...If Children are the Future, We're Doomed...

Perhaps you’ve heard about a recent study that found some parents would not read classic fairy tales to their children because they believed the stories to be “scary” or “outdated” or they feared the kids might “ask awkward questions.”

Oh, that's a good idea. Dumb down the kids so you're always a step ahead. Is that the plan? Fairy tales are probably one of the last harmless things around for kids.

I once fell asleep on the living room floor listening to one of my favorite LPs, a collection of bedtime stories that included “Jack and the Beanstalk.” When I woke up I was afraid to move because the room was dark and I wasn’t sure where the hole in the floor was that had to have been left behind by the giant falling to earth.

I moved.

And I’m alive. I made it. It’s okay. It turns out of all the things I have witnessed that have scarred me for life, fairy tales were involved in none of those events. One involved nudity, another had an undercooked egg, then there was a crochet potholder, a tutu, and a glow in the dark Wacky Wall Walker, and two separate incidents involving Fudgecicles, but no fairy tales. (FYI, never ever give a cat a Fudgecicle.)

Way (way, way) back in the day, so-called children’s books were meant for
adults. Some were only meant for the wealthy. And there was those children’s stories that were meant to teach kids a lesson and prepare them for life’s hardships. This was during the earliest years of kid lit when it wasn’t uncommon for children to be injured by wild farm equipment or killed by some sort of plague.

If the Disney stories set you on edge, check out the original versions of the Grimm fairy tales.

You will poop your pants.

...I Wasn't Going to Do This...

I just can't do these anymore.

God bless her soul and her family.

Ms. Whitney Houston
(1963-2012)

...TraPhik's Going to Help You Prepare for Valentine's Day...

My gosh this is funny.

And as a bonus...
His rendition of Senorita f/ Eebsofresh (Ebrahim). He calls it "epic" and folks, he's not kidding.

...Maybe It Does Work...

So last week I spoke a bit about some elements of a former life and I spoke about my geeky love of research.

It might be a good segue to this post I wrote a while back but couldn't figure out when or where to post.

 

Be forewarned…
This post features a topic matter of a mature nature, and contains (sort of) adult language.
If last week’s discussion made you blush, or you know you’re not supposed to be reading this, you might want to skip this one.

Of course if you like a little sex with your science, read on.

 

...This World is Amazing...

Sometimes it's not so pleasant because the people here can be numbskulls, but if you ignore them and keep looking up, you can see something really beautiful.

Here is another amazing video of the aurora borealis from late last month as shot by Alister Chapman.

It is interesting to note this video is in real time and not a time-lapse video, so what you see is as really breathtaking as it appears.

Aurora was the Roman goddess of the dawn, that much I knew; but the rest of the story is interesting, too.

Thanks to Dot Earth for the lead on the lead .

...I Wish You Love, Peace, and Soul...

The apparent suicide of Don Cornelius left me quiet.

I needed a minute to sit with this one and think about how I feel about it.

Of course I feel shock and sadness.

I feel confusion, too, about the way Mr. Cornelius left this life.

But in some horrible, inexplicable, morbid way I feel understanding.

I understand what leads you to think about it.

I understand what leads you to attempt it.

I understand because I’ve been there more than a few times myself.

In a strange way, it can feel like a last ditch effort to regain control of a situation and resolve a problem that seems to not have an answer.

I understand how in a lot of ways it is, but I remind myself that truly, it is not.

I remind myself that the part or parts of my brain that make me feel so depressed that I can see no other way, are simply not good parts to rely on.

I remind myself that the first time I ever had these feelings and tried to act on them, I was about 4 or 5 years old and that with all of the down times in my life, I have had some good times, too. I never would have had those good times had any of my previous attempts been successful. (Strange that they call a completed suicide, “successful.”)

I understand that in spite of one’s many accomplishments, sometimes it doesn’t feel like enough.

And sometimes even if is enough, it doesn’t change the pain you feel when you are feeling it.

I wish it did.

I wish, more than anything in the whole world – for me and for us all, - at least one amazing moment of pure, unadulterated joy, but really as many joyful moments as there are days in your life if and whenever possible.

And I wish that when we can feel no joy, that we can at least feel hope.

I do.

From the bottom of my heart, with tears in my eyes, and terrible sadness in my heart, I wish for hope between the joy.


God bless you and thank you, Mr. Don Cornelius.
You are loved, you are loved, you are loved.

Scott Eastlick’s  amazing Best of Soul Train compilation


Scott's episode guide here
Five iconic Soul Train moments here.
Before you say something stupid, educate yourself

...I Guess I'm Unnatural Then...

Tim Gunn’s very personal revelation was such a topic of conversation that the first person I heard the news from was my mom.

In case you missed it, the fashion guru, style expert, Project Runway mentor, and now daytime talk show host informed his co-hosts, the audience, and all the rest of us that he had not had sex in 29 years and he was perfectly happy.

Personally, I’m pleased to hear this. No one ever talks about choosing to abstain for an extended period, and considering the general response, is there no wonder we keep quiet.

 One expert had the audacity to call  this behavior “unnatural.”   I’m guessing this expert is a bitter, anti-depressant-abusing, communicable disease-ridden whore.

I love how people think because they can’t keep it in their pants, no one else can either unless there’s something wrong with that person. We could argue there’s something wrong with you for attaching yourself to people with such wild abandon.

 When did we get here?

 It’s okay to tweet semi or totally nude pictures of myself or “accidentally” leak graphic videos of me having sex with some dude (and maybe even starting a career from it) but if I choose to relate to people on levels that don’t include sexual intimacy, then I’m “unnatural.” Really?

I could slut around and boast about it and people would call me empowered and accepting of my healthy sexuality in a world that expects women to stay home and bake cookies. (Which, up yours, I love baking cookies.) Who’s to say that keeping my fly zipped isn’t another expression of a healthy sexuality?

So like Mr. Gunn, I will confess that is has been some years since my last encounter.

Clearly the climate of this topic makes it unsafe for me to go into details but suffice it to say that it’s been enough years that even my own family thinks I’m lying. If it comes up in conversation with friends, they usually respond with, “Oh, Good God! Have you been to a doctor?!”

..The Cats Strike Back...

Tired of me giving all the glory to dogs, these kitties prove they are equally worthy of my attention.

This one has the ability to heal...


This one helps his friend work the kinks out of his lower back


This one works for the CIA apparently, or otherwise understands the value of being multilingual


Ninja Kitty


More cat parkour


This was new to me... the Thriller Cat

..."I'm Just Lucky to Be Here"...

How much longer before we come out of the “well, at least I have a job” phase?

I can think of a few fields that are doing exceptionally well (contrary to what the media would have you believe). Unfortunately, I’m not in any of those fields. With every passing day, I feel more and more like I just have to remind myself how lucky I am to be working.

It’s time for some additions to my gratitude list and I’m going to focus on what I love about the job I’m starting to wonder if I still love. You might find it interesting that on the day I edited this my Rev Run’s Word of Wisdom was as follows:

“To achieve success you must exude thankfulness no matter what present position you’re in. Remain grateful and happy!"

Okay, I will.

I am grateful for…

77. My position upgrade. The combination of my pay raise and this year’s pay cut only sent my salary back by three years instead of about 5.

78. Chaos and disorganization. Being the last chick standing from the last 10 years means they can’t boot me until they completely download my brain of organizational history.

79. Working in mental health. Because no one notices (or acknowledges noticing) that I am a strange individual.

80. Decent benefits. Even though we’re paying two arms and a leg for health insurance, at least we have insurance to cover the remaining leg, torso and head.

..."He's Eliminated Him as a Suspect"...

So many great lines in this one
Name? Shropshire Slasher. Occupation? Shropshire Slasher.

(Deduce, You Say)

...The Focus is Off...

Nice to know with everything else going on right now, our government is putting energy into making sure you don’t download any music or movies.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Learn more

..."There's something that just doesn't feel right"...

"Put a Ring On It" started a revolution of sorts. So many women sang this song to the men in their lives. And so many men heard it ...and opted not to put a ring on it. I guess he didn't like it all that much.

This is old but it's still hilarious. Between Beyonce's facial expressions, all of her "nicknames" and the overall performance you can't not laugh at this.


"We're the dancers."
(You might need to pump up the volume on the player for this)

...Amazon Sells Beeswax...

By now you’ve heard that Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z have welcomed their little baby girl, Blue Ivy Carter into this big old crazy world.

Congratulations and God bless the whole family!

I can’t imagine raising a child in these times but they seem like smart people with good hearts so I’m sure they’ll manage. Baby Blue definitely hit the jackpot in the parents game. I’m happy for them.

The thing about babies is that no matter how many are born every day, [almost] everyone that gets one is super excited about the one they got. When the baby is born healthy (and even when it’s not), they bring all kinds of excitement and joy.

They also bring all the jack-wagons who believe it is their incumbent duty to deliver the complete gospel of baby.

...“You Gotta Get Hot to Play Real Cool”...

I’ve loved this cartoon my whole life.

And dig the fancy footwork on that pig in the blue beret.

(Three Little Bops)

...Today is Wednesday...

“Lower your expectations, you'll be happier” she told me, but I was really, really young at the time and I don’t think I completely understood what she meant.

She passed away years ago, but I had a dream about her where we had a very casual conversation in the basement of her church while her funeral was going on upstairs.

You read that right.

We both seemed aware of where we were but we didn’t seem to think it was odd.

The dream was so strange I didn’t bother trying to interpret it when I woke up the next day and didn’t even think about it again until a recent conversation with my mom about dreaming.

My mom says she rarely has any dreams, but whenever she does it’s always about losing the car in a mall parking lot which is hilarious considering the amount of time my mom spends at the mall.

I asked her which car and she said she never knows. Sometimes the lot is empty and sometimes it’s full but she only knows the minute she gets outside the mall that she’s confused and in the wrong place.

I asked her if she ever dreams about us (her daughters) and she said she once had a bad dream about me crying. She said I was lost somewhere in the house and she could hear me crying and was calling my name but I wouldn’t answer and she couldn’t find me for anything. But other than that, no, she didn’t dream much at all and when she did, the dreams were almost never about people.

I asked her if she dreamed of electric sheep and when I tell you I could feel the dirty look through the phone…still, I thought it was kind of cool that she caught the reference even though she’s not much of a sci-fi person.

She asked me if I went out for New Year’s Eve, and I said, “No, mom, Pharrell had to work.”

She just laughed. She tells me all the time that if I ever meet him, just to say “hi and bye” because we’d be a poor match: two skinny people can’t mate. And then she tells me the story again of how my dad’s larger build saved her life once when they were dating.