All the Little Pieces

I never liked Reese's Pieces.  Ever since I saw them in E.T., though, I wanted to have some.  It's a silly little thing--marketing and branding in movies and television; and yet, it works.  Just last week, after watching an episode of Warehouse 13--the final episode--I had an urge to have some Jolly Ranchers.  And yes, I went and got some Jolly Ranchers.  Still, Eureka's partnership with Degree, while pretty amusing and awesome, never quite sold me on Degree antiperspirant.  Maybe I'm just hardwired for foods-only advertising.

So where am I going with this?

A Sad Farwell

There is something peculiar about mourning someone you have never known--being sad that their voice is gone from a world in which you've never really heard it, only imagined it in your heart as tears roll down your cheeks while reading words that they wrote.  It happened some time ago with Anne McCaffrey for me, and today I find myself crying for the death of Maya Angelou.

Good Weekend, Happy Monday

Today at 3 p.m. people everywhere will take a moment to honor our fallen--those men and women who sacrificed their lives for this country to ensure our freedom and our nation's continuing existence.  I hope that each of you will take that one minute to do the same, and then maybe take the minute after that to be thankful for all that we have today because of their sacrifice and their courage.  You may not agree with the wars or the fighting; you may not even have supported what they believed in, but the fact that someone was willing to give their life for others is worthy of remembrance.  So please, remember them today in your thoughts at 3 p.m.

Memorial Day Weekend

While we're out enjoying the weekend, I thought it would be best to remember why we call it Memorial Day weekend--a time to honor those who have sacrificed their lives in order to preserve our country and the freedoms we enjoy.  The "celebration" started yesterday with the placing of the flags at Arlington National Cemetery--and in cemeteries around the nation.  The flags are placed in a specific way called "flags in", and I think it mete that I quote the tradition from the ANC's own website here:

Dreaming the Day Away

I had to head out this morning to get some dental work done, and since I got back, I just haven't really been able to settle on much of anything to write for today's blog.  I did try, but every story just seemed to slip past me--like it really wasn't all that important--not something I needed to make sure that other people saw and read.

So instead of something informative today, ...you just get a song and some unicorns.

Hope the rest of your week is a good one, and enjoy a little dream or two in the meantime.

Taking Care of Business

So today I woke up and knew that it was time to get some of that spring cleaning done that's been sitting around staring me in the face.  The best part, though, is that I am no longer sicker than a dog with a cold, so that might actually be possible.  So with a few things checked off my list for today, I figured it was time to put on the music and get my butt in gear with today's blog.

Friday Melt

So this past Wednesday evening, John and I headed off to a Lindsey Stirling concert--me with my cold head and all.  I was feeling a lot better, but I still can't smell anything, and everything tastes like cardboard (FUN!).  But, the concert was a lot of fun--even though a lot of the people there didn't seem to realize they should be "rocking out" to the music.  And I could go on a rant about people and their cell phones and trying to record things, but I'll leave it at this: I think it's terrible.  How can you enjoy and experience a concert when you're holding up your phone, blocking people's views, and trying not to move?  It seems antithetical to me to the whole idea of "going to a concert".

There.  I'm done.

It Feels Like Summer

So the start of this week ended up with me having a flu/cold.  I'm not even sure how I've gotten over this so quick save that tonight we are headed to a Lindsey Stirling concert, and I didn't want to be a zombie during it.  Maybe that was part of it, or else it was the juice, water, and drugs that have helped me over the edge to the other side of "less sick", but hopefully this will be gone by next week--fingers crossed.

A Half-Seen Image

I've been reading a lot of books lately--more than I have in a while.  I don't know if I'm just trying to fill a void place inside of me with "something to do" or if I really have an interest in the things I'm reading.  I suppose it's somewhere in between.  Today's post will likely reflect a bit of Gibson's Pattern Recognition--the way its disjoints don't really seem to matter so much with all the details that are too many to grasp entirely.  That said, I'm pretty sure that what we read shapes our understanding of life; it puts into perspective pieces of a puzzle that, even though it's called fiction, hold these tidbits of reality for us to glimpse--however small or fleeting.

For me, the process seems more like book devouring than reading--trying to inhale culture, though I couldn't say to what end.  Am I looking for something?  Or are the words just a salve for a creative wound that I can't seem to find a way to heal?  Whatever the case, the books have made things bearable lately--a place where my imagination can hide while my reality swirls along around me in colors that I'm not sure I like--too lazy to pick up the pieces when what I want isn't what I have.

Are We Shadows?

We Are

Shadows...

Draping the world in a formless gray
Of rain-cloud stories that promise
Storms--the cold and heat swirling
Until they collide, twisting the
Hearts and minds of the people

Into darkness.

She beckons:
"Come inside, and take a look,"
The drapes parting to show a glimpse
Of a hell that man has made
With lies--false words
That can never be taken back;
Apologies are too late.

And some speculate...

That they were spoken with intent--
Truth was known but overlooked
For greed, or thoughtless cruelty;
How could it not be known?--after all....
Believing the worst--choosing to fear--
It's easier than wading through
The arguments--trying to find

Common ground.

"It's complicated."
It always is; there's nothing simple
Any more; it's a web,
And the spider's waiting--
Just waiting until we become
So wrapped up in intricacies
That its work is done for it.
It only needs to tend to the broken threads.

And so... shadows--

The places we neglect,
The places we can no longer see
Because it's easier to shine the light
On ourselves--to become blind,
Willingly, so that we might seem

Beautiful

In our futile struggle.

-- Argentrose  May 9, 2014

Your Heart in It

Lately I've been doing a lot of reading on the internet; one of the main reasons that I do so is so that I can find interesting articles to share with you.  But the other reason that I try to read so much is so that I can try to understand what is considered good writing--and what isn't.

I often find myself frustrated with a lot of the news articles or blogging articles that I read--articles that are given views not because they are good articles, but because people are more than willing to overlook the mistakes hoping that they'll gain something useful by doing so.

Cinco de Mayo -- Celebrating Earth and Its Many Cultures

Friday Play List

You might be noticing a trend--that on Fridays, I like to link videos here.  Sometimes words just don't cut it; though sometimes, bad videos can make an experience ten times worse.  Looking at some of the recent NASA uploads with regard to their Humans to Mars project, I have to say that I'm actually kind of disappointed with how uninspiring they are.  I feel like I'm back in my 1980's science class watching one of those ridiculously boring learning videos in which there will be a quiz afterward.

The most interesting part of that is that while I'm watching them, I can see the enthusiasm of NASA's Charles Bolden, but that sentiment doesn't carry over into the framing of the video.  It's like he's saying, "This is going to be the most awesome human achievement ever!"  And then I get four more minutes of a late-night infomercial that doesn't have any of that Billy Mays excitement.  I'm not looking for something extraordinary, but I do wish NASA would step out of the 80's with their videos and actually join us in the 21st century.