Oscar Meme

I totally stole this from MAW.

You're supposed to highlight the ones you've seen. No matter when it was. Even if it was yesterday. Or in a past life.

Hell, if that's the case, I've seen 'em all!

Yeah, I'm a cheater like that.


1980. Ordinary People, Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Elephant Man, Raging Bull, Tess

1981. Chariots of Fire, Reds, Atlantic City, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark

1982. Gandhi, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Missing, Tootsie, The Verdict

1983. Terms of Endearment, The Big Chill, The Dresser, The Right Stuff, Tender Mercies

1984. Amadeus, The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, Places in the Heart, A Soldier’s Story

1985. Out of Africa, The Color Purple, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Prizzi’s Honor, Witness

1986. Platoon, Children of a Lesser God, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Mission, A Room with a View

1987. The Last Emperor, Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, Moonstruck

1988. Rain Man, The Accidental Tourist, Dangerous Liaisons, Mississippi Burning, Working Girl

1989. Driving Miss Daisy, Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot

1990. Dances with Wolves, Awakenings, Ghost, The Godfather Part III, Goodfellas

1991. The Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, JFK, The Prince of Tides

1992. Unforgiven, The Crying Game, A Few Good Men, Howards End, Scent of a Woman

1993. Schindler’s List, The Fugitive, In the Name of the Father, The Piano, The Remains of the Day

1994. Forrest Gump, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption

1995. Braveheart, Apollo 13, Babe, Il Postino (The Postman), Sense and Sensibility

1996. The English Patient, Fargo, Jerry Maguire, Secrets & Lies, Shine

1997. Titanic, As Good as It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential

1998. Shakespeare in Love, Elizabeth, Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella), Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line

1999. American Beauty, The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, The Sixth Sense

2000. Gladiator, Chocolat, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Traffic

2001. A Beautiful Mind, Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Moulin Rouge!

2002. Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist

2003. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, Seabiscuit

2004. Million Dollar Baby, The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways

2005. Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich

2006. The Departed, Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen

2007. No Country for Old Men, Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood

2008. Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader

Yeah, these past couple of years, I haven't been to the movie theatres much.

And I miss that.

How did you do?

Later,

Mama Dawg

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

This one is titled: "Where Is Rizzo?"

Well, by the photo, you can tell that she's at my place of business. Just hanging around watching me work.

She's awesome, isnt' she?





When I opened the box and took her out, of course, I started playing with her.

And I discovered something VERY Rizzo like of her when you pulled her arms straight back.



I swear, she'd be a hit at Mardi Gras.

And yes, that is my daughter forcing her to do that.

I expect my Mother of the Year award in the mail any day now.

If you want to have some more foto fun, head on over to Candid Carrie's.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Still?

On Sunday after church, LOML and I had lunch and then went to the park so I could get my 4 miles in and she could play on the playground.

When we arrived at the park (which is located next to the high school parking lot and a residential zone), we could see some kids on the playground.

LOML was excited. Sometimes when we get there, there's no one around and she gets sad and bored.

However, this time there were some kids there.

I parked in the parking lot that was behind the play area. We got out of the car and I got my gear together. iPod=check. Bottle of water=check. Kleenex=check.

LOML got out of the car and got her jacket on.

I went ahead and started walking while LOML got her stuff together. As I got closer to the play area, I could hear the kids loudly yelling. Since I had my earbuds in, it was mostly noise, but the closer I got to the playground, the more distinctive the words got.

And boy, were they some ugly words.

Little kids (younger than LOML who is almost 9) saying "fuck you" and "ass" and "shit".

I was shocked but, hey, they weren't my kids. Mine knows better.

I did worry a little though that she might not have as much fun as she was thinking if the kids were this "rough".

I make my way around the walking path and notice that by this time, LOML had made it to the playground.

I kept an eye on her as I walked. I saw her on the slide and the climbing structure.

As I got about halfway around the path, I hear "Mom" real loud. I turned off my iPod and turned around.

She's running up to me with tears falling down her face and gulping air.

When she reached me, she said "They told me to get out of there".

Confused, I asked her "What do you mean?"

She said, "A girl told me to get out of there.".

I asked, "Do you mean the playground"?

She said yes.

Oooohhhh boy. The mama bear in me woke the hell up.

I started to storm over there all the while LOML is yelling at me not to go over there.

She decides to go back to the car while I'm storming over in a huff.

I can see that the kids at this point have noticed me coming over but to their credit, they didn't run.

I marched right into the playground and demanded in a LOUD voice, "Who said it"?

They immediately started pointing at each other.

I asked it a couple of more times, all in the same LOUD (not yelling) voice.

I finally said, "Someone told my daughter to get out of here".

Some little girl spoke up and said, "We didn't tell her that"!

I asked if she was lying then.

They didn't say anything.

I then told them that she has as much right to be there as they do and that it wasn't right for them to tell her to leave.

I then went on to tell them that they ought to be ashamed of themselves for cussing since they're only kids and that if I heard one more cuss word out of them, I was going to track down each of their mamas and inform them of what they had been doing.

They all just stared at me and didn't speak another word.

I walked back to where I had left off in my walk and continued on. When I got back around to where the playground was, I noticed that they had all left.

I assumed that they were going to go home and tell their parents what happened.

Since I hate confrontation, I decided to leave after just a half mile of walking.

I went and got in the car and started driving around.

The more I drove, the more angry I got.

I was NOT going to be that person that gave up something like a nice safe walking path just because I didn't want to face a potentially angry parent.

So, I sucked it up and went back. I parked the car. LOML stayed inside while I started on my second lap. Halfway around, I saw this white car pull up and this HUGE woman get out.

I wanted to pee/vomit/shit so bad. I just KNEW this was going to go bad.

But, I held my ground. I took my earbuds out as she approached me.

She asked me what had gone on because her kids came home crying about some lady at the park yelling at them and calling them "black bitches".

I was STUNNED! SHOCKED! HORRIFIED! that these kids had gone home and told their mom this.

She started off by saying how she had some white folks in her family and she hates that some white people around here treat the black kids this way and that she doesn't hate white people and on and on and on.

I literally couldn't speak I was so shocked.

When she finally stopped talking for a minute, I managed to tell her exactly what happened and that I did NOT, under any circumstances, call any of the kids "black bitches".

She said that she knew that some of the other kids that were there were trouble and were known liars but that her kids generally weren't.

At that point, I asked her kids, with her standing right there, if I had actually said those words.

Their mama looked at them and told them to tell the truth.

The looked from me to her and back again. They finally said that no, I didn't say that and that it was the other kids that told my daughter to get out of the playground and that they were also the ones that lied about me calling them names.

The mama looked appeased at that point and the crises was diverted. They all got in the car and left.

My knees were shaking. I was so terrified that some sort of big issue was going to be made and that there was going to be a beat down with me as the recipient.

After I got over the now non-existent reason for fear, I started thinking about how that mama IMMEDIATELY assumed it was a racial issue because my daughter was white and the other kids were black.

And it broke my heart.

That because of how things are around here, it's STILL an issue today...in two thousand FREAKIN' nine!

Come on people. Get with the program. Get over this hatred you have of people that are different than you. Get over yourselves. Trust and believe that you are NO BETTER than anyone else on this earth. Get your head out of your ass and have some compassion.

And I'm not talking about that mama either. She just went on the offensive and I understand that.

I'm talking about all the people that live here that make it to where she has to go on the offensive and immediately assume that the problem was a racial one.

I sometimes literally get sick to my stomach at the hatred that still exists today.

I try my best to raise my daughter not to listen to the racial slurs that are spoken in mixed company around here. I tell her that it's wrong and that it's a banned word in our house.

I did learn something valuable about myself out of this, though. It was not all for naught.

I learned to take a pro-active stand for something that I wanted and to not let fear beat me down.

No matter how big she was.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Mama Dawg, The Demon Slayer

I had the most awesome dream on Sunday night.

As you know, I like my Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Don’t judge. It’s a well-written show.

That and it has hot male vamps. Hello, Spike! You can find me here on this blog every day!

That being said, it was an awesome dream.

I dreamed that all these demons were breaking into my grandmother’s house where a bunch of us lived. I can’t remember who all lived there but it seemed like it was people from high school, a couple of bloggers and some friends.

At one point, I realize that LOML is not with me and I go to find her. I find my mom and LOML is with her all safe and sound. I start getting all teary and say that if we’re all gonna die, I want her to be with me when it happens. My mom wearily nods her head and passes her on to me. For some reason, she was in a helicopter.

Anyway, she flew away. Demons were coming at me fast and furious and I couldn’t very well fight them off with LOML just hanging around.

We ran as fast as we could behind the house where I found some rope. Somehow, I got the idea in my head that I would just tie her on to my back and I would fight the demons with her strapped on like that.

I also had the problem of trying to keep a backpack strapped on that had all of our supplies plus food inside of it. So, I just strapped that on her back.

At this point, I look like a deformed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

However, for some reason, it seemed to work.

I went back out into the fray and slayed demons left and right.

Despite the obvious danger elements, I woke up feeling invigorated and driven.

On the way into work, I started thinking about the dream.

I remember a lot of my dreams when I wake up but I don’t really take the time to analyze them. Usually the dreams consists of snippets of conversations or TV shows or thoughts I’ve had during the day.

But this one stayed with me long after I awoke.

And I realized that what I felt during the dream was a sense of purpose. I had a goal.

Granted, the goal was to not get killed by a demon, but still…I had a reason for fighting. A reason for living.

Now, I know, I know. LOML IS reason enough for living.

And I’m quite content in my little neck of the woods.

But I feel like I need to be doing MORE. You know?

I need to have something to strive for. Some sort of attainable goal. Something that makes me passionate.

I don’t have that in my life.

I’m not really a passionate person. I have brief moments of great passion, but they fizzle before I can really even come to terms with the idea/goal/object.

I’m working on something that I think might give me the release I’m searching for.

However, it’s a project that takes patience.

And as my mom can attest, that’s something I sorely lack.

So, I’m trying to curb my impatience. I’m trying to wait to see if I can breathe some life into it.

Sigh…..I hate being patient.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Who Would You Do?

It's Monday and I'm busy already. Today's version of "Who Would You Do?" (book by Susan Segrest) will be short and sweet and really kind of disturbing. We haven't had one of those in a while, so, here you go.

Get some flashback action. Who would you do: Ethel Merman or Shelley Winters?

As usual:

*Editor's Note---You HAVE to pick one of the choices. Even if you're a guy and the only choices are guys...same for girls...believe me, there are lots where it's only girls to choose from.

Have a good(?) Monday.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Karma Chameleon

I'm a chameleon.

I am Bartholomew Cubbins.

I am stressed.

Part of my quirky Gemini trait is the ability to blend. The ability to change. The ability to multi-task.

And it's stressing me out. It's gotten to be too much.

I started thinking about that this past week.

I am a different person with each person in my life and the people in my community.

And I'm getting exhausted trying to keep up with all of them.

I think that one of the reasons I started this blog was to let the real me out. The freaky, silly, weird, strange, lovable, funny one out.

The only place where I can be me 100%, well, take that back....90% of the time.

There are things I'll NEVER share with all of you.

And that's as it should be.

At least one of you knows another part of me. A part of me that I've never shared with ANYONE. And I thank you for keeping your silence.

But, in my life, in my community, in my job...I have to be a different person.

At work...I have to be quiet. I can't share my crazy stories about things I've done. They are so ultra conservative here.

Yesterday, my co-worker and I were treated to lunch as a thank you for working hard on a project. It was 2 co-workers, my immediate boss, my big boss and an auditor. I let it slip that one time I got kicked out of a club and they were SHOCKED. They said that they could not see me as the type that could get kicked out of a club.

Little do they know. I've gotten kicked out of a couple of clubs. And those are MINOR stories. Those are nothing compared to what else I've done.

I also stay quiet out of necessity. I'm surprised that I've not bitten my tongue clear off due to the crap I hear at work.

So.....I keep quiet.

As for my community? Well, I live in a small conservative town. Again, I can't let my freak flag fly around here. I would be labeled as trouble, or a bad egg or they wouldn't be able to define me at all because I'm so different.

And I'm not saying that because I think I'm special.

Cause I'm not. Or, no more special than anyone else on this earth.

In addition, my family lives here. I can't do or say anything to embarrass them.

So.....I keep quiet.

My neighbors know a few quirky things about me, but they really don't know much. I see the looks L gives me sometimes when I say or do something that doesn't jibe with the little microcosm that we live in.

So.....I keep quiet.

I have to keep quiet about things around my mom. I can't tell her anything anymore. I don't know if it's so much I can't as I won't. With a few exceptions, anytime I share, I get criticized or I get a lecture. When I have something big to talk about, most times, I just want someone to listen. Not advise or lecture or tell me I'm wrong or share war stories. Just listen. And she's not so good on that part. She knows that, too. We've talked about that.

So.....I keep quiet.

Around my daughter, of course I have to keep quiet. First of all, she wouldn't understand what I'm talking about or going through. Second of all, I need to PROTECT her from some of the things I think about or want to talk about. At least for now. Plus, she needs to be a kid...not a confidant.

So.....I keep quiet.

But, I'm getting stressed from all the silence. From all the harshness that's come into my life in the past few weeks. From all the negativity. From all the hardships due to lack of money.

However, I will tell you...I've "met" a few people through this forum that I've been able to actually talk to. On the phone, through e-mails, facebook, whatever.

And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you've done for me. It may not seem much to you, but really, you listened (or read).

And that means a lot.

Thanks,

Mama Dawg

"With Relish"

I have lots of stuff to talk about but nothing's finalized yet. I still haven't figured out how to tell you exactly what happened last week. I wrote the Army Captain a letter and he should receive it any day now. I think the letter actually sums it all up pretty well but until I know he's had time to receive and absorb it, I'm not gonna share. I might never share. I'm thinking about maybe just sharing some excerpts from it because it ties in to what I've been struggling with over the past few days.



Whew...that said, I got nothing.



I was at Wal-Mart last night and found myself a little pick me up.

Is that not the AWESOMEST thing EVER?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I'm not a Barbie collector. I love Barbies and played with them religiously when I was younger. My daughter is a HUGE Barbie fan as well.

However, I've never paid more than $20 for a Barbie. I don't collect them and keep them in their little plastic boxes never to be opened and played with. I am a FIRM believer that if you buy a toy, duh, you rip the box open and play with it IMMEDIATELY. That's why they're TOYS!

Anyway, I saw this in the clearance section last night and I HAD TO HAVE IT!

I'm a HUGE Grease fan and Rizzo was by far my favorite character. About 80% of my waking day, I feel like a Rizzo. I connect with her in a HUGE way.

Yeah, this totally made my week. I got a Rizzo doll. And for only $10!

Told you I could shop!

Later,

Mama Dawg

Bits and Pieces

I've got nuttin' but bits and pieces today.

I'm feeling better. Both physically and emotionally. I'm working my way through some stuff. I'm actually writing it down. Like with a pen and paper! Wow. I haven't done that since high school. It seems to be helping. Thanks to the writing and physical activity (who knew it was so medicinal?), I'm doing much better. Thanks to everyone who's been concerned. You guys are terrific.

Still not at the point where I'm ready to talk about it, but I'm getting there. I do have a very important post to post sometime this week...maybe. We'll see. I just don't know how much to share, you know?

---------------

Sigh......I feel the need to retreat. Do you ever have those days where you want to get away from it all? Where you just want to leave everyone and everything for just a short bit of time? And be totally 100% alone? I mean, completely alone? Like Tom Hanks in Castaway? Find your own Wilson and whatnot?

---------------

So, I had yesterday off of work. I had to take Max to get de-balled. He is sooooo pissed at me right now. I mean, he's giving me the "death look" all the time. Except when he's in sleepy mode. Then he lets me love on him and snuggle with him. He seems to be recovering well.

---------------

I have to tell you guys what happened last night. I was in bed with a cup of tea, watching an episode of Buffy on DVD and painting my nails (Deep Chili in case you were wondering) when I heard that tell-tale scrabbling of little feet in the walls. I waited a couple of minutes and I could hear something rustling around in the kitchen. I got up stealthily (is that even a word?...if not, it is now) and rounded the corner into the dining room. I heard a mad scrambling and heard something run by my feet. I turned on the light in the dining room and saw a single saltine sitting at the entry way into the kitchen. The sight of that single cracker made me want to laugh. It was like I interrupted a break-in or something.

Anywho, I made my way into the kitchen and turned on the light. I heard some scrambling around in the pantry shelves and saw the shadow of something fall to the floor. I bent down and looked under the pantry and saw the biggest effin' rat! I tried to trap him by using a yard stick (quit laughing, I'm not Steve Irwin, y'all) and a rolling bin. It only caused him to run back up into the pantry shelves.

There he sat. 4 feet tall and carrying a big stick (ok, ok, he was more like 8 inches long, fat and had beady eyes, but still....he was scary). We stared each other down. I gently stood up on a stool and grabbed a butcher knife (one of my good ones, too, dammit) and eased back down. I very slowly moved a box that was in my stabbing range, all the while never taking my eyes from his.

All of a sudden, I lunged. I missed. He ran. Right past Max who, bless his little heart, tried to get him but he was still recovering from the anesthesia and his reflexes were too slow.

It was chaos as I tried to chase the rat all around the dining room. He ended up disappearing (how do they DO that?) and I gave up the chase for the night.

This morning, when I went into the kitchen to make coffee, I found the saltines box on the floor and a package of saltines sitting up right in the pantry.

Damn rat.

---------------

Swirl Girl sent me some interview questions. I love doing these. I don't know why. Probably cause it's all about me, me, me!

What 5 cd's could you listen to over and over again?

Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack, Uncle Kracker's "No Stranger to Shame", Shaggy's "Hot Shot", Jonny Lang's "Lie to Me" and Madonna's "Immaculate Collection".

What 5 articles of clothing would you have with you to wear for what could possibly be forever?

Jeans, sneakers, sports bra, my old LMHS football manager shirt that has paint splatters on it but is incredibly comfortable and a hat. Yes, I left out underwear. Yes, I know that's gross. But so is keeping on the same pair for eternity. I can't win that one.

What 5 foods (let's say there are endless supplies of whatever these may be) would you be willing to eat until/if you are rescued?

hummus, grapes, edamame, carrots and Hershey's Special Dark

What 5 people could you stand to possibly spend the rest of your life with?

LOML, Mimi, Vicky and I got no one else. Sorry.

What 5 blogs are a must read daily?

The Captain's, MAW's, The Irish, Ryan's and Jess's. If I only get 5 minutes on a computer, these are the one's that I immediately click on to check to see if there's a new post. I adore everyone that I read, but, these are the ones that are a must for me every day.

There's some rules to this, but I'm not in a rule following mood today (am I ever?).

---------------

Oh, lordy. While at home yesterday and writing my little heart out, I needed a break so I went to my room and stumbled across my hurricane bag.

My hurricane bag is one that I keep packed at all times with important papers in the event I had to evacuate for a hurricane and didn't want to take the time to find everything. Since I really don't need it much anymore, I've kind put it out of sight and forgotten about it.

I opened it yesterday and realized that at some point, I had cleared it out of important papers and all that was left was manuals to purchased items and some folders.

Boy, what a treasure trove of blog fodder did I find in those folders!

So embarrassing, but for your enjoyment pleasure, I'll post something from the folders each week.

Brace yourselves, it's bad high school poetry, writings and quotes.

And I mean BAD! LOL!

That's enough for me today.

Hope your Wednesday is going well.

Later,

Mama Dawg

To Tide You Over...

...till I get back to regularly scheduled posts.


Yesterday, we went to the creek again and had a picnic. This time my mom went with us and snapped these first two shots. We're acting all goofy on top of the hay bale!



She's so gonna hate me one day for always trying to lick her in pictures. But she tastes so good! LOL!

She's fake sleeping in this pic. We were both laying out on the hay bales and enjoying the breeze and the sunshine.

Spring has sprung in these here parts.

These are so cheerful. They never fail to bring a smile to my face.

More signs of spring.

So delicate.

These blue bottles are all around the magnolia tree at my grandmother's place. I love 'em. So shiny and blue.

Is this what they mean by rolling in the hay? Cause if so, Max has it down.

City kids have cable. We have rotten logs to kick.

First attempt at climbing a tree. I've tried for years to get her to do this. But, she finally caved in. I took her to the HUGE magnolia tree in my grandmother's yard and showed her which limbs to use.

Success!

Happy Tuesday!

Later,

Mama Dawg

Who Would You Do?

Good Monday post-Valentine's Weekend Morning.

How's everyone? Anyone get lucky?

We have a bit of a different spin on today's "Who Would You Do?" (book by Susan Segrest).

In this one, you have to quickly choose between the two choices given. There will be a total of 10 answers.

You have 30 seconds to go through the following list and make your rapid-fire selections. Who would you do?

Pee Wee Herman or Herman Munster?

Jennifer Aniston or Jennifer Jason Leigh?

Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks?

Burt Reynolds or Bert Convy?

Marilyn Manson or Charles Manson?

Meg Ryan or Ryan O'Neal?

Richard Gere or Richard Chamberlain?

Hilary Swank or Hillary Clinton?

Larry King or Billie Jean King?

Sandra Bullock or Sandra Day O'Connor?

And, as usual:

*Editor's Note---You HAVE to pick one of the choices. Even if you're a guy and the only choices are guys...same for girls...believe me, there are lots where it's only girls to choose from.

Later,

Mama Dawg

P.S. About this weekend.

It was both bad and good.

Bad because it got cut short. Saturday morning, he got a phone call from his brother informing him that his mom was in the ICU at the local hospital with some sort of kidney infection. Because his mama lived about 10 hours away, he decided to go ahead and get on the road so he could go be with her. When I talked to him later, she had been moved from the ICU to a regular room and was recovering. Even though I was disappointed that the weekend was cut short, it was completely understandable. I don't know how many times he apologized to me about having to leave. I kept telling him to quit apologizing and to just get on the road to go see his mama.

The good? Well, what I wanted to happen, did indeed happen. But, what I came away from this weekend with was not a feeling of satisfaction. Not due to any performance issues or anything. In fact, it has nothing to do with sex at all.

I came away from this weekend a changed person. And, I'm not ready to talk about it yet. All I can say is that I've had a difficult weekend emotionally and I'm still a bit raw from it all. I'm working on trying to get it down on paper, but it's still a work in progress. So, bear with me if over the next few days I either don't post at all or what I post is raw. And no, he didn't hurt me. So, don't get all angry at him for my emotionally wrecked weekend. He didn't DO anything to cause this.