Really Mad, not “Acting”

I got up rather early for me, this morning, about 8:30.  That’s early because of going to bed at 3:00, but still…

Anyway, got up, got breakfast ready, then computer time for email, and beginning-of-day stuff.  While I was going through email, I saw one of those ads about seeing pictures of all the stars and their children taken at the same age.  It is basically to show how much they look alike.  And, they do, for the most part.  What was, at first, annoying, then, infuriating, was the person assigned to write the captions to all the pictures.  I think it is so cool to see the resemblances between parents and children, especially if I haven’t seen or, perhaps, don’t know the children.  That is what I wanted to see and hear about.  Yes, I wanted to know if they followed in their parent’s footsteps.  Yes, I wanted to know how they were doing.  What I didn’t need was a caption-by-cation talk about how “we hope so-and-so got a good inheritance”, “so-and-so doesn’t need a good inheritance”, and so on and so on ad adnauseum (yeah, that may not be right, but you know what it means).

It’s as if not a single actor or actress today would think of doing anything but living off of Mom or Dad’s money.  I know there are a few…mention those.  But to keep harping on the financial independence so much made me so upset, I quit looking at the pictures and stopped to write this post.  I mean, really, kids are not truly that bad.  Yes, there are some (read that as “a lot”), however, many many kids in their 20s and 30s do work and work hard.  To have to keep saying that “so-and-so certainly does or doesn’t need the money” only tells me that the caption writer did no research, had no time to write, did not care about the subject.  All of these are good reasons not to publish such stuff until it is done right.

Maybe I am just flipping out, maybe I am just tired, but it seems to me that there is more to the stories if people would just take some time (something not prone to do in today’s world) and study their jobs at hand.

*The “” were mine for emphasis, not to be construed as a direct quote.

Namaste,

Scott

Friday Fictioneer’s – Life’s Cycle

From the prompt offered by Ted Strutz on the page of Rochelle, it is Friday Fictioneers.  100 words or less to make a complete beginning, middle, and end to a story or well-crafted thought.  Click here to view more stories or to join the group.

Here is my offering:

Life’s Cycle

He covered the hubcap with a dartboard.  Then, the neighborhood kids and even from farther out came to try and score.
For $1 you got to throw 3 darts from 10ft.  if any stuck and remained in the bullseye, the participant received a new, freshly-painted bicycle on display.  It was estimated that in the first two weeks, he gave away 3 bicycles and made over $400, a decent profit.
It all ended the day a kid from another town stopped by and saw his bike on display, the initials and phone number carved under the seat where he put it.

Word Count:  100 words

Namaste,

Scott

10 Reasons to Probably Stop Dating the Woman You are Seeing – Rated PG13

Source: Google Search (with license for reuse) Click on Pic for Page.

I just finished reading “11 Signs You Should Call It Quits with the Guy You are Dating”  by Bad Chi.  Click the title to read the post.  It’s good.  It’s funny and informative, and really true.  It got me thinking that, perhaps, I should write one about women.  Guys, whether you are dating someone or thinking about it, doesn’t matter, you have some basic guidelines you should follow.  I am talking here about dating with the intention to go long-term.  This is not an article for the “get in her pants” group.  You guys, you will get what you deserve.  You just don’t know it yet.

1)  She really really cares about your motorcycle and/or sports car. Now, I know that many of you guys have these items specifically to get this woman.  But, think about this, dating her for any good length of time, is going be based ON THIS, NOT ON YOU.  Unless you are really shallow (then you deserve her), go somewhere else.

2)  She asks what you do for a living or how much money you make within the first 15 minutes.  Again, this means she is really really concerned about wealth, not necessarily you.

3)  She knocks down more than 3 drinks at your first date.  ’nuff said.

4)  She brings up church, religion, and/or the Bible more than 5 times in the first hour you talk.  Really?  It’s fine to be religious, but a zealot like this is going to be difficult to live up to.  It goes the same if she tries to save your soul in the first hour or so.

5)  Her pictures online show her with many animals in the pictures (or she continually talks about what an animal lover she is).  Now, nothing wrong with pets.  You may even like a lot of them, too.  Just remember that if this is basically all she shows or talks about, your future may be mostly about dealing with animals, not dating her.

6)  When asked about her desires or goals she talks about world peace.  Umm, yeah.  not going there…

7)  She wants to jump in the sack right away and doesn’t seem to worry about protection.  Again, I know this seems to go contrary to what most guys seem to want, but think about this:  if she is that quick to make it and doesn’t care about protection – you are sleeping with every guy she has…

8)  She talks about your future life together after marriage – on the first couple of dates – RUN! – that is all.

9)  She discusses her 4 or more marriages with you – There might be a good reason and you may still end up dating her, but really watch this one – she could be just a person who likes to try on a marriage or one who lives on the settlements of a good divorce.

10)  She seems absolutely perfect, absolutely.  Nope, dig deep, or run.  No one is that perfect.  Yeah, I suppose it happens, but be smart and don’t wait for the “I do” to find out you really shouldn’t because she isn’t.

That’s  my initial take on it guys.  Ladies, you can read “Only Bad Chi’s” article and/or you can switch a little of what I said above to make it fit your needs.  Guys who exhibit the above traits probably aren’t so hot either.

_____________________________

Namaste,

Scott

Once Again, Affirmation Works!

 

Source: Google Image Search with License for Reuse Click on Pic for Page.

This has been an interesting month.  I often read Mollie Player’s blog about affirmations.  I have proofed one of her books twice.  Buy one and read it.  She has an interesting way of looking at things; kinda like me, only different (that statement always looks weird when I read it).

One of her basic premises, and I share it, too, is that we get what we affirm.  I test that, in my own little way, each month.  It’s not really a test; it’s a putting into practice.  On the 1st of each month, I choose an amount that I am comfortable with and affirm that I will have that extra to spend by the 1st of the next month.  I began with $50 for the first 2-3 months.  Each month, that amount or a little more would come to me.  I did $100 one month and, though it took 3-4 different sources, I received that amount.

On the first or so of September of this year, I decided to try $150.  I realized yesterday that we were about 3/4 of the way through the month and I did not think I had received any!  I did not panic; I simply thought, “Okay, you are just not supposed to worry about it and let it happen.”  Later that day my Mom stopped into the house and while we were talking she said, “Here’s $20 just so you will have some.”  Then she remembered about me doing laundry and gave me 8 quarters.  I thought, “Well, there’s $22 of my $150.”  Then it hit me and I started checking into things.

I receive my check for disability once a month on the fourth Wednesday of the month.  This was Tuesday, the day before.  I realized that I had bought gas for the car yesterday when I normally have used up my allotment for the month.  Then I realized I had gone to Walmart for groceries and I had $13 in my pocket I don’t normally have at this time of the month.  That worked out this way:

$20 Mom + $2 Quarters + $22 Gas + $33 Groceries = $77  Now, I was a bit excited.  I was almost 1/2 way there.  See, having the money because you did not have to spend it is the same as having it extra.  I went to the computer and brought up  my spreadsheet for my budget.  There had been 3 bills that, due to summer and the nice weather, had been lower this month and I did not get someone to clean the house a second time ($40 Cleaning).  I added up what was left for the month in my budget and the total of all of it was $167!!!  I thought that an odd amount.  But, tonight, Tuesday, I took my Sis out for her birthday (I had forgotten I had budgeted for that) and it was about $17 which brought the total down to, YEP!, $150.

Remember the head honcho on the old show “A-Team” when he would always say, “I love it when a plan comes together”? – Well, so do I.

_____________________________________

Namaste,

Scott

And So It Goes

Since I did the post on Amanda Todd, the young woman who killed herself after being “bullied” for years, I have done a lot of surfing. That issue came up again, but in a little stranger place and, kinda, caught me off-guard.

So, I am surfing. I am, actually, reading new posts and trying to get a handle on the fact that I started following a whole lot of people that I didn’t mean to and am working on fixing that situation. If I follow you, I try to read all your posts and, in some way, let you know I did. But I can’t follow 137 posts and I know it, so just know that, if I stop following you and I have been for several months, let me know – I can fix that if I know.

OK, back to the article.

I was reading The Scarlett Heartt‘s post for today.  To the right side was listed some articles.  I decided to read this one: Porn producers threaten to flee LA over condom rule http://t.co/FOBr1NP6 .

When I read that the porn industry does over a billion dollars a year of business in that county, I was a little amazed.  I decided to try a post concerned with how this amount, though small in many respects, is measurable against our country’s national debt (Yeah, about 1,200 years of that income would clear it if we don’t increase it again).

Sorry for the pic, but thought you should kinda “see” what I am talking about.

Reading that article, begged the reading of this one: Girl Power Eroded by Cheap and Smutty Schoolgirl Photos .  Now, that one would’ve made a decent article (“decent” taking on a, perhaps, different meaning here), but I started reading the comments (as there were 211)

As I read through them, I was irreverently struck by the idea that so many people out there have little or no feelings for how “kids” are being treated.  Then, the article topped it off with a reference to Amanda Todd.  That got my attention and my article here was born.

I would encourage you to read the three links above and start reading the 210 comments.  See if you don’t get inflamed by the callousness used there.

Now, I will state that, when a person turns 18 (in the US), then their decisions (Unless a mental problem exists) are law-abiding and should not be considered “underage”.  However, so many of these comments were firing insults and harsh tones at the younger ladies (14 or so) who made the mistake of going into a bar while underage and drinking, then making choices (flashing), getting their pictures taken this way, and those pictures finding their way onto Facebook and other sites.

Underage means not old enough to make clear, good choices.  A lot of people forget that the US lowered that mark from 21 to 18 in the last 40 years.  All of a sudden people who had been “kids” were automatically adults.  Do you remember being 14?  That’s usually about 8th grade.  Did your decisions all make sense back then in the context of the world?  I trusted people I shouldn’t have trusted.  I got angry with people I shouldn’t have gotten angry with.  I made all kinds of mistakes.

So, my simple, humble opinion is that a 14 year old can’t make a good solid decision to stay out of a nightclub and can’t make a good solid decision to not drink once in there.  So, if they want popularity and to feel, temporarily, good about themselves, how can they make a good solid decision, while drinking, to not flash a little for someone who is complimenting them highly?  Then, they wake up the next day and soon find they did these things and want them to be deleted.

Why not?

They should not have been done in the first place.  There was no consent signed and, even though it was a public business, if they were going to pose a little compromisingly, the owner (ah, an adult) should have been the one to make certain he had both permission and legal rights (id) to post those pics.

I am not totally disagreeing with everything  said in the comments.  What I am saying is that we, as adults, have this tendency to either treat young adults (18-23) as children or to tread kids (12-17) as adults.  Neither of these is correct and will lead to problems.  I bring back in Amanda Todd here as a prime example.

Many of the comments told readers that the girls needed to “grow up“…right, precisely my point.

Namaste,

Scott