Robert DeLong, Mark Ruffalo, Barkhad Abdi, and Pope Francis

Robert DeLong, Mark Ruffalo, Barkhad Abdi, and Pope Francis

While learning about shrimp and prawns, I also came across the following quote:

"When no one is to blame, everyone is to blame." ~Pope Francis

... which has given me something to think about for the remainder of my last gray afternoon at Carolina Beach.

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Sunflower, Addiction, and Skating on Thin Ice

Sunflower, Addiction, and Skating on Thin Ice

Addiction has been a key word in my head for months now, along with facilitation, calculated risks, acceptance... so many words, each with so many shades of definition. The question is not whether a behavior is addictive, it's whether you're okay with the consequences of that repetitive behavior…

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#VoiceInMyHead: "Your Rules"

#VoiceInMyHead: "Your Rules"

My #ThemeSong today is Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett's Avant Gardner. I've been sporadically "having trouble breathing in" since I was in middle-school (maybe before) - I know it's coming on again when I have to yawn to get a good breath. This is why, for my (belated) 50th birthday present, I am spending a few days at the beach by myself…

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Senzenina and Calculated Risks

Senzenina and Calculated Risks

I first heard my #ThemeSong today when I watched The Power of One, written by one of my favorite authors, Bryce Courtenay, and starring Morgan Freeman (one of my favorite actors). Since first hearing this song, my ears perk at any mention of African musical influence, and they are far better off as a result…

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Statistician's Blues and Being Ordinary

Statistician's Blues and Being Ordinary

"They say 3 percent of the people use 5 to 6 percent of their brain

97 percent use 3 percent and the rest goes down the drain

I'll never know which one I am but I'll bet you my last dime

99 percent think with 3 percent 100 percent of the time"

~Todd Snider

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Kilby Girl, Incest, Rofhiwa, Electrical Brain Stimulation, and Korean Popcorn Cauliflower

Kilby Girl, Incest, Rofhiwa, Electrical Brain Stimulation, and Korean Popcorn Cauliflower

I asked my 19YO daughter to send me a theme song, and she gave me Kilby Girl by the Backseat Lovers. Though the lyrics make me wish I could remember the days when I could guiltlessly "waste all afternoon," it's a snappy little tune; and I didn't mind having it in my head today…

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17 Jan 2021- 6 days off Facebook (Peter Gabriel, Watched Pots, and Edible Creations)

17 Jan 2021- 6 days off Facebook (Peter Gabriel, Watched Pots, and Edible Creations)

I came upon the Peter Gabriel song below for the first time today, when looking up the lyrics to Bon Iver's Holocene (one of my son's all-time favorites), and it melted my heart. I shared the song with my musically voracious son, who surprisingly hadn't heard it; and we agreed that it's crazy that, though hauntingly beautiful in its own right, Bon Iver's version is more well-known than Peter Gabriel's original…

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16 Jan 2021: Weaning Off Facebook, Day 5 (Hamilton, the NRA, Aliens, and Psychedelics)

16 Jan 2021: Weaning Off Facebook, Day 5 (Hamilton, the NRA, Aliens, and Psychedelics)

My theme song today is my 17-year-old son's favorite song from Hamilton (he likes all the Aaron Burr songs). It seems fitting as we wait for the inauguration of the new American President and its hopeful after math. In fact, it seems fitting for most days…

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14 Jan 2021 - Weaning Off Facebook, Day 3 (Sylvan Esso and Marriage Story)

14 Jan 2021 - Weaning Off Facebook, Day 3 (Sylvan Esso and Marriage Story)

I fell in love with Sylvan Esso when I first heard Coffee, the hit from their debut album. Since then, I haven’t heard a song I don’t like, and many speak to my soul in the most happy way. It helps that most of their songs can be played in the presence of toddlers. And they’re based in Durham!

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12 Jan 2021 - Weaning off Facebook, Day 1 (Los Lobos and Antifa)

12 Jan 2021 - Weaning off Facebook, Day 1 (Los Lobos and Antifa)

Apparently like many people during this Covid pandemic and election year, I developed anxiety and depression to the point of panic attacks and, as part of my recovery, decided I needed less silence and more music in my life. So each morning I listen to a "theme song" that generally sticks with me throughout the day…

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Voice in My Head Today: Acceptance

Voice in My Head Today: Acceptance

You need to stop doing what you think is expected of you, and start doing what you want to do in your heart (note: drugs, video-games and Facebook are definitively not included). Accept the arbitrary human rules and the fact that they are going to slow you down, and forge ahead despite the hurdles you don’t want to bother with…

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To the Marriott Organization

To the Marriott Organization

During my last car-camping therapy trip, I was caught out in the rain and hesitantly booked a last-minute hotel room, choosing only among those that Hotwire had given ribbons (or stars or whatever) for Covid preparedness. I only stayed one night, but it made clear to me that the hotel service in America is hardly being held to high standards with regard to air circulation and ventilation…

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The Ironic Story Behind My Sweet Bessie Van

The Ironic Story Behind My Sweet Bessie Van

Eight to ten years ago, back when I lived in a South Durham Home Owner's Association (HOA), my neighbor across the street complained about the chalk drawings on our driveway, then my Obama signs, then our vegetable garden - all of which resulted in violation letters and my presence before the HOA board of directors to defend my actions…

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To Amazon
Government and Accountability, Money Melissa Rooney Government and Accountability, Money Melissa Rooney

To Amazon

Below is what I put in the 'description' box of the second Amazon Seller 'support case' I filled out after sifting through heaps of obscure help links and pages. If you have experienced similar problems with Amazon, please take the time to type up your frustrating experience and post it - if not in the comments here, then somewhere else. If we have learned anything in recent years, it's that even small predatory practices should be called out. Better late than never :-) …

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Get up off of our knees...

Get up off of our knees...

I think about the horrible division, greed and just plain hatred boiling in our collective consciousness right now and remember it's been simmering throughout history and will simmer again. Then I come across the video below. "Open your eyes to my heart, Lord" the song repeats. I think God knows our hearts all too well and that he is desperately trying to open our eyes to His…

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Upon being pressed to look deeper behind the Covid “smokescreen”

Upon being pressed to look deeper behind the Covid “smokescreen”

Looking deeper... I see a government that is fine with letting hundreds of thousands of citizens die because they refuse to impose simple medically advised procedures (masks and social distancing) that would enable businesses to open safely; I see a government that refuses to require registration, background checks, and commonsense laws to protect it’s most vulnerable population from gun deaths that profit gun sellers, manufacturers, and lobbyists; I see…

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Despite Psychopathic Capitalism...

Despite Psychopathic Capitalism...

Mark Zuckerberg makes a disgusting amount of money by appealing to the ids in all of us that demand instant recognition and gratification and, thanks to Facebook etc., now get it. This makes me angry at times and hopeless more often. How can a person joyfully prey upon and purposefully amplify the baser side of humanity just for money and personal glory? If this is the way our world works, then why even set the alarm clock?

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