Owner: Blogga-Looba! URL:http://bloggalooba.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 22:46:29 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A collection of inspiring and often humorous essays and observations about life, parenting, politics, culture and personal growth by an experienced psychotherapist, humorist and stumbling student of life. Site statistics:Click here
Long Past "Poopy-Head" 2008-03-03 19:40:17 Casey, who is almost nine, came home from school last week and remarked at dinner that "Nolan called me a fat asshole today." She wasn't complaining as much as reporting on the day's events. When I asked her how she responded she simply said "I told him to blow it out his nose." You go, grrrrrl!
We had practiced the "blow it out your nose" retort weeks ago and she's used it to good effect a
7 Nights To Rock 2008-02-27 09:07:41 The title comes from an old Nick Lowe song. Let's just get that out of the way.
I have way too many compact discs, and I probably don't really enjoy more than 4 songs on average from each one so I made a decision to separate the wheat from the chaff so that I could theoretically be surrounded by good music all the time. Years ago I bought a 300 CD changer so that I could shuffle through all
Poem: "Let Loose Any Lingering Dreams" 2008-02-26 19:35:08 OK, here it is, the big kahuna, the whole enchilada, the entire shebang -- the longest (by far) poem I've ever authored.
I recently blogged about finding a cache of poems and poem fragments that stemmed back to college, and among that collection I found the remnants of something that
I've worked on sporadically for over 30 years. When I use the word sporadically I mean that the last time I Read more:Loose
, Dreams
Breaking With "Breaking Bad" 2008-02-12 13:25:03 I don't watch a lot of television and rarely focus on a particular series, so it was notable that I began watching the AMC series "Breaking
Bad". It is a much-hyped show about a 50 year old high school chemistry teacher who learns he is dying of lung cancer and then teams up with a drug pusher to make and sell crystal meth in order to leave money for his family after he dies. However, I've
Best Songs Ever 2008-02-11 22:50:58 For no particular reason than to practice being opinionated, here's my list of the absolute best songs by various musical groups. You'll probably be able to judge something about how old I am from the groups I list:
Best Beatles Song - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" -- While "Twist and Shout" has the all-time best raw-throated enthusiasm of any song before or after, this hauntingly beautiful
Poem: "Art Shanties: Fragment of KC's Email (Found Poem)" 2008-01-31 21:17:06 My friend Matthew, who I saw in Minneapolis,
is working on a dissertation in American Studies
on Apocalypse culture, especially Peak Oil. So I
left your book with him
(and I think he'll take good care of it, along with
the one-eyed cat he just adopted and named
"Trout Fishing in America").
We went out on a frozen lake
to visit the Art Shanties,
parodies or homages to
the adjacent ice Read more:Email
Searching for Troy Overstreet 2008-01-27 07:19:28 For years I've been plagued with sporadic phone calls and automated messages for someone named "Troy Overstreet". All of these messages and inquiries apparently come from credit companies and the bill collectors who work for them. Whatever debt old Troy rang up he apparently did while associated with a telephone number that I later inherited. Today I got another call for him: I noticed that
Everybody Wants to Party with Obama 2008-01-27 00:27:01 "Everybody
wants to party with Obama
!"
This great line was uttered by my soon-to-be-13-year-old son, and it seems especially true on this night when Barack Obama beat Hilary Clinton and John Edwards combined in the South Carolina primary. The line comes from the movie "School of Rock", when a student confides to Jack Black (pretending to be a substitute-teacher) that she doesn't want to sing Read more:Party
Poem: The Task Of Our Bones 2008-01-20 11:46:21 The Task of Our Bones
To recall the task of our bones
As ancestors soon to be joined
Hold sacred the shape of stone
To so join a common voice that
Throughout history rejoices to
Understand the one mystery
Such is the respite of all return
Like a raindrop into the ocean
As you have and will in turn
Poem: "Three Tools To Guide Your Course" 2008-01-12 01:11:11 I wrote this poem a few years ago to express some of the value I find in 12-step and other recovery movements. I have simultaneously posted it on my other blog site, Atlanta Counseling and Therapy Services, since it related to some of my recent content there.
ThreeTools
To Guide
Your Course
The way ahead stretches further than you can see, so you
need to be clear about a few facts from the
Poem: "Jethro" 2008-01-12 01:07:18 I was recently storing some personal belongings in my shed when I came across a file of poems I wrote in college. I read one of them to my cool and literate sister-in-law who was visiting for the holidays and she suggested I post it, so here it is.
I originally thought this was a villanelle, but it doesn't fully meet the criteria. A villanelle is an insanely complicated poetic form that is 19 Read more:Jethro
Barack Obama's Transcendent Iowa Victory Speech 2008-01-04 21:59:34 This morning I heard that Barrack Obama
gave a "goosebumps" speech after winning yesterday's Iowa caucus. It's easy to find this speech online and well worth 14 minutes out of your life to do so.
I simply had no idea the man could hold forth as he does, but now I know what all the buzz is about. Listening to him I had the sensation that he was flat-out channeling the spirit of Robert Kennedy Read more:Barack
, Victory
, Speech
, Barack Obama
Boniface 2008-03-23 22:55:01 I'm surprised to find that it's been over two weeks since I last posted a blog entry. I've been so consumed with uploading music onto my computer that I've neglected to simply sit down and write. Although there's a bunch of things happening in my life I could write about (which is always the case with everyone) I feel stuck finding anything I want to relate at the moment.
Part of the block
Return of "Another Noteworthy Sentence" 2008-03-28 23:41:34 Some time back I wrote a short entry about sentences I hear from time to time that are so out-of-the-ordinary that I never in my wildest dreams would have predicted if I had a million opportunities to guess. Yesterday my daughter said another one that caught my ear.
"I'm going to use the john and then say 'pie' outside and swing on the rope."
Isn't that a great sentence? The background, for Read more:Return
, Sentence
Coach 2008-03-30 21:54:45 I've agreed to help coach my daughter Casey's 2nd-to-4th grade church softball team. I love this league because it emphasizes fun over winning. I know most leagues profess the same principle, but this one means it. We've played two games already and I think we tied the first and won the second, but I couldn't tell you for sure. This is all especially notable since the church's youth sports Read more:Coach
Piccadilly People 2008-04-03 23:13:53 In our household each person gets to decide where to eat on his or her birthday. For her 9th birthday Casey chose Piccadilly for some unfathomable reason. It's not just that this place isn't very friendly to vegetarians, it didn't seem very friendly in general. Neither the person ringing up our selections at the cafeteria line nor the cashier made eye contact or said anything but the minimum
Casey, Nusrat and Ruff 2008-04-06 01:02:38 Tonight I took Casey
to the bi-monthly drum circle at the Lake Claire Commmunity Land Trust. Less than 50 people turned out tonight, probably due to all the rain we've had the last two days, even though the skies had cleared by nightfall. It was nice to have some extra room round the fire, because it allowed me to show her how to whirl. It's a simple exercise: simply begin turning
Obama's Historic Speech on Race in America 2008-04-05 10:08:42 I know this is already a few weeks old and so it's stale by the standards of our quick-turn-around news cycles and nationwide short attention span, but I want to comment on the speech entitled "A More Perfect Union" Barack Obama
delivered in Philadelphia on the heels of the "Reverend Wright" issue. I finally sat down and read it all the way through and came away extremely impressed and even at Read more:Speech
, America
Musical Rebellion Lives On 2008-04-08 06:08:33 I've previously written about my goal of uploading a wide variety of quality music onto my computer. The public library has been a treasure of a resource for introducing me to a lot of musicians I otherwise would not have known about. lately I've ben thrilled to discover artists such as Devendra Banhart, Andrew Bird, Happy Apple, Spoon and Daddy Yankee, to name only a few. I've also beefed up Read more:Musical
, Rebellion
, Lives
Restaurant Review: Saravana Bhavan 2008-04-12 19:19:32 I'm delighted to report that Madras Saravan Bhavan, which closed for several months, has re-opened as Saravana Bhavan, now officially part of a world-wide chain of high-quality vegetarian Indian restaurants, and it is better than ever. I was initially chagrined to learn they had discontinued the lunch buffet, but it has returned in greater splendor than ever: 30 items, each exquisitely prepared. Read more:Restaurant Review
Razor Sharp Athletics: "Best of the Best" 2008-04-16 23:53:34 For two years I've been telling anyone in Atlanta who is interested in youth athletics to check out Razor
Sharp Athletics
, a speed and conditioning program for ages 8 to 18 that has to be among the best-run programs in the southeast United States. I've talked to other parents of sports-minded kids, the local middle school football coach, recreation league athletic directors and coaches -- almost
Rating the Rater: Kudzu.com 2008-04-19 19:44:39 For well over a year I paid to list my business with kudzu.com, an Atlanta-based rating service that provides a forum for anonymous posting of comments about local service professionals. People can post one-to-five star ratings about any business in the metro Atlanta area. I've used kudzu.com to get information on dog sitters, air conditioning repair services and other local businesses. It's Read more:Rating
Compost Blogpost 2008-04-21 22:54:18 My compost pile loves me. I know this because it tells me so.
Since as much as 25% of landfill space is composed of organic waste, we're regular composters into a pile in our backyard. Raw vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds and egg shells go into a container just outside the kitchen door and then into a compost pile mixed with grass clippings and mulched leaves. Since it's been a Read more:Compost
In Praise of "Evening At Emory" 2008-04-27 21:03:21 Today I want to sing the praises of the "Emory Center for Lifelong Learning" which offers the popular "Evening at Emory" program of non-credit courses and classes for personal growth and enrichment. Most people learn something by taking one of their classes, but I gained a marvelous refresher course on human kindness precisely because I didn't attend a single class. Here's the story:
Back in Read more:Praise
No Runs, No Hits, No Errors -- Just Memories 2008-05-03 02:34:59 Lincoln stopped playing youth baseball this season. His commitments to wrestling and off-season football conditioning were so extensive that adding baseball was just too much to consider. Of course I supported his decision, but if I had realized at the time that last summer was his final season I would have paid more attention and savored the waning moments of his relationship with the sport. Read more:Errors
Head Only 2008-05-11 08:06:36 My mother has been suffering with dementia for years. That may not be entirely accurate: I don't know that she is actually suffering much since she is doted over by a retinue of round-the-clock caretakers paid for from savings my father set aside before he died. Since both of her siblings died of Alzheimer's, I wonder if that legacy will descend to me if I don't first get nailed by the heart
From Bikram to Zarbang 2008-05-18 00:01:39 It's fun to put those two words together in a title, and my recent experience allows me to do so!
I have resumed going to Bikram Yoga classes at Bikram Yoga Decatur near Emory Univeristy. This is a 90 minute series of 26 stretches performed under the guidance of an enthusiastic teacher in a 105 degree room. The heat no longer feels oppressive to me: it's a force to be relaxed into rather than
An Invitation to Abundance 2008-05-26 11:32:13 Live For A Higher PurposeRemember that it is your true nature to be wise and discerning.Nurture Yourself And OthersRemember that it is your true nature to be good to yourself and to have goodwill and compassion for others.Develop Yourself And Set An Example For OthersRemember that it is your true nature to take pleasure in your existence and to esteem and value others.Let Go Of The Past And Be Read more:Invitation
, Abundance
Gurdjieff, Jan Cox, Pluto and Goofy 2008-05-31 23:53:31 I've long been attracted to explorations of the deeper and more transcendent views of existence. What is life really about? What is the relation between the subjective and objective aspects of existence? How does reality define the nature of perception and vice-versa? These and countless other esoteric explorations have intrigued and challenged me for decades, both guiding and sometimes Read more:Pluto
Obama T-shirt Frenzy 2008-06-08 11:13:44 I've been noticing people wearing various styles of Obama
t-shirts lately, and I may get one myself. I got a little overwhelmed looking at all the different styles available online -- hundreds of variations!
This is a new trend and reflects the almost "rock star" (or "Barack star", to use one of the many puns associated with his name) quality of his appeal. As I posted sev
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