I'm Late! I'm Late! For A Very Important Date!

Priorities.
See you tomorrow.

Diphthongs and Backmasking

Welcome to the Queen's Meme #54

We are going for the funny bone today. Ouch. I hate it when that happens. Technically speaking that is the ulnar nerve. Definition: The ulnar nerve originates from the C8-T1 nerve roots which form part of the medial cord of the brachial plexus, and descends on the posteromedial aspect of the humerus.
I told you this meme was humorous!

Confession: I stole this idea from Jamie at Duward Discussion. She used British and Australian slang words recently in a challenge to her readers. I found a site today called Inherently Funny and decided to do the same with words that sound ridiculously humorous when you pronounce them....IF you can pronounce them.
I have given you 8 funny sounding words. You have to supply a definition without looking at the website or dictionary first. I can't wait to see what you come up with.
Let's get started.

1. diphthong
Obviously I know what this is but I am going to pretend I don't know that it is two vowels that slide into one and make one sound. I prefer to think of it as a thong dipped in chocolate.

2. Houp-doup
When the star basketball player scores a point in the wrong team's basket.

3. Skullduggery
It has something to do with occupational hazards of grave diggers.

4. reintarnation
What in the tarnation are you talking about?
Once in a while, in the course of my castle-bound life, I tarnish my crown.
Reintarnation is when I do it twice in one day.

5. glom
The opposite of glam (see #4)

6. gobsmacked
The Satanic message heard on the back of the Beatles album.
Finally revealed right here on Mimi Writes!

7. assmosis
The perpetual infestation of bad dates in the life of Mimi Lenox.

8. lugubrious
The word I commonly use over dinner dates. If you say it backwards it's very seductive.

Monday Mimisms ~ Has Anyone Seen My Glove?

Seven Eight Reasons I Should Go Into Hiding

It's 38 days til peace globes fly and....

1. I can't find my shoes.

2. A tree branch fell on Bloggingham Saturday morning

3. I need a chainsaw.

4. I need a handsome semi-bad man carrying a chainsaw

5. My blood pressure is down from 160/95 (I kid not) to 131/82.
I like that. OHHHHMMMM

6. But I nearly had a stroke this afternoon when I accidentally got tangled up in the monitor cord trying to actually take my blood pressure for the first time by myself with a new monitor. It's not as easy as it looks on TV!!!

7. I fully realize that the excessive use of exclamation points is the reason my blood pressure is in the stratosphere to begin with. I can't help it!!!!! It's the Cherokee-Italian thing.
**imagine crazy hand waving and hair tossing**

8. I'm having a battle with the devil in my soul about the good guy/ bad boy thing. One is good for me. The other is not. But I want what is not good for me. Why can't a man be both? Huh? Why IS that?

And pray tell. What is wrong with this picture?

Nope. Never found 'em.

Shut up Homer.

Piano Peace

My peace today

will involve an hour of this...Where will you find yours?

Dr. Phil, Dr. Peale and a Bit of Change

Welcome to The Queen's Meme #53 ~ The Change Meme

Norman Vincent Peale said, "Change your thoughts and you change your world." It was interesting to see how many meanings I could find for the word "change".....some are serious, some are silly. Join us!

1. Name one thing you'd like to change about yourselfThe compulsion to change my shoes at stoplights.
2. If you wave a magic wand and be done with all the small petty nuisances in your life, what would you have "be gone" first?
Alarm clocks

3. Do you collect and save your spare change in a jar?
Yes. And then Baby Boy fishes in and gets all the quarters. That child! Why did we send him to school to learn to count?

4. Change your world. What is our biggest concern as a global humanity?
Violence and poverty. That's two. But who's counting?5. What would you have changed about your last relationship or the one you're in now?

Since I have only one foot "in" one now (maybe next weekend I'll decide if the other red heel commits I hope he isn't reading this) I should speak to my last last or my next to last or my first last? Which is it?
I really need to be more specific.

But seriously, my part (which is the only part I can control):
I would not change my intentions or my depth of commitment or my words or my actions in any of them. They were wholly true and real in all phases - during and after. I cannot change anyone else, their perceptions (real, projected or imagined), their reactions, the way they deal with hurt or their "truths"...nor would I want to....they have to figure out what was true for themselves and then they have to live with it. I have to decide if I'm going to let their emotions and how they handle them affect me and my life. The correct answer is "Are you KIDDING me??! No way." The honest and human answer is that it's not always easy.
But change? Ummm....no. The only person I can change within a relationship and after a relationship ends is ME.
I am not a believer in trying to change anyone else.
I am a believer in paying attention.
That has been rather interesting and insightful.

6. If you could reverse the course of history in a time machine, what would you do and how do you think the world would be different today?
Let's go back to Adam and Eve. Had they been created androgynous in the first place we would have no divorce, fashion shopping would be so much easier, no one would have had to write the Mars/Venus book series (he is now divorced btw) and Dr. Phil would be out of business.

7. Who would you like to change into a toad?
Karma usually takes care of all things.

8. What is the first thing you change into when you get home from work?
Shoes OFF. Unmentionables OFF. Blogjammies and coffee pot ON.

9. If you could change places with anyone in the world for one day, who would that be?
It would save me a lot of time if I could be a fly on the wall in the final divorce court proceedings of every man I go out with. It would take the guesswork out of a second date, now wouldn't it?
10. Have you ever heard the expression "turn over a new leaf?" What is under your old one?
Worry. The new one has no worry written anywhere on it. I like it!

11. Name one thing that can cause you to immediately change your mood.
Customer service reps on the phone


12. What have you recently (or ever) had a change of heart about? And why?

Someone recently said to me, "There's a reason for everything. You'll see."
I used to believe that. Now, not so much. Sometimes the lesson you learn is that there was no lesson, there was no reason, there was no redeeming quality and there is no grand epiphany on the horizon. I think that is the hardest lesson of all. Idealism in relationships. Not so grand.

13. When is the last time you changed the oil in your car?

My dad would ask me a thousand times every year about this time, "Have you changed the oil in your car? Is there ANY oil in your car?" and then "Give me the keys to your car." He would hobble outside in his jammies and check it himself. I could tell by the way he shook his head under the hood that he was not pleased with my car maintenance abilities.
I miss that check up.

We Support UN International Day of Peace

You need another reason?
Warning: This footage is graphic and unedited.
Provided by James Foley and Global Content reporting from Kunar Province in Afghanistan

This year the United Nations is asking, "What are YOU doing for peace?"
My answer is that we are committed to building awareness for tolerance, diversity and possible solutions for the end of violent conflict throughout the world through the sharing of ideas in online global communities as we prepare to Blog For Peace November 4, 2010.
Peace is a daily goal. Today and everyday.
Be a peacemaker.

Anne Mimi Sammis and The Peace Globe

"Dance of Peace" sculpture by Anne Mimi Sammis.
Peace Globe designed by Sanni Janski
Rhode Island

During last year's preparations for BlogBlast For Peace, a project was in the works instigated by not one, not two, but three bloggers.
Peace bloggers they were. And are.

You see, my good friend Duchess Linda Upon The Thames who writes Are We There Yet? is known for her excellence in the fine art of instigating (who do you think is responsible for the dungeon? Hmmmm?) took her magical camera on a frolic one lovely summer day in New England to discover this in the province of Rhode Island -
two statues by internationally acclaimed artist/sculptress Anne Mimi Sammis from Narragansett, Rhode Island. Here is the piece Linda wrote on her blog called "Sculptures of Peace and Joy in Rhode Island" and the wonderful photographs she took.

"Dance Of Peace"
Linda had discovered someone who uses her talent to inspire and motivate others for the cause of love and peace in our world. And she does it with incredible panache. With a little research I learned that Anne Mimi Sammis was commissioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury to sculpt a piece for Queen Elizabeth II to honor Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee. The sculpture has been on permanent exhibition since 2002 at Lambeth Palace in London and is called "He Has The Whole World In His Hands". The work depicts the Hand of God holding a globe with dancing figures on the top.
You can also find her on WSBE Rhode Island PBS Saturdays at 1:00 pm for weekly "Painting With Mimi" which are broadcast nationally in 26 states. She was commissioned to create the first memorial for Women Veterans of Rhode Island which now stands in Exeter, RI.
Another of her wonderful peace creations, "Dancing On The World" is on display at The American Embassy in Paris.
Her work has been exhibited at The United Nations and in 1999 at The Hague Appeal For Peace Conference in the Netherlands.
She recently hosted The Peace Art Project: A Month of Peace at the University of Rhode Island in Providence.
Everything she creates has a sense of joy, love, peace and unity.
She is truly a remarkable voice for peace.

Linda and I exchanged a few emails and decided that Mimi Sammis's embodiment of peace must somehow find its way on a peace globe.

I emailed her.

I was so excited to receive this reply.

" Dear Mimi,

Thank you so much for your kind words! I always love for others to be inspired by my work.

I am ever so busy this time of year but I appreciate your request for a peace globe submission. I would be delighted for you to pick one of my images from the web and reproduce it as long as credit to Mimi Sammis is posted.

I wish you peace and the best of luck with the Peace Globe Movement. Please keep me posted on all of your progress!

Have a wonderful summer,

Mimi Sammis

Anne Mimi has said this of her own work. I wholeheartedly concur.
"It is my hope that my sculpture touches, inspires, and validates the peace that is within each one of us. I feel strongly that love is the healer of everything. When people come into contact with art, if love and joy are represented, the response and interaction with it can raise the consciousness of the world."
- Anne Mimi Sammis

And who would design it? None other than long time peace blogger, graphics designer and peace movement enthusiast Sanni Janski from Germany, who has designed more peace globes for folks around the world than anyone I know.
It is now officially #1760 in the Peace Globe Gallery.
Many thanks to Mimi Sammis, Duchess Linda Photographer and Sanni Janski.

Sometimes I marvel at the way things come round full circle.
Two Mimis, two Queens, a Duchess and a German peace lover

Perfection.

November 4, 2010

I Surrendered To the Pirate

How can a girl with only one eye not participate in
Talk Like A Pirate Day?

The truth is I boycotted this international event (reaaaally?) because I'm jealous. They have a page in Wikipedia and BlogBlast For Peace does not. Scandalous!
So I refused to be piratey until....mon amie Miss Lizza from the Philippines made this eye patch for my one and only public eye.
It's cute. And it didn't even mess up my hair.

I shall sport it even though at first glance it looks a bit like one of those bunny girls on a magazine doesn't it? If so, don't tell me.
It's only for one day.

Maybe my mother won't see it.

And besides we have decided to swoon over Johnny Depp today. Please, if you get a chance, talk to the Powers That Be at Wikipedia and start another petition. Tell them we're all going to show up on November 4 en masse anyway so they best be prepared for the onslaught.....but we will not be carrying swords. I just checked again and found International Lefthanders Day too! Is there no justice in this world?

Sigh.

No pirates were injured in the making of this post.

Slow Down...Breathe....That's It

I think I'll sit here for awhile. Wanna join me?

Photo credit: Mimi Lenox

When September Lay Still

So I've been writing this post for days now, in my mind, as I step outside the house in the mornings and notice the sudden chill. Fall signs. The sky looks different this September. I know why and it's perfectly normal but I don't want to write it.

It's just that each day now when I look at the calendar I understand and feel the urgency of a September lived long and wide awake by the bed of my father who lay so still so still so still...... And I see the covers kick..... smell the third floor bedpans...remember the fatigue and the unspoken knowings of grief that went along with what I really couldn't say to the man in that horizontal bed of confinement. Lies. Lies. All lies.
"Oh, you'll feel better tomorrow, Daddy. The doctor will come in and we'll talk about home."
Lies.
"Maybe the new medicine will help the swelling...We'll see."
More lies.
And then by the end of September there was no use making his bed with lies.

He must have felt abandoned. Did he? He finally gave up. The covers stopped kicking. One night they stopped.

I fell asleep in the chair and tried to pretend we were home and that all I had to do was listen to him snore. But that night was a horror. I felt terribly guilty for falling asleep by the bed because I was so tired thinking he would drift off eventually and stop calling out but he never did. He needed me. I needed to sleep. It was a vicious cycle. Maybe, oh, maybe I failed him. I think I failed him. He called another's name. She wasn't there. I couldn't make him understand. I pretended to be the one he wanted. His eyes searched for her. I told him she was there. And then I couldn't fool him anymore. By 3am the horrors began as the morphine coursed through a frustrated man with nothing to do but wait for the next injection and make nightmarish scenarios of stealing away in the trunk of my car and going home.

He just wanted to go home.

Dammit.
He just wanted to go home.

Silly You Say?

So I was all ready to write a scathing review on the state of this crazy world when suddenly, out of the blue, I was attacked.

You see, things happen in spirals. Dominos. Fell. Down. Clunk.

Someone sent me an email about their silly workday. A silly thread started.
It was contagious. I decided to post how silly I felt on Facebook. So I wrote, "

I have just suffered an acute attack of the sillies. And I like it."

Then everybody else wanted to be silly too. They said so.
They even asked me to send them some of my silly.

We had all manner of sordid conversation on my Wall about rubies and six shooters and demon rum.
It was....it was....well.....just silly.

I tried soooo hard to get back to my post about famine and Wall Street and Tea Party parties but, alas, I could not. I'm just not in the mood for tragedy.
And besides, it's too late now and I want to contemplate the S word for awhile.

Goodnight, Bloggy People.

Wild Dates, Curry and Drunken Reunions

Welcome to The Queen's Meme #52
It's called The Meet Up Meme

I've given you 10 common places where "meeting" is the game plan. Simply answer the questions about your meet and greet habits. And don't be late for the meeting!
I have a dungeon you know.
And I know how to use it.

You are going to a....

1. Business meeting
Do you prefer a structured agenda with a time frame or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants brainstorming session?

Meetings that can be accomplished by emails should be outlawed. Brainstorming is fun as long as it's not an "assignment" that goes on and on and on and on. Structured agendas are boring with a capital B. Can you tell I love meetings?
2. First Date meeting
Where are we going and what are we going to do? (Yes, I said you!)

We are going to an Indian restaurant for a wild dish with curry. I like my dates spicy.


3. Coffee House with your best friend
Do you prefer a collegiate bookstore atmosphere with coffee and WiFi or a fancy restaurant with a beautiful display of expensive desserts? Oh. And what is your favorite coffee flavor?

Hmm....My best friend would not want to be with me in a bookstore because we are both bookworms and might end up shopping instead of talking which is what we do best. For hours (!) therefore, lots of chocolate desserts should be readily available and a huge pot of coffee. Who needs books when you've got the gift of eternal gab? Oh. And I like a little coffee in my French vanilla creamer. Doesn't everyone?

4. Bar/Pub with friends
What is your poison?
I've come to the conclusion lately that alcohol IS poison. No thanks.

5. Your old high school for a 25 yr. reunion
Who would you like to see the most after all these years?

Let me tell you who I would NOT like to see. True story: I went to my 15th reunion several years ago. A guy sat down beside me. He still looked the same as he did in the 5th grade. I still did not like him. I still wanted to be far far away from him. He drove me batty when I was ten. And he chooses to sit with me after all this time apart (thank GOD) and after he'd moved to another state (thank the LORD). Why me??! He was irritating in the 5th grade why am I going on and on about this? apparently, I need to purge myself of the awful memory. He was like a gnat I tell you. I did NOT give him a Valentine in those cutesy little card thingy the teacher puts on the wall (Baby Boy, do not listen to this) and I did NOT dance with him at the Halloween dance because I was dating (sort of. We were 10) the Principal's son and I had to be true just in case the principal was watching.
Did you get that?
So there I am at the reunion and he turns to me and spouts the most insulting thing you have EVER heard out loud at the table. Something to do with body parts and female anatomy out LOUD at the table.
He was drunk.
I was mortified.

See what I mean about alcohol???


6. Blogger meet up
What is your fantasy blog meet up with your favorite bloggers? Where would you go and what would you do?

It looks like I'm going to meet a certain little Hawaiian skirt girl when she comes to the States soon. Yippee! I have met several bloggers in person already and would love to meet as many of you as possible. Wouldn't that be fun? I don't think the place is important. Just a place with lots of food, good music, a tolerance for blogging cameras and plenty of time to talk. My experience meeting bloggers has been that you really do feel as though you already know the person. It is a wonderful experience. A party at Bloggingham on BlogBlast For Peace day sounds just about perfect. Or just a party period.

7. Google Search Bar
What are you searching for today?

Peace globe Google ads. Aren't you?



8. Your favorite tattoo artist at the parlor
What is your next tattoo going to be and why?

My next tattoo would be my first tattoo. To each his own but I just can't stand the thought of NEEDLES!!! and permanent ink on my fair Queen skin. Nope. No can do. But you go on with your creative selves and have at it. I'll take pictures and hold your hand while you scream.

9. AA or Al Anon Meeting
You are the designated driver to this function. What advice would you give a room full of folks who desperately need inspiration?

That's a tough question. I will say this. If you've ever been present during one of these meetings, it is a humbling experience. There but for the grace of God.....we all need to remember that and not judge. The Serenity Prayer works in all areas of life.
I could do no better than that.

10. An video podcast meeting with your mother or significant other who doesn't know about your blog
Tell us how you would introduce them to the blog that is you.

Dear Mother, This is my blog address: mimiwrites.blosplogdot.com
See you there! Please leave a comment.

Monday Mimisms ~ She's Baaaaaack

So, what's new since I've been gone? Anything I need to know about? Did Homer behave himself? You did remember to feed him....right? Were there uprisings in the dungeon? Homer is acting very strangely. He's been kind of cranky since I returned from vacation.
I am fantasizing that he missed me.
I'm sure that's it.

My Monday world is humming along . I am getting back into the feel of regular blogging after a rather disjointed summer. I got a lot of sand in my crown. Saw some sandpipers and seagulls and sunsets and such. Sang a bit of beach music on a dance floor. You know...the usual tomfoolery I fall into on occasion. But enough about that.
It's back to business as usual.

So, you can expect regular flashlight searches now in the deep dark recesses of the dungeon and mucho emails about peace globes and more than a'plenty run-on sentences starting now and maybe some flirtatious secrets Italian dark eyes and curly hair seems to ring a bell that very well could spill right out here on this blog if I'm not careful how much vanilla coffee I'm drinking late at night.

Italian men always get me in trouble.
This could get interesting.

I'd better remember to put a lock and key on that diary of mine.

In The Land of Safe Septembers ~ I Remember 9/11

In honor of those who lost their lives that awful day

It is for them we keep the memory fresh on the page.

I recently unearthed a handwritten journal entry in my diary penned
September 10, 2001.
That year I was in the midst of a painful personal life-altering divorce and feeling philosophically Mimi-like. Little did I know that a few hours later, none of the problems I thought I had would even measure a speck of consideration for quite some time.

Fall 2001 was not a time to take leave of one's family.

Home. My corner of the world. Safe and secure - unharmed by violence. My garden. My books. My things. All reasons to take stock of what I was grateful for and why.

But my sense of safety was about to take a sharp left turn. There are images in my psyche that profoundly affect me even now. The earth-shattered and the buildings crumbled - so did my heart and my spirit. Septembers will never be the same.

Here are just a few of my vivid random memories of that day.

**************

A phone call from my son. He was crying. "Mom, people are jumping from buildings," as he watched the unedited raw footage unfold before the shots were censored.

Something about the way he said my name that day made me want to forever scoop him up and protect him from such visions. I called or emailed everyone I knew who meant anything to me to make sure they knew I loved them.

Not such a bad idea today, September 11, 2010 either.

Sitting with my then-husband and openly sobbing as we watched the evening news in silence. Suddenly, who gets to keep the SUV didn't matter.

Watching the second plane hit live in real-time broadcasts and the Towers fall. Every night for six weeks I had nightmares about flying planes.

Praying with a colleague at work and watching the early reports. I remember the feeling of helplessness. "There's nothing we can do," I said. " Somebody please help those people."
"All we can do is pray," he said.
And so we did.
Out loud and unashamed and unaware of denomination. To me, my friend became the-person-I-was-with-when-it-happened and to this day I still remember the power I felt in the room on that morning. Just as we finished, a co-worker across the hall walked in to see what was wrong. He heard us say "The Pentagon has just been hit."
"My son is in Washington," he said. "He's a runner at the Pentagon."
He left to make a phone call.
More praying in room 18.




Patriotism. Who cared what Party you belonged to. I often say "I became an American that day." My only regret is that up until that horrible morning I had little understanding of what that meant. Not really.
Silences. People wore unspoken pain like a garment.
No chattering at the post office. No small talk at the grocery store.
What kind of evil could silence a nation's soul?
I remember the sound of no music on the radio for days.

The sky. It was a picture perfect blue.

How my view has changed.
Today, I am more politically aware, unfortunately resolved to
disastrous uncertainties in the world around me and more than ever willing to
run headlong into a very precious span of time called my life.

My one-time comfortable corner of the universe has changed - peacefully so - and we have all happily moved on in our private lives, making new memories on new soil. September 11 didn't change my ultimate direction but it did alter the way I moved in it.

After September 11th I heard stories of people mending fences. Offering forgiveness. Olive branches. We all witnessed ordinary people do extraordinary things. Those who seemingly had little to offer gave all they had anyway. Collectively.

We were caught in a time warp of kindness for awhile.
Did you notice that too?

When the anger came later, as it did for me - as well as a new found surge into patriotism like so many others of diverse and varying political opinion - it was fueled with a stark understanding of how precariously we walk.

I, for one, do not intend to sleepwalk.

As with any tragedy, as time passes, senses often dull and memories fade into fact and lore, so-sads and history books. My hope is that we not only continue to honor and remember, but that 911 has also propelled us into a new era of tolerance, understanding, and an urgent intensity for the cause of peace. Borne of unfortunate necessity and clouded by unspeakable violence, we were forced to hold a mirror to a clear September sky and look squarely into the face of an evil so perverse it stands mocking nine years later. Out of the ashes and fire, a certain universal passion dropped in our laps for the things in our lives that really matter.

Today is not a day for hatred. The only hope we have is to continue to speak peace....so that maybe one day we can go back to the land of safe Septembers.

**************