Wow, I have been so interesting lately, huh? So much on my mind that just refuses to come out. It sits on my chest like a cinderblock, crushing my heart and my soul. I’m afraid I will never get out from under it.
So, anyway, for lack of anything remotely uplifting, here is the first random 10 songs from my mp3 player:

• Raphael Saadiq (ft. Angie Stone) – Excuse Me
• Blu Cantrell – Sleep In The Middle
• Lauryn Hill – Ex-Factor
• Joe – Priceless
• Talib Kweli (Ft. Mary J. Blige) – I Try
• Incognito – Pieces Of A Dream
• The Roots – The Hypnotic
• Kanye West (ft. Syleena) – All Falls Down
• John Legend (ft. Snoop Dogg) – I Can Change
• Nivea – Don’t Mess With My Man

Penned by: Tricia | 1 Comment »

When it’s your children’s vacation from school, of course.
OK, OK, it hasn’t been ALL bad. We got to play Shrek Operation and Candyland and Checkers and Playstation and watch stupid movies and see silly flash videos online and laugh hysterically and all fall on the floor and tickle each other mercilessly. And that was just all in one day.
I think I am a little burnt out though. I know they are, too. Only one more day to go, then back to the normal routine, and seeing some other faces than our own.
Other than the vacation it’s been a pretty uneventful week. I did finally have my repeat MRI, though. I was supposed to have this back in August, but due to moving and things being in general upheaval, it never got done. Plus, I haven’t been having headaches, so I guess I just let it slip to the back of my mind. So anyway, they scheduled me in for 6pm. 6pm??? Who has an appointment for an MRI at 6pm? Ugh. At least it was on the same day as the boys’ therapy, so we were already there and didn’t have to make an extra trip. And the boys behaved so nicely for the most part, since of course they weren’t able to come in with me. Once again I get to put on the plastic helmet and get shoved into a cold tube and stay absolutely still amid all the loud buzzes and clicks, with earplugs in my ears that hurt like a bitch after about 5 minutes. WHY must I have these teeny ears that nothing can fit into?? I can’t even wear earbud headphones, for crying out loud.
So anyway, I had brought in my previous MRI films that I have been carting around forever from the time I was seeing various neurosurgeons and decided it was just easier to keep a hold of them myself. So, since the hospital was afraid to lose the things, they had the head of the Neurophysiology department come down personally to read the new films and compare them to the old ones to see if there was any change in the mass so that I could keep a hold of the old films so they wouldn’t lose them. Whew! Did I lose you there? Anyway, apparently there is no change in the lipoma, so everything is good and I shouldn’t need another MRI for about two years. Yay!
Then today an old friend came to visit. She just makes my heart happy, I tell you. Cherish your friends.
Only one. More. Day.
Wish me luck.

Penned by: Tricia | 2 Comments »

I really liked this, so I had to give it a try.
Here are the rules:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

On more than one night he felt he was being followed as he crept down from the gundeck. Once he was certain he had heard footsteps coming from the companionway behind him, but when he doubled back nobody was there. On another occasion he was leaving the lower deck in the small hours, at the end of the middle watch, when there came the clump of sea boots down the ladder from the quarterdeck.

OK…your turn!

Penned by: Tricia | 6 Comments »

Just when I thought things had calmed down and were going on the right track. OK, do you remember when Gregory brought home a letter at midterm saying that he was in danger of failing four classes due to not doing his homework? Well, it appears that even after a month’s worth of grounding, he still managed to fail one of them. And not only fail it, but go from an A- in the first quarter to an F in the second?? HOW in the world does one manage that?? Seems like an awful lot of work involved. Or non-work, as the case may be. I am absolutely dumbfounded. And the rest of the report card just doesn’t make any sense. An A, a B, two C-’s, and the F. No consistency, no rhyme or reason. No juxtaposition between the homework I was checking EVERY day and the grades brought home.
I really haven’t the faintest idea what to do. I never got an F, so I have no parental frame of reference to deal with this. More grounding? Apparently it will have to be something pretty harsh, because the first one did next to nothing. And in any case I have decided to wait to do something until the end of the week, because of course the same day that they handed out report cards was the day right before winter vacation week started.
Of course this also comes right before the results of the exam school (Boston Latin) entrance test are going to be given. So even IF he got in based on his test scores, he will most likely be passed over due to his current grades. Nice.
Anyone have any suggestions?

Penned by: Tricia | 6 Comments »

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/12/news-ireland.php

Like a dark cloud obscuring the sun, the powerful odor of mendacity hung over Washington after George Bush concluded his State of the Union speech last week. Bush certainly seems to have bamboozled the press (The Boston Globe inexplicably found the speech “soothing,” the L.A. Times decided the speech was evidence of Bush’s “flexibility,” while CBS’s Bob Schieffer gushed that it was “one of the best-delivered speeches I have ever heard President Bush make”) and seduced the public (a Gallup overnighter showed 60 percent approved of the speech and 26 percent “somewhat approved,” while a new Newsweek poll out this week now shows Bush’s overall rating is the highest it’s been since right after last year’s Republican convention — 50 percent approve, just 42 percent disapprove).
Despite this collective mesmerization, here are a few plainspoken truths about Bush’s lies the mainstream media didn’t tell you:

This is a very interesting article written about Bush’s State of the Union Address, and, IMO, rings with an uncanny truth that, no matter how loudly the conservatives yell about liberty and family values, or how hard they try to hush the other side up, speaks of a time when all of the hatred and vitriol will catch up to them. And by then, I just hope it isn’t too late to fix this country.
The thing that completely freaked me out the most was about how reported ‘gay bashing’ has risen 13% since the last annual survey done by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects. 13%?!?! Is anyone else really disturbed by this horrifying trend? Our president is fostering hatred and bigotry for an entire group of people, condoning it directly in a public speech for the first time since the days of slavery. WHY are not more people speaking out about this appalling nonsense?
And what’s this about Laura Bush being in charge of fighting gang violence?? What the hell does that woman know about gangs? WHAT exactly does she think she is going to do? Is she going to leave her tea parties and go to my son’s school and protect him from the gangs that are there already at the 6th grade level? That is some funny stuff, I tell you.
But honestly, I think the most frightening part of all is the growing religious overtones that are growing to color EVERYTHING said by this man. It’s all well and good to have faith, but he seems to have no notion or care that not everyone ascribes to HIS faith, nor should they be required to, nor should a governing body allow religion to so completely rule their decisions for the good of ALL people. The last part of the article kind of sums it up all too nicely for me, so I will just leave with that thought.

Well, historical truth tells us that our Founding Fathers — products of the Enlightenment — detested religion, and one of the best rebukes to Bush was written by Thomas Jefferson in 1813 when he declared: “History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.” That’s a pretty fair description of our politics and governance today with the second coming of Bush. And it’s why the real state of our Union today is so bloody frightening.

Penned by: Tricia | 1 Comment »

Well, it looks like I took a break anyway by accident. I honestly have not had any time to sit at the computer and think of things to write. That, coupled with a complete lack of subject matter effectively killed any posts that may have been in the making. Anyway, for lack of something better, I updated my Radio.Blog again. I’ve been feeling a little mellow, so I figured I would reflect that with some slow, jazzy music. Below is the playlist. Enjoy!!

• David Sanborn and Marcus Miller – Miss You
• Joyce Cooling – Natural Fact
• Eric Benet ft. Roy Ayers – When You Think Of Me
• Eric Benet, Cassandra Wilson, and David Sanborn – Daydreaming
• Marion Meadows and Will Downing – Come Back To Me
• Dave Koz – Definition of Beautiful(ft. Javier)
• Blu Cantrell – Sleep In The Middle
• Sade and Maxwell – Let’s Not Play The Game
• Norman Brown – Just Chillin
• Lighthouse Family – Rain Cloud
• Dave Koz – Smooth Jazz
• Fantasia Barrino – Truth Is
• Lighthouse Family – Anytime She Goes Away
• Queen Latifah – California Dreamin’
• Jill Scott – I’m Not Afraid

Penned by: Tricia | 6 Comments »

I’m going to take a little break. All I seem to have been doing here lately is hurting someone, boring someone, or pissing someone off. None of which was ever my intention. Hey, maybe when I come back I’ll just turn this into a political blog where I can piss off and bore a whole bunch of people on purpose.
So, it was a short break. After clearing my head a little, I’m pretty much back to “If you don’t want to read it, that’s what the little ‘x’ in the corner is for.” Boy, one thing I have noticed about me is it is taking me much less time lately to sort through my feelings and figure out what is important and what is not. I think I am quite loving that. It really feels good to see some of the work I have been putting into myself emotionally pay off.
It really feels like there were a lot of high tensions and drama in the month of January. Maybe it’s just me, but there was a ton of stress in my own life, and in several places on the net I watched as things blew up into astronomical proportions, with insults flying faster than a kung-fu fighter. I am really hoping that maybe the tail end of all this friction has been reached, and things can begin to get back to normal. Or, at least as normal as it CAN be.

Penned by: Tricia | 10 Comments »

Apparently my post subjects have been quite banal lately. Perhaps it’s only because that’s how life has been feeling for me. No, I probably don’t have anything particularly insightful or informative to say, and my stories aren’t all that great, but it makes me happy to share them, and if even one person likes it, that’s good enough for me. This space isn’t a popularity contest for me, although I can admit that occasionally I allow myself to get pulled into the race. I have to remind myself every day that’s it’s not important to be lauded, it’s only important to laud myself. Two steps forward, one step back will still get you there eventually.
I can feel myself slipping into that “I just don’t care anymore about anything” territory again. I can’t think of anything to write, my art still continues to be nonexistent, ideas are scarce, procrastination reigns supreme. I’m not entirely sure if it would be better to just ride it out a bit or try to take a more aggressive approach.
It’s almost as though I am on the brink of an emotional breakthrough, if only I can take that last step at the right speed, so as not to fall off the other side. I’m having thoughts of contacting old friends that I trod upon when I was so selfishly intent on having the soundtrack of my life play the mind-numbing song “All Me, All Pathetic, All The Time,” and just telling them that I am sorry. Or maybe it’s just better to let it be, and what’s done is done?
I don’t think this post has a point. It feels like more of a “notepad” type of post, throwing random thoughts at the paper in the hopes that they will figure out how to turn themselves into sentences. Maybe I just need to do more memes.

Penned by: Tricia | 2 Comments »