Apr 24, 2008
posted by Shelley
President Bush said Tuesday that the economy was not in a recession but a period of slower growth. Do you believe that? The Commerce Department reported Thursday that sales of new homes plunged in March to the lowest level in 16 1/2 years. The government also reported that orders to factories for big-ticket goods fell for a third straight month in March, the longest string of declines since the 2001 recession. The UN Secretary-General calls the sharp rise in food prices a global crisis, stating that immediate action is needed. Slower growth??
I think the Bush comment was simply political BS (We have someone right here in the burg that practices that same type of commentary about our school system and people sure believe him!) — however, if our President were to cite reasons to support his statement, he would most likely go on and on about Alaska, a state making so much money from oil that it announced an estimated surplus next year of $8 billion, almost twice the state’s annual budget…or North Dakota, Wyoming or even Louisiana — energy producing states. But what about the rest of the country? What about US here in Indiana?
If you trust Indiana lawmakers to correctly assess budget gaps, then you believe that Indiana is among the states that are sitting better than most. (Tell that to my son who is working partial weeks, and others I know that have been stripped of $2.00 per hour of their previous wage just to keep working.) The states reporting the very worst conditions are Florida, California and Massachusetts — with Nevada, Arizona, Ohio and Virginia following closely behind.
I look at our town and our school and shake my head, not knowing if it has always been in the condition it’s in, or if I merely SEE it now that I’m older. Has our local government always been run in a willy nilly fashion based on what the good ole’ boy of the week wants? Has it always been that our local school system cared more about spending tax dollars than educating students? I don’t know.
Seems to me that a lot of changes are needed in a lot of places — local, state and federal — and we may just be in a for ride.
Apr 21, 2008
posted by Shelley
I found a cool personality-type test today while working on a project. I don’t normally participate in those things primarily because I don’t want to be bombarded with email SPAM. Taking this test doesn’t require that you provide any of that to take the test…it’s only required if you want to save it or share it. Sooooo…I merely took the test and printed the results to a PDF file (easy if you’re on a MAC.)
So here’s my personal DNA:
My summary goes something like this:
Your imagination, confidence, willingness to explore, and appreciation of beauty make you a CREATOR. You are independent, and you enjoy your self-sufficiency. Defying convention, you are very innovative, and you have a vivid imagination. You have a strong interest in what is new and exciting. You trust yourself to be innovative and resourceful.
Because you like spending time with others, and often know what is best for them, you are ATTENTIVE. Although you care about others, you are hesitant to trust them to act in the best way on their own. If someone has hurt your feelings, that person will hear about it. People energize and excite you, but you don’t always share things that are important to you. You have a strong sense of right and wrong, and you’re not hesitant to express yourself.
So to all your friends/family out there — is that me??
Take the test, and then make sure you leave a comment to this post to let us know your label! (You have to register to post.)
Apr 21, 2008
posted by Shelley
It’s the start of a new week and an old diet. Up 8 pounds from where I want to be, I’m going back to the elimination of carbs (just typing that is depressing!) while adding a bit more exercise to my day. Libby needs to drop a few pounds as well, and the exercise thing will be good for us both.
The ‘Sugar Busters’ diet works for me — eat all the meat, eggs and cheese you want — ANYTIME you want to eat. You are never hungry. It takes a couple weeks to start seeing any weight loss, so it’s easy to throw in the ole’ towel before giving it chance. The hardest thing is when you fall off the diet wagon. You simply can’t eat 1/2 pound of bacon and a couple eggs for breakfast, and then decide you want to throw in any carb calories. Do that and you’ve consumed more than you would’ve on a normal day! So here I go…look for posts to be pretty grumpy by Thursday.
What I really need is a buddy. A monitor like the little guy on the right in the photo below. He chases off all the other birds who even think they might like to partake in the seed smorgasbord no matter how much they protest.
Apr 19, 2008
posted by Shelley
Perry and I watched a movie last night on my son’s recommendation called, ‘No Country for Old Men‘ and I’m still shaking my head this morning. (Here’s what it’s all about — warning — this includes a spoiler!) I will take a thriller over a comedy any day of the week, and I love Tommy Lee Jones — I assumed this would entertain me. I was totally unprepared for it (not like you should be required to prepare yourself for a movie like you would a test), and as it ended, I sat for a good 60 seconds watching the credits scroll waiting for the characters to come back to life and finish the movie.
Having watched the flick on my computer, I then start plugging into Google different keywords to search for reviews, thoughts from others …basically anything that would help me digest what I’d seen. I then reviewed the beginning narrative, watched the ending again and read some more. This movie and the actors received numerous awards (it was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and won 4, including best picture), but I felt like I was back in college on some literary assignment.
I understand that our country has progressed to a state that I’m certain is barely recognizable to older generations, and I can grasp the whole good vs. evil thing and consequences for actions. I’m all about the fact that bad things happen to good people and that life isn’t fair — not even to the innocent. No matter how much good one does, there will still be evil out there; and no matter how much evil is in the world, there will still be those who are good and compassionate. Those are facts. In the real world, just as in this movie, innocence is not a shield, and violence is random and uncontrolled. I don’t expect every movie I watch to end with everything tied up in a nice little bow — life is certainly not filled with happy endings; but I do expect to be led a little bit through a plot. Entertain me.
Sometimes I think that pure garbage can be put out there, people analyze it and think it’s brilliant because they conjure all these metaphors and symbols. The writers probably sit back and cackle manically knowing that it was merely a combination of random thoughts spun in their twisted brains to attract those people who are LOOKING for something they can interpret the way they want. Just throw some stuff out there and leave it up for interpretation and make tons of money — money is the root of all evil (in life AND in this movie.) The main evil character used a cattle gun to slaughter victims — I’m sure that means some great thing, but growing up in a slaughter house, the daughter of a butcher, that too is lost on me.
I can’t wait to talk to my son so he can tell me that I’m simply too old and narrow minded (there’s no country for old women either) to grasp it all. 🙂
Apr 18, 2008
posted by Shelley
As promised, Libby’s Auntie Twiggy was the photography subject of the day. Twiggy is approximately 3 years-old and was recently adopted by my Mom and Carl who have been dogless (I know, but it SHOULD be a real word) since the passing of Cricket, a miniature pinscher that was a member of the family for many years. This family addition was thought-out and planned.
With the speed and grace of a grasshopper, good (much less great) shots were difficult to obtain. This little blue dog is quite animated and entertaining. I can’t wait for her to meet Libby. My hope is that Libby doesn’t think she’s a snack. If their meeting isn’t rated ‘R’ for violence, we’ll include photos of that big event here too.
