Superstitions

Spo-Reflections posed a question this morning about superstitions.

When it comes to superstitions, I tend to agree with Cubby… I’m not superstitious, I have OCD.

• Black Eyed Peas – I always prepare a pot of Black Eyed Peas on New Years Day. I do it because my Mom did it and my Grammy did it before her. A few years ago I looked up the correlation between BEP’s and New Years… tradition holds that eating them ensures prosperity in the New Year. Not superstition… tradition.
• Pennies – See a Penny, pick it up and all the day you’ll have good luck. Although, I’ve heard that you shouldn’t pick up pennies that are ‘tails up’. I don’t know if this is a superstition, but I know that pennies add up. I’ve always had a coin jar that I throw random coins into (not quarters, those are for laundry). That coin jar has come in handy when I needed a little Mad Money. Again, not superstition… poverty.
• Alphabetical Order – I have a two bookcases like the one pictured and I’ll probably need to buy a third by the end of the year. I love books; both fiction and non-fiction. I’m not a hoarder, every single one of them is either a book I’ve read and enjoyed and may read again, or is yet to be read. The shelves are divided between fiction and non-fiction; fiction is organized according to the authors’ last name and non-fiction is organized first by topic and then by author. My DVD’s are simply alphabetized. Not superstition… Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
• The Closet – There are no wire hangers in my closet. Which reminds me, I’m thinking I need to watch Mommy Dearest again, I don’t remember why wire hangers were a bad thing. My closet is organized with the types of clothing hanging together: button down shirts (long and short sleeved), polo shirts, casual shirts and dress, casual and docker slacks. Here’s the thing that has been called weird… all my shirts face the same way. If they aren’t, they must be fixed. Not superstition… ok, again OCD.
• Grocery Shopping – I arrange my shopping list according to the layout of the particular stores I have at my disposal. I then hit the aisles in order, finishing with the outer edges so the freshest items are left in their refrigerated homes as long as possible. Again, not superstition… organization.

Finally…

• Knock on Wood – This is the only superstition that I could think of in which I engage. When tempting fate, it’s best to make sure your bases are covered. This practice occurs most on Friday afternoon’s at work when someone observes, “My we’re having a quiet Friday”. This is surely a sign that the speaker is not aware that they are temping fate. For as soon as the words are spoken, the gears begin to turn which will destroy our quiet Friday.

I would be interested in your superstitions. Write your own post and link back here, or write them in the comments section below.

Blogging Challenge–Favorite TV Shows

I think I’ve proven that this is not a “daily” blogging challenge. ‘Tis the season to make plans for what you want to accomplish when the calendar is replaced. Hope springs eternal…
I try to delude myself into believing that I don’t watch too much TV, but then I’m faced with the reality that I have a TV viewing routine and definite opinions on the shows I like and dislike. This is most apparent when the kids are here. While there are two other TV’s in the house, they seem to commandeer the main TV rather quickly… and that seems to annoy me.

Comedy

• 2 Broke Girls – Two women from different worlds come together in a moment of need. The awesomely sarcastic Max and the terminally blonde Caroline are the latest incarnation of Lucy & Ethel. Caroline's character is the daughter of a Bernie Madoff-esque crook who has lost everything, she befriends Max becomes her roommate and hilarity ensues. BONUS – Classic SNL actor Garrett Morris provides many LOL moments.
• Big Bang Theory – Two uber-geeks live across the hall from a beautiful waitress. Two additional uber-geeks stop by frequently… hilarity ensues.

Drama

• Criminal Minds – The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit helps local law enforcement solve crimes committed by sociopaths and psychopaths.
• CSI – I love the original best. I wasn’t sure I would continue watching after William Peterson left; it faltered a bit with Laurence Fishburne, but it has really picked up this season with the addition of Ted Danson. I don’t care much for CSI: Miami, but CSI: New York is good, just because Gary Sinise is SO cool.
• Blue Bloods – I started watching this for one reason… Tom Selleck. I keep watching because the stories are good.

Reality

• Crasher Shows on DIY – I love the idea that a hunky contractor is lurking around the aisles of Lowes looking for people who innocently came to the store looking for new tile or a hose. Josh Temple on House Crashers is my favorite. He’s nice to look at, funny and he’s a “guy”. That means he leans toward giving the husband what he wants as opposed to the wife. Matt Meunster on Bath Crashers is a close second. He’s scruffy cute and he makes amazing bathrooms.
• Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives – Guy Fieri can be irritating, but that doesn’t change the fact that the establishments he spotlights are pretty awesome. I don’t travel much (as I want), but I have eaten at two of the places he’s visited in Portland. I highly recommend the Byways Café in The Pearl.
• Brad Meltzer’s Decoded – It is the ONLY History Channel “conspiracy” show that I can handle; mainly because it is intelligent. It relies on research and finding first-person accounts from people who don’t appear to own a Tin Foil Hat.

Classic

• M*A*S*H – I catch this show on TV Land from time to time and it never fails.
• The West Wing – I’m geeky when it comes to history and politics. I actually own Seasons 1-5 on DVD. When GW was president, I wished Jed Bartlet was… and now that Obama is President… I still wish Bartlet was.

Blogging Challenge–Day 8

Something you’re afraid of…

If you ask my daughter, I’m afraid of spiders and snakes. I would disagree. I’m not afraid of them. It just startles me when they aren’t where they belong… outdoors in a place where I am not.

Now time for some introspection…

So far, I’ve determined that I’m scared of two things.

I am scared of anything happening to my kids that prevents them from fully achieving life’s potential.

and…

I’m scared I will always be alone. I’m scared I will be one of those people who you read about in the news who’s mummified remains are found several weeks later by a utility man.

Blogging Challenge–Day 7

Favorite Movie

I enjoy movies, I always have. The one ‘family’ thing we did when I was growing up was to gather around the TV to watch movies; sometimes we even went to the drive-in. My sister and I would dress in our jammies, and load into the back of the car with our blankets and pillows and head for the drive-in. It was one of the few times nobody was yelling and nobody was hitting.

I have a very hard time limiting my selection of favorite movies to JUST ONE. I have my “go to” movies that depend on my mood.

Classic

• You cannot go wrong with Casablanca… or any Bogart movie for that matter.

Adventure

• Indiana Jones Trilogy (I do not count the 4th movie as part of the franchise)

Comedy

This is a hard category to narrow down to just one. Again, it depends upon my mood.

• Tommy Boy
• What About Bob
• The Producers

Sci-Fi

• Star Wars Saga

Western

• Just about anything with John Wayne… McLintock! is my ‘go to’ film.

Inspirational

• Remember the Titans
• The Blind Side

… and finally…

Sentimental Hogwash

• It’s a Wonderful Life
• The Family Stone

Let me know what you think, leave a comment.

Blogging Challenge–Day 6

A picture of something that makes you happy….

That’s simple – The Oregon Coast

** Add in my kids, and I’m in Heaven.

This picture was taken on our 2011 Spring Break trip at Fort Stevens State Park; inside the Peter Iredale.

Blogging Challenge–3, 4 & 5

A challenge was made… I’m going to do my best to follow through.

Challenge #3

YOUR FIRST LOVE

Given my life story; this really is a difficult question to answer. I decided to look up the definition of LOVE (it didn’t help).

Tender Affection – I honestly believe I felt this way about the woman I married and who is the mother of my children.

Desire – A boy named Doug at Oregon State. He was as closeted as I was. Meaning, we both had “girlfriends” and were very careful how we acknowledged each other in public.

Unconditional – The first time I held each of my kids I knew what unconditional love is all about. Now that they are teenagers, I’ve learned that unconditional love hurts.

Challenge #4

YOUR PARENTS

My mom was born in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas and raised through her mid-teens there. My grandparents moved the family to Salem, OR in the mid-50’s where she graduated from North Salem HS and Salem Business college (now Chemeketa CC) and became and early keypunch operator on the computer systems of the State Welfare Department. How she got hooked up with my father, I have no idea.
My dad was born in the Salem area, he didn’t get his GED until he was in the Army. Through the late 50’s and 60’s he was stationed around the country before serving a tour in Vietnam. In the early 70’s he worked for the Oregon Dept. of Transportation in those little scale shacks you see along the freeway. By this time, my mom had become the supervisor of the data entry section at the central office of the Welfare Department. Her office was in the building just to the NE of the Capitol building. I have memories of playing on the Capitol Mall, waiting for her to get off work.

Apparently this arc was too positive and a decision was made where mom quit her job and the family was packed up and moved to Buttfuck, Eastern Oregon (picture circa 1978). Mom didn’t work outside of the home again until I was in high school. When she was dying of cancer in 1990, she told me how disappointed she was in the path her life had taken. All my sister and I can do is wonder how different life would have been if we would have stayed in Salem. My upbringing was steeped in abuse; my dad’s chief means of communication was verbal and physical aggression. I used to dream of my mom taking my sister and I back to Salem and leaving him in his misery. That never happened; they say “misery loves company” for a reason. Her death certificate says she died of cancer, but I feel she died of hopelessness. What did she have to live for?

In the 20 years since, I’ve attempted to relate to my dad as an adult. But he usually returns to emotional manipulation and triangulation between my sister and I. He will most likely die a miserable, lonely man… apparently this is what he spent his life working towards.

Challenge #5

A SONG TO MATCH YOUR MOOD

Blogging Challenge: Day 2

** Turn your attention to yesterday’s post for an explanation.

Day 2: The meaning behind your blog name.

The title of my previous blog, was based on an Adam Savage quote and it seemed to fit the chapter of my life it chronicled. As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been wanting to start a new blog to chronicle where I am now and where I’m going.
I have always been a political junkie and I fully admit there are aspects of both sides of the political spectrum that has their merits, at this point in my journey on this rock I more closely align myself with the Liberal end of the spectrum. Ergo, Progressive.
When I was in Grad School I enjoyed the writings of Jane Addams. Ms. Addams was a pioneering Social Worker and the first female winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. I was inspired by Ms. Addams quote that you see above.

"Unless our conception of patriotism is progressive, it cannot hope to embody the real affection and the real interest of the nation." --Jane Addams

UPDATE - I have returned to the original name of this blog... it suits my life best.

Blogging Challenge: Day 1

OK… This time I REALLY mean it.
No, seriously!
Stop laughing…. Hello? Is this thing on?
I’ve been talking about getting into blogging again, I make a post that I think is going to be the one to get me back into the swing of things, then three weeks later… BUPKUS!
Originally, I saw this interesting blogging challenge offered by the incredibly good looking and talented author of West of Mayberry back in January. I thought, “Yes, this will do it”. I set up the special tab you can see above and that’s as far as it went. Yesterday, the equally good looking and talented author of Nice to See Stevie B, called me out as a participant. I’m glad he did that. Sometimes we just need a kick in the ass.

Day 1: Intro and 15 Facts

1. I spent a good portion of my adult life as a radio DJ.
2. I had a daily talk show for three years.
3. I have one sibling… whom I haven’t seen in over 10 years.
4. I once lost 140 lbs.
5. I found it again
6. I’ve been to 27 states and one Canadian province.
7. I have three daughters, a son and an X-wife from a previous life.
8. My son is everything I wish I was at that age (and he will probably continue to be so).
9. I am mocked by my co-workers for leaving a tidy desk every night.
10. I was once investigated by the Secret Service as a threat to a President I now idolize.
11. I broke my leg falling off my parents house while trying to emulate Clark Griswold’s holiday lighting mastery.
12. I have very low self-esteem. Maybe that’s why I’m compelled to make a go at blogging again.
13. I become maniacally devoted to one show at a time. Currently, it is GLEE. The last one was The West Wing.
14. I get myself into personal “issues” that I am embarrassed to talk about. I’m in one right now. I can look back and see the exact moment I should have known better and I ignored it.
15. I’m a self-taught football fan.

Malcontent = Complainer

I received the November edition of the Public Employees newsletter… I know what you’re thinking… John! How can I get on that mailing list? Sorry, you’ll just have to trust that I will pass the interesting parts onto you, my dear readers.

In and amongst the reminders that our new benefits guide will be mailed to us in the coming weeks and various other interesting articles about our fellow public employees. I followed a link about a guy who weighed 600 lbs and is now 238 lbs… Impressive, huh?

After reading the article and following a link to his blog, he inspired me.

FACTS

• In 2006 I weighed over 400 lbs.
• In 2008 I weighed 265 lbs.
• In 2010… I’m almost back up to 400 lbs.

After reading Mr. Brown’s article and parts of his blog, I thought of my blog (my former blog). I thought of its name… malcontent (It was called "Being John Malcontent"... I thought it was clever). I thought being a rabble-rouser was a positive thing… not so much anymore. It’s one thing to not be satisfied with the world around you or your lot in life. Its quite another to be satisfied to just whine about it. So I changed the mission of Being John Malcontent (and ultimately changed the name... and the platform). This is represented by the tagline…

it's easy to be a complainer, it takes some cajones to actually do something about it.

I am going to make an effort to change the tone of the posts too.

Keep your eye on the Queen

My newest favorite show is Leverage on TNT. The writing is snappy, the actors are great, the premise is engaging and, while it’s set in Boston… its filmed in Oregon. Recently, I watched an episode called “The Three Card Monte Job”. Tom Skerritt played Nate’s (Tim Hutton) father who was a crook when Nate was growing up. Through the episode, there were flashbacks to when Nate was a kid and Dad was trying to teach him to play Three-card Monte. During the lesson’s Dad repeats, “Keep your eye on the Queen”.

Last week there was a big story about how 17 State Attorneys General sent a collective letter to Craisglist founders protesting the adult service ads one can find on the site. Bowing to this immense pressure, Craigslist announced they would no longer post Adult Service ads. If you go to your local Craigslist this morning, you will see that the Adult Service Ads are indeed CENSORED.

• The problem is that it’s window dressing.
• Nothing has really changed.
• If you want some Adult companionship, all you have to do is look above and to the left.

• They took their eye off the Queen…
• Because it was never in play. Just like in Three-card Monte.