On Monday of this week as I drove around the nicer parts of LA (Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City) I noticed something interesting. If one could get a sense of a communities priorities from the outdoor advertising that was prevalent, that part of LA would seem to be totally focused on cars, movies, television shows, getting a good divorce lawyer and music artists.
Billboards proclaimed messages like “Music Is My Savior,” “Men-Don’t Get Screwed By Your Ex! Call Us!,” and a multitude of advertisements indicating that life is not complete until you own a certain car that will separate you from the lowly hoi polloi.
And then the billboards about upcoming feature film releases and television episodes. All those bright and shiny messages, incredible cars and immense wealth, all contrasted with the many people I saw walking the streets. Poor, handicapped, rejected, illegal immigrants, prostitutes. All of them moving from place to place, dodging and weaving through $100K mobile cages that kept the owners safe and untouched inside, heading towards destinations with secure gates that would receive them and keep them apart.
I longed for home. I wanted to get back to Michelle and the girls.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Cars, Movies, Television, Divorce & Music
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Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Carnival of The Storytellers 6th Edition
Welcome to the 6th edition of Carnival of the Storytellers.
This edition of the COTS was delayed two days due to an unexpected trip to Los Angeles I had to take first thing Monday morning. I got back Tuesday late in the afternoon, and then headed straight to the softball fields for Ks practice at 6:30PM and then As first game at 7:30PM. Good excuse, huh?
*****C*A*R*N*I*V*A*L***OF***T*H*E***S*T*O*R*Y*T*E*L*L*E*R*S*****
There are few things more fun than a walk to, along, or better yet- through- a creek with your kids. You can spend $500 at a Disney park and not have as much fun. Stephanie takes us along on her recent adventure out to the creek in My Amazing Race- posted at Stop the Ride!.
I had an interesting adventure submitted I wish I could share with all of you, but I can't. The author found it necessary to insert a few random profanities making it ineligible for inclusion here. In a nutshell, this young man was separated from his friends at a downtown club, cell phone was dead, and ended up taking a ride home from a strange man at 2:30AM in the morning. He joked that maybe this man might kidnap him (or worse). He was relived to find he didn't. This is why human predators have 'food' to survive on- people do stupid things. I hope he lives to be 30.
I must admit that more than half the time I read a post by TherapyDoc I don't get what she's saying. Maybe its because I'm not smart enough, but I rather suspect it's because I am not experienced with the whole world of depression and therapy. I have a bit too much "lift your self up by your own bootstraps" in me. She presents Chuck Mahoney and a preventable waste posted at Everyone needs therapy? Lessons from a family therapist, saying, "A true story, this one's about a death that shouldn't have happened, that could have been prevented and should have been." I totally got this one. Very well done, very creative, and what I love most about it is her positive attitude- you can make a difference. Don't let obstacles keep you from your goal of helping someone that is trapped in a very bad place.
Well...I guess congratulations are due Elvis D at 365fiction. I think this is his 3rd or 4th submission and only the first time I have included him. Mostly because he tends to write twisted fiction that seems to glorify things that shouldn’t be. In this post, Come Away With Me, he does it again, but this time manages to avoid any graphic language. What I liked most about it is the glimpse it affords into the mind of a psychopathic killer. If you read this and the concept of intuition fascinates you, you should check out Gavin de Becker’s "Protecting The Gift." It’s about how each of us has an amazing ability to sense danger, and why some people miss the clues that in hindsight are so obvious. FYI- he had a second post he submitted right after this that didn't make it. Sick.
A very interesting read...the kind that allow you to slowly stack up the clues to find out what is really happening. It ends up being a nice teaser as well to the book she wrote, and is selling, on her site. Well done. Nancy O. Greene presents Excerpt from Portraits in the Dark: A Collection of Short Stories « The Writers’ Block posted at The Writers' Block.
Alfa King presents What Type of Writer Should You Be? posted at Alfa King Memories. Interestingly it neither is a real post (only 27 words written by the author), nor is it funny (though the author submitted this under the Humor category. I included it simply because I found the link offered to be mildly interesting. A quick survey results in a report on what kind of writer you are.
Hueina Su did a great job of describing her own post. She submitted it under the category of Memories, but it would fit just as well under Real Life or Advice. Great words of wisdom. She presents Take Time for Friendships posted at Intensive Care for the Nurturer's Soul, saying, "Remember that story of a mom telling her soon-to-be-married daughter to never let go of her girlfriends? In our super-busy society, it's easy to neglect the important relationships in our life. Being a life coach, I'm very familiar with the negative impact of that. As I navigated through school, career, marriage, and motherhood, I became more and more appreciative and grateful for my old friends. No matter how busy you are, I hope you take time to nurture the significant friendships in your life."
LolaLondon presents 1. Tell me a story, Jackanory... posted at L'undone, saying, "Here is a tale of high-weirdness, big love, cyber-crime and the mutual insane obsession of two people that never even met. This blog is the true story of how it happened and how I got through it."
Though not particularly well-written (and I can say this being a person that on more than one occasion has not particularly written very well), this is a fun read that reminds me of one of my worst bosses. There are few people I learned more from. Of course, mostly it was learning how NOT to do things. Alan presents The Worst Boss Ever - Sound familiar? posted at Made to Be Great.
Back to normal. Another post from TherapyDoc where I really don't understand what she's saying. Oh well- I will include it anyway in hopes someone else will. She presents Work ! posted at Everyone needs therapy? Lessons from a family therapist, saying, "real life means work (for most of us), and how DOES one make the real life after work a little more, shall we say, interesting? dial it down, of course."
*****C*A*R*N*I*V*A*L***OF***T*H*E***S*T*O*R*Y*T*E*L*L*E*R*S*****
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of the storytellers using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
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Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Trip To Los Angeles Part 2- Minor Miracle
After my flight arrived from Los Angeles to Nashville Tuesday afternoon I hurried to my car parked in the long term lot. I had to get home quickly to bring two of my girls to softball in about 90 minutes. K had practice and A had her first game.
When I arrived at my car I was startled when a man came around the front at said “Excuse me, sir, could you give us a jump start?”
After I jump started my heart, I noticed he was with his wife and their car with the dead battery was parked right in front of mine…among thousands and thousands of cars. They just arrived from out of the country and were exhausted. They just wanted to get home, had no friends of family in the area, and their cell phone battery was dead.
I asked them how long they had been waiting and they said 5 minutes. They had just arrived to their car on the shuttle bus before mine to find their car battery dead. They had prayed for help, and I arrived 5 minutes later. We popped the hoods and I had their car started in under a minute.
Pretty cool. My brand new car battery came in handy.
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Monday, April 02, 2007
Trip To Los Angeles Part 1- Shut Down
Here’s a mildly interesting occurrence from my trip to LA on Monday/Tuesday. In line (lane B at Southwest) for my flight back from LA to Nashville I had the pleasure of listening to some wacky lady behind me drone on for an hour talking on her cell phone. It was one of those conversations you can’t help but hear- mainly because the person talking right behind you is talking so loud they might as well be in your head. If I could have got a gun through security I think I might have used it. If not on me, at least on her cell phone.
She talked about angel food cake, her car, what she was making for Easter dinner, her lawn, ants, roaches, the gum she just bought that lost its flavor within a few minutes, her sore leg, the weather, the shirt she bought while in LA, American Idol, and how her husband’s gums were bothering him.
After she finished her call, she droned on by picking on a couple in lane A next to her. Turns out they were moving from Orange County to Franklin TN with their two small children (near where I live in Leipers Fork), and were on their first fact finding trip to look at the area, homes, schools- the whole thing. The husband mentioned he had been to Franklin a couple times on business.
Crazy talking lady proceeded to give them 20 minutes of advice about where to live in the area, the best schools, things to do, places to eat, and more. All of it…I mean EVERY SINGLE BIT OF THE ADVICE she was giving was 100% wrong. I don’t know what rock this lady lives under in Franklin, but it must be big and mossy enough to totally shielded her from every thing good and holy. I bit my tongue for the first 10 minutes. At the 20 minute mark my head started to pop off.
“Excuse me…I heard you were moving to Franklin. I live in Franklin and am thrilled your family is moving there. It’s a great town and I can tell you about a few places online you can learn about everything Williamson County has to offer” I butted in and said.
Well…I was shut down. The husband said “Yes- thank you. I know all about Franklin. I’ve been there. Thanks again. Honey- I think we can get out of this line and go to the pre-board section since we have kids.” And they exited stage left.
I can only imagine what this man and his wife thought. “I think we’re making a big mistake. These Franklin people are kooks.”
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Sunday, April 01, 2007
Check Out Last Month's Top 5 Greatest 'Hits'
I Fought The Law And The Law Won
A run down on how and when I have run afoul of the man with the badge over the last 40 years.
Fatigue Fatigue
I am not tired. I am not exhausted. I am simply fatigued. And tired of being so.
Y2K And The Leipers Fork Chili Cookoff
Confused about this one. Why would it be so high on my Google Analystics ratings? It was a throwaway post. Go figure.
When Trees Fly
A humbling story of trying to teach my little girls how to fly a kite, and failing repeatedly, only to have a 20 year old oak tree best my efforts.
The Frog And The Fly
Can people really change? I mean "deep down, throw all the bad out and become good" kind of change? I don't think people can. I know God can.
Finally- the highest HIT piece ever on DigitalRichDaily...yet again...from November 29th, 2006:
Fly The Friendly Skies
A tale of hand-to-hand (or rather butt-to-face) combat at 30,000 feet.
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