I Blame Robert Louis Stevenson!

Yesterday we went to Cha Cha's brother's house (you may remember him as The Lost Sock from Dirty Laundry Podcast) for our Christmas which included the annual Ugly Ornament Contest. I did not win or lose (not sure which one you are if you have the ugliest ornament).

I feel like someone poisoned me yesterday because I had a really bad night. My mind and body are up to their old (not really old) tricks again. Maybe someone slipped me a mickey or I am allergic to something now. My body acted like it did when I was having my out-of-body or out-of mind experiences. I am fairly sure one of the episodes of The X-Files was based on my case. Thankfully, I am off from work today and tomorrow so I can be right as rain again. Where the heck does that idiom come from? Of course, I looked it up and it was originally a British saying. I guess that makes sense since it rains just about every day in Great Britain and if is raining the situation is normal. I like rain but I do not feel like dealing with the Mr. Hyde part of my psyche anymore. I thought he was gone but I Dr. Jekyll is fighting him as well as he can. Perhaps I have allergies and I ate something at the Christmas thing yesterday that I have developed an allergy to? Maybe someone is trying to "off" me and this will be the only clue for you to Sherlock Holmes the heck out of this (wouldn't Holmes be involved in a Jekyll/Hyde situation?). I am really tired and perhaps that is a contributing factor?I am having a bit of an "episode" right now but I have so much I want to get done today that I will push-through. I will not leave the house today though. But we do need some water softener salt...hmmm

Don't tell anyone but I prefer to exhale through my mouth for some reason

I use the meditation and breathing techniques that I learned from Buddhism over the past few years to get me through the spells and slow them down so they do not go further than minor numbness and/or tingling. Happily I am off from work today and tomorrow and I know I will have everything under control by the time I go back to work. If not, I will call off sick but I don't foresee that happening as it usually only last a little while and the Hyde doesn't come back for weeks or months. Now Van Halen is telling me to "Jump." Is that a sign?

I am sure just doing the bills helped my frame of MIND(S)? I have not eaten anything today yet and it is already 13:00 so I should probably try that but I don't want Hyde to show is ugly side again.

I wanted to organize the basement more today and get the Christmas tree back down there. The tree is going down for sure - RIGHT NOW! No time like the present!!! The Christmas present!

The tree is downstairs now and some of the decorations are as well. I miracled it down there. Why isn't "miracled" a word? It is a word now as far as Matt Culture is concerned.

 

 Let There Be ROCKford! 

It kinda bothers me that I am listening to "Don't Fear The Reaper" right now by Blue Oyster Cult on the AC/DC station right now. Foreshadowing? Fate? A clue from the cosmos? I like this station - lots of Queen and AC/DC (of course) and and Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin and Kansas and Foreigner and Van Halen and Jim Croce and ZZ Top and Styx... you get the idea (what are probably considered oldies by my kids - I prefer "classic rock").  As Blog is my witness (or witless) "Carry On My Wayward Son" just now came on. Is it a message from Dr. Jekyll? I saw AC/DC in Rockford in 1979; what a great show: AC/DC, Cheap Trick, Molly Hatchet, The Babys, I cannot remember who else.

Talking about Robert Louis Stevenson's masterpiece (that took him only three days to get the rough draft done and I am still anguishing over righting my MATTsterpiece three years after I began my research) makes me want to begin write right now. I need to just start writing and then rewrite and edit and rewrite again and fine-tune as I go. I have known the premise of my first book for years but the research has to be done around life and the many hiccups and interruptions that are included.  I should just write and then fill in with the expository stuff later.

Okay, I have some more things to get done as I feel better "for the now." And then, as I typed that, I am having the falling-asleep feeling starting in my stomach and spreading to my legs and arms. It is really weird when I can systematically feel my body falling asleep in phases. I am happy with that because I know it is coming and not be a danger to myself or others. After I have this under control I am going to learn  time travel. That will help me get that book done. I know, I will just plagiarize Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and freak everybody out when I publish it then and am still alive now. I guess I should steal H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" and  then you all would really be amazed, huh?

I love this movie! (that's me on the left)

Well, if I am going to get all of that done I had better end here and get to writing and time travelling. I haven't even anything at all today so I should probably do that since it's closer to dinner time than breakfast time. I haven't had anything to drink at all today yet either. No wonder I am having issues.

Weird, "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by The Scorpions is on now - I saw them in Rockford too. Curiouser and curiouser. Oh sure, Lewis Carroll wrote that in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-glass but spell check knows more about writing that Lewis Carroll? Curioser is a word!

Thanks a lot for stopping in and giving me a break from my many chores. I am eating a banana now but I may move to grapes next. I appreciate you very much and am always delighted that you stop here when you can. TTT? (maybe tomorrow)...MITM (out) TA!

Where's The Blog?

Happy New Year a week late! I am having a rare Saturday off today so thought I would write a blog
today. I love to write the blog but I always seem to have other things that take precedent. Speaking of the precedent, we will have a new one of those here in the U. S. and A. in a couple more weeks - UGH! It will sure be a carnival fun-house for a few years.

I have next Saturday off too (using a vacation day) because we are going to Chicago to see Michelle Wolf at The Hideout in Chicago. Splenda and Andy gave us the tickets for Christmas; they are going with us. You may have seen Wolf on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. She is very funny and we are really looking forward to the show. I used to work in a comedy club for several years and I am a tough critic so, if I say she is fumy, she is funny. I know humor is subjective and we all have different tastes in comedy (as in everything) but I am an expect in the field.

Since I seem to be in the humor portion of the blog... last week (or maybe the week before) Cha Cha and I took the Fiat over to Ralph's Car Wash. It is a local place that does a great job on your car - inside and out. While they were washing the car and vacuuming it out and doing the windows and interior... we went to the end where people wait to get their cars back. We went outside as it was a nicer day and one of the dudes brought a car (a Buick) out. The music was blaring and the lyrics being sung (or rapped) were somewhere between a rating of R or X (at the very least NC-17). The bass was pounding the speakers as the guy was wiping the interior and doing the insides of the windows. The F word was being used rather often and the N word (ending in GA rather than GER) was rapped regularly. Cha Cha and I wondered which person waiting for their car would walk out when the guy signaled that the car was ready to go home. We wondered if the guys doing the car changed the stations and pumped the volume but when our car came out the music was off as it was when we gave them the car. We were the youngest people there but at least a few decades and we had the darkest complexions of all the customers. There was a man just a bit younger than us waiting for his car but he had his two young sons with him so that was doubtful. I saw a lady sitting there who looked like Clara Peller and said the Jill, "wouldn't it be funny if it were her car?" Pretty soon the guy waved that the car was ready and guess whose car it was? She tipped the guy, got in the car and boom, boom, boomed out of the parking lot, GOOD FOR HER! I bet she voted for Hillary and Bernie in the Primaries! Jill and I laughed off-and-on all afternoon about that.

We got a new router to make out house even more internet/WiFi friendly. We want to be able to I have been having a tough time hooking it up as technology has changed since we installed the first one. I worked on it for awhile and realized that the old one was fed by coaxial cable from the satellite dish. The new one, of course, uses Ethernet rather than coax so I have traveled around town trying to fin an adapter that turns a coax female end into an Ethernet female end. I went to Best Buy, Target, Walmart and Radio Shack and nobody has it. I know they exist because I checked online (using access from the coaxial hookup) before I went gallivanting around town. So, I ordered one on line and we will just have to have to deal with the new 2016 version (that is so last week) until we catch up to the 2017 technology.

I have been having problems sleeping again but I think it is because I have been fighting a cold for the past week or so. I have been taking ADVIL PM or ZzzQuil (alternating) at bedtime before bed but I have still been waking-up at 02:00 or 03:00 every morning.  I have been having strange dreams every night too. I guess I would classify them as nightmares though I am not scared of much so they don't bother me. I am really good at steering my dreams while I sleep. I can change the course of my dreams using my mind. I have always been able to do that somewhat but I am really good at it now. One I have had a few times over the last few weeks is like The Sorcerer's Apprentice but with metal folding chairs. I hope I am just about done with this cold but 'tis the season. I have never seen Jeff or my former dogs (Maisy, Ernie, Barney...) sick so why do we say "sick as a dog?" What about sick as a frog? Or sick as an antelope or something?

I am done for today and who knows when I will write a blog again? Maybe tomorrow? I appreciate you being here whenever I do get the urge. Thank you, so much, for that. I hope you're having a great 2017 and have a great what's left of your weekend. TTT?...MITM (out) TA!

Ugly ornament contest at Cha Cha's brother's house tomorrow - I am very hopeful this year. I may even wear my ugly sweater and top hat? TA (again)!

See You Next Tuesday?

 Now I am thinking about Ted "Theodore" Logan 

I have not written the blog for a few weeks. It is odd that life gets in the way of things like writing the blog when, without life, I would have nothing to write about in the blog. As a MATTer of fact, without life I guess I, literally, would have nothing to write about. Without life I could not even write at all.

Christmas is less than a week away. I don't suppose I celebrate Christmas for the main reason that most people celebrate this day; I celebrate the time with family. We all have such busy lives now and we live in different places and this week Splenda and Andy will come here from Chicago, my brother arrived here from Hawaii tomorrow (why weren't we not smart enough to go spend the day/week/month/eternity at his place in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. Some say that they would not appreciate Christmas as much without snow - I GUARANTEE I would appreciate just about everything more without snow and negative double-digit wind chills. I have shoveled snow five times already this season and it isn't even officially winter yet. How cold will winter be? We have a snow blower but I prefer to do it the snow removal the old-fashioned way to get the extra exercise. This last time my hands were really cold even with snowmobile gloves. My feet were cold too so I thought, "cold feet, cold hands and runny nose." I suppose I had a warm heart too but I left that one out for that frozen time. I have been listening to the Adam Ant station on Pandora while shoveling lately. If you don't have Bluetooth earbuds I highly recommend putting them on your list for Santa. Also, I recommend paying the charge for more songs you can skip and commercial-free listening on Pandora. The Adam Ant station reminds me a lot of the time when many of us first met: Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood, J.J. Jackson, Martha Quinn and Mark Goodman. I was a senior in high school then. I am older than MTV (that is kind of a bummer). MTV was huge while I was in college; it has changed lots and lots and I am not sure they even play music on "Music Television" anymore.

While thawing out post-shoveling of the past week or so I have continued to re-watching episodes of Deadwood on HBO GO. I am on episode ten of season one so, as you can see, I am not in a tremendous hurry to get done with it. I suppose, if this were my first time seeing it, I would be watching episodes more rapidly. Or, if I weren't doing so many things all at the same time - like having a life with responsibilities. I really like that the show continually uses my two very favorite cuss words (not Pneumonia or Topography). They both begin with the letter C which I think makes them sound even harsher because the K sound of the C makes then very curt and sharp. They are both included in George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" which makes them even better I suppose. Click that red link if you need a refresher on the list (don't play it loudly in a library or around children or prudes).

In case any of you has tried to reach Cha Cha (secret identity - Jill Helser) on Facebook she has been off of Facebook for, at least, two or three weeks / maybe months though she can still be tagged, oddly. She has not completely quit the social media time-suck (though she will eventually) but she suspended her account so she could live life in the real world rather than the virtual world. I like Facebook for many reasons: I am nosy, it is an easy place to promote the blog (and the podcast when we start that back up)... I am using Twitter more and more these days and she uses that almost exclusively for social things. It does seem more adult than Facebook which is probably another reason I am still on Facebook. I also like Pinterest, as does she, but that is a bit different that the others I mentioned.

Now it is about three hours from me writing that last paragraph. I stopped by my doctor's office to drop some papers off that need to be filled-out and faxed. I went to two supermarkets (why did they used to call them supermarkets rather than grocery stores?) to get supers groceries. I made my giant salad that I will use all week for my work lunches. I cleaned the kitchen. It is my turn to make dinner tonight and I was requested to make my mini meatloaves. If you have a pencil write down this very complicated recipe - mix ground meat of your choice (I use two pounds of ground turkey) and mix thoroughly with one jar of giardiniera. I, then, put the meat into cupcake and/or bundt cake pans and cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about and 45 minutes (I check it constantly until it is thoroughly cooked) and it changes depending on what kind of meat you use. I have also done it as one large, traditional meatloaf but I like the small loaves better as they are easy to portion and they crumble nicely on tortilla shells or on a salad... They are also easier for travel like in work or school lunches...

"Suffragette" is on HBO right now. What a sad time in our country's history when women and people, other than Caucasian men, were made to feel lesser than they were. I am so happy that I was raised to believe that ALL people are equal no matter their gender or race or pigment or religion... I have known people that have felt differently and I know there is still some of that in people I know and I even saw it in some previous generations of my own family. I am very proud that my children were raised to know that color or creed or religion sexual orientation or gender or political leanings are not reasons to dislike people. I allow people to believe what they want to believe but I do not choose to associate with people of prejudice based on gender or color or religion...

I have begun working on a new novel. Actually, I have been working on researching this one for several years and I believe I am about ready to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard more precisely). I think my previous paragraph made decide to mention that as my story will be based on my strong feelings / leaning that way. It will be a historical fiction based on fact (if that makes sense). I like to refer it to that way because I can base it on actual events and throw in my own prose (not flowery prose my any means).

I just got word from the boss that I am taking Jeff to Daisy Hill Puppy Farm at 16:00 for his annual checkup. It's not really called Daisy Hill Puppy Farm but that is what I call it. It is actually called Autumn Green Animal Hospital. He just took (was given) his last heart-worm pill and we need to get next year's supply. He also has a weird growth on one of his paws but it appears to be one of those weird toes so I do not really want to mess with it or cut it off not knowing exactly what it is. I am not a Veterinarian though I do play one (not on TV) on occasion. He loves riding in the car so this will be a nice ride to Geneva or Elburn or St. Charles or Wasco or whatever they consider that area.

Speaking of dogs - I wish the St. Bernard that lives behind us wore a keg of brandy around his neck. If Jeff were a St. Bernard I promise he would have a keg necklace but it would probably have scotch or tequila in it. Perhaps rum.

I have some other things I need to get done quickly now that this has been thrown into my mix. I also have to start the meatloaves. I begin my work-week again tomorrow. Ironically, there is the drier telling me that it is time to fold the clothes.

C U Next Time (to, sort of, paraphrase Deadwood).  MITM (out) TA!

Aces and Eights

It's 13:53 already. Time always goes so much faster on one's days off as opposed to the dragging days we have on doesn't it?

I just got done working-out. I noticed that I have not blogged since November 21st and have not worked-out since November 22nd; I am presuming that there is a correlation there. I rode the bike for 20 miles in just under an hour so, though I am no Lance Armstrong, I am happy with that time considering the break in time since the last riding. But, being a world-class cyclist is not worth having testicular cancer; all bikes should have banana seats (or banana hammock seats) I believe. I also worked with the weights and did 200 sit-ups before and after the ride. I weigh-in tomorrow and face the music no MATTer what the outcome. The last few times weighing-in were not my best weeks but I have to make-up for the slacking-off. I will ride another 20 miles tomorrow morning and will also probably do more sit-ups and such. I wanted to lose 100 pounds from December 29th, 2015 to the end of this year but I am probably going to fall short somewhere in the low-to-mid 80 pounds lost. I could have done it had I been a bit more diligent and dedicated but I am not too disappointed and will continue my descent. I will get there soon. I have only had two bananas, some grapes and water today and I will stay good between now and facing the scale.

 There has always been some controversy over what the fifth card was 

While riding today I began re-watching Deadwood on HBO GO again (the last time was just on HBO). I loved that series when I first watched it from around 2004 to 2006 and I love it just as much this second time around. I remember going to The Black Hills on vacation as a yute but I did not fully appreciate it as I believe I would today. Maybe Cha Cha and I will do a road trip there one day? I think I like the show so much because I like the old west and I like gambling and I like full-frontal nudity... I supposed I am into debauchery now that I type that there. How come nobody ever speaks about full "backal" nudity? Or would that be full "buttal" nudity?

There is a new series called The Young Pope starring Jude Law and Diane Keaton coming on HBO next month (January 15th I believe). I am not Catholic, though I was married in a Catholic church to a Catholic hottie, but the series looks really good. I like both Keaton and Law so I will watch that show. This blog was not meant to be an advertisement for HBO but it they wish to compensate me I am sure we could come to an agreement on terms.

I have been pretty busy over the past few weeks. I replaced our microwave, I replaced our stainless steel kitchen sink with a granite sink and a new faucet fixture, I worked my job (of course). I shoveled the driveway and sidewalk three times yesterday and salted once... I can really appreciate why plumbers make so much money though that has nothing to do with shoveling or the microwave. I had one teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy leak around the garbage disposal and I think I finally got that licked? Everyday I would think to myself, "self, a small leak sank the Titanic and a little stream that turned into the Colorado River was probably how The Grand Canyon began. I worked on that sink every day after work last week  - which included redoing the plumbing because the new sink is a couple of inches deeper than it's predecessor. I think I made about five trips back and forth from here and Menard's and Lowe's. I felt like the Norm Peterson of the do-it-yourself world! "MATT!!!!!" Now I still have some parts (with receipts) that I did not use and will return. I just have to figure-out which receipt goes with which pipes and hoses and clamps and adapters... Good thing that receipts list the product names these days rather than just the item numbers.

I knew it all along!

Hey, maybe I will donate some plasma tomorrow too while I am out. I have not done that for about three or four months.

It is almost 13:00 and I still want to get some bills paid today so I think I will wrap-up. I will try not to wait so long until I blog again as I know you just wait on the edge of your seat to see what nonsense I will write about next. I am usually just as surprised as you are when I finally get around to writing. I hope you have a great rest of your day and I sure do appreciate your hanging with me. TTTT (or whenever I get around to it again)...MITH (out) TA!

Get Busy Bloggin' or Get Busy Dyin'

Hello again! It is almost 15:00 already so I thought if I was going to blog today I had better get to blogging. Get busy bloggin' or get busy dyin'.

Yesterday Cha Cha and I went over and got a new microwave as the old one took a poop awhile ago. We had bought a counter-top replacement and used that for awhile as we had thought about redoing some of the kitchen but we are now thinking about residing the house instead so I installed the new microwave yesterday. Just a bit ago Fabio and I tool the counter-top microwave over to Goodwill and I (allegedly) took the one that I removed from above the stove yesterday over to unspecified location in an unspecified town in an unspecified country and threw it in an unspecified dumpster allegedly. 

After the microwave drops Fabio and I went over to the new Popeye's Chicken to get him some lunch. They put the Popeye's right next to where Kentucky Fried Chicken WAS - literally RIGHT NEXT TO it. So, KFC/Long John Silver's closed-up shop and left town. Fabio loved the chicken. I had some cole slaw and it was pretty good but not near as good as Long John Silver's.

This morning I rode the stationary bike for 20 miles while I watched Race on HBO GO on my laptop which I sat on a bar stool so, technically, it was a bar stool top and not a laptop as it was not on my lap. Race is a movie about Jesse Owens and his trip to Berlin to compete in the 1936 Olympics. Stephen James was excellent as Owens and Jason Sudeikis was great as coach Larry Snyder. I love the name of the film and the double meaning was not lost on me. It was very interesting that the black athletes and the white athletes had no segregated dorm rooms. The black athletes had more rights in Nazi Germany than they had in America but maybe Hitler thought that would have cause dissension? I am not sure about Jewish athletes from other counties though. I have seen many movies about Owens and I think this is my favorite so far. Maybe I like him because his birthday was two days before mine exactly 50 years before my time; we Virgos have to stick together. I was always a great admirer of he and of Jackie Robinson for what they had to endure to do what they loved and what they did to make this world a much better place for millions and millions of people. The 20 miles on the bike seemed much easier this time while seeing what he went through. I will probably do 20 more miles tomorrow before I go to weigh-in. 

That reminds me that I saw a thing on television about a German man with the surname of Elser (Johann Georg Elser) who was one of the first people known people to have conspired assassination attempts against Adolph Hitler and many high-ranking Nazi officials. He would have succeeded but Hitler left earlier than expected so the plan was foiled. He did manage to kill many Nazis but was captured and held in Dachau concentration camp. I have always been told that my surname, Helser, was changed from Holzhauer to sound more anglo during WWII. I did some reseach on my own and hound it may actually have been changed to Helser from Holzer (meaning "woodworker" or "carpenter" - like Jesus I guess). Now I wonder if my family was actually descended from this Elser fellow and someone added the H so as to not get reprisal from the Nazis? It sound like a good idea for a story even if it ends-up being fiction based-on historical speculation. 

Tonight Cha Cha and I are going up to Woodstock to the Buddhist temple again. I work Sundays so we cannot go to that one so we go to the Monday night until the hour-long drive will become too treacherous. I think we will have dinner at the former courthouse/jail (called Public House) too. It is a really good place for food and they have a nice patio during nicer weather too. The Blue Lotus (the place where we go) has a monk travel to a yoga place in St. Charles on Sunday nights but we went to that one and it was not as good as it is at the temple. We talked to the head monk and he said that they would come to Dekalb and do meditation on a weekly basis if we could find a place that  would allow then to use their place once a week. Cha Cha and I searched the city businesses and made a list of possibilities but we need to pursue it a bit harder. I bet Northern Illinois University might even have a place? We live in a cul-de-sac so parking would be an issue to do it in our house. 

I have mentioned many businesses today and should start getting residual/advertising checks or stop giving them free plugs. I am just a sucker I suppose. Notice I didn't mention Tootsie Pop? Damn, I did it again didn't I?

Okay, I have to get a few more things done before we head north tonight . Thank you for stopping in. I hope you have a great rest of your day/night. Thanksgiving is coming up in a few days and I will be working while Cha Cha and Fabio go to Splenda and Andy's place in Chicago; I am sad that I cannot do because Splenda is very excited for her first family Thanksgiving in her own place. I am very happy to only be working 40-hours a week and it has helped me medically I believe too. The overtime was nice but what good is the extra money if your too dead to spend any of it?! 

Have a great night and maybe I will blog again tomorrow? TTTT?...MITM (out) TA!

B.W.A. - Blogger With Attitude

That's right, I have Bradley Cooper take my stuff to Goodwill

It is 14:35 already and I am on the last half day of my 4 1/2 days off. I must say that I feel very revitalized and ready to work my regular forty hours (4 - 10's) starting tomorrow. I have already done quite a few things today. Cha Cha and I walked Jeff for 1.3 miles before she headed in to the office. Then I rode the stationary bike in the basement for twenty miles and then ran two more miles. I took a huge HEFTY (is that redundant?) bag of my fat-Matt clothes over the Goodwill. Is it ironic that I took my fat-guy clothes to the donation place in a Hefty bag? The, of course, I showered and then went to weigh-in. I told just over four pounds since last week and now that I will have my Tuesdays off again until, at least the MIDDLE of February, I am pushing very hard to lose 100 pounds this year before my one-year anniversary of starting this journey on December 29th. I know losing just under 30 pounds in 1-1/2 months sounds tough but I will dangle that carrot stick out there until the finish line crosses me.

While writing this I am watching Straight Outta Compton on HBO. Mississippi Burning last night and this today. It seems like the television programmers have a sorta theme going on lately. It is probably just coincidence with the  unrest in my country right now but I always look too much into everything. While I rode my 20 miles this morning I watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That is one funny movie. I always have something on in the background though it is usually just music - Pandora most of the time. While we walked Jeff this morning I had the Barenaked Ladies station on (in my sweatshirt pocket not on earbuds because that would have been very rude).

While I watched Monty Python I could not help but think that Mel Brooks might have been America's equivalent of Monty Python's Flying Circus? I suppose a better argument could be made for Kids In The Hall (though they're Canadian so that eliminates them from that I suppose). Which makes me think of SCTV which were also Canucks. Saturday Night Live in the "Not Ready For Prime-time Players" days of: Gilda and Belushi and Chevy and Murray and Aykroyd and Curtain and Morris and Newman? Yeah, that's the one - SNL.

I saw something on the internet that there is a bitter letter circulating that John Lennon wrote after the break-up of The Beatles. I did not read it and I hope to never hear about it in detail There is enough anger and hostility going-on now so why do we need to borrow trouble from 1969 or 1970 (depending on who you listen to)? That is really weird to me since I did not know about that until today but I put a photo of John Lennon in the blog on Saturday. I really need to play the lottery though I may have just used my good juju on that, huh? What a waste.

You may have seen her on The Last Man on Earth this season?

I am very sad about all of the anger and hostility in America lately. I still, occasionally, consider leaving all of social media (Facebook, Twitter...) but then I think of all of you friends and the people who are good and I stop dwelling on the negative. I cannot let the bullies chase me off. Cha Cha left Facebook and she says she will probably never return. She does seem much happier again. I cannot leave even if just because that is where some of my favorite photos and people.

Same eyebrows, right?

So weird - American Pie just came on after Straight Outta Compton. Why is that weird? Because I wrote about SCTV and Eugene Levy, one of the cast members of that show, is in this movie. All things lead back to Matt In The Middle (eventually). And, I put that photo of Cha Cha there before Levy showed-up. Again - everything leads back to or comes from MITM.

Okay, I am going to end now because I am starting to bore myself which means you are probably already gone and won't read how much I appreciate you stopping by again today. Even if you are already gone I wish you a great rest of your day/night and tomorrow... I am not sure if I will blog over the next four days but I may surprise us. TTT???...MITM (out) TA!

Supermoon Seems to be Changing me

Today is day three of four of my days off this week. Next week I will get my regular three days off which I have not gotten for quite some time having to have had worked six days a week for several weeks. "Having to have had" is kind of a weird thing to write but I think it is grammatically correct though I am not all that concerned whether it is or not because I am not sweating the small stuff anymore for, at least, right now.

I will do it this way next year if I have to get to do it again

Yesterday I was up on a 20 foot ladder scrubbing the side of the house. Our house has like a cream (or is the creme?) - colored siding and the tree there has made some parts of it a dark green and blackish brown. If the damn tree weren't 40 feet tall it would have been an easy job. It looks much better from the ground now but we are thinking about getting different siding come Spring because of this. Maybe green would be the way to go, huh? Speaking of green (not The Benjamins) I also mowed the lawn because that seemed easier than raking all of the leaves. The grass is still very green and it is halfway through November now that the leaves are chopped into tiny bits.

We have lots of large trees and that means lots of birds and other critters. We have TWO squirrels now - gray squirrels or grey squirrels if you prefer. Today and yesterday I saw a Cardinal out there. It was, obviously, a male Cardinal as it was bright red. I like that we have a safe haven for the wild creatures and, hopefully, it will not come back to bite us some day. That reminds me that I need to get some more birdseed today. I am also cleaning my closet today. I have so many clothing items that I have out or under-grown or whatever term you would use if your clothes are too big and I am going to weed them out and take them over to Goodwill. WE takes lots of things there and I hope that our slightly-worn items help some other people.

I have always lover Br'er Rabbit and Uncle Remus

Cha Cha and I are thinking about heading back to Woodstock tonight to go to meditation again. We went Saturday but they say you can never get too much of a good thing and I believe that because I cannot get enough of: Cha Cha, Splenda, Fabio, my friends (you), salads, giardiniera, baseball, kindness, love, happy thoughts, seedless grapes, oxygen, nice weather, bananas, water... That list could go on forever I think; I am happy to know that there are so many more things that I like than I dislike. I think I have just reaffirmed to myself, as I have always known, that I (and we) need to focus on the good things and not the bad. We cannot avoid bad things or sad things or mean things but we should not dwell on these and move to a happy place or maybe even a laughing place sometimes.

I paid several bills this morning - man, is that always depressing or what? And then I think to myself, "self, paying bills is a lot better than not being able to pay bills I guess." Having bills means we have things that we value enough to pay-for until we die and then our dependents can pay those things off with our life insurance money that they received because we paid those life insurance bills.

I weigh-in again tomorrow and I am fairly sure that I have dropped some of the few pounds that I had added before last week's weigh-in. I am glad that I stumble so I can relearn what I never should have unlearned for that short time. I am newly committed again and I want to lose another fifteen pounds by the end of the year. I still have a few shirts and pairs of jeans that I am very close to getting back into. Why are jeans "a pair" of jeans? Socks, shoes, gloves, mittens...make sense as pairs. What about glasses? Why are glasses a pair? Is it because jeans have two legs and one leg would be a jean? Glasses have two lenses and one pair would be a glass? No, that would be a monocle though wouldn't it? Why aren't a pair of glasses not binocles? Binoculars are confusing on many levels. Maybe I am just a pair of loons. No, just a loon. Maybe I am turning into Jerry Seinfelds? Or is it Seinfeld?

Chris Rock is still pretty bad at disguising that he is reading cue cards

I watched Saturday Night Live last night (I am behind, not special and receiving advanced copies because then it would be Saturday Night Live Before It Happens). I thought it was really good; I have always been a big fan of Dave Chappelle and am glad he is back in the game. I hope he is back to stay but I would not blame him if this were just a one-time gig.

I think I am going to wrap-up so I can do something fun like: cleaning the kitchen, continuing to do the laundry, organizing my closet, going to Goodwill... Maybe go to meditate again tonight?  I need to end because the day is getting away from me and, upon writing that list, I see I have a lot to get done.

Thanks a lot for stopping in again. I hope you have a great day and have a clear night tonight to see that amazing Supermoon again. I was mesmerized last night by it and I would not mind seeing a rerun. I hope Supermoons don't cause super werewolves - that would stink. Enjoy whatever it is you enjoy doing and savor every moment. You never know when you might fall twenty feet from a ladder. TTTT (probably) MITM (out) TA!