Chowda!

I was feeling bummed because my Thanksgiving dinner offerings were all duds. But this soup is a winner. Get out the crock pot and a few easy ingredients and you'll have an easy, delicious soup that even a clod like me can't screw up.

CORN CHOWDER

24 oz chicken broth

16 oz heavy cream

3 cups frozen corn

4 cups mashed potatoes

1 cup diced onions or 1/4 cup dehydrated onions

2 stalks celery

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Set slow cooker to low and cook for about 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Also, we had a power outage and a bunch of food spoiled. Stinky! At least it wasn't out for long enough to spoil what was in the freezer. That was still cold.

I should not have eaten that corn dog...indigestion city! When will I learn that yes, my stomach really is 42 years old, just like the rest of me!

Thank you!

Here at last is a man with the balls to tell it like it is.

Something that would like to see happen in my lifetime, but it probably won't, is an end to racism.

But like Jason Whitlock says, it doesn't do any good to blame other races when you're killing your own.

There are some decent people in the world.

Although he was breaking the law by attempting to enter the United States illegally, Manuel Cordova did the right thing when he helped a boy whose mother had been killed in an accident. This is someone who deserves good luck and I hope he gets it.

Google Gets On My Nerves Again

Because you can no longer have an undeclared country in your profile. If you don't declare a country, your country of origin is immediately set to Afghanistan. Whatever, Dude. Mentally, I don't even live on this planet! So why should I have to tell everyone what country I'm from?

I'm just sayin'...

A Meme for my Shitty Blog

I stole this from Austin. You can steal it from me if you want.

• Full Name (or screen name) - My real first name is Cara, I go by Cie, but you can just call me Cheesy.
• Birthdate: February 15, 1965
• Birthplace: Denver
• Current Residence: USA
• Eye Color: Green
• Hair Color: It's actually gray but it's been dyed burgundy. It's growing out right now.
• Righty or Lefty: righty.

—————–DESCRIBE——————
• The Clothes you wore today: They are very sexy. Oatmeal sweats, white t-shirt with the logo of the Gerri Atrik Retirement Community
• The shoes you wore today: Brown crocs
• Your fears: That something really horrible will happen to someone I care about. And a myriad of others.


—————–WHAT IS——————
• Your most overused phrase: Shit fire and save matches, and fuck-a-doodle-doo.
• Your thoughts first waking up: “Oh shit, do I have to?” I wish I was joking but I’m not.
• Your bedtime: Usually between 8 and 10 AM

—————–YOU PREFER——————
• Pepsi or coke: Both suck the wad! They give me horrible abdominal cramps.
• McDonald’s or Burger King: I like making fun of their mascots. Other than that, they're both bad for you and the food kinda sucks but it'll do in a pinch. McDonald's tends to give me the trots. You did want to know that right?
• Single or group dates: I like going out with friends
• Adidas or Nike: Whatever's comfortable and on sale
• Chocolate or vanilla: chocolate
• Cappuccino or coffee: I need crappuccino for my bunghole!

————-DO (DID) YOU——————
• Smoke: Yes. One or two cigarettes a day, literally
• Cuss: Fuck yeah!
• Take a shower everyday: No. Usually every other day. I'm usually too tired.
• Want to go to college: Fuck no, but I am.
• Like high school: I liked cutting class and getting high
• Want to get married: Uh, no. Been there, done that refused to pay for the T-shirt
• Type fingers on the right keys?: Yup
• Believe in yourself: Depends on how hypomanic I am
• Get motion sickness: Holy crap yes.
• Think you’re attractive: If I'm hypomanic I think I'm not hideous. If I'm depressed I think I'm one ugly beeyatch.
• Think you’re a health freak: I probably should be

• Get along with your parents: I work at it

• Like thunderstorms: I do. I like to sleep to the sound of the rain.
• Play an instrument: Several, all badly.

————IN THE PAST MONTH DID:/:HAVE YOU————–
• Go to the mall: Fuck no!
• Eaten sushi: No way. I gave up bulimia!
• Been on stage: Yes
• Gone skating: Yes
• Made homemade cookies: I have, but these days I use those pre-made ones that you put in the oven however many you want at a time. They're good!

• Dyed your hair: Yes
• Stolen anything: Your soul

————-HAVE YOU EVER——————
Flown on a plane: yes
Told a guy/girl that you liked them?: Yes. The most embarrassing time was when I was wasted on hallucinogens and called a classmate and told him I was in love with him.
Cried during a Movie? Oh fuck yeah.

Cried during a song? Yes. I'm a big wuss.
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Oh holy shit yeah. Many a time. Not in the past 7 years, though.
Been in a fight: Yeah

—————-THE FUTURE——————
What do you want to do as a career if money was no object: Write, duh!
What country would you most like to visit?: Iraq sounds like a blast. But seriously, I've only been to Canada and Mexico. There are a number of places in Europe I'd like to visit.

—————– NUMBER OF—————–
• Number of people I could trust with my life: My son, my father, my brother and, believe it or not, my ex-husband.
• Number of CDs that I own: About 200
• Number of piercings: Pierced ears
• Number of tattoos: 0
• Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper? 5, I think
• Number of scars on my body: A few small ones, and one big one from my cesarean section.
• Number of things in my past that I regret: Too numerous to mention

—————-RIGHT NOW——————
• Wearing: Same thing I said earlier
• Drinking: Water with a little grape juice added for flavor
• Thinking about: I should quit fucking around and write something
• Listening to: "Patience" by Guns N Roses

———IN THE LAST 24 HRS——————
• Cried: No
• Worn jeans: No
• Met someone new online: No
• Done laundry: Yes.
• Drove a car: Yes
• Talked on the phone: No

—————DO YOU BELIEVE IN————–
Yourself: Sometimes
Your friends: Sometimes
Santa Claus: Yes, and the fucker better bring me some good presence this year!
Destiny/Fate: To an extent
God: I believe in a creative force, multiple deities, angels and demons. I worship the creative force, multiple deities, and angels. I maintain a healthy level of respect for demons and try to avoid contact with them.

——–FRIENDS AND LIFE——————
• Do you ever wish you had another name?: When I was little I would say "Cara smells of onions." I didn't like my name. I'm neutral on it at this point. Half the people who see it mispronounce it. It's care-a, not car-a. The car-a is something you drive-a. You cannot drive-a me!
• Who have you known the longest of your friends? Scot. I've known him nearly 25 years.
• Are you close to any family member?: Sometimes I think I am sometimes I don't. I'm actually reasonably close to my son but I try not to get too close because I don't want him to feel like I'm smothering him.
• When have you cried the most?: I've cried a lot over numerous things. Usually tragic things like a beloved pet or family member or friend dying. It's kind of personal to talk about it.
• What’s the best feeling in the world?: When something you worked really hard on gets the acclaim it fucking deserves!
• Worst Feeling?: 1) the horror of finding out someone you love has died.

2)When someone takes a shit on you and tells you that you're not good enough for them.

——–FAVORITE/LEAST FAVORITE——————
• Book – I love the classic horror masters

• Board Game – There are several of these that I love. A fun one based on H.P. Lovecraft's stories is Arkham Horror
• Least favorite smell – When one of the residents where I work has a big shitty accident.
• Favorite smell – A chocolate cake cooking--fuck! I just made myself hungry!
• Color – Blue and purple
• Least favorite color – that shitty mustard yellow

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN! DO IT! NOW!

Rejoice Brothers and Sisters, My Shitty Blog is Here!

Notice the enticing changes to enhance the true shittiness of this blog. I figured I might as well be truthful--this blog really sucks! I have others that I don't think suck, but this one does. It's kind of the trash blog where I put all the shit that doesn't belong anyplace else. Why don't I just delete it? Because then I wouldn't have anyplace to put the trash!

If anyone recalls the old blog, it served the purpose of being able to be somewhat silly and a bit opinionated. It wasn't about the horrible depths of my psych problems and it wasn't about writing or crazy stories. I kind of thought about re-opening the old blog but then again, why dig up the past? Nay, for now, My Shitty Blog will suffice. I'll add some tunes and more banners linking to my other, better blogs. Then it may not blow quite as much.

Rich?

Well, this dish is. This is an ultra-rich Waldorf Sweet Potato Salad. Unique, and full of fruits and vegetables.

1 small can sweet potatoes
1 8 oz can pineapple, drained with 2 tbsp juice reserved
1 11 oz can mandarin oranges, drained
1 apple, chopped
1/2 cup celery
1/4 cup lite sour cream
1/4 cup lite mayo
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Warm sweet potatoes in microwave on high for 2 minutes to dissolve sugar. Combine sweet potatoes, pineapple, mandarin oranges, apples and celery. Mix sour cream, mayonnaise and pineapple juice to make dressing. Gently fold sweet potato mixture into dressing and chill. Add walnuts just before serving.

You're kidding, right?

Cash Advance Loans

I didn't even give anyone a blow job to get this rating. I don't post anything but bullcrap on this blog, so why I got this rating I'll never know. Could it be the recipes?

Fun With the Elderly

Click here to read a lightly fictionalized tale of an encounter with one of our more, shall we say, persnickity residents.

My Favorite Junk Mail

Every now and then I check my spam folder to see if anything I might really want has inadvertently gotten in there. Today there were a couple of very interesting subject lines: "Tony's Significant Cock" and "How To Last Longer In Bed."
Now I didn't open either of these because a) they were in my personal inbox so it isn't like they'd be business-related and b) even if they were in my personal inbox I'd be pretty sure they weren't business related.
But I have to say, although the "how to last longer in bed" was likely some sort of herbal viagra ad, at least the seemingly porn ad wasn't "see hot teen pussy in XXX action" like the usual "enticing" subject lines for porny emails. I'd be much more likely to look at Tony's Significant Cock than Hot Teen Pussy.

Sexist Coffee Shops?

This article in Slate proposes that coffee shops discriminate against women. I'm not sure what coffee shops they mean, but I sure as hell wouldn't go back there! Once every two weeks I get a bagel omelet sandwich and a latte as a treat for myself at Einstein Brothers Bagels. I don't think such a thing could happen here because the orders are processed as they come in. Granted, if someone orders a plain coffee and a bagel with cream cheese, their order will be done before the person just ahead of them who ordered an omelet sandwich and a specialty latte. But they are processed in the order received and everyone is treated with courtesy.

The article says that "men receive their coffee on average 20 seconds before women." I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I never counted the seconds as to how long it took the nearest males to me to receive their coffee as opposed to how long it took me, and in all honesty, I think I would miss out on that 20 second factor. I'm not saying that discrimination doesn't exist, but if this 20 second gap was the deciding factor, how the hell would you be able to tell?

I'm just wondering if this study wasn't done by the same people that argue that Scar in the Lion King is a character created as a stereotype slap in the face to gays, that Harry Potter is sending our kids to hell, and that Tinky Winky from the Teletubbies is turning them all into fruits. Although having seen the horror of the Teletubbies once I could be easily swayed into believing that I should protect young children from the horrific little perverts.

The point being that some people have way too much time on their hands and they really ought to donate some of it to me. If that can't be done, then they can donate money instead!

Oh, shut the...front door!

It isn't FOAD Thursday yet? Damn! Because Liz Pulliam Weston, the MSN Money Broad, gets on my nerves every day, but this particular piece of patronizing from her just made me want to give a FOAD in her direction.

Maybe some of y'all get offended if someone gives you money or a gift card. I'm cool with it. Liz says gift cards are NOT gifts, they just show that the giver "didn't think about the recipient." To me, a gift card says "I didn't want to get you some crap you didn't need." I like getting gift cards.

This was my response on the message board:

To me, a gift card says "I didn't want to get you some crap you don't need or something you already have." I think it's thoughtful of the giver to let me choose my own gift. Maybe to give me a chance to go to a nice restaurant (to me, Red Lobster is a nice restaurant.) which is something I rarely get to do. Or to buy some books. How is someone who doesn't live with me supposed to know what books I already have? Methinks the author of this article is a tad too self oriented if she expects everyone to be thinking only of her, her, her and her needs and wants. They might guess wrong!

Let her send me her unwanted gift cards. I'll find a use for 'em!

Hell, as far as I'm concerned, if I get something besides a lump of coal in my stocking, I'm doing o.k.

This Way for Fun

If you just about go catatonic whenever you read this blog due to how hideously boring it is, come to the Creative Crabbing blog, which is actually fun. I toss out a wacky short story or paragraph from my book for you to read and you can add to it and make it even more inane, insane, or deranged. My real life is boring and stressful, but my imagination is great fun--if you're somewhat twisted, that is.

The stockmeister

I invest in penny stocks when I have a little extra money because you never know when the next Xerox may come along. I have a small amount of money invested in a couple of stocks. Not that it's a huge deal and it may come back up but my solar energy stock just slam dunked from $1.30 a share down to 85 cents a share. Crap--and just when I was going to put my dividends into a stock for a company that is trying to replenish the plankton supply which has become very diminished over the years.
I always try to invest in socially conscious stocks. I had my money invested in oil stocks for awhile but I pulled it out. They were losing me money and I'd rather support something I believe in.
I'm actually proud that I've started a small savings account too. It's attached to my debit card. At the end of the two week period, just before I'm about to get paid again, I'll transfer whatever few dollars there may be from my checking to my savings account. I now have nine dollars. It may not sound like a lot but it's more than I had for a long time!
Here's what will blow you away. I have the debit card through Netspend, which is affiliated with Ace Cash Express. I will never get a Payday loan, I hate those things, they charge 666% interest, I think literally. But the bank that holds the debit card accounts is honest and they don't fuck you over for going into overdraft. If the money isn't there, you just don't get to make the purchase. Simple, and better. The card costs me $10 a month. While that may sound like a lot, consider that one overdraft fee is usually $35. $120 a year is a small price to pay by compare to what used to happen. Sometimes if I made a bum decision I would end up with fees around $120 a month. Trust me when I say I should never be an accountant. I'd end you up in the poorhouse!
And that's my exciting financial life!

Actually pretty accurate

Your Learning Style: Personal and Passionate

You are very flexible and curious about the world. Human understanding is very important to you. You Should Study: Anthropology Architecture Art Art history Art therapy Classics Counseling Foreign Languages and Literature International Studies Linguistics Literature Psychology Sociology Teaching

What Should You Study?

If the truth be told...

You Are 93% Burned Out

You are extremely burned out. You work too hard, and you're not getting the results you deserve. It's time for a life change, as soon as you can manage it. You're giving away most of your energy to something you don't even enjoy.

Are You Burned Out?

My Blog is a Horror Story

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary. If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

Update

I'm doing all right mood-wise. A wise person suggested that it sounds like a major part of my son's problem may simply be being a night owl in a world that caters to larks. His sleep patterns are much like mine would be if I were able to let them go on their own. Poor guy--it ain't easy.
Also there are the stresses of keeping his grades up in a school that while very caring and devoted to their students has a rigorous academic program. He does a great job--gets all A's and B's. He's something of a perfectionist and I think that the struggle he's having with physics bothers him. He was also very stressed out about the ACT. He doesn't even want to take the SAT because he hated the ACT so much. And of course there are concerns about college. I almost wish he could have another year at this school to kind of take it easy and just plan. He didn't get into this school until last year and it's been the best thing in the world for him.
At this point I'm concerned about my father. He had a stroke 3 years ago. Not only is he partially paralyzed on his right side, his inability to exercise or walk very far has contributed to his circulation in the lower body becoming impaired. Combine that with some atrial fibrillation and edema builds up in the legs. He has a bad wound on the right leg that just won't heal. This is the kind of thing that happens to diabetics because of their poor circulation. He's 71 but looks much older. My mother is angry because over the years he was too stubborn to take care of a lot of health needs and now she has to take care of everything for him. Fortunately at least he can still go to the bathroom and take care of business himself. That at least is a relief. His back and legs were bad before he had the stroke. He didn't want to get an MRI because of being stuck in that little tube and I don't blame him. They didn't tell him that he could be sedated, which is the only way you could get me into one of those things. I'm claustrophobic as hell.
My father also had to have this heinous procedure done to test whether the urologist thinks they can do a particular procedure to reduce the excess prostate tissue. I asked if the urologist was still alive. I won't go into details--it was barbaric.
I go to the doc once a year and get the general tests done as well as the test for my thyroid. Other than that I don't go unless I feel like I'm dying. But my mother was definitely right about my father being stubborn. He's really not in very good condition and his mental outlook is pretty bad. He's never accepted what happened and is very angry. I can understand, but in many ways he's also unrealistic. He thinks that if he hadn't had the stroke he'd magically have the health he did when he was 20. He's writing a book. I enjoy reading it but a lot of it seems to be a personal wish to go back in time. I may write more about this at some other point.
Thanks to everyone who expressed support when I was on the down-low. It is appreciated.

Me, the dichotomy

Once again, I can't win.

It has come to my attention that my lame attempts at humor have left people thinking that I'm shallow. But when I open up and tell it like it is, I get accused of being too serious. The truth in any case is that humor for me is a band-aid. There are a fuck of a lot of open wounds in the old psyche. I actually do think about things. More than I'd like to, really. Appearing glib is a way of shielding myself. If you act like a clown, people tend not to know how sensitive you are because allowing one's sensitivities to be laid bare is not wise in this world.

I'm sure that all two people that read this dumb blog already knew this though.

Down in Gloomville

Things aren't great right now. I'm worried about my son. He puts on a good face, but his teachers think he's depressed. Getting any information out of him is like pulling teeth.
I'm feeling pretty low. I would think this is a bummer anytime but I actually got really depressed when I found out that Flower and Carlos from the Meerkat Manor show had died. I hadn't watched it in a long time and that was a crappy surprise.
Life is dumb.

The Dog

I know he's over the top, but I actually like Duane "Dog" Chapman. I was dismayed by the recent revelation that he referred to his son's girlfriend as a "nigger" in a conversation that his son later released to the National Enquirer.
I'm sure that Dog's background is a bit questionable. He was in prison, and he has 12 kids with several different women. Not particularly honorable behavior by any means. But I have to admire someone who risked his own safety and freedom to try and bring a horrific serial rapist to justice. Andrew Luster is a first-class scum, a sociopath who seems to think that having money gives him the right to do whatever he wants to others. He drugged and raped several women and thanks to the efforts of Dog, Tim and Leland he is now serving 124 years in jail, which is the only place he should ever be. No matter what else, I admire Dog for having brought him back. But I still think it's very sad that he would harbor the racist thoughts that he appears to. I hope that he can truly see the error in his thinking and not merely be apologizing because he was caught.
However, I've thought for a long time that he should be brought in by the Taste Police for his blatant mullet-wearing behavior.