The Family

I got some signals mixed up. Every time Christina having a blog is mentioned, Christina says something like, “oh i am just ranting about work,” or “it’ nothing.”

I want to read Christina’s blog. I really do… but i also want to give her her privacy, and what i pick up from Christina’s reaction to my reading her blog, is “I would really rather you not go there… it is not really written for you, but i can’t exactly say that because i don’t want to hurt your feelings and, after all, it is right out there in cyberspace for all to see.” So when I have started to go to her blog, I think… well… I know that i can….. but i do not want to intrude. Everyone needs privacy. As i said a couple of posts ago, if i were to put a blog online i do not think i would tell my brothers and sisters. It is not that i do not want to share with them as much as it is that I would like to be selective about what i share with who. It does not matter what my motives are… It only matters that if i wrote a blog, it would not be “to” them. It would be “for” me. I would want to be completely honest. Being completely honest can hurt feelings. Being completely honest can set those who love you on a rescue mission too, if they think you are on a wrong road.

So, i have always chosen to not read.
Today i……. well, frankly, it is not fair that Ramona can read her blog all the time and i can’t, and i have been TOLD that i can… so, by George, i am going to. If i run across anything I think Christina would rather i not read, then i will stop and not mention it. I make this deal with myself.

And i find, in Christina’s blog, exactly Christina. The honesty that one finds in a blog is so much of what attracts me to them… some of them, anyway. I find her worrying about things that bother her and ranting about things that make her mad. I read about her finding her place in the world and finding where her place is definately not….
Actually i found nothing in the blog that i did not already know…. it is just that as i sat here and read the whole thing, it became more and more obvious that Christina had been saying, “You don’t have to read my blog… i don’t want to make you feel obligated…” or perhaps, simply, “I am embarassed that we are talking about this.”   And i misunderstood.
Christina…… I thoroughly enjoyed your blog……..

Here’s a can of worms that people are going to just love having around.  I introduce to you Zillow.com

Now you can happily go, enter an address, and find out just what houses in that area have been going for.  Isn’t that nice?  Now anyone can get an idea of what your home is worth!

It is sooooo good to come here and find so many messages to read and respond to!

I wish my family would use the White family board.

The other day, I went to the White family board and left a message for about the 4th time without anyone else having left a message… I wanted to say things that would be better left unsaid if anybody were to come to the board and read it. I really wanted to say those things! I was frustrated. I thought, “If I had my own blog I could vent all I wanted” (and chances are nobody would ever read it because i do not think i would tell anybody about my blog.) 🙂 So i bought a domain name. thecornerofmylivingroom.com. I still like it. It is where i am when i am on the computer and it has the flavor i wanted. (Sooo many names like that were already taken.)

Whether to set up a blog for myself is there in the back of my mind now. Even though i have done nothing with it, it is cool to have my own domain name. Right now the decisions i am cogitating over are whether to do it, and whether to host it with the whitefamily site (as an add-on domain) or to buy my own space. Chris, how hard is it to move a blog with contents?

Having a blog has always appealed to me. You know how much i love to talk and lecture and give people the benefit of my wisdom. 🙂

I like the “make a post” link in the sidebar.

Well, I think I have a problem… a real problem…. And i suspect Penelope.

Yesterday i went to the sewing room and found a cat pile. It was a little dried out so i did not know for sure when it was made, and i could not remember for sure if the door to that room had been closed. It could have been that one of the cats got shut up back there when the urge struck. I know that nobody has been shut up back there so long that they could not have held it but i gave the benefit of the doubt, cleaned it up, and saturated the area thoroghly with enzyme stuff.

Today there was another pile near where i found the first one. I know, this time, that the door has not been closed. I cleaned it and saturated the spot, but i cannot ignore it this time. I have a problem.

I suspect Penelope because she seems to be the one most likely to not like sharing a dirt box, but it could be ano of them. I am watching.

I can’t ignore this. I thought maybe i should put a dirt box back there, even though i do not want to. Then i thought that if i do and the problem is that i have a cat who does not like to use the community bathroom, it would not do any good. All 3 would be delighted to find an new place to poop.

I could keep the door to that room closed (though closing it is going to mean telling Luke why) but if the offender is not wanting to use the public pathroom, she (or he) will just start going somewhere else. I am being very careful to keep the dirt box outside clean, but it has been clean for the last few weeks. ( I have sometimes neglected it till it was pretty lumpy.) sigh……… Do you have any suggestions?

OK. So we all know that I am really particularly bad at remembering people’s names.

Getting this telescope. Very Very Exciting. And from a new local start up astronomy business, and that is also very very exciting. Kevin talks to the owner a lot in deciding which to get. The man’s name is Kendall. I work and work and work at remembering this, because I know I’ll need to ask a lot of questions myself, and it is much more friendly if you know the guy’s name.

I practice mneumonics. I write it down over and over. I use every memory trick in the book. I have a friend with the same name, and that helps. I eventually, many months, come to a point where I can remember his name in less than a minute of concentration. I can think of his name, and then call. I’m feeling pretty good about this.

Day comes. We go pick up the new telescope. His daughter is there with him, she is introduced, -whoosh- goes here name out of my head. His daughter brought their young cat with them, soft beautiful calico about 6 to 8 months old. Pet and play and generally have a wonderful time. Kevin is also there, so we do manage to leave eventually, and remember to take the telescope.

Run into some problems with assembly. Call -Kendall- (I know his name, see) and ask if he’ll be in on Saturday. Yes, he says, and his daughter will be in the shop, too (daughter is under 10, very young girl). Oh, I say excitedly, and you can bring Patches!

I then start laughing internally. In two, three weeks time, I haven’t thought of this cat. I had to push and pull and trick myself into remembering the person’s name (and couldn’t tell you his daughter’s name) with months of effort. One meeting, three weeks later, and the cat’s name is right there. No recall trouble whatsoever.

Methinks my trouble with people names is that perhaps I really am not paying that much attention to people. Not deliberately, you understand. But .. well … I knew the cat’s name. I like cats….

Just got a “funny” email…   Says “You know that summer is near when the girls start showing off their belly buttons,” followed by a picture of a very fat woman sitting on a park bench with her knees splayed out, and her belly hanging between them so badly that her belly button shows under the hem of her skirt.
My first reaction was shock and horror of a belly so droopy that it hangs down between her legs.  My second reaction was feeling sick for her…  She looks like she tries…   her dress is a cheery pink print; she is well groomed….   she cares what she looks like.  I KNOW she has no idea that her belly is showing.  She is just sitting on a park bench minding her own business (and unintentionally grossing out anyone who sees her).  Can you imagine how much it hurts her to have her picture plastered all over the WWW?  You know that people who know her will see it (have seen it) and many of them will laugh and some will tell her, and some will titter when she walks past.  She will feel like everyone has seen it……    I know how i would feel.  I would hurt…  and want to never be seen again.