Saturday Six - Episode 75

http://journals.aol.com/pattboy92/PatricksPlace/entries/1290

1. When is the last time you took a vacation and went basically nowhere?  Was it as relaxing as previous vacations where you have actually planned a trip?  A little over a month ago I took a week off from working when I left one job to begin another. I wouldn't say it was relaxing because I had lots of places to go and things to do to prepare for my new job. Also, I was apprehensive and excited about starting a new job in a new place after so long. I have used vacation time in the past and stayed home, puttering about doing just what I wanted to do and these have been extremely relaxing vacations. I highly recommend them as a chance to enjoy the home we work so hard all year long to maintain.

2. Take this quiz: Which historical lunatic are you?

You are Joshua Abraham Norton, first and only Emperor of the United States of America!   Hmm.  I highly suspect this may be the only answer.  My husband took this quiz and came up with the same results.

3. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #64 from Jaymi:   What is your favorite book from childhood and why?  As always, these "choose one" questions are so difficult. I will pick Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. This is a charming book which reads well on many levels. It's as enjoyable a read today as it was when I received it as a birthday gift from one of my older sisters so long ago.

4. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #65 from Hannah:  What book character do you most identify with and why?  Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz because, after all, there's no place like home.

5. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #66 from Holly:  What do you think is an appropriate gift to a party?  What do you consider a quality Christmas gift from an acquaintance to a party or get together, a friend, and a GREAT friend?  A lot depends on what sort of party it is and the social habits of who's hosting it. I always think a nice bottle of wine is an appropriate gift; if the host is a teetotaler, they can always give it away or open it up and offer me a glass. A quality Christmas gift from an acquaintance to bring to a party or get together could be, again, a nice bottle of wine or a good box of chocolates. A quality Christmas gift to a friend could be a unique Christmas ornament. A quality Christmas gift to a Great friend could be a very nice bottle of wine and an exquisite, unique Christmas ornament. Yes, I enjoy wine, I live in one of the most beautiful areas of northern California's wine country and I make no apologies.

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #67 from Judi:  If you had to make a choice for the rest of your life between food and sex, which would you choose, provided the following conditions: If you chose sex, you would never feel hungry, but just wouldn't be able to enjoy a nice meal or the tastes of good food or drink; if you chose food, you would no longer have the physical intimacy and pleasure, but you still wouldn't feel deprived of it.  In other words, whichever one you choose to give up will be a series of pleasures you'll never be able to experience firsthand again.  Firstly, I would like to congratulate Judi for providing one of the most interesting, thought-provoking questions ever to appear in the Saturday Six. This is a toughie...in the extreme!  I love both. A lot has to do with how old one is when answering this question but that's not part of the equation. I'm not young, but I'm not that old either. I would choose...sex!

 

 

 

 

 

Weekend Assignment #77: When I Grow Up

Weekend Assignment #77: What do you want to be when you grow up?

This can be answered one of two ways: You can answer by saying what you wanted to be when you were a kid, or, you can answer by saying what you still want to be, one day, one way or another. It's up to you.

This may sound incredibly lame and somewhat mundane in this day and age but I wanted to be nothing more than a homemaker when I grew up. This is not the same thing as a housewife. Ye Gods! Who on earth wants to be married to a house? I can think of plenty of more interesting diversions as residing lady of the house than being subservient to a house, being little more than a slave dusting, performing unnecessary tasks past the reasonable requirements for a comfortable, clean home. All I ever wanted to be was the woman who remained at home, in charge of the household and depended upon to be there when my children returned home from school and to greet my husband with a passionate kiss and a well-mixed Manhattan upon his return from work after a long, but successful day.

I would've had lots of projects and interests going on to keep me happily busy while my family was away at school and work and had the luxury of thinking about starting dinner around 3 pm. I wanted to be a stable, dependable presence; this was all I knew of my childhood with my mother who never worked after she married and even so, was one of the most interesting women I've ever had the pleasure to know. I wanted nothing more than to continue in her footsteps and, hopefully, do half as good a job. When my family grew older and more involved in interests outside the home, I would've pursued outside activities that interested me such as taking classes about whatever piqued my fancy, shelving books in the local library or offering my time doing something worthwhile with senior citizens or volunteering at the hospital.

Extra Credit: What did your parents want you to be when you grew up?

My parents wanted me to be a happy, well-adjusted person capable of adjusting to and handling the complexities of this thing called life. They wanted to be sure that I learned a skill(s) that would enable me to provide for myself if needs be. They did this by funding my business school education following my high school graduation. The rest was up to me. My parents have been absent from my life for almost ten years now and to this day, I still hope I continue to make them proud of me and never want to let them down. It never ends, this desire for approval, and this may be tantamount to a major ingredient to a successful life.

A Matter of Trust

Here's something to consider--

These days, there's not a whole lot out there one can count on and trust. We don't trust strangers, politicians, perhaps some of our neighbors and, unfortunately, possibly some members of our family. In a nation that has become fearful and suspicious of the unknown, there remains a daily event in which extreme basic trust among the human race is alive and well. Though we may not realize it, those of us who merge onto a freeway or main thoroughfare which takes us to work every day place a huge amount of trust in our fellow man. Nowhere have I ever before witnessed such a complete assumption of trust than seated behind the wheel of my car, driving along at a good clip en route to work. There I am in my very little car with assorted vehicles in front, in back, to the left and, sometimes, to the right of me. We are all placing our trust (our lives, actually) in the hands (on the wheel) and feet (on the gas and brake pedals) of these strangers driving along with us.

Having meandered along the backroads to get to work for the past 16 years or so at a relaxed pace, my perspective of the daily commute is fresher than those who are jaded to years of zipping along in a like manner. We're trusting everyone behind the wheel got enough sleep last night to function properly. We're trusting they're not still hung over from a big night out. We trusting they're not so worried or consumed by a major personal problem that they're unable to concentrate on the task of driving responsibly. We're trusting that they're not too busy chatting on the phone, looking up directions, eating breakfast, applying makeup, being distracted by noisy kids in the back seat...the list could go on forever. Scary, isn't it? But rather awesome as well.

Saturday Six - Episode 74

http://journals.aol.com/pattboy92/PatricksPlace/entries/1281

1. You find out that you have to appear on a daytime talk show. It doesn't matter whose show you choose, but you must appear on one. Which show would you pick and why? I don't watch any daytime talk shows but I'll pick "Oprah" because I like her and am impressed with what she's done with her life. It would be much easier to pick which one I wouldn't be caught dead on!

2. Have you ever joined an online dating or penpal site? No, I haven't. If so, have you kept in touch with anyone that you met there; if not, have you ever thought about joining up? No, I have no need to do so.

3. Who was the last person you promised you'd keep in touch with following a move or job change? That would be all the residents and staff I bid farewell to when I left my last job on August 9th. Have you kept in touch? Not yet but I plan to visit them sometime next weekend to say hello.

4. Take this quiz: What pizza best describes your personality?

Cheese Pizza

Traditional and comforting.
You focus on living a quality life.
You're not easily impressed with novelty.
Yet, you easily impress others.

5. You're having dinner with friends at a restaurant. Besides the company, what is the most important part of the meal: the appetizer, the drinks, the salad, the entree, or the dessert? Probably the entree because it's only when I dine out that I order something like Prime Rib or New York steak and these selections are always a special treat for me.

6. Have you ever submitted a Reader's Choice question to the "Saturday Six?" Yes, once. If so, did the answers surprise you? No, it was pretty much a pedestrian question. If not, why haven't you?

A Lesson For All of Us

Katrina. Up until recently, all this name meant to me was the object of Ichabod Crane's affections in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. How quickly things change. The surprise, the despair, the disgust and the outrage concerning the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have been pretty well covered. I have nothing new to add that hasn't already been said.

I've read several entries in journals in which the writers state they feel "guilty" for enjoying a hot meal, a warm bed and a roof over their heads as they struggle with the knowledge of the loss and suffering of so many in this cataclysm of nature. This is a sympathetic, understandable reaction but what I feel is not guilt. What I do feel is a heightened sense of gratefulness that I nor any of my friends or family were victims of this catastrophe. It has given me a renewed sense of appreciation for all the wonderful things I have and where I live. I also see a warning, a wake-up call.

Where I live, we don't expect hurricanes. This is earthquake country and the occurance of a major earthquake is anticipated, expected but when? None of us know but we do know it's coming. I see how New Orleans has been all but swept off the map and the same could happen here. If nothing else, one good thing that should come from this horrific disaster in the south is the realization that we all should be prepared in the event of an emergency. What fools we would be if this incident didn't open our eyes once and for all and teach us a lesson. That being at the very least making some sort of effort to think of a plan of escape, gather together supplies to carry one's family through for at least several days in case of an unexpected event. That is what an emergency is...an unexpected event. There's no warning headline in the morning newspaper, no mention of it on the TV or radio, no means of knowing ahead of time.

I see this disaster as a blaring, not to be ignored message that it's time to put all our thoughts of good intention into action. It's time to begin storing away gallon containers of water. It's time to purchase an extra can or two of items with infinite shelf life while doing weekly shopping and stowing them away in a designated safe spot. A bit of warning seems to precede hurricanes; not so with earthquakes. One minute the earth is terra and firma, the next, it's roiling and rolling and all hell begins to break loose. I've yet to experience a big earthquake in my 29 years in this state. Oh yes, lots of little ones and I certainly felt the Loma Prieta, CA quake of 1986 and my house is a long way from where its epicenter was. If this tragedy gives us nothing else, at least let it serve as a graphic example of what could happen more quickly than we can possibly realize and let us learn from it and be better prepared for that which we know will eventually come.

Sunday Seven - Episode 1

http://journals.aol.com/pattboy92/PatricksPlace/entries/1275

"The Sunday Seven" will feature a single question with seven answers.  Sometimes, you'll have to rank seven things, other times you'll have to list seven things you come up with on your own to answer the question.

 Here, in alphabetical order, are The Seven Deadly Sins: 

Anger, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride and Sloth

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Rank the seven sins in the order that you most often commit them, one being the sin you're usually most guilty of, seven being the sin you're usually least guilty of.

1.  Pride  2.  Envy  3.  Sloth  4.  Lust 5.  Gluttony  6.  Greed  7.  Anger

 

Saturday Six - Episode 73

1. What is the price of gas at your regular station?  It was $3.05 when I passed by about two hours ago.  It's probably up to $3.10 by now.  Have you made any changes to holiday plans because of gas prices?  Not really because we don't usually make plans to travel any great distance on holiday weekends.

2. Some people feel that the song that was #1 when they were born somehow helps shape their life.  Which song was #1 when you were born, according to this site.  Alas, I'm so old I have to go with what was the #1 song on my 18th birthday and it was "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart"by The Bee Gees.  Do you think it relates to your life at all?  Not at all; I received my engagement ring on my 18th birthday and my heart was bursting with love and it still is.

3. Take this quiz:  Which child does it say you are?  You Are Likely a First Born  Is it correct about your birth order?  It's totally incorrect; I am the last child of four.  The choices of answers to the questions in this quiz were so bad it's no wonder the answer was so inaccurate.

4. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #61 from De:  What animal do you equate your spirit with and why? 

  I chose the butterfly because I very much think of myself as someone who emerged from a cocoon into a person of value and interest.  When I clicked on the Animal Totem site and checked out the butterfly, I liked the sentence which states:  "It may take some time being alone with ourselves to listen to Butterfly's gentle requests that we allow the natural transformation of things in our lives." 

I have always thought of myself as a late bloomer.

5. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #62 from Psychfun:  If you had to describe your personality as a nut (as in the eatable kind) what nut would you be and why?  A pistachio; a little bit harder to crack but the meat inside is sweet.

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #63 from Chris:   Who knows the "real" you better - - your real world friends or your Jland readers?  My real world friends