Let me start by saying that I am not reviewing the Hannah Montana movie itself but rather, this is more of a review of a review. A couple of days ago, I was idly scanning through the latest news updates on my phone and came across a review of the Hannah Montana movie. Somewhat curious, I decided to read the review through and by the end of the article I found myself wondering about the point of the review.
One of the first few lines of of the review stated that those for whom the movie was intended - aka primarily young girls and other Miley Cyrus fans - would love everything about the film. The writer goes on to mention some of the highlights offering little overall critique. By the time, I reached the end of the review, I had in mind a movie that would be pleasant enough for the adults who accompanied their daughters to watch and one that would thrill the daughters. I expected to see 3 out of 4 stars or so as the final review rating.
To my utter surprise, the writer gave the movie 2 out of 4 stars. Since I have read this writer’s reviews before, I knew that they tended to give 2 stars to films that they really pretty much disliked and had little redeeming value. It seems to me that though the writer may agree that the film is great for its intended audience but reviewed on through the eyes of an adult. In my opinion, if a film - or anything - is successful in pleasing it’s intended audience then it deserves credit regardless of what anyone outside that audience may think. So, even though I have yet to see the Hannah Montana movie myself, based upon the review that I read, I would like to offer up a corrected rating of 3 and 1/2 out 0f 4 stars.

Before I begin, please note that I have nothing against organic food. In fact, it really probably is a good idea for those that can afford it. Unfortunately, I do not happen to be one of those people.

Having said that, I will now get to the point of my post today. I live in a largely agricultural area and my daily commute primarily consists of driving back and forth down the 2-lane roads that cut between the various farms, connecting the various cities that exist around them. Normally it isn’t a bad drive but there have been days that I am unfortunate enough to become another member in the line of cars stuck behind a slow-moving semi or tractor and yesterday evening was one of those times. I actually made it through the line pretty quickly and was not in too bad of a mood when I was able to pull up next to the semi at a stoplight (knowing that as soon as it turned green, me and my five-speed were out of there). Casually curious, I checked out the boxes that were stacked on the back of the open bed trailer and noticed that it was carrying cabbage. But not just any cabbage, it was hauling “certified organic” cabbage. And spewing massive amounts of black diesel fumes all over its previously pesticide and chemical free cargo.

If we had tested that cabbage right then, would it really have been that much better for us than any other head of cabbage available at the local grocery store? And if not, then what exactly is the reason for paying so much more for that little sticker that says “organic”? Though I had never really thought about it before last night, if the farmer went through all the trouble to make sure that his product was grown completely naturally, why would he load onto the back of an old, open-bed, diesel truck instead of a nice closed trailer that would continue to help protect it’s “goodness”? Maybe I’m wrong but it seems to me that I’ve not really been missing out on anything by buying what’s cheap (and generally not organic) and saving a few dollars that could well be used elsewhere.

For anyone who was wondering what the heck has been happening with Everyday Life or Beach Reader Reviews the last couple of weeks, wonder no more! I had decided that I needed to switch from wordpress.com to wordpress.org in order to have some of the capabilities that I desired and have spent the last couple of weeks playing around with numerous different free web hosts trying to make it happen. Since my knowledge of the entire process was below zero (is that possible?) before I started, it was most definitely a challange but the good news is - here I am! While I was at it, I fiqured I might as well make it look “all shiny and new” hence the differences that you may have observed with the theme and such. I did this with not only this blog and Beach Reader Reviews but I moved Communication and Common Sense as well so drop by there and take a look. Welcome back and, please, let me know what you think!

Many years ago, I developed an intense dislike for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  In my mind, it was the worst holiday of the year.  Christmas Day was my minds signal that New Year’s was coming quick and I would start getting depressed, which would last until January 2nd at least (longer if it was a holiday weekend).  There was no outside reason for this antipathy.  It was due to superstitions that I myself had created and believed in.  At some point in time, a point that I am today at a complete loss to pinpoint, I began to believe that my circumstances at midnight on New Year’s Eve were a direct indication of what I could expect from the coming year.  If I was happy and laughing, I could expect an overall good year.  If I was sad and depressed, the feelings would stay with me for the majority of the year.  If I was with the one that I loved and we shared a New Year’s kiss then I could feel secure in my relationship for another year.  If circumstances kept us apart then they would likely continue to do so. 

No big deal, really.  Many people have a similar superstition for New Year’s.  And for the most part, I never really dwelled on it all overly much.  Until the year that my first husband and I were not together at midnight.  We were not together because it was the first of many “seperations” that we would put ourselves through over the next 5 years or so.  Coincidently, every New Year that followed that one during those next five years, we would be “seperated”.  And though we were experts at being seperated, my ex was terrible at being single.  So every year, he ended up ringing in the New Year with his current girlfriend while I stayed home with the kids, upset and hoping that this year would be the one that we could work things out.  Obviously, since I have already referred to him as my ex a few times, eventually I did wise up and, not only did we split for good, but my previously held, fairly light-hearted, general superstition became a monster one that could and would destroy future holidays.

If anything whatsoever, no matter how small, went wrong on New Year’s that was a signal to me that I would not have a good year.  Combine this no tolerance style superstition with the fact that I was always already depressed coming into the holiday and I created for myself a no-win situation.  I would never have a perfect holiday and even if I somehow had miracurously managed to pull one off, the simple fact that I was depressed would have, in my mind, overriden the perfection, and would have once again been a signal of another bad year to come.  To clarify, I don’t mean to imply that every year I have spent has been a bad year as foretold but this fact did not enter into my reasoning as it pertained to my monster superstition. 

Then this year, sometime within the last couple of days, I realized that I wasn’t dreading the holiday.  I wasn’t particularly depressed, hadn’t really referred to New Year’s in my mind or outloud as the worst holiday of the year, or experienced any of the other typical feelings that I had grown accustomed to having.  So what is the reason for this change?  It’s not because 2008 was any better or worse than the ones prior.  Relationship-wise, my current love and I have been together for several years now so that is not a factor.  It could be that I have just been working too hard to have had the time to dwell on it but last year was even worse so probably not.  Or maybe, I have just subconsciously grown-up and finally been able to start letting go of some of the things that just don’t matter anymore.  Regardless, once I realized it was no longer there, I also realized how nice it was to not have that hopeless, forbidding cloud hang over my head entering into the New Year.

So do you think that this is an indication that 2009 will be…?  Okay, just kidding.  No more New Year’s superstitions.  Maybe.

So this year, I have been thrust into the world of Thomas the Tank Engine and wooden railroad tracks and towns. Not only did my almost 3 year old son receive a full set of Thomas Wooden Tracks but he was given some expansion packs and extra train cars. My husband, after piecing together the first set, discovered that he enjoyed doing it so now between the two, the next several months of my life will be spent surrounded by trains. My “spending money” I will find already spent on new tracks and sets - and quite expensive ones at that. The 25 piece set that my son got for Christmas was around $40.00 and it is just one of many.

But wait! My sister’s in-laws may have just come to my rescue. Their Christmas gift to my son was also a wooden train track set. It also cost around $40.00. It contained 120 pieces!!! And, better yet, it fits perfectly with the Thomas set. So now, instead of looking at paying $1.60 per piece for Thomas, I can spend $0.33 per piece. I’ll have money left to every once in a while pick up a new Thomas train car and still have my “spending money”. My son will never know the difference. Thank God for in-laws (yes, I did really say that)! Want to save some $$ on tracks for your kids? Check out the KidKraft Circo tracks at Target or Amazon.com.

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Now admittedly, I love a bargain as much as the next person. In fact, there have been times that I have been known to tell everyone that I know about it when I feel that I got an exceptional price on something. However, I have never in my life seen a sale that is worth the cost that one man paid today in New York.

Most of you I am sure heard about this - a Walmart employee when attempting to unlock the doors for the day after Thanksgiving early bird sale was trampled by the crowd of bargain hunting consumers that had been lined up outside. Breaking down the doors, they surged into the store - each one of them trampling again, or at the very least, sweeping past with no regard to the man lying helplessly on the floor. Other store employees tried to reach him to help but they too were knocked down before being able to get to him. In addition to employees, several consumers also fell - one of them was a woman who was eight months pregnant. Police and medics were called to the store and several people were taken to local hospitals including the first employee who had been trampled. Police attempted to get some control and, after learning that the employee unlocking the doors had died at the hospital, announced that the store was closing due to the death. The consumers reacted by angrily refusing to leave the sale that they had waited in line for and continued shopping.

Media reaction to this story has been fairly consistent. Each states that this is a tragedy, that it should not happened,…and that Walmart should have prevented this. I don’t know what stuns me more - the incident itself or the media’s comments. I agree that Walmart should have had extra security and a manager on hand to help assess the situation thougout the night. However, I do not believe that with the possible exception of a small percentage, Walmart is the one who should face a judge and be held liable.

One of the cornerstones of which my built upon and that my values are based on, is to take responsibility for my own actions. Another is, when able, to help someone else in need. This morning, a crowd of adults killed someone with absolutely no regard or remorse. I strongly urge the officers that are reviewing this case to bring in every person possible who walked over, on, or past the fallen employee and force them to defend themselves in front of a jury of their peers. These people should have been adult enough to have the ability to control themselves, to help their fellow man, to respect anothers life and property, and to act in an appropriate manner. I would love to hear them attempt to explain why they felt it okay to trample someone just to get to a sale.

I hope that those who were involved in that consumer rush this morning is having a real hard time sleeping about now.  And I hope that the police and the justice system take a stand and bring down every single identifiable person involved.  And maybe we will all learn that instead of trying to make a quick buck for ourselves by placing blame upon and suing corporations, that we should instead be enough of a person to realize that we are responsible for our own actions - however stupid or thoughtless they may be.

No sale is worth someone’s life.

A couple of days before election day, an article was printed about what the odds really were of an individual actually casting a deciding vote.  It reported the odds to be about 1 in 60 million for the average person.  Why, I wondered, would they print this immediately before election day?  It seemed almost to want to discourage Americans from showing up at the polls by telling them that it didn’t really matter whether or not they cast a ballot.

Let me offer you another perspective.  America is founded on the right to vote.  If the majority of Americans decide that they vote doesn’t really matter anyway and no longer vote, our very foundation collapses.  Our system only works if people vote.  Regardless whether or not my vote is a “deciding” vote in an election, it is important.  And our collective vote is the deciding factor in all elections.

The way we communicate information is almost more important than the information that we communicate.  Had the story I read provided the individual statistic alongside what the impact of a collective group of voters impact, the story would have been a positive article that may have led even more to their polling place today.  Instead, as I heard  one of my acquaintances remark, it worked to reinforce the argument that most of us I am sure have heard many times…”Look, my vote didn’t matter anyway so why bother?”

One of the most thrilling aspects of this years election is the excitement that it generated in so many Americans that has already this morning resulted in huge voter turnouts.  If you haven’t gone out yet, stop reading and GO VOTE!

Today I saw and spent time with an old friend of mine. Over the last few years, we have talked on and off but, despite always saying that we should get together, have not seen each other at all. A few minutes into talking with him, after I had the time to take a good look at him, I started laughing. His goatee had gone grey as had his sideburns. So when he asked why I was laughing, I did what any good friend would do - told him the truth.

“Look at you! You’re grey! Oh my God, you’re OLD!”

Later in the conversation, he told me about someone he knew who had fairly recently come into quite a bit of money and had spent his way through all of it in a matter of months, with nothing to show for it today. Shaking my head, I said that if I ever had that kind of money in my pocket, I would buy a house completely. No rent, no mortgage - just a guaranteed roof over mine and my families head. Upon his full agreement, I commented “That’s how you know when you’ve grown up. When you starting having dreams of roofs instead of wild and crazy parties.”

Which led me to tell him about one of the most defining grown-up moments of my life. Not about the births of any of my four children (heck, anyone can do that, right?) but about a visit to a car dealership about 4 years or so ago.

Quick backstory - my dream car since I was 11 or 12 years old has always been a Ford Mustang. My absolute favorites were built between 1964 1/2 and 1967 with 1968 being a close 2nd. Anything later than that I don’t particularly care for until 1993 and on. Anyone who knows me is well aware of my love for these Mustangs and my deep desire to own one. Flash forward now back up to 4 years ago. I had been working with an auto dealership online to get financing and finally got the call from then asking me to come down. The salesman told me that the approval had cleared the bank, a car was picked out (due to bad credit I was being choosy about what kind of car they decided upon) and all I needed to do was sign the papers and pick up the keys. Upon my arrival, I was presented the keys to my new car - a black 1994 Ford Mustang.

Immediately the tears welled up in my eyes and after sparing a glance towards my husband (who knew exactly what I was thinking but felt very little of what I was feeling, the damn Chevy lover), I told the guy that I was sorry but I couldn’t buy the car. At the time I had 3 kids that technically could have fit on the backseat but it was not a very realistic and practical solution. My heart breaking, I asked him if he had anything else to offer me and drove home that day in a Chevy Astrovan (stop laughing!)
Later that evening, I realized that I was now a grown-up.

So what are some of your defining moments, when it hit you like a ton of bricks that you were finally an adult?

Pulling into work the other morning, the radio station I was listening to broke for a news update. Having spent most of the last half of my life in LA County, it still gives me jolt when I listen to the news broadcasts for Ventura County which is much smaller in size and population. All the broadcasts I can usually relate to in some basic way - having been there, lived near there, or somehow. The news that morning led with the story of an armed robbery the night before of two 7-Elevens.

Apparently, a heavyset man armed with a knife held up the first store and ran off on foot. Then, not long after, went to a second store and did the same thing. But it was the location of the first store that made me pause for a minute and think. The first store is one that is in my immediate neighborhood and one that I frequent on a daily basis. In fact, on nights that I have stayed up late studying or working, I will often stop by before I go to sleep at 2-3am in the morning. The robbery occurred at 2:30am. It is very possible that I could have been there when it happened, had I decided to grab a quick treat before bed that night.

Talking about it with a friend later, I wondered aloud how the man who worked the night shift, every single night, was doing. He’s a nice guy - quiet but always friendly and willing to let me slide on the last $0.50 cents or so that I am short on my order. Then I wondered how I would have reacted had I indeed been there. I hope that I would have been smart enough to keep my big mouth shut but I probably would not have. That’s when I started getting pissed. That is MY store where I bring MY KIDS. I feel comfortable going there, regardless of time. Who the heck is this “heavyset” man that thinks he has the right to try and take any of that away from me?

Then it hit me, yeah, it’s a good thing I wasn’t thirsty at 2:30am that morning because I definitely would not have kept my big mouth shut.