No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on May 18, 2012

But first here is a picture of Caroline and her teacher after she received her green belt.

(for the VI: This is Caroline on the left and her teacher on the right. Her teacher is kneeling next to her. They are standing in the school which has red mats on the floor and mirrors behind them. Caroline is wearing black pants and shirt. She has her orange belt across her shoulders and her brand new green belt around her waist. Her teacher is wearing a black shirt and black pants as well.)

Don’t Wanna is a phrase that parents hear from their children and everybody hears in their heads when something comes up that is not what they wanted to do.

Yesterday I read several articles on several different topics that led me to thinking about the phrase “don’t wanna” and my internal little voice that says it before my other more responsible voice reminds me of why I have to do whatever it is.

One article in the Wall Street Journal, and I apologies for not giving credit to the blog I read about it in, talked about a new form of therapy where the therapist uses tough love, well therapy, and doesn’t let their client continue to whine on a topic that they seem stuck on. The idea is to get the client to either figure out a solution or just let the subject go. Solve it or forget about talking about it because you are going rapidly nowhere on it. This sort of whining is more an attention getter than really wanting a solution to the problem at hand.

The other term that was used is chronic complaining. We also know or knew someone who does or did that. I will add to that the chronic drama seeker. There are some people who do have the worst luck in the world and things do happen in sequence that prove to us that they have the worst luck in the world. However there are some that seek the drama. They make choices conscious or unconscious in their lives that lead to drama. They thrive on it and the attention it brings. It makes them feel better about their lives.

I will admit to occasionally letting the “don’t wanna” voice win. But for the most part I manage to be an adult about it and deal with whatever comes along that I really would prefer not to deal with. I know that if I don’t deal with it, it is not going to get done. Like exercise, I get ready to go to the gym and my inner voice is giving me all these other things I think I should be doing or would rather do. Sometime, I am sorry to say, it wins and I don’t go but I am getting better at taking some time for myself and exercising. I have learned that I feel better after I workout. Today I am taking Caroline to the Y for family swim. I know when the time period that I can take her is and how long it is. So I plan that into my day. I keep myself honest by telling Caroline that we are doing this and this way I can’t back out unless something else really does take precedent.

There are times that I don’t wanna deal with our cats. But they trust me to take care of them and their needs. So I make sure they have food and water and clean litter. I clean up after them and make sure they get pets and scritches.

Another article brought to my attention by my father is about blogging entitled “Blogging is not at Thing, but an Attitude” by Jim Dalrymple. It was more about the idea of media companies trying to create blogs and content and not understanding why people don’t like/read them. He talks about the flow of a blog and the readership being able to tell authentic from serious scripted. Which makes sense to me. I really just write here what I want to write or what is on my mind. I started my web log so that my parents, siblings, and friends could keep up with what was going on in my life and it sort of evolved from there. Also since I recently had a Kung-Fu class which was all about getting things to flow, it hit a point of resonance with me. I am still working on the first form as my classmates are way ahead of me which is frustrating but something that I want to work on except when I don’t wanna.

Right now I have a list of things that need to be done and I really should go do them but it is such a lovely morning I think I am going to take a little time for me before tackling them. So that I can send my don’t wanna voice on vacation for the rest of the day by reminding it that I gave it a break this morning.

I am grateful to my parents for teaching me that there are things you have to do even though you don’t wanna.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 17, 2012

Yesterday Caroline earned her green belt in Kung-Fu. She has worked very hard for this and loves her teachers and her classes. Now she is in the next level class for her discipline. I am very proud of her.

I am also taking lessons and am at the point that I am relearning how to walk and move my hands at the same time (the first form of Tai Chi) and am remembering how uncoordinated I can be. So it is practice, practice, practice time for me. I have learned a lot in my head but I now have to get my body to move and flow correctly.

Peter’s novelization of Battleship is out and there are a couple reviews of the novel and the movie. We will go see it when it comes out. I am interested in the final cut of this.

Today is my volunteer day at Caroline’s school. Ariel will probably be going with me. We need to start getting the library ready for the summer. That and figure out what we are going to do for the puppet show this year for field day.

Both the Lakers and the Heat really need to get their act together or they are going to find themselves benched and watching the rest of the playoffs rather than playing them. I know for many the Heat is the team to hate because of their boasting but it would be nice to give them a chance at the finals. That team looks so good on paper but they just can’t seem to get it done.

Mets are doing OK and the same with the Braves. The Orioles are doing pretty well for themselves.

Need to work though the weekend. There were a few complications added to the schedule so I need to rethink what we are doing.

Fig loved her human. She is curled up next to Caroline with one paw on Caroline’s leg. Fig is in the living room when Caroline gets home from school. Fig may vanish most of the day but she makes sure she is there for her human.

I am grateful for getting things done in a timely fashion.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 17, 2012

Yesterday Caroline earned her green belt in Kung-Fu. She has worked very hard for this and loves her teachers and her classes. Now she is in the next level class for her discipline. I am very proud of her.

I am also taking lessons and am at the point that I am relearning how to walk and move my hands at the same time (the first form of Tai Chi) and am remembering how uncoordinated I can be. So it is practice, practice, practice time for me. I have learned a lot in my head but I now have to get my body to move and flow correctly.

Peter’s novelization of Battleship is out and there are a couple reviews of the novel and the movie. We will go see it when it comes out. I am interested in the final cut of this.

Today is my volunteer day at Caroline’s school. Ariel will probably be going with me. We need to start getting the library ready for the summer. That and figure out what we are going to do for the puppet show this year for field day.

Both the Lakers and the Heat really need to get their act together or they are going to find themselves benched and watching the rest of the playoffs rather than playing them. I know for many the Heat is the team to hate because of their boasting but it would be nice to give them a chance at the finals. That team looks so good on paper but they just can’t seem to get it done.

Mets are doing OK and the same with the Braves. The Orioles are doing pretty well for themselves.

Need to work though the weekend. There were a few complications added to the schedule so I need to rethink what we are doing.

Fig loved her human. She is curled up next to Caroline with one paw on Caroline’s leg. Fig is in the living room when Caroline gets home from school. Fig may vanish most of the day but she makes sure she is there for her human.

I am grateful for getting things done in a timely fashion.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 16, 2012

I figured out the other day that I have been going to conventions for almost 35 years. When I was young, it was limited to conventions in Atlanta which there were a few. The big media at the time was the Atlanta Fantasy Fair, which was our big convention of the year. There were also a number of other conventions both book and media related and there was the Atlanta Science Fiction something or other which was an off shoot of another Science Fiction Club. (I am sure someone reading this will remember the real name of the group.) Before the Internet there were things called APAs (Amateur Press Association) that allowed fans of something to share their thoughts and ideas about a subject.

At the time the literary convention and the media convention were two different beasts. And there was an attitude of fans against the mundanes a lot of the time. We also had the older fans which fell into two distinct groups which some were very welcoming of the next generation and encourage younger people that weren’t just the children of the older fans to participate and the “get off of my lawn” group which really drove me up a tree. The GOOMLies didn’t seem to want anything to change from when they first discovered fandom and anything that might threating their version of FIAWOL (fandom is a way of life) and they made it hard for some conventions to survive. In some cases by the time they could be convinced that they needed to expand their horizons, it was already too late and a number of venerable conventions fell by the wayside because of the GOOMLies.

Within the media conventions there seemed to be a little more understanding of other fandoms and they tended to be a little more inclusive. However there were media GOOMLies as well that wanted their conventions to only be about a series that hadn’t had an episode in quite a while. I remember a Star Trek group rejected the idea of having some Star Wars stuff at their convention. That convention lasted longer than I expected but then we had a couple of new Star Trek series for them for mine but eventually it did go the way of the dodo.

There were a couple of conventions that tried to be all things to all people. Some of these worked (DragonCon) and some of them failed. There were some in fights between the conventions for guests and marketing which led to some people not being able to go to conventions that they previously enjoyed because they were assumed in the other camp. This got to the point of silly and then imploded. Some conventions stated what they were for (San Diego Comic Con) but they also were willing to branch out a bit and appeal to the younger fan. San Diego Comic Con for a long time was the only place I could find things based on Japanese animation that I loved.

I enjoy all forms of conventions in the things I am interested in. I can fluently speak all kinds of geek and am comfortable with various types of conventions. I never understood why a convention had to be this or that when you had a young base interested in that and could potentially be the next generation to run the convention. Especially when it overlaps something that is of interest to the people who do come to that convention. There is only so far you can go with the children of fandom, you have to find the new blood to bring in or the GOOMLies win in a very sad way.

The advent of the Internet changed the face of fandom and conventions forever but that is an essay for another day.

I am grateful for all the conventions I have been to through the years and all the friends I have made through them.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 15, 2012

What do you want to know about my work?

I really am interested in what people find interesting about crafty Tuesday (or if anyone is reading this at all)

So ask me a question and I will, if I can, answer it.

I am grateful for growing plants.

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