Monthly archive

August 2011

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Waiting for pestilence and plague

It's been quite the week for natural disasters around here. First came the unexpected earthquake on Tuesday and now, as I write this, we're awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Irene, which is already slipping into the region with rain and breezes. What on earth is going on? I'm telling you now if there are signs of pestilence and plague, I'm making a run for it. The only question is where to go given the tornados that slammed other parts of the country earlier this summer.

After living in Florida all these years, I'm fairly calm and collected when it comes to hurricanes. I pay very close attention to the predicted track, the anticipated winds and amount of rain expected, then act accordingly. It was not always this way.

When the very first hurricane aimed at Florida after I moved there, I shuttered my home and went straight to the newspaper office where I worked, wanting to be surrounded by friends while the storm blew though. Even though I was the TV critic, not a general assignment reporter, they wanted me to go right back outside! I'm not that intrepid, which was why I'd run to the office in the first place. And I'd seen those TV reporters trying to stand upright while the wind tried to flatten them. I wasn't interested. I attached myself firmly to a phone to work the story from inside and vowed to ride out the next storm from home.

That storm also taught me not to let my panic peak too soon. I was at the office for hours before the first drops of rain fell. Now I've learned to pace myself.

As for earthquakes, I was in Los Angeles for a couple of huge ones. No anticipation. They just happen. Both of the ones I experienced hit in the middle of the night. They scared me at the time, but once the shaking stopped, they were done. The most disconcerting aspects were the aftershocks, which hit the radio station I was listening to a full sixty seconds before they rolled down to Redondo Beach where I was. Anticipating them was worse than experiencing them. I had to turn off the radio.

Here on Tuesday, it took me a good 30 seconds to figure out we were actually having an earthquake, even as the house swayed pretty dramatically. I'd never experienced one in Virginia. The shaking made no sense to me. My cousin who was visiting came running into the living room wondering what on earth was happening. Both of us immediately started checking news websites to see if it was indeed an earthquake. No damage here. Just a few framed pictures fell over on a table. None broke.

Hopefully the hurricane will be equally benign as it rolls through tonight and tomorrow. I'm saying lots of prayers for those in the areas predicted to be hardest hit. If you're in the path of Irene, let me know how you fared. And let's hope the natural disasters are over everywhere for the year!

  • Login or register to post comments
  • Share this
Thursday, August 18, 2011

Random rants and observations

I've been on the road a lot lately, which has given me an excessive amount of time to think. Mostly I try to use this time to work out plot points for a new book, but all too often, instead, I drift into thoughts about all the things that drive me nuts.

I suspect this mental wandering could be fueled by my Starbucks iced mochas, which are the reason I'm on the road so blasted much in the first place. You see my nearest Starbucks is 45 minutes away, which is both a blessing and a curse. The curse, of course, is how far I have to drive to get that mocha -- and the dark chocolate covered Graham crackers to which I'm also recently addicted. The blessing is that it's NOT right around the corner, so I'm not dreaming up daily excuses to go there.

At the top of my current list of annoyances is the habit of way too many drivers who risk life and limb by pulling into 55 mph traffic from a side road, and then drive at a snail's pace. If they were in such a hurry to get on the highway, why on earth don't they drive the speed limit once they're out there?

Then there are the drivers who persist in driving in the passing lane and not budging...or passing. Or if they do eventually pull over, then speed up so it's all but impossible to pass them and move back to the right.

I'm also befuddled by managers at various stores who watch lines build up and do nothing to get additional cashiers in place. Or by managers who are late opening because at five minutes before opening time they've discovered their computers are down and have to figure out how to fix the problem before allowing customers in the door. And don't let me get started on the post office these days. Not the carriers, who are terrific, but the policies and management. Is it any wonder profits are down when they've made it all but impossible to figure out the ever-shrinking hours of operation?

However, lest you think I've entirely lost my sense of humor these days, I was greatly cheered today by a hotel sign that announced "friendly service for quality guest." I couldn't help wondering if a similar sign is what got the head of the IMF in big trouble at that fancy New York hotel!

So today what I wish for you is a reason to laugh no matter how many frustrations you face. A good chuckle really is good medicine!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A bird's-eye view of today's culture

Today's headlines are a roller coaster ride of good news, bad news, terrible news and tragedy, and all I seem to care about these days are angry birds! Nope, not the kind that attack innocent passersby or even the ones in Alfred Hitchcock's frightening movie, but those on my iPad screen.

You see I'm just back from my annual vacation in the Outer Banks with a houseful of kids who bring me up to date on the hot trends in current culture for the mostly pre-teen set, though I saw some evidence of adults getting involved with some of this stuff.

Last year I discovered the joy of silly bands as a fashion accessory, as well as the previously untapped frustration of the training exercises on my Wii system. This year it was the complete and utter determination to achieve every level of Angry Birds mastery.

Angry Birds is a game that is somehow tied to the movie, Rio. At least I think so, since there seems to be a promotion for the film included at the end of the game. Eight-year-old Donovan and six-year-old Carson introduced me to this, along with Apples to Apples (played with people, not a computer) and Fruit Ninja, which seems to have no discernible purpose other than proving that my eye-hand coordination is pretty lousy.

I'm not entirely sure if there's any lesson to be learned from Angry Birds, except that it has the power to drive a grown woman to want to throw her iPad in the Atlantic Ocean. The goal is to destroy animals in various habitats (these are cartoons, so please no protests that the game is training young minds not respect wildlife!) by using a slingshot to send angry birds after them. I suppose there are lessons to be had about arcs and angles and such, but the biggest lesson I learned is that I absolutely hate being mocked by a monkey I missed! The more often I missed, the more determined I was to finally get to level three in the final game and destroy everyone of those gloating little critters. I did it last night...with nary a kid around to witness the accomplishment. That's okay. I shouted loudly enough for all of us.

This year's trip also included plenty of games of Go Fish (I lost), lots of Scrabble (I lost) and Flash Scrabble (I was pitiful) and a couple of puzzles. One of those might have gone a little better had not someone somehow managed to stash a critical edge piece in his pocket. And, no, that was not a kid!

At any rate, thank you Donovan, Carson, Morgan, Jonathan, Austin and Adam for bringing me up to speed on the latest pop culture. Evan's not even two and already showing signs he'll be a force to be reckoned with in this crowd. And every one of them proves to me annually that kids today are smart as whips . . . And more fun than a barrel of those blasted monkeys!