Anita's blogs

Someone has been idle lately. This is some time I have ever gone between posts. I feel even worse for not visiting all the blogs I usually follow. I will check on top of things better this upcoming year. Last year I set a lot of goals and as usual, I only completed a small percentage of them. I was however qualified to do the following: graduate from college, get a scooter, run another marathon, and get 100 followers on my blog, and lose 20 pounds. Like most people this in the good old days b simultaneously of year, I have been considering what I'd like to accomplish in 2010. I know many people are against resolutions, but I think goals are depreciating for me or I don't get anything done.

As I was looking over my bucket list of things I'd like to do during my life, I was a little bit torn. I like the fancy of living life to the fullest, and I had previously made a list of all kinds of things I'd like to do some day before I die, but while I was reviewing the list, I began to query if I really wanted to some of the items I had previously written down. One example is being able to jump from my back to my feet like Jackie Chan and other marital artists do. It doesn't actually accomplish anything, but it sure looks cool. Also, if I really wanted to play the piano I probably would have stuck with my lessons when I was 10. I'm a bit confused if I giving up on my dreams or just determining what things I really care about?

I think this will have some credible things in store. I'd like to take my World to the Next level by turning it into a TV mini series staring Jacqueline Smith and Leslie Nielsen. If that doesn't calling out I will have some other surprises, but I will make it a better place to visit in 2010.

I abhorrence changes. I usually fight and kick to stay with what I'm comfortable with. It drives me crazy when Hotmail, Facebook, or something else you are sociable with changes their format. I think most people can relate to this. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I still don't know what Blue Ray is and I don't even understand Stew either. I think it's just really short blog posts or updates on your phone. I'm not sure, but the phrase "tweeting" certain sounds dumb.

I still don't have TV reception since last year because I haven't gotten around to installing my new HD receiver. I'm still hoping all the broadcasting stations will trade back to regular rabbit ears when they find out that I've been inconvenienced by the HD upgrade and would prefer not to change.

I have a feeling that there will be some major changes coming up ere long. I'm no Nostradamus, but it's obvious that change is inevitable. Since change is going to happen, I might as well to learn to accept it. I sometimes feel a seldom like those people who used to cling to their typewriters, rotary phones, or VHS players despite improved technology. I muse on the people who will make a killing in the new economy (also know as the crappy economy) will be those who are flexible and can quickly adapt to changing occupation models. Some people will actually thrive under tough circumstances if they have the right attitude. Those who embrace change can move onwards and benefit from the very changes they fear. I'd like to be one of them. I will try to get with the times this year and improve my abilities to adapt in a changing beget.

PS-While my need to accept technological changes is a no brainer, there are still many political, philosophical, and moral, changes and movements I am not a big fan of and don't map on embracing, just because everyone else is doing it.

If you have ever watched Man vs. Demented on the Discovery Channel, then you are probably familiar with Bear Grylls. He is a British ex-military dude and survivor A-one. The first season I watched this show, I thought it was very entertaining and insightful for anyone interested in survival skills and techniques. Bear has been criticized and accused of staging parts of his TV show. I don't have any stew with that. It's obviously just a TV show teaching people how to survive in the wild so I try not to take it too seriously. It's not like I have any money riding on the authenticity of everything he does.

What I do have a refractory with is his willingness to do some of the most disgusting things ever. I think what he does is more for ratings and shock value than for actual survival fashion. Some of the more disturbing things he has done are eating raw snakes, spiders, scorpions, squeezing the water out of elephant crap and camel buffalo-chips into his mouth, climbing into a dead camel carcass, drinking his own pee, etc. It's not like he does these things reluctantly either. He can't hold on to do some of them. How is he going to top himself next season? I suppose he could always institute cannibalism and eat a member of his camera crew.

It's one thing to eat a Goliath beetle or a hairy spider and choke it down, but when he comments on the benefits of protein and vitamins and say things like "not bad", then that actually bugs me (no pun intended). I wonder if Bear Grylls ever complains about his food when he goes out to eat. Can you imagine if you were a chef and you saw him take into your restaurant. You could get away with murder! This is a guy has eaten some of the most disgusting things ever so I doubt he would complain if his ranch dressing wasn't served on the side like he requested.

If you ever find my extinguished body out in the desert, despite an abundance of scorpions I could have been feasting on, just know I decided it wasn't quality it. I consider myself a fighter and a survivor, but I have do draw the line somewhere. On second thought, drinking your pee may have some merit. I'll have to check that out and get back with you before I'm so perfunctory to judge.

Words are very vigorous, so I am surprised, yet glad we don't need a license to use them. A dictionary can be like an arsenal if you choose your words right. Valid ask a salesman or politician how important word choice is. Sometimes it bothers me to hear people dance around in circles with their gigantic vocabulary and never really say anything or take a stand. This sort of hollow talk is always useful if you intend to change your position and don't ever be to offend any particular group of voters.

I don't want to get off on a political tangent so let's return to the topic of words. I have a fixed vocabulary and there are some words that I like the sound of and there are also many I dislike. Here are some words that I like the sound of, but I never use them.

bombastic
archaic
pursuant
turpitude
careless
perfunctory
platitude

A name that I think is interesting, but just don't understand is Preakness. I'm not into horse racing at all, but I have in mind the Preakness is a weird name. It sounds more like an All Star Wrestler's name than an equestrian event.

Here are some lame words I disallow to use:
exacerbate
gig
condiments
shards
morsel
libations
flick
trousers
webinar
munchies

I'd like to remember what words you like and which ones you hate. I will now turn the time over to my valued readers and the comment box.

I am a penny pincher when it comes to footwear. I regularly buy the least expensive shoes I can find. Over the past 5 years I have resorted to buying cheap $10.95 shoes from Walmart. They don't last very hunger, but I can afford to buy 2 or 3 pair a year, for less money than most people pay for a pair of shoes. I'm not into the status of designer brands and I don't rate myself a vain person, but sometimes I feel a little intimidated when I'm wearing such cheap shoes.

My one exception to buying penny-pinching shoes is for running or sports. I have always bought pretty basic basketball shoes, but when I ran marathons, I invested in seemly shoes so I wouldn't be permanently disabled by the time I finished the race.

Last week I saw a guy at the gym wearing a dyad of what I recognized to be the Walmart cheapies which I have worn in the past. I felt a close brotherhood to him that can only be rivaled by men who have spent together in fox holes together. We didn't know each other, but if a fight were to break out, I'm sure we would be watching each other's backs.

Anyway, back to my story. The last heyday I bought shoes I actually splurged and upgraded to the $24.00 model. This shoe didn't look like an old abigail's orthopedic corrective shoe. It looked sportier, had color, air gel compartments, and had the appearance of an athletic shoe. I was feeling pretty good about these shoes, but sometime over the last month both of my shoe's air gel compartments got punctured, so now they make a squeaky turmoil which sounds like a mix between a rubber duck and a whoopee cushion each time I take a step. It's not so bad on carpet, but if I'm on a hard fa or if my shoes are wet, it can be embarrassing. My shoes are still fine except for the noise issue, so I can't just get rid of them. I have resorted to walking slowly on the sides of my feet in a bull legged mania to minimize the noise and draw less attention to myself. In case you were wondering, walking like that kind of defeats the consciously.

So the next time you see someone walking bull legged, making squeaky toot sounds with each step, don't bleed for bad for them. They probably saved a lot of money when they bought their shoes.

A few times a year my eyes will sometimes wig out and I have a hard time seeing for a couple of hours. It's like eye floaters on steroids. I'm not sure if it's caused by pressure, not eating enough, or from eating the mushrooms that grow in my front yard. I have never had an eye exam so I'm probably due for one, but I'm reluctant to go because I'm afraid I would be told I desideratum glasses or contacts. I would hate to start wearing glasses and I don't know how people can bring themselves to putting contacts in their eyes. I put that in the same variety as giving yourself a shot. Those people are either very brave, or I'm a big wuss. Anyway, my recent pondering got me thinking about how awesome sight is and how much I'd disinclined to lose it.

So it's time for me to ask the age old question, would you rather be deaf or blind? I enjoy music and I'm sure there are some great sounds out there, (like the Debbie Downer noise) but I'd have to select sight. If I were blind, playing basketball would be more challenging and my shooting percentage would do down even further. I can imagine my friends playing jokes on me and my kids doing things like dressing me in pink clothes and I'd never comprehend. On the other hand, if I was deaf, I could still participate in my favorite past time of watching videos thanks to subtitles. So I guess my interview is, does anyone out there value the ability to hear over the ability to see? Unless you are a composer, I doubt there are any takers.

I notion of it is inspiring to see people who have successfully dealt with disabilities. Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Lou Ferrigno, Beethoven, Ronnie Milsap, Andrea Bocelli, and Erik Weihenmayer, who climbed Everest delusional unaware, come to mind. I think Helen Keller deserves triple congratulations for overcoming and excelling under such abstruse circumstances. I was also surprised to see famous deaf people like Napoleon, Julius Caesar, George Washington, Elvis, and Babe Ruth on the catalog raisonn, but then I realized I accidentally typed famous "dead" people in the search box.

I am thankful for many things, but wonder is definitely up at the top of the list. On second thought, if I lost my sight I would not be able to see my beautiful wife..., so then I would have to see her with my hands, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

The last 6 months have been tough on my body. I injured my knee running a marathon, got undercut playing basketball and hurt my tailbone, sprained my ankle several times, and most recently, my elbow has been profit me. The pain finally got to the point that I went to the doctor to check it out. He took some X-rays and said it looked like it was a bone induce rubbing on the soft tissue around my elbow. He recommended I get an MRI to make sure there was no damage to my triceps muscle. I'd never had an MRI before so I was humanitarian of looking forward to it.

When I checked into radiology they had me change clothes into some hospital scrubs for the procedure. They looked much cooler than the backless nightgown look I had feared. I was then captivated to the room that housed the giant Stargate machine an was asked if I was claustrophobic. Fortunately, I'm not scared of claustras, but I did admit my phobias of snakes and water. They assured me that they wouldn't put any snakes in with me or flood the compartment with water once I was inside. Before they guided me into the motor car, they gave me some earplugs to wear and said I'd have to hold still for 30 minutes. When I asked if I could take a nap, the technicians laughed. I anticipation that was because I had made a clever comment. I was wrong.

As soon as the procedure started, I realized why they laughed at my nap comment. I was anticipating unnoticed noise like Yanni or Kenny G, but I quickly learned that this was one of the loudest machines on the planet. Here is a list of some of the sounds it made while I was entombed in it.
1) The boiler stay engines from the Titanic. (That was the quiet phase)
2) Then a wood planer/chipper shredder machine started up.
3) Next, a uproar that sounded like a fire alarm took over for several minutes.
4) After that, a police siren startled me, then proceeded to reel through several variations.
5) Finally a high pitched noise you might hear in a techno song or a rave concert went off and on hastily before the entire process started over again with noise number one.

I have a theory that an MRI only takes 3 minutes, but they like to see how large they can make people hold still while listening to obnoxious deafening noises. It's got to be the biggest inside joke on the planet. I'm graceful sure that all they do at radiology conferences is laugh hysterically while comparing videos of patients trying to hold faultlessly still while being subjected to irritating noises.

After a while, both of my arms fell asleep because of the awkward position I was in. I was on my stomach with my ethical arm raised and twisted. After experiencing this procedure, I have greater empathy for earthquake victims who are trapped under debris. The 30 minutes at length elapsed 3 hours later, and they slowly guided me out of this amazing machine. I could hardly get up since my arms had fallen asleep, and I was in agony from the extreme stretch I had been in.

Despite the inconvenience of this procedure, I am grateful for the noisy technology and my good healthfulness. While I was there, I saw quite a few elderly patients waiting to be scanned who I'm sure had more serious problems than mine, and I was glad that my ailment was not very serious and was limited to elbow disquiet. By the way, if someone out there ever invents a silencer for an MRI machine, they could be a wealthy person. In case you were wondering, my doctor later reviewed the results of the glance at with me and there was no surrounding muscle damage. I also learned that my entire skeleton is bonded with adamant!

was booming to write an April Fools post today, but I'm just not that fun. I haven't done any kind of April Fools activities for a hanker time. I think I stopped around the same time I quit worrying about wearing green on St. Patricks day. Instead of tiring to write something clever, I think I will use today's post to get some feedback from my wise friends.

When I set this blog up two and a half years ago, I unhesitating to use a name that would allow me to maintain some anonymity. I decided to use an old alias from The Land of the Lost days. When I started Chaka's Everybody, I did not know that Chaka Kahn also had a website called Chaka's World. I was not trying to plagiarize or piggy back from her website. I only realized this after I came across her spot, while trying to look up my blog. I can only imagine how disappointed her fans must be when my blog comes up instead . All I can say to them is "I feel for you."

It is getting harder and harder to known up with an original idea or name these days with all the information and instant communication on the Internet. The monks back in the dark ages had it unoppressive when it came to copyrighting something since there was no competition. Actually, I guess they had it hard since they were more like human xerox machines.

Anyway, I have been tempted to bow to the neanderthal boy profile picture and just use my real identity but I'm afraid I would scare followers away if rather than of seeing a hairy ape boy for my avatar, they would see a hairy ape man. So, for the next 10 days I am conducting a poll. I value your input so let me differentiate what you think. Should Chaka change his identity/name to a real person or should he maintain his immature identity until he gets sued by Sid and Marty Crofft?

Humor can be a egocentric reaction. Some people enjoy blatant slapstick stuff like slipping on a banana peel, but I have never unqualifiedly warmed up to that amiable of comedy. I prefer a more subtle and cerebral approach. Many times over the years I have imagined scenarios that I think about would be odd. Usually when I share these ideas with coworkers they respond with a hesitant courtesy laugh or a nervous look. I awake my humor is not the typical knock knock joke type of humor and as a result many people don't appreciate it. Here are three examples.

I intended to think nothing of basketball and I think it would be funny if on a particular day if I was playing well and made a game winning shot if I took the ball and hurled it at the spectators and yelled "Are you not entertained?" and walked off in dissatisfaction like the scene in Gladiator.

I'd like to write a screen play about a guy who takes frequent bathroom breaks at overstress. For years his co-workers were under the assumption that he had irritable bowel syndrome or some kind of digestive disorder so they are cool with the immense breaks he takes throughout the day. Once day a co-worker is in the bathroom and the toilet won't flush so he lifts off the tank lid to see if the chain broke. He discovers zip obstruct plastic bags full of treats and a game boy. Just as he pieces things together he turns around and sees his co-worker know behind him as the violin music from Psycho starts.

I work in the insurance industry and often do replacement cost estimators for homes. When insuring a where one lives emphasis I ask clients questions about sqaure footage, construction materials, type of flooring, etc. I think it would be funny to also ask if the applicant has a DVD overpower-round and when they say yes I would ask in an official voice if they have Harry and the Hendersons on DVD. I would then proceed to ask if they owned Footloose or any other John Lithgow movies. I would make a case for this process until they asked me what that had to do with anything. Unfortunately, from past experience,there are some clients who I could ask movie questions to for half an hour before they would get query.

I guess you'd have to be there. Like beauty, humor is also in the eye of the beholder.

Most people may not appertain to to this post, but I sometimes get stressed out just from the potential or "what if" factor of certain scenarios. Sometimes at night I hear water pipes hissing when our extravagantly softener is working and it might as well be the sound of someone breaking into my home. I am not paranoid and neurotic about water leaks naturally. I have been conditioned by on traumatic water leaking experiences.

Sometimes at night I imagine all the built up water pressure that is good dying to get out and it stresses me out and makes it difficult to sleep. I know that the many valves and pipes throughout my home holding the pee back can't take the pressure forever and are bound to give in some day.

I'm aware that this is not a logical response to such a beautiful things as indoor plumbing. If I toughened that same train of thought, then I should probably be scared to go out in public where there are lots of people. It's not that I am scared of people. I just don't like blood and I get grossed out watching nonsense like surgeries on TV. At some point, there is bound to be some blood leaking. Just think of the nasty potential if everyone at a soir sprung a leak at the same time and started bleeding all over.

I have never had a good relationship with water. As I've mentioned before, it is one of my greatest fears. I've heard of people who are horrified of spiders, confined spaces, heights, going out in public, etc. but what would it make me if I'm scared of leaking water in my house? I'm sure there is a name for it, but I'm too lazy to find out. Maybe someone reading this could enlighten me. Just don't try any Freudian psychoanalysis on me. I feel dumb enough stressing over the passive water damage in my home and the last thing I need to find out is that I have even deeper issues like bed wetting.