October 2005

I got up this morning, baked some Sweet Potato Pies, went to the store, started a paper wad fight with my husband, read a little, sorted through e-mail, and now I find myself with time on my hands. Rarely does any good come from that.

I have something on my mind, too - so the “rarely any good” just upgraded to “dangerous”.

So, here I am with time on my hands and thoughts on my mind, and I’m looking to fill one and unload the other, so….

Have you ever noticed that when someone makes a colossal of themselves, they have a really big problem just saying, “I was a total . Please forgive me. I wasn’t myself.” This would tell the people who were on the front row of the “show” that the person is bigger than their mistake. They’d realize that the outburst doesn’t define the individual and that the chances of it happening again are pretty rare.

But out of times what happens, the person : I didn’t yell until he yelled, I did not say that!, But, she said…., etc, etc. They think that they can the picture differently if they just use enough .

Yet, what would happen if you poured paint on a jack ass? It just draws more attention to the jack ass.

Now I have to go find something else to get into.

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

The Chinese have a saying, “If a man plants melons he will reap melons; if he sows beans, he will reap beans.”

Said another way, good begets good while evil begets evil. Said another way, every action has a consequence. Said another way, if you sling -it around, -it will come back to you and smack you in the face! Bad deal.

Death, taxes, and life’s score card. It keeps books on us all, and in the end, we are all the sum total of our actions.

Have a ridiculously fun weekend and….

Make each moment count double,
~Joi
Hollywood Yesterday

For as long as I can remember, I’ve done at least one idiot thing each and every day. Extremely accident prone, I’ve wound up in the ER on the other side of the idiocy - like the time a wasp stung me twice on the eyelid because I thought laying in a bed of flowers would be cool. Wasn’t.

Sometimes I escape the ER but have to pay $$$ for the “lesson” - that would be a nod to my speeding tickets and other vehicular incidents, broken appliances….. Oooh, and there was the time I fed a cute little skunk and he paid us back by moving in underneath our house and raising a family. Our cats would go under the house and get sprayed almost daily - and, yes, the smell permeated through the whole house. Every day. All winter.

I got my lunacy out of the way early today, so I think the rest of the day may be safe.

My daughters and I were going to the library. I put on my favorite pink top (lovin’ pink), my Levi’s, did my hair, did the full make-up, smoothed on my new Shania lotion - it smells like Heaven must - and went on my merry sweet-smelling way.

We get to the library parking lot and I wonder why it is that I’m walking so funny. I look down pass the hot top and favorite jeans and there they are, big white fuzzy houseshoes. Gas is high and we were pressed for time, but I wasn’t about to miss out on fondling books. Even in white fuzzy footwear. So, in we went.

The library was really busy today. So my daily misstep and I were playing to a full house. Fortunately, taking a lot of falls in life teaches you how to land on your feet, sometimes without anyone even knowing you “slipped”. I limped around, leaving people to suspect that I had a broken toe or some sort of physical ailment (rather than mental) and COULDN”T wear regular shoes (rather than FORGOT).

I don’t know which is worst, the fact that I did it or the fact that when I told my husband about it on the phone, he wasn’t surprised. Not in the least. It was actually more of a “Oh, I was wondering when you’d do that.” type of reaction.

Well, if the houseshoe fits…

Make each moment count double,
~Joi
Get Cooking

Who couldn’t love Halloween? It’s all about fun and candy….two of my fav-o-rite things! I wish people who look for the evil in it would just stop looking for evil and start looking for fun. They’d be much happier, and infinitely funner to hang around with!!!

(Stepping off of soap box, even though she kinda likes the view)

Here’s a vampy wallpaper I made for my computer this morning - he was in the Halloween spirit and wanted to get dressed up, too. We thought we’d share, because that’s just the way we’re wired.

You know the drill, click the tnail for the larger image, then right click the larger one and choose set as background. Vampira should then rock your fantasies with her presence.

Make each fun moment count double,
~Joi
Hollywood Yesterday

After the unholy mess that went down during her last SNL gig, I was pretty nervous when I heard Ashlee was returning to the scene of the mime. To be precise, part of me wondered aloud if the girl did crack or if she was a calamity whore.

Apparently the answer is “neither”. She has grit and must be quite a little fighter. She positively sang her butt off and when she celebrated at the end, I felt really proud for her. I’m a sucker for jobs well done and, with 3 daughters, I have a soft spot for all young people.

There’s several lessons to be learned here. First of all, no matter how many shades of a fool you make of yourself - the trick is to get back out there and show that the blunder wasn’t the norm. I can imagine how nervous she must’ve been beforehand - she probably recited her lyrics like a million times. But she overcame her critics and her fear.

Lesson #2 comes from SNL, themselves. It’s a reminder that we should give people a second chance. Mistakes happen, and sometimes they’re danged ugly (the mistakes, not the people). Maybe we should look at it like this - the bigger the mess, the bigger the glory in the clean up.

Remember: U TURNS ARE ALLOWED ON THE ROAD OF LIFE!

Make each moment count double,
~Joi
Ashlee Simpson Unveiled

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” – Diane Ackerman

Maybe it’s that I am a goal-oriented person. Maybe it’s that I live for progress. Maybe I’m a forward-thinking, progressive-minded gal.

Or, maybe it just happens so danged rarely that it stands out in my day. That’s the one!

I have learned a lesson and I’m feeling pretty swell right now, Wally.

I spent the day out with two of my daughters. We did the shopping thing, the bookstore thing, the Taco Bell thing, the library thing, the pose around with the digital camera and make people stare thing. What can I say, life has an edge and we live on it, ba-by.

Basically, we left the house immediately after breakfast and didn’t get back until 2:00. So, when we came back in I had not worked any on the seven graphic art projects awaiting my attention, hadn’t touched any of my 12 websites, hadn’t yet blogged on any of the 10 blogs I tend to, hadn’t made my bed, hadn’t done any of the laundry (and there are 5 of us so there’s always a lot of laundry), hadn’t done the dishes, (*takes a deep breath*), hadn’t cleaned the bathrooms, hadn’t vacuumed, hadn’t even begun to plot and plan supper, and hadn’t gone through any of my e-mail.

A few months ago if I had walked into a house where every step told a unfinished story, I’d have freaked right out. I’ve learned, though, that things have a way of waiting for you. So, the bed wasn’t made? So, breakfast dishes were in the sink? So, none of the chores had been done yet? So, I’ll be up till 1:00 am at the computer?! Big whoop. I had a great day with two of the greatest gals in the world.

All the other stuff is just other stuff.

Make each moment count double,
~Joi

“Perhaps imagination is just intelligence having fun.”

I know I’m in the minority on this one - heck not even everyone in my own house agrees with me! But I like, no scratch that, I love it when athletes celebrate in the end zone, pump their fists, showboat, watch their homeruns, etc. I heard an announcer griping about a player watching his homerun sail out of the park one time. He kept going on about how it’d make the pitcher feel. I don’t know, but I think if I were the pitcher I’d be more concerned about my choice of pitch than anything else. Besides I don’t for a minute think these athletes are exactly on the same emotional scale as a 4 year old. I’m not thinking that their little bity feelings get hurt that easily. If anything, they get mad, and if they get mad they’ll step it up.

The excitement, passion, fun and energy are the best things about sports. I love to see athletes who get really excited and try to bring more fun and energy into their game. Personally, I really like the end zone antics. Yesterday, the Bengal who was doing CPR on the football made me spew my diet drink. It’s fun. It’s harmless. It’s creative. Move past it.

Athletes are made of flesh and blood. They train hard to be on top of their game. They also have a lot of team pride and excitement - if we, as fans, are jumping up and down in the living room, imagine how excited the players, themselves, have to be. They aren’t robots, why should they act like them, and an even bigger question is, why would anyone WANT them to?

Remember Joe Horn and the phone? Announcers were going after him with everything they had, for a long time they’d even snarl whenever they said his name. I kept thinking, Who in the world did he hurt? He was having fun playing a game.

Know what was, and is, priceless? The reporters and announcers who denounce this sort of thing do so on the basis that it “disrespects” the other players. Yet, they’re the same people shadowing the player’s every move, detailing every aspect of their lives, making accusations, shining spotlights on each and every mistake or error. And they’re making a living off it.

I know we can all agree on one thing, with the things going on around us right now, where each new news story tries to top the previous one - more fun is a good thing. I’m all for shanghaiing smiles and landing laughter whenever the opportunity presents itself! We never know what’ll be waiting for us tomorrow, so we need to enjoy every second of today.

Make each fun moment count double, then create some more!
~Joi
Hollywood Yesterday

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Make each moment count double,
~Joi
Hollywood Yesterday