Queen of the Luddites

Um, did you guys (who are over 40 like I am) know there's a whole other world out there?  There should be a class or something.

You can make money on blogging and youTubing and there are things called "Blogged?"  And everything seems to be interconnected!  Making money on it is the least of my worries, which is why I am ad-free.  Just figuring out how to sign back in is paramount at the moment.

Picasa and Flickr and Facebook and Twitter and Blogged and Google Buzz and eBay and and and...

There should be one called BOGGLED.  'Cause that's how my mind is right now.  Boggled.

This will have to go on my list of things to research.  If I can figure out where I put the blasted list.

The one thing I've figured out so far though - do NOT have more than one identity.  If you can't remember what email address/username/password you used for Picasa, STOP and find out.  If you use a different one for Google, you're basically screwed.  Then nothing is interconnected and you have to start all over.  But by all that is holy, DO NOT start over.

What a mess.

So I follow blogs from my google ID and have different followers for Flickr and still different ones for Picasa. Who knows about Twitter and Facebook.  Well, at least those two are still connected to each other.  And one or the other photo-hosting sites are tied into my blog.  I have no idea what "ID" I used for eBlogger.  Thankfully I had the presence of mind to check the "keep me logged in" box when I signed up.

I don't know if I am Sheila, Scottishlass10, Scottishlass1029, Irishlass, Irishlass1029 or WHAT.  It's not like I tried to "be different people" or anything. I don't spam or troll or hide.  I just have a hard time remembering my ID because sometimes Scottishlass is taken already and sometimes it's not. Could I BE more confused?

Does anyone know my email address?  I might need it later. This isn't as easy as it appeared.  The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know.

Now where did I put that list...

Proof that Blogs are SO Last Year

I started one THIS year.

The Laws of Physics

I'll be the first to admit physics wasn't my best subject, but I thought I had a relatively decent grasp on the basics. Apparently I was mistaken.

Excited to have a few large items hauled out of my house today, in preparation for the Move. That. Will. Not. Happen. Fast. Enough. Silly me thought having an entire bed and wardrobe removed would leave more space, you know, with my aforementioned general grasp of the laws of physics and all. Ha! Instead, the room is MORE full than it was before. How, exactly, is that possible?

And how/when did I accumulate so much "stuff?"  After Bill passed away, I rented a construction-sized dumpster and filled it up completely. That was only 6 years ago. So either I needed to have rented TWO dumpsters back then or I've been out of control for the last 6 years. Part of me wants to attribute it to the house being way too small. But who am I kidding? A 3/2/2 is plenty big enough for me and 2 dogs.

Next up on my reading list? Unstuff Your Life by Andrew J. Mellen. It's been hanging out on my Kindle for a while now. I think it's time. Past time.

Hashtag #truthhurts.

Another Birthday? ALREADY?

I can't believe I will be FORTY-FREAKING-FIVE years old next month. How did this happen?

Yes, yes, I know..."it's better than the alternative."  Well DUH.  But that doesn't mean I can't be freaking out over it.  It's my right as a woman. (Harrumpfff!)

Thing is, I never thought I would be one of "those" women. I was always the one telling mom NOT to wash that grey right out of her hair. But I guess I am not as bad as some. Things like the crows feet, for instance.  They don't bother me so badly. I feel like I earned them, you know?  The deep crease in the middle of my forehead is a bit worrisome. What bother me the worst are the parentheses around my mouth.  And the sagginess at the bottom of my cheeks. (BOTH sets. Ugh.) And love handles. And the fact that I feel even older than 45.

I know there are "stages" we go through.  Right now I am smack in the middle of the "but what have I accomplished so far?" stage.  It's brutal. BRUTAL, I tell ya!

Then there's the "I hate birthdays" aspect. When I was a kid, we didn't have much - and that included birthday parties, cakes, presents, etc. So I always felt a little let down. You know how self-centered little children can be before the self-aware stage hits 'em. Then I married a man to whom birthdays were just another day. And the current man in my life is about the same way. So more than likely, it will be "just another day" yet again.  It's getting more okay as each year passes, though, I have to say. But I still have this little thought in the back of my head that I will get a huge surprise one of these birthdays. LOL!  Always the dreamer. Although he has "surprised" (meaning after I planned it) me a couple of times over the years. *I heart him*

Part of the problem is that I want so freaking much! And. I. Need. Absolutely. Nothing.

What I NEED is for the day to be recognized with a card and possibly a nice dinner out.  What I WANT, well the list is long. Most of it isn't stuff. ("The best things in life aren't things." Art Buchwald) But the "stuff" is fun to think about...

La Mer Moisturizing Creme
Hermes GC/Store Credit
VCA bracelet
A trip together somewhere FAB
That gorgeous purple and green St. John's sweater dress/shift I saw at Nordies
Take me dancing
A one-time maid service to put the shine on my house
To MOVE already
A new Patek Philippe watch
and last, but NOT least...DIAMONDS, Bay-Bee

Yeah, it's fun to dream!

Purse Insanity

So okay, if you have a brain in your head, you can tell by the Blog's name that if you want in depth political discussions, you're in the wrong place. There are plenty of great blogs out there with, you know...substance.  I enjoy reading quite a few of them, actually. Am I saying that something (of substance) won't tick me off so bad I have to come here and vent about it one of these days? No, but that's not the general tone around here.

That having been said, get ready for even LESS substance than normal!  Purses, I gotz 'em.  I love them.  I collect them - sort of.  I may be wearing Payless shoes and a Walmart tank today, but I guarantee I'm carrying a nice purse to round out the ensemble! Why? I don't know. Maybe purses are to me as a Rolex or a Jag is for the 45 year old male in the throes of a mid-life crisis? Or maybe a nice purse is "the great equalizer?" Theories? I do own some nice clothes and shoes. Probably too many. (Probably?  LOL!) But they don't get out much. I'm likely to wear a really nice scarf several times a week, but in general, here in PoDunk, USA, I'm in jeans and a T-shirt. The great thing about a nice purse is that it goes with anything!

I'm not into "collectables." Chachskis just collect dust and they don't DO anything. But purses, well, they carry your life around every day! So no, I don't need another teapot or beanie babies or little ceramic angels.  Purses are where it's AT, Bay-Bee!

So make fun of me if you will. I'm a big girl and I can take it. I'm not overly "girly" or "princess-y" and I can change my own oil (and even catch icky snakes in my dining room!) so if I want to carry a nice purse, I'm going to. And I am going to do it for ME. Not for someone else. And certainly not because some "celebrity" has that same one. More like "in spite of" - IF I like it well enough. Unless I am carrying a knock-around-in-the-rain Louis Vuitton, no one around where I live even knows what I am carrying anyway. And I like it that way. Hermes? Celine? Bottega Veneta? 99% of the people in my lil burg have never heard of these. And I am fine with that. There aren't many questions that make me more uncomfortable than "how much was your bag?"  Sorry, but that's just rude. If you want to know, google it. And even then don't assume I didn't get a "deal" or it wasn't a gift. (And no, so far, only of my bags was a "gift" and NOT from my guy, either - but my birthday IS coming up next month *hint hint*) Mainly, it's just none of anyone's business.

Because I had so MANY purses that I'd collected over the years, and because my tastes got increasingly more expensive, I decided to purge. I sold a lot of them, "traded" some of them and donated a ton of them - mainly to a local women's shelter. I've gotten rid of well over a 100 purses in the last 2 years.  Most of them I don't miss at all. Right now, I've gotten it down to around 25. And yes, I use all of them.

I'm lazy when it comes to bags. I don't want to have to fuss with it to get in and out of it. So I love the birkin because it's an open tote (well, if you don't close it up properly, which very few do.) I love my picotins because they're wide open. Right now I'm loving my Tod's Ivy bag. It's a big lump of smooshy goodness that probably holds my body weight in stuff. It's a lovely neutral taupe/mushroom color and the straps are perfect for shoulder, hand or arm carry. Perfection in a bag.

Tod's Ivy Sacca Media

What it holds

Kindle Reader, Bottega Venetta (purple) case, Hermes (quetsche) GM Karo, Hermes (vert anis) PM Karo, Hermes (rose shocking) piccolo, Mulberry wallet, Moleskine (hot pink) notepad, small blue document "envelope," mints, breath freshener and cell phone.

And it's still less than half full!

So while I still switch up a lot, I find that I've been always going back to this one lately.  It's just too easy and pretty not to!



These are my other current favorites:

Hermes Picotins

My favorite charatreuse clemence Picotin MM

Hermes Bolide and Constance

Hermes Kelly

Hermes Silky City

Hermes raisin clemence PHW Lindy 30 CM 

Birkin - on a cruise last year for my birthday

Things That Make Me Stabby This Week

Exes.  Especially of the female variety.  She needs to buy herself a life.  Lord knows she can afford it.

Liars, Fakers and Posers

Microsoft Excel

Sudoku

Heavy Perfumes

Scorpions in my kitchen

Snakes in my dining room

100 degree heat with 1000% humidity

Customs in the UK

and expensive wrinkle cream that does NOTHING!

Okay, I think I used up my quota of negativity for a while.  Carry on.

Ever Google Yourself?

I hadn't either.  Until last night.  Actually, I didn't google "myself" exactly, but my username on a forum I frequent.  Boy was I surprised!  I popped up in someone else's blog!  I'm famous!  Or rather...infamous.  Someone called "anonymous" (yeah riiiiight) had posted a comment about me to a blog post and it wasn't very nice.  Of course it was stupid and incorrect and it's  glaringly obvious who "anonymous" is.

So I posted a comment, even though the original post was from early last year, thinking the owner of the blog wouldn't possibly post it, stating the real facts, you know, for posterity and all that crap.  Not that it would do any good or that anyone really cares. But it made me feel better.

Lo and behold, when I checked this morning, he HAD approved the "rebuttal" post and it showed!  So I'd like to say thanks to him. THANKS!

Kinda reminds me of my Mean Girls post in here a few months ago.  People are stupid.

Eating my Words

Remember last night when I was talking all brave about mice and snakes?  You know, justifying my fear of scorpions? I think my exact words were "Snakes?  Meh." Well I have had mice and even a big snake in my house.  Didn't freak out.  Why?  Well mice aren't scary.  At all.  And the snake, though pretty large, wasn't poisonous.

So last night (well, actually 1:30 am) I found a snake in my dining room.  Very small snake.  Looked poisonous. TOTALLY different!

So I got the BBQ tongs and a ziplock and put on my big girl panties.

First try I missed and the little bugger LUNGED at me!

I didn't miss the second time.  Thankfully.  Put him in the ziplock bag - hopefully to be identified by someone today.

I live in a hot hell full of creepy crawlies.

Edited to Add:  According to my sources, it wasn't poisonous.  It's being released back into the wild.  

So Much To Do, So Little Time

I don't know who said that, but they were so right!  There's so much I need to do that I am overwhelmed.  So what do I end up doing?  Nothing.  Nada.  Brilliant, right?

I am reminded of the old joke "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time."  But I can't seem to focus on any one thing long enough to accomplish it.  Just one of my excuses for not writing a blog entry lately.

So in honor of my scattered life, this blog entry will also be scattered.

My last day of "work" was May 3rd.  All of the things I planned to do when NOT working haven't even made it to a list yet.  That, of course, infers that once they did make it to "the list" they would get done and crossed off.  Yet to be seen, my friends.  Yet to be seen.

Went to Manhattan last week for a few days.  Met up with a few friends, ate some good food, did a lot of walking in the WRONG shoes and window shopped.  I did buy one scarf.  No, not even Hermes!  It was a Metropolitan Museum of Art scarf by Adolf Behn called Spring in Central Park.  (Well, it had purples and greens - how could I possibly resist that?  And at a price point of about 1/5th of the price of an Hermes scarf, it was a no-brainer.)

Spring in Central Park - Adolf Behn / Photo Courtesy of The MetMoA

Is there anything more exciting than seeing Manhattan peek around the wing of the plane?

Stayed at the Waldorf Astoria - not a great view from my room, but it didn't suck. I was only on the 17th floor.

Caught the Alexander McQueen Exhibition at the Met and the Van Cleef and Arpels Exhibit at Cooper Hewitt.  Awesomeness.  No photos were allowed in either one, so of course I had to sneak a photo in each. Rules?  I don't need no stinkin' RULES!  Of course they're sideways, so I can get them to post properly.  Can you say luddite? But here's the front of the Met.

Of course I had to go walking through Central Park.  The contrast of the tranquility of the park and urban Manhattan peeking out over the trees is always so striking to me.

After I got home, we had a fantastic, but too short, surprise visit from Koda, Pink and Studz.  Koda's my friend and Studz and Pink are her two four-legged love muffins who had a great time playing in the back yard with Murphy and Twinkie.  Murphy was surely smitten with Pink, the Dalmation.  I guess he doesn't remember getting snipped. Ha!

Koda, Pink and Studz getting ready to head home in the BeachMobile

Studz - Too Cool for School!

Pink - I call shotgun!

Then there was the drama the other night.  A scorpion in my kitchen.  I screamed like a lil girl!  Mice?  No problem.  Snakes, Meh.  But scorpions???  Not only that, but I'm not exactly sure where he'd been - he drug out dog hair and nasty stuff all stuck to him as evidenced in this photo.  I think there's even a dead fly stuck to him! (No, I do not have that nastiness on my kitchen floor.  I'm not Martha Stewart, but neither am I a slob.)

Evil looking lil bugger.

I've managed to pack a few more boxes, I've retrieved a few things from the storage unit, which I realize is counter-productive, and I've reworked my resume, you know...just in case.

Beyond that, I have tentatively planned to clean out the screened-in porch, empty the storage shed in the back yard and start on the garage this week.  IF I can muster the courage for a *gasp* yard sale, I've made a deal with the neighbor for that.  She does the whole thing using my crap and we split the proceeds 50/50.  Sounds like a plan!  Of course, knowing me, I will take one step outside into hell and decide it's just too hot to live.