Angie World

Common sense, short to the point, self explanatory, one would think. Webster’s defines common sense this way: sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or the like; normal native intelligence.
Sound practical judgment. Sounds simple, should be simple, everyone should exhibit it, and however, not all people do exhibit common sense. Common sense tells us not to reveal incredibly personal information to perfect strangers. The internet has made it very easy for people to lose common sense. I firmly believe that people forget everything they say on the internet is accessible to anyone who cares to delve deep enough to find it.
I think sometimes people confuse common sense with common decency. Like the decent thing to do would be to call when you are going to be late, or when someone tells you something about someone else not telling everyone about that person. Common decency tells us to treat each other with respect. People seem to have lost that as well, people are more and more behaving in an uncivilized manner. I don’t know who to blame for this. Is it television the way some groups blame? Is it the internet as others are wont to cast stones at, or is it a break down of religious values?
Historically we see the break down of societies, the Roman Empire for example. There was a huge break down in societal niceties, ok, there was incest, pillaging, in a word Caligula, his name sums up a lot of brutality that led to the downfall of a great society. The French, the excesses of the monarchy are blamed for their downfall. One wonders if they were left with something better.
In today’s society I see where parents are allowing their children to run rampant, they are rude, and parents think it is cute. I am here to tell you it is not cute. Children have horrible table manners, they are rude to adults, and they are allowed to use inappropriate language. I see that in the mall. Parents just idly standing by.
Is this a lack of common sense or common decency? Is it the beginning of the end of a society as we know it? Will the desensitization of our youth result in a total breakdown of our world as we know it? Only time will tell.

Yesterday I received the best present EVER! Elizabeth Anne told me she reads me! Woohoo! She said she reads me to make sure I am not saying anything bad about her. However I choose to believe that she reads me because she loves her mommy. She has the prettiest mommy. I said that in a total creepy Bette Davis voice.
I cooked and cooked and cooked yesterday. I made a ham, dressing, green bean casserole, deviled eggs and strawberry shortcake. We ate so much of the other stuff we never got to the strawberry shortcake! It was just me, Elizabeth and Freddy, I know they probably felt a lot of pressure to eat all of that! I sent them home with a ton of leftovers. I might make 15 bean soup Saturday with the rest of the ham. That is my favorite soup.
Today’s entry will not be as long as yesterdays, I think used up all of my words in that post, today I am tired!
Happy Monday everyone!

Happy Easter everyone! Today being Easter Sunday it of course has made me nostalgic. Nostalgic for all of the great Oklahoma churches I grew up in. First on the list was Sunnydale Freewill Baptist Church, and yes the connection to Buffy is not lost on me. I remember that church, which is unusual because I went there from birth to the age of 5. But I remember singing in the children’s choir, I remember vacation bible school there, I remember going down to the basement for Sunday School class. Most of all when I think of Sunnydale Free Will Baptist Church, I just feel warmth and a sense of security. Next was the Blackwelder Free Will Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Brother DeArthur Yandale was the preacher, and yes I mean preacher. He was an old fashioned preacher, in almost every sense of the word. My grandmother adored him; he had practically grown up at her house, so she was very fond of him. I remember that church, it was small and accepting of anyone who walked across the threshold.
As much as I fondly remember those churches, the one that had the major influence on my life was the one in Owasso, The First Free Will Baptist Church of Owasso, Oklahoma. It was an amazing church, filled with love, acceptance and a cast of characters. It was a place that accepted you even when you made major mistakes. I should know, I committed a major sin and they still loved me. I am not ready to say what that was here, yet. But the cast of characters that influenced my life, those people I will never forget. From Sister Grace who taught my 9th grade Sunday School and who at the beginning of the new Sunday School year said, “Listen, I have to teach the curriculum, but you guys know this stuff inside and out. Is there anything you want to study in the bible?” OMG was that an open invitation to a nerd like me! Tammi slunk down in her seat; I know she was praying Sister Grace didn’t see my hand shoot up! However, since mine was the only one up, she saw. I wanted to study the book of Revelation. There I did it, I issued a challenge, and man, did she ever rise up to meet it. We would quickly go over the things we knew, and then she would bring out charts and tell us things that were truly amazing, and explain things in a way that I totally got. To this day, Revelation is my favorite book in the bible.
Brother Gail with his “like I said now, like I said”. He was good natured and jolly and always there with a kind word. Sister Caroline Hall, who taught my junior year of Sunday School, she worked at the Christian Book Store in Tulsa and she would bring me, books to read on other religions and denominations. She said in order to understand why we believe what we believe we had to study how other people believe. She also said that in order to share what we believe we had to be respectful of other people’s belief systems. How would anyone listen to you if you did not respect them? A lesson I learned well in my own household.
I remember the time I ran off one teacher, I was 13, he was young, in his early 20’s, really had no business teaching that age. Well in our class he said a word I had never heard, I asked him what that meant, he became flustered. Then defensive, of course I went in for the kill. I told him if he was embarrassed by a word then he had no business bringing it up and if a subject made him uncomfortable he should not be teaching it. He then screamed out the meaning of the word, bestiality. Well then the whole class started laughing. He quit right then and there. He complained to the deacons, which my dad was the head of. My dad, my dad, went to bat for me; he told them I was right. That man had no business teaching anything if he was going to be embarrassed about it. They all agreed and didn’t ask him to teach again.
The minister of that church is still there, they have changed their name as well to Rejoice Free Will Baptist Church, if you are ever in Owasso, please stop by. Brother Pirtle is an amazing minister; he has been there for over 30 years now. He just gets better and better. I know this because I pop in every once in a while.
And yes it was a place we all called each other brother and sister, I once asked my mom why we did that. She said that it was harder to speak in anger to someone when you are calling them brother or sister. Also, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, so why not acknowledge that fact when speaking to each other.
Happy Easter everyone, I hope today that everyone goes to a church like I used to go to in Owasso, Oklahoma. I have yet to find it in Texas.

I can’t decide what I want to do today. I really want to go see Clash of the Titans. I am a huge mythology fan and love bad movies about said mythologies. The first Clash of the Titans back in the ’80’s was so bad it was total greatness! So I really want to see this one, there is a 10:00 AM showing at a theater near me. I may just have to have my pot of coffee this morning get dressed and go!
As we all know I am a huge fan of facebook, I love catching up with people and keeping in touch with my friends, particularly the ones that do not live near me. This website is wonderful for that. I am also a huge fan of the time wasting activities on there, such as mafia wars and yoville. However, I limit myself to playing them in the early morning, while I am having my coffee. I can see sitting here for hours at a time playing them! It is way addictive and for someone like me with an addictive personality, well it is a challenge to limit my contact with said applications.
My shocking news on the wedding front is not the color of dress I will be wearing, I think people expect that from me. I really can’t say right now as we are beginning to work the part out that people will find a bit shocking.
Chewie is not happy with me, yesterday I was a cleaning fool and cleaned his bed, I took the cover off and washed it and aired the rest outside. Last night he took his usual 3 turns before lying down, and when he did lie down, wow, you would have thought his world ended. He sniffed, looked at me disdainfully, stood up and walked about 2 feet layed down and stared at the now offensive bed. I don’t think he slept on it all night. Maybe tonight will be better for him.
I think I have just about decided that it is a yes for the movie. I will let you know tomorrow what I decided for sure! Happy Saturday everyone!

Yesterday after work I stopped by New Flower, it is a smaller version of Whole Foods. I love that place, they have the best chicken salad, my mom made an amazing chicken salad and this one could give her a run for her money. Then it was catch up on Being Erica and a nap! Yes, a nap, as I had a Mary Kay meeting last night and knew I could not stay awake without a nap. And am I glad I made that decision, it was a great meeting. These women are just amazing. We have so many great things coming out, go to http://www.marykay.com/abarsi to see them all and order to your hearts delight!
Today is a total coffee day, first from my trusty new coffee maker that I am still enamored with and later Starbucks. I still have not recieved the promised coffee treat coupons in the mail. But oh well.
I have made some major decisions regarding the wedding which come will find shocking for me. I don’t really want to say anything yet, until the plans are firm, but it will still be fun, trust me.
I was very happy to see a new Bones last night. I love, love, love that show. It is one of a couple of shows that Elizabeth and I bond over. I love watching it with her and miss that since she moved 55 miles away from me! I still need to watch the new Grey’s Anatomy, Vampire Diaries, Private Practice and Flash Forward. Oh I still need to watch Lost from Tuesday! I almost forgot about that! I will have a lot to do this evening and tomorrow! I know you are all thinking I am a giant television addict, however, since I have already admitted that it is a moo point. Yes, moo, like a cow’s opinion, it doesn’t matter.
I am thinking about going back to red hair, I had red hair from the time I was 16 to about 2 and 1/2 years ago. I kinda miss it, but I kinda like being back to my natural color as well. hmmm, any thoughts?

So you’re tired and beat
And you’ve worked all week
And you need a place you can let it go.
Where the girls go wild
And the boys play hard
And you need a little more than just the radio.
Well here’s your open invitation
With just a couple regulations.
Gonna warn you son, only come to have fun
We don’t take kindly to serious.
So leave your troubles at the door
Unless you want some in here.

Welcome to my house, buckle up tight
Everybody sings and drinks, laughs & gets high.
To country music, a little soul, it’s a rock ‘n roll rodeo.
We don’t tolerate no sitting around
Everybody’s dancin’, groovin’ and getting on down.
So before you come in here with some kind of attitude
You better read the house rules.

Around eleven o’clock when the front door locks
And the boys start raising the bottle.
Where the girls do the thing with the Mardis Gras beads
And you know they’re gonna show ’em if they got ‘em.
And no matter what your story, a good time is mandatory.
Well rule number 7 says don’t touch the women
But they can grab whatever they want to.

Welcome to my house, buckle up tight
Everybody sings and drinks, laughs & gets high.
To country music, all little soul, it’s a rock’ n roll rodeo.
We don’t tolerate no sitting around
Everybody’s dancin’, groovin’ and getting on down.
So before you come in here with some kind of attitude
You better read the house rules.

No such thing as last call.
We pick ‘em up when they fall.
We share the same bathroom stall,
Says the sign on the wall. (1, 2, 3)

Welcome to my house, buckle up tight
Everybody sings and drinks, laughs & gets high.
To country music, all little soul, it’s a rock n roll rodeo.
We don’t tolerate no sitting around
Everybody’s dancin’, groovin’ and getting on down.
So before you come in here with some kind of attitude
Boy, before you come a walkin’ in here with any kind of attitude
You better read the house rules.

You better read the house rules.
(2, 3)

I know I wax on about coffee and how much I love it, but in all honesty, I only have it at home, in the mornings. The rest of the day, at work, I drink tea. My favorite tea right now is True Blueberry by Celestial Seasonings; it is like a desert, it is so amazingly good. For as many additives as I put in my coffee, cream, sweet and low and flavorings, I like my tea pure. I don’t add anything to it at all. The blueberry is so good, I also am enamored with pomegranate, if you add one blueberry tea bag to a pomegranate one, OMG, it is the best thing I have ever put in my mouth! It is like a party in your mouth! Try it, I promise you will not be disappointed. My next favorite is Passion by Tazo; there are only two places I have ever found it, Starbucks and Target. I was shocked to see it on the Target shelves, so if you find yourself in Target, look for it! It is worth the search. Fiancée says that I don’t drink real tea, yet, in over two years of dating he has never made me “real” tea. Is that a challenge you ask? Perhaps….
I went to the grocery store yesterday for the first time in quite a while as Alex can attest to. I bought an interesting looking salad, it s Santa Fe Style Chicken, we’ll see how it tastes. I am not a big fan of lettuce or dressing, I hate ranch dressing, the smell alone is disgusting. I love blue cheese and Caesar dressing. But ranch, yuck, maybe because it is mayonnaise based. I seriously hate mayonnaise, except in tuna, chicken or egg salad. There is a scene in Undercover Brother where he is just gobbing mayonnaise on a sandwich; I literally had to leave the room during that scene. It is so gross. I also hate the smell of Doritos and spaghetti O’s. I can’t even be in the same room with those foods.
Well those are my idiosyncrasies for the day. Anyone want to share theirs?

I just called Starbucks regarding previously posted response. The man I spoke with was well trained in the art of customer service, he not only appeased my self-righteous indignation, he managed to assure me that he would take care of the situation. I totally believe him and my faith is restored in Starbucks.

I received a response from Starbucks regarding the complaint I made, here is the response:

Thank you so much for taking the time to write to us. I am very sorry that your coffees were not enjoyable.

I want to assure you that I will be following up with the 75 & Campbell store and its management team in order to ensure that we are making these beverages correctly.

What I would like to do, is to invite you back to our stores to have a drink done right. We will mail you some beverage coupons so that your next drink will be on us.

Thanks again for giving us the opportunity to fix this situation. I assure you that we take feedback from our customers seriously and will use this as an opportunity to improve the experience for you.

If there are any questions or concerns that I have not been able to address, please don’t hesitate to call us at 800 23-LATTE (235-2883), we are here Monday through Friday from 5:00 AM to 6:00 PM (PST).

I am so angry, they never addressed the poor service! just talked about how my drinks were not enjoyable. Really??? AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHH!! I am going to call them to let them know how seriously not happy I am. Will keep you updated

I am a self admitted nerd; I love books, museums, classical music and science fiction. I admit I will read anything that is in front of me. That habit has gotten me into trouble before. Tammi can tell you all about that.
A lot of people confuse geeks with nerds, there is huge difference. Geeks are more technologically oriented whereas nerds are more word oriented. Of course there are crossover traits, the science fiction thing that is a total crossover. You cannot have a geek without sci-fi; however, you can have a nerd without that, so, wow, am I a geek or a nerd? I believe I am a full blown nerd with geek tendencies. I have a deep love of all things historical, and the written word, and television, love Star Trek over Star Wars and of course any television show with the word star in the title is right up my alley. I.E. Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, Battlestar Gallatica, Star Trek, Star Trek the Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek Enterprise, and so on and so on. I think you are getting the idea.
The real question is do pure Geeks exist? They do on television, on The Big Bang Theory all of those guys are pure geek with no nerd in the mix. I have not met anyone like that in real life, Jess is Geek with Nerd thrown in, my fiancée is more Geek than Jess, with some Nerd in the mix, most women I know have very little of either. I have the feeling I am an anomaly. I would love to hear from any women out there that feel they have the qualities of either or one of nerd or geek.
I fully admit my love of science fiction, history, literature, art, mythology, comic books, and the Superman lore is one of my favorites. If you have not read The Power of Myth or The Hero with a Thousand Faces I highly encourage you to pick up your copy of each and devour them! Joseph Campbell was an amazing man with thought provoking ideas. Just thinking about it makes me want to go and re-read the books.