flightless hag

A chronicle of the adventures of birdwoman: a lonely, talentless freak who wanders the internet in search of entertainment.

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Location: Philly

I'm a 40-something married white female, survivor of weight watchers, avid reader of pulp. Dogs (not cats), extreme right (handed, not politics), ENTJ, alto, wanna-be knitter.

August 31, 2012

a word (or two) about social sites

So I am on that noseybook site, and I generally quite enjoy it. But there's been a pet peeve or two of mine that I simply cannot remain silent about any longer.

A person continually puts up posts that really bother me. They are reminiscent of that "people of walmart" website, only not as funny. She denigrates anything that she sees as fashion faux-pas, and many times, they aren't THAT bad. They aren't Paris runway hopefuls, but they are acceptable, if anachronistic.
 
The thing is, though she might have a great wardrobe, otherwise? She has no leg to stand on. She is no princess. I always thought she was nice, but heck. It would be like me making fun of peoples' haircuts. Constantly. When my hair looks like a haystack, at the best of times. And to habitually rip apart perfect strangers' appearances is quite mean, I think. Am I wrong?

Speaking of small, other friends will put up political hoo ha. Tis the season, and all that. One friend is die-hard lib, and I completely ignore the smacks he takes at the entire republican party. He is my friend, and it is his opinion. Another friend is a conservative, and he's more likely to praise the republicans than bash the dems, but either way I stay out.

I have no horse in the political arena. I tend to be socially uber liberal and fiscally relatively conservative. I think that puts me toward the libertarian end of the spectrum. I like some things about the President, and I dislike some things. Same with the former President. Everyone has a right to like and dislike whatever they want, right?

But there is a line. Disagree with President Obama, but don't tear down all the dems. Dislike President Bush all you want, but why denigrate all the republicans? I think it is incredibly small and petty and silly to try to make your point by tearing down the entire other side. Bad enough when the media does it. Doing it on facebook shows that you can follow a meme, can be a hater, but have a hard time thinking for yourself, IMO. Especially when you rip the whole PARTY which is not the politicians, but a group of people who have common beliefs. People who are your neighbors, relatives, coworkers, and maybe even your friends.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I am not a tactful person. I am not, generally, a nice person. I really wish that the people I respect would be better than I am. Yep, I'm a hypocrite.

end rant
 

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August 28, 2012

OMG I'm old

So, I've been doing a lot of walking, when John's home, that is (mostly because I've had no car this summer... but I digress).

I was walking over in the Ardmore Vapid Plaza. They have a modeling school, a tanning store, a beauty supply shop, a few other stores catering to pretty people... and a liquor store, which was my destination. Now, the thing about Vapid Plaza is that they have this kickin incline for their sidewalk. It is totally top for skate punks. So the VP VP's had to come up with a way to... discourage the boards from boarding. Enter MUZAK. Play some old mellow music and the kool kats disappear.

Case in point, as I was walking, they were playing some Gloria Estefan crooner. Not a bad song, so much, but definitely UNcool. I laughed, knowing it was uncool, and feeling quite self satisfied. On the way out, with my two bottles of Chianti, they were playing KT Tunstall - Big Black Horse and a Cherry Tree. And I was bopping along when suddenly I realized I thought that song was cool, and where it was playing. Gadzooks. Strike 1.

Today, I was schlepta-ing it down to my school to set up my room. One of the things I like to look at are the shoes - man the shoes the folks wear on the septa trains. They are... Well, one guy was wearing what I thought were the ugliest shoes ever. I mean, ick. (they're the blue ones on the right)




And this other guy was wearing these really hip shoes. I mean, aren't these frigid?


And I realized the guy wearing the acceptable shoes was about my age, and the guy wearing the smurf puke was about 18. And my boys would probably call them "sick" which means cool. Yep. Strike 2.


Finally, I went and got a pedicure... my last treat as the summer ends. I picked my polish - purple on the bottom coat, glitter (silvery purple) on the top. I like that look. It's 2008, isn't it? I know it is. Oh, well. It's shiny, and as one of my former co workers used to say about me, I like shiny things. But still, strike 3. I'm out.

Funny thing? I was never actually in. But I could view the styles and tell if they were or not. I can't anymore. And that's the surest sign of fuddy duddy ness.

Well, anyhow. Summer is over, and it's time to go back to school. Where I must not attempt to be cool, because I am a science teacher. Yipee!

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August 15, 2012

Triple A Batteries are my friend!!

Triple A Batteries are my friend!!  Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm talking about a wonderful invention called the playaway.





This is a book on mpwhatever which requires me to have nothing but an AAA battery and some headphones. Compact, light, portable. It's been my constant companion this summer, because I can read AND do laundry, clean house, take walks, do puzzles. It's like Multitasking 101!! And now, because work (that dastardly four letter word) is about to start, I have to kick my playaway habit. Alas.

We have had a rockin summer. Pool time just about every day. After the big trip, we have gone nowhere. (Well, we went to the movies, where my car overheated. Overheating car + big oil leak = car-b-que... nice) So, the scoobyru is officially dead. Long live the scoobyru.

Tim went to soccer camp for a week. He is totally amped about soccer. Big fan of the Union, watching every game he finds on tv, talking Dad into buying Bimbo bread at walmart, just because that's who sponsors Union.  The week of camp, it was like 100 degrees every day, but he was running for 4 hours in the sun. Where the hades did that kid come from? These days, though, he's been going through a phase. He's afraid to go to sleep. I can't think of anything that he's gone through, any show he watched, ANYTHING that causes night terror. But there you have it. If it keeps up, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do.

Stinky is doing really well. Due to John never being here and my persistent foot injury, Sean has taken over mowing the manor grounds. He does an awesome job, and is figuring out that 25 dollars a week is a pretty good amount of work. He saved up and bought a kindle. He also went to boyscout camp. The real deal. Came back with chigger bites and everything ( I pause while you look at a picture that looks like something big bro #6 would have chased me around the house with:


 )

My foot is FINALLY getting better - going to the doctor for diagnosis worked. Being told that I can't mow the lawn (the uneven ground exacerbates the injury) was so sad... good thing Stinky took over. Now I'm back up to running 5 days a week - though only 2 miles a day. That'll go back up once the dreaded humidity goes down.

And now, I'm trying to lesson plan. I'm actually pretty psyched to go back to school. I love my school. But I have 4 preps this year, so it's gonna be a monster.

And that's it. Isn't that awesome? An entire summer of nothing but playing. And now, September. See you in the funny papers!

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