Today's topic dyslexia.  Dyslexia runs in my family, you could say it practically gallops (bod a bing).  I have never been formally diagnosed, but if it looks like a kcud and quacks like a duck it is probably a duck.  My mom's side of the family has the dyslexia.  She had an uncle who was never able to learn to read.  He had an amazing memory though.  He was the manager of a very large warehouse and knew where every item could be found simply from memory. Several of my siblings and I have dyslexic traits.

I never had trouble reading.  I didn't write backwards.  One of my brothers would write his name backwards, XER.  When my mom realized he was dyslexic she took steps to ensure he wouldn't have the same problems she had in school.  My mom was told she was stupid, by her teachers, because it took her so long to learn the alphabet.  She reads and writes fine now, but still is fearful of reading in public.  I have never heard her refuse to read anything out loud.  Just recently while at church she was asked to read a scripture in our women's meeting.  I realized that my mom was reading and rereading the scripture to make sure she wouldn't mess up.  I didn't realize what a challenge it was for her until she indicated that she was trying not to make a mistake.

My mom researched dyslexia and taught my brother to read and write.  In doing research she discovered, poor hand eye coordination, poor sense of direction, poor organizational skills and some other things are all dyslexic traits.  I have all of these.  I could never learn to play an instrument and though my typing speed and accuracy has improved through the necessity I am still slower than most.  I can't really play video games, my poor nieces and nephews have tried over the years to teach me something, but in futility. Oh and forget teaching me dance moves, it ain't gonna happen.  

My sense of direction is bad.  To help you understand how bad I will give you an example.  I lived in a town home for 5 years.  In 5 years I came and went hundreds and hundreds of times.  In the 5th year I bought a house and moved out.  A year and a half later, I asked someone who lived on the same street in the complex to teach my Sunday school lesson.  I took the lesson manual over to the street I had lived on for 5 years and took a wrong turn.  That is right after a year and a half I couldn't make it back to my same short street.  Oh, and it wasn't a large and complicate complex.  To my knowledge my mother has never had trouble with direction.  In fact when she was around 2 her grandfather would drive around Tarboro and say "OK, Ginny Sue, tell me how to get home." and she would.  It tickled him to no end.  And to top that off my mom, my younger sister, Celeste and I went to visit the city in Idaho we had lived in about 20 years prior, only to have my mom remember exactly how to get anywhere she wanted to go.  I just drove, she did all the navigation because even though that is where I learned to drive I couldn't remember a thing. 

Organization.  My nemesis.  I will be honest I have learned some minor skills.  At work I am very organized, but it took a long time for me to get that way.  However, when it comes to organization I am at a loss.  I admit that now that I have struggled through so much of my life without having real skills at organization I have learned a few things.  If I see a situation that is similar to one I have faced in the past then I can organize.  Because I don't usually forget the agony of learning how to organize something.  I remember when I volunteered for a school here in my home town.  I did this for several years and enjoyed it very much.  I was supposed to organize and put away the files for the rising 6th graders.  The first year I did it took me more than one visit.  I must of have picked the slowest way possible without actually not doing it at all to get the task accomplished.  I don't remember how I was doing it.  The next year the secretary of the office, pointed out a way which only took me a couple of hours.  Oh, how sad is that!  I took probably 8 hours or so to do a 2 hour job.  You will find stuff like that all over my life.  Oh, and to rub it in my sister, Ginna, is so highly organized every employer she has points it out in her reviews.  I am thinking of a word that starts with B.

I just recently was reading up on dyslexia and found that a cardinal sign of the disorder is to leave letters out of words.  I do that all the time.  I thought I was just sloppy, which I may be, but at least sometimes it is the dyslexia.  I have been working harder spelling the word mentally as I write, only to still leave a letter out pretty consistently.  I think of it as a mental hiccup, I am spelling away and somewhere in the process I just skip something.  I still get frustrated with myself when I do it but at least I know why. 

I blame my dyslexia for a lot,  I tell people all the time that some stupid thing I did or didn't do is related to my dyslexia. Usually, they laugh and are meant to, but sometimes I am serious.  Dyslexia has many facets.  You can have some and not others.   But it has given my things too.  I don't know if it is a part of the disorder or a coping mechanism but I have a good memory and I am fairly quick to memorize things I need.  That is helpful.  I will never be a great speller, or a math whiz but I have a mental Rolodex.  I am able to remember things well.  People ask me to recall information of some sort all the time.  And I generally have that little piece of information tucked away waiting to be pulled forth and used.  I have a joke. Did you hear about the agnostic, insomniac, dyslexic?   She was up all night wondering if there really was a DOG.

I have to thank Eboni. After all the years of not being able to use the less than or greater than symbols which people have tried to teach me over and over she did it!  I can now remember which is which. People have use the alligator method, the here we will show you etc.  But  Eboni used her left hand to make the symbol and told me left is less.  So simple and effective!  I could never remember from one time to the next.  In my field of work we use the symbols a lot.  Usually, the symbols would make sense only one way so I would know what was meant.  I would ask someone and explain that I couldn't use them if I wasn't easily able to discern what was wanted.  I got some strange looks and then they would try to teach me, to no avail.  Whenever I wanted to use them I would either get help or right out greater than or less than.

 I almost forgot, that's right I don't remember all.  I knew a girl around 25 years ago who confessed a deep dark secret.  She was dyslexic.  She had such shame about it.  She told me her parents and said she never tell anyone.  She was terrified to read or do much in public because of her dyslexia.  How sad her parents decided to make her a dirty little family secret.  That was the real shame.

They say dyslexics aren't mentally slow.  That could be argued in my case I am sure.  I am not complaining, I have stumbled through life OK.  I make a living, own my home and with a GPS get lost less than ever and thank goodness for spell check!  Holy Cow, you have no idea what you would be reading if not.  That is right math and spelling can also be an issue for dyslexics.  It is a learning disability that doesn't mean you aren't smart but you learn differently.  Oh, how I love being different!  It is way fun. 

Today's topic Illegal Immigration, or Illegal Aliens.  There, I am not afraid to say it.  Everyone is trying so desperately to put a prettier spin on things that are ugly.  Illegal aliens are now illegal immigrants because that is nicer.  What ever.  A lie is a lie, whether you call it a fib or white, it is still a lie.  A thief is a thief whether you steal a penny or a million dollars you are still a thief.  And if you come over the border illegally you are still an alien.  Immigrants are welcome aliens not so much. 


Either way you say it the operative word is illegal. It is not lawful to enter our country uninvited. You have to have permission. Thousands of people enter the right way. They stand in line and wait their turn. Why should anyone be able to jump the line?

The definition for alien that I find most salient regarding illegals is "relating, belonging, or owing allegiance to another country or government" (Merriam-Webster's).  The illegals do not owe us their allegiance.  They break the law by coming here.  They work under the table, send money back home, somehow get aid that should be for our citizens, and pay no taxes.  That is a sweet gig.  Oh, I can hear you.  They are just trying for a better life, even how poorly they live here is so much better than where they came from.  Really?  Is it so much better to have to hide, to be subject to those who would take advantage of someone who can't get legal help because of fear of exposure?  Is it better to have to worry about when or if someone will turn you in?  That is no better.  Everyone tries to ignore the problem of exploitation in all it's forms.  I am the Meany who wants them to suffer.  Maybe not so much.  Maybe I want them to have opportunities with out fear.
  
Now I hear, from both sides of the aisle, that it isn't fair to make the poor children drug here kicking and screaming by their parents to go back to the country to which their parents have allegiance. For some reason they shouldn't be punished for their parents bad choices.  Give me a break. They have taught them fear and don't report crimes against their children because they may be found out. 

 Children are subject to their parents whims good or bad.  And good or bad suffer consequences of their parents' decisions.  There are the idiot parents who feel that they are doing a service by making sure an adult is at the party to supervise the underage drinking.  They are the buddies.  Recently, there was a death due to one of those parents' whims.  Parents let their kids ride, what I refer to as death machines, ATVs with no helmet, no supervision and there are tragic outcomes almost every day.  Why should children of aliens have it any better?  I had to bend to my parents parenting whims.  Granted my parents weren't law breakers and teaching me to be a law breaker, but they weren't perfect.

In fact, my parents taught me to respect the law, to have a healthy fear that if I were to do things we the people deem unlawful that I could go to jail.  I choose to obey the laws so that I don't get into trouble.  I make decisions everyday to keep the laws, to do what is right.  How much respect or compassion should I have for those who flaunt the law?  I kind of resent anyone who suggest that I should have too much. That being said,  I don't want anyone to suffer, I want them to have food, clothes and shelter.  Just not off my back and without my choice.  I work hard, I have family that works hard and it isn't fair that my hard earned money goes to those who break the law.  I haven't even touched on all the laws illegals break, all the crimes that are committed from fraud, to rape and murder. We have enough of our own citizens that are cruds we don't need new ones.

I will submit that there are illegals here who want to make a better life and are willing to do whatever they have to in order to give their families that better life.  That is almost noble. They come here work hard, keep the other laws and try to be helpful. Good for them!  Now, they need only do it the right way. 

I think if people feel that their only option into our country is to be here illegally we should look at the process to get here.  Let's look at what you have to do to come to America, were the streets were once purported to have been paved with gold.  Let's look at the crooked dealings of our government programs that allow people to grease palms and come here, thus giving those who are poor and down trodden fewer choices.  Let's look at the process and change it.  There are no rules saying we can't only government officials.  You know the ones getting their palms greased. 

Today's topic, Music. I love music, it really can sooth the savage breast (William Congreve).  It can move us to love and tears, anxiety and calm.  It can move us to, well, move our bodies and our thoughts. 

I almost always have a song playing in my head.  I thought everyone did, but found out that isn't so.  I did a little research and found that having music in the head can be a sign of depression, which depressed me to find out.  However, it can mean other things too.  Some call it auditory hallucinations, some Musical Ear Syndrome.  Thank goodness the research shows that hearing music doesn't mean you aren't lucid or that you are crazy.  Did you hear that?  It doesn't make me crazy.  Yay!  I am told it can also mean you are an auditory learner, that your brain is just filling in gaps so it isn't idle. Some suggest that you can be healed/treated.  Hearing music is associated with being hard of hearing, elderly, depressed, tinnitus and lack of auditory stimulation.  There is some research and a theory that we will see more people with music in their heads related to availability of music. 

I have my own theory.  I think that music is ingrained in my feelings, thinking and emotions so I hear music because it is part of my makeup. I find music soothing, comforting, stimulating etc, but mostly I find it pleasurable.  The music that plays in my head is usually just a random song I know.  It can be related to a word, phrase or situation.  Usually, if I hear a good song in the morning I can pull it up and listen to it at intervals all day.  I sometimes get songs stuck, oh, that is frustrating.  It is hard to change the song when you have one stuck.  Once, a few years ago I had just a few bars of a song stuck in my head.  It would play over and over and over.  I couldn't remember the song just those few bars and it played and played and I was so on edge all the time because I couldn't name it and get it out of my head.  Finally, one day out of the blue (I actually may have heard it on the radio)  I realized what song it was, and the tension went away, I was able to relax. The song, Madman Across the Water, by Elton John.  The first bars of the song played over and over and over....No jokes about the title, please, but really it was driving me mad.  

I call having music in my head, my own personal ipod.  I hear music and if I get tired of one song I change it out for another.  If you think about it I also can see the theory about music being available having even more credence.  TV, movies, theater, elevators, phones etc all have sound tracks in one form or another. Is it a surprise that my brain creates it's own?

 I will say I don't like Country music.  I find it the bastard child of Gospel and Blue Grass. When I go into places that play Country I literally have to find a happy place so it doesn't rot my brain.  I have to tune it out. I tell people that there are studies showing Country music lowers your IQ.  I sometimes get takers, usually from Country music fans.  So, maybe it does lower the IQ.

When I am out in public, driving in my car I have to listen to music I find non irritating.  That can vary.  One day I may enjoy a song I have heard many times and another I may be so over hearing that song.  It depends on my mood.  When I hear music that gets on my nerves, I have to do something, change the station, request it be changed or work on tuning it out.  Music that irritates makes me I feel like I could jump out of my skin, literally. 

I am a good Christian woman and love hymns. Some of my favorites, I Need Thee Every Hour,  Be Still My Soul,  How Firm a Foundation, The Spirit of God, and Redeemer of Israel, I Stand All Amazed. There are others of course but I really like these.  I do not like Christian Rock.  I will be singing hymns or go to Hell music and that is about it.  My rock and roll is what is it is as are my hymns.  I don't need goof ball losers trying to marry the two.   

I like old music, I like new music.  I can tell I am getting old though.  I can't stand some of what the kids are listening to today.  So much of it has a hideous dance beat in the background.  YUCK.  Just sing me a song already.  No crappy beat. 

I like Classical, Big Band, and about every era in the Rock and Roll genre.  I am picky though. Some songs just don't do it for me.  There will be "monster hits" that I cannot stand and ones that never get much play that I love.  Electric Avenue, by Eddie Grant, hate it.  Romeo's Tune, by Steve Forbert, love it.

So, to recap, I am not crazy, I love music and it is normal and OK to hear music in my head.  Oh, and I am not crazy.  I hope that I am not the only one with music in my head all the time.  It can make for a more pleasant and peaceful life.

Today's Topic Stupid things I have done.  OK, get ready, brace yourselves, deep breath, I am not perfect.  There, I said it.  I feel lighter and yet somehow exposed.  You now know my deepest, darkest secret.  I am imperfect.  It is getting easier.  Wow!  I AM NOT PERFECT....

So, I did something really dumb today.  Just like a news paper I will make you wait to find out.   You know like continued on page 8 or some such.  Anyway, it made me think of other dumb things I have done.  The ones I can remember anyway. 

 When I was 5 or 6 I thought it would be a good idea to tie rope to the handle bars of my bike and use the rope to steer.  Some of you may have an idea of how this played out.  I will tell you anyway.  I tried to use the rope to steer and it wasn't as easy in actuality as it was in my mind.  The handle bars were completely unmanageable.  I couldn't steer but, bless me, I kept trying.  Right up until the wildly moving handle bar slammed into my side.  I wound up with one of the biggest bruises I have ever had in my whole life. Ever.  I tried my best to hide it from my mom, I can't remember if I was completely successful.  You should know I take care of children who do stupid things all the time.  I could have injured my spleen, my liver, my intestines etc.  I remember how much it hurt to have the handle bar hit me so hard.  It hurt for a long time and I kind of limped around trying to get over the pain.  Oh, it wasn't fun at all.  I have never tried to use rope to steer a bike again.

When I was 8 or 9 I broke several house rules.  One, outside when my parents were gone. Two, I was outside after dark. Three, I was riding someone else's bike.  I rode someone else's bike really fast, down hill, in the dark, standing on the pedals.  I don't remember the fall completely.  I remember the sensation of flying through the air and then picking myself up off the road. I had landed on my face.   I had blood streaming out of my mouth.  I ran into the house, to the bathroom and kept rinsing my mouth over and over.  I could see my tooth was half gone and for some reason thought if I kept rinsing I would somehow see my tooth back.  No, never.  I got a lot of stitches, and a fake tooth. We lied to our parents who were really nice when they took me to the ED.  Even after they found out what really happened they didn't give me grief.   

When I was a teenager 13 or 14 I used to ride around in our family van while my sister drove.  That may not sound like a stupid thing.  Try adding I did it with the sliding door open, standing with arms and legs spread to either side holding on.  I wish I could say for dear life but I don't think I was that smart.  Obviously, I didn't fall out since I am not dead or permanently disabled.  You can argue whether I suffered brain damage, but the damage would be before doing something so stupid.  Maybe it was a result of landing on my face. 

Luckily, as I grew older my stupidity lessened, slightly.  When I was around 17 we drove from Idaho to North Carolina.  This was before some of the nicer highways we have now.  My dad mapped it out and I took turns driving with a family friend.  I had never driven for more than an hour or so at a stretch.  So, there I was driving across the country. (By the way, there really wasn't much to see in Kansas, or maybe it was Nebraska, either way to entertain ourselves we counted dead animals on the road.  That was all there was to do.)   Anyway, back to the road, I would get so tired after a couple of hours.  I just wanted to fall asleep at the wheel, which is bad.  So, the family friend, who is a very nice person, offered me Nodoz. I took it thinking it would help me stay awake.  It did.  We just happened to have car trouble right after I took it.  So, there I was at a gas station in some far off state, hyped up on Nodoz.  I could have leapt tall buildings in a single bound.  I ran, jumped, skipped all over the place.  And then right when I was crashing down after the caffeine buzz, the car was fixed and it was still my turn to drive.  Way fun! 

 Around 23 or 24 I went to the beach with friends.  Carolina beach to be exact and had a blast.  However, looking back it wasn't the best way to have fun.  The waves were strong, I mean Strong.  They were crashing down so hard that if you were standing about waist deep the wave would lift you and flip you head over heels with no real effort on your part.  The reason that wasn't the best fun is because my whole life my mom has stressed water safety.  As a child, mom my would call my sister and I out of the water at regular intervals so we couldn't over tire.  She has quite a few they were too tired to get back in and drowned stories.  I am also aware of water safety because of her, no swimming alone, take breaks etc.  The undertow at the beach can be so deceiving, you don't really know it is there until you are struggling against it.  However, I have to admit, I still remember that day with fondness. 

Over the years I have done many other stupid things.  But I have kept you waiting long enough.  I got the oil in my car changed this morning, then I went to get a pedicure (my feet work hard for me), then I needed to run to the Wal-mart.  At the Wal-mart I got out of my car and it made high pitched buzz at me, the doors wouldn't lock, the remotes wouldn't work, the car wouldn't restart. My car has a push button starter, no key, foot on the brake and push the button, simple.  I trouble shot, I tried the remotes, I just happened to have both, I did everything I could think of to get the car to work and nothing.  First, I called my brother, who used to sell Toyotas.  He was kind and helpful, but was thinking the only way to make the car start working would be to unhook and rehook the battery.  I called the dealership, all the while thinking what did they do wrong with my oil change that my car won't work now.  I didn't accuse them of anything just went through my story, the gentleman on the phone was very kind, very helpful.  He figured out what was wrong quickly, I had forgotten to put the car in park.  The car won't start, the doors won't lock and it makes a "hey, dummy, you didn't do it right" sound when you forget.  That is right, I forgot to put the car in park.  Before I called I took around 10 minutes or more to try and figure things out.  I really tried people, honest.  But, I stupid.

Today's topic Family.  I love my family.  We ain't right, as we say in the South.  Meaning for those of you who aren't in the South, that we are a little off, strange, weird etc.  But as my brother once told the father of a girl he was dating, when asked if our whole family was weird,  "Yes, but, we are good weird.".  That about sums us up.  

We are loud.  I try when I am around other people to temper my loudness, not always successfully.  I tell people that I am from a family of ten children and I am not always aware of how loud I am.  Sometimes my being loud can be helpful.  Just recently my niece ran into the parking lot of a busy store.  I was loud and got her attention.  She stopped on the spot and I was able to get her to safety.  I was also able to help the man that heard me and had a heart attack.  It was small, he's fine.  I felt bad for being so loud, I sent flowers.  But, my niece is safe and that is the main point.

We are passionate.  People think we are angry when we aren't.  We are just passionate, no one is mad, we are just exuberant over what ever topic we are discussing.  I remember my brother and I were having a passionate discussion about something, I don't remember what, and someone came over and asked us why we were fighting.  We looked at each other, stunned, and said almost in unison, "We're not fighting".   We were just having a passionate conversation.  Being passionate gets me into trouble.  I don't feel upset or angry on some topics, but maybe to explain to me what passionate means, revved up.  I don't want to fight or cause contention but I get revved.  When I get revved some people get nervous, like I will somehow attack them.  Not going to happen.  Being passionate also means I am a lover not a fighter.

We are smart.  I am not saying we are all going around solving the worlds problems or debating the Universe with Steven Hawking, I am just saying we ain't dumb.  Because we are smart and passionate we like to be in charge.  You might think this would cause a lot of fights amongst us all.  I won't lie, we fight sometimes.  However, we have kind of picked our sister Ginna to be the family organizer, the CEO if you will.  She does a good job of telling us what to do.  We just take our assignments and go.  It is because she excels at organization that we let her be in charge so much.  See, we ain't dumb.  If she were not good at organizing we would revolt and elect a new leader. 

We are curious.  We like to know things, how things work, why things are the way they are etc.  Which can lead to trouble.  If in our curiosity we find things are stupid, it bothers us.  Most people don't like their pet projects shot down because they don't make sense which ever one of us is asking intelligent (hopefully) questions about the what and how of something.   However, it can be helpful too, we like to read or watch things just to learn for pleasure.  A lot of people do that but a lot of people don't.   We are just some of the ones that do and we tend to remember and apply things we have learned and maybe help someone make their pet project better.  That is the dream any way.  Better to have the dream than the drama which with my passionate family could be a reality too.  

We are loyal.  We tend to stick with our friends, we aren't perfect but you can count on us to get your back.  I once had a friend that I supported.  It was a long time ago, and so school age, elementary school age no less.  She was also friends with another girl and they had a falling out.  I don't even remember over what.  But, they were going to fight.  Our whole grade was aware and picked sides.  Here is how the sides wound up me and girl A, against girl B and the rest of the grade.  I won't lie I think it crossed mind that the odds were way against us and maybe I didn't need to participate or support anyone.  In the end I felt that I had to stand by, I couldn't let certain loss or fear make my decision for me.  I stood by her.  And do you want to know what, it wound up being more hype, more drama than confrontation.  They had a fight, not much of one, some hair pulling etc and the police showed up and that was the end.  I watched as they were both put into the same police cruiser.  I never asked but am willing to bet that being taken away in handcuffs made them friends again if only for the car ride. 

We are what we are which is a family.  We don't make excuses for being what we are, we just are. So here's to being a little weird.  We ain't perfect, but we are have a certain something that keeps us going and hopefully fills the empty spaces around us with more joy than pain.

Today's topic, Makeup.  Now, I am finally getting to the core of my existence forget about anything else I say I believe in because makeup is really it. 

I love makeup.  In my family you had to be 12 years old to wear any kind of makeup.  12 is still young but that was the rule in our house.  You could play dress up and put on makeup but you wouldn't be wearing it in public.  Which takes me off topic slightly, to Toddler's in Tiaras or the horrific practice of sexualizing our children. I only see the promos for the show, I don't watch it, the promos are bad enough.  My sister in-law spoke to me about it and said that usually the moms were overweight and unattractive.  I feel that is partly true, one way or another the moms (or dads) are trying to feel good about themselves, get some validation, whatever through their children.  Excuse me, I have to go vomit.  OK, I am back.  Don't do this to your kids, honestly, it can't be healthy for them mentally or emotionally.

Now to more pleasant issues.  Makeup, I love it.  I love to wear it, I love to buy it, I love to look at it, I love to think about how I will put in on.  I always say if I were rich, I wouldn't have a big closet filled with clothes or lots of shoes, jewelry (although, I am not crazy, I would have some).  I would have a room dedicated to my makeup.  With great lighting, mirrors and enough room to put all the different kinds of makeup I want.

  I love eyeshadow, and lipstick the best.  Friends have been astounded at how many lipsticks I have for just work.  I have work lipstick and lipstick for home and abroad.  There is really no difference between them except work lipstick is kept in my work bag and home and abroad isn't, but they are interchangeable.  My eyeshadow collection is huge for one person. I have all kinds of shades some I never wear but can't make myself get rid of.  What if one day I needed that shade emergently, and then had to live with the knowledge of what could have been?

I find it ironic that as much as I love lipstick, I tend to buy the same shade a lot.  The shade is a mauve.  Sometimes a little darker or lighter but I am drawn to one in a store and say to myself you have this one in ten shades.  I usually do.  I like red and pink.  Occasionally, I will wear a coral shade but this is rare since I can't do oranges well.

When I was young I wore the ultra frosted eyeshadow they made in the 70s/80s.  You can still find it but why would you want to?  There is a difference in some shimmer and frosted, trust me!  I remember wearing  frosted peacock blue, and thinking I was HOT.  Remember, I said I love makeup, not that I have always been good with how I apply it.  I am better now at wearing colors to bring out the color of my eyes.  When I was young, my eyes were very blue.  They are still blue, but with more hazel now so I can my my eyes look bluer or greener depending on what shades I use.  Now that I am older I try to have more matte eyeshadow, I still have a bit of shimmer, but frosted eyeshadow makes you look older and I don't need that!

I will tell you the secrets to good makeup application.  Ready, here it is, right now for you.  No games, no tricks, no stalling....OK I was just being funny.  The first secret to good makeup is buy colors that work for your skin tone, in other words if you have a sallow skin tone don't go buying pink shades of foundation hoping to change things, you just wind up looking like your face is one color and the rest of you another which equals bad.  Second secret, blend, blend, blend.  Don't just slap the makeup on, blend it in so it flows from one thing to the next well.  Like your blush shouldn't stick out like to weird flags on your cheeks, it should just subtly be there and you shouldn't have a ring around your face delineating your foundation application.  Third, don't over do it.  Less is more.  OK, those who know me stop laughing,  I am talking about the people who come out looking like clowns.  Calm down, people, calm down.  Fourth,  and I can't stress this enough, please, under no circumstances should you over pluck your eyebrows.  You aren't making your eyes look bigger, you just look permanently surprised, or depending on your style, angry.  The fifth secret is to follow the brow line when shaping your brows.  If need be let things grow in and seek out professional help. Please!!

I was recently, on an elevator with some young women heading into work.  It had been raining and one was discussing with the other the accidents she had seen.  She had seen two.  I looked at her eyebrows and all I could think was, three.  That is right, I am going to hell, but at least my makeup will be on straight.  Or maybe my hell will be never wearing makeup again, or horrors, having to look at bad, bad makeup over and over again.  I need to repent!

Today's topic, Technology.   I am very grateful to live in such a technologically advanced era.  I can't imagine how I would do living before indoor plumbing, washing machines, and phones.  How truly blessed I feel to have the opportunity to use so many advances in my day to day life. 

  Some of the things we may think of as pretty new were actually around a long time before being common place.  There is an old movie, called Made for Each Other with Jimmy Stewart and Carol Lombard and in this film they show a fancy new technology, a fax being sent and received is shown.  The movie was made in 1939.  Some form of fax technology has been around since the mid to late 1900th century.  Ma and Pa Kettle had a series of movies and in one of them they win the house of the future complete with a microwave, this movie was released in 1950.  The microwave ovens have been around since the late 1940s.  I bring this up because at least to me, neither of these were really heard of until much later.  I think I first heard of microwaves in the late 1970s and even baby sat for a family who had one I tried to use it, epic fail.  Fax's, I don't think I was aware of until the mid to late 1980s.

 I remember when HBO was launched the first paid for movie channel.  We didn't have cable, let alone HBO.  The joke was some kid would ask if you had HBO if you said yes then they would say "Ha, you have Hideous Body Odor!"  Thank goodness I was able to answer no so often!  Now there are tons of movie channels to choose from.  I am still to cheap to pay for any that don't come with regular cable. With Netflix, Hulu and Youtube, honestly, who needs movie channels?

One of my favorite things is watching movies that use technology. Sometimes the technology if far advanced from anything we know, so powerful and stunning we are in awe.  But, my favorite is a disaster movie when all the advanced technology is out, destroyed, unusable etc. The only way to save the day is some archaic form of technology like a land line, type writer, or regular TV.   There is always someone who just happens to know how to use the strange device that just happens to be where all the good guys have congregated.  Amazing!   And by using this they are able to out wit the bad guys or overcome what ever obstacle was preventing them from saving the day.

So, Yay!, for such great advances.  Now, to the down side.  When I was young we went on many car trips sometimes with several cars all following along.  If one of the cars needed to stop for any reason they just flashed their brights or if in the lead, pulled off.  Simple, right?  Now we all have cell phones and call back and forth to decide where to pull over, where to eat or use the restroom.  The conversations can be so lengthy, trying to decide.  Just make a decision already!  Don't fight over where we will eat for an hour while everyone gets hungrier and angrier.  That is a recipe for disaster.  Been there and done that as it were.

I still get a little weirded out when I am in public and hear someone seemingly talking to themselves. For a few moments I can't tell if they have blue tooth or are crazy.  I eaves drop slightly on the conversation just until I know.  That way if they are crazy I have time to get out of their I might kill you if the voices tell me to way.

It also cracks me up how dependant we are on the cell phone, I include myself in this category.  I managed to stumble through 30 odd years of life with out a cell phone and now for the last 10-15 years it is a necessity.  I have done a lot of driving by myself all over the country.  My mom will say something like "Keep your cell phone out on the seat just in case."  Like it can stop a bomb, or bullet or prevent a wreck.  Or any one of us children is leaving the house for any reason she finds concerning "Oh, you have your cell phone with you" again like it can deflect bullets or the mugger will run from the phone in your hand.
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 I am making fun of some of the marvels we have available but I so grateful for things like air conditioning, washers and dryers, in door plumbing, LCD TV, DVR, CDs cars, planes, electricity etc the list is almost endless.  Because of the incredible things we can do, I just expect some things to work, in my opinion, better.  I get frustrated when things don't work like they should and when I talk to people who work with the particular piece of technology I am irritated with I tend to say things like "If we can do surgery in utero, put men on the moon, use lasers to improve our vision surely we can do X"  They rarely see it my way.  Just wait until we actually have time machines I will make sure my quirks are accounted for!


ast but for sure not least let me not forget modern dentistry.  I would be almost toothless without all the fillings and caps I have acquired over the years.  My two front teeth would be gone, long gone.  But thanks to modern science I can flash a quasi winning smile at will.