Wordless Wednesday

Name That Image!

Well, no one got last week's Name That Image. It was Gnip Gnop, which is Ping Pong spelled backwards. To learn more about the game click here.This week's Name That Image is a game from 1967. It is a type of Ouiji board that has a special name. See the holes around the board? You put tarot cards in those. Above the cards is a track for a black marble to roll around. You choose whether to read the letters where the marble stops or the card where the marble stops. All of this while the eye in the center watches everyone at the table.

This game was all the rage back then. Today, it would probably be black balled by parents and the company would be boycotted.

I do have a story about the night I learned this game. I was taken along by my parents to their friends' house, and, of course, the kids go away and leave the parents alone. The friends' daughter was much older than me. I was five; she was at least 13. She and her friend introduced me to the game. Of course, the lights were out so the glow-in-the-dark eye would scare me half to death. I really believed it could tell my fortune.

At that time, the creepy soap opera Dark Shadows was very popular, and a teenage actor on the show named David Hennesy was on it. Well, these girls were big time into David Hennesy. I remember they had stacks of teen magazines with his picture on it.

Somehow these girls got the young actor's phone number in Los Angeles, or so they say. They elected me to be the one who said, "Is David there?" when someone picked up the phone. I remember going home thinking that I had done something against the law and was going to be arrested.

Anyway, who knows the name of this game? Hint: Its name sounds like a religion that is very popular with celebrities right now.

Peace,

~b~

How I Feel Today

Therapy

Okay, I don't have one iota of talent in the art department, but I have been pretty down the past couple of days. I thought painting with water colors might help. Here is the first one. I love just sitting down to a blank, white piece of paper and covering it with colors even if it makes no sense. It is relaxing. And who knows, maybe someday I will use one for the cover of my novel.

Peace,
~b~

Totally Spontaneous

Today I did something so spontaneous and kind of brave. On the way to my hairdresser's I decided to get my hair chopped off and I actually let her put red in the highlights. She also dyed my eyebrows. This may not sound very brave on my part, after all, it will grow out. But next weekend is my parents' 50th anniversary party. I will be seeing people I haven't seen in a long time, so I want to look my best. What if I hadn't liked the do? Oh, dear, hairdresser, you were very brave, too.

Anyway, it actually was a LOT longer on the sides in the front, halfway across my cheeks. Right before I got out of the chair I said, "Would you mind chopping the hair off in the front?" So here's what it looks like now.

Peace,
~b~

Name That Image!

I had several people reply correctly to the last Name That Image post. That's right, below are Romper Stompers, made famous by the kid's PBS show Romper Room. It aired in the U.S. and other countries from 1953-1994. There were a couple of scandals associated with the show that you can read about here. I remember making Romper Stompers out of empty coffee cans and kite string. For some stupid reason, I remember trying to walk around painfully on them in bare feet.This week's Name That Image was one of my favorite games growing up because it reminded me of an arcade basketball game that you actually had to pay money for. My brother liked it because it made noise. What was this game called and did you play it?

Happy Guessing.

Peace,

~b~

Preening

Do things just sometimes just get on your nerves? Like when your boss asks you umpteen times to put something on his calendar and you already did? Like when your name is super easy to spell and people ask you to spell it anyway? Well, there is this woman in my building who wears an afro and it is assymetrical, much worse than the one in the photo above, especially in the back. It drives me absolutely nuts. The one above almost looks like it is assymetrical on purpose. When we are in the elevator, I just want to shake the woman and say, "Look in the mirror! You missed a dozen spots!"

Then I obsess about the assymetrical hairdo and how may life imitates it. My life is very uneven. On one side, I have a great partner, great kids, great family, great church, and I have a job. On the other side of my life is uncertainty: uncertainty about the past, my mistakes, the hurt I've caused, the future. Will I be allowed to see my daughters get married? Will I be allowed to visit my grandchildren? Will I die alone and homeless?

It hurts my neck just thinking about trying to balance that hairdo. It gets very difficult trying to balance these two "sides" of my life, and, inevitably, the uncertain side brings me down. I am trying not to let it get in the way of enjoying my relationship with Janya, my time with my daughters, and my total outlook on life. This takes a lot of work and energy on my part and a lot of patience on everyone else's.

I thought after coming out, I would just live one life; but I am still living two lives, only this time neither one is hidden. Progress, yes, but it is still exhausting. Someday I pray that both lives will mesh together into one. One life. That's what I want.

Someone told me that if I mention sex on my blog I will get more hits. So sex, sex, sex. LOL!

Off to preen some more.

Peace,
~b~

Eye Rolls

Another post about checking. I checked a lot yesterday. I kept going into my boss's office to check to make sure I hadn't layed a file folder on top of his glasses. Each time, I would be sitting at my desk and have to check. I caught myself rolling my eyes, letting out an audible sigh, and then saying to myself, "I hate this." Do any of you say something to yourself when you have to go back and check?

I find that I tend to check a lot of things that force me to walk to another place. I will go repeatedly back into the file room and into a file cabinet to make sure I put a document in the correct place. Or I will go into the kitchen to make sure I put something away or double triple check that I didn't miss a fax or phone call. I probably notice this form of checking more because I physically get up and interrupt what I'm doing. I know I do a lot of checking at my desk: my phone, Facebook, messages, etc. but I have pretty much gotten that down to a science.

Have a nice Thursday, everyone!

Peace,

~b~

Wordless Wednesday

Peace,
~b~

Labor Day

To my friends who are looking for jobs, my thoughts and prayers are with you on this Labor Day. I know I complain about my job a lot, but at least I have one!

Peace,
~b~

More Anxiety

It seems it never ends; I am always obsessing about something and trying desperately not to say anything about it to Janya cuz I know she gets so tired of hearing all about it.

So yesterday I noticed a small circle on my upper thigh and a lighter one next to it. It looked like the imprint of a ring or something. Since I own no such ring, I immediately thought of ringworm, which, of course, leads me to thinking that I have worms throughout my body. My mother, a nurse, assured me that ringworm is not actually a worm but a fungus on one's skin, but you know me: worms, worms, worms, worms.

I looked "ringworm" up on the internet. My "circle" is not red or puffy like the ones in the pictures. In fact, today it looks lighter. Janya swears she can't see it; that it's not there at all, BUT I SEE IT!

The internet says you can get ringworm from animals, but I haven't been around any animals except for my friend's day the day before yesterday.

Every little stomach twitch or sound convinces me even more that I HAVE WORMS in my body. Time to go chill out for awhile and think about worms.

Yuck!

Why don't people pick up after their animals??? We have doggie bags and disposal stations not five feet away from the grass!!

Yesterday I picked up my friend's dog from the hospital. I took him to the designated dog relief area in front of our condo. He wouldn't go, but I guess - well, I KNOW I stepped in dog poop in my dress shoes while hoping he would do his thing. Didn't realize it until much later when I was driving in the car to meet Janya for happy hour, burning up in the Texas heat with the windows down. By then I had already walked into the condo, across the tile, into our bedroom, and kicked my poopy shoes way into the closet.

When it was time to leave for happy hour I put the shoes back on. Thinking back on it, I did get a whiff of something unpleasant, but I was in such a hurry, I didn't think about it until I was gagging in the car all the way down Richmond Avenue.

When I got to Pappasito's, I scraped and scraped my shoes on the curb, in the grass, but to no avail. I couldn't get it all off. I just prayed no one at the table would notice. Most of it was off, though.

When I got home, I left the shoes outside the door. I'm sure our apartment manager isn't too thrilled about that. Anyway, after showering this morning and wearing different clothes and shoes today, of course, I can still smell it at work. I have checked about 20 to 30 times today and there is absolutely nothing on these shoes, of course. It is driving me crazy and making me feel extremely self-conscious today because I think everyone thinks I smell like dog poop.

I hope that none of you were reading this vent post during lunch and that you all have a terrific Labor Day weekend!

Peace,

~b~

Wordless Wednesday