Pet Peeves and Other Stuff

Today, being Wednesday- blog day- I was thinking about what my blog topic should be (and not a moment too soon, right?) As I have stated in previous posts, I do procrastinate. Thank goodness I have God on my editorial team*,because at just the right moment a breeze blew the curtains up and over the couch. I immediately took a detour from my planned destination into the front room to fix the curtains. I put them neatly back behind the couch. That’s when I got my writing idea for today. Messy curtains are one of my pet peeves. I can’t stand curtains that are uneven or messy. I think I inherited this peeve from my mom.

I gave this idea a little more thought and I realized that I ALWAYS make sure the double-hung windows are open at EXACTLY the same height. This morning Tim opened windows and left them uneven. I HAD to fix them.

Another pet peeve of mine is when people don’t use coaster. Jeesh, that bugs me! But my biggest pet peeve is when people use books as a writing surface. I HATE that! Whether the book is opened or closed, it does not matter -press on the cover or press on the pages and I don’t like it! I have to ask the writer to move their paper to the desk/table/counter-top. Ever noticed grooves from a pen pressing down in a book? So, so, so sad.

A pet peeve is defined as an irritable experience caused by another and is complained about by the person offended/disturbed.  You know, it’s that thing that you can’t bite your tongue about. You can’t just let it go.

Another disgusting thing is when people go into pool or beach bathrooms barefooted.  That is gross, but I’m not sure if it’s a pet peeve- as long as nobody I’m with does it!!

“Dishonest people” is not a pet peeve.  “People who read while they’re driving” is not a pet peeve. They are complains that are too real, too big to be a pet peeve.  Pet peeves have to be seemingly little, inconsequential things with inconsequential repercussions.

Did you know one of author Stephen King’s pet peeves is the showing of advertisements before movies? LA Ink’s tattoo artist Kat Von D’s pet peeve is people who wear earpieces to talk on the phone but refuse to take them off when they’re not on the phone.

I think we are all wired to have pet peeves, but I don’t know why that is so. The world can be difficult enough sometimes with the real problems we have to deal with. Maybe when we think of our pet peeves, we should say to ourselves, “If this is the only thing I have to complain/worry about right now, I’m doing. OK!”

Until next time,

Be Good to Yourself,

~Nadine

* I’m not being blasphemous, here.  I try to recognize and then thank God for all my graces, big and small.

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

My phone’s storage was at maximum capacity and I was having difficulty sending things so I decided it was time to go through my pictures and delete the junk and then download the rest onto my computer. As I was scrolling it occurred to me that I take a lot of pictures of signs. Maybe it’s my love of words or maybe it’s my darker side’s sense of humor. Or maybe it’s both.

In 1970, Canadian rock group called Five Man Electrical Band had a song called “Signs.” Back in the day, you could buy an individual song to play on a record player. It was called a 45. Since there were 2 sides to every record, the other side - the B-side, or flip side – was typically a song that wasn’t going to make much of a commotion in the music world.  This particular song was the B-Side and it went BIG! (In 1990, some twenty years later, the band Tesla re-released “Signs." They changed the lyrics a bit as to create a more up-to-date/raw version fitting for the day and times.)

I got a kick out of seeing these signs on my phone again and thought you might too. I’ll throw in a little of Five Man E B's lyrics just for fun!

I was at a stoplight and noticed the sign (right)
on the back of a pick-up (above).

 "A Bar Walks Into A Man"

A gas station in Wisconsin. I guess it's a contest! (?) 

An old building in Boston. The date:
August 4  A.D. 1817
(I'm pretty sure the  plug in was added later!)

This sign was in the door at a real legit. business in the Quad City area!

"And the sign said, "Long-haired freaky people need not apply"
So I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why
He said, "You look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you'll do"
So I took off my hat, I said, "Imagine that, huh, me workin' for you"
Whoa, oh, oh"

A sign back stage at the Grand Ol Opry (Above)
The famous Tootsies in Nashville (Below)

Climax Springs, Missouri

French Lick, Indiana got a lot of attention this past weekend!

Who names these places anyway?

My father-in-law's fav saying: "You can sleep when you're dead"
Scared the crap out of my kids when they were little!

On a building at a Y intersection in Nashville, TN

I may have gotten carried away here....and I have more signs that I didn't share! 

The end of the song goes like this:

"And the sign said, 'Everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray'

But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all

I didn't have a penny to pay

So, I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign

I said, 'Thank you, Lord, for thinkin' 'bout me, I'm alive and doin' fine,' woo"

Until next time,

Be Good to Yourself!

~Nadine

Teach Me, Entertain Me

One Thousand White Women
By Jim Fergus

I love reading historical fiction.  You know why? Because I learn so much real history through the events of the story.  Historical fiction is the kind of story that uses real incidents to help tell a make believe story.  Oftentimes, characters in the story are famous or infamous people from history. However, the characters are more than likely doing and saying things created in the author’s imagination.

Right now I’m reading One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus. This is a fiction, or or make-believe, story that was created based on a true event. In this story Little Wolf (a real person), Chief of Northern Cheyenne Nation, goes to Washington DC in the latter-part 1800’s to talk with President Grant about various treaty proposals (also true).  During conversations/negotiations, it is rumored that the chief suggested the US Army supply the Cheyenne Nation with 1,000 white women to be the brides of 1,000 warriors. The chief thought that by mixing the races, the whites and natives would gain wisdom of each other’s culture and that by doing so, cultivate peace between the People and white men. (Again, this has NOT been verified, but rather is a rumor or wives’ tale. However, it was all that was needed to spark a story idea for the author.) Of course if it really was suggested, it was denied by the U.S. government.

The novel is rich in history of daily life on the plains for both natives and pioneers. But, despite the historical events (if you’re not into history), an entertaining story has been created about an eclectic group of women who volunteer to live with the Cheyenne people and the problems they encounter being from two distinctly different cultures and having no common language.

One Thousand White Women was written from the point of view of a woman named Mary Dodd. It was written as if she were keeping a journal and writing letters to her relatives back home. It sounded so convincingly real that I had to google Mary Dodd to find out!

If you like “racy” and irreverent/funny stories, you’ll like this one.

Share with me what you’re reading. Also, tell me why you’re reading it. I love talking about books!

Until next time,

Be Good to Yourself!

~Nadine

http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.gen.022

http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/25629

You Can Lead a Horse to Water, But You Can’t Make Him Drink - A story by me.

Tried as she might, she couldn’t get that pony to drink. It was a glorious day.  Sunshine cascaded in sparkling rays over the paddock. Breezes waved over the ponies and lifted the scent of evergreen, hay, and lavender into the air. Cool, sweet, green grass beckoned to be nibbled. The other ponies appreciated their ability to trot, canter, sprint, and gallop, but not this pony.  Trainer should be happy, her herd was successful. But she wasn’t happy and it was because of this one single misguided, stubborn, myopic pony. All he wanted to do was lie around in the dark, damp barn and hope Trainer would just leave him alone.

Trainer sighed and looked out the dusty window at all of her working horses.  Maybe she could just leave this one here?  The mare and stud who sired him were content to have this colt stay in the barn. They had no expectations, therefore he had no expectations. So many horses lead their colts to water and show them how to drink.  Some sires needed assistance from Trainer to show them how to help their pony. She was a good and dedicated trainer, and she wanted all of her herd to succeed.  

Sometimes leading a horse to water over and over will help it understand what it is to do; what is important and worthy of its effort.  She would hold a cup up to the pony and whisper words of encouragement to help the pony feel confident enough to succeed.  

Ponies learn at their own rate. Patience is required, but given time and practice, all ponies can be successful if they want to be; and Trainer was patient. But Boss Man wasn’t. He wanted success and he wanted it NOW! Why can’t this one pony drink? What are you doing wrong, Trainer?

Parents are a child's first and most important teacher. The one at school can only accomplish what you deem important for your child. Think about it--- sports? TV? or homework, playtime, and books? What's important to the parents is what will be important to their children.

Until next time,

Read to your kiddos!

~Nadine