I started to learn how to train horses yesterday. I have always wanted to do that, but never knew what steps to take. I worked with a tall bay saddlebred mare all day, and made more progress with her in 3 hours than I did with my own horses in 3 years. It was incredible.
So now I am back in the land of horses. My parents always wished I'd grow out of it, and they thought I had. But I guess once you're a horse person, you are always a horse person.
Parelli's method uses nothing but a couple of ropes and a stick to teach horses everything they need to know. No tying tongues down, like they did at the stable I used to ride with. No breaking tails, no hobbling, no whipping. Parelli teaches you how to make your horse want to do things for you. So.. I have another hobby. I'll have to cram it in there somewhere with the painting, the scrapbooking, the music, the writing... and the blog now.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Monday, February 07, 2005
Our Own Worst Enemy
This weekend I made an observation about women in general (and one in particular). We are our own worst enemy. We are conniving, manipulative, backbiting, and that's just to our friends. We call each other names and trash each other. We begrudge each other success and treat another woman's success or happiness as our own personal failure.
We are jealous of anyone who has bigger breasts, who is "skinnier" or better looking, even if this jealousy is based on nothing more concrete than our own misguided opinions. We are quick to judge, quick to gossip, and slow to forgive or really communicate. We use our kids as a tool in our social warfare, and we raise our daughters to be insecure bitches just like us. We hate a beautiful woman with a venomous hatred that is unfounded, unfair, and immature.. especially if another woman is pretty and successful or smart. We assume that if another woman is beautiful, she must be a whore. She must be sleeping around, or at least be after our own boyfriends or husbands.
We corral our men like animals, trying to keep them under our control, reading their mail, checking their cellphones, being bitchy and demanding and unkind, and then wondering why he doesn't want to spend time with us. We either use sex as a bargaining tool, just like we do our children, or we are so insecure and desparate that, while we are in the act of calling another woman a slut or a whore because we perceive her as prettier than us, we are giving it up to anything with three legs.
We complain about people not taking us seriously, and we don't take ourselves seriously. We whine about not being having opportunities when all we have to do is get off our fat asses and do something about it. We moan about inequality in the workplace, and then call in sick because we have our periods. We lose our ability to do anything the minute we become pregnant.
What the hell is wrong with us???
Damn it. I am late for work again.
We are jealous of anyone who has bigger breasts, who is "skinnier" or better looking, even if this jealousy is based on nothing more concrete than our own misguided opinions. We are quick to judge, quick to gossip, and slow to forgive or really communicate. We use our kids as a tool in our social warfare, and we raise our daughters to be insecure bitches just like us. We hate a beautiful woman with a venomous hatred that is unfounded, unfair, and immature.. especially if another woman is pretty and successful or smart. We assume that if another woman is beautiful, she must be a whore. She must be sleeping around, or at least be after our own boyfriends or husbands.
We corral our men like animals, trying to keep them under our control, reading their mail, checking their cellphones, being bitchy and demanding and unkind, and then wondering why he doesn't want to spend time with us. We either use sex as a bargaining tool, just like we do our children, or we are so insecure and desparate that, while we are in the act of calling another woman a slut or a whore because we perceive her as prettier than us, we are giving it up to anything with three legs.
We complain about people not taking us seriously, and we don't take ourselves seriously. We whine about not being having opportunities when all we have to do is get off our fat asses and do something about it. We moan about inequality in the workplace, and then call in sick because we have our periods. We lose our ability to do anything the minute we become pregnant.
What the hell is wrong with us???
Damn it. I am late for work again.
Friday, February 04, 2005
The Cat in the Garbage and Other Strange Thoughts
As I type this, I can hear my cat rummaging in the trash can. I hate it when he does that. But I can't seem to keep him out of there, even if the can is empty! He has an infatuation with the crinkling of the garbage bag, the weeble-like behavior of the tall plastic kitchen trashcan.. and right now with the fact that there is a bone from a pork chop somewhere in there. He is hell bent on finding it. I will stop him shortly, I suppose. It is, after all, my duty.. isn't it? No one here but me and the cat..
In other news, I went to some friends' house last night and caught myself doing some serious thinking. My friends are all older than me by at least 12-15 years. They are awesome, accomplished people, and I love them dearly. It's just that sometimes I feel as if nothing I say has merit. This attitude does not stop with my close friends, or even with my family. It happens more than I have ever been willing to admit.
So the question is, is this some issue within my own mind? Do I have some sort of inferiority complex? An ego problem? I don't think that everything is about me.. but I do worry that I am not doing enough, not saying the right things, not taken seriously.
It is a fact that in the South especially, a woman like me (short, petite, with a figure and *gasp!* a brain) is often discounted immediately just because she is. But is that what goes on in my case? I know it's happened before.. but I wonder, with people who are close to me, if it's a shade of that ingrained attitude, or if it's the age difference, or if it's in my head... or if I really don't have anything to add, but I keep talking.
I have a deep seated fear of being "that girl." But perhaps when I am on the other side of 40, I will look back at myself and think, "Jeez. I was an idiot!" God knows that's what I think when I look back on my teenage years.
But perhaps I should stop thinking about it, since there really is no solution to this particular problem, and go to work.
In other news, I went to some friends' house last night and caught myself doing some serious thinking. My friends are all older than me by at least 12-15 years. They are awesome, accomplished people, and I love them dearly. It's just that sometimes I feel as if nothing I say has merit. This attitude does not stop with my close friends, or even with my family. It happens more than I have ever been willing to admit.
So the question is, is this some issue within my own mind? Do I have some sort of inferiority complex? An ego problem? I don't think that everything is about me.. but I do worry that I am not doing enough, not saying the right things, not taken seriously.
It is a fact that in the South especially, a woman like me (short, petite, with a figure and *gasp!* a brain) is often discounted immediately just because she is. But is that what goes on in my case? I know it's happened before.. but I wonder, with people who are close to me, if it's a shade of that ingrained attitude, or if it's the age difference, or if it's in my head... or if I really don't have anything to add, but I keep talking.
I have a deep seated fear of being "that girl." But perhaps when I am on the other side of 40, I will look back at myself and think, "Jeez. I was an idiot!" God knows that's what I think when I look back on my teenage years.
But perhaps I should stop thinking about it, since there really is no solution to this particular problem, and go to work.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
The State of the Union
Despite the fact that I do not own a tv, I watched the President's address tonight. I found myself nodding my head a lot. I'd do a blow-by-blow, but I think millions of other bloggers will be doing just that tonight, so I'll spare you the details and get down to o.r.p. reactions.
1) The STATE OF THE UNION graphic on MSNBC looked somehow strange and depressing. It did not fit the positive flavor of the speech at all.
2) Hillary Clinton looked seriously pissed off throughout.
3) I was glad to see President Bush take the bull by the horns, so to speak, on all of the major issues. I was hoping that he wouldn't "pussy foot around" as my mother is fond of saying. He did not disappoint on that score. I don't agree with every position that he takes.. but at least he tells it like he sees it and doesn't just try to please everybody. There is nothing worse than a mealy mouthed politician who doesn't ever take a stand on anything. Hell, replace the word "politician" with "person" and you'll just about have it.
4) Loved the Iraqi lady. Loved the purple fingertips too.
5) The couple from Kentucky whose son, a Marine, was killed in Fallujah.. wow. The emotion on that lady's face.. I could tell that she was trying very hard not to lose it. I don't blame her a bit.. it was a very emotional moment, especially for those parents. I hope that more than a few people felt the need to stop and think about what they owe to the men and women in uniform..veterans who fought for our freedom, and soldiers who are now fighting for the freedom of other people.
6) The message of the entire speech according to o.r.p.: Freedom is a good thing. Let's have more of it.
7) I enjoy listening to the state of the union address, and I would like to see the President in person sometime, if only because he's the President and I've never met one before. However, I would not like to attend the state of the union address in person. Stand up. Sit down. Stand up, sit down. Clap. Clap. Clap. Stand up. Sit down. Clap. Stand up. Clap. I can hold my own on a stairstepper or a weight room, but I don't think I could hang with Congress when it comes to ovations.
1) The STATE OF THE UNION graphic on MSNBC looked somehow strange and depressing. It did not fit the positive flavor of the speech at all.
2) Hillary Clinton looked seriously pissed off throughout.
3) I was glad to see President Bush take the bull by the horns, so to speak, on all of the major issues. I was hoping that he wouldn't "pussy foot around" as my mother is fond of saying. He did not disappoint on that score. I don't agree with every position that he takes.. but at least he tells it like he sees it and doesn't just try to please everybody. There is nothing worse than a mealy mouthed politician who doesn't ever take a stand on anything. Hell, replace the word "politician" with "person" and you'll just about have it.
4) Loved the Iraqi lady. Loved the purple fingertips too.
5) The couple from Kentucky whose son, a Marine, was killed in Fallujah.. wow. The emotion on that lady's face.. I could tell that she was trying very hard not to lose it. I don't blame her a bit.. it was a very emotional moment, especially for those parents. I hope that more than a few people felt the need to stop and think about what they owe to the men and women in uniform..veterans who fought for our freedom, and soldiers who are now fighting for the freedom of other people.
6) The message of the entire speech according to o.r.p.: Freedom is a good thing. Let's have more of it.
7) I enjoy listening to the state of the union address, and I would like to see the President in person sometime, if only because he's the President and I've never met one before. However, I would not like to attend the state of the union address in person. Stand up. Sit down. Stand up, sit down. Clap. Clap. Clap. Stand up. Sit down. Clap. Stand up. Clap. I can hold my own on a stairstepper or a weight room, but I don't think I could hang with Congress when it comes to ovations.
Welcome to ...
I wanted to call this the Ordinary Reasonable Person's Guide to Positively Everything. Damn character limits. I have been thinking about starting a blog for quite some time, just never got around to it. I have also been thinking of writing a book with the same title... (ORPGPE? I have been working in academia for too long). Not that anyone would buy said book.. it would just be fun to write.
I have been toying with that idea, though, since my early days at college, where I first heard of the mythical "ordinary, reasonable person" in business law class. And then the ORP shows up in accounting and finance.. Who is the ORP? I would like to meet this person. I am sure that we are certainly not related in any way, shape, or form.
Though not ordinary at all (and sometimes not even reasonable), I am a person with a lot of opinions, and that seems to be what blogging is about. With that said, the opinions for today will have to wait.. I need to set up a profile...
I have been toying with that idea, though, since my early days at college, where I first heard of the mythical "ordinary, reasonable person" in business law class. And then the ORP shows up in accounting and finance.. Who is the ORP? I would like to meet this person. I am sure that we are certainly not related in any way, shape, or form.
Though not ordinary at all (and sometimes not even reasonable), I am a person with a lot of opinions, and that seems to be what blogging is about. With that said, the opinions for today will have to wait.. I need to set up a profile...
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