Four Things

Graphic courtesy of Sesame Street


Several of you have forwarded me an e-mail over the recent weeks entitled "4 things about me." In it, you've told me four things about yourself that I may or may not have known. Since I so enjoyed learning new things about those of you who sent me this e-mail, I thought it might make for a good blog entry if I were to post a few of my responses. Plus, the number 4 has had great significance to me ever since a wise sage (redundant?) once told Doc. B and me that four is the number of "wholeness." It’s the east, west, north and south of a compass. It’s the fire, water, air and earth of the elements. It's the four phases of the moon. There are four letters in the number 4. And there are four states of matter (solid, liquid, gas and plasma) – that last one is for Doc. B.

Okay, I know, get on with the blog. Oh, but wait, here are the biggies: In September of this year I will turn 44 and less than two months later, our country will elect the 44th president of the United States. Perhaps I should have waited until 4/4/08 (Kali’s b-day) to post this? Well, now that I look at the date, I'd say 2/24/08 works quite nicely!

As always, feel free to post a comment or send me your own four things!

Four jobs I’ve had in my life:
1. Cashier at McDonald's (my very first "real" job with a pay check and my first contributions to Social Security).
2. Counselor at a 21 day in-patient Drug/Alcohol treatment center (should have been a patient!).
3. PEACH Program Supervisor ("Positive Employment and Community Help" - catchy name, eh?).
4. Food Kiosk Supervisor at the Georgia Dome during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

Four movies I’ve watched more than once:
1. The Wizard of Oz - "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too."
2. Pulp Fiction - "Hamburgers. The corner-stone of any nutritious breakfast."
3. Sleepless in Seattle - "A ho, A ho, my dad's been captured by a ho!"
4. Pecker - "Full of Grace."

Four places I’ve lived:
1. Ann Arbor, Michigan (where my very first basketball team, coached by my dad, went winless during the 5th grade season).
2. Wayzata, Minnesota (where I had my first and only fist fight with Cole Lindberg as his mother cheered him on from their back porch deck).
3. Washington, D.C. (corner of 18th and R at the International Student House).
4. Norcross, Georgia (where the house I lived in was used in the filming of a 1984 B horror movie called "Mutant", yes, you can rent it from NetFlix!).

Four TV Shows I Watch Regularly:
1. House.
2. The L Word (from NetFlix because we’re too cheap to pay for the movie channel it’s on – Showtime).
3. Grey's Anatomy.
4. Anything on HGTV.

Four Books that have changed my life (not necessarily because I personally have read them):
1. Our Bodies Ourselves.
2. The Bible.
3. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
4. Diet For a New America.

Four Musical Groups/Artists That I enjoy:
1. Seal.
2. Everything but the Girl.
3. Celine Dion (Yes, really – she’s the greatest singer in the world!).
4. Shawn Mullins.

Four Places I've been:
1. Toronto (many times before the age of 21, not so much thereafter).
2. The Virgin Islands (thanks mom and dad – this was for science credit while I was at Michigan State University).
3. The Adirondack Mountains in upstate NY (where mom’s parents had the coolest camp on Stoner Lake).
4. Amsterdam (My first big trip with Doc. B. about ten years ago).

Four people who email me regularly:
1. Doc. B.
2. My family.
3. Mindspring Spam Blocker.
4. Hillary Clinton, oh, and now Chelsea too.

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pizza with extra cheese and green olives, with a Sweetwater 420 of course.
2. Universal Joint's buffalo chicken quesadilla, with a
Sweetwater 420 of course.
3. Mom’s tater tot casserole, that I'm certain would go quite well with a Sweetwater 420.
4. Anything Doc. B. cooks, with a glass of wine of course.

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. On Rachel's massage table.
2. Reading a good book on a lounge chair by the ocean.
3. In the love pit watching The Oscars with Doc. B. (I'll be doing that later this evening!)
4. Sitting by a roaring (contained) fire with a glass of wine (I did that earlier today!)


Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Hilton Head in April
2. A newly-elected democratic POTUS
3. A yoga trip to Guatemala in May - details to come!!
4. Petting Maddie into her 20th year.

Valentine's Day

Some of my friends (and you know who you are) view Valentine's day as just another Hallmark Holiday, one that promotes the sale of cards, flowers and expensive - reservations only - meals. One of the local radio stations even sponsors a "Bitter Ball" for all those people who are single and hate being around happy couples on this particular night of the year. It's almost as bad as being single at a New Year’s Eve party - no one to smooch at the stroke of midnight. Unless of course you're at home with your dog.

As much as I enjoy celebrating Valentine's Day, it does bring back a number of kid fears. Who do you give a card to? Who's going to give you one? What if no one gives you a card? What if someone thinks you really like them just because you give them a card? It's no wonder I'm a worrier. Yes, I have issues.

Doc. B. and I did the "cards, flowers and expensive meals" thing for the first year (maybe the second?) and then we mutually decided it was a pain in the butt. We now still acknowledge the day, but it's toned down. There's perhaps a homemade card, some peanut M&M's, and our tradition of going out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. You never have to wait for a table, let alone make reservations, when you're dining out for Chinese on Valentine's Day. This year we went to Pyng Ho for an early dinner and then came home to watch a NetFlix movie ("Fur" with Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey, Jr.).

The meal at Pyng Ho was good, as it is every time we go there. Doc. B. always picks us out something unusual and it comes out nicely done. A meal at Pyng Ho is not necessarily anything special, but it's consistently good and is more than just your typical Americanized Chinese food. But the fun part about Pyng Ho is that it's very easy to eavesdrop on other people's dinner conversations. And Valentine's Day didn't disappoint.

We were seated in a booth behind two elderly women; I'm guessing one was in her late 70's and the other was easily well into her 80's. I was bummed at first because I thought they might speak too quietly for me to overhear any enjoyable tidbits. But I soon learned that at least one of them was hard of hearing. Their voices carried so well, they could have been Aimee Mann's grandmothers.

There were several jewels I gathered while Doc. B's eyes rolled in my general direction. At first it was how these women were talking about their difficulty "logging in" to the Emory University e-mail system. I couldn't believe how computer literate they were. Then they moved on to complimenting each other's (very gray and brittle) hair.

But the best one liner of the evening almost made me fall out of our booth hunched over with laughter. It was when the younger one said to the older one:

"I love your nails that length; the salon did a great job on the color too. But I think you might want to go a little bit shorter next time - you don't want people thinking you're a crackhead. You know some people use their long fingernails to snort drugs."

The younger one said it so matter of factly that I'm not sure the older one knew what to make of the comment. I couldn't see their faces so I imagined the older one smiling and nodding, as if to say, "yeah, you're right," like she fully understood what the younger one meant. Like she'd actually been a crackhead back in the day.

I can only hope I'm as hip when I'm their age. Because that's certainly not how I typically use the word "crack" or "hip" when I'm discussing elderly women - "cracked hip," yes. "Crack" and "Hip," no.

Hope you each spent V-day in the way that pleased you most!

Super Twos-day Finally Arrives!

We are certainly down to Two Super candidates right now! No Dad, I don't mean John McCain and Mitt Romney :)

I’ve been torn about the vote tomorrow and had no idea it would be this difficult. It wasn’t until John Edwards dropped out and we had the opportunity to see Hillary and Barack "debate" that I finalized my decision. Can it even be called a "debate?" They were so nice to each other I didn’t know whether to well up with tears or stick my fingers down my throat. When Barack pulled out Hillary’s chair for her at the onset, I knew I was in for a treat. I quickly knew that I would actually get to hear from them about their respective plans rather than listen to them bicker.

And that’s what I got – no bashing each other and a good discussion of what they stand for. I think I finally understand the differences between the two and I will be very happy with either candidate as our next president.

But what’s emerging for me now is a bit of personal history. Right now, I can’t shake the feelings associated with the very first time I could vote in a presidential election. It was 1984 and I was a 20 year old senior at Michigan State University. I had just completed a four month internship with the National Association of Social Workers in Washington, D.C. and was all hyped up on our political process and the little baby democrat that I was becoming. I was initially all set to vote for Gary Hart – but then he had to withdraw from the race because he was accused of having an affair (of course in hindsight we now know that you can still be one of the best presidents of all time despite that). After he dropped out, I wasn’t sure who would get my first ever vote.

Then Walter Mondale picked Geraldine Ferraro to be his running mate. The two of them made an appearance on our university campus and I was mesmerized by their campaign speeches. I couldn’t believe I was going to get to cast my vote for a woman…and I did. Sadly, the team of Regan and Bush ate Mondale and Ferraro for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. I think they even washed them down with after-dinner drinks. It was probably the biggest landslide in history (I’ll have to check that out to see if it’s true - so don’t quote me on that!).

And worse than that loss is that fact that my very first presidential election was to be number one of five times I would find myself casting a vote against a Bush.

I just knew that if there was ever a woman candidate again in my lifetime, she would get serious consideration and likely get my vote. Shoot, back then, I even thought I might give my vote to a republican woman. I don’t know if I could ever really do that now that I’ve lived the life I’ve lived and watched the republicans do the things they’ve done.

I’m more than disappointed that it’s taken 24 years for another woman to even have a shot at being on the presidential ticket. So, since the candidates are generally equal (in my opinion), the vote goes to the woman. Let the matriarchy begin and let her offer the VP job to Barack. Even if he declines, that could get Hillary some extra credit points for at least trying to give the Democrats what we all really want - the dream team.

SIDE NOTE: If Barack does win the nomination, I feel certain he won’t pick Hillary as his running mate. There will be no dream team. But maybe he’ll pick Geraldine Ferraro? After all, she’s only 72, just a year older than John McCain.