I've been a Grey's Anatomy fan from the beginning. I have long favored it over that horrible day time soap opera Desperate Housewives. However, this season premiere has been awful. It isn't over yet, but I don't see any salvation in the final seven minutes. I mean, seriously, Kristina with an icicle in the abdomen? If that isn't the silliest mess I've seen in a long time. I mean, I expect such idiocy from Nip Tuck (which I love), you just have certain expectations.
Three older wives in a limo wreck and their husbands in a separate limo wreck. That plot was a train wreck. It was too convoluted to develop any connections with these people. This ranks as one of the most horrible episodes, except for the episode when Izzie operates on a deer. The doctors beg for trauma patients? WTF!
ER was my favorite medical drama for a long time and Noah Wylie is returning and Angela Bassett will now be a cast member. It looks like it is back to ER for me unless Grey's gets back to its core. Paging Dr. Burke!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Atlanta's Traffic
Everyone is familiar with how horrific ATL traffic is. Few people really know why. Please allow me to enlighten you. The drivers are complete imbeciles. This morning in route to work, I was provided a classic example. Now, in most cities, and I'd like to think they were taught this here, everyone knows that when the light is green and you are turning right, you have the right of way. Well, the idiots here, yield for everyone, including the oncoming traffic which is turning left. IDIOTS! Left turners without the green arrow are supposed to yield to oncoming traffic which includes traffic turning right. Oh, no, these brain children stop and wait for everyone to turn left even when the other lanes continue to pass through the green light, as they should.
This morning some twit did this in front of me. There we sat at the green light waiting for all the left turners, who did not have the green arrow any longer (obviously because we had a green light), I lay on the horn. The dumb heifer still sat there. That is just one of the traffic laws to which Georgians are oblivious. They also do not know how to approach four way stop intersections. They just sit and wait. They do not know what yield means; they apparently think it is Mandarin for stop.
I asked some native Georgians why they are complete idiots on the road. Their response, "We are just courteous." Excuse me! You call nearly killing me or others in a possible head on collision while you stop instead of completing your turn and traffic is still coming in two lanes to your left and waiting behind you, courtesy. Keep your courtesy and your pending charge as an accessory to second degree homicide. Learn the rules of the road and by all means implement them in your daily travels.
This morning some twit did this in front of me. There we sat at the green light waiting for all the left turners, who did not have the green arrow any longer (obviously because we had a green light), I lay on the horn. The dumb heifer still sat there. That is just one of the traffic laws to which Georgians are oblivious. They also do not know how to approach four way stop intersections. They just sit and wait. They do not know what yield means; they apparently think it is Mandarin for stop.
I asked some native Georgians why they are complete idiots on the road. Their response, "We are just courteous." Excuse me! You call nearly killing me or others in a possible head on collision while you stop instead of completing your turn and traffic is still coming in two lanes to your left and waiting behind you, courtesy. Keep your courtesy and your pending charge as an accessory to second degree homicide. Learn the rules of the road and by all means implement them in your daily travels.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
School Fundraisers
Enough already! We are only nine weeks into the school year and our children's school has had no fewer than nine fundraisers. Each week in each of the children's homework folders, we receive a slew of fundraiser related papers. New fundraiser, SAVE the TREES and stop using all of this paper. Oh and by the way, save money by not using so much paper, ink, and manpower to harass parents into harassing others. Save my sanity. I am unable to keep up with what I'm peddling. I'll soon committ the error of trying to sell Avon to a male co-worker.
I was warned about this from other parents whose children are older. One mother says that she writes a check to her children's school at the beginning of each year with the promise that she will not be badgered with the fundraisers. I'm just about there. They beat you over the head with it. No wonder aptitude is on life support. The teachers have become professional fundraisers instead of instructors. They could easily use these skills to become directors at non-profits.
Last Wednesday alone, there were three fundraiser solicitations in each of the children's folders. So I received six in one day. Oh no, there is no multi-child forgiveness. You are expected to raise twice as much. This is insane. We have certainly lost focus here. Amazingly, prior to Board vs BOE, when Negro schools had next to nothing, they made learning happen. What happened to that ingenuity, that making a dollar out of $.50?
Well, at least they are not begging. These are legitimate fundraisers which if nothing else, will teach our children about the grind. There is nothing more distasteful to me (with regard to fundraisers) than to see children on corners with buckets begging for money. Wash my car, sell me a Snickers or something. Begging sends the wrong message. Well, all of this fundraising sends a clear and resounding message of our misplaced priorities. Billions of dollars for war and $2.00 and a Snicker for education.
BTW, if you have any Box Tops for Education or Campbell's Soup labels, holler at your girl. No seriously. Oh and stop by the Chick Fil A in GA on Thursdays; send me your receipt. No, seriously.
I was warned about this from other parents whose children are older. One mother says that she writes a check to her children's school at the beginning of each year with the promise that she will not be badgered with the fundraisers. I'm just about there. They beat you over the head with it. No wonder aptitude is on life support. The teachers have become professional fundraisers instead of instructors. They could easily use these skills to become directors at non-profits.
Last Wednesday alone, there were three fundraiser solicitations in each of the children's folders. So I received six in one day. Oh no, there is no multi-child forgiveness. You are expected to raise twice as much. This is insane. We have certainly lost focus here. Amazingly, prior to Board vs BOE, when Negro schools had next to nothing, they made learning happen. What happened to that ingenuity, that making a dollar out of $.50?
Well, at least they are not begging. These are legitimate fundraisers which if nothing else, will teach our children about the grind. There is nothing more distasteful to me (with regard to fundraisers) than to see children on corners with buckets begging for money. Wash my car, sell me a Snickers or something. Begging sends the wrong message. Well, all of this fundraising sends a clear and resounding message of our misplaced priorities. Billions of dollars for war and $2.00 and a Snicker for education.
BTW, if you have any Box Tops for Education or Campbell's Soup labels, holler at your girl. No seriously. Oh and stop by the Chick Fil A in GA on Thursdays; send me your receipt. No, seriously.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Tupac & the Overrated Blender Magazine
First, if you know me, you know I LOVE Tupac. He is the first, the last, the everything. Period. Blender, some okiedoke magazine, in a move to sell copies and get internet hits I'm sure, had the audacity to list Tupac as the most overrated rapper. Are you kidding me? Perhaps they have not truly listened to his music. Perhaps they are only familiar with the media's portrayal or the legend and not the man. Surely that is it. He was a poet, an activist for social and political justice, and a man facing the extreme challenge of public persecution.
If any rapper is overrated it is Jay Z from whom I've never heard an original rhyme. Everything he says Biggie or in the case of Bonnie & Clyde, Tupac said first. Nevertheless, I'm no hater. Even Jay Z deserves credit for massive cross over and pop appeal. Still, Tupac challenged thinking. He was one of the first celebrities to publicly and vehemently attack law enforcement for its unjust treatment of black males. He wrote and rhymed honestly about the tribulations of the black male without a father, the child of an addicted mother, the plight of the impoverished. This is the man who was the first rapper to command both film and the airwaves. Though I didn't particularly care for the movie, his portrayal of a psychopath in Juice has been critically acclaimed. He quotes Julius Caesar in his music. You mean to tell me a man of this intellect is overrated, particularly in a genre of bling this, bling that, Benz this, etc.
Clearly Blender is speaking of its own pitiful excuse for a publication when it says overrated. That garbage isn't fit to line the cages at one of Michael Vick's dog fights. Blender is just trying to create controversy to attract readers for its unread trash. Tupac asks on disc one of All Eyez on Me, "Does a bear s&^% in the woods and wipe its a&& with a fluffy white rabbit?" It is now obvious that the bear uses blender.
If any rapper is overrated it is Jay Z from whom I've never heard an original rhyme. Everything he says Biggie or in the case of Bonnie & Clyde, Tupac said first. Nevertheless, I'm no hater. Even Jay Z deserves credit for massive cross over and pop appeal. Still, Tupac challenged thinking. He was one of the first celebrities to publicly and vehemently attack law enforcement for its unjust treatment of black males. He wrote and rhymed honestly about the tribulations of the black male without a father, the child of an addicted mother, the plight of the impoverished. This is the man who was the first rapper to command both film and the airwaves. Though I didn't particularly care for the movie, his portrayal of a psychopath in Juice has been critically acclaimed. He quotes Julius Caesar in his music. You mean to tell me a man of this intellect is overrated, particularly in a genre of bling this, bling that, Benz this, etc.
Clearly Blender is speaking of its own pitiful excuse for a publication when it says overrated. That garbage isn't fit to line the cages at one of Michael Vick's dog fights. Blender is just trying to create controversy to attract readers for its unread trash. Tupac asks on disc one of All Eyez on Me, "Does a bear s&^% in the woods and wipe its a&& with a fluffy white rabbit?" It is now obvious that the bear uses blender.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Grammar Lesson
If I hear one more imbecile use myself incorrectly I'll lose it. So many idiots really believe that they demonstrating their intelligence when they use the word myself as a subjective pronoun. The rule is simple. If the word myself is not used to intensify a properly used noun or pronoun, or to reflect one, it is being used incorrectly. Let me simplify this. You, hopefully, wouldn't say, "Myself walked to the store". Therefore, it is equally inappropriate to say, "Sam and myself walked to the store." Yet, seemingly intelligent people say this everyday. I've corrected my manager and other managers several times when using this grammar faux pas. Nonetheless, these simpletons, many "Ivy League" educated lack the discernment to grasp this simple concept.
Unfortunately, this isn't the only egregious act committed against grammar. Many people seem to have difficulty with subject-verb agreement. If I read one more newspaper headline with the words "One in Five Men Are...", I'll scream. Again, this is simple. One is the subject; in five men is the prepositional phrase which is not to be considered with respect to verb choice. Here is another example. "The couple were...", this too is incorrect because any group (e.g. team, quartet, Congress) functions as a singular subject and therefore requires a singular verb. Although many scientific texts will use data in a similar fashion, I must disagree with those as well. Data, by definition, is a collective group of information; and because it is a group, should function as a singular subject.
I agree with my mother, this all goes back to education, particularly, the fact that sentence diagramming is no longer performed in grade school. Grammar is not taught in school. Literature is favored in hopes that children will acquire grammar knowledge by reading. It doesn't get more backwards than this folks. This is like teaching algebra to first graders before introducing the basic concepts of math. No wonder other nations outperform us.
Unfortunately, this isn't the only egregious act committed against grammar. Many people seem to have difficulty with subject-verb agreement. If I read one more newspaper headline with the words "One in Five Men Are...", I'll scream. Again, this is simple. One is the subject; in five men is the prepositional phrase which is not to be considered with respect to verb choice. Here is another example. "The couple were...", this too is incorrect because any group (e.g. team, quartet, Congress) functions as a singular subject and therefore requires a singular verb. Although many scientific texts will use data in a similar fashion, I must disagree with those as well. Data, by definition, is a collective group of information; and because it is a group, should function as a singular subject.
I agree with my mother, this all goes back to education, particularly, the fact that sentence diagramming is no longer performed in grade school. Grammar is not taught in school. Literature is favored in hopes that children will acquire grammar knowledge by reading. It doesn't get more backwards than this folks. This is like teaching algebra to first graders before introducing the basic concepts of math. No wonder other nations outperform us.
John McCain
Yesterday I referred to Mr. McCain as the Crypt Keeper. I owe him an apology. I had no right to insult the Crypt Keeper like that. The Crypt Keeper has more personality in its eye socket than McCain has in his entire body. That weird and uncomfortable laugh, stiff back and neck, those little arms, and that comb over (well, sorry Mr. Crypt Keeper, you all have that in common) just scream some dirty old out of touch man. I should have called him Uncle Fester or Herman Munster or some diminutive mutation of the two. He really looks like he has been resuscitated before each speech via a defibrillator. His awkwardness reminds me of Robert Deniro in Awakenings. Essentially I am saying that he epitomizes the creepy uncle who seems otherwise comatose except for those occasional outbursts of excitement.
Well, I really tried to watch him tonight and just couldn't do it. He bored me to tears. His speech must have been written by a third grader. It was full of awkward pauses and even more uncomfortable smiles and the characteristic stiffness. Was there no chiropractor available or doctor with a cortisone injection? Dude is just too old to eat solid food much less run a country. Seriously though, this isn't just about his age. This is about his nearsightedness and lack of a social conscience. He called "education the new civil right's movement", yet, he follows this remark with more rhetoric and allusions to vouchers and school choice. What about fixing the fundamental problems of the schools and raising standards. His "solution" would only worsen the current problems and widen the gap between the haves and the have nots.
This is the dilemma I always encounter--all of these extremes. I am certainly not liberal. They believe in too much leniency, too many excuses, no accountability. Too many religious whack jobs cling to the conservative base and have perverted it into their judgmental caravan, but at least they stand for somethings usually unequivocally.
Either way, politicians by and large are egotistical power hungry narcissists. I'm still looking for Citizen Change.
Well, I really tried to watch him tonight and just couldn't do it. He bored me to tears. His speech must have been written by a third grader. It was full of awkward pauses and even more uncomfortable smiles and the characteristic stiffness. Was there no chiropractor available or doctor with a cortisone injection? Dude is just too old to eat solid food much less run a country. Seriously though, this isn't just about his age. This is about his nearsightedness and lack of a social conscience. He called "education the new civil right's movement", yet, he follows this remark with more rhetoric and allusions to vouchers and school choice. What about fixing the fundamental problems of the schools and raising standards. His "solution" would only worsen the current problems and widen the gap between the haves and the have nots.
This is the dilemma I always encounter--all of these extremes. I am certainly not liberal. They believe in too much leniency, too many excuses, no accountability. Too many religious whack jobs cling to the conservative base and have perverted it into their judgmental caravan, but at least they stand for somethings usually unequivocally.
Either way, politicians by and large are egotistical power hungry narcissists. I'm still looking for Citizen Change.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Sarah Palin
What can I say? I love her. McCain looks like the Crypt Keeper and I'm really not feeling him. He seems so insincere. However, Palin is so refreshing. It is so pleasing to have a strong woman support the lives of babies. This is such an important issue for me, perhaps the most important. The media's infatuation with her teenage daughter's pregnancy is so tasteless. I concur with Obama that this is a family matter. Moreover, this is demonstrative of a young woman assuming responsibility for her actions. A colleague of mine even said it was horrible for her mother to "force marriage" upon her. What? Who says this marriage is forced? So what if it is? What makes it her business or my business for that matter? Further, why is it that so many people assume young marriages fail? I've been married since I was 22 and we have outlasted many people who were married at older ages. My husband is the product of a teenage pregnancy and guess what, his parents married and are still married to this day. My husband is in his 30s! My best friend's parents married at 19 and guess what, they are still married. So naysayers, guess what, sometimes good things do come out of "challenging situations" to borrow the words of Mrs. Palin.
I also admire Palin's courage and integrity in caring for her youngest son who has down syndrome. So many cowards would have killed this child for lacking their idea of perfection. I really find it quite disturbing and less than intelligent for people to stick strictly to party lines without implementing intuitive faculty to discern real issues. The real issue here is this woman has a real family with real challenges. They have addressed these with dignity and without the hypocrisy of so many others who say they support values and yet sneak to commit immoral acts in times of challenge. So to Mrs. Palin, I say congratulations, you have revived this dead campaign. You are not saying what you think other's want to hear or trying to appease everyone. Do your thing girl.
I received this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of my favorites, and it seems fitting here.
“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting – a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Beauty is everywhere, all around an in each one of us. Yet where do we put our attention? On what we have decided is “wrong?” On what we think needs to be “fixed?” There is beauty in these things, too – if we would only look for it. There is a lesson, a gift, a treasure to be found in every situation and circumstance. We can acknowledge it or turn away from it – but it is there nonetheless. -Lissa Coffey
I also admire Palin's courage and integrity in caring for her youngest son who has down syndrome. So many cowards would have killed this child for lacking their idea of perfection. I really find it quite disturbing and less than intelligent for people to stick strictly to party lines without implementing intuitive faculty to discern real issues. The real issue here is this woman has a real family with real challenges. They have addressed these with dignity and without the hypocrisy of so many others who say they support values and yet sneak to commit immoral acts in times of challenge. So to Mrs. Palin, I say congratulations, you have revived this dead campaign. You are not saying what you think other's want to hear or trying to appease everyone. Do your thing girl.
I received this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of my favorites, and it seems fitting here.
“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting – a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Beauty is everywhere, all around an in each one of us. Yet where do we put our attention? On what we have decided is “wrong?” On what we think needs to be “fixed?” There is beauty in these things, too – if we would only look for it. There is a lesson, a gift, a treasure to be found in every situation and circumstance. We can acknowledge it or turn away from it – but it is there nonetheless. -Lissa Coffey
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