Relax.
Second, the holidays should be about: giving, helping, hoping, kindness, compassion, and dreams; not pushing, whining, complaining, stressing and screams…Relax.
Third, you need to find out what works for you, what makes you happy, what brings you comfort and joy. If you don’t know that, how can you share it with others? Relax.
Here are some usual ways (and unusual, whatever that means) ways to relieve stress during the holidays (and all the year through)? There are more than 12 so you decide which is which.
If I’ve left some out and I’m sure I did, please comment to tell me what I missed and then share the post on social media so others can tell me what I missed as well…
Read books/ebooks (This is a safe space, no “books vs ebooks” arguments here; all books are welcome and accepted!).
Volunteer (I once knew someone who said more people would volunteer if they were paid, ummm, that’s a job).
Write a blog/journal/novels/poems.
Manicure/Pedicure (at home works too).
Bake (me a cake?).
Aromatherpy (Don’t limit yourself to the usual scents, whatever smells good to you, smell away).
Look for the Fibonacci symbol in nature or fractals, so fun on snowy days.
Design clothes.Wear clothes.Buy New-To-You clothes (Goodwill, Talize, Salvation Army, Value Village, Mission Store, and other Love-Them-Again stores are awesome).
Go see a play, be in a play, write a play, direct a play.
Bike.
Golf/Mini Golf.
Look at the stars (the ones in the sky).
Plant yourself near a plant to reduce your blood pressure.
Sleep/Nap/Rest.
Karate (relaxed and ready to defend yourself, probably not against Ninjas or aliens, but maybe zombies or vampires).
Visit an art gallery/museum.
Hike.
Do chores/Clean.
Stream (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Apple TV, Disney Plus, Acorn TV, Crave, HBO, TMN, SlingTV, BritBox, and many more; with more popping up every day).
Bowl.
Curl.
Url.
Unfurl.
Play board games.
Play video games.
Play card games.
Learn something…anything.
Stay and enjoy.
Paint.
Garden.
Do puzzles – crossword, boxed puzzles, puzzle boxes, find-a-word (Have you heard? The bird is the word), sudoku, logic, trivia and if you can figure out people, wow, you’ve solved the biggest puzzle ever.
Apply gentle pressure to the spot between your 2nd and 3rd knuckle, between your fingers, where your finger and hand meet to reduce stress.
Weave.
Camp.
Glamp.
Dance.
Cheer someone up with a fun surprise (Do not break into their home and draw a happy face on the wall or anything in red lipstick on their mirror, apparently that’s considered “creepy”).
Craft.
Raft.
Wine/Beer tasting tour (Don’t taste and drive).
Learn some magic tricks (Be nice to rabbits).
Get/give a facial.
Sing.
Watch the clouds (the ones in the sky).
Jump (jump jump jump around) on a trampoline (safety first).
Smile (I just like to smile, smiling’s my favourite).
Drink water (don’t waste it).
Draw.
Create the next big fad! i.e. Lint kittens and puppies. Easy to keep – no walks, no food, soft and cuddly, and easy to house-train. Do not expose to water.
Ski.
Sauna.
Snowboard.
Snowshoe.
Walk.
Run/Jog/Sprint.
Quilt.
Be mindful.
Plant trees.
Join a team (fantasy or real).
Pet sit (don’t actually sit on a pet).
Dream.
Tear paper (then recycle then tear again).
Visualize (guided or unguided, just remember to leave some breadcrumbs to find your way back).
Crochet.
Pay it forward.
Help.
Be kind (random or deliberate).
Fix stuff (fix something for someone: TV, car, fridge, cellphone, alarm system, computer, appliances, sewing machine, etc. Even it wasn’t broken, er, at the time, they’ll probably understand you were trying to give them a gift…probably).
Upload/download/unload.
Meme.
Give your time.
Offer your knowledge.
Give your full attention.
When a child hands you a toy phone or a banana, answer it and have a conversation (best time with a phone/actually smart).
Take a shower (not at the Bates Motel).
Take a bath (not in a horror movie).
Enjoy social media for what it is not what you want it to be (because the internet).
Take some photographs (not just of your food and selfies with duck lips).
Skate.
Mentor someone.
Review something.
Ski-doo (not on thin ice…it’s all going to be thin ice soon).
Watch a sunset.
Watch a sunrise.
Cook (Combine food and fashion ie. Forget Lululemon, how about lasagna leggings? Pizza pants. Taco ties. Chocolate crop top. Wine wedding dress. Turkey tux. Beer boots. Hamburger hat. Curry coat. Steak scarf. Bacon blouse. This food fashion can be consumed at any time – hopefully not when you’re out in public).
Join a club (not a gang).
Drink green/white tea.
Inspire.
Be inspired.
Organize.
Walk in a park or the woods (not at night on a full moon, just in case).
Climb a wall, so you don’t climb the walls.
Hug.
Laugh.
Laugh some more.
Make someone laugh.
Spend time with nature and animals (don’t pet grizzly bears, badgers, or snakes, start slow with cats, dogs, rabbits…then move up).
Build a snowman (do you wanna?).
Remember.
Forget.
Remember to forget.
Smash stuff (smash plates, bowls, walls, pumpkins,etc., and if you can’t go to one of the places where you pay to smash stuff, I’m sure family and friends will understand you need stress relief, especially during the holidays).
Hope.
Make soap not dope.
Elope.
Pop corn.
String popcorn (the eat, the popcorn not the string).
Visit (real or virtual as long as you’re there, in the moment).
Yoga.
Watch TV (question what you watch).
Listen to someone.
Breathe deeply.
Be grateful.
Chop wood.
Woodworking.
Carving.
‘Tis the season, cut down a Christmas tree for a busy family member or friend. Cautionary note, unlike in the Hallmark and other Christmas movies, cartoons, etc., apparently it’s “frowned upon”, some might even say “illegal”, to just randomly cut trees down. Who knew?
One of the best ways to relieve stress, being honest, with yourself and others; we/they/me/whoever may not appreciate it at first, but it could be the best gift ever, someday.
Chocolate. Enough said.
If you know me and/or you’re a reader of my blog (https://yadadarcyyada.com) you know, I think laughter is the best medicine and it certainly qualifies as a stress reliever. Laughing, even if it hurts sometimes, still makes me feel better. I go to a happy place, including but not limited to: Psych, George Carlin, Seinfeld, Community, Friends, Rick and Morty, The Office, Marx Brothers, Flight of the Conchords, and more.
I love to share the laughter. If I can make someone smile, laugh, giggle, chortle, spew liquid from their nose, then hey, I feel better. Get silly. Adulting is tough, who says we can’t be a kid at heart?
Finding ways to help others is a great stress reliever. It’s hard to think about your problems when you’re helping others with theirs.
There are an endless amount of causes out there, try to support those who really need it. Those who are hungry, scared, without shelter, without hope, being abused, ill, falling through so many cracks.
Donate to a cause in someone’s name instead of handing them another gift they may or may not need or want, or better yet, start a foundation in their name, I’m sure it won’t affect their taxes…much. Help yourself by helping others.
Knitting? Did I mention knitting? What I want to knit…a black cable knit sweater and a Doctor-Who-vintage-Tom-Baker-as-The-Doctor scarf. I’ve been talked down to scarf of one colour and even that’s not going well. The holes are there to let hopes and dreams in, yeah, that’s it. They’re a design feature.
Turns out knitting can be a “knotty” stress reliever.
Exercise is suggested for stress relief, but with pain and fatigue, exercise can be challenging. Years ago, someone suggested Tai Chi for Fibromyalgia/relaxation/arthritis/exercise, I thought, how would flailing my arms around, slowly, help with any of those things? I’ll just look weirder than I usually do.
Lifting weights? I’m no Schwarzenegger, but Hasta la Vista, babyweight (my son is in his 20s). I like Yoga (and Baby Yoda), but it can be painful. Walking helps, but my dogs start barking and the rest of my body growls at me.
I love swimming (not so much Aquafit), but getting there and back, dressing, undressing, showering, etc. is exhausting; I sometimes feel worse, certainly less relaxed (and it’s pricey). And of course these days, we’re not sharing any pools. Thanks COVID.
What else? For seniors, VON offers free programs twice a week, (SMART) Seniors Maintaining Active Roles Together; there’s Ageless Grace (more like Graceless Aging for me). I’ve tried the gym. Belly-dancing (don’t try to picture it). Dancing (Frankie says Relax).
Yet I stick like glue to Tai Chi because it unsticks me. Relaxes. Soothes. Feeling sore? Tai Chi won’t magically fix everything, but it helps ease some aches and gets you moving.
To learn Tai Chi I borrowed items from the library (having fun isn’t hard if you’ve got a library card). Later bought VHS tapes (yes, that long ago, I fought off a saber-tooth tiger to get home), then DVDs (now on YouTube and streaming services, soon to be uploaded into our brains).
Now I have fun with it, I pretend I’m carrying an invisible jar containing invisible chocolate, so I must guard it with my life. But seriously, once I opened my mind, body and heart to Tai Chi, it gave me a priceless gift – some pain and stress relief so I could have quality of life. I can dance again. Well, sort of. My version of it.
Remember, getting through one day (for example, Christmas Day) isn’t the same as finding and giving joy each day.What about you dear readers? What are some of the usual or unusual ways you know to relieve stress during the holidays and all the year through (remember this is a more or less family-friendly blog).
Wishing everyone a safe, happy and stress-free (ok, low stress/reduced stress) holiday season: Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! ¡Felices Fiestas! Jie Ri Yu Kuai! Laethanta saoire sona! Happy Hanukkah! Joyous Kwanzaa! Yuletide Greetings! Best wishes for 2020! Joyeux Noël! Let it snow…somewhere else! Feliz Navidad! Seasons Greetings! Happy New Year Joy! Celebrate! Be merry! Shiawasena kyūjitsu!Boas Festas! Li holide eximnandi! Happy Christmas! Happy New Year! Wishing you a latke fun this Hanukkah! Hau’oli Lanui! मेरी क्रिसमस ! Forhe Feiertage! Selamat Hari Raya! Happy Channukah! Joyeuses Fêtes! Prettige Feestdagen! Buone Feste! Trevlig Helg! Jingle All The Way! Happy Holidays from owl of us! Tis the Season! Warmest greetings! Happy Holidays, Mate! It doesn’t matter how you say it as long as it’s said with kindness.
And the classic, “But you don’t look sick”. Feel free to add more. I think I’ve heard them all…but you never know.
Yup, I got 99 Problems and Fibromyalgia (Fibromialgia) is all of them…or at least it makes any problem much much much much worse.
I won’t bore you with all the symptoms:
Extreme, endless fatigue (I’ve never heard, “everyone gets tired”…sigh).
Extreme, endless all-over-body-pain 24/7/365 (“everyone has pain, especially as they get older” – how do you presume to know my pain or anyone else’s pain but yours?).
Dry eyes/mouth.
Hair loss.
IBS (Oh joy, love nothing more than talking about my bowels to: doctors, family, friends, strangers, interns, readers…”What did you want to be when you grow up?” “Constipated.”).
Dizziness.
Clumsiness.
Nausea.
Depression (tough not to be depressed by all this).
Sleep issues (screw off Alpha waves, no one wants you here).
Mood disorders (maybe my many, many moods are just as ordered as they should be).
Headaches/migraines.
Restless leg syndrome.
Anxiety (pick a kind, any kind).
Tender points (misnomer, not tender, excruciating, but trigger points make sense).
Fibrofog (what was I saying?).
Memory and learning problems, like, aah, like, well, there’s Fibrofog (what was I saying?).
Scattered thoughts (dust in the wind, all my thoughts are dust in the wind).
Numbness.
Tingling (not the good kind).
Shakiness (not the good kind).
TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome).
Painful and frequent urination.
You may notice a pattern here, #Pain!
Sharp pain, stabbing pain, dull aching pain, burning pain, throbbing pain (Beavis and Butthead laugh for 5 minutes now about “throbbing”).
Extreme sensitivity to: light, noise, sounds, smells, temperatures, humidity, dryness, changes in the weather (especially extreme heat or cold, fun in Canada, eh).
Also, to tastes, textures (Princess and the Pea was written about someone with Fibromyalia, for sure).
Stiffness (not the fun kind).;
Especially morning stiffness (not the fun kind).
Let’s not forget Allodynia.
Itching (like, bugs-under-your-skin-when-jonesing-kind-of-itching, er, for chocolate, my drug of choice).
Waking up feeling like you’ve been run over by a truck or attacked by a Terminator or zombie (brains?) – We are The Walking Dead.
And don’t even get me started on surviving the Holidaze, er, holidays – Christmas, New Year’s Eve, birthdays, Easter, Thanksgiving, Black Friday (it’s counted as a holiday now, right?), actually I can do CyberMonday, and they’re lined up to take me out for Valentine’s Day…
I could go on and on (really), but you get the point.
It sucks.
Chronic suckage.
What can anyone do to try to help chronic suckage?
Pills/medications (anti this, anti that, pro this, pro that, SSRIs, SNRIs, NSAIDs, PB&J – checking if you were still paying attention, lotions, notions, rubs, gels – not the fun kind – vitamins, supplements, opioids, snake oil, gargoyle oil, and on and on).
Exercise.
Natural remedies.
Injections.
Yoga.
Meditation.
Deep breathing (keep breathing).
Tai Chi (saved my life).
Change of diet (I do FODMAP, look it up, you’ll hate it).
Massage (no happy endings).
Physical therapy.
Rest/relaxation/Self-Care.
CBT, CBD, CBC, CBA, COD…
Trials.
Errors.
It’s all just fleeting moments of feeling almost human.
And if all wasn’t bad enough, many people assume this invisible disability is and let’s see if I have this right, a conspiracy wherein the medical profession has effectively implemented a fake syndrome just to cater to lazy people (wasn’t that nice of them?). Perfectly reasonable, it’s not as if doctors have anything better to do. Or have reputations and licenses to protect. Or have ethics. What exactly would their motivation be? Why make up an illness, aren’t there already enough? Cancer alone should keep them hopping.
There are many health issues that can not be found through standardized testing, for example: Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Cerebral Palsy, Parkinson’s, Autism, Lupus, ADD/ADHD, wheat or gluten ‘sensitivity’, acute back pain, as well as many mental health issues. So they don’t suffer, don’t feel – it’s all some magical conspiracy…
People like to mock. I get that. It’s become a past-time, even a job for some people, especially in the internet age. I also get those same people would want/expect doctors and people to believe them if they were ill, even if there was no standardized testing for their illness.
To the best of my knowledge, there’s no standardized testing for ignorance or stupidity yet either, but I’d buy stocks for that booming business.
I didn’t ask to be ill. Given the choice I’d be “normal”. I certainly didn’t ask to be mocked and harassed because I’m ill. Even if it was just ‘in my head’, shouldn’t anyone with a health issue be treated with dignity and respect? Maybe we need a standardized test for intolerance.
So how do I cope with ongoing agonizing pain, debilitating fatigue and all the other heaping piles of steaming sh*t that comes with Fibromyalgia aka chronic suckage? If you’re a reader of my blog you know, I think laughter is the best medicine. Laughing even if it hurts sometimes still makes me feel better. I go to a happy place like Psych or George Carlin, Seinfeld, Friends, The Office and more. Tons of laughter a day doesn’t keep the doctor away, but it gives me some quality of life.
For example, this was one of my Tweets, “When I see a thong in a store all I think is, how would I explain to #EMTs all my multiple injuries were caused by just trying on a thong. Huh. #ThatsHot #thongs“. @yadadarcyyada
I love to share the laughter. If I can make someone smile, laugh, giggle, chortle, spew liquid from their nose, then hey, I feel better. Treatments, medications, family, friends and finding a community that gets you, that understands when you have to cancel plans (again)…
Or you can’t remember, ummm, can’t remember, er, huh…and the only good thing you can say about your day is you’re “above ground”, well, anyway.
The thing is, people are just people – no matter how rich or poor; sick (this is an equal opportunity destroyer) or well; all sizes, shapes and shades; known or unknown – you don’t know what you’re missing if you don’t give people a chance. Some will let you down, disappoint, hurt your brain, your heart, your body, but they’re oddly beneficial, they help us appreciate the good ones even more.
Get out there, in person, online, by phone, text, email, do stuff, I don’t know, play cards, smile, knit, donate (give what you can, including your time and talents), bowl, cuddle, talk, sign, sing, walk, dance,embrace your crapathy https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/05/25/crapathy/
swim, skate, scuba (gate?), especially smile at children, jog, blog, snog (probably not at the same time unless you’re uber talented), ignore, don’t keep score it’s a bore, read, write, compose, doodle, paint, play, bike, hike, “Like”,bake (me a cake? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/09/16/you-had-me-at-cake/),
listen, learn, love, add to the world, be part of the solution, go out with friends, care, share, spend time with family, get to know people, smile some more (and more and more and more)!!!
Consider others, let your mind soar. I can’t say you won’t ever be sorry, some folks are baffling, but on a whole, you’ll be better for it (and they will be too).
Not asking anyone to feel sorry for me (although compassion and empathy are always welcome), just a reminder that everyone has problems, 99 or less, 99 or more, just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there…so don’t be one of those problems.
And the classic, “But you don’t look sick”. Feel free to add more. I think I’ve heard them all…but you never know.
99 Problems and Fibromyalgia (Fibromialgia) is all of them…or at least it makes any problem much much much much worse.
I won’t bore you with all the symptoms:
Extreme, endless fatigue (I’ve never heard, “everyone gets tired”…sigh).
Extreme, endless all-over-body-pain 24/7/365 (“everyone has pain, especially as they get older” – how do you presume to know my pain or anyone else’s pain but yours?).
Dry eyes/mouth.
Hair loss.
IBS (Oh joy, love nothing more than talking about my bowels to doctors/family/friends/strangers/readers…”What did you want to be when you grow up?” “Constipated.”).
Dizziness.
Clumsiness.
Nausea.
Depression (tough not to be depressed by all this).
Sleep issues (screw off Alpha waves, no one wants you here).
Mood disorders (maybe my many, many moods are just as ordered as they should be).
Headaches/migraines.
Restless leg syndrome.
Anxiety (pick a kind, any kind).
Tender points (misnomer, not tender, excruciating, but trigger points make sense).
Fibrofog (what was I saying?).
Memory and learning problems, like, aah, like, well, there’s Fibrofog (what was I saying?).
Scattered thoughts (dust in the wind, all my thoughts are dust in the wind).
Numbness.
Tingling (not the good kind).
Shakiness (not the good kind).
TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome).
Painful and frequent urination.
You may notice a pattern here, #Pain!
Sharp pain, stabbing pain, dull aching pain, burning pain, throbbing pain (Beavis and Butthead laugh for 5 minutes now about “throbbing”).
Extreme sensitivity to: light, noise, sounds, smells, temperatures, humidity, dryness, changes in the weather (especially extreme heat or cold, fun in Canada, eh).
Also, to tastes, textures (Princess and the Pea was written about someone with Fibromyalia, for sure).
Stiffness (not the fun kind).;
Especially morning stiffness (not the fun kind).
Let’s not forget Allodynia.
Itching (like, bugs-under-your-skin-when-jonesing-kind-of-itching, er, for chocolate, my drug of choice).
Waking up feeling like you’ve been run over by a truck or attacked by a Terminator or zombie (brains?) – We are The Walking Dead.
And don’t even get me started on surviving the Holidaze, er, holidays – Christmas, New Year’s Eve, birthdays, Easter, Thanksgiving, Black Friday (it’s counted as a holiday now, right?), actually I can do CyberMonday, and they’re lined up to take me out for Valentine’s Day…
I could go on and on (really), but you get the point.
It sucks.
Chronic suckage.
What can anyone do to try to help chronic suckage?
Pills/medications (anti this, anti that, pro this, pro that, SSRIs, SNRIs, NSAIDs, PB&J – checking if you were still paying attention, lotions, notions, rubs, gels – not the fun kind – vitamins, supplements, opioids, snake oil, gargoyle oil, and on and on).
Exercise.
Natural remedies.
Injections.
Yoga.
Meditation.
Deep breathing (keep breathing).
Tai Chi (saved my life).
Change of diet (I do FODMAP, look it up, you’ll hate it).
Massage (no happy endings).
Physical therapy.
Rest/relaxation/Self-Care.
CBT, CBD, CBC, CBA, COD…
Trials.
Errors.
It’s all just fleeting moments of feeling almost human.
And if all wasn’t bad enough, many people assume this invisible disability is and let’s see if I have this right, a conspiracy wherein the medical profession has effectively implemented a fake syndrome just to cater to lazy people (wasn’t that nice of them?). Perfectly reasonable, it’s not as if doctors have anything better to do. Or have reputations and licenses to protect. Or have ethics. What exactly would their motivation be? Why make up an illness, aren’t there already enough? Cancer alone should keep them hopping.
There are many health issues that can not be found through standardized testing, for example: Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Cerebral Palsy, Parkinson’s, Autism, Lupus, ADD/ADHD, wheat or gluten ‘sensitivity’, acute back pain, as well as many mental health issues. So they don’t suffer, don’t feel – it’s all some magical conspiracy…
People like to mock. I get that. It’s become a past-time, even a job for some people, especially in the internet age. I also get those same people would want/expect doctors and people to believe them if they were ill, even if there was no standardized testing for their illness.
To the best of my knowledge, there’s no standardized testing for ignorance or stupidity yet either, but I’d buy stocks for that booming business.
I didn’t ask to be ill. Given the choice I’d be “normal”. I certainly didn’t ask to be mocked and harassed because I’m ill. Even if it was just ‘in my head’, shouldn’t anyone with a health issue be treated with dignity and respect? Maybe we need a standardized test for intolerance.
So how do I cope with ongoing agonizing pain, debilitating fatigue and all the other heaping piles of steaming sh*t that comes with Fibromyalgia aka chronic suckage? If you’re a reader of my blog you know, I think laughter is the best medicine. Laughing even if it hurts sometimes still makes me feel better. I go to a happy place like Psych or George Carlin, Seinfeld, Friends, The Office and more. Tons of laughter a day doesn’t keep the doctor away, but it gives me some quality of life.
For example, this was one of my Tweets last week, “When I see a thong in a store all I think is, how would I explain to #EMTs all my multiple injuries were caused by just trying on a thong. Huh. #ThatsHot #thongs“. @yadadarcyyada
I love to share the laughter. If I can make someone smile, laugh, giggle, chortle, spew liquid from their nose, then hey, I feel better. Treatments, medications, family, friends and finding a community that gets you, that understands when you have to cancel plans (again)…
Or you can’t remember, ummm, can’t remember, er, huh…and the only good thing you can say about your day is you’re “above ground”, well, anyway.
Reunited with a fantastic friend from college (we’d lost touch when the dinosaurs died), and get this, we started going to the same Fibro group on the same day, from different cities. I don’t know what they call that, fate, destiny, providence, kismet, but I call it cool and lucky.
Finding ways to help myself by helping others.
The thing is, people are just people – no matter how rich or poor; sick (this is an equal opportunity destroyer) or well; all sizes, shapes and shades; known or unknown – you don’t know what you’re missing if you don’t give people a chance. Some will let you down, disappoint, hurt your brain, your heart, your body, but they’re oddly beneficial, they help us appreciate the good ones even more.
Get out there, in person, online, by phone, text, email, do stuff, I don’t know, play cards, smile, knit, donate (give what you can, including your time and talents), bowl, cuddle, talk, sign, sing, walk, dance,embrace your crapathy https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/05/25/crapathy/,
swim, skate, scuba (gate?), especially smile at children, jog, blog, snog (probably not at the same time unless you’re uber talented), ignore, don’t keep score it’s a bore, read, write, compose, doodle, paint, play, bike, hike, “Like”,bake (me a cake? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/09/16/you-had-me-at-cake/),
listen, learn, love, add to the world, be part of the solution, go out with friends, care, share, spend time with family, get to know people, smile some more (and more and more and more)!!!
Consider others, let your mind soar. I can’t say you won’t ever be sorry, some folks are baffling, but on a whole, you’ll be better for it (and they will be too).
Not asking anyone to feel sorry for me (although compassion and empathy are always welcome), just a reminder that everyone has problems, 99 or less, 99 or more, just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there…so don’t be one of those problems.
Your day starts off well. It’s Halloween (Happy Halloween!).
Everyone is excited, talking about costumes, candy, going to parties…
But suddenly, you find yourself alone, maybe in the woods, or a cemetery, or another dimension, a hell-spawn universe, basement, attic, abandoned summer camp, alley, decaying amusement park, no matter the location, it’s dark and foggy, silent, scary.
Your plans for picking up pizza before going out to a Halloween party now seem a dream while you’re in a nightmare.
Here are some ways to survive and even thrive what comes next:
1.Do not, I repeat, do not go to “check things out”, you’re better off not knowing.
2.Don’t call out things like, “Is anyone there?” or “Who’s there?”. You won’t like the answers.
3. Find a good hiding place. Don’t make a lot of noise – don’t sob loudly or leave your cellphone on (it’s the one time someone will actually call) and for goodness sake, don’t leave two seconds after the scary goes by. Rest, take stock, and come up with a plan, but not an overly-elaborateScooby-Doo plan. Shhh!
4.Don’t depend on someone coming to rescue you, we’ve seen horror movies, there’s a good chance that nice neighbour, helpful police officer, boyfriend, girlfriend, sibling, parent, whoever, is going to get killed trying to help you.
5.Don’t try to be brave or set traps when confronted by a demon, witch, warlock, ghoul, monster, ghost, alien, vampire, zombie, etc. They’re supernatural, trust, they have the advantage…Run away.
6.Don’t go all hero and decide you’re going to go and fight the serial killer. He/she is a success story, hence the word, serial in their job title. It usually ends in death, dismemberment, maiming, and/or all of the above.
7.Don’t let your possessed GPS lead you to places with names like: Satan’s Kingdom, Transylvania, Bloody Springs, Silent Hill, Helltown, Amityville, Monster, or Bad Axe(really, it’s scary, trust me, I know) and apparently all small towns in New England have an overabundance of spooky and bad things happening in them, go figure.Don’t check into a hotel or motel, even if you’re really tired, don’t have to stay in:The Overlook (all work and no play makes Donna a dull ghoul, all work and no play makes Donna a dull ghoul…), the Bates Motel (you’re clean enough, don’t take a shower), Pinewood Motel, or Motel Hell (the name may be a clue).Stay off streets with names like:Elm Street, Hanging Hill Lane, or Lucifer Dr.Summer camp atCrystal Lake…just no.
8.If you see a book of spells, a book of the dead, or any literature (even electronic) covered in weird symbols, human flesh, or it’s seeping blood, growling, showing you a gaping abyss to the fiery pits of Hell, I don’t care how bored you are, don’t read it, especially out loud.
9.If you’re joined by others in this nightmare, stick to them like glue, don’t say things like: “We should separate“ or “You go and check upstairs and I’ll check the basement”. This is not the time to be independent.
10.A life that has suddenly become a horror film is not the time for: heart-to-heart chats, true confessions, make-out sessions, sex, ‘working things out’, taking a bath, shower, sleeping, arguing, ‘clearing the air’, drugs, and/or drinking – wait until the bad things are gone.
11.If loved ones or companions start growling, vomiting pea soup, hissing, head-spinning, have glowing eyes, misshapen features, sudden hairiness, get all pretzelly with their bodies, start climbing on the ceiling or floors, have a sudden fascination with blood – this isn’t the time to practice tolerance and acceptance – run!
12.Receive a fancy invite to a spooky mansion for a party, inheritance, game, challenge? Don’t go, really, even if it seems cool, or lucrative, skip it (you’ll thank me later and by that I mean you’ll be alive to thank me later).
13.So you think you’ve triumphed and killed your zombie, monster, serial killer, etc., that’s awesome, pat yourself on the back, just don’t go closer to check if it’s really dead (it isn’t).
14.I know they’ve told us puzzles are good for our brain, will stop Alzheimer’s, dementia, etc. but that won’t be your worst problem if one of those puzzles opens a portal toHell, or looses demons upon the world, bringing about theEnd of Days, etc.Stick to crosswords, Sudoku, Find-A-Word.
15.It’s nice to be good at something but even if you’re really good, like genius-level good, don’t play with recombinant DNA, especially if you’re really good at it.
16.Deserted town? Leave. Leave quickly. But first, listen to the old crazy who tells you there’s a curse, or alien invasion, or possession – he’s the last one alive, he knows stuff.
17.Don’t borrow or steal from the dead. Don’t wake the dead. Don’t try to talk to the dead even if you think they might have helpful information. Don’t even think about the dead. Just concentrate on living.
18.If your children, pets, parents, co-workers, friends, etc. start speaking to you in Latin, or ancient Babylonian, or some alien language or they try to get you to kick a football, it’s time to run and get help (psst, they’re going to move the football).
19.Don’t fall asleep (I got this one covered).
20.Don’t go to the authorities, they’re probably already altered in some way, or they won’t believe you, or you’ll get them killed, maybe all three.
21.If something or someone is after you, run, cycle, or take a bus. Not only are they more environmentally-friendly, but your car, normally reliable, is now in horror movie or nightmare scenario, this time it won’t start, or it will take you a really long time to start. That taxi you call? The driver will be possessed or have an alien attached to his face.Uber, sure, but your driver will be a ghost or a deranged lunatic (hard to tell if that’s a horror thing or just, well, you know), or something really, really bad.
22.On an alien planet, Hellplain (Hellplane?), or Earth, stay away from: giant eggs, pods, glowing things, ooze, goo of any kind, furniture that moves on its own, scary clowns (with or without red balloons), TVs that lead to other worlds,hockey masks, machetes, chain saws, cabins, creatures, etc. Don’t wander around on your own or go looking for someone.
23.Don’t assume you’re the “Final Girl”, or some other horror movie troupe. Assume you’re the one that gets killed in the first 5 minutes and try to change that.
24.Let’s say you’ve read too many erotic paranormal novels (How many is too many? Asking for a friend.), watched too much “Twilight” or “Buffy”or whatever and you think you’re gonna hook up with some sexy vampire, demon, werewolf…Even if your milkshake brings all the ghouls to the yard, then what, you gonna strike a pose, hand on hip, duck lips out and take a selfie while doing your best Mae West impression, “Is that a knife in my back or are you just happy to see me?”.A supernatural romantic rendezvous is only sexy in movies/TV shows/books because you can’t smell the sulfur, dried blood, and pure evil.
Take a ‘Calamity Cosmo’ quiz – seductive supernaturals are strictly wham-bam-now-you’re-damned-ma’am.
Remember, dating a serial killer is a relationship killer.
25.You suddenly appear in your home, you think you’re safe, but then you remember, I found out about this place from a flaming note and I only paid with my signature in myblood.
Yup, your house is probably built on an old cemetery, ancient burial ground, where they use to perform rituals or sacrifices, or some other bad stuff, you’re still not safe, cut your losses, or get a really good supernaturalreal estate agent.And you may or may have sold your soul. Only time will tell. But it’s a great neighbourhood, close to a school, a ghoul, and a swimming pool (full of skeletons).
Most important?Good shoes.No heels, slippery soles, or untied laces. You’ll still fall (tripping over nothing) as you’re being chased, but your odds are better if you have good shoes.
Good luck…and I hope this never happens to you, but if it does, now you know what to do and what not to do!
I wanted to be with you alone (on the internet?). And talk about the weather (What is the deal with the weather? Pick a season, stay with it til the next one). But traditions can’t be traced (or can they, again, the internet). We get tricked when we only stick with our base.Nothing keeps our attention… We’re lost in admiration, could we need it this much?Oh, is it wasting time? Just, just, just wasting time. Something happens and we’re head over heels. We never find out till we’re head over heels…
We ‘humans’ fall head over heels quickly, with: people, pets, passions, movies, books, songs (I’m still on a Tears For Fears kick although The Cars too, goodbye Ric Ocasek, you were just what we needed), politicians, celebrities, television shows, smartphones and other electronic gadgets and gizmos, cars, causes, friends, fads, flights of fancy…
And when we fall out of love, look out, love can quickly turn to hate (and shouldn’t continue to date, not great).
I do it…I fell in love with blogging (I didn’t fall for it, it tripped me). My bloglove hasn’t turned to hate, but indifference creeps in, then slinks out, but I know it will back and in greater numbers.
I still love my readers, other bloggers, but sometimes I wish I knew how to quit you (or me, or WordPress, or the internet).
I’ve fallen hard for another Australian series (https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/09/06/miss-fishers-murder-mysteries/ or is that just gravity talking?), this time, “The Heart Guy” aka “Doctor Doctor”. A brilliant bad boy cardiac surgeon gets sent home, as a punishment, to practice medicine in his hometown, Whyhope. Naturally, things get complicated fast. Rodger Corser (In “Glitch” as well, S3 is about to crawl out of the ground soon) may play the lead, Dr. Hugh Knightbut his cast-mates are bright shining lights cutting into any and all plans. Why hope? Why not? Another season has been approved and I’m cheering. Yahoo! For Canadians this dramedy reminds me a bit of “Corner Gas” with more actual drama and for the U.S., like “Seinfeld” but with less New York snark and more Down Under snark.
I’ve got one of cupids arrows stuck deep in my heart (could explain chest pains, besides the Tietze Syndrome) for writing and reading then writing some more. Will I ever be an author, a real live published author, as many of my talented fellow bloggers are, as so many writers are, who knows, but it’s fun slow blogging and writing the world’s best novels…in my head.
Captivated with “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Thank you to the parents of Margaret Atwood and Elisabeth Moss for giving us such gifts. It’s funny to think I first read this book almost 35 years ago, when I naively thought it was fiction and thank goodness this could never happen. Note to self, never say never. If you haven’t started reading one of Canada’s most precious natural resources, Margaret Atwood, I suggest you love yourself enough to begin your journey. I’ll continue with her latest, “The Testaments”, filled with hints of things to come. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2019/03/25/welcome-to-your-life/
Infatuated with the idea that all the mysteries of Area 51 could be revealed to the world on September 20, 2019#theycantstopusall #stormarea51The Truth is Out There or more likely, anything interesting has already been moved to, er, Area 51-A or Area 52? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/10/26/my-big-fat-supernatural-life/
sunsets, puppies, pizza (note the coma, grammar saves lives, in this case, adorable puppy lives), Downton Abbey, The Addams Family, ancestry, kindness, songs https://yadadarcyyada.com/2019/02/06/dont-stop-me-now/ , friends, a new love (who doesn’t have to but if he looked like Negan, Starlord or Daryl Dixon that would be cool, just as completely random examples), muffins, laughter, strawberries, donuts, chocolate, chocolate donuts, kindness, cupcakes, family, and oh yeah, to write another chapter in my own story.Why suffer from FOMO, you’ll never miss out if you embrace the glorious chaos of life (every day above ground is another chance) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/14/the-glorious-chaos/
Beguiled by apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, and dystopian anything (“anything” may be hyperbole, but that’s how things work now, right, facts begone, trouble us no more with your truthiness!),
I’m caught up on “The 100” (“May we meet again”); I miss “Colony”, “Helix”, “Falling Skies”, “Z Nation”, “Extant”, “Ascension”, “Revolution”, “V”, “iZombie”…but mostly I miss when watching/reading about this stuff was wildly fictional. But I guess, like horror, it’s a safe way to examine our fears without admitting they’re coming true. This is how we live now.
Enraptured by the final season of “Game of Thrones” (finally caught up with a free preview month). As a fan, little disappointed, as a writer, loved it, so I’m going with the latter.
My heels are over my head with anticipation, sure, things/people seem divided (remember, fear shrinks the brain), we have an economy based on endless consumerism, making ourselves miserable, envious, dissatisfied, ok, things can seem a tad hopeless right now…
What are you head over heels about, dear readers, tell me, tell me, cause I need more to love (my heart and mind are like the TARDIS, bigger on the inside).
Please send me stuff to review…Despite the Ads Ruining My Posts, I’m Not Getting Paid A Cent by WordPress…I gratefully accept promotional materials, but respectfully reserve the right to decide whether said promotional material is suitable for my blog. 100% honest reviews and the opinions, thoughts, and beliefs will be my own, not that of the provider, party, or manufacturer.
Donations to help save the endangered broke and obscure bloggers who once roamed the internet free are appreciated…it’s Paypal, for anyone including, but not limited to eccentric millionaires who want to adopt a blogger.
P.S. WordPress is greedily inserting ads into posts and holding our blogs hostage if we don’t pay the ransom to remove the malware (aka ads), I don’t get a single dime from them…
Our hearts sweat, our bodies shake. Another dramafix is what it takes.
We under-sleep, we over-eat/shop/drink/self-medicate/chime in/whine/share/post/tweet… No doubt, we’re in deep. Our throats so tight, we can’t breathe. The next dramafix is all we need.
Whoa, we like to think that we’re immune to the stuff, oh yeah. Closer to the truth to say we can’t get enough.
We’re gonna have to face it, we’re addicted to dramalove.
We see the signs, but we can’t read (between the lines). We’re running at a different speed…
Whoa, we like to think that we’re immune to the stuff, oh yeah.
Closer to the truth, we can’t get enough.
Gonna have to face it, we’re addicted to dramalove.
Picture that with Robert Palmer and a bunch of scantily-clad Hashtags gyrating behind him.
Drama is amazing for books, movies, TV shows (also the only place we should see giant shoulder pads), especially soap operas (daytime or prime time)…
but it shouldn’t be the dish-of-the-day in politics and the news.
We’re acting like we’re in the throes of teen angst…forever.
Drama distracts us from people stealing: power, money, rights, hopes, dreams, sanity, democracy itself.
It keeps us looking past the smoke and mirrors, the fluffy and the oh-so shallow.
We see drama everywhere, except behind the curtain where the wizard of awwws is pulling all the levers, pushing all the buttons.
While we’re fighting, blaming, quibbling, crying, decrying, they’re all, ‘Eat, Sleep, Rule The Galaxy, Repeat’.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” ~Maya Angelou.
Come on, America, Canada, Britain, Europe, China, Russia, and the whole wide world, we know better, we should do better.
There’s a lot of noise out there about how to write a bestseller.
Why don’t we break it down.
Let’s simplify the process and get you to bestseller status in 3 days or less!
1. Write a book.
Use as many words as you think you need.
Plots are plots (it’s all been done/redone/overdone; characters are key).
Use a computer…
typewriter…
pencil or pen…
None of it means anything if you don’t use your heart.
2. Edit.
Do not try this at home.
Being your own editor is like trying to cure your own cancer.
Don’t mistake skill or intent for reality.
A friend, family member, professional editor, a dog or cat (if the communication is clear) – anyone (and I mean anyone) but you, unless you have special skills.
I’m going to keep on writing, reading, researching, submitting, getting rejected, being ignored, and only slightly feeling the stings of all the subtle and not-so-subtle scoffing and mocking.
Repeat again and again.
Why? I have to get it all out of my head.
As for would-be authors of a ‘certain age’, don’t despair, many famous authors didn’t kick-start their written legacy until later in life, not always for lack of trying:
J.R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Toni Morrison, Anna Sewell, Bram Stoker,
Alex Haley, Charles Bukowski,Laura Ingalls Wilder, William S. Burroughs,
Raymond Chandler, Frank McCourt, Marquis de Sade (don’t be that guy).
Even J.K. Rowling and Dr. Seuss
weren’t spring chickens…oh the places you’ll go (er, Hogwarts?).
My point? 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, 3 years or 30…Write, draw, sing, dance, sculpt, design video games, whatever, creativity doesn’t come with an expiry date, a time stamp – as long as you live you can create.
WordPress hates me I don’t know why… sometimes it makes me want to cry.They do not like me here or there, they do not like me anywhere.
They steal my Likes That’s just, yikes!
Screwing up my posts, Hurts the mosts.
Fellow bloggers they unfollow A giant bitter pill to swallow.
Ruining posts with unpaid ads Really, really makes me sadz.
They give us new stuff that don’t work. We say enuff! They go beserk!So what if each blog post ain’t a pearl? On them haters I’m gonna twirl…They do not like me early or late… What you gonna do, haters gonna hate. They do not like me here or there. They do not like me anywhere.
You’re born. You didn’t ask for it, but it happened, let’s not go into detail how, there it is. Do what you will with that life (do no harm); despite what some people will tell you, you (mostly) choose how to live it.
Chocolate
One, two, one, two, three Oh yeah yeah Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah, uh! Oh yeah yeah Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah, uh! Struggled with faith in food love or food miracles (miracles) uh!Never wanna put myheart/stomachon the line, uh!But swimming in your Phenylethylalanine is something spiritual (spiritual) uh!I’m born again every time your flavonoids spend the night, uh!
‘Cause your Tryptophan takes me to paradise Yeah your Seratonin takes me to paradiseAnd it shows, yeah, yeah, yeah ‘Cause you make me feel like, I’ve been locked out ofchocolateheaven For too long, for too long… Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah, uh! Oh yeah yeah Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah, uh! I grant Bruno Mars and his writing team weren’t talking about chocolate, but feel free to go with the original lyrics, my chocolatified version, or add your food/beverage fav, I dunno, just off the top of my head: Wine, Pierogi, coffee, scones, fried chicken, brownies, Butter Tarts, Kevin Bacon (cook at more than 6 degrees), corn dogs, cotton candy, tea, Pumpkin Spice Girls latte, crumpets, snow cones, rice, cereal, funnel cakes,Sir Alec Guiness beer, martini(shaken not stirred), pizza,John Candy, B-52, Som tam, Injera, dumplings, smoothies, eggnog, Dosa, Bagels,doughnuts/donuts,Superman, Black Panther, CaptainAmerica, Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, Loki,Aquaman, Thor, Star Lord, Deadpool, Spiderman, Black Widow, IronMan, Batman, Captain Marvel (seriously, you can have Marvel and DC Comics cocktails – please don’t drink and hero), Fudge, Bonbons, Lauren Graham crackers (crunch super-fast), cake(https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/09/16/you-had-me-at-cake/), Butter Chicken, tacos, Poke, Wagyu beef, paella, French toast (with ketchup) kebabs,Champ, Bannock, Corn on the cob, Potjiekos,Basil Rathbone, lobster, Baklava,Christina Applegate(haven’t watched“Dead To Me”onNetflix? Give yourself a summer treat), Philly cheese steak, Dim Sum, Samosas,Ty Cobb salad, Caesar salad (Veni, vidi, vici), Waldorf salad (or The Big Salad), Pad Thai, Bologna (m-m-m-my Bologna!),Rosemary Clooney, Bratwurst/Sauerkraut, Chicago Deep Dish, Spanikopita (I should say I love you more often), kale, New York peppermint patties, honey, broccoli,BBQ,Sean Bean(One Does Not Simply Eat Beans the Musical Fruit because the more you eat…),Tandoori, Masala, Vindaloo anything (would make a shoe taste good), pineapple(you know that’s right),Fusion (don’t jump to the conclusion these foods suffers from confusion), Piri-Piri chicken, Brandy (you’re a fine girl), chorizo, Darryl Strawberry Shortcake,
Biryani,Peameal/Back bacon,salmon, Sugar Ray Leonard, spaghetti and meatballs, marshmallows, chocolatesyrup, candy canes, candycorn,Pop Tarts,maple syrup (spaghetti with maple syrup?),Nanaimobars,TimTams,Peaches Geldof, steak, eggs,olives, spring rolls, summer rolls, California rolls, egg rolls,butteredrolls (causing rolls?), avocados, chocolate chip cookies,Beavertails, Oysters Rockefeller, Heather Graham crackers, onion rings (‘Cause if you like it, then you shoulda put an onion ring on it), Bubble and squeak, Moose tacos, Beef Stroganoff, chicken,Gyros,crab, Meat Loaf (2 out of 3 ain’t bad), Vegemite, fajitas, Naan,shrimp, Toad-in-the-hole (notoadswere harmed in the making of this dish, butfrogs are fair game for food…runKermit, run!!!),Jello, pot stickers,Buffalo wings (I get how they might fly, but how do they land?),chocolate/candybars, Ginger Rogers, fish’n’chips,Christmaspudding, Poutine,chocolate pudding,Pho, pita, Eggs Benedict Cumberbatch, enchiladas, Bloody Mary (Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary), grasshoppers(to each their own, if you cover them withchocolate…),Sourdough bread,Saffron Burrows, Chop Suey,Croissants,chocolate–covered almonds, muffins, Sloppy Joes, Brioche, Bananabread,Twinkies, Arnold Palmer, wontons, Tater tots (not made out of real tots), Carrot Top, hot dogs, hamburgers,Jajangmyeon, rye bread, Souvlaki,Munster cheese (found at 1313 Mockingbird Lane), Kobe beef, yogurt,snails (meow), Alison Brie Larson, turnovers, strudel, Beef Wellington, Gumbo, Kung Pao Chicken, Churros, Alyssa Milano cookies, nachos/salsa, ice cream,Soufflé, snake, Harvey Milk, Sushi,Irish stew, Vanilla Ice (Ice Ice Baby), crepes, Souvlaki, Blinis, mac n’cheese,
Bangers and Mash,Halston Sage,gnocchi, Chow Mein/Lo-Mein (just ‘mein’ line that stuff right into my veins), Kofta, chips/crisps,Chocolatemilkshakes, Coq au Vin Diesel,I Am GRoot Vegetables,chili, Pastitsio, Matzo Ball soup,chicken noodle soup, tomato soup…soup there it is (no soup for you!), Pop/Soda/Soda Pop/Soft drinks,Tim Curry,cheesecake, lamb (“What do you mean, you don’t eat no meat? [the entire room stops, in shock]…That’s okay. I make lamb.” Hilarious line, only Andrea Martin could have pulled it off; My Big Fat Greek Wedding),Sandwiches, bacon, peanut butter andbananasandwich, NewYork-style pastrami,pickles, clam chowder, Knish, Fiona Applepie, cream pie,Cherry Jones pie, infinite pi? Halle Berry cobbler, stromboli, Baked Alaska, haggis, Kugel, tamales,Beef Bourguignon, calamari, pancakes, caviar,Waffles,Salmon Mousse, Cawl, Chuck Berry crumble (Roll Over Beethoven), French Fries, deep-fried ice cream, cannoli (leave the gun), hummus,lasagna, Reuben,popcorn…Sorry, I think I just fell into a food fantasy spiral…Anyway, yeah yeah yeah yeah ’cause I really think food could bring us together,think of it babe whenever, some foul-talking jerk comes along trying to divide us, you gotta stay strong…Look in your heart and let food keep us together…whatever. I will, I will, I will I will be there to share forever…I recently tried to break free from my chocolatemania…not cold turkey (of course).Just weaning myself down. As long as stress stays away (withFibromyalgiaand life, sounds reasonable), I’m sure thechocolatecraving will as well (ha!).Speaking of First World Problems ‘stress’(https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/10/im-hooked-on-a-feeling/), you may have noticedWordPress(can’t you just pretend to be nice? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/06/10/cant-you-just-pretend-to-be-nice/) with it’s new Gutenberg Editor has riddled posts and comments(https://yadadarcyyada.com/2019/05/03/very-me/)with ADS, as far as I’m concerned, stealing our creative voice.Unless you pay the greedy blog gods a ransom fee to remove the malware (aka ads).Why does society put up with greed, lies and corruption, even making excuses for it? Could be we feel powerless, maybe we’re just so used to being lied to, we’ve got consumer Stockholm Syndrome.Whatever the reason, it’ll only get worse. In The Game of Life(https://yadadarcyyada.com/2019/03/25/welcome-to-your-life/)you encounter obstacles, but at least there’s a chance to win; who thinks in this checkered world, the game is permanently fixed?
Death
You’ll die. I’ll die. None of us gets out alive. We didn’t ask to be here. Hopefully we had some good times along the way, but we’re all going to die, one way or another. Don’t have to like it; there it is. Someday you’ll blow out the last candle on your birthday cake. Answer a door to a Mister Death, something about the reaping. Go gentle into that good night or rage against it, but don’t just kill time getting there. Until then, hope you have the time of your life.
I have always been me and despite many attempts to make me not me, I still seem to manage to be me. That’s not always a good thing. Read some of my stuff, comment, critique, praise, ignore, puzzle, or just do whatever you want. That’s my blog bio entitled, “Very Me”; has been since 2013…
Taylor Swift’s song, ME! is making ME rethink my Very Me title, so I’m running a contest to help ME pick a new blog bio title, with no prizes whatsoever, except knowing you’ve helped ME!
Connection comes with risk. Always has, always will. Connecting offers up our minds, hearts, who we are, who we want to be, who we don’t want to be – all wide open! Connection has many benefits: love, happiness, acceptance, companionship…but there’s a flip side, we also open ourselves to: rejection, disappointment, ridicule, pain, and a whole other host of suffering.
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. ~Maya Angelou
I’m wrong a lot, no, maybe wrong is the wrong word. I’m on a persistent path of change. Sometimes I want that change. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I’m not even aware things have changed until…well, that’s another story for another day.
None of this means we should stop trying to connect. Connect cautiously.
Beware, connection machines like: Taylor Swift, Ryan Reynolds, Cristiano Ronaldo, Selena Gomez, all the sundry Kardashians/Jenners, Kanye West, Ariana Grande, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Camila Cabello, various ‘Royals’, Jordan Peele (new Twilight Zone, nice and out there), Beyonce, each and every Marvel hero and villain Anyone see or want to see Avengers: Endgame? No spoilers. Now waiting for Toy Story 4? The Big Bang Theory or Game of Thrones finales? (The Big Game of Thrones Bang Theory?) They always have us waiting for something; Disney, Apple, McDonald’s, Toyota, Microsoft, Wendy’s, Visa, Post, Nike, Samsung, ACME, Kraft, Mastercard, BMW, Trump, LG, Walmart, Sony, Burger King, Volkswagon, Huawei, Warner Bros, etc. – are all about selling. Fluff connections.
People love the rich and famous (or simply infamous), or hate them (or love to hate them), often for all the same reasons, and pay way too much attention to them and way too much money (even money they don’t have) to be like them. Connection should bring us together for the greater good not just to make us want to buy more goods.
Social media whips people into a frenzy of, er, frothy connection with a cultivated, data-driven mix of: exaggerated praise, repetition, cruel attacks, misunderstandings, FOMO, repetition, deliberately aggressive language, SEO, influencers, native advertising, gossip, repetition, etc. True connection isn’t about massive numbers, they might be impressive, but what do they really mean?
People are people, no matter their title, bank accounts, wheels, clothes, or what they use to connect. It’s choice, your connections to make. Like blogging, you put an offering of your mind and heart into a blog post, press Publish trying for a real connection. Good stuff: readers feeling something (yeah!!!), comments, follows, shares, likes. Bad stuff: readers feeling something (shudder!!!), rude comments, unfollows, threats. Sometimes, simply silence, like digital crickets (in blogspace no one can hear you blogscream).
Newsflash, you can’t get any connection without beginning. If you want to connect, find people with common interests, start a club, join a club, (except a serial killer club, skip that meeting and report it); find people you’d like to know, not just those you think you should know. If you want to blog, write a blog post. Publish it (this part is super important). Connect with other bloggers, readers, etc.
Here are a few of my past, umm, attempts at connection…
I really don’t mind if you want to send ME free stuff (trying to sound cool about it, but… I love free stuff!). I gratefully accept promotional materials, but respectfully reserve the right to decide whether said promotional material are suitable for my blog. 100% honest reviews and the opinions, thoughts, and beliefs will be my own, not that of the provider, party, or manufacturer.
Donations also gratefully accepted (but certainly not required) to offset blogging (not chocolate) costs. Help save the endangered broke and obscure bloggers who once roamed the internet free. It’s Paypal, for anyone including, but not limited to eccentric billionaires who want to adopt a broke and obscure blogger.
Bloggers struggling (like ME!) with the new “Block” or “Gutenberg” Editor on WordPress, yes, it’s difficult, if anyone tells you differently they have a Premium account, are a computer genius or maybe they’re a computer!
Is it worth it? I don’t see it. Classic Editor, basic and awkward, yes, but this is waaaaaaay more time-consuming.
Easier for those new to WP, ha, like they care, we’re all just lab rats in their data experiments. Wish they’d bring back the editor from 2013 – fast, easy, so very very easy. I did this post as a test, what do you think dear readers, stay with this or go back to the Classic?
Goodbye Peter Mayhew, forever in our hearts as Chewbacca. “GGGWARRRHHWWWW.” “AAARARRRGWWWH.” “RRRAARRWHHGWWR.” Indeed, words to live by.
On Star Wars Day (isn’t that every day?) May The Fourth Be With You (and Happy Revenge of the Fifth, though I prefer to celebrate on May 6th, after Cinco de Mayo, makes more sense). Hope each day treats you kindly.
Welcome to your life there’s no turning back Even while we weep You will find us acting on our worst behaviour turning our backs on Mother Nature Everybody wants to rule the world
Stereotyping is the scourge of our time. All women are this, all men are that, good guys always win, life is fair, fat people are lazy…religion, race, wealth, poverty, sex,diets, politics, illness – everything is painted with the stereotype brush…wait, did I just stereotype stereotyping? Make no mistake, hate is the easy way. Different = Hate. Don’t agree with you = Hate. Blame everyone for your problems. Don’t change, just dig in. Lies, make them big, no, small won’t do. Feed them what they want to hear, while they pretend to care about those they hold dear.
You must remember this A kiss is just a kissA lie is still a lie The fundamental things apply As time goes by
And when politicians woo They still say “I love you” On that you can rely No matter what the future bringsAs lies goes by
Promises of jobs and tax cuts Never out-of-date Tapping into bias with a passion
Spilling jealousy and hate
It’s an age-old story,
sensationalism wins
over love and glory.
We pick and choose
what truths to hold self-evident…
her truth, his truth,
my truth, your truth, the truth…
flippity-floppity, they can’t all be true.
That no one can deny
It’s still the same old story A fight for love and glory A case of do or die The world will always welcome liars As time goes by…
Storytelling, once used to pass along useful information, to keep people safe or make their lives easier. Cavegal/Caveguy didn’t recount that story about almost being eaten by a Saber Tooth tiger to get Retweeted, or get Likes on Instagram. Nor did they stop to film it, or get a Selfie #catscratchfever No, she/he told exciting tales, not to get attention, to influence, to build her/his brand, but to warn others not to go picking berries on that path where those tigers live #berryscary #noyabbadabbadooforyou
We’re addicts, we need another fix. Oh we can stop anytime, we don’t need it, then a ping, a new text, email, tweet, update, tag, post, whatever. We’re all about the yarn, the tale, the story…We crave all the grimy little details, especially the ones that sound like they could be real, the facts say otherwise, but they’re boring, tell us more about the lies, fraud, sex, the scandal of it all, no matter how insane or impossible it seems…tell us more, more, more! Is it true? Who cares? Jump on that bandwagon wherever it may take you. Why worry, got to get another hit. As long as we get our momentary rush, who cares about the consequences?
Do people even want to rule the world anymore, or are they content to just stare at a screen and watch the world burn, as long as they can feed on the flames of the story as we crackle? Remember the good old days when there used to be a line-up to rule the world: aliens, supernatural beings, crime lords, hackers, scammers, Dystopian Future leaders seem especially bent on keeping control (time is fleeting…),megalomaniacs with delusions of grandeur, terrorists, corporate terrorists, politicians, super villains (better than average villains or just wearing capes?), Huns, Hordes (so many Hordes),puppets, paupers, pirates, poets, pawns and kings (they’ve been up and down and over and out and they know one thing, each time they find themselves flat on their face, they pick themselves up and get back in the race), and who can forget Vikings, evil scientists, and laboratory mice whose genes have been spliced (sounds painful and wrong – free Pinky and The Brain!).
But for those who still have an interest in ruling the world, here’s an Easy Peasy guide:
Make someone’s day with a smile or a kind word. Do something they need, not just someone you think they need. Help them as they need help.
Be part of the good, even if it means not taking that tempting/way-too-easy dig at someone (just as a completely random example, Donald Trump).
Jump rope, Jump Force, Shonen Jump, Jump Jump Jump Around (I Came To Get Down), Jump Up and Down for Joy, jump-start your day, jump-start a car – just don’t jump to conclusions.
See the world from someone’s else point of view, even on their worst day. Then someone else. And someone else. The sky’s the limit and maybe not even then.
Care. Don’t just pretend to care. Do it, surely it must take the same effort, right?
Don’t attack, don’t react – act on your best instincts.
Do something you didn’t think you could do. Except murder. Don’t do murder. Or anything else bad, let’s start again, do something good you didn’t think you could do.
Grow food instead of a portfolio.
Be yourself. Unless you can be Groot, then be Groot (I am Groot).
Don’t try to control, be a part of something. Join a club (not a gang), volunteer, find people with common interests, goals, and values (beware of diving right in, some groups and people can be intense, hey, I didn’t directly mention Game of Thrones fans https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/07/you-know-youre-obsessed-with-game-of-thrones-when/), find time to find others.
Laugh (I’ll help, Jann Arden has a comedy series, Jann – watch, laugh, repeat). Cry (or laugh and cry thanks to Ricky Gervais, his Netflix series, After Life may just change your life, it changed mine). Dream, wonder, rejoice – seriously, if you’re still not watching The Orville, I, I, I just don’t…So go ahead and feel, feel frustrated, sad, lonely, happy, hopeful, hopeless, scared, joyful, jealous, disappointed, angry, but don’t think those feelings are facts; just to reiterate, feelings are not facts.
Show and share compassion, patience, empathy, understanding – all the money spent on piles of flowers, stuffed animals, balloons and candles, the endless moldering memorials – give that money to those in need. Isn’t that a better way to remember those who have been lost?
Offer your support and some Random or Not-So-Random Acts Of Kindness, but try something different, if you’re in line for coffee, you can afford a coffee (or think you can, that’s a whole other issue), the only kindness you’re giving is to the coffee place. Give that money to those in need, not just in need of a caffeine fix.
Comfort, inspire, don’t require something in return.
Anger, greed and fear are so tempting, calling a siren’s song, ‘give in to me, it will feel soooo good’ and it could, briefly, but it hurts others; if that makes you feel good, you need some serious help.
Be part of something kind. Easy to pick on someone, more work to pick them up. Instead of rising to the bait, rise together.
Share something you want to keep all to yourself, for me, chocolate (they’ll have to pry it from my cold dead hands, then again, if I share, we’ll both be in bliss).
Answer a child’s toy phone instead of your phone. Be there, in the here and now, tomorrow isn’t certain, but I’m certain we should be enjoying today. Welcome to your life, there’s no turning back so let’s enjoy a world where there’s enough for everyone – enough food, enough shelter, enough kindness, enough hope, enough compassion, enough love.
This blog post brought to you today by Donna’s Brain, now filled with 100% more:
Tears For Fears.
Politics/politicians/political machinations.
Casablanca.
Toy Story (4, 5, 75, whatever, just keep ’em coming, we’ll watch, we promise).
Frank Sinatra (anyone else feeling a Rat Pack vibe these days?).
The Walking Dead (more Negan please, gots to get me a Jeffrey Dean Morgan fix).
Agatha Christie – the new Ordeal By Innocence – go catch some red herring.
Organization (shouldn’t that be a four-letter word?).
Buffy (RIP Luke Perry).
The Orville (stop taking breaks, work 24/7 365 please and thank you).
Kindness (it really does matter).
Harry Potter (I don’t know if the Sorting Hat could figure me out right now).
Hope.
Avengers (and of course, Guardians of the Galaxy – I get it, I still listen to my Walkman).
E.T. (Text home?).
Love.
Struggles.
Supernatural (300 has a whole new meaning, they get my jonesing for some JDM and pizza).
Poverty.
Passion.
Peace.
Pests.
Pizza.
The Handmaid’s Tale (as we start to live it we should accept that good people don’t always win, but that doesn’t mean they should stop being good and yes, some rich people believe the ‘screw the rules I have money’ motto, but money doesn’t equal right just right now).
Exhaustion (is there a place past exhaustion, like mega-exhaustion?).
Secret City (is this a series or a documentary, it’s so difficult to tell anymore…).
Books (more on that later).
Why is it every Spring I feel (doesn’t make it true) like I need more socks, pizza (did I already mention pizza, it’s worth another shout out, right?), donuts,Gilmore Girls, maybe Easter eggs (only the chocolate ones, I can have eggs anytime) and cake.
Loss.
Thinking of how fix the root causes of all the anger, hate, loneliness, trauma; compassion.
Game of Thrones (anyway to get Jason Momoa back in flashbacks, time warps, something?).
Psych (why aren’t they bring this show back, at least a movie or limited run series, come on, I’m desperately in need of a happy place!).
Change (not all change is good, not all change is bad).
Laughter.
The Good Fight (keep it up).
SEO, streaming, dreaming, superheroes, raw water, CBD-infused anything and everything, detox, botox, Cheetos dust (is that a must?), ruffles, truffles, bigger phones, smaller minds, ALF, BTS, Bill and Ted (what’s the newest Excellent Adventure, finding their dentures?), cryptocurrency, Wikileaks (maybe they just need WikiDepends), Julian Assange, rading #Area51 (#StormiArea51), self-driving cars (scare me less than drivers driving cars), flying cars (still not as scary as people driving cars on the ground), goat yoga (yoga goat?), inflated lips, inflated hips, inflated prices, fanny packs are back (what?!?), Momo, CYA, Apple (is it really an #AppleEvent without Steve Jobs? Maybe Tim Apple will be there, would Tim Cook be a cooked apple, but I digress.), FOMO, Snapple, GMO – oh no, my brain is melting;
Storms.
Ultravox and pancakes and not necessarily in that order.
SpaceX.
Boomtown Rats and Queen (feeling a Live Aid vibe here).
AuroraBorealis.
U2 (What if I found what I was looking for and didn’t know that’s what it was?).
Downton Abbey followed by the urban sequel, Downtown New York Abbey.
Stranger Things (welcome to my life).
Food waste.
Murder (not doing it, writing about it or reading about it or watching it, wait, I’m sensing a theme).
Why the birds are conspiring to sing their ‘songs’ outside my window, exactly what subliminal messages are they putting into my brain… I’ve been going through some stuff as you see from my ‘slow blogging’, but not slow braining, but I keep bouncing back,Don’t Stop Me Now https://yadadarcyyada.com/2019/02/06/dont-stop-me-now/I guess the biggest thing I’ve been struggling with, concerning blogging and social media is, am I part of the problem, am I an enabler? Am I feeding the beast? I try not to, but readily admit, I’ve had varying degrees of success. I move forward with a new resolve…I hope.
Glad to be back and always to be here with all of you.
Big bloggy hugs and welcome to your life, young, or old, or in between, the rest is up to you.
Oh, I’m burnin’ through the sky, yeah. Two hundred degrees. That’s why they call me Ms. Fahrenheit. Don’t stop me now, I’m having such a good time I’m having a ball. Don’t stop me now… I don’t want to stop at all.Can’t see the point pretending everything’s alright
But why wallow and wail,
to no avail?
It is as it was
good versus evil
in a supersonic battle
heating up
lovers gonna love
haters gonna hate
others don’t give a dot dot dot
I’m happy
super-sappy
angry
hangry
lonely
overwhelmed
afraid
defiant
confused… Nothing stopped me having a good time, seeing them all Reduced rate and 2 for 1 movies?!? The show must go on!Neither snow nor freezing rain stays this blogger, forget The Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG, buckle up, here’s mine…
Glass. Best of trilogy. No spoilers, Bruce Willis (still got it); Samuel L Jackson (keeps rolling); James McAvoy (D.I.D. well; abuse shatters). More?
Bohemian Rhapsody.Smiling, foot-tapping then small sniffly soon joined by big hot blobs no tissues could contain. Every Queen song a bubble/rubble of memories. Happy/sad/joyous/heartbroken/healing/ripping/jarring/hopeful/ lonely/rapturous. Climb the highest peak; plunge the deepest pit. Explosions of memories. Haven’t discovered the wonder of Rami Malek? Please do. I almost forgot what Freddie Mercury looked like, Malek is that good…as for the Bryan Singer controversy, tip of the melting iceberg, that can of worms is wide open.
Aquaman. (Twice – there’s something to be said for stamina).
Jason Momoa? Can’t tell you everything I was thinking, but he was magnificent. Oceans of action, comedy, sentiment, and messaging (destroying the planet we profess to love). Hmm, Hollywood, money where your movie mouth is – wealth should be shared with those in need and to fix up our world.
Don’t stop me now (’cause I’m having a good time) Don’t stop me now (yes, I’m havin’ a good time) I don’t want to stop at all…
“Listen do you want to know a secret Do you promise not to tell woh woh woh closer Let me whisper in your ear…”
The irony of that Beatles song and everything else, once you’ve told a secret, it’s no longer a secret because, really, two can keep a secret…if one them is dead. “Pretty Little Liars”, huh, more like Petty Little Liars for many politicians and too many others https://yadadarcyyada.com/2019/01/14/your-genius-is-showing/. But not everyone!
Some wear their secrets as armor, others to get away with things, others to avoid embarrassment, but no matter the reason for your secrets, they’re toxic.
I get that secrets and lies are a thing, have been for as long as humankind has existed.
I naïvely thought social media would make it better. Wrong again, it’s worse (or just more obvious…more visible?). Now it’s all denials, proof, more denials, more proof…and so on.
Me, I’m an open book, what about you? Of course, at any given time only those two pages are really ‘open’.
When someone tells you another person’s secrets, red flag wavin’, don’t trust them with your secrets (or anything else).
“The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn’t one.” ~ Margaret Atwood
At least chocolate never lies or keeps secrets…or maybe it does, who am I kidding, I don’t care.
“I’m a misunderstood genius.” “What’s misunderstood?” “Nobody thinks I’m a genius.” ~ Bill Watterson
Social media can make people feel inadequate, but true genius is believing in yourself, not worrying about what others think, what others do, or what others have.
Genius, defined many ways by many people. To me, something or someone is genius if they give of themselves. Everyone is talking about the #TrumpShutdown of the U.S. government to build a wall between Mexico and the U.S., instead, why not talk about why so many people are living paycheck to paycheck?Talk about people not having enough for food, chemo drugs, etc. when the rich are buying multi-million dollar houses and apartments. Jewels, homes, cars, clothes – how can these mean more than lives? That’s the opposite of genius, even cruel. Celebrities, don’t peddle expensive drugs on TV and the internet, instead, pay for drugs for those in need. You’re making me regret liking TV and movies…Canada has come up with a genius plan to build our own walls on the Canada–United States border(frontière Canada–États-Unis). This International Boundary (Frontière Internationale), is almost 9,000 kilometres (over 5,500 miles) long, including the border with Alaska (we can almost see Russia from our porch), the longest international border in the world between two countries. Prime Minster Justin Trudeau(seen in the photo demonstrating what the wall might look like)
has commissioned esteemed Canadian Engineers, Scientists, and Zoologists to work with CUB (Canadian Union of Beavers) to put Canada’s National Symbol, the beaver to work.
They will temporarily stop building dams and looking so dam cute to build us border walls to stop an invasion of American immigrants trying to come to Canada. Sorry. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/07/15/see-you-again/Not Sorry.
The Great Wall Of Canada will be eco-friendly using only reclaimed Canuck mud (from facials and mud wrestling) and wood from: basement paneling, square TV units, barns/farm houses (who needs farming anymore, we can just eat from restaurants, er, right?), driftwood, also, celebrities like Robert Pattinson, Matthew McConaughey (alright, alright, alright), Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling, Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Drake have agreed to donate their extensive toothpick collections (and to only interact with women, not girls).
Of course, there will be Tim Hortons (Timmies) stores set up every 10 klicks, 1 kilometer is approximately 0.6 miles, so that’ll double-double our protection, eh.
Every border crossing will have clean washrooms, contain a beer store (get yer 2-4 and gain some Molson Muscle, even while waiting to cross the border) as well as shops selling, among other things: Poutine, Butter Tarts, maple syrup, Nanaimo Bars, chocolate bars, flannel plaid shirts, a Mickey or six, Toques, pop, hockey jerseys, KD, and Canadian Tuxedos, eh.
Currency exchanges where immigrants can get their Loonies and Toonies, and Snowbirds can cash theirs in to spend their money in America.
Crossing the Canadian-U.S. borders illegally will become impossible, we’ll have drones, dog sleds, ice skaters, toboggans, The Great White North Zamboni and Ski-Doo fleets, and Canadian police waiting to politely chase you down and say sorry for taking you into custody.
The beavers aka National Symbols will work for a few simple demands: 1) Dental coverage; 2) Carnival and Fair favourite dessert, known as “beaver tails” must be renamed National Symbol Tails (Beaver is their Colonial name); 3) The Canadian government is too pay for limited series reunion ofBob and Doug Mckenzie on Netflix. Take off eh, you hosers! https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/04/28/well-cream-you-with-our-tim-hortons-donuts-you-hosers/
These industrious National Symbols are willing to work night and day, in the snow and rain, to help peace-loving Canadians avoid any further kerfuffles with our Southern neighbours. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/08/17/all-were-asking-is-for-a-little-respect/We’d offer our busy little workers (legally of course) to the U.S., but we know America has its heart set on a ‘big beautiful concrete wall’ or steel slates, or using American Bald Eagles to patrol the border, swooping down to pick up immigrants and return them to their homeland. So you do you, America, simple as A to Zed.
Maybe the best definition of Genius – enough for all, equality for all, safety for all, hope for all, love for all.
George Bernard Shaw reminded us,“The most tragic thing in the world is a man of genius who is not a man of honor.” Especially an alleged Very Stable Genius.
Spongebob SquarepantstoldPatrick Starhis genius was showing,PatrickbeingPatrickwas confused and thoughtSpongebobwas talking about something a bit further South than his brain.Stephen Hillenburg, creator of Nickelodeon’sSpongeBob SquarePantsdied (age 57, ALS) in 2018 soon after another cartoon genius,Stan Lee – FYI,Leewas in the same Army division in WWII with:Charles Addams,Frank Capra, William Saroyan and Theodore Geisel aka Dr. Seuss,how cool is that? BothLeeandHillenburghelped children envision all futures and let us adults keep adulting while glorying in the joy and wonder of childhood.
We’re so lucky, they are gone, but we are left with astonishing gifts – swimming inBikini Bottom and finding truth, justice, and honour with: X-Men, Groot (I Am Groot),Deadpool,Black Panther,Thor,Daredevil,Guardians of the Galaxyhttps://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/06/02/nobody-puts-bloggers-in-a-corner/, Spiderman, Captain Marvel, Hulk,Doctor Strange, Avengershttps://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/05/02/the-avengers-age-of-oldtron/Punisher,Wolverine,Black Widow, Loki, Fantastic Four, Ant-Man,Captain America,Iron Manhttps://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/03/28/iron-man/ – hmmm, truth, justice, honour – things in short supply in the ‘real world’. OMG, maybeTrumpthinks he’sTony Stark – genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist and he’s actuallyThanos(seriously dude, you have the ability to create not just destroy, use your powers for good).
If someone tells you, Your Genius is Showing, don’t cover it up, don’t try to hide it…show it off, share it. Do you have to be a famous artist, writer, musician, doctor, lawyer, politician, reality star, astrophysicist (enjoyingProject Blue Book so far),astronaut, athlete, actor/actress to be a genius? No. You don’t have to be a famous anything, just be kind, caring, loving, giving, and honest, the world needs way, way, way more of those things. Did I mention way more?
“Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.” ~ Woody Guthrie
I don’t want a lot for Christmas. There’s just one thing I need. Don’t care about the presents, shopping, or a Christmas tree – could we unblur the lines between good and bad? Make my wish come true, all I want for Christmas is less celebration of Black Hats (or Red Hats with Fur Trim), more celebration of White Hats (and cookies, definitely cookies).
We cheer for serial killers, drug lords, mobsters; glamorize celebrities and corporate fat cats – I hear they can even become President.
We’re allegedly repulsed by the violence, greed, self-absorption yet…we’re mesmerized.
Look at Santa. Or should I say: Santa Claus, Pere Noel, Father Christmas, SinterKlaas, St. Nicholas, Dun Che Lao Ren, Kris Kringle?Secret Santa indeed…he needs many aliases, with all the break and enters; sure, he leaves gifts but also a lingering sense of unease.
Some poor child still sings about being traumatized when he saw his Mommy kissing ‘Santa Claus’ underneath the mistletoe one night; how about Grandma getting run over by a reindeer, huh, whose reindeer? Take a wild guess.
Santa only works one day a year, while keeping elves slaving all year-long, to make toys, for which he takes the credit (and cookies).
Santa’s all ‘thank u, next’, he only cared aboutRudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeerwhen he deemed Rudolph useful, not when the poor reindeer was bullied relentlessly (#BeBestSanta).
Only eight tiny reindeer? Really?!? For one cookie-stuffed man? Does that seem fair?
Santa leaves his reindeer out in the cold and snow while he goes into warm homes…and they sayThe GrinchtreatedMaxpoorly (he did/does!).
Elvis begged Santa to bring his ‘baby’ back to him…what other atrocities don’t we know about, is it just me or does Santa seem kinda, I dunno, elfish?
Santa tells children he’s watching them when they’re sleeping; knows if they’ve been bad or good. He browbeats children into behaving well, threatening to leave a toxic substance, a lump of coal, in their stocking – The Nice List, The Naughty List, more likeTheBlacklist.
What’s next, Santa?
Are you gonna lead The Sons of Santa motorcycle gang, Ho Ho SAMCRO?
Be President in The House of Christmas Cards?
Have a barbed wire baseball bat covered in with Christmas lights (P.S. You’ll poke your eye out with that thing; or someone else’s eye)?
Kill to sit on the Candy Cane Throne in the Game of Santa’s Village Thrones (you sit on a throne of lies)?
Go over toThe Dark Side(they have Christmas cookies – Merry Sithmas!)?
Be known as He Who Must Not Be Named at The North Pole…Harry Potter and The Half-Eaten Gingerbread Man?
Breaking Bad Santa?
Supernatural Santa?
Rescue Me from Santa’s tyranny…Hmmm, maybe Santa should be on The Naughty List.
Santababy, c’mon please make it right this Christmas, or at least make it wrong and interesting.
‘Twas the month before Christmas and all through the city, Not a creature was stirring, er, you find a rhyme… I’m really not that witty.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, Oops, don’t have a chimney, hmmm… Oh well, Santa’s magic, right, so who cares?
The people were nestled all snug in their beds, (your business what you’re doing there). While visions of shopping malls danced in their wallets and heads.
I in my Soft Kitty PJs and the cat in the hat Had just settled down to read, maybe eat some cookies… How about that?
When out on the street there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed (sprang is a complete exaggeration), To see what was the matter.
It was just some drunk guy, With his nose all aglow, Shouting and singing, ‘Let it go, let it snow, let it go…’
The moral of this story is plain to see, Please don’t sing outside my house At Christmas, or any other time, Even on key!!!
Bloggers and readers of every age. Wouldn’t you like tosee something strange? Come with me and you will see. This, our blog party of Halloween! Share it once, share it twice. Take a chance and roll the dice. Ride with the moon in the dead of night. Everybody scream, everybody scream!
In this blog party (share your links to your or others blog posts, books, social media, whatever!) of Halloween (or not)!
The more the scarier!!! #TheMoreTheScarier
Memories shape our lives and we cling to them as a witch clings to her flying broom (or vacuum). Some memories are comforting, others haunting. Do you remember the first time you heard: One-Eyed, One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater? How about Monster Mash? Thriller? Dead Man’s Party…Sympathy for the Devil, Time Warp, (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, Devil Went Down To Georgia…Dragula, Welcome to my Nightmare, This Is Halloween…Who You Gonna Call? (Ghostbusters)…2018 version: Who You Gonna Text? (Emojibusters)
Hocus Pocus came out the same year and it’s cheesiness put a spell on me for all time.
Halloween attacked theaters (1978, 40 years ago and still today) and thanks to lax age rules back then, I probably saw it on the big screen. I heard that music and I was transfixed, they had me. Then the cinematography sucked me into the vortex of Michael Myers; I was right there, running scared with Laurie Strode/Jamie Leigh Curtis (Final Girls rule!). https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/03/20/25-ways-to-stay-alive-in-a-horror-movie/
Night of the Living Dead was 50 years ago and sadly, the ending stands up the most in these troubled times, proving the point, the more things change the more they stay the same. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/14/the-glorious-chaos/
Netflix’s vision of The Haunting of Hill House may thrill and chill you. Starring Michiel Huisman of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society -thanks Netflix for keeping the original book titles, for both and possibly for redoing Sabrina, I think I’m missing the teenage witch angst campiness, but adding MichelleGomez aka Missy from Doctor Who , genius!), Game of Thrones,Orphan Black, Nashville;also,Timothy Hutton; Carla Gugino; Henry Thomas (E.T. Phone Home!)and more, it’s not too scary, er, depending on your definition of scary. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/10/19/religion-politics-and-the-great-pumpkin/
Are You In The House Alone reading this or out with strangers or stranger things? People are strange and these days when I try to scream it only comes out as a yawn (thank you, Barenaked Ladies, that sum of all fears it up). https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/28/enter-at-your-own-risk/
Now I’m getting sleepy and hollow (needs more chocolate andeye of newt). This Haunted Halloween Blog Party has no rules, except, like with blogging itself, have a bloody good time! https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/04/21/dancing-in-the-dark/
Something wicked this way comes and horror gives us a way to examine the scary, horrifying, most frightening, the darkest parts of our world in a safe space, so you might say we horror fans are the original snowflakes…let’s hope we don’t melt.
Time shambles forward, clumsy, cumbersome cogs crushing us beneath its graceless bulk. At least that’s what it feels some days. Other days it feels like “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” (Groucho Marx?). We just have to hope for the best as the big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff (thank you Doctor Who, you always have right wordsies for every situation) drags us along on its universal joyride.
Spending time reading M.J. Mallon’s first book in the series, “The Curse of Time: Bloodstone”, I must warn you, could fill you with magic and mystery, intrigue and imagination, romance and possible fear of ruination and the worst part, you may not be able to put it down. Start reading only when you have time (hint: make time).
I started following Marje’s (M.J. Mallon) blog https://mjmallon.com ages ago (a great choice if I do say so), but despite being a fellow blogger I have to give an honest review. I honestly enjoyed it and I know the prejudice some people have against YA so let’s call this YAH (Young At Heart)…Paulo Coelho wisely told us, “Don’t waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.” Same goes for books, read what you want to read. This book has young people, yet the themes, feelings, fears, hopes, anddreams are ageless, timeless. It brings you instantly into the seeming dysfunction and discovery of Amelina’s life; knowing there are layers and layers to peel back. I like when an author gives me a page-turner so chock-full of fantasy and mystery I want to flip to the end just to see, to know – I don’t ever do it but I love when I want to.
Einstein probably said, “Time is an illusion”…
Time is an illusion, magical and never more so than when absorbed in a cool book.
Time is also a puzzle and Marje captures that perfectly by using puzzle pieces instead of chapters.
I have only one real issue, I hate to be nitpicky…where’s the next book? I’ll wait because we know, time spent with a wonderful book is time well-spent.
Time teaches too, I recently learned that pigs do fly, well, at least glowing pigs fly. I’m so lucky, not only to have the gift of my blogging community/family but sometimes it gets even better, they send me two of my favourite words, free books!!! Other words I love together? Universal Healthcare! Tons’o’pasta! Free chocolate!
Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene, an astonishing blog and book presence https://teagansbooks.com/ sent me another amazing book in her Atonement, Tennessee series, Snort (we all make that sound when we laugh sometimes, er, don’t we?) Stories, The Glowing Pigs. I fell in love with pigs reading Charlotte’s Web a zillion (true story, a zillion) times,but this made me fall all over again…and these ones glow (my son has questions about glowing bacon and not in a you-live-in-the-Simpsons’-Springfield-sort-of-way). If you haven’t had the pleasure of visiting Atonement, Tennessee, I respectfully suggest you rectify that immediately.
There are a few problems with Teagan’s work, 1) They’re captivating, possibly addictive, 2) You might get the urge to go to the nearest animal shelter and rescue a calico cat, in hopes it might be as wonderful as Lilith – don’t worry, all cats are magical and wonderful, they’ll tell you so each and every day…
And 3)You’ll want to move to the spooky, magical, charming Atonement and be plum disappointed when you find out it was all created in Teagan’s mind (ie. Atonement In Bloom, organic and locally grown).
Speaking of time, Doctor Who is back (and the nerd crowd goes wild!). The Doctor is clearly written as an attention-challenged, arrogant lost boy, but so far, Jodie Whittaker is taking up the mantle and charging forth, fast-talking, befuddled and so far, bloody fun. I am beyond pleasantly surprised (Oops, I love when that happens!).
One could almost forget this season’s forgettable villains and companions, shaky camera, over-bright colours and inconsistencies…I said almost. Maybe we need more Captain Jack and kittens?
In the 4 plus decades I’ve watched Doctor Who, some Doctors are better, and some, well, let’s not get into it now, time will tell.
“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Dr. Seuss was correct (always, even if he might not have said this one, who knows, but he makes me smile).
Nothing can protect you from the storms of life, not enough the biggest umbrella (thanks Rhianna/Jay-Z, I’ll never get that song out of my head).
Put on those rain boots, galoshes, rubbers, overshoes, Wellies, whatever and go out and dance in the rain. Stand in it. Sit. Sleep.
Those storms are going to come, whether you fear them or not. Change is going to come whether you fear it or not. The lightning strikes of technology. The rumbling thunder of racism. The pelting hail of misinformation. The sleet of corruption.
The hurricanes of hate. The tornadoes of greed. The slapping winds of regression. Face them. Fight them. Survive them. But you can’t avoid them.
Ignoring something never made it go away. Get stormy, let your inner Mary Poppins out, and get on with it.
Too often in my life I’ve missed out on good, hell, amazing things because I was afraid. My fear stopped me. Siting on my shoulder, claws curled into my trembling flesh, cackling in my ear about how I was going to fail, how it wasn’t going to turn out anyway (it rarely did), I was going to get hurt, I was going flounder, or goof…
Much of what we fear stems from what we’ve learned, consciously or subconsciously. Fear is actively used in: child-rearing, schooling, work, play, sports, politics, science, religion, movies, TV, books, business, and well, everything – then we’re shocked/surprised that fear rules us? Sometimes those fears are irrational and sometimes: “be afraid, be very afraid”.
So many fears…Fear of the dark comes from fear of the unknown (what’s out there I can’t see?). Fear of strangers, immigrants, different races? Just people you don’t know yet.
Fear of snakes? Boo, hiss! Fear of antiques? That gets old fast. Fear of spiders? Sorry Charlotte, you know I love you (and your web), but you’re super creepy looking. Fear of bananas? That’s bananas! Fear of time? But it’s so wibbly wobbly timey wimey.
Fear of falling asleep? Probably good away after a good night’s sleep. Fear of Trump? Well, duh, that’s rational.
Fear of failure?It has all happened before and it will all happen again. Fear of success? I could live with that.
Fear of heights? You never want to get to the bottom of things with that one, but I could fall for that fear. Fear of planes, trains, and automobiles? Really, it’s a hilarious movie.
Fear of books? What?!? The?!? No, just no. Fear of fear? Nothing to fear but…
Yoda got it so right, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering”.
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” ~C.S. Lewis Some days I feel I’ve lost something, or am missing something. In those times, I go about my life with a weird, niggling feeling gnawing at the base of my skull. Slowly I come to the same conclusion, it feels like fear, but it’s grief. Loss of loved ones, loss of health, loss of what could have been, loss of civility, loss of decency, loss of honour, loss of dreams as they fade into changed expectations.
Yet, at these moments, “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”Jane Austen, my courage hasn’t always risen – I’ve been intimidated, dispirited, badgered, ruffled, browbeaten, disheartened, constrained…But sorry not sorry that’s a thing of the past (and it can stay there) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/07/15/see-you-again/
I used to believe if I tried to control everything I could control, even conquer my fear. That I could stop bad things from happening. Nope. The only thing I can control is how I react to fear. How I react to the bad things.
Vague Meanderings from The Great White North Yes, The Great White North, we don’t need to be great again, we just are…oh and by white we mean our snow, not our complexions (what’s that got to do with anything anyway?). We’re proud to be a cultural mosaic. It’s not cold here right now, it’s sauna-like, with the prerequisite nude folks (sometimes a towel can be a lifesaver…mine).
Our news is flooded with the loss of a spectacular voice (for song and human rights) that came from an inspirational woman – Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul will move our ears, feet, and hearts forever…
More people killed with guns (who knew, guns do kill people); Omarosa is a sociopath just like Trump The Great Orange Misleader, they deserve each other, but we don’t deserve either – perhaps they’re in on it together, hey, let’s have a public feud and split the royalties.
Canada has legal marijuana (if ya wanna). Trump is meangirling us, “I’m not even talking to Canada right now!” OMG, cause Kelly told Stephen told Sarah told Jared told Ivanka that Justin Trudeau wasn’t kissing Donald’s butt – I can’t even! New reality show idea: “High School White House”. How’s that cyberbullying campaign going, Melania? Be Best indeed.
HBC (Hudson’s Bay Company)/Britain, now they knew how to dominate trade, unfortunately in an aggressively brutal, demeaning, and evil way, especially the fur trade – can you tell I just watched Frontier on Netflix, originally on Discovery? This is sort of a Canadian Game of Thrones, with less incest and rape; more fur andJason Momoa (oh my, did it just get really hot in here? Blogger fanning herself…
Been watching him since Stargate: Atlantis, don’t judge. Game of Thrones really should have kept him longer, Khal Drogo, oh my, even hotter in here….sure, he’s Aquaman now, but we have to watch the new DC stuff to see him, shudder, also, Allan Hawco, Shawn Doyle,Landon Liboiron, TantooCardinal, Evan Jonigkeit, Greg Bryk, Zoe Boyle and more. But I digress.
Automation killed the jobs, not NAFTA. See, we missed a step, a) Get everyone a basic income, we should all have enough (those who want more are free to pursue it; don’t bother with the ‘we don’t have the money’, we do, it’s just lining the wrong pockets), then, b) Automate the jobs, and lastly, c) Quit whining, learn some facts (they’re fun, I promise).
Taking down all the statues? The American Civil War happened. Slavery happened (and it wasn’t a choice, Kanye West, you’re confused). Genocides. Holocausts. Sir John A Macdonald happened. You can’t erase history like an old VCR tape of Magnum P.I. – learn from it, don’t let it happen again. Redo the plaques on statues with both, oh heck, why not all, sides of the story? No use throwing out all the old drunk white guys with the bath water (at this rate there will just be more).
Saudi Arabia is picking on Canada cause we’re standing up for human rights , women’s rights, and freedom of speech – well excuuuuuuse us! We’re Canada, guys, it’s kind of our thing. We’re Peacekeepers. All we’re asking is for a little respect…just a little (although a lot would better, sometimes more is better).
We don’t have a spotless human rights record ourselves, the Indian Act, Residential Schools,https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/06/06/people-are-people/ polluted water, poverty, black mold and so much more on reserves, oh heck, reserves themselves (let’s go with cultural genocide), but we’re not just paying lip service to trying to do better, er, mostly…and as a woman, gotta say, equal rights, hmmmm….not so much.
And as the clock moves backwards in Ontario (that’s a Province…honest) – to start, no more electric vehicle rebates, clean energy rebates, carbon tax, oh and moving sex education back 20 years…Wait, so we now have Buck-A-Beer, legalized marijuana, and out-of-date sex ed – what could go wrong?
What else? Children in cages; children stolen from their parents; war; famine; biorisk; healthcare; revoking security clearances (public enemies list, aah, Nixon, the gift that keeps on giving…maybe his ghost is floating around going, “I am not that big a crook!”, so instead, McRaven for Prez 2020?) to stop an investigation. Witch hunt (which hunt?) or rigged election, conspiracy, and a desperate attempt to hang onto stolen power.
ISIS, still a thing (look up the numbers); human trafficking; child abuse (I believe you forfeit your rights as a human when you hurt a child, there, I said it…and I have some ideas on what to do with them).
Racism, sexism and a bunch of other isms; collaborators to the right of us, maybe to the left – there must be some kinda way outta here, because Bob Dylan/Jimi Hendrix got it right, “let us stop talkin’ falsely now” and by ‘falsely’ they didn’t mean believe liars, try it the other way round, there, that’s a better fit.
Climate change, sure, it’s all natural, sure, we’ll just keep telling ourselves that, extreme weather events are good fodder for social media (Instagram that hurricane!); gray/grey tsunami (not fifty shades either).
More tax breaks/loopholes for the poor little rich guys, they’re hard done by you know; opioids; malnourishment/hunger; clean water scarcity;
Russian nesting doll satellites; comets; plastic pollution islands, grieving Orcas; dead sea life; nuclear insecurity (aka spoiled brats holding their, er, weapons in their creepy little hands).
Unemployment/underemployment; lack of education; fossils liking fuels; food waste; The Walking Dead, aka zombies (oh wait, is that just Congress and the Senate, hard to tell)…
Space Force (can I wear space pants in these latest Star Wars?).
Wildfires (how can we sleep when our homes are burning?); scams; scums; lack of social and economic dignity (where’s that respect again?); rape; slime; murder; priests (fix the problem instead of continually apologizing and making payouts).
Even if I’m never heard, my words bouncing around this giant virtual haystack, pinging like a metal ball in a pinball machine (oh my, how old am I again?)
then at least I won’t be a link in this “Chain, Chain, Chain…Chain of Fools”. Money shouldn’t rule.
I still believe (don’t stop believing…) we can rise together. “Think”. Think, think, who do you wanna be?
Sorry I’m not sorry…Not sorry I took a blogging break to question myself. I was seized with a feeling, a feeling that I had nothing else to say…I know that doesn’t stop some folks, but I didn’t want to waste my time or yours, you know, overstay my welcome.Then lately, everything I read or watched seemed to have the theme of atonement, redemption – maybe my brain was begging to reclaim my blog, atone for not believing in myself, redeem my poor little lonely blog sitting here, hoping against hope, to be read, so I thought, what the heck, a few more posts couldn’t hurt (er, famous last words?).
Not sorry a couple of wonderful bloggers/authors, Teagan and John knew just how to lure me back, putting down Reese’s Pieces, or in this case, books/ARCs, to lead me back to blogging (Be Good).
Atonement in Bloom, like the first book in the series (it is a series, please please please say it’s a series),roars and purrs with mystery, magic, hope, and intriguing characters you just need to know more about (unlike some people). This book review would not be complete without advising you of something quite dire indeed – this book should come with a warning label, “Read at your own risk, addictive and time-consuming in the best way possible”. Not sorry I’m not a big fan of flowers, never was, but I do like hedge mazes or a cool Labyrinth (yes, including the awesome movie with David Bowie and the muppets) and this book had enough twists and turns to do any of those, even the Royal ones,proud. This is one of those Indie books, like it’s predecessor, that should be made quickly (but well) into a series of hit movies, starring, just to throw a few names out there: David Tennant, Aden Young, Norman Reedus, Nathan Fillion, Richard Armitage, John Krasinski, Ian Somerhalder, James Spader, Chris Pratt, Benedict Cumberbatch, James Roday…I’ve got a whole list (you know that’s right) and of course be these books should be and remain #1 on every Best Sellers List, magical and otherwise. They are simply the cat’s meow.
John W. Howell is a gentleman in the truest sense of the word, you will never be sorry if you visit his blog and books. https://johnwhowell.com/author/ His latest book, The Contract (Between Heaven and Earth) is co-authored with Gwen M. Plano http://www.gwenplano.com/ (I look forward to reading more of her work as well). It’s a complex story that could be hard-to-follow, perhaps because it’s such a unique fusion of the natural and supernatural, but instead this tactile and celestially charged story has wings that fly in a metaphysical rush through love, hope, honour, action, and mostly, redemption. It was one of those, I’ll-just-read-a-little-more-maybe-a-few-more-pages-just-one-more-chapter-until-I’d-devoured-the-whole-book-and-had-to-write-this-book-review-or-my-version-thereof type things. Heart-thumping, in more ways than one. I can clearly picture The Contract as a movie, or a Netflix series (hint hint Netflix, get this before Hulu, Amazon Prime, Playstation Vue, HBO, or someone else gets it).
Not sorry I’m honest (even in book reviews, though I’ve severely tempered my extreme, sometimes remorseless bluntness over the years, so please, send me your books). Remember when honesty, truth, facts, used to be a good thing? If you think you have a valid point, or story, or belief, or you didn’t break the law, why lie?
Not sorry life isn’t fair (doesn’t mean I won’t complain about it now and again…and again?).
Not overly sorry I didn’t get everything or give everything.
Not much point being sorry I screwed up and will do so again.
Not even slightly sorry I have opinions and can still compartmentalize, be objective and effective…as can many others. #sorrynotsorry
Not particularly sorry I’m dumb about some things and smart about others, addicted to chocolate and gifs and memes and books…also, not sorry I’m not: young, rich, stunningly beautiful, stick insect thin, famous, infamous, or quiet.
Not sorry I ignore the trolls, their utter and intense cruelty, while still feeling slightly nauseated that people are so angry, so hurt, so pathetic that they have to lash out at others to feel better, or maybe just to feel anything?
Not sorry I found the staggeringly absorbing TV series, Rectify Sundance/Netflix starring the remarkable Canadian-Australian actor Aden Young (in looks a cross between Nathan Fillion and Tom Hardy, but quite different from either, and I say that as a fan of all), also, Abigail Spencer, Clayne Crawford, Linds Edwards, J.D. Evermore, J. Smith-Cameron, Nathan Darrow, Caitlin FitzGerald, Adelaide Clemens, Luke Kirby, as well as an impressive amount of Deadwoodand The Walking Dead (idea for a new show, The Walking Deadwood? ) alumni. This is a compelling cautionary tale of how our carelessness with people can start chain reactions of brokenness. That despite unspeakable (but needs to be spoken of, long and loud) cruelty and injustice, you can find hope, kindness, justice, and even, redemption, sometimes in the most unlikely places. If this doesn’t fix in your mind how easily life can come undone and redone, I surely don’t know what would.
Not sorry I believe piracy is not a victimless crime, but shiver me timbers, charge less, yo ho ho and we’d buy more, you scurvy dogs!
Not sorry I don’t know everything. I can’t rectify all mine and the world’s problems. I can’t readily atone for all my alleged “sins”. Partly because I don’t see some of them as sins, my truth isn’t your truth and your truth isn’t my truth. Partly because time takes care of all that – a memory is not a fact. Perhaps I’m reaching an age where I’m unapologetic, but that’s a story for another day.
If I should stay
I hope I won’t
be in your way
So I might stay or
I might go,
but I know
I’ll think of you
every step
of the way
And I will always love you
I will always blog love you
Mostly sweet memories Is all I’d take with me No more goodbyes No outcries We both know you have all you need And I will always love you I will always blog love you
I hope life treats you kind And I hope you have all you’ve dreamed of And I wish to you joy and happiness But above all this, I wish you love.
And I will always love you… even if you don’t agree with my beliefs, we don’t have to believe the same things to be friends, to find common ground, to wish each other well, and to support each other, because as humans, we’re all in this together.
I will always love you…even if you don’t agree with my politics. I’ll still say my piece, why is everyone arguing? We don’t need to agree on everything, we just need to believe simple things,
Lying is still lying, truth is still truth, spinning just makes your head spin…do we sometimes listen to lies because it’s easier, what those lies offer is easier? The truth is hard, we think we can’t handle the truth.
We all want someone to look at us the way some of us look at: cake, steak, cookies, wine, bacon, beer, coffee, pizza, or anything that has the word, chocolate in it – how do you know if chocolate really loves you, when it’s an all-consuming love.
Even if you have to sing the alphabet song in your head when doing things, you’re still adulting just with help from your inner child.
Slavery was not a choice, Kanye West (being ignorant is a choice, clearly).
We wish everything was as easy as getting fat (it isn’t).
When you’re screwing something (mind out of the gutter, I’m talking IKEA and handyperson type things), it’s easier (at least for me), lefty loosey, tighty righty.
Learning to love, and learning to love learning, those are the greatest loves of all.
Our brains and hearts are like the TARDIS in Doctor Who, bigger on the inside.
The Universe isn’t telling you anything, it has better things to do – and we rarely make the right choice when you’re already looking for someone to blame or praise for that choice.
Technology is cool, it’s not people, TV, movies (yes, like “Marvel’s Avengers Infinity War”) are cool, they’re not real people…
The world would be a better place if everyone felt safe – safe from rape, murder, torture, scams, lies, and they’d feel safe if everyone had affordable housing, enough to eat, an education, help when they need it – it’s not a Utopian dream, it’s more than possible, we just need to stop subsidizing the rich – funny how they say they believe in Capitalism and believe Socialism is ‘evil’ yet the rich always have their hands out for subsidies. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/08/16/everybody-wants-to-rule-the-world/
What we think of as rights are actually leased privileges, they can be repossessed any time. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/09/16/you-had-me-at-cake/And I could go on and on (but who would read it with WordPress and the lack of notification of posts, sigh, so bored), but what’s the point, change your expectations and be happy, life’s too short not to be.
Many books, songs, art, TV programs, and movies question whether we’re real, what is real. Hunger Games, “Real or not real?” and in Westworld, “What is real?”.
The overly simple, but perfect answer was, “That which is irreplaceable.”. Good people are irreplaceable. Good times are irreplaceable. Literature, music, art, TV/Movies – those that change you, move you, touch you, elevate you from surviving to thriving is irreplaceable, but generally, stuff is replaceable, or unnecessary. Truth is irreplaceable.I will always love you…even if you don’t Like and share my posts (please Like and share my posts).I will always love you…even if odds are you won’t always be on my side or ever by my side, we’re still together.I will always love you…even, to paraphrase Maya Angelou, I forget what you said, what you did, I’ll always remember how you made me feel. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/04/15/tra-la-la-tra-la-la-la/I will always blog love you because I’ve learned so much from blogging, my readers, and fellow bloggers. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/10/im-hooked-on-a-feeling/https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/08/27/message-in-a-bottle/https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/02/02/theres-no-crying-in-blogging/
When this song was first written by Dolly Parton in 1973, yes, 45 years ago, it was a love song, not romantic, a goodbye song for Parton’s professional break-up with her mentor, producer, and longtime duet partner, Porter Wagoner. It’s been sung by everyone, from Kenny Rogers (when he looked like Kenny Rogers, why do people do cosmetic surgery, https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/05/its-not-the-years-honey-its-the-mileage/ – own those wrinkles – they pay their rent in experiences, memories, days, weeks, months, years of being you https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/03/sweet-dreams-are-made-of-this/), Linda Ronstadt, and little known singer in a little known movie, I think it called something like, “The Bodyguard”, with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner? (“Are you pondering what I’m pondering, Pinky? “Well, I think so, hiccup, but Kevin Costner with an English accent?”https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/01/30/pinky-the-brain/). I don’t think any really beat Dolly’s version, but the song is an earworm, which, like blogging, once in your head, rarely leaves.
Tra la la, tra la la, la Tra la la, tra la la, la Tra la la, tra la la, la
One banana, two banana, three banana, four All bananas make a split, so do many more….
Flipping like a pancake, popping like a cork Fleagle bingo drooper and snork
Tra la la, tra la la, la…We’re The Banana Splits, at least, we’re meant to be…meant to have more fun. I wonder, are we over thinking life? Always doing, having, wanting, needing, pushing, pulling, rushing, yearning, instead of just being.Maybe, just maybe, radical thinking alert here, we’re born, are intermittently happy, then leave this world, remembered or unremembered. We need to spend more time flipping like a pancake and popping like a cork. Making up a mess of fun instead of just a mess.More TraLaLaing, less brouhahaing. More Fleagle, bingo, drooper, and snork – less fighting, lingo, booper, and snark.The wise words of William Wordsworth are all too real now, “The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers…”.So today I’m just a girl, sitting in front of her computer, asking you to have fun with her.We can read books, talk, laugh, eat, blog, dance, sing, agree, disagree, watch shows/movies – I dunno, have fun…not to judge, nor praise, nor critique. Not to pick apart or speculate. Just to be.I’ll start…Couldn’t put down “The Girl Before” by JP Delaney, recommended (on Facebook) by my delightful British cuz, Penny (now there’s a woman who knows how to have fun), thank you, sweetie, it kept me page-turning long after I should been abed.
Had some more Boo Radley moments with “To Kill a Mockingbird” (Harper Lee) then “Benny and Joon” (one thing always leads to another in my head).
Was “Dreaming in Chocolate” (like always), but this time thanks to Susan Bishop Crispell; how apt for me.
Meandered down the rabbit hole filled with zombies, as Gena Showalter left Alice and friends/foes in the final book (oh no!) of the “Alice in Zombieland” chronicles, “A Mad Zombie Party”…we’re all mad here!!! And more! I would include some indie books in this list, but no one has sent me any lately (hint hint), those I would review, honestly, as I do everything.
So while I try to believe…and try to patiently await holds at the library and, more…“The Handmaid’s Tale” https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/05/13/the-mother-of-all-blogs/, “Westworld”, “Game of Thrones”, “Psych” reboot (please, please, I need a happy place), “The Orville” https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/,and on the big screen (finally)…”Deadpool 2″, “Solo: A Star Wars Story”, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”, “Incredibles 2”, “The House With The Clock In Its Walls” (family-friendly goth mystery based on one of my fav childhood books by John Bellairs), “Marvel’s Avengers Infinity War”, and more, more, more – while I wait, I split (with bananas?) to the ‘good old days’ when life was simple (or was it?): Doris Day, James Stewart, The Marx Brothers, Gene Kelly, Grace Kelly (can’t think of any more Kellys right now), Ingrid Bergman, Fred Astaire, James Dean, Rock Hudson,Judy Garland, Mae West. Orson Welles, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Granthttps://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/25/arsenic-and-old-lace/, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn (I’m out of Hepburns), Lauren Bacall, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, Myrna Loy, Joan Fontaine, Alfred Hitchcock, Tim Burton, er, classics, right?
I traveled through time with “The Crossing”…remember when we could do that with “Doctor Who”?
Revisited the Conner household with the return of “Roseanne” (still love Laurie Metcalf, almost as much as on “The Big Bang Theory” and “3rd Rock From The Sun”) – you don’t have to like her, her voice, her politics, or watch, life is filled with infinite choices, ordering coffee and from Amazon has taught us that.
Got “Lost In Space” (Toby Stephens, Molly Parker, Parker Posey – this show has a nice amount of Parkers), the only ‘Danger, Will Robinson’, is binge-watching on Netflix.
In the “Here and Now” here and there. Played games. Worked. Visited blogs. Organized. Got distracted. Pondered the meaning of life…
April can also be the cruelest month, as T.S. Eliot told us, and it took, way, way too soon, a beloved Uncle, a true gentleman whose dry wit and kindness were always present as he tried to help people. And is giving us a historic ice storm, but, I remain hopeful that Spring is lurking, somewhere, waiting to make me Capri-happy and carefree.I’m not saying life is all about fun, but if we had a more Banana Splits (the show, The Dickies version of the song, and the tasty treat) attitude, maybe we wouldn’t fall prey to lies, scams, machinations; we might enjoy our time in this life, not to make the most money or power or to make a name for ourselves, just to be. Be happy. Be silly. Be kind to each other. Be grateful. Be here. Why not? Tra la la, tra la la, la Tra la la, tra la la, la Tra la la, tra la la, la Tra la la, tra la la, la
“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do day after tomorrow just as well.” -Mark TwainI’m a pro at procrastination, no amateur stuff for me. I wish I could stop procrastinating, but I keep postponing it.I do it when blogging, postponing writing posts – I tell myself it’s a lack of energy, lack of time, lack of ideas – I wish those were truths, but like most cases of procrastination, my real issue, fear. If I delay doing something, it can’t fail.
My procrastination is getting worse, becoming a chronic condition.Is it the amount of choices? Time inconsistency? Self-censorship? Constant interruptions? Laziness? Lack of focus?We all put off doing things, but when does it move to acting against your best interests, your better judgement, when does procrastination take over your common sense?
What if I’m not even a pro procrastinator, but just an amateur stresstinator?https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/05/overwhelmed/Either way, I need to get out of my head, out of my own way, so I ignored the Scarlett O’Hara voice in my head, telling me to think about it tomorrow (after all, tomorrow is another day)…Then fiddle-dee-dee, I called/emailed/talked to who I needed (note I did not use the word “wanted”) to contact, and even wrote this post; giggling (mostly in my head), thinking of Carol Burnett’s “Went With The Wind”.
“You don’t stop
laughing when
you grow old,
you grow old
when you stop
laughing.”
– George
Bernard
Shaw
There isn’t as much laughter as there used to be,
no, I’m completely wrong, there’s just as much, if not more laughter, it just seems less jovial, less fun, more jeering, sneering, mocking; less of a tonic, more of a poison.
We’re in the middle of a Civil War, without the cool uniforms, just about as many guns, more antibiotics and opioids, but with the same unfortunate emphasis on uncivil. I don’t think this will change anytime soon. But in the whimsical winsome wisdom of the surprisingly philosophical show, Blossom:
“Don’t know about the future, that’s anybody’s guess
Ain’t no good reason for getting all depressed
Buy up your pad and pencil, I’ll give you a piece of my mind
In my opinionation, the sun is gonna surely shine”
(make sure you have sunglasses). “Opinionation” is right on – nations fueled by opinion and connected by the internet. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/05/19/the-internet-has-spoken/ Many feel out of control (without even the illusion of control), and have inaccurately begun to believe our opinions are truth, that feelings are facts while desperately trying to process more information in a day than we used to get in 10 years…is it any wonder we’re clinging to numbers, theories, gossip, polls, conjunction, speculation, sensationalism.The song, “Murder by Numbers” by The Police keeps popping into my head; or Suicide By Numbers, we’re letting demographics kill our sense of self and poor common sense on a slab somewhere, waiting for the autopsy.Statistical characteristics of human populations, such as age or income, could be used to find out who needs shelter, food, medical attention, instead it’s used mostly to identify markets to sell sell sell (did I mention to sell?). It adds to the distraction and the ‘us versus them’ mentality that is tearing us apart.Death By Demographics is also the title of the final episode of Murder She Wrote, not unironically was cancelled in 1996, due in part to demographics and Angela Lansbury’s boredom after 12 years of playing Jessica Fletcher, either the smartest woman ever or a serial killer who pins crimes on others.It was a time of strange, supernatural, and youth: Friends (How you doin’?) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/, The X-Files (The Truth Is Out There?https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/10/26/my-big-fat-supernatural-life/),7th Heaven, The Unabomber was captured, so many were doing the Macarena (and badly), there were heroes and zeroes, Independence Day, Spice Girls (oh no, now I’m humming “Wannabe”), 3rd Rock From The Sun,Tupac died (or did he?), ER, talking about the Superbowl (so much has changed…), Tickle Me Elmo – good thing Fifty Shades (ummm, Happy Valentine’s Day???) wasn’t out then, folks would have lined up to buy Tie Me Up and Tickle Me Elmo https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/02/12/fifteen-shades-of-valentines-day/ , Seinfeld (What is the deal with that?)…
Demographics feed our fear and anger. Our fear of missing out (FOMO https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/11/08/is-everyone-hanging-out-without-me/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/01/06/im-not-inclined-to-resign-to-maturity/), and our fear/anger of not getting enough or what we “deserve”.Social media is the master class of demographics, people mindlessly drooling over videos, pictures, stories – a viral version of gossip and tabloids, oozing out of your laptop, tablet, desktop, and/or phone.Numbers are definitely the ruling class. The nobles send out the knights to hack our brains, find out what scares us, what tempts us and there it is, ready to by.Even blogging has become all about the numbers, instead of connection. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/02/02/theres-no-crying-in-blogging/Numbers are important, but letting them dictate who we are, what we are, what we do, you have to show some caution. Choices should be made with information, knowledge, facts…anyone remember those?Maybe I’m just looking for answers where there are more questions, I shouldn’t blame numbers, they’re just hanging around, building the universe, what we do with them isn’t their fault; maybe they could even help us remember we’re all in this life together. We’re all in this life together (oops, there goes my Groundhog Day again https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/02/02/groundhog-day/). So stay warm, eat some pancakes https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/02/17/well-always-have-pancakes/, find out how many weeks of winter are left, love, and keep laughing, but not at each other.
We love new things:
New clothes,
new cars,
new houses,
new furniture,
new phones,
new years,
new friends,
new babies (that seems redundant, they can’t be old babies).
“New” gives us illusions of hope,
a new beginning…there can’t be an old beginning, it’s all new.
I used to make New Year’s Resolutions about: losing weight, learning something different, appreciating others more, working harder, exercising more, etc., you know, the usual, but it rarely worked. Why?
1. Goals should be specific.
‘Lose weight’ is too vague, I’m probably losing weight while typing this, but I’ve made certain promises to chocolate and I always keep my word…small, specific, and significant steps (more later).
2. Write it down! Or make a visual representation of what you what to happen – pictures out of magazines or books (not the ones from the library), the internet, or if you have the ability, draw your goals yourself. Don’t forget, visit your goals often, revise them if necessary, re-imagine, and see where you want to be.
3. Watch out for ironic or self-defeating. You know, trying to do a digital detox with an app on your smartphone (huh?). Starting your diet by eating all the junk food in your house to avoid future temptations. In a sense, common sense is the only sense that makes sense.
4. Prioritize.
One goal at a time. Reaching for all your goals at once puts all out of reach. Whether you start with the easiest or hardest, choose one, then move on to the next.
5. Don’t try for weird resolutions, like become rich and famous, it’s too broad and if you get it, you might not like it. Being broke and obscure doesn’t make you less, unless you let it. Celebrate yourself.
6. New isn’t always better.
New shoes can pinch and cause blisters.
New movies often don’t live up to classics.
Babies keep you awake at night.
New cars smell and get recalled (if they don’t turn into a blazing inferno first).
New friends can’t relive good times with you, like family or old friends can…
Old isn’t always bad.
Make sure you’re not changing good things or fixing something that isn’t broken.
Maybe you don’t need fixing, maybe a few tweaks here and there will do the trick.
7. Be kind.
It’s easy to find fault, place blame, easy to get cranky and rude with ludicrous or ignorant people, easy to argue, fuss, and fight, but where does it get you?
Why swim in snark infested waters when you can float (they all float)…
Wouldn’t you rather lift someone up than knock them down (it’s better exercise too).
Why break a heart when you can heal it?
I had too much to dream last night…again.
I feel like I’m suffering from a dream hangover.
I woke from my confusing, at times, exhilarating Dickens’A Christmas Carol -like dream (with Muppets), and again, filled with revelations. I was visited once again by Donald Trump who told me 3 others (the best 3 others) would visit that night. It was terrifying, he still wore the chains of greed, intolerance, and suffering he’d forged link by link…it seemed like there was more of the hairspray than grave about him.
When Colin Firth showed up as my Ghost of Christmas Pastin the white shirt from Pride and Prejudice(you know the one, ladies and gents), I thought, bring it on, this dream just got X-tra special. He reminded me that all things past are actually always still with us…
1. Christmas songs play everywhere but we need more Snoopy Vs. The Red Baronby The Royal Guardsman. Peace on Earth, goodwill, and about how even the worst of enemies can put aside their differences, if only for a little while…we sure need more of that.
2. Even on a crummy morning a gingerbread man still makes his bed with cookie sheets.
3. Christmas is about giving. Though broke and obscure I still believe in giving to others and weirdly, sometimes you get stuff back.
4. Not waiting in line for some guy in a red suit to make me promises, I’ll make some to myself and try to keep them.
My Ghost of Christmas Future was Norman Reedus, well, actually Daryl Dixon, (because it’smy dream and it gets better, he’s holding a cat reminding us to Shop Cruelty Free https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/ – that goes for people as well, cruelty-free)…and he showed me…
5. Christmas could be a little late this year, instead of making toys, Santa and the elves are already lined up to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi(I haven’t seen it, but I’m guessing it has to do with a Jedi).
6. The Christmas feeling could be there, even without the gifts, the lights, the decorations, chocolate (this one is iffy), turkey and toys, even without the Christmas.
7. Ordinary rules of time and space don’t apply to Santa or The Doctor (Doctor Who Twice Upon A Time – I’m not ready for Peter Capaldi to go and I’m still missing David Tennant), but they do apply to us, we only have so much time in this world.
Happiness and success can be measured by the joy and comfort we bring to others. Remember the good times, the fun times, the laughter, the kindness, the little moments.
If you don’t see me around here for a bit, I’ve checked myself into Clementine rehab (I can quit anytime I want) – one day at a ‘clementime’.
Bees’ll buzz and I’ll afford their organic honey cuz…I’ll be doing whatever rich and famous folks do…Sportin’ a healthy bank account, not blown away by emergencies. Da da… Da doo…A bah bah ba baba boo! Attention and money are both so intense Put ’em together, it never, ever makes sense! Rat dadat dadat dadat dadadadadoo Anonymity’s the best time to stay in and cuddle, but put me in ‘attention’ and I’ll be a happily overexposed attention wh…oh, umm, writer/blogger!So when life gets rough, I persist by frantically grabbing my dreams of not just wallowing in obscurity…Oh the sky will be blue and you guys’ll be there too!!! When I ever do what obscure folks do with attention!
Choose love, hope, peace, kindness (people often forget it’s free), laughter, compassion, family, friends, helping others when you can…naps https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/02/01/theres-a-nap-for-that/ and cake (not necessarily in that order).
In a world seemingly ruled by attention, how do you keep up (and why)?
3. Shocking still not getting enough clicks, likes, and shares in this attention economy? Try no-no-Notorious (sorry, Duran Duran apparently still holds some mysterious thrall over me).
4. Are you feeling like you should keep a single thought, event, or moment private? This is your dignity and self-respect rearing its ugly common sense head, don’t self-sabotage! Tell all! Show all! Don’t let fear of failure stop you from succeeding in your attention-seeking goals.
5. Toss aside burdensome personal and professional relationships – more will come along and if not, you still had your brief, precious moment in the spotlight.
6. Be committed! This isn’t a diet, gym membership, Netflix browsing (what day is it?), friendship, job, or relationship – this is serious! Getting attention isn’t for the faint of heart.
7. Stop looking for the meaning of life, you found it: getting attention.
8. Helping people is nice, but what if you can get attention while doing it? Fire, flood, famine, family, friends, fawning, fatuous, fake fads – all the new attention-grabbing fabulous!
9. Your life is for sale, stick a sign on you that says ‘Sold’.
I’m haunted. Maybe haunted isn’t the right word, um, spooked, creeped out, ok, maybe just confused. I’ve tried to lead a normal life, really I have, but I’m afraid my attempts have been astonishingly less than successful.
Everywhere I turn, so-called supernatural forces invade my peace and quiet.
Ghouls, goblins, trolls, clowns, demons, ghosts, poltergeist (Theeeeey’rrrre here!), killers (#JFKFiles, or a version of them are being ‘released’, but my conspiracy theory stands – it was aliens, so in love with Marilyn Monroe they took her to their planet and they also took John F. Kennedy because he was having her death investigated…and now you also know my theory on how Monroe ‘died’)…Serial killers, serials killers who kill serial killers (Thank you?), vampires, zombies, dragons, zombie dragons, monsters, witches, warlocks, werewolves, wizards, whatchamacallits (why am I suddenly craving chocolate?)…I admit, I’m no Stephen King, but I’m not blameless in this, I’ve invited some of them in, even if metaphysically, er, unwittingly?
How was I to know it would be an ongoing supernatural thing?
Something wicked this way comes, really, kinda busy double double toiling and troubling here…
Rapping, rapping, rapping at my door? Let me guess, the government wanting more, more, more.
No, it’s not what goes bump in the night that terrifies me, but those in the light, pretending they want my thoughts to be free.
It’s not a corpse risen from its grave, nor a black cat (look how cute they are, how could something that cute be bad luck, oh wait, just had a flashback of some past dates, cute can equal creepy)…
What scares me the most doesn’t claw from the ground, nor fly down and drag me to its lair – no, it’s the lies, the lies, oh the lies, lies, lies! We’re spending our precious time on this planet…listening, worse, accepting lies – from politicians, corporations, anyone – we want to believe (ok, lapsed into X-Files there, who am I kidding, it’s playing in my brain right now). How can we trust if we’ve become toilet paper, waiting to be used or always taking crap from folks?
I feel like shouting, Beware! Beware! there and everywhere, Grim Reapers Heffalump or Woozle, I’m very confusel. And it isn’t honey they’re after, they’d have to let the bees live for that, no, Winnie the Pooh and all of us should know, it’s all been very sly-sly-sly…Power and money is what they covet and if they so love it, they’ll guzzle up and muzzle up everything you prize.
Who needs horror movies anymore? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/03/20/25-ways-to-stay-alive-in-a-horror-movie/ This is where the magic happens. Online. They put a spell on us and now we’re theirs. It’s all a bunch of hocus pocus. We need to cut through, maybe with a jigsaw…or break through, open our minds – Aparecium! Reveal the truth (yes, it’s still alive, just been badly wounded). I’m should drown my sorrows in Butterbeer, yup, you guessed it, I’m rereading the Harry Potter series for Halloween.
This isn’t your Grinch’s consumerism, it’s so much worse.I don’t even enjoy entertainment (as much), I’m getting (more?) grossed out: books, TV, music, phones, video games, apps, sports, fashion, movies – what we spend on entertainment could be feeding people, giving them healthcare, education, shelter, security – the budget of the new Star Wars movie alone could feed a nation or six (The Last Jedi? Nothing like spoilers – now release the fans!).
We’re so afraid of being alone or being left out, we’re so desperate to be accepted, to get approval, we’re willing to believe just about anything – we believe gossip is real, innuendo is truth, and rumour is fact. Who says we don’t get enough exercise, have you been on the internet, we get plenty of exercise, jumping to conclusions. Instead of feeling connected and informed, I’m feeling tortured (and not in a starving artist kind of way). Smoke and mirrors, why bother, just plop whatever BS on the internet and suddenly, for many people, it’s magically true. Getting news from Facebook and Twitter? Really? That drives me batty! Seriously, the internet, enter at your own risk https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/28/enter-at-your-own-risk/
In a world of choices, we have less and less choice every single day. You think zombies, Negan, and The Saviors are scary in The Walking Dead?Ple-eeease, that’s nothing, you want to get terrified, look up: child pornography,sexual harassment, rape culture (#MeToo isn’t just a hashtag, it’s past time – listen), child abuse, racism (clowns now emboldened to wash off their make-up and take their show on the road), poverty,net neutrality https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/06/02/net-neutrality-i-hardly-knew-you/, opioid epidemic (let me guess, this crisis will now be ‘fixed’, for profit, by those who caused the problems, for profit)…cashless society (some folks must really love having their everything tracked), stock market manipulation, business amalgamation, human trafficking, scams, women’s (real) equality, chemicals (everywhere) in our environment, war profiteering, civil (and not so civil) rights, human (and not so human) rights, multi-level marketing, tax loopholes/evasion, sponsored reviews, wealth abyss, or want to get freaky, gasp, food waste.
The real darkness seems to be oozing from deep inside us as we hyper-focus on the trivial and ignore anything of consequence – arguing, fussing, fighting, whining, name-calling, complaining – we’ve become mentally Pennywise and pound foolish. We wear wireless masks, hiding in costumes of anonymity and anger, our candy the pain we can inflict or watch or both. We all float down here in the internet sewer because here, everything you’re afraid of, every nightmare you ever had can be found with the click of a button, and I guess, we want more of Wi-Fi IT.
It’s all so devilishly clever – we’re snapping selfies while they charge us hidden fees for digging our own graves.
If only we could focus on kindness instead anger, helping instead of hurting, and sticking together instead of tearing each other apart. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but stranger things (2)… https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/14/the-glorious-chaos/
Education, formal or otherwise is the answer, the more you learn the less you’ll be burned. Click on learn, not Clickbait. Who cares what celebrities are doing? Care about those who need, not those who greed. Seriously, what are we looking for anyway?
Maybe this year for Halloween, Rick Ghastly can sing an updated version of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, because even if we find out cellphones are causing cancer or controlling our minds, they’ll have to pry these smartphones out of our cold, dead hands!!!
So I’ll try to rise up above the noise and confusion, carry on to see past all illusions. I’ll lay my weary head to rest (only 3 days without sleep, I’m fine) and wait for Halloween candy to go sale…because, Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore...
Even Dean and Sam Winchester boys couldn’t help us out of the hellish pit of petulance we’ve fallen into, but I’d love to see them try. The Fall of the House of Us…sure. Happy Halloween!
Something has changed
within me.
Somehow I’m
not the same.
I’m tired of playing,
someone else’s game.
Too late for second-guessing. Too late to press stop (oops, I hit Publish!). Time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap!
Some things I cannot change, but till I try, I’ll never know!
I’m sick of denying gravity, now…I’m defying gravity!
Even by getting up in the morning…I’m defying gravity!Yo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want. I wanna—, I wanna—, I wanna stop hearing ‘want’ instead of ‘need’…So I have a problem, something I have to face…To move ahead at a more novel pace.We need to not believe everything we read and not only read everything we believe. My fondness wish? That we hit pause, stop fighting about who’s right and who’s wrong. Simple, the facts are right; what if we’re all wrong?I want to read what I want…Not what’s fed to me by algorithms to feed greed, telling me what to read what to believe…What’s the worst that can happen? I go to Over-Readers Anonymous meetings (Are those a thing?). I can find books for myself everywhere…Mysterious buildings with ‘Library’ on the door. Bookstores, smartphones, laptops, tablets, family, friends, book sales…I’ll answer the siren call – pages whispering dreams, promising more and more.
I could say ‘no’, follow steps…Or stand up proud and say, “I’m a bookaholic, but baby, I wouldn’t have it any…other…way!!!” So I’m defying gravity! Carrying books, swaying, falling, spilling dreams…Onto me!Don’t try to pull me down; come with me instead. Think of what we could do, together…Just by saying yes! (You better believe I’m twirling…right now!).
Yup, books are wicked. So is TV. Definitely Social Media – Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. Fashion. Movies. Food. Video games. Blogging.Holidays (isn’t it Thanksgiving, oops everyday, then how about Halloween then?). Seductively luring us from reality, or are they reality? Whatever, to thine own self be true (note Shakespeare didn’t say to thine own selfish be true).
I’ve been trying slow blogging, er, being semi-unplugged? Whatever you want to call it. I enjoyed the time off, but glad to be back to blogging https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/02/02/theres-no-crying-in-blogging/ So, I know what I did this summer. I laughed, I cried. Got tired and inspired. Wondered and wired…all while we were on a break!
I got cozy with a bunch of women who find murder victims then conveniently pin the mysterious crimes on others. Thank you Julia Buckley (My latest booky joy, but hey, I’ve exhausted the library’s supply of your books, hate to be presumptuous, I’m hungry for you to write more http://www.juliabuckley.com/blog), Laura Levine, Ellery Adams, Leslie Budewitz, Kym Roberts, Edith Maxwell, Lee Hollis, E.J. Copperman, and more! The worst killer ever? Doubt.
What else? Cooking, games, philosophy, writing, yardsaling, Goodwill (bargain) hunting, weight loss, ghosts, organizing – even a guy claiming he’s so organized, he could move out in 20 minutes, hey buddy, slow down, are The Sopranos after you, I’ve had longer bowel movements (oops, TMI?).
I’ve recalled that the grass is always greener, not only on the other side, but over the septic bed, and if you’re using copious amounts of fertilizer (yes, even verbally). Which somehow made me want to reread Pride and Prejudice, https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/09/28/these-foolish-things/ hard to do when being bombarded by pumpkin spice (is there such a thing as death by pumpkin spice?), but I prevailed and Darcy and Elizabeth (spoilers!) got together once again. Love rules, pumpkin spice drools (or does it make people drool?). https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/09/you-may-say-im-a-dreamer/
I was once again reminded that life isn’t just unfair, it can be downright sadistic, so, as we weather the storms of life, change buffeting and sometimes battering us, try to remember, people are people, not toys to be played with, in person or online – if you wouldn’t like it done to you, don’t do it to anyone else.
I boldly went where no Blob has gone before, on The Orville, in a ‘Discovery’ of just how much Fox will pay to let Seth MacFarlane make love onscreen to Star Trek and all other things sci-fi and fantasy (I’m looking at Star Trek mini-ships and ET in my work area, I get it). I only watch each episode two or five times because they’re hilarious and thought-provoking, not because I have a tiny (huge) crush on Ed Mercer and Justin.
I remembered I’m a 100% unique…just like everyone else. It’s my own personal This Is Us, minus Justin Hartley (I miss Smallville, Passions, and Revenge) and Milo Ventimiglia (I miss Gilmore Girls and Heroes), sigh, shake it off, it’s 2017…
I was prodded into remembering the world’s two most important words (sigh): fine print. What you don’t know is more important than what you know or think you know…
I wondered how Moonstruck could be 30 years old, I just watched it yesterday. Cher and Nicholas Cage are still bizarrely mesmerizing and I want baked goods…and opera (I don’t suppose Hamilton and Wicked count?).
I was most definitely distracted by bloggers…and bloggers who wrote books. For example, Teagan (https://teagansbooks.com) was kind enough, even though she was going through a rough time to consistently give us the gift of her posts and another stimulating escapade ebook, Murder at the Bijou: Three Ingredients I (adventure awaits, flying by the seat of your pants!).
At times, I found myself so excited I couldn’t eat. Who am I kidding, chocolate and I started the summer in a serious relationship and I’m happy to announce, we’re getting engaged (oops, I ate the ring). Isn’t it weird when some people say stuff like, I was so excited or so busy I forgot to eat. What?!? There’s a way to forget to eat? Tell me! Now! Frankly, I’m too busy #Sheetcaking (Tina Fey dropped by SNL to demonstrate our technique; I think it has all the hallmarks of an Olympic sport – talk about defying gravity!).
Nostaligia was always big and getting bigger as we struggle to return to simpler times, times when TV shows were discussed around the ‘watercooler’, when Sunday, Monday were Happy Days, when Tuesday, Wednesday were Happy Days, Thursday, Friday, well, you get the point. Times when all promises weren’t false, when lies weren’t the norm, where words and actions meant something…Where we didn’t forget the unforgettable.
I think we’ll see even more of a rush of gentler shows and revival ‘nostaligaporn’ shows like Will & Grace – glad you’re back, guess you were on a break too – I missed your silliness; shows people can talk about without fist fights ensuing. We need more things that bring us together instead of tearing us apart. Look at our skeletons (not the closet ones) – we’re all the same, deep down.
So no one told me it was gonna be this way (blogging and life). Jobs are all a joke (and a 4-letter word). Of course I’m broke, apparently my Donate button is mostly merely decorative…no eccentric billionaires want to adopt me and help save the endangered broke and obscure bloggers who once roamed the internet free…
My love life is not DOA, it’s just resting, pinin’ for the fjords…I’ll have you know my love life is not bereft of life, pushing up the daisies, or resting in peace! It hasn’t shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain, or joined the bleedin’ choir invisible! It’s not a ex-love life!
Looks like I’m always stuck in Park (or Neutral?). Because it hasn’t been my day, My week, my month, but it has been a lark! (Thanks to my old ‘friends’, we got together this Summer and Fall for coffee at Central Perk, thought my wrists are a bit sore from holding those huge cups and my ears ringing from the creepy laugh track). My time off has taught me, I’ll be there for you…I hope you’re there for me too!
Once upon a time, a woman began a blog; she had no idea what she was doing, but that had never stopped her before. Almost four years passed and she found blogging was just like life, only with fewer calories and even more emails.
1. Life and blogging are about choices. Good? Bad? Who knows, until you make them.
3. The truth is always out there, whether it comes out or not, you’ll always know it can come out.
4. If you’re going to worry, make it worthwhile. On your deathbed I doubt you’ll be stressing out about if your toes look good in sandals, if you have the biggest house, fanciest car, most jewelry, and who you knew… https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/05/25/crapathy/
5. You’re not the only one. Find someone who also thinks they’re the only one – you might help each other.
6. Having a love affair with cake and cookies can be epic, like, movie epic. Then again, Titanic and Romeo and Juliet…Balance in all things.
7. Laundry is evil and like all evil it grows if you ignore it…even to blog.
8. Be selective how you’re giving your time, it’s the one thing you’ll never get back.
9. Let your imagination run away with you sometimes.
10. Be a superhero. You don’t need fancy gadgets like Batman, alien powers like Superman, Amazon (ish?) powers like Wonder Woman. No cool suits like Iron Man, Deadpool, or Spiderman…Nope. You just need to care. Be a friend. Be there. Help someone. In the blogworld, ‘Like’ their post. Share their post. Blogging is strange when you’re a stranger…get out there and show some #bloglove Saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (awesome, but I wasn’t as hooked on the soundtrack as the first one…I am Groot) – it made me want to run out and help the world. Had to rewatch Guardians of the Galaxyhttps://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/10/im-hooked-on-a-feeling/ because, hey, Chris Pratt.
11. There’s enough hard stuff in the world and the blogworld, don’t add to it.
12. The worst crime that I ever did, besides listening to rock’n’roll (paraphrasing The Stranglers, with a giggle), was telling myself I wasn’t good enough; if I didn’t believe it, why the Hell else would anyone else?
13. People always say “quit whining”…why? Sometimes, in the midst of a good whine sometimes comes a flash of insight, a bolt of wisdom, a bombshell of brilliant. Again, moderation.
14. If you’re good at something, learn how to be good at it for others too. Have the Time of Your Life. I watched the TV version of Dirty Dancing…made me miss Patrick Swayze…and Jennifer Grey’s nose. Nobody puts bloggers in a corner! https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/09/05/ive-had-the-time-of-my-life/
15. Life goes around and around. Watching Twin Peaks: The Return – just as weird, but sadly, less playful https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/08/02/never-tear-us-apart/ – I’m reminded, you always look back through different eyes. My blog has something to tell you – when you get there, you’ll already be there.
16. You can lead a good life without TV, you can also lead a good life with TV – life doesn’t have to be back and white (TV taught me that).
17. Despite what you may have heard, ‘Grease’ is not the word, but neither are: ‘low-rise’, ‘low-carb’, ‘SEO’, ‘dirt jeans’, ‘alternative facts’, ‘influencer’…
18. Don’t be a wrecking ball (also don’t swing on one naked, you don’t want to become a meme, right Miley Cyrus? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/08/27/blurred-miley-lines/ ). Try to leave things as good or better than you found them.
My best motherhood move? Making my son understand I’m flawed… seriously flawed. As is everyone. I wanted him to understand…
1. Not being perfect isn’t necessarily a bad thing.2. No good deed goes unpunished, but do good deeds anyway, it will feel good.
3. You can’t get rid of something or someone until you’ve learned what it or they need to teach you.4. Motherhood isn’t a club. We’re not all the same. We shouldn’t care or compare how someone else is being a Mom, do what’s best for your child or children.
5. We don’t really need a day, or a week, or a month, we need all people to be treated equally and respectfully. A woman isn’t instantly better because she has a child. We need just don’t one day where we get: flowers, diamonds, cards, ecards, buckets of chicken with recorded messages in the lid, spa treatments, edible arrangements… What we need a world where children are taught to treat others with dignity; who don’t see lying as a way of life and cheating as a lifestyle choice; and who think perception is more important than reality.6. I barely remember what I had for breakfast most days, but Jimmy Kimmel is right, that moment when doctors/nurses look concerned about your baby, that’s a moment frozen in time. Despite reading What To Expect When You’re Expecting and other books on pregnancy and motherhood, I never expected to be in the ER when my son was a month old, never expected to see him quarantined, full of wires and tubes, having a machine breathe for him while he artificially slumbered. Not being a doctor (although I play one at home), I didn’t know what was wrong. I’d never heard of RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus, while common, for infants it can be dangerous, even fatal). Approximately 11 days in hospital (5 on a respirator, isolated with 24-7 private nurse care). I lived there – slept, ate, read to my son: Dr. Seuss, E.B. White, Maurice Sendak, Star Wars, Star Trek (might explain a lot), and more while amazing nurses, doctors, and staff helped my beautiful, tiny, once-and-future-King-of-the-Wild-Things heal. These memories still bring tears, some of pain, some of joy.
Family and friends were there for us (I can never thank you enough). People often say not much else matters if you don’t have your health, I say, not much else matters if you don’t have your healthcare.
7.The Handmaid’s Tale might represent motherhood best of all. Margaret Atwood wrote this (although I bet she never foresaw the SNL version) as a cautionary tale, but there’s a more subtle message often lost, having a baby shouldn’t be about power, also, a woman’s worth isn’t tied to her fertility, she shouldn’t be treated better or worse because of it. Women and men should be treated with compassion, empathy, dignity, and kindness no matter their gender, fertility, status, race, religion, marital status, wealth, etc. People shouldn’t be rewarded for bullying, lying, cheating, controlling, subjugating…This latest adaptation (Hulu or Bravo or CraveTV) is addictive, mesmerizing; the cast is stunning, the tale chilling, eerie…if this is how we save the human race, is it worth saving?
8. How could anyone have a child if they watched Twin Peaks (Dual Spires for Psych fans)…because, the world is just like this show: weird, wonderful, strange, stunning, fascinating, frightening, and full of moments that will haunt you, and full of moments as sweet as cherry pie or donuts https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/04/28/well-cream-you-with-our-tim-hortons-donuts-you-hosers/We hear the nostalgic, evocative themes of the Twin Peaks…and The X-Files…
Hmmm, maybe James Comey could get a new job on these reunion FBI dramas, after all, he knows FBI drama. The truth is out there? Remember, life isn’t all about what’s under the plastic, it’s about what happens before, during, and after and it’s up to us to make it wonderful, not horrible (take note Trump).
So as I drop this, er, ummm, Mother of all Blogs? Happy Mother’s Day to everyone… not just mothers, but people, enjoy this day and everyday.
I have millions of reasons why I love my son. Reason #82: he wakes up singing or humming every day. I was thinking, we should all be so lucky to wake up that way.
So no one told you life was gonna be this way…(you know you have to clap now, do it, just do it!).
We’d be learning (some of us) all kinds of new terms, like the ones below (how many did you know?): 
Oooooh, my little pathogen,
“The Alice Network”
(but still-in-our-hearts) spacies: 
Lazy. Crazy. Whiner. 
I wanted to be with you alone
politicians, celebrities, television shows, smartphones and other electronic gadgets and gizmos, cars, causes, friends, fads, flights of fancy…
but his cast-mates are bright shining lights cutting into any and all plans. Why hope? Why not? Another season has been approved and I’m cheering. Yahoo! For 
It’s funny to think I first read this book almost 35 years ago, when I naively thought it was fiction and thank goodness this could never happen. Note to self, never say never. If you haven’t started reading one of Canada’s most precious natural resources, Margaret Atwood, I suggest you love yourself enough to begin your journey. I’ll continue with her latest, “The Testaments”, filled with hints of things to come. 
muffins, laughter, strawberries, donuts, chocolate, chocolate donuts, kindness, cupcakes, family, and oh yeah, to write another chapter in my own story.
your story is bound to be a bestseller 
we’re addicted to dramalove.
Why? I have to get it all out of my head.
Life
I’m born again every time your 
‘Cause your 
I grant 
Lauren Graham crackers (crunch super-fast), 
e beef, yogurt,
Welcome
Make no mistake, hate is the easy way. Different = Hate. Don’t agree with you = Hate. Blame everyone for your problems. Don’t change, just dig in. Lies, make them big, no, small won’t do. Feed them what they want to hear, while they pretend to care about those they hold dear.
No, she/he told exciting tales, not to get attention, to influence, to build her/his brand, but to warn others not to go picking berries on that path where those tigers live #berryscary #noyabbadabbadooforyou 
Is it true? Who cares? Jump on that bandwagon wherever it may take you. Why worry, got to get another hit. As long as we get our momentary rush, who cares about the consequences? 
“I’m a misunderstood genius.”
Jewels, homes, cars, clothes – how can these mean more than lives? That’s the opposite of genius, even cruel. Celebrities, don’t peddle expensive drugs on TV and the internet, instead, pay for drugs for those in need. You’re making me regret liking TV and movies…
Bloggers and readers of every age.
and more, it’s not too scary, er, depending on your definition of scary. 
Cronenberg, all the Hammer films, Scooby Doo(?) 
were fun, those who are Bewitched by lies, what happens if or when you wake up? 
This book has young people, yet the themes, feelings, fears, hopes, and
Snort (we all make that sound when we laugh sometimes, er, don’t we?) Stories, The Glowing Pigs. I fell in love with pigs reading Charlotte’s Web a zillion (true story, a zillion) times,
All we’re asking is for a little respect…just a little (although a lot would better, sometimes more is better). 
It’s a complex story that could be hard-to-follow, perhaps because it’s such a unique fusion of the natural and supernatural, but instead this tactile and celestially charged story has wings that fly in a metaphysical rush through love, hope, honour, action, and mostly, redemption. It was one of those, I’ll-just-read-a-little-more-maybe-a-few-more-pages-just-one-more-chapter-until-I’d-devoured-the-whole-book-and-had-to-write-this-book-review-or-my-version-thereof type things. Heart-thumping, in more ways than one. I can clearly picture The Contract as a movie, or a Netflix series (hint hint Netflix, get this before Hulu, Amazon Prime, Playstation Vue, HBO, or someone else gets it).
also, Abigail Spencer, Clayne Crawford, Linds Edwards, J.D. Evermore, J. Smith-Cameron, Nathan Darrow, Caitlin FitzGerald, Adelaide Clemens, Luke Kirby, as well as an impressive amount of Deadwood and The Walking Dead (idea for a new show, The Walking Deadwood? ) alumni. This is a compelling cautionary tale of how our carelessness with people can start chain reactions of brokenness. That despite unspeakable (but needs to be spoken of, long and loud) cruelty and injustice, you can find hope, kindness, justice, and even, redemption, sometimes in the most unlikely places. If this doesn’t fix in your mind how easily life can come undone and redone, I surely don’t know what would.
I will always love you…even if you don’t agree with my politics. I’ll still say my piece, why is everyone arguing? We don’t need to agree on everything, we just need to believe simple things,
and watch out for Revenge of the 5th…
It’s been sung by everyone, from Kenny Rogers (when he looked like Kenny Rogers, why do people do cosmetic surgery, 
Be kind to each other. Be grateful. Be here. Why not? Tra la la, tra la la, la Tra la la, tra la la, la Tra la la, tra la la, la Tra la la, tra la la, la
I don’t think this will change anytime soon. But in the whimsical winsome wisdom of the surprisingly philosophical show, Blossom:
I had too much to dream last night…again.
My 
listening, worse, accepting lies – from politicians, corporations, anyone – we want to believe (ok, lapsed into X-Files there, who am I kidding, it’s playing in my brain right now). How can we trust if we’ve become toilet paper, waiting to be used or always taking crap from folks?
Yo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want. I wanna—, I wanna—, I wanna stop hearing ‘want’ instead of ‘need’…So I have a problem, something I have to face…To move ahead at a more novel pace.
Saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (awesome, but I wasn’t as hooked on the soundtrack as the first one…I am Groot) – it made me want to run out and help the world. Had to rewatch Guardians of the Galaxy 
Also, Dean Norris (Breaking Bad 
My best 
What we need a world where children are taught to treat others with dignity; who don’t see lying as a way of life and cheating as a lifestyle choice; and who think perception is more important than reality.
The truth is out there? Remember, life isn’t all about what’s under the plastic, it’s about what happens before, during, and after and it’s up to us to make it wonderful, not horrible (take note Trump).
