A~Musing #61: Iron Chef!! Hai!!!!

I've read a few blogs and foodie articles that pit the Japanese version against the American version.  The usual arguments include, "(whine whine) Nothing beats the original (whine whine)" and "The American chairman does back-handsprings onto the dais...??!!??"

Very deep, very meaningful repartee.  So, here's my take on it:  Gourmet cuisine, tumbling hosts, terribly dubbed English, 20-lb-pan-twirling-chefs, live sea critters squirming in a huge studio stadium, ready for plating?

Who cares who does it or where it all happens...it's all pure liquid AWESOME!!!!!

A~Musing #60: Making a Good Decision

Did you notice how I removed the "daily" bit there?  I can't do this every single day.  It's too exhausting and it's reason number 481 why I stopped writing on here for so long.  I need a nice, easy pace....  Something I can still hold a conversation while doing.  (Isn't that the standard they give you whenever you take on a new exercise regimen?)

So, there's one good decision.  I've been making lots of good decisions lately, which has been a nice change of pace coming out of a long stretch of hideously wrong decisions.  Although...they seemed like good decisions at the time.  That's the tricky part.  Sometimes,  I'll make up my mind to something based on whatever I've got in front of me, pat myself on the back and move forward in blissful ignorance.  


The funny thing is that, later, when I realize my mistake, I can always always always look back and see all the crystal clear signs where the universe was jumping up and down, trying desperately to get my attention.  "Hey!  Hey, Maevon!  Don't do eet, mahn!   NoooOOOooooOOooo!!!!"  I march determinedly forward, past all the big red flags, deaf to bells, whistles, sirens because I'm following some weird notion that someone else stuck in my head of where I should be going and of how I should be spending my time.  I dunno who that someone is...I don't think I can blame my parents for everything (although many psychiatrists would disagree).  

The important things to remember:


*Sometimes you hafta tell that little programmed voice in your head to shut the heck up.  (Meds or no meds, YOU are the one in control of the voice.)


*Sometimes we make not good decisions and it's okay because it was the only way to access the information we needed to make good decisions in the future.


*Enjoy your mistakes when you can; don't panic when you make them; enjoy your excellent choices whenever you can even if they don't look "right" to anyone else but you.

Daily A~Musing #59 A Good Night's Sleep

Our moms tell us, our doctors tell us, the people who see the ugly black bags under our eyes tell us...you NEED a good night's sleep.  Even though we all know it's a necessity, it's also, ironically, a luxury.  Not everyone is gifted with the ability to hit the pillow and get yummy, restorative, uninterrupted sleep.  And I'm not talking about new moms with babies waking them up every hour or people with crazy schedules that require they have funky sleeping patterns.  I'm talking regular, everyday, "I'm-going-to-bed -at-ten-and-waking-up-at-six" people who do everything else BUT that.  

There are at least four billion websites, books, tv spots, etc., that can tell you all about how to get to sleep, stay asleep, and so on.  I'm not going to do that.  I've had trouble with sleep every since I was a wee kiddo, so I've tried everything in the book.  There is no secret, special "this will work every time" fix.  In my non-doctor, pseudo-mom/therapist opinion, the best you can do is pay attention to your body and give it a little respect.  

I've learned over time that when I ignore my body, it retaliates swiftly and surely.  One of its fave methods of attack is memory.  When I don't get sufficient rest/sleep, I can't remember a damn thing.  People will talk to me and five seconds later I'll ask them something about what they'd just said.  I can't focus...I can't recall...I can't categorize information efficiently.  It's a waking nightmare, both for myself and for anyone around me.  When I get my zzzzs, people will sometimes stare in bug-eyed shock that I actually CAN remember details of things and hold semi-intelligent conversations.  

So, that's it.  No deep, meaningful advice, no how-to tips, just me sharing the moment of having had a good night's sleep and appreciating it out loud.  

 

Daily A~Musing #58 Musical Cards

Yesterday was Valentines Day.  Starting about a month before that, I selected the perfect card that expressed the sentiments of my little heart.  I hand-crafted a customized playlist on cd to chronicle the musical mythology of the relationship between myself and my beloved...and baked red velvet cupcakes with pink strawberry frosting for a tasty treat.


I came home from a long day at work to a sweaty husband sitting at the computer.  He said he'd stayed home to workout instead of going to the gym because he thought it would be nice to spend Valentine's Day with me.  As I schlepped through the kitchen to do a load of laundry, I noticed a card on the counter.  A shiny robot cover opened up to sing, "I'm just a love machine...and I don't work for nobody but you."


I thought it was a pretty good V-Day.

Oi Vay

Hello there~

I think I may be able to bring this thing back, so sit tight.  :D

Yellow Flags

My son is playing lacrosse this season.  I'm not a fabulous sports mom, but I really enjoy watching this game.  It's kindasorta like football, except they give the kids big sticks with which they beat the crap outta each other.  Oh yeah...and the ball is really little and you have to be able to run around with it in a basket that is PURPOSELY made to NOT hold it, while all the other kids are beating you with their sticks to make you drop it.  
I was talking to some other parents last weekend about the rules.  It seems as though the rules tend to be somewhat arbitrary as well, which adds to the interest of this game.  For example, I've seen kids jab, whack and shove other kids...no problem.  HOWEVER...if a kid steps over one of those lines painted on the grass-THAT'S IT!  Or, you might see one of the boys jam his stick up another boys armpit and successfully remove a major organ.  HOWEVER, if he were to tap someone gently on the back, away from the "stick hand," flags go a-flyin.' 
Speaking of which, I love the little yellow flags. In other sports, penalties might just be announced with a whistle and some bizarre gesture from the guys in the black and white stripes.  In lacrosse (LAX), penalties are highlighted by cute little yellow missiles that the referees toss up high into the air.  Every time I see one (even if it's on my team...sorry) I smile really big and think (or say), "WHEEE!!!"  I'm considering getting a bunch of them and just carrying them around with me for funsies.  I could use them in pertinent situations, like at parties.  I see a dumb boy hitting on a girl that is way outta his league and I could blow a whistle and lob in my little yellow toy and scream, "Off her sides!"  heh heh  I think I'd wanna have one of those referee shirts, too.  I understand that vertical stripes are supposed to be quite slimming.   

Daily A~Musing #56: The Merry Month of May

May rocks!  And not just because it's the month of my birthday (which also rocks because ya'll know how important CAKE is to me...), but because of a bunch of other stuph as well.


Okay, so let's get some sorta list going here, shall we?  Cuz I know how much you just LOVE my lists:


MAY ROCKS CUZ:

#4  Apple Blossoms are my favoritest flower.  They bloom in May, they leave in May.  In September they turn into apples, which is another one of my favoritest things so it's a fragrant and beautiful precursor to yummy things to come. (This pic is mine...I took it right outside Hannaford in Windham).

#3  Lilacs are gorgeous and elegant and tend to always bloom around Mother's Day.  I have a lilac bush planted right in front of my porch so I can sniff their luxurious scent on my way to and from the house.  It's a nice little blip in my daily journey to remind me to...well...take time to smell the flowers.

#2  Beltaine is a pagan holiday, also known as May Day.  Maypoles, Maybaskets (remember those?  putting candy and/or flowers in a little paper basket, leaving it on people's doors and running away?), etc.  I'm not gonna go into Beltaine in detail at the moment cuz I think it deserves its very own spot sometime.  However, if I have piqued your curiosity, check it out.  It's pretty cool.

#1  MY BIRTHDAY!!!!  (Did you really think I'd make a list without it?)  Every year since I was 21 I have had a bottle of pink champagne and a cake for my bday.  I also save a little spending money for myself to buy something utterly frivolous because I rarely do that any other time of year (buy anything for myself OR buy something frivolous...I'm a practical girl).  This year I bought myself earrings.  I love earrings.  But I digress....  (This pic is also mine...this was my cake this year.  And it WAS delicious.)


So, there you have it.  The merry month of May.  The month of flowers, sunshine, nourishing rains, and some of the best people ever born.