This morning, I turned on Good Morning America and as they were rambling on about the economy, I saw the ticker at the bottom of the screen, "George Carlin dies at age 71 from heart failure." (Or at least it was something close to that. I mostly remember my giant gasp from that moment of my life and not so much the words I was reading.)

I first saw George Carlin during an SNL special in which they replayed his baseball vs. football routine. Wow, I thought, I wonder how it must feel to be so smart and so funny at the same time.

I then saw him in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (another cult classic in my book), and I instantly thought, wow, I wondered how it must feel like to be that cool. (I was anything but cool.)

In 1992 I came across George Carlin Jammin' in New York on HBO. I ran to my VCR, popped in a tape, and hit the record button. I watched the entire show while trying to catch my breath from laughing. I had never before seen somebody who could use such obscene language in such an articulate and intelligent way. And the things that he said... brilliant. When it was over, I hit rewind and played it again, and again, and again. I memorized the entire show. It made so much sense to me in so many ways. It was a major part of shaping my opinions about the world. (The government is filled with prick wavers (damn Republicans). George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Colon Powell suspiciously have names that when put together result in sexual innuendo. And the planet really is fine, but the people are screwed.) I've been reciting bits from that show for years.

After that, I became a Carlin fanatic. I watched all of his shows, read his books, religiously followed his interviews, and fantasized about what it would be like to have George as my friend. How cool would that be to call him up on the phone, invite him to a BBQ, and have him show up? Then I could just spend hours listening to his witty words of wisdom. (Yes, that's the kind of thing I fantasize about. No half-naked men or women in my daydreams. No million dollar yachts. Just give me some interesting people to talk to and laugh with, and I'm a happy gal.)

So unless we get to meet someday in that giant electron, I fear that my dreams of meeting George and having a witty, laughter-filled conversation with him are over. And meanwhile, the world has lost one of its most brilliant citizens.

So this morning, as I drink my soy chai tea latte, I'm making a toast to big George. Cheers man! I'll miss you.

Labels: Inspiring People I Admire

I've been quite stressed out lately. Half of it is hormonal. Part of it is health related. Some of it is frustration with my weight and my ever growing to-do list. But there's also a huge part of it that is due to frustration with other people.

Lately, I've been dealing with people who try to push their responsibilities on me because they're so incredibly selfish, self-centered, and disrespectful toward everyone else. I swear such people gravitate to me, mistaking an occasional helping hand as volunteering for full-time servitude. I don't mind helping people who are in a bind (I love to help people), but I certainly am not going to be treated like an unpaid assistant, nanny, chef, or counselor.

I just say "no" to such people and go on with my life. "No, I will not wake up at 6 am to babysit your child so you can have an affair. And no, I won't do it at any other time of day either." "No, I will not put my life on hold and take over the work on your projects, your household duties, and your parenting responsibilities during the next two weeks so you can go on vacation at a moment's notice." "No, I will not give you money so you can buy drugs, and I certainly don't believe that the money is to pay for your kids whom aren't even living with you."

It's easy to say "no" to people who ask for a favor. I'm fully aware of my boundaries, and I enforce them diligently. But I'm finding that some of these people are avoiding the "no" by simply not asking at all. What do you do when they leave their hungry kids on your front porch and drive away? What do you do when they walk in your house without your knowledge of it and do who-knows-what? What do you do when they volunteer you for projects that essential to the functioning of an organization that helps people? What do you do when they open accounts in your name?

In many cases, I could easily file a police report and press charges. But in some cases, pressing charges would actually make things worse for children and other people in need.

For now, the best thing I can do is assert myself, tell them that I will not stand for their behavior, and, if necessary, cut them out of my life. I hate cutting people off, but sometimes it's the healthiest thing to do for everyone.

Labels: My Life

During the last several weeks, I cut my hand and had to have stitches, broke the kitchen faucet (a $200 oops) and wasted a day trying to fix it, adopted a new cat, worked on training the new cat, invested in a super soaker to squirt my cats whenever they start fighting, watched my daughter graduate from kindergarten, had an OCD breakdown, started a new OCD therapy session, took a "break" from my weight loss efforts (back to focusing on maintenance) and beat myself up every day for it, cared for sick kids, got sick myself, got better, tried out a new fancy-schmancy restaurant, bought a new bike (yay, it's bike season again), watched my husband teach my daughter to ride a two-wheeler, went camping, took the family to see a bunch of cannons fired (Memorial Day) at a WWII fort, took the kids to buy Father's Day gifts, cleaned the house, watched the house get messed up again within moments of the cleaning (repeat, repeat, repeat, debate letting my kids grow up in a messy house), took on some new website design customers, signed up for a new volunteer position, and contemplated the meaning of life... again

I'm pooped!

As soon as I recharge from dealing with the real world, I'll start being more cyber-productive again, I'm sure.

Labels: My Life

One of our beloved cats died a couple of years ago, and since then his brother has been rather lonely whenever we leave the house. We have cat sitters and house sitters who hang out with him every day when we're on vacation or overnight trips, but he still certainly seems to miss snuggling up with his dear old brother. So we decided that we would get another cat to keep him company when we're not home.

Yesterday we adopted a 6-year-old kitty, an indoor big guy from the county animal shelter, and brought him home. He's one of the most mellow cats I've ever met. At the shelter, other cats would hiss, and he would just walk on by as if they weren't even there. He immediately sat on our laps and began to snuggle with us. And he didn't even hesitate to come out of his pet carrier and march around our bedroom as if he owned the place. This guy seems very comfortable in the face of change (I'm sure I could learn something from him).

The problem, though, is that our new kitty is quite eager to march around the rest of the house, too. He can't, of course, because our resident kitty is not interested in sharing his house yet (it can take weeks or even months for cats to accept each other and get friendly, argh). So last night, he sat meowing at the bedroom door, begging to get out. This lasted pretty much the entire night. I barely had any sleep, and when I did manage to drift off into dreamland, I kept having nightmares about fighting cats.

I hate fighting. Anger and aggression are two things I prefer to avoid at all costs, even when it comes to cats. So I'm now exhausted and stressed out by OCD thoughts of my cats fighting with each other, and I'm quickly recognizing that I'm subconsciously searching for a compulsion to turn off the intrusive thoughts. (I'm really getting tired of OCD.)

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that our feline companions will learn to like each other. I know it will take time, but I'm so impatient. At least I can rest a bit easier knowing that we've helped save another pet from homelessness.

(Go find your own pet to save at http://www.petfinder.com)

Labels: My Life