Etc

Etc http://vylulah.wordpress.com Anything, Everything, and Nothing at All... Tue, 06 Sep 2011 07:27:22 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png Etc http://vylulah.wordpress.com Decapitated http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2011/09/06/decapitated/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2011/09/06/decapitated/#comments Tue, 06 Sep 2011 06:49:21 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=222 ]]>

Toula: You know how dad is… “The man is the head of the house.”

Maria (Toula’s Mom): Let me tell you something. The man may be the head but the woman, she is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.

–My Big Fat Greek Wedding

So… what does that mean for those of us who don’t have a man in our lives? Are we decapitated? And if so, what type of decapitation have we suffered? Is it an emotional decapitation that comes from the longing for a partner that we don’t have? One that makes our brains unable to function at 100% because it’s too preoccupied with finding a special connection? Or is it a more literal decapitation in which we are less than whole if we have not found our better (or worse… let’s be honest here) half? Who would have thought that one of life’s truths might be hiding in a Tom Cruise movie (Jerry Maguire: “You complete me.”)?

Plato once told a story (albeit one I’m not entirely familiar with, but what the heck, I’ll give it a try) that spoke of mystical, very special beings that once roamed the Earth. They had two heads, four arms, four legs and were connected in the middle. Besides being incredibly weird looking, they were marvelously happy. Well, like anything in life, when you’re happy and feeling on top of the world, that’s about time a giant shit ball rolls towards you and takes you down the hill and into the fan (not pessimistic or sarcastic… the word is realist people). Well, that’s what happened in this case …

These beings were so content that it angered the Gods! They figured, “Hey if we can’t be that happy and joyous all the time, you shouldn’t be either”… sounds a little more accurate of God-type figures (and humans for that matter) than most would hope, but that’s neither here nor there. So the Gods decided to split the beings with a lightening bolt that struck right through the joining point, separating them, and leaving a very unusual scar – the belly button. Then, as if ruining the magical union wasn’t enough, they said “Ha ha, watch this!” and scattered the half-beings to the ends of the Earth dooming them to a life spent in misery and lonliness – a life with one purpose: to find their other half. Some got lucky and maybe found that other half that they were separated from (or at very least someone to pass the time with), others searched their lives away and never found that completeness they’ve searched so long for.

So, did Plato have it right? Is this what’s happened to us? Have we all been split in half, or in other terms: decapitated?

If you believe this to be true, perhaps it offers a clue as to why women are so bitchy ~~once in a while~~ ~~some times~~ most of the time… we’re just missing our heads! That would make anyone a little anti-social. I mean look at the headless horseman. Not someone you’d really like to run into in a dark alley… you can’t really get more bitchy than that!

I don’t know exactly what I believe at this point… but I guess it’s a hypothesis, a theory. Sometimes that’s the bet you can do. Chime in with your thoughts…

P.S. If you’re one of those super feminist women who probably found this whole thing really offensive and can’t even laugh at the HILARIOUSLY funny Got Milk? PMS ads, please don’t chime in. I don’t really care what YOU have to say. Ah, now you’ve been decapitated as well. Mwahh ahh ahh! Mwahh ahhh ahhh!

You’ll have to forgive me… maybe I’m in headless horseman, er, headless horsewoman mode.

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2011/09/06/decapitated/feed/ 0 vylulah “I see you shiver with antici…” http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/i-see-you-shiver-with-antici/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/i-see-you-shiver-with-antici/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 07:20:08 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=199 ]]> So it’s been something like 10 months since I’ve blogged. Wow. Kinda sad…

I guess I figured it had been that long, but it just seems like more when you say it. But hey, we all know life gets busy. Jobs, friends, outings, bills, family… the list of excuses goes on and on. I’m actually not going to give an excuse, which, let’s be honest, isn’t much like me! I tend to have one for everything.

Oh well… that’s not what this post is about. I’m actually not quite sure what this post is about. It’s been so long since I’ve posted, I’ve probably forgotten how to compose a sentence for optimum chuckling. Again, no excuses, I’ll just try to muster through as best I can.

I’m a little torn on blogging really. See, in one case, I really like it. It’s a good way to get things off your chest. It’s nice to go back and read them a year later and see what was on your mind. And it’s a great feeling to have people read and respond to what you’ve said.

In the other case, it kinda sucks. See, I can’t be brutally honest on here. I have two jobs – can’t really say anything about them. Not that I have bad things to say about my work places – please don’t laugh in the middle of that sentence! haha – it’s just that you can’t share everything that happens at work in a public forum like this. Forget the fact that someone could read it and get mad and make your life hell, but you can totally get fired! Which, let’s face it, would suck! Plus, even if you don’t count the job situation, I have friends, relatives, friends’ relatives, etc to worry about. One wrong mention of one touchy or unknown subject and BOOM! Drama!

You don’t realize how hard it is to filter. And let’s face it. Words are like coffee grounds… they can make something beautiful, but in the wrong concentration they can be bitter and nasty. Wow… that was really poetic. I’m shocked and appalled! That was supposed to be a funny simile. Oh well… too late now. Damn it!

Anyways, let’s face it, we all have a bit too much drama in our lives. Who needs to add more?!? Plus, it’s kinda of weird to even be worried about drama and consequences of posting the wrong thing because my blog tends to get very little traffic. Now that I haven’t posted for almost a year… my numbers have probably went from 5 or 6 to -13. (Is it possible to have a negative number of readers? Hmmm…. to ponder.)

Anyways, not really sure where (or why) I’m going with this… but despite my fears (and with a constant eye out for free floating coffee grounds that escaped the filter) I’m going to try to post more. I think I need an outlet for all of the things that are going on in my life right now. I may have to post in code… but I suppose that could work.

Some people will know what really happened that day and others will think I’m just really obsessed with random items. “I was so mad at my purse today, I could have strangled it with it’s own handles.” See… it could totally work.

So for those of you who have been waiting ever so patiently for more of my witty prose… Welcome Back to Etc.

…pation.”

–Dr. Frank-N-Furter

“Rocky Horror Picture Show”

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/i-see-you-shiver-with-antici/feed/ 1 vylulah Hmmmm… How to title this post?!? http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/hmmmm-how-to-title-this-post/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/hmmmm-how-to-title-this-post/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 01:14:22 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=191 ]]>

Love’s Omnipresence

Were I as base as is the lowly plain,

And you, my Love, as high as heaven above,

Yet should the thoughts of me your humble swain

Ascend to heaven, in honour of my Love.

Were I as high as heaven above the plain,

And you, my Love, as humble and as low

As are the deepest bottoms of the main,

Whereso’er you were, with you my love should go.

Were you the earth, dear Love, and I the skies,

My love should shine on you like to the sun,

And look upon you with ten thousand eyes

Till heaven wax’d blind, and till the world were done.

Whereso’er I am, below, or else above you,

Whereso’er you are, my heart shall truly love you.

–Joshua Sylvester

Well maybe I’m really jaded right now. Maybe my cup runneth over with bitterness and cynicism… but all I can say to this lovely poem that I found on the inside of my Dark Chocolate Cherries and Almonds Chocolove wrapper is:

PBBBTTTBBBTTTTBBBTTTBBBTTTBBBTTTBBBTTT!

(That’s as close as I could get to a typed equivalent to sticking one’s tongue out and vibrating it between your lips… picture a 5-year-old. Yeah, now you got it! )

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/hmmmm-how-to-title-this-post/feed/ 0 vylulah Reunited… And It Feels So Good http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/reunited-and-it-feels-so-good/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/reunited-and-it-feels-so-good/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:18:15 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=186 ]]>

I was a fool to ever leave your side

Me minus you is such a lonely ride

The breakup we had has made me

Lonesome and sad

I realize I love you

‘Cause I want you bad, hey, hey

Reunited and it feels so good
Reunited ’cause we understood
There’s one perfect fit
And, sugar, this one is it
We both are so excited
‘Cause we’re reunited, hey, hey

–”Reunited” by Peaches and Herb

A very long time ago (about 2 weeks), I had a little accident. I fell asleep with my laptop computer on my lap, which usually wouldn’t be a big deal. I’m usually only dozing a little and before I fall into a deep sleep, I wake up enough to move it to my computer stand. However, this particular night, I must have been very tired because I was totally out.

A short while later I rolled over. Boom! The computer hit the floor with a thud so loud that it woke up my roommate! Thank goodness the computer was completely ok! I’m very lucky for that. However, it must have landed just right because the thingy-muh-bobber that’s on the end of the power cord, the piece that plugs into the back of the computer, was bent and ripped out. Needless to say, the charger was killed that night. R.I.P. Charger.

Anyways, as upsetting as it was. I figured I’d wake up the next day and go to an electronic store and buy a new one. I woke up, used the last hour of battery life left on my laptop and found out which retailers are authorized Gateway stores. I went to each and every one only to come to a horrible, heart breaking conclusion: Chargers are really damn expensive! The very cheapest I found was $80! And though I did finally find one for much, MUCH less on the internet, it still made for about 2 weeks that I didn’t have the use of my computer!

It was such a sad, dark time in my life. But today, alas, my new charger arrived! Whew! It’s so very nice to have my computer back. Reunited! And it feels SO good!!!

Anyways, no big moral message to this post… but I guess I should leave you with something.

So here goes: Charger-cide is bad. Just don’t do it.

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/reunited-and-it-feels-so-good/feed/ 2 vylulah Improve Your Karma http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/improve-your-karma/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/improve-your-karma/#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:55:44 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=182 ]]> Today I was on my way to work (yes, I worked on a Saturday! Yuck!) and I saw this guy on the corner of the street panhandling.

Usually, I don’t mind this too much. As long they don’t go crazy and jump on your car or practically maul you as you’re walking down the street, I’m cool with it. Everyone needs a little help now and then… I don’t usually give money because you really don’t know what it’s going toward, but I don’t feel the need to have them physically removed from the vicinity either.

I don’t really mind the signs either. “Every little bit helps!”, “Will work for food.”, “Need money for gas.”. I’m even cool with honesty: “Why lie? It’s for beer.” Hey, I give that guy credit… I won’t give him money… but I give him credit for putting it out there.

But today, I was assaulted with “Improve Your Karma”. Suddenly I was red-in-the-face angry! How dare he! My karma may not be the best, I’m sure yours isn’t either… let’s face it! We could all stand to improve our karma a little! But there was something so irritating about this guy telling the world that they needed to improve their karma by giving him money to do god-only-knows-what with!

He could be an alcoholic wanting a bottle of something cheap. He could be a recovering drug addict who fell off the wagon and is looking for a hit of his favorite drug. He could be a criminal on the run from the law who needs gas money. Yes, he could be a guy who needs a meal or a dad that needs food for his kids, but we don’t know that! What’s more, what if it was one of the first three? Would it really be improving my karma, or your karma, to give him money?

Think about it… if you had access to drugs (we won’t go into why you would, we’re just saying “what if”…) and a drug addict came up to you jones-ing bad for hit and you gave it to him, is that going to promote good karma? NO! The guy could overdose and die. Or at the very least, he’s not going to quit while people keep giving him his fix.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this blog, but I’ve thought about it all day and it still really bothers me. I need to just let it go… but I guess for now I’ll leave you with this final thought:

If you want to improve your karma, go for it! Donate to a charity. Give food to a food bank. Donate your old coats, hats, and gloves to Coats for Colorado. Do something worthy of good karma! We all should! Just make sure your attempts for good karma are really doing some good!

As for me… tonight I support Boulder Pride at the Red Party! Now that’s some good karma! *wink*

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/improve-your-karma/feed/ 0 vylulah Anniversaries http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/anniversaries/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/anniversaries/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:35:33 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=178 ]]>

Carrie: You know what? I am Santa! I did a little mental addition
          and over the years I have bought Kyra an engagement gift,
          a wedding gift, then there was the trip to Maine for the
          wedding, 3 baby gifts… In toto I have spent over $2300
          celebrating her choices. And she’s shaming me for spending
          a lousy 485 bucks on [shoes]?!? Yes I did the math.

Charlotte: But those were gifts and if you got married
or had a child she would spend the same on you.

Carrie: And if I don’t ever get married or have a baby…
          then what? I get bupkis? Think about it, if you are single,
          after graduation, there isn’t one occasion where people
          celebrate you.

Charlotte: You have birthdays.

Carrie: Oh no, no, no, no. We all have birthdays, that’s a wash.
          I’m talking about the single gal. Hallmark doesn’t make a
          Congratuations-You-Didn’t-Marry-the-Wrong-Guy card. And
          where’s the flat wear for going on vacation alone?

— From Sex and the City, Season 6

Episode 9: “A Woman’s Right to Shoes”

The other day I was at a restaurant and got one of the little “Tell Us” cards, where you give your opinion and get free coupons for your special days in your email.

So I started filling it out, putting my birthday, plus a couple of friends (hey, they don’t know we don’t all live together! And come on! They’re coupons!) Then I got to the anniversary section. I thought and thought and thought. And pretty soon, in a far more sour mood, skipped that question. I had nothing to put there!

I was really quite perturbed. I mean, just because I’m a single woman, doesn’t mean I don’t deserve an extra coupon! I started thinking about all those people out there who have nothing to put on that line and how sad we all are about it! There had to be something we could do!

Well, I finally came up with the solution, and now I’m posting it here for everyone to partake of. Pick a day! Any day! And write it down!

I know what you’re thinking…. “That’s lying!” Well, not really!

See, the way I see it, you could find some kind of anniversary to celebrate every single day of the year! You could celebrate the first time you rode a bike, the first time you caught a fish, the first time you kissed a boy, the first time you fought with your sibling, the first time you were called a name, the first time you got an A, B, C, D, or F, the first time you thought about what you wanted to be when you grew up, etc, etc, etc.

There are so many firsts you can celebrate that it doesn’t matter what day you pick, you did something for the first time on that day. And don’t forget you can celebrate last times too. The last time you had a drink, cigarette, sex, etc! (Although, depending on the occasion, you might be more in the mood to mourn than celebrate. My advice: these anniversary dates should go on the cards at ice cream parlors and chocolate shops!)

It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember what exactly happened on a certain day! You can be certain that something happened that day! So see, it’s not lying to just pick a day. Granted, you may want to have a back up explanation ready just in case they ask when you go in “What are you celebrating tonight?” You don’t want to nervously stutter out your answer! “Uh, my sister’s cousin’s friend’s first date…?” *Smile* The waiter would love that!

In addition to having a date to put for your anniversary, I think that we should treat our selves every day for all of our anniversaries! Some days you may buy yourself something, like a watch, iPod, or a car! You may treat yourself to ice cream, cookies, or a movie! You may just give yourself 5 minutes of quite time! Whatever it is you do for yourself, make sure to do at least one thing every day. After all, you have a lot of anniversaries to celebrate!

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/anniversaries/feed/ 0 vylulah Jam http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/jam/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/jam/#comments Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:31:16 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=168 ]]>

People nowadays like to be together not in the old-fashioned way of, say, mingling on the piazza of an Italian Renaissance city, but, instead, huddled together in traffic jams, bus queues, on escalators and so on. It’s a new kind of togetherness which may seem totally alien, but it’s the togetherness of modern technology.

Life presents you abundant ways to get into a jam… Traffic jam, paper jam, information jam (ie. your computer), jamming to music, toe jam, and yes, the all too yummy fruit jam!

Well, this blog is all about Jam!

I was inspired to write this blog tonight when my computer was jamming up on me, most of the time referred to as freezing, but for the purposes of this blog, we’re going to call it an information jam. It’s about 3 am, I can’t sleep, which is becoming a usual thing for me here recently (maybe my brain’s jamming?!?!?), and I’m trying to do a few things on my computer. Namely I’m uploading music to my iTunes, jamming to music, and playing games on Pogo.

Now, I know that maybe I’m expecting too much from my computer to upload music, play music, and play games all at the same time. But I’ve done it before. I’ve actually uploaded music, watched movies or TV on Netflix Online AND played games on Pogo all at the same time. And most of the time it works just fine. Tonight, not so much.

Everytime I click on a card (I’m playing Golf Solitaire) it takes 2-3 seconds for it to move the card. Then sometimes it gets stuck mid-move and you just have to wait for it to clear its info jam before it will do anything. I finally got fed up and decided to close the game window and just do the music, and write this blog of course, and it took 2 full minutes for the game window to close! Big information jam!

Yesterday at work I was trying to make copies… you know it! Paper Jam!!! Only on the two-sided copies though! One sided worked fine. I’m convinced it was just trying to get me to hand feed the paper one side at a time! Vengeful, spiteful machine!

Thankfully I both live and work in Boulder now, so I’m pretty lucky! I don’t really have to deal with traffic jams! Which is nice! I used to drive about 23 miles each way too and from work and of course, I took the horrific, dreadful, jam-packed-of-stupid-idiot-drivers Highway 36. Yeah… not pretty! But again, thankfully, I’m done with that at least for now.

So, what is blog about really? Well, let me tell you! This blog is about all the time we spend waiting for jams to clear up! Hours spent on the highway, finding and removing jams from the copier, and waiting for your computer to decide it wants to move again. It may not be all at once, but if you add up all the time in the past year you’ve spent waiting on a jam, you’ve probably lost a week or two of your life! That’s a lot of life!

What should we do with all that extra time, you may ask… Well, here’s my suggestion. Let’s use the time we spend waiting on jams, to enjoy other types of jam. Jam to your music – always a great diversion! Pick the jam out of your toes – face it, we don’t get around to this as much as we probably should! And of course, enjoy some toast, a bagel, or crackers with your favorite flavor of fruity jam – I suggest strawberry or blackberry!

And even if you choose to do something else with your jam-created spare time, I can pretty much guarantee that next time your in a jam, you’ll think about this blog and all the different types of jams in your life!

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/jam/feed/ 1 vylulah Bitch http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/bitch/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/bitch/#comments Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:45:48 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=164 ]]> Warning: this blog is going to use the word “bitch” a lot. If you’ll be offended, please stop reading now, because I don’t need any bitching about my Bitch blog! Thanks.

I had a really rough week. SO much happened this week and it was mostly crap, mostly sucked, and the word “bitch” (along with others I won’t use on my blog) got used a lot! I could go into all the gory details but that blog would be about 100,000 words long and I’m sure you don’t have the patience or desire to read all that, much as I don’t have the patience or desire to write it. But let’s say, it’s inspired me to write about a subject that is very interesting and can go many places: bitch. It went to three especially interesting places for me this week.

First of all, let me start by saying “It’s Friday!” Thank god! I’m not sure I’ve been this happy for a Friday since I was in high school! And tonight, to blow off our suck-y weeks, my good friend Mary and I went to the Rio and enjoyed some very strong, very necessary margaritas and some very strong, very necessary bitching! This is the third place “bitch” took me this week. (For those of you out there that think it’s not good to drink your problems away, I would generally agree, but it’s nice to take the edge off once in a while…)

The Rio held some very special magic tonight. Two friends got to unload every horrible, awful moment that happened to them this week. They got to bitch about everyone and everything that went wrong, channel their anger and energy into their first round and by the second were able to let it all go and play a very lively round of 20 Questions! That’s some serious “bitch” magic!

The second place “bitch” took me this week was to some very frustrating days at work. Without going into painful details, let’s just say I spent of ton of time on the phone talking to stupid, lazy people at other facilities who not only didn’t know how to do their jobs, they didn’t really care! And they insisted on being bitchy to me to make themselves feel better about it!

It’s really easy, when you’re in a bad mood, when you’ve messed something up and are trying to cover your own ass, or when you really don’t give a shit about the place you work, to try to push all of that off on other people. Make them feel bad, try to shift the blame, make them feel like they’d rather not sit on the phone and get bitched at when they’re going to have to re-do their work anyways… It’s a great tactic to make yourself feel better if you’re a bitch. But let’s face it, it’s really not very creative now is it? And it certainly doesn’t take very much energy, which is perhaps why it’s so often used. How unfortunate for all that have to deal with these bitchy-on-the-phone people?!?

The first, and probably most important place “bitch” took me this week was inside myself. I wish some days I could be more of a bitch, not the mean, hollow, heartless kind of bitch like those people were to me this week. I want to be the this-is-for-your-own-damn-good bitch who has the power and courage to say it like it is and let the cards fall where they may.

The really sad thing is that I have that power already, I just don’t know how to channel it, to use it for the greater good! And it’s sad that society has done that to me and other powerful women. Think about it… When a man is a business executive, he must be a hard ass to make sure the business runs efficiently, meets its responsibilities, and is profitable. When a woman is a business executive, she needs to do the same thing, but when she does she’s usually called “bitch”.

Why is this? Because a lot of people can’t handle a strong, powerful woman. She scares them and is labeled as “bitch” to try to discredit her, to take her power. Then women like me, who need some “bitch” power sometimes (like when I need to tell someone to shut up and mind her own business but can’t because I’m afraid that she’ll screw stuff up on purpose) are scared to put that power out there. It runs in our veins, thick and heady and full of power, and we’re scared to manifest it. Scared of what we’ll be labeled as and how we’ll be treated. And all because we don’t have a dick to swing! Ah, the power of the male genital organ! (If you’d like to read more about this, please check out Mary’s blog “If I only had a Penis…“. It’s very enlightened!)

Well, I guess what I’m trying to say with all of this is that bitching with friends is great, being treated badly by mean bitches isn’t so great and makes your week totally suck, and women should not have to be afraid of channeling their good-hearted inner bitch! We should all strive to embrace this wonderful power we have! I know that’s one of my new goals… and I’m lucky to have some powerful “bitch” friends who are helping me!

I guess the blog didn’t really go anywhere, but I feel better having put it out there. And, as there’s not more I can say or elaborate on, here’s a really funny quote to send you off with. And try not to worry, Mary will make sure I post something with a little more… positive energy soon! Thank god for friends like her who help keep you sane!

Men are such cocksuckers aren’t they? You don’t have to answer that. It’s true! They’re scared. Their dicks get limp when confronted by a woman of obvious power and what do they do about it? Call them witches, burn them, torture them, until every woman is afraid. Afraid of herself… afraid of men… and all for what? Fear of losing their hard-on.

–Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne

“The Witches of Eastwick”

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/bitch/feed/ 0 vylulah You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/youre-a-mean-one-mr-grinch/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/youre-a-mean-one-mr-grinch/#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:51:42 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=155 ]]>

The nerve of those Whos. Inviting me down there – and on such short notice. Even if I wanted to go my schedule wouldn’t allow it. Four o’clock, wallow in self-pity; 4:30, stare into the abyss; 5:00, solve world hunger, tell no one. 5:30, jazzercize. 6:30, dinner with me. I can’t cancel that again. 7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing; I’m booked. Of course, if I bump the loathing to 9 I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness. But what would I wear?

–Jim Carrey as The Grinch

So, I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not in an entirely Christmas-y, holiday-y mood yet this year. I’m having twinges and I’ll probably get there my Christmas day, but right now, I’m only so-so. Of course wrapping a ba-jillion presents today did help! But I’m certainly not being a total Grinch like some people!

After having been out and about this holiday season in malls and stores, on Pearl Street, in restaurants, I have to say that People Suck!, especially for this time of year! Just when people should be coming together as communities, being extra kind and helpful to others, giving to those in need, showing compassion for fellow-man, tons of them are just being sh*theads!

My roommate and I have this saying that we’ve been using a lot lately, not because we’re overly jaded or cynical, but because it’s re-proven to us on a daily (sometimes 5x daily) basis: People Suck, or P.S. for short (when we don’t want the louse ahead of us in line, knocking us over in an aisle, or cutting us off in traffic while flipping us off to hear us). Well, I guess they wouldn’t really hear it in traffic… but you get my meaning!

At this time of year, when people should be generous, giving, respectful, genuine, and just plain nice, it’s become sadly apparently to us that a good majority (at least 60%) of the people we come into contact with, really just suck! They’re rude, hateful, awful people.

They knock you over because they think you’re going to get to the 50,000 rolls of scotch tape and clean them out before they can get there, they budge in front of you in line at a fast food restaurant because they seem to think if you go first there may be no food left (this is also a side effect of being overweight, but I’ll save that injustice for another blog!), they trample people almost to death to try to get 50% off last season’s overpriced electronics!

Now, I know what some of you may be thinking… by saying that these people suck and going on about how they’re hateful, awful people, doesn’t that mean that I too am being a hateful, awful person? Well, I’m going to say “No” to that. And let me tell you why…

When these rude people shove me out-of-the-way, cut in front of me in line, flip me off while almost taking off the front end of my car, I do not rip their faces off and feed them to rabid dogs. Okay, maybe that wasn’t really a Christmas image…. sorry, got a little carried away. But my point is, I don’t shove them back, I don’t carry on to anyone in earshot about how rude they were, I don’t slash their tires (ok, yeah, better retract my claws again!). I just smile to my best friend and say P.S. And we laugh! What better way to deal with the bullsh*t than to laugh about it?

So, now that I’ve let that all out, here’s what this blog is really about. This time of year, Christmas, Kwanza, Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, Winter Solstice, or whatever else you may refer to it as, no matter what meaning it holds for you personally, be a good person! Not to say that you shouldn’t be a good person all the time, but let’s face it! We all get riled up, we all get pissed off, and we all suck sometimes!

Let’s strive this time of year to make it a peaceful existence for all of us. Let’s use some common sense: If no one cut anyone else off in traffic there would be fewer accidents and everyone would get to where they were going faster. If no trampled someone for the best deal on a DVD player, everyone would get to be at home with presents under the tree instead of in a hospital with broken bones and spending the holiday in jail for attempted manslaughter.

Making someone else’s holiday miserable will not make yours better. And if it does,if it does for even one person, it diminishes us all, as a society and as individuals. Making everyone’s holiday better makes yours better and fulfills us all as a society and as individuals. That’s what this time of year should be about!

Do something good this holiday season! And if you really don’t want to do anything good, being the true Grinch you are, just do us all a favor and don’t do anything bad! That’s a good starting point…

Happy Holidays to all! I hope your days this time of year are filled with joy, compassion, and love, and are, as they should be: Grinch Free!

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/youre-a-mean-one-mr-grinch/feed/ 1 vylulah Whoa. http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/whoa/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/whoa/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:58:25 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=149 ]]> Life is just full of whoa moments. These moments leave you so confused, so excited, so totally in shock that there’s only one thing to say: Whoa.

Now, some people don’t use this exact word, you may know this moment Holy Crap, Oh My God, or OMG for you texters… but the feeling and meaning is still there. Whoa.

Now, I’ve had quite a few Whoa moments here lately. The first several were all during my first viewings (yes more than one!) of New Moon. The wolves, the action, the cliffhanger ending. Whoa.

My roommate and I set down to watch the first disc of Lost Season 5 tonight (it just came out on DVD today…) It’s every bit as confusing, perplexing, and down right irritatingly impossible to figure out as always. And like always it has us completely hooked and totally convinced that we’ll see the entire season by bed time on Friday. Whoa.

And then, there was yesterday and work. Now, what I’m about to tell you some may not believe, but I promise, this is no joke, no kidding, no embellishing the truth. Everything I’m about to describe is exactly what happened.

I work in a medical office and was standing by the front counter. From where I was there were three people in front of me, two setting at the front desk, one standing at the copier. Right next to the copier there is a door way that let’s you see from the front desk into the hall. To the right of that door way there is a section of wall big enough for a person to stand behind and not be seen.

So yesterday, I was standing there talking and I saw someone walk fairly quickly past that doorway and apparently stop behind the section of wall I described above. I immediately thought is was my medical assistant student. The girl was quite short and quite small just like my student, had dark hair, and was wearing what I thought was navy blue scrubs.

Now it seemed very weird that she was walking fairly quickly and would stop so suddenly. She didn’t walk out into the lobby where I was, nor did she turn around to walk back past the door way and down the hall. So I stepped to my right to peer around the section of wall to see what she was doing and discovered that there was absolutely no one there. Whoa.

I instantly go the chills. My coworkers looked at me and the Whoa expression on my face and starting asking “What’s wrong?” and “What are you looking for?” I simply said, “I think I’ve just seen a ghost.” Whoa.

I wondered if I could have been wrong but my student was no where near us, she was wearing bright purple not navy blue, she hadn’t walked down the hall at that time and even if she had, I would have seen her as I peeked around the wall. I don’t know it who it was, but it was not my student, and they disappeared into thin air. Whoa.

Everyone has their own Whoa moments… feel free to share some of yours. And just remember next time your shocked, excited, scared, or bewildered that there’s a great word to sum up all of your feelings: Whoa.

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/whoa/feed/ 1 vylulah Anticipation http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/anticipation/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/anticipation/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:08:13 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=143 ]]> Let me, before I start this blog, easy my friend Mary’s fears. I will write a blog on my 4 birthday celebrations, but today, I just can’t focus on that! I have something much more important on my mind!

So today, I blog about anticipation. People think differently on anticipation…

There are those that say that anticipation is what makes an event. They would say that anticipating the upcoming happenings are what make them more exciting when they finally get here. For example: you’ve just gotten an invitation to a really cool party, but it’s 3 weeks away. If you’re truly looking forward to this party, anticipation will have you brimming over with pure excitement for the entire 3 weeks. In this theory the party is more enjoyable, more fun when you get there because you spent 3 weeks anticipating it.

Others say that anticipation can break an event. For example: let’s say you were invited to that party, you practically jumped out of your skin for 3 weeks because you were so excited and then you got there and it totally sucked – you’d might be really disappointed. Probably not so much that the party sucked, I mean – it happens. But upset and let down that you spent so much time and energy on something that was such a disappointment. (Clarification: I’ve only been to one party this year – and it most definitely did NOT suck! This is just an example!

)

I don’t really agree with either… I believe that anticipation is it’s own entity. In a way it’s a living breathing thing – changing, growing, morphing as time passes. And I think that it is something to be enjoyed all on it’s own. Perhaps it doesn’t really matter what the event turns out to be. You’ll enjoy it or you won’t – you really can’t change that. But perhaps getting all excited about something, no matter the outcome, could be better than the event itself! You can look back at that memory, that enjoyment – at least you have that, even if you didn’t have a good time at the party.

The event is fleeting, it will end eventually. But there’s no limit on the anticipation! It can last for days, weeks, months, years, decades even!

Ok, so to back track a little – as I mentioned I’m too busy with my own anticipation to concentrate on a birthday blog right now, so I suppose I should explain what I’m anticipating. Of course, a few who read this will probably have had it figured out from the title alone, but I’ll put it in for everyone else too… I’m nice that way!

Friday, this Friday, November 20th, yes! Friday of THIS WEEK, The Twilight Saga: New Moon hits theaters!!!!!!!

Can you tell how excited I am about that? Does it translate through the computer screen? Can you feel it?!?!?!?! Cuz I’m just so freaking pee-my-pants excited that I could just… pee my pants?!?

Anyways – this is a great example of how I think anticipation is something to be savored and enjoyed all on it’s own! I’ve been anticipating this movie pretty much since I saw the first one, and definitely since I read all the books. (If you want to read about my excitement with that, feel free to check out my blog on Bloodlust.) But the real anticipation started about 110 days ago (give or take), when I saw the first countdown clock on the web. Since then, pretty much daily I’ve had a “New Moon’s coming!!” moment, some days there was more than one, here recently, I must admit, there’s been more like 20!

I’ve definitely enjoyed the anticipation leading up to this movie, and even if the movie sucks (Hello! This movie is NOT going to suck! But I’ll say it might just to make my point. I’m shifty like that!

) I’ve had this great anticipatory experience that I can talk about forever!

I’ve shared giggles, fun facts, and moments of sheer giddiness with friends. I’ve forced others who are totally not interested in the Twilight series to listen to the many reasons why they should be. And now getting closer to the event, I’m literally in a state of constant I-could-just-pass-out-I’m-so-excited-ness. And it’s awesome!!!

So no matter what happens on Friday (even though, HELLO! It’s going to be awesome!!!), the anticipation rocked! Think about your next big event, whatever it might be, and make sure to savor every second of your anticipation!

If you need me I’ll be googling New Moon, Twilight, Robert Pattinson, and any other related items for the next 72 straight hours. Just kidding!!! …Kinda.

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/anticipation/feed/ 3 vylulah Good Days http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/good-days/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/good-days/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:01:35 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=141 ]]> So a while ago I wrote about crappy days. That day had been particularly crappy and I felt the need to vent about it on my blog. It was very helpful and I felt better having done it. But now, since I’ve had a rather good day, I felt it only appropriate to fill you in on this day as well… you know, so I can rightfully say that I don’t use my blog only to vent about stuff that pisses me off…

So today was a good day. It didn’t quite start out that way, it’s been snowing here for almost two days and it’s getting pretty deep out there. I’d say about 14 inches or so. So that was kind of a pain. Cleaning off my car is probably the thing I like least about the snow! Work today was slow. We had pretty much a skeleton crew as lots of people stayed home and people in general figured we’d be closed like most other businesses and didn’t call us much.

It was great! I got so much done! I felt so productive like I had actually made a little bit of a dent finally. I actually had time to clean my desk! It was awesome! I moved things, disinfected and dusted. Put things back in a neat, orderly fashion. I know it may not sound super fun, but it was enjoyable because I’ve been so tired of looking at my disaster of a desk for so long. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to work in a messy area. So, it was so nice to finally get organized again.

Then, there was the happiness in the atmosphere today. I don’t know what it was, if it was the first real snow fall of the year, if it was the general relaxation of the office because we weren’t busy, or the fact that we were all catching up and it made us all feel better… but whatever it was, it worked!

I had several great conversations today with people who are usually in bad moods! It was great. I even had someone who I’m usually not very close to give me a gift for no other reason than she wanted to because I do so much for her! Another who has been in a horrible mood all week was apparently feeling better today because she was laughing and smiling and actually treating us like human beings…a real miracle considering the first three days this week! Totally awesome! And I got an insight into the home life of another co-worker that made me remember that no one has it as good as you may think they do, everyone has their own issues, and some people are really out of their minds, in a totally-funny-OMG kinda way! Sorry if that last one is a bit cryptic, but I really can’t go into details. It’s just too juicy…

Who knows how long it will last…? Maybe through tomorrow, maybe through next Monday! I wouldn’t put it much past that, even I’m not that optimistic! But for the moment, I’m happy and it was a good day today! That’s what matters!

Anyways, I just wanted to put out there that my previous blog was accurate! We all have crappy days, and sometimes crappy weeks, months, years, but eventually something happens, even if just for one day, that makes things better, makes them livable again! Never forget to be on the look out for these good, and even great days, because they’re out there, waiting for you. Possibly, when you least expect them.

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/good-days/feed/ 0 vylulah Envy http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/envy/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/envy/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:38:40 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=138 ]]> Although Envy is considered one of the 7 Deadly Sins, I’m here to offer a rebuttal. I think Envy may have gotten a bad wrap.

Now, to start at the beginning, Wikipedia defins Envy as “an emotion that occurs when a person lacks another’s… possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it.” Ok, I’ll agree, when you put it like that, sounds pretty bad, right?

But what if the Envy in question doesn’t have the malice intent behind it. Just because you want something another has, doesn’t mean you necessarily wish that person didn’t have it – just maybe that you had it, or will have it too someday. This is the particular type of Envy that I want to make my case for. Why? Because I, myself, am a little envious today.

I found out something wonderful when I arrived at work today, one of my friends here is expecting a baby! Her and her husband are VERY recently married, and have officially only tried once to concieve… she must be a Fertile Myrtle! Anyways, they are quite excited, as they should be, and everyone here is glowing like we’re all going to be new mothers! There will be a lot of vicarious living the next 8-9 months.

My Envy came when I realized how I wished I had the same thing. This friend of mine was engaged at the same time as me. However, just when her wedding plans were starting to come together, my relationship ended. Now, for them, here comes baby – and for me, here came nuke-it food and nights in watching movies by myself. It just made me a little sad to realize how my life wasn’t going in that same direction, at least not right now… Not that I wish she didn’t have that! She’s an amazing woman, funny and kind, and will make a wonderful mom! She deserves all this happiness and much, MUCH more! But my Envy came when I thought about the fact that I deserved that happiness too. But it sure didn’t make a difference when mine ended now did it?

And, please do allow me to clarify on the baby point… I don’t want a baby right now! If I were living in the land of those-that-have-sex and found out I was pregnant I would probably cry for quite a while before I found the happiness in the situation. So, I certainly do not mean to imply that I want what she has right now. But, by envying her situation, it did get me thinking about what I really want.

It was my Envy that woke me up and helped me clarify in my own mind what exactly I wanted, it didn’t help me clear up when I want it or how I’ll get it – those are much larger issues, but it did help me see a little more clearly. And I can, as a reasonable person, say that one day I will most likely have those things I want. I don’t wish my friend didn’t have them because I can’t at the moment. And if I get to the point when I want them, I will certainly use my resourcefulness to find a way, whether I’m on my own or not. But Envy did help me make the decision that I do want that someday…

Now, that being said, there are those who think they want what everyone else has and then once they get it wish they hadn’t. So, perhaps I’m being a tad hasty in saying that Envy is good at helping people realize what they want… maybe it can be bad in the very same way depending on the person, how reasonable, and let’s face it – sane – they are. But it certainly is worth pondering that these other “Deadly Sins” may have some beneficial outcomes as well. Any thoughts….?

The 7 Deadly Sins:

Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Pride, and Envy

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/envy/feed/ 3 vylulah Crappy Days http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/crappy-days/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/crappy-days/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:13:52 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=136 ]]> Ok, so no one who is reading this is a stranger to crappy days. They’re everywhere! We’ve all had them, all lived through them, and all have plenty more ahead of us… sorry to rain on anyone’s parade and be the bearer of crappy news, but there’s just no escaping crappy days.

Then, there are those strings of crappy days that roll into a crappy week, or worse yet, a crappy month. These are fewer and father between for most, but we’ve all had these as well, and inevitably, we’ll all have more. Some people are extremely prone to these longer strings of crappy days, and some even make it into the crappy year category. I have to admit, I’m probably not one of these people, for which I’m extremely thankful.

I’ve had my fair share of crappy days, like today, crappy weeks, crappy months, and maybe even a few crappy months in a row. But I’ve probably never had what you’d call a totally crappy year. I’ve had rough years, bad, awful years where horrible things happened, but I’ll be honest and say that I’ve probably always had at least a few redeeming events in each of those years. Again, for this, I am truly thankful and I knock on wood as to not jinx myself.

I have seen people close to me suffer through crappy years and it’s not pretty. I’ve seen friends and family alike try to battle their way back and get knocked down again at the slightest notion of being out of the crap. It’s horrible to watch, it hurts so much to see someone in so much pain, and unfortunately, like many crappy days, weeks, and months, there’s just nothing that can be done. It’s a cycle, a phase, a necessary detour in your life’s journey that you can’t avoid, that you must simply learn to live through, learn from, and move past. It’s horrible to feel that helplessness that you can’t help someone you care about. Often I find myself just giving the person space and I fear that my space-giving is read as “I don’t care”, when in fact it’s the opposite. I care so deeply and know there’s nothing I can do – I never mean to portray that I don’t care, sometimes I simply don’t know how to show it in a way the person will appreciate or understand or want. It’s very difficult…

Anyways, I digress…

My post today is not meant to be about the crappy weeks, months, and years… it is simply about a crappy day. My crappy day. Today.

Nothing particularly horrible happened today. No one died (yet, again I knock wood to prevent that damned jinx), I did not get physically injured, I did not get my heart broken. All good things, however today was just plain crappy. I felt like nothing went right, I had more work items to attend to than brain cells to process them, and I got humiliated – the last of which was the absolute worst part of my day. In addition, this type of humiliation was particularly bad as it was in relation to a topic I’m pretty sensitive about anyways, and to add insult to injury, the humiliators in question didn’t even realize that the incident (I’d rather not go into details) would be humiliating – which was infuriating!!!

I’ve always thought humiliation was bad enough when someone did it intentionally, meaning to cause that pain. But being the person I am, I’ve always been able to rationalize those actions – someone’s trying to draw negative attention away from themselves, someone’s just having a bad day and they’re taking it out on me, someone’s just a truly evil person and they don’t deserve the satisfaction of seeing me get upset over this. But when someone does something and they don’t even realize, don’t even comprehend how it will make you feel, there’s no rationalization for it. Sure, you can say, “Well they didn’t realize, they didn’t know.” But let’s face it, you can’t really say that without adding “But damn it, they should have! They should have realized! They should have known! How could they not see?”

The other low blow about this kind of humiliation is that it’s usually delivered by the people you count on not to do those types of things. Loved ones, friends, co-workers (at least co-workers you get along with… there are of course those co-workers you expect those things from, but these are not the ones I refer to here). These are the people you expect to have your back, to stand up for you, to help you take down those people who you expect the crap from. When you get crap from these people, it hurts infinitely more than getting it from someone you’d expect to deliver it. There is no escape from this type of humiliation, this type of crap dished out to you. You have to sit idly by and just let it wash over you, burning like acid the entire time. You can’t say anything, you can’t cry (it only adds to the humiliation), you can’t scream (what good would it do?)… This, readers, is what made for my crappy day.

I do feel a little better, having vented here, having let it out – and having taken a long walk in the freezing cold to get the tears to retreat before they could betray me. Letting it out is always the first and most important step to letting it go… however, it’s definitely not the hardest step! I also feel better thinking about the fact that even though I may be well on my way to a crappy month, I’m definitely not facing a crappy year! I guess that’s something! You should never forget those small blessings!

In addition, I feel better because I have the notion, the ideal in my head, that tomorrow may be a better day. Hope is so important to find on these crappy days! True, you may be in the middle of crappy week and the hope you have today for a better tomorrow, may not work. However, if you keep that hope, keep it going every day that tomorrow will be better, eventually, if only in statistical theory, it will happen! Not every day can be worse than this one, that yesterday, than tomorrow. Not everyday can kick your ass like this… eventually, one has to be better! It may take a year… which sucks, I know… but eventually, there will be a better day.

For now, I’m hopeful that my better day is tomorrow… It would also be really nice if it was a little warmer tomorrow… brrrrrrrr!

]]> http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/crappy-days/feed/ 1 vylulah One Call http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/one-call/ http://vylulah.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/one-call/#comments Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:58:25 +0000 vylulah http://vylulah.wordpress.com/?p=133 ]]> I’ve been thinking a lot about phone calls lately… it’s probably better if you don’t ask why, it’s a VERY long story. But regardless it’s amazing how much phone calls affect our life.

For example, one can get fantastic news on a phone call:

-Hello. You’re our big winner!

-Hello. I’ve got good news, your tests all came back normal!

-Hello. Guess what? I’m coming to visit next week!

These calls can bring you the best news, news you never expected in your wildest dreams or news you’ve been waiting anxiously for.

Other calls can be really irritating:

-Hello. You’re behind on your student loan payment.

-Hello. I’m afraid there was a lab error, you’re going to have to come back in.

-Hello. I’m sorry, but your car won’t be ready for another week.

These calls muck up your day, week, month, etc and generally put you in a grumpy mood.

There are the calls that are just there:

-Hello. How late are you open today?

-Hello. I was supposed to remind you to schedule this person for tomorrow.

-Hello. Can you quote me a price on that toner cartridge?

You make these calls every day, gathering information, doing your work, passing on messages. These aren’t good or bad… just part of your average day.

There are short phone calls:

“Hi. Yeah. Ok, bye.”

There are long phone calls:

“Hi…” then 3 hours later: “Holy cow it’s already midnight?”

Then, there are those difficult calls that you’re just never ready for:

-Hello. I’m afraid your test was positive for…

-Hello. I’m sorry to tell you that there’s been an accident.

-Hello. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your… passed away today.

These calls… well what can you say about these calls? They can change your entire life in a split second. You can’t prepare for these, you can’t avoid these. You simply have to accept that these calls are a part of life, and your bound to get more than your fair share of them.

If you really think about it, there are probably dozens more types of calls, different groups, subgroups within these groups, etc. Not to mention a whole flip side to these equations for calls that you MAKE rather than get! Ponder for a moment how many calls you make or get in a day! For many it’s a staggering number! And we won’t even count in all the other various forms of communication: texts, emails, twitters, MySpace messages, instant messages, various chat features, and the always faithful and unfortunately seldom used – snail mail.

There’s really a whole lot of communicating going on out there! Every subject you can possibly imagine is being discussed in some medium out there at any given moment. That’s pretty amazing when you think about it.

All my thinking about calls did bring up another thought though… what about the calls you never get and the calls you never make?

They can have just as much meaning… They can be good or bad. They can be a quick hello or a missed call for help.

-Hello. Sorry I got your voice mail again. I really hope you get this, your gate number has been changed.

-Hello. Guess we’re playing phone tag, I guess I’ll talk to you later.

-Hello. I really hope you check your messages frequently. Your wife’s in labor!

-Hello. I’m sorry we fought last night. Please call me, I don’t want to lose you.

-Hello. Since I didn’t hear from you, I’m going to assume you don’t want to go on that free trip I offered you.

Missing or not making a call… well it can change your whole life.

And these calls, the ones that are never made or never received are the most scary to me… because you’ll never know what you’ve missed.

And with all that could be riding on just one call, it makes you wonder what types of calls you’ll make or not make, receive or miss tomorrow…

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