The Mummer’s Parade is a New Year’s Day, Philadelphia tradition….and maybe it’s an acquired taste.  Somehow, all of that pageantry looks ‘normal’ if you’re from around here…  

Comments & Glitter Graphics for Myspace, Hi5, Orkut, Friendster

Hi all – I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. I’m oot and aboot, so I probably won’t be here to comment. Have at it!

Hi all – I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. I’m oot and aboot, so I probably won’t be here to comment. Have at it!

i happen to be undefeated as well….you just dont hear me getting all braggy about it…

😉

Loving Spoonful

What a day for a Daydream

Curved Air

Melinda (More or Less)

I am a little hesitant to make New Year’s resolutions. Can you tell? I am especially reluctant this year because it will likely be a tough year emotionally. Grandma is not doing well, my mother seems to think she is just basically running out of energy and has called me several times this year feeling at her wit’s end. I am planning on going home in January and my sense is that it won’t be a restful visit. My mother called today and said she thinks grandma is hanging on for my visit and after that she is very uncertain. Mom is not the overly dramatic type and interestingly, earlier this year she expressed to me that she was not ready for her to go and now she feels sad watching my grandma struggle so hard with fatigue and try so hard just to do routine things and is more ready to let her go. It doesn’t matter if your parents or grandparents are elderly and ill and running out of steam…. nobody entirely wants to let go. I am steeling myself for a sad visit.

A little sadness is good, I think. We spend so much time effort and energy into avoiding pain and sadness that when it hurts you perhaps it is more intense? Life is sad, that is the price we sometimes pay for living for being allowed to experience the wonders of the universe. Everything does not have a happy ending. Sometimes there are no clear cut resolutions and we don’t get that “closure” we seek probably because life and the universe is an endless wheel not a 30 minute sit com or an hour long family drama in which the main character just hug it out at the end. Packages are not always wrapped neatly in our world, we are not always as witty, articulate or as wise as we think we should be and loved ones who were once vibrant just lose that light. It is all at once so simple and very very complicated.

A few simple goals for myself this year. Get back on the exercise wagon, keep up with my housework in a more systemic way, learn to deal with my anger triggered by a few particular people at work who always seem to know how to get my inner goat, and accept that my grandma might just be ready to vacate the world soon whether we want her to or not.

What are your hopeful goals this year????

Remember…. hang out and chit chat but don’t rec pony party, when you are done here go read one of the excellent offerings on our recent and rec’d list.

Curling. Not this is not about the styling of hair.

A few words about Canada’s second favorite sport and also a hit in northern states where winter is long and there is ice around. If you live in a climate with endless winter you need to have a winter sport or activity. Your other option is not to go outside for several months, sit around, brood, and drink. Some people chose that option. They end up shooting somebody or needing a stint on a psych ward.

I favored hockey and cross country skiing. When I went to university our institution sat on several acres of undeveloped land owned by said institution. Several of us used to leave our gear in a near by student lounge. My cousin Chris who hails from  the gateway of northern Ontario, likes ice fishing and the ski-doo.

I am only a casual curling fan. I watch the big events and know a few of the top names.

Canadians love curling and they do pretty well at it at international events.

The biggest event tend to be the Brier Cup which is for the men, although women’s curling also gets good attendance and TV ratings. Curling events in Canada get huge television audiences.

It can resemble “bowling on ice” or tiddlywinks and is highly strategic.

Here are some instructions on how to deliver a rock….

Apparently about 2.5% of Canadians are actively involved in curling and a majority of them live in rural prairie areas. If you had ever been to a rural prairie area in the winter you would gain great understanding as to why it has appeal. There is fuck all else to do. Another interesting fact 20 percent of those in curling have a bachelors degree. Curling likely originated in Scotland and was made popular in Canada by immigrants.

A team is composed of four players and the captain is the “skip”, generally the skip is a good strategist. The first throws a stone down the ice. There are multiple strategies, generally the first few stones thrown act as guards. The first will sweep for the second, the second and first will sweep for the third and so on. The skip will advise his/her teammates on how to sweep and when to back off. Teams will compete by both trying to set up good blocking stones and to knock out an opposition stone while laying their own closest to the center of what looks like a target. So, you can’t win just by throwing hard. A game consists of eight “ends”, essentially each team has eight “turns.”

I have made it seem far less complicated than it actually is.

Another thing about curling. Although it has some colorful figures. Russ Howard was known for serious enthusiasm, shouting jumping, talking loudly, poor sportsmanship just doesn’t exist. It is considered embarrassing and tacky. Crowds don’t boo or hiss.

The Canadian Curling Association has a pretty extensive website if you want to know more.

So what is your winter-chase-the blues-away activity? Remember don’t rec pony party, hang out chit chat, and then go read some excellent offerings from our recent and rec’d list.

We were going to go to Alabama, but the weather looks to be rainy and my MIL won’t appreciate muddy dogs. Now I am forced to confront the horrors of neglected housework.

But here is a little something to contemplate to get your day started…

Remember, don’t rec pony party…. hang out chit chat and then go read some of the excellent offerings on our recent and rec’d list.

it is friday, right?  this week has been a blur….