Today is Easter! He is risen and there are jelly beans and chocolate rabbits everywhere. I am one of those people who just doesn't understand how a religious moment becomes a commercial. Don't get me wrong I used to enjoy the candy commercial part of this holiday. I just don't understand how both became entwined. I will not pretend that I am well versed in either tradition because I am a nonpracticing Catholic and I do not actively involve myself in holidays.Shrek and I have no wee ones and we are both too grown up for the childlike excitement about candy and gifts,most of the time anyway!
The reason I bring this up? I was over my galpal's last evening. I helped her and her kiddies color eggs. I had fun but what struck me was when her daughter asked why Jesus needed colored eggs? Did it make his egg salad taste better? With the way my brain works, the wheels began to turn. My galpal Jadi is amazing. After the kiddos were securely in bed she pulled all this magical stuff from boxes and bags and assembled each of her children a unique and personal basket of his/her very own. It made me miss the bunny part of my holiday of days gone passed.
In my opinion, for most children waking up on Easter it is not about Jesus rising from the dead. It is about candy and egg hunts and new clothes. It is about going to the grandparents and other relatives for family time and food.
The world is such a commercial place anyway. Hello advertisers? Hello religious leaders? Why can't there be an Easter and an easter? Two separated days, one for Jesus and religious tradition and the other one for the jelly beans and chocolate bunnies. We could do the same thing for Christmas. Win win for everyone invloved. That way children and perhaps parents could finally learn that one has very little to do with the other and more might learn what the real holidays are about. The upside? More time off people!
Happy Easter!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
[Fiona] The Opener
The world is made up of all kinds of people. Tall people, fat people, butt ugly...you get my drift. Some women shop, some women gossip, some women bitch and so on. In my lifetime I have been those other types of gal...oh the shopping sprees I have been on and though I hate to say it I gossip (doesn't everyone on some level?) and yes I can bitch with the best of them, just ask Shrek. What I am here to tell you is that I am an opener. That's right I like to open stuff. It matters not to me if it needs to be opened or not. I want to be the one who unwraps the box, or tears open the envelope, cuts the plastic wrap...sets it free. I have no idea why but it makes me so happy!
I feel like Charlie inside that chocolate factory unraveling the mysteries if only I can get to the nougat center. Shrek hates my opening obsession. If I can't open something I become like a little kid. I fidget, I whine, I get anxious. Shrek will tell me to relax that he'll get to it sooner or later. Oh no he won't. I swear he procrastinates over opening his packages, gifts,mail on purpose because he knows how antsy I become. I actually can feel my anger beginning to brim over the top as I sit and wait and wait and wait.
I have to admit that I will not wait for long. I just get to a point and then I open what I need to open. Shrek be damned!! He will get over being mad...Funny thing is that most times as soon as I get said item open I don't really care what is inside, or it doesn't belong to me, or I don't know how to use the item and Shrek needs to take over the lead position. My job afterall is finished I opened it didn't I?
I feel like Charlie inside that chocolate factory unraveling the mysteries if only I can get to the nougat center. Shrek hates my opening obsession. If I can't open something I become like a little kid. I fidget, I whine, I get anxious. Shrek will tell me to relax that he'll get to it sooner or later. Oh no he won't. I swear he procrastinates over opening his packages, gifts,mail on purpose because he knows how antsy I become. I actually can feel my anger beginning to brim over the top as I sit and wait and wait and wait.
I have to admit that I will not wait for long. I just get to a point and then I open what I need to open. Shrek be damned!! He will get over being mad...Funny thing is that most times as soon as I get said item open I don't really care what is inside, or it doesn't belong to me, or I don't know how to use the item and Shrek needs to take over the lead position. My job afterall is finished I opened it didn't I?
[Shrek] The reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated
Between writing for Sharkspage, getting ready for TotalCon, getting sick (not once, but twice), and just generally being busy, I finally have a few minutes to make a new post. Of course, it literally is just a few minutes, so this won't be very thought provoking and in all probability won't be very long.
On Monday something amusing happened just before bowling. I was looking at the schedule to see who and where I was bowling when another bowler nicknamed "Fitzie" came over to see who he was bowling. He asked me the date. All I could do was look at him in awe. After a few moments I managed to get out "Hey Fitzie, what date do you think it is?" He started at me blankly for a moment or two, smacked himself in the head and laughed, and walked away.
You'd have thought a guy named Fitzgerald would have the date of St. Patrick's Day committed to memory.
Another story...a few Saturdays ago Fiona and I, along with a busload of Worcester Sharks boosters, went to Albany to see the Sharks play. We've been there before, and have a favorite pub we like to go to right across from the arena. Well, in the month between visits there the pub had changed hands and was now a "fine dining" restaurant.
I think the next time we go to Albany it will have changed hands again as the menu was pretty pathetic for a place directly across from an arena. Plus the fact that the waitress screwed up my and Josie's beer order isn't a good sign either. We both ordered a Bass draught, and the waitress brought over Sam's Winter. Not even close to the same thing.
So we bailed out of there and to a place attached to the Times Union Center whose name I don't remember. The place is pretty full of River Rats fans, so we get the "evil eye" as we walked in. We found a table and one of the friendlies waitresses I have ever seen came over and welcomed us and gave us the "lay of the land" as it was.
As were were enjoying our drinks a guy walked up to us because we were wearing Sharks gear and talked to us for a good ten minutes or more about the the trip from Worcester and how it was his first AHL game in many years. The conversation went from sports to our respective cites and everything in between. It was like the old days when people could sit at a bar and have a drink or two and folks would find something in common to talk about for the few moments their lives interacted with each other.
It's stuff like that helps restore your faith in humanity.
I'm currently reading Sue Grafton's series (A is for Alibi; B is for Burglar, etc...). The first couple are pretty bad, but they get better quickly. My goal was to get caught up to her latest book by the end of February. I failed, mostly due to a lack of time. I just started L is for Lawless. Maybe I'll get to them all by summer.
For those with HBO, check out the John Adams miniseries. It airs on Sunday nights, and the first two have already aired so look for them "on demand". It's the best thing on TV in a long time, and now I wished I had DVR'd them all before watching the first two. The wait for number three is killing me.
Patience has never been something I was good at.
On Monday something amusing happened just before bowling. I was looking at the schedule to see who and where I was bowling when another bowler nicknamed "Fitzie" came over to see who he was bowling. He asked me the date. All I could do was look at him in awe. After a few moments I managed to get out "Hey Fitzie, what date do you think it is?" He started at me blankly for a moment or two, smacked himself in the head and laughed, and walked away.
You'd have thought a guy named Fitzgerald would have the date of St. Patrick's Day committed to memory.
Another story...a few Saturdays ago Fiona and I, along with a busload of Worcester Sharks boosters, went to Albany to see the Sharks play. We've been there before, and have a favorite pub we like to go to right across from the arena. Well, in the month between visits there the pub had changed hands and was now a "fine dining" restaurant.
I think the next time we go to Albany it will have changed hands again as the menu was pretty pathetic for a place directly across from an arena. Plus the fact that the waitress screwed up my and Josie's beer order isn't a good sign either. We both ordered a Bass draught, and the waitress brought over Sam's Winter. Not even close to the same thing.
So we bailed out of there and to a place attached to the Times Union Center whose name I don't remember. The place is pretty full of River Rats fans, so we get the "evil eye" as we walked in. We found a table and one of the friendlies waitresses I have ever seen came over and welcomed us and gave us the "lay of the land" as it was.
As were were enjoying our drinks a guy walked up to us because we were wearing Sharks gear and talked to us for a good ten minutes or more about the the trip from Worcester and how it was his first AHL game in many years. The conversation went from sports to our respective cites and everything in between. It was like the old days when people could sit at a bar and have a drink or two and folks would find something in common to talk about for the few moments their lives interacted with each other.
It's stuff like that helps restore your faith in humanity.
I'm currently reading Sue Grafton's series (A is for Alibi; B is for Burglar, etc...). The first couple are pretty bad, but they get better quickly. My goal was to get caught up to her latest book by the end of February. I failed, mostly due to a lack of time. I just started L is for Lawless. Maybe I'll get to them all by summer.
For those with HBO, check out the John Adams miniseries. It airs on Sunday nights, and the first two have already aired so look for them "on demand". It's the best thing on TV in a long time, and now I wished I had DVR'd them all before watching the first two. The wait for number three is killing me.
Patience has never been something I was good at.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
[Fiona] Will It Ever End??? ...
that is to say winter. Oh lordie I am so over with this winter. I feel like I am going to lose my shit today. I had to go to work this morning. I awoke to rain and wind and flurries! No more with the snow, enough already!!!! Spring gods where are you?
I long for warmer days and sunshine. Colors of green and gold and purple will fill the world.I wonder if anyone has ever figured out why a New England winter has to be so damned grey. I am running out of patience. I thought that by now I would be tooling around town sans outerwear or maybe I could get away with wearing a light jacket. I want to be able to put on sandals and shorts and go to a baseball game. Since I am on a rant; how nice would it be to just go for a stroll without boots,hat,mittens,scarf,heavy coat. My mother used to get melancholy over Spring's arrival and I thought she was weird. I would kill to see a crocus right now! Or as my mom would say just one dumb daffodil! Just maybe mom wasn't so weird afterall.
I long for warmer days and sunshine. Colors of green and gold and purple will fill the world.I wonder if anyone has ever figured out why a New England winter has to be so damned grey. I am running out of patience. I thought that by now I would be tooling around town sans outerwear or maybe I could get away with wearing a light jacket. I want to be able to put on sandals and shorts and go to a baseball game. Since I am on a rant; how nice would it be to just go for a stroll without boots,hat,mittens,scarf,heavy coat. My mother used to get melancholy over Spring's arrival and I thought she was weird. I would kill to see a crocus right now! Or as my mom would say just one dumb daffodil! Just maybe mom wasn't so weird afterall.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
[Fiona] SNOW DAY! STORM DAY!
Shrek and I called out of work today. It is not something that I am ever overly proud about. However, I am on the oldish side and no longer find winter weather,i.e,storms to be fun or exciting. My bones are old and thus I wish to keep them in one piece and not several little shattered fragments. I used to be adventurous. So much so that Shrek would often say that I needed to learn my limits and live within those limits. A sentiment I hated to hear.
A few years ago I broke my leg in a fall on ice. Not fun at all. It cured my winter wonderland enthusiasm. I call out of work for crappy weather. Life is to short. I am not a surgeon or lawyer or other important must go to work profession. I work in retail.
A few years ago I broke my leg in a fall on ice. Not fun at all. It cured my winter wonderland enthusiasm. I call out of work for crappy weather. Life is to short. I am not a surgeon or lawyer or other important must go to work profession. I work in retail.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
[Fiona] The Subject of Tomorrow
It used to be that I couldn't wait for tomorrow. The close of each day meant a new beginning...tomorrow. Tomorrow always brought me hope one more chance to get things right; my diet, my checkbook, my love life. I used to take tomorrow for granted. It will always be there, tomorrow. How could I have been so wrong?
All of my tomorrows changed May 15, 2004 with the passing of my kid sister. We had been through hell and back, her and I. Survivors, best friends, and sisters. We lived our lives in the best way we knew how. Thinking back there were days, memories now, we tried like hell to hold on to…that first kiss from a boy, Christmas mornings, birthdays…now only my secrets, my lies, and my truths remain. We can’t share “remember when” anymore. I wait for tomorrow uncertain of what awaits. Gone is that level of nervous excitement, replaced with the knowledge that all of my tomorrows are mirrored repeats of the days gone by since she passed.
How does a lifetime disappear in the flash of a moment? What were her last thoughts? Questions that can never be answered haunt me. We had just spoken at 5:40 p.m. the night before, how could she be dead? It just couldn’t be true. I awaken. It is still dark enough in my room that for a moment I am not sure I am alone. In my haze I call out, “Breny?” There will be no answer and that makes me sad. My pillow is wet from the tears I shed in my sleep. Quietly I slip out of bed and make my way into the darkness of the living room. Another night I don’t sleep. Sadness, tears, and memories keep me from sleeping.
She arrived February 6, 1967, and I was sure she belonged to me. How wonderful of my parents to have brought me a kid sister to play with! I don’t think I can remember a time when she wasn’t with me. I was the big sister. I took my job seriously. I taught her to read and write before she was in kindergarten. I protected her from school bullies. I taught her to ride a bike, climb trees, bake a cake, and play jacks.
She was the Ying to my Yang. We helped each other to survive childhood. We were more than sisters; we were friends. Breny used to say, “sisters by birth, friends by choice.” I often find myself wondering if she knows how much I miss her. I plod along, I try to find my way without her, and often I am afraid. My life will never be the same.
Tomorrow is her birthday...
All of my tomorrows changed May 15, 2004 with the passing of my kid sister. We had been through hell and back, her and I. Survivors, best friends, and sisters. We lived our lives in the best way we knew how. Thinking back there were days, memories now, we tried like hell to hold on to…that first kiss from a boy, Christmas mornings, birthdays…now only my secrets, my lies, and my truths remain. We can’t share “remember when” anymore. I wait for tomorrow uncertain of what awaits. Gone is that level of nervous excitement, replaced with the knowledge that all of my tomorrows are mirrored repeats of the days gone by since she passed.
How does a lifetime disappear in the flash of a moment? What were her last thoughts? Questions that can never be answered haunt me. We had just spoken at 5:40 p.m. the night before, how could she be dead? It just couldn’t be true. I awaken. It is still dark enough in my room that for a moment I am not sure I am alone. In my haze I call out, “Breny?” There will be no answer and that makes me sad. My pillow is wet from the tears I shed in my sleep. Quietly I slip out of bed and make my way into the darkness of the living room. Another night I don’t sleep. Sadness, tears, and memories keep me from sleeping.
She arrived February 6, 1967, and I was sure she belonged to me. How wonderful of my parents to have brought me a kid sister to play with! I don’t think I can remember a time when she wasn’t with me. I was the big sister. I took my job seriously. I taught her to read and write before she was in kindergarten. I protected her from school bullies. I taught her to ride a bike, climb trees, bake a cake, and play jacks.
She was the Ying to my Yang. We helped each other to survive childhood. We were more than sisters; we were friends. Breny used to say, “sisters by birth, friends by choice.” I often find myself wondering if she knows how much I miss her. I plod along, I try to find my way without her, and often I am afraid. My life will never be the same.
Tomorrow is her birthday...
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
[Fiona] Nothing to Say ?
I opened my blog tonight with the intention of writing a great masterpiece...but it is not to be. I have writers' block. I have neglected this site since Christmas Eve. I thought that something amusing or moving might happen and it would give me something to wax poetic over. Wrong.
Shrek and I have returned to work. There's nothing quite like work to dampen a good time. This could very well explain my loss for words. Shrek and I work for a major retailer. Every year after Christmas it gets very S-L-O-W at work. Plenty of clean the facility and other stupid earn-your-paycheck type crap jobs to do. It is my least favorite time of year. I yearn for Spring.
Well on the up and coming...at the end of February Shrek and I will be going to his annual gaming convention. He games with friends all weekend while I go shopping with my girlfriends. A perfect time for all. I am really looking forward to going this year.
Shrek and I have returned to work. There's nothing quite like work to dampen a good time. This could very well explain my loss for words. Shrek and I work for a major retailer. Every year after Christmas it gets very S-L-O-W at work. Plenty of clean the facility and other stupid earn-your-paycheck type crap jobs to do. It is my least favorite time of year. I yearn for Spring.
Well on the up and coming...at the end of February Shrek and I will be going to his annual gaming convention. He games with friends all weekend while I go shopping with my girlfriends. A perfect time for all. I am really looking forward to going this year.
Monday, December 24, 2007
[Fiona] A Little Love
It is Christmas Eve. Shrek and I ventured out earlier and brought home Chinese food. A tradition his mom started a few years ago. I actually look forward to it every year. I even saved points just for tonight. I am sure I ate more than I allowed myself but life goes on...
For the entirety of our marriage I have never been able to surprise Shrek.Tonight that changes. I bought him a Christmas gift. One I put extra thought into. I even managed to hide it in a place he would never look. I think he is just skilled at reading other people and would probably make a good judge, or cop, or poker player.
While we buy Christmas gifts for the people in our lives we never get gifts for each other as we both believe that love should be celebrated everyday not just once a year with a pretty box and a bow.
This year is different. Shrek, whom I love more than mere words can express, deserves to have a wonderful Christmas. So much has changed and happened to us this year that I just wanted to show him how much I really do love him. Shrek stands by me in sickness and in health. He loves me in the rain and wind. He loves me thick or thin. He is a one-in-a million and I am fortunate to love him and be loved by him.
Merry Christmas Shrek...I LOVE YOU
For the entirety of our marriage I have never been able to surprise Shrek.Tonight that changes. I bought him a Christmas gift. One I put extra thought into. I even managed to hide it in a place he would never look. I think he is just skilled at reading other people and would probably make a good judge, or cop, or poker player.
While we buy Christmas gifts for the people in our lives we never get gifts for each other as we both believe that love should be celebrated everyday not just once a year with a pretty box and a bow.
This year is different. Shrek, whom I love more than mere words can express, deserves to have a wonderful Christmas. So much has changed and happened to us this year that I just wanted to show him how much I really do love him. Shrek stands by me in sickness and in health. He loves me in the rain and wind. He loves me thick or thin. He is a one-in-a million and I am fortunate to love him and be loved by him.
Merry Christmas Shrek...I LOVE YOU
Thursday, December 13, 2007
[Fiona] You Can't Mean Me
OK I have finally calmed down enough to post this rant. What the cheese, people? Traffic lights still apply during a snow storm! Traffic should move in a forward direction cautiously and when the light changes: STOP! ! ! and calmly wait for your FUCKIN' TURN ! I left my place of employment today 45 minutes early because the inches where collecting rather rapidly. On an average day I live 10-15 minutes away. Today it took Shrek and I approximately 90 minutes to go the same distance. It was not all the weather's fault.
It never ceases to amaze me that the Average Joe thinks he is so much more important than the next guy. Listen up Ass! Yes, I mean you and you know who you are. Mr.Tough Guy, who is trying to push his girlfriend's stalled car at a busy intersection. In a storm we are all the same UNLESS you are driving a firetruck, an ambulance, a police vehicle or a plow. Just in case nobody ever told you; it is ILLEGAL to push a car with another car not to mention how brainless and dangerous it is. Here's an idea; buy your BITCH a good car. I noticed you were driving a tricked out SUV while she was driving some piece-or-shit leftover from the 80's. Here's another idea: AAA and a cell phone, for her. That way the next time she breaks down and it will happen( seeing she drives that beauty)she won't have to be embarrassed by your asinine behavior.
It never ceases to amaze me that the Average Joe thinks he is so much more important than the next guy. Listen up Ass! Yes, I mean you and you know who you are. Mr.Tough Guy, who is trying to push his girlfriend's stalled car at a busy intersection. In a storm we are all the same UNLESS you are driving a firetruck, an ambulance, a police vehicle or a plow. Just in case nobody ever told you; it is ILLEGAL to push a car with another car not to mention how brainless and dangerous it is. Here's an idea; buy your BITCH a good car. I noticed you were driving a tricked out SUV while she was driving some piece-or-shit leftover from the 80's. Here's another idea: AAA and a cell phone, for her. That way the next time she breaks down and it will happen( seeing she drives that beauty)she won't have to be embarrassed by your asinine behavior.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
[Shrek & Fiona] Holiday Message
As we are now in the holiday season, please accept our heartfelt holiday greeting:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "America" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee.
By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:
This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
Any and all applicable taxes that arise from accepting this greeting are the sole responsibility of the wishee.
Yours neutrally,
Shrek & Fiona
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "America" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee.
By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:
This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
Any and all applicable taxes that arise from accepting this greeting are the sole responsibility of the wishee.
Yours neutrally,
Shrek & Fiona
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