Things I Couldn't Care Less About

1) Body lotion. I have bottles and bottles of it. It makes me feel bad, seeing all those wasted bottles. I have nice Bath and Body Works ones, Victoria's Secret ones, and tons from hotels, too. My hubby brings home all the hotel shampoos and lotions. I use the shampoos and conditioners. The lotions sit there. Is there an expiration on lotion? Not really. But have you ever tried to use some lotion that used to smell like hyacinths and now it smells like dirty wax? Yeah. 'nuf said.

2) Whether or not coffee is good or bad for me. I like it and I'm drinking it, anyway. One year it causes cancer, the next it's harmless and in fact good for the brain. If anyone ever gets a real clue and gives me hard evidence about its ill effects (and I don't believe the stuff on it being bad for breasts or anxiety, either) then maybe I'll quit drinking it. But I have liked the taste of coffee all my life, ever since I drank the dregs from my mom's or dad's coffee cups when they asked me to tote them into the kitchen. And so far, I'm healthy as an ox. Enjoy coffee!!

3) Football. Pumped-up males making too much money to run a ball around a field. Huge muscles and huge egos, it seems. I just read where one NFL dude punched a **teammate** in the eye and broke his eye socket a few years back. And Punch-out Dude lives on, out in Hollywood, taking small TV roles. OJ Simpson was a football player. UGH. I don't have much respect for the sport. JMHO. Sorry.

4) Politics. I don't trust anyone in it. Maybe I would find some nice politicians out there if I were really interested in government and laws and such. But that stuff makes my eyes cross and I'm not afraid to admit it. To me, it all seems it's a bunch of egos again, wasting taxpayers' dollars by holding too many meetings and pontificating on either their own personal opinions or the opionions of people who support them--many with money they illegally received. Now, if I could, I might go back and study more on government in the early days. HOW it began IS interesting to me. I do enjoy government history, how court rulings changed laws, etc,... It's just that I didn't take a lot of it in school. I'll admit to a lack of knowledge and experience here. Maybe I should get "Politics for Dummies." Maybe I will.

5) Manicures and pedicures. Well, it's not that I don't care about them. I think they're great. I just don't wish to spend either the time or the money on them. I would rather buy yarn, or read, or knit, or write. Or spend that time with my family. Or a friend. If I need a mani or pedi, I'll do my own, thank you, and pocket the money and be in my own home while the fingers and toes are drying. And I won't have to worry about catching nail fungus, or being talked into getting an entire body wax for MORE $$$ by a tiny, fast-talking woman who wants to tack more $$$ onto her fee. AND I can use my own OPI polish, which I *know* will last a long time, and I don't have to worry that they ripped me off by using watered-down polish that will peel off in a matter of two days.

6) The Local News. It's ALL gloom and doom. The water supply is ridiculously low. The economy has gone to hell in a handbasket. Someone has burned up his family in an apartment fire. Someone got caught in a drug-related crossfire. Someone's body was found in a field. Someone took illegal campaign contributions. And have you noticed how, as with politics, people are always trying to pull you into the latest junk, just the stuff you're trying to avoid? For instance, someone'll ask me if I heard about the murder of the six-year-old who was found in the dumpster. "No," I reply, looking down, turning my shoulder away from them. "I don't like to watch the news. It depresses me." But the person continues on with, "Well, her parents were on Oprah. They said she was abused. Her head was cut off, they put her body in ten bags, and..." And on and on! You can imagine how I retreat from that conversation. I just SAID I don't like to watch the news because it's awful. It gives me nightmares. I already have a vivid imagination and I know when I can watch a 48 Hours mystery and when I really can't. At least with the profiled mysteries, there is usually a suspect and a trail and subsequent comeuppance. So, HELLO??? Would you *please* let me choose when I can and can't take the gory details? LOL

7) Whether or not people like my dog. **I** like my dog. If you don't like him, fine. I'm not asking you to live with him. And if you live here and you don't like him, then I'll help you pack. Fortunately, the blowhards living here who complain about my dog do in fact like him. They just enjoy complaining loudly and trying to jerk my chain. Most of the time I ignore them. But I'll admit I enjoy it when the dog clearly likes me better than them. He's not stupid. He knows who *really* loves him. Whenever I hear someone say they had to get rid of their cat or dog because their fiance or spouse or whatever didn't want the pet, unless they're allergic to the pet I say get rid of the fiance or spouse. What kind of person asks you to abandon an animal? Probably the same kind who wants to control when you have kids, what you wear and who you spend your time with. Run away!

Gee. This has been a fun exercise. I can see that I'm quite opinionated on several things. I try to keep my opinions to myself and be mostly pleasant to get along with. But this is freeing. I'm sure you won't agree on all this and I don't expect you to. It's a free world! So send me your comments and complaints. I can deal.


Next installment: Things I Really Really Like!

A new year, and some new thoughts

Did you make New Year's resolutions? I did. I look forward to the few days before a new year, after the Christmas rush when I can sit down and happily ponder a new beginning to my little world. New plans, new thoughts, new hopes. So imagine my surprise when I asked others if they'd made their resolutions and they said they don't do them. They say if they made them, it'd just be a great reason to break them. Hunh? To me, that *really* shows a person isn't too disciplined. They don't like rules because if they are aware of them, they surely won't follow them? Dang. That's rather sad.

I also think it's a very easy way out. If I don't resolve to do better, I can just keep maintaining status quo (or less.) I don't have to make any plans. I don't have to aspire to any point higher than the plane I'm on right now.

I know I sound harsh, and I feel badly about it. I guess I'm just not cut from that sort of cloth, so it makes it really hard for me to put myself in someone's place and feel ho-hum about new beginnings. But maybe they think New Year's resolutions always have to be about losing weight, or some other decision like "get married" or "buy a house" or "exercise more." All of those top the resolutions lists annually. They also set many, many people up for failure. So maybe what those people who said they didn't make New Year's resolutions really mean is, they don't want to feel bad about themselves if they fail to follow through with their desires or plans. Fear of failure. Now THAT is definitely something I can relate to.

Still, with New Year's resolutions, I think it's key to think positively about them in the first place. Let them be fun things to do, things you want to do, things with steps that are easy to achieve. Then you won't be setting yourself up for failure. Also, have them be markers, stones you want to step on, upbeat stops along your life path that even if you don't achieve them are still good ideas and you'll be proud of at least making the attempt. So you fail. So what? At least you're a dreamer, a schemer, a forward-mover. That's how I see them and I think that's why they work for me.

Summary:

Glass half empty? New Year's resolutions are another chore, another thing you can fail at. Glass half full? They're something to look forward to and strive for, a positive motivator.

So here are my resolutions:

1) Try to stay motivated with my writing. This involves several steps I'm set on taking, such as: a new critique partner, better daily schedule involving less Googling and TV, etc,...

2) Read Pulitzer Prize winning fiction that I've missed, starting with The Shipping News, since someone loaned it to me a while back and it was on my bookshelf. I've printed out a list of prizewinners from 1917 to now. I believe there were 87 titles, most of which I haven't read. Some, I read the author but not that particular book. If you're subtracting 1917 from 2009 right now and coming up with more than 87 books, keep in mind that they didn't give out the award to *any* book in some years. And I'm not counting 2008 yet. Have they given the award for 2008? I don't know.

3) Be open to various avenues of romance publishing. By that I mean, seek out different markets if needs be. This one I'm *always* resolving to do. That's how people get published. Don't be narrow when it comes to marketing.

4) Be a nicer person. That's always on my list, too.

5) Train my dog. Heavy sigh here. My dog always needs training, but I've resolved to do weeks of obedience at a nearby training place. It'll be something new.

6) Further contemplate other things I may want to do if we move to the mountains. These are big pipedreams, so I won't go into detail. I mull over things, things I love doing and could make into a business, but have yet to make up real business plans, or buy any product, or even consider starting small online first. I'm afraid of failure in this area, so unless I change next year's resolution to "Make up my mind about a business" it still won't get done. So you see I'm not always Pollyanna.

That's all. Not a lot, and nothing really new and different except for the reading of Pulitzer books. I've already started the one, and I like it.

How about you? I'll bet you have resolutions, too. Maybe you don't want to label them as such, but they're there. And maybe mine aren't *really* New Year's resolutions, but just goals I'm reminded of in the days before the big ball drops in Times Square. What's the real difference between a goal and a resolution, anyway? The date? I think it's just, having a deadline. And January 1 works for me!

Come back in a year and I'll let you know how well the resolutions went.