Author: Angie World

Today I want to talk about politics. Well, no, no I don’t, what I want to talk about is the way this country has become divided down party lines. When do we get to go back to being Americans instead of Democrats or Republicans? That is the real question. I am not here to debate politics or party lines, in fact I doubt the majority of you can guess which political party I belong to or which way I vote in any given election. I will tell you this; I am registered as one party and rarely vote it. I know what you are wondering, why not switch parties then, well, the reason being is I don’t vote party, I vote conscious. I listen to all sides, make an informed decision and vote for what is best for my family. That is all one can do.
What I am so very tired of hearing is oooohh look at me, I’m a Democrat, I am so liberal, I believe that everyone is equal, then that person turns around and puts down Republicans. That is not liberal thinking. Then you have the Republicans, oohh look at me, I’m a Republican, I am so conservative, but we are all created equal, then they put down anyone who does not agree with them. Craziness!
Where did all of the really good political debaters go? I remember my dad and I used to have the best debates, not fights mind you, real debates, a meeting of the minds, and an exchanging of ideas without the other getting angry and throwing insults. That time is gone; the era is over for scholarly debates. I hate being screamed at. I will not debate with a person who feels the need to put me and my beliefs down due to the fact they can’t come up with anything intelligent to say, I will not debate with the person who has not read all information, and yes that includes reading the other persons information. You have to have a clear understanding of both sides in any election.
My big thing is if you don’t vote, don’t complain. You have no right to say how anything is ran if you yourself did not have a say in the end result.
And people stop putting others down just because they think differently than you. Try and understand where they are coming from, it doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, it just means that you respect their right to believe that way.

It’s Saturday and I have had a lot of coffee already. I have been up since 6:30, it was great getting an extra 3 hours of sleep! This day is going to be total greatness, I can feel it. Going to spend the day with fiancee, nothing planned, just hanging out.
I don’t have a lot of thoughts in my head today, so far I have watched Friday’s episode of All My Children, Merlin and Stargate Universe. I am really getting into Merlin, I love the whole King Arthur myth, I know, huge surprise. But the show has my favorite librarian, Anthony Stewart Head, and magic and knights and horses and a talking dragon. Seriously could it get any better?
Stargate Universe is also getting really good, I had my doubts after the less than stellar first season, but now, they are starting to show their writing and acting prowess. Next week Michael Shanks will be on, and, well, let’s just say he made the list. SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH don’t tell fiancee.
Must go finish getting dressed for the day, there is hints of rain, so I feel a curly hair day coming on! Everyone enjoy your Saturday!

Did you ever have a friend that never had anything positive to say? Well I have one. If everything in their world was perfect they would find something to complain about. A lot of times it is someone they work with, or a lot of people they work with. Or it is something else; it is one of the craziest things I have ever encountered. I am a normally positive person, 5 minutes with this person turns me into a raving lunatic. I can’t wait to get away so I can be positive again; when I try and show them the positive side of things they can twist it back to the negative! It is a gift, seriously, wow; I don’t know anyone else who can do that. I can only handle this particular friend in small doses as they drive me insane with the entire negative speak. Ok, am done, just had to get that down…..

I am currently reading a book about Abigail Adams, I love reading about strong women, and I love reading about our history. I remember when my children were learning about the Revolutionary War in school. I was horrified to learn that Thomas Paine was not mentioned at all. Not even as a side note. In my opinion he kept the masses interested in freedom. His pamphlets Common Sense were amazing. I think they should be mandatory reading. For those of you who are not familiar with Thomas Paine, Common Sense was published in 1776; it challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. The plain language that Paine used spoke to the common people of America and was the first work to openly ask for independence from Great Britain. It spoke to every person.
I grew up with a grandfather who talked about General Washington like he was our next door neighbor, it wasn’t until I went to school that I even knew that he had been our first president as well. I believe every person in this country should know our history. How can we effectively know where we are going if we do not know where we have been? We should know the good with the bad, the things we have done right as a country and the things that we have done horribly wrong. We should be aware when, we, as a country have tried to right those wrongs.
We all have a responsibility to teach our children about our past, don’t leave it up to the educators, they have a short amount of time to cram so much information into our children’s heads. I learned so much from my grandparents and my parents about the history of this country and our family’s role in it shaping it. There has been a member of my family in every war this country has ever fought in, from the first up to the current one. We have a deep history with this country, a vested interest in seeing it continue to be great. I hope I have instilled that within my own children.

I have been a single mother since 1993, so I feel that I can speak on this subject with some authority. When I got a divorce I made a very conscious decision that my children would come first in my life. You see they didn’t choose to be here, their father and I decided that they should be in this world. It was a responsibility that I took very seriously.
I had seen the new reports about child abuse and child killers, the majority of the time it was the mother’s boyfriend or the step-father that was the culprit. Now I am not saying all new boyfriends or step-fathers are bad, I am saying that I made a conscious decision to not take a chance that would happen.
I carefully vetted anyone who was going to be around my children, friends and family. I was always incredibly picky about the people that I exposed my children to. There are members of my family that my children will never meet, even as adults.
I resolved I would not be the mother who had the revolving door of men, having one in the front door while the last one was leaving out of the back. Metaphorically speaking, I seriously hope no one does that literally.
I wanted my house to be a safe haven for my children, they knew what they were coming home to every day, they never had to guess what or who would meet them at the door. I have to say I am happy that was the decision I made, to focus on being their mother.
Don’t get me wrong, I did go out with my friends, on the weekends they were with their dad. However, there wasn’t a lot of time for that normally, at one point I was working two jobs and going to school full time. Then when I wasn’t going to school, I had my full time job, my Mary Kay career, I taught Sunday School, and then there were the activities of the kids. That did not stop just because they were at their dad’s house. There were soccer games, football games, cheerleading, art classes, and dance classes, driving lessons, guitar lessons, band concerts and orchestra concerts. There is so much going on when you have children. I don’t know who has time to date!
I can’t second guess how I parented at this late date as they are all grown now; however, I do second guess myself all the time. I can only hope I made the right choice.

When did it become acceptable to wear cargo shorts to church? That is my burning question. The casualisation of America is in full swing. When did it happen? When did it become the norm for women to wear Day-Glo biking shorts to work? When did women think it was a good idea to wear sweat pants to a court house? Why do men think it is acceptable to wear items they would wear to a baseball game to church?
I am astounded by the lack of social graces everywhere I go these days. Before you say “oh one more old person bemoaning about young people and the way the dress”. I am the last of the baby boomer generation, born in 1964. I love clothes, fashion, dressing for the occasion and am saddened by the decay of social dressing. I am specifically aiming this at people my age and older, unfortunately the social norm now is to dress as dowdy and badly as possible.
Even business casual has taken on a whole new meaning. Gone are nicely pressed khaki’s, instead jeans with holes in them are the norm, and t-shirts. Gone are the days of nice slacks, button down shirts, ties and Italian shoes.
I miss the days that men wore suits to church and women wore dresses. Nice dresses, not horrible lavender, flowered, column dresses that went out of style as soon as they were “in”. I miss the days that women knew you did not wear hose with open toe, strappy sandals.
Where are the women and men who remember how to dress for every occasion? Where are you hiding? Several years ago I had to go to court with Elizabeth (not a juvenile delinquent, traffic court); she asked what she should wear. I told her to dress like she does on Sunday’s for church. She wore a nice skirt and blouse with nice shoes. When we went into the courthouse there were teens there with not so nice jeans, none dressed and the parents were wearing sweat pants (not juicy, wal-mart) and jeans (not Seven, wrangler). None were dressed for the occasion. My daughter was a little put out, she said “Mom, we are over dressed” I said “No, they are horribly underdressed.” It was then that I started noticing the horrible way people are dressing. At church that Sunday I saw a man in cargo shorts and his wife was in denim Capri’s. What upbringing told them this was ok? A house of worship is a sacred thing and we should show respect. We should dress for the occasion. In the workplace began noticing the 300 pound women in biking shorts, the one middle-aged woman who insists on wearing skirts so short that when she walks you see everything she has to offer. Who told her this was acceptable business wear? Before you ask, I work in an office for a major telecommunications company. Not in a small town, in a major, cosmopolitan city. A city that is known for fashion giants. If we are so fortunate to have the fashion giants in our city, why then do we not know how to dress?
How to rectify this horrendous situation? Well I do have a solution to the problem. Advertising and mandatory dress codes are a good start. Yes, there, I said it. Obviously when you leave mainstream America to there own devices they make horrendous fashion choices. They should be led; reading Vogue, W, and Lucky should be mandatory beginning in Middle School. Not only for the girls, but the boys should be included as well. The way men are dressing these days is also horrifying. There are the men who wear t-shirts with inappropriate logos in the office, men who wear jeans and cargo shorts to church. Men who wear sweat pants and pajama bottoms to the store, to work and sporting events. Men who show up for a date wearing gym shorts. Who does that you might ask? Or maybe you won’t ask that, because you know who does that. The question is who doesn’t do that. Well, the answer would be gay men. It seems that gay men are the only ones who know how to dress for the occasion. Just catch an episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I have noticed even when Carson Kressley takes one to task and takes him shopping, buys him the clothes, even puts the outfit together, inevitably the man messes up. Ignores Carson’s sage advice on fashion and wears what he thinks looks good. Ok, men, the women in your life would not have nominated you if you looked good to begin with. Stick with Carson’s advice. Watch a few episodes of What Not to Wear, The Look for Less, and the BBC version of What Not to Wear. I noticed even on the Look for Less recently a woman did not take the advice of Lloyd Boston and went back to her old New Jersey ways. A pity, because she looked amazing in “The” look and looked trashy in her regular way of dressing.
Why oh why do we have to be so stubborn? With a plethora of designers, magazines and television shows, why do we insist on doing it our own way? Is it the old American independence asserting itself? Are we trying still to break away from European traditions? What is it about us that we have to be different? And not in a good way. There are a lot of things about us that is good, the whole democratic thing, the way we have to urge to defend the defenseless, wanting to help the unfortunate, getting involved. These are good things to be different in. I am just asking that we look to our European counterparts for a little fashion flare. A cognitization of our not so distant past when dressing for dinner out was a given. Dress for dinner out with your partner, male, female, whichever it is. Put a little effort, when you go to the office, church, restaurant, the mall, the library, to your children’s school. Remember the rest of us have to look at you.

How much caffeine is too much? That is rhetorical. I have a theory, I believe that certain people have a high tolerance for caffeine, and yes, I know that in certain people it is known to cause cancer and a myriad of other problems. However, I believe, in my case, that it is my lifeblood. The other day someone tweeted that they had so much caffeine that their skin was buzzing. I thought that is the way I feel every day. I literally drink a pot of coffee every morning before I leave the house for work. Before everyone faints from shock, and yes I know that much coffee drinking is shocking, that is the only coffee I drink all day. Except for Friday, when I have my coffee treat from Starbucks.
My grandmother used to drink coffee all day long, she would put the most horrendous liquid sweetener in it and then drink it like that, no cream, no milk, nothing just that sweetener and the coffee. My grandfather used to tease her about it. She would make me milk coffee. I think she is the one that got me addicted! I think I might mention my grandmother lived to be 98. If I could put numbers in all caps I would totally put her age in all caps. She was vibrant and very much in her right mind up till the very end. I tend to believe it was all of the caffeine in her system. So, my theory is, I will live forever due to the caffeine. She lived on coffee and candy, and was a tiny little woman. Oh, brilliant idea! My new diet! Coffee and candy! Of course that would mean I would have to drink my coffee sans cream, which is totally not going to happen. Hmmm, maybe just coffee, I could drink coffee all day long, and not eat. Do you know I honestly don’t remember my grandmother eating anything but candy. I think Elizabeth inherited that trait, while I got the coffee trait. So, if the next time you see me and I am only eating candy and drinking coffee, you will know I am trying this diet.

It’s April, more importantly it’s almost the middle of April. That means the 4th month of the year is almost gone. Where is the time going? I don’t understand how it goes faster and faster. I don’t know how it is possible. When I was younger time seemed to stand still at times. I wish there were moments I could capture, bottle and keep forever. I know what you are thinking; photographs are the way to go. However, it is not always appropriate to stop whatever you are doing and photograph it.
This weekend, Tessa was with me, and these are the moments I wish I could bottle. She is so sweet and funny and so much fun to be with. She has become obsessed with race cars. Yes, race cars. I have Jeffrey and Alex’s old hot wheels cars and she loves them. She plays with Barbie dolls, Lincoln logs, legos, crayons and hot wheels. She runs the gamut of toydom. Also we had to watch the Aristocats no less than four times. I can almost sing the whole movie. Her father, Jeffrey, was obsessed with the Junglebook at her age. I can still sing those songs. Alex loved Pocahontas; Elizabeth loved The Beatles, The Yellow Submarine. And yes I can sing the songs from both of those movies as well.
I wish I could go back in time and watch those movies with my children again. I have the best kids to watch movies with; they don’t talk during the movie. We sit and watch, without commentary. It is disturbing to watch a television show or movie with someone who feels the need to talk during the whole thing. And yes, we know people like that. No matter how hard you stare at them or sigh and pause the movie or show they keep talking! You all know who you are….

Today I feel a deep sadness, Dixie Carter has left this earth. I loved Dixie Carter, her portrayal of Julia Sugerbaker was nothing short of brilliant. She took a character that could very easily been played as shrill and bitchy and made her warm and complicated. She gave life to a character that was outspoken, yet most of the time tempered with tact, she had grace and class. From the interviews I have seen featuring Dixie Carter the same could be said for her. She was only 70, that is young, especially considering her father lived to be 96. The family is not saying what she passed from, I hope she did not suffer.
There are few people I would want to suffer in their final moments, people who harm children, they can suffer. But then again if I got to pick who would suffer in their final moments, would someone else choose me? There is the quandary, so I will leave it up to God, I don’t want to be the decision maker on that subject!
It leaves the question, if I could be a decision maker on something big what would it be? I would ban Crocs. That would be my decision. Those are the ugliest things ever worn by a human being and they need to go to the landfill immediately! Now, today, if you own a pair give them to your dog for a chew toy, because that is all they are good for. People, fashion does not equal comfort! Buck up, suffer a little for your feet to look good!

As we all know I am a self-admitted television addict. Last night was the 100th episode of Bones. Now I am not going to talk about it right now because I can’t without giving spoilers and if anyone has it DVR’d and has not watched it, they will literally hunt me down like a dog! Just know that David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel knock it out of the ballpark. It was awesome. If you are not following Hart Hanson on twitter, start today, he is the creator of Bones and he totally rocks.
What I am going to talk about is Vampire Diaries. If you have not seen the episode, stop reading, spoiler alert!
Vampire Diaries feeds a part of me that has not been nourished since the Buffyverse created by Joss Whedon left this world. There are so many comparisons to Buffy/Angel and Vampire Diaries, now I know they are both set in the world where Vampires exist, however it goes deeper than that. Damon, wow, Damon, what can I say, I love a bad boy and Damon is shades of Angelus and Spike put together. Last night when Damon asked a homeowner if she had family, children a husband living with her, and she answered in the negative, when he did the careless motion of breaking her neck it was so reminiscent of Angelus doing the same to Jenny Calendar. The human that was there helping Damon rescue Stefan said “Hey!” Damon just looked at him and said “What? Get rid of the body.” It was greatness, something missing from television for a long time. Stefan being injured and Elena offering to let him feed on her to regain his strength was so shades of Buffy doing that for Angel when Faith shot him with the poison arrow.
There are no slayers on here, but there are humans who hunt Vampires, can we say Rogue Demon hunter? Wesley I miss you!
While the writing is not up to the standards set by Joss Whedon (there are few that can live up to the standards he has set in this genre) this show is really good and getting better. I don’t know where they are finding these young actors, but they have done an amazing job, there is not one on here that shows stiffness or awkwardness saying their lines. The teen angst and sincerity in which lines are delivered are nothing short of brilliance. Missing is the humor injected by Whedon in the Buffy world.
The one thing I take exception to is the way the Vamps who are killed die, they don’t turn to dust. Everyone knows when you stake a Vamp or chop their heads off, they turn to dust. On this show that is ignored, lack of special effects budget perhaps? I don’t know, but seeing all of the Vampire bodies strewn about last night was disturbing to say the least.
I don’t know when I started loving the whole Vampire lore, it is not a new thing, I remember when I was a kid back in Oklahoma City, and they showed all of the old black and white horror films on channel 4 every Saturday afternoon. I fell in love with the Wolfman, Frankenstein and Dracula, later when I was in elementary school; I rushed home from school to watch Dark Shadows. Barnabus was just the best!