Live Like a Millionaire

Today is “National Be a Millionaire Day” and that has me wondering – What would you do with a million?

Would you take a stance much like coveting Park Ave and Boardwalk in Monopoly and live high on the hog? Or when you hear million, does you mind go straight to the rich, staple dessert, millionaire pie, that Texans loved from Luby’s? (RIP, Luby’s).

Would you spend it? Save it? Donate it? Invest it? There are many options to consider when thinking about that many zeros. There are 18.6 million millionaires in the US, so reaching that level of monetary wealth isn’t really that farfetched this day and age.

I honestly don’t know what I’d do with money like that. Probably not live any different than I do today, to be honest. Money is just money to me, and I’ve learned over the years that the more you have, the more you spend. Money can change some people and make them turn into different people. Greed is a despicable trait and it even turned people away from me a time or two.

When my dad passed away, he listed me as a beneficiary in his will, as he did his two other children. One sum, split three ways – that was fair and how my father intended it to be. Those other two tried to step all over my portion of my inheritance and cut me out, telling other family members that I was actually not our father’s child and they were going to make sure that I didn’t see a thing. It was very ugly, and I haven’t spoken to them in years because of this. Imagine that. My own siblings.

They were wrong about one thing, though. I did see a thing. I have my dad’s USPS uniform shirts, his Hanes undershirts and a clock that he gave me while he was alive. The things that matter most to me are those that are sentimental because everything else is just materialistic things. The had emptied my father’s house of all his possessions without even telling me that he has passed away until the donation truck left.

They might feel like they gained something, but they actually lost. They lost their only sister. I am our father’s child and they know this truth deep down. They also lost the value of honesty in all of this. I can’t imagine how heavy of a burden that must be to carry for them.

I value the richness of life, not money. And if anyone has a great mockup of Luby’s millionaire pie, please consider sharing it.

Short, Sweet and Full of Secrets

I can keep a secret someone else shares with me until the end of time, however, when it comes to something I am really excited about, I just want to burst. No one ever gets a gift on their birthday or Christmas because I can’t ever contain myself and wait it out. I get way too excited for them to open it.

I have been working on something for quite a while now, but it is still a few weeks out. I think you will really like this new thing I’m doing because it’s going to put some goodness back into the world. That is all I can really say at this point.

Please, please sign up for my newsletter The Writers Block if you haven’t already because I am leaving clues inside of it closer to the product drop. Head over to the Let’s Connect tab and sign up today so you can keep gathering clues until the big day arrives.

I’m keeping it short today. I have much goodness going on behind the scenes. Be good to yourselves and to each other. Much love!

Here’s Why I Peed My Pants

I’m a pants peer when overcome with too strong of emotions. I come from a long line of pants peers.

If we laugh too hard, the uncontrollable peeing our pants happens. It sucks, but also, hilarious. Most of the time, this happens when I laugh way too hard at something I find over the top funny. It doesn’t just happen, though. It goes in stages, much like the heat factor of Scoville scale.

There’s the smirk, the laugh, the cry and then, oh no…the dreaded and finding humor at my own expense “I just pissed my pants” and there’s nothing I can do to control or stop it. It just happens.

The uncontrollable wasn’t always rooted in humor, though. When I was a kid, the peeing was out of fear. Predatorial fear, like the fight or flight kind. But in my case, the pee all over yourself kind of trepidation and it was very real.

When I was a kid, I thought that my Granny could protect me from anything. She was my heroine until the day she died at 80 ½ years young.

I had a problem as a kid with trying to pet every animal I saw. Not much has changed in this arena, however, and I found myself repeatedly in bad situations as a kid because of it. I was chased by a pack of dogs once.

My aunt had gotten my cousin a life-sized glow in the dark skeleton, because it was close to Halloween and she was rad like that. My cousin brought it to our horse pasture because who doesn’t want to have a skelly friend to tag along, right?

It was dark and Mr. Skelton was doing his glow thing. He looked amazing, to say the least. However, the pack of dogs next door to our horse pasture didn’t think so highly of him. Their job was to protect the concrete company and keep unwanted visitors after hours out. They did their job quite well.

My cousin and I had the joy of riding on the hood of the car to the gate to open it for the car’s driver. It was slow and fun and we loved the hell out of our “job”. Of course, Mr. Skeleton was with us, flapping around, back and forth in the October wind, all of us oblivious to the stress Mr. Skeleton was putting on “guard dog team six” next door.

Needless to say, the dogs came to our horse pasture and straight to the enemy who was causing their panic – Mr. Skeleton and two little girls, that happened to be me and my cousin.

I ran. No, I ran like the wind. I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me, fear pushing me forward. I peed my pants the entire way until I found myself knocking my Granny out of her lawn chair to protect me from the dogs who were on my heels.

My poor cousin was worried that the horses were going to get out, so she stood there holding the gate and Mr. Skeleton and got bit. It was not a fun night.

This was not the first time pee found it’s way down my leg at the horse pasture. I have great memories of this place but peeing your pants twice out of fear does something to you.

My next run in was with this adorable chick. I saw him and I just had to pet him. I kept calling him towards me with the sweet child voice of “here, chicky, chicky” in hopes he would stride over and let me hold him and pet him.

Not a chance.

A different aunt appeared and gave her warning of God’s creatures. “Angie, leave him alone. Stop calling him over to you or you’re going to be sorry.”

I couldn’t help myself. He was just too damn cute. I completely ignored her advice because I apparently like to do life the hard way.

What I didn’t know was what I was calling over to me was a young Banty rooster. If you’re unfamiliar with fowl, Banty roosters are mean. They have spurs on tehri legs that will destroy anything that comes into contact.

The next thing I knew, that “chick” had his head down and was chasing me screaming.

I ran. Maybe I learned from the dogs, but I knew what was about to happen. This guy wanted to attack and I wasn’t going to let him.

He chased me around the square enclosure where we all sat when we wanted reprieve from the horses. I was so scared, I peed my pants and kept running. I ran until I just couldn’t anymore.

About that time, I was saved by a brave cowboy who launched that rooster over the square enclosure, locking him inside. I cried and cried. It was many years later before I tried to pet anything, and never have trusted a rooster again.

Emotion makes us do strange things. Some of us piss our pants.

Your Job Could Kill You - Literally

If you’re on vacation, please relish in the time away from the office. It won’t suddenly come crashing down or burn to the ground if you’re not there – promise. Enjoy the break. This means, stop trying to run the office from your phone, too. All those long hours you spend micromanaging work could wind up killing you – literally.

A new study, conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Orgazination (ILO) shows that long working hours increased deaths from heart disease and stroke. That’s right – working too much could be the end of you.

The study found that “in 2016, 398 000 people died from stroke and 347 000 from heart disease as a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week. Between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths from heart disease due to working long hours increased by 42%, and from stroke by 19%.”

Stick to 40 hours, look busy and you’re sure to be in a much better position – regardless of what your boss tries to tell you.

Time away is yours, so spend it wisely. Burnout is real. You’ve got to nurture yourself and sometimes the best way to do that is to step away for a bit.

Our need for work-life balance is real. Be sure to take breaks, take your lunch, plan and take that vacation. You don’t need to check your email when you are not working, because that is still working, people. There isn’t a first prize trophy handed out for “Worked the Most Hours”, so stop this nonsense and go live your lives. Go to your kid’s baseball game, schedule that doctor’s appointment or spend the day at home with your feet up watching Netflix. It’s your vacation time to spend it how you wish. Just do whatever, as long as it is away from the office.

I Got Meds on Fantasy Island

It’s mental health week during mental health month, so let’s talk about it. We all know someone who has a mental health issue. If you’re new here, that one person can be me. Let’s go back in time, shall we?

I never noticed my anxiety as being anxiety for most of my life as a kid. I just recall being really fearful of being in trouble. I never wanted to let my Granny down, disappoint her for whatever reason or give her a reason to worry about me. I kept to myself and stayed on top of my schoolwork.

My grades were amazing, hey, but what no one saw was my obsessive worry about missing a deadline. If a teacher handed out a project and it was due at the end of the six weeks, this girl would have it done the same week it was assigned – boom!

Here’s the deal – Everyone saw me as super proactive, which I am, because I have high functioning anxiety. “If you have something that you need done, give it to Angela, she can handle it.” Do you know how many times I have heard this in my life? Yes, I’m proactive, but damn, what people don’t see is that too much of “doing things” often leads to serious burnout.

This go, go, go, hit the burnout wall, repeat has reared it’s ugly head too many times. And if you’re like me, you know it’s only a matter of time before the cycle repeats itself. I don’t know about you, but at 44, I’ve had enough of this cycle of insanity.

My mental health has gotten so bad, I cannot even drive on the highway anymore. Doing so, leads me to having a massive panic attack and I just can’t do it. My poor husband has been driving me around for a few years now because of my fear of losing control when I’m behind the wheel. At first, we thought it was just an optical-neuro disconnection and paid out the ass for glasses for me. I tried to drive last weekend with him in the passenger’s seat and wanted to crawl out of my skin. My breath was rapid, my heart was racing, I started feeling dizzy, sweaty and completely terrified. I just couldn’t do it. I pulled over, sat in a parking lot and ugly cried. The words “burden” were thrown around by me a few times, because that is how I feel – like a God damn burden. My husband has to be available to “Drive Ms Daisy” because this Daisy gets straight up crazy on highways.

I knew right then and there, after calming down and really talking about it, that something has to change. I had to change and I needed help.

Today, I opted to go back on medication for anxiety, and I have mixed emotions about this. I imagine Ricardo Montalban saying, “Let’s all welcome Angela back to the Fluoxetine Club and and let’s also give her a warm welcome for also joining Club Buspirone, too.” Hell yeah, Mr. Rourke. Thanks for the imaginary trip to Fantasy Island.

On one hand, I am looking forward to silencing the “noise” and the “inner critic” who aren’t helpful. I really hate worrying about things and, spoiler alert, it’s always a trip up over a little thing. On the other, I enjoy feeling emotions fully and wholeheartedly. I don’t want my wholehearted condolence of “I’m sorry” coming across as robotic to someone when they share with me that their dog died. That is definitely not my intent. I just need a little peace in my head, and this is the only way I know how to obtain it.

I don’t regret my decision and noticed a huge slowdown of racing thoughts already. Ready or not, I’m doing this so I can give my best to everyone who shows up for me and I promise you’ll get the best out of me when I can quiet the monsters inside my head and replace it with a zombie, instead.

But, here’s the most important thing – don’t suffer in silence. Talk about this stuff. Find a support system and don’t be ashamed of mental health. It’s real and it effects everyone in some shape or form. We will always bet better, together.

If you or someone you know needs help, please go to mentalhealth.gov for more information.

Make This Drink if You’re Feeling Catty

Chill – The weekend isn’t quite here yet, but this recipe is ideal anytime of the day. Maybe your sweettooth needs a fix, or maybe the days feel like they’re all running together endlessly, and it feels like a long string of Mondays every damn day.

With just 5 ingredients you likely have on hand already, you’ll take the fast track to sipping something sweet on the fly. This one is great for “responsible” adults who want to add in some Kahlua, Bailey’s or Amaretto for an imaginary trip to the famous Parisian cathouse without the hassle of leaving home. This recipe is inspired by a frosted coffee float recipe that MSN shared, but I’ve added in some spirits to make it real boo-zy, just because that’s how Lady Marmalade would probably make it.  Me-ow…

Cafe Mocha Chocolata, Ya-Ya

Ingredients:

·         1 cup hot and brewed coffee

·         1 envelope (1.38 oz each) of milk chocolate hot cocoa mix

·         1/2 cup of vanilla premium ice cream (1/2 cup = 1 large scoop)

·         Whipped cream

·         Chocolate sauce

·         Choice of spirit

Directions:

1.       Combine hot coffee, choice of spirit and cocoa mix in small bowl until well blended; set aside.

2.       Place ice cream in glass; pour hot coffee mixture over ice cream.

3.       Top with a serving of whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

4.       Serve immediately.

This Cruise is Selling Out Faster than Your Favorite Metal Band

The travel bug is biting hard right now, and there’s nothing more appealing than being on a ship filled with my favorite monsters. A new announcement that just dropped already has a lot of interest to set sail next year. Freaky people got to stick together, right?

Cruise Industry News just announced the Monsters of Rock Cruise and the news site reports that it “feature performances from Alice Cooper, along with performances from over 35 artists.” This lineup is huge and it isn’t just about performances in this extensively included itinerary, all at the helm of Captain Cooper.

This line up is great and there’s so much more to do than just cruise with your favorite bands. You can paint with them, enjoy a Q&A session, partake in Gong Show Karoke and more. This sailing includes a new ship and is packed with new adventures, too, in celebration of the Monsters of Rock’s 10th anniversary. A decade of debauchery – okay, I’m sold!

Prepare to rock February 9-14, 2022. Act fast if you want to find your spot at www.monstersofrockcruise.com because this sailing is selling out faster than your favorite metal band.

I Bargained with a Kid and Lost

I finally did it. I made a bargain with my son and now I am absolutely regretting it.

It’s no secret that this school year has been challenging to say the least. But I promised him that if he would just get his school work done every day with me helping him for this past nine weeks, I would get him something, anything, he wanted.

This was the worst thing I could’ve done.

Most kids would ask for a toy or video game. Not my kid. Oh no. He wants an axolotl.

I didn’t even know what that was or how to spell it, but here I am being baptized in all things surrounding this regenerative salamander by a nine-year-old boy.  

He finds them both interesting and cute and I can see why with their little smiles.

First of all, I thought I would just make this deal with my son under the radar of my husband, who is vehemently against the idea of any living creature being added to this house. Well, that didn’t last because if you want someone to keep a secret, do not, under any circumstances share things with my son. He is very extroverted, and well, things just have a habit of flying out of his mouth. Just like when he told my husband “Mommy said if I do all my schoolwork and finish the year strong, she’s going to get me an axolotl.”

Lucy, you got some ‘splainin’ to do.

I got the look. You know what look I’m talking about. The one that says “Over my dead body am I letting anything that breathes or I wind up taking care of, or the cat gets ahold of and eats being allowed to come into this house.”

So now, I’m at a panic. The school year is dwindling down. How am I going to find one of these things and sneak it into the house?

I contemplated sending Mr. Mexican Walking Fish over to his grandmother’s house until I started to fear the size it would become. She has a habit of overfeeding and all of her animals look like they could pop at any moment. Can you picture an obese salamander? Me either.

I’m unsure how this is all going to play out but I will never strike a bargain with a kid again.

Mother’s Day Sucks, So I’m Baking a Pie

If you lost your mom, grandmother, aunt or similarly mother figure this year, please know you’re not alone in the world on such a hard holiday. The days leading up to Mother’s Day, and the day itself, are not easy.

It’s hard to see the joy that surrounds everyone celebrating their mom and, well, here we are wishing for just another moment, another day, another year, or another century with ours. It feels very lonely as you observe the world celebrating all things “mom” and simply can no longer relate with these expressions of joy. Mother’s Day feels like a thousand pounds of bricks sitting on your chest. The day never gets easier as the years go on, but here are a few tips that help me deal with the heavy day.  

1.       Be gentle on yourself right now. If you need to have a moment to yourself and cry, do it. There is nothing that can or will ever replace her.

2.       Write her a letter. I know this sounds crazy, but spend some time telling her how you feel. Be open and honest. No one is going to read it except for you, so it is safe space to be in with such big emotions.

3.       Know that it’s okay to spend some time in wonderland. Wondering what she would look like now, what her quirks would be these days, advice she would have or silly inside joke you two would have keeps her memory alive.

4.       Use your support system. I know a lot of people who are motherless, and we spend the day remembering our moms together. There truly is strength in numbers.

5.       Find some joy. If you feel up to it, pull out some old pictures of her and just be in the moment. Share stories about her and keep her memory alive.

If you still have your Mom, cherish her. Call her more. Spend time with her because “Tomorrow is promised to no one”, as my Granny used to tell me.

I am always unsure exactly what feelings Mother’s Day will stir up, but I choose to take them as they come. Some moments I catch myself feeling sad and then something will change on that day I dread every year and it reminds me to focus on the immediate present.

So, in honor of my Granny and her family famous lemon meringue ice box pie, I am going to share her recipe with others. Life will hand us lemons like losing our moms, but today, I’m going to choose to make a pie (tip 5 coming in clutch).

Granny’s Family Famous Lemon Meringue Ice Box Pie

Ingredients:

·         2 cans sweetened condensed milk

·         2/3 cups lemon juice

·         4 egg yolks

·         1 tsp cream of tartar

·         2 graham cracker pie crusts

·         4 egg whites

·         4 tbs of sugar

1.       Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.

2.       Beat the egg whites and add in egg yolks gradually. Mix the eggs well with the sweetened condensed milk.

3.       Add in the lemon juice to the egg and sweetened condensed milk mixture.

4.       Pour the mixture into a pie crust.

Meringue

1.       Add the cream of tartar and sugar to egg whites. Beat until forever or at least until the egg white mixture holds a peak.

2.       Add the egg white mixture onto pie.

3.       Bake at 350 until the tops of meringue are brown.

Yields 2 pies – one to share and one for you. Refrigerate for a few hours and enjoy it to no end.

Thanks to NIN, I Accidently Discovered HEALTH

Ready to jump in the car and ride around with the windows down with the music as loud as your radio can handle and maybe just belt out song lyrics as loud as you can? Well, next time I hit that point, I know something I’m adding to my (ahem) “anger management” playlist. Shouting is good for the soul sometimes. Trust me on this.

The guilty party is “Isn’t Everyone”, which is a new single from HEALTH + Nine Inch Nails. Holy shit, where has this been all my life?

I’ve been a NIN fan since the Pretty days, but today, I discovered HEALTH. I felt like I was in an electronic fantasy time warp landing somewhere between witnessing a rave from a distance and an episode of Stranger Things, as I dove headfirst into their retention of New Order’s Blue Monday. This track appears alongside some other noteworthy solids on the “Atomic Blond” soundtrack, in case, like me, you’re oblivious to this.

They’ve also created noteworthy gaming soundtracks that include Max Payne 3 and a single used in Grand Theft Auto V. However, I missed both of these because I am not a gamer of the video kind.

I get really excited when I find a new (to me) band that stirs something dark and mysterious within. HEALTH didn’t just check that box, they teasingly sat me down me on a velvet couch, whispering something sultry into my ear that I didn’t quite catch. Instead of answering or repeating, their comeback is only a wicked laugh, leaving us only wanting more.

Look, I am probably really late to this party, but I’ve arrived, damn it.

I might have knocked on the door simply expecting NIN, but I am so glad that HEALTH was there to answer boldly this collaboration single. It was a pleasant surprise that I was not expecting from “today’s music.”

A New Game is Coming

Pack your bags, travelers, because it’s almost time to head back to Westeros. A prequel to Game of Thrones (GOT) is coming next year to an HBO Max near you.

“House of the Dragon” takes place 300 years prior to all the events that led up to all the houses facing off in Game of Thrones. Much like the title eludes, the new series revolves around the Targaryens. The cast and character announcements are sure to spark interest in this convoluted family linage that is almost as old as the iron throne.

“’House of the Dragon’ is merely the first Thrones spin-off series”, as mentioned by Nerdist. Hell yeah, Burn them all.

Maybe after is said and done, we might fully understand the debacle that season 8 of GOT left us holding the bag on. For starters, we had zero understanding of where the White Walkers came from and who actually was The Night King, anyway? We need more substance to this overarching storyline, but we will have to wait until all is revealed in the future.

Shame, Shame, Shame!

Do Not Do This in the Shower

Some of us are all for multitasking, but sometimes a line needs to be drawn. The “do not cross” threshold is when we step into a shower. Lifehacker recently encouraged us to “clean your bathtub while taking a shower” and it left me wondering, “Who are these people that do this?”

Getting a few minutes of downtime is a sanctuary. It is a quiet, uninterrupted moment where thoughts can just roam freely without any sort of commitment – like cleaning anything other than ourselves.

Can you fathom standing in the shower to clean it first and then yourself? The smells alone from cleaning products mixing with shampoo, conditioner and soap alone would send some of us into sensory overload with that sort of mash up going on. We will not be “So Fresh, So Clean” upon exit, but more like “Roses” and not the kind that grow from the ground.

Some things just need to stay separated. Keep your household duties away from the refuge of showering, please. No one needs that kind of undertaking.

The Annual ‘Cosmic Glitter’ Event Returns Tonight

If you were playing on a Nintendo Entertainment System, feeling devastated over the Challenger space shuttle tragedy, going to see Aliens one more time or hyped about the chance of seeing Halley’s Comet, you were a part of living history that many may not realize was left written amongst the stars.

The Eta Aquarids are a metor shower that arrives every May. The debris field left from the famous comet is actually tiny flecks left behind in outer space from its previous pathways forged around the sun. These meteoroids released into space are the fragments of a comet’s nucleus. Think of it as “cosmic glitter” or shiny space garbage”, as the debris is tiny and not much larger than a speck of sand.

Stargazers should look for the Eta Aquarids to reach its peak tonight and into the early morning hours on Wednesday. 

Viewers in the Southwest are slated for the best show, as the rest of the country and Canada are looking at unfavorable viewing conditions, thanks to the weather. The numbers of shooting stars tend to reach a maximum of about 10-30 per hour when conditions are clear and dark in a Southeastern direction, near the border of the Aquarius constellation.

Halley's Comet won't be directly visible again until 2061 (it appears once every 75 years), so there’s no use in waiting around for it to make another trip around the sun. Instead, look up into the sky late and realize that we are not the only ones on a journey through time and space that reside in this galaxy.

Is Your Kid Really ‘A Joy to Have in Class’? - Probably Not

Teachers, we’re not worthy for all that you do. In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, both our mugs and minds are lifted up in honor of you.

Life hasn’t been anything near normal for teachers, students or parents who continue to give and take classroom delivery at home(school). Everyone got a crash course in Zoom and Google Classroom and trying to stay on top of due dates, grade, grading and assignments is exhausting.

Here are some survival tips in getting through home(school) hell one day at a time until we all meet again next “year”.

·         Cancel any unnecessary parent teacher conferences. Seriously, it can wait. Let’s just get through this school year because we’re almost there.

·         Support your teachers by sending them a thank you email. A few kind gestures go a long way and might help turn that failing grade into a passing one. No promises, though.

·         Do the best you can with what you have. There will be times when your kid can’t attend the meeting because it conflicts with your work from home schedule, or an assignment got missed because the upload attempt didn’t work like you thought. Be easy on yourself and them.

·         The teachers miss the physical day to day interactions with the online students in their classrooms. Teachers chose this profession because they care about teaching fresh, young minds. They’re missing end of year hugs, graduation ceremonies, chaperoning, field trips, noisy lunchrooms and library books from online learners more than parents and students could ever know.

Thank a teacher this week because life would not be the same without them. They’ve put up with the little monsters all year and now we’re getting to see it firsthand that our kids are likely not actually “a joy to have in class” - like we assumed that they were before that first homeschool bell rang.

This Collab is Hot

Snacks aren’t just for kids and this new collaboration definitely has burning interest.

Hypebeast reports that “Pepperidge Farm’s Goldfish links up with Frank’s RedHot to create a limited-edition hot sauce-flavored cracker variety due to popular demand.” 35,000 hungry customers asked for this mash-up and the companies answered the request of the special edition. The law of supply and demand sure kicked this one into high gear.

The product is listed as having a May release but did find these available now. Lucky devil? Perhaps.

Who needs Animal Crackers when you can but these bad boys in your soup? Somebody better call Paris for product promotion because “That’s Hot”.  

This is the Worst Cologne Ever

Our sense of smell is the strongest of our senses to jogging our memories. We easily relate to the scent of something being lost in a momentary time warp and taking us back to a place and time many years ago. Most of these memories are pleasant, but when they are bad – they’re awful.

Like a lot of ladies who were young and remember the 90’s, the guy I was dating at that time was obsessed with Joop! Homme. I swear, this dude practically bathed himself in it and I should’ve known right then and there that this relationship wasn’t going anywhere, especially when he constantly reeked of heliotrope. It was very much akin to an old lady who cannot determine that not only does her perfume selection smell bad, it smells bad with her body chemistry. Just no.

To this day, if I catch a whiff of a stranger in passing who’s wearing that awful purple bottle of gag, I’ll stop, spin around and give them the stink eye. Don’t mind me, I just am on a flashback to the early 90’s and this train ride is putrid.

If you want an olfactory overload, this one’s for you. Guaranteed to deliver a sickening headache all around.

This cologne is described as an “Oriental unique fragrance” that was launched in 1989. Unique is not always something positive and this cologne can go wear it truly belongs for anyone who is still wearing it today – straight into the trash can. It’s awful. Just like country line dancing.

I am all for nostalgia, but some things need to just be left behind. It’s time to let the scent bombed clubbing days go – forever.

Preparing to Return to the Land of Fake Believe

Look, I’m just going to say it – I am not looking forward to “returning to normalcy.” Some of us have adapted to this quieter way of living and I feel like society is trying to drag us back into “What it was.” I am somewhere between a toddler throwing a fit and a loud sigh served with a slide of a big, fake smile. It’s not my happy place to say the least.

When the pandemic first happened, I was on Cloud 9. I was made for this – yoga pants became our dress code, binging Netflix or a good book series was hot, we made things. Who are these people who want it all to suddenly “go back to what it was”? It was broken. It was competitive. It was unforgiving.

What if this, this right here, is my normal? What about those of us who operate best at a distance? The world can be a scary place and I am not sure that I am ready to step into that big pile of stinky shit.

I’ve had the taste of freedom from what the normal offers and am both happy and comfortable here.

I’ve had a lot of time to ponder about these things, because isn’t that really all we’ve had after all this – time? Time to think about what’s really important and focus on the things that really matter? It isn’t status, sweetheart. It’s living life to it’s fullest. This solace is what fuels some of us, so give us grace as we struggle to return.

I’m not missing forced conversations that exhaust me from emotionally devoid people. “Nice weather today” at the watercooler is not my ideal interaction and I know that I am not alone.

Is anyone else feeling this sense of dread because of anxiety because we are being forced to march back into society at a pre-pandemic pace? It all feels so animated, and I just want to crawl under a rock and hide until other introverts can come along and can assure me safe passage back to the land of “fake believe.”   

Here’s Another Reason to Love Coffee - Your Brain Will Thank You

Another study just proved the magical stuff we need in the morning isn’t all just all a dream. The stuff we crave is good for our brains, regardless of what negative Nancy’s opinion of caffeine is. Pass me another cup because decaf is for quitters, anyway.

The study, conducted by the University of Minho School of Medicine in Portugal, explores the in-depth detail effect of drinking coffee and “highlights the improvements caffeine has of the motor control, the increase of the levels of attention and alertness, and also benefits in the learning and the memory.”

This explains why regular coffee drinkers feel so good after consuming it! Coffee really is the secret of living your best life.

The study went on to explain that “These differences in our brain, observed among those who drink coffee regularly, were also noticed in the group of people who do not drink coffee after consuming a cup of coffee.”

Coffee helps us to focus, learn and remember. Got it.

Keep the coffee coming and act like we didn’t already need yet another reason to love coffee even more than we already do.

Celebrate with a Face Hug Because It’s Alien Day

There is not much in this world (or other worlds) that is more protective than a “momma”. It’s Alien Day and the day to celebrate xenomorphs, facehuggers and all things that sprang from this franchise that includes six movies, numerous books and graphic novels, and games.

This day was chosen because 4/26  refers to the designation of the moon in the 1st Alien film: LV-426 is the name of the moon where the xenomorphs are discovered in the 1979 film by Ridley Scott. 

The movie franchise would likely not exist without of H.R. Giger. According to hrgiger.com, “Giger’s most famous book, Necronomicon, published in 1977, served as the visual inspiration for director Ridley Scott’s film Alien, Giger's first high-profile film assignment, which earned him the 1980 Oscar for the Best Achievement in Visual Effects for his designs of the film's title character, including all the stages of its lifecycle, plus the film’s the extraterrestrial environments.”

Giger’s imagination and talents changed our perceptions about extraterrestrial life forever.

commercial towing vehicle 'The Nostromo'

crew : seven

cargo : refinery processing 20,000,000 of mineral ore

course : return to earth

crew : expendable

Tonight is a Full Pink Supermoon

Tonight is just the beginning of a streak of delights for the skygazers, as we welcome the Pink Full Supermoon. If the full moon looks larger than life, it’s because the moon is within 10 percent of its perigee. Not to mention that the pink moon appears to rise against a backdrop phenomenon known as the “moon illusion”.

The moon won’t actually appear pink as it illuminates the sky. That was just the name bestowed to it by Native Americans because this moon appeared around the same time as the moss phlox wildflowers would bloom in North America.

It will appear orange and fade into white as it makes it nighttime trek beginning in the eastern horizon until resting in the west.

Look for the “pink” delight to be at its height around 11:30pm Eastern/8:30pm Pacific.

The Pink supermoon is one of three consecutive supermoons we are being served from the universe. Get your cameras ready! This one will be an event not to miss.