Getting to Know You

I share an office with a co-worker. The room used to be a conference room but was made over to hold two people. Basically what they did was separate the room and put in two cubicles. My section is towards the back and has the most window space. I guess seniority comes in handy sometimes. Anyway, this is both a blessing and a hindrance. For most of the year it is just cold, but in winter is it freezing. Thankfully I have a jacket and a heater, even though sometimes that doesn't even help.

Anyway, I got to thinking about what our desks say about each of us. If you walk into someones office and you see what they have on their desk or in their office it tells you a little about that person. Our neighbor Peter likes the Yankees and taking trips with his family. When I see Theresa's side I see that she likes the color red and likes art. So I started to wonder what my side says. I have toys and lots of pictures of my family. I have several plants and I added a couch, table and chairs to a section of my side. The couch part is more of a shared living room that we all use at lunch. I like this section because it is actually quite homey.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Snow Day

Finally we had a snow day. The snow was a lot heavier in the morning, but I unfortunately was having camera problems and missed that snow. But thankfully when the kids went out it snowed some more. It actually snowed off and on all day, but didn't stick to much. Both Patrick and Katie were outside from about 10am till about 5pm - only coming in for lunch and once more in the afternoon to warm up a little. They both had a blast. Riding their bikes and playing with the other children in the complex. Here a some pics.

Role Models

A co-worker and I were just discussing the Batman tv series and I mentioned that I would watch it when I was a little girl (as re-runs) and wait to see Batgirl ride across on her motorcycle. I loved those episodes that she was in. Not realizing that I was looking for a strong feminine role model, I just thought she was cool. But that got me to thinking of all of the role models that I had when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s.

Not only was there Batgirl, there were other strong women. Not just in regular tv shows but in cartoons as well. Wonderwoman, Charlie's Angels, Josie and the Pussycats, Daphne & Velma from Scooby Doo are just a few.

So, what did I learn. Well, I learned that it was ok to have an opinion and that I was just as good as the boys (if not better/smarter in some cases). I think I also learned that a pretty face goes a long way when it comes to men. I also learned that what was inside counted, but that the pretty girl got the attention while the frumpy librarian was usually ignored. Oh, and it was ok to be bad as long as you looked good doing it.

Also, it mattered what you wore. If you wore things that were in style you would be recognized more than if you wore just regular clothes. Examples are Daphne in Scooby Doo (she always got kidnapped), Batgirl compared to her secret identity of Barbara Gordon and Wonderwoman and whatever her secret identity was. I think also as the 70s went on the clothes got skimpier. I think that was something when I was in my twenties that I unconciously remembered.

Overall I am not so sure that these women did me any favors. Sure they paved the way for women to be more than just nurses and waitresses and secretaries. The idea was that a woman could be and do whatever she wanted to be and do. But I think it also was portrayed a little trashy. Regular housewives were still portrayed as the good girls but they were usually frumpy and lived boring lives. Where the stronger more opinionated women lived interesting exciting lives. I look back and I like what was accomplished in the change of how women were viewed, but I think it did a diservice to the stay at home moms and housewives. I think women were told that if you wanted to have a say or have an interesting life then you needed to give up being a homemaker, wife and mother. Of course those women also made life look easy and to be honest not much reality entered the picture.

I find it fascinating to look back at those 70s women and think of all that was accomplished and all that was taken away. We gained more individuality and more of a role in society but I think we lost part of our identity as women, a softness. Gradually I think we have regained some of that, but I still think we are judged by that standard. Look at Hillary Clinton during her campaign in Massachusetts. She welled up with emotion and showed a softer side and was basically torn to shreds because of it. Why? Because a strong woman is not expected to have a softer side and show feelings - it's a weakness. I'm not her biggest fan, but I have to say it endeared her to me more than any hardened speech would have. No one is perfect and I like when regular human nature shows us that.

Going back to the shows that I grew up on. They were a mix. Getting away from the traditional way women were thought about to more of an equal rights mentality. I think in some cases we did more harm than good. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the benefits that previous generations have worked so hard for. But I have to say that it would be nice to have a door held for me or a seat given up once in awhile. But would I exchange that for all that has been accomplished? Probably not.

Bloggings

I started blogging in April of last year. My friend Diana is to blame. She had a blog and I would go out and read hers and thought it looked like a fun little thing to do every once in awhile. A good way to vent, make my opinions known, etc…

I am totally hooked now. I try to think of something daily to just spout off about and sometimes come up with something depending on the day. But it has become more than that. I love clicking the link “next blog” at the top of the blog page. This takes me to other blogs, blogs I wouldn’t have normally gone too. Blogs of people I have never met and probably will never meet. But I love looking at their pictures, their comments, their life, their feelings. Most that I come across are in another language and I don’t understand much of what they write, but I love looking at the pictures, art, etc…

Did you know that there are blogs about eyebrows, peanut butter and wooly pigs? Santa even has his own blog. If it exists in the world then you can blog about it and someone probably already is or has. I have come across some very fascinating things when I browse through the blogs. Some of my favorite blogs are from people that just blog about their life, like I do. They talk about their husbands, their children, their work. Things that make them happy, things that make them angry or sad.

It just goes to prove that people all over the world are very similar. They have families, jobs, crushes, feelings just like everyone else. It makes it kind of feel like a smaller world. The language is different but the feeling is still the same. If that makes sense. A kind of snapshot into the life of another person.

Some of the blogs I probably won’t come across again. But some I have put in my favorites because “they speak to me”. I just want to see what will be next.

Having said all that – get out there and browse, explore. Broaden your horizons. Here are just a few of the interesting blogs that I have come across recently.

http://akinoluna.blogspot.com/
http://tackychristmasyards.com/
http://clauschronicles.blogspot.com/
http://stjoesphotographers.blogspot.com/
http://spectralart.blogspot.com/

Viva La Baseball!

I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Football season is over. Now all I have to do is make it through basketball season and March madness. Then it will be BASEBALL SEASON!!!! YES, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is good.

I love baseball. It goes back to when I was a little girl. My mom loved the Mets. She used to like the Dodgers when they were in New York, but then they moved to Los Angeles. She never really forgave them for moving to California and that was in 1958. Anyway, we lived in New York until I was 11 and we would watch the Mets on TV whenever they were on. I grew up on great Mets like Tug McGraw, Tom Seaver, Ron Swoboda, Yogi Bera, Rusty Staub, Daryl Strawberry, Mookie Wilson, etc…

Of course, there was no asking of questions or talking during the game. That was forbidden. The game was on, either you sat and watched or you went to another room and were quiet.

After we left New York and moved to Florida my mom really missed being able to watch the Mets. So I saved up enough money and I bought her a year of cable (we hadn’t had it before) so that she could get WWOR, New York and watch them whenever. That present meant a lot to both her and me.

I was an on and off fan, didn’t really care, but cared. I was really excited in 1993 when Florida got its own team, the Marlins. I could have my own team to root for; I could begin with them and have a history of my own. Unfortunately my mom died before we could actually go to a game together. That would have been great. Especially if the Marlins had played the Mets.

I still like the Mets and follow them, but not as much as I do the Marlins. Baseball is such a great game and has such tradition and history that I really am just a little kid when it comes to watching games. I yell and scream and hoot at the screen whenever I am able to watch a game. You should have seen me when the Marlins won their second World Series!!!!

Of course, you also should have seen me when I realized after I moved to TN that baseball was treated like almost nothing. The news hardly says anything about my team; oh they talk about the Braves once in awhile, but YUCK! I can only watch the Marlins or the Mets if they happen to be playing the Braves or the Cubs because we get those channels on cable. If I want to see my Marlins, then I have to purchase the baseball package from Comcast. Which I find wrong on so many levels. It is a game for the people and yet only people who have money can actually follow it. You can only listen to the games online if you purchase the pack through MLB. How wrong is that!!?? What started out being something for everyone has become a franchise to help people get richer.

My mom would be so sad about that. I wish we could get back to when it was fun. Not merchandise, not a money making sport. I know there are people that are out there that feel the same. They want it to go back to what it used to be, something special that you shared with your friends and family. Something personal, something that you could share, a tradition.

Despite all of that though, I try and continue the baseball legacy with Patrick. So far though, it doesn’t seem to be catching. But then again, it didn’t really catch with me at his age. It’s a wonderful memory that I have about my mom and hopefully he will have that same memory and the cycle will continue.

LONG LIVE BASEBALL! LONG LIVE TRADITION!

Ummm ...

Have you ever just had nothing to say? I get like that sometimes. Sometimes it's because I really have nothing to say. If pressed I can come up with something, but times like that I just have nothing to say. It's all been said before, why repeat it kind of a mood.

Other times, I have nothing to say because I just can't form the words in my head and it is better if I just say nothing at all. I can't seem to formulate a thought or get my point across. I just draw a blank and I know that if I sat and really thought about it I could come up with something thoughtful and profound, but I just don't feel like it. I just kind of sit and am thoughtful but the brain cells are just on vacation.

Today, I think I am a little of both. I can't think of anything worthwhile to say plus I'm sure it has all been said before. I have things I could say and I could ramble (which is kind of what I am doing) and go on and on about things like politics, movies, the world, etc... but I am just not in the mood and the brain cells are not forming anything that could be of use anyway.

I'm mush. That's what it is. I've become a human form of oatmeal and just need to regenerate my brain back to a thinking human being.

Well I'm glad it's the weekend. Viva la oatmeal!