Friday, October 29, 2010

"I see you shiver with antici-..." Tim Curry as Dr. Frank N. Furter in 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'

Article first published as Nuggets of Wisdom- My Not--So-Secret Crush on Technorati.

This will come as no surprise to my friends or family.... I have crush on Tim Curry.


This comes up mostly during Halloween since revivals of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' are so prolific this time of year.  Oddly enough, Rocky Horror was not my introduction to Mr. Curry.

I think the first time I saw him was in the movie 'Clue.'  Always a sucker for comedy, I loved his quirky character.  It was during promo interviews for the movie that I learned about his earlier movie and his singing career.  I was intrigued.

I then saw him in the movie 'Legend.'  He played Darkness, complete with horns and a latex enhanced physique.  Yum.  Even though the body and the voice were enhanced, there was an allure.  I became mildly obsessed with Tim. (Seeing as how he was starting to play a part in some of my dreams, I think I should be on a first name basis with him.)

I began hearing his voice in cartoons, commercials, books on tape, and guest appearances on television.  He even did a movie with the Muppets.  Now he was in the big time!  Even though his characters were varied, there was a certain sexy Tim-ness in everything he did.


Then came the horrible realization.  He is the same age as my father.  <gasp>  Can a man old enough to be your father be 'sexy'?  How about when he gets a little pudgy and no longer looks good in a bustier?  Can you still have a crush if you're not even sure if you and your crushie play on the same team.


The answer is YES.  A crush is not about the crushie.  It is about the fantasy we develop around the object of our crush.  Tim Curry will forever be the Grand Wizard from 'The Worst Witch' to me.  I will strut my stuff to his crooning of "Sweet Transvestite."  I would listen to him read the phone book with relish if he chose to do it.  It's not about him, it's about me.

Ultimately that is the problem with so many crushes.  We get caught up in our fantasy version of the other person.  Maybe that is why so many people have difficulty staying in relationships.  They fall in love with the crush and then are crushed by the reality.  I am, however, content to crush from the distance of time and space.  I will hold onto my fantasy but not begrudge the reality.  There is room for both in my world.

Oh, yeah....

                               "......-pation!"

Monday, October 25, 2010

"You can't teach people to be lazy - either they have it, or they don't." Dagwood Bumstead (Blondie comics)

Article first published as Nuggets of Wisdom - Lazy Sundays on Technorati.

Ah, Sunday.  It is a wonderfully lazy sort of day.  A day for sipping coffee and reading the comics section of the paper.  Most weekend social activities are crammed into Friday evening and all day Saturday, leaving Sunday as a day of rest.  Even if you spend your morning at church there is still the afternoon and plenty of time before you have to return to the grind of the work week.

I don't need a specific day to be lazy.  If given free range, I can make any day as unproductive and non-taxing as your typical Sunday.  If there is a hammock nearby and book handy, forget about me for at least five hours.

There are still certain demands made on my day.  I have a dog whose internal alarm clock tells me when it's time to get up and go for a walk.  She doesn't care if it's the weekend or a holiday.  She stubbornly refuses to learn how to hop on the toilet and flush afterwords.

Then there are mouths to feed.  Luckily, my son is getting of that age where he can fend for himself.  But in order for him to be self sufficient, there needs to be food in the kitchen for him to scavenge, so I guess a trip to the grocery is needed.  As long as I'm there, I'll just pick up something special for dinner.  A little time over the stove won't be too bad.

Oh yeah, there is the pesky laundry to do.  Must have clean clothes for the new work week.  At the very least underwear should be done, just in case anyone gets into an accident.  But it's just as easy to do three loads as one, so it all gets done.

As long as we're cleaning things, those dishes are starting to pile up and the dog could use a bath.  It wouldn't hurt to do a once over of my son's room.  And if I've already got the vacuum out for his room, why not continue on to the other rooms.

Hmmmm, this lazy Sunday isn't turning out exactly as I had planned.

But that's the way it is.  In my youth it was more fun to be lazy.  I could spend the day watching bad movies or climbing trees in the yard.  Now I feel guilty.  I'll still find time to lay on the couch and spend some time with a good book or catch an old movie....but it will have to be after some of those 'adult' things get done.

Ah, Bumstead, you are a true artist and I tip my hat to you.

 

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Body of B. Franklin Printer, Like the Cover of an Old Book, Its Contents Torn Out And Stripped of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies Here Food for Worms, - Benjamin Franklin

 Article first published as Nuggets of Wisdom: Afterlife on Technorati.

The Body of B. Franklin Printer,
Like the Cover of an Old Book,
Its Contents Torn Out
And Stripped of its Lettering and Gilding,
Lies Here Food for Worms,
But the Work shall not be Lost,
For it Will as He Believed
Appear Once More
In a New and more Elegant Edition
Revised and Corrected
By the Author

- Benjamin Franklin

This epitaph was written by Mr. Franklin at the ripe ol' age of 22, but was never used.  I agree with the sentiment he expressed concerning both life and death.  Aren't we all constantly writing our biographies?  Sometimes the plot is slow and plodding, sometimes it is full of beauty and wit, occasionally it might get a bit steamy.

But when we are no more, after the last 'The End' is penned, what happens to us?  It is the question that has spun a million religious quandaries.  I like Mr Franklin's belief, or perhaps my interpretation of his beliefs.
I prefer to see my life not as a single solitary story, but as a series whose total is measured in numerous volumes.  When the first book is over, it's cover worn and torn and the pages dog eared, a new one is written.  The first story is necessary for the second to make sense.  Lessons learned in one book are put to good use in the future adventures.  And when that story has reached it's denouement we start a new volume.

I don't think we are discarded and forgotten to a shelf to gather dust.  I like to believe that we are rebound much like Mr. Franklin suggests.  The original typos that plagued our stories are edited and the content is made to flow gently from chapter to chapter.  I look forward to the compilation of my stories.  All of the seemingly unconnected tragedies, fantasies, and romances rebound together and offered unabridged.  I don't know how many printings I'll get- none of us do.

My only hope is that someday someone will look at me and the lessons I've lived and learned over many stories and lives, and find something of value to their own story.  I hope I leave behind a life worth reading.

A special thanks to Mr. Ben Franklin.  He was a book binder and the father of America's first lending library.  He left a life worth reading and I hope is currently rebound and reissued.

Monday, October 18, 2010

"Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power." - P. J. O'Rourke

Article first published as Nuggets of Wisdom: Greed on Technorati.

How wonderful the world would be if there was some sort of litmus test that would weed out those people afflicted by the diseases of stupidity, ignorance, and greed. I know I would get hit every now and then with the stupidity or ignorance portion, but hopefully not the greed.

Greed is defined by dictionary.com as "excessive or rapacious desire, esp. for wealth or possessions."

Don't get me wrong, I like my stuff, but I don't need to own everything I see.  I usually try my best not to take everything offered.  I always want to save some for others.  I fear that is not the case for some out there....and I don't know why.

I can understand if you come from a background of not having something.  When the opportunity comes along, you take what you can and maybe a little more just in case it doesn't come along again.  I've read that a tribe of Pygmies living in the jungle will gorge themselves on bananas when they come across them because they never know if and when they will come across such bounty again.

The part I have trouble wrapping my head around is the large number of haves out there who grab as much as they can just to keep it from anyone else.  Why do they feel the need to take more than they need or can use?  What good does it do a man to gain all just to lose his soul (to badly paraphrase)?

It is a double-edged sword because when greed comes in and tries to take all the pie, it teaches the others waiting patiently for their share that they need to jump in, forks flying, to get some before it's all gone.  The more greed grows, the fewer crumbs are left for the rest.

Too bad there isn't a 12 step program out there.  It might someday become fashionable to sequester yourself in a rehab facility to get over your greed addiction.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

"Two men looked out from prison bars, one saw the mud, the other saw the stars." Frederick Langbridge

Article first published as Nuggets of Wisdom - It Is All A Matter of Perspective on Technorati.

The above quote is a lovely little poem about optimism and pessimism. But I think it is about more than just that.

I am constantly amazed at how two people can look at one event and come up with two different ideas of what is going on. How you look at any situation is based on your past experiences and future expectations.
Take our two prisoners from above. Could it be that the one gazing longingly up at the stars is finding his escape in beauty or God? Or is it just as likely that the one staring at the ground is looking for a more terrestrial means of escape...perhaps a weakness in the prison or even a key dropped by a negligent guard? Two possibilities in one event.

It sort of makes sense. I mean after all, there is night and day, left and right, up and down. But is one view point innately better than the other? I don't think so. It could be that looking at a problem from a different angle might give you an insight in how to correct it or make it work for you.

                                  

The same goes for those wonderful optical illusions we have all seen.  It all depends on how you look at something.  Do you focus on the light or dark of a situation?  Is it a problem or an opportunity?  The correct answer is of course that it is both... and neither.  It is what you make of it.

Personally I prefer to play the roll of the optimist.  I want to see the silver lining in the clouds, but I know full well that in order to do that I have to suffer the storm.  We all know that it takes a little rain to make the rainbow.


Read more: http://technorati.com/blogging/article/nuggets-of-wisdom-it-is-all/#ixzz12ArD4cYU

Thursday, October 7, 2010

"Life in general sucks, so you have to make your life not so general." Kristi Fojtik

Article first published as Nuggets of Wisdom on Technorati.

A good friend of mine told me that in college. It struck me at the time as being quite profound, especially coming from someone barely twenty years old.

Over the years I had forgotten this little pearl of wisdom. I had written it down in my book of quotes, tucked it on a shelf, and then went on about my life. I sought the middle ground. The happy medium between greatness and failure. I plodded through life with no major sorrow or accomplishments. I lead a general life. And it sucks.

Don't get me wrong, I love what I have. I could not see my life with out my husband and son. They are the steadfast normality I need to keep me sane. But there are nights I stare into myself and ask "What could have been?"

It's not too late. The dance isn't over until the last note dies away into silence. Each of us has the potential to pull away from the herd and show the world what makes us special.

I'm not talking major life altering moves. No selling all your belongings and moving to a cave. No midlife crisis splurges that ruin your credit score. Not even plastic surgery.Stary Night by Van Gogh
You can make your life special little by little. Maybe it's going to a restaurant you've never been to. Maybe it's volunteering for some project you normally wouldn't try. It could be as simple as wearing brighter colors when everyone about you is wearing drab ones. Step by step you move from the general into the spectacular.

The choice is yours. To be one of thousands of lights in the sky....or the shooting star that others wish on.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” Aristotle

I remember crying when I was younger, thinking I would never meet the one person who made me whole.  It seemed everyone around me was in a 'relationship'.  Although happy in all other aspects of my life, I knew there was something missing.  And then I met him. 

It wasn't love at first sight.  Sure there was a physical attraction, but I know the difference between love and lust.  I've had friends who didn't know that difference and later learned it the hard way.  Even with that hard earned knowledge, they continued to throw themselves out there with abandon....because they too felt that longing to make a connection.  The satisfaction of completion.

I think of our relations with people, and in particular the relations with our significant others, like a jigsaw puzzle.  Sometimes the pieces fit together easily, but the picture doesn't make sense.  Sometimes you know it just has to fit, but try as hard as you like you can't get them to come together.  Sometimes it takes many pieces interlocking before you can guess what the picture is supposed to look like.  Sometimes there is only one piece that could ever fit.

I want everyone to find the matching piece that completes the puzzle of their lives.  Sometimes that other piece is a gorgeous member of the opposite sex who shares your beliefs and wants exactly the same things out of life as you.  Sometimes they might be your complete opposite, but the compliment that balances you and keeps you from going to far.  They may be the same sex.  They may be a different race.  They may be mentally or physically challenged.  It doesn't matter when you get right down to it.  Two halves make a whole, and we all want to be whole people....don't we? 

Finding your soul mate in a population of billions is difficult enough without putting up roadblocks and stipulations as to why they can't be.  Love is a wonderful thing.  Everyone deserves it.

Happy Anniversary to my husband and soul mate! Although we may question exactly where all the pieces go, I wouldn't want to put this puzzle together with anyone else but you.

Friday, October 1, 2010

To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life. ~W. Somerset Maugham

I love to read.

This is not news for my friends and family.  I read in the morning waiting for my son to get ready for school.  I read at lunch while blindly shoveling food in my mouth.  I read at night, eyes burning with tiredness but refusing to close them.  I have to admit, I have on occasion even read and drove. 
(Disclaimer:  I do not condone actually reading while the car is in motion.  You should strictly wait until you get to a light.  And if you have to slow down to make sure you get caught by the light, who's to know?)

Books are wonderful things.  The wonders they contain are not diminished by their consumption.  If any thing it grows with in you as you read.  The story in a good book draws you in.  No matter what is going on in my life, be it a doctor's appointment or a fight with my hubby, a book gets me though it.  I find myself repeating dialog and picturing myself as the characters.  The action that takes place within my head is better than any TV show or movie. 

That's why so many people tell you 'The book was better."  It's because they were the director and every actor in their version of the book.  Let's see Brad Pitt do that!

Books take you to places with out the need of a passport or gas.  They teach and entertain, sometimes at the same time.  Books are the repositories of friends you wish you had and enemies you are glad you don't.  They contain a wealth of knowledge and a bundle of lies.  Books are not kindling!

Books should not be feared but cherished and cultivated.   In this modern digital age, old fashioned paper books are going the way of the dinosaur.  I personally feel a loss at this.  True, a nice book on tape might prevent me from rear-ending you on the highway; but cuddling up with a good computer screen in bed does nothing for me.  Call me old fashioned, but I like the comfort of turning a page.