Unigue? Odd? Weird?

No matter how you phrase it, anything out of the norm (whatever that is) earns you one of many similar monikers.

Here, that is not a curse. Being odd has no negative conotations in my world. Nor should it in yours.

If anything, differences highlight the very essence of our human condition. A room full of wire-haired, sallow scientists may come up with a way to clone my body, but all those things that define me can never be replicated.

This blog is dedicated to the off-beat, absurd, and quirky women who could care less about being normal, and instead, strive to just be uniquely themselves. Comfortable in our own skins, we seek to connect with other odd-balls, not in attempt to create a new conformity, but rather to relish in our differences.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a call to arms or a guide to being different for-the-sake-of-being-different. This is just about me, letting myself think, act, and feel how I want to feel without my inner-critic shouting “that’s not normal!” If you wish to join me, so be it. If not, you are welcome to stand on the sideline and mock me, if that’s what you really want to do

Karen

Fall on Your Knees

I had a poem published and wanted to share. It was one of those situations where I was minding my own business, probably surfing Facebook, when a poem up and wrote itself in my head over a matter of a few minutes. And this was the result. 

The online literary journal,  by  BellaOnline was taking submissions for its publication  Mused. Most of my fiction is not Pollyanna enough for the general public, but some of my poems are, so I sent in the aformentioned Manna-from-Heaven and what do you know? It was accepted. I guess the lesson her is to never look a Gift Poem in the mouth  

 

     On another note, perhaps it was during a similar excursion like this one, when I conjured those words via inspiration. Here, I’m looking down at a few of the wild ponies on Assateague Island, just few minutes from my hometown.

Channelling the Jeffersons?!?

As in George & Weezie. Not a former Head of State.

Yes, I’m on another kick, this one has been brewing for a while, but after reading The Idiot Girl and The Flaming Tantrum of Death (I downloaded FREE to my Kindle– and loved it like I love Chelsea Handler) I’m back on my desire to move somewhere, anywhere else that has a different vibe and feel to it. I’m thinking Oregon, thanks to author Laurie Notaro.

Perhaps its the winter doldrums of everything being gray and dead outside, but I am yearning for GREEN. I’m happiest in early spring when the garden is becoming lush and alive, and the summer heat hasn’t come along and scorched all my precious plants. The season of rebirth becomes My rebirth, and I’m feeling a little too close to Sheol right now. (For those not in the know– Sheol is the Ancient Mesopotamic religious belief in the afterlife as a steamy pit in the underworld where everybody, bad and good, went to spend eternity munching on dirt and sucking mud. Thank my religion professor for that little tidbit!)

Anyway, I doubt I will ever go there, much less move to Oregon, the geographical diversity has intrigued me for long enough that I shan’t consider it a passing fancy. I shall investigate. Who knows, maybe twenty years from now when I finally get my bach. degree and I’m scouting for a decent grad program, Oregon will be the right place to go

Gun-toting Mama

I know I’m not alone in watching CSI: Las Vegas, CSI:Miami, NCIS, or Numbers failthfully. They wouldn’t be hit television shows if I was the only one watching them. But I have to wonder how many other women out there like me, want to star in their own real life investigative drama. I don’t mean on TV. I’m not bad looking, but it take more than blonde hair and blue eyes to make it to the boob-tube. I mean in real life, as a career.

I’m a thirty-one year old mother of two grade-school age kids, with a husband who spends half of his time in the woods hunting one beast or another. I work full-time in a cubicle profession. I take classes when my life can handle it. I can shoot a gun and rather enjoy the sound of a two-liter bottle exploding as I empty my clip. I even took the course that is required for getting a concealed weapon permit in the state of Virginia. I am very intuitive– I notice quickly when a person or situation just doesn’t seem right. Logic is my friend and I abhor things that just don’t make sense to me. I love to learn about other cultures and I believe in the sanctity of law enforcement. So does that make me a realistic candidate for some type of law enforcement career, or am I just daydreaming like every other mother out there who wants a career that Hollywood has deemed interesting and psuedo-glamourous?

School Dazed

Well, for what feels like the gazillonth time, I’ve decided to pick back up collecting college credit towards the degree I’ll finally have when I’m sixty. (Side note, just a few years ago, that probably would have been Forty, but hey, as we age, so do our perceptions of time!)

Partially because of the crappy economy, and partially because I realized that I already have a whooping 68 credits toward an average needed of 120, I headed over to my local college, Eastern Shore Community College and snagged three classes very last minute. I’m taking Organizational Behavior, thanks to my coworker D. (who pointed out that even if useless for my future degree, it will be helpful for my current–and hopefully temporary–profession), Religions of the World, which is looking like its going to be an invigoratingly interesting class (and given the current holy wars, globalization, etc., it can’t hurt to broaden my mind here either) and last but not least i am taking Literature of the World II. I really need American Lit II, but that was only available during the day, and alas, poor me has to work. But since I’m leaning towards a degree in English this time (my credits list is heavy on the Psych and Biology right now. Oops!) I figured I can still take American II next time.

Anyway, my grouchy ass husband wants me to quit typing so I’ll finish this tomorrow.

Post-script: I just put up a blog regarding this over at Ecclectic Gurl

Layoffs, and Downsizing and Recession, Oh My!

I have to admit, until very recently, my family and I haven’t really felt the pull of the Recessional undertow. We cut back spending at Christmas and what not, but that was all in the “just in case” mentality. Turns out that might have been a smart move on my part. Very rapidly, the company that I have worked for the last five years of my life has taken a significant downturn in sales and profits, so much so that the rumor mill of layoffs began a few weeks ago. And things have intensified, to the point that I am very sure SOMETHING will be happening tomorrow morning. I just don’t know what.

Like any rumor mill, picking the good from the bad is nearly impossible, but it seems that there is a good chance the “Restructuring” is going to hit my department as well. I’d always thought my department was safe, as it is small (accounting) compared to the rest of the company, and everyone’s function is pretty vital. Even if one of us is to go, it will place a huge burden on the rest of us to take up slack.

So here I sit, chewing my nails and wondering what the hell is going down tomorrow. I don’t think it will be me that goes, but usually the ones let go don’t see it coming, so I’m not really off the hook after all. Waiting. Waiting. Oh, god, did I ever mention that I abhor waiting for anything? Even a pizza?

Oddly though, I’m not that depressed. I never intended to be an Accountant for god’s sake anyway. I’m a creative type. I’m a thinker, a problem solver. Sometimes a writer, an artist, a photographer. So I’m still not sure how I ended up a bean counter. Other than this one job, the rest of my paid work experience has been in Animal Sciences (Animal ER nurse, Animal Control, SPCA) so this was a big leap to begin with.

And somehow, I have ended up doing well in my not-chosen profession. I even made a huge leap last year when I suggested instead of replacing the departed-AP person, why not let me do my current job AND accounts payable, and they would be saving almost a whole salary. They agreed, and I got a goo raise along with the extra responsability. Now that may end up costing me. I’m the second highest paid person in the department, right under the CFO. Since I don’t think they’d be stupid enough to get rid of him, I’m wearing the Scarlet X on my forhead, and it’s yelling loud and clear, “Get rid of me! You can save a ton of money!”

Oy, veh. So I’ll know tomorrow which way the cookie crumbles.

Make an Impact, Globally

In this time of tightening budgets, many people are looking to save money, not spend it– and only on the things that are truly necessary. It should be no surprise that charities and other non-profit organizations are feeling the financial crisis as well. Ironically, these are the times when they need support the most. More people need help, and there is less money to help them with.

That being said, I’d like to Introduce Global Impact, a not-for-profit organization that is exempt as a charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It does not charge membership dues or service fees, which means that when it distributes 88 percent of the money it raises to its members and other charities, that is saying something. The money is all donation. Only 5.3 percent of every dollar Global Impact spends is for administration and fundraising, which is substantially under the norms established by the federal government.

I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer to think my money was actually going to help people, not going to office supplies and advertisements. That’s why I like to read that Global Impact is committed to minimizing its administrative and fundraising costs.

Global Impact raises funds for more than 50 of the most respected U.S.-based international relief and development charities. Each member charity is recertified yearly to ensure it is upholding Global Impact membership criteria. Some of my favorite charities are:

Heifer International – Helps poor families worldwide become self-sufficient by providing food- and income-producing animals, community development, training and environmentally-sound farming. Here I found an article talking about Think Globally; Eat Locally, like I did in an earlier post of mine. Their philosophy follows the saying, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” Stop-gap charities often don’t have a lasting impact, whereas Heifer International wants to make a difference in the long haul.

Women for Women International – They provide direct aid, rights awareness and leadership education, vocational skills training and income generation support to women survivors of war, conflict and civil strife. We women here in America and other lucky places, don’t realize that on a daily basis, women around the world are suffering through famine, war, assult, deaths of loved ones from disease that haven’t existed in the US for a very long time. We are fortunate, no matter the economic crisis. No matter how bad it is here, its a million times worse somewhere else. And FYI, this is a charity that Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie support as well.

William J. Clinton Foundation – Strengthening people’s capacity to meet the challenges of global interdependence through health security; economic empowerment; leadership development/citizen service; climate change; and racial, ethnic, and religious reconciliation (Yes, that would be our former President Bill Clinton’s charity. Don’t dismiss them though.  The progress they have made with their Pediatric Aids Program has been astounding.)

Oxfam America – The organization is dedicated to creating lasting solutions to global poverty, hunger and social injustice. I had seen this name before, but hadn’t the foggiest idea as to what they did. I’m particularly impressed by their Stop Rape as a Weapon of War initiative. Though, that’s not nearly all of what they do. The muster supplies and assistance during times of emergencies, such as The Cholera Crisis in Zimbabwe, US Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery, and the current Crisis in Gaza. They help people learn to make a living, manage natural resources, gain equality and rights for women and minorities, and so much more.It should be said that the majority of the charity work I’ve featured involved giving internationally.

There is a reason for this:

-According to Giving USA, international giving is the fastest growing sector of giving. As the world becomes more connected, Americans are choosing to respond individually to the critical need for help.
-Nearly 1 billion people worldwide are unable to read a book or sign their name.
-At least 1.4 million children die every year because they lack access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. -Every night, 800 million people—300 million of the children—go to bed hungry.

-The U.S. Government’s humanitarian foreign aid amounts to less than 1 percent of the federal budget—only a fraction of what people think is spent. It is your support that allows Global Impact member charities to help the poorest people on Earth.

If you’re still on the fence about donating period, or donating internationally, take a minute to put yourself in the shoes of a woman living in Gaza, or Darfur, or the Congo right now. What would you be doing at this very moment? Cradling your dying child in your arms? Drinking disease ridden water because maybe it will kill you, or maybe it will just make you very sick– but drinking nothing will kill you a lot faster? Or maybe you are huddling in the treeline near your house because you can hear the soldiers coming, and your emotional and physical wounds are still so fresh that the thought of another torture and rape session makes you just want to die right now.

Remember, helping one is better than helping none.

The Curse of Genes and Hormones

The desire to procreate, in some, is so strong that it creates a sort of tunnel vision in the afflicted. One can’t see beyond trying to make a baby, and they never stop to think about what it will really be like once said baby has in fact, arrived.

I don’t mean to demean the whole carrying-on-the-family thing. Hey, I’m as guilty as the rest of people that once had a dream, and in getting that dream, got a whole lot more.

All I ever wanted to be was a mother. In high school I had things I preferred to study, side-passions that I took interest in, but as for what I wanted to “do” with my life, well, I only had one goal: Motherhood.

When I hit college, my career-track never wavered. I’ve dropped out of college three times, and I still have almost a year left of college if I am to ever get that danged illusive degree. But, I digress.

I just had to become pregnant, incubate a little being for nine months, and be the best darned mommy that ever existed in the course of the entire world. I would be nurturing and patient, gentle and soft-spoken. I not only got my wish, I got twice—I found out I was pregnant again just a few sleep deprived months after my first son was born.

Motherhood has turned out to be nothing like I imagined or hoped and everything that I didn’t realize I had asked for. I’m ashamed to admit, that I really didn’t think this whole motherhood thing through. I like my quiet time. I need my privacy. I want hours on end to be creative and introspective. And now that I have two children under the age of 6, I have none of the things that I want or need to maintain my true self or my sanity.

Now, my idea of quiet time is reading a book so engrossing that I somehow manage to tune out the circus of creatures running amok in the living room. Now, I receive privacy almost never, and especially if the quest for privacy involves anything to do with nudity or bathroom tasks. It seems that I went to sleep in a typical suburban house and woke up one morning in a hippie commune.

And now, this long-term reality has collided with what I once expected of motherhood, and I’m wondering why in the hell I didn’t think this whole motherhood thing through at least a little bit.

I blame it all on the hormones and their apparent conspirator, genetics. You see, it is in the very nature of our species to procreate. It is in our best interest to pass our genes along, because if we don’t, the human race could die out.

Maybe that’s what happened to the dinosaurs. One gigantic green mother turned to the other females munching on broad tropical leaves and said “I can’t believe I thought I wanted this” nodding to her five-hundred-pound darling dangling by sharp teeth from her ample backside. And another turned to her and said, “You are so right! So what if Junior fell in the tar pit last week! When Herman comes to me with sweet-talk and Sangria, I’m just gonna tell him that I’m done having tail-biters. He’ll have to go find another womb to curse!”

So it has to be, because no other explanation would suffice, that my genes and my hormones blinded me, lulled me into the motherhood fog, and completely shut down all sense of rationality and reason that I had. No normal person, if they really knew what the next decades of their lives were to be like, would willingly walk into that dank, dark abyss.

And do you want to know the crazy part? I’m feeling the lull of the fog again, rolling deep and opaque around me, shielding me from the shrieks of babes and the hiding the mountain of dirty laundry. My genetics and hormones are teaming up against me again. Dear God, I want another one!

How can I fight it? Even if I could find the words to plead my case, they wouldn’t hold any weight against the survival of the species. My biology has spoken loud and clear, and it always has the last word. Better to just make nice and ride on through it, with the hopes that nature will be kind to me…

Thank God for genes and hormones. Without them, I wouldn’t exist to curse the condemned play-room, or scrub spaghetti off of my brand new suede couch. And I wouldn’t have a son who runs to me with another one of his oddly insightful observations, or have a daughter who buries her tear-stained face in my chest when the mop-headed little boy at school calls her a whiney-butt, again.

A Greener Way to Read

I just put up a post over at my other blog One Quirky Gurl regarding my newest way to read, which is great for the environment, saves me tons of cash and gives me time to read instead of wasting my time driving to the bookstore or digging through the library for something, anything that I haven’t read yet. It’s the Kindle, and electronic reading device from Amazon.

Here’s a teaser from my blog:

I’m a self-proclaimed bibliophile. Of course, I don’t have to proclaim it, one just need to see my house– baskets, bookshelves and cardboard boxes full of box nestled in various corners of my humble abode speak volumes on my Literal addiction all on their own. And like any addiction, loving to read does have it’s down falls…Needless to say, I wasn’t surprised in the least when Oprah recently was quoted as saying how much she loved the Kindle device. But I had to smile, because I loved it first

Read more on my other blog

Giving. Its the New Getting.

(eCo)nscious Market is a self-proclaimed “For-Benefit” online commerce site based in Boulder, Colorado. They tout that their products are the finest ecologically and socially responsible products available, and the company donates a minimum of 10% of every purchase to a non-profit organizations. The even go so far as to let the buyer “hand-pick” the program that receives the donation funded by their purchase.

A sampling of organizations that are listed on the eConscious Market include:

-Urban Sprouts: uses school gardens to help youth engage in school, eat better, and connect with the environment and each other.

-The Jane Goodall Institutes works to protect chimpanzees and their habitats, supports community-centered development projects in ecologically-significant areas, and engages youth in making a positive difference.

-The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.

-Global Culture of Women Project, Celebrating the global voice of women ~ a beautiful revolution.

-Bead for Life, eradicates extreme poverty by creating bridges – Ugandan women make jewelry out of recycled paper and Americans open their homes and hearts to buy and sell the beads.

And that’s just a tidbit of the charities benefiting every time someone shops. And the best part of it all? You won’t feel bad for shopping, and the merchandise on this site is amazing.

I fell in love with sooo many things here, that if it weren’t for the money of mine making its way to charity right now, I just might be feeling the lightness in my wallet

Like:

This Large Stingray cuff, made of 100% recycled materials.

Or this Vy & Elle Portfolio crafted from Recycled billboards.

Or their cool line of 100% recycled notebooks. I AM a sucker for office supplies, I know.

So if you have a few minutes and are feeling charitable– buy yourself a gift that gives to others too!
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From my Soapbox

In the past, I used to be one of those people that aschewed “Tree-huggers”. I blame it on the era in which I was raised. I would hear the grown ups talking about this group, or that one, and how they were taking away our rights and lively-hoods by their loud campaigning and alarmist reports.

In many, this sense of disdain for organized environmental groups lingers. For example, yesterday I send out an email throughout my company to announce I now had a bin for aluminum cans to be recycled, and if anyone would like to contribute I’d be happy to take ALL the cans they could throw at me to the collection center at the local SPCA (who gets a meager stipend from the recycling company, thus benefiting the environment AND the local stray animals).

Not too long after that, I get at least three similar comments within a twenty-minute period. “What, are you becoming a tree-hugger now?” and “Don’t tell me your an eco-nut” were the gist of things.  My response? A genuine smile and a reply akin to “I drink the soda and just don’t feel right throwing them away. It takes no more effort for me to haul them to the recycling center than to the landfill. It just makes sense.”

Sneaky right? Combatting age old prejuidices with logic is very hard to argue against. No emotion, just plain old common sense. 

So, realizing the tides are turning, I decided to do a little research about some of the tried and true environmental organizations, starting with the Sierra Club which has been around since 1892. Founded by John Muir,  noted naturalist and author, the Sierra Club has been working for decades with the following goals in mind:
1. Explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth.
2. Practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources.
3. Educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment.
4. Use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.

With over 1.3 million members and supporters, I’d say that the Sierra Club has the power of the people standing firmly behind their ideologies. Even now, the Sierra Club is hard at work to re-power America using smart energy initiatives, protecting endangered species and the land they depend upon, funding campaigns and research into global warming, clean water initiatives and soooooo much more.

You really should hop on over to their website and take a gander at all of the information, interactive maps and resources they have to offer. Remember, no emotionality needed, just pure and simple common sense.

Interested? Just click the banner to the right of the screen.
Yes, the Sierra Club has earned a spot on this little site