Pat, God and Haiti

January 14th, 2010 by Heather Schichtel

Haiti has been on my mind. Haiti has probably been on your mind too. I have tried to put my feeling to words but sometimes things are just too awful to verbalize.

So I have said nothing.

But then Pat Robertson said something....putting words to my emotions.

In case you missed it, Pat said the Haitian earthquake was "God's punishment for Haitian slaves' 'pact with the devil' to win freedom from France."

Instead of sorrow, I felt rage, disbelief, horror and embarrassment. The Christian Science monitor stated that his remarks "got the usual chuckles of disbelief among local intelligentsia about American culture."

Boo, hiss, Pat.

I gathered my rotten eggs in retaliation. I came up with poopie-head names to call him. I started to throw my stones. And then my smart friend Renee posted this on Facebook; A Response to Pat Robertson's Comments about Haiti. I read Don Miller's forgiving, intelligent post and lowered my eggs.

When Samantha got sick, I used to comment that we must have done something in a past life to anger the Karma gods. . I would think, why us? Where was God in the ICU?

And then I discovered that God was not in the seizures or the sickness, not in the sadness. God was in what we discovered from our hard times; the people in our lives, the amazing doctors, the ability to tell our story, our fight for Samantha and others. God was in our ability to keep loving and be loved.

God is not in this earthquake; not in the overwhelming death and destruction. God is in the doctors who fly in for 20 hour triage missions. God is in the small miracles that we hear about day by day. God is in the outpouring of aid to this poor nation.

This is not my sermon. People who know me know that I am far, far from a Saint. This is my speech, for myself, to keep me from throwing rotten eggs at Pat.

I want to say I feel sorry for a man whose spirituality is embedded in guilt, blame, hell fire and brimstone but I can't. His words are too damaging. Instead I will search for the good and compassion in people trying to help. We will make a donation to help the people in Haiti and I will put down my stinky eggs.

Too bad...I was hoping to clean out my refrigerator

-Heather Schichtel

Posted in Heather Schichtel, Writer | 2 Comments »

MY CRAPPY CALENDAR

January 11th, 2010 by Quinn Reed

I am having an issue with my new 2010 calendar.† In the bookstore, I passed over the calendars of butterflies, scenes of Ireland, cats and meditation gardens.† In a hurry, I grabbed the one decorated with art by Georgia OíKeefe† and now I am living to regret it.† The January photo is a close-up of an orange poppy. (Poppy 1927) As art it is okay and I have no strong feelings about it one way or the other.

Now, most people know the assertion that Georgia painted genitalia.† Duh!† Of course she did ñ flower genitalia.† Wondering what flower genitalia looks like?† Just cut open an apple and have a look.† It seems in the world of biology the design of external female genitalia is similar regardless of species, animal or vegetable.

My life is filling up so I had to flip to the February page and painting.† What a graphic shocker! Every time I glance at the giant painting on my desk, I nearly fall over. (Series 1 White and Blue Flower Shapes 1919.)† I am no prude, but give me a break!††† If this is flower genitalia, no wonder Oíkeefe caught the attention of the art world and became famous.

Concerned, I flipped through all twelve months.† Except for May (Bleeding Heart 1932) which is a bit dicey, thankfully, there are no other shockers, just pretty flowers.† As far as February goes, I need a plan Ö.probably a brown paper bag.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Life Event, Quinn Reed, Writer, Artist, Yoga Instructor | No Comments »

Bad Time for an Ear Cleaning

January 8th, 2010 by Fay Ulanoff

Bad Time for an Ear Cleaning

January 8th †2010 by Fay Ulanoff

I told my husband I couldnít hear.

I told everyone that things were getting far away.

They didnít listen, until days, turned to weeks, and then a month had passed.

What to do?

What to do, you say to yourself.

Why not visit an MD.

They always know what to do.

Or at least their credentials say they will.

I hoped so the day I took a chance and called upon my friendly neighborhood physician.

What have we here, ìHe say.î

I say,î Things are getting far away.î

ìWell, letís take a look.í

So he looks with his eye.

Then he looks with his instrument.

He tells me that my ears have to be cleaned out.

I say, ìNo, I just washed them in the shower.î

But he tells me that is not the case and he must do it right now, so he may see in.

ìSee in? I answer.

ìYes and we must hurry about it, so that I can tell if thereís anything wrongî

Wrong.† Of course there is something wrong or I would not be here. What is he thinking?

ìAlright, bring in the tubes and lots of water,î he orders a passing nurse, who smiled and rushed away.

Away? †Where I wonder?

Where has she gone?† I already told him that I washed my ears in the shower.† What could he be thinking?

ìThis is a mistake. I tell my husband, as they tell me to bend my head to the side as they slide in a syringe and pour water all over my shirt and pants.

ìStop that!î I told everyone that I already had clean ears and I donít think this will work.î

All involved in this procedure agree that this was the best thing.

So I go out of my way to cooperate.

ìîHold your head still.† Bend it down this way.

No that way,î said the nurse with gentle hands, until she took out a white very enlarged

toothpick.

ìWhatís that?î† I ask.

ìOh just lean back and Iíll pour this half pitcher of water down your shirt.í

Well she really didnít say that.† In fact she told me to hold still so it would all go down into my ear.

Every drop did not go directly into my ear, but my husband, who witnessed the entire ordeal, could only see it with my back to him.† So he thought that every syringe and pitcher full of water did enter my ear canal.

When in actuality, most of it fell out into the sink basin I was sitting next to.

Now let me get back to the giant tooth pick device she was about to explore my ear with.

ìOuch! That hurts.í

ìDonít worry dear.† We are only trying to pick out the wax.î

Pick out?

Pick out?

I thought they were only going to use the water and that was enough for me, especially because my ears were really, really clean from this morning.

ìJust hold still and weíll be done in no time.î

I did hold still and she pulled out something that I did not want to hear of nor see.

And although the nurse, doctor and my husband were so pleased with the yucky yuk that she had fished out.

I saw nothing †rewarding nor gratifying about her mining results.

In the end, the nurse and doctor told me to change out of my wet shirt into the sweater I had worn over my blouse, when I entered the torture chamber, and be sure to wear a hat.

I did as I was told and my husband and I left the office with my hearing in the same condition as I went in.

It just goes to show you that perhaps it is better to stay away from the doctors lairs as much as you can, because the only answers comes from within your head, but not from mine, because I am just as cloudy as the day I entered.

Posted in Fay Ulanoff, Writer & Puppeteer, Life Event | No Comments »

A new calendar ... brings another 365 dilemmas

January 3rd, 2010 by Maryjo Morgan

This year I received an interesting gift for a writer: Book Lover's Calendar for 2010. It pleased me and challenged me, just as it did last year when I received the 2009 version. A colleague told me calendars like this make her nervous.

I pondered this at length, and decided the calendar seemed to be a treasure trove waiting for me to dig in. It didn't make me nervous, it exhilarated me! Great books, recommended by the calendar which met the ì365 Days of Good Authors, Good Books, & Good Readingî criteria as touted on the calendar's cover.

Each day presents one book by Title with Author, Publisher, and Date. There is a short synopsis that strives to spotlight each tome in such a way, it makes you want to run out and buy it, devour it in one gulp.† Burp.

I suppose each author pumps the air with a triumphant fist when notified her or his book has been chosen for the next year's ìBook Lover's Calendar.î Out of the hundreds of thousands of books published each year, for one day of the year all eyes [albeit only calendar users] would turn to her or his book. Gravy, advertising at its finest.

What I did not expect was my reaction to the calendar by, say mid-March. Let's take the Ides as an example. I laughed to see ìCaesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthyî taking up the 3/15/09 page. Equally amusing was the pairing of April Fools' Day and the dark comedy with frightening undertones by Michael Crichton, ìNext.î

But, as the year progressed, I felt more and more like a slacker. Too lazy to keep up with the calendar of great reading suggestions, I fell hopelessly behind early in January and never gained a foothold.

This year I'm doing much better. How do I manage to read a book a day?

I don't.† Moreover, I give my self permission to choose from a tiny sprinkling of the diverse advertisements numbingly numbering 365. Nervous? Nah. No way. I am taking this daily billboard of books less to heart. It is much easier this way, and I have not the indigestion of gobbling† a book a day.† Burp.

Today's suggestion ìHow To Be Aloneî was penned by my old ìThe Correctionsî buddy Jonathan Franzen. Maybe I'll get around to it before the 2011 edition of the Book Lover's Calendar challenges me all over again.

Tags:
Posted in Book, Fun, Maryjo "Mj" Morgan, Writer | No Comments »

Life is Good

January 1st, 2010 by Cindy Strandvold

Sometimes I think about the woman who lived in my house when it was built in 1897. One hundred and thirteen years ago, my house sported state-of-the-art dead air space insulation and single-paned windows. The first winter we lived here, when we were just starting our renovations, the temperature dipped into the 40ís in our bedrooms at night. And that was with a gas forced-air furnace! How cold would it have gotten with only wood and coal for heat?

Not only that, but she had no hot running water. No microwave. No dishwasher. No washer and dryer. No electric lights at the flick of a switch. The woman who lived in my house in 1897 would have used an outhouse, and it wasnít stocked with 3-ply Charmin.

If this woman wanted chicken for dinner, she didnít hop in her car and tootle over to the grocery store for a bag of individually frozen chicken breasts like I do. No, she took an axe to the chicken house and killed her own. Then she had to pluck it before she could cook it. She didnít buy her milk in gallon containers and she couldnít eat fresh strawberries in December.

You can say what you want about the state of the world we live in today, but Iím thinking maybe we donít have it so bad here in 2010. I resolve to think more often of the woman whose life was so different from mine even though we both†spent years within the same four walls; to not take my blessings for granted and cut out the complaining. Good grief, I have an electric blanket and donít have to haul water or kill chickens. Life is good!

Tags: , ,
Posted in Cindy Strandvold, Writer, Gratitude, inspiration | 2 Comments »

SAFE TRAVELS

December 30th, 2009 by Quinn Reed

New Years Eve 1974, Mike and I were in Madras India.† We decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner even though we had very little money.† We got on a city bus to ride to the restaurant on the edge of town.† When we got there, I realized I had been pick- pocketed on the bus and was broke.† Mike had some money so we were very careful with what we ordered so that we would have the funds to cover it.† We nearly died when we got the bill because the restaurant charged for each piece of bread that was eaten from the bread basket and we had eaten two.†† We covered our bill but we didnít have enough to get back to the hotel.† I still remember begging a taxi driver in the dark to discount his fare.† He did.

Lesson learned, I have never been pick-pocketed since.† I wear a small lightweight wallet/purse with a long cord around my neck (REI) with passport, drivers license, credit card and cell phone in it.† I put nothing else in it to keep it light as possible.† If it is too heavy, I will be tempted to take it off and I NEVER TAKE IT OFF.† NEVER,NEVER,NEVER.† Not to hang on a chair, stuff in an airplane pocket, lay on a table or put on the counter in the toilet.† NEVER.† When I sleep, I put it in the room safe or under my pillow.† Mike carries his stuff in zippered pocket on the legs of his pants. (Cargo pants) Very difficult to get robbed with those babies.

I travel all over the globe all the time and I havenít gotten sick for ages even with all the weird flu out there.† I took a hint from the crew on the cruise ships ñ NO MORE HAND SHAKING.† In fact, I touch NOTHING with my bare skin if it can be avoided.† I use paper towels, tissue, my elbow whatever to open bathroom doors, for example.†† I donít even touch the cup of water the stewardess hands me (think of where her hands have been)† I use the napkin she provides.† Do I sound like Howard Hughes?† Not really, most all the other travelers out there take the same precautions.† Touch nothing and wash hands frequently with hot water.† I donít use sanitizer ever - not a fan.† One problem.† My travel partner, who shall remain nameless, touches all the railings in all the buildings in all the countries on earth.† And then, he touches me.† Bad man!† By the way, sometimes he catches something.

Lastly, have a plan where to meet or what to do if you get separated from your travel partner.† (Besides using your cell phone which may be super expensive overseas.) Last July Mike nearly lost me at the Amsterdam airport.† I went to the ladies room and it was hidden behind a small door on a stair landing ñ totally weird.† He was looking in the hallways like in USA.† Our plan was to go back to the last place we had face time and donít move until we are happily reunited.

This blog is dedicated to Scott and Destiny who are gearing up for Bali.† Happy travels my little bunnies everywhere.† And remember, travel light!

Tags: , ,
Posted in Fun, inspiration, Life Event, Quinn Reed, Writer, Artist, Yoga Instructor | No Comments »

FINDING THE PERFECT PRESENT FOR MY HUSBAND

December 22nd, 2009 by Quinn Reed

I love giving presents to young people because they NEED things. My husband and I will be married 40 years next month and we have long ago tapped out he same-o same-o gifts of robes, slippers, jewelry, tools and blah blah so the gift giving thing to each other has lost its luster.
Every time, I think of something that he might want he turns it down, except for another tool- a stud finder ñ but he wants to pick it out for himself. So today, three days before Christmas, we came up with this: No hollering at him for six days for any reason and more kissing during that same period.
For my gift, he fought with the people in India for hours and hours to get them to give him a number to call a woman in Canada to beg her to fix my new computer that isnít working AGAIN. He convinced her to replace it with an upgrade. It is being built in China as I write this. My heart beats with happiness.
I also have two more surprises for my husband. I found a recipe for snickerdoodles ñ his favorite childhood cookies which I am going to bake for him on the sly. And I bought a Calvin Klein push-up bra on the sale table at Macys. I am going to wear it Christmas morning. Trust me, heíll love it!

Tags: , ,
Posted in Quinn Reed, Writer, Artist, Yoga Instructor | No Comments »

CRACKING THE MYSTERY OF EGGS

December 18th, 2009 by Quinn Reed

The food section of the Denver Post, Dec. 16 was the fourth in their ìStart to Finishî series in which they follow local ingredients from production to the table.† Denverpost.com/food.† Well, in many ways it told me more about the production of eggs in our country than I really felt comfortable with.† Then again, it helped me decide which eggs to buy when standing in front of the refrigerator case offering way too many choices.

In order to be labeled ìcage freeî, the chicken must not be shut up in a cage.† So the chicken is squeezed (crammed) into a warehouse with twenty thousand other birds.† The photo showed them pressed together so tightly that it would be a major undertaking to turn around. ††Regulations for this labeling by American Humane require that the birds have a place to scratch the earth.† The person interviewed said that only a couple of hundred birds use this area.† Weíll, I wonder how a foot high chicken can find this scratching area without a GPS unit and a bevy of bodyguards to push a wake through the crush of chickens between her and the bare earth.† By the way cage free chickens never go outside.

ìOrganic† eggsî sound the best to me.† These chickens get to go outside.†† However, my daughter told me that she heard that some companies allow the chickens to go outside only a few minutes a day to satisfy the requirement s to get this label.† Then it is back to prison.

Anyway, the whole thing of big business agriculture smacks of animal abuse to me.† †All I know is that the cheapest eggs have thin, uneven, grayish shells and the pricey eggs look and taste so, so much better.† †Also, I do not want to support abusing animals with my grocery dollar. †Eggs are a bargain even at the higher price.

Any Comments my friends?† †††††To comment, click on ìcommentsî immediately below, have at it, and then select one of the profiles.† You†CAN select "anonymous" (the last selection) and make a comment without identifying yourself ...† †or id yourself in one of those other systems (YES - to use one of the others you would had to have setup an account previously with them).

Tags: , ,
Posted in Life Event, Quinn Reed, Writer, Artist, Yoga Instructor | 1 Comment »

SAVE A TREE OR TWENTY

December 16th, 2009 by Quinn Reed

SAVE A TREE OR TWENTY - DECLUTTER YOUR HOME OF PAPER

I am no fan of the senseless killing of trees in any form.† I turned in my ax years ago and no longer butcher a beautiful tree and watch it rot in my living room for two weeks before dragging it to the curb the day after Christmas.† There are probably dumber traditions that pop up during the holidays ñ but, at the moment, I canít think of any.

In my last neighborhood, I was appalled at the mountains of packaging and wrapping paper heaped on the curb waiting for the garbage truck after the gift opening frenzy on Christmas morning.† Add to that the ton of mailers, catalogues and junk mail we receive and Americans must be the world leaders in manufacturing paper waste, hands down!

According to the January issue of Better Homes and Garden magazine, one of the two top resolutions people make as they look ahead to the New Year is to get organized.† So why not start with cutting down on the amount of paper that flows through your home?† Call the companies that mail you junk and ask them to stop.† Donít buy anything from anybody who sells your name to mailing services.† Get your bills on-line.† Cut way back on subscriptions ñ unless youíre faithfully reading them.† Donít buy over-packaged crap. The list goes on and on.† Go online or check your library for books on simple solutions to conquering paper clutter.

I make it a game to generate as little waste as possible.† I love wheeling my massive garbage can to the curb each week when it has hardly anything in it and is as light as a feather.

Oh, and the answer to ìPaper or plastic?î

ìNeither, thank-you! Keep bags in your trunk and reuse them over and over.† Give the trees a break. †They are busy providing habitat, bearing nuts and fruit, producing oxygen, providing shade, beauty and stabilizing the topsoil.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Quinn Reed, Writer, Artist, Yoga Instructor, Stating the Obvious | No Comments »

Get energized, have fun with Laid Off Camp

December 16th, 2009 by Cheryl Courtney

Hey, this is really a fun event. Lots of networking and positive things happen here. Who doesn't need more of this? Check out http://www.larimerworkforce.org/index.php?pr=LaidOffCamp_Fort_Collins and preregister. See you there.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Cheryl Courtney, Writer, Fun, Gratitude | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »