Book Commercials & Misanthropic Observations

I’m coming out FOR Barbie

I know, I know, she ruins girl’s self esteem. Barbie has singlehandedly caused eating disorders and body image issues…. Blah blah. I’ve said it all myself.

You know what else causes eating disorders? Vestibular spasticity – really, look it up. I threw up for years, and it was not because I wanted to look like Barbie. Mostly, I was just nauseous all the time, unless my stomach was empty. Now they have vagus nerve and/or stomach pacemakers for girls like I was, that controls the nausea. Thank you, western medicine! (P.S. parents: seriously look into this- I wasn’t trying to be skinny. Your daughter may be in the same boat.)

I still struggle with this, which is why you see me eating Cheezits all the time, they settle my stomach, AND Mendota springs water helps me belch.

Well, that was a completely different topic than I started with. I’m still for Barbie, but best to keep blogs short and sweet. I’ll come back to this again later.

Dear Mr. Telemarketer,

Our telephone number was not created as a convenient marketing tool for you. We pay a monthly phone bill because we value the ability to instantly contact our friends and family across the nation with a simple phone call- not, as you seem to believe, to create an open line that you can use to tell us about your product at any time.

When you call and I answer, I will not swear at you, or mess with your head by pretending not to understand English or waste your work time by listening only to tell you no.

Mr. Telemarketer from Custom Homes, do not cop an attitude with me as if I owe you a minute of my time. I did not ask you to call, I owe you nothing, and I am well aware that you will not somehow be brought to Jesus if I will just listen to your spiel.

When I tell you within the first 5 seconds that I am now purposely not ever going to use your services because I do not want you to get the impression that telemarketing works, it might be wise cut your losses by simply ending the phone call so I can get back to getting ready for work.

Contemplating greater things

My favorite photo of many I took at the Zoo today. Wasn't the weather wonderful?

Back to life

Jeff Burton time came into the office yesterday (Jeff stops to chat even less than I do, so I was pleasantly surprised to see him pop in to the office on his way to a meeting) and offered me a script he made for his class reunion website. He graduated from Hudson too- class of 83. What he didn’t know is that I was looking and looking for that exact kind of code- well, I think he knew if after I cracked him in the arm and said “shut up! this is so great!” Anyway, I’ll have that up and running soon.

oh, wait this is funny: When he was showing me the site he made I wasn’t able to log in because I was accidentally typing butonia instead of burtonia. hee hee hee . but.

Just send your 9 year old boys into my office and I’ll type”but” for them. No one else thought it was that funny.]]>

VICTORY

Crest spin brush, today I have accessed your power with a single flick of my thumb. You are merely a tool in my hand and no longer an instrument of torture to remind me of weakness. muhuhuhahahah

My name is Brandy. I sleep, I blog, I sleep (and I watch trashy tv)

yea, still moving slow. But- not nearly as angry about it as I was. Much better attitude today. Maybe nothing is better for us self-described irreplaceable superheros than to miss out on all the things we need to do and not be missed.

Frankly, I don't carry that much extra energy around- I only eat what I have to when I'm feeling good. Take that away, then run me through a ringer… let's see how much you move around after that. I know I'm thinking more clearly because I just noticed how hairy my legs are. I really really miss reading. I tried to last night and got nauseous after a few pages. Paul brought home his xm radio so I could listen to something interesting to fill the time.

PS. Paul just called and told me that Steve Holsteen and crew were praying for me last night. I have no doubt that's where my attitude change came from. Thanks.

mmmph

My days are wasted in sleep. I just brushed my teeth and wasn’t able, using both my thumbs, to push the on button hard enough to get my crest spin brush to turn on. Typing this will put me to sleep now for hours; I am already out of breath. I feel reduced below the level of my sweet spud-dog, at least for her the fact that eating and pooping are the highlights of her day is a joy. I hate this. The good news: no vomiting for almost 30 hours now. Why then, do I bother with this? Because this post is proof that I did something today besides sleep. I’m going to sleep now.

Day 3

As I sat in the bathtub this late morning I thought, “I’m going to blog about this” “this” being how sick I have been over the last 3 days. But now that I am at the computer, I am really exhausted. I’m going back to bed. Just wanna say thanks, mommers, for taking care of me yesterday. And Paulers has been so kind.

Reunion update

Good news: I got permission to rent a meeting tent on the upper level of the zoo without having to pre-purchase tickets. I didn’t want to harangue anyone to buy tickets from me, and it was going to be quite a lot of money upfront. I’m not counting my chickens until they hatch, tho, and am expecting a contract in the mail. Then the date will be confirmed.

I heard from Amy Buser (Smidt) today and was excited to learn that her sister, Wendy, works at the Apple Valley Zoo with event planning. What a great contact, thanks Amy.

Current costs, I’ll keep a running tally just for fun:
Zoo tent rental: $150.00

A “novel” idea

Ok, it’s actually a nonfiction idea- I have very few novels, less than 10. Even though our bookshelves hold over 400 books.

My current read, which is not listed in my bookshelf online since I am waaaay behind on that database, is Public Opinion by Walter Lippmann. 1921.

Lippmann’s topic of interest is how Public Opinion affects politics. He proposes that a true democracy can’t work because the masses are more moved by emotion and rumor than fact. It was explosive when published and poses these questions:

What are the psychological forces that affect understanding?
How do people interpret information, accurate or not?
What emotional reactions did it trigger in them and how did their emotion affect their judgment and actions?

For example: Two men are quarreling, apparently about money, but their passion is inexplicable. Across the table they are quarreling about money, in memory they are back in their youth when a girl jilted one man for the other.

Back to me- let’s talk about me. I have been very hyperemotional lately. My passion is inexplicable. Until, in reading this book I see:

that I am overreacting if the issue is what it seems to be on the surface- but it is not the real issue. I am reacting to what I deem to be a slippery slope. In my mind the current situation is proof of “what I knew would happen”.

(Yes, you are right to be confused; I am not naming the situation. Hopefully I can get my point across without that- and there are actually 3 current situations in which I am showing this pattern )

The thing is, I have a pattern of this- I make dire predictions and when they come true, or even seem to be on the verge of coming true, I react with the full force of having worried for months. This book has helped shed light on this for me, and I am clinging to this sentence on page 12: “this reveals how difficult it is, even for trained lawyers, to suspend response until the returns are in.”

I suppose just admitting the problem is half the battle. Whew. I am going to work really hard on SUSPENDING RESPONSE UNTIL ALL THE RETURNS ARE IN.]]>