It's A Random Day

It's snowing for the first time since a few weeks before Christmas. And I'm pissed because there are once again no batteries in our digital camera, and none to be found anywhere (at least, in any of the dozen or so logical places that one might search for them). My annoyance this morning brings to mind other annoyances that crawl under my skin and yank on the dangling nerves of my anal retentive self. So I figure, why not air them here, and spare the people I love the nuisance.

Things that make me want to bleed, in no particular order.

~The battery thing (already covered)-- oh, and as I type, the message: Please replace your mouse battery! just flashed across my screen. Yay!

~My husband spilling stuff on the counter & not wiping it up. Now, it wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that the things he drips and drops on the counter have a tendency to congeal and then convert to something akin to glue, i.e. A-1 steak sauce (or marinade), Nestle Quik mix (the liquid kind), and ketchup, to name a few.

~People who call for money and don't know how to cut to the chase. Getting information out of the latest batch of telemarketers in the last few days has been literally like pulling teeth. I mean, I've got a squawking husband, a crying child, and barking dogs in the background. Would it kill you to get to the fucking point?! These folks make it easy to just hang up on them. *assholes*

Let's move on from minor annoyance to straight out clusterfuck.

The power is out due to an ice storm in south central Michigan, which means that our house, which is for all intents and purposes, unoccupied, is affected. I only found out about it because the alarm company called us early this morning to tell us that the battery to the alarm is now dead (which essentially creates a panic alarm signal at the alarm center). We're over four hours away, and my husband decided to remember that the last time he made a trip up there (over a month ago), he might have forgotten to turn off the water. And the well pump. And did I mention that it's snowing over most of the northern part of Ohio, covering pretty much the bulk of the route up to Jackson County, Michigan?

I wish I knew how long it took for pipes to freeze. And a house to be ultimately destroyed. We've got nothing but fire insurance on that motherfucker, too, now, since all of our valuables were removed this summer. Nothing like losing $150,000 house due to poor planning and that bitch, Mother Nature.

But hey, at least I still have my health. Right?!

They're All Gonna Laugh At You

I recently took part in a little musical project put forth from the creative spark that is Ze Frank (who else?). The wonderful vblog wizard wrote a song for his intro to 03 Jan episode of the show, and invited viewers to download the background accompaniment and write their own versions or remix it in whatever way they saw fit.

As a hardcore fan and daily viewer, I've yet to really take part in any of ze's projects. Never tried to make an earth sandwich, never dressed up my vacuum cleaner, never remixed a song for Ray. I've been hanging around the forum, though, for well nigh on six months time, and I was yearning to carve a few notches in my woefully unblemished fifteen minutes of fame stick.

It took me over a week. Armed with a free shareware music editing program called audacity, and a $20 chat mic from Logitech, I made a contribution to the fun winter gallery. Consequently, the wizard patted my head.

Which is getting bigger by the moment. Compliments abounded from fellow sports racers for my effort to get out the brain crack.

Despite the boon of feeling like Sally Field (you like me, you really like me!) I am, in the back of my reptile brain, waiting for the bucket of big blood (they're all gonna laugh at you -- is it Piper Laurie I hear in my head, or Adam Sandler?!). At the very least, I soon expect my third grade nemesis, Timothy Rogan, to pop out from behind a corner and viciously retort, "Psych!"

Which leads me to the inevitable question: am I still so dysfunctionally insecure and lacking in confidence at almost 37 years old that I can't take a compliment?!

I like your outfit.

What, this old thing? I found it at the back of my closet. It's so old.

It's this insidious frame of mind that continues to permeate my subconscious. Positive commentary gets flipped around. I fear reprisal for being less than humble, but really it's just a lack of self-worth that short circuits my ability to accept things with grace.

Speaking of grace, I think part of my attitude stems from the humility I've been taught was essential to being an obedient Christian. But somehow I doubt that God would want me to be mealy-mouthed and outright disrespectful of others. And that's really what it comes down to: when we dodge a compliment, we're essentially throwing it back in the face of our admirers. And that really sucks.

So I have a new New Year's resolution. Take the good will of others with a humble heart, but don't invalidate their praise.

Happy New Year!

http://www.zefrank.com/ny05/