I am So Excited! I got The BEST news today from my best friend! We have tickets to attend the Tim McGraw concert on April 10th...she entered us in a drawing to be able to meet Tim in person and listen to him give a private concert before the concert starts at CenturyTel Center...I cannot believe I get to meet Tim McGraw!! He is one of my favorite country singers! I have listened to his songs since I was 8 years old! He even starred in my favorite movie "The Blind Side." I need to start deciding on what I am going to wear! This good news is definitely what I needed to pick me up after the sadness that has engulfed me in the past couple of weeks.
More good news is that my Mom is doing lots better after her surgery! She has not driven her car, a 1970 red VW Bug that she keeps in mint condition, since her disc ruptured in November. This morning she decided to try to start her car and Voila!...it started on the first try! She was bragging about her car to my dad while I was laughing! The pain she still has in her back prevents her from driving yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear her start her car a few more times just to hear the engine! Her days of wearing red high top Converse tenny shoes are probably over, however, since she is unable to bend over to tie shoes. I told her that it was time she "got with the times" and wear slip on shoes! Her grin tells me that it will only be a matter of time before she is both wearing her tenny shoes and driving her bug again!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Slate URL
"Stop, Thief! Thank You. Why so little looting in Japan? It's not just about honesty."
by Christopher Beam
March 16, 2011
http://www.slate.com/id/2288514/
by Christopher Beam
March 16, 2011
http://www.slate.com/id/2288514/
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Three's
They say that things happen in "three's." So far, that has proven true many times. I have been to 3 funerals in the past 2 weeks. Today I found out that my Mom's uncle has an inoperable brain tumor. Life seems so fragile sometimes.
Today was such nice weather I decided to help my dad in the yard. Today was also my dog's birthday...Ruby Jean is now 3 years old! My mom always makes what she calls a "Poo-Poo" cake in celebration....so funny!...she makes a batch of brownies and takes it out of the oven before it is all the way done, shapes it into a "turd", and lets it cool on a platter. Then we take a picture of the birthday girl, wearing a paper birthday hat in front of the poo-poo cake that has the appropriate amount of candles in it, and sing "Happy Birthday!" It is a funny tradition that my mom started when we were kids and she keeps it up with each dog!! Of course, they don't eat the brownies, but we do!
Tonight I am getting together with some friends. It seems like we have all had stressful weeks. Sometimes having to shelve one's emotions in order to get schoolwork done helps take the focus off of grief. I am hoping that all of us can help each other by listening, sharing feelings, and doing something fun together.
Today was such nice weather I decided to help my dad in the yard. Today was also my dog's birthday...Ruby Jean is now 3 years old! My mom always makes what she calls a "Poo-Poo" cake in celebration....so funny!...she makes a batch of brownies and takes it out of the oven before it is all the way done, shapes it into a "turd", and lets it cool on a platter. Then we take a picture of the birthday girl, wearing a paper birthday hat in front of the poo-poo cake that has the appropriate amount of candles in it, and sing "Happy Birthday!" It is a funny tradition that my mom started when we were kids and she keeps it up with each dog!! Of course, they don't eat the brownies, but we do!
Tonight I am getting together with some friends. It seems like we have all had stressful weeks. Sometimes having to shelve one's emotions in order to get schoolwork done helps take the focus off of grief. I am hoping that all of us can help each other by listening, sharing feelings, and doing something fun together.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Reading on my Kindle!
This past Christmas I was surprised with a gift of a Kindle! I love to read and read a lot of different kinds of books. Recently I purchased "The Autobiography of Mark Twain." Mark Twain died in 1910 and wanted his autobiography published only 100 years after his death. There are a lot of boring parts to this book because Twain seems to go on and on with a lot of detail about such silly things (a description of a room for example), but I have learned some interesting facts that I did not know before: Mark Twain was a friend of Ulysses S. Grant and they first met in 1868; he once had to move to San Francisco (1864) to escape prosecution for dueling; he knew Helen Keller; and he outlived all 3 of his children and his wife.
The reason that Mark Twain did not want his autobiography published until 100 years after his death was because he stated opinions of issues and people that he did not want anyone living at that time to know about. For example, while living in Italy for a while, Mark Twain referred to his landlady, a Countess, with these remarks: "She is excitable, malicious, malignant, vengeful, unforgiving, selfish, stingy, avaricious, coarse, vulgar, profane, obscene, a furious blusterer on the outside and at heart a coward. Her lips are familiar with lies, deceptions, swindles and treacheries as her nostrils with breath" (Kindle 30%). Too many adjectives and commas, don't you think?
Mark Twain was quite the character as he also stated in a speech at his 70th Birthday Dinner "I have never taken any exercise, except sleeping and resting, and I never intend to take any. Exercise is loathsome. And it cannot benefit when you are tired; I was always tired" (Kindle 83%). I think I would have loved to be able to meet such a humorous writer!
(Note that there are no page numbers on a Kindle, only a percentage of how much of the book has been read.)
This weekend will be full of homework and reading my Kindle will not be on my agenda. With the wonderful Spring weather it is hard to concentrate on schoolwork but I intend to take some breaks with my Dachshunds!
The reason that Mark Twain did not want his autobiography published until 100 years after his death was because he stated opinions of issues and people that he did not want anyone living at that time to know about. For example, while living in Italy for a while, Mark Twain referred to his landlady, a Countess, with these remarks: "She is excitable, malicious, malignant, vengeful, unforgiving, selfish, stingy, avaricious, coarse, vulgar, profane, obscene, a furious blusterer on the outside and at heart a coward. Her lips are familiar with lies, deceptions, swindles and treacheries as her nostrils with breath" (Kindle 30%). Too many adjectives and commas, don't you think?
Mark Twain was quite the character as he also stated in a speech at his 70th Birthday Dinner "I have never taken any exercise, except sleeping and resting, and I never intend to take any. Exercise is loathsome. And it cannot benefit when you are tired; I was always tired" (Kindle 83%). I think I would have loved to be able to meet such a humorous writer!
(Note that there are no page numbers on a Kindle, only a percentage of how much of the book has been read.)
This weekend will be full of homework and reading my Kindle will not be on my agenda. With the wonderful Spring weather it is hard to concentrate on schoolwork but I intend to take some breaks with my Dachshunds!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Something Different
It seems like more than just the long drive that I have going back and forth to school has become a wearisome routine. Every time my friends and I go out it seems like we keep doing the same things over and over and going to the same places. It makes me think about how much I want to move away from Shreveport one day. I want to try out the big city life somewhere like Houston or Dallas. So, I proposed to my friends last night that we try something totally different, something so different that none of us would even ever think about suggesting to do. I was so shocked when everyone agreed to go!
So, what was so different to do in Shreveport on a week night that ended up being really fun because it was so different you might be thinking? Well, it was going to play BINGO! We couldn't believe how much fun it was! When I first suggested the idea some of my friends groaned and said that there would be too many old people there. I countered that they would be old someday too and it might be good to get a closer look at what would seem fun when one got older!
We went to the Bingo Hall on Shreveport Barksdale Hwy. If you go at 6:00 you get in for $13 and get to play 13 games. If you go at 7:00 you can get in for $10 and play 10 games. Along with your cards you get something called a dobber. This is what you mark your card with. It is really just a big marker that makes circle marks on the card when you have a number on your card that has been called out. There is a board at the front that tells the players the type of game that is being played. For example, if the pattern of the game is an X, you can win by having all your dobber markings in an X pattern on your card. If the game is Window Pane, you have to fill in all the spaces around the Free Space. There are cash prizes for winning. During the first 5 games you can win $250, game 6 you can win $350, games 7-9 you can win $300, and the prize for game 10 is $1000!
There must have been about 300 people there. There weren't a lot of young people, true, but the crowd was a fun loving group. People at our table were conversational and funny. None of us felt uncomfortable and we ended up having a lot of fun! All of us want to go again although it may be a few weeks before we get to do so. I can't believe how fun it was to go somewhere so different in Shreveport! This adventure showed me that sometimes the thoughts we have about places and people with preconceived notions deserve a chance for a second look.
So, what was so different to do in Shreveport on a week night that ended up being really fun because it was so different you might be thinking? Well, it was going to play BINGO! We couldn't believe how much fun it was! When I first suggested the idea some of my friends groaned and said that there would be too many old people there. I countered that they would be old someday too and it might be good to get a closer look at what would seem fun when one got older!
We went to the Bingo Hall on Shreveport Barksdale Hwy. If you go at 6:00 you get in for $13 and get to play 13 games. If you go at 7:00 you can get in for $10 and play 10 games. Along with your cards you get something called a dobber. This is what you mark your card with. It is really just a big marker that makes circle marks on the card when you have a number on your card that has been called out. There is a board at the front that tells the players the type of game that is being played. For example, if the pattern of the game is an X, you can win by having all your dobber markings in an X pattern on your card. If the game is Window Pane, you have to fill in all the spaces around the Free Space. There are cash prizes for winning. During the first 5 games you can win $250, game 6 you can win $350, games 7-9 you can win $300, and the prize for game 10 is $1000!
There must have been about 300 people there. There weren't a lot of young people, true, but the crowd was a fun loving group. People at our table were conversational and funny. None of us felt uncomfortable and we ended up having a lot of fun! All of us want to go again although it may be a few weeks before we get to do so. I can't believe how fun it was to go somewhere so different in Shreveport! This adventure showed me that sometimes the thoughts we have about places and people with preconceived notions deserve a chance for a second look.
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