karenf773's blog

Channelling the Jeffersons?

2009-02-05T19:42:33-06:00

As in George & Weezie. Not a former Head of State.
Moving on...up. Sort of. At least I want to.

Yes, I'm on another kick, this one has been brewing for a while, but after reading The Idiot Girl and The Flaming Tantrum of Death (I downloaded FREE to my Kindle-- and loved it like I love Chelsea Handler) I'm back on my desire to move somewhere, anywhere else that has a different vibe and feel to it. I'm thinking Oregon, thanks to author Laurie Notaro.

Perhaps its the winter doldrums of everything being gray and dead outside, but I am yearning for GREEN. I'm happiest in early spring when the garden is becoming lush and alive, and the summer heat hasn't come along and scorched all my precious plants. The season of rebirth becomes My rebirth, and I'm feeling a little too close to Sheol right now. (For those not in the know-- Sheol is the Ancient Mesopotamic religious belief in the afterlife as a steamy pit in the underworld where everybody, bad and good, went to spend eternity munching on dirt and sucking mud. Thank my religion professor for that little tidbit!)

Anyway, I doubt I will ever go there, much less move to Oregon, the geographical diversity has intrigued me for long enough that I shan't consider it a passing fancy. I shall investigate. Who knows, maybe twenty years from now when I finally get my bach. degree and I'm scouting for a decent grad program, Oregon will be the right place to go :-)

This is a repost from my site ODD GURL OUT if you are interested in seeing more...

Growing Tiny Gardens

2009-01-25T13:49:16-06:00

I admit, I’m a budding gardener. And it is so exciting that the time to order seeds and plan this years garden is upon me! Last year I ran upon a great book, Animal, Vegatable, Miracle a little too late to start a full-fledged garden, but that didn’t stop me from getting a few seeds to germinate in my less-than-desirable soil. The tiny eggplants we grew were scrumptious– so much better than those store bought monsters. And that has incitd me to do better this year.

This was just put up on Quirky Gurl, Go on over and take a look if you are so inclined.

Pistol-Packing Mama or Pipedream?

2009-01-25T12:44:39-06:00

I know I’m not alone in watching CSI: Las Vegas, CSI:Miami, NCIS, or Numbers failthfully. They wouldn’t be hit television shows if I was the only one watching them. But I have to wonder how many other women out there like me, want to star in their own real life investigative drama. I don’t mean on TV. I’m not bad looking, but it take more than blonde hair and blue eyes to make it to the boob-tube. I mean in real life, as a career.

I just put this blog up, and you can hop over to ODD GURL OUT to read the rest.

It's So Cold I Just Have to Buy New Scarves!

2009-01-16T22:34:24-06:00

At least that's the excuse that I gave my husband when I ordered some fabulous (and warm!) scarves that I found over at World of Good. You can see more on my blog at Quirky Gurl but here's a pic of one of the scarves I ordered.

Collecting College Credits

2009-01-16T21:16:24-06:00

Collecting credits. That’s how I have come to refer to what I seem to be doing in regards to getting that danged elusive college degree. You see, I’ve “started taking college classes” roughly a million times since graduating high school over a decade ago. Started majoring in Biology, then switched to Psych because I got all A's without even trying. Then I started adding Art History, then Literature, then Religion, and now I have absolutely no idea what kind of a degree I may end up with!

I know. I know. I’m a loser.
No I’m not.
Yes I am!

Sorry for the momentary lapse. My inner critic/ idiot took over there for a moment.

My point is, life happens. Kids are born. Cars run into each other. People start new jobs, split-up, contract Lyme disease, change what they want to be “when they grow up”, and a host of other things that keeps people (namely me) from starting what they finish. And as guilty as I used to feel over my failure at college, I have since come to terms with my tortoise approach...

You can read the rest over at Ecclectic Gurl.

Reading for Pleasure? Or Profit? Why not Both?

2009-01-12T21:03:51-06:00

Like an artist who is able to sell their work, profiting from books
that you would have read anyway is like icing on the cake. Now,
profiting can mean many things, but for the purpose of this blog, when
I say profiting, I mean that you get something from the time you spend
reading a book (other than the pleasure), whether it’s a paycheck, a
byline or a global audience.

Have you figured it out yet?

I’m talking about writing book reviews.

If you have dreams of a career in writing, becoming a book reviewer
can allow you to sharpen your skills with the printed word, give you a
collection of “clips” that can later help you snag more writing or
reviewing gigs. Plus, even if the book review site pays little or
nothing for your review, they almost always supply you with the free
books!

Read the rest of this blog at Ecclectic Gurl now...

Layoffs, Recession, and Downsizing, Oh My!

2009-01-12T19:38:52-06:00

I have to admit, until very recently, my family and I haven’t really
felt the pull of the Recessional undertow. We cut back spending at
Christmas and what not, but that was all in the “just in case”
mentality. Turns out that might have been a smart move on my part. Very
rapidly, the company that I have worked for the last five years of my
life has taken a significant downturn in sales and profits, so much so
that the rumor mill of layoffs began a few weeks ago. And things have
intensified, to the point that I am very sure SOMETHING will be
happening tomorrow morning. I just don’t know what.

Like any rumor mill, picking the good from the bad is nearly
impossible, but it seems that there is a good chance the
“Restructuring” is going to hit my department as well. I’d always
thought my department was safe, as it is small (accounting) compared to
the rest of the company, and everyone’s function is pretty vital. Even
if one of us is to go, it will place a huge burden on the rest of us to
take up slack.

To read the rest, just visit my blog Odd Gurl Out.

Reduce Dishwashing, Grow a Better Garden, and Reduce Your Trash-- All at Once

2009-01-12T19:06:53-06:00

Anybody that has either: has children who seem to make the number of dishes in your sink quadruple, loathes doing dishes day after day, or is currently buying plastic cups for whatever reason (and feels even a little bit guilty for clogging landfills to save a few minutes of time) -- have I found something for you. My laziness and aversion to doing dishes has paid off for both of us.

I found the perfect solution. Fully biodegrable, fully compostable (feed your garden instead of the landfill) disposable cups in a range of sizes that cost no more than the plastic cups I use to buy from the grocery store. Amazing. Read more over at my latest blog post on One Quirky Gurl.

Tight Times at Home? It Could Be So Much Worse.

2009-01-11T13:40:30-06:00

In this time of tightening budgets, many people are looking to save
money, not spend it– and only on the things that are truly necessary.
It should be no surprise that charities and other non-profit
organizations are feeling the financial crisis as well. Ironically,
these are the times when they need support the most. More people need
help, and there is less money to help them with.

This is an excerpt from my recent blog post at Odd Gurl Out, on making an impact globally. I look at the gateway organization Global Impact, who in turn supports 50 of the best charitable causes out there. In this post, I take a look at:

Heifer international
Woman for Woman International
The William J. Clinton Foundation (Yes, that is our former Prez Bill)
Oxfam America

Researching this post helped put my (and everone else's in America) situation in perspective. Yes, money is tighter, but I've got a roof over my head, food in the fridge and electricity to power it all. I've got clean water that won't give me the screaming gnarlies, and I don't live everyday in fear that insurgents are going to bomb me, that rebels are going to rape me, or that my children are going to starve to death.

If you would like to hear more, just check out my blog.

Brewing some Natural Goodness

2009-01-10T21:54:24-06:00

I've fallen in love with my coffee cup. That is, I've fallen in love with what is in my coffee cup, and no, this time I'm not talking of
breakfast blend mixed with Kahlua.

I'm talking something Terrific, with a capital Tea!

Since I've started trying to get Greener, and since I've discovered that naturally grown, fresh ingredients taste better, and have soooo much more nutritional value than those over-processed grocery store goods, I took my Tea-time to a whole new level. And of course I had to share!

You can read more over at my Literal Limbo blog. And I'd love to hear your comments!

A Practice in being a Locavore

2009-01-10T20:25:36-06:00

I just put up a blog about the book by Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and I wanted to share it with everyone here too.

And In case you're wondering, being a LOCAVORE, is all about eating locally to better the planet, better yourselves and to support your local farmers and growers. Still not sure what I'm talking about? Here's a little tidbit:

As a follow up to my Greener Way to Read
post, I wanted to let you know about a book I downloaded to my Amazon
Kindle, and loved so much because it is more than just a book. It is
all at once a reference for living, a recipe book, a starting point for
those considering living more earth-friendly and a memoir. At the crux of this book, renowned Novelist Kingsolver chronicles the year that her family decided to eat 100% locally...

Go on over and read the review... or just get the book. You won't be sorry :-)

Survival of the Species, or Why I Blame Genetics and Hormones

2009-01-10T13:17:54-06:00

The desire to procreate, in some, is so strong that it creates a sort of tunnel vision in the afflicted. One can’t see beyond trying to make a baby, and they never stop to think about what it will really be like once said baby has in fact, arrived.

I don’t mean to demean the whole carrying-on-the-family thing. Hey, I’m as guilty as the rest of people that once had a dream, and in getting that dream, got a whole lot more.

All I ever wanted to be was a mother. In high school I had things I preferred to study, side-passions that I took interest in, but as for what I wanted to “do” with my life, well, I only had one goal: Motherhood.

When I hit college, my career-track never wavered. I’ve dropped out of college three times, and I still have almost a year left of college if I am to ever get that danged illusive degree. But, I digress.

I just had to become pregnant, incubate a little being for nine months, and be the best darned mommy that ever existed in the course of the entire world. I would be nurturing and patient, gentle and soft-spoken. I not only got my wish, I got twice—I found out I was pregnant again just a few sleep deprived months after my first son was born.

Motherhood has turned out to be nothing like I imagined or hoped and everything that I didn’t realize I had asked for. I’m ashamed to admit, that I really didn’t think this whole motherhood thing through. I like my quiet time. I need my privacy. I want hours on end to be creative and introspective. And now that I have two children under the age of 6, I have none of the things that I want or need to maintain my true self or my sanity.

Now, my idea of quiet time is reading a book so engrossing that I somehow manage to tune out the circus of creatures running amok in the living room. Now, I receive privacy almost never, and especially if the quest for privacy involves anything to do with nudity or bathroom tasks. It seems that I went to sleep in a typical suburban house and woke up one morning in a hippie commune.

And now, this long-term reality has collided with what I once expected of motherhood, and I’m wondering why in the hell I didn’t think this whole motherhood thing through at least a little bit.

I blame it all on the hormones and their apparent conspirator, genetics. You see, it is in the very nature of our species to procreate. It is in our best interest to pass our genes along, because if we don’t, the human race could die out.

Maybe that’s what happened to the dinosaurs. One gigantic green mother turned to the other females munching on broad tropical leaves and said “I can’t believe I thought I wanted this” nodding to her five-hundred-pound darling dangling by sharp teeth from her ample backside. And another turned to her and said, “You are so right! So what if Junior fell in the tar pit last week! When Herman comes to me with sweet-talk and Sangria, I’m just gonna tell him that I’m done having tail-biters. He’ll have to go find another womb to curse!”

So it has to be, because no other explanation would suffice, that my genes and my hormones blinded me, lulled me into the motherhood fog, and completely shut down all sense of rationality and reason that I had. No normal person, if they really knew what the next decades of their lives were to be like, would willingly walk into that dank, dark abyss.

And do you want to know the crazy part? I’m feeling the lull of the fog again, rolling deep and opaque around me, shielding me from the shrieks of babes and the hiding the mountain of dirty laundry. My genetics and hormones are teaming up against me again. Dear God, I want another one!

How can I fight it? Even if I could find the words to plead my case, they wouldn’t hold any weight against the survival of the species. My biology has spoken loud and clear, and it always has the last word. Better to just make nice and ride on through it, with the hopes that nature will be kind to me…

Thank God for genes and hormones. Without them, I wouldn’t exist to curse the condemned play-room, or scrub spaghetti off of my brand new suede couch. And I wouldn’t have a son who runs to me with another one of his oddly insightful observations, or have a daughter who buries her tear-stained face in my chest when the mop-headed little boy at school calls her a whiney-butt, again.

Hello. My Name is Karen, and I own a Kindle

2009-01-08T19:39:21-06:00

Yes, sometimes admitting that I own an e-reader can be a bit embarrassing. Like going to your first 12-step program with a bottle in your left hand.

I've found that people generally fall into one of two categories when it comes to e-readers and similar hand-held reading devices: they gush and ooze over the cool tech, eyes glazing over the specs, features and functionality OR they crinkle their noses up in disgust at the mere idea of forgoing printed literature, with its distinctive tactile sensations over molded plastic and circuit boards and technology.

I use to be in the latter category. Upturned nose and all. But then doing things Greener (and cheaper in the long run) led me the Kindle from Amazon. And that little device has changed everything about the way I read, in ways that I didn't know I was missing out on.

I've blogged about it more over on my site http://onequirkygurl.blogspot.com/2009/01/greener-way-to-read.html

I'd love to hear from you, if you own one, if you're thinking about getting one, or even if you loathe the people buying them because you think they're contributing to the death of the printed book.

I've seen both sides of the coin, and I'd love to discuss it with any and all!

~Karen

Giving. Its the New Getting.

2009-01-07T23:26:51-06:00

(eCo)nscious Market is a self-proclaimed "For-Benefit" online commerce site based in Boulder, Colorado. They tout that their products are the finest ecologically and socially responsible products available, and the company donates a minimum of 10% of every purchase to a non-profit organizations. The even go so far as to let the buyer "hand-pick" the program that receives the donation funded by their purchase.

A sampling of organizations that are listed on the eConscious Market include:

-Urban Sprouts: uses school gardens to help youth engage in school, eat better, and connect with the environment and each other.

-The Jane Goodall Institutes works to protect chimpanzees and their habitats, supports community-centered development projects in ecologically-significant areas, and engages youth in making a positive difference.

-The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.

-Global Culture of Women Project, Celebrating the global voice of women ~ a beautiful revolution.

-Bead for Life, eradicates extreme poverty by creating bridges - Ugandan women make jewelry out of recycled paper and Americans open their homes and hearts to buy and sell the beads.

And that's just a tidbit of the charities benefiting every time someone shops. And the best part of it all? You won't feel bad for shopping, and the merchandise on this site is amazing.

I fell in love with sooo many things here, that if it weren't for the money of mine making its way to charity right now, I just might be feeling the lightness in my wallet :-)

Like:

This Large Stingray cuff, made of 100% recycled materials.

Or this Vy & Elle Portfolio crafted from Recycled billboards.

Or their cool line of 100% recycled notebooks. I AM a sucker for office supplies, I know.

So if you have a few minutes and are feeling charitable-- buy yourself a gift that gives to others too!
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57 Ways to Say Weird

2009-01-06T22:21:57-06:00

No matter how you phrase it, anything out of the norm (whatever that is) earns you one of many similar monikers. Odd. Weird. Unique. Different. Quirky. Abnormal.

Here, that is not a curse. Being odd has no negative connotations in my world. Nor should it in yours.

If anything, differences highlight the very essence of our human condition. A room full of wire-haired, sallow scientists may come up with a way to clone my body, but all those things that define me can never be replicated.

This blog is dedicated to the off-beat, absurd, and quirky women who could care less about being normal, and instead, strive to just be uniquely themselves. Comfortable in our own skins, we seek to connect with other odd-balls, not in attempt to create a new conformity, but rather to relish in our differences.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a call to arms or a guide to being different for-the-sake-of-being-different. This is just about me, letting myself think, act, and feel how I want to feel without my inner-critic shouting "that's not normal!" If you wish to join me, so be it. If not, you are welcome to stand on the sideline and mock me, if that's what you really want to do :-)