Shipwrecked & Comatose

By this point you would have to live under a proverbial rock to not know about Josh Duggar's scandal about molesting his younger sisters when he was a teen.  The fallout has been massive.  He has resigned his position with the American Hate Society Family Research Council and TLC has finally agreed to pull the show from the air. I think this show should have been booted off the air long ago.  The Duggars should never have achieved this level of fame.  19 Kids and Counting put a happy face on abuse and served it up on a disposable Dixie platter as the new standard for good Christian living. Duggar defenders abound.  They never cease to point out how "happy" the kids are.  They point out how well the Duggars live considering their thriftiness.  The children aren't doing drugs and aren't promiscuous.  The children are well-behaved and do their chores.  If they want to have this many children, it's their business. Most casual TV watchers ...

It seems that almost every day I run across either a meme or an article on social media that runs on the theme of childhood and parenting the "kids these days". The article sounds something like this: When I was a kid in the 80s (or 70s or 60s or 50s) I had the most perfect childhood.  I went outside every day and I could play in the mud pits at construction sites and canoe rapids and climb mountains and and bike in heavy traffic and walk over to the next state to visit a friend and as long as I was home by the time the street lights came on. My parents didn't worry. They wanted me out of the house.  I rode in my mother's lap as a baby, sat in the car with no seat belt as a child, and never wore a bike helmet.  I lived! I either ate lots of home-cooked food made by my stay-at-home mother or else I ate lots of junk food and Spaghetti-Os and processed foods and drank Tang and Kool-Aid. Either way there was none of this organic, non-GMO, no-sugar obsession.  I ate e...

When I hit my teens, I discovered music. Music was the one way a super nerdy girl could connect in any way with her peers.  I was especially attracted to the New Wave music of the 80s.  It was the best style for someone who never felt in step with the rest of the world.  Plus most of the popular New Wave bands were English and Irish, which made me feel as if I were reaching out to something more global.  I felt like I was part of something big. I was outgrowing celebrity crushes at that stage.  I was just beginning to feel that real boys might be on my radar.  I wasn't looking to fall in love with a celebrity.  I didn't want to be living in a fantasy world thinking of things that can never happen or have unrealistic ideas of what a celebrity might be like in real life.   I wasn't like my New Wave-loving friends who seemed to believe that love could bloom between them and members of Duran Duran.  I liked Duran Duran's music, but I cou...

Note:  I am not endorsed or renumerated by Stitch Fix in any way.  This post is only for me to express my opinion and share my experience.  However, if you are interested in trying Stitch Fix yourself, I do request that you use this link , which will give me a 25% referral discount on future orders. Stitch Fix did not provide me with this link in exchange for posting about them on this blog.  All customers receive a referral link when signing on and if you decide to use the service, they will provide you with one as well. Previous Stitch Fix review can be found here , here , and here . I hadn't meant to do a Stitch Fix box this spring.  I had been considering doing one this summer to help them outfit my cruise vacation in July, but I thought I had the essentials of my spring wardrobe covered. At first I planned to rely on Rebecca at Keaton Row .  She did such a great job last fall.  I knew she'd pick some winners for me. Unfortunately, ...

Before you continue reading this post, go to your favorite social sites and check out some of the links.  It doesn't matter what type of links they are.  They can be political links or humorous links or food links or fitness links.  Note how the link is described.  What words do the sponsors use to make you click over to their article or website?  What words do they use to draw you in with a promise of shock, awe, or delight? There is a strong chance that whatever information they are about to provide you with is "mind blowing". Everything you see on the Internet promises to "blow your mind."  What exactly does that mean?  If you read the article, will there be a constant rush of air in your ears?  Are bits of readers' brains scattered all over the page?  Is your mind blown up, or is it simply pushed in a different direction?  Is it a positive thing or a negative thing to have one's mind blown, because I have seen it used both ways. ...

I know this post is a bit late as the announcement was made shortly after Season 5 aired its last episode, but I still want to comment on it.  The upcoming 6th season will be the last season of Downton Abbey . I hate to see it go, but I understand why it has to. Is Downton Abbey still the hottest British import since Paddington Bear or has it jumped the shark?  That depends upon whom you ask.  Americans still can't get enough of it, and that includes me.  I know I love the gorgeous costumes and scenery and how it brings me into a world that is like nothing I have ever experienced or will experience. I'm not the only American who is fascinated by the world of Downton Abbey .  Even the wealthiest among us have probably never experienced living in a home where everyone dresses formally for dinner and food is served by an army of footmen.  Today's maids aren't required to stay out of sight of the master of the house.  We're not bound by the manners an...

I remember how devastated I was the first time someone unfriended me on Facebook.  I tore apart  and analyzed the possible reasons.  I let it take little stabs at my self-worth.  What's wrong with me that someone can't stand to hang out with me online? Today I was on Facebook and noticed that someone I never see any posts from anymore leave a comment on a mutual friend's post.  I went to her page and confirmed what I had suspected all along.  We were no longer friends.  I was less hurt by this than I had been by unfriendings in the past.  We had never really been friends.  It never would have occurred to me to friend her.  She was the one who had approached me.  In her mind, she realized she made a mistake, so she rectified it with an unfriending. I have come to realize something important not just about Facebook friendships, but about friendships in general.  When I first joined Facebook I received plenty of invites from p...