I am lost without ?
My child. I used to snicker at those insipid women who went on and on about motherhood, but then I became a mother and it was instantaneous. I was in deep deep deep love. NEVER felt anything that powerful in my life. I don't go on and on about how great she is to others....but I want to. I want to SO BAD.
What do you find ugly?
Ignorance. One of my sisters LOVES to make fun of Obama, but she had no idea who Michele Bachmann was. And she brags about being a Republican. She never watched ANY of the Republican debates. I find that ridiculous. She has NO knowledge of any of Obama's policies, what he has tried to do in office. She goes glassy eyed when I try to explain that the senate and the house have pretty much tied his hands behind his back and that the economy didn't just start sucking when he took office. Bush managed to stink up the place pretty well before his term. In short, she is ignorant. My other sister often talks sensibly about Obama with me when it is just the two of us, but when she is in a group and everyone is ganging up on me, she says incredibly stupid things like,"I think he's a Muslim." I just stare at her. I really have very little respect for ignorance. You want to debate politics with me? GOOD! But, EDUCATE yourself first. Don't bring your ignorance to the table and expect to get away with idiotic one liners.
What change to your routine has saved you the most time?
Um...okay. I thought of one. I started using shortcuts when I text even though I swore I never would. So...like if I was texting you this message, it would be "Um, ok. I thot of 1. I started using shortcuts when I text even tho I swore I nvr would. So, like if I was texting u this msg, it would b...
What is the most useful thing you own?
An automatic sprinkler system for my garden. I used to spend long hours watering by hand. No more.
What makes you tick?
Education. I educate myself as much as I can about all topics that interest me. I never want to get caught with my ignorance showing.
What is the worst advice you've ever received?
Don't take too many chances. Better safe than sorry. Courtesy of my dear departed sainted Irish mother.
What's something you need more of in your life?
I know I say this too much, but seriously...I NEED MORE SLEEP.
What's a small miracle that has occurred in your life?
Bing not giving up on me. I mean, think about it. She claims to have fallen madly in love with me when we were 18. We tried a relationship when Liv was an infant and failed. I wasn't ready. She moved back to New Orleans and returned about five years later when she got a job offer here that was too lucrative to pass up. We slowly became close again. And then I told her that I thought I really was ready this time. She was cautious, but decided to give me one more chance. And I've managed to stay put. I would NEVER have let her back into my life if she did that to me. EVER. Says a lot about both of us, yes?
What's something that is truly unpredictable?
The weather. I have lived in the heartland most of my life. And it is the weather. A balmy summer's day will suddenly turn into a vicious thunderstorm in SECONDS. A blizzard will come slashing through the prairie faster than you can say, "I just drove to work ten minutes ago and the sun was out!"
There's no excuse for ?
Child abuse. None. NADA. I don't care if you were beaten to a pulp by your parents. You are now a grown up and somewhere inside of yourself you KNOW that beating a child is wrong, you know this intrinsically but you keep doing it? GET SOME HELP!
What a common happiness mistake people often make?
I think love at first sight. I am not saying it t'aint so, I'm saying that I am doubtful. Know that the first 10 months of any relationship is basically a happy lie. You are putting your best foot forward and so is your love. Hiding all that nasty baggage. And most of us have at least some of it. You go around thinking that you stumbled into the holy grail of love or something. And then...ten months later? Wham. You have to come thudding to the ground. If you realize from day one that this is NOT REAL, NOT YET...you will do fine. If you think you and yours are a match made in heaven because every single day is nirvana? You are riding a delusional horse there, Trixie. Real love is thorny but worth it.
What must be experienced to be understood?
Pain. My partner, Bing is one of those people who never even got headaches. Perfect health. And whenever I was ailing, she always seemed to think that if I just took a nice long walk, I'd feel better. Now, she has unexplained back pain and it is pretty horrific...like.."I can barely sleep" horrific. She told me that she feels terrible for all the time that she thought I was being a whiner. "I can see how you must have wanted to slap me or something," she says. I did. But, I would never have wished pain on her. Ever. Still. Once you've experienced pain, especially helpless pain...the kind where nothing helps to soothe it...you are better able to sympathize with others.
What one thing you regret leaving unresolved?
My mother died feeling as if she was justified in disowning me. I will always wonder if I could have tried harder to make her understand.
When you truly love someone, you don't ?
love them conditionally. You are either all in or not. Loving someone with strings isn't love, it's power.
What's 1 essential ingredient found in all healthy relationships?
Trust. If you can't trust your partner, you can't love them properly.
What instantly makes a person unattractive?
Smoking. I was a smoker for ten years. Now just the smell of cigarette smoke makes me feel queasy. Plus, it turns your teeth yellow.
What's one priceless lesson you learned from a mistake?
Always say you are sorry if you know you are wrong. If you don't, time goes by and you are less inclined to say it and the person you wronged is less inclined to believe you.
How would you describe the last month of your life in one word?
Hectic.
What's a simple way to make a stranger smile?
Why do I want to make a stranger smile?
What's something everyone should know how to do?
Read.
What is the best part of your average day?
Quitting time.
What do you see everywhere you go?
People trying to fit in. And it is so unnecessary.
What is the top source of heartache in your life?
My expectations that everyone should think just like I do. I set myself up for disappointment, yes?
What will you never put up with
Bullying.
I would never be friends with someone who
is a racist.
I have a weakness for
Munchos potato chips.
What has changed in your life in the past year?
My energy level. It goes down a little each year.
What do most people take for granted?
That their loved ones will still be there when they awaken.
My life would be a lot different without
electricity.
What is the best thing that has happened to you in the past year?
My marriage has improved after we both made the conscious decision to work harder at getting along.
What do you always look forward to?
That first moment when I stretch out my toes in bed at night. I am always so exhausted.
If you could relive the past year, what would you do differently?
I would have visited Bing in Berlin last summer. She wanted me to, I was dragging my feet for some reason. I think it would have been good for us.
What's something that always leaves you wanting more?
A good book. I hate letting go of characters that feel like my best friends and family.
And one more...
In one sentence, how would you describe your relationship with your best friend?
Multifaceted.
More later....want to take any of these on, dudes?
17 comments:
My answers would be crazy close to yours, so really- I don't need to do this one!
But I think you called me Trixie. Haha
Your comment about your mother's advice hit home. It was a familiar refrain in our house as I was growing up too. "Don't do that - you might get hurt. In reality I've probably sustained far more damage from the fear they instilled in me.
Being chronically tired resonates with me too, it is rare when I wake up feeling refreshed, and it never happens on workdays, even if I somehow managed to sneak in an extra hour of sleep.
I am loving your answers to these questions... keep 'em coming!!
Actually, your sister is not all wrong. Obama was born of a Muslim father. Muslim lineage is passed through the father. Muslims are not allowed to leave their faith or they face death for apostasy. Obama wen to a Muslim grade school in Indonesia. Obama has been very friendly with Islamist governments and political groups in Africa and the Middle East. These political groups will eventually end up creating laws that will end up killing gays, women, and non-Muslims in Muslim countries.
- Rae
Rae,
Define "friendly." Actual incidents. Not hear say. And is it above and beyond how he treats everyone else? And what kind of government system are you talking about exactly when referring to Muslims? Do they "create laws"? Really? Which political groups? Again. Be specific.
I understand your views on Catholic schools but if you think that public schools here in the heartland are supportive of openly gay teachers, you are sadly mistaken. Bing is more in the " don't ask, don't tell" region. If she were to start spouting gay rhetoric, she would be looked at very, very carefully.
I allowed my daughter to choose her own junior high. I would never have chosen a Catholic school. It was her decision, not mine. And yes, I am her parent, but it is absolutely my choice and my prerogative to allow her to make this decision on her own. I offered input, but let the final choice be hers alone.
And as I've said many, many times...I am remarkably human.
I understand what you are saying but I am in disagreement with you about Obama and it is precisely the kind of rhetoric that you used that irritates me the most. All this talking about him being "too friendly" but really giving no clear facts. What? He smiled too much? And precisely what has he done to favor Islamists over everyone else? Exact incidents would he helpful.
Rae,
In answer to your question of why your last comment was blocked out: I went to it and it was a piece of shit propaganda that bordered on ridiculous.
I was willing to take some of your comments seriously at first, but after reading that, I no longer will. And I did notice that you didn't bother to answer my request that you be more factual and specific.
Any more trash you leave on my blog will be disposed of immediately. There is room for intelligent discourse on this blog, not blatant fanaticism. I become annoyed at comments that are obviously not well researched, such as yours regarding the fact that Obama went to a Muslim school. Hi family lived in Indonesia from 1967 to 1971 and since the country is 90% Muslim it is no surprise. His school taught Christianity as well as Islam principles. But it was absolutely not a madrassa school. That piece of propaganda was debunked in 2008. For fuck sake, DO your homework. I went to Catholic schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. I am not a practicing Catholic. If I run for office, should I run as a Catholic because I attended parochial schools? I tire easily of this sort of smearing that people such as yourself seem hell bent on throwing.
I did ask Bing to follow your feed back to it's origin and if you keep leaving these idiotic sites on my blog, I will block you from it.
Good for you, Maria!
Go, Maria! Ignorance may be bliss, but it is certainly annoying to those of us with brains. I love that you gave her a chance to back up her moronic claims and that she couldn't/wouldn't/didn't.
Lisa
It is pretty disheartening to talk to people who don't know much about what is going on politically. It is scary that everyone's vote counts the same. I also have a hard time with repubs or dems who are so partisan that they can't see anything from the other side's POV. Neither party has one-hundred percent dibs on the best path forward.
My life would be different without...
electricity.
Thanks for the chuckle, Maria!
(And thanks for your responses to that Rae.)
I love your answers to these questions, but I love seeing you using facts to put this Rae person in her place even more.
In all fairness, "Rae" did attempt to back up a few of her claims. I just refuse to put such nonsensical sites on my blog. It IS my blog, afterall and if I don't want some loathsome extremist sites listed as "truth" and "fact", it is totally in my power to disallow them on here.
Rae, if you would like to give a blog site, e-mail address or DOCUMENTED proof, I will be delighted to post what you send. Until then, maybe my blog just isn't your cup of tea. I know that you want your views heard and while I'm sure that there are those who feel exactly as you do (and seriously...some of them are my family members) but I refuse to publish undocumented propaganda. So..if you have a blog, etc. feel free to let everyone know and they can all read your viewpoint. But, I won't be guiding people to that sort of shit on my blog. Sorry.
Hmmmm......it appears that the other posters after my name can't separate "facts" from sentiment.
In any case, if you've looked at those links and did those Google searches I've recommended, you will see, Maria, that I've provided enough material to suggest your sister is not speaking from nothing when she talks about Obama this way. As a Canadian, I'm quite worried about some of his foreign policy decisions.
In any case, it's a disappointment when someone who is as gifted a writer as you responds with such a potty mouth. Pity.
- Rae
What must be experienced to be understood? Vaginal childbirth (I specify because I have never experienced surgical childbirth). No one can possibly truly grasp what it is like to labor for hours (sometimes days), be in such pain and then push a human being out of your body. That was by far the most empowering experience I've ever had, but it is such a difficult experience to actually convey to someone else. They have to go through it themselves to really know what I'm talking about.
That hmmmm sounds very, very familiar.
And seriously? You didn't know that I have a um..."potty mouth?" How long have you been reading this blog?
I'm sorry...just the term "potty mouth" makes me want to cut loose with a big FUCK. Childish, I know. And to top it all off, I'm snickering. This is unacceptable.
Good luck to you, Rae. I wish you put some of that energy you use reading those awfully silly conspiracy theory articles into some of the ones that I fancy. But, you know...I'm not going to send you those sites because we both know you won't be reading them. I did read the sites you sent, but seriously...they were drivel.
I hope you find a blog where you agree more with the author. There are TONS of them out there. But you know that....
Maria, I'm sorry about your mother but I believe she is the one who didn't try hard enough. You were deeply hurt - how could you be expected to do more under the circumstances?
And I have to say that I DO believe in love at first sight because both Flip and I experienced it when we met, and we had twenty really beautiful years together of love, passion, devotion, trust, humor and kindness. We were incredibly lucky to share all that.
Ya gotta love someone (Rae) who spreads ignorant rhetoric and won't (can't) back any of it up, and then blasts you for being a fucking potty mouth.
Geeez. you're FAR more patient than I, Maria!!
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