Cerebrations

I Miss Winter Camp

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It’s been a bit of a surprise, actually a big surprise.

I had no idea I would miss living in the Phoenix area for the winter.

But I’d love to go back for a while.

Since we’ve moved back into a house, we’ve had a whole lot of reality and reality can stink sometimes.

snowbird-5

Living in Homer for that year felt like we were away at summer camp, except the best part of the year was winter so I guess it was winter camp.

Sure we had bills to pay, chores to do, decisions to make.

But in retrospect, things were a whole lot easier living in a motor home.

Cleaning ‘house’ took thirty minutes, not three hours.

We had NO yard work. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve mowed the lawn let alone raked leaves this year…

Snowbirding is starting to look better and better all the time.

snowbird-4

If I were to win the lottery, I’d buy a park model house in a retirement community that had close access to hiking and tons of pickleball courts.

I’d stay there October and most of November. Then I’d come home for the holidays–both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And I’d race back to be there for New Year’s Eve…

nye

 

 

Cerebrations

Wrong Way

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Ever been around someone who just rubbed you the wrong way from the first moment you set eyes on them?

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Of course you have.  Everyone one has.

But, at least for me,  nine times out of ten  once I get to know them,  everything’s fine.  And I discover that my initial impressions were very wrong.

And that’s a good thing.

But  there’s always that tenth person…

Kris is that tenth person.

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Has been since the first day I met her two years ago and still is.

She’s a pickleball player,  and I’m not my best around her–either on or off the court.

She’s passive aggressive and narcissistic.  I’m okay with one or the other but not both.

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Today was no exception…  🙁

I think I’ll do is both a favor next time she walks onto the court to play.

I’ll leave so we both can have a better day…

Cerebrations

Internet Wormholes

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An Internet wormhole is a search into a topic that continues and continues and continues because you never reach the end or find a definitive answer.

They are easy to do and hard to stop… It’s like going down a circular ladder that never ends…

cirlad

From Guff.com (a very fun place to start your wormhole…)

Going down an Internet wormhole is utterly addictive. While you’re falling through it, you know you really shouldn’t be going so deep. You know you should just stop. And you can actually make yourself stop. Really all you have to do is stand up and walk away from your computer. But you can’t stop. And you won’t stop. That freefalling into the abyss that is known as the Internet is too intoxicating. So you plunge further, not knowing where you’ll end up and, frankly, not giving a damn.

I’m prone to falling into Internet wormholes, especially at night while ‘watching’ television. Really I’m just listening to TV while I surf.

Ever get caught in a wiki-wormhole?

wiki-wormhole

When an insignificant curiosity starts on Wikipedia and becomes an involved series of following links within wiki pages to other pages, until you can no longer remember where you even began. Hence, the wiki-wormhole effect. From Urban Dictionary

The "Wikipedia" logo is seen on a tablet screen on December 4, 2012 in Paris. AFP PHOTO / LIONEL BONAVENTURE (Photo credit should read LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images)

Basically, an Internet surfer goes to look something up and click on the Wikipedia link to learn more. Then from within that wiki, the surfer continues clicking in a never ending search for additional information…
I’ve done that too many times to count.
fascismLast night I got into a wormhole about fascism.
At the risk of starting a political discussion, I wondered why I was seeing the word fascist tied so often with Donald Trump.
I learned a lot while sinking deeper and deeper into the wormhole, but I’m still not sure why I’m seeing fascism tied to Trump.
Sometimes, I’ll get into a wormhole on the same site.
Ever been to AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com?
My favorite topic to look at is Christmas cards.
Here’s a recent one of an actual Nevada assemblywoman’s family Christmas card.
mf
Just look at that happy, happy family!

 

Cerebrations

Protest Backfired

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There’s a big brew-ha-ha going on here in the Boise area about the homeless.

Five days ago the mayor implemented action to disband Cooper Court–a tent city located near downtown Boise that was home to about 135 residents.

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The city decided to close it down, among other reasons, because of the health and safety concerns.

There are multiple shelters around the area that had vacancies, but many of Cooper Court’s residents declined to stay at either the shelters or the temporary shelter set up specifically for the move.

There is obviously a lot of animosity from the homeless towards the mayor. And at a city council meeting a few days after the tent city shut down, protesters tried to take over the meeting.

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The protesters included both the homeless and some of their advocates. They yelled at the mayor and prevented the meeting from continuing.

The agenda did not include anything about Cooper Court, and the protesters were told that they would have to wait until a specially convened meeting the next day to voice their opinions and concerns.

At the special meeting, everyone in attendance was given two minutes to speak. And that proceeded as planned, but when the mayor tried to speak many in the audience chanted, “Do something now!” and prevented him from speaking so the meeting was shut down.

But here’s the deal… The actions by the homeless and some of their advocates backfired.

Several RV parks in the area had said that they would house former Cooper Court residents for three months.

But after the unruly protests, the parks rescinded their invitations.

So the immediate purpose of the protests, to find a place to stay, backfired.

There’s no easy answer and no right answer…

Cerebrations, People, Wow!

I Wish He Would Write…

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Carol sent me a link to a fascinating article in GQ  by Michael Finkel about Christopher Thomas Knight.

Christopher Thomas Knight (born 7 December 1965), also known as the North Pond Hermit, is a former hermit who lived almost without human contact for 27 years in the woods in Maine. He survived by committing approximately 1,000 burglaries against houses in the area, or approximately 40 per year. Apart from the fear and notoriety his many burglaries created in the local area, Knight’s unusual life also attracted widespread international media reports upon his capture.

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Knight entered the woods in 1986 without saying goodbye to anyone, aged 20, and was captured during a burglary in 2013. His only human contact in that time was exchanging a trivial greeting to a hiker once. From Wikipedia

KJ+Chris+Knight+Yearbook

The article, The Strange & Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit, is based on a series of interviews Finkel conducted with Knight while he was in jail completing his seven month sentence.

I highly recommend reading the article. It’s a captivating look into both the whys and the hows of Knight’s solitary decades.

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He felt terribly about stealing, but I was intrigued by what he stole including books, lots of books.

Many victims of Knight’s thefts reported that their books were often stolen—from Tom Clancy potboilers to dense military histories to James Joyce’s Ulysses.

…

He stole hundreds of books over the years; his preference was military history—he named William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich as his favorite book—but he took whatever was available.

Much of the article contains dialog between Finkel and Knight, and those dialogs show Knight’s love of the written word and the fact that for nearly three decades he rarely (in fact he only remembers one time) talked to others.

Jail was very difficult for him for many reasons. But communicating with others was especially difficult.

He tried several times to converse with other inmates. He could force out a few hesitant words, but every topic—music, movies, television—was lost on him, as was most slang. “You speak like a book,” one inmate teased. Whereupon he ceased talking.

As I read the article, I kept wishing that Knight would write a book. Any book. His precision with words belies his descriptive ability.

“Don’t mistake me for some bird-watching PBS type,” he warned, but then proceeded to poetically describe the crunch of dry leaves underfoot (“walking on corn flakes”) and the rumble of an ice crack propagating across the pond (“like a bowling ball rolling down an alley”).

I would read anything he wrote…

If you are intrigued, read the article. You’ll be glad you did.

Cerebrations

Lost and Found

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Since we moved back to the Boise area, Rich has lost some things and I have found some things.

laf

And the weird thing is that those ‘things’ are the same thing.

Confused?

Me, too!

Even though I know what those things are, I’m confused as to how I keep finding them

What are those things?

POUNDS! Lots of them!

lb

Rich has lost weight, and I have gained weight.

We’re not sure how much weight Rich has lost because he can’t step on the scale until he can put weight on his broken leg after he gets the go ahead from his doctor on January 11.

I, on the other hand, can step on the scale and it’s been a very depressing thing to do lately.

Things have been a bit stressful, and we react to that stress in totally opposite ways. Rich doesn’t eat, and I overeat.

We’re starting to look like Jack Sprat and his wife.

sprat

Jack Sprat could eat no fat.
His wife could eat no lean.
And so between them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.

Lately, I’m the only one licking the platter clean.

And I’ve got to knock it off. 🙂

Cerebrations, Things to Try

My New Best Friend

I have a new best friend.

Her name?

Apsercreme W. Lidocaine

aspercreme

I have been having trouble with my knee for a while. Nothing serious, just annoying.  And it’s interfering with my pickleball game. 🙂

Last week it was really cold here and my knee started throbbing after I played pickleball for nearly four hours on concrete. (Stupid to play that long, but wow was it fun!)

I’m not sure if it was the cold or the four hours on concrete that made it throb. Probably a combination of both.

Regardless, it was a pain. Literally and figuratively…

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I upped my NSAIDs, and that helped. But I didn’t want to continue them at that high of a dose for a long time, so I looked for a topical.

There are dozens to choose from…

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So I looked for one that said maximum strength because, what the heck, why buy one that only had minimum strength? What would be the point?

I now rub some Aspercreme with Lidocaine on before pickleball and whenever my knee hurts during the day.

It’s not magic, but it does help.

magic-trick

And that’s why I have a new best friend that goes with me most everywhere…

Music, People Are Good

Semi-Quiet Housing

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I saw this on the news tonight.

It’s a story about grad students who don’t live in dorms but live in retirement homes along side retired residents. Both populations benefit!

From NBC News:

These Students Are Dumping Their Dorms for a Retirement Home

by JOHN YANG and MATTHEW VANN

Retirement homes are perhaps the last place one might expect to find graduate students living. But for some in Cleveland, that’s the best student housing arrangement they could ask for.

Daniel Parvin, 25, calls the Judson Manor, a vintage one-time luxury hotel, his home after long days of study pursuing his Ph.D. at the Cleveland Institute of Music. But in his spare time, he’s also their resident pianist.

“I inherit 100 surrogate grandparents here,” he said. “And they’re really dear friends of mine.”

In exchange for free housing, students living at Judson Manor give free performances at least once a month.

When it was first agreed on that the students would be living at the residence, there were no worries about the late-night loud parties that may typically be associated with college students.

nbc1

“I wasn’t remotely apprehensive at all,” said retirement home resident Mark Corcoran. “I thought it was a good addition to the community, and it has been without question. It has really worked very well.”

And after hearing one concert, some who haven’t touched an instrument in years felt compelled to play along with him.

“I had the privilege to play with him [Daniel],” said Janet Hall. “He was great. When I made a mistake, he didn’t jump up and walk away or say, ‘Janet that’s awful.’ He’s just very nice about it.”

And for other residents, just having the students around does much to lift their spirits.

nbc2

“You see a young person coming toward you and want to look alive,” said Paul Ingalls. “You want to look like you’re still part of it.”

The residents have developed such an affinity for the students they even consider them as part of their family, referring to them as grandchildren.

Tiffany Tieu, 23, who plays the violin at Judson Manor, had an audition in Brazil, which concerned some residents about how she would get there. But in the end it turned out just fine when they found out she had friends there.

“She’s as much my family,” said Laura Berick, 79, of Tieu. “I see more of her than I do some my adult grandkids.”

But what could they possibly have in common? It turns out that much more than the music has brought them together.

“We found a lot of things that we like to do together,” said Tiffany. “Cooking, sharing a meal, talking about art.”

George Havens believes that both the students and the residents get as much as they give.

“It’s a win for us, because we have delightful young people here,” Havens said.

Cerebrations, People Are Good

All in a Day’s Work…

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Ever wonder what policemen go through in and of a day?

I do.

While it is hard to imagine the stress of their jobs, we can occasionally get glimpses.

During the San Bernardino shooting aftermath, an officer calmed the people he was leading to safety with assurances…

From the Huffington Post:

Leading people to safety at a social services center in San Bernardino, California, on Wednesday, a police officer reassured them: “I’ll take a bullet before you do.”

Gabi Flores, a customer services coordinator at the Inland Regional Center, shared video of the evacuation with KPCC, an NPR station in Southern California.

“Try to relax, everyone, try to relax,” the officer tells employees shaken by the mass shooting. “I’ll take a bullet before you do, that’s for damn sure. Just be cool, OK?”

Simply amazing!

Things to Try

Whoa, Neti

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I’ve got a bit of a head cold. Nothing serious; just enough to be annoying.

I clean my sinuses out via nasal irrigation with a Neti Pot. Neti-Pot

Nasal irrigation, or nasal lavage or nasal douche, is a personal hygiene practice in which the nasal cavity is washed to flush out excess mucus and debris from the nose and sinuses.  (From Wikipedia)

Yep, it’s as gross as it sounds. But it helps so much to clean all the gunk out.

Not only do I use it during and after a cold, I also use it a lot during allergy season. And I use it when it’s abnormally dry to moisturize my sinuses.

healthy-sinus

I fill my neti pot with warm water and pinch of a blend of 50% salt and 50% baking soda. Most recipes use just salt, but I read a post by Dr. Andrew Weil where he mentioned that adding baking soda helps achieve a better pH balance. For me, the blend of the two gives the most soothing results.

I pour the solution into  one nostril and it magically goes through my sinuses and comes out the other nostril.
how-to-use

It’s not the most graceful thing I do in and of a day, so I generally do it while ALONE in the bathroom.

neti-comic

Lots of people neti. 🙂

netitheoffice

Should you decide to give a net a try, you can get one in a plethora of colors. selection of colours

But if you get squeamish at the scientific curiosity of seeing all the amazing things that come of while neti-ing, you might just want to say, “Whoa, neti!”

whoa (1)