Halloween 2013

I dressed up as Jane Roland from Naomi Novik's brilliant and altogether wonderful His Majesty's Dragon books. Obviously, obscure literary characters go with my job. Anyway, I was too old and brown of hair to be any other female in the series except perhaps Laurence's mother. Um...no?

So here's a list of guesses regarding my costume:

• Pirate
• Paul Revere
• Rush Revere
• George Washington
• Christopher Columbus
• Napoleon
• Colonial Soldier

The more one must explain a costume (or a joke) the less successful it is. Obviously, I expected questions and odd looks; however, I never expected people to be so certain that their guesses were right! OMG...it was pretty mind-bending. It was also pretty much awesome fun.

I already had the hat and pants and got the rest of the outfit from eBay and Goodwill, except the boots, which were on sale at TJ Maxx and will be worn again (and again...love). I walked over 11,000 steps in them with minimal pain, first time wear. Nice...neh? The jacket was a tight fit, but who knows? Maybe better next year?

Happy Halloween!

But they can't even drive!

I wanted to wait until after World Stroke Day to post this, otherwise I would have released the steam sooner.

So basically, one of my friends who likes to rib me about the geritocracy thing expressed doubt that people who couldn't even drive a car in many states, because of age restrictions, could lead a country.

As much as I hate the term ableist, that's kind of it in a nutshell right there. What abilities are absolutely necessary to be a good leader? I believe common sense, natural intelligence, compassion, a deep well of life-experience, and a calm demeanor are among the most important qualities. I see no reason why matters of body or health should interfere with matters of mind or soul.

Do any of our sitting presidents drive themselves anyway???

I would much rather have a president that can't stand up than one who won't stand up, if you know what I mean.

That's all academic, I know, but it really bothered me how inane of a qualification that is. And not because I didn't learn to drive until I was almost eighteen.

Annie at home

World Stroke Day - October 29th

Yes, I know that's tomorrow, but what's the point of blogging on the day, if you really want people to do or think about something? Isn't that a little late?

So here's the thing, someone I love very much, a friend, had a stroke about ten years ago, long before I met him. Having a stroke cost him a lot, including his profession, but from what I understand and can see for myself, he made a pretty terrific recovery. He was pretty young when it happened - think early fifties here. Nevertheless, unless someone knows what to look for or asks the right questions, they would never guess what had happened. I think it would be disrespectful to the long process he's gone through to achieve this level of recovery to call him lucky, but in some ways, yes, he is one of the lucky ones.

Some statistics:

1 in 6 people will have a stroke in their lifetime. (http://www.worldstrokecampaign.org)

Number of adults who ever had a stroke: 6.2 million (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/stroke.htm)

Cause of death rank: 4 (multiple sources)

Stroke was the second most frequent cause of death worldwide in 2008. (World Health Organization)

In the United States stroke is a leading cause of disability. (Wikipedia; article)

Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. Every four minutes, someone dies of stroke. (http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_stroke.htm)


So in the time I've spent writing this post, at least 30 people have had a stroke and 5 have died.

If I see my friend this week, I fully intend to hug him, which will no doubt be the most awkward thing I do for quite some time, and tell him how grateful I am for his recovery and his life.

I seldom make recommendations regarding individual action, although I have no problem trying to rewrite society in general to suit my fancy, but in this instance, I urge all of you to learn the warning signs of a stroke and to educate yourself about prevention.

Thank you.

Psycholinguistics redefined

Psycholinguistics is actually the study of language from the psychological perspective. But I think a secondary definition should exist. It should read as follows:

Psycholinguistics [noun] speech or language that when used is guaranteed to make the listener go psychotic. See also fighting-words.

For me, several phrases pop into mind:

Who told you that you could _________?
Well, don't you think that ...
Who let you (do) ____________?
A reasonable person could only believe/think...

These push my buttons. I am an adult by many standard definitions. The idea that I require permission for any of the mundane activities of life or am required to think as the speaker (any speaker) dictates is repugnant to me in the extreme. The notion that I can be manipulated to change word, thought, or deed by use of these petty, brow-beating phrases is as insulting as it is absurd.

For example, from this evening, no one told me that I could tuck my jeans into my boots. I chose to tuck my jeans into my boots because I felt the jeans were slightly short and because tucking-in showed the good-looking boots to better effect.

For less recent example, a few years ago a baby-doc (that is, a doctor under the age of 35) expressed the following sentiment upon learning that my ob/gyn had provided me with my first Mirena IUD:

He let you get an IUD?

Strong emphasis on the let, moderate emphasis on the you.

So basically what I heard: I can't believe a doctor actually gave a dumb slut like you such a valuable medical device.

I wish my comeback had been more authoritative, but I was unaccustomed to that kind of tone from a medical professional. I think I feebly informed her that I had asked her for it and he had taken my request under consideration. Like I said, quite feeble.

For a more pervasive example, I have a work-related acquaintance who begins perhaps one-third of every sentence she speaks with a passive-aggressive variation on don't-you-think... I absolutely loathe that. The haughty tone is just the bonus plan. Like she cannot even conceive that this world may in some dark and shabby corner contain a thought that disagrees with the one she is about to suddenly and shrilly vomit into the room. I have terrific blood pressure. And yet, I literally feel the blood in my arms SMASH against the artery walls every time she does this.

So that's psycholinguistics for me. Tongue-in-cheek, you know. I bet a word already exists to describe the phenomenon. Shoot me a comment if you know it.

Another food experiment

Although I hesitate to use the word food to describe this stuff.

Back in the day, I used to have dinner once a week with my dad and afterward, I would have these mega-carb cravings of absolute epic proportions. I cannot describe how bad they were, and they always started about fifteen minutes after the meal, which was generally healthy stuff in responsible portions.

So on the way home, I would bolt into the gas station and spent all my change on snack cakes of various composition. Then I would speed home, drag the black bag up to my office, and gorge myself on the snacks...always wanting more after I finished. Scary.

So I guess we know what I did yesterday.

And, yes, the pattern holds. Even with gas station Little Debbie snacks, there is a definite limit. For me, it was three chocolate cupcake packs, one Swiss roll pack, and two Zebra cakes. I would have vomited if I had eaten another single bite. So that's about 1350 calories of really low-qualities 'baked' goods.

Unlike with the donuts and cake experiments, I felt like crap the rest of the day. Fuzzy, slow, bloated, unwell. My appetite still hasn't really come back. I am not a scientist, but I think those things have much higher levels of toxic elements than fresh-made donuts or grocery store freezer-cake.

To try and make it up to my body, I had fish and vegetables for dinner last night. Today, I hope to move around a bit more and eat some more veggies and no-sugar vitamin water-type drinks, in addition to my usual healthy eating.

But, yeah, my desire for the desserts ran out long before they did. Again. I think it's pretty safe to say at this point that I am most def not the bottomless pit I always feared I was.

Grocery adventures

I don't do the majority of the grocery shopping for my household. My partner a) has more time, b) does most of the cooking, c) is extremely picky, but not very cost conscious, and d) can more easily pay money for food to his liking.

But every second Friday, I have the day off, thanks to working every other weekend. Nice schedule. I use these Fridays to run errands, including buying groceries. Most of what I buy are essentials, things I like, and bargains that my partner would eschew on principle.

I shop a lot of stores to balance quality with cost-effectiveness. I optimize my route. Don't worry, environment people, don't worry.

So today's adventure involved a small, eclectic grocery store. Okay...an Aldi's, if you must know.

I noticed a crowd or badly organized queue at one of the cold cases and decided to see what the fuss was about. After a few moments waiting, I discovered the answer. Duck! Yes, they had frozen duck at Aldi's. And people were going nuts over it. I got the second to last one!

Cost-wise, I think I got a very good deal, as long as the thing turns out to be edible. All right...I paid $13.27 for a whole frozen bird. I've looked at other stores and have never been able to justify the cost, but that seemed manageable. I hope it will be thawed and ready to go in the oven for dinner Sunday night.

If all goes well...maybe pictures.

Still, I have never seen that kind of frenzy at a store, except at Walmarts on Black Friday.