Living In the World, Not on It

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, the official start of the Christmas season. The term comes from being "in the black", which means the income of money is greater than the outgo. It used to be that the Friday immediately following Thanksgiving is the one day of the year retail businesses are not in the red. Maybe we should call it Bloody, Dead Bodies Friday for Wal-Mart. I am always disappointed in the attitude of retailers and the whole retail industry to see Christmas as a money-making time of the year. I have no interest in the Christian view of Christmas, I prefer mine (Yule or more importantly, just being close to family and friends and feeling special about that and appreciating those you love. Not that you shouldn't do that throughout the year, but this time of the year, we all get together for things and do things and I enjoy it. I always feel good about the people I love. But I think about them even more now. But this year's Black Friday yielded som...

I received a request to take a quiz in French from Anne-Charlotte and did so - some I could read or at least get the gist of it, but I also used Babelfish to translate the questions and answers so I could more effectively take it. My results: Vous vivrez l'amour parfait ! Toujours à la pointe de la technologie et de la mode, Lucas saura vous combler aux moindres désirs, autant la journée que la nuit ! C'est une vraie bête de sexe... Babelfish translation: You will live l' perfect love! Always with the point of technology and the mode, Lucas will be able to fill you with the least desires, as much the day that the night! C' is a true animal of sex. The image of Lucas certainly looks good!

1. THINGY (thing-ee) n. Female... Any part under a car's hood. Male... The strap fastener on a woman's bra. 2. VULNERABLE (vul-ne-ra-bel) adj. Female... Fully opening up one's self emotionally to another. Male... Playing football without a cup. 3. COMMUNICATION (ko-myoo-ni-kay-shon) n . Female... The open sharing of thoughts and feelings with one's partner. Male... Leaving a note before taking off on a fishing trip with the boys. 4. COMMITMENT (ko- mit-ment) n. Female.... A desire to get married and raise a family. Male...... Trying not to hit on other women while out with this one. 5. ENTERTAINMENT (en-ter-tayn-ment) n. Female.... A good movie, concert, play or book. Male.... Anything that can be done while drinking beer. 6. FLATULENCE (flach-u-lens) n. Female.... An embarrassing byproduct of indigestion. Male...... A source of entertainment, self-expression, male bonding. 7 MAKING LOVE (may-king luv) n. Female...... The greatest expression of intimacy a couple can ach...

This week we feature five Americanisms. Some of these are words from the American West. Others were popularized there even though coined elsewhere. For most, the origin remains obscure. Many of these are pseudo-Latin words, fanciful formations that may sound highfalutin today. Use these words to bring a certain earthy flavor to your discourse. But like spices in a preparation, a little goes a long way. Use them judiciously. skedaddle PRONUNCIATION: (ski-DAD-l) MEANING: verb intr.: To leave hurriedly. ETYMOLOGY: First noticed during the American Civil War in 1861. Perhaps from northern England dialect. absquatulate PRONUNCIATION: (ab-SKWOCH-uh-layt) MEANING: verb intr.: To leave in a hurry; to flee. ETYMOLOGY: A Mock-Latinate formation, from ab- (away) + squat + -ulate (as in congratulate). First cited from the late 1830s. discombobulate PRONUNCIATION: (dis-kuhm-BOB-yuh-layt) MEANING: verb tr.: To disconcert or confuse. ETYMOLOGY: Probably from fanciful alteration of discompose or disco...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I use wrapping paper. I'm a purist and feel that gifts bags are the modern, easy way. Sometimes it's best to do things that take effort. I hate wrapping, but I do it every year en masse and for birthdays and events. 2. Real tree or Artificial? Oh, it has to be a real tree. And we always get the most beautiful tree from our best friends, who attend a family event in South Jersey to cut down beautifully grown Christmas trees to bring to their house and to ours. 3. When do you put up the tree? I guess around the second or third Sunday. That's usually when they come by with the huge tree and we get it in the base and usually string up the lights in it. 4. When do you take the tree down? It comes down New Year's Day, no matter what. It used to be left up for Luis to do, but he would leave the husk into July. So now, rain, snow or shine, down it comes on 1 January. He said something about it has to be up for some kind of teeny unknown Christian...

Apparently... Your Result: Wesley from "The Princess Bride" He is my movie soulmate. I have to admit I am amused by that. I always did love that movie and especially his character. So I think, for once, one of these weird little things got the right answer! Just another interesting facet of Facebook. Facebook is a strange thing. It works, and I have found people from the far reaches of the past... mostly, I must say, in good ways. I hear from people that I hadn't thought of in years, that I had forgotten where I knew them from (isn't that awful? It is - but my memory is pretty awful), that I never thought I would find or hear from. Wow! And while I have some really heinous, terrible memories of school in general and the eighth grade in particular, I have become "friends" with many more people than I'd've thought possible. Who knew? Admittedly, few of them actually have anything to say to me specifically. I'm surprised at how few people really use...

November is gone, just like that. Welcome December. Where did the time go? Time is the most amazing commodity we have. It cannot be saved or held, but it is still the best thing to have. On occasion, one has "too much time" on his or her hands. And yet, what do we gripe about most? Not having enough time. But time is like everything else. It is what you make of it. Make the most of it, then. Maybe I am flaky and crazy, but at least I enjoy every minute of it. I'm a happy smiling person and time is my friend. I make the best of it all. So today was the first day of the week and the month, the last month of 2008. The year has had its high and low points. But at the end of the day, it is the high points that make the low ones bearable. The bad with the good. I started my day at 0444, sharp. Up and out of bed; showered and dressed by 0530, on my way to work by 0544. I love that I can get ready in one hour. I'm always amazed that women take so long to get ready to leave th...