PSA ala The Price Is Right

"Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered." Seriously, people. This is not just a phrase of some random words thrown together. This is IMPORTANT. Gah! Stop selling animals like they are your living!! And no, most of you aren't careful breeders of some AKC breed that are carefully bred. Stop acting like you're doing the world a favor by guilting everyone into getting one more of your over-bred animals! I do feel for the animals, that's why I say this. What I wish was that you didn't think it was so great that your pet and its off-spring are paying for your irresponsibility as the owner. Telling us all about how cool it is isn't convincing anyone that it's okay for you to fail your pet.


Rant continued (if you are a cat lover, I don't mean any disrespect to you, just the over-proliferation of memes, I promise):
I hate cat memes. It's like the world is being taken over. How is it funny to keep posting "grumpy cat" pictures and referring this to your own life. I don't get it. And I don't want to see it. I wish I could report them as spam. Someone recently joked that there would soon be two internets: one as the regular internet, the other that is told as "Mean Girls" quotes. This would be slightly humorous, but not close enough to truth. There may be two parallel internet worlds, but one will be totally dominated by strange obsessive cat memes and cats who mind-control their owners into letting them run the computer. (Actually, as I typed this, I flipped over to facebook to post an idea and saw 2 new posts with that annoying meme. I can't wait for this trend to disappear.)


Lastly, this isn't a rant as much as a request, but I still feel kind of bad for saying it. (Apparently today's post is just the feel-guilty-for-posting-it one and I will hope that I don't incur the wrath of cat-lovers, meme-lovers, and lovers of music legends.) Blasphemy, probably.
Leonard Cohen remakes, please! I almost get him. Almost. There are parts in 'Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye' that I like. The guitar stuff in "The Stranger Song" is nifty. But then he sings some run on breathless too low lyric and I start to wonder again. I want to like them, but the songs are just too strangely written. I would like to see new arrangements. For example, the version of "Hallelujah" that we all know and love by Jeff Buckley was thankfully rearranged by John Cale, because really, the original sounds kind of creepy.
So, am I just not listening to the right songs or does someone really need to rearrange these things? Or if he's your favorite, can you explain it to me?

Maybe each of these situations could be corrected if Leonard Cohen would write a song about getting your pets fixed. Our veterinarians would have an influx and our world would be happier?

The Moment You Are Looking Forward To Folding Clothes...And Other Oddities

Ah the joyous feeling! You know the one. When you've been down with a cold, or possibly the flu, for 4 days, and you finally are able to see the mess that has accumulated while you have been faking the mom/housekeeper/homemaker part of your job, despite helpful children and husband. Even better, you realize that you didn't crash into bed at 9pm, but are awake at 12:30am and realizing that you have both the desire and the energy to clean it all up, despite the fact that the 6am alarm is looming in your mind. So, in the middle of the night, you sort the laundry, arrange the fridge, make lunches, and windex to your little heart's desire, because guess what?!  You can see without sinus tears running down your face. You can breath clearly! And when you exert for 2 minutes, you aren't panting! I have some catching up to work on today, but I'm thrilled that I can actually do it! Do the happy dance with me.

The Scariest Show I Ever Watched

Okay, I was a child, so maybe it isn't the scariest now, but I don't know, because I've never watched it again. :)

I saw this list on Yahoo News today:
13 Scariest TV Episodes of all time:

Guess what #1 is?!
#1 The Final Escape From Alfred Hitchcock Presents

We watched this. We were terrified. My mom, for the most part, was more careful about what we watched, so this was an anomaly for us. We couldn't sleep. At all. I remember my mom trying to assure us by talking about how those people were actors and after they stopped the camera, they all  just got up and said "good job, today; that looks scary" and then how they went home to eat dinner with their families. It didn't help. Well, not entirely. lol And to see it on this list, makes me feel so much better about my fear. Hey, it's okay to be afraid if everyone else was too, right?! Anyone else remember this one?

I think I was much more comfortable writing about this before I realized there was a link to the episode. You can watch it!!! SCARY!!!

Happy Halloween. DON'T watch this with your kids. Really.

Class Starts Today!

"More input!"
When Number 5 from the movie, "Short Circuit," says this line, I totally understand. I always always always want more input. Sometimes, this is a bad thing. I can get overwhelmed by how much I "don't know yet," instead of focusing on what I do know. But, in general, I love to learn as long as I'm keeping it balanced with the rest of my busy life. So, I am super excited about my new learning venture.

I am pleased to announce that I am currently enrolled in the the Health Coach Training program with The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. This means that in the next year, I get to study more in depth all the ins and outs of nutrition and heath, which I do on my own anyway. When the program is over, I will be a Certified Health Coach and have the opportunity to work with clients who are also looking for ways to gain a healthier lifestyle and a healthier view of themselves and the world.

The program incorporates multiple aspects that I believe are important for maintaining a healthy life. There have been times in my life where I have been totally connected to myself and my desires and have had little trouble doing the healthy things that make me feel great. I didn't need motivation to exercise, I just did it because I loved it. Then, there came a time where I allowed other "things" to get in the way. This will change.

Though I have maintained a relatively healthy diet with my family and myself, I love discovering new ways of looking at food and the different ways that they can power our minds and bodies. I am also really looking forward to connecting with the world in a positive and meaningful way.

In addition to benefiting myself and my family, I am really excited to be able to learn how best to help my community become happier and healthier.

So, off I go, with my backpack and lunchbox in toe. Not really. It's all online and waiting for me to get started. Here comes Polly!

Earth Laughs In Flowers...

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

That is all.

A Small Change

Sometimes all it takes is simple small change to get an entirely different perspective. For example: this morning I took the diffuser off my blow dryer and it was like a whole different appliance. Not better, not worse. Just different. Who needs to take their diffuser off with me today?? Anyone?! :)

A Word On "Man Caves"

I hate them.

Okay, that was three words.

I feel like in a world where we are fighting to keep our families together, fighting to keep interests together, fighting to keep our finances in check (recession, anyone??), "man caves" are entirely over rated. Why all the positive publicity on man caves, when there should really be some negative publicity about them. When we design our homes, we are creating a warm and inviting place for our friends and family to come and share and enjoy he company of others.

If you happen to have extra room for a ping pong table, great. But shouldn't that be a "game room" or "rec room" for the whole family to enjoy together, rather than isolated and dubbed as belonging to one gender? In our very "equal" time of society, how do people even justify saying that men are the only ones who want to play?

I vaguely remember a suggestion about "cave time" in a popular relationship guidebook, but as I recall, he was not specifically suggesting creating an actual "cave," rather he was suggesting that in "some" cases it would be a literal retreat, ie, a garage or time with friends, others it would just be a mental retreat from the stressors. He didn't imply that one should invest great sums of money and take space away from a family living environment to create an area to isolate oneself on a regular basis.

Take a few minutes to quietly connect with your thoughts, fine. Take the only precious few hours you may have with your family and isolate yourself from that interaction, not okay.

It will be much easier to connect with your family and friends if you are sharing passions, interest, hobbies, and more importantly, time.