Soubriquet

time wasters

butt sitters

brain suckers

light killers

we cling to them like a lifeline

until our thoughts are all gone

emptied out like last tuesday’s garbage

Amy Herman trains the CIA, FBI, Secret Service and the NYPD about how to change their perspectives when communicating about investigations. Through art, she shows them how not be too presumptuous and be more direct, articulate and use communication as a vehicle for problem solving. It was great to hear her in person on Thursday. Some of what she said relates back to the image above.

Sometimes, being a grownup can suck.

Like when you have to pay for silly things such as car repairs or when you get funny looks for still eating your ice cream even after dropping it on the ground. (hello? 5 second rule anyone?)

Or, like today when I had 4 biopsies (which is scary because my mother had to have a complete hysterectomy when she was just 2 years older than I am now) and a battery of other tests and still had to be functioning enough to answer work emails

Other times, it’s great!

Like when you get to tell jerks to FUCK OFF and not get your mouth washed out, or like when you get to have ice cream for breakfast  just because (again, 5 second rule),  or like when you get to have puppies on demand, go driving for hours, and stay up crafting as late as you damn well please.

Last airport experience: 1988 Last real vacation: years and years

Also, like when your career affords you such luxuries as days off without bureaucracy , an awesome team to learn from, and a great wage so that you can financially help  (with my amazing Uncle) send your parents on their first trip to Hawaii. Or when you can buy your mom and sister-in-law their first iPhones (and first internet access since they both live sans computers) so you can exchange kid-filled photo messages and email notes. This coming from a girl whose biggest goal at 17 was to get a scholarship to the local college, find a full-time job with benefits and live in downtown Mt. Pleasant (all checked off the list btw). It’s nice to have had such great opportunities and mentors and to have worked hard enough to take care of myself and my family.

It’s also nice to have perspective and forethought gained through experience because when you and your parents are all adults at the same time, sometimes you can teach them things about themselves they never even knew! Like how awesome they are, and how good talking about things is and how healing CAN happen without having to re-live anything or have guilt forever.

As you may have read in past posts, my mom had it very very rough. She was abused in her youth, escaped and began a life, then was medically retired by the State of Michigan in the 80′s (before they knew what PTSD was or how to treat it) after being severely beaten by one of the patients in the mental health facility she worked at. My Dad, some of the same. His childhood was average but somewhere along the way in adulthood he forgot how to self-advocte.  He also lost a fight with the state to go back to work and was medically retired due to the doctor discovering he had ankylosing spondylitis after he had his back broken on the job. They sort of gave up for awhile because they felt like the system gave up on them. They were embarrassed and angry and confused.

Now that they are older (and have grandchildren) the anger has gone away and they are two of the coolest cats I know. AND two of the BEST grandparents I know. My nieces and nephews sure are lucky.

wordpress has AMAZING analytics

you can always tell when someone is either very interested in your work or stalking your blog, especially one like mine that i don’t publicize at all

you have to use very specific search terms to find it

once, someone posted a crappy comment on one of my posts for approval, then checked back 42 times that day to see if it posted.

creepy.

i do enjoy when people go through my work thoroughly, but when you stalk, it’s just weird.

42 visits from 1 viewer in a day is a little much…