In the Springtime of My Voodoo

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!
~Mark Twain

Am I turning into one of those annoying people that places a quote before EVERY post?  Maybe.  Do the titles of my posts usually reference a song some may have never heard of?  Maybe but if you don't listen to good music, that is not my fault.

This is not a post in relation to a This American Life topic.  I'm still pondering what exactly, if anything, I have to say about poultry, which is the next topic in their archives.  No folliers, this is a "because I felt the need to write" post.  Because my hope is someone somewhere enjoys the way I organize my words.

I'm feeling quite optimistic at the moment and I like it.  I like it a lot.  Perhaps it's because it's FINALLY Spring or because I'm starting a new job on Monday, April 4th or because I have the next 4 days to do things I've been putting off all Winter, such as having my dog groomed, washing my car, getting a pedicure, etc.  I'm just going to savor this moment because I'm sure, come Monday morning, I'll be a nervous wreck.  Usually the crippling fear of failure sets in EVERY time I get a new job and I doubt myself before I even begin.  Which brings me to an interesting post titled The Fun of Failure I read recently on the blog Yes and Yes. It offers a different perspective on the fear of failure and I truly felt better after reading it.  This blog is rapidly becoming one of my faves.

What other not so interesting things have I been doing since my last post?  Glad you asked (although, you may wish you hadn't).

Currently reading:


With contributors like Stephen Colbert, Nick Hornby, Will Forte and Dan Savage, you can't go wrong.












Currently obsessed with:


Yes, I know I'm about 15 years late but I started watching Buff the Vampire Slayer earlier this year and I AM HOOKED.  I like style of the creator Joss Whedon.  And I've been following the terrible acting of Sarah Michelle Gellar since she was on the TV series Swans Crossing in the early 90s.  I am just about to start season 5 of Buffy.  I have to say though, I enjoyed the first 3 seasons the most thus far.  Once they go to college (and Angel and Cordelia are gone), the show loses something.  BUT I am not a quitter and plan to watch all the way through season 7.  Then I'll probably watch the spin off show Angel too.

Not a fan of vampires, demons and the like?  Perhaps you've heard of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, also by Joss Whedon.  It's available on Netflix and I highly recommend it.  Especially if you're a fan of Neil Patrick Harris (who isn't??).



Shopping sites I've been perusing (besides Ebay):
Lulus
ModCloth

Both offer fashion at an affordable price.  Also, here's a blog to reference for outfit ideas: What I Wore.  I absolutely loaf it.

That's all for today, Folliers...Time to start season 5!

Small-scale Sin or Something Like it...

That which we call sin in others is experiment for us.


~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Experience," Essays, 1844


Time to blow the dust off this blog, eh? No I did not forget the challenge I presented to myself in my last entry but thanks for asking. I’ve been mulling it over since I last wrote. The topic, as decided by the This American Life archives, is small-scale sin. I’ve thought of the many angles I could “report” on this topic. Have I committed what some may believe to be “small-scale sin”? I am human, am I not? But I do not wish to incriminate myself in any way so that viewpoint was out. I tried free-writing in an attempt to answer the question “Is there such a thing as small-scale sin”? Unfortunately I began writing it on a day that I was struggling with the side effects of very little sleep and too much tea. The result was something that could very well be mistaken for a transcript of an interview with Charlie Sheen. I tried to salvage something (ANYTHING) from it but found it hard to stay on topic and not get side tracked by the issues I have with organized religion. The only part that actually pertained to the specific topic, besides the quote that precedes this entry, was the question “Who decides the scale of the sin committed?”

At last, I turned to my 7 year old son. A boy that has no formal training on the subject. A boy who, until recently, referred to any cross that he’d see as the letter “t”.  As in: “Mom, why is that lady wearing a T around her neck?” Somewhere the Religious Right is gasping (along with a few family members, I’m sure). My son is a very intelligent young man, he just hasn’t had a continued dose of bible serum pumped in him for the past 7 years and I’m okay with that. Somehow, he has still managed to learn about God through friends, reading books on the subject, television and asking his parents various questions.

Moving back to the topic: one day, on the way home from picking him up from school, I asked him if he knew what the word “sin” meant. He said he’d heard it before but wasn’t sure. I explained to him what “some people” believe it to be and the potential consequences of the sinner’s actions. He thought about it for a moment and then spoke aloud, but not to me. From the back seat I heard, “Dear God, I promise to clean my room. And also, God, I am sorry for not respecting my parents.” 

*******


Things I've enjoyed that pertain to this topic:


For your listening pleasure: This American Life: Small Scale Sin


Read it:



Both hilarious and informative











I also recommend:




Specifically, the play titled "No Exit"