My current status message on Myspace reads "www. AskMargie . com"
Now, you might be asking yourself why I would put a website on my status message if the website doesn't actually exist.... or you could just be wondering why Weebles only wobble or whatever... but anyway... here's the story behind it:
I used to work in an office that was a lot of fun (most of the time)... with some really great people. I had quite a bit of experience in the company... so... if there was something they couldn't figure out, they would come ask me.
And that began to include topics that were outside of work...
See... I know a little bit about a lot of things... not that I know a whole lot about any particular thing... but bits about off-the-wall things... topics ranging from BDSM to the gear ratio on a fishing reel... from ghost hunting to collecting cuttings from a peach tree... from psychology to composting...
I just pick up odd and unusual facts... I like the odd and unusual... just look at my friends (bwahhaahhhaaa).
Well... one of the guys at work (who's always scheming on money-making ideas) decided that I needed to start my own website where people pay me to answer questions for them... and that's what led to the "www. AskMargie .com"
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Imagine if you will...
Sitting peacefully around the frontroom...
... just enjoying being together as a family...
... watching a bit of tv...
... listening to Aradia singing her little songs...
...
She starts to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider"...
... she's making the little hand motions of the spider climbing up the water spout...
...
Suddenly... she looks down at her hands...
... her eyes go wide...
... she gasps... "Oh no! A spider!" and begins to smack her hand with her fist...
...
...
I about pissed my pants, I was laughing so hard!
Sitting peacefully around the frontroom...
... just enjoying being together as a family...
... watching a bit of tv...
... listening to Aradia singing her little songs...
...
She starts to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider"...
... she's making the little hand motions of the spider climbing up the water spout...
...
Suddenly... she looks down at her hands...
... her eyes go wide...
... she gasps... "Oh no! A spider!" and begins to smack her hand with her fist...
...
...
I about pissed my pants, I was laughing so hard!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
A Week of Sundays
Well, it's been a week since my last day at IGT.
I'm still not used to it.
I still feel "on the verge" of going back to work. It's been like a week of Sundays, feeling like tomorrow I'll have to get up and drive to the office. Even though I know I don't have anywhere I have to go, it still feels like it.
It still feels like any day now, I will have to set my alarm, find where I put my badge, get in the car in the morning, and make the 22 mile drive to South Meadows.
Even though intellectually I know that day isn't coming, I'm still waiting for it.
So far, during this week of Sundays, I've managed to get a few things accomplished here at home... not as many as I thought would be done by now, but enough.
I'm still not used to it.
I still feel "on the verge" of going back to work. It's been like a week of Sundays, feeling like tomorrow I'll have to get up and drive to the office. Even though I know I don't have anywhere I have to go, it still feels like it.
It still feels like any day now, I will have to set my alarm, find where I put my badge, get in the car in the morning, and make the 22 mile drive to South Meadows.
Even though intellectually I know that day isn't coming, I'm still waiting for it.
So far, during this week of Sundays, I've managed to get a few things accomplished here at home... not as many as I thought would be done by now, but enough.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
a year of Earth
If you've ever had a Digger in your garden, you probably know the frustration of toppled plants... it can be frustrating for the Digger, too... when all they wanted to do was get to know the plant.
"You said it was an herb... the top looked like pennyroyal, but I wasn't sure, so I dug up the roots... it's pennyroyal alright... and I found some others down here, too... and they're all different... see here's comfrey and here's lavender and here... why are you so mad?"
Ok... so for the past year I've been digging and digging and discovering all kinds of wonderful roots...
When I dedicated this last year to Earth, I figured I'd be working with more tangible stuff... guess digging through my own DNA history was what the Universe had planned for me instead.
"You said it was an herb... the top looked like pennyroyal, but I wasn't sure, so I dug up the roots... it's pennyroyal alright... and I found some others down here, too... and they're all different... see here's comfrey and here's lavender and here... why are you so mad?"
Ok... so for the past year I've been digging and digging and discovering all kinds of wonderful roots...
When I dedicated this last year to Earth, I figured I'd be working with more tangible stuff... guess digging through my own DNA history was what the Universe had planned for me instead.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
The Special Little Christmas
Aunt Beth sent me an email the other day. She sent me a letter that my great-great-aunt wrote to her grandchildren...
Beth's email:
Hello,
I was going through my papers and ran across this letter .Aunt Margie sent it to me a few years ago . Aunt Betty Harwood ( My Mom's brother Buzz's wife ) wrote this to her grandkids , and Aunt Margie got a copy sent to her . Aunt Margie got Aunt Bettys' okay to share this beautiful memory of grandma Harwood at Christmas time . I ask Aunt Betty if I could pass it on and sher said sure . I lost it , now it is found . I hope this comes through and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did . I will always keep it and read it over at this time of year . Anyhow I wanted to share it with you all , and give you a chance to share with your loved ones .
The Letter:
THE SPECIAL "LITTLE" CHRISTMAS
Your Grandpa Harwood and I decided that year we should spell his sister Margie and Sister-in-law Pat so they wouldn't have to spend another Christmas away from their homes. We would take ours for the first time away from our home and stay with Grandma Harwood in Elgin, Oregon. It seemed to be the right thing to do. I sure made our plans with a heavy heart. It would mean we were away from our home, children and grandchildren for the first time at Christmas.
We took our favorite tree ornaments and left two weeks before Christmas. The road seemed even longer than it really was and it took such a long time to get there. We drove up to the simple little white house and parked under the huge leafless limbs of a sugar maple at the edge of the yard.
The street and sidewalk was frozen iron hard and our breath frosted out in front of us. It was COLD! Grandma Harwood and your great uncle Ross was happy to see us and welcomed us.
Ross would have a chance to get out of the house more now that we were there, and Grandma enjoyed someone different to visit with.
Our days were filled with small chores, cleaning, cooking meals and helping Grandma with baths and other things she could no longer do alone.
I decorated a little plastic tree, that in my opinion didn't much resemble a tree. I sorted through the decorations in a back closet and picked out a few to brighten the rooms, but that didn't help much.
Then one afternoon when everyone except Grandma Harwood and I had gone somewhere, we sat down and visited. I told her I was sad, but made a little joke out of it because I didn't want her to feel I resented being there helping her.
She then told me about her feelings every Christmas.
She was eight years old and her mother had been quite ill for a long time. Just two weeks before Christmas she died, leaving behind five heart-broken children and a husband who could barely cope. Grandma Harwood had not had time to grieve - and had no one to help her face that grief. She told me that thereafter every Christmas she thought of her mother and how very hard it was to lose her. Every Christmas was tinged with sorrow which she would set aside so she could go on and make a nice holiday for her own family.
As we talked, I began to see what a small easy gesture it was to spend one Christmas away from my home. I was grateful that Bethel had shared her story with me. It allowed me to see this particular Christmas in a different light, and I began to think of Bethel and how I could brighten the holiday for her.
I started with Cinnamon Ornaments. I made a big batch of cinnamon & applesauce dough to roll out and cut with Christmas cookie cutters. The kitchen smelled wonderful.
Grandma had the pleasant job of picking out exactly the right cutters to use: a tree, leaping deer, star, an angel and so forth.
We put the shapes on racks and the racks on a high shelf on the enclosed back porch. They could cure in the dry air. When they were hard and leathery I strung ribbon through the holes in the top of each one. The ribbon then was threaded on a wire hook ready to hang. The tree was too small so I hung them all along the lace valance at the top of the dining room window.
It was Bethel's special fun to greet people coming in the back door and try to get them to try one of "Betty's cookies"!
It was Bethel's last Christmas and I will always be thankful I shared it.
It turned out to be one of my best Christmas memories.
* * * *
I remember those cookie cutters. My Grandma had the same ones... and so did my mom. Making and hanging these types of "special cookies" has been a tradition in my family for many generations... and it's something I plan to do with my grandchildren, too.
Beth's email:
Hello,
I was going through my papers and ran across this letter .Aunt Margie sent it to me a few years ago . Aunt Betty Harwood ( My Mom's brother Buzz's wife ) wrote this to her grandkids , and Aunt Margie got a copy sent to her . Aunt Margie got Aunt Bettys' okay to share this beautiful memory of grandma Harwood at Christmas time . I ask Aunt Betty if I could pass it on and sher said sure . I lost it , now it is found . I hope this comes through and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did . I will always keep it and read it over at this time of year . Anyhow I wanted to share it with you all , and give you a chance to share with your loved ones .
The Letter:
THE SPECIAL "LITTLE" CHRISTMAS
Your Grandpa Harwood and I decided that year we should spell his sister Margie and Sister-in-law Pat so they wouldn't have to spend another Christmas away from their homes. We would take ours for the first time away from our home and stay with Grandma Harwood in Elgin, Oregon. It seemed to be the right thing to do. I sure made our plans with a heavy heart. It would mean we were away from our home, children and grandchildren for the first time at Christmas.
We took our favorite tree ornaments and left two weeks before Christmas. The road seemed even longer than it really was and it took such a long time to get there. We drove up to the simple little white house and parked under the huge leafless limbs of a sugar maple at the edge of the yard.
The street and sidewalk was frozen iron hard and our breath frosted out in front of us. It was COLD! Grandma Harwood and your great uncle Ross was happy to see us and welcomed us.
Ross would have a chance to get out of the house more now that we were there, and Grandma enjoyed someone different to visit with.
Our days were filled with small chores, cleaning, cooking meals and helping Grandma with baths and other things she could no longer do alone.
I decorated a little plastic tree, that in my opinion didn't much resemble a tree. I sorted through the decorations in a back closet and picked out a few to brighten the rooms, but that didn't help much.
Then one afternoon when everyone except Grandma Harwood and I had gone somewhere, we sat down and visited. I told her I was sad, but made a little joke out of it because I didn't want her to feel I resented being there helping her.
She then told me about her feelings every Christmas.
She was eight years old and her mother had been quite ill for a long time. Just two weeks before Christmas she died, leaving behind five heart-broken children and a husband who could barely cope. Grandma Harwood had not had time to grieve - and had no one to help her face that grief. She told me that thereafter every Christmas she thought of her mother and how very hard it was to lose her. Every Christmas was tinged with sorrow which she would set aside so she could go on and make a nice holiday for her own family.
As we talked, I began to see what a small easy gesture it was to spend one Christmas away from my home. I was grateful that Bethel had shared her story with me. It allowed me to see this particular Christmas in a different light, and I began to think of Bethel and how I could brighten the holiday for her.
I started with Cinnamon Ornaments. I made a big batch of cinnamon & applesauce dough to roll out and cut with Christmas cookie cutters. The kitchen smelled wonderful.
Grandma had the pleasant job of picking out exactly the right cutters to use: a tree, leaping deer, star, an angel and so forth.
We put the shapes on racks and the racks on a high shelf on the enclosed back porch. They could cure in the dry air. When they were hard and leathery I strung ribbon through the holes in the top of each one. The ribbon then was threaded on a wire hook ready to hang. The tree was too small so I hung them all along the lace valance at the top of the dining room window.
It was Bethel's special fun to greet people coming in the back door and try to get them to try one of "Betty's cookies"!
It was Bethel's last Christmas and I will always be thankful I shared it.
It turned out to be one of my best Christmas memories.
* * * *
I remember those cookie cutters. My Grandma had the same ones... and so did my mom. Making and hanging these types of "special cookies" has been a tradition in my family for many generations... and it's something I plan to do with my grandchildren, too.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
quote
Enlightenment or delusion?
Who is to say which person has which
Like the evening moon they appear and fade
Not one knows exactly when.
~ Morihei Ueshiba, 1936.
Who is to say which person has which
Like the evening moon they appear and fade
Not one knows exactly when.
~ Morihei Ueshiba, 1936.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Fringe-Dweller Personality
The personality workshop I recently attended identified a lot of Fringe Dweller traits in my personality.
Fringe Dwellers have been around a long time before the movie about Aboriginal Australians, or the hit TV series, "Fringe."
They don't live on the fringe… they live in it. They think so far out of the box that some have completely discarded it or attempted to destroy it.
They are Fringe-Dwellers to reality. Many are considered geniuses, for their ability to connect seemingly exclusive data. Some are just thought to be insane. It is this macro-web thinking that drives their visionary ingenuity.
They are Fringe-Dwellers to reason. They rely heavily on intuitive interpretation of the macro-web to guide their lives, many only using data to support their visions when they must communicate to the rest of society.
They are Fringe-Dwellers to tradition. Their thought patterns, being naturally conceptual, follow a less structured, less detail-oriented path. They are tuned more to experience and exploration than following a pre-defined set of events.
They are Fringe-Dwellers to society. The intricacies and subtleties of societal politics, interpersonal relationships, and societal-emotional dependencies are usually beyond their personal realm of importance.
Most have difficulty with communicating emotions intimately rather than globally or conceptually. They have a stronger connection with "the human condition" rather than with individual beings.
None of this means they are unable to function within society or with the accepted reality. However, living within the realm of the "norm" requires a lot of energy from these personalities to keep up the facade of conformance.
Fringe Dwellers have been around a long time before the movie about Aboriginal Australians, or the hit TV series, "Fringe."
They don't live on the fringe… they live in it. They think so far out of the box that some have completely discarded it or attempted to destroy it.
They are Fringe-Dwellers to reality. Many are considered geniuses, for their ability to connect seemingly exclusive data. Some are just thought to be insane. It is this macro-web thinking that drives their visionary ingenuity.
They are Fringe-Dwellers to reason. They rely heavily on intuitive interpretation of the macro-web to guide their lives, many only using data to support their visions when they must communicate to the rest of society.
They are Fringe-Dwellers to tradition. Their thought patterns, being naturally conceptual, follow a less structured, less detail-oriented path. They are tuned more to experience and exploration than following a pre-defined set of events.
They are Fringe-Dwellers to society. The intricacies and subtleties of societal politics, interpersonal relationships, and societal-emotional dependencies are usually beyond their personal realm of importance.
Most have difficulty with communicating emotions intimately rather than globally or conceptually. They have a stronger connection with "the human condition" rather than with individual beings.
None of this means they are unable to function within society or with the accepted reality. However, living within the realm of the "norm" requires a lot of energy from these personalities to keep up the facade of conformance.
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