SNL Ahmadinejad Video Short

Last night on SNL I saw one of the funniest things I've seen in awhile - a video short starring Andy Samberg and Adam Levine from Maroon 5. It was a take off on the song, I Ran so Far Away. In it, Samberg is singing to the faux Ahmadinejad about their gay love affair. It's well worth watching. It's on the NBC site at the link below. I've watched it so many times I'd had to watch the commercial more than once. It's witty.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/#mea=161985

Some of the lyrics:
You can deny the holocaust all you want
but you can't deny there's something between us
You say there are no gays in Iran
but you're in New York now baby.

Words on a page don't do it justice - go watch the video.

Apparently I'm not the only one who has deemed Ahmadinejad "Nutburger of the Week."

Nutburgers in the News - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Well, you knew it couldn't last - me being quiet about what's going on in the news. I try. I swear, I really try. But, the world keeps presenting me with nutburgers I can't resist talking about.

Nutburger of the Week is... drumroll, please...  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

There are no gays in Iran? Well, of course not. The ones who could afford to have already left, and you've killed the rest or shamed them into being hidden. It's amazing how ignorant a person can be and still be running a whole country. And, no, I'm not going to make a George Bush joke here - there's "I didn't really excel at my ivy league school and I'm not too smart" and there's "I'm a bigot who's too stupid to even know I'm a bigot." Very different kinds of ignorant.

The debate has raged about Columbia University giving him a platform. Maybe I'm just a complete idiot myself, but I'm glad he spoke there. I think far more people heard what he has to say than they would have if he had only spoken at the UN. Would he have said there are no gays in Iran at the UN? No. Well, I don't think so, anyway. But, of course, I can't imagine anyone would say something so ignorant anywhere. But, I digress. OK... back to the topic at hand. I think the fact that he spoke at Columbia brought his message to a larger audience so more people can see what a fool he is.

I've heard the argument that apparently Columbia would have hosted Hitler. Well, you know what, if they had he probably wouldn't have gone unchecked for so long. And speaking of Hitler, how many people got upset when Ahma-nutburger-jad denied the holocaust a couple of years ago? Admittedly, there was "international outrage," but it was talked about less than this has been and I think the reason is that Columbia offered a way for more people to hear what he has to say. It's easier to just blow nutburgers off  in "official" contexts than when they're doing it just because it's who they are.

Oh yeah, and lets not forget that part of our identity as a country is free speech. So, you'd think the president of another country would be extended the opportunity to speak. If he happens to be a nutburger and doesn't bother to hide that fact - as they never do because they see themselves as completely reasonable - it clues the rest of the world in. And someone we really need to be hearing are nutburgers in positions of power - like presidents of countries with nuclear power who think other countries should be "relocated," for example.

OK, I know... he speaks lots of places. Well, I don't know about you, but I've seen far more of him and his general nutburger-y-ness from the Columbia speech than any other. I think it's good for people to see that and I don't think they're likely to catch the latest C-Span installment from the UN. OK, I don't even know if C-Span does the UN or only congress, but it sounds good as a comparison.

So, there you go... Nutburger of the week is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Bill O'Reilly and his fumbling buffonery about Sylvia's restaurant and its patrons is spared being the Nutburger of the Week. At least this week.

(And yes, Nutburger is my word. I don't know where it came from. It just popped into my brain and out my mouth and I've been using it ever since to describe people who are so far removed from anything resembling reality that they can't even get a grasp on it.)

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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

Saturday is for Scones

I went downtown for the Chili Cookoff today. There was a great turnout - even at 1 p.m. when I arrived to help with clean up for the HRAH (Hutchinson Reno County Arts and Humanities) booth. There were people everywhere.



I guess multiple times the HRAH booth had a very long line of people waiting for their chili samples. People pay $2 and can get samples from each of the booths. I think there were about 25 this year. Then they get to vote on what the best chili is.

Mark, the director of HRAH, pinpointed the only real problem. It seems as if people are more interested in just filling up on chili for $2 than actually enjoying a community event. He mentioned this just about three minutes after I had said to another board member that I hadn't seen anyone I knew. But, I guess people were enjoying it in ways we couldn't see.

But, this was echoed when I pulled up to get the three pumpkins Mark had told me to take home. We had left them sitting there while I pulled my car around. Another board member had come along and his kids wanted one. I told them to take them all. While we were discussing it, some older gentleman none of us knew walked up and took one. Who takes something like that - obviously a decoration that had been used by one of the participants - just because it's not nailed down? This guy I guess. He didn't ask anyone, including the two of us who were wearing logo hats and discussing them. He just took it. We didn't do anything except watch. Frankly, I was a little too surprised to say much. It's not that I need the pumpkin - I'm blessed that I can afford to buy as many pumpkins as I want to go on my porch - but it was just the idea someone would help themselves to something that obviously didn't belong to them, that they had no right to. I would rather the other board member's kids had all three of the pumpkins. I guess I live in a sheltered world, what can I say?

I did see something funny, which I wish I had gotten a photo of - a black lab with his own arm band, meaning he got to sample the chili too. He trotted right over to me to be petted so it's my own fault I didn't get his photo. But, suffice it to say, it was cute  that his three guys got him his own armband.

While working on a number of different computer projects this afternoon I took a break to read some blogs. When I checked Jan Lemen's I saw the most scrumptious photo of a biscuit with jelly on it. This made me long for a scone. I don't know why, but it did.

So, I dug in my computer recipe files and found the scone recipe shared by tea enthusiast Eve Hill on a tea list some years ago. Teresa has a good scone recipe, too, but I didn't have it in the computer. Most of them are pretty similar - but I like a scone that is flaky and crumbly. I don't care so much about the shape - round or triangular - but the texture is important to me. I like them to be rather biscuit-like only a little sweeter.

Anyway, I whipped up some scones, and ate one with real butter and blackberry jelly. Yum. I, of course, had it with some blackberry and sage tea. Susan gave me this tea at Christmas last year and I have loved it. I've been parceling it out and this was the perfect time for some.

I also finished up the invitations for Mary Ann and Jackie's 50th Anniversary Party in a few weeks. Cathy and Kim have been kind enough to let me be involved in the planning. My other big task is the centerpieces. I've got some ideas I need to experiment with. I want to make sure everything looks nice.

Well, time for bed for me. I'm hoping that tomorrow I wake with an uncontrollable urge to tidy up my house.

Out of Sorts

I have been feeling "out of sorts" for the last few months. I'm not depressed. I'm not upset. I'm not bored. I'm not unhappy. But I'm not normal. I'm a little "flat."

Part of it is the need for newness in my life, but that's not all of it. It is deeper than that and I need to figure it out and address it.

I have been trying to put my finger on it and just can't quite get a handle on what the problem is. After some soul searching time late today I have reached some conclusions.

1. My "overstretched arch" has prevented me from getting the normal amount of movement in each day. I'm not saying I exercise regularly, but, in the course of the average day when I wear my little pedometer I walk about 2000-3000 steps. For the past four months it has been so painful that I have walked no more than necessary, which is far less than that. Maybe it's true what they say about needing some exercise/movement to keep various chemicals that affect our moods flowing in the body.

Late today I walked a little nature trail that's about a mile long and although my foot is slightly sore tonight, it's not bad. And I walked a couple of little trails near Mammoth Cave last week, too. So, hopefully it will continue to improve and I can move more.



2.  I have spent too much time and energy this year on things that drain me and too little on things that restore me. It seems there is a constant increase in things that require my attention that I don't wish to do. But, they must be done. So, what is one to do? We all have responsibilities to fulfill. All I can do is try to limit future obligations.

3. I have been journalling less than usual. I've had other kinds of writing to do, including blogging, and have spent less time with pen and paper and I must change that. Journalling is something that we know makes people happier so I must get back in the habit of doing it nearly daily. I go in cycles, but have been keeping a journal since I was in grade school, so this is obviously just a blip. But, regardless, I need to be aware of this.

4. I need opportunities to be with people in meaningful ways that result in learning, creativity, or emotional bonding. For example, leadership last fall provided a great chance to get to know 29 people from different areas. The artist's retreat last year was a great example of a bonding experience. A group of us used to gather and go to see the energy healer, or attend related conferences and such. We haven't done that in a long time and no one in my circle seems interested in doing it anymore. I long for the connection one can only get from a concentrated time frame with others. I have tried to create opportunities for that a couple of times with friends and met with little or no interest.

So, I think I must create something and issue an open invitation, instead of limiting it to people I already know. Obviously, I'll be posting info here when I consider what that will be. It would be fun to get a group of women together from some meaningful interaction.

Managing Life and Changing Times

I've been doing some personal excavating tonight. My desk at home is always covered with piles of stuff. Piles. The fact that my hands haven't been crushed by those piles careening onto the keyboard qualifies as a small miracle.

So, I've been going through piles - filing, tossing, shredding, and wondering. It's that last one that is the reason piles accumulate, I think. I'm not sure what to do with something so I just put it aside. Then, eventually, that grows into an infamous pile, which I continue to add to. When I finally do get around to going through things, many of the pieces of paper I couldn't bear to part with initially because I might want to do something with them are no longer important - a date has passed or for some other reason they're immaterial now.

But, this doesn't stop me from making new piles. I know all those rules about how you should only handle a piece of paper once, have a certain time each day to return phone calls, etc. etc. etc. Who does that? Who lives a life that works like that? Not me and not anyone I know.

Stuff comes into my world at a far greater rate than I could ever process on a daily basis. So, I wait until the things that aren't urgent are outdated and then it takes no brain power to process them. I've recognized this problem of too much stuff coming into my life for some time, but cannot figure out how to deal with it. I had my mail held while I was in Kentucky and after just five days, the stack was about eight inches tall when I picked it up. And that's just the mail - my personal mail - it doesn't take into account email or phone calls or anything work related, where stuff also arrives at a pace I can't maintain. Email floods in from the national office, with complex details and issues. Meanwhile I'm working to keep the daily stuff going.

So much of what arrives at my inboxes, my mailboxes and my doors is so overwhelming - in quantity and topic - that I end up ignoring it unless it's urgent. I don't like feeling like I'm never caught up - never on top of things. I don't know how to manage it all.

I used to say I wanted the world to stop for a few days so I could catch up. Then it was a month I wanted it to stop. Then it was about six months. Now I think I probably need about 10 months of nothing coming into my world to just deal with the stuff already in it.

Of course, people could rightly point out that I could give up the time I spend writing, painting, blogging, doing Christmas, going to events, working on my house, seeing friends, etc. But those things restore me. The other things take from me. I cannot give up the things that nourish my soul or I will have nothing left to give to the other parts of my life. So many of the things I must do seem designed to try and suck the very life out of me.

I always seem to need more hours in the day to do everything I need and want to do. It's certainly not a matter of me not working. I don't think anyone who knows me would ever use the word "lazy" to describe me. I rarely stop, even for a few minutes, from the time I get up until I go to bed. I don't lay down on the couch when I get home. I come in the door and keep going. I haven't actually watched television without doing something else in at least 15 years, except when ill enough to be bedridden. If I'm at the computer I'm working on something - work or personal. I never waste time waiting for appointments - I always have something with me to work on. I even spend very few hours resting every day - rarely more than six - so I'm not sleeping my life away either.

One of the things I found tonight while excavating was my ticket to a performance series here. I haven't ever attended one of their events, but I buy the ticket every year to support it. There are a couple of things this year I might actually go to. Regardless, they send with the ticket a set of stickers for you to put on your calendar, to remind you of the dates. Honestly, I looked at them for a few seconds before I figured out what I was supposed to do with them. I haven't kept a paper calendar for the last 2-3 years. So, the stickers went in the trash - what would I do with them.

It's much like when I have to pay a bill by actually writing a check and putting it in the mail. It's so archaic. Frankly, I'm ticked off that I have to spend time doing either thing. So, I simply don't do business with anyone who requires that of me anymore. If automatic payment isn't available I'll use someone else's service. I want it to just happen seamlessly every month without me having to be involved. I still have to do it for the MHA and it seems so bizarre to me. Fortunately, we don't have a lot of monthly bills.

When I took this job about 5 years ago I was shocked to see two typewriters in the office. I actually turned to one of my board members who was with me and said, honestly, "Whatever will I do with a typewriter?" Type, of course, is the answer. But I never, ever opened either of them. Finally, a few months ago I found another non profit that wanted them. What do you do with a typewriter these days other than use it to create cool, actually typed paper for art projects? I recently put an actual typed envelope into one of my bits and pieces books. I haven't gotten one in years - many years - so I kept it. It's definitely a last gasp of a bygone era. Like so many things from bygone eras, it's charming in it's own way, but I don't want to go back.

The world changes very quickly these days. It's a struggle to keep up. Now, if you'll excuse me I need to go check out my new SpiralFrog membership. Always something new...

Moon Rise

Moon rise tonight was beautiful. I was on my way to Goodwill and pulled over in the Aldi's parking lot to take a photo.

One thing I've learned from Greg is that when you see something cool like that, you've got a very limited time frame in which to capture it. Unless you're very close to an interesting foreground, you better just shoot it with whatever is nearby because it's fleeting. In this case, Lowes was what I had for a foreground. However, I used the trees to block that.

As you can tell, clouds were moving across the moon, which is what gives it that striped look. I was quite infatuated with it.

Walking Through My Dreams

Driving through parts of Kentucky I hadn't been in in a long time, or ever, has given me vivid dreams of people I had practically forgotten who walked through my life at one time or another and now are walking through my dreams. It's almost like guest appearances.

I drove by a sign pointing to Cerulean, Kentucky. I've never been there, but I remember a boy named Bob I met at Murray State University my one year there. Bob was a sweet boy. We lost touch very quickly after I left Murray, but a few years later my Lexington phone rang and it was Bob. He was visiting some friends in the area and had seen me on the news because I was working as a TV reporter then.

In that way that early twenty somethings will do, and I suppose others as well, Bob called me to impress his friends that he knew someone on TV. I'm not sure how much it's worth to know someone who's working the weekend news as a lowly reporter in the 76th market in the country, but it was worth a long distance call to him at the time.

I had no ill will toward Bob, and I was genuinely happy to hear from him. We wrote a couple of letters after that and promptly drifted apart again because there wasn't anything to bond us together.

It was one of my first experiences with someone making an effort to "be in my world" in some small way because of what I was doing for a living. I'm sorry to say it has happened many, many, many times since. I can't imagine what it's like to be a real celebrity, because even on this teeny-tiny, itty-bitty, little scale you're always wondering if people are really interested in you or just your job and what you can do for them with it. Now that I don't work in the media anymore it's no longer an issue. And, there are people who quickly drifted out of my life when I didn't do that for a living anymore.

However, there are others who entered by life because I suddenly had an "important" title. There are a couple of people in town who, literally, did not speak to me prior to me taking this job. But, now that I have some title they deem worthy of note they also consider me worth noting. Can you guess how much respect I have for that? I'll bet you can.

Bob was the first time I had that experience, although I didn't recognize it for what it was then. We have to learn everything in life. And, he got the payoff, his friends were very impressed he knew someone on the news. Twenty year olds are easy to impress, what can I say? But, I talked with them, they were happy, and Bob was too. I wasn't happy, but I wasn't unhappy. I guess I was indifferent that would move to indignant as the days progressed.

Seeing the sign for Cerulean, Kentucky made me think of Bob and that night he walked through my dreams - making a cameo for the first time in many, many years.

I woke up remembering something more pleasant about Bob - bumping into him on a very rainy Thursday afternoon on the Murray State campus - and him driving me back to my dorm a few blocks away. I know it was a Thursday because I had just finished my voice lesson and it was on Thursdays. I was relieved it was over and looked out to see Bob, who was not a music major, walking up the steps with an umbrella. It didn't strike me as odd at the time that he would be a in building a business major would have no reason to ever set foot in. Obviously, it was not happenstance that he was there to rescue me from a rainy walk back to my dorm.

He drove the mile or so and pulled up in front of my dorm. We talked for a few minutes in the dry warmth of his car before he leaned over and kissed me for the first and last time. That one kiss sealed for both of us that we would never have that kind of relationship. It had never crossed my mind until that moment, and it was fleeting, but I guess it had crossed his.

It was nice to have him make a guest appearance in my dreams after seeing the sign for Cerulean. At the 20 plus year schedule my subconscious seems to be on, it will be a long time before I see him again.