And now I'm going to sing the doom song

Ah. Today is the last day of November, which means I will have officially have completed Nablopomo! But not until I talk about what's making me cranky today.

DOOM.

DOOMITY DOOM!

The world! With the TSAing and the John Boehnering and the Sarah Palining and DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Alright people. I am not going to argue that the world has problems and we need to address them. HOWEVER. Throwing up your hands in despair and talking how you don't give a darn because the world is clearly too messed up to fix is not addressing the problem. That's the opposite of addressing the problem. Short of actually becoming Sarah Palin, it's probably the worst thing you can do, and totally contributes to the problem.

I know it's hard. I get "give-a-crap" fatigue and just need to curl up a blanket, a pillow and HGTV myself, sometimes.  I have definitely taken news hiatuses and been the better for them.

And the news definitely promotes the doomy doom way of thinking. From squirrels to flip flops to nuclear weapons, all of them are given the same "do you know the dangers that lurk?" treatment. Apparently, flip flops are bad for you feet and the squirrels have sold N. Korea plutonium, your children are going to get fat because you allowed them to have a pop that one time and everyone is committing suicide due to gay bullying. That's bullying of the gays, not by the gays. Kids! They're meaner than ever!

Now.

These things are serious issues. No one should be bullied, not for their sexual orientation or anything else. North Korea is kind of crazy. Flip flops have no support. Squirrels will someday rule the world. Except that they won't, because some people find them delicious. The first squirrel uprising will end in stew. And kids? Kids have always been brats.

The world is not worse than it used to be. There are still things that suck. There are always going to be things that suck. This is what we call reality. Not to be confused with the "reality" which can be found on various tv channels at any time and which comes with a script. The source of the suck may change, but its existence remains the same. Maybe, someday, all of these things will be untrue, and we'll live in a society where everyone can hold hands and sing kum bah ya. Until then, try not to panic. Turn off CNN, turn off MSNBC, heck, turn off the Daily Show. Pick an issue, write your senator, think about what you can do, and do it, and let the rest go.


And remember, by the time the second squirrel uprising comes, the world will probably be ruled by cats anyway.

Double Click This

Poorly designed websites. Especially for big companies. I want to give you my money. Make it easy on me. Don't make me hunt and click and look for help in order to find what I need to find. Make things clear and easy and make a place to see all the current promotions so it's clear and straight forward.

Also. Just so we're clear. The thing where a sparkly whatsit starts following the cursor around when I get to your webpage? Not only do I not want to give you money. I want to find you and make with the punching instead. Just FYI

vrooooooooom

Oh crankiness. We are so close to the end of the month. Are you going to abandon me now? OF COURSE NOT.

So a brief word on the speed limit. Speeding can be dangerous and stupid. Going 20 miles below the speed limit can also be dangerous and stupid. Someday, they will invent a way to contact people car to car as you go down the road and I will be able to tell you that in real time. I look forward to that day. Also, you are already going 20 in a 55 mph zone. WHY ARE YOU BRAKING AT THE CURVES?

Derailed

Oh people. I had a different topic in mind, but someone has just made me very cranky.

Let's talk about faith. I am a Christian. In fact, I teach Sunday school. I am not anything like an expert, nor have I ever, EVER claimed to be.

I am not trying to convert anyone, or force my beliefs on them. I am just trying to live my life the best I can and set the best example as I can.

AND YET!

There are those amongst us who seem to be absolutely compelled to challenge and insult my faith. I am happy to talk about my faith and beliefs and explain my understanding as best I can. But there is a difference between asking me a question about my faith and questioning my faith. I have friends who would never say that they consider me stupid, but will say to my face that they think people who are religious are stupid. Well. Then how does that not mean that you think I'm stupid, folks?

Another issue is that they seem to show a lot more respect for other religions, and I KNOW that if I behaved towards other faiths the way they behave towards mine, these same people would jump all over me! What is that? It's not that I would ever deliberately treat anyone the way I get talked to, but it still seems like total bull malarky hypocrisy. Why is my faith somehow more deserving of this? No faith is deserving of this. It's total nonsense, people. Everyone's faith should be respected. Even mine. And even people who don't have one. If you are an atheist, I might disagree with you, but I don't think you're stupid. I don't get that. And frankly, this so totally goes beyond the issue of faith.

I have the good fortune to be friends with some very smart people, and they tend to get caught up in the idea that because they are SO smart that their ideas are the ones that are right and therefore, they are totally justified in challenging everyone else. And even if they have good intentions, they have a tendency to come across as ....belligerent, shall we say? And for the person put on the defense, this is so beyond a no win situation, because it's not about convincing them to your side, it's not even about them trying to sway you to their side, it's basically just about you being forced to defend yourself.

Anyway, respect each other and even if you don't agree, be respectful of other people's beliefs. And maybe then I won't be so cranky!

Black Friday

Actually, today turned out to be an excellent day and I got a mad deal  ($150 smackers!) on a KitchenAid stand mixer, which is basically the best thing that could happen short of the man of my dreams showing up on my porch to propose. For the record, if that was to happen, I would have preferred the mixer to a ring. And everyone was civil to everyone! There was one lady ahead of me in line who was doing a lot of the sighing and eye rolling to which I saw, clearly, I am dealing with an amateur here because I spend that much time in line on a Monday  night trying to buy milk.

But today what's making me cranky is the "best of" 2010 book list by the New York Times. The fiction list sounds SO boring. It's all coming of age and family drama and...you know what's interesting to me? Other than Jonathan Franzen, they aren't books people seem to be talking about. I'm really tired of being told that the best books are ones that sound like I'm supposed read them, rather than ones that sound actually interesting. Best of what? Not the bestsellers, I assume. Best of books that reference family drama and "coming of age"? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Also, people, 3-D movies. Sure, it's got some cool effects, but is that really necessary? The glasses are heavy, and uncomfortable, and not so hot over the glasses you're already wearing when you are nearsighted as crap. MEH!

But on a non-cranky note, Tangled was totally cute. Some of the best music Disney has had in a movie in a while.

Happy Thanksgiving

What am I cranky about today? Very little. Maybe an excess of sweets has given me a headache.

But that's small potatoes compared to the many things I have going for me, which includes this blog. I've really enjoyed doing this project this month, and I want to try and keep it up next month. Trying to decide whether I'm going to keep this blog cranky or try a different theme.

So Happy Thanksgiving, count your blessings. Be cranky about the fact that the whole day was spent gearing up for Christmas shopping, and know that  tomorrow...I'll be cranky about the fact that I totally got suckered into Black Friday shopping. Lowe's is having a helluva sale, and I've got some hard to shop for men on my list.

And also too....

I hate vacuuming, and I believe that carpet should be banned - BANNED I tell you! it looks so...bleh. blah. meh!

Also my team is kind of sicking it up tonight, and what the crap is that about, let's go, Wildcats!

Also, my elbows are already getting dry. It's gonna be a long dang winter if this is already happening. To say nothing of the hangnails I am getting. Ridiculous. The scaly patch between my eyes better not come back, that's all I have to say.

And also, apples don't work so fancy in bread. too wet. Darn it!

Also, sorting socks. That's another thing that makes me cranky. Like I kind of just want to get rid of all my socks and by new ones that are all the same so I don't have to match them anymore.