Making Magic

Today, I made magic for a child.

It was a follow up to the magic I made last night, when I took cookies out of the oven, and promised her that tomorrow we would decorate them. She didn't know what decorate meant, I think, but was willing to take my word for it.
After all, a Mammaw who can get cookies out of an oven instead of a bag must know something.

Today while she was watching tv, I got my powdered sugar and my milk and food coloring and 4 bowls and 1 coffee cup that belonged to my dad and started mixing. When Hailey's show was over, she came out to the kitchen and climbed up in the chair.

"Mammaw, it's purple. And orange."

I showed her how to use the purple plastic knives to spread the frosting on the cookies, but it was still pretty runny, so I reached into my bag of powder and dumped another handful into each bowl. Then I picked one up and started stirring it in.

"Ooooh, Mammaw! You're making magic! I want to help! We can make a RAINBOW!"

So, I told her to pick up a bowl and stir it up. She said she was making green magic, and I was making purple magic, and blue magic, and yellow magic, and she was doing orange magic.

Then we painted the cookies.

I put sprinkles on the cookies after they were painted and she yelled at me that I was "Messing up" her magic paint cookies.
But she was liberal with the sprinkles and the candies herself afterward.

Sadly, we still have paint left, and nothing to paint on. My flour is nearly gone or I'd make a plain cake or something -- then we could indeed make a rainbow. I put the leftover frosting in jars in the refrigeratoe. She keeps telling me the food paint is getting cold. I have no idea if it will keep or if it is safe to keep that way, but if it goes bad, there's always the sink.

I could have a rainbow drain.

The real magic is in the child's simple belief that Mammaw can do magic -- and lets her help.

Surely there's no greater magic than feeding the children -- bodies and imagination both.

Art will Out.

My husband used to say. when we'd go flea marketing, "I could do that if..."
He could be talking about wooden yard cutouts, or concrete statues, or handmade pottery, or plaster busts, or just about any handcraft.

His "if" was usually
"If I had the tools."
"If I had the equipment."
"If I had the space"

I was usually the penny pinching bully who wouldn't "let" him have the whatever he wanted for something he might do. Never mind that he probably never would do any of it.

I knew he wouldn't.

I made this judgement because he could have done many of the things using the tools at hand, but because they weren't specialty tools, he 'couldn't.'

Art doesn't work that way. If you have a need in your soul to create, you create. You don't wait for tools or stop for argument. If the need is in you and has to get out, you use what's at hand and do the best you can.

Period.

I know this, because I write. I write in all conditions, under any, many circumstances. I HAVE dived into trash cans for something to write on. I have used a mascara brush to jot down notes for a plot twist that just came to me as I was waiting in line. I have written with crayon, with full-fledged permanent marker, with broken pencils where I've chipped and peeled the wood away from the lead with my teeth and fingernails, because the words need to get OUT.

If I had no tools or equipment, I created some, I found some, I made some.

The same can be said for those who want to dance, or design, or act, cook, or do any other creative, expression.

There is no "if" in making art.

I'm reminded of this today watching my granddaughter.
She draws.
She paints.
She has taught herself to use the Paint program on the computer. She knows more of how to get it to do what she wants than I do.
If she finds an ink pen, a crayon, a marker, a burned stick, a charcoal briquet, she picks it up and draws a line or a circle with it.
If she has no paper to draw on, she uses a sidewalk, a rock, a board, a wall.

There is no "if" in this child when it comes to her art.

"If" she has no other legacy, I hope this is what she gets from Mammaw.

There is no "if" in "art."

Thanks Giving

We all have a lot to be thankful for. What's "a lot" to me may be only a little to you, but it's the size of the thankfulness that counts more than what the thankfulness is for.

I bring this up for several reasons.
1)A Facebook friend posted a 'month of gratitude' status.
2)We have, mostly, survived a natural disaster. It could have been so much worse. Those where it hit the hardest and are still being hit -- one horror after another -- are a reminder to those of us not afflicted.
3)It's November. Halloween is over. It's time for Thanksgiving here in the US.

Do you hear that, people? Media? Advertisers?

Halloween is over. It's time for Thanksgiving.
Not Christmas.
Not "the Holidays"

Thanks Giving.

Yesterday, a commercial for a local station's news had a cheery voiced woman announcing "Halloween is over. Time to gear up for the next holiday. This years must have-toys for Christmas. See our story at five."

I don't watch that station's news and very little of their programming anyway, but really? How many stories will they be doing four weeks from now on "Thanksgiving, the forgotten holiday?"
Hypocrites.

I tried to post a protest on their Facebook page -- it wouldn't take. Tried several times. Tried liking/friending to be able to post, still couldn't post. I undid that pretty quick, you can bet.

The media will all do/make/have big stories about the "rush to Christmas." I've already seen a few. The problem is -- they are a large part of the problem. If they didn't do stories on the top ten must-have toys. If they didn't preface miracle/ goodwill stories as early Christmas.

Imagine if the news (local, national, or its own private network) didn't run ANY Christmas stories until after Thanksgiving. The holidays wouldn't be so rushed in and pushed into our consciousness, and the stories themselves would be more special, more effective. They would have their own place to sparkle and shine and move people if they were treated as the seasonal treats that they are meant to be.
To help explain -- candy corn is available year-round, but it doesn't taste the same in April as it does in October. Jelly beans aren't the same in October. Because that is the time and the place for them.

Oh advertisers are more obviously guilty, but how would it benefit the advertisers if the media ignored their pre-emptive extravaganzas, such as top-ten lists? If those news people weren't attending these events, the advertisers would lose money and maybe even actually have to pay out for their ads.
Isn't that what they are supposed to do?

And the fourth item on my list has to be
4) Us. People.
We need to take this time, to make this accounting of our lives, our families, our things. We gripe and complain, true, but what effect can there be when we watch and buy anyway?

It is OUR power to change things. Let's stop talking and start thanking before we shop.

Need Help? Hire Someone!

There's a lot of stuff on internet bulletin boards and in business magazines about how there really are jobs out there. There are scads of ads for schools to get you educated (and more in debt than ever) for jobs.

There are jobs out there, they insist. Companies are begging for workers.

Until you are ready to apply.

Then you are given the list of qualifications and conditions of employment. These terms usually involve higher education.

Companies are whining and crying -- and sometimes losing profits and shareholders -- because they can't fill the jobs.
Can't.
Applicants don't meet their standards.

If you ask me, it's their own faults. They have set their standards too high. If a job needs done, it needs done.   Pieces of paper accumulated don't make anyone more employable, yet companies are insisting that they "need" employees with more degrees, more education.

More education, at least to me, has made people less employable. They no longer know  (if they ever did) how to work as a team member. They can't follow orders. They won't follow a chain of command. They don't know how to ask subordinates for help; to get the job done; to be on their team.

Most of them don't know how to fill out a job application or write a personal resume -- they hire someone else, or order a before-mentioned subordinate to do it for them. And, by God, that person had better get it right!

Listen, people.
If you need help, you need help. Paper isn't going to help you -- people are.

If you want the work done, you need working people, not someone who has studied how "Star Trek Changed the World," and "Ghosts in the Bible." It doesn't matter how brilliant the essays or how deep the understanding of these topics. Unless you're exploring the final frontier or Ghost-busting haunted lands in the Middle East, those are not the skills that will move your product.

If there is special training needed, provide it yourself. That way your workers won't be distracted by how Jack and Joe do it, or what the professor told them was right or wrong. If you need specialised training: provide it.

Schools provide students.
Employers provide employees.

You need working people to do the work.

Forget the educated idiots. If that's your criteria, your product isn't a necessity. It's a luxury, and that is reason enough why your business is going down in troubled times.

If you desperately need workers -- hire some. We're out here.

Fall is Coming

An old favorite of mine, from when my little ones were little ones. Caught myself singing a version of this to the grandbaby last week.

Fall Is Coming

Fall is coming, oh me, oh my 

Fall is coming, the leaves will die 

Fall is coming, and winter soon 

Fall is coming, and the harvest moon 

Fall is coming, the year's most gone 

Fall is coming, summer soon gone 

Fall is coming, and will soon be here 

Fall is coming, the end of the year 

Fall is here, the leaves have turned 

Fall is here, summer is yearned 

Fall is here, and life slows down 

Fall is here, Summer's crown 

Fall is here, and winter is coming 

Fall is here, the harvesters are running 

Fall is here, let's get everything in 

Before winter comes in, cold as sin. 

Officially silly Road Signs.

Governing organizations are always looking for ways to cut costs. One way for the Departments of Transportation (DOT), whether state, county, township, or town, might be to take a look at some of the silly and unnecessary road signs they
1) have manufactured
2)have installed  (temporarily or permanently) and
3)pay maintenance for.

The first such sign that comes to mind is one that proclaims "Limited sight distance."
Huh?
Bet that sign is a real treat for ESL drivers. Or the illiterate. We draw pictures of stopsigns and deer and curvy tire marks in the rain, and post "limited sight distance" for the non English readers.
That sign is a poser for intelligent English speakers.

But, never fear -- if you're still driving, you've probably figured it out.
It means that you can't see very far.
Since my eyes are connected to my brain -- a rudimentary necessity for driving, one would think -- I can SEE that I can't see very far. You don't have to tell me that.

Then there are the ever-popular "No Edge Lines".

Duh!
You think I need a sign to tell me that the white line isn't there anymore? I had to pass a vision test to get my license, ya know. Most drivers do. And a white line on a black road is usually obvious, so when it isn't there -- most people notice it. No signage needed.

I saw a new one last night. "Pass With Care." Okay, that's fine, but what I want to know is -- where are the roads where it's acceptable to pass without care?

I'm not sure if I want to know so I can avoid those areas or so I can drive them. I suppose it will depend on how suicidal I'm feeling when I leave my driveway. Or maybe after I've been driving roads where I can't see very far, and the white lines at the side are wearing cloaks of invisibility.

I might want to Pass Without Care after that ordeal.

Nick Mom? Are you kidding me?

Please say you are kidding me!
 Please say this is a tryout or a special session or something.
Please, please don't say you are seriously depriving the sleep deprived mothers of junior insomniacs the presence of Nick jr 24 hours around the clock.

And for what?
Momedies? Tearjerkers?
No!
The kids are being booted off for stand up comedians!
You have to be kidding me.

Moms all over the world are being punished for all the moms who tried the comedy gig back when Nickelodeon did the funny mom contest. Now we all have to watch all the not-quite winners while our children or grandchildren scream and howl instead of going to sleep with familiar friends luring them into slumber.

I didn't know of this horrid desecration until my granddaughter came to stay for a week. Her favorite shows, just before bedtime, have been Pocoyo and Ni Hao Kai-Lan. They come on at ten o'clock, and signal bedtime, lights out, sit down and shut up time.

That is, they did come on at ten o'clock.

Now, ten o'clock heralds the beginning of Nick Mom.

Some person (or committee -- I neither know nor care) at Nick jr decided that children go to bed by ten o'clock, and that the Moms are going to be watching tv. And instead of watching a good murder, or a good-cry movie, these moms, who have their obedient little angels all tucked in -- these women want to watch stand up comedians.

Not me. When I got my teeny tots tucked in (or should I say stuck in? Sometimes it seemed I needed strait jackets and restraints.) I had to finish dishes, fold laundry, things of that sort.

When I did get to watch tv, I wanted something that  would offer escape from the day to day being a mom -- not something that would plunge me into other mom's woes. Yes, I have stories, too. Yes, I could make them funny or dramatic. Yes, my kids are more funny/messy/silly/noisy/fussy. Let me tell you... .

But when I'm done being Mom, I want to be someone and somewhere else. Not watching endless reflections of myself  on a kiddie channel on the tv.

I don't advocate watching tv as anything but a tool to use with consideration and deliberation when raising children. But when used properly, it is useful.

As a bedtime cool down or as entertainment for a wakeful child, I guess that we, as parents and grandparents, will be turning, turning, turning away from Nick jr at night. Our children may soon find the Disney jr or Sprout characters even more endearing. Then we will no longer have to bother with Nickelodeon at all.

And their Moms can all entertain one another with one-liners all night long.

Bethel residents angry over shoddy contractor work | Clermont County - WLWT Home

Bethel residents angry over shoddy contractor work | Clermont County - WLWT Home

Discussing "THE" Debate

from Dictionary.com

de·bate  (d-bt)

v. de·bat·ed, de·bat·ing, de·bates

v.intr.

1. To consider something; deliberate.

2. To engage in argument by discussing opposing points.

3. To engage in a formal discussion or argument. See Synonyms atdiscuss.

4. Obsolete To fight or quarrel.

v.tr.

1. To deliberate on; consider.

2. To dispute or argue about.

3. To discuss or argue (a question, for example) formally.

4. Obsolete To fight or argue for or over.

n.

1. A discussion involving opposing points; an argument.

2. Deliberation; consideration: passed the motion with little debate.

3. A formal contest of argumentation in which two opposing teams defend and attack a given proposition.

4. Obsolete Conflict; strife.

I'm beginning with the formal definition of debate here. Seems like there are many who have no comprehension of what the word means. Sadly,it is supposedly intelligent people who lack this understanding of the definition. Newscasters, reporters, editors.

There was a Presidential Debate the other night.

Not, as the name implies, a debate between presidents. Nor was it a debate about presidents, except tangentially. It is a pre-election debate for presidential candidates. One of the candidates is the current president.

A debate, as you can see from the definition, is basically a discussion -- just like the one we're having here. (Not exactly, since you lack the ability to respond as I'm speaking.)

Discussion of this, of that -- it can even be considered an argument, but that usage has, until now, meant in a formal sense. Not petty kindergarten squabbling.

This is important, at least to me, because there was very little attention paid to or reported on any actual debate topics. The debates had barely started when the media morons began trumpeting "Romney is winning!"


How the Blankety-blank blank does anyone win a discussion?

How do they win a discussion when that discussion has barely begun?


It didn't get any better, folks. I don't know what the debates were about. I don't know what subjects were introduced, what answers either candidate had, or whether either had a solution that was markedly different from the other guys.

As a matter of fact, I don't know if there were any other candidates present or if it was just the two Mr. BigBucks BigMouths running. They were the only two mentioned. There are other candidates, voters. Some of them have great ideas and reasonable policies. Look them up.


I don't know because no one reported on this. No one cared to do straight reporting for those who couldn't/didn't watch the live event.

And if it were a matter of winning -- so what? If winning a discussion means anything at all, I'm pretty sure it does NOT mean winning the election, although Mainstream Media would like you to think it's in the bag now for their guy.

Mitt Romney won the primaries because he could beat Obama -- not on issues, performance, promises, or politics -- just because he breathes higher class air, I suppose. I have yet to figure that logic. See previous blog:http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7971544013891065437#editor/target=post;postID=8130718494167114723

Now he has 'won' a debate -- what does that mean?

It means he talks faster ?

There's the solution to our problems! A slick fast-talker. He must be made to be President! He out-talked the man who was actually working at running the country (possibly badly, but trying) while he was rehearsing his party lines and preening in his mirror.

I'm saving my vote for the election. That's the only WIN that counts.

FYI: A caftan is a DRESS

I recently bought myself a caftan. A nice, long, floaty, silky new dress. I haven't really had any new clothes for a long time -- in my size, they are hard to find. Once found, even harder to afford. So I was really happy to find this dress in a catalogue of inexpensive stuff.

The long flowy lines are a favorite of mine, and were before I got so very fat. Probably something to do with growing up during the hippie era. It should, properly, have a sash of scarves or a belt made of lamp pulls or swing chains, I suppose. And feather earrings and headbands, too, I suppose.

I have been choosing to wear mine plain, to enjoy the freedom of something that fits on me, that moves freely, and is slinky soft sliding across my skin.

That decision is going to have to change, though. I'm going to have to wear a belt. If I had any dress shoes, I supposed I'd have to wear them, too. I do have sandals that hurt my hips after twelve steps and my back after a dozen. I'll pass on the headbands -- my head comes with a built in headband, especially on stormy days.

Everyone thinks I am wearing a nightgown. Even the people in my own home think I am wearing a nightgown.

It's a DRESS, people! A fat lady dress, a hippie dress, but still a dress.