The Jackie Blog

One of the things that keeps me blogging every single day of 2011 is the witty comments my readers leave. 

Ya’ll are some witty folk.

But yesterday I was so struck by the wit that affronted me from the unassuming position at the bottom of my post yesterday about how I really wanted to start seeing thunderstorms if I’m going to be bogged down with all this ridiculous rain.  In it, I included a tidbit about my Emergency Glow Sticks that I have ready just for the occasion that I’m blessed with an awesome lightning crack and a power out.

A fellow blogger, pegoleg, left the following comment:

“When Mother Nature picks up the gauntlet you just threw down, at least you’ll be prepared.

Because your emergency plan is glow sticks, right? If the power goes out, that’s what you’re going to count on to see you through. What, you couldn’t find any fireflies? The store was out of sparklers?”

Actually, it wasn’t bold.  Or italicized.  You know, to be fair.

Pegoleg just happens to be a well-deserving Freshly Pressed Triple Crown holder.  And though that sort of makes her sound like a race horse, I actually mean she tends to write amusing and unique posts that WordPress features because she’s amusing.  And groovy.  And because she’s taken the time to bless me with her sarcasm, and because I follow any post idea I can get these days, I have decided to compose this open letter.

Dear pegoleg,

I would like to begin by thanking you for your comment.  By you leaving a note at the bottom of my posts, it makes it seem like sometimes people actually stop by my site and read it.  Which, although it may not be necessarily true, is a facade that I can happily keep up thanks to your frequent comments.

I would like to use the body of my letter to address your questions because your inquiries are dear to me and I want to see to it that your curiosities are satisfied.     Also, because as I said above, it’s day hundred-and-something in 2011 and I’ve removed my filter for whether or not to pursue a blog idea immediately.

Now I just do it before bed, schedule it for morning, and wake to reap the consequences.  

In my defense, there is such a thing as “Emergency Glow Sticks”.  And while it seems like a silly child’s toy for a late night parade, I assure you that the glow sticks that have amassed beneath my kitchen sink are no small potatoes.  They are super charged, super bright, 12-hour glow sticks and they will not be mocked.    After you crack and shake them, they continue to slowly and discreetly release a faint hiss that makes me concerned about the reaction that caused the eye-blinding neon liquid to form.  In fact, I just cracked one to check the validity of my claim, and aside from the usual hyperbole you’ve come to expect from me, this is all totally accurate.  Because I kind of don’t know where I’m going to put it for the next 11.95 hours.

I’m not quite sure what you use in your home in the event of disaster.  We’re fresh out of oil and torches, so I thought it best to stash the glow sticks in their absence.  This is indeed the extent of my disaster plan.  Well, these and a pretty complex blanket fort.  

I would stash fireflies and sparklers, but unfortunately they don’t come out until summer.

I hope that this helps clear things up.  If you have any further questions or concerns, you know where to find me.  And as always, thank you so much for stopping by.

Puppies and Sprinkles,

Jackie ♣

Tags: 365 Project, Humor, life, musings, postaday2011

I’ve gotta say – April has been preeetty unimpressive in the thunderstorm realm.

I hate pathetic thunderstorms.   At the slightest rumble, I grab my emergency glow sticks from beneath the sink and lay them around the apartment, in hopes that the electricity will be zapped and I’ll finally have an excuse to crack them open in their chemical, neon green glory.  I run to the window, pull up the blinds, and anxiously stare out toward the eerie orange sky awaiting an awesome thunderstorm.

But the awesome never comes.

April has been nothing but rain, clouds, and more rain, and I can’t even get a little heat lightning out of the deal.  Just a rumble, a tease, and then – nothing.  

I love a good thunderstorm.  I want lightning that cracks right beside the apartment and makes me wonder if I’m going to die.  I want torrents of rain that put rubble and branches in the streets and make everyone want to stay indoors.  I want my television to BOOP BOOP BOOP on a poorly colored, archaic station that has a robotic voice telling everyone that anything in the open air is unsafe.    I want tips and tricks to flash across the screen for what to do if you find yourself in an open field.  I want several grids to shut down so that people are wary at intersections and I have to whip out some candles and play rudimentary time-passing games in my living room.

But none of that has happened.  Not once.

What kind of a spring goes by without a good T-storm?  It’s bad enough that winter has wiggled its way almost completely to the rise of our May flowers – must I also endure a perk-less spring? 

Lame.  Super lame.

Listen up, mother nature.  I’m sick of this willy-nilly weather.  When you’re winter, you’re winter all the way.  We get bone-chilling cold, blizzards, and frozen car windows.  So when you’re springtime, be springtime.  I want thunderstorms, craziness, and flowers to follow.  I want freshly mowed grass and orange skies that lead to violent lightning cracks.   I don’t want to have to give you a lesson in the properties of the four seasons. 

So get it together, will ya? ♣

Tags: 365 Project, Humor, life, musings, postaday2011

It has recently come to my attention that there are people in the world who encourage their children to create “Easter Lists”.

I am enraged by this.

It’s difficult enough to explain how Christian holidays got bastardized by Pagan beliefs and how we now have a strange mesh of  secular/Christian holidays wherein we go to church Christmas Eve and sing Christmas carols and then wake up the next morning and thank Santa for giving us all the material things we ever wanted.    And now, as if explaining how a bunny lays eggs and then runs around America hiding them in fields and baskets everywhere wasn’t hard enough, we ‘ve decided to throw an Easter list in there too.  Eventually, the resurrection of Christ will be completely in the background and all children will think about is how it’s okay if Santa doesn’t give them what they want at Christmas because the Easter Bunny will pick up where he left off.

Can you imagine what sort of monsters this will create?  Once every 6 months, children will draft a list of demands, pin it on a holiday, and wait for their materialistic dreams to come true.  

I decided long ago that I wouldn’t put up the Santa facade with my kids (when I have some).  I’ll tell them who he is and about the legend, but I refuse to have him be the focus of the season.  

With this recent “Easter List” discovery, I will now have to kill the Easter Bunny for them as well.  My children will know about it, but they’ll also know how freaking stupid it is to think a bunny lays eggs.  Quite frankly, I don’t understand how children can get their pictures taken with Mall Easter Bunnies and not be deathly afraid.

A 6 foot tall bipedal rabbit that dresses in human clothes is surely something to fear.

Absolutely terrifying.

So listen – I’m sorry if someday your kids run into mine and mine give them a rundown on the facts of life.  I’m pretty sure it will be something or other about no Santa Claus, followed by crying, then something or other about no Easter Bunny, followed by your child telling the teacher about my child.   I’m sorry in advance – you should probably just go ahead and tell your kids now before I decide to have kids, rear them in my ridiculous ways, and then send them to inform yours.

I’ll see you in the principal’s office. ♣

Tags: 365 Project, Humor, life, musings, postaday2011

I think we’re too hard on pigeons.

We treat them like they’re the scum of the earth – flying rats who have come to steal our leftover hamburgers and give us hepatitis.   But the fact is that we invaded their space.  They’re birds: they were flying around our downtown area before we plowed away all the trees, leveled the mountains, and went sprinting after pigeons, screaming obscenities.

Like Seagulls.  Listen – they were there first.  The sea is pretty much their thing, so I don’t know where else we expect them to go.  We come out to the shore and lie in the sun and eat potato chips and then get upset when they do a fly-by and snatch our Ruffles.   What do we expect?! They’d stay within their regular diet, but when faced with that or potato chips, they’d rather have potato chips.  Especially if you’re going to go to the store and bring them back.    We do the same exact thing.  I can’t tell you the last time I passed up an abandoned potato chip bag.

But I have a pretty special spot in my heart for the poor, trampled pigeon.   I find something beautiful about the slight teal and purple glisten in their neck feathers.  I am always amused at how they have to thrust their heads forward to get enough momentum to move about.  It’s a terrible, highly amusing cycle.     

I just don’t understand why we decided pigeons are ugly and gross.   A lot of folks tend to think they’re huge contributors to the spread of disease, but that’s simply just not true.   In fact, the only real worry you should have with pigeons is the slight possibility of bird flu, but that’s, oh, I don’t know – every bird.   And I don’t see you going around kicking white doves in the face.

Do you even know what pigeons are capable of?  There are homing pigeons, carrier pigeons, and war pigeons.  War pigeons!   There are pigeons that have been awarded medals of bravery in wartime.   Yes, that’s kind of ridiculous.  But hey – I don’t see you strutting around downtown with a wartime medal.

Maybe it’s because we call them pigeons.  We should stop that.  It seems to have a negative connotation.  Instead, I propose we call them by their true name: rock doves.

That’s right – rock doves.  It’s almost royal.   And rock star.

I’ll bet you’re so stoked to have this newfound information on pigeons.  I’m sorry – rock doves.    I’ll bet you’re starting to feel bad about how you’ve treated them all these years, huh?  After all the fighting they’ve done for our country and the secret letters they’ve carried away to foreign lands in our name.  I’ll bet you feel silly now that you realize they’re rock doves and not pigeons.

It’s like Aladdin finding out Jasmine’s a princess.  ♣

Tags: 365 Project, Humor, life, musings, postaday2011