John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Banning LOLs

 

It’s time.

Right now.

Right here.

The world, real and virtual, cannot abide another moment without it.

It’s time to retire the acronym LOL…and any emoticon …to signify “I’m joking.”

And replace it with an asterisk followed by a parenthetical:

(Hey now! Don’t jump to the wrong conclusion. I’m not serious. Really. This was intended as a light-hearted joke. If you read it literally and didn’t catch the humor you aren’t alone. It was admittedly an inartful and flawed attempt at either understatement, overstatement or irony. And I apologize for any confusion. Please try reading through once more knowing it is an attempt at humor and see if it seems funnier. If you got it the first time, please disregard.)

True, it’s not as brief as an ideal “humor warning” could be. But it’s not as lame as the outdated acronym LOL or creepy as the overly cute sideways smiley face coming from a middle-aged man.*

jyb_musings* (Hey now! Don’t jump to the wrong conclusion. I’m not serious. Really. This was intended as a light-hearted joke. If you read it literally and didn’t catch the humor you aren’t alone. It was admittedly an inartful and flawed attempt at either understatement, overstatement or irony. And I apologize for any confusion. Please try reading through once more knowing it is an attempt at humor and see if it seems funnier. If you got it the first time, please disregard.)

But probably best to not overuse.

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Little Miss Sunshine

jyb_musingsSometimes you have to be bold….

Sometimes you have to be a great parent….

Sometimes you have to be true to yourself even if it means upsetting the status quo…

Sometimes you have to listen to your grandpa because he’s the only one who will listen and who really understands….

Sometimes you have to support your family no matter what. And because it’s the right thing to do…..

And sometimes the best way to fit in is to stand out as a Super Freak…

And sometimes —although extremely rarely—you get to do all of these at the same time…..

And when that happens, it’s a very special moment.

 

Little Miss Sunshine – Superfreak (ROCAsound Revamp) from Sebastian Morton on Vimeo.

OMG! Arrested Development Trailer for Season 4! OMG!

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Why God Made Moms

If you don’t know why, how or with what ingredients God made moms, then you need to go to the most obvious place available to find the answers.

Second graders.

Here’s a sampling of the answers to these timeworn questions.

WHY GOD MADE MOMS

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?

1. She’s the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.

3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in

the world and one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men’s bones. Then they mostly use
string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We’re related.

2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.

3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.

2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get
drunk on beer?

3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.

2. She got too old to do anything else with him.

3. My grandma says that mom didn’t have her thinking cap on.

Who’s the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn’t want to be boss, but she has to because dad’s such a goof ball.

2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.

3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What’s the difference between moms and dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.

2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power
cause that’s who you

got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.

4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don’t do spare time.

2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she’s already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of
plastic surgery.

2. Diet. You know, her hair. I’d diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I’d get rid of that.

2. I’d make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who
did it not me.

3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back
of her head.

John Y. Brown, III: Buy My Book!!

Click here to BUY MY BOOK!

Click here to BUY MY BOOK!

A shameless and unconventional promo of my eBook.

Look…my eBook is ranked, ahem, 391,200 on Amazon.com.

Is that bad? It is only if you focus on the link underneath it offering to take you to the top 100 ranked books on Amazon.com. In other words, there are 391,101 that separate me from being in that group.

To some people who read a lot of books, that may not sound like a lot. But to me, well, even though I read a good deal….391,101 books …..is a lot. Quite a bit. A whole lot, in fact!

So I’m pitching this eBook one last time. And if I don’t break into the top, say, 281,200 on Amazaon.com, guess what? I’ll write another book! That’s right. If enough people don’t buy this one because they don’t want it…. there will be a sequel! Mark my word.

That’s right.

Next time I’ll try hawking two books in a Facebook post that other people don’t want to read, not just one!

Game on!! I’m serious. I’ll write it. I will. I’ll write a second eBook. I already have a title for it.

Title: “More….a lot more….Musings from the Middle: The sequel. II. And these aren’t very good at all –and seem to just go on forever. Just awful.”

Do you really want me to go there? Do you really want me to hawk a second and much worse eBook in a Facebook post? I don’t want to…and you don’t want me to either…but I just may. You’ve been warned.

Muahahaha!!

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: My Unfilled Bucket List

My “Unfilled” Bucket List of things to do before turning 50 (in 3 weeks)

1) See the Grand Canyon

2) Be an author (I kind of did that but with an eBook, which is only partial credit)

3) See some other national historic site in the West but can’t recall which one.

4) Get down to “HSW +15” (high school weight plus 15 lbs).

5) Learn to paint

6) Learn to dance

7) Learn to play an instrument

8) Become a millionaire (or at least stop asking my mom for loans)

9) Make a second contribution to IRA. (After I start one and contribute once.)

10) Run the mile in under 4 minutes. (Oops! I meant, run for 4 minutes nonstop)

11) Watch the entire Godfather trilogy in sequence

12) Clean out my closet

13) Change the light bulb in the basement storage closet

14) Read a Gentleman’s Guide to Etiquette to my son. (Or have my daughter read it to me. This was an either/or bucket list item)

15) Fix something in the house without using duct tape or super glue

jyb_musings16) Learn to sing

17) Take a foreign language (Ok. This was on and I took it off and then put back on and took off again for good.)

18) Don’t qualify for any new 12 step programs

19) Don’t shrink in height because you are close to not being able to round up to 5 ‘9 as it is.

20) Turn 49 ( I did that! Yay me!!)

I still have 17 to go after dropping foreign language and only partial credit for eBook and stopping asking my mother for loans.

It’s going to be a very busy next 3 weeks trying to complete my “Bucket List before 50” right?

Nah!

My new Bucket List for the second half of life is going to include not having a Bucket List and just live each day relatively well and not worry about stuff I won’t get to do before I die. I’ve done a few. Like turning 49. And it was overrated anyway.

John Y. Brown, III: Happy Mothers’ Day!

321397_10152845233840515_1100586538_nSetting aside one day a year to say “Thank You” to moms—seems like the least we can do. And on balance a pretty good deal.

Without moms, there wouldn’t be the other 364 days a year.

And that’s just for starters.

We would have a lot of bad habits that would hold us back in life and probably eventually lead to homelessness. And we’d have bad table manners and not bathe as frequently as we do. And we’d never gotten beyond 3rd grade in school. And with the foolish things we would try to do in the back yard playing as kids, we’d surely have put out one or both of our eyes. And refrigerators would stay open longer and waste energy. And we would have been cold more often because we forgot to wear warm enough clothes and shoes. And wet more often, too.

Umbrellas may never have been invented if not for moms. Or chicken soup. Or coupons. Or the voice inside our head that says to us, “What would your mother say?” that keeps us from acting on ideas we have that are viewed negatively by society—except in Quintin Tarrentino films.

But even Quintin Tarrentino is better off for having had a good mother. He would have merely been a spastic truant had he not had a good mom instead of one of the greatest film makers of our generation. So Quintin Tarrentino should be especially grateful for his mom.

And we wouldn’t know how to say things like, “Happy Mother’s Day” and mean it. Or “I love you” and mean that.

So, for all those reasons and many more, Happy Mother’s Day!

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Playing Air Guitar

jyb_musingsI never learned how to play the guitar

But wished I had.

If I had learned to play guitar, this is what I would have looked and sounded like.

More than likely.

If things had gone according to plan.

Now you are probably wishing I’d learned how to play guitar too.

And know how I feel.

Fortunately , Carlos Santana, unlike me, did learn.

At least we can all be grateful for that.

And, I might add, I did learn to play air guitar to several Carlos Santana songs.

Which is a consolation. To me, at least.

 

Christie Mitchell: Social Media — Shrimp Soup for the Soul

I made my RP debut with a story of overcoming adversity through social media and peanut butter.  For those who did not indulge in the “tail” (if you search the archive, you will gain further understanding of this spelling), it was a collection of events that prompted a wake-up call in my life through very surprising channels and/or “ingredients”.

Tonight, as I was decompressing, a very enlightening thing happened along the same lines…

Why Inspiration and Insight Can Be Simple, Sweet, Social, and Seafood Related

I have since gained great responsibility at my new job.  Being the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed gal that I am, I typically prioritize with this kind of self-communication:

  1. Carpe Diem the heck out of life and your job, Christie.
  2. Wait, what’s on our list today?
  3. Gain respect by being respectful.
  4. What can I cook that I can post a pic of on Facebook and further my obnoxious obsession with the “likes” it gets?
  5. Okay, the list again.
  6. RULE #1: Don’t watch viral videos. They are funny and they are TOXIC for productivity.
  7. Prank call Mom for a quick laugh. No more Mountain Dew. They’re toxic too.
  8. Stop it! The LIST!
  9. Communicate effectively, lead by example, and work hard to showcase the hard work of others so that they may receive the credit they deserve.
  10. Meet deadlines + make clients happy + get more clients + make everything happy for everyone = Satisfactory time spent in your twenties = CARPE DIEM NOW and CARVING OUT THE FUTURE DIEMS WITH LESS OF THE CARPE.

I may be a little scattered, but I mean well and I try to prioritize my focus as much as I can, what, with all these distractions these days and all.

That being said, I had the most monstrous day today.  Truly, it was one for the record books.  I’ve never felt so proud of my focus and distribution of energy; so eager for more, sad for the day to end, so excited for tomorrow….so…..

Exhausted.

Then, I look at my Facebook for the first time all day.  Already so proud of my lack of engagement with my typically welcome distraction, I post the most random and unrelated statement to my current situation:

“Isn’t it cool how uncooked shrimp are all grey and sad looking, and when you throw them in the pan, they turn pink and look all happy?  I’ve never seen anything like it!  They’re like, ‘COOK ME! EAT ME! LOVE ME!’”

I got the comment:

“Don’t forget “DIP ME!” which prompted me to think about things on a very casual and uninhibited philosophical level.  I then posted:

“Recipes for success in food and in life…I’ll let you determine what the “life” definition is…”

And then, when I was deep in a pensive stare into the distance, pondering the creation of the stars in the sky and contemplating my navel, the most beautiful thing brought me back to Earth.

My sorority sister – one whom I’ve always admired for her unbelievable spirit and ability to find the “sweet” in the sourest of hours posted the most endearing thing.  She said:

“I’m pretty sure the shrimp would disagree with you…”

Attached was a YouTube clip of the song “Les Poisson” from The Little Mermaid.

I clicked on the video from my phone, as us Gen Y kids do, and was immediately transported back to my childhood.  I grinned, then I giggled, then I gawked at my own terrible behavior towards prawns.  Then I pressed PLAY again.

I continued to do this until I could remember ALL of the words in this animated clip of Disney nostalgia.  Then, I remembered a few more things to put on my list of responsibilities:

  1. It is okay to watch videos.  Not stupid ones or negative ones, but one a day less than 2 minutes that will enable you to rock the “Carpe Diem” mantra.
  2. It’s okay to spread this joy.  New thought? VIRAL JOY.
  3. Prank “text” Mom instead with some viral joy.  Streamlining, and yet still as funny.
  4. By adding this simple step, it could even help in communicating effectively, leading by example, and maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to showcase your youth sometimes when you are trying to empower those around you.
  5. Meet the deadlines, get the clients, make everything happy….Carpe, Carpe, Carpe….STOP.  Successful time spent in your twenties is also carving out time to laugh, too.

There you have it, folks. “Carping” and “Diem-ing” without killing any “carp” or “shrimp”.  List also went from 10 to 5.  It’s neat sometimes how much easier life can be when you take some of the stupid out and add a little joy.

So I live to seize another day of the twenties; restored by reminiscing on the wee-days, reserving the right to laugh and post and post and laugh, all while preserving some future R&R for the thirties and beyond.

Thank you, Shannon for your revitalizing and effervescent spirit, thank you Little Mermaid, and once again – thank you Facebook.  Oh, and I’m sorry shrimp – but you still are really good when I eat you, and with a growing career, I need to maintain a healthy diet.

* * *

No cartoon shrimp were harmed in the writing of this piece.  But I ate a few real ones…

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: My Ideal Weight

jyb_musings“Weight where you are the healthiest and happiest”

I was talking to my wife this morning about me losing a little more weight.

Rebecca asked me to think back and ask myself what was the weight I felt the healthiest and most comfortable with myself and to make that my ideal weight and try to attain it.

After reflecting for a few moments, I had my answer and responded to Rebecca.

It was when I weighed 7 lbs and 11 oz.

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