Something has been bugging me...

lately and well, it's time to vent.  And please bear in mind that I mean this in the nicest possible way...  I'm tired of reading plagiarized blogs.  There, I said it.  I know that the prevailing public opinion is that bloggers are a bunch of self-promoting narcissists.  There may be a grain or two of truth in that statement, but if you're going to be a self-promoting narcissist, at least be an original one.  I follow a few blogs religiously, and do you know why I enjoy them?  These bloggers write about their lives - their uncensored, original lives - and their writing is uniquely original.  I'll admit, the English major in me finds a couple of them not terribly well written and one is actually intensely boring, but I appreciate the content because it is entirely original thought.  But others, well - if you have nothing to say, don't copy an article from some fluff women's magazine and paste it into your blog.  This type of blogging happens quite frequently - haven't people ever heard of attribution?  A copied post is blatantly obvious; originality is, at the very least, the art of concealing one's sources.  I saw this print on Etsy and loved the Melville quote:  It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.  

I'm getting off my blogging soapbox now.

Angels unaware...

I just read a blog post that broke my heart - and really pissed me off, all at once.  I had stop following this particular blogger a while back because I just couldn't take the self-absorbed whining any more.  When I first started blogging and ran across her blog, I liked her voice and admired the things she wrote about her family and faith, as well as their commitment to mission work.  Then somewhere along the way, I realized that sharing her thoughts was all a self-promotion thing and well, frankly, it turned me off.  I stopped following a couple other look-at-me blogs around the same time - but every once in a while I get curious and check them out to see what I've missed.  And today I read the post that hurt me to the depths of my soul.  She actually wrote about her personal struggle with including a motherless, hungry child begging for attention with her own kids at playtime - and even worse, at meal time.  Honestly, what person who professes to love God would have to think twice about inviting this lost soul in?  And are we not supposed to give our gifts in private, so the Lord, who sees everything will reward us?  I know, I'm judging - none of us is perfect, but don't shout to the rooftops (or the world wide web) what a good Christian you are if you are too blind to entertain an angel when God puts one right in front of you.

Lord forgive me, I'm getting off the soapbox now.

A little blog housecleaning...

It's a new year and I needed to do a little tidying up around here.  Dawn & Aggie had become just a little too busy to suit me.  We got rid of some of the graphics, the thought for the week and decided to nix the music.  It made the page load slower and face it, not everyone enjoys my eclectic taste in music.  But honestly, where could you find Johnny Cash on the same playlist as Barenaked Ladies and the Fine Young Cannibals?  And don't forget YoYo Ma.  We've also been doing some tidying up at home and this just seemed like a good idea while I was taking a break.  Hope your new year is off to as busy a start as mine!

Odds, ends and resolutions...

are the topic of the day and they have absolutely nothing to do with this photo of my Christmas Day quiche.  It was just pretty good and I took a photo of it and then didn't blog about it.  It was just a simple pie with eggs, milk, bacon and some chopped-up sliced swiss cheese which was all I happened to have in the refrigerator.  Oh, and a pre-made pie crust.  Not bad for a quickie dinner.

I am not much on resolutions because I never keep them.  For instance, one of my resolutions last year was to blog every day.  That did not happen, although I had good intentions.  That may well mean that I am on the road to hell, but I hope not.  The really odd thing that I noticed was that in 2009, when I first started blogging, I wrote 129 posts.  In 2010, I wrote 329 posts and in 2011 - 229 posts.  Since I'm a numbers sort of person, this really struck me as odd (get it - they're all odd).  Also, 229 is a prime number; the other two are not.  I struggled with forcing myself to catch up on all the half-written posts for 2011 during the month of December - but I decided to let that goal of 365 blog posts for the year go.  Which, in light of my OCD tendencies, is a really good thing.

So anyway, the resolutions.  And I think these might be easier than I think: a) no more take-out food.  It's much cheaper to cook and eat at home - and there's no tip required.  Yes, I'm cheap and I've decided to extend my frugality to my weekly grocery bill once again.  I was doing great at that and I've fallen off the sale items & coupons only wagon.  Resolution 2: I'm planning to avoid WalMart this year.  I think I can find the things I buy there (generic Tylenol, wipes, soda) just as cheap at the grocery or Target.  Every time I go to WalMart, I have a too-many-people freak-out and I spend the two following days with flu-like symptoms from all the germ-ridden people there.  It could just be in my head, but I don't think so.  And finally, D: I'm going to try and like wine.  I'm not planning on becoming a wino by any means.  It's just that I've read that wine is actually good for the digestive system and has other beneficial properties.  It makes me sleepy, so that's a plus - I'll just have to remember to drink it at night.  I've tried for years to be sophisticated enough to have a glass of wine with dinner to no avail.  I'd usually dump out the rest of the glass and make the next pot roast or chicken with the rest of the bottle.  Since I'm not cooking meat any more and only cooking for me, it looks like I'll be forced to actually drink the wine.  And with the money I'll be saving on the grocery bill, I can buy wine.  I'll let you all know how that goes.

As usual, Aggie and Peter have no resolutions.

They may be on to something there.

Join me in Piney Point...

for the original murder mystery I'm serializing on my new blog, Piney Point, Alabama .  The first mystery in the series is called Dead and Dug Up.  I hope you'll check out the misadventures of my amateur sleuth and her crazy Southern family.  I'd love to hear your feedback!

I've always wondered...

about this: if the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, what is the road to Heaven paved with?  I've probably had enough good intentions to pave the road to Hades and back about a dozen times so far - maybe I'm destined to be CEO of this company!  Of course, my good intentions this week included catching up on my blog posts, but I haven't done that and now the weekend is upon me.  So many books, so little time...  I just downloaded about eight free Kindle books and I pretty much have my weekend mapped out - and then I looked at my list and blog catch-up is right there at the top.  It might not seem like a big deal, but blogging is something I've been doing for me; it makes me think positive thoughts (most of the time) and it makes me take time to write - even if it's just a paragraph or two.  One of my resolutions way back in January was to blog every day this year - and well, tax season got in the way.  I have about three months worth of half-written blog posts - ideas whose time probably came and went, but those paragraphs matter to me.  The new books will still be on my Kindle next weekend.  Time to rethink my plans...

Oh - and I really want one of those three-wheel bicycles!

Still alive and...

Well, I'm trying to catch up.  I'm not complaining - after the past couple of years, too much work is a blessing and I am very, very thankful.  Two of my favorite people were here today - and just spending time chatting with them about life, family, their work and yes - taxes - made me realize how much I've missed being creative on a daily basis.  It's been months since I made a card - and even longer since I sat down at my sewing machine.  Denise is an amazing and creative seamstress - and she always inspires me to take up my needle and thread.  Jill is a seriously great card designer and I am always so thrilled when she makes a card just for me.  One of my biggest creative outlets over the past couple of years has been blogging - and the very act of writing something positive every day has helped me resist the urge to over-edit my work and just write.  And I have missed the daily exercise of writing so much this past month - despite the fact that I've taken a minute or two to jot down an idea every day.  So please bear with me - if anyone out there is still reading! - while I catch up a few days at a time.  I started blogging just for me - and I am truly amazed that anyone finds what I write even remotely interesting enough to choose to follow along.  Life is good - and I have some really funny stuff on my list to write about, so stay tuned...

I iz a membir of the CIA...

an for thoz uv yous who dont know, thatz the Cairn Intellajunts Ageinsee.  My mom got aggervated with the puter last night.  She wanted to wach the latess epasoad of Memfis Beet and it wouldnt work.  So she gave up after she cald the puter a bad name and smact the mous thing down.  I think shez jest sick uv bein stuck in the house this week.  So wile she wuz readin a book cald Scents an Scentsabilidy - which I dont get cuz she dont uze her noz noway nohow - not like a dog duz - I got on the puter and fixt it up for her.  It was cuz she dizabulled all the poppups and the TNT shows is poppups.  Thatz all - no big deel.  Wile I wuz at it, I chainjd the glob lay out to three collums and then I put sum mor bee stuf on the glob here.  I thinks itz preddy cyute.  Thats ware the Cairn Intellajunts comes in.  She dont know what all I know.  I has a blak belt in ankul biting and that meens I have a rank uv whippersnapper in the CIA.  See, all this cyuteniss iz a grate disguys.  I am speshally traned in Hoamland Sekuritee.  Nobuddy getz by this cairn, beleev yous me.

I gotta go - we iz havin spugetty for dinner.

 

Thanks a whole latte...

to Linda at Linda's Life Journal for the wonderful surprise in my mailbox today!  I was thrilled to find this lovely hand-painted card and a nice note.  I just love it and I can't wait to get it framed and hang it on my kitchen wall next to the teapot.  She does such amazing work - be sure to check out her blog.  It just really made my day!  You'd think Florida would have nicer weather in the summer, but it's been dreary all day long and now it's pouring down rain!  No work on my screened porch today...  I need to quit calling it a lanai because Yankees and Midwesterners don't know what that is.  

I guess I could work on the new pillow covers for the living room...  Film at eleven.

Bee happy!

I finally found a bee background that I liked!  I have been looking forever and all I could find were cartoon looking bees - and then I found the Background Fairy.  I made my own header - and I tell you, centering it is a screaming pain in the bum.  I may do some tweaking of the bee image in the header, but overall I am pretty pleased with the whole effect.  Let me know what you think!

Does anyone else...

have global appeal?  Seriously, I keep getting comments from someone in this part of the world and I have absolutely no idea what they are saying.  They are all from the same person - I need a translator!  Here's the latest one:

耐心是一株很苦的植物，但果實卻很甜美

It could say "I like what you have to say" or

"You write like crap."  It's anybody's guess.

Change is good...

Well, how do you like that - I had a tag on my blog that said I needed to refresh my Cutest Blog on the Block background or it would disappear on Friday.  So I've changed again - temporarily.  All the more reason I need to get with it and make my own busy bee blog layout.  Yes, I guess change is good.
And this is sort of cute for a quick re-do, if I don't say so myself.

Fooling around...

on the internet when I can't sleep isn't all bad - I found this cute Mary Engelbreit image that I don't remember ever seeing before.  Isn't it cute?  I think that must be what I look like when I'm pondering life at three in the morning.  The only thing missing in the picture is the snoring Aggie!  I also ran across a free signature maker and it even generates the HTML for you so you can include it in your blog.  Pretty cool - if you decide to try it, be sure to click the transparent box (or your signature ends up in a box) and after you generate the HTML, just save it to a document file so you can copy and paste it at will.  Pretty neat - and I even made one for Aggie, too.  I even found more free blog layout sites - but I haven't been able to find one with bees or beehives yet.  I may just have to break down and learn how to make a custom layout myself.  Ha!  This from the woman who cannot figure out how to put music on her blog...  One of these days.

The good old summertime...

is as good as any time for a blog re-design.

Especially when you're trying to avoid housework.