It's a Cam Vlog!

Way back when - June 30th to be exact, Bond (a.k.a. Vinny) held a contest for all of us sitting on the Big Leather Couch for a chance to win a copy of John Mayer's WHERE THE LIGHT IS. The rules were pretty simple: "Tell me in your comments why you should be the one to receive this and tomorrow, I will announce the winner...as always creativity counts!"

Creativity? Well, I've got that! And I can certainly type a comment! I even had a cheering section (thank you Micky-T and The Teach). How could I lose? Well, I didn't - I ... ummmm ... I mean ... Cam won!!

Now, Vinny was quite prompt with the shipment of my prize, and it sat on my desk for WEEKS! You see, I had promised a vlog of Cam opening the prize, but was having a little difficulty with the logistics of said vlog. As you may recall, husband has no idea I blog - nor does Cam - so I needed some time with just Cam and I had to come up with some excuse why I was videoing him. Ha! Remember that creativity? Well, last night I had a few minutes and look what I got!

Yes ... it's a bit long (4-ish minutes) but I wanted to prove to Vinny that I was Cam was actually listening to, and enjoying, the CD!

Friday Wrap-Up

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“The true meaning of America, you ask? It's in a Texas rodeo, in a policeman's badge, in the sound of laughing children, in a political rally, in a newspaper... In all these things, and many more, you'll find America. In all these things, you'll find freedom. And freedom is what America means to the world. And to me.”

~ Audie Murphy

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On Monday, Vinny over at the Big Leather Couch reviewed John Mayer's new CD, Where the Light Is, and hosted a give-away of that very CD. All that it required was a creative comment describing why the blogger was deserving of such a gift. Well, I decided to throw creativity aside and go with the pity angle instead ... and it worked! I wrote:

John Mayer is one of my son's favorite musicians, and since he won't be riding his bike in the month of July (Can you say bike helmet attached to handlebars of bike - instead of on his head - and a crash that resulted in a 3-hour visit to the ER which included x-rays of his skull and elbow?) I was thinking maybe listening to John Mayer might just offer him a little entertainment. I'm thinking "Gravity", in particular, might be a great one for him to listen to over and over again!

I even managed a couple of sympathy votes from fellow commentors. Who new a visit to the ER could reap such benefits? Thanks Vinny!!

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It was a good week for prizes and awards! Jeff, over at A Word in Edgewise does a weekly "What Is It?" photo contest. He posts portions of pictures and asks you to identify them. Now, in all honesty he was quite kind to his readers this week - sometimes I have no clue what anything is - but this week I got in early and guessed them all correctly. And for my efforts I got this cool image that will proudly be displayed on my blog for ever and ever. He hosts this game every Friday during the summer so be sure to stop by today and take a crack (hehehe - I said "crack") at this week's contest. Thanks Jeff!

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On a more somber note, I want to say goodbye to a friend who likely touched my heart more than he knew.

Dan, your carefree and welcoming personality always made me feel more at ease at the monthly poker parties. I'm certain you had no idea just how much anxiety I felt at these events, and yet you were always one to give me a warm smile and friendly conversation, putting me at ease in a socially difficult situation. I cannot imagine the pain your family and close friends must be feeling, especially knowing that the person who took your life didn't even have the decency to stop, or to call 9-1-1, to alert them to the situation. At 32 you had so much more to give this world, but know that you gave me, and likely many others, much more than you ever knew.

Peace to you, my friend.

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Delay of the Thin Mints, but it's Worth It!

I'm in a bit of a quandary (or obsessive funk, whichever you prefer). I've been playing up this damned Thin Mint HNT thing all week. Jahooni went out of her way to make it happen, I bought the chocolate syrup and the hot fudge, I was ready to go ... and then came the funk. Actually, I've been fighting the funk for what seems like an eternity a few months - grabbing the smiling face from the jar, putting it on each morning and pretending I'm happy. I thought it might just fool the funk. It didn't.

Then, I'm going through my Google Reader yesterday morning and stop for a quick rest next to Vince on the Big Leather Couch. If you haven't been there, you really should go - there is always great music playing and the atmosphere is quite comfortable. Anyway, I digress ...

His post yesterday was titled, Is It Worth It......? Now, y'all know how it is when you start reading a blog and you think, "Oh my ... how did he/she get in my head today?" I had one of those moments. Vince talked about evaluating the things in our lives to determine if they were "worth it." Now, he had some mushy shit romantic thoughts in there as well, but the "worth it" part really struck a chord with me.

For about the past year I've been doing some steady fence sitting in some very important parts of my life - specifically my marriage. I've been waiting for a lightening strike to my left tibia an epiphany to help me decide if it was time to buck up and give 100% to try to save the marriage, or if it was better to give 100% to ending it amicably. In that year I've watched my financial stability plummet and my self-esteem suffer greatly. I think it's likely that my son has lost respect for me due to my seeming inability to stand up for myself - or for him - in this situation. And yet I continue to precariously perch atop these white pickets.

You know, the longer you sit on the pickets, the more used to them you get, but as I was reading Vince's post I had to ask myself, "Is it worth it?" What is the price I am paying to sit on this fence? Would my husband pay the same price to sit where I've been sitting? Is it fair to ask my son to pay that price? It all became pretty damn clear - it's time to make a move. It's not going to be easy to get off that fence - I have semi-permanent indentations in my ass from sitting there so long and my legs have fallen asleep - but the price I am paying (and subjecting my son to) isn't worth it.

On that depressing thought light note, I can't seem to give Thin Mint HNT the attention it deserves. My mind just isn't there right now. Not to worry, there will be an HNT post, but it likely won't be like any of those you've seen before, and I hope there won't be any more like it in the future. I know that I can't do Jahooni's Thin Mint HNT justice tomorrow - not with where my head is right now - so I'll keep those boxes of asparagus cookies in the freezer, and the chocolate syrup in the pantry until I can do Jahooni justice ... or do Jahooni ... whichever comes first!

Blog-Fo-Mercial

Blogging is kind of an odd thing. I've been doing this for ... what? 8 months now? I think in those 8 months I have met more genuine, caring, intelligent and compassionate people than I have in my 43 years on this planet. Y'all know about my blog crush Matt-Man, but what you may not know is that he has started a new thing he calls a Blog-Fo-Mercial© The first one he did was for Vinny over at the Big Leather Couch for the blog's 2nd anniversary (you can see it [HERE]). It really was amazing! Matt-Man announced at that point that he would be doing the Blog-Fo-Mercial as a regular feature.

Now, this Blog-Fo-Mercial© is a cool thing, but I am not the kind of person who asks other people to do things for me - it's just not my nature. I filed it in the "someday when I have big gonads" file and left it at that. Imagine my surprise when earlier this week Matt-Man let me know that he had done an unsolicited Blog-Fo-Mercial© for me! And all it took was me posing in a Bagwine Ruminations wet t-shirt! Actually, I suspect Matt-Man is far more compassionate and caring than he might lead you to believe, but don't let him know I am on to him - it's supposed to be a secret!

If you haven't been there already, go get yourself some Bagwine and sit down to a daily dose of satire. Oh, and tell Matt-Man I sent you - it might earn me a few more ass-kissing points!

One more thing - I had no part in picking out this song, but Matt-Man really did an AWESOME job in his selection - this verse in particular really resonates with me:

Hang on to your hopes, my friend
That's an easy thing to say, but if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend
That you can build them again