experiment

I'm just playing around, trying to see if I can blog from my little device thingie. If you're seeing this,it worked! Good news for any attempted blogging at RT in a few weeks.

Oh, Lawsy

It's been an oh, lawsy kind of day.

I've got a friend who is scheduled to pop sometime in October.  She's been on bedrest for a while now, and she had to see the doctor today for possible preeclampsia.  (For anyone unfamiliar with pregnancy stuff, that's not good.)  I was very happy to hear just a little bit ago that the baby is a-ok.  They are talking about inducing her on the 27th, but the doc thinks the baby may come sooner.

Oh, lawsy.  I'm going to have to get it in gear if I'm going to get my gift to the baby before she arrives.  We call her mama Diva, and it surprises me not at all that her Sweet Pea is looking to make a grand entrance.

I got an email from my sister-in-law late this evening.  She's invited me to join a Bible study that starts tomorrow.  Oh, lawsy.  I want to be social.  I appreciate the invitation and that she wants to include me.  But a once a week Bible study is pretty much the exact last thing I want to do.

Suggestion on this one would be much appreciated.  Do I politely decline the first away-from-the-rest-of-the-family overture from her, or do I say yes and spend 2 hours a week for the next month studying something I'm actively resistant to learning?

Wednesday is my mother's birthday.  Got an email from Amazon.  Estimated delivery date on her present is Thursday.  Oh, lawsy.

This morning I went out for the first time in a month to check out craft supplies for the collage I'm supposed to be making for my writing class.  First place I go is Michaels, with 50% off coupons in hand.  I can't find a single thing I'm looking for, and every single employee is in a staff meeting at the back of the store, so I can't find anyone to help me.  Oh, lawsy.

So I slog next door to Hobby Lobby, where they have exactly what I want, well organized and all in the same section, and multiple staff members in the aisles, ready to help me find stuff.  I spent some money, got exactly what I wanted, and got out.  But not before becoming completely exhausted and overheated.  Oh. lawsy.  Too much.  Next time I'm skipping Michaels, I don't care how good the coupons are.

See what I mean?  It was an oh, lawsy kind of day.

Lip Balm of the Day: Orange Snowballs

I'm a rotten person

There's an online group that I follow (for the handful of people who actually read my blog-- it's not the one you're thinking of), and it's experiencing a bit of a crisis.  It turns out that two very popular members have been at best misrepresenting themselves and at worst may be completely fictional.  And now a third, equally popular member has just announced he's going radio silent for a while.  Not that that's not a perfectly legit thing to do.  Shit happens, and real life always trumps internet life.  But the timing is suspicious.  (And now I've discovered there is a fourth member who is supposedly related to guy number three, so if Three is a fake, Four is most assuredly one, too.)

I can hear you all now.  "How does any of this make you a bad person, Becky?"  It makes me a bad person because I'm enjoying the whole thing way too much.

Look, here's the deal.  These three people were all wildly popular.  The darlings of the group, with lots of attention heaped upon them.  Two of the three posted pictures that showed them to be incredibly good looking.  (It was the pictures that started the whole thing-- they were found to be a professional photographer's copyrighted work.)  All three claim to be young (18-19) and in incredibly mature, loving relationships.  All three are extremely articulate, sounding much more wise and mature than the typical 18 or 19 year old.  All three have families who are completely accepting of their homosexuality.  Only good things happen to them.  Any bad things happened in the past and are straight out of an after school special.

Do you see where I'm going with all this?  We're talking about teenagers who have it all figured out.  (And not in that annoying, you don't know anything yet kid, teenagerish way.)  Kids who have perfect lives, perfect relationships, and nothing but sunshine and rainbows in their future.  There's no way that it's real.  And yet a whole bunch of otherwise intelligent adults have been taken in by it.  Now everyone's scrambling around, some condemning them, in the politest language possible, for lying, while others are getting progressively more upset because they see it as a whole bunch of adults ganging up on a couple of kids who made a mistake.

But the thing is, I don't think these are kids.  My pet theory, and I'm starting to doubt that there will ever be any clear truth to match it up with, is that this is a big prank.  I think Dudes #1 and #2 (who are supposedly a couple) are actually one person creating a story, maybe for the fun of creating a story, maybe for attention or the fun of pulling one over on a bunch of people too willing to take a story at face value.  Maybe just for the hell of it.  I think Dude #3 is possibly a little more on the level.  I think he really is a 19 year old.  I think some of what he's said is true.  I think his relationship is probably an invention, possibly because he saw all the attention that Dudes #1 and #2 were getting, possibly because he's a 19 year old who desperately wishes he had that perfect relationship.  If that's the case, then Dude #4 is probably a sock puppet invented to prop up the stories of Dude #3.

Other than being kind of amused by the lengths some people will go to for a bit of attention, I don't really care that they've done this.  It was so obviously not the truth, or at least not the whole truth, that I have nothing invested in these people or their stories.  But there are other people who do, and who are really upset about all this.  (See, bad person.)  I'm just hoping that the bad feelings blow over soon, because this really is a good group, if a little too willing to believe whatever random internet bs they're fed.

In completely unrelated news, Dad has been running a low grade fever all day, and now I am, too.  And the lip balm flavor of the day is peppermint.  Yum!

Update: Dudes #1 and #2 have admitted that they grabbed a couple of pictures off the internet and claimed them as their own and apologized.  They still claim to be two 18 and 19 year old gay guys, and while they also admit that may have glossed over some things, what they have said has been true.  Their supporters immediately started praising them for their courage in coming clean and admitting their mistake.  A few brave souls have said (politely) that they don't believe that these guys are really guys.  (It's a m/m romance community, and apparently it's not just the authors who are often secretly women in groups like this.)  The supporters are now getting outraged at the skeptics, claiming that they are so guys!  And anyway, they don't care if they aren't.  Lots of people wander in to quote "this too shall pass" at everyone and wander back out again.  I think a more apt quote at this point would be "there are none so blind as those who will not see."

Dude #3 popped back up today to say that he had a panic attack and that's why he posted yesterday that he was taking a break, although his wonderful boyfriend helped him through it, and he's considering getting some counseling, because the panic attacks have happened before.  Highly dubious, although I'm still inclined to believe that there is a real 19 year old gay kid behind this one, even if a lot of what he's said about his relationship is pure fiction.

And I'm still a bad person, because I'm still sitting back with my popcorn, enjoying the whole thing.

Windows!

Today was a very busy day.  After over a week of rain outs and rescheduling, the work crew came today and replaced every window in the house.  It was noisy and weird, having a half dozen strangers traipsing in and out of the house all day.  But it was supposed to take two days, and they finished in one.  This was an inexpressible relief to me.  Also, we never got out of the 70s today, so the house stayed nice and cool while big holes were opened up all over the place.  We took Trouble to "summer camp" to keep him out from under foot, and he's still there until tomorrow.  Which means I get to sleep in the middle of the bed tonight!  Yay me!  (Trouble is a total bed hog.)

While the crew was here banging around, Mom and I went out to run errands.  Mostly I sat in the car and read while she did stuff, but still.  At least I left the house for a little while.  The one place I did go in was Target.  I needed Midol (sexy!), plus I wanted to get a sleep mask.  And I discovered that Dr. Bronner's was on sale, so I bought a bucket full of soap.  Dr. Bronner might have been... interesting, but his soap is good stuff.  I'm less rashy now that I'm using it, and less smelly.  Well, less smelly in a bad way.  I get the lavender scented kind, and while it's not heavy, the scent lingers nicely.

I'm going to have to call Amazon again tomorrow about my Kindle.  It's not doing anything horrendous, but it's not acting quite right, either.  Last night all my content disappeared for a little while, and then it didn't want to turn off or reset.  I finally got it going again, but now it's not bringing the most recently opened books to the front of the file.  Which doesn't sound like a big deal, but is annoying when you've got forty books in a file and you have to page through the whole file to find the one you're looking for every time you want to read again.  It's still not time to replace it, but every time it does something screwy like this, that time gets a little bit closer.

So, that's what's going on for me right now.  Nothing thrilling, just the every day blah, blah, blah of life.

Just for the Fokker

I saw this and immediately thought of Betty Fokker.  Don't you agree?

Hanging on to the Happy

I've been dealing with some difficult internal stuff this past week, and there have been a few things that have saved me.

1) Comfort food.  Last night I made a Mexican casserole that I used to make in Houston.  It wasn't quite how I'd have done it if I were working from scratch (I'd rather start off with chicken and rotel in the crockpot instead of left over cooked chicken), but it was still pretty good and a taste of home.  Then I made a Strawberry Dream Pie.  Tonight Mom made mashed potatoes and gravy just for me.  Yum.  I had a bowl for a midnight snack, too.

2) I'm reading a really fantastic book called A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.  Really.  It's fab.  I'll be reviewing it soon.  I'm about half way through the book, only 275 more pages to go.  It's a big 'un.

3) I've been listening to a LOT of Katy Perry.  Very peppy.  My favorite is Teenage Dream.  But I don't love the video, so here is the boys' choir from Glee doing their version.  Hope it makes you as happy as it makes me.

Little Mysteries

Something the wonderful Julie said in her comments the other day got me thinking about this.  The odd, random stuff that comes up in conversation sometimes.  The little things that you never would have guessed about someone-- even someone you know well.  I decided to dig around in my personal closet and see if I can find a few to share.

I was in the marching band in high school.  I played the flute.  I still have it, but I don't play it much anymore.  Whenever I do, it scares the cat.  In my four years we won the state competition twice and marched in two national parades-- the Orange Bowl parade and the Fiesta Bowl parade.

My favorite TV show as a kid was The Dukes of Hazzard.  The Best Christmas Ever was the year when it fell on a Friday, and therefore it was both Christmas and Dukes of Hazzard day all in one.  (Although I don't remember actually watching the show that day.  But I sure do remember being excited about it!)  I had the hugest crush on Bo Duke.

I finaled in the first RWA chapter contest I ever entered-- West Houston RWA's Emily.  I was 22 and at my first RWA meeting.  Everyone kept talking about the Emily, but no one actually said what it was.  As the meeting broke up I approached someone-- it turned out to be a pre-published NYT Bestselling Author Kerrelyn Sparks-- and asked what the Emily was.  She said, "It's our chapter contest.  You have to enter!"  So I did.  One judge gave me a perfect score.  Another wrote in the comments that she felt I was ready for publication.  Almost 15 years later and it's still the most success I've had with my writing.  I never did finish that book.

My grandmother was one of the first people ever on TV.  She worked in Philadelphia for a company that was developing the technology.  They needed something to broadcast, so they got their employees together and had a talent show.  My grandmother sang.  (When she wasn't typing or running a switchboard at her day job, she was a professional church soloist.)  Somewhere we have an album with the group photo from her television performance.  Based on the family stories I did a little googling, and I think this is what she did.  I'm pretty sure she worked for Philco.  I'd ask my parents to be sure, but they're asleep right now. ;p

I inherited musical talent from the other side of the family, too.  My great grandfather was an orchestra leader in Philadelphia.  One day he was walking down the street with his wife when he said, "Someday I'm going to play trumpet in that church."  Her response was reportedly, "Honey, that's not our church.  Plus, you don't play the trumpet."  So he learned.  And damned if he didn't play trumpet there professionally one day.

I've been in, I believe 36 out of 50 states.  I've lived in 5 of them-- Pennsylvania, Iowa, Texas, Indiana, and Massachusetts.  I've lived in two of them twice-- Indiana and Texas.  I've made brief forays into the edges of Canada and Mexico (pre-9/11, when you didn't need a passport to cross the border), but other than that I've never left the country.  If I could go anywhere in the world, and silly things like cost, my physical limitations, and the political situation were no barrier, I'd go to see the monuments of Egypt.  It would be cool to see England someday, too.  But if I could only go one place, it would be Egypt.

I never met my paternal grandmother.  She died shortly before I was born.  But she did come to me once, in a dream.  My grandfather, who had died a couple years before, was with her.  I was in high school and one of my best friends had died.  In the dream Mom Mom and Pop Pop were holding hands, and they told me that it was OK, that I didn't have to worry anymore.  Jasper was there, he was safe, and they were looking out for him.  I woke up crying.

My parents were both juniors.  So when they got married they decided that their children would not be named after anyone.  I am Rebecca Lynn and my brother is Jeremy Daniel.  (I insisted on the Daniel.  In fact, according to my parents, I never called him anything but My Jeremy Daniel for the first year of his life.)  Being their first child, Mom and Dad recorded the calls they made to friends and family announcing my birth.  Somewhere, in one of these million and a half boxes we just hauled half way across the country, there is a recording of some great aunt somewhere saying, "Rebecca Lynn?  What kind of name is Rebecca Lynn?"

When I was a kid my dad used to tease me and tell me that he'd wanted to name me Agnella Blossom, but my mom wouldn't let him.

Every year we put our Christmas tree up on Christmas Eve.  (Except for this year when we're going to do it a few days early to make things a little less stressful.)  When we were little Santa put up the tree.  Once we got a little older we were allowed to help put up the tree as a way to help Santa out.  All those millions of other kids to get to, you know.

My brother believed in Santa until late in his elementary years.  In fact, at 32 I still haven't ever heard him admit that he isn't a real, flesh and blood man who comes down the chimney to deliver presents once a year.  (Hey, my brother ain't dumb.  As the pillow sitting on my couch right now says, "Those who don't believe get underwear.")

I learned the basics of knitting from my grandmother as a kid.  She also took a stab at teaching me to crochet the summer before she died.  I wouldn't say it was all that successful if my aim was to learn to crochet.  But as a way to spend time together and be close, it was excellent.

The summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college I started picking up large print books my grandparents at the library.  The first time it was the whim of a moment, and I wasn't really sure what they would like.  So I got an assortment of books, whatever caught my eye.  They loved it.  It turned out they liked "the cat books" best.  (I think they were The Cat Who books by Lilian Jackson Braun.)  What they liked even better, though, was that their granddaughter was interested enough to pick up books for them.  Every week or two I'd pick up the old ones and come back with some new stuff.  There always had to be at least three.  Granddad read faster than Grandmom did, and with only two books they'd fight over who got to read what, when.  They were pills.

Well, that's... quite a lot actually about me and my family.  I don't know if they really rise to the level of mysteries.  They're perfectly well known to me, obviously.  But I thought they were interesting tidbits, at least.

What about you?  Anything interesting you'd like to share?  Write your own blog post if you'd like, and then give us the link in the comments.  I'd love to hear something new and mysterious about you, too!