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Dec 07 2008

Published by kelligraphy under Feminism Edit This

From Wikipedia:

The Cinderella Complex was first described by Colette Dowling, who wrote a book on women’s fear of independence, as an unconscious desire to be taken care of by others, based primarily on a fear of being independent. The complex is said to become more apparent as a person grows older.

Colette Dowling attempts to define women as being motivated by an unconscious desire to be taken care of as a fear of independence termed “Cinderella Complex.” 

The importance of the work can be defined as identifying an aspect of a larger phenomenon as to why woman chose to stay in dysfunctional relationships.

READ THIS BOOK! I’m rereading it now….

http://www.amazon.com/Cinderella-Complex-Womens-Hidden-Independence/dp/0671733346

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Dec 07 2008

Published by kelligraphy under Books Edit This

Some critics will write ‘Maya Angelou is a natural writer’ - which is right after being a natural heart surgeon,” Maya Angelou 
 

These fall into the category of Science Fiction:

A Game of Thrones Series, George R.R. Martin

Darwin’s Radio, Greg Bear & Darwin’s Children

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

Swan Song, Robert R. McCammon

The Anita Blake Series, Laurell K. Hamilton

The Dexter Series, Jeff Lindsay

The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher

The Hannibal Series, Thomas Harris

The Manifold Series, Stephen Baxter

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Dec 07 2008

Published by kelligraphy under Books Edit This

“The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.” Maya Angelou 

These books have definitely gone into my heart and memory….

A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving

Ashes in the Wind, Kathleen Woodiwiss

Christy, Catherine Marshall

Circle of Friends, Maeve Binchy

Fear of Flying, Erica Jong

How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Terry McMillan

How to Make an American Quilt, Whitney Otto

Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

Love Story, Erich Segal

Mother of Pearl, Melinda Haynes

Native Son, Richard Wright

North and South, John Jakes

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen

Shining Through, Susan Isaacs

The Bridges of Madison County, Robert James Waller

The Cinderella Complex, Colette Dowling

The Color Purple, Alice Walker

The Five People You Meet In Heaven, Mitch Albom

The Honest Courtesan, Margaret Rosenthal

The Invisible Man, Ralph Waldo Ellison

The Life & Loves of a She-Devil, Fay Weldon

The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Rapture of Canaan, Sheri Reynolds

The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kid

The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough

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Dec 07 2008

Favorite Authors

Published by kelligraphy under Books Edit This

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you,” Maya Angelou

These are some of my favorite authors….I hope to join their ranks someday.

Pat Conroy: 

The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides & Beach Music.

Anne Rivers Siddons:  Heartbreak Hotel, The House Next Door, Fox’s Earth, Peachtree Road, Outer Banks, Colony, Downtown, Up Island, Low Country & Sweetwater Creek.

Jane Austen:  Pride & Prejudice & Emma

Toni Morrison:  The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, Tar Baby & Beloved

Wally Lamb:  She’s Come Undone & I Know This Much is True

Nicholas Sparks:  Message in a Bottle & The Notebook

Rita Mae Brown:  Ruby Fruit Jungle & Venus Envy

William Goldman:  The Color of Light & The Princess Bride

Dan Brown:  Digital Fortress, Angels & Demons, Deception Point & The Da Vinci Code

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Dec 07 2008

Favorite Books of Childhood

Published by kelligraphy under Books Edit This

Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” Maya Angelou

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, Judy Bloom

Charlotte’s Web, E. B. White

Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank

Forever, Judy Bloom

Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

Lord of the Flies, William Golding

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor

Rumble Fish, S.E. Hinton

That Was Then, This Is Now, S.E. Hinton

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain

The Anne of Green Gables Series, Lucy Maud Montgomery

The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien

The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis

The Little House on the Prarie Series, Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton 

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Dec 07 2008

The Soundtrack of My Life

Published by kelligraphy under Music Edit This

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness,”  Maya Angelou

I couldn’t agree more. Here are some of my favorites:

http://www.imeem.com/people/UTq25wE/playlists/

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Dec 07 2008

A “Titillating” Adventure!

The SLAM-O-GRAM 

This morning my boobs, or “The Girls” as the hub ever-so-lovingly refers to them, had their second slam-o-gram in a matter of weeks bcz the powers that be saw something “suspicious.”

Don’tcha love how they use these adjectives - “suspicious” - like my tits are wearing dark sunglasses and a sardonic smile…yeah, that’s it, they’re planning to rob a Victoria Secrets and clean them out of triple-D bras!

So, here I sit, naked from the waist up except for a big, 1950’s teal colored robe/mumu that ties in the front. I read through about a dozen articles on how Nicole Ritchie just can’t help being so skinny and that people shouldn’t criticize her bcz she eats anything she wants (I’d be that skinny too if my four food groups consisted of heroine, cigarettes, Starbucks and booze), while waiting to find out if they were going to do further tests.

Sure enough, they did a sonogram, which is just like the ultrasounds pregnant women have only on a smaller mound…well, my boobs may actually weigh as much as some newborns so maybe they’re about the same.

First, they squirt warmed KY jelly-like stuff all over me and then start hunting around with the microphone thingie. I’m just thankful the tech was a chick…I bet men are probably “discouraged” from going into mammography. It would take a flamingly homosexual guy to make me comfortable about having some strange man run a hot wet hard thing all over my boobs while staring intently at a television screen…okay, I’m cracking myself up!

When the sonogram was over she said the radiologist would read it and I would have an answer before I left…like I was applying for a loan or something (major eyeroll here). Of course that was bullshit bcz 5 minutes later she came in and told me I could leave. I said, “So there’s nothing to worry about, right?” And she gave me the well-rehearsed answer, “Well, I only administer the test. Only the radiologist can actually read it and they’ll send the results to your doctor in the next few days.”

Like my doctor, who didn’t even know I was having the test, should get to find out if I have a lump or a tumor or the C-word or whatever! Well, it didn’t take two days bcz my gynie (who actually did the touchy-feely breast exam this past Friday when I was in to see him for my annual) called me this afternoon as soon as he got the results.

And yes, I’m uncomfortable when he does the breast exam but hell, he’s gonna go a lot further than second base b4 he’s through so why be embarassed? What a job! Cooter in the morning and cooter in the afternoon…I wonder if he’s ever grossed out by how some women smell? I wonder if I’m weird to wonder that?

My primary care doc did a pap on me once when I first moved to Baltimore bcz I didn’t have a gynie yet and he told me that while he was interning at one of the inner city Baltimore hospitals he did a pap smear on a woman who had crabs (she didn’t tell him she had them) and he jumped clear across the room when one of them jumped. Can you imagine being down there and having a critter JUMP at you!?! That would freak me the hell out!!! I’d have to shower for about three days with a clorox/lye/peroxide mix b4 I felt clean again.

Anyway, my gynie said they gave me three choices - 1: wait four months and have another slam-o-gram 2: have them do a sonogram-lead biopsy (I have no idea what this is) 3: call a surgeon and have it biopsied. #1 is out bcz if something’s in there, I want to find out what it is and get it removed. There’s NO WAY I can lose my boobs bcz they are very important to Dolores (Seinfeld fans should know what I mean here).

But beyond that, my day was fine until the 5pm hour when I checked my email and found my confidentiality agreement that I had to sign to find out how much my firstborn (my magazine) had sold for…and how much of that I would be getting.

Well dear reader, since I signed a paper that said I wouldn’t disclose…all I can legally say is…well, I can’t say anything at all legally about the sale of the magazine I poured my heart and soul into. But I can talk about how I feel…

In a word: Disappointed.
In two words: Not surprised.
In two more words: Pissed off.

But on the bright side: Nothing ventured, nothing gained…I didn’t buy it when it was offered to me because I was afrrid of losing my shirt and aside from my adventure this morning, I still have my shirt on…

Guess I’ll just have to wait till one of the hub’s paisanos in Sicily has a heart attack while working on his tomoato plants and leaves us a bazillion dollars of dirty money. Maybe I could wash it in that clorox/lye/peroxide solution…

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Dec 07 2008

Life AFTER a Dream Comes True

A Dream Deferred

I just sent my ex-boss/business-partner a long email letting him know, in a nice but brutally honest way, how his firing of me (and taking the magazine away from me) affected me. The hub thought maybe I shouldn’t send it because it was good for me to just write it all down but I wanted the ex-boss to know what I went through and that I’ve worked hard to forgive him, not because he asked me to, but because NOT forgiving him has been killing me.

Since I lost the magazine in the spring of 2003, I’ve had 5 jobs, gained 70 pounds and racked up $12,000 in credit card debt. I think it’s the freakin’ understatement of the year to say that I haven’t taken it very well.

So, I guess there’s a pair of addictions for you - FOOD and SHOPPING. Sprinkle that with some unstable job history and you’ve got a classic nutball to serve guests at the holidays!!

That being said, the 5 jobs can be explained by Radio (HORRIBLE company to work for), HPC-TV (start-up company that didn’t know what they were doing and were dying a slow death), the book gig (totally stupid and should never have taken it), the internet gig (if I hadn’t let flirting with my work husband turn into such a problem, I probably would still be there) and now my current independent contractor position.

Also the debt is $4,000 in furniture and a lot of the rest (not all of course) we’ve used for living during periods of unemployment.

70 pounds has come from two sources, using food as a drug to get away from the pain (chocolate cake can get you as high as crack and be just as addictive) and bingeing until I was sick to punish myself physically for messing up the greatest job I ever had…even though I’m not entirely sure I messed it up but when you’ve gotta blame SOMEBODY, might as well blame yourself, right?

So if I turn into this huge blob maybe nobody will notice me anymore and ask me to do anything or put me on TV or have me give speeches with the governor’s wife. Or maybe everyone will notice me because, despite being so fat, I’m funny and smart and witty and kind-hearted and still pretty even though I don’t look like pop culture’s definition of pretty.

Remember in the movie “Amadeus” how Salieri, the narrator, wanted so much to be great like Mozart but he was actually only mediocre? I think I’m terrified of living a mediocre life…aren’t I supposed to have several novels published, host my own talk show and have a plus-size line of clothing by now?

Langston Hughes said it best:
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore– And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over– like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

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Dec 07 2008

Diet Coke - Nectar of the Gods!

True Confessions of a Diet Cokaholic

My name is _ _ _ _ _ and I’m a Diet Coke-aholic. I love it. It is the nectar of the gods and the elixir of the goddesses. I love the way it burns my throat and makes my eyes water. I love the way it makes my mouth feel cleaned out from all other tastes.

I love the red and white swoop and I can still sing the jingle from the 80’s, Diiet Co-oke is onuva Ki-ind, You-u can look but you’ll nee-ver fi-ind, A taste that tayastes like Dii-et Coke…actually that’s all I know but I do remember being about 14 years old and thinking I was way cool bcz I drank Diet Coke and my parents were “so-oo 1970’s” bcz they drank iced tea they MADE AT HOME for God’s sake!

But as I sit here blogging, sipping the sugar free, Wal-Mart brand of Chrystal Lite iced tea with lemon…I realize WHY they drank iced tea all the time instead of Diet Coke. It’s all about hauling in the groceries from the car. The older I get, the less I feel like it’s worth dragging the 15 bags of two-liters up the stairs, into my house and into my fridge. So when I run out…as I did today, I settle for my generic brand iced tea.

And I’ll be honest, I usually buy the Wal-Mart brand of Diet Coke anyway…or as my roommates from eastern Kentucky used to say, “Diet Brown Pop,” so as not to be confused with Clear Pop (Sprite) or Yellow Pop (Mountain Dew). The Wal-Mart brand is like 50¢ as compared to over a dollar for the name brand pop and sistah needs a new pair of boots for winter…they’re brown leather and suede and I’ve gotta get ‘em.

Of course, it will take me 200 bottles of Wal-Mart Diet Brown Pop to save enough money to buy the boots. And if I apply myself, I can drink a two-litre a day so…I can prolly buy ‘em right after Christmas…but who am I bullshitting? I’ll buy the boots as soon as the weather turns and I think I can do it without my husband’s head exploding because I’m bringing yet another pair of shoes in this house.

But on to a subject that’s a bit gross but fascinating…I didn’t take a shower today because I didn’t have to go out on any sales appointments so I just worked in my office on the phone. Well, as ya’ll know, yesterday I had a slam-o-gram first thing in the morning. Well, for those of you who are too young or have too much of a penis to have had a mammogram, you’re not supposed to wear baby powder or deodorant when you get the test bcz it can mess up the results.

So, yesterday morning I did NOT put on deodorant and forgot to put some on when I got home. When I changed for bed, I didn’t smell anything so I never even though about it. But today, after going almost two days without deodorant, I’ve got some stinkin’ pits. No big surprise in that but what always amazes me is how much the smell of stinky armpits reminds me of junior high school boys! It immediately makes me want to go brush my braces in the sink in the girls room and write my BFF a note folded into a origami-like design then go listen to some Rick Springfield albums.

It’s like, I’m a girl so I’m not supposed to ever smell that way (that sounds totally Square Pegs, totally!). But alas, I guess we all smell the same under the arms when our roll-on has rolled off, as my Daddy used to say. And it used to make men hot I guess because Napoleon used to ask Josephine not to bathe herself for several weeks before he came home from the wars so he could enjoy her “natural essences.”

And maybe some people don’t need it. My friend Susan said her Dad never wore deo and never smelled either. I don’t remember ever smelling him when I was around him. My mother said my grandmother didn’t wear deodorant until after menopause bcz she never had to…omg, I’m not peri-menopausal, am I?

When the hell does that start anyway…late 30’s, right? I know that, according to my gynie, I’m of “advanced maternal age” so I guess that may be a synonym-type phrase…who knows.

So, tonight’s blog has gone from one type of liquid to another…I guess they could be one in the same if you think about it. First you drink Diet Coke or Diet Brown Pop and eventually it’s eliminated from our system via pee-pee or even sweat…weird…the circle of life I guess…

But one more thing…I have a new favorite song…it’s called “Enough” and it’s by Barlowgirl. Here’s a link: http://www.barlowgirl.com/.

But for ya’ll who aren’t into Contemporary Christian, here’s my Country favorite: “Leave the Pieces” by The Wreckers (the duo with Michelle Branch) and here’s their link: http://www.thewreckers.com/.

For my fave pop/rock jam out, girl-power, I’m a sexy diva song: “Don’t Cha” from the Pussycat Dolls. No need for a link bcz everybody already knows them. They’re like the new Spice Girls only there’s more of them!

But the QUEEN of HOT right now (who I think is the new Cher bcz she dresses so outrageously and just doesn’t give a shit) is Christina Aquilera’s “Ain’t No Other Man” and “Still Dirty” from the Back to Basics album. It’s the best damn thing I’ve heard in YEARS, especially bcz the second CD is so original…I especially like “Nasty Naughty Boy” and “Candyman” bcz they’re so 1940’s pin-up, I’m gonna do a strip tease and drive you crazy type of song. Here’s her link: http://www.christinaaguilera.com/. She makes me wanna bleach my hair white blonde…and buy a lot of thigh high stockings…I don’t think the hub likes thigh highs, or much lingerie at all for that matter…I asked him one time if he wanted me to go upstairs and put on something sexy and he said, “What, nothing at all?” Guess I could be spending my lingerie money on shoes - how cool is THAT!?!

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Dec 07 2008

The Hell of Automated Answering Systems

Credit card nazi bastards!

As I sit here, waiting to talk to a HUMAN FREAKIN’ BEING at Equifax, I’m wondering how on earth older, less sophisticated or intelligent people deal with this bullshit? Nicholas Cage had less trouble finding the damn national treasure in that movie than than I’m having!

I’m trying to find out why in the hell American Express is telling me that Equifax told them that there was a serious delinquency on my account. I’m looking at a freshly-printed-out copy of my report and there is NADA about delinquency!

Could it be that I recently paid off my AmEx and that caused some kind of red flag that said, “Hurry up and lower her credit line so we can get her for over the limit fees when she starts charging again?”

And it should be one HELL of a lot easier to talk to someone - a live, thinking, speaking person - about what’s going on with your credit report in this country…ESPECIALLY since Americans LIVE & DIE by their damn credit cards!

Know what I had to do? I had to FAX my own credit report summary showing zero negative items on my report to AmEx MYSELF. How stupid is THAT? Two huge corporations like Experian and AmEx have to wait for ME to fax them something!

I think it’s all a conspiracy to make us jump through so many hoops that we just give up. I’m positive that those automated lines hope you’ll give up…well, they tangled with the wrong bee-atch today!

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